USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The history of Pittsfield (Berkshire County), Massachusetts, from the year 1800 to the year 1876 > Part 3
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On East street, at the corner of Second, was the two-story gambrel-roof store of Colonel Joshua Danforth; its gable-end facing East street. A little below was a similar store but of only one story, occupied by Graves & Root.
On the corner of North street and Park place with the gable- end and entrance facing on the latter was the store built by Jona- than Allen, in 1798 ; a plain, neat building with an angular roof. Next north, on the site of the Allen block was the small one- story steep-roofed "medicine-shop," built in 1796, by Dr. Timo- thy Childs. On South street, facing the west end of Bank row, was built about this time by J. D. & S. D. Colt a handsome wooden store, large for its time, of two stories with an angular roof. It still stands, having been removed to West Housatonic street. Op- posite the Colt store on the corner of Bank row and South street, was a similar store which was built by Hon. Ashbel Strong, and occupied by his brother-in-law, John Stoddard.1
1 Major Isracl Stoddard, the noted loyalist of Pittsfield revolutionary story, and son of Colonel Jolin Stoddard, the Northampton " great New Englander,"
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From the Stoddard store to the house of John Chandler Wil- liams, was a vacant space.
From the foregoing hints and outlines the reader, with a little aid from imagination, will perhaps be able to gain a tolerably correct idea of the village of Pittsfield, in the year 1800.
In examining the map, it will be noticed that dwellings are much more thickly scattered along the streets running east and west than upon those intersecting them at right angles ; and the same difference would be observed if it had been extended to em- brace the whole of the original settling-lots. There were two causes for this. First, the great highway between Boston and Al- bany ran through East and West streets. But secondly, and chiefly, it arose from the mode in which the lots were originally laid out. There were, it will be recollected, three tiers of hundred- acre farms, lying side by side and extending from the east to the west through the center of the township. One of these tiers reached the whole length of the town, while that north of it fell a mile and a half short of the Dalton border, and that upon the south something more than two miles short of the Hancock line ; the three ranges being separated from each other by roads seven rods wide. They were also intersected by a road, seven rods wide, running nearly through the center of the township from north to south, and now known as North and South streets, and in the east and west parts by other roads. The extreme width of these
joint proprietor with Colonel Wendell, and Edward Livingstone, of Poontoosuc, died in 1872, of consumption, aged forty-one. He lies buried with his widow and several of his children on the eastern slope of Pontoosuc Hill in the Pitts . field cemetery ; where his grave is marked by a large old-fashioned tomb- stone, bearing this exceedingly-apposite epitaph :
" In life, uninfluenced by the breath of fame, The great, the true, the just, thy constant aim; Praised or not praised, in death affects thee not, By whom remembered or by whom forgot. A heap of dust is all remains of thee; 'Tis all thou art, and all that we shall be." .
His daughter Mary, the grand-daughter and namesake of the " Honored Madam May," of provincial polite society, and a lady equally worthy of honor, was married in 1792, to Hon. Ashbel Strong. And in this connection there comes to us a traditional anecdote, which, at once, illustrates the decline in the reverence which the people had bestowed upon the wealthy and magisterial classes, and introduces a character now rarely met, but which, seventy years ago, made merriment in the streets of almost every New En-
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tiers of settling-lots at the point where they were intersected by North and South streets, and where the tiers were complete, was only about six hundred rods. The length of the central tier which lay south of East and West streets, was something over six miles ; that of the others about four miles. Now, the lots had a frontage from east to west of eighty rods, while their depth was two hundred rods. It will be seen that only three of these lots could lie upon each side of North and South streets, while one occupied each eighty rods of each side of the six miles of East and West streets, and the four miles of Honasada street.
The terms of the grant required a house to be built upon each of these sixty-three lots within a brief period after the first settle- ment; and, although the terms were not strictly complied with, and sometimes two lots were consolidated, yet it was not many years before there was an average of one house to every eighty rods on the last named streets; making an unusually-compact agricultural settlement. On the other hand, the "commons," or the territory outside the settling-lots, retained by the original proprietors, embraced a strip one and a half miles wide on the south side of the town, and another two and a half miles wide on the north; and were with a trifling exception not open to occupa- tion until 1760, and, even then, instead of being offered in oblong parcels of moderate size, suited to the means of the young farmers and leading by their form and arrangement, as well as by positive
gland town, the village rhymesters, who, with coarse and often caustic, wit, played the part of court-jesters to the "Sovereign people." Generally they were somewhat weak or disordered in intellect ; but, whether so or not, they were always licensed.
Mr. Strong was fourteen years older than his wife, and in his days of courtship, one day meeting one of this witless-witty class, he challenged a display of his powers. The response was the following doggerel :
" Old Ashbel Strong, He stubs along Up to his farm and fodder ; The people say, Who live that way, He's courtin' Molly Stoddar."
Plain, and rather irreverential, "Molly," observe, and no longer "Honored Madam." But the Honorable suitor is said to have " stubbed along" with- out furtlier parley. The curt record of the marriage styles the bride Mrs. Polly Stoddard. John Stoddard, who kept a store on Bank row, was a brother of Mrs. Strong, and was born in 1773.
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agreement, to the erection of farm-houses somewhat after the order of a village street-the "commons-lands" were divided into squares of from two hundred and thirty to three hundred acres each; some of which long remained the property of those to whom they fell by the partition of 1760.
Some of the original owners, such as Colonel Wendell, Major Israel Stoddard, Captain Charles Goodrich, Israel Dickinson and the Partridges, reserved large farms for their own use. But, with these exceptions, the owners of the squares were generally well inclined to sell their lands in lots convenient for the purchaser, with no more restrictions than prudence dictated for the preven- tion of awkward and unsalable remainders. And probably the majority of the farms sold were of very moderate dimensions. Some contained no more than fifty acres. But the new-comers- not restricted, like the sixty pioneers to a confined section, not like them compelled to take the poor lands with the good, and no longer attracted to a defensible vicinage by the fear of lurking savages-selected their homes wherever the fertility of the soil, convenient water-power, neighborly associations, the course of the highways, the state of their purse, and an infinitude of other considerations, led them.
But to return to the system of roads, in Pittsfield, which was distinguished for its regularity. The road from Lenox to Lanes- boro, of which North and South streets were a part, extended through Pittsfield nearly in a straight line, passing through the present site of the high-school house, and over the hill north of Maplewood Institute, and that west of Pontoosuc Lake. East and West streets, as now, extended from a point half a mile east of the park, in a straight line to the Hancock borders. Owing to the swamp east of that point, the highway diverged thence south-east, through Water and Elm streets. These intersecting roads, practically only two, may be considered the trunk, or base, of the whole system. From North street, about half a mile north of Maplewood, a street turned a little to the north-west and pass- ing near the present entrance of the cemetery, joined and con- tinued through Otaneaque street; forming the avenue by which the people of the North woods, and several of the forge neighbor- hoods, reached the central village. Wahconah street was not yet opened. Farther north a road, crossing the outlet of Pontoosuc lake, wound along its west side. From South street, Honasada 3
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street-one of the originally-reserved roads-was actually opened eastward to the Dalton line. Westward, there continued to be an unmade portion until the line reached a point near Oceola village, whence it was completed to the foot of the mountain. Beyond the river, South Mountain street wound along the base of the hill from which it takes its name. From Otaneaque street, to the western extension of Honasada street, three roads ran north and south crossing West street. From West street, also ran Onota street, north to Seymour's iron forge. On West street again, east of the river, Mill street led south to Luce's mill. From Honasada street, Shearer's lane ran south along the east side of the farm which had been owned by Colonel Williams ; and from the same street a road ran south and south-west, to "Rock mountain;" now known as the Sikes district, famous for its very hard and peculiarly-stratified granular quartz.
Northward from Elm street, extended Dickinson street, or the east road to Lanesboro. There were some other roads in various parts of the town; but the lack of recognizable landmarks would render an attempt to describe them unintelligible to most readers.
The roads by which the people of Pittsfield reach the great market-towns which they were accustomed to visit, have under- gone material alterations. Travel towards Boston was through East and Elm streets, and thence by a street now partly discon- tinned, past the Woodbridge Little place, to the Dalton line, where it met the Worthington turnpike to Northampton. The road to Albany ran as at present through New Lebanon. The road to Hudson wound through South street, and South Mountain street, and thence by Barkersville, Richmond, and West Stock- bridge. It is many years since the Pittsfield portion of this route has been used commonly as a thoroughfare. In 1800, however- Kinderhook and Hudson being the market-towns most convenient for Pittsfield trade and the landings where Berkshire merchandise, coming up or going down the Hudson, was generally transhipped, and where Berkshire travelers took sloop to New York city-a greater amount of mercantile travel passed over the Richmond road than over any other in Pittsfield. This road could also be reached from the west part, by any of the streets leading from West to West Honasada street. But how slowly pre-eminence was gained by, or accorded to, the present business center of the town is shown by the fact that the great convenience and reduc-
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HISTORY, OF PITTSFIELD.
tion of distance afforded to it by the opening of West Housatonic street was not obtained until 1825, nor in its best form until 1827; long struggles in town-meetings being required to accom- plish it.
The earliest communication with the towns in southern Berk- shire, and in Hampshire county, and with Hartford and other Connecticut towns, was through Wendell street. The majority of the first settlers probably entered Pittsfield by this road; those from Hampshire county, coming by the road from Blandford to New Marlboro. But in 1800 the most direct road was through South street, and the travel upon it was probably greater than upon any other except the Richmond road.
These avenues of communication were imperfectly constructed and often out of repair. Frequently, for considerable distances, they passed through dreary patches of wood. Corduroy roads were not yet dispensed with in crossing swamps. The vigorous traveler, therefore, preferred to make even long journeys in the saddle ; and it needed that wagons should be stoutly built in order to en- counter the rudeness of the highway. The trials of the team- ster's patience and muscle were severe ; but luckily, at brief dis- tances, substantial taverns offered refreshment for man and beast. Nevertheless, the best relief was offered by the season of winter with its gliding roads; and it was enjoyed to the full.
CHAPTER II. POPULATION-EMIGRATION-NEWSPAPERS-POST-OFFICES.
[1787-1800.]
Census of 1800-Increase and decrease of Berkshire towns-Causes of emigra- tion-Anecdote of Phillips Merrill-Early newspapers-American Centinel -Local items-Advertisements-Influence upon agriculture, manufactures and morals-Publishers' troubles-Post-riders-Scarcity of paper-Berk- shire Gazette-More post-riders and the first post-office.
B Y the census of 1800, the population of Pittsfield was 2,261, distributed more uniformly than in more recent periods through what had been the original settling-lots, but much more sparsely in what had been the "commons." During the preced- ing nine years the town had become the most populous in Berk- shire; the others having a population of over one thousand, being Williamstown, 2086; Sheffield, 2050; Sandisfield, 1857; New Marlboro, 1848; Great Barrington, 1754; Tyringham, 1712; Adams, 1688; Lanesboro, 1443; Cheshire, 1325; Lee, 1267; Stock- bridge, 1261; Hancock, 1187; Otis, 1102; Richmond, 1044; West Stockbridge, 1002.
By the census of 1791, the population of these towns was : Pittsfield, 1992; Williamstown, 1769; Sheffield, 1899; Sandis- field, 1581; New Marlboro, Great Barrington, 1373; Tyringham, 1397; Adams, 2040; Lanesboro, 2142; Lee, 1170; Stockbridge, 1336; Hancock, 1211; Richmond, 1255; West Stockbridge, 1113.
The increase of population in Williamstown was very much due to the incorporation of Williams College in 1793. The decrease of Lanesboro, Adams and some other towns arose, in part at least, from the setting off of a part of the territory which for the purposes of the census, had been included with them.
But from the year 1791, far onward into the present century there was a constant and exhaustive drain upon the population of the entire county, by emigration to enticing farming regions
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then newly opened in western New York and in Ohio. Previous, indeed, to the year named, we find in the Pittsfield newspapers, advertisements of lands, not only in Ohio and New York, but in Vermont and Canada. In the Chronicle of April, 1789, Silas Goodrich advertised lands in several Vermont towns to be sold on liberal terms by auction "at the gaol-house at Great Barrington." In July, 1789, Mr. Leonard Chester published a long and glowing advertisement of lands in Canada, "to be confirmed" as to title "by himself and Lord Lanaudiere"-probably one of the provin- cial manor-lords.
Possibly, Mr. Chester may have allured to his patent, some Tory with an obstinate hankering for the shadow of royalty; but we have no information of any such case, and the status of the Berkshire loyalists was not at that time such as to render them impatient of the republican regime. The virgin territory of Vermont was more attractive, and there was a large emigration to that state. Indeed in Rutland county, a new Pittsfield, mod- eled after the old Berkshire home even to its park and elm, arose under the auspices of the grand old pioneer, Captain Charles Goodrich.
But, although by no means trifling in numbers, the emigration to Vermont was small compared with that which set towards western New York. As early as 1788, companies were formed for emigration to the Genesee valley. In 1790, the glowing ad- vertisements of the Ohio company began to appear; and, from that time on, speculators and land-agents used all the allure- ments which they so well know how to apply, to entice the Berk- shire farmers from their decried acres to the extolled fertility of the West. These enticements were met by those who loved the old home, or were interested in preventing its depopulation, and who presented counter arguments and statistics as forcibly as they could. For many years this wordy warfare went on, the friends of migration portraying the newly-opened regions as a very par- adise; the woods full of all manner of game, the soil prolific beyond precedent, and the climate delightful and healthful; while those desirous of retaining population denied all the attractive qualities of western New York and Ohio, with still greater exaggeration. The reports from those who had emigrated were equally conflicting. Now a letter would overflow with the account of marvelous crops, sparkle with stories of adventure, and revel in
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reminiscences of achievements in hunting; and now another would be filled with stories of disease and death. Many returned with doleful confessions of homesickness. Among the latter was Mr. Phillips Merrill, who, in 1813, when a youth of perhaps twenty years, was sent by his father, Captain Hosea Merrill, to build a saw-mill upon a tract of land which he owned in the Genesee val- ley. He spent the summer in executing his task; and on his return, his father told him that a Mr. Clark who owned the farm at the south end of Pontoosuc lake, wished to exchange it for the Genesee lands and saw-mill; but that, intending to give them to himself, he had refused. "Father," said Phillips in reply, "I have lived in that country all summer, and built you the best saw- mill in York State, but I wouldn't spend my life there if you were to give me the whole country. The sun rose every morning in the west, and there was nothing at all homelike about it." The result was that Mr. Clark removed to Genesee, and Mr. Merrill grew rich by intelligent farming and shrewd business manage- ment in Pittsfield.
There were many with temperaments unsuited for pioncers, whose experience was like that of Mr. Merrill. But for all this, the Genesee valley was of marvelous fertility; the western re- serve of Ohio was incontestably a country to be desired; the farms of Berkshire were fast becoming exhausted as wheat pro- ducers ; the advertisements of the emigrant companies, and the -not entirely gratuitous-eulogisms of editors and correspond- ents, in their descriptions of the West, grew more frequent and more glowing. The tide of western migration swelled in volume. Paulding's description of the Yankee abandoning his half-finished shingle palace, to push forward with his tow-headed brood-the vanguard of empire-to a log cabin in the West, was no carica- ture. It found its original upon every highway which led towards the promised land.
The Pittsfield Sun of June 2d, 1801, attributes the decrease of population in many Berkshire towns to the emigration to " the new lands in Genesee, and other parts of New York, especially the Chenango purchase." "Settlements," said the Sun, " which cover whole townships in several counties in New York, are com- posed almost entirely of emigrants from Berkshire county."
The State of Connecticut, to which, in the settlement of the ownership of public lands, the western reserve in Ohio had
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HISTORY OF PITTSFIELD.
fallen, presented extraordinary inducements to settlers by offering the fertile lands of that territory in exchange for farms in New England. Her agents were busy in Berkshire county, and suc- ceeded in effecting many exchanges of this sort. It is not many years since that State owned lands thus obtained; among others that which surrounds Lake Ashley, the source of the Pittsfield water-works, and that in which lies the valuable bed of granular quartz, from which the Lenox Glass Company obtain their supply of sand.
To this migration, Pittsfield, although not depleted like some of her sister towns, contributed many of her valued citizens ; valued, although not always successful in business. Those who had long struggled under that burden of debt and mortgage, which we endeavored to describe, among the causes of the Shays rebellion, abandoned their long deferred hope of retrieved for- tunes in the old home, for fresher promise in new fields; and gen- erally not in vain. We find in the brief but suggestive records of the church, touching stories of the gift to members-who liad been prosperous and prominent, but who had become indigent through intemperance-of the means of removing to new homes in Genesee, where they might begin life anew. And it is pleasant to find the families, thus gently and not unkindly thrust out into the wilderness, in the next generation among the most thriving and honored in the very garden of the Empire State.
The habits of intemperance, thriftlessness and dissipation gen- erally, which existed in the years immediately following the revo- lutionary war, still continued, although diminished by the healing power of time. Of some other peculiarities which at this period led to the impoverishment of the unwary, we shall speak in treat- ing of its social and moral aspects. It is sufficient here to say that they were more numerous and more powerful than they now are, especially as affecting those classes of society which, by their decorous requirements, throw the most effectual safeguards around their members.
It will be seen that, in addition to the restless desire of bet- tering their condition by change of location, the allurements of distant promise, and impatience of ill-success at home, which continually push on population towards the Pacific, there were powerful stimulants to migration during the earlier years of the century, which no longer exist, or are greatly diminished.
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HISTORY OF PITTSFIELD.
We return to the consideration of the means which enabled Pittsfield-notwithstanding the loss of the county courts, and the drain made by the West upon her population-to show an increase of two hundred and sixty-nine souls between the census of 1791 and that of 1800. It is worthy of remark that all the towns through which ran the great highways crossing Berkshire from the east to the west gained in population. But the chief agencies which advanced Pittsfield were agriculture, commerce and manufactures-not an uncommon combination, and the same which still prevails. But the order of their precedence has be- come reversed; it now being manufactures, commerce and agri- culture. We will consider them, for the sake of convenience, in still another order, and in connection with another influence which had an extremely beneficial effect upon the prosperity of the town.
This influence came from the early newspapers of the town ; of which the first was the American Centinel, published by E. Russell. The first number of this sheet was dated December 1, 1787, at which time there were only two other newspapers in Massachusetts west of Worcester, the Hampshire Herald, com- menced at Springfield in 1782, as the Massachusetts Gazette, and the Hampshire Gazette, whose long and honorable career, not yet ended, began at Northampton in 1786.
All the information we have regarding the Centinel is derived from a single tattered copy of the second number, which is be- lieved to be the only relic of the paper in existence. It is printed on a sheet ten by eighteen inches in size, and the greater portion of its space is occupied by two or three prosy essays. The adver- tisements are very few, but still the most interesting portion of the paper. The editor, however, evidently intended to make his columns when under way more readable, as is indicated by the ambitious couplet which he placed at their head :
" Here you may range the world from pole to pole, Increase your knowledge, and delight your soul."
But alas, the Centinel here vanishes from view, having no doubt very soon met the fate foreshadowed in its second number, in which Mr. Russell "returns his thanks to those gentlemen who expressed their anxiety to have the printing-office in Pitts- field, by engaging him to print a certain number of papers; and
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begs leave to inform them that he has a large number of papers on hand for which he has yet received nothing, and which he wishes those gentlemen to call for, according to agreement. If agreements are not fulfilled, the Centinel must stop."
Mr. Russell had found the same experience of printers' patrons which Benjamin Franklin had met before, and many another since.
The Centinel was succeeded by the Berkshire Chronicle, which occupied the same office, and probably used the same type and press. Its birth seems to have followed hard upon the death of its predecessor, the first number being published May 8, 1788, "by Roger Storrs, near the meeting-house," -- the little, old first meeting-house, it should be remembered, which stood upon East street, in line with the printing-office ; there being, as yet, no " park."
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