rJ/<*>?/oVlJ''",i/i'V<[iV/C)r"VO;'A'CiS?'y(V'^M<'V/;'jS^j>' \*1r\l.ti'>X<' 'y,O?'iVWr"'i'6';!'.''.';7'''J7/\^U''''<0r - SUFFIELD Class ___L 1 o^- Book -:S2^^e A QUARTER MILLENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF SUFFIELD, CONNECTICUT OCTOBER 12, 13 AND 14, ig20 WITH SKETCHES FROM ITS PAST AND SOME RECORD OF ITS LAST HALF CENTURY AND OF ITS PRESENT SUFFIELD PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE GENERAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE I921 LI8WAKY OF CONGfti^SS i^ccstvtt:) JAN13192''* DOCUMCNTS OlViitON CONTENTS The Quarter Millennial Page Settlement 9 Official Action '^ Organization and Committees ^4 Program ^° Sabbath Prelude 22 Tuesday, the First Day Welcome by George A. Peckham 24 Response by Seymour C. Loomis ^5 Historical Address by Prof. William Lyon Phelps 3^ Collation and Speaking 47 Community Dance 54 Wednesday, the Second Day Organ Recital by Prof. William C. Hammond 55 Address by Dr. Stephen S. Wise 55 The Pageant 59 Thursday, the Third Day Parade 77 Dedication of Tablets 79 Address by Henry B. Russell °5 The Hostess House The List of Exhibits 92 Miller Collection of Indian Relics loi Letters from Suffield Sons and Daughters 102 In Other Days Pioneers ^°^ Deerfield Captives ^ ^° Early Courts and Lawyers, Christopher Jacob Lawton 112 General Phinehas Lyman ^ ^4 Gideon Granger, Hezekiah Huntington, William Gay "8 Calvin Pease 120 Ministers and Laymen, Ebenezer Gay, Asahel Morse I20 Calvin Philleo, Dwight Ives ^21 122 123 Old Ferry 125 Fisheries, The Island, Enfield Bridge 126 Slaves, The Old Clock 129 Burial Grounds ^32 X^dlVlli X lllll'-^-', j_yv»i^iii. J. » *^ij Apollos Phelps, Sylvester Graham, Timothy^ j&an . Great River and Stony Brook, Old Mills. CONTENTS Church, School and Library Page First Congregational Church 137 West Suffield Congregational Church 139 First Baptist Church 141 Second Baptist Church 143 West Suffield Methodist Church 145 Calvary' Episcopal Church 146 Third Baptist Church 147 Sacred Heart Church 147 St. Joseph's Church 148 Public Schools and School Houses 149 Suffield School 153 Libraries. 157 The Kent Memorial 159 Sheldon Collection l6i Landmarks Jonathan Sheldon Place 165 Hatheway Place 166 Gay Manse, Joseph Pease House 167 Spencer Place 169 Gay Mansion, Luther Loomis Place 170 Granger Place 171 Timothy Swan House, Old Harmon Place 172 Medad Pomeroy, Leavitt and Posthumous Sikes Places 173 King Place, Gad Lane Tavern, the Pool 174 Seth Austin Tavern 175 List of Old Houses 1 76 Turnpikes and Taverns 179 Crooked Lane 181 The Post Office 182 Civil War Days and Since Changes in Population 183 Tobacco 186 Suffield in the Wars 189 Soldiers' Monument 19O Red Cross Chapter 191 Banks 192 Publishers 194 Physicians 194 Emergency Aid Association 195 Village of Suffield and Fire Department 196 Apollo Lodge No. 59 A. F. A. M 198 Daughters of the American Revolution 2C0 Woman's Reading Club and Ladies' Wide Awake Club 201 Mapleton Hall, the Grange, May Breakfasts 201 Mapleton Literary Club 203 The Town 203 Tribute to Suffield Benefactors 205 ILLUSTRATIONS Page "Something Towards the Great River" Frontispiece The Granger Maple Facing 8 General Executive Committee " i6 Chairmen of Special Committees " i? Chairmen Pageant Committees " 3^ Speakers 33 Pageant Poster 4^ Airplane View of Pageant Grounds S^ A Pageant Scene on Stony Brook " 6o Pageant Groups °' Two Views of 7000 Spectators " 64 The Breeze Brings News of White Men Following 64 Major Pynchon Reading the Treaty " 64 The Stranger appears to the Pilgrims " 64 Pynchon Presiding at First Town Meeting " 64 Benjamin Franklin Surveying Through Suffield Facing 65 The Lexington Alarm ' "5 Washington Addressing the Townspeople " 68 Minuet in Honor of Washington " 68 Colonists Resist Tyranny " 69 Discussing Civil War News " 69 People at Tablet Dedication " 76 Service Men in World War " 80 Pageant Characters in Parade " 80 The Tablets Following 80 Float of Daughters of the American Revolution Facing 81 Float of Suffield Grange " 84 Mapleton Literary Club " §4 Float of Woman's Reading Club " 85 Float of Wide Awake Club " 85 Float of Polish People " 92 Suffield Firemen 9^ West Suffield School Children " 93 Town Hall Decorated " 93 Hostess House and Interior " 96 Indian Relics ' 97 The Old Boston Neck Dam " 97 Suffield Center and Shaded Common " 104 Enfield Bridge " 128 The Old Ferry Boat "Cora" " 128 Looking Eastward From Suffield Mountain " 129 Stony Brook Ledge " I44 First Congregational Church Following 144 Boulder on Site of First Meeting House " I44 First Baptist Church, Zion's Hill I44 Second Baptist Church 144 ILLUSTRATIONS Page West Suffield Methodist Church Facing 145 Second Congregational, Church West Suffield " 145 Calvary Episcopal Church " 148 Third Baptist Church " 148 Sacred Heart Church and Rectory " 149 St. Joseph's Church and Rectory " 149 Connecticut Literary Institution, Old View " 156 Suffield School, North Building " 160 Suffield School, Old Middle and Old South Following 160 Kent Memorial Library " 160 Captain Jonathan Sheldon House Facing 161 Home of Posthumous Sikes " 161 Gad Lane Tavern " 164 Hatheway Place " 164 Alfred Spencer Place " 165 Gay Manse " • 165 Leavitt Place " 172 King Place " 172 Granger Place " 173 Harmon Place " I73 Pease Place " 176 Seth Austin Tavern " 176 Captain Medad Pomeroy Place Following 176 Luther Loomis Place " 176 Timothy Swan House " 176 Gay Mansion " 176 Corners in Parlor, Gay Mansion Facing 177 Dining Room and a Bed Room, Gay Mansion " 180 Hall, Gay Mansion " 181 The Pool " 181 Suffield Veterans Association " 188 First National and Suffield Savings Banks " 192 A Suffield Tobacco Plantation " I93 Suffield Benefactors " 205 THE GRANGER MAPLE Planted by Launcelot Granger, who died 1689 "Jn unrememheri'd Past Broods like a presence 'mid the long gray boughs Of this old tree, which has outlived so long The flitting generations of mankind. QUARTER MILLENNIAL A generation pauses at a milestone of the family and com- munity life of an old New England town, commemorates two centuries of civic existence, reviews the lengthening past, recalls its traditions and revives its memories. As life goes on, familiar faces disappear; new figures move and meet upon the ancient streets, another cemetery upon another hill raises its monu- ments over other graves, one by one as that generation vanishes. Then its children and its grandchildren, themselves grown to maturity or even passed into the gathering twilight of their lives, pause at another milestone, commemorate another half century of their old New England town and reread the story of its longer past. In 1870 the people of Suflfteld, Connecticut, celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of the date on which the General Court at Massachusetts Bay granted to Captain John Pynchon, Captain EHzur Holyoke, Lieutenant Thomas Cooper, Quarter- master George Colton, Ensign Benjamin Cooley, and Rowland Thomas of Springfield "liberty for the erecting of a Touneship on the West side of ye Ryuer Connecticott towards Windsor." In 1920 another generation of the people of SuflReld cele- brated the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of that simple but heroic beginning along an early forest trail. The generation of Sufiield men, who planned and who parti- cipated in the celebration of 1870, published a book to mark the event in the old town's history; the book is treasured in many Suffield families today and will be henceforth. Following in the footsteps of their fathers, the Suffield people of today have co-operated to publish this book to mark in the history of the old town the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of that same simple but heroic beginning, to add something to the record, and to leave it as a picture of Suffield as it is in this generation which, following others as the years pass, will ere long vanish from the familiar scenes. About thirty-five years before this beginning of another lO QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD township in the valley of the Connecticut, three of the eight towns then in the struggling settlement of Massachusetts Bay developed opposition to the authority of the magistrates and a desire to more extensively control their local affairs through their own elected boards of selectmen. Ecclesiastical leaders like John Warham and John Maverick of Dorchester and Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone of Newtown and lay leaders like John Haynes and William Pynchon promoted democratic influences that soon moved pastors and members of their flocks to sell their scanty belongings to new comers from England and to journey, either around by the coast and up the river, or across the Massachusetts wilderness, to the settlement of the Connecticut Valley. Hooker and Stone went to Hartford, Warham to Windsor and Pynchon with eight companions set- tled Springfield. Together with Wethersfield these primitive townships became the centers of influence for other settlements up and down the valley in the next few years, and for a brief period all acted together to order their common affairs, notwith- standing the assumed authority of Massachusetts Bay. William Pynchon and his associates accounted themselves a part of the Connecticut colony and acted with the other towns in estab- lishing their General Court and government, after the expira- tion of the Massachusetts commission in 1637. Plans of a union of the two colonies for mutual defense, suggested by Hook- er, failed because Massachusetts laid claim to jurisdiction over Springfield. A few years later William Pynchon, who had written a book much in advance of his times, which was burned on Boston Common, returned to England and his son Major John Pynchon became an energetic pioneer in the extension of settlements in the valley. The Massachusetts claim to jurisdiction over Springfield had been established and two strong motives for Major Pynchon's enterprise may be distinguished in the records he left — the extension of a profitable trade, especially in furs, and a relief from political loneliness and the perils of existence in a wilderness in which the Indians, though friendly at the time, greatly out-numbered the white settlers. His hunters and trap- pers made trails through the forests about them and where Suffield now is, spied out the possibilities for meadow lands up QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD II and down the river on either side, and from time to time, under his leadership, encouragement and backing ventured upon new settlements. When in 1654, with Elizur Holyoke and others, he petitioned the General Court at Boston for liberty to erect a township fifteen miles up the river, he gave as one of the reasons, "We being alone may by this means have some more neighborhood." To the East lay an unbroken wilderness of eighty miles between them and the nearest settlement at the Bay. On the North a wilder forest stretched to Canada; on the West to the Dutch at Albany. To the South were the nearer Connecticut settlements, but at about this time came a fresh crisis in the relations of the Connecticut and Massachusetts Bay colonies, and Major Pynchon found Springfield almost alone as a Massachusetts town on the river. His petition of 1654 was granted and thus was Northampton settled. Notwithstanding disagreements over jurisdiction and bound- aries, these people, scattered up and down the valley in a com- mon struggle for existence and devoted to the same religious principles, traded and visited much with each other; and, as they traveled back and forth, there came into use the North- ampton Road, running through lands belonging to the Indians and connecting the settlements down the river with those above — a road that led through the Stony Brook region where South Street, Remington Street and the Zion's Hill road now run. On this road was the beginning of Suffield. Doubtless with a vision of the future, Pynchon at various times had purchased from their Indian owners lands between the uncertain northern boundaries of Windsor and the southern bounds of Springfield and Westfield — incorporated in 1669 — for thirty pounds, and with his associates gained the liberty October 12, 1670 to erect a township. It was later resold to settlers as they could be found, at rates to yield him forty pounds, no more and no less, and it was a long time after he had built saw mills and corn mills on Stony Brook to promote settlement, after he had rebuilt them from the ashes left by King Philip's war, that he got his money back. He and his Springfield asso- ciates held many meetings at Stony Brook in the first few years, and, if in their reports there were notes of discouragement. 12 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD there were also stronger notes of determination. In 1672 they laid out High Street and the record adds, "hereabouts we deter- mined the Meeting House to be set having ordered some vacant land here for a Training Place, etc." This was the beginning of Suffield Center and the Common. Gradually the progenitors of the old SufReld families came, at first from Springfield, later and to a larger extent from Hart- ford and Windsor, and from Ipswich, Newbury, Rowley, and other towns of the Massachusetts Bay settlement where the conflict between central and local government persisted and drove into the Connecticut valley an advanced type of democ- racy, destined to leave its impress deeply upon the constitu- tional forms of a great republic. Though Suffield two generations later and as a result of its own persistent inclinations and struggles passed from the juris- diction of Massachusetts to that of Connecticut, it will ever bear the imprint of the hard tasks and determined work of Major Pynchon. His struggle and his triumph in the settle- ment of the town may some day gain a memorial more explicit, though no more enduring, than the Common and main highways that he fashioned in the forests. Official Action To provide for the fitting observance of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of this beginning of Suffield, its townsmen in their town meetings took the necessary official action and through their appointed committees made the necessary prep- arations for the event. At the annual town meeting of Suffield held October 7, 191 8, Mr. Samuel R. Spencer offered the following resolution which was unanimously passed. Voted: that a preliminary committee of five be appointed by the Assistant Moderator, Mr. George A. Peckham, said com- mittee to include himself, which committee is to investigate the proper form of celebrating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the town, and to report to the annual town meeting in 1919. Said committee is also to ask the Board of Finance to include QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD I3 in its recommendations such sum as said committee may deem ample to carry out such celebration. At the adjourned Town Meeting held March i, 1919, it was voted that the report of George A. Peckham appointing Edward A. Fuller, Edward Perkins, Samuel R. Spencer, Hobart G. Trues- dell and George A. Peckham as a committee for the celebrating of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Suffield, be approved and placed on record. This committee met at the Suffield School, Saturday, March 15, 1919, and organized as follows: Edward A. Fuller, Chairman of the Executive Committee; later also Chairman of the Tablet Committee. George A. Peckham, Vice-Chairman of the Executive Com- mittee; Chairman of the Speakers and Program Committee. Samuel R. Spencer, Secretary of the Executive Committee; Chairman of the Historical Committee. H. G. Truesdell, Chairman of the Pageant Committee. Edward Perkins, Chairman of the Invitation Committee. An informal discussion of the plan of the celebration took place, and it was decided to ask the Finance Committee to recommend an appropriation of $6,000, and this sum was voted by the Town at its annual meeting, October, i, 1919. As the scope of the celebration widened additional sums were voted as follows: $1,000, at the special Town Meeting held in March, 1920, to make good $1,000 of the original appropriation which had been used for the Welcome Home celebration; $3,000 at a special Town Meeting held Saturday, June 5th, 1920, for the purchase of bronze tablets commemorative of Suffield's citizens who have served their country in her various wars; $1,500 at the annual Town Meeting held Monday, October 4, 1920, when it was voted that the Town appropriate $1,500 additional to defray the expense of making the Pageant free; $500 at said meeting to go toward the publishing of the account of the cele- bration; a total of $11,000. At the special Town Meeting held Wednesday, March 10, 1920, the following vote was passed: Voted: that the matter of placing Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Tablets and having charge of same, be left with Ed- ward A. Fuller and such committee as he may desire. This 14 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD committee subsequently decided to place the Tablets on the Town Hall and to put on them the names, as far as obtainable, of all who have served in any of the country's wars. At a meeting of the Executive Committee held in November, 1919 Professor Jack R. Crawford of Yale University was present and explained the nature and costs of the Pageant, and it was voted to engage him to write and produce it. It was also voted to have a three days' celebration commencing October 12, 1920, and a tentative program was formulated, substantially that which was carried out later on. During the winter of 1919-1920, the Executive Committee held about twenty meetings at which the various committees were appointed and the details of the celebration mapped out. Everyone in town co-operated most heartily and to this co-opera- tion the success of the celebration was due. The Committees The organization in its honorary Vice-Presidents and Com- mittees was made representative of the whole town and inclu- ded both those bearing the family names of its first settlers and those who in more recent years have become its citizens. The interest and service of all was invited and secured under the direction of the General Executive Committee and the chairmen of the various committees for special undertakings and service. This organization was as follows: General Executive Committee: Edward A. Fuller, President, George A. Peckham, Vice-President, Edward Perkins, Samuel R. Spencer, Hobart G. Truesdell. Honorary Vice-Presidents, Henry Adams, Joseph Adams, Hugh M. Alcorn, Brainard L. Alderman, Dominic Alfano, Leander W. Allen, Albert R. Austin, Arthur H. Austin, Charles T. Austin, Curtis Babb, John Barnett, Sr., Samuel Barr, John Barrisford, Rev. Bartkowski, David Birge, David L. Brockett, Howard A. Button, John B. Cannon, Daniel N. Car- rington, George Clark, Willette B. Clark, William A. Cone, John Conley, Lewis J. Cook, Luther N. Curtis, James Davis, John A. Davis, Luther P. Davis, Thomas F. Devine, George A. Douglass, Ephrlam A.'Dunston, Harlow F. Edwards, Daniel Egan, Horace G. Eggleston, Rev. Ellison, Joseph B. Fairfield, Rev. E. Scott Farley, Michael Fleming, John Ford, Ariel Frost, Charles S. Fuller, Dwight S. Fuller, Rev. Victor L. Greenwood, QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 1 5 Robert L. Greer, Justin Griffin, Servilius A. Griswold, Herbert E. Halladay, Thomas S. Hamilton, George A. Harmon, Lemuel F. Hart, Frank L. Harvey, Charles E. Haskins, James O. Haskins, Frank E. Hastings, James E. Hastings, Charles Hatheway, Ern- est A. Hatheway, George M. Hendee, Egerton Hemenway, Rev. Hennessey, Wallace Holcomb, Watson L. Holcomb, Edwin L. Humason, Heman Humason, Kirk Jones, Luther A. Kent, Frank E. King, John A. King, Waldo S. Knox, Peter Kulas, William S. Larkum, Hugh S. Legare, Newton R. Lewis, Rev. William A. Linnaberry, Horatio N. Loomis, John B. Loomis, Neland Loomis, Seymour C. Loomis, A. Judson Lyman, Rev. Robert S. MacArthur, Rev. Raymond Maplesden, George Martinez, Michael Maziouski, James McCarl, David McComb, John Merrill, Christopher Michel, Henry A. Miller, Neland L. Miller, Timothy Miskell, Henry J. Moran, Walter A. Morgan, Clinton H. Nelson, John W. Noble, John H. Norton, John Orr, Samuel Orr, Sr., George B. Parks, William H. Peckham, C. Irving Pheland, Julius V. Pheland, Gilbert W. Phelps, Judah Phelps, Oscar B. Phillips, Walter H. Pierce, Oscar E. Pitcher, William S. Pinney, Luther O. Pomeroy, William W. Pomeroy, Patrick M. Quinn, Frank H. Reid, Samuel H. Reid, Charles T. Remington, Lyman H. Rice, Henry B. Richmond, Judson Rising, Henry J. Roche, Henry D. Rogers, George W. Root, James B. Rose, Irving L. Russell, Fred A. Scott, Edwin S. Seymour, Henry A. Sheldon, Howard D. Sikes, Willard C. Sikes, Andrew H. Smith, Rev. Jesse F. Smith, William C. Smith, Herbert L. Spear, Elbert J. Spelman, Alfred Spencer, Jr., Charles L. Spencer, Edward Steuer, Weston L. Stiles, Eben N. Stratton, John Sullivan, Nelson A. Talmadge, Roland V. Taylor, Charles Terry, George N. Thompson, Clinton D. Towne, Seth Veits, Isaac Warner, Ewald Wever, Rev. William W. Whitman, Charles A. Wilcox, William J. Wright, Anthony Zekowski, Michael Zekowski, Reception Committee: George A. Harmon, Chairman; Louis G. Allen, Airs. Hattie S. Brockett, Fred W. Brown, Dr. William E. Caldwell, Thomas B. Cooney, Amos B. Crane, Charles S. Fuller, Dwight S. Fuller, Edward A. Fuller, Samuel H. Graham, Joseph R. Gregg, James O. Haskins, Howard A. Henshaw, Karl C. Kulle, Charles R. Latham, Matthew Leahey, Sidney Kent Legare, Miss Alena F. Owen, George A. Peckham, Edward Perkins, Edgar J. Phelps, Judah Phelps, William S. Pinney, William W. Pomeroy, Clifford H. Prior, Henry B. Russell, Howard F. Russell, Charles B. Sheldon, George A. Sheldon, Herbert L. Spear, Mrs. Sara L. Spencer, Samuel R. Spencer, Weston L. Stiles, George L. Warner, Robert W. Warren, John L. Wilson, Silas L. Wood, George B. Woodruff. Invitation Committee: Edward Perkins, Chairman; Joseph l6 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD J. Barnett, Miss Marjorie O. Beach, John B. Cannon, Francis W. Cavanaugh, Howard C. Cone, Ralph B. Ford, William S. Fuller, Marjorie E. Halladay, Howard A. Henshaw, James O. Haskins, John L. Ingraham, William C. King, Neland Loomis, John A. Murphy, Howard F. Pease, Gilbert W. Phelps, Miss Doris G. Pomeroy, Howard F. Russell, Howard D. Sikes, Charles L. Spencer, Clinton D. Towne, George L. Warner. Committee on Speakers and Programs: George A. Peckham, Chairman; Dr. William E. Caldwell, Terry J. Chapin, Edward J. Rogers, Philip Schwartz, Charles B. Sheldon, Samuel R. Spencer, Daniel J. Sweeney, George L. Warner. Historical Committee: Samuel R. Spencer, Chairman; Louis G. Allen, A. A. Brown, Harold B. Chapman, E. J. Claudell, William S. Fuller, Miss Marjorie E. Halladay, Mrs. Howard E. Hastings, Karl C. Kulle, Mrs. Robert H. Loomis, Miss Alena F. Owen, Mrs. William S. Pinney, Howard F. Rus- sell, Mrs. A. C. Sheldon, Miss Madeline H. Spencer. Tablet Committee: Edward A. Fuller, Chairman; Hugh M. Alcorn, Louis G. Allen, Albert R. Austin, Mrs. Charles C. 'Bissell, Leroy Briggs, Mrs. Hattie S. Brockett, Marshall Brown, Howard E. Caldwell, John B. Cannon, Nelson S. Cole, John H. Colson, John J. Conley, William M. Cooper, Amos B. Crane, Clifford C. Creelman, Luther N. Curtis, William Deutsch, John E. Dunn, Nelson A. Fitch, Sumner F. Fuller, Conrad Gardner, Albert R. Goodrich, Samuel H. Graham, Miss Mar- jorie E. Halladay, George A. Harmon, Francis E. Hastings, Wallace G. Hastings, George M. Hendee, Howard A. Henshaw, Jurges Janlowitz, Robert S. Jones, John J. Kennedy, Anthony Kulas, Karl C. Kulle, Charles R. Latham, Michael Leahey, Carlton B. Lees, Herman H. Loomis, Miss Gertrude E. Mac- Arthur, George A. Martinez, Miss Frances O. Mather, Christo- pher Michel, James Mitchell, Jr., Robert Orr, Miss Alena F. Owen, George B. Parks, Murray B. Parks, Edward Perkins, Newton T. Phelon, Ralph Raisbeck, Herbert E. Root, Irving L. Russell, Herbert L. Spear, Charles L. Spencer, Miss Madeline H. Spencer, Samuel R. Spencer, John Sullivan, Maximilian Svacki, Charles Terry, Harry C. Warner, John L. Wilson, William J. Wilson, Silas L. Wood. Parade Committee: James N. Root, Chairman; Joseph A. Anderson, John F. Barnett, Jr., Samuel Barriesford, Joseph F. Brackonoski, Arthur H. Bridge, Howard E. Caldwell, Eugene J. Cronin, William T. Dupont, John A. Eagleson, Frank F. Ford, William S. Fuller, Burton M. Gillette, Lemuel F. Hart, George B. Jobes, Raymond S. Kent, Karl C. Kulle, Perley D. Lillie, H. Clement Mather, James Mitchell, Jr., John W. Noble, Howard F. Pease, Gilbert W. Phelps, J. Edgar Phelps, Judson GENERAL EXECLTRE COMMITl^EE. Edward A. Fuller, President and Chairman Tablet Committee; George A. Peckham, \'ice-President and Chairman Speakers and Program Committee; Samuel R. Spencer, Secretary and Chairman Historical Committee; Hobart G. Truesdell, Chairman Pageant Committee; Edward Perkins, Chairman Invitation Committee. 'te'' ""'""v;iiiiii-""":Xv'^^'' >'•''*' ^li\ '11111' ■'''!"' S'^i^ CHAIRMEN OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES Samuel H. Graham George A. Harmon James N. Root Decoration E. C. Stratton Housing, Injormiilioh Reception, Collation Mrs. Edward A. Fuller Hostess House T. J. Nicholson Transportation Parade Charles F. Kurvin Community Dance QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 1/ L. Phelps, William S. Pinney, Henry J. Roche, Howard A. Shel- don, Frank S. Smith, Harry C. Warner, Edward M. White. Dance Committee: Charles F. Kurvin, Chairman; Joseph Barr, Mr. and Mrs. F. S. Bidwell, Jr., William H. Bridge, William Culver, Horace G. Eggleston, Charles Goodacre, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Graham, Mrs. P. W. Jones, Anthony Kulas, Carlton B. Lees, Winfield H. Loomis, James Mitchell, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Harold C. Nelson, Mrs. Fordham C. Russell, Hanford Taylor, Clive I. Thompson, Miss M. M. Thompson. Committee on Decorations: Samuel H. Graham, Chairman; Ernest N. Austin, Arthur N. Beach, Charles R. Brome, John J. Devine, James Eagleson, Robert B. Edwards, Raymond Eg- gleston, Ralph B. Ford, Mrs. Joseph A. Gibbs, Mrs. Joseph P* Graham, Paul W. Jones, Adolph L. Koster, James Mix, Samuel J. Orr, Thomas H. Smith, Ward Spaulding. Committee on Publications: Henry B. Russell, Chairman; Rev. Daniel R. Kennedy, William H. Nelson. Transportation Committee: T. J. Nicholson, Chairman; J. F. Barnett, Jr., Arthur G. Bissell, Thomas F. Cavanaugh, Samuel J. Colter, John Eagleson, John Fitzgerald, Albert R. Ford, Harvey N. Fuller, John H. Gregg, C. E. Hanford, G. M. Hastings, Nelson A. Humason, George B. Jobes, Matthew Leahey, James F. Lennon, P. D. Lillie, Clement H. Mather, Charles T. O'Brien, John O'Malley, Gordon L. Sikes, James Sullivan, Roland J. C. Wetherell, George O. Wilcox. Hostess House Committee: Mrs. Edward A. Fuller, Chair- man; Mr. and Mrs. Oley L. Allen, Mrs. Arthur N. Beach, Mrs. L. P. Bissell, Mrs Frank Brockett, Dr. H. M. Brown, Mrs. O. R. Bugbee, Mrs. W. G. Fennell, Mrs. Charles S. Fuller, Sumner F. Fuller, Mrs. D. W. Goodale, Mrs. S. H. Graham, Mrs. Edmund Halladay, Mrs. F, B. Hatheway, Mr. and Mrs. Karl C. KuUe, Mrs. Clinton H. Nelson, Mrs. William H. Nelson, Miss Emma L. Newton, Miss Alena F. Owen, Mr. and Mrs. Howard F. Pease, Mrs. Edward Perkins, Miss Myra Phelps, Mrs. A. R. Pierce, Mrs. H. D. Sikes, Mrs. C. C. Spencer, Mrs. Charles L. Spencer, Mrs. C. Luther Spencer, Jr., Mrs. P. W. Street, Mrs. Carolyn F. Sutton, D. J. Sweeney, Mrs. S. L. Wood. Housing and Information Committee: E. C. Stratton, Chair- man; Arthur L. Bessett, Willis L. Chapel, Alfred M. Gay, Dr. J. A. Gibbs, Hiram Jones, George L. Parks, N. A. Talmadge. Collation Committee: George A. Harmon, Chairman; George L. Creelman, F. F. Ford, Henry Fuller, T. H. Hauser, Dr. William Levy, Harry Kehoe, George A. Martinez, B. A. Thompson, Harry Woodworth, QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Pageant Committees Executive: H. G. Truesdell, Chairman; Mrs. C. C. Bissell, William S. Fuller, Mrs. George A. Harmon, Charles R. Latham, Mrs. George A. Peckham, William S. Pinney, James N. Root, Charles L. Spencer, Samuel R. Spencer. Business, Finance, Tickets: Charles L. Spencer, Chairman; Charles S. Bissell, Arthur H. Bridge, Charles R. Brome, O. R. Bugbee, Howard C. Cone, Edwin A. Culver, Sumner F. Fuller, Egerton Hemenway, George M. Hendee, Karl C. Kulle, John Noble, Howard F. Pease, J. E. Phelps, Samuel N. Reid, Allen C. Scott, Alfred C. Sheldon, F. H. Sheldon, Lawrence Sikes, C. Luther Spencer, Jr., Edward M. White. Publicity: Charles R. Latham, Chairman; Robert Chew, Rev. E. Scott Farley, George R. Fowler, Joseph P. Graham, Morton S. Harris, Frank M. Kearns, William C. King, William C. O'Neil, Harold K. Perkins, Judson L. Phelps, S. N. Reid, Fordham C. Russell, Howard R. Sheldon, Edwin G. Warner. Music: Mrs. Charles C. Bissell, Chairman; Mrs. Fred Brockett, Mrs. W. E. Caldwell, Miss Mary Cooper, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Couch, Amos B. Crane, Mrs. L. H. Creelman, E. G. Hastings, Miss Grace M. Hastings, Miss Margaret Hathe- way, Mrs Marshall L. Moulton, Mrs. Frank H. Reid, Mrs. James N. Root, Mrs. L L. Russell, George A. Sheldon, L. H. Sikes, Mrs. Bernard L. Sutton, Mrs. Charles F. Whittemore. Costumes and Make-up: Mrs. George A. Harmon, Chairman; Mrs. William Ailing, Miss Mary E. Atwater, Samuel Barriesford, Mrs. William Al. Cooper, Mrs. Howard C. Cone, Mrs. James Eagleson, Mrs. W. S. Fuller, Mrs. Charles C. Haskins, Mrs. Adolf L. Koster, Miss Julia Leach, Sidney Kent Legare, Miss Nellie Lipps, James O'Malley, Mrs. Joseph Patterson, Mrs. William W. Pomeroy, Miss Mary Roche, Mr. C. Luther Spencer, Jr., Mrs. J. P. Spencer, Mrs. Daniel J. Sweeney, Mrs. H. G. Truesdell, George L. Warner, Miss Minnie A. Wilson, Mrs. George B. Woodruff. Cast and Rehearsal: Mrs. George A. Peckham, Chairman; Mrs. H. M. Alcorn, Mrs. Louis G. Allen, Mrs. E. N. Austin, Mrs. James Barnett, Miss Mary Bawn, Mrs. C. C. Bissell, Charles S. Bissell, Mrs. Charles S. Bissell, Mrs. David L. Broc- kett, Miss Lena E. Brown, Miss Florence M. Cone, Miss Bertha Corrigan, Mrs. Annie Covington, Mrs. Edward Culver, Mrs. L. L Fuller, Charles E. Goodacre, Mrs. J. P. Graham, Mrs. Eger- ton Hemenway, Mrs. George F. Holloway, Mrs. E. G. Hubbard, Mrs. Alfred C. King, Miss Victoria Kulas, Mrs. P. D. Lillie, Miss Frances O. Mather, Mrs. James Mix, Mrs Spencer Mont- QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD I9 gomery, Mrs. T. J. Nicholson, Miss Sadie Nicholson, A. P. Phillips, H. Leslie Pomeroy, Mrs. H. Leslie Pomeroy, Mrs, James H. Prophett, Mrs. Charles A. Prout, Mrs. A. M. Rem- ington, Mrs. Philip Schwartz, Miss Talulah Sikes, D. F. Sisson, Earl Spaulding, Mrs. S. R. Spencer, Mrs. Herbert T. Stiles' Mrs. George L. Warner, Mrs. Harry C. Warner, Miss Minnie E. Welch, Miss Lucille M. Wilson, Joseph Zukowski. Stage, Grounds, and Properties: W. S. Fuller, Chairman; Arthur Adams, Samuel Adams, Charles T. Austin, Andrew S. Barr, Thatcher G. Belfit, Myron A. Blakeslee, Charles R. Brome, A. A. Brown, Myron Canfield, Jerry Deneen, Howard Edwards, Charles Firtion, Adam Fusick, Jr., Adam Fusick, Sr., Bernie E. Griffin, August Hauser, Arthur L. Jackson, Price Jones, Patrick Keohane, C. D. King, George F. King, Spencer Montgomery, Joseph Patterson, Henry W. Phelps, Herbert E. Root, Brownislaw Sobocenski, Edward M. White. Parking and Policing: George B. Woodruff, Chairman; George W. Adams, Thomas Ahearn, Fred A. Anderson, Joseph A. Anderson, Nelson Babb, Thomas M. Burke, James T. Cain, John F. Carroll, Frank Cowles, George L. Greer, Jeremiah M, Hayes, Alvah Hinckley, James Jones, Frank L. Kent, Samuel G. Lathrop, Allen McCann, Harry L. Oppenheimer, Joseph Prekop, George D. Remington, Frank M. Rising, Fred J. Scott, Bernard Sikes, Erwin E. Stratton, Herbert Wallace. With the generous co-operation of local advertisers and many in neighboring places, the committee prepared and printed an edition of 8000 of the official program — a handsome pamphlet of over sixty pages which was distributed gratis during the celebration. Besides the program of exercises it contained the lists of committees, the synopsis of the Pageant furnished by Professor Crawford, the cast of characters, a list of the old houses that the Historical Committee had marked, and the whole bore on the cover an illustration of the Gay Manse built in 1742 by the first Ebenezer Gay who at about that time began his long pastorate in the town. The Invitation Committee prepared a general invitation which was sent to people of Suffield, and a large number of former residents and descendants of Suffield families. The Tablet Committee secured practically complete rolls of the Suffield men serving in the wars of the country and contracted for two bronze tablets which, at the suggestion of service men in the recent World War, were placed on the front wall of the 20 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Town Hall. The Decorations Committee contracted for the decoration of the public buildings and the people of Main street co-operated in the general decoration of their residences. The Committees on Parade, on the Community Dance, on Trans- portation, on the Hostess House, on Housing, and Information, on Collation and on Reception made the complete and necessary arrangements for the successful co-ordination of the events of the celebration. One of the largest committees and one to which a very large amount of work fell was the Pageant Committee. It was organized into several special committees to cover all the neces- sary arrangements for the imposing pageant that was produced on the second day of the celebration. Aduch of the work was done in the six weeks preceding the celebration and when the time arrived the whole ambitious program was complete in its many details. Each committee organized to prepare for and to perform the function in the celebration assigned to it. The Committee on Speakers and Programs arranged the following general program of exercises: Program Tuesday, October i2th First Congregational Church, lo a. m. Opening Exercises Prayer — Rev. V. L. Greenwood. Music — " Coronation." Address of Welcome — Hon. Hugh M. Alcorn. Response — Hon. Seymour C. Loomis, New Haven, Conn. Music — Quartette, "China." (Written by Timothy Swan of Suffield about 1800.) Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Couch of Sufheld, Miss Ruth G. Remington of Suffield, Mr. Robert Winn Jones of Hartford. Historical Address — William Lyon Phelps, Ph.D., Lampson Professor of English, Yale University. Music — "America." Benediction. 2.00 p. M. COLLATION. QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 21 CONCERT TUESDAY EVENING, OCT. iztk, 1920 7 to 8 p. M. 104th Regiment Band March, "Flag of Victory," Overture, "Prince of India," Concert Waltz, "Jolly Fellows," Selection, "Mile. Modiste," Descriptive, "Hunting Scene," Songs of Uncle Sam Finale, "Stars and Stripes," 8. p. M. Dance. Fo?i Blon King Vollstedt Herbert Bucalossi Hosmer Sousa Wednesday, October 13TH Second Baptist Church, 10 a. m. Prayer — Rev. E. Scott Farley. Organ Recital — Professor William C. Hammond, Holyoke, Mass. Solo — Miss Marie Roszelle, Hartford, Conn. Address — "Pilgrim's Progress. 1620 to 1920." Rev. Stephen S. Wise, Ph.D., LL.D., New York City. Music — "Blest Be the Tie that Binds." Benediction. 2.00 p. M. Pageant. 7.30 p. M. Be at Home. Thursday, October 14TH CONCERT OCT. 14th, 1920, 8 a. m. to 9 a. m. 104th Regiment Band March, "Pasadina Day," Overture, "Chival De Bronze," Concert Waltz, "Blue Danube," Selection, "Maritana," Descriptive, Fantasia "Over the Top," Finale, "The Regiment Return," 9 A. M. — Parade. 10 A. M. — Dedication of Tablets. Address — Mr. Henry B. Russell. 1.30 p. M. — Transportation for any desiring to see home. 3.30 p. M. — Football game. Vessella Auber Straus Wallace Luders Crosby their old 22 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD A Sabbath Prelude The services in the First Congregational and Second Baptist Churches on Sunday October loth constituted an appropriate prelude to the official exercises of the celebration of the quarter- millennial of the town with whose life and well being they, with other churches, had been long and inseparably connected. An Old Time Sunday was observed in the First Congregational church whose establishment was practically coincident with the settlement of the town, the present pastor, Rev. Victor L. Greenwood, preaching on "The Golden Present" at the morn- ing service. He compared the religious conceptions and customs of early colonial days with those of the present and spoke of the development of the greater spirit of freedom and the expanded conception of love in the Christian faith. At the same hour in the Second Baptist Church the pastor. Rev. E. Scott Farley, preached a historical sermon on the sub- ject, "Suffield's Witness to the World." He traced the develop- ment of the town in its relations to religion, education, material affairs and the country. At the noon hour and in accordance with the purpose of re- producing features of an Old Time Sunday, the people of the First Congregational church and those uniting with them gathered in the church or on the green, ate the luncheons they had brought with them and enjoyed a social hour. At 2 o'clock the church bell again rang for the afternoon service in which members of other churches in town united. At this service Rev. Percy E. Thomas of Rockville spoke upon "The Pilgrims' Sources of Inspiration." TUESDAY, THE FIRST DAY Historical Exercises at the First Congregational Church Old Suffield appropriately opened its official celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its settlement with a welcome to many sons and daughters returning to their native soil, to descendants of old families long ago transplanted in other States, and to visitors from neighboring cities and towns with whose early history its own was interwoven. With these gath- ered the present residents of Suffield to review the history, renew acquaintances and revive memories. Main street — the High street of the original settlement and the old records — was bright with mingled autumnal and national colors; at first under a leaden sky, which later cleared and re- vealed the natural beauty of one of the fairest of old New Eng- land streets in holiday attire. The Town Hall, the business blocks, the churches, the library, the Suffield School buildings and the dwellings were tastefully decorated with flags and bunt- ing, their colors gleaming through the tinted foliage, hanging above the broad street and historic Common, rich in town and family traditions of two and one half centuries. The historical exercises were held in the First Congregational Church. The present edifice, the fourth in descent from the first Meeting House, was completed in 1870 shortly before the celebration of the Bi-Centennial. In this church and on this day, October 12th, as fifty years before, the people gathered to re- trace the years. Seated on the platform were Mr. Edward A. Fuller, chairman of the General Committee, Mr. George A. Peckham, the vice- chairman. Rev. Victor L. Greenwood, pastor of the First Con- gregational Church, Rev. Jesse Smith, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Rev. Dryden Phelps of New Haven, Mr. Sey- mour C. Loomis of New Haven, Professor William Lyon Phelps of New Haven and His Excellency, Marcus L. Holcomb, Governor of Connecticut. 24 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Following a prayer by Rev. Victor L. Greenwood and the singing of "Coronation" by the congregation, Mr. George A. Peckham, read the following letter from Hon. Hugh M. Alcorn, one of Suffield's sons and residents and a prominent member of the Connecticut Bar, who had been chosen to deliver the ad- dress of welcome: October 6, 1920 Mr. George A. Peckham, Chairman, Speakers' Committee, Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary, Suffield, Conn. My dear Mr. Peckham: I am very sorry to advise you that I cannot deliver the Ad- dress of Welcome on the 12th instant, and I would appreciate it very much if you would take my place upon that day. Early last Spring the Supreme Court of the United States, on motion of opposing counsel, advanced for argument a very important case in which I am engaged and assigned it for October 12th at twelve o'clock noon. I have ever since been expecting, Micaw- berlike, that something might turn up to enable me to stay in Suffield, but I now know definitely that I am doomed to dis- appointment. I deeply regret that my professional obligations require me to be in Washington at that time. Sincerely yours, (Signed) Hugh M. Alcorn. Mr. Peckham thereupon extended a welcome in behalf of the town and its people in these words: It is with deepest regret that our committee announces that our honored fellow townsman, State Attorney Hugh M. Alcorn, is unable to be with us today to deliver the address of welcome. Not being accustomed to the writing or the delivering of an address, I find only two reasons for my appearing before you at this time: First, by request of Mr. Alcorn; second as a native of Suffield and a descendant of a native of Suffield, for although my parents were not born in Suffield, my grandmother, Susan Smith, was born at what is now called "Wards Corner" in West Suffield, August 27, 1800. Also as a direct descendant of George Phelps, who came to America in 1630, and settled in Windsor, Conn., in 1635, I naturally feel not only a great inter- est in Suffield, but also in the State of Connecticut. Two hun- QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 25 dred fifty years ago our forefathers laid the foundation of this beautiful town. Today I extend a hearty welcome to the citizens of Suffield, to all former residents, to the chief executive of our State, his staff, and other state officials, to the Mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, who represents our mother city, to the select- men of Blandford, Alassachusetts, who represent our only daughter of early days, and to all interested in the commemorat- ing of Suffield's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary. We meet here to honor those who in the early days so well laid the foundations for future generations and all time. To those born and educated here many happy memories of old times fill your hearts today; many times in years past have your thoughts wandered back to your childhood days, and how happy are you to return and shake hands with relatives and early companions, and view the beautiful spacious streets of old Suffield; equally happy are we to extend these greetings to you. It is interesting to observe how many people are sensible of the joys of these pleasant memories. Fifty years ago a similar natal day was observed in this same church. Many of the then familiar faces are gone, others have come to fill their places. Although strangers to you, they extend most cordial greetings, for they are honored by your presence. Finally, in behalf of the executive committee of this anni- versary, the town officers and all citizens of Suffield, I extend to every one present a sincere welcome to all the exercises com- memorating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of dear old Suffield. Mr. Seymour C. Loomis of New Haven, a native of Suffield and grandson of the late Daniel W. Norton, who was chairman of the General Committee of the Bi-Centennial Celebration of 1870, delivered the following response: It is with deep appreciation of the honor and of the grace and confidence of the committee in charge of the celebration of the quarter millennium of this community that I respond in behalf of the visitors to the eloquent and cordial welcome just given by your distinguished townsman. Had I the mind of Dr. Gay and Dr. Ives and the facile and logical expression of General Lyman, 26 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Judge Granger and Calvin Philleo, I might be able to adequately convey the feelings of the guests. With hosts so distinguished and so generous as the town of Sufheld and her citizens, it becomes us to tender our heartfelt gratitude for your pains and thoughts, for your hard work and personal attention, that made possible this magnificent cele- bration. Such an aifair as this is not conceived in a moment, nor accomplished in a day. It means much anxiety and sacri- fice to those who father and mother it. But permit me to say to you that the subject of your labors justifies all that you have done and planned to do. Its influence has been and will be felt as the years roll by. We celebrate today the foundation of a town that, with a few others, made possible the colonies of Massachusetts and Con- necticut. Until 1749, against her will, she remained a part of Massachusetts though really from the beginning she was a vital force in Connecticut. The former colony was loath to give her up and she was assessed for twenty years after but the taxes were never collected. As a balm to assuage the grief of Massa- chusetts that colony was allowed to take those beautiful sheets of water known in my boyhood days as Southwick Ponds, a place which I always love to visit. It has been said that the reason why Suffield went to Con- necticut was to avoid the payment of the taxes of Massachusetts. But at the time she first evinced a desire to be a part of the Constitution State there were no taxes accrued, and an unpreju- diced study of history, I think, reveals the fact that she preferred Connecticut for basic reasons and, of course, in any form of statecraft taxation is of much importance. It is certain that Connecticut with her representative govern- ment under her Fundamental Orders of 1639, the first written constitution given to the world, was more attractive to the wise men and women of Suffield than even the benign Common- wealth of Massachusetts. Thus, in those early days, in the formative period, which afterwards resulted in the Republic, Suffield, though originally a part of goodly Massachusetts, saw with a keen eye and unerring judgment the advantages of being under a rule of law, which one hundred and fifty years afterward was the nucleus of the Federal Constitution, a document which QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 27 has stood the test of peace and war for more than a century and is at the present time a model to all peoples, who have the brains and sense to govern themselves. This does not mean that each individual or even a small or large group of individuals can do as they like, but that, as under our system, the most benign, we believe, on earth, each person should have his share in the electorate, should be given a fair opportunity to have his rights and remedies in a court, not of favor, but of law, and should have executives capable of execution. Though a boy of eight years at the time of the Bi-Centennial in 1870, I distinctly remember the events of that great day. The greeting of the visitors at the end of the Suffield branch, as far as it was then completed just north of the bridge over the straight road to Windsor Locks, as they came sliding down the bank, was unique. They received, however, a most friendly welcome and were taken in carriages to the park about which, the same as today, the exercises were conducted. Of the many interesting events and functions the one which seemed then to impress me the most was enacted in the immense tent pitched upon the central park. It was the sturdy frame of Captain Phelps then past eighty-six years old. His countenance bore testimony to his rugged life. I had heard the stories of his prowess with the Hartford pugilist and of his ox-like strength on the mountainside and, though his voice was indistinct, his stature and the furrows of his face reflected clearly his strong and useful life. Usually a child has little character delineated on its face, but with advancing years, the painters say, the result of all the good and evil that a man has done and thought is etched upon his countenance in lines which a discerning eye can read as plainly as in a printed book. So Rembrandt, the great master in portraying character, loved above all the elder faces and he makes them tell their story. It is within the province of Apollos Phelps' worthy kinsman to detail today the history of the town, but I ask your permis- sion to briefly allude to a few subjects, which have come under my personal observation during the last fifty years, the first eight of which I spent, along with many other Suffield boys of that time attending school, "doing chores" and working on the 28 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD ground. The education thus received I prize second to none I ever had. To be able to work regularly about a farm, when one is in the graded and preparatory schools, is a privilege, if not then understood, certainly appreciated in later life. The train- ing out of doors in regularity and in practical ways of doing things is a valuable complement to the mental instruction. The time is fast coming, if it is not already here, when men will go back to the land. Food products are the country's greatest need and will always continue to be. Suffield, with her wonder- ful soil and climatic conditions peculiarly adapted to tobacco, a crop which even in its growing is a delight to the soul, is in agriculture pre-eminent. It is said that as one matures his sincerest gratitude goes out to the teachers of his youth, who have conscientiously given to him of their life. Such to me were Miss Rising, Miss Halladay, afterwards Mrs. Dr. Mason, Miss Nichols, now Mrs. Sterling, Miss Fuller, afterwards Mrs. Will Pease, Miss Comey, John Coats, Principal Shores, George Rigler, Marcus Johnson, Ed Vose, Thomas Gladding and Mr. Marsh. I remember how scared I was the first day at the little district school in that part of the town hall where the post office now is (Arthur Austin and Ed Perkins and others will remember it), and how Mr. Dwight Ives, of the school committee, gave me words of encouragement. It was doubtless a small thing to him but it was a big thing for me and something I have never forgotten. I remember the old Dace Hole of Stony Brook where we went bathing, or swimming as we called it, and Sherman's Hill and the church hill and back of the Institution where we used to slide down on the snow and ice with rippers and double rippers. In 1878 my father and mother moved to New Haven, an undertaking to them attended with considerable courage and sacrifice, done largely, I believe, that I might go to college, thus creating a debt on my part to which I subscribe my acknowledgment. But I hated to leave Suffield and many a homesick day I had for the old place. Since that time to the present, it has been my privilege to visit my native town at more or less frequent intervals. I have noticed the changes, which have been gradual but in the aggregate enormous. Of the older ones I used to know who have gone to their great QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 29 reward are Dr. Rising, my grandfather Daniel W. Norton, the president of the committee of fifty years ago. Deacon Horace Sheldon, the brothers Samuel, Homer and Albert Austin, Nathan and Silas Clark, John, Wells, Byron, William, Charles, Frank and Burritt Loomis, Charles Bissell, Horatio Nelson, Simon B. Kendall, Samuel Reed, Henry P. Kent, Samuel White, Julius Harmon, Hezekiah, Luther, Calvin, Alfred and Thaddeus Spencer, Deacons Spellman and Russell, James Haskins, Wil- liam and Cecil Fuller, George Williston, Gad Sheldon, Cornelius Austin, John Hemenway, Warren Cooper; and of the women, Elizabeth Philleo, Emily Clark, Lucy Pease, the Misses Gay, Mrs. Neland Loomis and the Misses Hemenway; of the later ones, the historian Hezekiah Sheldon, Martin Sheldon, Milton and Safford Hathaway, Martin Smith, Collins Allen, Dr. Street, Newton Pomeroy, Alfred Owen, Frank Fuller, Leverett Austin, Leavitt and Charles Bissell, Edmund Halladay, William Peck- ham, Watson Pease, Clinton Spencer, Asa Strong, Webster Burbank, Ed Latham, Rob Loomis, Charles and Francis Warner, and that sweet soul, Dr. Newton; of the women, Mary Burr, Helen and Cordelia Archer; Carrie Sheldon, Mrs. Byron Loomis, Emily Norton, Emily Gilbert, Polly Austin, Georgie Wadsworth and her daughter, Mrs. Schwartz, Cornelia Pomeroy, Maria Bissell Pomeroy, Frances Birge Loomis, Carrie Spencer, Louise Russell, Emily Spencer, Helen King, Louise Hathaway, Huldah Chamberlain and Mary Robinson. But the greatest change is in the families. The names on yonder Honor Roll are typical of the residents of Suffield now. New names are added to the old. Li some cases the old names have disappeared. The countrymen of the gallant Kosciusko have found homes in Suffield. They dwell upon her fertile farms, formerly owned by the Spencers, the Bissells, the Warners, the Kings, the Grangers, the Phelpses, the Remingtons, the Sykes, and the Loomises, et cetera. The house my father built, and where we lived when we moved to New Haven, is now the house of the Polish priest and the barn where we kept the stock is now St. Joseph's Church. Napoleon, in his campaigns, was accustomed to desecrate cathedrals. At Milan his cavalry horses were stabled (it is said, QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD however, against his orders) in the refectory of the convent on whose walls Leonardo had painted "The Last Supper". We often now hear of churches being secularized, but we have rarely known of a barn being sanctified. At first I felt sorry that father's place had not remained in private hands, but as I see the uses which are being made of it and the influence for good which may follow among the large number of men, women and children, who frequent it, I am pleased and satisfied that it may serve so good a purpose. These neighbors of ours should make good citizens. They are destined to play their part in our history. They are as a rule intelligent, hard workers, and when they become citizens, as they all no doubt hope to be, and as their children surely will be, they become Americans first, last and always. This leads me to allude to Suffield's part in the World War. She acquitted herself with glory as she always does. We look with confidence forward to the next fifty years and know that Suffield will remain steadfast to the lofty principles that actuated the founders two hundred and fifty years ago. And now in closing may I paraphrase a song my father used to sing: Old Suffield, dear Suffield, our home on the lea. Our hearts as we wander turn fondly to thee. For bright rests the sun on thy clear winding streams, And so soft o'er thy meadows the moon pours her beams. Old Suffield, dear Suffield, our home on the lea, The wanderer's heart turns in fondness to thee. Thy breezes are healthful and clear are thy rills. The harvest waves proudly and rich on thy hills. Thy maidens are fair and thy yeomen are strong, And thy rivers run blithely thy valleys among. Old Suffield, dear Suffield, our home on the lea, The wanderer's heart turns ever fondly to thee. Ther're homes in old Suffield where loved ones of thine. Are thinking of days of the dear "Auld Lang Syne"; And blest be the hour when our pilgrimage o'er. We shall sit by those hearthstones and leave them no more. Old Suffield, Our Suffield, sweet home on the lea. Our hearts as we wander turn ever to thee. QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 3 I The quartette consisting of Mrs. Augusta Burbank Couch of Suffield, Miss Ruth Remington of Suffield, Mr. Thomas E. Couch of Suffield, and Mr. Robert Winn Jones of Hartford, accompanied by Mr. C. Luther Spencer at the organ, sang "China," which was written by Timothy Swan of Suffield about 1800. The Historical Address Mr. Peckham then introduced the historian of the day. "As our historian," he said, "we have secured a descendant of a native of Suffield one who for many years has been a professor of Yale University; a son of the late S. Dryden Phelps, who was deeply interested along educational lines and also wrote and delivered the historical poem fifty years ago. It seems very proper that our program should include the name of this worthy descendant of Suffield. It is with pleasure I present Professor William Lyon Phelps of New Haven, who will deliver the historical address." The address of Professor Phelps follows : It is a pleasure for me to be asked to come here and appear on the platform in the town that my father loved more than any place on earth. I only regret that when I was a boy I did not come up here and have him show me about and visit the friends he loved. He used to tell me great stories of Captain Phelps, who was the heavy weight champion of the town, and all sorts of splendid tales of our family. I appreciate more than I can express the honor of being in- vited to speak at the exercises commemorating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Suffield. To me it was an especially welcome invitation, not merely because I am a Connecticut man, by birth, ancestry, and many years of active service, but because my beloved father was born in Suf- field, went to school here, and read a poem on the occasion of the two hundredth anniversary in 1870. He was then almost pre- cisely the same age as I am now, the only difference between us being the marked one between poetry and prose. Both my father and my mother were born in Connecticut, as were their forbears; I was born in New Haven, and went to school not far from here, in Hartford. I am a lineal descendant of William QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Phelps, who came to the neighboring town of Windsor in 1636. I mention these things not because I am proud of them, for no one can be rationally proud of anything with which he had nothing to do; but because I am glad of them; they give me certain privileges, among which is the right to represent Suffield on this occasion. My father, the Rev. Dr. Sylvanus Dryden Phelps, was born at Sufheld, May 15, 1816. His father, Israel Phelps, was a farmer here, who died when his son was ten years old. There was no money; my father worked on a farm, doing a man's work when he was a boy. Despite the hard daily toil, he loved it, and he always looked back to farm life with happy memories. Everything about a farm, the crops and the stock, were always to him matters of vivid interest; and when Whittier's Snozv- Bound was published in 1866, my father read it with reminiscent delight. He went to school at the Connecticut Literary Institu- tion, and so, by a curious chance, did my wife's father, Langdon Hubbard. When the time came to go to college, my father was too poor to pay the expense of travelling; he therefore walked from Suffield to Brown University, in Providence, R. I., and was compelled to stay out of college one year later in the course, in order to get sufficient funds to continue. I have never known a man in whom the principle of loyalty was stronger than in him. He loved the town of his birth with unspeakable affection; he was always talking to me about it; he returned here constantly to revisit the scenes of his youth; and I do not believe there was any historical, religious, or educa- tional anniversary in Suffield where he failed to be present and to take part. We are all most interested in what concerns us most nearly; it is always the local news in the paper we read first, and we read with most avidity the account of something we saw the day before. Perhaps it is for this reason, that as we grow older, we more often look back to the distant past than to the immedi- ate future; for the past is familiar, and the future is unknown. Certain it is that irreverence, dislike of tradition, and even rebellion, are the characteristics of extreme youth; as we grow older, we become more reverent, more sensible of the unpurchas- able value of tradition, and we become more reconciled to life. ■■ttiiii:!" i!'"""^/,;"i!it*>'V/i^ 'I,.'" '',iV- iuw •'■' '" if 'lite )g:'" . '•''*:" CHAIRMEN OF PAGEANT COMMITTEES Mrs. George A. Peckham Cast and Rehearsal W. S. Fuller Stage, Grounds, Properties Mrs. Charles C. Bissel Music Charles L. Spencer Business and Finance Charles R. Latham Publicil V Mrs. George A. Harmon Costumes and Make-up George B. Woodruff Parking and Policing 'ill' .^'y^v! !" » Ml 3:.Sf life ..•-:;'';( 'lli'lllili,; Iii'''''''''''n,,|.;'.t;'l''''''' 'liii'if,,, I M K\ .iiiii ..'111,.' 'SV George H. Peckham Hon. Hugh M. Alcorn Prof. Jack R. Crawford Stephen S. Wise L.L.D. ^^'illiam Lyon Phelps, Ph.D. Seymour C. Loomis Henrv B. Russell QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 33 For boys and girls labor under the delusion that man is free, that he owes no tribute either to Caesar or to God, and that he can follow the path indicated by his own sweet will. As we grow older, we discover that freedom — in any complete sense — does not exist; that the art of life is to realize its limitations, before setting up a practical philosophy; we may then find out, that if we cannot live in absolute independence, we can live the life of reason with some contentment. The familiar quarrel between generations will always go on in the future, as it always has in the past; the folly of impatience in youth being matched by the folly of misunderstanding youth in old age. Perhaps, from a cynical point of view, this quarrel was never summed up better than by the Elizabethan poet and dramatist, George Chapman. "Young men think old men are fools; but old men know that young men are fools." Whether we like it or not, we are all governed by the past. The books written by men long dead have the largest influence in shaping our minds and ruling our conduct; the laws that control our duties and privileges as citizens were made by men whose names we cannot remember; spirit hands guide our foot- steps through life; we think the thoughts of our ancestors, and carry into execution conceptions formed by them. The muscles of our bodies, and the swifter impulses of our minds are really set in motion by thousands of men and women. We have been shaped by our traditions. We can add something ourselves to these traditions, but we cannot annihilate them, even if we would. They are as real as we are. Many Americans have such a constant consciousness of in- dependence, that they cannot bear the thought of having America's destiny in any way influenced by hands across the sea. "What! do you mean to say that men in foreign nations shall tell us what we shall and shall not do.^"' Now the truth is, that not only men in foreign nations have a vital influence on our conduct and future acts, but that this is especially true of those foreigners who have been dead for many centuries. The situation is even more humiliating than we had thought. Bad enough to have an outside absentee ruler who is alive — how much more insupportable when they have all ceased to exist! Nothing is more foolish than to despise the past, or to attempt 34 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD to rearrange the present without a sound knowledge of history. The difficulty with most exceedingly radical reformers is that they are deficient in historical knowledge. They do not know that the experiment they have in mind has been tried so many times without success that some lesson might possibly be gained by observation of previous results. "Histories make men wise," said Lord Bacon; and they make us wise, not merely because history-books were written by wise men, but because history itself is the accumulation of human wisdom gleaned from human folly. To despise the past is to despise wisdom. For despite the glib way in which the word evolution is used, despite the immense advances made in personal luxuries, housing, and locomotion, despite the amazing diffusion of culture, by which reading and writing have become no more conspicuous than breathing — there is not one scintilla of evidence to prove that the individual mind has advanced a single step, in the power of thought, or in the ability to reason, or in the possession of wis- dom. The men of ancient times — as represented by their lead- ers — were in every respect as able-minded as the best product of the twentieth century. That "history repeats itself" will seem once more clear if I read a short extract from the admirable memorial address de- livered at Suffield on the occasion of the two hundredth anni- versary, in 1870, pronounced by John Lewis, Esq. Do not the following words sound appropriate to the present year? "The historian of Suffield labors under certain intrinsic disad- vantages. Especially is this true in the present age, when we have become so accustomed to grand and startling events. We have witnessed the conflicts of mighty armies joined in battles more terrific than the world has ever seen before. We have witnessed the successful completion of vast industrial enterprises, enterprises that revolutionizecommerce, and modify the thoughts of Christendom. We have mingled in the discussion of social and political questions of the most vital and absorbing interest. And we have become so familiar with these magnificent displays of power and with these intense nervous and intellectual excite- ments, that we are in danger of losing our interest in the ordinary affairs of life. It is necessary, therefore, to realize at the outset that the history of Suffield will not lead us through a succession of these grand events; that its history is not that of a great nation, controlling millions of men, dealing with vast resources QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 35 and setting on foot mighty armies, but simply the history of a town But notwithstanding this lack of general inter- est, the subject possesses one great advantage which to us may well compensate for all others; it is the story of our fathers and the history of our native place." Why is it that it seems natural, not only to us but to others less fortunate, that we should celebrate in this formal and public manner the two and one-half centuries of the existence of Suf- field? Why is it, that no matter what may be its present condi- tion or the possibilities of its future, we are glad of its past? Why is it that those who leave the little town and go into huge Western cities so often look back with a heartache to these quiet scenes? By the rivers of Babylon they sit down and weep, when they remember Zion. It is because we know the imponderable worth of traditions; and we know they come only from years. Even if every man had his price, which is not true, there are things beyond all price. An English boy who goes to Cambridge or Oxford has something in his education far removed from the price he pays for his tuition, from the instruction he receives in lectures, and from the advantages of modern laboratories. The gray walls of the cloisters, the noble old towers, the quiet beauty of the quadrangles, represent not only the best in architecture, but they are hallowed by the memories of thousands of ghosts who once were young men. Lowell once used the phrase, "God's passionless reformers. Influences." These influences which are silently but chronically active, give something that no recently- founded institution can bring, and something that makes the so-called almighty dollar look foolishly impotent. Any well disposed multi-millionaire can start a well-equipped university; but the centuries of tradition that give a tone and a stamp to every student in an old college are not for sale. A certain independent humour accompanies those who live in ancient surroundings — and this humour is the Anglo-Saxon way of expressing pride. After dining in Hall with the Dons one evening in a college at Oxford, we adjourned after dinner to three rooms in succession. I asked one of my hosts if that had always been the custom. "No, indeed," said he, with a smile; "in fact, it is comparatively recent. We have been coming in here after dinner only since the seventeenth century." 36 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD A wealthy American was so pleased with the velvet turf of the quadrangles that he asked an Oxford janitor how such turf was produced; it appeared that he wished his front lawn in Chicago to wear a similar aspect. The janitor said it was a simple matter; all you have to do is to wait a thousand years. Some foreign visitors, in talking with Cambridge undergraduates, asked them why they persisted in adhering to certain customs that once were perhaps fitting, but in modern days seemed absurd; the only reason returned to the energetic questioners was, "We have always done these things." And there was the implication, unspoken, but easy to divine, that if strangers did not like these customs, they had the privilege of going somewhere else. When the Englishman Thomas Hardy sits down at his house in Dorchester to write a poem or a novel, he knows that the ground in his garden is filled with the relics of Roman occupa- tion — glass, pottery, utensils, and human bones. Twenty centuries are in his front yard. No wonder that there is dignity to his compositions when their roots go so deep. So our village of Suffield may be an insignificant spot on the map. We cannot compare with cities of recent growth, nor has the census for 1920 any particular excitement for us. We do not study the growth of our population year by year, for our estimate is not quantitative. If certain towns boast that they have advanced in the census fifty per cent, in ten years, we may reply that we took a census two hundred years ago. From this point of view, Suffield is a perpetual rebuke to those who would judge everything by size and number. Why should there be rejoicing simply because there are more people in a city than there used to be.^ Why should there be boasting when the claim is made that we have doubled our population in ten years.^ What of it.'' We do not rejoice on a trolley-car when the population doubles in two minutes. We should ask other questions and have other standards. How about quality.^ Are the standards higher than they used to be.'' Are our inhabitants better educated, more civilized, growing in grace .^ I do not believe that the world in general or Suffield in par- ticular is degenerating. History moves in spirals, and the world has recently had an appalling lapse. But I do not believe QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 37 in general that we are going back. I do not share the general mistrust toward the younger generation, partly because I re- member what elders used to say of youth when I was young. Now those times once so loudly denounced are held up as an edifying model for the youth of today. I rejoice that we have a long line of Suffield ancestors in our blood; but I do not be- lieve that Suffield then or America then was better than it is today; and, if I did think so, don't you see that I should be false to my faith in my ancestors.^ If they, with all their virtues, were such poor stock that their descendants are all going to the everlasting bonfire, how could I regard them with admiration and reverence.^ The youth of today are better because the original stock was good. There is a dramatic side to progress, so dramatic that it is almost amusing. There are many who would thoughtlessly say that America is now pagan, frivolous, irresponsible and irreligious, in contrast with the "good old times" when our Puritan ancestors were so stern, strict, and devout. But how amazed one of those old Puritan divines would be if he should revisit the glimpses of the moon and find it absolutely impossible to quench his thirst. In the days when our godly ancestors drank often and copiously of heady vintages and distilled liquors, when the parson in his pulpit fortified himself for the second hour of his discourse with a mug of flip, what would they have thought, if thev had been informed that their so-often-called degenerate descendants could not get a drink at any price ."^ Possibly we are the real Puritans. Consider this charming resolution, passed at a society meet- ing of the Church here in 1749, when they were considering ways and means toward building a new meeting-house for the worship of God. It was voted that "the committee should provide Rhum, Cyder, and Beer for Raising the new meeting- house, at their discretion." Such a program today would raise something besides a church. I believe in old times, old traditions, old customs, old memo- ries; but I do not believe, in comparison with the present, in the good old times. That is a lusty myth. Some one dug up a fragment in the sands of Egypt that had lain forgotten for three thousand years. On it was an inscription that it took a scholar 38 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD to decipher. When finally translated, it was seen to say, "Ah, we are degenerate and evil; we are not noble and strong, as they were in the good old times." In one of his shorter poems, Tennyson said, "That man's the best Cosmopolite Who loves his native country best." I suppose he meant by that statement, that the man who loved his own country was better fitted to love all countries and thus become a true citizen of the world, than anyone who, while professing to be swayed only by international sentiment, should have little affection for any country in particular. We are all familiar with the type of man who's filled with enthusiasm for humanity, but who never helps any individual; love, like charity, should begin at home. It is a singular but a happy human characteristic that we all love with unspeakable affec- tion the scenes of our birth and childhood; even those who are brought up in a particularly detestable climate, will, when far away in golden sunshine, become homesick for the fog, the mists, and the rain. Many who have left their home in early manhood, will return to it in old age, as though drawn thither by invisible but irresistible bonds. There is something almost holy in this devotion; and it is inspired by such sentiments that we meet today. It is pleasant to remember that our two hundred and fiftieth celebration should come in the same year with the three hun- dredth anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims. The greater event does not erase the less, but it includes it. If the Pilgrims had not come to America, no one can say what the history of this locality might have been. We came from them, and they came from England. I suppose there never has been a moment in the last three hundred years when it was more necessary and desirable to dwell on the relations between ourselves and the parent stock than now. Although the World War made us ally ourselves with England in an endeavour to free the world from threatened despotism, no sooner was that definite peril passed than new dangers appeared. The natural jealousy be- tween allies, the old sentimental antagonism to Great Britain, the exigencies of party politics, all worked together for evil. It is my belief, that whenever we celebrate the anniversaries QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 39 of New England towns, we should look back with affection to the mother country from which we sprang. At all events, noth- ing is more necessary today than open, frank, hearty friendship and good will between Great Britain and the United States. In fact, all the English-speaking people in the world should regard themselves as members of one family; for if these people can stand together, peace on earth and good will to men are assured; if we allow anything whatever to sow among us the seeds of discord, strife, and bitterness, then war will become not an acute, but a chronic disease. Little did the settlers of SufReld in 1670 think that the language they spoke with each other was to be the world-language in the twentieth century; for while it is not only impossible, but undesirable that sepa- rate nations should give up their native tongues, we have lived to see the day, my friends, when the English language is the commonest means of communication among the children of men. In fact, with the one exception of music, English is now the universal language. In the summer of the year 1633, a number of the people in Massachusetts, finding the local government too autocratic, began to look about for some remoter place that would be safe for democracy; a small company forced their way through the forests and over the hills to the Connecticut River, and came back, bringing enthusiastic stories of a pleasant and well- watered valley. Two years later a larger number came, and reached the fort at Windsor, a few going on to Wethersfield. Winter provisions and clothing were sent after them by ships through Long Island Sound, but when the boats passed Say- brook they found the icy river impossible, and they returned to Boston. The lonely people at Windsor and Wethersfield had a horrible winter. All the cattle died, and the men, women and children had to live on what nuts they could find. About seventy of them walked all the way on the frozen river to Say- brook, found a little boat imprisoned in ice, cut her out, and managed to navigate her to Boston. A few remained, however, and held the fort in every sense of the word. Next June, in 1636, Thomas Hooker, pastor of the church in Newtown, led his congregation from Massachusetts through the woods and founded the town of Hartford. By the next year fully 800 40 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD people were living in and in the neighbourhood of Hartford. Before Suffield was born, seventeen towns were in existence on the banks of the Connecticut River, at various intervals be- tween Saybrook and northern Massachusetts. Two of their connecting paths ran through what is now Suffield, then called Stony Brook. At Stony Brook there was a slender meadow, surrounded by trackless forests. Mr. Pynchon of Springfield, bought from the Indians the ground on which we are now stand- ing and over twenty thousand acres besides, for a sum that amounted to less than a cent per acre. The attractiveness of the situation here, the excellence of the soil, and other advantages, were perceived by the people in Springfield, and in the autumn of 1670 they brought a petition to the General Court at Boston, asking that they might settle at "a place called by ye name of Stony River." This petition was granted on the twelfth day of October, 1670; they were to have a township six miles square, provided twenty families should be living there within five years, and should then pay for the support of a pastor. In the individual grants of land, made in January, 1671, it was stipulated that in every ten acres there should be one acre of meadow. The documents that we are most eager to read are unfortunately lost. We know when the general petition was granted, we know the arrangements made the next year, but we cannot ascertain with certitude when the first settlement here was actually made. But the "first family" of Suffield, speaking chronologically, was named Harmon; Samuel, Joseph and Nathaniel. Within two or three years there were thirty-six inhabitants by the census; there were two mills, and it is significant that one lot was set apart for the minister, and another for the school. They knew they could not get along without Christianity and without education; if everybody in the world knew that simple fact now, the millennium would materialize. In 1674, Stony Brook changed its name to Southfield, which being pronounced as we pronounce the first syllable in Southerly, quickly became by euphony Suffield. In March, 1682, the Town of Suffield was first legally organized. There were then between four and five hundred people here. Thirty-four only were allowed to vote, there being many restrictions by both Church and State, the QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 4I town being obliged to follow the laws of Massachusetts, to which colony it then belonged. The chief street was High Street, where lived the Kings, Hanchets, Remingtons, Grangers, Rents, Nortons, Spencers, Sikes. On Feather Street were the Bur- banks, Hollydays, Smiths, Trumbulls, Palmers. On South Street the Austins, Risings, Millers. On the western road the Harmons and Copleys, in Crooked Lane the Taylors, Hitch- cocks and Coopers. Allow me at this point to quote again from my predecessor, Mr. John Lewis, who made the address in 1870. "Would that we might lift the veil of two centuries and catch a glimpse of the pioneer settlement as it was in 1682. There were the primitive highways, whose location I have already indicated. But let not the word highways suggest smooth turnpikes bordered by a few rods of grassy meadow, and en- closed by substantial fences. Think rather of rude pathways winding among the stumps and trees, which still occupied the land set apart for public travel. Along these pathways were scattered the dwellings of the settlers. These were cabins of the rudest architecture, containing for the most part but a single room, lighted by one or two small windows, warmed by the huge fireplace, and furnished with rude stools, and tables and shelves, and compelled to answer all the various needs of the family. Ricks of meadow grass and stooks of corn were carefully reared adjacent to the still ruder shelters provided for the cattle. Around these comfortless abodes lay a few acres of half-cleared land, with the charred stumps yet standing and the green copse about their roots. And beyond this little clear- ing, and surrounding it on every side, lay the dark, threatening forest, rearing aloft its mighty trunks in defiant grandeur." Besides the quarrels that arose from time to time as to the boundaries between Suffield and neighbouring towns, for it was difficult to fix these with accuracy, the result being that indi- viduals decided them with the sole view of their own personal convenience and profit, the great and growing dispute was as to which colony Suffield belonged — Massachusetts or Connecti- cut. Let no one think that these were petty or unimportant matters in the eyes of the colonists. Many years ago actual war was declared between the towns of Stamford and Norwalk, and the young men of both towns eagerly rushed to arms. This seems perhaps laughable now; I hope it does; I hope wars between nations will seem equally ridiculous three thousand 42 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD years hence. But then there was considerable feeHng, and per- haps it is not without some reason that a man should be inter- ested in knowing where he lived. Of course Suflfield came from Massachusetts, and Hartford did as well. In the year 1713, however, a survey was made, and it appeared that Suffield, Enfield, Woodstock, and Somers, were really in Connecticut. Now the governments of the two colonies settled this matter in defiance of Woodrow Wilson's twentieth century principle, that the local inhabitants should decide to which country they should belong. Without consulting the wishes of the people of Suffield or of the other towns, Massa- chusetts and Connecticut decided over their heads that Suffield was in Massachusetts, and thought to let the matter rest; as a quid pro quo, some land in Western Massachusetts was handed over to Connecticut; later it was sold, and the money given to Yale College, an excellent idea. But the people in Suffield were naturally not content with this arbitrary and overhead bargain; they continually protested; finally they presented in due form through appointed representatives a petition to the Connecticut General Assembly. It was not until the year 1749 that the Assembly finally decided that Suffield and the other petitioning towns belonged to Connecticut. When Massachusetts learned of this rather naive decision, she gave notice of an appeal to England, which, however, was not carried out, and since 1749 Suffield has been in Connecticut; and the smoke of her Con- necticut tobacco rises like a burnt offering in all parts of the world. When I was a little boy studying geography — and in my childhood we really had to study spelling, arithmetic, and geography — I used to wonder how that curious notch came in the smooth northern line of my native state. It was always a pleasant duty, however, for it seemed a break in the monotony of drawing boundaries, to set in that northern notch, as well as that strange open fish-mouth in the Southwest. In the struggle between Great Britain and France for the control of America — a struggle of enormous importance in the history of the world, and called over here the French and Indian War, as though a series of trivial skirmishes — Suffield did her part. Naturally the colonials had to do most of the fighting QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 43 and the suffering. The first man from Suffield to win national prominence came out of the struggle. This was General Phinehas Lyman, who commanded the troops contributed by our town. He also represented Suffield in both the assemblies of Connecticut and Massachusetts, and after the peace of 1763, he was given a grant of land near the Mississippi by the British government. The next great event in our history was of course the war of the Revolution, in which it appears that Suffield was actuated by precisely the same sentiment of patriotism, independence, and hatred of England's arbitrary rule, that was common else- where in America. It is interesting to observe in a time when there was no telegraph, no railways, no fast post, no Associated Press, that the spirit of independence and willingness to fight for it spread with such rapidity that all thirteen colonies were thinking the same thoughts at the same time. Such a spirit does not need mechanical means of transportation; it flies through the air. The same story of this war and the prepara- tions that led up to it are like others; public sentiment was all- powerful, and woe to non-conformists. General Grant once said, "God help the man who does not share in public sentiment in war time!" He may be called Tory, Copperhead, Pro- German, or what not; but by any other name his odour is the same. In the year 1770 the colonists formed a league agreeing not to import from England, and the language toward dissenters has a familiar ring: "Let the goods of such single souled wretches that regard nothing but their own interest, that Cultivate and Endeavour to promote the Same in a way evi- dently Ruinous to their own Country, lie upon their own hands. Let their Crime be their punishment, and Should the Deplorable Event of the Loss of American Liberty take place, may them- selves be accounted as Ignominous, Disgraceful, and Selfish mortals, and unfit for Society by Every brave. Noble Patriot and virtuous American, and may their Names Descend to the Remotest Posterity with all that ignominy and Disrespect they so justly merit and Deserve." A subsequent resolution passed by our fathers in Suffield has, I think, a peculiarly inspiring and affecting appeal to us. The above statement was recorded in the Town Book, for the 44 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD express benefit of posterity, "wherein they may See and behold how Careful the present Age have bin to transmit to them the inestimable Privileges of Liberty and Freedom, and Excite them to the Like Conduct on Similar Occasions." Well, I think the Fathers looking down on Suffield in the twentieth century, would have no cause for shame. In the spring of 1775 we find this brief statement on a pay list in a Hartford library: "Marched from Suffield for relief of Boston in the Lexington Alarm, April, 1775, Captain Elihu Kent and one hundred and fourteen men." Company after company was formed here between 1775 and 1781, and constant town meetings were called to increase taxa- tion in order that money and supplies might steadily be given. The history of Suffield in those momentous years is the history of other American towns. It is interesting to remember that two schools of law have flourished in Suffield, one headed by General Lyman, and the other by Gideon Granger. In the beginning of the last century, Suffield had five lawyers, which would seem to indicate a certain amount of prosperity, or, at all events, activity. There is no better test of the general enlightenment of a com- munity than its willingness to make sacrifices for education. The history of Suffield in this respect is one of which we may all be reasonably glad. We have already observed that at the founding of the town a plot of ground was set apart for educa- tional purposes. The memorandum makes pleasant reading today. The land was "for the support and maintenance of a School, to continue and be Improved for and to that use forever, without any alienation therefrom." This fine determination first bore fruit in 1696, when Anthony Austin became teacher at twenty pounds a year— teachers have always been overpaid! In 1703 was built the first building for educational purposes. The curriculum was absolutely sound: reading, writing, arithmetic, taught with the aid of a hickory stick. Just as now doctors tell us that pains in the feet are often caused by defects in the teeth, so our ancestors knew that the quickest way to impress a fact on a boy's brain was to make an impression on a remoter por- tion of his frame. Early in the nineteenth century the Con- necticut Literary Institution was founded in Suffield. This fine QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 45 school has prepared many boys for college, it has maintained a high standard of education and character, and in the spiritual history of the town it deserves the first place. About one hundred years ago the Connecticut Baptist Educa- tion Society began to collect money to establish a literary insti- tution in Suffield. The object was to educate young men for the ministry. In 1833, after competing offers from other towns, Suffield was finally selected. The institution was formally opened August 31, 1833. The school house then stood near the Congregational Church; 113 scholars were enrolled the first year, and sixty-one of these came from Suffield. The first head master, Reuben Granger, was so over critical, and so fond of the big stick, that the boys became Bolsheviks, organized a Soviet and drove him off the platform with various missiles. The first regular building was a four story edifice erected in 1834. The big bell is still available, but in 1899 the building was taken down in order to make room for the Kent Library. After the year 1843 girls were admitted to the school. A new building was dedicated August 2, 1854, and was reno- vated in 1908. In 1898 a high school was formed and an ar- rangement was made between the town and the Connecticut Literary Institution by which, at a low fee, high school privileges were furnished to Suffield inhabitants. Mr. Albert Kent, who was a pupil at the Connecticut Literary Institution, is, together with Mrs. Kent now honored by the Kent Memorial Library, erected to their memory by Mr. Sidney Albert Kent in the year 1899. Besides building the structure, Mr. Kent gave nearly seven thousand volumes, and now there are about twenty thousand books in the building. The conservative side of Suffield has its defects as well as its virtues. There was a time when the new railway from Hartford to Springfield was actually surveyed to run through Suffield; with a spirit of short-sighted obstinacy, the townsmen fought the project, and the railroad was driven across the river. In- stead of finding themselves in splendid isolation as a result of this manoeuvre, they and their descendants found themselves marooned. The only reason for recalling such an irreparable error of judgment is that in future years Suffield may not let slip other opportunities for advancement. 46 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD As I believe that Suffield, in common with other Connecticut communities, has progressed over earUer times not only in wealth and comfort, education and refinement, but also in morals, so I believe — quite contrary I admit to the general as- sumption — that physically our young men are definitely superior to the pioneers. It is a common mistake to suppose, as so-called civilization advances, that morals and physique decline. Mor- ally, there is not the slightest doubt that the average of business relations and political manipulations is higher than in the eighteenth century. Physically, the same is true. The all but universal athletic training of both boys and girls, the love of games and recreations now daily indulged in by men and women who formerly would have been retired to the scrap-heap of old age, the immensely better knowledge of such hygienic matters as food and fresh air, have all contributed to produce a higher grade of physical manhood and womanhood than the world has hitherto known. It is the common unthinking assumption that the pioneers were hardy men and women of superb physique; but the recent world war proved that the young men who went into the trenches and the young women who went over as nurses and Y. M. C. A. helpers endured horrors that no Spartan or Roman or Colonial or Pioneer could have supported. And as the physical constitu- tion of our young men and women in the twentieth century is undoubtedly superior to any previous generations, so the cheer- ful willingness displayed by modern youth to give up not only luxuries but life, would seem to indicate that so far as the im- mediate future of America is concerned, there is no ground for pessimism. At the conclusion of Professor Phelps' address the audience rose and sang "America," and Rev. Jesse F. Smith pronounced the benediction. Then the great audience following the custom of all New England communities, gathered for nearly an hour outside the church on the steps and sidewalk. Here was an opportunity for old friends to meet, and they availed themselves of the op- portunity to the fullest extent. Hundreds crowded the rooms of the Masonic Temple which had been converted into a hostess house for the exhibition of QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 47 colonial relics, antique furniture, examples of old needle work and fancy work and a multitude of old and valued articles. The Town Hall likewise attracted many to see the Miller col- lection of Indian relics and relics of the World War, and to register at the headquarters of the Reception Committee in Union Hall. The Collation At 2 o'clock about 400 people gathered for the collation in the Suffield School Gymnasium which was admirably adapted to the purpose and brilliantly decorated with red, white and blue streamers from the center of the ceiling to and along the walls. Eight long tables extended the length of the room to the speakers' table, set at right angles along the north wall. All the tables were handsomely decorated with flowers, and on the speakers' table were three mammoth anniversary cakes. The one in the center, made in the pattern of the American flag, bore the legend "250th Anniversary;" those at the ends the dates 1670 and 1920 respectively. At the close of the collation Mr. Edward A. Fuller, president of the General Executive Committee of the celebration, an- nounced that under the leadership of Hobart G. Truesdell, head master of the Suffield School, the people would join in singing some of the familiar songs. Under his leadership, and with the accompaniment of the orchestra, "There's a Long, Long Trail," "Keep the Home Fires Burning," "Swanee River," and "School Days" were sung with spirit. Before introducing the toastmaster of the occasion, Mr. Fuller expressed the general appreciation of the exercises of the morning and regret at the absence of "Hugh Alcorn." "I speak of him in this way," he said, "rather than say The Hon. Hugh M. Alcorn, because I have been very much interested in Hugh. In common with a great many others, Hugh is a product of Suffield. The educational facilities of Suffield provided the education upon which he has built in the work he has taken up. I am interested in Hugh because, in the dark days of 1862 and 1863, his father and myself, and one or two hundred other Suffield boys, were in that line of defense, a picket line that 48 QUATERR MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD passed along by Falls Church. In those dark days — and they were dark days when the battle of Gettysburg was being fought — when Hugh's father was defending his country, Hugh's mother stuck by the stuff — the job at home — and she saw that those children had an education fitting them for the professions they are in today. We are all interested in Hugh and regret his absence." Mr. Fuller then introduced as toastmaster, Prof. William Lyon Phelps, who spoke pleasantly of his renewed acquaintance with the home town of his ancestors. In introducing Father Hennessey of the Sacred Heart Church, as the first speaker he said: "I ran away from my classes at Yale today — of course they feel dreadfully about it; they can not bear to have their teacher leave them, even for a moment, but I hope they will recover sufficiently to be with me tomorrow morning. I ran away so that I might come up here and be with you. When Father Hennessey was in college, I gave him an examination; I told the class beforehand there would be a whole lot of questions and they better study up. But when Father Hennessey took the examination, he wrote at the top, 'I plugged all this stuif up, but now I can't get the plug out.' There was a man who thought he would jump across Niagara, but, in order to jump it, he must get a good start. So he went back two miles and got so tired running the two miles that he couldn't jump. It is a great pleasure to have Father Hennessey, that good old Baptist, here. It isn't necessary for him to deliver an invoca- tion; where Father Hennessey is, there is a blessing." After speaking in appreciation of the occasion Father Hennes- sey said: "We can't leave the exercises of this day without turning the invocation into a thanksgiving, and call upon the Lord God of Hosts, the source of power, of truth, of goodness, of mercy and love, gratefully showing our feeling for this repast, begging him to teach us so we will know we are taught by our sires of two hundred and fifty years ago; those teachings which have made this good old community of Suffield, the grand old State of Connecticut and the more wonderful United States of America. Let us ever be mindful that what God has joined together, no m UFFIELD Pageant OCT13.2PM \ SECOND DJOr or CELEBRATION "Selling the Land." SUFFIELD, CONNEaiCUT WILL OBSERVE THE 250 y? ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDING OCT. 12.13 AND 14.1920 Much Reduced Reproduction of Pageant Poster QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 49 man shall put asunder; for increased and multiplied are His teachings, the teachings of a God of Justice and Truth." "There are times of trial and days of darkness when the best of us are apt to show our distrust in the providence of God, when we are sorely tempted to lose hope and heart in the things that are but, if we, like our sires, are seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven, we shall understand that it is God who gives and God who takes away, that God gives and takes away for our soul's safety. Therefore, let us this day show our trust in the Almighty Providence of God, and never suffer the weight of the body, nor the things of sense, nor the trials of life to fill our souls with bitterness. It is a blessing then that I wish you all; you who have come to join with dear old Suffield to make this occasion memorable." Hon. R. U. Tyler, of Haddam, the Democratic candidate for Governor in the election soon to occur, was next called upon and spoke of his pleasure in joining in Sufheld some of his pro- fessional and college friends. "We people down in Haddam," he said, "are a little older than you. We celebrated the two hun- dredth anniversary of the organization of our first church some twenty years ago. Eight years ago, we reached the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of the town, and two years ago was the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town. I speak of our own experience be- cause I can appreciate to some extent the great amount of work that people here in Suffield have had to do in order to stage this magnificent celebration. It means hard work and a great deal of planning, and a great deal of thought and eflfort, for which I trust you will feel fully repaid. It is a good thing to celebrate the history of our New England towns. I never attend one of these celebrations without being reminded of that reference to New England which we used to see in our school- books, an extract, as I recall, from an oration by S. S. Prentiss: " 'Glorious New England! thou art still true to thine ancient fame and worthy of thine ancestral honors! A thousand fond associations throng upon us, roused by the spirit of the hour! On thy pleasant valleys rest, like sweet dews of morning, the gentle recollections of our early life; around thy hills and mountains cling, like gathering mists, the mighty memories of 50 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD the Revolution; and far away in the horizon of thy past gleam, like thine own bright northern lights, the awful virtues of our Pilgrim sires?' " The next speaker, Mr. Henry B. Russell, of the Springfield Union, spoke of Suffield as his home town, but said that a man whose ancestors did not cut down the first trees nor the first Indians in Suffield felt almost like a man without a country in such a celebration as this. He had found, however, that he could bring his ancestors much nearer Suffield than he had supposed, because, when they migrated from New Haven northward, though they did not stop at Suffield, they stopped at the "Suffield Equivalent" which was the ragged edge of the present town of Blandford. He also spoke of the loyalty of Suffield people who live here or had lived here but had gone elsewhere, whether their ancestral roots ran deep into its early history or not. Major William Alcorn, of New Haven, brother of State Attorney Hugh M. Alcorn, spoke of his boyhood days in Suf- field; of the service of his father for four years and three months in the Civil War, his own service of one year on the Mexican border and two in France, and the service of his son and nephew in the navy. "Whenever our country called," he said, "Suffield was ready. When I came up this morning and saw that honor roll on the green, my heart swelled with pride for old Suffield, and I felt that she had done in this war as she always had in the history of the United States." He spoke eloquently of the service in France of the American army in which so many races were mingled. When an Italian regiment marched by, they were all Italians, the French regi- ments were all French, the British regiments were all British; there were all kinds in the American army, but they were all Americans. They could be distinguished always, because their shoulders were up and they carried themselves in that peculiar manner that distinguished them as Americans always. "In these reconstruction days, my friends, in the days fol- lowing this great war, you have a greater duty imposed upon you than those who fought over across. You have, as the orator this morning stated in response to the address of welcome, a different population in the town of Sufl!ield. Faces are strange QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 5 I in our familiar town. Strangers and foreigners are coming to our land, and it is upon the shoulders of every man, woman and child in the United States today to stand firm and fast for America, to love and teach Americanism every day of their lives, in their private home, on the public streets, in their inter- course with everybody, so when the Yanks are gathered to- gether, they will be not only Yanks in name, but they will be true Americans. The Toastmaster than said: "I agree with my friend. Major Alcorn, with all my heart. Instead of being filled with alarm because we have representatives of all nations, I rejoice at it. It is a great compliment to America, not because so many people are born here, but because so many people come here by their own free choice. I am perfectly certain we can make Americans out of them all, good Americans, for they came here because they knew that this was the best country in the world for opportunity, and if men are not all equal, all have, so far as possible, an equal chance; certainly it is more possible for people to succeed and go further under our government, under the American flag, than under any other government or envi- ronment in the world. So if Suffield has some Polish farmers, I am glad of it. Someone has got to be a farmer, if we are to live. We cannot all sit in the city offices and go to the movies. The county of Michigan where I spend three months every year, is filled with Polish farmers; they are hard workers; they work the way my father used to work; they really work; they get right down to the soil. Some of them stand only about a foot above it at their full height. The whole family work. It is a mighty good thing we have all these contributory streams from Europe and they would become good Americans by choice. Now, I was perfectly delighted to find two things this morn- ing. One was that Mr. Lewis, who delivered the address in 1870, is still alive and well, although he is on the other side of America, and the other is — I have met his son. I have just enough of the dramatic about me to think it is highly dramatic that in 1870 Mr. Lewis gave the historical address and Mr. Phelps gave the historical poem, that the son of Mr. Lewis and the son of Mr. Phelps are here today. I wanted him to stick close to me to be photographed as the Heavenly Twins, but we 52 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD are both too modest for that. I am going to ask you to Hsten to Mr. Reed Lewis. Mr. Lewis said: "I wish I might turn the tables today and deliver a poem, as Mr. Phelps did at the celebration fifty years ago, but I am unable to do that. Fifty years ago my father, a Suffield boy, delivered the historical address, from which he has quoted this morning. Today my father is in California and is, I know, thinking of this celebration and what we are doing. Both as his deputy and in my own right, I am glad and proud to be here and to have a small part in your celebration, for I count myself, although not a native son, yet a son of Suffield through my father and through my many forbears who are sleeping on your gracious hills. I can look back in direct line to at least two of the first selectmen when your board of select- men was organized nearly two hundred and fifty years ago. "Such anniversaries as these, it seems to me, not only renew the pleasant association of olden times and their memories, but they also bring us the inspection of the past and serve the one further purpose, to gather from them something of hope and wisdom for the future. Again, today we are wont to say or think we have arrived; we are prone to believe that the present day conditions and our institutions as they exist at this moment represent a happy compromise, but, as we turn back on such an anniversary as this, we see how great the changes have been in fifty, one hundred, two hundred years, and we realize that change is the law of life. Conditions are changed between these anniversaries, so they must change and develop in the future. "Fifty years ago when my father stood here, Suffield had just successfully completed its contribution to the great Civil War and the saving of the Union. Before the people who were here at that time, there extended, could they have seen it at that time, a half century of national growth and prosperity, the like of which they had never seen. Today we, too, have just com- pleted a successful part in a great war; we, too, are looking ahead to fifty years of national prosperity, I believe, but more than that, to a new era of international understanding and friendship. I believe we look forward to a new day in world affairs when there will be a great association of nations which will represent the community of interests of all mankind, not QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 53 only here in Suffield and the rest of our United States, but other parts of the globe. "Suffield, it seems to me, is itself the symbol of that new- community and interweaving of interests and relationships. I think of all the sons of Suffield who have gone forth to serve in other fields, perhaps outside of the State. If I may cite myself as an example, three of the last four years I have spent in government service in Russia, from the deserts of Central Asia where camels are the common beasts of burden, to the frozen north and, as I read this morning some of the names on your roll of honor, I saw that many of the honored sons of Suffield today are of foreign parentage, and that foreign lands are contributing to your present population and well-being; and it seems to me that Suffield thus typifies that new kind of community of interests, and the hope of world brotherhood which we may look forward to. So, at an anniversary where we celebrate the great achievements of the past, it is perhaps fitting we should also pause and give greeting to the great future in which Suffield and ourselves and our sons and daughters are to have a part." At this point Professor Phelps announced that he was obliged to leave for New Haven to keep his engagements and, in intro- ducing the next speaker, Mr. George S. Godard, Connecticut State Librarian, left these parting words: "In saying goodby today, which is, I hope, only au revoir. I want to thank you again with all my heart for the honor you have done me in asking me to come here and make the historical address. Suffield has always been very close to my own heart, because, as you know, my father was born here and I still have so many relatives and dear friends here. I feel from now on it will be even closer. I feel everybody in Suffield is somehow or other my cousin, my family friend, and I feel I really belong here. I have been in some of your houses today. I have looked over the wonderful Hostess House with the extraordinary col- lection of beautiful furniture. I shall always feel, no matter where I am that there is something here that no other town can mean to me. So it is with a thankful heart and great happiness in coming here that I say goodby, not only to the family, God bless them all, and Mr. Fuller, who took me in, 54 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD and that big fellow, Harmon, and to Father Hennessey, that good old Methodist that I brought up, and all the rest of my individual friends, but I say only temporarily, I am sure, goodby to the town." Mr. George S. Godard, State Librarian, urged the desira- bility of putting into shape and keeping accessible the early town and family records that are fast passing out of existence. He asked all to aid him in his work of preserving the records of the towns of Connecticut, and last but not least the records of the last war. The last speaker, Mr. Seymour C. Loomis, of New Haven, spoke pleasantly of the significance of the celebration, of the old associations of the town and of their values. The Community Dance No event lent itself more fully to both the spectacular and social features of the celebration than the Community Dance on Tuesday evening. The idea developed not only from a desire to provide such an occasion for a mingling of people with no restrictions upon admission, but from an appreciation of the facilities that the broad concreted expanse in front of the Town Hall and in the broad street above and below, offered for an outdoor evening event under suitable illumination. Nothing but a clear beautiful night could be lacking for such an occasion, and fortunately such was provided. The long and broad concreted space was swept for the occa- sion and then sprinkled with many hundred pounds of corn- meal, and transformed into ample room for a host of merry dancers. The space was roped off and about it gathered a great multitude of people, either to participate in the dancing or to enjoy the unique and beautiful spectacle of hundreds of couples swinging gaily under the festoons of electric lights to the fine music of the 104th Regiment Band. The rhythmic motion, the changing colors up and down the brightly illumined street created a wonderful scene and old and young, native and foreign born, entered into the brilliant occasion with zest and enjoyment. WEDNESDAY, THE SECOND DAY Organ Recital and Address by Dr. Stephen S. Wise at Second Baptist Church The celebration of the second day began at lo o'clock in the Second Baptist Church which was filled to overflowing, many standing in the aisles and doorways. Prayer was offered by Rev. E. Scott Farley, pastor of the church. Professor William C. Hammond of Holyoke, one of New England's foremost organists, opened the exercises with a splendid program of recitals upon the organ, and Miss Marie Roszelle, whose mother was formerly Miss Belle Wilson of Suifield, gained much applause by two vocal selections. At the close of the musical program, Mr. George A. Peckham introduced the speaker of the day, Rev. Stephen S. Wise, Ph.D., LL. D. of New York City. His subject was "Pilgrim's Progress, 1620 to 1920," and it was peculiarly suited to the occasion inas- much as the three hundredth anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims coincides with the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Suffield by men of the same stock and simi- lar religious and political purposes. An abstract of Dr. Wise's address follows: The year 1492, as the elder among you may recall, was not celebrated in any such way as the year 1920 is being celebrated. The year 1492 was observed after the lapse of four centuries with joy and amid thanksgiving, and yet in a spirit wholly dif- ferent from that which waits upon the tercentenary of the Pil- grims. We could not help recalling then, as now, that 1492 marked the adventure of a man, but 1920 commemorates the adventure of an age. For 1620 is the year which chronicled the Homeric daring and nobleness of a whole generation — a genera- tion which set out, not to find the gold of India, but to build the streets of the New Jerusalem. The Pilgrims were pioneers and they and their children have never ceased to be pioneers spiritual. The America of the Pil- ^6 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD grims was a spiritual achievement, the America of the Civil War was a spiritual deed. The America of the future — will we dare spiritually to pioneer in its upbuilding? The two prime purposes of such a commemoration as this are to preserve the good of the past and to build for a better future. There is much to keep that was. There is more to achieve that ought to be. Piety and pride alike lie back of your quarto-mil- lenary celebration — pride and gratitude for what was, pride and hope for what is to be. Pride of ancestry is a great quality when greatly and nobly used. One likes to hear about the sons of one group and daughters of another and the great grandchildren of yet another, provided each fitly honor the rock whence they were hewn, and be not bent upon self-glorification. Because I am a Jew, I can sympathize with those who would magnify the distinction and the nobleness revealed by their fathers. Ancestry is never to be viewed as a privilege, but ever as a responsibility. Let us think of our soldiers of the World War which we helped to win. No one would say that these were less noble than were the battlers of the Revolution, and yet will the great-grandsons of the young Americans of 1917 and 1918 be entitled to any special credit and distinction because their great-grandfathers were of the heroes of the World War? Para- phrasing the word of Mark Twain spoken before the New Eng- land societies, what shadow of right have you to celebrate in your ancestors gifts which they alone did exercise but not transmit? As the grandsons and great-grandsons of the war of 1917 and 1918, these will be entitled to the privilege of serving and battling as did their sires, to the distinction of being braver and nobler than were their heroic ancestors. The progress of the Pilgrims to a new world ranged from 1620 to 1920 — up to this time; 1920 is no more a goal than 1620 was a starting point. The progress of the Pilgrims began when men first pioneered in behalf of a nobler life, a larger truth, a broader charity. We cannot today stand where stood the fathers of New Eng- land or the founders of the town in which you dwell. We cannot think as did the fathers of the Republic. We cannot be where Washington was nor stand where Lincoln stood, but we can aim QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 57 to be where they would have been were they living today. We can in spirit be again what they were. The Pilgrims of 1620 did not leave England behind. They brought England with them and transplanted England to a new world and built an England new. The Englishmen who came to build a new England were truer to the old England than those they left behind. These brought to the New World the English mind, its qualities — and, some will add, its defects. But its qualities far outranged its defects. They brought the spirit of England — what Rupert Brooke called "the English air." I remember to have heard William Stead say that the American Revolution was not as against or away from England, but in the reaffirmation of English principles forgotton for an hour by Eng- land's un-English rulers. In order to be true to England, the Pilgrims or England's emi- grants had to leave England behind them. Out of England, they came immediately after that age in which England had been at its greatest — the England of Elizabeth and Shakspere — and the foundations which they laid of the America which was to be were English through and through. Theirs was the courage of the pioneer, the fineness of justice and the nobleness of verac- ity. I urge today that it was England that laid the foundations of New England, that Englishmen give to our country its bent and inspiration, that they flowered in that perfect product of the blending of the old England and the new England (despite Low- ell's "Nothing of Europe Here") — Abraham Lincoln. This, I urge, because there are those who would move us to forget the debt we owe to England, the bond that links us with England and the common aims of the two great English-speaking peoples of earth. The year 1920 would lose much of its highest value to America if it failed to establish a finer amity and a more brotherly under- standing between the two great commonwealths which more than any other nations have it in their power to keep and to deepen the peace of the earth. The progress of the Pilgrims must be from the making of the new England the foundations of which they laid, to the estab- lishment of the new America, which their children's children 58 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD are called upon to build. Ours is a republic, which cannot truly endure unless the Pilgrims of 1920 share the passion of the Pil- grims of Plymouth Rock for the res publica, or for the common good. The new America must be more completely and truly and holily democratic than it has been before, its people, self-gov- erning outwardly and self-disciplined inwardly — a democracy belonging to no party and no class and no sect but served as a veritable religion by every party and every class and every sect within the limits of the land. Over and above all, the Amer- ica for which all Americans ought to be must be for all the world, keeping the world to the noblest ends of peace. In 1620 the Pilgrims took themselves away from the Old World. In 1920, the children's children of the Pilgrims take themselves back to the Old World. Then they left the Old World in order to serve God and conscience. Now, in truth, they must go back to the Old World at the bidding of God and conscience to serve the Old World. "Mayflower, Ship of Faith's best Hope! Thou art sure if all men grope; Mayflower! Ship of Charity!" All is true the Great God saith; Mayflower, Ship of Charity! With the singing of "Blest be the Tie that Binds," and the benediction the people scattered for the noon hour and to join the many who were coming into the town from neighboring places to witness the Pageant of the afternoon. THE PAGEANT OF SUFFIELD Written by Prof. Jack Crawford of Yale University and Produced by Sufield People The spectacular event of the celebration was the historical Pageant written by Mr. Jack R. Crawford, Assistant Professor of English in Yale University, and enacted by townspeople on the south banks of Stony Brook a little above the Old Boston Neck Mill Dam which, according to tradition, was first con- structed by Major John Pynchon in 1687 to secure power for a corn mill he had engaged to build to promote the settlement of the town. Aside from its historic significance, the place was peculiarly suited for such a pageant. From the level and nar- row meadow through which the tree-bordered stream runs, the pasture ground rises gradually and evenly, thereby providing a natural amphitheater for the spectators to view the scenes en- acted on the level stretches below. To the left of this natural stage lines of cedars were stuck into the ground closely together, providing a screen from which the actors in the various scenes issued, and behind which they retired as each episode ended. It was a beautiful day and the afternoon sun, as it hung above and sank towards the crest of the higher ground to the south, shaded the audience while it fell brightly on the brilliant and quaint costumes of the actors in the historic scenes and lit the autumn foliage of the graceful old trees, mirrored in the smooth waters of the brook in the background. On the brook at times wild duck disported, flying occasionally up the stream and returning to again add to the picturesque features of the living pictures of long ago. The gleaming paddles of the canoes of the Indians, as they came to confer with the white men in Puritan garb, added to both the beauty and realism of the scene. The setting was ideal, the pageantry spectacular and graceful, the action excellent. Nearly six hundred men, women and children of the town took part with spirit and ability. The costumes were designed by 6o QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Miss Mary McAndrew of New York, and were mainly made for the occasion by the women of Suffield, the exception being the typical costumes of the men of Puritan and Revolutionary times provided by a Springfield costumer. As the hour for the opening of the Pageant approached, the people gathered on the hillsides where a host of ushers led the way to the seating of a multitude that numbered nearly 7000. Ample space was provided in adjacent lots for the parking of automobiles and all arrangements for so large a gathering of people were carefully made and successfully carried out. Previ- ous to the opening of the scenes. Shorts' band gave a pleasing concert. The prologue of the pageant covered the inception of the Pilgrim Idea in Holland and an allegorical representation of the wilderness to which they came, while the succeeding episodes represented the epochal incidents in the two hundred and fifty years of Suffield history. SYNOPSIS OF THE ACTION I Prologue — The Idea Goes Forth Scene — Leyden, Holland, 1620. Characters John Robinson, a Pilgrim preacher, from Scrooby, Notting- hamshire. Mr. Howard Henshaw John Carver "1 Pilgrims Mr. Howard D. Sikes Edward Winslow j Mr. Samuel H. Graham Miles Standish, a soldier Mr. Howard C. Cone The Stranger Rev. E. Scott Farley A Ballad Seller Miss Lucille Wilson Dutch peasants, strolling actors, market women, acrobats, boatmen and exiled Pilgrims from England. Pilgrims. Mr. Leroy Sikes, Mrs. Charles S. Spencer, Mrs. James Spencer, Mrs. George L. Warner, Mrs. Frank Smith, Mrs. Frank King, Mrs. E. G. Hastings, Miss Alice Prout, Miss Madeline Spencer, Mrs. Howard Sikes, Miss Talulah Sikes, Mr. George Sheldon, Mr. George Warner, Mrs. Frank Reid, Mrs. David L. Brockett, Frank Smith, Shirley Reid, George Trues- dell. Dutch Peasants. Isabelle Greer, Mrs. Henry Phelps, Doro- thy Brown, Lilla Brown, Mrs. Earl Spaulding, Mr. Charles Chaplin, Mrs. Charles Chaplin, George Chaplin, Mr. Bert Gil- lette, Mrs. Bert Gillette, Anna Gillette, Mr. Samuel Adams, Q c o H Z < QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 6l Mrs. Samuel Adams, Louise Adams, Mr. George Parks, Mrs. George Parks, Ruth Brown, Eunice Brown, Robert Adams, Elizabeth Jones, Geraldene Jones, Florence Smith, Mr. Charles E. Raskins, Mrs. Charles E. Haskins, Mrs. O. L. Allen, Wallace Rhaum, Louise McComb, Mrs. Bridge, Thelma Bridge. Market Women. May Horsefall, Mary Roche, Mrs. Patrick Keohane, Minnie Wilson, Mrs. William S. Fuller. Acrobats. Capt. H. A. Lorenz, Henry Dewey. Strolling Players. Emerson Carter, Karl Anderson. A fair is in progress outside the walls of Leyden. Groups of Dutch peasants are making merry among the stalls and booths. A ballad seller passes among the peasants, singing. Strolling players and acrobats pass. The whole populace is rejoicing. In the midst of the pleasures and confusion of the fair, a sol- emn chant is heard in the distance. John Robinson and his little band of Pilgrim exiles from England appear and come forward. With Robinson are John Carver, Edward Winslow and Miles Standish. The Dutch peasants make way respectfully for the Pilgrims. The latter kneel in prayer a moment and then John Robinson addresses his flock. He reminds his followers that they are met to take solemn counsel among themselves. It is now twelve years since they came to Holland seeking liberty of conscience and the right to worship God in their own way. The truce between Holland and Spain will soon expire, and Robinson fears that once more fire and sword will ravage the land, thus imperilling the Pilgrims. He points out that it is not possible to return to England, for there they would again meet persecution. Robinson has, there- fore, summoned his followers and proclaimed a day of humilia- tion to seek the Lord for his direction. But far across the seas, the old Preacher says, there lies a new world where men may live in freedom. It is, therefore, his thought that a band of volunteers might venture overseas to make a home for the others. One or two murmur at the dangers of the voyage; others, more numerous, proclaim their trust in Robinson. At this moment there enters the mysterious figure of The Stranger. Robinson and the Pilgrims are amazed, for they know not this man. The Stranger bids Robinson to send his followers on the voyage without fear. Although they shall encounter 62 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD perils, yet will they achieve their purpose if they are steadfast in faith. With these words The Stranger disappears as myste- riously as he came. The decision to go to America is then taken and Robinson appoints Miles Standish one of the leaders. Again the Pilgrims pray for guidance in this new venture and the scene closes with Robinson leading off his flock. INTERLUDE I. THE WILDERNESS Characters The Mist School children of Suffield and West Suflield The Breeze Miss Grace Hastings The West Winds School children of Suffield and W\ Suffield Indian Hunters Elliot Hastings, Hugh Greer, Harry Warren The Pine Tree Mr. LeRoy Creelman The Oak Tree Mr. George Creelman The Maple Tree Mr. Kirk Jones Storm Mr. Ralph Raisbeck Frost Mr. Myron H. Van Wormer Snow Mr. Eric Provost The Stranger Rev. E. Scott Farley A Puritan Preacher Mr. D. F. Sisson A Band of Indians Indians. Raymond Dexter, Charles Mulligan, Robert Sack- ett, Ronald Dickson, Ralph Grain, Raymond Townsend, Charles Nielson, Warren Bunnette, Edmund Thain, Matthew Walker, Stuart Kleinert, Charlton Bolles, Edward Lockwood, Charles O'Connor, Malcolm Pearce, Adolph Stage, George Heris, Dennis Patterson, Herbert Wells, Henry Stoddard. Indian Hunters. Lloyd Sloan, Hugh Greer, Elliot Graham. Mist and West Winds. Ethelyn Fitzgerald, Mabelle War- ner, Jessie Maznicki, Kostek Krupienski, George Brown, Frank Krusinski, Muriel Whitman, Kathryn Fuller, Mae Adams, Bea- triceChaplin, FrederickBidwell,HelenMaznicki, Francis Keohane, Elderia Bell, Eleanor Phelps, Catherine Spencer, Florence Warner, Hazel Sparks, Harold Sparks, Margaret Raisbeck, Fred Gillette, Annie Mazeska, Henry Mazeska, Louise Albert, Douglas O'Brien, Helen Truesdell, Winfield Gregg, Charles Fuller, Madeline John- son, Laureen Fuller, Norma Wilbur, Frank Smith, Edward Makjeska, Howard Gillette, William Ratkavatz, Walter Rat- kavatz, Edward Graboski, Elizabeth Webalier, Henry Sobienski, John Shawley, Margaret Dineen, Isabelle Hollack, Sophie Al- bert, Anna Kraiza, William Pinney, Paul Donnelly, Donald Ber- cury, Bella Ruthkowsky, Edward Donnelly, Marjorie Reid, An- QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 63 thony Carney, John Zubowsky, Jerry Hayes, Staffie Bulawski, Rosie La Fountain, Gertrude Phelps, Lois Adams, Ralph Zace, Lucille Morton, Thelma Adams, Victoria Birtch, Steve Oso- wieski, Mary Osowieski, Russell Adams, Joe Zera, Stella Die- ninski, Joe Goodrich, Julia Czertarik, Vincent Horanzy, Stanley Horanzy, Eleanor Smith, Jessie O'Brien, Ada Halloway, Mary Cusick, Sidney Jones, Thomas Eagleson, Lawrence Nicholson, Louis Rickey, Curtis Warner, Kathryn Fuller, Marion Jacobs, James Jones, Frank Janik, Philip Koster, Charles Clement, Eloise Warner, Lillian Warner, Evelyn Spencer, Eloise Hauser, James Valenski, George Chaplin, Joseph Lowe, Grace Bridge, Edmund Bercury, Bessie Morton, Jeanette Hart, Tony Sheaha, Dominica Urbanowski, Mary Civickla, Mildred Johnson, Jennie Majeska, Annie Denro, Theresa Seeley, Eunice Brown, Hattie Brewster, Gladys Bessett, Edward Miller, Agnes Morahan, Dorothy Fuller, Lottie Denski, William Miller, Lillian Hollo- way, Samuel Biggerstaff, Allawishes Cynoski, Mildred Smith, Evelyn Phelps, Celia Organek, Stafamia Janik, Elizabeth Phelps, Lavinia Raisbeck, Edward Maleski, Victoria Maleski, Helen Majeska, Stanley Avias, Sophie Zavisa, Helen Alfano, Frank Baron, Harold Johnson, Tony Ciak, Elsa Belden, John Bercury, William Brackoneski, Ruth Chapel, Anna Cooper, Jennie Crow- ley, Michael Civikla, Joseph Cynoski, Elizabeth Devine, Mar- garet Eagleson, Myra Ford, Nellie Fuller, Doris Gantz, Leland Gardner, Anna Gales, Ada Holloway, Helen HoUoway, Barbara Jesse, Leo Kulas, Klemens Lucas, Felka Marnicki, Richard Mier, Katherine Monahan, Doris Nicholson, Mae Parsons, Katherine Prophet, Mamie Pysg, Elliot Sikes, Gertrude Swa- lek, Norman Thompson, Anna Turek, Victoria Wallace, Roland White, Miriam Greenwood, Richard Koster, Robert Alcorn, William Jackson, Virginia Brewster, Lester Hart, Ralph Ander- son, Norman Brown, Lewis Belden, Agnes Barnack, Mildred Denley, Dorothy Hayes, Gladys Thorne, Meade Alcorn, Sumner Adams, Kenneth Adams, John Leahey, Merlyn Adams, Thomas Blake, Daniel Barnett, Alvia Toplin, Helen Oppenheimer, Ade- laide Toplin, Hazel Chapman, Evangeline Barresford, Catherine Donnelly, Helen Zako, Doris Sparks, Irene Brown, Henry Mc- Gourn, Marjorie Orr, Dorothy Case, Nellie Gifford, Kenneth Orr, Thomas Carmody, Leverne Root, Charles Markiel, John Biggerstaff, John Lennon, Walter Sheridan, Henry King, John Carroll, Felix Markiel, Edward Phelps, Alexander Baker, James Weldon, Burton Root, Douglas Adams, Howard Lillie, Eunice Root, Sophie Harreson, Alphonso Zenesky, Rose McGourn, Pearl Edwards, Estella Edwards, Margaret White, John Don- nelly, George Zukowski, Beatrice Orr, Mary Kahl, Nellie Zera, Janice Orr, Stewart Adams, Elinor Adams, Celia Romano, Helen 64 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Karpinski, Chester Felkoski, Elina Covington, Junior Root, Ruby Collins, Oliver Oppenheimer, Harry Falkouski, Donald Root, Alec Harpenski, Francis Prekop, Joseph Skrouski, Charles Weldon, Frank Bidwell, Steven Bienenski, William Barnett, Stanford Deno, John Orr, Howard Colson, James Barnett, Lewis Champigny, Earnest Case, Antoinette Markel, Anna Lennon, Irene Champigny, Anastasia Sheridan, Lucille Case, Ethel Smith, Agnes Gilligan, Mae Biggerstaff, Marjorie Pinney, Rosaline Col- son, Evelyn Orr, Jennie Sheridan, Grace Taylor, Nettie Bud- dington, Dorothy Deering, Anna Prekop, Annie Smith, Ethel Griffin, Eva Bidwell, Mary Colson, Mildred Orr, Winnie Willson, Louise Kuras, Tafila Kuras, Marion Rouelle, Mary Rague, Ida Beckwith, Elizabeth Southergill, Lucy Smith, Ethel Warner, Muriel Fitzgerald, Agnes Gilligan, Annie Zeneski, Conception Ganzaley, Helen Weldon. An open space along the fringes of the great forest on the banks of the Connecticut. Slowly a cloud of mist rolls over the foregrounds. Above, the trees tower up. The Breeze comes and gently blows the mist away. Some Indian hunters pass in search of game. A Pine Tree rebukes the Oak and Maple for permitting mor- tals easily to pass through the wilderness. The Oak replies that it is not from these mortals — the Indian hunters — that the trees have anything to fear, but the Breeze has brought news of an- other race of white men who use whole forests in the building of their towns. Alarmed by these tidings, the Pine Tree calls upon Storm, Frost, and Snow to come to the aid of the wilderness against the white men. These spirits all pledge their aid, willing to unite against the common enemy. The Stranger, however, appears and it seems he can speak the language of the trees. He tells the trees that their efforts will be in vain, for the white men have come to found a kingdom greater than any the wilderness knows. The Stranger vanishes, leaving the trees murmuring among themselves. The scene ends with a band of Indians coming into the forest to make a camp. A Puritan preacher, bearing in his hands the Bible, comes among the Indians and is well received by them. Thus the trees of the forest see for the first time a white man. The Breeze in the Forest tells the Red Men of the Coming White Men k'- "' .. ^ 1^ / / ^Ip 4 ■ j in f^ Major Pynchon Reading the Treaty to Pampunkshat and Minouasques The Stranger Urging the Pilgrims tu \ oyagc tu the New World The First Town Meeting, Major Pynchon Presiding Benjamin l-'ranklin Sur\ eying ihe Post RoLite Throutrh Suffield Capt. Elihu Kent and Minute Men Hear the Lexington Alarm QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 65 EPISODE I. THE EARLY DAYS OF SUFFIELD Scene I. The Founding of Suffield, 1670. Characters Pampunkshat, an Indian Chieftain Mr. Allen Sikes MiNOUASQUES, an Indian Princess Mrs. James Eagelson A Runner Mr. Sherwood Allen Major Pynchon Mr. Samuel Barriesford Samuel Marshfield Mr. Howard F. Russell Samuel Harmon Mr. Charles R. Latham Nathaniel Harmon Mr. David L. Brockett Joseph Harmon Mr. George A. Harmon Zerubbabel Filer Mr. Hubert Scott Robert Olds Mr. Thomas F. Cavanaugh The Stranger Rev. E. Scott Farley Indian warriors, settlers, and their wives and children. The Indian chieftain, Pampunkshat, laments to the Princess Minouasques the encroachment of the white men upon the hunt- ing grounds. He" is debating whether to sell the lands, as the white men wish, or to make war upon the intruders. The prin- cess counsels peace, because she recognizes that resistance to the weapons of the white man is useless. Reluctantly, Pam- punkshat consents to sell. A runner announces the coming of Major Pynchon and the settlers. The latter enter and Major Pynchon reads the terms of the treaty by which the land is to be bought. Contemptuous of the white men's bargaining, Pampunkshat accepts the offered thirty pounds in gold, and, after signing a mark to the document, smokes the pipe of peace with Major Pynchon. The Indians then depart in sadness. The Major and his settlers thereupon begin to apportion the lands and to lay out the limits of the town. The Stranger appears to warn the settlers that only by labor and courage will they be able to achieve their task. Major Pynchon is sur- prised at the coming of this unknown and takes him for some itinerant preacher carrying the Gospel of the Indians. When The Stranger has gone, Major Pynchon leads in prayer and asks a blessing on the town his followers have come to found in the wilderness. 66 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Scene 2. Suffield in King Philip's War, 1675. Characters Hezekiah, the Boatman, Mr. George A. Martinez Samuel Harmon Mr. Charles R. Latham Launcelot Granger Mr. Watson L. Holcomb Major Pynchon Mr. Samuel Barriesford Medicine Man Mr. T. J. Nicholson Storm Mr. Ralph Raisbeck Frost Mr. Myron H. Van Wormer Snow Mr. Eric Provost The Pine Tree Mr. LeRoy Creelman The Oak Tree Mr. George Creelman The Maple Tree Mr. Kirk Jones The Stranger Rev. E. Scott Farley A Youth Horace Smith Settlers, Indian warriors of King Philip. Song, by Miss Grace Hastings. Settlers. Frank King, Robert Edwards, Judson L. Phelps, Henry Roche, Frank Zudowski, Frank Ford, Ralph Ford, Clarence Towne, Nelson A. Talmadge. Hezekiah, the Boatman, arrives to take some of Samuel Har- mon's beaver skins down the river to the market. He speaks of the rumors of an Indian uprising, but Harmon makes light of Hezekiah's fears. It is true that word has come of King Philip's attacks upon the Rhode Island plantations. Harmon, however, does not believe that the Indian chieftain. King Philip, will come as far as Suffield, for the settlers have always lived on good terms with the Indians in this vicinity. Harmon, nevertheless, feels it is his duty to report what he has heard to Major Pynchon. The latter decides to take such steps as are possible to put the little settlement in a state of defence. The Medicine Man of the Indians now comes in and calls upon the spirits of the Wilderness, Storm, Frost, Snow, and the Forest Trees, to aid the red men in their work of destruction. In vain The Stranger warns the Medicine Man that the white men will conquer the spirits of barbarism. A youth, escaping from the pursuing Indians, staggers in and falls at Major Pynchon's feet. A moment after the Indians begin their attack. The settlers, surrounding their women and children, are compelled to flee. The Indians, in triumph, de- stroy by fire the town. QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 67 Scene j. The First Suffield Town Meeting, 1682. Characters The Stranger The Pine Tree The Town Crier Major Pynchon Town Clerk First Townsman Second Townsman Samuel Kent Anthony Austin Samuel Marshfield Luke Hitchcock Selectmen Thomas Remington John Barber Townsfolk of Suffield. Rev. E. Scott Farley Mr. LeRoy Creelman Mr. John L. Wilson Mr. Samuel Barriesford Mr. William J. Wilson Mr. George L. Warner Mr. Clinton D. Towne Mr. Frank Kent Mr. James N. Root Mr. Howard F. Russell Mr. Bernie E. Griffin Mr. S. R. Spencer Mr. P. D. Lillie The Stranger tells the Pine Tree that the Wilderness has now been conquered. The Pine Tree acknowledges the defeat. Then the Town Crier enters to proclaim the first town meeting. Major Pynchon and the townsfolk assemble and the major presides. After the call for the meeting has been read, the transaction of business is begun. First, five selectmen are elected. Anthony Austin is chosen clerk. Major Pynchon ap- points Samuel Marshfield, of Springfield, land measurer for the ensuing year. Luke Hitchcock is made sealer for leather. Upon the question of fixing the statute date for the next town meet- ing, two of the settlers have a dispute which is, however, amicably settled by the intervention of Major Pynchon. With the appointment of Mr. Trowbridge as schoolmaster the meeting ends. The Stranger shows how the white men have brought law and order into the Wilderness. INTERLUDE H. A Colonist His Wife Their Child Tax Collector Tyranny The Stranger A company of Red THE STRUGGLE OF FREEDOM, 1776. Characters Mr. Howard R. Sheldon Miss Helen Cavanaugh Beatrice Caldwell Mr. William E. Culver Mr. Harold K. Perkins Rev. E. Scott Farley Coats, and a band of Embattled Farmers. QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Farmers. William H. Orr, Burton R. Spear, S. L. Wood, Frank S. Briggs, Forrest M. Spear, Allen McCann, Richard M. Loomis, Samuel A. Graham, John O'Malley, Andrew Sweat- land, Ernest Warner, Clarkin Collins, Robert Greer, Thomas Greer, Walter Greer, Robert McCann, Hanford Taylor, Herbert Warren, Bert Holcomb. Red Coats. Morgan Stratton, Merton Stratton, Judah Phelps, Roy Briggs, Frank McCann, Hugh Greer, Ralph Pome- roy, Joe Claudell, Samuel Orr, Jr., George Greer. The action of this interlude is in pantomime. It foreshadows, symbolically, the cause of the Revolutionary War. A Colonist, his wife, and child, are supposedly sitting peace- fully by their hearthstone. There comes to them a Tax Col- lector, with the demand for the payment of an unjust tax. The Colonist refuses, in spite of the Collector's threats. The latter goes, only to return with Tyranny and a company of Red Coats. Again the Colonist refuses the demand for the tax, whereupon Tyranny commands the Red Coats to seize the Colonist and bind him. The Stranger is, however, a witness to the scene. He rushes out and summons the host of Embattled Farmers. They, with their flintlocks, drive away Tyranny and his Red Coats, and set the Colonist free. The scene ends to the strains of "Yankee Doodle." EPISODE II. THE REVOLUTION Scene i. Benjamin Franklin surveys a road through Suffield. Characters A Peddler Mr. H. Leslie Pomeroy First Townswoman Mrs. A. B. Crane Benjamin Franklin Mr. A. B. Crane DiccoN, his assistant Karl Koehler The Stranger Rev. E. Scott Farley Townswomen and men of Suffield. Townsmen and Women and Children of Suffield. Mrs. Thomas Cavanaugh, Mrs. Herman Ude, Mrs. William Cusick, Miss Mary Quinn, Mrs. Francis Collins, Miss Ruth Anderson, Mrs. William M. Cooper, Mrs. Sara Street, Mrs. Edward Per- kins, Miss Helen Knox, Miss Barbara Collins, Miss Mildred Caldwell, Miss Marjorie Adams, Miss Cora Adams, Mrs. H. A. Lorenz, Miss Verna Anderson, Mrs. Samuel A. Graham, Mrs. Matthew Leahey, Mrs. George Sheldon, Mrs. George B. Wood- ruff, Mrs. George Hastings, Mrs. F. S. Bidwell, Jr. Mrs. Benoni Thompson, Mr. Benoni Thompson, Mr. William Barnett, Mr. General Washington Addressing the Townspeople A Minuet in Honor (jf Washington About to Depart on His Way The Colonists Rusisi Txrannx- and the Redcoats Discussint: the Xevvs of the Ci\'il War QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 69 Max Wever, Mr. Otto Wever, Mr. George Hastings, Mr. Francis Collins, Mr. Herbert Stiles, Mr. Eddie Koehler, Ruth Sheldon, Ruth Lillie, Lu Anna Phelps, Grace Taylor, Doris Nickolson, Elberta Lillie, Florence King, Esther Farrell, Miss Jennette Martinez, Miss Grace Aiartinez. A peddler appears in Suffield with a stock of cheap trinkets. When he proclaims his wares as imported English goods, the women refuse to buy. Nothing abashed, the peddler confesses they are all Connecticut made and that his description had been added as a trick of the trade. He likewise offers a patent medi- cine, the formula of an old alchemist, and he is more successful in selling this. Benjamin Franklin, with his surveying party, happens along and rebukes the peddler as a mountebank. Franklin informs the women that temperate living is the best medicine. They offer him refreshments, which he gladly accepts. The Stranger enters and falls into conversation with Franklin. They discuss the growing difficulties with the mother country, and Franklin points out that the oppression of the colonies is caused by the political stupidity of the English government and not by the English people. He fears, however, that if the poli- ticians do not learn common sense that war will come. Both agree that hateful as war is, it is sometimes the only way in which men can secure justice for themselves. The scene closes with Franklin continuing his survey further down the road. Scene 2. The Lexington Alarm, 1775. Characters First Townsman Mr. Harold E. Hastings His Neighbor Mr. George F. Holloway Captain Elihu Kent, of the Minute Men Mr. Frank W. Orr Mistress Margery Miss Jennie Raisbeck A Tory Mr. Winfield Loomis An Elderly Townsman Mr. Albert A. Brown Second Townswoman Mrs. William Pomeroy A Horseman Mr. Charles R. Brome Townsfolk and Minute Men of Sufheld. The First Townsman is discussing with his Neighbor the closing of the port of Boston. The Neighbor speaks of the company of Minute Men, under Captain Kent, that Suffield 70 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD has secretly raised. It seems that there are but few Tories in town, the air of the place not being favorable for their political complexions. Mistress Margery, a patriotic lady, presents Captain Kent with a New England Pine Tree flag. There is, however, one Tory present who is a witness of this ceremony. He upbraids Captain Kent as a rebel and traitor. Kent replies that "re- sistance to tyranny is obedience to God," and, while placing the Tory under arrest, protects him from the violence of the townsmen who regard a rope as the best answer to the Tory's arguments. After the Tory has been led away, several townsfolk offer Kent their savings as contributions to the cause. At this point a horseman rides in upon a spent horse, with the news of Lexington. Food and a fresh horse are given him, while Kent calls out the minute men. The scene closes with the departure of Kent's company for Boston. The Stranger watches them go. Scene j. SufReld welcomes the victorious General Washington. Characters First Selectman Mr. Egerton Hemenway Second Selectman Mr. Fred Scott, Jr. The Schoolmaster Mr. H. S. Chapman The Parson The Rev. Jesse F. Smith First Selectman's Wife Mrs. Fred Deno General Washington Mr. Charles S. Bissell His Staff, Mr. E. M. White, Mr. Harry C. Warner, Mr. John Raisbeck, Mr. James H. Prophett, Mr. Charles R. Brome. Townsfolk of Suffield. Flower Maidens. Gladys Taylor, Hattie Ford, Dorothy Kent, Mildred Gregg, Muriel Reed, Dorothy Hauser, Mrs. Van Derhule, Isabelle Bawn, Caroline Hauser, Lois Merrill, Beth Morris, Bertha Phelps, Nellie Quinn, Ruth Taylor, Catherine O'Connor, Anna Cain, Anna Wiedeker, Margie Thompson, Lillian Fisher, Marion Fuller, Marion Henshaw, Doris Bridge, Grace Morrison, Isabelle Taylor, Emily Whalen, Leslie Holla- way, Jennie Pearl, Loranie Taylor, Roslyn Colson, Marjorie Beach, Jennie Sheridan, Rhoda Campbell, Lillian Zimmerman, Mary Dayton. The First Selectman is worried over his address of welcome which he must deliver upon the arrival of General Washington. The Second Selectman wishes included a reference to the heavy QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 7I taxes which the War of Independence has laid upon the people. He is told that in a time of victory everyone should rejoice and keep the worry over taxes for later consideration. The school- master is eager to add some figures of speech to the Selectman's address — say a comparison of General Washington to an eagle, and the States to Phoenixes new risen from the ashes of war. The Selectman suggests that the Schoolmaster make whatever additions he considers appropriate, provided he does not use words that are too long. The Parson likewise desires to insert an appropriate text. The Selectman's wife adds to his troubles by a desire to present General Washington with a bouquet of flowers. The Schoolmaster agrees that this may be done, since the chariots of the Roman emperors were decked with flowers on the days of their triumphs. The speech is finally settled when General Washington and his staff arrive. The young girls throw rose petals in his path, and all Suflfteld turns out to welcome him with flags and garlands. The Selectman delivers his speech, to which Washington makes generous reply, pointing out the noble part the town of Suffield has borne in the struggle for independence. The scene concludes with the departure of Washington after a country dance and general merry-making have been held in his honor. INTERLUDE III. THE STRUGGLE WITHIN, iS6i Characters Abraham Lincoln Mr. Allen P. Phillips The Stranger Rev. E. Scott Farley Group of Slaves. Mr. Oscar Chamberlain, Mrs. Julia Brown, Mrs. Susan Wrenn, Miss Virginia Rice, Mr. Jerry Hayes, Mrs. Matilda Hayes, Saidee Johnson, Mr. Ephraim Dunston, Mae Lockett, Bailey Lockett, Virginia Brewster, Barbara Jesse. An old plantation melody is heard in the distance. A group of slaves from a Southern cotton plantation enter singing. They carry with them baskets of cotton. As they pass across the stage, the figure of Abraham Lincoln appears. He seems lost in thought. The Stranger comes to him and questions him. Lincoln muses upon the problem of slavery — the injustice which compels a race to live in bondage. The Stranger goes, having 72 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD planted in Lincoln's mind the feeling that this injustice must soon be grappled with. EPISODE III. THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865 Scene i. The news comes to Suffield of the attack on Fort Sumter, April, 1861. Characters First Townsman Mr. F. S. Bidwell, Jr. Second Townsman The Rev. Father Hennessey Third Townsman Mr. Daniel J. Sweeney Fourth Townsman Mr. R. N. Buffen Telegraph Boy Normand Thompson A Citizen, admirer of Major Anderson Mr. Thomas Couch Townsfolk of Suffield. Townsfolk of Suffield. Mary Cooper, Mrs. Carrie Sutton, Margaret Hatheway, Edna Pomeroy, Frances Seymour, Ruth Remington, Mrs. Minnie Thompson, Mrs. Clifford Prior, A-lrs. Terry Chapin, Mrs. Thomas Couch, Mrs. Joseph Claudell, Mr. Christopher Michels, Mrs. Leroy Creelman, Airs. Charles Kurvin, Miss Alice Sheldon, Mrs. Jennie Hazard, Miss Catherine Ken- nedy, Miss Mary Kennedy, Miss Celia Kennedy, Mrs. William Pinney, Miss Edna Pinney, Mr. Arthur Beach, Mr. Alfred Spen- cer, Mrs. Alfred Spencer, Mr. Adolph Koster, Alice Link, Edith Whitman, Mr. Frank Kearns, Mrs. Frank Kearns, Mr. Harry Kehoe, Mrs. Harry Kehoe, Robert Greer, Thomas Greer, Wal- ter Greer, Flora Campbell, Helen Campbell, Mrs. Charles Prout, Milton Beach, Harold Beach, Mr. Alfred Sheldon, Mr. and Mrs. Morton Merrill, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Austin, Mrs. Thatcher Belfit, Miss Lylia Woodruff, Mrs. Clinton Towne, Mrs. Eger- ton Hemengway, Calvin Parks, Leroy Parks, Anna Clement Mrs. Belden, Miss Elberta Prout, Eunice Greenwood, Mrs. Weston Stiles, Mr. G. M. Montgomery. The Townsmen are discussing the crisis confronting the coun- try. All New England is busy helping runaway slaves to escape via what was known as "the underground railway" — a secret organization for hiding fugitives. The crisis has become acute by the demand of South Carolina that Major Anderson evacuate Fort Sumter. One townsman is of the opinion that to surrender Fort Sumter is the only way to avoid civil war. According to him, the surrender would appease the anger of the South, and the whole question at issue could then be settled by compromise. The others do not agree with him. The question of secession cannot be argued. The Union must be preserved at all costs. QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 73 A compromise which involves hauling down the flag from Fort Sumter is not worth having. From the telegraph oflftces comes the news of the attack on Sumter and of Major Anderson's heroic resistance. Suffield is in an uproar of patriotic fervor. An admiring citizen sings a famous song in honor of Major Anderson. Even the townsman who advocated surrender is converted. The scene closes to the singing of "John Brown's Body." Scene 2. President Lincoln issues a call for volunteers, 1861. Characters First Townsman Mr. F. S. Bidwell, Jr. Second Townsman The Rev. Father Hennessey Third Townsman Mr. Daniel J. Sweeney Reader of the Proclamation Mr. Gilbert W. Phelps A Veteran of the Mexican War Mr. Anthony P. Kulas A Drummer Boy Mr. Malcolm Pearse Two Townswomen Miss Emma Newton, Mrs. Alfred Sheldon. Townsfolk of Suffield, and recruits. Recruits. Fred Beach, Waldo Ford, Harold Hinckley, Charles Graham, Everett King, Henry Seymour, Raymond Cannon, Alfred Cannon, Henry Raisbeck, Sidney Patterson, Francis Warner, Leslie Martinez, Howard Barnett, Harold Brown, Donald Brown, Harold Beach, Frank Creelman, Leland King, Elton Halladay, Raymond Fisher, Harold Phelps. It is a few weeks after the firing on Fort Sumter. The towns- men are rejoicing over the heroic resistance made by Major Anderson. There is a discussion over the probable length of the war. Some believe it will be soon over; others are not so sure, for the South is stubborn and well trained in the use of arms. In the midst of their talk, the President's call for volun- teers arrives, and is read out to the townsfolk by one of the citizens. At its conclusion, the First Townsman opens a re- cruiting office, and the young men of Suffield, amid cheers, flock to enlist. A Veteran of the Mexican War volunteers as drill-master and endeavors to instruct the young men in the rudiments of military formations. The townsfolk all join in singing "The Star Spangled Banner." 74 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Scene j. The news of Gettysburg, July, 1863. Characters First Old Man Mr. John E. Dunn Second Old Man Mr. W. C. O'Neil Mrs. Harper Mrs. LeRoy Creelman Newsboy Meade Alcorn Townsfolk of Suffield and a Recruiting Squad. Women in Black. Mrs. Joseph Gregg, Mrs. Victor L. Green- wood, Mrs. Benj. Van Wormer. Many weary months of war have passed and the first enthu- siasm has been somewhat dimmed. The Union losses have been heavy and no apparent progress has been made in putting down the Confederacy. The First Old Man meets his neighbor, Mrs. Harper, and asks if she has any news of her son. She replies that all she knows is that the War Department has reported him a prisoner at Andersonville — wounded. The Second Old Man is war weary and discouraged. After Chancellorsville, he believes the North should have made peace. What is the use of carrying on the struggle any longer.'' Mrs. Harper and the First Old Man sharply rebuke him. He talks, they say, like a Copperhead. In spite of the draft, in spite of all the losses, the war must go on. There can be no turning back now. And then comes a newsboy crying an "extra". Eagerly the paper is bought and in it is found the news of Gettys- burg. This is almost immediately followed by word of Grant's capture of Vicksburg. The tide has turned and the Confederacy is doomed. In joy and relief the townsfolk sing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Scetie 4. When Johnny Comes Marching Home, 1865. Characters First Old Man Mr. John E. Dunn Second Old Man Mr. W. C. O'Neil Mrs. Harper Mrs. LeRoy Creelman Ezra, her wounded son Mr. Frank Creelman The Stranger The Rev. E. Scott Farley Townsfolk and returning troops Returning Troops. Fred Beach, Waldo Ford, Harold Hinckley, Charles Graham, Everett King, Henry Seymour, Raymond Cannon, Alfred Cannon, Henry Raisbeck, Sidney Patterson, Francis Warner, Leslie Martinez, Howard Barnett, QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 75 Harold Brown, Donald Brown, Harold Beach, Frank Creelman, Leland King, Elton Halladay, Raymond Fisher, Harold Phelps. The same old men are eagerly discussing the news of Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The war is over, for the remaining Confederate forces in the field hardly count. Mrs. Harper passes, leaning on the arm of her wounded boy, Ezra, now returned to her. Ezra tells of his joy at getting home. He is going to settle down on a farm and raise some tobacco. Their joy is increased by the return of the Suffield men who have been fighting four long years in the Army of the Potomac. The troops enter singing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." The townsfolk turn out to do them honor and deck the boys in blue with flowers. As the stage clears. The Stranger comes forward alone, and says: "Suffield does not yet know that Abraham Lincoln has been called to his Father's bosom." FINALE Characters The Herald The Rev. Victor L. Greenwood General Phineas Lyman Mr. D. N. Carrington Gideon Granger Mr. Howard F. Pease Apollos Phelps Mr. Benjamin Phelps Dr. Sylvester Graham Mr. Joseph P. Graham Queen Nicotina Mrs. Spencer Montgomery Columbia Miss Marjorie Halladay World War Soldier Mr. John Kennedy World War Sailor Mr. Francis Cavanaugh Uncle Sam Mr. John O. Crane Polish Interlude Train of Nymphs. Dorothy Fuller, Katherine Fuller, Marion Greenwood, Helen Truesdell, Dorothy Root, Barbara Kent, Marjory Orr, Beatrice Chapman, Marjorie Reed, Marjorie Hart, Margaret Raisbeck, Nellie Fuller, Eloise Hauser, Grace Bridge, Lois Adams, Eleanor Phelps, Eloise Warner, Muriel Whitman, Grace Taylor, Lillian Warner, Helen Sheldon. Polish Group. Sophia Organek, Jennie Brackoneski, Victo- ria Kulas, Jennie Dambrowski, Stella Bodzian, Walenty Sudol, Adolph Nasuta, Tolesfor Sturzinski, Joseph Zukowski, Bruna Kulas, John Summers, Stanley Liss, Stella Janik, Stella Ble- lawski, Victoria Wolotkiewiz, Felka Maznicki, Chester Mu- rawski, Tadensy Walenzak, Francis Ruchinski. 76 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD In the center of the stage The Stranger stands to watch the characters in Suffield's history pass before him. First came the Pilgrims with John Robinson and the Dutch peasants. Next, the Indians and the Spirits of the Wilderness. Behind them, Major Pynchon and the first settlers. The Colonists and Red Coats follow, with Benjamin Franklin and General Washington at their head. Another division is composed of the slaves and the citizens and soldiers of 1861. Down the center walk another group of SufBeld's famous men, and a Herald proclaims their accomplishments. Among these are: General Phineas Lyman of Colonial days; Gideon Granger, the Postmaster General of 1801, and Senator; Apollos Phelps, a man famous for his physical and moral strength; and Doctor Graham, the well-known physician. Next, Queen Nicotina and her train appears. She is followed by the Interlude of the Polish People who have made their home in Suffield. Last of all, Columbia and Uncle Sam lead forward the new crusaders of freedom, a Soldier and a Sailor of the Great World War. The Pageant of Suffield ends with actors and audience singing together "America." THURSDAY, THE THIRD DAY The Parade and the Dedication of Memorials to Suffield's Soldiers and Sailors The third day of Suffield's two hundred and fiftieth anniver- sary celebration opened with an hour's concert by the 104th Regiment Band in front of the Town Hall. The historic green near the Soldier's Monument was filled with people, while others parked their automobiles thickly on either side of the street and along the Common to view the parade, the line of which was formed on Main Street at Bissell's Corner, Starting promptly, it was led by the Chief Marshal, James N. Root, with Assistant Marshals J. H. Prophet, E. M. White, Harry Warner, A. B. Crane, H. B. Chapman, and H. F. Pease, and by the Tarifi"ville Boys' Drum Corps, the oldest member of which is under fourteen years. In their bright blue uniforms, the boys made a fine appearance. Following them in this division were the school-children of the town, the younger ones in four decorated motor trucks and the older marching in order, all waving flags and entering fully into the spirit of the occasion. Behind them were the veterans of the Civil and Spanish wars in decorated automobiles. The second division was lead by the 104th Regiment band which, under an escort of the Suffield School Cadets, was followed by soldiers and sailors of the town who served in the Great War. Many of these men wore on their uniforms overseas chevrons; some wore wound stripes, and a number of medals glittered in the sun. By a fortunate cir- cumstance, Lieut. A. Waldron Miller had the day before returned from service with the American Army of occupation at Coblenz, and was placed in command of the service men who received many tributes of cheers along the line of their march. After them marched one hundred men of the famous Putnam Phalanx, of Hartford, in their picturesque uniforms and ac- companied by their own fife and drum corps. At the end of the division came the Suffield and West Suffield fire com- 78 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD panics, some of the former appearing in original uniforms with red blouses and helmets, and drawing the old original hand pump, bought in 1871, and contrasting sharply with the modern chemical truck with which the fire department of the village is now equipped. The third division was headed by the Father Matthew T. A. B. Society Drum Corps, an exceedingly well drilled or- ganization, followed by the float and marchers of the Polish Group, which in three divisions formed one of the colorful spectacles of the parade. The first division included 50 men, the second 50 women, and the third 50 boys. The men and women divisions appeared in the dress of their homeland; the boys in Boy Scout uniforms. In the complete cast of characters of the pageant of the day before, one of the spec- tacular features of a parade was ready at hand. In their appropriate costumes were Captain Miles Standish, Major Pynchon, General Phineas Lyman, General Washington, and other leaders in the pageantry, with the Indians, Hollanders, Pilgrims, and the colonial men and dames. Following in line were the tastefully decorated floats of the following organiza- tions or groups: Sibbil Dwight Kent Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution representing a colonial scene. Ladies' Wide Awake Club of West Suffield, representing William Penn signing a treaty of peace with the Indians. The Woman's Reading Club, carrying a streamer, "Knowl- edge is Power." The Suffield Grange, representing the first Thanksgiving after the landing of the Pilgrims. The Colored People's Society, representing plantation days. The Mapleton Literary Club. The Suffield School. Another feature adding greatly to the attractiveness of the parade was the Horseback Division almost equally made up of men and women on well groomed horses, while children rode gaily bedecked ponies. Among the horses were three hunters owned by Lawrence Haynes of Springfield, and some of the best horses in Suffield were in line. All these features, constituting a parade over a mile long, QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 79 rich in color and distinctive costume, proceeding to the music of bands and drum corps, made one of the most attractive events of the celebration. The long column proceeded up Main Street, turning at Fuller's Corner at the junction of the Crooked Lane or old Springfield road, and countermarched to the Town Hall, where the divisions gathered, with many spectators to attend the exercises of the dedication of the bronze tablets upon which are the names of all the Suffield men serving in all the wars of their country and placed in position on the front walls of the Town Hall, one at the north corner and the other at the south. The inscription above the names reads: "Erected by the Town of Suffield in Memory of HER Sons who have Served in Wars of their Country." TheTabletsareof bronze and record eight hundred and thirty eight names, ninety -four in the French and Indian Wars; two hundred and sixty in the War of the Revolution; eighteen in the War of 1812; two in the Mexican War; two hundred and eighty-six in the Civil War and one hundred and seventy in the World War. In the list of names of those in service in the World War the asterisk designates those who died in service; S.A.T.C., Students Army Training Corps; and Y., those in the Y.M.C.A. units. French and Indian Wars Major-Gen. Phinehas Lyman Adams, Benjamin Adams, David Adams, Joel Adams, John Adams, Samuel Allin, Caleb Allin, Jonathan Allin, Samuel Austin, Daniel Austin, Elias Austin, Thomas Bancroft, Benjamin Bement, David Bement, Edmund Bliss, Peletiah Bronson, Joseph Burbank, Ebenezer Foster, Edward Fowler, Job Graham, Rev. John Granger, Abner Granger, Asher Granger, Bildad Granger, Enoch Granger, Joel Granger, Josiah Granger, Samuel Granger, Zadock Hall, Isaac Halladay, James Halladay, Moses Hanchitt, Oliver Hanchitt, Zacheas, Jr. Harmon, Benjamin Harmon, John Harmon, Nehemiah Harmon, Samuel Hathaway, John Hitchcock, Aaron Kent, Asel Kent, Elihu Kent, Joel Kent, Noah Kent, Oliver Kent, Paul King, Dan King, Ebenezer King, Eliphalet King, Joseph King, Seth Leavitt, John Lyman Gamaliel Dwight Lyman, Phinehas, Jr. Lyman, Thaddeus Mather, Eusebeas Mather, Increase 8o QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Nelson, Isaac Nelson, James Nelson, Jeremiah Norton, Jonathan Norton, Shadrach Norton, Zebulon Old, Joseph Old, Stephen Phelps, Aaron Phelps, Timothy Pomroy, Dan Pomroy, Noah Adams, David Adams, Joel Adams, John, Jr. Allen, Caleb Allen, Chester Allen, Gershom Allen, Samuel Answitz, ApoUus Archer, Thomas Austin, Joseph Austin, Nathaniel Austin, Phinehas Austin, Ralph Austin, Richard Austin, Thomas Ball, Moses Bancroft, John Barker, Ethen Barnes, William Bissell, Isaac Bissell, Samuel Bliss, Eli Briggs, Joseph Burbank, Ebenezer Burbank, Joel Burbank, Seth Campbill, William Chamberlain, Jeremiah Chaplin, Ebenezer Cooper, Jacob Coy, Edy Crane, Simeon Curtiss, Frederick Dady, James Daniels, Benjamin Denslow, Benjamin Denslow, Philander Pomroy, Phineas Remington, Elijah Remington, Simeon Rising, Abel Rising, James Rising, Paul Roe, Abel Roe, Joseph Roe, Thomas Sheldon, Caleb Sheldon, Elijah Sheldon, Jonathan War of the Revolution Dewey, Jedediah Dewey, Oliver Dewey, Peletiah Dewey, Silas Dunlay, Darius Easton, Elijah Evans, John Fervin, Zebulon French, Amaziah French, Calvin Fuller, James Gains, Samuel Gilbert, Isaac Gillet, Asael Gillet, Benjamin Gillet, Elihu Gillet, Isaac Gillet, Rufus Goldwin, Matthew Goodkins, Samuel Graham, John Graham, Narcissus Graham, Sheldon Granger, Abraham Granger, Asher Granger, Bildad Granger, Daniel Granger, Jacob Granger, Oliver Granger, Phinehas Granger, Robert Granger, Samuel Granger, Samuel 4th Granger, Zadock Hale, Samuel Hall, John Hanchet, David Sikes, Lot Spencer, Daniel, Jr. Spencer, Elisha Spencer, Hezekiah Spencer, John Spencer, Reuben Warner, Ely Warner, Moses Warner, Nathaniel Warner, Samuel White, John Winchell. John Winchell, Joseph Hanchet, Ezra Hanchet, Luke Hanchet, Oliver Harmon, Benjamin Harmon, Elias Harmon, Eus Harmon, Gad Harmon, Israel Harmon, Jaques Harmon, John Harmon, John, Jr. Harmon, Samuel Hathaway A. Thrall Hathaway, Guilford Hathaway, John Hathaway, Seth Hathaway, Wilber Hiir, John Hucksley, Moses Hulbert, Alvin Hulbert, Lucius Ingraham, Jeremiah Jones, John Joslin, Reuben Kellogg, Martin, Jr. Kent, Augustin Kent, Benjamin Kent, Elihu Kent, Elihu, Jr. Kent, Joel Kent, Jonathan K. Kent, Oliver Kent, Samuel Kent, Seth Kent, Titus King, Dan King, Eli King, Eliphalet Suffield Ser\'ice Men in the World War Pageant Characters in the Parade TABLET at North Corner of Town Hall TABLET at South Corner of Town Hal Float of the Daughters of the American Revolution Pageant Characters of Civil War Times QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD King, Gideon King, Joseph King, Joseph, 3d King, Josiah King, Nathaniel King, Pelatiah King, Thaddeus King, Theodore King, William Kirtland, John Lacy, Isaac Lane, Dan Lane, William Laphland, John Larry, Kada Larry, Ready Leach, Lewis Leavitt, John Leavitt, Samuel Lord, John Loveland, Joel Lumbard, Justin Mather, Increase McMorran, John Meachum, Philip Moor, Arunah Moor, Hiram Morris, James Morris, John Moss, Noah Negro, Cesar Nelson, Daniel Nelson, Jeremiah Nelson, Moses Nelson, Philip, Jr. Newbury, Jeremiah Newton, Zechariah Noble, Ebenezer Noble, Nathan Norton, Daniel Norton, Shadrach Norton, Thomas Old, Josiah Owen, Isaac Palmer, Ozias Parsons, Ebenezer Parsons, Reuben Pearman, Joseph Pease, Augustin Pease, Joseph Pease, Silas Pease, Warham Pease, Zeno Pheland, Thomas Phelps, Dan Phelps, Timothy PhiUips, Eliphalet Pierce, Francis PoUey, Amasa Pomeroy, Asa Pomeroy, Isaac Pomeroy, John Pomeroy, Jonathan Pomeroy, Joseph Pomeroy, Nathaniel Pomeroy, Peletiah Pomeroy, Phebus Preston, Jonathan Remington, Abijah Remington, Hosea Remington, Josiah Remington, Nathaniel Remington, Rufus Rising, Eli Rising, James Rising, John Rising, Jonah Rising, Josiah Rising, Nathaniel Robbins, Elijah Rockwood, Josiah Rowe, Abner Russell, John Sanderson, Elnathan Sanderson, Silvanus Screen, James Sheldon, Asaph Sheldon, David Sheldon, Ebenezer Sheldon, Elijah Sheldon, Jacob Sheldon, John, Jr. Sheldon, Josiah Sheldon, Martin Sheldon, Seth Sheldon, Simeon Sikes, Amos Sikes, Ashbel Sikes, David Sikes, Gideon Sikes, Jacob Sikes, John Sikes, Titus Sikes, Victory Skinner, Timothy Smith, Comfort Smith, Elisha Smith, John Smith, Seth Spear, Elihu Spear, Elijah Spear, Joshua Spear, Moses Spencer, Daniel Spencer, Eliphalet Spencer, Hezekiah Spencer, Jehiel Spencer, John Spencer, Jonathan Spencer, Reuben Spencer, Simeon Stephenson, Abner Stoddard, Filo Strong, Return Thistle, Samuel Thwing, Ebenezer Tobin, James Towsley, Amoriah Towsley, Lot Towsley, Micah Towsley, Michael Trumbull, Oliver Underwood, Jonathan Warner, Daniel Warner, John Warner, "Nathaniel Warner, Richard Warner, Samuel Watson, Thomas Wheeler, Daniel Williston, Consider Winchel, Dan Winchel, Oliver Woolworth, Justus Woolworth, iPhineas Woolworth, Reuben Bissell, Elijah Brooks, Jacob Charles, James War of 18 12 Dunham, Jabez Dunham, Moses Gaylord, Roswell Marshall, Abraham Moulton, Rufus Olds, Obadiah 82 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Page, Samuel S. Rising, Allen Sikes, Zenas Hathaway, John M. Abel, Lester A. Alcorn, Hugh G. Alderman, John Allen, Franklin H. Allen, George W. Allen, William A. Andrews, Benjamin Anthony, Henry Archer, Luther L. Austin, Albert R. Baer, Alfred D. Baker, Francis Baker, James Baker, Jordan Baker, Samuel Ball, Charles G. Barnes, Heman H. Barnett, Henry Barnum, Ezra VV. Bates, Jerome P. Baxter, Henry Beach, Edward Beebe, Edwin C. Bell, William E. Beman, George T. Bement, Edwin C. Bennett, George Birney, William H. Blake, George H. Bliss, James M. Bont, Daniel Borcherding, Herman Bowers, Joseph H. Boye, John W. Brady, Patrick Brown, Empson Brown, Thomas A. Burbank, Leverett L. Burke, Michael Bush, Andrew S. Carl, George Carrier, David B. Carter, George W. Castin, Chauncey C. Caesar, George H. H. Smith, Warren Stafford, Arnold Truesdale, Darius Mexican War Lewis, James The Civil War Cayton, John W. Chapman, John Cherdin, Charles Cherry, William R. Chester, Michael Clark, Henry Clark, John Clark, Martin Clarkson, Robert J. Cline, David Cline, John H. Coats, John Coffey, John Collins, Francis Collins, Leonard Collins, Philip Collins, Samuel Cone, Heman A. Connor, John Cook, Abraham Cooper, Charles H. Cooper, James Corbin, David P. Corser, Proctor Crane, James P. Crocker, George W. Curtis, Luther N. Dalton, John Davis, Charles A. Day, John W. DeGraff, Elias Demmary, Joseph Dennison, Charles Dewey, Amos Dixon, William Dolan, Peter Eastman, Oscar D. Easton, ApoUos Fieneman, Gottfried Flynn, Patrick Foale, William R. P. Foley, William W. Fowler, Frederick Francher, Albert L. Ward, Simeon Weaver, George Wilkinson, Thomas Freeman, William Fuller, Edward A. Galvin, John Garrett, James D. Gerschwend, Joseph A. Gettier, William AL Gillett, Egbert C. Gillette, James M. Goodrich, Frank W. Gouthier, Joseph Graham, Arthur H. Graham, Oscar H. Granger, John W. Green, Richard Grimm, Elijah Griswold, Ellis A. Grohman, Peter Hall, Eben P. Hall, Peter M. Hancock, William H. Hanlon, John Harmon, Ashbel C. Hastings, Francis E. Hawkins, William H. Hayes, Elias W. Healey, Patrick Hemingway, Daniel E. Hicks, George Hide, John Hintz, Henry Hoskins, Joseph Ives, David Ives, William C. Jackson, John L. Jacoby, James James, John F. Jinman, George Jobes, Asbury Jobes, Richard Johnson, George W. Jones, Samuel Josephs, John QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 83 Kasche, William Keegan, Michael Keeshand, John Kellogg, Emerson Kellogg, Henry N. Kelter, Thomas Kiefer, John Z. King, Gilbert F. King, Roderick G. Knight, Ivory P. Kurvin, James Lacey, Henry Lacey, Michael Lamberton, Sullivan P. Lathrop Benjamin F. Leavitt, David F. Lee, Homer Leffler, Henry Lester, Milton, Jr. Lester, Silas Letcher, Francis D. Letcher, John B. Lewis, George C. Lewis, George ]\L Lewis, John Lipps, George F. Little, Charles L. Long, George Lord, Roswell C. Ludington, Augustine Mackin, Patrick Margerum, Claudius C. Marritt, Jerome Marshall, George Martinez, Andrew B. Mather, William H. McCann, Norton O. Mcintosh, Alfred McKenzie, Thomas B. McLaughlin, Pat. C. McMain, Thomas F. McVey, Charles McVey, Gardner Miller, Frank Miller, Herman Mooney, James Moore, Henry Mosher, Israel P. Mullen, James Mulligan, William Myers, Henry Nehin, Daniel Newhart, Henry T. Newton, Israel Newton, Matthew T. Noll, Henry W. Olds, Henry Pease, Wilbur F. Pendlebury, Thomas H. Percy, Earl D. Perkins, George M. Pettis, Charles C. Phelan, John N. Phelon, Charles S. Pierce, Dwight Pierce, George J. Pock, James Pockett, Joseph Polk, James Pomeroy, Melvin L. Pomeroy, William C. Pomeroy, Willis A. Powers, John Proctor, William H. Rattray, James P. Reeves, William M. Reihm, John P. Relyea, William H. Remington, Albert M. Rhaum, Norman S. Riley, Thomas Rising, Charles G. Rising, Roland Roberson, Robert Rogers, John Rose, Hubert G. Russell, Emerson E. Russell, James Russell, James B. Sanford, Thomas Scofield, Russell H. Scollon, Andrew Schwind, Nicholas Sherman, Conrad W. Sherren, James Sherwood, Charles Sherwood, John, Jr. Siggins, Williams Simmons, Francis Smalley, James Smith, Charles A. Smith, Charles F. Smith, George B. Smith, Oscar L. Smith, Patrick Smith, William H. Snow, Henry R. Snow, Nelson E.- Snow, Orlando E. Soby, William Sparks, Richard W. Spengler, George Spiars, Ira B. Stepney, Richard Sykes, L. Fayette Symington, James Taylor, Albert Taylor, William J. Thompson, Alex. H. Thompson, Isaac Thorogood, Charles Todd, Samuel D. Tootill, Levi Towne, Clinton D. Tracy, John Trowbridge, George N. Turner, George L. Van Buren, Franklin Vancott, William H. Vandenburgh, Stephen Van Heusen, Martin Vanderpool, Jacob G. Walker, Joseph Walter, Ira Wansor, George A. Ward, James D. Ward, John D. Warner, Horace Watkins, George W. Watson, Henry Webster, Daniel Wedemier, Christian Wessels, Helmuth Wessels, Louis Wessels, Peter West, Delmer Whipple, Henry Whittle, William R. Williams, Charles Williams, James Wincholl, John L. Woodworth, Chester Woodworth. Chester W. Woodworth, James H. Woodworth, John Woodworth, William H- QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Corrigan, Thomas Evans, Fred Leahey, John Adams, Edward Apraham, Paul Austin, William J. Baranowski, Joseph Bardoni, Ettore A. Beach, Milton A. — S.A.T.C. Belfit, Thatcher G. Beloski, Wladlslaf Bernard, Edward Binns, Douglass Blackburn, Raymond E. Blonberg, LeRoy C. Brackoneski, Joseph F. Briggs, Leroy Brown, Marshall Cain, William Caldwell, Howard E. Cannon, Merrill L. Canty, Martin J. Cavanaugh, Francis W. Cemoch, John Chekanvos, Anthony Conley, John J. Convery, Harry Corrigan, Edward J. Coulson, John H. Coulson, Robert, Jr. Coulson, William A. Coulter, Joseph — Y. Creelman, Clifford C. Creelman, Frank E. Creelman, Fred N. Creelman, Allan D. — Y. Cronon, Eugene J. Crowley, James J. Culver, William B. Cunningham, George Dambrowski, Julian Decelles, Raymond A. Deutsch, \\ illlam DeZolt, Lewis *DeZolt, Joseph E., Jr. Dineen, Michael Dunn, John E. Dupont, William T. Durgin, Edwin The War with Spain Leahey, Michael Parks, William The World War Dziengewski, Stanislaw F. Eagleson, John A. Edmonds, Charles A. Evans, Jesse B. Evans, Nathan Farquhar, E. Stuart Farrell, William P. Filipcank, Andro Fitch, Lester H. Fitch, Nelson A. Fitzgerald, William W. Flaherty, Edward J. Fleming, John F. Fuller, Sumner F. Gallagher, John J. Gardner, Conrad Goodrich, Albert B. Goodrich, Alec Goodrich, Francis *Graham, Lewis S. Griffin, William Guindon, William Halak, Walter W. Hamilton, Clarence E. Hastings, Elliott S. Hastings, Wallace G. Heckland, Harold Hendee, George M. — Y Henshaw, Walter R. — S.A.T.C. Heyburn, Robert E. Holcomb, Roy H. Holdridge, Merton L. Janlowitz, Jurges Jones, Howard P. Jones, Robert S. Jones, Russell M. Jones, William P. Jonkowski, John J. Kearns, Harry Kearns, Wallace G. Kennedy. Daniel R., Jr.— Y Kennedy, John J., Jr. Raisbeck, Bertie J. Raisbeck, Ralph Root, Herbert Kulas, Anthony P. Kulas, Frank S. Kulle, Jack C. Kzizanowski, Jan. S. LaFountain, Henry *Lally, William T. Lees, Carlton B. Loomis, Herman H. Loomis, Winfield H. Lyman, Emmett J. MacArthur, Gertrude E. — Y MacArthur, Kenneth C. Magee, Fred J. Malloy, Charles Mansfield, William Martinez, George A. Matka, John McCann, Frank H. McCann, Warren McCarthy, Leslie J. McNach, William Medwood, William R. iMerrill, Ralph Miller, A. Waldron Mitchell, James, Jr. Murphy, John A. Muzzie, Earl Nelinuck, Wasil O'Brien, John O'Malley, Thomas F. —S.A.T.C. Orr, Robert Papafil, Theodore Parcelles, William Parks, Calvin G. —S.A.T.C. Parks, George V. Parks, Lerov B. —S.A.T.C. Parks, Murray B. Patterson, James T. Phelon, Newton T. Pobalak, Frank Pomroy, Ralph H. ^^I^>i«>*- Float of the Suffield Grange Mapleton Literary Club mmkti^i IS POWER I WOMAN'S REAOfiMG CLUB ■"luat of the Wdiiian's Reading' Club Float of the Ladies' Wide Awake Club QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 85 Powers, Henry Psaras, Savas *Quinn, Thomas Reynolds, Hugh W. Rhaum, Wallace H. Robertson, Harold Russell, Fordham C. Saltus, Charles Saunders, Bertram Schmautz, William J. Scott, Fred J. Searles, Alfred Seymour, Henry W. — S.A.T.C. * Died in service. Sheldon, Walter A. Sherman, Roger Sholtz, John Sikes, Allen B. —S.A.T.C. Smith, William L. Stockwell, William M. Stratton, Morgan C. Street, Russell B. Svacicki, Maxmilian Szredzinsky, Telesfor Szvmauski, Clifford Talmadge,NelsonAlcorn Thompson, Clive I. Thompson, Frank Thorkey, Fred J. Tomkelley, Stanley Toothill, William H. Trasencznia, Alexander Turner, Olin Turner, William H. Viets, H. Leon, Jr. Vietts, Seeley H. White, Timothy H. Winiarski, John Wlazlo, Michael A. Woodford, Clarence F. Zera, Felix J. Zoronski, John In front of the Speakers' platform, erected at the entrance of the Town Clerk's office, the members of the Grand Army were given seats, and drawn up in line facing the platform were the service men of the Great War, while the people gathered in a large circle behind and on either side. The 104th Regiment Band stationed across the street near the Soldiers' Monument furnished music for a bright and patriotic occasion. Mr. Edward A. Fuller, a veteran of the Civil War and president of the General Committee of the celebration, presided and spoke impressively of the patriotic service of Suffield men in the long history of the town. Rev. Victor L. Greenwood of the First Congregational Church offered prayer, and Mr. Fuller then introduced Mr. Henry B. Russell, of the Springfield Union, and a former Suffield resident. Mr. Russell's address follows : We have been looking backward through the mists of the years to the far-off beginnings of an old New England town — to our own unit in that ever-broadening national life which, from such beginnings, has become the greatest material and moral force that civilization, struggling through all the centuries, has produced. As the Puritan purpose spread outward, up and down the wooded valleys, along the hilltops and rugged coasts, within these old towns fell the seed from which our American democ- racy and freedom sprung; in them was the plant watered; in 86 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD them it grew and flowered, and from them, as the pregnant years passed, was the seed carried over the hills, the great rivers, the long western trails. Thus were these old towns the leaven of a nation. That which is their story and glory is the story and glory of Suffield. Our historical pageantry is the pageantry of them all. The purchases from the Indians, the home lots, the commons, the churches, the schools, the town-meetings — all the funda- mentals of our American institutions, in their origin and de- velopment, were here in old Suffield, as in them all. Here in old Suffield, also, ever beat the pulse of a national life, striving for a fuller expression, a firmer federation, a higher destiny. Not alone in commerce and trade, not alone in religious and political intercourse did colonial interests mingle in a com- mon cause, that may have been impressed with peculiar force upon Suffield, because so long uncertain whether she belonged to Massachusetts or to Connecticut. Jealous as the colonies were of their independence and rights, when danger threatened, when the general alarm was sounded by fleet messengers, spur- ring their steeds over the turnpikes and through the settlements, from them all — "Then marched the brave from rocky steep. From mountain river, swift and cold; The borders of the stormy deep, The vales where scattered waters sleep. Sent up the strong and bold." They have their rolls of honor^all these old towns in all the wars — and no town has greater cause for pride in her soldiers than Sufiield. Their spirit and patriotism are read into the glowing pages of American triumphs on land and sea; and now would we cast their names in enduring bronze, all their names in the equality of their service to their country, all their names henceforth under the eyes of those who enjoy and are to enjoy the blessings of their deeds and sacrifices — ourselves and those to come after us. Do not suppose it was to them as it is to us. They were think- ing of their duty; we are thinking of their deeds. They saw their hard tasks ahead of them; we look back upon their tasks QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 87 performed. We walk in peace where they fought, where many fell. We reap where they sowed. "The heroes of those old days are dead; But their spirit lives in today's young men; And never in vain would our country plead For sons that were ready to die in her need." Did the treacherous Indian tribes to the north, often under foreign intrigue and leaders, raid the border towns, or did the commonwealths call for help to fight out on this continent that long conflict in which both the fate of Europe and the destiny of America were involved, then out marched the boys of Suffield. They had a great leader, Captain, afterwards Maj.-Gen. Phineas Lyman, the real hero of the battle of Lake George, the first Suffield citizen to rise to national eminence. Suffield was but a little settlement then, yet ninety-four of her sons answered the calls of that intermittent warfare, the burden of which largely fell on these northern colonies and towns. Of these ninety- four, as you will see, more than one-half bore the family names of Suffield's early settlers. Soon after these wars were ended, and the question whether the king of England or the king of France should dominate in this part of the continent was settled, began to arise the greater question whether the king of England or the American people themselves should dominate here, and establish for themselves and preserve for their children those principles of political liberty they had brought here and nourished in a hard climate, on a stubborn soil, in the midst of alarms. Then one day in the spring of 1775, clattering over the stony turnpikes, came mes- sengers telling of that shot heard round the world, the shot of the embattled farmers. "As if the very earth again Grew quick with God's creating breath; And from the sods of grove and glen Rose ranks of lion hearted men, To battle to the death." On a faded pay roll preserved at Hartford is recorded this: "Marched from Suffield for relief of Boston in the Lexington QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD alarm, April, 1775, Capt. Elihu Kent and one hundred and fourteen men. Preparedness? Yes; that preparedness for which America has become most famous- — preparedness to shoulder a gun, to fall in, march forth, at once, anywhere, when American honor, or rights, or liberties or firesides are at stake. In that revolu- tionary conflict other Suffield companies were recruited by Captains Oliver Hanchett, John Harmon, Nathaniel Pomeroy and Samuel Granger. Some of them had fought in the French and Indian wars, and, as before, more than one-half of them were the sons of the first and early settlers of Sufiield. The Kings sent twelve. Grangers eleven, Kents and Sheldons ten each, Harmons nine, Spencers, Sikeses and Pomeroys eight each, Risings and Austins six each, Gillettes, Hatheways, Remingtons and Warners five each, and so on. By the time of the war of 18 12 the political relations of New England to the states under Virginia leadership had undergone a change. In the tempest of events the conflicting views of Hamilton and Jeiferson had developed an acute partisanship. Embargoes and non-intercourse acts had sorely tried commercial New England. It was hard work to recruit armies where the war was unpopular. But there was the flag; it was the govern- ment, struggling under its new constitution, that called, and Suffield did not fail to respond. Whatever may be said of the war, it had its part in shaping the national destiny. There were brave deeds by land and braver by sea, and Sufiield has her honor roll. If their names are fewer, the greater is their share in the triumph of that period. The short Mexican war was even more unpopular in the North, unfavorably shaping, as it seemed then, the conditions of that inevitable conflict yet to be fought. It was largely the regular armies that marched and fought with Taylor and Scott, but Suffield has her honor roll in a war, that, despite its failure to appeal to the patriotism of the whole nation, nevertheless un- locked the gates to the manifest destiny of a great republic, to march on to the Rio Grande and the Pacific. Then, speedily as the troubled years passed, the nation drifted to that great civil conflict. Not under any new or strange banner of secession, but under the same old flag that was born in the QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Struggle for independence, that waved over the victorious armies of Washington at Yorktown, that fluttered from the topmasts of the fighting frigates of 1812, that was borne aloft at Buena Vista and Palo Alto, went forth two hundred and eighty-six Suffield boys to the hard battles of that struggle that fired the national heart and fixed the indivisibility of the Union. It purged the soil of slavery and determined a larger destiny in the centuries to unfold. A few — a very few — of that Grand Army of the Republic are still with us, the story of that great passion of liberty and union burned into their souls. To most of us it is history; to all of us a glorious history wherein the wounds are healed and the scars have faded into the cherished tokens of a united people. These names in bronze shall ever tell the story of Suffield's devotion to a land "where live the free, where sleep the brave." Our war with Spain was brief, as it was victorious, fought largely by regulars and militia, but Suffield was not missing. She had her volunteers, she has her honor roll in that cause of freedom's further development on this hemisphere. Then, last and nearest to the thoughts and emotions of this generation, is the long roll of Suffield boys of the great war, in which not only the honor, the safety and liberties of America, but the world's civilization and peace, were at stake. The boys who have come back to us from service in France, on the seas and in the far camps need not be told what it meant. Fathers and mothers, wives and sweethearts need not be told what it meant to them. It is enough for the present to know that it was a great cause and a great victory, greater than the world can yet know. The question of what it meant is passing into the question of what it can be made to mean. History has been made, but is still in the making. We are still beset with problems it has left. Terrible wounds have yet to be healed; scars there are that can disappear only with the years. American destiny, the American relation to the cause of political liberty and human progress elsewhere, civilization the world over, have yet to clear a path into the future. But it will be cleared. The boys on that long honor roll did not go forth in vain. In any event, their deeds are secure. It 90 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD was the American flag, waving over them in Flanders, in Picardy, in the Argonne and on the Marne that ralHed the fainting hearts of the exhausted defenders of their homes and their freedom, that was the symbol of hope for millions of war-worn and war-torn people— the flag that was carried over those hard final battles to victory. So here, in the civic center of this fairest of old New England towns, near the close of our celebration of two and one-half centuries of its history, we take this occasion to cast in letters time shall neither diminish nor destroy, the names of all these Suffield men of all these years in all these American struggles for a great nation, a free people and a better world. We honor the living and the dead alike, in every service on land and sea. Here do we dedicate an unfading tribute to the soldiers and sailors of Suffield; to their sacrifice for "That Flag that never stooped from victory's pride; Those stars that softly gleam. Those stripes that o'er us stream, In war's grand agony were sanctified. At noon the officers and selectmen of the town gave a dinner to all the war veterans of Suffield in the gymnasium of the Suflfield school. Other visitors, as on the two days previous, gathered on the green with their box lunches, or enjoyed the hospitality of the homes of Suffield. The program of the third day was closed in the afternoon with a football game on the Suffield School athletic field, attended by about a thousand people. The 104th Regiment band gave a concert on the field before the game, which was between the Suffield School team, and one from the Springfield College. The local team, which played no losing game during the whole season, won by a score of 28 to o. The celebration of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of Suffield was one leaving only pleasant memories for its people and their guests. It enlisted the co-operation of the townspeople generally and to this co-operation and the faithful work of the various committees its success was due. Suffield now passes on toward another half-century milestone in its history, to be reached only in the life of another generation. THE HOSTESS HOUSE An Old Fashion Home on an Old Fashion Street with Old Fashion Ladies as Hostesses One of the most interesting and popular features of the cele- bration was the Hostess House, its quaint rooms furnished with rare and beautiful old furniture, containing many specimens of the handiwork of departed generations, and presided over as hostesses during the three days of the anniversary by Sufheld ladies in gowns of the olden days. Through the courtesy of the Masonic Club, the lower floor of the Masonic House was turned over to a committee of ladies, under the chairmanship of Mrs. Edward A. Fuller, to be fur- nished like a home of long ago. "Raised" by Luther Loomis in 1790, and to the older residents of the town long known as the home of the late William L. Loomis, the old mansion has been kept in good condition as a fine example of the archi- tecture of its period. The hand-wrought paneling and other distinctive features were retained when recently the house was refitted for the Masonic Club, and one of these much admired features is the oriel window on the south side. Altogether it made an ideal setting for the hostesses and their loaned heir- looms. Open from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. on the three days, and easily accessible, it was much visited by SufReld people and their many guests. The spacious lower hall and four large rooms were given over to the hostesses, and the work of furnishing these rooms with the best examples of fine homes of a century or more ago was placed under the supervision of Mr. and Mrs. Karl C. Kulle, of Suflfteld, peculiarly qualified by their knowledge of values in antiques, and, with their committee, they made careful exami- nation and selection of the types and specimens suited to the consistent furnishing of the various rooms and with highly suc- cessful results. The quaint and pleasing atmosphere that was thus imparted 92 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD to the rooms was thoroughly enjoyed by all visitors and, if it cannot be adequately described, it can be imagined from the list of the furnishings here given, with the names of those to whom they originally belonged in most cases, and the names of those loaning them for the exhibition. THE HALL Highboy. High chest of drawers, Spanish feet, 1710-20. Belonged to the Hezekiah Spencer family of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Chas. L. Spencer. Tall Clock. Made in Suffield in 1794 by Simeon Smith of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. Edwin A. Pomeroy Pine Settle. First half of the i8th century. Belonged to Daniel Norton, of Suffield, who fought in the Revolutionary War. Loaned by Mr. Seymour Loomis and Mr. John Norton. Table. Drop leaves, turned frame, last quarter of the 17th century. Belonged probably to Asahel Hatheway of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. D. N. Carrington. Chair. Cane chair, Spanish feet, 1700-10. Belonged to the Halladay family of Suffield. Loaned by Miss Marjorie Halladay. Candlesticks. With grease dish. Belonged to Oliver Granger of West Suffield, Taintor Hill, Loaned by Mr. Samuel R. Spencer. Heraldic Blazons. Printed fabric, 1768. Came from the Blackbourne collection (mostly laces), part of which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Loaned by Karl C. Kulle. Portrait. Don Pease (1795-1868), painted at the age of thirty years. Loaned by Mrs. E. A. Fuller. Chairs. Two chairs showing Dutch influence, 1710-20. Belonged to Joseph Pease of Suffield. Loaned by Dr. Harold M. Brown. Banister-Back chair, 1730-40. From the Dr. Horace S. Fuller collection. Loaned by Mrs. C. F. Sutton. Rugs. Loaned by Mrs. Chas. R. Latham. BEDROOM Field Bedstead. Empire style of 1800-20. Originally be- longed to Mrs. Eliza H. Phelps, of West Townshend, Vt., who float of the Polish People Suffield Firemen Drawing the Old Hand Pump \\ est SulHcld School Children in Parade The Town Hall Decorated for the Celebration QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 93 probably had it when she was married in 1814. The bed has its original hangings. Loaned by Mrs. Eliza S. P. Pierce. Bedspread. Woven and embroidered by Paulina Harmon (about 1791-1866), who made it before her marriage. Loaned by Mr. George A. Harmon. Trundle Bed. Trundle, or truckle beds were made as early as 1650. Has belonged to the Fuller family for over 70 years. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fuller. Cradle. About 1820. Belonged to Dr. Asaph Bissell of Suffield. Quilt made by Mrs. Deming in i860. Loaned by Mr. Charles S. Bissell. Tripod Table. Walnut, about 1750. Formerly belonged to Francis Nichols of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. Charles R. Latham. Glass Candlestick. Probably the first half of the i8th century. Came from the George Mather place in Suffield. Loaned by Mr. George A. Harmon. Lowboy Dressing Table. 1710-20. Property of the Latham family for over one hundred years. Loaned by Charles R. Latham. Mirror Frame. Last quarter of the i8th century. Found in the attic of the George Mather house in Suffield. Loaned by Karl C. Kulle. Corner Washstand. Heppelwhite style, 1790- 1800. Prob- ably belonged to Asahel Hathaway of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Charles C. Bissell. Pitcher and Basin. "Gaudy painted ware." Originally from the Alfred Owen family of Suffield. Loaned by Miss Alena F. Owen. Writing Table. Sheraton style, about 1800. Originally belonged to Dr. Oliver Pease of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Edward A. Fuller. Chest of Drawers. About 1800. Belonged to Dr. Oliver Pease of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Edward A. Fuller. Mirror. Dressing glass. About 1790. Belonged to Dr. Oliver Pease of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Edward A. Fuller. Bureau. Probably 1750 or earlier. Belonged to the Halla- day family of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Clara H. Phelps. Mirror. Mentioned in an old inventory of the Isaac Owen estate in 1756. Loaned by Miss Alena F. Owen. 94 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Clock. Mantel type, 1820-30. Belonged to Chauncey Pome- roy of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Charles C. Bissell. Bedspread. Blue and white; hand woven in Strassburg, France, about 1800. Brought to this country in 1840 by Harriet Huntsinger. Loaned by Mrs. Charles S. Fuller. Bedspread. Home spun and hand woven in 1720 in Ver- mont. Stamped and worked by an invalid. Taken by horse- back to Conway, Mass., the only way of travel before roads were laid out. Loaned by Mrs. C. D. Ives of Conway, Mass. Glass Lamp. Probably late i8th century. Belonged to Mrs. Calvin Philio of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. Seymour Loomis and Mr. John Norton. Sheffield Candlesticks. Came from the Martin Rockwell (1778-1834) family, South Windsor, Conn. Loaned by Mrs. Laura Southergill. Chair. Comb-back rocker, about 1800. Bought at auction at Mrs. Simon Kendall's place, Suffield. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Fuller. Bedside Table. 1800-10. Sheraton style. Belonged to Jennett Barnard Owen of West Suffield. Loaned by Amos B. and John Crane. Tripod Table. Large top, first quarter of the iSth cen- tury. Belonged to Rev. Ebenezer Devotion, one of the early pastors of the Congregational Church in Suffield. Loaned by Dr. Harold M. Brown. Easy Chair. Last quarter of the i8th century. Belonged to Asahel Hatheway of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. D. N. Carrington. Arm Chair. Dutch style about 1725. Belonged to the Leavitt family of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Chas. C. Bissell. Rocker. Four slats in back, about 1750. Belonged to the Halladay family of Suffield. Loaned by Miss Marjorie Halladay. Chair. Chippendale style, third quarter of the i8th century. Belonged to Andrew Clark, who came from Great Barrington to Suff.eld forty years ago. Loaned by Miss Antoinette Clark. Chair. Sheraton style, 1 790-1 800. Original seat covering. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Philip Schwartz. Embroidered Picture. From the Halladay family. Loaned by Miss Marjorie Halladay. Sampler and Silhouette. Samples made by Hannah Spooner QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 95 Cooper in 1785, aged 10 years. Silhouette of Hannah Spooner Cooper. Loaned by Mr. Wilham Cooper. Willow Picture. 1818. Belonged to Abigail Johnson of Lebanon, Conn. Loaned by Mrs. P. W. Street. Print. "Morning Prayer." Belonged to Mary Anne Corey Clark, of Washington Mountain, Massachusetts, who brought it to Suffield 64 years ago. Loaned by Miss Antoinette Clark. Work Basket. Belonged to Mary King Fuller, who was married in 1796. Loaned by Mrs. C. F. Sutton. Bible. Joseph Fuller family Bible, 1796. Loaned by Mrs. C. F. Sutton. Table Cover. Embroidered in wool by Alary Bulkley of Rocky Hill. Loaned by Mrs. C. F. Sutton. Rugs. Loaned by Mrs. Chas. R. Latham and Mrs. William Clement. LIVING ROOM Tripod Table. Tip table, about 1800. Belonged to Dr. J. K. Spelman of Suffield. Loaned by Dr. Harold K. Brown. Sofa. Sheraton style, about 1800. From the Dr. Horace S. Fuller collection. Loaned by Mrs. Caroline F. Sutton. Card Table. Sheraton style, half round, 1 790-1 800. For- merly belonged to Fannie L. Crane of Suffield. Loaned by Amos B. and John Crane. Slant Top ScRUTOiRE. 1740-50. "The use of this low frame with bandy legs seems to have been popular principally in Con- necticut." — Lockwood. Belonged to Phineas Sheldon of West Suffield. Loaned by Karl C. Kulle. Tea Table. Rectangular top with raised edges; candle slides. Probably the last quarter of the i8th century. Loaned by Miss Emma Newton. Pembroke Table. Hepplewhite style, last quarter of the i8th century. Came from Remington family of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Chas. S. Fuller. Tripod Table. Raised edge, square top, 1780-90. Loaned by Mr. Samuel R. Spencer. 96 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD Banjo Clock. Willard, about 1800. From the Alfred Owen family of Suffield. Loaned by Miss Alena F. Owen. Chairs. Windsor arm chair, third quarter of the i8th cen- tury. From the Gay Mansion, Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Chas. C. Bissell. Windsor rocker, last quarter of the 18th century. Belonged to the Gideon Granger family of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. L. P. Bissell. Two chairs in the Dutch style, 1710-30. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Chas. L. Spencer. Arm chair in Chippendale style, third quarter of the 1 8th century. Belonged to the Allen Rising family of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. Samuel R. Spencer. Chair in Chippendale style, third quarter of the 1 8th century. Loaned by Karl C. Kulle. Roundabout chair, 1720-30. Belonged to Amos S. Crane of Suffield. Loaned by Amos B. and John Crane. Easy chair, about 1800. Belonged to Dr. Oliver Pease of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Edward A. Fuller. Ladder back chair, 1770-80. From the Dr. Horace S. Fuller collection. Loaned by Mrs. C. F. Sutton. Chair in Chippendale style, third quarter of the 1 8th century. From the Dr. Horace S. Fuller collection. Loaned by Mrs. C. F. Sutton. Picture. Congregational Church of Suffield, which stood from 1 83 8-1 868. Loaned by Miss Fannie Mather. Picture. "Consultation of the Doctors." 1760. Belonged to Dr. Oliver Pease of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. E. A. Fuller. Picture. Engraving, "Washington's Younger Days." Loaned by Mrs. Sarah L. Spencer. Candlesticks. Pair, yellow glass. Belonged to Mrs. Henry Wright of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Fuller. Pair, Brass. Belonged to Hezekiah Spencer of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. Alfred Spencer. Single, Brass. Belonged to Fannie L. Crane of Suffield. Loaned by Amos B. and John Crane. Sampler. 1823. Worked by mother of the late Arthur Sikes. Loaned by Mrs. Arthur Sikes. The Hostess House with a Group of Hostesses in Front An Interior of the Hostess House Specimen Indian Relics fuund near Lake CniiL'aniund .III Tiie Old Boston Neck Mill Dam Probably constructed about 1687 by Major Pynchon QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 97 Lamp. Brass body, glass globe with prisms. Belonged to Adeline Fuller of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Chas. S. Fuller. Ink Pot. Belonged to Alfred Spencer, of Suffield, who lived prior to 1837. Loaned by Mr. Samuel R. Spencer. Mirror. Cutwork frame, decorated with pheasant wings overt. About 1780-90. Belonged to Asahel Hatheway of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. D. D. Carrington. Portraits. Hezekiah Spencer (1795-1873) and Cecelia Spencer (1806-1889) of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. C. Luther Spencer. Silhouette. Seth Pease of Suffield (1764-1819), Assistant Postmaster-General during Jefferson and Madison administra- tions. Loaned by Mr. Seymour Loomis and Mr. John Norton. Family Record. Owen record and silhouettes. Loaned by Amos B. and John Crane. Turned Couch. Or stretcher, Dutch style, 1710-20. Be- longed to Josiah King, Jr., of Suffield in 1762. Loaned by Mrs. Harriet W. Strpng. Vases. Parian marble. Belonged to the Joseph Fuller family. Loaned by Mrs. C. F. Sutton. Fancy vase from the Dr. Horace S. Fuller collection. Loaned by Mrs. C. F. Sutton. Bohemian Glass vase. Belonged to the Kendall family of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Edmund Halladay. Girandoles. About 1820. Formerly belonged to Parkes Loomis of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. L. P. Bissell. Footstool. Belonged to Horace Granger of West Suffield. Loaned by Mr. Samuel R. Spencer. Foot Warmer. Belonged to Mindwell Pease Norton of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. Seymour Loomis and Mr. John Norton. Andirons. Belonged to Dr. J. K. Spellman of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. Clement Mather. Warming Pan, Shovel and Tongs. Brass. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Chas. S. Fuller. Fire Fender. Brass, with lion feet. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Chas. L. Spencer. Carpet. Brussels carpets were made as early as the middle 98 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD of the 1 8th century at Wilton, England. This carpet is over one hundred years old. Loaned by Mrs. Hobart Truesdell. DINING ROOM Sideboard. Hepplewhite style, 1 790-1 800. One of a pair which belonged to Ebenezer King, Jr., of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. Alfred Spencer. Console Table. Hepplewhite style, 1790-1800. One of a pair which belonged to Ebenezer King, Jr., of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. Alfred Spencer. Dining Table. Drop leaves, Dutch legs, second quarter of the 1 8th century. Probably belonged to Lieut. Thomas Spencer of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. Alfred Spencer. Tripod Table. Third quarter of the i8th century. For- merly belonged to Hezekiah Spencer of Sufheld. Loaned by Mr. Alfred Spencer. Highboy. 1725-50. Scroll-top, with spiral flame finials. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Philip Schwartz. Chairs. Four chairs, showing Dutch influence, 1710-20. Originally belonged to Consider Williston of Sufiield. Loaned by Mrs. E. A. Fuller. Two chairs, showing Dutch influence, 1710-20. Originally belonged to the Oliver Sheldon family of Suffleld. Loaned by Mrs. Donald North of Howard, Rhode Island, and Miss Alena F. Owen. Tea Table. Walnut, about 1725. Raised edge and candle slides. From the Gay Mansion, Suffleld. Loaned by Mrs. John M. Holcombe of Hartford. Sheffield Plate Teapot. Belonged to Thompson Grant of Enfield. Loaned by Mr. and IVIrs. Chas. S. Fuller. Sheffield Plate Candlesticks, Snuffer and Tray. For- merly belonged to Thaddeus Granger, East St., Suffield. Loaned by Mr. E. A. Fuller. Early Glass Decanter. Belonged to Frances Olcott Mather of Suffield. Loaned by Miss Fannie Mather. Early Glass Decanter. From the Latham family. Loaned by Mr. Chas. R. Latham. English Cut Glass Decanter. From the Latham family. Loaned by Mr. Chas. R. Latham. Lowestoft Teapot, Cup and Saucer. From the Latham family. Loaned by Mr. Chas. R. Latham. QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD 99 Lowestoft Teapot, Cup and Saucer. From the Dr. Horace S. Fuller collection. Loaned by Mrs. C. F. Sutton. Staffordshire Teapot. From the Alfred Owen family of Suffield. Loaned by Miss Alena F. Owen. "Old Blue" Punch Bowl. About 200 years old. Wedding gift of Anne Hathaway, wife of Theodore King, great grand- father of the present owner. Loaned by Mrs. O. R. Bugbee. Glass Bread Plate. Formerly belonged to Paul Sykes, who lived prior to 1798. Loaned by Mrs. Arthur Sikes. Staffordshire Platter and Vegetable Dishes. Belonged to Dr. Oliver Pease of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. E. A. Fuller. Staffordshire Plates. Two Clewes plates and one Enoch Wood plate from the Dr. Horace S. Fuller collection. Loaned by Mrs. C. F. Sutton. Pewter Porringers. Belonged to Joseph Fuller of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. C. F. Sutton. Staffordshire Pitcher. Belonged to the Kendall family of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Fordham Russell. "Old Blue" Sugar Bowl. Belonged to the Kendall family of Sufheld. Loaned by Miss Marjorie Halladay. Pictures. Print " Mount Vernon " from the Halladay family. Loaned by Miss Marjorie Halladay. Print "Washington Greeting Lafayette." Belonged to Chaun- cey Pomeroy of Suffield. Loaned by Mrs. Chas. C. Bissell. Print "Battle of Lexington." Belonged to Hezekiah Spencer of Suffield. Loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Chas. L. Spencer. Mirror. "Constitution" style, about 1790. Belonged to Mary Hastings Kent of Suffield. Loaned by Dr. Harold M. Brown. Rug. Loaned by Mrs. Chas. R. Latham. The fourth room was in charge of Sibbil Dwight Kent Chap- ter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Mrs. David W. Goodale, Regent, chairman; and was used for an exhibition of old china, embroideries, samplers, funeral wreaths, and miscella- neous articles of old time handiwork and interest; and, in addi- lOO QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD tion, beautiful handicraft, tlie work of our foreign sisters. The things in this room were not catalogued but listed 260 different objects. The Daughters assisting in this room were dressed in grey gowns, with cap kerchief and cuffs, making the picturesque appearance of the Pilgrim. Mrs. Philo W. Street was in charge of the two cases of rare old china, all of which had been used in the homes of Suffield, and handed down from one generation to another as heirlooms. Many pieces were included in the wedding outfits of the women of several generations ago. Mrs. Albert R. Pierce was in charge of the large case of exquisite embroideries and needlework; without doubt the most valuable collection in the room. Many of these fine pieces were loaned by the descendants of the most prominent families who were active in town affairs a century and more ago. They came from Boston and New York and even from as far away as Cali- fornia, the senders all showing the deepest interest in the "old home town." One fine embroidered bridal dress belonging to one of the "Parson Gay" family was a marvel of intricate needlework; and this was only one of the more than one hundred pieces in the case. The wonder to this generation is how they could set all these beautifully exact stitches with only a tallow dip as illuminating power. Mrs. John L. Ingraham was the custodian of the miscellane- ous case which was filled with all manner of beautiful and his- toric articles, such as the compass by which the Town of Suf- field was laid out 250 years ago; and the beautiful old com- munion set of solid silver owned by the First Church of Christ of Suffield, and used until some twelve years ago. There were silver spoons made from the shoe buckles of Jonathan Edwards, the eminent divine. Several quaint dolls and strange toys in a good state of preservation were objects of interest. The votmg list of 1834, and an autograph letter from Gideon Granger, Postmaster-General, written to Oliver Pease, town clerk of Suffield, attracted much notice. A number of very old books, both interesting and valuable, were in this collection, among them being a New England primer. Silhouettes of by-gone people of note gave a good idea of the features, if not the expression, on the faces. The wall space and foreign work was cared for by Mrs. D. W. QUARTER MILLENNIAL SUFFFIELD lOI Goodale. Here were displayed many samplers, funeral wreaths, lustre work, hairwork, and memorial pictures; all showing the beginnings of artistic taste, and in the main, work of youthful fingers. One elaborate bedspread was knitted by a child of nine years. The musket carried by Elihu Kent, the husband of Sibbil Dwight Kent, the Patron Saint of the local chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, carried by him on the march to Lexington, was on exhibition, as well as one carried m the war of 1812, and another during the Civil War. One object attracting universal attention was the first Post Office of Suf- field. A wooden box about twenty inches high and long, by a little less in depth, and containing twelve boxes was all that was needed at first for the distribution of the mail of Suffield people. Another object of interest was the "ungodly fiddle" that was used to lead the singing of the congregation of the Zion Hill Church in its very early days. The Foreign Work was a great addition to this room and, while not strictly old, they were all fine specimens of handwork. One case was given to them as well as a large place on the wall. Curious and intricate stitches were shown in crochet and needle- work, in bright colored flowers and sofa pillows. A large bed- spread in fine crochet, all in one piece, was a beautiful exhibition of patient work. Another large blanket of wonderful weaving of red a^d blue wool brought from Poland was beautiful in design and texture. A large painting by Willis Adams, Suffield's noted artist, of one of the beautiful views on the Connecticut near his home on East Street was on one of the walls of this room; another was a quaint picture of the old ferry boat so long used at the Douglass Ferry. Exhibition of Indian Relics The exhibition of Indian relics, selected from the large col- lection of Mr. Henry A. Miller of Sufiield, was a feature at- tracting many interested visitors during the celebration. This collection of nearly 4000 perfect specimens has been found mainly near the Miller homestead on the east shoreof Congamond Lakes or nearby. This was evidently a favorite place for the old tribes in the days before the white men. The interlacing I02 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD branches of the great pine trees formed a thick tent protecting them from the cold of winter and the heat of summer. A warm sandy soil free from brush and carpeted with pine needles made a comfortable place for the wigwams, and the fish and game furnished abundant sustenance. History tells little of the tribes, but the evidence is that Indians went there from the Agawams on the east, from the Pequots on the south and probably from the Mohawks on the west and north. Among the many specimens found and examples of which were exhibited were hard stone mortars with pestles for pounding and grinding corn, soapstone pots for boiling corn, fish and other food, spear points, arrows and spear heads, axes, hatchets, tomahawks, chisels, gouges, celts for skinning and tanning hides, and stones for polishing them. Such formed the chief instruments for domestic life, for industry and for war. Among other articles were pipes, firestones, banner stones, love tokens, paint pots, charms, ear and nose ornaments, scalping knives and record stones with a notch for every scalp. From Suffield Sons and Daughters Letters regretting inability to attend the celebration were re- ceived by the Invitation Committee from several sons and daughters of Suflield or descendants of old Suffield families and the following expressions have been culled from responses: From Mr. Judson Harmon, former Governor of Ohio and a member of President Cleveland's cabinet. "I thank you for the invitation to the Suffield anniversary and am very sorry I shall be unable to attend. I have the volume issued on the two hundredth anniversary fifty years ago, and a few years later made a visit to Suffield where my grandfather, David Harmon, was born. I was entertained by one of my dis- tant kinsmen, whose Christian name I have noted somewhere but do not now recall. No Harmons appear on the committee of invitations, which causes me to wonder whether that once prolific tribe has become extinct in Suffield, though it is numer- ous elsewhere. If so it must be due to the wanderlust which ap- QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD IO3 pears so generally in American families. I wish you all a suc- cessful celebration." From George Francis Sykes, professor of Zoology and Physi- ology in Oregon State College, Corvallis, Ore. "As a lineal descendent of one of the early settlers of Suffield and myself formerly a citizen of the town, I take pride in the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebration. Although not one of the seven sons of Sumner, son of Jesse, son of Victory, to claim residence in Suffield now, our hearts and our hopes are with you at this momentous time. My mother and two sisters, Lottie and Clara are voters in the State of Oregon. Although so far away we are connected by geographic links with the old home town; Horace is in Chicago, Jesse in Cleveland and Eu- gene in Springfield. Greetings to friends and former acquaint- ances in Suffield." From Hannah L. Phelps, Long Beach, California. "As a native of Sufl[ield, a long time resident and one whose ancestors for four generations have lived and are buried there, I could not but be greatly interested in anything concerning its history and development. I should greatly enjoy seeing the beautiful old town again." From Mrs. C. C. Nichols of Wilmington, O. (formerly Elouisa Fitch King). "We appreciate the invitation and feel that it is a privation to forego the pleasure of being in Suffield on so interesting an occasion. Dear Old Suffield! The birthplace of my parents and grandparents and many other relatives who have long ago passed over. My father was Joseph Warren King and my mother's maiden name was Betsey Kendall. Many wishes for the success of the great anniversary from my husband, Clinton Corwin Nichols and myself. From Mrs. H. Spencer Colton Wright Cornwell, Minnequa Hospital, Pueblo, Colorado. "As my father and I both attended the C.L.L, as a former resident of dear old Suffield and lineal descendent of William Pynchon, Gov. Wyllys, Deacon Samuel Chapin, Quartermaster George Colton and allied families I regret my inability to attend the celebration. In my club, sociological and Americanization work I have tried to inculcate the fundamental principles of I04 QUARTER MILLENNIAL OF SUFFIELD true religion and patriotism bequeathed to us by those God fearing Puritans — thus trying in a most modest way to prove myself a worthy daughter of Suffield. In accepting an invitation to be present, Frank B. Gay, Director of the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, wrote: The grandson of a Sufheld woman and with relatives still living and honored in its community, I well recall the many delightful hospitalities I have enjoyed in its homes. My father took me to the two hundredth anniversary of the town; and memories of the doings on that day are still much more lively and persistent than of many other affairs since, which I have attended. I have never forgotten the "new Congregational Church" and its organ, the program which seemed rather long to the boys of my age; then there was the big band which we trailed wherever it played. But beyond all else was the "feed" in the vast tent — so it seemed to us. Another reason for accept- ing is that it seems likely I shall be unavoidably absent at the Tri-Centennial anniversary even though the committee of that day shall remember me. SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW IN OTHER DAYS Mists have settled thickly over the years as they have receded into the past, hiding much of the lives of the early generations of Suffield, as of other old New England towns. Life went on leaving something of its history in the quaint and laconic town records and something in family histories or traditions or story, but more that is lost. Socially, economically and religiously Sufheld was little different from other valley towns. Like others it had its Indians, taverns, negro slaves, tithingmen, stocks, pounds, and commons; and its minister and schoolmaster. For over one hundred and fifty years it maintained a rank but lititle below that of Springfield and Hartford. Politically, however, its situation was somewhat unique, because it lay in the direct path of the long warfare over boundaries, both town and colo- nial. In a general way the history of this controversy has been recorded and published, but there were many peculiarly stirring times for Suffield people and in them was the genesis and de- velopment of that persistent feeling that ultimately led to sepa- ration from Massachusetts. No complete history of the town has yet been undertaken, but it has been more fortunate than many others in the results of the labor and research of Suffield men of the last generation. They opened a door to a better knowledge of the past and their work is a legacy that will be more and more prized with the years. Preeminent in this labor of love for the old town was the late Hezekiah S. Sheldon who, besides compiling and publishing his "Documentary History of Suffield 1660 to 1749," collected many valuable records and relics of early Suffield and rare books of colonial times, including Suffield imprints, now constituting the Sheldon collection in the Kent Memorial Library. He care- fully examined the old records of the Pynchon family and of Hampshire county, and any others throwing light on the early history of the town. Though he included much of the results of his research in his documentary history, he left many notes that have not been published but have furnished much material for the pages that are to follow. I08 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW The late William L. Loomis, for many years town clerk, de- voted much labor to the collection of the genealogical record of the old Sufheld families and carefully transcribed them in a large volume now kept in the town vault. Other historical data have been brought to light from time to time in connection with church or school anniversaries. In connection with records of all Connecticut towns, the State Library at Hartford contains much material relating to Suffield but still awaiting the special study of a Sufheld historian. Supplementary to the story of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of the town, it is the purpose in the pages to follow to include some references to men and events not generally in printed record, or that furnish glimpses of the periods to which they belong; to trace briefly the history of the churches, schools and other institutions, of enterprises that have passed orstill persist, and to add briefly some record of the events and changes of the past fifty years or since the celebration of the Bi-Centennial in 1870. The hope is that much of this later history, though within the memory of many now living, will gather value with age, and for those who may celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town, leave a clearer record of the years behind them. Though the effort has been to make this supplementary record as accurate as possible, it is realized that it is far from complete, and could not be made so without an expenditure of time and research that this volume does not permit. Much that should be included may have been omitted, and as it is, these pages could not have been gathered together but for the prompt and cheerful co-operation of many different people of the town for whose kindness and interest the Committee on Publications wishes to make acknowledgment and to express appreciation. The Pioneers Among Mr. H. S. Sheldon's unpublished notes are the follow- ing sketches of the members of the committee appointed by the Massachusetts General Court to settle Suffield: Major John Pynchon was the son of William Pynchon who was the founder of Springfield. He was born in England in 1625 and SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW IO9 came to New England with his father, mother and three sisters in 1630, and to Springfield in 1636. In 1652 the father returned to England, and the son from that time was the chief man in western Massachusetts. His executive and administrative abili- ties were of a high order; he was legislator, judge, soldier and a devout Christian. He was a merchant, dealing largely in furs and shipping them to England. He owned boats and shallops, employed men and teams and did the principal transportation business of the valley. He also owned several saw and grist mills in the county, at this time of the first importance and value to the settlers. Besides these numerous responsibilities, he was chief agent for purchasing the land from the Indians and settling the towns of Northampton, Hadley, Deerfield, Northfield, Enfield and Suffield. A monument of enduring granite should crown some hilltop that overlooks the valley where rest his ashes. No fitter name for memorial brass or sculptured stone has yet appeared in New England history. Though there are portraits of his father, William Pynchon, and of other magistrates of the period, none of Major Pynchon exist. Captain Elizur Holyoke was born in England and came to New England in 1637 when about twenty years old. He married Mary, sister of Major Pynchon in 1640, and thereafter dwelt in Springfield. As legislator, judge, and public man, he ranked next to Mr. Pynchon, and upon him as a counselor, guide and friend Major Pynchon chiefly relied. Capt. Holyoke was a farmer by calling but was chiefly employed in public affairs. He held a large landed estate in Springfield; from him Mt. Holyoke was named. He died in 1676. Lieutenant Thomas Cooper came to this country from Eng- land in 1635 when eighteen years old. He was a first settler of Windsor and there worked at the carpenter's trade. He removed to Springfield about 1641 and built the first Meeting House there in 1645. He was chosen ensign of the Springfield company and afterwards lieutenant. On the fifth of October 1675, being in command of the Springfield company in the absence of Major Pynchon, he went out from the Fort as a scout to examine and explore the Indian Fort at Pecowsic. He was fired upon by In- no SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW dians in ambush and soon after died of his wounds at the age of fifty-eight. The death of Captain Holyoke and Lieutenant Cooper left but four of the committee to complete the settlement of Sufiield. Quartermaster George Colton was in Springfield as early as 1644. He later settled in Longmeadow where he died in 1699. Ensign Benjamin Cooley came to Springfield as early as 1646 and later settled in Longmeadow where he died in 1684. Rowland Thomas came to Springfield at about the same time and was much employed in the public business of the colony. From him Mt. Tom derived its name. He died in 1698. Samuel, Joseph and Nathaniel Harmon, sons of John Harmon of Springfield, were the first settlers. They were associated with Major Pynchon in an extensive fur trade and had ranged through the forests and among the streams of this region. It is said that they had sought to secure a grant for the plantation some ten years before the petition of 1670, and they had probably begun a settlement before that year. Samuel, who was unmarried, died in 1677, and his Suffield lands passed to his brothers, who became the leading men of the new plantation. Each brother had ten children, and Joseph had thirty-six and Nathaniel forty-five grandchildren, most of them born in Suffield. For more than one hundred years, the Harmons were numerous in the town, and were extensively intermarried with other old families. After the Revolution many joined the tide of migration to the new lands of the West, where now numer- ous families trace their ancestry to the Harmons of Suffield. From the date of the first settlement to the present the name has been preserved in Suffield but now is held only by Mr. George A. Harmon, the first selectman. He is a lineal descend- ant in the seventh generation from Joseph Harmon who was on the first board of selectmen of the town. Deerfield Captives Suffield like other towns in the valley participated in the tragedies of the Deerfield attack and the captivity of some of its people. One of the captives who never came back was a grand- son of James Rising, who settled in Suffield after King Philip's SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW III war at the lower end of High Street. He died in 1688 and his son John inherited the estate and married a daughter of Timothy Hale. They had nine children, one of whom, Josiah, was only four years old when his mother died. His father married again, and Josiah was sent to Deerfield to live with his father's cousin, Mehuman Hinsdell, whose house was opposite that of Benoni Stebbins. After the Deerfield attack, Mehuman Hinsdell, whose wife and child had been killed, found himself a captive on the road to Canada with the boy Josiah Rising. In the same train were the wife of Godfrey Sims and their daughter Abigail, four years old. Abigail went to live with the squaw of her Indian captor and Josiah to the wigwam of his Macqua master, and with other captive children they were sent to the mission of Mar- guerite Bourgeois at Sault au RecoUet near Montreal. The records show that both were baptized, Abigail in 1704 as Mary Elizabeth, and Josiah in 1706 as Ignace Raizenne. They were evidently favorites for in the several attempts made to redeem the captives Josiah and Abigail were never given up. After the peace of Utrecht Captain John Stoddard and Parson Williams, with Martin Kellogg and Thomas Baker as guides and interpreters, undertook another mission to secure the remaining captives and arrived in Canada in 17 14. There is evi- dence in the Massachusetts records that Abigail's Indian mas- ter, learning of the mission, took her down to Westfield and tried to sell her. Whatever happened, it is on the records that Josiah and Abigail were married by a priest in the Church of Notre Dame de Lorette at Sault au RecoUet the next year, or July 29, 1715. The missing link in the story is how Abigail was brought back to Montreal. Josiah's father, John Rising, died in Suffield in 1719, and bequeathed to his "well beloved son, Josiah, now in captivity, the sum of five pounds in money to be paid out of my estate within three years after my decease, provided he return from capitivity." But he never returned. Josiah and Abigail forgot their own people and became the progenitors of a family notable in the religious life of the French in Canada. In 1721 the mission was transferred to the Lake of the Two Mountains and the priests gave Josiah and Abigail, or Ignace and Elizabeth Raiz- 112 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW enne as their new names were, a domain of their own a short distance from the Fort. There they Uved for many years, and of their eight children the eldest, Marie Madeline, was a nun named Sister Saint Herman and taught Indian girls for a quarter of a century. The eldest son was a priest and cure of excellent character and ability. Marie Ralzenne, born in 1736 was the most famous of the children. She was Lady Superior of the Community of the Congregation, The Martin Kellogg who went to Canada In 1714 as Interpreter for John Stoddard was doubtless the eldest son of Martin Kel- logg who with his four children was taken captive to Canada. The father quickly gained his liberty and came to Suffield to live, his farm being on Northampton Road. Martin Jr. was re- deemed once, but again taken In 1708 while with a scouting party, and again redeemed. The second son, Joseph Kellogg, was a prisoner ten years and became familiar with the languages and customs of the Indian tribes. In 1714 he was persuaded to leave with the Stoddard party, and returned to his father's home In Suffield. He married a sister of Rev. Mr. Devotion. The third child, Joanna, married an Indian chief and never returned. The fourth, Rebecca, after a long captivity returned and was long employed in Indian mission schools in western New York. Early Courts and Lawyers For many years Hampshire county contained all of western Massachusetts Including the present towns of Suffield, Enfield and Somers. Worcester County was not Incorporated till 173 1 ; the three towns went into Connecticut in 1749, and Berkshire became a separate county in 1761. Practice in the early courts was as crude as the settlements but In 1692 Massachusetts by law established Courts of Common Pleas and substituted a Superior Court for the Court of Assistants. The old court re- cords deal largely with two subjects — the establishment and repair of highways and the human frailties of many people, even prominent settlers. In those hard and strictly religious days. One of the early Suffield lawyers was Christopher Jacob Lawton, born In 1701, and grandson of John Lawton a first settler. Like many adventurous spirits of those days he became SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW IIj something of a land speculator and promoter of settlements. When in 1713 the long standing dispute between Suffield and the towns to the south was settled, and Windsor and Simsbury gained the disputed territory that forms the notch to the south- west of Sufheld, the people were much aggrieved and subsequent events did not improve their feelings toward Massachusetts. In 1726 John Kent, Sergeant King and Captain Winchell were chosen a committee "to pursue that matter respecting the ob- taining an equivalent for the land taken from the said Proprie- tors by the late establishment of the line of Connecticut, and given to Windsor and Simsbury." In 1732 this committee was impowered to employ Christopher Jacob Lawton to petition the General Court in order to obtain an equivalent. It appears from other records that Lawton had already se- cured extensive tracts of land in the region then known as Hous- satanick and now as the fashionable Berkshire Hills, and that sometime before or during the year 1732, when Suffield retained him, he had already petitioned the General Court for a grant of 500 acres on "that part of the road from Westfield to Albany that lies between Westfield and Houssatanick," on the plea that travelers suffered great hardships because there was no tavern along the road. Long before these western Massachusetts wilds were settled, an old road or path led from Westfield over the hills to the Hudson and later became a thoroughfare for the armies engaged in the French and Indian wars. It has been surmised that Lawton had an interest in the lands, afterwards the town of Blandford, as a connecting link between his Housatonic lands and the river towns. In any case the Gen- eral Court at Boston granted him the 500 acres on condition that he would erect a house of entertainment with suitable stables by September i, 1734, ^^^ should himself reside in it or provide a suitable person to reside there. In the same year, and presumably at the instance of Lawton whom the town had re- tained, the General Court granted to the Suffield Proprietors as an equivalent for the lost Simsbury lands a tract six miles square, which was roughly known as Glasgow and later became Blandford. The quantity for each proprietor was two hundred and thirty acres. 114 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW Meantime Lawton built a tavern in the west portion of the present Blandford, and put a man named Joseph Pixley in charge of it. It was long known as Pixley's tavern. Meantime also the Suffield Proprietors had found no way to make their equivalents of value, and they gradually sold them to Lawton at such sums as he bid. Lawton evidently had some trouble with the Massachusetts General Court but the incidents are obscure. It is possible that having acquired the whole town region from the Suffield Pro- prietors, he showed less concern for the conditions of the small grant of land within it for a tavern. The records show that he sold the first lots to the settlers of Blandford. A contemporary of Lawton in the law was John Huggins, who was born in Suffield in 1688. He moved to Springfield where he had an extensive practice, and about 1732 removed to Sheffield, where he continued in practice and was succeeded in the pro- fession by his son. He is reputed to have had as correct knowl- edge of the law as any man of that day. General Phinehas Lyman Practice in the Hampshire County Courts had become greatly improved in the second quarter of the eighteenth century and it has been attributed to three men, Phinehas Lyman of Suffield, John Worthington of Springfield and Joseph Hawley of North- ampton — contemporaries and all men of note. Of these Lyman and Hawley became most famous, the former, however, passing from the scene before the Revolution, while Hawley participated in it. General Lyman was born in Durham, Conn., in 1716, was graduated from Yale in 1738 and for three years was a tutor there. Meantime he studied law and in 1743 came to Suffield, then in Hampshire County, and began practice. His business soon became extensive and he established a lawschool at Suffield; John Worthington and Joseph Hawley were among his pupils. Historians of the period have attributed to him in large measure the separation of Suffield and the other Connecticut towns from Massachusetts, though it is evident from the town and other records that the people of Suffield were unwilling subjects of Massachusetts as early as 1720, or almost a quarter of a century before Lyman came to town. It was his influence and skill, SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW II5 however, that finally accomplished it. The late George Bliss in a historical address on the bar of the period surmised that Lyman was not pleased with the growing fame of Worthington and was apprehensive that they could not move harmoniously in the same orbit. This is doubtful as Lyman's gifts were not likely to suffer from competition. He was chosen one of the town's selectmen in 1746, continued on the board from year to year, and was usually chosen modera- tor at town meetings. He was appointed justice of the peace for Hartford county in 1750 and also a commissioner to settle the Massachusetts boundary line with Governor Jonathan Law and Roger Wolcott; four years later he was one of the commis- sioners meeting with those of other colonies to take measures to prosecute the war against France. In March 1755 the General Assembly appointed him comman- der in chief of the Connecticut forces under the British comman- der, General William Johnson in the expedition against Crown Point with the object of driving the French from Lake Cham- plain. Lyman's troops marched ahead over the difficult route to the Hudson to the point where he built the fort afterwards named Fort Edwards. Then the army proceeded to Lake George where General Johnson laid out a camp to which the artillery and stores were later brought. Here the French from Crown Point attacked and a five hours battle ensued. General Johnson was wounded and General Lyman took command and won a signal victory. Among the Suffield soldiers in this expedi- tion were Lieutenant Elihu Kent, Sergeant Benjamin Bancroft Seth King, drummer, Nehemiah Harmon, Joel Adams, David Bement, Phinehas Lyman Jr., Noah Pomeroy, John Spencer, James Halladay, Zebulon Norton, Edward Foster and John White. In 1760 Connecticut sent four regiments under the command of General Lyman in the campaign against Montreal under General Amherst. The troops assembled at Albany in June of that year and began the march toward Montreal, reaching Oswego in July. At this point the troops embarked in batteaux August loth and sailed down the lake, entering the St. Lawrence the 15th. On the i8th Lyman's troops with British regulars reached the island on which Fort Levis is situated and were Il6 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW ordered to make the first attack. Under fire from the fort they landed on the island and erected batteries within 600 yards from which fire was opened the 23d; on the 25th the French surrendered. The expedition immediately passed down the river and invested Montreal, Lyman's regiment having a position in advance. On September 8th the French commander surren- dered, and this terminated the French war which had con- tinued six years and completed the conquest of Canada. Among the Suffield men in this expedition were Oliver Hanchett, John Harmon and Thaddeus Lyman. In 1762, Great Britian having declared war against Spain, the Connecticut General Assembly voted to raise and equip 2300 men for the King's service. Under the act looo men were enlisted for the expedition against Havana. New York furnished 800 and New Jersey 500, and the whole army was put in com- mand of General Lyman. Rev. John Graham, the first minister of the West Suffield Congregational church, was appointed chaplain. The expedition joined the force of Lord Albemarle which, after an attack of two months, captured Havana, thus completing within a few years a British victory over both France and Spain. Robert Burns commemorated the two events in "The Jolly Beggars" by a few spirited lines in which the old soldier sings: My 'prenticeship I passed where my leader breathed his last. When the bloody die was cast on the heights of Abram; I served out my trade when the gallant game was played And the Morro low was laid at the sound of the drum. By the treaty of Paris in 1763 Havana was restored to Spain but England received from France all the territory claimed by that country east of the Mississippi. This acquisition led to a movement for the colonization of the Mississippi region. Gen- eral Lyman went to England soon after returning from Havana and was there for about ten years engaged in obtaining Miss- issippi grants from the British Government. Returning to Suf- field, he formed a company of Connecticut men of adventurous inclinations including some from Suffield. In January 1774 he left Connecticut in a vessel commanded by Captain Goodrich and at about the same time his sons SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW llj Thaddeus and Phinehas Jr. sailed in another vessel from Ston- ington. Both vessels arrived safely at New Orleans, and General Lyman and his men immediately proceeded up the Mississippi river to the Big Black, thence up that river about seventeen miles where they fixed the site of a town. In June 1774 Thad- deus returned to Suffield for the purpose of settling his father's affairs and removing the family to Mississippi. General Lyman artd his son Phinehas remained to promote the settlement and make arrangements for the family. From Mr. H. S. Sheldon's notes it appears that General Lyman had sold his homestead in Suffield (situated on the south corner of Main Street and the West Suffield road and including the land where the present railroad station is) to Benjamin Bancroft who had been one of General Lyman's Suffield comrades in the French and Indian wars. The deed was executed in New York City January 6, 1774, and therefore when General Lyman was on his way to Mississippi. For some reason the property was bought back by his son Thaddeus when he returned to settle affairs, the deed being dated September 30, 1775 or about a year after his return. For some years General Lyman had owned the whole of Great Island in the Connecticut river and the records show that the same year he sold it to Roger Enos of Windsor for 200 pounds. Thus all indicates that he planned a permanent depar- ture for his Mississippi enterprise. The records do not reveal the causes or the motives that operated in the Lyman family at this time. Thaddeus returned to Suffield in the summer of 1774, the year of the first Continen- tal Congress, and the declaration of rights. He was there when Captain Elihu Kent rallied his Suffield men at the time of the Lexington alarm. Patriots were already taking arms in all the colonies north and south. Washington had been appointed commander in chief; the battle of Bunker Hill had been fought; Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point that General Lyman had captured for the English, had been taken from the English by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain boys in the months of 1775, before Thaddeus Lyman bought back his father's place. The records show that May I, 1776, Thaddeus, his mother, two brothers Oliver and Thompson and two sisters Eleanor and Experience in company with others, emigrants for the new I 15 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW Mississippi colony, sailed from Middletown Conn., and on July 30th reached the Mississippi river, a few days after the Declaration of Independence. For some reason the family did not reach General Lyman's plantation till about the middle of September and then learned that General Lyman and his son Phinehas were both dead. Phinehas Jr. died in Natchez in 1775, and his father soon after. Mrs. Lyman died a few days after arriving and was buried by the side of husband and son. Such was the tragic ending of one of SulBeld's most brilliant and notable men. His rare gifts and attainments would have placed him in the front rank of the patriots of the Revolutionary period could events have moulded his course differently. For twenty years he had been a soldier of the King. Though in those years Suffield was his home, his life had been on the march, in camp and field; he had led troops that ended the war against France and troops that ended the war against Spain, and during the ten years in which British policy bred revolution in the colonies he was in England, his adventurous spirit looking to a great new domain on the Mississippi. He had not been living in the atmosphere of colonial patriotism in the years preceding the Revolution, and it is not strange that, though he returned to Suffield on the eve of the Lexington alarm, he did not take up his sword for independence but, selling his Suffield property and gathering men about him, carried the British flag to that sad ending on the banks of the Lower Mississippi. Thaddeus and his sisters returned to Connecticut; he deeded the homestead to Benajah Kent June 2, 17S8, and settled in West Suffield. Gideoyi Granger Another Suffield lawyer to acquire large fame in national life was Gideon Granger, born in 1767, prepared for college by Rev. Ebenezer Gay and graduated from Yale in 1787. He practiced law in Suffield, his office being next to his father's house. He was a natural politician and in 1792 as the representative from Suffield became a leader in the Legislature. At first a Federalist in politics, he later espoused the cause of Jefferson and oppor- tunity for larger fame came to him in the presidental election of 1800. Gideon and his cousin were the most important cam- paign speakers for Jefferson in New England, the Federalist SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW II9 Stronghold. Naturally these efforts attracted attention at Wash- ington to which the Government was now moving, and when, after the election, Gideon Granger visited Washington he had a notable reception. He was appointed postmaster-general and held the office throughout Jefferson's two terms and a large part of Madison's administration. He grew out of sympathy with the Madison wing of the party and, after resigning, re- moved to New York and became identified with the political fortunes of De Witt Clinton, dying in 1822. Hezekiah Huntington Hezekiah Huntington was born in 1759 in Tolland, Conn, in which his grandfather was one of the first settlers. He studied law with Gideon Granger and with John Trumbull, afterwards Judge of the Superior Court, and was admitted to the Hartford Bar in 1789. The next year he came to Suffield and rapidly es- tablished a law practice. April i, 1796 he bought the Phinehas Lyman homestead from Benajah Kent, who eight years before had bought it from Thaddeus Lyman, and at the same time became Suffield's first postmaster of record, the first quarterly return being made in the fall of 1796. With the Grangers he went into the Jefferson party and in 1806 was appointed at- torney for Connecticut. He held the oflftce until 1829. He repre- sented the town in the Legislature from 1802-5. I"^ ^813 he moved to Hartford where he died in 1842. He was the father of Judge Samuel H. Huntington who was born in Suflfield in 1793. The Lyman homestead was burned at about the time Hezekiah Huntington removed to Hartford, but his law office was saved and still stands on the lot where it has served for various purposes, including the office of School Superintendent for a period. William Gay William Gay, son of Dr. Ebenezer Gay and brother of Ebene- zer 2d, was a contemporary of Gideon Granger, being born the same year. He graduated from Yale, studied law and bought the house known as the Gay Mansion in 181 1. He succeeded Hezekiah Huntington as postmaster in 1798 and continued in that office for thirty-seven years. I20 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW Calvin Pease Calvin Pease was born at Suffield and studied law with Gideon Granger. In 1800 he went to Ohio and was a member of the Leg- islature and was active in the formation of the State Govern- ment. From 1803 to 18 10 he was judge of the Court of Common Pleas and from 1 8 16 chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. He died at Warren, Ohio, in 1839. Seth Pease his brother, born in 1764, graduated from Yale, was educated for a physician, but he was appointed First Assistant Postmaster General in 18 16, and was the first to hold that federal office. Ministers and Laymen Several ecclesiastical figures stand out conspicuously in the history of Suffield as men of strong natures, high intellectual qualities and efi'ective leadership. The first was Dr. Ebenezer Gay, who became pastor of the First Congregational church in 1 74 1. He was widely known and was reckoned as one of the able and learned divines of his day. In the latter part of his life he suffered much from bodily infirmities which often confined him for weeks together, but his people provided him an assistant in his son, who at his death succeeded him. This son, Ebenezer Gay Jr., was also an able man and fitted several of the young men of later prominence for Yale college. Asahel Morse One of the strong ecclesiastical characters in Suffield a century ago was Rev. Asahel Morse, who succeeded Rev. John Hastings as pastor of the First Baptist church. He took much interest in political movements and in 1818 was a member of the conven- tion that framed the Constitution of Connecticut and drafted the article relating to religious liberty. Rev. Calvin Philleo partly a contemporary in the Second Baptist church, once re- corded this story regarding "Elder" Morse: He had been down to Hartford in the course of the week to attend a religious meet- ing and returning early Sunday morning to West Suffield to preach, as usual, passing through Windsor, he was accosted and asked where he was traveling on the holy Sabbath. He replied that he was going to West Suffield. He was told to dismount from his horse and stay in their house till Monday morning, and then SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 121 he might go on his way. He pleaded with them to let him pass on; he would disturb no one. He then bid them good morning, put whip to his horse and was on his way to West Sufheld. The Standing Order mounted their horses and pursued, determined to bring him back to Windsor, to be tried for breaking the holy Sabbath. The elder led them on, keeping a little ahead of them, till they all arrived in front of the Meeting House on Zion's Hill, where a multitude of people were gathered. The Elder dismounted and turned and addressed his pursuers and perse- cutors: "Gentlemen, here is where I preach, and if you will go into the meeting and hear me preach, you may then go home to Windsor; otherwise I will complain of you for breaking the holy Sabbath as you call it." The men complied with the terms proposed. Calvin Philleo Elder Philleo was himself a notable ecclesiastical figure in his time which was distinctly one of the revival seasons that for a half century periodically swept over much of New England. Elder Philleo, says a historian of the Second Baptist church, was emphatically a revival preacher, eccentric, impulsive and en- thusiastic. He went everywhere that opportunity offered, preaching the word, the church granting him the liberty. He was possessed of a vivid imagination and remarkable descriptive powers which he used to great advantage. Dzvight Ives Under his preaching on a Fast Day, Dwight Ives, a gay thought- less young man, seventeen years of age was convicted of sin, and in great distress of mind for two weeks until he found forgive- ness in Christ and said, "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" What he did is a part of the later history of Suffield. He was pastor of the Second Baptist church for nearly thirty-five years. and one of the ablest men Suffield has produced. He left a strong impression on the life of the town. His long pastorate was coin- cident with the religious, educational and material growth of the community. He was an earnest preacher, a wise executive and a leader of his people, firm yet beloved. 122 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW The religious revival in the early twenties of the last century is recorded as one of the most powerful ever experienced. Strong men were seen by the wayside imploring God's forgiveness. Some shut themselves up in barns beseeching the Lord to have mercy on them. Others ran to their neighbors and friends, beg- ging prayers in their behalf. J polios Phelps One of those who left his work and went with Elder Philleo on a revival mission whenever and wherever it was deemed ex- pedient was Captain Apollos Phelps, who held the enviable title of being the Samson of Connecticut. He was born in 1784 and for a long time, including the period of the Bi-Centennial Celebration, was the oldest man in town. In his younger days he was six feet tall and possessed of a remarkable frame and muscular power. Many stories are told of his marvelous feats of lifting. Once he is said to have lifted a millstone in Windsor weighing over 1700 pounds. Another authenticated story is that one day in the late Autumn of the year, when the Captain was busy about his cider mill, a big, burly man drove up and inquired where was the noted wrestler he had heard so much about. The stranger said that he was from Hartford and claimed the cham- pionship of the State and challenged the Captain to a bout. He was told that he would be accomodated but was invited to have a drink of cider first, to which the stranger acceded. The Captain stepped up to a barrel, which was full of the delicious liquid for which the over-the-mountain orchards are famous, lifted it on to his knees and proceeded to drink at leisure out of the bung hole. When about to pass it along to the stranger, the Captain was surprised to see him clambering into his wagon and driving away, saying as he did so he guessed he was mistaken in his man. During a certain winter he was engaged in sledding wood from his wood lot on the mountain to Suffield, and on going down a very steep place the bow-pin, that held the ox-bow to the yoke, broke and released the nigh ox. The Captain, driving, grabbed the end of the yoke and with the off ox as mate held the sled and its two cords of wood down the bad incline safely to a level place below, where he repaired the bow-pin, returned the released ox to the neap and proceeded to town with his load. SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 123 Sylvester Graham A Suffield name that has endured to the present generation is that of Dr. Sylvester Graham of "graham" bread and cracker fame. He was born in Suffield in 1794, the youngest of seventeen children of Rev. John Graham, pastor of the West Suffield Congregational church. Besides being a preacher and orator he was a strong advocate of the vegetarian theory, now called the "Graham system, "and believed that the only prevention and cure of disease lay in correct habits of living. He was editor of the Graham Magazine in Boston and an essay on bread and bread-making made the Boston bakers so angry that he was mobbed. Timothy Swan Timothy Swan, who has been called the Hatter-Composer was born in Worcester and came to Suffield about 1780. He wrote "China," "Poland," and "The Shepherd's Complaint." He was looked upon by his neighbors as somewhat eccentric, particularly because of his habit of never removing his hat unless absolutely necessary, when he always put on a red or black velvet cap. He would arrange his tunes in his mind while work- ing and set them down at night. He married a daughter of Dr. Ebenezer Gay. The original manuscript of "Poland" is in the Kent Memorial Library. Great River and Stony Brook Saw mills were the first industries in the town as they were essential to the settlement. In 1672 Major Pynchon built a saw mill on Stony Brook near the location of the Boston Neck school house. The materials were brought down the river in boats of one or two tons burden of which he had many. This mill was burned in 1675 t>y the Indians but was rebuilt after the war. The first corn mill was attached to this saw mill in 1677, but the corn mill did not prove adequate, so he built another, supposed to be at or near the present mill dam at Brookside. This mill formed a part of his estate in 1704, and by his heirs was sold in 1713 to James Lawton. Other saw mills were later built on both Stony and Muddy brooks. In 1700 the town voted approval of a plan to set up iron works. 124 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW The men interested in the enterprise were Major Pynchon, Joseph Parsons of Northampton and John Eliot of Windsor. They were set up before 1704 for they constituted a part of the Pynchon estate and were located on practically the same site as the first saw mill. Ore was obtained from SufReld and adjacent towns, and shovels and other tools were made, but the mill and dam were both swept away in what was called the Jefferson flood of 1 801. They were apparently doing service for nearly a century and were so successful that two other iron works were established — the middle works at the upper end of South street and the west works at Stony Brook Falls near the Simsbury or now East Granby Line. The Oil Mill was probably built about 1785 near the Oil Mill bridge. The oil was made from flax seed produced by the farmers in Sufheld and neighboring towns and about 2000 bushels a year were used. The product was shipped mainly to Springfield and Hartford. Nearly every farmer raised more or less flax which the housewives spun in the winter. The mill was burned in 1836 and never rebuilt. About the beginning of the last century there were at least four cotton mills in town, making yarn for knitting and for the weaving of cotton cloth. One mill was owned by Luther Loomis at the lower end of High or Main street. There was another at the Brookside dam, and probably in the old brick house located there. All these mills were located on Stony Brook. As early as 1710 a fulling mill stood at the south end of High street and is said to have been in operation for more than a century. In com- mon with other towns in colonial days nearly every farmhouse had its looms for the weaving of wool into clothing and carpets. In the years before the railroads, Suffield carried on quite a shipbuilding industry along the river and many vessels were launched there. Many of the townspeople at one time put their money into the indigo trade and went on long journeys in the enterprise. It is a tradition that the first steamboat run on the river was in 1826. Some time later there were two boats, the Agawam and the Massachusetts; the former could get through the canal but the latter had to go over the rapids. Later the Springfield was put on in competition with these boats. SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 125 The Old Ferry In October 1678 Major Pynchon and his associates made grants of land to John Penguilly and to Edward Allyn and his three sons, about 240 acres in all, along the river road above and below where the Thompsonville bridge now stands. They came from Ipswich, Mass. Thirteen years later there is the following entry in the Hampshire County Court record: "1691: Upon some motion that there may be a ferry started over ye Great River at the House of John Alline of Suffield: This Corte doth approve & appointe Jno Alline of Suffield for ye affaire & he to require & be contente with 4d ye horse & 2d ye man." This was the first ferry at Suffield and some distance north from the later ferry. It appears that, at a later period, John Allyn sold his farm and probably the ferry rights to John Trum- bull. Two Trumbulls had come to Suffield and settled on Feather Street, the brothers Joseph and Judah, and each had a son John — John the first, as he is called in the Suffield records? son of Joseph born in 1670; and John, the second, son of Judah born 1675. The late J. Hammond Trumbull of Hartford once wrote: "I never look into the Suffield records without being thankful that their Uncle John of Rowley died before he could bring his family to the new plantation. If he had come and brought another little John with him, to be mixed up with the cousins in the town records, the geneological puzzle would have been hopelessly complicated." As it is the two Johns have given the geneologists much trouble. In any case Joseph Trumbull of Feather street was the ancestor of the famous Trumbulls of history. Joseph had four sons whose lines of descent may be charted as follows: John the first, and the ferry owner, was the great grandfather of John Trumbull LL.D. of Hartford, judge of the Superior Court 1 801-19, treasurer of Yale college for many years, and better known as the author of "McFingal the Modern Epic," which became the most popular American poem and went through twenty editions before 1820, Joseph settled in Lebanon and was the father of Jonathan Trumbull the Revolutionary Governor of Connecticut, whose eldest son was a Revolutionary 126 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW general; another son, Jonathan, was the Governor of Connecticut 1798-1809; the third son, John, was the famous artist and friend of Washington; the fourth son, David, was thefather of Governor Joseph Trumbull 1849-50. Benoni went to Hebron and was the ancestor of Dr. Benjamin Trumbull the historian. John, the first, like John the second, son of Judah of SufReld, had a son Joseph, the Joseph who later owned the Ferry, either by himself or with John Penguilly. It seems to have been first known as Trumbull's, later as "Gillies", still later as Trumbull's, and still later as "Lovejoy's." Within the memory of those still living a steam ferry was in- augurated about 1858 by James Saunders who three or four years later sold it to Duane Kendall. After running it about two years he sold to Alanson Burbank, but the boat had gotten into bad condition and Mr. Burbank put on the old wire ferry and started to construct a new steamboat. About 1866 he sold to Watson W. Pease who, securing some help from the town, finished the construction of the new boat, and named her "Cora." In 1869 he sold to Loren J. Hastings who operated the ferry till 1 87 1 when Mr. Pease and Mr. S. A. Griswold, together bought the property each with a half interest, and ran the "Cora" un- til the new bridge company was formed in 1891 and bought the rights. Mr. Pease and Mr. Griswold, however, bought the Cora back with the privilege of running her until the bridge was completed which was in 1892. Meantime the boat had been thoroughly rebuilt and in the summer following the opening of the bridge to traffic Mr. Griswold ran her for parties on the river. She was then laid up until the temporary bridge at Hartford was taken away by the ice. Mr. Griswold then took the boat to Hartford and ran her as a ferry from the fall of 1905 till June 1906. During that winter Mr. Griswold bought the Pease interest and later sold the boat to Samuel A. Miner who afterwards sold her to a party in Westerly R. I. Shortly afterwards she became unsea- worthy and was broken up. In a few years after construction the bridge was taken over from the company and made free. Fisheries From an early date fisheries along the river acquired the rank SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 127 of an extensive business. A dam was early built and jointly owned by people mainly living in Feather Street. At a town meeting in December 1730 Jacob Hatheway, Samuel Copley, Richard Woolworth, William Halladay, Nathaniel Hall, Samuel Roe and Samuel Hatheway were petitioners for certain privi- leges which the town granted, on condition that the owners of the fish dam sell salmon at five pence per pound and shad at a penny apiece and "that they will not barrill any for a market when any of ye Town appear with any vendable pay to take same off for their own use, and that the owners put one hundred pounds security into the Town Treasurer's hands for the Town's security." Some of the owners objected to the conditions but they were accepted, and the bond was deposited. Apparently the arrangement was intended to secure to the people of the town fish at a certain price not subject to the market for barreled fish. Seven years later the town granted to another company of men liberty to erect a small dam about two feet high and three or four rods into the river "above all the common and standing fishing places on the Upper Falls in said Suffield." For nearly 150 years extensive shad fisheries were maintained on the river and the Douglass fisheries located a little south of the Ferry are easily within the memory of many now living. About thirty years ago, owing to changes in the dam and a diminution of the shad in the river, the fisheries became un- profitable and were given up. The Islayid The Great Island of about one hundred acres in the Connec- ticut River rapids has had a historic existence but with little change except in ownership. Rev. Ephraim Huit of Windsor petitioned the Connecticut General Court for it in 1641, and it was granted to him. At his death in 1644 he gave it back to the court for the use of the country. About thirty years afterward another Windsor man named John Lewis bought it of the In- dians who claimed it but this title proved invalid, and in 168 1 the Massachusetts General Court gave it to Major Pynchon in consideration of his work in running the boundary lines. His petition showed that he took this action to meet the boundary claims of the Windsor people. When he died in 1703, the island 128 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW was appraised as a part of his estate at ten pounds, and in 1717 his heirs conveyed it to John and Ebenezer Devotion and Joshua Leavitt. In 1754 General Phinehas Lyman bought the whole island, and when in 1774 he disposed of his property to go to Mississippi, it was sold to Roger Enos of Windsor. It was then called Lyman's island. After some changes in ownership, part of it was bought by John Ely who built a dam across the west branch of the river, and a saw mill on the west bank in 1687. This was swept away in 1810 and never rebuilt. In the last century the island changed hands in various ways. In 1864 it was purchased by D. C. Terry and Milton D. Ives and Mr. Terry lived there for many years. It is now generally called King's island. In 1873 hundreds of adventists gathered on the island awaiting the end of the world; remained there for some weeks, and then dispersed. Enfield Bridge In 1798 the General Assembly granted to John Reynolds the exclusive right to build a bridge across the river at any point from the north boundary of Windsor to the State line. The company formed located the bridge between Sufheld and En- field and completed it about 1810. Tradition says that some of the money was raised by lottery. Built of green timber, the bridge soon decayed and fell into the river of its own weight. In 1826 another bridge was constructed on the same site by William Dixon of Enfield, to whose son, United States Senator James Dixon, a large share of the property passed. When the railroad was built from Hartford to Springfield the right to put a bridge across the river at Warehouse Point was hotly contested by the Dixons, and the courts finally declared that their charter held and the railroad company paid to them $10,000 for the privilege of erecting the bridge at that point. When the Thompsonville bridge was built the right was bought of the charter owners for $1,200 and when the Warehouse Point bridge was built $3,000 was paid for the right. Senator Dixon who had become the sole owner of the bridge, before his death in 1873 transferred it to Mrs. Eliza Marsh of Enfield. It was handed down to her children and was owned by William D. Marsh of Chicago when three spans, exactly one-half of the ENFIELD BRIDGE, Built 1826 and Swept Away 1900 ,r^ "Cora." FERRY BOAT "CORA," Discontinued 1892 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW I29 Structure went down the river in a freshet February 15, 1900. The bridge had been considered unsafe and had been closed four years before it feU. Hosea Keach, station agent at the Enfield railroad station near the structure was on the bridge when it fell and was carried down the river three miles to the railroad bridge, where a rope was thrown to him and he was pulled up to safety. A few years later the site of the bridge was purchased by the Southern New England Telephone Company and the remaining part of the bridge was blown up with dynamite. The old piers were used for towers to string telephone cables across the river and the company established a central office at the old toll house. Slaves Old records prove that African slavery existed in Suffield as in other New England towns for nearly a century. Slaves were admitted to church membership, permitted to marry and were increasing in numbers when the state emancipation act of 1784 was passed. With the boon of freedom, their social status lowered, and they soon dwindled away and practically dis- appeared. For many years before Lincoln's proclamation a negro was seldom seen in Suffield. The earliest record of a negro slave in the Connecticut valley is found in Major Pynchon's account book October 167 1, re- cording his purchase of John Crow of Hadley for six pounds. The Hampshire county records show the marriage of his "negroes, Roco and Sue." Slaves were not numerous in Suffield as only people of means could afford them. Here as elsewhere they were most frequently found in the families of the ministers, the magistrates and the tavern keepers. They were seldom sold and usually passed to some member of the family as a part of the estate. In 1726 the town voted twenty pounds to the min- ister, Mr. Devotion, towards the purchase of slaves. In 1756 Suffield had twenty-four slaves; in 1774 thirty-seven; in 1782 fifty-three; in 1790 twenty-eight and in 1800 four. The manumission of three slaves in 18 12 by the heirs of Dr. Ebenezer Gay terminates the African slave record in Suffield. Mr. Gay, like his predecessor Mr. Devotion, held slaves, and slaves were 130 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW born to his estate. Male slaves between sixteen and sixty were listed at eighteen pounds. Among Mr. Sheldon's unpublished historical notes is an interesting record of all mention found of slaves in Suffield from 1725 on. They show that among owners, besides the ministers, were Jared Huxley, Ensign Samuel Kent, Joshua Leavitt, Lieut. Jonathan Sheldon, Seth Austin, Benjamin Scot, Joseph Pease, Apollos Hitchcock, Simon Kendall, General Phinehas Lyman and Captain Isaac Pomeroy. By an act of 1784 masters or owners of slaves desiring to be acquitted of their future maintenance or support could manu- mit them, provided the slave was willing and a certificate pro- cured from the civic authority that he or she was sound in health and not more than forty-five nor less then twenty-five years of age. Among the records of such manumission was one of a negro named "Stephen Pero," discharged in 1787 from the estate of Jacob Hatheway by his executor Elijah Kent. The West Suflield Church records show that Stephen Pero and his wife were admitted to the church September 7, 1800. Pero was long remembered and was said to be a general favorite with all, but he sometimes "took a drop too much", and was always ready to make confession without a summons from the church committee. The first knowledge of a lapse was usually imparted to the brethren by Pero himself, inviting them all to be present next Sabbath and hear "the grandest confession ever made". He died in West Suflield about the year 1820. His widow Nancy Pero died at the poor house in 1840. In 1812 Rev. Ebenezer Gay and William Gay applied for permission to discharge three slaves, Genny, Dinah and Titus, inherited from their father, and it was granted. It appears from the family record that Dr. Ebenezer Gay early had a slave named Prince, and a little later bought at an auction at Middle- town a slave woman named Rose who was a native born African, and claimed to be a princess in her country, her evidence being the elaborate tattoo on her back. Rose had three children born in Suffield, Genny, Dinah and Titus. After manumission Genny and Dinah became paid servants in different families. Titus, or "Old Ti" as he was later well known throughout the town, was lordly and dignified in mien, fond of exercising au- SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW I3I thority, and black as a coal. The many offices he performed led him to believe that he was next to Mr. Gay in authority and he deported himself accordingly. He was the sexton, the grave digger, the bell ringer and looked after the town clock in the belfry. His supervision of the boys on the Sabbath from his high pew in the gallery had a vigilance and thoroughness that left the town tithingmen without occupation. For about forty years he performed these various duties in and around the old Meeting House which was torn down in 1835. With the passing of this Meeting House "Ti's" life work seems to have closed, for he died in 1837 and was buried in the church yard where he had raised scores of mounds; but not even a mound marks the place of his burial. Whether it was a mere witticism or a fact, it used to be stated that the people so ar- ranged the burial of their dead that on the morning of resurrec- tion, when the dead should rise and face eastward, the colored people would stand in the rear. "A remote pew in the Meeting House" says one of Mr. Shel- don's notes, "and a remote corner in the church yard were the common heritage of the negro. Scores of them were buried at the northwest corner of the ancient ground with only rank weeds and briars to protect the mounds above them. The march of improvements came in 1850 and the allotted corner was wanted. New earth now covers the bones of the black man and the dust of a generation of whites reposes above them. 'No storied urn or animated bust' indicates that ever an African slave had rested 'his head upon the lap of earth' in the first church yard of Suffield." The Old Clock Of the history of the old clock mentioned as being in the spec- ial care of Old Ti little is known. Upon the east side of the tower of the third church of the First Congregational Society was a dial, and the clock was placed within at some period. It did duty till 1835 when that Meeting House was torn down to make room for the fourth which is now the freight station. Mr. Sheldon says that he regrets that he assisted in the vandal work of pulling down this tower, and its spire which was the most sightly and graceful architectural work the town had seen. The 132 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW clock leaves no clue or record of its origin, its cost or the maker. We only know that it was doing duty one hundred years ago. The present clock in the belfry of the First Congregational church was a gift from the late Mrs. Cornelia Pomeroy Newton about twenty years ago. Burial Grounds The precise time when the original Suffield " Burying Ground " was used for burials is unknown but undoubtedly it was between the years 1677 and 1683 . In making a grant to Robert Old, Octo- ber 30, 1677 of a lot twelve rods broad on the north side of "ye Highway that goes over Muddy Brooke," the committee re- served three lots to the north of Old, "to be granted to some useful persons;" but in March 1683 the town granted to Robert Old "a parcel of land lying below ye Burying Place," indicating that it had been established as such. The next year a committee was appointed to fence in the burying place and to "settle ye bounds." This was done and the record reads: "Layed out by ye order of Town on ye Meeting House Hill a burying place containing one acre and a half, the bounds whereof are as follows, viz: South and west bounded by Robert Old's land; north by Serg. Thomas Huxley, his son's lot; ye east or front upon ye Common land. It is twenty rod in length and twelve rod in breadth and bounded at each corner by stake and stone." The first Meeting House then stood on the Common where the boul- der now is. The next year, 1685, Serg. Thomas Huxley was appointed grave digger, receiving four shillings for graves of per- sons sixteen years old and upward and two shillings and six pence for children. He was also constable and innkeeper. He died in 1721 ; his son William was grave digger in 1717. For a long period the care of the burying ground was evidently a difficult subject for the town. In 1698 it was voted "to let the burying ground to Goodman Old, his heirs and successors for his or their sole use and benefit, for the pasturing and feeding of cattel, for the term of twenty years; upon the conditions follow- ing, viz: that said Old, his heirs and successors after him, and at all times duering said term, securing said burying place with a sufficient fence from damage done by hoggs and other creatures. SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW I33 The Town engaging to cut down the Bushes in said burying place; said Old alike engage to keep them down as well as he can." This lease expired in 1718, and at a special town meeting that year it was voted that the town bear the charge of clearing the burying place and fencing it "so far as in their part and proper for them to do." Two years later the town granted John Huxley "the use of the burying place for twenty year, provided he clear it and leave it fencet when the time is up." But in town meeting in November 1735, or five years before this lease could have expired, it was voted "that the selectmen Do some- thing as they shall think best about fencing, clearing and laying out ye Burying Yeard." This was more than sixty years after the settlement of the town. When the West Society was set off in 1740, the old burying ground fell to the charge of the First Society and gradually im- provements were made. From time to time after 1830 about three acres were laid out on the south, bringing it down to the highway and in 1850 the grounds were enlarged westerly by the purchase of one hundred and forty -six rods of land. The retain- ing wall on the south and the vault, the latter built in 1887 at a cost of ^2386.71, and the arch, the gift of Mrs. Cornelia Pomeroy Newton, were among the later improvements. The records of the West Society show that on December 15, 1 749, it was voted to purchase a place for a burying ground, and in February of the next year Samuel Harmon, Jonathan Sheldon and Philip Nelson were chosen a committee to purchase the land. They bought and fenced in one square acre on Ireland plain. In 1844, the cemetery having meantime passed to the control of the school society, a half acre was added on the east side, and in 1850 one-fourth of an acre adjoining on the east was purchased and laid out in twenty private lots, the owners being chiefly members of the Congregational Society. In 1867 the school society added an acre in a narrow strip on the north side and the whole, about two and three quarters acres, was enclosed by a substantial fence. The land of the burying ground in the rear of the First Bap- tist church on Zion's or Hastings' Hill was owned by Joseph Hastings when in 1769 he established and became the first pastor of the church. In the same year he gave a plot of it for a burial 134 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW place for himself and his flock. Here he and his son John, who followed him in the ministry, and Rev. Asahel Morse, the third pastor, were buried. As more space became necessary, additions were made from time to time. In 1905 the management was in- corporated in the Zion's Hill Cemetery Association. The ceme- tery contains the graves of many descendants of old Suffield families and graves of soldiers of the wars of the Revolution and 1 812, and of the Civil and World wars. . The Suffield mountain and the land lying west of it consti- tuted common land until divided among the proprietors in suc- cessive tiers of allotments, the last being made in 1759 when the valley of about seven hundred acres lying west of the foot of the mountain was divided into one hundred and twelve lots, repre- senting the number of the proprietors, in the proportion of six acres to every original fifty acre grant. At the same time the north half of Manituck mountain was granted to Captain Abraham Burbank and the south half to Samuel Kent to pay claims of eight pounds eight shillings of each, probably for services. To the south of this "over-the-mountain" valley was Copper Hill with its mine, afterwards Newgate prison; to the west Mani- tuck mountain and to the north Lake Congamond, both Indian named and both, as relics show, favorite localities of the tribes. Just when the lands so divided began to be taken up by settlers is not known, but probably in the period between the French and Indian Wars and the Revolution. Certain it is that in 1788 there came into use a little plot of land in the center of the valley for a burial ground. Probably it was so used for a time pre- viously, for there are graves bearing no markers and others hav- ing markers beneath or on a level with the sod. There is a marker bearing the initials "M. C. 1788" which the late Capt. ApoUos Phelps, getting his information from the fathers of his boyhood, used to say stood for Moses Cadwell. Tradition has it that about 1790 Elijah Phelps gave this plot of land of about one acre to the people of the valley as a common burial ground. In the records is a subscription paper of 1793 for the maintenance of the lot. There have been some changes in the boundaries but the area remains about the same. The cemetery is now in control of The Burial Ground Association of the West Side of the Moun- SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW I35 tain and Judah Phelps is the sexton and caretaker. It has a fund of $300, the income of which is for the care of the grounds. Each ecclesiastical society controlled its burying ground until about the year 182 1 when a state statute gave school societies limited powers relating to burying grounds and, whether fully authorized or not, the school societies appear to have taken com- plete control of the old burying grounds in 1844. This method has remained, the cemetery associations being really functions of the school societies. Under an act of the Legislature author- izing towns to hold trust funds for the care of family lots, the trust was accepted by the town in 1895, ^^^ the aggregate funds so contributed by different people now amounts to over $7,000, Action for the establishment of a new cemetery at the Center was taken in 1871, and in April of that year twenty acres were purchased from Thomas Archer & Sons at a cost of $4,263.75. The committee consisted of Henry Fuller, Dr. M. T. Newton, Albert Austin, Byron Loomis, William L. Loomis, J. M. Hathe- way, George A. Douglass, R. T. Mather, and William H. Fuller. The ground was laid out and fenced and in August 1872 it was dedicated as Woodlawn cemetery. In 1920 eight more acres were added by purchase from John Merrill. In the fifty years many handsome monuments have been erected. The beauti- ful gateway was the gift of Charles L. Spencer in memory of his daughter Julia Spencer Goldthwaite. CHURCH, SCHOOL AND LIBRARY To the first settlers of Suffield, as of other early towns in the New England colonies, civil and ecclesiastical affairs were, practically coterminous. The body of voters within the town- ship settled civil and ecclesiastical affairs in the same town meeting. The church really began with the settlement. The act of incorporation of Suffiel'd required that the settlers "take care for the procuring and maintayning some able minister there." At the first meeting of the committee appointed by the General Court at Boston to lay out the plantation, it was ordered that " a Convenient allotment of 60 or 80 acres near the Centre of the Town be Reserved for the property of the first Minister;" and that "a convenient allotment of 80 acres be set apart for the ministry and to continue and be improved for that use forever & not Granted away or sold or any way alienated therefrom." It was further stated that the true intent of the order and grant was to continue it for the maintenance of such minister as from time to time should "preach the Word of God to the inhabi- tants." First Congregational Church Not until the return of the settlers after King Philip's war and the later acquisition of several new inhabitants from other towns could provision be made for either church or minister, but at a meeting in Suffield in 1679 Major Pynchon, George Colton and Rowland Thomas, of the committee in whose hands the plantation was still lodged, granted eighty acres "for In- couragement of Mr. John Younglove to come to Suffield, who hath beene sought to which respect to being their Minister & to Preach ye word of God to ye People there." The degree of en- couragement may be measured from the fact that the committee was selling home lots at about six cents an acre. At this time Mr. Younglove was a teacher in Hadley. He had probably come to Suffield to preach on Sundays for a period before the grant. The first Meeting House was probably built in 1680 but no mention is made of the building until five years later. It was of the type common to all the Meeting Houses of the period — a 138 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW square wooden building usually unpainted, crowned with a truncated pyramidal roof. For some reason the services of Mr. Younglove became un- satisfactory in 1690 when the town petitioned the county court at Northampton against his preaching longer, and, pending action, he died. After five years of unsuccessful efforts to obtain another minister, in 1695 Benjamin Ruggles, who had been graduated from Harvard two years before, became pastor, A new Meeting House and the first school house were built in 1700 or shortly after his settlement. There is little record of his min- istry except as it appears in the town records but he was an ac- tive leader in the town. He died in 1708 at the age of thirty- two. The third minister, Ebenezer Devotion, was obtained in 1709. He came from Roxbury, where his parents lived, and had been graduated from Harvard two years before. He was ordained in June 1710, and in the fall of that year went to Boston to be married. The town voted "to allow John Rising 3 shilling per day for himself and his horse for ye nine dales he was out, when he went to ye Bay with Mr. Devotion, the when he went to be married." The pastorate was a successful one of more than thirty years and was terminated by his death in 1741. Extensive revivals prevailed throughout New England in the latter part of Mr. Devotion's ministry, and 327 names were added to the church roll. This revival had notable effects, one of which was the division cf the church, and the formation of the West Congregational Society and another was the accel- erated development of the Separatist movement and the es- tablishment of other denominations. The fourth minister, Ebenezer Gay, a graduate of Harvard in 1737, preached his first sermon in Suffield August 9, 1741 and was acting pastor for more than fifty years. He came, at the time of the division of the church; the West Suffield church had been incorporated but not yet organized. The project of build- ing a new and larger church was given up for the time, though from the town records it appears that some of the timber had been already provided, and the town expressly voted that the West Society should not share in its ownership. In the report of the "One hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Decease SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 139 of Benjamin Ruggles" it is stated that "the Meeting House survived some alterations and resolutions to build a successor, until 25th April, 1749, when it was laid prostrate." The sills for a new Meeting House were laid May 8, 1749 and the steeple raised on August 22 following. The edifice was forty feet wide and fifty-seven long and stood north to south parallel with the burying ground. The steeple stood at the north end. Ebenezer Gay, Jr., became his father's assistant and succeeded him, being ordained March 6, 1793. His active pastorate con- tinued until 1826, and he remained senior pastor until his death in 1837; father and son together, therefore, lacked but four years of serving the church a full century. Ebenezer Gay, Jr., kept a school in the Gay Manse in the chamber over the kitchen and in the small chamber adjoining was kept the town library. Joel Mann was installed as active pastor of the church in 1826 but was dismissed in 1829, and was succeeded by Henry Robin- son whose pastorate ended the year in which Ebenezer Gay Jr. died. The fourth church edifice, the one for the past fifty years serving as the freight house at the railroad station, was built in 1835. Asahel C. Washburn was installed in 1838 and was followed by John R. Miller in 1853. Walter Barton became pastor in 1869 and the present church edifice was dedicated just previous to the Bi-Centennial cele- bration at which Mr. Barton delivered the address of welcome. He closed his pastorate in 1875 ^^'^ his successors in the past fifty years have been: William R. Eastman, Charles Symington, Hiram L, Kelsey, Archibald McCord, David W. Goodale, Dan- iel R. Kennedy Jr., and Victor L. Greenwood. West Suffield Congregational Church From the settlement of the town until the beginning of the ministry of the first Ebenezer Gay, about seventy years, there was no other church society. During the last years of the success- ful ministry of Mr. Devotion, however, agitation for a division of the church society and the formation of the West Congrega- tional society began. It appears to have had a combination of causes. Extensive revivals occurred throughout New England and many new members had been added to the Suffield church. The second Meeting House had been built in 1701 and accord- 14^ SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW ing to the record of the town vote was forty feet square, but it may be presumed that pew room had become a problem, if not a cause of dissatisfaction. The seating of the people in the old New England Meeting House was always a delicate and diffi- cult matter. ''Our Puritan forefathers," says Mrs. Alice Morse Earle, ''though bitterly denouncing all forms and ceremonies, were great respecters of persons and in nothing was the regard for wealth and position more fully shown than in designating the seat in which each person should sit during public worship.'' Whittier wrote of this custom: ''In the goodly house of worship, where in order due and lit. As by public vote directed, classed and ranked the people sit; Mistress first and goodwife after, clerkly squire before the clown, From the brave coat, lace embroidered, to the gray frock shading down." In the records of the town meetings are many indications that the seating was causing trouble. When the question of division was first brought up in town meeting in August 1735 it failed to pass and at a meeting three years later a majority, strongly against the division, voted to build a new Meeting House sixty feet in length and forty feet in breadth, the stated purpose being to accommodate the larger number and avoid a division. Meantime certain people in the west part of the town peti- tioned the General Court at Boston to be set off as a separate society and the town appointed Joseph King as an agent to go to Boston and oppose it on the ground that the " low circumstances of the inhabitants of Suffield rendered them incapable to main- tain two ministers and two Meeting Houses." The dispute was later referred to a committee consisting of John Stoddard of Northampton, William Pitkin of Hartford and William Pyn- chon. Jr. of Springfield. They met in Suffield and decided that the West society should be set off and the General Court incor- porated it January I. 1740. At this time the town had about two hundred families. The West Suffield church was organized -LFFIELD OLD AND NEW I4I November lo, 1743. Int nrsi ^weeiiug House was erected the next year; the second in 1795 where the present edifice now stands; the present building was dedicated in 1840 — the same year as the present Second Baptist church. It was a period of church building in Suffield, the First Congregational society having built five years before, 1835; ^^e present First Baptist church was built six years later, 1846. The first minister at West Suffield, John Graham, served from 1746 to 1796 and he was succeeded by one of the noted ecclesias- tical figures of the period, Daniel Waldo, a contemporary in Suffield of Ebenezer Gay, Jr. He was born in Windham and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War; taken prisoner and confined in the sugar house New York where he was treated with great cruelty. He graduated from Yale in 1788 and became pastor in West Suffield in 1792, serving eighteen years. For a period after- wards he was a missionary in Pennsylvania and New York State and later was settled in other churches in New England. In 1855 at the age of ninety-three he was chaplain of the United States House of Representatives; He died in 1864, lacking a few weeks of being one hundred and two years of age. He revisited Suffield occasionally in his long career and preached his last sermon shortly before his death. His successors in the early period were Joseph Mix, 1814-29; John A. Hemstead, 1832-33; Erastus Clapp, 1833-39; Benjamin I. Lane, 1839-41; Joseph W. Sessions, 1843-52; Henr>^ J. Lamb, 1853-57; Henry Cooley, 1857-64; C. B. Dye, 1864-65; William Wright, 1866-69; ^n 5 o -^ 5 m 2 M 2 > > ^ w > O r" ■-J " d H K W o ffi ' w w o 5 35 p,H 5 ^ KH n M "^ W z H O -< o £L lluubc Buill b\ Captain Junalhan Sheldon 1723 (p. 165) Home of Posthumous Sikes 1739 (p. 173) SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW l6l caused by death or removal from Suffield. Of the original board James O. Haskins, Miss Alena F. Owen, Mrs. Sara L. Spencer and Dwight S. Fuller are still serving. The present officers are Samuel R. Spencer, president, and James O. Haskins, secretary and treasurer. Miss Owen was treasurer from 1895 ^^ 1918. Directors whose service has been terminated by death have been M. H. Smith i894-i905;M. T. Newton, 1894-1909; J. K. Mason, 1894-1905; Louise E. Hatheway, 1894-1912; L. N. Austin, 1894- 1900; F. B. Hatheway, 1894-1917; H. S. Sheldon, 1894-1903; O. C. Rose, 1895-99; C. C. Bissell,i905-I9i4; and George F.Ken- dall 1909-12, A. Spencer Jr., 1904-05, and Sarah F. Dibble, 1900- 12, removed from Suffield. The present board with the date of their election is as follows: Alena F. Owen, James O. Haskins, D. S. Fuller and Sara L. Spencer, 1894; W. E. Caldwell, 1899; S. R. Spencer, 1903; H. B. Russell, 1905; G. A. Harmon, Hattie S. Brockett, C. B. Sheldon, 1912; C. R. Latham, 1914; S. K. Legare, 1917. The Sheldon Collection No native of Suffield had a keener or more passionate interest in the town of his fathers than the late Hezekiah S. Sheldon and one of the results of his long and painstaking study and research is a legacy of peculiar value to the library and the town. The Sheldon Collection is unique in that its actual value increases with the years, while in a larger sense it is priceless because it could not be entirely replaced. Becoming interested early in life in all pertaining to old Suf- field, for years he ranged the field of New England colonial re- cords, seeking anything that related to its early history and families. His transcription and publication of the records of the town for its first ninety years suggested numerous lines of re- search in which he spared neither time nor money, and often they yielded rich results. It was discovered that one of the vol- umes of the vital statistics of Suffield (1760-1817) was missing and later he found it in a search of the attic of the old Pease house just before it was torn down. For years he was a familiar figure at book sales of rare Americana, and at the sale of the notable Brindley collection in New York in 1879, made exten- sive purchases. One of the rare little pamphlets offered was l62 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW Isaac HoUister's story of his captivity in 1763, printed in Suffield by Edward Gray in 1813. Others bid for it but on the margin of the Brindley catalogue left in the collection is Mr. Sheldon's penciled memo: "H. S. S. has it; ^30." Authorities in rare Amer- icana now value the faded little volume at $100. At the same sale he purchased for $22 a small pamphlet — the Holly sermon preached at Suffield the first Sunday after the arrival of the news of the Boston Tea Party. These instances are typical of many, indicating the thoroughness and persistence with which he sought and obtained Suffield antiquities. The collection, however, is far from being confined to books or papers directly relating to Suffield; it contains many rare books in a wider field in which Suffield, as an Old New England town, had its place. It is rich in colonial history and genealogy, comprising such works as Hinman's Genealogy of the Colony of Connecticut, John Farmer's Genealogical Register, John Eliot's Biographical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, 1809, Savages's Genealogical Dictionary, William Allen's Bio- graphical Dictionary, (first edition and quite rare). The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vols. I to 18 in- clusive, three of which are scarce and one of them said to be quite unobtainable. In a measure Mr. Sheldon's extensive collection of town his- tories and other data, both political and religious, may have been influenced by a genealogical study of the first Suffield settlers. The Grangers, Nortons, Fullers and others came from Ipswich, Mass., and in his collection are Felt's History of Ipswich and Kimball's Sketch of the Ecclesiastical Society of Ipswich; in a similar manner he added to his collection books and papers regarding the early history and families of Northampton, Springfield, Hadley, and the old towns of Con- necticut. One rare treasure, however, the collection unfortunately missed. At some time in his searches Mr. Sheldon obtained a copy of William Pynchon's book, "Meritorious Price of Christ's Redemption" paying $205. President Pynchon of Trinity Col- lege (1874-83) wanted it. No other copies were obtainable and, recognizing the sentimental claim of a descendent of Springfield's first magistrate and leader, Mr. Sheldon sold it to him for $500. SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 163 Had the book related directly to Suffield, probably he would not have sold it at any price. Next to local and related town history no subject appealed to Mr. Sheldon more than the Indians. The collection contains many stories of Indian captivities and early published volumes of Indian wars constitute a considerable portion of this library of rare old books. Quaint stories of travel and geographical des- cription form another distinctive and extensive feature. Interesting relics of old Suffield abound. Among them are many manuscript sermons preached by Suffield ministers in the old days; old account books of first settlers; old maps, such as one of the Farmington canal; first communion cup of the West Suffield Congregational church, carried off to Ohio by an emi- grating family and recovered by Mr. Sheldon some eighty years later; a pitchpipe wrought into the shape of a book which be- longed to Sheldon Graham, chorister of the West Suffield church and brother of Sylvester Graham; several Graham books and sermons; a New England Psalm Tune book printed in Suffield; papers concerning Newgate Prison of which Mr. Sheldon's grandfather was keeper for many years, and variou sother rec- ords and articles of olden times. Gad Lane Tavern, Built by Samuel Lane 1726 (p. 174J Hatheway Place, Built by Abraham Burbank 1736 (p. 166) Alfred Spencer Place, Built by Daniel Spencer 1726-47 (p. 169) Wi''*^ P^ Gav Manse, Built by Rev. Ebenczer Gay, D.D. 1742 (p. 167) LANDMARKS By nothing that now remains is the voice of Suffield's past spoken so clearly as by some of its old houses, and their archi- tectural qualities, representing the thought and purpose of the periods in which they were erected, make them an interesting study. Previous to the celebration, the Historical Committee, of which Mr. Samuel R. Spencer was chairman, procured and placed upon about one hundred of the older houses signs giving the names of their builders so far as they could be ascertained, and the date of their construction. This involved an extensive search of old land records and other sources of information and Mr. Spencer has since supplemented this much appreciated feature of the celebration with further facts gleaned from old records, regarding a few of the old houses that he has selected for illustra- tion in this publication. For this purpose he has chosen as many different types as possible and houses that are in their original condition or nearly so. Certain architectural features were typical of different periods. It appears, for instance, that those houses built previous to the Pease house in 1760 had but one chimney which was placed in the center of the house, usually with large fireplaces in the rooms grouped about it. Those built after 1760 have a hall through the center with chimneys at either side and usually close to either end of the house, thus doubling the number of possible fireplaces, for heating was one of the main considerations in those days. Palladian windows occur only in houses built during the decade 1790-1800, and from 1790 to 1830 semi-circular windows were used in the attics of nearly every house. These and other architectural qualities will be noticed in the houses illustrated. The Jonathan Sheldon Place Mr. Hezekiah S. Sheldon used to claim that this was the oldest house in town and its "lean-to" roof and great chimney indicate that it is certainly among the oldest. Captain Johnathan Sheldon came to Suffield from Northampton in 1723 and built his house that summer. Here he raised his large family, giving to each of his five sons a separate farm on Sheldon Street. His wife died in 1768 and he the next year; on their tombstone they are called, l66 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW "The Happy Pair." At their death, their son Gershom received the place and passed it on to his son Ebenezer, who in 1800 moved to Aurora, Ohio, selHng the place to Captain Isaac Owen. He died in 1816 and left it to his son Benajah who in 1823 leased it to his sons. A mortgage given in 1799 speaks of "an ancient house." In 1829 Sheldon, Holkins and Lyman, having fore- closed a mortgage, sold it to Gustavus Austin, from whom it descended to his son T. Jefferson Austin and his grandson Charles C. Austin who sold it in 1901 to R. L. Theuer. From his estate it was bought in 1904 by Christopher Michel. The Hatheway Place The main part of the house, now the residence of D. N. Car- rington, was built in 1736 by Captain Abraham Burbank who had previously bought of Christopher Jacob Lawton, the early lawyer mentioned elsewhere, ten acres of land which had been the home lot of Nathaniel Harmon. Captain Burbank was one of the leading men in the town. In 1743 he added to the property the Devotion place on the north, between his place and the Har- rocks place as this generation knows it. The Devotion house had been built about 1715 by Ebenezer Devotion, pastor of the Con- gregational church, and has long since gone. But the well still remains just north of Mr. Carrington's barns, and the last of the seven elms he planted stood until about six years ago. Tradition has it that, in a stop at Sufheld on a trip through New England and after dining at the Austin Tavern across the street, George Washington addressed the townspeople under this elm, that so long survived its fellows. Captain Burbank was succeeded by his son Shem, who was one of the four Suffield Tories mentioned in Rev. Samuel Peters' list as being loyal to the King and to be counted on as against the Revolution. The others were Dr. Alexander King, town clerk and physician. Captain Isaac Owen and Seth Austin, the tavern keeper. Shem Burbank sold the place to Oliver Phelps of Granville, Mass., but he embarked later in an unfortunate land speculation in the west, and, selling the place to Asahel Hatheway Sr., moved to Canandaigua, N. Y. Asahel Hatheway Jr., who had prospered in New York as a mer- chant, built the north wing of the house about 1816 and the south wing was used by his son, Henry, as a law office, though SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW \6j it is uncertain wiien it was built. The big sycamore in the south yard is well over a hundred years old, and is quite the most nota- ble tree in Suffield. Both Asahel Hatheway and his son Asahel, were Yale men, and in 1815 Asahel Jr. added to his inheritance Hezekiah Huntington's lot of ten acres (formerly the homestead of General Phinehas Lyman, the house standing not far from the present unfinished hotel). For many years "Miss Louise", daughter of Asahel Hatheway Jr., was mistress of this place, and her stately dignity and gracious but firm refusal to open her home to any but a few intimates imparted to the old mansion an air of mystery. She died in 1910 and many of the treasures and heirlooms are now cherished in the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. Gay Manse In 1742 the Congregational Church called to Suffield Ebenezer Gay of Hingham, Mass. He and his son, Ebenezer Gay, Jr., were pastors of this church for ninety-five years during all of which they exerted a great influence, which radiated from this house on the life of the community. When Mr. Gay came here in 1742, he built the Gay Manse and brought to it his young wife who was Hannah Angier, daughter of a merchant in Providence, and the list of her dowry is preserved in the Kent Library, as also Mr. Gay's diaries covering a period of over forty years, and many of his sermons. The old place has always remained in the family and is in practically the same condition as when these old divines lived there. This place was originally a part of the grant to Rev. Peletiah Glover of Springfield but was soon after bought by Victory Sikes. In 1699 the latter sold his house lot "with a mansion and buildings thereon" to Joseph Sheldon, Sr., and in 1724 his son Joseph sold it to his cousin Josiah Sheldon, who had a store. In 1727 it was purchased by Ebenezer Burbank who held it until 1735 when he sold it to Christopher Jacob Law- ton, the lawyer, who in the same year bought the present town of Blandford from the Suffield proprietors. But the same year also Lawton sold the place to John Kent who held the property until it was bought by Dr. Ebenezer Gay, Joseph Pease House In 1750, Joseph Pease of Enfield moved to Suffield, lived with l68 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW Asaph Leavitt and made shoes for a living; later he lived with General Lyman and built a sloop for him in 1753. On July 24, 1760 he raised the house here illustrated and moved into it in November of that year. His diary which he kept for many years is still in the possession of his great grand-daughter, Mrs. Ed- ward A. Fuller, and on it this sketch is based. He was a stirring active man of many interests, had a malt house on Clay Gutter and made from twelve to fifteen hundred barrels of cider a year, and shipped five hundred bushels of rye to Holland at a time. He had saw mills at the mouth of Stony Brook, and made fre- quent trips on horseback to Vermont after logs, which were floated down the river. We find in his diary that when sixty- four years old he made the trip of seventy-four miles to Benning- ton, Vt., on horse back in three days, and that he drove to Co- hoes, N. Y., in a sleigh in the year of his death. There are many references to the weather scattered through his diary, some of them so surprising that they seem worthy of reproducing: "The snow is so deep and hard that on March 19, 1763, could go with teams and sleds over the fences. I went that day over the bigger part of the town across the lots without any regard to highways. The Great River was crossed with horses after that on April 2nd." "Oct. 23, 1773, ripe strawberrys and raspberrys, second crop of flax, good and well-coated and summer rye eared and in the blow; the most remarkable growing fall I ever knew." "1780 Friday May 19th, a very dark day so that at 10 a.m. candles wanted in the house; fowls went to roost and everything appeared like half an hour after sunset on a cloudy day; the clouds of a greenish hue and very surprising and reflected same color on everything on the earth; and the next Sunday was seen by Esq. King and his wife a mock sun at half an hour high in the morning a little above the sun, which the sun passed over and left visible after it was above it." "The Great River held good crossing on the ice with any load from the first of December to 12th of March without interrup- tion." This house was one of the notable houses of the town and as far as Mr. S. R. Spencer has discovered the first one to be built with a chimney in each end and a hall through the middle, Its front doorway was the pride of the town for many years. The front hall was beautifully paneled and its stair rail of rare SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 169 architectural grace. From this hall, entrance was gained into a small and dark room, whither the family were wont to retire in case of thunder showers. When Joseph Pease died 1794, ^^is house passed to his son Dr. Oliver, who lived and practiced his profession till he was past eighty, and found time to be town clerk for twenty years and judge of probate. On his death the property passed to his daughter Emily, wife of the Rev. Elam Clarke, and from them to their daughter Miss Emily Clarke, last of the line, who died in 1885. The house was then bought by Alartin J. Sheldon and given to the Connecticut Literary Institution and, having fallen into neglect, it was demolished in 1902. The Spencer Place Thomas Spencer, Jr., came to Suffield in 1674 and received a grant of sixty acres on the east side of High street, comprising the present Norton place and the property of St. Joseph's church. In 1698 his son Samuel received a grant of sixteen acres in the meadow which is still a part of the Spencer farm. High Street was becoming thickly settled by 1726 and Samuel Spencer sold his half of his father's grant and built a house on the present Olds & Whipple farm. It was on the flat west of the present house and was the first house built between High Street and Taintor Hill. The same year the town laid out a road by this house, and soon after Thomas Spencer built a house on the brow of the hill, east of his father's place and near where the large maple now stands. Sometime before 1743 Daniel Spencer built the house here illustrated. With the single exception of the Dan Phelps house west of the mountain it is said to be the only one In Suffield with an overhanging second story. Samuel Spencer died in 1743 and his sons divided the land, Daniel taking the north and Thomas the south half. Daniel Spencer died In 1772 and his farm passed to Daniel Spencer, Jr., who died In 1784, when the property passed to his children. In 1798 Augustine Spencer, son of Daniel Jr., sold his place to his cousin Hezeklah, grandson of Thomas. In 1803 Spencer Street was laid out by the town, just north of this house, but it was subsequently changed to the south. In 18 10 Hezeklah Spencer moved to South Street to be on the post road but retained ownership of the farm. lyO SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW He died in 1820, and the farm passed to his son Alfred, who in 1823 married Harriet King, daughter of Ebenezer King, Jr., builder of the Gay Mansion and the Pool, and they renovated the house and moved into it. Alfred Spencer died in 1838 and was succeeded by his son Alfred who died in 1891, leaving seven children, who incorporated The Alfred Spencer Company which now owns the house and farm. Gay Mansion In 1795 Ebenezer King, Jr., bought "twenty-six acres of land on High Street bounded west on the post road, southwest corner bound being at the old drain through the lot." He was at that time in the heyday of his prosperity and reputed to be worth ^100,000. He was one of the leading spirits in the Connecticut Western Reserve of Ohio, and later lost his fortune and died comparatively poor. Gay Mansion, as it came to be known later, was the finest house in Suffield, as the illustrations else- where show. In 181 1, Ebenezer King sold the place to William Gay, who was then and for many years the leading lawyer of this part of Hartford County, and for over thirty-five years the postmaster of Sufiield, the post office being at this house. The home passed to two unmarried daughters who lived long lives there, keeping the old furnishings of the house with scrupulous nicety and precision. For well nigh a hundred years the great hall carpet, woven in the house from wool grown and spun on the place, remained in good condition, and all the well preserved furnishings gave to the place a peculiar charm in later years as the home of Mrs. Elise R. Ailing, who thus retained it in the pos- session of the descendents of the Gay family until 1916, when it was sold to Rev. Daniel R. Kennedy, Jr. Luther Loomis Place Joseph Pease recorded in his diary, "April 29th, 1790 Luther Loomis raised his house." which dates this house exactly. It is located on land that Col. Loomis had bought a few years before from Seth Austin. Col. Loomis was a man of importance in the town, merchant, and farmer, and largely interested in the Con- necticut Western Reserve. His house was fitting in every way for a man of his position. After his death it passed to his son, SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW I/I Luther, who was also, a merchant and public servant, having held at one time or another all the offices in the gift of his town and served as judge of probate, member of the Connecticut House of Representatives for six years, and of Connecticut Senate for four years. In 1842, he was the candidate for Gover- nor of Connecticut on the Conservative Democratic party. Upon his death in 1866, the property passed to his son Judge William L. Loomis, who like his father and grand-father served his town in many capacities and especially as town clerk. It is to his untiring patience and devotion that the unusually excellent condition of our Town Records is due, for to them he gave many hours of loving care and work. He is still affection- ately remembered by all who knew him and his fame as a racon- teur still survives. At his death, the property passed to his wife and her sister. Miss Sophia Bissell, and upon Miss Bissell's death in 191 2 it was bought by Mr. Chas. L. Spencer and given to the Masonic bodies of Suffield for a home. By them it was loaned to the town as a Hostess House during the celebration. Old Granger Place The Granger genealogy says this house was built by Col. Za- dock Granger about 1780, but a close study of the records leads to the belief that it is about twenty years older. Robert Granger a blacksmith, lived on East Street as early as 1757, probably in the place now owned by John Zak. He sold the place illustrated herewith to his son Zadock in 1772, Zadock sold it to his brother Robert in 1776, and repurchased it from Robert in 1783. Col. Zadock Granger was a very active man and owned at various times besides his large farm, the Island, a part of the Oil Mill, and the saw mills at the mouth of Stony Brook. In 1798 he moved to Genesee, N. Y., and about that time sold this place to his nephew Thaddeus Granger, who resided here until his death in 1848. His son Hiram K. Granger sold this property to Amos and James Chapell in 1866, and they sold in 1902 to E. Clay- ton Holdridge, who kept it until 191 1 and then sold it to Chas. Lucas, the present owner. The house has one feature believed to be unique among Suffield houses — the large grain bins in the south front room on the second story. 172 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW Timothy Swan House Six acres of the present "Mather Place" was the original grant to Thomas Huxley, Jr., and in the latter part of the eigh- teenth century was the home of Isaac Bissell who kept a black- smith shop there. In April, 1788, he sold his holdings to Benajah Kent (builder of the "Kent Place," now owned by S. K. Legare) and he sold them to Dr. Howard Alden in 1791. But in 1794 Dr. Alden built the house where Mrs. Edward A. Fuller lives, and sold this property to Timothy Swan who built the house and put the date, 1794, on the chimney. Timothy Swan in the intervals of writing hymns engaged in mercantile business with his brother- in-law, Ebenezer Gay, or at least with his backing, and the title was transferred back and forth for a decade or so, and eventually sold by Timothy Swan in 1807. The following transfers show its history and that it has been "The Mather Place" over eighty years: 1788, Isaac Bissell to Benajah Kent "with shop;" 1791, Benajah Kent to Dr. Howard Alden; 1794, Dr. Howard Alden to Timothy Swan; 1807, Timothy and Mary Gay Swan to John M. Garnett; 1819, John M.Garnett to Seth King, two and one- half acres and house; 1821, Seth King to Henry Loomis of New York City. Henry Loomis was living there in 1840 and paying interest to Elizabeth, widow of Capt. John Kent, from whom he had probably bought additional lands to the west, as the place contained twenty-five acres when deeded by Eliphalet Terry of Hartford and Harvey Bissell of Sufheld to Timothy Mather of Windsor from whom it has come down by inheritance to the present owner, Elizabeth B. Mather. Old Harmon Place In 1766 Silas Kent traded his place in West Suffield, near the foot of the mountain, with Ebenezer Harmon 2d, born 1727, who had lived near the cemetery, and this place became the home- stead of one branch of the Harmon family for over eighty years. Ebenezer was succeeded by his son Israel, born 1753, and he by his son Julius, born 1796. Julius died in 1842, leaving no male heirs, and in 1852 Silas Root, trustee under the will transferred the place to Artemus and Horace King. Later transfers were: Artemus to Horace A. King; 1906, Edward C. King (son of Hor- Lea\ilt Place, Built b}- Capl. Joseph Winchell Before 1742 (p. i/j) King Place, Built b\^ William King 1750 (p. 174) Grantrcr Place, lliiih hy Robert Grani:er i 7OO (p. iji) Harmon Place, Sold b\- Silas Kent to Ebenezer Harmon 1766 (p. 172) SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 173 ace) to William H. Orr; 1906, William H. Orr to Joseph Abrano- vitch; 1906, Joseph Abranovitch to Julius Malinska. Capt. Medad Pomeroy Place This house appears to have been built on a different plan than any other house in Sufiield. The record of transfers follows: 1768, Phinehas Pomeroy to Medad Pomeroy for forty pounds, forty- five acres (no building mentioned); 1773, Medad Pomeroy to Charles Smith, with house; 1799, Stephen and Ruth Porter to Dan Sheldon; 1815, Charles Sheldon to Andrew Dennison (first Master of Apollo Lodge); 1828, Andrew and Susan Dennison to William H. Owen; 1836, William H. Owen's children to Reuben Loomis; 1849, Reuben Loomis quit-claimed to Isaac Wing, a cigar maker, who is buried in Suffield while his wife, Hannah Ladd, is buried in Franklin, Conn.; 1853, Isaac Wing to John Nooney; 1858, John Nooney to O. W. Kellogg; 1859, O. W. Kel- logg to Roswell Merriman; 1870, Roswell Merriman to Lucretia Merriman; 1904, Emerson A. Merriman to T. H. Smith. Old Leavitt Place This house was built before 1742, probably by Captain Joseph Winchell who died in 1742. The records show the following trans- fers; Samuel Granger to Asaph Leavitt, "The Home lot I now dwell on"; 1746, Asaph Leavitt to John Leavitt (married in 1745) the above piece of property; 1752, Jonathan Leavitt to his brother John "the home lot where Captain Joseph Winchell lately lived, with Mansion house and barn thereon;" 1781 John Leavitt to son Joshua "Mansion house;" 1805, Joshua Leavitt to Joshua Leavitt, Jr.; 1820, Joshua Leavitt mortgaged to Lu- ther Loomis; 1826, Luther Loomis to Henry Wright, "The Joshua Leavitt Farm;" 1859, Halsey S. Wright, guardian, to Nathan Clark; 1886, The heirs of Nathan Clark to Fred Clark. House of Posthumous Sikes It is certain that Posthumous Sikes lived here as early as 1739. Victory Sikes mortgaged this land in 1717 and it is quite possible that this house is the house mentioned in that mortgage as its great chimney indicates it is one of the oldest houses in the town. The record of transfers follows : 1 759, a deed speaks of the " heirs 174 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW of Posthumous Sikes;" 1780-1783, Shadrach Sikes bought out the other heirs of Posthumous; 181 1, Shadrach Sikes and his brother-in-law Hved there, DeHa Sikes to Jonathan Remington, 2d; 1841, Jonathan Remington, 2d, to Deha Sikes; 1845, DeHa Sikes to Gramaliel Fuller; 1854, Luther H. Fuller to Lewis Z. Sikes; 1855, Lewis Z. Sikes to J. B. Vandelinda; 1863, John B. Vandelinda to M. A. Deming; 1864, Oscar and Mary Deming to George Williston; 1888, Estate of George Williston to Jewett Wright; 1889, Jewett Wright to G. H. Kent, 1910, George H. Kent Estate to F. S. Kent. The King Place This house, with its beautiful doorway, was built by Ensign William King about 1750 and remained in the direct line of the family until 1883. Ensign William King died in 1791 and was succeeded by his son Seth who died in 1846. The place passed to his son Deacon John A. King from whom it passed in 1869 to his daughters Martha and Jane, who sold it in 1883 to James O. Haskins the present owner. Gad Lane Tavern In a transfer of twenty-five acres by Jared Huxley to Samuel Lane in 1723, as given in Springfield Records (D.301), it is stated, "It lyeth on the west side of oynion gutter and on the west side of John Remington's land and bounded partly on the common." The same year James King transferred four acres on Fyler's brook to Samuel Lane. In 1725 John Lane transferred to Samuel Lane, Jr., "all my interest in my father's estate." In 1727 the town laid out a wall by Samuel Lane's house "west from Fyler's brook." In 1765 Samuel Lane transferred to "Grandson Gad" forty acres south of the way to Westfield and west of Pine Plane brook." Later transfers: 1827, Gad Lane to Ashbel, his son; 1847, Ashbel Lane to William Pomeroy; 1848, William Pomeroy to Gibson Lewis and Joel Austin; 1849, Gib- son Lewis and Joel Austin to David Allen; 1888, David Allen to Amos Hunt; 1906, Amos Hunt et al to A. S. Kent; 1909, Albert S. Kent to A. H. Bridge. The Pool In 1807, Uriah Austin sold to Ebenezer King, Jr., and Fidelio King the "west part of my farm including the Pool." The pool SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 1/5 referred to is a strong sulphur spring supposed to contain most efficient medicinal qualities. The Kings immediately built a large hotel on the property and for two or three years business was booming, but it soon fell off and the enterprise proved a failure. Ebenezer King lived here until his death in 1824 when the prop- erty fell to his daughter Arabella and her husband "Deacon Reu- ben Granger" who conducted a popular boys' school here for several years before the opening of the C. L. I. The record of transfers follows: 1853, Reuben and Arabella Granger sold it to Charles V.Dyer; 1855, Charles V.Dyer sold it toMatthewLaffin; 1856, Matthew Laffin sold it to Jacob Loomis ; 1 860, Jacob Loomis sold it to Walter C. Holcomb; 1864, Walter C. Holcomb sold it to Alfred Spencer; 1892, Heirs of Alfred Spencer sold to Patrick Heavy. The old house was recently burned. Seih Axistin Tavern This large house was known throughout the nineteenth cen- tury as The Archer Place, having been the home of Thomas Archer and his family from 1 8 14 on. Just when it was built is uncertain, but it was built in two parts at different times and was a famous tavern throughout the Revolutionary period and ante- dates in part at least 1774. In 1723, the records show this land belonged to Richard Austin, Sr., son of Anthony, first school- master, and it evidently passed down through the family, for in 1774 we find Richard's son Joseph, who had moved to Durham, Connecticut, deeding a half interest in the land and buildings to his nephew, Seth Austin, who owned and lived in the other half. Seth Austin was married in 1754, and it is quite likely that part of the house was built as early as that time. In 1809, her husband having died, Mrs. Seth Austin deeded the place to David King and Samuel Arnold and they deeded it in i8i4to ThomasArcher. It remained in the Archer family until 1900, when it was sold to Chas. L. Spencer; a part of the old house was destroyed and a part was moved to Bridge Street, east of the school house. Following is the full list of old houses and sites marked by the Historical Committee at the time of the celebration, arranged according to the streets or roads on which they are located, the names of the present owners being followed by the names of builders and the dates so far as available: 176 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW High Street D. N. Carrington — built by Capt. Abraham Burbank, 1736. Mrs. Osborne and Mrs. HoUey — built by Ebenezer Gay, 1742. Ralph Raisbeck — lived in by Jonathan Rising, Jr., 1749. Louis Grabouski — lived in by Jonathan Rising, Jr., 1750. K. C. Kulle — lived in by Josiah King, Jr., 1762. S. R. Spencer — built by Dr. Alexander King, 1764. W. S. Fuller — built by Lieut. Eliphalet King about 1765. Mrs. L. L Fuller— built by Moses Rowe, 1767. Mrs. G. A. Harmon — built by Squire Thaddeus Leavitt, 1773, Mrs. C. C. Bissell — lived in by Ebenezer Hatheway, 1779. C. C. Austin — built by Shadrach Trumbull, 1779. C. A. Prout— built by Elihu Kent, 1782-1810. Mrs. J. O. Armour— built by David Tod, 1773-95- Miss Atwater — built by James Hall, 1786. Masonic Club — "raised" by Luther Loomis, April 29, 1790. Mrs. E. B. Mather — built by Timothy Swan 1794. Mrs. E. A. Fuller— built by Dr. Howard Alden, 1794. D. R. Kennedy, Jr.— built by Ebenezer King, Jr., 1795. Mrs. James H. Prophet— built by Captain Timothy Phelps, 1795. T. C. Austin Sons — built by Nathaniel and Thomas Austin, 1797. Mrs. A. R. Pierce — built by Thaddeus Leavitt, Jr., 1800. A. F. Warner — lived in by Elihu Kent about 1800. George Nichols — built by Ebenezer Nichols, 1806. T. F. Cavanaugh — built by Harvey Bissell about 1815. J. H. Norton and S. C. Loomis— built by Daniel Norton, 18 14. W. E. Caldwell— built by Dr. Asaph Bissell, 1823. C. S. Fuller— built by Charles Shepard, 1824. A. F. Warner — built by Hezekiah Spencer, 1824. Suffield School— home lot of Gideon Granger, Sr. and Jr., 1786- 1817. Boston Neck Miss Flannigan — built by Jacob Hatheway about 1747. E. A. Hatheway — built by Charles Hatheway, 1760. William Morron — built by John McMorron, 1760, and moved here about 1 8 10 from Babylon Road. F. W. Brown — built by John Rising, 1765. H. S. Cowles Estate— built by Asa Tucker, 1765-74- Thomas Burke— built by William Beckwith, 1784. Philip Schwartz — built by John Dewey, about 1800. E. C. Seymour— built by Jabez Heath, 1805. Harvey Fuller — moved here by Mrs. Deborah Morron about 1 8 10. A. A. Brown — built by Salmon Ensign, 1812-15. G. W. Phelps— built by Henry Pease about 1825. Harvey Fuller— site of the old Oil Mill, 1785-1828. Philip Schwartz — site of the corn mill, 1687. House Built by Joseph Pease 1760; Taken Down 1902 (p. 167) Scih Austin Tavern (Aiclu-r Place), Taken Down 1899 (p. 175) Capt. Mcdad Ponieroy Place, Biiill About 1770 (p. 173) Luther Loomis Place, Raised April 29, 1790 (p. 170) Timothy Swan House, Built 1794 (p. 172) Gay Mansion, lUiilt by I'.bcncztT king, Jr., 1795 (p. 170J Two Corners in Parlor of Ga\' Mansion SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW Y'JJ Feather Street John Zak — lived in by William Austin, 1757. Charles Lucas — built by Robert Granger, about 1760. Thomas F. Devine — built by Samuel Halladay, 1765. Patrick Quinn — lived in by Horace King, 1774. Frank Brewster — built by Joshua Kendall, 1799. Stanley Kement — built by John King about 1805. Crooked Lane Fred Kent — lived in by Posthumous Sikes, 1739. Fred Clark Estate — built by Joseph Winchell before 1742. B. A. Thompson — built by Joseph King 3d, 1769. Kirk Jones — lived in by Zebulon Adams, 1773. Henry Fuller — built by Zeno Terry, 1783-7. Henry Phillips — built by Thaddeus Sikes, 1809. South Street Mrs. C. C. Bissell — built by Jonathan Fowler, 1723. Edward Welch — built by Ensign Samuel Spencer about 1770. Hugh Scott — built by Asa Rising, 1791. John Cain — site of middle iron works, 1720. Sheldon Street C. Michel — built by Capt. 'Jonathan Sheldon, 1723. O. R. Sheldon — built by Squire Phinehas Sheldon, 1743. Mrs, J. O. Armour — built by Martin Sheldon, 1789. J. J. Devine — built by Cephas Harmon about 1790. H. A. Sheldon — built by Erastus Sheldon, 1795. C. B. Sheldon — built by Benjamin Sheldon, 1806. North Grand Street S. L. Wood — built by Freegrace Norton about 1725. John H. Gregg — lived in by Moses Spear about 1750. F. S. Briggs — built by David Hanchett, 1765. Arthur Taylor — built by Capt. Isaac Pomeroy, 1769-73, South Grand Street George A, Sheldon — built by Sylvanus Griswold, 1763. P. D. Lillie — lived in by Gideon King, 1767. Michael Zukowski — built by Hezekiah Lewis, 1781. George Sheldon — site of west iron works, 1722. North Street J. O. Haskins — built by William King about 1750. E, H, Halladay — built by Jonathan Underwood, 1768-77. E, N, Stratton — built by Simon Kendall, Jr., 1809. lyS SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW Halladay Avenue A. H. Bridge — built by Samuel Lane by 1726. George A. Kent — lived in by Seth Kent, 1762. Howard Halladay — lived in by Jeremiah Granger, 1772. George F. King — built by Thaddeus King, 1774. West Suffield Road Guisepi Romano — built by Victory Sikes, 1728. M. H. Kent Estate — built by Asa Remington by 1800. Mrs. Anna Roche — built by Deacon Reuben Parsons, 1767. T. Harvey Smith — built by Capt. Medad Pomeroy about 1770. C. H. Nelson — built probably by Gideon King about 1797. A. G. Bissell— built by Capt. Oliver Hanchett, 1798. S. K. Legare — built by Benajah Kent, 1800. Mrs. C. F. Whittemore — built by Barlow Rose, 18 16. Hill Street N. R. Lewis — built by Daniel Remington about 1750. H. E. Hastings — built by Samuel Phelps, 1768-71. Timothy Miskell — built by Gurdon Grosvenor, 1818. G. A. Peckham — built by Warren Lewis, 1824. Taintor Hill B. M. Gillett — built by Ebenezer Smith about 1724, J. R. Granger Estate — built by Capt. John Granger, 1728. Prospect Street Alfred Spencer Co. — built by Daniel Spencer, 1726-47. John Matyskiela — built by Squire Samuel Hale, 1768. Rising Corners L. F. Hart — built by Aaron Rising about 1750. Foot of the Mountain Mrs Sophie Milski — sold by Silas Kent to Ebenezer Harmon 1766 William Kurias — built by Horatio King 1812 Over the Mountain Samuel A. Graham — built by Judah Phelps about 1790 American Sumatra Co. — built by Dan Phelps about 1780 Old Factory Road Joseph BeloskI — site of the fulling mill 1710 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 179 Turnpikes and Taverns As early certainly as the first settlement in the Connecticut valley two important thoroughfares met near Stony Brook, not far from the upper end of South Street. At first only paths or trails and passable only for men and horses, they were after- wards made feasible for carts and still later for stages. South Street was the road up from the Windsor settlement, and at Stony Brook one road led on through what is now Remington Street and the Hill road to Westfield, whence ran a road to North- hampton, and another over the hills to the Hudson and Albany. The other road, branching from the junction at Stony Brook, followed the present course of Main Street and Crooked Lane to Springfield and was the course taken to Boston. Both these roads were laid out as public highways by Hampshire County about six years before the settlement of Suflfield. For one hun- dred and fifty years these turnpikes passing through Suffield were main lines of travel, first by horseback and later by stage, and especially that between New York and Boston. The old taverns were a natural and essential development from this travel and other conditions, and were not merely the stop- ping places for travelers, but served as community centers and for receiving and despatching the mails. Tavern proprietors were men of prominence in both town and church with few exceptions. To run a tavern successfully for a series of years was]a certain means of promotion in social rank. A study of the old deeds shows that innkeepers progressed rapidly to the rank of gentlemen and were often among the first considered in the difficult task of seating in the Meeting House. At one period it is tradition that there were twelve thriving taverns in Suffield. The following is a typical form of early license by the Hampshire County Court: "George Norton is Lycenced to keep a publique house of Entertainment within ye town of Sufiield & to sell Lyquors to travelers, he keeping good order in his house and doing sd work faithefuUy & with- out offence." George Norton who came from Ipswich in 1674 was one of the early innkeepers. He was a freeman in 168 1, selectman and the l80 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW first representative from Suffield to the General Court at Boston, He died in 1693 but the Hampshire County records show that the license was issued regularly to his widow, Mercy Norton, who did not die until 1725. George Norton's original allotment was on the west side of High Street opposite the Boston Neck road, and may have been the site of his tavern. Thomas Huxley, who came to Suffield in 1678, was licensed to keep a public house in 1686, and it was situated for a long period where the house recently known as the Thaddeus Spencer place stands. He was one of the first freemen, and held many important town offices including that of selectman. Captain Aaron Hitchcock was an innkeeper and for half a cen- tury a prominent man in the town — town clerk for thirteen years and town treasurer for twenty years. Gad Lane's tavern was a prominent one of its day and is illustrated among the old houses. A notable one in the Revolutionary period was that of Seth Austin in what was later known as the Archer place (also il- lustrated). Eliphalet King kept a tavern in the house now owned by William S. Fuller, and the Pease tavern at one time was prominent. The house on Feather Street at the corner of the road formerly leading to Enfield bridge — later known as the Napoleon Adams place and the home of the late Willis Adams, the artist — was a tavern for a considerable period. With the coming of the railroads the long era of tavern and turnpike was doomed. From the old roads that had held Suffield in the channel of through travel the stage coaches and the lum- bering carts and wagons carrying merchandise up and down the valley disappeared, while the taverns, losing their outside pat- ronage, rapidly declined and in time either went out of business or changed their characters. A stage was run to and from Wind- sor Locks regularly, and for a considerable period Wilkes Tavern was a prominent landmark on the north corner of Day Avenue, but the building was many years ago removed to Depot Street where, as the Bee Hive, it had a varied career, until burned about ten years ago. The Suffield House which Samuel Knox bought, together with the Windsor Locks stage line, when he came to Suffield in 1866, and which for many years was con- ducted by his sons Waldo and Wallace, is the sole survivor in Suffield of tavern days. Dining Room in Gay Mansion A Bed Room in Gav Mansion lall in Ga\- Mansion The Pool, Built by Ebenezer King, Jr., About 1808 (p. 174) SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW l8l Crooked Lane Contrary to what many may suppose, the old Springfield Road gained its ancient name of Crooked Lane, not because of its own deviations from a straight course, but from the sharp bend in the cross road to Halladay Corner. October lo, 1680 the committee for settling the town of Suffield granted allot- ments for homesteads "beyond or at the upper end of High Street" to Victory Sikes, Thomas Cooper, Luke Hitchcock, John Barber, James, Jonathan and Samuel Taylor and William and Ebenezer Brooks. The tract lay between upper High Street on the west and the Springfield Road on the east, and just north of a grant already made to David Froe. There was to be a high- way on the south between them "ten or twelve rods wide." But in 1684 the town voted "seven rods wide out of it to be given to David Froe on the south." This left the road a mere lane or "driftway". Mr. Sheldon found no record that the town ever laid it out as a highway. This lane had an "elbow or crook about the middle or where the brook runs through" and the lots conforming therewith were correspondingly crooked. This fact was not mentioned in the first records leaving only straight lines to be inferred. To remedy this omission and "lest any of the present proprietors, or any of their heirs or successors in after generations should, out of a cross humor or for some sinister end, call or challenge a straight line which could not be denied, for both law and reason would enforce the same, where nothing in the record or otherwise is exprest to the contrary," the proprietors made, signed and had recorded an agreement April 19, 1697 that "all the lots should run with an elbow or crook as it now does" and "so to continue from one generation to another forever." These lots became known as the Crooked Lane lots, and Crooked Lane soon supplanted the "Springfield Road." Its ancient and honorable name held sway for about two hundred years, or until some twenty years ago when the question of a branch postoffice arose, and the name Crooked Lane did not conform to the regulations of the United States postoffice de- partment for postoffices. With some regrets and against the protests of many, the name was changed to Mapleton. The l82 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW postoffice was conducted only a few years at the home of Arthur Sikes, when rural free delivery routes were established. The Postoffice For over a century the taverns were the postofhces of the old towns and Suffield was no exception. This was a natural devel- opment of the practice originating at the ports of taking the incoming ship's mail to a specified tavern where it was spread out on a table to be called for. As the settlements extended into the Connecticut valley, the taverns became the stopping places of the early post riders and so continued long after the stage lines were established. At about the time of the settlement of Suffield, the Colonial Government of New York established a monthly mail to Boston and some thirty years later this was changed to a fortnightly service, the messengers meeting alter- nately at Hartford and Saybrook. The former route passed through Suffield. When in 1753 Benjamin Franklin became Deputy Post- master General of the colonies by the King's appointment he proceeded to systematize the routes, and it is said that he personally went over the main routes. The tradition that in that year he went over the route through Suffield is undoubtedly correct. He records the fact that on this journey Yale first and then Harvard gave him the degree of master of arts. Forty years afterward Congress passed its first act for the Federal ad- ministration of postoffices and the records show that the post- office at Suflfield began to make quarterly returns on October I, 1796. Hezekiah Huntington was the first postmaster of record. The succession of Suffield postmasters to the present time has been as follows: Hezekiah Huntington, 1796-8; William Gay, 1798-1835; Odiah L. Sheldon, 1835-41; Horace Sheldon 2d, 1841-2; George A. Loomis, 1842-50; Samuel B. Low, 1850-53; George Williston, 1853-61; David Hale, 1861-9; Richard Jobes, 1869-70; Edward E. Nichols, 1870-72; Miss M. Maria Nichols, 1872-4; Miss Ella S. Nichols, 1874-81; Frank H. Reid, 1881-5; Alonzo C. Allen, 1885-91; Richard Jobes, 1891-08; Edmund Halladay, 1908-13. Edward Perkins, the present postmaster, was appointed May 20, 1913. The rural free delivery route No. I was established December 15, 1900; No. 2, October 15, 1901. Village delivery was established April 16, 1918. CIVIL WAR DAYS AND SINCE At certain periods events or conditions of trade or industry have produced changes in the population of Suffield, but for about one hundred years after the settlement, nearly the whole growing population was embraced by the family names of the first settlers or proprietors. Families were large, cousins and second cousins multiplied, and the children so intermarried that by the time of the Revolution the blood of the proprietors mingled m most of the population. More than eighty per cent of the young men enlisted in the French and Indian wars bore the old family names. There were new names in the army rolls of the Revolu- tion, but they were in the minority and in the main were the names of families that had soon followed the first settlers to the town. For a period after the Revolution, it is probable that the industrial enterprises— the iron works, cotton and other mills —brought in new families, but in about the same period branches of the old Suffield families were established in other places. The speculative land fever took many to western New York, Ohio, Indiana and later to Michigan and other future States. In 1786 Connecticut ceded to the United States all her rights and title within her ancient charter limits, and in this first set- tlement received a tract of land of about 3,600,000 acres in the northeastern part of the Ohio territory known as 'the Connecti- cut Reserve. In May 1795 the Connecticut Legislature appointed a committee of eight persons to make sale of the lands, and to appropriate the proceeds to a permanent fund, the interest of which should be annually distributed among the several school societies of the State. Two of the committee, Samuel Hale and Gideon Granger Jr., were Suffield men. In December of the same year this committee disposed of the tract to Oliver Phelps, as agent for the Connecticut Land company, for the sum of $1,200,000, payable in five years with annual interest after two years. ' Oliver Phelps, who was born in 1749, had been engaged in business in Suffield and Granville, Mass., and had acquired a considerable fortune. He had already been engaged in extensive land speculations in the West, having been a partner in the pur- 184 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW chase from Massachusetts of about two miUion acres of land now comprised in Ontario and Steuben counties, N. Y. This had been a profitable speculation apparently and genealogical re- cords show that several Suffield people moved to this region. Besides the towns of Phelps and Granger, Ontario county has several towns duplicating Hartford county names The other Suffield men interested with Phelps in the purchase of the Western Reserve lands were Gideon Granger, Jr., Luther Loomis, Ebenezer King, David King, Asahel Hatheway, and Sylvanus Griswold. Their aggregate share in the purchase was $330,916 and of this it is said that Oliver Phelps had something more than one-half, and Ebenezer King and Luther Loomis together about one-quarter. It proved an unfortunate specula- tion for those who remained in it. Ohio established a territorial government in 1800 and Connecticut ceded her rights. None of the Suffield members of the company settled in the reserve ex- cept possibly David King. Oliver Phelps sold the Burbank place to Asahel Hatheway, and Ebenezer King his new mansion to William Gay and both moved to Canandaigua in Ontario county N. Y. A fewyears later, in the early part of the last century, came the change that ever since has much affected the population of the town — the development of the tobacco and cigar industry. As elsewhere stated the cigar industry came first and brought in several families of prominence. It was a strong body of men, many of them descendents of old families that led in the affairs of the town at the period of the Bi-centennial Celebration. Most of them had been born near the beginning of the century and had actively participated in the material advancement of the town during the years before the war and had been the leaders in town affairs in the trying period of war and reconstruction. Some of them have been mentioned elsewhere in connection with the institutions or enterprises of the town. Some of them, already advanced in years died soon after the celebration, while others younger became the men of influence in the seventies and eighties. The committee chosen by the town to inaugurate the celebra- tion was a representative list of the leading citizens of that gen- eration. It consisted of Daniel W. Norton, Simon B. Kendall, SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 185 Samuel Austin, Gad Sheldon, Elihu S. Taylor, Henry Fuller, Albert Austin, William L. Loomis, Milton Hatheway, Dr. Aretas Rising, Edward P. Stevens, George Fuller, Hezekiah Spencer, Artemas King, Henry P. Kent, Byron Loomis, Thaddeus H. Spencer, George A. Douglass, Silas W. Clark, Hezekiah S. Shel- don, Hiram K. Granger, Thomas J. Austin, Alfred Spencer, James B. Rose, Warren Lewis, Nathan Clark, L. Z. Sykes, Julius Harmon, Burdett Loomis, L Luther Spencer, Benjamin F. Hastings, Frank P. Loomis, Charles A. Chapman, William E. Harmon, Horace K. Ford, Ralph P. Mather, John M. Hatheway and Henry M. Sykes. About the middle of the century the change in agricultural conditions through the development of Connecticut seed leaf for cigar wrappers had brought in farm labor that later estab- lished prominent Catholic families in town. Among these men were Timothy Miskell, Patrick and John Haley, John Gilligan, John F. Barnett, Patrick O'Brien, John Welch, Patrick Carroll, John Sliney, Edward Cooney, Patrick Devine. Joseph Roche, Peter Shea, John Dineen and Robert Obram. From the forties, when Orrin Haskins and Silas W. Clark came from Washington, Mass., the town for a period of thirty years gained many substantial families through men of old New Eng- land stock whose ancestors had early established themselves on the post roads of the hill towns of Western Massachusetts — • towns that with the coming of the railroads began to lose their old advantages and importance. Following Silas Clark, came his brother Nathan, William and Ebenezer Ballantine, Edwin A. andAlmon Russell, Franklin and Benajah Brockett, Henry D. Tinker, Samuel and Hiram Knox, William and Abel Peckham, James and H. K. Spellman, Amos and James Chapell, William Soper and Clark Corey, all of whom purchased old Suffield farms. Leverett Sackett purchased the property north of the Town Hall, and his son Horace conducted a general store there for many years. The Graves brothers came from Middlefield, and for a long period conducted the meat business of the town. Albert Pierce came from Vermont and purchased the Thaddeus Leavitt, Jr., place from Albert Austin. Asa L. Strong came to SufBeld from Northampton in 1871 and established a drug store, located at first next to the postoffice SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW and where Martinez' store now is, but he moved to the Loomis block, now the Cooper block, in 1876. He conducted the local pharmacy for over forty years. Warren W. Cooper first came to Suffield in 1857 and drove the stage from Suffield to Windsor Locks. He went west for a period and returning to Sufiield established a coal business in 1874 and gradually extended it into a general business, later acquired by Clinton and Samuel R. Spencer and now conducted by Spencer Brothers, Inc. Early in the seventies a group of Irish Protestant families came to Suffield and later acquired some of the fine old farms of the town — the Barrs, Colters, Grahams, McCarls, Orrs, Adam- ses, Firtions, Barriesfords and others. The considerable extension of tobacco acreage in the nineties creating a larger demand for labor was coincident with a large immigration to this country from Central Europe and particu- larly from Poland. The Poles quickly became the chief reliance for farm help. Industrious and in the main thrifty, they soon began to acquire good tobacco farms and in a period of little more than twenty-five years they have become 25 per cent, of the population. Tobacco Though some tobacco was raised by the planters of the Massa- chusetts and Connecticut colonies, it was mainly in small patches and for their own use. From time to time both colonies passed restrictive laws and it was not an extensive crop in Suffield until the nineteenth century. Whenever in the earlier period the town by vote established the prices at which farm products should be received as town pay, tobacco was not in- cluded. The cigar industry began in Suffield before extensive tobacco growing. Soon after the peace of 1783 cigars began to be im- ported from the West Indies. Suffield was probably the first town in New England to make cigars — certainly to any great extent. In 1810 Simeon Veits, who lived in West Suffield, began to employ and to teach women to roll cigars for sale. He hired a Cuban, who seems to have drifted into town, to instruct them n the art. Some native but mostly cheaper kinds of Cuban SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 187 tobacco was used. Veits continued to employ women and to send out peddlers to sell "the real Spanish cigars" until 1821, when he failed and some years later, 1838, died penniless, though he had established an industry. Among the first peddlers he employed were the Loomis brothers — James, Parks, Allen, Neland, Aaron and Wells — who soon after his failure began manufacturing cigars and laid the foundation for ample fortunes. Between 1821 and 183 1 other Suffield men embarked in the enterprise; among them were Jabez Heath, Henry P. Kent, Moses, Samuel and Homer Austin, and Robert B. Dennison. Within this period the art of making cigars was so generally acquired and the demand for the product so great that the spinning wheel, the loom and the dairy gave place to the cigar table and the cuttingboard. From 1830 to 1850 a large number of the families of Suffield depended upon cigars or "supes" made by deft fingers of their own household for their store supplies. Most of the merchants were glad to ex- change their goods for cigars at from $1 to $1.50 a thousand. At that time the Connecticut tobacco from which they were generally made was not marketable for any other purpose. It was customary to strip off the bottom leaves for cigars as soon as tobacco began to cure on the poles, but the art of sweating, packing and pressing was unknown or unpracticed. When this change was made, shortly before the Civil War, it worked a revo- lution in the industry and made Connecticut Seed Leaf the finest tobacco then known for wrappers. It became too valuable to work up into the old "supes" and this branch of female industry was abandoned. The pioneers in this change were Henry P. Kent and Henry Endress. The latter came to SuflBeld in 1827 and went to work making cigars for Preserved Allen. In giving his recollections some years ago to Mr. H. S. Sheldon he said that Connecticut tobacco was not used to any extent to make good cigars till 1845. A man by the name of Phelps in Warehouse Point first began packing it in boxes, sometime in the thirties, but Cuban tobacco held its own some years longer. Notes left by Mr. Sheldon for the decades from 1850 to 1870 indicate that the value of the tobacco crop in 1850 put in cases was not more than $33,000, while the value of the cigars manu- SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW factured in town totaled ^165,000. The different manufacturers employed 152 men and 80 women. In the order of the volume of business the principal manufacturers at that time were Samuel Austin, Henry P. Kent, Samuel N. Reid, H. A. & R. Loomis, Charles Mather, Aaron Loomis, William H. Hanchett, Henry Endress, Neland Loomis, and John W. Loomis. The annual output of these factories was 11,340,000 cigars, while eleven other smaller manufacturers produced 3,142,000, the total being 14,482,000. They used about one pound of Connecticut Seed to five pounds of Spanish or Cuban tobacco. The value of the cigar product increased steadily for the next twenty years and the growth of Connecticut Seed in town ap- pears to have increased from about 109,000 pounds in 1850 to 720,000 pounds in 1870, while the value of the cigar product rose to nearly $300,000 a year. At that time most of the pioneers had gone out of business. J. W. Loomis was then the largest manu- facturer and among the new names were Joseph Wallace, Robert F. Brome, Philip Lipps, William R. Cherry, Benjamin Wood, Richard Jobes, Austin & Burbank, B. F. Hastings, C. L. Humason, and Andrew Martinez. Later William Drake es- tablished an extensive manufacturing business, afterwards con- ducted by L. P. Bissell, and at his death acquired by Karl C. Kulle. By 1870 the cigar industry in other places had had an exten- sive growth and a large market for Connecticut Seed developed in New York. There were about 300 growers in town, the acre- age of each being small. The farmers usually assorted their own crops into wrappers, seconds and fillers, and wrappers usually commanded about forty cents a pound. In the next decade, or along in the eighties, the practice of growing Havana Seed developed, and the cultivation of Connec- ticut Seed in Suffield practically ceased for a period. At about the same time methods of cultivation changed, mechanical planters took the place of the old hand planting, lath took the place of twine and the acreage increased, though the weight per acre decreased with the lighter leaf. As a result the large dealers began to establish packing houses in the town and the leaf, bought unsorted, was more thoroughly graded by length and color. These and other changes including a large increase in ,o g SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW acreage have taken place in the last forty years and more re- cently the development of large plantations controlled by syn- dicates or stock companies and raising large acreage under cloth. In all these changes the pre-eminence of Suflield leaf for cigar manufacture has been maintained. Suffield in the Wars At the outbreak of the Civil War, Suflield numbered 3260 in- habitants. About 350 were between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, subject to military duty, and the names of two hun- dred and eighty-six are on the honor roll. Three companies were recruited at.Suffield. The first in response to the call of the Presi- dent in April, 1861, was mustered into the service as Company C, Fourth Regiment, Connecticut Infantry, May 23, 1861. This regiment was changed June 2, 1862, to First Regiment Connec- ticut Heavy Artillery, and ranked as the best in the field. Forty- eight men, most of them residents of the town, were accredited to Suffield. Thirty-two served three years. Twelve of these re-en- listed as veterans, and served through the war, with the excep- tion of Eben P. Hall, who died of his wounds July 12, 1865. Their names were: Charles G. Ball, Eben P. Hall, Ezra W. Bar- num, Heman A. Cone, John Galvin, John P. Rheim, Joseph Walker, Justus Vogt, Oscar H. Graham, Peter M. Hall, William H. Proctor, William H. Ramsdell. Captain Rolland S. Burbank commanded the company from its organization, until his resigna- tion, Feb. 2, 1863. Willis A. Pomeroy was his First Lieutenant, but soon resigned. William Soby, his Second Lieutenant, also resigned and re-enlisted in the Seventh Connecticut (General Hawley's regiment). He was wounded at Pocotaligo, and died of his wounds, Nov. 9, 1862. The second company recruited in Suffield was Company D, Sixteenth Regiment Connecticut Infantry, in July and August, 1862, for three years' service. Sixty-four men of this company were accredited to Suffield. This company of raw recruits left the State August 29, 1862, and within twenty days were thrust into the front of the fight in the battle of Antietam, at Sharps- burg, Md. Four— Horace Warner, George W. Allen, Henry Barnett, Nelson E. Snow, — were killed in battle; three — Joseph 19° SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW Pockett, David B. Carrier, John B. Letcher — died of wounds; eight were wounded and discharged; three — FrankHn Allen, John L. Winchell, Joseph Hoskins — died in Andersonville prison; two — Orlando E. Snow, George J. Pierce — died at Flor- ence, S. C; George W. Carter was drowned and Daniel Bont died of disease. The third conpany was Company G, Twenty-second Regiment Connecticut Infantry recruited, in September, 1862. This was the first regiment in Connecticut, recruited for nine months service. The company numbered ninety-five men. Seventy-two were accredited to Suffield, and the remainder to the town of Union. The company was mustered out July 7, 1863, at Hart- ford, after more than ten months' service from the date of its enlistment. The town furnished thirty-seven men to the Twenty-ninth Regiment (colored). They were recruited chiefly in December, 1863. They were mustered into the United States service March 8, 1864, and discharged at Hartford, Nov. 25, 1865, with a most honorable record. On the morning of April 3, 1865, when Rich- mond was abandoned by Lee's forces, a strife to be the first to enter the city took place. That honor was conceded to have be- longed to Companies C and G of the Twenty-ninth Connecticut Regiment. Twelve Suffield recruits were in Company C and shared in that honor. The remainder of Suffield's quota were enrolled in other regiments. Twenty-two names are found in the roll of the Seventh Connecticut Regiment. Of these, Luther L. Archer was wounded at Fort Wagner, and William M. Reeves and Oscar L. Smith were killed July 11, 1863. The Soldiers Monument The first effort to erect a monument to the soldiers of the Civil War was in the annual town meeting October 2, 1865 and a com- mittee was appointed to secure estimates. It reported in Novem- ber that it would cost $2000 and an appropriation was made but the effort failed, and in February 1866 the appropriation was rescinded and the committee discharged. During the years following there was always a strong senti- ment for a monument, but it did not take shape until November 2, 1887, when, at a special town meeting, $3000 was unanimously SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW IQI voted for a monument to the soldiers of the Civil War. Com- mittees were appointed and the granite monument was erected on the Common nearly opposite the Town Hall and dedicated October 17, 1888 with impressive ceremonies, participated in by veterans of the regiments in which the Suffield men served. The Twenty-Second Regiment and Veteran Posts held their reunion at the Town Hall at ii o'clock, and at noon were escorted by the Sons of Veterans to the monument. Dr. Matthew T. Newton, as president of the day, delivered an address of welcome and the report of the Monument Committee, consisting of Hezekiah S. Sheldon, William H. Fuller and John M. Hatheway, was read; The oration was delivered by Hon. Valentine B. Chamberlain of New Britain. The vice presidents of the day were Hezekiah S. Sheldon, Wil- liam H. Fuller, I. Luther Spencer, Silas W. Clark, Martin J. Shel- don, Dr. J. K. Mason, Edmund Halladay, C. M. Owen, William L. Loomis, J. H. Haskins, F. B. Hatheway, R. P. Mather, Alfred Spencer, Charles C. Sheldon, H. K. Wright, W. W. Pease, Horace K. Ford, Charles C. Warner, Edwin A. Russell and Sam- uel White. The reception committee consisted of M. H. Smith, Alfred Spencer, Jr., L. P. Bissell, James O. Haskins, Calvin C. Spencer, F. E. Hastings, C. D. Towne, T. H. Spencer, W. F. Fuller, Richard Jobes, J. R. Middlebrook, Charles L. Spencer, E. D. Bemis, Nelson Cole, Warren W. Cooper, A. L. Strong, F. H. Reid, John L. Wilson, D. A. Reeves and Henry Blackmer. The veterans of the Grand Army residing in Suffield organized a Suffield Veteran's Association which has annually taken charge of the decoration of soldiers' graves on Decoration Day. Only five of the members are now living — Francis E. Hastings, Luther Curtis, A. R. Austin, F. O. Newton and H. W. Gridley. Red Cross Chapter Suffield's large contribution to the ranks of national enlist- ment and draft in the World War appears from the honor roll, but virtually the whole adult population was enlisted in the con- tingent services for the support of the Government, the comfort of the soldiers and the relief of the distressed in Europe. In different drives large sums were raised for the Red Cross, War Library, Salvation Army and the United War Work. The ag- 192 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW gregate of $1,139,250 was subscribed for the four great bond issues and the town purchased about $56,000 worth of War Savings Stamps. Shortly after the armstice the town gave a Wel- come Home with a dinner at the Suffield School gymnasium for the soldiers and sailors and their families and a free conveyance for a theatre party at Springfield. In connection with Suffield's energetic war work, the Ameri- can Red Cross workers organized a local chapter in 1917 with Mrs. Samuel R. Spencer, chairman; Mrs, George A. Harmon, vice chairman; Miss A. F. Owen, secretary and George A. Har- mon, treasurer. Judge William M. Cooper gave the chapter quarters rent free during the war. This organization of SufBeld women completed and delivered to the Hartford chapter 5,400 articles between February 21, 1917, and May, 1919. Through- out this period knitting was constantly done, and over one thousand pounds of yarn was used up. This does not include the comfort bags made and sent regularly to Hartford, nor the out- fitting of Suffield men in the service. There was also sent for the Belgian refugees 2,500 pounds of clothing in 1918 and five cases of garments in 1919. The Committee of Civilian Relief of the Red Cross consisted of George A. Peckham, Karl C. KuUe, W. S. Fuller, A. C. Scott, Mrs. D. W. Goodale, W. H. Orr and Mrs. J. N. Root. The Chapter maintains its activity in necessary Red Cross work and in the relief of any cases of distress in the town. Banks A meeting of the subscribers to stock for a national bank to be located in Suffield was held in Union Hall June 28, 1864 and the following eleven directors were chosen: Daniel W. Norton, Henry Fuller, Martin J. Sheldon, Henry Endress, Byron Loomis, Henry P. Kent, I. Luther Spencer, Aretas Rising, Wm. L. Loomis, Burdett Loomis, Wm. H. Fuller. They met the next day in the same place and elected Daniel W. Norton president, and at another meeting in September voted that the business of the bank should commence Monday, October 3 in the building and store now owned by George Mar- tinez. October 26, 1868 the directors voted to .purchase land from David Hale and "erect a banking house of brick thereon," but March 8 of the next year the directors voted to "purchase FIRST XATIOXAL BANK AND SUFFIELD SA\IXGS BANK SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 193 of Thomas Archer, George Archer and Horace Archer the corner lot now occupied by Harrocks, McKensie & Co., "and there the present banking house was soon after built. Daniel W. Norton resigned as president November 6, 1871, Byron Loomis was elected in his place and a vote of thanks was tendered to Mr. Norton "for his faithfulness in the discharge of his duties as president of the bank." February 20, 1877 Mr Loomis resigned and I. Luther Spencer was elected president and so remained for over twenty years, or till his death December 31, 1897. His son Charles L. Spencer was chosen to succeed him January 11, 1898 and held the office till August 1913, when he resigned to accept the presidency of the Connecticut River Banking Com- pany of Hartford, and Charles S. Fuller, the present president, was elected. The first cashier, Charles A. Chapman, was elected September I, 1864 and resigned May 28, 1877. Henry Young succeeded him and resigned in 1878. Alfred Spencer, Jr. was elected to fill his place and resigned June i, 1891 to become cashier of the Aetna National Bank of Hartford. Charles S. Fuller was elected cashier June I, 1891, and held the position until elected president in 1913, his place being filled by Samuel N. Reid, the present cashier. The present capital stock is $100,000; surplus, undivided profits and reserves $180,000. The charter of the Suffield Savings Bank was granted by the Legislature in May 1869, and was accepted by the corporators at a meeting July i following. It opened for business in the First National Bank building but was later located in offices at the south end of the Cooper block, remaining there until six years ago when its own handsome building was constructed. The growth of the institution has been practically coincident with the life of Suffield in the past half century and its relation to the financial affairs of the community is indicated by the deposits on February i for ten year periods as follows: 1879 $94,257.26 1889 115,449-05 1899 198,459-64 1909 466,975-83 1919 860,894.88 The deposits February i, 1921 were $1,107,560.74. The presi- dents of the bank with the terms of their service have been: 194 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW Martin J. Sheldon, July 6, 1869 to November 6, 1869; Daniel W. Norton, November 6, 1869 to July 15, 1871 ; Byron Loomis, July 15, 1871 to May 7, 1877; William H. Fuller, May 7, 1877 to Jan- uary 6, 1890; William L. Loomis, January 6, 1890 to July 11, 1894; Matthew T. Newton, July 11, 1894 to January 8, 1906; Chas. C. Bissell, January 8, 1906 to February 3, 1914. The pres- ent president, Samuel R. Spencer, has served since February 9, 1914. The treasurers with their terms of service have been: Charles A. Chapman, July 6, 1869 to May 7, 1877; William L. Loomis, May 7, 1877 to July 28, 1877; Benjamin F. Hastings, July 28, 1877 to August 6, 1877; Samuel White, August 6, 1877 to July 29, 1896; Martin H. Smith, July 29, 1896 to January 8, 1906. William J. Wilson has been treasurer since January 8, 1906. Emma L. Newton served as assistant treasurer from January 12, 1903 to January 8, 1906. Publishers In the decade before and after 1800 there was for those times an extensive printing and publishing business in Suffield. Several books and pamphlets now greatly prized by collectors of old imprints were published here. One of the most extensive estab- lishments was that of Edward Gray, several of whose imprints were picked up at various places by the late H. S. Sheldon, and are in his collection at the Library. The precise location of these printing plants is not definitely known, except that Gray's was in the Hezekiah Huntington law office building, still standing. (See page 119.) At one time there was a newspaper called The Impartial Herald. Suffield has had no other newspapers of its own, though it has shared in the Windsor Locks Journal, which was estab- lished in 1880 by Sherman T. Addis who came to Suffield from New Milford, built a house here on Bridge Street and conducted the newspaper till his health failed. He died in 1896. In 1895 the business was bought by John T. Morse of Thompsonville and is now published by a corporation of which Charles R. La- tham of Suffield is secretary. Physicians The list of physicians who through their professional or public SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 195 service have been identified with the afi"airs of the town either in Sufiield Center or West Suffield, if not complete or in exact chronological order, is substantially as follows as appears from the notes of H. S. Sheldon : John Drew, about 1 73 5 ; Nathaniel Aus- tin, 1736-47; Amos Granger, West Suffield, 1774-1811; Howard Alden, died in 1841 at the age of eighty-one; Oliver Pease, died in 1843 at the age of eighty-four; Enoch Leavitt, died in 1827; John Hanchett, practiced in West Suffield from 1805 to 1825 and Edwin G. Ulford, also West Suffield, 1829-33; Sumner Ives, died in 1844 at the age of forty-five; Asaph L. Bissell, born in 1791 and died in 1850; Aretas Rising, born in 1801 and died in 1884; O. W. Kellogg, began practice in West Suffield in 1842, moved to Suffield center in 1859 and died in 1891 at the age of seventy-three; William H. Mather, died in 1888 at the age of fifty-four; Jarvis K. Mason, died in 1905 at the age of seventy- three; Matthew T. Newton, died in 1909 at the age of eighty; Philo W. Street, died in 1909 at the age of forty-five, and A. P. Sherwin, died in 1910 at the age of fifty-one. Following them William M. Stockwell and A. P. Noyes practiced a few years but removed to other places. The present physicians are W. E. Caldwell, J. A. Gibbs, H. M. Brown and William Levy. Emergency Aid The Emergency Aid Association of Suffield, was formed at the suggestion of the late Dr. Philo W. Street to provide "sick room appliances and assistance, for those who because of helplessness or poverty may be in need of them". The first meeting was held November 13, 1903, with representative women from every ladies' organization in the township in attendance. November 19 a constitution was adopted and officers chosen as follows: Mrs. David W. Goodale, president; Miss Alena F. Owen, treas- urer; Miss Frances O. Mather, secretary. There was one vice president from each women's organization, these being respon- sible for the raising of $10. each for the purchasing of necessary appliances up to $100. In April 1904, the association became an incorporated body duly approved by the Secretary of State and thus able to receive and hold property by will or gift. The incorporators were Mary 196 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW L. Goodale, Sarah L. Fuller, Frances O. Mather, Alena F. Owen, Mary D. Nelson and Ella C. Henshaw. The association has always kept on hand rubber goods for the sick; sheets, pillow slips, layettes, bed garments, wheel chairs, and crutches for destitute sick people. It supplied nurses on call, until in 1915 when the Community Nurse was installed, Sufheld being the third town in the state to do this. One legacy has been received by will, that of Miss Kate Harrocks of $50 and one large gift of $1,000 from Mr. and Mrs. Dwight S. Fuller. Miss Ellen E. Qualey, the first nurse, served for four years with an efficiency much appreciated by the townspeople. In order that every family might have an interest, house to house collections were made, and later a Community Carnival was held with such good results that in 1916 a Ford Runabout was purchased for the use of the nurse. In 1917 the town took over the salary of the nurse as part of the town budget. In that year the organization assumed as part of its work the sale of Red Cross Tuberculosis seals, two-thirds of the amount raised by these sales going toward local work of the association and the remaining third to the State. Village of Suffield A marked transformation from old to more modern conditions began to take place about thirty years ago, various causes con- tributing to the results that followed. An early development was the enterprise of Apollos Fuller of Mapleton in driving an arte- sian well, near the highway nearly opposite the place of his father, the late Cecil H. Fuller. An abundant supply of pure water was tapped and the enterprise was turned to the provision of a village water supply. April 19, 1893, forty-four legal voters of the Center School District First Society petitioned the selectmen of Suffield for a special meeting of the voters, to be held on the first day of May, 1893, at 8 o'clock. The meeting was duly held at which the fol- lowing resolution was adopted, "Resolved: — By the legal voters residing within the boundary lines of the Center School District, First Society of Suffield, that a district comprising the above SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW I97 described territory be and the same is hereby estabhshed, for the purpose expressed in the petition for this meeting, and as pro- vided in an act relating to organization of districts for extinguish- ing fires and other purposes." It was voted that the district be called the Village of Suffield. The purpose as given in the call was as follows: "To extinguish fires, to sprinkle streets, to light streets, to plant and care for shade and ornamental trees, to construct and maintain side- walks, cross walks, drains and sewers and to appoint and employ watchmen or police officers." The First School district was in- corporated as the Village of Suffield, and in the next Legislature Dwight S. Fuller, then one of the town representatives, secured a charter for the Village Water Company. Pipes were laid down to the Center and thereafter extended. The plant consisted of power pumps to force the water to the standpipe on the high ground north of the junction of Main Street and the Mapleton road. Such a power plant quickly suggested the possibility of the generation of electricity and the installation of electric lights which at that period were being introduced extensively in larger places. At about the same time the change from horse cars to the trolly system was taking place, the first enterprise for suburban electric lines set in and an outside promoter organized a company for a Suffield trolly line. The undertaking failed after partial construction but was soon taken up through an arrangement with the Springfield Street Railway Company, and the line com- pleted to Kent Corner. The cars began running in 1902. A few years later the connection between Windsor and Suffield was made by the Hartford and Springfield Company, and the west side route completed. At about the same period occurred the telephone extension. The telegraph had come to Suffield along with the Suffield branch in 1870, and the discontinuance of the stage to Windsor Locks, but since the installation of telephones, the telegraph service has largely been restricted to the railroad. All these changes, occurring practically within a decade, had a pronounced effect on the life of the community which not only enjoyed the advan- tages of water and lights, but was brought into quicker com- munication with Hartford and Springfield. SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW Fire Department The first fire equipment of the town was installed in 1876 after a series of fires. The apparatus consisted of two hand drawn and hand operated pumps, drawing water from wells and cisterns and delivering a stream about the size of a garden hose. In 1896 after the First Center School district was incorporated as the Village of Suffield and the water system was put in, the volun- teer department was organized. Two hose companies were formed, equipped with hand drawn reel and regulation fire hose. A Hook and Ladder company was formed in 1900, equipped with a hand drawn ladder truck. In 1917 the present Knox Six Cyl- inder Combination Chemical and Hose Car was bought. The department now consists of a hose company and a ladder com- pany. Only the chemical car answers first alarms, but one hose reel and the ladder truck are kept in readiness when additional help is needed. Alarms are received by telephone and sent out on a large electric siren. The list of fire chiefs with the date of their appointment is as follows: Wallace C. Knox, 1897; John L. Wilson, 1899; Fred J. Lunny, 1905; Jerry Dineen, 1910; Louis G. Allen, 191 2. The department has thirty members. Masonic Lodge and other Organizations With ceremonies attended by officers of the grand lodge of Connecticut, and with a public reception on the evening of July 27, 1920, or a few weeks previous to the quarter millennial of the town, Apollo Lodge No. 59, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of its estab- lishment in Suffield. In the spring of 1820 a number of Masonic brethren in the town petitioned the grand lodge at Hartford for a charter for a local lodge. The petition was granted, the lodge installed July 27th and meetings were held at the house of Ezekiel Osborn on Ratley road. West Suffield. The first offi- cers were: Andrew Dennison, W. M.; Barlow Rose, S. W.; Sim- eon Lewis, J. W.; John W. Hanchett, secretary; Thaddeus Lyman, treasurer; Julius C. Sheldon, S. D.; Curtis Rose, J. D.; James Austin, and Austin Smith, tylers. The organizers and first officers were mainly prominent West Suffield men, but in 1823 it was decided to remove the lodge to SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW I99 Suffield Center and a room was secured temporarily in the Archer House (see page 175) where the first meeting was held September 11, 1823. Permanent quarters were secured in 1828 of Horace Warner on Main Street, now at the corner of Day Avenue. Meetings were held there until 1832 when what was known as the "Anti-Masonic Times" set in and for several years the lodge languished. There is a tradition that for about ten years the charter was hidden in a building on the Horace Warner premises. At a meeting in 1842 of which Julius Harmon was moderator and Luther Loomis secretary, it was voted that it was "inexpedient to relinquish the charter" and that every means should be used to sustain the lodge. But it was not until 1 85 1 that it was reorganized and rooms were secured over the Loomis Store, now the Cooper Block. At about the same time the grand lodge restored its original rights which appear to have been temporarily suspended. The lodge continued in the Loomis block until 1862, when it leased rooms in the building then owned by H. N. Prout and now by George Martinez. It con- tinued there until 1870 when quarters were secured in the newly constructed building of the First National Bank. Here the lodge remained for over forty years, growing in popu- larity and strength. About fifteen years ago the members started a movement for a building of their own. The late Louise E. Hatheway, whose father had been the second Worshipful Master of the lodge offered to present it with a building lot on her property, and to further building plans a special charter under the name of the Suffield Masonic Association was secured. But the plans could not be sufficiently developed at the time and were given up. In 1912, after the death of Miss Sophia Bissell the Luther Loomis house (See page 170) was bought by Mr. Charles L. Spencer and in 1913 he presented the lodge with a deed of the place which was later transferred to the Suffield Masonic Association. The house was remodeled and refinished at a cost of about $12,000 with quarters for the Masonic Club on the first floor and thus one of the beautiful landmarks of old Suffield is being preserved. As elsewhere noted, the Masonic Association kindly tendered the club quarters for a Hostess House during the celebration. The list of officers of the lodge in 200 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW the course of its one hundred years of existence includes the names of many leading Suffield men in their times. Daughters of the American Revolution Sibbil Dwight Kent Chapter D. A. R. was organized at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward A. Fuller June lo, 1896, under the direction of Mrs. Sara T. Kinney, State Regent, with thirty charter members from Suffield and Windsor Locks; including two Real Daughters, Mrs. Anna Hale Burnap Pierce and Mrs. Mary Burns Woodworth. Miss Helen L. Archer was the first regent, with Mrs. Emily Wadsworth Schwartz as vice-regent; Miss Emily L. Norton, secretary and treasurer; Miss Emma L. Newton, registrar; Miss Helen M. King, historian. The work of the chapter has been in locating and marking the graves of Revolutionary soldiers throughout the town; restoring the old cemetery in the center of the town; the setting of trees along the highway near this burial place and the raising of a fund to insure its perpetual care; also some minor memorial work. In 1903 a large boulder with bronze tablet suitably in- scribed was placed in the Park to mark the site of the first Meet- ing House. The Chapter has passed through two wars, the Spanish-Am- erican, and the World War; in both, raising money, and making garments of all kinds to help the soldiers. The study of the history of our country, and patriotism, have been encouraged by the giving of prizes for essays on these subjects in the public schools of Windsor Locks and Suffield. From the organization of the chapter many scholarships have been given for the educa- tion of worthy youths in schools in the South and West, in the Connecticut Literary Institution and among the foreign young people in the American International College. For some twenty years it gave the Annual Memorial Day Dinner to Civil War veterans, but it was given up as one by one the old soldiers passed away. The Chapter has grown to a present member- ship of eighty-four. Woman's Reading Club In the autumn of 1894 and as an outgrowth of the Chautauqua Circle, which had existed for a period previously, the Woman's SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 20I Reading Club was formed. Thirty-one members were enrolled and the officers for the first year were: Mrs. C. C. Spencer, president; Mrs. M. M. McCord, vice-president; Miss H. L. Archer, secretary and treasurer and Miss Alena F. Owen and Mrs. A. W. Lawrence advisory committee. The object of the club, as its constitution states, is "the promotion of literary pursuits and the increase of the social element among the women of our town." The club's activities have been continued along the lines first prescribed and have been maintained with constant interest and educational influence for over a quarter of a century. Besides the regular meetings of the members, lectures and musi- cals open to the public have been given from time to time. Ladies^ Wide Awake Club The Ladies' Wide Awake Club has become an active and use- ful institution in the life of West Suffield. Its first meeting was held October 26, 1908 at the house of Mrs. George L. Warner and there were forty charter members. It was started for the purpose of raising money to install electric street lights in West Suffield and it still pays over $100 a year to that end. It has de- voted itself to many benefits and improvements for the com- munity and has remodeled the old school rooms in the building bought by the Village Improvement Society. One room is used as a club room and the other as a kitchen, and suppers or en- tertainments are given every month for the benefit of the com- munity. During the war the club contributed much to Red Cross and war relief work. It now has forty-five members. Mapleton Hall A strong community spirit has characterized the people re- siding in that part of the town long known as Crooked Lane and later as Mapleton. Early in the seventies they began to hold Lyceum and Farmers' meetings in the old brick school house at the foot of the hill. It became too small for the interesting meetings and in the winter of 1879-80 a public hall was sug- gested. This sentiment quickly grew and at a meeting early in 1880 a committee consisting of Cecil H. Fuller, Arthur Sikes and Edward Austin was appointed to draw up articles of organiza- tion and agreement. They were presented at a meeting at the 202 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW school house April i6, 1880, and an association organized. The articles of agreement were accepted and the following officers elected: president, Edward Austin; secretary, John L. Wilson; auditor, Dwight S. Fuller; trustees, Cecil H. Fuller, Henry D. Tinker and D. D. Bement. In the next two years enough money was raised so that the construction of Mapleton Hall was begun in the spring of 1882. It was ready for use in January of the next year and was dedicated January 16 with exercises that in- cluded an "old home week." At first it was called Central Hall, but the name was later changed to Mapleton Hall. In 1896 a large addition was built to meet the requirements. All debts are paid and the association has money in the treasury. The Grange The old Lyceum and Farmers' meetings were continued in the new hall till 1885, when the Grange was organized to take their places. The organization occurred February 19, 1885 with Henry D. Tinker, master, Arthur Sikes, secretary and George A. Austin, lecturer. From that time till the present the organ- ization has held meetings twice a month. When organized there were twenty-eight charter members; the membership is now two hundred. The May Breakfast To provide means for maintaining the hall, in the spring of 1887 the association appointed a committee consisting of Allen Wilson, C. D. Vandelinda, G. A. Austin, Ella M. Clark and Fannie M. Sikes. Allen Wilson suggested the idea of a May Breakfast on May i of that year. Thus the first breakfast was held in the hall in 1887 and about $100 was cleared. Since then different committees have been chosen by the Mapleton Hall Association to have charge of this annual affair, which has been successfully continued to the present with the single exception of 1918 when it was omitted because of urgent war work. The breakfasts have now a wide reputation and are largely attended by people from neighboring cities and towns. More than $6000 has been netted by these breakfasts for the maintenance of the hall and for the addition made in 1896. SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW 203 Mapleton Literary Club Another thriving association of Mapleton is the Mapleton Literary Club which was formed October 20, 1905 by nine women of that street and the present membership is thirty- seven. Its first seven years were devoted to study of American history, American literature and travel in the United States and England. In later courses it has taken up domestic science, physical culture, art, music, nature, inventions, engineering, religion, child labor and government. In each season there is one open meeting with a speaker. In January of each year the ladies entertain their husbands with a banquet and they are popular gatherings. The club also has an annual outing. The Town Such in the main and in brief are the religious, educational, industrial and social institutions of Suffield, their roots running back into a past in which its people have labored for their com- mon welfare. Embracing and uniting them all is a community spirit, or town feeling and purpose, manifested at all times and in various ways, and in no way, probably, so true to the ideals of its founders as in the Town Meeting. As elsewhere stated, the people who migrated to Connecticut nearly three hundred years ago brought with them the political purpose, denied at Massachusetts Bay, of managing their local affairs through their own elected selectmen, and by annual or special Town Meetings authorizing and ordering their common interests by the will of the majority. In their urban growth some of these towns have lost this fundamental institution of democracy, but Suffield is one of those in which it has survived all changes, losing none of its fitness and eflicacy under different conditions and in the management of larger affairs. In char- acter and effect, the Town Meeting of the present is essentially the same as when, in 1682, Major John Pynchon presided over the first assembly of Suffield citizens. In this meeting, now even more than at first because of the extension of the voting franchise, political equality finds its purest example and the will of the people its most complete ex- pression. No other institution established in township begin- 204 SUFFIELD OLD AND NEW nings, has held so true to an original purpose, no other has had a greater influence in safeguarding the orderly sovereignty of the people, and no other furnishes better security for the enduring life of American institutions. ^A Tribute As Suffield advances into the future, old family names, handed down from Puritan ancestry, will persist; not exclusively as in the early generations, perhaps not predominating as in later genera- tions, but mingled with the names of newer Americans, inheriting, not the blood, but the institutions of the old New England stock. If in Suffield, as elsewhere, the times are marking a turn in the long course of the New England township, no civic duty is more important than that old and new strains alike keep and revere the inheritance of the past in the progress of the future. Were these pages to be dedicated to the living, they should be dedicated to all those who love and loyally serve the old Town of Suffield, whatever their names and wherever they may be. Were they to be dedicated to the dead, they should be dedicated to all those who in all the years have lived in Suffield, contributing to the strength and permanence of its traditions and institutions, and leaving to it the rewards of their lives and labors. Were they to be dedicated to those who in the last half century have contributed in special and substantial ways to the eyiduring strength of these traditions and institutions, they should be dedi- cated to Sidney A. Kent, Martin J. Sheldon, and James P. Spencer, sons of Suffield, generous benefactors of its larger educa- tional life in school and library; and to Hezekiah S. Sheldon and William L. Loomis, sons of Suffield, who, in a labor of love, gave an abiding life to the records of the past. Were they to be dedicated to the one who in these recent years has been chief among his fellow citizens, a son of Suffield, its gen- erous benefactor, wise counselor and active leader in every good service during a long lifetime, they should be dedicated to the Pres- ident of the General Executive Committee of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration, Edward A. Fuller, who died at his home in Main Street, February /j, ig2i, at the age of seventy- eight. With this tribute to all who have inspired a larger future for Suffield, true to its noble inheritance from the past, these pages close. m LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 0014 1120888 #