USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The history of Pittsfield (Berkshire County), Massachusetts, from the year 1734 to the year 1800 > Part 41
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5th, That a proper method be adopted to obtain the sentiments of the deople in this State respecting a present revision of our Contitution. (Voted.)
6th. [Your constituents being convinced that the town of Boston is an improper place for the General Assembly to hold their sessions in, they therefore request that you use your influence to have some other place fixed upon for that purpose.]
7th. [That the town clerk, or some other person, be appointed in each town to record the decds of the town.]
Many other matters of importance will doubtless suggest themselves, or be brought into view in the course of the session, concerning which your con- stituents are not able at present to give you their opinion. Such matters they therefore cheerfully leave to your good sense and ability, to conduct therein according to your best skill and judgment; nothing doubting that you will use your utmost exertions to have such laws enacted, and such meas- ures adopted, as will tend to the restoration and establishment of peace and good government through the Commonwealth.
A pleasant journey is wished you, and a safe return with happy tidings. DR. TIMOTHY CHILDS.
The first paragraph was the fruit of the intolerable load of pub- lic indebtedness, from which had sprung, on the one hand, an una- vailing attempt to reduce the principal by over-rapid instalments, and, on the other, projects derogatory to the faith of the Com- monwealth; among which a favorite proposition was, that the public securities might justly be cancelled by paying the depre-
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ciated rates at which they had come into the hands of the last holders.
The legislature, struggling to maintain the public credit, had adopted an excise and impost tax for the purpose of paying the interest and reducing the principal of the State debt, and had, moreover, at the request of Congress, granted to the United States, in aid of paying the foreign debt, a further impost of five per cent. These aets the town instructed Representative Childs to oppose, as well as the collection of the State tax, in which it was alleged that the western counties were unfairly assessed.
The other paragraphs adopted merely favored the much-needed reform of the courts, and asked that the question of revising the Con- stitution should be submitted to the people. There was nothing, surely, very revolutionary in these votes. Nor would there have been even in the adoption of the others; which simply proposed to abolish the collection by law of debts incurred after a certain date, to substitute the registry of deeds by town instead of county officers, and favored that nine-lived folly, of which Gov. Hutchinson was the father, - a removal of the seat of government from Boston.
Another meeting was held Oct. 23, when the insurrection was approaching its armed outbreak; but, while again electing male- content delegates 1 to the county convention to be held at Pitts- field, Nov. 5, it manifested the same repngnance to unnecessary innovation which its predecessor had exhibited. Its action was indeed even more conservative: for it declared emphatically against an emission of paper money; opposed a tender act; and, the former meeting having directed the collectors to retain the rate-bills in their hands, this promised the support of the town in their collection.
In the latter part of January, when the rebels at arms in the connty were conducting with unbridled insolence, there was a stormy time at a town-meeting convened to consider the action of a recent county convention. Matters were carried with so high a hand by the insurrectionists, that the clerk, John Chandler Wil- liams, withdrew; the moderator, Eli Root, refused to declare the votes ; and Capt. John Strong, who was appointed clerk pro tem., neglected to record the dissolution of the meeting.
The folly of tampering with the passions of the mob was now
1 Joseph Fairfield, Daniel Hubbard, Samuel Rust, Dan Cadwell, and Capt. Daniel Sackett.
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apparent; and the joy of the people was sincere, when, in the next month, the occupation of the town by Gen. Lincoln relieved them from the restraint which their indecision in the early part of the contest had invited.
Thenceforward the town meetings consistently favored, not only good order, but a sound policy. The best evidence of their real sentiment is found in their vote at the State election, April, 1787, when Gov. Bowdoin, whose energetic and fearless course had suppressed the rebellion, was a candidate for re-election, and opposed by John Hancock, who was supposed to be more favora- bly inclined to the insurgents. Such was the sympathy with the rebels in many parts of the Commonwealth, even among those who did not join in their extreme measures, that Hancock was elected mainly on that issue, with a legislature of the same com- plexion. But, in Pittsfield, the vote stood, -for Bowdoin, forty- seven ; for Hancock, thirteen : while the popularity won by Lin- coln in his local military administration was attested by a unani- mous vote (eighty- two) for lieutenant - governor. A still more marked proof of the conservative re-action was the election of Henry Van Schaack as representative, in spite of the prejudice against him as a loyalist of the Revolution.1
During the military occupation of Pittsfield, the troops were quartered among the inhabitants in such manner as would cause the least inconvenience which the nature of the case admitted. The officers were assigned to the better class of houses, and were almost universally received with a cordial welcome, from which many enduring friendships arose; and doubtless, although unre- corded, the same was true of intimacies formed in humbler quar- ters.
Commendable discipline was maintained among the military ; and the unavoidable wordy disputes between soldiers and citizens never resulted in serious disturbances.
With a large number of young men congregated in a place which afforded few legitimate channels for the relief of exuberant animal spirits, or means for dissipating the tedium of garrison life, the license of the camp sometimes assumed forms vexatious to the staid housekeeper. But the incidents related in illustration of these little annoyances betoken the roguish pranks of boyish men, and not the insolence of military hectoring. No doubt the pur-
1 See note at end of this chapter.
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suit of lurking rebels was varied by raids - such as college-boys make - upon orchards, cornfields, and poultry-yards ; but, if the offenders were detected, punishment was sure and prompt.
Indeed, in the best-remembered instance, the injured party was prompt to right herself. It happened that a considerable squad was quartered in the tavern then kept by Capt. Jared Ingersoll, on the south corner of the present North and Depot Streets. Now, Capt. Ingersoll was a prisoner at Northampton, charged with par- ticipating in the rebellion, leaving his affairs in charge of his wife, the widow of Col. John Brown. The soldiers were perhaps encouraged by the unfortunate position of the landlord to make more free with the premises than they would otherwise have done ; and a few of them, with a genuine Yankee appreciation of the fun of making money, placed in the bar-room a barrel of cider, from which they proceeded to retail by the glass. But the rogues had reckoned without their hostess; for the spirited and resolute landlady, appearing on the scene, unceremoniously pitched the intrusive commodity into the street, remarking, with quiet empha- sis, that " She kept tavern there." It is safe to guess that order was preserved among the military guests of that household with- out reference to the provost-marshal.
But, well as the soldiery remembered that they were among the homes of their fellow-citizens, an extraordinary military bustle and disquiet pervaded the streets of Pittsfield during the spring and summer of 1787. The roll of the drum and the challenge of the sentinel were frequent ; detachments were constantly marching and counter-marching, as alarms came from one quarter or another ; and prisoners were continually brought in, to be sent forward to Great Barrington or Northampton jails : so that Pittsfield bore not a little of the sad aspect which always attaches to the head- quarters of the victors after a suppressed rebellion. For the clemency which afterwards marked the course of the government was not then assured or even probable ; and the prisoners set out from Pittsfield with a well-grounded apprehension that the termi- nation of their journey would be either a gallows or a felon's cell. Shadowy as the perils which the government and its opponents passed through in that day may now appear, we may be sure that they were realities fearfully vivid and palpable to those who were compelled to face them. And the consternation which the rebel, in his uprising, excited among the friends of the government, was
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fully brought home to his own breast, when, defeated, he found himself a prisoner in the hands of the law which he had undertaken to overthrow. Happily, the tremors of one party having been re- moved by the success of its arms, those of the other were quicted by the politic mercy of the victors. The general commanding the successful militia was earnest for the most liberal clemency, and the majority of the people shared his generous sentiments; while the most severe measures proposed by the minority were mild, as compared with the standard of that era in cases of treason.
But, long after the rebel spirit had been conciliated towards the government of the State, the effects of the divisions which it had created in counties, towns, and neighborhoods continued to mani- fest themselves in the relations of the people to each other. "Too much had been said and done," says Dr. Field, "to permit the people to become at once altogether friendly. Unhappy jealousies remained in neighborhoods and towns; the clergy who had favored the Revolutionary war opposed the rebellion, and thereby, in some instances, offended many of their parishioners; and this is understood to have caused the dismission of the ministers in Alford and Egremont, and created mnuch disaffection in Sandis- field."
In Pittsfield, the dissensions were aggravated by other than poli- tical causes, and rose to such violence, that, in order to render life in the town at all tolerable, it became necessary to reconcile them. The mode in which this was attempted was so characteristic of the times and of the people that it merits a minute narration. The difficulties, although their exciting cause was chiefly political, developed themselves most conspicuously in connection with the affairs of the town as a religious parish, and were, in great part, the fruit of the unnatural connection between church and state.
In Pittsfield, the existence of other religious denominations than the Congregational was practically ignored. The town was sim- ply a Congregational parish, which could not be divided, except by special act of the legislature. All its affairs were conducted in town-meeting, as of old; and the town retained all its rights and privileges as the secular organization which provided for religious worship. Cribbed so closely, the most pacific people would have fretted themselves into a passion in the most peaceful times. A great deal of good temper is preserved in our day by the large 27
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liberty we enjoy of dividing upon every difference. The good people of Pittsfield were more trammelled when, in 1788, they looked to peaceful separation as the alternative of the better if possible thing, unity, to remedy their troubles; and the warrant for the April meeting proposed to hear any suggestions which might be made "for uniting or dividing the town."
The meeting, it seems, did not despair of healing the existing dissensions, but appointed a committee "to attend to all matters which have been the cause or occasion of the late disunion in the town, and to such matters as may tend to a union and reconcilia- tion, and make report as soon as may be of such measures as to them shall appear most likely to effect that desirable purpose."
The committee was made up with great care from men of influence and sound discretion in all parties, as well as some who had probably maintained a wise neutrality. Its members were Woodbridge Little, Deacon Daniel Hubbard, Joseph Farr, Capt. James Dn. Colt, Major Oliver Root, Deacon Joseph Clark, Capts. David Bush, Joel Stevens, and William Francis, Enoch Haskins and Stephen Fowler. A public hearing was given on the 3d of June to all interested; and "having fully considered all the matters of difficulty which were then or at any other time mentioned or suggested to them as causes of uneasiness," and after much con- sultation and investigation, the committee agreed upon a report, which was submitted to the town on the 26th.
They found that the causes of the dissensions were all reducible to the following heads : -
" First. The state of the pews in the meeting-house, ineluding the manner in which they were obtained, and are now holden by their proprietors.
" Second. The Rev. Mr. Allen's having received an allowance from the town for the depreciation of money, notwithstanding the various publie declarations which he has made.
Third. The Rev. Mr. Allen's having in times past, in his official character, repeatedly interested himself in the political affairs of the country, and pub- licly interposed therein in an undue and improper manner."
With regard to these allegations, the committee resolved, -
" First. That it should be recommended to proprietors of pews to relinquish their rights in them; and that the town take such measures to accommodate the inhabitants with seats as may be thought proper.
" Second. With respect to the second article, we do not find the Rev. Mr.
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Allen to have been guilty of any immoral conduct therein ; and we recom- mend it to every person who is aggrieved thereby to apply to Mr. Allen, who will doubtless give every reasonable satisfaction in his power ; and, if any such person shall desire satisfaction of a pecuniary kind, we wish Mr. Allen, for the sake of peace, to grant it.
" Third. And, as to matters contained in the third article, we consider Mr. Allen to be liable to human frailties and error ; and we are of opinion that much of the uneasiness and disunion subsisting in this town might have been prevented had he ever been silent with respect to political matters in his public performances ; but we by no means charge him with any sinister or criminal intention therein.
" Resolved, further, That, whenever the town shall think proper to erect a meeting-house, the place for the standing of the same shall be submitted to the determination of three or more disinterested persons, not inhabitants of the town."
The reader will recall that proprietorship was originally acquired in the pews by some of the more wealthy early settlers, who were allowed to purchase for lack of funds otherwise to finish the house. The square pews were still held under these titles, and occupied an undue space in the little meeting-house. There arose a more serious difficulty, - that while the people were "sorted " by the committee, according to their notions of social position, upon the " long seats" and in the gallery, the pew-holders with their families, from year to year, marched to their prescriptive places with an odious dignity, free of official censorship.
Some further explanation than was at that time necessary is now requisite for a proper understanding of the pecuniary relations of Mr. Allen to the town.
His settlement in 1764, with an annual stipend of £80 and forty cords of wood, will be remembered. Twenty-four years had passed, and left him with a wife and eight surviving children, but no increase of salary, or, rather, with a fearful decrease by the depreciation of the currency. He had, however, during the war of the Revolution, been led by a noble zeal and faith in his coun- try to "loan the Continent " the sum of $2,500, to obtain the means for which and for other local purposes of a similar character, as well as to support his family, he had alienated more than half of the valuable home-lot which had fallen to him as first minister of the town. At one time of his country's need, he had even sold his watch in order to turn the proceeds into a Continental " cer- tificate of indebtedness." One can well pardon some untimely
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expression of a zeal which thus manifested itself. In 1788, these Continental certificates had depreciated in value to $606 Connecti- cut money ; and the Confederation and the State then owed him, at these depreciated rates, $1,129, principal and interest.
It thus happened that in the year 1783, with his funds unavail- able, he found himself considerably in debt, and, by the advice of friends, applied to his parish for relief. The request was promptly met by a grant of £300; but, learning that a few tax-payers felt aggrieved by this act of justice as well as generosity, he at once declined it.
He, however, accepted a loan of £200, for which he gave his bond, although he was led by the intimations of some of his parishioners to expect that repayment would never be required. We may anticipate our story by remarking that this not unnatural expectation was defeated by the contentions which continued to prevail. In 1792, Mr. Allen paid £150 of the principal; and, in 1809, he took up his note, devoting the whole of his salary for the preceding year to the payment of what remained due. He had paid more than £800, principal and interest, upon the loan of £200.
The report submitted on the 26th resulted in the following action. The owners of pews having released their rights " so that every person might have an equal right to seats therein until the town should be divided into two or more parishes," their action was voted perfectly satisfactory, although the idea of separation was still prominently held out.
With regard to the subjects of the second and third resolutions of the committee's report, it seems that Mr. Allen had made some personal communication to the meeting, - in part, probably, em- bodying some of the statements which we have given above. " These declarations," the town voted unanimously, "removed all uneasiness which had subsisted in the minds of the people now present, and they are determined to be satisfied therewith ; " and they recommended " the inhabitants of the town not now present, who remain unsatisfied, to apply to the town for such pecuniary satisfaction as they may think they ought to receive for what they may have paid on the depreciation tax."
Notwithstanding this harmonious action of the meeting, " uneasiness continued to prevail to some extent among those who had absented themselves; " and a number of the discontented, the next year, applied for an abatement of their ministry tax, which was refused, except as regarded those legally exempt.
·
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Mr. Allen's bond also continued to be the subject of discussion and negotiation until its final payment, as from time to time por- tions of it were discharged by " discounts on his salary," and by the release of his interest in the lots devoted to the support of the ministry. These transactions appear to have been conducted in good temper, and, at least during the closing years of that century, with due regard to the convenience of the debtor. Although some few were openly disaffected towards the minister, - and doubtless the sting of his plain preaching of political duty in time past secretly rankled in the bosoms of others, - still an era of compara- tive good feeling had been reached, as regarded the minister ; and, for a few years, the contentious spirits of the town were engrossed by other matters.
NOTES.
JOSHUA DANFORTH was born at Weston in 1759; his father being Jonathan Danforth, who commanded a battalion with credit at the battle of Bennington. His preparation for college was interrupted by the Revolution, and he entered the army at the age of fifteen as clerk in his father's company. After serving for some months in this office, performing at the same time the duties of surgeon's mate, he was made ensign at sixteen, promoted first lieutenant in 1778, and paymaster, with the rank of captain, in 1781. Hle performed a gallant exploit in rescuing baggage from an exposed position at Roxbury in 1775, was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, and suffered with Washing- ton's army the horrors of the following winter at Valley Forge, which he described as " in- credible." In 1778, he took part in the battle of Monmouth Court-House, and, in 1781, was in command of a post on the Lower Hudson. From that year he served as pay- master until May, 1784, when he removed to Pittsfield, and engaged in mercantile business in company with Col. Simon Larned. Here he was postmaster and collector of internal revenue, and held other public offices, until his death in 1837. No citizen of the town was ever held in higher respect than Col. Danforth for sound sense, official ability and integrity, moral worth, and consistent piety.
HENRY VAN SCHAACK was born at Kinderhook in 1733. Having received the limited education which the common school of that town could give, he went to serve a mercantile apprenticeship with Peter Van Brugh Livingston of New York. At the age of twenty, he was lientenant of the company commanded by Philip, afterwards Gen. Schuyler, in the expedition of 1755 against Crown Point ; and, when Col. Ephraim Williams's re- giment was cut up by the enemy, he was one of the party of two hundred and fifty who first went to their relief. He was afterwards paymaster and commissioner of musters, with the rank of major.
He carried on his mercantile business successfully ; and, as early as 1757, he had an interest in trading stations at Oswego and Niagara. On the conquest of Canada, he extended his operations to Detroit and Mackinaw, then the ultima thule of British North America. He had by these means acquired, previous to the Revolution, an ample fortune.
When the Stamp Act passed, he was postmaster of the city of Albany, and a prominent business man. Falling under the suspicion of the "Sons of Liberty " that he intended to apply for the office of stamp-distributor also, the populace destroyed the balcony,
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windows, and furniture of his house, and compelled him to take an oath never to apply for the odious office, nor to accept it if offered him.
In 1769, he removed to his native town, Kinderhook, where he was immediately ap- pointed justice of the peace, and elected supervisor, which offices he held until the Revolution.
Mr. Van Schaack was a member of the first Committee of Safety and Correspond- ence for the City and Connty of Albany, and a candidate for delegate to the Continental Congress. But, early in 1775, he withdrew from the committee, and declared himself a loyalist. He had reached the conclusion, that " the dispute with the mother country was carried on with too much acrimony; " that the Congress of 1774 " had left no back door open for reconciliation; " that there was " too much reason to believe that many citizens wished to shake off their dependence upon Great Britain; " and that " the people had got to that pass that they did not consider the qualifications of a king, for they would have no king." With regard to the two latter propositions, Mr. Van Shaack read the people better than they read themselves ; but he was less fortunate in predict- ing that " Great Britain will lower us, in spite of all we can do : the Fishing-bill will make us knuckle."
For all this, Mr. Van Schaack appears to have been a sincere lover of his country, and to have dreaded, not rejoiced in, the humiliation which he anticipated. But loyal by in- stinct as well as by principle, and reverencing the oath of allegiance which he had often taken, he craved the privilege of neutrality. This, however, could not reasonably be granted to a man of his prominence, while he remained at home ; and lie was re- quired by the Commissioners of Couspiracies to withdraw, while the contest lasted, into Connecticut or Massachusetts, and place himself under the supervision of their Com- mittee of Inspection. He chose Berkshire County ; and, after trying Richmond and Stockbridge for a few months each, he purchased the beautiful estate which includes Melville Lake, and settled in Pittsfield. Here his desire to withdraw from political strife was gratified; and, although he watched the course of affairs with intense interest, he afforded no cause of complaint to the most jealous Whig. On the contrary, he won the confidence and friendship of many of the leading patriots to a degree which attests the worth of his character as a man and his pleasant qualities as a companion. The act of banishment against him was revoked, and Gen. Schuyler wrote inviting him to return. Mr. Van Shaack, however, was entirely satisfied with Massachusetts, as will appear from the letter already quoted, as well as from another to his brother Peter, in which he says, "So perfectly am I satisfied with the manners, customs, and laws of this Commonwealth, that I would not exchange them for any other I know of in the world."
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