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 17
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There was just one local touch of witchcraft which at this time was settling like a black cloud on the eastern shores of the colony. Mary Randolph, of Northampton, was put under bonds to appear and answer the charge of being a witch ; but this is the last that was heard of her case. There are occasional references to slaves. One, known as " Jack," escaped from Wethersfield, was caught and lodged in the Springfield jail in 1680.
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
Nathaniel Burt, of the board of selectmen of 1678, resigned in July because he was not a freeman, and his brother, Jonathan Burt, was chosen in his place. The record as to this matter begins : "It was pprounded y' being some scruple made concerning the Selectmen's Acts, because the Major part of ym are not freemen according to order, whether ye Town would not rectify ye same."
The General Court, in obedience to the royal proclamation of April 27, 1678, ordering all subjects to take the oath of allegiance, directed the various magistrates to administer it forthwith ; accord- ingly John Pynchon performed that duty to the following inhabitants of Springfield on December 3, 1678, and January 1, 1679 : -
Pelatiah Glover,
Robert Ashley,
John Holyoke, George Colton, Thomas Mirrick,
Daniel Denton,
Anthony Dorchester,
Sammel Marshfield,
Jolın Dumbleton,
Benjamin Parsons, Jr.,
Jonathan Burt,
Rowland Thomas,
Lient. Thomas Stebbins. John Lamb, Japhet Chapin,
William Branch, Nathaniel Burt,
Rice Bedortha,
Thomas Day,
Samnel Ely,
Nathaniel Pritchard,
John Stewart,
James Warriner,
John Hitchcock,
Samnel Bliss,
Jonathan Taylor, John Harman, Joseph Ashley.
John Petty,
James Dorchester,
Thomas Cooper.
Edward Foster,
Joseph Leman,
Isaac Colton,
Ephraim Colton,
Thomas Colton,
Increase Sikes,
Victory Sikes,
Nathaniel Sikes, John Bagg,
James Sikes, Obadiah Miller,
John Riley,
John Barber, Jr.,
Charles Ferry,
Samuel Ferry,
William Brook.
John Matthews,
Abel Wright,
Samuel Bliss,
Thomas Stebbins,
Joseph Stebbins.
Edward Stebbins,
Miles Morgan,
Henry Chapin,
John Clark,
Jolin Bliss,
John Scott, Jonathan Ashley,
John Dorchester,
John Barber,
Benjamin Stebbins,
In order to avoid disputes about land titles a vote was passed in January, 1685, that " al former grants of Land wthin this Township
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
of Springfield to each & every singular Person in this Town have been, were & are to them & their heirs for ever." This was passed in order to put the town grants upon the same legal basis as a deed. This was a death-blow to the system of land communism.
After many disagreements, Springfield and Northampton, in April, 1685, settled upon a pine-tree south of Stony Brook near the "upper greate Falls " about forty rods from the river to mark the east and west line between the towns. The tree was inscribed with an "SP," " Nt," and an " A," and was long known as the " Accord Tree." By the colony records we learn that the line, by agreement, ran to the " great barr of the ffalls, - that is, about the first great barr, - next to Northampton." From here the line ran west two and a half miles, south half a mile, thence west to a point nine miles from the river. Northampton was given liberty to fish at the "lower great fall, in the Springfield bounds, without any molestation from Springfeild men," as well as use of the highway to the boating-place below the falls.
In February, 1685, there was a general apportionment of lands on account of an extra land-grant by the General Court. Liberal amounts were first reserved for the ministry and the schools. Mr. Glover was remembered in the list of apportionments. The land was made up in divisions, and it was ordered that it " shal be by Casting of Lots." The land divisions were by estates and polls, which were " esteemed In the Rate at twelve pounds p Pole & that al Male chil- dren under age be valued as Ratable Poles : viz : 12£ p Pole." The list of lots, including the portions for the ministry and the school, comprised 125 names. This is known to the surveyors as the "Out- ward commons."
The license for the "fishing Places on Agawam River & Chi- kuppi River " were given in 1685 to Deacon Burt, Miles Morgan, Thomas Mirrick, and several others. In 1687 Henry Chapin headed the list of those specially privileged to fish in Chicopee river so far as " Schonungonuck fal or Bar." They could make also "Wards for catching of Fish." Henry Chapin's brother Japhet was interested
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1SS6.
with John Hitchcock, Nathaniel Foot, and others, in a saw-mill which the town authorized them to build at Schonungonuck falls, " provided they came not on ye Town side of a straight Line drawn from the Head of Hog pen dingil to dirty Gutter."
There were scores of minor doings touching town affairs, the nar- ration of which would prevent a reference to more important matters. Every inhabitant was required (1680) to keep at least three sheep. No one could employ an Indian on his farm (1686) without a special permit. The premium was finally (1688) taken off of wolves and put upon bears, which had been making sad work with the swine. The selectmeu were authorized to choose haywards in 1684, as well as a ferryman ; and in the following year they were prohibited from making any public contract above £20, withont consulting the town. A fine was imposed upon persons who prepared tar not " marchant- able."
The accession of William and Mary to the throne of Great Britain, in 1689, precipitated a war with France. The French, aided by many Indians, made excursions into New England, and King William's war, which in reality began before the death of King James, was at- tended by many harrying scenes. In the latter part of July, 1688, five friendly Indians were killed at Spectacle pond, about ten miles east of Springfield. Deeds of blood were also reported up the river, and toward the east. John Pynchon was kept pretty busy sending aid to exposed points, as the following entries made by him show : -
Aug. 17, 1688. Being ye same day yt tidings came to me which was yt North- field was invaded, I sent Post to Quabaug, viz. Tho. Powell - which is 2 days & Horse.
Aug. 17. I sent away Lieut. Tho. Colton with 16 soldiers from Springfield to Northfield, to surprise & take ye Indians & pursne y" etc, who were upon ve ser- vice 6 days - which is 96 days 96 horses. The Lient. is besides himself & Horse 6 4
Aug. 19. I sent 6 men Quabang, ye people there being abont to remove, or- dering and requiring their continuance, only I sent to fetch off such women as
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desired to come away. The men sent were Tho. Powell, Eben Graves, John Stiles, James Petty, Joseph Petty & Tho. Gilbert, who were in ye service 2 days apiece and horses
which is 12 days 12 horses. I sent 2 lbs. Powder & 6 lbs. Bullets to Quabaug.
Aug. 3. Hezekia Dickinson Post from Brookfield with Capt. Nicholson's sec- ond letter : one day coming & one day back, & ye extremity of ye wet made it a day more, so he is to be allowed for his horse & hinself
which is 3 days 3 Horses. Sept. 4. To entertaining a Post, and to quartering of two soldiers sent from Quabaug for provisions, them selves and horses.
Sept. 5. I sent to Quabaug 5 bushels of Indian corn etc. Sent two firelock guns to Quabaug etc.
Sept. 11. Joseph Marks was ordered to Northfield for 1 week, & with 4 fire- lock guns.
Pynchon, ten days later, sent a company, under command of Henry Gilbert, to the relief of Brookfield, with provisions and arms.
Early in October Sir Edmund Andros started from New York for Boston, where he was destined to have a taste of what an American crowd with a notion of colonial rights could do when put to it. John Pynchon had held for nearly three years the position of counsellor by Andros's appointment, and Sir Edmund arrived at Springfield about the 12th of the month. There was a conference between the two men, but nothing is known of the business transacted between them. Sir Edmund visited Northampton before proceeding to Boston and his fate.
We will speak presently of John Pynchon's negotiations with the Indians, but will here mention that his past experience as a negotiator caused his selection to head a commission to visit Albany and ar- range a treaty with the Macqnas. The party, ten in number, left for the spot in August, 1689, and were gone one month. A treaty was duly made.
Another invasion of the Canadian French and Indians, in New Eng- land, in the summer of 1693, threw western Massachusetts into a
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
state of excitement again. Six persons were massacred by the In- dians, at Brookfield, July 27. John Lawrence started for Springfield with the news, arriving there late that very night. John Pynchon remained up all night, and by morning had a force of twenty-eight troopers, under the command of Captain Colton, on the road to Brook- field. Soldiers from up the river followed later in the day. Colton started north in hot pursuit from Brookfield, through thick forests and marshes, and in his eagerness finally selected a score of good fighters, leaving the rest to bring on the exchanged horses, and over- took the savages at breakfast. He made the attack ; killed half a dozen or more, and captured nine guns, twenty hatchets, and about twenty horns of powder, as well as recovering a captive man and woman. Although Mr. Pynchon in his official report said of this exploit, "'Tis God, not our 20 men, that hath done it," it will not be amiss to say that Captain Thomas Colton, with almost an Indian's instinct in following trails, and indomitable pluck, was a worthy in- strument in the hands of Providence in saving the town from greater disaster. The plunder was divided among Colton's men, the State adding £1 for each soldier, and £10 to the valiant Captain, in recog- nition of services rendered. It is said that an Indian in ambush once took aim at Colton, but finally concluded not to shoot, fearing that he might not hit the Captain, and thus be despatched himself in short order.
Just before this fight two Indians in the prison-house at Spring- field, situated on the main street, made good their escape, to the as- tonishment of every one. Pynchon seut out twenty men in fruitless pursuit. These Indians were from Deerfield, where they had com- mitted murder. They had, in some way, secured a file, and the clever manner in which they cut their handcuffs and gained their liberty was the talk of the village for some time.
Pynchon kept a garrison at Deerfield and Brookfield for some time. In December, 1694, he wrote Isaac Addington, a member of the Council at Boston, about " continuing or quitting ye garrisons at
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Dearefeild and Brookefeild," saying, " I am loath upon my owne head to discharge ym, least - If anything fal out not well I should deservedly be Blamed."
In March, 1695, Pynchon learned that the Governor had deter- mined to withdraw the soldiers from Deerfield. This caused great uneasiness ; and, in a letter to Lieutenant-Governor Stoughton (now in the possession of Charles P. Greenough, of Boston), Pynchon explains the danger, and adds : " I have therefore ordered Capt Partrig & Capt Clap out of Those 2 Towns viz Northampton, 5. & Hatfeild, 3. to make a Present supply & assistance to Dearefeild upon L' Holis- ter's drawing of his men, If they wil not stay Longer weh I have motioned & desire, but almost despaire of it. . Dearefeild being a large Fortification cannot wel be secured under 32 men, wch are more then can wel be afforded out of this Regimt & to many in my opinion, so yt I humbly offer it againe to y' Honors consideration & resolve of sending some men from yr more Plentiful pts, & ye supply- ing & securing of Brookfeild who also have been minding me of their need of some help now spedyly." He soon writes again in his anxiety for Brookfield : -
To LIEUT GOV N STOUGHTON
Springfeild March 22d 169;
HONBLE SR
I have already trobled yr Honor to much wth my scrawls, having (besides former lines) writ two letters of this import wth in a Fortnight, so yt I am ashame to Inculcate ye same thing. But ye Importunity of my neighbors at Brookfeild who are now at my house. Three of them overcome mne & enforces me (at this time) to lay these lines before you, in their behalf only, whom (if they may not draw off) are irgent for speedy succours by men Placed there for their security, reckening themselves in apparent hassard of ye enemy & fearing their app"ch every day, now ye weather is open, & truly I am sensible yt ye enemy may have spite at ye place, & that they may need men there out of hand : wch though they Importune my sending now along wth ym, yet I decline it for present, have- ing applied to yr Honor for yr direction & orders, wch waiting for. I accot it not Prudence to anticipate or act upon my owne head wthout ye same, sinee as I
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
have requested, so I am in expectation of yt more judicious determination there- abouts, concerning wch I crave leave to say upon most serious thoughts (& dis- course wth ye Quaboug men) that such a number as may maintaine ve Place & secure ym, is needful, & whether less then men with a good discreate commander may be sufficient for ve Purpose If an enymy assault ym deserves due con- sideration wich is wth y' Honor to conclud & direct in, & what ever that way comes to me, fro y' honor. I shal Indeavor my best attendance unto, adding only yt for yr Omitting of ym at Quabong I have told ym yt I hope they wil have men sent ym & a Garrison started there by ye begining of April fro those pts By yr Honors Countenance & authority, weh is as much - If not to much as at present is needful. froni
Yr Honors hunible Servt
JOHN PYNCHON
In a fortnight Pynchon writes that the Brookfield men desire that " my son may be the commander, & set over ye Garrison there," which request is a " surprise " which " startles " him.
Peace was not declared between England and France until 1697, and it was sometime later when hostilities ceased in the New World. Armed men were stationed in each town to defend them in case of attack. "We know Indians are lurking about," writes Pynchon in September, 1695, " for besides some seen at Northampton, as also at Hadley, there have been some about Springfeild : twice one hath been seen. But, upon any appearance, we range all the woods about : besides that, our daily scouting out 4 men aday on horses by Towns," etc. And this state of things continued even after the mother countries had returned to the paths of peace.
The death of Rev. Pelatiah Glover, in March, 1692, left the Spring- field pulpit vacant for two years. Every effort was made to secure Rev. John Haynes, but without success, except for a few months ; and in November, 1693, Captain Thomas Colton and Sergeant Luke Hitchcock were ordered to go to the Bay to see Rev. Increase Mather, president of the " colledg," and the "reverend elders " at Boston, as to a minister. In January, 1694, it was voted to offer Rev. Daniel Brewer £70 a year and use of the ministry property, and in May Mr.
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
Brewer began his ministry. He was barely twenty-five, and was from Roxbury.
The strife between the town and the son of Pelatiah Glover did not end in any loss of respect on either part, as the son appears as a selectman in 1694, the others being John Dorchester, Joseph Stebbins, Nathaniel Bliss, and David Morgan. The town clerk was John Hol- yoke, and the constables were James Warriner and Henry Burt.
The selectmen had been empowered to nominate moderators at the town-meeting, and among the new offices that had crept into the town system were a sealer of leather, a clerk of the market, and a packer, gauger, and culler.
The plantation of Springfield had been for a long time foster- ing settlements, which were gradually growing in importance. The southern belt of the old limits of Springfield was destined to be cnt up into towns. Suffield, now a part of Connecticut, was first known as Stony Brook (1660), then Southfield (1670), then Suffield (1674). It was in 1670 that Captain Pynchon, Elizur Holyoke, Lieu- tenant Cooper, Quartermaster Colton, Ensign Cooley, and Rowland Thomas were chosen a committee to lay out the site of Suffield for set- tlement. This committee furnished the usual rules for plantations, with which the reader is familiar. The Indian wars interrupted the plan of settlement, but the work of taking up land was renewed after the declaration of peace, and in October, 1681, the Springfield committee was anthorized by the Massachusetts General Court to convene the qualified voters, and to organize a town; the last meeting of the provisional committee was on January 2, 1682. Major John Pynchon conveyed the Indian title to the inhabitants for £40, in 1684, which was £10 more than he had given the Indians. Several members of Springfield provisional committee received lands in Suffield in pay- ment for their services in organizing the plantation.
The great island in the Connecticut at Enfield Falls was given to Rev. Ephraim Huit, of Windsor, who at his death returned it, and in 1681 Massachusetts gave it to John Pynchon. In 1713, when it
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
was arranged that Massachusetts should retain jurisdiction over Suffield, Enfield, etc., the southern boundary of Suffield was con- sidered the colony line, and Massachusetts deeded 105,793 acres of wild land in Pelham, Belchertown, and Ware in reparation. Con- necticut sold this tract in 1716 for £683, and gave £500 of it to Yale College.
Before describing the cause of the little break in the boundary be- tween Massachusetts and Connecticut, it will be more convenient to speak of the settlement at Enfield, directly south of Springfield. In 1674 a committee, consisting of John Pynchon, Samuel Marshfield, Thomas Stebbins, Jonathan Burt, and Benjamin Parsons, were ap- pointed to apportion lands about Freshwater Brook. The Indian title was extinguished in 1680, by the payment of £25 to Totaps, alias Nottatuck, the sachem. The land ran from " Asnuntuck, alias Freshwater river, on the north, down southward along by Connecti- cnt River side, about three or four miles, to the brook below the bed of stones, which brook is called by the Indians Poggotossur, and by the English Saltonstalls Brook, and so from the mouth of said Sal- tonstalls alias Poggotossur, to run from the great river Connecticut directly east, eight full and complete miles to the mountains." The part of Enfield north of Freshwater river had been previously bought of the Indians, none of whom lived inside the purchase. The land granted by Springfield near Freshwater river had not been occupied up to this time. In answer to a petition submitted to the Massachu- setts General Court in 1683, this " end " of Springfield was erected into a town under the name of Enfield : and the above committee, headed by John Pynchon, was authorized to manage the town affairs, until further notice. This committee delegated selectmen's powers to John Pease, Isaac Meacham, Jr., and Isaac Morgan in 1684, by which device home rule was practically vouchsafed to the new planta- tion. Andros refused to ratify this arrangement, and Enfield there- upon assumed charge of its own affairs. A town-meeting was held in 1688, but after the downfall of Andros the original Springfield
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provisional committee resumed its functions over Enfield. In 1692 this committee, or rather John Pynchon and Jonathan Burt, its only surviving members, surrendered the books and records to Enfield, with their best wishes for the success of the new town.
In October, 1684, John Pynchon had granted to Isaac Meacham the privilege of building a fulling-mill at the mouth of Freshwater brook, a part of the consideration being the "yearly wel fulling & thickening of five and twentie yards of Cloth."
The survey of the boundary line between the two colonies, made in 1642, and known as the Woodward and Saffery line, placed Enfield in Massachusetts. In 1648 Massachusetts ordered that all the land east of the river at a point twenty poles below the warehouse belonged to Springfield. It was many years before the dispute as to jurisdiction was settled. In 1713 it was agreed that each colony should retain jurisdiction over the towns they had settled, and that the boundary should run due west from the Connecticut river, from the Wood- ward and Saffery line, and that reparation should be made by con- veying by deed unimproved lands, in cases where one colony gained from the other. It was found that Massachusetts had appropriated over 100,000 acres of Connecticut lands by this survey. The survey was wrong, but Massachusetts paid upon that basis for many years. The towns of Woodstock, Somers, Suffield, and Enfield continued to protest against being under the Massachusetts jurisdiction, and even appealed to the king ; they finally gained their point.
H. S. Sheldon, of Suffield, speaking of the break in the boundary, as appears now upon the map, says : -
Simsbury and Westfield retained their ancient boundaries, being first incor- porated, leaving west of the mountain a strip of land about one mile in width be- tween the two. for Suffield. Our proprietors mourned the loss of that part of their grant secured by Simsbury, as it was supposed to be rich in mines of copper and iron. They were consoled by the Massachusetts Court, in 1732, granting them a township six miles square (now Blandford) as an equivalent. They sold it to Christopher J. Lawton, of Suffield, receiving but little therefor.
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
Our bounds, with Simsbury (now East Granby and Granby ), settled in 1713. and perambulated in 1734, were reestablished in 1883. That part of Westfield pro- jecting into Connecticut between the top of the mountain and the ponds was an- nexed to Suffield and Connecticut in 1803. The remainder (now Southwick), containing the ponds, is in Massachusetts, causing the curious notch in the boundary line between the two States.
Brimfield was settled mainly by Springfield people. Colonel Pyn- chon headed a provisional committee appointed by the General Court in 1701 to lay out the town of Brimfield, and this committee, accom- panied by a party of twenty Springfield men, soon after visited the place for the purpose of settling upon a house plot ; but nothing defi- nite was decided upon. After Pynchon's death his son John took his place upon the provisional committee. The town was not incorpo- rated until 1731.
We have spoken of the part taken by Springfield in the organiza- tion of a town at Brookfield. The Indian wars broke up the settle- ment for a time. In 1686 we find John Pynchon once more at the head of a provisional committee to manage the town affairs at Brook- field, and they apportioned land the following spring.
West Springfield had in 1695 thirty-five families, numbering two hundred and ten souls. . The first petition from the west side for a minister was signed by John Dumbleton, John Barber, and Josiah Marshfield ; but nothing came of it. Upon the renewal of the peti- tion in 1696 a distinct disavowal of a determination to become a sep- arate town was made. It was signed by John Barber, Benjamin Leonard, Joseph Leonard, Jonathan Ball, Joseph Bedortha, Nathaniel Dumbleton, Ebenezer Jones, Josiah Marshfield, Isaac Frost, and Thomas Cooper. The latter, a large tax-payer, left Springfield that year, and this was urged as a reason, among others, why a minister should be settled, as it promised to break up the west side settlement. The answer of the Centre was that the pine plain to the north was " mean land," that while the house-lots were on the east side, the rich lands were on the west side. To the argument that crossing the
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river to Sabbath worship was an undue resort to labor, the petition continues :
Wee say most of them (west-siders) theire house lots do butt upon the greate River almost in opposition with our Town plott. As for theire Travell ; sure necessary Travell is Lawful on the Sabbath. As for servile labor : We count it as Lawful to Row in a Boate, or paddle a Canoe, or bridle and saddle an horse. Works of necessity, are works of the Sabbath. Where as they say it occasions unevitable discourse which they Judge inconsistent with the holynes of the day : We say if they find them selves guilty they must mend as ffast as they can and not bringe theire ffaillings for an Argument in matters of this nature. They say theire Children Canot enjoy gods ordynances, but are under great temptation to rudenes &c the heads of ffamilies being absent &c. We say heads of ffamilies must see better to familie goverment.
In still another communication from the east side that year (1696) it was maintained that " The whole precinct of this town is as truly ours as the land of Canaan that was divided to the tribes of Israel was theirs." The petition of the west side was allowed in December 1696. The May court, 1698, was again troubled with this matter. Persons renting lands on the west side and living on the east side refused to pay for the maintenance of the west-side minister. Again, when Mr. Brewer was settled, the town agreed to give him £100 in addition to his annual stipend. This the west-siders would not pay, after they had been given permission to maintain a separate minister. These matters went up to the General Court, and the west side was directed to pay its share of the £100, while all tenants on the west side were directed to pay their ratings for the west-side minister and church.
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