USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Florence > The history of Florence, Massachusetts : including a complete account of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry > Part 10
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After four years of struggle, it was thought best to disband. For various reasons many persons had withdrawn and gone away to resume their former vocations under the ordinary conditions of society. Some remained and pursued their various callings. Meanwhile, the population outside the community had increased ; new branches of industry had been started, so all could find employment.
New schoolhouses were built, one for a primary school on the site of the old one, which had been removed, and one near where the present fine edifice stands. It was plain, and small, and inconvenient, in the light of the present time, but to us then it was a great improvement over most of the country schoolhouses. It served many purposes. On Sundays it was used for religious meetings. The Congregational, the Methodist, and the Free Congregational societies, all had their beginning there. New enterprises were started, new societies were formed, and meetings for other purposes enlisted the attention of the people. At that time anti-slavery was the great subject in the minds of the whole
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nation. I think it would be true to say that the people of Florence were on the right side. I am sure a person must have been very bold to have argued in favor of the slave system, and the cases were rare when it was done.
Perhaps no place of its size has had so much of interest in its history as Florence. The best speakers on every subject have been heard here. There has always been a platform to which all reforms have been wel- comed, and an opportunity given to all to hear the best thought on every subject. This opportunity has been well improved. Those who have enjoyed the rich treats which have been provided have been strengthened and enriched thereby. The seed thus sown has not been lost. Not all fell upon good ground, but enough did to make Florence the home of free thought, and of great tolerance of the diversity of views which nec- essarily prevail in such a community.
Florence, as " Broughton Meadows," was beautiful. The river, the meadows, the sandy plain with its fine views, then unobstructed by trees or buildings, made it very attractive fifty years ago. The Florence of to-day still has its river, its meadows, and its plain, but now the meadows and the plain have changed. Houses cover the plain, factories and shops are numerous, and their number is constantly increasing. Still " beautiful for situation " is Florence, and may her people be as good as their home is beautiful.
WHEN I WAS A BOY.
BY GEORGE R. STETSON, NEW BEDFORD, MASS.
My recollections of the Community are those of boyhood, and I can only give some idea of the life of a boy. As I reflect on the methods adopted for our education and government, I am led to believe that the hope of our parents and the controlling minds in the Community was so to educate the children that, in their maturer years, the ideas of a broad. liberal, and moral character should have an influence in the improve- ment of society. In reviewing the lives and characters of those who have grown out of the Community, the conclusion is forced upon me that the results desired have been generally obtained. Mr. S. L. Hill, who watched over the children with more intelligent care than any other person, expressed his thought agreeable to this conclusion. There was no efort made to instruct us in any sectarian or peculiar theological ideas. If there was not much said regarding " the Fatherhood of God," " the Brotherhood of Man " was a constant object lesson. I have heard the opinion expressed that among the reasons why the project was not
OLD COMMUNITY TIMES.
more of a financial success was that this " charity towards all " was too generally extended in a material way. But this general hospitality drew together people of varied experiences, among whom were many bright and superior minds.
I remember most of those who were the adult members of the Com- munity. Among them may be mentioned Samuel L. Hill, George Ben- son, Austin Ross, David Mack, Samuel A. Bottum, Hiram Wells, E. L. Hammond, Hall Judd, William Adam, Luther Brigham, James Willey, and Calvin Stebbins. These men impressed themselves on my mind as
METHODIST CHURCH. SOJOURNER TRUTH HOUSE.
JUDD PLACE.
HAVEN HOUSE.
A PARK STREET VIEW.
being more than ordinary men. Among the women might be mentioned an equal number who were all competent, and possessed greater intel- lectual ability than the average women of that time.
My father, mother, and their five children joined the Community in the spring of 1843, when I was six years old. I remember distinctly our arrival at the little cottage of my uncle, George Benson. For a great many years there was a beautiful pine grove back of this cottage. Among the trees were several graves, but I do not remember the history of them. Standing at that time in the belfry of the present Braid Mill. but three dwellings could be seen. To the right, towards Northampton, was the house of an Irishman, named Hickey, and this must have been seen through the forest trees, which covered the plain to a greater or
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less extent ; to the left was the Adam house, and to the north was the Ben- son cottage. Our family was installed in a suite of rooms in the south- east corner on the third floor of the Community boarding house. Very sunny and pleasant rooms, as I recollect them. While the danger from fire, or the distance from the ground, caused our parents some anxiety, we children did not suffer from this cause.
The large dining room was where the meetings were held, and during the winter a regular lyceum was maintained. The children recited pieces, and classes in music furnished song. The debates were carried on with spirit, and, as would naturally be expected among such positive minded men as composed the Community, personal antagonism would sometimes be engendered. But when different opinions were honestly
PARK STREET CEMETERY.
held, a broad mantle of charity was extended and the ultimate outcome was a better understanding and confidence. Any visitors who had special talent were invited to contribute to the general pleasure and instruction. I heard here for the first time the Hutchinson family : Jud- son, Abby, John, and Asa then made up the famous quartette, which for years was so well known. Fred Douglass was introduced to Northamp- ton through this channel. I remember him as a finely formed, athletic young man. Among the family curiosities is a stone which was thrown at him while trying to speak in the Northampton town hall, about this time. David Ruggles was another of the peculiar characters that I remember distinctly. He was blind, and it was one of my boyhood duties to lead him to his baths. Garrison was a frequent visitor. I remember hearing him speak under the large pine tree that used to be our summer meet-
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ing house. All of the old Community people remember this tree with reverence. The memory of many instructive lessons from earnest and capable men cluster around this spot.
Sojourner Truth, the African, who was a conspicuous figure during the anti-slavery controversy, was here and was accustomed to speak and sometimes to sing. In either act she commanded attention, having a tall imposing figure, a strong voice, and a ready wit. Her retorts or argu- ments were usually well di- rected and secured the desired results. She was brought from Africa when a child and held as a slave in New York state. She bore her tribal mark and it was sometimes suggested that she came from royal stock. She never learned to read, write, or figure, and in speaking once she said, "Three thirds of the people are wrong." Some one in the audience said, "That takes VIEW ON PINE STREET IN IS70. them all, Sojourner," and she answered, " I am sorry, as I had hoped there were a few left." One of the boys fell off the dam, and, as fortune favored him, struck in a deep pool only a few feet long. This was the only place where he could have fallen without injury as there was a ledge extending the remainder of the way. Sojourner remarked, on hearing of the accident, "If the Devil made him fall the Lord had a fixed place for him to light in."
The educational methods were original and our instructors were among the first in this country to use object lessons. While the chil- dren of my age had lessons from books, the lessons taught through the oral and practically illustrated methods are the ones I now remember. A class of which I was a member was under the instruction of Miss Sophia Foorde. Our schoolroom was frequently the plain back of the present braid factory. On the banks of the river we were taught to build the different geographical formations, miniature islands, capes. promontories, peninsulas, and isthmuses. I have frequently noticed that I have a much clearer idea of these formations than others of my age, who were my superiors in memorizing lessons.
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Work was interspersed with our lessons. We gathered the mulberry leaves for the silkworms, being watched over and directed by a member appointed for that purpose. Among those who had my class in charge was a man educated for a Catholic priest. To encourage us to work and to still the clatter of our tongues he sometimes recited a Latin prayer. As this was always a reward for welldoing on our part, he ex- pected to receive an immediate answer. Mr. Austin Ross usually had the care of the boys older than myself, though sometimes my class was placed under his charge. We were watched while at work or at play, instructed in swimming, as well as in hoeing, and while I never knew corporal punishment to be re- sorted to, Mr. Ross had the reputation of being THE ISAAC PARSONS PLACE-NOW H. F. CUTLER'S RESIDENCE. able to close his hand very tightly on the arm or shoulder of any boy who disobeyed his orders. I presume the Com- munity children had their troubles and hardships, but my memory mostly brings " visions of happiness." The occasional rides to the wood lot with Mr. Bottum, or to the farm with Mr. Ross, and many incidents of work and play are all reflected in rose-colored hues.
There has been much interest excited about the grave of a young lady who was buried by the road leading to Bay State. This was a beautiful place, sloping toward the river. Our Community Paradise, with its large pine trees, among whose roots wound a brook, was on one side, and the river on the other side. Over the grave a beautiful oak spread its protecting branches. She was buried here according to her request, and the children filed by and dropped in her grave their sprigs of evergreen and wild flowers. Very few of those to maturity grown who stood around her grave at that time but have followed her to the great unknown. Mrs. Judd,* Mrs. Martin, Mr. Ross, Mr. and Mrs.
* Died January, 1501. Article written December, 1892 .- [ EDITOR.
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Atkins, and Mr. Bottum yet remain, and have watched the many transi- tions that have taken place around the homes of the old Community, an association formed to help its individual members to more complete and well rounded life. The enterprise failed materially, but among the eternal forces that live and influence the world, I believe the Community still has its being.
WHEN I WAS A GIRL.
BY A COMMUNITY MAIDEN.
MY earliest recollections connected with Florence were of the long journey from Brooklyn, Conn., made with our family by private convey- ance, there being no railroad to Northampton at that time. The cottage to which we came stood on rising ground, terraced to the road, with a rather long, sandy hill at the back ; a beautiful grove of great pine trees at one side, and just beyond that a deep, broad, sand valley, clean, white, and fine ; an ideal playground for children. Our great delight was to start some distance from its brink, run as fast as we could, jump over and land knee deep in its warm embrace.
Across the road, and directly opposite the cottage, ran a shallow brook, with sandy soil on either side, in which grew fine, firm cranberries, the first and last I ever saw growing. Beyond the brook, and a zig- zag fence, lay a swamp of some extent, which was our resort when hunting the trailing arbutus, which grew there in perfection. One day, while looking for the flowers, I rolled a log over, and beheld POLLY BOSWORTH HOUSE TO-DAY. a large, black snake surrounded by her family of little blackies, where- upon the mother opened wide her mouth, and one by one the six baby snakes disappeared down that receptacle.
How long it might have been before the Community was founded. I have no idea, but soon the brick mill became a place of residence for families, and uncles, aunts, and cousins, besides others, began to arrive. and my lonely life was relieved by companions of all ages.
And then began our school life, which was so different from the
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stereotyped training of other young folks of those days. Our teachers were people of original ideas on education ; thoughtful, progressive, intellectual, somewhat unusual qualifications, then, for school teachers. The best remembered of them all were Mr. and Mrs. David Mack. All our teachers, however, were our friends and companions, and our school- room, very often, some lovely grove, or shady nook on the banks of the winding Mill River. We were taught botany wherever flowers grew, and we learned by object lessons many things that city children never knew unless in adult life their interest in some special pursuit brought them in close contact with nature. We traveled miles, climbed Mounts Holyoke and Tom in search of rare specimens of their flora, or minerals ; any- thing. in fact, that our quick eyes could spy out from which our teachers could give us a new idea.
When the cold weather drove us indoors, our work differed in many points. We were taught sewing, braiding straw, knitting silk and beaded purses, and other useful things. And while we worked our teacher read the classics to us,-Shakespeare's plays, Scott's novels, Prescott's " His- tory of the Conquest of Mexico," " Undine," and many other charming books, both prose and poetry ; so that while our minds were the most receptive, all the beauties of the literature were pointed out and impressed upon us. Another feature was the bringing of a new fact, or idea, each morning to school with us, and some of them were very new, indeed, as, for instance, when a small cousin of mine gave as her quota of informa- tion, that she " never knew before that Mary, Queen of Scots, cut her own head off !" the shocked expression of her large, blue eyes attesting her firm belief in her " fact." But with all that was unusual in our schooling, the old-fashioned ways of study were by no means neglected, and we had to learn our lessons, also.
One feature of our training was the athletic exercises that the girls, as well as the boys, were expected to take. As the blind, colored man, Dr. Ruggles, was very fond of us youngsters, we were, of course, great friends of his. No sooner did we "sight" him, than, with arm sharply bent at elbow, we gathered around him to have the exact extent of muscular improvement from our latest practice on cross-tree (or other trees, for that matter) decided by his infallible judgment. I am still proud to say that my muscle always stood well in his estimation. Bath- ing was another much sought amusement of ours, and many a retired nook on the river was a favored sporting place.
One department of industry was raising silkworms for raw silk. Extensive fields of mulberry bushes were already planted, a cocoonery was built, and the eggs imported. The children did the work, under the supervision of a couple of men to keep us in order, and see that it was
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not all play and no work. The long, rather low cocoonery had shelves on each side of a passageway, running lengthwise with it, upon which the eggs were hatched, and the boys brought the leaves in baskets, while the girls distributed them over the shelves, and worms soon devoured them. The work was clean and wholesome, done at regular times, between school hours, and really enjoyable. Some of us were sorry when it had to be abandoned after a full trial, it proving cheaper to obtain the silk from China.
In winter our chief amusement consisted in coasting. In the fall, when the mill pond was full of logs, it was great fun to run over its
THE ROSS FARM-FORMERLY OWNED BY THE COMMUNITY.
narrowest part, jumping from log to log. What should we do or say if we caught our daughters indulging such dangerous accomplishments ? We were undoubtedly a set of tomboys, as all girls would be if given their freedom, as we were, to follow the footsteps of their boyish com- panions. We ran races ; climbed trees and fences ; waded rivers and brooks ; fished, rowed, skated, and swam-at least all of us who could learn the latter accomplishments, which but a few did.
And so passed the happiest hours of the happiest possible childhood. And it lingers in the memory of all who enjoyed its privileges, as an ideal
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
unattainable in these days of more artificial training for the young, which, superior as it undoubtedly is, so far as book knowledge goes, yet makes them old before reaching their teens. I leave it for others to tell of the many celebrated people who often came amongst us, lectured for us, and entertained us in various ways. I have only aimed at giving some experiences in the life in the Community of the children under twelve years of age.
A YOUNG MAN IN THE COMMUNITY.
BY GILES D. STEBBINS, DETROIT, MICHIGAN.
FLORENCE has its own atmosphere and character. It is noteworthy, not only for its natural beauty and for its aspect of thrift and taste, but for the cheerful industry, the decent ways, the fraternal spirit, the free and active mental and moral life and the religious charity of its people.
What ideas inspired its founders ? What influences shaped its charac- ter and vitalized its air ? My part of the answer will be some glimpses of a year in the Community, when I was twenty-five years old. The brick factory by the river side, the few plain houses scattered around it, the pleasant valley, the broad fields, the wooded hills with paths among the great trees and the laurels and wild flowers along their winding ways,-all are in my mind's eye.
Plain living and high thinking went together. Social life was uncon- ventional, going to the bounds of propriety but not beyond. I did not know a grossly depraved person, and there were no tragic outbreaks of vice or crime. Vulgarity was less common than in the outer world. They were thinking people, trying a noble experiment,-an effort for industry and education more fraternal than seemed possible elsewhere. It may be said that they did not succeed, but surely they did not wholly fail, for the memory of those days has been pleasant and helpful to all. There and elsewhere, far and near, I have met the pioneers of that Commil- nity, and have found no " black sheep " among them. There was a strange charm in the daily contact with persons of widely varying opinions, freely exchanged without controversy. Even in religion there was no cold wave of self-righteous bigotry, and we find to-day a kindly charity and mutual respect among the various denominations.
There were many visitors,-persons eminent in thought and life, inter- ested in this experiment, -and meeting them was interesting and instruct- ive, sometimes amusing. Rev. Mr. Woodbridge, a grave Puritan D.D. of Hadley, came one day, met among the silkworms a young man named
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Porter, and asked, " What do you do here Sundays ?" The reply was : "We rest, sometimes do pressing work, read, think, hold meetings, and try to behave as well as we do Mondays." The preacher asked, " Have you no minister?" "No," was the answer ; "we all speak if we wish, men and women. You can come and say what you please ; we will treat you well, but we may not agree with you and may ask questions." " Do you all think alike? How do you get along when you don't agree ?" The young man picked up a stick and rapped on the fence rail, first on one place and then along the rail, saying, "You notice that when I rap on one spot the sound is monotonous, when I move my stick it varies. Don't you like the variations ? You are not foolish enough to quarrel with the stick or the rail because these sounds differ, but you like to hear them and make up your mind which is best." A good object lesson in free inquiry.
The Sunday meetings were always provocative of thought, usually inter- esting, sometimes crude. They were held in the factory dining room, or under the shade of a great pine in the grove on the hilltop. William Lloyd Garrison spent part of the summer here, and spoke several times. RESIDENCE OF SAMUEL PORTER. The listening group, the speaker standing by the massive trunk of the towering tree, his bold yet reverent utterances, the fragrance of the pines, the mountains in the dis- tance, and the blue sky over all, seem like something of yesterday.
I was not a member of the Community, but a student with William Adam and David Mack as teachers, ripe scholars and excellent men. It was a study of character as well as of books ;- of marked individuality, moral courage, devotedness to good ends, some tinge of erratic fancies, and a warm sympathy which made life pleasant.
I remember a wedding at the breakfast table of the factory dining hall. with no cake or cards, but brown bread and wooden chairs and a squire to make the rite legal. The ripe wisdom and delicate tenderness, finely
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shown in gracious words or acts by those who went from the wedding feast to their work in mill, or kitchen, or the open fields, made some weddings, where silks and diamonds and shallow compliments abound, poor in comparison.
It is sometimes well for a young man to find out how little he knows. It takes away self-conceit and leads to deeper thinking. I was at the age when self-esteem is active. A Massachusetts youth, who was a Whig, a Unitarian, and a prospective clergyman, might naturally have a fair share of complacent self-satisfaction. I had a room in a house partly occupied by James Stetson and family from Brooklyn, Conn. Mrs. Stetson was a superior woman, a personal friend of S. J. May, and other early anti- slavery leaders. One evening, in their room, the talk was of anti-slavery, and she quoted some Bible texts favoring freedom for all. Gravely and with oracular air, I spoke of Paul and Onesimus, and of the Apostle sending back the slave to his master. I can see still the shade of amused pity that spread over her fine face as she heard me through. Then she took up the matter and expounded the Scriptures in the light of liberty. As she expounded I was confounded,-that I, one of the lords of crea- tion, who hoped, like Walter Scott's Dominie Sampson, to " wag my pow in the pulpit " in due time, should be so utterly humiliated by a person unlearned, as I supposed, in clerical lore, and that person a woman ! She was kind, but that made it worse. There really seemed nothing left of me, I did not sleep for half the night, for thinking of my mental and moral confusion. But at last it dawned on me that the lesson was needed as well as right, and I went to her in the morning and heartily thanked her. We became cordial friends, and, having come into a teachable mood, I learned much from her.
Other friends I had, whose useful lives and large thoughts were inspiring suggestions of much that has since been well done. Samuel I. Hill, -unpretending, sagacious, tireless, of moral courage unsur- passed, and a fine integrity that made his promise sure,-the fatherly helper beloved by all ; Hammond, Benson, Atkins, Judd, Ross, are names calling up men and women known and prized.
A leading aim of the Community was to emphasize human fraternity, to uplift the common lot, and its members carried that aim into the business enterprises in which they engaged on the domain which had been the place of their joint efforts for a better life for all. The charac- ter of a town where large industries employ many persons is modified by the spirit and methods of the managers and employers. Where business sagacity and fraternal humanity are combined all seem to live in a purer and more vitalizing air, and much is done to enrich the life of the people
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In this respect Florence has been singularly fortunate, and the busi- ness career of Samuel L. Hill and others gives signal proof that this combination is practicable and that the union of wisdom and love helps to the best material results, as well as to the best life for all. Fraternity and self-respect are better stimulants to skilled and faithful labor than a blind and chilling selfishness.
The Community was short-lived. Its errors have died away, its influence for good is still felt, for the right outlives the wrong and so the world moves upward.
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