USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Picturesque Hampshire : a supplement to the quarter-centennial-journal > Part 15
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ENFIELD.
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PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
TOWN HALL AND SCHOOL BUILDING, ENFIELD.
months was made. It was not long before some watch- ful person got sight of a sermon Burroughs was deliver- ing and thought it did not have that fresh, clean look a newly prepared sermon should have and a consultation among the members decided the good people upon a plan of testing the new minister's ability to prepare his own sermons. The following Sunday the first clause of the fifth verse of the ninth chapter of Joshua was hand- ed the bogus preacher, as he entered the meeting-house,
of jealousy were sensible of its odious and hateful character and were ashamed to be seen by God, man, or the devil; con- seqnently had recourse to patching and clouting themselves over with false pre- tenses to hide their deserved shame and disgrace. In the application of the subject the "supplyer " said, "Will you suffer the hateful monster of suspicion and jealousy to rage among you? Will you wear these old, filthy, clouted shoes any longer? Will yon not rather clothe yourselves with that charity which suffereth and endureth all things ? Will you not rather be shod with the gospel of peace and good will ?'
Notwithstanding the suspicions of these good people concerning the honesty of their temporary " supplyer," the months of his engagement flew by quite pleasantly all around ; they had not always been without dissensions and disagreements with their settled pastors, so it was not very strange for them to become suspicious of this stranger whose only recommendation was the letter from the Palmer minister, who probably knew as little about him as the people of Pelham did.
AN ENFIELD CHURCH.
In September, with only two Sundays more to preach, a college friend of Burroughs made a short visit to town and forgot at all times to address his friend as Davis, using his real name instead. This set the gossips at work again. At Belchertown, on the Mon- day before his last Sunday at Pelham, Burroughs met Rev. Mr. Chapin of Windsor, who knew him well. On the way back to Pelham Burroughs decided that his usefulness in that field was at an end and de- termined to leave town that very night. He left the house where he boarded after the family was asleep, led his horse from the barn and rode to the house of his friend Lysander and informed him of his impending doom, and it was decided that Bur- roughs should keep quietly out of sight for a day or two until the wrathful Presby- terians had spent the force of their indignation in a vain hunt for the "supply- er" who had deceived them.
Tuesday morning the town was in an uproar on learning that the deceiver had disappeared, and there was hurrying to and fro to learn his whereabouts or the direction he had taken, all to no purpose, for noth- ing could be learned of him. Burroughs lay concealed until the following mid- night, when he took his de- parture through Greenwich towards Rutland, where the Pelham men overtook him. Burroughs saw the crowd and ran out the back door to escape. Meeting one Konkey, of his pursners, who, in attempting to seize
with the request that he preach from that text at the morning service. "And old shoes and clonted on their feet," was the text. The subject was divided into three heads. First, the place of shoes; second, of old shoes; and third, of clouted shoes. He then proceeded to scathe his suspicions hearers by applying his interpretation of the passage as a whip to erad- icate the growing jealousy and suspicion of his true character among the people. Old shoes, he said, represented old sins which mankind had been afflict- ed with from the earliest times down, and the spirit of jealousy might be counted as old as any shoes worn. On the third head he said that those who wore old shoes and practiced Za system
WARE.
WARE.
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PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
afforded, although they were of high order for country schools, and these young men that have gone out into the world from the home training which the early settlers established and main- tained developed men of charac- ter who have risen to positions of trust and honor all over the land.
Now if there are any disposed to criticise, especially because some towns are less illustrated than others, will they please re- member that we have had twen-
A GROUP AT THE GRIST-MILL.
his late pastor had his arm broken by a blow from a stick Burroughs used in self defense, who then ran down the hill, distancing all but Dr. Nehemiah Hinds, who was knocked senseless with a stone by the runa- way supplyer. Climbing to the haymow of a barn, Bur- roughs awaited his pursuers and there were angry words on both sides. The " haymow sermon " is said to have been delivered here, but was really written afterwards. The Rutlanders heard the angry talk awhile, rather en- joying the novel entertainment and proposed that all hands should adjourn to Woods tavern, where Bur- roughs should spend the five dollars he had received in advance for the last Sunday of his engagement at Pel- ham, and which circumstances prevented his filling out, by setting up drinks for the crowd; this was done, the Rutlanders getting their full share. The drink and the anger of Dr. Hinds eaused the re-opening of the quarrel, and Burroughs, not caring to be taken back to Pelham, escaped by jumping from a window.
This episode in the history of the town was just such as occur now, here and there, and when we consider the fact that there was seant mail service, no railroads, telegraphs or telephones for use in inquiring about the bogus tramping "supplyers " at that early day, it is no
THE GRIST AND SAW MILL.
wonder that people were occa- sionally imposed upon.
Doubtless greater eare was ex- ercised afterwards in accepting the services of strange men on so little knowledge of their ante- eedents. In spite of the imposi- tion of this bogus preacher and the furnishing of a leader for the rebellion against the state gov- ernment the town prospered and increased in wealth and inhabi- tants until there were at one time about 1100 people living within its borders. Early in this cen- tury the young men began to go ont to New York and other cities to work at stone cutting during the summer, returning to spend the winters at home. Then the young men began to roll off the hill-tops permanently, to the cities and centres of business, or to institutions of learning, so that they might acquire more knowledge than the home schools
ty-three towns, with their many villages to look after, and we have already over- run the limit of pages set. while there are over five hundred illustrations in this book.
We are sure we do not ex- aggerate when we say that never was such a collection of valuable illustrative mat- ter put upon the market at such a price as fifty cents. If we shall succeed, however, in popularizing art, and fostering the art instinct, which dwells in all humanity to a greater or less degree, and make it easy for the poor man to cultivate
LOVER'S LEAP
LOOKING DOWN THE VALLEY TOWARD THE MILLS.
THE STONE BRIDGE.
GILBERT'S MILI ..
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PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
THE DAM-WARE.
his children's love for the beautiful in nature, our end will have been attained. Then " Picturesque Hampshire" will be our best monument, and our tri- umph, whether pecuniarily successful or not.
We feel sure that every friend of " old Hadley " will appreciate the pathetic and triumphant poems of John Howard Jewett, a native of the town, and now of the Worcester Evening Gazette. He has contributed much work of merit to the Springfield Republican and evi- dently has a future awaiting him. We are inclined to think that, pathetie as it is, the "Song for Old Hadley," to the tune of "The Old Oaken Bucket," will become a fav- orite with people of the old town and their descendants far and wide.
A PICTURESQUE HOMF.
ERRATA .- In the fifth line of the sec- ond paragraph on page 4 read the word "attention," instead of "attraction," and in the brief reference made in the "Ride About Town" to the will of Oliver Smith of "Charities" fame, read "many " thousand dollars as his be- quest, instead of "several " thousand.
OLD TIMES IN AMHERST.
ECCLESIASTICAL RULE, POLITICS AND SOME OF THE NOTED MEN.
The traditions of interesting incidents that have occurred in the rural towns, to many minds, are
quite as valuable, and far more entertaining, than the dry re- cital of historical events and therefore the perfunctory method was, as far as possible, avoided in this work.
Tradition says that the first inhabitant of Amherst was a man named Foote, of Hatfield, who apparently disgusted with the duties and obligations which an enlightened commu- nity imposes upon its members sought emancipation there- from by retiring to the seclu.
A GROUP AT THE GRAVEL BANK.
man, and was not as successful as Foote anticipated ; and presently he broke up his camp and stole back to the precincts of civilized society. But his name and ex- ploits have been perpetuated in "Foote's Folly Swamp," in the vicinity of which his hut or shanty was erected.
In process of time, that is to say, about one hundred and fifty years ago, the number of permanent in- habitants seemed to render the organization of a district and the erection of a house of worship nec- essary. And the people proceeded to do both. It was voted "to hiere a menester half a yeare," ," and
" build a Meeting House." Noah Webster was to appear some years
THE EAST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
sion of the wilderness. Foote located in the east part of the town under the shelter of the Pelham hills, near the East Congrega- tional church, intending to obtain a subsistence by hunting and fishing. This purpose of Foote's was a palpable relapse from civ- ilization into barbarism. It was an infringement on the imprescriptible habits and rights of Lo, the red
NATURE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE GRIST-MILL.
BRIDGE-MUDDY BROOK.
GETTING A LOAD OF SAW-DUST.
later with his spelling book, and the idea of such an institution as Amherst college had not even entered into the mind of man. These events, then in dim futurity, may in part account for the uncertain orthography that prevailed in this precinct of infinite promise.
In those days of pu- ritan ascendency-and
TENDING THE BABY.
75
PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
er from leaving town. Some of the incidents attending this "unpleasantness " between the pastor and the people were quite comical and amusing. On one occasion he was con- fined in the public pound, a receptacle for vicious and turbulent bulls when disposed to ramble over other fields than those of their owners, and obliged to subsist on red her- rings, which were kindly tossed over the fence to him. These and other indignities and humiliations were heaped upon him because he failed to observe the sound and wise maxim afterwards enunciated by Mr. Samuel Pickwick, to always shont with the largest
IN THE WARE CEMETERY.
it seems a far-off time-the church, to all intents and purposes, was the town, and the town a component part of the commonwealth. Happily, we have emerged from the theocratic condition in which Massachusetts reposed so long. These good people of Amherst, then a straggling hamlet, having formed a church procured a minister, and built a meeting-house. Then John Nash was hired for a specified sum per annum to blow "ye kunk," the "kunk " being a conch shell upon which the aforesaid John Nash was to make sufficient noise to notify the inhabitants to repair, without unnecessary delay, to the meeting-house. Thus
WARE-MOONLIGHT ON THE RIVER.
and noisest mob. At one time he refused to pay his taxes to the legally constituted authorities, and was stretched upon the legal rack at Northampton for such contumacy. When he left he surreptitiously carried off the church records and Bible. Really a "bad lot" were these clerical tories.
Although Mr. Parsons was probably as firmly ground- ed in his tory views as his clerical brother, the shep- herd of the Shutesbury flock, he was less violent and reckless in expressing them. Still his opinions and language appear to have been very offensive to his peo- ple. A committee was appointed by the town to wres- tle with him on this subject, and induce him, if possible, to assume an attitude more friendly to the "common cause ;" but, as events proved, with little success. In his public ministrations he persisted in praying for the king. If anybody stood in need of the prayers of Christian men in those troublous times, it was certainly that perverse, willful and stupid individual, George Guelph, by courtesy styled king of Great Britain. His usual ejaculation was: "God save the king." This was more than Nathaniel Dickinson, junior, a zealous whig, and member of the provincial congress, could easily digest, and he would instantly rise in his seat and exclaim : " You say God save the king; but I say God save the commonwealth of Massachusetts." And doubtless, this utterance of Mr. Dickinson was vocally
WARE RIVER.
spiritually equipped with minister, meeting-house, and "ye kunk," there is reason to believe that the district, or town, or whatever it may be called, enjoyed for sev- eral decades an average degree of religious prosperity.
Eventually there arose a difference of opinion be- tween pastor and people on a political question. It ap- pears strange to us that, in the dispute as to the right of England to tax the colonies while deuying them the right of representation, the minister of this Amherst church should incline to the side of the oppressor. Yet such was the fact. As the controversy gradually ap- proached a white heat, the pastor, the Rev. David Par- sons, as gradually developed into an incorrigible and pronounced tory. Mr. Parsons, it is said, was in the habit of frequently exchanging with the Rev. Abraham Hill of Shutesbury, another irreclaimable tory, which practice was exceedingly distasteful to the patriotic citizens of Amherst, and they emphatically declared that he should not preach in the town any more. A very justifiable and judicious proceeding on their part. Of this Hill, it may be observed, in passing, that he was a graduate of Harvard college, and the minister of the Shutesbury church. His toryism was of the bitter and malignant type, and he finally became so obnoxious to the people that they invited him to step down and out of the pastorate. To this polite request he refused to accede. Then the whigs of his floek adopted measures to close the meeting-house and prevent the tory preach-
THE STREAM BELOW THE TOWN.
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PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
portance in those days, by royal appointment. Both were requir- ed to burn the commissions they had received from the king. Strong readily complied with the request. After some delay Chauncey surrendered his into the hands of the whigs, who burn- ed it in a public bonfire.
President Dwight of Yale college held Simeon Strong in high estimation, investing him with all the Christian virtues, and ex- tolling him without stint as a man and a citizen. With all his piety Simeon Strong, it is quite apparent, pos- sessed a full measure of worldly wisdom, and trimmed his sails so as to move smoothly along in the current of popu- lar favor. He became a state senator, and judge of the supreme judicial court, after his political reconstruction.
In speaking of the Amherst tories, it may be mentioned that one of the deacons of the church, Simeon Clark, sympathized with the
BIG ELM -WARE.
or silently endorsed by the mass of the congregation with a hearty amen.
But this insidious disease called toryism was by no means confined to the aged pastor. It had penetrated to some extent
ON WARE RIVER.
Miles From
Boft on
15
Tolihampton
AN OLD STAGE-ROUTE MILE-STONE.
is safe to assume, was in no way infected or tainted with toryism. The discord engendered in the commu- nity by these religions ani- mosities did not subside for many years. Religious dissensions invariably tend to promote acrimonious feelings. The old church considered the action of the seceders as irregular, and Mr. Parsons declined to recognize their minister as a valid pastor. Indeed, efforts were made to dis- cipline the members of the new church, and nearly thirty years elapsed, a sort of thirty year war, and a new generation had arisen before any degree of
A RELIC OF THE OLDEN TIME IN BELCHERTOWN.
into secular circles, and those infected with it were, in some in- stances, snmmarily dealt with. Captain Isaac Chauncey, Lieu- tenant John Field, and Ensign John Nash had received royal com- missions through the tory governor, Tom Hutchinson. Some pressure being brought to bear upon these officers, they renonneed all authority to act under them. Josiah Chauncey and Simeon Strong were justices of the peace, a position of considerable im-
THE CLAPP MEMORIAL LIBRARY.
pastor in his opposition to the rebels. Some of the members of the Boltwood family were among the politieal recu- sants, and one of them, Robert Bolt- wood, by imprudent and indiscreet utterances, drew upon himself the atten- tions of the committee of safety, but managed to escape from the town.
Toryism, probably, had some connec- tion with the division of the church. On the death of the pastor, whom the patriots had with singular forbearance, neither impounded nor fed on red her- rings, despite his proclivities for royal- ty, an effort was made to settle his son as his successor. This was before the conclusion of the revolutionary war, and the movement produced great commotion among the people, as the son was sup- posed to inherit the tory principles of his father, and was, perhaps, in other respects, obnoxious to nearly one-half the population of the town. Several meetings were held to settle this momentous question, which, if all ac- counts are to be credited, rivalled in liveliness any ward caucus of modern times. But it was finally decided in favor of Mr. Parsons, and the malcon- tents, headed by General Ebenezer Mat- toon, organized a rival church, which, it
GETTYSFOME
A VIEW ON BELCHERTOWN COMMON.
77
PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
In the early part of the present century there were political, and, perhaps, per- sonal differences between two prominent citizens of Amherst. Indeed, there has hardly been a time when political differences did not exist among some of the people. Mr. Samuel Fow- ler Dickinson was quite
A WINTER GLIMPSE OF BELCHERTOWN .
harmony between these brethren of the same religious faith was restored. There is very little to show that the pastor of the new church was in any way disturbed by the grouty behavior and atti- tnde of Mr. Parsons in his assumption of spiritual authority over the competing religious society.
Incidents in the history of the town of Amherst would be some- JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND. what barren of interest, if disconnected entirely from the church, as the town always was, and probably is today, outwardly at least, an extremely religious one. To adopt an old saying, it would be much like the play of Hamlet with the charac ter of Hamlet omitted. If the reader wishes to know a great deal about Amherst, he must become a diligent student of the religious history of the town.
THE POND-BELCHERTOWN.
conspicuons in church and educational affairs. Besides he was a lawyer with a good practice and fair reputa- tion at the bar. As a native of the town he should have commanded much popular support; but for some rea- son which cannot be readily discerned at this distance of time, he was somewhat weak in this respect. His life-long opponent was Dr. Timothy J. Gridley, a grad-
A GRANBY ROADWAY.
Religious idiosyncrasies often exhibit ludicrous and laughable fea- tures. A man may be very pious and still be very eccentric. This seems to have been the case with Mr. Oliver Dickinson of North Am- herst, a thriving village in the north part of the township, which, by the way, is quite long and quite narrow. Mr. Dickinson, doubtless a worthy and estimable man, and a devoted Christian, was endowed with an acute perception of color. He was, besides, desirous of building a church or meeting-house, in which laudable purpose he was encouraged by his friends and neighbors; and he proceeded to carry this purpose into effect. The edifice which he caused to be erected is still in exis- tence, although it has undergone some repairs and alterations. He entertained some peculiar notions as to the class of persons to whom should be conceded the privileges of the sanctuary of which he was the principal proprietor. It was unquestionably his intention to fill th (
GRANBY.
uate of Yale college, and eminent as a physician and surgeon. The antago- nism between these two gentlemen appeared to be irreconcilable. Mr. Dickinson was ambitious ; there was a constant buzzing of the congressional bee in his political bonnet. It seem- ed to be his supreme longing to represent his district in Congress. But Dr. Gridley interposed an effective negative to this aspiration. In a communi- cation in the Hampshire Gazette, some fifty years ago, Dr. Gridley stated at considerable length the reasons for this antagonism between Mr. Dick- inson and himself, and, in his judgment, they were deemed sufficient to justify him in the position he had assumed. And in candor it must be said that they appeared equally conclusive to the major part of the people of Amherst. There was hardly a day in the course of his long residence in the town that Dr. Gridley could not feel assured of the hearty support of a
THE COMMON.
house with a very select audience. So in the deeds conveying the pews to the different purchasers, it was stipulated that the right and title should be deemed invalid, in case any of the owners admitted negroes or mulattoes to the "possession or the occupancy " of them ; and the right thus forfeited should revert to the other proprietors of pews who had observed the terms of the contract. It is quite evident that Mr. Dickinson did not enter- tain a very exalted opinion of his colored Christian brethren, and did not intend to have any of them "fooling" around his meeting-house. He would hardly have been considered eligible to membership in an abolition society of the Garrisonian stamp, where white men and women were thought to be as good as negroes if they only behaved as well. In justice to Mr. Dickinson it should be remarked that, before his death, he modified his views materially on the color question. A black man has actually preached in his church.
Amherst has furnished to the public some notable men. Ebenezer Mattoon was a major in the revolutionary war, subsequently a general in the state militia, member of Congress, and sheriff of the county of Hampshire. His father was a deacon in Mr. Parsons' church, and the story is told that, when he died, in midwinter, the ground was deeply covered with snow, and it was proposed to convey the remains on a hand sled to the burial ground, some two miles away. To this proposition the pastor emphatically dissented, exclaiming: "Such a saint as Deacon Mattoon to be dragged to his grave like a dead dog! Never!" The bearers were compelled to wade through the snow, with the body of the departed " saint " on their shoulders, to the distant graveyard.
A QUIET LANDSCAPE.
78
PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
large majority of its citizens. This implied great integrity of character and commanding abili- ties, moral and mental qualities which are essential to the high- est success.
Samuel Fowler Diekinson re- moved to Ohio, and his death fol- lowed soon after. But this old antagonism did not entirely sub- side; it survived to some extent in the person of his son, Edward Dickinson, who also inherited the aspirations of his father for a seat in Congress. This was
THE ORIGINAL DAM.
a laudable ambition,and Mr. Dickin- son is to be c o m m ended rather than censured for entertaining it. Still, the THE RAPIDS-HIGH WATER. old obstacles remained, and they could not easily be removed, as is easily seen.
In the meantime a new character appeared upon the political stage at Amherst. This was Osmyn Baker, a native of the town, and a lawyer by profession. He was a graduate of Yale, and had pursued his legal studies in the Northampton law school, then conducted by Judge Samuel Howe and Elijah Hunt Mills. Hon. William G. Bates of Westfield, one of the leading lawyers of the Hampden bar, frequent- ly remarked to the writer of this article, that he had known Osmyn Baker from boyhood; that he was one of the most upright and con- scientious men with whom he was ever acquainted; and that he pos-
THE DAM-SOUTH HADLEY FALLS, LOOKING TOWARD HOLYOKE,
who was selected as the standard bearer of the party in the district. With the election of Mr. Baker these old antagonisms measura- bly subsided, and in a few years the ambition of Edward Dickin- son was gratified in attaining by general consent, to the political
MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE.
LOOKING TOWARD MT. HOLYOKE COLLEGE FROM THE RIVER.
A CELERY PATCH.
sessed superior abilities, and was an excellent law- yer. At forty years of age he was as handsome a man as could be found in Hampshire county -in person tall and well propor- tioned. As a speak- er he was fluent, earnest and impas- sioned. When the candidate for Con- gress was finally awarded to Am- herst, it was Osmyn Baker. and not Ed- ward Dickinson,
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