USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Our county and its people : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. Volume 2 > Part 25
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THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
EVANGELICAL
Memorial Church-On the silver plate deposited under the corner-stone of the Memorial church is this inscription: "From love to God and good-will to man, a company of believers, who profess faith in Christ, the Saviour of mankind, by the aid of the Churches of Springfield, and other friends of the enterprise, build this house of worship for the Memorial Church."
"This Church, constituted by the fellowship of Christians of different denominations, was organized October 29, 1865, and named the 'Memorial Church' in memory of the deceased min- isters of Christ in New England."
The Memorial church has been one of the institutions of Springfield for more than thirty-five years, yet there are many persons in the community who do not understand its origin, char- acter and purpose. As has been stated, the church was organ- ized in October, 1865, and was recognized by an ecclesiastical council of the neighboring churches. For the information of all who seek to learn something of the character and quality of the church the following declaration of the founders will be found of interest :
"Believing that the interests of religion require the forma- tion of a Church in Ward One, we, a company of believers who profess faith in Christ and acknowledge Him to be the Saviour of mankind, to effect this purpose, in connection with the Society which has been formed to build a house of worship in said ward, do hereby organize ourselves into a Church of Christ."
"In love to the memory of the deceased ministers of New England, this Church shall be called the Memorial Church."
"Love to God and good will to men shall be our bond of union."
"This Church shall be Congregational in its form of gov- ernment and discipline, in accordance with the legal interests of the Society with which it is connected. It will seek the rela- tions of Christian fellowship with other evangelical churches, by the mutual transfer of members, by ministerial exchanges, by sacramental communion, by mutual councils, and by all suitable modes of co-operation."
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On the first anniversary of the organization of the church, Oct. 29, 1866, these resolutions were adopted :
"Believing that an organized company of believers in Jesus Christ, and who acknowledge Him to be the Saviour of man- kind, form and constitute a Christian Church; that a Congrega- tional Church is one which vests all ecclesiastical power in a com- pany thus organized, and that the Holy Catholic Church is the universal Christian brotherhood ; therefore,
"Resolved, That the Memorial Church of Springfield, having declared in its creed its belief in the Holy Catholic Church, wel- comes to its membership and communion all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth, and who agree with it con- cerning the essential doctrines of the Christian religion, by what- ever name they may be called."
"That the success of the Church upon this basis during the first year of its history-a success which has brought at least five denominations into happy communion of personal feeling and action-is our sufficient justification for reaffirming this basis as a ground of Christian liberality, a guide to a wise and sound policy, and especially as the true basis for organized Christian effort in the ward in which our church is located."
On the second anniversary, Oct. 27, 1867, this declaration was made by the church :
"Whereas, the Memorial Church, in its plan of organization, declares that it will seek the relations of Christian fellowship with other evangelical churches by the mutual transfer of mem- bers, etc.,
"Resolved, That in its action in pursuance of these prin- ciples, it does not intend to merge itself in any denominational organization."
Throughout the period of its history the Memorial church has been governed in accordance with the declarations of its founders, and during that same period also it has become recog- nized as one of the leading influential religious bodies in New England. The church property is conveniently and delightfully located at the southern slope of Round hill, and the edifice is one of the most attractive structures of its kind in the region. It was
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THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
completed and opened for worship in March, 1869, and cost $100,000, all of which sum was paid long ago. In November, 1888, and again in January, 1889, the pastor called attention to the great need of a parish house in connection with the constantly increasing work of the church. Soon after this George M. At- water, one of the founders of the church, contributed $5,000 to- ward the parish house fund, and on the very same day John H. Southworth donated an equal sum for the same purpose. In January, 1891, Mrs. Catherine H. Lombard sent the pastor a check for $5,000 in aid of the enterprise, and later on in the year Harriet B. Hitchcock gave the land for the building, in memory of her father, Daniel Hitchcock. Other substantial contributions to the fund were made, and on April 17, 1895, the splendid'par- ish house on North Main street was dedicated, free of debt. The entire expense of its construction, exclusive of the land, was about $37,000.
During the period of its history the Memorial church has had one minister and two pastors. Rev. Mark Trafton, D. D., supplied the pulpit for one year from April 1, 1867. Rev. Wil- liam T. Eustis, D. D., the first pastor, was installed June 3, 1869, and died in office March 30, 1888. Rev. John L. R. Trask, D. D., the second and present pastor, began his ministry here October 1, 1888, and was installed pastor December 13 of that year.
OTHER CHURCHES
First Presbyterian Church-This church dates its history from 1895, when about a dozen Scotch Presbyterians and about 40 former members of the Park Congregational church organized a society and church according to the Presbyterian form of gov- ernment and worship. From an original membership of 55 the number is now increased to 170 persons. The house of worship is located at the corner of State street and Concord terrace. The first pastor was Rev. William Hart Dexter, who was succeeded in January, 1899, by Rev. Stanley G. Tyndall, the present pastor.
Among the other and perhaps more recently organized church societies of the city mention may be made of the German
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Evangelical Lutheran church, organized in 1889, with a house of worship located on King street, near Walnut street; the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Bethesda church, organized in 1891 and incorporated in 1892, the house of worship being on Union street, near Main street; the Church of Christ (Disciples), organized in 1895, and having a church home on South Main street; the Church of the New Jerusalem (Second Advent), which dates its history from the year 1853; the Advent Chris- tian church, and also the Seventh Day Advent society, both among the recently organized religious societies of the city; and the Jewish synagogue, at No. 24 Gray's avenue.
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CHAPTER VIII THE TOWN OF WESTFIELD
BY JAMES CARRUTHERS GREENOUGH, LL. D.
Introductory .- One school of historians would teach us that. the evolution of a community is determined by man,-that the ultimate source, of history is the human will; another school would teach us that the physical environment of a community determines its history. Each school teaches a partial truth. While we must admit that the history of our town has been de- termined mainly by the personal qualities of its citizens, we may not pass unnoticed their physical environment.
Physiography .- The central part of the township is an al- luvial valley extending six or seven miles from east to west. It is from two to three miles in width. The steep banks or bluffs bor- dering this valley and separating it from the surrounding plains are generally about seventy feet in height. From the brow of these banks, the widely spread dwellings, embowered in elms and maples, the steeples of the churches rising above the trees, the broad meadows divided by the wandering streams, the back- ground of western hills and the serrated range on the east, pre- sent a scene beautiful and picturesque. There is a tradition that this valley was once so walled by the Holyoke range on the east that it was the bed of a lake, and that by the giving way of this range at the place of the outlet, or by gradual erosion the lake was drained ; but geological facts do not substantiate this theory.
Geologists tell us that in the remote past, a bay or estuary several miles in width extended north from the ocean across what is now Connecticut and Massachusetts in the direction now marked by the Connecticut river. Material brought into this bay
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from the north and from the Appalachian elevations on the west, helped to fill it. The Westfield river seems to have furnished its contribution so long as it discharged its waters into this bay. Later, the northern part of the continent as far south as the for- tieth parallel of latitude was covered with glaciers, moving from north to south. That the channel of the Westfield river among the western highlands existed previous to the glacial period, is asserted by geologists, who find that the large glacier moving
Park Square, Westfield, in Summer
south along what is now the Connecticut valley, sent a lateral branch westerly some distance into the channel of the Westfield river.
As the huge mass of the glacier moved in a southerly direc- tion it wore away the red sandstone underlying it, in Massachu- setts, comminuted it to be borne by the glacial streams and de- posited in beds now hard and compact and known as the Port-
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THE TOWN OF WESTFIELD
land red sandstone of Connecticut, so generally used in buildings throughout the valley. Other results than the abrasion of the red sandstone are to-day evident in the broad plains which bor- der the alluvial portion of the valley and which are composed of sands, clays and pebbles belonging to drift. The hard trap rock of the Holyoke range and of other elevations, could not, like sandstone, be easily worn away ; hence it now stands boldly above the plains.
So long as the Westfield river, as it emerged from its channel among the western hills, met the waters of the estuary or mingled with the underflowing waters of the glacier, contributing its silt to the upbuilding of the valley, its water would take a southerly course from the present site of Westfield to the sea. The Con- necticut and its tributaries have cut out of the plains formed by glacial action, the alluvial basins.
The present easterly course of the Westfield river through the towns of Westfield and West Springfield, may have been ow- ing to a considerable depression or opening in Holyoke range that runs north and south near the dividing line of these towns, or to terminal moraines deposited by the receding glacier not farther south than the town of Southwick.
It will be admitted that one of the many shallow lakes that the glaciers, as they melted, left in New England, may have rested, though at a much higher level, where the village of West- field now stands, but that the present alluvial valley was the bed of a lake no geologist can admit.
Whatever may have determined the easterly course of the river across the glacial plain, there is no reasonable doubt that the long alluvial valley, that now forms so large a part of the township of Westfield. is the work of the Westfield river and its tributary, Little river. One evidence that this valley was formed by the erosion of these streams is the fact that it is a terraced valley such as rivers are now making wherever they are flowing through a yielding soil, and in beds that are gradually finding a lower level. The more sinuous the course of a stream the great- er the lateral erosion. As a river erodes its concave banks it de- posits on its convex banks, forming alluvial flats at length raised
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Farm Scene in Westfield River Valley Mt, Tekoa in the distance
THE TOWN OF WESTFIELD
as high as the flood waters build. When a river is continually deepening its channel, it is evident that the alluvial flats last formed will be at a lower level than those formed at an earlier period. The result is a terraced valley.
Another evidence that the rivers now flowing in this valley have made it, is the fact that by digging down a few feet in any part of it, one will come upon the rounded stones and pebbles of an old river bed. The way in which the rivers widen the valley is evident to any one who will observe how Little river is cutting away the bordering bluff, below the railroad bridge which crosses this river.
Before the coming of the white man, the alluvial soil of this valley, cleared every spring by fires set by the Indians, was adapted to produce an abundance of maise, grass and other crops. The streams abounded with fish. The time is not far re- mote when shad and salmon were plenty in these streams. Their smooth surfaces were often rippled by the scurrying water fowl and along their banks the otter, the mink, the beaver, and other fur-bearing animals made their homes. The forests that covered what are now for the most part plains, to the north and to the south, and the hills on the west, furnished attractive and profit- able hunting grounds.
The bordering bluffs near the open fields of the valley above the reach of the occasional floods, we can readily imagine, were favorite camping grounds of the Indians. It is not strange that they called the region Wauwunockoo, which is said to mean, "it is fat hunting." This name like other Indian names took various forms in the records ere the permanent form Woronoco was evolved. From this Woronoco valley, radiated the Indian trails as now radiate the highways from the town along the banks of the streams to the mountain valleys on the west, toward the Con- necticut on the east, and across the then wooded plains that stretched away to the north and to the south. The routes of many of the colonial roads were first surveyed by the Indians in locating their trails. They little dreamed of the busy highways and the iron tracks that were to follow the courses they had marked.
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BEGINNING OF SETTLEMENT
The first white men who made a temporary abode in this region seem to have been attracted by the opportunities to trade with the Indians for beaver skins and other furs. It is impossi- ble to trace the routes, to locate the stopping places, or to deter- mine the times of these early pioneers.
Controversy with Connecticut .- In 1641, as shown by the Colonial records, the general court of Massachusetts, finding that the people of Connecticut had encroached upon the domain of the Massachusetts Bay, wrote them as follows :
"It is greivos to us to meete with any occation that might cause difference to arise betweene yor people & us, standing in so near relation of friendship, neighborhood & Christianity, espe- cially ; therefore or study is (when any such arise) to labor the removing of them upon the first appearance. Now, so it is, that we have been certified that you have given leave to some of yors to set up a trading house at Woronock, wch is knowne to bee wthin or patent, lying as much or more to the north than Spring- field. Wee heare also, that you have granted to Mr. Rob't Sal- tonstall a great quantity of land, not far beneath Springfield, wch wee apphend to bee an injury to us, & do us such right in re- dresse hearof as you would expect fro us in a like case. Wee suppose wee shall not need to use other argumts; wee know to whom wee wright. Wee have thought meete upon these occa- tions to intimate further unto you that wee intend (by God's help) to know the certeinty of or limits, to the end that wee may neither intrench upon the right of any of or neighbors, nor suf- fer orselves & or posterity to bee deprived of what rightly be- longeth unto us, wch wee hope wilbe wthout offence to any; & upon this wee may have some ground pceeding in or further treaty wth you about such things as may concerne the welfare of us all. These things wee leave to yor consideration, & shall ex- pect yor answear. In the meane time wee rest."
The immediate occasion of this letter was the fact that Gov- ernor Hopkins of Hartford had obtained a grant of land, and, in 1640, had established a trading house at "Woronock."
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Saybrook Fort .- At a still earlier period the people of Con- necticut claimed a certain jurisdiction over Springfield, even, as well as the territory lying west. In 1635, John Winthrop, son of Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts, came from England having a commission from Lord Say and Lord Brook appointing him governor in Connecticut. Two thousand dollars were given him for the purpose of erecting a fort at the mouth of the Connecti- cut river. He built the fort and named it Saybrook fort, fitting it up with an armament he brought with him from England.
Not unlike a mediaeval baron who built his castle on a rocky battlement overlooking a highway leading through a mountain pass and levied toll under the excuse of protecting those who passed by, so all vessels passing up the river were now required to pay toll. Settlers from Massachusetts Bay in Windsor, Weth- ersfield and Hartford to avoid a contest paid the toll. Springfield refused to pay. Hence arose the most serious controversy that ever occurred between the two colonies. The general court of Massachusetts when appealed to for protection responded stoutly in defence of Springfield. In 1644, when the Connecti- cut settlements bought the fort, they included in the purchase all claims against Springfield for unpaid tolls. When these claims were urged upon the attention of the commissioners of the united colonies their decision was long deferred until the commis- sioners from Massachusetts refusing to act, the others decided in favor of the claimants ; but Springfield stubbornly refused pay- ment. Massachusetts, siding strongly with Springfield, retaliated by attempting to levy toll upon all vessels of other colonies enter- ing the harbor of Boston. The colonies would not endure this, and to prevent the breaking up of the union of the colonies, the measure was withdrawn. The claims of Connecticut for tolls still remain unpaid.
The boundaries of Springfield were from time to time so ex- tended as to include a good share if not all of the territory after- wards known as Westfield, and that of several other towns. In 1647, the general court issued the following order :
"It is ordered by this Court, that Woronoko upon Connecti- cut River wthin ys jurisdiction, shall be, and be reputed as a
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part of ye towne of Springfield, & liable to all charges there as other pts of the same toune; vntill errecting some other planta- tion more convenient, it shall be thought fitt by ye Court to annex it to such new plantation."
Holland tells us that "at the May court, 1662, certain gentle- men who appear to have belonged in Windsor and Dorchester, presented a petition, representing themselves to be much in want of land, and asking for a tract six miles square at Woronoco, to be joined with the farms of 'the late much honored Maj .- Gen. Ather- ton and Capt. Roger Clapp of Dorchester,' to whom it appears grants had previously been made by the court. The petition was signed by fifteen individuals. The deputies voted to grant the petition, and decreed that the farms alluded to should belong to the plantation, in respect to public charges, and that 'the order for Woronoco henceforth to lie to Springfield should be void;' provided the petitioners should settle themselves and a minister within three years; otherwise the land was to belong to Spring- field until a plantation should be settled there. . But this scheme seems to have entirely miscarried, as no considerable set- tlement occurred there until 1666, and among those who held titles confirmed by a residence of five years, thereafter, the name of but one of the petitioners can be found, viz., George Phelps, who emigrated from Windsor. The first settlers were from Springfield, Windsor, and Northampton."
First Settlers .- Ensign Thomas Cooper seems in 1658 to have received the first grant of land in Woronoco from the town of Springfield. It was located "on the northeast side of Worro- noke River, to wit., betwixt the brook called Tomhammucke and the river called Worrinoke River, from the mouth of the said River Tomhammucke, and soe up, soe high towards Pochasuck as until he cometh to the hill Wasapskotuck." This grant in- cluded, it would seem, most of the alluvial lands on the north side of the Westfield and extended from Brass or Prospect hill on the west to the stream flowing from Springdale mills on the east. Across the east part of this tract, after 1664, passed the road from Northampton to Windsor.
In 1660, March 13, "There is granted to Samuel Chapin a piece of land at Woronoco, being between twenty and thirty
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acres 'lying on the east side of the second brook, that is on this side of Thomas Cooper's farm there and is to be bounded by the hill on the north and the river on the south, provided those lands shall be considered by the court to belong to this town and he purchase the said land of the Indians, and he is not to hinder passage through it to other lands beyond it.' "
This grant from Springfield recognized, as did other origi- nal grants, the ownership of the Indians. Those to whom lands were originally granted, were to purchase them of the Indians, in order to obtain a complete title.
Judging from the records and traditions, Walter Lee, John Sackett, and George Saxton were the first permanent settlers on the north side of the Westfield river. The site of Mr. Sackett's house is still shown. He is believed to have been the ancestor of those of the name who have since resided in Westfield. Benja- min, the son of George Saxton, who lived for a time on the part of the Northampton and Windsor road running from the pres- ent road from Westfield to Springfield, to the hamlet, Little river, was the first child born among the settlers of Westfield. He was born in 1666 and was among the first to give proof by his life in Westfield that it is a place favorable to longevity. He died at the age of eighty-eight.
As the old Indian fort was said to have stood on the south side of the Westfield river near its confluence with Little river, the area between the rivers was called the fort side. This name may have been perpetuated because part of the area was fortified after a time by palisades. The land lying north of the Westfield river was called the north side and that south of the river but east of Little river, the south side.
Forests and Glades .- We should be glad to have some pho- tographic views of the lands on the Westfield river, as they were before they were occupied by white men, but no man used a cam- era in those days. The best lands were annually cleared by the Indians in many places by kindling fires in November that con- sumed leaves, underbrush and dead limbs on the ground. A Mr. Graves, writing in 1629, says, the country "is very beautiful in open lands mixed with goodly woods and again open plains, in
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some places 500 acres, some more, some less, not much trouble- some to clear for the plough." "The grass and weeds grow up to a man's face ; in the low lands and by fresh rivers abundance of grass and large meadows without any tree or shrub."
There was plenty of land ready for the plow. The fires of the Indians had swept widely. The uplands bordering the low- lands were often thinly covered with trees, and the dense forests beyond the reach of the meadow fires were generally free from underbrush, so that hunters and companies of soldiers mounted or on foot easily penetrated the forests in all directions. Owing to the annual burnings good timber in some of the river towns was not as plenty as has been supposed. Westfield was better provided than Springfield. The western hills were nearer. Springfield voted in 1647 "that no timber, boards, planks, shin- gle-timber, nor pipe-staves should be carried out of the town from the east side of the river."
Woronoco Committee .- At a town meeting held at Spring- field, Feb. 7. 1664, Capt. John Pynchon, Nathaniel Ely, George Colton, Benjamin Cooley and Elizur Holyoke were chosen to be a standing committee "to have the sole power to order matters concerning the lands in Woronoco and for admittance of inhab- itants for that place and for granting of lands there or any other affairs that concern that place, and that may conduce to the set- tling the said towne. This committee to hold till the town see cause otherwise to order."
This committee soon made grants to Capt. Aron Cooke, Thomas Day, John Ingersoll, Joseph Leeds, Moses Cooke, John Osborne, John Holyoke, David Ashley, Thomas Noble, Sergeant Stebbins, Samuel Mansfield, John Ponder, John Root, Benjamin Cooley, Hugh Dudley, and Thomas Orton.
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