USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Florence > The history of Florence, Massachusetts : including a complete account of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry > Part 2
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MAP SHOWING LANDOWNERS IN FLORENCE TERRITORY-1754.
Non- This shows the three principal highways, the " North," "South," and middle roads, the latter called " Isaac's Way." The two vertical lines divided " Inner Commons " from " Long Division " The lots in Long Division were numbered in regular order from the Hatfield town Ene through to Easthampton. A space for a highway was left between lots Nos 33 and 34, and for another road near the bridge between lots Nos, to and 41. By care- tul search one cm find the three plains, Bear Hill, Broughton's Meadow, and Millstone
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INTRODUCTORY.
Was this an unbroken wilderness when the pioneers came to North - ampton ? Did an immense forest cover all this vicinity where now stand beautiful villages, towns, and cities? No, not by any means. Each autumn the Indians burnt over all the country. This destroyed the brushwood, scorched the older trees, and kept the country open for travel and hunting ; so when the settlers came they found the meadows gener- ally free from trees and brush, and grass and fodder growing on the hill- side. Good timber was scarce; the wet lowlands alone were heavily wooded, and here game abounded.
The petitioners voted that "every singell man " shall have "foare acres" and "every head of a phamily six acres of meadow." Besides this, each settler was granted a home- lot, generally of four acres. Judd quotes this as the rule by which the lands were divided : "Fifteen acres to the head of a family, three acres to a son, twenty acres to a one hundred pound estate." When meadow land proved swampy, a larger tract of up- land was granted in its stead, as the latter was not considered so valuable. But the meadow land in the eastern part of the town did not hold out, so they came westward to Broughton's Meadow, and to other land lying up WHEN WE WERE BOYS. the Mill River.
All the land not divided was held "in common," each individual hav- ing certain rights in this unoccupied territory. Later, portions of "the commons " were divided among individuals. At one time the township was divided into two principal parts : one, of the land on the eastern boundary, including most of the territory within the present village of Florence, which was called "Inner Commons" ; the other, laid out at a later date, took in all the western portion of the township, and was called "Long Division." Other sections were named "Old Hatefield." " Love- field," " Little" and "Mountain " divisions. On some Northampton maps these ancient divisions are still to be seen.
CHAPTER III.
FROM 1654 TO FIRST SETTLEMENT.
THE FIRST VISIT OF THE ENGLISH TO FLORENCE TERRITORY, AND THE FIRST OWNERS OF LAND THERE. - THE FIRST ENTERPRISE IN FLORENCE. THE SAWMILL OF LYMAN BROTHERS, WRIGHT & PARSONS. - THE ONE ACKE GRANT TO PARSONS, AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE PLACE .- THE HUIBERTS.
THE exact date when the English first visited Florence is not recorded. Inside of three years after Northampton was settled, it is known that the site of the village had been visited, not by explorers alone, but by those officially appointed to divide the lands in this vicinity. The first grant of land that we have been able to find and locate with any degree of certainty, now within Florence territory, was made to John Broughton, NEAR LOCUST GROVE. formerly of Spring- field, one of the first settlers at Northampton. The utmost difficulty is experienced in locat- ing these first grants of land, since the authorities did not take pains to describe them so that later generations could easily locate them. Jolin Broughton's grant was favored in this particular, so to-day we place him as one of the first owners of land in Florence. Below is the item appearing in the Proprietors' book :
" The Record of John Brotton's Land which was granted to him by the Towne of Northampton and to his heirs, execut's and assigns to have and to hold forever. taken December 12. 1657. Several pieces of land including
"another prell of Land which Lieth up the Mill River weh is thus bounded : Bordering on the Mill River Westerly and on the Commons or hill weh com- passeth it like sin elbow Eastely and Southely Bounded on the Northel end on the Land of Bout. William Clark, being in estimation five acres in lieue of four In the meadow five acres more or less."
The two clauses that aided in locating this grant were " Lieth up the Mill River," and bordering on " the Commons or hill which compasseth it like an elbow." The location of this grant is on the easterly side of Mill River, in Ross's Meadow, north of Meadow street and west of Lilly street, directly in the rear of the house long owned and occupied by Mr.
23
FROM 1654 TO FIRST SETTLEMENT.
Dwight A. Ross. The line dividing the two sections of land known as "Inner Commons " and "Long Division " at one time ran along the top of the high bank just west of Lilly street. By examining the spot it will be seen that the hill "compasseth it like an elbow," true to the descrip- tion. "The meadow " in the clause "in lieue of four in the meadow " no doubt refers to the great meadow in Northampton, as when no special name was mentioned this one was always understood.
Other grants in this vicinity followed in quick succession and in less than a year fully a dozen owned land in the meadows. Since Broughton was one of the first to own land there, the meadow took his name. He sold his grant in 1675 to Joseph Parsons, and in a few years nearly an entirely new set of proprietors came into pos- session.
To keep the cattle within the proper bounds the settlers had to fence por- tions of "the Commons," and each man had to build and keep in repair " his proportion," as determined by the amount of land he owned. Owing to the transfers of land from one to another, it was necessary every few years to draw up a new schedule of each man's "proportion." Those who did not want the trouble of looking after their "proportion" would "alien- ate " so many rods to some other settler by paying him a consideration.
Each section perfected an organ- ization to keep the fence in repair, and as early as 1663 the landowners "The quiet of the fields and woods Sank deep into his soul."-Whittier. in the Broughton's Meadow had already organized, as is shown by the following order passed at a town meeting held that year : " It was voted that the Proprietors of the Meadow commonly called Broughton's meadow, that they shall have liberty to set their fence Streight on the bank on the Common land."
Another interesting grant was Edward Baker's allotment of a piece of meadow land in the southwestern part of the town. (See first chap- ter.)
Other owners of land on either side of the river at Broughton's
24
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
Meadow included Thomas Bascom, Josiah Dewey. Henry Woodward, James Cornish, William Clark, Joseph Leeds, Jonathan Hunt, and Medad Pomeroy. In 1673 Joshua Pomeroy had a grant of six acres of " swamp and upland." The upland must have been on North Main street, near the present residence of Mr. E. C. Davis, and the records say it was given Pomeroy "to build upon." Evidently he did not consider the locality a favorable one for settlement, for no house was built here. Joseph Hawley bought the land of Pomeroy in 1684, " in all some twelve or sixteen acres." The original grant called it six acres. The early measurements were frequently faulty ; the true acreage is often two or three times as much as the first grant called for. Thus Baker's Meadow, laid out for nine acres, in reality contains nearly twenty-seven.
THE FIRST ENTERPRISE.
No new plantation could long be without those indispensable adjuncts of any community-a sawmill and a gristmill, or, as the latter was always called in the days of our fore- fathers, a "corn-mill." Very soon after a town had been planted some enter- prising man asked permission in town RAILROAD STATION. meeting to establish these industries, and as early as 1657 Northampton had a gristmill, and by 1671 a sawmill had begun its work.
Nearly three miles westward from the center, Mill River flowed through Broughton's Meadow, and a natural fall might then be seen where now the dam of the Nonotuck Silk Company stems the stream. The carly inhabitants of Northampton were not slow in deciding that here was an excellent opportunity to develop a water power, and no doubt they foresaw that some day mills would stand on either bank, and the busy whir of machinery would drown the noise of the waters tumbling over the rocks near by.
Five years after the close of Philip's war the times appeared favor- able for a new undertaking, and at a town meeting held on the second of January, 1681, four men asked permission to erect another sawmill in town. This permission was granted, as may be seen by the following order copied from the Town Records, Book 1., page 55 :-
25
FROM 1654 TO FIRST SETTLEMENT.
"Jan. 2, 1681,
"On a Motion of Richard and Thomas Lyman, Samuel Wright and Samuel Parsons to have a place and liberty to set up a Sawmill, the Town the day first above written granted their request on Consideration
" Ist. That they Set it up within one Twelvemonth after the date hereof
"2nd. provided it be no damage to the Corn Mill which stands on the Same Stream
" 3rd. That when they desert the place as to the use abovesaid, then the place to return to the Town again
" The place they desired is above Broughton's Meadow on the Mill river."
This is the way the first enterprise in Florence had its beginning. But the careful reader has already found that the grant does not con- form with the previous conditions set forth in the narrative. Instead of having liberty to build a sawmill near the present Nonotuck dam, the order reads, "the place they desired is above Broughton's Meadow." There are two ways to account for this. One is that during the discus- sion regarding the location of the mill, both "above " and "below "
NONOTUCK SILK COMPANY'S DAM.
Broughton's Meadow were mentioned, and that the scribe in recording the vote made the mistake and substituted " above " for " below." But as this is hardly probable, let us look for another explanation. In examin- ing Mill River to find a suitable place for their mill, this Lyman, Wright, and Parsons combination could not discover "above" Broughton's Meadow a site adapted to their needs, and so they chose a spot near
26
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
the present dam. It is certain that they built no mill " above " Brough- ton's Meadow, and though only a few slender data have been left from which to draw an inference, it is safe to conclude that they fulfilled the conditions of the grant and erected the mill within a " twelvemonth." It evidently stood on the west bank of the river, the spot now marked by two small trees near the end of the Nonotuck dam.
The next record concerning this first enterprise in Florence is in the year 1700, when the following item was entered in the town book :-
" At a legal Town meeting, February 6, 1700,
" The Town did then grant to Samuel Parsons one acre of land near his Saw- mill between Broughton's and Baker's meadow to be to him and his Heirs for-
-
LILLY STREET.
This grant of land, unimportant in itself, furnishes us with the con- meeting link, and shows us, first, that undoubtedly Lyman Brothers, Wright, and Parsons erected their mill below Broughton's and above Baker's Meadow, and therefore it must have been in Florence near the present dam ; second, that in 1700 this mill was still standing, and at some previous time three of the first owners had sold their interest to Samuel Parsons, as the grant distinctly states " his mill." Mr. Parsons was the soft of Joseph Parsons, ist, sometimes called Cornet, who was a leader in the affairs of the town.
No one knows how long Sammel Parsons continued to own and operate the saw mill. During the opening years of the eighteenth con- tury the Northampton records contain grants of land in Florence terri-
27
FROM 1654 TO FIRST SETTLEMENT.
tory, "on the road as we go to the Saw-Mill," " near the mill," etc., tell- ing us it was still in use.
Samuel Parsons moved to Durham, Connecticut, in 1708-9, and it is not known whether he sold the mill before he went away, or not. The next item that enables us to take up the lost thread is found near the close of the year 1726, when John Stoddard purchases two pieces of land of the town, one of which in the words of the scribe : " Lyeth cheifly in a Swamp on the Westerly side of Mr. Stoddard's land, near Hulbert's Saw- mill." Soon after 1700 John Hulbert owned land in this vicinity, and probably he bought the sawmill soon after Parsons left town, for if but recently purchased this fact would have been mentioned in Stoddard's sale.
Information regarding the Hulbert family in Northampton is extremely scanty. William Hulbert, one of the first settlers at North- ampton, left several children, and at least three grandsons made Northampton their home. Careful search has failed to bring to light any facts concerning their residence here, but the following inferences may be of inter- est. By the Stoddard item already quoted we know the Hulberts owned the mill in 1726. Whether John was alone, or in company with his brothers, James and Samuel, or whether others of that family, sons of these mentioned, continued the business is not known. In 1733 the town " voted to build a bridge* over Mill river above Hulbert's Sawmill." In 1743 HULBERT COAT OF ARMS. the town marked off a tract of land in the western part of the township, " Between which lines they " [all the inhabitants] " propose to cut wood and timber for the Space of ten years next coming." One of the bound- ary lines ran " from the front of Long Division at the Bridge by Hul- bert's Sawmill westerly three-fourths of a mile." On the map of 1754, "Hulbert's Sawmill " is again mentioned. It seems probable that some one of the family owned and operated the mill up to about this time.
Four years later, in 1760-1761, the property had passed into the hands of several individuals, each owning from one tenth to one fifth. Of the six owners five were Clarks. In 1768 nearly the same proprie- tors appear. The mill was not considered a very great acquisition. for the valuation in 1760 is quoted at only fro, in 1762 at $18, in 1768 at £20, and in 1769 at fro again. After 1769 the thread is again lost, and
* This was the first bridge across Mill River in Florence.
28
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
it does not reappear till the dawn of a new century. From 1726 (possibly before) to as late as 1811 this sawmill was "called and well known by the name of Hulbert's Mill." When we again resume its history it will be in connection with that interesting character-the oil-maker-Josiah White. For the present we will turn our attention to a few pioneer families and watch them as they make their homes in the outlying dis- trict, which afterwards became Florence.
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CHAPTER IV.
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS HINDERED THE SETTLEMENT OF OUTLYING DIS- TRICTS .- THE SETTLEMENT BEGUN .- THE FIRST HOUSE BUILT. - DANIEL WARNER THE SECOND SETTLER .- STORY OF THE PHELPS HOUSE .- GAIUS BURT COMES IN 1798 .- JOSIAH WHITE AND HIS OIL MILL .- FIRST HOUSE IN THE CENTER OF THE VILLAGE, 1809.
FOLLOWING closely upon the heels of the planters of Northampton, five years after 1654, men from Wethersfield founded Hadley ; Deerfield was founded in 1669, and Northfield two years later. Soon the French and Indian wars began, and not until the conquest of Canada in 1760 did the settlers really know what the word " peace " meant.
Notwithstanding the almost constant warfare, towns had been planted in nearly every part of Massachusetts. However, the times had not been favorable to the settlement of outlying districts. During the French and Indian wars, the settlers who had come to Northampton, and the sons of the original families, in erecting their houses sought the protection and security which the center of the town afforded.
But there were some in Northampton who were not content to remain near the center. A few years after 1664 John Webb had a house in East- hampton, and the Lymans moved to South Farms (Smith's Ferry) about 1689. In 1700 there were five families at Pascommac (part of Easthamp- ton), and in 1704 the Indians raided their little settlement, with sad results. Other parts of Easthampton were settled soon after. Before the last French and Indian war (1753-1763), Noah Bridgman and Mark Warner had settled on Horse Mountain (North Farms), "but," as Judd says, " probably removed into the village during the war."
The first man to erect a permanent dwelling house in Florence seems to have been Joseph Warner. This was in 1778. The Revolution was then in progress, and the times could not have been auspicious for estab- lishing a home three miles from the center of the town.
Joseph Warner, the first of several by that name, was the fifth in descent from William Warner, who came from England in 1637 and settled in Ipswich. The branch of the Warners from which Joseph descended, had previously lived in Brookfield, Hadley, and Northamp- ton. His grandfather, Mark Warner, 2d, born in Hadley, 1678, had lived in Northampton on a farm in a locality called " Blackpole." This was north of the western end of Prospect street, and west of the town poor farm.
30
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
Daniel Warner, Joseph's father, born in 1717, married 1745, lived near his father at Blackpole. It is sometimes the duty of the historian to be at variance with tradition, as it is in this case. The story, as handed down from father to son, is the same as all published accounts up to this time, namely, that Daniel Warner was the first to remove permanently to Florence, and that the date was about 1759. But diligent search in the Judd manuscript has revealed the fact that Daniel Warner was at Blackpole in 1763 (four years after he was said to have come to Florence) and in 1767 was still residing there. Then in another place we learn that " Joseph Warner built his house in 1778." As Judd wrote this while Mr. Warner was living ( 1835) it is no doubt correct.
Joseph Warner was then a young man of twenty-six years. The next Year, 1779, he married Jerusha Edwards and they began housekeeping at the new home near " Bear Hill," which was then a rather desolate locality. For many years their house was the only one between Blackpole and Williamsburg. Later they had " neighbors " in Haydenville. This first house stood on the site of Mr. John F. Warner's residence on North Main street. Although the time of log cabins had gone by, as sawed boards were then in common use, this house must have been a primitive structure as compared to our modern ones. At this time few could afford the luxury of lathed and plastered walls. The immense chimney furnished fireplaces for the rooms on the four sides of it, and these dis- pensed comfort and good cheer to all who gathered around them.
The father in this house- hold was well known in the community not only as a man of intelligence and good judg- ment, and of strict integrity in all his relations with his fellow men, but as a devout and conscientious Christian. The mother, too, was an emi- nently godly woman. Joseph RESIDENCE OF JOHN F. WARNER. Warner lived to be eighty- four. He died April 15, 1836, younger than the three preceding ancestors, who had reached the ages of eighty -seven, eighty- nine, and ninety, respectively. Mrs. Warner died in 1833, aged seventy-four.
The children of Joseph Warner were eleven in number. Oliver, Solo- mon, Electa, Jerusha, Sarah, Joseph, Seth, Moses, Miriam, Aaron, and John were the good old-fashioned names by which they were known. The three oldest sons, Oliver, Solomon, and Joseph, remained in Flor-
31
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
ence, and from this fact the locality took the name of the "Warner School District." Oliver and Solomon, early in this century, built tav- erns, one in Florence center, and the other towards Leeds. The third son, Joseph Warner, 2d, married in 1814, and made his home with his father on the old homestead. He worked on the farm, which now con- tained three hundred acres, and when his father became advanced in years took the burden of directing affairs from the old man's shoul- ders. He was select- man several years, and represented the town in the General Court. His death in 1840 was only four years after his father had passed away. His wife survived him twenty-eight years. They had six children. The oldest son, Joseph, was the silk manufac- THE OLD WARNER HOMESTEAD. turer. The youngest child, John Flavel Warner, remains on the farm.
The old homestead, which, with the additions and the sheds, covered considerable ground, was replaced in 1868 by the present modern struc- ture. A part of the old place was moved to the corner of Bridge road and Oak street, and in its remodeled form may still be seen there.
THE SECOND SETTLER .- Daniel Warner did not remain long at Black- pole after his son Joseph had gone to his new home in Florence. Prob- ably not more than a year or two elapsed before he was snugly settled in the small house which he built on a ridge about ten rods west of his son Joseph's house. For many years previous to the time when Joseph built his house (1778), Daniel had owned considerable land on Broughton's Meadow and on the plain near Bear Hill. In order to cultivate this farm he had had one or two log cabins there long before 1778. One of these stood about fifty rods south of the highway, nearly at the point of a V-shaped piece of land running back from Mr. J. F. Warner's tobacco barn. Here Mr. Warner sometimes lived during the summer when the crops required his constant attention. As early as the French and Indian wars (1744-48) (1753-63) he used to work out in the meadows, always carrying his gun to rely upon in case of emergency. It is recorded (not tradition) that once he had a very remarkable escape from death at the hands of the Indians, at a spot a "little below Broughton's Meadow."
32
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
Unfortunately Judd, the recorder, failed to give the details of this inter- esting experience, which he no doubt could have obtained.
Fire destroyed Daniel Warner's house in 1790. He was an old man then (born 1717) and, instead of rebuilding, an addition was made to his son's house, and in this he spent his declining years. He died in 1804. His wife survived him nine years, reaching her ninety-second year.
Here is an anecdote of Daniel Warner's wife : Her maiden name was Jemima Wright, born 1722. For some years before her marriage (1746) she lived in Col. Tim- othy Dwight's family. She used to tell her grandchildren that the first tea in Northamp- ton was sent up to Colonel Dwight by a friend in Boston. It was not called tea, but GAIE TO THE PASTTRE-WARNER FARM. simply "Bohea." Instead of using a small quantity they steeped it just as they would an herb, all at once, a quarter of a pound or more, and in consequence it was so strong that they could not drink it.
THE PHELPS HOUSE. - Until about 1785 there was a third house in Flor- ence, but it appears to have had no occupant. The interesting account of how it came to be here is given as we find it in Judd's manuscript : -
" William Phelps' place at Blackpole was narrow in front, eight or ten rods, and went back in the rear of Warner's lot. It was for a time owned by S. Stod- dard, and he sold it to Daniel Warner, who owned land north of it.
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