USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Florence > The history of Florence, Massachusetts : including a complete account of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry > Part 15
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
The game was played August first, 1865. Captain Clark played left field, H. H. Bond pitcher, Jonas Polmatier catcher, W. M. Kingsley short stop, Luther Askins, John Metcalf, and Frank Holmes tended the bases, while J. B. O'Donnell and Patrick Whalen were in right and cen- ter fields, respectively. The score, thirty to three, gave to the Eagles the first of a long series of championships. Clark, Kingsley, Metcalf, and Holmes did not again appear in the nine, while Bond and Polmatier did not return to the club until the next year.
New players to fill vacancies were admitted, and a challenge from the Conway Club was accepted. The game was fought and won on Sep- tember second, 1865, on the Colonel Pomeroy place, near Mr. Stock- bridge's present residence, with the score of forty-six to thirteen. The game was followed by a supper given by the victors to their Conway visitors.
A warm, personal friendship grew up between these two clubs, which continued during the life of the organizations, and frequent interchanges of courtesies took place between them. The return game between these clubs was played at Conway, on September sixteenth, and in this game the players had drifted into the positions which they afterwards usually occupied. O'Donnell acted as captain in his famous stronghold, the second base position ; Arthur Hill now first appeared with the club, hav- ing been away from home when the first two games were played. The day was a fine one, and it was made a special holiday in Conway. The mills stopped, and the farmers took a rest. The "beauty and chivalry" of Conway had gathered in a mowing lot north of the village, and the game was played under pleasant auspices. The Conway Club enter- tained the victors with a bounteous supper at the Conway Hotel, and the hilarious "Eagles " went home to dream of future conquests.
One week later the " Nicaan Nine" of Amherst College undertook to capture the Eagles, but failed, much to the surprise of the collegians, who had expected an easy victory. The Eagle Club had as yet no uni- forms, and a marked contrast was visible between the trim, handsomely costumed "Niczeans," and the bareheaded, barefooted, country lads, who could play ball if they did not look pretty.
Two more games were played, with the Williston No. 2 from East- hampton, and the Haydenville Club, and the season of 1865 was closed with a clear list of victories for the club.
With the opening of the season of 1866, the nine had been much strengthened by the return of Bond and Polmatier, who became very important members. Bond had made a scientific study of the art of pitching and immediately stepped into the front rank of the Western Massachusetts pitchers.
HISTORIC REMINISCENCES.
Upon April second, the Conway Club, now called the Franklin Club. under Capt. George Kaulback, appeared in Florence and another victory over these genial fellows was awarded the Florence boys. J. W. O'Neill appeared from this time as the official scorer for the club. The Niczean nine as re-organized was defeated at Amherst by the score of thirty- eight to twenty-one, on the Agricultural fair grounds. Contact with such men as composed the Amherst nine did much to improve the players
E. F. CONNELL, J. POLMATIER, A. G. HILL,
E. S. BOTTUM,
M. H. DUNN.
P. WHALEN,
H. H. BOND, A. ROBERTSON, J. B. O'DONNELL.
EAGLE BASE BALL CLUB.
and give them self-reliance. A marked improvement in the playing of the club was noticed from this time. In this game, the college boys learned the mettle of the Florence team and acknowledged its strength.
On June first, the Monitor Club of Holyoke was defeated by a large score and, on June ninth, the first of a series of contests took place at Chicopee, between the Hampden Club of that place and the Eagle Club, for the silver ball championship of western Massachusetts. The Eagle Club here met its first defeat, the score being thirty-six to ten. On July fourth, the Amateur Club of Westfield received the attention of the Eagles and in five minutes less than two hours were defeated in a West-
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
field sand bank, with the thermometers registering high figures, and the scorers making the runs twenty to thirteen.
It was voted to try again for the silver ball championship. When they felt that they were strong, the Eagles resorted to a little stratagem to learn the strength of the Hampden Club. An impromptu organiza- tion was made by five Eagles and four players from Northampton, which was called the " Bay State nine." This team challenged the Hampden Club to a friendly game not for the championship. The challenge was accepted and the boys went to Hampden Park, Springfield, each one girdled with a " Bay State " engine company's belt. The result of the game being favorable, a challenge was sent from the Eagle Club for the silver ball championship.
On August eighteenth, the Hampden and Eagle Clubs, therefore, met again on the "Patch" in Chicopee. The crowd was very large and the excitement intense. Hill, the lucky fellow, was first at the bat and struck the first ball pitched, getting to first base by the " skin of his teeth." Bond, who followed, had adopted a new style of batting, and the first ball pitched to him was landed in extreme right field, close to the foul line. On this hit he reached third base, sending Hill home with a scored run. Result on first two pitched balls, one run and a man on third base. O'Donnell and the succeeding players continued the good work and the first inning closed with nine tallies for the Florence boys.
When Ed Hickey of the Hampdens planted a fly ball in Bottum's hands, the game was won by the Eagle nine and the excitement culmi- nated. The players and the crowd went crazy ; Dunn came in from the field turning handsprings, Hammond stood on his head on the third base, Polmatier and Robertson were in the hands of their friends, Bot- tum and O'Donnell were yelling themselves hoarse, Hill and Bond were on the shoulders of enthusiasts going around the "Patch " at a little less than forty miles an hour, while Whalen to this day cannot tell what hap- pened to him. The arrival home was an ovation from the Northampton railroad station to the homes of the boys, a brass band parade and an illuminated village giving them a great welcome.
After defeating the Mount Tom Club of Easthampton, the Eagles prevented the silver ball from returning to Chicopee by again defeating the Hampden Club, this time at Florence.
On September eighth, the Pioneer Club of Springfield appeared in search of the silver ball, but it was unfortunate in the day, as the Flor- ence boys had on their batting clothes, and did terrific execution, batting out sixty-eight runs to their opponents' twenty. The little printed poem, "Nine graves for the Eagles," brought to the grounds by the Pioneers, was not distributed as was the intention.
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HISTORIC REMINISCENCES.
On October third, the Franklins of Conway were again defeated, and, on the fourth, the Monitors of Holyoke suffered another defeat at the hands of the Eagle Club. On October sixth, the Hampden Club appeared again and carried away the silver ball, the score, twenty-one to ten, giving them this privilege. This trophy ever afterwards remained in Chicopee. neither the Eagle Club nor any other association taking any interest in it from the construction placed upon the regulations governing the contests.
In November the club visited New York city to play with the great amateur clubs, but the weather was so unpropitious little skill could be exhibited, and the games with the Excelsior and Atlantic Clubs were played in overcoats, and all hands were glad when they closed.
The season of 1867 opened with victories over several minor clubs,
DAVIS AND KNIGHTS OF HONOR BLOCKS.
the first game of any importance being the defeat at Greenfield of the Quinipiac Club of West Meriden, Conn., July second. On July twenty- seventh, the Star Club of Greenfield was defeated by the score of fifty- five to twenty-six. The Union Club of Lansingburgh, N. Y., better known as " the Haymakers," came to Northampton, and a noteworthy game took place on the Agricultural fair grounds. It was a close con- test for eight innings, but in the ninth the Haymakers mowed too wide a swath for the local club, and the score, seventeen to nine, entitled the visitors to carry off the Eagles' claws. Victories over the Old Elm Club of Pittsfield, the Pequot Club of New London, the Champions of Connecticut, the Stars of Greenfield, and the Federal Club of Shelburne
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
Falls followed in quick succession, the two latter occurring on the same day. The Greenfield Gazette nicknamed Bottum and Whalen " Battem and Whalem " for their work at the bat in the two games. The Conway Club was again defeated in September, and on the eighteenth of the same month the Union Club of Lansingburgh, N. Y., sent the Eagles home with the worst defeat sustained in their career - fifty-eight to eighteen.
A New England Association of Base Ball Clubs had been formed, and the Eastern states put into five districts. The champions of the five districts met on September twenty-third, at Riverside Park, near Boston, to compete for the New England cham- pionship. The Eagle Club ap- peared as the champions of the fifth district (western Massa- chusetts, and state of Connect- icut). The Eagles easily de- feated the Rollstone Club of Fitchburg, the Fraternity Club of South Boston, and the cham- pion club of the third district. "Young hearts shall hail the drifted cold, As gayly as we did of old." -Whittier. On the twenty-sixth came the strife between the Eagle Club and the Trimountain Club of Boston. This game the Eagles have always repudiated, as the club received such unfair treatment from the tournament committee and the umpire. The club after protesting, without effect, to the selection of the umpire by the committee, felt obliged to decline proceeding with the game after three very unfair decisions of the umpire, and the game was awarded the Trimountain Club. The boys returned home, feeling ill-used, but confident of their ability to cope successfully with any New England Chib.
The season closed after two more games with the Hampden Club, not for the silver ball, however. The first of the two was won by the Flor- ence team, while the latter one resulted in a tie game, each club scoring twenty-two runs. The chib did not reorganize after that season, and though Eagle Clubs have existed in Florence to this day, the old Eagle nine rested on its laurels, and has been since then a memory of the past.
The Eagle Club suffered six defeats only in its three years' career, two by the Hampden Club of Chicopee (this club was beaten three times by the Eagles, and the sixth game of the series was a drawn game), two by
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HISTORIC REMINISCENCES.
the Unions of Lansingburgh, and one each by the Atlantic and Excelsior Clubs of New York city. These, with the game given to the Trimoun- tain Club by the tournament committee, are the only records which can be found against the Eagle nine. Only the important games have been mentioned here.
The individual members did not apparently suffer in their morals by their frequent trips from home. Good discipline was maintained, and the younger members were well looked after by the older ones. The warmest feeling always existed between the members, no bickerings or unpleasant scenes ever transpired.
The scores were large in those days as the balls were largely com- posed of rubber. There was a charm about good amateur playing which the present collections of professional players do not furnish; a Flor- ence Club meant a club of Florence players, and a local pride in the nine was felt by each inhabitant of the village.
Of those recognized as the nine, Henry H. Bond, Philip J. Mara, Edward H. Hammond, and Edmund Connell are no longer living. Flor- ence is still the home of Jonas Polmatier, J. B. O'Donnell, Edward S. Bottum, and Arthur G. Hill. Patrick Whalen lives in New Haven. Andrew Robertson in Springfield, while Michael H. Dunn, James Mehan, and John McGrath are sup- posed still to be busy some- where in the world's work. James W. O'Neill, the faithful scorer, holds an important position in Wichita, Kansas.
The club was greatly in- debted to the people of Flor- ence, especially to the work- men in the shops of the Florence Sewing Machine Company, who did much in the way of providing uni- forms, equipments, and trans- portation expenses. No player EAST ON MAIN STREET IN IS7 5. received any pay for his time, the individual gave that freely, and to several it meant self-sacrifice in many directions.
Bond and O'Donnell would rank as first-class players. What they did was carefully planned and executed. Dunn was a phenomenon, lithe, active, though apparently careless, with a keen eye, always in the right place, seemingly by accident. Polmatier, long of arm and large of
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
frame, was the easiest player on the team, sometimes a little too easy for the best results. Robertson and Mara, the catchers, were small and active, often achieving success where larger men would have failed. Robertson was the stronger and better player of the two. Bottum, though small, was cordy and resolute, never afraid, a strong batter and a sure catch. Whalen was thoroughly reliable, no steadier or more graceful player appeared on the field. His "daisy cutters " were sent with such power that rarely were they stopped in season to do him mis- chief. Askins at his best was a good player. "Old Bushel Basket " was his pet name, for, until his sickness, the balls seemed to drop into his fingers and stay there as if a basket held them. Hill was active and made a fair showing as a player. He achieved his greatest renown from the nine he captained. Never a strong batter, he slid to many a base just quick enough to claim it. His throwing powers were weakened by an injury to his arm in the season of 1866, so that he played only as sub- stitute in 1867, though retaining the captaincy until the end. Connell was a good short stop and reserve pitcher, and generally did heavy batting. The third base was always the weak spot in the nine, Hammond, Mehan, and Payson doing good work in that position, but neither of them prov- ing an ideal baseman. McGrath, the pitcher of the first year, was a better pitcher than batter, but he was much missed until Bond showed his great ability.
The days of such organizations seem to have passed, but an enthu- siast derived more pleasure in witnessing the honest games of such teams as the Eagles and the Hampdens, than the 1894 games of the more scien- tific professionals.
MY EARLY RECOLLECTIONS.
BY JOHN B. O'DONNELL.
IN complying with your request to write relative to my early recol- lections of the beautiful village so long my home, scenes of pleasure and joy crowd upon me. These are mingled with sorrow and sadness when I think of the many dear friends and kind neighbors who then were adding to and aiding in the general happiness but, alas ! who are now in their long and silent homes.
About the middle of March, 1859, when twelve years of age, stout and muscular, robed in a farmer's frock, near the " Cross house," in Flor- ence, with unerring aim, I stood at noon pouring snowballs at the boys and young men on their way to the cotton mill and button shop. The snowballs were so hard and my boldness so exasperating that several
18;
HISTORIC REMINISCENCES.
times a rush was made to thrash me, to avoid which I sought refuge within the walls of the house. Thus it was that I introduced myself to the companions and friends of my youth and manhood.
Florence at this time was a place of humble but happy homes. The classes and self-styled aristocrats, now so numerous in other places, were here unknown. Protestant, Catholic, Gentile, and Jew, white and black, all were invited, received, and welcomed as members of one com- mon brotherhood. There were but few houses, comparatively. There
A ELDREDGE'S
8 UDDA
VIEW OF FLORENCE AND RESIDENCES ABOUT 1865-FROM OLD LITHOGRAPH.
was no church, but meetings were often held in the little district school. house that stood where the High school building now stands. The Catholics went to Northampton to mass in the King street church. To this church and back, the people of Florence, and very many from East- hampton, Hatfield, Williamsburg, and Amherst, walked, yet consump- tion and heart disease were almost unknown among them. There was no public mode of conveyance on Sundays, and only Abercombie's bus on week days, at fifty cents for the round trip. Of course livery horses
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
then, as now, were in demand on special occasions, all of which were supplied by Graves Brothers, " under the hill," in the rear of the houses just below the Askins homestead. They are yet in business on the hill, and long may they live and prosper ! Nonotuck street was then the main street and the only business place of the village.
The games and sports of the youth were mostly indulged in on the Sabbath day. "Paradise," then owned by the Greenville Manufacturing Company, was fairly alive with girls, boys, and men on Sundays during the summer. In the winter the scene of action changed to the crust- covered snow on the hillsides, and the ice on the ponds and river, and always their merry laughter and joyous shouts rang and echoed over the neighboring hills.
The strict Sabbatarian who may peruse these lines, will not, I trust, too severely criticise and censure the youth, the parents, or the com- munity of those days. There was no law fixing the school age of the children, and all the poor were obliged to begin to work at an early age. It was no uncommon thing to see children regularly employed at the age of nine years, and these-almost infants-and all others were obliged to labor from half past six in the morning till half past seven at night, with only one half hour intermission for dinner. Where was the time during the week for reading, recreation, and sleep ?
But as time went on and the factories prospered, many strict church people immigrated to the village. They naturally objected to this god- less manner of observing the holy Sabbath, and an effort was made to break it up. They had Mr. Julius Phelps, afterwards a deacon of the "White" Church, appointed a constable to arrest and imprison (!) all Sabbath breakers. While Mr. Phelps was a conscientious, Christian gentleman, he had a big, liberal, and sympathetic heart. The boys respected him very much, and they were ever ready to show their obedi- ence and good intentions-when he was in sight! They continued clan- destinely, however, to play as of old, but when the games were in progress the sentinels and pickets were always on duty, ever on the alert to give the alarm, when all would at once put on their coats, sit down lawfully, and await the approach of the "common enemy." They always got a lecture and good advice from the kind-hearted constable. But Mr. Phelps " caught on " to the picket protector, and formulated plans to break through it.
A match game of ball was arranged between the forces of the cotton mill and button shop, to be played opposite the brick house near Landy's -no Landy avenue then. It was a great battle ! In the middle of the game, while excitement ran high, a great shout of alarm rent the air, and lo and behold ! there was the officer coming at full speed and almost
18g
HISTORIC REMINISCENCES.
upon them. The warriors grabbed their scanty wardrobes and ran for dear life down the Bay State road towards the dam, many jumping into the river and swimming to the opposite shore. But after every storm there comes a calm. They halted on a lot near the insane asylum, reorganized, threw out their pickets, and fought the battle to a finishi. A quarter of a century afterwards, when Mr. Phelps, a stanch friend of mine, and I were on duty as city assessors, I reminded him of this epi- sode. He remembered it well, and he laughed loud and lieartily.
The evening school of Florence was a most timely and beneficial institution. Samuel L. Hill was the prime mover and principal supporter for five years, 3 when the town assumed the management. A. T. Lilly, Samuel A. Bottum, and others were contribu- tors. For a few years the teaching was done by vol- unteers. Among these were Daniel W. Bond, now an honored judge of the superior court, Thomas S. COOLING OFF. Mann, and A. R. Morse. During the vacations of this school, writing was taught by Michael Walsh, Edson S. Ross, and a Mr. Hillman.
Among the persons employed to teach the evening school were Mary W. Bond, a very successful teacher, a Mr. Battles, who was not so success- ful, and Caroline W. James, who was the longest connected with the school. She was a lady of rare executive ability, kind and gentle, yet the most unruly boy was completely under her control. She seemed readily to extricate from difficulty the dullest mind, and never appeared impatient or discouraged. The school was well and regularly attended. having about fifty scholars, and among her " graduates " are successful journalists, lawyers, mechanics, and business men and women.
To this school many of us owe much, and to the originators, support- ers, and teachers we can never be too grateful. I gladly take this oppor- tunity to acknowledge my appreciation of their philanthropy and valu- able services, and to extend my grateful thanks to those of them who are living. I shall ever revere and cherish the memory of those who have since joined the silent majority, who, I trust, are now enjoying their heavenly reward.
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
THE MUNDE WATER CURE.
BY PAUL F. MUNDE, M.D.
WE first went to Florence early in the fifties and there I spent sixteen of the happiest years of my life. As a boy I roamed over the fields and woods, fished the stream and the brooks, then teeming with trout, bathed at Locust Grove many times with my old friend, Arthur Hill, played baseball in the field near his house, coasted in winter down the hills, went for the mail to the post office at the village store kept by I. S. Parsons, and enjoyed myself in the magnificent country as only a boy can.
The land opposite our house was covered with mulberry trees, the ripe and luscious fruit of which I gathered with great pleasure. They were a remnant of the Whitmarsh mul- berry fever. In those days, game was fairly plenty. Coons were common, squirrels abundant, partridges and quail easy to find in the season, and the woods in places were more or less primeval. Northampton was then a " town," but to us villagers quite a place, toward which our ambitions soared.
At that time new ideas and practices in various lines were very popular in Florence, which had always been a sort of haven of refuge for original minds, reformers, and conspirators in a mild way. The Graham Bread Cure, Abo- litionism, Freethinkers, Cold Water CHARLES MUNDE, M.D. Cure, and other innovations on com- monly accepted customs, found ready support among the business men and farmers of Hampshire County. In this way can be explained the foundation of a small water cure establishment at Florence which was managed by " Dr." Ruggles, whose natural shrewdness in a measure com- pensated for his want of scientific knowledge.
Hydropathy had found its way across the water from the numerous followers and pupils of Priessnitz, who, at Graefenberg, in the moun- tains of Austrian Silesia, had established an institution which in spite of its fanatical and reckless methods of treatment, achieved remarkable cures and spread the name of its founder throughout the civilized world.
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HISTORIC REMINISCENCES.
One of these pupils and followers was my father, who had become a convert through his own cure of gout, which at the early age of thirty threatened to terminate his life.
After struggling for nearly a year in New York in search of a prac- tice (my father's office was in a basement in Chambers street, I believe) through Horace Greeley, I think, my father was informed of the oppor- tunity to take up his favorite method at Florence, through the death of "Dr." Rug- gles. Without money, but endowed with a vigorous constitution, an iron determination, and indomitable en- ergy, my father took charge of the dilapi- dated building which constituted the so- called " water cure," CHARLES MUNDE'S WATER CURE. and with the help of kind friends who loaned him money without security, soon had them in such condition that they were fit to receive patients from the better classes. In two years or thereabouts, he was able to pay off his debts and build a large new house. From that time the tide of prosperity flowed steadily for him until the breaking out of the Rebellion threatened to ruin him. A very large number of his patients were from the South, and among the guests were to be found the names of the proudest families of Virginia, Kentucky, the Carolinas, and Alabama.
I remember well the day of the election of Abraham Lincoln, when my father and I returned from a visit to Boston, expressly that my father might cast his vote for Lincoln. On our return home, a Southern lady. a Mrs. Wogram from New Orleans, asked my father, as he alighted from the carriage, why he had returned sooner than he had expected. He replied, "To vote." She asked, " And whom did you vote for, Doctor ?" "Why, for Lincoln, of course." "We leave the house to-morrow, Doctor." at once replied the lady .. "Very well," said my father, " you can all go. if that is your reason," and go they did, all of them. In two days there was not a Southerner in the house.
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