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 8
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OUR closing task is light. The reader will not look for extended description or fulsome notice as we record the later events in the life of the town. Every town history should be revised at least twice a century, to bring its an- nals to a proper state of completion. . We will leave to the historian of 1925 only the outlines of the life so many of our readers can distinctly remember. The shadings of our own days can be better delineated then.
Resuming the ecclesiastical record, we open our page again in the midst of Mr. Tuck's ministry at the Center Congregationalist Church. During the eleven remaining years of his labors the society enjoyed a good degree of prosperity. In the sixteen years of his connection with the church there were four special seasons of interest.
A NEW CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 81
One hundred and twenty-five were added to the church, mostly by profession ; over eighty children were baptized ; sixty-one of the members died, among them three dea- cons ; eighty-one took letters to other churches elsewhere. There were in this period three hundred deaths in the town. Mr. Tuck was dismissed December 7, 1859.
The event which so saddened the last days of his min- istry he has himself graphically described in the address.1 There was no delay in services after the fire. A courte- ous invitation from the Methodists to the privileges of their sanctuary for the time being, was declined, and the peo- ple assembled for a season in the venerable town-house.
There were busy days throughout that year, but they were days of profit and success, for their labors resulted in the present elegant edifice. The dedication occurred December 7, 1859, and was of course a notable event. Besides the singing were the invocation by Rev. L. H. Cone, prayer by Rev. S. Miller, sermon by Rev. J. W. Tuck, that very day dismissed from the church, and dedi- catory prayer by Rev. J. Vaill, D. D. An original dedi- cation hymn by Hon. G. M. Fisk, a native of the town, was sung. We cannot refrain from giving a portion :
" O'er the ashes of the Past, We this holy temple rear; And of Thee, oh Lord, we ask To reveal thy presence here ; Make this house thy dwelling place, Make this roof thy sheltering hand,
Fill these courts with heavenly grace- Fill them with thy chosen band.
" May thy servant who shall toil In this vineyard of the Lord, Find that here is Christian soil Which shall yield a rich reward ;
1See Address, note VII.
11
----
82
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
Strengthen him to guide aright, Those who heavenly wisdom seek, Leading them from gloom to light, By the truths that he shall speak."
Rev. Mr. Mayo, who was already hired and on the ground to take the vacant place, had surely an incentive for the good work he accomplished in the twenty-eight months of his stay in town. An interim of two years was followed by the settled pastorate of Rev. Chester Bridg- man, whose service extended from May 18, 1864, to July 24, 1866. Rev. Chester Lemuel Cushman, a native of Monson and a graduate of Amherst, class of 1856, from East Townshend, Vt., was settled November 2, 1866, and continued his ministry until his dismissal, September 1, 1874, having received seventy persons into the church on profession of faith, and attended a hundred funerals. An extensive revival, aided by the labors of Rev. Mr. Under- wood, was enjoyed in 1873. Rev. Samuel Valentine McDuffee, a graduate of Amherst and of Bangor Theo- logical Seminary, recently from Fisherville, N. H., is the present pastor, having entered upon his duties in Jan- uary of the current year.
The Methodist Society has moved along very quietly and with a degree of efficiency. Its pulpit has never failed of a supply ; its ministers never left without & sup- port.2 In 1858 a much needed effort was made to repair and enlarge the " chapel." Under skillful managers that worthy edifice was transformed into the present neat and tasty church. The best of all was, God was with them, and under the labors of the pastor, Rev. F. Fisk, and his co-operators, some persons were wonderfully transformed. One, well-known, an inn-holder, took his liquors to the street and poured them away, and then renounced his life of sin, to manifest ever since a determination to stand
2See Appendix, W., for list of ministers.
83
RELATIONS OF CHURCHES.
approved before his Maker. This church suffered severely a loss of membership during the war of the rebellion, two of its class leaders3 and one local preacher,4 besides others of its most devoted, going away to return no more. Rev. D. K. Banister was virtually the pastor of the town dur- ing the earlier days of the trying conflict. Under his min- istry, as well as the two following, there were special revi- val scenes. Mr. Pomfret was the only minister who has served the society over two years. During the present pastorate the well-known Wesleyan Praying Band, of Springfield, rendered efficient service in special religious work.
The relations between these two societies are those of harmony. Each recognizes the other, each welcomes the other's pastor to its own pulpit. While the Methodist church was in process of re-construction the doors of the Congregationalist edifice were thrown open to them, and we have seen how the compliment was returned in the following year.5 The town offices are shared by mem- bers of both churches. In every good work and way the churches are ready to co-operate. Here surely may be found an exemplification, in the true spiritual sense, of the words of inspiration, " Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."
The ecclesiastical interests of the village are of course to a great extent interwoven with those of the manufac- turing companies. The firm of Wood & Merritt, man- aging from 1848 to 1856, was then merged into the first Ludlow Manufacturing Company. The power was for a number of years leased to George H. Deane, who fitted up the stone mills for the manufacture of jute goods, and the upper mill for the manufacture of wadding. After the expiration of the lease, Mr. Deane purchased the prop-
3Putnam and Crowningshield, 4Potts.
5See page 81.
84
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
erty and formed the Ludlow Mills Company. A more re- cent sale was to the present Ludlow Manufacturing Com- pany, of which L. H. Brigham is agent. The goods made are, at the stone mills : gunny bagging, various kinds of crashes, plain and figured, (bleached and finished ready for market,) all kinds of hardware twines, and linen warps ; at the upper privilege are made cotton warps and seam- less grain-bags of the same material. About three hun- dred hands are employed, who receive their wages monthly from the hand of R. H. Winsor, paymaster. The expenses of the corporation monthly, exclusive of the cost of stock, is $13,000. Charles T. Hubbard, of Boston, is the treasurer of the Company and its chief sale agent. There are connected with the establishment thirty houses, and a church, besides all the barns, sheds, etc. A fire a few months since so far injured a section of the stone mills that it was considered advisable to place an iron roof upon a section. Other improvements are con- templated in the near future.
It may be as well to say at this point that the present Company own seven hundred acres of land, a large por- tion of which is mapped out into streets and building lots. The extent of water-power is estimated at over twenty- five hundred horse-power, of which only a small portion is in use. There is an excellent opportunity for canalage, while the building lots are high and dry, above all tracks of possible floods and miasm from stagnant waters. The owners offer unusual facilities to manufacturing establish- ments in the way of mill sites and land for dwellings and tenements.
After the catastrophe at Jenksville in July of 1848, neither religious society at the village was in a condition to do much in an aggressive way. The Methodists, whose house Rev. George Landon had dedicated only the Febru- ary before, were left high and dry upon the shoal of an
85
CHURCHES-HIGHWAYS.
eighteen hundred dollar debt, and no population to lift it; but one man of means, Col. John Miller, remaining in the place. A Mr. Lee, local preacher from Wilbraham, ren- dered efficient service in preaching from time to time, at a merely nominal rate. At last the house was closed, although the debt was largely reduced. It was finally sold for a nominal sum, and removed to Warren, where, re-modeled, it still does duty for the denomination in whose interests it was erected.
During the revival interests of 1857 a student from Wilbraham Academy, W. H. Daniels, now a noted preach- er in Illinois, was instrumental in promoting an extensive work at Jenksville. The following Spring brought a con- ference preacher again, who, with annual successors, occu- pied the desk of the company church until 1863. Four years later a union church was organized, now claiming to be Congregationalist.6 Of the ministers, three have been Congregationalist and two Methodist. The present pastor is Rev. Timothy Lyman.
In the matter of highways the town has not been very active of late. The piece of road across Cedar Swamp has required much attention, and very likely will attract notice in the future. The only prominent way con- structed since 1848 has been the road from Eaton's Mills to Indian Orchard, including the iron bridge spanning the Chicopee River at that village, which were built by order of the county commissioners in 1866. The bridges at Collins' Depot also come within this period. The first, a pier bridge, dates before 1850, but was carried away by a flood. The present structure was erected in 1851. The Red Bridge was thoroughly overhauled and made service- able for many years in 1873.
6See Annual Report of Hampden Conference of Congregational Churches, 1874, page 9.
86
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
The opening of the Western (now the Boston and Albany) railroad of course was a matter of interest and indirect value to the town. The Springfield, Athol and North-eastern endeavored to secure town aid, on consid- eration of passing through Ludlow Center, but was unsuc- cessful, and passed only through the very outskirts of our territory, immediately benefiting only the village, though stopping its trains at Collins' and Red Bridge. The construction of this railroad demanded another bridge across the Chicopee, spanning the stream at the Indian Leap, where also the hardly completed aqueduct for the City of Springfield connects the proximate cliffs on either side of the stream.
With the aid of Edward Sikes, of Wisconsin, the pres- ent fence around the old North Cemetery was erected in 1866 .- Graves's and Alden's mills, on Broad Brook, and Edmund W. Fuller's shingle-mill on Higher Brook, are the only recent accessions to the minor manufacturing estab- lishments of the town .- Ludlow has long been noted for the longevity of its inhabitants. Of twenty deaths in 1874 nine were parties over sixty years of age, while one had borne the weight of a hundred winters less three. A pleasing incident is related of the visit of four brothers, Sylvester, Joseph, Daniel and John Miller, to Springfield in 1866, and their going together before the photogra- pher's instrument for a picture. One, Daniel, has since passed away, but the others yet survive, their combined ages considerably exceeding two hundred and fifty years. Their portraits appropriately embellish this volume .- A sad yet interesting incident in the history of the town was the interment in the new cemetery of the remains of Rev. Ebenezer B. Wright, who died at Huntington, August 17, 1871, aged 76 .- Mineachogue pond, whose hungry waters have fatally engulfed nearly half a score, during the last summer was again made a center of interest by the acci-
87
THE REBELLION.
dental drowning of a youth named Miller, visiting in the place. Further back, about 1835, George Bennett was also drowned there .- The most destructive fire Ludlow has known in years occurred last fall, in the woods on and near Facing Hills .- The town house has been changed little by little from time to time, though the most marked alterations, in the partition and fitting up of a town office, and the removal of some of the old seats are of very re- cent date ; the latter; in fact, having been made necessary by the centennial celebration .- It is noticeable that the town, since the temperance agitation has been under way, never has licensed the sale of intoxicating liquors .- The Ludlow Center post-office is also an outgrowth of recent enterprise, having been granted June 17, 1874, and opened early in July.
We have purposely reserved a recital of the most prom- inent series of events occurring during these years. Al- though Ludlow has been a town voting with the republicans ever since the ascendency of that party commenced, there was but one sentiment manifest in the fearful days of the great Rebellion. There were few towns more active, none more loyal. Ere the echoes of Sumter's guns had fairly died away the citizens met and appropriated, April 27, 1861, two thousand dollars for bounty to those who would enlist. In August of the next year a hundred dollars was offered to each of seventeen men who would enlist, and Samuel King drew up before the grateful and appreciative people a line of fifteen strong yeomen who responded. Meeting after meeting was held, keeping the interest red- hot. We need not cite the notes which so frequently re- peat the story of those terrible days. Another hand has traced the account, and from his narration we will draw our sketch in the main.7 Suffice it to say that of the men
7See Rev. Mr. Banister's Address, pp. 88, 89. Also see Mr. Tuck's Address, note
88
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
who went and suffered, some of them even unto death, nearly all were of the best blood in the town. They did not act in vain.
The war over and some of the men returned, measures were taken in 1866 to erect a monument to the memory of the fallen. The committee was appointed,8 money raised and a contract made with W. N. Flynt & Co. of Mon- son, resulting at last in the completion of the beautiful structure standing near the town-house.9 The memorial cost $1,025. At its dedication, in the summer of 1867, a goodly company assembled and listened to an appropriate address from Rev. D. K. Banister, part of which we are permitted to place before the reader :
" A worthy and patriotic object has called us together this morning. We have met to embalm the memories of those who, like the leader in the great conflict, fell, martyrs, in their country's cause. In this great struggle and successful contest, not merely a Lincoln, a Grant, a Sherman and others high in command have borne a noble and import- ant part, but the lower grades of officers and the rank and file of the loyal hosts were all essential and are worthy of heroes' fame. The privileges our institutions bring, and the civilization they uphold, pro- claim their excellence. The masses are lifted up, the avenues to eminence are open to the sons of the lowly and the poor, as well as the rich and honorable. How does the humble but meritorious backwoods- man find his way to the chief magistracy of a great nation, and this by his wisdom and goodness, and become the admiration of the world and of ages yet unborn ? Whence the men whose discoveries have so marked the age in which we live ? * *
" This principle not only opens the way for aspiring genius and fosters it, but invests every loyal citizen with privileges beyond price. The value of our government is measured by the sum aggregate of its value to each of the loyal millions.
" Whatever was thought at first, it soon became apparent that we had on our hands no mere holiday work, but a contest of fearful pro- portions. The frequent calls for men, for three hundred thousand men, to fill the fearful gaps in the loyal ranks, gave warning that to
8F. F. McLean, J. P. Hubbard, S. White, H. Root and C. L. Buell.
9See Mr. Tuck's Address, X.
THE MILLER BROTHERS. (See page 86.)
JOSEPH.
JOHN.
DANIEL.
SYLVESTER.
-
89
REV. MR. BANISTER'S ADDRESS.
enlist was to meet a storm of great fury and power. These men most of them saw the danger and faced it. * * * Our war-meetings some- times presented scenes well worthy the painter's pencil and the poet's pen. I recollect attending one not far away, well worthy of remem- brance. Volunteers were called to come forward and give their names. A young man10 of noble spirit and form erect came forward and said in substance : 'I love my country and, if need be, I am willing to die for it, but I have aged parents that need my care ; if I can be assured they will be cared for, I am willing to go;' while tears told the earnestness of his heart. The desired pledge was given, and he enlisted. Another,11 of stalwart form and generous impulses, said, 'I am willing to go if my family, my wife and children, can be cared for, if I return no more.' The promise desired was given, and he also enlisted. Another,12 Eng- lish by birth, said he felt the cause to be worthy, and he was willing to stake his life for his adopted country, and gave his name. Of low stature, he expressed much concern lest he should be rejected on that account by the examining officer. They all went, and fell or died in their country's service.
" The first one that enlisted in the town13 is a case worthy of note. He lived in the village. He was a young man of intelligence, and in a good financial position. But hearing the call, his patriotic impulses were moved as though by inspiration. His room was embellished with mottoes like these : 'Our country calls and we must go;' 'Boys, our country needs us.' He, like other noble spirits, without the pressure and incidental inducements of after years, enlisted, and fell a hero on the battle-field. * * * By such sacrifices the area of liberty has been extended and greatly promoted. The four millions of bondmen became free, the slavery remaining in the civilized world is doomed. *
" Free institutions, under the influence of an open bible and gen- eral intelligence, are strong and reliable, as well as most benign; none stronger or so secure. This republican nation stands erect and purified, rebuking oppression everywhere, feared by its foes and re- spected by all, the world over. She bears the banner of freedom for the world. * When the prophetic day of seven suns light- ing up the world with millennial splendor shall be ushered in, it will be seen that this great contest and triumph had a marked and mighty influence in hastening the glorious consummation."
We append the names of those who went from and for the town to the war of the Rebellion, referring the reader
10 Lyon.
11 Pratt.
12 Potts. 13Brooks.
12
90
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
for incidents to another page.14 We give them in alpha- betical order, as the records show them, starring those who fell :
Philo W. B. Alden,
Elisha Dutton,
Preston Alden,
Charles B. Fay,
Hiram W. Aldrich,*
George Feathers,
Wilson Allen,
Edward E. Fuller,
Dennis Anderson,
J. R. Fuller,
George Ashton,
Horace Gates,
James Bagley,
Marvin Giboney,
Leonard Baker,
Austin C. Gove,
Lemuel Bennett,
Thomas Higgins,
Lyman Bennett,*
Isaac T. Hines,
Warren D. Bennett,
Henry Hobson,
Sumner Bodfish,
John Hobson, Jr.,
Lyman Brewer,
Henry A. Hubbard,*
John H. Brines,
James B. Kellams,
Edward F. Brooks,*
Andrew Kenney, James D. Kenney,
James Buckley,
Henry Keyes,
Joseph A. Bugbee,
Amaziah E. Burcham,
Arthur King,
Francis A. Burcham,
Homer K. King,
Henry Bushey,
Samuel King,
Andrew Carpenter, James Chapin,
Dexter Lombard,
Augustus Chapman,*
Isaac Loury,
William F. Christian,
Thomas I. Lyndes,
Benjamin F. Clark,
Ebenezer Lyon,*
William Clements,
John Mack, Julius M. Marshall,
Charles B. Comstock,
Harry Martin,
Calvin Cooley,
John McCutcheon,
Thomas Cowan,
John McDonald,
Daniel D. Currier,*
Charles McFarland,*
Caleb Crowningshield,*
Charles McKenney,
John B. Dunn,
Charles McSheney,
Benjamin C. Davis,
Wilbur F. Miller,
John B. Davis,
Edward Morrill,
Wilber Davis, ,
Michael Munsing,
Cornelius Dugan,
Charles U. Nash,
14See appendix, DD. Also Address, XI.
:
-- !
John Coash,*
Francis R. Lemon,
91
SPRINGFIELD WATER WORKS.
James L. Nash,
Peter Scott,
Stephen O'Holloran,
David M. Olds,
John Shangnesey, Alexander Shaw,
Robert Parsons,*
Charles Sikes,
Henry M. Pease,*
Charles Simonds,
Levi L. Pease,
Francis F. Simonds,
Lyman Pease,
Franklin R. Simonds,
James E. Perry,
Josiah Stephens,
Anthony O. Pott,*
Edward H. Stewart,
Daniel Pratt,*
George L. Streeter,
Edwin Price,
Addison Waide,
Flavius J. Putnam,*
George Wallace,
Michael Reinhart,
Charles S. Washburn,
Andrew Renny,
William E. Washburn,*
Joseph Rood,
Lovinski White,
William Sanderson,
Loren Wood.
Daniel R. Sanger,
It was remarked by one of the reporters of our centen- nial celebration that " the genius of change has conquered even this stronghold of old New England conservatism at last; as Ludlow was recalling her most treasured associ- ations around the church, Springfield was laying her ob- noxious water-pipes at the very door of the old house of worship." When, a few months since, the region known as Cherry Valley was added to the proposed locations of the reservoir for the Springfield water supply, there were few, in town or out, who supposed the place would be se- lected. The year 1873, however, had not much worn away before the announcement was made that Ludlow brooks would be diverted into an aqueduct leading to the city. The last month of the year found a large number of employes at work upon the basin and the eastern dam. By the first of April the basin and its slopes had been cleared of wood, enough having been cut off to make a solid fence a considerable portion of the way around. On the sixth of April the trenching for the pipes was begun
Wilson Rogers,
Abram W. Watson,
92
HISTORY OF LUDLOW.
and work resumed upon the dam. On the ninth of Octo- ber the gangs going towards and from Springfield met, thus practically finishing the work of laying the " big main." Of this largest piping about a half mile of cast iron tube was laid from the southern dam to Higher Brook, while cement-lined sheet iron tubes extend from that point to the city. The number of acres in the bed of the res- ervoir is four hundred and forty-five, to which must be added a marginal area of three hundred and sixty acres. Of this entire territory two hundred and eighty acres were woodland. Six and three-eighths acres of swamp . have been covered with 13,924 cubic yards of sand, and a little over one-half as much has been sanded between the south dam and the filter. The land was purchased of Ben- jamin Sikes and Sons, Reuben Sikes, S. Billings, A. L. Bennett, C. S. Bennett, J. L. Banister, Mrs. Margaret Sikes, M. King and C. W. Alden. A ditch of a mile in length turns Higher Brook into the reservoir, and one longer and larger taps Broad Brook just north of the town line. The work is nearly completed. No pains have been spared to put the bed of the reservoir into proper condition.
" In excavating for the trench to take the water from the general level of the flats above the Cherry Valley dam, the material thrown out, which consisted for the most part of coarse gravel, was used to cover the peaty bottom. The area thus trenched and covered was about ten acres. That portion between the Ludlow dam and the filter, an area of three and three-fourths acres, has been covered with about two feet in depth of good clean sand. From the Ludlow dam, extend- ing in the valley north-easterly on the low ground for about fifteen acres, a mass of decaying pine stumps has been pulled out and burned. Much pains has been taken to char large stumps while burning the ground over, and burn them up as far as practicable. For this pur- pose a considerable quantity of kerosene oil has been used with which to ignite them. In this manner, although the stumps would not be entirely consumed, they are so far charred or consumed by the opera- tion as to be rendered much less harmful than they would otherwise
93
-
LEADING MEN.
be. Of the peaty and swampy portions of the bed of the reservoir, none are covered with less than twelve feet of water with a full pond, the most of which will not be less than sixteen feet."15
The commissioners under whose direction the enterprise has been carried out have been C. O. Chapin, D. L. Harris, A. D. Briggs, S. W. Porter, G. C. Fisk and Horace Smith, while Hon. Phinehas Ball of Worcester is chief engineer. A large number of Ludlow men have been employed as overseers or workmen.
Very little has been said of the men to-day figuring in the activities of the world, who claim Ludlow as the place of their nativity or early home. While the record is not as full as that of some other towns, it may be a fair infer- ence that the charms of home have been greater than in some localities, the returns for labor so sure that less in- centive has been felt here for seeking renown and wealth elsewhere. Yet the list, if gathered in full, would' show no mean array of well-known names. A leading banker and very prominent railroad man, just honored with an election to Congress ;16 two clergymen, of different denom- inations, useful in their day and generation;17 one com- bining in his life-work a successful ministerial and educa- tional career, at present principal of a leading seminary in Vermont ;18 one known long and honorably in editorial labors and the management of prominent State charities;19 still another, whose efforts in a national position of trust were signally successful ;20 another,21 coming to us years ago, founded at Jenksville a boarding-school for young ladies, for some time an efficient institution, while the
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