USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Whately > History of the town of Whately, Mass., including a narrative of leading events from the first planting of Hatfield, 1661-1899 : with family genealogies > Part 14
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I
Number of sawmills 2 12
Number of barns
45
Number of young neat cattle
177
Number of horses-3 years old and upwards
85
Number of oxen
88
Number of cows-3 years old and upwards
I71
Number of sheep
264
Number of swine-over three months old
149
Number of barrels of cider
96
Number of acres of tillage land
6191/2
Number of acres of English mowing 220
Number of acres of fresh meadow 256
Number of acres of pasture land 16081/2
Number of acres of woodland 161
Number of acres unimproved land
5325
Number of acres of unimprovable land
953
Stock in Trade
£ 57
The first meeting for the election of town officers was held at the house of Daniel Morton, innholder, May 6, 1771. The officers chosen were as follows: Salmon White, town clerk and treasurer ; Joseph Belding, Jr., and Henry Stiles, constables ; John Wait, Simeon Wait, Edward Brown, Salmon White and Philip Smith, selectmen; Edward Brown, Philip Smith and Sal- mon White, assessors; Thomas Crafts, sealer of weights and
149
measures; Thomas Sanderson, sealer of leather; Peter Train, Oliver Graves and Benj. Smith, surveyors of highways; Israel Graves, Noah Bardwell and John Wait, Jr., fence viewers; Benj. Scott, Jr., John Brown and Joseph Crafts, field drivers; Elisha Belding and Noah Bardwell, tythingmen; Benj. Smith, Perez Bardwell and Abraham Turner, wardens; John Crafts, Martin Graves and Elisha Frary, deer reeves ; Thomas Crafts, surveyor of shingles; Peter Train, Gad Smith and Lemuel Wells, hog- reeves.
The leading interests of the town will be treated in sepa- rate chapters, but some votes, characteristic of the times, which were passed at the earlier meetings, are here copied ;
Voted, To build a pound forty feet square.
Voted, That the Selectmen provide a Law book and a Record book.
Voted, To provide a grave cloth for the use of the town.
Voted, That David Scott and Joseph Scott be a Committee to provide two biers for the use of the town.
Voted, That hogs may run at large from May I to October 15, being properly yoked and rung.
Voted, To let two milch cows to a family run on the Commons.
It will be seen that the last section of the Act of Incorporation provided that the town shall have full power "To proceed with" persons "Touching their removal." This provision shows the extreme care taken by our fathers to guard the rights and priv- ileges of citizenship. They wanted in every citizen moral worth and habits of industry and economy, and a purpose of permanent settlement. Hence the custom prevailed generally throughout the Province of "Warning out of town" all transient persons, all who did not purchase real estate and all strangers not vouched for by some inhabitant. And when a stranger came into town to reside the person into whose family or tene- ment he came was required to give notice to the Selectmen of the name of the person or persons, the place from which he came, his pecuniary circumstances and the date of his coming to town. The authorities would then, at their discretion, allow him to remain or order him to be "Warned and cautioned as the law directs." A person so warned was prevented from gaining a settlement and the town escaped liability for his support. In several instances this town availed itself of the right in question as the following warrant will show:
150
HAMPSHIRE, Ss. To either of the constables of the town of Whately, in said county, Greeting: In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are directed to warn Sam- uel Brass and Sabra Andross, transient persons, lately come into this town for the purpose of abiding therein, not having the town's consent therefor, that they depart the limits thereof with their children and others under their care, within fifteen days, and make due return of your doings to the clerk of the town. SIGNED BY THE SELECTMEN.
The names of others, "warned" at different times are : Robert Durfy, Jonathan Bacon, John Lamson, Benjamin Bacon, Jonathan Clark, Zebina Lyon, Enoch Bird, Noah Coleman, William Brown, William Brown, Jr., Elisha Frary, Jr., Josiah Brown, Nathaniel Coleman, Isaac Frary, Thomas Castwell. Some of these became permanent residents and were among our best citizens.
REV. RUFUS WELLS.
CHAPTER IX.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
In anticipation of a town organization steps had been taken to secure regular Sabbath ordinances. In the February preced- ing, David Scott, acting in behalf of the others, had engaged Rufus Wells of Deerfield, to preach, and he had supplied them from March 6 to April 28. The first entry in Mr. Wells' account book gives the full history of this preliminary transac- tion :
I771.
DAVID SCOTT DR.
Mar. 6 to Apr. 28. To preaching to the people in Whately eight Sabbaths, by your engagement, on whom my demand is, and not ye said people
£8 0 0
I77I.
CONTRA
CR.
April 29. By cash received of Mr. Brown
6
May 15. By cash received of Daniel Morton
O
6 0
May 17. By cash received of Elisha Frary
O
5 O
June 5. By cash received of yourself
2
5
July 9. By cash received of Joseph Belding, Jr.
O
I3
O
Oct. 25. By cash received of Thomas Crafts
O
6
Dec. 23. By cash received of Peter Train
O
5
4
Jan. 22. By cash received of Benoni Crafts
O
5
O
Apr. 7. By cash received of Salmon White
O
6
0
June 22. By cash received of Elisha Belding
O
4
O
.
May and June. By yourself making plow, 6s-
Work hewing and framing my house to balance 2 18 8
£8 0 0 At a meeting held, probably by adjournment, May 9th,
152
three days after the formal organization of the town, it was voted, "To raise thirty pounds for preaching." June 4, 1771, the town voted to hire Rufus Wells of Deerfield to preach six weeks upon probation. Simeon Wait, John Wait and Philip Smith were chosen a committee to engage him. The same committee were instructed to provide a place for him to board This committee attended to the duty and engaged board at Dan- iel Morton's.
At the expiration of the six weeks' probation, the town voted to give Mr. Wells a call to settle there in the Gospel min- istry. The conditions offered were as follows: A "settle- ment," as it was termed, of one hundred and thirty-three pounds, six shillings and eight pence ; a salary of fifty-five pounds for the first year ; and to raise forty shillings yearly till it amount to seventy-five pounds. It was also voted, that Mr. Wells be allowed six pounds yearly for wood, to take place at such time as he sets up housekeeping. The committee to make these pro- posals to Mr. Wells were Nathan Graves, Daniel Morton and Salmon White.
A pound as then reckoned was equal to three dollars, thirty- three and a third cents. Hence the "settlement" would amount to $450, and the full salary, including the allowance for wood, to $270 per year. This sum sounds small compared with minis- ters' salaries at the present day, but it is to be considered that money is valuable according as it procures the necessaries of life. Taking the price of wheat as a standard $270 then was equal to about $360 now ; with the wages of labor for a standard, which is probably more just, the $270 was equal to $550 at the present time; taking the price of land as the standard, $270 then equal to $2,000 now.
The settlement was paid in land, the town making over to Mr. Wells the lot lying east of the old parsonage, extending from land of Calvin Wells on the north to land of J. P Dickin- son on the south and containing nearly sixty acres.
After giving Mr. Wells a call (as above) the town, it appears, applied to some of the neighboring ministers for advice in the case and received an answer as follows :
Whereas the inhabitants of Whately have applied to us for our advice respecting the settlement of Mr. Rufus Wells in the work of the ministry among them; we hereby signify that we well approve of their choice of the said Mr. Rufus Wells, and do freely advise to his settlement in the ministry in said
I53
Whately ; provided no sufficient obstacle shall appear in the way of his settlement there.
JOSEPH ASHLEY. JONATHAN ASHLEY. JOHN EMERSON.
August ye 2d, 1771.
FORMATION OF A CHURCH. As preliminary to the forma- tion of the church, at a town meeting held 13 August, 1771, it was voted "That Wednesday the 21st day of this August be kept as a day of Fasting and Prayer by ye inhabitants of ye town of Whately."
Voted, That Messrs. David Parsons of Amherst, Joseph Ashley of Sunderland, Jonathan Ashley of Deerfield, Samuel Hopkins of Hadley and John Emerson of Conway, V. D. M., be the persons to performn the services of the day of Fasting.
August 21, 1771. On this day of Fasting and Prayer, (writes Mr. Wells in his Church Records) there being present on the occasion, Rev. Messrs. Parsons, Jona. Ashley, Hopkins and Emerson, after the public services of the day were finished, the members in full communion in Whately were embodied into a church, being recommended by the church of Christ in Hat- field, to which church by far the greatest part that were embod- ied did belong, and had communed there in all the ordinances of the Gospel.
The Certificate of recommendation, above alluded to, was in the following words :
These may certify, that the within-mentioned persons are members of the church of Christ in Hatfield, in regular stand- ing ; and as such are recommended to be embodied in a church state among themselves.
By vote of the Ch. OBA. DICKINSON.
Hatfield, August 19, 1771.
One of the preliminary requisites for organizing and incor- porating a town in the early days was the fact that an Orthodox church had been formed and a learned minister procured, and these statements were properly set forth in the petition to the Great and General Court as an argument, or a fact, showing the fitness of that locality to assume the municipal functions. And Whately, desiring to be in the prevailing fashion, took steps to secure regular Sabbath services. For this purpose a
I54
subscription paper was drawn up and signed by Edward Brown, Daniel Morton, Sr., Elisha Frary, David Scott, Joseph Belden, Jr., Thomas Crafts, Peter Train, Benoni Crafts, Capt. Salmon White and Elisha Belding, giving in all £8, 6 March, 1771.
They employed Rufus Wells to preach for them. He was a recent graduate from his theological studies, and he preached for them six Sabbaths, to April 28th. The town was organized and town officers elected 6 May, 1771. At a meeting adjourned from May 6th to May 9th, the town voted to raise thirty pounds for preaching and, 4 June. 1771, the town voted to hire Rufus Wells to preach six weeks on trial. At the end of the six weeks the town voted, "To give Mr. Rufus Wells a call to settle in the Gospel ministry with us."
The conditions were a "settlement," as it was termed, of £133, 6s and 8d, probably paid in land, and a salary of £55 for the first year, and to raise it 40s yearly until it amounted to £75. It was also voted, "To allow him £6 more per annum for wood, to take place at such time as he should set up house- keeping." A pound was reckoned as equal to $3.3373. The land was on the east side of Chestnut Plain St., and was com- posed of lots 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28, in the second division of Commons. He also had a lot on the west side of the road, in the fourth division. The lots on the east side extended to the Claverack road, one-half mile. It is evident that he commenced preparation to build, as Dea. Sanderson, in 1772, charges him with labor of himself and his two brothers, John and Asa, for digging the cellar and a team for drawing stone for the cellar, in all eighteen days, as per book of Dea. Thomas Sanderson.
The next thing done was the formation of a church. To make this more impressive, the town held a meeting 13 August, 1771, when it was voted, "That Wednesday, the 21st of August, be kept as a day of fasting and prayer by ye inhabitants of ye town of Whately," and the town voted to invite five clergymen from the neighboring towns to assist in the exercises of the day. During the day, after the public services were over, the mem- bers in full communion, as certified to by the clerk of the Hat- field church, were embodied as a church.
The names of the members were as follows: David Graves, Sr., Joseph Belden, Sr., Salmon White, Simeon Waite, John Waite, Richard Chauncey, Nathan Graves, David Scott, Thomas Crafts, Daniel Morton, Israel Graves, Sr., Benjamin Smith, Philip Smith, Elisha Frary, Joshua Belden, Elisha Bel-
I55
ding. John Waite, Jr., David Graves, Jr., and Oliver Graves, Sr., nineteen in all. There also should be added the names of the following ladies : Elizabeth Bardwell, wife of Lieut. Ebe- nezer; Elizabeth Belden, wife of Paul; Martha Waite, wife of Dea. Simeon; Submit Scott, wife of David; Abigail Smith, daughter of Elisha ; Eunice Graves, wife of Israel; Mary White, wife of Capt. Salmon ; Ruth Belding, wife of Dea. Elisha ; Mary Waite, wife of John, Sr .; Abigail Crafts, wife of Benoni; Lydia Stiles, mother of Capt. Henry; Ruth Stiles, wife of Capt. Henry ; Sarah Smith, wife of Elisha ; Sarah Smith, daughter of Elisha ; Abigail Graves, wife of David, Sr .; Jemima Scott, wife of Benjamin, Sr .; Abigail Scott, wife of Benjamin, Jr .; Anna Belden, wife of Joshua ; Margaret Belden, wife of Joseph ; Sarah Wells, wife of Thomas of Deerfield ; Eleanor Morton, (2) wife of Daniel ; Miriam Frary, wife of Lieut. Elisha; Elizabeth Chaun- cey, wife of Richard; Abigail Smith, wife of Jonathan ; Rebecca Graves, wife of Dea. Oliver, twenty-five in all; and George Pratt, a slave to Mr. Chauncey. He died 18 Sept., 1794, aged 75 years.
The next step was the ordination of Mr. Wells. A council of thirteen members was invited from neighboring towns. Capt. Salmon White was agreed with to provide for and entertain the council which probably convened at his house, some three- fourths of a mile from the center, where the services of ordina- tion were held. The council met and Mr. Wells was "Set apart to the work of the ministry, being made an overseer of the church, or flock of Christ, in Whately, by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery," 25 Sept., 1771. The services were held under the shade of two large oak trees standing on the west side of Chestnut Plain St., just south of the present resi- dence of C. R. Chaffee. A stage was built for the ministers and the congregation was seated in front on temporary seats. This was a proud day for our young town and, doubtless, for the young minister now empowered to perform all the acts custo- mary for the ministerial order.
The halfway membership then prevailed of admitting per- sons of fair character to the church far enough to have their children baptized, but were not allowed to partake of the em- blems of Christ's body and blood until they became members in full communion by confessing Christ or, as they expressed it, "Persons to come to full communion shall be of competent knowledge, in the opinion of the pastor ; that they publicly pro-
156
fess their faith and consent to the church covenant." This con- tinued until 18 March, 1816. Brother Joel Waite (a rumseller, by the way) stated that it was a matter of grief and an offence to him that this church admitted persons to the privilege of bap- tism for their children by consenting to the covenant, and yet neglected to attend upon the sacrament of the Lord's supper, when he conceived that this practice was not countenanced by the word of God. After due consideration the question was put and the heretofore practice was condemned by a unanimous vote. Then the pastor closed the meeting with solemn prayer.
To go back now to the early days when was commenced the effort to build a church or meeting-house. And now we will allow Mr. Temple to tell the story. Of course, he has to omit much of the strife, the wrangling and the heartburnings of this people, of which I have heard so much.
THE MEETING-HOUSE. At the time of the organization of the church and settlement of Rev. Mr. Wells no meeting-house had been built. The people first met for religious worship in the dwelling house of Oliver Morton. The meetings were held here for perhaps two years. December 2, 1771, the town voted, "To allow Oliver Morton three pounds for his house to meet in- for the term of one year." March 6, 1774, voted, "To pay Mr. Morton one pound, ten shillings for the use of his house six months." Meetings for public worship were also held for a time, perhaps a year, at the house of Rev. Mr. Wells, the town, as compensation, agreeing to assist him in finishing his house.
December 2, 1771, a vote was passed, "To make provision for a meeting-house." A committee, consisting of David Scott, Thomas Crafts, Joseph Belding, Jr., Noah Bardwell and David Graves, Jr., was appointed at the same time to carry out the above vote. At a meeting a few weeks later the town instructed the above committee to provide four thousand feet of pine boards, clapboards, window frames and sash and timber sufficient for said meeting-house. The timber was cut wherever it could be easiest procured. The boards and joists were sawed at the mill of Adonijah Taylor, where Silas Sanderson's mills are now located.
The next spring (March 30, 1772,) the town voted, "To · provide shingles this present year for the meeting house." These were purchased at about ten shillings per thousand. In the fall of this year (October 5, 1772,) it was voted, "That the meeting- house be set up next spring." It was also voted at the same time "That the meeting-house be placed in the Chestnut Plain street
157
(so called) at the most convenient place between the dwelling house of Oliver Morton and that of Rufus Wells, V. D. M., in Whately." Salmon White, Edward Brown, Oliver Graves, Joseph Belding, Jr., and David Scott were chosen building committee. The spot they selected was where the meeting- house of the First Parish stood. At the same meeting it was voted to raise eighty pounds to build said meeting-house, the money to be levied by tax on the ratable polls and property of the inhabitants. At a town meeting, held a few months later, it was voted, "To build one porch to the meeting-house," but the vote was never carried into effect.
During the winter of 1772-73 the timber and materials were collected and at a meeting, held 10 May, 1773, the town granted additional money and voted that David Scott be master work- man to frame the house. In the course of the two following months the house was framed, raised and partially covered. At a town meeting held 8 July, 1773, it was voted, "To raise forty pounds to go on and finish the meeting-house." The "finish" then put on, however, was not of the highest order, as will be seen in the particular description which follows: On the outside the roof was well shingled, though it had no steeple or tower ; the sides and ends were covered with rough boards, chamfered together. The windows in the lower story were pretty fully glazed ; those in the upper story were boarded up. There were three doors to the house, one each on the north, east and south sides-that on the east side being reckoned the front door. These were made of rough boards and not very tightly fitted. Thus uniform was the covering upon the outside. 'The inside had no "finish" at all except a ground floor. The sides were destitute of both plastering and laths, and the frame work of the galleries, the beams, girths and rafters were all naked. A rough board pulpit, raised a few feet, was placed in the center of the west side. Directly in front of the pulpit, a carpenter's work- bench was left. The seat which was placed before this bench was claimed by the old ladies, that they might hear better, and have a support for the back. The seats were nothing more than low slab forms ; these were arranged without much regard to order, and were free to all. After some years Mr. Wells nailed up a couple of boards on the left of the pulpit, for the better accommodation of his wife; and a sort of pew or bench, with a back fixed to it, capable of seating six or eight persons, was fit- ted up by a few of the young men, on the east side near the door.
158
The house remained in this state twenty-four or twenty- five years. During this time it was hardly more respectable in appearance or more comfortable than an ordinary single boarded barn. In those days no stoves or fireplaces were found in the meeting-house. The men kept their feet warm by thump- ing them together; the women carried foot stoves filled with coals from the hearth at home. Families who lived at a dis- tance hired a "noon room" somewhere in the village where they could eat their lunch, get warm and fill their foot stoves with fresh coals. An article was once inserted in the town warrant, "To see if the town will grant leave to people that live at a dis- tance from meeting, to build a fire in the schoolhouse on Sab- bath noons." Passed in the negative.
It is quite probable that some of his good friends were accustomed to make the pastor's kitchen their noon room, and that the genial fire and genial fare were the cause of a little tar- diness in reaching the sanctuary for the afternoon service. Otherwise it is not easy to account for the following vote of the town: Voted, "That the intermission on Sunday be one hour, and that the selectmen be a committee to inform the pastor when to begin the exercises and to be punctual."
In winter drifting snows found easy entrance, and in sum- mer the swallows, in great numbers, were accustomed to fly in and build their mud nests on the plates and rafters. On the Sabbath these social little intruders, twittering as merrily as ever, seemed entirely regardless of the people below; plainly having it for their maxim to mind their own business, however much the minds and eyes of those below might be attracted to themselves. It is said that during the few months of their annual stay Mr. Wells seldom or never exchanged with his brethren of other towns, giving as a reason, that he feared the swallows, to which habit had familiarized him, would be too great an annoyance to strangers. He could say with the Psalm- ist, "The sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of Hosts."
There were two reasons which prevented the further com- pletion of the meeting-house. The first was the war of the Rev- olution, which broke out soon after the town was incorporated. This for some years absorbed the chief attention of the com- munity, and the taxes levied to support it drained the people of money. The other reason was a division of sentiment about the
I59
location of the house. A part demanded that it should be moved half a mile to the southwest, to a spot south of "Spruce Hill," (in the lot owned in 1849 by the Rev. John Ferguson) and a majority insisted that it should remain on the old spot. Many votes were passed and afterwards reconsidered. Many expedients were devised by both parties. Numerous commit- tees, both of the town's people and disinterested men from abroad, were appointed on this question with various results. At the town meeting in March, 1788, a vote was passed and insisted, "To raise seventy pounds to repair the meeting-house." This led to the drawing up of the following "protest," which was presented to the town at a meeting in April :
"We, the subscribers, the people of the westerly part of the town of Whately, whose names are under written, do enter a protest to this meeting, 10 April, 1788, against the proceedings of the other parts of the town, that is, in finishing up the meeting-house in the place where it now stands. For we have been to the cost of having a committee to determine where the just spot for the meeting-house to stand is, who determined in the centre of the town, and there we are willing to finish it up, and nowhere else.
"John Smith, Elisha Frary, Phineas Frary, Elihu Waite, Simeon Morton, Edward Brown, Joel Waite, Reuben Graves, John Brown, Moses Munson, John Starks, Bernice Snow, Isaiah Brown, Reuben Taylor, Asa Sanderson, Noah Bardwell."
This protest not being heeded, the signers and others with- drew and formed a new society. They afterwards erected a meeting-house on the Poplar Hill road. This was the origin of the Baptist society of Whately.
The feelings engendered by this long and, at times, bitter controversy about the location of the meeting-house were not at once subdued. Those who attached themselves to the new organization and paid the expenses incidental to maintaining separate ordinances, claimed that they ought to be released from liability to pay their proportion of the expenses of the old church. The law was against them, and the majority of the town was against them. and for a series of years they bore the double burden. But in 1794 the town voted, "That the treasurer pay to all such persons their ministerial rates, as shall procure proper certificates of their attending on other teachers, and shall profess to differ in sentiment from those Christians called Congregationalls,"
160
Although the town voted at this date to raise money to repair the meeting-house it does not appear that any funds were actually expended for this purpose till 1797. The seventy pounds was paid to Mr. Wells for arrearages of his salary. Various moneys were raised in different years for repairs, and then otherwise expended.
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