USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Our county and its people : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. Volume 2 > Part 38
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In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty-fourth day of November, A. D. 1735.
JOSEPH KING-and seal."
There have been statements made in some of the historical sketches of Blandford that the conditions of settlement were im-
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posed because the proprietors had caused the township to be surveyed seven instead of six miles square. The statements are credited to "tradition." But the conditions were the same as were imposed upon other townships that came by grant into the hands of private individuals as proprietors. The deed to Law- ton from Joseph King and the following do not appear to justify the tradition.
"To all people to whom these presents shall come : Christo- pher Jacob Lawton of Suffield in the county of Hampshire and Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England, Esq., sendeth greeting. Whereas, on the fourteenth day of December, A. D. 1732, upon the petition of Joseph Winchell and Joseph King to the great and general court then assembled at Boston in the county of Suffolk within the Province aforesaid, in behalf of themselves and the other commoners and proprietors of the com- mon and undivided lands in the said town, setting forth that in running the line between the aforesaid province and the colony of Connecticut, A. D. 1713, there was taken from the aforesaid town of Suffield a very large quantity of land, and praying that they might be allowed an equivalent for the lands so taken away, a vote was passed in the Honorable House of Representatives, that the prayer of said petition should be so far granted as that the commoners and proprietors of the common and undivided lands in said town should be impowered by a surveyor and chainmen on oath to survey and lay out at their cost and charge the contents of six miles square of the unappropriated lands of the aforesaid province on the west side of Connecticut river, pro- vided that within the term of seven years from the confirmation of said grant they should settle on the spot 60 families who should be obliged by the said grant to bring to clear and fit for improvement 3 acres, and 6 acres more well stocked with English grass, and also should each of them have a good convenient dwelling house on the said land of one story high and 18 feet square at the least, and to build within the said town a conve- nient house for the public worship of GOD, and settle a learned orthodox minister there, and that the said commoners and pro- prietors should return a plan of the said granted premises to the
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general court within twelve months for confirmation of the same to the said commoners and proprietors, their heirs and assigns forever; which said vote was afterwards concurred in by the Honorable Council, and consented to by His Excellency, the Governor, and whereas, the aforesaid twelve months in and by the aforesaid proviso limited for the surveying and laying out of the aforesaid six miles square, and returning a plan thereof to the general court for the confirmation of the same to the said commoners and proprietors, their heirs and assigns, were by two subsequent orders of the general court prolonged to the space of two years from the time of the aforesaid grant; and the afore- said term of 7 years in the aforesaid provision limited for set- tling the said 60 families in manner as aforesaid, on said tract of land, was also prolonged to the space of 8 years from the time of said grant; and whereas, pursuant to the aforesaid grant and orders of said general court a tract of land of the contents of six miles square of the unappropriated lands of the said prov- ince on the west side of Connecticut river was surveyed and laid out by a surveyor and chainman on oath for the aforesaid com- moners and proprietors, who returned a plan thereof to the great and general court in December last, which was by said court accepted on the 4th day of the same month and recorded (as by the records of the said court reference being had thereto may appear) whereby the aforesaid tract of land which is but- ted and bounded as in the said plan returned to the general court is particularly mentioned and described, was confirmed to the said proprietors and commoners of the common and undivided lands of the said town of Suffield, their heirs and assigns forever.
And whereas the said Christopher Jacob Lawton hath since purchased of the aforesaid commoners and proprietors all their several respective rights of, in and to the aforesaid tract of land except the rights of Josiah Sheldon and the heirs of Joshua Lea- vitt, deceased, of said Suffield, and hath agreed with Robert Senot, James Freeland, John Osborne, Hugh Hambleton, Hugh Black, Comeinne Anderson, James Beard, Joseph Rice, Benjamin Woods, Samuel Karmer, James Montgomery, Armon Hambleton, Israel Gibbs, Robert Henry, Jonathan Boyce, James Wark, Rob-
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ert Black, John Osborne, John Hambleton, Jeremiah Anderson, William Province, James MacCletick, Samuel Ferguson, James Freeland, Jr., John Houstin, Samuel Cook, Daniel Stone, Robert Houston, David Boyce, John Stuart, William Knox, Samuel Crooks, Samuel Tyger, William Anderson, William Barker, Samuel Wark, Alexander Osborn, Thomas Reed, Matthew Blair, Robert Cook, John Cockhoran, Robert Hambleton, Hugh Ham- bleton, Daniel Howe, Adam Knox, John Knox, Joseph Freeland, John Stuart, Robert Huston, Samuel Cook, William Dunaghoi, William Province, James Beard, John Cockran, Robert Hamble- ton, for the settlement of 60 families on said land in such manner and within such time as in the said proviso, in the aforemen- tioned grant is contained and expressed, to whom the said Chris- topher Jacob Lawton hath covenanted to grant the several quan- tities hereafter mentioned, viz .: To fifty families 120 acres. each, to two families 60 acres each, to five families 40 acres each, to one family 30 acres, rendering to him, his heirs and assigns six per cent current lawful money of New England yearly if de- manded for each 120 acres of land and so proportionably, which said settlers have given bonds and covenants to John Foye and Francis Wells, both within the province aforesaid, merchants, and the said Christopher Jacob Lawton in penalty amounting in the whole to £22,500 lawful money of New England with con- ditions to accomplish their several settlements and pay their aforesaid bonds. Now witnesseth these presents, that the said Christopher Jacob Lawton for and in consideration of £3,000 in lawful public bills of credit to him in hand paid by Francis Brinley of Roxbury in the county of Suffold and province afore- said, Esq., before the sealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged," etc. Then follows, in usual form, a deed to said Brinley of one undivided fourth part of said township. This deed is dated July 8th, 1735. Lawton had already, by deed dated January 17th, 1735, conveyed to Francis Wells of Cambridge and to John Foye of Charlestown, one undivided fourth to each, of his interest in said township. And on March 30th, 1737, these several proprietors executed a deed of partition among themselves; so that from that date each
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became the owner of certain lots located in different parts of the town containing 500 acres each.
The people named in the above cited deed from Lawton to Brinley, were, for the most part, those who came to Glasgow from Hopkinton, Mass. It came about in this way: A Congrega- tional church was organized in Hopkinton Sept. 2d, 1724. "Seven of the original members of the church were Scotch Pres- byterians, and five others soon after joined. As nothing was said at the outset about a form of church government, these men. could conscientiously assent to the covenant and unite in Chris- tian communion. April 9th, 1731, the church voted 'to comply with the Platform of Church Discipline agreed to by the Synod of Churches assembled at Cambridge, 1649, as the rule of their discipline, so far as they apprehended it to be agreeable to the- Word of God.' This voting the church Congregational gave great offense to the Presbyterians. About ten families with- drew from the communion of the church. They were brought under discipline, and eventually several of them excommuni- cated. In 1734, they organized a Presbyterian church, built a small meeting-house about one and one-half miles west of the- village, near what is known as the Ellery place. Subsequently, on the removal of many of these families to Blandford, this. church organization was, by consent of Presbytery, transferred to that town, where it existed till 1800."
The list of membership of the First Congregational church in Hopkinton, contains the names of those who were excommu- nicated. Of them are the names of Robert Cook, William Duna- ghoi, Robert Hambleton, Robert Huston, Hugh Black and his wife, William Henry, Matthew Blair, Sarah Montgomery, Robert Black, Jane Wark, Rebecca Wark, James Montgomery, John Hambleton, Adam Knox, Israel Gibbs, Mary Gibbs, Israel Walker, Mrs. Robert Sennet, Mrs. Robert Cook, Hugh Hambleton and wife, Walter Steward and wife, Mrs. J. S. Montgomery, Mary Hambleton, and these people went to Blandford, then called New Glasgow, and took their church with them. Tradi- tion has it that they were promised a church bell from the city of Glasgow if they would call the town Glasgow, and continue that name.
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Previous to the coming of these people (to quote from Wm. H. Gibbs' historical address in 1859) "they sent a number of bold and courageous young men to select the best route and erect habitations for their reception. These hardy adventurers reached the centre of this town in the latter part of April, 1735. On the day of their arrival, a severe snowstorm commenced and continued three days, leaving a body of snow on the ground to the depth of three or four feet. We can but faintly imagine their sufferings." Such shelter as they could find in the forest under the protecting boughs of pines and hemlocks they had. But the snow soon began to waste, and they were then able to clear away trees and to erect temporary cabins. "The first families arrived the following autumn, the residue the succeeding spring. Hugh Black was the first man who arrived with his family." .
"The next individual who emigrated to this town with his family was James Baird." The locations selected by these settlers, as given by Mr. Gibbs, cannot at this late day be definitely given. We can only say that they were somewhere within the bounds of the township-probably within the limits of the tract laid out for the settlers-a tract about 2 miles wide by about 4 miles long. It included the whole of North street extending northerly nearly to what is known as "Beulah Land," on its westerly line, and southerly about to a soapstone quarry lying between "Fall road" and Little river; its easterly line extending from Tarrott's hill to near Chester line. It included the territory on which the village of Blandford is built, and it includes the road located easterly of, and little more than a mile from and parallel with North street. In this tract of land the lots for settlers were laid out. Mr. Gibbs says that, "The settlers selected their farm lots, and the names of several families who obtained farms on the west side of the town street, are left on record, viz .: Messrs. Black, Reed, McClinton, Taggart, Brown, Anderson, Hamilton, Wells, Blair, Stewart, Montgomery, Boise, Ferguson, Campbell, Wilson, Sennett, Young, Knox and Gibbs. The majority of the above-named persons became permanent residents upon the lots they drew." The northernmost lot drawn was in the vicinity, probably, of Dug hill and near where the highway to Huntington
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turns off from North street. Mr. Gibbs suggests that the entire country from this spot to Canada was a trackless wilderness. The nearest settlement was Westfield, ten miles east. "The team which drew the first cart that entered the town was driven by Widow Moses Carr while the men were repairing the road. It is said that the team belonged to Israel Gibbs, who settled on the farm now (1850) occupied by John Gibbs; and his son Israel was the first male child born in this town."
"The number of families which emigrated with the second company, cannot be ascertained. Their progress in ascending the mountain through Russell (then part of Westfield), was laborious and disheartening. They commenced the ascent at 'Sackett's Tavern' (probably near the four-mile house), on the old Westfield road, a distance slightly exceeding seven miles to the centre of this town. The ascent of the mountain began on the margin of the river, and continued up a rocky ledge, which, from its rude and forbidding appearance, acquired the name of 'Devil's Stairs'. Such was the difficulty of forcing a passage up the hills and through the unsubdued forest, that the team was able to travel only two miles the first day. As night came on, they encamped in the forest. The second day they reached the top of 'Birch Hill,' and again encamped for the night in the midst of beasts of prey and venomous reptiles. On the third day, the wearied families arrived at their anticipated home, and seated in their log hut, participated in the bounties it afforded."
"Soon after a part of these families removed further north; in reaching their locality they had to pass through the 'Caus- way,' then a pathless hemlock swamp. This passage required a day of severe toil. James Baird, an athletic man belonging to the company, was so fatigued in accomplishing this task, that on leaving the swamp, he immediately threw himself upon the earth and quietly slumbered during the night beneath the branches of a large hemlock. His family, consisting of eight persons, is believed to have removed with him. In a similar manner other families urged their toilsome way to their respec- tive places of residence. The trial and perplexities which they endured cannot be described! Probably there is not a parallel
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in the history of the settlement of any town upon the moun- tains."
Patrick Boise, Esq., in an address upon the early history of Blandford, says: "In 1737 the proprietors became owners of their lands, severally by a deed of partition. By this they appor- tioned between themselves fifty-one lots of land. Messrs. Lawton, Brinley and Foye took thirteen lots aside from the two sixty-acre lots given to each of the first fifty settlers. A grant was made .of a ten-acre lot in the center of the town, for public uses and as a general common. The other lands in the town were laid out in 500-acre lots. It is here worthy of remark that the exact figure of the town plot and the uniformity in the location and dimension of the lots of land, form a system of order and ar- rangement which is not to be found in any other town in the county-if in the State. It was a method well adapted to make .certain the limits, preserve the boundaries, and secure the property of land-holders and purchasers. To this cause more than any other may be attributed that harmony which has so generally prevailed among the owners of land in this town. Few questions of disputed title have arisen to create disturbance and jealousy in the minds of the inhabitants."
In 1741 the general court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, passed an act as follows: "Whereas, it hath been repre- sented to this court, by the inhabitants of Suff [e]i[e]ld equiva- lent lands, commonly called Glasgow, in the county Hampshire, that they labor under great difficulties by reason of their not being incorporated into a township. Be it enacted by His Excel- lency the Governor, Council and Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same.
"Section 1. That the lands aforesaid be and hereby are erected into a separate and distinct township by the name of Blandford; the bounds whereof are as followeth, viz. : beginning at a black birch, marked, with stones about it, being the southeast corner, and is near a small brook that runs into Westfield River, and on the west side of a steep round mountain; from thence, running west, twenty degrees north, one thousand nine hundred and forty-five rods, to a maple tree, marked; thence north,
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twenty degrees east, one thousand nine hundred and twenty rods, to a beech tree, marked, with stones about it; from thence, east, twenty degrees south, one thousand nine hundred and forty-five rods, to a yellow pine tree, marked, with stones about it; from thence, running south, twenty degrees west, one thousand nine hundred and twenty rods, to the bound first mentioned.
"Sec. 2. And the inhabitants on the land aforesaid be and are hereby vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities which the inhabitants of other towns are or ought to be vested with." Passed April 10, 1741.
The people of the town wished it called Glasgow, but Gov. Shirley, who had recently arrived in the good ship Blandford, insisted that this town should be called Blandford.
"These early inhabitants were so poor that they were com- pelled to solicit many favors from the proprietors of the town. They frequently petitioned the Colonial Legislature for grants of money and remission of taxes. This being a frontier settle- ment the court patiently listened to their prayers, and cheerfully imparted the solicited boon. At one time forty bushels of salt were given to the town to be distributed among the inhabitants.
In 1755 a special favor granted by the court to the town is noticed upon their records, and acknowledged in the following terms : "By virtue of a petition put into the Great and General Court of Boston by Rev. Mr. Morton in behalf of this town, the Honorable Court was pleased to grant us one swivel gun as an alarm gun, with one quarter barrel of powder and one bag of bullets for the same, and also one hundred flints for the use of the town, which we have received and paid charges on the same, from Boston to this town, which is two pounds and sixteen shillings old tenor, to Captain Houston."
"In 1758 (quoting further from Gibbs), owing to the em- barrassing circumstances of the first settlers, the General Court discharged them from the obligation of furnishing their quota of men for the public service. In the spring of 1749, the Indians began to make encroachments upon the white settlers of the town, and all the families but four fled to the neighboring towns; some to Westfield, others to Windsor, Suffield, Simsbury, and Wethers-
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field, Conn. A portion of them returned the following autumn, the remainder the next spring. At an early period three forts were erected; the first upon a lot now (1850) owned by Elijah Knox, another upon a lot now (1850) owned by Col. Justin Wilson, and the third upon the farm now (1850) owned by John Gibbs. At night all the families were collected into these forts. This state of things continued for the space of a year; and even long after that, on the least alarm, the inhabitants fled at dead of night from their own dwellings to seek refuge in these fortifica- tions. How imminent and trying their situation! They seldom repaired to the field to their daily toil without taking fire-arms and placing a sentinel to keep guard while the others labored. Nor did they deem it safe to meet on the Sabbath for religious worship unarmed."
There was no grist-mill nearer than Westfield, which fact added to the hardship of the inhabitants.
"Many are the instances when they carried their grain and returned with their meal on foot, thus performing a journey with a load upon their back of more than twenty miles. Some families, considering the distance, fatigue, and time it required in going to and from mill, used to pound the corn in mortars."
"The inhabitants who first settled at the center of the town obtained most of their hay for many years from North Bland- ford, where we are informed were two beaver dams; one stood where the factory dam now (1850) stands, and the other near the sawmill of Mr. Orrin Sennett. These were demolished, and the grass sprang up and grew luxuriantly."
About twenty years after the settlement of the town a grist- mill was erected upon the stream and farm owned in 1850 by Levi Sizer, and it was known as "Bunnell's Mill." The next year after its construction, a salmon weighing 13 lbs. was taken in the pond. Salmon were known to ascend the river for many years later, and they gave name to Salmon falls in Russell. The most available source of information touching the early his- tory of Blandford is Mr. Gibbs' historical address written in 1850, and it is used freely in this sketch of the town.
The civil affairs of the town advanced as fast as could be expected in a situation so secluded, and where the inhabitants
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were devoted to agricultural pursuits. It appears from the records that the people were deeply interested in the political questions agitating the country at that early date. They par- ticipated in the general grievance that agitated the colony because of the arbitrary taxation imposed by Great Britain; and they were prompt in selecting delegates in 1775, to attend conventions at Concord, Watertown and Boston, hoping to obtain a redress of these grievances. The persons chosen as delegates were William Boies, William Carnahan and William Knox. When the national independence was declared, and the people took up arms against the mother country, some of the citizens of this town demurred and boldly avowed their loyalty to the king. And these loyalists were forbidden by the com- mittee of safety to pass beyond the boundaries of their own farms. But these men occasioned the town little trouble.
The town met its proportion of the expenses of the war, and furnished its quota of soldiers. Though poor in purse, and at the same time taxed to the utmost of its ability to sustain the war, this town voluntarily selected a committee of enterprising men to collect money for those who would enlist as soldiers for the northern companies. In 1778 the town raised £106, and placed it in the hands of the selectmen, to furnish clothing for the soldiers. Committees of safety, inspection and correspondence were chosen, who were vigilant in watching the movements of the enemy, hoping to be ready for any emergency. In 1779 new troubles and difficulties arose because of the depreciation of the value of money used as a circulating medium. It was difficult to obtain credit, and dangerous to give it.
About this time Justus Ashmun was chosen delegate to attend a convention at Concord, to deliberate upon this subject, and to prevent, if possible, the further depreciation of the cur- rency. The town assessed and raised £682 of the existing cur- rency for military bounty, also to meet a demand brought against the town for blankets which were provided for the soldiers who were employed in the service upon the Hudson river. Most of the military stores used in the West during the Revolution were transported from Boston through this town. The roads were so
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bad at that time that 20 yoke of oxen and 80 men were required to convey a mortar over Blandford hills on its way to West Point.
When the news reached this town that Burgoyne was march- ing from Canada down the Hudson, many of Blandford's citizens shouldered their muskets and hastened to join our army. Isaac Gibbs received the intelligence at sunset, and during the evening moulded 300 or 400 bullets, and was ready in the morning to mount his horse and repair to the scene of action. He, together with others, arrived at Bennington just after the victory in that celebrated battle had turned in our favor. The fresh troops that had collected from the surrounding country were stationed as guards of the provisions they had captured, while the regular soldiers, weary from hard fighting, enjoyed a season of repose. Some of the prisoners taken at this battle were marched on their way to Boston through this town, where they were caught in a severe snow storm, which occasioned them much suffering. But " the people did what they reasonably could for the comfort of the prisoners. The snow soon dissolved and they were able to resume their march.
It is said that, in 1791, Mr. Gibbs brought into town the first single wagon used here. Previous to this time, heavy bur- dens were transported upon the back of horses. A man, his wife and two or three children would mount a single horse to attend church or to make a visit, so says tradition. The ladies of those days were great equestrians. It was a common occurence for them to ride on horseback from Blandford to Western (now Warren), a distance of 40 miles, in a day. When a number of young ladies rode in company, they enjoyed much pleasure in trying the swiftness of their steeds.
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