USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Northfield > History of the town of Northfield, Massachusetts : for 150 years, with an account of the prior occupation of the territory by the Squakheags : and with family genealogies > Part 17
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Ebenezer Severance and Thomas Bardwell also received grants of land, in the Second-moose plain.
At the same meeting of the Committee it was ordered, That Ensign Field, Joseph Petty and Hezekiah Stratton be a committee to lease out the town lot in the Great meadow for five years ; and that they have power to lease out any of the land formerly belonging to any
I 57
Permanent Settlement.
person out of this county, who has not paid his rates to any former constable, the lands to be let till the rates are paid.
1722. By virtue of a warrant from the Honbi Committee, the in- habitants being warned, convened together at a legal town meeting, Mar. 2, and chose officers as follows :
Col. John Stoddard, town clerk.
William Holton, constable.
Remembrance Wright, Ebenezer Field, Eleazar Holton, trustees. Ebenezer Alexander, Hezekiah Stratton, surveyors.
Thomas Holton, Nath' Mattoon, fence viewers for. Pachaug. Dan' Wright, Azariah Wright, fence viewers for Great Meadow. Stephen Crowfoot, Eliezur Wright, fence viewers for Bennett's Meadow.
Benoni Moore, tythingman."
Thomas Blaksley, Eldad Wright, field drivers for all ye meadows.
A company of garrison soldiers was stationed in town from Dec. 1, 1721 to July 24, of this year. These were paid by the government, and billeted upon the inhabitants - usually two to a family, - who were allowed 5 shillings each per week, which sum was in part de- ducted from the country rate, and the balance paid in Province bills. The company roll is as follows :
Joseph Kellogg Lieut., Suff. James Porter, Nhn.
Josiah Stebbins Sergt., Nhn. Joseph Billing, Hat.
Josiah King clerk, Nhn. Stephen Smith, Hat.
Joseph Allis, Hat. Benoni Wright, Nhn.
Japhet Chapin, Spg.
Orlando Bridgman, Nhn.
John Sergeant, Worc.
The pay of the lieutenant was 20 shillings per week : the others received 5 shillings per week.
In addition to the above, two men were allowed, as a special guard to the minister, one for night watching and one for day warding. These of course were billeted on his family.
FORTS .- Up to this year, no forts had been built in the village. One or two houses were brick-lined : and the Town-house, i. e., the 12×16 ft. building put up for Mr. Whitmore in 1716, was used as a guard-room. But the garrison soldiers, when not on duty, lived with the inhabitants.
The war, which had impended for more than a year, and which broke out on the Eastern frontiers in June, naturally alarmed our people, and immediate measures were taken to prepare for the worst. In the course of the summer two forts were begun and wholly or partially completed. One stood on the Zech. Field home-lot ; the
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History of Northfield.
other on the Stephen Belding lot (the site of the old Clary fort). These were not strongly built works. Probably the mounts were only partially finished. It is a family tradition that the Field fort was surrounded by a stockade ; and that, in the following year, the sentry stationed in the mount, shot Ebenezer Field, the smith, in the dusk of the evening, mistaking him for an Indian. I
MILITIA .- All towns were required by law to enroll their militia men, including all able bodied males between 16 and 60 years of age, and to maintain a military organization. Besides the regular training days, all were liable to be called on to watch and ward and scout. Where the number liable to do duty was less than 64, the company was commanded by a lieutenant or ensign.
Northfield was fortunate in having among her settlers several men experienced in military matters and in Indian warfare. Capt. Benjamin Wright was an old fighter. Ebenezer Alexander was an officer, and Robert Cooper was a soldier in Queen Anne's war. Others had seen service. Capt. Wright was the head of our militia company, for the three years after 1714. Thomas Taylor was ser- geant under him, and was chosen lieutenant (which gave him the command of our small company) in 1717 -the spring before he was drowned. Zechariah Field was chosen ensign the same year, on the death of Lt. Taylor, and succeeded him in command. Eliezur Wright was lieutenant and Benoni Moore sergeant in 1719. The present year [1722], Ebenezer Alexander and Joseph Petty were chosen sergeants.
But these military matters belong more properly to the next chapter.
1723. At a meeting of the Committee Feb. 26, " they then granted to Mr. Benja Doolittle 24 feet in breadth of the street directly against the house he now lives in, and 32 feet in length, to set a house on, he to have sd land during the continuance of the house he shall there erect."
How far Mr. Doolittle availed himself of the privilege hereby granted, is not known : but it is remembered that the old Caleb Lyman house stood several feet over the line of the street.
March 4. At a legal town meeting, this date, officers were chosen as follows : Col. John Stoddard town clerk ; Hezekiah Stratton con- stable ; Sergt. Joseph Petty, Sergt. Eben'. Alexander, Jona. Belding,
" In the dusk of evening, Ebenezer Field was standing on his shed pitching Peas, which were passed up to him from the cart below and out of sight, into the barn window. The sentry caught a glimpse of the wads as they were rapidly tossed into the window, and think- ing that Indians were leaping stealthily into the barn for mischief, instantly fired, mortally wounding Mr. Field .- Dea. Phinchas Field.
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Permanent Settlement.
trustees ; Dea. Benj. Janes tythingman ; Dea. Eleazar Mattoon, Thomas Holton, surveyors ; Serg'. Benoni Moore, Nath' Mattoon, fence viewers for Great meadow : Stephen Crowfoot, Theophilus Merriman, do. for Pachaug ; Eben'. Severance, Ebenezer Field, do. for Bennett's meadow : Dan'. Wright, Eldad Wright, field drivers.
The usual endorsement " Allowed by the Committee," is affixed to the record for the last time, as by act of the General court, their power ceased in the ensuing June.
At the meeting, as above, the town voted to Ebenezer Severance a lot of 10 acres " upon Bennett's hill," to be joined to the lot of 10 acres previously granted to him : and another " little piece of land of about 60 rods," " upon the condition of his building a house on his land in Bennett's meadow." If he complied with the condition, his was the first house erected on the west side of the river in Northfield.
INDUSTRIES. - Mills. A grist-mill was erected by Stephen Belding, as early as 1717, and a saw-mill, the next year, by his brother Jona- than Belding, as already related. A saw-mill may have been built on Bennett's brook, in 1721.
Brickmaking. The manufacture of bricks was commenced as early as 1717. The clay was found in the highway below the old Meet- ing oak. When the home-lot (where John Wright now lives) was granted to William Sanderson in 1718, a clause was inserted, " re- serving to the inhabitants the right to dig clay."
Ebenezer Field the smith, and Stephen Crowfoot the carpenter, came to Northfield in 1720. It is not easy to see how the people could get along in the previous years without a blacksmith, as all their tools in daily use, such as axes, shaves, nails, hoes, plow-shares, loom-irons, cranes and trammels, and hog-rings were wrought-work. Very likely they went thirteen miles to Deerfield, and there discov- ered the excellent workmanship of Mr. Field, and so invited his re- moval to Northfield. They could better dispense with a skilled car- penter, as almost every body could hew timber, and use the adze and auger and chisel, and nail on boards and shingles. In those days, no frames were set out by the square rule, but by what they called the try rule, or the rule of six, eight and ten ; i. e. the sills, posts and beams were framed and tried, and the braces were laid on to mark their bevels and length. The covering for ordinary buildings was cleft boards, laid lapping : for the better class of dwelling houses, rough sawed boards chamfered together.
Some entries, both Dr. and Cr. taken from the blacksmith's Ac- count Book, for the years 1721-2, will give an idea of the prices,
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History of Northfield.
and the work-day aspect of things in the little frontier village, and are worth preserving.
By fetching a load of coal from Dry brook .. £
" a bufhel of malt
" harrowing my flax ground .. I
" making hay one day .. O
" working at my iar-kiln one day.
" team to . draw tar to Deerfield, 2 days.
" team getting candle wood } day O 2
" horfe to drag my home lot one day 1 O O
3
2
" reaping at Moofe plain 1 day.
" Jany., fledding hay from Bennett's meadow
5
" breaking flax one day ... 2
" 6 bufhels Indian corn.
" a boy to pull flax one day
1
6
" 3 bufhels of turnips ...
O
3
5
O
6
2
O
6
To fhocing a horie round.
" fharpening pr. of plow-irons
" my oxen to work one day
" making 4 hog rings
" making a trammel.
a clevis and pin
36 hatchel teeth
fharpening a plow-fhare
a coulter
o
4
" laying an axe
3
O
making a fteel trap
16 O
a hoe
4
6
" one fett of loom-irons and fpindle
7 pigs at 7 weeks old
1 5
4 lbs. of hops ...
4
O
'a wapanock skin ..
" 3 fox fkins and § a woolang fkin
13 6
" my wife's making an Indian's fhirt
o
8
" 1 quart of honey ..
" making a gun lock and two fcrew pins for ye Indians.
2
6
0
5 º
6
3
2
2 6
2
6
8
" a quarter of venifon 19lbs. O
3
4
6
" malting 7} bufh. barley
" 1 bufhel of wheat ..
" horfe to go huckle-berrying
" a bottle of rhum .. " March, 1721, Step. Crowfoot, work finifhing my houfe .. O DR. O
3
1
-
O
4
7
Inmo 5 3
8
O
8
O 10
3
8
2 O
6
O
12
2
6
Tar. It was quite common at this date, to collect the heart and knots of the old pines that were killed by the Indian's fires and had fallen down since the annual burning ceased, and to cut the older standing trees which had grown since the Indian occupation, and burn them in pits or kilns for the tar. Some of these old stumps were very fat. The business was commonly regulated by the town.
CR.
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Permanent Settlement.
Candle wood. Every family would gather in the fall enough candle wood for use in the winter evenings. This was the hard pine - sometimes stunted or diseased trees, or old knots, which were full of pitch, and a splinter would give a tolerable light. Indeed it was all the light, except the blaze from the hearth, which most of the fami- lies had. Tallow candles were used to some extent, when one was so fortunate as to kill a fat beef. Oil was unknown.
Rye. The Moose plain lots were famous in early times for raising rye. Both plains contained 300 acres. The First was divided into 18 lots varying from 3} to 152 acres each; the Second was divided into 22 lots, mostly 5 and 10 acres each. There were 29 different proprietors, some having a lot in both plains. Joseph Alexander and Hezekiah Elmer were the famous reapers of that day, and always had 3 shillings per day, 6 pence more than for haying.
Wheat was raised on the intervals nearer home, and on new ground. Flax required a moist soil.
Loom irons. Every considerable family had all the conveniences necessary for making all the cloth required for home use. The flax and the wool were grown upon the farm. The former was pulled, cured, broken, swingled and hatcheled by the males, and spun on the " little wheel " by the females. The wool was sheared, washed, greased (goose oil was the best for this purpose), carded, and spun on the "great wheel." Tow, which was the refuse combings of fax, was spun on the great wheel. The yarn was now ready for the dye-pot, which was kept in the chimney corner through the cool season. The com- mon dyes were logwood and indigo ; later, madder came into use for lamb's wool and linsey woolsey. An ordinary day's work was four skeins of woolen yarn, when the spinner carded her own wool ; after the introduction of carding machines, she could as easily spin 6 skeins. Two skeins of linen thread was a large day's work. Spin- ning was commonly done by the run. A run of yarn consisted of twenty knots, a knot was composed of forty threads, and a thread was seventy-four inches in length, or once round the reel. Seven knots of woolen, and fourteen knots of linen yarn made a skein. The loom was commonly set up in the unfinished loft over the kitchen. " Mother" did the weaving, till the girls began to think about getting married, when they in turn learned what was considered a necessary accomplishment. Some men were expert weavers, and made it a sort of winter's work. William Holton and Josiah Stebbins were the noted weavers of this date in Northfield. They charged 6 pence per yard for weaving common yard wide linen cloth.
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History of Northfield.
Hog rings. Swine were allowed to run at large from April I, to the last of October. To prevent mischief to gardens and fields, the law required that all swine going at large should be " properly yoked and rung." And it was enacted, " That no yoke shall be accounted · sufficient which is not the full depth of the swine's neck above the neck, and half so much below the neck ; and the sole or bottom of the yoke to be three times so long as the breadth or thickness of the swine's neck."
Wapanock or wogernock, was the Indian name for the sable or marten, valuable for its furs. Woolang or woolaneaque, was the name for the fisher, which is the largest of the mink family, some- times two feet in length.
Shoemaker. There is no record of a professional shoemaker in town till 1725. It is likely that more than one of the inhabitants had a lapstone and awl and hammer, and could cobble, on emergency. Probably too, some one or more of the garrison soldiers stationed here, may have had the trade, and would do the work for the family where they were billeted. It is known that Josiah King, cordwainer, was stationed here as a soldier, and that in 1725 he received a grant of a home-lot, and removed hither and set up his trade.
There were some restrictions imposed by law on this and the kindred art of tanning, which deserve mention.
"No perfon ufing or occupying the feat or myftery of a fhoemaker fhall ufe or exercife the feat or myftery of a tanner, on forfeiture of 6 fhillings and 8 pence for every hide or ikin by him fo tanned : nor fhall any tanner ufe or occupy the feat or myftery of either butcher, currier or fhoemaker, upon like forfeiture. And no perfon exercifing the myftery or faculty of a fhoemaker or cordwainer fhall work up into fhoes or boots any leather that is not thoroughly and fufficiently tanned, well dried and properly fealed ; nor ufe any horfe-hide for the inner foles of boots and fhoes, upon forfeiture of faid boots or fhoes."
Maltster. Lieut. Jonathan Hunt had a malt house in Northfield in 1721-3. The best malt was made of barley ; meslin, and the poorer grade of wheat mixed with chess were also used. From 7 to 10 bushels was the ordinary supply for a family for a year. Beer made of malt and hops was a common drink at this date, and con- tinued so for several generations. Cider, in small quantities began to be made here as early as 1723; and as the apple orchards came more into bearing, this took the place of malt liquors. A weak beer was the foundation of flip, which was the winter tipple of the tavern loungers till within the last 50 years.
Education. No school was established in Northfield, during the period under review. The wife of Ebenezer Field, the smith, was
163
Permanent Settlement.
the first teacher in town of whom a record exists. In 1721, she taught a class of young children at her own house, for 22 weeks of the warm season, and charged 4 pence each per week. She edu- cated her own children well ; her oldest daughter Joanna (who m. Col. Phinehas Wright) was the noted school-ma'am of the next generation. Mrs. Field (Elizabeth Arms of Deerfield) was a woman of great energy and versatility. We get but two glimpses of her life ; the first, when she is keeping school ; making shirts for the Indians at 8 pence each ; making breeches for Ensign Field, her husband's brother at 1 shilling 6 pence per pair ; besides managing her house- hold, with four young children. We next see her ten years later, as Mrs. Azariah Wright, with 8 children, the youngest but a year old, and leisure to work at tailoring as formerly : leisure to spin and weave tow cloth to be exchanged-with the traders for crockery and a few luxuries : to spin and weave a web of 26 yards of linen sheeting for Samuel Smith, for which she receives 24 shillings. Taking these as samples of other years, her life was a useful, productive and benefi- cent one. Both her husbands were "known in the gates, when they sat among the elders of the land." [Prov. 31 : 23.] She had in all fourteen children, the youngest twins.
Physician. Rev. Mr. Doolittle combined the two professions of theology and medicine. He was a regularly educated physician and surgeon, and was furnished with books and instruments, and kept a supply of drugs. His own townsmen, and the inhabitants of the new settlements as they were made, above Northfield, and the garrisons at Fort Dummer, and the Ashuelots, and No. 4, depended on his services ; and in the battles and skirmishes of the old French war, the wounded were brought to him for treatment. In his prime, his medical practice became so large and lucrative as to awaken some jealousy among his tax-paying parishioners, as will appear in a subse- quent chapter.
Up to near this date, physicians were scarce in old Hampshire county. In 1665, George Filer was allowed by the court to prac- tice " as a chirurgeon" in Northampton. But he remained only a short time ; and there was no surgeon in that town till 1730. Dr. John Westcar settled in Hadley in 1666 ; and for ten years eked out a scanty support by selling aqua-vitæ to the Indians and others. After his death, Hadley had no physician for 52 years. Dr. Thomas Hastings was in Hatfield at the time of King Philip's war ; but de- rived his main support from teaching. Deerfield had no educated physician till Dr. Thomas Williams set up there about 1740.
Most of the medical practice in those early days, and especially the
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History of Northfield.
midwifery, were in the hands of females. As already stated, the wife of William Miller was the only physician in Northfield during the first two Settlements. She also on occasion, acted as surgeon, and was regarded as skillful. Rhoda Wright, daughter of Benjamin Jr., had a good reputation as doctor, and after her marriage to Asa Childs was the practicing physician of Deerfield for many years.
These practitioners (and the mothers) depended mainly on simples and specifics. Certain stimulating and cathartic roots and herbs, which had prompt action, together with poultices and plasters com- posed their materia medica ; and with the good constitutions of the men and women of that day, were effectual in common ailments. Fevers and other miasmatic diseases, when epidemic, were usually very fatal.
A few years later, Ebenezer Field, the eldest son of the smith, became a somewhat noted medicine man in Northfield, and is named in the town records as " Dr. Field." He had great faith in the oil and galls of the rattlesnake, and was wont to go late in autumn before they denned for the winter, and early in spring before they scattered for the summer, to hunt these reptiles on Brush mountain. The oil was applied outwardly, and was considered a sovereign remedy for rheumatism. The gall was a specific for fever. It was mixed with powdered chalk, and made into pills. These pills were an article of regular traffic ; were kept on sale by dealers in drugs, and were often prescribed by physicians.
Slave. " Ceasar" the slave boy of Ensign Field is named in the records of 1722.
165
Home- Lots in the Third Settlement.
PLAN OF THE HOME LOTS IN THE THIRD SETTLEMENT.
During the First and Second Settlements, the main street of the village constituted the town. The same is true of the first 25 years of the Third Settlement ; and substantially true of the succeeding 25 years, as very few of the inhabitants built and resided on their out farms, till after the close of the last French war. The history of the village home-lots has therefore a peculiar significance. For a long period, all events of public interest centred around them. The town's men and the town life were here; the schools were here; the mills were here ; the forts were here ; the headquarters of every movement was here. And not only the location of the street, but the lines of many of the lots remain unchanged to the present time. And the history and the fate of many families are intimately associated with the spot where their ancestor planted his home. .
Such considerations seemed to require and to justify the expendi- ture of time sufficient to determine the exact location of the old family sites, and to trace the various transfers of property down to the pre- sent owners. From the fact that some families uniformly neglected to have their deeds recorded, the list of owners is not complete ; and in some instances of short, or non-resident ownership, the names are omitted. And doubtless, in some few cases, deeds of transfer have been overlooked in our searches in the Registry offices ; and thus blanks have been left, which more diligence would have supplied.
In the Plan, on the following page, the name of the first perma- nent resident owner after 1714, is affixed to the several lots ; while in the description which follows, the name of the original grantee is affixed - thus connecting the historical memoranda of the Three Settlements.
The lots on the west side of the street all run to the brow of the meadow hill, unless otherwise specified ; and were nominally 60 rods in length. Beginning, for the sake of convenience, at the lower end of the street, lot No. I, of ten acres, bounded south on the falls of Miller's brook, was, in 1714, Common land. In 1718 it was granted by the town to Josiah Field, brother of Ens. Zechariah. He occu- pied it long enough to gain possession, and Mar. 14, 1726, then of Springfield, sells to Benoni Wright. Nov. 1728, Wright sells to
Jos. Alexander Jr.
Wm. Syms
FIRST DIVISION LOTS
Abra'm Elgar
Steph. Crowfoot
Benj. Wright Jr.
Thomas Holton
Benoni Crafts
Peter Evens
Sam'l Orvis
Theo. Merriman
Jona. Belding
Thos. Taylor's heirs
MEADOW ROAD
N. HIGHWAY TO WARWICK
Ens. Zach. Fleld
Hezekiah Stratton
Rev. Benj. Doolittle
Ebenr. Field
...
Peter Evens
Benj. Wright
Wm. Holton
GREAT SWAMP
PLAN OF HOME LOTS, 1723.
S. HIGHWAY TO WARWICK
Eleazar Mattoon
Eben'r Field
Edm. Grandee
·
Wm. Sanderson
..
Thos, Blaksley
DRY SWAMP
Josiah Field
TOWN
Eben'r Alexander
Eben'r Alexander
Jos. Stebbins
Benj. Wright
Isaac Warner
Robert Cooper
Nath'I Mattoon
Ens. Zach. Field
Joseph Petty
Benj. Janes
Jona. Janes
MEADOW ROAD
Jona. Patterson
STREE
T
Benoni Moore
Ellezur Wright
Nebe'r Wright
...
Azariab Wright
Jona. Hunt
Jos. Alexander
NORTH
Aaron Burt
Joseph Burt
Hezekiah Elmer
Stephen Belding
SOUTH
167
Home- Lots in the Third Settlement.
Ens. Zechariah Field. In 1795 it was held by Samuel Field, and was then united to the lot next north.
No. 2. The John Holmes lot : 73 a. 27 r. wide. April 1714, this lot was held by Joseph Severance of Deerfield, who did not settle upon it. Mar. 1, 1718, J. S. and wife Anna sell to Jonathan Pat- terson of Northfield. Patterson died that year, and the widow built and lived here. In 1760 Col. Eleazar Patterson sells to Samuel Field. It was then owned successively by Franklin Lord, John G. Mudge from Winchester, N. H., who built the house now standing ; and Daniel Callender ; Joseph B. Callender now owns from the meadow road to the falls.
No. 3. The Ralph Hutchinson lot : 27 r. wide. In April 1714, this was held by the Hutchinson heirs. May 9, 1716, John Hutchin- son and Samuel Hutchinson of Lebanon, Ct., and Judah Hutchinson of Northampton, sell the lot and 40 a. of interval land, to Joseph Petty of Coventry, Ct. Aug. 25, 1718, Petty sells the lot, by exchange for the Samuel Janes lot, to Jonathan Janes of Northfield, who lived and died here ; and it has been held by his descendants till the present time. The lot, as originally laid out, was 27 rods wide ; but only 20 r. in width was occupied by Mr. Janes, the balance lying common. May 16, 1797, on petition of Dea. Ebenezer Janes, the town released him from the obligation to maintain the highway through the south lane to Warwick, he giving to the town a quit- claim deed of the strip of 3 r. wide of said lane, which had been granted to his father. And in lieu of this I a. and 20 r., the town granted a strip 7 r. wide in front and 10 r. in rear, on the south side of his home-lot, thus restoring said home-lot to its original dimensions.
The house now standing was built by Dea. Ebenezer Janes, and is a good specimen of the first-class dwellings put up at the close of the last French war. Near the south side of the lot as occupied by Jonathan Janes, is the house of Mark Woodard and son ; and A. D. Elmer now owns and occupies the 7 rods addition.
No. 4. The Elder William Janes lot : 7} a. 20 r. wide. April 1714, the lot was held by the Janes heirs. In the spring of 1716, Dea. Benjamin Janes took possession, and lived here till Sept. 28, 1725, when he sold out to Isaac Mattoon of Deerfield, and removed to Lebanon, Ct., where he was living June 9, 1731. Dr. Samuel Mattoon, son of Isaac, rebuilt the old house in 1760; the same is now standing, and is owned by E. Mattoon's heirs.
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