USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Our county and its people : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. Volume 2 > Part 4
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THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
sons, Aaron Parsons, jr., Abner Parsons, Daniel Parsons, Gideon Parsons, Zenas Parsons, John Pascue, John Paulk, Noah Paulk, Andrew Peterson, Dr. Charles Pynchon, Edward Pynchon, "Esq.," Capt. George Pynchon, John Pynchon, Walter Pynchon, William Pynchon, jr., John Root, Ebenezer Rumrill, Nehemiah Rumrill, Allis Russell, Jeduthan Sanderson, Medad Sanderson, Robert Sanderson, Lieut. Abner Smith, Joel Smith, Philip Smith, Lieut. Smith, Jabez Snow, Ebenezer Stebbins, Edward Stebbins, Ezra Stebbins, Dea. Gad Stebbins, Jonathan Stebbins, Joseph Stebbins, Joseph Stebbins, jr., Lemuel Stebbins, Lewis Stebbins, Medad Stebbins, Widow Rachael Stebbins, Thomas Stebbins, John Stedman, Phineas Stedman, Phineas Stedman, jr., Lieut. Aaron Steele, Justus Steele, Squire Steele, Robert Stevens, Abia- thar Stevenson, Benajah Stevenson, Joseph Taylor, Abraham VanHorn, Azariah VanHorn, John VanHorn, Moses Wait, Ben- jamin Wardwell, Ebenezer Warner, Gerald Warner, John War- ner, Zachariah Warner, Aaron Warriner, Benjamin Warriner, Ebenezer Warriner, Ebenezer Warriner, jr., David White, Pre- served White, Preserved White, jr., William White, William White, jr., Ensign Samuel Williams, Thomas Williston, Benja- min Wolcott, Azariah Woolworth, Richard Woolworth, Richard Woolworth, jr., John Worthington, "Esq.," Daniel Wright, David Wright, Ezekiel Wright, Ezekiel Wright, jr., George Wright, George Wright, jr., Moses Wright, Stephen Wright, Stephen Wright, jr.
On the morning of April 19, 1775, a strong detachment of British troops marched out of Boston and attacked a small party of Americans who had gathered at Lexington to protect the mil- itary stores deposited at that place. Within twenty-four hours from that time a mounted courier rode rapidly into Springfield and sounded the call to arms. The minute-men of the town, and of all other towns in the region, at once prepared for action, and in the space of a few hours all the companies were ready to march to Boston.
In the office of the city clerk of Springfield there is pre- served the formal written announcement1 of the attack on Lex-
1The full text of this document will be found in the general chapter on the revolutionary war.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
ington, which was left with the selectmen by Isaac Bissell, the courier. On the reverse side of the paper there appears the names of many men of Springfield, all of whom are presumed to have answered the call and enrolled themselves for service, al- though there is nothing to show by whom they were commanded or that they in fact marched to Boston on that eventful occasion. However, as an interesting memento of the period the names on the paper are reproduced here, and are as follows :
Jacob Cooley, jr., Ebenezer Colton, Moses Harris, Calvin Bliss, Ebenezer Rumrill, James Taylor, Spencer Myrick, Thomas Hale, Jonah Cooley, Abner Cooley, James Nash, Gad Horton, Joseph King, Zadock Bliss, Henry Stiles, Silvanus Hale, Jacob Chapin, George Wright, Peter Colton, Abiathar Stevenson, Jo- seph Kellogg, jr., Squire Steele, Gad Bliss, Abner Russell, Mat- thias Lancton, John Warner, jr., Abel Hancock, jr., Aaron Ferre, Samuel Bliss, Luther Hitchcock, Abijah Edson, Justin Smith, Jonathan Ingersoll, Asahel Cooley, Medad Stebbins, Samuel Keep, Olin Field, John Burt, jr., Caleb Cooley, jr., Oliver Burt, Israel Chapin, John Stedman, Phineas Stedman, jr., Samuel Edson, Benjamin Parsons, Jacob Kellogg, Alexander Bliss, Pat- rick Nugent, Phineas Chapin, Solomon Chapin, Joseph Chapin, jr., Philip Smith, Eleazer Chapin, jr., Asher Granger, Walter Pynchon, William White, Jabez Snow, Arthur Hitchcock, Solo- mon Brewer, Robert Stevens, Samuel Gridley.
The regular Springfield company of minute-men under Major Andrew Colton who marched to Boston on April 20, and whose service at the time was for ten days, was comprised as fol- lows :
Gideon Burt, 1st Lieut; Walter Pynchon, 2d Lieut; Aaron Steele and William White, sergeants; Luther Hitchcock and Ambrose Collins, corporals; William Colton and David Chapin, fifers; Lewis Chapin, drummer; Jeduthan Sanderson, centinel ; and privates Israel Chapin, Samuel Gridley, Alexander Bliss, Aaron Parsons, jr., Aaron Ferre, Gad Horton, Samuel Bliss, James Nash, Abel Hancock, George Wright, jr., Matthew Lanc- ton, Peter Colton, John Stedman, Abner Russell, Asahel Cooley, John Warner, jr., Justin Smith, Samuel Edson, Patrick Nugent,
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THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
Benjamin Parsons, Jonathan Ingersoll, Calvin Bliss, Henry Stiles, Luther Colton, Abner Cooley, Lemuel Parsons, Noah Bliss, Joseph King, Caleb Cooley, Zadock Bliss, James Taylor, Ebenezer Rumrill, Sylvanus Hale, Spencer. Merrick, Joseph Par- sons and Moses Bliss.
In Captain David Burt's company of minute-men from Longmeadow, who also rallied and marched to Boston on the occasion mentioned, there were Ebenezer Colton, Nathaniel Ely, Samuel Keep, Abner Colton, John Colton, Josiah Cooley, Aaron Bliss, jr., David White, Samuel Smith, Nehemiah Rumrill, Oli- ver King, Richard Woolworth, Elijah Burt, John Ashley, Thomas Stebbins, James Parker, Gad Lamb, Samuel Morgan, Samuel Burt and Ebenezer Stebbins.
There were several other minute-men who started out on that tedious march of April 20, although we have no record to show that they were a part of a regularly organized company. In this connection there may be recalled the names of Matthew Keep, Thomas Bates, Solomon Brewer, Jonathan Colton, Benj. Colton, jr., John Burt, jr., Abijah Edson, Jacob Kellogg, Joshua Kellogg, Moses Harris, Robert Stevens, Oliver Burt, Jacob Cha- pin, Eleazer Chapin, Oliver Field, Medad Stebbins, Jonah Cooley, Simon Moore, Seth Coburn and Thomas Hale, jr.
After the departure of the minute men the town took imme- diate measures for raising more troops for the army of the province, as there yet remained many serviceable men who were willing to share the vicissitudes of a soldier's life. Those who took up arms at the first call were not enlisted for a specified time, but were the enrolled militia, ready for any emergency, hence were "minute-men" indeed. On April 24, three days after the minute-men had left, Capt. Gideon Burt's company was enlisted for three months' service. The personnel of the command was as follows :
Gideon Burt, captain; Walter Pynchon, 1st lieutenant ; Aaron Steel, 2d lieutenant ; Samuel Gridley, William White, Aaron Parsons and Ambrose Collins, sergeants; Luther Hitch- cock, corporal ; and privates Samuel Bliss, Simon Moore, Sam- uel Edson, Lewis Chapin, Spencer Merrick, William Colton,
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
Nathan Bliss, Caleb Cooley, Justin Smith, Lemuel Parsons, Aaron Ferre, Beriah Jennings, Benj. Parsons, Jeduthan Sander- son, Noah Bliss, Matthias Lancton, Abel Hancock, Jabez Cooley, James Taylor, Stephen Russell, Theodore Smith, Ebenezer Rum- rill, Frederick Colton, Justin Moore, Abner Cooley, Benj. How- ard, Abner Russell, Elihu Colton, Jacob Ward, Silvanus Hale, Henry Stiles, Moses Bedunah, Luther Colton, Calvin Bliss, Joseph King, Benoni Bannister, Joseph Chapin, Robert Stevens, John Hendrick, David Chapin, Zadock Bliss, George Wright, Patrick Nugent, James Nash, Arthur Hitchcock, Luther Colton, Jonas Christian, Jonathan Ingersoll, Moses Bliss, Ebenezer Mar- tin, John Stedman and Peter Colson.
This, however, does not complete the list of soldiers sent out by the town during the period of the war, as nearly all the able- bodied young men, and many others, who were exempt from mili- tary duty, entered the service in one capacity or another. The loyalty of the town was undoubted and many households denied themselves the necessaries of life in order to provide comforts for those in the field. The records disclose that in October, 1775, besides the excessive drain on the resources of the town in earlier months, Capt. Isaac Colton was in camp at Roxbury with a force of men, among whom were Lieut. Nathaniel Alexander, corporals Moses Wait and David Murphy, drummer Benj. Col- ton, and privates Stephen Hunt, James Ives, Eli Barrister, Abel Hancock, William Hancock, Elijah Hancock, Thomas Ferre, Joseph Parsons, James Parker, Ebenezer Eddy and Moses Wait. From the same source also it is learned that many young men of Springfield were regularly enlisted in the provincial militia, while a few found their way into the American army, serving with the continental troops throughout the war.
One of the notable events of the year 1775 was the arrival in Springfield of General Washington, en route to Boston to take command of the army encamped about the city. He stopped for a time at the old Parsons tavern, which then was located in Elm street, and his presence in the town was the occasion of much en- thusiasm on the part of the loyal citizens. On his departure a troop of horsemen escorted the party as far as Brookfield.
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The old " Parsons Tavern "
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
The great hardships which were visited upon our people. during the war had their beginning in 1777, when the demand . for men taxed the capacity of the town to its utmost. In April of that year the Hampshire county militia were ordered to take part in the expedition against Ticonderoga. The men called for at this time could not well be spared, as the season's work was at hand, but notwithstanding this the town's quota was furnished under the assurance that the families of those who were away would be provided for by the older men, those who had means,
and at the public expense. In answer to this call when the men marched away to join Col. David Seward's regiment, Spring- field's contribution included Capt. Gideon Burt, Lieut. Ebenezer Colton, Jonathan Burt, Samuel Gridley, Ebenezer Morgan, Am- brose Collins, Ephraim Brown, Thomas Colton, Festus Colton, George Cooley, Ebenezer Rumrill, Simeon Colton, Samuel Keep, Henry Colton, Ezra Stebbins, William Hunt, Jeduthan Sander- son, Mr. Hitchcock (probably Ebenezer) Luther Van Horn, Dan- iel Bliss, Japhet Chapin and Ephraim Chapin.
In the same year when the subject of confederation of all the colonies was under consideration a committee was chosen to represent the town at a conference in the province. Deacon Nathaniel Brewer was at the head of the committee and Col. Worthington and Moses Bliss were among his designated asso- ciates. Both, however, declined to serve. Col. Worthington was a pronounced British sympathizer while Mr. Bliss and been quite lukewarm in his support of the cause of the colonies. As lawyers and men of influence both had for years been prominent in town affairs and in dealing with the weighty matters under discussion the town asked their advice, but it was refused.
In 1778 another demand for men was made on the already overburdened town. The available militia now were on almost constant duty and to furnish additional troops required the greatest effort on the part of the selectmen and the local commit- tee of safety. A draft became necessary and the company thus organized was sent to Fishkill, in the province of New York.
The men were David Bonner, Austin Brooks, William Hitch- cock, Justin Smith, James Mills, Israel Bond, Ezekiel Chapin,
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4.4
THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
Martin Smith, Leba Bellman, Abel Coburn, Abner Russell, Jabez Crosby, and Daniel Hancock.
The following men served in Capt. Rowle's company of Col. Jacob's regiment :
Capt. Nathan Rowle, Lieut. Enoch Leonard, Ebenezer Pome- roy, Simeon Colton, Ebenezer Bliss, Oliver Hitchcock, Abiather Stevenson, Jonathan Stevenson, Wm. Pepper, Gad Warriner, George Blake, Timothy Hopkins, James Howard and Russell Allen.
In Capt. Phineas Stebbins' company were these men from Springfield :
Nathan Chapin, sergeant, John Ferre, Reuben Ferre, Moses Stebbins, Moses Barber and William White.
The six-months' men who enlisted from the town in 1780 were Elias and William Hitchcock, Noah Frost, Amaziah Sander- son, Aaron Parsons, Alex. Ely, Gad Bliss, Moses Bliss, jr., John Morgan, David Bannon, George Smith, Thaddeus Ferre, Zacha- riah Hancock, Oliver Field, Jonathan Stevenson, Oliver Han- cock, Solomon Loomis, Gideon Cooley, Joshua Brooks, David Hubbard, William Hancock, Joseph McGreney and Isaiah Chandler.
In Capt. Browning's company were several Springfield men who entered the service for three months in 1780: Lieut. John Colton, Corp. Benoni Chapin, Isaac Stebbins, Abram Brooks, Consider Bement, Marsh Bissell, Moses Parsons, Luther Smith, Jonathan Felt, Moses Hancock, Justin Bliss, Beriah Howard, Isaac Bliss, Zenas Bliss and Samuel Sikes.
The Springfield men known to have enlisted for three years service in Massachusetts regiments of the continental army are as follows : David Day, John Stevenson, Samuel Edson, John Pease, James Warner, Joseph Chapin and Zachariah Warner, in the 3d Mass .; Corp. Gideon Jones, Simon Johnson and Daniel Stevenson, in the 4th Mass .; James Mills, in the 5th Mass .; Joseph Maxfield and Loyal Sanderson, in the 6th Mass .; and Theodore Smith, Ashbel Mighel, Henry Stiles and Samuel Steb- bins, in the 7th Mass. regiment.
Among the other men of Springfield who entered the service for three years, and whose enlistment dated from 1781, there may
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
be mentioned the names of Jonathan Cooley, Alpheus Hancock, Hanon Colton, Caleb Williston, Joshua Brooks, Alpheus Colton, Jacob Hills, James Reed, Joseph Dunham, Daniel Murphy, Titus Welch, James Eaton, John Fox, Micah Grant, George Smith.
Springfield first became a depository for military supplies in 1776, and in a small way several cannon were made about that time. In the next year Col. Cheever was directed to transfer a considerable quantity of army stores to the place and also to establish an arsenal and supply depot in the town. In 1779 land was secured for the erection of the watershops, and there- after the locality enjoyed a special prominence in the manufac- ture of arms. As is stated in an earlier chapter, the establish- ment of the national armory was the work of later years, but for more than a century the town and city have derived much ad- vantage from the vast manufacturing plant on State street and which the people of West Springfield once rejected through fear of the demoralizing influences of a body of soldiers in the local- ity. In 1780 Springfield was designated as the rendezvous of forty-three divisions of three-months men, who were drilled and equipped for service at the old training ground on the hill, east of the business center of the town, now a desirable residence por- tion of the city. At the time mentioned Springfield was the central point of military operations in Western Massachusetts, and the mobilization of the militia was indirectly the result of the establishment of the arsenal and military station.
After the close of the war the people of the town began the difficult and important work of reconstruction. The war itself had cost the town many thousands of pounds in money. The poorer classes were reduced almost to absolute penury and men of property were themselves heavily in debt. Paper money had at best very little purchasing power and those who were heavily involved for the time were compelled to leave past obligations unpaid in order to maintain themselves until the storm of finan- cial disaster had passed. But in spite of the unfortunate con- ditions which prevailed in the town, Springfield continued to grow. Even during the later years of the war, in 1782, a news- paper (Massachusetts Gazette and General Advertiser) was es-
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THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
tablished and in the same year an enterprising resident essayed a book publication.
In 1783 Longmeadow was set off from Springfield, taking a considerable portion of the territory of the mother town. In the same year a stage line was put in operation between this town and Hartford. But notwithstanding the remarkable re- cuperative powers shown by the people during the two or three years next following the revolution, the misfortunes of the war were not entirely swept away by the prosperity of the period fol- lowing, but frequently made themselves manifest through mut- terings of discontent on the part of the debtor class. Little at- tention was given to these grumblings at first, but in the course of a few more years the speck of disapproval in the political sky became a cloud and rapidly developed into a storm of insurrec- tion that threatened the systems of state and local government. This was the period known in history as Shays' rebellion, the events of which are narrated in another chapter of this work. The insurrectionists would have stopped the operation of the courts, abolished the senate, ousted the executive, and, if success- ful in their unnatural scheme of government, would have de- luged the state with worthless money, all for their temporary gratification regardless of the inevitable day of reckoning which must come, but of which they knew not. It was an exciting period in Springfield when Daniel Shays' hosts overturned the courts and ,openly insulted the unorganized militia, but when their little successes prompted an attack upon the federal arsenal on the hill, one or two discharges of small cannon by Gen. Shep- ard's soldiers dispersed the unruly horde and ended the embryo internecine war. This period was only another event in the evolution of time in the town, the like of which was enacted in several other states. It had its incentive, its lesson and its moral, and when it was passed the town was better and more vigorous than ever before. However, it was the last war within the bor- ders of the county which brought hardships upon its people. For almost a century and a half they had struggled against either dusky or foreign foes and a struggle among themselves was a fitting close to the long period of wars to which they were sub- jected.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
In 1794 Springfield, which for more than a century and a half had been the shire town of Hampshire county, lost that im- portant character through the influence that sought to place the seat of government nearer the geographical center of the juris- diction. The removal of the county seat was a serious blow to local interests for it took away the courts and their important judicial functionaries, officers, lawyers and attendants and trans- ferred them to Northampton. At this time the town contained about 1,700 inhabitants and its territory included substantially the present town of Springfield and also that which now forms Chicopee, the latter then being a scattered and sparsely settled farming district with large areas of unimproved lands.
But notwithstanding the loss of the county buildings and the courts and the advantages to be derived therefrom, the town continued to grow, and the closing year of the eighteenth century found Springfield to contain 2,312 inhabitants with business in- terests equal to those of any town in the Connecticut valley.
CHAPTER III.
THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD-(Continued)
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the town of Springfield was found to contain a population of about 2,500 in- habitants, with a principal business and trading center on the east bank of the Connecticut, on the very site where William Pynchon and his associates planted a colony in 1636. At the time mentioned the principal business interests of the "Centre" comprised about half a dozen general stores and as many more small shops, two or three public houses, two printing establish- ments and one church, the latter alone of all the old institutions of the town having survived the ravages of passing years, and having continued to increase in usefulness and strength. In the meantime, between 1790 and 1800, the Methodists had gained
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THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
a foothold in the town, and while a society of that denomination was not formally organized, frequent meetings were held by missionary laborers sent into the field. There also was the "English" school at the Centre, the principal institution of its kind in the town, with various others of less note scattered throughout the territory to suit the convenience of the inhabit- ants. The town was divided into nine school districts in 1795. The armory on the hill and the watershops on Mill river consti- tuted the chief industry, furnishing employment for about one
The Old Lombard House, Main street, Springfield This house stood where now is Besse Place
hundred workmen. On Mill river at the same time were the usual saw, flour and grist mills, with the tannery, the fulling mill and the cloth mill. The products of these mills were con- sumed largely in the town, and the surplus was shipped down the Connecticut to towns less favored with manufacturing enter- prises.
At this time, as near as can now be learned, the principal merchants of the town were Daniel Lombard, whose general store was kept at the corner of Meeting-house lane (now Elm street) ;
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
William Sheldon, who carried on an extensive general trade in a building located south of the court house; Eleazer Williams and Charles Sheldon, whose stock included dry and dress goods, gro- ceries, hardware, drugs, etc. John Padley was the local tailor · and "habit-maker," Deacon Jonathan Church the hatter, and John Lloyd the leather dresser, saddler and harness maker. James Byers & Co. sold iron and hardware, hollow ware and potash kettles, while Marcus Marble carried on a general drug store. The postmaster was James Byers, who kept the office in his store on the site where now stands the Springfield institution for savings.
The principal center of trade at that time, and indeed throughout the early history of the town, was in the vicinity of the old court house. The corner where now stands the Chico- pee bank was for many years the business center, while the closest rival localities were the present Smith & Murray corner, where once stood the famous Hampden coffee house, and at the corners formed by the intersection of Main and State streets. Springfield was made a post-office station in 1775, and from that time until the completion of the new federal building at the cor- ner of Main, Fort and Worthington streets, the office never was located south of State street nor north of Pynchon street. The old Pynchon fort, almost the last surviving relic of pioneer times, was comparatively outside the center of trade and stood almost alone in what then was regarded as the north part of the Centre, the latter name being used to designate the little hamlet that had been built up around the court house. It was not until the com- pletion of the old toll bridge that business began to extend north along Main street, and not until after the opening of the West- ern railroad that Main street became a thoroughfare of impor- tance.
The construction of the toll bridge was almost the first im- portant public improvement which engaged the attention of the business men and capitalists (the latter were very few) of the time, and nearly every man of substance in the place was identi- fied with the enterprise. Indeed, if the question were asked as to whom were the principal men of the town during the early
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THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
years of the last century a proper answer would be "the projec- tors and incorporators of the company that built the toll bridge and opened it for traffic in 1805." The company included such men as George Bliss, William Sheldon, Jonathan Dwight, Thomas Dwight, James Scutt Dwight, William Smith, William Pynchon, Jeremiah Stebbins, Jonathan Smith, Seth and Samuel Lathrop, Solomon Stebbins, Pelatiah Bliss, Jacob and Alexander Bliss, Zebina Stebbins, Justin Lombard, Ebenezer Williams, Joseph Williams, John Hooker, Justin Ely, jun., Reuben Sikes and George Blake.
These proprietors not only built one of the first bridges that spanned the Connecticut, but in accomplishing that great work they made Springfield easily accessible to the people of the entire western region of the county and thus attracted new residents to the progressive town on the east bank of the river. More than that, after the construction of the bridge Springfield soon at- tained a standing of prominence among the most enterprising towns of the state. As a half-way station between Boston and Albany on the stage line it was the custom of drivers to "put up for the night" in the town, and in later years it was the chief seat of operations of the stage and transportation companies, whose lines extended not only east and west but also up and down the valley of the river. About the same time, too, Springfield began to attract attention on account of the product of its fish- eries, in connection with which a considerable business was car- ried on; and while these things were constantly drawing new residents into the town the turnpike road companies were open- ing new farming territory and attracting settlement. Taken altogether the first fifteen years of the nineteenth century con- stituted a period of advancement and prosperity previously un- surpassed in the history of the town, and during that time the factors in events laid the foundations of the subsequent city- the city which was formally established in 1852.
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