USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Our county and its people : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. Volume 1 > Part 4
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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 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41
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The Dorchester explorers, the advance guard of civilization in the valley, were hospitably received by the Indians in their village. On the cleared flat lands bordering on the river were plenty of evidences of cultivation, and growing crops of corn and hemp were found in the vicinity. The river was well stocked with fish of large size and excellent quality, and the surrounding forests abounded in valuable game and fur-bearing animals.
In the same year a party from the Plymouth colony explored the country between their plantation and the Connecticut, touch- ing the latter where now stands Windsor. Here William Holmes, a trader, built a cabin and inclosed it within a stockade, and then began traffic with the natives. In the same year and just before the visit of the Plymouth party, the Dutch from the Netherlands constructed a rude earthworks at the place called "Dutch Point" (now Hartford), for the ostensible purpose of disputing the right of the New Englanders in the vicinity, or their right to passage up and down the river. But the opposition of the Dutch did not prove a serious menace to the peace and safety of the settlers from the eastern colonies, and was soon withdrawn.
In 1634 many of the planters in New England took steps toward founding new settlements in the Connecticut valley, and to that end sent out prospecting parties to explore the region, select favorable sites and negotiate terms of purchase with the Indians. In the meantime those who thus proposed to branch out from the parent colonies presented their petitions to the general court for permission to remove. The only point in doubt in the minds of the governing authorities was whether the proposed new region of settlement was within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts
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COLONIZATION AND SETTLEMENT
Bay, and when consent was finally given the settlers were espe- cially enjoined not to remove beyond the boundaries or jurisdic- tion of the general court.
In 1635, the request of the petitioners having been granted, the tide of emigration set westward, and in the same year several new plantations were founded in the valley. The Dorchester people settled at Windsor, the Watertown people at Wethers- field, the Cambridge people at Hartford, and the Roxbury people at Agawam, or, by their removal soon afterward to the east side of the river, at Springfield. It is with the latter colony and its subsequent branches and offshoots in the region now called Hampden county that we have particularly to deal in this work.
Within fifteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims no less than fourteen permanent colonies had been founded in the province of Massachusetts Bay, while nearly as many more were scattered throughout the territory now comprising the states of New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
In 1634 a number of men in authority and several planters of the Roxbury colony determined to found a new settlement on the banks of the Connecticut river, and preparatory to that end, according to the opinion of reliable writers, William Pynchon (one of the original founders of Roxbury and the founder in fact of Springfield), Henry Smith, son-in-law of Pynchon, and Jehu Burr, visited the region and made a selection of lands upon which to begin improvements. In the following year John Cable and John Woodruff were sent to the place and erected a house on the west side of the Connecticut, south of Agawam river, and in the town which now bears the latter name. Afterward, however, having been informed by the Indians that the lands in the "Agawam meadow" were subject to overflow from the river, the site of the plantation was changed to the east side of the Con- necticut, where a new house was erected.
In the early spring of 1636, Mr. Pynchon and his associates sent their goods and effects in Governor Winthrop's vessel, the "Blessing of the Bay," which sailed from Boston, April 26, to the mouth of the Connecticut river, and thence up that stream to the site of the proposed plantation. The pioneers themselves set
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out on foot and early in May reached their destination. On the 14th of that month they entered into an agreement regarding the disposition and allotment of the land and their future conduct in the plantation. The signers of the compact were William Pynchon, Nath. Mitchell, Henry Smith, Jehu Burr, William Blake, Edmund Wood, Thomas Ufford and John Clark. On July 15, a treaty of purchase was made with the Indians, the conveyance bearing the names or symbols of thirteen chiefs and sachems. The grantees named were William Pynchon, Henry Smith and Jehu Burr and their associates.
Thus was founded the first permanent white settlement in the Connecticut valley in Massachusetts, or in old Hampshire county, an event antedating the incorporation of the county itself by sixteen years, and antedating the creation of Hampden county by more than a century and three-fourths. But this was only the beginning of development and settlement in the region, for not- withstanding the serious Indian troubles which began the very next year, a steady stream of settlers was pouring into the valley, and the plantation at Springfield soon began to enlarge and extend into other localities, until at length it became territori- ally almost a principality. Under the authority of the general court, Mr. Pynchon was clothed with judicial powers, and a mag- istrate's court was maintained in the plantation until the incor- poration of Hampshire county in 1662, when a more formal system of local government was established.
As a matter of fact the general court granted permission to plant new colonies in the Connecticut valley only after consider- able hesitation, as the region in question then was supposed to be beyond the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay province. On this point Mr. Hutchinson's history furnishes an interesting statement of conditions of settlement in the valley, and from his narrative we quote as follows:
"This year also [1641] the plantation at Springfield, upon the Connecticut river, returned to the jurisdiction of the Massa- chusetts. In the year 1636, as has been observed, the towns or settlements on Connecticut river began. The inhabitants of the towns of Roxbury, Dorchester, Cambridge and Watertown, in
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the Massachusetts, laid the foundation of the colony of Connecti- cut. Mr. William Pynchon, being the principal person among those from Roxbury who had pitched upon a place higher up the river than the rest, called by the Indians Agawam, he changed the name to Springfield. (At first they called the new settle- ments by the names of the towns they had left in the Bay.) His mansion house was at a town of that name in England, near to Chelmsford, in Essex. Those from Dorchester pitched upon a place below, called by the Indians Mattaneaug or Cushankamaug. Mr. Ludlow was the principal person who removed with them. Mr. Warham, their minister, and the whole church followed the next year. They called their settlement Windsor. The Cam- bridge people, with Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, their ministers, and Mr. Haynes, who the year before had been governor at their head, were seated next below at a place called Suckiang, which they changed into Hartford, the place of Mr Stone's nativity in England." 1143079
"A few miles below there was another tract of interval land called by the Indians Pauquiang, which those of Hartford in- tended to have included in their settlement; but a few of the Watertown people were too quick for them. They gave it the name of Wethersfield. The commission which they took from the Massachusetts was of a pretty extraordinary nature. The preamble to it acknowledges that the lands which they intended to take possession of were without the commonwealth and body of the Massachusetts, and that certain noble personages in Eng- land, by virtue of a patent, challenged the jurisdiction there ; but their minds not being known as to a form of government, and there being a necessity that some authority should be established, they therefore appointed Roger Ludlow, Esq., William Pynchon, Esq., John Steele, William Swaine, Henry Smith, William Phelps, William Westwood and Andrew Warner, with full power and authority to hear and determine between party and party, to inflict corporal punishment, imprisonment and fines, and to make and decree orders for the present as shall be necessary for the plantation, relative to trading, planting, building, military disci- pline and defensive war, if need require, and to convene the in-
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habitants in general court if it should be thought meet; the com- mission to continue no longer than one year, and to be recalled if a form of government could be agreed upon between the noble personages, the inhabitants, and the commonwealth of the Massa- chusetts."
"There would be no accounting for this stretch of power," says Mr. Hutchinson, "were it not for a principle at that time generally received [accepted], and which upon a question was determined some years after by the general court, some of the members dissenting, that the oath of fidelity to the commonwealth was binding even though the person should no longer reside with- in the limits."
"Notwithstanding this commission, they soon after entered into an agreement or combination by virtue of which they called themselves a body politic, formed and established by mutual consent, and framed such laws and constitutions as they thought necessary ; the most material point in which they differed from the Massachusetts was the not making membership of their churches necessary to freedom in the civil government or the holding of any offices therein. Upon the petition of Mr. Pynchon and others to revive them again, an order passed asserting the court's right, and a commission was granted to Mr. Pynchon to hold courts there, from whose judgments an appeal lay to the court of assistants."
Thus it appears that the inhabitants of the Connecticut river plantations considered themselves not a part of the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay province, but rather an independent body politic, created for the purpose of self-government and self- defense. This association was known as the "Colony of Connec- ticut," and the plantation at Springfield for several years was treated as a part of it, although Mr. Pynchon's people had no desire to separate themselves from the government of Massachu- setts.1 This condition prevailed, and was at times the occasion
1The question whether Agawam, or Springfield, was within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts or Connecticut probably was first raised when John Winthrop and others built Saybrook fort at the mouth of the Connecticut and attempted to collect toll from all vessels that passed the fort, going up or down the river.
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of spirited controversy, for several years, when existing differ- ences were adjusted and the colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Haven confederated together "for their common protection and mutual benefit," under the name of the "United Colonies of New England."
In 1643 the general colony of Massachusetts was divided into four counties-Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk and Norfolk-each having certain towns as its component elements; but in the designation of these towns by name no mention was made of Springfield, although it was first mentioned as a town and recog- nized as a jurisdiction having that character in 1641, the year of the return to Massachusetts authority. It is possible, however, from the fact, as Mr. Hutchinson states, that the Connecticut river towns first took the names of the mother towns from which came their pioneers, and that Springfield may have been regarded as a part of Roxbury, although many arguments may be pre- sented to oppose this theory. It is said, however, that the name Agawam was changed to Springfield at a general meeting of the planters held April 14, 1640.
The Connecticut towns reluctantly submitted to the exactions, fearing that other- wise they might be disturbed in their possessions ; but the colony at Springfield refused to pay, and when the Connecticut authorities attempted to force payment the town appealed to the Massachusetts general court for protection. This un- doubtedly was the so-called "Return of Springfield to the Massachusetts." As a matter of fact Mr. Pynchon's planters did not share in the opinion that their town was within the jurisdiction of the colony of Connecticut, although the latter so believed, and even the Massachusetts general court had doubt on the subject. In the belief that the region was within Connecticut, that people purchased Woronoco and founded a plantation there, although several of the Springfielders were interested in the enterprise. In later years Massachusetts and Connecticut became involved in a serious dispute regarding the right of sovereignty over the region, but under an order of the general court in 1647, Woronoco, including portions of Suffield, Westfield and Southwick, were declared to be a part of the town of Springfield, and "liable to pay charges therein."
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CHAPTER V
STRUGGLES WITH THE INDIANS
Dissensions Among the Colonists-Beginning of Indian Troubles -The Pequot War-Narragansetts Allied to the English- Destruction of the Pequots-An Era of Peace and Prosperity -Militia Companies Formed in the Valley-Construction of Fortified Houses-Fort Pynchon-Events Preceding King Philip's War-The Outbreak-Nipmuck Treachery at Brook- field-The War in the Connecticut Valley-Burning of Spring- field-Westfield Twice Attacked-The Affair at Longmeadow -Decisive Action by the Colonies-Indians Driven from the Valley-Death of King Philip-End of the War.
The year 1636 was doubly eventful in the history of the New England colonies. Strifes and dissensions of a religious char- acter disturbed the peace and well being of the colonists and led to divisions of sentiment in the settled plantations and the estab- lishment of new ones by the dissenters. No longer did the peo- ple feel themselves bound by the strict rules and observances of the Pilgrim fathers and their equally zealous Puritan followers, but framing new laws for civil and religious government among themselves, they withdrew from the parent bodies and estab- lished plantations in other localities. Although the Connecti- cut river plantations were established in this year, their settlers were not moved by the considerations mentioned, yet in those colonies church membership was not a condition precedent to the full privileges of citizenship-suffrage and eligibility to public office. Indeed, the little independent body of colonists who dared brave the dangers and hardships of life in the Connecticut
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valley were peculiarly exempted from the disturbing influences that threatened the peace of the eastern plantations, yet they were engaged in a struggle not less important to themselves and to the future welfare of the United Colonies-a struggle to plant and maintain civil government on the western frontier of New England, in a region inhabited by various Indian tribes, whose professions of peace were accepted with suspicion and a loaded weapon within convenient reach.
In addition to the differences which led to a division of the eastern colonies and the consequent weakening of their defensive strength during the year, the inhabitants found just cause for still greater alarm in the hostile attitude of the Pequot Indians, whose domain in the southeastern part of Connecticut had not then been invaded by the onward march of civilized settlement; nevertheless, prowling bands of the tribe secretly attacked de- fenseless localities, intercepted traders and travellers by land and by water and ruthlessly put to the tomahawk whomsoever of the whites that camein their way ; and none were spared, neither men, women nor children.1 On account of the disturbances within their colonies the whites were powerless to send an expedition against the Pequots in 1636, but preparations were made for a combined colonial campaign in the following year.
The Pequots were a numerous, powerful tribe, and under Sassacus, their chief, many atrocities were to be laid at their door. Their warriors were divided between two palisaded strongholds, and each sheltered and abetted the murdering bands of the other. For years they were the avowed enemies of the Narragansetts, yet in their mad frenzy to exterminate the whites, they proposed an alliance with that people. The offer was re- fused, and true to their enmity, the Narragansetts sent a deputa- tion to the Massachusetts colony and made an alliance with the English against the Pequots; and while they scrupulously ob- served all the provisions of the treaty until after the destruction of the Pequots, they afterward, through jealousy alone, became
1In the spring of 1637 a party of Pequots invaded the Connecticut valley in the vicinity of Wethersfield, killed nine men and carried two women into cap- tivity.
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insolent and attempted to provoke hostilities with the whites. Their time, in turn, came in due season, and they too were made to feel the vengeance of the American colonist.
In 1637 a campaign of destruction was planned against the Pequots, in which the Massachusetts, Plymouth and Connecticut colonies agreed to send a combined force against the offending savages, and in which they were promised the aid of the Narra- gansetts and some of the more friendly Connecticut river tribes. Through some miscalculation the Massachusetts men were tardy in their movements, and Captain Mason, of the Connecticut troops, fearing if he delayed that his uncertain Indian allies might attribute his action to cowardice, bravely pushed forward with less than one hundred men and crushed the Pequots in their stronghold on the Mystic river, killing, as some accounts say, between five hundred and six hundred of them, with a loss of but two of his own men. Most of his Narragansett allies became frightened and fled, but such as remained hung about the place and slaughtered the few Pequots who escaped Mason's deadly assault. Following up this victory, the English next assaulted the other Pequot fortress with like result, and so completely were the Indians beaten that of those who escaped few would ever afterward admit Pequot relationship.
This was the first actual conflict between the New England colonists and the Indians, and it was a visitation of retributive justice that had a salutary effect upon the other tribes of the region ; and many years passed before the colonists were again called upon to inflict similar punishment in other localities. Some writers, who knew little of the provocation that called for the extermination of the Pequots, and still less of the true In- dian character, charged the colonists with unwarranted cruelty during the war; but with the colonists it was simply a question whether they and their families should be put to the knife and the tomahawk, or whether the Indians should first feel the weight of the white man's strength in war. On either side it was bound to be a war of extermination. The Pequots had suffered no affront at the hands of the whites, nor had their lands been taken without their consent and just consideration paid. A spirit of
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malice and mere wantonness prompted hostilities on their part, and their punishment was as just as it was severe.
In the Pequot war a levy was made for seven men from the Agawam plantation to take part in the campaign, but from all accounts obtainable they were not furnished, chiefly from the fact that the settlement could not safely provide that number. The plantation was also assessed 86 pounds, 16 shillings, for the expenses of the expedition, which was paid, although at consid- erable sacrifice on the part of some of the planters. In Con- necticut a winter of severe suffering followed the war, and Cap- tain Mason, the hero of the campaign, visited the Indian settle- ments in the vicinity of Pocomtuck (Deerfield) and purchased from the natives fifty canoe loads of corn for the relief of the people of his colony. Mr. Pynchon had been asked to provide this relief from his plantation, but the little colony itself was in dire extremity at the time.
The close of the Pequot war was followed by an era of pros- perity in the New England colonies, and nowhere was there made more rapid strides in advancement and development than in the fertile Connecticut valley. For several years Springfield was the chief center of trade and population, and as settlement in- creased the lands in the vicinity were taken up and soon fine farms existed in place of heavy forest growths of former times. In the course of a few years plantations were established at Woronoco (Westfield), Masacksick (Longmeadow), Freshwater (Enfield, Conn.), and also on the famous Chicopee Plain, on the west bank of the river above Springfield. Farther up were the flourishing plantations of Hadley, Northampton, Hatfield, Greenfield, Deerfield (Pocomtuck) and Northfield, the latter the most northerly settlement in the valley at that time. When Hampshire county was created in 1662 it is estimated that about 1,500 whites were settled in the valley, and that the Indians in the same region numhered about 400 or 500. Generally they were friendly, yet at times the genius of Mr. Pynchon was taxed to maintain good order and prevent complications through de- mands for arrests from the authorities of the eastern settlements.
While harmony thus prevailed for a period of nearly two-
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score years, it was only the calm that preceded the storm; but the settlers had profited by the lesson of the Pequot war and. made preparation for any future outbreak; yet they could not guard against surprise or sudden attack from a dusky foe. In 1639 the Springfield authorities provided for the organization of a militia force by the adoption of the following regulation :
"It is ordered that the exercise of trayning shall be prac- tised one day in every month; and if occasion doe sometimes hinder, then the like space of tyme shall be observed another tyme, though it be two days after one another. And whosoever shall absent himself without lawful excuse shall forfeit twelve pence, and all above fifteen years of age shall be counted for sol- diers, and the tyme to begin, the first thursday in December next." Henry Smith was appointed sergeant of the company, with authority to appoint a corporal.
Each settled locality in the valley was provided with a mili- tary company under similar regulations, and each also caused a fortified house to be built for the protection of the settlers and. their families in case of attack. Springfield had three such places, one of which, strongly constructed of brick, was built by Mr. Pynchon in 1660 and remained standing until 1831. For almost two centuries it withstood the ravages of time and the elements, and on at least one occasion it also successfully with- stood an Indian attack. Fort Pynchon stood at the corner of what now is Main and Fort streets, the latter name always hav- ing been preserved in memory of the old historic structure. The Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance company's building (the "Fort building") stands on the site once occupied by the old fort.
The organization of defensive military forces and the con- struction of fortified houses in the valley was accomplished none too soon, although the work was begun within ten years after the annihilation of the Pequots. After the organization of Hamp- shire county, Capt. John Pynchon was placed in command of the Springfield company, and also was commissioned major of the "Hampshire Horse," the latter a troop of mounted riflemen drawn from all parts of the county. The entire military forces
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of the valley in 1671 numbered probably four hundred effective men, but they were much scattered throughout the settled locali- ties, and were not sufficiently strong in any single place to suc- cessfully withstand the desperate attacks of King Philip's horde of savages in the war which soon devastated the region.
Soon after the Pequot war the Narragansetts, who had been the allies of the English during that brief struggle, became in- solent and showed a disposition to provoke enmity with their late friends. Their chief, Miantonomo, who had behaved with com- parative decency in former years, now had become jealous of the English, and particularly of Uncas and his Mohegan brothers, the latter being exceedingly friendly with the whites and in great favor among them. But notwithstanding the crafty wiles and petty outrages of the disgruntled chief, the English man- aged to keep peace with his people until 1646, when they planned to visit upon them such punishment as overtook the Pequots. However, before this plan was carried out the Indians were awed into subjection, surrendering their arms and agreeing upon a peace which was afterward generally observed.
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