USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Florence > The history of Florence, Massachusetts : including a complete account of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry > Part 4
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44
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
until April 28, 1826, when the tavern with the accompanying thirty acre farm was sold to James Shepherd for four thousand dollars.
In 1810 James Shepherd started the woolen mills in what is now the village of Leeds, then and for nearly fifty years afterwards known as "Shepherd's Hollow." He was one of the first persons in this country to manufacture broadcloths and woolens. Soon after he bought the tavern he erected a good sized building a few rods east of the tavern barn, nearly on the site of the present Knights of Honor block. He bought large quantities of wool in the "fleece," put up in great bales. As only a cer- tain grade of wool could be made into broadcloth, all that he bought had to be assorted, the different grades selected and placed in separate bun- dles. This wool " loft" served both as an assorting and a store house.
Mr. Shepherd never occupied the tavern, but rented it to others. He failed in 1828, and Nathaniel Fowle, who had indorsed for Shepherd, seems to have taken upon himself the management of the tavern. Who the landlords of the inn were after Shepherd became proprietor in 1826, until Paul Strong bought the place in 1832, is not certainly known. Sev- eral names have been found in the records of the Court of Sessions as possible tavern keepers in Florence. They are as follows : 1826 and 1827, Luther White : September, 1828, no clew ; 1829, Paul Strong ; Septem- ber, 1830, Harvey Kirkland ; 1831, Ira Atkins, who afterwards kept the small shop opposite the tavern, or Charles Morton ; and in June, 1832, Paul Strong was granted the license of an " innholder with spirits," at the " Lord house."
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OUDE SILK MILL BOARDING HOUSE-FORMERLY JAMES SHEPHERD'S WOOL HOUSE.
CHAPTER VI. FROM 1831 TO 1835.
THE "TRAVELER'S HOME."-THE TAVERN STAND; AND AN EVENING SCENE .- EARLY ROADS AND BRIDGES .- THE LATER HISTORY OF THE SAW, GRIST AND OIL MILLS.
THE Paul Strong tavern was, in its day, the most prominent feature of Florence, and through it the surrounding settlement was known. The house now standing on the corner of Main and Maple streets was built in 1809, by Oliver Warner, but not until Paul Strong appears on the scene did the inn attain its greatest popularity.
Paul Strong was born in Westhamp- ton, September 25, 1780. In the spring of 1800 he married Sarah Chapman, of Easthampton. They lived on a farm in Westhampton twenty-seven years, and their seven sons and four daughters were born there. In 1827 Paul went to Northampton and en- tered the employ of Oliver Warner, as bartender and clerk at the famous "Warner tavern." He purchased the Florence tavern in December, 1832, for thirteen hundred dollars, of the Greenfield Bank, into whose hands the Shepherd property had passed only a short time before. The farm in- cluded fifty acres of land lying north PAUL STRONG. of Main and North Main streets. When the railroads were built about 1845 the tavern was discontinued. Paul Strong died in 1856, at the age of seventy-six. His wife died in 1864, aged eighty-four. Four of his children are living. Those in this vicinity are Mrs. Caleb Loud, of Loudville, and James William Strong, of Easthampton, the former eighty-three years old, and the latter seventy- four.
Situated on the turnpike from Boston to Albany, which previous to the advent of the railroads in 1841 was the usual route to the west, this Paul Strong inn received its share of the heavy patronage on the through line, and furthermore was a famous resort, especially in the winter, when sleighing parties came from all the surrounding towns. Near the close of the last century several lines of stages were in regular operation, and
46
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
one could travel with little difficulty or delay in almost any direction. The line to Albany was started in 1794, with Pease, Hunt & Co. the proprietors. Their advertisement appearing in an old Gazette reads :-
" The Stages leave Boston and Albany, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of every week, at five o'clock in the morning. The stage from Boston, on its way to Northampton, tarries the first night at Spencer, and the second at Northampton. The stage from Albany on its way to Northampton, (passes by New Lebannon Springs,) tarries the first night at Pittsfield, and the second night at Northampton, where they exchange passengers-and the next morning, at five o'clock [the hour was changed later to three] leave Northampton for Boston and Albany. The price of each passenger is 3d per mile, 14 1b. baggage gratis-150 lb. of baggage charged the same as a passenger."
MAIN STREET-LOOKING EAST FROM COSMIAN PARK.
As the years went by the patronage naturally increased till it reached a climax just before the railroads were opened. The travel here was immense for those days. Colonel Pomeroy used to say that he had known twelve heavily loaded stages to pass over this route in a day, during the height of the season at Saratoga. When the stage stopped to water the horses, many of the travelers were tempted to get " some- thing " to brace up their flagging spirits near the close of an all day's journey, or to warm themselves both inside and out on some frosty morning when the very early start from Northampton had occasioned them no little discomfort. During all the time that this house was open for the accommodation of the public, liquors were sold at its bar as freely as the viands from its table. The flip-iron was in almost constant use, and the " flowing bowl" was drained with a frequency quite astonish- ing to the teetotalers of the present day.
47
FROM 1831 TO 1835.
THE TAVERN STAND ; AND AN EVENING SCENE .- The old tavern pre- sented much the same appearance in 1832 that it does to-day. Save for the addition now used by F. D. R. Warner as a store, and some minor changes on the rear, the old structure is the same on the outside. This cannot be said of the interior, the attic being the only part that bears no traces of the remodeling hammer and saw. In 1831, a casual observer from the highway would first notice the sign. It TRAVELERS HOME stood eight feet from and in line with the southeast corner of the main build- P. STRONG ing, bearing on each side the inscription "Traveler's Home, P. Strong." Sus- pended on a pole that reached to the eaves, it swung back and forth, the sport of every gust of wind.
Directly opposite the tavern was the small shop then occupied by Ira Atkins, who made patent leather, and was a saddler and harness maker by trade. West of the tavern was the garden. Boyhood days are the days to be re- membered, and Mr. William Strong has retained vivid impressions of many in- PAUL STRONG TAVERN SIGN. cidents that took place in Florence when he was a boy. One day he was setting out bean poles, and when the task was nearly done he found- and who that ever set bean poles has not had the same experience ?- that he had not poles enough to finish his plot. "As I looked around for one," he says, " I happened to see this little sprout of a buttonball tree. I cut it down and put it in the ground, and that tree that is there now (directly in front of Julius Maine's house) is a sprout of the old root from which I cut my bean pole." In the rear of the tavern was the bowling alley, the long, narrow building a favorite resort of the young folks when dancing was not in order. The tavern barn stood about where the Morgan house is now.
We have completed the inspection of the tavern surroundings, so now let us step inside. If the winter has set in and the genial host is enter- taining a sleighing party, the sight will be a gay one. Entering the side door (the front door was used for state occasions only), we find ourselves in the office, or, as it was known in those days, the barroom. This room was the center of the social and political life of the village. On the opposite side of the room the huge open fire blazed brightly on the
48
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
hearth. To the right was the bar, and on the wall back of it were shelves holding rows of large bottles, conspicuously labeled "New Rum," "Old Whiskey," "Jamaica Rum," etc., etc. If the sleighing party has just arrived, the young ladies are warming themselves before the fire, but if they have adjourned to the dancing hall above, the driver and one or two other men occupy the few BEDROOM straight-backed homemade chairs ; possibly a game OLD HATFIELD of cards has been started around the rude, wooden STORE PARLOR table that stands in the center of the room.
ROOM
The door to the right of the fireplace opens into the dining room, and within we see the festive KITCHEN board heavily laden in anticipation of the keen ap- petites of the guests. Back of the dining room is the kitchen, presenting a very lively scene, for the LIVING ROOM tidy wife of the landlord, assisted by the daughters, is busily preparing the feast. Passing through the front hall we enter the parlor, called the BEDROOM DINING ROOM. PANTRY. "front parlor." to distinguish it from the one in the rear of BAR. the house, and named " Old Hatfield " because it was so FRONT far away. But the sound of CHIMNEY BAR ROOM PIAZZA music and the shuffling of PARLOR OR OFFICE. many feet leads us to the HALL rooms above. After ascending the stairs that lead from the GROUND PLAN OF TAVERN. piazza we turn to the right and find ourselves in a cozy hall, twenty by thirty-eight feet, lighted by candles, and warmed by glowing fires in two good sized fireplaces. In the middle of the floor are the dancers, the men stamping heavily as they keep time to the music,* which comes from the solitary fiddler seated on the platform at the north end of the hall. Bursts of laughter mingle with the noise of the stamping and the squeaking of the violin, and the whole scene is one of excessive merri- ment. Late is the hour when the party breaks up, after having danced and supped to their heart's content. Bidding the landlord good night, they file out of the door and arrange themselves in the long box sleigh amongst a profusion of wraps, robes, and straw. The driver cracks the long whip, and in an instant the music of the bells is heard far down the road. The landlord, son, and hostler return to the barroom. Any soli-
* It is stated that Samuel Parsons (father of Colonel Joe), while dancing in this hall, once stamped so hard that he knocked considerable plastering from the ceiling of the room below.
49
FROM 1831 TO 1835.
tary guest who has not already gone to bed is aroused from his sleepy mood, occasioned by the lateness of the hour and a too free indulgence in the flowing spirits. Taking the candle from the mantelpiece, the host precedes the weary traveler up the narrow staircase, and shows him the ice cold chamber in which he is to sleep. Soon the barroom is deserted by all save the hostler, who, after carefully " raking up" the embers in the big fireplace, stretches himself on the bunk at the right of the door, and in less than five minutes is sound asleep. Outside, the creaking of the sign as it swings to and fro in the gusts of wind that whistle around the corner is the only sound that disturbs the silence of the wintry night.
EARLY ROADS AND BRIDGES.
The first traveled way from the center to Florence was not a road in the modern sense of the word. It was simply a cart path made by cutting away the trees and brush and was laid out over the most con-
LOOKING TOWARD BRUSH SHOP BRIDGE, SHOWING DORSEY HOUSE.
venient route, always going around obstacles, such as large stones or marshy ground. The date of the layout of this first road is not recorded, but it was within fourteen years after the first settlers came to North- ampton, as the following item from the town book shows :-
" Voted and agreed that the Committee here mentioned is Impowered by the Town to Treat with & to conclude (if they can) with Cornelius Merry to give him Satisfaction with respect to the Damage he sustained by the Town's taking a highway out of his lot that is up the Mill river at Broughton's meadow to be seven rods wide."
50
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
This first highway, starting from the junction of North Elm and Prospect streets, near the site of the old Dennison Water Cure, passed by the spot where the Dickinson Hospital now stands and led straight across the plain to Leonard's Silk Mill. The road crossed Broughton's
Einer's Tavern
Bear Hill
S
8
3
Fortcanon fill.
1.Warner
Col. Dwight
M
4
Mill . Stone
Broughton's Meadow
Bridge
Tavern
Bares
School
. Col Pomeror
Oil & Saw Mills
Hun
Mi
Meados
Stoddart's
Broughton!
MAP OF FLORENCE, 1831.
brook just below the dam of Warner's (Leonard's) pond, then turned to the northwest, keeping on the brow of the hill till it coincided with the present Pine street at a point near the Kindergarten, thence followed that street till it came to the river, near the existing Brush Shop bridge. In 1702 this road was extended "through Broughton's Meadow," to a point near where Julins Phelps built in 1815. This first highway was later called " Stoddard's road," and after White built his oil mill it was known as the " oil mill road."
School
5I
FROM 1831 TO 1835.
The other main road from Northampton from the same starting point led northerly to the Catholic cemetery, thence followed the route of the present " Bridge road " to Florence. This was for a long time called the " North road," in contrast to the " South road," by which the first highway was known. Both of these highways are shown on the map of 1754, on page 20, and the map on opposite page. In 1831 there was no road to Easthampton, and none south of the " oil mill road,"* all the territory from the dam to the old paper mill below Bay State being a wilderness, and an excellent hunting ground for the boys of the neigh- borhood. Albert G. Jewett, who hunted here when a boy, says the region was full of squirrels, partridges, skunks, woodchucks, and foxes. The Dwight farm ("Herdsdale ") was not then easily accessible from the center of the settlement, the choice of routes being around by Joseph Warner's or by what is now Hatfield street and the Catholic cemetery.
No bridge was built in this region for eighty years after the settle- ment of Northampton. In the record of a highway " through Brough- ton's Meadow " in 1702 the following is found, " Which Highway as soon as you go over Mill river at the Common place of going over," proving
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MEADOW STREET BRIDGE-FORMERLY BURT'S BRIDGE.
that there was no bridge at that time. Whether this fording place was at Meadow street or at Pine street is not known. The first bridge was built soon after December 25, 1733, as under this date the following item appears in the town book :-
" Voted to build a bridge over the Mill river above Hulbert's Sawmill as Soon as conveniently may be & that Ebenezer Clark, John Baker and Joseph Wright be a Committee & to take care to effect the Same."
* Nonotuck street was laid out in 1836.
52
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
The bridge was lower down than the present Pine street bridge and extended north and south across the river, only a few feet above the dam, which was then a little further up stream. The bridge needed repairing in 1736 and a committee was appointed to see to it. Soon it came to be known as " Hulbert's Mill bridge." In 1768 the bridge was rebuilt, but only four years after we find this in the town book :-
" And then on Information of the State of Hulbert's bridge, the Towne voted that Mr. Enoch Clark, the surveyor, be desired to provide a Sleeper and also pro- vide and replace the hook posts and girts and make an effectual reparation of the same."
According to Judd, when Abner Hunt (born 1768) was a boy this bridge was where the Brush Shop bridge is now, so it is likely that when
-
FROM COSMIAN TOWER-EAST.
it was rebuilt in 1768 it was placed farther up stream. Since 1830 there have been three different bridges there, the first was of wood, with side- walks on each side, and the second was the same as the present one, and was swept away by the Mill River flood.
53
FROM 1831 TO 1835.
THE LATER HISTORY OF THE SAW, GRIST, AND OIL MILLS.
The years just preceding the appearance in 1835 of Mr. Samuel Whitmarsh upon the stage on which he afterward played such an impor- tant part, were the years that witnessed the final development of the oil, grist, and saw mills. Early in the spring of 1822, Eliza, the only daughter of the veteran oil maker, Josiah White, was married to Colonel William W. Thompson of Brimfield. This union brought to Florence a man who afterwards became quite as conspicuous in the life of the settlement as Josiah White himself. Thompson lived with his father White in the little house near the Nono- tuck dam before referred to. He was a strong Democrat, and at one time was a candi- date for lieutenant-governor of this state. It is said that he was not over fond of work. Thompson was a great story teller (possibly because he was a politician), and was ac- quainted with everybody. He always drove a good horse in good style, and if reports are correct was one of "Uncle Pausing here a minute, we will hear a squirrel chuckle, As he darts from out the underbrush and scampers up a tree. -- James Whitcomb Riley. Paul's" best customers. He was six feet high, with broad shoulders, and a fine figure. His early education had been that of a lawyer, but he preferred to dabble in poli- tics, smoke a cob pipe, and patronize the tavern bar, rather than do any- thing in his profession. His father White was growing old, and therefore Thompson worked about the mills. In 1832 White died and Thompson assumed the control and supervision of the various industries built up under the fostering care of the oil maker. The oil and grist mill at the east end of the dam was still in existence, although the oil business must have been practically defunct. The old water wheel that turned the mill stones and furnished power to the huge oil press was of a kind called a "Coffin wheel." From all we can learn of this wheel it must have been
54
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
of the reactionary type, which is illustrated in its simplest form by the wheel known as " Barker's mill." Anson Reed was employed by Thomp- son and worked at the grist mill. He moved to Newbury, Ohio, a few years after 1832.
On the opposite side of the river, a little below the dam, was the saw- mill building, which at this time contained a machine shop and other industries. An overshot wheel at the south end of the dam furnished power for a sawmill on the first floor of the building. The log yard was on the high ground south of the mill. The basement was fitted up for a machine shop, with lathes, trip hammer, etc., and here Asher Shepherd and his son Frank did quite a business manufacturing butcher knives and
NORTH MAPLE STREET-FROM HOTEL CORNER.
screw drivers. Soon after 1832 a machine for making shingles was in use, and a little later a planing machine was set up by a man named Smith, from Hardwick. Previous to the time when Mr. Jewett built his shop on the Oil Mill road he used this machine shop for turning bobbins. Asher Shepherd lived in the Polly Bosworth house for a few years after 1832.
Esquire Thompson lived here till 1835, when he sold his farm to Sam- nel Whitmarsh and moved to Peoria, Ill., where his strong Democratic convictions soon brought him into prominence, and he was the party candidate for governor or lieutenant-governor of that state. The pur- chase by Whitmarsh of the Thompson property marks the beginning of a new era in the life of the little settlement called the " Warner District."
CHAPTER VII. MULBERRY FEVER AND SILK ENTERPRISE.
EARLY BIOGRAPHY OF SAMUEL WHITMARSH .- THE NORTHAMPTON SILK COMPANY .- LATER ENTERPRISES OF MR. WHITMARSH .- DAVID LEE AND LYDIA MARIA CHILD .- JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND.
FOR several years following 1835, Northampton was the center of an excitement which, of its kind, is believed to have been without a parallel in the country. It was similar in some respects to the great oil specu- lation in Pennsylvania a few years ago. To follow the course of events leading up to the time when Florence took an active interest in the rage, let us turn back a few years and observe the move- ments of one of the leaders of this excitement.
Samuel Whitmarsh was born in Boston, November, 1800. By the death of his father, he was thrown upon his own resources in early life, and was apprenticed to a bookbinder. After serving his time, in connection with his brother Thomas he en- gaged in the dry goods busi- ness in his native town. Soon they went to New York, where they continued to deal in dry goods and added to their business a line of men's fur- SAMUEL WHITMARSH. nishing goods. This new de- parture soon led them into the merchant tailoring business. Mr. Whit- marsh thought that if he could furnish a superior article the better class of people, heretofore " custom-made " men, would give him their trade. He was not mistaken and soon the business proved very successful. In 1829, having accumulated a comfortable property, he came to North- ampton and purchased of Major William Parsons, of South street, the
56
HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
Fort hill property, embracing substantially the lands now owned by Mr. E. H. R. Lyman. On the high ground where Mr. Lyman's house now stands he erected a commodious residence, later extensively remodeled and enlarged by Mr. Jacob Singmaster and Mr. Lyman. Mr. Whitmarsh set to work at once to beautify his place. He laid out the grounds, built
F
JUNCTION PARK AND MEADOW STREET.
walks, driveways, and terraces, set out shrubbery and trees, erected a large greenhouse, made a beautiful garden, and from the wild pasture and plowlands brought forth one of the most beautiful places in the Connecticut valley. He had taste and talent for landscape gardening, and did much for Northampton in this line.
In some way he became interested in raw silk, and thought that its production might be successfully carried on in this country. With him. to reach a conclusion was to act upon it. Within one or two years after he built the Fort Hill house, he engaged in the cultivation of the mul- berry. He began on a small scale, and gradually added to his collection of trees as his interest in the subject increased. The only variety of mul- berry that had been commonly grown in this country was the "white mulberry." He first experimented with this variety, but soon found another and apparently much superior kind, the " morus multicaulis." Hle introduced this to the few growers and farmers in this region who had caught some of his enthusiasm regarding this new industry.
A few towns in Connecticut were interested in the manufacture of silk, and the tireless and persistent efforts of a few leaders like Mr. Whit- marsh bore fruit in the public press in articles on mulberry tree cultiva- tion and the care of the silkworm. By 1835 he was thoroughly convinced that something should be done on a larger scale than he was able to
57
MULBERRY FEVER AND SILK ENTERPRISE.
prosecute single handed, and he therefore took steps to carry out this idea.
THE NORTHAMPTON SILK COMPANY .- The valuable water privilege in Florence at this time was the property of Esquire Thompson. Mr. Whitmarsh thought this a desirable spot for his pet scheme, as the water privilege and surrounding interval lands in the fertile "Broughton's Meadow " afforded power and territory sufficient for all future demands of the enterprise. By the middle of September he had purchased nearly three hundred acres of land with which to begin operations. He paid Esquire Thompson seven thousand five hundred dollars for his ninety acre farm, which included the sawmill, oil mill, and water privilege ; he gave Gaius Burt six thousand dollars for his productive one hundred acre farm in the meadow, and obtained ninety-five acres more from William Clark, Senior. He then went to New York to secure money to push his enterprise. His sanguine hopes and great earnestness soon enlisted a ready response from moneyed men, and before the middle of October he had organized the "Northampton Silk Company," as the name is recorded in all the legal documents, instead of the "New York and Northampton Silk Company," the name given in previous histories. By an act of the Legislature the company was incorporated in the spring.
Among the men interested in the project were Ebenezer Jackson and Samuel Russell of Middletown, Connecticut, Augustus Heard of Boston, Smith W. Anderson, Stephen A. Halsey, Robert Jones, James Bowen, Henry W. Sergeant, John C. Bergh, John W. P. Arcularius, E. W. & F. Tryon, Howard, Kieler & Schofield, Comstock & Andrews, Charles N. S. Rowland, Daniel L. Suydam, Newton Hayes, Christopher S. Hubbard, Charles N. Talbot, Joseph W. Alsop, Junior, Henry H. Casey, Isaac Jones, Eustis Prescott, Charles St. John, and Stephen Crocker, all of New York city.
Ebenezer Jackson was an English weaver. The first board of officers was as follows : Samuel Whitmarsh, president ; Talbot, Russell, Hub- bard, and Bowen, directors ; Charles St. John, treasurer, and William H. Schofield, clerk.
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