USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Florence > The history of Florence, Massachusetts : including a complete account of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry > Part 3
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" The old Phelps house was two story, and Moses Bartlett was to have it to live in out at Stoddard's Meadow. While Stoddard owned the Phelps lot, he had the house removed with some difficulty. It was removed by the North road+ other too narrows, and then across below the Oil Mill to the meadow, some dis- tance below the upper end of the meadow. The woods were out away to make a path for it, and it was left on the flat above the meadow. Bartlett changed his mind, his affairs and Mr. Stoddard's changed, and nothing more was done to the house. It rotted down there. This was about 1785."
The Daniel Warner referred to was a son of Daniel who came to Flor- ence. This Solomon Stoddard was the distinguished son of the popular preacher of the same name, who was the second minister at Northampton.
Can you not see that two-story house creeping along Bridge road on
. See Chapter 1. for " Stoddard's Meadow."
See Early Roads and Bridges, Chapter VI.
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FIRST SETTLEMENT.
its way to Florence ? Then appliances for moving buildings were not as complete as they are now, and the task must have been a slow and tedious one. But if this was the case on the plain highway, what must it have been when the woods had to be cut away "to make a path " for the house ! No one knows the spot where it finally rested, only to crum- ble to pieces at last. From the description it would seem to have been between Nonotuck street and River road. This would be called the "flat above the meadow." Why did Moses Bartlett want any house, and this one in particular, on Stoddard's Meadow ? In this case "time will tell,"-never.
SETTLEMENT BY GAIUS BURT, 1798 .- For twenty years Daniel and Joseph Warner were the only residents in this part of Northampton. Then Gaius Burt moved to Brough- ton's Meadow, and the settlers num- bered three. He was an energetic, indus- trious man, of the resolute, hard work- ing type. He had descended from Da- vid Burt, one of the first settlers at Northampton. His father, Elkanah, lived A NOVEMBER DAY-THE ROSS HOMESTEAD. in the center of the town, where Gaius was born in 1775. Like Joseph Warner, when Gaius came to Florence he was a young man about twenty-five years old, and had only recently been married to Hannah Alvord.
On March 14, 1798, he bought of Solomon and Luther Clark, thirty acres of land in the meadow, which was the same as the present Ross farm on Meadow street. For this valuable thirty acres of alluvial soil he paid the very moderate sum of one hundred and twenty-three dollars. It is probable that he removed soon after, and erected a house * a few rods east of the present Ross homestead. This house was a small one- story, unpainted structure, and was torn down about 1870. In 1801-3-5, Burt added forty-seven acres to his farm, and in 18c9 purchased the triangular piece of land opposite his house, containing twenty-five acres. By his thrift and prudence he soon acquired considerable property. He
* The late Julius Phelps, born 1820, said that as far as he knew this house was built in 1801.
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
had two sons and several daughters. The oldest son, Theodore, before 1830 had built a house a few rods west of his father's, the present Ross homestead. The other son, William, married one of Paul Strong's daugh- ters. In 1834, Gaius and William Burt sold their Broughton Meadow farm to Samuel Whitmarsh. Gaius' daughter Frances had married Mr. Ahira Lyman, who lived on Park Hill, Easthampton ; so, after his sons had left for the west, Gaius bought a fifty acre farm just south of the Lymans, and here he lived till his death, February 3, 1840, aged seventy- four.
JOSIAH WHITE AND HIS OIL MILL .- Conspicuous among the early residents of Florence stands Josiah White. The thread of the sawmill history, which was lost in the year 1768, is next brought to light in connection with this interesting man. On Christmas day, 1800, a deed was signed by " Josiah White, of Winchester, New Hampshire, mill- wright," and Solomon Clark of Northampton. This document set forth that for the sum of twenty dollars Clark was to sell White three acres of land " on the east side of the Mill River, near Hulbert's Mill." Who had owned Hulbert's Mill from 1762 to 1806 is not known. In the latter year "Erastus Clark, Innkeeper." sold two thirds of the mill to Phinehas Alvord for three hundred dollars. This first industry did not then consist of a sawmill alone, for in the deed conveying the property to Alvord, Clark wills " all my right in the Auger Mill and Lathe at aforesaid Saw Mill." It seems reasonable that a house was built here before 1800, for the operators of the sawmill. In 1830 two small houses stood just west of the Brush Shop bridge. No one has been able to tell and no record has been found stating when or by whom they were built, but that one of them was there in 1806 is probable, as shown by another clause from the above deed, which reads, " Also the House that Elisha Babcock now lives in, together with all the Land under said House which I own." This seems to have been the fourth house in Florence.
The ownership of Hulbert's Mill was a company affair. The next year Alvord deals out small portions of the stock. Jonathan Newell invests forty-five dollars in " one sixth" ; the next March he makes his sixth a third, but pays sixty dollars for change. About this time the industrious farmer Gaius Burt buys of Alvord a "sixth part," with "one sixth part of the mill yard, dam and all the utensils." Jonathan Newell was originally from South Hadley, and was an "oilmaker" by trade. He seems to have been the one who first interested White in this business. Although White bought the land on the east side of the dam in 1800, from 1803 till 1807 he lived in Northampton, running in company with William Edwards what they called the " Upper Mills." After sell- ing out (1807) his interest to Edwards it is probable that he soon came
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FIRST SETTLEMENT.
to Florence and began the erection of the building at the east end of the Nonotuck dam, afterwards used for the oil and grist mill. As Newell owned a controlling interest in the sawmill on the opposite bank, together with the water privilege, he was probably in some way con- nected with White's new venture.
Four years later, March 14, 1811, it is apparent that White had become a full fledged oil maker and that the enterprise was firmly estab- lished, for on the above date Newell, who by this time had returned to South Hadley, sells White his five sixths of the sawmill, "situated in Northampton by the Oil Mill, now owned and occupied by the aforesaid
JOSIAH WHITE'S OIL MILL. From Painting by C. C. Burleigh, Jr.
1214080
White." The remaining one sixth White purchased of Joseph Warner. The valuation is quoted as $300.00 in contrast to the f10 in 1769.
At that period it was customary for all farmers to raise flax. From the fibers of the bark of this plant the thrifty housewives made the home- spun linen cloth, so useful and necessary in those days. No doubt Josiah White did a considerable business. He took the flaxseed and expressed the linseed oil, the seeds being first bruised or crushed, then ground and afterwards subjected to great pressure. Henry Shepherd, Esq., remem- bers the huge hydraulic press, and especially the massive lever connected with it, that Mr. White used in obtaining the oil. The oil mill building stood on the east bank of the river, a little west of the present gate house near the Nonotuck dam. It was a two story building about twenty by
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
thirty feet. White soon saw the need of a gristmill, and so placed a run of stones in the same building. Mr. John F. Warner remembers taking corn to this mill to be ground. One half of one of the old millstones forms a doorstep to the Nonotuck Silk Company's office building. The dam was then some thirty or thirty-five feet farther up the stream. An old stump stands at what was the easterly end.
" Esquire " Josiah White was the sole proprietor of the water power, sawmill, gristmill, and oil mill. He lived in a cozy cottage he built soon after 1810, between the present Brush shop and the " old Silk Mill Board- ing house," nearly opposite the large buttonball tree. It was after- wards moved to Meadow street, where it was enlarged and remodeled, and is now the second house west of Lilly street.
Josiah White was an original character. At the time he started the oil mill he had just passed middle life. Of a somewhat studious mind, and born and brought up when books were scarce, he had acquired the liabit of reading everything he could lay his hands on. White was a self- made man, and did "all his own thinking." His scholarly turn of mind gave him the nickname of "Old Cicero," by which he was commonly known. He was an ardent Freemason. When King Ferdinand of Spain langed Freemasons because they would not divulge their secrets, Mr. White heard of it, was very indignant, and vehemently remarked : "Ferdinand ! Ferdinand ! he'll find that thrones totter !" Mr. White died in 1832, aged seventy-four years. He had one daughter.
THE FIRST HOUSE IN THE CENTER OF THE VILLAGE .- Oliver Warner, the first child born in Florence, in 1780, was the son of Joseph, the first settler. He married in 1807, and two years later built the house now Standing on the corner of Main and North Maple streets. This was the fifth house in this district, and Mr. Warner kept it as a tavern. About 1790 stage coaches came into use as public conveyances. Northampton was one of the principal stations on the line from Boston to Albany. The stages stopped at Oliver Warner's to water the horses, and allow the passengers to sample the " fire water."
In 1821 he sold the tavern, moved to Northampton, and purchased Asalet Pomeroy's place, which became famous under his management as the " Warner House." This was burned in 1870. Mr. Warner kept a hotel thirty-five years in all. He enjoyed a wide acquaintance in the country and state ; was prominent in the political life of the town and county ; served as selectman, representative, and senator. He was a distinguished man in his day, and left a name that will long be cherished by his townsmen. He died in 1853. He had nine children. Edward, born 1815. still resides in Northampton. Oliver, ed, was a member of both branches of the Legislature, and Secretary of State.
CHAPTER V.
SETTLEMENT CONTINUED.
THE TAVERN OF SOLOMON WARNER .- CAPTAIN JULIUS PHELPS COMES IN ISI5 .- ENOCH JEWETT, 1816 .- WILLIAM WARNER, 1817 .- THE SETH WARNER HOUSE .- COLONEL THOMAS POMEROY, 1820 .- THE DWIGHT FARM .- THIE OLIVER WARNER TAVERN IN THE TWENTIES.
IN 1812, Solomon, the second son of the first settler, Joseph Warner, left the old homestead and built a house, a quarter of a mile northwest of his father's on the road to Leeds. This is near the limits of Florence but was a part of the old " Warner School District." He kept this as a tavern for nearly forty years, or until the rail- S.WARNER 1812 roads had revolutionized the prevail- ing stage coach mode of travel. Solomon Warner died in 1863. His son Moses lived on the old place until his death in December, 1893. The homestead, the accompanying barns, the rambling sheds and shanties pre- sent much the same appearance to- day as they did fifty years ago.
CAPTAIN JULIUS PHELPS. - With one or two exceptions the early settle- ment of Florence was by men from Northampton. They were sober, in- SOLOMON WARNER TAVERN SIGN. dustrious men, faithful in the perform- ance of each duty, and impressed with the importance of strict integrity. Captain Julius Phelps was such a man. Thick set, a little over medium height, and brown from exposure to the elements, he presented the per- fect picture of the old style New England farmer. He was the captain of an artillery company in Northampton about 1812, and in that year he marched his company to Boston to aid in defending the state. About 1815, when thirty-five years old, he removed from Northampton and built the one story and a half house in the meadows, which still may be seen at the junction of Meadow and Spring streets. Here he made his home till his death in 1857. Of his seven children four were sons. One of these, Julius, born in 1820, remained on the farm. He was well known and highly esteemed. He was an upright man and a good citizen, and an earnest worker in the Congregational church. He died June 4, 1892.
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
A story was told of Samuel Phelps, the father of Captain Julius, by his grandson, the late Julius. It is a singular fact that the late Moses War- ner when interviewed on the subject of Florence history related the very same anecdote, without some of the minor details, but he made the hero his great grandfather, Daniel Warner. One or the other had made some mistake in identifying the principal actor, but, whichever one was correct, the hero was closely connected with the first settlers of Florence. The story is not unlike other Indians stories and should be taken with the customary " grain of salt." As recorded in Mr. Huntington's defunct " Pen and Press," the Phelps version is as follows :-
" There is a very interesting story of my grandfather and when first told to me, when a mere boy, it made a deep impression on my youthful mind, for it was an . Indian story ' and possessed much of that quality which both charms and excites boys. Late one afternoon, he went in search of the cows. The only way to learn the whereabouts of the cattle . out to pasture' was by the tinkling of the bell that was fastened to the neck of one of the animals. As grandfather neared the spot where the sound of the bell seemed to indicate the cows were, he thought the bell sounded differently from the usual or peculiar tinkling which a bell has that is attached to the neck of an animal. The conclusion that he came to was that the Indians had taken the bell off from the cow's neck and were using it as a decoy to lead him a long way into the forest, perhaps to their camp, and thus easily capture him ; but with great presence of mind he began to shout in a commanding voice as though he was giving orders to a large body of men. The Indians, supposing that a force of white men was right upon them, quickly fled, and so frightened were they that they deserted their camp, leaving their food and all their booty. Their camp was on that slight rise a short distance beyond where my house now stands, or to the left, just as you ascend the small hill."
THE SOLOMON WARNER TAVERN.
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SETTLEMENT CONTINUED.
ENOCH JEWETT .- About 1816 Enoch Jewett moved from Northampton and became the neighbor of Oliver Warner. Enoch's father, Timothy Jewett, lived on Elm street, Northampton, nearly opposite Paradise road. He had a shop in the ravine opposite his house, and here his two sons, Enoch and Ansel, assisted their father in making and repairing spinning and flax wheels, and also in the manufacture of old-fashioned taps and faucets. In 1816, Enoch came to Florence and built the house on Main street of late years known as the Samuel Bottum place. His farm included a strip THE JULIUS PHELPS HOUSE. of land from Pine street to Bridge road. The house when built was a one story and a half structure. Here in addition to the care of the farm he made shuttles for the woolen factory at "Shepherd's Hollow " (now Leeds), using a foot lathe for turning, and also continued the tap and faucet business and repaired wheels.
In 1828 he purchased of William Clark for two hundred and twenty- five dollars eighty acres of land "situated on both sides of Brotton's Meadow Brook." He obtained permission of Dr. Hunt, who was a great fisherman and who owned the land adjoining, to build a dam across the brook, providing that Hunt should have the fish. Soon after 1828 (before 1830) he built the dam and raised the pond which became "Holland's," and later " Warner's " pond. The water power thus developed he used in a small shop which he built a few rods north of Leonard's Silk Mill. manufacturing warp bobbins and spools for woolen and silk mills. His early training in his father's shop had made him a skilled mechanic. He filled one order for seventy-five thousand warp bobbins for the Shep- herd's Hollow mill.
In the closing month of the year 1833 he exchanged his farm, the Samuel Bottum place, for two hundred acres of wild wooded land near Brecksville, Ohio. Soon after he built a small house near his shop south of Warner's pond. It stands to this day just back of Leonard's Silk Mill boarding house. Here he lived for nearly ten years, or until he sold his
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
place, including the house, shop, dam, etc., to Conant, Swift, and Chaffee, November 30, 1842. The next May he moved to his Ohio farm. At this time Enoch Jewett was a straight, squarely built man of fifty-two years, standing about five feet eight inches tall, and weighing one hundred and sixty pounds. He had blue eyes, dark iron gray hair and whiskers, and was a quick, active man of few words. He died at Brecksville, Ohio, in 1872, aged eighty-one years. He left four children : Henry, who died at Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1886, aged seventy-two years ; Isabella G., who died at Westhampton in 1888, aged sixty-nine : Edward and Albert G. The latter resides in Westhampton.
WILLIAM WARNER .- Whoever has a recollection of Florence in the earlier days remembers the " Polly Bosworth place." This was built by William Warner in 1817. William Warner did not belong to the family of Warners who first settled Florence. He was the son of Luther and Bathsheba Stebbins Warner, and was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1794. At an early age he went to Chesterfield to live with his uncle. In early manhood he worked for " Landlord Edwards" at Roberts Meadow, where he became acquainted with Juliette Bridgman, to whom lie was married January 30, 1817. Juliette Bridgman was the sister of Mrs. Oliver Warner, who at this time was living in Florence.
On June fifteenth following his mar- riage, he paid Gaius Burt ten dollars for a half acre of land "lying between the roads leading to Ches- terfield and Williams- burg." Here he built the one story house which Sylvester and Polly Bosworth after- wards owned and occupied. When Cos- mian Hall was built in 1873. the house was moved to the foot of THE INOCH IFWETT-SAMUEL BOTTOM PLACE. Lake street, near War- ren street, its present location. William Warner built a blacksmith shop just west of his house and worked here at this trade. He did not remain long, however, for on March 24, 1820, he sold the place to Josiah Whitney of Northampton,
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SETTLEMENT CONTINUED.
but possibly he rented it of Whitney until about 1823, when he bought a farm on Horse Mountain, where he lived several years. At one time he had charge of the Cecil Dwight farm and built the small house for one of the Colonel's sons. This house stood just west of the " Herdsdale" farmhouse, and was burned July 18, 1893. The old chimney remains, giving us a good idea of their usual size in the olden time.
THE WILLIAM WARNER HOUSE ON THE SITE OF COSMIAN HALL.
In 1840 he built the house next below the Brush Shop bridge, later occupied by the Dorsey family. His wife died in 1845, and the next year he married Mrs. Roann Lyman of Easthampton. Shortly after this he exchanged the Dorsey place in Florence for a South Deerfield farm, and removed to the latter, where he spent the remainder of his days, dying in 1874. His wife survived him only a week. Though a competent work- man at several trades, he did more carpentry and farming than anything else. Faithful in whatever he undertook, he gave satisfaction to all of his employers. His five children now living are Sybella, widow of S. S. East- man of Greenfield, Juliette, widow of Bella P. Searle of Belchertown. William, now living in Staten Island, N. Y., Frances, widow of William Metcalf of Northampton, and Susan A., widow of Charles L. Washburn of Belchertown.
THE SETH WARNER HOUSE .- The house on Bridge road near its junc- tion with North Main street was built before 1819 by the first settler. Joseph Warner, for his son Seth. This son died soon after (December 28, 1819), and others of the Warner family made the house their home.
COLONEL POMEROY .- Colonel Thomas Pomeroy was one of the early settlers. In 1820, when twenty-five years old, he moved to Florence from the Center and built a house on the brow of the hill on the north
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
side of Locust street, which was bought by D. G. Littlefield in 1865, and moved a few rods west to Main street. just east of Chestnut street. After Pomeroy sold the house to Littlefield, he went to Northampton, but the change of location did not suit him, and the next year, 1866, he returned and erected another house near the old homestead, on the corner of Pine and South Main streets, where he resided until his death in the fall of 1880, at the age of eighty-five years.
The Colonel was wont to say that when he came to Florence land was cheap and he could have purchased the entire territory for ten dollars an acre. Wild game was plenty, and flocks of wild turkeys were often seen in the vicinity of his house. Trout were also abundant, and a half hour was sufficient to enable even an indifferent angler to catch all that his ambition demanded. During his declining years, Colonel Pomeroy was a great friend of the young folks, and frequently carried candy in his pockets with which to treat the girls. At the old time husking bees, it was his great delight to find the red ears and he was always careful to reap the reward of his good luck. He was a genial, kind hearted old gentleman, and for many years a deacon in the Congregational church.
THE DWIGHT FARM .- Soon after 1820 (some say 1824) Colonel Cecil Dwight came to Florence and made a home for himself and family on the large tract of land lying in the northeast part of the village. A few rods west of the spot where to-day Chestnut street intersects Bridge road he built his house, which forms a part of the present " Herdsdale " homestead. Colonel Dwight descended from an old Northampton family. In early manhood he was a deputy sheriff, an auc- tioneer, and a colonel of mili- tia, and in 1812 he represented Northampton in the state leg- islature. When he moved to Florence he was fifty years old. The farm comprised about three hundred acres, previ- ously owned by his father, Major Timothy, who was an RUINS OF OLD CHIMNEY-HERDSDALE FARM. extensive landowner, and is said to have owned at one time a large part of " Long Division." Colonel Cecil was the only one of the large family of Dwights that chose Northampton for his perma- nent home. He was much employed as an arbitrator in difficult matters and actively promoted the material interests of the town. He was nearly six feet high, broad shouldered and muscular, with regular feat-
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SETTLEMENT CONTINUED.
ures and piercing black eyes. He had eleven children, all born before he moved to Florence. About 1830, he built, next to his own, a house for one of his sons. He occupied the farm until about 1835, when his son George took pos- session. Cecil Dwight died at Moscow, New York, November 26, 1839. In 1848 George Dwight died and the next occupant was Joseph Conant, who lived on the farm till r 1852. Robert Fitts owned the place for six years ('54 to '60) when he sold it to Charles, a son of Ex- HERDSDALE FARM. Governor Fairbanks, of Vermont. Constant cropping of the soil with- out just return had made the land poor. Although Mr. Fairbanks never lived here, he made extensive improvements on the farm, and for many years after he sold it it was known as the "Fairbanks Place." Various persons have owned it since, each owner giving it a new name. Once it was the "Chase Farm," then when D. W. Bond bought it he called it " Herdsdale," and now it is known as the "Knight Place."
THE OLIVER WARNER TAVERN IN THE TWENTIES.
On the twenty-ninth of May, 1820, "Andrew and Henry W. Lord of Saybrook, Connecticut, merchants," purchased the tavern stand of Oliver Warner. After four years, the father, Andrew Lord, exchanged with James Hutchinson of Northampton, his half interest in the tavern for the William Warner homestead (the Polly Bosworth house), which Hutchin- son had owned just a year. About this time a building was put up oppo- site the tavern, on the site of the present hotel, and presumably it was built by Andrew Lord for a shop. Here he made and sold combs, and kept a small line of toys, and Messrs. Henry Shepherd and Edward War- ner of Northampton both have vivid recollections of how attractive to their youthful eyes was this neat little store, filled with all kinds of toys. Mr. Shepherd thinks that Mr. Lord made in his shop the toys he sold. It seems a strange place for such a store, situated as it was so far from the center of the town. The half interest Mr. Hutchinson had purchased of father Lord he sold the next spring to the son, Andrew Lord, who was granted an innholder's license in March, and remained sole proprietor
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