USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Middlefield > History of the town of Murrayfield : earlier known as Township No. 9, and comprising the present towns of Chester and Huntington, the northern part of Montgomery, and the southeast corner of Middlefield : 1760-1763 > Part 3
USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Huntington > History of the town of Murrayfield : earlier known as Township No. 9, and comprising the present towns of Chester and Huntington, the northern part of Montgomery, and the southeast corner of Middlefield : 1760-1763 > Part 3
USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Chester > History of the town of Murrayfield : earlier known as Township No. 9, and comprising the present towns of Chester and Huntington, the northern part of Montgomery, and the southeast corner of Middlefield : 1760-1763 > Part 3
USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Montgomery > History of the town of Murrayfield : earlier known as Township No. 9, and comprising the present towns of Chester and Huntington, the northern part of Montgomery, and the southeast corner of Middlefield : 1760-1763 > Part 3
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A HISTORY OF MURRAYFIELD.
rapidly increasing in the colony, education was advancing, publishing houses were engaged in diffusing the productions of both native and foreign authors, some newspapers were published, and the colonists were a reading people. It is a noteworthy fact that many copies of Blackstone's Commentaries were sold in the colony, and the work was extensively read by persons ontside of the legal profession. Speeches of popular orators and addresses of the General Court were sent into every town; and the writings of Chauncy, of Mayhew and of Edwards were read in nearly every honse. There were 530 churches in New England and the worshippers were numerous. Matters of public con- cern were freely discussed from the pulpit, and there was a lively interest among the people in all matters pertaining to the public weal. One hundred and forty-two years had passed since the landing of the Pilgrims. Springfield had been settled 126 years, and there had grown up in the Conneticut valley many thrifty towns and settlements.
FIRST DIVISION OF LOTS SURVEYED.
The propietors of township No. 9 employed Eldad Taylor and Charles Baker, two surveyors residing in Westfield, to survey and lay out the first division of lots in the township. They did this work in October and November, 1762, and they surveyed and laid ont about 120 lots, most of them containing 108 acres each, and furnished a plat of the territory so surveyed to the proprietors. These lots were laid out in tiers extending N. 10° W. from Blandford line to the north line of township No. 9. This division of lots comprised nearly all the land lying between the west and middle branches of Westfield river.
In gathering historical facts few things are more satisfactory than original documents and records made and kept at the time of the events to which they relate. The records of the doings of the origi- nal proprietors, kept by their own clerk, begin with the following statement:
BEGINNING OF THE PROPRIETORS' RECORDS.
"No. 9. A township lying west of Southampton containing about 24,700 acres exclusive of grants, and of 250 acres now in possession of John Bolton, and bounded north on New Hingham and to run from the southwest corner of said New Hingham to the northeast corner of No. 4; then on the east line of No. 4 to the southeast corner of said No. 4; and from thence the same course to Blandford line; then to bound south on Blandford and West- field; and east on Southampton, to William Williams for 1,500 pounds, who
29
A HISTORY OF MURRAYFIELD.
gave it up to John Chandler, John Murray, Abijah Willard, and Timothy Paine from whom have received twenty pounds and their bond for 1480 pounds."
"The above-written is extracted from a report of a committee of the General Court, accepted by the same, and consented to by the governor.
MR. JNO. COTTON, D. Secty. Copy examined per TIMO. PAINE, Prop. Clerk."
PROPRIETORS' FIRST MEETING.
The first meeting of the original proprietors was held pursuant to a warrant issued by Josiah Dwight, a justice of the peace, in response to the following request:
"To Josiah Dwight, Esqr. one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the county of Hampshire. The subscribers, proprietors of a township of land sold by the province to us in June last called No. 9, lying adjoining to Blandford, Westfield, Southampton, etc., in the county of Hampshire, desire you would issue your warrant for the calling a meeting of said proprietors to be held on the 5th day of January next at 10 o'clock forenoon at the house of Mr. Wil- liam Lyman, Innholder, in Northampton in said county, to act on the following articles, viz:
1. To choose a moderator, proprietors' clerk, & treasurer, & to raise money for defraying the charges of lotting out said township & for the settlers to draw their lots & agree upon the method for calling proprietors' meetings for the future.
Worcester, November 18th, 1762.
ABIJAH WILLARD, } For themselves and the other proprietors."
TIMO. PAINE, I
A warrant was issued as follows:
"Hampshire ss. To Timothy Paine, Esq., one of the above proprietors. L. s. ] Agreebly to the above request you are hereby required to notify the proprietors of the above-said township that they meet & assemble at the time & place above mentioned to act on the foregoing articles. Notice of which meeting is to be given by advertising the same in the several Boston weekly newspapers forty days at least before said meeting agreeably to law. Hereof fail not & make return of this warrant with your doings thereon to said proprietors at said meeting. Given under my band & seal this 20th day of November A. D. 1762, & third year of his majesty's reign.
JOSIAH DWIGHT, Just. Pacis."
The record of the meeting is as follows:
"At a meeting of the proprietors of a township of land sold by the Province in June last to Jobn Chandler, John Murray, Abijah Willard, & Timo. Paine, Esqrs. called No. 9., alias Murray Field lying adjoining to Blandford, Westfield, Southampton, &c., by warrant from the worshipful
30
A HISTORY OF MURRAYFIELD.
Josiah Dwight, Esq. at Northampton in the county of Hampshire at the house of Capt. William Lyman on Wednesday the 5th day of January 1763, after due warning.
Voted. That John Chandler be moderator.
Voted. That Timo. Paine be proprietors' clerk.
Voted. That John Murray be proprietors' treasurer.
Voted. That the settlers in said township be admitted upon the conditions following, viz:
That each one within the space of three years commencing from the first of June last build a dwelling house on their lot of the following dimensions, viz: Twenty-four feet long, eighteen feet wide, & seven feet stud, & have seven acres of land well cleared & fenced & brought to English grass or plowed, & actually settle with family on the same & continue such family thereon for the space of six years, & shall also within three years from this time actually settle a Prostestant minister of the Gospel there & pay one-sixth part of the charge thereof, & that each settler have 100 acres of land as an incouragement, & that they give bond to the treasurer of said proprietors in the sum of fifty pounds conditioned to perform said conditions, & that upon their complying & performing said conditions the said lots be confirmed to them, their heirs, & assigns forever.
Voted. That the following persons be admitted settlers upon the following hundred acre lots & conditions aforesaid, viz. :
THE LOTS DRAWN JANUARY 5, 1763.
Toted. That the following persons be admitted settlers upon the following hundred acre lots & conditions aforesaid, viz:
David Bolton,
No.
2
Thomas Kennedy, No. 68
Asa Noble,
4
Robert Blair,
70
Thos. Noble, Jr.,
6
James Clark,
71
John Gilmore,
8
Absalom Blair,
66
72
John Woods,
11
Israel Rose,
75
Alexander Gordon,
13
James Fairman,
80
John Hammon,
..
15
Abner Smith, 66
82
John Lyman,
17
David Gilmore,
84
John Scott, Jr.,
66
19
William English,
86
John Smith,
21
Nathan Mann,
66
87
Benja. Matthews,
66
23
John Boyes,
66
90
John Laccore,
25
Andrew English,
92
John McIntire,
66
27
William Mann,
94
David Scott,
32
Jonathan Webber,
98
Ebenezer Webber,
33 John Brown,
100
Elias Lyman,
35
Thomas Morcton,
102
Levi Woods,
38
Samuel Elder,
104
31
A HISTORY OF MURRAYFIELD.
Gideon Mathews,
No. 41 William Campbell, Jr.,
No. 106
William Kennedy,
45 William Moore, ..
108
Glass Cochran,
66
49 Thomas MeIntire, 66 110
John Crooks, 66
51 Paul Kingston,
114
Abrahan Flemming, 66
53 John Wood of Lancaster, 66
43
James Fairman, 66
54
Nathan Rose,
112
David Flemming,
56 Jesse Johnson,
116
John Webber,
64
James Black,
66
37"
John Crawford,
66
The remainder of the record of this meeting is unimportant for the purposes of this history. Only thirteen of the nineteen settlers found on this territory by the proprietors when they took possession, were permitted to draw lots; of these only seven were permitted to hold one hundred acres, where they had begun their improvements; six were permitted only to draw lots with the other settlers, their wishes to retain the lands where they had begun improvement being disregarded by the proprietors; the remaining six of the nineteen settlers, James Bolton, Zebulon Fuller, Moses Hale, Ebenezer Meacham, William Miller, and Moses Moss were neither permitted to keep the lands upon which they had settled nor to draw lots with the others. Fuller, Meacham, and Miller remained and purchased farms ; the other three went elsewhere.
THE POLICY OF THE PROPRIETORS IN SCATTERING THE SETTLERS OVER DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE TOWN.
It appears to have been the policy of the proprietors to so loeate the settlers as to seeure the settlement and cultivation of lots in all parts of the First Division. The wishes and convenience of the settlers were not consulted. Settlements had been begun within the territory of Ingersoll grant, which the proprietors thought a more desirable loca- tion than the territory sold to them. It was more accessible to West- field, as well as to other more settled places in this part of the province. Much of the land lay near the river, was comparatively level and easily cultivated. Roads conld more easily be built. The advantages of that part of the township which lies along West Branch, in the vicinity of what was afterwards known as Chester Factories, were offset by its remoteness from such roads as had then been established leading to the more settled towns. The proprietors owned but little available lands in the vicinity of Ingersoll grant. To make a successful settle- ment of their lands they were obliged to seek that part of the township which constituted the highlands, and which comprised
32
A HISTORY OF MURRAYFIELD.
a strip of territory about three or four miles wide lying immediately west"of the Middle Branch and extending from the south to the north lines of the township. While this served the purposes of the proprietors, it was in many ways unfortunate for the settlers. They were obliged to go to and from their homes as best they could, the distance from one point of settlement to another being not only bur- densome but the way also difficult. The proprietors neither laid out nor built any roads; they only made an allowance for roads by adding two acres and eighty rods to their one hundred acre lots. When the settlers came to the building of roads they found it impracticable to locate them where there would be the least grade or the shortest dis- tance. Farm buildings had already been built and homes established where the proprietors had dictated. The people were too poor to abandon their homes and build anew, and so the roads must be laid to accommodate the location of their houses. The maintenance of these roads, as well as the original locations of them, has ever been a burden upon the town, entailing the original disadvantages upon suc- ceeding generations; so that the citizens of what is known as Chester Hill still find themselves at great disadvantage in this regard. Their most pressing need is good roads of easy grade, and such roads are possible even in this hilly town. It is noticeable that the farms earli- est abandoned are those most difficult of access. There are many good farms within the limits of the First Division of lots in township No. 9. Men have prospered and, despite many disadvantages, still do prosper upon these farms. The land is as strong in fertility as any in Massachusetts-stronger even than the alluvial lands bordering the Connectient river. Nearly all the valuable crops grown in Massachu- setts can be successfully cultivated here. All the ordinary fruits of New England, even peaches and grapes, are grown abundantly wher- ever the attempt is skillfully made. The atmosphere upon the high- lands is as pure and healthful as man breathes in any part of the world. Above the fogs, the dampness, the cutting frosts, and the sweltering heat of the lowlands bordering the rivers, the summers are delightful, and the winters, although possibly more subject to strong winds than among the lowlands, are more even and are far less unwholesome than in the valleys, exposed as they are to sharp frosts and the chills attending the frequent thaws and the dampness, which are inseparable from the lowlands. Why should not these highlands be more populous? What explanation is more forcible than the existence of so many breakneck roads, and the lack of roads of easy grade-the building of which is, no doubt, practicable?
33
A HISTORY OF MURRAYFIELD.
WHERE SOME OF THE SETTLERS CAME FROM.
It is difficult and perhaps practically impossible at this time to as- certain where all these settlers and purchasers of lots in township No. 9 came from. Most of them were adventurers seeking cheap lands, and most of them were poor. The Boltons came to this township from Blandford, and so did John Crooks, John Scott, Jr., and Glass Cochran. Andrew and William English, and probably the Gilmores. came from Pelham. Elias and John Lyman lived in Northampton and never settled in township No. 9. Elias Lyman gave his lot to his two sons, Stephen and Timothy, who, packing their worldly effects into a chest and carrying it between them, one hand grasping a handle of the chest and the other an axe, made their way on foot to the high- lands of No. 9. Here they made their homes and became useful and honored citizens. The farms which their industry changed from a forest to fertile fields are now owned by their descendents, whose lives have reflected credit to the name they bear. Stephen Lyman took for his wife Anna Blair of Weston. Were Absalom and Robert Blair her relatives, and did they come from Weston? Timothy Lyman married Dorothy Kinney. John Boyes, John Woods, and probably James Black and Levi Woods came from Rutland, the town in which John Murray lived. John Wood came from Lancaster where Abijah Willard lived. Jesse Jolinson and John Hannum came from Southampton. Abner and John Smith came from Northampton. Tradition says that John was a man of extraordinary physical strength and endurance, and that when he came to the highlands of No. 9 he came all the way on foot, carrying on his back a five-pail iron kettle. His first wife, Abigail, died August 12th. 1767, and the headstone at her grave in the ceme- tery on Chester Hill is the oldest in town. He married for his second * wife Abiline Cors, November 10th, 1762. Gideon Matthews was a resident of Torrington, Conn., and the son of Benjamin Matthews of that place, who afterwards moved to Westfield, but never resided in township No. 9, although he drew a lot in the first division; but Gideon settled in No. 9. Israel Rose came from Granville and settled near the Middle Branch of Westfield river as early as 1760. Hlis wife was the daughter of Benjamin Matthews. It is probable that Nathan Rose was his brother. The Nobles were Westfield men, but never became residents of No. 9, nor did they fulfill the conditions upon which they drew their lots. Ebenezer Meacham came from Enfield, Conn. It does not appear where the Webbers came from. Jonathan Hart Webber was a single man, and in 1721 he took for his
34
A HISTORY OF MURRAYFIELD.
wife Keziah Cooley of Springfield. Timothy Smith came from Wall- ingford, Conn., and on the 5th of October, 1763, he received from the proprietors a deed of 500 acres of land located between the East and Middle Branches of Westfield river, abutting mostly upon the Middle Branch and included the southerly part of Goss Hill. The price was £225, for which he gave his bond to the proprietors and secured it by a mortgage upon his 500 acres.
William Miller, who was excluded by the proprietors at the drawing of lots in January, 1763, purchased 100 acres of land toward the north part of the township, at the confluence of the east branch and a brook for many years called Miller's brook, but now called Little river. The deed was dated November 3d, 1763. This land was interval land for the most part, is still owned by his descendents, and is considered a valuable farm at this time. The price was £35.
John Boyes, Levi Woods, John Woods of Rutland, John Wood of Lancaster, John Crooks and Glass Cochran gave up or otherwise dis- posed of their lots. They did not become residents of the new town- ship. Malcom Henry came from Oakham early in 1763, and on the 25th of April, 1764, took from John Woods of Rutland a deed of his lot No. 11, and settled upon it and built a house and set up the first inn in that part of the township. It was located southeasterly from the meeting-house, a short distance southerly from the road leading to Littleville. The old cellar-place and the very deep well were filled up recently by the present owner of the land.
SETTLERS UPON INGERSOLL GRANT.
Samuel Webb, son of David Ingersoll's grantee, came to township No. 9 and settled on land that he inherited from his father. Nath- aniel Weller and Ebenezer King, both Westfield men, came and settled near East Branch. But these people had nothing to do with the original proprietors in the matter of their holdings. February 2d, 1763, Benjamin Matthews, then of Westfield, sold to Amaziah Dickinson of Amherst, the north end of the tracts which he bought of Weller, and described it as located in a place called "Westfield River Branches, otherwise called Murray Field, otherwise called number Nine," but Dickinson did not become a resident of this township.
John Bolton resided just over the line in Blandford on the land that was conveyed to him by John Foye, one of the original proprietors of Blandford. The land which Benjamin Matthews conveyed to his son Gideon, having been re-conveyed to him, he
*
35
A HISTORY OF MURRAYFIELD.
sold to John Mosely of Westfield, for sixty pounds, by deed dated February 6th. 1264.
A deed, remarkable for its indefiniteness, was given by Samuel Webbs, then of Scituate, to Job Clapp of the same place, April 12. 1763, in consideration of twenty-one pounds. The description runs as follows:
"Five hundred acres of land lying and being in the County of Hampshire, part of a large tract of land which I own in partnership with my brother Thomas Webbs as tenants in common & undivided, the said 500 acres to be as good for quality as the whole tract is one acre with another. The whole of said tract of land is particularly bounded & described in a deed of bargain & sale which David Ingersoll gave to my father, Thomas Webb, bearing date April 7th, 1738."
THE FIRST HOUSES BUILT BY THE SETTLERS.
None of the first houses built by the settlers now remain. There were people living a few years since who saw some of these old houses and remembered how they were constructed. Many of the old cellar- places remain and mark the spot where the houses stood. The cellar walls and the foundations of the houses were made of rough stones and without mortar. Around many of the old cellar-places lilaes and rosebushes now grow and blossom; these are fragrant and beautiful mementos that were planted by female hands as expressions of their love for the beautiful, and were emblematic of the refinement and sweet influence of mothers and sisters whose loving and tender sym- pathy shed a holy fragrance in those old homes. These old houses were rudely constructed. A huge stone chimney was built up through the center of the house with a spacious fireplace in each of the prin- cipal rooms, and in cold weather they were liberally supplied with fuel, which was cheap and close at hand; and even then often it was only with the aid of screens and high-backed settles that the inmates of these houses could keep themselves comfortable while hovering round the blazing fire. Few of these houses could boast of glass windows. The doors were large and heavy and fastened with great wooden latches, which were lifted from the outside by pulling a string called the lateh- string, passing through a small hole in the door just above the latch. At night the door was made secure by drawing in the latehstring. To say, " You will find the latehstring out," was an invitation to come and an assurance of welcome.
1127752
36
A HISTORY OF MURRAYFIELD.
CONDITIONS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS AS TO HOUSEHOLD CONVENIENCES.
In these days of gaslight and of electricity, tallow candles are re- garded with contempt, and one would commiserate the misfortune of those who are compelled to use them: but in the days of these early settlers they were a luxury, almost the acme of household convenience. A lighted pine knot served them for a torch to go about at night. But the bright fires in their ample fireplaces lighted up their apart- ments more cheerfully than are the rural homes of to-day. The pres- ervation of the household fire was a matter of great concern. To lose it involved a journey to the nearest neighbor to borrow live coals. The nearest neighbor was often at quite a distance -- half a mile or more. The tinder box was not always available. It is said of one of the early settlers that he brought the household fire with him, when he came with his family, carefully and successfully pre- serving it during a journey occupying several days, and it was pre- served. without once going out, for many years. Yet these people were neither fire worshipers nor ancestor worshipers.
Whatever furniture and other articles for domestic uses were at their command, must have been rude enough. But few of these articles, if any, have been preserved. Of clocks perhaps there were none; at any rate, they were in but few houses. People unused to timepieces learn to judge quite accurately of the hour of day by the experience of long observation, although unable to clearly explain how they do it. The noon hour was determined by a noon-mark cut upon the doorsill or upon the window sill, serving in fair weather like a dial to inform the housewife when to sound the dinner signal. The poverty of these people in 1763, in the matter of household conven- iences, may be estimated from their condition in this regard a quarter of a centary later. The late John J. Cook of Huntington, in relating to me the experience of his father, Pearly Cook, who came to this township about twenty-five years later than the time we are consider- ing, told me that his father came alone, a young, unmarried man, and was obliged to build a rude house at first and live like any front- iersman. Neither pails nor pans were to be had; and so he cut up the butt of a tree into short blocks which he converted into troughs, of which one served for a milk pail and others for milk pans. In the more thickly settled part at the east branch of Westfield river, two or three miles distant from his house, he succeeded in pro- curing a large iron spoon which served him for many purposes; with
37
A HISTORY OF MURRAYFIELD.
it he skimmed his "pans " of milk and stirred the cream and made it into butter, the iron spoon serving for a churn dasher and for a pad- dle to work the butter with, and for many other uses. Ilis other appliances for housekeeping were equally rude. But he was as well off as many of his neighbors.
MINISTER LOT AND THE FIRST MEETING-HOUSE.
Of the lots which were laid out for the first division, No. 18, being centrally located, of good elevation, and overlooking a good deal of the surrounding country, and otherwise well adapted to the purpose, was laid out as the " Minister Lot." It contained 100 acres of land be- sides the usual allowance for roads, and a plat of "' eight acres for a meeting-house place, training field and burying place " was laid out on the south side toward its westerly end.
Minister Lot JÁ. 18
& Micros
Within the limits of these eight acres is the present meeting-house, schoolhouse, and the cemetery. The first meeting-house was erected, but not completed, in the year 1467, and stood a few rods south of the present one. The foundation, or underpinning, remained to mark the spot and show its size upon the ground until a few years since, when nearly all the underpinning was removed and the stones used for other purposes, leaving merely a ditch to show where the founda- tion was upon which stood the first meeting-house in the town of Murrayfield. It was forty-five feet long by forty wide and twenty- foot posts. The frame was set up and boarded and shingled, the lower floor laid and the doors made by the original proprietors, Chan- dler, Murray, and Paine being the proprietors' committee to attend to this duty, which was one of the conditions of their purchase. The house was placed north and south, the front door opening to the
38
A HISTORY OF MURRAYFIELD.
north, and there were two smaller doors, one on the east and the other on the west side. Each of the proprietors of the township reserved a pew spot on the lower floor. John Murray's was seven feet long by six feet wide and was located at the right of the front door. Tim- othy Paine's was of the same dimensions and was located at the left of the front door. John Chandler's was eight feet long by six feet wide and was located at the right of the east door. Abijah Willard's was also eight feet long by six feet wide and was located at the left of the west door. The pew spot of James Otis, who had been admitted one of the proprietors of the township, was at the right of the west door and was six feet square. Several years intervened before this meet- ing-house was completed. At first the town was not able to finish it, so the work was done little at a time, and the windows were put in one at a time as the town could afford; so several years passed before they were all in. The windows were boarded up during the winter. In this building the town meetings were held. The records of town meetings indicate that sometimes the meeting-house was not suf- ficiently comfortable for even a town meeting, for the meeting would be opened and a moderator chosen; then immediately it adjourned to a private house and there finished the business of the meeting. This was entirely practicable, for the qualification for voting cut off all whose valuation fell below £20. These adjournments never occurred except in the winter. The religious meetings also were held sometimes at private houses, for there were no means of heating the church. Preaching on the Sabbath was also held at the public inn.
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