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 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
The figure of John Pynchon stands out in the latter part of the eighteenth century like a fair monument in a rude land. While the hardest worked man in western Massachusetts, not a word reflecting upon his honor has come down to us. He had a placid disposition, a dignified bearing, and yet was as tender-hearted as a woman. He was a town organizer, a maker and administrator and interpreter
199
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
of laws, and a student of trade and commerce. When John Pynchon visited Boston he took his place among the assistants in the General Court : when he entered the County Court room, either at Springfield or Northampton, his seat was at the head of the bench of judges ; the town magistrate's chair was his chair ; and at the town-meeting he was always moderator, and upon training day he was captain of the company. He was Springfield's most distinguished citizen, and his services were in demand in intercolonial affairs as well. When it became evident (1680) by the repeated attacks of the Mohawks upon the peaceable Indians of Massachusetts that something decided must be done, it was John Pynchon to whom the Massachusetts authorities turned. Pynchon went to Albany to meet Sir Edmund Andros, and to deal with the Macquas Indians. He frankly rebuked them for breaking treaty agreements, and then made them presents of blankets, shirts, rum, and tobacco, which " sweetened the hard speech " of the major. "Brother Pynchon," the savages said, " wee are glad that wee see you heere againe, like as wee did see yow four yeers past." A cordial understanding was secured, by which the treaty of 1677, at Albany, was reaffirmed. The General Conrt, in gratitude for the snecess of the commission, gave Mr. Pynchon twelve pounds, besides his expenses. The feeling of friendship, under Pynchon's personal influence, must have been deep, causing as it did these Romans of all the native tribe to say through an interpreter four years later (1684) : " Wee doe plant here a great tree of peace, whose branches do spread abroad as farr as the Massachusetts colony, Virginia, Maryland, and all that are in friendship with us : and lie in peace, unitie & tranquilitie under the shade of said tree."
In 1870 an ancient oak fell in Longmeadow, under which, tradition says, John Pynchon used to hold conferences with the local Indians.
Mr. Pynchon headed the committee for running the boundary line between Massachusetts and Connecticut (1680), for which service he was granted the " smale island in Connecticut Ryver, at & toward . the foote of the ffalls below Springfield" (King's Island), was chair-
200
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
man of the committee appointed by the General Court to inquire into the condition of things in Maine (1681), was made one of the Massa- chusetts council of King James II. (1685), was authorized to re- settle Northfield, and, as we have seen, usually headed provisional committees in the organization of neighboring plantations.
But it is with reference to commerce and business that we are to see best the lines Pynchon's mind worked in. While making money for himself, he labored in a way to build up the town. He was the village merchant, the beaver trader, the land speculator, the farmer, the stock raiser, the mining prospector, the banker, and the importer and exporter of merchandise. A vote passed in April, 1693, by the town-meeting, excites the curiosity sufficiently to justify investigation. Encouragement was formally extended to a certain " man that wee hear would set up Iron workes in our Town." It seems that Joli Pynchon never abandoned the notion that the hills guarding this river of ours were rich in minerals. This belief came from his father, who spent much money in prospecting. John Pynchon thought he had found lead near Westfield, and secured lands there. He was also so confident he had found valuable ore " nere to Millers River, above Dearefeild," that he and some associates in 1685 secured a grant of one thousand acres near by, upon the superimposed condition, how- ever, that they would form a settlement there with reasonable speed. As late as 1697 Mr. Pynchon was full in the faith that Springfield was to develop the iron wealth of the valley. In the winter of that year he made sundry proposals in town-meeting in reference to the " setting up & carrying on an Iron mill for the produceing of iron." The town gave Pynchon and Joseph Parsons of Northampton liberty to take and work "whatever Iron Ore may bee found anywhere within our Township." These two men made arrangements forthwith to build an iron mill on Mill river.
The commercial aggressiveness which John Pynchon developed and one may say systematized here is of great moment, as it traces to its root-source a character and a reputation for which this community is
201
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
justly proud. Let us go outside of our calendar for a moment in or- der to pick the thread of business running through John Pynchon's hand for half a century. Pynchon had a warehouse in this town as early as 1660, where his goods were delivered on arrival from Hart- ford. We believe that this trading-house was near Mill river, upon the banks of the Connecticut. He had also a regular country store here. Almost every person, from minister to the hired hands, kept running ac- counts at the Pynchon store, and farmers and merchants from North- ampton to New Haven were in the habit of paying off men by drawing orders upon Pynchon for merchandise. The phraseology of these orders was by no means monotonous. Sometimes it was, " I desire you to help ye bearer to provisions ; " or, " This is to order you to pay to ; " or, " Be pleased to pay unto my debtor," and so on.
Brother Glover opened an account at the Pynchon store, and not only traded ont Mr. Pynchon's ministry rates, but anticipated the money due from others by the congregation, which, it is sad to re- late, were often allowed to go unpaid until the town stepped in and made the minister good. Mr. Glover buys at one time ten bushels of " barley mault " for £2 5s., at another 93 yards of lace at 7s., a firkin of soap, some " manchester beys," "dinity," "locrane," and so on. Deacon Chapin's taste went to red shag cloth, Kersey cotton, and calico, and he paid for his merchandise in ox-hides, meal, corn, hay, candles, peas, carting stones, etc. Rice Bedortha buys among other things an Indian coat, a sickle, some cards, and so on, for which he " daubed" Mr. Pynchon's chimney, and performed other jobs. Thomas Cooper's bill ran up at one time to £681 68. 6d. In 1659 Mr. Cooper received at Mr. Pynchon's hands a bale of goods directly from England, for which he agreed to pay £17. He failed to meet the bill, and it seems some misunderstanding had arisen. Deacon Chapin and Mr. Holyoke arbitrated the matter, and the bill, somewhat reduced, was paid in 1661. Cooper was continually de- livering to Pynchon beaver, moose, and deer skins. Ile also aided in the handling of these skins, did some miscellaneous carpentering,
-
202
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
handed in wild honey, and drove hogs to the falls below. While their accounts mounted into the hundreds of pounds, they once went to law over a little matter of 17s. 9d., and the constable collected it of Cooper and delivered it to Pynchon. Mr. Holyoke was a more care- ful man, and kept his bills down to manageable proportions. . Jona- than Burt met his account in part by drawing timber and stone, and by carpentering. Thomas Mirrick was often employed by Pyn- chon to cart goods from Hartford, and there are references to " sev- eral voyadges to Hartford " which were eredited to Mirrick. Much the same thing may be said of Henry Burt. Miles Morgan bought from time to time shag cotton, calico, venison, razors, lace, raisins, sugar, " 1 qt of Sack," gunpowder, while the balance was struck by the sergeant by carting, slaughtering cattle, and selling produce. Miles killed as many as twenty hogs for Pynchon at one time. Sam- uel Marshfield delivered many beaver and moose skins at the Pynchon store during the year. Anthony Dorchester carried Inmber, boated some, transporting hay and stuff across the river. Griffith Jones could tan hides, Samuel Ferry (or wife) could weave, and make ditches and fences, Francis Pepper could tend sheep and thresh wheat ; and so it went.
Mr. Pynchon was a wholesale merchant as well. He sent hun- dreds of pounds of merchandise to Joseph Parsons, of " Nalwatogg," and received back beaver skins, wampum, wheat, etc. Pynchon had accounts also with David Wilton, of Windsor, who would order £20 worth at a time, and pay in agricultural produce, liquors, beaver, etc. Jonathan Gilbert and Philip Davis, of Hartford, and Edward Elmer, of Northampton, were his customers. Pynchon bought flour, wine, raisins, beaver, butter, etc., of James Rogers, of New London, and seems to have made up a cargo of wheat to offset it. Pynchon was a large purchaser of lands on the Mystic river, the Norwich side. He and Rogers at one time owned 2,200 acres of land in that region. We find also that Zachariah Field, of Northampton, William Clarke, of Hartford, and many others stocked up from the Pynchon cargoes.
a
203
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
The trade in pelts, both from domestic and forest animals, formed the profitable basis for Mr. Pynchon's business. We will content ourself with one extract from the formidable beaver account : --
Beaver packed for England & sent to Mr Henry Ashburst & Mr Nicolas Grigson. July 24th 1657.
I packed a hhd. of Bever qt as in my oldl booke: this Bever was most of it pa according to my order into my father as p acet returned 1658.
Aug. 10th. 1659.
Packed 1 hhd of Bever marked T. M. No. 1 conteineth as followeth 203 Bever skins (I thinke ye Number is so) weight is 273 lb. (about 30 lb. of this is Bad Bever : 14 otter skins : 32 Musquashes & Minks : 45 fox skins & racoone skins & a psell of Bever Cods weighing 11 lb. This hhd father had ye mony & it is charged to ye aeet betwixt him & mee.
Mr. Pynchon was continually letting out cattle to his neighbors for a share of the returns and increase. He rented, sold, and bought lands. He took land and goods for debt, but was known to go as long as seventeen years before bringing suit on overdue accounts. And the suits were not always favorable to him either. In 1690 Pynchon sued Abell Wright for trespass, and moving and carrying away his grass ; jury found for defendant. He sells Deacon Chapin a house for £13 in wheat. He lets out to John Lamb " that black cow of mine at his house for two yeares for wch he is to allow me sixe shillings each yeare." He hires out his colored " maid Elizabeth Waite " to Samuel Ely, for two years, and his oxen " Collier " and " Russler " to Anthony Dorchester for one year. He owned cider- mills, saw-mills, grist-mills, wharves and warehouses, canoes and boats, and was also a ship-owner. He had tenement-houses on both sides of the river, and was always ready to sell, buy, or rent. Now he pays Deacon Chapin for " worke & Bacon to ye lead mines ; " then it is £8 " to John Bagg (by Mr. Winthrop his order) for 2 months work at ye Mine : " and John Matthews, who could turn his hand to coopering, gathered in £3 14s. for twenty-six barrels " for ye Lead."
204
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
With all these business and public activities Major Pynchon did not neglect his growing family. Joseph and John, his sons, were in Harvard College at the same time, as appears by a Harvard College monitor's bill, probably for the year 1664. Joseph graduated in 1664, but his brother John remained but two years. The monitor's bill is not very flattering to the Pynchon boys, so far as attendance is con- cerned. Out of fifteen days Joseph was absent from three morning and three evening prayers. John was tardy four times and absent twice ; but both young men were present on the Sabbath. Joseph settled at Boston, and in 1678 his father deeded him one thousand acres of land on the west side of the Connecticut, in Springfield, Hat- field, and Deerfield, as well as all of his real estate in Wraisbury, England. The revocation of the colony charter, in 1684, was a seri- ous matter for Harvard College, but we find that Major Pynchon attended the meeting of July, 1686, when Joseph Dudley and the council appointed Increase Mather rector. The major was in those days accompanied to the General Court by Joseph, who was elected town deputy from time to time. As the major grew old and infirm, some special provision was made as to his safety in journeying to Boston, as appears from this vote, passed in the spring of 1693 : " The worshipful Major Pynchon Esqr being chosen the Towns Representative for the general Courte, for this year, It was voted to leave it with the Selectmen to se that he have a man to accompany him to Boston according as there shal be necessity."
Pynchon continued each year to take the oath of office as judge. Here is a specimen of the record : "Court at Springfield Sept. 29, 1691 Coll" Jno. Pynchon Esqr being by ye Gen" Courte May 20 '91 invested with majestraticall power toke ye Oath in Courte."
But the fulness of time had come, and the worshipful Major John Pynchon was gathered to his fathers. He died at daybreak, after a lingering illness, January 7, 1703, at the age, it would seem, of eighty- two years. There was an imposing funeral. A company of troopers were employed by the Pynchon family to do escort duty. Several
205
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
hundred dollars were spent upon this occasion, and sundry funeral meats and drinks, in those days allowable at the expense of the estate, were not neglected by the mourners. Hence the items in the accounts subsequently tiled : -
pd To Thos Mirick for drink at his funeral £2 9 6
pd To John Miller ferryman for ferridg for troopers 2 9
p" Thos Ingersole for expense at his funeral 2
To 10 Lb of best Sugar of J. P at ye funeral 14d per 11 8
To 6 Lb of meaner Do of L Ild per 5 6
To 1 Bushel of wheat Meal at ye funeral, 5 0
To 5 Gallons of Rum as 6 at his funeral & 3 pints & half in his sickness 9 6
The inventory of his estate shows also how his dignity was clothed : -
Light Colour'd Dublet with gold twist & sad colour'd Britches, £2 00 00
Fine Cloth Waste Coat & Britches,
3 00 00
Blue Broad Cloath Britches & Coat & draws
3
5 00
Trooping Scarff with Gold lace
3
10
Gloves with Silver lace etc
1
2
10 yds. of Silver and Gold lace
2 10
2 Bunches or knots of Silver Ribbin
6
2 Wast Coats, one lin'd with Silk,
1
12
Moehair Cloak
1
Lace neck cloath etc
3
Negro man Servant maid
30
6 Pewter Dishes with Coat of Arms
1
16
1 Doz Plates coat Arms
1
5
A Light Colonred Cape Coat with frogs on it etc
10
00
Plate etc
49
7
6
6 Gold Rings etc. a Rubie ring
4 15
00
Four Rings accounted as brass
6
A Silver hilted Raper etc 4 14
00
John Pynchon left quite a library which might be called both stately and standard. There was nothing lighter than a dictionary nor
10
206
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
heavier than " Hodgkiss on Sin." The negro servant in the above list of valuables was the slave Tom who lived to a good old age, - our local uncle Tom, in fact, but his lines fell in pleasanter places. One with a fancy for contrasts may turn from the rich apparel of Master Pynchon to the simple record of Black Tom's outfit : " A parcel of old cloathing of Black Tom negroe, 10s." The digging of Tom's grave cost 3d., and while there were no troopers to attend the last rites, the servants and slaves upon the Pynchon estate were given one quart of rum to drink to his memory.
With the death of John Pynchon closes the consolidating or for- mative period of Springfield's history. The seeds were well sown, and time has done the rest. There were conflicts and waves of de- pression and prosperity both in church and town ; but the Pynchons had determined the character of the settlement, and it developed steadily and healthily upon those general lines.
CHAPTER XI.
1703-1735.
Queen Anne's War. - The West Side Meeting-House. - Longmeadow. - Rev. Ste- phen Williams. - The Commons. - Visit of Judge Sewall. - Mr. Brewer's Salary. - Parish Matters. - Mr. Brewer's Death. - The State of Society. - The Half-Way Covenant. - A Decline in Morals. - Full List of Tax-payers. - The Church Member- ship. - Freemanship. - Condition of the Churches. - Call of Rev. Robert Breck. - Charges of Heresy. - Breek's Reply. The First Parish divided into Breck and Anti- Breck Factions. - Meeting of the Hampshire County Association of Ministers at Springfield. - An Exciting Session.
DURING the first part of the eighteenth century the acts of Spring- field were projected against a dark background of apprehension. And yet, with this residence beside the very jaws of death, the plan- tation enjoyed the smile of Heaven and prospered. There were, from time to time, garrison soldiers in its streets. Its meeting-honse was fortified, and so were some of its dwelling-houses and mills.
England declared war against France in 1702, and the Indians were again soon pouring over the Canadian border. With what feelings of anguish did they in 1704 hear of the revel of death at Deerfield, - that home of massacre one might almost say,- the snows stained with blood, and the captivity of scores of men, women, and children ! This was at the opening of Queen Anne's war in this region, and the worst of it was that Rev. John Williams and his noble flock were taken to Canada and confronted with Romanism. But there was no good ground of fear. "It is better going in a ragged coat than with a ragged conscience," replied the Deerfield minister when a French lady superior offered him warm clothes if he would become a papist.
There is happily little of a warlike nature to record locally in these times when the up-river settlements were suffering. Samuel Chapin,
208
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
in 1706, was wounded in the north part of the town. Colonel Whiting and his Connecticut soldiers were undoubtedly here two years later on his errand of defending the outposts. At any rate, Joseph Par- sons was directed that year (1708) to intercede with the governor against the proposed calling away of Springfield men to defend other towns, and to ask for a garrison itself. This was in the summer, in which the home of Lieutenant Wright at Skipmuck was attacked by the Indians, and three men and a child killed, and a woman carried away into captivity.
The old homogeneous town-meeting had become broken up. West Springfield had secured a meeting-house in 1702 in spite of the mother plantation ; and, after the decree of the Bay authorities, that the east side should pay £50 toward the cost of the west-side edifice, Springfield voted the amount in provisions, " if they would accept thereof."
In the winter of 1704 the inhabitants on the east side of the river began to hold regular parish meetings. In accordance with the ap- propriation of £50 in " provision pay " toward the west-side meet- ing-house, the selectmen made a levy : but the west side would not accept this in full payment under the order of the General Court. The constables were ordered therefore not to collect the rates. Joseph Parsons, Dea. Jonathan Burt, and James Warriner were sent, in 1705, to Boston, to answer the still protesting west-siders. The General Court ordered the east side to pay the £50 in two years, and also provided for a division of ministry lands. The east side demurred, and appealed again to the General Court. When the west side became a separate parish they were released from the burden of Rev. Mr. Brewer's salary, and this increased the ministry rates on the east side. Many refused to pay the extra tax, and the town was compelled to sue in the Court of Quarter Sessions.
The little congregation upon the west side had secured a fine man for a minister in John Woodbridge, -learned, gentle, and easy of ac- cess. The Connecticut river was quite wide enough to divide the in-
209
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
terests of the two sections ; and the cordial strife and rivalry went on for over a century. It was not until the advent of railroads that for- tune showed any decided preference for the east side as the district destined to outgrow the habiliments of a village.
Another child of Springfield was fast gaining proportions on the " Long Meddow " below the village. In the spring of 1703 the in- habitants were granted permission to build on the higher ground ; they were also given lands from Pecowsic to Enfield, and from the " hil eastward to the Longmedow halfe a mile further eastward into the woods." The petition for these concessions was signed by thir- teen men, including Nathaniel Burt, George Colton, Benjamin Cooley, Samuel Stebbins, and Nathaniel Bliss. The inhabitants dwelling on the long meadow followed up their new ambition by asking, in 1704, for the privilege of a separate minister ; but the hope and request were premature. The maternal town-meeting, however, laid well the foundation stones for a new town, by voting, in March, 1705: " It was ordered to pay out of the Town Treasury an Addition of sixteen pounds to encourage the inhabitants on the west side of the great river, & of the Longmedow to promote the Learning of their children for the present year."
During the year following the Longmeadow inhabitants were al- lowed to hire a schoolmaster ; so were those of West Springfield. A little difficulty grew out of the Longmeadow school tax, the scholars not being required to pay tuition. The matter was referred to the Court of Quarter Sessions, and the justices decided that the school rates should be raised like all the town rates ; but the town seems to have gotten round this by requiring a load of wood to be sent to the schoolhouse for each child taught. In 1709 Thomas Mirrick, Sam- uel Bliss, and George Colton were sent abroad to "bring " School- master John Sherman to the village; and £40 a year stipend was allowed him out of the town treasury. This curious provision was added to a small appropriation to Captain Thomas Colton for provid- ing schooling at Longmeadow : " Weh allowance, if it occasion strife,
210
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
or disturbance amongst his neighbors at Longmedow, he promises to foregoe ye sª Towns allowance of 30s."
Longmeadow got its heart's desire in 1715, when the General Court granted it permission to maintain a separate minister, although not " fully up to the number of 40 families," and a £120 meeting-house was begun the next year. By another year (October 18, 1716) Longmeadow had a minister, - the famous Stephen Williams, whose capture at Deerfield by the Indians, with his father and his sister Eunice and others, make up a tragic chapter in New England history.
Springfield, on March 28, 1716, recognized no less than six pre- cincts : (1) The west side of the river, (2) Longmeadow, (3) West side of the Agawam, (4) The Upper Chicopee, (5) The Lower Chico- pee, (6) Skipmuck. Here were distinctly recognized the potentiality of towns, and not merely topographical expressions. Each precinct, with aid from the town, was required to keep a school running, the town school tax for 1716 being no less than £82. These precincts conform somewhat to the various commons, and we have seen how the proprietors of each common used to gather together by the con- sent of the town-meeting, appoint moderators and clerks, and legislate concerning the lands. The management of the turpentine business in 1708 gave rise to another instance of delegated legislative func- tions by vote of the town. The inhabitants were prohibited from " boxing terpentine trees" on the "Inmost comon." A committee, . headed by Joseph Parsons, was appointed to " regulate the drawing of turpentine." The region for operating in boxing pine-trees was duly regulated by the proprietors of the commons, and no one was allowed to work more than one thousand new trees, and for this a certain license fee was imposed, the money going to the schools. This was not a town-meeting, but a gathering of the proprietors, who voted the proceeds of a franchise into the town treasury, - a curious phase of town government. This was, in fact, running local govern- ment on shares.
The colonial laws class towns, villages, precincts, and proprietors
211
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
of common fields in one category when speaking of their legal func- tions, such as the right to sue or be sued. After the division of Springfield into precincts the first church is referred to as a " society," for the first time. We thus have an explanation of the church and parish meetings in modern Congregationalism. The part of Spring- field in the first precinct would meet as a town-meeting, and appropri- ate the money for a minister, etc., and the selectmen would levy the tax. This section of the town-meeting in time became the parish meeting.
A commission, of which Luke Hitchcock was a member, met in Springfield, in 1723, to form two townships, known as the " Upper and Housatonic townships," comprising what is now Sheffield, Egremont, Mount Washington, Great Barrington, Alford, and portions of Lee, Stockbridge, and West Stockbridge. The court-house was situated on the line of Sanford street, back of Market street. There having been some strife, in 1722, about the court-house, the following building committee was appointed : Ephraim Colton, Pelatiah Bliss, Increase Sikes, Capt. John Mirrick, Lieut. Joseph Cooley, Samuel Day, Dea. Joseph Ely, Ensign John Miller, Ensign James Mirrick, Jonathan Worthington, and Ebenezer Parsons. Land on both sides of the river was appropriated as part payment for the court-house. This committee's accounts were ordered to be examined in December, 1723. There was really no need of court-houses to impress the people with the dignity of judges. The formalities of those times make a very pleasing impression upon us, so accustomed to the simpler democracies of the day. Judge Samuel Sewall comes to Springfield to hold the September court, 1718. He is met at Suffield by the sheriff, and probably a company of horsemen, who, as was often the case, saluted his honor with trumpets. In riding through the Aga- wam river he gets his heels a little wet, it being quite dark. He finds Colonel Taylor and a number of friends at supper at Ingersol's tavern, and joins them ; the next day Rev. Daniel Brewer offers prayer at the opening of the court ; the judge finds time to give young Stephen
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.