4 O 
 
 
 ^\/\ '--r^^v ,.^^'\ '•^•- /% --W-'/ 
 ' ^:^rv; %/ -^^(^^^ Vo^' o:^r^ %/ ;^ 
 
 
 
 y ..■■.•... 
 
 
 a5 0^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 c ° " ■» ^3 AT 
 
 o > 
 
 \..^^ : %,^^ /^.^V^;. \^^^^ /^lfe\ ^^ 
 
 

 
 
 ^ ^^ /^^Sll<' ^... ^^ /JF. 
 
 
 
 ■^o'^ 
 
^-^^ 
 
 S/^^-v^:^^^ 
 
 .^. 
 
LUDL017: 
 
 A Century and a Centennial, 
 
 COMI'KISING A 
 
 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY 
 
 TOWN OF LUDLOW, 
 
 HAMPDEN COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS, 
 
 TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUXT OF THE CELEBRATION BY THE TOWN 
 
 CE]^TE]:^]^IAL Al^^I^IYEESARY, 
 
 June 17th, 1874. 
 
 COMPILED BT 
 
 ALFRED NOON. A. M., 
 
 A I'ASTOR IN TOE TOWX. 
 
 PRINTED BY VOTE OF THE TOWN. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, MASS. : 
 
 CLARK W. BUY AN AND COMPANY, PRINTERS. 
 
 1875. 
 
 / 
 
^or l^ns Bail^ l^e ^orb t^at crrattb Ibe ^fafatns ; (Sob ^imstlf t^at formib ibe eatt^ anb 
 mabc it; ^t butb cstablislub it, ^e trtattb it not in bain, be formcb it to be inbabitcb : ^ 
 am tlje JTorb; anb l^ere is none else. 
 
 ^ Ijabe not spohcn in secret, in a bark j^lacc of tlje cartlj ; ,]( salb not unto the sceb of 
 ^;uob, Seek gc mc in bain: | ti^c iforb speak rigbteouBness, | bcclart things t^at art rigbt. 
 
COMMITTEE O:^ THE CEIsrTE]^]^IAL. 
 
 AMBROSE CLOUGH, 
 
 JOHN PADELFORD HUBBARD, 
 GEORGE ROOT CLARK, 
 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BURR, 
 
 CHESTER LEMUEL CUSHMAN, 
 ALFRED NOON, 
 
 FRANCIS FISK McLEAN. 
 
 SUB-COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC ATI OJN". 
 
 AMBROSE CLOUGH, BENJAMIN F. BURR, 
 
 GEORGE R. CLARK, ALFRED NOON. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The day of appreciation of a work like this is never at the time 
 when it is issned. The labor of research and compilation must be in a 
 measure a labor of love. 
 
 The apparent unimportance of our contribution to the public may, 
 after all, exist only in appearance. Few prominent public men claim 
 Ludlow as their birthplace, nor does the town seek, like seven cities 
 of old, to rest her fame on the reputation of some ungrateful son. 
 This is but a quiet little neighborhood, occupying a humble position 
 in the grand old Commonwealth. 
 
 But while the town has been unsung by bard, or unwritten by an- 
 nalist, or unknown to the greater events of busy humanity, she may, 
 from these very reasons, argue an individuality which is worthy of 
 note. Her life is not merely memoir or public histor}^, but is unique 
 in possessing few of those features which so largely enter into the pic- 
 ture of towns farther famed. 
 
 If New England has done aught for humanity, her accomplishments 
 have had tlieir inception in her homes, among her own sons and 
 daughters. Her power found its origin at her firesides. The world 
 must know that New England has had a life by itself. The student 
 of that life, in all its characteristics, discovers an indiviihiality and 
 seeks to trace its causes. In such towns as Ludlow, tliey may be dis- 
 covered easily. Tlie glare of popular feats and popular men removed, 
 we are permitted to look upon a specimen of pure, unadulterated New 
 England life. 
 
 As the reader examines our folk-lore, then, we take pleasure in in- 
 troducing him to the true New England home. These hardy j-eomen, 
 these toiling matrons, who liave quarried and polished the heartli-stoues 
 
VI niEFACE. 
 
 of a century, liave l)Oon good fatlicrs ami iiiotliers, and liave been per- 
 niitte<l to .see successive generations of noble sons and daughters grow 
 up around them, to call them and their institutions blessed. The fore- 
 fathers sleep their last long slumber, but if you would see their handi- 
 work, look not only at the broad acres and spacious barns, but also peer 
 into tlie faces of their descendants, and read of the excellencies and wis- 
 dom of their sires. 
 
 We lift the veil of a century. If tlie fresco behind show in places 
 the marks of age, need we wonder? If here and there a tint is so 
 faded as to be indistinct, a stripe once distinct and beautiful may seem 
 to have lost the uniformity at first given to its breadth, or the beauty 
 of its curvature, charge the defacement to the account of Old Time 
 itself. A magnificent work by one of the old masters has been lost by 
 an attempt to renovate it; we give you our little picture as nature 
 hands it to us. 
 
 The materials composing this volume have been, in the main, res- 
 cued from memories which soon must fade away. In the absence of 
 fulsome annals, the incidents have been obtained by conversation with 
 octogenarians, and even nonagenarians at their firesides, and those of 
 their neighbors. Grandsires hastening to the grave have been ar- 
 rested in their faltering steps, and grand-dames disturbed in their 
 meditations, that tliey might tune afresh the harps of earl}'- days 
 for the eager ears of generations come and coming. Yellowed old 
 deeds, lichen-painted tombstones, silent cellar holes and well-nigh for- 
 gotten boundary lines have been tributary to the work. 
 
 To all who have so kindly aided in giving desired information, we 
 would extend hearty thanks. To the assiduous and pains-taking 
 chairman of the Committee of Publication, and his co-laborers in 
 gathering the materials so profusely furnished the Compiler, the town 
 is under particular obligation. The beauty of these pages, and tasty 
 appearance of the volume themselves, speak for the i)ublishers. The 
 thanks of the town is more than due to them who have so cheer- 
 fully furnished those portraits of themselves or their friends, with 
 which the volume is enilx'llished. The Centennial Exercises will 
 be read again with delight, and re-read by successive audiences, 
 who shall by their interest give the meed of praise to those who 
 
TREFACE. Vll 
 
 remlored that eventful celebration a feast of reason as well as a glad 
 reunion. 
 
 More than a word is due to the historian of that day. Other towns 
 may glory over the prowess of t^eir corporate ancestors, but it will be 
 discovered that our historian regaled his apjireciative auditors with 
 choicest tidbits from the town's own life. The pens of other ready 
 writers may have improved such occasions in tracing excellent homilies 
 on grand themes ; the gentlemen, to whom reference is made here, 
 found in the word " Ludlow " an inspiration all-sufficient for his task. 
 
 The compiler of the history, as sensible of his own incapacity, per- 
 haps, as the sharpest critic, asks the indulgence of those most inter- 
 ested, wishing to them and their successors on the domain of Ludlow, 
 the fondest blessings which can come from enterprise and thrift, and 
 good homes, and good hearts. 
 
 Ludlow Center, 1875. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY, 
 
 Joel Chapin, 
 Aaron J. Miller, 
 John Jennings, 
 Theodore Sikes. 
 Chester W. Chapin, 
 Gordon M. Fisk, 
 S. B. Stebbins, 
 Edwin Booth, 
 Dexter Damon, 
 Simeon Miller, 
 PLAN OF HISTORY, 
 
 I. AKTE-LUDLOW, 
 
 Who constitute a town — The red man — Indian names — Uelics 
 of a departed race — An ancient armory — Legend of camp- 
 lires — Of the Leap — Of the alleged Facing Hills murder — 
 The tenure of soil — Springfield of old — Governor Andros — 
 A Yankee trick — The Commons — Sections of commons — 
 Line of commons — Allotments — The river — Early settler — 
 The tar business — Joseph Miller — Others — A wooing — 
 Glimpse at the region — Church service — Proposition for dis- 
 trict — Will they get an organiisation ? .... 
 
 II. LUDLOW IK THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Governor Hutchinson — Trouble — Districts and their functions 
 — Answer to petition — The charter — First district meeting 
 — The settlers gathering — Original office-holders — Origin of 
 the name — Geographical theory— The other Ludlovvs — Ed- 
 mund Ludlow — Roger Ludlow — Remoteness of all these 
 sources — Exchange of names with Wilbraham — West line — 
 A church needed — Former ecclesiastical relations — Rev. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 xiii 
 
 xiii 
 
 xiii 
 
 xiii 
 
 xiv 
 
 xiv 
 
 xviii 
 
 xviii 
 
 xviii 
 
 xviii 
 
 xviii 
 
 xix 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 IVletiah Cliapin — Finding the center — The revolution — 
 Tlie record — Incidents and notes — Rev. Messrs. Davenport, 
 Hutcliinson, Haskell, Fuller, Pratt, Stone, Snell, and Wood- 
 ward — Success at last — Stephen Burroughs — Call to Mr. 
 Steward — Acceptance — Sketch of Rev. Antipas Steward — A 
 slice from one of his sermons — Erection of church — Im- 
 provements on the edifice — Former chapels — Congregation- 
 alists — Mr, Steward receives a hint — Baptists — Methodism — 
 Drowning of Paine and Olds — Shays — The Paine child — Sor- 
 row in the Miller family — Cemeteries — Schools — Districts — 
 School-houses — Representatives — Pounds — Warning out — 
 Highways — Bridges — Progress of the period, ... 12 
 
 III. ECCLESIASTICAL ERA— THE ESTABLISHMENT 
 OF THE CHURCHES. 
 
 Source of civil institutions — Religion in the town in 1800 — 
 The controversy — A summary' proceeding — Suggestive epistle 
 — Exit Mr. Steward — Thurber— Phelps — Union efforts — 
 Hedding — His ministry — His sacrifice — A new comer — 
 Fast-day services — Alexander McLean — Difficulty — Moody 
 — Johns — E. B. Wright — Sketch — Acceptance of call — Min- 
 istry — Methodism in 1802 — Itinerants — A class — How it 
 djed — Later efforts — Dr. Fisk — Isaac Jennison — Church 
 huilt — Repairs on old church — The store — Cemeteries — The 
 first hearse — Improvements — A dastardly proposition — War 
 of 1812 — Muster at Hadley — The Horse Compan}^ — The 
 men of 1812 — Desertions — Almost an execution — A 
 souvenir — Schools — Districts — Musical — Log-cabins — Polit- 
 ical — Post-office — Wages — Potato crops — A scare — Another 
 scare — Frost's corn — David Paine's death — The Annibal ex- 
 citement — Theories concerning it — A sequel — *' Nick and 
 Tarzy " — Town bounds — Public lands — Roads — Bridges — 
 Succession of bridges at Wallamanumps — Put's bridge — 
 Cooley bri<lge — The camels — The present Put's bridge — 
 Calkins' manufactures — Other enterprises — A still — Glass 
 works — Wallamanumps privilege — Putnam's scythes — The 
 Jenckes's — The Springfield Manufacturing Co. — Develop- 
 ment of the village, ......,, 40 
 
 IV. THE ZENITH OF THE CENTURY. 
 Changes incident to manufacturing — Source of Ludlow's great- 
 er prosperity — New life — A market — Another mill — Jeuks- 
 
CO^s^TENTS. XI 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 ville in 1837 — Upper privilege — Inventions — Tlie people at 
 tlie factories — Their morals — Sabbath desecration — The 
 only remedy — Itinerants and labors — The revival — Its effects 
 —Place of worship— The M. E. Church— Trouble— Aid— A 
 great revival — Incidents — Other revivals — Millerism — The 
 Congregationalists — Mr. Wright — A colleague — Rev. Mr. 
 Austin — Dismission of Mr. Wright — The first parish — The 
 fund — A lawsuit — Mr. Wright called again — Rev. Mr. 
 Sanderson — The church of 1841 — Disposition of the old edi- 
 fice — Rev. Mr. Tuck — The new cemetery — Highways and 
 bridges — Red bridge — Necrology — "Dr. Foggus " — "Fri- 
 day" — Incidents — Mexican war — A weather note — Mills 
 — Indian Orchard — Jenksville church edifices — Congrega- 
 tional Church there — The Company — Confidence of the peo- 
 ple — The crash — Immediate effects, . .... 66 
 
 Y. THE LUDLOW OF TO-DAY. 
 
 Toward the end — Congregational Church — Mr. Tuck — The fire 
 — Rebuilding — Dedication — Rev. Mr. Mayo — Rev. Chester 
 Bridgman— Rev. C. L. Cushman— Rev. S. Y. McDuffee— 
 Methodist Church — Re-modeling — Rev. F. Fisk — Revival 
 scenes — War record of society — Rev. D. K. Banister — Wes- 
 leyan Praying Band — Relations of societies — Jenksville — 
 Manufacturing interests — Present Company — A good chance 
 — Methodism — Sale of a church — Rev. W. H. Daniels — 
 Union Church — Roads and bridges — Railroads — A fine op- 
 portunity lost — Items — The Miller "boys" — Incidents — 
 The Rebellion — Enlistments — The Monument — Mr. Banis- 
 ter's Address — War scenes — Names of Soldiers — Spring- 
 field Aqueduct — Prominent men — Incentives to effort — 
 Conclusion, ......... 80 
 
 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 Prospective, 95 
 
 Actual, 107 
 
 Address of Welcome, ....... 108 
 
 Responsive Address, ....... 112 
 
 Historical Address, 124 
 
 Toasts, 145 
 
 Letters, ......... 152 
 
 Afteiip.\^t, 155 
 
xu 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 A, Indians, 
 
 Bi Commons proprietors, 
 C. Ludlow, England, 
 I), Paine and Wright, 
 
 E. Church Letter, 
 
 F. Old Letter, 
 
 G. Gad Lyon's " Keflections,' 
 H. Tax-bill. 
 
 I. The Militia, . 
 
 J. Oakley Ballad, 
 
 K. Congregationalist Ministers, 
 
 Lf Methodist ]Ministers, 
 
 M. Jenksville Ministers, 
 
 N. Deacons, 
 
 0. Parish Clerks, 
 
 P. ]\Ioderators, 
 
 Q. Town Clerks, . 
 
 R. Selectmen, 
 
 S. Assessors, 
 
 T. Representatives, 
 
 U. School Committees, 
 
 V. Graduates, 
 W. Physicians, 
 
 X. Postmasters, 
 
 Y. Present Town Officers, 
 
 Z. Peats of Strength, 
 A A. Epitaphs, 
 BB. Genealogies, 
 CC. Captain Hubbard, 
 DD. Andersonville, 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 159 
 161 
 163 
 164 
 166 
 166 
 167 
 168 
 169 
 169 
 171 
 171 
 173 
 172 
 172 
 173 
 173 
 174 
 175 
 176 
 176 
 177 
 177 
 177 
 178 
 178 
 179 
 184 
 193 
 194 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 As we stand at the vestibule of the little edifice whose pro- 
 portions and embellishments we propose to exhibit to the inter- 
 ested reader, it may be well to point out a portrait or two of 
 the more renowned sons of the town, whose names and memo- 
 ries, impressed upon our minds, will render the apartments of 
 our little cottage still more interesting to the looker-on. As said 
 of another, known to fame, — 
 
 " Fairer seems the ancient township, 
 
 And the sunliglit seems more fair, 
 That they once have trod its pathways, 
 
 That they once have breathed its air." 
 
 Rev. Joel Chapin was born in Ludlow very early in the 
 history of the settlement, served in the Revolutionary war, and 
 afterward went through a collegiate course at Dartmouth College. 
 
 Dr. Aaron John Miller was well known in all the earlier 
 history of the town as the family physician. He is said to have 
 been one of the original Boston tea-party, and went as surgeon 
 to the Revolution. So extended a sketch of his life occurs in 
 the genealogies that it is unnecessary to speak further of him 
 here than to call attention to the portrait facing page 176, which 
 two of his grandsons have kindly furnished for the history of 
 his town. 
 
 John Jennings, Esq., was widely known in his day as the 
 lawyer of the town. He is said to have lived at one time near 
 the present home of Ezekiel Fuller, where he had a sort of 
 office. It became his duty to make out many a deed of the 
 lands of tliis region, and sign many an important document. 
 His usefulness extended along many years, and found fields for 
 display in larger circles than those of home. 
 
XIV INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 To Theodore Sikes, yet lingering on the verge of time, 
 belongs the distinction of representing the town oftenest in the 
 political assemblies of the State. A hearty and honorable citi- 
 zen, he retains in his old age the respect and love of hi:i fellow- 
 townsmen, 
 
 Hon. Chester "W. Chapix, an elegant portrait of whom 
 appropriately oj)ens our volume of sketches, is perhaps the best 
 and widest known to the world at large of an}' of the sons of 
 this good old town. Mr. Cliapin was born in the " Torrey 
 house," in the west part of Ludlow, December 16th, 1798. He 
 is a direct lineal descendant, in the sixth generation, from Dea. 
 Samuel Chapin, the founder of the family in this country. His 
 grandfather, Ejihraim Chapin, was one of the largest land own- 
 ers of his day in this section, his estate covering lands in Chic- 
 opee, Ludlow and Springfield. His father (also Ephraim by 
 name) occupied a portion of the old Chapin estates, Avhich at 
 the time of his death had not been divided. Though rich in 
 lands these early settlers were otherwise possessed of small 
 means, and cultivated habits of the strictest economy. Yet 
 these were days of families inversely proportionate to the ready 
 means of the householder, Chester being the youngest of a 
 family of seven children. In such circumstances are often 
 formed the beginnings of the amplest fortunes and that strength 
 of character which gives the widest influence. 
 
 Alread}', then, had there been instilled into the mind of the 
 boy those lessons which have served him so well, when at a ten- 
 der age his fatlier died and left the family, then at Chicopee 
 street, to manage for themselves. His older brother, Ephrtiim, 
 having been sent to college, the duty of remaining at home to 
 care for tlie interests of his mother and her farm devolved 
 upon Chester. Wliile so doing he attended the district school 
 at Chicopee which ranked high as a school of its kind in those 
 days, and was afterward sent to the Academy at Westfield, 
 from 'which he entered upon the active pursuits of life. As 
 was often the case at such schools, the culture acquired, how- 
 ever valuable, was of no more use in after life than the ac- 
 quaintances formed in the circles with which he became intimate. 
 At twenty-one he went to Springfield, and first found employ- 
 ment at tlie bar of the old "Williams House, kept then by his 
 
HON. CHESTER W. CHAPIN. XV 
 
 brother Erastus. Not relishing" the business he was next found 
 keeping a store of his own at Chicopee street. Just across the 
 way was another store kept by the late Stephen C. Bemis, and 
 the two soon formed a copartnership which continued several 
 months. At this time Mr. Chapin was married to a daughter of 
 Col. Abel Chapin of Chicopee. lie was next found at work 
 upon the construction at Chicopee of the first mill ever built 
 in this county where paper was made by machinery. He took 
 the contract for the foundation and masonry of this factory for 
 the Ames's, and did the work in so satisfactory a manner that 
 when a few years later tlie mill was burned, they urged him to 
 undertake a renewal of the job ; but other engagements then 
 intervened to prevent him from complying. A change in busi- 
 ness then occurred which turned the attention of the 5'oung 
 man in the direction of his real life's work. At the solicita- 
 tion of Jacob W. Brewster of Hartford, he was induced to 
 take an interest in the extensive stage lines in the Connecti- 
 cut Valle}". Here he first made the acquaintance of his life- 
 long friend, the late Major Morgan of Palmer, who was engaged 
 in the stage line running east and west from Springfield. Occa- 
 sionally holding the reins on the Hartford and Brattleboro 
 line, j\[r. Chapin was soon found to be more needed in devel- 
 oping the general interests of the route, which so prospered 
 under his management as to yield him large returns on his 
 investment. 
 
 Soon after the demonstration had been satisfactorily made by 
 Thomas Blanchard that steamboats could journey from Hartford 
 to Springfield, Mr. Chapin grasped the idea and utilized it. He 
 bought out Blanchard soon after 1830, and for a dozen years 
 controlled the passenger traffic between the two places. Ever 
 since he has maintained his business relations with boating lines, 
 until he now controls largely the New York and New Haven 
 lines of steamboats. Two of his vessels were in government 
 employ during tlie war of the rebellion. 
 
 Meanwhile, having, largely b}^ his personal efforts secured a 
 connection between Springfield and Hartford bj- rail, he became 
 a director in the corporations, and took active interest in its 
 management. Extensive postal contracts having been taken by 
 him on the route from Terre Haute to St. Louis, he sent the 
 
XVI INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 stac^es there, and used tlie rail as the means of transporting 
 mails under his charge from Hartford to Stanstead. 
 
 In 1«.50 Mr. Chapin became a director of the Western Rail- 
 road, but resigned the position to accept the presidency of the 
 Connecticut River Railroad in the same year. In 1854. having 
 attracted attention by successful management of that road he 
 ■was elected president of the Western road, and accepted. In 
 two years fifty miles of rails had been renewed, the bridge over 
 the Connecticut River rebuilt, twelve lirst-class locomotives, 
 one hundred and forty-five freight cars and six passenger 
 coaches had l)een added to the rolling stock of the road. The 
 interests of the Company called him to England in 1855, where 
 he was successful in negotiating a loan of half a million of dol- 
 lars, for further improvements. Very soon the road began to 
 pay handsome dividends, a practice so long continued that it 
 has become a habit. The Albany bridges, the new iron bridge 
 at Springfield, the continuous double track, and more particu- 
 hirly the grand consolidation of the Western and Boston and 
 Worcester roads into the Boston & Albany, with magnificent 
 tide-water facilities and the huge elevator at Boston and the 
 grand depot luider way at Worcester, have been enterprises 
 owing a large share of tlicir success to the shrewd management 
 of Chester W. Chapin. 
 
 At various times during his presidency of the Western road, 
 he has been solicited to take the management of other large 
 railroad interests, but has ahvaj's refused. In business relations 
 elsewhere, we find Mr. Chapin mentioned as a stockholder and 
 director in the Hudson River and New York Central Railroads, 
 as a prominent manager and owner of the Collins' Paper Com- 
 ])any's property and business at Wilbraham, and of the Aga- 
 Avam Canal Company at West Springfield, and as president of 
 the Chapin Banking and Trust Company of Springfield, (having 
 been formerly founder and president of the Agawam Bank of 
 the same ])lace.) He lias at the recent election been honored 
 M ith a seat in tlie national House of Representatives, a fitting 
 teslimonial from an a})preciative public — a testimonial, more- 
 over, in which his little native town claims the privilege of 
 giving a modest share. 
 
 Tlie honor thus conferred, coming in the way it seems to have 
 
HON. GORDON M. FISK. XVU 
 
 done, precludes the necessity of extended eulogistic remarks 
 concerning Mr. Chapin's personal excellencies. Kind and oblig- 
 ing, of unblemished reputation, cool and decided but consider- 
 ate, one whose "promise is as good as his bond,'' his native 
 town rejoices to hold him up as an exemplar for her young peo- 
 ple. Mr. Chapin's presence at the Centennial was highly 
 appreciated. 
 
 " While Mr. Chapin is naturally and by instinct a prudent and 
 somewhat conservative man, a careful observer of his career 
 will find that he has always been among the foremost to em- 
 brace every improvement in the onward march of civilization. 
 At first a stage owner, he was quick to see and utilize the appli- 
 cation of steam, first upon the waters of the Connecticut and 
 then upon its banks. Instead of resisting the march of events 
 as bringing into the field an element of rivalry and perhaps 
 destruction to his interests in old methods, he was the foremost 
 to contribute his capital and practical experience to the devel- 
 opment of each new and improved project in the direction of 
 cheap and rapid transportation." 
 
 The other son of Ludlow who has, perhaps, acquired promi- 
 nence next to that of Mr. Chapin, is Hon. Gordon M. Fisk, 
 the veteran editor of the Pahner Journal. He was born at 
 Ludlow, May 9th, 1825, being also one of seven sons. His 
 father, William H. Fisk, lived at the " City," the northwest 
 district of the town. He was named after a son of Dr. Aaron 
 John Miller, who accompanied the name with a gift of th'ee 
 sheep. The family was large, the mother an invalid, the income 
 small, and so here again was an opportunity for building up a 
 first-class man. The district school and family fireside afforded 
 the only means for educating the children. A studious boy, 
 Gordon early mastered all the books within reach, even to Dr. 
 Johnson's dictionary and the Westminster catechism. 
 
 At the age of twenty-one he found an opportunity to gratify 
 the longings of years, and purchased a printing press of one 
 John Howe, of Enfield, who had used it in the publication of 
 anti-orthodox pamphlets. It was a rude establishment, with 
 ancient Ramage press, and ink balls instead of composition 
 rollers. Having mastered the business by assiduous labor by 
 nights, he established the " Village Gazette," in Ware, in June- 
 
XVlll INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 1847. He sold out in December, 1848, and moved to Palmer, 
 where ou the first of January he opened a printing office. In 
 the fall he undertook, with another, to establish the " Holyoke 
 Times," but abandoned the project, and issued the first number 
 of the '• Palmer Journal" April 6, 1850, whose publication he 
 has continued ever since, also sending out the " Ware Standard" 
 for nineteen years. 
 
 His official record covers a period of over twenty years. In 
 1860-1 lie served as State Senator, attending an extra session each 
 year, and serving on a special commission to sit in the recess, for 
 three years, for the purpose of surveying a ship-canal from Barn- 
 stable Bay to Buzzard's Bay. Was Deputy United States Col- 
 lector 1862-8, and Inspector of the State alms-house and Primary 
 school at Monson 1857-74, and since 1866 has been connected 
 with the visiting agency of the Board of State Charities. 
 
 Mr. Fisk possesses a pleasant local reputation as a poet, and 
 several of his sketches are to be found in this volume. 
 
 Hon. S. Bliss Stebbins was for a while postmaster at Jenks- 
 ville, and since has been on each board of the Boston city gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Hon. Edwin Booth also commenced his business career at 
 Jenksville, as clerk of the Springfield Manufacturing Company. 
 He was long in the employ of the government, and now resides 
 at Philadelphia. 
 
 Hon. Dexter Damon, of Willoughby, Ohio, has been a 
 member of the Legislature and a trial justice. 
 
 Rev. Simeon Miller, now of Springfield, is a graduate of 
 Amherst College, and has labored at Holyoke and South Deer- 
 field statedly, supplying often in the desk of the Congregation- 
 alist Church in his native town. 
 
PLAN OF THE WORK. 
 
 It will be convenient in these annals, to divide the space 
 of time covered thereby into five periods, and group the 
 facts in divisions accordingly. These divisions are as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 I. Ante-LudloAv, a description of the region before it 
 received a corporate existence ; Ludlow before it was Lud- 
 low. This period will close with the date of incorpora- 
 tion, 1774. 
 
 IL Ludlow in the eighteenth century, comprising the 
 incorporation, the revolution, the building of the old 
 church and settlement of the first minister, 1774 to 1800. 
 
 III. The ecclesiastical era, from 1800 to 1828, or from 
 the first attempts to establish a Congregational Church to 
 the dedication of the Methodist '' chapel," including the 
 ministry of Revs. Alexander McLean and E. B. Wright. 
 
 IV. The zenith of the century, or the period of great- 
 est prosperity ; from the completed establishment of the 
 Center churches to the great failure of the Jenks's. The 
 Congregational Church of 1840 is built, the old edifice be- 
 comes the town-house, Put's Bridge is Jenksville. Money 
 plenty, times easy, until the catastrophe. Period, 1828 
 to 1848. 
 
 v. The Ludlow of to-day, taking in scope the balance 
 of the century, introducing the Centennial. This will in- 
 clude the Rebellion record. 1848-1875. 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 TO 1774. 
 ANTE-LUDLOW. 
 
 Who constitute a town — Tlie red man — Indian names — Eelics of a 
 departed race — An ancient armory — Legend of camp-fires — Of 
 the Leap — Of the alleged Facing Hills murder — The tenure of soil 
 — Springfield of old — Governor Andros — A Yankee trick — The 
 commons — Sections of commons — Line of commons — Allotments 
 — The river — Early settlers — The tar husiness — Joseph Miller — 
 Others— A wooing — Glimpse at the region — Church service — 
 Proposition for district — Will they get an organization ? 
 
 A COUNTRY, a state, a town, consists of the inhabitants 
 thereof. Whatever the place is, or fails to be, depends 
 not upon the conditions of its soil or weather, so much as 
 on the people enjoying or l)raving the same. Spain, in 
 the most favored of latitudes, may fail to influence its 
 nearest neighbors, while a band of hardy colonists among 
 the frozen seas," singing their sagas while reefing the sails 
 of rude smacks, may make the name of Iceland famous. 
 Our first acquaintance, then, Avill be with the earlier in- 
 habitants of the territory now known as Ludlow. 
 
 The history of the region, before the pale-1'ace had ap- 
 propriated these lands, is preserved only in tradition. 
 Some portions of these broad acres were, evidently, favor- 
 ite haunts of the red man. The names, Minachogue and 
 Wallamanumps, preserve the flavor of the aljoriginal. 
 1 
 
2 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 The former name seems to have been applicable to the 
 whole eastern region of Wilbraliam and Ludlow, and sig- 
 nifies " Berry land." The latter word seems to have been 
 applied to falls of the " Chicuepe," now at Ludlow Mills 
 and Lidian Orchard. Places are pointed out in the town 
 which the red man made his favorite resorts. At one spot 
 the discoloration of the rocks is alleged to have come from 
 the frec[uent camp-fires of the Indians. At other places, 
 both in the extreme north and all the plain region, the 
 frequency with which arrow-heads are found, and chip- 
 pings of flint and stone, indicate that another nation than 
 our own once used this region as the seat of an extensive 
 armory. 
 
 Of the legendary lore of the territory, there seem to 
 liave been some specimens. After the destruction of 
 Springfield by fire, October 4, 1675, the warriors retreat- 
 ed eastward six miles, as we are informed by the annalists. 
 The place of their encampment is said to have been on the 
 peninsula, in the south part of the town, known as the 
 Indian Leap; where twenty-four smouldering camp-fires 
 and some abandoned plunder were all the vestiges remain- 
 ing the next morning. 
 
 Of course, the story of all stories concerning the In- 
 dians, within the limits of the present town, is the familiar 
 one respecting the leap of Roaring Thunder and his men, 
 in the time of King Philip's war. Although the account 
 is wholly legendary, there is therewith so fine a flavor of 
 the aboriginal, that it has ever been popular among those 
 fond of folk-lore. It is reported that the band of warriors 
 was camping on the sequestered peninsula, lulled into quiet 
 by the sound of the roaring fall of water, precipitously 
 tmnbling scores of feet over the rocks, within a half mile 
 of the stream-bed. Some aver, that upon this point there 
 were spread the wigwams of the Indians, and quite a com- 
 pany of them made the place their home ; that at the 
 
THE INDIAISrS. 3 
 
 time these tragic events occurred, the red man had cap- 
 tured one of the women from Masacksick/ and were pur- 
 sued by the intrepid settlers, and finally discovered in 
 their rude home on the banks of the river. In the midst 
 of their quiet and solitude, came the alarm from the white 
 man, closely following up their trail into the thicket. 
 There was no retreat. They had taught the pale-face the 
 meaning of " no quarter," and could expect nought but 
 retaliation. Only one way of escape presented itself, and 
 that was into the jaws of death. To the brink of the fear- 
 ful precipice, then, before the back-waters of the corpora- 
 tion pond had reduced the distance a hundred feet, did 
 the painted braves dash on, and over into the wild waters 
 and upon the ragged rocks they leaped, directly into the 
 arms of hungry death. Roaring Thunder is said to have 
 watched while each of his company leaped into the fright- 
 ful chasm, and then, taking his child high in his arms, 
 casting one glance back upon the wigwam homes, he fol- 
 lowed the rest into the rushing waters. The pursuant foe 
 looked, wonderingly, over the jutting sandstone walls ; but 
 one living red-skin met his eye, and he was disappearing 
 among the inaccessible forest trees which skirted the other 
 shore.^ 
 
 One other account, perhaps full as probable as either of 
 those alread}' related, bears a later date. On a prominent 
 part of Facing Hills rocks, there rises an abrupt precipice, 
 from which eminence a sm^passingly grand outlook upon 
 the region is to be obtained. This rock is supposed to 
 have been the theater of one of those tragic events, too 
 common in the days of early settlers. Away down the 
 valley of the Chicuepe, was a little hamlet of hardy ad- 
 
 ^Longnieadnw. 
 
 -See Appendix A. Tlie omnipresent iconoclast, who doubts a Sliakespeare and 
 a Homer, lias thrown his shading over this lc)j;end, even sugrrjestinfj; that had the 
 Indians varieil a few feet from the alleged course, they might have readied the river 
 by an easy path. 
 
4 HISTORY OF LUDr.OW. 
 
 venturers — so runs the story. Among the company was 
 a family, in which were two women. Surprised by the 
 blood-thirsty savages one da}'', when the men were out in 
 the fields at work, one of the two found an opportunity 
 to escape to the cellar, and hide under a tub. The other 
 was so unfortunate as to become a prisoner, and accom- 
 panied the captors, as they speeded away up the valley. 
 Soon as possible the settlers were aroused, and started in 
 pursuit. It was a fearful chase, and a fruitless one ; for 
 the Indians, hurrying their booty along with them, 
 reached this point on Facing Rocks, and, close pursued, 
 put the victim out of misery by a tragic deatli.^ 
 
 But the day of the red man is drawing to a close, and 
 other claimants to the soil have appeared. The record 
 of the purchase of the lands hereabouts from the Indians, 
 is very clear, and shows that the settlers had all the rights 
 of tenure Avliich could flow from such transfers of prop- 
 erty as gave the white man his possessions. That a con- 
 nected account of the settlement of the region may be 
 before the reader, it will be necessary to go back a little. 
 
 The original boundaries of Springfield circumscribed 
 a region twenty-five miles square, including, west of the 
 river, the land now comprising the toAvns of West Spring- 
 field and Agawam, the city of Holyoke, and part of South- 
 wick and Westfield in Massachusetts, and Suffield in Con- 
 necticut ; on the east side of the river, besides Springfield, 
 Longmeadow, Wilbraham, Chicopee and Ludlow in this 
 State, and Enfield in Connecticut. So Ludlow comprises 
 the north-easterly section of the Springfield of long ago. 
 
 The grant of laud to William Pynchon, in 1636, in- 
 cluded all this region, but no one had laid claim to the 
 eastern-most and western-most limits. In the latter part 
 
 ■'Tliis event probably happened July 2G, 1708. It bears a strong rcseniltlance to 
 the account of the massacre of the Wrights at Skipmuck. See Hollaiul's West- 
 ern Mass., vol. 1, 158. 
 
THE COMMON LINES. O 
 
 of the century, the oppressive measures of the EngUsh 
 governor, Sh' Edmund Andros, gave color to the fear lest 
 he should cause these out-regions to revert to the crown, 
 especially as he had threatened to take away the charter 
 of the colony. 
 
 So far as the governor was concerned, his right to take 
 this action can hardly be disputed. He was the first royal 
 governor of New England, and came to carry out the 
 wishes of the crown. As the government in England had 
 declared the charters of all the New Ens^land colonies for- 
 feited, Andros could do little else than execute the royal 
 intentions. However, the Springfield colonists did not 
 propose to be cheated out of their wood-lots by the crown, 
 and so, with Yankee ingenuity, devised a plan to ward off 
 the danger impending. In town meeting, February 3, 
 1G85, they voted that, after reserving three hundred acres 
 for the ministry, and one hundred and fifty acres for 
 schools, on the east side of the river, and due proportions 
 for like purposes, on the west side, the remainder should 
 be divided among the one hundred and twenty-three heads 
 of families, or legal citizens. With the ministry and school 
 lots, there were thus one hundred and twenty-five proprie- 
 tors, among whom the land was to be divided. Not that 
 there were, good reader, that number of actual citizens, 
 for it seemed no harm to add to the list the names of all 
 male persons under age. 
 
 The '' commons " east of the " Great River," seem to 
 have included two sections, boiuided by a line running 
 north and south ; the line on the east side, commencing at 
 Newbury Ditch, so called, on the boundary of William 
 Clark's land, extending from the hill west of the Norman 
 Lj'on homestead, and passing southward near the present 
 residence of Ezekiel F idler, past the rear of Mr. Haviland's 
 house, and near the crossing of the Springfield, Athol and 
 North-eastern railroad with the Three Rivers road, across 
 
G HISTORY OF LUDT.OW. 
 
 the river, and near the Stony Hill road, in Wilbraham. The 
 land divided, as above described, Avas the outward commons, 
 eastward of this line. Each of the one hundred and twen- 
 tj-'five took a share in each of the three sections east, and 
 and the two west of the Great River. None of this outer 
 common land was considered very valuable, but the 
 method of division indicated was certainly fair,* 
 
 A glance at the map will show that the northern sec- 
 tion of the east outward commons, and a small portion of 
 the middle section, lies to-day in the town of Ludlow. 
 The shares were not equal, but according to valuation, of 
 course varying much. It is said that the narrowest were 
 eight feet wide, measured at sixteen feet to the rod, much 
 to the perplexity of proprietors in following generations. 
 These original territorial divisions may be seen to-day on 
 Wilbraham mountains, indicated by the parallel lines of 
 wall running east and west. 
 
 In the north section, east, the school and minister lots 
 ran through Cedar Swamp and over the north end of Mina- 
 chogue mountain. The south boundary of the section 
 must have passed not far from the south shore of AYood 
 pond, and past the Miller Corner school lot to the river. 
 The Chicopee river seems always to have constituted the 
 boundary between Ludlow and Wilbraham, though by a 
 singular oversight, the hither shore of the stream seems in 
 both cases to have been fixed as the limit of the respective 
 towns, leaving the Chicopee to flow uninterruptedly down- 
 ward through the limits of Sj^ringfield, disowned by both 
 towns on the borders. 
 
 This little section of the middle portion of the outward 
 commons, east, has the honor of being the first settled in 
 the territory since bearing the name of Ludlow. Who 
 was the first settler, is as yet a question undecided. Tra- 
 dition gives the post of honor to one Aaron Colton, whose 
 
 ^See Appendix B. 
 
EARLY SETTLEES. 7 
 
 home was situated on the bluff, just above the Chicopee 
 river, where Arthur King now lives, and who must have 
 settled prior to 1751. James Sheldon, Shem Chapin, and 
 Benjamin Sikes are said to have been living in the town 
 at the same period. James Sheldon is supposed to have 
 lived on the site now occupied by Elijah Plumley's red 
 house ; Benjamin Sikes, at the place just north of the 
 Mann farm, on his allotment of commons ; and Shem 
 Chapin, near the home of Samuel White. Thus of the 
 first four homes known in the town, three were in the 
 outward commons.^ 
 
 We read, also, that " about 1748, Mr. Abel Bliss, of Wil- 
 braham, and his son, Oliver, collected in the town of Lud- 
 low, and west and south part of Belchertown, then called 
 Broad Brook, a sufficient quantity of pine, to make two 
 hmidred barrels of tar, and sold it for five dollars per bar- 
 rel." With the proceeds, Bliss built a fine dwelling-house 
 in Wilbraham, the envy of all the region. 
 
 In 1751, came the family of Joseph Miller, braving the 
 terrors and real dangers of a journey fourteen miles into 
 the forest, away up the Chicopee river, to the present 
 place of Elihu J. Sikes. The friends in their former home, 
 West Springfield, mourned them as dead, and tradition 
 has even stated that a funeral sermon was preached over 
 their departure. Under their careful management, a pleas- 
 ant home was soon secured, charmed by the music of the 
 runnino* stream. As the wild forest trees succumbed to 
 the prowess of the chopper, tender plants grew up in the 
 home, and made the desert region glad by the echoes of 
 childish prattle.^ A little later, in 1756, Ebenezer Barber's 
 eyes turned toward " Stony Hill," and, beholding acres 
 
 ''It is rumored that a man named Antisel occupied a log house on the edge of 
 Facing Hills, subsisting on game, and tiiat lie antedates all these settlers. One Pe- 
 rez Antisel was deer-reeve in 1777. 
 
 ''They brought with them a female slave, who afterwards married. 
 
b HISTORY or LUDLOW. 
 
 of attractive land, sought out for himself a home near 
 Shem Chapin's, in the inward commons. The advent of 
 others was, after this, quite f re([uent ; so much so that 
 when the town was incorporated, in 1774, there were from 
 two to three hundred inhabitants. Jonathan Lumbard 
 commenced to clear a farm in the ulpper part of Cherry 
 Valley, in 1757. Joshua Fuller cleared a spot on the 
 Dorman place, at the Center, in 17G7, probably bringing 
 with him his father. Young Fuller. James Kendall seems 
 to have made the common line his eastern boundary, when 
 he came into town, May 2, 1769. In 1770, Jonathan Burr 
 moved in ox-carts, from Connecticut, and settled between 
 Mary Lyon's and the mountain. In 1772, came Joel Wil- 
 ley, to Miller Corner ; while a young man from Wilbra- 
 ham, Isaac Brewer, Jr., who had cast furtive glances to- 
 ward the developing charms of Captain Joseph Miller's 
 daughter, and had braved the terrors of ford and ferry 
 and wilderness, that he might visit there, became more 
 and more enamored, until her graces, and her father's 
 lands, won him from the home of his boyhood, for life. 
 The happy young couple settled on the Lawrence place, 
 where the same musical ripple of the Chicuepe delighted 
 them, as had charmed the girlhood of the bride. 
 
 Of the other families, who came to town and settled 
 about this time, we have but room to give the names. 
 Northward of Colton and Miller, and towards the present 
 Center, lived Benajah Willey, afterwards the first district 
 " dark." Just south of him was a Mr. Ay nes worth, whom 
 fame has left without a memoir. Benjamin Sikes, the 
 father of Benjamin, Abner and John, occupied the ances- 
 tral farm, now owned by J. Mann, north of the Center, 
 while his son, Lieutenant John Sikes, remained with his 
 father. The son Abner went away to the eastward, three 
 miles, to settle, near the present Alden district school- 
 house. Near the line of the commons, and westward 
 
THE EEGION FORMERLY. 9 
 
 thereof, was, in '74, quite a settlement. The Hitchcock 
 home, occupied by Josiah and his son Abner, with fami- 
 lies, now forms the homestead of Lucius Simonds, while 
 another son, JosejDh, lived next west, and probably Ezra 
 Parsons and John Hubbard, not far away. Beriah Jen- 
 nings was near the present site of Ezekiel Fuller's house. 
 Shem Chapin's neighbors were Aaron Ferry, Jacob Coo- 
 ley, at the Torrey place, Noah Bowker, on the Samuel 
 AVhite farm, Israel Warriner, a little below, and farther to 
 the south, at the mill privilege, w^ere Ezekiel Squires, who 
 built the first grist-mill there, and hard by, Oliver Chapin 
 and the Zechariah Warners, father and son. 
 
 The region thus peopled must have been wild, indeed. 
 The roads were, in this period, hardly laid out, much less 
 prepared for travel. No dams obstructed the onward 
 flowing of the Chicuepe, no bridges spanned its stream for 
 the convenience of the towns-people, and others. The 
 grand highways of travel then, as now, were without the 
 confines of the town, the north-easterly route from Spring- 
 field crossed the plains within the inward commons, the 
 south-easterly trail of the red man went through the 
 South Wilbraham gap, as that of the white man must 
 sooner or later, wdiile the " Grate Bay Rode" wound its 
 way over plains and through passes just across the river 
 to the south, as far from Joshua Fuller and his neighbors 
 as the more pretentious successor of the "Rode" is to-day 
 from his descendants, occupying the old acres. 
 
 The surface of the land was in no desirable condition. 
 "Where now blooming fields are spreading to the sun their 
 luxuriant herbage, were then malarious bogs and sunken 
 quagmires. The ponds caught the blue of heaven then 
 as now, it is true, but their approaches were swamps, and 
 their shores were diversified with decayed logs and de- 
 caying underbrush. The region was infested with wolves 
 and bears, while fleet-footed deer browsed confidently 
 2 
 
10 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 upon the foliage of Mineachogiie mountain, sipped the 
 waters of Mineachogue pond, reposed in shniiber sweet 
 under Shelter rock, in Cherry Valley. Into such a re- 
 gion as this ciune the hardy adventurers, from Spring- 
 field, from West Springfield, from Ashfield, from Wil- 
 braham, from Shutesbury, from Ellington, from Glaston- 
 bury, from Somers, from Brookfield, from Bridgewater, 
 until a goodly settlement was made in all parts of the 
 present territory. 
 
 Where these people attended church, is left to conjec- 
 ture, but conjecture is not difficult. The Miller Corner 
 people would naturally go southward, to listen to the ex- 
 cellent sermons of the Reverend Noah Mirick, and, doubt- 
 less, it was while there the furtive glances of young Isaac 
 Brewer met, in spite of vigilant tithing-men, those of 
 Captain Miller's daughter, until their blushes would display 
 the ripening admiration. The other people, from the 
 north-west part, most likely sought the blind trail across 
 the wooded plain, following the blazed trees, until the 
 center of the town of Springfield was reached. 
 
 There could have been no imit}^ between the various 
 parts of the town, for a while. After a time, however, 
 neighborhoods were formed for mutual defense, the peo- 
 ple stopping at night at some convenient head-quarters, 
 safe from an attack by savage wolf or bear, or no less sav- 
 age Indian, to disperse in the morning, each family 
 to its own rude cabin, for the day's duties in the field, 
 and home again at night, to heed the horn in lieu of 
 curfew bell, and hie them to their lodging-house. 
 
 But as time rolled on, the people began to tire of this 
 condition. The waters of the Chicabee were, at times, so 
 swollen they could not cross them ; the rude paths so wet 
 or rough they could not with convenience traverse them. 
 Why not form a community of their own? Could they 
 not have a church, and a minister ? Could they not 
 
THE PETITION. 11 
 
 gather at some nearer center, and enjoy the immunities of 
 other towns and districts ? 
 
 Would that the records of these preHminary meetings 
 could be spread before us to-day ! But we may almost 
 read of their doings. Capt. Miller, and his son-in-law, 
 from the bank of the stream, Joshua Fuller, from the 
 present center, the Hitchcocks, and Jennings's, and Ken- 
 dalls, from the common line, the Chapins, and Bowkers, 
 and Cooleys, from over the hill westward, the Lombards, 
 and Sikes's, with their neighbors, Avould meet at Abner 
 Hitchcock's, or Jacob Kendall's, or Joshua Fuller's, and 
 talk the matter over, until in their minds the town w^as 
 already in existence, and then the work was easy. A pe- 
 tition was drawn up, very likely by Benajah Willey, pray- 
 ing " His Excellency, the Honorable Governor, Thomas 
 Hutchinson," representative of His Royal Majesty, the 
 King, '•' Dei Gratia," to grant to the people the rights and 
 privileges of *a district. The petition was duly signed and 
 sealed, and either carried by special messenger, or sent by 
 some traveler, by way of the Grate Bay Rode, to the 
 head-quarters of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in the far- 
 off town of Boston. And with what result ? 
 
SECTION II. 
 
 1774 TO 1800. 
 
 LUDLOW IN" THE EIGHTEENTH CENTUKT. 
 
 Governor Hutchinson — Trouble — Districts and tlieir functions — An- 
 swer to petition — The charter — First district meeting — The set- 
 tlers gathering — Original office-holders — Origin of the name — 
 Geographical theory — The other Ludlows — Edmund Ludlow — 
 Kogrer Ludlow — Remoteness of all these sources — Exchanaje of 
 names with Wilbraham — West line — A church needed — Former 
 ecclesiastical relations — Rev. Peletiah Chapin — Finding the cen- 
 ter — The revolution — The record — Incidents and notes — Rev. 
 Messrs. Davenport, Hutchinson, Haskell, Fuller, Pratt, Stone, 
 Snell, and Woodward — Success at last — Stephen Burroughs — 
 Call to Mr. Steward — Acceptance — Sketch of Rev. Antipas Stew- 
 ard — A slice from one of his sermons — Erection of church — Im- 
 provements on the edifice — Former chapels — Congregationalists 
 — Mr. Steward receives a hint — Baptists — Methodism — Drowning 
 of Paine and Olds — Shays — The Paine child — Sorrow in the JNIil- 
 ler family — Cemeteries — Schools — Districts — School-houses — 
 Representatives — Pounds — Warning out — Highways — Bridges — 
 Progress of the period. 
 
 Thomas Hutchinson was Governor of Massachusetts Bay 
 Colony when the inhalntants of Stony Hill, in Springfield, 
 applied for a town charter. He had fallen upon troublous 
 times. There were mutterings frequent and painfully ap- 
 parent against the ruling power. Men had even dared to 
 question the right of the King to control their actions or 
 their revenues. Three thousand miles of ocean waves, 
 and no steam navigation, or telegraphic cable, to connect 
 the shores, did not strengthen the weakening bonds. 
 Each winged messenger over the seas brought from the 
 
PETITION FOR INCORPOEATIOX. Id 
 
 old country tidings of the adoption of rigorous measures 
 against the colonists ; returning, the same vessels bore to 
 the perverse government news of increasing disaffection 
 on part of the Americans. Some had even averred that 
 the people of the New World could take care of themselves 
 and spend their own revenues, while the more sagacious 
 of English leaders foresaw the impending events, but 
 in vain pointed out the true remedies. The more disaf- 
 fected the colonists became, the more arbitrary were the 
 measures of the crown. 
 
 One of the measures adopted by England for the con- 
 trol of the American subjects was the reduction of the 
 representative power. As the inhabitants increased in 
 numbers, they formed themselves into town organizations, 
 having as one privilege that of sending a representative 
 to the general assembly. As these towns increased, of 
 course the number of representatives became larger, un- 
 til an unwieldy body was assembling at the head-quarters 
 of the colony each year, rapidly assuming power, and en- 
 dangering the tenure of the crown. As a measure of 
 safety, it was at length decided to give further applicants 
 for town charter, all rights save that of representation, 
 calling the organizations districts instead of towns. 
 
 At precisely this juncture in affairs did the Stony Hill 
 settlers send in their petition for incorporation. There 
 seems to have been no good reason why the application 
 of the people should not be granted, and it was evidently 
 passed with no particular trouble. We append the an- 
 swer received, in the language of the State records : 
 
 " An Act for erecting that part of the Township of Springfield, 
 called Stony Hill, into a separate District by the name of Lndlow. 
 
 " Whereas, by reason of the remote situation of the inhabitants of 
 that part of Springfield, called Stony Hill, from the center of the town 
 and parishes of which they are now parts, and their incapacity there- 
 by of receiving any advantages from a longer union and connection 
 therewith ; and they have represented to this court that they are of a 
 
14 HISTORY OF LUDLOAY. 
 
 sufficient number and estates to support the charges of a district, and 
 have prayed that they may be accordingly erected into a district : 
 
 "Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and House of Representa- 
 tives, that that part of the Township of Springfield called and known 
 by the name of Stony Hill, and the inhabitants thereof, included and 
 contained within the following lines and boundaries, namely, bounding 
 southerlj'^ oa Chicabee River, east on the east line of said Springfield 
 and west line of Belchertown, northerly, on the north line of said 
 Springfield, or partly on Belchertown and partly on Granby, and ex- 
 tending westward so far as to include all that part of the outward com- 
 mons, so called, that lies in the north-east corner of the Township of 
 Springfield, and extending also in a line parallel with the west line of 
 said outward commons, one mile and three-quarters farther west into 
 the inward commons, so called, in said Springfield, north of Chicabee 
 River, be erected into a separate District, by the name of Ludlow, and 
 be invested with all the powers and privileges which towns in this 
 Province enjoy by law ; that of choosing and sending a Represent- 
 ative to the General Assembly only excepted. 
 
 "And that the said District shall have full right and liberty from 
 time to time to join with the town of Springfield, in the choice of Rep- 
 resentatives to represent them in the General Assembly, and that the 
 said District of Ludlow shall, from time to time, be chargeable with, 
 and pay their proportion and part of the charge and expense of such 
 Representatives, and the free-holders and other inhabitants of the said 
 District of Ludlow, shall be notified of the time and place of such elec- 
 tion in like manner as the inhabitants of said Springfield, bj'' a "War- 
 rant from the Selectmen of Springfield, directed to the Constable of 
 said District, requiring him to warn the inhabitants thereof to meet 
 and assemble in the meeting for that purpose, at the time and place 
 therein appointed, and that the pay of such representatives be borne 
 by the said District, and the towns of Springfield and Wilbraham, in 
 such proportion as they respectively pay to the province tax. 
 
 " And be it further enacted that the said District of Ludlow and the 
 inhabitants therof shall stand charged with the payment of their shave, 
 part and proportion of all debts and sums of money due and owing 
 from said town of Springfield, and all grants, rates and assessments al- 
 ready made, and that this Act shall not extend to abridge or affect the 
 rights of the inhabitants of the town of Springfield to the timber, 
 herbage, or stone on any lands in said District. 
 
 " And be it further enacted that the Honorable John AVorthington, 
 Esq., be empowered and directed to issue his warrant, directed to some 
 principal inhabitant of said District, requiring him to warn the inhab- 
 
ACT OF IXCORPOKATIOX. 15 
 
 itants of said District qualified by law to vote in town meetings, to 
 assemble at some convenient place in said District, some time in March 
 next, to choose all such officers as may be necessary to manage the 
 affairs of said District, and which by law ought to be chosen, which at 
 such meeting the}" are hereby required to choose. 
 
 "And be it further enacted that if the said west line of the before 
 described tract of land, now erected into a District, should not extend 
 so far as to include and contain the farms of Zachariah Warner, Zach- 
 ariah Warner, Jun., Oliver Chapin, and Ezehiel Squire, that their said 
 farms and lands, situate in said place called Stony Hill, be made part 
 of, and annexed to, said District, to all intents and purposes, and that 
 the same, with the inhabitants thereof, have and receive all the privi- 
 leges, duties and burthens of the said District, in as full manner as 
 though the same were contained within the limits and boundaries fii'st 
 described. 
 
 '' And be it further enacted, that the said District of Ludlow and the 
 inhabitants thereof, be, and hereby are at all times hereafter, freed, 
 discharged and exempted from all future duties, taxes and assessments 
 in the several parishes and precincts to which they before this Act 
 belonged and appertained; and that they be forever after disunited 
 and separated from all other parishes and precincts, and no longer be, 
 continue or remain, part or parcel thereof, or in any wise connected 
 therewith : provided, nevertheless, that they remain charged with the 
 pa3nnent of their part and proportion of all grants, taxes and assess- 
 ments, heretofore made by the respective parishes to which they before 
 appertained. 
 
 "And be it further enacted, that the said District of Ludlow shall 
 have and hold their share and proportion of all ministry and school 
 lands lying in the outward commons, so called, on both sides of 
 Connecticut E,iver, in said Springfield, and of all the stock of ammu- 
 nition, and of all sums of money in the treasury of said town, and of 
 all debts due and owing to said town (excepting the sum of two hun- 
 dred pounds heretofore granted and appropriated for building a bridge 
 over Chicabee River), there to be divided, appointed and set off to them 
 in such share and proportion as the inhabitants there paid and were as- 
 sessed to the last Province tax in said town, and that the said District 
 shall at all times be chargeable with the maintenance and support of 
 the present poor of the town of Springfield, in the same proportion, and 
 with their proportion of the maintenance and support of any person or 
 persons heretofore belonging to said town, but now removed from 
 thence, who shall be returned thither and become the public charge 
 thereof." 
 
IG HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 "February 23, 1774. This Bill, having been Kead three Several 
 Times in the House of Representatives, Passed to be Enacted. 
 
 Thomas Gushing, Speaker. 
 
 "February 23, 1774. This Bill, having been Eead three Several 
 Times in Counsel, Passed to be Enacted. 
 
 Thomas Flucker, Sec'y. 
 
 "February 28th, 1774. B}"- the Governor. 
 
 I consent to the Enacting of this Bill. 
 
 T. Hutchinson. 
 
 "A true copy. Attest, John Cotton, D. Secr'y." 
 
 " The Honorable John Worthington " issued his " War- 
 rant," according to direction, and then probably sent out 
 a Springfield citizen to see that the " inhabitants of said 
 District " conducted themselves with due legal propriety 
 at their first district meeting. The warrants were posted, 
 attracting such attention as never since have like docu- 
 ments, and the Ides of March were eagerly aAvaited. At an 
 early hour came the proud yeomen. From both sides of 
 Mineachogue, from the margin of Higher Brook and its 
 tributaries, from the edge of Shingle Swamp northward, 
 and Bear Swamp eastward, on foot and on horseback, 
 came the men and their boys, until the kitchen of Aljner 
 Hitchcock was well filled. The hand of Benajah Willey 
 traced out for the curious of later days the following rec- 
 ord, in chirography that would bear favorable comparison 
 with later specimens : 
 
 " The first town meetino: was held at the house of Ab- 
 ner Hitchcock, March IGth, 177-4. Moses Bliss, Esq., of 
 Springfield, was chosen moderator, Benajah Willey, clerk, 
 Aaron Ferry, Abner Sikes, and Joseph Miller Avere chosen 
 selectmen, Joshua Fuller and Jacob Kendall, wardens, Jo- 
 seph Jones, John Hubbard, Jr., and Joseph Hitchcock, 
 assessors, John Sikes and Jacob Cooley, constables, Joseph 
 Miller became the treasurer, Beriah Jennings, Joel Willey 
 and Noah Bowker were elected surveyors, James Kendall 
 
ORIGIN OF XAME. 17 
 
 and Oliver Chap in, titliing-men, Israel Warriner and Isaac 
 Brewer, fence viewers, Isaac Warriner and Ezra Parsons, 
 hog-reeves, Ezekiel Squires, Aaron Colton, and Jonathan 
 Lombard, deer-reeves " — surely a distribution of spoils. 
 
 It is a singular fact that the origin of the name of Lud- 
 low has never been satisfactorily settled. If the result of 
 repeated investigations had been to clear up this matter, 
 we might be satisfied ; the fact is, however, such exami- 
 nation has only resulted in throwing doubts upon theo- 
 ries previously advanced. The titles of towns were de- 
 rived from the most trivial circumstances, oftentimes. It 
 is rumored that a provincial governor crossed the sea in a 
 vessel named the Blandford. One of the earlier events 
 of his official life was the incorporation of a new town 
 west of the Great River. Assuming the prerogative of 
 naming the town, he thought well of the ship which 
 brought him safely over, and the town was yclept Bland- 
 ford. This fact illustrates the difficulty encountered by 
 inquirers of a later day in tracing the naming of town ti- 
 tles. We find no assistance in the earlier archives. Prior 
 to 1774, the region is called Mineachogue, Outward Com- 
 mons, the ^'' Cow Pasture," Stony Hill. The act of incor- 
 poration passes, and the new district is Ludlow. We are 
 unable to trace any connection with the geographical name 
 as elsewhere employed, and find ourselves forced into the 
 annals of biography for the more likely theories.^ 
 
 iTlie other places bearing the name are as follows : 
 
 Ludlow, County Salop or Shropshire, England. A considerable town near the 
 borders of England and Wales, of ancient origin, sending two members to parlia- 
 ment. Governed by a mayor and aldermen. Known widely because of its famous 
 castle just without the town, now in ruins, but for many years playing an iraporc- 
 ant part in the affairs of the kingdom, forming, as it did, one of the frontier outposts 
 of England. See a very interesting letter, from the Mayor of the town, in the 
 Appendix, C. 
 
 Ludlow, Windsor Co., Vt., a large manufacturing village on the Black River, just 
 at the hase of the Green Mountains, on the Cheshire railroad. 
 
 Ludlow, Northumberland Co., New Brunswick, on ouc of the brandies of the 
 Miramichi, 
 
18 HISTOKT or LUDLOW. 
 
 The first theory, presented by the able speaker at the 
 Centennial Celebration,^ points to Sir Edmund Ludlow, an 
 ardent republican living in England at the time of the 
 protectorate, who was one of the king's judges. Always 
 opposed to the idea of the protectorate, he won a warm 
 place in the esteem of all true patriots by twice standing 
 firmly against the ruling power in the interests of repub- 
 licanism.'' He flourished in the middle of the fifteenth 
 century. 
 
 ' The other suggested origin of name is from one Eoger 
 Ludlow, a prominent citizen in early New England colo- 
 nial history. He came to Roxbury about a dozen years 
 after the Mayflower arrived, and was ever a prominent 
 character. Presented to the people as a candidate for the 
 governorship of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1G34, 
 he failed of an election. Deeply chagrined at his defeat, 
 and stung by charges against his management as deputy, 
 he left the colony, removing to Windsor, Conn. Here he 
 became a leading man, at one time being employed to 
 draw up for the people a code of laws, long known as 
 Ludlow's code.* He removed after some years, to Fair- 
 field, Avhence, after an altercation with the officials of New 
 Haven colony, he departed to Virginia, and disappeared 
 from public sight at once and forever.^ 
 
 Ludlow, Miami Co., Ohio. Ludlow, Champaign Co., 111. 
 
 Ludlow, Dubois Co., Ind. Ludlow, Allamakee Co., Iowa. 
 
 Ludlow, Si.ott Co., Miss. Ludlow, Kentou Co., Ky. 
 
 Ludlowville, Lansing, Tompkins Co., N. Y. Ludlow, McKean Co., Pa. 
 
 ^Sce Address, Kote I. 
 
 ^^The theory suggested relative to the association of Ludlow and Hampden, per- 
 sons and names, seems hardly probable, as there was an interval of thirty-eight 
 years between the christenings. Would a tory like Ilutchiuson have honored the 
 memory of Ludlow ? 
 
 *This code bears the date 1G94. Among its provisions, were a fine of 5 shillings 
 for non-attendance at cliurch, and one of 10 shillings (or swearing. Tobacco was not to 
 be used by any under twenty, except on recommendation of a physician. A fine of 
 6d. was to be levied for the use of the weed in public. 
 
 ''For the etymology of the word and the Milton theory, see the letter from Mayor 
 John Adiiey of Lu.Uow, England, in the Appendix, C. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL DEMANDS. 19 
 
 Of these two suggested sources of the name, so nearly 
 contemporary, the reader must choose, until additional 
 light can be thrown upon the subject. An objection 
 against both sources is the remoteness of the characters, 
 a full century intervening betAveen them and their sup- 
 posed namesake.'' 
 
 The provision made in the charter for the incorporation 
 of certain farms within the limits of the district, probably 
 accounts for the angles in the western line of the town, 
 evidently made so as to include those lands belonging to 
 the proprietors named. The original boundary was evi- 
 dently very similar to the present. 
 
 The first meeting is past, the new district is named, 
 and all preparations are made for corporate existence. 
 But nothing has been done to bring about that state of 
 things so desirable to the settlers. They must have a 
 church and the ordinances of the sanctuary. 
 
 The w^orld may smile at the earlier annals of New Eng- 
 land history, but while smiling, may still read and ponder. 
 There was little in the rugged commons which foretold a 
 town. There was httle in the appearance of these hus- 
 bandmen that prophesied the Ludlow yeomen of to-daj''. If 
 you would learn of the principle that gave to these seem- 
 ingly inchoate elements their unity and combined strength, 
 read of their religious longings. They desired a place 
 for convenient worship, and so those worshiping westward 
 turned from their ecclesiastical home to find another east- 
 ward ; those whose heart-strings had entwined about the 
 Wilbraham sanctuary, loosened the tendrils and trained 
 them about the remoter center northward. When will 
 the lesson be remembered, that our nobler institutions had 
 
 *^In speaking of names, it is worthy of remark that while the name of Stony 
 Hill, formerly given to Ludlow, has been appropriated by a section of Wilbraham, 
 cur town preserves in its most prominent landmark, Mt. Miiieachoguej the title 
 once given by the aborigines to all the outward commons. 
 
20 niSTORT OF LUDLOW. 
 
 their bases planted on the stone once rejected, but now 
 " the Head of the Corner ? " 
 
 Tracing the records of the time, we soon discover the 
 people gathering again in district meeting, at Abner 
 Hitchcock's, April 22d, about a month after the other, 
 and voting " to hire Mr. Pelatiah Chapin." Explanations 
 in later records show that Mr. Chapin was desired to 
 preach. With an eye to order, as well as sanctuary privi- 
 leges, they, in the next breath, " voted that Swine Should 
 run at large yok*^ and with a Ring in their Nose as the 
 law Directs." Resuming the former theme, a committee, 
 John Hubbard, Abner Sikes and Joseph Jones were chosen 
 " for to agree with M\ Chapin." At an adjourned meet- 
 ing, "June 1th," Abner Sikes, Edmond Demon and Jona- 
 than Bartlett were chosen to find the center of the dis- 
 trict, that a location for a meeting-house could be fixed. 
 Still later, in October, the committee named, having har- 
 vested a crop planted since their appointment, rej^orted 
 that they had seen Mr. Chapin, and secured his services. 
 The district ratified their action, and authorized them 
 to continue in their official relation. The other com- 
 mittee failed to -secure as much favor, for they were dis- 
 charged, but Sikes and Demon were again employed for 
 the same purpose, together with Samuel Ackley and 
 Oliver Chapin. 
 
 It was at this meeting that there occurred the first offi- 
 cial measure bearing upon the coming struggle with the 
 mother country. The call to a meeting of all the prov- 
 ince had gone out to every town and district, asking for 
 the appointment of one or more delegates from each cor- 
 porate body, to a Provincial Congress to be held at Con- 
 cord. Joseph Miller was appointed to go, and went, not 
 only to this but to the succeeding session at Salem, held a 
 little later, and also to still another like gathering at Cam- 
 bridge, and another at Watertown the next May. A lit- 
 
THE REYOLUTIOX. 21 
 
 tie idea of the expense of these journeys may be obtained 
 from the item recorded later : 
 
 ''Voted that Joseph Miller be allowed his bill for attending the 
 Several Congresses, which is £11 13s 2d, likewise voted that the said 
 Capt. Joseph Miller have Two Shillings pr. Day for Thirty Two Days 
 Service attending the Several Congresses." 
 
 It mav be as well here to trace the town record throusrh 
 this fearful struggle, comprising the birth-throes of a 
 nation. Ludlow has no occasion to be ashamed of her 
 history in this respect. One in seven of her inhabitants 
 left for a longer or briefer time their homes and loves to 
 engage in the fray. In the defences at home, in the con- 
 flicts at the capital/ in the battles on the frontier, at the 
 carnage of Trenton, were found the representatives of 
 the little district in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. 
 
 A glance at the names of the men who went from the 
 district^ will make it evident to any one familiar with the 
 earlier history of the place, that the best blood was repre- 
 sented in the revolution. The records make evident the 
 fact that every burden imposed was borne, every tax paid. 
 The people seem to have taken " joyfully the spoiling of 
 their goods." In one of the provincial congresses, held 
 February 1, 1775, the place was assigned the care of ten 
 of the inhabitants of Boston, and March 20th the people 
 vote "that the Constables pay into the hand of Henry 
 Gardner, Esq""., of Stow, all the moneys Due from this 
 District Respectively to supply the said pressing Exigen- 
 cies of the Colony, according to a resolve of the late Pro- 
 vincial Congress." In the apportionment of coats for 
 soldiers in the service in 1775, Ludlow is to find twenty- 
 three, and no doubt the district complied. Twelve pounds 
 annual bounty for two years was offered to volunteers in 
 1777, while a bounty of thirty pounds was necessary, or 
 
 "It is reported that Dr. Aaron J. Miller was in the " tea party " at Boston. 
 ^See Mr. Tuck's Address, Note IV. 
 
22 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 deemed so, two years after. As money degenerates later 
 in the year, it becomes necessary to raise <£160 for war 
 purposes. Other instances of patriotism have been in- 
 stanced by another pen.^ The noblest monument of the 
 loyalty of Ludlow in her infancy, however, is in that no- 
 ble list of thirty strong men who went forth at their 
 country's call. 
 
 But the darkest nights end in gleamings of daA^ii, and 
 after all this self-denial and inconvenience and manifold 
 peril, we turn over but few pages of the records before 
 we discover references to " the late war." 
 
 It was a trying time for a new town, when its revenues 
 were diverted to pay the costs of war, and its young men 
 sent off to bear the musket. Yet the citizens persist in 
 living, and, moreover, in supporting the institutions of 
 religion among themselves. Mr. Chapin^'^ was hired for a 
 season, (probably a year in all,) and others in the passage 
 of time. An application was made in 1776 to neighbor- 
 ing ministers to supply the desk for a while. In 1777, the 
 selectmen are instructed to " provide a place for a candi- 
 date to board at while preaching among us." In 1779, 
 Rev. Mr. Davenport is hired for one month, and the com- 
 mittee left to decide whether he shall continue longer. 
 lie seems to have made little impression, for in 1778, 
 Jonathan Bartlett, Joshua Fuller and Joseph Hitchcock 
 became a committee " to hire a Candidate." AVho sup- 
 plied from 1777 to 1783, we have not discovered. In 
 that year, a committee was instructed to hire " M^ Hutch- 
 inson to Preach with us again." The next year a like 
 order is given with reference to " M"". Haskal," who, this 
 time under the soubriquet of " M"". David Haskill," seems 
 
 »See Address, Note III. 
 
 ^^'In the Cliapin Genealogy is the following : " Rev. Peletiah Chapin, son of 
 Elijah Chapin, b. 174(j, was a jireaciier of the Gospel for a groat number of years. 
 At the time of his imblishmunt the record says he was of Chesterfield, (probably 
 N. II.). He died in Now Ilampsliire, aged 'M." 
 
THE EAKLIEE MINISTRY. 23 
 
 to have been in town two 3'ears later. This reverend 
 gentleman enjoys the distinction of being the first to re- 
 ceive a call from the towns-people, a vote extending such 
 an invitation bearing record '• thursday the 19 Day of 
 October," same year. A committee of three is to apply 
 to neighboring minister for advice. Thirty-one days later 
 it is voted " to give Mr. David Haskill one hundred and 
 Fifty Pounds Settlement & Sixty Pounds Sallery yearly, 
 So Long as he Supplies the Town in the gospel ministry." 
 AYhether "Mr. David Haskill" objected to the terms, or 
 was rejected by the council, does not appear, but it is 
 certain he was not settled, for the next year the commit- 
 tee are instructed to apply to him again for a supply. 
 
 In 1788, the town signifies its desire for the services of 
 Mr. Stephen Fuller, and in the same year they propose a 
 call to Mr. Allen Pratt, and wish to hear him two Sab- 
 baths. In 1789, at a meeting called almost for the pur- 
 jDOse, it is voted to give a call to Mr. William Stone, with 
 the same settlement as was offered Mr. Haskill, and a 
 " Sallery " of fifty Pounds Yearly, " and also that the sum 
 to Increase forty shillings per year after one year, until 
 it amount to sixty-five pounds annually." But again 
 was the vacant pulpit to mourn over the futile attempts 
 at a permanent settlement. In 1790, "Mr. Aaron Wood- 
 Avard " is invited to continue his services, and the follow- 
 ing year" still finds him here, while in 1793 it is proposed 
 to call him, with a settlement of £150, and a salary of 
 £40 at first, increasing five pounds annually to £G0 — 
 the sums to be paid in grain or stock. The committee is 
 to confer with the reverend gentleman and report at a 
 future meeting, but his name at this point drops forever 
 from the records.^^ 
 
 "In 1791, it is recorded that the town desired tlie services of a Mr. Snell for four 
 Sabbaths. 
 i-l\ev. William Rice writes : " I think Woodward once lived iu Wilbraham, but 
 
 not as pastor." 
 
24 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 But day begins to dawn upon the often disappointed 
 people, and brings with it one who will stay among them 
 for a season and share their joj^s and sorrows. Under 
 date of May 1, 1793, we read, " Voted, to give the Minis- 
 terial Committee further Instructions to hire Mr. Steward 
 to preach with us a longer time." Antipas Steward, the 
 learned, the pious, has come to Ludlow to abide here. 
 
 But before proceeding with a description of this first 
 settled minister in the town, it will be desirable to men- 
 tion an episode which occurred during this ante-regnwn, 
 in which a character afterward notorious, plays an im- 
 portant part. Reference is made to the ministrations of 
 Stephen Burroughs, who in 1783 or 1784 preached his 
 first sermon in this town, bearing the assumed name of 
 Davis. Without further statement of the affair than re- 
 marking that the Fuller named must have been Joshua, 
 and the place of entertainment on the present Dorman 
 farm, we give the account of the affair as written by the 
 chief actor himself. 
 
 After mentioning the chain of circumstances leading to 
 his determination to preach, and describing his clothing, 
 *' which consisted of a light-gray coat, with silver-jDlated 
 buttons, green vest, and red velvet breeches," Mr. Bur- 
 roughs goes on thus : 
 
 "Hearing of a place called Ludlow, not far distant, where tliey were 
 destitute of a clergyman, I bent my course that way, it being Satur- 
 day, and intended to pi'each the next day, if I proved successful. I 
 arrived about noon, and put up at the house of one Fuller, whom I 
 found to be a leading man in their religious societ}''. I introduced my- 
 self to him as a clergyman, and he gave me an invitation to spend the 
 Sabbath with them and preach. You will readily conclude that I di<l 
 not refuse this invitation. * * * I retired to rest at the usual time, 
 and after I had composed my mind sufficiently for reflection, I began to 
 consider under what situation my affairs now stood, and what was to 
 be done under present circumstances. I had engaged to preach on the 
 morrow. * * * People had been notified that a sermon would be 
 delivered. Tliis business I never had attempted. * * * "What, 
 
STEPHEX BURROUGHS. 25 
 
 said I, would be my feelings, should I malce some egregious blundei' 
 in traveling this unbeaten road ';**** These considerations 
 made so dismal an appearance, that I at once concluded to get up, take 
 my horse privately out of the stable and depart, rather than run the 
 risk of the dangers which were before me. But upon more mature re- 
 flection, I found the hard hand of necessity compelled me to stay. 
 AVhcn I awoke the next morning, my heart beat with anxious palpita- 
 tion for the issue of the day. * * * The time for assembling ap- 
 proached ! I saw people began to come together. My feelings were 
 all in arms against me, my heart would almost leap into my mouth. * 
 * * Why, said I, am I thus perturbated with these whimsical feel- 
 ings ? I know my dress is against me, and will cause some speculation ; 
 but I cannot help it, and why need I afflict myself with disagreeables 
 before they arrive ? I endeavored to calm my feelings by those reflec- 
 tions, fortified my countenance with all resolution, and set out with my 
 bible and psalm-book under my arm, those being the only insignia of 
 a clergyman about me. When I made my appearance, I found a stare 
 of universal surprise at my gay dress, which suited better the charac- 
 ter of a beau than a clergjnnan. My eyes I could not persuade my- 
 self to raise from the ground till I had ascended the pulpit. I was 
 doubtful whether I had the command of my voice, or even whether I 
 had any voice. I sat a few moments, collecting my resolution for the 
 effort of beginning. I made the attempt — I found my voice at command 
 — my anxiety was hushed in a moment, my perturbation subsided, and 
 I felt all the serenity of a calm summer's morning. I went through 
 the exercises of the forenoon Avithout any diiSculty. * *= * 
 
 "During the intermission, I heard the whisper in swift circulation 
 among the people, concerning my appearance in such a dress. The 
 question was often asked with great emphasis, 'Who is he?' but no 
 one was able to give those answers which were satisfactory. A con- 
 sultation took place among some leading members of the society, rela- 
 tive to hiring me to continue among them as a preacher, as I had in- 
 timated to Mr. Fuller that I should be willing to continue among them 
 in that capacit}', should such a matter meet with their approbation. 
 I attended on the afternoon's exercises without any singular occur- 
 rence. The meeting being dismissed, and the people retired, I was 
 informed by my landlord, that they did not agree to hire me any 
 longer ; accordingly, I found my business here at an end. 
 
 " I was advised by Mr. Fuller, to make application to Mr. Baldwin, 
 minister of Palmer, for information where were vacancies. I accord- 
 ingly set out for Palmer on Monday morning." 
 4 
 
20 niSTOEY OF LrDLOW. 
 
 On IMonda}', June 1st, 1793, the town voted to give 
 Mr. Antipas Steward a " Call to Settle in the gospel Min- 
 istry among us in said town." At the same time a com- 
 mittee to estimate the amount needed for his support was 
 appointed, to report in four wrecks ; the committee were 
 Timothy Keyes, John Sikes, David Lyon, John Jennings, 
 Elisha Iluljbard, Israel Warriner, and James Kendall. 
 Whether they had difficulty in agreeing or not is un- 
 known, but it is certain that the next town meeting did 
 not occur until August 26th, when it was agreed to give 
 Mr. Steward sixty pounds, with thirty cords of wood an- 
 nually, as long as he should be able to officiate. A long 
 delay follows, but the people are not fiu'ther doomed to 
 disappointment, for on November 14th, the citizens trans- 
 acted the following business : 
 
 "1st, Voted, Esq'' James Kendall Moderator of said meeting. 
 
 " 2'', Voted that the ordination of M'' Steward be on wendsday the 
 Twenty seventh of Nov™ Instant. 
 
 " Voted to grant £20 to be asessed on the Polls and Estates of said 
 Town to defray the Charges of M"" Steward ordination. 
 
 "Voted that a Committee of three be appointed to See how the Said 
 money is Expended and make preparation for the Council on said day 
 and that John Sikes Esq^, James Kendall & Elisha Hubbard be Said 
 Committee. 
 
 "Voted that M' Joshua Fuller be appointed to keep good order and 
 Hegulations on ordination da}"." 
 
 It was a proud day for Ludlow, that November 2Tth, 
 1793. Every citizen stepped firmly, every matron put on 
 her best gown, every damsel smiled sweetly, for was it not 
 ordination day, and was not Ludlow to have a parson of 
 her own ? Bezaleel Howard came from Springfield, and 
 probably Joseph Willard from Wilbraham, Joseph Lathrop 
 from West Springfield, Nehemiah Williams from Brim- 
 field, Richard Salter Storrs from Longmeadow, and, if his 
 health allowed, John McKinstry from the present Chico- 
 pee, as council, with perhaps others. The session could 
 
EEV. AXTIPAS STEWARD. 27 
 
 not have been tedious, for Mr. Steward was then an old 
 preacher. From that twent}^ pounds there must have 
 come something good for the inner man, and very Ukely 
 the Washingtonians of a half century later would have held 
 up their hands in holy horror could they have been per- 
 mitted to catch the tell-tale odors. 
 
 5^^^ i^y&i^ar^ 
 
 A fac simile of whose autograph is here presented, was 
 born in Marlboro, Mass., in 1734, and was graduated at 
 Harvard University in 1760, eminently qualified by scho- 
 lastic attainments. For a time he was a tutor in the Uni- 
 versity. It seems that when he was assigned a room as 
 tutor, in his absence, he having solicited single apart- 
 ments, he and one Mr. Fyler were placed together, that 
 gentleman and he having been the only ones presenting 
 such a request, and hence deemed suitable associates. 
 The succession of his labors has not been ascertained, but 
 upon his manuscripts are the name of Danvers East and 
 Gloucester, Sandy Bay, with reference in letters to a place 
 in Maine and one in Connecticut. 
 
 Mr. Steward was a small man, but slightly built and 
 short of stature, carrying with him a small cane, which, 
 preserved to-day, cannot be more than thirty inches in 
 length. He was near-sighted ; his chirography was good, 
 as the specimen indicates, but so close and fine that much 
 of it is to-day read with difficulty. Greek, Latin and 
 Hebrew quotations are freely and legibly interlined. He 
 was obliged to hold the manuscript close to his eyes while 
 reading. Gad Lyon led the singing, standing in front of 
 the minister, and lining out the psalms of easy meter. 
 Mr. Steward possessed a stentorian voice, and was withal 
 
28 IIISTOIIY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 very fond of exercising the same in psalmody. Mr. Lyon 
 was similarly blessed, so that irreverent auditors used to 
 say the parson and chorister vied with each other to see 
 who could make the most noise. Forming his opinions 
 under the shadow of Harvard long before the Revolution, 
 he was probably a tory, nor is it likely he ever changed 
 his views very much in this regard. Old people remem- 
 ber him as a fine specimen of the ancient province-man, 
 who, in powdered locks and a three-cornered hat, would 
 visit the homes and schools, encouraging the children by 
 a pat upon the head and an exhortation to be good, or 
 warning them with a statement that if they lied he would 
 find it out, though miles away. 
 
 From an old sermon of Mr. Steward's the folloAving 
 specimen selection is taken, illustrating not only the 
 quaintness of style and peculiarity of thought, but also 
 the real strength of the man, who, despite all caricature, 
 was no unworthy representative of his profession at that 
 day. The selection may be of use to some one who, by 
 reason of a storm, may some day be prevented attend- 
 ing town-meeting : 
 
 " First, I am to Show Avliat we are to understand b}'' y^ Injunction 
 in y®Text 'work out y*^ Salvation', &c., but before we enter upon a Dis- 
 cussion of tlie Command, it may be pertinent to premise a few Things; 
 and obviate some objections w*^**, if allowed, it would follow that the 
 Proposition is of no Manner of Importance; being either wholy 
 void of Meaning, or else requiring an utter Impossibility : but grant- 
 ing These, one or the other, it will appear of no great Weight, and 
 not, as in Truth it is, 'worthy of all Acceptation ;' and demanding our 
 highest Concern : 
 
 " Some may alledge, and say, that inasmuch as God sees and deter- 
 mines all y* Actions, w'** are done by any of his Creatures thro' the 
 Universe, they & their Ways being entirely under his Inspection, 
 and at his Disposal. None of them can do anything voluntarily, but 
 altogether by Necessity ; not being able to perform any Operation 
 spontaneously, and according to the Dictates of Reason. * * * 
 
 " To such Suggestions as these we rei)ly, and say : that. Altho' we 
 
TEMPLE BUILDING. 20 
 
 allow that God is infinite in Knowledge and Power; sees and deter- 
 mines all events in the Kingdom of Nature and Providence; yet we 
 suppose this doth by no means hinder the Liberty of Will in the 
 Creature ; but they may act as freelj'-, this notwithstanding, as tho' 
 they were absolute, and independent Beings ; and had the entire Dis- 
 posal of their Wills." 
 
 The drift of tlioiiglit very plainly indicates that Mr. 
 Steward was Arminian in view. He lived in the place 
 now owned by A. L. Bennett, and had two daughters, 
 one of whom married Dr. Sylvester Nash, and, if not liv- 
 ing, has passed away very recently. The other, who mar- 
 ried a Bardwell of Belchertown, was mother of Oramel 
 Bardwell, well known to our towns-people, and to whom 
 Ave are indebted for the most of these facts. 
 
 Let us now retrace our steps from the ordination to 
 earlier days, and recite the account of the erection of the 
 first church. One of the earliest actions of town-meetino- 
 we have seen, relates to fixing a stake upon a meeting- 
 house lot. The Ludlow people seem to have had some 
 difficulty in agreeing upon the location of their edifice. 
 It is rumored that the original center lay in the midst of 
 Cedar S^vamp, a rather shaky foundation for town ecclesi- 
 astics. The causes to which Mr. Tuck refers, the scarcity 
 of money and absorption of interest in the affairs of the 
 Revolution, were doubtless instrumental in the delay 
 experienced. However, just at the close of the strug- 
 gle, the people rallied and erected their desired place 
 of worship. Another hand has described the interesting 
 events ;^'^ we only add the names of the building commit- 
 tee, who were John Sikes, Moses Wilder, Timothy Keyes, 
 James Kendall and Isaac Brewer. After the raising, an- 
 other £200 was assessed for completion. The first town 
 meeting at the meeting-house, was held August 3, 1784, 
 which must have been near the date of first occupancy. 
 
 i=^Sce address of Mr. Tuck, Note V. 
 
30 HISTOHY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 The lioiise appears at first to have been merely enclosed 
 "svitli rough boards, without floors or plastering or doors, 
 save perhaps the rudest. In June, 1788, some parties 
 desired to have the place put in better shape, but failed to 
 secure the approbation of the town. The agitation 
 evidently did good, for four months later Warriner, Miller 
 and Burr were made a committee to repair the house. 
 Very likely there were needed the chats of a winter to 
 think over the matter, but in March specific instructions 
 followed. They must lay a floor, make doors, complete 
 the windows and clapboard the building. In October they 
 were allowed £30 for the work. Surely the temple was 
 now goodly indeed ; what more could man desire ? the 
 pride of humanity! Two years have hardly Avheeled 
 around before the extravagant people must squander all 
 of £18 in painting the meeting-house! One might to-day 
 go around the world half a dozen times while they were 
 doing the work, but the bill finally appeared in July, 1793. 
 One extravagance breeds another, and in '95 the town 
 votes its third £200 for completing the edifice, which same 
 sum, probably, is defined in federal money the next year 
 to be ^000.06. In two years and a half the indignant 
 citizens vote to bring their slothful contractor, one 
 "Lomis," to terms, by law, if need be, and appoint a 
 committee to put glass in the windows. 
 
 We are not left wholly to conjecture respecting the 
 plans for public worship and town business before the 
 house was fitted for use. The three favorite places for 
 town uieetings were Joshua Fuller's, Jacob Kendall's and 
 Abner Hitchcock's. In 1777, the houses of James Kendall 
 and Samuel Scrauton were prescril)ed as places for assem- 
 bly in worship and for town business. Barns seem to have 
 been brought into requisition ; one then standing opposite 
 L. Shnonds' present home was thus used, and has been 
 torn down within the memory of manv now living. 
 
CnUECTT MATTERS. 31 
 
 Burroughs is said to have preached in a barn near the 
 present Methodist church. 
 
 The church organizations seem to have made but Httle 
 progress up to the close of this period. Of course the 
 town ministry was Congregational, and the town services 
 after the order of that denomination. But there seems 
 to have been little permanent religious strength acquired. 
 It is stated that at the time the ministry of Mr. Steward 
 began, there were fifteen joined in church fellowship, but 
 we shall discover a diminution rather than increase as the 
 ministry advances. The labors of the reverend gentle- 
 man seem to have lacked appreciation before the century 
 closed, for in 1799 the town voted, that " a Committee 
 be appointed to signify to Rev*^ M"^ Steward that the town 
 are willing that he should be disconnected from the People 
 in this Place, if he should be willing himself." On the 
 10th of March a committee is instructed to ask him to 
 relinquish his claim of salary, using the precaution to 
 assure him of the disposition of the town " to cultivate 
 peace, love, concord and good agreement among them- 
 selves and a good understanding towards their minister." 
 As a result of the conference the town agree to make a 
 donation of £80 and pay all arrearages by November 2Tth, 
 on condition that he be released from service on the 1st 
 of June and draw no salary thereafter. 
 
 As early as 178G, David Daniels, David Paine and John 
 Scranton are excused from paying church rates, they pre- 
 senting certificates setting forth their adhesion to the 
 " Baptist Principles." These certificates are duly signed 
 by " Elder Seth Clark, minister of the Baptist church, 
 Wilbraham." 
 
 The beginnings of Methodism in Ludlow occur in the 
 last decade of the eighteenth century. The first itinerant 
 who visited the town was probably George Pickering, and 
 the second George Eoberts, whose efforts ante-date 1793. 
 
IVI ITTSTOr.Y OF LI'DLOW. 
 
 The first })romment layman in the town was Samuel Frost, 
 familiarly known as " Master Frost." In 1793, he invited 
 the itinerants to visit the town and preach at his house. 
 Nathaniel Chapin responded to the invitation. It is said 
 that two men accompanied him, Uriah Clough and Joel 
 Farniun. The experiment was successful in awakening 
 an interest, and in '95 the Tolland circuit itinerants from 
 Wilbraham came up and supplied statedly. The names of 
 these evangelists are preserved ; most prominent were 
 Menzies Rayner,^* Lemuel Smith, Zadoc Priest, Daniel 
 Ostrander and Laban Clark. At the close of our period, 
 however, no organization was existent, and no preaching 
 regularly occurring. 
 
 A few incidents occurring during this period are worthy 
 of note. In the last month of 1779, two young men, 
 Jedediah Paine and Solomon Olds, living in the south-east 
 part of the town, started on Saturday to go to Springfield 
 on business, driving an ox-team. Delayed at "town" 
 until late, when they reached the fording-place at Wal- 
 lamanumps, the shadows of night had gathered about the 
 stream, rendering the crossing dangerous. They tarried 
 until morning; lig-ht, and then availed themselves of its aid 
 to accomplish the rest of their journey. But the Sabbath 
 law was technically broken, and they had violated it. An 
 eye-witness living near the for.d complained of them, car- 
 rying the case to the county magistrates at Northampton. 
 To this place the young men repaired upon sunmions, 
 accompanied by some of their friends. Judgment was 
 pronounced against them, they to pay fine and costs. 
 John Jennings became surety for them, and they returned 
 homeward. It was Christmas day. While coming through 
 South Iladley, over the fields, they undertook to cross 
 a temporary pond on the new ice, but were so unfortunate 
 as to lose their lives in the attempt. There was great 
 
 ^^See Stevens's Hist. M. E. Church, p. 200— Mist, ot Wilbraham, p. 247. 
 
shays' kebelliox. 33 
 
 lamentation in Lucllow over the melancholy event, some 
 deeming it a judgment of God. Great indignation was 
 felt against the informant, who received half the fees.^^ 
 A local bard, Collins Hill, was so inspired by the occur- 
 rence that he gave to the world a poem about the affair, 
 copies of which exist in printed sheets, and from one we 
 take a selection.*^ 
 
 In 1787, came the events of Shays' Rebellion, in which 
 Ludlow had her share, furnishing, it is claimed, recruits to 
 both sides, though the general imj)ression seems to be that 
 the town rather sympathized with the rebellent hosts. 
 The track of the Shays part of the malcontents is sup- 
 posed to have passed through the town on their way to 
 the Springfield fight, and also in their retreat. On their 
 passage through South Hadley a Ludlow man, Isaiah Call 
 by name, was killed by a chance shot from a house .-^^ The 
 others in the Shays forces whose names are preserved, 
 going from this town, were Tyrus Pratt, John Jennings 
 and Samuel Olds. From local traditions it may be pre- 
 sumed the latter did not win many laurels, nor allow the 
 grass to grow much under his feet when he returned 
 homeward. Shays came into town from Ludlow City and 
 down the road, quartering his troops at Fuller's tavern, in 
 the West Middle. On his inglorious defeat he retreated 
 to Ludlow and thence northward, at a high rate of speed. 
 It is said that Ezekiel Fuller joined the forces at the tavern 
 and marched as far as Wallamanumps, where his friends 
 persuaded him to desert. The pursuant troops sought out 
 John Jennings in vain, for on their arrival at his home he 
 had found it convenient to make an engagement elsewhere. 
 
 A singular accident occurred about 1794, an account of 
 
 i^An old lady now living, exults in the recollection that two of his children, bom 
 
 afterwards, were fools ! 
 i'''See Appendix, D. 
 I'His widow's son has died in the town recently, a Mr. Rice. 
 
 5 
 
34 mSTOKY OF LUJ)J.OW. 
 
 which we obtain from a notice penned soon after. On 
 Friday, June 25, David Paine's son, riding on the top of 
 a load of four thousand shingles, fell off, and the cart, 
 Ijound with cast iron, passed directly over the middle of 
 his body. He was taken up for dead, but soon recovered, 
 grew to a good old age, and was well known, the late 
 Jonathan Paine. 
 
 In 1786, a grandchild of Capt. Joseph Miller Avas run 
 over by a cart, this injury terminating fatally, and the 
 corpse becoming the first laid in the old yard by the Con- 
 gregational church. In the following year his barn was 
 burned, and in it a little two-year-old granddaughter. In 
 a few months a son of Isaac Brewer was taken away in 
 the dawn of manhood, followed soon by his heart-broken 
 father. 
 
 The first cemetery was the one near the residence of 
 Truman Hubbard. This piece of land was presented by 
 Benjamin Sikes, the first in town of that name. There is 
 somethino: touchins; in the record of the transaction. 
 " Receiv'^ a deed of Gift from M' Benjamin Sikes of a 
 Certain piece of land in order to or as a place to bury 
 our Dead — voted also that the Thanks of the Town be 
 return*^ for the same to the said M"" Sikes for his Benevo- 
 lence." A board fence around it was ordered in 1782. 
 
 In 1792, the selectmen were instructed to procure a 
 bier and keep it in the meeting-house. In 1794, a com- 
 mittee Avas appointed to obtain a deed of another burying 
 ground, while seven years after the town thanks Elisha 
 Fuller for the cepietery south of the church. 
 
 The earliest reference to education is in 1777, when, in 
 troublous times and with an inflated currency, the town 
 voted £400 for the support of schools. A little later 
 came an appropriation of £20 ($G7), which in 1794 had 
 increased to £35 ($117). In 1800, the amount raised 
 was $133. The adjustment of school matters seems to 
 
SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 35 
 
 have been given at first to the selectmen, but not always 
 to the liking of the citizens, for in 1788 they vote to ac- 
 cept their arrangement of districts, " Except Eight Fami- 
 lies East of Cap* Joseph Miller's; and two Families North 
 of Zephaniah Rood's." A committee for districting ap- 
 pointed the next year did their work successfully. Dis^ 
 trict No. 1 included the present 1 and 2, very nearly, No. 
 2 was about the same as the present No. 3, No. 3 of that 
 da}^ was the Miller Corner of 1875, No. 4 Cherry Valley, 
 and No. 5 the existing No. 9. The selectmen were to hire 
 the school-masters and maintain six months' schooling in 
 Nos. 1 and 3. In 1791, a committee to locate and build 
 school-houses were entrusted with ninety pounds for the 
 purpose. Their recommendations for location were as 
 follows : For the west district, a few rods south of Israel 
 Warriner's house, probably at or near the present location ; 
 for the middle district, at the north-east corner of Elisha 
 Hubbard's fence, on the meeting-house road, near the 
 present residence of B. F. Burr, north of the road ; for 
 the south district, about twenty-six rods south of Capt. 
 Joseph Miller's, at a stake, at the present home of Dwight 
 Blackmer ; for the south-east district, twenty rods west 
 of David Daniels' barn, north of the highway, and a few 
 rods north of the school lot of to-day ; for the north-east 
 district, near where the new reservoir road turns from the 
 highway, south of the Keuben Sikes place. Mr. Peter 
 Damon's land and money for school purposes was joined 
 with the south-eastern school in Granby, in 1794. Minor 
 changes occurred in the location of school-houses from 
 time to time, the principal one being in Miller Corner, 
 where the lot now occupied was taken. In 1794, the 
 school business passed into the hands of a committee from 
 each district. The town appropriated six pounds for a 
 singing-school in 1791, and appointed a committee to hire 
 a singing-master. 
 
oCj HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 As occasion required, delegates were appointed to the 
 conventions relating to troubles culminating in the Shays 
 rebellion ; John Jennings attended the constitutional con- 
 vention of 1788 ; the first representation to the State leg- 
 islature was in 1785, when Joseph Miller bore the honors. 
 A committee of seven were intrusted to instruct him, 
 though in what branch of education we have no intima- 
 tion. A similar honor was borne by John Jennings in 
 1787, his tutors being five in number. 
 
 A pound was erected near Elisha Hubbard's in 1776, 
 thirty feet square, which, sixteen years later, had fallen 
 into decay. A little later a new one was erected of white 
 oak, near Oliver Button's house,^^ and the timber of the 
 old sold at vendue. The first reference to guide-boards 
 is in 1795, when it needed a committee of nine to erect 
 " way-posts." 
 
 We find but little in these days about warning people 
 out of town. Parties Avere instructed to take the matter 
 into consideration in '90, who three years later made pub- 
 lic the names of twelve persons who had signified their 
 intention to locate without the town's consent, and who 
 must leave within fifteen days. This course was very 
 likely taken in order that paupers thus once warned out 
 could be thrown upon the State for support. 
 
 The annals of the highways are very defective, so much 
 so that they can with the greatest difficulty be traced at 
 all. The roads from the present west school-house to 
 Ludlow City, and from L. Simonds's to Jenksville, are the 
 first mentioned. The old Cherry Valley road through to 
 J. P. Hubbard's, but not entirely as now, was laid out in 
 1782, and that from J. L. Mann's to W. G. Fuller's in the 
 same year. A highway from the east cemeter}'' to Miller 
 Corner was projected in 1784, and the same year one 
 across Cedar Swamp. The land damages for the piece of 
 
 ^"Now Hubbard Duttou's. 
 
A LINE OF BEAUTY. 37 
 
 road from the Congregational cliureh northward, in 1800, 
 were one shiUing per square rod. In 1793, a petition is 
 sent the county officers to lay out a road corresponding 
 to the route from Collins' Dejiot to Granby, as part of a 
 line which shall " commode the travil from the eastern 
 part of Connecticut to Dartmouth Colledge in New Hamp- 
 shire." 
 
 Respecting the bridges across the Chicopee a word in 
 passing may be necessary. It can hardly be presumed 
 that the one for which provision is made in the charter,^^ 
 was on the Ludlow line. A memorandum of highway 
 survey bearing date of 1776 speaks of the north end of a 
 bridge which was probably at Wallamanumps. A fuller 
 account of the bridges at that point may be found in the 
 succeeding chapters. The first at Collins' was erected 
 within the memory of living persons. 
 
 Taking in survey the whole of the period we find that 
 it was a time of establishment. Across the trackless wild 
 of 1774 were marked the lines of travel. The embryo 
 neighborhoods of the earlier date had developed into con- 
 siderable communities, while other clusters of houses had 
 been formed elsewhere. The fertile slopes of the eastern 
 base of Mineachogue had been improved by the Daniels's, 
 Olds's, and Wrights ; the dense woods along Broad Brook 
 above had been invaded and appropriated by the Aldens, 
 then nearer than now kindred of John Alden and " Pris- 
 cilla, the Puritan maiden ; " and there are not wanting 
 those who trace the fairness of many a Ludlow maiden 
 back 
 
 " To the damsel Priscilla, the loveliest maiden of Plymouth." 
 The Lyons also had commenced a settlement where their 
 descendants now live and thrive, while the falls of Walla- 
 manumps already had constant admirers in those dwelling 
 near by. 
 
 i'-*See p. 15. 
 
38 HISTORY OF LUDTX)W. 
 
 Initial attempts at manufacturing already had been 
 commenced. In the lay of a road we find reference to 
 " the saw-mill of Jonathan Burr and Company," after- 
 ^Yards long known as the McLean privilege, what is left 
 of it being now occupied by AVarren D. Fuller. A mill of 
 some kind was also in operation in the extreme north part 
 of the town, or the " city." At the south-west corner, 
 also, there was a saw-mill at this period. 
 
 In municipal affairs, the people seem to have proceeded 
 much as others did at the same period, At first, the clerk 
 and treasurer w^ere separate officers, but the positions were 
 finally vested in one person in 1796, John Jennings then 
 wearing the double honor. Tax-collecting^for the year 
 seems at one time to have been intrusted to several 
 constables, but after a while this mode w^as unsuccess- 
 ful. The next method was by two collectors, one for 
 the outward and one for the inward commons. For a 
 single year, one man undertook the herculean task of col- 
 lecting for the whole district. It was probably the cus- 
 tom at the warning of some of the earlier town meetings 
 for the constables to notify the voters individually, but 
 this method became too troublesome, and after a wdiile 
 the town resolved to post notices in several stipulated 
 places : " the meeting-house and the houses of Joshua Ful- 
 ler, Capt. Joseph Miller, Gideon Beebe, Benjamin Sikes, 
 and Joel Nash's mill." 
 
 At the close of the period the deer and wolves and 
 bears must have been mostly driven away, but for a while 
 they were doubtless frequent. It is said that when the 
 first Lumbard was one day in the neighborhood of where 
 Lyman Graves now lives, he found a large bear and two 
 cubs. Killing one of the cubs, the old bear pursued him, 
 driving him to a well-known precipitous rock near by, on 
 w'hich he took refuge. Foiled in her attempt to avenge 
 the death of her young, she kept guard on the place 
 
EELICS. 39 
 
 nearly a whole night, springing frequently from the ground 
 up the sides of the rock. Wolves were seen close by the 
 present residence of Ambrose Clough. But such days 
 passed away, and wdth them the beasts which infested the 
 region. 
 
 As relics of these days are shown at the present time a 
 shoe W'Orn by Capt. Miller's grandchildren, and a shell 
 used for calling together the " men-folks," w^hose resonant 
 sounds (those of the shell, not of the men-folks) are said 
 to have been heard three full miles when blown at the 
 brink of the Chicopee. 
 
 • Passing these interesting reminiscences of this period, 
 let us turn our attention next to events a little later, re- 
 luctantly leaving the tentative days of the grandsires for 
 transactions occurring during the lives of the sires of our 
 present citizens. In the last decade of the century all 
 the districts received the full privileges of towns — a fit- 
 ting transition from older to newer days. 
 
SECTION III. 
 
 1800 TO 1828. 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL ERA THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 Source of civil institutions — Religion in the town in 1800 — The con- 
 troversy — A summary proceeding — Suggestive epistle — Exit Mr. 
 Steward — Thurber— Phelps — Union efforts — Hedding — His min- 
 istry — His sacrifice — A new comer — Fast-day services — Alexan- 
 der McLean— Difficulty— Moody — Johns — E. B. Wright— Sketch 
 — Acceptance of call — Ministr}'^ — Methodism in 1802 — Itinerants 
 — A class — How it died — Later efforts — Dr. Fisk — Isaac Jenni- 
 son — Church built — Repairs on old church — The store — Cemeter- 
 ies — The first hearse — Improvements — A dastardly proposition — 
 War of 1812— Muster at Hadley— The Horse Company— The 
 men of 1812 — Desertions — Almost an execution — A souvenir — 
 Schools — Districts — Musical — Log-cabins — Political — Post-office 
 — Wages — Potato crops — A scare — Another scare — Frost's corn 
 — David Paine's death — The Annibal excitement — Theories con- 
 cerning it — A sequel — '' Nick and Tarz}^ " — Town bounds — Pub- 
 lic lands — Roads — Bridges — Succession of bridges at Wallama- 
 numps — Put's bridge — Cooley bridge — The camels — The present 
 Put's bridge — Calkins' manufactures — Other enterprises — A still 
 — Glass works — AVallamanumps privilege — Putnam's scythes — 
 The Jenckes's — The Springfield Manufacturing Co. — Develop- 
 ment of the village. 
 
 The dependence of our civil upon our ecclesiastical in- 
 stitutions must always, in the final argument, be conceded. 
 While some may point to the successes of social institu- 
 tions and municipalities when freed from their primal or 
 forced association with religious theses or observances, the 
 candid inquirer will find himself faced by the fact that the 
 
SOURCE OF CIVIL IXSTITUTIOJfS. 41 
 
 ecclesiastical invariably gives birth to the civil. In our ma- 
 turer times the church and state may thrive best without 
 formal interdependence ; but that very maturity to which 
 we may have arrived, really or seemingly, has developed 
 from the incipient supremacy of the church. Governmen- 
 tal laws and social restrictions, educational advantages and 
 commercial facilities, are traceable, surely and directly, to 
 the wholesome religious belief and usages of ancestral wor- 
 thies. Well indeed is it for our generation and those to 
 come, if we concede this principle. The state grows up 
 under the foster care and nurture of the church, finally to 
 go forth at its majority fully prepared for its mission. 
 Let not the child forget its nativity. We deem it no 
 object to seek some artificial title for the period we 
 enter. The establishment of the churches is an import- 
 ant epoch. 
 
 It will have been observed that the earlier ecclesiastical 
 references have left the religious affairs of the town in a 
 state of experiment. The Methodist itinerants, flying 
 evangels, have left their pointed message and sped aw'ay, 
 with no apparent lasting results. The little handful of 
 Baptists in the east part of the town have gone regularly 
 to their Bethel southward, but extend their influence 
 through an area very limited. The Congregationalists 
 have, it is true, a feeble organization in 1800, and a min- 
 ister of their order settled over the town ; but we have seen 
 how small were their actual numbers arid how dissatisfied 
 they were all becoming with their minister, who, though 
 learned and eloquent and pious, must have failed to com- 
 mend himseK to Calvinists of the Saybrook or Westmin- 
 ster schools. We shall see two of these three classes of 
 believers in the town thoroughly organized into successful 
 and useful churches before we lose sight of the period 
 whose outlook is before us. 
 
 Resuming the controversy 'over Mr. Steward where we 
 6 
 
42 IIISTOIIY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 left it in 1800, the people seem still in earnest about the 
 cessation of his labors in the town.^ The next movement 
 appears to have been made by the friends of the pastor, 
 asking in 1801 for a reconsideration of the action just be- 
 fore taken, but the movement failed in securing a])proval 
 of the town, at least openly. Some sort of a truce must 
 have been made, however, for the incumbent is still here 
 in October, and foils by his influence, evidently, a move- 
 ment of the opposition " to hire a candidate to preach the 
 gospel." The "ins" are almost always better than the 
 "outs," and possession gave tenure another year, when 
 again the warrant bristled with the notes of war. The 
 presence of even an errant presiding elder would have 
 been welcome, doubtless, for things have come to such a 
 pass that the town fathers feel constrained to try a desper- 
 ate alternative, even "to see what the town will do rela- 
 tive to the Continuance of the Eev'^ Antipas Steward 
 among us in the manner in which he stays at present, and 
 to take such measures as shall be thought proper to Cause 
 M"" Steward to be Dismissed from any further care of the 
 Church and People in said town." They have stripped 
 from him his revenues, but an insatiate crowd demand 
 also his mitre, and go so far as " to choose a Committee of 
 live members to join a Committee of the Church or any 
 part thereof, to take the most effectual measures to re- 
 move M"" Antipas Steward from the Church and People in 
 this town." Two days later the troubled minister re- 
 ceived a suggestive note which has been preserved : 
 
 "To tlie Rev"'' Antiims Steward, Pastor of the Clih in Ludlow. 
 
 Rev. Sir 
 
 Whereas tlie Situation of the Pastor and Church in this place 
 is such as we Suppose need advice and counsel this is to Request you 
 to call a meeting of the Church to see if the pastor chh and town can 
 
 iSee p. 3L 
 
CHURCH AND STATE. 43 
 
 agree upon a mntuall council to advise and direct us what is expedient 
 
 to be done in our present circumstances 
 Ludlow, Dec"' y* 8, 1802. 
 
 Timothy Keyes 
 Tyras Pratt 
 Jamks Kendall 
 Elisha Hubbard 
 Stephen" Jones 
 Moses Wilder 
 Leonard Miller." 
 
 The town committee was thus reinforced by Messrs. 
 Keyes, Pratt, Jones, Wilder, and Miller, probably from 
 the church, while John Jennings, Aaron Colton, and Tim- 
 othy Nash, appointed, for some reason withheld their sig- 
 natures. Of course there was little use to resist such an 
 appeal, and the council met in due time and dismissed 
 Mr. Steward in 1803, a little less than ten years from the 
 date of his installation.^ 
 
 The Ludlow Israel seems to have tired of a king for a 
 season, for we hear of no attempts at settlement or prop- 
 ositions for protracted service for half a score of years. 
 Rev. Laban Thurber,^ over whose later career a cloud un- 
 fortunately rested, supplied a while in 1805 and 1806, and 
 Abner Phelps in 1808, the latter to "preach out" the 
 town grant of one hundred dollars, w hich he evidently 
 did to the satisfaction of some. The amount allowed 
 about this time was not to exceed five dollars per Sabbath 
 — not a severe restriction either, as monev was valued 
 then. A reluctance to grant money for the support of the 
 gospel is evident very soon, no doubt largely influenced 
 by the primal sounds of the cry for the dissolution of 
 church and state. We shall see that the influence of the 
 teachings of New England dissenters w^as beginning to be 
 felt, even in Ludlow, as early as 1810. A committee of • 
 
 ^See Mr. Tuck's account of the proposed tests, Note VI. 
 ^A Baptist. 
 
44 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 tAvo from each religious denomination was allowed to sup- 
 ply preaching in that year, Deacon Stephen Jones and 
 William Pease representing the Congregational claims, 
 " Master " Samuel Frost and Uriah Clough the ^lethodist, 
 and Ezekiel Fuller and Abel Wright the Baptist, but with 
 no appropriation. 
 
 A singular state of things comes next to our view, in 
 glancing at the History of Congregationalism. For years 
 its people will welcome to their homes and hearts Method- 
 ist clergymen. 
 
 In 1810, or in the succeeding year, came " Elder Elijah 
 Hedding" to Ludlow. Appointed to the New London dis- 
 trict as presiding elder, he found it desirable to move from 
 his itinerant's home at Winchester, N. H., to some conven- 
 ient point in the central part of the field assigned. The 
 feebleness of the denomination in New England at the time 
 is evident from the fact that Mr. Hedding selected Ludlow 
 as his home. His oversight reached from New Hampshire 
 line to Long Island Sound, from Needham to the ridge of 
 the Green Mountains. Finding the ecclesiastical affairs 
 in so lamentable a condition in the town of his adoption, 
 he set himself to remedy the same. Paying no attention 
 to the unsuccessful designs of some to oust him from the 
 town by proposing to have bin; warned out as having "no 
 visible means of support," the good minister accepted an 
 invitation to preach in the meeting-house on a Sabbath 
 when he was home. Gaining the good-will of the people, 
 he supplied another Sabbath when at liberty, as his district 
 work occupied his time but eight Sabbaths in a quarter. 
 A very satisfactory arrangement was finally made whereby 
 Mr. Hedding supplied the desk every Sabbath at his com- 
 mand, fdling up some of the rest with the services of a 
 talented local preacher, Joshua Crowell of Ware. Under 
 this administration prejudices were disarmed very speedily, 
 and all brought into sympathy with the minister thus 
 
HEDDIXG MCLEAN. 45 
 
 uniquely combining the duties of presiding elder in the 
 Methodist church and stated supply in the Congregation- 
 alist. 
 
 This arrano-ement lasted as lono; as Mr. Heddino; lived 
 in town — a year. The friendship between the minister 
 and the people was of the warmest kind. His pure life 
 and godly sermons told in spiritual effect. The conference 
 session drew near, and with it the limitation of Mr. Hed- 
 ding's agreement. The people were suited, desired him 
 to stay, asked him to stay. It was a trial to him. On 
 the one hand were home and ample support, a satisfied 
 and loving people — on the other, a life of wandering, with 
 all the uncertainties and privations of the earlier itiner- 
 ancy. Yet he did not waver, but took his next charge 
 without murmuring. 
 
 In 1813 the war was raging against Great Britain, and 
 the people were in a state of excitement. All on the sea- 
 coast became nervous, and flocked to the inland regions in 
 troops. Among these refugees from the dangers of the 
 war with England was a small, bright-eyed man from 
 Provincetown, on Cape Cod, who strayed into Ludlow 
 in the Fall. After severe defeats in the north-west, 
 President Madison issued a proclamation for a day of fast- 
 ing. It so happened that the Provincetown stranger 
 arrived here at just about the day appointed for the fast 
 service. He inquired for a meeting, and was told that 
 there was no minister in the town and no service had 
 been appointed. He replied that he was a clergyman, and 
 would be pleased to conduct worship if the people so de- 
 sired. They gladly accepted the proposition, gathered 
 together and listened to a flaming sermon from a Metho- 
 dist local preacher on the fitting text : " The people of 
 Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast." Among 
 other good things he hoped that in the company there 
 were "no immoderate eaters and drinkers, no gluttons 
 
46 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 or wine-bibbers." Such was the advent of Alexander 
 McLean into Ludlow. 
 
 So pleased were the people with the sermon and the 
 man, that arrangements were at once made for a trial ser- 
 vice of four weeks as minister. The towns-folks then 
 insisted that Mr. McLean should be hired for a year, and 
 he was engaged. Ludlow was henceforth his home. 
 His fac simile is here presented : 
 
 Under his administration, continued until 1816, matters 
 went on quite smoothly, at least for a while. True, there 
 were some who objected to the idea of a settled Methodist 
 preacher, but as the town managed the ecclesiastical affairs, 
 there was little room for objection. The causes of disquiet 
 are easily surmised. 
 
 In 1814 there was a great mortality in the town, num- 
 bers of homes being made desolate. Under the ministra- 
 tions of evangelists and Mr. McLean a powerful awakening 
 followed, " more extensive," says our informant, " than 
 ever was known in the town before." Large numbers 
 professed a hope in God. Of course a question of church 
 relationship arose. Intimately associated with this was 
 another. Mr. McLean was not, according to existent 
 church rules, competent to administer the ordinances of 
 baptism and the Lord's supper. Wordy altercations 
 between the parties followed, which were resultful in 
 alienation of feeling. The Congregationalists signed a 
 declaration of church relationship, and would no longer 
 atliliate with the town's minister. In 1817 his official 
 services seem to have terminated. Later in the year the 
 town again authorizes the three denominations to furnish 
 the pulpit supply, but with the proviso that the money 
 should be expended within the meeting-house. An un- 
 
REV. E. B. WRIGHT. 47 
 
 successful attempt to press a call to Mr. Eli Moody indicates 
 the presence of that gentleman a little after, while vet- 
 erans speak with animation of frequent supply from Rev. 
 Mr. Johns of South Hadley. In 1819, the society and 
 town unite in callins; one destined to bear a leadino- share 
 in the doings of the town for^early a score of years. 
 
 Rev. Ebenezer Burt Wright was born in Westhampton, 
 and graduated at Williams College in 1814. He pursued 
 theological studies at Andover, was licensed by the Salem 
 Association at Danvers, April, 1817. He was a young 
 man, full of fire and zeal, having a profound conviction of 
 duty and a lofty reverence for his exalted office, when he 
 came as a candidate to Ludlow. The people were pleased 
 with him, and extended a call, which, after earnest and 
 prayerful consideration, he accepted in fitting terms. The 
 character of the man, perhaps, could not be better shown 
 than by excerpta from his letter of compliance. " I regret 
 the disappointment that I may have occasioned by delay- 
 ing my decision so long ; but in a case of so great conse- 
 quence I could not presume. * * * My doubts are at 
 length chiefly removed. There is a God who reigns. I 
 have endeavored to ascertain His will ; and I dare not 
 proceed contrary to what His will appears to me to be. 
 * * * I hope God designs to make me (unworthy as I 
 am) an instrument of building up the kingdom of His Son 
 in this place ; most cheerfully do I devote myself to a 
 people in w^hose welfare I feel much interest. For you I 
 trust I shall heartily labor, and permit me to expect that 
 my labors will be constantly assisted by your fervent 
 prayers." He was ordained pastor, December 8, 1819. 
 
 The influence of such a man in the town could not fail 
 to be salutary in the highest degree. The little band of 
 church memljers, reduced to about half a dozen when Mr. 
 Steward left, had been, to be sure, increased by revival 
 influences and accessions from other towns. Yet, with no 
 
48 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 organizer and leader, healthy growth was almost impossible. 
 Mr. Wright's ministry was well qualified to induce confi- 
 dence in the society — not only mutual confidence among 
 his own people, but a feeling of respect on part of the 
 scattering numbers of Baptists and slowly increasing 
 company of Methodists, as nvell as outsiders. When the 
 town has at length commenced the process of divorcement 
 from the church, we see from year to year the records of 
 the clerk referring, probably in accordance with the 
 verbiage of the day, and yet with real or fancied fondness, 
 to "Rev. E. B. Wright's society." 
 
 The life and career of Mr. Wright is within the memory 
 of many living, some of the chief actors in the events of 
 his ministry in Ludlow being still upon the stage of action. 
 We have not the liberty of so freely dilating upon trans- 
 actions so recent. His friends should lay away references 
 to the pastorate and pen down reminiscences for future 
 annalists. No one ever questioned his sincerity or purity. 
 The Wilbraham historian appreciatingly speaks of " that 
 saintly man, Ebenezer B. Wright."^ On two occasions,^ 
 having been made acquainted with the real or imaginary 
 weakened financial ability of the town, he relinquished a 
 hundred dollars of his salary. Ilis honesty was proverbial 
 — at times almost leaning to credulity. 
 
 Over his life there seems to have come a shade of sor- 
 row. It is not for us to judge where responsibility rests 
 or rested. The story is simple enough, when stripped of 
 its explanations. He was human, and, not unlike others" 
 of his race, was charmed by the attractions of a worthy 
 lady in the parish, but one upon whom smile of wealth 
 and rank in position had not rested. There were objec- 
 tions presented by well-meaning persons, very likely 
 pressed beyond judicious limits. His mind was fixed upon 
 
 *Stebbin«' History, p. 150. 
 61823 and 1827. 
 
($ /^. 52^<r-^.;gC^ 
 
 KEY. E. B. WKinilT. 
 
 MiMSTKR OF JllE T(AVN loll SlXi'EKN YKARS. 
 
METHODISM. 49 
 
 the alliance, and, baffled, finally reeled and tottered. 
 Borne aAvay to the care of skilled persons for a while, he 
 recovered and returned, but he returned to celebrate the 
 intended nuptials. The marital life was one of great hap- 
 23iness. 
 
 Under the administration of Mr. Wright the Society 
 thus obtained that strength and position which has been 
 continued to the |)resent day. Let us noAv glance at the 
 history of Methodism during the same period. 
 
 It will be remembered that w^e left the interests of 
 Methodism at a very low state in 1800.'' The itinerants 
 had abandoned the field and left little to remind of labors 
 there save the good seed sowed, which, to all appearances, 
 was buried deeply. But those old itinerants knew no 
 such word as fail, and soon resumed labors in Ludlow. 
 Li 1801, probably on invitation of " Master " Frost, the 
 preachers were again invited here, and successfully. 
 Meanwhile the new cause had received accessions. In the 
 Fall of 1801 David Orcutt, perhaps the first class-leader 
 in the town, removed hither, and for seven years at least 
 meetings were held at Samuel Frost's. The circuit 
 preacher wdio organized the class was Henry Fames, and 
 March 29, 1802, was the date of founding. There were 
 about a dozen members. Augustus Jocel}^, the next cir- 
 cuit preacher, established a Sabbath appointment in Lud- 
 low and spent a considerable portion of his time here. 
 
 In August, 1802, occurred a notable event in the his- 
 tory of the movement — what is now remembered as an 
 "old-fashioned quarterly meeting." The place appointed, 
 of course the house of Samuel Frost,' being too small was 
 enlarged for the occasion by the addition of a rude shed, 
 covered with brush and tree branches. Preparations com- 
 plete, an audience was not wanting, for crowds assembled. 
 
 •^See page 32. 
 
 ■"Now the Kellogg place, near Eaton"? mills. 
 
50 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 A large delegation from the towns around, even as far as 
 East Hartford and Granville and Pomfret, came to the 
 place of rendezvous. The towns-people, of course, were 
 out in force to see the first real demonstration here of 
 what some have been pleased to term ''Christianity in 
 earnest." A sermon by the presiding elder, Daniel 
 Ostrander, perhaps his grandest effort, made the occasion 
 memorable to all. From this time to 1808 there were 
 maintained services, private and public,^ without much 
 omission. Among the preachers were Gove, Tucker, 
 Sampson, Norris and Lambord. There was rather de- 
 crease than otherwise in the latter part of the time 
 mentioned, until finally the class was discontinued by 
 Lambord. Uriah Clougli, however, gathered together the 
 remnants of the organization into another class after a 
 little dela}^ 
 
 This class seems to have lasted durino; half a score of 
 years at least. Of course no demonstrations towards a 
 pulpit supply were made during the labors of Heddiug 
 and McLean. Yet during the ministry of the latter he 
 seems to have encouraged the visits of Methodist preach- 
 ers, who often, we are told, spoke in the old meeting- 
 house. Quarterl}^ meetings Avere held in the edifice, and 
 a local preachers' conference once occurred there. He 
 also reorganized the West Middle class on a more perma- 
 nent basis. 
 
 After 1810 there was little done by the Methodists for 
 a number of years. Occasional preaching services oc- 
 curred through the town, and the social meetings were 
 more or less faithfully attended. Yet there was little 
 accomplished save by the agitation of the Arminian 
 tenets and preparation for future successes.^ The class 
 
 ^There was awliile i)reachiiig services in two places in town. 
 
 ^At about \S'20 tlie opponents of tlie parisli tax law formed an orjianization under 
 tlie name of the " Methodist Legal Society," with McLean as nominal pastor. 
 
REY. WILBUR FISK. 51 
 
 was almost defunct in 1825, when aid came from an un- 
 expected quarter. 
 
 . The earher itinerants were not men of eminent scho- 
 lastic attainments, and hence found themselves at a disad- 
 vantage when before many of the New England people. 
 And yet their natural qualifications were not to be de- 
 spised, while the experience gained in their peculiar work 
 was better for them than a collegiate education. Still 
 advantage Avould frequently be taken of their lack of 
 specific education by pedantic clergymen of the standing 
 order. Not always did the itinerant come out second 
 best, even in these encounters. The anecdote of Jesse 
 Lee is illustrative of this. An Orthodox minister ad- 
 dressing him in Greek, he replied in Low Dutch, much to 
 the discomfiture of his antagonist, who supposed the 
 response was in Hebrew. When however a graduate of 
 Brown University went into the Methodist itinerancy the 
 new movement received dignity not before obtained this 
 side the sea. 
 
 Such were the facts with reference to Wilbur Fisk and 
 his relations to Methodism. As he took the school re- 
 cently established in the northern wilds of Newmarket 
 and transplanted it to the neigliboring town of Wilbra- 
 ham, scarcely less undeveloped, the people of the standing 
 order looked on Avith at least respect. And when this 
 same Wilbur Fisk, as pious as learned, as earnest in mis- 
 sion work as in founding schools, of rare eloquence and 
 rarer earnestness, left his classes behind and rode up 
 into Ludlow to preach the gospel to handfuls of people, 
 the populace began to understand that Methodism had 
 come to town to make its abode here. 
 
 Dr. Fisk Avas not long; in Avinnino; the confidence and 
 attention of those Avho Avere Avilling to convene at the 
 residence of Rev. Alexander McLean^° to listen to his 
 
 I'Tlic present home of Josliua Clark. 
 
52 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 earnest proclamation of the gospel truth. Soon there 
 was a harvest of souls and a demand for organization into 
 a church. In a few months Mr. Fisk, through Mr. 
 McLean, caused letters missive to be sent through the 
 town, inviting the Methodists and all favorable to the en- 
 terprise, to meet at the house of Zera Fuller^^ on the 
 afternoon of February 5, 1827, to consult Avith reference 
 to "erecting a house for the Public Worship of God, to be 
 located as near the center of the M. E. Society in this 
 town as possible. "^^ Soon everything was under way. 
 Captain Joseph Miller furnished the timber. Rev. Isaac 
 Jennison, preacher, architect and boss-carpenter, went 
 with the old gentleman and his little grandson, (now Dr. 
 Wni. B. Miller of Springfield,) to select the tall straight 
 pines for the sills and j)osts and plates. They were gath- 
 ered from the forest near Wood's pond, where Sylvester 
 Miller, now lingering with us, cut down the first tree 
 marked. McLean wjis a valuable and persistent worker 
 in the enterprise, soliciting funds and labor and material 
 the whole town over. Few, if any, were slighted in 
 those invitations. The axe and adze were made to fly, 
 (by none more dexterously than by Parson Jennison,) the 
 patient oxen and sturdy drivers conducted the logs to the 
 mill and soon the hand of Jennison had framed the mas- 
 sive timbers. The crowd who came to that raising saw 
 every stick take its place in order, every mortise receiv- 
 ing its tenon to the very shoulder, every trunnion going 
 home tightly, and no rum to help either, thanks to the 
 advance in temperance principles in haK a centur}-.^^ At 
 last the work was done and the place ready for the dedi- 
 cation, which occurred, probably, July 5, 1828. The size 
 was 40 by 50 feet. 
 
 "Where A. J. Cliapiii now lives. 
 
 i2We take our extract from tlie letter to Elias Frost, son of Samuel, ever a warm 
 friend to the cause, wliose name to-day is "as ointment poured forth " 
 i^See Historical Address, account of raising tiie ciiurch. 
 
EXTRAVAGANT INNOVATIONS. 53 
 
 Methodism was now fairl}^ established in the town. 
 Jennison and Noah Perrin supplied the charge that year, 
 while a new minister was appointed to preach after the 
 dedication. 
 
 We will glance at other interests in the town before 
 closing the record of this ecclesiastical era. 
 
 There are few especial references to the other church 
 edifice. It seems to have been serving its day and gener- 
 ation, gradually succumbing to wind and weather, and 
 occasionally pressing a claim for repairs, with infrequent 
 success. Used as meeting-house in a municipal as well as 
 religious sense, it had every opportunity for a display of 
 its excellencies or its defects. In 1805 there is record of 
 a loud call for glass in the windows and for wooden steps 
 up which the worthies might climb on their entrance 
 to the sanctuary, nor was the cry disregarded. The 
 people could not have been over-nice in their archi- 
 tectural demands, for they abide in patience a brace of 
 decades. Then the pent-up longings of years burst forth 
 wildly as demands began to be made. The honest 
 sashes again demanded glass, the wooden stej)s, probably 
 never painted, had rotted away, while some who had 
 found necessity for an umbrella in church, averred to the 
 astonished managers that the roof needed patching; 
 Avhereat there were orders at solemn conclave that meas- 
 ures should be taken to stop the "leaks in the roof, if 
 there be any." Individuals were to be allowed to paint 
 the liouse and put step-stones in front. Deacon S. Jones 
 passed a paper around for the purpose, and obtained 
 $146.32, of which sum $25 was given by the " Spring- 
 field Manufacturing Company." One year later, these 
 improvements having been consummated, the town had 
 the daring to allow a committee of three, (who must be 
 immortalized — they were Benjamin Jenks, John Moody, 
 Eliphal Booth,) to put in a stove, at the expense of indi- 
 
54 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 vitliiiils. TliL' horse-sheds date back to 1814, notwith- 
 standin^r the sunilarity of some to the present condition 
 of the tower of BaljcL Parties erecting them bid for 
 choice of lot, under direction of the selectmen. 
 
 From tlie house of God to the resting-place of the dead 
 is a frequented path. There are sufhcicnt references to 
 the places of burial to assure us that these busy scenes 
 were often interrupted by the service funereal. It be- 
 came necessary in 1805 to fence with post and rails and 
 half-wall the yard by the church. A dozen years later 
 the people meet to "spell" in repairing the fence. In 
 1823 the town appropriates thirty dollars for a hearse. 
 Before this time the dead were borne on biers to the 
 grave, a journe}' of miles on foot being often required. 
 Men are living who have aided in conveying a corpse in 
 this manner from the extreme Avest to the cemetery near 
 the center. In 1825 the fences of both yards need re- 
 pairs. Simeon Pease, the wit of the town, bid oft" the 
 repairs of the center yard at the siun of live cents, evi- 
 dently to postpone the work until the town would do it 
 with thoroughness. In a few weeks he became one of 
 a committee to build a thorough half-v\'all fence, with 
 sawed posts and rails above. Great excitement was 
 caused about this time by a proposition to move all the 
 bodies' interred in this yard, the proposition being scorn- 
 fully rejected — how wisely is not evident. A hearse- 
 house was erected in 1827. 
 
 It is singular that the war of 1812 should have passed 
 with no occasion for record on the town books. Let no 
 one, however, question the loyalty of Ludlow. Military 
 organizations had existed in town for a long time, proba- 
 bly for most of the period of organization. In 1808 a 
 goodly number went to a general muster at Old Hadley, 
 occurring September 28, but were unsuccessful in getting 
 their expenses paid by the town. The famous Horse Com- 
 
WAR OF 1812. 55 
 
 panv Avns formed in 1802 from recruits of four towns, 
 Springfield, Longmeadow and AVilbraliam joining Ludlow. 
 The place of drill and muster was usualty the Five Mile 
 House, east of Springlield village. The captain was a Long- 
 meadow man, Colton or Flint, perhaps both, at differ- 
 ent times. The Ludlow names were as follows: Adin 
 Parsons (lieutenant). Gains Clough, Mordecai Clough, War- 
 ren Hubbard, Erastus Munger, Daniel Miller, Sylvester 
 Miller, Francis Nash, Jidius Nash, Asahel Eood and Mar- 
 tin Smith. The full number in the company was about 
 forty. When the war of 1812 broke out, this company 
 was in fine order. It is related of them that they Avere 
 at a drill during the jenr at their usual mustering 
 grounds one day, when the captain formed them into line 
 and requested all who would volunteer as minute men for 
 the national service to march forward so many paces. 
 Not a man started in obedience to the sudden request, 
 until the captain himself advanced to the assigned j^lace. 
 Then a large number of the company followed his exam- 
 ple, among whom were all the Ludlow men but two, and 
 of those one furnished a substitute. The names of those 
 from the town actually participating in the service during 
 the war were as follows : 
 
 Hexry Ackes, Bea'jamtx Aixsworth, 
 
 GiDKox CoTTox, Lemuel Gardiner, 
 
 Samuel Gates," John Howard, 
 
 Chester Kendall, Eeuben Parsons, 
 
 Amos Root, Veuanus Shattuck, 
 
 Charles F. Wood, Gordon B. Wood, 
 Harvey Wood. 
 
 < Facts are facts, and it must be recorded that two of 
 these men deserted from the ranks and concealed them- 
 selves at their home. One narrowly escaped capture by 
 concealment for days inside a large stone chimney then 
 
 "Substitiue for Selali Kendall, drafted. 
 
56 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 stanclino; in tlie south-west part of the town, and bv a 
 kindly ^varning from a female friend who knew officers 
 were on his trail. The other was not as fortunate. Tak- 
 en prisoner, he was court-martialed and sentenced to be 
 shot. The coffin was produced and he bound and made 
 to kneel upon it. The soldiers drawn up to execute the 
 rigorous military law included his own brother-in-law. 
 But just as the fatal shot was about to send him to eter- 
 nity a reprieve was granted and a pardon eventually ob- 
 tained, through the instrumentality of a Lieutenant Clary 
 of Springfield. 
 
 Among the souvenirs of these days of war is a revenue 
 receipt for payment by Benjamin Sikes of a tax of one 
 dollar " for and upon a 4 wheel carriage called a waggon 
 and the harness used therefor owned by him." 
 
 In school matters there seems to have been progress. 
 The appropriation of $150 in 1801 was lessened only one 
 year, while it increased fifty dollars occasionally until in 
 1828 it had become $400. Generally there were only 
 prudential committees to manage the affairs, until 1827, 
 when an examining committee was added. This seems to 
 have been the ])eriod of the formation of school districts. 
 To be sure, at its very beginning (1802) the south and 
 south-east districts found it profitable to unite. It 
 seems that there was an early district arrangement in 
 that part of the town for all to attend at the house east 
 of the present No. 9 district building. Afterward the 
 Miller Corner people clamored for a change of location, 
 and secured a district organization. The coalition of 1802 
 was another victory for Miller Corner. The Alden dis- 
 trict was set off in 1808, the Center in 1809, AVallama- 
 numps in 1814, and the Lyon in 1822. The south-east 
 people made another effort in 1818 and secured again a 
 distinctive district existence. The first reference to West 
 ^liddlc is dated 1822. Leave was given in 1805 to move 
 
THE PEOPLE OF THE PERIOD. 57 
 
 the Middle school-house near to the pound, a location 
 close b}^ J. P. Hubbard's. 
 
 Of the people of these times we need say but little, 
 because oiu' annals must become more and more mere 
 recitals of facts as we approach the present. A charac- 
 teristic sketch or two of life at the time, however, may not 
 be out of place. The muse of song was still courted. In 
 1804 the town magnanimously appropriated twenty-five 
 dollars " to the present singers, on condition they sing 
 well and still continue to sing to the Edification of the 
 Inhabitants of s'^ Town," and two years after a committee 
 was again empowered to hire a singing-master. Many a 
 family lived in a log cabin, the older inhabitants remem- 
 bering such establishments in various parts of the town.^° 
 The voters seem to have indulged in all the privileges of 
 American citizenship. At one time they solemnly and 
 with full assurance " voted that James Bowdoin, Esq., be 
 governor." In 1812 the County of Hampden was formed, 
 a great convenience to Ludlow people, whose distance to 
 the county seat was lessened one-half. Another conven- 
 ience was the post-office at Put's Bridge, established not 
 far from 1815. The mail route for a while was through 
 the town from north to south, a cavalier with drawn pis- 
 tol carrying the precious bag. As illustrations of wages 
 paid and the value of work we cite allowances for highw^ay 
 labor in 1841 as sixty-seven cents per day in the Spring and 
 fifty in the Fall. Ezekiel Fuller cut his logs, paid two dol- 
 lars a thousand for sawing at the mill, drew the stuff to 
 Willimansett, and sold it, nice yellow pine, for two dollars 
 and a half per thousand. As late as 1820 good potatoes 
 brought ten cents a bushel. A curious idea of the extent 
 of the earlier crops of this esculent may be gained from 
 
 i-^One stood near the Norman Lyon house, one on " Stallion Hill," near Miss 
 Mary Lyon's, anutlier opposite Loren Wood's, another in the extreme south-east 
 part of Ludlow. 
 
58 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 the fact that one man who had half a hogshead and an- 
 other showing a crop of four barrels were the wonder of 
 the town. There was a genuine small-pox scare in 1810, 
 a committee being appointed to introduce the inoculation 
 of the cow-pox. Among the minor incidents related is 
 one of Elisha Fuller, who, journeying westward with his 
 3-oung son riarr}^, met a personage so peculiar that it 
 occurred to his mind the stranger was the incarnation of 
 his Satanic majesty, yet who proved to be the eccentric 
 Lorenzo Dow, who the night before had preached at 
 "Master" Frost's. This same Samuel Frost Avas a very 
 liberal man, who would give freely of his means to sup- 
 port the traveling itinerants. Parties remonstrating at 
 his prodigality, he retorted that he could raise "Methodist 
 ears of corn" as long as his arm. McLean is said to have 
 added a story to his height at one time, while preaching 
 "over east," by standing upon a half-bushel measure. 
 
 Among the casualties of the time was the death of the 
 veteran David Paine, who was found, Juh^ 2, 1807, dead, 
 at the foot of Burying-Ground Hill, in sight of his home, 
 having fallen beneath his cart on returning from mill, and 
 perished from the crushing by the wheel. 
 
 But the most thrilling incident is that concerning the 
 supposed Annibal rriurder. "In the year 1817, a man 
 named John xVnnibal went from Belchertown to Connec- 
 ticut to peddle wagons for Filer. On his return he was 
 seen to enter Ludlow about sundown. Afterward his 
 horse, with bridle cut, was seen in Granby, near Asa 
 Pease's house. His portmanteau and saddle were found 
 near Ezekiel Fuller's, and blood was discovered in the 
 road between these two points. Great excitement pre- 
 vailed, as every one thought he had been robbed and 
 murdered. An old Avoman who pretended to tell for- 
 times was consulted. She said he was murdered hy a 
 man with but one eye, living where three roads met, in 
 
I THE ANXIBAL STOKY. 59 
 
 a gambrel-roofecl house. The house which answered the 
 description was searched in the absence of the family — 
 the door-steps were removed and a large excavation made 
 underneath them, but not the slightest trace of the miss- 
 ing man was found. The owner of the house was then 
 searched as he was returning to his home, but no money 
 discovered about him. Then a pond was drained near 
 the house of George Clark. In draining the pond it was 
 necessar}^ in one point to dig twenty-five feet deep. 
 While the work of digging was going forward, camp-fires 
 were kept around the pond and sentinels with loaded 
 muskets guarded the spot. When the ditch Avas com- 
 pleted, on Sabbath day, the water was drawn off and a 
 thousand people were supposed to be present ; while a 
 line of men reaching from one side of the pond to the 
 other, holding each other's hands, waded through the 
 soft mud. The pond covered nearly an acre of ground. 
 No trace was found of the object desired. Search was 
 then instituted in a smaller pond near by, the water being 
 carried over the hill in pails. This effort also proved 
 fruitless. Many then began to adopt another theory 
 than that of murder. His brother, who had been here 
 and joined in the search for two days, said his business 
 was such he could not jDOssibly remain, and returned to 
 his home. It was afterward learned that he had debts 
 which he did not wish to pay, also that his marital rela- 
 tions were not the happiest. Some suggested that he 
 might have sj)ied a chance to kill two birds with one 
 stone. "^'^ A possible sequel to this account was the find- 
 ing of a skull years later at one of the points where 
 suspicion had rested. 
 
 Nearly as melancholy was the story of "Nick and 
 Tarzy." They were very worthy people, were Nicholas 
 Daniels of Ludlow and Thirza Olds of Belchertown. Un- 
 
 I'^lTrom Dea. Geo. K. Clark's descriptLon of the atfkir. 
 
60 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 like the doctor who died in our town, they never " expe- 
 rienced the sweets of connubial bhss." And yet they 
 thought of these things, did Nick and Tarzy, and very 
 hkely blended their thoughts in joyous outlook. For 
 well-nigh two-score years they fondly anticipated a day 
 which should make an epoch. The day never came. At 
 last Nick made his final visit to Tarzy. Whether hope 
 deferred or love or a cold made his heart or his body sick 
 " deponent saith not;" but he was cut down in the height 
 of anticipative bliss, and buried from her home. Need we 
 wonder that even the voluble McLean found his vocabulary 
 straitened when he undertook at the service to address 
 Thirza with words of consolation ? Into the conversation 
 current of a generation has passed the expression, " Court- 
 ing as long as Nick and Tarzy." 
 
 A few words on those matters intimately connected 
 with the town's business may be expected. The bounds 
 were changed in 1805 so as to include a large slice of 
 Springfield, from the mouth of Higher Brook northward 
 to the South Hadley line. In 1813 this had evidently 
 been returned to its former association. There are fre- 
 quent references to public lands, made a part of the town's 
 property in the ancient allotment. This land was sold in 
 1802, for a sum of money which became a ministerial 
 fund, a source of much trouble in later days, as we shall 
 soon discover. "The town seems to have been fortunate 
 in rarely finding occasion to go before the law, either as 
 complainant or defendant. The presence of a representa- 
 tive at the General Court was generally secured. Occa- 
 sionally projierty seems to have come into the hands of 
 the town for safe management. 
 
 There was some attention paid to roads during the pe- 
 riod. Nearly every highway east of the mountain was 
 either laid out or re-laid before 1811; a different course 
 
 i^See section IV. 
 
KOADS AND BRIDGES. 61 
 
 was marked out and worked from J. P. Hubbard's to the 
 Center post-office, in 1803, involving the first construc- 
 tion of the terrible Cedar Swamp causeway, so long an 
 eye-sore to exasperated towns-people and bewildered se- 
 lectmen. In 1817 was established the highway from Joy's 
 store to Plumley's, to accommodate, it is said, travel from 
 the Jenksville to the Three Rivers factories. A year later 
 somebod}^ called down the wrath of the county commis- 
 sioners on the principal north and south roads through the 
 town, resulting in general repairs and re-location of the 
 Put's Bridge and Belchertown and Collins' and Granby 
 routes. In 1826 we find one of the earlier movements 
 toward a money system of repairing the highways. 
 
 This was the era of bridge-building at Wallamanumps. 
 Before the opening of the century only the most inex- 
 pensive modes of crossing the Chicopee were employed. 
 There were " riding places " or fords at Wallamanumps 
 and where now Collins' bridge spans the stream. As early 
 as '81 a committee from Ludlow was to meet another from 
 Springfield to see about the construction of a bridge at 
 Wallamanumps. In seven years fifty pounds were granted 
 for a like purpose in April, and in November a committee 
 on subscriptions was appointed, possibly to secure a better 
 bridire than the town felt able to construct unassisted. 
 In '92 the bridge, which must have made pretensions to 
 respectability, had very likely become a river craft, for 
 the town petitions the county authorities for another. 
 
 Plans more or less elaborate were consummated in '94 
 for a structure, which was inspected by a solemn com- 
 mittee in the later Autumn. The conditions of building 
 are worthy of preservation. " Voted that any Person or 
 Persons that will undertake and build with good materials 
 a good substantial Bridge over Chicopee Kiver, so called, at 
 Wallamanumps Falls, and shall keep the same in good re- 
 pair, shall receive sixty pounds from the town of Ludlow 
 
62 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 — Proviiled that the Person or Persons being so entitled to 
 the said sum of sixty pounds for building the said Bridge 
 shidl procure sufficient bonds to the Town Treas'" in the 
 sum of one hundred and twenty pounds for the return of 
 the same money into the Treas"" of said Town if the same 
 bridge so built shall not stand the rapidity of the Floods 
 and the Breaking up of the winter, for four years — And 
 also that the same Person or Persons that shall build the 
 same shall be entitled to all the fare or toll allowed by 
 Law from all Persons not being Inhabitants of the Town 
 of Ludlow forever." Eli Putnam, moderator of the meet- 
 ing at which this action was taken, evidently considered 
 the vote as a challenge, and proceeded to the erection of 
 the first Putnam's or Put's bridge, also, probably, the first 
 toll bridge at that point. Whether it was worthy of the 
 capitals in the town record can not be determined at this 
 date. It seems, however, to have answered the require- 
 ment, for all is quiet until 1801, when the town again 
 finds itself bridgeless. After an unsuccessful attempt to 
 saddle the burden upon the county and an attempt equally 
 unsuccessful to build from town funds, a committee for 
 soliciting subscriptions was appointed, who, it may be pre- 
 sumed, built a bridge, for nothing was said for eleven 
 years. This brings us to the time of the construction of 
 the famous Cooley bridge, which started from a point near 
 the north abutment of the present structure, then ran to 
 a pier in the mid-stream, then at a different angle to an 
 abutment considerably west of the present south abut- 
 ment. It was a covered bridge, and one through which 
 no one could see. Its hight must have been good, for 
 some camels once passed through.'^ Capt. Ariel Cooley 
 
 '*The boys of the village were apprised of the coming wonder. The beasts passed 
 through in tiie ni^lit, but Yankee ingenuitj- could nut* be baflled by darkness, and 
 so a section was ilhiuiinated. It became convenient to arrest the camels at the toll 
 liouse, on the south end, inasmuch at. astute legislators had failed to place these 
 
MANUFACTUPtlXG INTERESTS. G3 
 
 received five hundred dollars for his work, he guarantee- 
 ing a free and safe passage across the s'tream so long as 
 the life of the charter continued. 
 
 This bridge having been worn out or carried away, 
 measures were taken to build another, resulting in 1822 
 in the completion of the present structure. Its cost was 
 $3,347.30. The wisdom of the outlay is manifest in the 
 fact that the bridge is still staunch and strong. The 
 builder remarked that he never before had everything 
 provided to suit him. The committee of construction, 
 Abner Putnam, Benjamin Jenks and Simeon Pease, de- 
 serve a recognition. 
 
 Before passing to other days, a little sketch of the 
 manufacturing interests will be expected. Very early in 
 the century Rufus Calkins had a little chair shop a mile 
 up Higher Brook from the Center post-office. Here were 
 made many of the old chairs now to be seen in the more 
 ancient homes. At one time he also adjusted a spindle 
 by means of which he could spin flax or wool. His was 
 the first manufacturing of the kind in town. Further 
 down, below Warren Fuller's privilege, was in 1814, a 
 little fulling-mill, operated b}^ Gustavus Pinney. Near 
 its banks at two different places successively, Elisha 
 Fuller carried on a jiotash establishment, the last location 
 being upon a spot opposite the present Methodist church, 
 on the lot now owned by the society. Harris' mill privi- 
 lege was under improvement in 1805, under the name of 
 the " Continental Mill," owned by proprietors. 
 
 On Broad Brook were two new privileges, now unused: 
 Thornton's saw-mill was just at the foot of Burying- 
 Ground Hill, and Alden's sash and blind shop a few rods 
 above. At' Ludlow City, it must be recorded, was at one 
 
 animals on the toll list. Tlie delay accomplished at least its intended result, in giv- 
 ing tlie boys a good glimpse at the rare beasts of burden. So says Hezekiah Root, 
 then one of the "boys." 
 
G4 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 time a distillery. Tar-kilns were set up here and there, 
 traces l)eing still discernible on Facing Hills and else- 
 where. 
 
 Near the old Sikes place, south of the brook, a mile 
 north of the Center churches, is still shown the ruins 
 of the once famous Ludlow Glass Works, the wonder of 
 the region. Here stood a small building, partly masonry 
 and partly wood, in which were ponderous furnaces and 
 sweating laborers. The article made was green glass, and 
 its form mostly bottles. It existed a few years, Avas mis- 
 managed, its proprietors became reckless, and eventually 
 lost all, and left to posterity only a ruin of business and a 
 wreck of finances. 
 
 The falls of Wallamanumps had early attracted atten- 
 tion. Late in the last centiuy there was but one man 
 living in all the region. In 1788, however, reference is 
 made to " Dea. Timothy Keyes' mill-dam," at this point. 
 Not far from the dawn of the present century Abner 
 Putnam came from the East and improved the privilege 
 by erecting a shop for the manufacture of scythes. This 
 he developed into a considerable business. The tools 
 which had passed under Putnam's trip-hammer were con- 
 sidered among the best made. 
 
 Mr. Tuck has given^^ the account of the transfer of the 
 propert}^ of Capt. Abram Putnam to Benjamin Jencks, 
 in 18r2. Mr. Jeneks often related the account of his 
 failinc to select Rochester as his place of business, but 
 said that locality was too far into the land of the Mo- 
 hawks. The company was formed in 1814, and consisted 
 of Benjamin Jenckes, Washington Jcnckes, Joseph Buck- 
 lin and George AYilkinson of Ludlow, and Stephen H. 
 Smith of Providence, R. I. Smith in a little while sold 
 his shares to Samuel Slater, since so famous as a manu- 
 facturer. The original capital is not stated, but provis- 
 
 i^See Historical Address. 
 
THE SPRINGFIELD MANUFACTUEING COMPANY. 65 
 
 ion was made for an increase to $32,000. The property 
 has been since sold for five times that sum. The grantors 
 of deeds were Sylvester Moody, Abner Putnam and Levi 
 Pease. At one time the company held twelve hundred 
 acres of land. 
 
 Operations were first commenced in a w^ooden building 
 on the site of the stone factories, and consisted in prepa- 
 ration of warps and yarn, which w^as woven by parties in 
 all the country about. The stone buildings were com- 
 menced in 1821. The first building Avas a little way from 
 the bridge, 103 feet long and 36 wide. This was com- 
 pleted the following year. An additional mill westward, 
 forty feet from the first, w^as erected in 1826, 40x115 di- 
 mensions. The machinery was manufactured in the build- 
 ings, lower stories being used for the purpose. The first 
 looms were set in motion in 1823. The fabric w^as sheet- 
 ing, three-fourths, seven-eighths and yard wide. The 
 mills were constructed well, and became the ideal buildings 
 of the region. Stukely Smith was the mason, and Zebi- 
 nus Pierce the carpenter. 
 
 This " Springfield Manufacturing Company " of course 
 made a vast difference with the interests of the town. 
 We shall find their business the leading factor in the 
 successes and reverses of the next period. 
 
SECTION IV. 
 
 1828 TO 181S. 
 THE ZENITH OF THE CENTURY. 
 
 Changes incident to manufacturing — Source of Ludlow's greater pros- 
 peritj- — New life — A market — Another mill — Jenksville in 1837 
 — Upper privilege — Inventions — The people at the factories — 
 Their morals — Sabbath desecration — The onl_y remedj' — Itine- 
 rants and labors — The revival — Its effects — Place of worship — 
 The M. E. Church — Trouble — Aid — A great revival — Incidents — 
 Other revivals — ]\fillerism — The Congregationalists — Mr. Wright 
 — A colleague — Eev. Mr. Austin — Dismission of Mr. Wright — 
 The first parish — The fund — A lawsuit — Mr. Wright called 
 again — Rev. Mr. Sanderson — The church of 1841 — Disposition of 
 the old edifice — Rev. Mr. Tuck — The new cemetery — Highways 
 and bridges — Red bridge — Necrology — "Dr. Foggus" — "Fri- 
 day" — Incidents — Mexican war — A weather note — Mills — In- 
 dian Orchard — Jenksville church edifices — Congregational Church 
 there — The Company — Confidence of the people — The crash — 
 Immediate effects. 
 
 The change in a town from the simphcity of rural pur- 
 suits to the noise and bustle of manufacturing is ever a 
 marked one. The stream meandering along the limits of 
 Ludlow, unobstructed by dam and crossed only by the 
 rudest bridge, only furnished a convenient channel for 
 bearing away the waters flowing from marsh and spring ; 
 the same stream, no less rapid or picturesque, checked for 
 an instant in its rapid coursings in order to do obeisance 
 to human direction, to follow the bent of human inclina- 
 tion, not only bears away the gathered deposits of highly 
 fertile soil, but with showers of wealth returns more than 
 it has taken, a thousand fold. 
 
A NEW LIFE. 67 
 
 Our divisions of the history of the toMTi, necessarily 
 somewhat arbitrary, could not well ignore the fact that a 
 large share of that prosperity which has made the town 
 locally so well known had its beginnings within- the pres- 
 ent century. Moreover, those families best known to the 
 marts of trade hereabouts will, upon consideration, find 
 that while to some of thein there was given prestige by 
 reason of extensive acreage and hereditary wealth, to 
 more the resources in their hands at present gained their 
 largest increment betvi^een the dates which are placed 
 before this section. And further still, they who concede 
 truth wherever found, will find that the chief factor in 
 producing this state of prosperity was the manufacturing 
 interest at Jenksville, as the village was then called. 
 
 It was a new life to Ludlow. Every farm increased in 
 value as the factories developed. Every article of prod- 
 uce Avas worth money. It no longer j^aid to team lum- 
 ber to Willimansett for fifty cents on a thousand, for the 
 logs were worth vastly more as wood. The cattle became 
 too valuable to send roaming at large over the common 
 lands, for it was worth while to feed them well and so 
 get heavier beef for hungry mouths ; while the soil was 
 so much more salable that true economy called for 
 strong fences. And if we may digress a little, thus will 
 it be, as time rolls on. Every new mill, every new 
 boarding-house necessarily consequent, added to the rap- 
 idly increasing cluster of villages and towns and cities on 
 or near our limits, will add first to the intrinsic, then to 
 the exchangeable, value of Ludlow farms. The true con- 
 ditions for successful labor, health, sobriety, industry, 
 piety, being held in firm tenure, the town or its territory 
 must have a future. 
 
 We left the Springfield Manufacturing Company when 
 it had just completed its second new mill, and introduced 
 the time-saving machinery which elicited the praise of 
 
G8 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 manufacturers all about. In 18.3o it became necessary to 
 again enlarge the factories. This time an addition was 
 built eastward, forty by sixty-six, completing the range 
 as at present, except the changes made after the fire of a 
 few months since, and the gap between the first and sec- 
 ond stone mill, which was filled about 1844. All these 
 principal parts were dedicated by religious services. The 
 tenements were erected from time to time, dating mainly 
 about at the erection of the factories. In 1844 Slater 
 sold to a resident of the town. In 1837 Barber's His- 
 tory represents the concern as possessing two cotton mills, 
 with ten thousand spindles, using five hundred thousand 
 pounds of cotton in a year, manufacturing sixteen hun- 
 dred thousand 3'ards of cloth annually, whose value was 
 one hundred and sixty thousand dollars. Eighty-eight 
 males were employed, and two hundred females. The 
 capital invested had then increased to one hundred thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 In 1840 the first building at the upper privilege was 
 erected and used by the Company for gun works. They 
 forged barrels under contract with the United States 
 government, continuing their business for about six years. 
 At the close of our period the privilege was used in the 
 manufacture of cotton machinery. 
 
 Some applications of science to the arts first used in 
 these works have proven a boon to manufacturers. The 
 friction roller, now well-nigh indispensable in certain parts 
 of machinery, was originated at Jenksville and given to 
 the public with no restrictions of patent laws. It is also 
 claimed, with good reason, that here first anthracite coal 
 was used successfully in working wrought-iron. The prin- 
 ciple, first brought out at Jenksville, is still in practical 
 use, giving to the immense coal fields of the land and 
 world a vastly increased value. 
 
 Respecting the class of people who were by these inter- 
 
JENKSVILLE FIFTY YEARS AGO. 69 
 
 ests bronglit into the town, it may be feared that the 
 record cannot truthfully give a glowing description. Of 
 course they were at first from the native population, 
 largely gathered from rural towns. But this does not 
 necessarily speak volumes in favor of moral or intellec- 
 tual worth. The average native of a generation or two 
 ago, was not very far in advance of the average foreigner 
 of to-day in many respects. The records of former days, 
 the condition to-day of those who have not enjoyed such 
 advantages as have been so freely offered hereabouts in 
 later years, or of those dwelling beyond the immediate 
 neighborhood of churches, plainly sets forth the truth of 
 the assertion made. The grandest development of even 
 New England has been within the last two-score years. 
 
 We are not surprised, then, to learn that the condition 
 of society at the mills in Ludlow was not eminently 
 praiseworthy fifty years ago. We need not be surprised 
 to hear of very slight respect paid to the sacredness of 
 the Sabbath or the risrid moral demands of the more 
 deeply and intelligently pious people of to-day. One who 
 resided in Jenksville about this time sends a doleful pic- 
 ture of these days : " As you pass the gun shops (on Sun- 
 day) some of the workmen would be busy, perhaps man- 
 ufacturing articles for their own use. Near by would be 
 a collection of boys playing ball. Soon we meet riflemen 
 firing at a mark. A party of young people not far off 
 are playing ' High-low-Jack.' A little further on are as 
 happy a set as the brown jug could possibly make them, 
 Avho in vain invited me to taste of the precious liquors 
 inside the jug, which to my certain knowledge killed 
 every one of the party inside of ten years. I have known 
 a large field of rye to be harvested on the Sabbath day. 
 These immoralities did not extend outside of the village."-^ 
 
 iFrom Austin Chapman, Ellington, Conn. ISee also the Oakley Ballad, Appen- 
 dix, J. 
 
70 HISTORY or LUDLOW. 
 
 There is but one effectual and enduring remedy for 
 evil like this. Education might in a measure improve, 
 but there must first be an incentive to learning. Law 
 may put forth its power, but this must find in the individ- 
 ual a readiness to yield to its injunctions, else its execu- 
 tion will be hampered and made of no effect. The true 
 remedy was at hand. 
 
 The itinerant ministers began to visit Jenksville about 
 1828. Rev. Mr. Foster, principal of the Wilbraham Acad- 
 emy, was probably the pioneer, and made his first visit 
 on invitation of John Miller, compliant with the request 
 of Benjamin Jenks. The events intimated occurred as 
 early as 1831, the place being then a not unfamiliar one 
 to Methodist ministers. Samuel Davis was the preacher 
 in charge of Ludlow, and visited Jenksville in August 
 with others of his profession. His own simple account 
 is as follows : 
 
 "About six weeks since, the work broke out at anotlier factory vil- 
 lage^ on the circuit, called Put's Bridge, in Ludlow. The revival here 
 took place while we were trying to hold forth the Saviour as the sin- 
 ner's friend, and the necessity of each and all becoming reconciled to 
 God. Much feeling was manifest in the congregation. At the close 
 of the sermon an invitation was given to all that had resolved on 
 seeking the Lord, to come forward, and fall on their knees, while the 
 people of God should address the throne of grace in their behalf. At 
 this instant, to our astonishment, more than one-third of the congre- 
 gation came forward, and fell on their knees, with groans and sobs 
 enough to melt the hardest heart; but soon the mourning of some was 
 turned into rejoicing. Our meetings from that time to the present 
 liave been very interesting. It has not been uncommon for six or 
 seven to find iwixcc and pardon at a meeting. The glorious work is 
 still going on here.'"^ 
 
 Granted, if desired, that every one of these did not 
 maintain a good profession through the days to come ; 
 granted, if it were the case, that the daj-s of excitement 
 
 2Tlmn Cliickopee. 
 
 SFroin New England Christian Herald, October 26, 183L 
 
METHODIST MATTEKS. 71 
 
 soon passed away ; yet there must have been a beneficial 
 result flowing from such services, and we claim, in the 
 absence of any other well-grounded reason to account for 
 the conceded chano-e for the better in the morals of the 
 
 o 
 
 people, that there was an intimate relation between the 
 revival and the reformation. 
 
 These services must have been held in a fitted room in 
 the factories. Here they were continued, regularly or 
 irregularly, for years, until at last it became desirable to 
 erect a church. Before describing the events of interest 
 connected therewith, let us retrace a little, carrying our 
 annals along in as nearly chronological order as may be. 
 
 We left the Methodist people in possession of their new 
 house in 1828, with a goodly prospect of success before 
 them. A lamentable difficulty with Mr. McLean occur- 
 ring just at this time created hard feelings, and much dis- 
 cussion, oral and printed, resultant in the withdrawal from 
 the denomination of that gentleman, and the closing up of 
 the affairs of the so-called "Methodist Legal Society" of 
 Ludlow. A considerable debt remaining upon the people 
 was partially relieved by contributions from the churches 
 of the denomination elsewhere. All was in readiness for 
 the revival efforts under the ministry of Samuel Davis, in 
 1831, which resulted in a more demonstrative work than 
 at Jenksville.^ A large number from the place attended 
 a camp-meeting in Haddam, Conn., and brought back 
 with them some who had there professed conversion. At 
 meetings following in the church, or "chajDcl," lasting 
 eight days, about two hundred made a profession of reli- 
 gion, of whom more than one hundred and fifty claimed 
 to find peace at the church altar. The news spread about 
 in all the towns around. A large load of wild young men 
 caine from Northampton to have a " good time " at the 
 service, but it is averred that every one was brought un- 
 
 *See page 70. 
 
72 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 der conviction and wont home with different purposes 
 and a changed hfe. A man named Kendall, addicted to 
 profanity, left his work in the field under profound con- 
 victions, went to the church, cried for mercy, and passed 
 out a better man. Was this enthusiasm? Surely it could 
 not be baneful, to arrest the plans of rioters and displace 
 cursing by praises. 
 
 We find incidental allusions to another work of grace in 
 1837, under Philo Ilawkes, while there are many living 
 witnesses to the revival scenes in Dadmun's ministry in 
 '42. The Millerite excitement of '41-3 made little impres- 
 sion in Ludlow, although so near the home of the leader 
 in those scenes. Miller came repeatedly into town to hold 
 meetings, but Avith little lasting success. Ludlow takes 
 slowly to new and startling ideas, but grasps firmly what- 
 ever it accepts as truth. Clapp, minister in '43, was the 
 first careful annalist of the church, while Fleming will be 
 remembered as the • preacher in charge when the parson- 
 age was erected. Of them all C. D. Rogers bears the 
 palm for quaintness. 
 
 Meanwliile the Congregationalist Church was thriving 
 
 -for a season under the ministry of the saintly AVright. 
 
 Owing to ill-health he found himself obliged to ask in 
 
 1830 a release from pulpit labors for a year, relinquishing 
 
 his salary and assisting the society in securing a supply. 
 
 In 1835 a colleague was settled. Rev. David R. Austin, 
 of Norwich, Conn., a graduate of Union college of the class 
 of 1827. Although the formality of settlement was un- 
 dertaken by the town there is no record of the matter 
 upon the books, nor hereafter do we discover any action 
 of the town with reference to settlement. Mr. Austin 
 continued over the church for two years, winning friends 
 by his earnestness and geniality. He was considered a 
 preacher of more than ordinary power. His dismissal oc- 
 curred in July, 1837. His career since has been watched 
 
THE FUjS^D. 73 
 
 with interest by the people of Ludlow. The pleasure of 
 the recent Centennial Celebration was enhanced by his 
 presence and kindly words. 
 
 Meanwhile Mr. Wright had found himself failing in 
 health and unequal to many of the duties which he con- 
 ceived as necessarily belonging to the ministry. He took 
 an early opportunity after the settlement of Mr. Austin, 
 to ask a dismissal, which was granted, his ministry in Lud- 
 low terminating in October, 1835. If there be any one 
 man more than others to whom the town and church has 
 been brought under obligation, that man was Ebenezer B. 
 Wridit. 
 
 Tlie '' First Parish in the town of Ludlow " was organ- 
 ized December 9th, 1835, Daniel Miller, one of the peti- 
 tioners, executing the warrant for the first meeting, EHsha 
 T. Parsons being the moderator, Elisha A. Fuller the 
 treasurer chosen, and Theodore Sikes clerk. The organ- 
 ization probably grew out of the controversy concerning 
 the ministry fund. We have seen by the charter^ and 
 various references that the town once held certain lands 
 in trust for the maintenance of the ministry. Early in 
 this century these lands were sold, and the money put 
 into the care of a committee of trustees, appointed by the 
 town from year to year. This fund became the source of 
 much contention as the religious societies developed. For 
 a number of years its revenues were equally divided 
 among the various denominations, all of whom were rep- 
 resented in the pulpit as the years passed on. After the 
 existence of the "Methodist Legal Society"'' the agita- 
 tion respecting the fund was carried on with increasing 
 force, until some parties petitioned for its disuse in the 
 support of the ministry, and its appropriation to the pur- 
 poses of education. A suit followed, which was afterwards 
 
 6Page 23. ^Page 50, note. 
 
 10 
 
/4 niSTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 carried up to the Supreme Court, where Marcus Morton 
 and his associates decided the case in favor of the defend- 
 ants. The money has since been used by the Congrega- 
 tionaUst Society for the support of its ministry. The parish 
 organization was effected during the pending of this suit. 
 
 After Mr. Austin's dismissal the society did not long 
 continue without a minister. The liii:;h estimate of Mr." 
 Wright was pleasantly shown in a second call to him to 
 settle over the church. For some reason the call was de- 
 clined, though evidently with reluctance. 
 
 Rev. Alonzo Sanderson settled here in 1839, and con- 
 tinued his ministry four years. Mr. Sanderson was born 
 in Whately and graduated at Amherst in 1834. He after- 
 ward studied theology at Andover, and, like Wright and 
 Austin, came to Ludlow with the flush of youth upon his 
 brow. He is remembered as an earnest, pious, and de- 
 voted minister, with broad Christian views. His best re- 
 membered monument passed from sight in a blaze of glory 
 in 1859 ; but who shall say its influence did not reach 
 down to the minds of them who had charge of the erection 
 of the present church ? 
 
 The old church had been falling into decay as 3'ears 
 glided by, until a new edifice was a necessity. At least 
 so thought the majority of the people. In 1839 a com- 
 mittee to solicit subscriptions was appointed, who soon 
 obtained over $3,000. In November of the next year 
 the folks begin to talk of hiring slips, while the entire 
 expense was reported in April, 1841, as $4,127.09. The 
 dedication took place January 20t]^ of that year. The 
 following order of exercises w^as observed : 
 
 " 1. Singing; 2. Invocation, by Rev. Mr. Rogers of Cliicopee Falls; 
 3. Reading Scriptures; 4. Singing; 5. Prayer, by Rev. Mv. Rogers; 
 G. Singing; 7. Sermon, by Rev. Mr. Clapp of Cabotville ; 8. Prayer of 
 dedication, by the pastor ; 9. Singing ; 10. Benediction ; 11. Singing." 
 
 The old church finally became the property of the town, 
 
EEY. J. W. TUCK. 75 
 
 passing meanwhile througli the hands of Increase Sikes, 
 who removed it to its present site, where it has stood ever 
 since, a shield for those noble oaks which link the days of 
 successive generations. 
 
 Mr. Sanderson's dismissal, May 11, 1843, was immedi- 
 ately followed by the candidacy of Rev. Mr. Tuck. The 
 call to become the pastor was extended to him in July, 
 and he was installed and ordained September 6th. Jeremy 
 Webster Tuck was born in Kensington, N. H., graduated 
 at Amherst in 1840, and passed through the theological 
 instruction of Andover and East Windsor. Two days be- 
 fore his ordination he was married to Irene M. Moody of 
 South Hadley, who died after a year or so of married life. 
 The Mrs. Tuck so well known here bore from infancy the 
 name of Mowry. We leave the church at the close of the 
 j)eriod under Mr. Tuck's faithful ministrations. 
 
 The new cemetery was purchased and opened in 1842. 
 Increase Sikes, from whose farm the three acres were 
 taken, found three cemeteries within his lands at the 
 time. The first notice of the Jenksville yard is May 
 30, 1842, when the town is asked to enlarge it. The 
 tomb was constructed in 1846, and cost $100. 
 
 But little more than ordinary work was performed upon 
 the highways. The road from the present Benjamin 
 Sikes place southward was laid out in 1834, and one or 
 two smaller ways of travel established, while of course 
 Cedar Swamp continued to perplex the citizens. Refer- 
 ences to a bridge where now stands the "red bridge" be- 
 gin in '36, while in the following year the present struct- 
 ure was erected. Before reaching the structure was once 
 a dry bridge, near the river. The practice of lighting 
 the Jenksville bridge is mentioned first in 1842 as the 
 duty of the town. 
 
 The better attention paid to town annals gives us an 
 idea of the mortuary record of the town. The average 
 
76 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 number of deaths annually seems to have been not far 
 from twenty-three for the last dozen years, arising to 
 twenty-nine in 1841 and the unusual number of forty- 
 four in 1848. During the latter year there were three 
 funerals in a single day. The population in 1835, was 
 1,329, in 1840, 1,2G8; there were two hundred and fifty- 
 seven votes cast this latter year. The anti-masonic vote 
 in the Morgan days was thirty-two in a hundred and 
 sixty-one. 
 
 Among the unique characters in the toAvn were two 
 of special note. One, Veranus Shattuck, of Jenksville, 
 known best under the soubriquet of "Doctor Foggus," we 
 have met before as a soldier in 1812," in which strife he 
 did valiant service, yet perhaps not always using the best 
 of judgment. In these days he figures as the little round- 
 shouldered cobbler of Jenksville, almost as crooked as the 
 sibilant, whose powers of oratory were seriously crippled 
 by a stroug nasal twang. Indeed, his only speech, Avhich 
 has been handed down by indulgent fame, was the one 
 made on occasion of his election as captain of the military 
 company of the town. At that time he is reported to 
 have stepped forward to the astonished colonel and her- 
 alded through his facial protuberance the eloquent words, 
 " Mr. Colonel, I excuse myself." Nor was he always the 
 butt of ridicule, notwithstanding the wishes of malicious 
 boys. It was his habit to sit near the entrance to the 
 factory and see the people go in. The approving lads 
 would signify their interest by patting him upon the head 
 on passing his seat, sometimes with unpleasant emphasis. 
 They did so once too often, for Dr. Foggus found an occa- 
 sion when he did not " excuse himself," but sat down as 
 usual, except as to the condition of his hat, as classic 
 tyros would say. That useful covering, a tarpaulin by 
 the way, he had adorned within with some bright sharp 
 
 "See page 55. 
 
INCIDE^'TS. 77 
 
 awls attached to a piece of sole leather, the leather 
 restmg upon his hair, the awl points aiming upwards. 
 One by one the " boys " patted his head, as usual, and 
 passed sadly along. We hardly need add that the Doc- 
 tor's prescription was eflicacious. 
 
 The hermit "Friday" was also well-known. His name 
 is supposed to have been Timothy Haschall, and he be- 
 became chargeable to the town in 1832, which relation 
 was only broken by death about fifteen years later. He 
 lived a wdiile in a rude cabin near Red Bridge, subsisting 
 on the vilest food, unless he was helped to better by 
 neighbors or the town. AVhence he came or who he was 
 no one knew, nor could it be ascertained satisfactorily. 
 
 A few incidents of the period may perhaps be noted. 
 The citizens at town-meeting adjourned on May-day of 
 1837 to attend in procession the funeral of their aged 
 neighbor, Lewis Barber. A negro aged tw^enty was 
 drowned in Mineachogue pond in '-IS. The Mexican war 
 fever reached Ludlow, but only took effect in one case, 
 Joseph Eood, who is supposed to have been wounded in 
 one of the frays in the land of the Aztecs. The town 
 clerk was so much impressed with a twelve-hours thunder- 
 storm March 25, 1842, that he made note of the fact — 
 the only attention paid to meteorology in all the town 
 books, unless we infer that the earlier fathers adjourned 
 from the meeting-house stake to the house of Joshua Ful- 
 ler because of the cold. A good many found emj)loy- 
 ment in 1846 on the factory and village Avorks then 
 commenced by the Indian Orchard Corporation. 
 
 A serious affair is supposed to have occurred during 
 the earlier years of the period. One Wright, a deaf mute, 
 residing over the mountain, disappeared quite suddenly. 
 He was supposed to have had an altercation with one of 
 the citizens, living in another part of the town, and some 
 suspected foul play. A melancholy interest was added to 
 
78 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 tlie reminiscence by the finding of a skeleton in an out 
 lot long afterwards, which bore probabl}^ unmistakable 
 signs of identity with the frame of the missing man. 
 
 Of the minor manufacturing interests during these 
 years there is little to be said. Plumley's saw-mill at the 
 mouth of Broad Brook was made to use the fine privi- 
 lege there, while the Alden mills above, next to those of 
 Thornton,* were made useful in turning out forks and 
 rakes. The Indian Orchard mills sj)oiled the romance of 
 the lower falls of Wallamanumps, even trespassing upon 
 the sandstone riches of the Indian Leap cliff. Otherwise 
 that grand manufacturing interest, it seems, had only a 
 general influence upon Ludlow. Fisk's mill, at the city, 
 turned out a durable and beautiful Avoolen fabric, well- 
 known in the region. Here, too, came to be carded fleeces 
 from the nciQ:hborino; farms. Eaton also had a share of 
 this trade at his mill near Indian Orchard. 
 
 We come again to the Jenksville interests as we find 
 ourselves closing the period. In 1845 and 1846, Daniel 
 E. Chapin was preacher in charge of the Methodist Soci- 
 ety. Under his popular ministry a successful effort was 
 made to erect a church, resulting in the construction of 
 the edifice now standing there. Rev. Dr. Holdich, now 
 of the American Bible Society, preached the dedicatory 
 sermon from the sublime text, " Great is the mystery of 
 godliness," and immediately afterward dedicated the 
 place to the worship of God. A question of privileges in 
 the house arising between the Methodists and Congrega- 
 tionalists, the former removed themselves from harm's 
 way by erecting after a little a house for their own use, 
 opposite Col. Miller's. David Sherman was then preacher 
 in charge in 1847, and Zachary A. Mudge in the fol- 
 lowing year. The Congregationalists had meanwhile 
 organized a church and called Rev. William Hall, who 
 
 ®See page 03. 
 
CALAMITY. 79 
 
 was settled in 1848. The society never elected any 
 deacons. 
 
 The affairs of the Company had gone on meanwhile, 
 apparently with prosperity. True, in lieu of cash the 
 help and other creditors had been asked from time to 
 time to accept Company notes, but these were to them 
 even better than cash, in their estimation. A large busi- 
 ness was in progress, with the fairest prospects. The 
 treasury was a bank to the inhabitants. Scarcely was 
 there a person in town who was not glad of an opportu- 
 nit}'^ to lend money there. 
 
 But to a smaller circle of lookers-on there had been a 
 growing anxiety in reference to the management of the 
 affairs of the Company. No one distrusted the agent, 
 who, with all his brusque manners, evidently had a kindly 
 and honest heart and hand. But there was friction 
 Avithin the ranks of the proprietors. At last the crisis 
 came. It was suddenly announced to the astonished 
 creditors that the Springfield Manufacturing Company 
 had failed ! Surely 1848 was an ill-starred year for 
 Ludlow. Mr. Hall was dismissed from the new church 
 at Jenksville. The place fails to appear on the next 
 Methodist minutes. The town appropriations for 1849 
 fell fourteen per cent. Many a poor girl lost her all, 
 while cases of parties who had no money in the concern 
 was cited as unusual. The affairs of the Company went 
 into the hands of Wood & Mcrritt of New York city. 
 
 Here we must leave the town, sitting as it were in 
 sackcloth and ashes, and hasten on to our last task. 
 
SECTION V. 
 
 1818 TO 1875. 
 
 THE LUDLOW OF TO-DAT. 
 
 Toward tlie end — Congregational Church — Mr. Tuck — The fire — Ee- 
 building — Dedication — Rev. Mr. ]\Iayo — Rev. Chester Bridgman 
 —Rev. C. L. Cushman— Rev. S. V. McDuffee— Methodist Church 
 — Re-modeling — Rev. F. Fisk — Revival scenes — "War record of 
 society — Rev. D. K. Banister — Wesley an Praying Band — Rela- 
 tions of societies — Jenksville — Manufacturing interests — Present 
 Company — A good chance — Methodism — Sale of a church — 
 Rev. W. H. Daniels — Union Church — Roads and Bridges — Rail- 
 roads — A fine opportunity lost — Items — The Miller "boys" — 
 Incidents — The Rebellion — Enlistments — The Monument — Mr. 
 Banister's Address — War scenes — iSTames of Soldiers — Spring- 
 field Aqueduct — Prominent men — Incentives to effort — Con- 
 clusion. 
 
 Our closing task is light. The reader will not look for 
 extended description or fulsome notice as we record the 
 later events in the life of the town. Every town history 
 should be revised at least twice a century, to bring its an- 
 nals to a proper state of completion. We will leave to the 
 historian of 1925 only the outlines of the life so many of 
 our readers can distinctly remember. The shadings of our 
 own days can be better delineated then. 
 
 Resuming the ecclesiastical record, we open our page 
 again in the midst of Mr. Tuck's ministry at the Center 
 ConQ:resrationalist Church. Durino; the eleven remainino; 
 years of his labors the society enjoyed a good degree 
 of prosperity. In the sixteen years of his connection with 
 the church there were four special seasons of interest. 
 
A NEW co:n^gregational church. 81 
 
 One liiindred and twenty-five were added to the church, 
 mostly by profession ; over eighty children were baptized ; 
 sixty-one of the members died, among them three dea- 
 cons ; eighty-one took letters to other churches elsewhere. 
 There were in this period three hundred deaths in the 
 town. Mr. Tuck was dismissed December 7, 1859. 
 
 The event which so saddened the last days of his min- 
 istry he has himself graphically described in the address.^ 
 There was no delay in services after the fire. A courte- 
 ous invitation from the Methodists to the privileges of their 
 sanctuary for the time being, was declined, and the peo- 
 ple assembled for a season in the venerable town-house. 
 
 There were busy days throughout that year, but they 
 were days of profit and success, for their labors resulted 
 in the present elegant edifice. The dedication occurred 
 December 7, 1859, and was of course a notable event. 
 Besides the singing were the invocation by Rev. L. H. 
 Cone, prayer by Rev. S. Miller, sermon by Rev. J. W. 
 Tuck, that very day dismissed from the church, and dedi- 
 catory prayer by Rev. J. Vaill, D. D. An original dedi- 
 cation hymn by Hon. G. M. Fisk, a native of the town, 
 was sung. We cannot refrain from giving a portion : 
 
 " O'er the ashes of tlie Past, 
 
 We this holy temjile rear; 
 And of Thee, oh Lord, we ask 
 
 To reveal thy presence here ; 
 Make this house thy dwelling place, 
 
 Make this roof thy sheltering hand, 
 Fill these courts with heavenly grace — 
 
 Fill them with thy chosen band. 
 
 " May thy servant who shall toil 
 
 In this vinej^ard of the Lord, 
 Find that here is Christian soil 
 
 Which shall yield a rich reward ; 
 
 iSee Address, note VII. 
 11 
 
82 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 Strengtlien liim to guide aright, 
 
 Tliose who heavenly wisdom seek, 
 Leading them from gloom to light. 
 
 By the truths that he shall speak." 
 
 Rev. Mr. Mayo, ^vlio was already hired and on the 
 ground to take the vacant place, had surely an incentive 
 for the good work he accomplished in the twenty-eight 
 months of his stay in town. An interim of two years was 
 followed by the settled pastorate of Rev. Chester Bridg- 
 man, whose service extended from May 18, 18G4, to July 
 24, 18G6. Rev. Chester Lemuel Cushman, a native of 
 Monson and a graduate of Amherst, class of 1856, from 
 East Townshend, Vt., was settled November 2, 18G6, and 
 continued his ministry until his dismissal, September 1, 
 1874, having received seventy persons into the church on 
 profession of faith, and attended a hundred funerals. An 
 extensive revival, aided by the labors of Rev. Mr. Under- 
 wood, was enjoyed in 1873. Rev. Samuel Valentine 
 McDuffee, a graduate of Amherst and of Bangor Theo- 
 logical Seminary, recently from Fisherville, N. H., is the 
 present pastor, having entered upon his duties in Jan- 
 uary of the current year. 
 
 The Methodist Society has moved along very quietly 
 and with a degree of efficiency. Its pulpit has never 
 failed of a supply ; its ministers never left without a sup- 
 port.^ In 1858 a much needed effort was made to repair 
 and enlarge the " chapel." Under skillful managers that 
 worthy edifice was transformed into the present neat and 
 tasty chiu'ch. The best of all was, God was with them, 
 and under the labors of the pastor. Rev. F. Fisk, and his 
 co-operators, some persons were wonderfully transformed. 
 One, well-known, an inn-holder, took his liquors to the 
 street and poured them away, and then renounced his 
 life of sin, to manifest ever since a determination to stand 
 
 -bee Aiipeiulix, W., for list of ministers. 
 
RELATIOXS OF CHURCnES. 83 
 
 ajiproved before his Maker. This church suffered severely 
 a loss of membership during the war of the rebellion, two 
 of its class leaders" and one local preacher/ besides others 
 of its most devoted, going away to return no more. Rev. 
 D. K. Banister was virtually the pastor of the town dur- 
 ing the earlier days of the trying conflict. Under his min- 
 istry, as well as the two following, there were special revi- 
 val scenes. Mr. Pomfret was the only minister who has 
 served the society over two years. During the present 
 pastorate the well-known Wesleyan Praying Band, of 
 Si3ringfield, rendered efficient service in special religious 
 work. 
 
 The relations between these two societies are those of 
 harmony. Each recognizes the other, each welcomes the 
 other's pastor to its own pulpit. While the Methodist 
 church was in process of re-construction the doors of the 
 Congregationalist edifice were thrown open to them, and 
 Ave have seen how the compliment was returned in the 
 following year.^ The town offices are shared by mem- 
 bers of both churches. In every good work and way the 
 churches are ready to co-operate. Here surely may be 
 found an exemplification, in the true spiritual sense, of 
 the v.'ords of inspiration, " Behold how good and how 
 pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." 
 
 The ecclesiastical interests of the village are of course 
 to a great extent interwoven with those of the manufac- 
 turing companies. The firm of Wood & Merritt, man- 
 aging from 1848 to 1856, was then merged into the first 
 Ludlow Manufacturing Company. The power was for 
 a number of years leased to George H. Deane, who fitted 
 up the stone mills for the manufacture of jute goods, and 
 the upper mill for the manufacture of wadding. After 
 the expiration of the lease, Mr. Deane purchased the prop- 
 
 ^Putiiam and Crowningsliield •'Potts. ''See page 81. 
 
84 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 erty and formed the Ludlow Mills Company. A more re- 
 cent sale was to the present Ludlow Manufacturing Com- 
 pany, of which L. n. Brigham is agent. The goods made 
 are, at the stone mills : gunny bagging, various kinds of 
 crashes, plain and figured, (bleached and finished ready 
 for market,) all kinds of hardware twines, and linen warps ; 
 at the upper privilege are made cotton warps and seam- 
 less o'rain-basrs of the same material. About three hun- 
 dred hands are employed, who receive their Avages 
 monthly from the hand of R. H. Winsor, paymaster. 
 The expenses of the corporation monthly, exclusive of 
 the cost of stock, is $13,000. Charles T. Hubbard, of 
 Boston, is the treasurer of the Company and its chief sale 
 agent. There are connected with the establishment thirty 
 houses, and a church, besides all the barns, sheds, etc. A 
 fire a few months since so far injured a section of the 
 stone mills that it was considered advisable to place an 
 iron roof upon a section. Other im2:)rovemcnts are con- 
 templated in the near future. 
 
 It may be as well to say at this point that the present 
 Company own seven hundred acres of land, a large por- 
 tion of which is mapped out into streets and building lots. 
 The extent of water-power is estimated at over twenty- 
 five hundred horse-power, of which only a small portion 
 is in use. There is an excellent opportunity for canalage, 
 while the building lots are high and dry, above all tracks 
 of possible Hoods and miasm from stagnant waters. The 
 owners offer unusual facilities to manufacturing!: establish- 
 ments in the way of mill sites and land for dwellings and 
 tenements. 
 
 After the catastrophe at Jenksville in July of ]848, 
 neither religious society at the village was in a condition 
 to do much in an aggressive way. The Methodists, whose 
 house Rev. George Landon had dedicated only the Febru- 
 ary before, were left high and dry upon the shoal of an 
 
CHURCHES — HIGHWAYS. 85 
 
 eighteen hundred dollar debt, and no population to lift it; 
 hut one man of means, Col. John Miller, remaining in the 
 place. A Mr. Lee, local preacher from Wilbraham, ren- 
 dered efficient service in preaching from time to time, at 
 a merely nominal rate. At last the house was closed, 
 although the debt was largel}^ reduced. It was finally 
 sold for a nominal sum, and removed to Warren, where, 
 re-modeled, it still does duty for the denomination in 
 whose interests it was erected. 
 
 During the revival interests of 1857 a student from 
 Wilbraham Academy, W. H. Daniels, now a noted preach- 
 er in Illinois, was instrumental in promoting an extensive 
 Avork at Jenksville. The following Spring brought a con- 
 ference preacher again, who, with annual successors, occu- 
 pied the desk of the company church until 1863. Four 
 years later a union church was organized, now claiming 
 to be Congregationalist.^ Of the ministers, three have 
 been Congregationalist and two Methodist. The present 
 pastor is Rev. Timothy Lyman. 
 
 In the matter of highways the town has not been very 
 active of late. The piece of road across Cedar Swamp 
 has required much attention, and very likely will attract 
 notice in the future. The only prominent way con- 
 structed since 1848 has been the road from Eaton's Mills 
 to Indian Orchard, including the iron bridge spanning the 
 Chicopee River at that village, which were built by order 
 of the county commissioners in 1866. The bridges at 
 Collins' Depot also come within this period. The first, a 
 pier bridge, dates before 1850, but was carried away by a 
 flood. The present structure was erected in 1851. The 
 Red Bridge was thoroughly overhauled and made service- 
 able for many years in 1873. 
 
 •'See Annual Keport of Hampden Conference of Congregational Cliurclies, 1874, 
 page 9. 
 
86 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 The opening of tlic ^yeste^n (now the Boston and 
 All)any) railroad of course was a matter of interest and 
 indirect value to the town. The Springfield, Atliol and 
 North-eastern endeavored to secure town aid, on consid- 
 eration of passing tlu'ough Ludlow Center, but was unsuc- 
 cessful, and passed only through the very outskirts of 
 our territory, immediately benefiting only the village, 
 though stopping its trains at Collins' and Eed Bridge. 
 The construction of this railroad demanded another bridge 
 across the Chicopee, spanning the stream at the Indian 
 Leap, where also the hardly completed aqueduct for the 
 City of Springfield connects the proximate cliffs on either 
 side of the stream. 
 
 With the aid of Edward Sikes, of Wisconsin, the pres- 
 ent fence around the old North Cemetery was erected in 
 1866. — Graves's and Alden's mills, on Broad Brook, and 
 Edmund W. Fuller's shingle-mill on Higher Brook, are the 
 only recent accessions to the minor manufacturing estab- 
 lishments of the town. — Ludlow has long been noted for 
 the longevity of its inhabitants. Of twenty deaths in 
 1874 nine were parties over sixty years of age, while one 
 had borne the weight of a hundred winters less three. A 
 pleasing incident is related of the visit of four brothers, 
 Silvester, Joseph, Daniel and John Miller, to Springfield 
 m 1866, and their going together before the photogra- 
 pher's instrument for a picture. One, Daniel, has since 
 passed away, but the others j^et survive, their combined 
 ages considerably exceeding two hundred and fifty years. 
 Their portraits appropriately embellish this volume. — A 
 sad yet interesting incident in the history of the town was 
 the interment in the new cemetery of the remains of Rev. 
 Ebenezer B. Wright, who died at Huntington, August 17, 
 1871, aged 76. — Mineachogue pond, whose hungry waters 
 have fatally engulfed nearly half a score, during the last 
 summer was again made a center of interest by the acci- 
 
THE TIEBELLIOX. 87 
 
 dental drowning of a youth named Miller, visiting in the 
 place. Further back, about 1835, George Bennett was 
 also drowned there. — The most destructive fire Ludlow 
 has known in years occurred last fall, in the woods on and 
 near Facing Hills. — The town house has been changed 
 little by little from time to time, though the most marked 
 alterations, in the partition and fitting up of a town office, 
 and the removal of some of the old seats are of very re- 
 cent date ; the latter, in fact, having been made necessary 
 by the centennial celebration. — It is noticeable that the 
 town, since the temperance agitation has been under way, 
 never has licensed the sale of intoxicating liquors. — The 
 Ludlow Center post-office is also an outgrowth of recent 
 enterprise, having been granted June 17, 1874, and opened 
 early in July. 
 
 We have purposely reserved a recital of the most prom- 
 inent series of events occurring during these years. Al- 
 though Ludlow has been a town voting with the republicans 
 ever since the ascendency of that party commenced, there 
 was but one sentiment manifest in the fearful days of the 
 great Rebellion. There were few towns more active, none 
 more lo^'al. Ere the echoes of Sumter's guns had fairly 
 died away the citizens met and appropriated, April 27, 
 1861, two thousand dollars for bounty to those who would 
 enlist. In August of the next 3^ear a hundred dollars was 
 offered to each of seventeen men who would enlist, and 
 Samuel King drew up before the grateful and appreciative 
 people a line of fifteen strong yeomen who responded. 
 Meeting after meeting was held, keeping the interest red- 
 hot. We need not cite the notes which so frequently re- 
 peat the story of those terrible days. Another hand has 
 traced the account, and from his narration we will draw 
 our sketch in the main.' Suffice it to say that of the men 
 
 ■'See Rev. Mr. Banister's Address, pp. 88, 89. Also see Mr. Tuck's Address, 
 note X. 
 
88 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 who went and suffered, some of them even unto death, 
 nearly all were of the best blood in the town. They did 
 not act in vain. 
 
 The war over and some of the men returned, measures 
 were taken in 18G6 to erect a monument to the memory 
 of the fallen. The committee was appointed,^ money 
 raised and a contract made with W. N. Flynt & Co. of Mon- 
 son, resulting at last in the completion of the beautiful 
 structure standing near the town-house.^ The memorial 
 cost $1,02-5. At its dedication, in the summer of 1867, a 
 goodly company assembled and listened to an appropriate 
 address from Rev. D. K. Banister, part of which we are 
 permitted to place before the reader : 
 
 "A worthy and patriotic object has called us together this morning. 
 We have met to embalm the memories of those who, like the leader 
 in the great conflict, fell, martyrs, in their country's cause. In this 
 great struggle and successful contest, not merely a Lincoln, a Grant, a 
 Sherman and others high in command have borne a noble and import- 
 ant part, but the lower grades of officers and the rank and file of the 
 loyal hosts were all essential and are worthy of heroes' fame. The 
 privileges our institutions bring, and the civilization they uphold, pro- 
 claim their excellence. The masses are lifted up, the avenues to 
 eminence are open to the sons of the lowly and the poor, as well as the 
 rich and honorable. How does the humble but meritorious backwoods- 
 man lind his way to the chief magistracy of a great nation, and this by 
 his wisdom and goodness, and become the admiration of the world and 
 of ages yet unborn ? Whence the men whose discoveries have so 
 marked the age in which we live ? * * * 
 
 " This principle not only opens the way for aspiring genius and fosters 
 it, but invests every loyal citizen with privileges beyond price. The 
 value of our government is measured by the sum aggregate of its value 
 to each of the loyal millions. 
 
 " Whatever was thought at first, it soon became apparent that we 
 had on our hands no mere holiday work, but a contest of fearful pro- 
 portions. The frequent calls for men, for three hundred thousand 
 men, to fill the fearful gaps in the loyal ranks, gave warning that to 
 
 »F. F. McLean, J. P. Hubbard, S. Wliite, li. Root and C. L. Buell. 
 "See Mr. Tuck's Address, X. 
 
THE MILLER BROTHERS. (See page 8G.) 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 Joseph. 
 Sylvester. 
 
 John. 
 
r 
 
REV. MR. banister's ADDRESS. 89 
 
 enlist was to meet a storm of great fury and power. These men most 
 of them saw the clanger and faced it. * * * Our war-meetings some- 
 times presented scenes well worthy the painter's pencil and the poet's 
 pen. I recollect attending one not far away, well worthy of remem- 
 brance. Volunteers were called to come forward and give their names. 
 A young man^" of noble spirit and form erect came forward and said in 
 substance : ' I love my country and, if need be, I am willing to die for 
 it, but I have aged parents that need my care ; if I can be assured they 
 will be cared for, I am willing to go ; ' while tears told the earnestness of 
 his heart. The desired pledge was given, and he enlisted. Another," of 
 stalwart form and generous impulses, said, ' I am willing to go if my 
 family, my wife and children, can be cared for, if I return no more.' 
 The promise desired was given, and he also enlisted. Another,'- Eng- 
 lish by birth, said he felt the cause to be worthy, and he was willing to 
 stake his life for his adopted country, and gave his name. Of low 
 stature, he expressed much concern lest he should be rejected on that 
 account b}^ the examining officer. They all went, and fell or died in 
 their country's service. 
 
 " The first one that enlisted in the town'" is a case worthy of note. He 
 lived in the village. He was a young man of intelligence, and in a 
 good financial position. But hearing the call, his patriotic impulses 
 were moved as though by inspiration. His room was embellished with 
 mottoes like these : ' Our country calls and we must go ;' ' Boys, our 
 country needs us.' He, like other noble spirits, without the pressure 
 and incidental inducements of after years, enlisted, and fell a hero 
 on the battle-field. * * * By such sacrifices the area of liberty 
 has been extended and greatly promoted. The four millions of 
 bondmen became free, the slavery remaining in the civilized world 
 is doomed. * * * 
 
 " Free institutions, under the influence of an open bible and gen- 
 eral intelligence, are strong and reliable, as well as most benign ; 
 none stronger or so secure. This republican nation stands erect and 
 purified, rebuking oppression everywhere, feared by its foes and re- 
 spected by all, the world over. She bears the banner of freedom 
 for the world. * * * When the prophetic day of seven suns light- 
 ing up the world with millennial splendor shall be ushered in, it will 
 be seen that this great contest and triumph had a marked and mighty 
 influence in hastening the glorious consummation." 
 
 We append the names of those who went from and for 
 the town to the war of the RebelUon, referring the reader 
 
 i"Lyon. "Pratt. i^Potts. i^^Brooks. 
 
 12 
 
90 
 
 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 for incidents to another page.^* We give them in alpha- 
 betical order, as the records show them, starring those who 
 fell: 
 
 Pliilo ^y. B. Alclen, 
 Preston Alden, 
 Hiram "W. Aldrich,* 
 Wilson Allen, 
 Dennis Anderson, 
 George Ashton, 
 James Bagley, 
 Leonard Baker, 
 Lemuel Bennett, 
 Lyman Bennett,* 
 Warren D. Bennett, 
 Sumner Bodfish, 
 Lyman Brewer, 
 John H. Brines, 
 Edward F. Brooks,* 
 James Buckley, 
 Joseph A. Bugbee, 
 Amaziah E. Burcham, 
 Erancis A. Burcham, 
 Henry Bushey, 
 Andrew Carpenter, 
 James Chapin, 
 Augustus Chapman,* 
 William F. Christian, 
 Benjamin F. Clark, 
 William Clements, 
 John Coash,* 
 Charles B. Comstock, 
 Calvin Cooley, 
 Thomas Cowan, 
 Daniel D. Currier,* 
 Caleb Crowningshield,* 
 John B. Dunn, 
 Benjamin C. Davis, 
 John B. Davis, 
 W^ilber Davis, 
 Cornelius Dugan, 
 
 Elisha Dutton, 
 Charles B. Fay, 
 George Feathers, 
 Edward E. Fuller, 
 J. E. Fuller, 
 Horace Gates, 
 Marvin Giboney, 
 Austin C. Gove, 
 Thomas Higgins, 
 Isaac T. Hines, 
 Henry Hobson, 
 John Hobson, Jr., 
 Henry A. Hubbard,* 
 James B. Kellams, 
 Andrew Kenney, 
 James D. Kenney, 
 Henry Keyes, 
 Arthur King, 
 Homer K. King, 
 Samuel King, 
 Francis R. Lemon, 
 Dexter Lombard, 
 Isaac Loury, 
 Thomas I. Lyndes, 
 Ebenezer Lyon,* 
 John Mack, 
 Julius M. Marshall, 
 Harry Martin, 
 John McCutcheon, 
 John McDonald, 
 Charles McFarland,* 
 Charles McKenney, 
 Charles McSheney, 
 Wilbur F. Miller, 
 Edward Morrill, 
 Michael Munsin?, 
 Charles U. Nash, 
 
 ^■'See appendix, DD. Also Address, XI. 
 
SPRINGFIELD WATEll WORKS. 
 
 91 
 
 James L. Nash, 
 Steplien O'Holloran, 
 David M. Olds, 
 Robert Parsons,* 
 Henry M. Pease,* 
 Levi L. Pease, 
 Lyman Pease, 
 James E. Perry, 
 Anthony 0. Pott,* 
 Daniel Pratt,* 
 Edwin Price, 
 Flavins J. Putnam,* 
 Michael Peinliart, 
 Andrew Penny, 
 Wilson Rogers, 
 Joseph Rood, 
 William Sanderson, 
 Daniel R. Sanger, 
 
 Peter Scott, 
 John Shangnesey, 
 Alexander Sliaw, 
 Charles Sikes, 
 Charles Simonds, 
 Erancis F. Simonds, 
 Frankliix R. Simonds, 
 Josiah Stephens, 
 Edward H. Stewart, 
 George L. Streeter, 
 Addison Waide, 
 George Wallace, 
 Charles S. Washburn, 
 William E. Washburn,* 
 Abram W. Watson, 
 Lovinslvi White, 
 Loren Wood. 
 
 It was remarked by one of the reporters of our centen- 
 nial celebration that " the genius of change has conquered 
 even this stronghold of old New England conservatism at 
 last ; as Ludlow was recalling her most treasured associ- 
 ations aroimd the church, Springfield was laying her ob- 
 noxious water-pipes at the very door of the old house of 
 worship." When, a few months since, the region known 
 as Cherry Valley was added to the proposed locations of 
 the reservoir for the Springfield water supply, there were 
 few, in town or out, who supposed the place would be se- 
 lected. The year 1873, however, had not much worn 
 away before the announcement was made that Ludlow 
 brooks would be diverted into an aqueduct leading to the 
 city. The last month of the year found a large number 
 of employes at work upon the basin and the eastern dam. 
 By the first of April the "basin and its slopes had been 
 cleared of wood, enough having been cut off to make a 
 solid fence a considerable portion of the way around. On 
 the sixth of April the trenching for the pipes was begun 
 
92 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 and Avoi'k resumed upon the dam. On the ninth of Octo- 
 ber the gangs going towards and from Springfield met, 
 tluis practically finishing the work of laying the " big 
 main." Of this largest piping about a half mile of cast 
 iron tube was laid from the southern dam to Higher Brook, 
 while cement-lined sheet iron tubes extend from that point 
 to the city. The numl)er of acres in the bed of the res- 
 ervoir is four hundred and forty-five, to which must be 
 added a marginal area of three hundred and sixty acres. 
 Of this entire territory two hundred and eighty acres 
 were woodland. Six and three-eighths acres of swamp 
 have been covered with 13,92-1: cubic yards of sand, and a 
 little over one-half as much has been sanded between the 
 south dam and the filter. The land was purchased of Ben- 
 jamin Sikes and Sons, Reuben Sikes, S. Billings, A. L. 
 Bennett, C. S. Bennett, J. L. Banister, Mrs. jNIargaret 
 Sikes, M. King and C. W. Alden. A ditch of a mile in 
 length turns Higher Brook into the reservoir, and one 
 longer and larger taps Broad Brook just north of the 
 town line. The work is nearly completed. No pains 
 have been spared to put the ]jed of the reservoir into 
 proper condition. 
 
 " In excavating for the trench to take the water from the general 
 level of the flats ahove the Cherry Vallej'' dam, the material thrown 
 out, which consisted for the most part of coarse gravel, was used to 
 cover the peaty bottom. The area thus trenched and covered was 
 about ten acres. That portion between the Ludlow dam and the filter, 
 an area of tliree and three-fourths acres, has been covered witli about 
 two feet in depth of good clean sand. From the Ludlow dam, extend- 
 ing in tlie A'alley north-easterly on the low ground for about fifteen 
 acres, a mass of decaying pine stumps has been pulled out and burned. 
 Much pains has been taken to char large stumps wliile burning the 
 ground over, and burn tliem up as far. as practicable. For this pur- 
 pose a considerable cpiantity of kerosene oil has been used with which 
 to ignite them. In this manner, although the stumps would not be 
 entirely consumed, the}^ are so far charred or consumed by the opera- 
 tion as to be rendered much less harmful than they would otherwise 
 
LEADING MEIS". 93 
 
 be. Of the peaty and swampy portions of the bed of tlie reservoir, 
 none are covered with less than twelve feet of water with a full pond, 
 the most of which will not be less than sixteen feet."^'' 
 
 The commissioners under whose direction the enterprise 
 has been carried out have been C. 0. Chapin, D. L. Harris, 
 A. D. Briggs, S. W. Porter, G. C. Fisk and Horace Smith, 
 while Hon. Phinehas Ball of Worcester is chief ensrineer. 
 A large number of Ludlow men have been employed as 
 overseers or workmen. 
 
 Very little has been said of the men to-day figuring in 
 the activities of the world, who claim Ludlow as the place 
 of their nativit}^ or early home. While the record is not 
 as full as that of some other towns, it may be a fair infer- 
 ence that the charms of home have been greater than in 
 some localities, the returns for labor so sure that less in- 
 centive has been felt here for seeking renown and wealth 
 elsewhere. Yet the list, if gathered in full, would show 
 no mean array of well-known names. A leading banker 
 and very prominent railroad man, just honored with an 
 election to Congress ;^^ two clergymen, of different denom- 
 inations, useful in their day and generation ;^^ one com- 
 bining in his life-work a successful ministerial and educa- 
 tional career, at present principal of a leading seminary in 
 Vermont ;^^ one known long and honorably in editorial 
 labors and the management of prominent State charities ;^^ 
 still another, whose efforts in a national position of trust 
 were signally successful ;-° another,^^ coming to us years 
 ago, founded at Jenksville a boarding-school for young 
 ladies, for some time an efficient institution, while the 
 
 i^From Report of Water Commissioners, 1875. 
 
 ^•'Hon. Ciiester W. Cli.ipin. 
 
 ^'lievs. Simeon Miller, and Damas Brough. 
 
 ^'*Rev. Lorenzo White. 
 
 i9Hon. G. M. Fisk. 
 
 =^''Hon. Edwin Booth, 
 
 2iHon. G. Pillsbury. 
 
94 HISTORY OF LUDLOW. 
 
 founder received honors at home and abroad ; these, with 
 others whose names could readily be recited, show that 
 the town need not be ashamed of those who have gone 
 from her midst. 
 
 But the age is progressing, and the world calling for 
 men and women. However the world may have excused 
 LudloAv from giving in the past a larger quota to her ranks 
 of workers, the excuse is no longer tenable. To the young- 
 men and women of our town there is the highest incentive 
 for intellectual and moral attainments. With the broad 
 acreage of our domain, handed down from sturdy ances- 
 tors, is given the means of acquiring an education as good 
 as the land affords. Let us find more Ludlow boys and 
 girls in halls of learning, in seminaries, in colleges, in 
 universities, in technical schools. To this end let the 
 managers of the affairs of the town see to it that no pains 
 are spared to secure the broadest and firmest foundation for 
 a scholastic training, in the excellence of her own schools. 
 The town can vie with any in her manufactures and her 
 crops ; let none excel her in giving opportunities for the 
 development of the noblest of citizens. 
 
 We must turn our attention to other matters, closing 
 here the annals of the town. If there could be a histori- 
 cal society organized at once, to collect data that may be 
 yet accumulated from the fading records of the past, an- 
 other annalist would have reason to thank any who would 
 interest themselves in that direction. Who has a sullicient 
 love for the memory and traditions of noble ancestors to 
 endow with a small sum such an institution ? 
 
THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 PROSPECTIVE— ACTUAL— AFTERPAST. 
 
THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 PROSPECTIVE. 
 
 The annals of the Bay State had for years declared that in 
 the year 1774 the towns of West Springfield, Ludlow, Leverett, 
 West Stockbridge and Barre, Mass., and Edgecomb and New 
 Gloucester, Me., then of Massachusetts, had been granted their 
 distinctive title to separate existence. This fact had from time 
 to time attracted the attention of the denizens of Ludlow, and 
 awakened some comment upon the question of a celebration 
 when the centurj^ should have rounded itself. The commemora- 
 tive exercises at the sister town of Wilbraham in 1863, of course 
 attracted more or less attention in this adjoining place. But there 
 appears to have been no agitation of any account until perhaps 
 three 3^ears ago, when Mr. Ambrose Clough, a connoisseur in lo- 
 cal histor}', called the attention of some of his fellow-citizens to 
 the fact that the town was approaching its hundredth birthday, 
 and should not allow the occasion to pass without giving its 
 children an invitation home again. Others were evidently much 
 interested in this historical fact and heartily seconded the efforts 
 of the gentleman named. Indeed, the approaching milestone in 
 the race of life seemed to throw its shadow in advance in the 
 vision of many a citizen, particularly the elderly ones of the 
 town. Nothing was done, however, until the Spring of the year 
 1874, when the Selectmen received the following petition : 
 
 " To THE Honorable the Board of Selectmen of the Town of 
 Ludlow: 
 We, the undersigned, inhabitants and legal voters in the town of 
 Ludlow, petition your honorable body to insert an article in your war- 
 rant, to see if tlie town will take any measures to celebrate the Centen- 
 13 
 
98 THE CENTENXI^VL. 
 
 nial of the town ; also to appropriate money for the same, and to pass 
 all necessary votes. 
 
 Ludlow, February 25th, 1874. 
 
 (Signed) Amhrose Clough, 
 
 B. F. Blur, 
 J. P. Hubbard, 
 Albert Fuller, 
 Gilbert E. Fuller." 
 
 As a result of this petition the article desired appeared in the 
 warrant for the Spring meeting of the town. Its insertion seems 
 to have awakened a little feeling, but not in any way marked, 
 as the citizens very unanimously voted to observe a day of fes- 
 tivities. The following makes evident the result of the agita- 
 tion so far : 
 
 Original meeting, March 9th. 
 
 "Voted that the town celebrate its Centennial. 
 
 " Voted to choose a committee of seven to carry out the design of 
 the town, and that this committee report at the adjourned meeting. 
 Ambrose Clough was chosen chairman of the committee, and the other 
 members are John P. Hubliard, George E. Clark, B. F. Burr, Rev. C. 
 L. Cushman, Eev. Alfred Noon and F. F. McLean. ' 
 
 " Voted to appropriate two hundred and fifty dollars for the same." 
 
 Adjourned meeting, April 6th. 
 
 " Voted to appropriate one hundred and fifty dollars in addition to 
 that appropriated at the March meeting, for the Centennial Celebra- 
 tion." 
 
 Let no one think the work of these parties was a sinecure. 
 
 The first meeting was held at the house of the chairman on 
 the evening of March IGth, but adjourned, with little result, to 
 the house of Major Hubbard on the 23d. On that evening Mr. 
 B. F. Burr, the ready writer of the town's records, was chosen 
 Secretary. From that date the committee met fortnightly, and 
 then weekly, at the town house, until after the Centennial. 
 
 In the preliminary arrangements for the celebration of course 
 many things were planned which could not be consummated. 
 The first choice of the committee for the literary orator Avas 
 Rev. J. W. Dadniun of AVinthrop, once pastor of the M. E. 
 Church, but home duties prevented his coming. The next vote 
 
ORATORS AND COMMITTEES. 99 
 
 on this matter was one of invitation to Rev. Prof. G. Prentice of 
 Middletown, Conn., also a former pastor of the church just 
 named. At first the gentleman was inclined to accept, but 
 finally found his labors at the University where he is, of such a 
 character as to interfere with the plan of coming here. The 
 third choice rested upon Prof. Lorenzo White of New Salem, a 
 former resident of the town for a score of years, who "could 
 not find it in his heart to refuse the request " of his old town. 
 The excellence of the address will be marked b}^ every reader. 
 
 Not so long a delay was experienced in securing the services 
 of the historical orator. The first request was to Rev. Mr. Aus- 
 tin of Connecticut, the last minister employed as pastor by the 
 town of Ludlow. Poor health prevented his acceptance, and the 
 choice then was Rev. J. W. Tuck of Jewett City, Conn., for six- 
 teen years pastor of the Congregational Church, whose able ad- 
 dress, spoken to the audience at the Centennial, dissemhiated 
 through the region by the enterprise of the press, and now placed 
 in an enduring form, has become a constituent element in the 
 historic annals of the town. 
 
 The following scheme shows concisely the doings of the gen- 
 eral committee, as finally revised, in the selection of sub-com- 
 mittees : 
 
 On Collation : — District No. 1. Andrew E. C. Bartlett, Amnie 
 Hubbard. 
 
 2. John W. Hubbard, Addie F. Hubbard. 
 
 3. Gillen D. Atchinson, Estelle Newell. 
 
 4. F. F. McLean, Ellen Root. 
 
 5. D. C. Jones, Henrietta Chapin. 
 
 6. William P. Clark, Angeline White. 
 
 7. Charles S. Bennett, Maria Sikes. 
 
 8. Elliot 0. Alden, Florence Graves. • 
 
 9. Alanson Pool, Carrie R. Waid. 
 10. Lucien Lyon, Alice Kendall. 
 
 Ox fxviTATiON. — Rev. C. L. Cushman, George R. Clark. 
 
 On Music— Davenport L. Fuller, Alfred S. Putnam, Wilbur F. 
 Miller, Henry S. Jones, Edward E. Fuller. 
 
 Ox Finance. — Samuel Wliite, Edward E. Fuller, John Ray, Austin 
 F. Nash, David C. Jones, Silas Billings, Reuben Sikes. 
 
 On Programme. — Rev. C. L. Cushman, L. H. Brigham, Edmund 
 E. Charles, Rev. Alfred Noon, Ambrose Clougli, C. A. Southworth. 
 
100 THE CENTEXXIAL. 
 
 On Sentiments. — John P. Hubbard, C. L. Bucll, Jackson Cady, 
 L. H. Brigham, B. Pillsbury. 
 
 On Printing. — Rev. C. L. Cushman, George E. Clark, B. P. Burr, 
 
 On Facts, Portraits, etc. — George K. Clark, Ambrose Clougli, 
 C. L. Buell, John Hobson, Jr. 
 
 On Decorations. — Eliza Jones, Genevra B. McLean, Ella Jones, 
 Susan Fuller, Lucy E. Booth, Anna S. Bennett, Belle L. Kendall, 
 Nellie Buffington, Jennie Green, Lily T. Sargent, Mrs. IST. B. Paulk. 
 
 On Arrangements and Receptions. — C. L. Buell, D. L. Fuller, 
 Silas Billings, Reuben Sikes, Austin C. Gove, Lyman Burr, Adin 
 Whitney, Lucius Simonds, David K. Paine, Charles Sikes, Oliver B. 
 Miller, Albert Fuller, F. F. Fairbanks. 
 
 President of the Day. — Rev. Alfred Noon. 
 
 Vice-Presidents. — Elisha T. Parsons, Rev. D. K. Banister, Syl- 
 vester Miller, Hezekiah Root, Theodore Sikes, George Clark, Ezekiel 
 Fuller, Artemas H. Whitney, John Miller, Sylvester Clark, Jonathan 
 Waid, Stillman Alden, Zachariah Day, Spencer Talmadge, Aaron 
 Davis, Franklin Fuller, Jacob S. Eaton, Daniel Brewer, Elijah Plum- 
 ley, Marvin King, Henry Fuller, Hubbard Dutton, R. M. Chandler, 
 Josiah Alden, Orsemus Alden, Lyman Burr, Gordon Pinney. 
 
 Marshal. — J. P. Hubbard. 
 
 Assistant Marshals. — Wilbur F. Miller, John W. Hubbard, 
 James 0. Kendall, Lucius Simonds, Austin F. Nash. 
 
 The collation committee organized Avith F. F. McLean for 
 chairman. They voted to invite the town to furnisli bread and 
 butter, cake, doughnuts, cheese, cold meats, tea and coffee. 
 The following result of a canvass of the various districts for 
 eatables may be of interest to the committee arranging for the 
 next centennial : 
 
 Biscuits, buttered, . . 3,807 C^dce, loaves, 400 
 
 Doughnuts, .... 2,165 Tarts, 750 
 
 Besides, there were purchased for distribution : 
 
 27 lbs. of dried beef, 200 lbs. of tongues, 
 150 lbs. of ham, 15 lbs. of bologna, 
 
 ^ bbl. of pickles, 10 lbs. of tea, 
 
 15 lbs. of coffee, 204 lbs. of cheese, 
 
 190 lbs. of crackers, 100 lbs. of sugar. 
 
 Upon Reuben Sikes fittingly devolved the duties of chief 
 waiter, while his assistants were legion. 
 
VAEIOUS ARRANGEMENTS. 101 
 
 The committee on invitations sent out a large number of let- 
 ters and circulars, besides specially inviting certain dignitaries, 
 as the correspondence read after the collation will show. 
 
 The committee on music worked hard and successfully. One 
 and two rehearsals a week gave after a while great proficiency 
 to the singers. D. L. Fuller was chosen leader, and A. S. Put- 
 nam organist, while the Armory Band of Springfield was se- 
 lected to furnish music of its kind. 
 
 The committee on printing at first issued five hundred notes 
 of invitation, on postal cards, reading thus : 
 
 CENTENNIAL AT LUDLOW. 
 
 The old town invites all her children and children's children, former 
 residents and friends, to celebrate her hundredth birthday on the 17th 
 day of June next. 
 
 This is to invite most cordially, you and yours, to be present and 
 participate in the festivities of the occasion. 
 
 Come one, come all, for one joyous reunion. 
 
 The number being inadequate, two hundred more were ob- 
 tained, all too few, as the sequel showed. They further issued 
 schedules of committees, in two editions, of which over two 
 hundred were distributed. Ten thousand programs provided 
 under their auspices were very soon taken up on the opening 
 of the exercises. 
 
 The committee on facts made little demonstration, but were 
 very busy and very useful, as many of the notes in this volume 
 may testify. 
 
 Tire committee on decorations arranged very tastefully the 
 tables in the display tent, with flowers and evergreens, while 
 they showed rare taste in elegantly festooning the tents, besides 
 in an emblematic banner, bearing the legend, '* Welcome to our 
 Centennial," and the two dates 1774 and 1874, the one in sere 
 and yellow leaf of age, the other in brilliant foliage of the day. 
 
 Next, however, to the Centennial committee in careful plan- 
 nings and extensive labors, came the committee on arrangements 
 and reception. The only instructions of note given them were 
 to arrange for a free collation and find sitting accommodations 
 for fifteen hundred persons, while upon them devolved the task 
 of providing a place, securing crockery, arranging the details of 
 
]02 THE CEXTEXNIAL. 
 
 the day's accommodations, and a myriad of little duties which 
 could not be anticipated and yet must be performed. Two cir- 
 cular tents, one a hundred and one sixty feet in diameter, Avere 
 placed upon the green near the town-house, and the old pews 
 to a considerable extent removed from that ancient edifice, much 
 to the joy of voters. The area tlins obtained was devoted to 
 the purposes of the celebration. The town-house was the gen- 
 eral depository of food and crockery, the smaller tent contained 
 tables for display of a moiety of the good things so freely fur- 
 nished, while the larger canvas covered a net-work of plank seats 
 and an ample platform for musicians and dignitaries. Six thou- 
 sand three hundred and seventy pieces of crockery, a load for 
 seven horses, were obtained from tlie mother city, all of which 
 was requisite. Arrangements were also made for the conve3'ance 
 of passengers from the depots. 
 
 At last the arrangements were pronounced complete, and the 
 day of days for Ludlow began to dawn. Alas for human plans. 
 Could heaven frown upon such efforts ? No ball had been ar- 
 ranged for the finale of the exercises or as their initial. All had 
 been performed with the strictest decorum, and yet the day-break 
 exhibited humid skies and rain-drenched ground. The commit- 
 tee arose with anxiety, and one and another looked eagerly for 
 the signs of fair weather. " How do you feel ? " said one of the 
 connuittee to the indefatigable chairman. " First-rate," was 
 the cheering reply, and the others caught its sx)irit. Down 
 came the rain in genial showers, until an hour or two before the 
 time for the exercises to begin, Avhen Pluvius had satiated him- 
 self, and the rain ceased. Meanwhile the crowds began to start 
 from their homes, and about the hour for the opening of the 
 exercises every shed and shelter for a team had been long since 
 filled. At last the appointed time arrived, and all were pre- 
 pared to enjoy the Centennial Actual. 
 

 ^S^S^S^^^^* 
 
 I i8T4 1 
 
 ^i'®^ 
 
 ^iSi- 
 
 ^«^ 
 
 'tjaj^SSja*^:^' 
 
 o 
 
 Cv 
 
 5) 
 
 ;^^ sii^^^cv, 
 
 %. 
 
 •<s> 
 
 ^o TTJsr 
 
 jMrn 
 
 
 
 
 Mm^ 
 
 w..^.. 
 
 Q H??^' 
 
 qfS?.?'/ 
 
 j^z^ Ludlozu, Jllass., 
 
 Ml 
 
 EQ\lESQ\Yf J^'f^^ 
 
 Iftf, I' 
 
 t ^4 
 
 Servicts to CommeDce at 10 1-2 o'clock A. M. 
 
 mu 
 
 
 #^ 
 
 *^-Clark W. Bryan & Company, Printers, Springfield, Ma&=. 
 
"iii^^"''2'*''»^'''is^ ''^"^ Si^O'J^S 'j(^^i^afI-^.'-<^r'^.'^i 
 
 -<yr'-^j^-Y 
 
 I, — Music by the Band. 
 2. — Singing. 
 
 •Prayer. 
 
 REV. D. K, BANISTER, OF LUDLOW. 
 
 4. — Reading of Scripture. 
 
 REV. SIMEON MILLER, OF SPRINGFIELD. 
 5. — Original Centennial Hymn. 
 
 God of our Fathers, no^Ar to Thee 
 
 \A/e lift our hearts with glad acclaim, 
 
 Rejoicing in that liberty 
 
 Vouchsafed to thenn who love Thy nanne. 
 
 The generations live and die. 
 
 The earth itself is growing old, 
 
 But Thou, O Lord I art ever nigh. 
 Thou dost the sands of ages hold. 
 
 We recognize Thy loving hand, 
 
 \A/liose gentle guidings have been felt 
 
 By sir'es and sons throughout the land. 
 While under care divine they dwelt. 
 
 Receive our praise, Messiah King, 
 
 NA'hile here we count thy nnercies o'er; 
 
 Accept the offering we bring. 
 
 And nnake us thine foreverniore. 
 
6. — Greeting. 
 
 REV. C. L. CUSHMAN, OF LUDLOW. 
 
 7. — Music by the Band. 
 
 8. — Literary Address, with Response to Greeting. 
 REV. L. WHITE, OF NEW SALEM. 
 
 9. — Singing. 
 
 10. — Historical Address. 
 
 REV. J. W. TUCK, OF JEWETT CITY, CT. 
 
 I I. — Music by the Band. 
 I 2. — Prayer. 
 13. — Doxology. 
 14. — Benediction. 
 
 14 
 
Old 5^olk0' Coricert 
 
 COIIGREGATIOIIAL CHURCH, 
 
 O.N THE 
 
 JE-veixtTxg of JTziize 17tlx 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 I. — Anthem for Easter. 
 
 2. — a. "Sherburne." b. " Northfield." c. "Rainbow." 
 
 3. — Piano and Cornet Duet 
 
 MR. WILSOM and MR. SOUTHLAND. 
 
 4.— Duett, " In the Starlight." 
 
 5. — a " China." b. " Gieenwich." 
 
 6 — Song, selected. 
 
 7. — Male Quartette. 
 8. — Cornet Solo. 
 
 9. — " Invitation." 
 
 MISS GENEVRA McLEAN. 
 
 MR. SOUTHLAND. 
 
 PART SECOND, 
 
 I. — Piano and Cornet Duett. 
 
 MR. WILSON and MR. SOUTHLAND. 
 2. — a. " Montgonnery." b. " Bridgewater.'' c. "Tuiner." 
 3. — Song, Chalet Horn. 
 
 MISS GENEVRA McLEAN. 
 4. — " David's Lamentat'on " 
 5. — Mixed Quartette. 
 6. — Cornet Solo. 
 
 MR. SOUTHLAND. 
 7. — a. " Majesty." b. " New Jerusalem." 
 8. — " Coronation," in which all are inv.ted to join. 
 
 All liail the power of Jesus' name! 
 
 I,et an^iels firostrate fall; 
 Bring forth tlnf royal diailem. 
 
 And crown him Lord of all. 
 
 O, that with yonder ."sacred tlirong, 
 
 We at his feet may tall ; 
 We'll join tlie everlasting song, 
 
 And crown him Lord of all. 
 
 lliQ Concert ivill commence at 7 1-2 o'clock 
 
 W. r. MILLEE, Conductor. 
 
THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 ACTUAL. 
 
 The speakers were assigned tlieir places; the musicians took the 
 seats prepared for them ; the marshals occupied their posts of duty ; 
 the audience quietl}^ sought accommodations in iind about the vast 
 tent, now all too small ; the Bohemians were already writing up the 
 exercises in advance. Upon honorary seats near the speaker's desk 
 were ranged the old and elderly men of the town : Sylvester Miller, 
 over ninety, the oldest of all ; Col. John Miller, Sylvester Clark, Theo- 
 dore Sikes, Esq., George Clark, Orsemus Alden, Rev. D. K. Banister, 
 Ezekiel Fuller, Harry Fuller, Jonathan Waid, Dea. Elisha T. Parsons, 
 Franklin Fuller, Lyman Burr, Elisha Plumley, Marvin King, Artemas 
 Whitney, Stillmau Alden, Hezekiah Root, Hubbard Button and oth- 
 ers, while near them were invited guests : Elijah Blake, Chester W. 
 Chapin, J. A. Rumrill, Mayor Stebbins, Aldermen Holt and Fuller, Dea. 
 Roderick Burt and others of Springfield, and others still from towns 
 nearer or more remote. Austin Chapman came from Ellington, Conn., 
 while Joseph INIiller, over eighty years of age, who had traveled more 
 than four hundred miles to attend the gathering, arrived at four in 
 the afternoon. Goodly numbers had on previous days arrived at the 
 homes of their friends, taking the ver}' favorable opportunity pre- 
 sented for a visit to the old landmarks. Some had been born here ; 
 some had here chosen the companions of their youth, perhajis remem- 
 bering at this anniversary the "publishment" by crier or jiosted no- 
 tice; some had seen their loved ones laid dway iu graves now marked 
 by mossy monuments, or more recently had visited the old town to- 
 attend funereal service. How sad and yet liow interesting the greet- 
 ings of these old friends! Surely all this painstaking was more than 
 recompensed by the gladness of reunion or the tenderness of reminis- 
 cence. The programme, which has been elegantly reproduced on the 
 previous pages, was then handed aronnrl. 
 
108 TnE CENTENXIAL. 
 
 A fine selection played by the band sent a thrill of inspiration 
 through the audience, after which the exercises were formally opened, 
 and the grand choir sang with a will "Strike the Cymbal" and 
 " Home, Sweet Home." Rev Daniel K. Banister, formerly a pastor in 
 the town, next led the congregation in a fervent and earnest prayer. 
 Rev. Simeon Miller, a native of Ludlow, read selections from the 
 Scripture appropriate to the occasion.^ The next exercise consisted of 
 the singing of the Centennial hymn, composed for the occasion by the 
 pastor of the Methodist church. The grand strains in the old tune 
 " Devotion " rang out like a chorus at the Peace Jubilee, as the whole 
 audience united voice and heart in praise. Rev. C. L. Cushman, then 
 pastor of the Congregationalist Church, next delivered the following 
 address of welcome : 
 
 REV. MR. CUSHMAN'S ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : It has been said by some 
 one that there is a class of rather solitary people, who, having reached 
 a certain age, never more grow old. Perpetual youth is what they 
 crave. But we, sir, are proud of our age. The old mother is, to-day, 
 a centenarian, and yet she greets her children in the beauty and 
 freshness of a youthful maiden. We call you to note her youthful 
 appearance. Standing at the opening of a second century, she never 
 looked so fair, so unwrinkled, so youthful as now. 
 
 Despite the prevalent indifference to genealogy and to ancestry 
 which so far influenced the early settlers that they neglected to pre- 
 serve and transmit to us connected and reliable memorials of them- 
 selves, it was somehow discovered that the town was reaching its 
 one-hundredth birthday. With a quite marked unanimity of feeling 
 it was thought that the event must not pass without a public recogni- 
 tion in the shape of a family gathering of sons and daughters from 
 far and near. The objects were the gathering into a connected form 
 for preservation our hitherto fragmentary history, the renewal of old 
 friendships, the awakening of a family pride in all hearts, the culti- 
 vation of becoming reverence for the past, and the bringing of all who 
 were born here into an acquaintance with the place of their nativity. 
 It is a matter of regret that in New England there has prevailed so 
 great indifference to the men and to the things of the past. No peo- 
 
 iThe selections were Psa. 80 : 1, 90 : 1-G, 78 : 1-7. 
 
ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 109 
 
 pie have so great reason to value their descent as the native-born 
 citizens of onr land. Yet, as a fact, no people on earth concern 
 themselves so little about their ancestry or, after the first degree, feel 
 so little interest in consanguinity. In reply to the question whether 
 such a one is a relative, the negative is given, simply beciause he is 
 onl}'- a second cousin. If you ask one who was his grandfather he 
 may be able to tell you, but if you ask where he came from, you will 
 quite likely be answered in some such dubious and traditionary form as 
 the following: "I have heard my father say that his father came 
 from the East or from the South, etc." This ignorance is, of course, 
 the result of indifference. Let us rejoice that this indifference is be- 
 ginning to be corrected. 
 
 AVe have projected this celebration, to-day, to help in breaking up 
 this indifference. We do not claim that the 17th of June was the ex- 
 act natal day, but near enough to it to warrant its use as such. We 
 have, however, chosen it largely because there is no month like June, at 
 least till golden-sheaved October comes. Nature is the universal attrac- 
 tion. It has been well said the flowering time of the year is its fresh 
 and virginal period, and surely there is none so enchanting. June is 
 surely a gift out of the heavens. Birds and flowers, beautiful ex- 
 pressions of God's thoughts, make life charming. So, then, the 
 mother has shown her good sense in inviting home her children, when 
 she herself is clad in almost celestial beauty. 
 
 We are here, to-day, as one family, brought together by this natal 
 occasion, to visit the old family homestead. Let us feel like children, 
 unbend and give way to the impulses of the hour. 
 
 Requested as I am to speak words of greeting in the name of my 
 fellow-citizens and of the committee of arrangements, it gives me 
 pleasure to reflect that if we have never been noted for great men 
 and great things, we have at least taken care of ourselves and kept 
 out of prison. Scarcely a name has been on the convict roll. The 
 retirement of the town has been fitted to foster simplicity of feeling 
 and of character. It has been a definition of a wise and pure life to 
 live according to nature. Such a mode of living is well nigh impossi- 
 ble in the crowded life of cities and large towns. The formalities, the 
 spirit of caste and clique, the t3'railny of opinion, make it hard for a 
 
110 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 niiui to be true to nature and true to liinisolf. Tlie soul becomes 
 artificial without knowing it, ceases to think its own thoughts and 
 forsakes truth for the voice of the ruling caste. In such cases and 
 places, politeness is wont to be a rule committed to memory and not a 
 prompting of nature. An external standard seizes a man and moulds 
 him into a thing of show and quite likely of falsehoods. Some one 
 has somewhere said simplicity and honesty are the gold of character, 
 but surely how hard are they to keep, and how rare to find. Now 
 these traits have always been nourished and [)erfected in this rural 
 retreat, away from much of the gloss and falsehood which are wont to 
 abound in the largest communities. 
 
 So, then, we congratulate ourselves that we have grown and sent 
 out to other communities the best material, the very bone and sinew 
 of which they are made. As such we welcome you home to-day, to 
 view the rock whence ye were hewn. We are proud of you for the 
 most part. Nobly did our town respond to the country's call, and 
 many of her sons sleep beneath the Southern sky. Nobly has she 
 alwaj^s done her part. Nobly does she sustain the institutions of 
 religion. In fact she has ever been true to high-toned principle. 
 
 The old town is much changed. Even her woods and "templed 
 hills " fail to remain intact. Her fine farm-houses tell of thrift and 
 comfort, if not of wealtli and luxury. We promise more in the fu- 
 ture. We are here, to-day, to assert anew our right to be, to take a 
 new lease of life, to push ourselves nearer to the front in the family 
 of towns. Before we surrender the trust by you committed to us, we 
 propose to transmit it to posterity greatly enlarged. Everything be- 
 tokens that the Ludlow of the future will not be the Ludlow of the 
 past. Henceforth we are to be connected with our city friends by 
 iron bands; and, ladies and gentlemen, we shall be the head, while, 
 by their own decree, they will be one of our dep-^^-ndencies. Or, for 
 the moment, waiving that point, if Ave shall prove true to the con- 
 fidence reposed in us, and if — if — our prevalent drouths shall not 
 prove too much for us, we shall be the source and fountain. We pro- 
 pose to carry this uncoveted honor with becoming dignity and grace, 
 and conspicuoiTsly to wear the sparkling jewel so long as our rocks 
 and hills shall endure. 
 
ADDRESS OF WELCOME. Ill 
 
 My friends, this is a birthday party, and it is a solemn and im- 
 pressive thought that we shall never see the like again. All of our 
 names will be checked on the roll of living men before another. A 
 gentleman was lately overheard declaring that he would have nothing 
 to do with another centennial ! We appreciate his sentiments. The 
 next we shall keep on the eternal plains. We are then treading on 
 sacred ground. Age is everywhere entitled to reverence and honor. 
 The old town never seemed so sacred as now. Reverence, faith, en- 
 tire good will become the hour. 
 
 In the name and in behalf of my fellow-townsmen, I bid you wel- 
 come. We are glad to see you. Your presence does us good. We 
 are glad you have' not forgotten or lost your love for the old home- 
 stead. We should have been recreant to real fraternal feeling if we 
 did not invite you home and make ready our best for you. Whether 
 the fatted calf is or is not made ready, I will not say, but I assure you 
 there has been no stint in this getting ready. This is a hearty wel- 
 come. With most cordial affection we greet you ; glad to take by the 
 hand many of you who have long been known to us as personal 
 friends; we greet those most kindly, who, on returning, find them- 
 selves strangers in the land of their birth. We hail with gladness 
 our gray-haired and venerable men who occupy a well-deserved prom- 
 inence. A hoary head is surely a crown of glory if it be found in the 
 way of righteousness. We know it was with unwonted pleasure that 
 these, our venerable fathers, saw this moA'ement set on foot. We 
 rejoice in 3'our presence here, to-day. Welcome ! welcome ! honored 
 sires, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. Kindred, all, we bid 
 you welcome home. We have come to talk of olden times. We have 
 come to honor the dead, and to carry away with us, if we ma}^, some 
 benefit from such filial homage, for ourselves and for our children. 
 How unwonted our emotions ! We welcome you to the home of your 
 earlier years, to the altars of your God, and to the graves of your kin- 
 dred. Let us to-day press around the time-worn graves of our dead. 
 Let the finest sentiments of the heart prevail. Let friendship be re- 
 newed. 
 
 Welcoming one another to these assemblies on earth, and hailing 
 this occasion for the expression of confidence and love ; coming 
 
112 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 together by the will of God, may you with us be refreshed, and our 
 thoughts run forward to that day when all the servants of Christ, 
 coming from the east and from the west, from the north and from the 
 south, shall meet together at the harvest home in the end of the 
 world. So it is that our hopes of heaven enter into the welcome we 
 once more give you. Modest old town, may she more than ever he 
 the love and delight of her sons and daughters ! 
 
 A Literary Address, with reply to the Greeting, occupied the next 
 half hour. Prof. Lorenzo White, then of New Salem, now principal 
 of Vermont Methodist Seminary and Female College, opened his ora- 
 tion with a few pleasant words not in the manuscript, saying that 
 although not a native of the town he had come within its limits when 
 a boy of four, and received all his early training in its society and 
 schools. Then followed the Address, as follows : — 
 
 ADVANTAGES OF LIFE IN A COUNTKY TOWN. 
 
 The address of welcome to which we have just listened may seem to 
 one who lias come to see what we are doing to-day, as nothing more 
 than a formality in the carr3'ing out of a prearranged programme. 
 Doubtless your words of greeting have been spoken according to a 
 prescribed order of exercises in the celebration of your Centennial. 
 But in this you have only conformed to a higher law to which we owe 
 allegiance at all times. The order of the day obeys the spirit of the 
 day. To us, who are here in response to your invitation, these words 
 are full of meaning. They come to us freighted with pleasant memo- 
 ries — memories, in the case of many of us, fragrant with the loves 
 and joys of childhood. We are glad to be here, and to feel that we 
 are at home with you. Our esteemed friend who has so well spoken 
 your greetings to us returning wanderers, skilled though he be in the 
 use of words as a fine art, could not, if he would, cheat us with fine 
 phrases. We have heard his voice with gladness becauses it harmo- 
 nizes with all the other voices about us. He has but rendered into 
 graceful English the greetings wherewith these hills and valleys and 
 brooks with which we were once so delightfully familiar had already 
 welcomed us — the same old hills and vales over which and through 
 which we so often roamed in childhood, and the same loved brooks 
 where we fished and bathed and frolicked, and in which we built res- 
 
RESPOXSIVE ADDRESS. 113 
 
 ervoirs that always served their purpose well, and did no harm. 
 Smiles and looks of w^elcome, too, w^e receive on every hand from old 
 school-mates and play-fellows — the same boys with whom we always 
 had good times, and the same girls whom we boys used to think tlie 
 fairest and best. The}' do not look just as they used to, and we are 
 not sorry, for they point us with pride to their daughters wlio are as 
 fair as ever the}' were, and w'ho wonderfully bear their likeness, while 
 they themselves have just changed in the order of a happy develop- 
 ment. They seem only to have been born into a freer and larger and 
 grander life. The}' have just outgrown the bloom of girlhood, and 
 have put on the riper, richer charms of womanhood, and most of them 
 of wifehood and motherhood. And we boys, as we feel ourselves to- 
 day — if we have been true to the charter of virtue — love them as 
 much as we loved them when they were girls, with the love that every 
 true man has a right to cherish towards every true woman with 
 whose acquaintance he is blessed. 
 
 Even the children of to-day, many of them, do not seem strangers 
 to us. Their tell-tale faces show their ancestry. They are so like 
 the faces of their fathers and mothers, and grandfathers and grand- 
 mothers, that I often know them as soon as I see them, and the 
 children quickly know those who know them. These rushing hours 
 speedily make us old friends with them. But we find yet other 
 friends here w'ho pleasantly remind us of the good days of yore. 
 These grand old trees which stood here when the old men of to-day 
 were boys, trees which even the greedy axe has not dared to destroy, 
 wave their greeting to us in the morning breeze, and from their wide- 
 spreading branches, clad in richest foliage, come the greetings of the 
 birds, caroled in their sweetest songs, while all about us, too, even the 
 wayside and hillside flowers, looking up to us lovingly, claim us as 
 their friends and bid us welcome. And well they may. Though 
 these birds and flowers are not just the same that we used to know 
 and love, they are so raarvelously like them tliat they must be the 
 children undegenerate of the very old birds and flowers of our child- 
 hood through a line of I Icnow not how many generations. The 
 mother bird has, from year to year, taught her offspring the same 
 
 sweet songs, and the mother-plant with unerring care has transmitted 
 15 
 
114 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 to the babv-plant the same exquisite taste and skill, in displaying its 
 charms and diffusing its fragrance. 
 
 It AA-as a happy thought or hit with you to select the charming 
 month of June, when Nature lias just arrayed her.self anew in her 
 most beautiful attire, as the time of year for holding these exercises; 
 for these blessed children of nature have a right to join with us in the 
 celebration of our Centennial. They were old citizens here long be- 
 fore the first visit of our ancestors to this continent. They welcomed 
 our fathers here a hundred j^ears ago with the same melodies, the 
 same gorgeous display of their charms, the same wealth of fragrance, 
 with which they welcome us to-day. 
 
 I can not hcli") remarking here that the fashions of Nature do not 
 change, except only as culture develops them more perfectly, and com- 
 bines them more skillfully, and I am sure none of us would have them 
 change otherwise. Ought we to imitate Nature in this respect, think 
 you, and to hand doNvn the same fashions from generation to genera- 
 tion ? Not certainly till human taste shall be so cultivated as to give 
 us fashions true to nature, and even then there will be room for new 
 combinations in infinite variety. Is it not just here that Nature sug- 
 gests to us the true solution of the fashion problem? But this only 
 in parenthesis. 
 
 On this very year of our Centennial, Iceland celebrates her millen- 
 nial. Who shall say that the robins, the blue-birds, the violets, the 
 roses, the daisies and their numerous kindred of other names, and 
 along with them the trees as well — the maple, the elm, the pine, and 
 the oak — have not this same year a good right to celebrate the millen- 
 nial of their occupancy of these loved retreats ? Pioneers and teachers 
 they were to our fathers, and thej'^ are to us, prophets, too, are they of 
 a better time coming, if we will learn from them their lessons of taste 
 and purity, and sweetness and strength. A millennium they foretell 
 just as glorious as we will make it. Divine sovereignty in the case is 
 the assurance of God's blessing upon our honest and well-directed 
 efforts. 
 
 Considerable are the improvements even in this country town which 
 a hundred years have wrought. Providence has, through the fidelity, 
 the hardship, and the wisdom of our fathers, committed to us the 
 
EESrOXSIVE ADDRESS. 115 
 
 trust of these cultivated lands, these pleasant homes, these churches 
 and schools — in a word, the advantages, such as they are, of life in a 
 country toxcn. What have we to do to transmit these blessings to 
 those who shall come after us, and to multipl}- tlicm so as to nialce the 
 future wliat it should be? is the question, then, which the occasion 
 gives us with such emphasis that I need offer no apology for making 
 it the starting-point of a few suggestions. 
 
 The inspirations of this glad Centennial day awaken, I doubt not, 
 a desire among the people of the town to act each a good part in his 
 day, and may well culminate in an ambition satisfied with nothing 
 less than the best things — a steadily-increasing prosperity for your 
 goodly town, and the brightest and happiest future for the genera- 
 tions coming. 
 
 Indulge me, will you not? in saying xoe to-day as much as I liave a 
 mind to, for I have always loved to think of mj'self as one of you, and 
 in this I know I am not alone among those who are counted as guests 
 here to-day. "While we have found homes in other places, our hearts 
 are not bounded by the limits of our new homes. We do not have to 
 give you up to make room for new friends. In coming here we are like 
 married daughters, who, returning each thanksgiving day to their 
 father's with their new recruits of young life, always speak of going 
 home. 
 
 The first Centenary of the town of Ludlow to-da}' becomes historic, 
 and we are all anticipating with much jjleasure, the address which shall 
 more fully make it our own by unfolding to us its records and its les- 
 sons. It is in the light of the present as well as of the past, that on 
 this day we look forward. And our path is a plain one. If we would 
 make the future bright and prosperous, such as shall give us a claim 
 on the gratitude of those who may follow us, then we have simply to 
 be true to this goodly inheritance received from our fathers. 
 
 But to be true to this sacred trust, to make the most of our advan- 
 tages, we must shun the perils which experience has taught us our lia- 
 bility to meet. 
 
 It is wise, then, that we pause just here for a moment amidst the 
 rejoicings of our Centennial Jubilee, and face the dangers against 
 which even the comparative security of country life is not always proof. 
 
116 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 It would be out of place here to rehearse the catalogue of -sins 
 which are everywhere the peril of careless lives. I must take for 
 granted that those whom I have the honor to address to-day, are 
 chaste, temperate, ujtright, industrious and frugal. If any of them 
 are not so, they ought to be, and by all means they had better be. 
 But life, even on this higher plane, where crime is rare, has its fail- 
 ures. Indeed, every plane of life, till you rise to Heaven itself, has 
 its evils to be avoided, and the higher you go in the scale of being, 
 the more deplorable is the ruin which these threaten. 
 
 Hence, it now and then comes to pass in the country', that just at 
 the point where intelligent industry with frugality has won thrift and 
 competency, and has thus reached the plane of the highest financial 
 independence that mortals ever can attain, there begins to spring up in 
 the family an ambition for city style. I am warranted, if I mistake 
 not, in taking for granted that the good sense and good blood of the 
 thrifty farmers of Ludlow is generally a guaranty against this evil. 
 This foolish ambition, however, is singularly blinding to its victims, 
 and a word of caution even to the wise may not be out of place. 
 
 It need not be urged that attempts at imitation are generally fail- 
 ures, and that the actors besides are very likely to cut awkward fig- 
 ures. It is said that the young men of Byron's time who thought to 
 imitate his genius, only got so far as to make themselves ludicrous by 
 mimicking his limping gait and more limping morals. So it com- 
 monly happens that would-be imitations in the country of city life, 
 turn out to be only ajiings, and that, too, not of that which is worth 
 copying, but of the weaknesses and vices of the city — the shoddy pa- 
 rade and slavish subserviency to position and power of those who have 
 not learned to wear the honors of city life with good grace. 
 
 But this evil is sure in due time to cure itself. Fifth Avenue st3'le 
 in a farmer's home never fails to show itself, sooner or later, to be as 
 absurd as would be the attempt to devote our New England lands to 
 the raising of tropical fruits. We have all seen enough of this mis- 
 take to understand its results. It means heav}' and steadily-increas- 
 ing debts, irredeemable mortgages, bad dreams, haunted rooms, for- 
 feited credit, seedy garments, an aspect of decay within and without, 
 a general unhingement of manhood and womanhood, and then bank- 
 
EESrONSIYE ADDEESS. 117 
 
 ruptcy, or else that whicli is worse — an old age oppressed with intol- 
 erable burdens. 
 
 The failures of country life are chiefly traceable to causes working 
 nearer the other extreme of society. Not in the excesses of taste and 
 style lurks the demon that oftenest plays first tyrant and then de- 
 stroyer in homes of industry. As the foremost or parent evil among 
 upright and energetic farmers, I incline to place the tendency' of both 
 men and women to become working macliines, appendages, the one 
 sex to the soil and the other to the house. I do not refer now spe- 
 cially to the overwork so common that breaks down the constitution 
 and shortens life ; for even in the country dissipation doubtless slays 
 more than work does, and when overwork brings premature death, 
 that is not the great evil in the case. But your mere workers may 
 be philosphers enough to adjust the daily demand on their strength 
 to the daily supply', and so drag out the full measure of their days, 
 though whether they do or not is of comparatively small account. 
 Tlie abominable thing is, that man should be degraded to the rank of 
 the instruments which he wields. The curse lies in the debasing, not 
 in the shortening of life. 
 
 - The first result of this all work and no play is to make Jack a dull ' 
 boy, and next a dull man, if he lives to be one, who, because he is 
 more a machine than a man, drops naturally into the old ruts of his 
 fathers, is incapable of accepting improvements, but plods blindly on, 
 absurdly seeking to perpetuate ideas and customs which the world has 
 outgrown, mistakes narrowness for independence, stupidity for con- 
 stancy, penuriousness for economy, shows but slight appreciation of 
 the beautiful, pays his church dues as a kind of future life insurance 
 demand, regards money expended for books and pictures as wasted, 
 and the education of his children as useless, save only as the outfit of 
 a drudge like himself. Call this an extreme case, if you please. I 
 mean it as such. But remember that sins invariably lead to extremes. 
 
 Extremes are not always reached in a day. But let a man only con- 
 sent to be a mere working machine, and to make his wife and cliildren 
 the same, or no matter if the wife leads in the case, and in due time 
 tliis very extreme will be gained, if not in his day, then in his chil- 
 dren's. But let him not flatter himself that he is becoming rich. Such 
 
118 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 a man is not a possessor at all. The farm or the shop, from first to 
 last, owns him, and works him as its slave. If we would escape these 
 results, then we must shun the sin which leads to them. 
 
 Our fathers were hard workers, it is true, and we can not say that 
 they were always wise; hut it is the evidences wliicli we see to- 
 day of the subordination in a good degree of work to the higher pur- 
 poses of life, that inspires for them our respect and gratitude. They 
 not only made for themselves homes of comfort, and caused their lands 
 to yield for them the supplies demanded for physical life, hut they 
 also early founded churches and schools, and cheerfully sustained 
 them from their scanty and hard-earned means. Not least among the 
 legacies which they have left to us is their own example of self-sacri- 
 fice in behalf of their children. They have don.e their part well, and 
 have thus made it our duty to show that the oft-repeated claim of Xew 
 England farmers, " we build school-houses and raise men," is no idle 
 boast. 
 
 To be true to the fathers, our first duty is to be men. Use, then, 
 the good things of life, and let them not use yon. 
 
 Be a free man, not a slave. Make your homestead not your work- 
 shop, nor your prison, nor your world, all which terms in this connec- 
 tion mean about the same thing; but make it what home should be, 
 as beautiful as your means will permit; at all events, make it within 
 doors and without so bright and cheerful, and so warm and radiant 
 with love, as to charm the faculties of your children into joyous and 
 healthful exercise. And you may be assured the work will not suffer 
 as the result. Make work a delight, a fine art; infuse into it the 
 plaj' element; give brain and heart their natural right of dominion 
 over muscle, and we can do a third more work, and do it better, with 
 only the weariness that makes rest sweet and dreams pleasant. And 
 then, too, home, in its industrial character, will become what Heaven 
 designed it to be, a g3'^ranasium for the free and happy development 
 and training of mind and body. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the right of every man under our free 
 government to sell his property when he pleases, even though it be 
 the old homestead of his fathers, is a wise provision. Though the ex- 
 ercise of this right greatly modifies our local attachments, making 
 
EESPONSIVE ADDRESS. 119 
 
 thorn less a clinging to the soil, this is on the whole a great advan- 
 tage. Fostered by our educational agencies, its tendency is to the cul- 
 tivation of a nobler style of patriotism, a love that rises above mere 
 matter and place, and cares rather for institutions and principles and 
 life. 
 
 ^y frequent transfers of real estate it has actually come to pass 
 that comparativeh^ few occupy the houses and lands of their fathers. 
 But if 3'ou live where the ancestors of your neighbor lived, somebody 
 else lives on the old homestead of j'our fathers, and plucks the fruit 
 fi'om orchards which they planted, and mows the green fields which 
 their skillful hands first brought under culture. These changes, then, 
 in the ownership of real estate, are but the interchange of trusts com- 
 mitted to us by our fathers, and it is all the same though the bound- 
 ary line of towns comes between. Our obligation is none the less to 
 enter into the labors of those who have lived and wrought before us. 
 
 He who has planted a tree, and by careful culture has made it fair 
 and thrifty and fruitful, has a claim upon those who come after him 
 that they shall take care of it, and, when it dies, plant another in its 
 stead ; and so, in general, of whatever improvements he has made dur- 
 ing his occupancy. With peculiar emphasis is this true of all that con- 
 tributes to make our homes beautiful. He whose industry and good 
 taste has made his buildings and grounds a paradise, is a benefactor of 
 the entire community, and of every pilgrim passer-by ; and no man 
 can with money purchase the moral right to lay them waste, or neg- 
 lect them. Money may buy these goodl}"- acres, but the beaut}^ that, 
 covers them is the common heritage of all who have minds and hearts 
 to enjoy it. To heathenize grounds that our fathers have Christian- 
 ized is treason. However, then, the improvements of a centur}', have 
 come into our hands, whether by direct inheritance or by purchase, 
 they are a trust to be kept faithfully, and transmitted to those who 
 may follow us. 
 
 The advantages of life in tlie country, just as in the city, are, for 
 the greater part, what we make thorn. But take our good country 
 homes as we find them, or as they find us, and they will, I believe, all 
 things considered, bear comparison with the best which the city af- 
 fords. But it is what the country affords, more or less, that is ours, 
 
120 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 aiul the niiiiri chance with us is the faithful improvement of what we 
 liave. 
 
 Success is everywhere achieved by making the most of our own re- 
 sources. If 3'ou please, it is the one talent of a country town, and not 
 the five talents of the city upon the improvement of -wlwcli success is 
 here conditioned. But perhaps our one talent may j^ield us as much 
 substantial good as five talents in the city. It will, if we make the 
 better investment, and take better care of the increase. 
 
 There are many things in which it were folly for the country to at- 
 tempt to compete with the city. 
 
 The worshipers of mammon, the devotees of fashion, and all the 
 giddy, fluttering throngs to whom a whirl of excitement is the daily 
 or nightly necessity' of life, may gain their ends and end their useless 
 lives more readily in the city. Wealth, fashion, noise, with all their 
 train of ambitions and vexations, find here in but inferior degree 
 either their motives or their means. Some of the advantages of cul- 
 ture, too, it must be admitted, are generally more easily accessible in 
 the city than in the country. The machinery of the city can turn out 
 professional characters as well as sharpers of all kinds with much the 
 greater facility. 
 
 But the country can do without many of these. It is not polished 
 instruments of any kind that is the world's great want. Professional 
 training is well ; but it is never the great essential. Look out for the 
 man, and you will risk little to let the professor take care of himself. 
 The grand aim of life everywhere should be the development and cul- 
 tivation of manhood. 
 
 Now the first requisite to this is home and neighborhood. And in 
 both these respects the country has the advantage over the city. 
 One can scarcely know what the word neighborhood means till he has 
 lived in the country. The word home has generally too in the coun- 
 try a breadth and depth of meaning which is rarely possible in the 
 city. In the city, it means additional to the family itself for the greater 
 part a hired house, or part of a house, a temporary abode, often little 
 more than a business head-quarters, with but slight local attachments. 
 But in the country, home generally means possession as well as occu- 
 pancy. Often it means the old homestead, endeared by a thousand ten- 
 
RESPONSIVE ADDRESS. 121 
 
 der associations. And it means not only lionse, but also gardens, lawns, 
 fields, trees, fruit and flowers, flocks and herds. In its fullest realiza- 
 tion it is a place where two lives united in one were planted in youth, 
 from which, fertilized by a pure love, other young lives have in due 
 time sprung up around them. Be not afraid of this word planted. 
 Man has not so grown out of relation to other forms of life in the king- 
 doms of nature, that he can, without a great loss to himself, be tossed 
 hither and thither, with no local attachments, all places being alike to 
 him; and he never will at least in the present life. He need not in- 
 deed be attached to the soil like a tree wdiich cannot be moved without 
 endangering its life. But as the very means of insuring for him that 
 vigor and strength of manhood which can Avithstand the trials of any 
 clime, and make his life everj'where fruitful, his heart must have root- 
 lets that take a strong and permanent hold upon home associations, and 
 become intertwined inseparably with the happiness and prosperity of 
 the people among whom were passed his early days. I do not say that 
 a country birthplace and early home must always be more to him than 
 any other place. It niaj^ or may not be the dearest of all places. It 
 ought not to be in the case of those who afterwards have permanent 
 homes in other places wlwre families grow up around them. It must 
 however be to them what no other place ever can be, the lovely dream- 
 land of infancy, the charming fairy land of childhood, and a little 
 later, a kind of border-land paradise, in which youth blossoms into 
 young manhood and womanhood. Far from confining his life within 
 narrow limits, these life-long attachments to an early home become a 
 condition upon which his life may ever after more freely and widely 
 and securely expand itself. He whose infant life is thus planted in 
 the soil of a good home, and whose life, thrice blessed with the culture 
 of home, the school, and the church, all working in harmony, and in- 
 viting his faculties into free and happy exercise, is prepared in due 
 time, as he could not be otherwise, to reach out his life in vigorous 
 runners that shall take root, and make his life fruitful in places far 
 remote. 
 
 If the raising of men be your chief aim, men whose lives shall be a 
 blessilig, whether they have their mission in your quiet town, or are 
 called to other fields of dut}', you have, then, no occasion to envy the 
 16 
 
122 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 dwellers in cities. And we need not fear to extend this comparison of 
 advantages with oiir city neighhors. If their larger material wealth 
 can build more elegant houses and furnish them more sumptuously 
 than you, you can surround your homes with attractions in the form 
 of lawns and flowers and trees, which may well excite their envy. 
 If they can build finer school-houses than you, see that you have as 
 good teachers, and you can build men as well as they. If they wor- 
 ship in costlier temples of granite and marble than your means can af- 
 ford, you may offer as acceptable worship in your modest and not less 
 tasteful churches. Nor need your prayers and praises be restricted to 
 these temples made wntli hands. They may go up daily, 
 
 "From that catliedral, boundless as our wonder, 
 
 Whose quenchless lamps the sun and moon supply, 
 Whose choir the winds and waves, whose organ thunder, 
 Whose dome the sky." 
 
 If the libraries of the city are not easy of access to you, yours are 
 the more inspiring volumes of nature, spreading out for you on every 
 hand their eloquent pages. If you can but rarely visit the galleries 
 of art found in the city, nature's grand museum, filled with the work 
 of the Divine artist, is open to you freely at all times, open to all who 
 Lave eyes to see. If you may not so often in the country hear words 
 of wisdom from the silver-tongued orator, or music from the great 
 masters, for those who have ears to hear, your wooded hills and vales 
 are vocal with richer melodies. 
 
 To make the most of our advantages, however, requires us not to be 
 proud of them and satisfied with them, but steadily to increase them. 
 To this end your fruitful soil is an unfailing source of supply. You 
 do not expect to find here buried mines of gold. But even more won- 
 drous is the wealth that slumbers in these lands. They scarcely need 
 your bidding to yield with each returning Summer in infinite variety 
 their boundless profusion of grasses, flowers, foliage and fruits. And 
 this it is in your power to increase almost without limit. Where now 
 the earth sends up the thistle, you can cause it to send up the bearded 
 grain. "Where weeds have full possession of the soil it will presently 
 re^Yard your care with the luscious strawbeny, or with flowers fragrant 
 and beautiful. Where the ground is cumbered with tliorns, we find it 
 
RESPONSIVE ADDRESS. 123 
 
 ready under the hand of culture to grow the apple, the pear, the peach, 
 the cherry, the grape and the plum. 
 
 But plant not always in hope of speedy returns. Plant for genera- 
 tions and centuries. By all means plant trees ; multiply 3'our groves, 
 that shall be more to coming generations than to yourselves. Neg- 
 lected fields wait only your planting and culture, to produce thrifty and 
 fruitful orchards for you and the generation after you. The grounds 
 that front your dwelling are waiting only for you to put in the tiny seed 
 or tender sapling, to bless the next Centenary with the thrifty maple, 
 the graceful ash, the evergreen pines, the stately elm, and the giant oak. 
 
 Carry the same spirit of improvement with you everywhere. Leave 
 all good things that come into j^our hands — buildings, grounds, fences, 
 roads — better than you found them. At the same time clear awa}^ 
 that which is not good. Above all, make your schools and churches 
 the best and best sustained, the most truly liberal as well as earnest, 
 and keep them always abreast with the times in every real improve- 
 ment. When the city gets the start of jon in a good cause learn 
 from it, and so make it your tributary. From the exhaustless fount- 
 ains of 3'our highlands you are to supply Springfield with livdng water. 
 Draw upon her in return from whatever fountains of health she may 
 have for you. Xo people can afford to live within themselves. A 
 breeding in-and-in policy is always one of degeneracy. If we draw 
 only from the fountains of our own life w'e shall presently find that the 
 currents of life run low and languidly. Therefore constantly seek 
 fresh currents of life from abroad. Welcome all new ideas and new 
 things which are good. So ma}^ you steadily add to all your resources 
 of power, multiply the advantages of life, reflect honor upon your wor- 
 thy ancestors, and transmit the goodly heritage received from them, 
 not only unimpaired, but with a generous increase to those who live 
 after you. Above all, may you hope to raise up for the future a gen- 
 eration of men worthy of the name. And this can not fail to carry 
 Avith it prosperity in every thing good. To your lasting honor may 
 these results appear when a hundred years hence a hapjiy and intelli- 
 gent people shall gather here to celebrate the second Centennial Jubi- 
 lee of Ludlow, perhaps under the shadow of the very trees of your 
 planting. 
 
124 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 After the choir liad again sung, Eev. J. W. Tuck, of Jewott City, 
 Conn., gave the Historical Address, in these words: 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 
 
 Though I cannot claim the honor of my nativit}' v/ith 3'ou, citizens 
 of Ludlow, yet I am not a foreigner or stranger hero. These fields 
 and forests, so green to-day, are more familiar tlian those on which I 
 first opened my eyes ; these venerable oaks around, seem as much 
 like old friends as those others under which I sat in childhood; and 
 in many of these open countenances I read the checkered history of a 
 majority of your families, as well as much of m}' own for sixteen of 
 the best years of my life. A few rods from this place of our gathering, 
 six of my children were born, and the precious dust of half that same 
 family now sleeps in yonder cemetery, side by side with dear departed 
 ones of your own stricken households. 
 
 The invitation, therefore, of j^our honorable Committee of Arrange- 
 ments to address you at this memorable period of your history, I regard 
 as a call to come home again, to revisit the scenes of former years, to 
 review the pleasant memories of the past, to shake friendl}- hands, 
 and gather up inspiration from a new brief communion to go on in 
 life's journey with Christian courage, that we may finish our course 
 with joy. 
 
 But personal and particular reminiscences belong chiefly to the 
 speakers that will follow me ; and while I may indulge in some that 
 have fallen especially under my observation, yet the broader though 
 less luminous field of your local history has been marked out for my 
 survey in this Centennial Anniversary of 3'our town. I am aware of 
 the more than ordinary difficulties of my undertaking, difficulties 
 growing out of the comparative meagerness of your earl}' district 
 records, and also because of a lack of startling incident and adventure, 
 such as may be found in the central, populous places whose history 
 covers a much longer period, — but which can never obtain with a 
 younger and scattered population, devoting themselves exclusively to 
 the quiet pursuits of agriculture. While, therefore, Ludlow can not 
 boast of many great and astouibhing things, — of bloody battle-liekls, 
 of Indian burnings and massacres, of giving presidents, senators and 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 125 
 
 governors to the country, — yet, if it be not assuming too much, in the 
 words of another, — " She can, so far, claim the merit of never having 
 done anytliing tliat she or her mother town need he ashamed of." 
 "We will take this as no faint praise. Though it be true, as pub- 
 licl_y pre-announced of this celebration, — that this town has not a 
 great deal of history all to herself, may it not be added, — neither 
 has she the failing of coveting and contending for that in her chief 
 places, which is as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal, and from 
 which much claiming to be history frequently comes. No, her ambi- 
 tion is of a higher type ; her preference for the more useful, the prac- 
 tical, the permanent. Hence of her sons it may be said, they are 
 industrious, virtuous, sturdy yeomen, and her daughters, — they are fit 
 to be the wives and mothers of husbands and children, that are 
 "known in the gates, and who sit among the elders of the land." 
 
 With so much that is apologetic, and congratulating you, fellow- 
 citizens, friends and former townsmen, for the aixspicious circumstan- 
 ces of this day, and the pleasing unanimity with which you enter on 
 this Centennial, forgetful of political and denominational preferences, 
 I now waive for the present all other things, and give precedence to a 
 brief narrative of the good old dame that has just rounded out her 
 first hundred years, and yet is none the worse for wear, nay, is more 
 vigorous and comely, and even Christian than ever. May we not, 
 then, those of us who are adopted children, as well as you who were 
 to the manor born, like the loj'al subjects of gracious sovereigns, 
 say now with united voices. Live, mother ! Live forever ! Live on, 
 firm in principle, fair in countenance, of a truly healthy growth, and 
 holding honorable place with a friendly sisterhood of towns around! 
 
 NAME. 
 
 •'What's in a name?" is sometimes asked. Enough, perhaps, to 
 claim a moment's thought as we pass along. The name first on our 
 lips to-day, and inscribed on the banner floating highest in the breeze 
 above this assembled multitude, though not euphonious, as some have 
 said, yet is not unpleasant to the ear, and, we doubt not, is of honor- 
 able origin. AVhile we have no certain clue to its history, yet it seems 
 to me the most plausible theory among several is, that its derivation 
 may be traced to a prominent English republican living previous to 
 
126 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 and (liuinu; the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell — Edmund Ludlow, a 
 member of Parliament and a popular leader of the people in those 
 stormy times, against the encroachments of the crown. Though he 
 •was one of the king's judges, yet he was, even then, a thorough, con- 
 sistent republican, and afterward an earnest supporter of the bill for 
 the abolition of the House of Peers. It is not unreasonable to sup- 
 pose that his name, associated as it was with genuine republicanism 
 like that of John Hampden, his contemporary, — a name afterwards 
 given to designate your County, — should, for like reasons, have been 
 previously joined to one of its towns. (I.*) 
 
 SETTLEMENT. 
 
 The first settlement with specific date in this part of Springfield, 
 called Stony Hill, was made in 1751 by Capt. Joseph Miller, who 
 came from West Springfield, and pitched his tent on the banks of the 
 Chicopee river, near where Elihu J. Sikes now lives, whose wife is a 
 direct descendant of his of the fifth generation. But there were 
 already several families here, supposed to have been on the ground a 
 year or two ; those of Aaron Colton, James Sheldon, Shem Chapin and 
 Benjamin Sikes. Ebenezer Barber came in 1756, locating himself on 
 the place now owned by David L. Atchinson, and Jonathan Lombard 
 followed in 1757. Li 1767, Joshua Fuller, whose descendants are 
 numerous, moved into the place, and settled on what is known as the 
 Dorman farm, near the Methodist chapel. James Kendall came in 
 1769, from Ashford. Most of these names, together with those of 
 Jones and Burr, representing families still living here, are found in the 
 earliest records of Springfield, (lit) Their present numbers, and the 
 places of honor and usefulness they have filled through so many gen- 
 erations, evince the extraordinary vitality and vigor of the stock from 
 which they sprang. 
 
 SLOW PROGRESS. 
 
 For more than a score of years after the arrival of the pioneer set- 
 tlers in the Eastern, or Stony Hill district of Springfield, the increase 
 of the population, owing to a variety of circumstances, was very grad- 
 ual. Persons coming from a distance, seeking new homes in this part 
 
 *See page 18, also see Appendix, C. tSee pp. 7-9. 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 127 
 
 of the State, preferred i)lantiiig tliemselves in the villages, and re- 
 maining there, on account of their greater safety, and also that they 
 might the better enjoy the advantages of religion, of education and 
 social life. With reluctance they went out to take up new lands at a 
 distance ; and only the most venturesome, and such as had but small 
 possessions at home, would do it. It is no disparagement of the early 
 inhabitants of this locality, to say they were poor in this world's 
 goods, and adventurers here, seeking to better their scanty fortunes. 
 Their hardships, therefore, were many and great. 
 
 ORGANIZATIO:^ AND STRUGGLES. 
 
 At the end of the first quarter of a century, or in the year 1774, the 
 population of the place having reached two or three hundred, meas- 
 ures were taken and perfected for the organizing of a new town, wliich 
 was denominated in the act of incorporation, separating it from 
 Springfield, the district of Ludlo\v. It was thought the measure 
 would give a new impetus to the prosperity of the place by adding 
 largely to its numbers, and furnishing the people with superior advan- 
 tages of every kind. But the expectation was not one to be realized 
 then, since the date marks a period in our countrj^'s history, distin- 
 guished for the beginning of hostilities between the home government 
 of Great Britain and her American colonies. Just previous to this 
 the tea had been destroj'ed in Boston harbor, in consequence of which 
 Parliament had passed an act interdicting commercial intercourse with 
 that port, and prohibiting the landing and shipping of any goods. 
 This oppressive bill was followed by the passage of others more odious 
 still, and a general state of alarm prevailed throughout Massachusetts 
 and all the colonies. In a twelvemonth afterwards, the war of the 
 Revolution opened in the fight on Lexington Green, followed by 
 the famous battle of Bunker Hill, on the 17th of June, 1775. The 
 new^s of these battles arrived in this part of the State two days after 
 their occurrence, though neither telegraphs nor railroads were then 
 known, and immediately several companies of men, well-armed and 
 equipped, were dispatched on their long and toilsome march to the 
 sea-board. Others were organized as minute-men, and constantly 
 drilled, preparatory to being called into the service. 
 
 I speak of these things here, not to impart information, but as sug- 
 
128 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 gestive of those dark and troublous times a hundred years ago, and as 
 accounting for the slow growth of the new settlements in this part of 
 the State, and particularly outside the larger towns. Men do not go 
 forth into the wilderness in large numbers, nor engage extensively in 
 agricultural pursuits, when the trumpet of war is sending its echoes 
 through the land, and tlie young and brave are summoned to the bat- 
 tle-field. Di'awn from their homes, then, they dwell in camps and 
 sicken in hospitals, or fall in the deadly strife. 
 
 EARLY TOWX MEETINGS. 
 
 Tlie first town meeting in Ludlow was held almost immediately 
 after its organization, at the dwelling-house of Abner Hitchcock, 
 where Lucius Simonds now lives, and at the second meeting a few 
 weeks after, a committee was chosen to secure the services of a minis- 
 ter for the people. This seems to have been the universal practice of 
 the fathers of New England, as soon as they could count up forty or 
 fifty families within a reasonable distance, to provide themselves with 
 the ordinances of religion, and enter into church relations with one 
 another. Even before that, when they might not number more than a 
 score of persons, they would initiate measures looking to their spirit- 
 ual necessities. 
 
 You can find at the City Hall in Springfield, in the first book of 
 
 records, an ancient document signed by only eight persons, the first 
 
 little band of immigrants that arrived on the banks of the Connecticut 
 
 River in the Spring of 1636, written thus ; 
 
 "Wee intend, by God's grace, as soon as we can, with all convenient speede, to 
 procure some Godly and faitliful minister, with whom we purpose to join in church 
 covenant, to walk in all the ways of Christ." 
 
 Like the Pilgrims on landing at Plymoutli, their first thought was 
 a recognition of the hand that had led tliem, and a humble, public con- 
 fession of tlie Mighty God, whom they loved and feared. 
 
 At another town meeting, held in less than three months from the 
 first, a committee was chosen to find the center of the town, that they 
 might build a meeting-house thereon. It was in their heart to build a 
 house for the Lord at that time ; but nine years intervened before the 
 work was accomplished. The delay is easily accounted for, in the break- 
 ing out of the Revolutionary war, the calling into the army of their 
 
niSTOKICAL ADDEESS. 129 
 
 available young men, and taxing their small pecuniary resources to 
 the utmost to furnish equipments, ammunition and rations. What 
 prevented their increase in numbers also laid an embargo on their re- 
 ligious prosperity; so that (III.*) the very first tax levied, which was 
 £20, lawful money, instead of being appropriated to tlieir wants as a 
 community, had to be diverted to the exigencies of the public peril. 
 But it was done cheerfully. The patriotism of the people in this 
 western part of the State was not a whit behind that of their brethren 
 in the eastern counties, and all were ready to make the greatest sacri- 
 fices for the common safety. Stockings and shoes had to be made in 
 the different families for the soldiers, since these articles could not be 
 bought in one place as now, and blankets in many instances were 
 taken from the beds then in use. Tax followed tax and requisition 
 followed requisition for seven long years, reducing their means of 
 support until nothing seemed left them but a depreciated paper 
 currency. The worthlessness of this, though it was nearh^ all they 
 had, some votes on the records made at that time will show. I quote 
 as examples: 
 
 "Voted to raise tlie sum of $11,500 to buy grain to pay the tliree and six months' 
 soldiers, in addition to their stated wages ; also, to raise §32,000 to purchase beef 
 for the State." 
 
 The price of wheat then was $30 per bushel, rye $23, Indian 
 corn $15, a day's work $20, and other things in proportion. Another 
 vote I transcribe, viz : " That we pay Sergeant John Johnson and 
 Sergeant Ezekiel Fuller, Samuel Scranton and Samuel Warriner, Jr., 
 £12 silver money for services ill the arni}'^; also, £6 to Josej^h Hitch- 
 cock for the same." This was near the close of the struggle for inde- 
 pendence, in 1781, and yet I doubt if much more specie can be found 
 in town to-day. 
 
 Thus it appears that the infant district of Ludlow, containing only 
 about two hundred inhabitants, was actively engaged in the great 
 Revolutionary conflict, and doing what it could. One-seventh of its 
 whole population was mustered into the service, and stands enrolled 
 in the army of Independence. Their names are worthy of record, 
 and may properly be read in your hearing, since they are the inherit- 
 
 *See page 22. 
 17 
 
130 THE CENTEXXIAL. 
 
 ance of so many in tliis assembly. Incliuling tliose already called, 
 
 there are : — (IV.*) 
 
 IciiAiJOD Barker, Joseph Jennings, 
 
 EzEKiEL Beei'.e, John Johnson, 
 
 CiESAR Begory (colored), David Lombard, 
 
 NoADiAH Burr, Jonathan Lombard, 
 
 Reuben Burt, Dr. Aaron J. Miller, 
 
 Joel Chapin, George Miller, 
 
 Charles Chooley,! Joseph Miller, Jr., 
 
 Aaron ColtoNjJ Leonard Miller, 
 
 Solomon Cooley, David Paine, 
 
 Edward Cotton,§ Tyrus Pratt, 
 
 Oliver Dutton, Samuel Scranton, 
 
 Ezekiel Puller, Thomas Temple, 
 
 LoTiiROP Fuller, Moses Wilder, 
 
 Jabez Goodale, Cyprian Wright ; 
 Joseph Hitchcock, 
 
 twenty-nine in number. There is no record of an}' tories here, and 
 their number was small in tliis part of the State ; and yet there were 
 a few in the larger places. It is not twenty j^ears since an aged 
 Avidow lady lived in Springfield, who received an annual pension 
 from the British government for war services rendered the mother 
 country, by her husband, nearly eighty years before. She had, at 
 that time, been paid an aggregate of $10,000 in the course of her 
 long life. (V.ll) 
 
 first meeting-house. 
 The war being ended, and peace and prosperity having come once 
 more, the people, as might be expected, turned their attention again 
 especially to the erection of their long-desired sanctuary. Accord- 
 ingly, in town meeting it was " voted that Deacon Nathan Smith 
 of Grauby, Deacon David Nash of South Iladley, and Deacon John 
 Hitchcock of Wilbraham be a committee to set the stake for a meet- 
 ing-house." At a subsequent meeting their doings were accepted and 
 J£200 assessed for building purposes. Then the work went forward as 
 
 *See page 21. tCooley? }■? § Col ton ? USee page 29. 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 131 
 
 fast as they were able to collect and prepare the material. At length 
 
 the foundations were laid, and almost a forest of heavy hewn timber 
 
 covered the ground. 
 
 Again turning to the records we read : — 
 
 "October 23, 1783. — Town-meeting at the stake. Voted that the buihling com- 
 mittee procure a suflScient quantity of rum for raising the meeting-house frame." 
 
 This was the only business done at the meeting, so far as the record 
 goes, and no doubt was the passing of the Rubicon, the talcing of the 
 last desperate step toward a successful end. A house-raising in those 
 days was an eventful occurrence, — especially if a public building, — 
 calling together whole communities, — the men and boys to lift the 
 heavy timbers by broadsides, and the women and girls as joyful wit- 
 nesses, and also to prepare food and spread the tables for the unusual 
 feast. It was a great day to the people of this town, ninety-one years 
 ago, when the gigantic frame of that now ancient and forsaken sanc- 
 tuary, standing hard b}'^, was lifted on to its foundations. Indeed, 
 two days were consumed before the last timber went into its place and 
 the last trunnel was driven home, though scores of strong-armed men 
 came in from the towns around, cheerfully contributing their efficient 
 aid and joining in the work from the rising of the morning till the 
 stars appeared. At length it stood erect, complete, immovable. 
 
 Then, at a given signal from the master workman, believe me, there 
 
 was a tossing of hats and bonnets such as you never saw, and a shout 
 
 so loud and long that it 
 
 " Shook the depths of the desert gloom, 
 
 And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang." 
 
 Where the rum came in or went out, or what the young folks did 
 that night, till the "small hours" of the morning, I leave to your 
 conjectures. Strange as it may seem, some of the witnesses to that 
 raising still survive; but tluy tell no tales, onl}^ they whisper at times 
 with bated breath. Do any doubt? Look at those aged oaks. They 
 were then in their prime, and swung out leafy bowers all over this 
 pleasant green ; and now, though they are old and less comely than 
 in their youth, they are still loved and cherished, as all tried and 
 time-long friends should be. There is a tradition that when that an- 
 cient frame comes down, tliov, too, will bow their heads and fall. 
 
132 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 Long may it stand, tlierefore, let us pray, to Ijcfriond and hless tliis 
 beautiful grove, and tell the old, old story of the past; though we 
 would not object to its being clad in a more comely covering, and 
 looking down upon us, children, with a more cheery, improved face. 
 Built by the hands of the fathers, who gave the chief materials from 
 their forests, and devoted now to secular purposes, let it stand, reju- 
 venated, as we hope it soon may be, to signalize their worthy deeds 
 and join the generations, old and new, in one. 
 
 On account of the poverty of those fathers, it remained unfinished 
 within for several years; and there were those living a sliort time 
 since, who covdd remember when its only pulpit was a carpenter's 
 bench, and its pews rough planks, stretched from one block to another. 
 But afterward, as the people were prospered, these rude forms gave 
 place to the improvements of a later day. A real pulpit was built; 
 and how wonderful it was, perched like an eagle's nest far up some 
 dizzy hight; and then the deacon's seat a little lower down in front, 
 where grave men sat, 'tis said, to watch the flock, and wake the con- 
 gregation nodding and, withal, to keep tlie boys and girls from spark- 
 ing. As there were no means for warming churches then, each fam- 
 ily took to meeting with them their little box-like stove for the 
 women's feet, while the men sat and kicked their frozen cowhides to 
 force away the winter's cold. 
 
 Prayer-meetings, at that day, were seldom known. They would 
 have been an intrusion on the dignity of the dominie, whose sole pre- 
 rogative it was, publicly to pray as well as preach. 
 
 THT3 FIKST CHUKCII AND ITS PASTOR. 
 
 At the formation of the cluirch here, whicli was in 1789, it was j)re- 
 sented with a heavy communion service from tlie motlier town, on 
 which was inscribed, " Si)ringtield 1st Church, 1742," and which was 
 continued in use more than a hundred years, or until 184G, when it 
 gave place to other and more valuable furniture, the betjuest of Abner 
 Cady, the former still being preserved as a remembrance and relic of 
 the past. 
 
 The Rev. Antipas Steward, the first pastor, was ordained, Novem- 
 ber 27, 171)3. lie was a native of Marlboro, a graduate of Harvard 
 University ami afterward tutor, and distinguished for scholarsliip. 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 133 
 
 He could read Hebrew, it was said, nearly as readily as English. 
 The town paid him an annual salary of $200 and thirty cords of 
 wood. He was dismissed in 1803 and removed to Belchertown, where 
 he died in 1814, aged 80 years. I have heard it said by those who 
 remembered and knew him well, that he was truly a man of "ye an- 
 cient time," finely clad in blouse and breeches, knee-buckles and white- 
 topped boots, gracefull}'- corrugated over long, white hose, and sur- 
 mounting all as most prominent, the professional cocked hat, signifi- 
 cant of authority and command. At his ordination he invited the 
 Kev. Mr. Howard of Springfield to preach the sermon from the text 
 (VI.*) "Let a man so account of us as * * stewards of the mysteries 
 of God ; " and near the close of his ten years' pastorate, having been 
 not a little troubled by the complaints of his people, he sent again to 
 his friend, Mr. Howard, to come and preach his farewell discourse, 
 choosing for the text, Revelation 2 : 13 — " I know thy works, and 
 wliere thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is, * * wherein An- 
 tipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan 
 dwelleth." This last request, however, was not granted the retiring 
 pastor. 
 
 Dr. Lathrop relates the following anecdote of this eccentric divine : 
 At a ministers' meeting at one time, some one stated his belief that 
 all the wicked hated God. Mr. Steward denied this, and inquired 
 how it was that they should desire to go into his presence if they 
 hated him, and quoted the parable of the virgins, Matthew 25:11 — 
 " Afterwards came also the other virgins, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open 
 unto us.' " The reply was that parables do not go on all fours. To 
 this Mr. Steward answered, "They go, at least, on two legs, and if 
 your interpretation is right, they cannot go at all ; for you cut off all 
 the legs." 
 
 The little church, having at first but fifteen members, being now 
 much reduced, and the people somewhat divided, no other minister 
 was settled for sixteen years. Then the Rev. Ebenezer B. Wright, a 
 graduate of Williams College, was ordained, December 8, 1819, and 
 was the last minister employed by the town. During tliis interim of 
 sixteen years, the pulpit was supplied by preachers of different denom- 
 
 *See page 43. 
 
Lj4 the centennial. 
 
 inations, particularly as wortli}^ of mention, the Rev. Elijah Heading, 
 who siibseqiientl}'' was elected bishop of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, and Rev. Alexander McLean, who preached several years in 
 the whole and in the meantime formed a Methodist class. 
 
 TJIE METHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 j\[r. McLean's engagements with tlie tuwu terminating previous to 
 the settlement of Mr. Wright, he then became the nominal preacher 
 to a Methodist Society, so called, combining remonstrants against the 
 tax law. In the winter of 1826-7 the Rev. Wilbur Fislc, D. D., the 
 popular principal of the Wesleyan Academy in AVilbraham, and after- 
 wards president of the Universit}' at Middletown, Conn., was invited 
 by a portion of the people to preach for them, and accordingly com- 
 menced his ministry, holding meetings in private dwellings and 
 school-houses. He was a man in souie respects like Bishoj) Hedding, 
 who had preceded him by several years, possessed of s'uperior attain- 
 ments, and highly honored in his denomination. Ever since his la- 
 bors began with the Methodist Society, it has sustained the preaching 
 of the Gospel without interruption. Dr. Fisk, then, may be regarded 
 as the god-father of that church, and a very worthy relationship it 
 may claim in him. 
 
 He was followed by the Rev. Isaac Jennison, the first preacher sent 
 by the conference, and through his active agencj', the present Metho- 
 dist church edilice, long familiarly known as " The Chapel," was built 
 in 1827. Being a carpenter by trade, as well as a j)reacher, with one 
 of his hands he wrought in the work of framing and building the 
 house of the Lord, and with the other held the sword of the Spirit as a 
 good soldier of the cross of Christ. Tall in stature, it is said he 
 actually clapboarded the gable ends of the house to the ridge-pole 
 Avithout resort to any staging. Thirty years afterwards, or in 1858, 
 during the pastorate of Rev. F. Fisk, the edilice was thoroughl}' 
 remodeled and enlarged, and a bell hung in its tower. 
 
 THE THIIID CHURCH EDIFICE. 
 
 The third meeting-house in Ludlow, a comely building, stood on the 
 site of the present Congregational Church, and was erected in 1840. 
 For eighteiMi years it did good service in the cause for which it was 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 135 
 
 built, being repeatedly honored by His special presence in whose name 
 it was dedicated. (VII.*) Eavlj^ one still winter's morning, the 15th 
 of January, 1859, long before it was light, the bell rang out a sudden 
 alarm in a few rapid strokes, and then ceased, and was heard no more. 
 Those wlio lived near sprang out of their beds, only to see the red 
 flames bursting out at the windows, creeping up the tall spire, and 
 projecting a lurid light over an area of the snow-clad earth, for miles 
 .around. Nothing was done — notliing could be done to arrest the con- 
 flagration, such was the headway gained before being discovered, 
 though hundreds of strong-handed men had gathered in a few min- 
 utes' time. Not long, and the lofty spire was seen to sway back and 
 forth, when a cry was heard, and the almost petrified spectators 
 rushed involuntarily back, and there was a crash through ridge-pole 
 and rafter, floor and foundation, till the once friendly old bell was ar- 
 rested only by the firm earth, and half-imbedded in her bosom, among 
 falling, blazing timbers. Then again the flames shot up to the very 
 clouds, while the burning embers and cinders went sailing away over 
 houses and hills, literally, for miles and miles. Oh ! it was a heart- 
 rending sight ; such an utter ruin as that into which that loved place 
 of worship fell, is seldom known. Not a fragment remained of the 
 inner or outer works of the building; nothing save the foundation 
 stones, and the topmost ball of the spire, which was Imrled over the 
 whole length of the burning house to a place of safety, and so es- 
 caped almost unscathed. A noble oak standing near by, from which 
 the dr}' autumnal leaves had not yet fallen, was suddenly lit up as 
 with thousands of gas-jets, burning for a few moments and then 
 goinf^r out. 
 
 During that dreadful hour a young man lay at a little distance on a 
 sick bed, with his warm life's blood streaming from his mouth from 
 hemorrhage. "What is the matter, father ?" said he, hearing some 
 unusual disturbance. '' Only a little alarm of fire over here, my son," 
 said the anxious father; "do not be troubled a moment; a few dollars 
 will set all right again." A few dollars did set all right again, and 
 in its place 3'ou see this pleasant and commodious sanctuary. What 
 was a burning building to that troubled parent, then? He would 
 
 *See page 81. 
 
136 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 scarcely lii't liis e3^e.s toward it, or waste a thought on the comparatively 
 insignificant calamity. 
 
 OTHKU CHURCHES. 
 
 The fourth meeting-house which was built in town, was at Jenks- 
 ville, and was erected by the manufacturing comi^any there, and dedi- 
 cated as a union house of worship, December 25, 1845. The first year 
 it was occupied by the Methodists of that village, at the end of which 
 they withdrew, and built for themselves a church near by, which they 
 continued to occupy a few years, and then sold to be talcen down and 
 removed from the place. The Second Congregational Church was or- 
 ganized at Jenksville, June 24, 1847, having at the start twenty-eight 
 members, and on the 20th of January following, E.ev. William Hall 
 was ordained its pastor ; but, in consequence of a failure in business 
 and the loss of population, he felt compelled to resign and was dis- 
 missed the same year. (VIII.*) 
 
 The sixth and last church edifice erected in town is the fine, com- 
 modious house of worship, built in 1859, standing prominently before 
 lis on this common, and long to remain, as we humbly trust, the loved 
 place of Christian assembly. 
 
 LUDLOW VILLAGE (jEXKSVILLE). 
 
 Passing now to physical and material conditions, — the Chicopee 
 lliver, coming down from the east, forms the southern boundary of the 
 town, and in its course of three or four miles, presents several excellent 
 mill privileges, the largest of which ai'e at the falls of "\Vallamanum2)s 
 and Indian Orchard. At the former place the water descends along a 
 narrow, rocky channel 42 feet, in a distance of a hundred rods ; and 
 at the latter — less than a mile distant — there is a fall of G3 feet from 
 the top of the dam to still water below. The manufacturing business 
 at the former place was nearly the first started in the country. (iX.t) 
 In the year 1812, Benjamin Jencks, then of Smithfield, E. I., made a 
 journey of survey, passing through Connecticut and Massachusetts 
 into New York to certain water-falls on the Genesee River, called by 
 the Indians, Gaskosaga, where he spent several daj's examining and 
 considering the advantages for manufacturing purposes. He was 
 
 *Sce page 7'J. fSee page 64. 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 137 
 
 offered the whole of tliat place, with its splendid water-power, for the 
 same sum that the Chicopee Eiver privilege and its surroundings could 
 be bought. He gave preference to the latter, built his dam, started 
 his mill, and Wallamanumiis became Jenksville. Sometime after- 
 wards, a certain Marylander, probabl}^ a transplanted Yankee, bought 
 Gaslvosaga, on the distant Genesee, and it was transformed into Roch- 
 ester, — the city of Rochester, with its sixty thousand inhabitants. 
 
 The natural scenery along the Chicopee before the swift-running 
 waters were arrested and thrown back upon tlie rapids, and before the 
 dark woods, skirting the banks of the beautiful river, were cut away, 
 was very fine, and the sites of the present villages were places of con- 
 siderable resort for pleasure. There once were the favorite hunting- 
 grounds and homes of the aborigines, and the relics of their savage 
 warfare and rude agriculture abound to this day, in all the neighbor- 
 hood. 
 
 Said an intelligent townsman of yours to me, a little while since, 
 who is versed in Indian lore, and has an aptness for the study of na- 
 ture : " On every farm in Ludlow, and especially along the margins of 
 the rivers and ponds, may be found numerous sharp and irregular 
 fragments of stone, — porphyry, quartz, chalcedony and sandstone, — 
 the chippings thrown off by the Indians in fabricating their imple- 
 ments for warfare and the chase and for their domestic use." Thou- 
 sands of arrow-lieads of various sizes, hatchets, chisels, gouges, mortars 
 and pestles have been picked up within a few years ; and I was shown 
 a large spear-liead, lately found, of great value as a curiosity, and also 
 a remarkable gravestone, wrought somewhat into the human form, 
 about three feet in bight, which once, doubtless, marked the burial of 
 some distinguished chief. Said the gentleman to whom I have re- 
 ferred : "If every farmer would keep an eye on what he turns up with 
 his plow, especially on new lands, and collect the curious-shaped stones 
 lying here and there on the banks of brooks and ponds, and thrown 
 carelessly into old walls and stone heaps, he might soon have a small 
 but valuable museum of his own." 
 
 Just below the falls at Jenksville, the river in its tortuous course 
 forms a little peninsula of a few acres of land, formerly densely wooded, 
 and elevated about eighty feet above the water, the extremity of which 
 IS 
 
138 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 has lonj^ Lcen known by the name of "Indian Leap." The story,* 
 which perhaps is only legendary, is that a party of Indians, being sur- 
 prised in this secluded spot, and finding no other way of escaping 
 tljoir enemies, sprang over the precipice in fearless desperation, and all 
 of them, save one, perished in tlie seething waters and among the 
 rocks below. In this place, on the high bank of the river, is supposed 
 to have been the encampment of 600 of King Philip's warriors, the 
 night after the}'' had burned Springfield in 1675, since those who went 
 in pursuit of them the next day, found here 24 camp fires and some of 
 their plunder left behind. The new railroad bridge now takes a leap 
 from this celebrated point across the chasm, bearing safely every day 
 scores of passengers as they go and come on business or pleasure. 
 
 No less than five bridges span the Chicopee River, connecting Lud- 
 low -with the adjoining towns, the oldest of which is at Jenksville, 
 having been built fifty-four years, and apparently as firm and endur- 
 ing now as ever. Although this is the shortest of the five, and its 
 completion now would have but little significance, yet then it was re- 
 garded as an event of extraordinary public importance ; so much so as 
 to be celebrated with an eclat not unlike this centennial day.f Ac- 
 cordingly, on the 1st of Januarj'^, 1823, large numbers assembled to 
 listen to a statement of what had been done; also to hear a sermon 
 suited to the occasion, and join in public praise and thanksgiving to 
 Almighty God for the success of their enterprise. I sujipose there is 
 scarcely a person here but has crossed over that friendly bridge, time 
 and again. Please to remember, the next time you enter its dingy 
 arch, that, fifty-four years ago, it was solemnly dedicated, — I use the 
 words of the preacher, Mr. McLean, — " dedicated to the protection of 
 Almight}^ God and the use of men." 
 
 THE FATHERS. 
 
 The fathers of Kew England were a religious people ; nor were 
 they often guilty of withholding an acknowledgment of their indebt- 
 edness to the Father of Mercies for His protecting care. They 
 believed in a divine providence, and were not ashamed to confess the 
 same, botli publicly and privately, in things great and small. They 
 
 *See page 2. tSue page 63 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 139 
 
 were also a bravo, hardy, indomitable people, who dared to contend for 
 their rights ; who knew how to fight the devil, as well as how to fear 
 God. Poor in this world's goods, yet they were not coraplainers ; for 
 princely fortunes they knew would be theirs in the world to come. 
 Godliness was the great gain they coveted most ; and having food and 
 raiment, they were content therewith. Strong in purpose, uncompro- 
 mising in principle, and the firm friends of civil and religious freedom, 
 we love to honor them as such, though we may not always imitate 
 their noble virtues. 
 
 They were but a handful, comparatively — few and feeble and far 
 separated from one another — yet they could build and endow churches 
 and colleges, scrupulously maintain religious and charitable institu- 
 tions, and render a cheerful, stated worship to the God they served. 
 Many of the present generation complain, if called to hear a brace of 
 sermons of twentj'' minutes each on the Sabbath. Strong men can 
 not digest more than one, they say. But the fathers of a century ago 
 could listen to preaching for two hours, and a prayer of one hour ; 
 and, after a short intermission, go the same round again without ex- 
 traordinary fatigue. It is said they had no prayer-meetings then ; 
 and how could thej'", scattered, as they were, many miles apart, without 
 roads or bridges, or any of the conveniences of travel now in vogue ? 
 They had no Sunday-schools, it is said; but they had; and their 
 schools around the family hearth-stone, with the Bible and catechism 
 for text-books, and father and mother as teachers, were more efficient 
 for good than many a modern, flourishing, fancy school. While thus 
 extolling them — commending their patriotism, their piety, their strong 
 faith, their usually unselfish acts — I would do no injustice to the 
 present age. Though the fathers have gone and the heroic age in 
 which they lived, yet their spirit has not fled. If proof were needed 
 of our patriotism, I would refer to the recent great uprising in defense 
 of our liberties, when imperiled by the slavery rebellion. Then it 
 can be shown also that the hope our pious fathers had of christian- 
 izing the heathen, has not died out, but has been gathering inspira- 
 tion to the present time. In the work of missions, our zeal and 
 success have exceeded theirs. We have mapped out the whole world 
 as the field to be worked, and sent out men to possess it all for the 
 
140 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 Master. Also our religious, our educational and benevolent institu- 
 tions are in advance of anything in the past. 
 
 BOYS IN BLUE. 
 
 It is in place here, in my brief narrative of historical events of this 
 town, that I should refer to some things it did in our national contest, 
 twelve j'^ears ago. With a population of only twelve hundred souls, it 
 enlisted one hundred and twenty recruits for the war, or one for every 
 ten persons. I know of no town that did better ; and yet the proportion 
 in the Revolutionary conflict was not much greater. (X.*) Fathers and 
 mothers here gave up their sons, and wives their husbands, feeling in 
 their bleeding hearts and fearing they might never see them again ; 
 yet consenting to the painful sacrifice for God and their country's 
 sake. Those fears and feelings, on the part of many, were the genuine 
 forebodings of what actually followed. The names of sixteen, who 
 went out from these pleasant, quiet homes, and never came back 
 alive, having perished in the terrible strife, are now written on yonder 
 soldiers' monument, erected to commemorate the bravery of their 
 deeds and their martyr-like deaths. I knew many of them well, and 
 from an intimacy with some, esteemed them highly for their moral 
 worth and manly virtues. May I pronounce their names, though it 
 bring a pang of grief to the hearts of some present, on whose fond 
 memories their patient faces are doubtless daguerreotyped forever: 
 Capt. II. A. Hubbard, D. Pratt, 
 
 Kobert Parsons, W. W. Washburne, 
 
 riavius J. Putnam, John Coash, 
 
 E. F. Brooks, A. 0. Pott, 
 
 C. Crowningshield, L. Bennett, 
 
 E. Lyon, D. D. Currier, 
 
 H. M. Pease, H. W. Aldrich, 
 
 A. Chapman, C. McFarland. 
 
 Of the first of these, who was the commander of the Ludlow com- 
 pany, I may be permitted to say, I knew him from his boyliood, — 
 from his first lessons in the district school, till he entered college, and 
 thence to the study of the profession of law, and until he left his law 
 
 *Sed page 8^. 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 141 
 
 books to take the sword. The last time I saw him, he stood in a cen- 
 tral position, with the 27th Regiment drawn up to witness the pre- 
 sentation of liis sword, by the hands of his pastor. Soon after, he 
 embarked in the Burnside expedition, and before landing, was taken 
 sick, and breathed his last on ship-board, in the calm waters of Pam- 
 lico Sound, just as his men, flushed with victory, were returning to 
 proclaim the brilliant successes of the battle of Roanoke. He heard 
 their shouts in his last moments, and in the midst of their triumphs, 
 his soul went up to his Saviour. How our hearts bled at hearing of 
 his death, and again, when he was brought home, folded in his coun- 
 try's flag, and then laid tenderly away in a peaceful grave ! The 
 assembled crowds here, the martial array, the solemn music, and the 
 sharp discharges of musketry at his burial, will never be forgotten. 
 (XI.*) 
 
 All these men whose names have been called died young, some on 
 the field of battle, some in hospitals, and more still in the infamous 
 rebel prison at Andersonville. But they lived not in vain. Tliey ac- 
 tually achieved for themselves, in their short lives, a reputation to 
 which but few comparatively attain. Until that granite shaft crum- 
 bles in dust their memories will survive, and their manly virtues be 
 
 rehearsed. 
 
 " Sleep, sleep, ye brave who sink to rest 
 With all your country's wishes blest." 
 
 LABOK AND ITS REWARDS. 
 
 Thus far in my address have I confined myself chiefly to the past ; 
 to so much of the history of the century now ending as relates to this 
 little rural town, and could be conveniently brought within the nar- 
 row limits of an hour. Not being a prophet, I will make no attempt 
 to forecast your future, farther than to say that, judging from the 
 quiet annals we have reviewed, you may well hope hereafter to make 
 steady progress — not, perhaps, larger in population nor in the facti- 
 tious wealth and consequent distinction of cities, but in the increase 
 of your fields and gardens, — the enriching and beautif3-ing of your 
 homes, and what is better still, in giving expansion and efficacy to 
 your religious and educational institutions. 
 
 *See Appendix. 
 
142 ' THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 Tlie discounting banks from whicli your dividends are mostly to 
 come, are tliose ■which God and nature have given you, — the gentle 
 slopes of these hills and the fertile intervals of the living streams that 
 flow around j-our farms. There you will iind gold purer than in the 
 mines of the mountains, and silver that is more satisfying. In these 
 fruitful fields of yours the work of your hands will not fail of a rich 
 reward. Be sure the time has gone by, or is swiftly passing, when 
 men of intelligence indulge a prejudice against manual labor as being 
 degrading. The union of hard work with self-respect and mental cul- 
 ture may be seen all over our land ; and he that would turn away froni 
 the plow and drop from his hands the axe and spade, that he may be 
 a gentleman of leisure, a starched and perfumed creature, should be 
 "written down a slothful servant and sent to school to the insignificant 
 ant as a teacher wise enough for him. The measuring off of calico and 
 crinoline, the weighing of sugar and tea, or speculating on 'change in 
 State and Wall streets, bring no enlargement of mind or conscious- 
 ness of power, — do not make a robust body, nor particularly favor a 
 healthful state of morals. All human growth of highest value, all up- 
 ward and heavenward progress, come from struggling with difficul- 
 ties, — come from conflict, come from labor, from hard work. The 
 kingdom of heaven, both here and hereafter, suffereth violence. Strive 
 to enter in. No weak and puny effort will lift one to the skies. Toil 
 is a necessity; earnest, persevering labor is indispensable, both to our 
 living worthily and usefully here, and happily hereafter. Alas for 
 the man, — the parasite, — that does nothing to increase the real wealth 
 of the world, or add to the general sum of happiness. Every righteous 
 verdict is, " Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness." 
 
 I know that the people of this town indorse these sentiments, both 
 in their belief and practice ; and I only desire to give emphasis to 
 them and venture the prediction of thoir ultimate, universal accept- 
 ance. 
 
 HOPEFUL OUTLOOK. 
 
 Looking now over bn^ader fields, — to the hopeful mind there are 
 bright prospects and encouraging omens of better days, notwithstand- 
 ing the dark clouds that float at times over the vision, and carry de- 
 spondency to timid souls. It cannot be that society is only sliding 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 143 
 
 backward, and hurrying swiftly to the bad. I prefer to think, and 
 with reason as well as in the light of revelation, that this old world of 
 ours, ceaselessly swinging in its orbit, is making progress in the right 
 direction ; and that the present age, especially, into which all the past 
 is pouring wisdom, maj be justly characterized, for rapid growth, for 
 large developments, for the diffusion of just sentiments, for the prac- 
 tice of a broader philanthropj^ and a higher morality. True, the evi- 
 dence is not in credit mobiliers, in salai-y grabs, in frequent briberies 
 and embezzlements, and numerous first-class frauds; but it is in the 
 fact of their ready exposure, and the denunciation of such deeds, com- 
 ing from all parties, and the solemn protests of every secular as well 
 as religious journal in the land against them. These frequent crimi- 
 nal acts which make us blush for human kind, are no more numerous 
 now than at any preceding period, other things being equal. But 
 they are in the dajdight now; they can not be covered up as formerl}^; 
 a thousand voices that used to be silent, cry out against them, and 
 load down the winds with just complaints of the wrong. Every man, 
 however obscure, thinks for himself, reads his daily paper, reasons on 
 politics and religion, sees through the disguises and envelopments of 
 pretended rank and equipage and renown, and measures others, of 
 both high and low degree, by some just standard. The men of high 
 repute never trembled as they do now for their sins done in secret. 
 ■They are seen of men, and held to account, even by those whom they 
 feign to despise. 
 
 Are there back-settings and counter-currents in the onflowing tide 
 of good ; or, at times, an apparent increase of immorality and evil? 
 It has always been so. It is God's prerogative to evolve good from 
 evil. The night precedes the day. The sharp drouths of last sum- 
 mer with a scanty harvest following, and our cold, backward spring, 
 were prophetic of this beautiful summer, and an unusually fruitful 
 autumn to come. The 17th of June on Bunker Hill was seemingly a 
 disastrous day to the friends of popular institutions ; and so were the 
 18th and 21st of July of Bull Run memory ; but they hastened on 
 lirighter daj-s than the sun had ever seen, and loosened chains, soon 
 to fall off from both minds and bodies of long-suffering races, crushed 
 to earth. 
 
144 THE CEXTEXXIAL. 
 
 We are now a free people. Slaves can not breathe here. Every 
 man, wliitu or Mack, may carve out his own fortune, may acquire 
 ])rnperty, may compete for office ancV honors, yea, even the highest in 
 the land, irrespective of his birth or blood. Has there not been prog- 
 ress, then, in our civil polity ? In no other period of our history 
 could slaver)- be abolished, but the present. 
 
 In morals and religion, also, there are the same marked and encour- 
 aging changes. Never has the religious element in our churches been 
 so active and aggressive ; never before was it clothed with sufficient 
 power to carr}' forward the grand temperance reformatipn with such 
 marvelous success until this year. Almost every State and County 
 and Town is reached by this reform. God grant it so much success 
 that soon, like slavery, it may be among the things of the past. I 
 am glad to learn that even your old mother town is adopting the 
 wise, safe practice of drinking pure, cold water ; and that she may 
 never want for it, asks of her fair daughter the privilege of construct- 
 ing an unfailing reservoir between the rocky ramparts of your Mount 
 Mineachogue and Facing Hills. 
 
 Taking the progress of the past as a measure, with so much already 
 done, and the prospects ever brightening, w^hat will not another cen- 
 tury do ? Who says the world does not move ? It does, and the pos- 
 sibilities of the future, imagination fails to reach. The jieople that 
 will live in 1974, on these hills and plains, and in these valleys, shall 
 see the wilderness become as fruitful fields, the fields pleasant gar- 
 dens, and quietness and assurance be theirs forever. While we do not 
 expect to be present at the Bi-centennial they will celebrate, we send 
 them happy greetings across the intervening space of the century to 
 come. 
 
 A bow of promise spans the future. Better days than ever are 
 
 dawning u})on our country and the world; when all men's good .shall 
 
 be the rule of each, — 
 
 " Ami universal peace 
 Lie like a shaft of light across tiie land, 
 Anil like a lane of beams atiiwart the sea, 
 Through all the circle of the golden years." 
 
 Following the hour of earnest and appreciative attention, the clos- 
 ing pra3'cr was made 1»3' Rev. E. N. Pomeroy, pastor of the Upper 
 
THE DINNER AND SrEECITES. 145 
 
 Congregational Church in West Springfield, and the benediction was 
 pronounced by Rev. D. R. Austin. 
 
 Scarce!)^ had the exercises closed when a terrific shower, whose 
 thunderings had for some moments been muttering in the clouds, broke 
 with torrents upon the assembly. All who could took care of them- 
 selves inside the tents, while some hundreds hurried into the adjoining 
 church, kindly opened on the occasion. The town house, horse-sheds, 
 barns and houses in the vicinity were overrun with refugees for a few 
 moments, until the fur}' of the storm was expended. 
 
 It had been arranged to station the band outside the tent and have 
 played a few stirring airs, to draw the people out, and then to form a 
 procession, march to the music of a dirge to the cemetery, visit the 
 graves of friends and then return to the tent in time to reseat, and re- 
 ceive what the army of waiters might have to offer. But, 
 
 " The best laid schemes o' mice an' men 
 Gang aft agley." 
 
 and so it was j^roven in this case. A dilemma was presented, but 
 Ludlow wit was not yet exhausted. Happy are they who, when their 
 own plans fail, can adapt themselves to circumstances. The pleasant 
 voice of the marshal was soon heard calling for the withdrawal of two 
 hundred from the rear of the auditorium tent to the galleries of the 
 town house, with which request the desired number soon complied, and 
 the work of distribution of food commenced and continued for nearly 
 an hour, the company meanwhile gathering together in knots and 
 visiting to their hearts' content. At last the keen appetite of the 
 crowd was satiated, and they were ready for the after dinner exercises. 
 The first toast, " The Governor of the Commonwealth," elicited the 
 following letter : 
 
 COxMMONWEALTII OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 KXECUTIVE DEl'AKTMEXT, 
 
 BosTox, 11th June, 1874. 
 Dear Sir : — I should be happy to accept your invitation to the 
 Ludlow Centennial Celebration if I were not already engaged for the 
 day on which it occurs. Therefore I must ask you to excuse me, and 
 make my regrets to your committee. 
 
 Very truly yours, Thomas Talbot. 
 
 B. F. Burr, Esq., Secretary. 
 
 The second toast, announced by Major Hubbard, toast master, ** The 
 land we love," received a response from Rev. D. R. Austin, who gave 
 the necessary eulogy to the country, and then related personal remi- 
 niscences of his ministry in the town. 
 I'J 
 
140 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 '•'The Historian of the Day," called up Eev. Mr. Tuck, who spoke 
 very pleasantly, genth^ touching up as he -went along those newspa- 
 pers which had forestalled him in making public the gist of his ad- 
 dress. 
 
 " Home again," drew out Professor White, Avhose remarks we are 
 happy to give in the speaker's own language : 
 
 " Surrounded by those who but a little wliile ago were boys and girls 
 with me, and are now developed into men and women filling with 
 honor their places in society, I feel that I should be false to the best 
 promptings of our hearts, if I should neglect to refer to the faithful 
 teachers whose careful investments in our young life have been so pro- 
 ductive of good to us. To mention tlie names of Thedocia Howard, 
 afterward the mother of one who has been an esteemed pastor in the 
 town, and of George Booth, so long a pillar in the church and a citizen 
 whom his tow'nsmen delighted to honor, can not, I am sure, fail to 
 awaken in many hearts feelings of warm affection and high respect. 
 Many others, of earlier or later times, equally worth}--, are remembered 
 doubtless with like affection by those whose lives have been enriched 
 by their labors. 
 
 "But I need make no apology in mentioning as worthy of peculiar 
 honor the name of one young lady teacher of our time, who served us 
 for a series of years with singleness of aim, and with remarkable en- 
 ergy and success. My old school-mates here to-day will anticipate 
 me in giving the name of Mary B. Newell, now Mrs. E. B. Scott, of 
 Brant, Calumet County, Wis. In my recollections of our teachers, it 
 is but justice to say, that Miss Newell has ever occupied the central 
 place. Nor does she lose this position when I enlarge the group by 
 adding the honored and titled names of the teachers of my subsequent 
 years. It must have been as early as 1830, when in tlie vigor and 
 bloom of her young womanhood she was first introduced to us as our 
 teacher. In despite of a strictness at which even those days sometimes 
 demurred, she has always been nearest my ideal of a good teacher. 
 No escape was there from sharp work in her school. If she could not 
 instill wisdom into us by gentle means, none better than she knew how 
 to whip it into her pupils, and there were, I think, few among us who 
 did not, sooner or later, test the quality of the birch as plied by her 
 hand, with moderation where that would do, but unsparingly if the 
 case required it. 
 
 "But whipping by no means describes her usual method. With tlie 
 instinct of a cultivated Christian young lady, and with rare skill, she 
 found the nobler side of her pupils and awakened in them conscience 
 and a love for their tasks, and then, by an enthusiasm that made her 
 
THE AFTER DINNER SPEECHES. 147 
 
 the very embodiment of life, she inspired as well as instructed her pu- 
 pils, and so in a good degree made the daily work of that old scliool- 
 house a fine art. 
 
 " iSTor was this all. The pupils of Mary Newell will never forget with 
 what persevering endeavor she taught them to think. With a patience 
 and tact that no dullness on our part could thwart, she made us un- 
 derstand the distinction between the questions, What? How? and 
 Wliy? and so led our little minds in the path of a true analysis, and 
 contributed to our development more than could any amount of mere 
 learning and saying lessons. Is it a wonder, then, that neither scores 
 of years, nor the rivers, mountains and plains of a continent that for 
 most of that time have intervened, have removed her from the place 
 slie had gained in our hearts. For one I can say that a feeling of 
 grateful respect for her, and a desire to do her honor, placing her in 
 this regard next in m}^ heart to a mother, have been among the inspi- 
 rations of my life. 
 
 ''Miss Newell, many years ago, removed to the West, where she con- 
 tinued to lahor as a teacher till at past the age of sixty she was hap- 
 pily married. At her visit among us a few years since, with her 
 husband, we, the boys and girls of her early days, were proud to find 
 that single life had left no blight upon our dear old teacher. Loving 
 and loved all the way by succeeding generations of young life, neither 
 time nor occasion had she to try the experience of the "anxious and 
 aimless." Fresh and fair, and in heart as young as ever, she furnished 
 a practical refutation of the whim of writers of fiction, that only in 
 wifehood and motherliood can tlie charms of womanhood be preserved 
 and find their fairest development." 
 
 The next toast was, "A name revered, Ebenezer B. Wright," to 
 whose memory Rev. Simeon Miller gave a deserved testimonial. 
 
 "Our honored relic, the Old Meeting-house," brought to the fronb 
 Hon. Edwin Booth, of Philadelphia, a native of the town, who had 
 been desired to preface his remarks by reading a poem luiuded in 
 anonymously, which was as follows : 
 
 P0E:\r. 
 
 In good old times of wliich we read, 
 Before the thought of gain and greed 
 Had blunted all our finer feeling, 
 Had set our better judgment reeling, 
 There lived a very worthy dame, 
 And Springfield they had called her name. 
 In fashion then (now 'twould be rare) 
 Her frequent ofljpring elainied her care. 
 
148 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 When tliey had strength and courage sliown 
 
 To manage matters of tlieir own, 
 
 Slie gave to each a plot of ground 
 
 "With woods enough to fence it round, 
 
 And bade tliem wise as serpents be, 
 
 For deadly foes tbey soon might see, 
 
 Wliose craft and cruelty combined 
 
 To make tliem dreaded bymankind. 
 
 In those old times of wliicli I write, 
 
 Were hearts like oak, and arms of might. 
 
 The treacherous foe, subdued at last, 
 
 Their watchings and their terror past, 
 
 The people quiet tilled tlie ground, 
 
 While jjlentcous peace their efforts crowned. 
 
 Thus of tlie mother, good and mild ; 
 
 My tiieme shall be her youngest child 
 
 But one, — Ludlow, (you've heard her name. 
 
 With others, told on rolls of fame,) 
 
 Who took lier time in seventy-four, 
 
 But annals show not at what hour. 
 
 Her dowry gained was rather damp. 
 
 Consisting of a cedar swamp; 
 
 Such as it was she took with grace. 
 
 And went to work to gain a place 
 
 For self in records then kept well ; 
 
 IJow well she did those rolls must tell. 
 
 Though rather green in gentler art, 
 
 Yet claimed to have a clever start 
 
 In farmer's skill and district schools. 
 
 In which well taught are simpler rules; 
 
 (But higher rank from out of town. 
 
 For some at Westfield seek renown. 
 
 And some at Wilbraham gather lore, 
 
 To lay, 'chance, at a farmer's door.) 
 
 She's managed well from year to year 
 
 To fill the larder, held so dear; 
 
 Always was bread on pantry shelves. 
 
 And needing ones might help themselves. 
 
 Mayhap the pork would all give out. 
 
 But then she'd catch the speckled trout; 
 
 Turkeys and pigeons from the wood. 
 
 Served up in sh»pe, were very good ; 
 
 Ofttimes a deer in forest found, 
 
 Was easy game with gun and hound. 
 
 She struggled on bravely, through trial and ill. 
 
 And proved the old saw of a way and a will ; 
 
 She fixed up her kitchen so tidy and clean. 
 
 Nor thought she nor cared she for better, I ween ; 
 
 For weightier matters had filled up her head, 
 
 And her sons into many a confab were led. 
 
THE CENTENN'IAL POEM. 149 
 
 On shearing tlie slicep and carding tlie wool, 
 On weaving the cloth already to pull ; 
 " Yonng Zeke must have pants and Dan a new coat, 
 And father's old waistcoat is nearly worn out. 
 Poor Jerry must wait yet a year, perhaps two, 
 Though his best Sunday breeches are just about through ;" 
 So with making and planning each hour would well fill, 
 Each helping his brother with hearty good-will. 
 But the years sped away, and the factories soon 
 Into garrets consigned wheel and clumsy hand-loom. 
 Thus relieved, the good housewife could turn her attention 
 To parlors and carpels of modern invention. 
 Each article extra she joined to her wares 
 Increased mucii her labors, her trials, her cares ; 
 She sought all in vain to deliver her house 
 From the speck of a fly or the tooth of a mouse ; 
 Till she sighed to return to those primitive times 
 When luxurious indulgences counted as crimes. 
 But changes will come and she must keep pace. 
 Or own up as beat in fashion's wild chase. 
 The change most dear to farmer's heart 
 Is that to chaise from clumsy cart. 
 He drives to town from his plantation. 
 And thinks he makes a great sensation. 
 The horse the same, though seeming faster, — 
 Do people think he is an Astor ? 
 His produce waits, but now's no time ; 
 Is not his turnout quite sublime? 
 "With nothing gained, and something spent. 
 His chaise shown off, he rests content. 
 We have the nicest water, we have the purest air, 
 Our homes may not be splendid, but they are very fair. 
 If our water were not wholesome, 
 
 Or our springs were less abundant, 
 Madam S. would not be tempted 
 
 To infringe the tenth conmiandmcnt. 
 But she seems to be forgetful 
 
 That her name was once derived 
 From tlie bounteous springs of water 
 
 Found when Pynchon first arrived. 
 So she comes to Ltidlow, panting. 
 
 Seizes now her flowing streams. 
 While the townsmen stand astounded 
 
 Like a man in troubled dreams. 
 Till the plan is all completed. 
 
 And the work is well begun ; 
 But we now are ever hearing 
 
 " What by Ludlow can be done ? " 
 Shall we tax the thing in toto, 
 
 Shall we tax the thing in part ? 
 
150 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 There's a way to do it riglitly, 
 
 Hut at wliat point sliall we start? 
 Springfield's citizens are saying 
 
 That we find ourselves too late ; 
 That we should have given our veto 
 
 At the very earliest date. 
 Now the city-full is chuckling 
 
 Over fortune's quiet smiles, 
 Tliinking slie shall soon have water 
 
 Brouglit through pipes so many miles. 
 Seems to me she soon will laugh from 
 
 T'other corner of her mouth, 
 When the streamlets' onward moving 
 
 Shall be stopped in time of drougiit ; 
 For those brooks, so pure and limpid, 
 
 Are not always found to flow. 
 Some completely dry in summer. 
 
 Some are often very low ; 
 So, ye city damsels, hasten, 
 
 Washing up your costly laces ; 
 Whence will come the needed torrents 
 
 For tlie cleansing of your faces ? 
 We may all be croaking plowmen, 
 
 Hardly worth a thought or care. 
 But, denizens of Springfield, 
 
 Hear us, when we cry " Beware ! " 
 
 Mr. Booth tlien spoke on the tlieme assigned, alluding to the pecu- 
 liarities of the church service when he was a boy, relating several inci- 
 dents, much to the delight of the audience, and pleading for the pres- 
 ervation of the time-honored structure. 
 
 "Our Aged Mother, the City of ^Springfield," was answered by 
 Mayor J. M. Stebbins of that place, who resented the epithet applied, 
 claiming that the City was never so young or thriving as to-day, 
 and bearing the best of wishes to the town, complimenting the citi- 
 zens upon the sturdy worth of the denizens of Ludlow. 
 
 A sentiment from a citizen, " Springfield in 1774, Ludlow in 1874 : 
 'She that vvatereth shall be watered also herself,'" pleasantly intro- 
 duced the next toast — 
 
 "'Our INIother, boasting of riches and independence, must yet ask a 
 drink of water from her child." This sentiment had been assigned to 
 Hon. A. D. liriggs, of the Springfield Board of Water Commissioners, 
 from whom the following letter was now read : — 
 
 SriMXdFiELD, June 15, 1874. 
 J. P. Hubbard, Esq., Chairman: — 
 
 ^fjl Daw Sir : — Your favor inviting me to respond to a " sentiment " 
 at your Centennial Celebration on the seventeenth is at hand, for which 
 
MR. c. o. chapin's eesponse. 151 
 
 I thank you, and regret that an engagement at Boston on that day 
 obliges me to decline, but have done a better thing by j'^ou in securing 
 as my substitute, Charles 0. Chapin, Esq., the Chairman of our Board 
 of Water Commissioners, who promises to be present and respond to 
 the sentiment referred to in your letter. 
 
 It was said by one of the greatest men who ever lived that " he was 
 born one hundred years old, and always grew younger and younger, 
 until after four-score years he died an impetuous boy ! " For this occa- 
 sion I propose as a sentiment : " Ludlow — May she upon this, the one 
 hundredth anniversary of her existence as a town, experience a new 
 birth ; and not only during four-score years but forever, continue to 
 grow younger and younger, ever recollecting that the true greatness of 
 a town consists, not in its breadth of territory, or the number or 
 wealth of its people, but in its successful efforts to elevate and ennoble 
 humanity." 
 
 Mr. Chapin being introduced, said, very neatly : — 
 
 The graceful allusion to the intimate relationship of Springfield and 
 Ludlow, that of parent and child, the tenderest of all ties, brings to 
 mind the interesting and touching story of that dutiful and, of course, 
 beautiful daughter, who, when her venerable father was in danger of 
 famishing, bared her bosom to his aged lips and proffered him that 
 sustenance without which he would have perished. There can be but 
 one fault in this comparison, one variation from this parallelism, and 
 that would arise from my inability to answer some carping critic or, 
 possibly, some practical councilman from ray own city, Avho may rise 
 in his seat and confound me with the question, " How much did the 
 old gentleman pay for this privilege ? " History gives us no light on 
 this point. But for the benefit of the alderman and the common 
 councilman of the future, I would state that every item in the history 
 of this transaction is recorded, and every dollar of expenditure is 
 properly vouched for. And here let me say that I fear very many of 
 the good people of Ludlow regard themselves as sinned against 
 by the citizens of Springiield in general, by the Water Commission- 
 ers, all and singular, who are sinners above all their fellows, and 
 by the chairman of the board, wdio must be the very chief of sin- 
 ners. What audacity, what temerity mi;st we possess to stand up 
 before this orthodox community with such a characterization, such 
 a stigma upon us ! Why, sir, I should expect to see trooping in upon 
 us from yonder quiet inclosure the outraged spirits of the " forefathers of 
 the hamlet" to scourge us from this gathering of their children. We 
 are no such men ; we represent no such people. There is a charitable 
 
152 THE CEXTEXNIAL. 
 
 old adage which maintains that the devil is not so black as he has 
 been painted. I trust we shall not prove so bad as you may have 
 feared. I know there have been some misunderstandings, some differ- 
 ences of opinion, but time and a better acquaintance will soften all 
 prejudice, make clear all misunderstandings, and help us to dwell to- 
 gether in peace and unity, and in the exercises of neighborly offices 
 and good fellowship. To that end I will give as a sentiment : " Ludlow 
 and Springfield — Bound and cemented together as tbey soon will be, 
 may there be no break in tlie bonds, and may the record of all differ- 
 ences be writ only in water." 
 
 The final toast — "The Men who Drugged us" — was answered by 
 Dr. William B. Miller of Springfield, a native of the town, who spoke 
 concerning its physicians, and closed with a suggestion that Spring- 
 field should give Ludlow an invitation to return into the family again, 
 to which a stentorian voice responded, "Pay your debts first," which 
 the Doctor acknowledged as apropos. 
 
 A number of letters of invitation to the centennial exercises were 
 read. 
 
 FROM HON. H. L. DAWES, 
 CONGRESSMAN REPRESENTING THE TOWN. 
 
 I am very much obliged to the Committee of the Town of Ludlow for 
 the kind invitation to participate in their approaching Centennial Cele- 
 bration. I regret that official engagements will prevent my taking 
 part in those interesting exercises. A hundred years in the life of 
 the town can not but be full of interest and instruction, and I should, 
 had it been possible, have found great pleasure in not only taking i^art 
 in your Centennial but visiting your people. 
 
 FROM HON. GEORGE M. STEARNS, 
 
 DISTRICT ATTORNEY. 
 
 I received your invitation to be present at the interesting celebration 
 of your Town's Centennial, and should be greatly pleased to participate 
 with you in the ceremonies of the occasion. But my close attention 
 is required at the present term of court, and I shall be compelled to 
 forego the pleasure. 
 
 FROM HON. N. T. LEONARD, 
 OF WESTFIELD. 
 
 The state of my health will prevent my complying witli your kind 
 invitation to mingle witli the citizens of your town in their approach- 
 
LETTERS OF REGRET. 153 
 
 ing Centennial Celebration. A residence in the county now wanting 
 but a few da3's of half a century has afforded me opportunities of 
 making the acquaintance of many of the citizens of Ludlow, and the 
 recollections connected therewith are mainly pleasant. 
 
 FROM HON. HENRY FULLER, 
 SENATOR OF THE DISTRICT. 
 
 I most sincerel}' regret your kind invitation to be present at your 
 Centennial Celebration did not reach me till the 16th, as I should have 
 been most luippy to have joined with you and your fellow-townsmen 
 on the occasion. 
 
 FROM HON. GEORGE D. ROBINSON, 
 OF CHICOPEE, THE TOWX's REPRESEN'TATIVE TO THE GENERAL COURT. 
 
 Accej^t my thanks for your invitation in behalf of your Town Com- 
 mittee to be present at your Centennial Celebration on the seventeenth 
 instant. I regret to say it will be next to impossible for me to attend. 
 As 3^our representative in Boston, I find that the Legislature will de- 
 mand my attendance there later than the day named. With best 
 wishes for a happy and successful union of old friends and renewal of 
 old associations, I am yours, &c. 
 
 FROM COL. HARVEY CHAPIN, 
 OF SPRINGFIELD. 
 
 Your invitation to be present on the occasion of the Centennial Cel- 
 ebration, on the 17th, has been duly received. 1 appreciate fully the 
 cordial and kindly feeling which prompts this token of respect to one 
 who was on familiar terms with the men of Ludlow, sixty years ago, 
 many of whom are now dead and gone. I should be pleased to make 
 one of your number at this coming celebration, but my weight of years 
 must be my excuse for declining this and similar festivities which 
 would otherwise be most agreeable. 
 
 Letters of regret were also received from Judge Morris, and from W. 
 M. Pomeroy, of the Springfield Union. Jerry Miller, of Beloit, Wis., a 
 former citizen, wrote a long letter containing interesting reminiscences 
 of the town and its people. Letters were also received by the com- 
 mittee from former ministers in the town. Rev. Isaac Jennison, over 
 eighty years of age, the first regular pastor of the Methodist Society, 
 and architect and builder of its original edifice as well, wrote thus: — 
 
 I feel disposed to inform the dear friends of Ludlow that I have not 
 forgotten those pleasant days and years I spent while at Wilbraham 
 20 
 
154 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 and Ludlow, 1825 and 1826 were employed in superintending the 
 building of the old Academy at AVilhrahani and the little Church at 
 Ludlow. "What good times we had in the revival at Ijudlow when the 
 Fullers, Millers, Aldens and many others were converted. Dr. AVilbur 
 risk and myself came over to aid in that good work. Most of them 
 have gone to their reward in heaven. It would afford me much real 
 enjoyment to meet any and all who remain — to he with you on 
 Wednesday of next week, and review the past and exhort you all to 
 cleave to the Lord. 
 
 Revs. Philo Hawks, pastor of the IM. E. Church in 1836, J. W. 
 Dadmun, in 1842, George Prentice, in 1859, and Thomas Marcy, pre- 
 siding elder, 1854—7, also sent expressions of regret. 
 
 The reading of these letters closed the formal exercises of the day, 
 and the congregation was dismissed. But knots of older and newer 
 acquaintances were gathered about the premises until nearly or quite 
 time for the curfew bells. 
 
 At an early evening hour the seats of the spacious Congregationalist 
 Church were all well filled for the concert. A stage had been built 
 across the west end of the room, on which the singers were seated. 
 At about the appointed time Wilbur F. Miller, conductor, gave the 
 signal and the exercises commenced with the anthem. Th-e pro- 
 gramme was followed throughout the evening, with added pieces. 
 Everything went off in accord with the spirit of the day and to uni- 
 versal satisfaction. Many a dollar concert ticket has been sold to 
 parties who have received for it an entertainment much inferior to 
 this, the gift of the singers to the people of the town. The thanks of 
 the people were more than due to all who participated, and not less 
 to jNIessrs. J. Gilbert Wilson, pianist, and G. H. Southland, cornetist, 
 of Springfield, and Mrs. Alvin Barton, of Knoxville, Tenn., than to 
 the earnest and gifted singers of our own town. 
 
 A not unpleasant episode enlivened the recess between parts. A 
 hint had been given Hon. H. L. Dawes, a few days before, that the 
 standing application for a post-office at Ludlow Center might find au 
 opportunity for a favorable reply at this time. Mr. Dawes acted at 
 once, and, having secured from the department the desired favor, for- 
 warded directly the requisite papers, which reached Ludlow Center on 
 the afternoon of the Centennial da}'. An announcement of the fact in 
 the evening was the episode to which reference is made. And every 
 one wondered why the institution had not before been established. 
 
THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 AFTEEPAST. 
 
 There were many Ludlow people, who, from their aching limbs 
 and wearied frames, the nest morning seemed to realize that the town 
 was upon its second century. Yet bright and early came the helpers 
 to aid in clearing away the outward vestiges of the unique celebration. 
 So faithfully did the parties interested labor, that in two days a stran- 
 ger would have failed to discover signs of the gathering anywhere 
 about the green. The committee met once or twice to look over ac- 
 counts and pass resolutions of thanks, and then all was seemingly as 
 before. 
 
 And yet not entirely so. The old town seemed to have dreamed a 
 dream, and awoke to new life. The testimonials and encomiums 
 coming from all sources seemed at the same time to encourage and in- 
 cite the citizens to activity, and awaken the feeling of corporate pride. 
 The comments of the press, subjoined, awakened much interest in the 
 town and out of it : — 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 FROM THE SPRINGFIELD REPOBLICAN. 
 
 Ludlow's history is that of a staunch puritanic town, while her tra- 
 ditions, though they seldom reach out into the great world beyond her 
 own borders, are yet replete with the deeds of good men and true, and 
 rich beyond most towns hereabouts in the striking individualities 
 which they preserve. The sentiment and flavor of the anniversary, 
 this week, were rich, indeed. Few towns there are in the State 
 that have kept so purely and quaintly the New England spirit of 
 twenty-five and even fifty years ago, and none in this immediate region, 
 certainly, have so completely ignored and kept at bay the restive rail- 
 road spirit of these latter days. 
 
 Alternating sunshine and rain were vouchsafed to Ludlow for her 
 Centennial day, but she had resolved to celebrate the occasion with 
 
IT)!*) THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 unction, and so she did, in spite of wind and beating rain. Tlie event 
 a3 it culminated was a notable one in various ways. 
 
 FROM TUB SPRINGFIELD UNION. 
 
 In spite of a drizzling rain, tins morning, sufficient to dampen the 
 enthusia.<-m of any less stnrd5' community, this has been a j>roud day 
 for old Ludlow. It is quite safe to say that no such ingathering of 
 her sons and daughters had been seen since the town began its cor- 
 porate existence, one hundred years ago. Like children assembling 
 under the old family roof-tree for the annual Thanksgiving festival, 
 they have assembled to celebrate this Centennial day of thanksgiving 
 and praise. The figure is not inapt, for in a rural town like this, 
 everybody knows everybody else, and the community, with few dis- 
 tractions of any sort, becomes homogeneous to an extent impossible 
 in a city, or even in a bustling village, until its population are, in a 
 notable degree, as one family. , 
 
 The dinner was one of many manifestations of the splendid, open- 
 hearted hospitality which characterized the whole proceedings, and 
 is indeed characteristic of the people of the whole town. Although 
 the appetites of the multitude had a very keen edge from long wait- 
 ing, the supplies were so abundant that if anybody went away hungry 
 it was his own fault. It was an absolutely democratic gathering. 
 Every man, woiflan and child in the town was freely invited, and was 
 for the day a guest equally with those from abroad. 
 
 The whole celebration, from beginning to end, was a success. All 
 who had a share in the large amount of work necessarily involved in 
 such an undertaking, are entitled to credit and commendation. The 
 celebration was, as the Declaration of Independence asserted the gov- 
 ernment ought to be, "hij the people and /or the people." 
 
 FROM THE PALMER JOURNAL. 
 
 Next Wednesday the people of Ludlow -will hold their Centennial 
 Anniversary, and it will be a red-letter day for that town. They will 
 have no heroic deeds to recount, no remarkable deeds to glorj' over, for 
 the town was always a quiet, unostentatious little republic, its inhab- 
 itants rugged as its hills and as firm in integrity and principle as the 
 foundation upon which they stand. It has never been celebrated for 
 anything besides the longevity of its citizens, and one or two Indian 
 legends. If it has not excelled in brilliant geniuses or celebrated per- 
 sons, it has neither given birth to any great rascals or criminals. 
 Ludlow is a quiet, cosy, hospitable little town — a good place to com- 
 mence life in, to emigrate from, and to return to, at least once in a 
 hundred years. ****** 
 
OriNIOXS OF THE TKESS. 157 
 
 Lowering skies and drenching showers were not in the programme 
 prepared by the committee of arrangements, but they were provided 
 for by two large tents, pitched in the grove just across the road from 
 the Congregational Church, where more than two thousand persons 
 gathered to join the interesting ceremonies of the occasion, Wednes- 
 day. There was a general turn-out among the people of the town, 
 and many came from abroad. 
 
 FROM THE NEW ENGLAND HOMESTEAD. 
 
 The One Hundredth Anniversar}^ of the settlement of Ludlow wa3 
 celebrated on Wednesday of this week. The attendance was very 
 large ; probably not less than two thousand persons were crowded in 
 and about the mammoth tent which was provided for the meeting. 
 The 17th of June was not claimed as the exact anniversary day of the 
 town's settlement, but the month was chosen for a celebration because 
 it was the most favorable season of the year to call together the sons 
 and daughters of the town. The arrangements for this celebration 
 were very complete ; the entire company were sumptuously fed by the 
 ladies of the town. It is rare to find a more enterprising community 
 of farmers than those of Ludlow, and thoy have reason to feel proud 
 of their ancestry, the record of the town, and the manner in which 
 the Centennial was observed. 
 
 FROM THE TOLLAND (cONN.) TRESS. 
 
 (From a letter written by Austin Chapman, of Ellington, Ct.) 
 
 On this notable day the old sanctuary w^as loaded down with crock- 
 ery and eatables of every description, smiling with plenty for the 
 hungry and thirst}^, as a covert from the storms which caused many to 
 seek protection under its sheltering roof, through a long and dripping 
 shower. Tlie tubs and pails were well filled with the pure water from 
 the !Mineaclioag mountain, with the addition of a little ice. The 
 whole thing passed off silently and agreeably, with a general satisfac- 
 tion to all. 
 
 The following financial exhibit shows just how much was taken 
 from the town's treasury to defray Centennial expenses: — 
 
 FINANCIAL EEPORT. 
 
 Expenses Committee on Arrangements, ^1G3 52 
 
 Expenses Committee on Collation, 141 42 
 
 Expenses Committee on Music, ' 97 50 
 
 Amount carried forward, $402 44 
 
158 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 Amount brought forward, $402 44 
 
 Expenses Committee ou Printing, 37 00 
 
 Expenses Committee on Programme, 70 00 
 
 Total, $509 44 
 
 To tlie credit of all concerned be it said, that no individual charged 
 a cent for services rendered in making all these arrangements. 
 
 So universal was the approbation given to the celebration that but 
 trifling opposition was made in the fall meeting, November 3d, to the 
 action thus recorded, which action was taken upon a motion made by 
 C. L. Buell, one of the staunchest friends of the enterprise, one, more- 
 over, who would gladly have served on the general committee had 
 health allowed : 
 
 "Voted that the town cause to be printed five hundred copies of the 
 history of its One Hundredth Anniversary and other historical facts, 
 and that each family living in the town at the time receive a copy 
 gratis. 
 
 "Voted that the Centennial Committee be the committee to carry 
 out the doings of this meeting. 
 
 "Voted to appropriate three hundred dollars to defray expenses of 
 the same." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 N. B. — So far as practicable, the notes in the Appendix have been 
 arranged in chronological order. 
 
 A. (page 3.) 
 
 There have been received two accounts of the Indian Leap affair; 
 one from Hon. G. M. Fisk of Palmer, the other from Hon. Edwin 
 Booth of Philadelphia, both connoisseurs in local traditions. We give 
 the points of divergence from the narration of the text. Mr. Fisk 
 says: "The story purported to have come from a Spirit. The little 
 island near the Leap was said to be the place where the Indians sat 
 around their council fires and judged their captives. There used, 
 to be a cave in the rocks where, it was said, the chief had his head- 
 quarters, and I believe to this day there is a sort of hole in the ledge 
 where the Indians pounded their corn. 
 
 " The story was that a partj^ of Indians had assembled on the island 
 to judge a captive, when they were surprised by the whites, and fled 
 to the shore, betaking themselves to the little peninsula forming the 
 Indian Leap. Here they were trapped, as there was no alternative 
 but surrender or plunge down the precipice. They hesitated a moment, 
 when the old chief took his little son in his arms, gave the war-whoop 
 and plunged down the precipice. The rest followed, and all were 
 killed except a squaw, who caught on an overhanging limb, but a shot 
 from the pursuing party put an end to her." 
 
 The account bj' Mr. Booth will probably be more pleasing to 3'oung 
 lady readers, from the different stand-point it assumes. We regret 
 the necessity upon us to cut out any of the interesting narration : 
 
 "On this narrow tract of land tradition says there lived in all their 
 native simplicity a small tribe of the red men. They had for a long 
 succession of years there erected their rude wigwams, their wives and 
 children had there rested amid the most retired and happy security, 
 whilst he who was master of the lodge was chasing the frightened fawn 
 
IGO APPENDIX. 
 
 or with eager eyes watched the stealthy fox, or, reclining upon some 
 favorite rock, harbed the darting fisli. Tlicy lived in peace with all 
 their Indian neighbors and spent their time in hunting or in fish- 
 ing. The squaw or little one greeted the return of the red man to his 
 wigwam with the smile of affection, and listened with interest to the 
 tale of his hair-breadth escapes. The chief tain, called by the English, 
 Hoariiig Thunder, cultivated a spirit of love and peace among his band. 
 
 " Philip of Pokanoket had been roused from that state of peace and 
 harmony which so long had existed between his father and the English. 
 He had put out the pipe of peace, and the tonuihawk and scalping- 
 knife were ready for their blood}'' use. B}'' the most artful means he 
 had aroused nearly all the Indians of Massachusetts and Connecticut 
 to take arms with him against the pale-face. Cries of the helpless, 
 sounding terror and distress, were heard far and wide through the 
 colonies. The bloody tales of Springfield and Deerfield massacres had 
 been recited, and the inhabitants assembled at their places of worship 
 Avith arms in their hands, and when they rested at night it was with 
 one arm encircling the child trembling with fear and with the other 
 grasping the firelock, expecting to hear the dread footsteps of the In- 
 dian ere the sun arose. Years rolled around, and the mighty chief 
 with many of the tribes were conquered. 
 
 " In all this struggle the little band of Caughmanyputs were the 
 true friends of both red and white man. They harmed no one. On 
 their isolated peninsula they lived harmoniously. The land they oc- 
 cilpied was barren, and the white men were justified in forcing the 
 Indian from the fruitful soil in other parts. This, we could readily 
 suppose, would offer no temptation for a war of extermination against 
 Koiiriiig Thunder and his little baud. But this could not be so. The 
 Christian pale-face was envious of the happiness of the Caughmany- 
 })uts, and was more disposed to believe their happiness arose from some 
 hidden treasure in the earth rather tlian from contentment or domestic 
 enjoyment. Preparations for an extermination were commenced and 
 soon complete. 
 
 "It was the habit of Roaring Thunder to take his little sou of 
 twelve with him each morning in the pleasant season to the extremity 
 of the neck, and tell him of the land where dwelt the Great Spirit, 
 and to which they must soon go. He would there pay devout homage 
 to that Spirit whose voice he had heard in mighty thunder or roaring 
 wind. After returning one morning from his service to the wigwams, 
 where his people were amusing themselves in innocent pastimes, the 
 startling intelligence came that a band of soldiers was seen approach- 
 ing. Roaring Thunder at once commanded his men to arms to defend 
 
INDIAN TRADITIONS. 161 
 
 their soil and lored ones, gathering them into the narrow passage 
 which led to their houses, and there waited to defend dearest rights. 
 The soldiers, led on by their captain, advanced with slow and cautious 
 step, and the first intimation of the presence of the Indians was a 
 shower of arrows among them. Falling back for a moment, tlioy fixed 
 bayonets and charged. The Indians retreated to their wigwams, where 
 they again attempted a defense, but were soon driven from their 
 shelter by the merciless pale-faces who, still advancing, heeded not 
 the cries of children or lamentations of squaws. They drove the band 
 of Caughmanyputs to the consecrated rock. Obeying the command 
 of their chief, in an instant a score of red forms were seen leaping 
 into the air, then sinking amid the foaming surge below. All but 
 Roaring Thunder and his boy had gone. The old man clasped to Itis 
 breast the black-eyed boy, as with uplifted eyes he committed him to 
 the care of the red man's God. Then turning slowly around, as 
 though he would even from his enemies conceal the dreadful deed, he 
 dashed him on the rocks below, and gazing saw the waters hurry off 
 his mangled form. Raising himself to his utmost height, conscious of 
 his majesty of form, he takes a survey of his once happy home. The 
 objects of his affection are not there. He gazes far upon his hunting 
 grounds, his fishing-places and his target-sjjorts, and to them he waves 
 a deep farewell, then with an eye of vengeance sharp he looked upon 
 his deadly foes, — throwing up his keen dark eyes into the blue arch of 
 Heaven, he gave a terrific spring and a savage yell, and fell upon the 
 rocks below, a mangled corpse, — the last of the Caughmanyputs. 
 
 " His spirit went 
 To safer world in deptlis of woods embraced, 
 Some happier Island in tlie watery waste 
 Where slaves once more their native land behold, 
 No fiends torment, — no Christians thirst for gold." 
 
 B. (See page 6.) 
 
 Proprietors of the Outward Commons, East of the River, North 
 Division, called in records "First or Upper Division:" 
 
 No. of Lot. Name. Bodds. Foots. In. Ko of Lot. Name. Bodde. Foots. In. 
 
 *i Jonathan Burt, Jr., 5 ^3 7 ^° Japhet Chapin, 23 2 i 
 
 *2 Eliakim Cooley, 11 I 6 *ii Samuel Stebbins, 9 li 9 
 
 *3 John Warner, ii l 7 12 Dea. Benjamin Parfons, 12 6 7 
 
 4 James Warriner, Seni"., 20 o 8 13 Samuel Of born, i IS 6 
 
 5 Jonathan Ball, 11 13 o 14 Thomas Merrick, Sen'., 18 15 7 
 
 6 Jonathan Morp^an, 5 10 i 15 William Brooks, o 8 .9 
 *7 Qr. Mali. Geo. Colton, 25 7 3 *i6 Samuel Marflifield, 18 2 6 
 
 8 Mr John Holyoke, 26 4 o *i7 Ebenezer Jones, 6 7 10 
 
 9 Wid° Parfons, 10 6 8 *i8 Benjamin Knowlton, 5 11 o 
 
 21 
 
162 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 6 
 5 
 4 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 5 
 8 
 
 5 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 II 
 
 7 
 
 Ko. ofI>ot Nome. Rodds. Foots. In. 
 
 19 Samuel Jones, 3 13° 
 
 20 Vi(5lory Sikes, x 11 i 
 
 21 Obadiah Miller, Junr., 2 15 
 *22 James Petty, 4 
 
 23 Jofeph Marks, I 
 
 24 Samuel Ball, 12 
 
 25 Daniel Cooley, 13 
 
 26 Ephraim Colton, Sen'., 15 
 
 27 John Keep's eftate, 6 
 *28 Jofeph Ely, i 
 ♦29 Tncreafe Sikes, Sen'., 10 
 
 30 James Ofborn, 2 
 
 *3i Obadiah Miller, Senr, o 
 
 32 Benjamin Stebbins, Senf.,5 
 
 33 Obadiah Cooley, Sen''., 20 
 
 34 Wid". Beamon, 8 
 
 35 Jofeph Leonard, 10 
 
 36 James Dorchefter, 12 
 
 37 Thomas Taylor, Sen''., 6 
 
 38 Thomas Swetman, 2 10 
 
 39 Lt. John Hitchcock, 22 2 
 »40 Wido. Sikes, Sen''., 9 6 
 
 41 Nathaniel Blifs, Sen""., 9 8 
 
 42 Nathaniel Sikes, Sen''., 4 o 
 
 43 Capt. Thomas Colton, 10 13 
 
 44 Samuel Miller, 5 7 
 
 45 Peter Swink, 3 13 
 
 46 John Colton, i 5 
 
 47 Luke Hitchcock, S""., 10 7 
 ♦48 James Munn, i 12 
 
 49 Jonathan Afliley, 14 11 
 
 50 Thomas Jones, I 12 
 
 51 Thomas Taylor, I 10 
 
 52 John Dumbleton, 11 4 
 
 53 Jonathan Taylor's eflate, 5 1 1 
 *54 David Throw, i 5 
 
 55 Nathaniel Burt, Sen'., 23 o 
 
 56 Samuel Ely, Sen""., 11 7 
 
 57 Thomas Stebbins, 5 10 
 
 58 Samuel Blifs, Jun'., 10 14 
 
 59 John Hannon, 9 13 
 
 60 Lt. Abel Wright, 16 14 
 
 61 John Dorchefter, 22 2 
 
 62 Thomas Cooper, iS 7 
 ♦63 Wid". Bedortha, 4 3 
 
 64 John Clarke, 2 3 
 
 65 John Stewart, 7 7 
 
 66 Rowland Thomas, 12 6 
 
 67 Daniel Beamon, i 5 
 
 68 Samuel Bedortha, 4 14 
 
 3 
 3 
 9 
 o 
 
 5 
 8 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 8 
 o 
 
 7 
 o 
 
 3 
 o 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 8 
 6 
 
 3 
 o 
 6 
 o 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 4 
 9 
 6 
 6 
 o 
 4 
 9 
 3 
 4 
 II 
 10 
 
 7 
 o 
 
 3 
 
 No. of Lot. Name. Rndds 
 
 69 Jofeph Afliley, 14 
 
 70 Wid . Munn, 2 
 
 71 Edward Fofter, 9 
 
 72 Richard Wait, i 
 
 73 John Blifs, 18 
 
 74 Ifaac Morgan, o 
 
 75 John Scott, 7 
 
 76 Enfign Jofeph Stebbins, 15 
 
 77 Henry Gilbert, 4 
 
 78 Wid'^. Riley, 4 
 *79 John Burt, Senr., 5 
 
 So John Norton, 8 
 
 81 Scliool Lot, 18 
 
 82 Goodwife Fofler's eft., 9 
 
 83 Lazarus Miller, 2 
 *84 James Stephenfon, i 
 
 85 John Clark's eftate, 6 
 
 86 Phillip Mattoon, 5 
 
 87 Edward Stebbins, 5 
 
 88 Jofeph Thomas, 9 
 
 89 Samuel Blifs, Sen''., 18 
 
 90 Jofeph Cooley, 5 
 
 91 John Withers, i 
 
 92 Samuel Owen, 9 
 
 93 Miles Morgan, 10 
 
 94 Benjamin Cooley, 7 
 *95 Col°. Pynchon, 133 
 
 96 Nathaniel Munn, 3 
 
 97 John Baggs, children of, 6 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 19 
 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 21 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 19 
 
 37 
 
 17 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 9 
 
 Foots. In . 
 II 4 
 
 98 John Crowfoot, 
 
 99 John Miller, 
 100 Thomas Day, Sen"^., 
 loi Jofeph Leonard, 
 
 102 Wid". Horton, 
 
 103 Henry Rogers, 
 
 104 Dea"^. Jonathan Burt, 
 
 105 Rev. Mr. Glover, 
 
 106 Nicholas Ruft, 
 
 107 James Barker, 
 loS Henry Chapin, 
 109 Lott for the Miniftry, 
 no John Lamb, 
 
 111 Thomas Miller, 
 
 112 Thomas Gilbert, 
 
 113 David Morgan, 
 
 114 Samuel Blifs, 3d, 2 
 
 115 Jofeph Bedortha, 9 
 
 116 Jofeph Crowfoot's eftate, 7 
 
 117 Enf". Cooley's eftate, 6 
 liS David Lombard, 8 
 
 7 
 5 
 9 
 13 
 9 
 
 13 
 4 
 3 
 9 
 
 7 
 6 
 
 4 
 II 
 II 
 
 4 
 5 
 3 
 
 14 
 5 
 6 
 I 
 3 
 
 15 
 8 
 2 
 8 
 5 
 5 
 8 
 
 8 
 6 
 8 
 o 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 10 
 
 4 
 8 
 
 13 
 14 
 6 
 
 14 
 9 
 
 10 
 10 
 
 4 
 6 
 I 
 2 
 o 
 
 5 
 2 
 8 
 6 
 o 
 II 
 10 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 9 
 9 
 8 
 
 7 
 9 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 2 
 
 6' 
 
 4 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 10 
 II 
 
ALLOTMENT OF COMMONS. 163 
 
 No. of Lot. Name. Rodds. Foots. In. No. of Lot. Name. Rodde. Foots. In. 
 
 119 Samuel Terry, Senr., 9 6 11 123 Charles Ferry, 14 10 ir 
 
 120 Abel Leonard, 639 124 Benjamin Leonard, 10 13 13 
 
 121 Nathaniel Pritchard, 8 i 11 125 John Barber, o 11 4 
 
 122 Ifaac Colton, '3 3 3 
 
 Second, or Middle Division, north of the Cbicopee Eiver: 
 
 No. of Lot. Name. Rodds. Footti. In. No. of Lot. Name. Rodds. Foots. In. 
 
 1 Samuel INLarflifield, iS 2 6 11 Eliakim Cooley, il i 6 
 
 2 Coll. Pynchon, 133 15 9 12 Jonathan Burt, Jun'., 5 13 7 
 
 3 David Throw, 150 13 Widow Bedortha, 434 
 
 4 John Warner, 11 i 7 14 Increase Sikes, Jun^, 10 8 o 
 
 5 Samuel Stebbins, 9 n 9 15 John Burt, Sen"'., 5 4 10 
 
 6 James Stephenfon, 141 16 James Petty, 460 
 
 7 Benjamin Knowlton, 5 u o 17 Quartermafter Colton, 25 7 3 
 
 8 Jofeph Stebbins, 15 12 o 18 James Munn, i 12 5 
 
 9 Obadiah Miller, Jun^., 089 19 Jofeph Ely, i 5 o 
 10 Ebenezer Jones, 6 7 10 20 Widow Sikes, Sen'., 966 
 
 The list of the first division is from the records kindly furnished 
 by Clerk Folsom of Springfield; those of the second from Stebhins' 
 Wilbraham, page 196. A glance at ancient deeds will identify many of 
 these lots. Those drawing lots in Ludlow in both divisions are starred 
 in the first. The discrepancy in names and amounts may occur from 
 a variation in the draft, first placed in good shape for preservation a 
 hundred years after the allotment, or from an error on the part of 
 copyists, or from former misprints. Lots Ko. 33 to 39 were not far 
 from Gilbert Atchinson's house; the school lot, No. 81, was in the 
 range of the present Center school-house ; 66 was near S. P. Parsons', 
 and 104 passed through D. K. Paine's farm. Others can be readily 
 traced. For a long period the commons were free plunder, so far as 
 pasturage, wood or herbage were concerned. 
 
 The committee to run the outward and inward common line was 
 Capt. ]S^ath^ Downing, Henry Burt and Pelatiah Glover, the latter 
 to arrange for a meeting of the committee. The allotment was made 
 March 13, I699. The commons are said to have extended four miles 
 and forty rods to the Cbicopee River. 
 
 C. (See pp. 17-19.) 
 LUDLOW— "BURIAL HILL OF THE PEOPLE." 
 
 In response to a note of inquiry sent to the mayor of Ludlow in 
 England, the following very pleasant and hearty letter was received 
 early in January : 
 
 Ludlow, Shropshire, England, December 21, 1874. 
 
 Sir : — I have received your letter of the 5th instant, and I liave 
 
164 APPENDIX. 
 
 made enquiries upon the subject about which you write. I am afraid 
 tliere is no record of the origin of the name of your town here; — 
 tliose with wliom I have conversed think that it may either have been 
 taken from some person of the name of Ludlow, wlio Accompanied the 
 first settlers, or from a noted republican of that name, or from the fact 
 that Milton, the poet, whose republican opinions were well known, was 
 connected more or less with our town. But this is all conjecture. 
 
 I am sending you by book-post a small sketch of our town. The 
 real history of Ludlow, which is an 8vo. volume of 500 pages, and 
 written by Thomas Wright, the antiquary, is very interesting, but too 
 large to send. 
 
 Ludlow is said to be a Saxon word — Low or " Illaw," signifying a 
 hill or tumulus, and "Lud" or " Lude " may be the name of a per- 
 son : — London is said to be the Luds' town ; — or it may be a name 
 signifying a number of people: the word "lewd" having been orig- 
 inally applied to "common people" not necessarily wicked, or lawless. 
 — In Wiclif's New Testament, Acts ix., verse 13, the apostles are called 
 " unlettered, and lewed." 
 
 The word Ludlow may thus mean "the grave, or burial hill of the 
 people." A tumulus formerly existing in the present church-yard was 
 lowered in A. D. 1199, and bones of three men were discovered, who 
 were made out to be Irish saints. They are now supposed rather to 
 have been Roman or Celtic remains. There is a place called Ludford 
 just below the hill on which Ludlow is built ; — on the other side of the 
 river Teme. 
 
 If I can afford you any further information I shall be happy to do so. 
 I am, sir, yours faithfully, 
 
 JoHX Adxey, Mayor of Ludlow. 
 
 Alfred Noon, Esq. 
 
 I>. (Pages 32, 33.) 
 
 Thefe lines were written on the fudden and myfterious death of 
 Meffrs. Jedediah Paine and Solomon AV'right, who were drowned as 
 they were attempting to crofs over a mill-pond, in South Hadley, De- 
 cember 23, 1789. They belonged to Ludlow. 
 
 (Come all my friends and liear me tell 
 Of two young men, what them befell) 
 Two fmart young men, who died of late 
 'Twill make the hardeft heart to ache. 
 Thefe two young men to Springfield went, 
 To trade it was their full intent ; 
 We hope and truft they want to blame. 
 But every thing did them detain. 
 
PAINE AND WRIGnT. . 165 
 
 The afternoon being almoft gone, 
 
 They left the town and fo went on, 
 
 Acrofs the river for to gain — 
 
 But dark commenced on Springfield plain. 
 
 For to go home they were debar'd, 
 
 Not having money to pay their charge : 
 
 A cart and oxen they both had — 
 
 To crofs the river made it bad. 
 
 This being the lafl day of the week, 
 
 Which for their homes made them to feek. 
 
 They dropped their teams and flayed that night, 
 
 And ftarted home by the morning light. 
 
 They both went home we well do know, 
 
 And to their bufmefs did go ; 
 
 Not in the lead were they afraid, 
 
 But foon went where they were betray'd. 
 
 He who complained was much to blame. 
 
 But we (hall not declare his name ; 
 
 We hope repentance he will have. 
 
 Before he comes down to the grave. 
 
 But to declare what I intend, 
 
 A fpecial writ for them was fent ; 
 
 December the 23d day, 
 
 They went to court, as many fay. 
 
 They were detained there that day, 
 
 Had both the fine and cofts to pay ; 
 
 But foon appeared there a man, 
 
 Who gave his note for both of them ; 
 
 Thefe two young men fat out for home, 
 
 Not thinking death would fo foon come. 
 
 They both were feen before 'twas night, 
 
 Just as the fun went out of fight : 
 
 Like two young roes run down a hill 
 
 And fleering right towards a mill, — 
 
 They left the bridge, we well may know 
 
 It was before determined fo. 
 
 The ice was thin, they both funk down. 
 
 Young people hear the folemn found ; 
 
 Grim death did clafp them in his hand — 
 
 O, who is he can death withfland, 
 
 Thefe young men's hats next day were found. 
 
 Which foon alarmed all the town ; 
 
 Ten in the morning they were found. 
 
 Laid their cold bodies in the ground. 
 
 Solomon Wright and Jede. Paine, 
 
 So this is true thefe were their names ; 
 
 Thus in the heat of youthful blood, 
 
 They perifhed in the flowing flood. 
 
 Their fouls are gone to God the jufl, 
 
 Who form'd them firfl out of the dufl. 
 
16G APPENDIX. 
 
 It may be remarked that these lines were attributed to one Collins 
 Hill, who was soon after warned out of town, though probabl}'^ not be- 
 cause of the extent of poetic talent. Indeed, while the committee were 
 making inquiries respecting antiquities, a veteran lady informed them 
 that she knew of no poetry on the matter, but ''there was some varses 
 writ about it." 
 
 E. 
 
 A church letter of y* olden time' may be of interest. Tlie following 
 was found among Mr. Steward's papers. 
 
 To the Church of Chrift in Ludlow 
 
 Rev^ & Beloved : — Thefe may certify that Sabrina Wilfon, the 
 Wife of John Wilfon has been admitted as a Member in full Commun- 
 ion with the 2'^ Church of Chrifl in Chatham. While with us, fhe walked, 
 fo far as appears agreeably to her Chriftian profeffion. She is therefore 
 with the confent of the Brethren recommended to your chrillian watch 
 communion and fellowfliip in all gofpel Ordinances as a meet mem- 
 ber of the Church of Chrift. — Wifliing that grace mercy and peace from 
 the glorious head of the Church may be multiplied to you & the Church 
 univerfal & afking your prayers for us We fubfcribe ourfelves yours in 
 the faith of the gofpel. 
 
 David Selden 
 Pa/tor of the 2'^ Church in Chatham. 
 
 Chatham, 22 February, 1798. 
 
 Endorsement : — " Read and voted Admiffion, according to the De- 
 fign of the Contents April 29"' 98, and M" Wilfon received to our IVatch 
 and Fellowfliip. 
 
 A. Steward. 
 
 F. 
 
 The following letter, written at the opening of the century, will be 
 appreciated as a sanij^le of the style epistolary of those days. It is di- 
 rected to " Dr. Sylvester Nash Ludlow." 
 
 Wilbraham Feby 4 1800 
 
 Sir it was with the greatift pleafure that I Received your letter dated 
 November 2"* Informing me of your health you gave me fome incour- 
 agement of comeing to fe me before long it is now 7 or 8 month fins I 
 have feen you if I ant miftaken I expected to receive a vifit from you 
 before now but it don t come. I hope that you have not forgot us I 
 want to fe you very Mutch and fo do your acquaintance I hope to re- 
 ceive a vifit from you before long we are all well at prefent and I hope 
 
LTOX rOEM. 167 
 
 to hear of your good health and your family. I have nothing at.prefent 
 to vvright only I want to fe you very mutch. I wrote this in a hurry 
 you muft excufe my bad writing and fo I must wind off. 
 
 I am your friend and well wiflier, 
 
 Luke Brewer 
 If you can read it 
 I fhall be glad. 
 
 There can be little question as to the desire for a visit. What, how- 
 ever, was the occasion for the effusion on the third page is hardly so 
 evident. It reads thus : 
 
 down 
 
 see 
 
 you 
 
 me 
 
 and 
 
 may 
 
 love 
 
 not 
 
 up 
 
 you 
 
 I 
 
 you 
 
 read 
 
 and 
 
 that 
 
 and 
 
 G. (See page 27.) 
 
 The following lines are attributed to Mr. Gad Lyon. He evidently 
 courted the muses to some purpose. 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 ON THE MORNING OF JAN. I ft 1804. 
 
 WHEN the kind goddefs fleep all eyes did clofe, 
 
 And mortals all lay rapt in foft repofe ; 
 
 No voice was heard to whifper thro' the gloom 
 
 But all was hufhed and filent as the tomb. 
 
 Then, then without a groan, the aged year, 
 
 Did tremble, totter, fall and difappear ; 
 
 Compel I'd by Fate to pafs that folemn bourn. 
 
 From which no period pall: can e'er return. 
 
 Which proves this truth moft clear to reafon's eye, 
 
 That time itfelf, like mortal man, muft die. 
 
 How many millions of the human race, 
 
 Which hailed tiie morn when the paft year took place ; 
 
 Whofe healthful days and profpects of delight, 
 
 Made them forget that it would e'er be night ; 
 
 By death's deftroying fcythe have been cut down, 
 
 Whofe bodies now lie flumbering in the ground. 
 
 How many millions on this morn, appear 
 
 To wake and rife and wifli a happy year, 
 
 Before December's cold and freezing breath. 
 
 Shall haften to the fliades and tafte of death. 
 
 Who now like thoughtlefs flieep, no danger fear. 
 
 Nor dream the fatal meffcnger fo near. 
 
 Since 'tis our fate for to refign our breath. 
 
 And pafs the folemn, lonely vale of death. 
 
 Let wifdom's choiceft dictates rule our heart, 
 
 And never from her facred rules depart. 
 
1G8 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Then fhould heaven's thunders fliake the ftarry roof, 
 
 And forked lightnings lick our fpirits up ; 
 
 Should trembling earth her opening jaws extend, 
 
 And we into that fatal gulph defcend ? 
 
 Should rapid whirlwinds fweep the foreft clean. 
 
 And we fall victims in that awful fcene ? 
 
 Should inundations deluge all the plain, 
 
 And fliould we be among the thoufands flain ! 
 
 Should peililence walk dreadful o'er the land. 
 
 And with a ftern decree our lives demand ! 
 
 Should blazing comets, in their raging ire. 
 
 Draw near and fet this trembling world on fire, 
 
 'Twould only waft us to the blefl abode, 
 
 And place us in the paradife of GOD. 
 
 II. 
 
 A TAX BILL OF 1815. 
 
 JOHN SIKES 
 
 Your Taxes for 1815 are, 
 
 D. C. M. 
 
 otate tax, 
 
 2 
 
 n 
 
 
 TOWN, do. 
 
 ^ 
 
 6o 
 
 
 PARISH, do. 
 
 2 
 
 i8 
 
 
 SCHOOL, do. 
 
 4 
 
 Q2 
 
 
 COUNTY, do. 
 
 2 
 
 32 
 
 
 
 $15 15 
 
 CALVIN SIKES, Collector. 
 Rec'd Payment, pr WILLIAM PEASE. 
 
THE MILITIA THE OAKLEY BALLAD. 169 
 
 I. 
 
 THE MILITIA. 
 
 A notice of the once famous Ludlow militia was inadvertentlj' omit- 
 ted in the pages of the town annals. The time in which they figured 
 was mainly from 1820 onward to 1843. In the earlier days of this 
 period the training was under the State militia law, compelling all 
 within a certain age to bear arms at stated times. The company was 
 then called by the graphic title of "Flood-wood." On one occasion 
 somewhere about the '30's a notable occurrence toolc place. The cap- 
 tain having tendered his resignation, the duties of command rested on 
 the highest lieutenant, who happened to be John Miller. Orders hav- 
 ing been sent from the head-quarters in Springfield for general muster, 
 Miller warned his company, trained them at the usual place, Ely Ful- 
 ler's (A. P. Chapin's now), and proceeded to the place of rendezvous. 
 By the rank of the captain the company had a certain position in the 
 regiment, but as Ludlow was then, as now, out in the woods, the col- 
 onel proposed to put Miller's men in an inferior position. Having first 
 tested the spirit of his men, Miller informed the colonel that he must 
 have his rightful position or none, and the position was that belonging 
 to the captain whose command he represented. His demands not 
 being allowed, he gave a signal to his men and their musicians (the 
 best in the regiment) and led them away from the place of muster to 
 the sound of fife and drum. Unfortunately, and wholly without in- 
 tention on the part of Lieut. Miller, the signal was given and obeyed 
 during the service of prayer. As a result the officer was court-mar- 
 tialed and deprived of commission for three years. It was in this 
 interim that Dr. Foggus was elected captain,* Miller's sentence hav- 
 ing prevented the first choice of the men from consummation. When 
 the time was up, however, Miller -was triumphantly elected captain, 
 from which position he rose to be eventually lieutenant-colonel, com- 
 manding a regiment. Later he was chosen captain of a picked company 
 of militia, called liglit infantry, which consisted of something like 
 sixty men. 
 
 J. (See page 69.) 
 THE OAKLEY BALLAD. 
 
 (WUITTEN BY A YOUNG M.\.V IN HIS TEENS, AND SUNG WITH WAILS AT .MANY A 
 
 FIRESIDE IN TOWN.) 
 
 Come old and young, list to my song, 
 While I its mournful strains prolong, 
 
 *Sce page 55. 
 
170 APrENDIX. 
 
 Of a yoiiiif; jjirl — uonie hear me tell — 
 Who (lid a\v)iile in Jenksville dwell. 
 
 Wlic-n yoiiiif; her mother did her give 
 Unto her friends a while to live, 
 And from her mother far she come 
 With stranger friends to make her home. 
 
 But soon these friends did fliisely prove, 
 And showed to her no former love, 
 For she by them was cruel used, 
 And by her mistress was abused. 
 
 A toilsome task siie had to do 
 Ere to the factory she (Wd go ; 
 And when into her room she went. 
 The cruel tliong she often felt. 
 
 Her cheeks soon lost their rosy hue, 
 And she most melancholy grew; 
 And when these gloomy thoughts did rise. 
 The tears oft started from her eyes. 
 
 She told her mates witiiin the mill 
 She did herself intend to kill, 
 And unto them these words did say, 
 Upon her last ill-fated day : 
 
 "I have a mother — lovely too — 
 did she but my treatment know ! 
 For me she'll weep when I am gone ; 
 But all in vain — I can't return. 
 
 " Sorrow hatli all my joy bereft 
 Since I ray dear, dear mother left : 
 Bat me no more she'll ever see. 
 For with the dead I soon shall be." 
 
 The bell had tolled the hour for noon 
 When she, down-hearted, left her room. 
 And on the river bank she went 
 For to accomplish her intent 
 
 The flowing deep soon o'er her closed, 
 And she in silent death reposed; 
 But none were there to view the scene 
 Of her while struggling in the stream. 
 
 The news soon spread that on that day 
 Elizabeth had gone away, 
 When search was made for her in vain, 
 No tidings of her could they gain. 
 
 A fortnight near had rolled its round. 
 Ere they her lileless lio.iy found; 
 
THE OAKLEY BALLAD CLEKGYMEX, 
 
 171 
 
 Then flocked the people to the shore, 
 To view the orphan girl once more. 
 
 Then in tlie coffin her they laid 
 And one short solemn prayer was eaid ; 
 Then to the church-yard's lonely place 
 They carried her for earth's embrace. 
 
 Months passed by — her mother (;ame 
 To view her darling child again ; 
 Her lieart within her breast beat high 
 As she unto the place came nigh. 
 
 And when the horrid news was told, 
 Her cheek turned pale, her blood ran cold ; 
 Both night and day she did lament, 
 And she almost distracted went. 
 
 Elizabeth was fair and mild ; 
 
 Her character was undefiled ; 
 
 Her mind was free, her voice was sweet. 
 
 Her heart was void of all deceit. 
 
 Her age was scarcely four and ten, 
 And she by many loved had been ; 
 And manj' mourned the shocking fate, 
 And oft this mournful tale relate 
 
 No marble stone of sculptured name 
 Doth mark the spot where she is lain. 
 And her none evermore will see 
 Until they reach eternity. 
 
 K. 
 
 SUCCESSION OF CONGREGATION ALIST MINISTERS, IN- 
 CLUDING SUPPLIES. 
 
 Installed. Co: 
 
 Peletiah Chapin, 
 
 David Haskell, 
 
 Aaron Woodward, 
 1793 Antipas Steward, 
 
 Elijah Hedding, 
 
 Alexander McLean, 1813 181(J 1866 C. L. Cushman, 1806 1874 
 
 enced. 
 
 Left. 
 
 Installed. Cominence<l. 
 
 Left. 
 
 1774 
 
 1775 
 
 1835 David R. Austin, 1835 
 
 18.37 
 
 1784 
 
 1786 
 
 1839 Alonzo Sanderson, 1839 
 
 1843 
 
 1789 
 
 1793 
 
 1843 J. W. Tuck, 1843 
 
 1859 
 
 179;J 
 
 1803 
 
 Warren Mavo, 185'.) 
 
 1862 
 
 1810 
 
 1811 
 
 1864 Chester Bridgman, 1864 
 
 18(16 
 
 1819 Ebenezer B. Wright, 1819 18;:5 1875 S, V. McDutfee, 
 
 1874 
 
 SUCCESSION OF METHODIST MINISTERS, LUDLOW 
 
 CENTER. 
 
 (SINCIO OliOANIZING THE rRESENT CHURCM.) 
 
 18'26 Wilbur Fisk, 1). 1). 1S3U-1 Samuel Davis. 
 
 1827 I^aac Jennison. 1832 Salmon Hull. 
 
 1829 Aaron Wait. 1833 Paul Townsend. 
 
172 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 1834 Charles D. Kogers. 
 
 1852- 
 
 1835 Amasa Taylor. 
 
 1854- 
 
 1836-7 Pliilo Hawks. 
 
 1856 
 
 1838 Cliarles Virgin. 
 
 1857- 
 
 1839-40 James Nicliols. 
 
 1859- 
 
 1841 William Cami.bell. 
 
 1801 
 
 1841-2 John W. Dadmun. 
 
 1862- 
 
 1843 William A. Clapp. 
 
 18t;4- 
 
 1844 William Fleming. 
 
 1867- 
 
 1845 Asa R.irnes. 
 
 18G9 
 
 1840 Kpliraim Scott. 
 
 1870 
 
 1847 Luther B. Clark. 
 
 1871- 
 
 1848-9 John Caldwell. 
 
 1873- 
 
 1850-1 Moses Stoddard. 
 
 
 -3 James W. Mowry. 
 -5 Kinsman Atkinson. 
 Nathan A. Soule. 
 -8 P'ranklin Fisk 
 -60 George Prentice. 
 
 William G. Leonard. 
 -3 Daniel K. Banister. 
 -G William J. Pomfret. 
 -8 Levin A. Bosworth. 
 Jonas M. Clark. 
 
 John W. Lee. 
 -2 John W. Merrill, D. D. 
 -4 Alfred Noon. 
 
 M. 
 
 SUCCESSION OF MINISTERS AT JENKSYILLE. 
 
 (M. E.,— Methodist Episcopal. Cong.,— Congregational.) 
 
 1811-2 B. F. Lamhord, (M. E.) 
 
 1846 Daniel E. Chapin, (M. E.) 
 
 1847 David Sherman, (M. E.) 
 
 1848 Z. A. :\Iudge, (M. E.) 
 1848 William Hall. (Cong.) 
 
 1857 W. H. Daniels, (.A[. E ) 
 
 1858 David K. Merrill, (M. E ) 
 
 1859 L. R. S. Brewster, (M. E.) 
 
 1860-1 Geo. E. Chapman, (M. E.) 
 18G2 John Noon, (xM. E.) 
 1863 J. A. Kibbe, (M. E.) 
 1868 A. Gardner, (Cong.) 
 
 1872 H. E. Crocker, (M. E.) 
 
 1873 J. A. DeForest, (M. E.) 
 
 1874 Timothy Lyman, (Cong.) 
 
 This list is defective, as tliere seem no records accessible. 
 
 N. 
 
 DEACONS OF THE CENTER CONGREGATIONALIST 
 
 CHURCH. 
 
 ♦Jonathan Bartlett, (?) 
 *Timothy Keyes, 
 ♦Jonathan Clough, (?) 
 *David Lyon, 
 *J()b Pease, 
 *Steplien Jones, 
 ♦Benjamin Sikes, 
 ♦Oliver Dutton, 
 
 Chosen. 
 
 1824 ♦Joseph Miller, 
 1824 *Ashbel Burr. 
 1839 *Alva Sikes, 
 1848 Elisha T. Parsons, 
 
 1853 Oshea Walker, (left town 
 
 1854 ♦George Booth, 
 1866 Henry S. Jones, 
 1866 George U. C'iaik. 
 
 •Deceaseti. 
 
 o. 
 
 PARISH CLERKS, CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 
 (Since the organization.) 
 Theodore Sikes, 1835-6, 1842-5. B. F. Burr, 1865-8. 
 
 Simeon Jones, 1837-41, 1S46-8. Edwin Booth, 1868-9. 
 
 Chauncey L. Buell, 1849-50. Gillen D. Atchinsoii, 1870-2 
 
 George Booth, 1851-64. J. (). Kend.ill, 1S7:'.-.J. 
 
TOWN OFFICERS. 
 
 173 
 
 P. 
 
 MODEKATORS OF TOWN MEETINGS. 
 
 Name. 
 Closes Bliss, 
 Jolin Hubbard, 
 Joseph Miller, 
 Jonatlian Eartlett, 
 Joseph Hitclicock, 
 Jeremiali Dutton, 
 Abner Ilitclicock, 
 Joshua Fuller, 
 James Kendall, 
 Joel Nash, 
 Gideon IJeebe, 
 Israel Warriner, 
 John Jennings, 
 Jonatlian Burr, 
 Eli Putnam, 
 Dr. Francis Percival, 
 John Miller, 
 Dr A J Miller, 
 Elisha Fuller, 
 Oliver Dutton, 
 Benjamin Sikes, 
 Jonathan Clough, 
 Sherwood Beebe, 
 William Pease, 
 Ezekiel Fuller, 
 Increase Sikes, 
 Gad Lyon, 
 Dr. Simpson Ellis, 
 Joshua Fuller, 
 
 The following have acted as Town Clerks ; 
 Benajah Willey, 1774-5. 
 Jeremiah Dutton, 1770-9. 
 Dr. Aaron J. Miller, 1780-2 
 Samuel Arnold, 1783-5, 1788. 
 Elisha Fuller, 1786. 
 Solomon L. Fuller, 1787. 
 John Jennings, 178y-9'2. 17'J-l-5, 1798-9. 
 Plynn Sikes, 1793, 1797. 
 Increase Sikes, 1800-8. 
 Ely Fuller, 1809-29, 1831. 
 
 Times Served. 
 
 
 Name. 
 
 Times Served. 
 
 1 
 
 
 Noah Clark, 
 
 G 
 
 3 
 
 
 Timothy Nash, 
 
 13 
 
 24 
 
 
 Aslibel Burr, 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 Theodore Sikes, 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 
 Alvah Sikes, 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 
 Alexander McLean, 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 Paoli Lathrop, 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 Dr. Elijah Caswell, 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 
 E. T. Parsons, 
 
 80 
 
 22 
 
 
 John Gates, 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 Nathaniel Chapin, 
 
 3 
 
 U 
 
 
 Henry Fuller, 
 
 1 ■ 
 
 18 
 
 
 Col. John Miller, 
 
 9 
 
 13 
 
 
 Dennis Knowlton, 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 
 Eli M. Smith, 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 
 John B. Alden, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 Jerre Miller, 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 Dr. W. B. Alden, 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 George Booth, 
 
 3 
 
 27 
 
 
 William Ray, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 Alanson Pool, 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 Dr. T. W. Lyman, 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 
 Artemas H. Whitney, 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 
 Henry Charles, 
 
 1 ■ 
 
 2 
 
 
 Edmund Bliss, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 John P. Hubbard, 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 Chauncey L. Buell, 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 Francis F. McLean, 
 
 1 
 
 
 \ 
 Q 
 
 ', 
 
 
 TOWN CLEEKS. 
 
 
 Theodore Sikes, 1830, 183.3-5, 1839-41. 
 
 Dr. Washington B. Alden, 1832, 183G-8. 
 
 Samuel S. Bucklin, 1842. 
 
 Dennis Knowlton, 1843-5. 
 
 Maj. John P. Hubbard, 1845 53, 1856-61, 
 
 1864. 
 George Booth, 1855. 
 Albert Fuller, 1862-3. 
 (u-orge E. Root, 1865 
 Benjamin F. Burr, 18C6. 
 
J71 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Tho following have 
 api)eiHie(i llie number 
 
 Aaron Ferry, 
 
 2 
 
 Abner Sikes, 
 
 P2 
 
 Joseph Miller, 
 
 () 
 
 Joseph Hitchcock, 
 
 2 
 
 Joshua Fuller, 
 
 1 
 
 John Hubbard, Jr., 
 
 2 
 
 Ik'najah Willey, 
 
 1 
 
 Jonathan Barilett, 
 
 2 
 
 John Sikes, 
 
 3 
 
 Moses Wilder, 
 
 1 
 
 Timothy Keyes, 
 
 2 
 
 Jeremiah Dutton, 
 
 1 
 
 Joel Nash, 
 
 G 
 
 Israel Warinner, 
 
 7 
 
 James Kendall, 
 
 2 
 
 Samuel Arnold, 
 
 1 
 
 Isaac Brewer, 
 
 1 
 
 Jonathan Burr, 
 
 9 
 
 Samuel Frost, 
 
 6 
 
 Dr. Francis Percival, 
 
 4 
 
 Aaron Colton, 
 
 3 
 
 Ephraim Cliapin, 
 
 2 
 
 ]?enjaniin Sikes, Jr., 
 
 9 
 
 Plynn Sikes, 
 
 1 
 
 Eli Putnam, 
 
 1 
 
 Lt. Joseph Munger, 
 
 2 
 
 Sherwood Beebe, 
 
 6 
 
 Job Pease, 
 
 1 
 
 Timothy Nash, 
 
 14 
 
 Jonathan Sikes, 
 
 4 
 
 Gad Lyon, 
 
 2 
 
 Ezekiel Fuller, 
 
 1 
 
 Gates Willey, 
 
 7 
 
 Joseph Miller, 
 
 1 
 
 Joslma Fuller, 
 
 5 
 
 Daniel Sprague, 
 
 2 
 
 Nathaniel Lyon, 
 
 1 
 
 Titus Hubbard, 
 
 1 
 
 Nathaniel Lyon, 
 
 1 
 
 Jame.s Shelilon, 
 
 I 
 
 Aslibel Burr, 
 
 F! 
 
 John Dorman, 
 
 10 
 
 K. 
 
 SELECTMEN. 
 
 been chosen to serve as the town fiithers. 
 of years of service, so far as ascertained : 
 
 Elias Frost, 
 Asahel Kood, 
 Gordon B. Miller, 
 Theodore Sikes, 
 Elain Wright, 
 Cliestcr Sikes, 
 Elijah Fuller, 
 John Town, Jr , 
 John Gates, 
 William Pay, 
 Waterman Fuller, 
 Dan Hubbard, 
 Daniel King, 
 Artemas II. AVhitney, 
 Edmund W. P'uller, 
 John Miller, 
 Elijah Plumley, 
 David Lyon, 
 Alva Sikes, 
 Elisha T. Parsons, 
 Jerre l^Iiller, 
 Henry Fuller, 
 Willis Keyes, 
 Homer Lyon, 
 Aaron Davis, 
 Setii J. Bennett, 
 Simeon Jones, 
 Elijah G. Fuller, 
 Benjamin Sikes, 
 Gilbert E, Fuller, 
 Roderick Collins, 
 Jacob S. Eaton, 
 F. F. McLean, 
 Ilenry Cliarles, 
 Joim P. Hubbaid 
 Samuel White, 
 Eli M. Smith, 
 lieuben Sikes, 
 John Kay, 
 Chauncey L. Buell, 
 David C. Jones, 
 
 To the names is 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 6 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 
ASSESSORS. 
 
 I') 
 
 S. 
 
 ASSESSORS. 
 
 Tlie following liave servecl 
 
 the town in 
 
 the capacity- of Assessors, ei 
 
 iich tiie num 
 
 ber of years indicated : 
 
 
 
 
 Joseph Jones, 
 
 1 
 
 Dr. Simpson Ellis, 
 
 1 
 
 John Hubbard, Jr., 
 
 5 
 
 Elias Frost, 
 
 4 
 
 Joseph Hitchcock, 
 
 5 
 
 James Sheldon, Jr., 
 
 6 
 
 Isaac Brewer, Jr., 
 
 2 
 
 Dr. Elijah Caswell, 
 
 1 
 
 Benajah Willey, 
 
 2 
 
 William Brainerd, 
 
 « 
 
 Joshua Fuller, 
 
 1 
 
 Ely Fuller, 
 
 7 
 
 Jonatiian Bartlett, 
 
 1 
 
 Theodore Sikes, 
 
 y 
 
 Jonathan Lombard, 
 
 1 
 
 Elijah Fuller, 
 
 5 
 
 John Sikes, 
 
 5 
 
 Alva Sikes, 
 
 10 
 
 Samuel Arnold, 
 
 6 
 
 John Moody, 
 
 2 
 
 Jeremiah Dutton, 
 
 2 
 
 Ira Stacy, 
 
 1 
 
 Oliver Chapin, 
 
 1 
 
 Nathaniel Chapin, 
 
 6 
 
 Ezekiel Fuller, 
 
 2 
 
 Sumner Chapin, 
 
 1 
 
 James Kendall, 
 
 2 
 
 Josepli Miller, 
 
 1 
 
 Joel Nasli, 
 
 o 
 
 Charles Alden, 
 
 7 
 
 Solomon L. Fuller, 
 
 1 
 
 Elihu Collins, 
 
 1 
 
 John Jennings, 
 
 2 
 
 Elisha T. Parsons, 
 
 4 
 
 Samuel Scranton, 
 
 1 
 
 Henry Fuller, 
 
 3 
 
 Ephraim Chapin, 
 
 2 
 
 Dr Washington B. Alden, 
 
 8 
 
 Plynn Sikes, 
 
 7 
 
 John Miller, 
 
 3 
 
 Gideon Beebe, 
 
 1 
 
 Alva Sikes, 
 
 6 
 
 David Lyon, 
 
 2 
 
 George Booth, 
 
 7 
 
 Aaron Colton, 
 
 1 
 
 Simeon Jone.s, 
 
 3 
 
 Jonathan Burr, 
 
 2 
 
 Dennis Knowlton, 
 
 3 
 
 Dr. Francis Percival, 
 
 2 
 
 Jerre Miller, 
 
 6 
 
 Gad Lyon, 
 
 8 
 
 John P. Hubbard, 
 
 G 
 
 Increase Sikes, 
 
 6 
 
 Eli M. Smith, 
 
 1 
 
 Timothy Nash, 
 
 S 
 
 Charles Bennett, 
 
 2 
 
 Peter Damon, 
 
 1 
 
 Dr. William B. Miller, 
 
 1 
 
 Joseph Miller, Jr , 
 
 1 
 
 Aaron Davis, 
 
 3 
 
 Dr. Aaron T. Miller, 
 
 1 
 
 Seth J. Bennett, 
 
 1 
 
 Samuel Frost, 
 
 1 
 
 William Ray, 
 
 2 
 
 Benjamin Sikes, 
 
 2 
 
 Elijah C. Eaton, 
 
 4 
 
 Eli Putnam, 
 
 1 
 
 Albert Fuller, 
 
 8 
 
 Sherwood Beebe, 
 
 4 
 
 Jeremiah Dutton, 
 
 1 
 
 Stephen Jones, 
 
 2 
 
 Lucien Cooley, 
 
 • 1 
 
 Jonathan Sikes, 
 
 4 
 
 Adin Whitney, 
 
 G 
 
 Oliver Dutton, 
 
 2 
 
 James W. Kendall, 
 
 1 
 
 Ezekiel Fuller, 
 
 2 
 
 Jacob S. Eaton, 
 
 2 
 
 Asa Pease, 
 
 1 
 
 Reuben Sikes, 
 
 4 
 
 Gates Willey, 
 
 It 
 
 Francis F. McLean, 
 
 2 
 
 Lemuel Keyes, 
 
 13 
 
 David K. Paine, 
 
 3 
 
 Joshua Fuller, 
 
 8 
 
 David C. Jones, 
 
 2 
 
 Calvin Sikes, 
 
 ] 
 
 Henry S. Jone.'?, 
 
 1 
 
 Daniel Sprague, 
 
 1 
 
 Jere Dutton, 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
176 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Jiickson Cadv, 
 diaries S. Bennett, 
 Davenport L. Fuller, 
 Norman Lyon, 
 
 Cliaries W. AUlen, 
 Austin F. Nasli, 
 Edward E. FuUfer, 
 
 
 T. 
 
 
 
 KEPRESENTATIVES TO 
 
 THE 
 
 GENERAL COURT, 
 
 1784. 
 
 Capt. Joseph Miller. 
 
 1834. 
 
 Theodore Sikes. 
 
 1785. 
 
 Capt. Joseph Miller. 
 
 1835. 
 
 Theodore Sikes. 
 
 1787. 
 
 John Jennings. 
 
 1836. 
 
 Theodore Sikes. 
 
 1800. 
 
 Elisha Fuller. 
 
 1837. 
 
 Joseph Bucklin. 
 
 1801. 
 
 Dr. Aaron J. Miller. 
 
 1838. 
 
 Joseph Bucklin. 
 
 1802. 
 
 Dr. Aaron J. Miller. 
 
 1840. 
 
 Dennis Knowlton. 
 
 1806. 
 
 Gad Lyon. 
 
 1842. 
 
 Dennis Knowlton. 
 
 1807. 
 
 Increase Sikes. 
 
 1843. 
 
 Dennis Knowlton. 
 
 1808. 
 
 Gad Lyon. 
 
 1844. 
 
 Dennis Knowlton. 
 
 1809. 
 
 John Jennings. 
 
 1845. 
 
 Artemas II. Whitney. 
 
 1810. 
 
 Gad Lyon. 
 
 1846. 
 
 Artenias II. Whitney. 
 
 1811. 
 
 Sherwood Beebe. 
 
 1847. 
 
 Artenia.* II. Whitney. 
 
 1812. 
 
 Ely Fuller. 
 
 1848. 
 
 Eli M. Smith. 
 
 1813. 
 
 Ely Fuller. 
 
 1849. 
 
 Alva Sikes. 
 
 1814. 
 
 Ely Fuller. 
 
 1854. 
 
 John P. Hubbard. 
 
 1815. 
 
 Ely Fuller. 
 
 1H55. 
 
 Jerre Miller. 
 
 1827. 
 
 Ely Fuller. 
 
 185G. 
 
 Elisha T. Parsons. 
 
 1829. 
 
 Rev. Alexander McLean. 
 
 1857. 
 
 Elisha T. Parsons. 
 
 1830. 
 
 Dr. A. J. Miller. 
 
 1859. 
 
 Albert Fuller. 
 
 1831. 
 
 Theodore Sikes. 
 
 1862. 
 
 Ilezekiah Root. 
 
 1832. 
 
 Theodore Sikes. 
 
 1865. 
 
 Jacob S. Eaton. 
 
 1833. 
 
 Theodore Sikes. 
 
 1872. 
 
 Reuben Sikes. 
 
 SCHOOL COMMITTE 
 Rev. E. 3. Wright, 
 E. T. Parsons, 
 Charles Alden, 
 Joseph Miller, 2d, 
 Rev. D. R. Austin, 
 Rev. Salmon Hull, 
 Harmon Booth, 
 Dr. W. B. Alden, 
 Alva Sikes, 
 Nathaniel (Miapin, 
 Abner Cady, 
 George Booth, 
 Kev. A. Sanderson, 
 Albert Clark, 
 Rev. J. \V. Dadmun, 
 Dr. William B. Miller, 
 Theodore Sikes, 
 Rev. J. W. Tuck, 
 
 V. 
 
 E, WITH YEARS OF SERVICE. 
 
 1 Dr. H. M. T. Smith, 1 
 
 13 J. H. Wilcox, 1 
 
 8 Gilbert Pillsbury, 12 
 
 1 E. C. Eaton, 1 
 
 2 Rev. Franklin Fisk, 1 
 
 1 Dr. Robert Wood, 1 
 
 2 Chauncey L. Buell, 1 1 
 7 Rev. George Prentice, 1 
 1 Warren 1). Fuller, 3 
 1 George R. Clark, I 
 
 1 Rev. W. J. Pom fret, 8 
 18 J. Osman Kendall, 5 
 
 2 Adin Whitney, 1 
 1 Rev. A. Gardner, 1 
 1 Rev. II. E. Crocker, 1 
 5 Rev. C. L. Cushman, 1 
 1 Rev. Alfred Noon, 1 
 4 
 
1)K. AARON J. MILLER, 
 The First Puvsiciax in the Town. (See page 1S5.) 
 
PROMINENT CHARACTERS. 
 
 177 
 
 V. 
 
 GRADUATES. 
 
 The following natives of Lmllow have received diplomas from insti- 
 tutions of learning : — 
 
 Jennie E. Banister (now Fuller), Wilbraliam Academy, 1862. 
 
 Rev. Ephraini Cliapin, Williams College, 1814. 
 
 Rev. Joel Cliapin, Dartmouth College. 
 
 Sumner Bodfisli, West Point Military Academy. 
 
 Lucinda Damon, Wilbraliam Academy. 
 
 William A. Fuller, Wilbraliam Academy, 1867. 
 
 Henry A. Hubbard, Union College, N. Y. 
 
 Rev. Dargo B. Jones, Miami University, Ohio. 
 
 Rev. Simeon Miller, Amherst College, 1840. 
 
 Dr. William B. Miller. 
 
 Matilda Munsing, Westfield Xorinal School 1871. 
 
 Henrietta D. Parsons (now Howell), South Iladley Female Seminary. 
 
 Julia T. Parsons (now Bodfish), South Hadley Female Seminary. 
 
 Rev. Orin Sikes, Union College, Maine. 
 
 John Stacy, Yale College. 
 
 Elizabeth Swan, Westfield Normal School, 1871. 
 
 Rev. Alvin E. Todd, Yale College, 1871. 
 
 W. 
 
 PHYSICIAjSTS. 
 
 Aaron John Miller. (See Genealogies.) 
 Francis Percival 
 Benjamin Trask (1777). 
 
 Wood. 
 
 Simpson Ellis. 
 
 David Lyon. [ard's daughter. 
 
 Sylvester Nash, married Rev. Mr. Stew- 
 Philip Lyon (1802). 
 
 Taintor. 
 
 Sutton. 
 
 Munger. 
 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Estis Howes. 
 Elijah Caswell. 
 Washington B. Alden. 
 
 Bassett. 
 
 R. G. English. 
 William B. Miller. 
 Henry "SI. T. Smith. 
 
 Smith. 
 
 Robert AVood. 
 
 King. 
 
 Benjamin K. Johnson. 
 Horace B. Miller. 
 
 Benjamin Jenks. 
 S. B. Stebbins. 
 Jerre Miller. 
 Walter Miller. 
 
 Mrs. Susan A. Cliapin. 
 
 X. 
 
 POSTMASTERS. 
 
 AT LUDLOW. 
 
 Louis Harrington. 
 Eli M. Smith. 
 David Joy. 
 
 AT LUULOW CENTER. 
 
ITS APPENDIX. 
 
 Y. 
 
 PRESENT TOWN OFFICERS. 
 
 (Feurdaiiy, 1875.) 
 
 Clerk and Treasurer. — Benjamin F. Burr. 
 
 Selectmen. — Samuel White, Jolin Hay, David C. Jones. 
 
 Assessors. — Edward F^. Fuller, Austin F. Nasli, Beuljen Sikes. 
 
 School Committee — Third year, vacancy ; second year, J. Osnian Kendall ; first 
 year. Rev. Alfred Noon. 
 
 Road Comtnissioiiers. — Third year, Elijah Plumley ; second year, Samuel White ; 
 first year, Silas Billings. 
 
 Constable and Colkctor. — Charles S. Bennett. 
 
 Jueld Drivers — Edmund W. Fuller, William H. Pease, Austin F. Nash, John 
 Hohson, Oscar Wood, James W. Kendall, Adelbert L. Bennett, Edward Stewart, 
 William II. Whitney, John Gates. 
 
 Surveyors of Wood and Lumber — Philo A. Harris, D. L, Beckwith, Warien D. 
 Fuller, Ashbel P. Cliapin, Elliott O. Alden, Henry I. Carver. 
 
 Fence Vieweis. — Lucius Simonds, James W. Kendall, Elijah Plumley, Alexander 
 Whitney. 
 
 Special Constables. — Charles W. Alden, Alanson Pool, Elihu J. Sikes, Edmund 
 W. Bliss, A. P. Chapin, Justus B. Alden, Albert Fuller. 
 
 Sealer of Weights and Measures. — Warren D. Fuller. 
 
 Public Weigher. — David Joy. 
 
 Tithing-Men. — John Hobson, Jr., Reuben Sikes, Cyril A. Soutlnvorth. 
 
 Z. 
 
 FEATS OF STRENGTH. 
 
 Dexter Lyon, Homer Lyon, David Lyon, Selali Kendall, Isaac 
 Sheldon and others were associated together at one time. A gentle- 
 man who was visiting at Dr. Alden's was introduced as a celebrated 
 wrestler. A ring was quicldy formed, and David Lyon, one of the 
 smallest men, was appointed to try his hand with the champion, and 
 also that others might learn his methods. When they were readj'^ to 
 take hold the stranger said to Dr. Alden, "You go the other side of 
 the house and see where he strikes." But instead of sending David 
 to the other side of the house the champion found himself lying upon 
 his back. Picking himself up he wanted to take hold again. David 
 said to him: "You acknowledge you were fairl}^ thrown, don't you?"' 
 "0 yes," said he. "Well," re2)lied David, "it is no object for nie to 
 take hold of a man wlinm I can throw as easily as I can you." 
 
 Titus ]-*omoroy, a .'Somewhat noted wrestler, claimed to throw every- 
 body about South Hadley Falls. Finally A^'illiam Miller, son of Dr. 
 A. J. Miller, was persuaded to go over and try his hand with him. 
 AVhen Miller was introduced, Pomcroy said: " Is that the man you 
 
FEATS OF STREXGTn EPITAPHS. 
 
 179 
 
 have brought to wrestle with me ? I could eat him up in a minute." 
 They took hold. Pomeroy gave him a twitch and swung Miller around 
 behind him. Miller, however, was all ready for him, and tripped both 
 feet from under him, so that he came down in a very unexpected man- 
 ner. Pomeroy said, as he shook off the dust, " I didn't think that 
 little rascal could throw me." 
 
 Titus Hubbard once met a man who claimed a position in the road 
 which was not fairly his, and without ceremony took up the offender 
 bodily and set him aside. Reuben Sikes is said to have repeatedly 
 lifted one end of a very hea^-y sled-load of green hickory wood. 
 
 When Elijah Plumley was a young man he carried upon his shoul- 
 der fifty-two quarts, full measure, of the heaviest rock-salt, a mile and 
 a half without resting, and then turned and proposed to those who 
 had wonderingly accompanied him, to return with it before he rested. 
 
 I 
 
 A A. 
 
 EPITAPHS. 
 
 [From old Center yard.] 
 
 This Stone is erected 
 
 to the memory of a son 
 
 and a Daughter of Cap' 
 
 Joseph and M'■^ Mary 
 
 Miller (viz) Wilder, who 
 
 died Oct 13 1786 in the 5 
 
 year of his age. 
 
 And Joanna who died Dec 
 
 10, 1787, in the 3 year of her age. 
 
 When death receives the dire command 
 None can elude or ftay his hand 
 Nor can a hope or beauty fave 
 From the dire conquest of the grave. 
 
 [From North yard. 
 
 In memory 
 
 of M'= Sarah 
 
 wife of j\l'' 
 
 Timothy Root 
 
 who died 
 
 Mar 3 
 
 1785 in 
 
 her 44 year 
 
 .'\lso 
 
 an Infant bury 
 
 -ed by her 
 
 side 
 
180 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 [From East yard.] 
 i 
 
 Mr. David Paine 
 
 
 [From North yard.] 
 
 Departed this 
 
 In memory of Lieut 
 
 Life July 2"<^ 
 
 JOHN SIKES who died 
 
 1807 (i^y a cart 
 
 July 27, 1807 in the 
 
 wheel r u n i n g a c r f s 
 
 60 year of his age. 
 
 his breast: he expired 
 
 Friends nor pliyficians 
 
 could not hve 
 Tliis mortal body from the grave 
 Nor can the grave confine it here 
 When Chrifl commands it to appear. 
 
 instantly) Mt 70 
 
 He was a friend 
 to Religion & 
 
 
 ,Piety. 
 
 
 Return my friends without a tear 
 Devote your hves unto God's fear: 
 That you with him may always live 
 This is the last advice 1 give. 
 
 [From North yard.] 
 
 
 In memory of 
 
 [ From East yard.] 
 
 M^^ Hannah Sikes 
 
 In 
 
 the wife of 
 
 
 M"" Benjamin Sikes 
 
 memory of 
 
 who died Ap"" 17 : 1790 
 
 NICHOLAS DANIELS 
 
 Aged 84 years 
 
 who died 
 
 Life is uncertain 
 Death is fure 
 
 Sin is the wonnd 
 & Chrift the cure 
 
 April 26, 1827 
 /Et. 65 
 
EPITAPHS. 
 
 181 
 
 [From East yard.] 
 
 Mrs 
 
 Mahitable 
 
 wife of 
 Rev Ephraim Scott 
 
 died 
 May 25 1 83 1 
 
 There is rest in heaven. 
 
 [From old Center yard.] 
 
 In Memory of Chester 
 the Son of M^ Asa & M^^ 
 Sarah Dodge who Died 
 Sept™ 11'^' 1805, aged 3 
 years 4 Months & 18 days 
 
 With disentery 6^ with worvis 
 God did Death licence give 
 To take iny pi-escioiis Soul azoay 
 And/ay I/hould not live. 
 
 [From old Center yard.] 
 
 In memory of Mr. 
 
 Cyprian and Mrs. 
 
 Lucy Wright 
 
 who died as follows 
 
 viz. She died 
 
 August 22"^ 1794 
 
 in the 37th year 
 
 of her age 
 
 he died Jan 7th 
 
 1779 in the 4 5th 
 
 year of his age. 
 
 Kind reader, when these lines you see 
 Think how uncertain life may be : 
 
 We once had life & health like you 
 But now have bid the world adieu. 
 
 [From old Center yard.] 
 
 In memory of 
 Doc'' Philip Lyon 
 
 who died July 26 
 
 1802 aged 40 years 
 
 Who after having 
 
 experienced the 
 
 sweets of connubial 
 
 bliss died leaving no 
 
 family, his amiable 
 consort died at Ran- 
 dolph Oct iSoi. 
 
182 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 [Krom old Center yard.] 
 
 Sacred to the 
 
 memory of Cap' 
 
 Joseph Miller, 
 
 who departed this 
 
 life at West Spring 
 
 field April 3 1803 
 
 Aged 79 years. 
 
 Praifes on tombs are 
 titles vainly spent, 
 
 A mans Rood name is 
 his bell monument. 
 
 [From old Center yard.] 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMO 
 RY of Mr^ Mary wife of 
 Mr Leonard Miller who died 
 in Childbed June 6''' 1790 
 in the 38''' year of her age 
 
 Befidcs a birth and flie left 8 fniall 
 
 te 
 Children to mourn her untimely fix 
 
 [From old Center yard.] 
 
 In memory of 
 
 Mr Gad Lyon 
 
 who died 
 
 Dec 26, I 8 I 5 
 aged 47 years.; 
 
 Depart my friends 
 dry up your tears 
 
 Here I must lie 
 till Christ appears. 
 
 [From North yard.] 
 
 In memory of 
 
 M"" Anna y wife 
 
 of M"" John Sikes 
 who died June 9 
 1772 in y 2^'^ Year 
 of her Age 
 
 Boaft not thyself 
 of tomorrow for 
 thou knoweft not 
 what a day may 
 brinz forth. 
 
EriTAnis. 
 
 183 
 
 From North yard] 
 
 In memory of 
 
 M"" Abner Sikes 
 
 who died 
 Jun 24''' 1 80c 
 
 in tlie 70 year 
 
 of his asre 
 
 Our age to Sevnty 
 years are set 
 
 & not but few who 
 to them sjet 
 
 [From North yard] 
 
 In Memory of 
 
 M^^ Mary Sikes 
 
 wife of 
 
 M-- Abner Sikes 
 
 who died 
 
 March 10"^ 181 8 
 
 85 years 
 
 by faith in Christ 
 I left this Stage 
 
 [From North yard.] 
 
 Submit dau'^ of M'' 
 Reuben & M""^ Mary 
 
 Chapin was born 
 
 July J'' 1774 & died 
 
 Oct i6th 1776 
 
 Merick Son of 
 
 above N a m"^ Chapin 
 
 died at Fiflikill a e 
 
 16 22 Jan 1778 aged 
 
 16 Years 
 
 [From North yard.] 
 
 In Memory of 
 
 Miss Sarah Sikes 
 
 daughter of 
 
 Lieu' John Sikes & 
 
 Mrs Sarah his 2^^ 
 wife who died Sep' 
 
 19'h 1806 aged 20 
 
 \ 
 
 vears ' . . 
 
 The longest life must have 
 
 an end 
 Therefore beware how 
 
 time you spend 
 
184 
 
 ArPEXDIX. 
 
 [From Noilh yard.] 
 
 In Memory of 
 
 M^ Benjamin Sikes 
 
 who died 
 
 Auguft 2^ 1 78 1 
 
 Aged 77 years 
 
 Death is a debt 
 To nature due 
 
 Which I have paid 
 & fo muft you. 
 
 [From North yard.] 
 
 In memory of 
 
 M'^ Beriaii Jennings 
 
 wlio died May 12th 1776 
 in the 45 year of his Age. 
 
 Beriah Jennings Ju^ 
 
 fon of 
 
 Beriah & Eunice Jennings 
 
 who died Dec Sth 1775 
 
 in the 22 year of his age. 
 
 Blessed are tlie dead 
 which die in the Lord. 
 
 BB. 
 
 GENEALOGIES. 
 
 CriAPIN. — Dea. Samuel Ciiapin, first of name in this country ; oldest son, Ja- 
 phet ; Japhet's third child, Thomas (b. May 10, 1G71, d. August 27, 1755,) married 
 Sarah Wright; 11 children; fourth, named Shem Cliapin (son of Thomas and 
 Sarah), b. February o, 1702, m. pub. December 4, 1752, to Anna Clark of Uxbridge, 
 a widow. Shem resided in Ludlow, Mass., and d. there. IMrs. Ann§ Chapin died 
 in Iladley, ajt. 101 y.8 m. Children — Esther, b. June 17, 1754; Job, b. September 
 19, 1758 ; Joel, b. January 13, 1761. 
 
 Job Ciiapin (son of Shem and Anna) was m. January 25, 1790, to Abiah Gil- 
 ligan of Ludlow (see South Hadley records). Cliildren — Azuba, m. Dea. Colton 
 of Ludlow; had three or four children ; Sybel married first Mr. Cox, had one 
 cliild, and m. second Dea. Root of Greenwich, no children ; Aaron, b. March 21, 
 1781. 
 
 Joel Ciiavin (son of Shem and Anna), m. pub. Nov, 10, 1789. to Eunice Lucre- 
 tia, daughter of Dea. Ed w'l. Chapin of Ciiicopee. Had three children. "Rev. 
 Joel Chapin died in Bainhridge, N. Y., in 1845, re 84. A soldier in the Revolution ; 
 tiicn a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1791. He settled as a minister in the 
 wilderness, on the Susquehannah, and was faithful as a minister of the gospel " 
 Taken from New Yo>lc Observer of March 27, 1851. 
 
 Shem Ciiapin was in the tinrd generation of Chapins in this country. 
 
 SIKES.— Ben.jamin Sikes (1st), d. wt. 77. Children— Benjamin (2d), Abner, 
 Joiin, also four daughters. 
 
GENEALOGIES. 185 
 
 Benjamin Sikes {2d), had cliildren — Benjamin (3d), Jonathan, Silas, Ithamar, 
 Polly, Margaret, Lucy, Tabitha, Sally, Dolly. 
 
 Benjamin Sucks (3d), b. 1762, d. 1850. Had cliildren— Catherine, b. 1788 ; 
 Amanda, b. 1790 ; Theodore, b. 1792 ; Lucy, b. 1791 ; Polly, b. 1797 ; Benjamin 
 (4th), b. 1799 ; Adaline, b. 1803 ; Margaret, b. 1805 ; Otis, b. 1807 ; Quartus, b. 1810. 
 
 Abn'ek Sikes had Abner, Increase, Plin\', Mercy, Experience, Lois. 
 
 Jonathan Sikes, b. 17G5, had Chester, b. 1789 ; Vila, b. 1792; Silas, b, 1791; 
 Alva, b. 1796; Increase, b. 1798; Sally, b. 1800; Mary, b. 1802; Oren, b. 1805; 
 infant dau. b. 1807; Keuben, b. 1808; Jonathan, b. 1811; Cyrene, b. 1814; infant 
 dau. b. 181G. 
 
 Increase Sikes, b. abt. 17G0. Had Abner, b. 1805; Lusina, b. 1807; Pamelia, 
 b. 1809; Sophia, b. 1812; William, b. 1814; Sophia, b. 181G; Wealthy, b. 1820. 
 
 Pliny Sikes had four children — Zenas, b. 1791 ; Orrin, b. 1792; Arua, b. 1795; 
 Lucinda, b 1796. 
 
 John Sikes, b. 1748, d. 1807. Had ten children— Anna, b. 1772, d. 1776 ; Calvin, 
 b. 1779; Anna, b. 1781; Clarissa, b. 1782; John, b. 1784; Sarah, b. 1786; Azuba, 
 b. 1788; Elihu, b. 1790; Hannah, b. 1792; Electa, b. 1794. 
 
 Calvin Sikes, b. 1779. Had four children— Calvin, b. 1805 ; Edward, b. 1808; 
 Joshua, b. 1811 ; Nancy, b. 1818. 
 
 John Sikes, b. 1784. Had seven children, who all left town — Sarah, b. 1808; 
 Caroline, b. 1810; Joseph, b. 1812; Tryphenia, b. 1813; Clarissa, b. 1821; Nancy, 
 b. 1825; Harriet, b. 1829. 
 
 MILLEli — Ancestry traced back to period of King Philip's war, Thomas M. be- 
 ing killed by the Indians in defense of Springfield, October G, 1G75. Solomon, his 
 grandson, d. August 20, 17G0, aet. 30 years. 
 
 Capt. Joseph Miller, b. 1698, d. April 5, 17G0. 
 
 Joseph, son of Capt, J. and Mary Miller, b. May, 1724, d. April 8, 1803; m. 
 Catherine Ferry. Had children, Aaron John, b. January 11, 1750, Sybil, b. 1747. 
 m. Isaac Brewer, d. 1834 ; Leonard, b. 1752 d. 1828 ; ilartha, m. Levi Bliss ; JMoses, 
 d. young; Joseph, b. September 1, 1756, d. April 1, 1829; Catherine, d. young; 
 George, b, 1759, d. 1829; Catherine, b. 1764, d. 1852, m. Benj. Sikes; Polly, b. 
 1766, d. 1855, m. Moses Wood; Margaret, b. 1768, d. 1820. 
 
 Aaron John Miller, a physician and surgeon in Revolutionary War, m. Esther 
 Burr; d. at Ludlow, November 4, 1838. AVas a member of State Legislature. The 
 following quotation from Palmer Journal illustrates the man: — " The first physi- 
 cian in Ludlow was Dr. Aaron John Miller. He was a very tidy sort of man, dis- 
 tinguished for wearing the highest-priced black broadcloth he could find, and always 
 eating molasses instead of butter on his bread, drinking clear tea and a very 
 little old New England, never any water. lie was a rapid talker, made his fever 
 powders of camphor-gum and loaf-sugar, and was never known to hurt his patients 
 with his medicines. He usually walked on his visits to patients, always accom- 
 panied by his little yellow dog. He was intolerant of others' opinions, and empha- 
 sized his own with frequent thrusts of his cane." The following acrostic, written 
 by him, was found among the papers of his son, the late Gordon B. Miller : — 
 " Great chief, Columbia venerates thy name, 
 Europe with awe proclaims thy deathless fame ; 
 On Asia's plains, where priests adore the sun, 
 Eajahs and nabobs own great Washington ; 
 Grim Alric's sons, who war eternal wage, 
 Earth's savage nations all revere our sage. 
 24 
 
186 APPENDIX. 
 
 Wliere Pliiladelphia graces yonder plains, 
 Adorned witli laurel our loved hero reitins ; 
 Serene lie guides the helm of every State; 
 His skill in war and politics complete. 
 Illustrious statesman ! thou in virtue's cause 
 Now deign'st to sit. the guardian of our laws ; 
 Graced with the lovely olive branch of peace, 
 Thy praise, O Washington, shall never cease ! 
 On thee this western world have turned their eyes, 
 « Ne'er to revert them till thou mount the skies." 
 
 From a piece of his entitled " Summer Evening Song of Connecticut Kiver," are 
 culled the following stanzas : — 
 
 " Flow on, loved Connecticut, majestic and slow, 
 And mingle thy waters with ocean below ; 
 The god of the sea with his brine-dripping bride 
 Exulting beholds thee still swelling his tide. 
 
 " The sun has gone down and the star of the west 
 Is spreading delighted his beams on thy breast. 
 While meek Lima, adorned with aspect serene, 
 To grace with her graces the beautiful scene. 
 
 " I was born near thy marge in the year 'forty-nine. 
 And love thee, still love thee and call thee divine ; 
 Not Ganges, nor Avon, nor Egypt's famed Nile, 
 Could ever so sweetly my cares all beguile." 
 
 His " Epitaph on Little Bute," a favorite dog of his, is of a different character: — 
 
 " Hard was the fate of little Bute ; 
 With hungry wolves he did dispute ; 
 Amid the strife of battle din 
 deceived a grip beneath the chin. 
 
 "Adieu my brother of the dust! 
 
 Those savage whelps are doubly cursed ; 
 With horrid shriek and doleful yell 
 I hear them howling now in Hell.'* 
 
 Children of A.vrox Joiix and Esther Miller — Betsey Elizabeth, b. February 
 3, 1782, d. September 24, 1872, m. Asa Earned ; Asenath, b. June 3, 1784, d. 
 August 4, 1850; Aaron J., Jr., b. April 22, 1787, d. Janrfary 12, 1866, m. Tlieodo- 
 sia Parsons; Gordon Bliss, b. September 7, 1789, d. .July 3, 1874; William Abe- 
 lard, b. July 30, 1797, ni. Nancy Burr; Mary Eloise, b. ^799, d. 1842, m. Harvey 
 Moody. 
 
 Leonard Miller, son of Capt. Joseph Miller, m. Mary Sikes and Sarah Kellogg. 
 Had children — Moses, Catherine, Orris, Ithamar, Polly, Sila, Joseph, Leonard, Susan. 
 
 Moses, b. 1778, d. 1855, m. Lucy .Tones. 
 
 Catherine, b. 1780, d. 1854, m. Jonathan Dan. 
 
 •A solitary and gloomy swamp thus named, where the wolves used to gather In the night 
 and howl. 
 
GENEALOGIES. 187 
 
 Orris, b. 17B1, m. Willard Munsell. 
 
 Ithamar, b. 1783, m. liacbel Akers. 
 
 Polly b. 1784, d. 1824, ni. Elijah Fuller. 
 
 Si LA, b. 1785, d. 1859, m. Amos Kendall. 
 
 Joseph, b. 1787, d. 1871, m, Martha Walker. 
 
 Leonard, b. 1788. 
 
 ScsAN, b. 1790, d. 1872, m. Amos Putnam. 
 
 Joseph Miller, b. September 1, 1756, m. Mary Wilder, d. April 1, 1829. Had 
 children— Sylvester, b. December 27, 1783, m. Charlotte Little; Joanna, b. Septem- 
 ber 5, 1785, burnt in a barn, 1787 ; Joseph, Jr., b. November 28, 1787, m. Dolly 
 Miller, and Electa Barton ; Daniel, b. October 30, 1789, m. Pamelia Jones and 
 Lucy Smith, d. 1870; Charlotte, b. November 14, 1791, m. Zenas Parsons, d. 1839; 
 John, b. October 26, 1793, m. Lucinda Barton ; Maria, b. May 7, 1796, m. Gordon B. 
 Wood ; Polly, b. March 23, 1798, m. Zebina Miller. 
 
 Ithamar, son of Leonard Miller, had children, Charles L., Albert, Harriet, Eliza, 
 Henry. 
 
 OBITUARY.' 
 
 Hon. Charles L. TMiller, wlio dropped dead in tlie Capitol at "Wasiiington, on the 3d of Jan- 
 uary, was born in Boston in 1808. but moved to LuiHow when about four years of age. Ilis 
 fatlier was Ithamar Miller, a native of Ludlow and brother of Dea. Joseph Miller of tliat 
 town, and lived on the farm wliere Dainel Brewer now lives. Removing from Ludlow when 
 Charles was fifteen years of age, the family settled in the State of New York, but subse- 
 quently moved to Constantine. St. Joseiih C<)uiity, Mich., where he became a merchant, town 
 clerk, postmaster, and was afterwards elected clerk of the Senate. In IS14 he removed to 
 Colon, anil carried on successfully the business of general merchandise. He was elected rep- 
 resentative to the legislature in 1853 and 1854:. and in 1S5G he was elected Judge of Probate 
 and served four years. In 1860, by invitation of Senator Chandler, he took the place of clerk 
 of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, and during every session since he lias 
 been at his post, drawing the text of all the iiniiortant bills of that Committee. With impaired 
 health he returned to Washington at the beginning of the session, and was at his duties daily. 
 In fifteen minutes after entering the Capitol, on the morning of tlie 3d, he was found lifeless. 
 
 Senator Chandler says of him : He was one of the purest and truest men I have ever met 
 in my life, .lie was universally beloved, and the removal of such a man as Judge .Miller seems 
 to be a public calamity. 
 
 George Miller, son of Joseph and Catherine, m. Esther Cleveland, Eunice 
 Parsons, Mary Lyman. Had children, Seth, Dolly, Zebina, Almira, Esther, Esther 
 2d, George, Lyman, Edwin, Edwin 2d, 
 
 Seth, b. 1790; left town. 
 
 Dolly, b. 1792, d. 1856, ra. Abner Beebe. 
 
 Zebina, b. 1794, d. 1867, m. Polly Miller. 
 
 Almira, b. 1796, d. 1859, m. Asahel Bartlett. 
 
 Esther, b 1797, d. 1798. 
 
 Esther, b. 1799, m. Henry Fuller. 
 
 George, b. 1801, m. Mary Ann Burgess. 
 
 Lyman, b. 1804, d. 1867, m. Hannah Stocking. 
 
 Edwin, b. 1807, d. same year. 
 
 Edavin, b. 1817. 
 
 BREWER. — Isaac Brewer m. Sybil Miller of Ludlow abt. 1750, came to Lud- 
 low three years later and settled on the bank of the Chicopee River, at the Law- 
 rence place, had children — Isaac, Daniel, Pliny, Polly, Catherine, Betsey, Chauncey, 
 Abigail, Isaac, Lyman, Clarissa. 
 
 Isaac, d. in infancy. 
 
 Daniel, d. at age of 17, served against Shay's Rebellion. 
 
 Pliny, m. Lois Stebbins of Springfield and settled iu Norwich, Conn. 
 
 Polly, m. Joshua Fuller of Ludlow. 
 
188 APPENDIX. 
 
 rATiiF.niNE, m. Walter Stel)bins of Springfield. 
 
 Betsey, m. Jerre Snow of Springfield. 
 
 CiiAUNCET, m. Lucena Mandeville of Granljy and settled in Ludlow. 
 
 AniGAiL, ni. John Sniilli of South Hadiey. 
 
 Isaac, ni. Catherine Fo.x of lirookl^n, L. I. 
 
 Lyman, ni. Harriet Tj-Ier of Norwich, Conn., settled there. 
 
 Clarissa, m. Zenas Lawrence of Ludlow. 
 
 The first Isaac Brewer d. at 47, leaving ten children, the eleventh heing born 
 after his death. The widow held the farm, paying off the large amount of debts 
 and giving her son riiny a collegiate education. — All the Brewers now in town are 
 descendants of Chauncey, 
 
 FULLER. — For most of these data we are indebted to Benjamin Fuller of 
 Springfield. 
 
 The first of whom there is record was Youso Fui.eer, who accompanied his son 
 Jo.shua from Ellington, Conn., to Ludlow. 
 
 Joshua Fueeer, b. September 9, 1830, m, IMarcy Lathrop of Tolland, Conn., d. 
 in 1810. She d. in 1828, aet. 02. Had children— Elisha, Solomon L., Ezekiel, 
 Sarah, Lydia, Benjamin, Olive. 
 
 Klisha, the first, d. last, aged 96, m. Rebecca Waterman and Sarah Cleveland. 
 Had two wives. Had children, John, Joshua, (removed from town,) Susan, (m. 
 Dr. Munger,) Isaac, (removed to Soniers,) Ely, Joel, Asenath, (m. Asaliel Rood,) 
 Samuel, Martha, (m. Henry Starkie,) Waterman, Henry Seymour, Rebecca, (m. 
 Jared Carver,) Zera. 
 
 John, m. Colton and Capen. Had children, Walter, m. Eunice 
 
 Gleason ; Norman, m. Elvira Wright; Edmund W., m. Elvira Capen; Orra, m. 
 Justin Lombard; infant child; Lodisa, ni. Abijah Capen; P. D wight, m. Caroline 
 Olds ; Marcia, m. 1). K. Paine. 
 
 Eey, m. Jerusha Little. Had children — Elisha A., m. Polly Fuller; Merrick, m. 
 Catherine Bli.ss ; Eliza, m. Lucius Ferry; Caroline, m. Daniel Warner; Viennc, 
 
 m. Francis McLean and Benning Leavitt; Emily, m. Sanderson; Charlotte, 
 
 m. Chester Graves; Martha, Jane, m. Lockhart Howard. 
 
 JoEE, m. Phebe Jones. Had children, Estus, Sarah, m. Rufus Billings, Levi. 
 
 Samuel, m. Warner. Had children, Adaline, James, Samuel and four others. 
 
 Waterman, m. Sarah Abercrombie. Had children, Martha, m. Jerre Dutton, 
 George, Charles, William H. 
 
 Henry S., m. Esther Miller and Mary Aldcn. Had children — Esther, Sarah, m. 
 Levi Collins ; IVLary, ni. Henry Collins; Henrietta, m. Edwin Cliapin ; Olivette, m. 
 Henry Frost; Henry, died young; Edward E., m. Jane D. Prentice; Emma, m. 
 Henry Ilard^' ; Henry, m. Lizzie Munsing ; Frank, m. Jennie Webster and Anna 
 Mears ; Fannie, Lily, Hattie. 
 
 Zera, m. Caroline Wright. Had children — Otis, m. Eliza Braman ; Caroline, 
 m. Joseph Ilinman; Sarah Ann, m. Allen Seymour; Ellen, m. George Carver. 
 
 Solomon L. settled and d. in Somers, Conn. 
 
 Ezekiel settled and d, in Ludlow, m. Mary . Had children— Marania, b. 
 
 1782; Elijah, b. 1784 ; Rachel, b. 178(5, m. Sylvester Clark ; Polly, b. 1789; Mercy, 
 b. 1792; Ezekiel, b. 1794; Lyman, b. 179G; Franklin, b. 1799. 
 
 Elijah, had children — Polly, m Elisha A. Fuller; Electa, m. Potter ; Catherine, 
 m. Atchinson ; Gilbert C, m. Harriet. 
 
 Ezekiel, had children — Albert, m. Violate Miller; Edmund, m Lyon; Daven- 
 port L., ni. Susanna McClentick and Maria Charles; Henry. 
 
GENEALOGIES. 189 
 
 I.TMAx, had children— Eliza, Lathrop, m. Joanna Wood; Cornelia, m. Gilbert 
 C. Fuller. 
 
 Sarah, m. Benjamin Chapin of Chicopee and Samuel Chapman of Ellington, 
 Conn., d. at 64. 
 
 LvDiA, m. David Barton of Granby, settled in what was then called "Whites- 
 town, N. Y. He died at 87 y. 2 m. His wife died next day at 84 y. 5 m. Both 
 buried in one grave, at Clinton, N. Y. 
 
 Benjamin, settled at Monson, April, 1795. Soon after, his father and mother 
 went to live with him, both died there, aged 75 and 80. 
 
 Olive, m. Wihiani McKinney of Ellington, Conn., d. at Stafford, Conn., at 75. 
 
 Tlie family was rather noted for longevity. Joshua d. at 80, his wife at 02, 
 Flisha at 0(5, Solomon L. at 80 or over, Ezekiel at 80, Sarah at 64, Lydia at 84, Benja- 
 min at 75, Olive at 75. Ten of the 49 granduhiklren are living, some of whom are 
 over 80. 
 
 Joshua lived on the Dorman farm. While his father. Young Fuller, la}' dead, one 
 Sunday morning, the liouse caught fire and burned to the ground, necessitating the 
 removal of the corpse to the orchard. 
 
 Elisha Fuller was a noted wag. He would perpetrate a joke at any expense. 
 Every one has heard of his story about the pins, which he offered for sale from his 
 store with the assurance that the pin-maUer was dead and there was no further 
 chance to buy. Taking up a pair of spectacles once at the Town-house to try them, 
 lie averred he could see a hawk on Wilbraham mountain. Nor would he listen to 
 one word of disparagement of Ludlow. Some one remarking concerning the pov- 
 erty of her soil, he declared that a traveler once lost his horse near the Center, and 
 finding him in a field of corn, was obliged to clear a passage through the stalks 
 with an axe. He once told the wondering auditors that he drove his horse at the 
 time of a shower so fast that he himself kept ahead of the rain, while his dog swam 
 just behind the wagon for a long distance. 
 
 HUBBARD. — Elisha Hurbard ra. Mary , came to Ludlow about 
 
 1740 (?), d. at 72. Had children — llussell, Titus, Luther, Lowell, Judah, Anstis, 
 Calvin, (left town,) Bernice. 
 
 BnssELL, m. Olive. Had children — Lovina, Warren, Asahel, Harvey, Ann, Dan, 
 Jemima, Susan. 
 
 Titus, m. Phebe . Had children — Harr^', b. 1797 ; Calvin, b. 1798 ; Lowell, 
 
 b. 1801 ; Elisha, b. 1804; Israel Newton, b. 1808; John P.. b. 1813; Lovina, b. 1818. 
 
 John HunnARD, Jr. (brother of first Elisha), ni. Anna . Had children — 
 
 Bachel,b. 1762; John, b. 1704; Asa, b. 1769; Anna, b. 1770; Ira, b. 1772 ; Martha, 
 b. 1774; Charles, b. 1777; Ethan, b. 1779. 
 
 KENDALL — Ensign Jasies Kendall m. Jerusha . He died March 
 
 9, 1820, at 74. Shed. October 24, 1836, at 90. Had children— Chapman, Reuel, 
 James, Selah, Amos, Via, Sally, Jerusha. 
 
 Chapman, had children — Daniel and Mosely. 
 
 Reuel, had children — John, .James. 
 
 James, had children — Levi, Reuben, James. 
 
 Selah, had children — J. Munroe, William. 
 
 Amos, d. June 19, 1836, at 50, m. Sila, who d. September 18, 1859, at 73, liad 
 children — Carlo M., Caroline, Eliza, Salome, James W., Henry Burt, William W., 
 Horace, Jeruslia, Delia. 
 
 Via, d. young. 
 
190 ArPEXDix. 
 
 Sally, ni. Moses Rood. 
 Jkeusha, m. Aaron Carver. 
 
 BUUR. — Jonathan Burr came to Ludlow from Ellington, Conn., about 17G8, b. 
 1740, il. 1807, ni. Priscilla Freeman. Had eliildreo — Xoadiah, b. 17G4 ; Tiniotliy, 
 b. 17tJ7; Jonathan, b. 1709 ; Freeman, b. 1771 ; Ansel, b. 1773; Ashbel, b. 1770; 
 Sally, b. 1770 ; Polly, b. 1782 ; Eli, b. 1784 ; Betsey, b. 1787. 
 
 Timothy m. Hannah Graham. Had children — Billy Graham, b. 1700; Hannah, 
 b. 1702; Betsey, b. 1704 ; Charles, b. 1707; Halsey, Hart, Barton, Almira. 
 
 Jonathan m. Mindwell Chapin. Had children — Ashbel, b. 1700; Estes, b. 
 1801; Polly, b. 1803. 
 
 Frekman m. Mary Goodell. Had children — Matilda, b. 1700 ; Maria, Solomon, 
 Freeman, Columbus, I51mina, Julena. 
 
 Ansel m. Anna Pinney. Had children — Emily, Anna, Ansel, Eli. 
 
 Ashhel m. Clarissa Hikes. Had children — Lyman, b. 1805; Abigail, b. 1808. 
 
 Eli m. Cynthia Burchard. 
 
 RARBEK. — EnENEZER Barrkr, a town officer first in 1777, lived, raised bis 
 family and d. on place now owned by David L. Atchinson. Was totally blind many 
 years before his death. His wife was insane for a number of years. Had children 
 — Ebenezer, Lewis, David, Abigail, Anna, Tirzah. 
 
 Ebenezer, lived on old place. 
 
 Lewis, lived on Dea. Parsons' place. 
 
 David, Abner and John lived in Vermont. 
 
 Abigail, m. Zerah Chapin of Cliicopce, mother of Sophia Moody, now SOye<ars old. 
 
 Anna, m. Zelotes Parsons, lived and d. in Wilbraham. 
 
 Tirzah, b. July 7, 1776. 
 
 Ebenezer, m. Lovicy Bartlett of Wilbraham, July 20, 1784. Had children — 
 Lovicy, m.. Rebecca , had children — Ira, Joel, Warren, Eli, HoUis. 
 
 Ira was father of the present Hollis. 
 
 ROOT. — Timothy Root, b. 1740 in Somers, Conn., m. Sarah Bartlett and rem. to 
 Ludlow abt. 1770. She d. 1785. Had children — Timothy. William, Sally, Nancy, 
 Flavia, Amy and Pliny; m Dorothy Shumway and d. Nov. 22, 1822. Had chil- 
 dren — Sophia, Amos, Dorothy, Polly, Parmelia, Elizabeth and Cynthia. Decem- 
 ber 2, 1822, his real estate was valued at $2,075 and personal property at §300, large 
 for the times. 
 
 Timothy', d. in infancy. 
 
 William, in. Eunice Sheldon, and settled in Granby, Muss. 
 
 Sally, d. in Ludlow unm., aet. 80. 
 
 Nancy, m. William Snow and settled in Granby, Mass. 
 
 Flavia, m. Gains Taylor and settled in South Hadley. 
 
 Pliny, m Ruth Cleaveland of Palmer, rem. to Steuben Co., N. Y, and then to 
 Jackson, Mich. 
 
 SoriiiA, m. Nathaniel Lyon and settled in Ludlow. 
 
 Amos, m. Mary of Richmond, Va., and settled there. Served in the war 
 
 of 1812. 
 
 Dorothy, ni. John Gates of Ludlow. 
 
 Mary, m. Gaius Clough, lived in Franklin, N. Y., and Chicopee. 
 
 Parmklia m. Otis Horr of Ludlow, and Warren Squires. 
 
 Elizabeth, m. William Clark and lived in Hubbardston and Ludlow. 
 
GENEALOGIES. 191 
 
 Ctsthia, m. George Clark of Ludlow. 
 
 There are eleven descendants of these fourteen children now livintr in Ludlow, 
 among wliom are John Gates, George K. Clark and Mrs. Maria C. Clark Burr. 
 
 LYON. — Dea. David Ltov, b. 1735, d. 1804, came from Woodstock, Conn., 
 1770, m. Eunice StebV)ins, 1764. Children— Eunice, b. 17G6, d. 1804 ; Gad, b. Feb- 
 ruary 28, 1769, d. December 26, 1815; Nathaniel, b. January 24, 1772, d. February 
 11, 1839 ; Stephen, b. 1775, d. December 23, 1837. 
 
 Eunice m. James Sheldon. 
 
 G.\D m. Jerusha Kendall, March 13, 1794. Had children — David, Dexter, Ho- 
 mer, Homer, 2d, Helena. 
 
 David, b. January 15, 1795, m, Fannie Wright. 
 
 Dexter, b. October 3, 1796. m. Sila Taylor, d. December 14, 1839. 
 
 HoMKR, b. December 12, 1798, d. December 14, 1798, 
 
 HoMKR, 2d, b. January 13. 1800, m. Maria Taylor. 
 
 Helena, b. January 10, 1803, d. April 28, 1829. 
 
 Nathaniel, m Hannah Kendall, December 31, 1804. Had children — Norman, 
 a son, Hannah, Sophia, Norman, Olive, Albert, David. 
 
 Norman, b. February 3, 1806, d. November 28, 1808. 
 
 A SON, b. August 5, 1808, d. August 5, 1808. 
 
 Nathaniel m. Sophia Root, May 8, 1814. Had children. 
 
 Hannah, b. February 25, 1815, m. Urbane Carver, d. May 8, 1856. 
 
 Sophia, b. IMarch 11, 1817, m. George Taylor. 
 
 Norman, b. December 12, 1818, m. Lydia Cooley. 
 
 Olive, b. January 28, 1821, d. November, 1839. 
 
 Albert, b. Augusts, 1825, d. April 11, 1858. 
 
 David, b. September 21, 1827, m. Jane Slate. 
 
 Stephen, m. Patience Wright, January 22, 1799. Had children — Lucj', Solon, 
 Eunice, Ruth, Esther, Ephraim, Gad, Mary, Dexter, Sarah, Josiah, Caroline. 
 
 Lucr, b. November 22, 1800, m. Cleveland. 
 
 Solon, b. August 22, 1802, d. 1873. 
 
 Ednice, b. June 8, 1804, m. Hilliard. 
 
 Roth, b. June 10, 1806, d. September 3, 1858. 
 
 Esther, b. September 26, 1808, m. Barrett. 
 
 Ephraim, b. January 21, 1811. 
 
 Gad, b. April 21, 1813. d. December 9, 1849. 
 
 Mary, b. July 13, 1815. 
 
 Dexter, b. May 10, 1817. 
 
 Sarah, b. April 24, 1819, m. Swart. 
 
 Josiah, b. August 3, 1820, d. May 11, 1822. 
 
 Caroline, b. April 23, 1823, d. January 5, 1859. 
 
 David Lyon is said to have been the first deacon of the Congregational Church 
 after the town was set off from Springfield. Dr. Philip Lyon, supposed to be a 
 brother of David, b. 1762, d. 1802. 
 
 DUTTON- — .Teremiah Dittton came from East Haddam, Conn., about 1776. 
 Had children — Sally, m. Maxwell ; Betsey, m. Van Horn ; Charlotte, m. Eaton ; 
 Oliver, m. Hubbard ; Calvin, Cone. 
 
 Oliver, b. 17G0, d. 1843, m. Judith Hubbard. Had children— Lois, b. 1784, d. 
 1844; Lorin, b. 1792, d. 1806; Dennis, b. 1799, d. 1850; Asenath, b. 1802, d. 1803; 
 Hubbard, b. IbOO. 
 
102 APPENDIX. 
 
 CLOUGir.— Timothy, had children— Uriah, b. 1757, d. 1832; Jonathan. 
 
 Ukiah, m. Molly Oraette, b. 175y, d. 1837. Had children— Iluldah, b. 1780, m. 
 Moffit; Uriah, Jr., b. 1783, d. 1784; Uriah, b 1785; Mordecai, b. 1787, d. 1831; 
 Gaius, b. 1789; Mary, b. 1701 ; Lydia, b. 1703; Joseph, b. 1707, d. 1834; Seth, b. 
 1700. 
 
 Mordecai, m. Lucy Case. Had children — Mordecai, Jr , b. 1813 ; Roselle, b. 
 1815; Sarah, b. 1818; Mary Ann, b, 1820; Ambrose, b. 1822, the only one of the 
 name now in Ludlow; Uriah, b. 1821, 
 
 JovATiiAX Clougu, had children — Dan, had childrLMi — Desire, b. 1800; Jonathan, 
 
 b. 1802, d. 1803; Abner, b. 1805; Timothy, m. Lucy . Had children — 
 
 Abif^ail, b. 1702; Susa, b. 1704; Hannah, b. 1797; Olive, b. 1801; Candace, b. 
 1801 ; Timothy, b. 1804 ; Jonathan, b. 180U ; Daniel, b. 1808. d. 1810; Daniel, b. 1811. 
 
 John, m. Sarah and Lovisa . Had children — Sarah, b. 170G ; 
 
 Keziah, b. 1798 ; Charlotte, b. 1800 ; Clarissa, b. 1802 ; Lovisa, b. 1804 ; Sophronia, 
 b. 1805; Nancy, b. 1811; Ann J., b. 1814; John, b. 181G; Mary, b. 1818, 
 
 PUTNAM. — AnxER, b. Sutton, Mass., March 17, 17G5, m. Abi-jail Waters. Came 
 to Ludlow, 1790, d. October 23, 1831. Had children — James, Nathan, Amos. 
 
 James, b. September, 1787, m. Marcia Co.y. 
 
 Natiiax, b. October 8, 1788, m. Mary B. Look. 
 
 Amos, b. October 8, 1788, m. Susan Miller of Ludlow, d. January 31, 1871 ; 
 (Nathan and Amos, twins, each lost a limb.) Amos had children — Abigail Waters, 
 b. May 10, 1811, m. D. L. Atchinson ; Amos Hurley, b. January 20, 1814, m. Sarah 
 Warner; Leonard Miller, b. August 19, 1815, m. Lucy Smith; Susan Alvira, b. 
 June 28, 1817, m. Avery Green; Zadoc Porter, b. May 8, 1810, m. Lucia Chapin ; 
 Flavius Josephus, b. November 11, 1821, m. Sylvia B. Alden, d. August 18ti4, at 
 Andersonville prison ; Sarah Ann, b. June 4, 1824, m. Gordon M. Pisk ; Adaline 
 Eliza, b. July 10, 1830, m. Lyman S. Hills. 
 
 JONES.'*— (Thomas, came from Wales. His son was Benjamin, whose son was 
 also named Benjamin, the father of) Stephen Jokes, b. in Somcrs, Conn., June 27, 
 1750, m. Lucy Cooley, December 22, 1770, came to Ludlow in 1700, bringing six chil- 
 dren. One was b. in Ludlow, Lucy, d. July 15, 1808. Stephen m. Mrs. Mary 
 Chapin of Springfield, September 27, 1811. She d. July 2G, 1841. He d. January 
 2, 1828. 
 
 Stephek and Lccy Jones had children — Stephen, Levi, d. aet. 13 months, Lucy, 
 Phebe. 
 
 Levi went to Illinois. Had children — Mary, Susan, Parmelia, Simeon. 
 
 Stephen had children — Hannah, Annie, Amanda, Asenath, Dargo B., Catherine, 
 Martha, Stephen Cooley. 
 
 Si.MEON m. Mary Chapin, dau. of his father's second wife. Had children — Han- 
 nah, Delia, David C, Henry S., Daniel, Daniel, Eliza, Parmelia, au infant, Sarah, 
 Irene, Charles. 
 
IN MEMORIAM. 193 
 
 CC. (See pages 90, 140.) 
 
 On the occasion of the death of Capt. Hubbard the following lines 
 •were penned bj Hon. G. M. Hsk of Palmer : — 
 
 CAPT, HEXRY A. HUBBARD.* 
 
 Comes there a mournful message, 
 
 On wings of lightning sped, 
 Thrilling the ear witii sadness, 
 
 Whispering, " He is dead \" 
 
 Brief is the touching stor}', 
 
 How at his country's call, 
 Went he forth in his armor, 
 
 To conquer or to fall. 
 
 Bravely his comrades leading, — 
 . On to the strife they go. 
 Bearing the nation's standard 
 To the soil of the foe. 
 
 Over the trackless ocean, 
 
 Rounding the stormy capes, 
 Where the hurricane dashes 
 
 The sea in mountain shapes 
 
 Hearing the distant thunder, 
 
 Seeing the murky smoke. 
 Knows he the strife of battle 
 
 Rages at Roanoke 1 
 
 Turns on his fevered pillow, 
 
 Starts with commanding word ; 
 Calls for his faithful comrades. 
 
 Asks for his trusty sword. 
 
 " Onward all! to the struggle ! 
 Charge ! the foe is near ! 
 Mount to his frowning ramparts! 
 Plant our standard there ! " 
 
 Wandering thus in fancy. 
 
 He leads his comrades on ; 
 Crushing the foe before him. 
 
 Until the field is won. 
 
 Hushed is the din of battle. 
 Hushed is the cannon's roar ; 
 
 •Died on shipboard, in Pamlico Sound, February 12, 1862, the fourth day after the battle at 
 Boauoke Island. 
 
 25 
 
194 APPENDIX. 
 
 And sleeps the young Commamler, — 
 Sleeps to awake no more. 
 
 Homeward they gentl}' bear him, 
 
 Over the foamy track, — 
 Anxiously hearts are waiting, 
 
 Waiting the welcome back. 
 
 Sad, oh sad, is the welcome, 
 
 That greets the soldier's bier; 
 Voices are hushed in sorrow — 
 
 Rapidly falls the tear. 
 
 Solemn the muffled drum-heat, 
 
 Slow is the measured tread ; 
 Bearing the youthful captain, 
 
 To his home with the dead. 
 
 riark ! 'tis the parting volley, 
 
 Firing over his grave ! — 
 The last sad act is finished, 
 
 And rests the young and brave. 
 
 " Come to the bridal chamber," 
 Bind on the weeper's brow 
 Laurel wreaths of the soldier, 
 Twined with the willow's bough. 
 
 " Green be the turf above him ; " 
 Peaceful his dreamless sleep ; 
 Ever in fond remembrance 
 His treasured meni'ry keep. 
 LuDi>ow, February 23, 1862. 
 
 DD. (See pages 89, 90, 141.) 
 
 From detailed accounts of the life and incidents of the stay in An- 
 dersonville, sent by parties who were there, we are permitted to cull 
 brief selections : — 
 
 From Jasper Harris of Holyoke : — "The brigade including my 
 regiment (16th Connecticut Volunteers) was captured April 23, 1864, 
 at Pljnnouth, N. C, and taken en route for Andersonville, where our 
 rebel guard told us was a splendid, shady camp, with plenty of new 
 barracks for shelter. We arrived at the Andersonville station at dark on 
 the evening of Ma}'^ 9. The next morning we were marclied towards 
 the stockade, a quarter of a mile away. Just before arriving at the main 
 gate we came to a rise of ground from which could be seen the whole 
 stockade, and most of the inside of it. I shall never forget the gloomy 
 and depressed feeling with which I looked on the horrible sight. The 
 
THE LUDLOW 3IAETYRS. 195 
 
 high log stockade was composed of straight young pines, cut sixteen 
 feet long, hewn on two sides, the bark peeled off, and then the log 
 sunk on end in a trench six feet deep, close together, leaving ten feet 
 at least above ground on the inside. Cross-pieces were spiked to each 
 timber horizontally, making a fence strong enough to hold cattle in- 
 stead of men. 
 
 " Eations were issued daily, being drawn into the stockade bj'- a mule 
 team, and when divided and sub-divided furnished each man a pint 
 and a-half of cob-meal and from two to four ounces of bacon. For a 
 few days we received two common-sized sticks of cord-wood to be di- 
 vided among ninety men. 
 
 " Grant's campaign had now commenced and soon more prisoners be- 
 gan to come in. After a while came the Ludlow boys. The first man 
 I met was Sergeant Perry, looking every inch a soldier, and in ex- 
 cellent health. The next w^as Flavins Putnam, a new recruit, captured 
 in his first battle. I always knew him as being a thoroughly good 
 man when I lived in Ludlow, and exceedingly strong and quick in 
 farm work, and always cheerful. 
 
 '' If I should attempt to wa-ite a complete description of Andersonville 
 and its horrors, of Wirtz, his guards and his bloodhounds, and all the 
 sights and incidents which came under my own eye there and at other 
 prisons during my eight months' stay, of the murders and robberies 
 amongst our own men, of the hanging of six of them by a court of our 
 own men, — it would fill the pages of a large book, while a part would 
 be descriptive of such monstrous cruelty and so striking to sensitive 
 minds that I am afraid it would not be believed if written." 
 
 From an account by James E. Perry of Adrian, Mich: "Just two 
 weeks from the time we were captured found us marching into the re- 
 nowned Andersonville prison pen. When introduced into that foul 
 den of crime, wretchedness and sorrow, our hearts failed us, and we 
 made up our minds for the worst, and we would rather have risked our 
 chance with the regiment even in those bloody battles of the campaign 
 of 1864. One-third of the men who occupied that vast charnel-pen lie 
 buried there to-day. 
 
 '■' Willie Washburn died August 21, Daniel Pratt, August 22, Eben- 
 ezer Lyon, September 11, Caleb Crowningshield, September 15, Hiram 
 Aldrich, the latter part of September, John Coash, during the fall, 
 Flavins Putnam, some time in September,' Joseph Miller (not from 
 Ludlow), and Albert Collins of Collins' Depot, during the summer. 
 Putnam and Coash were admitted to the hosj)ital and died there. I 
 think it can be truly said that these men died of starvation, for we 
 received nothing tliat a sick man could relish or eat." 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 AcKLET, Samuel 20 
 
 Acres, Henry 55 
 
 Action of Town on Centennial, 98 
 
 Address of Welcome 108 
 
 AiNswoRTH, Benjamin 55 
 
 Aldexs, 37 
 
 Aldex's Sash and Blind Shop, 63 
 
 Aldricii, H. W 140, 195 
 
 Andersoxville, 194 
 
 Andros, Governor 5 
 
 AxNiBAL, murder of 58 
 
 Ante-Ludlow, 1 
 
 Antisel, Perez 7 
 
 Armory at Ludlow, 2 
 
 Assessors, 175 
 
 Austin, Rev. D. R 72, 144, 145 
 
 B. 
 
 Baxister, Rev. D. K. . 
 
 " Rev. I). K., address of 
 Baptists, 
 Barber, Ebenezer 
 
 " Genealogy, 
 
 " Lewis 
 Bardwell, Oramel 
 Barker, Ichabod , 
 Bartlett, Jonathan 
 Bear Swamp, 
 Beebe, Gideon 
 Begort, Cassar 
 Bennett, George . 
 
 " Lyman . 
 Bier, getting a 
 Bliss, Abel, and the tar, 
 Booth, Edwin 
 " Eliphal 
 
 83 
 88 
 
 31,41,48 
 7, 126 
 190 
 77 
 29 
 130 
 20, 22 
 16 
 . 38 
 130 
 86 
 140 
 34 
 7 
 
 xvii, 147 
 53 
 
108 
 
 i\i)i:x. 
 
 Boundaries, 
 IJowKKK, Noah 
 ]5oYS ill Blue, 
 Bbewer Genealogy, 
 
 " Isaac, Jr. 
 Bridgks, 
 BiuDGMAN, Rev. Clicster 
 BaiGGS, Hon. A. D. 
 Brigiiam, L. H. 
 Broad Brook, 
 Brooks, Edward F. 
 Buck 1,1 X, Joseph . 
 Burr, B. F. . 
 
 " Genealogy, . 
 
 " Jonatlian 
 
 " Jonatlian & Co 
 
 " Noadifih 
 Burroughs, Stephen 
 Burt, Keubcn 
 
 Calkins' chair shop, 
 Call, Isaiah . 
 Camels, The . 
 Cedar Swamp, 
 Cemkteries, 
 Centennial Actual, 
 
 " Afterpiist, 
 
 " Committee, 
 
 " Concert, 
 
 " Il^'mn, 
 
 " Prospective 
 
 " Storm, 
 
 Center of Town, 
 CiiAriN, Hon. C. O. 
 
 Hon. Chester W 
 " Kev. D. E. 
 " Genealogy 
 " Col. Harvey 
 " Kev. Joel 
 " Bev. Nathaniel 
 
 Oliver 
 " Bev. Peletiah 
 " Shem 
 Chapman, Augustus 
 " Austin . 
 
 CiiKKKY Valley, . 
 CuooLEY, diaries . 
 Church, Early places. . 
 " Congregation!! 
 
 15, 
 
 37, Gl, 75 
 
 page. 
 . 19, CO 
 
 y. 16 
 
 140 
 
 l!S7 
 
 8, 10, 17, 29 
 
 , 85, 86, 138 
 
 82 
 
 l.JO 
 
 84 
 
 37 
 
 89, 140 
 
 64 
 
 98 
 
 190 
 
 1-30 
 
 24, 31 
 
 130 
 
 c. 
 
 
 63 
 
 32 
 
 . . 62 
 
 . 6, 36, 75, 85 
 
 34, 54, 75, 86 
 
 107 
 
 
 155 
 
 
 98, 101 
 
 
 154 
 
 
 104 
 
 
 97 
 
 
 102, 145 
 
 
 20, 29 
 
 
 151 
 
 
 xiii 
 
 
 78 
 
 
 184 
 
 
 153 
 
 . xii. 
 
 130, 184 
 
 
 32 
 
 
 9, 20 
 
 
 20, 22 
 
 
 7,126 
 
 
 140 
 
 
 69 
 
 . K 
 
 , 35, 92 
 
 
 IMO 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 72 
 
'f 
 
 IKDEX. 
 
 199 
 
 Church dedications, 
 " edifices, . 
 " establishiiiont, 
 " first, and its pastor, 
 " interests at .Tenksville, 
 " relations in town, 
 " union movement, 
 
 Clapp, Eev. W. A. 
 
 Clark, George 
 " George R. . 
 " Rev. Laban 
 " Rev. Setli . 
 
 Clough, Ambrose . 
 " Gains 
 " Genealogy, 
 " Mordecai . 
 
 CoASH, Jolm . 
 
 CoLTON, Aaron 
 Capt. 
 
 Commons, 
 
 cosgregationai.ists, 
 
 Congresses, Provincial 
 
 Continental Mill, 
 
 CooLEY Bridge, 
 " Jacob 
 
 Cotton, Edward . 
 " Gideon 
 
 " Cow Pasture," . 
 
 Crowell, Rev Joshua 
 
 Crowxingshield, Caleb 
 
 Currier, Daniel D. 
 
 CcsHMAN, Rev. C. L. 
 
 " Rev. C. L. address of 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 52. 74, 78, 81 
 19, 30, 74, 78, 81, 85, 134, 136 
 40 
 132 
 70, 79 
 83 
 44 
 72 
 59 
 98 
 32 
 31 
 97 
 55 
 192 
 55 
 140, 195 
 , 17, 126, 130 
 55 
 5, (J 
 31, 41 
 20 
 G8 
 02 
 9, 22 
 130 
 55 
 17 
 44 
 140, 195 
 140 
 82,98 
 108 
 
 D. 
 
 Damon, Dexter 
 " Peter . 
 Daniels, David 
 " Nicliolas . 
 
 Rev. W. 11. . 
 Davenport, Rev. Mr. . 
 Davis, Rev. Samuel 
 Dawes, Hon. H. L. 
 Deacons, Congregationalist 
 Deane, George H. 
 Deer Reeves, 
 Delegates, . 
 Deserters, . 
 Distillery, . 
 Districts, School . 
 
 xvu 
 35 
 
 31,35 
 59 
 85 
 22 
 
 70,71 
 
 154 
 
 172 
 
 83 
 
 7, 17 
 3G 
 55 
 64 
 34 
 
200 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Dow, Lorenzo 58 
 
 DuTTON, Genealogy ........... 191 
 
 " Oliver 36, 130 
 
 E. 
 
 Eames, Rev. Henry 49 
 
 Early Town meetings, 128 
 
 Eaton's Mill 78 
 
 Ecclesiastical Era, 40 
 
 Epitaphs, 180 
 
 F. 
 
 Facing Hills, 87 
 
 Farnum, Joel 32 
 
 Fast day in 1813, 45 
 
 Fathers, The 138 
 
 Fay and Hancock, 08 
 
 Feats of Strength, 178 
 
 Ferry, Aaron 9, 16 
 
 Financial exhibit of Centennial 157 
 
 Fires, Forest 87 
 
 FiSK, Hon. G. M 81 
 
 Fisk's Woolen Mill, 78 
 
 FiSK, Eev. F 82, 134 
 
 " Gordon M xvi, 193 
 
 " Eev. Wilbur 51, 134 
 
 Fleming, Rev. William 72 
 
 Flint, Capt. 55 
 
 " Fogg us, Doctor," 76 
 
 Fords, 61 
 
 Foster, Rev. Mr 70 
 
 "Friday," Hermit 77 
 
 Frost, Elias 52 
 
 " Samuel 32, 44, 49, 58 
 
 Fuller, Edmund W 86 
 
 Elisha 34, 58, 189 
 
 ElishaA 73 
 
 " Ezekiel 33,44,57,130 
 
 " Genealogy 188 
 
 " Harry 58 
 
 " Hon. Henry 153 
 
 Joshua 8, 16, 22, 24, 25. 38, 126 
 
 " Lothrop 130 
 
 " Eev. Stephen 23 
 
 " Young 189 
 
 '• Zera 52 
 
 Fuller's tavern, 33 
 
 Fulling mill, 63 
 
 Fund, Ministerial 73 
 
IN"DEX. 201 
 
 G. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Gardiner, Lemuel 55 
 
 Gates, Samuel 55 
 
 Glass Works G4 
 
 GooDALE, Jabez 130 
 
 Gove, Rev. Mr 50 
 
 Graduates, 177 
 
 goide-boards, 36 
 
 Gun Works, 68 
 
 II. 
 
 Hall, Kev. William 
 Hajipdbn County, 
 Harris, Jasper 
 Hascall, Rev. David 
 
 " Timothy 
 Hawks, Rev. Philo 
 Hearse, . 
 Hearse-House, 
 Hedding, Rev. E. 
 HiGHiiiR Brook, 
 Highways, 
 Hill, Collins . 
 Historian of the day, 
 Historical address. 
 History, town votes a 
 Hitchcock, Abner 
 " Joseph 
 
 " Josiah 
 
 Hog-Reeves, 
 HoLDicii, Rev. Dr. 
 " Homestead " notice, 
 Hopeful outlook. 
 Horse company, . 
 Horse-sheds 
 Howard, Rev. Bezaleel 
 
 " John 
 Hubbard, Elisha . 
 
 " Genealogy 
 
 " John 
 
 " John, Jr., 
 
 " John P. 
 
 " Henry A. 
 
 Titus . 
 
 " Warren 
 
 Hutchinson, Gov. 
 
 " Rev. Mr. 
 
 
 79 
 
 
 57 
 
 
 194 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 77 
 
 
 72 
 
 
 54 
 
 
 54 
 
 . 44, 50, 134 
 
 . IG, 92 
 
 3G, 37, 75, 85 
 
 33, 166 
 
 146 
 
 124 
 
 158 
 
 . 8, 20, 123 
 
 9, 16, 22, 130 
 
 8 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 78 
 
 
 157 
 
 
 142 
 
 
 55 
 
 
 54 
 
 
 26 
 
 
 55 
 
 
 26,35 
 
 
 189 
 
 
 9, 20 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 . 98, 100 
 
 
 140, 193 
 
 
 179 
 
 
 55 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 22 
 
 26 
 
202 
 
 IXDEX. 
 
 I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Incitements, 93 
 
 IXCOKPORATION, act of 13 
 
 LvDiAN Leap, 2, 8G, 138, 1&9 
 
 " Orcliard, 77 
 
 " Roaring Tliunder, 2 
 
 Indians, Facing Hills tragedy, 3 
 
 " purchase from 4 
 
 " resorts of 2, 159, IGO 
 
 " retreat of 2, 138 
 
 Inventions, 08 
 
 Itinekants, early 51 
 
 Jenks, Benjamin . 
 " Washington 
 Jenksville, M. E. Church 
 
 " operatives, 
 
 Jennings, Heriah . 
 " John 
 
 " Joseph , 
 
 Joceltn, Kev. A. . 
 Johns, Kev. Mr. . 
 Johnson, John 
 Jones, Genealogy . 
 " Joseph 
 " Stephen 
 
 26, 
 
 53, G4, 136 
 64 
 84 
 69 
 9,16 
 32, 33, 36, 38 
 130 
 49 
 47 
 130 
 1112 
 10, 20 
 44,53 
 
 K. 
 
 Kendall, Chester 55 
 
 Genealogy 189 
 
 " Jacob 16 
 
 James 8, 16, 20, 29, 30, 126 
 
 " Selah 55 
 
 Kevks, Timothy 26, 29, 04 
 
 King, Samuel 87 
 
 L. 
 
 Lahor and its rewards, 141 
 
 " value in 1841, 57 
 
 Lamboed, Kev. B. F 50 
 
 Landon, Kev. G 85 
 
 Lathrop, Kev. J 26 
 
 Lee, Kev. Mr 85 
 
 Leonard, Hon. N. T 152 
 
 Letter, an old 166 
 
 " an old church .......... 166 
 
INDEX. 
 
 203 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Literary address, 112 
 
 Log cabins, 57 
 
 Lombard, bear story 38 
 
 David 130 
 
 Jonathan 8, 17, 126, 130 
 
 LojfGEviTV of inhabitants, 86 
 
 Ludlow and Hampden, 18 
 
 " Center post-office, 87 
 
 " city, 35 
 
 " Edmund 18,120 
 
 " England 17, 103 
 
 " in the 18th century, 12 
 
 " manufacturing company (1st.), 83 
 
 " manufacturing company (2d), 84 
 
 " mills company, 84 
 
 " New Brunswick 17 
 
 " of to-day, SO 
 
 " Roger 18 
 
 " Vermont 17 
 
 Lymax, Rev. T 85 
 
 Lyon, David 1G7 
 
 " Ebenezer 89, 140, 105 
 
 " Gad 27, 167 
 
 " Genealogy 191 
 
 Lyons, 37 
 
 M. 
 
 Manufacturing, changes by 
 
 " first 
 
 Masonic, 
 
 Mayo, Rev. "Warren 
 McDuFFEE, Rev. S. V, 
 McFarland, Charles 
 McKiNSTRY, Rev. J. 
 McLean, Rev. A. . 
 
 " F. F. 
 McLean's mill. 
 Meeting House, 1st, 
 Meetings, first town, 
 
 " prelim, district 
 
 Methodism at Jenksville, 
 " beginnings of 
 
 " second efibrt 
 
 JVIethodist church, 
 Methodist ears of corn, 
 " itinerants, . 
 
 " legal society, 
 
 Mexican war. 
 Militia, 
 Miller, Dr. A. J. . 
 
 46 
 
 50, 5 
 
 8, 59 
 
 71, 
 
 1*5, 
 70 
 
 50, 71 
 xii, 130, 
 
 66 
 63 
 76 
 82 
 82 
 
 140 
 26 
 
 134 
 98 
 38 
 
 130 
 
 , 17 
 10 
 85 
 31 
 49 
 
 134 
 58 
 41 
 
 , 73 
 77 
 
 1G9 
 
 185 
 
201 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Miller brothers, . 
 
 " Cliarles L. 
 
 " Corner 
 
 " Daniel 
 
 " Genealogy 
 
 " Georpe 
 
 " Col. John . 
 
 " Joseph, 1st 
 
 '• Joseph '2d 
 
 " Leonard 
 
 " Rev. Simeon 
 
 " Sylvester . 
 
 " William 
 
 " Dr. W. B. 
 
 MlLLERlSM, , 
 
 Miller's barn burned, 
 " child hurt, 
 " child's shoe, 
 
 MiNEACIIOGUE, 
 
 Ministers, Congregational 
 " Jenksville 
 
 M. E. . 
 Moderators,* 
 Moody, Eev. Eli . 
 
 " John . 
 
 " Sylvester . 
 Mortuary record, 
 Mddge, Kev. Z. A. 
 MuNGER, Erastus . 
 
 Name, theories of . 
 
 Nash, Francis 
 " Joel, mill 
 " Julius . ' . 
 " Dr. Sylvester 
 
 Newell, Mary B. . 
 
 Nick and Tarzy 
 
 Noox, Kev. A. 
 
 20. ] 
 
 0,9, 
 
 N. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 187 
 6, 3.5, oG 
 . 55, 7.3 
 185 
 130 
 85, ItiO 
 6, 3G, 38, 12G 
 . 52, 130 
 1.30 
 xvii, 81, 147 
 55 
 178 
 52, 147 
 72 
 34 
 84 
 39 
 
 16, 17, 37, 77 
 
 171 
 
 172 
 
 171 
 
 173 
 
 47 
 
 53 
 
 G4 
 
 75 
 
 78 
 
 55 
 
 17, 18, 163, 1G4 
 55 
 38 
 65 
 29 
 146 
 59 
 98. 100 
 
 o. 
 
 Oakley, ballad 169 
 
 Olds, Samuel 33 
 
 " Thirza, 59 
 
 Orcutt, David 49 
 
 Organization, petition for 11 
 
 " and struggles, . 127 
 
 OsTRANDEK, TJev. Daniel .......... ."2 
 
 Outward, Commons 17, IGl 
 
INDEX. 
 
 205 
 
 Paine and Wright 
 " David, 
 " Jedediah 
 " Jonatlian 
 " Pai.mek Journal" notice, 
 Parish, 1st Congregational 
 Parsons, Adin 
 
 Elisha T. 
 " Ezra 
 " Reuben . 
 " Robert 
 Pease, H. M. 
 " Levi . 
 " Simeon 
 " Rev. William 
 Perry, James E. 
 Petition for celebration 
 Phelps, Rev. Abner 
 
 PlIYSICIAXS, . 
 
 Pickering, Rev. G. 
 Pierce, Zebinus 
 Plan of work, 
 Plumlet, Elijah 
 Plumlet's saw-mill. 
 Poem at Centennial, 
 Pond, Mineachogue 
 
 " Wood's 
 Postmaster's, 
 Potash, Fuller's 
 Potatoes, value of 
 Potts, A. 0. 
 Pounds, . 
 Pratt, Daniel 
 
 " TjTUS 
 
 Priest, Rev. Zadoc 
 Programme of Centennial, 
 Prominent men, . 
 Prospects of town, 
 Provisions at Centennial 
 Putnam, Abner 
 
 " Flavius A. 
 
 " Genealogy 
 Putt's bridge, 
 
 31 
 
 89, 
 
 page. 
 32, 1G5 
 58. 130 
 
 32, 1G.5 
 
 34 
 
 ].JC) 
 73 
 f)5 
 73 
 9, 17 
 55 
 
 140 
 
 140 
 G4 
 54 
 44 
 
 195 
 97 
 43 
 
 177 
 
 31 
 
 C5 
 
 xviii 
 
 179 
 78 
 
 147 
 86 
 52 
 
 177 
 
 63 
 
 57 
 
 89, 140 
 
 36 
 
 140, 195 
 
 33, 1.30 
 
 32 
 
 98, 103 
 
 92 
 
 06 
 
 100 
 
 64 
 
 140, 195 
 
 192 
 
 57,62 
 
 O. 
 
 QuARTERLV meeting. 
 
 49 
 
206 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 R. 
 
 Ratner, Rev.. Menzies . 
 Rebellion record, 
 Rkd Bridge, . 
 Repairing old church, . 
 Representatives, 
 " Republican, Springfield " 
 Responsive address, 
 Revivals, 
 
 Revolutionary war. 
 Riddle, a . . . 
 Roberts, Rev. Geo. 
 Robinson, Hon. G. D. . 
 Rogers, Rev. C. D. 
 Rood, Asaliel . 
 
 " Joseph . 
 
 " Zephaniah . 
 Root, Amos . . 
 
 " Genealogy . 
 
 " Hezekiah 
 
 Sampson, Rev. Mr. 
 Sanderson, Rev. A. 
 School committees, 
 School-houses, 
 
 " matters, 
 Schools, singing 
 
 " support of 
 ScRANTON, John 
 
 " Samuel . 
 
 Selectmen, . 
 Settlement of town, 
 SiiATTUCK, Veranus 
 Shay's rebellion, . 
 Sheldon, James . 
 Shell for dinner hour, 
 Shelter Rock, 
 Sherman, Rev. D. 
 Shingle swamp, . 
 Sickness of 1814, . 
 SiKES, Abncr 
 
 " Benjamin 
 
 " Benjamin, 2d, 
 
 " Edward 
 
 " Genealogy . 
 
 " Increase 
 
 " John . 
 
 " Reuben 
 
 notice 
 
 s. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 32 
 87 
 75 
 53 
 13, 3G, 17G 
 
 155 
 
 112 
 40, 70, 82, 85 
 13, 21, 129 
 
 107 
 31 
 
 153 
 72 
 55 
 77 
 35 
 55 
 
 190 
 03 
 
 50 
 
 74 
 
 176 
 
 35 
 
 56 
 
 35, 57 
 
 34 
 
 31 
 
 30, 130 
 
 174 
 
 127 
 
 65, 76 
 
 33 
 
 7, 126 
 
 39 
 
 10 
 
 78 
 
 16 
 
 46 
 
 16, 20 
 
 38, 126 
 
 56 
 
 86 
 
 184 
 
 75 
 
 8, 16, 26, 29 
 179 
 
 7, 34 
 
INDEX. 
 
 207 
 
 SiKES, Theodore . 
 Slater, Samuel 
 Slave, a 
 Slow progress. 
 Small pox scare, . 
 Smith, Rev. Lemuel 
 " Martin 
 " Stephen H. 
 " Stukely 
 Snell, Rev. Mr. 
 Soldiers in rebellion, 
 " in revolution, 
 in 1812, 
 Soldiers' monument. 
 Source of civil institutions, 
 SrRiNGFiELD, Atliol and North-Eastern railr 
 " manufacturing company, 
 
 " original bounds, 
 
 " water works. 
 
 Squires, Ezekiel . 
 Stearns, Hon. G. M. 
 Steebins, Mayor J. M. 
 
 S. B. . 
 Steward, Rev. A. 
 Stone, Rev. William 
 Stony Hill, . 
 Storm, a thunder , 
 Storrs, Rev. R. S. 
 Sub-committees of Centennial 
 
 oad. 
 
 14 
 
 , 2G, 
 
 27, 28; 
 
 ,31 
 
 2, 17 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 xiii, 73 
 
 64 
 
 7 
 
 126 
 
 58 
 
 32 
 
 55 
 
 04 
 
 65 
 
 23 
 
 90 
 
 130 
 
 55 
 
 87 
 
 40 
 
 86 
 
 65, 67, 79 
 
 4 
 
 91 
 
 9, 17 
 
 152 
 
 150 
 
 xvii 
 
 42, 123 
 
 23 
 
 19, 127 
 77 
 26 
 99 
 
 T. 
 
 Talbot, Governor 145 
 
 Tax collecting, 38, 168 
 
 Temperance record, 87 
 
 Temple, Thomas 130 
 
 Thornton's Mill, ' 03 
 
 TiiuRBER, Rev. Laban 43 
 
 Toasts at Centennial, 145 
 
 Tolland circuit, 32 
 
 " Tolland county press " notice, 157 
 
 Town clerks, 173 
 
 Town-House, 87 
 
 Town instead of district, 39 
 
 " meetings, places for 30 
 
 " officers, 16, 17, 38, 178 
 
 " unity, ]U 
 
 Town, who constitute a 1 
 
 Tuck, Rev. J. W 75, 146 
 
 Rev. J. W., address of 124 
 
 Tucker, Rev. T. W 50 
 
208 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PaOE. 
 
 Undkuwood, Rev. Mr 82 
 
 Union cliurcli at Jenksville, . 85 
 
 " Union," Springfield, notice, 166 
 
 V. 
 
 Vice Presidents at Centennial, 107 
 
 Village opportunities, 84, 136 
 
 w. 
 
 Wallamanumps, . 
 Waknek, Zechariah 
 
 " Zechariah, Jr., 
 Warning out, 
 War of 1812, . 
 Wauriner, Isaac 
 " Israel 
 
 Washburn, W. W 
 Wesletan praying band 
 Western railroad, 
 White, Rev. L. 
 
 " Rev. L. address 
 Wilder, Moses 
 Wilkinson, George 
 Willard, Rev. Joseph 
 WiLLEY, Benajah 
 
 " Joel 
 Williams, Rev. N. 
 
 WiNSOR, R. H. 
 
 Wolves, 
 
 Wood and Merritt, 
 Wood, Charles F. . 
 " Gordon B. . 
 " Harvey 
 Woodward, Rev. Aaron 
 Wright, Abel 
 
 " Cyprian . 
 
 Rev. E. B. 
 
 " murder, . 
 
 1, 3.3, 37, 56, 61, (\i, 78,137 
 9 
 9 
 36 
 54 
 17 
 0, 17, 26, 35 
 140, 195 
 83 
 85 
 1-J6 
 140 
 29, 130 
 64 
 26 
 8, 16 
 8, 16 
 26 
 84 
 38 
 79, 83 
 55 
 55 
 55 
 23 
 44 
 130 
 
 47,48,72, 7.3,74,86, 147 
 77 
 
 z. 
 
 Zenith of century, 
 
 66 
 
LITDLOAV. 
 
 1 juiiiitni^f^ 
 
 'J^sl ^ 
 
 AND 
 
 A CENTENNIAL. 
 
 f LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.? 
 
 (^/le,/, 
 
 u- 
 
 .// 
 
 :; z ? 
 
 » UMTED .STATliS UK AiMBUICA. J 
 
 ^1 
 
 •n^^ 
 
* D - 4. 6. 
 
'•f 
 
 ^^^ U ,^ ¥• "^ c;^ ^^^^A-; ^ ^ *;i 
 
 
 
 <y . o • o ^ "^ 
 
 
 
 5^ Z^-^''" -^ ^ ^N 
 
 
 
 • * O j/* " " * -^^ 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 . >■ ' • 
 
 ^Ao^ 
 
 
 
 ^°-^^ 
 
 /.■ 
 
 V 
 
 
 /k^ 
 
 o 
 
 \^ .. -^ "'"' f° V. *•-• ^^^ 
 
 
 •» \ 
 
 
 "^ ' 
 

 
 •6 "ci 
 
 
 ^-. A^ 
 
 v^^ 
 
 %.<^ 
 
 A' 
 
 ST. AUGUSTINE !y