USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Springfield > The first century of the history of Springfield; the official records from 1636 to 1736, with an historical review and biographical mention of the founders, Volume I > Part 12
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John Endicott, Gov'r Tho Dudley Dep'ty Rich. Bellingham Increase Nowell Wm Hibbins Sam. Simonds
Robt Bridges
John Glover
20 October, 1652. Past by the Council.
RELIGIOUS SERVICES CONDUCTED BY LAYMEN.
After Mr. Moxon's departure, there being no regular min- ister to take his place, the services were conducted by the lead- ing members of the church. At a town-meeting held Feb- ruary 18th, 1656, "It was voted that Mr. Hollyoke and Henry Burt should carry on the work of the Sabbath in this plase, but in case that through any providence of God part of the tyme (they) should be disenabled that Deacon Chapin
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should supply that present vacansy; more over the town vot- ed to allow them also 50 pounds a year, that is to say from the 4th of November last the time they began and to con- tinte till the town have another suply or shall so cause to al- ter they are to in that particular, but they would accept but of 40 pounds unto which the Town assented."
"it was also voted that they would allow to Decon Wright, decon Chapin, Mr. Hollyock, Henry Burt 12 pounds for their labours the last summer which they spent in that work."
"At a town meeting, November 9th, 1657, Mr. Holyoke is made choice to cary on ye worke of ye Sabbath once every Sabbath day which he accepts of. Mr. Pynchon is made choise of one part of ye day once a fortnight which he will endeavour to attend sometimes by reading note and some- times by his own meditations till March next. Deacon Chapin and Henry Burt are made choice of to carry on ye other part of ye day once a fortnight for which these persons they are allowed forty pounds a year."
SEATING THE PEOPLE IN THE MEETING-HOUSE.
The selectmen and the deacons, or a committee appointed by the selectmen, determined the order in which the seats in the meeting-houses in New England, in the early settle- ment, should be occupied. Ability and general regard, as well as wealth, had much to do with the order of selection. The women, as a rule, do not appear to have been assigned to particular seats, but occupied, in another part of the house, such as suited their own preferences. The lists still preserved, which give the order of seating the men and boys in Springfield, do not indicate any great regard for those having the largest possessions. At Northampton, "age and estate" determined the order, and to some extent that might have prevailed here. The first list, still .of record, bears the date of December 23. 1659, and reads :-
"The order which persons now seated in the meeting- house by the Selectmen and Deacon Chapin. The select-
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men are as followeth: Robert Ashley, Benjamin Cooley, Wil- liam Warriner, Jonathan Burt, Thomas Cooper.
Henry Burt in the little Seate by the Deacon's seate.
First Seate .- Robert Ashley, Thomas Cooper, Rowland Stebbins, George Colton, Benjamin Cooley.
2d Seate .- Richard Sikes, Thomas Merrick. William War- riner, Richard Fellows.
3d Seate .- Thomas Stebbins, Miles Morgan, John Har- mon, John Leonard, Benjamin Munn, Anthony Dorches- ter.
4th Seate .- Thomas Gilbert, Jonathan Burt, Benjamin Parsons, John Dumbleton, William Branch, Samuel Marsh- field.
5th Seate .- John Matthews, Rowland Thomas, Reice Be- dortha, John Clark, John Lamb, Thomas Day.
6th Seate .- John Lombard, Lawrence Bliss, Griffith Jones, Thomas Miller, Nathaniel Pritchard, Richard Excell.
7th Seate .- Thomas Bancroft, Jonathan Taylor, John Stewart, John Scott, William Brooks, James Osbourn.
Sth Seate .- Simon Beamon, Thomas Noble. James War- riner, Francis Pepper, Obadiah Miller, Nathaniel Burt.
9th Seate .- Abell Wright, Hugh Dudley, John Bagg, John Sacket, David Ashley, Samuel Bliss, John Riley.
And for order sake there were placed in the
Ioth Seate .- Japhat Chapin, John Harmon, Samuel Har- mon, James Taylor, John Henrison, Edward Foster, Peter Swinke.
The rest of the younge persons that want years, are to sit on the other side of the alley in the seate next to the stayers.
The order of seating, bearing date of February 23, 1662, in the records,-1663, according to present reckoning, the year at that time beginning March 25th,- was as follows :-
By Deacon Chapin & the Selectmen. Thomas Cooper, Robert Ashley, Benjamin Cooley & Samuel Marshfield.
In ye first Seate .- Robert Ashley, Benjamin Cooley, Thomas Cooper, George Colton & Rowland Stebbins.
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In ye 2d Seate .- Nathaniel Ely, Richard Sikes, Thomas Merrick & William Warriner.
In ye 3d Seate .- Serja Stebbins, Miles Morgan, Benjamin Munn, John Leonard, Anthony Dorchester, Samuel Marsh- field.
In ye 4th Seate .- Benjamin Parsons, Jonathan Burt, Wil- liam Branch, Reice Bedortha, John Dumbleton, Rowland Thomas.
In ye 5th Seate .- John Matthews, John Clarke, John Lamb, Lawrence Bliss, Thomas Miller, Thomas Day.
In ye 6th Seate .- John Lombard, Griffith Joanes, Na- thaniel Pritchard, Richard Exell, Thomas Noble, Samuel Ely.
In ye 7th Seate .- Jonathan Taylor, Thomas Bancroft, Jolın Scot, Nathaniel Burt, John Stewart, William Brooks.
In ye 8th Seate .- Jeremiah Horton, John Bagg, John Riley, Simon Beamon, Abell Wright.
In ye 10th Seate .- Joseph Crowfoote, Edward Foster, Charles Ferry, James Osborn, William Hunter, Peter Swinke.
In ye foreseate of ye Gallery.
In ye upper seate above ye Pillar on ye North side .- Henry Chapin, John Bliss, John Keepe.
In ye upper pt above ye Pillars on ye South side .- Francis Pepper, James Warriner, Samuel Bliss.
Below ye Pillars on ye North side .- Samuel Holyoke, David Ashley, Jonathan Ashley, Japhat Chapin, Timothy Cooper, Isack Colton, Obadi Cooley.
On ye South side below ye Pillars .- Thomas Cooper, Jun., Joseph Warriner, John Leonard, John Harmon, Samuel Harmon, Increase Sikes, John Dorchester.
In yt seate in ye Gallery wch faces agt ye minister .- Ephi- raim Colton, Eliakim Cooley, Jonathan Morgan, Samuel Stebbins, James Dorchester.
In ye Backer seate of ye Gallery on the North side at the upper end of it .- James Taylor, John Horton, Hugh Mackey, William Morgan.
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HISTORICAL REVIEW.
In ye South side at ye upper end of the Backer seate .- Jonathan Ball, Samuel Ball, Joseph Harmon, Nathaniel Sikes, Thomas Thompson.
In ye Backer seate above the Pillars on the North side .- John Hitchcock, John Clarke, John Lombard, Samuel Bliss.
On the South side .- Joseph Thomas, Thomas Stebbins, Joseph Dorchester.
Goodwife Chapin is to sitt in the seate along with Mis- tress Glover and Mistress Hollyoke.
BURNING OF SPRINGFIELD BY THE INDIANS.
The burning of Springfield by the Indians October 5. 1675, nearly forty years after its settlement, was the most startling and important event in its early history. King Philip had begun open hostilities which had spread to the re- gion of the Connecticut valley. Hadley, Deerfield, and Northfield had suffered. Captain Lothrop and his brave men had been slaughtered at Deerfield, and terror reigned in every town and hamlet. Major John Pynchon had gone to Hadley with a small force on the 4th of October, leaving Springfield unprotected.
On Long Hill in the south part of the town. overlooking the valley, a fort had been constructed for the protection of the friendly Indians, who were dwelling in peace in the neighborhood. Into this a large number of hostile Indians, including some who had previously been on terms of inti- mate friendship with the whites, had secreted themselves. Toto, a friendly Indian, who was living with a white family in Windsor, revealed the plot, and that night a messenger rode swiftly to Springfield, who roused the inhabitants and warned them of the threatened danger. Every one was noti- fied who had not gone to Hadley, with Major Pynchon, and immediately took refuge in the three fortified houses. Among the numbers were some of the older men of the com- munity, including Deacon Samuel Chapin, Rev. Pelatiah Glover, Jonathan Burt, Lieut. Thomas Cooper, Thomas Miller, and others. Mr. Glover at once carried his library
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to Mr. Pynchon's house for safety. A messenger was dis- patched to Hadley to notify Major Pynchon of the great dan- ger that was impending, but the morning of the 5th opened without any indications of an attack upon the town, and Toto's statements began to be discredited. Rev. Mr. Glover, confident that there was no danger had carried his library back to his house, and Lieut. Cooper, long engaged in trade with the Indians, and who well knew every Indian in this region, set out on horseback for the fort. Thomas Miller accompanied him. They had approached Mill river, within less than a half a mile of the fort, when they were fired upon by the Indians. Miller was instantly killed and Cooper severely wounded. The latter's horse galloped back to town and stopped in front of Major Pynchon's house. when Lieut. Cooper fell dead to the ground. The Indians then followed up this attack, and soon the dwellings, which had been temporarily deserted by the occupants, for places of greater safety, were set on fire and destroyed. Pentecost Mathews, wife of John Mathews, was shot and killed in the south part of the town, and her house set on fire and con- sumed. The work of destruction, now fairly begun, the prominent actors in this most startling frontier drama, no longer continued their disguise. They proved to be some of the hitherto friendly Indians,-one of them an old sachem who had been on the most intimate terms of friendship, almost from the first settlement. The house of correction, some of Pynchon's mills, and many dwellings and barns, were burned to the ground. Various accounts differ as to the actual number. Major Pynchon, who hurried back from Hadley as soon as informed of the contemplated plot, but did not arrive until the town was in ashes, stated that about thirty houses were burned. Capt. Samuel Appleton, who was at Hadley. in a letter put the number at thirty-three house, and twenty- five barns, while Jonathan Burt set down the number at "twenty-nine houses and barns." He was chosen one of the Selectmen the next February and entered a brief account in the third volume of the town records, which now occupies a
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fly leaf of that book, and this is the only account that has been preserved in Springfield.
During the attack Edmund Pryngrydays and Nathaniel Brown were severely wounded, and both died soon after- wards. Major Treat, of Connecticut, who had been station- ed at Westfield with an armed force, and Major Pynchon and Captain Appleton with their two hundred soldiers prevented further destruction.
Mr. Glover's valuable library shared the common fate and was entirely destroyed with his dwelling. Fifteen houses on the street, and twenty or more in the outskirts of the town were saved.
Major Pynchon's letter to Rev. John Russell of Hadley. his letter to the Governor, both of which are on file in the State Archives at Boston, and one to his son then in Eng- land, contain some interesting statements concerning this entirely unexpected and startling event. His letter to Rev. Mr. Russell is given in full below :-
SPRINGFIELD, Oct. 5. 1675.
REVEREND SIR :-
The Lord will have us ly in ye dust before him; wee yt were full are emptyed, But it is ye Lord & blessed be his holy name: we came to a Lamentable & woefull sight. The Towne in flames, not a house nor Barne. except old Good- man Branches, till we came to my house, & then Mr. Glo- vers & John Hitchcocks & Goodman Stewarts, burnt downe with Barnes, corne & all they had: a few standing about ye meeting house, & then from Miricks downward, all burnt; two garrison houses at the Lower end of ye Towne, my grist Mill, & corne Mill, Burnt downe; with some other houses & Barnes I had let out to Tenants: All Mr. Glovers library Burnt with all his corne, so yt he hath none to live on as well as my selfe, & Many more yt have not for subsist- ence; they tell me 32 houses ye Barnes belonging to ym are Burnt & all, ye Livelihood of ye owners & what more may meete wth ye same stress ye Lord only knowes; many more had there estates Burnt in there houses, So yt I believe 40
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familys are utterly destitute of subsistence; ye Lord shew mercy on us. I see not how it is possible for us to live here this winter, & If so the sooner we were holpen off ye Better. Sir, I Pray you acquaint our Honored Governor with this dispensation of God. I know not how to work, neither can I bee able to attend any Public service, the Lord in mercy speake to my heart, & so all our hearts is this Reall desire of
Yours, etc.,
JOHN PYNCHON.
Under date of October 8, Major Pynchon wrote Governor Leverett :- "I desire to give you an account of the sore stroke upon poor distressed Springfield, which I hope will excuse my late doing of it. On the 4th of October our sol- diers which were at Springfield I had called off,leaving none to secure the towne because the Commissioners' orders were so strict. That night a post was sent to us that 500 Indians were about Springfield intending to destroy it on the 5th of October. With about 200 of our soldiers I marched down to Springfield where we found all in flames, about 30 dwell- ing houses burnt down and 24 or 25 barns, my corn mill, saw mill and other buildings. Generally men's hay and corn are burnt, and many men whose houses stand had their goods burnt in other houses which they had carried them to. Lt. Cooper and two more slain and 4 persons wounded. That the town did not utterly perish is cause of great thankfulness. As soon as said forces appeared the Indians drew off, so that we saw none. Our endeavors here are to secure the houses and corn that are left. Our people are under great discour- agement and talk of leaving the place. We need your orders and directions about it. How to have provisions, I mean bread, for want of a mill, is difficult. The soldiers here al- ready complain on that account, although we have flesh enough. Many of the inhabitants have no houses, which fills and throngs every room of those that have, together with the soldiers; indeed it is very uncomfortable living here. But I resolve to attend what God calls me to and to stick to it as
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wanting in the creature, to me, and to us all. long as I can. I hope God will make up in himself what is
HISTORICAL REVIEW.
JONATHAN BURT'S ACCOUNT OF THE BURNING OF SPRINGFIELD
on the "Day of october in the yeare 1675 a Day to Be Feept in memory by posterity when the Barborus Acathen made an Assact on this spoore rowno filles two men and a woman and wounded Several: on of which Syed lowno after Burner rowno 29 Tweeling howles and Barns much Porno and hay but got a wonderfully preferue us or we had been a prey to there teeth got in his your providence to ordered it that un Arian Jaus Intelyganze of the enemis Felino to fall on this town where by we escapes with our lives for which we should give For the glory
Jonathan Burt being an eye witness of the fame
risoned, as I have formerly hinted. To go out after the In- To speak my thoughts-all these towns ought to be gar-
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dians in the swamps and thickets is to hazard all our men, un- less we know where they keep, which is altogether unknown to us."
Major Pynchon, referring to Mr. Glover's loss, says: "He had all his books burnt ; not so much as a Bible saved; a great loss, for he had some choice books and many."
This was Springfield's first baptism in fire and blood, and although the settlers must have been greatly disheartened, they immediately set about repairing their broken fortunes. During this year, 1675, according to Judd, in his history of Hadley, 145 persons were killed within the limits of what was then Hampshire county, as follows: At Brookfield August 2. 13; above Hatfield, August 25, 9: at Deerfield, Sept. I, and after 2; at Northfield, Sept. 2, 8; near Northfield, Sept. 4, 16; at Muddy Brook, (Deerfield) Sept. 18, 71; of Capt. Mosely's company, Sept 18, 3; at Northampton, Sept 28, 2; at Spring- field, October 5, 4: at Hatfield, October 19, 10; at Westfield, October 27, 3; and at Northampton, Oct. 29. 4. This great destruction of life in a single year brings to us some realiz- ing sense of the danger that attended the early settlements. and the great insecurity of life.
On the preceding page is Jonathan Burt's account of the burning of Springfield, reproduced from the original record in the town book.
LONGMEADOW .- THE FIRST LOCATION.
The rich alluvial lands at Longmeadow early attracted the attention of those who settled here, and grants of land were soon made in that locality. As is generaly known the first settlement in Longmeadow was on that stretch of lowland in the region through which the railroad passes. Subject to inundations in every high freshet the residents experienced much discomfort and damage. Action was finally taken looking towards a new location of the street and the home- lots upon the high ground to the eastward. At a town meet- ing held in January, 1703, the question of removal was brought up, when a petition was presented asking for a new
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grant of land on the hill. They desired room sufficient to lay out some sixty or eighty homelots, each to be twenty rods in width and eighty rods in length. The petition is here given in full :-
"We, the Inhabitants of Longmeadow in Springfeild do make our Address to this Town of Springfeild, as followeth:
WVe declare our difficult circumstances.
I. Our living in a general field we are thereby forced to be at great charge to make lanes or outlets for our Creatures.
2. By reason of floods our lives have been in great danger. our housing much damnified, and many of our cattle have been lost ..
3. A third difficulty, which we shall mention in the last place, not that we count it a matter of least concern, but because in reason it will be helpt in the last place, and that is our living remote from public worship of God, as to hear- ing the Word preached, &c., and also our children are there- by deprived of the benefits of instruction by the schoolmaster in the Town.
Now for our relief we do suppose our best way is to move otit of the general field, and build on the hill against Long- meadow: and we have been at the pains to measure what lands we thought might be convenient to build on. and we do find land indifferently convenient to build upon for three score lots and to be twenty rods in breadth, and about eighty rods in length. We therefore desire the Town to grant us said Lands as homelots to build on ; also that the Town would order those lands to be laid out and modeled in such way and manner as may be most comfortable for settling thereon. We desire not this that the Town by granting this our desire should be brought into any snare or inconvenience hereafter, but for our own benefit and comfort and our posteritys. We subscribe. Nathaniel Burt, Senr .. Thomas Colton, Eliakim Cooley, Samuel Stebbins. Samuel Bliss, 2d, Nathaniel Bliss, Joseph Cooley, John Colton, Nathaniel Burt, Jr., George Colton, Samuel Keepe, Daniel Cooley, Benjamin Cooley.
Thereuppon the Town did vote that Major John Pynchon,
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Japhet Chapin, Lieut. John Hitchcock, to be a committee to go upon the place and view the lands, who are to make re- turn of what they find to the Town."
At a general town meeting held March 9th, 1703, the com- mittee made their report, and the record states :-
"At this meting the petition of the inhabitants of Long- meadow presented at the Town meeting January 29, was considered and it was voted to give the liberty to build upon the hill Eastward of said Longmeadow.
It was further voted to give the land from Pecowsic to Enfield bounds, and from the hill Eastward of the Long- meadow half a mile further Eastward into the woods unto the said Longmeadow inhabitants, and unto such others as a Committee appointed by the Town shall allow, in all which they shall be ordered and modeled in such way and manner as may be most comfortable to settle on, reserving liberty for convenient highways. And Major John Pynchon, Japhet Chapin, and Lt. John Hitchcock, were appointed to be the Committee to see to the modeling and ordering of those said lands, and the charge of this work to be borne by the Long- meadow inhabitants and such others as shall be added to the Longmeadow inhabitants. Luke Hitchcock, Senr., desired his dissent hereto entered."
This was the beginning of the work of settling in that por- tion of Springfield which now constitutes the beautiful vil- lage of Longmeadow, the most delightful suburb in proxim- ity to the original town, and what it seems must at some fu- ture time return and become an integral part of the Spring- field that is to be, coming back to the house from which it left at a time when circumstances were greatly different from the present.
Nathaniel Burt, who headed the petition for removal from the meadow to the uplands, was the youngest son of Henry Burt, and he and his sons and grand-sons, were for many years prominently identified with the interests of the place. He made donations of land to the town in support of the church and schools of Longmeadow, and eighty years after
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his death his benefactions were recognized by the erection of a monumental tablet at his grave by the town, bearing this inscription: "Mr. Nathaniel Burt, a respected and worthy Father of the town of Longmeadow, was born A. D. 1636, and died Sept. 29, 1720. This monument is erected to his memory by the said Town as a token of gratitude for dona- tions in land made by him to them for the support of the gos- pel and public schools. Is. 32.8 'The liberal deviseth liberal things and by liberal things shall stand.' Erected by the votes of the Town, passed 1796 and 1797." This was the first public gift in support of popular education made in this part of the colony.
SPRINGFIELD'S FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE.
While no doubt it was adequate for the needs of that time, Springfield's first school house presented a marked con- trast with the palatial edifice which is now being erected. It was 22 feet long and 17 feet wide, and the contract price for building was £14, unless the builder should have "an hard bargaine," and in that event he was to be paid "10 shillings more." It was located on what is now Cypress street, then known as "the lane to the upper wharf." It was built in 1679, more than forty years after the settlement was begun, and its builder was Thomas Stebbins, Jr., son of Lieut. Thomas and grandson of Rowland Stebbins, the ancestor of the large number who bear this family name.
The record of this transaction is of sufficient interest to be repeated in this place: "At a town meeting, being a legal meeting, May 7th, 1679, it was voted & concluded, Ist, that there should be an house erected for that noble design & use of Learning the youth in those necessary peices or parts of Learning Videl: reading & writing. & 2ly, That this house should be twenty & two foot in length & eighteen foot in breadth. & 3ly, That the Select men should be appointed or trusted to agree with any meet person or persons to frame this said building, & when ye town shall have deliberated & determined where to sit it, viz: ye school house, ye same ap- pointed persons are likewise to finish it for school use."
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The Selectmen proceeded to carry into effect the vote of the town and on the 2d of June, at a meeting of the board, Deacon Benjamin Parsons, John Dumbleton, Henry Chapin, and John Holyoke, being present, they voted: "It having been formerly at a Town meeting propounded to ye Town that they should set up a school house for the Town, they concluded that such a school house should be erected, & ap- pointed the Selectmen to bargain with any meet person to build such a house for such use: accordingly they have bar- gained wth Thomas Stebbin Jun' to get timber for such a building & frame it, whose length is to be 22 foot; & breadth 17 foot; & stud 8 foot half; & he the said Thomas Stebbin is to carry the frame to place & to nail the clap boards close on both sides & ends & to lath & shingle the roof, & to make three light spaces [windows] on one side & two lights on one end, & to set up a mantletree, & set up a rung chimney, & to daub it, & the said Thomas is to have for his work so done fourteen pounds paid him by the Town, & in case it so prove that the said Thomas have an hard bargaine it is hereby agreed that he shal have Ios more of the Town."
It does not appear that prior to this that the public school had an established place, but that such quarters were used as could be conveniently had. After the new meeting house was built at a town meeting held on the 9th of October, 1678, "it was voted and agreed that the watch house to ye New meeting house should be, or serve instead of a school house, until such time as the Town shal see cause to order otherwise."
The location of the first school house did not give satisfac- tion and two years after it was begun, at the annual town meeting, it was voted, "that if any persons appear that will remove the school house without any charge to the Town & bring it into ye Middle of ye Town, & set it in such place as ye Selectmen apoint, without damnifying ye house by the Ist of March next ensuing they shall have liberty to do it. But if no such persons appear the house shall be finished & Continued where it is now by ye Select men."
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