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 5
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
vival of seventeenth century composition. We are inclined to believe that the " Apology " was written at Hartford because the court author- ized John Haynes and Thomas Welles to prepare an answer, which they did in a communication dated April 18. This also is too inter- esting a bit of controversial literature to omit, and, as it has escaped the notice of historians, extracts are here given : -
MR PINCHON
Your apollogy or defene wch yon published to the view of the cuntry to cleare your self and to condemne the proceedings of the Court, as injurious against you, was lately presented into our hands, in the which although you seeke to vindicate your owne creditt to the dishonor and wronginge the Court, a course very of- fensive and far unbeseeminge on of your quality, therefore as both rule & reason require you should eyther see your mistake or make your chardge good if you think meet theirfore to that purpose to repayer to Court, you may their receave a full answer to what you please to offer therein. . You therein [that is in the Apology] say you know no breach of oath or order in anything you did about the matter of corne wch you thus prove, because you did nothinge therein without counsell and advice of Mr Moxon and your sonn Smith, concluding thence that he wch counsells with Mr Moxon and your sonn Smith can neither break oath or order but the Court did then & can still make it appear that you transgressed both. You declare in your writinge that you be- lieved the Indians feared you no more than they feared their owne shadow, and you report in your house that you did and must keep them in feare : or their is no dealinge with them; your practice also deelare the same. when in your owne cause you did arrest, impryson & force to composity one. Witness the party who stole the eloath, wherein, by the way, we cannot forgett the course you tooke in contriving your private gayne contractinge first for wompom for your eloath, and then agreeinge to receave corne for your wampom that when you should trade corne to your customers you might requier the greater price, wherein if the wampum had not fell in betwixt the corne & the cloath (though but by way of at- tempt only) you would have wanted that way of gayne. You then charge the Capten that he requested you to drive a bargaine wth the Indians for him and in answer to that you stuff up a great part of your work wch he confessett he never propounded to you neither neede he soe to doe, wch was also contrary to the commissione given him from the Court, but he sayth his only request to you was to take of the feare from the Indians. And Lastly : your tennfold
THE INDIAN CORN FLEET.
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
Reasons, to prove the Bever brought from the Mowhakes or their confederates could not in any coulor be a present sent to the Sachems uppon the River, are all to short, for they have since confessed they sent it to that purpose; and to make it really appeare they have since taken away the life of on of the parties that should have presented it for falsifyinge their trust; and whereas you their say a great pt of it was summer bever & little worth, unlike and unmeete for a present, you yourself formerly affirmed it was the best parcel you bought for a longe time. For your complainte of famine and scarcety your Bretheren pitty you, not that they conceave your distress have been great, but for your weake and unapt expressions sayinge yon weare forced to give your English graine corne meale & mault to your hoggs, hems & cattle, especially in such case when you presumed divers hundred bushels of Indian was at hand for supply.
We will here leave this controversy, as it comes up later, only re- marking, the fear to trade corn with Mason and the wholesome fear of the Agawam settlement that would prevent an outbreak were two very different things indeed. Pynchon was condemned because he was thought to have selfishly raised the price of corn, and yet Captain Mason was counted a hero because two months later he chartered an Indian canoe fleet, bearing corn, for which he paid twelve shillings the bushel, and was compelled to ride in the canoes in order to make sure that the corn was delivered.
There is a direct issue between Pynchon and Mason, as their tes- timony shows, and Mr. Pynchon, after contradicting him point blank, and producing Rev. Mr. Moxon and others as corroborating wit- nesses, says : "Now if these things may not Justly Question the purport of the Captain's oath, I leave to the Judgment of wise men."
CHAPTER III.
1638-1639.
The Connecticut Jurisdiction over Agawam. - The Massachusetts Boundary Line. - Rev. Thomas Hooker's Spirited Letter. - House built for Mr. Moxon. - Allotments of Land. - Agawam's Act of Secession. - Sundry Town Laws. - Strangers ex- eluded. - Wages of Laborers regulated. - The Town Brook. - Woodcock vs. Cable. - Ancient Lawsuits. - A Jury of Six. - Mr. Moxon in Court.
THE serious differences between Agawam and the towns lower down the river brought our settlers face to face with the stern ques- tion of secession from the Connecticut jurisdiction. The Hartford General Court either held its authority to govern the valley towns from the Massachusetts Bay concessions, or by virtue of an assumed right of self-government. In either case Agawam could be justi- fied in returning to Massachusetts. The conditions at Hartford were intolerable to Agawam. Pynchon had been a trader from the start, and was so recognized at the Bay. His purse was always opened when prospecting expeditions were proposed, and prominent men, both at the Bay and in Connecticut, knew the generous extent of his personal loans. He was one of the few rich men of that day who embarked to New England, and he naturally had been chosen treasurer of Massachusetts. When he settled in the Connecticut valley with his handful of intrepid associates, it was but natural for him to expect the handling of the corn and beaver of this section. No one had before accused him of a failure to keep his promises, or of making a penny at the expense of the public. The charges, added to the main one, of getting a corner on grain (to use modern phraseology), demonstrated beyond a doubt a disposition at Hart- ford to limit Agawam's influence as much as possible : and as Captain
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
Mason not only was privileged to pass up the river and trade, with a troop of armed men at his back to coerce the Indians, and to visit Agawam ten times a year and drill the training-band, it is not to be wondered at that secession was the unanimous voice of the plantation.
But a formal withdrawal from Connecticut was a serious matter. Mr. Pynchon was now a member of neither General Court : the town was the most remote outpost, with numerous In- dian tribes in the great back country. Connecticut might refuse to allow Mr. Pynchon to retain the trading-houses which he had built somewhere about Enfield Falls. There is an ancient map placing these houses on the eastern bank of the Connecticut, opposite King's island, which can be seen up the river from the car windows in crossing the bridge at Windsor Locks. The name given on this map is " Versche Riviere." or Fresh River, which was first so called by Adrian Block, the Dutch voyager who coasted along the sound in 1614. Pynchon not only shipped freight in his own sail- boats, but often sent goods to and from the valley in other vessels. It was out of the question to send beaver overland to the Bay. There was no money in it.
No meeting-house had yet been built at Agawam. The middle Ferry lane ( Elm street) was not yet opened. Tree stumps
M Pinsers
Place
che Handet Huyse
Versche Riviere
M. Pinsees
Cleine Val
41
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
and fallen timber here and there obstructed the one main street, and, what was more discouraging, the plantation was largely made up of men not destined to remain long. Fully one-half of the inhabitants of 1638 only stayed a few years.
It will have been noticed that Agawam, unlike most of the towns of that day, was founded by a layman, - a devout and well-read Christian, who could preach a sermon or debate theology with the ablest divines, to be sure, but a layman for all that ; and we can quite understand that this fact may have prejudiced the minds of towns dominated by ministers. Possibly here lies the real explana- tion of the falling out of Agawam and Hartford.
After a thorough survey of the field it was resolved to cut loose from Connecticut, and to trust in the future. No formal declaration was issued for a time, but in July the news of Agawam's revolt spread through New England. Shortly after the adjournment of the Connecticut General Court Roger Ludlow wrote to the governor and assistants of Massachusetts Bay that John Haynes and others had been appointed to confer with the Bay authorities on certain subjects involving the mutual interests of the colonies.
The New England colonies were then agitating a scheme for a confederation as a means of defence against the Dutch and other enemies ; the threatened withdrawal of Agawam also had something to do with the appointment of this commission, which reached the Bay in June ; a long private conference took place between friends of the two colonies, but no agreement was reached. The matter came up at the session of the General Court held in Cambridge, and it was voted " that so much of the ryver of Conectecot as should fall within the line of or patent should continew under o' jurisdiction."
The smothered feeling of mutual suspicion between Connecticut and Massachusetts now broke forth. Perhaps the correspondence between Governor Winthrop, of Massachusetts, and Rev. Thomas Hooker will best show forth the extent of this colonial unpleasant- ness.
.
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
Mr. Hooker's indictment of Agawam was very much in the spirit of his testimony in the Pynchon trial. He argued that Agawam had continued to recognize the jurisdiction of the Connecticut General Court by sending " there for justice " an inhabitant "in Agaam apprehended in some misdemeanor." He continues : -
Yea, taking it for granted that it is in each inhabitant's liberty in Agawam to choose his jurisdiction (which is to me beyond question), if I was there as an inhabitant, I should judge myself bound in conscience to submit to the juris- diction of this river, and do believe I should make a breach of the eighth com- mand if I should otherwise : because in so doing I should steal from mine estate, in that I should rush myself into needless and endless inconveniences ; namely, to cast myself into that condition that for a matter of five shillings (as the case may fall out) I should put myself to unreasonable charges and tronble to seek for justice a hundred miles off in the wilderness. If Mr. Pynchon can devise ways to make his oath bind him when he will, and loosen him when he list ; if he can tell how, in faithfulness, to engage himself in a civil covenant and combination (for that he did, by his committees in their act) and yet can cast it away at his pleasure, before he give it sufficient warrant, more than his own word and will, he must find a law in Agaam for it; for it is written in no law or gospel that ever I heard.
Mr. Hooker went on to say that Connecticut would not trouble itself very much over the loss of Pynchon, because " we know him from the bottom to the brin, and follow him in all his proceedings, and trace him in his privy footsteps ; only we would have him and all the world to understand he doth not walk in the dark to ns."
But Mr. Pynchon did find " a law in Agaam," - a law planted there by the Massachusetts colony, and by the king of England him- self. We might continne at great length spreading upon these pages the evidences of Connecticut's feeling toward Massachusetts. One more incident will serve our present purpose. At the close of that eventful year William Spencer, who had moved from Cambridge to Hartford, and had promised Governor Winthrop to promote, if he could, a more cordial feeling, wrote his Excellency that lie had made but little progress. He added : -
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
I found a prejudese in the spirits of some men concerning yor state, as though you did not really intend such a thinge, but only pretended it, wch labonred to be at offe as much as might be, ingadgeing my selfe that for yor state in generall [Massachusetts] they did. and doe as really intend their good, as anny of ther neighbour plantacons; wherenpon they propounded some reasons to the contrary, that you only pretended and not intended such a thing. One was this, that not wthstanding you had said that God by his providents had soe disposed of it, that you and the p'tations uppon this river could not bee one hody ; yet. when it came unto the isue, you would have Aggawame joyned unto you, or else you would not conelnd of the union ; and to that purpose, they say, you have written to dismise the same from them.
We now have the depth of the alienation of Connecticut, and it had the serious, effect of postponing the project of a New England Confederation for some years.
Pending the settlement of the great question of Agawam's politi- cal status, the little plantation did not allow local affairs to go by default. There had been several additions to the community. Rev. Mr. Moxon had been provided with a generous portion of lands upon the condition of permanent settlement, and in the spring of 1638 it had been voted that the expenses of fencing his home-lot on the main street and of building his house should fall in part upon those who might join the plantation thereafter. Upon the last leaf of the account of the first town-meeting, but evidently written later, appear some specifications for a structure which we take to be the minister's house, erected about this time (corner Vernon and Main). It was as follows : -
ffor a frame of a howse 35 foote longe and 15 foote wide wth a porch five foote out & 7 foote wide wth a study over head wth stayrs into cellar & chamber making bords & laying bords for
£ sd 18 00 00
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
lower roomes wth duble chimnys ye sides of ye cellar Planked at to Good : Burr
£
s d
18 00 00
for the thatchinge of ye howse to John Alline he to undertak the getting of ye thatch and all other things belonging
3 00 00
to it wth lathing & nayls only ye cari- adge of thatch excepted.
1
for ye sawinge of all ye
boards & Slitworke 4 locks wth nayls & hooks & hinges for ye doares at to John Cable
£ sd 11 00 00
for ye dawbing of ye howse -
& chimnys underpining ye fame making ye stack & oven 7 foote high wth laths & nayls at to Henry Smith
8 00 00
There was a rating of £40 agreed upon Jan. 13, 1639, to meet a portion of the expense of the minister's residence, and we may infer that the above specifications were the ones followed. Here is the record : -
The disbursements of the sd 40€ per contra as followeth : -
John Searle 1 00 00
Thomas Horton £ S. d.
-
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
sd
Thomas Miraek
1 00
00
John Leonard
12
00
Robart Ashly
1 00
00
John Woodcock
12
00
Richard Everit
1 10
00
John Alline
1 00
00
John Burt
10
00
Henry Smith
5
00
00
Jehu Burr
00
00
William Pynchon
21
00 00
John Cable
1
12
00
-
41
16
00
John Cable paid Woodcock's subscription, Henry Smith paid Allen's, and Mr. Pynchon paid Burt's.
There were at least fifteen men in Agawam at this time, neither Mr. Moxon nor Henry Gregory appearing in the above list. The new names are Mirrick, Leonard, Ashley, Allen, and Burt. As the old names in the list of rates are in the order of the house-lots, the others probably are also, which is corroborated by a vote passed in September, 1638, as follows : -
There is granted to John Searle by ye consent of the rest of the inhabitants an house Lott of 8 rod broade & in length from the brooke to the greate river weh lyes neere ye pyne swampe wth ye meddow before his lott of the same breadth yt his house lot is. Next to ye Lott of John Searle upwards lyes the Lott of Thomas Horton 8 rod in breadth wth the meadow over agaynst it of ye same breadth & ye length of it as the former, also on ye other side of Conecticot river over agaynst the sd lott is granted him a lott of meddowes of 8 rod broade and 80 rod in length reserving through yt & all other lotts there a cart way of 2 rod breadth wher it may be seene convenient.
And again : -
It is agreed yt John Searle and Rich: Everit shall measure ont twenty fowre acres of mowing marish ground afore ye house of Mr. William Pynchon and
45
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
soe much upland ground adjoyning as shall make his howse lott wth ye sd marish fifty and fowre acres according to an order in ye first devission of howse Lotts.
There was also granted to William Pynchon "a Lott of upland ground adjoyninge to ye mill of ten acres and alsoe Seaven acres more in Lew of the marish ground yt is before every mans Lott it is alsoe agreed yt this Lott is to lye in Breadth from the mill river upwards in breadth twenty rodd and in length upwards by ye mill river till the number of ye acres be up." The vote for a meeting- house lot was passed January 16, 1639 : -
It is ordered that the three rod of ground yt lyes betwixt John Woodcock's pall and Goodman Grigory's Lott shall be appropriated 2 rod of it to Goodman Grigory and one rod of it to Rich: Everitt reserving 40 rod for a place for a meeting-howse, wch is to be allowed out of Goodman Grigory's Lott.
It was necessary, from the amount of nnapportioned common land, to devote much time to its regulation. The rich meadows on the west side of the Connecticut, from opposite the upper ferry to the present York street, were first devoted to grass and planting only. The Agawam river at that time had but one mouth, which emptied into the Connecticut near the South-end bridge. Each inhabitant was permitted, after harvest time (November), to " put over horses cowes or younge cattell on ye other side of ye river."
But the time had come for Agawam to put forth a formal decla- ration as to its allegiance. This important document was drawn up eleven months after the Pynchon trial, the date given below being Old Style : -
ffebruary the 14th, 1638 We the Inhabitants of Agaam uppon Quinnettecot, takinge into consideration the manifould inconveniences that may fall uppon us for want of some magistracy amonge us : Being now by Godes provedence fallen into the line of the Massachusets Jurisdiction : & it being farr of to repayer thither in such cases of justice as may often fall out amonge us doe therefore
47
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
thinke it meete by a generall consent & vote to ordaine till we receive further direction from the Generall Court convening in the Massachuset Bay Mr. William Pynchon to execute the office of a magistrate in this our plantation of Agaam viz : [etc. ].
The usual magistrate's powers were given Mr. Pynchon, including authority to summon juries of six instead of twelve for small offences, pending any action that might be made at Boston.
The boundary lines of the plantation had been verified meantime, a committee having reported in January that the "bounds of ye Plantation up the river on ye other side of ye river " were "at a brooke above ye greate meddowe wch is about a qrt of a mile above ye mouth of Chiccapee river."
The first town meetings were probably held in the house of Mr. Pynchon, as it was the largest. This body of local legislators is an interesting study from almost any point of view. The original Massachusetts plantations were as near a democratic communism as has ever been under extended trial in our history. The nature of this common proprietorship in land and local political prerogative will be apparent by glancing through the town acts. It was a simon-pure democracy, not even a selectman standing between its inhabitants and their desires. They met once a month at least, and with the simple election of a moderator and clerk the machinery of government was complete.
In October, 1638, the town voted that " noe trees shall be ent downe or taken away by any man in ye compass of grownd from ye mill river upward to John Readers Lott, wch parsell of ground is appoynted for howse Lotts." No inhabitant was permitted to sell his canoe to outside parties. An infringement of this order on the part of Henry Gregory, John Leonard, and Robert Ashley brought down upon them a reprimand, but they were finally given five months to " redeem and bringe ym into the Plantation agayne."
A " foote path and stiles " were ordered to be built "at every
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SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
man's lott end next ye greate river." In January, 1638, we find this important decree : -
It is ordered and voted wth ye Joynt consent of ve Plantation yt no man yt is posesed of a Lott by ye dispose of ye Plantation, shall after sell it to another of y." Plantation, yt hath a Lott allready : neyther shall any man posese two mens Lotts, wth out ye consent of ye Plantation or such as shall be appoynted, till they have bin inhabitants 5 years in ye Plantation : But if any desire to sell liis Lotte, he may to a stranger, pvided ye sd Plantation shall not disalowe of ye sd stranger : But in case they shall not alowe ye admission of ye sd stranger, then ye Plantation shall bye ye sd Lotte as indifferent men shall apprise you : But if ye Plantation shall delay ye sd purchase twenty dayes then ye sd seller shall have his Liberty to take his chapman and ye Plantation shall be bound to take notice of such a purchase yt is ppounded to fower of the cheife Inhabitants together : If ye sd 4 men shall hold theyr peace and not oppose it in ten dayes then it shall be esteemed yt ye Plantation doth allowe of ye sd purchase.
It will be observed that the town owned all the land in fee simple. Its title was twofold : First, from the colony, which received it from the king ; and, second, from the Indians. The town, in turn, did not sell, but apportioned lands to the various inhabitants, it reserving the right to take the land back after paying for improvements thereon. No inhabitant, upon taking a lot from the town, paid any money for it ; the parcel of land was simply " aloted " to him. The above order was modified after the town became large enough to require selectmen, and for many years the order stood as follows upon the records : -
For the prevention of sundry evils. that May befall this Township, through ill-disposed persons, that may thrust themselves in amongst us, agaynst the lik- inge, and consent of the generality of the inhabitants, or select Townsmen, by purchasing a lott, or place of habitation, &c. It is therefore ordered & declared, that no inhabitant, shall sell, or in any kind pass away his house lot or any part of it, or any other of his allotments to any stranger, before he have made, the select Townsmen, acquainted, who his chapman is, and they accordingly allow his admission, under penalty, of paying Twenty shillings for every parcell of
49
SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
land, so sold, or forfeitinge his land, soe sould, or passed away. But if the select Townsmen, see grounde to disalowe of the admission, of said chapman, then the Town, or Inhabitants shall have 30 days tyme to resolve, whether they will buy the said allottments, which said alottments they may buy, as indifferent partys shall apprise them. But in case the Inhabitants shall delay to make a purchase of the said lands, above 30 days after the propounding of it to the select Townsmen, then the said seller shall have his liberty to take his chapman and such chapman, or stranger shall be esteemed, as entertained or alowed of, by the towne as an Inhabitant.
To illustrate the practice under this rule, here are added a few of the special orders passed : -
William Hunter was admitted an Inhabitant of this town and John Riley & John Harrison doe bind themselves, their executors & administrators to ye Town Treasurer & Seleetmen or eyther of them in a bond of thirty pounds to secure the Town from any charge that may arise to ye Towne from the said William Hunter or any of his family.
Henry Gregory, whose wife seemed materially to add to the ills this pioneer was heir to, finally concluded to sell, and his son Judalı presented the case to the town meeting. The vote rums :-
Henry Gregory being purposed to sell his lott and ppoundinge it to ye Plan- tation by his sonne Judah accordinge to order, Richard Everit beinge his Chiap- man The Plantation gave ye voate wherin they disalowed ye Chapman ppounded and resolved to buy ye lott.
It must not be inferred from this action that the town reflected in any way upon the " chapman," Richard Everett. The two men had adjoining lots, and it was against the policy of the town to allow the inhabitants to add to the size of their home lots. One fancies that the plantation was not slow in buying Mr. Gregory's property. He appears to have been peculiarly unsuited for the life of the wil- derness, which was only tolerable by an infusion of both Christian faith and stoic endurance.
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