USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Middlefield > History of the town of Middlefield, Massachusetts > Part 30
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acres in the north to forty-two acres at the south. The lots in the whole Grant would thus average about fifty-one acres each, but the areas given in deeds where the land was actually sur- veyed seldom agree ; we find groups of two lots described as con- taining from ninety to 120 acres.
But these details are of little moment. At the time Arnold was dividing up his land there was already in motion the move- ment to the western part of the state and toward New York, the people from the crowded Connecticut Valley pushing out into the wild lands after the last of the Indian Wars. In the high- lands of western Massachusetts towns had been laid out and set- tlements begun shortly after 1760. Speculation extended the movement of taking up land. Hardy pioneers began clearing the territory and building homes, for settlers were attracted to this region because the price of lots was low and they were prom- ised homes at little cost aside from their own labor.
In the midst of this movement Arnold threw his tract in Pres- cott's Grant open for settlement. Living as he did in East Had- dam, Connecticut, it is natural that his offers should have been
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PRESCOTT'S GRANT
taken up first by those of his neighbors who shared the spirit of enterprise of that time. The first deeds of sale of lots are dated January 15, 1773, and at least forty of the lots were taken up that year. Settlement was not immediate, however, and several of the purchasers sold their holdings within a few years. The Revo- lutionary War broke out soon after and as many of the pur- chasers and ultimate settlers were in the patriot army, they deferred settlement until their terms of service had expired. Let us now study the names of those who bought lots in the Grant.
PURCHASERS OF LOTS IN PRESCOTT'S GRANT
The first purchasers were largely residents of East Haddam.
WILLIAM CHURCH, carpenter, purchased in 1773 six lots num- bered as follows: Lot 12 in I Div. E. Lots 2, 6, and 12 in II Div. E. Lots 11 in I and II Div. W. He afterward settled on Lot 12 I Div. E.
JOSEPH CHURCH, blacksmith, an uncle of William, the car- penter, bought lots 1, 4, 5, and 9 in II Div. E. but four years afterward sold them to David Bolton of Murrayfield, who settled on lot 11 I Div. E. about that time.
Three sons of John Church, who were cousins of William, the carpenter, were among the first purchasers. They were :
JOHN CHURCH, JR., blacksmith who bought lots 1 and 12 in the I and II Div. W.
IRA CHURCH, blacksmith, who bought lots 13 in the I and II Divs. E.
JABEZ CHURCH, carpenter, who took lots 9 in the I and II Divs. W. but sold them to his younger brother Elihu Church, who settled on these lots about 1783.
GEORGE GRIFFIN, yeoman, was another large buyer. He took lots 10 and 3 in I Div. E. lot 7 in II Div. E. lots 4 in I and II Divs. W. and lot 13 in II Div. W.
AMASA BRAINARD, yeoman bought lot 11 in I Div. E. which he sold to David Bolton, who settled there, and 13 in I Div. W. which he sold to Wm. Taylor who settled and built his house on it, about 1781.
JAMES DICKSON, weaver, bought lots 1, 2, 7, and 8 in I Div. E. He built his house on lot 7. He also acquired lots 5 and 6 in the
352
HISTORY OF MIDDLEFIELD
same division in 1792. At one time he owned lots 5 in I and II Divs. W.
EPHRAIM ARNOLD, shoemaker, took lots 7 in I and II Divs. W. but sold them to Jabez Bacon in 1779.
EBENEZER EMMONS, yeoman, acquired lots 6 in I and II Divs. W. Daniel Spencer Emmons settled here at least as early as 1783.
JOHN SPENCER, yeoman, bought lots 10 in I and II Divs. W. where he settled a decade later.
DAVID SPENCER, yeoman, brother of John Spencer, bought lots 10 and 11 in II Div. E. which he sold to John Smith of East Haddam, 5-12-1786.
ICHABOD OLMSTEAD, in 1777 purchased lots 4, 5, 6 and 9 in I Div. E. and lots 8 in I and II Divs. W. Ashbell Olmstead lived for a few years on lot 9 in I Div. E.
While all the above were East Haddam residents there was one purchaser from Colchester, Connecticut, who was
JOHN NEWTON, who in 1773 bought lots 3 in the I and II Divs. W. Here his son James settled as early as 1781, but sold the place to his older brother, John, who settled there in 1785, and moved to Peru.
Of the purchasers of the few remaining lots we know little. From deeds we learn that JOSHUA CHAPEL had lots 2 in the I and II Divs. W. in 1773 while DAVID MARTIN was in possession of lots 3 and 8 in II Div. E. The purchasers of the lots are thus seen to be, not men of wealth and position, but men in the artisan and farming classes, men who knew the value of money and obtained their means and living by the work of their own hands. Of the original sixteen purchasers, only three, William Church, James Dickson and John Spencer, moved from Con- necticut and made their homes on their new possessions in the Grant.
SQUATTERS ON PRESCOTT'S GRANT
When the purchasers of lots on the Grant began to sell their holdings to actual settlers, the latter came into conflict with at least three families who had already made clearings in that territory, and who were naturally unwilling to give up their possessions though they held no title to them by right of pur- chase. The earliest of these squatters was the Taggart family.
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PRESCOTT'S GRANT
THE TAGGARTS. The first settlers on the Grant were the Taggarts, James, John and James, Jr., from Murrayfield, who in 1769 sold their lands near the present Norwich Bridge and took up residence near the head of the former Reservoir through which tract the Hartwood trail led. They improved about two hundred acres of land lying on the meadows of Factory Brook which in the early days of the town came to be called Taggart's Brook. In fact, this region at one time bore the name of "Tag- gartstown." The Prescotts brought suit against James Taggart for trespass in 1774. The claim was that Taggart had dis- possessed the Prescotts of 2,672 acres, but at the trial the fact was brought out that Taggart laid claim merely to two hundred acres which he had fenced and improved, whereupon the court gave Taggart the verdict and ordered that he recover costs from Prescott. The latter promptly appealed the case to the Supreme Court at Northampton. Since search has failed to locate records of this case we conclude that it was settled out of court in favor of the Taggarts for they remained on their preserves and their territory on the meadows, which included the best portions of several lots in the II Div E. and I Div. W., came to be called by the name of "Taggart's Possessions." These "Possessions" were carefully excluded in the transfer of lots as the following quotation indicates : when Joseph Church sold his lots to David Bolton, the deed conveying the title to lots 1, 4, 5, and 9 of II Div. E. reads :
"Whereas James Taggart is now in possession of some part of the above lots, it is not designed by this deed to give conveyance of said Taggart's Possessions but to have them entirely excluded." Dec. 10, 1777.
The Taggarts all signed the Petition for Incorporation in 1781. James was a resident of Middlefield in 1790 but John had moved to Partridgefield. James disposed of his land in 1792 for the sum of forty-five pounds, conveying the title to George Griffin, Uriah Church, Jabez Bacon, Ebenezer Lealand, Philip Meacham, Ichabod Olmstead and James Dickson, the owners at that time of the original lots of which portions were within the boundaries of the "Possessions."
WILLIAM MANN. This man, who next to the Taggarts was the earliest settler on the Grant, was of Scotch-Irish descent. He had been a squatter in Murrayfield and had been allowed to draw
354
HISTORY OF MIDDLEFIELD
a lot when that township was divided. But probably being dis- satisfied with the lot he drew he began improvements upon four hundred acres of land near the southeast corner of Prescott's Grant as early as 1769. As will be seen from the map facing page 358, Mann's holdings were mostly on the lots in the southern half of the First Division in the East, and extended from near the road leading from the Center to Blush Hollow northeasterly toward Pelton Hill, extending westwardly to the foot of the hill. The map shows the area to be 276 acres rather than the 400 originally claimed.
In 1779 Mann bought a little more than an acre in the south- west corner of Worthington, adjoining his territory, from Elnathan Taylor. He is described in the deed as resident in Berkshire County which indicated that he was living on the Grant. By 1781 his presence on the Grant had caused trouble, for the men who had purchased lots from Arnold had begun to sell their land to settlers or were occupying the land themselves. This brought about a lawsuit, the Prescott's claiming that Mann had dispossessed them of 4371/2 acres. Mann's plea was deemed insufficient and Prescott was empowered to recover the land and damages of one penny lawful silver money. This was in 1781. Mann apparently appealed his case and at any rate remained where he was and proved a veritable thorn in the flesh of his neighbors who owned the land now by right of purchase. The chief sufferers were James Dickson, William Church and David Bolton. Dickson brought suit against Mann, but Mann had petitioned the General Court in his own behalf, upon which the following resolve was passed :
"September 29, 1781. Resolve on the petition of William Man for surveying Prescott's Grant in the county of Berkshire and suspending law- suits in the meantime. On the petition of William Man praying to be quieted in his possession of part of Prescott's Grant; Resolved that Elias Willard Jun. be surveyor to repair to Prescott's Grant, so called, in the county of Berkshire at the cost and expense of William Man to measure and take the contents of two plans of land granted to James Prescott, Esq., and his heirs in July A. D. 1771, the said Elias Willard Jun. together with the chain-men to be under oath, the said surveyor making a return of his doings to the general court at their next sitting, and be it further resolved that all law suits and proceedings in any court of law respecting the title or claim made by said William Man to any part of the above mentioned grants, which he is now in possession of, be suspended and stayed in the meantime. "'
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355
PRESCOTT'S GRANT
The survey of the grant was accordingly made by Elias Willard, Jr., and Prescott's Grant was found to contain 4,897 acres. The Resolve staid proceedings when the case came to trial at Great Barrington much to the disgust of Dickson who promptly made the following petition to the General Court;
"To the Honorable Senate and Honble House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in General Court Assembled at Boston, October 1781. The petition of James Dickson of Prescott's Grant (so called) Humbly showeth; That on the eleventh day of June A. D. 1771 a grant of Four Thousand four hundred acres of land in the County of Berkshire adjoining to Worthington, Washington, Partridgefield &c was confirmed by the General Court to James, Oliver and William Prescott, Esqs.
"That five hundred acres of same land your petitioner together with David Bolton and William Church have a just and clear title to by purchase ; Notwithstanding which one William Mann has been disturbing them in their possessions; and thereupon your petrs in the name of said Prescotts, and as their attorney commenced an action of Trespass against the said Mann at the inferior court of Common Pleas held at Great Barrington the third Tuesday in August last, from which Inferior Court the said cause was carried up to the Superior Court of Judicature &c held at Great Barrington on the Second Tuesday of this present October for Tryal, at which Superior Court your petitioner attended expecting the cause would be Tryed, but to the surprise of your petr the said Mann there produced a Resolve of this Honble Court passed the twenty-ninth day of September last whereby it was Resolved "that all Law Suits and proceedings in any court of Law respecting the Title or Claim made by said William Mann to any part of said Grant should be Suspended and Stayed." And in obedience to the said Resolve the Tryal was put off to the great cost and Damage of your petitioner-and as the said Mann has no manner of Right or Title to said Lands-
"Your petitioner humbly prays your Honours would be pleased to take his case into your wise and just consideration and revoke the Resolve aforesaid, and direct and empower the Honble Superior Court to be holden at North Hampton in the County of Hampshire in April next to hear and try the said action against the said Mann and give judgement thereon ; or relieve your petitioner in such way and manner as your Honours in your known Wisdom & goodness may see meet."
"The prayer of the petitioner was granted to the extent that the court to sit at Northampton in April was empowered to try the case, and that Mann should be notified fourteen days before the date appointed."
About the same time that these matters were being considered by the General Court Mann presented a new petition asking for a grant on the "overplus" of land in Prescott's Grant, claiming that within the bounds of the Grant as laid out were actually
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HISTORY OF MIDDLEFIELD
more than 4,400 acres which the General Court had given Pres- cott. That Mann was correct in his contention is shown by the two surveys of the Grant on record at the State House. The first dated September 5, 1781, shows a total area of 4,897 acres, a surplus of 497 acres over the amount granted. The second survey, dated November 16, 1781, made in response to Mann's petition in September of that year, shows a total of 4,9931/2 acres, an overplus of 5931/2 acres. Mann's petition reads as follows :
"To the Honorable Senate & House of Representatives of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts in General Court Assembled at Boston in the third Wednesday of January 1782,-
" The Petition of William Mann Humbly Sheweth to your Honours that in the year One Thousand Seven-Hundred and Sixty Nine he took up four Hundred Acres of Country Land now known by the Name of Prescott's Grant and Inclosed it in and began to make Improvements on the Same before said Land was granted to Prescott and your Petitioner had at the Same Time a Petition in the General Court in order to procure this Land not knowing that Mr. Prescott was about to petition for the Land. And as your petitioner has now a Petition lying in the General Court with an Order passed on the same as will be seen on the Journals of the General Court. Therefore your Petitioner Humbly Prays your Honours to grant him all the Overplus Land that is contained in said Prescott's Grant as will appear by the Survey of the Same upon his paying a Reasonable Reward for the Same to the Commonwealth; or if that cannot be granted, He prays your Honours that you would Suffer Him to Locate a Grant he has from a former General Court on this Overplus Land and your Petitioner cannot see how it will do any injury to those that purchased of said Pres- cott or in any ways Incommode Them in the Least as your Petitioner was one of the first Settlers, and on the Land before it was granted away by the General Court and the said Prescott has his full quantity of Land Still . . . "'
We find no record of a trial of this case. Mann signed the peti- tion for incorporation of Middlefield in 1781 but no mention is made of him in Middlefield Town Records. Hence it is evident that the Prescott's and those who bought their land had more influence with the General Court than did Mann and the case was settled out of court. At any rate Mann vacated the premises.
MILES WASHBURN was the third of the "squatters" on Pres- cott's Grant. He had been a resident of Murrayfield, his name first appearing on the valuation list for 1769. In 1773 he was
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PRESCOTT'S GRANT
among the taxpayers in Norwich. He next appears to be located in the southwest portion of Prescott's Grant where he improved and laid claim to 227 acres. Just where his home stood we do not know but it is possible that it was located 300 yards south- west of the house of Mr. Drozd, where there is a cellar in the lot. Washburn was one of the signers of the petition for in- corporation in 1781. He came into conflict with John Spencer who brought suit against him for trespass upon Lots 10 in the First and Second Divisions in the West, in 1781. Spencer lost his case, Washburn being given judgment and power to collect costs. Spencer immediately appealed his case to the Supreme Court at Great Barrington. The record of this case has not been found but since we find no deeds from Washburn conveying title to the land and since he disappears and Spencer remains we conclude that Spencer won his case or that the matter was settled out of court and that Washburn had to lose his land and im- provements. He was probably the Miles Washburn who was enumerated in Saratoga Township, New York, in 1790 census.
SETTLERS ON PRESCOTT'S GRANT
Since detailed information concerning all the settlers in Mid- dlefield has been given elsewhere in this work, we shall here merely enumerate the different families who located on the Grant, treating the subject geographically rather than chron- ologically.
As we travel across the northeast corner of the Grant, along Windsor Street beyond the Smith farm and the Chamberlain place we find on Lot No. 2, I Div. E. the cellar where stood the house of John Dickson, who settled here upon buying Lots 1 and 2 from his father in 1793.
Going north from the Center we pass, at the farm of G. E. Cook, Lot No. 9, I Div. E. on the left of the road where Ashbel Olmstead was living as early as 1787. Later Alpheus Russell owned the property. A short distance north of the house of Mr. Birnie, at the left of the road is the cellar of the house of James Dickson, on lot 8 I Div. E. where he settled about 1780. The house of Mr. Gardner further on was built by Uriah Church who bought lot 6 II Div. E. in 1794. Across the road once lived Gideon Russell, who bought in 1783 part of lots 4 and 5 II Div.
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HISTORY OF MIDDLEFIELD
E. of one David Taylor who had lived there as early as 1781. From the Russell place a road once led up over Dickson Hill, across lot 3 1I Div. E. where Nathan Mann was living as early as 1783, on to Lot 1 in the same division where Henry Lamberton built his house in 1779. Jonathan Woodward lived there later. Following the main highway beyond the Gardner place we pass the site of John Meacham's house on the right on the west end of lot 5 II Div. E. The Sternagle house was originally the dwelling of John Newton, who took up lot 3 II Div. W. about 1785. At the top of the hill the road passes the site of John Coats' house on the right, where he settled in lot 2 I Div. W. in 1785. At the Wanzer place lived Captain Alexander Dickson, . son of James, who bought lots 1 I and II Divs. W. of Warren Church in 1802.
Going west from the Center to the road going to the farm of Harry Pease, we pass on the right, at the brow of the hill Lot 11 I Div. E. where David Bolton lived, who was the first of those who purchased lots on the Grant to actually settle there. He came in 1777 and sold out to Erastus Ingham in 1784. On the left was the farm of William Church on lot 12, where he was in 1783, and further south was the farm of Enoch Crowell on lot 13 I Div. E. where he was as early as 1788 and where John Williams later lived. Passing on down the hill toward Blush Hollow we come to the house of Jesse Pelkey where lived John Smith, who was on the west part of lot 11 as early as 1805. In the Hollow south of the dam somewhere on lot 13 II Div. E. lived Samuel Gray who bought the property in 1792. Amasa Blush moved to the Hollow about 1799 and lived on lot 13 II Div. E.
On the east side of the meadows once covered by the Reservoir is the cellar where stood the house of Joseph Dickson, son of James, on lot 8 II Div. E. ; he was in town as early as 1781. Not far north of this spot the Taggart's lived. At the head of the meadows on what is called the Samuel Smith, Jr., farm lived first Daniel Spencer Emmons as early as 1783. He sold out to Ebenezer Lealand in 1790, who was followed by Aaron Whitte- more about 1802. The farm was on lots 6 I and II Divs. W.
On the West Hill William Taylor built his house, now owned by Mr. Eden, on Lot 13 I Div. W. about 1781. Just north of
Richard + Thomas Abbe
7
1
100
101
100
93
91
Abel Russell
Thomas Durant
James + Philip Meacham
Joseph + ยท Hezekwh RUSS
Elias Warts.
Jonathan Clark.
Parker Fellows
Robbins
Den
Samuel clark
Taggarts
Alexander Dickson
Henry
Jonathan woodward Lamberton
Brook
2
A.& J. Wash burn John
2
2
John Dickson
Coats.
GRANT
3
3
Nathan Mann
John Newton
+
4
+
+ West
ssessions
Division
Meachar
Russell
6
S
First Division
D. S. Emmons Ebenezer Zealand
6
uriah Church
7
7
8
7
James
Danie
Tony gard
8
Joseph Disk song
Ashbel Olm steaky Alphous Russel
-
10
1
Justas oras
Abel West Ephtham Booth Phineas Perkins
William
Paria Colton !! Eresties Inghana
12
Theodor coats
church
13
1
Coles
Enoch Crowell
[Hemen) Prior
Break
1
1
13
BECKET
Settlers on Prescott's Grant and
Washington and Partridgefield Sections.
WORTHINGTON
Samuel Lealand
Luther Lealand
Lendas
Bildad Kibbe Silas Bush
Taggarts
Second
klan
Dickson
. Moses & Eggleston
9
WASHINGTON
1 Mores Eggleston
Elihu Church Benjamin Eggleston
John
second
Division
John Spencer
Miles Washburn
.
1
Second Division- West
PRESCOTT'S
Gideon
Das
John
First Division - East
3
3
4
id Taylor
Job.
Stree
Thomas cooley
PARTRIDGEFIELD
Samuel Gray
william Taylor
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PRESCOTT'S GRANT
the Drozd place John Spencer settled about 1783, on lot 10 I Div. W. where there is still trace of the cellar west of the high- way. Farther on, on the east side of the road dwelt Elihu Church on lot 9, I Div. W. He came about 1783. Here Ben- jamin Eggleston built the brick house after he bought out Church about 1800. Phineas Perkins lived north on lot No. 8 in 1799, and Silas Bush at the Cross place on Lot No. 7 II Div W. about 1800.
How the dwellers on the Grant were isolated and without the advantages of town government before the incorporation of Mid- dlefield is given in other chapters of the history of that town.
APPENDIX B
DOCUMENTS CONNECTED WITH THE HISTORY OF MIDDLEFIELD
A S HAS been stated in a previous chapter, the dwellers on the Middlefield plateau, under the leadership of David Mack, applied to their respective towns asking that land might be set off to join Prescott's Grant to form a new town- ship. Concerning this we find the following in the book Town of Murrayfield, Mass. A. M. Copeland, quoting Murrayfield town records :
"Action touching the Northwest Corner of the town of Murrayfield. "A special town meeting was called to be held March 29, 1779 and one article in the Warrant was, "To see if the town will consent to have the northwest corner of this town set off to join with Worthington and Becket corner in order to make a society or town." This was in response to the following petition : "Murrayfield, February 18, 1779.
"Whereas we, inhabitants of the north west part of the town of Murray- field being together with the inhabitants of the northeast part of Becket, and the southwest part of Worthington, unanimously think it best to be set off as a town; Wherefore we request and desire to be set off from this town and adjoin those forementioned inhabitants; our living so remote from the middle of the town makes it very tedious attending any town business especially the preaching of the gospel. Therefore we whose names are underwritten do humbly petition to this town to be set off as far as Thomas Elders."
(Signed)
SAMUEL JONES, JOHN TAYLOR, JOHN THOMPSON, JOHN JONES, BENJAMIN EGGLESTON, BIGOTT EGGLESTON, LEBANON ISHIAM.
"The town of Murrayfield voted not to grant the request.'' 1
In Becket the matter was given a more generous treatment as the following extract from the Becket Town Records indicates :
"Becket, March Sth, 1779. Sth Article Put to Vote whether they will hear the request of the People at the North East Corner of the town as they
1 Copeland's Town of Murrayfield, Mass., page 142.
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DOCUMENTS
requesting that some part of said town be voted of (f) in order to be erected in to a separate town with other lands adjacent and it Passed in the affirmative also Voted that their be a Committee to affix a Line what part of said town shall be so set of (f) and make report to the town at some future meeting of said town for their approbation or disapprobation as they shall Think best and that James Birchard, Lieut. Jonas Childs and William Watson Jr. be a committee for the purpose afore said." 2
It apparently took all summer for the committee to find time to attend to the business and report, for it was not until Novem- ber that the report was made.
"Nov. 5, 1779. Put to vote whether they will accept the Report of the Committee appointed to view and report what part of the North East Corner shall be set to the proposed new township they Reporting that all the Land Lying East of North East Corner of 3rd Division Lot No. 33 Running a straight course to where taggarts Brook enters Westfield River, all land East of said Line and north of said River be voted of (f) as Requested and it passed in the negative.'' 3
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