USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Heath > Sesquicentennial anniversary of the town of Heath, Massachusetts, August 25-29, 1935; addresses, speeches, letters, statistics > Part 6
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Other settlers who arrived soon after the foregoing were Joseph Butler, whose deed was dated 1770; he bought where Myron Hamilton and son are living. Joseph Barker came also in 1770. Daniel Rugg came before 1770 and in 1771 "for love and good will" deeded his 100 acres to his son Reuben. This is the Harris place so-called at the Center, now owned by Rev. Worcester Perkins.
Diadama, the oldest daughter of a later Daniel Rugg, mar- ried Chester Goodell; they lived in a little house that stood a little below the house Frank Carpenter recently bought of the Misses White, but their house stood on the other side of the road leading to Plover Hill. Her sister, Caroline Rugg, married Orric Elmer.
There were several families of Ruggs who came to Heath, who were all valuable citizens. They owned much property both at the Center and east and also in the north part of the town. Dea. David Rugg was a prominent member of the family ; he owned and lived where William Bolton now does for a long time, but moved to East Charlemont where Frank Clark is living now and then moved west. A daughter of his, Eunice, married Wm. Monroe Maxwell; another daughter, Elizabeth, married Capt. James Maxwell.
Silas Allen, housewright, came here before 1770 and sold lot 13 to Barker in 1770. He must have been a man of con- siderable wealth for he transacted a good deal of business in real estate. He later bought lot 8 in 1792 of Samuel Talcott,
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presumably he built the house. This was where Oliver Tanner lived at the four corners. He also bought the land east, also called lot 8. The house on this part of the lot stood on the south side of the Colrain road, about opposite where the Baptist church first stood.
Silas Allen sold the west part of the lot to Wm. Fisk and bought back the place he sold to Barker, which is the one we know as the Spooner place. He built the house which was a large two-story one and stood until 1889 when it was destroyed by fire. Mr. Allen lived here until he died in 1841.
Elijah Allen, his son, married a daughter of Stephen Thompson and lived on the old Allen homestead until his death in 1847. :
The Thayer family was one of the earliest to settle here. Asahel Thayer bought in 1763 the farm which afterwards be- came the town farm, now occupied by Oscar Landstrom. There was a Dependance Thayer, an Israel, a Josiah. Jonathan Thayer owned a good deal of real estate both in the south as well as in the east. He sold part of his south property to William Trask, which place is at the top of Trask Hill. Jonathan also owned both of Dr. Frank Davenport's places. There were other Thayer deeds, too, but the names have all disappeared from our records.
One of the family now living in Bellows Falls, Vt., told of the time when his great-grandfather removed his family to Jamaica, Vt. that he put the two children on a horse and placed them in a "feather bed-tick" which was slit for the purpose, so that a child was on each side of the horse. It was in the late Fall but they rode in comfort and warmth to their destination.
Another early family were the Warfields. There were three brothers, Job, Joshua and Josiah. Job, first owned the place just below the Parsonage, now owned by Mrs. William Fair- banks. Josiah owned the "Aunt Mary Maxwell place," so-called, which is the place just before the Whittemore watering-trough
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on the road to the south cemetery. Joshua first owned the Wells or Kent place, which was east of Brad. Davenport's; there was a road from the Colrain road near Mr. Kinsman's leading to it, also one from the Colrain brook road.
A later Job Warfield bought the Barker place which was a bit north of the brick house owned by Maurice Hosmer. Elihu Edward Warfield bought a lot in North Heath and felled the trees and built a log-house there in the wilderness, and brought his bride there. He married Martha the 7th child of Abijah Gleason. Henry Warfield lived where George Newton now does, and it is thought that this place is where E. Edward first owned. Henry Warfield taught school most successfully in the Heath schools, later moving to Buckland where his widow (second wife) now resides. She has just had her ninetieth birth- day.
Later E. Edward moved into the No. 9 district where Ray- mond Lively now lives, then exchanged this place for the Jos. Thwing place with Wm. Sullivan Gleason. Herbert Warfield, a son of Edward tells of living here and attending school at the North Center school near the Cemetery, one of the few living who remember going there.
The Temple family adds another name to the early annals. The first one, Benjamin, bought a great deal of land here, about 1765. Two of his youngest children were born here. Zebuda, his youngest daughter married Thomas Bond, who was the man who served on both sides in the Revolution. They lived on Burnt Hill.
Benjamin Temple's children, Timothy, Solomon, Salmon and Seth all owned places here. Solomon bought the place now owned by Ray Dickinson, and his brother Seth, the one just below, the home of the late Mrs. Nellie Clarke. It was said the two brothers wished to build houses opposite, but Seth had to build farther down the hill because of the water supply.
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Richard, a son of Solomon, bought a lot in North Heath, which is the farm belonging to his granddaughter, Mrs. Jesse Thompson. He cleared the place and built a log-cabin which stood north-east of the present house. Richard had three chil- dren of the 12 born to him, who stayed in Heath,-Eunice, who married Nathaniel Carriel or Carroll; Abigail, who married Aaron Dickinson-one of his sons was William A., who married Lucy Flagg and they had four children; Edward, who lives in the brick house with his brother, Ray; Mary, who married Frank Stafford and lives in Charlemont and have children and grandchildren ; Cornelius, who married Eva Payne and lives in Shelburne Falls; H. F., or Ray, who married Belle Gleason, (daughter of Fred and Della Gleason) and they have three children, Ralph, Esther and Howard; Richard Franklin, a son of Richard 1st, married Ann Maria Wheeler and they had four children; Nancy, who married James Haskins; Idella, who married George Brown and who recently died; Clara, who died in 1932 and Charlotte, who married Jesse Thompson. They have two children, Maurice married Edna Blanchard and has three children, Richard, Eleanor and Gerald; Ruth, married Harry Terrill. There has been someone of the family of Richard Temple living here on this place continuously for 125 years.
Nathaniel, son of Solomon, bought the place now owned by Mrs. Frank Pike and in 1820 built the present house. His oldest child was John A., who was the father of Amos Temple, the popular speaker of Heath in the near past. Amos married Ann Eliza, daughter of Capt. David Gould.
David, the next child of Nathaniel, bought the estate of Jacob Chapin, now Miss Edith Grant's. He was elected to the office of selectman in 1829 and held that office for 13 years ; he was often called upon to settle estates. He married Martlia Christie, and three children were born to them, Martha J., who married Samuel K. Gleason and had four children ; Carrie, who married Rev. J. W. Barter, a Methodist preacher of Heath ;
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they had three children, Maude, Clifford and Marion; Martha married Will Kendrick and had four children; Cora married Henry Pomeroy and has five children, Charles, Robert, Virginia, Shirley and Mildred; Harry married Fanny Shaw, and has two children, Irving and Ruth; Genevieve married Henry Schack; Jay married Helen Pike. Clifford, the third child of Samuel Gleason married Minnie Thompson and they had two children, Lila, who died several years ago, and Hazel, who mar- ried Mervil Halligan and has one daughter, Jane; the fourth child of Samuel was Ella, who married Howard Vincent.
Hiram, the second child of David Temple, married Abbie J. Warfield, daughter of E. Edward, and they lived in Charle- mont. He studied medicine with Dr. Cyrus Temple, attended the Medical College at Burlington, Vt., and graduated at the Berkshire Medical College at Pittsfield in 1865. He held many important offices in Charlemont. He had three children, the second one was John H., who married Alice V. Burrington, daughter of Albert Burrington of Heath; they had three chil- dren, Barbara Esther married Winthrop Anderson and has several children; Dr. John Temple, the successful physician of Shelburne Falls.
Another child of Nathaniel Temple was Elizabeth or Betsey. She taught at the Mary Lyon school under Mary Lyon. She married Bliss Kinsman in 1830. They bought in 1831 the ancestral estate of their father, Samuel Kinsman, who came to town before 1795 and bought 30 acres of Isaac Gould for 60 pounds. Bliss bought 95 acres of his father for $2500, which shows that considerable work had been done on the land. Bliss and Betsey had 8 children. One was Dr. David, who lived in Ohio; Henry Bliss, the soldier who was killed in a battle at Young's Point, La., but was buried in Heath; three daughters, Christiana, who married Wesley Lamb; they lived near her father's house where Alex Ryan does now; Marion, who married Anson Dwight and lived just over the line in Col- rain, and the youngest in the family, Kate, who married Oscar
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Sumner and lived in North Heath, where a grandson is now living ; Ralph, who married Rachel Burrington and has three children, Ruth, Robert and Dorothy; Oscar and Kate had three children ; Arthur married Grace Gillett and has four children, Ralph, just mentioned, Nellie, who married Ralph Frame of New York, Everett and Oscar who live at home in Shelburne Falls; Alta, another daughter of Oscar, married Justus Stetson and they live in Greenfield; Austin married Ada Sullivan and has one son, Donald.
Samuel and his son, Bliss Kinsman, did quite an extensive business in making brick; the "factory" was at the foot of the hill on the flat, at the clay bank. The brick used in the building of the Kinsman house was made here as well as those of Mr. Hosmer's. There are other houses in town that are made of brick or are lined with brick which no doubt came from the same source. Mr. Samuel Kinsman was killed here by the clay- bank caving in on him.
Marion and Anson Dwight had several children who lived near the father's lands. Henry Dwight lives on the home place and married Susan Fleming. They have three children; Louise married Alexander Ryan and has one son, William; Helen mar- ried Andrew Royer, and has one son, Ernest, Alice, who has just graduated from Mass. State College; Edgar, married Nettie Bassett, daughter of William Bassett, and they lived on the place where Rudolph Ball does now. They have two sons, Halbert, who is married and is now living in California; and Dean married Alice Tennyson and has four children, Esther, Barbara, Edgar and Ralph; Minnie married Wilson Hillman and they lived where her brother Ed. did; they had three chil- dren, Marion, who married Dean Dunnell and has three chil- dren, Evelyn married Matthew Cowley, and John the successful veterinary whose untimely death occurred a short time ago.
Walter, another son of Bliss, married Clara Bassett, sister of Nettie, and lived on the Kinsman homestead. His grandson, Francis, lives there now and married Anna Fisher. They have
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two sons, Russell and Rollo; this means that there has been a member of the Kinsman clan living on this place for 140 years. Walter had four children, Rollo, who died some time ago; Ernest E., married Ellen, daughter of Will Gleason; they had three sons, Elton, the Postmaster at Heath Center, Francis, and Ernest G., who married Dorothy Bressette; Ernest E. lived on the place until a short time ago, then he bought the store at the Center which he conducted for a few years.
The little children, Russell and Rollo Kinsman, who made such a pleasing debut at the historical pageant, are the descend- ants of many of the earliest families who came to Heath ; they are of the fifth generation of the Swains, of the Bassetts and of the Joys, of the sixth generation of the Kinsmans, the Sum- ners, and the Wastes, of the 7th of the Gleasons, and of the 8th generation of the Tafts, Flaggs and Temples.
There were many other Temples well known to many here. Maria, a daughter of Nathaniel, sister to Betsey married Ira Nichols and lived here in town for a while. Their grandchildren now have camps just over the line in Charlemont below Mrs. Moors' place, and are here summers.
Another Temple was Eleanor, daughter of Solomon 2nd. who married Alonzo Graves and they went west. Their daugh- ter, Elizabeth, married Ira Canedy, son of Dennis Canedy. They lived in the west part of town, where George Bolton does now. They had two daughters, Eva, now living in Greenfield, and Ella, who married Henry Churchill and lives next the Historical Hall, where George Temple used to live. James Clark, called Clark Temple, was a brother of Eleanor Graves and married Mary Tinkham. They had three children; Inez married Frank Clark and is now living in East Charlemont.
A bit more concerning the earlier Temples: Elizabeth Temple who was a daughter of the first Benjamin who came to Heath, was given in 1750 or 51 a counterpane by Major Willard of Concord who offered it as a prize for raising the most chickens of any girl in town. The counterpane was given to
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Elizabeth McCrellis, a niece of Elizabeth Temple, and from her passed on to her granddaughter, Lucy E. Dickinson. This same counterpane is in town in the possession of Mrs. Dickin- son's son, Ray.
Seth, another son of Benjamin Temple, married Martha Hunt and lived as mentioned before where Mrs. Clarke lived. Seth enlisted in 1777 and served at the taking of Burgoyne. He enlisted again in 1779, and was at New London. There were eight children. Their daughter Sarah married Alexander Park Maxwell, son of Benjamin Maxwell and moved to Charlemont. Their daughter, Martha A., married Chas. T. Barber, who came here from Ashfield where he owned a general store and then sold it to become an agent for a sewing machine company. In 1860 he bought the place now known as Far Hills for a sum- mer home, but came in 1884 to make it a permanent one. He has been town clerk, town treasurer and tax collector for Heath.
Another son of Seth was John, who married Sarah or Sally, daughter of Jonathan Taylor 2nd and they had 13 children. One of his daughters was Martha, who married Henry D. Gould. Their children were Walter H., and Nellie M., who married Morris Stacy ; another son was Henry Martyn, who married Lucretia Kendrick. He was a member of Co. B., 52nd Regiment, Mass. Volunteers. They had two children, Seth Edwin, born in 1890, who married Mattie Brown and five children were theirs; Earl, Mildred, Forest, Vincie, and Harold, who conducts a very successful greenhouse in Shattuckville on the farm owned by his father. Seth died in July of this year. A daugh- ter, Lilla J., sister of Seth, was born in 1866.
John and Sally Temple had three sons who were physicians, Cyrus married Mary Jane Flagg, and practiced medicine in Heath and Whitingham. Their second child was Elijah Flagg and is now living in North Adams.
Dr. Frederick, the youngest son of the family, in his younger days taught school with much success. He also studied medicine with his brother Cyrus at Heath and later with Dr.
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Samuel Taylor of Templeton, and finished his education at the medical school at Castleton, Vt. His practice was mostly in Whitingham, Vt., and vicinity. Dr. Theron, the brother next older, like his brother, was a successful teacher, then studied medicine and graduated at the Berkshire medical school at Pittsfield. He was a surgeon of the 25th Mass. Infantry but relinquished his practice after the war. He practiced in Bel- chertown, Ashburnham, Amherst, Boston and Waltham where he lived. He was inspector in the Boston custom house for 10 years. He was considered very skillful as a physician and stood high in his profession with his medical brothers, being often called to counsel with them in difficult cases.
The youngest child of John and Sally was Elizabeth, who married Emerson Harris, and they had nine children. Nora married Tom Tanner; Bessie married Myron Hamilton and they had two children; Carrie, who married Frank McCloud, they have one son, Ronald; Earl. married Della Mathys and they have four children, Margaret, Emerson, David and Mary. Ralph, another son of Emerson Harris, married Nellie Canedy and they have four children, Arthur. Herbert, Laura and May. Frank D., another son, married Ethel Roberts and they have three sons, Herman, Irving and Alfred. The oldest daughter of John was Elizabeth, who married Henry Mitchell; their daughter Maud, married William Bolton, earlier mentioned ; Lucy Isabelle was another daughter, usually known as Belle.
The first Kinsman deed was in 1795, this was the Samuel Kinsman one; in those early days there were three brothers of the Kinsmans, Samuel, David and Joseph. David settled on the place now owned by Mr. Hosmer, Joseph the one near where the Chaffins later lived. The children of Joseph numbered five, eleven belonged to David and Abigail (Fox) Kinsman and Samuel had 10 childen,but of all these 26 children of the three
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brothers it seems strange that only one made Heath his per- manent home, this one was Bliss.
Benjamin Maxwell came to Heath in 1775 the same year his brother Hugh did, and bought 82 acres of William Brown, and after living in the little house already erected built the present house, which is now owned by Mrs. Dana Malone at the Center.
He served in the French and Indian war and in the cam- paign of 1758 was in Major Roger's Rangers. He was always an active and leading citizen. He died in 1820 at the age of 90. He had a daughter, Anna, who wrote a history of Heath. She owned quite a bit of property and lived about where the horse sheds now stand.
Her father owned much land in town. He sold the land where the pound is located to the town, which was near Sun- nyside Parsonage and he also sold the land where the first church was erected after it was taken down from the location in South Heath. He also sold land to the town for a cemetery, which is the present Center one for $20.
Benjamin had other children, all prominent citizens; Capt. Benjamin, who bought the place we know as Aunt Mary Maxwell place. Frazier, Sylvanus, Winslow and William were also his sons, and owned places here.
Thompson Maxwell, a brother to Col. Hugh and Lieut. Benjamin, owned the place which became the hotel in Heath. He and his wife Sibbel sold this in 1779 to Shearjashub Spoon- er, who sold it to Job Coleman in 1797.
Stephen Thompson came in 1784 from Milford and settled in the southeast part of the town, on the farm now owned by Mrs. Louis Lively but the house stood on the opposite side of the road. He served in the Revolution. His oldest son, Rufus,
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was one of the early settlers out north. Another son, Luther, lived on the old homestead, and we think built the present house on the Lively place.
John Howland Thompson was a son of Luther and wrote and delivered the historical address for the Heath Centennial in 1885. His brother, E. Payson, married Susan Jane Burrington, the only daughter of John Burrington.
Thomas Harrington came in 1784 and bought 75 acres of Asaph White, which place is now known as the Crofoot place. The first house stood north of the present one. He was a son of Timothy, who was the beloved minister of Lancaster for so many years. Timothy B. Harrington, son of Thomas, later bought where Frank Burrington now owns, where John Bur- rington, grandfather of Frank, lived.
Brainard T., grandson of Thomas, graduated at Amherst in 1852, and married a granddaughter of Dea. Sullivan Taft. He was present at the celebration in 1885 and responded to the address of welcome. His sister. Jane, married Augustus Smith, son of Moses Smith, and they lived in the old red house on the corner and kept the tavern, selling it to move to North Brook- field, where two of their children are living now. A great- grandson and great-granddaughter are in town this year, Thomas H., and Harriet Harrington.
Col. David Snow came about 1800 and we understand built his house that year, which is just below the town hall where H. S. Tanner lives now. He was a builder, a house- wright, and built a good number of residences around. He also built the present Union church in Heath in 1833, and the itemized bill is on file, including the site which he owned; he also built the Historical hall in 1835.
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Col. Snow owned a great deal of real estate, seemed to own a large part of the center, owned some land in Dell. In 1822 he sold 35 acres to Harrison Holland, father of Josiah Gilbert Holland, which place is where Chandler Churchill lived, also where Fred Benson carried on his business. He sold the place, too, recently bought by Frank Carpenter to Amos Brooks in 1836, the property on which the town hall now stands to David Thayer in 1826. Col. David bought it of Thompson Smith in 1818.
At an old home day in 1902, William Snow, a son of David, gave some reminiscences, published in the "Gazette" which I will quote: "Mr. Snow related how his father, when the old church was raised, stood on his head upon the rafters. Mr. Snow told of his boyish experiences in attending singing school. The master suspected that he had little voice, and made him sing the scale by himself. He then said to him, "Boy, take your book and go home." Mr. Snow felt very uncomfortable at this, as previously he had always been addressed as "young man." Afterwards he tried singing in the attic Sunday morning but his father told him to stop sawing wood Sunday, so that his musical efforts were rather unavailing."
He also told about old times among the young people, courting days, and discussed like delightful themes. One of the young men, he said, was too bashful to ask the girls to go about with him, so that his mother and the mothers of the girls he wanted to take, had to arrange for such invitations. The secret was let out as to who this young man was by Mrs. F. E. Welch at a succeeding meeting. She asked if that was the time he had not the courage to ask her sister to attend a singing school with him, and Mr. Snow had to own up it was.
The first of the Kendrick family in town was John, who bought in West Heath, the farm now owned by George Bolton, this was in 1810. Oliver Kendrick, son of John, bought the
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place where Wm. Fairbanks lived, now owned by Mrs. Ethel Schmidt, and added on the place north which he bought of Samuel Kinsman, both places were in the Lombard tract. Oliver was a mason by trade and did considerable work in his line all around here, and it is said his handiwork can be seen in the Mansion House in Greenfield. He married Anna, daugh- ter of Solomon Gleason and they were both members of the Baptist church. They had 10 children. Sarah Augusta came here to live, as well as Ella Purrington, whose mother was Ann Kendrick. Ella married Clifford Hager and they live in Charlemont.
Oliver B., a son, lived here at the old place, and bought in 1866 the place known as the old Adamsville Tavern, a hostelry known miles around for its hospitality ; he conducted it as a hotel for 10 years, later using it merely for a residence.
William Kendrick, another son of Oliver K., lived on the ox-bow road just about in the bend, the place owned by Mr. Hosmer. The old house used to stand east of the present brick one. He married Sarah J. Brooks, daughter of Amos Brooks, and here the children were born. Abbie married Henry Win- slow and went to Nebraska to live. Mary married Reuben Page and they had one son, Albert, now living in Colrain, and Will, who married Martha Gleason earlier referred to.
The Stetson family are among the recent arrivals, having been here in town about 72 years! The Stetson kindred in America are all descendants of one Robert Stetson, called Cornet Robert, as he was "The Veteran Cornet of the Troop- ers." He came to America in 1634.
There were two Stetsons who came to Heath, Robert and Isaac. They were the sons of Thomas; he bought a farm in Colrain and established there a good home for his family. Rob- ert married Sarah Barber and they had three children, John, George and Adelbert. John married Bertha Coates, and they
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have two children, Florence, who married Rodolph Fournier and has eight children; Sarah, married Max Churchill and they have three children. George Stetson maried Sarah Benson, and they have two sons; Herbert married Beulah Hager and they have four children, Kenneth, Douglas, Lois and Stewart ; Harold married Marion Pomeroy and they have three children. Adelbert married Flora Thompson and they have four children living, Hazel, Julia and Merle, and Francis, who married Lena Poirier, and they have three children.
Isaac W. Stetson came to Heath, rented the Ashahel Hawks place in North Heath which contained 120 acres about the time of his marriage to Melissa Worden of West Dover, Vt., in 1863. This place was his home until his death which occurred two years ago, in his 96th year. This is the place which Isaac's son has just sold to Paul Smith.
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