USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Our county and its people : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. Volume 2 > Part 15
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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
Postmaster Church was one of the town worthies in his day who held numerous public offices and besides the store kept a popular tavern across the street on the site of Wilson's new block. He died in 1810, but his hat business has come down un- interruptedly to this generation and is now carried on by San- derson & Son near by its earliest location. A part of the orig-
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inal post-office building, now used as a blacksmith shop, is still standing on East Court street. Postmaster Church was succeeded July 21, 1792, by Ezra W. Weld, a new-comer in Springfield, who had been sent from Worcester to take charge of the Hampshire Chronicle, for its owner, the celebrated Isaiah Thomas, the founder of the Worcester Spy and many other newspapers. At that time newspaper offices were also bookstores, as well as the starting points for the post riders who distributed the papers through the country, and were also licensed to carry letters on "cross lines" not traversed by stages. Towards such centers of intelligence the post-offices naturally gravitated, the public con- venience seconding the publisher's ambition, and it thus came about that wherever a newspaper existed it was quite common to find its publisher filling the office of postmaster. This cus- tom, coupled with the influence of his patron, undoubtedly ac- counts for the appointment of a stranger like Weld, as well as that of his immediate successor. Postmaster Weld removed the office to the Chronicle establishment, a two-story building at the corner of Main and Elm streets, where the new Chicopee bank building now stands.
The next year Weld and Thomas sold out the Chronicle and Thomas established the Federal Spy, sending here his son-in-law, . James R. Hutchins, to manage it. The Spy not only speedily killed off the Chronicle, but it also secured the post-office. Editor Hutchins succeeded Editor Weld as postmaster April 25, 1793, and removed the office to the Spy establishment "at the corner of the entrance to the court house," where Brewer's drug store now is, at the corner of Main and Sanford streets. The following year the Spy passed into the hands of John W. Hooker and Francis Stebbins, and the post-office appears to have gone with it, for the record shows that Hooker became postmaster April 1, 1794. Two years later Stebbins announced himself "sole editor and proprietor" of the paper, and October 1, 1796, the postmastership was conferred upon him. He sold out the paper near the close of 1799, but for some reason the post-office then ceased to be an appurtenance of the establishment. Perhaps the public had tired of seeing the office bandied about at the sport
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of the varying fortunes of newspaper editors who came and went with such frequency, for the four knights of the quill who had left the office seemed to have been carpet-baggers in Springfield, who remained only so long as their newspaper connection lasted.
James Byers, jr., was appointed postmaster January 1, 1800, under the presidency of John Adams. He was engaged in trade in a building then standing on the lot next north of the Spring- field institution for savings, and by removing the post-office to his store he doubtless drew fresh patronage to his counters. This federalist official survived the defeat of his party a few months. later, for the spoils system was not yet in vogue, and held on through the first and well into the second term of President Jef- ferson, when he sold out his store and surrendered the post- mastership to a rival merchant across the way. Subsequently Byers passed a long and successful business career in Spring- field, accumulating a large fortune and dying here in 1854 at an advanced age. Among his enterprises was the erection, along in the thirties, of the block on the Chicopee bank corner, now par- tially demolished, and the two blocks adjoining on Elm street. Byers street perpetuates his name.
Daniel Lombard succeeded Byers as postmaster July 29, 1806, and at once transferred the office to his own store, which was then on the Elm street corner, thus bringing it back to where. it had been when attached to the Chronicle a dozen years before. Here for 23 years Lombard officiated as postmaster to the general satisfaction of the public, under the changing administrations of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and the younger Adams, till the deluge came with the inauguration of Andrew Jackson. The "clean sweep" of that memorable era reached Springfield June 3, 1829, when Lombard was succeeded by Albert Morgan. Spring- field was a whig town, almost an entire generation had witnessed no change in the postmastership, and there was a great display of indignation, more or less simulated, at the removal for purely political reasons of this long-tried and faithful official. The demonstrations of disapproval were so prolonged that the demo- crats tardily offered the excuse that he was "incapacitated by age" and too frequently delegated his duties "to a female attend-
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ant, and a colored female at that." This last charge was stoutly denied, and as to his age, he continued in active business many years afterward, dying in 1856 at the age of 92. He was a man of wealth and position, held many town offices and was a soldier on the right side in the time of the Shays rebellion. He is well remembered by our older citizens, and two of his daughters are still living at an advanced age on Howard street. A younger son, William, is also living in Chicago. He was the first letter carrier in Springfield, carrying letters as early as 1820 and re- ceiving one cent each for the service.
Postmaster Morgan carried the office round to the corner of State and Market streets to a two-story wooden building which was torn away in 1866 to make room for the present savings bank building. Here the office continued till 1834, when it migrated to the Elm street store now occupied by Auctioneer Winter. Here, and in the two stores next west in the same building, it re- mained for upward of 30 years under six successive postmasters. The newspapers of the period bear testimony to the prevalence of the spoils doctrine, which had now become a prominent feature in politics. Within a week after Morgan's appointment the democratic newspaper announces with a flourish that the whig editor "has been removed from, and we are the happy recipients of the distinguished office of honor and profit, that of advertis- ing the dead letters remaining in our post-office." The whig organ in reply expresses "the hope that the circumstances may not shake our political faith;" whereupon the administration journal retorts with fine irony, "we in turn as kindly hope that his enjoyment of this lucrative post for past years has not been the only reason that his political integrity has not been ques- tioned." James E. Russell was assistant postmaster and man of all work in the office at this time. He slept in the office and relates that four consecutive hours of rest was the most that he was able to get out of the 24. Morgan served through President Jack- son's two terms and was reappointed by Van Buren. After his retirement he established the American house on the site of the Boston & Albany railroad's granite building. Afterward he was president of the Agawam bank and of the Hampden savings
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bank, and was one of the first board of directors of the Fire and Marine insurance company. He died in 1860.
The early death of President Harrison and the uncertain course of Vice-president Tyler postponed the fruits of the whig victory of 1840, but on April 1, 1842, Col. Solomon Warriner was appointed to succeed Morgan. The whig paper of the fol- lowing week exulted that "after 13 years we are enabled to greet the return to our columns of the post-office advertising. For more than a year after the whig administration commenced, our late postmaster (Mr. Morgan) continued to advertise in the democratic paper." The editor of the latter quoted this boast and replied, "We advise the paper to make the most of it during the three years of Mr. Tyler's administration, for from that period we reckon it will be more than 13 years before it will again be restored." A year later Tyler had so far apostatized that he was turning out his whig appointees and installing demo- crats in their places. August 29, 1843, Col. Warriner was re- moved and Col. Harvey Chapin stepped into his shoes, but only for a brief period, as the event proved. Col. Warriner was long a leading business man in the town and was for many years actively identified with the militia. He was also a soldier in the war of 1812. But he is best remembered as an enthusiast in musical matters. For a long period he was a chorister at the First church, where the choir of 75 or 100 voices made an im- posing part of the public worship. He was also leader of the first musical society in Springfield, the old Handel and Hayden society, a compiler of several collections of church tunes, and a recognized authority in musical matters in all this region. He died in 1860 at the age of 82.
The senate not being in session at the time of Col. Chapin's appointment, it was not necessary that he should await the ac- tion of that body, and he entered upon his duties as postmaster at once. At the next session of congress, however, the senate was found to be not in the mood of confirming Tyler's nomina- tions, and that of Col. Chapin was rejected along with many others, and he stepped down and out. The local democracy promptly provided a fresh candidate, Dr. Elijah Ashley, editor
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of the Independent Democrat, a newly established Tyler organ, the democratic Post never having come to the support of the ad- ministration. The senate rejected Ashley's nomination, and Ethan A. Clary, who was next nominated, shared the same fate. Finally on June 15, 1844, the last day of the session, Col. Galen Ames was nominated and confirmed, and served to the end of Tyler's term in the year following. He was a prominent mer- chant at that time, an officer in the militia and took an active part in public affairs generally. Subsequently he was for many years employed in the Boston and Albany office, remaining at his desk till within a few months of his death. He died in 1882, at the age of 86. When the democrats came to their own again, Col. Chapin naturally sought a vindication, and on May 5, 1845, President Polk appointed him postmaster, and he held the office till the whigs returned to power again, four years later. He was a leading democratic politician, an officer in the militia, and a popular tavern keeper in the days of turnpikes and stages. Like so many of his predecessors, he lived to be very old, dying in this city in 1877, at the age of 89 years.
Postmasterships had now come to be universally recognized as legitimate spoils in politics, and when the whigs came in again Col. Chapin went out, and June 7, 1849, President Zachary Tay- lor appointed William Stowe to succeed him. Mr. Stowe had for several years published the Springfield Gazette, an able whig paper which shortly before his appointment had been absorbed by the Republican. Whig ascendency, however, lasted only four years, and with the inauguration of President Pierce the democrats began to cast about for Stowe's successor. The choice finally fell upon Abijah Chapin, son of Col. Harvey Chapin, and August 10, 1853, he was appointed. President Buchanan re- appointed him in 1858 and he continued in office until the in- auguration of the first republican administration in 1861, after which he was engaged in the insurance business in this city for several years, and later retired to a farm in Deerfield, Mass. William Stowe came back to the office by appointment of Presi- dent Lincoln April 10, 1861, Postmaster Chapin being removed a year before the expiration of his second term. In the inter-
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val since his retirement in 1853, Mr. Stowe had served by sev- eral successive elections as clerk of the Massachusetts house of representatives. He was reappointed by President Johnson in 1866 and again by President Grant in 1870 and died in office De- cember 7, 1871. In 1866 he removed the office from its out- grown quarters on Elm street to the Haynes hotel building, just then erected, where it remained for 10 years.
President Grant filled the vacancy January 8, 1872, by the appointment of Gen. Horace C. Lee, who had given up the office of city clerk at the outbreak of the rebellion to enter the army. His appointment was asked for by practically the unanimous voice of his fellow citizens in recognition of his brilliant military services, although there was some effort made to procure the ap- pointment of the late Capt. Lewis A. Tifft, father of E. T. Tifft. Postmaster Lee was reappointed by President Grant in 1876 and again by President Hayes in 1880. At the close of his third term in 1884 he retired in shattered health and died a few months after from a complication of troubles induced by his service in the army. Under his administration in 1883 the free delivery system was established in Springfield, this service at that time requiring but eight carriers. There had been, however, a carrier system in vogue for a long time before this, the old penny post, so-called, although the carrier was usually allowed to charge two cents for delivering a letter. Chauncey K. Camp is remembered by many of our older citizens as a postman away back in the for- ties as well as his father before him. Gen. Lee also procured the removal of the office to the Five Cents savings bank building in 1876, after a sharp contest between that location and the one where the office now is.
Upon the retirement of Gen. Lee, President Arthur ap- pointed Edward P. Chapin, his commission bearing date Janu- ary 15, 1884. The late Lewis H. Taylor was the only opposing candidate at this time. Postmaster Chapin held the office for nearly a year after the inauguration of President Cleveland's administration, retiring voluntarily in February, 1886, to accept the appointment of savings bank commissioner tendered him by Gov. Robinson. The vacancy was filled by the appointment of
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United States Custom House and Post-Office
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John L. Rice, whose commission, signed by Grover Cleveland, bears the date of January 20, 1886. In the following year the office was removed to the Gilmore block, and there remained until the completion of the new federal building at the corner of Maine, Worthington and Fort streets. Col. Rice was the in- cumbent of the postmastership until March, 1890, although the commission of his successor, Col. Henry M. Phillips, bears the date of January 29 of that year. The latter served until suc- ceeded by John H. Clune, whose commission was dated May 16, 1894. Louis C. Hyde, the present postmaster, was next in the succession, his commission bearing the date of June 30, 1898.
The movement to secure an appropriation for a federal building and post-office in this city began several years previous to the passage of the act of congress authorizing its construction. During the term of office of Congressman Rockwell, a bill was passed appropriating $150,000 for the erection of such a build- ing, and when that was done, and approved, the business men of the north and south parts of Main street became earnest rivals, each striving to secure the coveted building for their locality. As is usual in such cases, the advocates of the site in the newest locality were successful, and for the first time in the history of the town and city the post-office went north of Pynchon street. But this great acquisition to business interests near the arch was not gained without considerable cost to the successful competi- tors, for the land on which the building was erected was pur- chased by them at a cost of $70,000 and was sold to the govern- ment for $18,500. The corner-stone of the new building was laid with impressive ceremonies on February 22, 1890, and on February 28, 1891, Col. Phillips removed the post-office into the finished structure.
The Springfield post-office building is a model of beauty, although in its construction there is no elaborate architectural display. It is of Longmeadow brown stone, substantial and sym- metrical in every part, with artistic trimmings. When built it was large enough for the business of the office, but in the course of a few years there was a demand for more room. The crowded condition was partially relieved by the extension built on the Worthington street side in 1900-01.
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CEMETERIES
The city of Springfield has six well laid out and improved places for the burial of the dead. In the early history of the town the settlers established a burial ground in rear of the meet- ing house lot, which was entered by way of Meeting-house lane, or the thoroughfare which is now called Elm street. This was the "silent city" for the inhabitants of that part of the town which bordered on the river. In 1645, according to the town records, William Pynchon and Henry Smith bargained with Francis Ball and Thomas Stebbins for two and one-half acres of land on the river, which previously had been the "home lots" of those worthy settlers, but which was secured by the town for a burying ground and a training field. It was maintained as a town cemetery until 1696 and then was conveyed to the trustees of the First parish. This plot lay on the east bank of the river and extended from Elm street nearly to State street.
The second burying ground in this locality comprised half an acre of land bought by the trustees of the parish from Aaron
. Warriner, the tract having been a part of that settler's home lot. It was situated north of Elm street, west of the present line of Water street, and extended north to the south line of the old Trask foundry lot of later years. For more than two centuries these tracts were known as the north and the south burying grounds, and throughout that long period they were the estab- lished cemeteries of this part of the town; and so continued until the construction of the railroad necessitated the removal of the bones from their quiet resting-place on the bank of the Connecti- cut to some locality more remote from the busy haunts of man. This work was done under the direction of Elijah Blake; and by him the honored dust of some of our most worthy forefathers was transferred to a specially designated spot in the Pine street portion of the new cemetery, there to await the final call. Among the remains thus removed were those of Mari (Mary), wife of Elizur Holyoke ; Henry Burt, who died in 1662; Deacon Samuel Chapin, the Puritan, whose statue in bronze adorns the terrace west of the city library building; Capt. Elizur Holyoke, who died in 1675 ; Major John Pynchon, son of the founder of the colony
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and town; Japhet Chapin, son of the Deacon; Col. Wm. Pyn- chon ; Col. John Pynchon, Josiah Dwight, Col. John Worthing- ton, and hundreds of others who in some manner during their lives had been identified with the early interesting history of the town.
The Second parish graveyard, "set aside by the pioneers of Springfield, was at Chicopee, on the north side of Chicopee river. Many years later the Springfield land company, who were the original purchasers and who developed the water power at the center village, laid out the private cemetery of four acres on Elm street, in rear of the old high school building, to which several additions were afterward made." About 1865 the town of Chicopee purchased 25 acres between the Center and the Falls and laid out the beautifully shaded city cemetery of to-day. The first Catholic cemetery was opened by Father Brady of Chicopee, on Springfield street, and within the limits of the present city of Springfield, but for some reason it never was used to any great extent for burial purposes.
The Springfield Cemetery .- For more than a year previous to the laying out of this cemetery there was a strong feeling in favor of such a movement, but the question of location was the subject of much consideration. At that time Dr. W. B. O. Pea- body was an influential personage in local history and he gave the matter of a new cemetery plot much careful thought. Hav- ing a thorough knowledge of the topographical character of the town, and evidently an intuitive understanding of its future growth, he finally suggested the beautiful locality known as "Martha's dingle" as the most appropriate tract for a burial place. He found earnest co-workers in George Bliss, George Eaton, George Ashmun, Justice Willard, Homer Foot and other prominent men of the time, and with such energy as these influ- ences could bring to bear the work of organizing an association was hardly more than a matter of form.
In 1840 all preliminaries were settled and the site was chosen by a committee selected for that purpose. On May 9, 1841, on the application of fourteen representative citizens (Jus- tice Willard, W. B. O. Peabody, Henry Adams, Samuel Rey-
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Entrance to Springfield Cemetery
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nolds, George Dwight, George Eaton, Homer Foot, Edward Sav- age, Allen Bangs, Wmn. S. Elwell, Solyman Merrick, John Avery, Charles A. Mann and Eliphalet Trask) a warrant was issued for a meeting of townsmen to organize the "Rural cemetery associa- tion." At the meeting George Ashmun occupied the chair, and John Howard, Justice Willard, Elijah Blake, Charles W. Chapin and Asa Flagg presented a plan of organization, which was adopted. Dr. Peabody was chosen president, Elijah Blake, treasurer, and Chester Harding, Philo Wilcox, George Dwight, Joseph Weatherhead, George Eaton, Samuel Reynolds and Wal- ter H. Bowdoin as the trustees of the association.
The original cemetery purchase comprised a little less than twenty acres of land, but in later years the association was com- pelled occasionally to add other parcels until the grounds occu- pied much of the space bounded by Walnut, Pine, Cedar and Union streets, with principal entrances from Maple and Walnut streets. The cemetery was consecrated September 5, 1841, the principal orator of the occasion being Dr. Peabody. The first burial was made September 6, 1841. The burying grounds of the Union street Methodist society were laid out about 1825, and were included within the cemetery tract in 1844.
The Springfield cemetery, which frequently is known as the "Peabody" cemetery, in honor of its founder in fact, for many years has been regarded as the favorite depositary of the dead in the city. Nature's endowment here has been beautiful and abundant, and while the grounds are not well adapted either to residence of business occupancy they are admirably situated for burial purposes. The works of nature have been materially im- proved upon by the arts of man. In the presidency of the association Dr. Peabody was succeeded by George Bliss, and the latter in turn by Albert D. Briggs. The later presidents have been George Dwight, Charles O. Chapin, Calvin C. Chaffee and Edward P. Chapin. The present officers of the association are Edward P. Chapin, president ; C. A. Nichols, vice-president ; W. C. Marsh, clerk and treasurer ; Dr. D. F. Atwater and Henry H. Bowman, auditors. Superintendent, Fred Emery.
St. Benedict's Cemetery, more frequently referred to as the "Old Catholic cemetery," at the junction of Liberty and Arm-
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ory streets, the burial plots in which were filled many years ago, was laid out in 1848 and was intended for the interment of the Catholic dead of Chicopee and Springfield.
St. Michael's Cemetery was purchased and laid out in 1871, under the direction of Bishop O'Reilly, of the diocese of Spring- field. The tract comprises fifty acres of rolling land, pleasantly situated south of the Boston road, in the eastern part of the city. Subsequently thirty-three acres more were added to the tract, - thus constituting one of the most extensive burial places in the county.
Entrance to Oak Grove Cemetery, Springfield
Oak Grove Cemetery .- This beautiful location as a place of burial owes its existence to the efforts chiefly of James Kirkham, who succeeded in securing subscriptions to the capital stock ($25,000) with which to make the purchase of land and, in part, to lay out the cemetery lots, avenues and parks. Among the others who were financially interested in the undertaking there may be recalled the names of Daniel B. Wesson, John Olmsted, Orick H. Greenleaf, Ephraim W. Bond, Justin Sackett, James M. Thompson, H. S. Lee, Horace Smith, G. A. Kibbe, N. C.
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Newell, G. W. Tapley, Wm. H. Haile, Elisha Gunn, O. D. Adams, Gideon Wells and John Goodrich.
The association was organized in 1881, at a time when the city was in need of another cemetery, and the laying out of the new plot was looked upon in the light of a public enterprise. The lands selected comprised parts of the old Stebbins, Sackett, Adams and Thompson farms, and contained ninety acres of land. The purchase price was $12,249, but far more than that amount in addition was expended in developing the plot under the direction of Justin Sackett.
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