USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Ludlow > Ludlow: a century and a centennial, comprising a sketch of the history of the town of Ludlow, Hampden County, Massachusetts > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17
"I was advised by Mr. Fuller, to make application to Mr. Baldwin, minister of Palmer, for information where were vacancies. I accord- ingly set out for Palmer on Monday morning."
4
26
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
On Monday, June 1st, 1793, the town voted to give Mr. Antipas Steward a " Call to Settle in the gospel Min- istry among us in said town." At the same time a com- mittee to estimate the amount needed for his support was appointed, to report in four weeks; the committee were Timothy Keyes, John Sikes, David Lyon, John Jennings, Elisha Hubbard, Israel Warriner, and James Kendall. Whether they had difficulty in agreeing or not is un- known, but it is certain that the next town meeting did not occur until August 26th, when it was agreed to give Mr. Steward sixty pounds, with thirty cords of wood an- nually, as long as he should be able to officiate. A long delay follows, but the people are not further doomed to disappointment, for on November 14th, the citizens trans- acted the following business :
"1st, Voted, Esq" James Kendall Moderator of said meeting.
" 2ª, Voted that the ordination of Mr Steward be on wendsday the Twenty seventh of Novm Instant.
" Voted to grant £20 to be asessed on the Polls and Estates of said Town to defray the Charges of Mr Steward ordination.
" Voted that a Committee of three be appointed to See how the Said money is Expended and make preparation for the Council on said day and that John Sikes Esq', James Kendall & Elisha Hubbard be Said Committee.
" Voted that M' Joshua Fuller be appointed to keep good order and Regulations on ordination day."
It was a proud day for Ludlow, that November 27th, 1793. Every citizen stepped firmly, every matron put on her best gown, every damsel smiled sweetly, for was it not ordination day, and was not Ludlow to have a parson of her own ? Bezaleel Howard came from Springfield, and probably Joseph Willard from Wilbraham, Joseph Lathrop from West Springfield, Nehemiah Williams from Brim- field, Richard Salter Storrs from Longmeadow, and, if his health allowed, John Mckinstry from the present Chico- pee, as council, with perhaps others. The session could
27
REV. ANTIPAS STEWARD.
not have been tedious, for Mr. Steward was then an old preacher. From that twenty pounds there must have come something good for the inner man, and very likely the Washingtonians of a half century later would have held up their hands in holy horror could they have been per- mitted to catch the tell-tale odors.
Antipas Award
A fac simile of whose autograph is here presented, was born in Marlboro, Mass., in 1734, and was graduated at Harvard University in 1760, eminently qualified by scho- lastic attainments. For a time he was a tutor in the Uni- versity. It seems that when he was assigned a room as tutor, in his absence, he having solicited single apart- ments, he and one Mr. Fyler were placed together, that gentleman and he having been the only ones presenting such a request, and hence deemed suitable associates. The succession of his labors has not been ascertained, but upon his manuscripts are the name of Danvers East and Gloucester, Sandy Bay, with reference in letters to a place in Maine and one in Connecticut.
Mr. Steward was a small man, but slightly built and short of stature, carrying with him a small cane, which, preserved to-day, cannot be more than thirty inches in length. He was near-sighted ; his chirography was good, as the specimen indicates, but so close and fine that much of it is to-day read with difficulty. Greek, Latin and Hebrew quotations are freely and legibly interlined. He was obliged to hold the manuscript close to his eyes while reading. Gad Lyon led the singing, standing in front of the minister, and lining out the psalms of easy meter. Mr. Steward possessed a stentorian voice, and was withal
28
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
very fond of exercising the same in psalmody. Mr. Lyon was similarly blessed, so that irreverent auditors used to say the parson and chorister vied with each other to see who could make the most noise. Forming his opinions under the shadow of Harvard long before the Revolution, he was probably a tory, nor is it likely he ever changed his views very much in this regard. Old people remem- ber him as a fine specimen of the ancient province-man, who, in powdered locks and a three-cornered hat, would visit the homes and schools, encouraging the children by a pat upon the head and an exhortation to be good, or warning them with a statement that if they lied he would find it out, though miles away.
From an old sermon of Mr. Steward's the following specimen selection is taken, illustrating not only the quaintness of style and peculiarity of thought, but also the real strength of the man, who, despite all caricature, was no unworthy representative of his profession at that day. The selection may be of use to some one who, by reason of a storm, may some day be prevented attend- ing-town-meeting :
" First, I am to Show what we are to understand by ye Injunction in ye Text ' work out y" Salvation', &c., but before we enter upon a Dis- cussion of the Command, it may be pertinent to premise a few Things; and obviate some objections wch, if allowed, it would follow that the Proposition is of no Manner of Importance; being either wholy void of Meaning, or else requiring an utter Impossibility : but grant- ing These, one or the other, it will appear of no great Weight, and not, as in Truth it is, 'worthy of all Acceptation ;' and demanding our highest Concern :
"Some may alledge, and say, that inasmuch as God sees and deter- mines all ye Actions, wch are done by any of his Creatures thro' the Universe, they & their Ways being entirely under his Inspection, and at his Disposal. None of them can do anything voluntarily, but altogether by Necessity ; not being able, to perform any Operation spontaneously, and according to the Dictates of Reason. * *
" To such Suggestions as these we reply, and say : that Altho' we
29
TEMPLE BUILDING.
allow that God is infinite in Knowledge and Power; sees and deter- mines all events in the Kingdom of Nature and Providence; yet we suppose this doth by no means hinder the Liberty of Will in the Creature ; but they may act as freely, this notwithstanding, as tho' they were absolute, and independent Beings ; and had the entire Dis- posal of their Wills."
The drift of thought very plainly indicates that Mr. Steward was Arminian in view. He lived in the place now owned by A. L. Bennett, and had two daughters, one of whom married Dr. Sylvester Nash, and, if not liv- ing, has passed away very recently. The other, who mar- ried a Bardwell of Belchertown, was mother of Oramel Bardwell, well known to our towns-people, and to whom we are indebted for the most of these facts.
Let us now retrace our steps from the ordination to earlier days, and recite the account of the erection of the first church. One of the earliest actions of town-meeting, we have seen, relates to fixing a stake upon a meeting- house lot. The Ludlow people seem to have had some difficulty in agreeing upon the location of their edifice. It is rumored that the original center lay in the midst of Cedar Swamp, a rather shaky foundation for town ecclesi- astics. The causes to which Mr. Tuck refers, the scarcity of money and absorption of interest in the affairs of the Revolution, were doubtless instrumental in the delay experienced. However, just at the close of the strug- gle, the people rallied and erected their desired place of worship. Another hand has described the interesting events;13 we only add the names of the building commit- tee, who were John Sikes, Moses Wilder, Timothy Keyes, James Kendall and Isaac Brewer. After the raising, an- other £200 was assessed for completion. The first town meeting at the meeting-house, was held August 3, 1784, which must have been near the date of first occupancy.
13See address of Mr. Tuck, Note V.
30
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
The house appears at first to have been merely enclosed with rough boards, without floors or plastering or doors, save perhaps the rudest. In June, 1788, some parties desired to have the place put in better shape, but failed to secure the approbation of the town. The agitation evidently did good, for four months later Warriner, Miller and Burr were made a committee to repair the house. Very likely there were needed the chats of a winter to think over the matter, but in March 'specific instructions followed. They must lay a floor, make doors, complete the windows and clapboard the building. In October they were allowed ££30 for the work. Surely the temple was now goodly indeed; what more could man desire ? O the pride of humanity ! Two years have hardly wheeled around before the extravagant people must squander all of £18 in painting the meeting-house! One might to-day go around the world half a dozen times while they were doing the work, but the bill finally appeared in July, 1793. One extravagance breeds another, and in '95 the town votes its third £200 for completing the edifice, which same sum, probably, is defined in federal money the next year to be $666.66. In two years and a half the indignant citizens vote to bring their slothful contractor, one "Lomis," to terms, by law, if need be, and appoint a committee to put glass in the windows.
We are not left wholly to conjecture respecting the plans for public worship and town business before the house was fitted for use. The three favorite places for town meetings were Joshua Fuller's, Jacob Kendall's and Abner Hitchcock's. In 1777, the houses of James Kendall and Samuel Scranton were prescribed as places for assem- bly in worship and for town business. Barns seem to have been brought into requisition ; one then standing opposite L. Simonds' present home was thus used, and has been torn down within the memory of many now living.
31
CHURCH MATTERS.
Burroughs is said to have preached in a barn near the present Methodist church.
The church organizations seem to have made but little progress up to the close of this period. Of course the town ministry was Congregational, and the town services after the order of that denomination. But there seems to have been little permanent religious strength acquired. It is stated that at the time the ministry of Mr. Steward. began, there were fifteen joined in church fellowship, but we shall discover a diminution rather than increase as the ministry advances. The labors of the reverend gentle- man seem to have lacked appreciation before the century closed, for in 1799 the town voted, that "a Committee be appointed to signify to Revd Mr Steward that the town are willing that he should be disconnected from the People in this Place, if he should be willing himself." On the 10th of March a committee is instructed to ask him to relinquish his claim of salary, using the precaution to assure him of the disposition of the town " to cultivate peace, love, concord and good agreement among them- selves and a good understanding towards their minister." As a result of the conference the town agree to make a donation of £80 and pay all arrearages by November 27th, on condition that he be released from service on the 1st of June and draw no salary thereafter.
As early as 1786, David Daniels, David Paine and John Scranton are excused from paying church rates, they pre- senting certificates setting forth their adhesion to the " Baptist Principles." These certificates are duly signed by "Elder Seth Clark, minister of the Baptist church, Wilbraham."
The beginnings of Methodism in Ludlow occur in the last decade of the eighteenth century. The first itinerant who visited the town was probably George Pickering, and the second George Roberts, whose efforts ante-date 1793.
32
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
The first prominent layman in the town was Samuel Frost, familiarly known as " Master Frost." In 1793, he invited the itinerants to visit the town and preach at his house. Nathaniel Chapin responded to the invitation. It is said that two men accompanied him, Uriah Clough and Joel Farnum. The experiment was successful in awakening an interest, and in '95 the Tolland circuit itinerants from Wilbraham came up and supplied statedly. The names of these evangelists are preserved ; most prominent were Menzies Rayner,14 Lemuel Smith, Zadoc Priest, Daniel Ostrander and Laban Clark. At the close of our period, however, no organization was existent, and no preaching regularly occurring.
A few incidents occurring during this period are worthy of note. In the last month of 1779, two young men, Jedediah Paine and Solomon Olds, living in the south-east part of the town, started on Saturday to go to Springfield on business, driving an ox-team. Delayed at "town " until late, when they reached the fording-place at Wal- lamanumps, the shadows of night had gathered about the stream, rendering the crossing dangerous. They tarried until morning light, and then availed themselves of its aid to accomplish the rest of their journey. But the Sabbath law was technically broken, and they had violated it. An eye-witness living near the ford complained of them, car- rying the case to the county magistrates at Northampton. To this place the young men repaired upon summons, accompanied by some of their friends. Judgment was pronounced against them, they to pay fine and costs. John Jennings became surety for them, and they returned homeward. It was Christmas day. While coming through South Hadley, over the fields, they undertook to cross a temporary pond on the new ice, but were so unfortunate as to lose their lives in the attempt. There was great
14See Stevens's Hist. M. E. Church, p. 260-Hist. of Wilbraham, p. 247.
33
SHAYS' REBELLION.
lamentation in Ludlow over the melancholy event, some deeming it a judgment of God. Great indignation was felt against the informant, who received half the fees.15 A local bard, Collins Hill, was so inspired by the occur- rence that he gave to the world a poem about the affair, copies of which. exist in printed sheets, and from one we take a selection.16
In 1787, came the events of Shays' Rebellion, in which Ludlow had her share, furnishing, it is claimed, recruits to both sides, though the general impression seems to be that the town rather sympathized with the rebellent hosts. The track of the Shays part of the malcontents is sup- posed to have passed through the town on their way to the Springfield fight, and also in their retreat. On their passage through South Hadley a Ludlow man, Isaiah Call by name, was killed by a chance shot from a house.17 The others in the Shays forces whose names are preserved, going from this town, were Tyrus Pratt, John Jennings and Samuel Olds. From local traditions it may be pre- sumed the latter did not win many laurels, nor allow the grass to grow much under his feet when he returned homeward. Shays came into town from Ludlow City and down the road, quartering his troops at Fuller's tavern, in the West Middle. On his inglorious defeat he retreated to Ludlow and thence northward, at a high rate of speed. It is said that Ezekiel Fuller joined the forces at the tavern and marched as far as Wallamanumps, where his friends persuaded him to desert. The pursuant troops sought out John Jennings in vain, for on their arrival at his home he had found it convenient to make an engagement elsewhere.
A singular accident occurred about 1794, an account of
15 An old lady now living, exults in the recollection that two of his children, born afterwards, were fools !
16See Appendix, D.
17His widow's son has died in the town recently, a Mr. Rice.
5
34
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
which we obtain from a notice penned soon after. On Friday, June 25, David Paine's son, riding on the top of a load of four thousand shingles, fell off, and the cart, bound with cast iron, passed directly over the middle of his body. He was taken up for dead, but soon recovered, grew to a good old age, and was well known, the late Jonathan Paine.
In 1786, a grandchild of Capt. Joseph Miller was run over by a cart, this injury terminating fatally, and the corpse becoming the first laid in the old yard by the Con- gregational church. In the following year his barn was burned, and in it a little two-year-old granddaughter. In a few months a son of Isaac Brewer was taken away in the dawn of manhood, followed soon by his heart-broken father.
The first cemetery was the one near the residence of Truman Hubbard. This piece of land was presented by Benjamin Sikes, the first in town of that name. There is something touching in the record of the transaction. " Receivd a deed of Gift from Mr Benjamin Sikes of a Certain piece of land in order to or as a place to bury our Dead-voted also that the Thanks of the Town be returnª for the same to the said M' Sikes for his Benevo- lence." A board fence around it was ordered in 1782.
In 1792, the selectmen were instructed to procure a bier and keep it in the meeting-house. In 1794, a com- mittee was appointed to obtain a deed of another burying ground, while seven years after the town thanks Elisha Fuller for the cemetery south of the church.
The earliest reference to education is in 1777, when, in troublous times and with an inflated currency, the town voted £400 for the support of schools. A little later came an appropriation of £20 ($67), which in 1794 had increased to £35 ($117). In 1800, the amount raised was $133. The adjustment of school matters seems to
35
SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
have been given at first to the selectmen, but not always to the liking of the citizens, for in 1788 they vote to ac- cept their arrangement of districts, " Except Eight Fami- lies East of Capt Joseph Miller's ; and two Families North of Zephaniah Rood's." A committee for districting ap- pointed the next year did their work successfully. Dis- trict No. 1 included the present 1 and 2, very nearly, No. 2 was about the same as the present No. 3, No. 3 of that day was the Miller Corner of 1875, No. 4 Cherry Valley, and No. 5 the existing No. 9. The selectmen were to hire the school-masters and maintain six months' schooling in Nos. 1 and 3. In 1791, a committee to locate and build school-houses were entrusted with ninety pounds for the purpose. Their recommendations for location were as follows : For the west district, a few rods south of Israel Warriner's house, probably at or near the present location ; for the middle district, at the north-east corner of Elisha Hubbard's fence, on the meeting-house road, near the present residence of B. F. Burr, north of the road ; for the south district, about twenty-six rods south of Capt. Joseph Miller's, at a stake, at the present home of Dwight Blackmer; for the south-east district, twenty rods west of David Daniels' barn, north of the highway, and a few rods north of the school lot of to-day; for the north-east district, near where the new reservoir road turns from the highway, south of the Reuben Sikes place. . Mr. Peter Damon's land and money for school purposes was joined with the south-eastern school in Granby, in 1794. Minor changes occurred in the location of school-houses from time to time, the principal one being in Miller Corner, where the lot now occupied was taken. In 1794, the school business passed into the hands of a committee from each district. The town appropriated six pounds for a singing-school in 1791, and appointed a committee to hire a singing-master.
1151700
36
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
As occasion required, delegates were appointed to the conventions relating to troubles culminating in the Shays rebellion ; John Jennings attended the constitutional con- vention of 1788 ; the first representation to the State leg- islature was in 1785, when Joseph Miller bore the honors. A committee of seven were intrusted to instruct him, though in what branch of education we have no intima- tion. A similar honor was borne by John Jennings in 1787, his tutors being five in number.
A pound was erected near Elisha Hubbard's in 1776, thirty feet square, which, sixteen years later, had fallen into decay. A little later a new one was erected of white oak, near Oliver Dutton's house,18 and the timber of the old sold at vendue. The first reference to guide-boards is in 1795, when it needed a committee of nine to erect " way-posts."
We find but little in these days about warning people out of town. Parties were instructed to take the matter into consideration in '90, who three years later made pub- lic the names of twelve persons who had signified their intention to locate without the town's consent, and who must leave within fifteen days. This course was very likely taken in order that paupers thus once warned out could be thrown upon the State for support.
The annals of the highways are very defective, so much so that they can with the greatest difficulty be traced at all. The roads from the present west school-house to Ludlow City, and from L. Simonds's to Jenksville, are the first mentioned. The old Cherry Valley road through to J. P. Hubbard's, but not entirely as now, was laid out in 1782, and that from J. L. Mann's to W. G. Fuller's in the same year. A highway from the east cemetery to Miller Corner was projected in 1784, and the same year one across Cedar Swamp. The land damages for the piece of
18Now Hubbard Dutton's.
37
A LINE OF BEAUTY.
road from the Congregational church northward, in 1800, were one shilling per square rod. In 1793, a petition is sent the county officers to lay out a road corresponding to the route from Collins' Depot to Granby, as part of a line which shall " commode the travil from the eastern part of Connecticut to Dartmouth Colledge in New Hamp- shire."
Respecting the bridges across the Chicopee a word in passing may be necessary. It can hardly be presumed that the one for which provision is made in the charter,19 was on the Ludlow line. A memorandum of highway survey bearing date of 1776 speaks of the north end of a bridge which was probably at Wallamanumps. A fuller account of the bridges at that point may be found in the succeeding chapters. The first at Collins' was erected within the memory of living persons.
Taking in survey the whole of the period we find that it was a time of establishment. Across the trackless wild of 1774 were marked the lines of travel. The embryo neighborhoods of the earlier date had developed into con- siderable communities, while other clusters of houses had been formed elsewhere. The fertile slopes of the eastern base of Mineachogue had been improved by the Daniels's, Olds's, and Wrights ; the dense woods along Broad Brook above had been invaded and appropriated by the Aldens, then nearer than now kindred of John Alden and " Pris- cilla, the Puritan maiden ; " and there are not wanting those who trace the fairness of many a Ludlow maiden back
"To the damsel Priscilla, the loveliest maiden of Plymouth." The Lyons also had commenced a settlement where their descendants now live and thrive, while the falls of Walla- manumps already had constant admirers in those dwelling near by.
19See p. 15.
38
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
Initial attempts at manufacturing already had been commenced. In the lay of a road we find reference to " the saw-mill of Jonathan Burr and Company," after- wards long known as the McLean privilege, what is left of it being now occupied by Warren D. Fuller. A mill of some kind was also in operation in the extreme north part of the town, or the " city." At the south-west corner, also, there was a saw-mill at this period.
In municipal affairs, the people seem to have proceeded much as others did at the same period. At first, the clerk and treasurer were separate officers, but the positions were finally vested in one person in 1796, John Jennings then wearing the double honor. Tax-collecting for the year seems at one time to have been intrusted to several constables, but after a while this mode was unsuccess- ful. The next method was by two collectors, one for the outward and one for the inward commons. For a single year, one man undertook the herculean task of col- lecting for the whole district. It was probably the cus- tom at the warning of some of the earlier town meetings for the constables to notify the voters individually, but this method became too troublesome, and after a while the town resolved to post notices in several stipulated places: "the meeting-house and the houses of Joshua Ful- ler, Capt. Joseph Miller, Gideon Beebe, Benjamin Sikes, and Joel Nash's mill."
At the close of the period the deer and wolves and bears must have been mostly driven away, but for a while they were doubtless frequent. It is said that when the first Lumbard was one day in the neighborhood of where Lyman Graves now lives, he found a large bear and two cubs. Killing one of the cubs, the old bear pursued him, driving him to a well-known precipitous rock near by, on which he took refuge. Foiled in her attempt to avenge the death of her young, she kept guard on the place
39
RELICS.
nearly a whole night, springing frequently from the ground up the sides of the rock. Wolves were seen close by the present residence of Ambrose Clough. But such days passed away, and with them the beasts which infested the region.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.