USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Heath > Sesquicentennial anniversary of the town of Heath, Massachusetts, August 25-29, 1935; addresses, speeches, letters, statistics > Part 5
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Cal Jonathan and Mrs. White were th parents of 10 chil- dres. His oldest son Jonathan Ir, was a
army in 1756 and 0757. He graduated from Harvard
Amother son was David. He was bom = Le - was baptised in 1742, "the first day of ye meeting in the meeting-house" His father, Cal Jonathan, was a deabr this church and held that ofice until his death. David came to Charlemont with his brother James and settled : -
forest and their sister Esther. then be t 14 years of kept house for bem. David semiel at the foot of "Meeti
Hill" and the Erst town meeting in the town of C arlen
1765 was held at his house Two years later or 8000 was drowned in the Deerfield. His sister Esther became the wide of Samuel Taylor, who was the nephew of the Te = Taylor who was one of our Erst citizens.
James lived just south of the south schoolhouse, where Andrew Royer is living pow. He joined the 8 1737 az2 was elected deacon tivo years later and bell Ece todd bis
death in 1824. He had several children, among them Ruth, who was a schoolteacher (like all her other sisters) in Charle- mont and Heath, until it was said at the time of her death "that most of the people in the two towns had been her pupils, and if all did not become sound in sentiment and practiced in activity it was their own fault." The people of that generation canonized Miss Ruth as the parish saint.
Col. Asaph White, Col. Jonathan's youngest son, was a man of remarkable executive and business ability. He was born in 1747 and married Lucretia Bingham. Col. Asaph was a soldier in the French and Indian war. In one engagement he captured a French officer, who upon his release presented Mr. White with a very valuable tankard. His Revolution record :- 1775, ensign in Capt. Sylvanus Rice's company ; 1776, first lieutenant of the 5th Hampshire Regiment and commissioned. He was also in the state militia where he won the title of colonel.
Col. White was connected with almost every enterprise of a public nature in this region. He built the turnpike across Hoosac Mountain, the 2nd Massachusetts Turnpike, known for years as Col. White's Turnpike; also the turnpike from Athol to Boston called the Fifth Massachusetts turnpike. He built, too, a clothing mill in Mill Hollow and manufactured woolen cloth and built many other roads and public buildings.
He lived first and built the first house on the place after- ward sold by him to Col. Hugh Maxwell, the farm which ad- joins the south Cemetery, now owned by Fred Coates. He, Asaph White, bought this place of Dependence Thayer in 1772. In that deed was included the following "a reserve is made for necessary roads as likewise a reserve of one acre as a burying- place for use of town forever where the dead are now buried to lye 8 rods upon road, and the owner is to have the privilege of pasturing said place with horses, sheep, and calves but no other creatures, he maintaining the same fence as he must do if there were no burying place thereon." Also, "dividing the water so as to leave a good watering place in that part (east end) of the lot."
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HEATH SESQUICENTENNIAL : "IN THEIR GRANDMOTHERS' CLOTHES"
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SAWYER HALL. STORE. CHURCH, MAXWELL HOUSE
In the deed of White to Maxwell in 1776 this watering place is designated as "Whittemore Spring" altho no deed is on record, either to Whittemore or from Whittemore.
After selling this farm to Col. Hugh Maxwell, Col. Asaph lived on the old place of his father, Col. Jonathan White.
He moved to Erving sometime after 1800 and was the first settler of that town, building there a house, a mill and a dam across Miller's River. His daughter Lucretia went with her father, so was the first woman to keep house in the new town and kept the first school. Everyone said she was the most remarkable woman of the section of the times, and one whom all were proud to claim as a relative.
The founding of a town was but an ordinary job for a man of Col. Asaph's ability, and after giving the town a good start he returned to Heath, and died there at the age of 81.
A son of Col. Asaph was Joseph and he settled in Charle- mont. He was the father of Hon. Joseph White, a very emi- nent lawyer who for many years was secretary of the Massa- chusetts Board of Education, and was also treasurer of Williams College.
Benjamin White was born in Leominster in 1746, married Abigail Wilder in 1775 and bought land of his uncle Col. Jonathan White. This land was in the east range of Hancock's purchase and contained 100 acres ; this was in 1769.
At the first town meeting of Heath he was chosen tithing man and afterward filled many town offices, and was much re- spected by his townsmen. He enlisted and served at the taking of Burgoyne in a Hampshire County Regiment ; he was Capt .- lieutenant.
Benjamin was, with his wife an original member of the Heath church-having been formerly members of the Charle- mont church. They had 10 children; their fifth child, David, married Sophia Kendrick and their eighth child was Harriett M., who married Joseph White who was a grandson of Col. Asaph. They had six children, Harriett F., the second child,
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was a teacher for seven years in the Huguenot Seminary at Cape Colony, South Africa. On their return to America she engaged as a missionary to the Barbadoes for some years and was connected later with a mission in New York City. She was a woman of brilliant attainments and because she was so capable, overestimated her strength and her health failed.
Two other daughters of Joseph and Harriett White were Miss Mary Abby and Miss Flora who still have a residence in Heath. They both attended Westfield Normal School and taught in Springfield and the Normal School. Later they were en- gaged in keeping a school for girls in Concord winters, and here in Heath in summer.
Miss Flora has great dramatic talent and several years ago staged the pageant, "The Drama of David" which she arranged and directed with much ability. It will long be re- membered as the crowning event of that summer and for many summers. She also arranged the Chinese entertainment later given on the lawn of their home on Plover Hill. This was perfect in every way, and each detail was worked out to a nicety that bespoke a master-mind in planning like functions. Miss Flora and Miss Mary (or "Miss May") were the chief instiga- tors of the Heath Historical Society which was begun about 1900, also of the Heath Agricultural Fair Association, together with Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Paine, which began in 1916.
Luke White, brother to Benjamin White was baptized in Lancaster in 1757. He served in the Revolution and later mar- ried Eunice, the only child of David, son of Col. Jonathan White. Luke and Eunice White lived where Mr. Merritt Sher- man does now; they bought the place of Samuel Coleman in 1812, so this place was part of the Coleman village, so called in earliest days.
Most of the families of Whites that settled here earliest bought places near the south schoolhouse-James where An- drew Royer lives now; Asaph where Fred Coates now lives, Benjamin, where Frank Burrington resides; Luke where Sher-
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mans are now, Col. Jonathan where James Duncan-later Asaph and others.
There are many other families in America, of prominence, who can trace their ancestry back to John White, the emigrant. Artemas Ward was one of these, he was of the fifth generation. As you know, when on June 15, 1775 George Washington was chosen to command all the Continental forces raised for the defence of American liberty, two days after Artemas Ward, Esq. was chosen first Major General.
Another of the White kindred was Mrs. Kate Upson Clark who is of the eighth generation. Her great-great-grandfather was Col. Jonathan White; another great-great-grandfather was Othniel Taylor and her great-grandfather was Col. Hugh Maxwell.
After a few years Charlemont gained other settlers from Deerfield and elsewhere so that there were at least a dozen freemen living in the town by 1752. The town had been under the nominal rule of the proprietors for 13 years, until June 21, 1765, when the act of incorporation was granted.
Charlemont soon chose David White to go to Walpole, N. H., to invite the Rev. Jonathan Leavitt to come to Charle- mont to preach as a candidate. This was in the early part of the year 1767. Mr. Leavitt's preaching proved satisfactory, but it was not until the fall of 1768 that the installation was held-not until there was a suitable place prepared for it.
Up to this time the pioneer families had enjoyed occasional religious services from several preachers, but no settled pastor had been called. They had joined the church in Deerfield and for many years had frequently gone there for the enjoyment of the various religious privileges denied them in the isolated frontier town, especially for the commemoration of the Lord's supper and the baptism of the children.
There had never been any school instruction either for the children. The only school had been the fireside of the homes, and the teachers, the parents, the text book was the Bible. Yet
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without a regular school instructor these children through the fine efforts of their parents, with their unexampled influence of the highest quality, acquired characters that were able to fulfil nobly the exacting tasks required of them.
And there were many tasks required of them! The early settlers generally had large families, each child was eagerly welcomed, for to the farmer, every child in the house was an extra worker. There was plenty of work for the little ones. They sowed seeds, weeded flax-fields, they combed wool. It was said that all the work on the flax after the breaking was done in earlier times by women and children, and that there were in all 20 different occupations in flax manufacture of which half could easily be done by children.
Sometimes the boys were able to earn rare pennies ; the mak- ing of birch splinter brooms was the best paying work, they got 6 cents apiece for these. Splitting of shoe pegs was another means of earning money. Another boy received 9 pence for hog bristles he sold to a brush maker which he saved from slaughtering hogs.
Some of the girls braided palm-leaf hats. The country storekeeper or sometimes peddlers obtained the dried leaves which taken to the homes were split evenly of the desired fine- ness, braided into hats, pressed carefully and sold. Some girls braided wheat straw for bonnets, others bound shoes, but for many years the utilizing of the palm leaf hat was the almost universal occupation for the earners of small sums.
And such an amount of work went on in these early homes ! In every house there were the large wheel on which to spin the wool, the small one for the flax, and in most, the loom. Children were taught to spin when a thick plank had to be put on the floor, to add to their height. From this yarn was knitted vari- ous things, the stockings, mittens and other articles. Cloth was woven here for the pantaloons and frocks worn by the farmers, and the gowns for everyday use of the wives and daughters, also for the blankets required in those cold rooms, where the
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pitchers had to be emptied at night lest in the morning they should be broken by the ice in them.
The weaving was either done at the home, or a small price paid to an expert for doing it. One woman did this for her neighbors, and charged 6 cents a yard for weaving, and some- times in addition to her housework, was able to weave 30 yards a day. Besides plain cloth she wove table linen of complicated patterns and the heavy and beautiful variegated counterpanes, of the kind we are only too glad to unearth now.
Butter making and cheese manufacture occupied a great deal of time, soap making was another task, for all soap for washing and scrubbing purposes was made in the home. The leech tub always stood in the corner of the woodshed ready for work. It was said that the consistency and transparency of the soap made were quite as much a test of the housekeeper's skill as the lightness of her bread and the clearness of her jelly.
The making of the supply of candles for the year was quite an event, usually taking two days, one for preparing the wicks, and the following one for the actual dipping of the candles. Lamps filled with sperm oil were used for carrying about the house, but candles were depended upon for sewing and reading.
A church had been built, or partly built in 1753, but money was scarce, and it was never finished, so it was voted that they build another "half way from this one to David White's dwelling house," which was at the foot of the hill, near the old cemetery in Charlemont, and it was also voted to build Mr. Leavitt a house the same year, 1767.
Only the very best timbers were selected and used in the construction of the house. The timbers were huge in size and every one hewn, including studs and braces-hewn from the original forest trees! The clapboards were split or riven, and then shaved in the same manner as shingles used to be. None of the clapboards was more than five feet long, and they were
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put on with large headed handwrought nails. These are still doing service with the exception of a few that had to be re- placed by new ones when the place was restored a few years ago. But most of them are the ones that were nailed on 167 years ago. It was built in 1768 and is one of the oldest of the houses now standing in town. It was in the possession of the Leavitt family for 80 years, but later was the home of William Bassett and family.
It is now owned by Mrs. John Farwell Moors, formerly Miss Ethel Paine, and has been restored to its old-time dignified appearance. All of the old fireplaces were left, including the one in which the old brick oven is located; also the one in the back part of the house that was used for soapmaking.
The meeting-house was placed near the parsonage, but south of it on the brow of the hill overlooking the Deerfield, which since has been known as "Meeting-house Hill." This church was occupied in the fall of 1769 but was not finished until 1772.
No record is available to tell us of the construction of the church, but we know that the barn-like structure must have been a cheerless place with no carpets, no cushions upon the the indescribably hard boards, no backs to lean against, and no heat excepting the luxury of the little foot stoves which families living at a distance brought warm from their homes, and replenished with coals from the hospitable parsonage fire- place.
Most of these first churches had large square pews and were fenced in by railings high enough for the arm to rest upon when one stood, which supported the hand of the devout wor- shippers through long prayers. The seats were usually on hinges and when put back made the attitude an easy one. It would not have occurred to our grandparents to sit while the good clergyman included all near and far in his petitions. The pulpit was sometimes built by placing three boards upright, with a shelf a-top and behind was a plank seat for the minister.
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The sounding board so called was a conical shaped structure with its apex directly over the pulpit ; it was fastened somehow to the wall of the house, and was intended to increase the sound of the speaker's voice, altho we wonder if it did!
It was certainly not a comfortable place to spend several consecutive hours, yet no one thought of staying home, unless detained by illness or other unavoidable event. They came from long distances too, from all parts of Charlemont, Buckland, Hawley, to hear the long sermons and the equally long prayers ; some on horse back, some on foot, some even by oxen, but what- ever the conveyance, they came.
The sermons were long and the people expected they would be long,-there was one sermon preached in Hartford which contained 56 divisions and subdivisions.
These sermons at one time or another touched upon every phase and condition of activity ; one minister stigmatized veils, another frowned on wigs, long hair and tobacco, another looked askance on treaties, one discussed the governor's salary. The congregations did not take the message of the pastor blindly. The appeal was made to their understanding and one was ex- pected to think about it and weigh it in his own private scales. Any deficiency which might be detected was sure to be reported to the parson and made the occasion for further discussion. It was said the people were fed with strong meat, and the week was required for its proper digestion.
The church was organized in Sept., 1767, and the installa- tion of the Rev. Jonathan Leavitt was preceded by a solemn fast, and was closed with feasting and rejoicing, according to the custom of those days. Mr. Leavitt preached about 14 years, and ministered acceptably to the united church in this house "set on a hill."
He was born in Suffield, Conn., in 1731 and came of a fine, well educated family. He graduated from Yale in 1758 and was ordained at Walpole, N. H., in 1761. He married Miss Sarah Hooker; she was a great-granddaughter of the Rev. Thomas
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Hooker, a noted early New England minister. Mrs. Leavitt died in 1791. It was said of her, "in addition to good natural talents Mrs. Leavitt possessed an unaffected and most engaging temper and deportment which gave a lustre to the beauty of her person far superior to what it could have derived from the most bril- liant ornaments of art." They were the parents of one daughter and 11 sons.
The Rev. Jonathan Leavitt was a fine looking gentleman, generally wore as was the custom then, a powdered wig and a cocked hat and always presented a dignified appearance. He was a man who was always ready to dispense hospitality in his comfortable home and was often the host for those who jour- neyed from town to town. His congregation usually rose to salute him when he entered the church, and remained standing while he passed, hat in hand, bowing to all down the aisle.
There was a reason for the universal deference paid to the early pastor. In the smaller towns he was oftentimes the only man of education and always kept up with the current literature so was able to instruct and advise the people on matters con- cerning the government as well as on local happenings. News- papers were few and meagre. Books were rare possessions and owned generally by the minister, so he was naturally the one to bring books to his people, but this was done, not so much by their free circulation, but by the minister's restatement of their contents from the pulpit. It was the parson who di- rected thus the general current of thought.
Their salaries were very small, one hundred pounds was considered a fair stipend. Some didn't even receive this, and they had to eke out their income for their large families in vari- ous ways in secular pursuits. Sometimes the people thought the pastor gave too much time to these side issues ; and one old deacon said, "Wa'll, our minister gives so much attention to his farm and orchard that we get pretty poor sermons,-but he is mighty movin' in prayer in caterpillar and cankerworm time."
Mrs. Leavitt died suddenly in 1791, and Mr. Leavitt then
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married Mrs. Tirzah Ashley, of Deerfield, who died in 1797.
Jonathan, the oldest son graduated from Yale and became a successful lawyer in Greenfield. His house was at the upper end of Main street, next Hart Leavitt's, his brother. Jonathan's house was later known there as the Hovey place. He was a prominent lawyer, a senator and a judge of probate from 1814 until 1821. Hart Leavitt kept a general store near these residences.
A daughter of Dr. Roswell Leavitt (son of Rev. Jonathan) married the Rev. Aaron Foster, who was the minister at the East Charlemont church, and both of them were beloved during their pastorate of 20 years.
Roger, the fifth son of the first Jonathan, married Priscilla Maxwell, grand-daughter of Col. Hugh. They moved to Charle- mont in 1833 and there amassed a big fortune for the times. He was active in church, town and military affairs, he was in com- mand of a regiment which was noted for its excellence in supe- rior drill. He was active also in educational advance and with Miss Lyon procured the sum of $1200 for the first seminary building at South Hadley from the tiny hamlet of Heath.
His son, Col. Roger Hooker Leavitt, was one of the leading men in Franklin County, was a man of advanced ideas and genuine public spirit, and probably no one man did more to help in building the railroad now running through Charlemont and the much needed Hoosac Tunnel than he. He worked early and late in the interest of the enterprise, not only at home but in the legislature, where he was a prominent member.
Hooker, the youngest of the 11 sons, was an attorney and was county treasurer and clerk of the court from 1815 until his death in 1842.
During the Revolution Parson Leavitt's people had trouble in paying his salary and what was paid was in money that had depreciated in value, so Mr. Leavitt was concerned to find a proper living for his family. Then began much disturbance between the town and the pastor, which resulted in the town
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refusing to make further provision for his support, and they closed the church.
There were of course many causes for the trouble. There was very little money and almost no means of getting any, furthermore the men were away at war. There is no record to show that Mr. Leavitt claimed any more than what was due him, but with his strong convictions he possibly failed to give proper thought to the hardships endured by his people in raising his salary.
Mr. Leavitt preached five years or more in the south school- house after the closing of the church to people living mostly in the town of Heath. He died Sept. 9, 1802, aged 71, and is buried in the south cemetery.
Among the first settlers to buy a farm to live upon, was William Brown,-he bought 100 acres of Wilder -- it was lot 11, and is the place now owned by Mrs. Dana Malone at the Center. This was in 1762,-he built a small frame house with barns, and set out some fruit trees. We understand this little house stood northeast of the present house, near that group of white birches.
Mr. Brown sold 82 acres of his lot to Benjamin Maxwell in 1776 and then in 1779 bought 50 acres of Jonathan White in South Heath. This place is called the Willis place now, but is just over the line in Charlemont. Then he sold this to Col. Roger Leavitt in 1785, "including the mansion house in which the said William lives," with two other buildings. Ezra Willis became the owner with more acres in 1815. We think William was a brother of Deacon John Brown who also bought land of Wilder ; this was in 1768. John Brown's first home place was the place that was later owned by Lorenzo Wetmore and burned while they were living there. The cellar hole is on the right as you go out to Skyline camp, at the top of the little hill from the corner where the Rowe road branches off to Dell.
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Deacon Brown was one of the first selectmen of Heath, and one of the first deacons of the church. He came from Sterling, and was the son of a clergyman. He married Lucy Rugg, and they had 13 children. He gained other property, so that he owned considerable real estate. Besides the Wetmore place, he owned one of the places in Miss Maxwell's west pasture, the cellar hole is north east of this first mentioned one. Later his fifth child Aaron Brown lived here at the Wetmore place. Dea. Brown also owned what is now the Rev, John U. Harris' sum- mer home, usually known as the Estee place.
Deacon Brown's second son, Daniel, lived here afterward and his son, Hart, was born here, as was Hart's son, Lowel, who was the father of Miss Alice Brown of Sweetheart Tea- house fame, and Laura and Fred Brown. Daniel Brown died in 1843, aged 81.
A daughter of Dea. Brown married Moses Smith, the son of Pelatiah Smith who came from Amherst about this time. Pelatiah Smith bought the place now owned by Peter Royer. This was a large tract and later he sold off some of the acres to other settlers.
Moses Smith was the father of the Rev. Lowell Smith who was born in Heath in 1802, graduated at Williams in 1827, and went soon after as a missionary to the Sandwich Islands, where he built up a church of some 1200 members, and labored with great success through a long life.
Aaron Smith, son of Pelatiah, married Anna, the daughter of Lieut. Benjamin Maxwell. Aaron Smith, Jr., son of Aaron the first, lived from 1835 on the Benj. Maxwell place, although he was born at Pelatiah Smith's, as was his son, H. Kirk Smith, who was a civil engineer and went to Philadelphia, later return- ing to Heath. He was librarian here for a short time. His sister, Mrs. Amelia Guild, at one time lived in one part of this place at the center and H. Kirk Smith in the other part.
Mrs. Guild's son, Edward Payson Guild, was a journalist in Boston but came to Heath summers and took a great many
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pictures of the lovely views in town which would otherwise be but memories. He was the first president of the Historical Society and had a keen interest in its activities. In 1902 at one of the old home day celebrations, Mr. Guild presented a tablet to mark the Old Town House. The inscription reads: "Old Town House, Built 1835. Heath Historical Society, organized 1900."
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