USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Ludlow > The history of Ludlow, Massachusetts > Part 7
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Eli Putnam, moderator of the meeting at which this action was taken, evidently considered the vote as a challenge, and proceeded to the free- tion of the first Putnam's or Put's bridge, also, probably, the first toll bridge at that point. Whether it was worthy of the capitals in the town record cannot be determined at this date. It seems, however, to have answered the requirement, for all is quiet until 1801, when the town again finds itself bridgeless. After an unsuccessful attempt to saddle the burden upon the county and an attempt equally unsuccessful to build from town funds, a committee for soliciting subscriptions was appointed. who, it may be presumed, built a bridge, for nothing was said for eleven years. This brings us to the time of the construction of the famous Cooley bridge, which started from a point near the north abutment of the present structure, then ran to a pier in the mid-stream, then at a different angle to an abutment considerably west of the present south abutment. It was a covered bridge, and one through which no one could see. It's height must have been good, for some camels once passed through. The boys of the village were apprised of the coming wonder. The beasts passed through in the night, but Yankee ingenuity could not be battled by darkness, and so a section was illuminated. It became convenient
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TOWN DEVELOPMENT
to arrest the camels at the toll house, on the south end, inasmuch asastute legislators had failed to place these animals on the toll list. The delay accomplished at least its intended result, in giving the boys a good glimpse at the rare beasts of burden. So says Hezekiah Root, then one of the "boys." Capt. Ariel Cooley received five hundred dollars for his work. he guaranteeing a free and safe passage across the stream so long as the life of the charter continued.
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This bridge having been worn out or carried away, measures were taken to build another, resulting in 1822 in the completion of a sub- stantial structure at a cost of $3,347.30, which stood until 1897, when it was replaced by the present bridge. Abner Putnam. Benjamin Jenks, and Simeon Pease were the committee of construction. References to . bridge where now stands the "red bridge" begin in 1836, while in the following year the present structure was created. Before reaching it. there was once a dry bridge near the river. The practice of lighting the Jenksville bridge is mentioned first in 1842 as the duty of the town. The road from Eaton's mills to Indian Orchard, including the iron bridge spanning the Chicopee River at that village, was built by order of the county commissioners in 1800. The first bridge at Collins Depot. a pier bridge, dates before 1850, but was carried away by a flood. The present structure was created in 1851. In 1873 the "red bridge" w .- thoroughly overhauled and made serviceable for many years; it was it wooden covered bridge. In 1900 an iron bridge was built at Red Bridge.
On October 5, 1869, there was a great flood which carried .. bridges and caused heavy damage to highways and railroads.
The condition of the old covered bridge across Chicopee River at the village known as " Put's Bridge" had led the citizens of the town to con- sider the question of a new one, and in 1896, a committee consisting of J. E. Stevens, E. E. Fuller, and Benjamin F. Burr, was appointed to con- sider the matter of a new bridge and report at a future meeting of the voters. A careful study of the questions involved and conferences with the authorities of the City of Springfield. the County Commissioner, and the Ludlow Manufacturing Company were held. After an expert examination of the old bridge, the committee reported that the bridge was of doubtful stability, that it could not be left in its existing condi- tion with safety, and recommended a new one.
The town then voted to build, in accordance with the recommenda-
HISTORY OF LUDLOW
tions of the committee, a substantial iron or steel bridge, near the site of the old one. In 1897 an agreement was made among the parties con- terned, whereby the City of Springfield and the Town of Ludlow were to contribute equally to the construction and maintenance thereafter. The City of Springfield and the Ludlow Manufacturing Company were each to pay one half the expense of the approaches on the Springfield side, and the Company and the Town of Ludlow were to arrange mutually for those on the Ludlow side. The town appropriated $8,000 for its share of the A fine and substantial iron structure was erected, greatly improv- ing the entrance to the town.
The care of highways in former years was assigned to men in each district and taxpayers were given the opportunity to work out their taxes on the highway if they desired. The compensation has varied at different periods. In 1864 one shilling per hour was allowed. In 1871 twenty cents an hour before July 1. and one shilling per hour after that time, was allowed. In 1877 three dollars and fifty cents a day was allowed for a man with team, and one dollar and twenty-five cents for a man alone, at ten hours' labor. In more recent years the compensation has been increased, and only pay for actual labor performed on the high- way allowed, the time spent in going to and from the work not being counted.
In 1879 the town voted that the care of the highway - and bridges, except those over the Chicopee River and Higher Brook below Harris's Sawmill, and at Ludlow City near Carver's sawmill, be contracted to one man for the term of five years. At the expiration of this term the high- Ways were contracted to one man for one year. In 1899 the highway surveyor was instructed to divide the town into districts and appoint a man in each district to go over the roads at least once in four weeks to remove small stones, repair water courses, and fill up ruts. A highway commissioner who has charge of all the highways in the town is noll elected by the voters at the annual town meeting.
In 1896 the town voted to instruct the selectmen to make application tor a State highway, and that this road should be located between the village and Ludlow Center. Three hundred dollars was appropriated to defray the expenses of making the application. The efforts of the selectmen were not successful and no State road has yet been located in town.
TOWN DEVELOPMENI
RAILROADS
The opening of the Western (now the Boston and Albany) Railroad of course was a matter of interest and indirect value to the town.
There is one railroad extending through the town, the Springfield and Athol, now a part of the New York Central Railroad. When the road was under contemplation, the promoters endeavored to secure town aid in consideration of passing through Ludlow Center. The town voted SO yeas against 68 nays to take stock in the road, the amount not to exceed three per cent of the valuation of the town, provided the road came within one fourth of a mile of Ashbel P. Chapin's, or what is called the "old Tavern Stand," at Ludlow Center. These terms were not accepted by the railroad, which was built through the village of Ludlow, and passed through the outskirts of the town, stopping its trains at Collins Station and Red Bridge. The construction of this railroad demanded another bridge across the Chicopee, spanning the stream at the Indian Leap, where also the aqueduct for the City of Springfield connects the proximate cliffs on either side of the stream.
A new railroad through the town, called the Hampden Railroad. is now under construction (1911). The entire route covered lies be- tween Athol Junction in the city of Springfield, and Hastings Crossing in the town of Palmer, crossing the town of Ludlow, west to cast, from the land of Jackson Cady to the Red Bridge district.
STRERI RAILWAY
In the winter of 1907 and 1908, the proposition for a street railway in the town was first discussed at a conference of the selectmen with representative officials from the Springfield Street Railway Company and the Ludlow Manufacturing Associates. The first proposition was that the Ludlow Associates should furnish the power, and in addition to the regular traffic, that the Springfield Street Railway should run extra cars, at reduced fares morning and evening, for the accommodation of the mill employees. Lacking agreement, the proposition was abandoned. to be revived later with another, that the Springfield Street Railway fur- nish all the power and equipment.
The route of the road was mapped out and a franchise about to be granted when a question of fares and transfers once more delayed the work. In the summer of 1910, all the interested parties having finally
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HISTORY OF LUDLOW
come to an agreement, a franchise was granted by the selectmen to the Springfield Street Railway to lay rails from the end of the Indian Orchard line across the bridge, along East Street to Sewall, and from Sewall along Winsor to the terminus at Franklin, a distance of nearly one mile.
The work of construction was awarded by contract to the Birnie. Adams & Ruxton Construction Company, who began their work in September, 1911, all the work overhead being done by the Springfield Street Railway Company. Cars were first sent over the tracks Decem- ber 21, 1911, and the townspeople are looking forward to the increased accommodation with keen pleasure. It is hoped there may be a belt line of the town eventually.
THE LEDLow RESERVOIR
The Ludlow Reservoir, built in 1873 and 1874, is in the eastern part of the town, in the portion familiarly called Cherry Valley. Three natural streams, Broad Brook. Jabish Brook, and Higher Brook, have been diverted to feed this body of water in addition to the large natural watershed. This tract contained some of the best farming land in the town. The reservoir furnishes water to the Town of Ludlow and was until 1910 the principal supply for the City of Springfield, by whom it was built.
It was remarked In one of the reporters of our centennial celebration that " the genius of change has conquered even this stronghold of old News England conservatism at last: as Ludlow was recalling her most treads- ured associations around the church, Springfield was laying her obnoxious Water-pipes at the very door of the old house of worship." When the region known as Cherry Valley was added to the proposed locations of the reservoir for the Springfield water supply, there were few, in town or out, who supposed the place would be selected. The year 1873, however. had hardly begun before the announcement was made that Ludlow brooks would be diverted into an aqueduct leading to the city. The list month of the year found a large number of employees at work upon the basin and the eastern dam. By the first of April the basin and it's slopes had been deared of wood, enough having been cut off to make a solid fence a considerable portion of the way around. On the 6th of April the trenching for the pipes was begun and work resumed upon the dam. On the 9th of October the gangs going towards and from Springfield met. thus practically finishing the work of laying the "big main." Of this
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TOWA DEVELOPMENT
largest piping about a half mile of cast iron tube was laid from the southern dam to Higher Brook, while cement-lined sheet iron tubes extend from that point to the city. The number of acres in the bed of the reservoir is four hundred and forty-five, to which must be added it marginal area of three hundred and sixty acres. Of this entire territory two hundred and eighty acres were woodland. Six and three eighths deres of swamp were covered with 13,924 cubic yards of sand, and a little over one half as much was sanded between the south dam and the filter. The land was purchased of Benjamin Sikes and Sons, Reuben
LAADLOW RESERVOIR WITH GATE HOUSE AND DWELLING
Sikes, Silas Billings, Adelbert L. Bennett, Charles S. Bennett, John L. Banister, Mrs. Margaret Sikes, Marvin King, and Charles W. Alden. . \ ditch of a mile in length turns Higher Brook into the reservoir, and one, longer and larger, taps Broad Brook just north of the town line. No pains was spared to put the bed of the reservoir into proper condition, as the report of the Water Commissioners for 1875 shows:
In excavating for the trench to take the water from the general level of the flats above the Cherry Valley dam, the material thrown out, which
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HISTORY OF LEDLOW
consisted for the most part of coarse gravel, was used to cover the peaty bottom. The area thus trenched and covered was about ten acres. That portion between the Ludlow dam and the filter, an area of three and three fourths acres, has been covered with about two feet in depth of good clean sand. From the Ludlow dam, extending in the valley northeasterly on the low ground for about fifteen acres, a mass of decaying pine stumps has been pulled out and burned. Much pains has been taken to char large stumps while burning the ground over, and burn them up as far as practicable. For this purpose a considerable quantity of kerosene oil has been used with which to ignite them. In this manner, although the stumps would not be entirely consumed, they are so far charred or con- sumed by the operation as to be rendered much less harmful than they would otherwise be. Of the peaty and swampy portions of the bed of the reservoir, none are covered with less than twelve feet of water with . full pond, the most of which will not be less than sixteen feet.
The commissioners under whose direction the enterprise was carried out, were (. 0 Chapin, 1 L. Harris, A. D. Briggs, S. W. Porter, G. C. Fisk, and Horace Smith, while Hon. Phinchas Ball of Worcester was chief engineer. A large number of Ludlow men were employed as overseers of workmen.
LIDLOW FIRE DEPARTMENT
In the month of June, 1910, the Board of Selectmen decided that the town should have a regularly organized fire department. Previous to this date fire protection was dependent upon the fire department belong- ing to the Ludlow Manufacturing Associates. At the regular town- meeting in April, 1910, there was appropriated the sum of $2,000 to buy land and erect a fire station in the district known as "Little Canada." The necessity of organizing a fire company for this station was very apparent to the selectmen.
The Fire Department was then organized with a chief engineer and twelve men to respond to calls for fires in their respective districts during the night. The chief engineer was appointed the executive oficer of the department to take charge of all fires occurring in the town.
When the fire station at the corner of Holyoke Road and Mero Street was completed, it was placed in the care of the newly organized Fire Department. All the fire apparatus which had been previously Stored in a shed on Stebbins Street was removed to the new building.
This company since its installation, has given complete satisfaction. especially to the immediate vicinity, where a feeling of security was not
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possible previously when fire protection was dependent upon the village department.
The village, since the introduction of the waterworks, has been cared for in this respect by the mill fire department, which was reorgan- ized in 1907. It responds to all fires, both day and night, that may occur in the town. There are six small hose houses located at convenient points in the village. Twenty-one Gamewell fire alarm boxes connected with the mill steam whistle are conveniently placed, besides modern hydrants for fire service specially.
The town has also in its service a hose wagon equipped with four hundred feet of first class cotton rubber-lined 23% inch hose, with other necessary equipment, which is kept in the rear of A. H. Bartlett's house on North Street. The first company responding to an alarm of fire in the immediate vicinity uses this wagon.
A fire alarm system was installed in the village in 1907, and in the same year the town voted to establish not fewer than twelve watchmen's stations inside the limits, the same to be placed so as to give the most efficient supervision possible for the entire village. The chief of police was instructed to carry a watchman's clock and visit each station at least once in every two hours between 6 P.M. and 4 A.M., the last round to be finished not later than 3.30 A.M. The clock was to be in charge of the town treasurer, who was to keep paper dials on file for inspection.
The village is lighted by electricity, an appropriation being made by the town each year for that purpose and a contract made with the Lidllow Manufacturing Associates to light the streets with all-night service.
The earliest lighting was by means of gas. In 1906 the town granted the Springfield Gas Light Company the right to lay pipes in the village and thus supply the families and business firms with gas.
TELEPHONES
The New England Telephone and Telegraph Company extended it- lines into Ludlow in 1903 and many of the farmers as well as the residents of the village installed telephones. Day service only was at first granted.
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HISTORY OF LUDLOW
but both day and night service is now in operation. There are in 1911 about 75 telephones in use in the town.
THE Post OFFRE
The first post office was established in 1815 at Ludlow Village. supposedly in the store of Benjamin Jenks. The mail route for a while was through the town from north to south, a cavalier with drawn pistols carrying the precious bag.
HOME OF GEORGE V. HUBBARD Formerly a Lavern kept by thum Wright
The first postmaster, Benjamin Jenks, was appointed February 15, 1821. His successors were Joseph Bucklin, appointed April 23, 1839; E. C. Jenks, February 20, 1843; William B. Miller, August 10, 1848; S. B. Stebbins, May 30, 1849; Jerre Miller, June 18, 1850; W. S. Miller, August 28, 1857; Lewis Harrington, April 26, 1859; E. M. Smith, June 17. 1868: David Joy, January 17, 1873; D. N. Beckwith, June 6, 1878; Limes Haviland, April 4, 1888; George A. Birnie. December 23, 1889: James Haviland, July 31, 1893; George A. Birnie, August 2, 1897.
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TOWN DEVELOPMENT
The Ludlow Center post office was established June 15, 1874, and opened early in July. Mrs. Susan AA. Chapin was appointed first to the headship, and was succeeded November 12, 1891, by Leavitt Perham.
There are two rural free delivery routes in Ludlow. Number one was established February 1, 1902, and number two, May 1, 1902. The carrier for Route No. 1. William C. Walker, was unable to cover his course one day and but half of it on another, during the nine years. Carrier No. 2, Adelbert Corwin, lost one day and covered all but one
THE FLY FULLER TAVERN Louis Chapin
fourth of his on another in the same time. These are remarkable records.
TAVERAS
On the old Dorman place to the south of the center, it is said, stood the oldest tavern in Ludlow. Another called "The Ark" was kept by Ezekiel Fuller, and stood at the "west middle" part of the town in 1787. It was afterwards the home of Amos Kendall. John Jennings was
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HISTORY OF LEDLOW
proprietor of a third tavern at an early date at the Jennings place. About the same time another was kept by Elam Wright near Ezekiel Fuller's.
The first tavern at the center was kept by Ely Fuller for a number of years. It was known as the "old Fuller tavern stand," and with it favorite place of resort. In tavern days this house had pizzas two stories high extending the full length of the house, with an anney
THE DAN HUBBARD HOIS1.
Formerly a Lavern Headquarters of the " Know Nothing ( hib'
built towards the east with a driveway under the second story. It was a much more pretentious building then, and had a tall sign in front. The green at the front was used as a muster ground for the Ludlow militia between 1820 and 1843 An occasional sham fight made a day to be remembered by the boys and girls who were chaperoned thereto Iva trusts neighbor. The town clerk's office was in this house for many warson Mr. Fuller was the town clerk Vter his death his family
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lived there for some time. Isaac Plumley succeeded them and was pro- prietor for a few years.
Calvin Eaton kept the first tavern at Jenksville. He was followed in turn by a Mr. Sawin, Ashley Haydon, and Jerre Miller. There is no tavern or hotel in Ludlow at the present time.
A hundred years or more ago, Ezekiel Barton built what is known as the Dan Hubbard house (south of the one where Charles Fairbanks lives) for a hotel, which was kept by him. Later one of the rooms was used as place of meeting by a political body known as the "Know Nothing Chil."
STORES
Elisha Fuller had one of the first stores in Ludlow. It was on the corner opposite the Fuller tavern in Ludlow Center. The date of its opening is not known, but his account book shows charges against Rev. Antipas Steward, who was ordained in 1793 as the first pastor of the town. Mr. Fuller kept this store as late as 1840. About 1850 Lucien Cooley had a store in the Fuller shop. Another was kept at one time in the L of the hotel building. Homer and Arthur King. Chester Graves, F. O. Taylor, E. E. Pease, and Jasper Knight have also been merchants at Ludlow Center.
As early as 1814 Benjamin Jenks and his partners had a store in Jenksville. After the failure of his company in 1846, Ephraim Jenks & Son traded there for a time. Jerre Miller in 1855, and later his son Austin, also had stores there. Harrington & Root. Walter S. Miller, Daniel Beckwith, Eli M. Smith, and David Joy were also storekeepers in the same building. Another store was opened by Howard & Beckwith in 1878. Other merchants in Ludlow Village have been Harmon Booth, Henry P. Jenks, James Jenks, M. Del .. Towne, Frank A. Towne, and Edmund Bliss.
LUDLOW SAVINGS BANK
The Ludlow Savings Bank, situated at the corner of East and Sewall Streets, in the business block owned by the Ludlow Manufacturing AAssociates, was incorporated February 21, 1888. The incorporators were George A. Birnie, Dr. James W. Hannum, Marquis Del. Towne. James Henderson, Franklin W. Sturgis, John Edward Stevens, and Charles W. Hubbard The bank opened for business August 1. 1885.
HISTORY OF LUDLOW
Since which time it has paid a four per cent rate of interest. During it - twenty -three years' existence, the investments and business ventures of the bank have been unusually successful. In this time there have been but two foreclosures. These were not forced, but deemed advisable by the investment committee. An actual loss of $32.85 represents the ouly amount lost during the twenty-three years. Ludlow people are justly proud of an institution whose record it would be difficult to excel. Taking into consideration the relative size of the town and the bank with that of larger places, the showing of Ludlow ranks with the best.
The following is taken from the report made to the savings bank commissioners and shows deposits for the end of each fiscal year:
October 31, 1889, 813,114; 1890, 521,221; 1891. 832,819; 1802, S41.279: 1893, 849,151; 1894, 853,569; 1895, 861,093; 1896, 867,083; 1897. 884,689; 1898, 886,009; 1899, $102,337; 1900, 8118,060; 1901, $138,673: 1902. 8177.020; 1903, 8215.103; 1904, 8263,207; 1905, 8333,- 828; 1906, 5408,009; 1907, 8503.204; 1908, 8486,983; 1909, 5525.535; 1910, 8518,122. These statistics emphasize better than words the size of the bank and its rapid growth. Every application for a ton is referred to the investment committee, which considers the security carefully, and passes judgment accordingly. This method has thus afforded an opportunity for the bank to establish a reputation of being too hard a nut for the grafter or man with a bogus deal to crack.
The investment committee consists of the president, James Houder- Son (1911), George D Green, Michael H. Lyons, Walter S. Colwell, and Edward I. Fuller. The personal business sense of each member of the committee has led them to make sound and conservative judgments, that have oftentimes rendered it easier to secure more on loan from larger institutions. Trustees are elected each year from the members of the corporation. At present there are twenty-three. Since its incor- poration the bank has had five presidents. The first was Charles F. Grosvenor, now of Springfield, Vt .; the second, George D. Green, now of Springfield, Mas; the third, Alfred S. Packard, now of Springfield, Mass; the fourth, Dr. J. W. Hannum, of Ludlow, Mass,; the fifth. James Henderson, of Ludlow, Mass. At no time during its incorporation has the bank been in a better financial condition than at present (1911); it has the confidence of the townspeople of all nationalities.
Treasurer George A. Birnie is the active head of the bank, through whom all financial dealings are made. Ludlow is doubly fortunate in
INTERIOR LEDLOW SAVINGS BANK, CORNER EAST AND SEWALL STREEIS
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TOWN DEVELOPMENT
possessing men with the executive ability to establish and to carry an institution so successfully.
To safeguard further the interests of its investors, the accounts are audited thoroughly twice a year by four of the bank trustees appointed for the purpose. Every account is carefully followed up and rechecked. This gives the auditors a thorough knowledge of the bank's doings. The present auditors are Charles W. Gowan, James Henderson, Harley W. Morrill, and Frank N. Moore (1911).
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