USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Springfield > Springfield, 1636-1886 : history of town and city, including an account of the quarter-millennial celebration at Springfield, Mass., May 25 and 26, 1886 > Part 13
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Sabbath wch act he acknowledged to be soe for his calling Isaak Sheldon a mem- ber of Old Nick & a member of the Devill And for his contempt of the Au- thority in Springfeild in saying he thought he might as well believe his boy (when he said Springfeild commissioners threatened him with ye Stocks & pmised him some new clothes) as the said Commissioners in declaring wt his boy said agt him : This court judged the said to pay as a fyne to ye Courte the summe of 20s.
John Webb was before the same court.
John Webb Senr, being presented by ye Jury for abusing ye Constable in ex- ecution of his office in Elizur Holyokes case in saying of the Constables he would make it too hott for him if he lay there, & his neck so stretch before the morrow if he tooke any harme by his lodging there; also for that he said he could afford to thumb both ye Constables and his man that attended him & for his contempt- nous behavior toward Northampton Commissioners, he is fyned to ye county by this Courte in ye summe of 40s.
Ministers and judges alike shared the ill-will of those unruly spirits. In 1668 our bibulous acquaintance, John Matthews, was led to the post and severely flogged for the offence referred to below : - -
John Matthews of Springfield being by Capt. Pynchon bound over to this Courte to answer for his exceeding contemptuous behavior towards Mr Glover minister of ye Word : the sd Matthews appearing at this Courte & the evidences pduced & read. it appeareth that his carriage was very odious & shamefull to wards M' Glover in a very vile manner much after the custome of ye Quakers reviling Mr Glover as by the testimonys more at large appeareth :
This Courte therefore doth judge the sd John Matthews to be well whipped on the naked body with fifteen stripes & that he be bounde in ye summe of tenn pounds for his good behavior till the Courte at Springfield in Sept next & that he pay costs of Courte vizt 20s for Courte charges.
Execution also was pformed according to ye sentence.
It is sad to relate that the duties of beating the drum for divine service did not have a more salutary influence upon Matthews. This reference to the Quakers brings up a subject not quite in the line of
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our narrative, except as it was one of the causes of anxiety on the part of our forefathers, who hated heresy quite as cordially as Catholicism itself. In March, 1673, a Westfield Quaker was dealt with, but by no means so severely as the Bay authorities would have done. The case was as follows : -
Geo. Filer of Westfield being presented by the Jury for diverse disorders and being examined firstly, for entertayning of Quakers Last summer : he ownes he did entertayne them being necessitated thereunto because none else would as he sayes. George Filer sayth he shall before the World own that he is one of them whom ye world calls Quakers : Also he is presented for absenting himselfe from Gods publike worship on ye Sabbath he ownes he has genrlly absented himself gen'lly last winter, his speeches have been contemptuous of the Ministers of the Word and their work vizt that they turne over 20 or 30 Authors in a week to patch up an hourses discourse or two on the Sabbath : And tho he would pretend that he meant not the ministry in that Town or of N England, yet by the testi- monyes it appeares otherwise : He seems to be a very seminary of corrupt & hereticall opinions tending to poysoning & corrupting the minds of them wth wm he hath to do : And in speaking of the religion of the Quakers (he speaks of it as distinct from that pfessed by our Nation in this country) he calls it Our religion. that is his own & such as hee.
Filer was simply reprimanded for his opinions, but £5 fine " or be well whipped " was imposed for his " speaking against the ministry."
We will not leave John Matthews without transcribing a very cu- rious and interesting record found at Northampton, where the County Court sat in September, 1678. While it is a few years beyond the limits of the period dealt with in this chapter, it can best be given here : -
Jolin Matthews of Springfield being be ye Grandjury Presented to this Courte for his Scandoulous vile revileing of his Neighbor Jonth Burt and appeareing in Courte & being examined according to his Presentit he did acknowledge his fault fullie according to ye testimony given in against him. This Courte Weighing his ungodlie unseemelieness of his sin as it stands odiouslie Circumstaneed under ye Considerations of a hoarie heade which Ought above Others to be founde in ye way of Righteousness and his long Profession & standing in Christeanitie Conld
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doe noe less As alsoe would Beare due testimony agst such Scandoulous ungod- lieness They adjudge ye Old man Professor to be well Whipt on ye naked back with ten Stripes Butt upon ye Motion of some of his Neighbors & ye Intreatie of ye Delinquente yt such severe Punishment might a while mitigated or respitted Promising yt Lenitie or hopeing yt Lenitie may Rather y" such Severitie may gaine ye delinquent to reflection on his vile course & amendment. This Courte likes well of this motion & Being agreived in there thoughts to smite old age, doe recall the judgemt from being justly executed on ye old man & delinquent for ye triall of his good behaviour.
Matthews was bound over in £5 to keep the peace ; but he for- feited his bond by not appearing as ordered at the next court. Four years later Matthews was put under a guardian, and his child main- tained by the town. The above record is an invaluable and pre- cious bit of evidence of the working of the true and enduring spirit of forbearance that follows in the path of strict justice. We asso- ciate so continually the iron in the dispensations of New England jurisprudence that the other side of the picture rarely appears. But directly upon the heel of this and like attempts to reform as well as punish offenders in the same breath come some truly Spartan exhibi- tions of justice. We may not applaud the law, but must admire its impartial application. The colonial laws regulated the subject of extravagant dressing, and our Hampshire court was awake to its duty. The County Court first took notice of this class of offences by summoning before it the selectmen of all the towns for not assessing " forbidden apparel " at its full value, and this not leading to a ref- ormation the extravagant women were duly proceeded against under the colonial law. In many cases, when women were summoned be- fore the court on a charge of wearing silks or finery, their husbands were forced to apologize for their absence. It was a very difficult thing to bring women into court. In September, 1673, it is re- corded : -
Diverse women at Springfeild presented at ye Courte in March last for that being of meane estate they did weare Silkes contrary to Law vixt Goodwife
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abden Goody Colton Goody Morgan Goody Barnard Mercy & Hephzibod Jones Hunters wife & Danghter & Abell Wrights wife, & warned to this Courte the ix former appring in Courte they were admonisht of their extravagancyes & lismist.
The Goody Morgan referred to was Mrs. David Morgan. Three years later the following persons were " presented by ye Grandjury o ye Courte at Northampton March 26 1676 some for wearing of silk & yt in a flonting manner & attire for Long haire & other extravegan- ies, Contrary to honest & Labor Order & Demeanor not Becoming Wilderness State at Least ye Profession of Christianity & Religion." n the list of offenders were the following from this village : "Wife of Henry Rogers, Lidia Exile, Hanah Morgan, Sarah Gilburt, Ianah Leonard, Nath11 Bliss, Thos Stebbins & his wife, John Bakers wife, Jonth Stebbins, Henry Chapin, Corporal Holyoke, Mary & Sarah Colton, Sarah Cooley, Meriam Merrieke, Sarah & Mary Dumbleton."
Warrants arrived in Springfield in 1661, from the Bay, for the trrest of the regicides Goffe and Walley, but it may be inferred that is both fugitives passed through the town, the vigilance of the author- ties was not of a remarkable order.
Before following the course of legislation and administration of ustice during this period, we will dispose of the numerous offences igainst private morals by saying that the records show that for many ears, indeed, until the eighteenth century, the local authorities ind the country magistrates had as much trouble in enforcing the aws in this regard as those of theft and of assault and battery ogether. All that need be attempted here is the quotation of speci- nen cases. We find the following in the court record, under date of September, 1660, at the Springfield session : -
John Stebbins of Northampton beinge bound to presente Robert Lyman of the ame Towne for misdeameaninge himselfe towards his, the said John Stebbins vife : he the said John Stebbins complaines to this courte that the said Robert
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frequentinge the said Johns house did use very evil & unseemly behavior toward his the said Johns wife enticeinge her several tymes that he might ly wth hex takinge her in his armes & otherwise venting his unchast desires.
Lyman was fined £10 and bound over to keep the peace. Som years later a Hadley Indian was caught in compromising relation with Rebecca Allen, of Northampton. He was committed to " tw able young men " to be conveyed to Springfield, but "as the; travelled he used means to loose his bond and escaped, notwith standing their utmost endeavors to take him." The girl was con demned to twenty stripes, the court believing that she did not resis him as she should have done. The punishment was deferred unti after the birth of her child. Ebenezer and Hannah Miller confessed in open court to improper relations before marriage, and were fined 40s. Masters often flogged their slaves for immoralities, and in a least one case the court ordered a father to whip his boy on the naked back in the presence of the constable, or to pay a fine, for hi relations with a negress. The boy had told the judges that he had been tempted by the negress, and might have fallen, " if God had no kept him." The court refused to accept his word. In 1673 Hannah the unmarried daughter of Thomas Mirrick, accused Jonathan Mor gan, son of Miles Morgan, of the paternity of her child. Miles and David Morgan went his bail. The following year Jonathan, who made a stout fight, and appears to have won over many to the belie in his innocence, was forced by a decree of the court to pay 2s. 6d weekly for the first four years toward the support of the child. The witness whose word settled the doubt in the minds of the court was Mrs. Elizur Holyoke (his second wife). She received from Hannal a full confession, and the girl was condemned to pay £7 or receive twenty stripes. Even at this late stage Jonathan was not content to let the matter drop, and brought a suit for slander against Thomas Mirriek, Hannah's father, for circulating charges against him Jonathan lost his case. Eight years later, Miles Morgan was in
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'onble over another child. His daughter Lydia worked in the family f Samuel Gaines, of Hartford, who became the father of her illegit- nate child. The suit of Mr. Morgan against Gaines resulted in a ecree of maintenance of the child against the latter.
In passing a sentence of " ten stripes " upon a man for immoral onduct and living " apart from his wife," the judges declared their greate Cause to Lament and bewaile ye sore hand of God agst us suffering such vile inormityes to Breake out amongst us ich as a 'lood doe threaten to overwhelme us."
Griffith Jones, who figured in the witchcraft case, was given fifteen shes on the bare back for low conversation among young people ; nd there is reported a case before Mr. Pynchon, where it was decreed, reference to the disposal of the illegitimate child of two negro laves, that " the masters of sd negroes be joynt & equall in the harge of sd child either in paymts or otherwise till sd child attaine e age of nine years & then to have a joynt & equall propertie in sd hild of value thereof to be divided between ym, or one of them aking the child the other to have paymt of full one half of ye vallue f sd child from him who hath ye child." Both negroes were flogged, he woman receiving fifteen lashes before, and fifteen lashes after her ickness.
Francis Hacklinton, of Northampton, while furnishing brick for 'ynchon's new house, found time to act scandalously toward Pyn- hon's domestic, Hector Bliss, and Mrs. Samuel Ely circulated evil eports about them. Hacklinton sued Mrs. Ely for slander, but lost is case.
It goes without saying that these sad exhibitions were the result of he lack in the Puritan polity of proper provision for innocent musement, sports, or pastime. To remark that Springfield life was n unrelieved struggle with Satan and the wilderness is only admit- ing that it was a worthy member of the Massachusetts family of owns. There was a despotism of theory and practice that regulated he movement of everybody, from the magistrate and minister to the
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slave, and family government was a part of the grand scheme which began in town-meeting and ended in paradise or the bottomless pit Fancy the spirit of the age which made it possible for a court to order a man to flog his son upon the bare back in the presence of the town officers and possibly a gaping crowd !
The County Court kept a sharp eye upon the home, and was quick to enforce the parental authority. Samuel Ball was ordered to be flogged because he used abusive language to his father-in-law, Ben- jamin Munn, saying that he respected him " no more than an old Indian," and exclaiming, " A father ! There's a father indeed ! ' Here is a specimen vote of this period touching the management of children : " This Courte doth ord" Capt. Pynchon wth ye Select men of Springfield to dispose of James Osborne's eldest son, there being complaynt made to this court yt the said Lads tyme is spent very unprofitably."
Whenever a town showed any signs of relaxation in family govern ment the court would sharply reprimand the selectmen, who were in general ordered to " regulate & settle young p'sons under Govern- ment according to law." This meant family government, of course.
In March, 1675, the County Court lamented " much idle expense of Precious time," and prohibited tavern-keepers from selling liquor to any but " Governers of families of Sober Carriage, ye intent of this order being yt such Persons yt have ye liberty should use yer but to prevent a trade of Drinking & Drunkenes amongst us."
The children of the town were brought into very close relations to the tything-man, and at all times were made conscious that the eye of authority was upon them. The tything-men for Springfield, appointed at the March term for 1678, were as follows : -
Jno Lamb To Inspect ye upper pt of yt Town all Families from ye uppermost House to Mr Glover's House inclusivelie.
Sam" Ball To Inspect all ye Families from Mr Glovers to Jno Clarks House inclusivelie.
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Increase Sikes ¡ To Inspect all ye famielies from thence to Obadiah Coolies in- cluesivelie.
Israel Colton { To Inspect all ye Famielies in ye Long Meadow. Jno Barber senr All ye famielies on ye West side of ye River at Springfeikl. James Taylor
The court added the following order, which, it may be remembered. is not in the phraseology of the colony laws, and technically, at least, is in the nature of legislation : -
All weh Persons as aforesd being Anthorized ye Tithing men for ye severall Townes as aforesd are hereby required faithfullie to act in inspecting of yir Neighbors, so as ye sin & disorder be prevented & Suppresd in there severall Precints, & as occation may be to assist One another & act in One anothers Precints dischargeing ye office of tithing men, according to ye law made Novr 1675, May 1677, Oct" 1677 they haveing Refference thereunto - And Further this Courte doth now Comend to these tithing men & require ym dilegentlie to take Care yt ye Sabbath be not Prophaned by Youth or elder Persons sitting or standing abroad out of their Meeting houses in ye time of Gods Publique Worshipp whereby they are exposed to many temptations & divertions. But yt they do Check all such Persons & soe deale with ym as thereby to enforce them to goe in within there Meeting Houses where they may attend better and be in sight or otherwise to present there names in Case such doe not reforme, to ye Magestrates Comissors or other authoreeties in ye severall Towns to proceed against such Persons yt shall remayne refreetory according as they shall see Cause. As alsoe to have a vigelent eye upon such Persons yt shall without just and necessary Cause be unseasonablie abroade in ye Evenings from yir parents & Masters Famielies all Persons being to repaire to their Lodgings or homes by Nine of ye Clocke at Night or rather Before, And what Persons soe ever they find faultie herein in being abroade unseasonablie or othrwise faultie they are to admonish & hasten to yir oun proper places of aboade wheather they are to repaire wh it draws towards Nine of Clock at Night.
Under the shadow of this supervision the youth grew ; but one finds a singularly Roman spirit of administration of the law. When the lad Samuel Holyoke was caught with other boys making a dis-
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turbance one Sabbath day, and was brought, with the rest, before the court of which his father was a member, no parental consideration prevented the imposition of the regular fine. The boy subsequently became the noted Indian fighter, Samuel Holyoke.
It was some time after the first meeting-house was put up that glass was secured for the windows, and the natural curiosity of the children went to the usual lengths, and some of the windows were broken. The selectmen at once laid down a rule that a child caught at any sports abont the meeting-house should be fined, and in case the governors or parents refused to pay the fine the children should be duly whipped in the presence of the board. Having run beyond the date of this chapter, we will go a step farther and add some orders passed in 1680 : -
Wher as there have ben for a longe tyme great disordir in our asembly by many young persons flocking out of the meeting hous before the blessing is pronounsed many of them canot be thought to have any nesesyty so to do and thare being a Cuntry law that doth comend it to the select mens care and it being a grief to seryons minds, we doe declare and order that no person so doe ex- ceptin thare shall be a nesesary ocasyon : and we doe request and order Inerese Sickes to keepe the east doore and Isaaek Gleson and Benjamen Thomas to looke to the South doore. And we doe request Liftenant Stebins to apoynt on of the ganrd to see to the youth there about etc.
It is also ordered by the Selectmen that all persons or boys under the age of twelve years of age sit on that seat under the Decons seat and also on that seat against it and on the stars, only they must not Block up the stars when Mr Glover coms.
The death of Mrs. Mary Holyoke, October 26, 1657, may be called a sad sequel of her father's practical banishment. Her sister, Mrs. Henry Smith, as we have seen, finally went crazy, but whether as a result of her father's persecution is not known. JJohn Pynchon was called to England in 1664 by the death of William Pynchon, which took place at Wraisbury, October 29, 1662. His body was not carried to Writtle, where many of his family are buried, but he lies in
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
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the church-yard at Wraisbury, an interior of whose church is given in the accompanying illustration. When William Pynchon returned
TTIT
EUZABETH WTUCT Of PHILIP HARC DUAT ESO" DAUCHTLP OF
ACL · 57
INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH WHERE WILLIAM PYNCHON IS BURIED.
to England ten years before, Oliver Cromwell was at the head of affairs, and Mr. Pynchon sank into his grave just after the merry King Charles II. had set at work undoing the work of the Revolution.
John Pynchon's estate was materially enlarged by his father's will, and he himself, in November, 1663, made a will, before sailing for
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England, in which he speaks of his warehouses at Boston, his wharf, and land adjoining. He found upon reaching Wraisbnry that his father had left him several hundred acres of land besides much per- sonal property. But John Pynchon was a rich man for those times before this enlargement of his estate.
In about 1659 John Pynchon had planned to build the finest house in New England outside of Boston. He made it at once a garrison, a residence, and a conrt-house. He bargained with Francis Hack- lington, a Northampton man, for the brick, - in all 50,000, for which he paid a little over $2,000. This building was probably com- pleted in 1661, and was situated where Fort street now is. It was the most important structure in this valley for many years, and re- mained a historic landmark on our Main street until well into the present century, when it was pulled down in spite of ardent protests, and for no good reason that business or propriety can suggest to us.
THE OLD PYNCHON "FORT" OR RESIDENCE.
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CHAPTER IX.
1674-1676.
The Indian Situation. - Puritan View of the Savage. - The Agawams. - English Laws for the Natives. - Indian Mortgage Deeds. - An Appeal to Boston. - The Origin of Slavery in New England. - Perfecting Title to the Land. - King Philip's War. - The Attack upon Brookfield. - Lieutenant Cooper sent forward from Springfield. - Beers, Lathrop, Mosely, and Treat march to the Rescue of the Connecticut Valley Towns. - The Swamp Fight. - Death of Beers. - Bloody Brook. - Pynchon's Protest to the Commissioners. - The Indian Fort at Springfield. - The Town burned by King Philip. - Pynchon's Hasty Ride from Hadley. - Death of Cooper and Miller. - Captain Appleton in Command. - Trouble about Military Authority. - Winter. - Death of Elizur Holyoke and Selectman Keep. - The Fight at Turner's Falls. - Heroism of Samuel Holyoke. - King Philip's Death.
For forty years Springfield was happily free from the scenes of fire and blood that usually attend the occupancy of a savage wilder- ness. If we have read the town's story aright, there was reason for this exceptionally good fortune. The first planters never occupied a foot of ground without paying for it, and the Pynchon rule of even justice toward the Indian was known to the tribes hundreds of miles away. The Pynchons were famed in all the wigwams from Quabang to the Mohawk country for their justice and fair play. The Indians often brought their disputes to Springfield for settlement, and they were justly dealt with, even when the authorities in Connecticut and down at the Bay were antagonized.
Looking at the question broadly, it will baffle philosophy itself to analyze the workings of the Puritan mind when confronted by the savage ; but what can be said of the results of the contact of English, Indian, and negro? The subject seemed of little moment in those days, but, measured by the result, is of vital importance. The very
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charter of the Massachusetts Bay colony imposed upon the incorpo- rators the duty of extinguishing the Indian title and making the native a convert to the gospel. The general sense of the early set- tlers was that the Indians should receive fair treatment ; and in a de- gree they did. At the same time we see in the Puritans from the start an insidious element working against the native. The Puritans did not flee from sin ; they hated, pursued, and fought it ; the heathen were children of sin, and the Indians, heathen. This is the simple chain of unconscious logic that prevailed in New England.
The inevitable tendeney of a strong race to make headway against an inferior one was apparent right here in Springfield. William Pynchon soon found, in dealing with the Indians, that they were lazy, unreliable, and quick to take offence. Their vengeful disposition, coupled with their secretive ways and their long memory of slights, soon cansed Pynchon to avoid employing them as much as possible. He even refused to use them as messengers and scouts, when white troopers were within call. Indians would loiter by the way, and were not above breaking their word. Nor did they come up to the English standard of personal tidiness ; if they had not been probed by the sharp rod of the white man's law, they would have been con- tent to stroll about these streets and live off alms at the back doors of this plantation. Our Agawams and our Woronocos, like all the Algonquin tribes, were accustomed to subjugation. They gave tribute to the Six Nations, and no doubt looked npon the whites as a relief, and they preferred to pay out their wampum to a race more worthy of it. The Agawams were numerically inferior to the Pocomtucks at Deerfield, who were the leaders of the local tribes.
The English regard for the Indian, therefore, was the regard of the strong for the weak, the shiftless, and the unreliable. The red man of the forest, in whose richly bronzed bosom beat all the nobility God ever breathed into a hero, did not reside in Springfield, at least in the seventeenth century.
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