USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Ludlow > The history of Ludlow, Massachusetts > Part 36
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The price of wheat then was $30 per bushel, rye $23, Indian corn $15, a day's work $20, and other things in proportion. Another vote I transcribe, viz: "That we pay Sergeant John Johnson and Sergeant Ezekiel Fuller, Samuel Scranton and Samuel Warriner, Jr., $12 silver money for services in the army; also, to to Joseph Hitchcock for the same." This was near the close of the struggle for independence, in 1781, and yet 1 doubt if much more specie can be found in town to-day.
Thus it appears that the infant district of Ludlow, containing only about two hundred inhabitants, was actively engaged in the great Revolutionary conflict, and doing what it could. One seventh of its whole population was mustered into the service, and stands enrolled in the army of Independence. Their names are worthy of record, and may properly be read in your hearing, since they are the inheritance of so many in this assembly. Including those already called, there are :- t
Ichabod Barker,
Ezekiel Beebe, Casar Begory (colored), Noadiah Burr, Reuben Burt, Joel Chapin, Charles Chooley,¿ Aaron Colton,>
Solomon Cooley, Edward Cotton, Oliver Dutton, Ezekiel Fuller,
Lothrop Fuller,
Jabez Goodale, Joseph Hitchcock, Joseph Jennings,
* See page 70. t See page 69. + Cooley ? Colton ?
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HISTORY OF LUDLOW
John Johnson,
Davil Paine.
David Lombard.
Tyrus Pratt.
Jonathan Lombard,
Samuel Scranton.
Dr. Aaron J. Miller.
Thomas Temple.
George Miller.
Moves Wilder.
Joseph Miller, Jr.
Cyprian Wright ;
Leonard Miller.
twenty-nine in number. There is no record of any tories here, and their number was small in this part of the State; and yet there were a few in the larger places. It is not twenty years since an aged widow lady lived in Springfield, who received an annual pension from the British government for war services rendered the mother country, by her hu- band, nearly eighty years before. She had, at that time, been paid an aggregate of $10,000 in the course of her long life.
FIRST MERIING-HOUSE*
The war being ended. and peace and prosperity having come once more. the people, as might be expected, turned their attention again especially to the erection of their long-desired sanctuary. Accordingly, in town meeting it was "voted that Dea. Nathan Smith of Granby, Dea. David Nach of South Hadley, and Dea. John Hitchcock of Wilbraham be a committee to set the stake for a meeting-house." At a subsequent meeting their doings were accepted and $200 assessed for building purposes. Then the work went forward as fast as they were able to collect and prepare the material. At length the foundations were laid. and almost a forest of heavy hewn timber covered the ground.
Again turning to the records we read :
October 23, 1783. Town-meeting at the stake. Voted that the building committee procure a sufficient quantity of rum for raising the meeting-house frame.
This was the only business done at the meeting, so far as the record goes, and no doubt was the passing of the Rubicon, the taking of the list desperate step toward a successful end. A house-raising in those day- was an eventful occurrence, especially if a public building, - calling together whole communities, the men and boys to lift the heavy timbers by broadsides, and the women and girls as joyful witnesses, and also to prepare food and spread the tables for the unusual feast. It Was a great day to the people of this town. ninety-one years ago, when the gigantic frame of that now ancient and forsaken sanctuary, standing hard by, was lifted on to its foundations. Indeed, two days were con-
i See page 128.
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THE CENTENNIAL
sumed before the last timber went into its place and the last trunnel was driven home, though scores of strong-armed men came in from the towns around, cheerfully contributing their efficient aid and joining in the work from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. At length it stood erect. complete. immovable.
Then, at a given signal from the master workman, believe me, there was a tossing of hats and bonnets such as you never saw, and a shout so loud and long that it
Shook the depths of the desert gloom. And the sounding aides of the dim woods rang.
Where the rum came in or went out, or what the young folks did that night, till the "small hours" of the morning. I leave to your con- jectures. Strange as it may seem, some of the witnesses to that raising still survive; but they tell no tales, only they whisper at times with bated breath. Do any doubt? Look at those aged oaks. They were then in their prime, and swung out leafy bowers all over this pleasant green ; and now, though they are old and less comely than in their youth, they are still loved and cherished, as all tried and time-long friends should be. There is a tradition that when that ancient frame comes down, they, too, will bow their heads and fall. Long may it stand, therefore. let us pray, to befriend and bless this beautiful grove, and tell the old, old story of the past; though we would not object to its being clad in a more comely covering, and looking down upon us, children, with a more cheery, improved face. Built by the hands of the fathers, who gave the chief materials from their forests, and devoted now to secular pur- poses, let it stand, rejuvenated, as we hope it soon may be, to signalize their worthy deeds and join the generations, old and new, in one.
On account of the poverty of those fathers, it remained unfinished within for several years; and there were those living a short time since, who could remember when its only pulpit was a carpenter's bench, and its pews rough planks, stretched from one block to another. But after- ward, as the people were prospered, these rude forms gave place to the improvements of a later day. A real pulpit was built : and how wonderful it was, perched like an eagle's nest far up some dizzy height: and then the deacons' seat a little lower down in front, where grave men sat, 'tis said, to watch the fock, and wake the congregation nodding and, withal, to keep the boys and girls from sparking. As there were no means for warming churches then, each family took to meeting with them their little boxlike stove for the women's feet, while the men sat and kicked their frozen cowhides to force away the winter's cold.
Prayer meetings, at that day, were seldom known. They would have been an intrusion on the dignity of the dominie, whose sole pre- rogative it was, publicly to pray as well as preach.
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HISTORY OF LUDLOW
IIII FIKSI CHURCH AND ITS PASTOR
At the formation of the church here, which was in 1789, it was pre- sented with a heavy communion service from the mother town, on which was inscribed, "Springfield 1st Church, 1742," and which was continued in use more than a hundred years, or until 1846, when it gave place to other and more valuable furniture, the bequest of Almer Cady, the former still being preserved as a remembrance and relic of the past.
The Rev. Antipas Steward, the first pastor, was ordained Novem- ber 27, 1793. He was a native of Marlboro, a graduate of Harvard University and afterward tutor, and distinguished for scholarship. He could read Hebrew, it was said, nearly as readily as English. The town paid him an annual salary of $200 and thirty cords of wood. Ile was dismissed in 1803 and removed to Belchertown, where he died in 1814, aged 80 years. I have heard it said by those who remembered and knew him well, that he was truly a man of "'ye ancient time." finely clad in blouse and breeches, knee-buckles and white-topped boots, gracefully corrugated over long, white hose, and, surmounting all as most prominent, the professional cocked hat, significant of authority and command. At his ordination he invited the Rev. Mr. Howard of Springfield to preach the sermon from the text* "Let a man so account of us as stewards of the mysteries of God;" and near the close of his ten years" pastorate, having been not a little troubled by the complaints of his people, he sent again to his friend, Mr. Howard, to come and preach his farewell discourse, choosing for the text, Revelation 2:13 "I know the works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is, wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth." This last request, however, was not granted the retiring pastor.
.:
Dr. Lathrop relates the following anecdote of this eccentric divine: At a ministers meeting at one time, some one stated his belief that all the wicked hated God. Mr. Steward denied this, and inquired how it was that they should desire to go into his presence if they hated him, and quoted the parable of the virgins, Matthew 25:11-"Afterwards came also the other virgins saying, 'Lord, Lord, open unto us." The reply was that parables do not go on all fours. To this Mr. Steward answered. "They go, at least, on two legs, and if your interpretation is right, they cannot go at all; for you out of all the legs."
The little church, having at first but fifteen members, being now much reduced, and the people somewhat divided, no other minister was settled for sixteen years. Then the Rev. Ebenezer B. Wright, a graduate of Williams College, was ordained December 8, 1819. During this interim of sixteen years, the pulpit was supplied by preachers of
' Ser page 145.
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different denominations, particularly as worthy of mention, the Rev. Elijah Hedding, who subsequently was elected bishop of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, and Rev. Alexander McLean, who preached several years in the whole and in the meantime formed a Methodist class.
THE METHODIST CHURCH
Mr. MeLean's engagements with the town terminating previous to the settlement of Mr. Wright, he then became the nominal preacher to a Methodist Society, so called, combining remonstrants against the tax law. In the winter of 1826-7 the Rev. Wilbur Fisk, D.D., the popular principal of the Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, and after- wards president of the University of Middletown, Conn., was invited by a portion of the people to preach for them, and accordingly con- menced his ministry, holding meetings in private dwellings and school- houses. He was a man in some respects like Bishop Hedding, who had preceded him by several years, possessed of superior attainments, and highly honored in his denomination. Ever since his labors began with the Methodist Society, it has sustained the preaching of the Gospel without interruption. Dr. Fisk, then, may be regarded as the godfather of that church, and a very worthy relationship it may claim in him.
He was followed by the Rev. Isaac Jennison, the first preacher sent by the conference, and through his active agency, the present Metho- dist church edifice, long familiarly known as "The Chapel," was built in 1827. Being a carpenter by trade, as well as a preacher, with one of his hands he wrought in the work of framing and buikling the house of the Lord, and with the other held the sword of the Spirit as a good soldier of the cross of Christ. Tall in stature, it is said he actually clapboarded the gable ends of the house to the ridgepole without resort to any staging. Thirty years afterwards, or in 1858, during the pastorate of Rev. F. Fisk, the edifice was thoroughly remodeled and enlarged, and a bell hung in its tower.
THE THIRD CHURCH EDIFICE
The third meeting-house in Ludlow, a comely building, stood on the site of the present Congregational Church, and was erected in 1840. For eighteen years it did good service in the cause for which it was built, being repeatedly honored by His special presence in whose name it was dedicated .* Early one still winter's morning, the 15th of January, 1859, long before it was light, the bell rang out a sudden alarm in a few rapid strokes, and then ceased, and was heard no more. Those who lived near sprang out of their beds, only to see the red flames bursting out at the windows, creeping up the tall spire, and projecting
* See page 132.
54.5
HISTORY OF LUDLOW
a lurid light over an area of the snow-clad earth, for miles around. Nothing was done nothing could be done to arrest the conflagration, such was the headway gained before being discovered, though hundreds of strong-handed men had gathered in a few minutes' time. Not long, and the lofty spire was seen to sway back and forth, when a cry was heard, and the almost petrified spectators rushed involuntarily back, and there was a crash through ridgepole and rafter, floor and foundation. till the once friendly old bell was arrested only by the firm earth. and half-embedded in her bosom, among falling, blazing timbers. Then again the flames shot up to the very clouds, while the burning embers and cinders went sailing away over houses and hills, literally. for miles and miles. Oh! it was a heartrending sight; such an utter ruin as that into which that loved place of worship fell, is seldom known. Not a fragment remained of the inner or outer works of the building; nothing save the foundation stones, and the topmost ball of the spire. which was hurled over the whole length of the burning house to a place of safety, and so escaped almost unscathed. A noble oak standing near by, from which the dry autumnal leaves had not yet fallen, was suddenly lit up as with thousands of gas jets, burning for a few moments and then going out.
During that dreadful hour a young man lay at a little distance on a sick bed, with his warm life's blood streaming from his mouth from hemorrhage. "What is the matter, father?" said he, hearing some unusual disturbance. "Only a little alarm of fire over here, my son," said the anxious father; "do not be troubled a moment; a few dollars will set all right again." A few dollars did set all right again, and in its place you see this pleasant and commodious sanctuary. What was a burning building to that troubled parent, then? He would scarcely lift his eyes toward it, or waste a thought on the comparatively insignificant calamity.
OTHER CHURCHES.
The fourth meeting house which was built in town, was at Jenks- ville, and was erected by the manufacturing company there, and dedi- cated as a union house of worship. December 25, 1845. The first year it was occupied by the Methodists of that village, at the end of which they withdrew, and built for themselves a church near by, which they continued to occupy a few years, and then sold to be taken down and removed from the place. The Second Congregational Church was organ- ized at Jenksville, June 24, 1847, having at the start twenty-eight members. and on the 20th of January following, Rev. William Hall was ordained its pastor; but, in consequence of a failure in business and the loss of population, he felt compelled to resign and was dismissed the same year. *
See page 192
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The sixth and last church edifice erected in town is the fine. com- modious house of worship, built in 1859, standing prominently before us on this common, and long to remain, as we humbly trust, the loved place of Christian assembly.
LUDLOW VILLAGE (JENKSVILLE).
Passing now to physical and material conditions, -the Chicopee River, coming down from the east, forms the southern boundary of the town, and in its course of three or four miles presents several excellent mill privileges, the largest of which are at the falls of Wallamanumps and Indian Orchard. At the former place the water descends along a narrow, rocky channel 42 feet, in a distance of a hundred rods; and at the latter-less than a mile distant -there is a fall of 63 feet from the top of the dam to still water below. The manufacturing business at the former place was nearly the first started in the country .* In the year 1812, Benjamin Jencks, then of Smithfieldl, R. L., made a journey of survey, passing through Connecticut and Massachusetts into New York to certain waterfalls on the Genesee River, called by the Indians, Gaskosaga, where he spent several days examining and considering the advantages for manufacturing purposes. He was offered the whole of that place, with its splendid water power, for the same sum that the Chicopee River privilege and its surroundings could be bought. He gave preference to the latter, built his dam, started his mill, and Wallamanumps became Jenksville. Sometime after- wards, a certain Marylander, probably a transplanted Yankee, bought Gaskosaga, on the distant Genesee, and it was transformed into Roch- ester, -the city of Rochester, with its sixty thousand inhabitants [1910 census, 218,149].
The natural scenery along the Chicopee before the swift-running waters were arrested and thrown back upon the rapids, and before the dark woods, skirting the banks of the beautiful river, were cut away, was very fine, and the sites of the present villages were places of con- siderable resort for pleasure. There once were the favorite hunting grounds and homes of the aborigines, and the relics of their savage warfare and rude agriculture abound to this day, in all the neighbor- hood.
A little while since, an intelligent townsman of yours, who is versed in Indian lore, and has an apiness for the study of nature, said to me: "On every farm in Ludlow, and especially along the margins of the rivers and ponds, may be found numerous sharp and irregular frag- ments of stone,-porphyry, quartz, chalcedony and sandstone. the chippings thrown off by the Indians in fabricating their imple- ments for warfare and the chase and for their domestic use." Thousands
* See page 217.
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HHISTORY OF LUDLOW
of arrowheads of various sizes, hatchets, chisels, gouges, mortars, and pestles have been picked up within a few years; and I was shown a large spearhead, lately found, of great value as a curiosity, and also a remarkable gravestone, wrought somewhat into the human form, about three feet in height, which once, doubtless, marked the burial of some distinguished chief. Said the gentleman to whom I have referred : "If every farmer wonkl keep an eye on what he turns up with his plow, especially on new lands, and collect the curious-shaped stones lying here and there on the banks of brooks and ponds, and thrown carelessly into old walls and stone heaps, he might soon have a small but valuable museum of his own."
Just below the falls at Jenksville, the river in its tortuous course forms a little peninsula of a few acres of land, formerly densely wooded. and elevated about eighty feet above the water, the extremity of which has long been known by the name of "Indian Leap." The story. * which perhaps is only legendary, is that a party of Indians, being sur- prised in this secluded spot, and finding no other way of escaping their enemies, sprang over the precipice in fearless desperation, and all of them, save one, perished in the seething waters and among the rocks below. In this place, on the high bank of the river, is supposed to have been the encampment of 600 of King Philip's warriors, the night after they had burned Springfield in 1675, since those who went in pursuit of them the next day found here 24 camp fires and some of their plunder left behind. The new railroad bridge now takes a leap from this cele- brated point across the chasm, bearing safely every day scores of pas- sengers as they go and come on business or pleasure.
No less than five bridges span the Chicopee River, connecting Lud- low with the adjoining towns, the oldest of which is at Jenksville, having been built fifty-four years, and apparently as firm and enduring now as ever. Although this is the shortest of the five, and its completion now would have but little significance, yet then it was regarded as an event of extraordinary public importance; so much so as to be celebrated with an eclat not unlike this centennial day.t Accordingly, on the 1st of January, 1823, large numbers assembled to listen to a statement of what had been done; also to hear a sermon suited to the occasion, and join in public praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for the ste- cess of their enterprise. I suppose there is scarcely a person here but has crossed over that friendly bridge, time and again. Please to remem- ber, the next time you enter its dings arch, that, fifty-four years ago, it was solemnly dedicated. I use the words of the preacher, Mr. Mclean, "dedicated to the protection of Almighty God and the use of men."
See page 20.
See page 97.
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THE FATHERS
The fathers of New England were a religious people; nor were they often guilty of withholding an acknowledgment of their indebt- odness to the Father of Mercies for his protecting care. They believed in a divine providence, and were not ashamed to confess the same, both publicly and privately, in things great and small. They were also a brave, hardy, indomitable people, who dared to contend for their rights; who know how to fight the devil, as well as how to fear God. Poor in this world's goods, yet they were not complainers; for princely fortunes they knew would be theirs in the workl to come. Godliness was the great gain they coveted most; and having food and raiment, they were content therewith. Strong in purpose, uncompro- mising in principle, and the firm friends of civil and religious freedom, we love to honor them as such, though we may not always imitate their noble virtues.
They were but a handful, comparatively few and feeble and fair separated from one another -- yet they could build and endow churches and colleges, scrupulously maintain religious and charitable institu- tions, and render a cheerful, stated worship to the God they served. Many of the present generation complain, if called to hear a brace of sermons of twenty minutes each on the Sabbath. Strong men cannot digest more than one, they say. But the fathers of a century ago could listen to preaching for two hours, and a prayer of one hour; and, after a short intermission, go the same round again without extra- ordinary fatigue. It is said they had no prayer meetings then; and how could they, scattered, as they were, many miles apart, without roads or bridges, or any of the conveniences of travel now in vogue? They had no Sunday schools, it is said; but they had; and their schools around the family hearthstone, with the Bible and catechism for text- books, and father and mother as teachers, were more efficient for good than many a modern, flourishing, fancy school. While thus extolling them commending their patriotism, their piety, their strong faith, their usually unselfish acts I would do no injustice to the present age. Though the fathers have gone and the heroic age in which they lived, yet their spirit has not fed. If proof were needed of our patriotism, I would refer to the recent great uprising in defense of our liberties, when imperiled by the slavery rebellion. Then it can be shown also that the hope our pious fathers had of Christianizing the heathen has not died out, but has been gathering inspiration to the present time. In the work of missions, our zeal and success have exceeded theirs. We have mapped out the whole world as the field to be worked, and sent out men to possess it all for the Master. Also our religious, our educa- tional, and benevolent institutions are in advance of anything in the past.
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HISTORY OF LUDLOW
BOYS IN BLUE
It is in place here, in my brief narrative of historical events of this town, that I should refer to some things it did in our national contest, twelve years ago. With a population of only twelve hundred souls, it enlisted one hundred and twenty recruits for the war, or one for every ten persons. I know of no town that did better; and yet the proportion in the Revolutionary conflict was not much greater .* Fathers and mothers here gave up their sons, and wives their husbands, feeling in their bleeding hearts and fearing they might never see them again; vet consenting to the painful sacrifice for God and their country's sake. Those fears and feelings, on the part of many, were the genuine forebodings of what actually followed. The names of sixteen, who went out from these pleasant, quiet homes, and never came back alive. having perished in the terrible strife, are now written on vonder soldiers' monument, erected to commemorate the bravery of their deeds and their martyr-like deaths. 1 knew many of them well, and from an intimacy with some, esteemed them highly for their moral worth and manly virtues. May I pronounce their names, though it bring a pang of grief to the hearts of some present, on whose fond memories their patient faces are doubtless daguerreotyped forever ?
Capt. H. A. Hubbard, Robert Parsons,
D. Pratt.
W. W. Washburne,
Flavius J. Putnam,
John Coach.
E. F. Brooks,
A. O. Pott.
C. Crowningshield.
1. Bennett,
D. D. Currier.
E. Lyon, H. M. Pease. A. Chapman,
11. W. Aldrich,
C. McFarland.
Of the first of these, who was the commander of the Ludlow com- pany, I may be permitted to say, I know him from his boyhood, -- from his first lessons in the district school till he entered college, and thence to the study of the profession of law, and until he left his law books to take the sword. The last time I saw him, he stood in a central position, with the 27th Regiment drawn up to witness the presen- tation of his sword, by the hands of his pastor. Soon after, he embarked in the Burnside expedition, and before landing was taken sick, and breathed his last on shipboard, in the calm waters of Pamlico Sound, just as his men, flushed with victory, were returning to proclaim the brilliant successes of the battle of Roanoke. He heard their shouts in his last moments, and in the midst of their triumphs, his soul went up to his Saviour. How our hearts bled at hearing of his death, and again, when he was brought home, folded in his country's flag, and then
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