USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Picturesque Hampden : 1500 illustrations > Part 11
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ing towns in the county. It was among the earliest settlements in Western Massachusetts, its fertile meadows being cultivated as early as 1660. Streamfield was the name first proposed for the settlement, because of the two considerable streams running through it, but the earliest land grants
COURT STREET HOMES.
78
PICTURESQUE
HAMPDEN.
abounding with beaver and its forests with game. Once it was the bed of a magnificent lake, and to-day, were a dam forty feet high built at the narrow outlet of the combined rivers between the mountains on the east, the entire valley would be inundated.
Not willingly did the aborigines yield the territory to the invading whites, and for nearly one hundred years following the earliest settlement most of
THE HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING.
CORNER OF ELM AND MAIN STREETS.
SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AND TOWN HALL.
give it the euphonious title of Woronoco, presumably after the name of one of the tribes of Indians frequenting its rivers and forests. This name, however, was changed to Westfield when it was set off from Springfield, and given a separate cor- porate existence, it being the westernmost settlement in the Massachusetts colony.
Woronoco was a favorite hunting and fishing ground for the Indians, its streams
PARE SQUARE IN SUMMER.
A WINTER VIEW OF COURT STREET.
the houses were built for defense against savage attack, and for a long period a palisade two miles in circumference was maintained with a central fort to which all would fly in case of alarm. This fort was located on the bluff of the river near what is now known as the Iron bridge, and traces of the old wells dug to supply the beleaguered inhabitants with water were to be found but a few years ago.
Southwick, Russell and Montgomery were once included in Westfield territory, but at various times have since been set off as separate townships. 1666 was the birth-year of the first child born in town, and he proved, as
79
PICTURESQUE HAMPDEN.
AMONG THE PARK SQUARE ELMS.
have hundreds of those following him, the healthfulness of the place, living to the age of eighty-eight.
It was in 1667 the first meeting house was erected, and for nearly a century the call to Sunday service was by the beat of a drum.
WINTER AT PARK SQUARE.
COURT STREET IN SUMMER.
During King Philip's sanguinary war, in 1675, the settlement suffered not a little from Indian attacks, several of its members being killed and others carried into cap- tivity. It was counseled by the government at Boston, that by reason of its isolated situation and inability to send soldiers to defend it, the settlement be abandoned, but to this the inhabitants would not listen. Old Chief Gray Lock was their most
persistent enemy, but fortunately he craved captives more than scalps. Many lives he thus spared when opportunity was afforded him for killing but not cap- turing alive.
Alquot and Wallamunt were good Indians and sachems of "Waranoke" and "Pochasuck." They sold land to the settlers and traded with them. The names of their tribes are preserved in the present Woronoco and Pochassic, the latter a hamlet under the shadow of Mount Tekoa.
Ample is the folk-lore verbally preserved to-day in old families of Indian customs, and savagery, and subtlety. The Indians in a few generations degener-
THE AZARIAH MOSELY PLACE -SILVER STREET.
ated into dissolute vagabonds, a burden to the community. But they were capable of often outwitting the whites in sharp practices. On a bitter cold winter day old Wahposucum appeared at the chief trading post with a lot of baskets to exchange for "fire water." In jest the trader offered him for the lot
ELM STREET AT PARK SQUARE.
BROADESTREET.
80
PICTURESQUE
HAMPDEN.
AUTUMN AT PARK SQUARE.
as much rum as he could carry away in one of the baskets. With a grunt of satisfaction the guileless child of the forest strode to the near-by river and with his hatchet cut a big hole in the ice; then he repeatedly dipped a basket in the stream and exposed it to the zero atmosphere until inside and outside was thickly coated with ice, making it capable of holding liquids. Stalking back to the trading house he pre- sented the ice-covered basket and demanded ful- filment of the agreement. It was kept to the finan- cial loss of the trader and joy of Wahposucum, who carried off a gallon or two of rum instead of the expected pint. But the luck was too much for him, and before spring he was numbered among the certainly good Indians EZRA CLAPP HOTEL-BUILT BEFORE 1752. who had gone to the
THE OLD ACADEMY.
mers penetrate to nearly every hamlet in the land. Within thirty years cigar manufacturing has assumed promi- nence; also the manufacturing of steam heaters, these lines employing several hundred men. Whip thread, church organs, casket hardware, leaf tobacco packing and paper making are other important industries, and its several insurance companies prove no small factor in adding wealth to the com- munity every year.
Justly proud are Westfieldians over their educational advantages. The new State Normal School building, dedi- cated this year, is a model of beauty and convenience. It cost $150,000 and replaces for service the mosque- like old building in use for nearly half a century. The high school is second to the state school only in cost, and
happy hunting grounds.
Another red- skin, whose wig- wam was in the district known almost to this day as " Mada- gascar," had acquired among the whites the reputation of be- ing a notorious liar. One day an ancestor of Selectman
THE ORIGINAL WHIP FACTORY, BURNED 1853.
Thayer's remonstrated with him on his propensity to falsify and said he should at least tell two truths to one lie. Not long after the In- dian went to his mentor with a tale of having killed a fat buck near Mount Tekoa, which being unable to carry he had slung into the fork of a white birch sapling. To reach the spot one should take the western trail for three miles to a blasted oak, then turn northward until a big chestnut tree stood in the way. A little to the east of this the white birch sapling and deer would be found. So minute was the description that his listener fully credited the story and gave the Indian a fair price for the vension, the purchaser to take a horse and bring in the buck. No deer was found at the place described and on the first opportunity the Indian was taxed with his untruthfulness. In exoneration of his action he said he had complied with the injunction to tell two truths to one lie. He had done even better, for the blasted oak was there, also the big chestnut tree and white birch sapling,
FRANKLIN STREET SCHOOL.
AFTER THE BIG FLOOD OF 1879.
with its corps of well-paid teachers is likely to maintain its present high standard. Nothing remains of the old Westfield Academy, instituted in 1800 and for many decades known and honored throughout Massachusetts, save a memory and the picture herewith repro- duced. It was a wooden struct- ure, and used as an annex after serving over fifty years for all the requirements of the institu- tion. Since the property passed into the hands of the town and the buildings, enlarged and
THE ATHENAUM.
and though the deer part of the story was untrue, he had told three truths to one lie.
Except for a gristmill or two, Westfield had little or no man- ufacturing until, well into the present century, whip making was then begun in a small way and in time became the town's leading industry and made it known all over the country. More whips are made here than in all other factories in America, and its drum-
THE WORONOCO HOUSE.
81
PICTURESQUE HAMPDEN.
THE ADVENT CHURCH.
BAPTIST CHURCH.
transmagnified, became the high school, the wooden annex was burned and the old bell, which for nearly ninety years had rung the school hours, was broken with the fall of the tower.
An earthquake just one hundred years ago frightened people not a little, and, though doing no serious damage, was considered of sufficient moment to be recorded on the town records, as were also floods which inundated the valley in 1819 and 1826. The flood of October, 1869, was very damaging to buildings, land and crops, but not to be compared to that of 1879, when the river dike gave way and allowed the stream to sweep its wild course almost through the center of the town, crushing houses-and
AN OLD DOORWAY.
factory buildings like eggshells, and causing a loss of not less than a quarter million dollars. As a result of this disaster, the town widened the dam under Elm street bridge, to give a freer passage for the water in case of the sudden rising of the river, cleared away the standing timber on the banks of the stream at the gorge between the mountains at the eastern outlet and raised and strengthened the dike, so that all possibility of floods in future is reduced to a minimum. A new bridge across the river was built at a cost of $40,000, and Elm street widened and straightened.
UNIVERSALIST CHURCH.
ELDER AMBROSE DAY HOUSE.
LIBRARY
THE MEADOW BETWEEN FRANKLIN STREET AND GREAT RIVER.
THE JOHN ATWATER HOUSE.
Chief among its military heroes the town boasts General William Shepard, whose determined and prompt action promptly squelched the famous Shays' rebellion in 1787, and saved the United States Arsenal at Springfield from capture by the insurgents. In 1754, at the age of seventeen, he en- listed and fought the French and Indians for six years, return- ing home a captain. With the breaking out of the Revolu- tion, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel in the Con- tinental army, serving close to General Washington. Six
CATHOLIC CHURCH.
82
PICTURESQUE HAMPDEN.
HA
ELM STREET.
ON EAST MAIN STREET.
years later he was a general under Lafayette, and fought in twenty-two battles. After- ward he was a member of the State Senate and of Congress, and major-general of the State militia.
THE LANDLORD FOWLER HOTEL.
AN OLD-FASHIONED ENTRANCE.
The first church of the place was organized in 1679, but a meeting house was erected at least four or five years before this. Where it once stood is now the bed of Little river. A second house was built in 1720, and burned in 1803. It was replaced with a larger one in 1805, which, after being unused and dismantled for over a quarter of a century, was burned in 1888.
FRANKLIN STREET.
The bi-centennial celebration in 1869 was a notable event in Westfield history, and made the more memorable because the first of the two dis- astrous floods which have visited the town occurred a day or two before and almost broke up the long-planned affair. The flood cut off all railroad com- munication and washed the highways so the town was in effect isolated for several days. But the celebration took place, though many of the principal guests invited could not reach the town after long journeys.
Among the first settlers of Woronoco were several from Windsor, Con- necticut, and in consequence arose a controversy between Massachusetts and
A HILLSIDE NEAR SPRINGDALE.
its sister colony as to jurisdiction over the settlement, both claiming the territory. It was agreed by the two colonies to refer the question to representatives to survey the land and establish the boundary line. The Nutmeg representatives failed to appear and the Massachusetts men, having everything their own way, not only laid out the line so as to include within their borders Westfield and what is now Southwick, but nipped a chunk about two miles deep and one mile wide right out of Connecticut, so as to secure control of the hand- some chain of pretty lakes, of late years a favorite summer excursion resort. This is how it happens on the maps that Massachusetts is seen to send a little spur into Connecticut.
HAMPDEN PONDS.
PICTURESQUE
83
BAPTIST CHAPEL, UNION STREET.
THE OLD-FASHIONED COUNTRY HOUSE.
Standing alone in quiet dignity and looking up to the everlasting hills of gray rock, brown pasture and verdant forest, or across fertile meadows and fragrant, sunny orchards, the old New England coun- try house is one of the most charming and characteristic types of human habitation. In its simplicity and breadth there is a suggestion of Dutch ancestry, and the self-respect and straightforward purpose that belonged by inheritance to the Anglo-Saxon race are never lacking. It displays withal a certain stubbornness of aspect, declaring most unmistakably, whether large or small, that its right to be is beyond all question. The grim old castles of the Rhine were not more in harmony with their rugged surroundings; not more distinctly a
HAMPDEN.
product of the time and place in which they were built." But there the resemblance ceases, for beyond and above all else these blessed old rural homesteads exhale an air of peace and tranquility, not always, alas! of plenty. The benediction that was pronounced when their foundations were laid in domestic happiness, mutual helpfulness, industry and individual freedom, seems to linger still in spite of decay, hard times, and modern innovations; in spite of mortgages, unsanitary conditions, and other ills that are of the earth, earthy.
Of course the world moves, and it moves in the right direction. To dispute this is to declare life not worth living and the universe a failure. But we are not always going up hill even when climbing mountains. There are valleys of humiliation to pass through, swamps and rough ravines to cross, and it is at least an open question whether in the matter of domestic
A BOSTON AND ALBANY CROSSING NEAR COUNTY BRIDGE.
THE PLAINS NORTH OF THE TOWN.
The old cemetery on Mechanic street is an interesting spot. It dates back to almost the earliest settlement, and the oldest gravestone records 1683. Quite a number bear dates between 1687 and 1700. Good care is taken of the place, a permanent fund having been established for the purpose.
The Day house at Day district is probably the oldest building now standing in the town; but this dis- tinction belonged, until its burning a few years ago, to the Ingersoll home- stead at Little River, where the ancestors of famous Colonel "Bob" Ingersoll lived. It was a stockade and the house a fort during the time of Indian depredations.
In closing, it may be noted that for several interesting old-time pictures shown on these pages, the book is in- debted to Mr. Henry Holland. For several modern pictures about town credit is due Mr. W. J. Smith.
J. D. CADLE.
A NEW ENGLAND MEADOW - AFTER A PAINTING BY J. J. LA VALLEY.
architecture we have not lost more than we have gained since these houses were built that were so typical of the home life which they both sheltered and revealed. Undoubtedly all human dwellings ought to express, and usually do express, the characteristic traits of their builders. A frivolous man, or a man devoted to a frivolous wife, which is much the same thing, ought to live in a tawdry house; a selfish man be- longs in a narrow one, with contracted windows and a small chimney ; for him of broad sympathies and hospitable instincts should be provided a dwelling whose external aspect suggests these aimable qualities.
Undoubtedly the home life of the native inhabitants of New England, than whom a race of nobler capacities or broader influence never lived, was far more serious, simple and dignified two or three generations ago than it is at present. Its current moved with a more serene and even flow. Its boundaries were not so wide, but its course was more direct. It had fewer mysteries, fewer whirlpools, fewer sudden turns and ebullitions. Hence the greater simplicity, grace and dignity of the dwellings of the people, qualities that abide even under a complete change of environment. There is nothing that more clearly reveals innate strength or weakness in men or in houses than the manner in which they meet a change of fortune. To bear reverses cheerfully, whether from good to bad, or from bad to good, is a supreme test of
THE HIGHLANDS ON THE HOLYOKE ROA14
84
PICTURESQUE HAMPDEN.
OLD BRIDGE NEAR CRANE'S MILL.
merit. And how nobly those old houses rise superior to their changed estate! Whether abandoned of men, given over to the owls and the bats. torn as to their roofs and shattered as to their windows; whether confronted from across the street by the ostentatious airs and supercilious glances of Queen Anne villas with all the modern conveniences; or, as sometimes happens,
A GROUP ON CRANE'S STOCK FARM.
overwhelmed by the swelling tide of commer- cial prosperity, till high brick walls look con- temptuously down into their broad chimneys and electric cars, blue, green, red and yellow, buzz before their patient portals, whose old-time frets and fine mouldings are weather worn and wrinkled like the palsied features of an old, old man, - whether deserted, despised or swallowed up, through all these vicissitudes, the same air of quiet self-respect and honest purpose remains with them, compelling our admiration and sym- pathy. And this impression which they make upon us is not a matter of romantic fancy, of real or imaginary associations that cast a halo around the social and domestic life of former
WOLFPIT MEADOWS.
RESIDENCE OF J. A. CRANE.
CRANE'S POND.
generations. There are in these old-time dwellings certain essential and enduring qualities, without which there can be no really good architecture; qualities which it would not be far from the truth to say are usually wanting in our capricious, ostentatious and often unaccountable modern architectural productions.
For abundant examples of this depraved architecture we have only to look around us. We can find them by the score on every village street and in every city suburb. They have their reward
RESIDENCE OF J. A. LAKIN.
and their glory. They are built to be seen of men, to provoke wonder, envy and amazement ; also, what goes without saying in this mercenary age, always for sale. For the other kind, for the houses that were built for homes, for the house- hold hearths whereon the sacred fires are never quenched, we must turn backward to the time when architects drew their inspiration from a clear and noble purpose, and builders were con- tent with skilled work and simple materials. It is a mistake to suppose that individual character can only be distinctly manifested by extraor- dinary conduct and features. There is no com- pany of people so much alike as a crowd of lunatics; the fantastic freaks our fancies play in
IN THE PINE HILL CEMETERY.
85
PICTURESQUE HAMPDEN
MADAGASCAR.
dreams have more real monotony than our most cleverly trained waking thoughts, and there is far more varied expression, far more individuality in the simplest of these old habitations than in the complex and over-burdened compositions of the present time. They wear no masks and have neither holiday attire nor company manners, and yet they reveal with utmost frankness the characteristic traits of
THE STREAM -MUNN'S VALLEY.
THE BROOK.
In the sunshine,
In the shadow,
In the wood and in the meadow, Never knowing Where 'tis going, Babble, bubble,
Slip and tumble, Blink and 'bide, Seek and hide,
Through the seedtime,
Through the mowing, Flowing, flowing, Sometimes drawling, Sometimes falling,
Ever to the thirsty calling,
Ever glad, Never sad. By the sweet fern,
Mid the rushes, It with sudden impulse gushes.
Liquid laughter -
Faster! faster!
THE VALLEY AT DRY BRIDGE.
=
OLD INGERSOLL HOUSE -LITTLE RIVER.
those who build them, and even seem to wear on Sabbath days an added calmness and serenity. Shall we, then, take these old houses for our models in domestic architecture ? Yes, and no. Their uncompromising severity of form does not always suit our varied wants, or permit the exercise of that instinctive desire to make the most of the situation in which we find ourselves, and their indifference to minor comforts as well as to essential sanitary needs is not, to our prac- tical common sense, commendable ; but it is cer- tain that we shall have no more good domestic architecture until we, too, work with all honesty of purpose, preferring simplicity and dignity to their opposites, regardless of passing fashions and strange, fantastical inventions ; until we are able to make it perfectly clear that the goal of our
A BACK SHED.
What has gone before comes after. By the pine trees and the maples, By the hemlocks and the chestnuts, In and out among the sumachs, Mid the twitter and the singing Of the bobolink and catbird, Of the bluejay and the robin,
From morn till evening, from eve till morning,
Bringing beauty to the wild rose, Bringing fragrance to the lily. Over ridges,
Under bridges,
Fretting 'gainst the roots and ledges,
Lingering mid the bosky sedges,
By the sawmill, Through the village To the meadow In the sunshine,
In the shadow.
ARTHUR MITCHELL.
DESERTED HOUSE, NEAR THE FOUR MILE HOUSE.
PICTURESQUE HAMPDEN
THE WASHINGTON TAVERN.
race is not a rare and wonderful [house, but a peaceful, happy home, whose exter- nal beauty shall be the natural result and outgrowth of the highest utility and of the sweetness and light within.
E. C. GARDNER.
AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.
Turnips should never be pulled, it in- jures them. It is much better to send a boy up and let him shake the tree.
The Guano is a fine bird, but great care is necessary in rearing it. It should not be imported earlier than June or later than September. In the winter it should be kept in a warm place where it can hatch out its young.
It is evident that we are to have a backward season for grain. Therefore it will be well for the farmer to begin setting out his cornstalks and planting his buck- wheat cakes in July instead of in August.
Concerning the pumpkin .- This berry is a favorite with the natives of the in- terior of New England, who prefer
it to the goose- berry for the making of fruit cake, and who likewise give it the preference over the rasp- berry for feed- ing to cows, as being more fill- ing and fully
as satisfying. The pumpkin is the only esculent of the orange family that will thrive in the north, except the gourd and one or two varieties of the squash. But the custom of planting it in the front yard with the shrub- bery is fast go- ing out of vogue, for it is now gen- erally conceded that the pump- kin as a shade tree is a failure. MARK TWAIN.
-
HOMES ON THE BOULEVARD.
AT THE BACK DOOR -WASHINGTON TAVERN.
A QUIET DAY ON THE WESTFIELD.
A POEM OF YE OLDEN TIME.
The following ballad was recited by a venerable woman who died past eighty, nearly a score of years ago, and who heard it in her girlhood sung by old folks who knew the facts. The sad tale was set to a simple tune, the third line rising in a high wail, but all the other lines a melan- choly moan. The tragedy had for its scene the wilds of Westfield. The clos- ing stanza apparently lacks two lines, though it is possible that the two given were joined to the preceding stanza, with a repetition of the tune, making it doubly impressive.
ONE ISAAC ORCUTT.
One Isaac Orcutt was his name, Who lately into Westfield came, To cut some timbers for his sled,- The snow was deep, he had to wade,
Nigh forty rod to an ash tree. The top was dry, as you may see ; He cut the tree off from the stump,- The top was dry - threw back a chunk,
Which flew and hit him on the head, And stunned him, though he was not dead; There the poor senseless creature lay All the remainder of that day.
No search was made by any one Until the setting of the sun, When Mr. Donly and his son, Alarmed, set off upon a run.
They soon behold him where he lies And gaze on him with steadfast eyes ; The blood had issued from the wound And thawed a passage to the ground.
They took him up and bore him home, Put him to bed in a warm room. They rubbed his limbs and dressed his wound And strove to force some med'cine down.
All useful remedies was tried, But in the e-ven-in' he died.
AN OLD DOOR LATCH.
PICTURESQUE HAMPDEN.
87
THE RIDE ABOUT THE COUNTY.
WESTFIELD, FAIRFIELD, RUSSELL.
One bright June day I left Holyoke, and, taking the way over the hills southwest of the city, jogged along toward West- field. The road leads for miles along the irregular Ashley ponds. Marshy meadows and low pas- ture slopes and patches of wood- land border them and give the landscape a pleasing variety and continual change. The morn- ing was cool and quiet, with just enough wind stirring to dimple the shining expanses of the ponds. Houses are few and far between along the road, which, as I proceeded, became a narrow path with rank grasses and tangled growths of bushes grow- ing close up to the wheel tracks. But that civilization with all its modern improvements was close at hand was soon evidenced by my meeting a little company of men with a four-horse scraper working on the road. It had been very comfortable traveling before, but the newly mended road was soft and lumpy, and, when the horse attempted to trot, the carriage was converted into a sort of rattle-box, of a character very disagreeably shaky. It is a case, I suppose, where present evil must be phil- osophically endured for the sake of future good, though it is to be hoped that modern inventiveness will discover some way of mend- ing country roads that will pro- duce results more directly agree- able.
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