USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The history of Pittsfield (Berkshire County), Massachusetts, from the year 1800 to the year 1876 > Part 66
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After twelve years of successful effort, Mr. Tyler found the constant labor and intense activity required in the management of the school too exhausting to be safely continued, and in 1852, he admitted Rev. J. Holmes Agnew, D. D., a distinguished scholar and writer, as a partner. And in 1874, he sold to Doctor Agnew, for forty-seven thousand dollars, the grounds, buildings, furniture, and good-will of the institution.
In 1855, he removed to the city of New York, and engaged in mercantile business, which was unsuccessful, and in which he lost all the fortune which he had accumulated in Pittsfield. In 1861 and 1862, he made an attempt to resume teaching in the Cinein- nati Female Seminary; but finding the task too great for his strength, he made a health-voyage to Hudson's Bay, where he died at North West River, Labrador, August 19, 1863. His remains were brought to Pittsfield in 1864, and buried in the rural cemetery, where a fine granite-monument was erected over them by the voluntary contributions of his pupils.
In the fall of 1857, Rev. C. V. Spearl purchased the personal property of the institution, and together with Rev. Prof. James R. Boyd, conducted the school for three years. In 1864, Profes- sor Boyd retired, and Mr. Spear purchased, for twenty-seven thousand dollars, the grounds and buildings, which had before
rooms, and apartments for the male teachers, while the second formed a spacious and handsome hall, which was liberally furnished withi gymnastic apparatus.
1 Charles V. Spear, son of Nathaniel and Esther (Dyer) Spear, was born November 13, 1825, at Randolph, now Holbrook. He graduated at Amherst College, in 1846, and was soon after engaged by Mr. Tyler as teacher at the Institute. While in this position he studied theology with Rev. Dr. Todd, and was licensed to preach in June, 1851. He was pastor at Sudbury, Mass., for three years. He was, for many years, one of the most devoted officers of the Library Association, and was its last president. He married, in 1851, Miss R. L. Holbrook, daughter of E. N. Holbrook, of Holbrook.
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passed into the hands of James Mabbitt, of Mabbittsville, N. Y. Mr. Spear has since conducted the institution successfully, under the name of The Maplewood Young Ladies' Institute, which was given to it by Professor Agnew, in 1854.
In the year 1826, the Cantonment grounds were sold at auction, under the act of 1819, authorizing the sale of military posts which had become useless ; and the whole twenty acres, with the build- ings upon them, were purchased by Lemuel Pomeroy for seven hundred and sixty dollars. The next year, Mr. Pomeroy removed the barracks to the lot on North street, since occupied by St. Joseph's Church, and erected in their place three large three-story brick-buildings, which were immediately occupied by his son-in- law, Prof. Chester Dewey, who established a seminary for young men, under the name of the Berkshire Gymnasium. This school which was incorporated in 1829, was taught by a corps of com- petent teachers, among whom was Mark Hopkins. Professor Dewey was himself unsurpassed as a teacher and as the govern- ing head of collegiate institutions. The school was conducted on the general plan of the European gymnasia ; the pupils were taught all the branches of education usual in the higher classes of seminaries below the rank of colleges; and some which were not then usual in such schools. Professor Dewey was specially dis- tinguished for his attainments in natural science, and his school was noted for excellence in that department. He was also pos- sessed of a fine taste, and, under his direction, was begun that system of adorning the grounds with trees and shrubbery, which, carried out and enlarged by his successors, have made Maplewood famed throughout the country for its beauty.1
Professor Dewey continued the school until 1836, when he accepted an invitation to become principal of the collegiate insti- tute of the city of Rochester, which position he held until the institute-buildings were destroyed by fire, about 1850. He then accepted the position of professor of chemistry and the natural sciences in the University of Rochester, which he held until he resigned, in 1861.
Several gentlemen, afterwards of note, laid the foundations of their education in the Gymnasium : among them Hon. Thomas Allen and Prof. Charles E. West.
In June, 1826, Mr. Charles Dillingham established an excellent
1 See Volume 1, page 36.
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boarding-school for lads between the ages of six and fourteen years, for which he erected, on South street at the corner of what is now Reed street, a large two-story brick-building, with wings of one story. It had a capacity for forty pupils, and soon there were nearly that number, mostly from Philadelphia, New York and Albany. Mr. Dillingham died December 15, 1834, at the age of thirty-five ; deeply mourned by the community which had learned to prize him highly as a citizen, as well as in his profes- sion.
He was succeeded in the school by Mr. Robert M. Chapman, who had been his assistant, and who continued the institution until October, 1838. Mr. Chapman afterwards became an Epis- copal clergyman.
In the fall of 1838, Rev. J. Adams Nash, a native of Conway, and a graduate of Amherst College, became principal of the institution, which took the name of the Pittsfield Commercial and Classical Boarding-school. Mr. Nash had previously taught a select school in New York city, for five years, and had also been pastor of a Presbyterian church in Binghamton, N. Y. His associate-principal was Lester M. Clark, A. M .; there was also a teacher of French, and another of penmanship. The course of instruction embraced, besides the ordinary English branches, Greek, Latin, French, Mathematics, vocal music and drawing. Mr. Nash remained principal of the school until 1848, when he was succeeded by Edward G. Tyler, A. M., a graduate of Amherst, who had previously been associate-principal with his brother in the Young Ladies' Institute. In 1849, Mr. Tyler sold the insti- tution to Rev. S. C. Brace, who continued it for three years.
In 1856, Rev. Charles E. Abbott purchased the residence of Abraham Burbank, on a commanding elevation half a mile north of Maplewood, and remodeled it for a boarding-school, of the higher class, for lads. He made an excellent and successful school ; but in 1866, sold it to Rev. Prof. William C. Richards, the well-known author and naturalist, who had been previously pastor of the Baptist Church. Both Mr. Abbott and Professor Richards made great improvement in the building, and added a gymnasium and school-rooms.
The story of the later newspapers of Pittsfield may be briefly told. The Sun continued to be published by Phinehas Allen, alone, until 1829, whenhe admitted his son of the same name, as
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partner in the publication and editorship. The senior partner died May 8, 1868, but his son continued the paper until May, 1872, when he sold it to his kinsman, Theodore L. Allen. The new proprietor, after conducting it creditably from May to August of that year, sold it to William H. Phillips, of North Adams, who removed to Pittsfield, and has since made many improvements in the office. The Sun still continues to support the democratic party, but gives up a large portion of its space to local interests.1
From the suspension of the Berkshire Reporter-probably soon after the year 1815-until 1827, the Sun had no rival in Pitts- field. But in May of that year, the Argus, a handsome sheet twenty-one inches by sixteen in size, was commenced by Henry K. Strong, who had been for some years principal of the gram- mar school, or Pittsfield Academy. Mr. Strong, having become financially embarrassed, left the state, and was succeeded May 1, 1828, by Samuel W. Bush, who conducted the paper until Sep- tember 1, 1831, when he removed it to Lenox and united it with the Berkshire Journal, then published by John Z. Goodrich. Both Mr. Strong and Mr. Bush were good writers, and judicious and spirited editors ; the lack of pecuniary success in the Argus was due in part to a fault in its business-management, and in part to the number of journals of the same political character in neighboring towns. While the Sun was the sole organ of the democratic party in a large section of western Massachusetts and adjoining states, there were no less than four representatives of the opposing political school among the newspapers of Berkshire alone.
In removing to Lenox, the Argus dropped from its heading a neat view of the Pittsfield park, which had adorned it; and the paper took the name of the Journal and Argus. Mr. Bush con- tinued to edit it until September, 1838, when Mr. Goodrich became editor as well as proprietor. In the issue of August 27th, the name was changed, without any announcement or explanation, to that of the Massachusetts Eagle. In March, 1838, Messrs.
1 Hon. William H. Phillips was born at Lanesboro, March 16, 1830, being a son of Dr. H. P. Phillips. He studied at Williams College, but did not grad- uate. In 1857, he established the Hoosac Valley News, and soon after combined with it the Transcript, which he had purchased. In 1866, he sold the News and Transcript, and was afterwards engaged in newspaper-enterprises at Bridge- port and Worcester. He was a member of the state-senate from northern Berkshire in 1875.
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Eastman and Montague became publishers, with Henry W. Taft as editor. Charles Montague became sole proprietor in July, 1838 ; and on the retirement of Mr. Taft, in 1840, he assumed the editorial chair. In 1842, Mr. Montague removed the paper to its old home at Pittsfield, where he continued its publication until November 20, 1852. Being then in a not very prosperous con- dition it was purchased by Samuel Bowles & Co., of Springfield, who replenished the material of the office and leased it to Otis F. R. Wait. Mr. Wait much improved the editorial management and changed the name to the Berkshire County Eagle. But, at the end of one year, the establishment was sold to Henry Chick- ering of North Adams,1 and Henry A. Marsh of Pittsfield, who conducted it until July 20, 1855, under the firm-name of Chicker- ing & Marsh. At that date Mr. Marsh was succeeded by James B. Davis, and the firm continued to be Chickering & Davis until January 1, 1859, when Mr. Davis withdrew, Mr. Chickering con- ducting the paper in his own name until July 1, 1865, when William D. Axtell, previously a successful printer in Pittsfield and Northampton, became associated with him in its ownership and management. In 1876, the firm is still Chickering & Axtell.
The Berkshire County Whig was established in 1840. It was edited by Hon. Henry Hubbard and his son, Douglas S. Hub- bard; the latter also being publisher. Independent in its politi- cal course, it supported the whig party, but not uniformly or without reserve. When the first native American party nom- inated Henry Shaw, of Lanesboro, for governor, it gave him its support. And in 1848, it entered earnestly into the free-soil movement. In 1849, its publisher joining in the new migration to California, the paper was discontinued.
In 1844, T. D. Bonner, a violent temperance-reformer, estab- lished the Cataract, as an organ of his peculiar views regarding
1 Hon. Henry Chickering was born at Woburn, Mass., September 3, 1819, being the son of Rev. Joseph Chickering, who removed with him in 1822, to Phillipston. He was educated in the common schools, and for short terms in the academies at Westminster, Greenfield and Andover. At the age of four- teen lie began to learn the printer's trade at Andover; and in 1844, engaged with John R. Briggs in the publication of the North Adams Transcript. After a few months, Mr. Briggs retired, and Mr. Chickering continued publisher and editor of the Transcript for twelve years. In 1855, he removed to Pittsfield. From 1852 to 1854, he was a member of the executive council. Since 1861, he has been postmaster of Pittsfield.
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that interest. It was grossly personal and scurrilous, and its office was at one time mobbed ; the only instance of that kind in the history of Berkshire. After two years it passed into the hands of Quigly, Kingsley and Axtell, who continued it eighteen months, and then sold the subscription-list to an Albany pub- lisher.
In 1847, William D. Axtell, afterwards of the Eagle, published for six months, an extremely sprightly and pleasant paper, entitled the Star.
In 1840, Thaddeus Clapp, 3d, published a small campaign sheet, entitled, " Old Tip." "It supported General Harrison for president," says Holland's History of Western Massachusetts, "and General Harrison was elected."
During the existence of the Berkshire Gymnasium, the students of that institution published a small sheet of the same name, which numbered among its editors, Thomas Allen, Charles E. West and other men afterwards of note. It was entitled to a fair rank among papers of its class.
The Institute Omnibus was a small but sparkling sheet, pub- lished by the pupils of the Young Ladies' Institute for several years.
The Berkshire Agriculturist was commenced in 1847, by Charles Montague, the publisher of the Eagle, and E. P. Little, a bookseller. Rev. Dr. Todd was editor for the first eleven num- bers, although his connection with it was not made public. Mr. Little left town at the end of that term and the paper was con- tinued by Mr. Montague until 1848, when he sold it to Dr. Stephen Reed, who changed its name to the Culturist and Gazette. Doctor Reed was a graduate of Yale College in the class of 1824, and was for some years a practicing physician in Richmond, Mass. He was a devoted student of natural science; and, in geology, particularly, was an original investigator and thinker. He obtained a wide reputation by the discovery of the ice-strewn trains of boulders from the mountains of Columbia County, N. Y., across the Taconic range and the valley of the Housatonic.1 He was also ardently interested in all efforts for the promotion of social, moral and intellectual culture, especially by means of common schools, and libraries. Every local under- taking in this direction had his hearty aid; and, although agri-
1 See Lyell's Antiquity of Man.
86
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culture continued to be a leading feature of the paper, these char- acteristics of the editor were constantly displayed in it, and justi- fied its change of title. Doctor Reed continued to edit it until 1858, when its publication was suspended.1
In 1861, Professors William H. Thayer and R. Cresson Stiles published the Berkshire Medical Journal, a monthly magazine which contained many able original articles and much valuable medical information.
The business of the town having increased so as to need much more ample accommodation than could be afforded by the Agri- cultural Bank, the Pittsfield Bank was chartered in April, 1853, with a capital stock of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The first meeting of the stockholders was held in May, 1853, and the following directors were chosen : David Carson, John V. Barker, Gaius C. Burnap, Robert Pomeroy, Henry Stearns, Thomas Colt, George W. Platner. David Carson was chosen president, and Junius D. Adams, cashier. The succeeding pres- idents were : Hon. Julius Rockwell, elected April 6, 1858; Hon. Thomas Colt, elected January 18, 1870; John V. Barker, Esq., elected July 29, 1873; Hon. Julius Rockwell, re-elected January 20, 1874.
On the death of Mr. Adams, Edward S. Francis was chosen cashier April 1, 1864.2
The capital of the bank was increased to three hundred thou- sand dollars in March, 1854; and to five hundred thousand dol- lars in May, 1857. It was reorganized as the Pittsfield National Bank, in June, 1865.
The Berkshire County Savings Bank was incorporated in 1846, the original corporators being Henry Shaw, Thomas A. Gold, Thomas F. Plunkett and Charles Sedgwick. These corporators met March 28, 1846, Henry Shaw being chairman, and Thomas A. Gold secretary, when forty gentlemen, from all parts of the county, were elected associate members of the corporation. The
1 During the existence of the Culturist and Gazette under Doctor Reed's editorship, the publishers were Reed, Hull & Pierson, and Reed & Pierson. Mr. Varnum Hull, a printer, and H. M. Pierson, Doctor Reed's partner in an agricultural warehouse, being associated with him.
2 Edward S. Francis was born in Pittsfield, December 20, 1835, being the son of James Francis. He was clerk in the Pittsfield Bank from 1852 to 1856, and cashier of the Shelburne Falls Bank from 1856 to 1864.
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following officers were elected April 29, 1846: president, Henry Shaw ; secretary, Thomas A. Gold; vice-presidents, Charles M. Owen, Phinehas Allen, Samuel Rossiter, Sanford Blackinton ; trustees, Jason Clapp, Jabez Peck, Thomas F. Plunkett, Thad- deus Clapp, George W. Campbell, Solomon L. Russell, Comfort B. Platt, Stephen B. Brown, Zenas M. Crane, Henry W. Bishop, George W. Platner, Samuel Gates, John C. Russell, Socrates Squier.
At the first meeting of the trustees, June 3, 1846, James Warriner was elected treasurer, and held the office until his death in 1865, when he was succeeded by Robert W. Adam, who still holds the office. Mr. Gold was succeeded as secretary in 1855, by John R. Warriner. On the resignation of Mr. Shaw in 1847, Hon. George N. Briggs became president, and was succeeded, in 1852, by Hon. Thomas F. Plunkett, and in 1863, Hon. Julius Rockwell succeeded Mr. Plunkett, and in 1876 is still president.
The first deposit was made July 11, 1846, by David Stock- bridge, the amount being twenty-five dollars. The sixteenth depositor was Robert A. Merriam, who, on the 16th of November, 1846, made a deposit of a hundred and fifty dollars, and has ever since kept a deposit in the bank, and, of course, has now the old- est account.
The growth of the institution is shown by the following state- ment of the amount of deposits at different intervals :
January, 1850, twenty-one thousand five hundred and ninety- six dollars ; January, 1855, ninety-four thousand nine hundred and sixty-four dollars ; January, 1860, one hundred and eighty- seven thousand seven hundred and thirty-six dollars ; January, 1865, four hundred and eighty-cight thousand two hundred and seventy-two dollars; January, 1870, one million nine hundred and fifty-three dollars ; January, 1875, one million nine hundred and twenty thousand and eighty-three dollars.
The Agricultural Bank, incorporated in 1818, has had, from the first, a successful history. The successive presidents have been elected as follows: Thomas Gold, April 27, 1818; Edward A. Newton, October 2, 1826; Henry Shaw, April 28, 1830; E. A. Newton, October 5, 1840; Henry Shaw, April 24, 1845; Nathan Willis, October 11, 1845; E. A. Newton, October 2, 1848; George W. Campbell, October 17, 1853; Thomas F. Plun- kett, October 8, 1861; Ensign H. Kellogg, January 9, 1866.
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Ezekiel R. Colt was elected cashier, June 20, 1818, and held the office until his resignation, August 1, 1853, when John R. Warriner, who has since held the place, was elected.1 What Mr. Colt's services to the bank were, has been elsewhere stated. The capital stock of the bank was increased, in 1851, to two hundred thousand dollars. Its present combined capital and surplus fund is four hundred thousand and four hundred dollars. It became a national bank in 1865.
The Berkshire Life Insurance Company, which has been one of the most successful business-institutions in the town, and con- tributed much to its beauty and prosperity,2 was chartered in May, 1851, and organized in September, 1851, when Hon. George N. Briggs was chosen president. On the death of Governor Briggs, in September, 1861, he was succeeded by Hon. Thomas F. Pln- kett; and upon the death of Mr. Plunkett, Edward Boltwood became president in January, 1876.
In May, 1874, all the water-power of the town being occupied, and there being a strong public desire to extend manufacturing, after a series of public meetings, a company was organized, with a capital of forty-two thousand dollars, for the purpose of erecting a building with steam-power, to be leased, in such portions as might be needed, to other parties. The first officers were, presi- dent, Nathan G. Brown; secretary and treasurer, A. J. Water- man ; directors, William R. Plunkett, D. J. Dodge, J. H. Butler, E. D. Jones, Daniel Sprague, and George N. Dutton.
A site for the building was presented by Hon. E. H. Kellogg, and it was erected at an expense, including engines and other machinery, of fifty-two thousand dollars. It is two hundred feet long by fifty wide, besides some out-buildings. The third story was leased from October, 1874, to Edward Saunders, who estab- lished in it the Saunders factory, for the manufacture of silk- thread.
The lower story was leased to the Pittsfield Tack Company, which was organized August 7, 1875, with the following officers : President, Jabez L. Peck; clerk and treasurer, George N. Dut-
1 John R. Warriner, son of James Warriner, was born at Pittsfield, March 22, 1827. He was clerk in a dry-goods jobbing-house from 1845 to 1850, clerk in the Springfield Bank until the fall of 1851, and cashier of the IIadley Falls Bank until August, 1853.
2 See Volume 1, page 38.
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ton ; directors, J. L. Peck, George N. Dutton, J. R. Warriner, Edwin 'Clapp, E. S. Francis. Its capital is thirty thousand dol- lars, and it has thirty machines, making every description of tacks, brads, nails, etc.
The most extensive builder in Pittsfield has been Abraham Burbank, who was born at West Springfield, June 10, 1813, and was the son of Arthur Burbank. At the age of twelve years, he was compelled to begin earning his own living; and at the age of fif- teen began to learn the trade of carpenter and joiner with William Blinn, at East Springfield, with whom he afterwards moved to Utica, N. Y. After leaving him, he moved to Schenectady, and built three and a half miles of the railroad between that city and Saratoga Springs, in 1832. In the same year, he removed to Pittsfield. In 1834, he was married, and in 1836, he removed to the State of Michigan, but not liking the west, returned to Pitts- field in July, 1837, and the location of the Western railroad hav- ing been determined, he commenced building, which he has con- tinued to the present time; having also been engaged at various periods in the market and hardware and hotel business.
Mr. Burbank commenced life without pecuniary means and with no one to lend him a helping hand; but he has been one of the first in aiding the growth of the town, with personal hard work, and by the expenditure of hard-earned money. In 1842-44, he purchased a number of lots on North street, and erected two blocks of wooden dwellings, which have since been changed to stores. In 1847, he purchased of E. H. Kellogg a lot of land adjoining his other lots, on which he erected a brick-block, one hundred and forty-two feet long by sixty-two feet deep, the lower story being occupied by six stores, and the third by a large pub- lic hall. In 1860, he purchased of Parker L. Hall, the large property now occupied by the American and Berkshire houses, and by the large wooden block which he erected on it. He has also opened several streets, and built a large number of houses in various portions of the town, including the Burbank Hotel, and the buildings occupied by the Springside school.
Hon. Edward Learned was born February 26, 1820, at Water- vliet, Albany county, N. Y. His father, Edward, was born at Salem, Mass. ; his mother, whose maiden name was Crawford, was born in the north of Ireland. Mr. Learned attended school until he was fifteen years old, at which time he engaged in civil
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engineering, as rodman on the Hudson and Berkshire railroad. His advancement in his profession was so rapid, that the con- struction of the most difficult portion of the road-that from Mel- lenville, then Hardscrabble, to the river at Hudson-was placed almost exclusively in his charge. From this beginning, Mr. Learned soon became engaged in the construction of other public works, and has continued his relations to such undertakings till the present time; although his business-capacity has not been confined to such operations, but has found abundant employment in other channels, including manufacture of woolens in Berkshire county, manufacturing iron near Marquette, and mining copper and silver on Lake Superior.
In public affairs, whether local, state, or national, he has always taken a lively interest and occupied decided and active positions. He was elected to the state-legislature from Pittsfield, in 1857, and served in the years 1873-1874, for two terms as senator from the Berkshire district.
He was married in September, 1840, to Caroline, daughter of Lewis Stoddard of Pittsfield. He became a resident of Pittsfield in 1853, having purchased the place on which he now resides, and which he has beautified and extended, until "Elmwood " is recognized as one of the most elegant country-seats in Massa- chusetts.
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