USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Palmer > History of the town of Palmer, Massachusetts, early known as the Elbow tract : including records of the plantation, district and town 1716-1889 > Part 3
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One of these "smale " Quabaug villages and the only permanent native settlement within our original town limits which has been certainly identified, was situated near Colonel's mountain, in what was set off to Warren. It is thus described by Mrs. Eunice P. Cutter : "There was an Indian settlement at the eastern base of Colonel's mountain in the northwest part of Warren, near the town- farm house. It was in a sunny spot, sheltered by hills on the west, northwest and east. Two cool springs supplied never-failing water. Three trails led from the village-one to the Menamesick river for salmon (this was later the English bridle path to Hadley); one over Coy's hill to Wekabaug pond for bass and pickerel, and the third down Blackmar brook and across Quabaug river, to intersect the old trail to Springfield. A single Indian lodge-built perhaps by the last of his clan-was standing here as late as 1746, when An- drew Cwee took possession. At this date the native burial-place was well defined ; and their domestic utensils of stone, as well as arrow and spear points, were abundant in the soil."
MENAMESICK .- The Indian name of the river which crosses our territory not only indicates its uses in the native economy, but has a valuable historical significance. The word Menamesick means " great fishing basket," or "fishing wier" (pronounced ware) ; and a village-site, or encampment-place, on the banks, would be called, according to their etymology, Menamesick-et-" at the fish- ing wiers," contracted, Menameset, now often written Wenimisset. The natives applied the name only to the places where their wiers were put in, but the English writers used it as the name of the stream. These wiers were set at the foot of the falls, and were chiefly for capturing salmon. Shad could not leap the falls at Chicopee, and consequently were absent from our streams. Sal-
27
THE ELBOW TRACT-SETTLEMENT, 1716-1728.
mon, the stronger fish, made the passage with little difficulty. This fish ran up into the cool ponds, and the outlets of large springs, to deposit their spawn, and when ascending, were caught with scoop-nets, or killed with spears and arrows. When descend- ing, they were taken in traps. These wiers were simply rude stone walls built from opposite sides of the river, pointing down stream, till they nearly met each other. At this narrow opening a large cage was placed, formed of twigs fastened to hoops by strips of tough bark. When trapped in this cage the frightened fish were easily captured. Traps of this kind were set in the Quabaug river at the falls in Warren, but appear to have been more numerous in the northerly stream. Their existence in the Ware river was matter of personal knowledge to men living 20 years ago. Indeed, some of them remained in place up to the time of establishing the factories at Ware village and Gilbertville.
With these facts before us, aided by our knowledge of Indian character and customs, it is easy to picture in imagination the an- nual spring gathering of the River Indians at the greater falls in the Connecticut and Chicopee rivers, and the Quabaugs at the lesser falls above Three Rivers. All were there, men, women and children. Allied clans from Nashaway and the Nipmuck country were welcomed; salmon were plenty, and roasted on the hot embers, or boiled in the stone kettles, were very toothsome, and very satis- fying. The men took no thought for the morrow; gorged them- selves to repletion; dozed in the sun; and when the gluttonous fill had been slept off, they gambled, or wrestled, or pitched quoits. The squaws did all the work of feeding and waiting on their lords, and split and dried whatever surplus of fish was left, for future emergency. But the following extract from Hubbard's History of New England, written in 1679, though relating to much earlier time, will give the facts, stripped of all fancy coloring : "Every noated place of fishing or hunting was usually a distinct seigniory, and thither all theire friends and allyes of the neighborhood used to resort in the time of yeere to attend those seasons, partly for recreation, and partly to make provissions for the yeere. Such places as they chose for theire abode, were usually at the Falls of great Rivers, or neare the seaside, where was any convenience of catching such fish as every summer and winter used to come upon the coast; att which times they used, like good fellows, to make all common: and then those who had entertained theire neighbors by the seaside, expected the like kindness from them againe, up higher in the country; and they were wont to have theire great dances for mirth at those generall meetings. With such kinde of entercourse
A
28
HISTORY OF PALMER.
were theire affayres and commerce carried on between those that lived up in the country, and those that were seated on the sea coast about the havens and channells that issued into the sea ; where there used to be at all times, clams, muscles, and oaysters, and in the summer season lobsters, bass or mullet and sturgeon, of which they used to take great plenty and dry them in the smoake, and keepe them the rest of the yeere. Up higher at the Falls of great Rivers, they used to take salmon, shad and alewives that used in great quantities, more than cart loads, in the spring to pass up into the fresh water Ponds and Lakes, therein to spawne, of all which they, with theire wiers used to take great store for theire use. In all such places there was wont to bee great resort."
The Indian clans had all been broken up and had left these parts and united with the Northern tribes, before a settlement was begun at the Elbows. But single families would return and erect a wig- wam on the old site, and plant a patch of corn and pumpkins. The name, Wigwam brook, given to the little stream that enters the Quabaug near Blanchardville, indicates that an Indian family was accustomed to spend the summer on the plains there ; and it is not unlikely that they and their white neighbors would hold a corn-roast and succotash-party in September, in a shady nook on Cedar moun- tain. It is known that such was the case at Colonel's mountain, as. already narrated; and roving bands often made temporary camps at the old fishing-places and remained through the summer. They were commonly a sorry set, and were suspected, and were a pest to the farmers. And when the French authorities in Canada, under whose protection they had placed themselves, instigated a war with New England, these rovers were ready to act as spies and guides. This happened in the war of 1722-1726, known as Father Ralle's. War. The hostile bands traversed the country to the north and west of Brookfield, and kept these frontiers in a state of constant. alarm. All the towns were guarded by troops, and scouts were sent into the woods. Large and small companies were continually passing and repassing on the Hadley Path. In a diary kept by Lieutenant Eleazar Warner of Brookfield, entries like the following are fre- quent : "Thursday, April 30, 1724 .- A scout was sent through the woods to Rutland. May 1 .- The scout returned from Rutland ; two Indians seen. May 2 .- Two men guarding, the rest warding. Sabbath, May 3 .- Two men guard the meeting-house.
Tuesday, June 9 .- Warding, and a scout sent to Ware River. June 10 .- The scout returned ; made no discovery. June 11 .- A scout sent up to the turn of Ware River. June 12 .- The scout returned ; made no discovery. June 15 .- A scout sent to the branches of
29
THE ELBOW TRACT-SETTLEMENT, 1716-1728.
Swift River." These soldiers were placed as guards of the farmers in planting-time, and in haying and harvesting. They also guarded the teams on the way to and from the corn mill.
We have no records to show that our few settlers at this date were molested, or that they were protected by soldiers. Indeed, as they were squatters, and living here without leave or license from author- ity, the Province was under no obligation to protect them, as it did the inhabitants of Brookfield and Brimfield. There is a tradition that our settlers built one or more strong garrison houses for self- protection; and such a thing is highly probable in itself and in the circumstances of the time. But when it is coupled with the story that "the men were accustomed to resort to these guard houses at night, leaving their families exposed and defenceless," it savors of the marvellous, for these guard houses were intended for the protec- tion of families, not as club-houses for men, where they would be out of danger and could smoke and sleep in peace. And our fathers were not such cowards as this arrangement would imply. And when the story goes on to say that "it was generally found to be the aim of the savage foe to cut off the male portion of the inhabit- ants, well knowing that from them they had the most to fear," the story-teller exposes his ignorance of Indian warfare; for the prime object of the savage was to secure scalps or captives for the sake of the reward offered for them by the French governor of Canada; and there was less danger in attacking a defenceless woman than an armed man, and a female scalp brought the same price as a male. Some parts of the old tradition are credible. That the first settlers here, as in other exposed frontier plantations, used to go to their fields with a gun in one hand and a hoe or scythe in the other, is undoubtedly true. That the women left at home " had loaded fire- arms ready, and ready arms to use them in defence of themselves and their little ones, and kept a constant lookout for the dreaded foe," is undoubtedly truc. And that Grandmother Ferrell, all alone in her log cabin and startled by the howling of her dog, should feel greatly relieved when she heard the well-known yell of å panther, and exclaim, " Oh mister ! I'm glad it is only you!" is a most natural experience, and a pleasant family reminiscence. But it should not be overlooked that traditions, to be valuable, must have the elements of probability, and be in agreement with well- known cotemporary facts .*
* The traditions above referred to are given at length in Rev. Mr. Wilson's " Historical Address." which is a paper of the highest value; but in noting the traditions it is evident that he merely repeated the story "as it was told to him."
The tradition that a stockade was built on a knoll in Great Plain, near the house of George Brown, is not improbable, though the date must have been as late as 1745. Several families were then living
30
HISTORY OF PALMER.
The following letter relates to the time now under consideration, and gives us a glimpse of events current on our borders :
WOODSTOCK, March 8, 1727-8.
SIR :
On Tuesday last, at 3 P. M., Moh-gun-neat, a Norwich Indian, with Mo-as-quin-ne and Chaus-ham, two Pequods, came to my house and gave me the following Relation, viz .: That two Maqua men and a squaw, with an infant of about 6 months old, came into an House somewhere on the road between Springfield and Brookfield (not far from the house of Robert Old) the beginning of last week; who having affronted the woman of the house (the only person then at home) by hanging on their kettle over her fire and turning away her kettle. Either the man of the House or some other man coming in, fell foul upon one of the Maqua men, and with a great stick has very much wounded his shoulder and back. And the child very nar- rowly escaped with its life, having been grazed on the belly with a stick of wood thrown at the squaw, the sharp end whereof carried away part of the child's clothing. He also destroyed and ruined the Maqua's kettle, etc. That the Maqua is full of resentment, and has vowed revenge on the man with his hatchet in May next (unless satisfaction be made him), at which time he proposes to return with 30 of his countrymen, who will, if he shall be seized, fall upon the Englisb. The Indians, my informers (who have been with the Maquas since the violence done them) were sober, and seemed very much concerned lest a war should ensue with the Maquas. They also say, the Maquas were urgent with them to go with them at their drawing off. But although they declined it, yet they expressed great dis- satisfaction at the treatment the Maquas met with. I thought it my duty to transmit this account to your Honour, who best know what method will be proper to take, etc. JOHN CHANDLER .*
NAMES OF THE PLANTATION. - The earliest discovered docu- ment relating to our territory is "Dwight's Survey" of 1723, in which the place is designated "A Tract of Land belonging to the Province of the Massachusetts." It is also called "A Tract of Unappropriated Land of this Province lying between Brookfield and the Equivalent Land."
A deed is on record at Springfield, dated 1729, in which the place is called New Marlborough. James McElwain, Sen., one of our early settlers, "of New Marlborough," sells his farm of 100 acres, "lying at the junction of Ware and Swift Rivers," to Messrs. Green and Walker of Boston. In 1733 the widow Elenor quit claims her right of dower in the same land, and dates " New Marl- borough or Kingsfield." In votes passed by the inhabitants, in
on the plain, and were somewhat isolated and much exposed to attack from roving savages, and at least one old Indian trail crossed this plain.
* Mass. State Archives, LXXII, 365.
31
THE ELBOW TRACT-SETTLEMENT, 1716-1728.
what they termed town meetings, held May 6, 1731, and Feb. 12, 1732-3, the place is called " Kingsfield."
The earliest date when the name, The Elbows, is found, is in a petition of Joseph Wright and others to the General Court, June 15, 1731. Aug. 31, 1731, Henry Dwight, Esq., in a petition, desig- nates it "A Tract of Land called The Elbows, lying between Had- ley and Brookfield." In the report of the Committee, Ebenezer Burrill, Esq., chairman, dated June 21, 1733, the place, or planta- tion, is designated The Elbow Tract. And as the said report was accepted by the General Court, and its recommendations ratified, this became its legal name. Steward Southgate, the first clerk of the Plantation, commonly wrote "Elbows," as the heading of papers ; but where the record has official or legal force, he uni- formly writes "The Elbow Tract." After Jan. 1741-2, other Plantation clerks introduced the name Kingstown, as a heading of papers, but uniformly wrote "The Elbow Tract" as the legal designation.
When the Plantation was organized by the General Court into a District, Jan 23, 1752, the Act established the name The District of Palmer.
DATE OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT. - All extant records concur in fixing the date of the first permanent settlement on the Elbow Tract in 1716; and the first settler was John King. He pitched near the Quabaug river on the little brook, appropriately named for him King's brook. "Tradition says that this pioneer family spent the first night of their sojourn here at the spring on the hill-side, near the old grave-yard, where their dust now slumbers. Some apple trees are said to have sprung up near by, from seed dropped by them from the fruit they were eating." Mr. King came hither from Boston, where his eldest son was born in 1715, by the old Bay Path, on which his log cabin was placed.
The following letter, long preserved in the family, but now lost, contains what is known about Mr. King's parentage and birth- place :-
EDNARSTON [Edwardstone ? ], April 20, 1718.
DEAR SON,-I received your letter April 6th, and there could nothing in the world be welcomer to me, except yourself. You send me word you are married. I pray God to bless you, and grant you both a happy life to- gether. You send me word you have met with hardships since you left me, which is a great trouble to me; but I am glad to see in your letter that you have overcome them. But I think I shall never overcome my grief to think you are so far off that I have but little hope of ever seeing you again. But, if it is possible, let us meet once more again, which if I
32
HISTORY OF PALMER.
had not hopes of, my heart would break. But since we cannot enjoy your company, I beg of you to miss no opportunity of letting me hear from you.
I am where you left me, and hope I shall be as long as I live. My son Jonathan and my daughter Mary are with me. I am sorry to hear you live in such a desert place, without neighbors. I often wish myself with you. Some of our neighbors here talk of going. I wish they may. I will encourage them what I can. And I doubt not but the gentleman that brought the letter to me will be a good neighbor and friend to you. I pray God he may be.
Your brothers and sisters are all overjoyed to bear from you, and desire you to send as often as you can ; and pray send word how we may direct to you. You send me word you have a son. I pray God to bless him; he is the only grandson I have. Your brother William and your brother Thomas have two brave daughters apiece. I pray God to bless you and your wife and child. I could wish your child with me. I have sent a small token to you of ten shillings; and your brothers and sisters have sent one shilling apiece to the child, which is fifteen shillings in all.
I am glad to hear you live under the ministry of the Gospel. I pray God to give you grace to improve by it. I hear you keep good fires. I often wish myself with you. The gentleman has almost persuaded your brother Jonathan to come, if I could spare him.
Your ever loving mother, KING.
As appears from his acknowledgement in a deed, Mr. King had a quasi residence in Springfield; i. e., had religious privileges there, it being the meeting-house nearest his dwelling-place. For though he was a squatter on Province land, he was required by law to at- tend on Religious Worship with the organized church next to his abode. That he did so attend on the ministry of the Word, is evi- dent from his mother's letter.
Mr. King had a large family of sons and daughters, many of whom located near him on the Bay Path, which gave rise to the name "King's Row," applied to that part of the highway running through the Depot Village.
Other families came on soon after Mr. King; but the precise date of their coming is not known. Joseph Flamont was here in 1720; so were James and Robert Smith, Sen. John Thomson came before 1725. Samuel Frost, John Kilburn, Joseph Wright, Sen., and Jun., Isaac Burr, James Dorchester, Thomas Jennings, Andrew Bailey, James McElwain, were here early, probably before 1728. Micah Tousley and Robert Old were living on the south side of the river over against the Elbows, in 1723, as appears on Dwight's " Survey and Plan " of that date.
Except Mr. King, most of the early comers were from neighboring towns and plantations. The Chapins, Cooleys, Dorchesters, Graves',
720
104
JOHN SCOTT 100.A.
80
52
160
148
60
70
JAMES MCQUISTON 70.A.
104
JAMES DORCHESTER 100.A.
88
Dumplin
18
50
144
80
17%
Flag Ponde
FEJ. DORCHESTER IN 1728 ROBERT AND DAVID NEVINS
WILLIAM SCOTT SEN. 100.A.
100.A.
00
100. A.
4,9
62
110
JOSEPH WRIGHT SEN.,
77
72.A.
50
50
106
.53
94
95
100
Pointof rocks
JOHN KILBURN 100. A.
70.A.
35
135
110
722
72
Brook
JOSEPH WRIGHT
10
75
EBENEZAR MYRICK
72.A.
02
100. A.
92
Fordway
72
221
252
King
22
JOHN/KING
100. A.
56
Chicopee
125
80
River
Tumor Spring
RICHARD COMBS
100.A.
180
No. 4. MAP OF THE ROW 1728. IN 1745 CALLED KING'S ROW. NOW PALMER VILLAGE.
LITHO, BY MILTON BRADLEY CO.
Con pet Factory
GEN.COURT GRANT 1732
SAMUEL KILBURN
68
COMMON LAND
60
107
Brook
COMMON LAND
38
TAKEN UP BY WILLIAM SCOTT JR.
60
52
50 JOHN KING ASSIGNEE OF JAMES DORCHESTER JR.
56
Bay path
7.3
wTvd MOM
33
THE ELBOW TRACT-SETTLEMENT, 1716-1728.
Miricks, Parsons', Scotts were from Springfield and the river towns, some of whom held their claims and helped build up the settlement, and others sold out and returned to their former homes. Many that signed the different petitions for a township, and some who received grants of home-lots, did not become permanent residents. Contrary to a prevalent idea among our people, there is pretty con- clusive evidence that no prearranged scheme for taking up these lands, nothing like a homogeneous colony took possession and divided the territory among themselves at any specified date; but both the English and the Scotch came in separate families or small companies, as inclination or necessity prompted, and made a pitch where they best could. Some sets of families were related by kin- ship, some by marriage, and some had no outside alliances. This will account, in part, for the social frictions and antagonisms to be developed hereafter.
An impulse which ultimately led to the building up of our Plan- tation and gave character to early society here, had been set in operation a century before, and with no thought or purpose of American colonization. A brief account of this event, which re- sulted in two widely separated emigrations, is in place here, as it is intimately connected with the early fortunes of The Elbows.
The Scotch-or Scotch-Irish, as they are more commonly called --- that came to America in a body in 1718-19, were the descendants of a colony which migrated from Argyleshire, in Scotland, and settled in Ireland, in the province of Ulster, as early as 1612. This migration was brought about by the fact that, in the reign of James I, on the suppression of a rebellion of his Catholic subjects in the north part of Ireland, two million acres of land there, com- prising nearly the whole of the six northern counties, fell to the king as sovereign owner. His Scotch and English subjects were encouraged by liberal offers and grants, to leave their own country and settle upon these vacated lands. It was a stroke of kingly policy, made on the supposition that the turbulent spirits of the Emerald Isle, who had so often defied the authority and arms of the British government, might by this means be awed and con- trolled. A reason is thus made apparent for the enmity so constantly manifested by the native Irish towards their Protestant neighbors, who were occupying the soil from which their countrymen had been forcibly expelled.
Under the temptation of a home on good soil, large numbers of Scottish emigrants located in the north counties of Ireland at the date in question, and in the reign of Charles II they received acces- sions by new arrivals. But it was in the latter part of the century,
34
HISTORY OF PALMER.
during the reign of William and Mary, that the most notable migration occurred.
But their religious peace and safety in their new homes were of short duration. Though they were permitted to maintain their own forms of worship unmolested (they were Presbyterians), still they were compelled to aid in supporting a clergyman of the estab- lished order, and a tenth of all their increase was rigorously exacted for this purpose. Besides, they held their lands by lease from the crown, and not as proprietors in fee. And many circumstances, easily imagined, in addition to the original strong traits of character which mark both the Scotch and the Irish, had served to inflame and strengthen the enmity existing between the two peoples. As Macaulay has forcibly said : " On the same soil dwelt two popula- tions, locally intermixed, morally and politically sundered. They sprang from different stocks. They spoke different languages. They had different national characters, as strongly opposed as any two national characters in Europe. There could therefore be little sympathy between them .*
It was in view of these embarrassments and evils, incident to their domicile in Ireland, that the Scotch settlers were induced to try another migration, and this time to a new and untried region in America. Their knowledge of the country was derived from a young man named Holmes, son of a minister, who carried back a favorable report of the country. Yet they could have scarcely realized that they were leaving a better for a poorer agricultural country, and that they must endure privations and hindrances. But they were bound to shake off the trammels that had been im- posed on their religious rights, and secure freedom of conscience.+
Their first move was to send over, early in the year 1718, the Rev. Mr. Boyd, to present an Address to Governor Shute of Massa- chusetts; and in case of sufficient encouragement from him, to make the necessary arrangements for their reception. This Address, couched in respectful language, and signed by more than 200 adult men, among whom were nine ministers of the gospel and three other graduates of the University of Scotland, is here given in full. It has great historical value, locally and generally, as indicating the good state of education among the peasantry of the Protestant
* "Nothing was more offensive to these emigrants than to be called 'Irish.' The Rev. Mr. McGregor, first pastor of the church at Londonderry, N. H., in a letter to Governor Shute, pro- tests in strong language against the name being applied to them."-Belknap's History of New Hampshire.
t " They carried their household gods with them; and their religious peculiarities became more dear in their land of exile for the dangers and sorrows thro' which they had borne them."-Hon. Wm. Willis.
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