USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Picturesque Hampshire : a supplement to the quarter-centennial-journal > Part 3
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KING STREET, NEAR THE EDWARDS ELM.
upon the rights and liberties of the colony ; and lastly, under the commonwealth, when all our political contests were confined to our own citizens, all equally honest and patriotic, and involved no higher consideration than the preference which should be extended to one party or the other as an agent in administering the government of the state.
The rural and charming town of Hatfield should hold in lasting re- membrance the name of Samuel Partridge. In early colonial days Hatfield was inseparably associated with the character and fame of this distinguished gentleman. Little information is to be obtained in re- gard to his origin. Something, how- ever, may be learned from contem- poraneous history. It is certain that his literary attainments were respectable for the times in which he lived; that both in private and public life his character was irre-
score, the enlightened judgment of Samuel Partridge penetrated the wretched fal- laey of these pretended diabolical influences, and adopted such summary measures in his court in the treatment of witchcraft informers as to com- pletely banish this religions pesti- lence from the valley. It required some moral courage on his part to do this thing. as the delusion had not then subsided, and Sewall had not yet written, in view of his ju- dicial enormities, "Woe! woe!" in his journal. Probably Cottou Mather never sincerely repented of his misdeeds. Should Hatfield ever erect an enduring memorial in hon- or of any of her colonial worthies, the name of Samuel Partridge, one of the earliest of "River Gods," dis- tinguished for his virtues, patriot- ism and wisdom, should be in_ aTo scribed upon the tablet.
THE CONNECTICUT RIVER BRIDGE, EASTERN TERMINUS OF BRIDGE STREET.
ON NORTH STREET, GOING TOWARD THE FAIR GROUNDS.
proachable and unassailable; that his intellectual endowments were so munificent as to entitle him to rank among the leading men of the province; and that to the day of his death he re- tained a full measure of well-earned and well-deserved popularity. For several years he was the honored representative of his town in the General Court, and frequently a member of the council. A puritan was instinctively a lover of liberty and Samuel Partridge was in full sympathy with the liberal ideas and opinions of the patriotic men who established the Commonwealth of England. It is true that our ancestors did not occupy the advanced ground which we have happily reached in regard to the limitations of governmental authority. But compared with the doctrine of pas- sive obedience to the exercise of arbitrary power, sedulously inculcated by the established church in the mother country, the settlers of Massachusetts, unconsciously perhaps, were devel- oping slowly but surely into modern democrats.
It is unfortunate that so little is now known of a man who undeniably was held in very great esteem, not only in the old county of Hampshire, but throughout the colony of Massachusetts Bay Under the judicial system that then prevailed he was a magistrate of the county and a member of the court whose sessions were held in Northampton. To his credit it should be mentioned that. when the witchcraft delusion was at its height, promoted by the insane ravings of Cotton Mather, and Judge Sewall was sending the helpless and innocent ;victims to the gallows by the
Northampton has produced some men of splendid intel- lectual endowments ; and among them no one stands higher than Johu Stoddard, sou of the Rev. Solomon Stoddard. He was a graduate of Harvard College. We learn from traditions and historical fragments that, despite his emi- nently respectable origin and educational opportunities, the people considered him quite a common sort of a man in point of ability, ranking in this respect with the average citizen. As a matter of fact, John Stoddard was not a pol- itician. It is doubtful if he would have known how to pack a town caucus or run a county convention, had such insti- tutions been in existence in his day, and he would have been utterly dismayed at the bare suggestion of conducting a Congressional canvass. And yet John Stoddard was a conspicuously great man, and, if not a politician, the first statesman of New England. It was when he began to min- gle in public affairs that the people discovered and appreci- ated his great abilities and sterling integrity. It is noted that he was the first citizen of the province, having hardly an equal and no superior. The tory Governor, Thomas Hutch- inson, who constantly urged upon the home government
ON POMEROY TERRACE,
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PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
VIEW ON HAWLEY STREET.
College, in whose veins flowed the Stoddard an 1 Edwards blood, tells a story that illustrates the high esteem in which Colonel Stoddard was held. It appears that on a certain occasion the royal Governor, Shirley, was entertaining a select company of Boston's aristocratie soci- ety when a servant entered the room and informed the Governor that a gentleman at the gate wished to see him. "Ask the gentleman to come in," said the Governor. "I did, sir," replied the servant, "but he said he could not stay." Colonel Stoddard was probably on his way to Northampton, and supposed to be economical of time. His Excellency's high-toned guests thought such language disrespectful to the chief magistrate of the province, and were inclined to be somewhat indignant thereat. "What is his name?" said the Governor. "I think," said the servant, "he told me his name was Stoddard." "Is it?" exclaimed the Governor; "excuse me, gentlemen, if it is Colonel Stoddard, I must go to him." And he walked out to the 'gate, did this royal governor, to do honor to one of the most distinguished of the River Gods. Governor Hutchinson says in his annals of those-to us-far away times, that " he shone only in great affairs," and that "inferior matters were frequently carried against his mind, by the little arts and crafts of minute politicians, which he disdained to de- feat by counter-working." From which it is quite ap- parent that Colonel Stoddard would not have been a very influential or popular member of our General Court in recent years. Jonathan Edwards, his nephew, who preached his funeral sermon, thus sums up his charac- ter: "Upon the whole, everything in him was great, and perhaps there was never a man in New England to whom the denomination of a great man did more prop- erly belong." This precisely describes the man. Spring- field has erected a statue of Pynchon. When will North- ampton erect one in honor of her greatest and noblest son ? In thus honoring the memory of this eminent cit- izen the city will honor itself.
Probably no two men ever lived in the county of
the expediency of arresting and hang- ing Samuel Ad- ams, is constrain- ed to concede that Colonel Stod- dard possessed ex- traordinary merit and worth. Yet there is every rea- son to believe that had Mr. Stoddard lived a few years later and partici- pated in the revo- lutionary struggle, he would have stood by the side of Samuel Adams in inflexible oppo- sition to the aggres- sions of British an- thority. President Dwight, of Yale
JONATHAN EDWARDS, L L D
language. But he is to be grate- fully remembered for his patriotic labors in vindicating and defend- ing the liberties of the people of Massachusetts against the persist- ent encroachments of the British government. For a long series of years he represented Northamp- ton in the General Court. This was the popular assembly of the period, and it was constantly en- gaged in a struggle with the royal governors and the English minis- istry, in which the advantage did not always remain with the lat- ter. And during these years no person was more efficient or more conspicuous in resisting trans-At- lantic tyranny than Joseph Haw- ley. Unfortunately he was afflict- ed with a mental malady which increased with advancing years, and imperatively required his re- tirement from public affairs. In 1776 he withdrew from all official employments and spent the
POMEROY TERRACE AND HANCOCK STREET.
Hampshire who possessed so much influence among the people, and formed and moulded public opinion so efficiently, as Samuel Partridge and John Stoddard. They instructed and educated the masses on all the po- litical questions of the day, and prepared them to act wisely and judiciously in the transition in political con- ditions which their rare foresight and sagacity enabled them to discern with unerring certainty in the near future.
When John Stoddard died, Joseph Hawley, who was destined to succeed him as the leader and spokesman of the people of the Valley, was twenty-four years of age. He had been educated for the ministry, and occasionally preached to such congregations as were destitute of pastors. In the expedition against Louisburg he offici- ated as chaplain of a regiment. But he was not, in the order of Providence, to bury himself in some small and insignificant town as the religious teacher of its in- habitants. The mantle of the dead statesman fell natu- rally and gracefully upon his shoulders and it could not have fallen upon any one more worthy to wear it. Be- sides, he inherited from his mother, the daughter of the Rev. Solomon Stoddard, the robust mental and moral qualities for which the whole Stoddard family was noted. Eventually he studied law and attained a high position at the bar. As an orator he was distinguished for the earnestness of his manner and the vigor of his
THE HOLLOW NEAR BASKET SHOP.
SUNDOWN-WILLIAMS MANUFACTURING COMPANY.
12
PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
FOOT-BRIDGE OVER MILL RIVER, NEAR BASKET SHOP.
residne of his life among the people whom he had so long and so faithfully served. The late Judge Joseph Lyman, who read law in the office of Mr. Hawley, relates an incident which is characteris- tic of the man. It appears that Caleb Strong was Mr. Hawley's colleague from Northampton in the provincial congress, and on returning from the eastern part of the State, found his associate at
VIEW ON SOUTH STREET, LOOKING SOUTH.
home laboring under great depression of mind, and expressing the apprehension that if the canse of the patriots should fail he would be hung. Mr. Strong said, in reply, "No, they will not probably hang more than forty men, and you and I shall escape." This roused Mr. Hawley, and he re- sponded with all his old-time energy. "I would have you know, sir, that I am one of the first three." And the next day he made a speech to the citi- zens of Northampton which contained sufficient treason to fully justify his assertion.
It is no disparagement to other worthy and talented men who lived in Hampshire county during the colonial period, to say that Samuel Partridge, John Stoddard and Joseph Hawley were pre-eminently the leaders of public opinion, and exercised a marked and salutary influence upon the legislation of the province. They were emphati- cally the River Gods of the colonial era, and performed a great and noble work in educating the peo- ple to a higher ap- preciation of the in- estimable blessings of personal and po- litical freedom. His- tory has failed to do justice to these men.
For the first twen- ty-five years under the State organiza- tion Caleb Strong was clearly the first citi- zen of Northampton and of the county of
WILLIAMS MFG CO'S BACK YARD.
Hampshire. His fame is inseparably connected with the political struggles of the times in which he lived, and as party strife was then fierce and uncompromising, political prejudice has inevitably had some influence in rendering public opinion unfavorable to some of his official acts. He was probably selected as the Federal candidate for Governor because Hampshire county was over- whelmingly Federal in polities. And here it is proper to say that Governor Strong's character, so far as we know, in all the private relations of life, was faultless and irreproachable. It is sufficient to remark that both Fed- eralists and Democrats greatly esteemed him as a man and a citizen. It was his official conduet that his opponents criti- cised, and, after the lapse of three-quarters of a century, candor re- quires the admission that the criticism was neither unjust nor un- merited. When Presi- dent Madison made a requisition on Governor
THE SOUTH STREET BRIDGE.
Strong for troops to reinforce the army of the United States on the northern frontier during the last war with Great Britain, the executive of the State, in refusing to comply with the request, was indispntably violating his constitutional obligations. He was resisting the authority of the general government, precisely as the contumacious Governors of Kentucky and Missonri, Magoffin and Jackson, resisted the authority of the general government in the beginning of the rebellion. The rea- sons given by Governor Strong for declining to perform an imperative duty are insufficient. Iudeed, in this whole matter he acted, uncon- scionsly, it is hoped, in entire conformity with the wishes of the Brit- ish commanders who confronted Brown and Macomb. They did not de- sire that these generals should receive any reinforcements from Massa- chusetts, and Governor Strong took especial pains to prevent them from receiving any. It is a curious feature of the transaction, that Strong's policy should be in perfect harmony with that of the British govern- ment. He could not have promoted their interests more effectually if he had received his instructions directly from the English ministry. The
VIEW ON SOUTH STREET, LOOKING NORTH.
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PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
VIEW ON SOUTH STREET, LOOKING UP THE HILL
attitude of Massachusetts during the war was simply shameful and dis- graceful. The government of the State was then in the hands of the Fed- eral party, and "aid and comfort" were extended to the enemies of the Re- public. It was well for Governor Strong, while defying the national au thority, that James Madison was a man of mild and equable temper. Had Andrew Jackson been President in this emergency, there is every reason to
A NORTHAMPTON MILK TEAM.
believe that he would have brought Strong to a realizing sense of his dnty, if it had taken Brown's en- tire army to do it.
This is the darkest page in the history of Massachusetts. But it was the legitimate result of the teachings of such ultra Federal- ists as Timothy Pickering of the Essex Junto, and Gouverneur Morris of New York. Calhoun did not invent the pestilent heresy of secession. It was the political thunder of these Federal leaders, and ten or fifteen years afterwards the South Carolinian stole it from them.
The first forty years of the present cen- tury, all things considered, were golden days for the River Gods of Hampshire county, In that space of time
PROSPECT STREET LOOKING TOWARD ELM.
Northampton furnished the State with three United States Senators. This finds no parallel in the his- tory of the Commonwealth. It must be remembered that Northampton was then a small town with a population limited to two or three thousand persons. But no town of the same number of people could boast of containing so many citizens of eminent ability. These men were not elevated to senatorial dignity by the mere claims of locality. They were elected on account of their conspicuous fitness for the place. They were Eli P. Ashomn, Elijah Hunt Mills, and Isaac Chapman Bates. Of the latter it may
be remarked [that no greater man has lived in the State west of Boston in the nine- teenth century. The writer has listened to many of the most celebrated orators of national reputation during the last fifty years, and he can truthfully aver that for grace and fascination of manner, felicity of illustration, and splendor of diction, he has never heard a man who was superior to Mr. Bates, He was the greatest as well as the last of the "River Gods" under the State government. Like John Stoddard he could be very great on great occasions. During a long period of service as a representative in Con- gress, he became strongly attached to Henry Clay, and embraced some of the opinions of that gentleman on the subject of protection. Entertaining these views he made in the Senate a speech on the tariff question, which his political opponents were candid enough to admit had never been equalled by any of the efforts of Mr. Clay or of Mr. Webster. Mr. McDuffie, of South Carolina, the successor of Mr. Calhoun, and hardly inferior to the great nullifier in mental power, the leader of the party in the Senate in favor of a revenue tariff, complimented the Senator from Massachusetts by saying that it was the ablest and most logical argument in support of the theory of protection ever delivered in any legislative assembly. In taking leave of these "River Gods," superb in moral qualities and intellectual gifts, we tender them the parting salutation of Ed- mund Burke: "Hail! and farewell." S. B. QUIGLEY.
Before taking up the work of describing the saliently picturesque features of Northamp- ton we give place to the following reminiscence of life on an old homestead in the "grand old town," a generation ago. It is a charming picture of the good old grand-mother, such as many a lot of children are blessed with, and the reminiscence will be read with
ON SOUTH STREET, LOOKING ACROSS THE COMMON.
PROSPECT STREET, LOOKING NORTH.
CORNER OF PROSPECT AND PARK STREETS,
14
PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
A RIDE IN PROSPECT.
nterest by all lovers of that nature, the touch of which makes the whole world kin. "Vieux Temps," the writer, is a favorite contributor of the readers of the Hampshire County Journal.
Reminiscences of an Old Homestead.
There is an old saying that grand-parents live their lives over again in their grand-children. I believe this to be true, especially of grand-mothers. My own, on the parental side, was a convincing proof of the general truth of the maxim. The same watchful care and solie- itnde, the admonitory cantions and counsels, found equal expression with those who once administered to their own children, and I have no doubt formed a large part of the serene enjoyment of their declining years.
Among the many pleasures of my childhood none rank higher in my estimation than the occasional visits
separating it from the loaf and handing slice after slice to the waiting group of youngsters, with the parting injunction, "Now, boys, don't go near the river," an admonition which im- pelled ns to the forbidden local- ty as fast as our legs could carry ns.
The extensive farm, made of woods, plain and meadow, af- forded every variety of youth- ful amnsement. The wooded portion of it was then full of game, the streams abundant with the delicious trout, and the vast plain with woodchucks and the smaller class of rodents. In the meadow, bordering the river, was the " sugar orchard," so-called, where, in its season,
THE HINCKLEY-BARRETT PLACE.
we waited with boyish impatience for the culminating process of "sugaring off," and the still more toothsome luxury of "wax" made on the snow that lingered in patches of the shaded ground. The much vaunted French confectionery of the present day can never leave npon the palate such a sensation of entire satisfaction as this homely bnt satisfying condiment afforded.
The old tenement, made in the then prevailing style, was afterwards supplemented by various rambling structures of sheds, milk rooms, etc., un- til it presented a labyrinth of passage-ways, mak- ing a perfect paradise for sportive boys to investi- gate and wonder at. The old, deep well worked by a windlass, I can almost hear now ; the rattle of the descending bucket and the rat-tat-tat of the ratchet on its return. Its deliciously cool water needed no ice, for deep down in its dark recess we could see the shining tin pail that held the butter, which then required no better refrigerator than this primitive method furnished. Occasionally one of two large trout that had long been tenants of this cool retreat, were hoisted in the "old wooden bucket," quickly to be restored to his desired
AT WORK ON THE LAWN.
GLIMPSE OF CITY AND MOUNTAIN FROM ROUND HILL.
A VISTA-EDWARDS CHURCH SPIRE FROM J. R. TRUMBULL'S GROUNDS.
to the home of my grand-parents, where every substantial bodily comfort, accompanied with genuine heartfelt hospi- tality, was always our welcome. An invitation to the pan- try was the first item on the program. My grand-mother was a firm believer in the old adage that little boys, like pigs, were continually hungry, and providently made that proposition her first consideration. I vividly remember the snug little apartment, lighted by a single small window, with its row upon row of plates, earthen ware, pans of milk and all the paraphernalia of household utensils for cookery, and especially the barrel from which she drew the loaf of rye bread-such as I never expect to taste again- upon which she spread the butter with the customary dis- cretion of those days, sprinkling the surface with either maple sugar or honey from her own bee-hives, then deftly
ROUND HILL FROM KING STREET.
15
PICTURESQUE HAMPSHIRE.
element. The tall, stately pines that lifted their lofty tops to a great height, at the rear of the house, the maples that furnished sweets, and indeed, most of the forest on the farm have disappeared, but their picture is distinctly painted on my memory.
Returning at night from a ceaseless round of rambles and sports, fagged out with our ex- eess of enjoyment, with cut fingers, bruised feet and weary limbs, the sympathizing grand- mother was ready, like the good Samaritan, with salve and rags, to tenderly bind up the aching members, and, supper over, to relate stories of bears and Indians, to which we could have contentedly listened all the night. Our bed, under the sloping roof, where, if it chanced to rain, we could hear its hilling patter, was a luxury that wealth and fashion can never pur-
ROUND HILL, OPPOSITE CLARKE INSTITUTION FOR DEAF MUTES,
chase or enjoy with a mint of money.
In the autumn, when the golden apples were at maturity, a day's visit to the cider mill, which then was a part of the farm's economy, was in order, where we all imbibed through that primitive hydraulie process, the straw, quantities of the seductive tipple enough to horrify our modern straight-laced prohibitionists. Cider was then a universal beverage, free as water at every meal, and much more used, I verily believe. Farmers were accustomed to put up from ten to twenty barrels for yearly consump- tion and the long winter evenings were not thought to be endurable with- out the accompaniment of a basket of
SMITH COLLEGE MEADOW.
A SMITH COLLEGE PARTY ON MOUNTAIN DAY,
apples, nuts, and a big pitcher of eider, which was replenished when emptied. Modern reformers and cranks may carp at and moralize as they will over this old custom, but it was sensible and wholesome, compared with many of the present methods of entertain- ment approved by the caprices and whims of "reformed society."
But the crowning festival of frolic and abandon was the annual holiday of Thanks- giving, when, after the morning's sermon, and the usual bountiful dinner, a stage coach load of us left the center for a visit to the Bear Hill farm, where, gathered around the fires that blazed in parlor, "living-room," and kitchen, we met a crowd of uncles, aunts and cousins
HENSHAW AVENUE, LOOKING TOWARD RESIDENCE OF C. H. PIERCE, ESQ.
that filled the spacious old house, almost to repletion. The customary greetings over, the children were, at candle-light, permitted to occupy the kitchen, where they were allowed full license for frolic and noise. That well-remembered apartment is fresh in my memory ; low-studded, brown with smoke, with the primitive fire-place full eight'feet wide, in the chim- ney of which hung the old crane, with its pot-hooks and trammels, the dye pot'in one corner and the yeast pot in the other. Pendant from the grimy ceiling was a row of wooden poles, from which hung ears of seed corn braided together and strips of pumpkin rinds for the win- ter's supply of "sass" and the appetizing Yankee luxury of pumpkin pie. A close inspection of the huge chimney would reveal flitches of bacon drying and the "rennet" bag, that indis- pensable requisite for the cheese dairy, while on one side of it was the great oven, capable of receiving loaves and pies enough for a neighborhood feast. This old adjunct to the kitchen fire-place, once thought to be an essential to house cookery, has now become ob- solete save in a few rural localities. An immense back-log, with a cor- responding fore-stick, reinforced with smaller wood and a blazing pine knot, when in full combustion, furnished light enough for all de- sirable purposes. Here we had un- limited sway, save when at inter- vals the adjoining door was opened and the shrill remonstrance of a nervous and dyspeptic aunt broke in upon the tumult with, "Boys, boys, don't make such a noise," and the encouraging voice of the dear old grand-mother with "Now, Sally, do let the children alone, you must remem- ber that you were once young." The door closed and bedlam broke loose again. In the midst of our jollification the venerable gray head of grand-father, who, under an infirmity of hearing, was happily indifferent to any kind of noise, ap- peared, and we at once knew what was to be expected. A huge chest in one corner was opened and from its cavernous depths handfuls of hickory nuts were thrown broadcast on the floor. The scrambling for a share seemed to give the keenest enjoyment to the sympathizing and generous dispenser.
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