USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Middlefield > History of the town of Middlefield, Massachusetts > Part 26
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Solomon Root's wife, Laura Mack, became a fervent Baptist, and at times was quite outspoken against the standing order. It happened that when Mr. Selden Cone wanted to join the Congregational Church he seemed to have the blameless if not strictly orthodox desire to combine the benefits of rival creeds, for he requested the minister to baptize him by immersion. This the minister agreed to do. When "Grandma Root" heard of it she remarked, much to the amusement of her Congregationalist relatives, "those Congregationalists would compass heaven and earth to make one proselyte." In her later years, however, she became more tolerant toward the church of her childhood, and, after attending a meeting in Hinsdale with some of her relatives, admitted that the Congregationalists were a pretty good sort after all.
Harvey Root, located on the Israel Pease place. He managed several farms for his father-in-law, Dan Pease, and was a large producer of butter and cheese. During the times when there was
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a demand in Connecticut for men who could lay stone walls, he with others went down in the spring with yokes of oxen and engaged in this laborious but well paid work until late in the fall. Root was a young man of unusual physical endurance and his reputation as a "waller" was such that John Ferris, of Danbury, for whom he had worked, bought his oxen and paid him a bonus of fifty dollars not to return to Danbury to do 'walling."'
As has already been indicated, a great many of the early families of Middlefield either emigrated entirely after a few years stay or left only one or two representatives in successive generations to reap the benefits of the pioneer work already done. Even the prosperous David Mack, the first of his name to arrive, was the last of his name to survive, his brothers, sons and six of his ten daughters having moved to other towns. Sev- eral families, however, seem to have adapted themselves to local conditions so well that a number of groups of families arose, the high watermark of this development being about 1850. At this date there were twelve different Smith families of the Calvin and Matthew lines, seven by the name of Root, six of Church, and five of Pease. The large number of married daughters in the Pease and Root families, and also in the Wright and Metcalf families, settling in the town, made those family representations really larger than appears in the census of 1850.
Calvin Smith had the unusual good fortune of seeing his six sons settle within the town in a locality where farms near one another could be acquired. Calvin lived on the top of the eastern ridge where the Worthington Road crosses the Ridgepole Road, and was succeeded by his son, Ambrose. Obadiah Smith lived a short distance north on Ridgepole Road. Though all dwellings on this place had disappeared by the middle of the century, the locality is still called the "Diah Smith place." Two other sons, Asa and Orrin, choose the valley lands along the Worthington Road known as "Smith Hollow," while the intervening upland between these farms and their father's along this highway was taken up by the two remaining brothers, Oliver and Ebenezer. Adjoining Calvin Smith on the west was his brother, Matthew, with another large family, so that even as late as 1850 it was possible to go along the Worthington Road for three miles past land owned by members of this family.
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In the remote valley of "Smith Hollow" the descendants of Calvin Smith and their neighbors had a community life of their own. The revival of the soapstone quarrying and the wooden bowl industry of their neighbor, Everett, raised momentary hopes of the formation of a considerable village, but the distance from the railroad was an effective deterrent to such develop- ment, and agriculture remained the fundamental pursuit of this region. Lawrence Smith, son of Orrin, was a nurseryman and orchardist whose skill was later employed by the poet, William Cullen Bryant, on his farm in Cunnington. The Ebenezer Smith farm, under his son, Howard Smith, became one of the most productive farms of Middlefield. Deacon Oliver Smith, a pillar in the Baptist Church, was succeeded on the farm by his son, Clarkson, who carried it on with success. He had an extensive "'sugar bush" and produced large quantities of maple sugar and syrup.
The disadvantages of living in the remote part of the town is well illustrated in the following remark of one of the town wits at the Center. The Smith Hollow people were apt to be late in their attendance upon meetings of all kinds at the Center, as can be readily appreciated by anyone who has traversed "Smith Hollow Hill" and the other lesser inclines which separated them from the village. On one occasion the aforesaid wit expressed his vexation over the non-appearance of the tardy ones in the picturesque observation that "on the second Day of Judgement, along about half past five in the afternoon, those Smith Hollow folks would just be coming up by Aunt Betty Pinney's."
The Matthew Smith farm became a center from which went abroad a powerful influence for good. Matthew Smith, the pioneer, one of the founders of the Baptist Church in Middle- field, was a prominent public man, serving as selectman, justice of the peace, captain of militia and representative to the General Court. In most of these fields of activity he was followed by his son, Matthew, who acquired a farm a mile south of his father's. He had the distinction of being a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1854. The youngest son, Samuel. followed his father at the old homestead, giving up the op- portunity of a college education to take care of his parents in their declining years. But with the education he had already
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HENRY FERRIS AND WALTER CHURCHI SOLOMON F. ROOT AND EDWIN MCELWAIN
LESTER ROOT
MATTHEW SMITHI
ORRIN PEASE
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obtained he became a very useful citizen of the town, teaching school with marked success in Middlefield and in neighboring villages, and serving as leading member of the School Committee for many years. He was a strong supporter of higher education and among his children were some of the best teachers which the youth of Middlefield have ever had. Foremost among these was Metcalf John Smith, whose services as teacher, school super- visor, town official, helpful neighbor, conciliator and friend have been so fully recounted in previous chapters as to need no further mention here.
Matthew Smith, son of Matthew Smith, Jr., and eighth of that name in direct line from the emigrant ancestor of 1637, was a very energetic and generous citizen of Middlefield for many years. He kept store at the Center for a while. He greatly aided the Highland Agricultural Society in its earliest days by the generous gift of a large and sightly tract of land near the village for a Fair Ground. Later when opposition developed to the incorporation of the society at Middlefield, he represented the interests of the town before a committee of the General Court and secured for his native town the right to be the duly appointed spot for the annual cattle show. He was a staunch member of the Baptist Church and served several years as selectman and for one term as representative to the General Court. His brusque and outspoken honesty, combined with his good judgment and public spirit, made him exceptionally in- fluential in town affairs.
The McElwain family has held a prominent position among the leading citizens of Middlefield since the town was founded. The late Jonathan McElwain was prominent in all local enter- prises, having served as town clerk for over forty years, for many years as secretary of the Highland Agricultural Society, and as deacon and superintendent of the Sunday School of the Congregational Church. His father before him was selectman for many years and also a representative to the General Court.
Among local young men of talent is remembered Marvin Rob- bins, who, prevented by ill health from sharing in the activities of the life on the farm, studied to improve his opportunities. He learned "phonography," the short-hand of his day, and became so successful a teacher of the subject that one of his
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pupils became a court stenographer in California. Robbins tried his hand at landscape and portrait painting in which he attained considerable proficiency. Not a few of his canvases have graced the walls of homes in Middlefield and elsewhere. Two of his works are reproduced in this volume.1 When the art of photography was first discovered Robbins tried his hand at this work and produced some very creditable daguerreotypes.
The Church brothers were substantial citizens, upholders of all worthy public enterprises, and pillars of the church like their father before them. How they supported the musical interests as well as the material welfare of the Congregational Society, providing parsonage and chapel, has been fully told in a previous chapter. Their successful manufacturing establishments in Factory Village afforded employment for many happy families in Factory Village, whose welfare was not forgotten by their employers. In a community largely devoted to agriculture the business ventures of the Church brothers seem to have been a matter of general interest. It is said that after the Civil War the company, foreseeing a scarcity of wheat purchased a very large stock of flour at eleven and twelve dollars a barrel which they later sold for twenty dollars and fifty cents a barrel. As this was a dollar below the Pittsfield price, there were customers at the Hollow store from all the country round, incuding some from the Berkshire metropolis.
While the Churches gave their entire attention to their woolen manufacturing, the Blushes, who were also engaged in the same line and in a wood-turning industry as well, lived more in the manner of the English country squires, being fond of outdoor sports, hunting and fishing, with its outlay of dogs and horses, and with its hospitable entertainment and good cheer. William D. Blush was a connoisseur of fine horses, and the teams which he drove were matters of pride to himself and his neighbors. The Blush vehicle was always watched with admiration as it arrived at church on Sunday morning.
On the top of Johnnycake Hill, in the old deserted house of Captain Elisha Mack, now standing, lived Captain Ambrose Loveland, grandson of the pioneer, Malachi Loveland, who built the homestead lower down on the hill. Captain Loveland was
4 See illustration page 584.
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known as an able moderator at town meetings, a singing master, and a leader in founding the Highland Agricultural Society, but by some he is remembered particularly for his fondness for superintending the marching on public occasions, such as the early days of Cattle Show, when the presence of a fife and drum corps gave opportunity for a grand review. The good citizens had cause to remember one Fourth of July celebration when the usual picnic was held on the knoll in the pasture north of the Fair Grounds where there was then a grove of large trees. Captain Loveland may have been an adept in military tactics against a human enemy, but he seems to have lacked judgment in dealing with the hostile forces of nature. In the face of a threatening thundershower he insisted in marshalling the as- semblage and marching them up to the Fair Grounds for the preliminary exercises of saluting the flag, with the result that a tremendous onslaught from the skies, catching them unprepared, caused complete havoc in the commissary department and ir- reparable damage to the gay trappings of the women marchers.
On quite a different occasion, Captain Loveland, perhaps with this experience in mind, had more regard for weather conditions and the comfort of the people under his charge. His executive talent made his services often desired as a funeral director, an office which he enjoyed filling, but his orders were sometimes given with a military bluntness which under the circumstances was somewhat unusual. At one funeral where he was officiating the imminence of a shower induced him to hurry proceedings by announcing in his characteristic manner : "The corpse is now on exhibition in the arbor, the mourners will please step lively."
It was doubtless during the days of Captain Loveland that the town used the "old hearse" on funeral occasions. This dreadful affair is described by those who recall it as a sort of crate with top and black side curtains, mounted on a spring wagon. The depressing aspect of this contraption in general and the way the mountain breezes caused the somber curtains to flap and wave exposing the casket to view, made the vehicle a reproach and a byword in the community. This continued until certain of the young and determined spirits in the town stole the hearse one night and made it the fuel for the bonfire which celebrated the joy of the participants over its disappearance.
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Speaking of funerals recalls the fact that during the earlier portion of the nineteenth century the demand for coffins in Middlefield and the surrounding towns was supplied by Deacon William W. Leonard, a farmer, carpenter and joiner living a quarter of a mile west of the Center. The coffins he made from basswood boards, stained with lampblack, furnished with jap- anned trimmings and lined with bishop lawn. They were sold at such a low figure, (three to five dollars) that almost anyone could afford to have one. The story goes, however, that when Uriah Church, Jr., and his wife were laid to rest within a week of each other, coffins costing from seven to eight dollars apiece were provided, an extravagance which scandalized the neighbor- hood.
Not far from the farm of Captain Loveland was the Solomon Ingham homestead, in its latter days known as "the pest house." Mr. Ingham, who was the first town clerk and prominent in local affairs, was a man often preoccupied or absent-minded, and his son Alexander used to tell how as a boy he once put his father to a psychological test on this point. Milking time having come, his father sent him to fetch the milk pail, but he returned with a market basket which he casually handed his father as he sat down
Solomon Ingleans
to milk. Mr. Ingham proceeded as usual, not noticing that the milk was streaming down his legs, while the boy rolled upon the ground, overcome with uncontrollable laughter. "Alec, Alec, what are you laughing at ?" questioned his father, and he had to repeat the query several times before the boy was able to control his shouts long enough to point out the absurdity of what his father was doing. If Alexander was punished for his experiment, he doubtless learned that there were some moments when his father was anything but absent-minded.
Deacon Alexander Ingham is well remembered by the older citizens as a man of deep religious zeal and a practical educator. He studied at Westfield Academy and is said to have taught select school at an early date. He was a tailor by trade and at one time had several women in his employ in his tailor shop in the ell of his house at the Center. He became prosperous enough
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to help finance the woolen industry of Uriah Church, and in his later days he was looked after by the Church brothers who secured for him the position of deputy postmaster, which he held for many years.
He was a picturesque figure in his later days, a slender, stooped form in high silk hat and Camlet cloak, with cape, walk- ing with a cane in each hand. It was his custom to repair to the grove south of the meetinghouse for a season of prayer, and it was occasionally the delight of some of the small boys of the town to climb high up in the nearby trees where they could not be seen and outdo in shouting the Deacon's loud beseechings. Another joke that leaves a pleasanter rememberance was one in which Uncle Sam was called in to play a prominent part. The originator, having picked up a card containing an offer to send sample calling cards to any one requesting them, became an agent for their sale. He conceived the idea of having these samples sent to every one in town. With the help of others the letters were so written that all the samples would arrive on the same day at the post office. The appointed day found all the school children of the village and many of the townspeople gathered to watch the excited Deacon as he sorted out the extra bag of mail on the long table which he formerly used for tailor- ing. This operation took so long that the children, much to their delight, were late to the afternoon session of their school.
The small boys of the village were not by any means malicious, for, though they found delight in teasing the deacon, they also found pleasure and an outlet for animal spirits in deeds of help- fulness. There lived opposite the Baptist Church Old Aunt Priscilla Steward, who though a most saintly and lovable soul had been burdened with a cruel and intemperate husband, whose irregular habits and more irregular employment had brought her to poverty. It is said that Benjamin Steward would hang the dog up over the fire just for meanness and get up in the night and sharpen the carving knife to frighten his wife. But she was uncomplaining and even when he once turned her out of doors at night she sat on the woodpile and braided a straw hat as calm as a clock with never a word of rebuke. And when at last her unkind spouse had gone to his reward the good woman was heard to say, "I ought to have been more patient
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with him." So when "Aunt Steward" was left alone in want, it was the boys of the village who brought her firewood, and split and piled it up too. They would also start collecting money to help her out and many a time the poor woman would have suf- fered had not the youngsters looked after her needs.
Associated with Deacon Ingham in the postal service was his contemporary in the church, Deacon Amasa Graves. In his later years Deacon Graves lived at the Ingham house and carried the mail back and forth from the station to the Center. The two deacons thus represented as near a union of church and state as usually appears in a country town, and the fact that both wore stovepipe hats about their regular business unconsciously gave a dignity to the postal service which was somewhat unusual. Deacon Graves was the first man to carry the mail in a carriage, and his white horse and buggy and tall hat are well remembered by those who lived along the road to the station.
Another member of the Graves family, famous locally in his time, was Dwight Graves, who was an accomplished singer, player of the bass viol and leader of the choir of the Congrega- tional Church. Though somewhat temperamental like most people who have the gift of song, and liable to offense when his efforts appeared not to be fully appreciated, he served very acceptably in various capacities in the choir of the Congrega- tional Church for forty years.
One of the quaint characters of early days was "Aunt Betty" Pinney, doubtless the daughter of Deacon John Pinney. She was a tall gray-eyed spinster who lived alone the last twenty years of her life in a little house which stood opposite the cemetery. Though a tailoress by trade, she also made bedquilts and knitted stockings. She is said to have cut holes in her table- cloths so that visitors could see how skilfully she had mended them.
"Aunt Betty" was plain in speech and independent in thought and action. She used to say concerning her attendance at church that when she did not care much either way, she went to the Baptist Church which was near by; when she wanted to air her clothes she went to the Congregational Church, but when she wanted a down-right good meeting she went to the Methodist Chapel in the Den.
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"Aunt Betty" once had a jackknife which John Spencer, a boy who lived near by, was allowed to take in his hand and admire. She told him one day that when she died he should have the knife. The boy had probably often seen the sexton digging graves in the cemetery. After hearing of the good fortune that was to come to him he was gone for a while, but returned to "Aunt Betty" and told her that he had dug her grave. Tradi- tion says that the good woman was so pleased that she gave him the knife at once.
A well remembered resident of the village was "Aunt Sally Dickson," the wife of the Methodist minister, enthusiastic in religion, and quaint and voluble in speech. If a minister had a ready flow of language and was an earnest preacher, she char- acterized him as having "wings." Once when a candidate preached a rather lengthy sermon she observed "his crank is too long," and the circulation of this saying no doubt had con- siderable influence in the decision not to choose him as a pastor. Once when some of the young folks were having supper at her house, and burned their mouths on her hot mince pie, she is remembered to have remarked, "Quite a comfortable pie."
Living alone in her later years her originality manifested itself in a decorative way, and her parlor became a veritable museum of curiosities. There were hair flowers, and festoons of eggshells which were adorned with roses cut from wall paper and covered with a coat of varnish. Once when Orrin Pease was going by she rushed out to ask him to pull out some white hairs from his horse's tail so that she could complete a false front she was making. It would have been interesting to hear Orrin's remarks on this unusual incident.
The mention of Orrin Pease brings us to one of the last of the original characters of a type that is fast passing from rural New England. He was a bachelor who lived with his sister, Jane, a short distance north of the village on the old James Dickson farm. In his youth he was an active, dapper fellow, who fiddled for the country dances, but as he grew older lie became less careful as to dress, allowing his hair and beard to grow as they would for long periods. In addition to his side lines of blacksmithing and cider making, Orrin discovered a demand for charcoal, and manufactured this product for some
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years with considerable profit. As a farmer, however, he did not readily take up with new ideas. He would not use modern horse-rake with a seat, fearing that in case of a runaway he would not be able to extricate himself quickly enough; he preferred to walk behind the old-fashioned type of rake without wheels, lifting it by main strength at the windrows. He also refused to ride on a mowing machine, always walking behind the cutter bar.
Orrin was a well known figure among the wits who frequented the village store, and his droll remarks were always listened to with interest, and widely repeated. Upon returning from Chester after viewing a disasterous railroad wreck, he remarked in the course of his narration which he desired to make impres- sive: "It's a wonder that b'iler didn't blow up. Why, I've known them b'ilers, when there w'n't a drop of water in 'em, to bust and kill people for miles around." Not being one who was inspired by the beauties of nature, he could not understand the request of a citizen who enjoyed the view of the village from Pelton Hill and who asked his permission to cut down one or two trees in his wood lot which obstructed this view. "Want to see the Center do ye?" was his reply. "Well, if you want to see it, some day when you are over to the Center, why don't you look at it ?"
The earliest anecdotes of Middlefield settlers tell of their experiences with wild animals with which they had to contend in trying to establish themselves in the forested hills and valleys. It was not necessary in those days to roam widely to encounter them. In order to have crops to harvest Solomon Ingham fre- quently had to get up in the night to drive the bears out of his garden. David Mack on the other hand, assumed the offensive and gained some reputation as a hunter. Once when he was in pursuit of a large deer in the deep snow, the animal, turning suddenly upon him, pressed his antlers against Mack's breast, at the same time planting his feet upon his snowshoes. In this perilous position David with difficulty drew his hunting knife and passed it across the deer's throat. The deer retaliated with a terrific blow of his hind hoof upon David's forehead, and both contestants sank unconscious to the ground. After an hour, however, David regained consciousness, with the thought that he
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was dead, but soon realized that he was alive and that it was the deer which had succumbed in the encounter.
The names of certain localities within the township, such as "Bear Mountain," "Wildcat Ledge" and "The Den," certainly suggest that these places were once the haunts of unfriendly creatures. but only in the case of the last named have we a verification of the appropriateness of the name. "The Den Stream" is said to have received its name from an experience of Captain Thomas Ward. One evening when walking down toward the Jesse Wright place, a large black dog brushed past him on the narrow road. He paid no attention to this incident until two more black dogs brushed past him, when he concluded that they must be bears. This was verified the following day when the tracks of the animals were followed to the rocky hill- side above the Den Stream north of the old Churchill place, where a den of black bears was discovered. Another version is that the stream was named from the discovery of a den of snakes in the same region, a number of snakes being found coiled together in a writhing mass.
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