USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Middlefield > History of the town of Middlefield, Massachusetts > Part 28
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also carried on the manufacture of straw hats. His son, Samuel Mack, was a merchant in St. Louis. In another branch of the Mack family, Elisha H. Mack is a prominent dry goods merchant in Erie, Pennsylvania. The late Amos P. Mack was president of the Rochester Machine Tool Company, Rochester, New York. In the McElwain family, John Smith McElwain, his son, Henry E. McElwain, and R. Franklin McElwain, son of Oliver McElwain have been prominent executives in the paper industry in Hol- yoke. In Springfield, Edwin McElwain was treasurer of Kibbe Brothers, candy manufacturers, which position is now held by his son, Charles C. McElwain.
The merchandising instinct in the David Hamilton family was first shown by David himself, who at times left his farm in charge of his sons and took trips about the country selling "'Hamilton Bitters," a preparation of aloes, salts of wormwood, castile soap, etc., of his own compounding for which he claimed a superior efficacy. Of his six sons, Clark Thomas was a promi- nent physician in Brooklyn, New York, while Henry Leland was a Baptist minister in Georgia, and a large land owner. Franklin David spent most of his life in the oil fields of Pennsylvania where he at times had large interests. With their practical experience gained on the home farm, John Meacham and Charles Wesley engaged in the lumber business chiefly at Rantoul. Illinois, while Cutler Ebenezer, after following mercantile pur- suits in Brooklyn, New York, and the lumber business at Pen- field, Illinois, joined his brothers at Rantoul where he engaged in the hardware and insurance lines.
To mention a few others, Edmund P. Morgan, though not a native, as a merchant in Cleveland, Ohio, demonstrated the busi- ness capacity which he first displayed as partner of General Mack in Middlefield. Russell Mack Little became president of the Glens Falls Insurance Company at Glens Falls, New York. Franklin Smith was a merchant and manufacturer at Hazard- ville, Connecticut. In later years John W. Crane, Alfred S. Crane and Charles H. Alderman have been prominent in the real estate business in Springfield.
A number of Middlefield's sons or their descendants have reached executive positions through technical and professional training. Of those who have graduated from the Worcester
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Polytechnic Institute, Louis C. Smith is a member of the firm of Heard, Smith and Tennant, patent lawyers, in Boston. Clay- ton O. Smith is with the Baldwin Chain Company, Worcester. Clarence E. Alderman, formerly engineer with Norcross Broth- ers, is now an expert estimator for the War Department in Washington, D. C. George Alderman is chief draftsman for the United Shoe Machinery Company, at Beverly. Percy C. Smith, grandson of Samuel Smith, Jr., but not a native of Mid- dlefield, is in the legal department of the Western Electric Com- pany of New York City. Edward Church Smith, a graduate of Amherst College and the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology is a chemist with the National Carbon Company, Fremont, Ohio. Of those who have graduated from the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Bernard H. Smith is chief chemist for the Virginia Dare Extract Company in New York City; Samuel E. Smith is at Ward Farm, Westboro; Richard Waite is superin- tendent of a farm in Williamstown.
Middlefield has sent many of her sons into the learned profes- sions. Among students of theology have been Rev. Alvan Nash of Yale College who was a pastor in Ohio; Rev. Lyman Coleman, D.D. of Williams College, professor in Lafayette College; Rev. William Crowell, D.D. of Brown University, Editor in Boston and St. Louis; Rev. Judson Smith, D.D. of Amherst College, Professor at Oberlin and later Foreign Secretary of the Ameri- can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; Rev. Gerald B. Smith, D.D., Editor of the Journal of Religion and Professor at the University of Chicago. Others who became ministers were Ebenezer Brown and John C. Martin, under the Methodist denomination, and Warren Little and Charles Pease.
Middlefield has been well represented in the missionary field. Rev. Samuel Ingham served at the Dacotah Mission where he died in the midst of a great work. Miss Mary A. Rockwood went as a teacher to the Toungoo Mission in Burmah, and also fell a victim to her labors. Azariah Smith, son of Azariah Smith who went to Manlius, New York, was a medical missionary under the American Board, serving at Ezeroom in Asia Minor and at Aintab in Syria.
In the home missionary field the story of Rev. Samuel Bissell is of interest. Among the Bissell families who emigrated to
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Ohio about 1806 was that of Robert Bissell, who had come to Middlefield with his brothers when quite young. There he mar- ried Thankful Cheeseman who had similarly come to town with her brothers after being left an orphan when six years old. Being thus early accustomed to frontier conditions they were well fitted to repeat the experiences in Ohio. After the forty day journey from Middlefield to Mantua, Ohio, Bissell, being a carpenter, left his family to roll up a log cabin one mile west of Aurora, covering the roof with bark. When the family moved in there was no chimney or fireplace, and a plank floor only in the corner where the beds stood. Here mother and children stayed while Mr. Bissell was away at his trade. One night they heard an animal brushing against the cabin and the next morn- ing they found bear's hair on the log wall. Here amid wild beasts, without meat, vegetables, butter or milk, having only bread and a jug of molasses brought from Middlefield, they be- gan their new life in the Western Reserve.
It was in this environment that Samuel Bissell, son of Robert Bissell, grew up. Having to work hard and with no opportunity to go to school, he bought himself a slate and studied arithmetic at home. Later he studied with Mr. Seward, the minister at Aurora ; then with thirty-three dollars and a horse he returned cast to Hartford to study for the ministry. After completing his course he returned home and decided to help the cause of education in his state which was at a low ebb. Having obtained from Moses Eggleston, who was also an emigrant from Middle- field to Ohio, permission to cut ten cords of wood on his land, he hauled it to what was known as 'the old academy" and an- nounced that on a certain day school would commence, with a tuition of two dollars a week for a course of twelve weeks. As money was scarce, he said, "You may pay me anything you please, and when you please, and nothing at all if you don't please." The school prospered, several pupils preparing for college there.
Moving to Twinsburg in 1828 to accept the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church, he built a log schoolhouse next to the log church and began teaching. This became later the Twinsburg Institute. He went to Edinburg in 1838 and started a school there, but returned to Twinsburg to the Second Presbyterian
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Church and built up the Institute to over three hundred mem- bers including Indians of seven tribes, some of whom became teachers and missionaries. Through his long life of ninety-eight years he did a great work with little means and with great per- sonal sacrifice. "But minds were quickened, new purposes brought to life, and currents of thought and action started that can be terminated only by the end of time."
In law Elisha Mack, son of David Mack, became a lawyer and judge of excellent reputation and his nephew David studied law with him but afterward became a successful teacher, command- ing the highest esteem for his ability and his worth.
Possibly it is in the field of teaching that the children of Mid- dlefield have made their most notable contribution to the world's progress. In 1859 after four years of college teaching, Metcalf J. Smith became principal of Lewiston Academy in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Here he had a number of Middlefield young people as members of his teaching force, including besides his brothers Azariah and Edward, his cousin, Cynthia Smith, and also Elma Meacham, the daughter of Parsons Meacham who was an early emigrant from Middlefield to Cato, New York.
Edward Payson Smith, who graduated at Amherst College, was professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute for many years. Another son of Samuel Smith was the late Azariah Smith of Brookline. After becoming a successful teacher he filled a place of responsibility with Houghton, Mifflin and Company of Boston. He was selected to write the memorial poem for the Middlefield Centennial exercises in 1883.4 In 1901 he wrote a poem for the Old Home Week celebration which is worthy of preservation.
"The strength of the hills is His" indeed, So vast, so high, so sure; And Middlefield hills are strong and rich In blessings that endure.
"'Thro' storms and ages they stand fast; And when fierce Summer burns Their forests glad with countless birds, And sweet with shrubs and forns.
A Memorial of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town of Middlefield, page 50.
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"How wide the prospect they reveal ; How swells the heart to view The vast horizon's mighty sweep From Greylock to Ballou.
"Does earth afford a sweeter note Than when in woodland hush Pours forth the clear, supernal strain Of saintly hermit thrush?
"How musical the Springtime's air And days on Summer's brink, With robin, bluebird, oriole, And gleeful bobolink.
"Morn issues from her Eastern gates And floods the world with gold As when our fathers trod these hills In days and ways of old.
"The sky, the clouds, the nightly stars Are now the same as when The air first poured from Heaven's urn As perfect now as then.
"Yet how the noiseless wand of time Has changed the human scene ; The generations swift have passed As tho' they scarce had been.
"Brave souls, kind hearts, the tried and true Have sanctified these hills. As their rich memories throng the mind Glad gratitude full fills.
"The spirit of their priceless lives, The rich inheritance Of faith and courage, hope and love, That blessed their sure advance.
"And we to-day with glad, bowed hearts, As o'er the past we range Give thanks for all the countless joys That live throughout all change.
"For through all change the viewless hand Doth careful reckoning take; ' The saints on earth and those above But one communion make.' "
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Another son of Middlefield who has won distinction is Pro- fessor Azariah S. Root, who was graduated from Oberlin in 1884 and has been librarian of that college since 1887. He stands at the head of his profession and has been president of the Ameri- can Library Association.
Probably the most widely known son of Middlefield was Ed- ward King, journalist, novelist and poet, who was born at the home of his grandfather, Obadiah Smith, in 1848. After the strange disappearance of his father, a clergyman, his mother married Samuel W. Fisher, and they kept a school of high stand- ing in Huntington where Edward received his education. At the age of sixteen he went to work as a reporter in Springfield, first for the Union, then for the Republican, which he repre- sented at the Paris Exposition in 1867, at the age of nineteen. In 1870 he went into the service of the Boston Journal, report- ing on foreign events which included the Franco-Prussian War, the Commune, and the Balkan War in 1877-78. His work both for this paper, and later for the New York Telegram was consid- ered as valuable and entertaining as any sent from Europe. His quick intellect and pleasing manners gave him an entrée to some of the most attractive salons of Paris, and he became one of the most widely known Americans in Europe. Among his intimate friends was Henry M. Stanley. While on a trip through the south in 1873 he discovered George W. Cable, and was the means of bringing this author's works before the public. Several am- bitious works of his own were in preparation at the time of his death in Brooklyn in 1896. His published works were : My Paris and The Great South, books of travel and description ; Songs of the Orient and Venetian Lover, poems ; and the novels, The Gentle Savage and Joseph Salmonah, the latter directed against the evils of the sweat shops on the east side of New York City. Prob- ably his best known poems are The Tsigane's Canzonet and A Woman's Execution, which are included in Stedman's Anthology of American Poetry.
One of his poems, "Remember Him," was written about Abra- ham Lincoln.
REMEMBER HIM
"Out of the mellow West there came A man who neither praise nor blame Could guild or tarnish ; one who rose
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With fate-appointed swiftness far Above his friends, above his foes; Whose life shone like a splendid star To fill his people's hearts with flame- Who never sought for gold or fame, But gave himself without a price --- A willing, humble sacrifice- An erring nation's Paschal lamb- The great, gaunt, patient Abraham.
"I never saw his wrinkled face, Where tears and smiles disputed place ; I never touched his homely hand That seemed in benediction raised E'en when it emphasized command, That time the fires of battle blazed- The hand that signed the act of grace Which freed a wronged and tortured race, And yet I feel that he is mine --- My country's; and that light divine Streams from the saintly oriflamme Of great, gaunt, patient Abraham.
"Majestic, sweet, was Washington; And Jefferson was like the sun- He glorified the simplest thing He touched; and Andrew Jackson seems The impress of a fiery king To leave upon us. These in dreams Are oft before us; but the one Whose vast work was so simply done -- The Lincoln of our war-tried years --- Had all our deepest love; in tears We chant the 'In Memoriam' Of great, gaunt, patient Abraham."
William Fuller Church was the "rolling stone" among the Church brothers. He went West and traveled much, being one of the party accompanying Mark Twain on that famous trip to the orient immortalized in Innocents Abroad. He was appointed by Governor Noyes as State Commissioner of Insurance for Ohio, where he conducted the department for several years with marked ability.
Several of the daughters of Middlefield have studied at semi- naries and colleges for women, some entering the teaching
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profession, among them Lucy Smith (Newton), Sarah Smith (Gardner), Sophia A. Smith (Burt), Kate Winifred Smith, Julia Mack (Harrington), Lorissa Loveland (Carpenter), Caro- lyn Church (McElwain), Mary Emmons Church, Julia Church (Smith), Susan Rockwood, Mary Rockwood, Myra Ward (Little), Sarah Ingham (Bonney), Martha Blush (Klyver), Helen Alderman, Ethel Pease.
Probably no daughter of Middlefield has reached a higher so- cial position than Helen M. Smith, daughter of Matthew Smith, the founder of the Highland Agricultural Society. Having mar- ried Francis E. Warren, of Hinsdale, who went west to Wyoming, she rose with him as he became first governor of that state and later United States senator. In Washington she is remembered for her gracious hospitality. The marriage of their daughter, Frances, to Major John J. Pershing, was a brilliant event of the Mckinley administration. The tragic death of Mrs. Pershing and three of the children in a fire at the Presidio of San Fran- cisco just before the World War left the bereaved commander of the American forces in France with only one member of his family, his son, Warren Pershing.
The first two young men from Middlefield who took up the study of medicine and surgery, and who studied at about the same time, were Dr. Austin Church and Dr. Ebenezer Emmons. Dr. Church did not follow the practice of medicine, but turned his attention to the scienec of chemistry, in which he was an expert, and engaged in the manufacture of several articles of commerce which for their purity and excellence of preparation always found a ready market. He located in New York City and was a gentleman of acknowledged worth and was much esteemed by all who knew him.
Dr. Ebenezer Emmons practiced a short time in Chester, then removed to Williamstown, where he soon rose to eminence as a physician and surgeon. The case which first brought him into notoriety was unique. A little daughter of Major Sloane, who lived near the college, accidentally got a pin into her throat which all the older doctors in the vicinity failed to remove. The mother of the child insisted upon having young Dr. Emmons called. He modestly approached that august body of doctors and proposed the following plan of operation, which he successfully carried
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out. He cut a piece of dry sponge of suitable size and tying a strong string to it, induced the little child to swallow it. After waiting a sufficient time for the sponge to become expanded by absorbing the juices of the stomach, he pulled steadily upon the string, and up came the pin, sticking in the piece of sponge. He was subsequently appointed tutor, then professor of chemistry and natural history in Williams College, his Alma Mater. He was very popular with the faculty and students, and especially so with the president of the college, Rev. Dr. Edward Griffin. He wrote several treatises on geology and published a class book in mineralogy, which for several years was used as a text-book in all or nearly all of our colleges. He also made a geological survey of several of the states of the Union. He removed from Wil- liamstown to Albany, and spent some time in North Carolina. When the war broke out, he was not permitted to leave the south but was compelled to show the rebels how to make gunpowder to shoot the Yankees with.
Dr. Jefferson Church, a native of Middlefield, studied under Professor Tulley to whose theory and principles of practice he always enthusiastically adhered. Dr. Church, being of a literary turn of mind, edited and published the lectures of Professor Tulley. After practicing a short time in Peru he moved to Springfield where he carried on his profession for many years. He was a pronounced abolitionist and fearlessly upheld the anti- slavery cause.
One of the first, and possibly the most distinguished woman to go out from Middlefield was Dr. Cynthia Smith, the daughter of Orrin Smith. Fitting herself to be a physician, she practiced her profession in Rochester, New York, with much skill and with genuine interest in the well-being of her patients. She invented a surgical appliance of great value which might have brought her fame and fortune if it had been properly placed before the public. Her mental endowments gave her a keen appreciation of the beautiful in art and nature, and her unselfish devotion to her work and her deep religious convictions were a constant in- spiration to the friends who mourned her death in 1887.
Another physician who, though a native of Becket, spent his boyhood days in Middlefield, was Frank Whittemore. He once remarked that "Middlefield was the most intelligent town in
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Hampshire County about 1848 because of the number of keen witted and well educated people it contained." Dr. Whittemore studied medicine with Dr. Jefferson Church and elsewhere, prac- ticed in New York City, in Connecticut, and for twenty-five years was a specialist in chronic diseases at Clyde, Ohio, where he became quite famous and very successful. When he came to Middlefield, he lived first on the fine farm at the head of the Reservoir. Later he lived in Blush Hollow when Factory Village was a bustling hive of industry. He had attended a select school at the Center when that hamlet was a busy mart of trade.
Not many years ago, Dr. Whittemore, at the age of eighty, re- visited Middlefield after an absence of more than fifty years. It was in the fall, and without notifying any of the townspeople, he drove over from Becket, passing Factory Village and through the Center to the James Church homestead. So changed was the character of the place with the disappearance of the Reservoir and the mills at Factory Village and with the absence of people on the roads that he could scarcely believe that it could be the thriving town in which he grew up. Setting out on foot to visit his old home at the head of the Reservoir he found that the flood of 1874 and the subsequent reversion of the region to a state of nature had so changed the aspect of things that it was only with much muscular effort and prolonged search that it was possible to locate the old house,-an overgrown pile of ruins being the only clue. He returned thoroughly exhausted to the Church house, then owned by William Bryan, and after refreshment he drove back to Becket without meeting a soul to inform him whether there was any citizen in town who might have remem- bered the aged doctor in the days of his youth.
Middlefield seems to have been supplied with a doctor during most of its existence up to 1870. The first ones were Bazaleel Wright, familiarly known as "Dr. Zela" for short, and Philip Jones, who lived in the region of Blossom's Tavern which was the earliest community of the town. Dr. William Coleman also moved to the tavern after first living east of the Center. When the Center began to develop in the '30's Dr. Joseph Warren built the house now owned by the Duggan family, where he prac- ticed for many years. He is chiefly remembered by some for his big black horse which had a reputation for being very fierce.
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Of another school was Dr. William E. Underwood, who prac- ticed for some years about 1850. His office was the two-story building which once stood north of the Congregational Church, originally Solomon Root's button shop. Dr. Underwood was a "Thompsonian," a "botanical doctor" some styled him, ignoring ipecac and calomel, prescribing lobelia for emetics, and also "steaming remedy." Though looked down upon by the regular practitioners, he was singularly successful in the treatment of his patients. He practiced dentistry also. It is related of him that he extracted a tooth and filled and replaced it successfully. Some of the young folk of that day became quite friendly with Dr. Underwood, playing checkers with him in his office and being permitted to sniff his chloroform and wander in dreamland as a result.
The most popular physician Middlefield ever had was probably Dr. James Uriah Church, who after long study began practicing in New York City. Upon receiving a petition signed by no fewer than eighty-six men urging him to take up practice in Middlefield, he came back to his native town where he practiced for six years. Not only was he a faithful and successful phy- sician, extending his ride into neighboring towns, but he was active in public affairs and an enthusiastic member of the High- land Agricultural Society. His sudden death by accident while driving down a steep hill in Peru was a great shock to all his fellow citizens.
Dr. Edwin C. Bidwell, a graduate of Yale, followed Dr. Church as physician in Middlefield, and proved himself a good physician and skillful surgeon. But being an honest doctor he sometimes did not deal out medicine in old time quantities. When medicine was not needed he would not give it; and this rendered him unpopular with certain people in town. When the Civil War broke out he was made an assistant surgeon, was promoted and served with distinction. Probably the last physician was Dr. Charles F. Starkweather, who did not remain long in town. He is characterized in "The Middlefield Alphabet""" under the letter "P" as follows :
"Also for Physician, our beloved Starkweather,
Who prescribes for our ills and charges light as a feather,"'
Put whether this was said in praise or satire is not known.
5 See Mack Genealogy, page 1675.
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Another resident of the town who should be mentioned here was the mother of the late Hiram Taylor, "Granny Taylor" as she was called. She was the midwife of the town and is remen- bered as a picturesque figure mounted on horseback with her saddlebags, riding in hot haste to accommodate her patrons.
A case of "treatment" which was not performed by any of the practitioners of medicine, is related by a former resident as fol- lows: "It was said that sudden immersion in cold water would cure an insane person. The writer's father and others deter- mined to try the experiment on Urbane Crowell, a man thus afflicted. To effect the object, men were placed at the ends of a large timber railing (of the bridge over the pond in the Hollow) with Urbane in the middle, the avowed intention being to turn the timber over into the pond: whilst Urbane was lifting with his might my father came quietly behind and easily thrust him head over heels into the water. He was soon rescued, but the devil had not vacated, but was somewhat enraged."
Dr. Elbridge G. Wheeler, who practiced many years in Becket, spent his last years in Factory Village. He is recalled by some as a good teacher in his early days, but is especially remembered by others because of his severe and strict discipline. One former pupil states : "When detected in breach of school rules the doctor would quietly approach the culprit, generally stroke his head, remarking that he was a nice boy, had a nice head of hair, then suddenly grasping him by the back hair and bringing him to his perpendicular which was preliminary to further discipline."
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