USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Springfield > King's handbook of Springfield, Massachusetts : a series of monographs, historical and descriptive > Part 14
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thusiastic, and are doing much to add to the reputation of the city as a scientific centre.
The Springfield Science Association was organized in March, 1881, " for the promotion of scientific knowledge among its members." Capt. (then Lieut.) David A. Lyle, of the Ordnance Department of the United-States Army, was chosen its first president. He was succeeded, upon his re- moval from the city, by Prof. J. H. Pillsbury. F. H. Morgan is chairman of the executive committee ; W. W. Colburn, corresponding secretary ; and Oscar B. Ireland, recording secretary. Meetings are held in the High-' school building on State Street, on the second Wednesday of each month, at which original papers upon scientific subjects are read, and discussions had. It also has occasional "field-days ; " and courses of lectures have been, and will continue to be, given under its auspices. It is in flourishing con- , dition, and cannot fail to be of great practical benefit to the community, as well as a means of intellectual culture and social enjoyment to its members.
The Springfield Natural History Society was organized March 17, 1882, for the purpose of cultivating a taste for the study of nature. At first the membership was mostly made up of graduates and pupils of the High School. After a time others became interested in its work, and it now includes among its members several of the professional men of the city. Meetings are held on the first and third Friday evenings of each month except July and August. At these meetings papers are read on various topics of natural history, specimens which have been collected exhibited, and observations made by the members discussed. It has contributed a large number of specimens to the High-school collection. The second meeting of each month is usually devoted to some branch of microscopical science. The officers for 1884 are. President, J. H. Pillsbury ; vice- presidents, Rev. Charles Van Norden, J. J. Walker; corresponding secre- tary, Miss Louise Knappe; recording secretary, F. E. Wheeler ; curator, C. D. Montague ; treasurer, Miss Fanny M. Vilas. Its meetings are held in the lecture-room of the High-school building on State Street.
The Stationary Engineers are represented here by Hampden Lodge No. 3. Their object is to aid the members in gaining further knowledge of their own line of work, and in elevating themselves mentally and socially. At their meetings, held once a week, they exchange views and narrate ex- periences regarding different kinds of engines and boilers. Their constitu- tion and by-laws make ineligible to membership any person addicted to strong drink, or of immoral character, and forbid any participation in strikes. The chief engineer is Charles H. Mead; the treasurer, George R. Reed : and the recording secretary, J. H. Ford.
The Hampden District Medical Society is composed of the Fellows of the Massachusetts Medical Society residing in Hampden County. It was
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instituted May 30, 1840, under a charter from the Massachusetts Medical Society granted to Drs. Joseph H. Flint, William Bridgman, George Hooker, Aaron King, Bela B. Jones, Reuben Champion, John Appleton, and L. W. Humphreys. The officers are: President, Dr. Stephen W. Bowles; vice- president, Dr. George S. Stebbins ; secretary, treasurer, and librarian, Dr. George C. McClean. Its meetings are held, usually, in Springfield, - the annual meeting on the last Tuesday of April, and others, from two to four during the year, at ap- pointed times. At these meetings, essays from members, designated to prepare them, are read, and subjects important to the medical profes- sion are discussed, re- ports of interesting cases made, and gen- eral professional fel- lowship cultivated.
The Hampden- County Agricultural Society was chartered in 1844. Among its projectors and original corporators were Wil- liam B. Calhoun and Daniel W. Willard of Springfield, and Forbes Kyle of Chester, with many of the leading ag- Judge Henry Morris. riculturists of the coun- ty. Its declared objects were the encouragement and improvement of agriculture and the mechanic arts. Its first meeting, under its charter, was held in Springfield, April 9, 1844. Its first cattle-show and fair was held in Springfield, Oct. 16, 17, 1844, at which $269 was awarded in premiums. It has since held annual fairs in Springfield, West Springfield, Westfield, Holyoke, and Chicopee. In 1856 sixty acres of land were purchased for the purpose of a fair-ground be- tween the Connecticut-river Railroad and the bank of Connecticut River, adjoining southerly what is called " Plainfield." This purchase was the re- sult of the interest excited by the success of "The Great National Horse- Show," held on Federal Square on " The Hill" in 1856. This was the first
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of the kind ever held in the United States. George Dwight was chief marshal; and the equine and human attendance was so remarkable as to leave it in history as not only the first, but one of the best to the present day." The surplus of receipts over expenditures, together with a very considerable sum raised by subscription, was appropriated to the purchase of the above- mentioned land, title to which was taken in the name of the society. The area was immediately laid out as a show and racing ground, and named " Hampden Park." It was held by the society until 1878, when it was sold, and passed eventually into the ownership of the present Hampden Park Association, by which it is still held. Some of the most extensive horse and cattle shows and race-meetings ever held in this country have taken place on this ground, under the auspices of its successive owners. Since parting with Hampden Park, the meetings and fairs of the society have been held at various towns in the county. It now has about 1,000 mem- bers. During the nearly 40 years of its existence, it has paid about $20,000 in premiums. Its presidents have been successively these : William B. Calhoun, John Mills, Josiah Hooker, Thomas J. Shepard, Francis Brewer, Horace M. Sessions, George Bliss, Chester W. Chapin, Phineas Stedman, William Birnie, Eliphalet Trask, George Dwight, Norman T. Leonard, William Pynchon, Chauncey L. Buell, and Ethan Brooks. It has a vice- president from each town in the county. Its secretary is, and has been for the past 25 years, James Newton Bagg of West Springfield. James E. Russell was treasurer for 15 years, when he resigned, and was succeeded by the present incumbent, E. S. Batchelder of Springfield. The life-member- ship fee is $5.00 for men, $2.50 for women.
The Hampden Harvest Club was organized in 1857, for scientific and social purposes, and the promotion of agricultural interests. It has a mem- bership of 20, divided among an almost equal number of towns in the county. Its meetings are held, in the winter, fortnightly, at houses of mem- bers, where supper is provided by the host of the occasion, and intellectual entertainment by the guests, through the reading and discussion of papers of interest to the farming community. At each meeting a chairman is chosen to preside over the next assembly. The secretary is James Newton Bagg, who has served as such since the organization of the club. It has proved of social, intellectual, and material benefit to its members.
The Hampden-County Horticultural Society, organized in January, 1861, has for its object the promotion of, and improvement in, the cultiva- tion of fruits and flowers ; and it has been largely successful in its purpose. Its first public exhibition, given in June, 1861, in Union Hall, netted $196, and aroused very considerable interest among the people of the county. It was followed by others, annually, for several years, with success. Of late the public exhibitions have been less frequent, but the interest of its mem-
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bers is said to be unabated. Its first board of officers was : President, John B. Stebbins; vice-presidents, Thomas L. Chapman, George E. Howard, and William L. Smith ; secretary, Clark W. Bryan ; treasurer, James Birnie. The officers chosen at the last annual meeting were: President, John E. Taylor ; vice-presidents, Daniel B. Wesson, E. Dickinson, James E. Russell ; secretary, Dr. T. L. Chapman ; treasurer, Gurdon Bill; and sixteen directors, viz., Messrs. C. L. Covell, I. P. Dickinson, Richard F. Hawkins, Horace Kibbe, Henry S. Hyde, Dexter Snow, Adolphe Mielliez, Mrs. Albert D. Briggs, Mrs. B. F. Warner, Mrs. V. L. Owen, Mrs. George T. Bond, Mrs. George C. Fiske, Mrs. R. F. Hawkins, Mrs. James E. Russell, Mrs. John E. Taylor (since deceased), and Mrs. Charles A. Nichols.
- WILLIAM STEELE SHURTLEFF.
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Art and Music.
ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS, AND THE ART AND MUSICAL ORGANIZATIONS.
A' RT and artists have naturally made their home in Springfield, as befits a place so beautiful for situation; and within the last ten years the city has earned a reputation for appreciation and patronage of art, and distinc- tively of American art, which ranks it, probably, above any other place of its size in the country, and, indeed, above most of the minor cities. It supports an annual artists' exhibition of a hundred carefully selected paintings from New-York studios, possesses one of the finest art-galleries in the United States, has an art association which maintains a school of drawing and painting, and numbers a considerable list of intelligent and liberal buyers. Among the more notable of the artists who have made their home in Spring- field, the first to be named is Chester Harding, a portrait-painter of more than national reputation, who resided here for many years, and whose ashes rest in our cemetery, distinguished by a monument of freestone, bearing upon it a palette and a wreath of bay, with the classical inscription, " Ars longa, vita brevis." Mr. Harding, who was a native of Conway in Frank- lin County, came to Springfield in 1830, in his 39th year, and four years after his return from a prolonged sojourn in England, where he had won a high professional and social standing, and had painted portraits of the Dukes of Sussex and Norfolk, the Earl of Aberdeen, Samuel Rogers, and other men of rank and note. Mr. Harding was an intimate friend of Daniel Webster, and of George Ashmun of Springfield. Mr. Webster gave him his recipe for his favorite dish, fish-chowder, and ended with, " Have ready good mealy potatoes, beets, drawn butter, and oil, have it all served up hot, and then send for Ashmun and me." Mr. Harding painted the full-length portrait of Webster that now hangs in Faneuil Hall in Boston, and a por- trait of Henry Clay for the City Hall in Washington. He made a journey into the backwoods of Kentucky, in order to paint Daniel Boone; and the original picture, the only likeness for which the great pioneer sat, is now owned in Springfield. He also painted John Randolph of Roanoke, and the brothers Amos and Abbott Lawrence; and his last portrait was of Gen. W. T. Sherman in 1865, to which he gave the last touches at his home in Springfield in 1866, a few days before his death.
William S. Elwell, for a long while a valued and beloved citizen, and
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known in his later years as "The Crescent-hill Artist," was a pupil of Chester Harding, and in his prime approached closely the style and color- ing of his master. He made several tours as portrait-painter, and on one of these journeys painted at Washington, in 1848, the famous and charming Mrs. Dolly Madison, widow of the third president of the United States, in her old age, and had the honor of her friendship. His portrait of Mrs. Madison became the property of William Seaton of " The National Intelli- gencer." He made two copies of the Stuart Washington, in Hartford, one of which hangs in the common-council chamber in the City Hall, and the other in the town-hall of Brimfield, his native place, to which he bequeathed it. Mr. Elwell was a clerk in the Treasury Department from 1850 to June, 1854; and overwork at his desk and in his profession brought on a stroke of paralysis in 1855, partially disabling him. Another stroke twelve years later confined him to his house, and to a wheeled chair; but in this crippled condition he took up a new line of work, and until his death executed the most delicate miniature landscapes. He was fitly described as "a person- ality of rich and gracious type, and an influence of the sweetest and most enduring kind, - that of a spirit maintaining itself clear and true against great odds, and giving a lesson to the impatience and triviality of his friends which will not be forgotten." He died in 1881, at the age of 71 ; and his grave in the Springfield Cemetery is marked by a rough granite bowlder, bearing on a palette sculptured on one side his name, and the dates of birth and death.
Among other artists temporarily connected with Springfield, is Willis Seaver Adams, who has made the city more than any other place his home for the past 16 years. He has studied at the Royal Academy, Antwerp, at Munich, and Venice. His last return to Springfield was in 1881, when he was immediately recognized as an artist of remarkable genius. Two of his paintings, " Morning in Venice," and " Night in Venice," were accepted for the exhibition of the National Academy in 1882; and one, "Spring in Bavaria," was in the exhibition of the Society of American Artists of that season. He was teacher of the local Art-association classes for a short time, and is now in Rome. Joseph O. Eaton, a New-York artist of note, spent parts of two or three summers here, painting portraits; among them those of the late Chief-Justice Chapman for the Hampden-County bar (now in the County Court-house), of the noted advocate E. B. Gillett, and the late railroad-presidents Chester W. Chapin and Daniel L. Harris. T. W. Wood, vice-president of the National Academy, and president of the American Water-color Society, has likewise painted portraits in this city, during his summer vacations ; including that of the late Samuel Bowles for the City Library, and its replica for " The Springfield Republican," also of Rev. Drs. Samuel G. Buckingham and William Rice. Several artists now have stu-
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dios in the city. Miss Irene E. Parmelee, portrait and figure painter, studied with Professor Weir at the Yale Art School, and in Paris with R. T. Fleury, Lefebvre, and Cot. Edmund E. Case, landscape-painter, was a pupil at the Academy in New York, painted in J. O. Eaton's studio, and in Paris under Bouguereau and R. T. Fleury. He has exhibited in the Academy at New York. George N. Bowers, portraits and landscapes, studied at the Art Students' League in New York, and with Bonnat and Ferrier in Paris : he is established as a teacher of drawing and painting. R. L. de Lisser, pupil of the Munich school, is the present teacher of the Art-association's classes, having his studio in their rooms. R. G. Shurtleff, though not a professional artist, paints landscapes with rare beauty and a refined skill. George Har- rington has lately set up a studio, and is becoming known as a painter of nature.
Gill's Art-Store and Galleries are among the famous sights in Spring- field; and it is an unquestioned fact, that James D. Gill has made his store a true art-centre, and led the public taste by feeding it with the best art of the country. He began business in art-books, stationery, and other things, in the winter of 1871, in Goodrich Block, having then a partner. Gradually increasing the variety and quality of his art-stock, he gained a reputation, not confined to the local public, as an intelligent and enterprising dealer. In the winter of 1877 Col. James Fairman of New York showed a number of his paintings in an exhibition-room fitted up for the occasion ; and the next winter Mr. Gill added a larger room adjoining, and gave his first annual exhibition of paintings selected from the studios of New-York artists. G. W. V. Smith, a connoisseur well known in New York, assisted the enter. prise, and himself selected the paintings, - fifty-six in number, - and de- voted his invaluable services to make the display a success. The catalogue comprised an excellent representation of American art, including a large and important work by Frederick E. Church, the first celebrated American landscapist. Thirty-six of the paintings were sold. The next year Mr. Gill had removed his business to the block on the corner of Main and Bridge Streets, built expressly for him by Hinsdale Smith, and containing two art- galleries on the second floor, extending to the height of two stories, which, for their liberal wall-space, excellent light, and tasteful decoration, are not excelled by any others in New England, and will bear comparison with those in New York. His second annual exhibition, selected by Mr. Smith and Mr. Gill. was opened in these galleries Feb. 1, 1879; and the success, both in popular attendance and in sales of pictures, was repeated, and, indeed, exceeded. The result was, that in two years the people of Springfield, be- fore almost unknown as patrons of the fine arts, had taken the first rank among the smaller cities ; and they have maintained that position ever since. Many of the best works of the leading painters of New York have been
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first seen on Mr. Gill's walls, and many of these have remained in Spring- field. Among the large works shown as central attractions for the public
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Gill's Art Galleries.
on these occasions, have been "The Pioneer's Home," by F. E. Church ; " In the Autumn Wood," by James M. Hart; Walter Shirlaw's famous " Sheep-shearing in the Bavarian Highlands ; " Edgar M. Ward's "Tobacco Field, Old Virginny ; " "La Cigale," by F. A. Bridgman; and one of George
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Inness's greatest landscapes, - the three last mentioned, before their appear- ance in the National Academy. Among works from these sales, owned in the city, may be mentioned J. G. Brown's " Pull for the Shore " (a double- bank crew of Grand-Manan fishermen); Wordsworth Thompson's "The Great Review at Philadelphia, Aug. 24, 1777 ;" A. F. Bellows's " Old Strat- ford, Conn. ; " "Reminiscence of Vermont," and "Early Autumn," by A. H. Wyant ; "Scituate Cliffs," by A. T. Bricher; R. S. Gifford's "Dart- mouth Moors ; " S. R. Gifford's "The Coming Storm, Lake George ; " " The Beach at Flushing, Holland," by M. F. H. de Haas; "Winter Gloaming," by T. L. Smith ; Winslow Homer's "By the Seaside," and " Peach Blos- soms ; " "Up the Hill," by James D. Smillie ; "The Jungfrau," by H. A. Ferguson ; "The Camp-Fire," and " At the Day's End," by Gilbert Gaul ; and works of Bierstadt, James and William Hart, McEntee, Casilear, Nicoll, Arthur Parton, David Johnson, H. P. Smith, Quartley, Bristol, T. W. Wood, W. S. Macy, Shattuck, Hubbard, Van Elten, Guy, Whittredge, and others. Of the six exhibitions already held, the summary is as follows: 1878, fifty- six pictures shown, thirty-six sold, average price $271 ; 1879, seventy-nine shown, thirty-five sold, average $292; 1880, seventy-nine shown, forty sold, average $361.25; 1881, eighty-five shown, thirty-nine sold, average $267; 1882, ninety-two shown, thirty sold, average $323; 1883, ninety-seven shown, thirty-six sold, average $298. Total, two hundred and sixteen paintings, sold for $65,270. Meanwhile Mr. Gill's galleries are always hung with engravings, photographs, and paintings, and occasionally occupied by special exhibitions, so that they are always contributive to the cultivation of the popular taste for art. His seventh exhibition is to occur in Feb- ruary, 1884.
The Springfield Art-Association was established in 1879. Here, as in other portions of the country, there had been a wonderful increase of in- terest in art and in art-education, owing to the stimulus of the exhibitions at the Philadelphia Centennial, and our rapid national growth in prosper- ity and intelligence, - an interest that in Springfield, as in many other places, was speedily followed by the discovery that opportunities for art- study were extremely limited. When the association was started, there was already adopted the teaching of mechanical drawing as an adjunct to the city high-school, and this has been made very useful and excellent under the skilled tuition of Charles A. Emery; but there was no other teaching in art, no cast-drawing, and scarcely a chance for more than amateur work. The association was formed in public meeting, and was incorporated in 1879, with Elisha Morgan as its first president. At the first meeting after its incorporation, E. C. Gardner, the noted literary as well as practical architect, delivered a fine address concerning the objects of the society. His plan was the inclusion of all students and workers in the
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various arts of design, whether for pleasure, self-culture, or serious pro- fessional purpose ; lectures relating to art, in general or for specific branches ; the gathering of an art-library; the holding of social re-unions from time to time, with papers read, or exhibitions given, to increase the interest; clubs or classes developing in distinct branches of art, industrial or decorative. These and many other things were included in the plan of the projectors of the art-association. During its existence the association has lacked the necessary popular support; and its continuance has depended upon a few who have liberally bestowed their labor, their influence, and their money, to keep it going. Several artists have been employed as its instructors ; and the teaching has been nearly all the time of a very good order, and some- times quite as good, within its limits, as could be obtained in New York or Boston. The association is now officered as follows: President, Elisha Morgan ; vice-presidents, P. P. Kellogg, W. W. Colburn, Charles Bill; treasurer, W. F. Ferry; clerk, Louis C. Hyde; directors, Avery J. Smith, Milton Bradley, James D. Gill, W. F. Adams, E. C. Gardner, Chauncey L. Covell, Mrs. C. O. Chapin, Mrs. J. S. Hurlbut, Mrs. E. Morgan, Mrs. H. S. Hyde, Mrs. A. J. Smith, Miss Isabel P. Newell. The instructor is R. L. De Lisser, a pupil of the Munich school, who received in 1874 the bronze medal of the Munich Academy. The classes include one for ele- mentary teaching, beginning with the flat if necessary, and including geo- metrical work, as on cubes, spheres, pyramids, etc .; an intermediate class, beginning with casts of leaves, fruit, etc., and ending with the blocked head ; an antique class, on casts of the human head, first on features, and then to busts and full figures ; a life and painting class, to do still life, and draw and paint from the living draped model. There are also evening classes. The art association, in the winter of 1883, held its first annual exhibition of oil- paintings, - excellent in the quality of works displayed, and successful in popular appreciation. The works shown were by many artists having national and even European reputations. The association has now about two hundred members, and it seems to be in a fair way to a prosperity where it may be able to accomplish the high purposes which its unrivalled oppor- tunity opens to its efforts. The association occupies comfortable and well- adapted quarters in the Evangelist Building, on the north side of State Street, at the corner of Dwight Street.
Music, like literature, science, and art, has been given considerable at- tention here for a place the size of Springfield. Professional concerts, operas, and musical entertainments are of frequent occurrence ; and their early history is given in a later chapter on "The Sociability of the City." The amateur organizations have produced works that are of the highest grade, and have performed them in a manner that would be creditable to the
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THE SPRINGFIELD ART-ASSOCIATION ROOMS, In the Evangelist Building.
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most noted organizations. Many of the local churches have choirs for which they make a liberal expenditure.
The Orpheus Club is a society devoted to the study and singing of male part-songs. It was organized in 1874, on the plan of having an active mem- bership of singing-members who attend to the business management of the club, and an associate membership of subscribers who, for $10 a season, receive five tickets, besides the membership-ticket, to each of the four con- certs annually given. No tickets to single concerts are sold. Beginning in one of the smaller halls, with a male chorus of 16, the growth of the club compelled it to go to the Gilmore Opera House, and then to the City Hall, to accommodate its audiences, which of late years have numbered 1,200 or more, while the singers have been from 30 to 36. Louis Coenen was the club's conductor and musical director up to 1879, since which time the office has been filled by G. W. Sumner of Boston. Albert Holt held the presidency, and Henry F. Trask the secretaryship, from 1874 until 1883, when the former resigned, and the latter was elected to fill the vacancy. The other officers were, at the start, James D. Safford, vice-president ; William H. King, treasurer; and Oscar B. Ireland (the present secretary), librarian. The vice-president is now Francis D. Foot; the treasurer is James C. Ingersoll ; and the librarian, Henry G. Chapin. Rehearsals take place every Tuesday evening from October to May. The club's programmes have been made up from the best published male choruses and part-songs ; and the club's work has been supplemented by professional assistance, sometimes supplied by leading soprano or alto singers of the country, and sometimes by noted instrumental performers. Its work has been such as to give it a very high rank among similar clubs of the smaller cities, and to entitle it to respectful consideration, even in comparison with leading clubs of New York and Boston, with whom courtesies are exchanged.
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