USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Amherst > The history of the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, pt 1 > Part 3
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The first white settlers in the town of Hadley came from Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor, Conn. Between the years 1647 and 1657 serious differences arose among the members of the church at Hartford. Thomas Hooker, the beloved pastor for many years, died July 7, 1647 and was succeeded by Samuel Stone, a good man yet lacking something in prudence and in the spirit of conciliation which had kept the church free from discord during the ministry of Mr. Hooker. Mr. Stone endeavored to introduce some new practices into the church; these, according to the historian Trumbull, related to the qualifications for baptism, church mem- bership and the rights of brotherhood. Some of the prominent members of the church, including Gov. Webster, Andrew Bacon and William Lewis, opposed the innovations ; councils from the neighboring churches were convened and attempted to reconcile the parties but without avail. The minister was sustained by a majority of the church-members, and in the latter part of 1657 or the early part of 1658 the minority formally with- drew from the church, proposing to form a union with the church at Weth- ersfield. The General Court interfered in March, 1658, and prohibited the church from proceeding with the withdrawers in a course of discipline and forbade the withdrawers to prosecute their object.
In the early part of 1658 the minority of the church sent men up the river to view the lands east and north of Northampton. May 20, 1658, Capt. John Cullick and Elder William Goodwin, two prominent men among the " withdrawers " as they were called, presented a petition to the General Court at Boston, representing that they with several others wished to come under "the pious and godly government " of Massachusetts, and desiring " whether we may, without offence, view any tract of land unpos- sessed within your colony, in order to such an end. and in case we can present any thing that may be to the encouraging of a considerable company to take up a plantation, either at Nonotuck or elsewhere, we may
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FIRST SETTLEMENT OF HADLEY.
have your gracious allowance to dispose ourselves there." This request was granted, May 25, 1658, with the provision that "they submit themselves to a due and orderly hearing of the differences between themselves and their brethren." The agreement or engagement of those who intended to remove from Connecticut to Massachusetts is dated at Hartford, April 18, 1659 and is signed by 60 names, of which 38 were of men who belonged to Hartford, 20 to Wethersfield and two to Windsor ; of this number 18 did not remove to Hadley or remained there but a short time.
May 28, 1659, the General Court appointed Capt. Pynchon, Lieut. Holyoke and Dea. Chapin of Springfield, and William Holton and Richard Lyman of Northampton a committee " to lay out the bounds of the new plantation, on either or both sides of the river, as they shall see cause." This committee reported, Sept. 30, 1659, that they had laid out the planta- tion on both sides of the river and designated the following as the boun- daries : " On the East side of said river their southerly bounds to be from the head of the Falls above Springfield and so to run east and by north the length of nine miles from the said river : And their Northerly bounds to be a little brook called by the Indians Nepasoaneage up to a mountain called Quunkwattchu, and so running eastward from the river the same length of nine miles : from their southerly bounds to the northerly bounds on the east side the river is about 11 or 12 miles." It is believed that the broad street and the homelots were laid out in 1659 and that a party of the " engagers," as they were termed, came to the plantation and established themselves there the same year. Nov. 9, 1659, seven men called "Townsmen " were chosen " to order all public occasions." Oct. 8, 1660, a meeting was held at the house of Andrew Warner and a series of votes was passed and signed by 28 persons who were probably all that had taken up their residence in the new plantation. By an order of the General Court, May 22, 1661, the settlement was named Hadley, from a town of the same name situated in the county of. Suffolk, England.
From 1660 until 1675 the inhabitants of Hadley prospered in their affairs. The rich meadow-lands yielded bountiful crops of grain and their cattle found good pasturage in the swamps and lowlands. On the 12th of December. 1661, the town ordered the erection of a meeting-house; the work was begun in 1665 but was not completed until 1670. The first minister was Mr. John Russell, Jr., who was born in England, graduated at Harvard college in 1645 and preached in Wethersfield beginning in 1649 ; in 1659 or 1660 he removed to Hadley, where he died in 1692. In those early days, among the settlers of New England, religion and education went hand in hand, and as early as 1667 we find the inhabitants of Hadley making a grant of land for a grammar school, the funds to establish which had been provided by Edward Hopkins, Esq., at one time governor of
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
Connecticut, who lived for a time in Hartford, returning afterwards to England where he died in March, 1657. Hadley received from Mr. Hop- kins' estate the sum of £308, which furnished the foundation for the Hopkins grammar school, one of the most noted educational institutions of New England. In 1665 the town voted to give " £20 per annum for three years towards the maintenance of a school-master, to teach the children and to be as a help to Mr. Russell, as occasion may require." Caleb Watson appears to have been the first school-master. In May, 1667, the inhabitants of the town on the west side of the river petitioned the General Court to be set off as a separate parish ; this petition was opposed by the inhabitants on the east side and it was not until December, 1669, that a committee appointed by both parties agreed on the terms for an amicable separation. The town of Hatfield was incorporated the 31st of May, 1670.
In 1675 began the first of a series of Indian wars which for nearly ninety years devastated the valley of the Connecticut, turning the settle- ments into armed camps, ravaging them with fire and sword, burning the dwellings and torturing and murdering their inhabitants. The pages of Hadley's history are stained with blood, but they are bright with deeds-of valor and self-sacrifice. In 1662, Philip, on the death of his father Mas- sasoit and his brother Alexander, became chief of the Wampanoags, an Indian tribe whose hunting-grounds were in the eastern part of Massa- chusetts and Rhode Island. He at once entered into negotiations with chieftains of other tribes, his aim being to secure their aid in inaugurating a war of extermination against the English. Hostilities were begun in June, 1675, at Swanzey, and in August a party of horsemen commanded by Captains Hutchinson and Wheeler fell into an ambuscade near Brook- field and eight of their number were killed outright, three others being mortally wounded. This was followed by the burning of Brookfield. its inhabitants taking refuge in a fortified house and making such a stout defence that when reinforcements arrived the savages fled. The Indians concerned in this attack were Nipmucks. Toward the last of July Philip left his stronghold in the swamp at Pocasset, and with a band of his followers made his way into the Nipmuck country. The Indians about Hadley had for a long time acted in a suspicious manner, and Captains Beers and Lathrop from the eastern part of the colony were ordered with their companies to that town where they had under their command ISo men. The Indians were ordered to deliver up their arms ; they expressed their readiness to do this, but deferred the matter until night when, it being the 25th of August, they secretly left their fort and fled up the river. They were pursued by the forces under Beers and Lathrop, and being overtaken near the base of Sugarloaf mountain in South Deerfield an engagement
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ATTACK ON HADLEY .- THE FIGHT AT BLOODY BROOK.
followed in which the Indians lost 26 killed and the English 10. This was followed within a week by the burning of Deerfield and an attack upon Northfield where nine or ten white men were killed. Captain Beers with 36 mounted men while on the way to Northfield fell into an ambuscade, and after a gallant battle against heavy odds the Englishmen who survived, only sixteen in number, retreated and made their way to Hadley.
September Ist an attack was made upon Hadley by a band of Indians, who it is supposed were Nipmucks and Wampanoags that had come from the east. The inhabitants were assembled in the meeting-house engaged in public worship. The Indians made an attack upon the meeting-house ; it was the custom of the time for the inhabitants to carry arms when they attended meetings, and they returned the fire of the Indians ; the advan- tage was with the latter, when *"Suddenly and in the midst of the people there appeared a man of a very venerable aspect, and different from the inhabitants in his apparel, who took the command, arranged, and ordered them in the best military manner, and under his direction they repelled and routed the Indians, and the town was saved." This man, as was afterwards proved, was Gen. William Goffe, one of the judges who presided at the trial of Charles I. of England and condemned him to death. Gen. Goffe and Gen. Edward Whalley, another of the "regicides," fled from England on the restoration of Charles II. and coming to Hadley were received by Rev. John Russell and concealed in his house for many years.
In September, Captain Lathrop and So young men marched from Hadley to Deerfield to assist in securing a large quantity of wheat that was there in stack. They arrived safely at their destination, and after threshing the grain the baggage wagons were loaded and, Sept. 18, the party set out on their return. Arriving nearly opposite Sugar-loaf moun- tin, their path lay across a stream on which the events of that day con- ferred the name of " Bloody Brook." Concealed in the thickets by the side of the stream was a party of 700 Indians ; the company halted when part way across the morass to rest and to watch the passage of the teams. The Indians from their ambush opened a deadly fire and in less than an hour Capt. Lathrop and all of his command with the exception of seven or eight were slain. The noise of the battle was heard by Capt. Morely who sallied out from Deerfield with a small company of men and attacked the Indians as they were stripping the slain ; although greatly outnumbered. his command soon put the savages to flight, they were assisted in the pursuit by Major Treat and one hundred men from Hadley who arrived at An opportune moment. The number of white men killed in the fight at Hondy Brook is given by Rev. Mr. Russell of Hadley as 71.
*History of Three of the Judges of Charles I. published in 1794 by President Stiles.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
Oct. 5, a body of Indians said to number about roo attacked Spring- field, killed two men and one woman and burned some 30 dwelling-houses and many barns. Oct. 19, an attack was made upon Hatfield but the Indians were repulsed. During the remainder of the year the Indians caused little trouble to the settlers, although the latter were constantly apprehensive of an attack. Rev. Mr. Russell estimated the number of whites killed in Hampshire county during the year at 145, of whom about 43 or 44 were inhabitants of the county the remainder coming from other parts of the colony. In the autumn and winter of 1675 palisades were built about the town of Hadley consisting of rows of stakes or posts. about ten feet in length, planted two feet deep in the ground and standing eight feet above ground.
In the spring of 1676 the Indians opened hostilities in Hampshire county by an attack upon Northampton, March 14; they were repulsed with considerable loss, after burning five houses and five barns and killing four men and one woman. About April I three men were killed at Hock- anum. May 18, a party of mounted men numbering from 150 to 160 from Springfield, Westfield, Northampton, Hadley and Hatfield, assembled at Hatfield and marched from there to a place called " the falls," now known as Turners Falls, where about daybreak the following morning they sur- prised the Indians in their wigwams and killed between 130 and 180 men, women and children. On their return they were in turn attacked by the Indians and 38 whites were slain. May 30, a party of Indians estimated to number 250 attacked Hatfield, burning many houses and barns without the fortification. A rescuing party of 25 men crossed the river from Hadley and gave battle to the Indians, five Hadley men being killed. On June 12 an attack was made upon Hadley by about 250 Indians, but the garrison having been largely reinforced by troops from Connecticut the Indians were repulsed. Three soldiers who were surprised outside the fortifications were killed. This was the last Indian attack in Hampshire county in 1676. Sept. 19, 1677, a party of Indians attacked Hatfield, killed twelve persons and took seventeen captives ; proceeding to Deerfield they killed one and captured four; the captives were taken to Canada. In October the corn-mill at Hadley was burned. There were no more Indian attacks on Hampshire county towns during the year, which witnessed the close of what was known as " King Philip's war."
In 1688 began what was known as " King William's war," between the English and French. The American colonies of the two nations were early involved in the conflict, the French securing as their allies some of the northern tribes of Indians. Hampshire county escaped the ravages of war in 1689 and 1690, but there were many alarms and men were often called to arms. Sept. 15, 1694, a combined attack was made by the French
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THIRD, FOURTH AND FIFTH INDIAN WARS.
and Indians upon the fort at Deerfield. but they were repulsed. Oct. 5. 1696, Richard Church of Hadley was slain by Hudson River Indians; four of the latter were tried and two were found guilty and shot to death at Northampton, Oct. 23. These were the first executions in Hampshire county. During this war which lasted nearly ten years, 28 of the inhabi- tants of Hampshire county were killed and several captured.
In May, 1702, still another war began between England and France, extending the following year to the colonies. Feb. 29, 1704, the French and Indians attacked Deerfield, their combined forces numbering about 340 men. The attack was in the early morning, the sentinels were unfaithful and had retired to rest and the entire party entered the place undiscovered. They broke in the doors of houses, dragged out their startled inhabitants, killed such as resisted and took prisoners nearly all the remainder; 38 were slain and 112 made captives, among the latter being Rev. John Williams, his wife and five children. Two men escaped and hurried to Hatfield ; returning with a small body of men they overtook and attacked the enemy, but were compelled to retreat with a- loss of nine of their number. The captives were taken to Canada, 22 being killed or dying on the way ; 28 remained in Canada and 60 returned. May 13, 1704. a party of Indians attacked a hamlet of five families at Pascommuck, near the northeast end of Mount Tom in Northampton and killed 19 persons, capturing 14 others. This war came to an end in 1713, having lasted ten years ; during this time 103 persons were slain in Hampshire county or in excursions from it.
The fourth Indian war lasted from 1722 to 1726 ; some soldiers from Hadley served at Northfield and Deerfield but no person belonging to the town was killed or injured during the war. The fifth war began in 1744 and lasted until 17.48. June 17, 1745. Louisburg in Cape Breton surren- dered after a siege of 49 days to an army from New England aided by a British squadron. In the English army were troops from Hadley, probably some from the east settlement. In a garrison that bravely defended a fort at Charlestown, N. H., in April, 1747, were six men from the Second and Third Precincts of Hadley, viz., Eleazar Smith, William Boltwood, Nehe- miah Dickinson, Nathaniel Church, Jr., Josiah Swan and Ebenezer Dickin- son. Of the sixth and final Indian war more will be recorded later on.
From the beginning of the first Indian war in 1675 until the close of the fifth in 1748 the inhabitants of Hadley were compelled to devote a large part of their time and effort to military affairs. A feeble little settlement in the heart of the wilderness, surrounded by savage foes, knowing not at what moment or from what quarter to expect an attack. it Is wonderful that its inhabitants maintained stout hearts and refused to relinquish their homes bought at so dear a price and surrounded by such
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
manifold dangers, but such a thought seems never to have possessed them. The same spirit that moved them to separate from the churches in Hartford and Wethersfield and to found a plantation where they could enjoy the fullest measure of religious liberty, continued to animate and strengthen them when attacked by heathen hordes. They loved their new homes better than the old and were ready to do anything and dare everything to protect and maintain them. They preferred rather to dwell in an armed camp than to return to the peaceful plantations down the river. They gave not of their lives alone but of their substance as well. contributing their full share toward paying the expenses of long and bloody conflicts. Such was the fibre of the men, and of the women too, who founded the old town of Hadley, the parent town of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby. No honor paid to them by their descendants can be too great, too loving.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY .- DIVISION OF HADLEY OUTER COMMONS .- EQUIVALENT LAND. - FLAT HILLS LANDS .- EAST INHABITANTS IN 1731.
The earliest settlement made by the English within the present boundaries of Hampshire county was at Northampton in 1654. The second was at Hadley in 1659 and at Hatfield, then a part of Hadley, the same year. In 1700, the first permanent settlement was made at East- hampton. In 1725 South Hadley, then a part of Hadley, was settled and in 1732 became the Second Precinct of the parent town. Ware was settled in 1729. In 1731 families from Northampton, Hatfield and Hadley settled in Belchertown, then known as " Cold Spring." In 1732 a settle- ment was made at Southampton and one at Pelham in 1739. In 1662 the county of Hampshire was established by an act of the General Court, being the fifth county in Massachusetts. It embraced the lands within the present boundaries of Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin and Berkshire counties, and also included lands in Connecticut : at the time of its erection it contained three settlements, at Springfield, Northampton and Hadley. Springfield was made the shire town, and the courts were to be held at that place and at Northampton alternate years. A settlement was made at
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DIVISION OF HADLEY COMMON LANDS.
Westfield, then known as " Woronoco " in 1666, the settlers coming from springfield and Northampton. In 1670 Hatfield was set off from Hadley und incorporated as a town. The same year a settlement was made at . Deerfield, then known as "Pocumtuck." This was followed, three years. hter, by a settlement at "Squakheag," afterwards known as Northfield. This completed the line of settlements along the river-bank, at Springfield, Northampton, Hadley, Hatfield, Deerfield and Northfield prior to the year 1703 when the bounds of the Third Precinct of Hadley were laid out.
" King Philip's war " came to an end in 1677, and for ten years the inhabitants of Hadley were allowed to engage in peaceful pursuits unmo- lested. They increased in numbers and finding themselves in need of more land for tillage and pasturage began to consider the division of their lands to the eastward. These lands had been granted to them by the General Court in 1673, on petition signed by 38 persons. At a meeting of the town held April 10, 1688 the following vote was passed :
" Voted by the Towne that all their Comon lands lyeing within their Bounds. ball be laid out into particuler Alottments to the proprietors and Inhabitants of this Towne of Hadley acording to the rule they shall agree upon.
V'oted by the Towne that every proprietor and Inhabitant shall receive his. ¡ roportion in said Comon lands acording to a former Custom viz: acording to a :co pound estate or a 150 or a 100 or 50 &c : or as the Towne shall see meet to. grant to persons that have had no former grant of lands."
In July of the same year the second Indian war began, continuing ten. years :. during this period the attention of the inhabitants was turned to military affairs and to the protection of their lives and property from the vages. There is no further allusion to a division of lands, in the town. records, until 1699, when the following appears :
" At a Leagall Towne meting January 8, 1699.
Voted that Capt. Cook Left Kellogg Mr Samuell Porter Cornet Dickinson. vergt Daniell Marsh Be A Committy To consider A method that may be best for Laying out of The Commons; And Accordingly to make Report thereof to ye lowne."
There is no minute on the town records as to whether this committee. nade a report, but under date of March 4; 1700, the following appears :
" Voted by the Towne that 3 miles and one quarter Eastward from the meeting- use And so from the north side of mount holyoke unto the mill River shall Lye " Common Land forever supposing that this Line will take in the whole of the 0% Swamp.
Voted that the Rest of the Comons Eastward shall be Laid out in three Devisions that is to say Betwixt the Roade Leading to Brookfield and the mill Wer notwithstanding there is Liberty for the Cutting wood and timber so Long
: Lyeth unfensed.
There is Likewise to be left betwixt every Division forty Rods for highways: wod! what will be nesesary to be left for highways East and West Threw every.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS. 1
Division : is to be left To the discression of the messirers: And every one to have a proportion in the first or second Devision : And every one to have a proporsion in the third Devision : And every householder to have a fifty pound Allotment. And all others who are now the proper Inhabitants of Hadley from sixteen years old and upwards to have a five and twenty pound Allotment in said Commons."
It is evident from this vote and from action subsequently taken by the town that the lots in the first and second divisions were intended as homelots and those in the third division as pastures for cattle.
March 3, 1701, the following votes were passed :
" Voted by the Town that thre proprietors of the Commons Agreed on to be Laid ought to the proper Inhabitants of sixteen years old mensioned in the vote in March Last past : is to be understood as an accommodation to the parent or master of such Inhabitant and is to be Laid ought to his allotment.
Voted that the Commons agreed upon this time twelve months To be Laid ought be done as soone as conveniently may be and that we now proceed to the drawing of Lots in order thereto.
Voted that so many as desire Their Lots to lye together may have Liberty to agree together and draw but once and so have their Lots Laid Sucksessively.
Voted that in the Laying ought of the Commons : having had Respect to the poules according to the vote last past that the Rest be Laid ought according to the meadow Land that each person is now in the possession of.
Voted that in the Laying ought of the Commons the first Lott shall begin next the path that Leads to Brookfield : And so to be Laid Norward Till they come to the mill River : And the next Lott to be on the second Division Next to said path : And so to go on to the said mill River."
Judd states in his history of Hadley that " In a division south of Mount Holyoke, lots were drawn in this manner. As many papers as there were proprietors were numbered, and put into a box and well shaken. Each proprietor drew out one of these papers, or if any were absent, the moderator drew for them." It is probable that in this, or in some similar fashion, the lots were drawn which decided the first individual ownership of lands in the town of Amherst. From the Hadley "town book" are copied the names of the following persons who had a part in this first dis- tribution of Amherst lands .*
*For a plan of the lots drawn in the third division, see Town Records, Part II. of this volume, .p. 152.
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FIRST PROPRIETORS OF AMHERST LANDS.
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FIRST DIVISION. Brookfield road.
8 Highway 40 Rods N. end of Wells's Hill.
Rods, feet. 52
Jonathan Marsh,
57
7
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Samuel Nash,
16
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54 Wid. Hannah Porter,
25
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55 Samuel Porter,
151
8
1 Samuel Marsh,
21
13
Ephraim Nash,
12
7
57
58 Experience Porter,
32
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