C\SJy ^"\^A\\aA/vu6 ^^Wo^VnWojx;^ 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 w^ 
 
 .^i W^i 
 
ORIGINS 
 
 WILLIAMSTOWN 
 
 BY 
 
 ARTHUR LATHAM jPERRY, LL.D. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY IN WILLLA.MS COLLEGE, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE BERKSHIRE HISToKK AL 
 
 AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY 
 
 NEW YORK 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 1894 
 
F 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1894, BY 
 ARTHUR LATHAM PERRY. 
 
THE PERPETUAL MEMORY 
 
 OF 
 
 Colonel 13enjamin Simonlis antJ Captain i^efjcmia!) SmetJleg 
 
 Unii! .11 THEM PROMIXKXT AMONG THE EARLIEST SOLDIERS ANr> 
 
 SETTLERS IN WEST HOOSAC 
 
 1 lil OF THEM PATRIOT OFFICERS IN THE WA1{ OF THE 
 
 KK VOLUTION 
 
 AND (WHAT 16 MLCII LESS WORTH THE MENTION) 
 
 BOTH OF THEM GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHERS OF MY CHILDREN 
 
 .'^721 15 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The first time I ever heard of Williamstown and Williams College 
 was in the early autumn of 1843, a month or so after the Semi-cen- 
 tennial of the College, which fell on the 16th of August of that year. 
 Rev. Phineas Cooke, an alumnus of the College of 1803, and forty 
 years later a pastor of the church in Lebanon, New Hampshire, had 
 attended this celebration with one of his sons; and a short time 
 afterwards exchanged pulpits with the pastor in ray native village of 
 Lyme, New Hampshire. My mother was the widow of the previous 
 pastor there, and as such, was well known to Mr. Cooke, who came 
 into our house after the afternoon service, as was customary with 
 him, and related to my mother at length his recent experiences at 
 his alma mater in Massachusetts. I was then a boy of thirteen years, 
 and listened intently but not over-intelligently to this talk. Phineas 
 Cooke was an immensely tall man, six feet and six inches in height ; 
 he was also an immensely solemn man in his manner of speaking, 
 employing a sort of cluck of the tongue at the close of each sentence 
 deemed important ; and on account of both these peculiarities, he 
 was popularly known in that region as the high priest of New Hamp- 
 shire. He was a native of old Hadley on the Connecticut, and natu- 
 rally enough passed over the Hoosac Mountain to Williamstown for 
 his college education. But in the forty years from his graduation 
 he had never revisited the place. Great changes had taken place 
 here in that time, as a matter of course. His son, who came with 
 him hither in 1843 from Lebanon, had, in the mean time, grown up 
 and bfien graduated at Dartmouth. The two were entertained at the 
 Semi-|entennial by an elderly lady, Mrs. Amasa Shattuck, who, as a 
 girl, had waited at table on Cooke in her father's, William Smith's, 
 house in Water Street ; and now both father and son were waited on 
 at table by Mary Shattuck, a granddaughter of the hostess, Mrs. 
 Smith, of more than forty years before. All this, and much more 
 than this, of a similar kind, was oracularly given out in the way 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 of reminiscence to my mother on that sunny Sunday afternoon. It 
 soon passed out of a small boy's head, although not irrecoverably. 
 
 Nearly five years later, when my own preparation for college was 
 about completed, my own pastor in Lyme, llev. Erdix Tenny, who 
 was my father's successor there, chanced to ask me where I was 
 expecting to go to college. I answered, " Dartmouth," — which 
 was but nine miles distant from my home, and, as I supposed, the 
 only institution accessible to me in my poverty. He himself was 
 an alumnus of Middlebury, and had, on several grounds, a strong 
 prejudice against Dartmouth, and kindly suggested to me whether 
 Williamstown might not be a good place for me to go to. He men- 
 tioned Mark Hopkins as the popular and efficient president there, — 
 a name that somehow settled down into my memory. After I had 
 gone back to Thetford Academy, which was just across the Connec- 
 ticut Kiver from my native village, and in plain sight on its hilltop, 
 I thought over at my leisure what the minister had said, and remem- 
 ber now that the name " Hopkins " seemed to have then a sort of 
 solid sound. I wrote to him for a catalogue of the college ; which 
 he forwarded at once, and with it a copy of a pretty thick pamphlet 
 entitled " Sketches of Williams College," just then written and pub- 
 lished by David A. Wells of the class of 1847. The catalogue 
 impressed me less than the pamphlet, for there was some striking 
 history in the latter, and some romance ; some little account of the 
 old French and Indian wars along the upper Hoosac, and of Fort 
 Massachusetts and its capture by the French in 1746 ; and a little 
 sketch, too, of Colonel Ephraim Williams, who wrote his last will and 
 testament, as it were, in his life blood. I concluded to try Williams 
 College. 
 
 A fellow-passenger with me in the stage from Greenfield, over the 
 Hoosac Mountain to North Adams, when I made my initial journey 
 to Williamstown as a prosjDective freshman in September, 1848, was 
 Waldo W. Ludden, then a member of the sophomore class. He 
 was courteous and intelligent and won my confidence, and never 
 afterwards lost it, although I was even then aware that a sophomore 
 is a sort of natural enemy of a freshman. The story was told in 
 the stage, that there " used to be " a notice-board to passengers at 
 the foot of the mountain. Walk up if you please, and another upon the 
 summit, Ride doivn if you dare. Somewhat as an echo of this last, 
 when we reached the west descent of the mountain, Ludden proposed 
 to me that we leave the stage and take a short cut adown, which, he 
 said, was an old war-path of the Indians, and as straight as a gun- 
 barrel. This statement excited my interest at once, and I accepted 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Vll 
 
 the proposal with alacrity, plying him with questions, which he 
 could not answer, as to what Indians frequented this old trail, and 
 when, and why. When we reached the foot of the mountain, which 
 was a considerable time before the stage reached it, I was struck 
 with the position and beauty of the valley. About ten miles to the 
 west of where we stood, the Taconics loomed up to defend the valley 
 on that side, very much as the Hoosacs, over which we had just 
 passed, stood guard over it on the east ; while all the huge tumbles 
 tliat constitute the Greylock range formidably flanked it on the 
 south, as the Dome and the Domelet overlooked it frowningly on 
 the north. The two branches of the Hoosac River, which the Indians 
 had named respectively the AshmciUticook and the Mayunsook, on 
 the angle between which we were standing, united in the village of 
 North Adams to form a stream, which, while it cannot compare in 
 beauty with my native Connecticut in its long upper reaches, may 
 yet claim something of the eulogy long ago poetically paid to that : — 
 
 *'No watery gleams through happier valleys shine, 
 Nor drinks the sea a lovelier wave than thine." 
 
 In short, the Genius loci touched me at the very first ; and has never 
 since loosened, but only tightened, its genial hold. 
 
 During my college course of four years, I managed to find out all 
 that anybody here then knew, which was very little indeed, about 
 old Fort Massachusetts and the local events falling in the old French 
 and Indian wars. I made the pleasant acquaintance of the old 
 farmer who then owned the broad meadow along the Hoosac, on 
 which the fort once stood, and who had ploughed over its rude lines 
 time and time again, and whose son had once accidentally thrown 
 off by his ploughshare the flat stone covering the well of the fort, 
 and had looked down for a moment or two upon the rubbish of old 
 utensils and whatnot, with which its depths were more than half filled 
 up. He repeatedly visited the spot with me ; gave me permission to 
 transport to the College the last headstone remaining legible in the 
 little " God's Acre " just to the west of the site of the fort ; and at 
 length, when I wished to set a memorial tree on the very site of the 
 fort itself, he took pains to point out what he believed to be the 
 middle of the parade-ground within the original enclosure or block- 
 house. The large elm now growing there was planted in 1859 by 
 my own hands in the precise spot thus indicated by Clement Harri- 
 son. I wish here to acknowledge publicly the courtesy of the Young 
 Men's Christian Association of North Adams, in which township 
 falls the site of the fort, who, as I understand it, with unanimity 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 and even enthusiasm, voted many years ago that that tree should in 
 future be known as " Perry's Elm/' 
 
 Throughout the whole of my mature life, now no longer short, all 
 of it spent in Williamstown as my home and the place of varied 
 labors, my early and constant interest in its original military occu- 
 pation, — no other town in Massachusetts (I think) had such purely 
 military beginnings; my later curiosity as to its successive civil 
 establishments and development ; the circumstances under which it 
 became still later the seat of a venerable and influential College ; my 
 close and vital connection, through marriage and otherwise, with 
 many of the remarkable persons and families among its earliest 
 settlers and their descendants; — all those have served to deepen 
 and broaden the gladdening researches made into the earlier and 
 later facts relating to my town and College. Some of the results of 
 this longtime interest and investigation are now presented to the 
 public, in this volume. A mass of still unused and mostly subse- 
 quent material, large portions of it concerning the origin and exi- 
 gences and successes of the College, has already been slowly gathered 
 and partially classified; and should a kind Providence but spare 
 my life and strength a few years longer, the hope is fondly indulged 
 that I may be able to give to my townsmen generally, and espe- 
 cially to my fellow-alumni, another volume which may be probably 
 entitled " Williamstown and Williams College," some indirect refer- 
 ences to which may here and there be found in the text of the 
 
 present work. 
 
 A. L. P. 
 
 February 27, 1894. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Situation' 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Fort Massaciu'sett 
 
 . C9 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Ephraim Williams 
 
 (•iiAi''i"i:i: IV 
 
 West IIoosac 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 W1LLIAM6TOWX 
 
 . 4G; 
 
 INDEX 
 
 02:5 
 
ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 3l«ic 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SITUATION. 
 
 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides 
 of the north." — Psalms xlviii, 2. 
 
 WiLLiAMSTOwx lles In the northwest corner of Massachusetts. 
 Its northern line of five miles in length is, for that distance, the 
 southern line of Vermont. The entire northern line of Massachu- 
 setts was long in controversy between that state and New Hamp- 
 shire, and was finally settled on by the Privy Council in England, 
 March 10, 1740, in these words: "That the northern boundary of 
 Massachusetts be a curved line pursuing the course of the Merrimack 
 River at three miles distance, on the north side thereof, beginning 
 at the Atlantic Ocean and ending at a point due north of Pawtucket 
 Falls, ayid a straight course drawn from thence due icest, until it meets 
 with his Majesty's other governments." 
 
 This line was actually run the next year by a surveyor named 
 Richard Hazen, a prominent citizen of Haverhill, on the Merrimack, 
 and accordingly is sometimes called " Hazen's line," and has never 
 since been altered. Pawtucket Falls are the rapids on which the 
 city of Lowell was long afterwards built; but by some means the 
 line to be drawn " due west," from a point three miles north of them, 
 was really drawn about 1° 45' noi'th of due west ; so that Massachu- 
 setts, so far as Williamstown is concerned, gained thereby more than 
 one-third of the area of the town; otherwise the meadows of the 
 Hoosac, the site of the College, the slopes of Prospect, and all the 
 lands north of a line about midway between the two villages, would 
 have been adjudged to New Hampshire, and afterwards have fallen 
 
 1 
 
i; OKiaiNS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 to Vermont. It was indeed a blessed error of the compass that kept 
 this fine strip of country within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts.^ 
 
 When Kichard Hazen ran his line in 1741, he did not know pre- 
 cisely at what point to the westward to stop; for the boundary between 
 New York and Massachusetts had not then been definitely settled, 
 and the authority under which he acted ordered the line to be ex- 
 tended west "until it meets his Majesty's other governments." 
 There had been, however, a general understanding ever since the 
 Dutch ''New Netherland" had been conquered by the English in 1664, 
 that that Province extended twenty miles east of Hudson's River. 
 Indeed, a futile attempt had been made by the very commissioners, 
 who took possession of the Province in the name of King Charles 
 the Second, to draw, on that understanding, the western boundary line 
 of Connecticut. So far as Massachusetts was concerned, such a line 
 would correspond pretty nearly with the summits of the Taconic 
 Hills. Accordingly, Hazen carried his line westward over the top of 
 this range, calling that part crossed by the line '' Mount Belcher,'^ 
 from the name of the governor under whose commission he was sur- 
 veying, and supposed that the ultimate New York boundary would 
 run along those summits, but, for the sake of convenience, he con- 
 tinued the line " to Hudson's Eiver, at about eighty poles from the 
 place where Mohawk River comes into Hudson's River." ^ 
 
 Yet misunderstandings, as between New York and Massachusetts 
 in relation to their boundary line, began early, and continued until 
 1773 ; some of the New York patroons claimed that their land-grants 
 reached over into the valley of the Housatonic. A few Dutch 
 pioneers had crept up the Hoosac from the westward, very near 
 to the point where Hazen's line crosses that river. In 1739 the first 
 committee from the government of Massachusetts, that came into 
 this valley to survey it, complained in their report of "the great 
 opposition we met with from sundry gentlemen from Albany," and 
 the committee of the General Court to which this report was referred 
 ^•ecommended " that the government of New York be informed by 
 proper letters of the resolution of this Court herein, and that we are 
 ready to join commissioners with such as shall be appointed by 
 them for the stating and perambulating the bounds between each 
 province." The same committee refer to "the better securing the 
 undoubted right this government have to those and other lands there- 
 about," and also refer to the lands as those "whereon some few 
 
 1 Original Surveys of Williamstown, as copied by Tutor Cofl&n in 1843; Williams' 
 Vermont, p. 211 ; and Palfrey's Neiv England, v. 4, p. 558. 
 
 2 See Hazen's Journal of this Survey, first printed in 1879. 
 
SITUATION. 3 
 
 people have already got and inhabit''; again, iu 1749 another com- 
 mittee " are further of opinion that a letter be sent from this govern- 
 ment to the government of New York once more, to press them to 
 join commissioners with such as shall be appointed by this Court for 
 settling the boundaries between this government and that of New 
 York " ; but at length, in 1773, all these anxieties were quieted by a 
 Board of Mutual Commissioners, who, with the governors of the two 
 provinces, met at Hartford, Connecticut, and agreed on the line sub- 
 stantially as it now runs, although the line was not drawn and finally 
 established till the summer of 1787, while the Federal Convention 
 that framed our National Constitution was in session at Philadel- 
 phia, both parties in the meantime having appealed to the Congress 
 of the Confederation to appoint commissioners for that purpose. 
 
 The persons thus appointed were John Ewing, David Rittenhouse, 
 and Thomas Hutchins, all distinguished men, the first two citizens 
 of Philadelphia, and the last, who did the work and made the report 
 in the name of the three, was the first prominent American geogra- 
 pher. He had been assisted in the survey by Professor Samuel 
 Williams of Harvard College, afterwards a citizen and the first 
 historian of Vermont. The line as thus settled by national authority 
 is a straight line north by east, and its length as stated in the 
 report was " fifty miles, forty-one chains, and seventy-nine links." 
 A small equilateral triangle of land at its extreme southwest corner 
 has since been granted by the state of Massachusetts to the state of 
 New York, but with this insignificant exception the boundary-line 
 between them is still Hutchins' line of 1787. It so happened that 
 this line did not coincide at all with the west line of Williamstown 
 as laid out in 1749 by a committee of the General Court of Massa- 
 chusetts, but ran 446 rods to the west of the southwest corner of the 
 town as then laid out, and gradually approached the old line as it ran 
 northwards, and crossed it about a mile and a half south of Hazen's 
 line, which line it struck at last about half a mile east of the top of 
 the Taconic Ridge. This point is now the northwest corner of the 
 town of Williamstown, of the county of Berkshire, and of the state 
 of Massachusetts. It is also the southwest corner of the state of 
 Vermont ; and it cuts into two very nearly equal parts the eastern 
 line of the state of New York. It is marked at present by a small 
 marble monument, which was probably set when the line was run in 
 1787. Its latitude is 42° 44', and its longitude 73° 13' west from 
 Greenwich. Not far from 150 acres of the original town of Williams- 
 town was in this way cut off from its northwest corner and thrown 
 into New York, while a gore of land on the southwest of the old town 
 
4 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 was thrown into Massachusetts, and fifty years later (April 9, 1838) 
 annexed to Williamstown. The present western line of the town, ac- 
 cordingly, is Hutchins' line for that distance, and is very nearly eight 
 and one-fourth miles in length, and is in direction N. 20° 15' E., keep- 
 ing all the way pretty near to the highest points of the Taconic Range, ^ 
 
 The southern line of Williamstown, including, since 1838, the base- 
 line of " the Gore," makes a straight course of very nearly six and 
 three-fourths miles in length, and in direction a little south of east 
 from the New York boundary to the western line of the present 
 town of Adams. This course, bounding Hancock and New Ashford 
 on the north, descends from the ridge of the Taconics, passes across 
 the narrow valley of the Hancock Brook, runs over " Stratton Moun- 
 tain " so-called (a huge wedge almost closing up the Williamstown 
 valley on the south), so as to bring into the town the finely rounded 
 northern face and summit of that mountain, next crosses the still 
 narrower valley of the Ashford Brook, and then climbs up the steep 
 side of Saddle Mountain, to strike the Adams line but little to the 
 south of the peak of Grey lock. 
 
 From this lofty point, the eastern boundary of the town, which is 
 the only one of its four sides meeting with no change since Colonels 
 Partridge and Choate and Captain Dwight traced the town's limits 
 as a committee of the General Court in 1749, runs its course of 
 about eight and one-fourth miles slightly to the east of north, at 
 first high up along the western slope of Greylock, — about sixty 
 rods from its highest summit, — and so along the western slopes of 
 Mounts Fitch and Williams, all three of whose high heads are in 
 what was the old township of East Hoosac, and then obliquely over 
 the strong shoulder called " Wilbur's Pasture," which serves to unite 
 Mount Williams with Mount Prospect, and then adown the gorge 
 between these and diagonally across the valley of the Hoosac, — just 
 cutting in twain the long woollen-mill in Blackinton, — and then climb- 
 ing the slope of East Mountain to the north of the river, and passing 
 along its western side more than half-way up to its summit, hits 
 Hazen's line at last, and makes the northeast corner of the town. 
 
 Within these four lines are enclosed as nearly as may be forty- 
 seven square miles, or 30,000 acres, of wonderfully varied surface.- 
 
 1 Mass. Arch., v. 114, pp. 314, 315; Hildreth's U. S., v. 2, pp. 44, 572, v. 3, p. 531 ; 
 Professor Dewey in Field's Berkshire, p. 9; Drake's Biog. Diet., arts. "Samuel 
 Williams" and "Thomas Hutchins"; Rev. John Norton's iJedeemed Captive; and 
 Coffin's Map of Williamstown. In these matters of angles and distances, I have had 
 the help of my mathematically gifted colleagues, Professor Safford and Professor Dodd. 
 
 2 The exact mathematical direction of the southern and eastern town-lines cannot 
 be given till another accurate survey be had ; nor can the exact length of any of the 
 
SITUATION. 6 
 
 It is time now to try to convey to readers who have never seen 
 the Williamstown valley, to those who have sometimes seen it but 
 now live at a distance from it, and even to those who live within 
 it but have not had the leisure or the taste to examine it in detail, 
 clearer conceptions of its grand outlines and delightful features. 
 Perhaps this may best be done by following out what the Germans 
 call the " river-and-mountain-system '' of the region. In its broader 
 sense this valley lies enclosed between the Taconics on the west and 
 the Hoosacs on the east, the tips of the two crests at this point are 
 as nearly as possible twelve miles apart, the courses of the two 
 mountiiin ranges are pretty nearly north and south, the valley is 
 accordingly an east and west one, and the Hoosac Kiver flows 
 through it on its northern edge in that general direction. The north 
 branch of the Hoosac, called by the Indians 3fayunsook, washes the 
 western slopes of the Hoosacs as they bound the valley at its north- 
 east corner ; and the south branch, named by the aborigines Ashu- 
 willticookj flows northerly through a narrow valley of its own 
 between the Hoosacs and Saddle Mountain, draining the adjacent 
 sides of the two at the southeast comer of the valley ; and then 
 these two river-branches unite in the village of North Adams to 
 form the Hoosac, along whose northern bank throughout the Will- 
 iamstown valley, and so on to the Hudson, ran for one hundred 
 years in the historical times ending in 1759 (and no one can tell 
 for how much longer) the great eastern war-trail of the Six Nations 
 from their homes on the Mohawk (and to the west of it) to the 
 Deerfield and the Connecticut. The Canada Indians, also, in con- 
 junction with their French allies, trod the same war-path to reach 
 Fort Massachusetts and the valleys beyond the Hoosac Mountain. 
 
 The village of Williamstown is just west from that of North 
 Adams, at five miles' distance, but the two are mostly out of sight of 
 each other owing to an intervening ridge through which the Hoosac 
 has forced its way to the westward, namely, the easternmost of the 
 three lobes of Saddle Mountain, which is called the " Raven Rock," 
 and which slopes gradually down to the south bank of the Hoosac, 
 
 four lines be given till then. Correction for the variation of the needle was made for 
 the west line, — that is, exactly N. 20^ 15' E. ; but corrections for variation were not 
 made in the original survey of 1749, and the results for the three lines were stated 
 then as follows : north line, " S. 82^ E., 1583 rods " ; east line, " S. »^50' W., 2G00 rods " ; 
 south line, " N. 80° 30' W. ; 2120 rods." To the length of this line 44G rods have since 
 been added. As the measurement of the lots within the lines was originally under- 
 stated, as a rule, so it is probable that lengths as then measured were understated 
 also. The town-area given in the text must be very nearly right. See Field's Berk- 
 shire, pp. 9, 397. My fellow-townsmen, William Torrey and J. A. Eldridge, surveyors, 
 have given me information on these points. 
 
6 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 and is penetrated near the stream by the " Little Tunnel " of the 
 railroad, while from the north bank there rises up at once a spur of 
 the Green Mountains extending northerly into Vermont. To one 
 looking due east from any part of the village of Williamstown or 
 from the highlands to the westward of that clear to the top of the 
 Taconics, the view is limited by a long and low arc of a circle, 
 the southern tip of which is the summit of Mount Williams (the 
 northern point of the central lobe of Saddle Mountain), and the 
 northern tip of which is the summit of Smedley Height (the south 
 end of the Green Mountain spur just referred to), and the centre 
 of which is the tops of the Hoosacs. These tops, though some miles 
 more distant than the slopes of the other two, form, to the eye of a 
 Williamstown observer, one bended line with them, and constitute 
 the arc within which the sun rises throughout the year, and within 
 which are the visible risings of the moon also. The grandest sight 
 vouchsafed the dwellers on this part of the Hoosac is the sun of a 
 cloudless morning rising in its strength in some part of this long arc, 
 and the most beautiful sight is the full moon ascending the blue 
 from some point within it. At the summer solstice the sun rises 
 directly over the Smedley Height, and the point of dawn shifts 
 daily to the southward, till at the winter solstice it is just over that 
 part of the line made by the lower slope of Mount Williams. The 
 writer's eastern piazza happens to front the middle part of this 
 slightly concave line, and he has watched with delight, for many 
 years, the annual passage of the sun back and forth between these 
 extreme points, and also the corresponding movements of the moon ; 
 and this middle part happens to be just that point of the ridge of 
 the Hoosacs under which passes the famous " Hoosac Tunnel." 
 
 The Hoosac River from the junction of its two branches flows 
 nearly due west three-quarters of a mile, and then bending southerly 
 has upon its right bank the spacious meadow on which Fort Massa- 
 chusetts once stood, and then turning slowly to its westerly course 
 again, through narrower meadows on either side, trends suddenly to 
 the northward at about four miles' distance from the junction, and 
 thence flows through meadows, growing for the most part broader 
 in a general northwesterly direction, till at length it meets the 
 Hudson. This sharp bend of the river at the southwestern foot of 
 Smedley Height brings into view the Williamstown valley in its 
 secondary sense as a valley extending north and south. Just after 
 this bend is taken the Hoosac receives its largest tributary in this 
 part of its course ; namely, the so-called Green River, which is formed 
 at South Williamstown village by the junction of the Ashford and 
 
SITUATION. 7 
 
 Hancock brooks, both of which enter Williamstown from the south, 
 the first washing the eastern foot, and the second the western foot, 
 of Stratton Mountain. 
 
 The head-springs of both these brooks are on the same watershed, 
 and on the same parallel of latitude, about five miles apart, and 
 about ten miles south of the point where the Green River strikes 
 into the Hoosac. The Ashford Brook rises just near the town-line 
 between New Ashford and Lanesboro, at an altitude 1300 feet 
 above tide-water; and within a few rods of the spring is the 
 swamp whose drainage forms the northernmost branch of the 
 Housatonic River, whose course ends in Long Island Sound. The 
 Hancock Brook rises on a swell of the Taconics, very near the state- 
 line between Massachusetts and New York, and soon turning at 
 right angles to the north, flows in that direction through a narrow 
 but very fertile valley, to its junction with the other. On the same 
 swell of the Taconics with the source of this brook, and only a 
 short distance to the south of it, lies the source of the Kinderhook 
 creek, which, flowing southerly through the Hancock valley and 
 Stephentown, reaches the Hudson at Schodack. Five miles long is 
 the Green River, and the point at which it pours into the Hoosac 
 just above the railroad station is only about 5So feet above tide- 
 water. A mile lower down the main river comes in another tribu- 
 tary from the southward, which is called Hemlock Brook ; and it is 
 these four streams together, with the lower reach of the Hoosac in 
 the town, which form the " Williamstown valley " in its narrower 
 sense ; that is to say, the latitudinal valley lying wholly within the 
 town limits, in contrast with the longitudinal valley of about the 
 same length comprising the northern parts of both Williamstown 
 and North Adams. 
 
 At the point where the old county road from Pittsfield to Ben- 
 nington crosses the Hoosac at the bloody bridge, the river, which 
 has kept an almost straight northwest line from the junction of the 
 Green, flows due west till it takes in the waters of the Hemlock, 
 then curves pretty sharply for a due north course for a while, and 
 then bends eastward till it touches the county road again just 
 before both of them leave the town altogether. Thus the road 
 between these two points subtends what is very nearly a semicircle 
 of river, which encloses the " River Bend Farm," so-called, of which 
 we shall hear more by and by, because it was a French and Indian 
 station in the old French wars, and because it became the home of 
 Colonel Benjamin Simonds for many years ; the same arc encloses 
 also six of the original Meadow Lots, three of the original Pine Lots, 
 
8 OEIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 two of the original fifty-acre Lots, as these were early divided by and 
 among the " proprietors " ; and it encloses also the mouth of the Broad 
 Brook, a very considerable tributary of the Hoosac coming into it on 
 the east side at right -angles, whose two branches, uniting a little 
 north of the town and state line at a place called the " Forks," drain 
 a small section of southern Vermont. All the pine timber of the 
 original town grew on or near the banks of the Broad Brook, the 
 first saw-mill of the town was carried by its water, and its site en- 
 closed within the semicircle, and some young pines are now grow- 
 ing up again on these lands divided in 1765 into sixty-three " pine 
 lots" of three acres and sixty rods each. Just beyond the Vermont 
 line the Hoosac receives also on the east side the water of Ware's 
 43r Rattlesnake Brook, a small stream that comes tumbling down the 
 hillside. The bridge over this stream on the old county road, 
 which is also here the old Indian trail, is the beginning of the 
 ■" Dug AVay " so-called, a very narrow road cut into the hill for a 
 mile or so in Pownal right along the right brink of the Hoosac. 
 The only other affluents of our river received in Williamstown of 
 any account are two small brooks flowing down the north sides of 
 Saddle Mountain and hitting the stream close together just after it 
 enters the town from North Adams. 
 
 Of course the lowest point of land in Williamstown, since all the 
 running water of the valleys and hillsides drains into the Hoosac, 
 is the place where the river cuts the north line of the town into two 
 equal parts and pours into Vermont. This point is about thirty-five 
 feet lower than the river level at the Noble bridge near the railroad 
 station. When they were running the north line of the state of 
 Massachusetts, Eichard Hazen and his helpers crossed the river at 
 this point on Sunday, the 12th of April, 1741. ''With difficulty we 
 waded it and lodged on ye AVest side that night. It Clouded over 
 before Night and rained sometime before day, which caused us to 
 stretch Our blankets and lye under them on ye bare ground, which 
 was the first bare ground we laid on after we left Northfield." This 
 interesting lodging-place of the sturdy surveyor, who was a God- 
 fearing man notwithstanding he continued his survey through the 
 wilderness on Sunday, is on the broad and beautiful meadow once 
 owned by John Bascom, and is within plain sight and a stone's 
 throw of the " Line House " so-called on the public highway. In- 
 deed, Hazen's line bisects both the house and the meadow. From 
 the Hoosac at this lodging-place the old surveyor found it twenty- 
 one miles and sixty rods to the Hudson River, — " at about Eighty 
 poles from the place where Mohawk fiver comes into Hudson's river." 
 
SITUATION. 9 
 
 There is not a single lake or pond within the limits of Williams- 
 town, and, consequently, except as dams have been thrown across the 
 streams for puriK)ses of utility or beauty, there is no expanse of 
 water anywhere. This is the only fault that has ever been found 
 with the region as one of picturesque beauty. Along the Hoosac 
 and the lesser streams there is considerable alluvial land, much of 
 which was originally cut into <* meadow lots," and which is natur- 
 ally very fertile laud ; of swampy or marshy land there is very little 
 in the town, although the mosses and ferns, which are pretty sure 
 signs of a soil too wet and cold to be productive, are not wanting in 
 the hill pastures and poorer meadows ; ui)land of a moderate height 
 above the streams, and easily tilled and fairly productive, constitutes 
 by much the larger part of the surface ; and a good deal of the rest 
 is pretty steep and sometimes pretty stony hillsides. There is 
 almost no land in the whole circuit that will not bear forest trees, 
 and forest trees in their due proix)rtion are as profitable a crop as 
 can be raised. There are perhaps 2500 acres of ground which has 
 once been cleared and tilled, which would have been, and would be 
 now, more productive in forest than as ploughed or pastured, and 
 some of this is being allowed to grow up again to trees, although 
 systematic tree-planting to any considerable extent in fields has 
 never yet been practised here, as surely it might profitably be done. 
 AVhen first explored and surveyed, the town was splendidly wooded 
 in every part, of which the evidence is the direct testimony of the 
 surveyors and early settlers, and also the early division among the 
 householders of the " pine lots " and the " oak lots." Of more than 
 one of the early land-buyers and home-seekers trustworthy tradition 
 reports that he came in " and went to chopping." 
 
 The curve of the Hoosac that we have been following from its 
 entrance on the east to its exit on the north, cuts off from the rest 
 of the town its remarkably picturesque northeast corner, which con- 
 tains about one-ninth of its entire area, and which has had a history 
 and development somewhat distinct from that of the rest of it. We 
 are concerned at present only with the ])hysical features of this iso- 
 lated part. From the first settlement of the town it has borne the 
 designation of the " White Oaks," and it is almost certain now to 
 carry this name onwards till the end of time. All the original 
 *'oak lots" were within this curve; of white oak timber in the 
 other parts of the town there was little or none ; and when, in 1866, 
 the unique and self-denying labors of Professor Hopkins had estab- 
 lished a church on the Broad Brook, he christened it the " Church 
 of Christ in AVhite Oaks." This organization shows no signs of 
 
10 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 decay, the memory of the great and good man who breathed it into 
 form gives no sign of getting dim, and the name that had been 
 attached to the locality for a century has now accordingly been fas- 
 tened to it by a new tie of gratitude and religion. The lands of this 
 section consist of the pratty broad and very fertile bottoms along 
 the right bank of the Hoosac, and some intervale along both banks 
 of the lower Broad Brook ; of about a thousand acres of tolerably 
 level upland, mostly on what is called Oak Hill ; and for the rest, of 
 the rather steep slopes of that spur of the Green Mountains which 
 has already been referred to. This spur is very irregular in shape, 
 and, with its connecting mountains further north, forms a striking 
 
 Mount Hazen. 
 
 " EAST MOUNTAIN." 
 2. Hudson's Height. 3. Mount Ennnnons. 
 
 4. Snnedley Height. 
 
 feature in the landscape of southwestern Vermont ; but the part of 
 it with which we shall have most to do, which is commonly called 
 as a whole "East Mountain," in relation to the village and the 
 College, and which rises up sharply from the north bank of the 
 Hoosac as it enters the town into a noble ridge (running north) on 
 the average about 1600 feet above the stream, has none of its four 
 summits in Williamstown, and only about two-thirds of its western 
 slopes. 
 
 Of these four summits, which are tolerably distinct from each other 
 as seen from the westward, the northernmost and highest, which 
 has been appropriately named " Mount Hazen " in honor of the 
 old surveyor of 1741, who ran his line over this ridge and just at the 
 foot of this rise, rests wholly in Vermont, and curves to the west 
 from the general direction of the ridge as if to do obeisance to 
 
SITUATION. 11 
 
 the majestic *^ Dome," and slopes down rapidly northwards to the 
 ''Forks " already mentioned. This peak of Mount Hazen, which closes 
 up the view from our village to the northeast, is 2500 feet above sea 
 by careful estimation from the known heights of neighboring peaks. 
 " Hazen's Rock," an immense boulder tirst noticed and named and 
 marked by the writer and his eldest son, stands about nine rods 
 north of the '' line " and about three rods west of the crest of the 
 ridge; and it is possible, if not probable, that Hazen stood upon 
 this rock when he saw what he describes in his *' Journal " under 
 April 12, 1741. The next swell to the south of this, and perhaps 
 250 feet lower, has been well called " Hudson's Height " in memory 
 of Captain Seth Hudson, the last survivor of the original jiroprietors 
 of Williamstown and of the officers, and probably also of the sol- 
 diers, of Fort Massachusetts. He was at one time, as we shall see 
 by and by, the surgeon, and at another the commander, of Fort 
 Massachusetts in its decline. The third summit is a beautifully 
 rounded one, free from trees and other obstructions to the view, 
 2276 feet above the sea-level, and the only place in the region where 
 the primeval gneiss rock comes to the surface, while there are huge 
 boulders scattered over the entire ridge, from several of which, and 
 especially from Hazen's Rock, almost the entire lines of the town 
 and nearly its whole area can be seen at one view. Into the solid 
 rock on this third height was sunk, many years ago, for scientific 
 purposes, a copper bolt, and the height itself has been justly des- 
 ignated " Mount Emmons " by one who was once a pupil and later 
 a colleague and always an admirer of the distinguished Professor of 
 Natural History in the College, Ebenezer Emmons. He was the 
 author and founder of what he named the " Taconic System " in 
 geology, which became famous in the annals of that science, and he 
 used often to take his students to this local point of advantage to 
 show them the gneiss — the foundation rock of his science — and 
 to display to them as best he could the relations of his " system '' 
 to the other and then better known geological strata. The south peak 
 of this ridge of East ^lountain has already been spoken of as 
 " Smedley Height," so named in honor of that family which first 
 cleared up the acres at its foot, and owned the oak lots stretching 
 up towards its summit, and cultivates to this day, by some of its 
 descendants, a part of these ancestral fields. Smedley Height is 
 1917 feet above tide-water according to hypsometric measurements 
 made by John Tatlock, then a student in the College, in 1881. 
 
 The present view in summer-time from any one of these four 
 summits, of which the three last named are in the town of Clarks- 
 
12 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 burg, is such as to well reward the zeal and sweat of the climber. 
 Cultivated farms fill up the valley and the lower uplands for the 
 most part, green pastures with patches of second-growth forest 
 occupy the mountain slopes, the Hoosac and its main tributaries 
 glance and glimmer in the sunlight, the scalloped crests of the 
 Taconics, deeply dented at four points for the passes over them, and 
 covered mostly with forest trees, bound the view to the westward, 
 while the three lobes of Saddle Mountain with its spurs and the 
 finely rounded front of Stratton Mountain, with a brook at either 
 foot, limit the southern view. Even Richard Hazen was struck 
 with admiration, cold-blooded mathematician though he were, and 
 unopened yet by axe or fire as were the primeval forests of the val- 
 leys and the hillsides, when he and his men came upon this ridge in 
 the early springtime. '•' At the End of three miles we Came upon 
 the top of an Exceeding High Mountain [East Mountain], from 
 whence we discovered a large Mountain which lyes Southwesterly of 
 Albany [the Catskills], as also a Eow of large mountains on Each 
 side of us bearing North and South nearest [Saddle Mountain and 
 Green Mountains] and a Eidge of exceeding high Mountains three 
 or four miles before us bearing the same Course [the Taconics] and 
 a fine valley betwixt them and us on Each side of the line [Hazen's 
 line] big enough for Townships [Hoosac valley]." 
 
 This ridge of East Mountain, to one or all of the rounded points 
 of which it is much to be hoped that a carriage road from the valley 
 will sometime be laid, since by utilizing existing roads this may be 
 done without too great difficulty, bounds the White Oaks region on 
 the east ; and it is bounded on the north by the lower slopes of the 
 " Dome," the largest and finest mountain that is in plain view from 
 the valley. Greylock is not visible to the dwellers on the Hoosac 
 and Green rivers and Hemlock Brook, nor from either of the villages 
 of Williamstown, owing to the height of Mount Prospect and Bald 
 Mountain, which together form the western lobe of Saddle Moun- 
 tain; while the Dome rises gradually up in silent and solemn majesty 
 from the brink of Broad Brook to a height of at least 3000 feet above 
 the tides of the sea, and is visible from every quarter of the town, 
 and is, perhaps, the most striking feature of its landscape, which it 
 limits on the north. The name was most appropriately given to it 
 by Professor Hopkins, from its form. The most of its mighty mass 
 is in Vermont, and it has companion piles to the north and east of 
 it, particularly in the "Haystack," which seems to overtop it, while 
 itself falls gracefully down on the south and west in fertile swells 
 and charming fields to the brook and to the river. Half-way down 
 
SITUATION. 
 
 13 
 
 towards the west a little knob, called the " Domelet," protrudes its 
 head, as if to exhibit by way of contrast the gigantic proportions of 
 the other ; and still farther down in the same direction a wholly 
 cleared and very fertile swell of land, named " Mason's Hill," carries 
 the gladdened eye clear down to the Hoosac. 
 
 On the southern foot of the Dome, at a few yards above Broad 
 Brook and drawing into it, gushes up out of the sand, from a clear 
 bottom, a copious thermal spring, which has been called the " Sand 
 Spring " from the beginning of the town. Its w^ater has a mean 
 temperature throughout the year of 71°, and is not only warm, but 
 soft also, owing to the absence of limestone in that locality. This 
 spring has something of a history, and we shall hear more about it 
 
 LuJSit 
 
 le^is**' 
 
 I. The Dome. 
 
 2. The Don-c tt 
 
 by and by. There is only one other thermal spring within tlie town 
 boundaries, and that is on the other side of the Hoosac, about a mile 
 west of this one and on the same parallel, though its mean tempera- 
 ture is something like 10° lower than the Sand Spring. Professor 
 Bascom, who once owned this smaller spring and the meadow through 
 w^hich its water finds a short way to the Hoosac, believed that its 
 average temperature for the year was not less than 64°. In com- 
 parison with these thermal springs, Professor Hopkins found the 
 mean temperature of the water of his well, and presumably of other 
 ordinary springs and wells in the town, to be 47°, which he also 
 found to be the mean temperature of the air above his well, as a 
 result of personal observations made three times a day throughout 
 an entire year. 
 
 Before leaving the "White Oaks "for good in this cursory descrip- 
 tion of its physical features, we must just note the historical fact 
 
14 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 that its main road, following in general the course of the river on 
 its north side, which we shall call the " Hoosac Koad," since it has 
 been so named certainly from the time when the captives of Fort 
 Massachusetts passed over it in 1746, is a part of the old Mohawk 
 war-path, by which the Five Nations and the Canada Indians (as 
 well) passed to their raids and battles on the Deerfield and the Con- 
 necticut. We must also note the fact that nearly all of the sandy 
 land in the town is found in this locality. Pines like the sand, and 
 while the oaks and other deciduous trees clung to the sides of East 
 Mountain to its very crest, the sandy levels on Oak Hill, and patches 
 here and there partly on Broad Brook and partly on the Hoosac, 
 grew up originally to lofty pines. A special road was very early 
 laid out, branching off from the road up Broad Brook, which itself 
 left the Hoosac Road at right angles, " to convean the pine lots." 
 This road ran up northeasterly almost to Hazen's line, and stopped 
 on the last range of pine lots which butted on that line. Memorials 
 of these old pines appear at the present day in the beautiful grove 
 in front of the Sand Spring Hotel, in the fine grove of young pines 
 opened up in 1883 as a pleasure resort by John M. Cole, near the 
 railroad station, and called the " Garden of Eden,*' and in clusters of 
 small pines scattered over almost the whole of the old pine area. 
 Back from the river land has always been cheap in the White Oaks, 
 partly because it is poor land, and partly because it has always had 
 a poor population ; but a sort of half-weird and half-Hebrew glory 
 was thrown over the whole region by the labors, and especially by the 
 recreations, of Professor Hopkins, who named, for example, his own 
 farm on Broad Brook " Steepacres," the pine level of Oak Hill the 
 " land of Goshen," and a huge rock a little to the east of the summit 
 of the Dome " White Face " ; and whose inexhaustible humor enter- 
 tained almost without end the young ladies of his " Alpine Club," 
 SiS well as any casual fellow- walker (reverend or gay) over his favor- 
 ite tramping-grounds, with quaint names and odd Scripture allusions 
 and bits of old superstition. The very stones of Broad Brook assumed, 
 through his imagination, strange shapes and took on queer names 
 and preached grotesque sermons, and the flora of the hills became 
 redolent of far-off lands, and even the maples of the spring-time 
 reminded him of the cedars of Lebanon which were " full of sap." 
 
 Now if we cross over the Hoosac on Hazen's line, and tarry just 
 long enough on the meadow where that worthy " slept on ye bare 
 ground" to christen it in passing, and yet in permanence the 
 " Bascom Meadow," since John Bascom, long a citizen of Williams- 
 town and a successful teacher in the College and always deeply 
 
SITUATION. 15 
 
 interested in the history and prosperity of both, once owned the 
 meadow for many years ; and if we climb up the steep ascent abut- 
 ting on the meadow, we shall shortly find ourselves on the crest 
 of North West Hill, one of the four foot-hills of the Taconic Range 
 in this town, lying in a line north and south on the western side of 
 the valley. North West Hill has greatly declined in its importance, 
 from the early time, and would hardly delay us at present for much 
 description, were it not that it became then very populous, that the 
 principal road to Bennington ran along its crest, and that the land 
 and woods upon it and upon the shallow-dish valley that connects it 
 with the much higher parent ridge, and upon that parent ridge 
 itself drew out again the admiration of our " noted and ingenious 
 surveyor of land" {Boston Gazette, February 19,1754). liichard 
 Hazen wrote in his " Journal," April 13, 1741, " This Mountain was 
 Exceeding good Land, bearing beech. Black birch, and Hemlock, 
 some Bass wood. Over this Mountain we concluded the line would 
 run betwixt New York Government and these whenever it should 
 be settled, and therefore nam*^ it Mount Belcher that it might be 
 as Standing a Boundary as Endicutt's Tree." About in the centre 
 of this broadly dish-shaped valley a small brook rises in some bits 
 of springy and swampy land, which holds its semicircular course of 
 about two miles through deep glens for the most part, and then 
 falls into the Hemlock Brook, just before the latter drops silently 
 into the Hoosac. This little brook is well called the " Ford Brook " 
 in memory of good old deacon Zadock Ford, the edge of whose farm 
 w^as washed by it; and the deepest and darkest stretch of glen 
 through which the brook bickers along is called ^'Ford's Glen.'' 
 This brook completely bounds North West Hill on the south. The 
 North West Hill Road, which starts at right angles from the west 
 end of the Main Street and skirts along the last house lot of the 
 northern tier, soon crosses Ford Brook and begins to climb the hill. 
 The hill is a short two miles long in Williamstown, and then falls 
 abruptly off to the Hoosac in Pownal. The original road ran pretty 
 straight over the hill lengthwise, generally a little to the west of its 
 highest crest, but the northern half of it has been discontinued for 
 travel for many years, on account of its steepness and liability to 
 wash out, and the branch road, which turned off to the west to reach 
 the farms on the flat, and then bent north parallel to the old road 
 to strike the Hoosac by a shorter and somewhat less precipitous 
 descent (though still steep) is now the only road. There are eiglit 
 of the original 100-acre lots, and three of the fifty-acre lots of the 
 first division, on this hill proper; and from time to time several 
 
16 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 poor families have pushed quite ovei^ the broad level upon the 
 sixty-acre lots on the final slope of the Taconics. 
 
 Before Hazen's line makes its final mount to cross the Taconics 
 it runs up into a hollow of the mountain side, which goes by the 
 name of the " Moon Hollow," from the name of a poor family that 
 lived within it for three-quarters of a century or more. Here 
 corner two states flanked by a third. The Xew York line that 
 Hazen supposed would run along the crest of " Mount Belcher," as he 
 himself named the swell of the Taconics at this point, as a matter 
 of fact came further east in 1787, and runs across this hollow, so 
 that the Moon house (now occupied by a man named Haley) and 
 a part of the little farm are in the state of Xew York. A small 
 marble monument marks the corners of Vermont and Massachusetts ; 
 and one of the long-legged Moons once slept in summer-time astrad- 
 dle of this stone, and afterwards boasted that he had lodged in three 
 states the same night. This monument has been thrown out of 
 plumb by the roots of a tree underneath which it stands, and has 
 otherwise a rather forlorn appearance ; but it has served its rude 
 purpose for a century, and deserves perhaps this passing notice of 
 one who has often mused upon the spot. There is nothing special 
 to distinguish Mount Belcher from the rest of the noble ridge of 
 which it forms a part, although the resuscitation of the name after 
 140 years of inanition in the " Journal " of Richard Hazen brings 
 worthily to memory again a remarkable man of the last century, 
 Jonathan Belcher, an American-born colonial governor of three 
 states, and the real founder of the College of Xew Jersey at 
 Princeton. 
 
 The second of the foot-hills of the Taconics in order southward 
 has been called '' Buxton" from immemorial time, probably from 
 Buxton in England, though what the tie of connection be (if any) 
 has not been ascertained. Buxton is a much lower and smaller hill 
 than the other three, and differs from them also in having been com- 
 pletely cleared in every part from forest trees. Xorth West Hill 
 is about 600 feet in its highest parts above the Hoosac at its base : 
 Buxton is in no part over 300 feet above the two brooks which 
 almost completely encircle it. It has the Ford Brook on the north, 
 and the Buxton Brook on the west and south. Buxton Brook, a 
 beautiful stream in its whole course of three miles, rises in the very 
 northwest corner of the town in two branches, the springs of both 
 being just under the New York line, one of them in the Moon Hol- 
 low, and the other in a gorge a little to the south of it ; and these 
 small branches unite only a few rods south of the springy hollows 
 
SITUATION. 17 
 
 in which Ford Brook takes its rise, and then flow on a considerable 
 stream flanking the Buxton farms, receiving a small tributary called 
 " Birch Hill Brook " on the southern side, and then striking the 
 northern tier of House Lots at the west end of the Main Street di- 
 vides them into two nearly equal portions till in House Lot number 
 10 it empties into the larger " Hemlock Brook," which latter now 
 hurries out of the House Lots to its junction with the Hoosac. A 
 little above the junction of the Buxton with the Hemlock, there is, 
 in the former, a shaded pool, which has long gone by the name of 
 " Diana's Bath," a designation so far as this inappropriate, that the 
 pool is quite too small and shallow to correspond with the person 
 of that goddess as she is usually represented in Greek and Roman 
 art. No part of the original House Lots should be considered as in 
 Buxton, although a considerable part has long been popularly so 
 reckoned : only that is Buxton proper, which lies west of the north- 
 ern range of House Lots and within the two brooks so often already 
 mentioned. 
 
 In the angle between Buxton Brook and its small tributary. Birch 
 Hill Brook, there lies one of the oldest farms in Williamstown, com- 
 monly called the " Red House Farm," owned since 1782 for a cen- 
 tury by the Sherman family, and owned before that by Joel Baldwin. 
 This farm runs back towards the west into a conical hill, which has 
 been repeatedly ploughed to its very top, though apparently never 
 seeded down, and which has upon its summit about a quarter of an 
 acre of level ground, whence may be had in all directions one of the 
 finest views in Williamstown. Perhaps we may properly call this 
 hill "Joel's Sentry," for it overlooks and is a part of Joel Baldwins 
 original farm, and it overlooks also every part of his later farm ad- 
 joining on North West Hill, on which he died in 1808. The Red 
 House Farm is not a part of Buxton, nor is it strictly a part of Birch 
 Hill ; it lies west of the one and north of the other ; Joel's Sentry 
 is not itself of suflicient size to be enumerated as a separate foot-hill 
 of the Taconics, and it slopes down sharply to the west into a shal- 
 low valley separating it from them. This valley runs north, under 
 and parallel with the Taconics, quite up to North West Hill. 
 Through the entire length of this narrow valley there ran a private 
 way in old times from the Petersburg Road at Donahue's to the 
 North West Hill Road not far from Baldwin's. In this valley once 
 lived the Fowler family, and later the Welch family intermarried 
 with that, and still later Russell Pratt and others. There are no 
 dwellers in that valley now, though the Fowler house and a barn or 
 two are still standing within it. There are also one or two deserted 
 
18 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 houses on the upper stretch of Buxton Brook not far off. By means 
 of this " Fowler Vale " accordingly, and especially by the common 
 shoulder of the Taconics in which all the brooks here take their 
 rise, North West Hill and Buxton and '^ Joel's Sentry " farm are 
 closely connected together, and are separated from the hills to the 
 southward by Birch Hill Brook and by a still higher shoulder of 
 the Taconic range. 
 
 This strong shoulder is common to the two remaining hills on the 
 western side of the Williamstown valley, namely, " Birch Hill " and 
 " Bee Hill," the former named from its prevailing forest tree (pre- 
 vailing now also, as well as a century ago), and the latter un- 
 doubtedly from the abundance of wild honey found upon it by the 
 early settlers. This shoulder strikes out southeastwardly from the 
 general trend of the Taconics, and becomes the means of reaching 
 readily from this side the first practicable X3ass over them into the 
 state of New York. We have seen that Surveyor Hazen honored 
 his official superior, the governor of Massachusetts and New Hamp- 
 shire, by naming the northern reach of the mountain-chain over 
 which his own chain ran " Mount Belcher," but that reach is all 
 the way abrupt, and gives no chance for a road over it ; while this 
 connecting shoulder unites the mountain at a point where itself is 
 considerably depressed with two comparatively high foot-hills, which 
 may be gradually ascended, and so a relatively easy passage be 
 found over the mountain by what may best be called the " Peters- 
 burg Pass," from the name of the New York town on the other 
 side. What we have called the Petersburg Road is the continuation 
 of the main street of the village at its west end, where the North 
 West Hill Eoad leaves it at right angles, and runs almost due 
 west for about a mile, at first up the Buxton Brook, and then 
 from its junction with that up the Birch Hill Brook to Donahue's 
 in the old 100-acre lot number 63. Both of the small branches 
 of this brook rise in that lot or just over its outer lines and unite 
 within it, so that the brook and the road that flanks it are the 
 northern boundary of Birch Hill. In common speech the " Eed 
 House " and the Donahue house have always been reckoned as on 
 Birch Hill, and so they may be well enough considered, for they are 
 on the road that follows up the brook which itself is the natural 
 boundary between the hills. At Donahue's the road turns south at 
 a right angle and runs straight for more than half a mile, to strike 
 the shoulder on which to find a means of exit at the Petersburg 
 Pass. Just at the point at which the road turns northwest again 
 to pursue its gradual climb towards the Pass, namely, on the old 
 
SITUATION. 19 
 
 sixty-acre lot iiumuer ^^4, wini-ii is coiniiioiily called the "Prindle 
 Place," there is a junction of the road at the corner with a narrow 
 and pretty steep valley running due east, through all the lower 
 part of which glides the '^ Glen Brook " so-called, which fails into 
 the Hemlock Brook only a few rods south of the southwestern 
 quarter of the House Lots. This valley and brook, up which a 
 broken road once ran, was always called in old-fashioned times the 
 "Gully," but is now more euphoniously and appropriately denomi- 
 nated the '' Glen," and is for our present purpose the picturesque 
 border line between Birch and Bee hills. 
 
 Before describing the latter we will follow our Petersburg Road 
 to the Pass. For a mile or more now the road runs strongly north- 
 west, just under the ridge of the shoulder, for the Pass is exactly 
 due west of Donahue's, and the road direct from his house takes the 
 traveller much to the south for the sake of an easier and more 
 uniform climb, and this space must be regained by a northerly 
 trend, which brings one at length on a level with the Pass and oppo- 
 site to it about a half-mile off. There is at first, with a sharp turn to 
 the west, a slight descent from this final point of the shoulder, and 
 then a little further ascent brings the traveller or scene-hunter directly 
 upon the main Taconic in the well-rounded Petersburg Pass. This 
 is a natural depression (shaped just like a saddle) below the general 
 height of the main ridge in this part of it of perhaps 150 feet; the 
 centre of it is 2075 feet above the sea-level, the top of " Leet Hill " 
 directly to the south of it is 459 feet higher, the gap is entirely free 
 from trees on both its approaches, so that sight is unobstructed for- 
 wards and backwards ; the land on both its rising flanks was long ago 
 cleared, and has been of ten ploughed ; the winds that sweep through 
 it are such that a new forest growth will but slowly recover its hold 
 on the soil ; and the view that one gains from the centre of it towards 
 the west is such as baffles all description. Tumbled hills just below 
 in the valley of the " Little Hoosac " ; innumerable farms on and be- 
 tween these hills; roads like white ribbands leading through the 
 valleys ; higher ridges, broken and beautiful, filling the breadth be- 
 tween these and the valley of the Hudson ; apparently rising grounds 
 beyond that river, both fertile and wooded, lying "green and still," 
 and stretching as far as the eye can reach ; the dim outline of the 
 Catskills to the southwest beyond Albany ; and far to the northward 
 the dark evergreen peaks of the Adirondacks mingling with the sky, 
 — are elements in a view never to be forgotten by those who have seen 
 it even once under favorable conditions. The writer, who has seen 
 it perhaps twenty times in all seasons, was gazing on it in company 
 
20 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 with a dear friend, July 26, 1879, when vast masses of white mist 
 were seen gathering in the valley below, which rose slowly up the 
 sides of the mountain and soon completely cut off all vision to the 
 westward, and which, rising higher and higher, borne by the usual 
 sweep of the winds up and over the Pass, wholly encircled and 
 covered the observers, bringing to them with a damp and chill a 
 sense of aerial unsteadiness and a sort of wonderment not un- 
 mingled with awe. 
 
 Buckwheat and other grains were growing that day (though 
 small) just over the western brow of the Pass, and the scene to the 
 west shows more fertile land than that to the eastward ; but our con- 
 cern at present is more with Massachusetts than with New York, and 
 more with Williamstown than with Petersburg, a pleasant village 
 in the valley of the '^ Little Hoosac,'^ which gives its name to the 
 Pass, and down into which the Pass road winds at first abruptly and 
 then more gently between swelling hillocks and fertile farms on 
 either side. The resemblance of this great gap in the Taconics to 
 a saddle may be carried out even into details ; for there rises up on 
 the north immediately from the road a regular knob 100 feet high 
 which may well be regarded as the pommel, and on the south a 
 gentler, higher, more rounded arc, which well serves the fancy as 
 the cantel. This imaginary cantel is the actual northern face of 
 Leet Hill, a symmetrical swell of the Taconics at this point, 2534 
 feet above the level of the ocean, at whose southeastern foot is a 
 mountain farm that was occupied uninterruptedly for more than a 
 century by four generations in succession of one family bearing that 
 name. The farm was sold out of the family in the spring of 1885. 
 Of " poor old Jared Leet," who cleared up this farm on the hillside, 
 singing rude songs of his own to while away his toil, specimens of 
 which may enliven a future page, a grandson of Governor William 
 Leet of Connecticut, who befriended the regicides in their direst 
 need, we shall know more in the sequel. 
 
 The scene to the eastward from the summit of the gap, from the 
 pommel above it, or from a point in the road about a quarter of a 
 mile below it, is essentially the same in all its grand features, 
 and is perhaps the noblest view anywhere to be seen in this region : 
 Treadwell Hollow widens out before the eye like a huge boat, and 
 the broad lands between the two villages of Williamstown seem at 
 that altitude like levels, and the eye is carried forward in a straight 
 line into the Hopper and up the sides of Prospect and Bald 
 mountains till old Greylock itself satisfies while it limits the vision. 
 It cannot be less than seven miles from the Pass to the summit of 
 
SITUATION. 21 
 
 Greylock ; and it seems most like stamling on the stern of an enor- 
 mous steamer, whose sides swell out at the centre to contract again 
 in the distance, and whose prow is pressed up into a gigantic j)eak 
 bearing streamers I 
 
 When David Dudley Field, the distinguished legist and publicist, 
 was seventy-live years of age, he drove to this Pass in company with 
 his classmate of 1826, Kev. Dr. Durfee, his son-in-law. Sir Anthony 
 Musgrave, then British governor of Jamaica, and one of the pro- 
 fessors of the College. Although a graduate, and a frequent visitor 
 to Williamstown all his life, he had never before climbed to any 
 pass of the Taconics. He took in the majestic scene right and left, 
 but said little ; and then proposed to the Professor that they clamber 
 on foot to the top of the pommel. Straight as an arrow, six feet 
 and one quarter in height, showing few signs of age, he reached the 
 top with scarcely quickened breath. Though born and reared in 
 New England, and Massachusetts was then his summer home, his 
 companion observed that his quick glances towards the Hoosacs 
 returned to linger fondly on the Adirondacks and the Catskills and 
 the regions between and beyond them, and down towards the city 
 ■where his more than fift}' j'ears of successful legal life had been 
 passed; and, with the single expression on liis ]\\\^. ^' It is the Enijdre 
 State ! " he returned to his carriage. 
 
 The stretch of the Taconics to the north ot the pommel as far as 
 Hazen's line and beyond it, may well be included in the general 
 designation of Mount Belcher, for the reason already indicated; 
 there is, indeed, much that is distinctive and more that is beautiful 
 in this part of the range, in the way of swell and fall and curve, till 
 the range itself sinks gradually down to the intervale level at the 
 junction of the Little Hoosac with the Hoosac at North Petersburg ; 
 and a carriage road might run without any great difficulty along or 
 near the summit of the range from the Pass itself to this junction, 
 following in general the path by which students and others have 
 long frequented the " Snow-Hole,*' so-called, a rocky gorge on the 
 eastern slope not far from the corner of the states, in which snow is 
 usually found in August and sometimes in September. In the very 
 Pass itself is the point where the New York line of 1787 bisected 
 the original west line of Williamstown drawn in 1749. South of 
 that point is the acute angle of the " Gore " broadening to its base 
 of 446 rods of the present south line of the town, and north of it is 
 the small triangle already described as cut off from Williamstown 
 by the line of 1787, and thrown into the state of New York. 
 
 We must now give a moment's attention to the etymology of the 
 
22 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Indian name, by which is designated this fine range of hills that 
 forms the western wall of the entire county of Berkshire, just fifty 
 miles in length, as well as of its northwesternmost town just a little 
 over eight miles in length. To the euphonious form '^ Taconics " have 
 we finally curtailed and softened down the aboriginal word full of 
 consonants. The archives of Massachusetts give about forty different 
 spellings to this original Mohegan word; nevertheless its derivation 
 and signification are reasonably certain, according to J. Hammond 
 Trumbull of Hartford, the only trustworthy authority in this century 
 for the Mohegan dialects. He says : " There is no interpretation 
 which I can affirm is certainly right: the least objectionable is 
 ' forest ' or ' wilderness,' the Delaware Tachanizen, which Zeisberger 
 translates as 'woody,' 'full of woods,' from Tokone, 'the woods,' 
 literally 'wild land,' 'forest.' A sketch of Shekomeko (Dutchess 
 County, New York) by a Moravian missionary in 1745, shows to the 
 eastward in the distance a mountain summit, recognizable as the 
 Mount Washington group, marked ' ICtakanatshari,^ 'the big moun- 
 tain,' a name which resolves itself into Ket-Tdkone-Wadshu, 'great 
 woody mountain,' that is, great Taconic mountain." 
 
 So far as these great wooded hills flank the town of Williamstown, 
 they are about 1500 feet above the level of the streams that skirt 
 their base, and there are but four passes leading over them into the 
 valleys beyond ; the range, however, is not by any means a sheer 
 wall on either side, but has its spurs and spines and hollows on its 
 flanks, and peaks and gaps and plateaus on its top. As seen from 
 the valleys, its horizon line is wonderfully varied, curved, and billowy ; 
 as a general thing it is clothed to the very tops with deciduous trees, 
 particularly birch, beech, maple, and chestnut ; and the tints of the 
 spring and autumn foliage on these aspiring, swelling, indefinitely 
 varied summits, invite inspection by so much the more as they cer- 
 tainly do beggar description. 
 
 Down such a water-shed as this is many streams will flow as a 
 matter of course, and if there be passes over it and roads over them, 
 these will naturally follow up the courses of the streams, — the 
 human road-makers finding that Nature has been before them work- 
 ing out in long ages a path for the footsteps of men. Such a stream 
 is the northerly branch of Hemlock Brook, which takes its rise just 
 over the Massachusetts line, and just south of our Petersburg Pass, 
 and flows down the whole length of Treadwell Hollow to unite at 
 Brookman's with the southerly branch that rises also just over the 
 New York line at the " Berlin Pass," the second of our natural road- 
 ways over the great Taconic wall. Now, as by much the longest 
 
SITUATION. 23 
 
 stretch of stream under a single designation within the town ; as 
 constituted by these two branches, which descend respectively from 
 these two northern passes, over which all the direct travel from 
 Williamstown goes into the state of New York ; as helping by 
 means of these branches, both of which rise in that great state, to 
 make easy friendly intercourse between the two states, by making 
 passable the lofty barrier that divides them ; and as having many 
 secrets of the hills and of the woods to whisper to its companion 
 stream, Buxton Brook, at their junction in the northwestern quarter 
 of the House Lots, — the Hemlock Brook, though small, is lifted 
 into the region of high respectability. After the junction of its two 
 branches at the foot of Treadwell Hollow, the stream runs southeast- 
 wardly for a mile or more around the " Torrey AVoods," and tlien 
 bends suddenly northward, receiving at this point, as a tributary, the 
 " Sweet Brook," which comes down from the " Kidder Pass," the 
 third of the Taconic gaps, and then flowing due north a couple of 
 miles through the valley of the "Hemlocks," unites with the bicker- 
 ing " Buxton " for another mile of curving flow to find the Hoosac, 
 having described a nearly perfect semicircle in a course of six miles. 
 Thus in a few plain lines has honor due been done to a country 
 brook, which probably was never suntr in DOi'trv. or described before 
 in prose. 
 
 Treadwell Hollow, down which tumbles, ironi tiie I'ass, the north- 
 ern branch of Hemlock Brook, and up which runs a second rude 
 and steep roadway to the Pass itself, swarmed with people at the 
 end of the last century and at the beginning of this, constituting 
 then a large school district with a schoolhouse of its own ; but after 
 1850 it became gradually deserted of human habitations, and the 
 last one of the old houses within the valley burned down March 4, 
 1885, — the inauguration day of President Cleveland. This was 
 the house of Agur Treadwell, who gave his name to the Hollow, 
 and who reared there a large family of daughters, many of whose 
 descendants " are with us unto this day." Abandoned sites of log- 
 huts or cellars of rude houses may still be traced in considerable 
 numbers on both sides of the road almost up to the Gap, while the 
 people and their dwellings for the most part disappeared long ago. 
 At the time the Treadwell house burned down there were left but 
 thr^e dwellings within the valley, and these comparatively modern 
 ones. The Leet house was one, just then sold out of the family 
 with the farm, which was the original sixty-acre lot numl^er 40, the 
 house standing some distance to the west of the road and the 
 stream over a rise of ground; the Brookman family kept watch and 
 
24 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 ward at the entrance of the Hollow from below, cultivating a quite 
 tolerable hillside farm, and illustrating the outward success that 
 almost always keeps step with the forthputting of the moral and 
 Christian virtues ; and between these two, on the opposite side of 
 the road, was one other little homestead, then occupied by an Irish- 
 man named Fleming. 
 
 Now we come to the fourth and last of our secondary hills that 
 hang on the flank of the Taconics, namely, to "Bee Hill," which has 
 played first and last no insignificant part in the history of Williams- 
 town. All four of these hills are really attached to the main stem 
 by a single shoulder, that one by which the Petersburg road winds 
 up into the Pass. The Glen Brook, which, in its due easterly fall, 
 drains some low and moist lands that slope down from that shoul- 
 der, divides Birch Hill from Bee Hill; and the Hemlock Brook, 
 springing from near the same shoulder, runs completely around the 
 base of Bee Hill on its western and southern and eastern sides to 
 the point at which the Hemlock receives the Glen. Bee Hill is 
 shaped like an old-fashioned sugar-loaf of gigantic size lying on its 
 side, base towards the southeast. Its western slope rises up sheer 
 and lofty from the bottom of Treadwell Hollow ; its southern side 
 is the Torrey Woods skirting the brook lower down, and its eastern 
 acclivity is the " Hemlocks," in which lie the limestone quarries. 
 
 The original road over Bee Hill started from the Main Street at 
 right angles near its western end, and ran due south along the limit 
 of House Lot number 29 to the bridge over the Glen Brook, whose 
 place has never been substantially changed from its first building, 
 and then crawled over the sugar-loaf just as and where it does now, 
 in the form of a bow, to the entrance of Treadwell Hollow. The 
 first part of this road as far as the Glen Bridge was long ago dis- 
 -continued, and was replaced by the hypothenuse of the right-angled 
 triangle beginning at the Mansion House and running diagonall}^ 
 -across the House Lots to John Sherman's, and thence to the bridge. 
 This comparatively new road to the Glen Bridge from the Main 
 ■Street may well be called the " Glen Road." Though a belt of lime- 
 stone edges the eastern base of Bee Hill, the hill as a whole is a 
 slaty formation, and holds accordingly much warm and fertile land, 
 that is easily tilled and constantly renewed ; and on this account it 
 was occupied early by a set of enterprising farmers, and in particu- 
 lar by the Hickox family, who have owned and tilled first and last 
 most of the arable land of the hill, so that it is every way appropri- 
 ate that its highest eminence, directly overlooking Treadwell Hol- 
 low, and conspicuously seen from every part of the village by those 
 
SITUATION. 25 
 
 looking up through the Glen, should be now christened and hereafter 
 known as '• Hickox Height." That sightly point was long owned by 
 the family, and if an enterprise had prospered which they conceived 
 and set on foot and partly carried out, they would have deserved 
 still more a lasting memorial on Bee Hill, — one as lasting as the 
 hills themselves ; for at the time when their neighbors of Birch Hill 
 and others were i)ushing the present Petersburg road towards the 
 Pass, the Bee Hill people stoutly claimed that a nearer and better 
 road to the same place could be wound around their hill upon the 
 east side of Treadwell Hollow ; and so they set to work with a will 
 to make such a way, and to get it through to the common shoulder 
 first; and one can trace to this day about lialf-way up the slope the 
 track of their road, unfinished because one of the rude land-owners 
 beyond them forbade the use of his land for that purpose. The 
 consequent delay gave the Birch Hill fellows the victory in point 
 of time, which was virtually the point of victory in the whole mat- 
 ter. Agur Treadwell permitted them to cross his lot, but Amos 
 Birchard put up the bars. At Birchard's boundary, accordingly, all 
 traces of that road begun fade out upon the hillside. Henry Hickox, 
 then an octogenarian, related these facts to the writer many years 
 ago, and added that he himself had rendered a small boy's help to 
 this worthy but futile endeavor of the family. 
 
 The Bee Hill road, already described as reaching to the entrance 
 of Treadwell Hollow, became in 1799 a part of a public Turnpike, 
 connected in North Adams with another Turnpike chartered by the 
 state two years before to run over the Hoosac Mountain to the 
 Deerfield Kiver, making one continuous road ; so that it became 
 necessary at that time to repair and in some parts to rebuild an old 
 road running up the south branch of the Hemlock Brook from the 
 point where it unites with the Treadwell Hollow Brook to the second 
 of the great passes over tlie Taconics ; namely, to the " Berlin Pass," 
 long so-called from the name of the New York township on the 
 other side of the barrier. Under Massachusetts authority, accord- 
 ingly, the turnpike was completed to the line of New York, and was 
 then carried forward under the auspices of that state up to and 
 over the Gap and down into the valley of the Little Hoosac, and 
 the toll-gate was located at a house only a few rods this side the 
 line on the " Gore," which was then indeed a part of Massachusetts, 
 and forty years later was annexed to Williamstown. This last 
 stretch of the old turnpike from the forks of the brook, which we 
 always call the "Berlin Road," though it is continuous with the 
 Bee Hill road, and also with the " Hemlock Road " from John Sher- 
 
26 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 man's up Hemlock Brook to the forks, runs almost due west and 
 pretty steadily up hill past three farms, each of which has an inter- 
 esting history, for one mile and a half in Massachusetts and fully 
 another mile in New York to the Berlin Pass. 
 
 On the right hand as one trudges up this road there rises a lofty 
 conical hill, beautiful in outline, around whose base the road winds 
 from the point where the New York line is crossed to the spring of 
 water at the foot of the last ascent leading up to the Pass. This 
 almost mathematically symmetrical hill as seen from a distance is 
 in fair continuation of the much larger Leet Hill, the two together 
 filling up the whole space between the two passes, with the Leet 
 
 4. Mount Hopkins. 
 
 'BERLIN PASS. 
 2. Dodd's Cone. 
 
 3. Leet Hill. 
 
 farm nestling between the two hills. Among all the varied summits 
 of the Taconics in this part of their range this particular cone is 
 unique ; and it has been known for some time to a narrow circle of 
 friends, and the present writer strongly desires that it may be known 
 for all time in the widest manner, as " Dodd's Cone " ; in perpetual 
 recognition of Cyrus Morris Dodd of the class of 1855, long Profes- 
 sor of Mathematics in the College, a man of exact knowledge, ele- 
 gant taste, perfect temper, Christian patience, thorough kindness of 
 heart, and a genuine courtesy of mien consequent upon that. As a 
 long-time colleague watching his fidelity to duty, as a trustful friend 
 seeing him victor in recurring adversities, the writer pays with 
 heartfelt pleasure this little tribute which may perhaps be remem- 
 bered when both are dead. 
 
 There have been times when a tin cup might be seen hanging to 
 a stake set by public authority or private benevolence near the little 
 
SITUATION. 27 
 
 spring that bubbles up at the base of the hist lift before the Pass is 
 reached. Foot-travellers and others usually refreshed themselves 
 here often in ways more primitive and perhaps more satisfactory 
 than drinking from the public cup. Even a leisurely walker will pass 
 in ten minutes from this point to the desired summit, which is 2192 
 feet above tide-water. The resemblance to a saddle is not so marked 
 in this mountain depression as in the more northern one, although 
 the land on both sides the road, and on both acclivities for a consid- 
 erable distance, is completely bare of trees and is smooth and culti- 
 vable meadow or pasture. Open and ploughable ground to the north 
 rises gradually up in the rear of Dodd's Cone, but there is no knob 
 in it comparable to a pommel ; and similar land slopes up from the 
 road on the south towards Mount Hopkins, but there is no arch in 
 it at the right distance which the fancy can frame into a cantel But 
 the Pass is a grand and noble spot on this old earth. The scene to 
 the westward and southward is broader and lovelier than at Peters- 
 burg ; cultivated fields and patches of orchard and wooded hilltops 
 and pastures dotted with grazing cattle fill the nearer view in sum- 
 mer time ; in contrast with the green fields and green M'oods, the 
 country roads shimmer and glisten like long strips of white rib- 
 bands ; with the sun at the proper angle in the western sky, the 
 brooks dancing from their uplands towards the central valley gleam 
 and shine at intervals like ribs of molten silver ; and the observer 
 fortunate in the time of his visit may say of these quiet homesteads 
 and long reaches of sleeping and beautiful landscape, as Whittier 
 said of his lower years when the height of his life was reached, how 
 
 these — 
 
 Now lie below me green and still 
 Beneath a level sun ! 
 
 Two or three other characteristic differences between the Berlin 
 and Petersburg passes will put us into still better possession of the 
 peculiarities of the former. Thus the northern one is exactly in 
 the line of the highest peaks of the Taconics, along its own part of 
 the ridge both north and south ; while the southern one is out of 
 range with its nearest summits, being decidedly west and back of these 
 as one approaches from "William stown. Moreover, Petersburg is 
 half and half between the two states, the line crossing the very 
 ridge of the Pass ; while Berlin is wholly in Xew York, a full mile 
 west of the line. Then two passable roads converge at the former 
 gap, the onp running up Treadwell Hollow, also the usual Petersburg 
 road creeping along the shoulder of the foot-hills ; while there is 
 but one road can take the passenger up to and over the Berlin Pass. 
 
28 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Also the access to Petersburg, whichever road be chosen, is through 
 woods and waste lands and past uncovered cellars and signs of deso- 
 lation and abandonment ; but the Berlin road goes past pretty good 
 farms on either hand, and the last one (the old toll-gate farm) 
 became noted for its productiveness under the ownership of Alexan- 
 der Walker and the industry of his family, canny Scotch people 
 from Aberdeenshire : the parents married there Aug. 1, 1856. Mr. 
 Walker could handle the fiddle-bow and the surveyor's instruments 
 with about equal facility ; but as the lines fell to him in this coun- 
 try in prosy times and non-piping localities, the Scotch reels and 
 strathspeys, of which he was a master and even a successful com- 
 poser and publisher, slumbered for the most part upon the bridge of 
 his fiddles, of which he invented and perhaps patented a prized 
 improvement. Nevertheless, his residence at the head of the gorge, 
 where the Fosters had lived for three generations, threw a sort of 
 halo of music and good cheer up and down the valley, and proved 
 to many persons a kind of subtle attraction not only for the Pass, 
 but also for Mount Hopkins beyond it. Even the New York land 
 to the very top of the gap has seen its days of fertility; for Enos 
 Briggs, whose well-walled cellar is still conspicuous on the left of the 
 road above the spring, was so successful in the culture of turnips on 
 that side hill during the first two decades of this century, that he long 
 went by the name of "Turnip Briggs " ; and persons were still living 
 in Williamstown in 1885 who remembered clearly seeing this hum- 
 ble vender of vegetables sell his savory wares along the single vil- 
 lage street. It is but fair to add, that the ashes of the heavy hard 
 woods burned on the clearings gave a quickness and strength to 
 that soil for a time, of which it was long since deprived. And 
 lastly, no wagon road leads from the Petersburg Pass either north 
 or south, though there is a foot-path running north to the Snow- 
 Hole ; but from the Berlin Pass a comparatively well-trodden road 
 for common vehicles turns off to the left towards a notable and so 
 frequented objective which will shortly engage our attention for a 
 little. 
 
 In the meantime let us take our last look from the Gap itself. To 
 the eastward and over the entire valley of the Green Hiver stands in 
 almost startling distinctness the whole range of Greylock, or " Sad- 
 dle Mountain," as it has long been, and is also best, named. We 
 are indeed on ground 1343 feet lower than the highest peak of that 
 range, which is properly called " Greylock," and 411 feet lower than 
 the summit point of Bald Mountain, and also 405 feet below the 
 centre peak of Prospect, and yet all that is most worth the seeing in 
 
SITUATION. 
 
 29 
 
 remarkably isolated group that holds the highest mountain iu 
 Massachusetts is quite under our eye from the Hoosac Kiver to 
 Pontoosuc Lake. Saddle Mountain may well be compared to a 
 human left lung with its three distinct lobes. If one will conceive 
 of such a lung magnified to mountain size, and lying lengthwise to 
 the observer with the due depressions between the lobes, and the top 
 of each of these puckered up into peaks at the proper points, and that 
 one of the lobes nearest the beholder pai-ted in the middle in such a 
 way as to display the central and highest lobe from top to bottom 
 through the cleft, he will have before his mind's eye a fair image of 
 Saddle Mountain as it appears from Berlin Pass and as it is in reality. 
 
 ;^-wU-,- 
 
 
 ii 
 
 
 ■THE HOPPER.' FROM BERLIN PASS. 
 
 
 1. Greylock. 
 
 4. Mount Moore. 7. Bald Mountain. 
 
 
 2. Mount Williams. 
 
 5. Mount Griffin. 8. Simonds Peak. 
 
 
 3. Mount Fitch. 
 
 6. Slope Norton. 9. Mount Chadbourne. 
 
 
 The western lobe of this huge mass of correlated mountain is cut 
 into two parts by the "Hopper" so-called, a sharp-cut opening 
 through the middle of it down to the base of Greylock itself, which 
 is the majestic crown of tlie second and central lobe, so that as seen 
 through the Hopper there is displayed to the on-looker from the 
 Taconics the imperial western front of Greylock from very bottom 
 to very top. The northern half of this first lobe thus bisected in 
 some great convulsion of Nature is "Prospect" proper; and from the 
 Hopper Brook that bathes the foot of both the halves, the jagged past- 
 ure and forest land shoots up at an angle of thirty-three degrees into 
 "Simonds Peak," 2600 feet above tide-water more or less. Simonds 
 Peak is clearly seen from several of the prominent streets of Pitts- 
 
30 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 field, and indeed it was named thus in commemoration of our Revolu- 
 tionary colonel by the gifted historian of that town, Dr. Smith. 
 From this its highest point, Mount Prospect declines towards the 
 north at a pretty steady angle for a mile or more, and then falls 
 sharply off into the so-called " Slope Norton," which carries the hill 
 down gradually to that intervale of the Hoosac on which stood old 
 Fort Massachusetts. " Bald Mountain " heads the southern half of 
 the western lobe, and lifts itself up from the Hopper Brook quite 
 as steeply, though not quite so high, as its fellow-mount across the 
 gorge ; but the rest of this part is not quite parallel with the central 
 lobe, and is not in strict continuation therefore of Mount Prospect, 
 but bends decidedly towards the west, and after a long and compara- 
 tively low depression from the summit of Bald Mountain, it rises 
 gracefully again and ends grandly, though not loftily, in "Mount 
 Chadbourne." The writer ventures to apply this name to the beauti- 
 fully rounded and wooded height that terminates the western lobe 
 of Saddle Mountain, in future memory of the fifth president of 
 Williams College, with whom, as colleague, professor, and president, 
 he was intimately associated for thirty years. Chadbourne loved 
 the hills and the trees and the rocks and the flowers. He knew 
 every nook and corner of this fair town. Ko species of plant, no 
 form of animal life, no geological peculiarity, escaped his eye. Ko 
 name has ever before been given to this bluff and full yet human and 
 tender height. Shall we, then, friends living and to come, call it 
 once and for all Mount Chadbourne ? 
 
 It must not be inferred from what has just been said, that at all 
 times one can have a clear vision through the Hopper to the base of 
 Greylock, even from such an elevated lookout as the Berlin Pass. 
 Sometimes the Avhite clouds fill up the opening from top to bottom, 
 cover Bald and Simonds with a fleecy mantle that never felt the 
 loom, rise and wholly envelop old Greylock himself, or hang like 
 Burns' s " haffets " on either side of his hoary head, as the name 
 implies, then float along in rolls and folds (as they did this morning), 
 rising and falling, tarrying and hesitating, concealing and then reveal- 
 ing all the peaks of the group, and at last ascend from their transient 
 resting-places between the lobes and from along the slopes and tops 
 into the sunny or starry sky. After such a morning it often happens 
 that the atmosphere becomes the most transparent, the vision into 
 the Hopper the most penetrating, and the grand outline of the 
 mountain the sharpest against the opposing sky. Sometimes, again, 
 the summer shower-clouds and the wilder storm-clouds of rain, or 
 snow, or hail pack the Hopper to its fullest capacity, and press down 
 
SITUATION. 31 
 
 into the shallow valleys between the lobes, and burden the broad 
 mountain tops, till, like an over-cargo filling a ship's hold, and spread 
 upon the deck also, they seem to sink the mountain to the water's 
 edge I Oftener than appear these cloud and storm effects, however, 
 and especially in the gala months of June and October, such a clear 
 and blessed light is thrown into this hollow of hollows (one might 
 almost write holy of holies) that it seems as if the trees and even 
 the limbs might be counted one by one as they clothe the steep hill- 
 side; and when the early frosts have painted the leaves of the 
 deciduous trees in every color of the rainbow, and the evergreens 
 scattered everywhere among them set off by way of contrast the 
 gorgeous colors, to look in upon the three sides of the great Hopper 
 from the west, each vying with the other two in splendor, or to look 
 down upon them all at once from the summit of Bald or of Simonds, 
 is such a sight that its impression never fades out from the mind of 
 any lover of natural beauty, and no one seeing it ever expects to see 
 it surpassed this side of the new Jerusalem. 
 
 But our footing at the Gap is exalted enough to overlook alto- 
 gether the first parallel of Saddle Mountain, and to enable us to see 
 something of the broad shoulders and shallow valleys (disjointed by 
 the Hopper) connecting that line with the second and loftier one, 
 and also visually to take in from end to end the middle lobe of our 
 Titanic lung. It is at least five miles as the bird flies from Mount 
 Williams, the northern height of this central battlement, to the 
 point of "Mount Griffin," its southern height. The eye first takes 
 in the meadow on which Fort Massachusetts once stood; runs up 
 Slope Hawks, which connects the site of the fort with Mount Wil- 
 liams, itself a magnificent protuberance of mountain, dominating the 
 valley of the Hoosac, and the rampart on one side of the '• Ther- 
 mopylae of New England," as that valley was once called by Edward 
 Everett ; glances on to " Mount Fitch," the next and only high peak 
 of that ridge to the north of Greylock, receiving its appropriate 
 name many years ago from the Hopkins Alpine Club in memory of 
 the first president of the College ; rests then for a little on the tow- 
 ering point of Greylock, an immemorial name; then drops some- 
 what to an even stretch of mountain ridge, only broken by two 
 slight swells close together with a little rift between them, which 
 we have called " Mount Moore," to commemorate the second presi- 
 dent of the College ; and at last rests to return on the southmost 
 point of the central ridge, which drops off very sharply into the 
 foot-hills encircling Pontoosuc Lake, and which has been named 
 Mount Griflin, in perpetual honor of the third president of the Col- 
 
32 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 lege. As fronting the Taconics, old Greylock is grandly flanked on 
 the right by Fitch and AVilliams ; on the left by Moore and Grifiin ; 
 and in his front are Simonds, Bald, and Chadbourne. Fitch and 
 Moore are nearly eqni-distant from Greylock on either hand, and 
 so again are Williams and Griffin nearly equi-distant from the other 
 two on either hand, and from Greylock itself. President Moore, as 
 we may perhaps learn at length on a future page, was doubtful 
 whether the College could ever flourish in so inaccessible a place as 
 William stown then was ; and his thoughts wavered during the six 
 years he was here, between the valley of the Connecticut and the 
 valley of the Hoosac as the true position for the College ; and he at 
 last went to Amherst to become the flrst president there, and took a 
 large portion of the students with him ; for which reasons his por- 
 trait is not with the rest in the gallery of this college, and his name 
 has been rarely mentioned of late years in connection with its his- 
 tory ; but it is certain that he was actuated by honorable motives in 
 those transactions from first to last, and his name deserves respect- 
 ful recognition in the memorials of this college, and so far as the 
 present writer can secure that result, it will rest for all time upon 
 the not inconspicuous twin peaks already designated ; and any one's 
 fancy may play, if it will, between the two neighboring peaks as 
 outward tokens of the mind of good Dr. Moore wavering between 
 Berkshire and Hampshire. 
 
 "Wilbur's Pasture" is the mountain farm, though there were 
 never homestead buildings upon it, which occupies the shoulder 
 uniting Prospect with Mount Williams, in short, the seat of the 
 saddle that gave the entire mountain its name to those who trav- 
 elled up and down the Hoosac by the old path of the Mohawks. 
 " Harrison's Farm," on the other hand, which had upon it a good 
 house and a large barn, and was very fertile in the early days, is 
 the uniting shoulder and valley between Bald Mountain and Grey- 
 lock; and rude and early wagon roads, that are still travelled in 
 summer-time more or less, led from some of the thoroughfares of 
 Williamstown to these sky farms. The first circled around Mount 
 Williams from the " Notch Road," so called, into Wilbur's Pasture, 
 and the other, starting from the west side of the mountain, wound 
 through the Hopper and up Bald Mountain to Harrison's Farm ; 
 and these immense pastures and the woods bordering on them fill 
 up for the most part the interval between the first and second lines 
 of the mountain, and each furnished a route to the summit of Grey- 
 lock, but only sinewy pedestrians or audacious horseback riders 
 essayed this final stage of the journey. 
 
SITUATION. 33 
 
 This casual mention of the •• Notch Road '' may serve to introduce 
 that needs now be said about the third lobe of Saddle Mountain. 
 This is the eastern parallel of the mountain, is much lower than 
 either of the others, has been called from immemorial time '* Raven 
 Rock " ; the Ashuwillticook or south brancli of the Hoosac washes 
 the whole length of its eastern flank ; the valley between it and the 
 Greylock ridge is wider and more cultivable than the shoulder 
 valleys on the other side, and it extends considerably further north 
 than the other ridges. Indeed, it dips down in " Furnace Hill " to 
 the very brink of the Hoosac at the junction of the Ashuwillticook 
 and the Mayunsook. It is over this ridge that the sun rises in 
 winter to the folks in the village of Williamstown, its height being 
 such as to hide from them the much higher range of tlie Hoosacs ; 
 it also hides from the same the houses of their neighbors in North 
 Adams ; and the " Little Tunnel " of the great Hoosac Tunnel Rail- 
 way passes under it just as it loses itself on the river's brink. The 
 valley between Raven Rock and Greylock is the " Notch," and the 
 southern end of it, of remarkable construction, is the '' Bellows- 
 Pipe." It lies wholly in the old township of East Hoosac; the 
 farms within it were early settled ; the Wilburs, by whom the past- 
 ure above was owned and cleared, and from whom it is named, 
 were perhaps the principal family in the Notch ; and the graphic 
 fitness of the name " Bellows-Pipe " will be seen when it is said, that 
 the northern winds and storms sucked and pushed through the long 
 and narrow Notch escape from it with a bound and a burst and 
 a howl over the rising shoulder at the southern end (seeking in vain 
 to confine them) into the broad open beyond. 
 
 Our visual excursions from the Berlin Pass are now over. It 
 only remains, from this Pass as a standpoint, because the rude 
 road diverges here that leads up to "Mount Hopkins," to give some 
 account of this loftiest bulge of the Taconics within sight of the 
 town and the college, to unfold the grounds on which it has been 
 sought for many years to attach an honored name to this particular 
 mountain, and to commend in fair but strong terms to all lovers of 
 natural scenery (both transient and resident) repeated visits to 
 this chief glory of the Taconics — this never-humbled pride of the 
 Williamstown valley — before they leave the region for good, or 
 suppose that they have seen all of its wonders. Because this Pass 
 is a mile back from the general trend of the Taconics in this part 
 of*their course, the road leading from it to Mount Hopkins must 
 regain that distance to the eastward before this summit is gained, 
 which stands about in line with Dodd's Cone and Leet Hill. Only 
 
34 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 stopping now to fling out an exhortation or two to the authorities 
 that are to be in the future to construct a good road from the Pass 
 to the summit, and just to say that the present bridle-path turns 
 first south and then sharp southeast and east for the mile and 
 a half between the points, we may find ourselves shortly upon 
 a broad patch of cleared land nearly level, that has often felt the 
 plough and the harrow and the hoe, and doubtless yielded full returns 
 to the husbandman's toil and sweat, and that is 2790 feet above the 
 sea-level, and 2082 feet above the old astronomical observatory on 
 the College grounds. 
 
 About the beginning of the present century, a man by the name 
 of Macomber owned and cleared up this land, and had his dwelling 
 and barn upon it, and used to carry down upon his back a bag of 
 grain now and then to a mill on the Little Hoosac, in or near 
 what is now the village of Berlin, New York. The mountain came 
 thence to be known as the " Macomber " Mountain, and was com- 
 monly so designated in Williamstown during the first quarter of 
 the century. If this name had become firmly fixed to the moun- 
 tain on both sides of it, the present writer would have been the last 
 man in the world to try to dislodge it, for he not only believes that 
 civilization rests on the plough, but also that no other man's name 
 is so fit to be fixed on any patch of ground anywhere as his, who 
 has subdued and replenished it. But Macomber was not so fortu- 
 nate as this. Gradually on the other side it came to be called the 
 "Williamstown" Mountain, and on this side (queerly enough) it 
 came to be generally named the " Berlin" Mountain, neither of which 
 names had any significance or appropriateness ; and under these cir- 
 cumstances, to christen the height became a lawful privilege to any 
 one who could establish a claim to be godfather, either in his own 
 behalf, or in that of another. The turnpike over the Pass made the 
 place accessible from both sides ; Macomber had a sort of farm road 
 from the turnpike to his homestead ; doubtless a few students may 
 have clambered up there from time to time, but it was not the 
 custom in the early days of the College, as it has happily become 
 since, for the students to explore all the hills and to dive into all the 
 valleys, — a pilgrimage or two to Greylock quite sufficed the average 
 student for his college course; and so it came about that Harry 
 Hopkins, the president's eldest son, who was graduated in 1858, 
 and who became a fearless and efficient chaplain in the Union 
 army during the Civil War, discovered, or rather rediscovered, this 
 splendid outlook for west and south and north and east. He experi- 
 enced the joy of having found something new, something at least 
 
SITUATION. 35 
 
 practically unknown in his own time. He went there often him- 
 self, and also took his friends thither. Among others he took up 
 his uncle, Albert Hopkins. The veteran naturalist was delighted. 
 He, too, began to frequent the place in his leisure hours. He even 
 extemporized an observatory there to broaden, or rather to deepen, 
 the view to the east ; but the unchecked winds dealt roughly with 
 the structure, as with so many others of similar character in the 
 neighborhood. 
 
 But let the good man himself describe a little, and |)ropose a 
 little in his own words. 
 
 One peculiarity in the Taconic range is the spurs which it sends out. Look 
 at the Hoosac range, east of Adams ; how uniform it is. On the other hand, 
 let one ride from Williamstown to Hancock, and notice the mountains on his 
 right. He is continually passing buttresses or spurs, which push their roots 
 out almost to the highway. Between these he sees valleys, or perhaps they 
 ought to be called gorges or ravines, pushing their way far in toward the back- 
 bone of the chain. From a foot-path south of the Berlin summit, you will emerge 
 into an open place, where you will for a time forget that there is anything higher 
 or finer to be sought. At this point you have the full effect of these spurs 
 which you will now perceive are an appendage of the west as well as of the east 
 flank of the mountain, and which appear (to use rather a vulgar comparison) 
 like hogs' backs. The effect of these sub-chains as seen from the point I am 
 now speaking of, is heightened by the fact that they jut out nearly at right 
 angles to the general trend of the mountain on whose crest we are walking. 
 Nature does not often deal in right angles. Hence we are more struck by an 
 appearance of geometrical precision when we observe it in the grouping of nat- 
 ural objects. Having inserted our gimlet into a dead beech, and swung our 
 barometer with its basin as nearly as possible on a level with the summit, we 
 walked here and there to get the views. The Katskills could certainly be seen ; 
 though I had great difficulty in convincing my friend, Dr. N. H. Griffin, of 
 the fact. He would still insist that the "faint pencillings" on the sky, which 
 I pointed out to him as terra finna^ lay in cloud land. To me they were masses, 
 lofty, grand, substantial ; to him they were like the " baseless fabric of a 
 dream," a mirage, which some change in the atmosphere would melt up, or 
 some gust of wind would topple over. One thing we saw whicli was remark- 
 able. It was a very bright light, evidently beyond the Hud.son, which occasion- 
 ally flashed up and then disappeared. My explanation of it (perhaps incorrect) 
 was this : the sky being partly overcast, the sun's rays fell at intervals on the 
 roof of some glass structure, some greenhouse, perhaps, between Troy and 
 Albany, and hence this alternating light. I cannot enter into particulars ; but 
 will say in general that the view from this point more nearly resembles that 
 from Greylock than any other in the neighborhood. It was first brought into 
 notice by Chaplain Hopkins, with whose name I should like to see it associated. 
 The matter of names, however, is rather a delicate and difficult one. When we 
 reached the usual summit crossing on our return, I told my friend to clap down 
 and look at the landscape backward with his head inverted. The experi- 
 ment seemed new to him, and I introduce it here because, though really an old 
 
36 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 experiment, as old at least as the days of my grandfather [Curtis], who taught 
 it to me on Sky Lot [in Stockb ridge], yet the philosophy of it, I mean of the 
 effect, I have never seen fully explained ; and am in doubt whether it is a ques- 
 tion for the professors in optical science or physiology to explain. 
 
 However much Chaplain Hopkins may have been pleased with 
 this pleasant token of his uncle's good-will, he was too modest and 
 too meritorious a man not to see at once that, if the name "Hop- 
 kins " were to be permanently affixed to the mountain, it must be on 
 the ground of the merits of men older and greater and more con- 
 spicuous than himself. And there were two such men at hand 
 bearing the name, who had spent long and useful and far-out-reach- 
 ing lives under the shadow of the mountain, — his uncle and his 
 father. The former, the first • proposer of the name in behalf of 
 another, was on the whole himself the most worthy to have his 
 worth perpetuated till the end of time in the name of one of those 
 " everlasting hills," to which he Avas so fond of referring in talk and 
 sermon. He was an intense lover of iSTature, a more intense and 
 devoted lover of mankind, and a most intense and consecrated 
 lover of God. But why not have the name of the mountain 
 commemorate for all time his brother also, and his nephew too, 
 as he himself originally proposed ? For fifty years Mark Hopkins 
 was the pride and the pillar of the College ; for forty years Albert 
 Ho2:)kins was in holy charge of the Ark of God both in the College 
 and the town ; and for many years Harry Hopkins was a Christian 
 frontiersman in the valley of the Missouri, an efficient organizer 
 and father of new churches, a bishop indeed within that fold and 
 form of Christianity whose boast it was and is to be "a church 
 without a bishop and a state without a king." He carried Williams- 
 town ideas and Williams College influences into the great valley of 
 the continent in its germinating time, and scattered them there 
 widely and wisely. 
 
 To any one approaching the Taconics from the eastward, or look- 
 ing at them from any eminence on that side, there are twin peaks 
 on this particular swell, of which the northern one is indeed the 
 highest as measured by the barometer, but the other one appears as 
 high from many points as measured by the eye. It is, however, 
 one mountain, one Mount Hopkins, with two predominating points, 
 one for each of two brothers, par nohile fratrum, of whom it is diffi- 
 cult to say which were the greater, so different were they in their 
 temperament and in the tenor of their lives. And between these 
 mountain peaks, as always in such cases, there is a connecting link, 
 part valley and part shoulder, all one mountain still ; and so, why 
 
SITUATION. 37 
 
 may not this lower height, this link touching each and uniting both, 
 be a fit symbol of the younger and less gifted, yet not less loving 
 man, who reached his full hand and great heart to his bereaved 
 uncle when the latter's only son fell in battle for his country, with- 
 out withdrawing one tittle of lilialness as the first-born son of his own 
 father? So let it be. One mountain, one name, three persons, 
 one family, no desigmited part to commemorate any particular one, 
 an earthly trinity in unity, locally fixed and bound to endure. 
 
 It happened that the writer was travelling a few days ago in 
 Washington County, New York, and was facing over what is called 
 ^' Oak Hill " on the old stage road between Albany and Whitehall, 
 a few miles north of Tyashoke on the Hoosac, and so was enabled 
 to gain a fair view of the northern Taconics in general and of Mount 
 Hopkins in particular from distant and elevated points to the north- 
 west. The truth is, the people in the Williamstown valley are too 
 near the Taconics to be able to appreciate fully their height and 
 their beauty and their wonderful variety. To see them on their 
 New York side and from twenty miles away is to get a new impres- 
 sion of, and feel a higher respect for, this mountain barrier, that 
 has divided in the minds of men since 1664 the old Province of the 
 Massachusetts Bay and the still older Province of New Netherland. 
 The same remark may be made, and with still greater emphasis, of 
 Saddle Mountain with all its lobes and peaks. Here, too, in a cer- 
 tain sense "distance lends enchantment to the view." The high 
 road over the Oak Hill of Washington County, at whose base flows 
 the old Dutch stream of Owl Kill, up whose sluggish current lay 
 the weary march in 1746 of the captives of Fort Massachusetts 
 towards Canada, also gives clear and splendid views of Greylock 
 and Williams and Fitch and Bald and Simonds, as well as of the 
 whole mass together and of the huge cleft in its western side. 
 Moreover, Mason\s Hill, in Pownal, and Mount Anthony, in Benning- 
 ton, offer superb views of Saddle Mountain from the north. The 
 old " Indian Path " over the Hoosacs, and the turnpike that crossed 
 and recrossed that, hold out grand points of view from the east ; 
 and there are hills in Rowe and Windsor and Ashfield, and doubtless 
 many other towns in Berkshire and Franklin counties that are bold 
 enough to overlook the Hoosacs sufficientl}' to present to a good eye 
 Greylock certainly, and less distinctly its neighbor peaks on either 
 hand. 
 
 Since the eastern and southeastern foot of Mount Hopkins 
 broadens down into some tolerably level land, on which a part of 
 the original second division of fifty-acre lots was laid out; and 
 
38 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 since John and William Torrey, brothers, from Middletown, Connecti- 
 cut, settled on some of these lands about 1766, and numbers of their 
 descendants have been living ever since upon the same and neigh- 
 boring farms, we will venture to call this strip of land the " Torrey 
 Plateau," because this was from the first a family of marked char- 
 acteristics, and deserved to have, as will fully appear on later pages, 
 their name commemorated locally in the section of the town which 
 their toil helped to clear of its primeval forest. When the Presi- 
 dent's house, that had been formerly occupied by the Whitmans, 
 was being repaired for the residence of Dr. Carter, in 1881, a bit 
 of time-stained paper was found in the rubbish, with many other 
 similar ones of like purport signed by other parties, inscribed as 
 follows : 
 
 WiLLIAMSTOWN Aug 20 1803 
 Mr Whitman Sir please to send me by the Bearer two Quarts of your Best 
 rum and charge the same to me and in so doing you will Oblige your friend and 
 humble Servant 
 
 John Torrey Jr 
 
 This John Torrey was born Dec. 11, 1774, on the Torrey Plateau. 
 The handwriting was fair, and the spelling was good, but there wa& 
 an entire absence of punctuation-marks, probably because he was in 
 a hurry for his beverage ! 
 
 The next loop of the Taconics south of Mount Hopkins is " Mc- 
 Master Mountain" ; and the Pass that divides the two, and furnishes 
 a way for the third road over the barrier and into the state of New 
 York, has now been called for sundry years the " Kidder Pass." The 
 two earliest settlers in the southwest of Williamstown were E-obert 
 McMaster and Moses Rich, both from Palmer or its immediate 
 neighborhood, and both taking up their lots near each other, in the 
 spring of 1763, on the brook which flows down this Pass in two 
 branches, uniting just on the original west line of Williamstown. 
 The Pass itself, and the road leading up to it between these two 
 branches, and the mountain to the south of it, were all on the 
 '• Gore," so called ; and there were several men living in Williams- 
 town 123 years after McMaster and Rich built their first houses on 
 the brook below, who remembered that in their boyhood this whole 
 hollow, and the mountain to the left of it, was called "Mac's 
 Pattin." Among those still living who remember that designation 
 are James Smedley, Eaton Johnson, and B. P. Mills. What the 
 word "pattin" meant, nobody seemed to know or care. That is the 
 way the boys heard it, and so the old men pronounce it. One thing 
 makes it all clear : All the town lots were deeded in the ordinary 
 
SITUATION. 39 
 
 way; but this land was on the Gore, and so belonged to the Com- 
 monwealth ; and the instrument conveying rights of possession was 
 called a '-patent," as proceeding from the sovereign authority. 
 McMaster was an enterprising farmer, as became a Scotch-Irish 
 Presbyterian, and added to his home lot lying in Williamstown 
 a huge patch of mountain land that had belonged to the state ; and 
 his name has thus been perpetuated in connection with that pur- 
 chase. "McMaster Mountain," accordingly, is well designated; 
 and we leave it to our readers to affix the name beyond all possi- 
 bility of change. 
 
 This *• pattin " brook, after an easterly course of two miles and 
 a sudden lurch to the north, falls into the Hemlock Brook just as 
 that, too, takes its final bend northwards. This junction of the two 
 brooks is right at the corner of the " Torrey Woods," as these are 
 entered from the Hemlock road. There was a road very early laid out 
 to " convean" the fifty-acre lots of the second division, which ran due 
 west in continuation of the Green River road, when that abandoned 
 the stream at some distance above the "Krigger Mills " and passed 
 over Stone Hill, crossing the old county road at right angles and 
 forming ''Woodcock's Corner," so called, and then dropped down 
 into the valley of this brook and up the stream towards the Pass. 
 Most of the way the present road follows this old line into the 
 northern end of " Oblong Road," so called, while the Kidder Pass 
 road, now but little travelled, is a much later extension, continuing 
 the old road over the Taconics and down into the village of Berlin, 
 New York. The best house along this old road was built in 1804 
 by a family of the name of " Sweet," and it was long occupied by 
 them, but towards the end of the century was long owned and lived 
 in by Dan Phelps. The name of the proprietor, through whose 
 farm the brook flowed, became gradually and properly attached to 
 the brook itself, and so it is and always will be called the " Sweet 
 Brook." 
 
 McMaster early opened a farm road up between the two little 
 branches of Sweet Brook into his patent on the Gore. In process 
 of time, two or three small and rude farms worked themselves out 
 of the forest into the light upon the side hills along these brooklets. 
 Although the cellar of the homestead, one of the most indestructible 
 memorials of human habitation in such places, is still visible enough, 
 the lowest of these farms was long ago abandoned to a forlorn past- 
 ure ; but the upper one, near the summit of the Pass, is still more 
 or less cultivated, and, indeed, has been divided into two, and two 
 poor houses, or rather shanties, one on either side of the road, send 
 
40 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 up from time to time their smoke into the sky. George Kidder and 
 his wife, after whom the Pass is named, lived in one of these shan- 
 ties forty years and more. She was the widow of James Eichards, 
 who died here in a January when the Pass was terribly drifted, and 
 lies buried near the shanty beneath an unlettered headstone. Shall 
 we give a moment here to the short and simple annals of the poor ? 
 George Kidder, a native of Townsend, a carriage painter by trade, 
 found his way to Troy, New York ; he had lost his wife, and having 
 a bad felon on his finger, and supposing he had lost the use of his 
 hand, wandered rather than went to the village of Berlin ; and com- 
 ing over the Pass one day, he found Mrs. Eichards trying to gather 
 in her corn all alone ; he took hold and helped her what he could 
 
 I. Martin's Mount. 
 
 "JOHNSON PASS 
 2. Connstock Heights. 
 
 KIDDER PASS. 
 3. Mount Mills. 
 
 4. McMaster Mountain. 
 
 *'with the gleanings," as he said; he got dirt into his sore, she 
 washed it out and dressed it; "she told me she had this little 
 place, — some debt on it then, — we paid it up, and we've lived here 
 ever since." Kidder was three years in the late war as a private 
 soldier in the 37th Massachusetts, Colonel Eichards, was ruptured 
 in the service, wore a truss ever after, " never got any pension, — if 
 Dr. Duncan had lived, he would have helped me get it." The 
 Kidders had no children, but they adopted and brought up a boy, 
 Albert Brooks, to whom, when he married, they gave twenty acres 
 of poor land near their own place, and he built a shanty there for 
 himself. " Two children and well on for another," Kidder once told 
 the writer, in reference to the new family. " Albert is working now 
 on t'other side the mountain, getting out ash for Wood's mowers 
 and reapers at Hoosac Palls. The oldest boy used to come over 
 
SITUATION. 41 
 
 here last summer a good deal, — I sot tC'-ijUKtcj un imn." An amus- 
 ing incident is well authenticated in connection with the marriage 
 of Albert Brooks : he brought his girl to a minister here in the vil- 
 lage, of a Sunday evening, and paid him one dollar for performing 
 the ceremony ; a shower having sprung up, he borrowed, to protect 
 his bride, an umbrella that had just cost two dollars: the umbrella 
 was not returned, which may be said to have made the whole ser- 
 vice unprofitable to the minister in a pecuniary point of view. To 
 portray the Kidders truthfully, it must be added, that the husband 
 became increasingly intemperate after the w^ar ; and the last time 
 the writer saw the pair together, he was lying on the bank of the 
 Sweet Brook, nearly insensible, while the faithful wife sat in the 
 shade of a neighboring tree, waiting till he should recover enough 
 to climb with her the steep and rough path to their home. 
 
 As the Gore was annexed to Williamstown in 1837, and as the 
 summit of this Pass is within the west line of the Gore, while the 
 summits of the other three are all in a neighboring state, we may 
 perhaps claim the "Kidder" as a peculiar possession of our own, 
 and justify the long digression over its name. It is also noteworthy 
 as being in a special sense face to face with Greylock, which is 
 here disclosed through the Hopper from its high crown to its broad 
 roots ; and there are those who think that the very best views of 
 the valley and the range are to be gathered from this lofty and tor- 
 tuous path ; and it is certain that no one has ever seen either to its 
 absolute perfection who has not climbed on foot or horseback to this 
 particular spot, and turned, as he rested a little from stage to stage, 
 to take long and wide glances backward. 
 
 One more touch, and we leave the Taconics as a range, to return 
 to them not again in further description. The last of the four 
 passes in Williamstown, and about like the others in height, follows 
 up a little brook between the southern end of McMaster Mountain 
 and the next main loop of the Taconics, of which the high northern 
 face is named " Mount Mills." The Pass itself has long been called 
 the "Johnson Pass," in commemoration of Lieutenant David John- 
 son, of whom we shall hear a good deal in the sequel, a man of note 
 among the early settlers, whose farm and home lay at the foot of 
 the Pass, and who helped to construct the rude road over it (still 
 travelled somewhat) in 1813. The farm adjoining Johnson's was at 
 th^t time owned by Charles Sabin, son of Lieutenant Zebediah 
 Sabin, who was a comrade of Johnson's in Arnold's famous expedi- 
 tion up the Kennebec in 1775, and who lost his life upon that expe- 
 dition ; and the farm adjoining Sabin's on the Oblong road, and also 
 
42 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 adjoining on the north Lieutenant Sabin's farm, then occupied by 
 his grandsons, was owned by Captain Samuel Mills. These three 
 men. Mills and Johnson and Sabin, were the prime movers in the 
 building on this side of the road up tlie hollow and over the water- 
 shed ; and some of the enterprising farmers of Berlin did their 
 share of the work at the same time by building the road from that 
 village up the New York slope to the summit. In fact, all the 
 roads over the three southern passes enter that village, as the road 
 over the northern Pass enters the village of Petersburg. 
 
 It throws a clear and pleasant light on the state of things in this 
 region at that time, that one motive on both sides for building the 
 road over the Johnson Pass was to accommodate Dr. Samuel Porter, 
 who lived then on Stone Hill, a famous doctor and bonesetter of 
 his day, who had patients in a wide circuit of country. So far as 
 Captain Mills was concerned, it was another ground of interest in 
 the road, that it opened up a large tract of land belonging to him 
 (and still owned by his grandson), out of which he had already 
 developed a sort of mountain farm, which after his death, in March, 
 1814, was carried on for many years by Walter Converse, who had 
 previously been an inmate of his family. The barn is still standing 
 in the hollow ; and the cellar wall of the house close by the road, 
 the only house ever built in that mountain valley, serves to remind 
 the passer-by that life and love, parents and children, seed-time and 
 harvest, at one time relieved the otherwise utter desolateness of those 
 steep slopes and dismal woods. Olive Converse, afterwards the wife 
 of Justin Torrey, was born in that house ; and Harriet Converse, 
 later the wife of Myron Torrey, spent the first dozen years of her 
 life there, except a few months of its opening; and she told the 
 writer in 1885, that their nearest neighbors on the one hand Avere 
 the Comstocks, who lived in the last house in Williamstown on the 
 Hancock road, and on the other hand, Henry Green's family, who 
 lived in a deep gorge of McMaster Mountain, corresponding in many 
 respects to their own. The farm lay wholly on the Gore, and the 
 family made special arrangements for the schooling of the children 
 in the Sherwood district in Williamstown proper. 
 
 Prom the summit of the Johnson Pass, of which a wide strip Avas 
 long ago completely cleared of woods to feed the capacious maw of 
 a charcoal kiln whose foundations still crown the highest point, any 
 one may see distinctly and grandly, looking to the north, the much 
 higher and smoother and more rounded Berlin Pass, with its neigh- 
 bors, Dodd's Cone and Leet Hill, overtopping it as perpetual senti- 
 nels. Much nearer by may be seen the place where the Kidder 
 
I 
 
 SITUATION. 48 
 
 Pass also overcomes the range ; but that road, both on the summit 
 and on the sunset slope, is concealed from this point of observation 
 by thick woods. The Johnson top is considerably further west than 
 the Kidder, and a little further west than the Berlin, and gives, of 
 course, no such broad views in any direction as does the latter ; for 
 this is comparatively a humble Pass, and commemorates as its pro- 
 moters and the users of its road comj)aratively humble men, though 
 Johnson and [Mills and Sabin were all brave soldiers on the right 
 side in the battle of Bennington, and on other fields besides of patri- 
 otic fight. The finely arched northern brow of the mountain to the 
 south of the Pass, which is in plain sight from the colleges and from 
 most of the lifting points within the valley of Williamstown, we 
 desire to have called in perpetuity " Blount Mills,** because it over- 
 looks the good captain's valley-farm now deserted, and the entire 
 road on either slope on which he and his neighbors wrought for the 
 public good and their own. 
 
 The late Dr. Henry L. Sabin, who died in February, 1884, aged 
 fourscore years and three, once told the writer that he himself, a 
 boy of thirteen, carried refreshments to his uncle, Charles Sabin, 
 and others, while they were at work building the road up this Pass. 
 What these refreshments were in the detail did not at that time 
 transpire, except that they w^ere the ordinary " baiting " or dinner, 
 accompanied, of course, by the then customary stimulus, of which 
 Charles Sabin and his two sons, who then carried on the old Sabin 
 place, were quite too fond. The constant prominence of this family 
 in the town, however, and especially the sturdy patriotism of Lieu- 
 tenant Zebediah Sabin and the excellent character of Anna Dwight, 
 his wife and widow, and the high position of their descendants here, 
 make it every way fitting that this name be affixed to some one of 
 those rock-ribbed hills at whose feet their life work was done. Ac- 
 cordingly, will present contemporaries and coming posterity unite 
 to make current, that the twin egg-shaped hills projecting above the 
 general level of the Taconics to the south of [Mount INIills and near 
 the south line of the town be called " Sabin Heights " hereafter ? 
 These close-nestling hills, too, may be seen from many parts of the 
 main village, in whose homes Dr. Sabin also made himself dear by 
 fifty years of medical ministry. 
 
 May it please the reader, we will now retreat from the Taconic 
 peaks and ravines, which have detained us perhaps too long already, 
 by the old road, of which the Johnson Pass road was but a western 
 continuation, which led straight from the New Ashford road on the 
 east to the Hancock road on the west, between the southern tier of 
 
44 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the 50-acre lots of the second division and the adjoining 100-acre 
 lots. The part of this road eastward from Austin Blair's has been 
 of late years discontinued. Beginning at the end of the long Ob- 
 long, it passed over the gentle and fertile slope of Stratton Moun- 
 tain, giving at first the traveller going east a fine view on his right 
 of " Point Young " and " Martin's Mount " and the other peaks of 
 Jericho Ridge, which is the western side of the mountain mass of 
 which Stratton Mountain is the northern front. The whole is a 
 huge wedge thrust into the Williamstown valley from the south, 
 and flanked on the east by the Ashford Brook and on the west by 
 the Hancock Brook, which two unite at South Williamstown to form 
 Green River. The town of Hancock in the olden time was called 
 "Jericho"; and Martin's Mount is so designated in order to com- 
 memorate Martin Townsend, one of the first settlers of that town, 
 and one of its sturdiest and most picturesque citizens. Williams- 
 town has no claim upon him, though the two towns have had many 
 points of interesting contact ; but his son, Nathaniel, born in 1781, 
 spent a long and honored life here ; and his three grandsons, Rufus 
 M., Martin I., and Randolph W., are all graduates of the College, 
 in '30, '33, and '36, respectively. Martin's Mount is the highest 
 peak on Jericho Ridge, and is nearly opposite the old farm in the 
 valley, which Martin Townsend and Susannah Allen, his wife, (mar- 
 ried in 1773, when he was seventeen and she but fourteen), cleared 
 and cultivated, and upon which they grew rich and old. They 
 spread their first meal in their new home on the top of a barrel, and 
 their lodging-place at first was more primitive than was usual for 
 white folks even in these forests primeval. He was a loyalist in 
 the Revolution, as he had a right to be, and so were several others 
 of the chief men of Jericho. It stands upon a town record of Oc- 
 tober, 1777, that eleven men, of whom he was the first named, " have 
 all of them returned from the enemy, with whom they have been in 
 battle against us." The reference is to the battle of Bennington ; 
 but it has never been exactly cleared up, and never will be, precisely 
 in what capacity or in what degree of active toryism they were in 
 or near that battle. Townsend died on his farm in May, 1848. On 
 his tombstone are these words : '^ Incomprehensible Infinity ! In 
 Him all is right." 
 
 Passing over this cross-road, accordingly, to the Ashford road at 
 Aaron Deming's old place, and up the Ashford road a quarter of 
 a mile or so, we come to an old road on the left hand that goes up 
 alongside ''Roaring Brook" (so called from immemorial time). 
 Roaring Brook falls into the Ashford Brook on the right of the 
 
SITUATION. 
 
 45 
 
 main road a few rocls above this turn. The brook and its many 
 branches drain a wide hill country to the south of Greylock and 
 Bald ^fountain. As this 
 brook road is one way to 
 reach the " Heart of Grey- 
 lock," as it was called by 
 Professor Hopkins and his 
 Alpine Club, a place on 
 the upper reaches of the 
 brook, where tliree of its 
 tributaries pour down in- 
 to a wonderfully hidden 
 recess in the depths of 
 Saddle Mountain, we will 
 follow up the road as far 
 as it goes towards that 
 objective point. For vehi- 
 cles, at present the road 
 ends at the junction on 
 the left of the first large 
 tributary with the main 
 brook, or, as it has been 
 called for a half century 
 or more, at " Goodell's " ; 
 although formerly one 
 road extended up from 
 this point the steep flanks 
 of Bald Mountain, to the 
 Harrison farm between 
 that summit and Grey- 
 lock, and another followed 
 up the main stream some 
 distance further. About 
 1830 there were seven or 
 eight poor houses along 
 this road and brook, and 
 nearly the same number 
 on nearly the same sites 
 about 1890. Daniel Kin- 
 ney, a substantial citizen, 
 early made his home near the entrance to the brook road on the left- 
 hand side of it. This is still called the " Kinney Place." It is on 
 
46 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the 100-acre lot No. 24. One of his daughters married a Com stock, 
 and they had a home in East Street, and became the parents of the 
 late Mrs. Eeed Mills. Zenas Koberts, born Sept. 21, 1781, son of 
 Ard Eoberts and Miriam, lived in one of these houses on the brook 
 before and after 1830. The elder Eoberts, whose name is on many 
 a Eevolutionary muster-roll, and who was in the battle of Benning- 
 ton, and who used, at the beginning of this century, to spay sows 
 and render other like services to his neighbors, lived on the Ashford 
 road a few rods above the turn, on 100-acre lot No. 25, a place still 
 occupied by his descendants. Starling Daniels, of whom we shall 
 hear more by and by, lived during the last part of his life in one 
 of these houses up Eoaring Brook, and his widow and children after 
 him. Some one or more families of the name of Goodell have lived 
 on that road during most of the present century. Mrs. Thompson, a 
 lady of excellent Christian character, lived on the Kinney Place, with 
 her son-in-law, for many years, about 1880. Beautiful house-plants 
 adorned the windows of that old house during her residence in it. 
 
 At Goodell's a considerable tributary falls into Eoaring Brook on 
 the left hand as one goes up, and this branch it is that drains the 
 whole region between Bald Mountain and Mount Chadbourne, and 
 the southern flanks of both of these. We may call this," if we please, 
 "Goodell Brook." Then, following up the main stream, at first 
 along what was once a wagon road, and afterwards along steep banks 
 without any sign of path, we come into a rough and wild and dark 
 gorge, adown which pours over rocks and old roots and fallen trunks 
 our roaring brook, "and hears no sound save his own dashings." 
 The thick woods on the high hillsides right and left have been 
 repeatedly cut off, to be burned into charcoal to feed the furnace fires 
 of the Lanesboro Iron Company. But woods in such places renew 
 their youth like the eagle's. Some trees are always left standing on 
 account of their inaccessibility, and some on account of their com- 
 parative uselessness for furnace purposes ; the soil is dank, and is 
 annually enriched by leaves falling thick on the spot and blown in 
 from the upper hillsides ; sprouts and saplings of all kinds push up 
 with vigor under these circumstances, and it is but a few years after 
 :a cutting when the whole scene seems as dense and wild as it did 
 before the woodman's axe echoed at all up and down the hollow. 
 Less than two miles' ascent brings one from Goodell's into the " Heart 
 of Greylock," well so called ; that is, into an elongated basin tipped 
 at an angle, in the depths of the forest ; into this there tumbles first 
 on the left hand, from some sixty feet above, a strong stream, white 
 with friction from its rocks ; a couple of rods ahead there falls into 
 
SITUATION. 47 
 
 the same, from the right-hand side, a larger brook, though from a 
 lower height, that has drained in its course a part of the " Berry 
 Patch," that is, the lower western slopes of mounts ^Moore and 
 Griffin; while just in front, the main brook dashes down the steep 
 rocks some thirty feet or more into the upper quarter of the basin, 
 having drained from a longer distance the upper and more marshy 
 flanks of the same mountains. Here, then, is the " Heart." This 
 the receptacle and reservoir of the life-blood of this giant mass of 
 mountain. 
 
 A dialogue between Albert Hopkins and one of the young ladies 
 of his Alpine Club, written out by him afterwards, and doubtless 
 somewhat replenished and embellished beyond the actual conversa- 
 tion had on the spot, will give the reader a deeper and jjleasanter 
 impression of the seclusion and grandeur of the place than any pos- 
 sible words of the present writer. It is the lady who opens the 
 dialogue, and the respondent is the Professor himself. 
 
 How still it is ! I have not dared to whisper since we came here. I suppose 
 this is the Heart of Greylock. 
 
 If great Nature is silent, we may well be. 
 
 Does not this remind you, sir, of that place we read of, — "which the 
 vulture's eye hath not seen " ? 
 
 I was thinking of that other pasjiage, — " the earth with its bars is about me 
 forever." It is something to be confronted by great rocky strata, as we are 
 here. 
 
 Since you have spoken, another passage has occurred to me, — " The strength 
 of the hills is His also." 
 
 You may well be reminded of that ; and also of the place where it says, — 
 " If I speak of strength, lo ! He is strong." When we see great rocks inter- 
 lammated, and twisted together like these, we feel our littleness ; we are sure 
 that He who disposed, cemented, and piled them so high above us, could "take 
 no pleasure in the legs of a man or the strength of a horse." 
 
 I wish, sir, you would repeat to me the rest of that passage from Job ; for I 
 have forgotten it. I think I should better understand its meaning here. 
 
 I will repeat the commencement of it. It needs to be read with a com- 
 mentary ; not, as you suggest, that of learned critics or theologians, but of vast 
 objects such as we see around us. The passage would bear to be read by the 
 seaside, or by starlight, as you will see before I have finished repeating it : — 
 
 " He is wise in heart and mighty in strength ; who hath hardened himself 
 
 against Him, and prospered ? , 
 Which removeth the mountains and they know not ; which overtumeth them 
 
 in his anger ; 
 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble ; 
 Which commandeth the sun and it riseth not, and sealeth up the stars ; 
 Which, alone, spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of 
 
 the sea ; 
 
48 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south ; 
 Which doeth great things past finding out ; yea, and wonders without number.'* 
 
 I do not think, sir, I ever heard that passage before. 
 
 Probably not. You had heard it read from a dry wooden desk; and, per- 
 haps, by some lily-fingered clergyman, who never went into the Heart of 
 Greylock, or into the heart of anything. But you will confess to me now the 
 value of a good commentary. 
 
 Let me ask you, sir, whether you think my reference to the passage which 
 speaks of the " vulture's eye and the lion's whelps " was out of place ? 
 
 Perhaps not, though some critics refer that passage to the operations of the 
 miner ; which were on a grand scale anciently, as now. 
 
 I will give you another translation ; and to interest you the more in it, I will 
 tell you that it is by a lady [Louisa Payson Hopkins] , — one who once looked 
 upon Greylock, and also ascended it. At the top of the manuscript is written 
 in pencil, "very literal" ; and though no Hebraist myself, I have reason to 
 believe the translation very exact. You will notice that in this translation the 
 poetical form of the original has been preserved, which has not been done by 
 our translators. 
 
 " As to the earth, out of it cometh bread, 
 And under it is turned up as it were fire. 
 Her stones are the place of sapphires, 
 And her dust is gold for him (man), (or gold is dust for it, — the 
 
 sapphire). 
 The bird of prey knoweth not the path to it, 
 And the vulture's eye hath not seen it. 
 The sons of pride (wild beasts) have not trodden it, 
 The lion hath not passed over it. 
 (Man) layeth his hand upon the flint. 
 He upturneth mountains from their roots, 
 He causeth streams to break out among the rocks. 
 And his eye seeth every precious thing. 
 He restraineth streams from trickling (in the mines), 
 And that which is hid he bringeth to light." 
 
 I had hardly supposed so grand a description could refer to the works of 
 man. 
 
 So it might seem. Yet you remember when I showed you into the Tunnel 
 the other day, we reached a place which no vulture's eye could ever have seen, 
 nor lion's whelps could ever have passed. Whereas, here, methinks, I can even 
 now hear a vulture screaming over us ! Did I tell you that in a chasm near 
 by, or rather, overhanging us, there is a golden eagle's nest ? 
 
 I should think, too, the wild beasts might congregate here in the night season. 
 And as to the Tunnel, I am sure it seemed to me, when we were "there, that the 
 work was almost superhuman. It was frightful, too, so that, if we had not had 
 the chief engineer to pilot us in, I should never have dared to attempt it. But 
 probably in Job's day they knew little of such excavations. 
 
 I am not sure of that. Think of that vast channel or tunnel forty leagues in 
 length, 300 feet wide, and part of it at least cut through the solid rock, cut, too. 
 
SITUATION. 
 
 49 
 
 in Job's clay, perhaps. If our engineers can undertake and perform almost 
 superhuman things, so could those of King Moeris. 
 
 I think there is one thing, however, which, if Job went to visit King Moeris, 
 as according to your suggestion he may have done, to see his hydraulic works, 
 the engineers of the king could not liave shown him. 
 
 I see, I presume, what you are about to say, but go on. 
 
 I think they could not have shown him, as Mr. Granger and Mr. Stowell 
 showed us, how to blast rocks by gunpowder and touch off the blasts by light- 
 ning. 
 
 To say nothing of drilling by compressed air. Well, no doubt science has 
 made great strides since then. But human labor was cheap in old times ; and 
 they pecked away till they accomplished in longer time the same things which 
 we do. But are you sure it is so still here ? 
 
 I thought it was perfectly still. But I think I can hear the wind in those 
 spruces, though they are so high up. I fancy no birds are ever heard here, 
 unless it may be owls or whippoorwilLs. 
 
 You are mistaken in that. We should not expect to hear meadow larks or 
 bobolinks in this deep gulf ; but had we made our visit a few weeks since, we 
 should have heard several sweet singers, — among them the solitary thrush. 
 
 I should like to hear the note of the thrush now. It chimes in so well in 
 great solitudes like these. 
 
 I am glad to see that you distinguish the notes of birds ; even of those that 
 are not very familiar. I do not suppose there are half a dozen young ladies in 
 Williamstown or Adams, and I might go on to Cheshire, Pittsfield, and so on 
 down the County, who ever heard a solitary thrush ; or what amounts to the 
 same thing, who know that they ever heard one. 
 
 Do not speak so disparagingly, sir, of us. 
 
 Of course, I make you an exception ; and a few others, whose education has 
 been conducted on something like rational principles. 
 
 ExciLse me, sir, please, but there are a thousand things here I am eager to 
 examine, and I see the afternoon is wearing away. 
 
 You are afraid of the wild beasts, perhaps, who might be prowling around, if 
 nightfall should overtake us here. But I must detain you a little while longer; 
 for this subject of the abuses of what is popularly termed " education" has been 
 running lately in my mind, and must have vent somewhere. 
 
 Allow me, sir, to say that, if we can ever climb back over these frightful 
 ♦' bars " as you call them, the same good things, which I know you wish to say, 
 might be spoken before a larger audience. 
 
 And a more appreciative one, I fancy. Very well, we will not break friend- 
 ship ; especially here in the " Heart " of Greylock. But look ! How the shadows 
 lengthen ! Is it possible that is the sun, which we see through the gap, so near 
 to the summit of the Taconics ? These "bars " cannot be let down, so we must 
 hasten and scramble over them, or the "sons of pride" will be upon us before 
 we catch a glimpse of Williamstown or White Oaks. 
 
 Like the Professor and his fair band, we, too, must now beat a 
 retreat from the Heart of Greylock ; but as belonging to a younger 
 generation than they, we will, like Wolfe's men at the Heights of 
 Abraham, scramble up the almost perpendicular banks of the brook 
 
50 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 already described, that pours itself foamy into the left auricle of 
 the Heart ; because that route, though rough, will bring us directly 
 up to the now famous Camping-Ground, that lies on the skirts of 
 the Harrison farm upon the high shoulder-valley between Bald 
 Mountain and Greylock. The head spring of this brook is on the 
 flank of Greylock, a little north of the camping-place, and a little 
 east of the cleared ground of the farm ; and a small tributary of it 
 rises in another spring that gushes up within the beat of the camp 
 itself; and here on Williamstown ground, ever after about the year 
 1870 till the present writing, various parties from the leading 
 families of this village have spent a month or two in the summer- 
 time, camping out on one- or the other of the tiny tines of this fluent 
 fork ; outdoor life at such an elevation and amid such wonders and 
 solitudes of Nature is found to be at once restful and exhilarating ; 
 all the points of interest in the neighborhood of the camp, and in 
 the great Hopper to the north of it, have been constantly visited, 
 and appropriately christened, and often vividly described, by these 
 parties, consisting about equally of young ladies and gentlemen; 
 the "Vista," for example, to the north of the camp, situated near 
 the watershed, whence the head stream of the "Bacon Brook" 
 flows north into the Hopper, and that of the "Camp Brook" also 
 rising close by flows south into the Heart, as we have already seen, 
 is one of the chief points of interest, whence, adown between Bald 
 Mountain and Simonds Peak, a distant and enchanting view is 
 gained across the whole Williamstown valley in a northwest direc- 
 tion, and so across the west end of the village in the line of the 
 Mansion House and the Kappa Alpha Lodge, and so on towards the 
 " Golden Gate," — the point at which the Hoosac lapses into 
 Vermont ; although it is said, that of late years the undergrowth 
 near to the Vista has shown more vigor in shooting up so as to 
 obstruct the view, than the thews of the young men, namely, the 
 successive guardians and champions and laborers of the camp, have 
 shown in cutting it down, and so keeping the long and weird view 
 open. 
 
 The Harrison farm, to which reference was just now made, has 
 been connected in its history with two of the early and prominent 
 families of the town, namely, the Harrison and Bacon families. Jacob 
 Bacon, son of Nathaniel 2d, both of Middletown, Connecticut, came 
 here a young yeoman about 1766, perhaps a little later ; his father 
 had given him some lots of land in Lanesboro as early as 1761, and 
 he himself bought land there in June, 1766; Aaron Bacon and 
 Daniel Bacon, from Middletown, believed to be his brothers, were 
 
SITUATION 
 
 51 
 
 landowners here in 17G6, holding first division fifty-acre lots 61 
 and 63 ; and Jacob Bacon at any rate became an important citi- 
 zen here, and died in December, 1819, in his eightieth year. 
 His daughter, Jerusha, married Almon Harrison, son of Titus 
 Harrison, another well-to-do citizen ; and while the Bacons had 
 previously held land in or near the Hopper, Harrison bought, 
 towards the end of the last century, of a great land-grabber in his 
 day, Ephraim Seelye, 1300 acres, including the whole high plateau 
 between the Bluffs of Bald Mountain and the present camping- 
 grounds. The purchase mone}- was $1000. The present Bacon 
 farm in the Hopper had been settled very early by Elkanah Parris, 
 an old soldier of Fort Massachusetts ; and Harrison now pushed a 
 rude road past that place, perhaps wholly upon his own land, up 
 the steep flank of Bald Mountain and across the flat to the point 
 where the camps are now pitched. He cleared the land on the top, 
 burnt the timber, raised at first great crops of wheat, built a log- 
 house for tenants by the side of Camp Brook, the cellar and under- 
 pinning stones of which are plainly visible to this day ; and built 
 a large barn also to the north of the house, all signs of which have 
 long been obliterated. It has been credibl}^ transmitted to our own 
 times, however, that there were men enough present at the '• rais- 
 ing " of the barn to lift the big beams into place by sheer human 
 strength. It must have been a day of interest and probably of 
 jollification to the men in the valley below, who were summoned 
 to the old-fashioned raising amid the half-burned stumps of the 
 mountain top; for there was not then, and never has been since, 
 a framed building within two miles of the spot; and there must 
 have been, accordingly, a novelty about it, a sort of prospective 
 elevation of spirits, that made that particular call to a "raising" 
 popular in the farmhouses along Green River and its branches. 
 There was indeed no fee or reward for such a service rendered by 
 one's neighbors ; but the summoner was expected to furnish " re- 
 freshment " while the tug of the lifting was going forward, and 
 especially when the beams and rafters were all in position, and the 
 white oak pins had been well driven in ; it was the part of the 
 boys that were present at a raising to distribute the pins; and 
 Almon Harrison -vvas not a man to grudge the entertainment usual 
 on such occasions in this locality, which was "good old'^ St. 
 Croix rum ; he liked it himself ; and it throws a little shading over 
 the pleasant picture of the barn-raising beneath the Bluffs, — a 
 shading that real life often gives to its apparently most joyous 
 scenes, — that, a decade or two later, when cider-brandy stills 
 
52 OKIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 became the style in Williamstown, Harrison set up one on the 
 banks of Green River near " Taylor's Crotch," that he became a 
 drunkard, and that the Judge of Probate appointed Deacon Levi 
 Smedley guardian over his old age, lest he should squander the 
 patrimony of his children. 
 
 Under these circumstances the Harrisons sold the 1300 acres to 
 Stephen Bacon, son of Jacob Bacon, and brother-in-law of Almon 
 Harrison, who paid for the property about the same as Harrison 
 had paid for it before, improved the former Hopper road to the 
 mountain farm, while about the same time a second road had been 
 run up to it from Goodell's on the other side, continued to cultivate 
 the land there for many years, thus and otherwise permanently 
 attached the name of Bacon to the region of the Hopper, and left 
 to his son, Stephen Bacon 2d, born in 1804, to pass the whole of 
 a long life on or near the paternal acres, though the Harrison farm 
 had gone meantime into other hands. Tenants by the name of 
 Valet, and Cottrell, and others, occupied in succession the log-house 
 by Camp Brook. At length Stephen Bacon 3d, great-grandson to 
 Jacob, rather through purchase than inheritance from his father, 
 came to be a large landowner and successful farmer within the 
 Bacon circuit, living in the last third of the century in the old house 
 of Elkanah Parris, of which the remark was often made that its 
 beams were of white oak, of which not a tree was ever found in the 
 Hopper or within two or three miles of it, leaving the fair implica- 
 tion that Parris hauled the frame of his house from the White Oaks 
 proper. These general facts justify the designation of what is 
 now a poor pasture annually growing smaller by the crowding in of 
 the woods all around its outskirts as the " Harrison Farm " ; and 
 they also fully justify the naming of the brook and its branches that 
 rises near the Vista, and drains the whole south side of the 
 Hopper, as "Bacon Brook." The Bacon and Harrison families 
 occupied the same pew in the old village meeting-house, built in 
 1796, and the two are likely always to be associated in the traditions 
 and history of the Hopper. An anecdote well authenticated, that 
 comes down to us from the beginning of the century, throws some 
 light on the state of things in Williamstown at that time, and on 
 the degree of intelligence then had among the common cultivators 
 of the soil : — When Schuyler Putnam, son of the General, was the 
 landlord of the Mansion House, a travelling showman brought a 
 single tiger to be exhibited there for so much a sight. Among 
 many others who came to see this small fraction of a menagerie, 
 and duly paid their money, came Jacob Bacon and his wife Lois. 
 
SITUATION. 
 
 53 
 
 After looking at the animal as long as they liked, the wife said to 
 the husband, " Come, Jacob, go get your money back, and let's go 
 home ; it's nothing but a tiger-cat I " 
 
 Before we finally leave the Harrison farm and its associations 
 to descend into the Hopi)er by the Bacon Brook, we may do our- 
 selves the pleasure of quoting and reading a fine passage descrip- 
 tive of Bald Mountain and the Hopper, from the pen of Albert 
 Hopkins : — 
 
 The spot to which I refer is Bald Mountain in Williamstown, near the Ash- 
 ford line. This mountain, as a whole, resembles a lion couchant, with his head 
 to the east, guarding seemingly the outlet of the Hopper. The sentinel is quite 
 in keeping with the passage or gap, which he seems to protect. In fact his huge 
 shoulder and mane form one side of the gap itself. If I have been rightly 
 informed, Bald Mountain must bear a striking resemblance to the celebrated 
 Rock of Gibraltar. The material, however, of which it is composed, is less 
 beautiful than the Gibraltar stone. Like most of the group to which it belongs, 
 it is slate, talcose, and mica, with modules of white or milky quartz intermixed. 
 
 Our mode of ascent (keeping up the figure of the lion) was on foot, and up 
 the middle of the back. And if your readers will bear in mind the difference 
 between a lion couchant and a lion dormant, they will see what we found to our 
 cost to be true, that when we had reached the top of the monster's back, the 
 greater part of the climbing remained to be done. However, we stood about 
 twelve o'clock on his bald pate. And had we not been prepared for the view by 
 having repeatedly seen it before, we should have been lost in absolute astonish- 
 ment. But though there was less of astonishment, there was not less of wonder, 
 as we gazed at the immense mountain masses which upheaved themselves before 
 us. In fact we enjoyed an advantage which would have been secured by no 
 other approach to the look-off, — that of emerging suddenly from the inconven- 
 iently thick and tangled covering of our fancied animal, into an open space 
 where all that Greylock has of grandeur stood confronting us in a moment. 
 
 I will indicate a few points of interest, in the first place, in regard to the 
 " Hopper," as the pioneers of Fort Massachusetts memory agreed to call this 
 remarkable and unique indentation in the Greylock chain, — a "Clove" it 
 would be called among the Catskills. It would seem as if some tremendous 
 throe of Nature in the primitive ages essayed at this point to break the chain in 
 two, but only succeeded with the weaker or western half of the link. Not con- 
 tent with this, it would seem that this primeval force directed its fury eastward, 
 determining to grapple with the strength of Greylock itself ; and how nearly 
 successful it was in this audacious and almost impious attempt, those can testify 
 who have penetrated into the true Hopi)er, or Hopper within the Hopper, as it 
 might be called, a point not visible to the traveller as he passes up from Pittsfield 
 by the usual route. 
 
 Overlooking this frightful chasm, an eagle has built his nest. Here the slant- 
 ing rays of the sun scarcely penetrate, even at noon. In this gloomy fissure 
 clouds have broken at times, so tradition reads, and so the people believe. Here 
 are landslides 1000 feet high, one of them fresh, and apparently the result of 
 tliat immense and unexampled burden of snow, which, during the past winter. 
 
64 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 loaded our mountain sides. Certain lady readers will doubtless turn pale at this 
 part of my letter. Nothing would tempt them to set their feet in so awful 
 a place. To such let me say that the Alpine Club, composed mostly of ladies, 
 have not only penetrated here, but actually made the ascent to Greylock up this 
 nearly vertical escarpment. 
 
 Prospect Mountain appears nowhere so finely as from Bald Mountain. It 
 abuts out in a most imposing manner. Higher than Bald, it cuts off the horizon 
 on the northeast ; but it more than compensates for what it conceals by its 
 grand pyramidal outline ; and also by the fact, that it makes, with Mount 
 Williams opposite, a superb setting for a beautiful landscape which appears 
 between, contrasting finely in its azure tinge with the deep green of the nearer 
 mountain slopes. This picture has for its floor that lofty table-land known as 
 Wilbur's Pasture, — now growing up, by the way, into a fine evergreen park, 
 worth being seen. 
 
 Through a gap in the opposite direction appear the Catskills. It is well for 
 us here in the valleys to get our heads lifted up, at least once a year, high enough 
 to see the outline of these ever to be admired summits. If I had spoken 
 my mind freely, I should have said at least once a month. Another point of 
 interest is the view southward. Here we see the Pittsfield valley, with its 
 western lake, a beautiful sheet of water ; and, 'what interested us particularly, 
 Monument Mountain, in Stockbridge, not projected, as from Greylock, like 
 an undulating thread along the flank of Taconic, and hence not recognized 
 from there except by those well posted up in south county scenery, but here 
 Monument Rocks stand out distinctly against the sky. I thought I could see 
 a rock called the " Haystack" under Bald Peak, but may have been mistaken. 
 Monument Rocks are famous, having been immortalized by Bryant, and it 
 is rather a nice point to see them from this distance. I had the pleasure of 
 pointing them out, a few weeks since, to a party of ladies, from a point still 
 more distant, in Clarksburg, where we spent a night pleasantly on the Green 
 Mountain range ; and were able, after watching Greylock bathing himself, or 
 clothing himself, in sunlight, — a process which required more than half an hour 
 to perform, — after this we could see not only Monument Rocks, but could actu- 
 ally detect their white, chalk-like tints as seen from Stockbridge Plain. 
 
 I cannot close this brief sketch of a pleasant day's ramble on Bald Mountain, 
 without referring to my last visit there. It was, perhaps, twenty years since, 
 in company with a party, among whom was Miss Catherine Sedgwick. It was 
 in the fall of the year, a little earlier than I should have chosen to visit the spot 
 for the sake of the autumnal scenery. But Miss Sedgwick had selected that 
 time purposely ; because she preferred the woods when the green, if it did not 
 preponderate over the more brilliant colors, was at least fairly represented ; and 
 her preference was justified by the view, than which nothing could be finer, 
 since the forest immediately under Bald Mountain, on the east, and in front, is 
 composed mostly of deciduous trees. 
 
 Miss Sedgwick was a native of Stockbridge, and a great admirer of its 
 beautiful scenery, but she owned the power of our loftier mountains and more 
 ample forests ; and would often bring her distinguished friends here, to have 
 pointed out to herself and them what could not be found in the more quiet 
 landscapes and woodlands of Southern Berkshire. 
 
 No one admired the scenery of our county more appreciatively than Miss 
 
SITUATION. 55 
 
 Sedgwick, so no one, not even Bryant, has done more to turn the eyes of others 
 towards it. It happened to her to reach a period in life when the outward 
 senses are less keen, and impressions from Nature less vivid ; but her sensi- 
 bilities were never more wakeful to suffering than during her latter years. Her 
 patriotism and her charities were conspicuous during the war ; and since then 
 she has been full of sympathy with every good work. Among her latest gifts 
 were some valuable books, in the title-page of one of which, entitled "The 
 Charities of Europe," she wrote a few lines, closing with the prayer *'that it 
 may be blessed on its holy mission to the Dear Boys in the White Oaks.''* 
 
 One may descend to the Hopper from Bald Mountain, whence and 
 in relation to which these striking observations by Professor Hopkins 
 were made, either by the Harrison farm-road, or, if he be firm-footed, 
 by the Bacon Brook, which unites its water near the bottom of the 
 vast gorge with " Money Brook," so-called, another stream tliat drains 
 with its branches all the northern sides and recesses of the Hopper, 
 as Bacon Brook draws the drainage of its southern sides. In one of 
 the deep and dismal gorges far up on this northern side of the Hop- 
 per, where the roots of Mount Fitch and Simonds Peak and the Wil- 
 bur Pasture all intertwine, remote and inaccessible, where the foot 
 of man in any age has but very seldom trod, and will tread but sel- 
 dom till the end of time, a small gang of counterfeiters, not long after 
 the year 1800, had a concealed den by the side of the brook for their 
 work of fraud. Tradition still tells many a tale about these crim- 
 inals, which the prudent man will receive with caution, or not at 
 all ; but the main fact rests on firm historical grounds, and has very 
 properly given a euphonious name to the mountain brook. Griles B. 
 Kellogg, of Troy, a native of the town and a graduate of the College, 
 in his old age repeatedly told the writer, and afterwards put the 
 statement into writing for its better authentication, that, when he 
 was a boy in his father's house, there was an old chest in one of the 
 chambers that contained the tools and other apparatus of these coun- 
 terfeiters, which had been found in the Hopper, and brought to his 
 father as a Justice of the Peace to be used as evidence against 
 the men in case they could be apprehended. The gang had either 
 abandoned their work and tools, or at least had escaped the officers ; 
 but one man was arrested on suspicion that he had belonged to it, 
 and was brought before Justice Samuel Kellogg ; there was no legal 
 evidence against the accused, and the court broke up, when a single 
 witness had appeared and testified, that, as he was hunting in the 
 Hopper, he had heard the sound of hammering, — " Kling, kling, 
 kling!" and then turning to the prisoner, the witness exclaimed, 
 " That was you, Michael, hammering out the dollars ! " 
 
56 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 No reader of these pages would ever forgive the present writer, 
 nor would he ever forgive himself, if he should purposely omit to 
 quote at this very point, and pretty fully too, the alleged dialogue 
 between Professor Hopkins and one of the lady members of his 
 Alpine Club, ostensibly held between the two as the club were climb- 
 ing Money Brook in June, 1869, and as the dialogue was written out 
 from memory for publication by the former a few days after the 
 jaunt. Some lines on "Wawbeek Falls" will also be appended, 
 although the name of their student author, then a member of the 
 club, will be prudently withholden, since it is not certain that he 
 would now be willing, after such an interval of time, to father the 
 poem, which he might now deem to be wild and crude. The names 
 of the two " falls " in Money Brook referred to in the conversation 
 have a strong South Berkshire flavor, and emanated undoubtedly 
 from the memory of the Professor, whose early life in Stockbridge 
 and vicinity beautifully colored his later life in Williamstown. 
 
 It seems fortunate, does it not, sir, that the Wawbeek Falls should be discov- 
 ered just as the Cascade was losing something of its former prestige ? 
 
 It was quite a timely discovery ; since the Cascade, even in its palmiest days, 
 could not compete with these new falls. 
 
 There will be quite a quarrel about the honor of discovering them, I sup- 
 pose. 
 
 Undoubtedly. It is already whispered round that a bear hunter in the latter 
 part of the last century came across them. And more recently it is said that 
 they have been heard in the distance by some foresters. 
 
 On the other hand, sir, the honor of making this fine discovery belongs, I 
 claim, exclusively to the club. I well remember as we were returning last 
 autumn from the Heart of Greylock ; we came over Bald Mountain ; and you 
 took occasion from there to point out to us a shoulder in the group of mountains 
 opposite, saying at the same time that that must be among the earliest explora- 
 tions of the spring. You said you had an idea that there was something 
 worth seeing there. Any one who went there, you said, would find a " huge 
 world. ' ' 
 
 I recollect the circumstance ; still a mere proposal to visit a spot so wild and 
 difficult of access did not make us discoverers. It was only when we had pene- 
 trated into it, it was only when our eyes had actually seen the recesses of the 
 gorge, when we stood confronted by the great abutment which closes it in, and 
 saw in place of dry ledges, as we feared, or at most, ledges covered with moss, 
 a beautiful ribbon of foam let down in festoons from one shelf to another, — then 
 it was that we might, as we did, regard ourselves as real bona fide dis- 
 coverers. 
 
 Do you recollect, sir, who caught a glimpse of the falls first ? 
 
 Modesty forbids me to answer that question, but I accord to you the credit of 
 being the second to see them. In fact, had you been in front, you might have 
 seen them first. 
 
SITUATION. 57 
 
 I shall not soon forget the impressions made by my first glimpse of them, nor 
 the pleasure we had as we ascended the steep mountain side opposite and ob- 
 served them from aloft at a distance. What a curious effect it has to watch 
 them through the opera-glass, reclining so as to bring one eye directly over the 
 other. 
 
 That glass has an immense field of view ; and your respect for it will be 
 increased, when I inform you that rays of light from the sunnnit of Chimborazo 
 and the cone of Cotopaxi have passed through its lenses. Let me now ask you 
 how high you judged the falls to be ? 
 
 Full seventy feet, were they not ? Through the glass they seemed hundreds 
 of feet. Do you imagine them to be permanent, sir, or like the March cataracts 
 in the Hopper which are visible only when the snow is melting ? 
 
 As Money Brook, to which the stream from these falls is a principal tributary, 
 is permanent, no doubt the falls are so likewise. There are seasons, you know, 
 when our western friends are ashamed to exhibit even the Father of Waters. 
 But I must now tell you, what I did not tell you afterwards, nor do any of the 
 club know it, that there are beautiful falls higher up. You noticed, no doubt, 
 that I did not join the returning party till they had reached the falls half or three 
 quarters of a mile below. The cause of my delay was a device to explore the 
 stream still farther up. And I was well rewarded for my pains ; for a fifth of a 
 mile, perhaps, above the falls was another cascade scarcely yielding in beauty to 
 the one below. The quantity of water was less, for in the interval the stream 
 had forked again ; but it dashed along over a succession of benches after a 
 fashion to have drawn many exclamations, had the rest of the party been able 
 to ascend so far. These falls are probably about 1800 feet high. 
 
 Are you in earnest, sir ? 
 
 I am. This cascade is nearly on a level with the Harrison farm on Bald 
 Mountain, and must be, therefore, seventeen or eighteen hundred feet above the 
 valley. From this point the ground slopes back gently towards Mount Fitch on 
 the east, and towards the rim of the Hopper on the south. I think I will ask 
 you to guess the name of these upper falls. 
 
 Sky Falls ! 
 
 You are correct. They are, no doubt, the highest falls in the State. We 
 should not, however, pronounce certainly on the point till we have explored 
 more thoroughly the sources of Money Brook. At least one of the club has 
 volunteered to undertake that exploration, and it should be done at once ; for 
 the forthcoming book of Washington Gladden will, no doubt, attract swarms of 
 tourists in this direction. Whatever laurels, therefore, the club expects to win 
 in the line of discovery, it behooves them to gather soon. 
 
 Do you not think, sir, that some more feasible route might be devised to reach 
 the Wawbeek Falls ? Otherwise, I fear that few outside the club will ever see 
 them. 
 
 They might be reached by the way of Wilbur's Pasture. Tourists from the 
 East would find this way the most convenient. They would then commence 
 their explorations at the top of Sky Falls, and follow the stream downwards. 
 But we are not to expect that ordinary tourists will do any such thing, simply 
 for the reason that it would be impossible. The falls are real, yet they are in a 
 dell so deep and lonely, and so at right angles to everything, that to most persons 
 they are destined, no doubt, to remain forever among the myths of Greylock. 
 
58 OKIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 WAWBEEK FALLS. 
 
 Nature tripping over Greylock, 
 Threw her velvet mantle down, 
 
 And clasped its green folds on his shoulder 
 With a jewel from her crown. 
 
 A gem with the diamond's lustre, 
 
 And the opal's fitful light, 
 Which blended the pearl's soft iris 
 
 With the shadowy chrysolite. 
 
 And the mountain's giant sentries. 
 Round the priceless treasure fold, 
 
 As the dragons in the garden, 
 Watched the fabled fruit of gold. 
 
 Gently as a maiden's tresses 
 Brush against her rounded cheek. 
 
 O'er the time-worn, moss-grown boulders 
 Glide the waters of Wawbeek. 
 
 Dancing on the sloping sunbeams, 
 Sadly sweet, yet weirdly strong, 
 
 Thro' earth's emerald arched temple, 
 Floats its mystic, dreamy song. 
 
 Breaks it first in filmy silver 
 Like a bride's soft veil of lace. 
 
 Crowned with flowers made fairer, purer. 
 By the roses of her face. 
 
 Then bubbling, laughing, sighing, singing, 
 Pours it from the glittering ledge. 
 
 Gleaming like a Naiad's tresses. 
 Silvered with the kiss of age. 
 
 As the sun rolls down towards evening 
 
 O'er it steals a golden glow. 
 Like a conflagration sweeping 
 
 Thro' a forest thick with snow. 
 
 And the gold blends with the ruby 
 Till the water seems like wine. 
 
 As if Bacchus on the mountain 
 Had o'erturned his cup divine. 
 
 Then calmer, slower, softer, clearer. 
 Glides it o'er the argent-sand, 
 
 Like some life, its youth's joy ended, 
 Sweeping toward the Better Land. 
 
SITUATION. ^^^V 59 
 
 Money Brook and Bacon Brook join their streams in murmuring 
 acquiescence on one of the lower slopes of the huge Hopper, and so 
 form the Hopper Brook, which, after a devious course of two miles 
 or so, falls into Green Kiver at Taylor's Crotch. 
 
 It now only remains, to complete this opening cliapter on the 
 "Situation" of Williamstown, to devote a few elementary para- 
 graphs to its geology, its diversities of soil, its natural productions, 
 and its unique beauty as a whole. 
 
 The central valley of the town is underlaid throughout by lime- 
 stone. This is true in general of the narrow east and west portion 
 along the Hoosac, and more exactly true of the broader valley north 
 and south along the courses of the Green River and the Hemlock 
 Brook. Now limestone is a good rock for all practical purposes. It 
 seems to give the right proportion of "grit" to both the men and 
 the beasts who live above and ui3on it. The Blue Grass region in 
 Kentucky, which is a limestone section, breeds horses of the best 
 bottom and the greatest speed of any in the United States; and 
 Vermont, which is also full of limestone rock, stands next after 
 Kentucky in that regard. We shall see on many a sequent page, 
 that the men of Williamstown at any rate, whether the same be true 
 of other localities or not, have shown from the very first good 
 courage and firm stamina in five successive wars, as well as in many 
 a moral conflict. It is probably true, accordingly, that a bit of 
 limestone in one's daily bread does no harm to the digestion, or 
 the subsequent action of mind and body ; and limestone water also, 
 to those who are well used to it, is the most wholesome water in 
 the world. 
 
 An excellent quarry of limestone lies along the lowest edge of 
 Bee Hill by the Hemlock Brook, and the ledge extends diagonally 
 across the brook and reappears in masses on the southern slopes of 
 Stone Hill. The materials for the building of the second College 
 chapel in 1859 came from this quarry, and then Goodrich Hall was 
 built from the same in 1861, next Clark Hall in 1880, then Morgan 
 Hall in 1882, and the new Gymnasium also in 1885. These and all the 
 other College buildings, without exception, have as their underlying 
 foundation, in whole or in part, the living limestone rock. Previous 
 to the erection of the first College chapel in 1827, now called Griffin 
 Hall, masses of this rock rose up, ragged and twice as high as 
 a man's head, on the main street in front of that building. These 
 masses were broken down by gunpowder and thrown into the foun- 
 dations of that building, and the ground in front was smoothed off 
 much as it is at present ; but when the trees were planted there, 
 
60 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 about 1850, earth, was brought from a distance to cover to a suffi- 
 cient depth for their growth the then almost naked limestone rock, 
 which even now appears here and there above the surface. The 
 Eecords of the Trustees, under date of August 3, 1785, which was 
 the second meeting of that body, reveal the fact, that there had been 
 long before a lime-kiln near where the Soldiers' Monument now 
 stands ; because they passed a vote at that time to erect their first 
 building for the Free School either "upon the eminence south of 
 Mr. William Horsford's house [where the West College now 
 stands], or upon the eminence further east in the northwest corner 
 of Captain Isaac Searle's lot [where Clark Hall now stands], oppo- 
 site the old lime-kiln, as the Corporation shall hereafter determine." 
 
 At present the only place in the village, or near it, in which the 
 native rock stands out boldly, is directly in the rear of the chapel, 
 where. the western wall of the hill itself is a picturesque and perpen- 
 dicular mass of limestone about fifteen feet high, full of scars and 
 cracks and crevices and old geologic wrinkles. 
 
 In the autumn of 18§4 the writer had the pleasure and profit of 
 studying this limestone formation carefully, under the personal 
 instruction of Professor Dana, of Kew Haven, then, and for a long 
 time previous, the foremost geologist in the United States. He 
 exhibited the proofs on the spot and in detail, that this bed-rock 
 not only covers all the central valleys of Williamstown at no great 
 depth beneath the surface, but also that it crowds up into the clove 
 of the Hopper, and there dips under the range of Greylock, and 
 reappears upon the other side in the town of Adams, where the 
 inclination is towards the west, while the dip on this side is pretty 
 uniformly towards the east. 
 
 "Most limestones have been formed from shells and corals ground 
 up by the action of the sea, and afterwards consolidated. The com- 
 position is usually the same as carbonate of lime, except that 
 impurities, as clay or sand, are often present. Carbonate of lime 
 is one of the most universal of minerals. It is the ingredient of a 
 very large part of the limestones of the world, and these include 
 the various true marbles. When free from impurities, it consists 
 of carbonic acid forty-four parts, and limestone fifty-six parts. In 
 common limestone, oxygen is forty-eight per cent of the whole." 
 (Dana.) These simple facts of science account for much in the 
 soil, and for something in the history, of central Williamstown. 
 The soil of course is calcareous, that is, a soil full of lime, and there 
 is also much iron in it, partly because there is iron in the limestone, 
 and partly because there is a large deposit of iron ore, which was 
 
SITUATION. 61 
 
 once profitably worked on the slope of Mdunt Williams, and such 
 ore was doubtless more or less diffused in the region. The presence 
 of oxygen and iron and lime in and uix)n the rock frets it contin- 
 ually. Oxidation is followed by disintegration, and gives rise to the 
 reddish-brown dust which always covers the limestone boulders 
 embedded in the soil, and which constantly enriches and strengthens 
 _it for the purposes of agriculture. This our limestone soil, conse- 
 
 lently, is good, has a body to it, takes kindly to other fertilizers, 
 
 )ws unsurpassed grasses and vegetables, and though for some 
 reason no longer favorable to wheat, is still as good for corn as any 
 land in the world. 
 
 Carbonic acid is two parts oxygen and one part carbon. All that 
 is needful in order to burn pure limestone into lime, is to throw 
 off the carbonic acid by heat, which leaves a pure lime. Tlie lime- 
 stone here, however, has too many of the impurities spoken of above 
 to make a good lime ; and this is undoubtedly the reason why the 
 "lime-kiln" in the main street, spoken of as "old" even in 1785, 
 was abandoned. 
 
 The rock next in importance to this limestone of our valleys, 
 which itself extends uninterruptedly to the north and becomes 
 the great central marble belt of Vermont, is the mica schist of 
 all our encircling hills. The Taconics and their lower eminences 
 towards the valley, the whole mass of Saddle Mountain in every 
 part of it, and for the most part the East Mountiiin also, with its 
 four uplifts already described, are composed of this slaty and schis- 
 tose and most useful rock. Its constituents are the same as those 
 of granite and gneiss, containing, however, relatively more quartz 
 and more mica and less feldspar than these. Since common clay 
 is a mixture of powdered feldspar and quartz, and is composed of 
 just one-half of oxygen, and the sand which comes from quartz is 
 more than one-half of oxygen, and feldspar only a little less than 
 one-half, these two things follow as a matter of course from the 
 great abundance and lofty place of mica schist in all the mountains 
 round about; namely, first, that clay must be a large ingredient in 
 the soil of all the contiguous valleys and farms ; and second, that 
 substances so largely composed of oxygen as clay and sand are, will 
 easily burn and fuse, and consequently that common bricks have 
 naturally been burned and built with in almost every part of this 
 town from the first. All the early College buildings, for example, 
 as well as many farmhouses and other dwellings, were built of brick 
 burned out of the clay and sand of the immediate localities. 
 
 In the course of ages, vast beds of clay have slipped down from 
 
62 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the sides and gorges of these schistose mountains; for example, 
 adown the three sides of the Hopper and the slopes of Mount Pros- 
 pect and Mount Williams : and there they lie to-day, underneath the 
 farms and roads of a large part of our territory. One such deposit 
 of clay from the cleft between Williams and Prospect, and which 
 lies near the Baker Bridge and the east line of Williamstown, fur- 
 nished for nearly a century materials for brick-burning, and for a 
 time also for a coarse pottery work made at the east end of the 
 village by a Mr. Faxon, of Hartford. Clay roads are uncomfortable 
 in the springtime when they are heaved up by the frost, and some- 
 times even dangerous by means of breaking through the lifted crust ; 
 but for the summer and autumn they are the best roads in the world, 
 — hard and smooth, Nature's own aluminated pavement. 
 
 These slaty slopes and hilltops, reinvigorated by the constantly 
 disintegrating rocks above them and underneath them, make very 
 early and very fertile land. S'ometimes the very plough manures 
 the soil as it traces the furrow. The farms on Bee Hill, for example, 
 and on the slopes of Prospect south of Blackinton, are perhaps a 
 week earlier in springtime than the colder calcareous lands along the 
 river bottoms ; but the latter are, after all, a stronger and heartier 
 soil, — lime and iron are good for the land, — while, nevertheless, 
 these rough and slaty uplands grow warm in the sun, drain easily, 
 partially renew themselves from the fretting rock beneath; and, 
 when the clays are not too stiff, are worked without difficulty, and 
 bountifully reward the farmer's toil by all the crops adapted to such 
 a soil. 
 
 There is but one other native rock in Williamstown besides these 
 two, and that is confined to a narrow belt along the north side of 
 the Hoosac Eiver, and to a still narrower section upon the highest 
 parts of Stone Hill, namely, quartzite. There are quartzite boulders 
 of all sizes, locally called " hardheads," scattered all over the area of 
 the town, even to the tops of the highest hills, and these were doubt- 
 less brought hither from a distance in the period of the glaciers ; 
 but quartzite in situ is only now to be found in the two places just 
 indicated. Dana defines quartzite as "a hard, compact rock, con- 
 sisting of quartz grains or sand, and usually either white, gray, or 
 grayish red in color. It is but a step removed from ordinary sand- 
 stone, and owes its peculiarities to metamorphic agencies." When 
 the railroad was built west from North Adams through Williams- 
 town, it became needful to make a deep cut at Braytonville through 
 this hard quartzite, and several successive contractors are said to 
 have been ruined through gross underestimates of its hardness and 
 
SITUATION. 63 
 
 difficulty in working. Long afterwards, however, the broken rock 
 from this cutting and from other cuttings instituted for the purpose, 
 was found to be the most useful material obtainable for ballasting 
 the entire road. 
 
 Quartzite is especially associated with sand, as mica schist is with 
 clay, and nearly all the sandy land in Williamstown is found to the 
 north of the Hoosac, and in more or less connection with this species 
 of rock. There are, however, no great deposits in town of white 
 sand, once disintegrated from this rock, or once the source whence 
 the rock was formed, whichever of the two views be the right one 
 in geology, as there are in the neighboring towns of Lanesboro and 
 Cheshire, where such deposits have long been utilized in the manu- 
 facture of glass products on the spot, and been exported also for that 
 purpose to great distances and in immense quantities. It is probable 
 that there may be a small deposit of white sand in some connection 
 with the quartzite somewhere in the White Oaks, because the 
 ''Ballous," a noted family there, brought sand into the street for 
 scrubbing purposes for several generations ; and when one or another 
 were asked where they got it, their half-witted answer commonly 
 was, "Oh! we fine it!" But it has been the opinion of many that 
 they rather pounded it from the partially pulverized rock, than found 
 it free in any special deposit, which, if it exist, was never reported 
 as seen by other inhabitants of that locality. 
 
 Much more local interest attaches to this odd " Ballou " family, 
 pronounced as if it were " Blue," whitish mulattoes, as some have 
 said, very dark whites, as has been asserted by others, extremely 
 dirty in either case, than whether there be free white sand in some 
 corner of the White Oaks. " Are the Blues blacks, or blue-blacks ? " 
 has been a long-standing conundrum with the generous and inquisi- 
 tive people of Williamstown. 
 
 Aaron Ballou was a poor cripple nearly doubled together, his 
 head almost between his legs, who was often seen in the street 
 selling sand, or, more rarely, begging, and who died on Oak Hill, 
 May 30, 1876. His brother Amasa, with others, was frozen to 
 death in the road over the Petersburg Pass the night of the 16th 
 of April, 1857. A brother of these two was named after good 
 Deacon Deodatus Noble; and that the whole family have been 
 underwitted may be illustrated by what was said to him by another 
 brother of still a third one : " Date, Dan's sick as hell, — can't 
 live, 'fore mornin'." Another member of the family, an uncle of 
 these just mentioned, so far as relationships can be made out in a 
 family given to miscegenation, a strong man, used to do little jobs 
 
64 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 in the street as occasion offered. Old Christopher Penniman, a 
 wholesale butcher, who dealt in salt and salted meat as well as 
 cattle, sometimes employed him. One day a load of salt in bags 
 had to be taken from the wagon ; and Harvey and Chester Penni- 
 man, sons of the proprietor, and young bucks of the town, mounted 
 the wagon to lay on the stout shoulders of the White Oaker the 
 heavy bags. Tossing one in sport pretty vigorously to its destina- 
 tion, they were rewarded by this ejaculation sputtered out from 
 between gritted teeth, " I, gy ! more buk there 'n heft ! " 
 
 Notwithstanding its great abundance only a few miles to the south, 
 there is comparatively little pure sand to be found within the town's 
 limits, and it has sometimes proven difficult to procure sand even 
 good enough and abundant enough for the purposes of the stone 
 mason and plasterer. The Sand Spring, as its name implies, bubbles 
 up profusely through fine sand ; and it was along the course of 
 Broad Brook, which flows near to this spring, that the only pine 
 timber of consequence was found by the early settlers, so close is 
 the native affinity between pines and the sand ; and pines of a later 
 growth are starting up again at present over a sandy hill along the 
 Hoosac, north and east of the mouth of that brook, where two pine 
 lots were located in 1765, and to some extent in other places north 
 of the Hoosac ; and there is a large sandy hill east of the Green 
 River and over against Water Street, and another on Hemlock Brook 
 near the west end of the village, and there is some sandy or rather 
 gravelly soil between the two main tributaries of Green River at the 
 south part of the town ; and some of the alluvial land along the 
 Hoosac may perhaps be called sandy, as, for instance, on the old Kel- 
 logg farm, now owned by F. G. Smedley, whence of late years some 
 sand has been brought to the village for use in making mortar. 
 
 From the three species of native rock, to which attention has now 
 been called, the materials of the soil have been so well mixed to- 
 gether by Nature, — the clay and sand and lime and iron have been 
 so well adjusted into loam, — that the land is generally productive, 
 and might be made far more so than it is, by a more skilful and 
 laborious husbandry. The lower slopes of North West Hill, as they 
 approach Birch Brook and Hemlock Brook, have always been 
 esteemed among the best lands in the town : the farm cleared up 
 by Joseph Tallmadge, and now owned by Colonel A. L. Hopkins, has 
 generally been regarded the best grain farm in town ; while the 
 farm along the Green River, which began to be cleared by Ichabod 
 Southwick as early as 1763, and is now owned and tilled by Deacon 
 Stephen Hickcox, may hardly be reckoned under his efficient culture 
 
SITUATION. 65 
 
 inferior to the best. There is more of excellent land on the 
 southerly slope of Stone Hill, and the northerly slopes of Prospect, 
 on the slaty rolls of Birch and Bee hills, as well as on the lime- 
 stone levels of the central uplands and the alluvial levels of the two 
 main rivers. ^ 
 
 Now, as the soil in general is good, so the seasons are commonly 
 favorable to the crops cultivated in this region. Indeed, the spring 
 season opens earlier than one would suppose from the looks of 
 things here in midwinter; for on the first day of April, 1868, 
 Albert Hopkins found in bloom the trailing arbutus (epigera), the 
 silverleaf (hepatica), the aspen, and the alder. This was a little 
 earlier than is usual, while in the course of that month blossoms are 
 always found on the elm, the soft maple, the willows, the leather- 
 wood, the coltsfoot, the bloodroot, the spring-beauty, the wake-robin, 
 and the violets. The birds, too, come early, the bluebirds within 
 a day or two of March 15, the robins in considerable numbers about 
 the same time, the sparrows and blackbirds and meadow larks in the 
 last days of March or first days of April. 
 
 There is usually no lack and no excess of rain for the best 
 purposes of agriculture. Occasionally a season will be so dry as to 
 have the term "drought" applied to it by those who cultivate the 
 more sandy or gravelly lands ; sometimes, too, the springtime will 
 seem to be wet and backward, as when, for instance, the average tem- 
 perature of the 11th of June, 1869, was as low as fifty-two degrees ; 
 but a late spring does not import a deficient harvest, because Nature 
 has the knack of making up for lost time ; and all these matters of 
 heat and moisture seem to be attempered to the average needs of 
 our soil and crops. Wheat is no longer much raised on the farms 
 in Williamstown, nor rye ; com, oats, buckwheat, and barley are the 
 principal cereals, while grass, potatoes, and the edible roots pretty 
 much round out the circle of the agriculture; as orchards, small 
 fruits, and garden vegetables are the main items of the horticulture. 
 It is true that an impatient farmer in haying-time, or a gardener 
 whose weeds are getting the start of his plants, may sometimes take 
 up the burden, if not the words, of Shakspeare, — " And the rain it 
 raineth every day " ; but in the whole upshot of the season it is 
 generally allowed by all, that the climatic influences of all sorts are 
 wisely ordained, even in reference to the requisites of the average 
 products of the soil ; and in all kinds of seasons, early or late, dry 
 
 1 See the Lowell Lectures entitled "Agriculture," of Deacon Alexander Hyde ; 
 Chester Dewey, in Introduction to Field's Berkshire ; and I liave derivetl information 
 as to soils from my colleague, Chadbourne, and my father-iu-Iaw, James Smedley. 
 
66 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 or wet, warm or cold, it is the joy of the springtime to watch the 
 vegetation creep slowly up the sides of the mountains to their top. 
 Mount Williams, for example, rises about 2400 feet directly up from 
 the Hoosac and the meadow on which Eort Massachusetts once 
 stood ; and there is room, accordingly, for many zones of vegetation 
 between the valley and the summit, and in a late season the foliage 
 on the trees at the very top is not visible in the valley before the 
 8th of June. 
 
 Ephraim Williams, Senior, who officially traversed many parts of 
 the present town of Williamstown in 1739, then in its primeval 
 wildness, in obedience to a Resolve of the General Court of Massa- 
 chusetts, did not put upon record in his report to that body any 
 detailed description of its territory, or any transcript at length of 
 his own impressions in regard to it ; and just about the same may be 
 said of Richard Hazen, surveyor for Massachusetts and New Hamp- 
 shire, who looked down upon its area, certainly with admiration, from 
 what we now call Mount Hazen, two years later than that, in 1741 ; 
 still we fortunately possess from the polished pens of three gentle- 
 men of times long subsequent to theirs, all of them comparatively 
 strangers to the place, and each of them differing widely from the 
 others in social position and general standpoint, their personal 
 impressions received by casual views of our valley and of its envi- 
 ronment ; and this initial chapter of our book on Williamstown will 
 now be brought to a conclusion by the use of a quotation from each 
 of these three gentlemen, of whom but one was a native of this 
 country, and one of the other two only a transient traveller through 
 it in 1883, recording afterwards in a pleasant volume what he saw 
 and what he thought about it at the time. 
 
 James McCosh, a Scotchman till 1868, then a long time president 
 of the College of New Jersey and resident of Princeton, wrote of 
 Williamstown as follows : " It is placed on a knoll in the heart of 
 a capacious hollow, surrounded with imposing mountains. It struck 
 me as a spot at which the Last Judgment might be held, with the 
 universe assembled on the slopes of the encircling hills." 
 
 Daniel Pidgeon, F.G.S., an English tourist, with a sharp eye in 
 his head for natural objects, and with an uncommon faculty for 
 interpreting the social conditions of the New World, thus frankly 
 jots down his own impressions : — 
 
 A charming stage ride of four miles, following the Hoosac River past the foot 
 of Greylock, brought me to Williamstown, which peaceful and academical vil- 
 lage lies buried, like Adams, among mountains, here enclosing a lovely triangular 
 valley, where the Green River joins the Hoosac in its course to the Hudson. 
 
SITUATION. 
 
 67 
 
 The town is built on a boldly undulating plateau of limestone, which, rising to a 
 considerable height from the lower ground, affords magnificent views of the 
 encircling hills, whose forest-covered crests tower to heights of tliree and four 
 thousand feet. The valley is wholly settled by farmers ; there is not a manu- 
 factory and hardly a retail shop in the village, whose pretty white bungalows 
 rise from park-like and elm-shaded stretches of turf, while the undulating main 
 street is bordered at intervals by the halls, chapel, museum, and library of Wil- 
 liams College. The college buildings are for the most part plain and without any 
 academic air, but, spite of a chapel like the conventicle of an English country 
 town, a very unpretentious library, and a number of barrack-like " halls" where 
 the men live, its romantic situation, park-enfolded homes, and peaceful atmos- 
 phere, place Williamstown easily ahead of every other New England village for 
 beauty. The *♦ secret societies" are nothing more than students' clubs, which 
 affect a little mystery in their organization, and are distinguished by crypto- 
 gramic titles, whose meaning is only known to the members. Thus the letters, 
 A, A, *, carved on the facade of the meeting-room of one of the largest socie- 
 ties, may possible signify aev 5eivoi <payeiv (always terrible eaters), although noth- 
 ing beyond examples, it is said, supports this view of the case. Some of these 
 clubs are wealthy institutions ; old members, who have succeeded in life, delight- 
 ing to bring liberal offerings to the lares and penates of their college days, so that 
 many of them are now housed in spacious and handsome temples. 
 
 The Sabbath evening was still and peaceful, and I sat on the veranda of the 
 hotel, looking, by turns, up to the wooded summits of East Mountain, the Dome, 
 and Greylock, already tinged with sunset pink, around upon the white, lawn- 
 bordered homes of farmers and professors, or down the dusty Iloosac valley, 
 where a silver thread of water wound about, and was finally lost sight of in the 
 folds of Taconics' forest robe. In the porch of the *' terrible eaters'" lodge, 
 just opposite, a group of students, picturesquely disposed, was singing the evening 
 hymn in harmony, while above the great gray hills a rising moon hung her 
 silver shield against the sunsefs crimson. Thus the May night fell, lightly as 
 sleep, upon a scene of singular beauty and purity, closing a day made delightful 
 to me by rest from labor and labor questions, by some pleasant glimpses of 
 American youth, and by the bright anticipations for its manhood to which 
 ftiose glimpses gave rise. 
 
 The last quotation is from Nathaniel Hawthorne, written in 
 1838, when he described himself as " the obscurest man of letters in 
 America." He became, perhaps, the most illustrious man of letters 
 in America. At any rate he was an American, in birth, in train- 
 ing, in sympathies, in atmosphere, in everything. 
 
 Greylock was hidden in clouds, and the rest of Saddle Mountain had one 
 partially wreathed about it; but it was withdrawn before long. It was very 
 beautiful cloud scenery. The clouds lay on the breast of the mountain, dense, 
 white, well-defined, and some of them were in such close vicinity that it seemed 
 as if I could infold myself in them ; while others, belonging to the same fleet, 
 were floating through the blue sky above. I had a view of Williamstown, at 
 the distance of a few miles, — two or three, perhaps, — a white village and steeple 
 
68 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 in a gradual hollow, with high mountainous swells heaving themselves up, like 
 immense, subsiding waves, far and wide around it. On these high mountain- 
 waves rested the white summer clouds, or they rested as still in the air above ; 
 and they were formed into such fantastic shapes that they gave the strongest 
 possible impression of being confounded or intermixed with the sky. It was 
 like a day-dream to look at it ; and the students ought to be day-dreamers, all 
 of them, — when cloud-land is one and the same thing with the substantial earth. 
 By degrees all these clouds flitted away, and the sultry summer sun burned on 
 hill and valley, 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 ' My sentence is for open war ; of wiles 
 More unexpert, I boast not : them let those 
 Contrive who need, or when they need, not now." 
 
 — Milton. 
 
 In the summer of 1609 remarkable historical events took place 
 a little to the west and northwest of the Hoosac valley, events that 
 served to color its after history throughout, and that became in the 
 way of preparings and developments the ground and occasion of the 
 long-subsequent building of Fort Massachusetts. On the one hand, 
 Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing under Dutch authority, was 
 navigating that summer the river since called by his name, in a 
 small yacht christened the " Half Moon/^ as far up as the present 
 site of Albany ; one of his boats, moreover, running up further to the 
 upper mouth of the Mohawk, where the old town of " Half Moon " 
 still commemorates the name of the craft that lay anchored below. 
 The mouth of the Hoosac is about ten miles still further up the 
 river upon its other bank. Before the yacht turned to descend the 
 stream, never till then touched by the keel of white men, Hudson 
 handsomely entertained on board his ship the chief men of the 
 Indians of the region, especially of the Iroquois or Six Nations, who 
 then inhabited and controlled both banks of the main stream to 
 a good distance inland, and also of its tributaries, the Hoosac and 
 the Batten Kill. The story of this feast lingered clear in the tradi- 
 tions of the Iroquois for two hundred years, and for nearly as long 
 a similar tradition was current among the Mohegans, whose chief 
 seat in historical times was at Schodack at the mouth of Kinder- 
 hook Kill, somewhat lower down the river. 
 
 Three at least of the white men on board the Half Moon kept a 
 sort of journal of events, and some of these also note the fact, that 
 Hudson gave the chiefs " much wine and aqua vitije" ; that then first 
 the northern Indians saw a drunken man ; that the rest " did not 
 
 C9 
 
70 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 know how to take it," thinking the man bewitched, and bringing 
 their charms to save him from the strangers' arts ; and that when 
 the old chief promptly recovered the next day, after " sleeping all 
 night quietly," and professed himself much delighted with the 
 experience, they held the whites in high honor and made Hudson 
 " an oration " after their well-known manner in later times. 
 
 Among the results of this fortunate discovery and exploration 
 of the " Great River of the Mountains," as the Indians called it, was 
 the gradual establishment of the province of New Netherlands by 
 the Dutch, a fort and the beginnings of a settlement on Manhattan 
 Island, dating from 1613, and Fort Orange and a settlement on the 
 present site of Albany, dating from 1623. In 1650, under the Dutch 
 governor Stuyvesant, the beginnings of a boundary line between 
 New Netherlands and New England were determined on at Hart- 
 ford ; namely, to start on the west side of Greenwich Bay about four 
 miles from Stamford, the line to run thence up into the country 
 twenty miles, provided it did not come within ten miles of the 
 Hudson River, the Dutch agreeing not to build within six miles of 
 such line. When the English took forcible possession of the New 
 Netherlands in 1664, and rechristened the province " New York," and 
 Fort Orange "Albany," after the two titles of the King's brother, 
 later James the Second, to whom the province had been assigned by 
 Charles the Second, there was a meeting between commissioners of 
 Connecticut and parties representing the Duke of York and Albany 
 in relation to a permanent boundary line between the two provinces. 
 Good feeling prevailed on both sides, and a general understanding 
 was reached and maintained, that the line should be run about 
 twenty miles to the east of Hudson River. Nothing was expressly 
 stipulated about the line further north, as between Massachusetts 
 and New York, but the impression strongly prevailed in the former 
 colony that the latter had virtually agreed to extend the same line 
 northwards, and so to make the west line of Massachusetts also 
 about twenty miles from the Hudson. Unfortunately, however, 
 more than a century elapsed before this boundary was definitely 
 established in 1787, and in the mean time mutual fears and jealousies, 
 conflicting claims and bafiled negotiations often attempted, became 
 one main reason for the building of Fort Massachusetts in 1745. 
 The Dutch had kept the good-will of the Six Nations for the most 
 part, and transferred the same with the province to the English, a 
 circumstance that had a controlling influence upon historical events 
 for a century, that is, until the end of the French and Indian 
 wars. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 71 
 
 On the other hand, during this same summer of 1609, Samuel 
 Cham plain, who the year before had laid the first foundations of 
 Quebec, in the name of King Henry IV., of France, was sailing 
 further up the St. Lawrence under a royal commission, in company 
 with about sixty Indian warriors from the neighborhood of Quebec, 
 and from the Ottawa and its tributaries, — Montagnais and Algon- 
 quins and Hurons, — and then to the south up the river Richelieu 
 into the beautiful lake then first named by himself '< Champlain." 
 His motive was exploration, description to his king, and the exten- 
 sion to the southward of the dominion of France ; and their motive 
 was now to attack to better advantage, with the help of Champlain 
 and his two French companions, each of the three armed with the 
 arquebus, a weapon then utterly unknown in the wilderness, their 
 hereditary and traditional enemies, the Iroquois of central New 
 York. The first time Champlain had entered the St. Lawrence in 
 1603, he had found encamped near the mouth of the Saguenay, 
 at Tadousac, a large number of these northern savages, estimated 
 at a thousand, who had just returned from, and were celebrating 
 a great victory over, the Iroquois, near the mouth of the Richelieu; 
 and he had learned in the mean time, and indeed was never after- 
 wards allowed to forget, that the region of that stream and of the 
 lake that drains through it to the St. Lawrence was and had been 
 for many generations, perhaps for many centuries, the neutral and 
 uninhabited battle-ground between these ever hostile tribes and races 
 on the St. Lawrence and its northern and western tributaries, and 
 those tribes on the Mohawk and the lakes back of it and the Hudson 
 above it, where, in all probability, on each returning summer they 
 met in deadly conflict, with alternating successes and defeats. It is 
 interesting to note that for this time, the summer of 1609, the battle 
 took place upon that rounded point at the junction of the waters 
 of Lake George with those of Lake Champlain, where nearly a cen- 
 tury and a half afterwards the French built their little fort Carillon, 
 and the British their famous and gigantic fortress Ticonderoga. 
 The Mohawks numbered two hundred and the northern Indians but 
 sixty, yet the presence of the three Frenchmen with firearms more 
 than made up the difference; and the tumultuous joy of the latter 
 over their victory that ensued, issuing, as usual, in nameless cruelty 
 to their captives, is set in the graphic pages of Champlain over 
 against the sudden flight and utter dismay of the former at the 
 strange and deadly weapons of their foes. 
 
 Again and yet again in later years Champlain accompanied similar 
 war parties of the Hurons and Algonquins and Montagnais against 
 
72 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 their brave and more civilized enemies of the Five Nations of New 
 York, the second time in 1610, to a battle near the mouth of the 
 Richelieu, whence not a single Mohawk returned to tell the tale 
 of disaster and death; and the third time in 1615, after an immense 
 circuit with a host of savages up the Ottawa and by Lake Nipissing 
 and Georgian Bay and Lake Ontario, to a wholly unsuccessful attack 
 on the central stronghold of the Iroquois, probably located near the 
 foot of Seneca Lake at what is now Perry ville, New York; and, as 
 Hudson gained for the Dutch and English, by kind treatment, tha 
 lasting friendship of the Mohawks and their allies, so Cham plain and 
 his French successors acquired the lasting enmity of the same, just 
 about in proportion to their remarkable success in holding firm the 
 confidence and allegiance of the Indians of Canada. In all the 
 great wars that followed between England and France, so far as 
 their respective colonists in America took part in them, the Iroquois 
 almost uniformly sided with the English, and the great northern 
 tribes cast in their lot for better and worse with the French, even after 
 the fall of Quebec in 1759, and until the death of Pontiac, the great 
 Ottawa chief, in 1769. 
 
 1. The first of these wars is commonly called "King William's 
 War." It began when the news of the English Ee volution, and the 
 continued recognition of James II. nevertheless by Louis XIV., 
 reached the wilderness in 1689 ; and it was terminated by the Peace 
 of Ryswick in 1697. In August of the first-mentioned year fifteen 
 hundred of the Iroquois surprised the French town of Montreal 
 at break of day, set fire to the houses, and engaged in indiscriminate 
 massacre. In September, commissioners from New England held 
 a conference with the Mohawks at Albany, and asked for an alliance 
 and for help in fighting the Abenakis of Maine. " We have burned 
 Montreal," they replied ; " we are allies of the English ; we will 
 keep the chain unbroken." But they would not consent to invade 
 the Abenakis. On the other hand, in a vain attempt to gain the 
 esteem of the Five Nations by a display of prowess, to win them 
 to neutrality at least, if not to friendship, Frontenac, the French 
 governor of Canada, planned and executed a triple descent of French 
 and Indians into the English provinces ; one of which struck Sche- 
 nectady at midnight, with the usual horrors of warwhoop and massa- 
 cre and conflagration; another, Salmon Falls, on the Piscataqua, 
 where women and children to the number of fifty-four were either 
 murdered or carried captive ; and the third, the fort and settlement 
 in Casco Bay, further to the eastward. So it went, back and forth, 
 to the weary close of this great war. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 73 
 
 2. The next of these colonial struggles has long been named 
 " Queen Anne's War." It arose in 1703, and subsided with the Peace 
 of Utrecht in 1713. Vaudreuil, now governor of Canada, resolved 
 to conciliate the Five Nations for this war at any cost, and so made 
 a formal treaty with the Senecas, which was commemorated by two 
 strings of wampum ; and to prevent any rupture of this agreement, 
 he determined to send no war parties against the English on the 
 side of New York at all, so that it was the province of Massachusetts 
 that was chiefly desolated this time by savage forays from Canada. 
 Deerfleld had been warned by friendly Mohawks that danger would 
 hang over it in the winter of 1704 ; and thereafter there was not a 
 niglit but the sentinel was abroad, not a house but was fortified by 
 its little circle of palisades ; when, on the morning of the first day 
 of March, the snow lying four feet deep and crusted, a war party of 
 200 French and 142 Indians who had come on the crust all the way 
 from Canada, after the unfaithful sentinels had retired at the 
 approach of dawn, raised their iufernal yell, set the village on fire, 
 so that only the church and one dwelling escaped, killed outright 
 forty-seven of the people, and made captives of 112, including the 
 minister and his family. <^ The Redeemed Captive," written by this 
 minister, John Williams, after his return from Canada, became 
 famous and acquainted everybody in the colonies before the next 
 war broke out with a touching tale of Indian manners and atrocities. 
 Four years later, the destroyer of Deerfield, Hertel de Rouville, led 
 a similar horde of French and Indians to a second and more ruthless 
 sack of Haverhill on the Merrimac, which had also suffered similarly 
 in the previous war. No wonder the brave Peter Schuyler, of Albany, 
 sent the following message to Governor Vaudreuil : " I hold it my 
 duty towards God and my neighbor to prevent, if possible, these 
 barbarous and heathen cruelties. My heart swells with indignation 
 when I think that a war between Christian princes, bound to the 
 exactest laws of honor and generosity, which their noble ancestors 
 have illustrated by brilliant examples, is degenerating into a savage 
 and boundless butchery. These are not the inetliods for tt'iniinating 
 the war." 
 
 3. "King George's War," with which our present chapter is 
 specially concerned, commenced in 1744, and was provisionally 
 interrupted rather than definitively concluded by the Peace of Aix 
 la Chapelle in 1748. During this interval the line of forts between 
 the Connecticut and the Hoosac was established and constructed. 
 Fort Massachusetts was the westernmost and chiefest of the whole 
 line ; and all were built and manned under the authority and at the 
 
74 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 expense of the General Court of the colony. In this brief interval 
 also the particular fort just mentioned was besieged and taken by 
 the French and Indians, was then burnt by them, its entire garrison 
 taken captive to Canada, and then afterwards rebuilt and regarri- 
 soned by the colony, more indeed as it turned out for actual service 
 in the following than in the present war. By much the greatest 
 event, however, in King George's War was the capture from the 
 French, chiefly by Massachusetts troops, of the Fortress of Louisburg 
 on the island of Cape Breton in 1745. This fortress had been pro- 
 nounced by competent engineers to be impregnable. It was even 
 called the " Gibraltar of America." Obtaining in the General Court 
 a majority of but one vote in favor of the enterprise, William 
 Shirley, royal governor of the colony from 1741 to 1756, projected 
 and organized and carried through under the immediate command 
 of William Pepperell, of Maine, an expedition, comprising men of 
 the New England colonies and a few from the middle colonies; 
 which, under a motto suggested by Whitefield for the purpose, — nil 
 desperandum Christo duce, — completely reduced the renowned French 
 fortress in less than two months, when, at the hearing of the news, 
 Boston bells rang out their thankful peals, while the people humbly 
 exclaimed, " God has gone out of the way of his common providence 
 in a remarkable and most miraculous manner." As we shall see in 
 the sequel, the story of the taking of Louisburg connects itself 
 intimately with the story of the line of forts in western Massachu- 
 setts, insomuch as William Williams, the builder of Fort Shirley, 
 and the rebuilder of Fort Massachusetts, and the commander of the 
 line of forts, enlisted men out of its garrisons to take them as 
 soldiers to Louisburg at Shirley's command, though he arrived there 
 too late to be of service in the reduction. 
 
 4. The last and most decisive of the great wars carried on in the 
 wilds of America between France and England, with some parts of 
 which our coming story will be intimately blended, is best named 
 in America, also what it has long been called in Europe, the " Seven 
 Years' War." It was not precisely the same seven years in the two 
 cases, but it was the same war, and carried on with largely the same 
 motives in the double participants on each side. France and Canada 
 were Catholic and Jesuit, England and the colonies were intensely 
 Protestant ; besides, for a century and a half the two powers had 
 been contending by sea and by land for territorial supremacy in 
 America. In 1613 Captain Argall, from Virginia, had broken up the 
 French settlement on the island of Mt. Desert, which gave rise to 
 an intercolonial war on the Atlantic at the very time Champlain was 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 75 
 
 operating against the Five Nations from, his base of Quebec. As 
 early as 1535, Cartier had sailed up the St. Lawrence as far as 
 Montreal, which he named. The French had a valid claim by- 
 exploration certainly, and in a partial sense by Christianization also 
 to by far the largest part of the present United States east of the 
 ^lississippi, and they controlled that river to its mouth, and its 
 northern tributaries to their sources. The Seven Years' War began 
 on this side the water in the valley of the upper Ohio in May, 1754, 
 when Washington, bearing a commission from the governor of Vir- 
 ginia, captured a French detachment under Jumonville and killed 
 the commander ; while indeed the war was not openly declared in 
 Europe between the two great powers till 1756; and the Peace of 
 Paris in 1763 closed the war for good and all, so far as French claims 
 in America went, by the surrender of Canada and the great West to 
 Great Britain, and made peace for many years in Europe also as 
 between the two main combatants. Now it is curious to notice that 
 the chief campaigns in this war, beginning in 1755, were fought out 
 on the old neutral battle-ground of the Iroquois and Algonquins. 
 The upper Hudson and Lake George were a war-path for the 
 English and Mohawks to Lake Champlain and Canada, and the 
 Richelieu and upper St. Lawrence were routes for French and 
 Indians to Lake George and Oswego. It is these immemorial routes 
 and battle-grounds of the Indians, and later of their civilized con- 
 federates on the one side and the other, that connects the valleys 
 of the Hoosac and the Deerfield and the line of forts flanking the 
 two with the vast events and issues of the last two French wars. 
 
 At the outbreak of King George's War in 1744, to which we now 
 turn back to take up causes and effects in their historical order, the 
 colony of Massachusetts was naturally enough intensely anti-French 
 and zealously anti-Catholic. Father Rale, a Jesuit priest, a man of 
 much vigor and scholarly cultivation, had been established in a 
 French mission among the Abenakis at Norridgewock, on the upper 
 Kennebec, as early as 1695. He accompanied these Indians on their 
 hunting and fishing excursions, and obtained a large influence over 
 them. Many of them became neophytes and counted their beads 
 and said their Ave Marias. And he was believed by the New 
 Englanders to have instigated various Indian forays against the 
 settlements along the coast. The whole network of Jesuit missions 
 on the St. Lawrence, on the Chaudi^re, and on the Kennebec excited 
 a fearful animosity in Massachusetts, whose people ascribed all 
 Indian hostilities to their machinations. Rale was specially singled 
 out for vengeance, and a price was set upon his head. His forest 
 
T6 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 chapel at Norridgewock was burned down in 1705 ; a second expe- 
 dition in 1722 pillaged his cabin and chapel, which had been in the 
 meantime rebuilt, carrying off among other papers, which certainly 
 confirmed the English suspicions, his dictionary compiled by himself 
 of the Abenaki language, now preserved as invaluable in the library 
 of Harvard College ; and at last in 1724 another English party sur- 
 prised the place, killed the priest at the foot of his mission cross, 
 disgracefully mutilated his body, killing also seven chiefs who had 
 tried to protect his sacred body by covering it with their own.^ 
 Twenty years later, accordingly, when the next formal war broke 
 out between England and France, Massachusetts carried into it not 
 only an hereditary enmity against Frenchmen, but also a fierce cru- 
 sading spirit against Catholics and Jesuits. 
 
 An entirely distinct set of causes from these, however, contributed 
 to the great exertions made by Massachusetts throughout King 
 George's War, and especially to the building of the line of forts west- 
 ward from the Connecticut River. The original charter of Massa- 
 chusetts extended the limits of the colony to a point "three miles 
 north of the Merrimac River." But what part of Merrimac Eiver ? 
 The colony claimed that it meant any part of that river, and that the 
 river was known by that name from the point of junction of its two 
 main branches in what is now Franklin, New Hampshire; but 
 the colony of New Hampshire, which had been mostly united with 
 Massachusetts under one government from its first settlement in 
 1623 to its final separation in 1741, claimed in general that the char- 
 ter intended a point three miles north of the mouth of the river; 
 and a great deal of acrimony attended, from first to last, this contro- 
 versy about the boundary line. New Hampshire was still feeble and 
 poor, and had declined to assume the expenses of an independent 
 administration of government ; and yet, looking forward to that goal, 
 steadily pushed its claim to jurisdiction over many townships which 
 its southern neighbor had founded and defended on the territory in 
 dispute. Unluckily, as this boundary question pressed towards its 
 final solution through all the manifold phases that always attend 
 such controversies, the General Court of Massachusetts became odious 
 to the home government in England for persistently refusing to vote 
 a stated salary to the governors appointed by the Crown, and other 
 
 1 The bell of Rale's chapel has been preserved in a wonderful way, and is exhib- 
 ited in the rooms of the Maine Historical Society in Portland. It was probably 
 caught in its fall from the little tower when the chapel was burned, by the crotch of 
 a pine tree, which gradually grew into it and over it and almost covered it, and thus 
 preserved it till it was discovered in a log rafted to market and about to be sawed. I 
 saw it at Brunswick some years ago in a transverse section of the log. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 77 
 
 similar reasons, and New Hampshire sent unscrupulous agents to 
 England who well knew how to inflame the jealousy that had long 
 existed and was now intense between the Crown and the larger 
 colony. It might, therefore, have been easily foreseen that the 
 Privy Council, to which the boundary matter had been referred for 
 final settlement, would favor New Hampshire in their award. As a 
 matter of fact, their decision, which was ultimate, took away from 
 Massachusetts a strip of territory fourteen miles in width and fifty 
 in length, jxissing it over to New Hampshire, although that colony, 
 in the previous controversy, had never dared even to advance such a 
 claim. 
 
 Both colonies would probably have C(ni4»i..iiiised with tolerable 
 content on a point three miles north of the mouth of the ^lerrimiu', 
 and a line drawn thence due west till it met the west line of New 
 York ; but ignorance of geography on the part of the l*rivy Coun- 
 cillors, the ill repute of Massachusetts with the home government, 
 and the lack of conscience in the New Hampshire agents, conspired 
 to bring in the atrocious award, which was never afterwards modi- 
 fied, namely, that neither the head nor mouth of the river, but its 
 very southernmost bend at Pawtucket Falls (now Lowell), was 
 meant in the charter, and the boundary line should run due west 
 from a point " three miles north " of that particular spot. Accord- 
 ingly, Jonathan Belcher, then governor of both provinces, ordered a 
 surveyor named Richard Hazen to run the line thus in the spring of 
 1741, and it was done, and the boundary has remained unaltered to 
 this day. This wretched affair bore such fruits of ill-will as between 
 the two provinces, and of consequent embarrassments to the Crown, 
 that Belcher was recalled from his double government, and New 
 Hampshire became a separate province, receiving Benning Went- 
 worth as first royal governor in 1741. 
 
 Under this condition of sore feeling towards the neighbor colony 
 and the mother country, under the acute sense of having been 
 grossly wronged by them both, the magnanimity of Massachusetts 
 towards them both at the time King George's War broke out three 
 years later is beyond all praise and all precedent. New Hampshire 
 professed herself pecuniarily unable to defend the towns and man 
 the forts on the newly gained territory against the French and 
 Indians, and appealed to Massachusetts to continue to do in these 
 mJitters just as she would were the territory still her own, and the 
 General Court responded to this request promptly and liberally, not 
 only throughout this war, but through the next also. Massachu- 
 setts had built for the defence of her towns in the valley of the 
 
78 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Connecticut in 1724, in connection with the troubles and hostilities 
 arising about the operations of Father Rale, Fort Dummer on the 
 west bank of that river a little below the present village of Brattle- 
 boro; and by Hazen's line this fort was now thrown into New 
 Hampshire ; yet the General Court hastened to garrison it with 
 Massachusetts men, in connection with several smaller forts on or 
 near the river south of the line. Much more than this, in the very 
 teeth of French and Indian hostilities in the region, Massachusetts 
 defences were pushed up the river thirty miles from Fort Dummer, 
 and a fort built on the east bank called Fort Number Four, now 
 Charlestown, New Hampshire. Captain Phineas Stevens, of Sud- 
 bury, was sent thither in 1746 with a company of brave men. He 
 and they showed such conduct and gained such successes in that 
 neighborhood on several occasions during this year and the two next, 
 that the British Commodore, Charles Knowles, then off our coast 
 with a fleet, sent Captain Stevens in recognition a valuable sword, 
 which incidentally occasioned the renaming of Number Four as 
 Charlestoivn, although the old name stuck to the spot more or less 
 for a century, especially in the mouths of later settlers in the upper 
 Connecticut valley, for whom the place was the base of their early 
 supplies. Stevens commanded there till 1750, and died there in 1756. 
 
 Massachusetts at the same time, instead of nourishing her grudge 
 against England on account of the undoubted wrong received, fitted 
 out the expedition against Louisburg in 1745, and laid at the King's 
 feet in triumph, the strongest French fortress in America. 
 
 As each one in the direct line of forts built west of the Connecti- 
 cut Eiver in this war was located within two or three miles of Hazen's 
 line, it is diflB.cult to resist the conclusion that the colony, curtailed 
 as it had been in its territory, was now determined to maintain what 
 was left to it at all hazards and against all comers. 
 
 And there was a third consideration that had to do with the build- 
 ing of Fort Massachusetts, and one still further west projected but 
 never built. The boundary line between New York and Massachu- 
 setts was still unsettled. Surveyor Hazen was directed to carry 
 his line west till it should meet "his Majesty's other governments." 
 When he reached the top of the Taconics two miles west of Williams- 
 town, he supposed his duty was fulfilled, although for convenience 
 he extended his line to the Hudson ; and, as a matter of fact, forty- 
 six years later the official New York line crossed his own very near 
 the spot where he supposed it would ; but for all that, in all the 
 years of these French wars, and especially after her experience of 
 1741, Massachusetts was nervous and anxious about her western 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 79 
 
 boundary. Commission after commission was raised by the General 
 Court to sit with similar commissions raised by the sister colony to 
 lay for good, if possible, this troublesome specter, but no progress 
 seemed to be gained by all the pains ; in the meantime Dutch farm- 
 ers owning allegiance to New York, were creeping up the Hoosac 
 into what is now Petersburg and Pownal, and Livingston's Patent 
 was held to extend over into the valley of the Housatonic, and Dutch 
 and other settlers had cleared lands within that valley which Massar 
 chusetts was sure were her own ; and when, accordingly, the west- 
 ernmost fort was erected in 1745, there was doubtless some tinge 
 of defiance as well as of determined colony pride in its christen- 
 ing, — Fort Massachusetts. 
 
 The first martial note raised by the Massachusetts colony in King 
 George's War, was the appointment of a committee of three by Gov- 
 ernor Shirley to build a line of forts " from Col rain to the Dutch set- 
 tlements." Shirley had succeeded -Belcher on his recall in 1741, 
 and, as British-born and Boston-trained, became a loyal and active 
 and able colonial governor for fifteen years, though for about half 
 that interval he was absent in England, when Spencer Phips, as lieu- 
 tenant-governor, acted wisely in his stead. The chairman of this 
 committee was John Stoddard, of Northampton, who practically 
 came to do all its work, though nominally associated with him were 
 Oliver Partridge, of Hatfield, and John Leonard, of a noted colonial 
 family to the eastward. Stoddard was the leading figure and con- 
 trolling spirit at the west throughout this war. He was the Colonel 
 of the Hampshire militia till his death in 1748, at the time when 
 " Hampshire" covered all the colony west of the Connecticut River. 
 In a multitudinous public service as legislator, military officer, and 
 judge, he showed himself to be a vigorous man, as he belonged also 
 to a vigorous race. His grandfather was Anthony, who emigrated 
 from London to Boston in 1639, with Mary Downing his wife, sister 
 of Sir George Downing, after whom the present Government Street 
 in Westminster is named. His father was Reverend Solomon, long 
 the noted minister of Northampton, a successful preacher and a 
 theological controversialist, three of whose daughters married into 
 the Williams family; one other became the mother of Jonathan 
 Edwards, and one other the mother of Joseph Hawley; so that 
 Colonel John Stoddard was own uncle to the Captain William 
 Williams soon to be spoken of, and also to the two other cele- 
 brated characters soon to be spoken of. We shall see in these 
 chapters that nepotism played a great part in the colonial period, 
 and particularly in the Williams family. 
 
80 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 July 20, 1744, Stoddard wrote a letter from. Northampton to 
 Captain William Williams, which is still extant, in his own hand, 
 and which till now has never been printed, on the top of the sheet 
 of which stands this memorandum : — 
 
 The fort 60 feet Square Houses 11 feet wide Mounts 12 feet Square 7 feet high 
 12 feet High the fort roof of ye Houses to be shingled the Soldiers Employed to 
 be allowed the Carpenter nine shillings others six shillings a day Old Tenor. 
 
 Then follows the letter itself, which is the foundation document 
 in the history of northwestern Massachusetts : — 
 
 Sir you are hereby Directed as soon as may be to Erect a fort of the Dimen- 
 sions above mentioned, and you are to employ ye soldiers under your Command, 
 viz such of them as are effective men and to allow them by ye day in manner as 
 above expressed and in case your soldiers chuse rather to undertake to build sd 
 fort for a sum in Gross or by ye Great you may promise them Two Hundred 
 pounds old Tenor Exclusive of the Nails that may be necessary the fort is to be 
 erected about five miles and a half from Hugh Morrison's house in Colrain in or 
 near the line run last week Under the direction of Colo Tim" Dwight by our 
 order and you are hereby further directed as you may have Opportunity to 
 Search out some Convenient places where two or three other forts may be 
 Erected Each to be about five miles and a Half Distance upon the line run Last 
 week as above mentioned or the pricked line on the platt made by Col^ Dwight 
 you will have with you. 
 
 and further you are to order a sufficient Guard out of the men under your 
 Command to guard such persons as may be Employed in erecting sd fort and 
 further you have liberty to Exchange of the men under your command for those 
 that are und"" the Command of Capt. Elijah in case there be any such that will 
 be proper to be Employed in building sd fort you will take care that the men be 
 faithful in their business, they must be watchful and prudent for their own 
 safety. 
 
 there must be good account kept of the various Services in case men work 
 
 by the day. 
 
 John Stoddard. 
 
 To Capt. William Williams. 
 
 Northampton, July 20, 1744. 
 
 Accompanying this letter was the following certificate of the 
 same date, written in Stoddard's own hand, with the autograph 
 signatures of Partridge and Leonard : — 
 
 We the Subscribers being appointed by his Excellency to build a Line of 
 forts from Colrain to the Dutch Settlements &c. Do approve of the building 
 of a fort in ye place above mentioned and also of the manner of building the 
 same and the pay to be allowed therefor. 
 
 John Stoddard, ^ 
 
 Ol. Partridge, l Committee. 
 
 John Leonard, J 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 81 
 
 The Colonel Timothy Dwight referred to in the above letter was 
 a citizen of Xorthaiiipton, the father of the afterwards famous 
 President Dwight of Yale College, and soon to be related by mar- 
 riage to the Stoddards, inasmuch as his wife was a daughter of 
 Jonathan Edwards. Different members of this celebrated Dwight 
 family, all descended from the early immigrant, Timothy of Ded- 
 ham, will run across our path at distant intervals as we go on with 
 our story. President Dwight was repeatedly at Williamstown, and 
 left on record for us valuable local information ; but it may well be 
 doubted whether he himself knew that his father, as a comparatively 
 young man, surveyed the line parallel to Hazen's line at about two 
 miles' distance, on which the line of forts was shortly afterwards 
 located. Captain Nathaniel Dwight, of Belchertown, had much to 
 do ^vith our valley as a surveyor and as a soldier at a later day ; and 
 still later, Anna Dwight Sabin became "a mother in Israel" in 
 South Williamstown. 
 
 In accordance with the ample authority conveyed in this letter, 
 Captain Williams set himself promptly upon building Fokt Shir- 
 ley, as the blockhouse was named, when completed, after the popu- 
 lar and enterprising Governor of the colony. It was built of the 
 dimensions prescribed to him, and placed at the spot indicated to 
 him in the letter, which was in what is now the northern part of the 
 township of Heath, near the upper reaches of a small brook that 
 finds its way to the Deerfield at Shelburne Falls. As this was the 
 first considerable work of defence in the line of forts westward, and 
 became the model for the construction of others both on the Con- 
 necticut and the Hoosac ; as all the items in the expenses of con- 
 struction are still extant, the bulk of them in Williams's own hand- 
 writing ; as current rates of wages at that time, and prices current 
 of many of the necessaries of life, may be easily gathered from 
 these items, as well as the prevailing depreciation of ^[assachusetts 
 paper money both in the " New Tenor " and the " Old Tenor " ; as 
 six nearly entire timbers of the original fort are still well preserved 
 in Heath, from which the mode of erection and of interlocking at 
 the corners can be certainly deduced ; and as the site itself at pres- 
 ent, which the writer has repeatedly visited and studied, and espe- 
 cially the old well within the enclosure, yield something in addition 
 of instruction as to the way of doing things in "ye olden time"; 
 the reader will perhaps willingly pardon some minuteness of detail 
 at this point, and some needful delay in the flow of the general nar- 
 rative. 
 
 In about three months Fort Shirley was finished, for on the 30th 
 
82 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 of October, Captain Williams commenced to billet himself within it, 
 charging the "Province of the Massachusetts Bay" twenty-five 
 shillings a week "to March ye 4th being 17 weeks and 5 days." 
 Pine trees at least a foot and a half through were cut down in the 
 neighborhood and drawn to the site of the blockhouse that was to be ; 
 scorers at six shillings a day in forty-eight days' works in all reduced 
 the logs to something like the required shape, and then hewers in 
 twenty-four days' works in the aggregate at nine shillings a day 
 wrought them down smooth to fourteen inches by six ; and when 
 put into place, the timbers rested on their six-inch side, and augur- 
 holes were bored into them at intervals, into which dowel-pins of 
 red oak were driven in such a way as that each course of timbers 
 was strongly dowelled to the one above it. In October, 1885, the 
 present writer pulled out with his own hands a couple of these pins 
 from the extant timbers, in which they had then quietly rested just 
 141 years. As the fort was ordered to be built twelve feet high, 
 there must have been ten of these courses, one above another ; and 
 each end-piece was dovetailed at the corners, with the corresponding 
 one at right angles to it, in a way that is clearly indicated at the 
 ends of four of the timbers still preserved. The fort was sixty feet 
 square. Two reaches of the pines, accordingly, each thirty feet 
 long, would have covered a side ; but, for the sake of strength, the 
 joints of each course would doubtless be broken by the layer above, 
 so that in many cases at least there would be three timbers in a 
 layer. Nothing certain can be inferred from the lengths of the tim- 
 bers remaining, for although some of these are long, we cannot be 
 sure that they are entire ; while we may be sure that four of .the six 
 were at a corner, because they show the framing at the ends neces- 
 sary for the interlocking. 
 
 This, then, was a blockhouse, so-called. Por " framing and raising " 
 it Captain Williams charged the colony in wages paid out £22 10s. 
 As is common in such matters, at least one false mortise was made by 
 a careless carpenter in the framing, for there may be seen at present 
 in Clark Hall a bit of red oak taken out from such a mortise very 
 long after it had been filled in and smoothed over. This unknown 
 carpenter undoubtedly supposed that he had thus obliterated for- 
 ever all traces of these false strokes of his chisel, yet Orsamus Max- 
 well, owner of the timber in which the ancient fault had hidden 
 itself, did not need the reminder of the present writer, when the 
 two together discerned it in 1885, that " there is nothing covered 
 that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known." 
 
 Strong as these walls would be as just described, they were ren- 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 88 
 
 dered very much stronger by two mounts twelve feet square and 
 seven feet high, erected on two of the opposite corners above and 
 upon the regular walls. The following is an item in the Captain's 
 monetary account rendered to Colonel Stoddard : " To Hewing the 
 mount Timbers £6. 6«." It is plain that if there were to be any 
 fighting by the soldiers within the fort, it could only be on and from 
 these mounts, for there were no orifices through the walls of the 
 fort itself. And so it actually fell out a little afterwards in the 
 siege of Fort Massachusetts, similarly built with two similar mounts. 
 But no organized war parties of French and Indians ever appeared 
 at Fort Shirley. Small bands of the red men lurked repeatedly in 
 the encircling forest, but more for observation and for picking off 
 single men than for purposes of attack. Continual watch and 
 ward was held, nevertheless, on these Shirley mounts, sometimes 
 by a single man only, till the fort was abandoned in the next war. 
 
 Within these walls and resting back upon them, houses or barracks 
 were built eleven feet wide for the use of the officers and soldiers 
 and their families, — ^^roof of ye houses to be shingled." If the 
 " eleven feet wide " prescribed by Colonel Stoddard, meant, as is 
 presumed, extension towards the centre of the interior, and if the 
 houses were on one side of the square only, there would still be an 
 open parade forty-eight feet by sixty. If the houses were on two 
 sides (and there could hardly have been more, though we have no 
 exact information upon this point), there would still have been an 
 open court forty-eight feet square. There is good evidence that the 
 roofs of the houses slanted up to the top of the wall, the wall of the 
 fort making the back wall of the house, and the houses all fronting 
 the hollow square in the centre of the fort, which was doubtless used 
 for and called " the parade." Such a roof was called in those days 
 a "salt-box" roof. The shingles were certainly rived from sections 
 of pine logs perhaps larger than those hewn down for the timbers, 
 and they cost at any rate, according to the return, £24, and for 
 "Joynting and laying ye Shingles £3" additional were charged. 
 Captain William Williams with his officers and men passed the 
 winter of 1744-45 in these barracks ; in one of them were the head- 
 quarters of Captain Ephraim Williams, the founder of the town and 
 the College, from Dec. 10, 1745, to Dec. 10, 1746, in which time 
 he had 350 men "under his particular charge and government" in 
 the several forts east and west ; and in one of these houses also 
 dwelt Mrs. John Norton with her little family, wife of the chap- 
 lain of the line of forts, from August, 1746, to August, 1747, while 
 her husband was in captivity in Canada. 
 
6 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 10 
 
 
 £114 
 
 16 
 
 84 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 There were two separate accounts rendered to Colonel Stoddard 
 for moneys expended in building Fort Shirley ; the first, which fol- 
 lows, for the heavier expenses of the main construction, and the 
 second, to be given later, for the more numerous items of finishing 
 and furnishing : — 
 
 Hewing out sides of ye fort j Hewers 24 days | ^^^ ^g 
 
 I Scorers 48 " / 
 To hewing insides of ye houses 
 To Hewing the mount Timber 
 
 partitions 
 
 floors 
 
 shingles 
 
 spars and framing Door 
 
 ribs and laying 
 
 Joynting and laying ye shingles 
 
 Braces 
 
 Framing and Raising 
 
 Next to the shingles, the largest single item in this bill is for the 
 ^^ floors/^ This, in connection with the fact that the ground on 
 which the fort stood is wet at the present time and in all likelihood 
 was quite as wet at that time, and taken in connection, too, with 
 certain curious marks and a hole apparently burnt in on one of the 
 extant timbers, as if much worn by the tread of feet, and possibly 
 placed near to an oven or old-fashioned fireplace, makes it probable, 
 if not certain, that the whole interior of the fort was floored over 
 with pine timbers similar to those in the walls. Another item in 
 this bill makes it probable, also, that the " insides of ye houses," that 
 is, the sides parallel to the exterior walls, were built of similar 
 hewed stuff, and either framed into the flooring upright or laid up 
 in order like the outer walls ; and still another item gives some 
 color of truth to the conjecture that the " partitions " between the 
 houses, namely, the subordinate interior divisions to these, were 
 of lighter and cheaper materials. The " braces " referred to in this 
 bill may have been the rafters of the houses binding the tops of the 
 " insides of ye houses " to the higher outer wall, in which case they 
 would likely be poles from the woods near by, costing little, and 
 supporting the shingles as well as bracing the interior wall ; or they 
 may have been supports from below of the " mounts," or possibly 
 parts of their structure above. On one or two of the extant timbers 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 85 
 
 there are incisive framings on a bevel for braces or for something 
 else, which the writer with his present knowledge cannot interpret 
 to his own satisfaction. 
 
 But however this may be, the old well of the fort is able thor- 
 oughly to interpret itself to this day. Beyond any reasonable 
 question, it occupied one of the corners of the fort enclosure, so as to 
 be accessible to the garrison at all times, whether besieged or not, 
 and at the same time be removed from the "parade." Even the 
 story of the mode of its making may be easily and pretty certainly 
 recovered by any one accustomed to put together facts of this kind 
 constructively. Almost three half-centuries have already ])assed 
 since the well was dug and the water first drunk by the thirsty 
 workmen around it, and yet the risk is very slight in predicating 
 for substance, that four forest staddles about six inches in diameter, 
 one for each corner of the well, were set upright on the ground, and 
 then ash planks, rived from a log about five feet long, were pinned or 
 spiked on the outside of these staddles, beginning at the bottom; 
 and this frame being placed on the ground where the well was to 
 be, the earth was thrown out over the sides, and so the well was 
 gradually sunk to the required depth, the plank siding being gradu- 
 ally added upward as the shaft was lowered. These rived planks 
 and the tops of the four corner-poles, that can now be seen and fin- 
 gered less than two feet below the surface of the ground, were not 
 very uniform in thickness, and of course have rotted off at the top 
 by time and exposure; but enough of both has been preserved till 
 this time by constant submergence in the water and in the unusually 
 moist soil above it to reveal the nature of the materials used and 
 the mode of their employment. One of the corner-posts was a black 
 birch, and the bark on it was in a good state of preservation at and 
 below the surface of the water in 1886. Several pieces of this ash 
 plank, a number of fractured brick from the chimney or oven, and a 
 bit of the birch bark, are among the modest treasures of Clark Hall 
 at present. 
 
 On Captain AVilliams's first rough record of expenses on the fort 
 as rendered to Colonel Stoddard, there stands the following signifi- 
 cant "X. B. Nothing reckoned for Chimneys or Drawing ye Timbers 
 nor Nails Gates and Doors." This note was a sufficient intimation 
 that a more formal and formidable bill of particulars would be 
 forwarded to headquarters in due time ; and it was forwarded 
 accordingly, and has been preserved, drawn up in another and more 
 careful and more practised hand than that of Captain Williams, as 
 follows : — 
 
86 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 An Account of the Labour and Expenses in Building the Block House 
 IN the Line op Forts West of Colrain. 
 
 ro Serg*- Jonathan Drown 
 
 For 101 Days Work at 6/ 
 
 £ 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 " Corpi- Forginson 
 
 " 5 days and a piece 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 6 
 
 " Jo. Alexander 
 
 " 21 Days 
 
 6 
 
 16 
 
 
 " Ezra Brown 
 
 " 2 Days 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 " Valentine Wheeler 
 
 " 5 Days 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 
 " Nathan Harris 
 
 " 8^ Days 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 " Stephen Eddy 
 
 " 11 Days and a piece 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 " Roger Kelly 
 
 " Odd jobs 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 
 *' Jo. Lovereighn 
 
 " 6 Days 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 
 " Enoch Kelton 
 
 " 9 Days and a piece • 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 
 *' Cyrus Church 
 
 " 4 Days 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 
 £26 
 
 16 
 
 
 »' John Lynham 
 
 " IJDay 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 " Hezekiah Tynkam 
 
 " 2 Days 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 " Jno. Lakeman 
 
 " 17 Days 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 
 " Eph™ Bullen 
 
 " 2 Days and apiece 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 " Sami Clark 
 
 " 18 days 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 *' Joseph Hill 
 
 " 3 days and a piece 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 " Isaac Underwood 
 
 " 9 days and a piece 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 " John Alexander 
 
 " 14 days and a piece 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 
 " Oliver Thayer 
 
 " 5 days and a piece 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 " John McClatick 
 
 " 2 days 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 *« Oliver Stanley 
 
 " 1 day 
 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 *' Peter Montague 
 
 " 25 days 
 
 7 
 
 11 
 
 6 
 
 
 £28 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 ** Phineas Smith 
 
 " 5 days 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 
 " Samuel Root 
 
 " 7 J days 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 
 " James Gray 
 
 *' odd Jobs 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 " Hezekiah Elmer 
 
 " 11 days 
 
 2 
 
 19 
 
 
 " Moses Webb 
 
 " 1 day 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 " Simon Rouse 
 
 " 2 days 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 " Job Nimrod 
 
 " 2 days and a piece 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 " John Foster as Carpenter 
 
 " 35 days at 9/ 
 
 15 
 
 15 
 
 
 " John Rugg as ditto 
 
 " 30 Days at 9/ 
 
 13 
 
 10 
 
 
 " Sergt Coss 
 
 " drawing Timber and Stones 9} 
 
 
 
 
 
 days at 50/ 
 
 23 
 
 15 
 
 
 " Eb'^ Wells 
 
 " Drawing Timber 4 days at 50/ 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 " Saini Osborn 
 
 " 13Jdaysat6/ 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 *• Sam^ Chamberlain 
 
 " lejdays 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 " Eph™ Twitchell 
 
 ♦' 9Jdays 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 
 " George Williams 
 
 " 5 days 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 £ 85 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 
 Carried over 
 
 £140 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 87 
 
 To Amos Alexander 
 
 For 
 
 7 days 
 
 and 
 
 a piece 
 
 
 £2 
 
 5 
 
 " John Stratton 
 
 (( 
 
 14 '* 
 
 i( 
 
 (( 
 
 
 3 
 
 19 
 
 " Paul Field 
 
 i( 
 
 7 " 
 
 " 
 
 it 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 " Jno. Kennedy 
 
 " 
 
 8 •• 
 
 
 it 
 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 " Nat" IJutterworth 
 
 " 
 
 .32 J- 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 " Benj. Randall 
 
 " 
 
 30 " 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 " Moses Brooks 
 
 (( 
 
 4 " 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 " Serg< Peck 
 
 i( 
 
 U " 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 •* Serg* Garfield 
 
 i( 
 
 6 " 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 *' Eb'Stebbins 
 
 K 
 
 6 '* 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 t\ 
 
 ♦' Stephen Stimson 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 '* Andrew Smith 
 
 (( 
 
 8 days making ye 
 
 chimneys nt 
 
 
 
 
 
 10/ 
 
 'per 
 
 day 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 •' Alexander Herren 
 
 (t 
 
 laying 
 
 the 
 
 Stones 
 
 of 2 of the 
 
 
 
 To 
 To 
 
 To 
 
 Chimneys 3^ days at 12/ 
 per day 
 
 Joseph Brooks Building the other 2, 6 days at 10/ 
 Chamberlain and others digging the clay Carrying the mortar 
 
 and stones making the Catts &c 
 David Twitchell for 10 days 
 Boarding the Chimney Makers 
 
 9 Horse loads of straw for the Chimneys 
 
 6 Horse loads of Hay for the Cattle 
 
 Making the lath for shingling upon 
 Laying the Floor of the parade 
 making 12 Thousand shingles 
 
 2 mill Board nails at 45/ 
 
 10 mill shingle Do at 18/ 
 6 ct of 20d Do 
 
 5 p' Hooks and Hinges 
 
 6 Hasps and Staples 
 
 3 pad Locks 
 
 2 p' Small Door Hinges 
 
 Hewing Scoring &c 4774 feet of Timber at 21/ for every 
 120 feet is 
 
 2 
 
 £40 8 6 
 
 10 
 3 
 2 
 4 
 2 
 2 
 3 
 8 
 
 20 
 4 
 
 14 
 1 
 
 10 
 16 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 The whole amount of money charged in this second bill, includ- 
 ing £2 Ws. apparently foisted in under the item " Hay for the 
 cattle," reaches £306 lis, 9d., old tenor. Something of what is 
 charged in the first bill, namely, £114 16s. in the aggregate, seems 
 to be covered by some of the items of the second, especially the 
 scoring and hewing of the wall timbers ; but of this we cannot be 
 absolutely sure ; and perhaps the safest way to compute the whole 
 cost of the fort is to add the two amounts together, making in all 
 £421 7s. 9d. But we must remember that all this was reckoned in 
 
88 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 old tenor paper money of Massachusetts, first issued in 1690 for 
 King William's War, and which, depreciating from the first, as such 
 money always does, became worth, during the four years of King 
 George's War, about four to one in sterling silver. In 1737, a "new 
 tenor " paper money was also issued by Massachusetts, which soon 
 settled into the ratio with "old tenor" of one to four, and both 
 thereafter depreciated together in that proportion. In 1750, the 
 ransom money for the capture of Louisburg having been received 
 from England in specie, the wise colony redeemed all its paper 
 of both kinds reckoned as old tenor, at about eleven paper for one 
 silver, and for the next twenty-five years enjoyed the unspeakable 
 blessings and prosperity of a sound money. The whole cost of Fort 
 Shirley, accordingly, reckoned in silver sterling in the year of our 
 Lord 1744, was not far from £50. 
 
 The fact, as demonstrated by this bill, that Fort Shirley had four 
 stone chimneys, makes it nearly or quite certain that " ye houses," or 
 barracks, were on two sides of the enclosure, since the chimneys 
 with their fireplaces were for the use of the barracks for cooking 
 purposes the year round, and for the warmth of the occupants in 
 winter. The foundations of some of these chimneys remain on the 
 site unstirred to this day, and the position of the remains of all of 
 them is consistent with the supposition, that the barracks were on 
 two sides of the enclosure, and that each chimney accommodated two 
 of the rooms. It is possible, but not likely, that each chimney stood 
 against the interior wall of each side Of the fort ; in which case 
 there would naturally be two houses on each side, eight in all, which 
 arrangement would at once clutter the parade and also make the 
 houses less defensible in case an enemy penetrated the fort. That 
 Williams was not quite satisfied with these Shirley barracks, howso- 
 ever they may have been placed, seems to be proven by his order in 
 1747 in regard to the new barracks at Fort Massachusetts on its 
 rebuilding under his direction. This time he had the barracks put 
 wholly outside the enclosure, " within five feet of the north side of 
 the fort, and at equal distances from the east and west ends." But 
 it is every way probable that the chimneys there, though there were 
 to be but two of them, had the same general adjustment to the 
 rooms as they had before at Fort Shirley. What this adjustment 
 was, appears clearly from Williams's further order to his subordinate : 
 " Place a chimney in the centre of the east part with two fireplaces, 
 to accommodate those rooms. In the west part, place the chimney 
 so as to accommodate the two rooms, on that part," etc. By one 
 of these fireplaces at Fort Shirley, Captain William Williams passed 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 89 
 
 the winter of 1744-4."), conducting his correspondence with Colonel 
 Stoddard, with Fort Dummer to the northward, and Fort Pelham 
 to the westward; probably in the same chimney-corner, certainly 
 within the same fort, Captain Ephraim Williams passed the winter 
 of 1745-46, watching over the scouting from fort to fort, and attend- 
 ing to the wants and duties of the "three hundred and fifty men 
 under his particular charge and government in the Line of Forts " ; 
 and by the side of one of these Shirley fireplaces, too, Mrs. John 
 Norton, wife of the chaplain of the line of forts, passed the dreary 
 winter of 174G-i7, her husband in captivity in Canada, and she 
 caring as best she could for the wants of her little ones, sick or well, 
 one of whom, Anna, she laid away to rest in the August following, 
 under a rude headstone in Shirley-field. 
 
 Captain Elijah Williams was at this time acting as sub-commissary 
 under Colonel Israel Williams, commissary for the " western depart- 
 ment " of the Province ; and in this capacity during the last week 
 in July and the month of August, 1744, he despatched to Fort 
 Shirley twenty-one men with horses, bearing 1520 pounds of pork, 
 1052 pounds of biscuit, twelve bushels of peas, twenty-eight gallons 
 of rum, two brass kettles, chalk lines and chalk, grindstone, gouge, 
 auger, f row, adz, steelyards, dividers, spade, broad hoe, and stub hoe. 
 W. L. Cook, who has owned for many years the farm of which 
 Shirley-field is a part, found there an old stub hoe with every mark 
 of antiquity upon it, and sent it as a veritable relic of the fort to 
 George Sheldon, of Deerfield, who thought it likely to be the very 
 one spoken of in this record, and as such deposited it in the Pocum- 
 tuck ^lemorial Hall, where it may now be seen. 
 
 Many of the men to whom moneys were paid according to the 
 foregoing bill of accounts, are shown by their names to have been 
 Scotch-Irish people, probably for the most part from the nearest 
 settlement to Fort Shirley, namely, Coleraine, about five miles to the 
 eastward. August 4, 1718, five shiploads of Scotch Protestants from 
 Londonderry and its neighborhood in the north of Ireland, where 
 they and their fathers had been colonized in the room of displaced 
 Celtic Irish for two generations or so, sailed into Boston Harbor, 
 whence^ they scattered, not so much as individual families, as in 
 considerable sections together as churches; one part moving that 
 autumn to AVorcester, and settling there for the present; another 
 part tarrying in Boston, where they soon established a Presbyterian 
 church ; still another division migrating to Andover Hill ; and per- 
 haps the largest division of all continuing their voyage after a little 
 to the coast of Maine, where many families permanently settled, and 
 
90 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 whence more returned in the following spring to found their famous 
 town of Londonderry in New Hampshire. Those immigrants of 
 1718, with others of a like strain of blood and faith who followed 
 them later, have perceptibly colored the whole history of Massachu- 
 setts since, and much more the whole history of New Hampshire. 
 More or less they have hung together from generation to generation 
 as families, as churches, at least as acquaintances, reknitting from 
 time to time the old ties, and keeping in good memory the auld lang 
 syne. 
 
 Most of those who went to Worcester, being depreciated there as 
 Irish, and even persecuted as Presbyterians, either fared on in the 
 course of a few years into towns of their own, as Pelham, Blanford, 
 and Coleraine, or became a leading element in the population of 
 many other towns, as Brookfield, Ware, and Warren. Those who 
 settled Coleraine in 1736, designated it after their native or adopted 
 town of the same name on the Bann Water in the county of Derry. 
 Eight years after this settlement, at that time the extreme settle- 
 ment in the northwest of the colony, though Charlemont and Pitts- 
 field had been granted at the same date, 1735, when France and 
 England mutually declared war, and there w..s a call in Massa- 
 chusetts for men to build forts and for soldiers to man them, these 
 comparatively new-comers now scattered over New England, who 
 hated popery as they feared the devil, responded promptly to the 
 Protestant calls, enlisted for the line of forts for the siege of Louis- 
 burg, and for the expeditions against Cro^vn Point and Canada. 
 The famous corps of partisans, known as " Eogers' Rangers," were 
 mostly made up from them, and Rogers himself was a brave and 
 enterprising Scotch-Irishman. The prominent families in Coleraine 
 from the first were the Morrisons, Clarks, Pennells, McCowens, Her- 
 rouns, Cockrans, and Hendersons; and our later story will be sprin- 
 kled over here and there by the representatives of these families, and 
 of many other Scotch-Irish families of the immigration of 1718, and 
 we shall then see, perhaps, that these were of such stuff as men are 
 made of. 
 
 A very few families of purely Celtic blood and Irish nativity, and 
 notably among these the numerous Young family, came in company 
 and good-fellowship with the otherwise pretty thorough Scotch peo- 
 ple of this remarkable immigration from Ulster into New England 
 of 1718. " We are surprised," wrote the pastor of Londonderry in 
 1720 to Governor Shute, " to hear ourselves termed Irish people, when 
 we so frequently ventured our all for the British Crown and liberties 
 against the Irish papists, and gave all tests of our loyalty which the 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 91 
 
 government of Ireland required, and are always ready to do the 
 same when required." A few of these immigrants, particularly 
 Abraham Blair and William Caldwell, had taken a brave hand in the 
 memorable defence of Londonderry in 1689; and, as an honorary 
 testimonial of this great service to the Crown amid starvation and 
 death, they enjoyed at home and brought with them to America 
 a personal exemption from British taxation. Aside from their 
 valuable characteristics as colonists, the immigrants as a class made 
 two important contributions to the useful industries of their adoi)ted 
 land. Potatoes as an article of food were first introduced into New 
 England by them. These were planted simultaneously in the spring 
 of 1719 by the Youngs in Worcester, and by Nathaniel Walker in 
 Andover. Distrusted at first as poisonous by some of the people 
 of Worcester, to whom a few tubers were presented that spring for 
 planting by members of the Young family, and said to have been 
 thrown away into a swamp by the recipients, rather than planted 
 by them, this delicious esculent under the lead of the strangers soon 
 came to be and continues an essential necessity for the American 
 table and farm. " Irish potatoes," in distinction from " sweet pota- 
 toes," derive their designation from this circumstance of their origin 
 in this country. Again, these Scotch-Irish first introduced the 
 domestic manufacture of flax fabrics into the colonies. Says 
 Belknap in his " History of New Hampshire" : "They brought with 
 them the necessary materials for the manufacture of linen; and 
 their spinning-wheels, turned by the foot, were a novelty in the 
 country." 
 
 These people were generally quite poor, but a very small propor- 
 tion of them only were illiterate ; they were for the most part frugal, 
 industrious, and deeply religious in a certain narrow and half-me- 
 chanical w^ay ; like most Scotchmen of all ranks, they were too fond 
 of stimulating and alcoholic beverages, both men and women, which 
 some of the latter euphemistically and conscientiously denominated 
 "cordials"; as a rule, they were untidy (not to say filthy) in their 
 personal habits and general housekeeping ; in some cases certainly, 
 probably in many, there were no ordinaries in connection with their 
 dwellings for two or three generations after they came ; and it is 
 altogether likely, though no direct contemporary testimony on the 
 point is known to the writer, that this lack of neatness in their per- 
 sons and houses was one distinct ground of dislike in which they 
 were held by their neighbors. Lincoln in his "History of Worcester" 
 uses words about this as follows : " Differences of language, habits, 
 and ceremonial, laid the foundation of unreasonable hatred, and the 
 
92 OEIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 strangers were not treated with common decency by their English 
 neighbors. Their settlements, in other places, were approached by 
 bodies of armed men, and their property, in some instances, wantonly 
 destroyed. They were everywhere abused and misrepresented as 
 Irish, a people then generally, but undeservedly, obnoxious ; a 
 reproach peculiarly grievous to the emigrants. The jealousy, how- 
 ever, with which they were first regarded, finally yielded to the 
 influence of their simple virtues and sterling worth." 
 
 There is fortunately extant among the Williams papers, in the 
 Athenaeum at Pittsfield, a letter from Captain John Stevens stationed 
 at Fort Dummer to Captain William Williams stationed at Fort 
 Shirley, the letter bearing date Feb. 14, 1745, which indicates pretty 
 clearly the nature of the duties falling to the Commander of each 
 line of forts, as well the line running up the Connecticut River from 
 Northfield to No. 4, as the line running at right angles to that 
 from Northfield to the Hoosac River. Williams had just written a 
 letter to Captain Josiah Willard in command on the other line, in 
 relation to the scouts kept constantly passing back and forth, from 
 fort to fort in each line, and also from line to line, keeping the two 
 in communication, proposing himself shortly to visit Fort Dummer, 
 and to perfect with Willard mutual arrangements of this sort. 
 This letter was sent by Sergeant Smead, who brought back to Shir- 
 ley the letter of Captain Stevens. The latter wrote, that he him- 
 self was about " to set out for Ko. 4," but invited Williams to come 
 as proposed to Fort Dummer and confer with Captain Willard about 
 matters of mutual concern. These scouts were provided with snow- 
 shoes in winter at the public expense, were usually in little squads 
 commanded by a corporal or sergeant, and their zeal in service was 
 stimulated by a handsome bounty from the colony treasury for 
 Indian scalps. This bounty for 1745 was £100, new tenor. In the 
 autumn of 1744, the General Court had " Ordered, that twelve men 
 out of each of the five snow-shoe companies in the western parts, 
 amounting to sixty in all, be detached and sent out under a captain 
 commissioned for that purpose, to scout and range the woods, for 
 the four months next coming, their march to be from Contoocook on 
 the Merrimac River to the westward as far as the Captain-General 
 shall think best." The proposed visit of Captain Williams to Fort 
 Dummer was on business connected with this vote. 
 
 The rations allowed the troops at this date were : In garrison, one 
 pound of bread, one-half pint of peas or beans per day, two pounds 
 pork for three days, one gallon molasses for forty-two days. On the 
 march, one pound bread, one pound pork, one gill of rum per clay. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 93 
 
 Five years before Hazen's line was drawn, that is, in 173G, Massa- 
 chusetts, justly supposing the territory was all her own, laid out 
 four townships on and east of the Connecticut River, and numbered 
 them, going up stream from Northfield, 1, 2, 3, 4, respectively. 
 These townships corresponded in general with the present Chester- 
 field, Westmoreland, Walpole, and Charlestown, New Hampshire. 
 As these early lay-outs were numbered, so they were popularly 
 named ; and as early as 1740 a settlement was commenced at No. 
 4 by three families of the name of Farnsworth from Lunenburg; 
 and these, reinforced by a few other families from below, and par- 
 ticularly by Captain Phineas Stevens, of Sudbury, who became the 
 hero and patriarch of the region afterwards, built a corn-mill in 1743 
 and a fort for their own protection, which also was designated from 
 the township as No. 4, and which during two wars became a frontier 
 fortress of the utmost importance both to the colony as a whole and 
 to the local settlers. What Fort Massachusetts was during these 
 wars to the Hoosac settlements, such was Fort No. 4 to those of the 
 upper Connecticut. Even the corn-mill became famous. For about 
 forty years in those troublous times of war and poverty it was the 
 source of supply to the scattered settlers above even as far up as 
 Thetford and Lyme. The writer himself in his childhood used to 
 hear the stories from some of the veterans of the latter town, the 
 town of his nativity, of the toil and hazard of bringing grists on 
 sleds up the river on the ice from " Old Number Four." 
 
 While Williams and Willard were thus passing the winter each 
 in his isolated fort, one on the windy mountain-top in what is now 
 Heath, and the other upon the half-cleared intervale of the Connec- 
 ticut, sending out and receiving their snow-shoed scouts and keep- 
 ing in military communication with each other, much bigger matters 
 than these were revolving in the minds of Governor Shirley and 
 the Great and General Court in Boston. Shirley had conceived the 
 idea that the French fortress of Louisburg might be surprised and 
 captured by Massachusetts militiamen : the proposal was carried in 
 the legislative body by just one vote ; and the following letter from 
 Colonel Stoddard to Captain Williams will explain itself to the 
 reader, who will yet doubtless notice that the objective of the 
 expedition is not named in the letter, probably for fear it might 
 thus be i)rematurely betrayed to the French, and perhaps, also, lest 
 the mention of the distant Cape Breton might deter the men from 
 enlisting. 
 
94 ORIGINS IK WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Northampton-, Feb. 25, 1745. 
 
 We are raising two or three Companys of Volunteers for the Expedition, 
 Capt Pumroy is beating up for men in the upper part of the County, I was pro- 
 voked (when we mustered) to see how few appeared after so much pretension 
 to List but since that time some others have appeared and am ready to think 
 there will be 18 or 20 in this town. What appearance there will be in other 
 places I can't yet tell. 
 
 I imagine that some of your men will readily List, and if they will go they 
 shall be entitled to everything as other men are, and restored to their places in 
 the Garrison at their return if they desire it. 
 
 it would be best immediately to know their minds, and let me have a List of 
 them, I hope there will appear 15 or 16 of them, which we may make use of only 
 in case there do not a sufficient number appear elsewhere, and I will take 
 effectual care to supply their places. 
 
 the thing is of weight with me and you must be thorough in it 
 
 I am your servant John Stoddard 
 Capt. Williams 
 
 Since I wrote the above, I rec<J a letter from the Gov'^'', who depends on my 
 getting some companies you* must not fail on your part J. S. 
 
 Interests and movements begin to thicken in and around Fort 
 Shirley. Without doubt, on receipt of this letter the irrepressible 
 Captain " immediately '' consulted with his men in order " to know 
 their minds " about " the Expedition " ; as a result, a certain number 
 soon enlisted, which he calls "a company,'' probably about as many 
 as Stoddard specified in his letter ; the Captain accompanied these 
 to Boston in hopes that he himself would receive a suitable com- 
 mission and be allowed to sail for Louisburg ; but his services to 
 the westward were regarded by Governor Shirley as then too im- 
 portant to be dispensed with, and he shortly went back to his fort; 
 meanwhile the expedition, consisting of 3250 men, sailed from Boston, 
 April 4; and when, early in June, Governor Shirley became anxious 
 to send on reinforcements to Louisburg, several things happened 
 concerning the Captain, which we will leave him to describe in his 
 own graphic way. In a letter from Louisburg, dated Oct. 3, 1745, 
 Williams writes as follows : — 
 
 Upon the war with France our Gov and General Assembly thinking it would 
 be prudent to send a Number of Soldiers into our Western Frontiers gave me 
 a Maj" commission (first a capt-^ then while the work was in progress a 
 major's) to command the several Companies sent thither ; When the Govenour 
 saw twas requisite to send supplies to Gen. Pepperell while in the siege, an 
 Express was sent me 150 miles to raise recruits ; which I did with such Dispatch 
 that in 6 days tho' at that distance I was in Boston with 74 able bodied men. 
 As I did in the spring raise a company but was not suffered to come with them 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 95 
 
 for this reason that my presence and command would be more for His Majesty's 
 service where I was. But now the utmost Dispatch being requisite they pitched 
 upon the men they tho't would soonest raise the Leiveis they proposed to send. 
 Upon my arrival in Boston the Govenour gave me a Lieut Col" commission in 
 the Regiment of which Colo John Choate is Chief &c. 
 
 That William Williams possessed the knack of putting good 
 speed into his work is proven by better evidence than his own 
 testimony, unimpeachable as that may be. A comparison of dates 
 sometimes yields remarkable truths. Colonel Stoddard's letter, 
 dated February 25, compared with the following bill of accounts, 
 dated March 4, of itself demonstrates the haste witli w^hich the first 
 batch of volunteers for Louisburg was started from Fort Shirley to 
 Boston, and even their places in garrison supplied by impressed men. 
 
 Capt. William Williams Ace"' March 4, 1745. 
 
 Province of the Massachusetts Bay to W. W. March 4, 1745. 
 Dr. 
 
 To his billeting himself from Oct. 30 to March ye 4*»» being 
 
 17 weeks and 5 days at 25/ per week £22 3/ 
 
 To cash paid David Field for the entertainment of Eleven 
 Impressed men sent to the Fort since the enlistment for 
 Cape Bretton . . .* £ 2 8/ 8(/. 
 
 To ditto paid Aaron Danieur's and John Lucas for ditto . . £ 2 15/ 
 
 To 23 days work of the Soldiers in Clearing and Mending 
 the Road from ye Fort to Colrain at 4/ per day . . . . £ 4 12 
 
 Old Tenor £31 18/ Sd. 
 
 New Tenor [\] £ 7 19 8 
 
 Fort Shirley, March i^^ 
 1745 Errors Excepted 
 per Wf" Williams. 
 
 Two days after this little bill was made out. Colonel Stoddard 
 penned the following letter to Captain Williams, which relates to 
 what was afterwards called "Fort Pelham," the second in the 
 " Line of Forts " to the westward : — 
 
 Nokthami'tox, March G, 1745. 
 To Capt. William Williams 
 OF Fort Shirlev 
 
 Sir you are hereby fully authorised and Impowered In ten days after this Date 
 to employ so many of the soldiers under your Command as you Judge necessary 
 In finishing a fort in the place where the Com'*« for Building a Line of Block 
 Houses &c agreed with Capt. Moses Rice to Build one and employ for that pur- 
 pose the Timbers the sd Rice has drawn together (the sd Rice having Desired sd 
 Timber may be employed for that purpose) you are to allow to a Carpenter Nine 
 
96 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Shillings and other Effective men Six Shillings a Day Old Tenor you are to finish 
 sd fort with all convenient speed provided the sd Rice do not within sd ten days 
 take effectual care to your Satisfaction that he will finish it. 
 
 John Stoddard 
 
 "We the Subscribers Together with Col^ Stoddard who subscribes the fore- 
 going being the May''* Part of the Comt^e above mentioned We agree to the 
 Order made to sd Capt Williams So far as it respects us in sd Capacity 
 
 Ol. Paktridge I ^^^^,,, 
 Thos. Ingersole J 
 
 Now it is almost certain that Surveyor Dwight, in running by 
 Stoddard's order the July preceding the new military line to the 
 westward, on which it was expected in general there would be forts 
 every five or six miles, carried the same parallel with Hazen's line 
 at about two miles south of it from the site fixed upon for Fort 
 Shirley to the next main mountain swell (as the brooks flow there), 
 on which Fort Pelham was now ordered to be built. Shirley is five 
 miles and a half west of Morrison's in Coleraine, and Pelham is 
 very nearly the same west of Shirley. It seems from the above 
 letter that Stoddard had already made a sort of bargain with Cap- 
 tain Moses Rice, who had settled with his family in the spring of 
 1743 on the upper Deerfield in what is now Charlemont, to build 
 this second fort on that spot. Moses Rice was an enterprising 
 farmer from Rutland, Worcester County, who bought in April, 1741, 
 2200 acres of land in the valley of the Deerfield, on which, two 
 years later, he put up his first cabin under a buttonwood that is 
 still standing ; and on which, a little to the east of this, stands the 
 formal monument to his memory near the grave with its original 
 headstone. June 11, 1755, Captain Rice was killed and scalped by 
 Indians near the spot where his ashes still repose. His family was 
 the first settled in the valley of the Deerfield west of Coleraine. 
 He had indeed two or three grown-up sons and a son-in-law, and 
 perhaps also a very few neighbors along the intervale, in 1745, 
 when Colonel Stoddard agreed with him to draw the timbers and 
 erect a new fort on the hill-top in the present township of Rowe ; 
 but it would seem clear to the present writer beforehand, that, had 
 it been the design of the committee to erect at this spot another 
 blockhouse jointed at the corners and lifted twelve feet high, like 
 " Shirley," already built, or " Massachusetts," soon to be built 
 further west, no contract would have been entered into with a mere 
 farmer and innholder like Captain Rice, and a man, too, having so 
 limited a control over human hands. We shall shortly see good 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 97 
 
 reasons for believing that Fort Pelhain was never an elaborate 
 blockhouse, like the two others, but only a palisaded fort, or stock- 
 ade, formed of forest staddles set upright in a trench, touching each 
 other around the four sides of a parallelogram, and then these 
 uprights pinned or spiked firmly together once or more above and 
 tlie earth thrown back into the trench below, a work much more 
 easily and roughly constructed tlum a blockhouse, and one also 
 naturally enclosing more land. 
 
 The present writer first critically examined the site of Fort Pel- 
 ham in the autumn of 1878, and in company with John H. Haynes, 
 a native of Rowe and a graduate of the College in 1876, and the 
 second time more carefully in the summer of 1885 and in special 
 company with his son, Carroll Perry, who had just then entered the 
 College as a freshman ; the general state of things there, the location 
 of the oldest road from Fort Shirley p:ist Pelham, one or two miles 
 further due west, and especially the condition of the fort-ground 
 situated in an open pasture and apparently wholly unchanged for 
 more than a century, emboldened him to draw the following infer- 
 ences and conclusions in regard to Fort Pelham, with a practical 
 certainty of their substantial correctness: (1) That Pelham was a 
 purely palisaded fort constructed of upright posts or forest staddles 
 sunk into the ground and bound together in contact with each other 
 above, and not like Fort Shirley and the two bearing in succession on 
 the same site the name "Massachusetts," a jointed blockhouse of 
 hewn timbers ; (2) that it was in form a parallelogram twelve rods 
 by twenty-four in extent, thus enclosing more than an acre and a 
 half of dry ground on the swell of a broad hill ; (3) that a trench, 
 l)erhaps a foot deep, was dug around the four sides, and posts of a 
 pretty uniform size (perhaps hewed) w^ere set upright into the trench, 
 unless natural trees of the right dimensions were already growing in 
 line, and then the earth thrown back into the trench and ujjon both 
 sides of the staddles, which now forms the pillow of turf that can 
 be traced almost unbroken, particularly on the south and east sides; 
 (4) that the well of the old fort was near the middle of the enclosure 
 and upon the highest ground within it, and that tlie removal of four 
 or five large stones that now choke the opening would practically 
 restore the digging of 1745, and discover with certainty whether it 
 were originally walled up within or constructed with corner-posts 
 like the corresponding well at Shirley; (5) that the considerable 
 circular depression a little northwest of the old well either indicated 
 that the magazine of the fort was in part, at least, a substructure, 
 or that the beginning of an unfinished well there was thwarted by 
 
98 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 a ledge, and a thorough excavation at that point might reveal which 
 of the two, and possibly a stone floor or some remains of side walls ; 
 (6) that the main opening into the parade of the fort was, undoubt- 
 edly, on the north side, along which, at some distance further north, 
 on account of the head of a swamp in the direct line east and west, 
 the military road from Fort Shirley certainly passed in a northerly 
 curve to the west, the straight west line being resumed about a half- 
 mile further on ; (7) that the fort was placed where it was by the 
 rude engineers of the time near the head waters of what came in 
 consequence to be called Pelham Brook, in order to guard against 
 access to the Deerfield by means of one of its many tributaries by 
 parties of French and Indians coming from the north with hostile 
 intent; (8) that the mount (or mounts) of the fort gave to the senti- 
 nel a wide survey of glorious mountain scenery in every direction, and 
 that to the west Greylock itself, then, as now, towered with bended 
 arch above the long range of the Hoosacs ; and (9) that the barracks 
 of the men posted at Fort Pelham, of whom twenty was about the 
 complement during King G-eorge's War, were within the pickets and 
 probably at the corners in connection with the mount or mounts, 
 although, naturally enough, there are no such remains of chimneys 
 and ovens and bricks there as fairly clutter the ground at Fort Shirley. 
 There can be no reasonable doubt, that the old public road (long 
 ago discontinued) that passed by Pelham to the west in the line of 
 the road still travelled from Shirley to Pelham, connects itself his- 
 torically with Colonel Stoddard's original order to Captain Williams 
 in July, 1744, directing him to construct Fort Shirley : — ^' and you 
 are hereby further directed as you may have Opportunity to Search 
 out some Convenient places where two or three other forts may be 
 Erected Each to be about five miles and a Half Distance upon the 
 line run the Last week as above mentioned or the pricked line on 
 the platt made by Col*^ Dwight wh*^ platt you will have with you." 
 If this line had been continued due west, it would have hit the 
 Deerfield River at the point where the modern towns of Monroe 
 and Florida corner upon it. From Readsboro, Vermont, to the east 
 end of the tunnel, the Deerfield flows west of south, but from that 
 point it turns sharply east and holds that course in general till it 
 strikes the Connecticut. Now all the streams in Rowe flow south 
 to the Deerfield ; and consequently, there was a strong temptation, 
 to which it ultimately succumbed, for this original east and west 
 road to turn off south and so reach the Deerfield. When Captain 
 Moses Rice agreed with Colonel Stoddard to draw the timber for 
 Fort Pelham, there must have been some kind of a path from his 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 99 
 
 house to the chosen site of the fort ; and a year or two later, as we 
 shall see, there was a travelled road between the two points, down 
 which Chaplain Norton, Dr. Thomas Williams, and fourteen sol- 
 diers marched on their way to Fort Massachusetts. A good road 
 now runs down Pelham Brook from the site of the fort near the 
 little village of Rowe to the railroad station, Zoar, upon the Deer- 
 field. A third good road drops down southwesterly from the west 
 end of the old military road that followed Dwight's line, and pass- 
 ing by " Pulpit Rock " to the riglit, and thus the heights dissuading 
 D wight in 1744 from a due west course, through Swiss scenery mag- 
 nificent to behold, strikes the Deertield at Hoosac Tunnel station. 
 There is indeed in modern times an east and west road through 
 Rowe, passing a little to the north of Dwight's military line and 
 road, through the upper end of the straggling village, by the Uni- 
 tarian meeting-house, and so on to cross the Deerfield (here flowing 
 south) into the primitive and diminutive Monroe. A pretty fair 
 country road, and since 1883 a narrow gauge railroad, climb up 
 alongside the Deerfield from Hoosac Tunnel station into the almost 
 unbroken woods of southern Vermont. 
 
 It is a matter of complex inference, and yet of nearly absolute 
 historical certainty, that Fort Pelham was built under the direction 
 of Captain William Williams, by the soldiers under his command in 
 the springtime of 1745. His headquarters were then at Fort Shirley. 
 He had spent the winter there. Captain Moses Rice, two years 
 before this, the first settler in Charlemont, who could not probably 
 control the services of over a half-dozen effective men, had failed to 
 come to time in his stipulations with the always promi)t Colonel of 
 Hampshire. The latter empowered Williams to go ahead with the 
 work, " to employ so many of the soldiers under your command as 
 you judge necessary," to finish said fort, '' and employ for that pur- 
 ix)se the Timbers the said Rice has drawn together," ''you are to 
 allow to a Carpenter Nine Shillings and other effective men Six Shil- 
 lings a Day old Tenor," "you are to finish sd fort with all con- 
 venient speed," "provided the sd Rice do not within sd ten days 
 take effectual care to your satisfaction that he will finish it." This 
 letter sounds like business ; it was addressed to a man who liked 
 business; and who wrote six months after in protest to Grovemor 
 Shirley against being left to do garrison duty at Louisburg, that he 
 and other officers of his regiment "were not undertakers in the 
 Expedition at first, but generously threiv down their tools, left their 
 business and their friends to suffer, and ran to the assistance of the 
 Colony," etc. 
 
100 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 About the middle of March, Captain Williams sent to Boston a 
 small " company " of volunteers from the men under his command 
 to take part in the siege of Louisburg. If he could have had a com- 
 mission to suit him, he would gladly have gone with them, and 
 sailed with the rest on the 4th of April. But both Shirley and 
 Stoddard then thought his services indispensable on the western 
 frontiers. About the first of June, however, Shirley sent a mes- 
 senger 150 miles to Williams with such inducements to enlist 
 others and to volunteer himself, that in six days he was in Boston 
 with seventy-four able-bodied men for the reinforcement so loudly 
 demanded. He made up his muster-roll of the soldiers in the line 
 of forts till the 9th of June, 1745, and he sailed for Cape Breton 
 on the 23d. 
 
 A new character now appears upon the western scene, and one des- 
 tined to color it in its essential features till the end of time. His 
 name is Ephraim Williams. He is a second cousin to his predeces- 
 sor at Fort Shirley, three years younger than he, though one genera- 
 tion nearer to their common ancestor, Eobert Williams, of Eoxbury. 
 Ephraim was now thirty-one years old. He was not directly related 
 to the Stoddards, but his half-cousin, Israel AVilliams of Hatfield, 
 five years his senior, and now commissary to the line of forts, was 
 own cousin to John Stoddard. Ephraim came forward under the 
 auspices of Israel, though his own father of the same name had been 
 an influential citizen in Stockbridge after 1739. Aside from his own 
 merits, which were considerable, the fame and fortune and influence 
 of Ephraim Williams were much promoted by his personal relations 
 with the three famous " river gods" of the Connecticut valley, and 
 with other leading families of western Massachusetts. 
 
 The sources for the further history of these forts and of Fort 
 Massachusetts are meagre and much scattered, but are genuine and 
 original : old letters from the chief actors in those scenes, filed away 
 and endorsed perhaps by their recipients, or accidentally preserved 
 as family heirlooms, and particularly the collections which came 
 down through the families of Israel Williams of Hatfield, and Wil- 
 liam Williams of Pittsfield ; petitions for pecuniary relief or public 
 recognition of some sort sent in to the General Court by almost 
 everybody who was in the public service in those days, and the 
 action or non-action of the court on these petitions, all preserved in 
 good order in the Secretary's office in Boston, and the military muster- 
 rolls of the old French wars, preserved in the same place, indexed and 
 accessible, — have proved the principal memoranda from which our 
 narrative has been constructed. Certain private journals, like that of 
 
FORT MASSACnrSETlS. 101 
 
 Chaplain Norton ; the public ret-ui .r>i'i iaim-;^.ciuL.> incuu- lu iiuuvkiu- 
 als, and in some cases the registry of the more ancient deeds of land ; 
 and always, when jx)ssible, personal and repeated visits to the locali- 
 ties of consequence to the development of events, — have aided and 
 guided and corrected the slow building up of the story as now told. 
 
 The name that was applied to the new colony-fort in the sj)ring 
 of 1745, and later to the little brook that flows by it, christened the 
 same, whether given by Governor Shirley, or Colonel Stoddard, or 
 William Williams himself, — and the last is perlmps most likely, 
 for he was a man that kept the run in a small way of what was 
 going on in England, — is a curious instance of an Old- World name, 
 transiently prominent, but now well-nigh forgotten there, becoming 
 perpetuated by accident in a remote corner of the New World. 
 Henry Pelham was nobody in particular except the brother of the 
 Duke of Newcastle, but he became a lirst lord of the liritish Treas- 
 ury in 1743, and was virtually prime minister of England thereafter 
 till his death in 1754, when William Pitt, whose gradual introduc- 
 tion into high public place by Pelham was the latter's greatest 
 service to his country, stepped boldly though tentatively into the 
 chief control of affairs, and in five years put an end to French 
 domination in America. The rustic colonial politicians were wont 
 to keep a sharp eye on the drift of things in England, and knew 
 who the rising statesmen were over there whenever any such seemed 
 to show up their heads. Besides this, it is said that Henry Pelham 
 made a personal tour of Massachusetts a little hpfore the outbreak 
 of King George's War ; and, at any rate, the old county of Hami)- 
 shire, for one or both of these reasons, exhibited to the world a 
 township, a fort, and a mountain stream, all called after his name at 
 just about the same time.^ 
 
 So soon as it was known, accordingly, that Major William Wil- 
 liams was to leave Fort Shirley and his present command of the 
 line of posts for Louisburg, with whatever men he could muster at 
 the west, Ephraim Williams, Junior, received a commission as 
 captain, doubtless from Colonel John Stoddard, with authority to 
 enlist a company and to take command of the forts in his cousin's 
 place, with headquarters at Fort Shirley. Our primary evidence 
 for this fact is a sentence as follows in a petition of John Perry 
 to the General Court made a couple of years Inter: "Whereas 
 your Honours Humble Petitioner Enlisted in the service of the 
 Country under the Command of Captain Ephraim Williams in 
 the year 1745," etc. There is also extant an original muster-roll 
 
 1 Charles Knight's England, VI. Ill, 112, 178, 183, 197. 
 
102 ORIGINS m WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 "of the Company in his Majesty's Service under the Command of 
 Ephraim Williams, Jun'r, Captain/' which, although it does not 
 bear the usual endorsement with the date of its rendering, contains 
 the following significant note appended to the name of Samuel 
 Barnard : " Omitted on Capt. William Williams Spring Roll ending 
 June 9, 1745." This note on a roll holding the names of twenty- 
 three men, among them Moses Rice, then well settled at Charlemont, 
 also six men who had been up at No. 4 under Captain Stevens, and 
 returned, proves conclusively that Captain Ephraim took the com- 
 mand of the forts already erected June 9, 1745 ; and it also explains 
 the fact that that date and December 10, just six months from 
 the first, were the two hinges of time on which things turned at the 
 forts for two or three years, inasmuch as most of the extant muster- 
 rolls for that interval bear these two dates, particularly the latter 
 one, which was the natural time for the ending of the Fall Roll, as 
 June 9 under these circumstances was the natural' date of the Spring 
 Roll. Eor example, besides the dates of the individual rolls, we 
 find these words in William Williams's own handwriting among his 
 papers in Pittsfield : " The Indent of Capt. Epraim Williams, com- 
 mander of the Line of Forts, viz. Northfield, Falltown, Colrain, 
 Fort Shirley, Fort Pelham, Fort Massachusetts, and the soldiers 
 posted at the Collars, Shattucks, Fort Bridgman's, Deerfield, Rhode- 
 town and New Hampton from Dec. 10, 1745, to Dec. 10, 1746. In 
 which time he has had three hundred and fifty men under his par- 
 ticular Charge and Government." 
 
 Some of these men who manned the forts both at this time and 
 later on did not voluntarily enlist in the service of the colony, but 
 were forcibly impressed into it, whenever the volunteers were insufii- 
 cient in number to make up the designated quota. June 3, 1744, 
 Governor Shirley ordered Colonel Stoddard to impress or enlist 100 
 able-bodied men " out of the Regiment of militia under your com- 
 mand for the defence and protection of his Majesties subjects in the 
 Western frontiers of this Province against the enemy, to be posted 
 and disposed of in such manner as I shall farther order." Enlist- 
 ments were stimulated by the offer of bounties for Indian scalps. 
 For 1745 the bounty voted by the General Court was £100, new 
 tenor. This offer was renewed more than once. For example, Feb. 
 23, 1748, it was voted that £100 be paid the men taking the scalp 
 of an Indian enemy, the scalp to be presented to the Government at 
 Boston. About a month after Captain Ephraim Williams assumed 
 the command at Fort Shirley, Colonel Stoddard directs Major Israel 
 Williams to impress or cause to be impressed three men from Hat- 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 103 
 
 field, who were to report at once to Captain Williams at Fort 
 Shirley, "the commander there." It so hapjx?ns that the earliest 
 extant paper of Ephraim Williams, whether military or other, is 
 dated at Fort Shirley on the same day that this order was given 
 from Northampton, namely, July 17, 1745, and runs as follows : — 
 
 I am heartily glad that Ens. Stratton is enlisted : I look upon him as a fit man 
 to have ye command of ye men posted at Northfield, and appoint him to have ye 
 charge of them and to appoint another under him in his absence. I have oi-dered 
 Corp. Alexander back to Fall-town by reason his family is there. 
 
 Ephbauc Williams. 
 
 A couple of orders to this Hezekiah Stratton of Northfield were 
 sent by the Captain at just about the same time, as follows: — 
 
 To Ensign Stratton, Sr. : I desire you to see that ye soldiers lodge at ye forts 
 and likewise desire you and the commanding officers to consult in what manner 
 is best to guard ye people in their business, and conduct accordingly till further 
 orders, who am y" to serve. 
 
 £. Williams. 
 
 Ensign Stratton : If you have no man among you that is fit to head a scout as 
 Alexander, send for him, for he shall have corporal's pay whether he does any 
 more than have a care of the scout. He has been in ye ser^'ice you know a great 
 while. I know nothing but he has behaved well. 
 
 This last reference to Alexander as having been in the service 
 " a great while," concerns, beyond much doubt, the organization of 
 snow-shoe companies in those parts two or three years before. 
 Colonel Stoddard wrote a letter to Governor Shirley dated July 12, 
 1743, making recommendation of certain men as worthy to become 
 the officers '' of the three companies of snow-shoe men ordered to be 
 in the County of Hampshire." Eleazer Porter and Israel Williams 
 also sign this letter to the Grovernor, which is in Stoddard's own 
 handwriting. They recommended for Captains, Elijah Williams, 
 Seth Dwight, and Seth Pomeroy; for Lieutenants, John Catlin, 
 Junior, Joseph Billing, Supply Kinsley ; and for Ensigns, William 
 Wright, Moses Marsh, John Clap. All the signers of this letter, 
 as well as some of those recommended in it, became in later times 
 distinguished men ; and, as the following narration will have much 
 to do with some of them, it will be best to delay a little here for 
 the purpose of giving a brief account of the more famous among 
 them. 
 
104 OEIGINS IN WILLIAIVISTOWN. 
 
 John Stoddard was born in Northampton in 1681, and was the son 
 of Kev. Solomon Stoddard, for sixty years a very successful preacher 
 there. He was a young soldier in Queen Anne's AVar, and was one 
 of the guard in the house of Rev. John Williams, of Deerfield, on the 
 memorable night of the sack of that town by the Indians in Feb- 
 ruary, 1704. In 1728, he was commissioned by Governor Burnet, 
 Colonel of the regiment of militia within the county of Hampshire, 
 and Captain of the first company within the town of Northampton. 
 Thereafter he was the chief director of civil and military events in 
 the western parts of the colony till his death in 1748. 
 
 Israel Williams was the son of Rev. William Williams, of Hatfield, 
 who was the minister there for fifty-six years, dying in 1741. This 
 Rev. William was half-brother of Ephraim, Senior, both sons of Isaac, 
 of Roxbury ; and so Israel, who was born in Hatfield in 1709, and 
 died there in 1789, was half -cousin to Ephraim, Junior, the founder 
 of the College. He was also own cousin to John Stoddard, whose 
 sister had become the minister's second wife, and so Israel's mother. 
 
 This Israel was a very able and independent and influential 
 man, perhaps the most so of all the Williamses ; and he was com- 
 missioned by Governor Shirley, Oct. 18, 1744, commissary of the 
 ^'Western Forces" with the rank of Major, and continued in this 
 post till the death of Stoddard, when he succeeded the latter as 
 Colonel of the Hampshire regiment. As commissary he was under 
 the orders of J. Wheelright, of Boston, Commissary-in-chief. 
 
 Elijah Williams, who lived in Deerfield and died there in 1772, aged 
 sixty years, was a son of the Rev. John Williams, famous as the 
 " Redeemed Captive " of 1704, the first minister of Deerfield, who 
 continued for forty-three years as the faithful preacher and pastor 
 of that frontier town. Elijah served as an under-commissary with 
 the rank of Captain to his cousin. Major Israel, throughout King 
 George's War. He wrote the following letter from Deerfield to Colonel 
 William Williams, who had in the meantime returned from Louis- 
 burg to the scenes of his former activity, dated March 3, 1747 : — 
 
 I think at this time it would be advisable to have a constant scout maintained 
 either to Hoosack or Pontoosuck for the protection of these towns [meaning the 
 towns on the Connecticut]. I should have sent a scout yesterday but could not 
 get Indian shoes in this town, therefore have not sent. I would be glad o*f your 
 direction in this affair ; and if you direct me to send a scout I would entreat you 
 to prevail with Maj [Israel] Williams to send me by the Bearer as many Indian 
 shoes as you think necessary to be employed in that service. These with duty 
 to you and Madam 
 
 from yours to command 
 
 Elijah Williams. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 105 
 
 lis letter is endorsed under the same date as follows : — 
 
 Received of Maj. Is. Williams ten pairs Indian shoes which I promise to 
 deliver to Capt. Elijah Williams of Deerfield. 
 
 hU 
 
 Charles e Coots. 
 
 mark. 
 
 Seth Pomeroy, the last of those recommended by Colonel Stoddard 
 and others for militia officers in 1743, whom it is needful for us to 
 characterize at present, was son of Ebenezer and grandson of Deacon 
 Medad Pomeroy, all of Northampton, and was born there in 1705. 
 He was a gunsmith by trade, an ingenious and skilful mechanic, 
 who worked by his forge nearly all his life in the intervals of his. 
 military services. He bequeathed trade and skill and success to his 
 son, Lemuel, who was forty years in the Legislature of Massachu-. 
 setts, and who died in 1819, aged eighty-two. He was commissioned 
 a Captain in the militia in 1744, no doubt in consequence of the 
 recommendation of the previous year. He was a Major in the suc- 
 cessful colonial expedition against Louisburg in 1745. Ten years 
 later he became Lieutenant-colonel in Colonel Ephraim Williams's reg- 
 iment in the expedition against Crown Point, and commanded the 
 regiment throughout the battle of Lake George after the fall of his 
 chief in the " bloody morning scout," whom he caused to be buried 
 the next day under the tall pine by the side of the military road 
 (just cut) from Fort Edward to Lake George. Of him as he was 
 twenty years later, Bancroft writes as follows in his account of the 
 battle of Bunker Hill: "The veteran, Seth Pomeroy of Northamp- 
 ton, an old man of seventy, once second in rank in the Massachusetts 
 army, but now postponed to younger men, heedless of the slight, 
 was roused by the continuance of the cannonade, and rode to Charles- 
 town Neck ; there, thoughtful for his horse, which was a borrowed 
 one, he shouldered his fowling-piece, marched over on foot, and 
 amidst loud cheers of welcome, took a place at the rail fence." A 
 few days after this, he was appointed by Congress the senior briga- 
 dier-general in the new continental army ; but the appointment 
 causing some difficulty in the adjustment of questions of rank, he 
 declined it and retired to his farm. Always, however, a zealous and 
 devoted patriot, on the news the next year of the military disasters 
 in New Jersey, he headed the militia of his neighborhood and. 
 marched to the Hudson River, and died at Peekskill in February, 
 1777. 
 
 Shortly after the completion of Fort Shirley in the late summer 
 of 1744, while Captain William Williams was new in command there, 
 
106 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Captain Elijah Williams as acting under-commissary sent up from 
 Deerfield the following supplies to the fort in charge of twenty-one 
 men with horses ; namely, 1520 pounds of pork, 1052 pounds of bis- 
 cuit, twelve bushels of peas, twenty-eight gallons of rum, two brass 
 kettles, chalk lines and chalk, a grindstone, gouge, auger, a frow [an 
 instrument for splitting cask-staves], an adz, a pair of steelyards, 
 dividers, a spade, and a broad hoe and stub hoe. About 1880, 
 William L. Cook, who then owned the farm on which Fort Shirley 
 was situated, found the remains of a stub hoe not far from the fort, 
 which is quite likely to have been the one here mentioned, and 
 which he sent in that belief to the Pocumtuck Historical Society in 
 Deerfield, where it is now exhibited in their Memorial Hall. 
 
 The rations allowed the troops on the frontiers at this date were 
 as follows : — 
 
 In 
 Garrison 
 
 One lb. of bread per day- 
 One half pint peas or beans per day 
 Two lbs. of pork for three days 
 L One gallon molasses for 42 days. 
 
 On the 
 March 
 
 One lb. bread per day 
 One lb. pork per day 
 One gill rum per day. 
 
 At a later date, covering the year from Dec. 10, 1745, to Dec. 10, 
 1746, we find a memorandum in the handwriting of Colonel William 
 Williams as follows : — 
 
 At each of the Forts for the use of the Sick 
 
 12 gall°8 Rum 
 
 60 in ye 
 
 Whole at 18/ 
 
 14 lbs Rice 
 
 70 " " 
 
 " at 
 
 1 Bushel Oatmeal 
 
 5 " " 
 
 " at 
 
 20 lbs candles 
 
 100 " " 
 
 " at 3/ 
 
 2 lbs Pepper 
 
 10 " " 
 
 " at 15/ 
 
 14 lbs Sugar 
 
 70 " " 
 
 " at 3/ 
 
 4 Buckets 
 
 20 " " 
 
 " at 3/ 
 
 2 Axes 
 
 10 " " 
 
 " at 28/ 
 
 Interesting as they are, we must now turn our main attention 
 away from these two forts on the hills, to take notice only incident- 
 ally of their later fortunes, in order to glean the details of the story 
 of a far more important military work in the valley of the Hoosac 
 Eiver. Whose eye it was that first picked out the site of Fort 
 Massachusetts, and whose authority it was that first designated that 
 as the proper place for defence against French and Indians approach- 
 ing from the west, is not now certainly known, and probably never 
 can be certainly known. In this respect the two earlier forts of 
 the line stand in marked contrast with the later and more significant 
 
FORT MAS!=; APHrSFTTS, 107 
 
 one. John Stoddard liad indeed wnireii :o \'\ lUiam Williams in 
 July, 1744, " to search out some convenient places where two or 
 three other forts may be erected, each to be about five miles and 
 a half distance upon the line run the last week as above mentioned," 
 that is, the line westward from forts Shirley and Pelham; perhaps 
 Williams had executed this commission in whole or in part before 
 he left for Louisburg in June, 1745; he had at any rate from his head- 
 quarters at Shirley superintended the erection of Fort Pelham in the 
 spring of that year; the thoughts, however, of his suj)eriors. Gov- 
 ernor Shirley and Colonel Stoddard, and his own thoughts also, 
 during that winter and spring, had been strongly drawn eastward 
 towards Louisburg, rather than westward into the wilderness; and 
 at any rate there is no direct proof that he selected the site of Fort 
 Massachusetts. }VJio did? 
 
 Ephraim Williams was unquestionably in command of the line of 
 forts when the first tree was cut down on that fine meadow of the 
 Hoosac, and the ground was cleared for the laying up of the timbers 
 of the first fort there. This is plain from John Perry's " petition " 
 already quoted, for he says that he " enlisted in the service of the 
 country under the command of Captain Ephraim Williams in the year 
 1745 " ; and it further appears, that he enlisted as a carpenter at 
 nine shillings a day, old tenor, to help build the new fort. It is 
 plain also, from a letter written at Fort Massachusetts, soon to be 
 quoted entire, that Williams at least stood in this relation to the 
 new fort, that work on it began about a month after he became 
 commander of the line, and that the man then, and long after, in 
 charge of the work and of the subsistence of the enlisted workmen 
 on the spot, was Lieutenant John Catlin, Junior, second in command 
 at Fort Shirley, Williams's own headquarters. Still, all this does not 
 prove that Williams himself had any direct supervision over the 
 erection of the fort, and still less, that he had chosen its site. It 
 makes for the contrary, that William Williams had sole charge of 
 the rebuilding of the fort in 1747, after its destruction in August, 
 1740. On the whole, and after patient researches in many places, 
 this question must be left for the present, and probably forever, 
 unsettled. It is, in fact, more curious than important. 
 
 About one mile from the junction of the Ashuwillticook and the 
 Mayunsook in the present town of North Adams, the resultant 
 Hoosac pursues its course westerly, till it strikes a strong cliff of 
 quartzite, which deflects it sharply to the south, to form in its return 
 to the west a broad semicircular arc enclosing the meadow on which 
 stood Fort Massachusetts. The famous Indian trail of the Five 
 
108 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Nations (immemorial in its origin) between the Hudson and the 
 Deerfield, crossed the Hoosac by a ford, which is still occasionally 
 used as such, at the eastern end of this arc. The fort was so lo- 
 cated as to command this ford, and also the old Mohawk war-path 
 across the meadow ; moreover, directly to the north and within long 
 musket-shot range, jutted out. the high and rough quartzite rocks, 
 making it difficult to outflank the fort on that side, while the bend- 
 ing river strengthened the position on the south. To the west and 
 northwest of the site of the fort, there were then as now, and then 
 more than now, stretches of low and swampy ground. Considering 
 the methods of warfare then in vogue in the New World, the traits 
 of the French and the habits of the Indians, and even the hostile 
 tests to which the fort itself was actually subjected, it must be 
 admitted that its position was well chosen for the ends for which 
 the work was built. Edward Everett, in an oration at the College, 
 aptly characterized this pass of the Hoosac between its cliffs on 
 either side as a Thermopyloe. Such indeed it proved to be. 
 
 Who it was that brought on to this meadow the first hardy band 
 of choppers and hewers, — who it was that marked out on and among 
 the primeval trees that grew there the rude lines of a rude fortifica- 
 tion destined soon to become famous, — is a matter to guess at rather 
 than to record. It may well have been John Catlin, of Deerfield, 
 who wrote the following letter from the fort — so far as now appears 
 the first public paper emanating thence — on August 3d of the same 
 summer. Catlin was at any rate, during all that time, second in 
 command at Shirley under Ephraim Williams, and, later, became 
 captain and commander at Shirley when Williams transferred his 
 headquarters to Massachusetts. We do not know the names of the 
 hard-handed men who felled and squared and lifted and pinned up 
 the heavy timbers for the first fort on the Hoosac, as we fortunately 
 happen to know from the contemporary record the names of those 
 who tugged at the green timbers at Shirley the previous year ; but 
 there is every reason for concluding that the new fort was substan- 
 tially a copy of the older one in all its modes of construction. The 
 detailed story of its siege and capture in the following year gives 
 some positive evidence, as we shall shortly see, that the manner of 
 building the two blockhouses was practically identical. Moreover, 
 while it is almost certain that some of the men who helped to build 
 Fort Shirley came over the Hoosacs with Catlin to help build Fort 
 Massachusetts, John Perry, carpenter of Falltown (now Bernards- 
 ton), is the only man known certainly to have worked on it; and 
 John Perry, with Michael Gilson, Philip Alexander, and others, who 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 109 
 
 are known to have been soldiers in the east and west line of forts, 
 assisted ten years later to build on the " Great Meadow " in what is 
 now Putney, Vermont, a blockhouse in the north and south line of 
 forts, which is described as follows in Thompson's "Vermont," a 
 description that shows it to have been essentially like Fort Shirley, 
 and inferentially like Fort Massachusetts also: ''This fort was lliO 
 feet long by 80 wide, and was built of yellow pine timber, hewed 
 6 inches thick, and laid up about 16 feet high. The houses within 
 were built against the wall, with a roof slanting up (called a salt-box 
 roof) to the top of the wall, the wall of the fort making the back 
 wall of the house, and the houses all fronting the hollow square in 
 the centre of the fort." We have already learned from the extant 
 timbers of Fort Shirley, t-liat they were hewed down to six inches by 
 fourteen. It may well be that the larger pines on the intervales of 
 the Connecticut yielded to Perry and Gilson a plenty of sticks six 
 inches to eighteen, so that ten courses would make a fort fifteen 
 feet high. 
 
 Now to return to the incipient Fort Massachusetts. Lieutenant 
 Catlin in charge of the work found it no easy problem to handle his 
 commissariat. To bring supplies for his soldiers and carpenters over 
 the Hoosac Mountain from Deerfield, was difficult and dangerous ; 
 there was no road but the old Mohawk trail, which can still be traced 
 nearly over the line of the modern Hoosac Tunnel ; he had evidently 
 been ordered by the commissary. Major Israel Williams, of Hatfield, 
 to try his luck in getting provisions further down the Hoosac among 
 the Dutch farmers, who had been creeping up that river towards the 
 mountains for a generation or two ; and after going thither on that 
 errand, he wrote back to his chief the following extremely interest- 
 ing letter, although it must be confessed that the early education of 
 the writer in spelling and grammar had been sadly neglected. 
 
 Fort Massachusetts. 
 Aug* ye 3, 1745. 
 
 Hond Sir these are to informe that I have perseuant to your desier ben 
 Down to y« Duch and in the first place made up a Counts With M' Vanasee 
 & find deu to him 2-4-6 in there mony he hath disposed of but tow hids and 
 the tallow Sir I pos to informe you the Sureomstances we are in I carried 
 With me 258i»' Weight of Pork and found in y« Stores thirtee pounds of Beaf 
 and Brad to last to yc 22 of July I found three Skipt'l of flour in the Stores 
 and sence found Whare Bardwell had brought 20 Skipel more we have fetched 
 up 17 all-Ready Sir I find that the Rum hath ben very Slipry trade but how 
 much hath ben Sold to perticulr men I Cant yet tel. Sir the ox we kild on 
 y« 29 July the Weight 47b^^ the quntlty of Pork that Bardwell Spake of I have 
 ben to see and find that thare is about 400»» weight Which is the Whol I can 
 
110 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 Sight of att preasant the price three pence half peny per pound Mr Vannees 
 will Let me have 800'^ Weight in December att the same price further I have 
 tried the best of my skill to git Wheat and shall now Let you know how I Can 
 have it Mr Vannees demands 29 per Skipel he giting it ground & delivering 
 it att his house the pay may be made to his Son att New York in Rum or any 
 other att the markit price, further Mr Hawk att the firt house will Let me 
 have one lOOi^ skipel of old Wheat att 2« G*^ per skipel and Will git it ground 
 and Brought to his house a mile nier to us his pay must be in money Sav^ing 
 2 pare of Stocings and 2 pare of Shoes : Sir I now Wait for your orders which 
 to take the Last Whet mentioned is Chepist but thare is no man that Can 
 Supply in all we want like Vannees ; Sir the price of Rum I Cant yet know but 
 in a fornits time Vanase Son will be up from New York and he will then let me 
 know, the Want of money oblidges me to stand with my finger in my mouth 
 ware the money hear things might be had much chepier Plese to send Bard well 
 as soun as possiable for the Care of the work att the fort and giting the pro- 
 visions I find is hard Sir there is dificulty Respecting ye Wheat that Bardwell 
 Bought forsbury sayeth that he was to take the wheat before it was ground and 
 Charges 3 pence per Bushil for giting it ground & brought to his house Salt 
 cant be had on this Albany and brought one horse Sir we are all in health & 
 yours att Command 
 
 John Catlin 2^0. 
 
 This precious letter, originally directed to " Maj'". Is^ Williams att 
 Hatfield," is preserved, among other invaluable papers of that 
 recipient, in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society. It 
 has never before this been printed, and it was copied for the present 
 use at the kind instance of Mr. Librarian Green. It would be diffi- 
 cult to pack into so few words more varied and important informa- 
 tion to a local posterity than this monstrously misspelled missive 
 indirectly conveys. In the first place, we learn from these lines 
 (if we will only read between the lines) that it had already dawned 
 on men's minds what a huge obstruction to travel and transporta- 
 tion was the watershed between the Deerfield and Hoosac rivers. 
 In the military circles of Massachusetts the Hoosac Mountain began 
 to be talked about in 1744 ; it came first into writing apparently in 
 this letter of 1745 ; a rude road over the mountain took the place of 
 the Indian trail not far from the time of Wolfe's great battle at 
 Quebec in 1759; just at the close of the century a turnpike was con- 
 structed to connect through Williamstown with a turnpike over the 
 Taconics into the state of New York ; about 1830, a descendant of 
 the " Mr. Hawk " spoken of in this letter, a citizen of Charlemont, 
 conceived the idea of a canal under the mountain to unite for com. 
 mercial purposes the waters of the two streams ; at the middle of 
 the present century a tumult of voices induced the state of Massa- 
 chusetts to embark in the enterprise of excavating a tunnel under 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. Ill 
 
 the mountain, which was accomplished after long delays and at vast 
 expense ; and the talk of men about that mountain as an obstacle 
 to intercommunication, which began in 1744, finally ceased, in 1887, 
 when the Hoosac Tunnel and all the approaches to it on either hand 
 were purchased by and confirmed to the Fitchburg Railroad Company. 
 
 " The firt house," referred to above by Lieutenant Catlin, was the 
 house of Eleazar Hawks, born in Deerfield in December, 1C93, and who 
 was consequently fifty-two years old when he negotiated with Catlin 
 for the sale of the wheat. He was an older brother of Sergeant 
 John Hawks, who distinguished himself at Fort Massachusetts 
 the next year, and was the common ancestor of all the Hawks 
 families in Charlemont, some of whom were still residing in 1887 
 on the lands of their fathers. His house was the westernmost 
 house in Charlemont, and was of course the first house reached in 
 the Deerfield valley by one coming over the mountain from Fort 
 Massachusetts. His lands lay on both sides of the Deerfield, his 
 house stood on the south side of the river, and his lands were 
 bounded on the east by the lands of Captain Moses Rice, the first 
 and most prominent settler in that exposed valley, of whom we 
 have already learned something in connection with the building of 
 Fort Pelham. 
 
 It seems almost certain from this old letter, that Captain Rice, or 
 one of his sons, had already built some sort of a grist-mill on his 
 own lands ; for Catlin writes to the commissary, that Hawks agreed 
 to get the stipulated wheat ground and " Brought to his house a 
 mile nier to us," that is, nearer to Fort Massachusetts, where the 
 letter was written. Unless there were in 1745 a grist-mill about 
 a mile east of Hawks's house, which would put it on Rice's land and 
 near the brook, on which a grist-mill and saw-mill certainly stood 
 a few years later, the sentence in question does not appear to yield 
 any sense whatever. This was before the " Propriety " of Charle- 
 mont was completed, and the mill, if it existed, was Rice's private 
 property, and he could charge whatever he pleased for grinding; 
 another passage in the letter indicates that " 3 pence per Bushil for 
 giting it ground" was about the current rate ; but in 1753, after the 
 legal organization of the place, it was voted to pay " Mr. Aaron 
 Rice, who hath built a corn-mill in said town, which is allowed by 
 the proprietors to be of public use for the town, £170 old Tenor, in 
 part satisfaction for building said mill, provided the said Aaron 
 Rice will give a sufficient obligation to the Propriety to keep said 
 mill in repair, and grind at all convenient times for the proprietors, 
 taking one-sixteenth part for toll, and no more." Later in the same 
 
112 ORIGINS IN WILLTAMSTOWN. 
 
 month of January the proprietors also voted " to give said Aaron Eice 
 the saw-mill irons belonging to y^ proprietors, and to compleat the 
 setj he engaging to build a saw-mill on the brook he hath built the 
 corn-mill on, and to saw bords for the proprietors at y^ same prices, 
 and to sell bords at y° same price that they are sold for at Deerfield, 
 for y® space of ten years next ensuing." ^ 
 
 The " Bardwell " several times mentioned by Catlin in this letter 
 was undoubtedly Thomas Bardwell, of Hatfield, who had already 
 been up the Deerfield and probably over the watershed to the 
 Hoosac in the interest of the commissary department, and whose 
 further assistance Catlin desired in his own heavy responsibilities. 
 "Plese to send Bardwell as soun as possiable for the Care of the 
 work att the fort and giting the provisions I find is hard." Some 
 one or more of this family of Hatfield afterwards migrated to the 
 Deerfield in the present town of Shelburne, and gave name to a 
 ferry and then to a bridge over the river, called perhaps for a cen- 
 tury " Bardwell' s Ferry," and at length the name has been perma- 
 nently attached — " Bardwells " — to the local station on the Fitch- 
 burg Eailroad. 
 
 The chief interest, after all, of this ancient and goodly epistle of 
 the illiterate Lieutenant is his honest report of what he brought 
 back, when he had " ben Down to y® Duch perseuant to your 
 desier." The people of Massachusetts had been very jealous for a 
 generation of the gradual approach of the Dutch farmers of New 
 York towards the western line of the former colony, and of the 
 alleged encroachments of the Dutch beyond that line. There had 
 been mutual complaints and reproaches a plenty as between the 
 adjoining colonies, as has already appeared in these pages ; and it 
 is quite curious, though natural enough, that the first substantial 
 intercourse between those who had so long looked at each other 
 askance, was in the interest of a friendly exchange of commodities 
 for the reciprocal advantage of both parties. It is curious, also, 
 that the first advances were made by the agents of the colony, 
 which was then building a fort fronting the Dutch almost as much 
 as it did the French, for the subsistence of the soldiers manning 
 that fort; and menacing, too, any further creeping up of the Hoosac 
 by those, some of whom were already supposed to have overpassed 
 the line. Catlin went down the river at the instance of his supe- 
 
 1 These quotations from the old records of Charlemont are taken from the admi- 
 rable "Discourse at the Centennial Anniversary of the Death of Moses Rice," de- 
 livered at Charlemont, June 11, 1855, by my excellent and now (1887) venerable 
 friend, Joseph White. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 113 
 
 riors to see Dutchman Van Ness about buying from him com- 
 missary supplies, for the rising work on the upper river, designed in 
 part to inhibit him and his neighbors from crowding themselves 
 further eastward. Who was Van Ness, and who were his neighbors 
 in 1745 ? 
 
 Here we must go back a little, for we are on extremly interesting 
 historical ground. 
 
 But before we go back for this purpose, we must insert another 
 interesting letter from Catlin to Israel Williams, his commissary 
 superior, written only two days after the first, and showing the gen- 
 eral interest excited among the Dutch on the middle Hoosac by 
 the appearance among them of a Massachusetts lieutenant seeking 
 supplies. 
 
 FOBT MASSACHUgETTS. 
 
 Aug' ye 5, 1745. 
 
 Sir Since I wrote the account of my procedings consaming the wheat Mr. 
 Vanness has been with me, and tels me that if you will take all the wheat you 
 want of him that he will take our money and the same price as mentioned before. 
 Sir, I have this day a large family from the Duch, and one man offers me whete 
 for 2 : 5 per skipel ither one or 200 skipel to be delivered in flower at the first 
 house [undoubtedly Van Der Verick's, now Petersburg Junction]. Another of 
 them will let me enough to pay for a sute of broad cloth for 2 : nir skipel to 
 be delivered at the same house in flower. 
 
 As good care of the beafe hath been taken as if your honoui .,» i, i.car, but 
 for the want of salt I feare some of it will spile. One skipel of salt is the howle 
 we can git till we go to Albany for it. 
 
 We are informed by an Indian from Crown Point that one of the sculks that 
 kiled Phips at the greate meadow received his death wound and died att Crown 
 point. We are all well and in good spirits, and make tho we scout every day 
 no discovery att present. 
 
 Sir, I am yours to serve 
 
 John Catlin *>• 
 
 In the year of our Lord 1688, the year of the great and final 
 English Revolution, though James II. was still on the English 
 throne and the grant was made as by his authority, there was 
 granted at Albany by Governor Dongan to four persons, two of 
 them dwellers at Albany, and one at Catskill, and one in the city 
 of New York, the so-called " Hoosac Patent." This grant included 
 about 70,000 acres of very fertile land, extending from the easterly 
 bounds of Schaghticoke " on both sides of a certain creek called 
 Hoosac, being in breadth on each side of the said creek two English 
 miles, and as in length from the bounds of Schaghticoke aforesaid 
 to the said place called Nocliawickquask." The only pecuniary con- 
 sideration expected on either side to be rendered for this princely 
 
114 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 domain, was an annual quit-rent of ten bushels of "good sweet 
 merchantable winter wheat " to be delivered at the city of Albany. 
 One of these four grantees was Hendrik Van Ness, of Albany. 
 But neither he nor any one of the others made any movement for 
 settlement on these fine lands for almost forty years. The reason 
 was, the track lay directly on the great war-path between Canada 
 and the English colonies. King William's War broke out the very 
 next year after the " Hoosac Patent " was signed. Queen Anne's 
 War was only closed up by the Peace of Utrecht in 1713. Garret 
 Van Ness, a descendant of the original patentee of that name, made 
 the first permanent lodgement within the limit of the Patent in 1725. 
 He is the landed proprietor, with whom Lieutenant Catlin negoti- 
 ated twenty years later for wheat and other supplies for Fort Massa- 
 chusetts. He was born in December, 1702, and his homestead was 
 on the north bank of the Walloomsac not far from its mouth, while 
 his farm lay on both banks of that stream and extended two miles 
 or more to the northwest along the northeast bank of the Hoosac, 
 nearly to the mouth of the Owl Kill, or Eagle Bridge. Some portions 
 of this estate remained in the Van Ness family until 1818. Four, at 
 least, of his grandsons of the same name had large landed estates 
 upon the Hoosac and the Walloomsac. 
 
 Just ten years after this settlement of Van Ness, and ten years 
 before the commercial visit of Catlin to that region, Barnardus 
 Bratt, an heir by marriage of another of the four proprietors under 
 the Patent, and a purchaser of the rights of other heirs, established 
 his home at what we now call Petersburg Junction. His great 
 wealth and his assumption of manorial rights gave him a distin- 
 guished social position and the title of "Patroon of Hoosac.'' 
 Directly south of him, and adjoining, another Dutchman, Van Der 
 Verick, had established himself before Catlin's visit as the proprie- 
 tor of the broad meadows at the junction of the " Little Hoosac " 
 with the Hoosac River. Bratt had already erected a grist-mill and 
 a saw-mill, the first in the district, on a little stream that flowed 
 past his dwelling down through a lateral valley to the eastward. 
 This grist-mill gave considerable significance to Catlin's regrets that 
 he had not the ready money wherewith to buy the " good sweet 
 merchantable winter wheat " of Van Ness. 
 
 The figures of these Dutchmen appear upon the scene of the mid- 
 dle Hoosac district, and solid down to our own day. But long 
 before these men put in their substantive, if not picturesque, appear- 
 ance along the two streams, more shadowy and more traditionary 
 forms of men flitted over the beautiful region, yet left no trace upon 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 115 
 
 it except a name, which no lapse of time, no religious hatreds, no 
 competing and conflicting designations, liave even yet sufficed to 
 obliterate. That name ia St, Croix, The name is French, and 
 must, therefore, have been given by Frenchmen. The name is 
 eminently Catholic, and must, then, have been bestowed by devotees 
 of the Old Church. When ? By whom ? Under what circum- 
 stances? ;N'o answer ever comes to these questions often lifted. 
 They appeal to the imagination, they call up attractive pictures, 
 but they evoke no reply from any contemporary record. Jesuits 
 from Canada, however, founded mission stations among the Indians 
 all along the St. Lawrence and its tributaries, from the Kennebec 
 to the waters of the upper Mississippi. Father Jogues, from Quebec 
 as a centre, began Christian work among the Hurons in 1G36, con- 
 tinued it from 1642 among the Chippewas in Michigan, visited 
 repeatedly by different routes what is now the state of New York, 
 was captured and tortured by the Mohawks in 1043, named what we 
 now call Lake George "Saint Sacmment" on a final missionary 
 journey, and was soon after murdered by the Mohawks in 1646. 
 Some have thought it likely that Father Jogues himself in one of 
 these journeys passed up the Hoosac and the Walloomsac, and deter- 
 mined to establish a future mission there, and gave the district the 
 name of the "Holy Cross " ; but Parkman, in his copious account of 
 the travels of this Father, seems to allow no room for such an ancil- 
 lary operation as this ; and there is no need of any violent hypothe- 
 sis ; French missionaries from Canada discovered Lake St Sacrament 
 long before Father Jogues christened it ; and all that we certainly 
 know is this, that some of these, at some time, visiting the place 
 with a missionary intent, were struck with the beauty of the Wal- 
 loomsac and with its conveniences of access, and left a sweet name 
 ujx)n it which more than two centuries have not effaced. 
 
 It is a cherished opinion of the writer, and one originally sug- 
 gested by personal observation at the two localities concerned, that 
 the name " St. Croix " was given by the French missionaries to the 
 district on account of the fact that the Walloomsac strikes the 
 Hoosac exactly at right angles, — making a perfect Egyptian cross, 
 — and that the Little White Creek strikes the Walloomsac a mile or 
 more above its mouth in precisely the same manner, except for a 
 turn a few rods above the junction. It is very remarkable, at any 
 rate, that the term "St. Croix," while it was often applied in a general 
 way to a narrow strip of country extending from Eagle Bridge on 
 the west to the first battle-field of Bennington on the east, affixed 
 itself much more definitely and tenaciously to these two points of 
 
116 ORIGINS IN WILLTAMSTOWN. 
 
 river junction. Long before the Revolutionary War there was a 
 village of St. Croix on the north bank of the Walloomsac just above 
 its junction with the larger stream ; two railroads are now making 
 junction on the south bank within a stone's throw (almost) of the 
 site of the ancient church of St. Croix, which itself disappeared 
 before the opening of this century, but several of the moss-grown 
 headstones in the church-yard were legible a few years ago ; although 
 every other memorial of the meeting-house or other building along 
 that part of the old road is utterly gone. The original homestead 
 of Garret Van Ness, where Catlin was doubtless entertained while 
 doing his errand, was about half a mile up the stream from the 
 church, and afterwards became the tavern of St. Croix. The mills 
 of the hamlet were about half a mile further up, on the Little 
 White Creek, just where their successors stand to-day, — the pres- 
 ent grist-mill having been built in 1776, and is noted as the spot 
 where the battle of Bennington both began and ended the next year. 
 The tendency of the name " St. Croix,'' to attach itself to these rustic 
 mills and to the little village on the opposite bank of the Walloom- 
 sac, and gradually to withdraw itself from the west end of the strip 
 where the church stood, and from the east end where the main battle 
 was fought, is very noticeable. The present little village of North 
 Hoosac is the modern representative, both as to place and name, of 
 the ancient St. Croix. The corruptions to which this French name 
 was subjected in the course of a century in English mouths is some- 
 thing amazing. Sancoick is perhaps the most common and the most 
 natural of all. Governor De Lancey of New York spelled it Sink- 
 haick. The variations are innumerable. Almost all of the con- 
 temporary accounts of the battle of Bennington use the word in 
 some form as a designation of place, and it is difficult to say whether 
 the Americans or the British or the Germans mouth it worst. 
 
 Evidently well pleased with the hospitality of the Dutch and 
 with the looks of their country, and with the policy of getting his 
 supplies on this side rather than the other of the Hoosac Mountain, 
 Lieutenant Catlin returned to his fort and made his report to his 
 superior officer. What Major Williams thought about these mat- 
 ters, what further orders he gave concerning them, is not recorded, 
 nor is it important. The fort doubtless went steadily forward 
 towards its completion. The reference of Catlin to the wheat 
 (800^** Weight), which " Mr Yannees will Let me have in December 
 att the same price," demonstrates that it was intended that the fort 
 should be occupied in a military way during the winter to come. It 
 was so occupied. Fortunately we possess the muster-roll of the 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 117 
 
 common soldiers or sentinels who garrisoned it from the 10th of 
 December to the 9th of June following. 
 
 A MUSTER Roll of the Company is His Majesty's Service Uxder the 
 Command of Ephraim Williams, Jun'r Captain, Viz. 
 
 Men's Names 
 
 QrALlTT 
 
 Time of Extkamce 
 
 Till what tmb 
 
 Jonathan Bridgman 
 
 Cent'l 
 
 Dec'r 10 
 
 June 9. 
 
 Moses Scott 
 
 •' 
 
 « 
 
 « 
 
 John Perry 
 
 « 
 
 « 
 
 « 
 
 Eben'r Dickinson 
 
 <« 
 
 (1 
 
 Feb. 28. 
 
 John Danelson 
 
 4t 
 
 tt 
 
 <t 
 
 Elijah Graves 
 
 « 
 
 tt 
 
 June 9. 
 
 Samuel Goodman 
 
 (1 
 
 M 
 
 u 
 
 Joseph Kellogg 
 
 « 
 
 « 
 
 tt 
 
 Aaron Kidder 
 
 « 
 
 « 
 
 tt 
 
 Zebulon Allin 
 
 « 
 
 tt 
 
 tt 
 
 Nath'l Ranger 
 
 tt 
 
 tt 
 
 « 
 
 Jonathan Stone 
 
 it 
 
 tt 
 
 Feb. 27. 
 
 John Guilford 
 
 « 
 
 tt 
 
 June 9. 
 
 Stephen Stow 
 
 «< 
 
 tt 
 
 « 
 
 Daniel Smead 
 
 « 
 
 M 
 
 tt 
 
 Samuel Taylor 
 
 <( 
 
 M 
 
 Feb. 11. 
 
 David Warner 
 
 <( 
 
 tt 
 
 Feb. 24. 
 
 Luke Smith 
 
 (( 
 
 tt 
 
 Feb. 20. 
 
 Elea' Hawks, Jun'r 
 
 « 
 
 Feb. 21 
 
 June 9. 
 
 Gad Corse 
 
 « 
 
 Dec. 10 
 
 Feb. 24. 
 
 Nathaniel Brooks 
 
 tt 
 
 April 15 
 
 June 9. 
 
 Connewoon Hoondeloo 
 
 tt 
 
 Dec. 10 
 
 Feb. 24. 
 
 Eben'r Miller, Jun'r 
 
 tt 
 
 (( 
 
 « 
 
 Gershom Hawks 
 
 U 
 
 Feb. 20 
 
 June 9. 
 
 John Mighills 
 
 tt 
 
 Dec. 10 
 
 « 
 
 Moses Adams 
 
 tt 
 
 tt 
 
 « 
 
 Joseph Petty 
 
 it 
 
 tt 
 
 Feb. 15. 
 
 Patrick Ray 
 
 « 
 
 tt 
 
 June 9. 
 
 Amos Stiles 
 
 « 
 
 tt 
 
 tt 
 
 Barnard Wilds 
 
 (( 
 
 tt 
 
 tt 
 
 Jedidiah WinehaU 
 
 « 
 
 M 
 
 Feb. 15. 
 
 Aaron Ferry 
 
 « 
 
 tt 
 
 it 
 
 Parker I'ease 
 
 tt 
 
 tt 
 
 Feb. 26. 
 
 Thomas Miller 
 
 tt 
 
 M 
 
 tt 
 
 Abner Aldrich 
 
 « 
 
 tt 
 
 June 7. 
 
 Ezekiel Foster 
 
 tt 
 
 tt 
 
 June 9. 
 
 John Cochran 
 
 tt 
 
 tt 
 
 tt 
 
 Thomas Foot 
 
 tt 
 
 tt 
 
 Jan. 30. 
 
 John Newton 
 
 <« 
 
 tt 
 
 Mar. 30. 
 
 Richard Wallis 
 
 " 
 
 Mar. 31 
 
 June 9. 
 
 John Conally 
 
 " 
 
 Dec. 10 
 
 Feb. 27. 
 
 Samuel John 
 
 w 
 
 tt 
 
 June 9. 
 
118 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 These forty-three men were the garrison of Fort Massachusetts 
 during its first winter, 1745-46. There is a fair sprinkling of 
 Scotch-Irish among them, Danelson, Cochran, Conally, Wallis, and 
 others ; for the immigration of 1718, into Massachusetts, from Lon- 
 donderry and its neighborhood, was already beginning to color (as 
 it has never yet ceased to color) the state of things in New England. 
 Throughout this and the next French and Indian war, these Scotch 
 enlisted largely from Worcester and Pelham and Brookfield, and 
 other towns, into which they had scattered, partly because they were 
 intense Protestants and hated the French, and partly because they 
 were becoming numerous and continued poor. Several of the names 
 in this list will confront us again in the sequel, some of them repeat- 
 edly and interestingly. Ezekiel Foster became one of the original 
 proprietors of the town of West Hoosac. John Perry was one of 
 the next year's captives to Quebec. Eleazar Hawks was son of him 
 with whom Catlin bargained for wheat in Charlemont, and was him- 
 self killed by the Indians at the " Bars Fight '' in Deerfield, Aug. 
 25, 1746. Gershom Hawks was his brother, and was wounded by 
 the Indians near Massachusetts Fort two days after this muster-roll 
 was made up, that is, June 11, 1746. John Mighills, while riding 
 near the fort with his sergeant, John Hawks, both on one horse, was 
 fired upon by skulking Indians and was wounded, but made his 
 escape to the fort. This was May 9, just a month before the roll 
 was made out. Sergeant Hawks was worse wounded than the sol- 
 dier by the same volley, and fell from the horse; but as two Indians 
 ran to scalp him, he recovered and presented his gun, which so 
 scared the savages, that one jumped down the bank, and the other 
 got behind a tree and called for quarter. John Hawks, uncle to 
 Gershom and brother to him who was nearest neighbor on the east 
 to the fort, had doubtless been in the fort all winter as a petty offi- 
 cer, and so had John Catlin as Lieutenant commanding. 
 
 Captain Ephraim Williams had his headquarters for that winter 
 in Fort Shirley, and had with him in all forty-seven men. Happily 
 we have that muster-roll also among the extant papers of the com- 
 missary, Israel Williams. It is made up as between the same 
 extreme dates as the other, namely, December 10 to June 9. It is 
 evident that there was a shift of men from Shirley to Massachu- 
 setts at the latter date, and probable also, that Captain Williams 
 shifted his headquarters at the same time to the same place ; for 
 Elisha Nims, who is put down on the Shirley roll as present to 
 June 9, was killed two days later at Fort Massachusetts. Some 
 of the soldiers were at work near the fort on that day, when a party 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 119 
 
 of Indians fell upon them, killeti uiui sculptHi 2sims, and wounded 
 Gershoni Hawks as already related. A part of the Indians had laid 
 an ambush to cut off the retreat of any of the soldiers who might 
 attempt to regain the fort; and though the ambush rose to carry 
 out their plan, a sharp fire from the fort prevented its execution. 
 They took captive, however, Benjamin Taintor of Westboro. This 
 party of Indians came of course and returned by St. Croix and 
 the Hoosac, and nearly 100 cattle belonging to the Dutch and 
 English farmers of the valley were killed by them. The body of 
 one of the Indians was found a few days after buried in the bank of 
 the river not far from the fort, and some long cords were also found, 
 supposed to have been brought along by which to lead their captives 
 to Canada. 
 
 The last rude headstone remaining standing in the little grave- 
 yard attached to Fort Massachusetts stood over the grave of Elisha 
 Nims. One hundred years after his death the students of the Col- 
 lege obtained permission of Captain Harrison, the then owner of 
 the meadow, to exhume the skeleton. The leaden ball that killed 
 him was found embedded in one of the vertebrae of the back. That 
 portion of the spinal column was brought to the College, and is 
 still to be seen in the museum in Clark Hall. In the spring of 
 1852 the present writer obtained leave from Captain Harrison to 
 bring the headstone itself to the College. It was then lying upon 
 ploughed ground, and the inscription was fast becoming illegible. 
 That too is preserved in the museum. The inscription is as un- 
 couth as the stone on which it was cut by some illiterate soldier, 
 who mistook both the year and the day. It runs as follows ; — 
 
 June 12 
 
 1746 
 
 Elisha Niras 
 
 A20 Y 
 
 We are merely told that the soldiers were "at work" near the 
 fort, when the Indians fell upon them, and killed Nims and wounded 
 Hawks and " captivated " Taintor, as the phrase ran in those days. 
 Of course it is only a matter of conjecture what the soldiers were 
 doing ; but as corn was growing two months later when the fort 
 was besieged, between the stumps round the fort, and especially 
 on the side towards the bend of the river, it is no very violent 
 guess, that the soldiers were planting, or possibly hoeing, corn 
 that morning. There had been little, or nothing, to do through 
 the winter ; and it is noticeable from the muster roll how many of 
 
120 OPwIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the poor fellows got sick, or homesick, or furloughed, along the last 
 of February. As the spring opened, and as time hung heavy on his 
 hands, one of the soldiers, a carpenter, picked himself out a piece of 
 wild land on the north bank of the river, about a mile west of the 
 fort (it lay at the east end of the present village of Blackinton), 
 and fenced it off, and even built him a house on it. This was John 
 Perry, the picturesque, the irrepressible. There was no pre-emption 
 law in those days, and the Great and General Court of Massachusetts 
 could not be brought to recognize any valid title to said land as 
 vested in said Perry, although he afterwards argued with them in 
 the following terms : — 
 
 And upon ye encouragement we had from ye late honorable Col. John Stod- 
 dard, which was that if we went up with our Families he did not doubt but ye 
 Court would grant us land to settle on, whereupon I your Honours Humble 
 petitioner carried up my family there with my household stuf and other effects 
 and continued there till we was taken when we was obliged to surrender to the 
 French and Indian enemy August the 20 1746. The losses your Humble peti- 
 tioner hath met with together with my captivity hath reduced me to low circum- 
 stances, and now humbly prayeth your Honours of your goodness to grant him 
 a grant of land to settle upon near ye fort where I fenced which was about a 
 mile west of ye fort, or elsewhere, where your Honours pleaseth and that your 
 Honours may have a full reward hereafter for all your pious and charitable 
 Deeds your Honours Humble petitioners shall alwais pray. 
 
 Perry wrote out his petition with his own hand, and the original 
 in the Massachusetts Archives is dated Nov. 5, 1747, shortly after 
 he returned from his captivity in Quebec ; but there is some anachro- 
 nism about this, as well as a trifle too much piety and sycophancy, 
 because he speaks in the body of the petition of " ye late honorable 
 Col. John Stoddard," while that worthy deceased June 19, 1748. 
 Perry's house was up and stocked when the French and Indians 
 took and burned the fort in August, and on their return they natur- 
 ally burned the humble dwelling that stood by the side of their war- 
 path, and it was then the only house in the valley of the Hoosac 
 within the limits of Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Perry prized 
 their new home and its contents, and apprised the General Court of 
 their value, as follows : — 
 
 I would humbly lay before your Honours the losses I sustained there, which 
 are as followeth, a house I built there for my family 80 pounds two feather beds 
 with their furniture 100 pounds two suits of apparel apiece for me and my wife 
 150 pounds two Brass Kettles a pot and pewter with tramel tongs fire slice and 
 knives and forks to ye balance of 20 pounds one cross cut saw 20 pounds and 
 one new broad ax 6 pounds three new narrow axes 8 pounds and one adds 2 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 121 
 
 pounds two steel traps 14 pounds two guns 32 pounds one pistol 6 pounds one 
 100 weight of suggar 20 pounds, total 457 pounds with a great many other 
 things not named. 
 
 If the carpenter's appraisement of the separate pieces of his prop- 
 erty seem to us ridiculously excessive, we must remember that he 
 reckoned in " Old Tenor," which was then just one quarter of "New 
 Tenor," which itself was depreciated compared with silver. 
 
 The Shirley muster roll, already alluded to, has interesting feat- 
 ures and interesting names. The three rolls, including a subordinate 
 one of twenty-three names, probably of men that occupied Fort Pel- 
 ham from the early spring to the common date of termination of all 
 three, namely, June 9, 1746, show that enlisted men passed pretty 
 freely from one fort to another in the line of forts, according to various 
 exigencies and especially to expectation of hostile attack. No hos- 
 tile Indians had been near Fort Shirley now for two winters. Pel- 
 ham had not even been approached by an enemy. All the indications 
 of the spring and summer so far pointed out Fort ^lassachusetts as 
 the exposed position. The first demonstration against it was made 
 May 9, and the second, still feeble, June 11 ; and whether Captain 
 'Williams went down there in person or not, a number of his men 
 from the hill forts went down. Among others went down from 
 Shirley Benjamin Simonds, just turned of twenty, enlisted from 
 Ware River, destined to play a great part in the Hoosac valley till 
 the very end of the century. Six of the men who went up with 
 Captain Phineas Stevens to No. 4 early in March, returned to their 
 service at Pelham in about three weeks, for ten weeks and four days, 
 till June 9. These were Sergeant Daniel Severance of Deerfield, 
 Aaron Belding of Northfield, Celeb Chapin of Springfield, Phinehas 
 Nevers, and Samuel Severance and Joseph Petty, both of Northfield. 
 The last two were in Captain Melvin's scout to Lake Champlain in 
 May, 1748. He had but eighteen men with him. When nearly 
 opposite Crown Point, he discovered two canoes on the lake with 
 Indians, one of them about sixty rods from the shore. Going in 
 plain sight of the fort, he boldly, but imprudently, fired several 
 volleys into the canoe. These Indians in the canoes, by the way, 
 were just returning from a raid made against Fort Massachusetts. 
 A gun from the fort gave the alarm, and no less than 150 Indians 
 started in pursuit. Melvin eluded them on his retreat over the 
 Green Mountains for six days, when suddenly, while some of his 
 men were lunching and others shooting with their guns the salmon 
 passing up West Kiver, the Indians poured in a volley upon them 
 from behind logs and trees, not more than forty feet distant. Six of 
 
122 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 the party were killed outright, among them our Samuel Severance ; 
 our Joseph Petty was so severely wounded as to be unable to retreat 
 with the rest ; his comrades got him to a spring, where they put 
 some pine boughs for him to lie on, and setting up other boughs as 
 a sort of wind-break, placed a pint cup of water within his reach, 
 and told him to live if he could till they should come back with help. 
 As he was one of the most respected citizens of Northfield, sixteen 
 of his townsmen (one of them a doctor), so soon as they learned the 
 facts, resolved to learn his fate. They started on horseback, found 
 his dead body and buried it, and were out four days. The place was 
 about thirty-three miles from Fort Dummer up West River. Hall, 
 in his ''Eastern Vermont," locates it within the limits of London- 
 derry. 
 
 Our old friend, Moses Eice of Charlemont, who contracted to build 
 Fort Pelham, but did not, was in that fort as a " centinel " from 
 May 8 to June 9, 1746. John Smead of Sunderland, one of the 
 later captives of Fort Massachusetts, whose strange and tragic story 
 must be told in brief in the sequel, was in Fort Shirley all winter 
 and till the shift of June 9. So was Aaron Denio of Deerfield, a 
 Scotch-Irishman, of whom we shall hear more by-and-bye. So, also, 
 was John Burk of Falltown, one of its earliest settlers in 1738, 
 before whom, as soldier and townsman, there lay a usefiil and con- 
 spicuous career. But we must no longer delay on these first muster 
 rolls of the three western foTts, but give our attention now to the 
 westernmost, a crisis in whose story was drawing near at mid- 
 summer of 1746. 
 
 Unluckily for Fort Massachusetts, and apparently, also, for the 
 military reputation of Ephraim Williams, the summer and fall of 
 1746 was much confused and distracted in New England as regarded 
 the French War. The capture of the fortress of Louisburg the 
 year before by the raw levies of Massachusetts had astonished the 
 mother country and even the colonists themselves ; the former was 
 glad and the latter were proud. Accordingly in April, the British 
 ministry sent orders to the colonies to enlist fresh troops, which the 
 King would pay, for a combined attack on Canada. The New Eng- 
 land levies were to be joined at Louisburg by a fleet and army from 
 England, with a view to capture Quebec, while the levies from the 
 other colonies were to rendezvous at Albany to operate in the rear 
 against Montreal. In spite of the previous mortality at Louisburg, 
 Massachusetts raised 3500 men, Connecticut 1000, New Hampshire 
 500, Rhode Island 300, New York voted 1600, New Jersey 500, 
 Pennsylvania 400, Maryland 300, and Virginia 100. The southern 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 123 
 
 troops, with those from Connecticut, assembled at Albany under 
 Governor Clinton, but the feeble British ministers changed their 
 minds. No fleet and no army appeared as towards Quebec, and 1500 
 of the Massachusetts men were marched to Albany to join Clinton. 
 Instead of the expected English squadron, a French fleet of forty ships 
 of war, with 3000 veteran troops on board, sailed for the American 
 coast under D'Anville, exciting the greatest alarm throughout Xew 
 England. Boston was believed to be the great object of the French 
 fleet and army. The advance on Montreal was put a stop to, owing 
 to the failure of English co-operation, the fear of D'Anville, and 
 other difficulties. Five companies of a regiment under Colonel 
 Joseph Dwight of Brookfield, to which Lieutenant-Colonel Williams 
 was assigned, both recently from Louisburg, recruited for the 
 Canada campaign chiefly in the Connecticut valley, not without 
 draining more or less from the garrisons of the line of forts, were 
 sent to Boston, and the other five to the most exposed western 
 frontier of Hampshire County. In the meantime the knowledge in 
 Canada that D^Anville's fleet was off the coast, that part of it had 
 anchored in the harbor of Halifax, and that fear and turmoil were the 
 consequence in New England, stimulated umvonted activity in fitting 
 out j)artie8 of French and Indians to depredate on the English colonies 
 at exposed points, and especially the uncommonly large party that cap- 
 tured and burned Fort Massachusetts in August. But at last, in the 
 good providence of God, the September gales crippled the French 
 fleet, D'Anville died of grief at Halifax, his successor in command 
 committed suicide over accumulated disasters, and only a shattered 
 remnant of the proud armament crept back to France in November. 
 
 As we fortunately possess from the pen of an eye-witness and 
 active participant a detailed account of the siege and capture of 
 Fort Massachusetts and of the captivity that followed it, it is now 
 the purpose to print in order the essential parts of this account, with 
 such additions as have been derived from other contemporaneous 
 records, and with such comments as have been suggested by local 
 investigations, and may serve to help frame the entire picture as 
 completely as is possible at this late day. As the present is the 
 very first attempt to elaborate a history of Massachusetts and its 
 associate forts, so it is the belief of the writer that no future effort 
 will ever be made to glean from the original sources j)atiently, piece 
 by piece, the obscure yet fascinating story. Both of these consider- 
 ations have stimulated to long-continued and conscientious studies 
 of the broken fragments in order to make up an imperfect whole. 
 
 John Norton, the author of the record now to be quoted, was born 
 
124 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 in Berlin, Connecticut, in 1716, was graduated at Yale College in 
 1737, and in November, 1741, was ordained in Deerfield to become 
 the first minister in Falltown, a new township just then organized 
 west of Northfield. A small church was formed at the same time 
 and place with the ordination. But the times were unsettled. War 
 with France soon became imminent. In about two years Fort Shir- 
 ley was built a few miles to the westward. It was no use ; church 
 and congregation could not be kept together. Norton flung up in 
 Falltown, and was appointed chaplain to the line of forts in 1745, 
 with his spiritual headquarters at Shirley. He was two years 
 younger than Ephraim Williams, and the two probably took up 
 their residence in Shirley at just about the same time. Norton 
 took his family with him. Williams was a bachelor. Undoubtedly 
 it was the plan of their superiors that both, in the exercise of their 
 diverse functions, should pass occasionally from Shirley to Pelham 
 and Massachusetts, and backwards to the less formal forts and gar- 
 risons nearer to and on the Connecticut Eiver. 
 
 The full title of Norton's pamphlet, printed in Boston in 1748, 
 "and sold opposite the prison," is " 'The Redeemed Captive,' being a 
 narrative of the taking and carrying into captivity the Reverend Mr. 
 John Norton, when Fort Massachusetts surrendered to a large body 
 of French and Indians, August 20th, 1746. Written by himself." 
 The title, "Redeemed Captive," was unfortunate, for it provoked 
 comparison with a much more important narrative with the same 
 heading of the sack of Deerfield in 1704, and of the captivity of 
 Rev. John Williams, the first minister of Deerfield, and of his 
 family and flock, which soon became a famous book, and has re- 
 mained so ever since. Mr. Norton had no literary ability at all, 
 and apparently very little practice as a writer, though truthful and 
 accurate in his statements to the last degree; while the printer, 
 who refrained from putting his own name upon the performance, 
 did his work in a very shabby manner, the pamphlet being full of 
 typographical and other errors. There is no evidence that it ever 
 had much, if any, circulation; and, at any rate, it had become 
 extremely scarce and almost wholly unknown, when Drake reprinted 
 it in his " French and Indian War," published by Munsell in 1870. 
 We will now listen to the worthy chaplain telling his own story in 
 his own way. 
 
 Thursday, Aug. 14, 1746. — l\ett Fort Shirley in company with Dr. Williams, 
 and about fourteen of the soldiers ; we went to Pelham fort, and from thence to 
 Capt. Rice's, where we lodged that night. Friday, the 15th, we went from 
 thence to Fort Massachusetts, where I designed to have tarried about a month. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 125 
 
 The Dr. Williams referred to here was Thomas, uterine brother of 
 Captain Ephraim, and four years younger. The two were the only 
 children of Ephraim Williams by his first wife, Elizabeth Jackson. 
 There were other children, fruits of a second marriage, of whom 
 more will be told in the sequel. These two brothers, as is usual in 
 such cases, seem to have been specially fond of each other ; and it 
 is an easy conjecture, for which there is some foundation, that the 
 step-mother was a bad element in the early home life of these two 
 boys, in Ne\vton, where they were born, the one in February, 1714, 
 and the other in February, 1718. Dr. Thomas was the surgeon in 
 the line of forts, probably becoming such about the same time that 
 Ephraim became the captain, and John Norton the chaplain. Pel- 
 ham was about five miles west of Shirley, and Captain Rice's about 
 four miles south of Pelham. Rice had moved his family from Rut- 
 land, Worcester County, to the upper Deerfield, in the early spring 
 of 1743. The position of his house, when Norton and Williams 
 and the fourteen soldiers lodged in and around it, is well known to 
 this day. It stood near a buttonwood tree now growing close by the 
 road, a few rods west of his grave with its original headstone, and 
 of his monument, dedicated Aug. 2, 1871. The only house then 
 built west of Rice's in the Deerfield valley, and between that and 
 Fort Massachusetts, was Eleazar Hawks', already referred to. Cat- 
 lin says, " one mile nier us." The distance from Rice's to the fort, 
 the second day's march, over the mountain by the old Indian trail, 
 was not far from fourteen miles. 
 
 Saturday, 16th. — The doctor with fourteen men went of! for Deerfield, and 
 left in the fort Sergeant John Hawks with twenty soldiers, about half of them 
 sick with bloody flux. Mr. Hawks sent a letter by the doctor to the captain, 
 supposing that he was then at Deerfield, desiring that he would speedily send 
 up some stores to the fort, being very short on it for ammunition, and having 
 discovered some signs of the enemy ; but the letter did not get to the captain 
 seasonably. This day also, two of our men being out a few miles distant from 
 the fort discovered the tracks of some of the enemy. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Williams had received from Yale College a degree as 
 Master of Arts in 1741, and Norton had received his second degree 
 probably the year before ; and it is diverting to think of these two 
 men taking this two days' tramp together through the wilderness, fol- 
 lowed by fourteen soldiers, or preceded, — it makes but little differ- 
 ence which, — passing but two human dwellings in the whole march, 
 and perhaps relieving the tedium of the long path by college reminis- 
 cences, or speculations as to their own or other classmates' futures, 
 
126 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 as their successors at Yale of a hundred later classes have been 
 doing at New Haven, on the occasion of their reunions, ever since. 
 Beyond a doubt, the fourteen men from Shirley were brought down 
 to reinforce the garrison of the western and more exposed work, but 
 the Doctor took away with him, the next day, the same number that 
 he brought, though undoubtedly not the same men. The need of 
 ammunition and other supplies was very great, and the detachment 
 that went off with the Doctor went doubtless as a military guard to 
 bring back the stores. Sergeant Hawks sent also a letter to Captain 
 Ephraim Williams, supposing that he was then at Deerfield, unfold- 
 ing the low circumstances at the fort, and informing that some signs 
 of the enemy had been discovered. These signs multiplied the next 
 day. No wonder such signs were discovered! It has never been 
 precisely cleared up, and never will be, why CajDtain Williams was 
 absent from all his forts at this particular juncture, and why the 
 most advanced one — the very outpost — was left with only a ser- 
 geant in command, and virtually with no means of offence or defence 
 in case of attack, in men, or stores, or ammunition. It is certain 
 that he was in unbroken command of the line of forts, twelve in all, 
 including Deerfield, from Dec. 10, 1745, to Dec. 10, 1746, — "in which 
 time he has had 350 men under his particular charge and govern- 
 ment." All that can truthfully be said is, that the expedition to 
 Canada was uppermost in the minds of the authorities of Mas- 
 sachusetts during that summer ; that an entire regiment under 
 Colonel Joseph Dwight and Lieutenant-Colonel William Williams 
 was recruited for that service within hearing, as it were, of the tap 
 of the drum of those forts ; that 1500 Massachusetts levies were 
 sent to Albany early in the season, and many others later, after the 
 news of D'Anville's disasters had reached Boston ; and that Captain 
 Williams's absence from his post was somehow or other connected 
 with these movements, proposed or actual, towards Albany, though 
 there is no evidence known to the writer that Williams himself went 
 to Albany in this campaign, either before or after the capture of 
 Fort Massachusetts. It has often been stated and printed that he 
 was absent at Albany when the siege took place. Sergeant Hawks 
 " supposed that he was then at Deerfield." Hawks's letter reached 
 him, indeed, but not "seasonably." Nevertheless, it was an unlucky 
 miss for the Captain in a military point of view, that he happened 
 to be absent from the post of danger at the head of a fair garrison, 
 with fair supplies, in August, 1746. Such a chance to gain military 
 reputation was never renewed to him afterwards. 
 
 As Dr. Williams filed out of the gate of Fort Massachusetts, 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 127 
 
 with his fourteen men, for DeerfieUl, he and they fell immediately 
 into an imminent hazard, of which they had at the time no intima- 
 tion at all. The fort was already encircled by its enemies from 
 Canada ! Close by the road leading down to the ford of the Hoosac 
 already described, a part of Vaudreuil's forces had secreted them- 
 selves in the brakes and bushes, and so near were they to the little 
 detachment headed east, that they could actually have touched them 
 with their guns ; " but rather than attempt to seize them, which 
 would have brought on a fire, and apprised the garrison of their 
 proximity, they suffered the surgeon and his men to pass without 
 interruption." (Hoyt.) After the surrender of the fort, this fact 
 was communicated in detail to the garrison by the French them- 
 selves. This was Saturday, the 16th. 
 
 Lord's Day and Monday, 17th and 18th. — We met with no disturbance, 
 nor did we discover any enemy ; but the sickness was very distressing ; for 
 though some began to amend, yet there were more taken sick. Eleven of our 
 men were sick, and scarcely one of us in perfect health ; almost every man 
 was troubled with the griping and flux. 
 
 The meadow on which the fort stood was and is low ground ; 
 the river was then much larger than now, and time had not then 
 worn its channel so deep as it is now ; consequently, the drainage of 
 the ox-bow must have been then very imperfect, and the swamp to 
 the northwest must have been broader and wetter than it is at 
 present. It was, therefore, an unwholesome place for garrisoned 
 men to occupy in August, and we do not need to look further for 
 causes of the distressing sickness of which tlie good chaplain com- 
 plains; and though the fort stood on the highest ground enclosed in 
 the bend of the river, where the elm tree has been growing since 
 1859, that itself is but little lifted above the general level. In 1885 
 most of the meadow, including the site of the fort, was surveyed 
 into streets and building lots ; but the general impression of lowness 
 and imperfect drainage in part prevented for several years the 
 taking up of the lots by householders. An elevated railroad em- 
 bankment also runs across the meadow from east to west on its 
 northern side, and, of course, disfigures it. 
 
 Tuesday, 19th. — Between eight and nine o'clock in the morning, when, 
 through the good providence of God, we were all in the fort, twenty-two men, 
 three women, and five children, there appeared an army of French and Indians, 
 eight or nine hundred in number, commanded by Monsieur Kigaud de Vaudreuil, 
 who, having surrounded the fort on every side, began with hideous acclamations 
 to rush forward upon the fort, firing incessantly upon us on every side. 
 
128 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Considering that the investment of the fort was really made on 
 Saturday, the French concealed themselves remarkably well till 
 Tuesday forenoon. The sickness within the fort accounts for the 
 fact that the men were not stirring, and that new signs of an enemy 
 were not discovered. So far as the present writer can help to secure 
 that result, the names of the thirty persons within the fort during 
 this memorable siege will not be forgotten by posterity. 
 
 Sergeant John Hawks, 
 
 Deerfield. 
 
 Chaplain John Norton, 
 
 Falltown. 
 
 John Aldrich, 
 
 Mendon. 
 
 Jonathan Bridgeman, 
 
 Sunderland. 
 
 Nathaniel Eames, 
 
 Marlboro. 
 
 Phineas Forbdsh, 
 
 Westboro. 
 
 Samuel Goodman, 
 
 Hadley. 
 
 - Nathaniel Hitchcock, 
 
 Brimfield. 
 
 Thomas Knowlton, 
 
 Town unknown. 
 
 Samuel Lovatt, 
 
 Mendon. 
 
 John Perry^ 
 
 Falltown. 
 
 Amos Pratt, 
 
 Shrewsbury. 
 
 JosiAH Reed, 
 
 Rehoboth. 
 
 Joseph Scott, 
 
 Hatfield. 
 
 Moses Scott, 
 
 Falltown. 
 
 Stephen Scott, 
 
 Sunderland. 
 
 Jacob Shepherd, 
 
 Westboro. 
 
 Benjamin Simonds, 
 
 Ware River. 
 
 John Smead, 
 
 Athol. 
 
 John Smead, Jr., 
 
 Athol. 
 
 Daniel Smead, 
 
 Athol. 
 
 David Warren, 
 
 Marlboro. 
 
 The women and children were Mary, wife of John Smead, and 
 their children, Elihu, Simon, and Mary; Miriam, wife of Moses 
 Scott, and their children, Ebenezer and Moses ; and Eebecca, wife of 
 John Perry. 
 
 Turning now from the mere handful of the defenders of the fort, 
 half of them sick and none of them well, and eight of them women 
 and children, to the "army of French and Indians eight or nine 
 hundred in number,'' who attacked and reduced it, it is to be said in 
 the first place, that we are not shut up to Norton's narrative and 
 Hawks's journal and the other contemporary English accounts for 
 our knowledge of the make-up of this army, but luckily we have 
 also the contemporaneous and official French accounts, the originals 
 preserved in the Archives of Paris. It is in itself a curious thing, 
 and it makes a curious phase of the semi-civilization of French 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 129 
 
 America, that a careful record was macle of the numbers and desti- 
 nation of even the smaller parties sent out into the English country 
 for plunder and scalps before they started, as well as a summary of 
 the results after the party had returned from its raid. So consider- 
 able a hostile incursion as that of Vaudreuil would, of course, under 
 such a custom, find conspicuous antecedent and subsequent remem- 
 brancers; and from these and associated documents, we learn that 
 not Canada Indians alone, but Indians from the upper lakes also, 
 Ottawas from Detroit, Sauteurs from Mackinaw, Hurons, and even 
 Pottawataniies, were in Vaudreuirs detachment. We learn that 
 seventeen Mississaguer from the head of Lake Ontario, who left 
 Vaudreuil before the capture of the fort, went eighteen miles below 
 Albany, struck a blow, and brought back four scalps. We find that 
 Vaudreuil left Montreal on the 3d of August, and that his force 
 consisted at the start of **2 captains, 1 lieutenant, 3 ensigns, 2 
 chaplains whereof one is for the Indians, 1 surgeon, 10 cadets of the 
 regulars, 18 militia officers, 3 volunteers, and about 400 colonists 
 and 300 Indians, including those domiciled and those from the 
 Upper country." In another quarter of these documents we dis- 
 cover that Lieutenant Demuy left ^Montreal the 16th of July for 
 Crown Point with a party of 470, mostly Indians, thence for Wood 
 Creek, scouting and " felling the trees on both sides to render its 
 navigation impracticable to our enemies." Demuy was ordered to 
 wait at the " River au Chicot " [Wood Creek] for the party com- 
 manded by Vaudreuil, which he did, and whom he joined. Wood 
 Creek flows from the south into the head of Lake Champlain at 
 what is now Whitehall, and the Poultney River, or " East Bay," as 
 it used to be called, in which the boats of Vaudreuil's detachment 
 were left, finds its way into the lake from the northeast at almost 
 the same point. The doubt as to the numbers with which Vaudreuil 
 invested Fort Massachusetts hinges mainly on tlie doubt as to the 
 number that Demuy contributed to the force at Wood Creek. Vau- 
 dreuil left Montreal with 740 men. In the detailed account of his 
 expedition further on, seventeen Indians are mentioned as having 
 left his party " before the capture of the fort." Demuy left Montreal 
 a fortnight earlier with 470 men for preliminary operations on Wood 
 Creek, but with special orders to wait for and join the later party, 
 which he did. " Several of these Indians have formed parties and 
 been out on excursions," reads the record. The more natural inter- 
 pretation of this language is, that they had returned and rejoined 
 Demuy before he joined the larger war-band for the South. If only 
 half of Derauy's men came with him to the Hoosac, the whole party 
 
130 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 would have mounted up to 950. That is probably about the number. 
 Norton's " eight or nine hundred " is a moderate and credible state- 
 ment. 
 
 In still another part of these Paris documents is the following, 
 which is quite truthful in the main, although shaky in spots: — 
 
 It having been deliberated, in a council held with the Canadians and Indians, 
 that an attack should be made on the fort called Massachuset, after the name 
 of that Province, Sieur de Rigaud [Vaudreuil] arrived after a march of ten days 
 in the neighborhood of this fort. He commenced the attack on it on the morn- 
 ing of the 30th of August, keeping up an incessant fire from both sides until the 
 following day, when the garrison surrendered at discretion. Three women and 
 five children were found in it. The loss on the part of the English was not 
 ascertained, as they had buried all their dead, except one. The French loss 
 was one man killed and twelve wounded. Sieur Rigaud was among the latter. 
 The fort was burnt on the same day, and the prisoner having stated that a rein- 
 forcement was to arrive from Dierfil, Sieur Rigaud detached sixty Iroquois and 
 Abernakis on the route they wrere to come. These Indians having met this 
 reinforcement, which consisted only of nineteen men, defeated it and brought 
 in four prisoners only, all the remainder having been killed. 
 
 This last is a distortion of the " Bars Fight " in Deerfield, which 
 will presently be related as it was. The accuracy of Norton's words 
 describing the Indian yell as "hideous acclamations," and their 
 method of rushing forward towards an enemy and then instantly 
 back again to cover, and of " firing incessantly upon us on every 
 side " without aim or reference to the probability of doing execu- 
 tion, is confirmed by the accounts of other sieges and battles in the 
 French wars and particularly by the scene at Braddock's Defeat. 
 
 Mr. Hawks, our officer, ordered that we should let them come without firing 
 at all at them, until they should approach within a suitable distance, that we 
 might have a good prospect of doing execution. We suffered them to come up 
 in a body till they were within twenty rods of us, and then we fired ; upon which 
 the enemy soon betook themselves to trees, stumps, and logs, where they lay 
 and fired incessantly upon us ; some taking opportunity to run from one tree 
 and stump to another, and so drew nearer to the fort. This they did in a very 
 subtle manner, running so crooked that it was very difficult to shoot at them 
 with any good prospect of success, until we observed that when they came to a 
 stump, they would fall down ; which we observing, prepared to catch them 
 there as they fell down by the stumps ; and this we did probably with success ; 
 for they soon left off this method. 
 
 John Hawks was born in Deerfield, Dec. 5, 1707, and died there 
 June 24, 1784 ; and the headstone above, his grave was still standing 
 legible more than a century after his death, in the old and aban- 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 131 
 
 doned God's Acre at Deerfield. His courage and conduct at the 
 siege of his fort and afterwards, deeply impressed the susceptible 
 French, and loaned him much influence at Montreal and Quebec. 
 In February, 1748, he had occasion to go to Canada with a flag of 
 truce for an exchange of prisoners, and was treated very handsomely 
 there. His young nephew, Samuel Allen, captured at the Bars 
 Fight, had become so attached in two years to the Indian mode of 
 life in Canada, that he would not voluntarily return with his uncle, 
 and the latter was suffered to use force to compel him ; and besides, 
 the Governor of Canada sent six Frenchmen and two or three 
 Indians as a guard of honor to accompany the Sergeant home, and 
 they came with him as far (almost) as No. 4. Hawks continued 
 useful in the service until the conquest of Canada, and was conspic- 
 uous on the right side at the opening of the Revolution, while his 
 pastor and more influential neighbors on both sides the Connecticut 
 were Tories. "In Memory of Col. Hawks," etc., runs his epi- 
 taph. The reference in Norton's text to trees, stumps, and logs, 
 gives a vivid picture of the ground around the fort in August, 1746. 
 These were the stumps of the pines, whose hewn trunks pinned 
 together and locked at the corners formed the walls of the fort; 
 others were stumps of trees cut down in order to let the sun in on 
 ground where corn could be planted and grown; deciduous trees 
 were doubtless mingled in with the pines, and had been cut down 
 for fuel and other purposes, and the trunks and branches would 
 naturally more or less strew the ground ; and, unless later indica- 
 tions along the Hoosac interval are deceptive, spruces were the 
 trees growing in the swamp to the west and northwest. Remark- 
 ably cool and level-headed under the circumstances were the Ser- 
 geant and the Chaplain and the Sharpshooters, that they should 
 calculate by inference to fire where the Indians would probably 
 be in an instant, rather than where they actually were at the 
 instant. 
 
 About this time we saw several of the enemy fall and rise no more ; among 
 which was the captain of the St. Francis Indians, who was one of the foremost, 
 and called upon the rest to press on upon the fort. Sergeant Hawks got an 
 opportunity to shoot him into the breast, which ended his days. At the begin- 
 ning of the engagement, the General sent his ensign with his standard (which 
 he, standing behind a tree about thirty rods distant from the fort, displayed), 
 the General also walked up the hill within about forty rods of the fort, where 
 he stoo<l and gave his orders ; but being discovered he had a shot or two fired at 
 him ; upon which he moved of! ; but presently after comes to his ensign, where 
 being discovered, he received a shot in his arm, which made him retreat with his 
 ensign to their camp. 
 
132 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 The St. Francis Indians, the pride and courage of whose captain 
 was thus brought low by the skilled aim of Sergeant Hawks, were 
 Mission Indians, as they were called, — that is, heathen who had 
 been baptized, in contradistinction from the unmitigated heathen, 
 in whose company they fought and scalped in all their incursions. 
 These particular Indians were Abenakis from the region of our 
 Maine, who had been domiciliated by the French missionaries of the 
 order of St. Francis for more than half a century on the river named 
 after their saint a few miles above its opening into the Lake St. 
 Peter, which is an immense broadening-out of the St. Lawrence 
 about halfway between Quebec and Montreal. The river St. Francis 
 rises very near the source of the Connecticut, in the Height of Land 
 between New Hampshire and Canada. The village of that name, 
 where these Indians lived, which was destroyed in 1759 by Robert 
 Eogers, the famous partisan ranger, in one of the most daring and 
 successful raids ever made on this continent, had been the pride of 
 the French Jesuits, and was perhaps the most influential of their 
 stations in New France. Says Parkman of these Indians : ^'They 
 were nominal Christians, and had been under the control of their 
 missionaries for three generations ; but though zealous and some- 
 times fanatical in their devotion to the forms of Eomanism, they 
 remained thorough savages in dress, habits, and character. They 
 were the scourge of the New England borders, where they surprised 
 and burned farmhouses and small hamlets, killed men, women and 
 children without distinction, carried others prisoners to their vil- 
 lage, subjected them to the torture of running the gantlet, and com- 
 pelled them to witness dances of triumph around the scalps of 
 parents, children and friends." 
 
 To any one familiar with the lay of the land around Fort Massa- 
 chusetts, there is very little difficulty in determining with exactness 
 the local movements of General Vaudreuil and his ensign, as they 
 are graphically described at this stage of the siege by the keen-eyed 
 Chaplain. The investing force had formed two camps, one to the 
 northwest of the fort, where the General had his headquarters, and 
 the other to the southeast, on the bank of the Hoosac, where its 
 course is southwest. The carriage road on the north of the fort, 
 which probably follows very nearly the line of the old Indian trail, 
 hugs the edge of the quartzite hill just within the ordinary range of 
 the old " queen's arm " of those days ; and to one passing east from 
 the site of the French camp there was then and is now a shoulder of 
 the hill jutting down to the swamp, and when the General " walked 
 up the hill within about forty rods of the fort, where he stood and 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 133 
 
 gave his orders," he was walking up on this shoulder, and the place 
 where he stood may be pointed out to-day, certainly within a rod or 
 two. Presently venturing down on the low ground, where his 
 ensign stood with the lilied banner of France, he received a shot in 
 his arm, the scar of which the Chaplain had a chance to see after- 
 wards upon a nearer view. 
 
 The enemy still continued to fire almost incessantly upon us, and many of 
 them crept up within a dozen rods of the fort. We were straitened for want 
 of shot. Several of our men being newly come into the service, and for want of 
 bullet moulds, had not prepared for any long engagement, and therefore the 
 sergeant ordered some of our sick men to make bullets, another to run some 
 shot, having shot-moulds. This put him upon taking particular notice of the 
 ammunition, and he found it to be very short, and therefore gave orders that we 
 should not fire any more than we thought necessary to hold the enemy back, 
 unless when we had a very good opportunity and fair prospect of doing execu- 
 tion ; so that we fired but little. We had sometimes very fair shot, and had 
 success. We saw several fall, who, we are persuaded, never rose again. We 
 might have shot at the enemy almost any time in the day, who were in open 
 view of the fort, within fifty or sixty rods of the same, and sometimes within 
 forty and less ; the oflicers sometimes walking about, sword in hand, viewing of 
 us, and others walking back and forth as they had occasion, without molestation, 
 for we dare not spend our ammunition upon them that were at such a distance. 
 
 The men characterized by Mr. Norton as having " newly come 
 into the service," were beyond question some or all of the fourteen 
 who came in with Dr. Williams the Friday night before ; and the 
 Chaplain's language seems to imply that it was the business of the 
 men to run bullets, each for himself, and so be " prepared for any 
 long engagement"; but as the sentence is not grammatical, so 
 neither is it quite intelligible. Only eight of the men were in 
 health, fourteen were sick, and the good policy of the French 
 officers in letting the fourteen stout hearts pass by on the road to 
 Deerfield the Saturday previous now vindicated itself; they had no 
 interest to prevent the depletion of the fort, but every motive to 
 further it ; still, some of the sick were not so sick but they could 
 use the bullet moulds, and others run some buckshot, having moulds 
 for that purpose, though it appears in the sequel that it was not in 
 accordance with the unwritten military law of the wilderness to 
 make use of shot in such warfare. Sergeant Hawks then first 
 became fully aware how short were his stores of ammunition. It 
 was to replenish these that he had sent out the fourteen men. No 
 doubt he wished them back ; but in any case he must have real- 
 ized that all that could now be done was to prolong the siege as 
 much as possible before the inevitable surrender of the fort. The 
 
134 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 orders that he gave to spare the ammunition were cool and prudent. 
 So were the lessened shots, that were "very fair and had success." 
 " We saw several fall who never rose again." Our brave narrator 
 belonged to an orthodox church militant. To him the only good 
 Indian (on the French side) was a dead Indian. The French 
 officers seen '' walking about sword in hand, viewing of us," were 
 already noted men, and destined to become exceedingly noteworthy 
 on both sides the ocean before the surrender of Quebec in the next 
 decade. Besides Vaudreuil, of whom we shall learn something 
 significant later, there were Demuy and La Corne : each of these, 
 and especially the last, had before him a conspicuous career until 
 the downfall of New France. 
 
 Towards evening the enemy began to use their axes and hatchets. Some 
 were thoughtful that they were preparing ladders in order to storm the fort 
 in the night ; but afterward we found our mistake, for they were preparing fag- 
 gots in order to burn it. This day they wounded two of our men, viz., John 
 Aldrich they shot through the foot, and Jonathan Bridgman with a flesh wound 
 the back side of the hip. When the evening came on the sergeant gave orders 
 that all the tubs, pails, and vessels of every sort, in every room, should be filled 
 with water, and went himself to see it done ; he also looked to the doors, that 
 they were made as fast as possible. He likewise cut a passage from one room 
 to another, that he might put the fort into as good a posture of defence as might 
 be, in case they should attempt to storm it. He distributed the men into the 
 several rooms. While he was thus preparing, he kept two men in the northwest 
 mount, and some in the great house, the southeast corner of the fort, to watch 
 the enemy and keep them back. 
 
 The chief interest of this passage is the clear though indirect way 
 in which is shown the mode of construction of Fort Massachusetts. 
 Evidently it was an exact pattern of Fort Shirley, of which our 
 knowledge happens to be so full and particular. Of course the well 
 was inside of the walls, and probably, as at Shirley, in one corner. 
 The barracks, or rooms, were built against the inside wall, with a 
 salt-box roof, as at the Putney fort on Great Meadow, which John 
 Perry later helped to construct as he helped to construct this. 
 These rooms were continuous so far as they went, for Hawks " cut 
 a passage from one room to another," and " distributed the men into 
 the several rooms." The " mount," of which Norton here speaks, 
 was a feature of all the blockhouses built in those times, and was a 
 sort of platform of boards or plank thrown across the upper tier of 
 hewn timbers at one of their four angles. On this was constructed 
 a rude watch-box, a place for a sentinel somewhat protected, as the 
 platform around it was the place to fire from and protect the fort. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 135 
 
 There were no loopholes in the walls, which were six inches thick, 
 of hewed pines, so that the only places of offence were these mounts. 
 It was from this northwest mount, built towards the enemy's 
 approach and the camp of Vaudreuil, that the latter had been 
 wounded, the captain of the St. Francis Indians killed, and the 
 shots been fired that "had success"; and it was while standing here 
 that Aldrich and Bridgman were wounded, and Thomas Knowlton 
 was killed the next day. The blockhouses usually were furnished 
 with two of such mounts, on opposite angles, but the language here 
 seems to imply that the first Fort Massachusetts had but one; and 
 in place of the other, on the opposite angle, there was " the great 
 house," the upper story of which rose above the walls and served 
 the purpose of both mount and watch-box. " He kept two men in 
 the northwest mount, and some in the great house, the southeast 
 corner of the fort, to watch the enemy and keep them back." The 
 lower story of the " great house " was in all probability the officers' 
 quarters, and perhaps also the storehouse of provisions and ammu- 
 nition, while above it constituted a somewhat safer watch-box and 
 place of offence than the other. It becomes pretty plain, as the 
 narrative proceeds, and as one is able to put things together and 
 draw the proper inference, that the soldiers' barracks and the great 
 house were built against the south wall of the fort, while the 
 "parade" occupied the interior space on the north side, and the 
 gate ^vith its strong doors was an opening in the north wall, and 
 the well with its two posts (either for well-sweep or other means of 
 hoisting the water) was near the northeast corner. It was no new 
 device, but already an old one, for Canada Indians to prepare and to 
 use faggots to burn defended houses and forts in New England from 
 the outside ; and when one remembers that the exterior walls of 
 this fort were pine logs with a twelvemonth seasoning, it makes the 
 Sergeant's pails, tubs, and vessels of every sort, filled with water, 
 seem ridiculously inadequate for extinguishing the possible confla- 
 gration, although the precaution was praiseworthy. 
 
 I was in the mount all the evening ; it was cloudy and very dark the beginning 
 of the evening. The enemy kept a conf5tant fire upon us, and, as I tliought, 
 approached nearer and in greater numbers tlian they had in the daytime. We 
 had but little encouragement to fire upon the enemy, having but the light of 
 their fire to direct us, yet we dared not wholly omit it, lest they should be 
 emboldened to storm the fort. We fired buckshot at them, and have reason 
 to hope we did some execution, for the enemy complained of our shooting buck- 
 shot at that time, which they could not have known had they not felt some of 
 them. They continued thus to fire upon us until between eight and nine at night, 
 then the whole army (as we supposed) surrounded the fort, and shouted, or 
 
136 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 rather yelled, with the most hideous outcries, all around the fort. This they 
 repeated three or four times. We expected they would have followed this with 
 a storm, but were mistaken, for they directly set their watch all around the 
 fort ; and besides their watch they sent some to creep up as near the fort as they 
 could, to observe whether any persons attempted to make their escape, to carry 
 tidings to New England. 
 
 It seems odd, that the good Chaplain should have located the 
 fort in his mind as outside of New England, especially as its very 
 name had been given to emphasize the fact that it was within the 
 jurisdiction of the colony of Massachusetts, and, as Sir William 
 Johnson said afterwards of Lake George, " to ascertain its undoubted 
 dominion here." But his passing over by the old Indian path of the 
 Hoosac Mountain, that gigantic water-shed between the valleys of 
 the Deerfield and the Hoosac, and his being immediately plunged 
 into the confusing scenes of a siege by 800 French and Indians, 
 more or less, may well excuse this single perturbation in his 
 geography ; and we shall see in the sequel, that in his journey to 
 Canada he manifested an uncommonly correct topographical sense, 
 though he was in all probability wrong in the instance when he 
 differed from Sergeant Hawks as to the location of a petty stream 
 affluent to Wood Creek. The Chaplain stood in his lot, and shirked 
 no military duty ; he was in the mount in the early evening when it 
 was very cloudy and dark, and the latter part of the night he kept 
 the regular watch there. What was he thinking about during that, 
 to him, momentous night before the surrender of the fort ? The 
 conjecture may safely be hazarded, that one topic of his thoughts 
 was his wife and two little girls left behind in Fort Shirley. He 
 had intended to tarry in Fort Massachusetts about a month, but in 
 less than a week there was no Fort Massachusetts to tarry in ; as a 
 matter of fact he saw neither wife nor child for more than a year ; 
 as a matter of prospect during that cloudy night on watch, the 
 chances of life at all were scarcely worth looking at. But he did 
 not bate a jot of heart or hope. His was the true New England 
 grit. Hawks and Norton bore off most of the honors that Fort 
 Massachusetts ever yielded to mortal men. 
 
 In a well-known passage the Eoman historian Tacitus writes, 
 that in all battles it is the eyes that are first conquered. Not on 
 that principle did the Indians fight, but on the principle that the 
 ears are first conquered. According to all accounts the Indian 
 battle yells were the most terrifying sounds ever erupted from 
 human throats : as painted and daubed and bedevilled the looks of 
 these creatures were enough to strike terror to the boldest hearts ; 
 
FOliT MASSACHUSETTS. 137 
 
 and when, superadded to this, their unearthly gutturals and infer- 
 nal screeches assailed the ears from all points of the compass at 
 once, the bravest men that ever bore a musket, even if they did not 
 yield to fright, carried the sound of the war-whoops till the day of 
 their death. One of Braddock's officers wrote three weeks after his 
 defeat at the Monongahela, where there were fewer French and 
 Indians than at the siege of Fort Massachusetts, — "I cannot de- 
 scribe the horrors of that scene ; no pen could do it. The yell of 
 the Indians is fresh on my ear, and the terrific sound will haunt me 
 till the hour of my dissolution.'* Even our slow-going and adjec- 
 tive-sparing narrator reiterates the epithet " hideous," as applied to 
 the war-whoops that he heard around the fort, three or four times 
 on as many of these pages. 
 
 The body of the army then drew back to their camps ; some in the swamp 
 west of tlie fort, the other part to the southeast, by the river side. We then 
 considered what was best to be done : whether to send a post down to Deerfield 
 or not. We looked upon it very improbable, if not morally impossible, for any 
 men to get off undiscovered, and therefore the Sergeant would not lay his com- 
 mand upon any to go ; but he proposed it to several, desired and encouraged 
 them as far as he thought convenient ; but there was not a man willing to ven- 
 ture out. So the Sergeant having placed the men in every part of the fort, he 
 ordered all the sick and feeble men to get what rest they could, and not rep:ard 
 the enemy's acclamations ; but to lie still all night unless he should call for 
 them. Of those that were in health, some were ordered to keep the watch, and 
 some lay down and endeavored to get some rest ; lying down in our clothes, with 
 our arms by us. I lay down the fore part of the night. We got little or no 
 rest. The enemy frequently raised us by their hideous outcries, as though they 
 were about to attack us. The latter part of the night I kept the watch. 
 
 Deerfield was the nearest town of any size to the line of forts, 
 the home of many of the officers and men in garrison, the source of 
 most of their commissary supply, and the only hope for reinforce- 
 ments in case of exigency ; accordingly, it is no wonder that the 
 sergeant and the chaplain thought of Deerfield, when they found 
 that the fort was thoroughly invested. Indeed, the Sergeant, in 
 co-operation with the Surgeon, had already sent fourteen men to 
 Deerfield to act as convoy to stores and ammunition, before he knew 
 the fort was to be invested, though he had " discovered some signs 
 of the enemy " ; an urgent letter was at the same time sent to 
 Captain Williams at Deerfield, tliat he "would speedily send up 
 some stores to the fort " ; and now the question was between ser- 
 geant and chaplain, whether in their now weakened and besieged 
 state, other messengers should be sent after the former, — whether 
 such messengers would be likely to " get off undiscovered," that is, 
 
138 OEIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 to get through the close lines of the besiegers, — and, if so, whether 
 they would be likely to fetch back succor in season to prevent, if 
 that were possible, the surrender of the fort. The long stretches 
 over the Hoosac Mountain were a minor element in the question, 
 but the chief thing w^as the hostile camps on either side of the fort, 
 the night watch of the French set all round the fort, and besides 
 "they sent some to creep up as near the fort as they could, to 
 observe whether any persons attempted to make their escape, to 
 carry tidings to New England." It was madness, under the circum- 
 stances, to send anybody out ; whoever went would by so much 
 lessen the eight men, who alone of the twenty-two, were in tolerable 
 health. The Sergeant, therefore, would not lay his command upon 
 any to go ; but he evidently desired that one or more should make 
 the attempt, for he proposed it to several, and encouraged them as 
 far as he thought convenient ; but it was in every respect fortunate, 
 that no one could be persuaded to go. 
 
 Wednesday 20. — As soon as it began to be light, the enemy shouted, and 
 began to fire upon for a few minutes, and then ceased for a Httle time. The 
 Sergeant ordered every man to his place, and sent two men up into the watch- 
 box. The enemy came into the field of corn to the south and southeast of the 
 fort, and fought against that side of the fort harder than they did the day 
 before ; but unto the northwest side they did not approach so near as they had 
 the first day, yet they kept a continual fire on that side. A number went up 
 also into the mountain north of the fort, where they could shoot over the north 
 side of the fort into the middle of the parade. A considerable number of the 
 enemy also kept their axes and hatchets continually at work, preparing faggots, 
 and their stubbing hoes and spades, etc., in order to burn the fort. About 
 eleven o'clock, Thomas Knowlton, one of our men, being in the watch-box, was 
 shot through the head, so that some of his brains came out, yet life remained 
 in him for some hours. 
 
 Knowlton was the only one of the defenders of the fort who was 
 killed outright during the siege. That the body was not removed 
 from the watch-box and buried, before the surrender of the fort and 
 the consequent mutilation of the remains by the savages and the 
 semi-savage Frenchmen, was owing to the appearance of life still 
 remaining in him till the catastrophe occurred. Why the besiegers 
 should use their stubbing hoes and spades, as well as their axes and 
 hatchets, in preparing faggots, is not quite clear, unless the reason 
 be that the stubs and roots of bushes cut the year before were drier, 
 and so more suitable to their purpose of burning the fort. The 
 reference to the field of corn to the south and southeast of the fort 
 is interesting ; for the planting of it, and the hoeing, must have 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 139 
 
 been prosecuted under difficulties, since it is certain that no trees 
 had been felled on that meadow prior to the spring of 1745, and 
 since Norton's description of the Indians dodging round between 
 the stumps within gunshot of the fort, proves that the planting 
 there did not differ much from that upon many another " burnt 
 piece " in New England before and since. Yet soldiers in garrison, 
 when no enemy is near, find life tedious to the last degree under the 
 most favorable circumstances. The young farmers and mechanics 
 in Fort Massachusetts, in May, 1746, even if they were not put upon 
 it by their officers, would rather work out of doors a part of the 
 time than not. The prospect of a few ears apiece of " roasted " 
 green corn in September may have still further stimulated their 
 zeal, and they were all used to such work at home. It was this 
 tedium, doubtless, as well as a desire to found for himself a home, 
 that led one of the soldiers, John Perry, to fence in a few acres of 
 wild land a mile west of the fort, and build him a loghouse 
 thereon ; and perhaps to plant around it a few hills of beans and 
 corn, which he might harvest in the fall, without the leave of the 
 commander at the fort ; and, at any rate, conjecture would be vain 
 as to what hands harvested the corn at the fort, in the autumn of 
 1746. That place was then utterly deserted of men, and continued 
 so for six months, — no human habitation nearer than the house of 
 Eleazar Hawks in Charlemont. 
 
 For one, the writer is very thankful for the incidental statement 
 that a number of the besiegers went up into the mountain north of 
 the fort, where they could shoot over the north side of the fort into 
 the middle of the parade; because, along with other evidence, this 
 goes to show the exact situation of things in the interior of the fort. 
 The parade was on the north side of the interior ; the gate in the 
 middle of the north wall opened directly into it ; the well, with its 
 posts, must have been in the northeast corner, otherwise the parade 
 would have been cluttered with them ; and the watch-box, as we 
 know, was over the other corner on that side. The barracks and the 
 " great house," accordingly, must have been built against the south 
 wall, and perhaps also against a part of the walls of the two ends. 
 This was almost certainly the precise state of things in the interior 
 of Shirley also, as the ruins of that fort in Heath pretty clearly dis- 
 close to this day ; and while in Pelham, which was a stockade, and 
 not a blockhouse like the other two, the well was in the centre of 
 the enclosure, there is good evidence to be found on the spot to this 
 day that the gate was in the middle of the north wall, as it cer- 
 tainly was in Massachusetts. 
 
140 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 About twelve o'clock the enemy desired to parley. We agreed to it, and 
 when we came to General Vaudreuil, he promised us good quarter if we would 
 surrender ; otherwise, he should endeavor to take us by force. The Sergeant 
 told him he should have an answer within two hours. We came into the fort 
 and examined the state of it. The whole of our ammunition we did not judge 
 to be above three or four pounds of powder and not more lead ; and, after 
 prayers unto God for wisdom and direction, we considered our case, whether 
 there was any probability of our being able to withstand the enemy, for we sup- 
 posed that they would not leave us till they had made a vigorous attempt upon 
 us, and, if they did, we knew our ammunition would be spent in a few minutes' 
 time, and then we should be obliged to lay at their mercy. 
 
 This is a good place for us to learn something about this Vaudreuil, 
 with whom Hawks and Norton parleyed, and to whom they shortly 
 afterwards surrendered. He belonged to the most distinguished 
 French family that ever resided in, or held government over. New 
 France. His father. Marquis de Vaudreuil, was Governor of Canada 
 from 1703 till his death at Quebec in 1725. His older brother, who 
 succeeded to the father's title of Marquis in 1748, was born at 
 Quebec in 1698, was appointed Governor of Louisiana at the other 
 extremity of New France in 1743, and became in 1755 the last — and 
 perhaps the best — of all the French Governors of Canada. Our 
 Vaudreuil, who commonly passed by the name of Eigaud de Vau- 
 dreuil, was born in Montreal Feb. 8, 1704, became town major of 
 Three Rivers, and, after his exploit on the Hoosac, was almost con- 
 stantly employed in important services till the downfall of French 
 Canada. Ten years after the surrender of Fort Massachusetts, in 
 conjunction with Montcalm, he captured Oswego with 1600 prison- 
 ers, — the greatest triumph that had then been achieved by the 
 French arms in America. " The cries, threats, and hideous bowl- 
 ings of our Canadians and Indians,'' wrote Vaudreuil, " made them 
 quickly decide." The next year, 1757, he was given by his brother 
 the chief command of a detachment consisting at least of 1600 
 French and Indians, sent in March to surprise and capture Fort 
 William Henry at the head of Lake George. It was brilliantly 
 conducted, and came near being successful. All the outbuildings 
 of the fort were burnt, — storehouses, hospital, saw-mill, huts of 
 Stark's rangers, a sloop on the stocks, and piles of planks and cord- 
 wood, besides two sloops ice-bound in the lake and a large number 
 of batteaux on the shore. Montcalm, who did not like it that Gov- 
 ernor Vaudreuil gave the chief command to Rigaud, wrote, "I 
 worked at the place of the last affair, which might have turned out 
 better, though good as it was. If I had had my way, Levis or 
 Bougainville would have had charge of it. However, the thing was 
 
FOKT MASSACHUSETTS. 141 
 
 all right and in good hands. The Governor, who is extremely civil 
 to me, gave it to his brother ; he thought him more used to winter 
 marches." And the truth was, that the fort was vigilantly watched 
 as against surprise and bravely defended as against assault, the 
 garrison consisting of 346 effective men, — a part of them being 
 Scotch-Irish Presbyterian rangers from New Hampshire under 
 John Stark, — and Major Eyre and the other British officers were 
 resolute and capable men. Later in the same season Vaudreuil was 
 an important commander under Montcalm in the successful siege 
 and destruction of Fort William Henry. In all the subsequent 
 movements for the defence of Montreal and Quebec against Amherst 
 on the one side and AVolfe on the other, both the brothers Vaudreuil 
 were active and persistent to the last, — Rigaud in the field as soldier 
 and Pierre in council as Governor ; and when it was all over with 
 New France, the two betook themselves to Paris together, — the 
 Governor to be imprisoned in the Bastille on charges preferred by 
 the friends of Montcalm, though afterwards released and partly 
 exonerated, and dying in 17G4, while the soldier-victor at Fort 
 Massachusetts was still living at St. Germaine in 1770. 
 
 Had we all been in health, or had there been only those eight of us that 
 were in health, I believe every man would willingly have stood it out to the last. 
 For my part I should ; but we heard that if we were taken by violence the sick, 
 the wounded, and the women would most, if not all of them, die by the hands 
 of the savages ; therefore our oflBcer concluded to surrender on the best terms he 
 could get, which were — 
 
 I. That we should be all prisoners to the French ; the General promising 
 that the savages should have nothing to do with any of us. 
 
 II. That the children should all live with their parents during the time of 
 their captivity. 
 
 III. That we should all have the privileges of being exchanged the first 
 opportunity that presented. 
 
 Besides these particulars, the General promised that all the prisoners should 
 have all Christian care and charity exercised towards them ; that those who 
 were weak and unable to travel should be carried in their journey ; that we 
 should all be allowed to keep our clothing ; and that we might leave a few lines 
 to inform our friends what was become of us. 
 
 In accordance with this last permission, Norton wrote a letter 
 the next day, though he dated it Aug. 20, 1746, and nailed it on the 
 west post of the well-sweep, the fort having been burned in the 
 meantime by VaudreuiPs orders. Norton does not anywhere give 
 the text of the letter, for the reason doubtless that he kept no copy 
 of it ; but it was found a few days afterward and carried to Deer- 
 field, and it ran as follows : — 
 
142 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 These are to inform you that yesterday, about nine of the clock, we were 
 besieged by, as they say, seven hundred French and Indians. They have 
 wounded two men and killed one Knowlton. The General De Vaudreuil desired 
 capitulations, and we were so distressed that we complied with his terms. We 
 are the French's prisoners, and have it under the General's hand, that every 
 man, woman, and child shall be exchanged for French prisoners. 
 
 The good Chaplain is careful in this letter to give his authority 
 for the statement that the besieging army consisted of " seven hun- 
 dred " : " as they say," that is, the French officers ; his own opinion, 
 given much later, after he had marched to Canada in company with 
 this army was, that there were eight or nine hundred ; and we have 
 already gathered reasons from the contemporary French documents 
 for believing that even this was an underestimate. When the French 
 officers saw the poverty of the fort and the paucity of its defenders, 
 and realized that they had been held at bay for thirty hours, it was 
 naturally enough their care to belittle their own force. Although 
 Korton does not mention it in connection with the parley, it has 
 come down to us on the authority of Hawks, that the enemy then 
 displayed their own means of capturing the fort, such as axes, hoes, 
 spades, a quantity of fascines ready cut, and a number of grenades. 
 
 The military vigor of the Chaplain strikingly appears in the last 
 passage quoted. He was one who " would willingly have stood it 
 out to the last.'' In this respect there was a strong resemblance 
 between him, the first minister of the gospel who ever exercised his 
 functions in the valley of the Hoosac within the limits of Massachu- 
 setts, and his next following settled successor within the same local 
 limits, Eev. Whitman Welch, the first minister of Willi amstown, 
 called in July, 1765. The " minute men," who went from here to 
 Cambridge ten years later, were his parishioners ; several of these 
 were drafted in the late autumn to go up the Kennebec with Arnold 
 to surprise Quebec. Mr. Welch accompanied these as a volunteer, 
 not as the chaplain of the detachment, — a service that was rendered 
 by Mr. Spring of Newburyport, — but apparently because he liked 
 enterprise and danger and the military life. Zebadiah Sabin and 
 David Johnson, two of his parishioners, were subordinate officers 
 under Arnold in this expedition, and Welch, who was fond of ath- 
 letic exercises and excelled in them, left parish and wife and two 
 children, exactly as Norton had done, and doubtless with a similar 
 relish, to take the hazards of war ; but while Norton returned from 
 his captivity to a parish in Connecticut, Welch died at Quebec in 
 March, 1776, of the small-pox, as did also many of his compeers in 
 that perilous journey through the wilderness. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 143 
 
 About three of the clock we admitted the General and a number of his 
 officers into the fort. Upon which he set up his standard. The gate was not 
 opened to the rest. The gentlemen spake comfortably to our people ; and on 
 our petition that the dead corpse might not be abused, but buried, they said 
 that it should be buried. But the Indians, seeing that they were shut out, soon 
 fell to pulling out the underpinning of the fort, and crept into it and opened the 
 gates, so that the parade was quickly full. They shouted as soon as they saw 
 the blood of the dead corpse under the watch-box ; but the French kept them 
 down for some time and did not suffer them to meddle with it. After some 
 time the Indians seemed to be in a ruffle ; and presently rushed up into the 
 watch-box, brought down the dead corpse, carried it out of the fort, scalped it, 
 and cut off the head and arms. A young French cut off one of the arms and 
 flayed it, roasted the flesh, and offered some of it to Daniel Smead, one of the 
 prisoners, to eat, but he refused it. The Frenchman dressed the skin of the 
 arm (as we afterwards heard) and made a tobacco pouch of it. After they had 
 plundered the fort, they set it on fire, and led us out to their camp. 
 
 This Daniel Smead, who refused to become a cannibal at the 
 dictation of a semi-savage, or rather double-savage, was one of a 
 family of seven (increased the next day to eight), all taken in the 
 fort and all carried captive to Quebec. They were from Pequaog, 
 what is now Athol. The father, John Smead, this son Daniel, and 
 John Smead, Jr., were paid soldiers. The mother, Mary, and three 
 young children were in the fort in a position of dependence. John, 
 Jr., died a captive in Quebec the next April. " He was taken with 
 me at Fort Massachusetts. He was seized with the distemper in 
 October last, and was bad for a time, and then recovered in some 
 good measure, and after a little time relapsed, and as he did several 
 times, till at last he fell into a consumption, of which he died." 
 This Daniel died also at Quebec a little more than a month later 
 than his brother. "Died Daniel Smead, a young man. He was 
 taken with me, and was son to John Smead. He was first taken 
 sick in November, and by frequent relapses was worn out, and fell 
 into a purging, by which he wasted away and died." The father, 
 John Smead, returned home from his captivity Aug. 31, 1747, prob- 
 ably bringing with him his three younger children ; but about six 
 weeks after his return he was travelling from Northtield to Sunder- 
 land, when he was killed by an ambush of Indians and scalped. 
 
 Vaudreuil had the satisfaction of raising the lilied banner of 
 France — Jieur-de-lis — on the top of the fort for an hour or two 
 before it was burned. Undoubtedly it was hoisted at the summit of 
 the " great house " in the southeast corner of the fort. Ten years 
 later, when the French capture I Oswego and burned tlie forts and 
 made the place a desert, a tall cross was planted amid the ruins, 
 
144 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 graven with the words, In hoc signo vincunt; and near it was set a 
 pole bearing the banner of France, with the inscription, Manihus 
 date lilia pleriis. It seems queer to present denizens along the 
 Hoosac, that the French flag should ever have floated even for an 
 hour over its waters ! 
 
 The contrast between the French officers, who spoke pleasantly 
 and kindly to the prisoners, and the young Frenchman, whether 
 native or Canadian, who practised the barbaril^es on the body of the 
 dead Knowlton, is one that French society in Canada perpetually 
 presented until its downfall. The exquisite manners of Paris, all 
 the proverbial politeness of France, pitched its tent in and near the 
 residences of the governors of Canada and of such courtly gentle- 
 men as Montcalm, whether in Quebec or Three Kivers or Montreal, 
 while close alongside this refinement, speaking the patois of the 
 country, were the cruelty and falsity and barbarism of the habitans 
 and fur-traders, surpassing, if possible, in degradation even the 
 Indians themselves. The sight of Knowlton's blood dripping down 
 from the watch-box to the ground, roused the Indians to a fierce 
 desire to scalp and mutilate the body; and the same sight roused 
 the young Frenchman to flay the arm, and roast and eat the flesh of 
 the dead man. 
 
 As the fort was now shortly plundered and set on fire and burnt 
 to the ground, and the prisoners led out to the camp of the French 
 a little to the northwest, our last opportunity to get a further 
 glimpse of the mode in which it was constructed is offered us in 
 the passage last quoted. It is evident that it was free space under 
 the watch-box at the northwest angle, for it was there that the 
 Indians saw the blood, before the body had been removed from the 
 mount ; which is another circumstance going to show that the north 
 side was the free and open side of the fort, — the space under the 
 watch-box at the west end and the space around the well at the 
 east end of this side really making one space with the parade in 
 the middle of it. This view is confirmed by the fact that the 
 Indians pulled out the loose stones forming the underpinning of the 
 fort, crept within, and opened the gate that was certainly on the north 
 side, " so that the parade was quickly fall." Then they shouted as 
 soon as they saw the blood. It is absolutely certain that the well, 
 both at Shirley and Massachusetts, was in the northeast angle. 
 Norton nailed the letter on the west post of the well, which was 
 not burned when the walls of the fort went down under the fire. 
 Drake [" Particular History," p. 120] understands this to mean the 
 west arm of the well-crotch, within which the well-sweep worked. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 145 
 
 At any rate, the well-sweep, if there was one, was parallel with the 
 east wall of the fort, and near it ; and if there were none, one can- 
 not see why there should be any " west post " of the well at all, on 
 which a letter could be nailed. It will be noticed by the pains- 
 taking reader (not by others), that this arrangement put the well as 
 much out of the way as it could possibly be put in the interior of 
 such an enclosure, doubtless very near to the east wall and to the 
 north wall at their junction. It may be only a chance coincidence, 
 or it may indicate a custom obtaining in blockhouses in those times : 
 at any rate it is a fact, that when General Amherst built his great fort 
 at Crown Point, the " big well " was placed in the northeast angle also. 
 
 We had been at their camp but a little time, when Mons. Doty, the Gen- 
 eral's interpreter, called me aside, and desired me to speak to our soldiers, and 
 persuade them to go with the Indians ; for he said that the Indians were desir- 
 ous that some of them should go with them; and said that Sergeant Hawks, 
 myself, and the families, should go with the French officers. I answered him 
 that it was contrary to our agreement, and the General's promise ; and would 
 be to throw away the lives of some of our sick and wounded. He said, no ; 
 but the Indians would be kind to them ; and though they were all prisoners to 
 the French, yet he hoped some of them would be willing to go with the Indians. 
 
 The French were in close alliance for peace and war with the 
 Indian tribes of Canada and the West, but they were troublesome 
 allies at the best, and in moments of excitement were utterly uncon- 
 trollable. Montcalm writes : " You would take them for so many 
 masqueraders or devils. One needs the patience of an angel to get 
 on with them." They abandoned Dieskau to a man in the battle of 
 Lake George. Montcalm himself by his utmost endeavors could 
 not prevent their massacre of his plighted prisoners after the sur- 
 render of Fort William Henry. They could not be made to under- 
 stand, still less to respect, the obligation of pledges. In the case 
 before us, Vaudreuil had promised more than he could perform ; he 
 had bitten off more than he could chew. The Indians insisted on 
 their claim to escort the bulk of the prisoners to Canada, to present 
 them to the Governor-General themselves, and so be able the better 
 to claim an expected reward. The spirit, if not the letter, of the 
 capitulation put all the prisoners into the care of the French officers 
 and men ; and this was fully recognized by Vaudreuil in his sending 
 his interpreter to Norton, and asking him to persuade the soldiers 
 to go with the Indians voluntarily. Why did the General send 
 Monsieur Doty to Norton rather than to Hawks, the proper officer ? 
 If an innocent conjecture may be hazarded, it may have been a 
 religious scruple on the part of Vaudreuil, a sense at least of the 
 
146 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 sanctity of a promise, that would be violated if he sent the prisoners 
 among the Indians ; and so, if their religious leader would consent 
 to it and get the consent of some of the soldiers, his own conscience 
 would be the better satisfied. It was a compliment to the Chaplain 
 at any rate, and no disrespect to the Sergeant; but the scheme, 
 whatever its motive, did not work, and the General was left to settle 
 it with his conscience the best he could ; the Indians must be 
 placated in any event and so the terms of the surrender were 
 strained, even if not broken. 
 
 We spoke to Sergeant Hawks, and he [Doty] urged it upon him. We pro- 
 posed it to some of our men who were in liealth, whether they were willing to go 
 or not, but they were utterly unwilling. I returned to Doty, and told him we 
 should by no means consent that any of our men should go with the Indians. 
 We took the General to be a man of honor, and hoped to find hira so. We 
 knew that it was the manner of the Indians to abuse their prisoners, and some- 
 times to kill those that failed in traveling and carrying packs, which we knew 
 that some of our men could not do ; and we thought it little better for the 
 General to deliver them to the Indians than it would be to abuse them himself, 
 and had I thought that the General would have delivered any of our men to the 
 savages, I should have strenuously opposed the surrender of the fort, for I had 
 rather have died in fight, than to see any of our men killed while we had no 
 opportunity to resist. He said that the General would see that they should not 
 be abused ; and he did not like it that I was so jealous and afraid. I told him I 
 was not the ofi&cer, but as he spake to me, so I had freely spoken my mind, and 
 discharged my duty in it, and he had no reason to be offended, and I hoped the 
 General would not insist on this thing, but would make good his promise to all 
 the prisoners. 
 
 These were no fancied fears of Norton's in respect to the sick and 
 wounded among the prisoners, for he was familiar with the story of 
 the captivities to Canada that had taken place in Queen Anne's War, 
 and particularly with the " Redeemed Captive," Rev. John Williams's 
 account of the sack of Deerfield in 1704. Of the 112 captives taken 
 from Deerfield at that time, seventeen were killed or died on the 
 march to Canada, and among these was Mrs. Williams, wife of the 
 minister, who was tomahawked at the foot of a hill in what is now 
 Greenfield. Everybody in New England in 1746 was familiar with 
 these facts from the popularity of Williams's little book with the 
 above title, published in 1707, in which he gave an interesting nar- 
 rative of the adventures of the captives, and which was soon in 
 everybody's hands. Still, it must be owned, that in the present 
 instance these vigorously expressed fears for the feeble captives 
 proved in the issue to be groundless. These captives were extraor- 
 dinarily well treated, as we shall see. Perhaps Vaudreuil's qualms 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 147 
 
 of conscience, if he had any, over the terms of capitulation, made 
 him all the more scrupulous that no harm should come to the sur- 
 rendered from the Indians. 
 
 He [Doty] went to the General, and after a little time the officers came and 
 took away John Perry and his wife, and all the soldiers but Sergeant Hawks, 
 John Smead and Moses Scott and their families, and distributed them among 
 the Indians. • Some French officers took the care of the families, namely, 
 Smead's and Scott's, and Mens. Demuy took me with him, and M. St. Luc 
 Lacom took Sergeant Hawks with him, and so we reposed that night, having a 
 strong guard set over us. 
 
 The reason why Rebecca Perry and her husband were placed in 
 the care of the Indians, while the other two women with their hus- 
 bands and the five children were taken charge of by the French 
 officers, seems to have been that they had no children as impedi- 
 ments. The Indians were to go ahead in the march, and the French 
 to bring up the rear. Eleven in all were put with the French, and 
 nineteen were given over to the Indians. The Sergeant and the 
 Chaplain were very honorably treated, for the two highest officers 
 in command, next to the General, took these with them respectively, 
 namely. La Come took Hawks, and Demuy, Norton. La Come, like 
 Vaudreuil, was a native Canadian. His father. Captain La Come, 
 town major of Three Rivers in 1719, started his son, who had 
 received in baptism the name of the third evangelist, St. Luc, into 
 public life the next year, and the same time that the first Governor 
 Vaudreuil was paving a way in life for his own two sons, one of 
 whom became his successor as the last Governor of Canada, and the 
 other distinguished himself first in the capture of Fort Massachu- 
 setts. La Come became during the last fifteen years of New France 
 a successful partisan officer after a type of his own. He was active 
 and able and ruthless and tireless. His intimate knowledge of the 
 Indian languages gave him a wonderful influence over the motley 
 tribes that danced the war-dance at Montreal or Quebec. He seemed 
 to be everywhere where there was council and carnage. Now at 
 Niagara, now at La Chine Rapids, once and again in Acadia, where 
 he was in command of 2500 men, extremely serviceable in the 
 reduction of Fort William Henry, and standing indifferently by 
 while maddened Indians massacred the prisoners surrendered with 
 the fort, wounded at the rapids of Lake Ontario in 1759, and again 
 wounded at the capture of Quebec, shipwrecked on his way to France 
 when all was over in Canada, yet saved from the sea by a miracle, 
 and finding his way back to Quebec by another miracle of physical 
 endurance, where he wrote a journal of the voyage, — his was a 
 
148 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 figure which only New France in her last days could have produced, 
 or would have tolerated. 
 
 Writes Parkman in a memorable passage : ^ — 
 
 Worst of all was the fate of the Augitste, on board of which was the bold but 
 ruthless partisan, Saint-Luc de la Corne, his brother, his children, and a party 
 of Canadian officers, together with ladies, merchants, and soldiers. A worthy- 
 ecclesiastical chronicler paints the unhappy vessel as a floating Babylon, and 
 sees in her fate the stern judgment of Heaven. It is true that New France 
 ran riot in the last days of her existence ; but before the Auguste was well out 
 of the St. Lawrence she was so tossed and buffeted, so lashed with waves and 
 pelted with rain, that the most alluring forms of sin must have lost their charm, 
 and her inmates passed days rather of penance than transgression. There was 
 a violent storm as the ship entered the Gulf ; then a calm, during which she 
 took fire in the cook's galley. The crew and passengers subdued the flames 
 after desperate efforts, but their only food thenceforth was dry biscuit. Off the 
 coast of Cape Breton another gale rose. They lost their reckoning and lay 
 tossing blindly amid the tempest. The exhausted sailors took in despair to 
 their hammocks, from which neither commands nor blows could rouse them, 
 while amid shrieks, tears, prayers, and vows to Heaven, the Auguste drove 
 towards the shore, struck, and rolled over on her side. La Corne, with six 
 others, gained the beach, and towards night they saw the ship break asunder, 
 and counted a hundred and fourteen corpses strewn along the sand. Aided by 
 Indians and by English officers. La Corne made his way on snow-shoes up the 
 St. John, and by a miracle of enduring hardihood, reached Quebec before the 
 end of winter. 
 
 Lieutenant Demuy, who took Chaplain Norton in charge for the 
 journey to Canada, was son of the Captain Demuy of the French 
 regulars in New France, who was appointed Governor of Louisiana 
 in 1707, and who died on his journey thither to assume that posi- 
 tion. The son left an excellent record in Canada, with no word, so 
 far as appears, to mar it. When he was appointed to command at 
 the Lake of the Two Mountains in 1746, he was reported to Paris 
 by his superiors as " a prudent, wise, and sedate man, and a very 
 exact officer in all that appertains to the King's service " ; he 
 became afterwards commandant at La Prairie, and still later at 
 Detroit ; and he seems to have possessed remarkable influence over 
 the Indians, both over the Mission Indians and those from the 
 farthest west and south. 
 
 Thursday^ 21. — In the morning I obtained liberty to go to the place of the 
 fort, and set up a letter, which I did, with a Frenchman and some Indians in 
 company. I nailed the letter on the west post. This morning I saw Josiah 
 Reed, who was very weak and feeble by reason of his long and tedious sickness. 
 I interceded with the General for him, that he would not send him with the 
 
 1 Montcalm and Wolfe, v. 2, p. 384. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 149 
 
 Indians, but could not prevail. I also interceded with the General for John 
 Aldrich, who, being wounded in the foot, was not able to travel ; but the inter- 
 preter told me they must go with the Indians, but they should not be hurt ; and 
 they had canoes a little down the river, in which the weak and feeble should be 
 carried. We then put up our things and set on our march for Crown Point, 
 going down the river in Hoosuck road. I was toward the front, and within 
 about a half a mile I overtook John Perry's wife ; I passed her, M. Derauy 
 traveling apace. I spoke with her, and asked her how she did ? She told me 
 that her strength failed her in traveling so fast. I told her God was able to 
 strengthen her. In him she must put her trust, and I hoped she was ready for 
 whatever God had to call her to. 1 had opportunity to say no more. We went 
 about four miles to the place where the army encamped the night before they 
 came upon us. Mere I overtook neighbor Perry, which surprised me, for I 
 thought he had been behind me with the French, but he was with the Indians. 
 I a.sked him after his health. He said he was better than he had been. I 
 inquired after his wife. He said he did not know where she was, but was some- 
 where with the Indians, which surprised me very much, for I thought till then 
 she was with the French. 
 
 Josiah Read was from Rehoboth in the Old C'oluny. He was sick 
 of the prevailing distemper before the fort was besieged, and was 
 doubtless treated by the Indians after the surrender with all the 
 consideration that was possible, an Indian carrying him on his back. 
 He died at the place of the first encampment during this (Thurs- 
 day) night ; and though Norton suggests a little later a fear that he 
 may have been murdered, it became perfectly clear after the return 
 of the surviving captives that the man died of his malady. John 
 Aid rich was of Mendon in Worcester County, and was one of the 
 two wounded in the watch-box on the first day of the siege. When 
 the rest of his surviving companions in captivity returned to their 
 several homes the next year, John Aldrich and one other were left 
 sick in Quebec, but these two also returned afterwards, and were 
 paid their wages, twenty-five shillings a month, for the year and 
 more, by the Treasurer of the Colony. The captives started Thurs- 
 day morning for Crown Point from Vaudreuil's camp near the fort, 
 the Indians in general in front and the French in the rear, though 
 soon more or less commingled on the march, making their way as 
 best they could " down the river in Hoosuck road " towards the first 
 resting-place four miles to the west where there is a decided bend of 
 the river to the north. Norton's use of the term, ** road," here, 
 shows that the immemorial Mohawk trail was even then much 
 travelled back and forth. It was a road. After crossing the stream 
 at Fort Massachusetts, it ran thenceforth along its northern bank 
 and usually near to the water, unless the interval were low and 
 wet, in which case the Indians always hugged the edge of the higher 
 
150 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 land, or unless there were a considerable bend in the stream, in 
 which case the Indians made the short cut as unerringly as a modern 
 engineer. The place where Norton overtook John Perry's wife was 
 near or at the place where her husband had built their house a short 
 time before, and stocked it with the goods to which reference has 
 been had already, and which the struggling Indians bringing up the 
 rear burned in passing. The considerable confusion into which 
 Norton falls in this paragraph concerning the Perrys, betrays the 
 fact that he wrote out his narrative some time after the events, from 
 notes taken at the time ; for he tells us expressly a little way back 
 that Perry and his wife, with the bulk of the soldiers, were distrib- 
 uted among the Indians, while here he twice expresses much sur- 
 prise to find them in the company of the Indians — "for I thought 
 till then she was with the French." 
 
 The Hoosac meadow in Williamstown, on which the band of cap- 
 tives rested for a while about noon of the first day's march, has been 
 from that day to this an interesting place. " We went about four 
 miles to the place where the army encamped the night before they 
 came upon us." The place is now called the Eiver Bend Farm. 
 There has been for many years a steam saw-mill where the river 
 begins to bend northward, which has more or less disfigured the 
 meadow, and the tracks of the Fitchburg railroad curving round the 
 bend and requiring considerable cutting and filling, to say nothing 
 of a deposit of gravel which has been carried off in large quantities 
 for ballasting, have still further disfigured and transformed it ; but 
 when perhaps for centuries the Indians used to make a sort of camp 
 and stopping-place upon this curve covered with primeval forests, 
 of which enormous pines formed a part, it was one of the loveliest 
 places in all New England ; and when about twenty-five years after 
 the present passage, the farm was fairly cleared up, it became, per- 
 haps, the most fertile farm in Williamstown, and certainly the resi- 
 dence and tavern-stand of its most prominent and patriotic citizen. 
 Indian arrow-heads and other Indian relics have always been found 
 in its ploughed fields, and even so late as 1887. And notwithstand- 
 ing the cut-up and demoralized surface, Samuel Abbott, a graduate 
 of the College of that year, found several valuable relics of Indian 
 occupation on the place. Next to Josiah Read, who died a few 
 miles down the river a few hours later, the sickest of the captives 
 was a lad named Benjamin Simonds, of Ware River, then twenty 
 years old, who lived to own the broad meadow, and to build upon it 
 the stately house still standing, of which, as well as of him, we shall 
 be likely to learn more in the sequel. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 151 
 
 Here we sat down for a considerable time. My heart was filled with sorrow, 
 expecting that many of our weak and feeble people would fall by the merciless 
 hands of the enemy. And as I frecjuently heard the savages shouting and yell- 
 ing, trembled, concluding that they then murdered some of our people. And 
 this wa.s my only comfort, that they could do nothing against us, but what God 
 in hLs holy Providence permitted them ; but was filled with admiration wlien I 
 saw all tlie prisoners come up with us, and John Aldrich carried upon the back 
 of his Indian master. We set out again, and had gone but a little way before 
 we came up with Josiah Read, who gave out. I expected they would have 
 knocked him on the head and killed him, but an Indian carried him on his back. 
 We made several stops, and after we had traveled about eight miles we made a 
 considerable stay, where we refreshed ourselves, and I had an opportunity to 
 speak to several of the prisoners ; especially John Smead, and his wife, who 
 being near her time, was filled with admiration at the goodness of God in 
 strengthening her to travel so far. 
 
 The cause of the shouting and yelling of the savages, here referred 
 to by Norton, may very probably have been the burning of John 
 Perry's premises, at that time the only house in the Hoosac valley 
 till they came down to Dutch Hoosac, where they burned, the next 
 day, seven houses and fourteen barns, and a large quantity of wheat, 
 and slaughtered many hogs and cattle, doubtless accompanying the 
 devastation with similar whooping and outcry. Every vestige of 
 this alread}' thriving settlement at the junction of the Little Hoosac 
 with the Hoosac went up in flames; one of the proprietors named 
 Samuel Bowen was killed, and the loss in that single neighborhood 
 was estimated, at the time, as £50,000 New York currency. The 
 French account of the doings of this party returning from the sack 
 of Fort Massachusetts is not exaggerated as much as usual : " Barns, 
 mills, churches, and tanneries were destroyed, and the harvest laid 
 waste for a distance of thirty or forty miles." Indeed, the small 
 party of French and Indians returning from the attack on Fort 
 Massachusetts two months before, when Elisha Nims was killed, and 
 Gershom Hawks wounded there, slaughtered, in Dutch Hoosac, 
 nearly one hundred animals belonging to the Dutch and English 
 farmers. The valley is this time trod by an army that leaves noth- 
 ing of value movable or burnable behind it. But we are getting a 
 little ahead of Norton's narrative. 
 
 I saw John Perry's wife. She complained that she was almost ready to give 
 out. She complained also of the Indian that she went with, that he threatened 
 her. I talked with a French officer, and he said that she need not fear, for he 
 would not be allowed to hurt her. Mons. Demuy, with a number of men, set 
 out before the army, so I took my leave of her, fearing I should never see her 
 more. After this Sergeant Hawks went to the General and represented her 
 case to him. So he went and talked to the Indians, and he [her master] was 
 
152 OKIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 kind to her after that. After we had traveled round the fields, I thought he 
 was about to leave the river, which increased my fears. But I found out the 
 reason ; for they only went to look some buildings to plunder, and burn them. 
 
 Vaudreuil was true to his after promise, even if he had proved 
 false to the exact terms of surrender. No captives in like circum- 
 stances ever had less cause to complain of their treatment on the 
 whole. These conferences were had, and this result was reached, 
 while the slow march was progressing through the present town of 
 Pownal, Vermont, and approaching and passing the present line of 
 the state of New York. The valley of the Hoosac narrows decidedly 
 after passing into Petersburg, and the river turns sharply to the 
 west, till the valley suddenly broadens to receive into itself the 
 valley of the Little Hoosac at the junction of the two streams. 
 These united valleys, at their place of union, are now called, for 
 railway reasons, Petersburg Junction. They were formerly called, 
 from the prevailing nationality of the farmers there, Dutch Hoosac. 
 The meadows here are very broad, and have always been very pro- 
 ductive. Here located himself in 1735, Bernardus Bratt, a Dutch- 
 man, who married in that year, Catharine Van Vechten, and who 
 built his house very near the present railway station. He built the 
 first saw-mill and the first grist-mill in this district. These mills, 
 and a large quantity of grain, lumber, 9,nd other property, both his 
 and his neighbors', were burned by our Indians at this time. "They 
 went to look some buildings to plunder, and burn them." They 
 went up the Little Hoosac and burned every farm-house and barn in 
 what is now North Petersburg. They performed the same pleasing 
 service for the Bovies and Brimmers and Bowens and Van Der 
 Vericks, on whose meadow, directly to the south of Bratt's, the 
 whole army encamped for the night. Dec. 1, of this year, Norton 
 notes in his diary the death at Quebec of Gratis Van Der Verick, 
 who had been a captive for a year, and had been taken at Saratoga, 
 and Avho may have belonged to the family then occupying what has 
 since been called the " Joseph Case farm," and is now called (1887) 
 from its present owner, the " Edward Green " farm, on which Vau- 
 dreuil, with his motley force and his prisoners, made their first 
 night's encampment, after leaving the fort for good. 
 
 A little before sunset we arrived at Van Der Verick' s place, where we found 
 some of the army, who had arrived before us, but most of them were still 
 behind ; and I had the comfort of seeing the greatest part of the prisoners come 
 up : God having wonderfully strengthened many who were weak ; the French 
 carrying the women. There were some few that tarried behind about two 
 miles, where Mrs. Smead was taken in travail : And some of the French made 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 153 
 
 a seat for her to sit upon, and brought her to the camp, where about ten o'clock, 
 she was graciously delivered of a daughter, and was remarkably well. The child 
 also was well. But this night Josiah Read, being very ill, either died of his ill- 
 ness, or else was killed by the enemy ; which, I could never certainly know, but 
 I fear he was murdered. 
 
 From Fort Massachusetts to Van Der Verick's place, the first day's 
 journey towards Canada, was not far from fourteen miles as the 
 river runs. Nature put her seal of beauty and bounty upon the 
 spot, and Providence marked it with displays of graciousness, that 
 doubtless came in answer to prayer; the French showed unwonted 
 kindness to the sick women, bringing Mrs. Scott and Mrs. Perry to 
 the camp, carrying them ; and when Mrs. Smead was taken in travail 
 some two miles back from the camp, it was French officers and 
 soldiers who tenderly tarried for her, made a seat for her to sit 
 upon, and carried her in their arms to the camp on the meadow, 
 which was then made memorable forever by the birth and baptism 
 of a Christian child. 
 
 Friday, 22. — This morning I baptised John Smead's child. lie called its 
 name Captivity. The French then made a frame like a bier, and laid a buck 
 skin and bear skin upon it, and laid Mrs. Smead, with her infant, thereon ; and 
 80 two men at a time carried them. They also carried Moses Scott's wife and 
 two children, and another of Smead's children. The Indians also carried in 
 their canoes, Benjamin Simonds and John Aldrich and Perry's wife, down the 
 river about ten miles. 
 
 At least two canoes had been brought by the Indians from the 
 head of Lake Champlain, where most of their boats were left to 
 await their return, up to the junction of the Hoosacs, and here they 
 took into these for the next stage of their journey homeward, the 
 sick man, and the wounded man, and the invalid woman, all of 
 whom had been in Indian charge from the start. Their birch-bark 
 eanoes and paddles were extremely light, and were easily borne over 
 the shorter or longer carrying-places, which intermitted the water- 
 ways between Canada and the Colonies, by whichever of the usual 
 routes these ways were attempted. There was less land-carriage by 
 Lake George or Wood Creek to the Hudson, or by any one of the 
 three routes over the Green Mountains to the Connecticut, than by 
 the route chosen on this occasion by Owl Kill to the Hoosac. 
 
 "We had remarkable smiles of Providence. Our men that had been sick, grew 
 better and recovered strength. The enemy killed some cattle which they found 
 in the meadow ; so that we had plenty of fresh provisions and broth, which was 
 very beneficial to the sick. I then expressed a concern for the feeble people, 
 understanding that we were to leave the river, and travel through the wilder- 
 
154 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 ness near sixty miles ; but Mons. Demuy told me I need not fear, for the Gen- 
 eral had promised those Indians a reward who had the care of the feeble persons, 
 if they would be kind and carry them through the journey. This night I visited 
 most of the prisoners. This night, also, died two Indians of their wounds. The 
 enemy had got four horses. 
 
 Scarcely less picturesque than the first was this second night^s 
 encampment at St. Croix, the junction of the Walloomsac with the 
 Hoosac. The encampment was on the land of Garret Van Ness, 
 whose acquaintance we have already made in connection with sup- 
 plies for Fort Massachusetts. The horses obtained for the couriers 
 to carry the good news to Canada, undoubtedly belonged to Van 
 Ness, for he owned two miles or more of the land between the 
 mouth of the Walloomsac and the mouth of Owl Kill, where is 
 now the hamlet of Eagle Bridge. From Van Der Verick's to Eagle 
 Bridge, the second day's more comfortable journey, is pretty nearly 
 ten miles. Here all hands were to leave the line of the Hoosac, 
 and push on nearly due north, into the then unsettled wilderness, 
 now Washington County, to the head of Lake Champlain, where is 
 now the town of Whitehall. The canoes, with the two or three 
 sick ones, might, perhaps, be pushed up the Owl Kill a few miles 
 above its mouth, and then all the rest would be land journey to the 
 lake. 
 
 Saturday, 25. — This morning the General sent off an officer with some men 
 to carry news to Canada. This day we left the river and traveled in the wilder- 
 ness, in something of a path, and good traveling for the wilderness, something 
 east of north, about fifteen miles ; the French still carrying Smead's and Scott's 
 wives and children ; the Indians finding horses for Benjamin Simonds and John 
 Aldrich. Perry being released from his pack, was allowed to help hisi wife, and 
 carry her when she was weary. About three in the afternoon they were alarmed 
 by discovering the tracks of a scout from Saratoga. This put them into a con- 
 siderable ruffle, fearing that there might be an army after them. But I pre- 
 sumed that they need not be concerned about it. The body of the army lodged 
 between two ponds, but part, with a number of the prisoners, were sent for- 
 ward about two miles, till they crossed Sarratago river ; it is there twenty rods 
 wide, but shallow water. This night also died two more Indians of their 
 wounds. 
 
 This paragraph is one of extreme importance both historically and 
 geographically, and has been often heretofore, if not always, wholly 
 misinterpreted. So good a geographer and historian as Samuel G. 
 Drake explained the " Sarratago river,'' as " doubtless the Hudson 
 river." It is, in fact, no other than the Batten Kill. The proof of 
 this, and the reason why Norton, following the usage of the time, 
 called the stream " Sarratago Eiver," as the same much higher up in 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 155 
 
 the hills was also called in Captain Melvin's more famous " Journal," 
 in 1748, will come forth into clear light as we go on. Once and 
 again and again the present writer has gone carefully over every 
 foot of ground covered by this passage, which was the third day's 
 march of the captives, and satistied himself by personal inspection, 
 not only as to the exact spot of the lodging-place " between two 
 ponds," which is the water-shed between the Hoosac and the Batten 
 Kill, but also as to the exact place of their crossing the river, which 
 is called to this day " the ford." Their route lay directly up Owl 
 Kill on the west side of it, just as the public road now runs from 
 Eagle Bridge to Cambridge, and thence north along the present road 
 to Salem, through what is now Jackson Center, and then, after bend- 
 ing a little to the right between Long Pond and McLean Pond, found 
 the "divide," and there was their camp for the night. Dead Pond, 
 apparently without inlet or outlet, lies just upon the water-shed. 
 Then from Big Pond (just north) there flows a tiny stream through 
 Little Pond to reach the kill below. These are the so-called Jackson 
 Ponds. The ground is low and swampy along this little tributary 
 of the kill, and so the Indian path turned to the left, keeping the 
 higher ground, and then went through a little pass between high 
 hills, and came directly down to the present ford over tlie Batten 
 Kill at East Greenwich. A substantial farmhouse now flanks the 
 old Indian trail on the west just before the ford is reached. Much 
 narrower now are mountain streams than they were 140 years ago, 
 and Norton's "twenty rods" have shrunk to less than half that 
 width. 
 
 The whole of what is now Washington County, and the western 
 slopes of the Green Mountains adjoining it, across both of which the 
 Batten Kill, in a prevailingly western direction, finds its way to the 
 Hudson, was in the early times Iroquois Country, or the hunting 
 grounds of the Six Nations. Lake Champlain was the "Lake of 
 the Iroquois." The river Kichelieu draining the lake into the St. 
 Lawrence, and the territory on both sides of the lake and of its 
 outlet, was the mutual battle-ground of the Mohawks with the 
 Canada Indians. AV rites Slafter in his "Champlain": "This region 
 occupied a peculiar relation to the hostile tribes on the north and 
 those on the south of the St. Lawrence. It was the battle-field, or 
 war-path, where they had for many generations, on each returning 
 summer, met in bloody conflict. The territory between these con- 
 tending tribes was neutral ground. Mutual fear had kept it open 
 and uninhabited." Samuel Champlain and two French arquebusiers 
 were the first civilized witnesses and partakers of one of these con- 
 
156 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 flicts in 1609, between Mohawks on one side and Montagnais and 
 Hurons and Algonqiiins on the other, on a spot since become famous 
 all the world over, — Ticonderoga. The path, therefore, up which 
 Vaudreuil led his army and his captives from the Hoosac to Lake 
 Champlain, was an old Mohawk war-path, less trodden, it may be, 
 than the great east and west one to which it lay at right angles, 
 because the Six Nations usually went up to their battles at the 
 north by the Hudson and its carrying-place to Wood Creek. Norton 
 says, however, " in something of a path, and good traveling for the 
 wilderness." Later, when the Six Nations had dwindled, they gave 
 over by solemn treaty to the Stockbridge Indians, who were a part 
 of the Mohegans, with whom the Six Nations were friendly, these 
 hunting grounds of Washington County and western Vermont. 
 Annually passed up from southern Berkshire these hunting parties 
 of the Indians through Williamstown into these gameful forests at 
 the north, and it is a pleasure to add that their alleged rights in the 
 lands w^ere respected by the whites, when these lands came to be 
 settled and subdued. In possession of the writer is the original 
 manuscript memorandum drawn up at Bennington, Nov. 30, 1767, 
 with the autograph signatures appended of 101 land owners in the 
 towns of southwestern Vermont, which reads as follows : — 
 
 Whereas the Stockbridge Indian Tribe, Col. Jacobs and others, Challenge 
 twelve or more Townships of land Situate and being On the West Line of the 
 Province of New Hampshire, as Chartered by Benning Wentworth Esq. Gov- 
 ernor of s<i Province, and the s^ Indian Tribe are Willing and will be Ready On 
 the First day of January next to Treat with us or any one of us Respecting 
 their Title, and will at that time Likewise appoint a Meeting at which meeting 
 They will make it Appear That They are the Sole Owners Thereof and have the 
 only Proper and Lawful Right to Sell and Convey the Same ; and Whereas we 
 the Subscribers whose names are hereunto Perfixed, being Willing and desirous 
 to make Sure to Ourselves and Successors a good and SuflBcient title to the 
 Interests which we now Possess, and to make such Addition or Additions 
 Thereto as Shall be Thought Proper and Conducive to our Several Interests 
 
 , f Mr. Jedidiah Dewey ^ „_ , ^ ^ t.i .. x m x 
 
 ^y •{ r^ ^ -T T^ Do-r^^ Whome we depute and Elect to Treat 
 
 •^ iCapt. John Fassett & S. Fay J ^ 
 
 with s<i tribe or Such of them as will be necessary to treat with In order to ye 
 
 procurement of a proper title to Such Land and Lands Lying and being as 
 
 afores'd, In Consideration of all which we Severally Engage For ourselves 
 
 Heirs Ex'"3 and Administrators to pay or Cause To be paid to the s^^ Jedidiah, 
 
 John or Stephen the Severall Sum or Sums According to our Proprietorship As 
 
 will Appear by y^ Charter afores'd both y^ Sum and Sums which he or they may 
 
 give for s^ Land or Lands and y^ Cost and Cost Necessarily Arising by means of 
 
 the Procurement of s^i Title and to pay Such Sum and Sums of money Unto 
 
 ye s<i Jedidiah John or Stephen at Such time and times as he or they Shall agree 
 
 with the s'l Tribe Indian or Indians. Witness Each of our hands &c. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 157 
 
 It does one's eyes good to run over these 101 autographs of the 
 earliest settlers of Pownal and Bennington and Shaftesbury and 
 Arlington and Manchester, for they are firm and strong and full of 
 character, every one of them legible after all the foldings and unfold- 
 ings of the sheet (written on both sides) during the past century 
 and a quarter. This paper was drawn up by Leonard Robinson, 
 and signed also by Samuel and Moses and Silas Robinson, all four 
 of them sons of Captain Samuel Robinson, founder of Bennington 
 and father of Vermont, who died in London, on business for the 
 settlement, two months before this paper was signed; and of the 
 rest of the signers, almost every one was a marked man in his own 
 locality, and many of them lived to distinguish themselves in one 
 way and another during the Revolutionary War. Dewey, chairman 
 of the committee empowered to treat with the Stockbridges, and 
 both his colleagues, sign among the very first. Perhaps the finest 
 autograph of the whole is that of Moses Robinson, afterwards Chief 
 Justice, Governor, and United States Senator, of Vermont. Seth 
 Warner's autograph is here, and two others of the same family, all 
 spelling their name " Worner " ; and Scotch-Irish names, Breaken- 
 ridges, Stewarts, Cochrans, Armstrongs, Clarks, and others are min- 
 gled in with Saffords, Harwoods, Pratts, Rudds, Harmons, and 
 others. Now, this old paper proposing to buy off Indian rights to 
 Iroquois hunting grounds in southern Vermont fully confirms what 
 is otherwise known, namely, that an old Indian hunting trail branched 
 otf to the right from the main one leading north, u]) which our cap- 
 tives are slowly wending their way, probably following up the 
 Batten Kill to its head sources in the Green Mountains. 
 
 But why did Norton in 1746 and Melvin in 1748 call the Batten 
 Kill *• Sarratago river"? For the first time the means are now at 
 hand, not only satisfactorily to answer this question, but also to 
 give a succinct history of Fort Saratoga, which gave birth to the 
 old name of this stream, but whose site and fate and even name 
 have been a confused uncertainty for a century past. 
 
 In the Documentary History of New York, our modern word 
 " Saratoga " is spelled in nineteen separate ways, Indian and Dutch 
 and French and English, and all the different spellings are given in 
 the index. Several distinct derivations of the word from Indian 
 roots have been suggested from time to time, but no one of them 
 seems to be in itself probable, and at any rate no one of them has 
 been generally accepted. Perhaps one reason for this unsuccessful 
 etymological quest after the origin of the word may be found in the 
 uncertainties as to the locality to which it was first affixed as a name. 
 
158 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 The earliest ascertainable historical reference to a place bearing this 
 name is found in a Report of Governor Dongan's to his superiors in 
 England in the year 1687, in the course of which he says : — 
 
 I have done my endeavors and have gone so far in it that I have prevailed 
 with the Indians to consent to come back from Canada on condition that I pro- 
 cure for them a peece of land called Serachtague lying upon Hudson's river 
 above forty miles above Albany and there furnish them with Priests. There- 
 upon and upon a petition of the people of Albany to mee setting forth the 
 reasonableness and conveniency of granting to the Indians their requests I have 
 procured the land for them, altho it has been formerly patented to people at 
 Albany, and have promised the Indians that they shall have Priests and that I 
 will build them a church and have assured the people of Albany that I would 
 address to his Majesty as to your Lordships that care may be taken to send over 
 by the first Five or Six it being a matter of great consequence. 
 
 This reference proves that the place so named abutted at least 
 upon the North River. The next significant reference is in Major 
 Peter Schuyler's journal of his military expedition to Canada in 1691, 
 in which, after mentioning his first day's march from Albany ^' about 
 24 miles, until we came to the still water in the evening," he con- 
 tinues, " We marched to Saraghtoga, 16 miles distance." This also 
 implies that the place was on the river bank, because Schuyler was 
 on a military march and would naturally take the shortest route, and 
 because his entries make it evident that he did not leave the river 
 till he crossed it to reach Wood Creek. Saratoga, therefore, was on 
 the river, and on the west bank of it. 
 
 A later entry of Schuyler's on this same expedition throws fur- 
 ther light on the locality in question. He speaks of "a party of 
 80 Mohawks at a Lake right over Saraghtoga." This must mean 
 what we now call Saratoga Lake, and his phrase " right over Sar- 
 aghtoga," must mean " right over " west or back from a place then 
 so named, to a place now so named. 
 
 The same inferences are even more clearly drawn from the journal 
 of General John Winthrop, during a march of Connecticut soldiers 
 up the North River in 1690. He writes, August 1, " Quartered this 
 night at a place called the Still Water soe named for that the water 
 passeth soe slowly, as not to be discerned, yet at a little distance 
 both above and below is disturbed and rageth as in a great sea, occa- 
 sioned by great rocks and great falls therein " ; and August 2, '• Quar- 
 tered this night at a place called Saratogo, about 50 English miles 
 from Albany, where is a blockhouse and some of the Dutch soldiers." 
 King William's War, in which both Schuyler and Winthrop oper- 
 ated against the French in Canada, was brought to a close by the 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 159 
 
 Peace of Ryswick in 1G97, and in the interval between that and 
 Queen Anne's War there are several notices of Saratoga, of which 
 the most significant dates from 1698 as follows : " liegarding Cher- 
 agtoge, a post on the Hudson river, 28 miles north of Halve Moon, 
 I could not get there, though I had set out for that purpose, in con- 
 sequence of the freshet in the rivers and other imj^ediments, which 
 it was impossible for me to surmount. I shall observe, however, 
 with submission to your Excellency, that I learned, by minute 
 inquiries that I instituted, that the farms, which were only seven in 
 number, as well as the fort which was built there in Leisler's time, 
 have been entirely ruined by the last war ; since which time they 
 have never been thought of, and the settlers have never thought of 
 returning thither ; and, also, because the French claim this country 
 as dej^ndent on them, notwithstanding we have had possession of 
 it a great many years. I think it would not be useless to have a 
 small fort built there of palisades, with a small stone tower in the 
 centre, to maintain possession, and encourage the settlers to build 
 and take up their residence there again." 
 
 When Queen Anne^s War began to threaten the colonies, and 
 particularly New York, Lord Cornbury, the Governor, and Robert 
 Livingston, the Patroon, became anxious that Saratoga should be 
 fortified ; for the former wrote in 1702 : — 
 
 I propose there should be a stockadoed fort at Saractoga, a place Six and 
 twenty miles above the Half Moon upon Hudson's River, and is the farthest 
 settlement we have. If a large stockadoed Fort is made there, it will not only 
 secure our settlements there, but it will be a retreat for our Rivers Indians upon 
 all occasions, and the charge will be very little over £200, The number of men 
 that, in my opinion, will be necessary for the defence of these places now, in 
 time of "War, will be six hundred foot thus to be disposed of : four hundred men 
 at Albany, a captain and one hundred men at Schenectady, forty men at Nus- 
 tigione under the command of a Lieuteiiant, a Lieutenant and thirty men at the 
 Half Moon, and a Lieutenant and thirty men at Saractoga, which just makes 
 six hundred men. 
 
 And Livingston wrote the next year as follows : — 
 
 But if the taking of Canada can not be efifected next summer, then it will be 
 highly requisite that the fronteers of Albany be better secured, and that the 
 fort which my Lord Cornbury has begim, be not only compleated with all speed, 
 but that there be a stone fort built at Shinnectady also, and Stockadoe Forts at 
 Nastagione, Half Moon, Sarachtoge, Skachhooke and Kinderhoek, and garri- 
 soned with soldiers. 
 
 So far all historical references to Saratoga have been to a locality 
 on the west bank of the Hudson on both sides of a rocky stream, 
 
160 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 now called Fish Creek, striking the Hudson at right angles in the 
 present village of Schuylerville. On this stream, near its mouth, 
 the Schuyler family, of Albany, built mills very early ; the " seven 
 farms," already alluded to, were on the banks of this creek. The 
 name " Saratoga " attached itself strongly to a straggling village 
 slowly growing up along the bank of the river and on the banks of 
 the creek ; and it was here that General Burgoyne burnt the mills 
 of General Schuyler, and finally surrendered his army to General 
 Gates, in 1777 ; all the operations leading to which surrender are 
 often (though wrongly) called the battle of Saratoga. But in 1709, 
 in the course of Queen Anne's War, Colonel Schuyler, great-uncle 
 to General Schuyler, built a stockade fort directly opposite the 
 mouth of Fish Creek on a moderate elevation upon the east bank of 
 the Hudson, in the northwest corner of the present town of Easton, 
 Washington County, and this structure came to be called Fort Sara- 
 toga. As the great military route to and from Canada had hitherto 
 been by Wood Creek, Colonel Schuyler seems to have thought that 
 Albany would be better covered by a fort here on the east bank, 
 and another fort was built the same summer higher up on the east 
 bank of the river at " the great carrying-place " to Wood Creek, and 
 named Fort Nicholson, afterwards Fort Edward. Now as Fort 
 Saratoga was built and long maintained about a mile below the 
 mouth of the Batten Kill, and quite in the line east and west of 
 the main stretches of that stream, it is as natural as can be that 
 the stream itself came to be known as " Sarratago Eiver," as both 
 Norton and Melvin called it. Speaking generally for that century, 
 it may be said, that " Saratoga " meant Fish Creek with the land 
 and buildings on either side of it, and " Fort Saratoga " meant the 
 present Corliss Hill and farm on the eastern bank opposite. 
 
 Fort Saratoga had a most interesting history, which only comes 
 within our beat incidentally. We should have known nothing of 
 its mode of construction, had it not been for the journey of a 
 Swedish naturalist up the eastern bank of the Hudson in 1749, just 
 forty years after its erection. Peter Kalm, in his "Travels in 
 North America," writes as follows : — 
 
 Saratoga has been a fort built of wood by the English, to stop the attacks of 
 the French Indians upon the English inhabitants in these parts, and to serve as 
 a rampart to Albany. It is situated on a hill, on the east side of the river 
 Hudson, and is built of thick posts driven into the gi'ound, close to each other, 
 in the manner of palisades, forming a square, the length of whose sides was 
 within reach of a musket-shot. At each corner are the houses of the officers, 
 and within the palisades are the barracks, all of timber. This fort has been 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 161 
 
 kept in order and was garrisoned till the last war, when the English themselves 
 set fire to it, not being able to defend themselves in it against the attacks of the 
 French and their Indians ; for as soon as a party of them went out of the fort, 
 some of these enemies lay concealed, and either took them all prisoners, or shot 
 them. I shall c)nly mention one out of many artful tricks which were played 
 here, and which both the English and French who were present here at that time 
 told me repeatedly. A party of French, with their Indians, concealed them- 
 selves one night in a thicket near tlie fort. In the morning some of their 
 Indians, as they liad previously resolved, went to have a nearer view of the 
 fort. The English fired upon them, as soon as they saw them at a distance ; the 
 Indians pretended to be wounded, fell down, got up again, ran a little way, and 
 dropped again. Above half the garrison rushed out to take them prisoners ; but 
 as soon as they were come up with them, the French and the remaining Indians 
 came out of the bushes, betwixt the fortress and the English, surrounded them 
 and took them prisoners. Those who remained in the fort had hardly time to 
 shut the gates, nor could they fire upon the enemy, because they equally exposed 
 their countrymen to danger, and they were vexed to see their enemies take and 
 carry them off in their sight, and under their cannon. Such French artifices as 
 these made the English weary of their ill-planned fort. We saw some of the 
 palisades still in the ground. There was an island in the river, near Saratoga, 
 much better situated for a fortification. 
 
 We may probably estimate Professor Kalm's " gunshot " as forty 
 rods, making the stockade a square enclosing an acre of ground. In 
 1745, at the opening of King George's War, another Colonel Schuy- 
 ler, uncle of the General, was engaged to strengthen Fort Saratoga 
 by building six blockhouses within the enclosure of the palisades, — 
 a matter, as all other matters connected with the forts in that war, 
 causing endless wrangling between the Assembly of New York and 
 the Governor, George Clinton the elder. In November of that year, 
 1745, a famous French partisan officer, Marin, surprised with his 
 Indians the hamlet of Saratoga on Fish Creek, burnt to ashes 
 twenty houses and an old fort there, killed and scalj^ed over thirty 
 persons, and carried off captive more than sixty i)ersons besides. 
 Just before this, Governor Clinton had sent up six eighteen-pounders 
 to Fort Saratoga, which was probably not then molested by Marin ; 
 and two or three months later, the New York Assembly voted, at 
 the instance of the Schuyler family, £150 to further strengthen 
 Fort Saratoga by building a new fort, which may have been a little 
 distance removed from the old stockade, or may have been within or 
 in some way attached to tliat. At any rate, the new fort, which was 
 150x140 feet, was named Fort Clinton after His Excellency the 
 Governor. To finish here the story of this fort, we must anticipate 
 a little the main narrative, and say that the same La Corne St. Luc, 
 who in August, 1746, courteously conducted John Norton as his cap- 
 
162 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 tive across " Sarratago River," in June, 1747, conducted a remark- 
 ably successful attack by French and Indians upon Fort Clinton, on 
 whose walls were then mounted six eighteen-pounders and six 
 twelve-pounders. It was he who practised the stratagem on the 
 garrison as correctly related above by Professor Kalm. We will 
 condense La Corne's own account of the attack and its results, as it 
 is preserved in the Paris documents, and as it is confirmed in all 
 essential respects from English sources also. 
 
 La Corne, with two subordinate officers, about twenty Frenchmen, 
 and 200 Indians of different nations, started from Crown Point at 
 midnight, June 23, 1747, " for Sarratau, to endeavor to find a good 
 opportunity to strike some good blow on the English or Dutch gar- 
 rison at Fort Klincton, as they call it." They crossed over the 
 Hudson to the west side, and sent on a scout of eight to see what 
 was going on at the fort. These reported ^' that some forty or fifty 
 English were fishing in a little river [Fish Creek] which falls into 
 that of Orange [the Hudson] on this side the fort." " I sent St. Ours 
 to see where the river could be crossed, and to watch the movements 
 of the fort. He returned to say that he had found a good place, and 
 that several Englishmen were out walking." The next day the 
 whole force crossed over to the east side half a league above the 
 fort, although the Abenaki Indians were opposed to it, doubtless 
 because they were afraid of the mounted cannon, as all Indians 
 always were. La Corne promised to give his gun, which was a 
 double barrel, to the first man who should take a prisoner. 
 
 Waited all day to see if any person would come out. Made a feint, to induce 
 them to come out. Demanded of the chiefs six of their swiftest and bravest 
 men, commanded them to lie in ambush on the banks of the river, within eight 
 paces of the fort, at daybreak, to fire on those who should come out of the fort, 
 and to try and take a scalp, and if the fort returned their fire to pretend to be 
 wounded, and to exhibit some difficulty in getting off, so as to induce the enemy 
 to leave the fort. Those who lay in ambush fired on two Englishmen, who 
 came out of the fort at break of day on the thirtieth [June], and who came 
 towards them. The fort made a movement to come against our scouts, who 
 withdrew. About a hundred and twenty men came out in order of battle, headed 
 by two lieutenants and four or five other officers. They made towards our people, 
 in order to get nearer to them by making a wheel. They halted at the spot where 
 our scouts had abandoned one of their muskets and a tomahawk. Sieur de St. 
 Luc arose and discharged his piece, crying to all his men to fire ; some did so, and 
 the enemy fired back, and the fort let fly some grape, which spread consterna- 
 tion among the Indians and Canadians, as it was followed by two other dis- 
 charges of cannon ball. Our men then rushed on them, and routed the enemy, 
 whom they pursued within thirty toises of the fort fighting. Some threw them- 
 selves into the river and were killed by blows of the hatchet, and by gun shots. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 163 
 
 Forty-five prisoners were taken and twenty -eight scalps. The number of those 
 drowned could not be ascertained. One lieutenant, who commanded, with four 
 or five other officers, was killed, and one lieutenant was taken prisoner. About 
 one hundred and fifty men, as well as they could judge, came out of the fort, 
 without daring to advance. Of the one hundred and twenty or thirty who might 
 have been in the sortie from the fort, some twenty or twenty-five only appear to 
 have re-entered it. The fort might be one hundred and fifty feet long by one 
 hundred wide, with six wooden redoubts for barracks ; four in the angles of the 
 fort and two in the centre of the two main curtains, which have been protracted 
 to enlarge the fort that was one half too small when it was first visited by Sieur 
 Marin ; but exi)eriencing such harassing from the French and Indians, they 
 apprehended some new attacks from us ; however, it had not been rabbeted 
 when M. Marin was there. 
 
 This frightful mishap in June, together with perpetual misunder- 
 standings and bickerings with his Assembly, led Governor Clinton 
 in November to order the abandonment and the burning of Fort 
 Saratoga. The cannon were taken back to Albany. When Professor 
 Kalm was on the spot about eighteen months later, apparently all 
 that he saw, at any rate all that he mentioned, were some of the old 
 palisades of 1709 still standing, that had naturally enough escaped 
 the fire that destroyed Fort Clinton. In the course of a century 
 tradition had nearly, if not entirely, lost trace of the fort, of its site, 
 and even of its name, which was usually transferred over to Fish 
 Creek, when Asa Fitch, an antiquarian whose dwelling was on the 
 Batten Kill, reascertained from Kalm that the fort was on the east- 
 ern bank of the river, and published the fact in one of the volumes of 
 the " New York Agriculture," that it was located about a mile south 
 of the mouth of the Batten Kill. Whether he ever visited and more 
 definitely determined its site, does not now appear. In 1886, in 
 company with his friend, Isaac Collins, the present writer studied 
 in detail upon the spot the probable location of Fort Saratoga. He 
 satisfied himself beyond any reasonable doubt that the site of the 
 fort was on the ground now occupied by the two houses and farm 
 buildings of the Corliss family, where there is just about an acre of 
 comparatively level land, right upon the bank of the river, as La 
 Corne's description makes necessary, though lifted decidedly above 
 it, as Kalm's term "hill" makes necessary; while the crowning 
 evidence was discovered by him with the assistance of a venerable 
 lady who had spent her life upon the little plateau, in indubitable 
 traces of a very old road, coming up from the river's brink and just 
 skirting the edge of the level, and passing on east towards and into 
 the road to Galesville and Greenwich and Cambridge, where we 
 know there was a Revolutionary road, along which Baum's soldiers 
 
164 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 crossing the river at Schuylerville made their way to the battle-field 
 of Bennington. Trees larger round than a large man's body were 
 growing in the very bed of this old road up the bank, depressed, as 
 such roads always are, below the general level of the ground. Up this 
 old road, beyond a question, were dragged from the landing Clinton's 
 eighteen-pounders and twelve-pounders to mount upon the walls of 
 his fort above; and up this old road, equally beyond a question, 
 were dragged from the same landing the four brass cannon by the 
 Hessians, that played their part in the battle of Bennington. 
 
 The exact relations of Fort Clinton to old Fort Saratoga will 
 perhaps never be determined. La Corne's references to the enlarge- 
 ment of Fort Clinton after Marin's first visit there, and to the fact 
 that it was not " rabbeted '^ when Marin was there, are enigmatical, 
 though the probabilities are very strong that Clinton was set up 
 within or very near the palisades of old Saratoga ; because a French 
 detachment sent out from Crown Point at the end of November, 
 coming into the neighborhood and hearing that the fort had been 
 burnt, visited the spot to verify the fact, judged that three weeks 
 had passed since the burning, and reported that twenty chimneys 
 were left standing, that some small grenades and a twelve-pound 
 shot had not been removed, that the well had been infected, that, 
 judging by the marks of the wheels, the caston had been removed, 
 and that from the ground occupied at the landing by the batteaux, 
 there might have been ninety of these. Now twenty chimneys are 
 a preposterous number for one small fort, with only "six wooden 
 redoubts for barracks"; the rest of the chimneys must have belonged 
 to some or all of the six blockhouses ordered to be built within the 
 enclosure of the old palisades. The chimneys of Clinton were evi- 
 dently not distinguishable from the other chimneys left standing 
 after the burning of the fort; and, therefore, Clinton must have 
 been a part of old Fort Saratoga. 
 
 The news of the destruction, by Ncav York authority, of the Sara- 
 toga fort was bad news indeed to the whole colony of Massachusetts. 
 Their entire frontier towards the northwest was now uncovered to 
 hostile incursions of French and Indians. Fort Massachusetts had 
 been rebuilt in the spring of 1747, as we shall shortly learn in detail, 
 and mutual arrangements were sought to be entered into in July 
 between the two colonies as represented by Governor Shirley and 
 Governor Clinton, by which a hundred men should be kept con- 
 stantly on the scout between Forts Massachusetts and Saratoga. It 
 was not without bitterness, therefore, and a sense of needless and 
 pitiless exposure that Massachusetts learned, late in the autumn, of 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 165 
 
 the voluntary destruction of their only barrier towards the north- 
 west against Crown Point and Canada. 
 
 We must now return both in time and place from this long but 
 not profitless digression, to Norton's narrative and our poor captives 
 toiling northward. 
 
 LonVs day, 24. — This day we set out in the morning and came to Sarratago 
 river, crossed it, and came to our company, which had been before us. Here 
 we came to a rich piece of meadow ground and travelled in it about five miles. 
 We had good travelling this day. We crossed several pieces of good meadow 
 land. We went about eighteen miles. John Terry's wife performed this day's 
 journey without help from any. Our sick and feeble persons were remarkably 
 preserved to-day ; for about two o'clock in the afternoon there fell a very heavy 
 shower of rain, which wet us through all our clothes. Mrs. Smead was as wet 
 as any of us, and it being the third day after her delivery, we were concerned 
 about the event ; but through the good Providence of God she never perceived 
 any harm by it, nor did any other person but Miriam, the wife of Moses Scott, 
 who hereby catched a grievous cold. This night we lodged in a meadow, where 
 was a run of water, which makes a part of Wood Creek. 
 
 Mr. Norton kept a good eye on all the members of his peeled 
 and scattered flock, but he did not know all that was going on among 
 the French and Indians, his companions. He reports when they all 
 were south of the Batten Kill, that there was a considerable ruffle 
 among them, on discovering the tracks of a scout from Saratoga, as 
 if there might be an army after them. On the other hand, Vaudreuil 
 reports to his suj^eriors in Quebec, that he detached a party of Abena- 
 kis to proceed towards Fort Saratoga, that they met seventeen sol- 
 diers belonging to the fort, took four of them and scalped four others, 
 and that the rest, pursued by the Indians, who killed some o^ them, 
 threw themselves precipitately into the fort. Vaudreuil also reported 
 in the same connection the success of about thirty Abenakis, detached 
 by him immediately after the taking of Fort Massachusetts to go to 
 Beertield, who took, he said, five or six scalps. This was the Bars 
 Fight in Deerfield, in which five persons were killed, one wounded, 
 and one taken captive ; two of the Indians were killed also. The 
 fourth day's journey of the captives was the longest yet made by 
 them, — eighteen miles. It is easy to trace the path on the spot, or 
 even by a good map, such as Fitch's map of Washington County. 
 It ran nearly due north from the Batten Kill up on the west side of 
 McNob's Lake, where the present road runs to the little hamlet of 
 Lakeville, and then up on the west side of the large and beautiful 
 Cossayuna Lake, where there is no road at present, but are still " the 
 several pieces of good meadow land," and thence between the hills 
 of the present town of Argyle up into the more open land of the 
 
166 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 town of Hartford, and still up to the lodging-place for the night, 
 " where was a run of water which makes a part of Wood Creek," that 
 is to say. Mud Creek, so-called, which is a branch of East Creek, 
 which itself falls into Wood Creek, near Smith's Basin, on the 
 present Champlain Canal. All the geographical notes in this part 
 of Drake's " French and Indian War " are utterly wide of the mark. 
 There are no such streams and branches as those copiously referred 
 to in notes on pages 266 and 267. 
 
 Monday, 25. — This morning we set out and travelled about eleven miles. 
 We had something rough travelling to-day. We quickly left the small stream we 
 lodged by at our right hand to the east of us, and travelling a few miles over 
 some small hills and ledges, came to a stream running from east to west, about 
 two or three rods in width, and about two feet deep. We crossed it our general 
 course being north. We travelled about two or three miles farther and came to 
 a stream running from southwest to northeast, about six rods in width, which 
 we crossed. And this stream (which we suppose to be Wood Creek) according 
 to the best of my remembrance, and according to the short minute that I made 
 of this day's travel, we left at the right hand to the east of us ; but Sergeant 
 Hawks thinks I am mistaken, and that we crossed it again, and left it at the left 
 hand west of us. I won't be certain, but I cannot persuade myself that I am 
 mistaken. The French and Indians helping our feeble people, we all arrived 
 well at our camp, which was by a couple of ponds. Some few who were 
 before us went to the drowned land. 
 
 This day's journey was the fifth from Fort Massachusetts, and 
 the last performed wholly by land. Its topographical notices are 
 extremely interesting, and enable one to follow the path with abso- 
 lute certainty. Norton was mistaken, and Hawks was certainly 
 right, in the little matter of geography in dispute between them. 
 In the morning's start they left Mud Creek to the right, and still 
 bearing northeast, they passed aver some small slate hills and ledges 
 in the modern town of Granville, and soon struck the Pawlet Eiver 
 in the present village of North Granville. The river runs here from 
 east to west just as the Chaplain describes it, and they crossed it in 
 a due northerly course. Two or three miles further they came to 
 the same stream again in Guilder's Hollow, where it was then, and 
 is still, nearly double the width it has at North Granville, partly 
 because it was lower down in its course, and partly because it was 
 shallower there. It has a course there from southwest to northeast. 
 But the straight and best way to their night's camping -place at what 
 is now East Whitehall, led them to cross the same stream the third 
 time, and then to leave it on the west, just as Hawks said they did. 
 The good Chaplain made his " minute " too soon, or else a bit care- 
 lessly, for after the second crossing it would have been simply 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 167 
 
 impossible for him to reach his niglit's lodging on the hillside with- 
 out crossing the third time also. Hawks, too, kept a careful journal 
 of the captivity, which was extant well into this century, but never 
 printed, and long ago disappeared. Both journalists alike supposed 
 the stream they crossed to be Wood Creek, while it was in reality 
 the east branch of that historic stream, uniting with it a mile or so 
 south of the head of Lake Champlain, and contributing, perhaps, as 
 much water to that short stretch of stream as its far more famous 
 fellow of the west. The Indians called the Pawlet River Mettoicee, 
 a beautiful name, which ought forever to supersede the more prosaic 
 one, especially as it takes its rise in Dorset and not in Pawlet, 
 through which indeed it flows. 
 
 The camp at the close of the last day's march was near to what is 
 now East Whitehall, and " Herbert's Pond," so-named, is with very 
 little question one of the " couple of ponds " by which they slei)t, 
 and there is at the present time a considerable peat bog close by 
 Herbert's, which may well have been the other of the two jionds. 
 If any wonder why Vaudreuil led his force so far to the eastward 
 of his objective, namely, the place where his boats had been left 
 two weeks before in the mouth of the Poultney River, or East Bay, 
 as it used to be called, just before its junction with Wood Creek 
 and the united entrance into Lake Champlain, the ready answer is 
 found in Norton's repeated reference to the "drowned lands." All 
 around the head of Lake Champlain, both up the East Bay and also 
 up Wood Creek for considerable distances, were low and swampy 
 lands, liable to be overflowed, and such as the old Indian trails were 
 always sure to avoid, when possible; by leaving the Mettowee at 
 the west, and skirting along the highlands to the east, they found 
 dry ground at all seasons of the year, and though the distance was 
 decidedly greater, the going was decidedly better. 
 
 Tuesday, 26. — This day we took our journey. Our course in the morning 
 something west of north. In travelling about three or four miles we came to a 
 mountain, a steep ascent about eighty or one hundred rods, but not rocky. 
 After we passed this mountain our course was about west, five or six miles, till 
 we came to the drowned lands. When we came to the canoes, the stream ran 
 from northeast to southwest. We embarked about two o'clock ; the stream 
 quickly turned and ran to the north. We sailed about eighteen or twenty miles 
 that night, and encamped on the east side of the water. 
 
 The writer has twice been over on foot the ground of this last 
 morning's tramp of the captives. The present public road from 
 East Whitehall to Whitehall undoubtedly follows in general the foot- 
 steps of General Vaudreuil. The old path, however, turned to the 
 
168 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 right from the present lay of that road a mile or more from the 
 town, along a little lift of higher ground down to the place (or near 
 it) where there is now a bridge over the Poultney River, or East 
 Bay, and where "the stream ran from northeast to southwest." 
 There most of the canoes had been deposited a fortnight before. 
 The crowd embarked without ceremony, the stream quickly turned 
 to the north, they rowed with the current the afternoon and evening, 
 and encamped that night in what is now Benson, Vermont, and, 
 perhaps, at what is now Benson Landing. 
 
 Wednesday^ 27. — We embarked about nine o'clock, and sailed to Crown 
 Point, something better than twenty miles. Some of the army went in the 
 night before, and some before the body of the army. The sails were pulled 
 down, and the canoes brought up abreast, and passed by the fort over to the 
 northeast point, saluting the fort with three volleys, as we passed by it, the 
 fort returning the salute by the discharge of the cannon. This was about twelve 
 o'clock. Here we tarried till the 4th of September. I lodged in an house on 
 the northeast point. We all arrived better in health than when we were first 
 taken. 
 
 Lakes George and Champlain with their inlets are, of course, 
 within the basin of the St. Lawrence, and formed the only natural 
 route between the colonies and Canada for all their traffic in time 
 of peace, and their military expeditions back and forth in war-time. 
 The shores had been a sort of neutral ground as between French and 
 English ever after King William's War. After the Peace of Utrecht, 
 in 1713, the hostile feeling between the two subsided a good deal, 
 especially in Europe ; and Crown Point, a bold northerly projection 
 from the western shore of Lake Champlain, about seventy-five miles 
 north of Albany, became quite an important trading-station as 
 between the English of New York and the northern Indians of 
 Canada until 1731, when the Erench authorities at Montreal sent a 
 party to occupy Crown Point, and soon built a fort there and made 
 a settlement also on the east side of the water, at a place now called 
 Chimney Point. This movement of the French startled both New 
 York and New England. The Assembly of the former resolved that 
 " this encroachment, if not prevented, would prove of the most per- 
 nicious consequence to this and other colonies." They sent formal 
 notice of the intrusion to Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachu- 
 setts, and applied for aid to the Board of Trade and Plantations in 
 England. That body supported their complaints, but Robert Wal- 
 pole, the Minister, counselled peace, and the French quietly occupied 
 both shores of the lake at that point. They called their military 
 work there Fort St. Frederic, which remained in their hands a sharp 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 169 
 
 and constant thorn in the side of the English throughout two succes- 
 sive wars, until, in 17o9, the year of the capture of Quebec, a large 
 English force, under General Amherst, pushing on towards a junction 
 with General Wolfe, comj^elled the garrison there to unite with that 
 just ousted from Ticonderoga in a common flight down the lake to 
 its outlet. Crown Point is twelve miles below Ticonderoga. 
 
 At the time of this enforced visit to Crown Point by Chaplain 
 Norton in 1746, Fort St. Frederic was at the height of its military 
 strength and political domination. Next to Quebec, it was the 
 strongest post in New France. It had grown from a wooden stock- 
 ade, authorized to be erected by the French king on the 8th of May, 
 1731, cai)able of accommodating a garrison of thirty men only, to a 
 strong fortress built of limestone, with a tower of three stories, 
 bomb-proof, capable in 1731 of holding 120 men in garrison, and 
 subsecpiently strengthened and enlarged, containing within its walls 
 a small chapel, whose vesper bell called to their evening prayers the 
 scarred veteran of France, and the voluble Canadian, and the rude 
 husbandman whose hut stood outside the fort. The very northern- 
 most point of the cape was occupied by this impressive fortification, 
 from which the shore falls back a little on both sides, eastward to 
 the deep channel of the lake, and w^estward to a broad bay of back 
 water constituting the cape on that side. This position explains the 
 ceremony of the salute described by the good Chaplain here. Vau- 
 dreuil's boats had already passed in the channel of the lake the 
 northeast point, where stood a stone windmill, serving also the pur- 
 poses of a redoubt, and where there were also one or more good 
 houses ; but the main fort must be first saluted, and so " the sails 
 were pulled down, and the canoes brought up abreast, and passed by 
 the fort over to the northeast point, saluting the fort with three 
 volleys as we passed by it, the fort returning the salute by the dis- 
 charge of the cannon." The Chaplain was lodged with his custodian, 
 M. Demuy, " in a house on the northeast point," where, evidently, 
 the best quarters were in the neighborhood of the fort. The laud is 
 high and dry there. 
 
 Thursday, 28. — This day I was invited by Monsieur Demuy to go over and 
 see the fort, whicli I did. It is something an irregular form, having five sides 
 to it ; the ramparts twenty feet thick, the breastwork two feet and a half, the 
 whole about twenty feet hi.sh. There were twenty-one or twenty-two guns 
 upon the wall, some four and six pounders, and there may be some as large as 
 nine pounders. The citadel, an octagon, built three stories high, fifty or sixty 
 feet diameter, built with stone laid in lime, the wall six or seven feet thick, 
 arched over the second and third stories for bomb-proof. In the chambers nine 
 
170 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 or ten guns ; some of them may be nine pounders, and I believe none less than 
 six, and near twenty patararoes. But as my time was short, I cannot be very 
 particular. They have stores of small arms, as blunderbusses, pistols, and 
 muskets. This night proved very cold and stormy. 
 
 This detailed description of Fort St. Frederic is the earliest in 
 point of time that has come down to us from any quarter. The 
 French officers were doubtless very glad to exhibit the great strength 
 of the work to Norton and Hawks, in order that they might report 
 the same to their constituent, the colony of Massachusetts, which 
 then and afterwards had a deep interest in its construction and 
 approaches. Very fortunately, we have a parallel and independent 
 account of the fort from the pen of the celebrated Swedish traveller, 
 Peter Kalm, written three years later than Norton's, namely, in 1749. 
 
 Fort St. Frederic is built on a rock consisting of black line slates, and is 
 nearly quadrangular, has high and thick walls, made of the same limestone, of 
 which there is a quarry about half a mile from the fort. On the eastern part 
 of the fort is a high tower, which is proof against bomb shells, provided with 
 very thick and substantial walls, and well stored with cannon from the bottom 
 almost to the very top, and the governor lives in the tower. In the terre plaine 
 of the fort is a well-built little church and houses of stone for the officers and 
 soldiers. There are sharp rocks on all sides towards the land beyond cannon- 
 shot from the fort, but among them are some which are as high as the walls of 
 the fort and very near them. Within one or two musket-shots to the east of 
 the fort is a windmill, built of stone, with very thick walls, and most of the 
 flour, which is wanted to supply the fort, is ground here. This windmill is so 
 constructed as to serve the purpose of a redoubt, and. at the top of it are five or 
 six small pieces of cannon. 
 
 July 6, 1889, a beautiful and memorable day, the writer spent 
 alone on the Point in critically examining the present ruins of the 
 fort St. Frederic in its two parts, the main and the windmill redoubt 
 on the northeast point "within one or two musket-shots of the fort." 
 The circular redoubt, on which the windmill stood, was so firmly 
 and scientifically built that the United States had no occasion to 
 stir a stone of the exterior construction, when, one hundred and 
 forty years after the French engineer laid it out, a national light- 
 house was built up in the centre of it, exactly where the windmill 
 stood. The modern engineer indeed dug deep within and erected 
 a structure that looks as if it would last forever, but it will not 
 probably outlast the far older circular rim that encloses it. 
 
 The ruins of the proper fort, perhaps fifty rods to the westward of 
 the lighthouse, show the thorough work of the French in destruc- 
 tion, as well as in original construction. In July, 1759, General 
 Amherst, having captured Ticonderoga, sent forward immediately 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 171 
 
 200 of Rogers' Rangers to examine the jwsition of the French at 
 Crown Point, with orders to seize and hokl, at all hazards, some 
 strong post near the fort. But before the Rangers could reach their 
 objective, the French had utterly destroyed their fort, burned all 
 their surrounding settlements, and joined the retreating garrison of 
 Ticonderoga in a common dropping down the lake to Isle aux Noix. 
 The glory of Fort St. Frederic was gone forever. 
 
 With the clear and complementary accounts of Norton and Kalm 
 in one's hand, however, it is not difficult on the spot to reconstruct 
 in the mind's eye the old fortress in its general features. Portions 
 of the tower still frown over the lower desolations of rampart and 
 barrack and chapel. It does not look as if many of the scattered 
 stones had ever been carried away ; and there can be but little 
 doubt that thorough excavations there would reveal the breast- 
 work nearly entire, the foundation-walls, at least, of the chapel and 
 barracks, something of the magazine, and perhaps other parts and 
 piles ostentatiously shown to Norton. In less than a week after 
 the departure of the French, Amherst reached Crown Point with 
 his large army of 11,000 men, and immediately traced out the lines 
 of a new fort about 200 yards west of the site of St. Frederic. He 
 had no need to meddle with materials already accursed by Gallic 
 and papistic hands, however accessible they were ; for the lime- 
 stone was abundant there even above ground, and he cut a broad 
 ditch entirely around his fort out of the solid rock, and used the 
 fragments taken out to construct the massive barracks that are still 
 standing, as impressive in their lofty desolation as the prostrate 
 ruins of St. Frederic. The whole circuit of Amherst's fort, meas- 
 uring along the ramparts, was a trifle less than half a mile, or, to 
 be exact, 2559 feet. The ramparts were about twenty-five feet 
 thick, and nearly the same in height, and were built of solid 
 masonry, the lime having been burnt on the spot. The curtains 
 varied in length from fifty-two to 100 yards; and in the century and 
 a third since the fort was built and abandoned, — for the conquest of 
 Quebec and Montreal the next year put an end to New France and 
 made useless the fortress, — the grass has grown over the rampart 
 and its bastions, and made of portions of their summit a i)leasant 
 promenade. The gate, as usual, was in the north wall ; and from 
 the northeast bastion was a covered way, still clearly traceable, 
 leading down to the water. The well within the works was ninety 
 feet deep, eight feet in diameter, cut down with enormous labor into 
 the solid limestone. The fort was never wholly completed, but it is 
 said to have cost the English government about £2,000,000 sterling. 
 
172 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 There is at present but a single house upon the Point. Nor is 
 there another on the cape in sight, from the ramparts of the fort. 
 The farmer who occupies the house and owns the land enclosing 
 the old forts, is, curiously enough, a Frenchman, hospitable to the 
 occasional stranger who visits the Point out of historic curiosity, 
 though his wife is an American woman, and his daughters (as 
 befits the local succession of events) speak only English, attending 
 school at Port Henry on the west side of the bay. His cattle 
 graze at will within and without the enclosures of Amherst's fort, 
 and are estopped from falling into the old well by a rude brush heap 
 that covers it over. In contrast with its former turmoils of war, 
 the present peaceful desolations of Crown Point are blessed. 
 
 Besides this description of Crown Point as it was in 1746, by the 
 worthy Chaplain from the Hoosac valley, and many subsequent 
 points of contact between the two localities, it is fitting that the 
 historian of William stown and Williams College should here call 
 attention to the important scientific labors at Crown Point, and in 
 its neighborhood, of Professor Ebenezer Emmons, who was the 
 indefatigable teacher here of several branches of natural history, 
 particularly geology, between 1833 and 1863. He was the first to 
 apply the term "chazy limestone" to the rock called by the English 
 translator of Kalm's " Travels," " black line slates," and thus to 
 distinguish scientifically a peculiar form of that rock very abundant 
 on the west shores of Lake Champlain, out of which both its great 
 military fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown Point were con- 
 structed, from the common kinds of limestone found almost every- 
 where. After he was appointed in 1836 one of the commission 
 to make a geological survey of New York, he made careful soundings 
 to ascertain the depth of the water in various parts of Lake Cham- 
 plain, and found it to be 300 feet four miles north of Westport ; he 
 was credibly informed that soundings of 600 feet had been made in 
 other places in that part of the lake ; and as the surface of the lake 
 is only ninety-three feet above tide water, he gave it as his opinion 
 that its bottom, in spots, may be at least 500 feet below the ocean 
 level. Professor Emmons also particularly examined the phenome- 
 non of " Split E-ock," a few miles above Crown Point, on the west 
 side of the lake, which had always been supposed to be the result of 
 the action of an earthquake, famous in Canada as having occurred 
 in the year 1663 ; and pronounced the separation to have been 
 probably occasioned by the wearing away or decomposition of an 
 intermediate mass of rock containing a large quantity of pyritous 
 iron. The good Professor was appointed, in 1856, the state geologist 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 173 
 
 of North Carolina, and was busily engaged in that survey when the 
 Civil War broke out, and interrupted his labors. He returned north, 
 and died in 1863. He was for some years a practising physician in 
 Williamstown. The struggle of his life was to maintain the reality 
 and scientific importance of his own discovery of what he named 
 the "Taconic System," referred to in the following terms from 
 Appleton's "Annual Cyclopedia " of 1861: "The assent of geolo- 
 gists to the Taconic System advocated by the late Professor Emmons, 
 after so many years of disbelief, is anotho" i"-^<^"K'" ^f tlie triumph 
 of investigation over preconceived errors. 
 
 Friday J 29. — This morning Smead's and Scott's families were brought out of 
 their tents into the house, that they might be more comfortable. It rained and 
 was very cold all the day, and at night the wind was very high. 
 
 Captivity Smead, the baby born at the first encampment at the 
 junction of the Little Hoosac with the Hoosac, was now just one 
 week old, and the mother had with her three other children, all 
 young; and Mrs. Moses Scott had two young children also; no 
 wonder these were taken out of their tents into the house, that they 
 might be more comfortable. The south and east winds have a fair 
 sweep over northeast point, where the windmill was and the light- 
 house is, and the cry of a new-born child appeals to the humanity 
 of man always and everywhere. 
 
 LorcVs day, 31. — We had the liberty of worshipping God together in a room 
 by ourselves. This day about twelve o'clock, the enemy who went off from us 
 from Hoosuck the morning after we were taken, returned, and brought in six 
 scalps, viz., Samuel Allen, Eleazar Hawks, Jun., two Amsdels, all of Deerfield ; 
 Adonijah Gillet of Colchester, Constant Bliss of Hebron, and one captive, viz., 
 Samuel Allen, son to him who was killed. He was taken with hLs father and 
 Eleazar Hawks. The Amsdels and Gillet were killed in Deerfield South 
 Meadow, August 25th. The Indians also acknowledged they lost one man there. 
 This lad told us they had not then heard in Deerfield of their taking Fort Massa- 
 chusetts. A young Hatacook Indian was his master, and carried him to St. 
 Francois. 
 
 This is an indirect but accurate account of the "Bars Fight," 
 so-called, in the southwest Meadow of Deerfield, five days after the 
 taking of Fort Massachusetts. There are several contemporary 
 accounts of this affair. The French account is as follows: "Sixty 
 Abernakis belonging to this force went, after the fight [at Hoosac], 
 to lie in wait for twenty Englishmen who were to come to the said 
 fort, according to the report of the prisoners ; but, not meeting with 
 them, went further, and some returned with seven scalps, one Eng- 
 
174 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 lishman and one negro.'^ The journal of Deacon Noah Wright, of 
 Deerfield, runs in this wise : — 
 
 August 25th, 1746. — In the southwest corner of Deerfield meadows a num- 
 ber of Indians came upon our men at work, killed and scalped Samuel Allen, 
 Eleazar Hawks, and one of Captain Holson's soldiers named Gillet, and two of 
 the Widow Amsden's children ; taken captive, one boy of Samuel Allen's, and 
 chopped a hatchet into the brains of one of his girls. They are in hopes that she 
 will recover. One man killed one of the Indians, who got one gun from them 
 and lost three guns by them. 
 
 Rev. Benjamin Doolittle, of Northfield, who died in January, 1749, 
 left also a brief record of this fight, which is utilized in Drake's 
 " Particular History." He gives as a reason why the Indians " went 
 further," their ^' not being satisfied with the spoil " gathered at Fort 
 Massachusetts. He says also of Eunice Allen, who was struck down 
 by a blow of a tomahawk, " which was sunk into her head," that the 
 enemy in their haste omitted to scalp her, and that she afterwards 
 recovered. Indeed, all three of the children of Samuel Allen, who 
 was killed and scalped, were living as late as 1793; this Eunice, 
 Caleb, who was pursued but escaped, and Samuel, the captive whom 
 Sergeant Hawks brought home with him from Canada the next 
 August. " This lad told us they had not then heard in Deerfield 
 of their taking Fort Massachusetts." Norton seems surprised, 
 that what occurred on the west side of Hoosac Mountain, Au- 
 gust 20, was not known in Deerfield, thirty miles to the eastward, 
 August 25. As a matter of fact, that news did not reach Deerfield 
 until August 30, as we learn from Deacon Wright's diary : — 
 
 August 30, 1746. — A post this day returned to and from fort Massachusetts, 
 and brings us news that the fort was taken and burnt to ashes, and we can't 
 learn here as there is one man escaped. I am in some doubt that there are some 
 that are taken captive and gone to Canada, and so I ain't altogether without 
 hopes of seeing some of them again. 
 
 The speed made by the scalping party from Deerfield Meadow to 
 Crown Point, one hundred and twenty miles in just six days, was 
 much better than the speed of the news of the capture of the fort, 
 thirty miles in just ten days. 
 
 Sept. 1-3. — We tarried still at Crown Point. The weather was something 
 lowry, but warm. I lived with the General and about half a dozen more officers, 
 who lodged in the same house. Our diet was very good, it being chiefly fresh 
 meat and broth, which was a great benefit to me. We had also plenty of Bor- 
 deaux wine, which being of an astringent nature, was a great kindness to me 
 (having at that time something of the griping and bloody fiux). While we lay 
 here, we wrote a letter to the Hon. John Stoddard, Esq., at Northampton, to 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 175 
 
 give him a particular account of our fight and surrender ; as also some other 
 private letters ; the French gentlemen giving us encouragement that they would 
 send them down by some of their scouts to some part of our frontiers, and leave 
 them so that they should be found ; but I have not heard of them since, and con- 
 clude that they destroyed them. 
 
 It is not certain whether any of these letters ever reached the 
 English "frontiers " or not ; Deacon Wright saw a letter the 11th of 
 September following, written by Mr. Norton, about the siege and 
 surrender of the fort; but it is more likely to have been the letter 
 nailed by the Chaplain ^' on the west post " the morning after the 
 surrender. Our readers shall see the entry in Wright's journal, 
 verbatim^ and then they may decide for themselves. It is but fair to 
 premise that Mr. Drake considered the letter referred to, to be the 
 one written from Crown Point to Colonel Stoddard. 
 
 Sept. II, 1746. — I saw a letter wrote by Mr. Norton at Hoosick after the 
 fort was taken, and he says that they were besieged by several hundred French 
 and Indians, and they being brought to a great strait, the enemy prepared a vast 
 quantity of faggots in order to burn down the fort by force, but the French 
 General came to them for capitulation, and told them if they would resign up 
 the fort he would treat them all well and carry them to Canada ; that they 
 should be redeemed as soon as there was any opportunity, and if not he would 
 kill them all. And so they resigned up the fort, and lost but one man, named 
 Knowlton; and had two wounded, and so all the rest are gone to Canada. He 
 says they are all well used by the enemy. 
 
 We shall now no longer follow, in order and in detail, the copious 
 diary of the Chaplain's journey to Quebec, and of what happened 
 to him and his fellow-captives on the way thither, and after they 
 arrived there ; not because the entries are not interesting and instruc- 
 tive, but because comparatively few of them bear directly on Fort 
 Massachusetts and the straight course of our story. The captives 
 embarked with their victors at Crown Point, for Canada, on Thurs- 
 day, the 4th of September, which was the sixteenth day from their 
 capture. They encamped the first night on the New York side of 
 the lake, in a cave so clearly described, that it might, doubtless, be 
 easily identified at this day ; and the next time on the Vermont side, 
 at a place afterwards called Windmill Point by the English, a few 
 miles below Burlington. In this voyage down the lake, they did 
 not see an inhabited house on either side, or meet a living person, 
 till on Sunday they entered the Richelieu River, and met a boat with 
 three men in it, who brought a packet of letters for the French 
 officers, containing what the latter called "news," very favorable to 
 the French cause in Europe, the accuracy of which, the bold Chap- 
 
176 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 lain disputed to their faces, which led to a warm political debate 
 between them, over the battle of Culloden Moor the preceding 
 April, and over the House of Stuart and the Catholic religion in 
 general. It seems odd enough in our time, to think of Celt and 
 Briton hotly disputing in September, whether the Duke of Cumber- 
 land were killed at Culloden in April, and whether the House 
 of Hanover — " Cromwell's faction '' — were about to yield to the 
 young Pretender. The place, too, of the debate in the uninhabited 
 wilds of Canada, and the uncertainty of both parties to it, as to the 
 facts alleged, in which both were afterwards proven to be largely 
 wrong and slightly right, add to the queerness of the scene. 
 
 Before night of this Sunday they reached the village and fort of 
 Chambly, which is thirty-seven miles below the present boundary 
 line of British America. The French officers were in high spirits. 
 M. Demuy told Norton the next day another piece of news, namely, 
 "that one of their men-of-war had taken an English man-of-war 
 near Louisburg, after a whole day's engagement ; that the blood was 
 midleg deep upon the Englishman's deck when he surrendered." 
 " They fought courageously," retorted Norton. " True, but they 
 were taken notwithstanding." "Moreover, they have taken three 
 hundred and twenty men out of her, who are coming up to Quebec, 
 where you shall see them. " They got to Montreal two days later, 
 where the Town Major and many former captives from New 
 England came to visit the Chaplain. He was courteously entertained 
 while there at the house of M. Demuy, who took him to see the 
 Governor. The Governor said little to him, but told him that after a 
 few days, he must send him with the rest of the prisoners to Quebec. 
 The "few days" proved to be but two, when they embarked in 
 boats, all but six men, who were yet with the Indians, and John 
 Perry's wife, who had already gone on to Three Rivers, for Quebec. 
 
 Saturday^ 13. — This day we had a fair wind, and sailed down the river 
 twenty -five leagues, when we arrived at the Three Rivers. We went into an 
 inn. The General [Vaudreuil] and some others of the gentlemen which went 
 down with us presently went out to the Governor's, leaving only their soldiers 
 to guard us. And after a little time the Governor sent for Sergeant Hawks and 
 me to come and sup with him. Accordingly we went, and were courteously and 
 sumptuously entertained by him ; and while we sat at supper the gentlemen fell 
 into discourse about the wars, and about the wounds they had received. The 
 General's wound was discoursed upon, and the Governor desired Sergeant Hawks 
 to show his scars, which he did. The Governor then informed us of a fight he 
 had been in at sea in former wars in which he received fifteen wounds, and he 
 showed us several scars. This I thought was a very remarkable thing, that 
 he should receive so many wounds, and yet have his life spared. This night 
 John Perry's wife was also brought to us, and added to our number. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 177 
 
 Monday, 15. — This day we sailed seven leagues and came to Quebec. We 
 were landed at the east point of the town where St. Lawrence meets with Loretto, 
 and were conducted up by a number of soldiers through the lower town to the 
 Governor-General's, where I was taken into his private room, and he desired me 
 to tell what news we had in New England. I told him of considerable news we 
 had from Europe concerning the Duke of Cumberland's victory over the rebels. 
 He seemed to have a gi'eat mind to persuade me that the Duke was killed, but I 
 told him he was alive and well. I told him of several other pieces of news, but 
 none very good for the French. He told me he had heard that we designed an 
 expedition against Canada. He Jisked what there was in it. I told him that I 
 lived at a great distance from Boston, and could say but little about it. I had 
 heard that his majesty had sent over to some of the governors in America, that 
 he had thoughts of an expedition against Canada, and would have them in readi- 
 ness to assist him, in case he should send a fleet over. He inquired what it was 
 that had put it by. Something, he said, was the matter. I told him I could not 
 tell ; so he seemed to be pretty easy. 
 
 Marquis de la Galissoniere was the Governor-General of Canada, 
 with whom this interesting conversation was had. He wiis a hunii> 
 back ; but his deformed person was animated by a bold spirit and a 
 penetrating intellect. He was a devoted student of natural science, 
 and a very distinguished naval officer of France. He had but 
 recently come to Quebec as Governor-General, and was only des- 
 tined to remain less than three years ; but he stayed long enough to 
 give his King most excellent advice, as to the matter of increasing 
 the population of Canada by new colonists, as to a plan of uniting 
 Canada and Louisiana by chains of forts strong enough to hold back 
 the British colonists, and as to the management and Christianization 
 of the Indians. In short, he was one of the ablest and best of a long 
 line of French governors of Canada, closed in 1759 by Pierre Vau- 
 dreuil, the best of all, son of Philippe de Vaudreuil, Governor from 
 1703 till liis death in 1725, and brother of Rigaud de Vaudreuil, 
 captor of Fort Massachusetts. The two brothers returned to France 
 on the downfall of French Canada, the late Governor to be impris- 
 oned in the Bastille on charges preferred by the friends of Montcalm, 
 and stripped of most of his possessions, though exonerated and re- 
 leased, and the brave soldier was still living at St. Germaine in 1770. 
 
 After this I was conducted to the Lord Intendant's, who inquired also after 
 news, both of me and Sergeant Hawks ; after which he gave us a glass of wine ; 
 then we were conducted to the prisoners' house, which is a guard-house standing 
 by a battery towards the southwest end of the town, about one hundred and 
 fifty feet in length, and twenty in width, and two stories high ; and we made to 
 the number of one hundred and five prisoners. Here we had the free liberty of 
 the exercise of our religion together, which was matter ol comfort to us in our 
 affliction. Sergeant Hawks and myself were put into the Captain's room. 
 
178 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 The Governor-General and the Intendant of Canada answered to 
 those officials in a French province at home. The Governor was 
 usually a military noble, and the Intendant drawn from the legal 
 class. The Governor was superior in rank to the Intendant, since 
 he commanded the troops, conducted relations with foreign colonies 
 and Indian tribes, and took precedence on all occasions of ceremony. 
 Unlike the provincial Governor in France, he had great and substan- 
 tial power. As we have already seen, there were local governors at 
 Montreal and Three Rivers ; but their power was carefully curbed, 
 and they were forbidden to fine or imprison any person, without au- 
 thority from Quebec. The Intendant, on the other hand, was a sort 
 of official spy on the Governor-General, of whose proceedings and 
 of everything else that took place, he was required to make report 
 to the home government. The Governor, too, wrote long letters to 
 the Minister of State ; and each of the two colleagues was jealous 
 of the letters of the other. Indeed, the French Court did not desire 
 the perfect accord of the two officials ; nor, on the other hand, did it 
 desire them to quarrel ; while it aimed to keep them on such terms, 
 as, without disturbing the machinery of administration, should make 
 each of them a fair check on the other.^ 
 
 Tuesday, 16. — This day there came some gentlemen to see me, among whom 
 was Mr. Joseph Portois, who understands the English tongue, and Mr. Pais, 
 who, Mr. Portois told me, was his kinsman, and that he was a Protestant, and 
 came on purpose to see me, and to show me a kindness. He gave me twenty- 
 four livres in cash. From this time to the 23d there was nothing remarkable 
 happened only this, — that the Jesuits and some unknown gentlemen, under- 
 standing I was short on it for clothing, sent me several shirts, a good winter 
 coat, some caps, a pair of stockings, and a few handkerchiefs, which were very 
 acceptable. 
 
 About a week after this, David Warren and Phinehas Forbush, 
 two of the captured garrison, who had been behind with the Indians, 
 came into the prison at Quebec, and reported that John Aldrich was 
 still in the hospital at Montreal. A few days later, Jacob Shepherd, 
 of Westboro, another of the fort-captives who had been behind 
 with the Indians, was brought into the common prison-house ; and 
 on Sunday, October 5, the remaining three of the enforced stragglers 
 came in, namely, Nathaniel Hitchcock, Stephen Scott, and John 
 Aldrich. The entire number captured at Fort Massachusetts were 
 now together in the prison, except Josiah Eeed, who had died 
 at Dutch Hoosac (now Petersburg Junction) two days after the 
 surrender ; but his place had been taken, so to speak, by Captivity 
 
 1 See at length Parkman's Old Regime, 265, et seq. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 179 
 
 Smead, the infant born the same night that he died and at the same 
 place, but the full ranks of the thirty were soon to be thinned by 
 death, as we shall see. 
 
 Wednesday, 22. — I sent a petition to his lordship, the General of Canada or 
 New France, to permit me to go liome to New England, upon a parole of honor, 
 setting me a suitable time, and I would returu again to him ; but I could not 
 prevail. 
 
 The good Chaplain does not obtrude his private griefs even upon 
 the pages of his private journal; but he was doubtless thinking, 
 when he sent in his petition, of his young wife and two little girls 
 left in the garrison at Fort Shirley two montlis before, when he 
 expected to return to them from Fort Massachusetts in " about a 
 month." One of the little girls he was never destined to see alive. 
 Captain Ephraim Williams, the founder of the College, commanded 
 Fort Shirley that autumn and winter, and doubtless ministered as 
 best he could to the wants of this poor woman. 
 
 Friday., 31. — Here I shall speak of the sickness that prevailed among the 
 prisoners. It had generally been very healthy in the prison before this fall ; 
 for though there had been some prisoners there sixteen months, and about fifty 
 nine months, yet there had but two died. But our people who were taken at 
 sea by the two French men-of-war, viz. , the Lazora and Le Castore, found a 
 very mortal epidemical fever raged among the French on board their ships, of 
 which many of them died. The prisoners took the infection, and a greater part 
 of them were sick while they lay in Jebucta [Chebucto] harbor ; yet but one or 
 two of them died of it. Some of them were taken with the distemper upon their 
 passage to Canada, and so brought the infection into the prison ; and the fever 
 being epidemical, soon spread itself into the prisons, to our great distress. Those 
 who brought it into the prison most recovered, and so there were many others 
 that had it and recovered ; but the recovery of some was but for a time, — many 
 of them relapsed and died. 
 
 Nov. 17. — Died Nathan Fames. He belonged to Marlborough in the prov- 
 ince of the Massachusetts Bay; was taken with me at Fort Massachusetts, 
 August 20, 174(3. 
 
 The sickness increasing and spreading itself so greatly, we sent a very hum- 
 ble petition to his lordship, the Governor-General, entreating that the sick 
 might be removed out of the hospital, lest the whole prison should- be infected ; 
 but he refused to send our people to the hospital, for they told us that their hos- 
 pital was full of their own sick ; yet he did not wholly neglect our petition, but 
 ordered that one of the most convenient rooms in the prison should be assigned 
 for the sick, where they should all be carried, and have their attendance, and 
 this was directly done, and the sick were all brought in. 
 
 Dec. 11. — Died Miriam, the wife of Moses Scott. She was taken with me 
 at Fort Massachusetts. She got a cold in her journey, which proved fatal, her 
 circumstances being peculiar. She was never well after our arrival at Canada, 
 but wasted away to a mere skeleton, and lost the use of her limbs. 
 
180 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. ' 
 
 Dec. 23. — Died Rebecca, the wife of John Perry. She was taken with me 
 at Fort Massachusetts, August 20th, 1746. Her illness was different from all the 
 rest. She had little or no fever ; had a cold, and was exercised with wrecking 
 pains until she died. 
 
 Dec. 24. — I was taken with the distemper ; was seized with a very grievous 
 pain in the head and back and a fever ; but I let blood in the morning, and took 
 a good potion of physic, and in a few days another ; so that I soon recovered 
 again. 
 
 The sickness thus increasing, there were many taken sick [in the prison], 
 which I don't pretend to mention. The sickness also got into the prison-keeper's 
 family. He lost a daughter by it, the 4th instant [January]. Upon this the 
 Governor ordered a house to be provided for the sick, where they were all car- 
 ried the 12th instant, about twenty in number, with three men to attend them ; 
 and after this when any were taken sick, they were carried out to this house. 
 
 The Chaplain did not forget, in the prison-house of his foes and 
 amid personal sicknesses, that he was a minister of the glad tidings. 
 On this 4th of January, the day the prison-keeper's daughter 
 died, as we learn from another source than his own journal, he 
 preached two discourses from Psalm 60 : 11, — " Give us help from 
 trouble ; for vain is the help of man." He had quoted, however, 
 m his diary, when the sickness first began, several passages of 
 Scripture from both the Testaments, of which these two may serve 
 as samples : " My virgins and my young men are gone into cap- 
 tivity." " Abroad the sword devoureth, at home there is death." 
 
 Jan. 23. — Died Samuel Lovet, after near a month's sickness. He was taken 
 with me. He was the son of Major Lovet of Mendon. 
 
 Feb. 11. — Died in the morning, Moses Scot, son to Moses Scot. He was a 
 child of about two years old, and died with the consumption. 
 
 March 21. — This day died Samuel Goodman of South Hadley. He was 
 taken with me at Fort Massachusetts, and died of the scurvy. 
 
 March 29. — Died Mary, the wife of John Smeed, after a tedious sickness 
 of about eight weeks ; was taken with me. 
 
 This was the brave woman who was delivered of a child about 
 thirty-six hours after the surrender of the fort, at the junction of 
 the Little Hoosac with the Hoosac Eiver. 
 
 April 7. — Died John Smeed Jun. He was taken with me at Fort Massa- 
 chusetts. He was seized with the distemper in October last, and was bad for a 
 time, and then recovered in some good measure, and after a little time relapsed, 
 and as he did several times, till at last he fell into a consumption, of which he 
 died. 
 
 April 12. — Died Amos Pratt. He was taken with me. He had a hard turn 
 of the fever in November and December, but recovered ; was taken again the 
 latter end of March, and so continued till he died. 
 
 The 28th of this instant, when the prisoners were all confined in their rooms, 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 181 
 
 but one or two in the lower room cooking the pot, the prison-house took fire. 
 It began on the ridge. We supposed that it catched by sparks lighting upon it. 
 It being very dry, and something windy, it soon spread upon the house, and we 
 could not come at it, having no ladder, to quench it. There were no lives lost, 
 but many lost their bedding and clothing. We were conducted by a strong 
 guard to the governor's yard, where we were kept till near night, when we were 
 conducted to the back of the town to the old wall, in the bow of which they 
 had set up some plank tents something like sheep's pens. We had boards flung 
 down to lay our beds upon, but the tenUs generally leaked so much in wet weather, 
 tliat none of us could lie dry, and had much wet weather this month. The 
 gentlemen of our room sent in a petition the beginning of May, that they might 
 be removed to some more convenient place. Upon which we had a house built 
 for us in the prisoners' yard, about twenty feet square, into which we removed 
 the 23d instant [May]. This was something more comfortable than the tents. 
 In this yard we were confined, having the wall behind it and at each end, and 
 the fort side picketed in, and a guard of about twenty men to keep us day and 
 night. 
 
 May 13. — Died Daniel Smeed, a young man. He was taken with me, and 
 was son to John Smeed. He was first taken sick in November, and by frequent 
 relapses was worn out, and fell into a purging, by which he wasted away and 
 died. 
 
 May 17. — Died Captivity Smeed, an infant about nine months old, daughter 
 to John Smeed. 
 
 May 20. — I was taken ill with a grievous pain in my head, and a sore eye, 
 that I was almost blind with it. The 21st I yielded to be sick. Capt. Roberts 
 and Capt. Williams were also both of them very sick, being taken a few days 
 before me. This day I was blooded, having something of the fever. The 23d 
 I was blooded again ; the doctor also gave me a bottle of eye-water, and advised 
 me not to be concerned about the fever. I was sensible they did not apprehend 
 how ill I was. I entreated of him to give me a potion of physic, which he did, 
 the 25th, and it worked very well. In the night I fell into a sweat, and was in 
 hopes it would go off, but I was sadly disappointed, for I grew worse the next 
 day. My reason departed from me and returned not, until the 14th of June. 
 Part of this time I was given over by every one that saw me. I had the nervous 
 fever, and was very much convulsed. I was exceeding low and weak when I 
 first came to myself, but I recovered strength as soon as could be expected ; for, 
 by the 24th of June, I got out and went into the chamber. 
 
 In this three weeks' interval of delirium, some one must have 
 made brief entries in the Chaplain's journal for him, at least of the 
 deaths occurring almost daily; or else he afterwards copied these 
 from the synchronous diary of Sergeant Hawks, which may be still 
 in existence, although this is not likely, since nothing has been 
 publicly heard of it for three-quarters of a century, or since General 
 Hoyt used it in the preparation of his " Antiquarian Researches," 
 published in 1824. Hoyt died at Deerfield in 1850. Rumors have 
 been current that this diary was brought into Berkshire County 
 from Hampshire by the roraeroy family, when they migrated to 
 
182 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 « 
 Pittsfield, but nothing definite has ever been ascertained in relation 
 to it. Its probable destruction makes all the more jDrecious for 
 preservation the Chaplain's entries, which he evidently recast and 
 expanded somewhat after his return from captivity, and in prepara- 
 tion for the printing of it in Boston in 1748, where it " was sold op- 
 posite the prison." As the prison at that time was in Queen Street, 
 where the court-house now is, and as Daniel Fowle is known to have 
 kept in Queen Street at that time, he may probably be supposed to be 
 the printer. Whoever he was, he did not perform his share of the 
 work with much credit to himself, which may be the reason for with- 
 holding the printer's name from the pamphlet. 
 
 May 22. — Died Nathaniel Hitchcock of Brimfield. He was taken with me. 
 
 May 30. — Died Jacob Shepherd, a pious young man, well-beloved and much 
 lamented. He was taken with me. 
 
 The same day (July 16) died Phinehas Forbush of Westboro', taken at Fort 
 Massachusetts with me. He was a very likely man. 
 
 July 21. — Died Jonathan Bridgeman of Sunderland. He was taken with me 
 at Fort Massachusetts. 
 
 July 25. — We came on board the ship Vierge-de- Grace [Handsome Virgin], 
 which the governor of Canada sent with a flag of truce to Boston. The 27th we 
 set sail for New England, at ten in the morning. August 1st we came in sight 
 of Cape Breton Island. 
 
 August 16. — We arrived at Boston. The sick and infirm were taken to the 
 hospital. Col. Winslow sent to me and desired me to come and tarry with him 
 while I continued in Boston. I thankfully accepted it, and was courteously 
 entertained. This was a day of great joy and gladness to me. May I never for- 
 get the many great and repeated mercies of God towards me. 
 
 END OF THE REDEEMED CAPTIVE. 
 
 This Colonel Winslow, who showed such hospitality to Mr. 
 Norton on his arrival at Boston, was great-grandson of Governor 
 Edward Winslow of the Mayflower. Like his grandfather, Josiah, 
 the first native-born Governor of Plymouth, 1673-80, this John 
 Winslow was every inch a soldier. He had been a captain in the 
 unfortunate expedition to Cuba in 1740 ; he was the commander and 
 principal actor in the tragedy of the expulsion from their homes of 
 the hapless Acadians of Nova Scotia in 1755, a tragedy which Long- 
 fellow's "Evangeline" has made familiar to all the world; he was 
 commander-in-chief at Albany of 7000 New Englanders designed 
 for Fort William Henry on Lake George in the disastrous summer 
 of 1756 ; and he was a major-general of courage and ability in the 
 successful conquest of Canada in 1758-59. It is a singular and 
 memorable fact that twenty years after Winslow had ruthlessly, 
 but with no more than the necessary cruelty, harried out of their 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 183 
 
 homes iu Nova Scotia for political reasons the French peasants and 
 papists, nearly every person of Winslow's lineage in New England 
 was compelled, for political reasons (they were Tories in 1775), to 
 transplant himself for a home to the very soil from which the 
 Acadians were expelled. 
 
 It is by no means probable that Mr. Norton was "courteously 
 entertained" for many days by Colonel Winslow at his house in 
 Boston, because the heart of the good Chaplain must have been 
 drawn with powerful attraction towards the mountain fort where 
 he had parted with young wife and children just one year before. 
 He had left Shirley for Massachusetts, Aug. 14, 1746, and landed in 
 Boston, Aug. 16, 1747. The following epitaph uix)n a rude head- 
 stone that stood nearly 140 years in Shirley field, a few rods to the 
 west of the site of the fort, and that is now in the historical museum 
 in Clark Hall, shows how nearly contemporaneous was his arrival 
 in Boston and a sad burial in a bleak field enclosed by an unbroken 
 forest. Probably some soldier in the fort, to comfort the stricken 
 parents, chiselled upon the rough cxuartzite the inscription as 
 
 follows: — ,T 1 V ^ « * n. 
 
 Here lys ye body of An"* 
 
 D : of ye Kev : 
 
 Mr. John Norton. She died 
 
 Aug : ye — aged — 1747. 
 
 This stone stood there in the open field, solitary so far as any 
 existing evidence ix)ints, exposed to the suns of summer and the 
 storms of winter, until the number of years she had lived and the 
 day of August on which she died became illegible by exposure, — 
 impossible to be now deciphered. The oral tradition is still lively 
 in the town of Heath, and it may well be an historical fact, for it 
 has been handed down by an aged citizen there whose life began 
 with the nineteenth century, that there used to come up from Con- 
 necticut on an occasional pilgrimage to the site of Fort Shirley, and 
 particularly to the grave of Anna Norton, some relative or relations 
 of hers. This is very likely in itself ; for John Norton became in 
 1748 a pastor in the parish of East Hampton, Middlesex CoUnty, 
 Connecticut, where he died in 1778 ; and one may still read on his 
 tombstone there the following inscription : — 
 
 Im Memory of 
 
 The Rev. Johx Norton 
 
 Pastor of the 3d Church in Chatham 
 
 Who died with Small Pox 
 
 March 24th a.d. 1778 
 
 Im the 63d yeak of his Age. 
 
184 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 He contracted the disease, of which he died, while returning from 
 Middletown, on the opposite bank of the Connecticut Eiver, from 
 some person or persons who engaged him in conversation respecting 
 the way to some place in the immediate neighborhood. It was sup- 
 posed that one of the parties had just been taken from some pest- 
 house. He was buried, consequently, not in the God's-acre of his 
 own parish, but, with a few other victims of the same dreadful 
 disease, in a cultivated field on Miller's Hill, a few rods east of the 
 residence of Leverett D. Willey. There, on a red sandstone slab, 
 ornamented with a winged head, may be read the epitaph just 
 quoted. 
 
 He left several children. Among these an unmarried daughter, 
 Eunice Norton, who lived till 1825. The records of the church of 
 East Hampton, of which Norton was the pastor from its organiza- 
 tion, are lost during the thirty years of his pastorate ; and it is sup- 
 posed that they, with other of her father^s papers, were destroyed 
 by fire when Eunice Norton's house was burned down. It is no 
 mean touch and print of vital human sympathy that is left upon 
 the now desolate sod beneath the great tree in Shirley field, by the 
 evanishing figure of one lone woman, who came and came again 
 from a distant place to catch, it may be, but a dreary note from the 
 sad music of the distant past, and to drop a tear upon the grave of a 
 sister, whom, perhaps, she never saw. 
 
 Norton found a transient home, after his return from captivity, 
 in Springfield. He did not resume his chaplaincy to the line of 
 forts, nor was any other one appointed during this war to minister 
 in his place. His Memorial to the General Court of the Province of 
 Massachusetts Bay, copied from the archives in the Secretary's office 
 in Boston, tells its own tale as follows : — 
 
 To his Excellency William Shirley, Esq. Capt. Gen. and Gov'r in Chief of 
 this Province, the Hon'ble his Majesty's Council & House of Representatives in 
 Gen. Court assembled — 
 
 The Memorial of John Norton of Springfield in the County of Hampshire, 
 Clerk, humbly showeth That in the month of February, 1746, he entered into the 
 Service of the Province as a Chaplain for the Line of Forts on the Western 
 Frontier and continued in that service until the Twentieth day of August follow- 
 ing, when he was captivated at Fort Massachusetts and carried to Canada by 
 the enemy, where he was detained a prisoner for the space of twelve months, 
 during which time he constantly officiated as a chaplain among his fellow-prison- 
 ers in the best manner he was able under the great difficulties and suffering of 
 his imprisonment, and your Humble Petit'r begs leave further to inform your 
 Excel!' c & Honors that besides the great Difficulties and Hardships that your 
 Petit'r indured during his captivity abroad, he and his family by means thereof 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 185 
 
 are rechiced to great Straight and Difficulties at home. He therefore prays your 
 
 Excell'c and Honors would take his distressed Circumstances into your wiser 
 
 Consideration and grant him such Help and Relief as your Excell'c, and Honors 
 
 in your Wisdom and Goodness shall deem meet, and your memorialist as in 
 
 duty bound shall ever pray. 
 
 John Norton 
 
 Springfield, Jan. -2;'). 1748. 
 
 [endorsed] 
 
 In the House of Representatives, Feb. 23, 1748. 
 
 Read and Ordered that the sum of £37, 10«. be allowed the memorialist in 
 consideration of this Officiating as Chaplain to the Prisoners whilst in captivity 
 
 at Canada. 
 
 In council read & concurred VV. Hutchinson, Speaker 
 
 J. Willard 
 Sec'y 
 
 Consented to 
 
 W Sill i;i } \ 
 
 Mr. Norton's second settU-nunL m inc ministry at East Hampton 
 in November, 1748, like his first one at Fall Town in November, 
 1741, was in troublous times and among a very poor people. His 
 salary was to be 100 ounces of silver, or public bills of credit equiva- 
 lent thereto, for the first three years after his settlement, and after 
 that time an addition to that in proportion as they should add to 
 their property-list, until it should amount to 130 ounces of silver, 
 and that to be his standing salary. This, which amounted to near 
 $170 of our own money, was never promptly paid, and but a small 
 portion of it in cash, the rest being bartered for in country produce 
 at variable rates. The universal interest in New England in the 
 first campaign of the next French war, the campaign of 1755, led 
 Mr. Norton's ministerial neighbors of the Hartford South Associa- 
 tion, to which he belonged, to agree to supply his pulpit for him 
 from October of that year till the following February, in order that 
 he might again become a chaplain for a short time among the troops, 
 gathering at the northward for the reduction of Crown Point. He 
 went accordingly in that capacity with Colonel David Wooster's 
 Connecticut regiment. They did not reach Lake George until after 
 the battle there of the 8th of September, in which Colonel Ephraim 
 Williams was killed. We shall learn later how that winter was 
 spent by troops and Chaplain at the head of Lake George. One 
 motive of the latter in going again to the front may have been to 
 obtain for the use of his family a little ready money as salary for 
 his services from the colony of Connecticut. While he had been in 
 captivity at Quebec, his wife, then with the garrison under Captain 
 
186 OKIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Williams at Fort Shirley, had aj^plied to the colony of Massachu- 
 setts for the wages due him as chaplain, and had received at one 
 time, March 12, 1747, what was then due, £1 16s. 6d. 
 
 The ancestry of John Norton in the old country seems to be well 
 authenticated as distinguished. At any rate, it was of Norman origin. 
 Le Seur de Norville, the name afterwards changed to Norton, came to 
 England with William the Conqueror in 1066 as his constable. The 
 place to which the family ever traced its planting after crossing the 
 Channel is Sharpenhow, a hamlet of Bedfordshire. Eichard Norton 
 of London was the thirteenth generation from the Norman constable. 
 John Norton, his son, with wife Dorothy, were the immigrant ances- 
 tors, who came to Brandford, Connecticut, from England in 1646. 
 Their son John, born in Brandford, Oct. 14, 1651, migrated with his 
 father to Farmington in 1661, and died there April 25, 1725. His 
 wife's name was Kuth Moore. They had a son John, born in 1684, 
 who married Anna Thompson, and our Eev. John Norton was one of 
 their thirteen children. He was born in Farmington, Nov. 15, 1715, 
 was graduated from Yale College in 1737, and was ordained Nov. 
 25, 1741. 
 
 On the same flag of truce from Quebec to Boston, on which the 
 good chaplain returned, came also Sergeant John Hawks, and all 
 the remnant of the garrison of Fort Massachusetts still alive strag- 
 gled back in the course of the summer, some by way of the West 
 Indies and some through the wilderness, including John Aldrich of 
 Mendon and Benjamin Simonds of Ware River, both of whom were 
 left sick in the hospital at Quebec when Hawks and Norton left. 
 Simonds was sick at the taking of the fort, and Aldrich was 
 wounded in the foot, and both were unable to travel when the 
 captives started for the northward, and both were put into a canoe 
 with John Perry's wife at what is now the " River Bend Farm '' in 
 Williamstown, the point farthest up the Hoosac to which any boats 
 were brought in this expedition. It does not positively appear 
 from any existing record that either of these men got well during 
 the year at Quebec ; at any rate, they were both left there sick after 
 most of the remaining survivors had returned to Boston. Four of 
 the soldiers came in within a week, and one a full month, after the 
 two officers. As in duty bound. Sergeant Hawks made his report to 
 the government of the colony in respect to his command, but 
 tardily, and some time after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle had been 
 formally proclaimed at Boston. This report is extant, and is inter- 
 esting, and shall be given here in full. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 187 
 
 An Account of the Company in 
 MAXD of Sergt. John Hawks 
 Massachusetts Aug. 20, 1746. 
 
 HIS Majesty's Service under the com- 
 WHO were taken with him at Fort 
 
 
 
 
 Ketirned 
 
 Wkkk^ 
 
 s.S: Days 
 
 Per 
 
 'M-.N-TII 
 
 John Hawks 
 
 Sery^t. 
 
 Deerfield 
 
 Aug. 28, i: 
 
 
 
 :;:V8 
 
 John Norton 
 
 Chaj.lain Line of Forts 
 
 i. 
 
 
 
 " 
 
 Stephen Scott 
 
 Soldier 
 
 Sunderland 
 
 Aug. 26,1747 
 
 53 
 
 1 
 
 26/8 
 
 David Warren, 
 
 Soldier 
 
 Sunderland 
 
 Aug. 2C, 1747 
 
 53 
 
 1 
 
 25/8 
 
 John Suiead Sen. 
 
 
 Pequaofe' 
 
 Aug. 81, 1747 
 
 58 
 
 6 
 
 " 
 
 John Sinead Juu. 
 
 
 " 
 
 Deceased April 7, 1747 
 
 88 
 
 
 
 " 
 
 Daniel Sinead 
 
 
 " 
 
 •' May 13,1747 
 
 88 
 
 1 
 
 " 
 
 John Perry 
 
 
 Fall Town 
 
 Aug. 26, 1747 
 
 53 
 
 1 
 
 " 
 
 Moses Scott 
 
 
 " " 
 
 4i 44 44 
 
 58 
 
 1 
 
 
 Joseph Scott 
 
 
 Hatfield 
 
 Sept. 27, 1747 
 
 57 
 
 5 
 
 
 Nathaniel Ames 
 
 
 Marlborough 
 
 Died Nov. 17, 1747 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 •• 
 
 Josiah Uead 
 
 
 Itehoboth 
 
 " Aug. 21, 1746 
 
 
 2 
 
 '« 
 
 Sanuiel Lovat 
 
 
 Mendon 
 
 " Jan. 23, 1747 
 
 22 
 
 3 
 
 
 Samuel Goodman 
 
 
 Hadley 
 
 " March 21, 1747 
 
 m 
 
 4 
 
 " 
 
 Amos Pratt 
 
 
 Westborough 
 
 " April 12, 1747 
 
 33 
 
 5 
 
 " 
 
 Nathaniel Hitchcock 
 
 
 Springfield 
 
 '• May 22,1747 
 
 39 
 
 3 
 
 " 
 
 Jacob Sheppard 
 
 
 Westboro' 
 
 " May 80, 1747 
 
 40 
 
 4 
 
 " 
 
 Phineas Forbush 
 
 
 " 
 
 " July 16, 1747 
 
 47 
 
 2 
 
 •• 
 
 Jonathan Bridgman 
 
 
 Sunderland 
 
 ♦' July 21, 1747 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 " 
 
 John Aldrich ( .. 
 Pd. by the Treasurer f 
 
 V,..„i..M.in <i,.,,,n.U !M " 
 
 Mendon 
 ^\•■^r>' IJiver 
 
 " Left sick ^ „, ^ ^ 
 1 Since returned 
 S Left sick at > ^^^ ^^^ ^j^^^^. 
 
 < ye hospital J 
 
 but can't 
 
 Hampshire SS. Deerfield, Sept. 19, 1749. 
 
 Then John Hawks personally appearing made oath that the preceding roll 
 contains an account of the men taken with him at Fort Massachusetts Aug. 20^ 
 1746, ^d also an account of their decease, and return to their several homes. 
 
 Before William Williams Just. Pads, 
 
 To the Hon.bie Spencer Phipps Esq' Lieut Gov' and Commander in Chief, the 
 Hon.bie his Majesty's Council and House of Representatives in General Court 
 assembled Boston Nov 1749 : 
 
 The Petition of John Hawks for himself and others named in the Ace' an- 
 nexed humbly sheweth — 
 
 That he together with sundry others named in said account were detained in 
 the Service of this Province at Fort Massachusetts in Aug. 1746 when the same 
 was attacked by an army of about a thousand French and Indians, that they 
 defended the same to the utmost of their power, and whilst their ammunition 
 lasted repulsed the enemy to their considerable loss, but that failing and no 
 relief appearing, and near half that were in the Fort sick, ^- they were obliged 
 to surrender themselves into the hands of their enemy, and were by them car- 
 ried to Canada, and there retained the time set forth in said acc», till the death 
 of some and return of the rest to their respective homes, — and also lost their 
 arms. 
 
 Your Pet' prays your Honors consideration of their services and sufferings. 
 
188 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 and that you would in your great Goodness grant them such relief as to you in 
 your Wisdom shall seem best, and as in duty bound shall ever pray — 
 
 John Hawks. 
 [Endorsed on the above] 
 
 In the House of Representa- 
 tives Jan. 22, 1749, — 
 
 Read and Ordered that the following allowance be made to the several persons 
 herein mentioned — viz. To each man or their representatives, the sum annexed 
 to his name. 
 
 To John Hawks £21 15 1 
 
 Stephen Scott 16 12 2 
 
 John Smead 16 16 7 
 
 John Smead, Jun 10 6 3 
 
 Daniel Smead 11 18 5 
 
 John Perry 16 12 2 
 
 MosEs Scott 16 12 2 
 
 Joseph Scott 18 3 
 
 And that the Commissary General be directed to deliver to each of the above- 
 named men a gun out of the Province Store, except John Hawks who has already 
 reel one. — The above sums and guns to be delivered to Timothy Dwight Esq., 
 for the use of the abovenamed persons. — 
 
 Ordered also that there be paid to Mr. Samuel Witt for the afternamed 
 persons, or their representatives, the following sums, viz. 
 
 To Nathaniel Ames £4 1 
 
 To David Warren 16 5 11 
 
 To Jacob Shepherd 12 13 7 
 
 And that the abovenamed Nath' Ames and Jacob Shepherd be allowed each 
 a gun out of the Province Store. 
 
 It is also further Ordered that the following sums be paid to Capt. Samuel 
 Chamberlayne for the use of the persons hereafter named, viz. 
 
 To Ebenezer Gould £0 10 
 
 Benj. Eassett 15 
 
 Nath^ Hunt 12 6 
 
 in full for horse hire when they were carried from Fort Massachusetts sick. 
 
 Sent up for concurrence 
 
 Tho. Hubbard 
 Spt/ pro tempore. 
 
 We must now take our final leave of the captives of Fort Massa- 
 chusetts as such. When the fort was beleaguered, there were thirty 
 persons within it ; namely, twenty-two men, three women, and five 
 children. One of the men, Thomas Knowlton, was killed the day 
 the fort surrendered; another, Josiah Eead, died the next day at 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 189 
 
 what is now called " Petersburg Junction," where was born the same 
 night " Captivity " Smead. None died on the way to Quebec, leav- 
 ing twenty-nine captives to enter that city. The first death among 
 them there, where all the circumstances being considered they were 
 well treated, was that of Miriam, wife of Moses Scott, who had 
 "catched a grievous cold" in ''s. very heavy shower of rain," that 
 fell the day the captives crossed the Battenkill, the first Sunday 
 after the surrender of the fort. She died December 11. Twelve 
 days later died Rebecca, the wife of John Perry. February 11 died 
 Moses Scott, Junior, a child two years old. On the 29th of March 
 fell the first of a series of heavy blows on the soldier, John Smead, 
 in the death of Mary, his wife. Just three weeks later died their 
 daughter "Captivity," nine months old. Of the ten soldiers who 
 died at Quebec, two of them, Daniel and John, Junior, were sous of 
 John and Mary Smead. The father returned to his home in Athol 
 (Pequoag) on the last day of August, and on the 19th of October 
 was travelling from Northtield to Sunderland down the Connecticut 
 River, when he fell into an Indian ambush and was killed and 
 scalped. How many of the captives, then, ever got back to their 
 homes ? All three of the women died, and two of the six children, 
 and twelve of the twenty-two soldiers, leaving but fourteen of the 
 thirty-one ; and of these fourteen, John Smead survived his return 
 just seven weeks ; four of the thirteen left were children ; the Ser- 
 geant commanding and the Chaplain recording reduced the number 
 to seven soldiers; namely, Stephen Scott, David Warren, John 
 Perry, Joseph Scott, John Aldrich, Moses Scott, Benjamin Simonds. 
 Of these, two only, Perry and Simonds, were any way conspicuous 
 in later life. The place of residence of Thomas Knowlton, shot in 
 the watch tower of the fort, is unknown; but he was a son of 
 Joseph Knowlton, who some time after received from the colony 
 the wages due his son when killed. 
 
 The curious petition of John Perry to the General Court, written 
 out with his own hand, ostensibly not long after his return, though 
 evidently and properly receiving no recognition at the hands of that 
 body, while he was afterwards paid with the rest his full wages dur- 
 ing his captivity, is well worth full quotation on several accounts : — 
 
 Petition of John Perry. 
 
 To the Honorable Representatives of the Great and General Court now in 
 Boston, the Petition of John Perry humbly showeth — 
 
 Whereas your Honours Humble Petitioner Enlisted in the service of the 
 Country under the Comand of Captain Ephraim Williams in the year 1745, 
 
190 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 and was posted at Fort Massachusetts in housuck, and upon ye encouragement 
 we had from ye late honorable Col. John Stoddard, which was that if we went 
 with our Families he did not doubt but ye Court would grant us land to settle 
 on, whereupon I your Honours Humble petitioner carried up my family there 
 with my household stuf and other effects and continued there till we was taken 
 when we was obliged to surrender — to the french and Indian Enemy August 
 the 20 1746. I would humbly lay before your Honours the losses I sustained, 
 which are as followeth, a house I built there for my family 80 pounds two 
 feather beds with their furniture 100 pounds two suits of apparel apiece for me 
 and my wife 150 pounds two Brass Kettles a pot and pewter with tramel tongs 
 fire slice and knives and forks to ye balance of 20 pounds one Cross cut saw 20 
 pounds and one new broad ax 6 pounds three new narrow axes 8 pounds and 
 one adds 2 pounds two steel traps 14 pounds two guns 32 pounds one pistol 5 
 pounds one 100 weight of suggar 20 pounds total 457 pounds with a great many 
 other things not named; the losses your Humble Petitioner hath met with 
 together with my captivity hath reduced me to low circumstances, and now 
 humbly prayeth your Honours of your goodness to grant him a grant of land to 
 settle up near ye fort where I fenced about a mile west of the fort, or elsewhere, 
 where your Honours pleaseth and that your Honours may have a full reward 
 hereafter for all your pious and Charitable Deeds your Honours Humble peti- 
 tioner shall alwais pray. 
 
 John Perry. 
 Nov. 5, 1747. 
 
 John Perry was a carpenter, as the reader will remember. If his 
 estimate of the value of his tools and other " stuf " seem ridiculously 
 excessive to us, we must remember that Massachusetts was then 
 using " Colony bills," which were greatly depreciated as compared 
 with silver, and which the colony- soon after (1749) redeemed in 
 silver at 11 : 1. " Ye late honorable Col. John Stoddard " died June 
 19, 1748, which makes quite suspicious the date of this petition ; 
 then it is altogether too pious — " charitable deeds " are not in 
 order for a General Court in war-time, or peace either ; and besides, 
 there had been a preliminary survey by the colony of two town- 
 ships — East and West Hoosac — in 1739, covering the ground 
 "where I fenced," to be followed in 1749 by the ultimate survey 
 and allotment of lands, and of course the Court did not wish to tie 
 itself up by making any grants likely to prove inconvenient in the 
 sequel. It must be remembered, nevertheless, that perhaps Perry's 
 petition, whensoever sent in, had some influence as towards the pre- 
 emptions and privileges of the later soldiers of Fort Massachusetts 
 in the " House Lots " of West Hoosac, of which we shall hear more 
 by and by. 
 
 News travelled slowly in August, 1746, from the upper valley of 
 the Hoosac over the mountain by the old Indian path to the Con- 
 necticut Eiver. In Deacon Noah Wright's journal this entry : — 
 
FORT ^FASSACHT'SETTS. 
 
 191 
 
 and brings iis news that the fort was taken and burnt to ashes, and we can't 
 leani liere as there is one man escaped. I am in some hopes that there are 
 some that are taken captive and gone to Canada, and so I ain't altogether with- 
 out hopes of seeing some of them again. 
 
 As soon as the news came to Hatfield, a party under Captain 
 Oliver Partridge went up to the site of the fort, as we learn from 
 the following item of a bill sent to the authorities at Boston : << Also 
 by Capt. Partridge for horse-keeping when he went to bury the dead 
 at Fort Massachusetts after the Fort was taken — £10 0." They 
 found but one body to be buried, and that the mutilated one of 
 Thomas Knowlton. It is more than probable that it was Captain 
 
 "SADDLE MOUNTAIN," 
 
 Early so-called, overlooking towards the north the Hoosac River and the site of Fort Massachusetts. The 
 rounded peak to the left is the northern extremity of the middle lobe of Greylock, nnd has long been 
 called "Mount Williams," and its lower decline towards the river and fort is now called "Slope 
 Hawks " ; the sharper peak to the right is the north end of " Prospect," and its decline to the meadow 
 is " Slop? Norton." 
 
 Partridge who took down from the well-post the letter which Chap- 
 lain Norton had nailed there on his departure as a captive ; for we 
 find this entry in Deacon Wright's journal, just about the time when 
 Partridge may be supposed to have returned to Hatfield : — 
 
 Sept. 11, 1746 — I saw a letter wrote by Mr. Norton at Hoosick after the 
 fort was taken, and he says the fort was besieged by seven hundred French and 
 Indians, and they being brought to a great strait the enemy i)repared a vast 
 quantity of faggots in order to burn down the fort by force, but the French 
 General came to them for capitulation, and told them if they would resign up 
 the fort he would treat them all w^ell, and carry them to Canada ; that they 
 should be redeemed as soon as there wa« any opportunity ; if not, he would kdl 
 
192 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 them all. And so they resigned up the fort, and lost but one man named 
 Knowlton, and had two wounded, and so all the rest are gone to Canada. He 
 says they are all well used by the enemy. 
 
 When Partridge's men left the site of the first Eort Massachusetts 
 on this occasion, — we may suppose about the end of the first week in 
 September, 1746, — the spot itself and the whole valley of the Upper 
 Hoosac remained an utter solitude, so far as the presence of white 
 men goes, for seven or eight months. The meadow was then only 
 partially cleared ; the part cleared was cluttered with stumps ; noth- 
 ing was left of the fort but the well, on the " west post " of which 
 the letter had been nailed ; the forest to the westward was unbroken 
 to Van der Verick's place at the junction of the Little Hoosac with 
 the main stream ; the forest to the eastward over the Hoosac 
 Mountain was equally unbroken to the upper valley of the Deer- 
 field in what is now Charlemont, where Captain Kice kept watch and 
 ward; and the w^intry snows soon sifted down upon the shaggy 
 mountain and its flanking valleys, covering even the immemorial 
 Mohawk trail that traversed all three alike with impassable deeps of 
 whiteness. 
 
 On the 9th of May, 1748, Sergeant John Hawks started from 
 Deerfield in command of fourteen men, and went, so the record 
 states, " as far as the Dutch settlements at Hoosuck " ; that is to 
 say, he revisited Van der Verick's place under circumstances doubt- 
 less more agreeable to himself than those of 1746. The camping- 
 place there, where Captivity Smead was born, and whence the 
 Indians kindly took Benjamin Simonds (sick) down the Hoosac in 
 their canoe, must have awakened in his breast vivid recollections 
 and warm thankfulness, and may have stimulated him to write on 
 his return the memorial to the commander-in-chief at Boston, which 
 enriches our next paragraph. 
 
 One more original document must be quoted here, before we take 
 our final leave of the first Fort Massachusetts ; namely, the 
 
 Memorial of John Hawks of Deerfield, yeoman, dated June 2 1748, humbly 
 sheweth, That on the 9'^ of May 1746, when a soldier at Fort Massachusetts he 
 was fiT^ upon by a Party of the Enemy and grievously wounded and considera- 
 bly disabled for any further services ; and also on or about the 20'^ of Aug' then 
 next when the said Fort was reduced and demolished, he was captivated by the 
 Enemy and carried to Canada and there detained a prisoner almost a year dur- 
 ing which time he underwent great Hardships and Difficulties in addition to the 
 Losses he sustained at the Reduction of said Fort ; and also on the Eighth Day 
 of February last he w* John Taylor and Matthew Clesson set out (by your 
 Excellencies order) w* Mons'' Raimbault in order to recover some English Per- 
 sons out of the Hands of the French and on the last day of April return^ again 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 193 
 
 from Canada to Deerfield W Nathan Blake and Sam^ Allen two English cap- 
 tives recovered from the French — For all which Services and Sufferings 
 w* others that might have been mentioned Your Petitioner has never had any 
 consideration or allowance from the Government. Your Petitioner therefore 
 prays Your Excellency and Hon* Consideration of the Premises as well w» regard 
 to the said John and Matthew as himself and such Relief under his Difficulties 
 in particular therefrom arising as your Excellency and Hon* in your known 
 Wisdom and Compassion shall seem meet, and your Petitioner as in Duty 
 bound shall ever pray. 
 
 John Hawks. 
 To W™ Shirley &c. &c. &c. 
 
 The old French aud Indian War, sometimes called Governor 
 Shirley's War, went vigorously forward in the way of preparations 
 on both sides, during the winter of 1746-47. With the course and 
 issue of it in general we have no present concern. Only as it 
 stands related to events in the valley of the Upper Hoosac have we 
 to do with it here. In the same sense we are interested in the 
 character and activities of William Shirley at Boston. Of English 
 birth and education, as a lawyer he had practised some years in 
 Boston, when, in 1741, he was appointed by the Crown, governor of 
 Massachusetts, — an office which he held to the striking profit of 
 the colony, and with credit to himself, until 1757, when he was 
 succeeded by Thomas Pownall. In military affairs he acted to the 
 westward of his province, through Colonel John Stoddard of North- 
 hampton, till the latter's death in 1748, and then mainly through 
 Colonel Israel Williams of Hatfield. The fall of Fort Massachu- 
 setts affected Shirley more deeply than any other man in the 
 colony, and next to him, undoubtedly, Stoddard himself. The fol- 
 lowing letter, in Shirley's own hand, gives us a vivid idea of him 
 as a man and a governor, and of his sense of the importance, at 
 that time, to English interests in New England, of the site of that 
 fort ; and goes far to justify the later characterization of the spot, l^y 
 Edward Everett, as a " Thermopylae " : — 
 
 Boston, April 10, 1747. 
 
 Gentlemen, — You are hereby desired and directed to provide for the erecting, 
 and then to erect and build a good commodious Blockhouse at or near the place 
 where the Fort called Massachusetts late stood. — You must take effectual care 
 that it be built in the best manner for defence and strength, and for the accom- 
 modating and lodging a Garrison of thirty men, with convenience for such other 
 men as His Majesty's Service may occasionally require to be there quartered or 
 entertained ; and to build another Blockhouse at some convenient Place West 
 of Fort Pelham ; you must take care that each Blockhouse have a good Well 
 within the Works, — You must use all needful Frugality in this Business, and 
 particularly in employing some of the soldiers in this Work if anything may be 
 saved this way without Prejudice to the Work. I shall order you a Guard for 
 
194 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the Protection of those Persons that may be employed in cutting and hauling 
 the Timber, building the House and other Services. You must send an account 
 to the Commissary General of the Utinsils that may be necessary for the Use of 
 the Garrison in each Blockhouse. 
 
 Your assured Friend and Servant 
 
 W. Shirley. 
 To John Stoddard ^ 
 
 Eleazar Porter j-Esq" 
 Oliver Partridge J 
 
 Governor Shirley had no local knowledge of the lay of the land 
 west of Fort Pelham. The original design and order in 1744 when 
 the war broke out was, and it is here reiterated, that there should 
 be at least one fortified place between Pelham and Massachusetts ; 
 the old military road from Coleraine past Shirley, and past Pelham, 
 was continued for a mile or more due west, as if expecting to reach 
 such a place ; and the writer has often traversed this piece of old 
 road with curious eyes (it is not now used for travel), until its 
 straight course suddenly ceases, and a narrower road strikes it on 
 the left, running down southwest to the Deerfield Kiver at the 
 present " Hoosac Tunnel " station. The truth was and remains, 
 that a range of steep mountain intervenes between Pelham Fort and 
 the Deerfield Kiver, which here has a due south course, only bending 
 sharp east at the mouth of the tunnel, and from the west bank of 
 which rises with equal precipitancy the Hoosac range, the Avestern 
 flanks of which reach almost to the site of Fort Massachusetts. 
 There was no room for an intermediate fort, and consequently none 
 was ever attempted. 
 
 Fifteen days after the above letter was written, namely, April 25, 
 1747, Governor Shirley writes again to Colonel Stoddard : — 
 
 I have written to the Govenor of Connecticut (at the Desire of the twa 
 Houses) to request that Government to send 500 men for the Defence of your 
 County, and to be under your Direction ; and accordingly I desire and expect 
 that if the said men or any other Number of men should be sent out of that Gov- 
 ernment into the County of Hampshire that you take effectual care that they 
 be employed in the best manner for the Security of the Inhabitants and Annoy- 
 ance of the Enemy. 
 
 The General Court having allowed a great Gun of four pounds shott and two 
 swivel guns for the Fort of Number Pour, and as the present violent assaults of 
 the Enemy upon your Frontiers will necessarily oblige you to defer the Building 
 of the new Blockhouses at present : you must deliver the great Gun and two 
 of the swivel Guns out of the Guns I have ordered the Commissary General to 
 send to you for the Use of the Blockhouses built or to be built in your County ; 
 and which he accordingly sent by sea about ten days ago. I have ordered the 
 Commissary General to send you by the first conveyance the four pounder and 
 swivel Guns first mentioned. 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 195 
 
 Fortunately there has been preserved in the Secretary's office, at 
 Boston, a package of receipted bills, marked, "French War — Forts 
 t<> Westward," among which is the following interesting item : — 
 
 i .> I r;i 11. sporting three 4-pomiders from Bostou to New York ... . *:i' 
 
 " " "■ " " New York to Albany 1 1<> 
 
 '^ *' '• Albany to Van l)er lliden's Ferry, (• i' 
 
 '• '• thence '36 miles to Fort Mass . . 2 G 
 
 The " landing-place at Van Der Hiden's " is the present location 
 of the city of Troy. These guns undoubtedly reached their destina- 
 tion on the desolated site of the first fort before any steps had been 
 taken there to renovate and rebuild. But these steps were not long 
 delayed. Shirley's apprehensions that " the present violent assaults 
 of the enemy upon your frontiers will necessarily oblige you to defer 
 the building of the new blockhouses," were not justified in fact, for 
 Massachusetts had kept a considerable body of troops under pay 
 throughout the preceding winter; and General Joseph Dwight of 
 Brookfield, who had served with great credit at Louisburg, who 
 afterwards became a distinguished citizen of Berkshire, had raised a 
 regiment in the autumn, principally from the Connecticut valley, 
 for the projected expedition against Canada ; and, with his next in 
 rank in the regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel William Williams, and the 
 regiment itself of ten companies, had been employed during the 
 winter in northwestern Hampshire in detached parties, scouting, 
 garrisoning, and in every way guarding the endangered section. On 
 the 21st of April, two of these companies and a part of a third 
 were assigned to Colonel Williams for the purix)se of rebuilding 
 Fort Massachusetts. In giving this immediate order to his lieuten- 
 ant, William W^illiams, General Dwight added, " I suppose Captain 
 Ephraim Williams will send all or a part of his, if you desire it, 
 who, I think, ought to do their part of this duty." Captain Ephraim 
 Williams had undoubtedly spent the winter in Fort Shirley, and was 
 still in command of the line of forts from Northfield to Fort Pelham 
 in what is now the town of Rowe. 
 
 Just here another member of the Williams family comes promi- 
 nently into our field of view for a short time, later to reappear uixm 
 these pages for a considerable stay. This is Ephraim Williams, 
 Senior, the father of the Fort Shirley captain and founder of Wil- 
 liams College. He was born in Newton, near Boston, Aug. 21, 1G91. 
 He became a man of considerable repute in Newton, a captain of the 
 militia, and a justice of the peace there. In the first part of June, 
 1739, he aii'l Afr Josiah Jones of Wp<^on l>roii(_r].f tli^ir families to 
 
196 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 Stockbridge and settled there, being two of the four English families 
 who, by the order of the General Court of Massachusetts, were to 
 establish themselves there on lands granted to them for that purpose 
 by the Court, for the moral support of John Sergeant the missionary, 
 and Timothy Woodbridge the schoolmaster, to the Indians gathered 
 there in a Christian mission imder the auspices of the colony. The 
 other two Christian families were those of Joseph Woodbridge of 
 West Springfield and Deacon Samuel Brown of Spencer. Even as 
 early as the original order of the Court, 30 Nov., 1743, to raise a 
 committee to build garrison-houses and set defences to the west- 
 ward, Blanford, Stockbridge, and Sheffield were mentioned as places 
 to be defended in connection with the line of forts running west- 
 ward from the Connecticut River at Northfield. Dec. 24, 1745, 
 Governor Shirley wrote to Colonel Stoddard as follows : — 
 
 I have had application made to me by Capt. Ephraim Williams in behalf of 
 Stockbridge, and by the proprietors of Blandford in behalf of that town, for 
 soldiers to be sent to each of those places for their further defence ; and I desire 
 you would consider their respective circumstances, and order out of the forces 
 now in your parts what you shall judge necessary and what may be spared for 
 their protection. — P. S. Capt. Williams desired me to give him an Order for 
 eight Indians to scout, but I have referred him to yourself. 
 
 Governor Shirley writes again to Colonel Stoddard under date of 
 Aug. 2, 1746, as follows : — 
 
 As to the difficulty respecting a Major of Col. Dwight's Regiment, altho I 
 have a good esteem of Capt. Williams, and have considered his superior charac- 
 ter in the same light you mention, yet Major Pomroy's serving in the late Expe- 
 dition and with faithfulness and good courage (by all that I can learn) seems to 
 give considerable advantage to his pretensions ; but (as I perceive by Col. 
 Dwight's letter) Maj. Pomroy is not agreeable to him, nor like to be so to the 
 Officers and Soldiers, I am determined in favor of Capt. Williams, and desire 
 you would endeavor to make Maj. Pomroy content with a Capt"^ commission 
 only, which he ought the rather to be, etc. , etc. 
 
 The elder Williams was thus undoubtedly appointed Major of 
 Colonel Dwight's regiment about the time of the fall of the first 
 Fort Massachusetts ; and when the next spring opened, and the two 
 companies and a part of the third of this regiment were set to 
 rebuilding the fort on its old site under Lieutenant-Colonel William 
 Williams, second in command in the regiment, Major Ephraim 
 Williams accompanied them as next in command to his near 
 kinsman, who had recently returned from Louisburg with a very 
 considerable military reputation. We possess no details of the 
 processes of the rebuilding. The pine trees were growing in 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 197 
 
 abundance upon the meaxlow itself. They were felled and hewed 
 and jointed and pinned together ; doubtless as at Fort Shirley, two 
 years before, the three four-pounders were doubtless on the ground, 
 ready to be mounted as soon as the walls were up. There can be 
 little question that numbers of those soldiers that had wrought on 
 Fort Shirley, and on the tirst blockhouse here, were now employed 
 also on the new fort of similar construction, for William Williams 
 had had the charge of building both of those works, and he knew 
 what men had shown aptness in such labors, and if any of them 
 were in his regiment now, they would be altogether likely to be 
 assigned again to the familiar tasks. Two to one, that our old 
 friend, John Perry, "carpenter of Fall Town," though he did not 
 get back from his captivity in Canada in time to build on the new 
 structure, yet revisited later the scene of his earlier hazards and 
 exploits, becoming familiar with the second fort ; and Philip Alex- 
 ander (who certainly toiled on Fort Shirley) and Michael Gilson, 
 too (whose name is often on the muster-rolls of Fort Massachusetts), 
 because we read expressly in the history of Putney, Vermont, that 
 these three men, "emigrants from Massachusetts," located on the 
 Great Meadow there, and built, in company with others, in 1755, a 
 blockhouse on the meadow almost the exact counterpart of the 
 second Fort Massachusetts. The Putney fort is described as fol- 
 lows in Thompson's " Vermont " : — 
 
 This fort was 120 feet long by 80 wide, and was built of yellow pine timber, 
 hewed six inches thick and laid up about 10 feet high, — the houses were built 
 against the wall, with a roof slanting up, (called a salt-box roof,) to the top of 
 the wall, the wall of the fort making the back wall of the house, and the houses 
 all fronting the hollow square in the centre of the fort. It was garrisoned by 
 troops from New Hampshire until about 1700. 
 
 Besides Colonel William Williams in command at the rebuilding 
 of Fort Massachusetts, and Major Ephraim Williams his second in 
 command there, Captain Ephraim Williams also then commanding 
 in the line of forts westward from Connecticut River, was at Fort 
 Massachusetts while the work was going on there in some connec- 
 tion with the Commissary department. • His cousin, Major Israel 
 Williams of Hatfield, was commissioned "Commissary to the West- 
 ern Forces," Oct. 18, 1744, and continued in that capacity till the 
 death of Colonel John Stoddard in 1748, when he succeeded Stod- 
 dard in the command of the western militia, and Major Elijah 
 Williams of Deerfield became Commissary to the westward. The 
 General Court had resolved to garrison 100 men in Fort Massachu- 
 setts so soon as it should be completed. Israel Williams was expe- 
 
198 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 rienced enough to know that a very considerable base of supplies 
 would be needed to maintain such a garrison in such a place, noth- 
 ing short of Albany ; accordingly, Captain Ephraim Williams was 
 sent from the fort to Albany with an escort of 100 soldiers to guard 
 provisions purchased there on their way thence to the fort, as he 
 himself expressed it in a memorial dated November, 1747 : " That in 
 the month of May last I went from Fort Massachusetts to Albany 
 to bring out stores for the use of the Government at that Fort," etc., 
 etc. Before the return of this escort from Albany, and while the 
 workmen were still employed on the construction of the fort, a body 
 of the French and Indian enemy approached the fort with the double 
 intent of interrupting the work upon it and cutting off the escort 
 of the provisions, and lay concealed for some time in the circum- 
 adjacent woods. On the 25th of May, the vanguard of the escort 
 arrived near the fort, and was suddenly attacked by the enemy 
 that had been in ambush. The workmen on the fort, who always 
 had their arms close by, immediately advanced on the enemy, put- 
 ting him between two lires in the sharp skirmish that ensued, which 
 resulted in driving him into the woods for good, so that the escort 
 came up with the loss of only one Stockbridge Indian and two men 
 wounded. 
 
 Just a week later than this skirmish, the fort being now com- 
 pleted and provisioned, the command over it was transferred by the 
 following written order, happily preserved to us among the papers 
 of the writer. Colonel William Williams : — 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, June 2, 1747. 
 Major Ephraim Williams 
 
 Sir, — Intending by the leave of Providence to depart this fort to-morrow, 
 which, through the goodness of God towards us is now finished, I must desire 
 you to take the charge of it ; and shall, for the present, leave with you eighty 
 men, which I would have you detain here till the barracks are erected, which I 
 would have you build in the following manner, viz., seventy feet in length, 
 thirty in breadth, seven-feet post, with a low roof. Let it be placed within five 
 feet of the north side of the fort, and at equal distances from the east and west 
 ends. 
 
 Let it be divided in the middle with a tier of timber ; place a chimney in the 
 centre of the east part, with two fire-places to accommodate those rooms. In 
 the west part, place the chimney so as to accommodate the two rooms on that 
 part, as if the house was but twenty feet wide from the south ; making a parti- 
 tion of plank, ten feet distance from the north side of the barrack, for a store- 
 room for the provisions, &c. 
 
 The timber, stone, clay, lath, and all materials, being under the command of 
 your guns, I can't but look upon you safe in your business, and desire you to 
 see everything finished workmanlike ; and when you have so done, you'll be 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 199 
 
 pleased to dismiss Capt. Ephraim Williams, with his men, and what of my com- 
 pany I leave. You'll not forget to keep a scout east and west, which the men 
 of your company are so well adapted for, and can be of very little service to you 
 in the works. 
 
 Sir, I shall not give you any particular directions about maintaining the 
 strong fortress or governing your men, but, in general, advise you always to be 
 on your guard, nor suffer any idle fellows to stroll about. Sir, I heartily wish 
 you health, the protection and smiles of Heaven on all accounts, and am, with 
 esteem and regard, sir 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 W''. Williams. 
 
 This is, on the whole, the most interesting contemporary doc- 
 ument extant relating to the second Fort ^Massachusetts. The 
 directions and descriptions in it are at once clear in terms, courte- 
 ous to his subordinate, military in form*, and withal a trifle grandil- 
 oquent, as befitted an officer left in command of the '' grand fortress " 
 of Louisburg only the year before. The contrast must have been 
 great in his mind — although this order does not betray it — between 
 that genuine *^ Gibraltar of America" and this rustic blockhouse of 
 pine wood ; but he makes the most of it, such as it was. It was 
 indeed, in point of strength, a great gain over the first fort. The 
 newly arrived cannon were already mounted upon its corner plat- 
 forms. It was this feature, if any, that justifies his epithet of 
 *' strong fortress." The barracks soon to be built would furnish the 
 garrison two rooms for eating and sleeping, thirty-five feet by fifteen, 
 and two more thirty-five by ten feet, and one room on the northwest 
 corner for provisions, thirty-five feet by ten. 
 
 The rations allowed the troops on these frontiers during this war 
 were as follows : — 
 
 Garrison Forces. 
 
 1 lb. of Bread •» . 
 
 i pint of Peas or Beans / ^ ' 
 
 2 lbs. of Pork for three days ; 
 
 1 gallon of Molasses a man for 42 days. 
 
 Marching Forces. 
 
 1 lb. of Bread > 
 
 1 lb. of Pork r per day. 
 
 1 gill of Rum ) 
 
 The length of the new blockhouse is nowhere mentioned in any 
 of the papers remaining that relate to its construction ; but it could 
 not have been less than 100 feet, and there are some slight grounds 
 for inferring that it was 120 feet. The barracks were to be placed 
 
200 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 "within five feet of the north side of the fort, and at equal dis- 
 tances frpm the east and west ends.'' As the barracks were to be 
 seventy feet long, if the fort were 100 feet, there would have been 
 fifteen feet free at both ends of the north side, and if 120 feet, 
 twenty-five feet free. There was to be, some years later, a mount 
 for observation over the northwest corner of the fort, as there was 
 to the old one; and we may be sure that the cannon were mostly 
 ranged to the west or north, because the enemy would surely 
 approach and probably attack on those sides. The sole entrance 
 to the fort (always on the north side) was flanked at five feet 
 distance by the barracks. The alley-way between the two was con- 
 venient for the ingress and egress of officers and soldiers without 
 going through the barracks. The officers' quarters were undoubt- 
 edly within the main enclosure, as was also the well, and there 
 must have been at least one chimney within for the accommodation 
 of those quarters, which would still leave an ample parade. And so 
 William Williams doubtless left the fort June 3d in the hands of 
 the two Ephraims, father and son, expecting that the father, so 
 soon as the barracks were finished, would dismiss the son to the 
 care and control of his mountain forts to the eastward. 
 
 The late President of the College, Mark Hopkins, was in the 
 direct line of descent from Ephraim Williams, Senior, the officer 
 thus left in command of the second Fort " Massachusetts " ; and he 
 more than once spoke to the present writer (although in general he 
 had very little intierest in such matters) of a tradition that had 
 come down lively in his family, that the elder Williams once held 
 for a time the command at Fort Massachusetts. That tradition is 
 now and here historically verified for the first time. The confusion 
 has always been great between father and son in this case, because 
 both not only bore the same name, but also carried in pretty quick 
 succession one after another the same military titles. Dr. Smith, 
 the historian of Pittsfield, who has cleared up admirably the story 
 of Colonel William Williams, falls here into the erroneous con- 
 jecture that "the Major to whom the command was thus trans- 
 ferred was the founder of Williams College," and that "Capt. 
 Ephraim Williams was probably a Connecticut ofiicer in command 
 of one of the companies sent by his colony in aid of the common 
 defence." Connecticut had sent as yet no soldiers into these parts, 
 although she did so in the next war, as we shall afterwards have 
 occasion to notice. The "Capt." here was the eldest son of the 
 "Major." The former and not the latter became the founder of 
 the College. And let it be just noticed in passing, that distinct tra- 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 201 
 
 ditions w^ i,,c kind alluded to above are never to be lightly thrown 
 away in historical research, even though at any given time no con- 
 temporaneous written confirmation can be found for them. They 
 are never to be taken in themselves as authority, but they have 
 proven many times as guides to the written and certain word of 
 proof, and sometimes been fairly confirmatory of otherwise doubt- 
 ful contemporary testimony. 
 
 The following memorial of Ephraim Williams, Senior, to Governor 
 Shirley, will give a glimpse of the nature of his brief activities in 
 connection with Fort Massachusetts. It was the son and not the 
 father who linked the name of " Williams " intimately and indis- 
 solubly with the fort and the towns around it, and the whole stretch 
 of country from Deerfield to Lake George : — 
 
 To his Excellency Wra. Shirley Esq Governor and his Majesties Council & 
 House of Representatives in Gen^ Court assembled Nov'. 1747. 
 
 The memorial of Eph™ Williams of Stockbridge, in the County of Hampshire 
 Humbly Sheweth 
 
 That in the month of May last, I went from Fort Massachusetts to Albany 
 to bring out y« Stores for the use of the Government at that Fort four B»>'» of 
 Powder I was obliged to give my obligation too to the Commissary there 40O 
 W* of Leatl I Borrowed of Lif^ Coll Robberts which is not yet returned to him, 
 Six Iron Potts I Bo't for the use of the Fort, as also ten Skepple of Salt, and 
 three Cask to put it in, for which I am now D' there, all which I did for the 
 Emediate bennefit of the Governt. the Commissary Gen'' Informs he Cannot 
 Settle the account & discharge me without the Courts order, Woold therefore 
 Humbly move y Excellency & Hon" to give directions to the Commissary 
 Gen" to settle the said accounts with me, or otherwise provide for my discharge, 
 as in your Wisdom you shall see meet, & as in Duty Bound Shall l^ay &c. 
 
 Eph*", Williams 
 
 In the House of Representatives Dec. 10, 1747. Read and Ordered that the 
 Commissary Gen' be directed to allow the Commissary Emerson in the ace' for 
 the four barrells of Powder. And that s*^ Commissary Gen' return the four 
 hundred Weight of Lead for the Use of Col^ Roberts in the Goverm' of New 
 York. And that He allow the Memorialist in his Account for the Six Iron Potts 
 and Ten Skipple of Salt above mentioned. 
 
 Sent up for concurrence. 
 
 In Council Dec. 11, 1747. 
 Read & Concurred. 
 
 J. WiLLABD 6'ec 
 Consented 
 
 W. Shirlet. T. Hutchinson Spk^. 
 
202 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 How long Major Ephraim Williams continued in the command of 
 the second Fort Massachusetts from this assumption of it in June, 
 1747, there are no present means of determining, nor is it of much 
 consequence, since the time was short at the longest, and since noth- 
 ing of much importance occurred, during its continuance, in or around 
 the fort. The war was carried on in a desultory way through that 
 summer and autumn, in various parts of New England; Peter 
 Bovee, one of the soldiers of Fort Massachusetts, of whom we shall 
 hear more by and by, was captured near the fort on October 1 ; on 
 the 19th of the same month, our old acquaintance, John Smead, one 
 of the heroes of the capture of the first fort, and but recently 
 returned from his captivity, was killed near the mouth of Miller's 
 Eiver between Northfield and Montague ; and five days later, Oliver 
 Avery, afterwards an officer in Fort Massachusetts, and a distin- 
 guished citizen of Charlemont, being one of a jjarty of twelve 
 soldiers passing down the Connecticut from No. 4, was wounded in 
 an attack by Indians, in which two of his companions were killed, 
 one captured, and the rest compelled to retreat to the fort. Major 
 Williams was an ambitious, self-seeking, not over-scrupulous, fron- 
 tiersman at that time. He had been for ten years a denizen of 
 Stockbridge, ostensibly assisting John Sergeant, who married his 
 daughter, to civilize and christianize the Indians there. His home 
 was on the ^' Hill," where he possessed a broad estate, and he had, 
 besides, both landed and mercantile interests on the " Plain " and 
 elsewhere in the town. Nothing is more likely than the supposition 
 that the Major soon wearied of the monotony of garrison life, to 
 which he was not accustomed, and withdrew, in the course of the 
 autumn, to more congenial pursuits and opportunities in Stockbridge. 
 
 The following letter from Colonel John Stoddard to Governor 
 Shirley, dated " Northhampton, March 1, 1748," without mentioning 
 Major Williams at all, gives glimpses of how things had been at 
 the fort during the preceding winter and up to that date: — 
 
 Sir, — I rec^<i Your's of 25 Feb.ry with the votes of Assembly. There are 
 fourty able souldiers posted at Fort Massachusetts, and I was in expectation that 
 Capt. Ephraim would have taken the charge of that garrison, but home affairs 
 have hitherto prevented him. We could at first get no better ofi&cer than a 
 serg. nt, afterwards I gave a Lieut°ts commission to Mr. Elisha Hawley, who is 
 the only officer there at present. And it is vain to expect that suitable persons 
 can be obtained for that service so long as their wages is so contemptible, unless 
 we can find some persons out of business. I think no man amongst us equal 
 (for that service) to Col^i William Williams, but he has lately engaged in the 
 Commissary business, and I can't think that he can afford to serve his country 
 without some reasonable pay. Capt. Ephraim Williams must be thought the 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 203 
 
 fittest man that is likely to be obtained. He is accounted a man of courage, 
 has lived at Fort Massachusetts, and is well knowing in that country. It is 
 generally talked that he maintains good government, and I know no man 
 amongst us (except Col. Williams) that men would more cheerfully List under 
 than he. 
 
 I know no others hereabout, that are any way equal to the business, that 
 would think it worth the while to leave their own private affairs for the sake of 
 that pittance they expect from the Government. . . . 
 
 John Stoddard. 
 
 To Gov. Shirley. 
 
 The " votes of Assembly '' referred to in this letter of Colonel 
 Stoddard are as follows, and are here verbally given from Stoddard's 
 own copy, sent to him from Boston, as the commander of the west- 
 ern frontiers of Massachusetts, for his guidance in the campaign 
 of 1748: — 
 
 Voted, That his excellency, the captain general, [Gov. Shirley] be directed to 
 cause, as soon as may be, so many men to be enlisted, by the encouragement 
 voted by the Court, as, with the soldiers already posted at No. 4, and at Fort 
 Massachusetts, will make the number at each, one hundred effective men (ofl&cers 
 included) ; and to give orders to the commanding officers in said garrisons 
 respectively, that a suitable number be constantl}; employed to intercept the 
 French and Indian enemy in their marches from Wood Creek, and Otter Creek 
 to our frontiers ; to continue in said service until the first day of October next ; 
 and that the commanding officers keep fair journals of their marches from time 
 to time, and return the same to this Court ; and thaUover and above the bounty 
 above mentioned, and the pay and subsistence of the province, agreeable to the 
 last establishment, there be, and hereby is granted, to be paid to the officers and 
 soldiers, in equal paYts, who shall be on any scouts that may kill or capture any 
 enemy Indian, the sum of one hundred pounds ; the scalp of the Indian killed, 
 to be produced to the governor and council as evidence thereof. 
 
 Accordingly, Captain Phineas Stevens was again appointed to the 
 command of No. 4, now Charlestown, New Hampshire ; and Captain 
 Humphrey Hobbs was ordered to the same post, to act as second in 
 command. Everything indicates the determination of Massachu- 
 setts to make the campaign of 1748 a decisive one ; and to make 
 Fort Massachusetts and No. 4 the principal jjoints of military oper- 
 ation, perhaps to the relative neglect of forts Shirley and Pelham. 
 This may account for the willingness of Captain Ephraim Williams 
 to take the command at Fort Massachusetts, notwithstanding '^home 
 affairs have hitherto prevented him." At any rate, he came into 
 the command there not long after Stevens went up the Connecticut ; 
 but unforeseen and important events, both at home and abroad, pre- 
 vented the expectations of Massachusetts from being realized eithei 
 in that year, or even in that war. For one thing, the sudden deatl. 
 
204 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 of Colonel John Stoddard in June, by all odds the most powerful 
 man in the western end of Massachusetts, while attending the 
 General Court at Boston, was a serious loss to the western frontiers 
 in every civil and military aspect. Colonel Israel Williams, of Hat- 
 field, who had acted as Commissary under Colonel Stoddard, was 
 appointed to succeed him in the chief command, and immediately 
 entered upon that difficult duty; and Major Elijah Williams, of 
 Deerfield, was at the same time appointed to the commissary depart- 
 ment on the -western frontier, under John Wheelwright, Commissary- 
 General at Boston. 
 
 For another thing, public affairs were so shaping themselves in 
 Europe during that summer, as to indicate the present weariness of 
 both parties with the war, and a disposition to postpone the final 
 struggle between them for the possession of America, to a date in 
 the still not distant future. The Peace of Aix la Chapelle, signed 
 on the 18th of October, 1748, was a truce rather than a settlement. 
 To the disgust of the New England colonists, who had conquered it 
 by their own (almost) unaided resources in 1745, the fortress of 
 Louisburg was surrendered back to France ; and to soothe the ruffled 
 feelings of Massachusetts in the matter, England shipped to that 
 colony, in coin, as a sort of ransom for Louisburg, £138,649 sterling, 
 which Massachusetts used at once -to redeem her outstanding bills 
 of credit, at the then ruling rate of eleven of paper to one of silver, 
 and became thereby, for a time, the so-called " silver colony." But 
 before the news of Aix la Chapelle reached the colonies, there was 
 one warlike exploit in connection with jSTo. 4, and another in con- 
 nection with Fort Massachusetts, which are well worth narrating 
 here; and even after the news of the Treaty had been received, 
 Massachusetts showed her suspicions of its probable brevity, by 
 maintaining reduced garrisons at forts Dummer and Massachu- 
 setts, and small posts at Deerfield, Northfield, Pontoosuck, and 
 Stockbridge. By a vote of the General Court, passed Dec. 27, 1723, 
 namely, "To build a blockhouse above Northfield," Lieutenant 
 Timothy Dwight, the same who was concerned twenty years later in 
 building forts Shirley and Pelham, left Northampton with sixteen 
 men, Feb. 3, 1724, to go up the river and begin the works, which 
 came to be called " Fort Dummer," and which was the first settle- 
 ment of w^hite men within the present state of Vermont. 
 
 As to the first exploit, in June, we cannot do better than to quote 
 the vivid account given in Hoyt's " Indian Wars " : — 
 
 Captain Humphrey Hobbs, with forty men, was ordered from Charlestown, 
 through the woods to fort Shirley in Heath, one of the posts on the Massachu- 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 205 
 
 setts line. The march was made without interruption, until Hobbs arrived 
 at what is now Marlboro in Vermont, about twelve miles northwest of Fort 
 Dummer, where he halted on the twenty-sixth of June to give his men an oppor- 
 tunity to refresh themselves. A large body of Indians, under a resolute half- 
 breed chief by the name of iSackett, discovered Hobbs' trail, and made a rapid 
 march to cut him off. Without being apprised of the pui-suit of the enemy, 
 Hobbs had circumspectly posted a guard on his trail, and his men were regaling 
 themselves at their packs, on a low piece of ground covered with alders, inter- 
 mixed with large trees, and watered with a rivulet. The enemy soon came up 
 and drove in the guard, which first apprised Hobbs of their proximity. With- 
 out the least knowledge of their strength, he instantly formed for action ; each 
 man selecting his tree for a cover. Confident of victory from their superiority 
 of numbers, the enemy rushed up and received Hobbs' well-directed fire, which 
 cut down a number and checked their impetuosity. Covering themselves also 
 with trees and brush, the action became warm, and a severe conflict ensued 
 between sharpshooters. The two commanders had been known to each other in 
 time of peace, and both bore the character of intrepidity. Sackett, who could 
 speak English, in a stentorian voice frequently called on Hobbs to surrender, 
 and threatened in case of refusal to rush in, and sacrifice his men with the 
 tomahawk. Hobbs in a voice which shook the forest as often returned a defi- 
 ance, and urged his enemy to put his threats in execution. The action continued 
 with undaunted resolution, and not unfrequently the enemy approached Hobbs' 
 line ; but were driven back to their first position by the fatal fire of his sharp- 
 sighted marksmen ; and thus about four hours elapsed, without either side giv- 
 ing up an inch of their original ground. At length finding Hobbs determined 
 on death or victory, and that his own men had suffered severely, Sackett ordered 
 a retreat, carrying off his dead and wounded, and leaving his antagonist to 
 continue his march without molestation. 
 
 1 Ills interesting struggle took place on the very upper waters of 
 Green River, which drops into the Deerfield only a mile or two 
 above the point where their united stream finds the Connecticut ; 
 and from this " rivulet " it was not far in a southwest direction to 
 the east branch, and thence on the same line to the west branch, of 
 the North River, so-called, which falls into the Deerfield a few miles 
 above Shelburne Falls ; and near this latter " rivulet " stood Fort 
 Shirley. Fancy the scene at the gate of the fort when these thirty- 
 three or thirty-four victors, for they lost but six men in the fight, 
 greeted their garrison brothers twenty -four hours later ! There was 
 more life, depend on it, in and around that sixty-foot square block- 
 house at that moment, than there ever had been before, or has been 
 since ! They raised Hobb there ! The monotony of garrison life 
 had been terrible on that hilltop for four years ; but now it was 
 broken for once ! The victors boasted that the Indians had been 
 pretty certainly four to one of the English. They related how, 
 often during the fight, they had seen the dead bodies of the Indians 
 
206 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 they had killed, sliding along the ground, as if by i^iagic, when the 
 comrade nearest to the killed, crawled up under cover of the trees 
 and brush, and fixing a tump-line to the body, dragged it to the rear, 
 after the Indian custom. Captain Ephraim Williams had left a 
 little time before this his previous headquarters at Shirley, to take 
 up the new command at Massachusetts ; and so these jubilant 
 soldiers from No. 4, coming we know not on what errand, and going, 
 we know not when and whither, left behind them vivacious tradi- 
 tions of their exploit among the soldiers serving along the Massa- 
 chusetts line, and left also the for once vivified Fort Shirley to its 
 subsequent insignificance and ultimate desolation. 
 
 The other military exploit of the summer, happening on the 2d of 
 August, concerns us much more nearly, inasmuch as it took place at 
 Fort Massachusetts, and affords us also our very first chance to 
 study in action the character of Captain Ephraim Williams, with 
 the added privilege of studying his own careful account of the affair 
 written on the very day it occurred. 
 
 It was from August to August two years between the first general 
 attack upon and the consequent surrender of the first Fort Massa- 
 chusetts in 1746, and the second and only other general assault 
 upon the fort after its rebuilding. The second fort was much the 
 stronger, as we have already seen ; but the cannon were undoubtedly 
 mounted so as to sweep the north and west, on which sides the 
 French and Indians would naturally appear, both from the point of 
 their general approach and especially from the lay of the land there, 
 and on which sides in the main the attack of 1746 was made; 
 while the attack of 1748 was very shrewdly planned on the part of 
 the French, was made from the east and south sides, — on which 
 the fort was less formidable, — and came very near being successful 
 on account of what one cannot help regarding as rashness on the 
 part of Captain Williams. We shall let him tell his own story in a 
 moment, but an outline of the main facts will prepare us the better 
 to judge of that and of him. 
 
 In the late afternoon of the 1st of August, the garrison (then 
 full) had good reason to believe that an ambush of French and 
 Indians had been laid in the woods that skirted the river on the 
 side next the fort. The place where the old Mohawk trail crossed 
 the Hoosac — a trail still used in these French wars — was due 
 east of the fort about fifty rods. The place is perfectly plain to 
 this day, — a broad shoal in the stream easily f ordable, — and still 
 used as a ford whenever anything happens to the highway bridge 
 just a little above. Just a little below the fording-place, the stream, 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 207 
 
 which here falls southerly, turns westerly, and keeps that course at 
 about the same distance to the south of the fort as to the east of it. 
 Dense woods skirted the stream on those sides of the fort. At six 
 o'clock on the morning of the 2d, Captain Williams went out at the 
 gate to observe the motions of the fort dogs, and satisfied himself 
 that the ambush was about forty rods to the east of the fort, 
 between it and the fording-place ; and going back into the fort, 
 where all was commotion, a few men were eager to go out and 
 reconnoitre. He refused to let them go because they were too few, 
 and, getting ready fifty men for a sajjy, he found that four men 
 had gone out without his permission, and were standing their 
 ground against twelve or fifteen who had come out into the open ; 
 whereupon, Williams hastily sallied with thirty men, and drove 
 these back into the woods near the fording-place, when fifty Indians 
 in ambuscade on his right (southeast of the fort) rose and gave him 
 a general discharge of their guns and then tried to get in between 
 him and the fort, that is, to cut off his communications ; but by a 
 quick movement in retreat, the Captain and his party regained the 
 gate just in time to have it shut in the face of the enemy. Lieuten- 
 ant Hawley and Ezekiel Wells were wounded (the last mortally) 
 in the sally. A large body of the enemy, probably their whole 
 force, estimated as between two and three hundred Indians and 
 thirty Frenchmen, then came out from their cover and opened fire 
 on the fort, which they continued nearly two hours under a spirited 
 response from the fort. One of the garrison, Samuel Abbot, was 
 killed. The enemy then drew off down the Hoosac by the old trail, 
 carrying their killed and wounded. 
 
 The criticism has often been made on Captain Williams that he 
 put everything to hazard by sallying when he was only half pre- 
 pared for it, before he had ascertained at all the strength of his foe, 
 and without entrusting his command to a subordinate. Had he 
 fallen in the sally, his party would in all likelihood have been cut 
 off, and the loss of the fort might have followed. Courage he had 
 in plenty. Had he a due military caution ? Under a proper sol- 
 dierly discipline, would four men have gone out in the face of the 
 enemy " unbeknown " to their commander ? Certain events in the 
 vicinity of Lake George, seven years later, throw back a melancholy 
 light upon these questions, and deepen the impression produced on 
 the mind by the history of war, that circumspection is one of the 
 chief virtues of a military officer. The Captain's own letter ad- 
 dressed to Colonel Israel Williams, his immediate military superior, 
 written on the day of the fight, is crowded with interest in every 
 
208 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 line, makes the best exj^lanation of his conduct possible to be had, 
 unfolds his own personal traits in several lines, and gives precious 
 glimpses of the conditions and circumstances of the time. 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, Aug't 2, 1748. 
 Sir, — You may remember in my last I informed you y* our scout to Scatti- 
 cook was discovered July 23 by the enemy and followed in, and that they had 
 observed the motion of the garrison night and day ever since — and that the 
 guards I had sent to Deerfield to bring stores I feared would be ambusht by an 
 army in yr. return. But to my great joy yesterday at 2 aclock post m, ye 2 
 Lieuts Severance and Hawley with 40 of the guard arrived safe at the fort. Had 
 not made any discovery of an enelny in their march from Deerfield here. But 
 in less than two hours after their arrival the dogs began to bark, run back 
 on their track some distance — were exceeding fierce. We all then determined 
 the enemy had followed them in. Kept a good look out, last night. This morn- 
 ing at 6 o'clock being out at ye gate and observing the motion of the dogs I 
 determined their was an ambush laid about 40 rods from ye fort, between the 
 fort and where we crost the River to go to Deerfield. Some of the men were 
 desirous to go see if it were so. I told them they should not go out so few. 
 But we would send out 50 men, (supposing we cou'd have given them a welcome 
 reception) (by taking ye advantage of the ground, with the assistance of our 
 cannon) . I went into the fort to consult my Lieuts. ; ordered them to git ready. 
 Had no sooner got into the fort but one of the enemy fir'd at our dogs, which I 
 suppose would have seaisd him immediately had he not. Upon that there went 
 of a volley of 12 or 15 guns at Severall men which had got out unbeknown to 
 me, who returned their fire & stood their ground. Finding our scheme was at 
 an end, we made a sally with about 35 men (in order to save those that were 
 out, & must in a few minutes have fallen into their hands). Engaged the 
 enemy about 10 minutes & drove them off the ground. Upon which, an ambush 
 of 50 men about 10 rod off arose on our right wing, & partly between us and ye 
 fort, & discharged a volley upon us, at which we were obliged to retreat. 
 Fought upon a retreat untill we got into the fort, which they attackt immedi- 
 ately upon our shutting the gate. Upon this I ordered the men to their posts, 
 (it being our turn now) & play'd away with our cannon and small arms, for the 
 space of an hour and 3 quarters by the glass. They then retreated by degrees 
 at a considerable distance, & so drew off. We had some fair shots in the fort. 
 As to what number we killed & wounded of the enemy is uncertain. We saw 
 them carry off but two, that was just as the fight was over. But this is certain a 
 great many of the men fired 4, 5, or 6 round apiece in fair sight, & at no greater 
 distance than 15 rods — a great many shots not above 7. On our side we had 
 not one killed on the spot & but 3 wounded, though I fear 2 are mortally so. 
 The men which are wounded are Lieut. Holley,. Sam'i Abbot, Eze^i Wells. Lt. 
 Hawley is shot through the calf of his legg with a large buck shot. Not hurt the 
 bone. Abbot is shot in below his navel. The bullet cut out at his buttock. 
 Wells is shot in at his hipp. The bullet is lodged in his groin. (The reason I 
 write so particular is on account of their friends.) One thing is very remarka- 
 ble (never to be forgot by us) that we should receive 200 shot at least in the open 
 field, not anything to git behind, and make a retreat of 40 rods, and but 2 men 
 wounded (for Abbot was not out with us) . 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 209 
 
 We have been out some distance [west] in order to judge better of their num- 
 ber. Ye army consisted of at least between two and 300 men, which was 
 chiefly of Indians, though I believe there was 30 French with a Commander in 
 Chief. Some of them talked good English, whether Indians or French I know 
 not. 
 
 I conclude by ading one thing more (viz.) ye officers and men behaved like 
 good soldiers. Not one man flincht in the wetting that was perceiv'd. Thus 
 Sr. I have given you an account of the whole affair as near as I can. 
 Blessed be God we have cause to sing of mercy as well as judgment. 
 I am Sr. Your Most Obedient 
 
 Humble Servant, 
 
 Eph. \N'n.i.iAMs, .JrxR. 
 Maj. Israel Williams, Esqr. 
 
 P.S. We have received one gun 2 hatchet & divers other small things. 1 . . \\ . 
 
 At the time when this interesting letter was written from Fort 
 Massachusetts, public affairs in Europe were converging towards the 
 Peace of Aix la Chapelle, which was duly signed on the 18th of 
 October, 1748, and which terminated for a time the war between 
 England and France ; but international news travelled but slowly in 
 those days, and colonial hostilities were kept up, more or less until 
 the outbreak of the next war, partly on account of ignorance of the 
 Peace, and partly in consequence of colonial dissatisfaction with the 
 retrocession at Aix, of Louisburg to France. The garrisons, how- 
 ever, were gradually reduced, as the true state of things became 
 better known ; from Sept. 10, 1748, to December following, there 
 were eighty men at Fort Massachusetts ; from December to June, 
 1749, fifty men ; and from eJune to Dec. 10, 1749, but twenty men. 
 "Williams continued in command there during the entire interval, 
 though he was but rarely personally present. Shirley and Pel- 
 ham soon fell into relative insignificance even as compared with the 
 more western fort ; and on July 15, 1749, Lieutenant-Governor 
 Phips (Governor Shirley being then, and for a long time, in Eng- 
 land) sent orders to Colonel Israel Williams, "that the forces 
 within ye County of Hampshire be doomed to the number of fifteen 
 men only, including officers, and them to be posted at the Fort called 
 Massachusetts Fort, and to be continued in pay till the first of May 
 next, the rest of the men to be forthwith discharged." 
 
 Let us now conclude the chapter designed to contain this first 
 section of the history of Fort Massachusetts, with some account of 
 the later activities of its early hero. Sergeant John Hawks. The 
 Sergeant had returned from his captivity in Canada, as we have 
 already seen, about the same time as the rest of the survivors of 
 the fort-capture, the northward journey, and the i)rison hardships. 
 
210 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 that is to say, in August, 1747. He did his best to secure from the 
 General Court what was due to his fellow-sokliers returned, and to- 
 the families of those who returned not, as appears from the following 
 minute of the House : — 
 
 Aug. 17, 1747. Voted, That the Treasurer be directed to pay what wages 
 there shall he due to the several soldiers arrived from Canada, who were taken 
 captive at Fort Massachusetts ; upon the certificate of Sergeant Hawks, that 
 they were in the service as entered upon the Muster-Roll. 
 
 Hawks was a citizen of Deerfield, and highly esteemed there ; 
 and so was John Catlin, whose acquaintance we have pleasantly 
 made as arranging for the early supplies of the fort. It will be 
 remembered also, that a part of the force coming to besiege Fort 
 Massachusetts in 1746, passed on to Deerfield, about forty miles 
 eastward, killed many persons there, and took young Samuel Allen 
 captive to Canada. Though his father was killed in this fight, and 
 his sister Eunice had her skull fractured by a tomahawk, youngs 
 Allen's friends were desirous to recover him, if possible, from 
 Canada ; and so, in February, 1748, Hawks received a commission 
 from acting-Governor Phips to go to Canada, and obtain young Allen 
 in exchange for Pierre Kambout, a French officer recently captured 
 at Winchester. Two Deerfield men. Lieutenant Matthew Clesson 
 and John Taylor, with the French captive, accompanied him. 
 
 The four men proceeded up the Connecticut to what is now Charles- 
 town, New Hampshire, then called fort " Number Four." On the 
 11th of February the party started for Crown Point, across the 
 Green Mountains; the route was through an absolute wilderness,, 
 there not being a solitary English settler within the present limits 
 of Vermont ; the season was inclement, the ground covered with 
 snow, the march made on snow-shoes, and all .their stinted provisions, 
 transported at their backs. They camped at night upon the snow 
 after the Indian manner, sometimes with no covering but the bare 
 heavens ; and though they bore a flag of truce, they were not with- 
 out well-founded apprehensions of meeting with hostile savages, 
 who might not understand nor respect their mission. Hawks had a 
 compass, and what is better, a good topographical instinct; he had 
 kept his eyes open to good purpose eighteen months before, when 
 he had gone with the captives down the Hoosac, and up Owl Kill, 
 and across to a tributary of Pawlet Creek to Whitehall ; there were 
 rudimentary Indian paths in summer-time through the wild forests 
 and over the watersheds, but these were mostly without a trace in 
 the winter snows, and the compass and the course of the streams 
 
FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 211 
 
 were the only guide ; at first they followed up the Black River on 
 the ice, as they thought, about twenty-two miles, to the present town 
 of Ludlow ; here they left the Black River, and crossing the crest 
 of the Green ^lountains in the modern town of Mount Holly, the}^ 
 struck an upper tributary of Otter Creek, which they followed to 
 its junction ; thence down Otter Creek, about twenty-four miles as 
 they judged, passing two cataracts ; and then they left the Creek, 
 turning sharp to the left, and hit the head of a small stream, which 
 fell into Lake Champlain opposite to Ticonderoga. The route was 
 then continued on the ice to Crown Point, and thence, in the usual 
 course on the lake, to Canada. 
 
 As this travelled route across Vermont, thus extemporized b}' 
 John Hawks with three companions, in 1748, became ten years 
 later the famous military road of General Amherst's campaign 
 against Canada, a part of it laid out by Hawks himself as a result 
 of his earlier experience gained along this way, as John Stark took 
 his soldiers from New Hampshire to Bennington, in 1777, along a 
 part of this very road, and as the present railroad across the Green 
 Mountains, and so onward to Ticonderoga, follows in large part the 
 route taken by Hawks in 1748, both outward and on his return ; it 
 may be useful to give here in order the names of the Vermont towns 
 traversed by Hawks and his party, beginning at the mouth of Black 
 River : Springfield, Weathersfield, Cavendish, Ludlow, Mount Holly, 
 Shrewsbury, Clarenton, Rutland, Pittsford, Brandon, Sudbury, and 
 Orwell on Lake Champlain. 
 
 When the party arrived at Montreal, Pierre Rambout was deliv- 
 ered over to the French commander there, and inquiries set on foot 
 for Samuel Allen, who was a nephew of John Hawks, and the main 
 object of the whole excursion. After a good deal of search, he was 
 found among the Indians, and had become so much attached to their 
 mode of life in the eighteen months he had lived among them, that 
 he was unwilling even to see his uncle, and showed great aver- 
 sion to returning home. When brought into Hawks's presence, he 
 acknowledged with reluctance that he knew him, and refused to 
 converse with him in English. Various means were used with him 
 to win liim back to his friends and country, all to no purpose, and 
 he was only recovered by threats and force. When the party 
 started to return with the lad in the early part of May, the Indians 
 showed a strong disposition to follow after and rescue him ; but they 
 did not, and Samuel Allen lived in Deerfield to old age, and main- 
 tained his Indian attachments to the last, being heard often to 
 declare that the Indian mode of life was the happiest. 
 
212 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 On the 7th of June of this year, the following message was sent 
 by His Excellency, the Governor, to the Colonial House of Represen- 
 tatives, by Francis Foxcroft, Esq. (viz.) : — 
 
 Sergeant John Hawk having laid before me the Journal of his Travel to and 
 from Canada, and his Petition to this Court for some Allowance for his Services 
 and Sufferings in the War, I can not but think he is well entitled to the Favour 
 of the Court ; and that what Notice you may take of him in these Circumstances 
 may be of publick Benefit by encouraging others to behave well in the Service 
 of their Country ; and therefore I would recommend it to you to make some 
 proper allowance to the said Sergeant Hawk upon his Petition. 
 
 This message was signed by William Shirley, and was referred, 
 together with Hawks's journal and petition, to a committee con- 
 sisting of Colonel Stoddard, Colonel Storer, and Major Cushing, 
 who reported, and the House thereupon ordered : — 
 
 That the following Allowances be made out of the publick Treasury, viz. 
 
 To Sergeant John Hawk, for his services in his Journey to Canada, thirty 
 pounds. 
 
 To Matthew Clesson and John Taylor, for their service, each twelve pounds 
 ten shillings. 
 
 To Sergeant Hawk, on account of his being wounded; losing his gun and 
 diverse implements provided for the use of the Garrison [at Fort Massachusetts 
 two years before] ten pounds twelve shillings and six pence. 
 
 We must here take present leave of John Hawks, who was forty 
 years old when he made this successful and well-appreciated trip to 
 Canada, and who continued for thirty-six years longer to be a useful 
 and prominent citizen of Deerfield in both private and public rela- 
 tions. The present writer copied, some years ago, from a headstone 
 in the old burying-ground at Deerfield, the following epitaph : — 
 
 In Memory of Col. John Hawks 
 
 Who died June 24, 1784 
 
 In the 77™ year of his age. 
 
 Before we take our final farewell of the first Fort Massachusetts, 
 and of the body of men who served within it and were carried into 
 captivity from it, some of us may be pleased to look over a list of 
 soldiers recruited for the fort during that summer of 1746, even up 
 to August 20, the day the fort surrendered to the French, especially 
 as nearly all of these enlisted men, although there was no fort for 
 them to serve in upon the Hoosac Meadow for more than nine 
 months, are nevertheless found as soldiers in the second fort, and 
 
FOKT MASSACHUSETTS. 213 
 
 several of them continued in the service till they were discharged 
 by reason of death, and still others of them continued in it till the 
 close of the war. 
 
 Kphraim Williauis, Jr., Cap' Stockbridge. 
 
 Elisha llawley, Lieut. . Northampton. 
 
 Daniel Severance, Lieut Fawl Town. 
 
 Caleb Chapin, Sergt Fawl Town. 
 
 Elisha Chapin, Sergt Springfield. 
 
 Nathaniel Eustis, Sergt Goare. 
 
 Adonijah Atherton, Sergt. Deerfield. 
 
 Ebenezer Gould Chelmsford. 
 
 Charles Parmeter, Sergt. .... Sudbury. 
 
 Jonathan Stone, Sergt Leicester. 
 
 Abraham Bass, Sergt Worcester. 
 
 John Hooker, Gunner Hatfield. 
 
 Richard Treat, Chaplain Sheffield. 
 
 Phineas Nevers, Surg Deerfield. 
 
 Isaac Wyman, Clark Woburn. 
 
 Ebenezer Reed, Cent Simsbury. 
 
 Barnard Wilds, Cent Rodetown. 
 
 Edmond Town, Cent Framingham. 
 
 John Harriss, Cent London. 
 
 Thomas Waubun, Cent Sherburn. 
 
 Micah Harrington, Cent Western. 
 
 Benj" Gould, Cent Woburn. 
 
 E.sack Johnson, Cent Rehoboth. 
 
 William Williston, Cent Rehoboth. 
 
 Charles Wintor, Cent Oxbridge. 
 
 James Hathon, Cent Ireland. 
 
 Richard Staudley, Cent Loudon. 
 
 Abner Robarts, Cent Sutton. 
 
 Jonathan Barren, Cent. Westfield. 
 
 Timothy HoUen, Cent Sutton. 
 
 Moses Attucks, Cent Leicester. 
 
 John Crofford, Cent Western. 
 
 Daniel Ward, Cent Upton. 
 
 William Sabin, Cent Brookfield. 
 
 Fortu" Taylor, Cent Leicester. 
 
 Silas Pratt, Cent Shrewsbury. 
 
 Charles Coats, Cent Deerfield. 
 
 Seth Hudson, Cent Marlborough. 
 
 Samuel Abbot, Cent Hardwick. 
 
 Ithamar Healey, Cent Rehoboth. 
 
 John Barnard, Cent Waltham. 
 
 John Morison, Cent Colrain. 
 
 John Henry, Cent Colrain. 
 
 John Martin, Cent Sudbury. 
 
 Ezekiel Wells, Cent Rodetown. 
 
214 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Samuel Wells, Cent Rodetown. 
 
 George Quaquagid, Cent New London. 
 
 Thomas George, Cent New London 
 
 Ebenezer Graves, Cent Deerfield. 
 
 John Bush, Cent Summers. 
 
 John Taylor, Cent Long Island. 
 
 Conawoca Delow, Cent Deerfield. 
 
 John Harmon, Cent Deerfield. 
 
 Nath. Brooks, Cent Deerfield. 
 
 Stephen Collier, Cent Oxford. 
 
 Jonathan Ennis, Cent Summers. 
 
 John Perkins, Cent Summers. 
 
 Aaron Denio, Cent Deerfield. 
 
 Benj'n Hastings, Cent 
 
 Benj'n Fassett, Cent Westford. 
 
 Benj'ii Robbarts, Cent 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 
 
 " How sleep the brave who sink to rest, 
 By all their country's wishes blest ! 
 When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, 
 Returns to deck their hallowed mould, 
 She there shall dress a sweeter sod 
 Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 
 
 " By fairy hands their knell is rung, 
 By forms unseen their dirge is sung ; 
 There Honour comes, a pilgrim gray, 
 To bless the turf that wraps their clay, 
 And Freedom shall awhile repair, 
 To dwell a weeping hermit there." 
 
 — William Collins, in 1746. 
 
 It is difficult, from the scant and scattered materials now extant, 
 to gather a clear and certain notion of the private cliaracter and 
 public services of the founder of the College, and the godfather of 
 the town ; and it is impossible to do this without characterizing at 
 some length, and through several generations, a family which had 
 striking traits of its own, the members of which to an unusual 
 degree clung together for mutual interests and advancement, and 
 which intermarried from time to time, with other prominent and 
 influential families in Xew England, — the whole giving a sort of 
 historical setting, and throwing an illumination around the bachelor 
 life and soldierly career of our founder. No other character in con- 
 nection with the town and the College, has anything like the interest 
 and fascination for posterity that attaches to him ; an interest that 
 awakens and deepens at every gleam of light which falls upon his 
 name and story from the pen of others, and especially which is 
 engendered by the comparatively few words now ^wssible to be 
 found, falling from his own pen. 
 
 Robert AVilliams sailed from the port of Norwich, England, and 
 settled in the town of Roxbury, Massachusetts, in or before the 
 
 215 
 
216 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 year 1638 ; because it is a matter of record that he became a free- 
 man of that town in 1638, and it is also a matter of record that his 
 son Isaac was born in Roxbury, Sept. 1, 1638. The common infer- 
 ence, however, is insecure, that, because he sailed from Norwich, he 
 was a Lincolnshire man, or even an Englishman. There has been a 
 strong tradition among his descendants for several generations, and 
 it was more than once expressed to the writer by the late Mark 
 Hopkins, who stood in the direct line, that Williams was a Welsh- 
 man ; and leading traits of the man and his successors, of whom 
 Farmer writes, that he was " the common ancestor of the divines, 
 civilians, and warriors of this name, who have honored the country 
 of their birth," have often been appealed to as Welsh. Edward A. 
 Newton, of Pittsfield, who married into the family, wrote in 1847, 
 not only in testimony of the family tradition, but also of his own 
 observation, — ^'Besides, the prevailing traits of character in all the 
 family I have known are Welsh." Robert Williams's wife was Eliz- 
 abeth Stratton. She died July 28, 1674, at the age of eighty. Her 
 gravestone is still extant in the Roxbury burying-ground. His last 
 Avill and testament was drawn up in full in 1685, and probated in 
 1693, the year of his death. His temporal estate was disposed of 
 mainly to his three sons, Samuel and Isaac and Stephen; and in 
 small part also to his brother, Nicolas Williams, and to three 
 grandchildren. 
 
 Robert's son, Isaac, born Sept. 1, 1638, married Martha Park, 
 daughter of Deacon William Park, of Roxbury. On reaching his 
 majority he purchased an estate of 500 acres on the Charles River, 
 in what is now the city of Newton, and settled upon it. Here his 
 first wife died, having borne him eight children ; and, in accordance 
 with a usage then almost universal in New England, he took a 
 second wife, Judith Cowper, about 1680, and she bore him four 
 children, of whom the youngest was Ephraim, born Oct. 21, 1691. 
 The children of the first wife soon found that they were possessed 
 of a step-mother, and that she was possessed of a devil. She proved 
 to be a cold, selfish, grasping woman, having little or no sense of 
 what was fair and right as towards the older children, — qualities 
 which she certainly transmitted to her only son, and which seem 
 to have come down more or less to descendants in several genera- 
 tions. In March, 1704, three years before his death, he conveyed 
 by deed to his youngest son Ephraim (then twelve years old) " in 
 consideration of the love, good will, and endeared affection, my 
 present dwelling-house and barn, with the land and meadow adjacent, 
 being all the land under my improvement, and all the land on the 
 
EPHRATM WILLIAMS. 217 
 
 east end of my farin, cimeu uit- • m-w ut-m, .mu half the land in 
 the * old field,' that is, all on the north side of the cart way, now ' 
 occupied by my son Eleazar, and all the wood land at the west end 
 of Eleazar's line, being the whole tract of land between the Fuller 
 line and the causeway over the meadow, leading to the Island, only 
 reserving half my said dwelling-house, and tire wood, for my dear 
 and loving wife Judith, during her life ; also a piece of meadow on 
 the south side of the land, called * the Island,' containing about six 
 acres, and one acre of salt marsh in Cambridge." He also made a 
 will confirming this conveyance by deed. It is no wonder that 
 Jackson, in his "History of Newton," employs the following strong 
 language : — 
 
 It seems apparent from the record, thai Llie inliuence of the beeunu wuc i)r<j- 
 vailed in this transaction, to secure most of the estate to her darling P'phraim ; 
 that, although he held a Captain's commission, she probably acted in this 
 instance in that capacity, with the assistance of some lawyer, who was willing 
 to take fees for helping enact injustice ; which will appear the more glaring when 
 we know that a large part of the estate came by the grandfather of the first 
 wife's children, whose portions were thus attempted to be wrested from them. 
 Of course the first wife's children remonstrated to the judge of Probate against 
 the will, as being " imperfect and insensible," stating that the lands of their 
 grandfather, William Park, in Newton, were never so alienated from him as to 
 cut off their descent to them ; and praying that the whole of those lands of 
 their grandfather Park, may be divided among the children of the first wife, as 
 is their right, and as the law directs. If not, they will proceed in their suit 
 before the Governor and Council. 
 
 As we might naturally suppose, the Judge of Probate set aside 
 this will as invalid, the attempted wrong signally failed of execu- 
 tion, and one year after the father's death the estate was finally set- 
 tled by mutual agreement among all the children. The father. 
 Captain Isaac Williams, died Feb. 11, 1707, aged sixty-nine, and was 
 buried under arms by the company of foot which he had com- 
 manded. It is a comfort to be able to add, that the widow Judith 
 lived among her children and step-children for seventeen years 
 longer, and had ample leisure, at any rate, for reflection and repent- 
 ance. Captain Isaac Williams was a weaver by trade, a deacon of 
 the church, a captain of infantry, many times a selectman of his 
 town, and representing it in the General Court in 1692 and 169") 
 and 1697 and 1699 and 1701 and 1705. 
 
 Ephraim Williams, born in Newton Oct. 21, 1691, notwithstand- 
 ing these untoward beginnings, which colored in spirit his entire 
 life, had a large career before him, and stood in such relations, both 
 before and after, that history can never pass him by without copi- 
 
218 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 ous notice. He married Elisabeth Jackson, April 1, 1713, and took 
 the ancient mansion and 100 acres of the homestead, that is to say, 
 one-fifth of the landed estate ; and his mother lived with him for 
 eleven years, until 1724, with "her firewood free," when she died, 
 aged seventy-six. Two sons were the fruit of this marriage with 
 Elisabeth Jackson, namely, Ephraim, Junior, born March 7, 1714, 
 and Thomas, born April 1, 1718. There was a second marriage with 
 Abigail Jones one year after the death of Elisabeth in connection 
 with childbirth. There were seven children by the later marriage, 
 three of whom will figure more or less on the future pages of this 
 book, while our chief interest will concentre, of course, upon the two 
 sons of the first marriage, especially the elder. The father in due 
 time became Justice of the Peace, and was seven times Selectman of 
 Newton. The last year of this service was 1736. The next year he 
 sold out the homestead and seventy acres of land to Jonathan Park, 
 and removed his residence, in 1739, from Newton to Stockbridge, 
 where he played a prominent part almost up to the time of his 
 death in 1754. The occasion of his removal to Stockbridge was 
 peculiar, and worth noting in this place. A successful Mission to 
 the Housatonic Indians had been established in Stockbridge in May, 
 1736, under the patronage of Governor Belcher and the General 
 Court of Massachusetts, which excited a deep interest throughout 
 this country and the mother country as well. When the town was 
 originally laid out, one-sixtieth part of the land was reserved for the 
 use of Mr. John Sergeant, the missionary, and another sixtieth for 
 Mr. Timothy Woodbridge, the missionary teacher; and four other 
 white families were also to be "accommodated with such part as 
 they should see fit," — a laudable provision for fellowship intended 
 not only for the society of the missionary and the teacher, but also 
 to afford practical models for the education of the natives in agri- 
 culture and housekeeping. Joseph Woodbridge from West Spring- 
 field, Ephraim Williams from Newton, Josiah Jones from Weston, 
 and Samuel Brown from Spencer, constituted the heads of these 
 four families, all of which became resident by 1739. Ephraim 
 Williams was chosen moderator of the first town-meeting in Stock- 
 bridge, convened July 11, 1739. He was soon appointed a judge of 
 the Court of Common Pleas of Hampshire County, in conjunction 
 with Joseph Dwight of Great Barrington, the new county of Berk- 
 shire not being organized till 1761, their courts being mainly held in 
 Springfield. In consequence of the long journey to his court by the 
 old military road through Barrington and Westfield, and the per- 
 sonal inconvenience accruing by absence from his family and inter- 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 219 
 
 ruptions to his local business, Williams resigned his judgeship in 
 1749, and gave himself thereafter with unusual diligence to the buy- 
 ing and selling of lands in the western end of the state, to a mer- 
 cantile business on what has since been called Stockbridge " Plain," 
 and later to much supervision and actual or attempted control of 
 the Indian Mission in Stockbridge, which led him into a large corre- 
 spondence and to frequent visits to the so-called commissioners in 
 Boston. His homestead was on the " Hill." His house there was 
 afterwards occupied by Kev. Dr. West, his son-in-law, and the site 
 (in general) is still pointed out by the dwellers on that charming 
 elevation. For reasons which will be again referred to in another 
 connection. Judge Williams, who was also a colonel of the militia, 
 was bitterly opposed to the coming of Jonathan Edwards to Stock- 
 bridge as missionary and preacher, as successor to John Sergeant, 
 Williams's son-in-law, who had died, beloved, in 1749 ; and this hos- 
 tility to Edwards, sometimes oj^en but more often underhanded, and 
 to the real interests of the Mission and its schools, gradually led to 
 an entire loss of confidence in him on the part of the people of 
 Stockbridge, to a frank exposure of his cold and selfish character by 
 Edwards himself in a letter to the commissioners, and to a con- 
 sequent sale in 1752 of all his property in Stockbridge to his eldest 
 son Ephraim, and to his abandonment of the town and a lonely life 
 of two years in Deerfield, where in the old burying-ground (not far 
 from the grave of John Hawks) one may still read his epitaph : — 
 
 In Memory of Col" Ephraim Williams Esq. 
 OF Stockbridge, who died Aug" ye 11^" 
 
 1754, IN YE 63" YEAR OF HIS AGE. 
 
 Blest be that Hand divine which laid 
 
 My Heart at rest beneath this humble shed. 
 
 The following letter from Rev. John Sergeant to Rev. Stephen 
 Williams, never before printed, gives a pleasing idea of the man, — 
 his sincerity and manliness. He did not belong to the goody-goody 
 order of men. He showed his piety by his life-work, and not par- 
 ticularly by his words at any one point of his extraordinarily useful 
 career. The most casual reader cannot fail to be struck with the 
 contrast between this letter and the next one, which is a letter from 
 Ephraim Williams, Sergeant's father-in-law, called out by the death 
 of the latter, and written to the same party as the other. One would 
 say, judging from this letter, that Williams was too pious by at 
 least nine-tenths of the quantum ; and by his actions afterwards 
 towards Sergeant's successor, — for whom he bespeaks Stephen 
 
220 OKIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Williams's prayers, — that he was too carnally-minded in at least 
 the same proportion : — 
 
 Stockbridge Feb. 22, 174^ 
 
 Rev^ Sir, I have yours in answer to one by an anonumous writer of Jan.y 14 
 last. Tis certain a Gentleman of my acquaintance wrote to you about that time, 
 but what business he had to write in answer to something you wrote to me with- 
 out liis name I cannot conceive ; if I find an opportunity I will give him the casti- 
 gation he deserves. — I conclude you have seen Mr. Woodbridge before now, and 
 that he has informed you, that two of Mr. Hollis's boys are willing to go abroad 
 again — If you can take them or anybody else with you I will send them down 
 immediately upon Mr. Woodbridge's return. I have received ye 5£ Bill you sent 
 by Capt. Williams and will send you another by the first safe opportunity. 
 
 I design by the favor of Providence to be at the Association. But am sorry 
 tis appointed to be at so great a distance as Sunderland. — 
 
 You find by the Publick Prints, that Count Zenzendorf is come into. America, 
 and that Mr. Teniiant finds him guilty of holding no errors. For my part I 
 much scruple the account Tennant gives of his doctrines, both because some of 
 them appear too absurd and ridiculous to be held by any man of Learning and 
 Sense, such as I suppose the Count is, and because one of his Missionaries near 
 Hudson's River, with whom I have begun a Correspondence, does not appear to 
 entertain such silly notions — for tho' he writes in a peculiar and enthusiastical 
 manner, yet he seems to have right notions of the manner of Conversion in 
 Adult sinners ; at least he plainly eno' supposes a deep conviction to be the 
 antecedent of it. 
 
 To I am Sir, your obedient 
 
 the Revd humble servant 
 
 Mr. Stephen Williams J. Sergeant. 
 
 at Springfield 
 
 Longmeadow. 
 
 Stockbridge August 7*]} 1749. 
 Revd and Dear Sir: Conclude the Surprising and Sorrowful news of mr. 
 Sergeants death, has reacht you before now : a most awful frown of Heaven 
 on us in this place in perticular, and a more Public loss than some may 
 think in Geni.i he was an Example in life, of Hollyness, meekness. Self-denial, 
 patience, diligence, and unweried application of body and mind, in the great 
 and good work, his Lov^ Lord and master, in his Providence, called him too : 
 was faithfull in it till death. Suddenly called him from his toilsom painfull 
 Labours to (no doubt) receive the wages and (of free grace) reward of a faith- 
 full Stuard of the manifold Grace of God : — The Lord in mercy. Sanctify to us 
 this heavy stroke of his holy hand. Support under it, and teach to proffit 
 savingly by it : and now my kinsman and friend as I am sensible you will be 
 nearly toucht with this stroke : so you will have a fellow feeling Simpathy, and 
 mourn with us that mourn : bear us continually on your mind and heart before 
 a compassionate Saviour, who is the refuge of the distressed, comforter of the 
 afflicted, the God and Husband of the widdow, and father of the fatherless — 
 and as you was Instrumentall in bringing and setling the Gosple of Christ here, 
 desire the Continuance of your advice care concern and utmost endeavor that 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 221 
 
 we may have a resettlement here with all possible, Convenient speed, and such 
 a won as shall bring great Glory to God and true peace comfort and enlarge- 
 ment, to us and his Church hear, in perticular ask your prayere for the 
 Bereaved, desolate family : tliat God would shine on them for the Lord's sake. 
 Sir, please to accept mine with my wives, Sincere Love and Respects, to 
 youi-self consort and family : — from your Sorrowfull, afllicted Kinsman ; and 
 Hum*>'« Servant 
 
 Epul Williams. 
 
 Ephraim Williams, born in Newton March 7, 1714, became the 
 father of this town and the founder of this College. The present 
 writer fortunately found among the papers of Israel Williams, of 
 Hatfield, who was the lifelong friend and near kinsman and co- 
 executor of the will of Ephraim, the following memorandum, which 
 sets at rest forever the long-disputed day and year of his l)irth: — 
 
 Colo Ephraim [Williams] 
 Born March 7 — 1714 
 new stile - Feb. 24 — old 
 
 JE. say 41 3^ 
 I have the record I. W. 
 
 The confusion both as to the month and day as well as to the 
 year of Ephraim Williams's birth, all of which have been variously 
 stated, arose not only from the change from Old Style to New Style, 
 which England formally adopted only in 1752, but also from the 
 differing dates at which in different countries the New Tear was 
 commenced, England also changing by the same Act of Parliament 
 in 1752 her old New Year's of the 25th of March to the 1st of Janu- 
 ary. Ephraim's own mother died when he was four years and one 
 month old, leaving his uterine brother Thomas scarcely two weeks 
 old ; and their grandfather, Abraham Jackson, took both these boys 
 to his own home and brought them up, and gave them a good edu- 
 cation for that time. He died in June, 1740, when Ephraim was 
 twenty-live years old and Thomas twenty-one, and bequeathed the 
 two grandsons in his will £200, saying in that connection that he 
 had already spent considerable sums for their bringing up and 
 education. Abraliam Jackson was son of the first settler of Cam- 
 bridge Village (afterwards called Newton), Deacon John Jackson, 
 baptized in the parish of Stepney, London, June 6, 1602, and set- 
 tling in Newton in 1639. Both father and son had a good estate 
 and bore an excellent reputation, and it goes without saying that the 
 future prominence of Ephraim and Thomas Williams was due far 
 more to the care and training of their maternal grandfather than to 
 any influence exerted upon their lives by their own father. These 
 
222 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 simple facts are absolutely all that we know, or ever can know, of 
 the childhood and youth of Ephraim Williams from contemporary 
 testimony. All else, until he assumed command at Fort Shirley in 
 1745^ — as was related in the last chapter, — when he was thirty-one 
 years old, is either an inference or a tradition or the result of 
 inquiries instituted long after his death. For instance, Ebenezer 
 Fitch, the first president of the College, wrote a paper in January, 
 1802, for the Historical Society of Massachusetts, of which he was 
 then a member, which is entitled, when published in the eighth vol- 
 ume of their Collections, " Historical Sketch of the Life and Charac- 
 ter of Colonel Ephraim Williams." This was forty-seven years 
 after his death. It is true there were then living in Williamstown 
 and its vicinity several survivors of the old garrison of Fort Massa- 
 chusetts as commanded by Williams, particularly Benjamin Simonds 
 and Seth Hudson, and nothing is more likely than that the former 
 of these furnished Fitch with the comparatively few details relat- 
 ing to the personal traits of Williams and to his early life. The 
 following sentences are the most precious in the sketch : — 
 
 Colonel Ephraim, the son, for several years in early life, followed the seas ; 
 but, by the persuasion of his father relinquished that business. In his several 
 voyages to Europe, he visited England, Spain, and Holland; acquired graceful 
 manners and a considerable stock of knowledge. In his person, he was large and 
 fleshy. He had a taste for books ; and often lamented his want of a liberal 
 education. His address was easy, and his manner pleasing and conciliating. 
 Affable and facetious, he could make himself agreeable in all companies ; and 
 was very generally esteemed, respected, and beloved. His kind and obliging 
 deportment, his generosity and condescension, greatly endeared him to his 
 soldiers. By them he was uncommonly beloved while he lived, and lamented 
 when he died. 
 
 The occasion of his " relinquishing " the seas may well have been 
 the death of his grandfather and foster-father, Abraham Jackson, 
 in 1740 ; possibly in some connection with the bequeathment to him, 
 by the latter, of what was then considered a considerable sum of 
 money. It is expressly said by Fitch that he left the seas at the 
 persuasion of his father, who had become established in Stock- 
 bridge, in 1739, with every prospect of position and fortune. It is 
 certain that the son became a resident and citizen of Stockbridge 
 not very long after the father died ; for he bought lands there about 
 that time, as the Deed Eegistries demonstrate ; and it is confidently 
 stated by Dr. S. W. Williams, in his '' Williams Family," — a book, by 
 the way, whose otherwise unsupported statements are to be received 
 with great caution, — that he even represented Stockbridge in the 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 223 
 
 General (.Oiiri ar Huston. This slatt'iiu'iit ui ins kiiisnuiii, derived 
 undoubtedly l>y a lively tradition in the family, is strongly confirmed 
 in two special ways, and becomes thei-eby entirely credible. First, 
 the entire military history of Williams from its very beginning in 
 1745, to its ending in 1755, shows that he had a remarkable personal 
 influence at Boston, both in the executive offices, and over the 
 General Court, because his requisitions for supplies and recruits 
 were, as a rule, complied with at a speed unusual in such matters 
 with such bodies, his own promotions in military rank were more 
 rapid than was then common, and all his existing correspondence 
 with the officials at Boston indicates, as to both parties, a sense of 
 equality and familiarity uncommon in corresponding letters of the 
 time. Second, this statement that he was early a member of the 
 General Court from Stockbridge, explains, among other things, 
 the following significant sentence from Fitch's sketch : — 
 
 His politeness and address procured liim a greater influence at the General 
 Court than any other person at tliat day possessed. He was attentive and 
 poHte to all descriptions and classes of men, but especially to gentlemen of dig- 
 nified characters ; and sought the company and conversation of men of letters. 
 
 As the news of the Peace of Aix la Chapelle, such as it was, 
 slowly diffused itself over Xew England in the fall of 1748, the 
 emphasis of the line of forts connecting the Hoosac with the Deer- 
 field and the Connecticut, and of present military employments as 
 compared with civil, naturally declined in the minds of prominent 
 and ambitious men ; and Ephraim Williams, not promoted to be 
 Major until June 7, 1753, although he continued throughout most of 
 the interval till the outbreak of the next war in the nominal com- 
 mand of Fort Massachusetts, yet his subordinates of lower rank 
 were found mostly adequate to the actual command of the now 
 diminishing garrisons, while the able and aspiring Captain naturally 
 looked for openings to some congenial civil employment not incom- 
 patible with a general oversight and responsibility of his men in 
 the fort. He continued to report their needs and their numbers at 
 stated times to headquarters. The officers and men referred to 
 him their jealousies and grievances. He made requisitions on the 
 Government for their sui)plies. He had fifty-six men at Fort Massa- 
 chusetts from Sept. 11, 1748, to March 11, 1749, and the original 
 muster-roll is still complete and legible in the Secretary's office at 
 Boston, From March 12 to Dec. 11, 1749, he had fifty-seven men 
 under his command there. Seth Hudson, whom we shall learn to 
 know better by and by, was one of the sentinels at 40s. a month. 
 
224 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 and also Surgeon at £44 7s. 6d. a year. From Dec. 11, 1749, to 
 June 3, 1750, there were only thirty-one men in that fort ; and 
 Hudson's salary as Surgeon was scaled down to £23 13s. 4d. a year. 
 The Captain had 42s. Sd. per month. Isaac Wyman was Clerk at 
 28s. 2c?. a month. Ever after the rebuilding of Fort Massachusetts 
 in 1747, the line of forts to the eastward were under a separate 
 command mostly, if not wholly; and Captain Israel Williams, of 
 Hatfield, had fifty-three men at Shirley and Pelham and Coleraine, 
 from Nov. 1, 1748, till April 3, 1749, having dismissed thirty-five 
 men at the first-mentioned date. Lieutenant William Lyman, of 
 Northampton, had only twenty-six men from June, 1749, to January, 
 1750, in the whole line from Shirley to Northfield, inclusive, men- 
 tioning in his return that a large part of the 100 men ordered 
 thither by the General Court had been dismissed. 
 
 But his principal residence now for several years was at Hatfield, 
 on the Connecticut. There resided Israel Williams, his half-cousin, 
 five years older than himself, who had just become Colonel of the 
 Hampshire Militia, in succession to Colonel John Stoddard, of 
 Northampton, a very able and ambitious man, who afterwards 
 became "ye monarch of Hampshire." Hatfield was rather the big 
 hive of the Williams family at that time, on account of the settle- 
 ment there as a minister of the Gospel, in 1685, of Eev. William 
 Williams, who was graduated at Harvard College two years before, 
 who died there in 1741 in the fifty-sixth year of his ministry, and 
 who left distinguished sons, leaving in turn a distinguished posterity. 
 Dr. Chauncy wrote of him in 1768, as follows : " I have read all of 
 Mr. Stoddard's writings [Eev. Solomon, of Northampton], but have 
 never been able to see in them that strength of genius some have 
 attributed to him. Mr. Williams, of Hatfield, his son-in-law, I 
 believe to have been the greater man, and I am ready to think 
 greater than any of his own sons, though they were all men of more 
 than common understanding. Eector AVilliams and Solomon, I give 
 the preference to the other sons." 
 
 Stockbridge, with its Indian population, its dozen or so English 
 families, and its half-cleared forests, was no such place for a rising 
 young man of power as populous Hatfield, with its powerful family 
 influences, closely connected as it was, by intermarriage and other- 
 wise with Deerfield and Northampton above, and Springfield and 
 Weathersfield below, on the river. Here were developing the men, 
 like Joseph Hawley, of Northampton, and Israel Williams, of Hat- 
 field, and John Worthington, of Springfield, who, not long after- 
 wards, used to be denominated in Boston as "the river-gods." At 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 225 
 
 Deerfield dwt-lt then nnn t*vt*r luwi. i^^»iu.ums only own brother, 
 Dr. Thomas Williams, a notable physician ; and the former appears 
 to have alternated his bachelor home for some years between that 
 of his cousin in Hatfield, and that of his brother in Deerfield. 
 Another very prominent man in Hatfield was Oliver Partridge (Yale 
 College, 1730), then High .Sheriff of the county of Hampshire, who 
 soon appointed him Deputy Slierift". In this capacity, the principal 
 courts of the county being then held in Springfield, Williams came 
 into terms of great intimacy and friendship with Colonel John 
 Worthington, who later became co-executor of his will. Indeed, his 
 position and relations were such, his genial and facetious and aspir- 
 ing qualities were such, that he easily found entrance and welcome 
 in the best families of the entire region ; including those of Major 
 Elijah Williams, of Deerfield, then Commissary in the western depart- 
 ment under John Wheelwright, of Boston, Commissary-General ; 
 this Elijah Williams was son to Rev. John Williams, of Deerfield, 
 the famous " Redeemed Captive " of 1704, who Avas half-brother 
 to Ephraim, Senior, so that the Commissary was half-cousin to 
 Ephraim, Junior ; and of Colonel John Stoddard, of Northampton, 
 Colonel Oliver Partridge, of Hatfield, and Colonel John Chester 
 (Harvard College, 1722), of Weathersfield. 
 
 Israel Williams stood in his generation in such constant and influ- 
 ential relations to causes and effects in the western end of Massa- 
 chusetts, and in particular to his half-cousin, the founder of our 
 town and College, being his chief counsellor while the latter lived, 
 and the main administrator of his property afterwards, that it seems 
 needful to our general purpose to give some details of the course of 
 his life. He was born in Hatfield, Nov. 30, 1709. His mother was 
 a daughter of Rev. Solomon Stoddard, for fifty-six years pastor of 
 the church at Northampton ; he was graduated at Harvard College 
 in 1729 ; and he married Sarah Chester, of a Weathersfield family 
 no less distinguished than his own. His father had been in the 
 ministry at Hatfield for fifty-six years when he died in 1741, as his 
 grandfather had been at Northampton the same length of time when 
 he died in 1729. He was o^vn cousin of Jonathan Edwards, whose 
 mother was also a Stoddard, of Northampton. He was the only 
 son of his father that remained in Hatfield as a home, and he 
 naturally entered into his father's great influence there, which he 
 came to supplement by military and organizing abilities of a high 
 order. His brother, Solomon, D.D., became a notable clergyman 
 and author at Lebanon, Connecticut, and was the father of William 
 Williams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Another 
 
226 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 brother was Rev. William Williams, of Weston, Massachusetts, a 
 graduate of Harvard in 1705, who married his step-mother's eldest 
 sister, Miss Stoddard, of Northampton, before his father connected 
 himself with that celebrated family of sisters. He was the father 
 of Colonel William Williams, of Pittsfield, and of Anna, wife of 
 Colonel Oliver Partridge, and of Esther, wife of Ephraim's own 
 brother Thomas. Still another brother of Israel was E,ev. Elisha 
 Williams (Harvard College, 1711), who married Eunice Chester, of 
 the Weathersfield family, and became President of Yale College in 
 1726, an office which he filled acceptably till 1739. Israel's own 
 sister, Dorothy, married Eev. Jonathan Ashley (Yale College, 1730), 
 long the minister of Deerfield, very intimate with our founder till 
 the latter's death in 1755, and w4io lived long enough to manifest 
 offensively to his own people and to all his neighbors up and down 
 the valleys of the Deerfield and the Connecticut, those pronounced 
 loyalist (Tory) views, which were characteristic of the whole 
 Williams family living at the outbreak of the Revolution. 
 
 As Israel Williams w^as own nephew of Colonel John Stoddard, 
 as he early showed signs of good military capacity, and as he was 
 five years older than his half-cousin Ephraim, it was natural and 
 proper that the former was pushed forward by the Colonel, as the 
 French War progressed, more prominently than the latter. During 
 the summer and autumn of 1748, while Ephraim was in command 
 at Fort Massachusetts as Captain, Israel, with the same rank and 
 with headquarters at Fort Shirley, held command over the entire 
 line of forts to the eastward. He makes return in November of 
 that year, of eighty-nine officers and men under his immediate orders. 
 His pay as Captain was 80s. per month. John Catlin, his lieuten- 
 ant, took 60s. 9d. per month. The sentinels had 40s. a month. At 
 that date there were at Fort Shirley, thirty-six men; at Pelham, 
 thirty men ; at Morrison's Fort in Coleraine, twenty-five men ; at 
 Coleraine South Fort, sixteen ; and at New Hampton and Blandford, 
 twelve men. During the same summer and autumn, Captain William 
 Williams, who was now Commissary at Hatfield, commanded also a 
 company of fifty-seven men, enlisted for "the line of forts" or 
 other service. In October, he was promoted to be Colonel. 
 
 It fell to Israel Williams, on the death of John Stoddard in 1748, 
 to become Colonel of the militia of Hampshire County, then cover- 
 ing the entire western end of the state. In that capacity, he had 
 the direct oversight of all the forts and military operations within 
 the county ; he made the general plan, on the basis of which the 
 campaigns of the next French war were conducted in the west ; his 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 227 
 
 correspoinu-iii r »ith the authorities at liostou ami elsewhere was 
 very voluminous, much of which is still extant among his papers 
 preserved; the reports from the forts, and from the scouts, and 
 from secret agents or spies, fell primarily into his hands ; he was 
 often called to Boston in council ; he was looked up to everywhere, 
 much as John Stoddard had been looked up to, but he had a per- 
 sonal vanity and a lofty pride, and a sort ot scorn for men of low 
 degree, to which Stoddard was a stranger. Civil emoluments accom- 
 panied and especially followed these military preferments, and min- 
 istered, perhaps, even more to his already profound sense of his 
 personal and political importance. He became a member of the 
 Governor's Council in Boston, and a judge of the Court of Common 
 Pleas. Francis Bernard, who succeeded Thomas Townal as Gov- 
 ernor of Massachusetts in 1760, and held the office for nine years, 
 came into great intimacy and mutual influence with Williams, which 
 lasted after his recall to England and advancement to a baronetcy, 
 as is seen in part by Williams's stiff loyalism, and his apix)intment 
 in 1774 among the mandamus councillors, although he never took 
 the oath. There is a long and most interesting letter in Volume 
 XX. of the '' Proceedings of the ]\Iassachusetts Historical Society," 
 pages 46-48, from Oxenbridge Thacher, of Boston, to Benjamin 
 Prat, Chief Justice of New York, and a former member of the bar of 
 Massachusetts, written in 1762, which graphically depicts, without 
 naming him, the traits and one of the characteristic schemes of Israel 
 Williams : — 
 
 What occasions y* most gaping of late (we are not awake enough to speak), 
 is a charter for a new college in y^ county of Hampshire. The monarch of 
 y« county, (you know it always was under regal governm*) took great offence 
 at his son's being placed some years ago something lower in a class at our 
 college than befitted y* son of a King, He therefore, and his privy council 
 came down y<* last Sessions prepared with a petition to incorporate a college in 
 y' county, which they modestly said was all they desired. They wanted no 
 money from y« government to support it. A bill passed in y^ house for this 
 purpose but was rejected at y^ board. In y^ situation the governor [Bernard] 
 granted a charter himself by his own single authority. This alarmed both 
 houses ; they chose a committee to wait on y« governor, to desire he would recall 
 y« charter. At last ye overseers of our college waked enough to have a meeting 
 on yc subject. There it was y» your old friend Summa [Thomas Hutchinson, 
 then Chief Justice and Lt. Gov. — very intimate with Williams] was put to his 
 trumps. You know he is y« idol of y« Clergy : you know also he is in strict 
 alliance, offensive and defensive, with the monarch of Hampshire and his 
 dominions. The only card he had to play was to delay y-' question. This he 
 played pretty dexterously. He magnified y« abilities and y« interest of y" Hamp- 
 shire members, intimated that it would be dangerous to offend them, suggested 
 
228 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 that measures should be taken to quiet them and persuade them to give up. In 
 vain for at three o'clock (to which time from ten o'clock ye governm* and 
 Summa had prolonged y^ debate) it was voted to choose a committee to prepare 
 reasons against y^ s^ college. This was accordingly done, y^ remonstrance pre- 
 pared and preferred to y^ governor, and he has given a gracious answer promis- 
 ing to vacate y^ charter, and I believe he will keep his word ; for your honest 
 old friend Lyman [Gen. Phineas Lyman of Northampton] assures us y' y^ project 
 is as much disliked in Hampshire as it is here. Thus y^ remonstranses of his 
 proper subjects, may reach y^ ear of the monarch, and he may give leave to 
 ye gov to keep his word. 
 
 It would not be fair to " the monarcli " to conclude from this pun- 
 gent extract from Thacher's letter that he had no other motive in 
 attempting to establish "Queen's College" on the Connecticut than 
 to spite Harvard for an alleged ill-treatment of his son and himself 
 " some years ago." The facts were these : John Williams, the son 
 referred to, was graduated at Harvard in 1751, and his name is- 
 placed in the Catalogue fourteenth in a class of thirty-five. As at 
 that time disposed, college names were not placed alphabetically as 
 now, but according to the social rank of the members, as that was 
 understood by the government of the College. The Colonel was 
 undoubtedly offended by the relatively low estimation in which his 
 own pretensions were held at Cambridge, and one evidence of this 
 is, that his next son, William, was graduated at Yale College in 
 1754, and was there placed fourth in a class of sixteen. It is only 
 a decent charity to suppose that AVilliams and the rest of the ^' river- 
 gods " had a natural feeling of locality and a genuine conviction 
 that the river was by this time entitled to a college of its own, all 
 its leading towns from Northampton to Weathersfield having been 
 established for more than a century; and Professor Tyler, in his 
 "History of Amherst College," refers with satisfaction to this 
 earliest effort to found a college in that neighborhood as a pre- 
 monition and sort of justification of the sixty-years-later foundation 
 of Amherst in the same stretch of the valley. By whatever motives 
 actuated, Williams's manuscript papers show his deep interest in 
 the proposed Queen's College. Among them is the draft of a charter 
 issued by Governor Bernard, incorporating "Israel Williams, John 
 W^orthington, Oliver Partridge, Elijah Williams, Josiah Dwight, and 
 Joseph Hawley, Esquires, and the Eevs. Stephen Williams, David 
 Parsons, Jonathan Ashley, Timothy Woodbridge, Samuel Hopkins, 
 and John Hooker, ministers of the Gospel," as President and Fellows 
 of Queen's College in New England. The names designated in this 
 act of incorporation demonstrate again for the hundredth time the 
 thorough alliance in New England during the eighteenth century 
 
EPHRATM WILLIAMS. 229 
 
 between bar and bench aud eit-iyv m an public action, especially in 
 defence of the old-time methods in Church and State and Education. 
 There was a ruling class in New England just as much as in Old 
 England, and their grip was just as firm. In Massachusetts, Israel 
 AVilliams stood at the head of the consolidation in the west as 
 Thomas Hutchinson did on the seaboard. 
 
 There is a draft of a letter among his extant papers that also 
 serves to exhibit Williams's motives in starting the new College in 
 a better light than that thrown on them by Oxenbridge Tliacher. 
 It is directed to William Smith, of New York, who afterwards 
 became Chief Justice of that Province, as did also Benjamin Prat, 
 the correspondent of Thacher. From this letter it appears that 
 Williams's first design was to obtain a charter from the King, — 
 that is, through Governor Bernard, as representing the royal author- 
 ity ; but on learning Smith's legal opinion, that a charter through 
 Bernard, under the Massachusetts Constitution, would not be valid, 
 he determined to reach his end in the most open way jx)ssible, 
 namely, by means of a petition to the whole Legislature, of which 
 at that time the Governor and his Council formed the Upper House. 
 Williams proceeds to say : — 
 
 Accordingly one was prepared. When I went to court, soon after, I waited 
 upon Governor Bernard and let him know our design, your opinion, and that 
 Mr. Gridley was of the same. He freely and fully went into the consideration 
 of the affair [the founding of the new college], and expressed himself entirely 
 pleased with the proposal ; but as to the charter he was of opinion he had a 
 right to give one as the King's representative, and that it was a royal right 
 reserved in the crown which by the charter [to the Province] the King had 
 never given away. 
 
 Accordingly, Bernard issued the charter for the College in due 
 form and in the King's name, much as about the same time John 
 Wentworth, of New Hampshire, chartered Dartmouth College and 
 Jonathan Belcher the College of New Jersey. When Bernard 
 yielded, however, to the remonstrances of Harvard, and invalidated 
 the charter for the present, Williams was naturally much displeased, 
 and went on in this letter to Smith to inveigh against what he 
 regarded as the timidity of the Governor, who tried, nevertheless, 
 to placate him by desiring the corporators to take a copy of the 
 charter and to organize the body so far as to be in readiness to act 
 in case the charter might receive the necessary future confirmation. 
 The charter permitted the College to be in Northampton, Hatfield, 
 or Hadley. There were two meetings of the corporators accord- 
 ingly, — one in March, 1762, at the house of Rev. John Hooker in 
 
230 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Northampton, and one in May following at the house of Eev. 
 Samuel Hopkins in Hadley. The project went so far as the erec- 
 tion of a building in Hatfield, or at least the designation of a build- 
 ing already erected, as ''Queen's College," and students were cer- 
 tainly in preparation for entering it. Long into the present century 
 an old gambrel-roofed schoolhouse stood on Hatfield Street, and per- 
 sons w^ere still living there in 1880 who had not only seen it but had 
 heard it called " Queen's College." The present writer called about 
 that date upon an old man there, born and bred in Hatfield, then 
 about ninety years old but in good possession of mind and memory, 
 who assured his incredulous caller with emphasis, — "There used to 
 be a college here, and I have seen it myself ! " The same narrator 
 related to the same listener traditional stories of the haughtiness of 
 Israel Williams and of his habitual contempt for the common people, 
 and ending with the usual futile threat of those times on the part of 
 one thus maltreated, — " I'll shoot him in battle in the next war, if 
 there ever comes another war ! " A clear tradition preserves the 
 site of the Colonel's house on Hatfield Street, but the place of 
 "Queen's College" — short-lived if not stillborn — can no longer be 
 identified. The loyalism of Williams and of his sj)ecial friends, 
 also, intensified as the Kevolution drew on and progressed; and in 
 Sabine's " Loyalists " occurs the following passage relating to him : — 
 
 Though old and infirm, he was visited by a mob at night, taken from liis 
 house, carried several miles, and put into a room with a fire, when the doors 
 and the top of the chimney were closed, and he was kept several hours in the 
 smoke. On being released he was compelled to sign a paper dictated by his tor- 
 mentors. The circumstance did not escape Trumbull's caustic pen, and he asks 
 in "McFingal," — 
 
 " Have you made Murray look less big, 
 Or smoked old Williams to a Whig ? ' ' 
 
 Colonel AYilliams died in 1788, in consequence of a fall down his 
 own cellar-stairs. His age was seventy-nine. He outlived his 
 cousin and intimate friend — the subject of this chapter — for 
 thirty-three years. He served his active generation with more 
 ability, more fidelit}^, more conspicuity, than did that other. His 
 name, nevertheless, is growing dimmer and dimmer all the while in 
 the minds of men ; the name of that other is growing brighter and 
 brighter as the decades and half -centuries go by. What is the reason 
 for this ? It all turns on one act of that other, done in the last 
 summer of his life, done as an alternative to another that hovered 
 and almost prevailed over him, an act indeed carried into execution 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 231 
 
 by the then foremost but now hindmost man, — an act of thought- 
 fulness and of provision for the poor and for the future ! 
 
 We return now to Captain Ephraim Williams in his connection 
 with military affairs. Although he lived but little at Fort Massa- 
 chusetts in the years 1749, 1750, and 1751, that was all the while 
 his headquarters. He controlled as Commander the ongoing of 
 things; he sent in from time to time the muster-rolls of the men 
 at this post to the provincial government at Boston, and took oath 
 to their general correctness ; he ordered supplies for the sick 
 soldiers under his care directly, and indicated to Elijah Williams at 
 Deerfield, the Commissary, the present and prospective needs of 
 common supplies ; and while his chief residence during these years 
 was on the Connecticut River, he was often in Boston on military 
 and other business, and often at the forts, not only on his way back 
 and forth but also as the agent of the Government in subsisting 
 enlisted men, and certain French Protestants also, who had become 
 a charge to the authorities at Boston. 
 
 June 3, 1750, Paid to Eph. Williams for subsisting 11 men at Shirley and 
 Pelham £16., 6., 10. Ditto ye remainder at Fort Massachusetts, £198., 0.» 8. 
 
 Fort Massachusetts (for the sick) 
 
 30 gallons of Rum £14., 6 
 
 60 Butter 3., 15 
 
 100 lbs Sugar 6.. 
 
 00 candles 4., 10 
 
 100 lbs Rice 3.. 
 
 6 Bush. Indian Meal 2.. 
 
 2 Bush. Oat Meal 1., 10 
 
 4 Wood Axes 3.. 
 
 1 Grindstone 2., 10 
 
 Eph. Williams, Capt. (own hand). 
 
 Many such bills as these are scattered through the records, indi- 
 cating a large activity on the part of the officer, and unusual confi- 
 dence in his integrity on the part of the authorities above him. 
 
 A Muster Roll of the Company in His Majesty's service under the 
 Command of Ephraim Williams, Junr. at Fort Massachusetts, from 
 March to Dec 11, 1749. [Sworn to Dec. 11, 1749] 
 
 Ephraim Williams, Capt. Jonathan Stone, Corp\ 
 
 Elisha Ilawley, Lieut. Abraham Bass, Corpl 
 
 Caleb Chapin, Sergt. Isaac Wyman, Clerk. 
 
 Nathaniel Eustis, Sergt. John Hooker, Gun": 
 
 Charles Parmetor, Corpl Elisha Chapin, Serj» 
 
232 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Phineas Nevers, Surge. 
 Seth Hudson, Surge. 
 Seth Hudson, Cent. 
 Oliver Avery, Cent. 
 Lemuel Avery, Cent. 
 Moses Peter Attucks, Cent. 
 Jonathan Barron, Cent. 
 John Bush, Cent. 
 Nathan^ Brooks, Cent. 
 John Croffard [Crawford], Cent. 
 Charles Coats, Cent. 
 William Sanderson, Cent. 
 Charles Denio, Cent. 
 Jonathan Evans, Cent. 
 Ebenezer Graves, Cent. 
 Micah Harrington, Cent. 
 James Hathorn, Cent. 
 Timothy Holton, Cent. 
 Ithemer Healy, Cent. 
 John Henry, Cent. 
 John Harmon, Cent. 
 Benja. Hastings, Cent. 
 John Morrison, Cent. 
 Silas Pratt, Cent, 
 
 Benja. Roberts, Cent. 
 Abner Roberts, Cent. 
 Ebenezer Reed, Cent. 
 James Smith, Cent. 
 Edmond Town, Cent. 
 Fortunatus Taylor, Cent. 
 John Taylor, Cent. 
 Daniel Ward, Cent. 
 William Williston, Cent. 
 Samuel Wells, Cent. 
 Ezekiel Wells, Cent. 
 Simeon Wells, Cent. 
 Samuel Calhoun, Cent. 
 Daniel Graves, Cent. 
 Nath. Harvey, Cent. 
 Barnard AViles [Willis], Cent. 
 Samuel Taylor, Cent. 
 Leml Avery, Cent. 
 Saml Calhoun, Cent. 
 Cesar, Negro, Cent. 
 Zacha. Hicks, Cent. 
 Benja. Tilton, Cent. 
 Moses Tinney, Cent. 
 
 Here are fifty-seven names; but one of them, Seth Hudson, is 
 repeated, and two others, Lemuel Avery and Samuel Calhoun, seem 
 to be repeated. Seth Hudson, afterwards a prominent settler in 
 Williamstown, was " Centinel '' at 40s. per month, and at the same 
 time " Surgeon " at £44 7s. 6d, per annum. Silas Pratt was from 
 Worcester, Micah Harrington from Upton, Edmond Town from 
 Framingham, — all later settlers in Williamstown. Calhoun, Wil- 
 lis, Morrison, Denio, and Crawford were certainly Scotch-Irish, and 
 probably two or three more. Charles Coats, who could not write 
 his own name, was a trusty scout, who had been in the service from 
 ;the opening of the war. "March 3, 1746. Received of Maj. Is. 
 Williams ten pairs Indian Shoes, which I promise to deliver to 
 
 his 
 
 »Capt. Elijah Williams of Deerfield. Charles r. Coats." A severe 
 
 mark 
 
 sickness had prevailed at Port Massachusetts during the autumn of 
 1748, which may go far to account for the presence of two surgeons 
 there during the next year, as by the above muster-roll. The 
 roll sworn to Nov. 3, 1748, contains the names of but forty-three 
 men, while another roll, made out some months earlier, holds the 
 names of eighty-four men. There lies now before the writer a 
 copy of a list of thirty "dismissed men," sworn to April 10, 1749. 
 
EPHRAFM WILLIAMS. 233 
 
 Whether these were sick men, dismissed on account of inability the 
 previous autumn, or were men dismissed on account of the news of 
 the Peace of Aix la Chapelle, cannot now be certainly known. It is 
 certain, however, that Lieutenant Daniel Severance, of Falltown, 
 and Corporal Ebenezer Gould, of Chelmsford, were already dead 
 when this list was sworn to at Boston. Two Indians are among the 
 number dismissed, — Thomas Waubun and George Quahquaquid. 
 
 A previous roll of the garrison at Fort Massachusetts, extending 
 from December, 1747, to March, 1748, covering time before Captain 
 Williams had reassumed the command at that end of the line, is 
 interesting as giving the residence of the men so far as was known. 
 
 Mi-u u Roll of the Company in his Majksh '» m:,kvice under the 
 
 COMMAND OF ElISUA HaWLEY. 
 
 Elisha Hawley, Lieut Northampton. 
 
 John Foster, Sergt Deerfield. 
 
 Ebenezer Gould, Corp'l Chelmsford. 
 
 Oliver Avery, Cent Deerfield. 
 
 Oliver Barret, Cent Dracut. 
 
 Jesse Heath, Cent Woodstock. 
 
 Jonathan Barron, Cent 
 
 Abraham Bass, Cent Worcester. 
 
 Thomas Hooper, Cent Mendon. 
 
 Daniel Ward, Cent Shrewsbury, 
 
 Zachariah Hicks, Cent. . - Sutton. 
 
 Richard Burt, Cent Kingston. 
 
 John Crooks, Cent Marlborough. 
 
 Richard Staudley, Cent Woburn. 
 
 Nathaniel Smith, Cent Marlborough. 
 
 David Thomson, Cent Bilerica. 
 
 Daniel Kinney, Cent Sutton. 
 
 Thomas Blodget, Cent Chelmsford. 
 
 Isaac Wyman, Cent Woburn. 
 
 Nathaniel Hunt, Cent Dracut. 
 
 Eliseus Barron, Cent Dracut. 
 
 Joseph Wilson, Cent Bilerica. 
 
 John Cory, Cent 
 
 James Smith, Cent Leicester. 
 
 Jonathan Dutton, Cent Bilerica. 
 
 Joseph Washburn, Cent 
 
 Edward Brooks, Cent Western. 
 
 Fortunatus Taylor, Cent Shrewsbury. 
 
 Amasa Cranson, Cent Shrewsbury 
 
 Benjamin F'airbank, Cent Dudley. 
 
 William McClallan, Cent Worcester. 
 
 Silas l*rat, Cent Worcester. 
 
234 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Abner Robards, Cent 
 
 Moses Peter Attacks, Cent Leicester. 
 
 John Crafford, Cent Worcester. 
 
 Samuel Bowman, Cent Worcester. 
 
 Abraham Peck, Cent 
 
 Hezekiah Wood, Cent 
 
 William Sabins, Cent Brookfield. 
 
 John Morse, Cent Woodstock. 
 
 Cesar Negro, Cent 
 
 Thomas Walkup, Cent 
 
 Joseph Bates, Cent Dracut. 
 
 Cesar Negro was a servant or slave of Hezekiah Ward, and doubt- 
 less did military service in behalf of his master; Moses Peter 
 Attacks stood in a similar relation to John White: the names of 
 the masters stand in the margin of the muster-rolls over against the 
 names of the servants. It will be remembered that slavery was not 
 legally abolished in Massachusetts till 1780, and then only indirectly, 
 as the result of phrases in the state constitution of that year. 
 
 The next roll in the order of time extends from Dec. 11, 1749, to 
 June 3, 1750, and gives twenty-one men to Fort Massachusetts, five 
 expressly to Fort Shirley, and five, apparently, to Fort Pelham, 
 although the official indorsement mentions only "Eph'" Williams 
 and Co. at Fort Massachusetts." As most of these men gained a cer- 
 tain prominence afterwards in civil life, and some of them even dis- 
 tinction, no one will begrudge the space here taken up by their names. 
 
 Ephraim Williams, Captain Abner Robbarts, Cent.i 
 
 Elisha Hawley, Lieut. Ebenezer Reed, Cent.i 
 
 Isaac Wyman, Clerk. John Taylor, Cent.i 
 
 Seth Hutson, Surgeon. William Williston, Cent.i 
 
 Oliver Avery, Cent.i Samuel Taylor, Cent.i 
 
 Samuel Avery, Cent.^ " Samuel Calhoun, Cent.^ 
 
 Abraham Bass, Cent.i Nathaniel Harvey, Cent.^ 
 
 Ebenezer Graves, Cent.i Ezekiel Foster, Cent.^ 
 
 John Hooker, Cent.^ Moses Tenny, Cent.^ 
 
 Micah Harrington, Cent.^ 
 
 John Harmon, Cent.^ TFoster was " omitted in my last""! 
 
 Silas Pratt, Cent.i LTenny do. ' ' on Col. Williams Roll ' ' J 
 
 William Lyman, Lieut. 
 Peter Bovee, Cent. 
 Gershom Hawks, Cent. 
 John Pannell, Cent. 
 Samuel Stebbins, Cent. 
 
 §5 Joseph Allen, Sergant. "^ J 
 
 3- Joshua Hawks, Cent. | 3- 
 
 m Joshua Wells, Cent. 
 
 t;- Daniel Donnilson, Cent. 
 
 4' William Stevens, Cent. J ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 The next roll in order of time covers but seventeen men, and 
 extends from June 4, 1750, to Jan. 13, 1751. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 235 
 
 In connection with this roll, Williams sends in a bill for sundries 
 necessary at Fort Massachusetts. The bill, the note appended, as 
 well as the signature, are in Williams's own handwriting. 
 
 1 Flagg and lialiards 6 yards Fly 
 4 Water Buckits 
 1 Box Candles 30/ 
 
 4 Wood Axes 
 
 Sundries for the Sick 
 
 1 Firkin Butter 20/ 
 
 Yi bl. N. E. Rum 
 1 Peck Oatmeal 
 yi lb Rice yi Sugar 
 
 These certifies yo' honours y* none of the above articles have been supplyed 
 Capt. Williams since Dec. 1749, and has had noe Flagg and Halliards tor Massa- 
 chusetts Fort since it has been built. 
 
 Eph. Williams Jb. 
 
 Peace was thinning out the ranks of the garrisons; but there 
 were numbers of men in Western Massachusetts and elsewhere, and 
 Israel Williams was among them, who already clearly perceived 
 that the " Peace " was to be only a " Truce," and that preparations 
 were only in order for what was felt would be a decisive struggle 
 between England and France for the possession of North America. 
 It was planned during this winter to build a "mount" upon one of 
 the comers of the Fort Massachusetts, which should be forty feet 
 high, and also to strengthen the fort on the outside by a strong 
 line of high pickets, similar to those that constituted the fort called 
 " Pelham " to the eastward ; both of which plans were accomplished 
 in the sequel by the agency of Ephraim Williams, as we shall 
 shortly see. Israel Williams was alreatly studying on that detailed 
 plan of offence and defence for the next war, which he communi- 
 cated in form, not very long afterwards, to his superiors at Boston, 
 parts of which were ultimately adopted by Governor Shirley and 
 the officers summoned into council with him. Forts Shirley and 
 Pelham, upon their distant hilltops, had proven themselves to be 
 nearly useless in the late war, and Colonel Williams advised their 
 abandonment, and the fortifying of Fort Massachusetts, and the 
 using of the Hoosac Route as the way of offence against the French. 
 In the meantime it is rather pleasant to run over the names of the 
 men who spent that long winter on the Hoosac Meadow, Deerfield 
 being their nearest place of supplies, meditating, as men must under 
 those circumstances, " What shall be on the morrow ? " 
 
236 ORIGIiTS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Ephraim Williams, Capt. Nathaniel Harvey, Cent. 
 
 Elisha Hawley, Lieut. Seth Hudson, Cent. 
 
 Oliver Avery, Cent. Elisha Chapin, Cent, 
 
 Lemuel Avery, Cent. Abner Roberts, Cent, 
 
 Abraham Bass, Cent. Samuel Taylor, Cent. 
 
 Samuel Calhoun, Cent. Isaac Wyman, Cent. 
 
 Ezekiel Foster, Cent. Paul Langdon, Cent. 
 
 Ebenezer Graves, Cent. ( omitted on ^ 
 
 Micah Harrington, Cent, Aaron Vanhom ) my KoU end- V Cent. 
 
 Boston, Jan. 13, 1751. Errors Excepted. 
 Per Ephraim Williams. 
 
 The blacksmith work for the fort itself and also for the soldiers 
 garrisoned there was done in all these years by Seth Pomroy, of 
 Northampton. There is an extant bill, written out as follows 
 in the blacksmitJi's own hand, and sent in a letter sealed and 
 
 addressed to 
 
 Maj. Ephraim 
 
 Williams att 
 
 Hatfield. 
 
 Capt. Ephraim Williams Dr. to S. Pomrot 
 
 Julv 1750 / "^^ mending your Soldiers guns at sundry times \ n 14 
 1 in lawfull money / 
 
 Julv 1751 / ^^^® *^ mending guns and Locks at sundry { ^ 
 ^ times S 
 
 10 
 
 £14 4 
 
 Seth Pomroy. 
 
 To 38 Indian Shoes for the Scouts at Fort Massachusetts, & the 
 
 line of forts per order 8 4 8 
 
 To one deer skin to mend the Shoes 8 10 
 
 Lawi money £8 13 6 
 
 Sworn to before Elijah Williams Israel Williams 
 
 Just.Pacis Ephraim Williams. 
 
 Bill allowed to Eph. Williams for furnishing provisions at Hatfield, Deerfield, 
 Charlemont and Fort Massachusetts to French Protestants, £6 0. 
 
 Prov. Massachusetts to Ephraim Williams Dr. 
 
 To 72 Butter @ 1/ 2d. £4 4 
 
 85 Sugar @ 1/ 10c?. 7 15 10 
 10 galls Rum ye Doctor expended in dressing the wounded 
 
 at 10/ 5 
 
 New Tenor £16 19 10 
 Nov. 4, 1748 
 
 Eph. Williams Jr. 
 
£2 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 »> 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 £12 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 23' 
 
 1751 Prov. Massachcsetts To Eph^- Williams Dr. 
 
 June To Erecting a Watch Box 40 Foot high and 8 Foot square 
 To cash p<* a Carpenter for 10 days Work @ 4/ 
 To cash p«* 2 Labourers 20 days @ 2/ 
 To 15 sacks @ 3/ 
 
 To cash p** Freight of 3 : 4 pounders with Carriages from 
 
 Boston to New York 
 To ditto from New York to Albany 
 To ditto from Albany to the Landing place at Van- 
 
 derhidens [now Troy] 
 To Transporting them 30 Miles to Fort Massachusetts 
 
 Lawfull Money 
 
 Eia. & A low VI by the 
 
 Com<*« J. Osborne 
 Boston January 8^^ 1752 
 Suffolk ss. January 20'»» 1752 
 Swome to before the Committee 
 
 Jacob Wendell Just. Pacis 
 
 Errors Excepted 
 p Eph. Williams junr. 
 
 Province Massa"^ To Ephraim Williams Dr. 
 
 1751 To sundry Goods for the Mohawks delivered To Col^ Joseph I'inchon 
 Aug'. 21 Capt. Josiah Dwight and Capt. John Ashley the General Courts 
 Committee. Viz* 
 
 To 4 Ells Garlick a 3/ 4«* j4 per Ell 13 6 
 
 To 2 yards of Callico a 4 3)4 
 
 To 1 Piece Callico 3 7 6 
 
 L.M. £4 6 3)4 
 
 Alow'd by the Com»f« 
 
 J. Osborne. 
 
 Province Mass^ To Ephraim Williams Dr. 
 
 1751 To Cash paid Major Pomroy for mending the Soldiers 
 
 July Guns posted at Fort Massach"* £1 
 
 1754 To an Express sent by Col® Israel Williams to 
 
 Sept. n*** Govenr Shirley viz». 
 
 4 days Travel & Expenses a 6/ 
 
 To my Time in Wating upon His Excelly 5 days a 3/ 
 
 To my Expences 5 days a 4/ 
 
 To Cash paid Horse Hire for the above Express 
 
 £4 1 .-. 1 
 
 Boston November 16, 1754 
 AlowM by the Com»«« Errors Excepted 
 
 J. Osborne Eph. Williams. 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
238 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 1751 Province of ye Massachusetts Bay De. 
 
 To Anthony Glazier 
 
 To going to Fort Massachusetts & back at 20s old Ten' 
 
 Provisions per day for 28 days 28 
 
 Supra C' 
 By 12 days Provisions of ye Comiss" at 20/ 
 
 Old Ten' per day 12 
 
 Due in Old Tener 16 
 
 Alow'd by the Com*ee j. Osborne 
 going Interpreter w^^ ye Palatines. 
 
 Balance L M £2 
 
 1751 Provw Massachusetts To Ephraim Williams Dr. 
 
 For Provisions and other subsistance supply' d the French Protestants 
 after the Provisions was Expended that the Commissary General 
 supply'd them with — 
 
 Decemb' 
 
 To Cash pd for Provisions for them at Hatfield £0 7 2 
 
 To Ditto at Deerfield 1 15 
 
 To Ditto at Charlamont 10 6 
 To Billeting them at the Fort and Provisions till their 
 
 Return to Boston 76 days for 1 man 4 13 8 
 
 Lawfull Money £7 6 4 
 Boston Jan'y 7*^ 1752 
 
 Errors Excepted 
 
 Alowed by the Com'ee 
 
 J. Osborne 
 Suffolk ss. JanT 20*^ 1752 
 
 Sworne to before the Committee Per Eph™ Williams jun 
 
 Jacob Wendell 
 
 Just. Pea: 
 
 Indent op Sundrys Necessary at Fort Massachusetts 
 4 Water Bucketts — 1 Box Candles 30 1^ _ 4 Wood Axes 
 
 Sundrys for the Sick Viz*. 
 1 Firkin Butter 30'^ — ^ bb. New England Rum — 1 peck Oatmeal y^ b^ Rice 
 — 10 'b Currents, 10 ib Reasins 
 
 January 10'^ 1750, The above Articles were supply'd Capt. Williams, and 
 none Since 
 
 Attest 
 
 J. Wheelwright 
 Boston January 8'^ 1752 
 Endorsed Errors Excepted 
 
 Capt. Ephraim Williams jun' Per Eph Williams juner 
 
 Fort Massachusetts 
 His Indent for sundries 
 to January 1753. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 239 
 
 The above bills and receipts were taken almost at random from a 
 miscellaneous package in the archives at Boston, endorsed " French 
 War." They serve to illustrate the varied activities and responsi- 
 bilities of Captain Williams during all the years of his command on 
 the western frontiers. By his own direct agency, and through his 
 kinsman and confidant, Israel Williams, of Hatfield, his superior in 
 military rank and in political position, he became the factotum of 
 the government at Boston, in matters both, military and civil. Many 
 cares were constantly coming upon that government. Exiles from 
 the Old World for conscience' sake were crowding into Boston in 
 these decades of the old French War, poor and persecuted, and had 
 to be provided for by the public authorities ; Palatines from both 
 banks of the Khine, French Protestants from the home-land as well 
 as the Catholic exiles from Acadie, tested about this time the hos- 
 pitalities of Massachusetts ; and the line of forts to the westward 
 were opening up fresh lands and new townships, that might serve 
 as homes for the new-comers. Dec. 23, 1749, was read to the Great 
 and General Court the Report of their Committee appointed in the 
 April preceding " to repair to the Province Lands near Hoosuck, to 
 lay out two townships of the contents of six miles square," etc. ; 
 and the detailed plan of the said two townships was presented at 
 the same time. Just a month later, there is recorded a vote of the 
 House, granting four townships to foreign Protestants, — two in the 
 eastern and two in the western part of the province, — the two 
 western to be " the easternmost township lately laid out at or near 
 Fort Massachusetts [afterwards called Adams] ; and the other to 
 the eastward thereof" [probably Savoy]. 
 
 Spencer Phips, who was Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts 
 in 1731-57, and who administered the government from September, 
 1749, for four years, while Governor Shirley was in Europe, wrote 
 the following letter from Boston to Captain Williams at Fort Massa- 
 chusetts, dated Nov. 26, 1751. The letter explains itself, and gives 
 also a glimpse of the friendly and intimate relations between the 
 Captain and the government of Boston. 
 
 Sir : This comes to you by two or three French Protestants, that are come 
 over with expectation of settling upon the Province Land voted by the General 
 Court for foreign Protestants. These persons have desired to view the said 
 land, that they might know the soil and situation for the incouragement of 
 themselves and their friends in Europe to settle thereon, if they like it. 
 
 You are therefore directed to give them necessary provisions out of the pub- 
 lick stores while they are with you, and on their return to Boston. You are 
 likewise directed to show them the lands in the western parts, being in your 
 
240 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 neighborhood destined by the General Court for foreign Protestants ; and for 
 your further direction in finding the said land, I herewith enclose you the vote 
 of the General Court on that affair. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your Friend and Servant, 
 Captain Ephraim Williams. S. Phips. 
 
 For the general reasons implied in the foregoing, and for other 
 reasons of a military character implied in the increasing expectation 
 that the " Peace " would prove short-lived, Fort Massachusetts filled 
 a larger space in the public eye from year to year, and made Captain 
 Williams more vigilant in respect to its prospective defences. The 
 fort was kept well stocked with provisions. The following bill of 
 1749 indicates commissariat operations there on a much grander 
 scale than Catlin's " whete " contracts with the " Duch " in 1745 : — 
 
 Captu Ephraim Williams 
 
 bo't of Wm. Williams Viz* Sundry Provisions at 
 
 Fort Massachusetts. 
 
 103 Bushells Flower at 42/ 
 
 Transport from Sheffield to si Fort £14.10 for every 10 Bushell 
 
 2324 lb Pork at 2/ 
 
 5 Bushells Salt at 112/ 
 
 To Scalding and packing 10 Bbls of Pork at 11/ 
 
 To Driving the above Pork to the Fort 
 
 72 Gallons Rum at 60/ 
 
 13 Bushells of Peas at 40/ 
 
 To Transporting y^ same 
 
 £216 
 
 6 
 
 £149 
 
 16 
 
 £232 
 
 8 
 
 £28 
 
 
 £5 
 
 10 
 
 £23 
 
 10 
 
 £216 
 
 
 £26 
 
 
 £13 
 
 10 
 
 £911 8 
 
 To my Trouble and Expenses in and hiring ye Transport of the 
 
 above articles, with the risque &c. 89 
 
 £1000 8 
 
 Another thing that indicates on the part of Massachusetts a 
 growing sense of insecurity as to the provisions of the Peace of 
 Aix la Chapelle, is the proposal by the General Court, in the sum- 
 mer of 1751, that Fort Massachusetts should be surrounded by a 
 line of pickets at some considerable distance from the walls of the 
 blockhouse, after the general manner of Fort Pelham, on the hilltop 
 to the eastward. Captain Williams had been drawn towards his 
 fort and its defences that year by new personal interests in its 
 neighborhood. In January he had petitioned the General Court 
 for a grant of lands in the vicinity, in consideration for which he 
 agreed to build a gristmill and a sawmill on one of the branches of 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 241 
 
 the Hoosac River, in what is now the village of North Adams. In 
 February a committee of the Court, having personally viewed the 
 lands, recommended the grant of 190 acres, reserving " ten acres of 
 the land adjoyning to the land already reserved round said fort for 
 the use of the Province." He was obligated to build the mills on 
 the north branch of the Hoosac, a stream the Indians called Mayun- 
 sook; and he must keep the mills in good repair for the space 
 of twenty years, casualties excepted. The committee afterwards 
 recommended, when the grant was under discussion in the House 
 of Representatives, an additional grant of ten acres, to make up for 
 the ten acres reserved around the fort; and the bill was so passed. 
 
 This was the first grant of land in fee simple to a private party 
 by the province in the valley of the Hoosac. John Perry, as we 
 have seen, did not obtain his picturesque desire and petition of five 
 years before. For some reason not down in the record, Williams 
 actually built his mill, or mills, on the south branch of the Hoosac, 
 the AshincUlticook, near its junction with the Mayunsook; and the 
 site of his dam across the stream is well known to this day. It is 
 the same " privilege " as that of the century later Phenix mill, but 
 the present dam is about a dozen rods nearer the junction of the two 
 branches. Ash-a-icog, or Nash-a-ivog, an Indian word, which means 
 "a place between two rivers," was common in New England in 
 various combinations, and seems to be the radical element in Ashu- 
 willticook, as it certainly is in Ashuelot and Nashua, in New 
 Hampshire. It will be plain enough to any one, however, who even 
 at this day examines the lay of the land there, why the fall on. the 
 south branch near the junction was preferred to that on the north 
 branch for the mill privilege, because it lay on higher ground and 
 was considerably nigher the old Mohawk trail, which was then the 
 only road to the fort. The present Main Street in North Adams, 
 and the road west over Furnace Hill, between the public bridge over 
 the south branch and that over the Hoosac near the site of the fort, 
 follow the course of the old trail, although the old ford over the 
 Hoosac, by which the fort was reached, was three or four rods 
 below the present highway brid^re. It is perhaps half a mile 
 between these two bridges. 
 
 Captain Williams congratulated himself, and was congratulated 
 by others, on the acquisition of this fine piece of real estate, which, 
 with the reserve, now the centre of the meadow, encircled the fort 
 on every side. It was then densely wooded, except the field imme- 
 diately around the fort, from which the stumps were slowly disap- 
 pearing under the cultivation of the remarkably rich soil. The 
 
242 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 southern bend of the river just east of the meadow, in consequence 
 of its striking a quartzite ledge, makes a large ox-bow at that point, 
 which has always constituted a fertile and famous farm. After it 
 passed out from province control, it was owned and cultivated for 
 sixty years by Israel Jones till about 1830, since which time it has 
 been owned and cultivated for an equal number of years by the 
 Harrison family. It showed the popularity of the Captain with 
 the General Court that he obtained this grant without difficulty or 
 delay. It showed also, indirectly, the influence, in Boston, of his 
 cousin, Israel Williams, and of his other cousin, William Williams. 
 His father, Ephraim Williams, of Stockbridge, had had for several 
 years a large influence over the political and missionary movements 
 in Boston, but this personal influence was now decidedly on the 
 wane there and elsewhere, although this was about the time when 
 the phrase " Williams family^' came to be employed a good deal 
 (sometimes in a sinister sense) in the political, and especially in 
 the religious, correspondence of the period. " Ye monarch of Hamp- 
 shire " was Colonel Israel Williams, of Hatfield. The Captain, also, 
 who had become wonderfully popular the last few years on the 
 Connecticut Biver, was now owner of an estate of large possibilities 
 on the Hoosac, and was shortly to purchase the fine landed interests 
 of his father on the Housatonic ; and it is no wonder that such 
 letters as the following came to be addressed to him by persons of 
 position and influence, who sought to cultivate his friendship and 
 even to promote his spiritual welfare. 
 
 This letter, which is well worth printing in this connection, is 
 neither dated nor signed, but the original is among the Israel Wil- 
 liams papers, and it was certainly written during the season of 1751 
 by either Rev. Jonathan Ashley, of Deerfield, or Bev. Timothy Wood- 
 bridge, of Hatfield, both of whom are known, on other grounds, to 
 have been friends and intimates of the Captain. The latter sent a 
 note dated "Hatfield, May 10, 1751," addressed "To Cap'n Ephraim 
 Williams at Fort Massachusetts," and signed " Timo. Woodbridge," 
 to this tenor : " I have drawn at Hoosuck Ko. 3," — meaning the 
 original house lot so numbered on the present main street in 
 William stown. 
 
 Sir : I wish you a great deal of ease and contentment in your scituation at 
 the fort. Perhaps the progress you make in the improvement of your new 
 grant adds to the pleasure of your scituation there. I was pleased when con- 
 versing with the Colo upon it to hear him observe that it was more valuable 
 than ever I imagined, for I can assure you that it affords me a particular pleasure 
 when I hear of the prosperity of the generous and the kind, and you may easily 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 243 
 
 think its an addition to the pleasure when I see a kind Providence smile upon 
 those of this character I can number among my very good friends. I wish your 
 scituation in the world may be allways pleasant and prosperous, and my wishes 
 rise still higher that the beneficence of your Heavenly Father may be allways 
 gratefully resented by you, and that His care and smiles may be constant incen- 
 tives of every generous and gi-atef ull passion, and lead you to adopt the language 
 of the sacred penman, and say What shall I render unto the Lord for all his 
 benefits? You will ever consider, Sir, all temporal advantages but an inferior 
 and subordinate good, and infinitely unworthy your supreme affection and chief 
 pursuit. But I hope, Sir, your own meditations upon such a topick will furnish 
 you with better sentiments than any I can suggest. I shall be glad if I can get 
 an opportunity this summer coming to visit you at the fort, for I am sure it 
 would be to me a very agreeable amusement. 
 
 I have no news very material to write you. The Colo since his return from 
 Boston tells me that he conjectures from the scituation of affairs that the i)eace 
 will not continue long. The Col^ has another pritty daughter added to his 
 family. Daughters they say are an indication of peace. I wish the old proverb 
 may be verified. 
 
 I have snatched a moment to write to you the Association being at my house, 
 and can only ad that 
 
 I am, Sir, your affectionate friend and Very Humble ServH, 
 
 [Timothy Woodbridoe.] 
 
 There is a letter from Captain Williams in his own handwriting, 
 which comes in at this point, and which illustrates in several ways 
 how the tedium of garrison life was broken up during this peace 
 year of 1751. The direction of the letter is as follows : — 
 
 To the Honrable 
 
 Spencer Phips Esq' 
 
 Lieut Govenour and 
 
 Comander in Chief of 
 
 His Majesty's Province of the 
 
 Massachusetts Bay &c. &c. 
 
 at Cambridge. 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, Sept. 3, 1761. 
 May it plese your Honour 
 
 Last week came to ye fort 8 Scattecook Indians, who told me the land was 
 theirs, and that the English had no Buisness to Settle it Untill such times as 
 they had purchased of them. They further said yt when we began to Built the 
 first Fort, they told the English they must not Build the Fort Except they would 
 pay them for the land, and that the Commandr had promist them pay, but the 
 English had not been as good as their word. In answer I told them as to what 
 promises they had had, I was not Accountable, but be they what they would, I 
 did not Suppose they were binding Upon Us now, for it was wellknown that 
 their tribe was in the French Interest the last war, and that a number of them 
 assisted in taking the Fort and that we now held the land by Right of Conquest. 
 They said it was true a number of ye tribe was gone to Canada but they were 
 
244 OKIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 not the proper owners of the land. I told them if those Indians were here they 
 would challenge the land as they now did, and denie that ever they were in the 
 French interest, that if the English were disposed to purchase the land it was 
 Impossable to know who were the right owners, notwithstanding I would inform 
 the goveD and Doubted not but he would lay the matter before the Court, but 
 then I must know how much land they called theirs, and what their price was ; 
 they told me it was theirs as far South as the head of all streams that Emtied 
 into Hoosuck River, [the watershed is in Hancock and Lanesboro] and their 
 price was £800 ye york money, I told them 1 thought the price was anough, and 
 that the Province would not give it. there is no doubt with me but yt the French 
 are at the bottom of all this, a part of this tribe is now at Canada, and in order 
 to git the Rest they have set a price for the land they know we never will com- 
 ply with. Last night came to the Fort 2 French men and one English Captive 
 whose name is John Carter he was taken when Deerfield was Destroyed [1704] 
 he is now maried in Canada and has a family there : the French mens mother is 
 an English Captive taken at the same time she was old M"^ Thomas french's 
 Daughter, they had a pass from the gove" of Canada, and are agoing to see 
 y Relations as they say ; but if the truth was known I believe they are Sent for 
 
 Spies. 
 
 plese Sir to turn over 
 I askt them what news ; they said there was 14 ships from France several of 
 which were men of war, but they had not brought any news remarkable I then 
 Inquired whether the Indians want gone to war Upon our frontiers in the East- 
 ern Country they said No, they had done now. 
 
 Concerning the Deer your Hon' spoke to me about. I have done all that has 
 been in my power to serve you though to little purpose. I have been 20 miles 
 west of Albany but cou'd not git any. 
 
 I should have Informed you Sooner but had not an opportunity except I should 
 have sent your Honour an Express which I dont Remember was your Desire. 
 I am S' your Hon' most obedient Humble Serv' 
 
 Eph. Williams junb 
 
 GOVENEROR PhIPS 
 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 In the House of Representatives Jan. 23, 1752. Read and Voted that Col. 
 Lydius of the City of Albany together with the within named Capt. Ephraim 
 Williams be desired to make thorough Enquiry respecting the Indian Title to 
 said lands, whether they belong to said Scauticook Indians or other Indians liv- 
 ing near the Hudson's River, or at Stockbridge — And report thereon to this 
 Court as soon as may be. 
 
 There is every reason for believing that Captain Williams was 
 assiduous in his attendance upon his duties at the fort, and upon his 
 personal interests in that vicinity, during the entire year 1751 and 
 well into the next also. We are not possessed of many details of his 
 activity in that interval of time, but there is a muster-roll extant, 
 endorsed " muster-roll of Capt. Ephraim Williams at Fort Massachu- 
 setts from June 3, 1751 to Jan'y 5, 1752." There are also proposals 
 in his own handwriting, as intimated above, in behalf of himself and 
 
EPHRAOI WILLIAMS. 245 
 
 seven other soldiers at the fort, to picket that blockhouse by con- 
 tract with the General Court. These proposals are dated Aug. 18, 
 1751. Nine days earlier than that. Secretary Willard, of the Pro- 
 vincial Government at Boston, wrote the appended letter to Colonel 
 Israel Williams at Hatfield : — 
 
 Sir, I am directed by the Lieut.' Gov-r and Council to inform you, that after 
 all the solemn professions of the Penobscot Indians to maintain the peace, and 
 their great desires to meet the Lieut.'' Govenor at St. Georges, and attend the 
 proposed treaty there, for confirming the same ; this morning we have certain 
 advices from Capt. Bradbury that a considerable number of the Penobscot 
 Indians had joined with those of the St. Francois, and that in a day or two they 
 would set upon the English inhabiting on St. George's Kiver. This advice I am 
 ordered to send you, and to desire that you would in the most suitable manner 
 apprize the inhabitants above you, and other places about you that may be 
 exposed to an enemy, of this state of affairs, that so they may provide for their 
 defence ; and particularly that you would give intelligence of these matters to 
 the several garrisons at Number Four, Fort Dummer, and Fort Massachusetts, 
 or elsewhere in your neighborhood where there may be any soldiers in the pay 
 
 of the Province. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your very humble Servant, 
 Colo. Israel Williams. J. Willard. 
 
 There was time for this warning to reach Fort Massachusetts in 
 season to hurry forward the following proposals to picket the fort. 
 There were hardy riders as well as swift runners round the head- 
 quarters on the Connecticut, either of whom could compass the fort 
 within forty-eight hours. 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, Aug^ 18, 1761. 
 
 Whereas it has been proposed by the General Court yt ye fort shou'd be 
 pycetted we the subscribers engage for ourselves yt we will git 3000 picketts 
 which shall be 6 Inches diameter, 9 feet and 1 half long and that we will see 
 them all Burnt 2 feet from the bottom untill the sap is all drawn out, and we 
 further promise yt we will see a trench dug one foot and 1 half deep and all of 
 them [set in] and [then ribbed together] from one end of them to the other end : 
 and a good pin drove through each pickett and Ribb : at such distance from the 
 ground as shall be thought best. And when the whole is completed the Com- 
 mander of the fort shall have the improvement and it is 
 
 further agreed that we ye subscribers shall have one Half of what shall be 
 allow'd by the GenU Court : and the Command'r to have the other half, and in 
 case nothing shall be obtained, then we will be at half of the charge and he sliall 
 be at the other half of the charge : and it is further agreed by the Coin'r and 
 we the above subscribers that an Exact account of ye labour shall be kept by 
 every man in particular, and after a reasonable charge which shall be taken by 
 the whole which shall be sett by the major vote, it is further agreed that what 
 the province shant allow, if anything, shall that when any 
 
246 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 of them are dismist by order of government with in years, then a soldier 
 
 yt may come in his room shall have the refusal of his part, and if he 
 
 who comes in wont take it and pay him the charge yt has been out that the 
 Com'r obliges himself to pay it, and where as Epht Williams, Jr., has the 
 command of it at present he engages y* the subscribers shall have the bene- 
 fit of 15 rods beginning at the aboves'd mount and running to the aboves'd 
 stump and then Northedly 30 rods, then Westardly 30 rods, then Southardly 15 
 rods, and then Easterly 15 rods, untill they come to the north corner of the 
 northwest mount : for [as long a time] as he shall have the command of s^ fort : 
 and we the subscribers promise that if we fall back before the hole is completed 
 that we will each of us forfit the sum of ten pounds in witness whereof we have 
 
 set our hand 
 
 Eph. Williams Seth Hudson 
 
 Isaac Wtman Silas Pratt 
 
 Samuel Calhoon Elisha Chapin. 
 
 Ezekh- Eoster 
 
 Those proposed pickets were set not very long afterwards, it is 
 to be presumed, of tlie size and in the general manner herein set 
 forth, and by the men in general who hereby offered to put them in 
 place. This stockade long survived the blockhouse it enclosed. 
 Two acres and three-quarters of beautiful meadow land were thus 
 fenced in ; they were cultivated by the garrison and others for many 
 years before the bulk of the surrounding meadow was cleared up, 
 and while the timbers of the fort were slowly rotting down ; they 
 seem to have been the perquisite of the successive commanders as 
 such, of the fort itself, without reference to the ownership of Cap- 
 tain Williams's farm surrounding them ; it is altogether probable, 
 one might almost say proved, that they were esteemed a part of the 
 ten acres reserved from Williams's original grant ^' for the use of 
 the fort " ; and the last glimpse that we gain of the enclosure and 
 of what it enclosed, reveals one of the signers of the above pro- 
 posals, Isaac AVyman, the final commander of the fort, as living in 
 a house within the pickets and as cultivating the ground covered 
 in by them.^ His rank was then Captain. The year was not far 
 from 1761. 
 
 These proposals throw considerable light upon the way in which 
 Fort Pelham was undoubtedly constructed six years before ; that, 
 however, was a mere stockade twelve rods by twenty-four, probably 
 enclosing nothing but a well and a small magazine, and a covered 
 lodging-place for the garrison in one or more of the interior angles. 
 There was certainly a mount at Pelham, in all likelihood upon the 
 northwest corner, and under this would naturally and cheaply be 
 
 1 Field's History of Berkshire County, page 425. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 247 
 
 the quarters for the soldiers. AVe have already learned in an earlier 
 chapter that the outline of the Fort Telhani can be distinctly traced 
 to this day by the pillow of earth originally thrown out to make a 
 trench for the pickets to stand in, and then thro^\^l back on both 
 sides to help hold them in place, and that the author, with his friend 
 Haynes, found in this pillow a gnarled and knotted remnant of one 
 red-oak picket that had stood in its place more than 130 years, the 
 ground of the fort having apparently never been ploughed; while 
 no such memorials of the stockade at Fort Massachusetts could, of 
 course, be expected long to survive the constant ploughings of that 
 fertile meadow both within and without the line of pickets, which 
 ploughings began under Israel Jones in 17G6, and continued, with 
 the proper agricultural intervals, for sixty years under his direction 
 as o^vne^ of the meadow. 
 
 The seven names appended to these proposals for "pycetting" 
 around Fort Massachusetts will never cease to be interesting names 
 to the dwellers in the valley of the upper Hoosac. All of them 
 were then soldiers at the fort, had been soldiers there for some 
 years, and continued to be soldiers there some years longer ; all but 
 one of them became, that very year, with thirty-nine others, original 
 proi)rietors of the entire township of West Hoosac, now Williams- 
 town ; and at the house of one of them, built on house lot No. 9 
 and still standing, the first legally warned meeting of the proprietors 
 of the said township was called in due form by William Williams, 
 of Pontoosuck, " to assemble at the House of Mr. Seth Hudson in 
 said township on Wednesday the Fifth day of December next [1753] 
 at Nine of the Clock in the forenoon " ; and all seven of these sub- 
 scribers left their permanent mark on the civil as well as military 
 course of things in this region of the fort. 
 
 The first name in this list of seven is, and always will be, the 
 greatest name in the annals of Northern Berkshire. He was the 
 first landed proprietor in that section of the province. He built 
 the very first mills in a locality since become extraordinary for mill 
 manufacturing. He became the first public benefactor of his neigh- 
 borhood. He chose a method for his public benefaction (not large 
 in amount of money) that has proven itself, during a whole century, 
 to be vital and fructifying. Public interest in the life and death of 
 Ephraini Williams is increasing, and in ever-widening circles ; and 
 the present pages find their chief significance in a painstaking 
 attempt to gather up every scrap of contemporary testimony that 
 may help serve to depict, as distinctly and truthfully as possible, 
 a character and a life-work appealing to the thoughtful interest of 
 
248 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 mankind. According to the terms of these proposals to picket the 
 fort, the prospective lion's share of the reward to come from the 
 province as a whole, was to be holden by the then present Com- 
 mander ; and at least two reasons will occur to the reader towards 
 justifying this : (1) the hard-wood staddles of the right size to serve 
 for pickets would probably have to come, in large measure, from 
 Williams's own private woods around the fort, for most of the 
 timber on the meadow was certainly soft wood, — pine and spruce 
 and hemlock, and the ten acres reserved for the use of the fort 
 would not furnish proper staddles enough ; and (2) it would be the 
 influence of the combined Williams family, if anybody's, that could 
 carry such an appropriation for such a purpose through the General 
 Court at that time. The Williams family always acted together for 
 their own interests, and for those of the public. At that time their 
 influence was decidedly predominant in the western third of the 
 province. William Williams was the patriarch of Pontoosuck, now 
 Pittsfield ; Ephraim Williams, Senior, then held a like position in 
 Stockbridge ; and Israel Williams was the Colonel of the Hampshire 
 Eegiment, the highest military official in this end of the province, 
 and on various grounds very influential in the General Court at 
 Boston. 
 
 Our story, in some of the following pages, will concern itself con- 
 siderably with Captain Elisha Chapin, — another of the seven sub- 
 scribers, — who next succeeded Captain Ephraim Williams in the 
 command of Fort Massachusetts, who, about the same time of this 
 promotion, bought, in conjunction with Moses Graves, of Hatfield, for 
 £350 (both giving bonds therefor), Williams's land-grant around the 
 fort, and who was characterized, four years later, by Williams in his 
 will, as " the poor, distressed, and imprudent Captain Elisha Chapin," 
 in the same clause that remitted to him £100 out of his part of the 
 debt. Chapin was of "Chickobee," now Springfield, of a family 
 since very distinguished along that stretch of the Connecticut River. 
 His original house lot in Williamstown was No. 41, the front of 
 which is now occupied by the fine house of the Chi Psi fraternity, 
 and down the centre of which south runs the lately named " Hoxie 
 Street." ^ Chapin was brave, courteous, and obedient to his military 
 superiors, and loyal to the service as he conceived of its objects and 
 interests ; but he sadly lacked caution and moral control over men, 
 and all the indirect evidence points to a free personal use of liquors 
 
 1 In the spring of 1891, in legal town-meeting, the town formally named its streets 
 and roads and bridges and hilltops in accordance with a report of a committee con- 
 sisting of A. L. Perry, John Bascom, and A. E. Hall. 
 
EPHRAtM WILLIAMS. 249 
 
 and a too free distribution of them among the men under his com- 
 mand. In the piping times of peace he woukl make a fair commander 
 of the Fort Massachusetts, and was given a captain's commission 
 for that purpose in the spring of 1752, while for various reasons the 
 interest of Captain Williams waned in the affairs of the Hoosac and 
 waxed as towards those of the Housatonic. Ephraim Williams, 
 Senior, whose home had been in Stockbridge since 1739, was getting 
 to be an old man. He had large property interests there, while he 
 had greatly compromised his moral standing there, and he needed 
 much the advice and support of his eldest son. The latter was 
 given a commission as major in the southern regiment of Hampshire 
 County, commanded by Colonel John Worthington, of Springfield, 
 on June 7, 1753, and his principal residence was in Stockbridge 
 from the close of 1751 till September, 1754, when he returned to 
 Fort Massachusetts as commander, with a much enlarged military 
 authority to the southward. In the interval Chapin commanded 
 there. His first muster-roll, extending from June, 1752, to June, 
 1753, runs as follows : — 
 
 A Muster Roll of the Company ly His Majesty's service under the 
 
 COMMAND OF ElISUA ChAPIN. 
 
 Ellsha Chapin, Capt. John Adams, Centl. 
 
 Isaac Wyman, Serg't. Elijah Brown, do. 
 
 Abraham Bass, Centl. John Chamberlin, do. 
 
 Samuel Taylor, do. Christopher Tyler, do. 
 
 Peter Boovee, do. Thomas Train, do. 
 
 Silas Pratt, do. Archibal Panil, "I , 
 
 Gad Chapin, do. of Fort Shirley / 
 
 Ezekiel Foster, do. George Hall, \ , 
 
 John Crawford, do. of Pelham Fort / 
 Samuel Calhoun, do, 
 
 Chapin's second roll, under precisely the same heading, sworn to 
 by him before William Williams at Pontoosuck, Dec. 13, 1753, con- 
 tains the same number of men and names the same men, except that 
 Elkanah Parris and Elisha Higgins and Benjamin Fairbanks take 
 the places of Brown and Tyler and Calhoun. Panil and Hall 
 each keeps his solitary watch and ward at Shirley and Pelham 
 respectively. 
 
 The third roll, from December, 1753, to May, 1754, sworn to 
 before Jacob Wendell, June 1, 1754, presents no differences from 
 the preceding except that Edmund Town and Enoch Chapin and 
 Nath. Harvey take the places of three of the former sentinels. 
 
250 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Chapin's fourth and last roll, covering the time till Williams re- 
 sumed the command in September, 1754, holds twenty-four names, 
 of which Oliver Avery and John Bourn and George Willson and 
 Tyras Pratt and Isaac Soldan and Jeremiah Chapin and John 
 Roshet and John Wells and Benjamin King (afterwards killed) 
 are new to his lists. 
 
 The two following letters from Captain Chapin to Colonel Israel 
 Williams from Fort Massachusetts, dated respectively Aug. 3 and 
 Aug. 25, 1754, furnish some idea of him as a man and a com- 
 mander : — 
 
 Sir Last Sunday morning I sent a scout to Sencoick [St. Croix] and returned 
 this minit. They find where the Indians marched off and burnt all afore them. 
 They think there was about 400 of the enemy. They see a man come out of 
 Albany yesterday. The Gent, of Albany was very desirous that he should come 
 to the fort and acquaint me that there is 44 Indian cannoes come out 9 days 
 sence and desine for our scatereing f rontteers in New England. 
 
 From Sir 
 
 yrs 
 
 to com : 
 
 Elisha Chapin. 
 
 Sir, This day there came a man from the Dutch and informs me that 4 days 
 past there came 5 Indians from Crownpint and informs them that there is eight 
 hundred Indians desine to destroy Hosuck and oare new town and this fort and 
 desine to be upon us this night. I sent a man right down to Hosuck to here 
 farther about the iffair, but the people was all moved of but 2 or 3 that was a 
 coming to the fort and they tell him the same account. The Indians that 
 brought the account was sent in order to have some parsons move from Sencoick 
 that they bad a regard for, but if they come I hope we are well fixt for them. 
 In hast from 
 
 Sr 
 
 Your's &c 
 
 Command Elisha Chapin. 
 
 In the course of this summer of 1754, when the war clouds were 
 darkening and beginning to mutter, Israel Williams wrote as follows 
 to the governor at Boston : — 
 
 Capt. E C. [Elisha Chapin] has now ye com'and of Fort Massachusetts. I 
 can't think it prudence he should have the com'and of a place of such importance 
 in time of war. I know not of a Gent'n in ye County that will be easy to have 
 him trusted with it. He is a bold and venturesome man, but fails in conduct 
 and gov't. If Maj'r Williams would return to that com'and, it would give uni- 
 versal content, und'r whom Chapin I believe would be glad of a L'cy [lieuten- 
 antcy], Y'r Ex'cy influence may probably prevail with ye Maj'r to accept ye 
 com'and of that garrison. If he should, it would be best he should have ye 
 com'and of the men that are or may be posted at Pontoosuck also. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 251 
 
 As Ephraim Williams is properly denominated "Major" in the 
 above letter, and as the date and circumstances of his promotion 
 from captain to major have long been a matter of doubt and dis- 
 pute, it is better to quote here verbatim his commission : — 
 
 ^ ( Spencer Pliipps Esq., Lieutenant Govenour and Com- 
 
 PrOVINCE of the \ J • rM • e • i t,- »f • , t, • 
 
 Massachusetts Bay "S °iander in Chief in and over His Majesty's Province of 
 ( the Masachusetts Bay in New England, &c. 
 
 To Ephraim Williams, Jun'r, Esq'r, Greeting : 
 
 By vlrture of the Power and Authority, in and by His Majesty's Commission 
 to me granted to be Lieutenant Govenour over this His Majesty's Province of 
 the Massachusetts Bay, aforesaid, and Commander in Chief during the absence 
 of the Captain General [Shirley was still in Europe] ; I do (by these presents) 
 reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Loyalty, Courage and good Con- 
 duct constitute and appoint you the said Ephraim Williams to be Major of the 
 Southern Regiment of Militia in the County of Hampshire in said Province 
 whereof John Worthington Esq'r is Colonel, and Captain of the third foot Com- 
 pany in s'd Regiment. 
 
 You are therefore carefully and diligently to discharge the Duty of a Major 
 and Captain in leading ordering and exercising said Regiment and Company in 
 Arms, both inferior Officers and Soldiers, and to keep them in good Order and 
 Discipline ; hereby commanding them to obey you as their Major and Captain 
 and yourself to observe and follow such Orders and Instructions, as you shall 
 from Time to Time receive from me, or the Commander in Chief for the Time 
 being, or other your superiour Officers for His Majesty's Service, according to 
 military Rules and Discipline, pursuant to the Trust reposed in you : 
 
 Given under my Hand and Seal at Arms at Boston, the Seventh Day of June, 
 In the twenty sixth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the 
 Second, Anno Domini, 1763. 
 
 S. PHIP8. 
 
 By Order the Honorable 
 the Lieutenant Govenour, 
 
 J. Willard, Sec'r'y. 
 
 Suffolk SS. June 16, 1753. 
 
 Ephraim Williams Esq'r Subscribed the Test and Declaration and took the 
 Oaths appointed by Act of Parliament to be taken instead of the Oaths of 
 Allegiance and Supremacy, and the Oath prescribed by a late Law of this 
 Province for calling in the Bills of Publick Credit on this Province and ascer- 
 taining the rate of Coin'd Silver &c. 
 
 S. Danforth •» Of the Council and 
 Saml"^ Watts J Justices of the Peace. 
 
 The tenor of this commission took Major "Williams from the 
 northern to the southern parts of the county of Hampshire, and to 
 a pretty steady residence, for more than two years, in Stockbridge, 
 the home of his father and of most of his half-brothers and sisters, 
 
252 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 his only own brother Thomas being already settled in Deerfield as a 
 physician. The father and his immediate family had long been in a 
 bitter controversy in Stockbridge with Jonathan Edwards, the cele- 
 brated preacher and Indian missionary there, just as all the Williams 
 family along the Connecticut River had long previously been in a 
 similar controversy with him during his pastorate at Northampton. 
 The merits of this controversy lie wholly beyond the scope of the 
 present book ; like all theological and ecclesiastical, and even moral, 
 strifes, there were two sides to it ; it is enough to say here, that the 
 father does not shine (quite the reverse) in the records of it, and 
 that the son apparently kept himself out of the worst heats of it, 
 so far as possible. Twice in the course of his will the son refers to 
 Colonel John Stoddard, who died in 1748, as " my great benefactor," 
 and he was own uncle to Jonathan Edwards, and Edwards himself 
 was own cousin to Israel Williams, the head and front of the oppo- 
 sition to the preacher both in Northampton and Stockbridge, so that 
 something of a family feud mixed itself in with strong religious 
 antipathies, as towards the great theologian, on the part of almost 
 the entire Williams family ; while Major Ephraim, after he went to 
 Stockbridge, where his father and brother-in-law (General Joseph 
 Dwight) were losing moral ground daily in their general machina- 
 tions against the Indian missionary, seems to have personally kept 
 out of the strife and to have attended pretty strictly to his military 
 and business matters, although he had certainly used his influence 
 previously, at Boston, with officials and dignitaries there, in behalf of 
 his own family interests and prejudgments, in matters relative to 
 the Indian schools and other strifes in Stockbridge. After all these 
 conflicts had died down, on the abandonment of the town by the 
 elder Williams, and the consequent personal triumph of the mis- 
 sionary and his spiritual adherents, the younger Williams continued 
 to be the principal man perhaps in Stockbridge, having the direct 
 command of all the soldiers there and in Pittsfield, and of all the 
 forts in the present county of Berkshire. 
 
 There is a deeply interesting note extant from Jonathan Edwards 
 to Ephraim Williams, written six months after the death of the 
 latter's father in Deerfield, which the reader will be glad to see in 
 this place, the contents of which reflect equal credit upon the 
 writer and the recipient, and which implies a state of things in 
 Stockbridge, during the autumn and winter of 1754, very similar to 
 that in Pittsfield and Lanesboro and West Hoosac at that time. 
 The last French War had broken out in earnest. The frontier set- 
 tlements in New England, and in particular those of Western Massa- 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 253 
 
 chusetts, were exposed to unceasing anxiety and alarm from their 
 constant liability to attack from the French, and their more savage 
 allies. In the autumn of 1754 several of the inhabitants of Stock- 
 bridge were killed by these marauders ; in consequence of which it 
 became a garrisoned town, and every considerable family had quar- 
 tered upon it its own quota of the soldiers necessary for the defence 
 of the place. Much may be learned in many ways from the letter 
 but just now referred to. It was only five months to the death of 
 WilliaT'"^ :nnl fl.r*'*^ ycars to that of Edwards. 
 
 Stockhiuixjk, Feb. 26, 1755. 
 Sir, We have not lodgings and provisions, so as to board and lodge more than 
 four soldiers ; and being in a low state as to my liealth, and not able to go much 
 abroad, and upon that and other accounts, under much greater disadvantages 
 than others to get provisions, it is for this reason, and not because I have a dis- 
 position to make difficulty, that I told the soldiers of this Province, who have 
 hitherto been provided for here, that we could not board them any longer. I 
 have often been told that you had intimated, that you have other business for 
 them in a short time. Captain Hosmer has sent three of his men to lodge at my 
 house, whom I am willing to entertain, as I choose to board such as are likely 
 to be continued for our defence in times of danger. Stebbins has manifested to 
 us a desire to continue here. Him, therefore, I am willing to entertain, with 
 your consent. Requesting your candid construction of that, which is not 
 intended in any inconsistence with my having all proper honour and respect, 
 
 I am 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 Jonathan Edwards. 
 
 We have gotten a little ahead of our story in point of time, through 
 a desire of completing the relations of Ephi*aim Williams with 
 Stockbridge, the place, which, more than any other, was his home 
 to the last. A single extract from another letter of Jonathan 
 Edwards, however, written to Kev. Mr. Erskine, of Scotland, six 
 weeks after the above, illuminates so fully the general matters we 
 are dealing with, and justifies so completely the opinion of Colonel 
 Israel Williams of the unfitness of Captain Elisha Chapin to com- 
 mand at Fort Massachusetts under the circumstances of the time, a 
 point to which we shall return in a moment, that we quote it, believ- 
 ing that readers will pardon it, even if they do not approve of it. 
 
 I have nothing very comfortable to write, respecting my own success in this 
 place. The business of the Indian mission, since I have been here, has been 
 attended with strange embarassments such as I could never have expected, or 
 80 much as once dreamed of : of such a nature, and coming from such a quarter, 
 that I take no delight in being very particular and explicit upon it. But, besides 
 what I especially refer to, some things have lately happened, that have occa- 
 
254 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 sioned great disturbance among the Indians, and have tended to alienate them 
 from the English. As particularly, the killing of one of them in the woods, by 
 a couple of travellers, white men, who met him, and contended with him. And 
 though the men were apprehended and imprisoned, yet, on their trial, they 
 escaped the punishment of death : one of them only receiving a lighter punish- 
 ment, as guilty of manslaughter : by which these Indians, and also the Indians 
 of some other tribes, were greatly displeased, and disaffected towards the 
 English. Since the last fall, some Indians from Canada, doubtless instigated by 
 the French, broke in upon us, on the Sabbath, between meetings, and fell upon 
 an English family, and killed three of them ; and about an hour after, killed 
 another man, coming into the town from some distant houses ; which occasioned 
 a great alarm in the town, and in the country. Multitudes came from various 
 parts, for our defence, that night, and the next day ; and many of these con- 
 ducted very foolishly towards our Indians, on this occasion, suspecting them of 
 doing the mischief, charging them with it, and threatening to kill them, and the 
 like. After this, a reward being offered by some private gentlemen, to some 
 that came this way as soldiers, if they would bring them the scalp of a Canada 
 Indian ; that they, in the night, dug up one of our Indians, that had then lately 
 died, out of his grave, to take off his scalp ; that, by pretending that to be the 
 scalp of a Cjanada Indian, whom they had met and killed in the woods, they 
 might get the promised reward. When this was discovered, the men were 
 punished. But this did not hinder, but that such an act greatly increased 
 the jealousy and disaffection of the Indians, towards the English. Added to 
 these things, we have many white people, that will, at all times, without any 
 restraint, give them ardent spirits, which is a constant temptation to their most 
 predominant lust. 
 
 Going back now to Captain Elisha Chapin at Fort Massachusetts, 
 and to the prospect of his being superseded there by Major Ephraira 
 Williams, as war became more imminent in the summer of 1754, 
 it is pleasant to note the record of a modest memorial of his to the 
 General Court, " praying that there may be allowed an Augmenta- 
 tion of the forces at said fort," and the action of the House thereon 
 June 11, 1754, " That the Captain-General be desired to make an 
 addition of Five Men to the forces already ordered at Fort Massa- 
 chusetts " ; together with the answer thereto in the message of 
 Governor Shirley, two days later, who had now returned to his 
 post after seven years' absence in Europe, which message ran as 
 follows : — 
 
 Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, — According to your Desire to 
 me expressed on the Memorial of Capt. Elisha Chapin, I shall give orders for 
 the reinforcement of Eort Massachusetts with five men ; and considering the 
 importance, and its great Distance from any of our Settlements, it would have 
 pleased me if you had made provision for a few more men there. 
 
 Upon this Occasion I must put you in mind of the hazardous Condition Fort 
 Pelham and Fort Shirley are now in, if there should be any sudden Assault from 
 the Indians on that Frontier ; we must expect that the thing they will do would 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 255 
 
 be tx3 burn those forts, which they might easily do in their present Circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Tlierefore I must recommend it to you, that provision be made that some 
 better care may be taken for preserving them. ^ <. 
 
 Governor Shirley also gave immediate attention, as was his wont, 
 to the letter (already quoted) of Colonel Israel Williams to him 
 respecting a change in the command at the chief fort in the line. 
 His letter in reply is significant in several respects, especially in his 
 evident leaning towards Chapin as a man and an officer; and we 
 shall discover in the next chapter that he held similar prepos- 
 sessions towards him as a householder in West Hoosac, and the 
 leader of a knot of householders there in decided discontent with 
 Fort Massachusetts and the whole authority emanating thence. 
 
 Boston, September 26, 1754. 
 Sir, Maj. Williams will accept of a new Commission for Fort Massachusetts, 
 which I design shall be enlarged by a Superiour command over the soldiers 
 posted at Pontoosuck — in special cases ; I should be sorry to do anything 
 which may look like a slight upon the present commander Capt. Chapin, of 
 whose courage I have a good opinion ; But as the command, which the King's 
 Service now requires the Captain of that Fort to have given him, must be 
 enlarged, and Major Williams beside being an officer whom I look upon to be 
 well qualified for it, hath tliose farther pretensions to it, that it was upon his 
 resignation of the command of that Fort, that Capt.!? Chapin was commissioned 
 for it, I hope he will not think a slight upon him, if when I add another charge 
 to the Captain's Commission for that Fort, I give it Maj. Williams ; I shall be 
 very glad if he will serve as a Lieutenant under Major Williams, and will give 
 him the first proper promotion which shall happen in my power ; you will be 
 pleased to let Capt. Chapin know this ; and I leave to your discretion to act in 
 the manner you shall think proper, with the inclos'd blatik Commissions con- 
 cerning the Captain and Lieutl of Fort Massachusetts as well as the others. 
 
 W. Shirley. 
 
 Colonel Williams was " pleased to let Capt. Chapin know this " at 
 once, and in a note dated Hatfield, October, 1754, he writes : — 
 
 Sir, His Excel'^y has given the Com'and of Fort Massachusetts with the 
 forces posted at Pontoosuck to ALij'"" Williams, whereby you will see ye Cap- 
 tain's of that Forts Com'and is enlarged. The Gov'r directs me to let you know 
 he shall be very glad if you will serve as a Lieutenant under Maj'r Williams, 
 and he will give you the finst proper promotion in his power. He has also sent 
 me a blank Commission to fill up for you, if you will undertake that service. 
 
 It appears, also, that Major Williams himself addressed one or 
 more coinmunications to Chapin after the former reassumed the 
 command of the fort. These have perished. Happily there sur- 
 
256 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN". 
 
 vives a letter from Chapin to Williams, which, though badly mis- 
 spelled, is evidently a pretty honest document, although it is colored 
 by the semi-hostility already existing between the first settlers of 
 West Hoosac — among whom Chapin was a leader, and in whose 
 behalf he made the journey to Boston referred to by him in the 
 letter — and the authorities at the fort. It seems, from this letter, 
 that Chapin was appointed a sort of sub-commissary at the fort, and 
 that there had been dissatisfaction with him in that capacity, and a 
 dismissal from his post in connection with some mutinous move- 
 ments of the garrison, all which will be plainer when we come to 
 quote in the next following chapter a copious narration of events at 
 the fort and at the inchoate settlements in "the west town," — as 
 West Hoosac was commonly called in current correspondence, — 
 written by Colonel Israel Williams in justification of his own con- 
 duct in the premises. Otherwise, Chapin's letter to Major Williams 
 requires no commentary. 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, Jan. 29, 1755. 
 
 Sir, I received your's dated Jan. 14, and am very much surprised that you 
 should have such hard thoughts of me to think I slighted your offers which you 
 no I readely accepted and had desired to wait on the Col. for the Commission 
 when I come from Boston. But a great way back on the road I head the news 
 that the Col. had given the Commition to Wyman. So I thought it in vain to 
 go there for it. And I often hear that the Col. seams to be insenced against me 
 and what it is for I cannot tell, for I never spoke a hard word of him in my life, 
 and you no I allways set high by him, and allways was willing to serve and 
 obay him, and as to the Commissary business, his Excelency told me ore and 
 ore that no man should take it from me. He frealy spoke about it again 
 and again and nobody pretend to do that. I was obliged to do it till I new of 
 another, and I never have been without a good stock, onely when the snow was 
 deep, the weather cold, and the mill got out of order, and I could not grind in 
 some days, and was near out of meat, but had a good stock of wheat of my own. 
 Whoever reports these things against me do no better than lie. 
 
 Sir, you seame to speak as if I had a hand in the late disturbaince. Had 
 I not been hear it would have been carried to a far greater length than it was. I 
 got the men together and asunder pacified them, or else it would not be over 
 till this day. Some ill minded person hath done all they can to hurt me. I 
 have been informed that the most of it comes from Graves. They mite say a 
 great deal against me and speak true, but what you writ to me your authors 
 imposed upon you very much, and now Sir if you can look upon me to be a man 
 of common truth you can easily be satisfied, for wear I upon oath I could not 
 tell straiter. I should inlarge and mention some more things, but I can never 
 send a letter in the county but that it is brook open, so I shall conclude, 
 Your very friend and humble 
 
 Servant to Command, 
 
 Elisha Chapin. 
 
 Maj. E. Williams. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 257 
 
 The strife continued between the east and west forts, and between 
 the scattered settlers on the house lots of the west town and the 
 "Williams family influence, both military and civil. The details are 
 not worth preserving. Chapin was the champion of the Chidesters 
 and of the so-called West Hoosac Fort. He was countenanced more 
 or less by Governor Shirley, and made more than one journey to 
 Boston to obtain and maintain that favor. But his star was going 
 down. Under date of May 17, 1756, Isaac Wyman, his second suc- 
 cessor in the command of Fort Massachusetts, wrote to his superior, 
 Colonel Israel Williams : " I understand by Serg* Taylor that Chi- 
 dester hath taken Capt. Chapin into the service at the west town. 
 He is to do the duty for the billeting. He hath taken one of tlie 
 Horsford^s place, and John Vanarnum the other Horsford's place, 
 and they are both gon home." In less than two months thereafter^ 
 the Colonel sends out this news from Hatfield : " This morning by 
 an express from Fort Massachusetts, I am informed that on the 
 11th instant, near sunsetting, Serg't Chidester, his son James Chi- 
 dester, and Capt. Elisha Chapin, went from ye block-house at West 
 Hoosack to seek their cows, were soon fir'd upon and all killed or 
 captivated." Three days later, Wyman sent to the Colonel the fol- 
 lowing detailed account : — 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, July 16, 1756. 
 
 Hono^ Sir, The three men that ware shot upon by the enemy are all found. 
 Two of them were kill^ upon the spot where the enemy first fired upon them. 
 They took Capt. Chapin about eighty rods, where they killd him. I sent out 
 Ensi Barnard with nineteen men from the fort to bury these men. They found 
 where the Enemy had laid an ambush between this Fort and the Town. They 
 judge to be not less than one hundred of them. Hudson saith that the iDigest 
 part that he saw ware French. I believe it will not be longue before the enemy 
 will be upon us again. I am persuaded that there is a large body of them lieth 
 watchin our army find that they doant move, and so drive down upon us. 
 
 The two swivels guns that Serjt Chidester petitioned for are placed in the 
 best maner upon Carageses for the defence of the House where all our stoars of 
 provision are keept. One of them is placed at the South West corner of the 
 Fort which clears of the South side of the House — the other placed at the 
 north east corner of the Fort clears the east side of the House. These guns are 
 as grait defence to us as any of the artillery we have at the fort. 
 
 I find that the Colo, was afraid we ware short on't for amonition. I have not 
 less than three hundred weight of powder and lead anserable. About three 
 weeks ago I sent thirty weight of powder and lead anserable to the Town and 
 one month's provision. The people of the town have a grait desire to git of 
 with their faraaleys, if they could have a strong guard, provided they can't have 
 any more men allowed them. 
 
 If they can't have a better fort built and more men I believe it is the best 
 thing they can do is to pull their fort down, and come of, provided that the war 
 
258 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 continues. The Monday before last came in Capt. Buterfield from the camps 
 with one hundred and forty men. Found eight of there men killl upon Hoosuck 
 
 — the other five I suppose are taken. I enclose Chidester's patition also a 
 Journal of our Scouting. 
 
 This from, Sir, 
 
 Your verry Humble ServL 
 
 Isaac Wyman. 
 
 Tour days after this letter was penned, Colonel Williams wrote to 
 Governor Shirley from Hatfield : — 
 
 Lieut. Barnard and a number of soldiers from Fort Massachusetts have been 
 over since I wrote last. Find Chapin and the two Chidesters kill'd and scalp' d. 
 He judges by ye signs there was one hundred or more of the enemy. Its highly 
 probable, considering who had ye care of ye garrison, their carelessness, and ye 
 insufficiency of ye fort, had not those three imprudent unhappy men accidentally 
 come upon ye enemy, and thereby obliged them to discover themselves sooner 
 than they intended, by morning they would have surprised ye garrison and 
 destroyed it. 
 
 So falls the curtain forever on " the poor, distressed, and impru- 
 dent Captain Elisha Chapin." His widow and administrator of estate, 
 Miriam Chapin, sold to Ephraim Seel;^e, in March, 1767, his house 
 lot 41 and its after-drafts for £25, " for the payment of his debts." 
 He himself sold his lands in " Chickobee " in April, 1755. He then 
 denominated himself " of Fort Massachusetts." 
 
 As we have already learned, and shall have occasion to note here- 
 after again and again, the large immigration into ISTew England in 
 1718 of the Scotch-Irish people from Londonderry, and the region 
 round about, colored in various ways its thoughts and its growths, 
 
 — a series of influences that have not ceased to this day ; and the 
 third of the seven signers to the joint enterprise of setting the 
 pickets around Eort Massachusetts 30 x 15 rods, " square timber 
 or pickets or both," on the 18th of August, 1751, belonged to a 
 family of that race ; and, though never distinguished himself, was 
 connected by name and blood with those who became so. This 
 was Samuel Calhoun, v/ho enlisted from the same stretch of the 
 Connecticut Eiver as Elisha Chapin, and who was almost constantly 
 a " centinel " in the western line of forts during both " King 
 George's " and the " last French war." He was always a quiet man, 
 but enterprising and persistent, just such a man as Ephraim Wil- 
 liams would like to associate with himself in a practical, and per- 
 haps profitable, enterprise in the slack of the strain of war. In the 
 original drawing of house lots in West Hoosac, Calhoun happened 
 on No. 5, one of the best lots on the main street, and he sold it not 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 259 
 
 long after to Josiah Dean, Junior, of Canaan, Connecticut, and Dean 
 sold it in March, 1759, to Benjamin Simonds ; and it has continued 
 ever since to be a part of the fine homestead now owned and occupied 
 by the Sabin family. Simeon H. Calhoun (Williams College, 1829), 
 tutor here for two years, and ever after a remarkably useful and 
 prominent missionary in the Levant till his death in December, 
 187G, was a member of the same general family in New England, 
 and connected as well in traits, as in name and race, with the dis- 
 tinguished statesman of South Carolina. It is significant that the 
 parents of S. H. Calhoun were among the original members of Park 
 Street Church in Boston, where the son was born in August, 1804 ; 
 and when his age was ten years, he removed to Kindge, New Hamp- 
 shire, into the same racial and theological influences then presided 
 over by the elder and fervent Dr. Pay son. The name of another 
 Simeon H. Calhoun, a nepliew, is borne on our triennial catalogue 
 under date of 1857, and he has been a prominent citizen of Nebraska 
 till the present time (1891) ; and one other Calhoun is on our 
 graduated list, the only son of the Mt. Lebanon missionary, Charles 
 William Calhoun, under the date of 1873. He died in 1883; living 
 and dying a faithful missionary within the shadows of the same 
 great mountain. 
 
 A fourth signer of these proposals to picket the fort came out of the 
 loins of a very different set of ancestors, and gave birth to remarkably 
 different lines of descendants from those related to Simeon H. Cal- 
 houn. This was Silas Pratt, who enlisted into the line of forts from 
 Worcester, sometimes stated to be Shrewsbury, who hatl near rela- 
 tives (Noah Pratt and Tyras Pratt) as fellow-soldiers from the 
 same localities, who was very active both as soldier and citizen in 
 the earliest settlement of Williamstown, although not an original 
 proprietor of any of the house lots, who was a blacksmith by trade, 
 who was long of the garrison in the blockhouse at West Hoosac, 
 who lived and died on the first farm in Pownal as one goes over 
 North W^est Hill from this side, whose son " William " may be first 
 male child born in West Hoosac, whose name is commemorated in 
 the rapid " Pratt Brook " which tumbles down from the Taconics 
 through his old farm to the Hoosac, and who has left more descend- 
 ants (largely clinging to the old neighborhood) than any other one 
 of the primeval settlers of Williamstown down to the present time. 
 There was much energy in that man, and in his immediate family, 
 both in peace and war. He and his son Silas were in the battle of 
 Bennington. His son William, as a Revolutionary soldier, witnessed 
 the execution of Major Andr6, Oct. 2, 1780 ; lived to receive a pen- 
 
260 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 sion from the United States as a three-years drummer in the army, 
 1777 to 1780; died Jan. 16, 1846, in the eighty-sixth year of his 
 age ; and his epitaph states that he was a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church for forty-three years. Lively traditions have 
 come down in his family in respect to the brave conduct of old Silas 
 Pratt in the battle of Bennington, operating behind his staddle, 
 Indian fashion; and the present writer has been told more than 
 once by his grandson, William Pratt, son of William, the first-born, 
 that he himself had heard from his own father (the drummer whose 
 arm being stiff could not carry a gun), and from his uncle Silas, 
 many a story of the Eevolutionary War. Old Silas Pratt could set 
 pickets as well as the next man, and fight behind them or in front 
 of them when necessary ; he could clear up with his own hands and 
 those of his growing boys, a large and rugged farm, stretching up 
 into one of the gorges of the Taconics, where now stands the stone 
 marking a corner point of Massachusetts and Vermont, and also a 
 point in the eastern line of New York nearly midway north and 
 south ; and he could, apparently, transmit to descendants of the fifth 
 generation a story-telling faculty, which, in the mouths of " Steve " 
 Pratt and " Jerry," his brother, was the wonder of the idlers in this 
 vicinity during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. 
 
 Ezekiel Foster, the fifth of the picket-signers, was from Fall 
 Town, now Bernardston, and quite constantly a sentinel in the line 
 of forts from the beginning to the end. He drew house lot No. 13 
 in the original " lotting " of West Hoosac. He called himself of 
 " Fall Town " a little later, when he sold one-half of the after-drafts 
 of 13 and the whole house lot 59 to Stephen Davis and Thomas 
 Dunton, both of Western; but, nevertheless, he was the head of 
 one of the first " eleaven families of us," already domiciled in West 
 Hoosac, who petitioned Governor Shirley from Fort Massachusetts, 
 to which these families " ran for shelter upon the late alarm " in 
 October, 1754, for aid and military encouragement to "return to 
 our settlements " at the west town. Foster became a considerable 
 landowner and a prominent citizen of Williamstown, and we are 
 likely to learn more about him before we are through with the task 
 now in hand. Captain Ebenezer Foster, with his brother, Dan Fos- 
 ter, who came into South Williamstown from Hancock quite early 
 in this century, and lived useful lives as farmers, — the one on the 
 Hancock and the other on the Ashford road, — may have been his 
 sons. 
 
 The sixth signer of the picket-proposals and the last survivor of 
 them, and of all his active contemporaries in this valley, was Seth 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 261 
 
 Hudson. The Hudson family was a roving one, and its connection 
 was as locally fixed in Lexington and in Marlboro as anywhere. 
 Charles Hudson, perhaps the most distinguished representative of a 
 name considerably distinguished in this country, said of them : " All 
 who have borne the name have been rather migratory in their char- 
 acter. It may, however, be said of them with truth, that they have 
 manifested a natural affinity for military adventures. The whole 
 Hudson family appear to have been men of aiins rather than of 
 letters.^' Our Seth Hudson was son of Seth, and was born in Marl- 
 boro, April 13, 1728, the eldest of eight children. He must have 
 received some sort of medical training in his youth, for he was 
 employed by the year, or otherwise, as surgeon in Fort ^lassachu- 
 setts at the same time he was " centinel " there, and acted in both 
 capacities from about the time of the rebuilding of the fort in 1747. 
 Perhaps he was not paid as " surgeon " for a couple of years or so 
 thereafter. He was two years younger than Benjamin Simonds, 
 with whom he was closely associated nearly all the time, till the 
 latter's death in 1807, as a fellow-soldier in Fort ^Massachusetts ; 
 as a co-laborer in the very outset of the subjugation each of his own 
 house lot in West Hoosac (these two house lots being in plain sight 
 of each other); in the building and manning of the blockhouse in 
 West Hoosac, of which Seth Hudson became the commanding officer 
 on the death of Captain Elisha Chapin in 1756, with the rank of 
 Captain ; in all the early troubles of the little hamlet, both military 
 and civil ; in all the burdens and hazards and privations of the Rev- 
 olutionary War, either here or elsewhere, during the course of which 
 Simonds outstripped the other in rank and influence as he far out- 
 stripped him also afterwards in civil position and property; and, 
 finally, in a part, at least, of the strifes incident to a struggling 
 and impoverished township just before and just after the opening 
 of the present century. 
 
 To " Dr. Seth Hudson " fell lot No. 9 in the original drawing of 
 the West Hoosac house lots in 1751. Fifteen of these lots fell thus 
 by bargain to soldiers in garrison at the east fort. One of the pre- 
 scribed conditions for holding the lots was, — " That he shall within 
 the space of two years from the time of his being admitted build a 
 house eighteen feet long, fifteen feet wide, and seven foot studd." 
 That Hudson fulfilled this condition on lot 9 is proven by the fact 
 that the first proprietors' meeting in the precinct was legally warned 
 to be holden within it on the 5th of December, 1753. That house is 
 still standing, the interior substantially unchanged during the 140 
 years from the primal gathering of the " rude forefathers " within 
 
262 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN-. 
 
 its bare walls, althougli it has been twice moved in this extended 
 interval of time, — first about seventy years ago, half a mile due 
 north, to the west bank of Hemlock Brook in Charityville, to be 
 used as a wheelwright's shop by Abel Cowdin, and second to higher 
 land, more secure from the brook's overflow, three or four rods due 
 west, to be repaired and enlarged for a dwelling by Ned Reagan, 
 an Irishman, who long owned and occupied it. 
 
 A daughter of Mr. Cowdin, Mrs. Thomas Mole, has more than 
 once expressed to the writer her perfect recollection of the putting 
 this house in place for her father's use on its first removal. She 
 remembered pairs of the oxen and the drivers of some of them. 
 John E. Bulkley, the elder, was present with his team of oxen, and 
 she was astonished at hearing him stutter, — a new experience for 
 the girl of ten years ; and she remembered especially Coey Dan- 
 forth, both busy with his oxen and talkative with the crowd, 
 already much the worse for liquor at that the final stage of the 
 "bee." They were then unhitching the oxen. She remembered, 
 also, playing afterwards around the original cellar of the house on 
 Main Street. The stones of the old foundation were loose, and she 
 was chided by her father for fooling with them. This was in or 
 about 1827. The shop was placed too near the brink of the brook, 
 for she remembered an overflow, not long after, that did damage, 
 and later overflows caused the removal of the building to its present 
 location. The first moving was undoubtedly across the Buxton 
 bridge, or through the brook near to that, and then adown on the 
 west bank to its stopping-place. 
 
 * Hudson was enterprising and restless. He bought and sold lands 
 a good deal in West Hoosac and elsewhere. In nearly all instances 
 the deeds display a certain pride and dignity. He has himself set 
 down in them as "Gent.," in contrast to the "cordwainer" or 
 "yeoman" with whom he deals. Isaac Searle, for example, origi- 
 nally from Northampton, who became his fellow-soldier here and 
 co-malcontent, under the domination of " ye monarch of Hampshire " 
 and his minions at Fort Massachusetts, and who was, in 1765, the 
 largest taxpayer in Williamstown, is set down as "cordwainer" in 
 one of Hudson's deeds to him, while the grantor is nothing less 
 than "Gent." In 1764, Seth Hudson is a "resident of Great Bar- 
 rington," and sells out, under that designation, a part of his lands in 
 West Hoosac. He does not appear to have remained a great while 
 in Barrington, nor to have made much of a mark there. He certainly 
 played no part to speak of in Williamstown during the Revolution, 
 and it is quite improbable that hs lived here then ; but, at any rate, 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 263 
 
 he returned hither in his old age, poor, and James Smedley remem- 
 bers him distinctly about the years 1811-14 as coming to his father's 
 house more than once as a veterinary, to treat sick cows and horses. 
 He lived then in an old house on house lot 58y — a site soon to be 
 occupied by the new and fine house of Daniel Noble, — from which 
 Joseph White, another treasurer of the College, was borne to his 
 grave in 1890. Hudson, at that time an old man, was living with 
 a second wife, who had borne to his old age two sons. Ward and 
 Polydore. The mother was intemperate. In accordance with the 
 slang of those days, she was said to be capable of " getting drunk 
 on cider emptyings." She not only had a stomach that craved, 
 but also a tongue that wagged. The boy James, the deacon's son, 
 then being religiously brought up just over the Green River, was 
 over-persuaded by another boy, named Horace Brown, that the latter's 
 father was in some way in business company witli Dr. Hudson, and 
 consequently that Brown, Junior, had a perfect right to some of the 
 cherries growing on a big tree in the rear of Hudson's old house, the 
 two boys approached cautiously, in a manner that betrayed and 
 belied their alleged rights ; and the tree was scarcely reached before 
 the slirill voice of old Mrs. Hudson, the termagant, standing in the 
 back door, caused both boys to scud through the corn-rows for dear 
 life and the Green River ! 
 
 There is no direct evidence known to the writer as to the locali- 
 ties where Captain and Dr. Hudson put in his work during the Rev- 
 olutionary War; but nothing is more likely than that he returned to 
 the eastward, perhaps to his native town, Marlborough or Lexing- 
 ton, both of them then full of his kin, and sufficient researches in 
 that direction might disclose him as bustling and efficient as ever. 
 At any rate, he came back to Williamstown in his old age, and was 
 the last survivor by some years of the soldiers in garrison at the 
 block-house in West Hoosac. It was deliberately voted by town- 
 meeting of Williamstown, in the spring of 1891, that the second of 
 the four swells on the summit of East Mountain, reckoning south- 
 ward from " Mount Hazen," be named " Hudson's Height," in mem- 
 ory of the old soldier and surgeon. 
 
 Tlie seventh and last of the co-signers to the proposals to picket 
 the main fortress on the Hoosac River was Isaac Wyman, of Woburn. 
 He was in the second Fort Massachusetts, in some capacity, almost 
 all the time from its erection, in 1747, till its final abandonment in 
 1760. He had crept up, step by step, from sentinel to Captain. He 
 always possessed the confidence of Ephraim Williams. Some years 
 after the death of tlie latter, and the consequent outbreak of a vio- 
 
264 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 lent quarrel, as between Colonel Israel Williams and his subordi- 
 nates at Fort Massachusetts and Captain Seth Hudson and his men 
 in and around the block-house at West Hoosac, there was a formal 
 investigation, by a committee of the General Court, of the whole 
 matter and of all the parties concerned ; and, after a full examina- 
 tion, including the memorials of all the officers, and numerous dep- 
 ositions in support of, and in opposition to, the complaints of the 
 petitioners at West Hoosac, the committee made a formal report 
 that the complaints (with one or two exceptions) as to the conduct 
 of Captain Wyman were not proved. After a final end was put to 
 the French wars by Wolfe's great victory on the Heights of Abra- 
 ham in 1759, Captain Wyman continued for some time to cultivate 
 his farm within and without the pickets which he helped contract 
 to set up. He removed to Keene, New Hampshire, whence, at the 
 outbreak of the Revolution, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of 
 the First New Hampshire Regiment, commanded by Colonel John 
 Stark, — a position which he did not hold long, and from which he 
 passes out of our sight utterly. 
 
 Before giving the details of Wyraan's life and services as com- 
 mander of the fort, we must now go back a bit and pick up the 
 thread that interlinks Ephraim Williams once more with the fort 
 and connects him, also, indirectly with the Expedition to Lake 
 George in 1755, during the course of which he lost his life, but 
 gained his fame. 
 
 The encroachments of the French along the Ohio River in 1754, 
 in steady opposition to which George Washington became the force- 
 ful agent of the Province of Virginia; the hostile conduct of the 
 Indians on all the frontiers of New England under the influence of 
 the Canadian French, such as the ravage of Dutch Hoosac (Peters- 
 burg Junction), about ten miles west of Fort Massachusetts, in 
 May, and the burning, next day, of all the settlements at St. Croix, 
 from both which places the people had fled for safety mostly to the 
 fort ; the fright of the people at Pontoosuck and Stockbridge at the 
 bold Indian depredations and murders committed there in the early 
 summer, and similar outrages in Maine a little later, — so convinced 
 the government of England and the local governments of all the 
 provinces on this side that a new and great war with France and 
 her allies was on the carpet, that special orders were sent from 
 England to her colonies to repel force by force, accompanied with a 
 recommendation to them to form a solid union for mutual defence. 
 Thus was summoned, under the personal lead of Governor Shirley, 
 the first American Congress. Delegates from the four New England 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 265 
 
 colonies, and from New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, met at 
 Albany, June 14, 1754. Benjamin Franklin was the leading spirit 
 of this gathering. An elaborate Plan of Union was framed, and a 
 copy was sent for approbation to the King in council and to each of 
 the provincial governments. The scheme met with the singular fate 
 of being rejected by each and every one of the proposed parties to 
 it ; by the King, because it was thought to grant too much power to 
 the colonial assemblies, and by each colony because it was sup- 
 posed to give too much authority to the King. And the shrewd 
 Franklin wrote afterwards, that the contradictory reasons of dislike 
 to the Albany Plan of confederation made him think that it must 
 have been just about the golden mean. 
 
 This plan of union having failed, the colonies were left to pros- 
 ecute the war under their former disjected system. Colonel Israel 
 Williams, of Hatfield, commanding the northern regiment of militia 
 in the county of Hampshire, as Colonel John AVorthington, of Spring- 
 field, commanded the southern, was again entrusted with the defence 
 of the western frontier. He had gained valuable experience during 
 the former war and a practical knowledge of the geography of the 
 country bordering the limits of Massachusetts and New Hampshire 
 (then including Vermont), which enabled him to draw a rough 
 sketch of the lay of the land and water, and this he communicated 
 to Governor Shirley, with a detailed plan of defence to be adopted. 
 He proposed to abandon forts Shirley and Pelham, as having 
 afforded but little protection in the preceding war; to strengthen 
 forts Dummer and Massachusetts, furnishing them larger garrisons 
 and more light artillery, and to connect the two by a line of smaller 
 works erected on the north side of Deerfield River ; and to abandon 
 the fort at Charlestown, New Hampshire, as being out of the juris- 
 diction of ^Massachusetts and difficult to supply. The General 
 Court adopted bodily the Colonel's system of defence, excepting the 
 abandonment of Charlestown, and new bodies of troops were ordered 
 to be raised for the western frontiers, and to be stationed at the dis- 
 cretion of Colonel Williams. It was under these auspices and pros- 
 pects, as has been seen incidentally already, that Major Ephraim 
 Williams was willing to leave Colonel Worthington as his superior 
 officer, and Stockbridge as his principal place of residence, and to 
 resume the command at Fort Massachusetts, with authority added 
 over small garrisons posted or proposed to be posted to the south 
 and to the west of it. 
 
 Dropping the rank of Major, which he had borne in the southern 
 regiment, and reassuming that of Captain, which he had carried now 
 
266 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 for ten years, Ephraim Williams went back to Tort Massachusetts 
 about the first of September, 1754, for his third and last command 
 there. His last muster-roll from there, to whose correctness he took 
 oath at Boston, June 13, 1755, probably one of his very last acts 
 before leaving for Albany and Crown Point, contains the names of 
 forty-one men whose service covered the interval from September to 
 March, 1754-55, a list that will be here given at length for several 
 reasons. It holds the names of five of Williams's co-signers to the 
 picketing proposals of 1751 ; the name of one of the Canada cap- 
 tives taken from the first fort Aug. 20, 1746, honors this final roll 
 of his old Captain ; and fifteen of the names are of men who took 
 the risks of the earliest settlement of West Hoosac. 
 
 A MUSTEK-KOLL OF THE CoMPANY IN HiS MaJESTY's SeRVICE UNDER THE 
 
 Command Ephraim Williams Captain, viz. 
 
 Ephraim Williams, Capt. John Crofford, Cent. 
 
 Isaac Wyman, Lieut. John Bowin, Cent. 
 
 Samuel Taylor, Serjt. Tho's Trail [Train?] Cent. 
 
 Edmond Town, Serjt. John Herrold, Cent. 
 
 Gad Chapin, Serjt. Micha. Harrington, Cent. 
 
 Oliver Avery, Corp^L Ezra Parker, Cent. 
 
 Sam'ii Calhoun, Corp^l. John Balsh, Cent. 
 
 Sam*Ji Catlin, Cent. Josiah Good wish, Cent. 
 
 John Taylor, Cent. Nath. Nickells, Cent. 
 
 Elisha Higgins, Cent. John Gray, Cent. 
 
 Benja. King, Cent. Seth Hudson, Cent. 
 
 George Willson, Cent. Mayhew Daggitt, Cent. 
 
 John Kosher, Cent. Gideon Warren, Cent. 
 
 Tyrus Pratt, Cent. Elisha Sheldon, Cent. 
 
 Noah Pratt, Cent. Simeon Crawford, Cent. 
 
 Abraham Bass, Cent. John Meacham, Cent. 
 
 Jeremi'h Chapin, Cent. Derrick Webb, Cent. 
 
 John Mills, Cent. Benja. Simonds, Cent. 
 
 Enoch Chapin, Cent. Gad Corss, Cent. 
 
 Silas Pratt, Cent. Henry Stiles, Cent. 
 Ezekiel Foster, Cent. 
 
 John Gray and John Crofford and Simeon Crawford of this list 
 were certainly Scotch-Irishmen, and possibly others, doubtless en- 
 listed from Worcester or its vicinity. Micah Harrington and Benja- 
 min King and the Captain himself were killed in the fast-coming-on 
 battle of Lake George. 
 
 In the meantime, as was natural, there was developing in several 
 quarters a good deal of jealousy towards Colonel Israel Williams, 
 on account of his imperious manners and subtle ways of compassing 
 
EPHRAI^I WILLIAMS. 267 
 
 his ends in the General Court and elsewhere. This jealousy inten- 
 sified itself later into a many-sided quarrel, involving on one side 
 prominent relatives and previous coadjutors of his along the Con- 
 necticut River, and on another side the subaltern officers and some 
 of the soldiers of Fort Massachusetts interested in the original lay- 
 out of West Iloosac. Neither duty nor inclination draws us into 
 these disputes, except so far as is needful to illuminate the pathway 
 in which both duty and inclination compel us to walk at present. 
 Some of the roots of this controversy ran back into the ecclesias- 
 tical persecution, and apparently unfortunate dismissal of Jonathan 
 Edwards from his church in Northampton. Others of them ran 
 still farther back into the personal qualities ingrained in the mem- 
 bers of the Williams family, and the consequent nepotism and con- 
 solidated (though often secret) influence of the family as such. 
 
 Joseph Hawley, of Northampton, was own cousin to Jonathan 
 Edwards. So was Israel Williams, who was fifteen years older than 
 Hawley. Under the guidance of the older man, Hawley, who him- 
 self had begun life as a preacher, became a violent opposer of the 
 ecclesiastical measures of Edwards, and very active in effecting his 
 removal from Northampton. He afterwards saw reasons for radi- 
 cally changing his views as to that whole matter, and gradually 
 became a warm advocate of his old pastor, then resident in Stock- 
 bridge, and in 1760 wrote a letter of regret and penitence for his 
 own previous action in the premises that will ever be remarkable, 
 and that was for half a century famous. The following letter from 
 Hawley to Williams, dated Northampton, Oct. 3, 1754, though 
 bearing not the least reference to the Edwards affair, will interpret 
 itself to the penetrating reader. Williams was at the time in Hat- 
 field, his home. Hawley was then thirty years old, already distin- 
 guished for legal attainments and political knowledge and stern 
 integrity, and destined to become, perhaps, the most influential mem- 
 ber of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts from 1764 
 to 1776. 
 
 S'r I unerstand from my brother y'* ye present scheme is to have two places 
 fortified at Pontoosuck — y'' there shall be 16 men posted at each — and y't at 
 Hoosuck there be oO men. It is not of importance that I know of for me to 
 say how disagreeable such a settlement to the westward is to me. But I humbly 
 apprehend y't it would conduce much to ye concerting of a good scheme for ye 
 defence of our people on ye west of Connecticut river y't yourself, Col. Par- 
 tridge, Maj'' Ephraim and I should have a free conference together before ye 
 next session of ye Genii Court, and y'* we labour to agree in some gen'lplan y't 
 we shall labour at least to effect. 
 
 Otherwise it seems to me all our separate designs and projections will be 
 
268 ORIGINS m WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 likely to prove abortive. From my observation the case stands thus (if I may 
 be permitted to speak it) you, S'r, and Maj'r Ephraira concert what you think 
 proper, and labour it with ye Govenour, and he also with ye whole Court. Col 
 Partridge schemes something different perhaps, which he will labour with ye 
 Govenour and House. I am privy to neither scheme, and perhaps ye first of my 
 hearing thereof should be in ye House. Neither may appear perfectly agree- 
 able, and altho' I am a person of but small consideration, yet if Providence 
 should so order it that I should be in ye House when those matters should be 
 considered, if there appears sinister designs interwoven in ye plans, it will be no 
 difficult matter to prevent their taking. I don't think y* in ray private capacity 
 I am of much importance in such matters, but as a member of ye House it is 
 possible I may be, for I have always spoke my mind in ye House and sometimes 
 have been heard. 
 
 And if Providence should give me opportunity probably I shall be as free as 
 usual respecting affairs this way especially. A man of little influence can 
 obstruct disburstment of money. 
 
 I am, S'r, with all due respects, 
 
 Your's 
 
 Col. "Williams. Joseph Hawlet. 
 
 A yawning breacli as between the cousins is visible enough in this 
 epistle, — not only an unuttered protest against ^' ye monarch of 
 Hampshire" personally, but also against the long-ago observed 
 tendency of the "Williams family" to pull together, and that 
 secretly. But Joe Hawley was sturdy and patriotic and cou- 
 rageous. Two years later, when he heard the news from the West 
 Hoosac fort of the killing of Captain Elisha Chapin and the two 
 Chidesters, almost within the very sweep of their mounted guns, he 
 wrote to the Colonel the annexed letter, under date of July 18, 
 1756, seven days after the disaster on Hemlock Brook : — 
 
 CoL. Williams S'r Mr, Barnard has given me a sketch of the news from 
 Hoosuck. If they are sure y" they saw French in [the crowd of Indians] I 
 think we may be pretty certain y't there is an army there. Should it prove 
 y't there is an army there, and either one or both of the forts should be taken, 
 you, S'r, never will be pardoned if you don't send the militia. Were it not for 
 two reasons I would readily offer my service to go — the one is that the weather 
 is so extream hot that it would instantly bring ye disorder to which I am inci- 
 dent in hot weather — the other is that it is a hurrying time in ye business of 
 my profession, and some other affairs which claim my particular attention at 
 this time. 
 
 Perhaps you have some good man in y'r eye. I should think Capt. Will™ Ly- 
 man was ye best with us. Pardon my officiousness. 
 
 I am Sir y'r's 
 
 Joseph Hawley. 
 
 The '^ officiousness," if any, consisted in his commending his 
 neighbor, Lyman, to the now vacant headship (such as it was) of 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 269 
 
 the West Hoosac fort. We shall see in detail in the next chapter 
 how that troublesome post came to be occupied, if not filled, by 
 Captain Seth Hudson. It is difficult for a writer, himself deeply- 
 interested in all the details of his task, justly to estimate how far 
 his readers also may take pleasure in the same; yet one may 
 scarcely question the prospective interest with which a future 
 reader of these pages will con a statement from the pen of Gov- 
 ernor Shirley himself, as to the success with which " You, S'r, and 
 Maj' Ephraim concert what you think proper and labour in it with 
 ye Govenour." 
 
 Boston, Sept. 26, 1764. 
 
 Sir, I have received a packet from you by Major Williams, containing a plan 
 of the western parts of the P*rovince, a list of the officers and centinells in your 
 Regiment, and three letters, one dated the 12^ and two the 17'*> of September 
 instant. 
 
 I am extremely well satisfied with the great care and vigilance you have 
 already show'd for the protection and safety of the people upon the Western 
 Frontier, and have great confidence in your abilities and fidelity in the discharge 
 of your military trust, upon any future emergency, at this dangerous conjuncture. 
 
 As to the difficulty you mention in your letter of the 12^*» instant to arise 
 from the appearance which my second orders to you have of abridging the 
 power given you in my first orders, and confining it to the limits of your own 
 Regiment, I think my remark upon the enclosed copys of the orders I sent to 
 Col£ Worthington, and my second orders to yourself, will best clear that up, 
 and explain both of them, so as to msvke them consistent with each other. 
 
 I am glad you found your Regiment and the towns within tlie limits of it, so 
 well provided with arms and ammunition as they appear to be by your return 
 upon those articles ; exact care should be taken that all failures and deficiencies 
 should be fully and speedily made up : the refusal of the select men of the town 
 of Northamptown to give any account of their town stock shall be inquired into. 
 
 It is necessary that the limits of yours and Col. Worthington's respective 
 Regiments should be settled. I don't apprehend any better rule for doing that 
 than tlie former settlement under Col^ Stoddard, vizi the northern line of 
 Springfield, which is the southern line of Northampton and Hadley, to be the 
 dividing line ; and so I state it ; at least for the present ; if there should be any 
 good reason for altering it, that may be done hereafter. 
 
 I enclose a Major's commission for Capt. Elijah Williams, dated the day 
 after Major Hawley's commission. Be pleased to let him know that it is my 
 clear opinion he may accept it quite consistently with his honour, considering 
 the circumstances of Major Hawley's appointment, notwithstanding Major Haw- 
 ley is a junior Captain to him. I shall likewise appoint Capt" Williams Com- 
 missary, as desired in your letter. I approve very well of the command you 
 propose for Lieuten't Hawkes, whom I have a good knowledge and opinion of, 
 and enclose a blank commission for him, to be filled by youi-self accordingly. 
 The plan you sent hath been of great service for my information in the state of 
 the VV^estern Frontier, and I much approve of the line of Forts proposed by you 
 for the defence and protection of it, by marching parties or scouts. 
 
270 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 So far as I could go in the Execution of it before the meeting of the General 
 Court, I have gone, and propos'd to his Maj'ty's Council the augmentation of the 
 garrison of Fort Massachusetts with 25 men, and 30 men to be posted and 
 employed in Scouting as you shall think meet for the protection of the Frontier 
 under your Care, which you will find they have advised to, and you will raise 
 the men accordingly. 
 
 When the General Court meets I shall endeavor to carry the remainder of 
 your scheme into Execution, and shall make the protection and defence of that 
 part of the Province, in the most effective manner in every respect, one of the 
 principal objects of my attention. Major Williams put me in mind of a special 
 commission which I gave the late C0I2. Stoddard, which he held during the late 
 war, for the defence of the Western parts of the Province ; I should be glad if 
 you or Major Williams could by any means recover a copy of that commission 
 for me. I shall be glad to give you a mark of the regard I have for you, in that 
 way or any other which may happen in my power, and am, 
 Sir, your most assur'd Friend and Servant, 
 
 W. Shirley. 
 
 Col. Israel Williams. 
 
 We must now return for a little to Isaac Wyman, and finisli the 
 record relating to him. Although Ephraim Williams was appointed 
 to command at Fort Massachusetts, and took his station there about 
 the 1st of September, 1754, under the expectation that a large body 
 of French and Indians were about to repeat the operations of 1746, 
 and under the current impression that Elisha Chapin was unequal 
 to the emergency impending, it is plain, that, as the autumn wore 
 on and no such army appeared, all expectancy of its coming that 
 year disappeared, and the fort, as a place to be defended against an 
 assault, lost its interest for the present ; and, in the meantime, as 
 important councils were being taken at Boston and elsewhere in 
 relation to three great offensive expeditions against the French so 
 soon as the next spring opened, that Major Williams found himself 
 more useful and influential in connection with these councils at 
 Boston, in which even George Washington participated in person, 
 than at his own fort, and left consequently the direction of affairs 
 there to his second in command. Lieutenant Wyman. The appended 
 minute shows this, and also especially a letter soon to be quoted 
 from Israel Williams to Wyman direct. 
 
 These certify that the soldiers belonging to Fort Massachusetts have been 
 absent on furlows since Sept. 22*^, 1754, to March ye 28*^, 1755, in the whole one 
 hundred twenty one weeks one day — for myself and negro 14 weeks. 
 
 Isaac Wyman, Lieut. 
 
 Hatfield, Dec'r 31, 1754. 
 Sir, The accounts I had bro't [to me] from your Fort not long since of good 
 order and regularity subsisting there gave me singular pleasure. And therefore 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 271 
 
 the information I now have of the clamorous, mutinous behavior of many if not 
 most of the men under your com' and was the more unexpected and surprising. 
 The reason pretended for so much disorder is a very poor one and altogether 
 insufficient to justify it. The men have a right to the allowance granted 'em by 
 the Government, and if detain'd or deny'd unreasonably have a right to seek it 
 in a proper and suitable manner, and may expect relief and justice, and whilst 
 the care and government of the garrison is devolved upon you, in case of the 
 Com'issarys failing to supply it will be expected you inform your superior officer 
 that the grievance be redress'd. Lt. Graves tells me he has supply'd the garrison 
 with a sufficient quantity of rum for ye men posted there, since Maj'r Williams 
 has had ye Com'and of ye garrison ; but it seems it has been disposed of, I fear 
 unnecessarily, whereby a failure has happened — and jx^rhaps its chiefly owing 
 to those persons imprudent use of it who now make ye greatest Complaint and 
 Clamour. However those matters are or have been conducted, the late mutinous 
 behaviour of the men is to be condemned, and in such a way instead of obtain- 
 ing relief they must expect to loose all, and suffer a much greater punishment, 
 and that they may know what I mean, I incert the following paragraph of a law 
 now in force, viz. : that any person that shall be in his Majesty's service being 
 mustered and in pay as an officer or soldier who shall at any time during the 
 continuance of this act excite cause or join in any mutiny or sedition in the 
 army. Company, Fortress or garrison whereto such officer or soldier belongs, or 
 shall desert his Majesty's service in the Army, Company, Fortress, or garrison 
 shall suffer death, or such other punishment as by a Court Marshal shall be 
 inflicted. 
 
 And for your further encouragement I hereby let you know that so far as I 
 have been informed I highly approve your conduct, and you may depend upon 
 being effectually supported, and as it does not belong to you to settle but keep 
 ye acct? of the Fort, and distribute the allowance from day to day, as you 
 receive it, during the absence of the Cap^ so I expect you proceed and see to it 
 the duty asign'd the garrison be punctually performed. 
 
 As soon as you receive this muster the soldiers belonging to the garrison and 
 communicate it to them, and unless those who have been seditious and mutinous, 
 give you ample and full satisfaction for their great offence, and proper a.ssurance 
 of better behavior for the future, I hereby direct you forthwith to transmit to 
 me the names of such delinquents, with a full ace? of their crimes, that there 
 may be a full inquiry, and they proceeded with as to law and justice appertains 
 — and in case any shall offend in like manner hereafter, whilst the com'and is 
 devolv'd upon you, you are directed to give information imediately to your 
 superiour officer. I hereby direct you further to send me a list of the names of 
 the soldiers belonging to your garrison — and also a list of those that belonged 
 to it when Capt. Chapin was dismissed. 
 
 I am yi friend and serv't, 
 
 IsR. Williams. 
 
 [Filed " LcU to Lt. Wyman."] 
 
 The above letter was dated on the last day of 1754. The opening 
 months of 1755 were busy as never before along the Atlantic shore, 
 from Alexandria in Virginia to Falmouth in what is now Maine, in 
 fitting out three formidable military expeditions against the French 
 
272 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 posts fronting the English settlements. These expeditions were 
 highly pleasing to the English frontiersmen, because they flattered 
 themselves that such conspicuous oifensive operations would relieve 
 them from further incursions of the Indians from the north. They 
 enlisted with alacrity in all three of the campaigns, — that from 
 Virginia, to be commanded by General Braddock, with British reg- 
 ulars as well as volunteers, directed against Fort Du Quesne at the 
 forks of the Ohio; that to be led by Governor Shirley in person 
 against the French posts on the Niagara Eiver ; and the one headed 
 by Sir William Johnson, with the rendezvous at Albany, against the 
 fortress at Crown Point. But the hopes of the settlers proved fal- 
 lacious in this respect. Under this new impulse, however, in part, 
 Massachusetts promptly raised one entire regiment for Crown Point, 
 principally in the old county of Hampshire, largely from soldiers 
 who had served in the cordon of forts; and, after a good deal of 
 management and something of finesse on the part of the "Williams " 
 influence. Major Ephraim was appointed the Colonel, and his per- 
 sonal popularity soon filled the ranks up to the full. He resigned 
 his command at Fort Massachusetts on the 28th of March, 1755, 
 and Isaac Wyman was at once appointed to succeed him, being pro- 
 moted for the purpose from Lieutenant to Captain. A little fur- 
 ther on in this chapter we shall carefully follow the fortunes of the 
 Johnson expedition, — in order to elucidate the story of Colonel 
 Williams to the end, — although it never reached Crown Point and 
 never reflected any credit on its commander-in-chief, while the 
 results, on the whole, were much less disastrous than those of the 
 other two marches. 
 
 Additional forces were soon after raised by Massachusetts, the gar- 
 risons strengthened on all the frontiers, and the people were required 
 to go armed when attending public worship, it being made the duty 
 of the militia officers to see that the order was strictly enforced. 
 Corps of rangers were now ordered to be raised to traverse the 
 woods to the noii;hward of the cordon of forts ; and, to induce them 
 to turn out more readily, bounties were offered for Indian scalps. 
 As Governor and General Shirley was now occupied in the mili- 
 tary organization of his central column, designed to strike Niagara, 
 Lieutenant-Governor Phipps resumed the cares of the local govern- 
 ment of the province, which he had borne before for several years 
 while Shirley was in Europe, and issued the following instructions 
 to Captain Lyman, of Northampton, who had been appointed to 
 command one of these ranging parties : — / 
 
EPHRAEM WILLIAMS. 273 
 
 Boston, June 19, 1755. 
 
 Sir, Having appointed you to be captain of such volunteers as have enlisted or 
 may enlist under you (not to consist of less than thirty men) upon the encour- 
 agement offered by the government, to such companies as shall penetrate into 
 the Indian country, in order to captivate or kill any of the tribes, this govern- 
 ment hath declared war against You must take care to enlist none but able 
 bodied men, and see that they be well armed, and furnished with proper ammu- 
 nition. You are allowed to take thirty days' provisions for your company, out 
 of the commissary's office, before you march. 
 
 You must perform a scout of at least thirty days upon every march, unless 
 some special reason for the good of the service shall appear for your returning 
 before that time. And in such case you must account for your company's pro- 
 visions not expended. 
 
 You may march in a whole body or in two or three divisions, and upon 
 several routes as you and your commissioned officers shall judge most expedi- 
 ent, and most likely to answer your design. 
 
 You, and each of your commissioned officers, must keep as exact journals as 
 you can, in each of your marches, to which you must be sworn before me, or 
 one of his Majesty's justices of the peace, and exhibit the same to me, or to the 
 commander-in-chief. And before you receive the bounty for any Indian killed 
 or captured, you must deliver up the person captivated, or scalps of those you 
 kill, at Boston, to such person as I shall order to receive the same. 
 
 I am your friend and servant -p 
 
 To Capt. Lyman. ^ "^^^^• 
 
 Eight days before these instructions were given, — that is, on the 
 11th of June, — a party of six Indians swooped down upon the 
 Deerfield valley in what is now Charlemont, while Captain Moses 
 Rice, the first proprietor and settler there, with his son Artemas 
 Rice and grandson Asa Rice, and several others, were hoeing corn 
 in his meadow, just south of the present village road, one man act- 
 ing as sentinel and the firearms of the rest being placed against a 
 pile of logs, and suddenly fired upon the party at work. Phineas 
 Arms fell instantly dead in the cornfield, while Captain Rice 
 received a severe wound in the thigh, and was taken prisoner with 
 his grandson and one other. The three captives were taken to the 
 high plain in the rear of the present public house in Charlemont 
 village, where the old man, after a fearful struggle with the single 
 savage to whom he was given over, fell beneath the tomahawk, was 
 scali)ed, and left bleeding, to die after some hours. The other two 
 prisoners were led to Crown Point, and thence to Canada, whence 
 the grandson was ransomed after a captivity of six years ; and 
 Titus King, the other, being carried to France and then to England, 
 at length returned to Northampton, his native place. Captain Rice 
 was a great-great-grandfather of Joseph White (Williams College, 
 '36), and treasurer of the College from 1859 to 1886. 
 
274 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 . The very day of this tragedy at Charlemont, the government of 
 Massachusetts established by law the monthly pay of the officers 
 and men employed on these frontiers. For the Ranging Forces, as 
 involving more arduous and hazardous duty : Captain, £4 16s. ; 
 Lieutenant, £S 4s. ; Sergeant, £1 14s. ; Corporal or private, £1 6s. 
 8d. And for the Garrison Forces : Captain, £4 ; Lieutenant, £3 ; 
 Sergeant, £1 10s. ; Corporal, £1 8s. ; Drummer, £1 Ss. ; Sentinel, 
 £1 4s. ; Armorer at the westward, £3. 
 
 The Ranging Corps required men of great strength, inured to 
 fatigue and danger. They must start with thirty days' provisions 
 on their backs, and in addition carry their muskets and equipments, 
 with the requisite ammunition. At night their camp was upon the 
 bare ground, with no cover unless it were brush huts. In winter the 
 march was made upon snow-shoes, to the use of which they were 
 sometimes trained before the campaign began, and their lodging was 
 generally in the open air, Indian fashion. If a man became sick, or 
 was wounded, he was either sent back or carried on by his compan- 
 ions. There was little room for medicine or surgery, and conse- 
 quently little chance for recovery. In forest stratagem these 
 rangers of the last French war showed themselves little, if any, 
 inferior to the Indians, and in sustained fighting on equal terms 
 generally superior. They knew nothing of regular military tactics, 
 and if they had known, it would have been a constant impediment 
 to them in the woods, as was demonstrated in the case of the Brit- 
 ish regulars in Braddock's march and battle and retreat. Provided 
 they were brave and hardy and good marksmen, — and these were 
 their general characteristics, — nothing more was supposed needful 
 to qualify them for this partisan service. The celebrated partisan. 
 Major Robert Rogers, a Scotch-Irishman of Southern New Hamp- 
 shire, introduced into his corps something a little more elaborate 
 than prevailed in this region, which proved itself to be excellent in 
 his numerous marches and countermarches to the northward ; namely, 
 a simple order of advance for the centre column, with flankers on 
 each side, and a rule for forming on sadden emergencies by file 
 movements and by signals. John Stark, the subsequent hero of 
 Bennington, was a Captain in Major Rogers's corps of rangers in 
 the course of this war. 
 
 The bounties offered on Indian prisoners and on Indian scalps, to 
 which Governor Phipps refers in his instructions above quoted, 
 were an inducement by which scouting parties turned out from the 
 militia not at the time in active service, as well as an incitement to 
 vigilance and bravery on the part of those specially enlisted for the 
 
EPHRABI WILLIAMS. 275 
 
 garrison or partisan service. The bounty on Indian captives was 
 generally the same as that on scalps. In New York it was higher 
 on the living prisoner ; but, in any case, the temptation was strong 
 to put their prisoners to death and carry the evidence to head- 
 quarters for a reward, rather than to take the constant risk of their 
 escape and even of losing their own scalps, to be exhibited for a cor- 
 responding reward in Canada. The bounty, when obtained, was to 
 be divided equally, witliout distinction, between officers and men, — 
 among all who constituted the scouting party or the garrison. In 
 February, 1748, the House of Representatives of Massachusetts had 
 voted, — " and that over and above the bounty above mentioned, 
 and the pay and subsistence of the Province, there be, and hereby 
 is, granted, to be paid to the officers and soldiers, in equal parts, 
 who shall on any scouts that may kill or capture any Indian enemy, 
 the sum of one hundred pounds ; the scalp of the Indian killed, to 
 be produced to the governor and council as evidence thereof." The 
 following letter throws light upon the manner of obtaining the 
 reward offered : — 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, August ye 12, 1755. 
 These few lines are to inform your Honour [Col. Israel Williams] that we 
 have been down with a scalp. Your Honour not being at home, we went to 
 Major Elijah Williams, and had his advice concerning it, and we left the scalp 
 at Lieutenant Graves. We heard that the Assembly was to set pritty soon, 
 therefore we desire your Honour would send us word whether we must come 
 down or not, and trust your Honour would be so good as to send us word if 
 your Honour would think proper for us to carry it down to the Assembly or not. 
 We rely on your Honour to see us satisfied concerning it. So we rest and 
 remain your Honour most Dutiful and Obedient Servants, 
 
 John Crawford 
 and 
 
 Gideon Warren. 
 
 This particular scalp was paid for before the month was out, and 
 the money distributed among the forty-five men then composing 
 the garrison of Fort Massachusetts, under the command of Captain 
 Isaac Wyman. We shall meet with Crawford and Warren again, 
 perhaps, when they will be engaged in something better worth the 
 doing than carrying one scalp between them from the fort to "old 
 Hatfield." Both had a hand in laying some of the early founda- 
 tions oi the " new town," now Williamstown. The same month and 
 the same day on which the two soldiers wrote to Colonel Williams 
 about the scalp. Captain Wyman gave account to the same party, as 
 follows, of a scout that he had accompanied from the fort to the 
 northward : — 
 
276 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Honou'd Sir, According to your directions I took 20 men with 2 fortenits 
 provision. We went to the head of Melomscook [Walloomsac] River the first 
 day, and there we camped [near Center Pownal]. We saw a grate many signs 
 of Indians hut none verry new. From there we steared north [into Benning- 
 ton], and then we turned our coars down the River for Saincoyck [St. Croix], 
 The 3 day of our marcli about 12 a clock we got to the mouth of the River 
 [Hoosac Junction]. From there we set out and steared north, but we got but a 
 little ways that night. Georg Willson was taken verry ill and continued so all 
 that night and the next day, so that he was unfit to go forard. We maid no 
 new discovery of Indians, and we turned back and got into the fort the fifth 
 day. S'r, there is Daniel Miller which I have sent down, he hath bin verry ill 
 this some time, and is verry unfit for the service. He is willing to give 2 months 
 wages if there be ceason for it to hire a man to supply his place. I told him 
 that I did not dout but that the Colo, would be willing to change him. I have 
 no nuse to acquaint the Colo. of. I shall send a scout up to the Carring Place 
 [Fort Edward] the next week. There is 2 or 3 hundred of Hampshire forceses 
 gon alongue this week to Albany [Crown Point Expedition]. 
 
 These from, Sr, 
 
 Your verry Humble Serv't 
 
 Isaac Wtman. 
 
 Disheartening in the last degree, both to the British and the 
 colonial governments, were the issues of the entire campaign of 
 1755. No one of the three warlike expeditions of the year had even 
 reached their objective point : General Braddock's advanced column 
 had been wofully defeated, and the General mortally wounded, 
 seven miles at least from the site of Fort Dii Quesne, now Pittsburg, 
 Pennsylvania ; Governor Shirley, whose son William, a British 
 officer, was killed with Braddock, commanded in person the central 
 expedition directed against the ISTiagara frontier, but neither he nor 
 any part of his column got beyond Oswego, scarcely more than half- 
 way from Albany to Niagara; and the Crown Point expedition, 
 under the command of Sir William Johnson, a rival and personal 
 enemy of Shirley, though it did the best fighting of the year in 
 the battle with Dieskan at the head of Lake George, Sept. 8, 
 stopped short there about midway between Albany and Crown 
 Point, and wasted the autumn in building what Bancroft calls a 
 "useless fort of wood." Johnson called his new fort "William 
 Henry," and the fort at the carrying-place on the Hudson below, 
 " Edward," from members of the royal family, while the lake itself 
 he very properly named " George," in order to honor his king and 
 "to ascertain his undoubted dominion here." Things looked no 
 better for the English throughout the year 1756, when the formal 
 declaration of war was had between England and France, though 
 the war had then been going on two years ; and, in some respects, 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 277 
 
 they looked worse still in 1757, when Montcalm swooped down from 
 Canada and took and burnt Fort William Henry, and exposed its 
 surrendering garrison to the horrors of Indian massacre. 
 
 In the meantime, Isaac AV^yman was faithfully performing in a 
 small way the functions falling to him at Fort Massachusetts. He 
 kept a journal, as required, of his scouts sent out, and of all other 
 notewortliy events at his fort, from which some quotations will be 
 made pretty soon. He had a chaplain there, Rev. Mr. Strong, dur- 
 ing the summer of 1756; and, so far as now appears, this was the 
 first stated service of the kind at the fort after the " captivation " of 
 Rev. John Norton there in the summer of 174G. l^esides these 
 two, we only know of one other stated chaplain at the fort, and that 
 Avas Rev. Stephen West, who served during the summer of 1758. 
 Wyman wrote the following letter, dated May 17, 1756, to his 
 superior, Colonel Williams : — 
 
 Honoured Sir, I have finished the south side of the Fort that was fallen 
 down, all but the picket in the top of the single work — and have secured the 
 west and north side of the duble work so that I believe there is no danger of its 
 falling verry soon. The top of the Fort wants picketin all round. There was 
 forty six feet in length of the walls was fallen, which I have built all of new 
 timber as high as the double work was before, and fill** up with gravell. The 
 top timbers ware almost as sound as ever. I began to repair the Fort on Mon- 
 day the 10 day May, and Fryde the 15 day about noon I finished it. There is 
 Bass and Meacham I have consented should come in Simeon Morgan and 
 Sam' Southrick's, if the Cola be willen, for a while. They are to return back 
 any time if they are call'd for. 
 
 I keep the scouts constant east and west. They have maid no discovery of 
 Indians all tliis spring. I send the Cola, the accompt of the scouts I have sent 
 out this Spring. I understand by Serg.' Taylor that Chidester hath taken Capt. 
 Chapin into the service at the west town. He is to do the duty for the bileting. 
 He hath taken one of the Horsfords' place, and John Vanarnum the other Hos- 
 ford's place, and they are both gon Home [to Canaan Ct.]. 
 These with my due regards to the Cola. 
 I remain S'r 
 Your verry Humble Serv* Isaac Wyman. 
 
 There was found among the papers of Captain John Williams, 
 of Conway, son of Colonel Israel Williams, by General E. Hoyt, 
 the antiquarian, Aug. 31, 1820, a document entitled "Capt. Isaac 
 Wyman's Journal of operations at Fort Massachusetts, in 1756." 
 The first entry on the journal is under the date of May 17, the 
 date of the letter but just now quoted. The " accompt of the scouts 
 I have sent out this Spring," which was obviously sent at the same 
 time with the letter, has not come to light ; furthermore, it is not of 
 
278 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 mucli consequence, for the scouts '' have maid no discovery of 
 Indians all this spring." But the supplemental journal, recovered 
 by General Hoyt sixty-four years after it was written, covering the 
 time from May 17 till July 10, is invaluable. We quote a few of 
 the more significant entries : — 
 
 May 19th. Sent a scout — 4 men guarding men aplowing. 
 
 20th. Sent 2 men to guard plowmen. 
 
 23d. Sent a scout up the North Branch [of the Hoosac-towards Stam- 
 ford]. 2 sermons preach^ by Mr. Strong — one man in from Town 
 [West Hoosac]. 
 
 24th. Sent a scout west — the scout return*. Discov'r'd the signs of 2 or 
 3 Indians about four miles distance from the Fort. Brought the nuse 
 that Vanarnum's boys [first " boys " on record here !] saw 2 Indians 
 running up the River to head them. 
 
 25th. Sent 2 scouts one East one West — the west scout found the yester- 
 day's nuse to be nothing but some of the Town's people out a fishing. 
 
 27th. This day stormy and wet — no scout. 
 
 28th. Sent 2 scouts one East one West. Dismiss'd John Herult from the 
 service. 
 
 30th. Sent a scout west — Sunday — 2 [religious] Exercises. 
 
 31st. Sent 2 scouts one east one up the South Branch to Rush Medow 
 [between North Adams and Adams]. 
 June 1st. Sent 2 scouts — one west one to the Dutch Setlments [Dutch Hoosac]. 
 Muster' d the men to punish one man being found unfaithful on 
 his duty. 
 6th. Sent a scout East — 2 Exercises by Mr. Strong. 
 
 7th. Sent a scout west — Benjs King William Meacham — the scout 
 ret^ about 3 a clock. Within ^ of a mile from the fort [east end of 
 Blackinton near where John Perry "fenced" and built in 1746] ware 
 shot upon by a scout of Indians and boarth killed and scalp' d. I 
 sent Ensign Barnard with Eight men to pursue them — they followed 
 them — found they could not overtake them — ret*^ to the fort — I 
 sent of a scout to the Town — brought home the dead men — sent of 
 a post to Deerfield in the night — came in the scout from Town 
 [West Hoosac] with some men that came from Albany Aron Denio 
 — they saw fore Indians about 6 miles from the fort — likely to be 
 the same Indians that killed our men. 
 8th. Sent Ensign Barnard with 7 men with Aron Denio and Cors in serch 
 after the [word illegible] and lading that they left yesterday in there 
 surprise — found them bag and bageg — ret^ to the fort — sent 4 men 
 to garde Denio and company to Charlemont — buried the 2 men 
 kill'd by the Indians £King and Meacham]. 
 9th. The four men that went to guard Denioh and others ret'^ from 
 Charlemon't 
 
 11th. This day our scout ret^ from Deerfield — sent over some stoars to the 
 Town. 
 
 13th. Sent a scout west — 2 Exercises by Mr. Strong. 
 
EPHRAI3I WILLIAMS. 279 
 
 16th. Sent a scout up the North Branch [Mayunsook] — I with 5 men went 
 to the top of Sadel Mountain [first record of an ascent of Mt. Wil- 
 liams] — at night came in Maj'r Thaxter from the camp at the Half 
 Moon with 100 men — brouglit in 2 men on bears, one wounded by a 
 shot of a pistol from one of there own men, the other sick of the 
 fever — they saw 3 Frenchmen one Indian at Melomscot [ Walloom- 
 sac] and tired at them. 
 
 10th. This morning the wounded man died was buried — sent a scout west 
 
 — at seven a clock Maj't Thaxter marched of for the camp at Half 
 Moon with all his men but six three of tliem not well. 
 
 17th. Our scout east heard guns supposed to be tired by the Indians — one 
 Frenchman or Indian was seen within tifty rods of the Fort, running 
 to git around one of our men — I emediately went out with twenty 
 men in pursuit of them — found where a small scout of them ran 
 acros't the River — I ret* to the fort — took twenty one men with me 
 and 2 days provision — set out for the loare End of Hoosuek — found 
 where the Indians had cros^ the River stearing towards Meloms- 
 cook. 
 
 20th. Sent no scout — 2 Exercises this Sunday by Mr. Strong. 
 
 22d. Sent no scout it being stormy weather. 
 
 23d. Sent 2 scouts one east one west — the east scout saw signs of a scout 
 of Indians stearing towards the Fort — Sent a scout to pilot three 
 men to the army at the Half Moon. 
 
 24th. The men ret^ that I sent out to go to the army — saw the signs of 
 twenty or more Indians about ten mils distance from the Fort. 
 
 25th. Sent out Ensign Barnard with Eighteen men to range the woods all 
 round the Fort — ret^ — maid no discovery of Indians. Sent a post 
 to Colo. Williams of Hatfield. 
 
 20th. At night came in an Indian fellow from the Camps — brought the 
 nuse that there ware 14 of them in company together within about 
 thirteen miles of this fort ware fired upon by a large body of Indians 
 
 — he maid his escape to the top of a large mountain where he saw 
 the enemy march alonge thrue a large field — he thought there ware 
 better than two hundred of them. Lieut. Grout was head of our 
 scout coming from the Army. 
 
 27th. Sent Ensn Barnard with 2 men to see what he could discover of the 
 enemy and to find whether they ware gone of or coming up this way 
 
 — sent a scout west — the scout upon there return come so near a 
 scout of Indians that they heard them run down a hill — they fol- 
 lowed them — found they steared towards the Fort — 2 meatins as 
 usual being Sunday. 
 
 28th. EnsD Barnard ret^ — he discovered the signs of a small scout of 
 Indians stearing towards the Fort — he and the two men with liim 
 went down within ten rods of the place where the Indians fired upon 
 our men — coming from the camps saw three lie dead in the path — 
 they heard the cracking of sticks like men walking alongue a little 
 beyond where the dead men lay — they thought it not prudence to 
 go any farther for fear the enemy ware lying in ambush to catch 
 them — so maid of and ret'-* to the fort. 
 
280 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 29th. Sent a post of 2 men to Colo. "Williams of Hatfield — Serj'tElisha 
 [illegible] with 2 men belongin to the army to acquaint the General 
 of the Indians falling upon a scout of his men that ware coming up 
 to our fort — at three of the clock come in the post that was sent 
 last Fryday morning Serj' Chidester with them. 
 
 30th. Sent a scout west — discover'd signs of Indians up Green River 
 [earliest record of that name] — 2 scouts of them six in each scout 
 
 — saw the signs of them west of pine hill [Dea. Foot's hill] just gon 
 alongue — saw other signs of them in another place where they had 
 just crossed the River towards the Town. 
 
 July 1st. Sent a scout east — the scout ret^ — discovered new signs of Indians 
 
 — cleared the well in the paraid. 
 
 2d. Sent a scout west — saw the signs of ten or twelve Indians stearing 
 
 towards the fort. 
 4th. Sunday — sent no scout — 2 sermons by Mr. Strong. 
 5th. Sent Enss Barnard with Eighteen to guard provision to the West 
 
 Town — at night came in Capt. Buterfield from the Camps at the 
 
 Half Moon with one hundred and forty men — found eight of there 
 
 men killed by the Indians the 26 day of June — coming to the Fort 
 
 they buried them. 
 6th. Sent a guard of 12 men to guard eight men howing corn about three 
 
 quarters of a mile from the Fort [probably the patch John Perry 
 
 "fenced" in 1746]. 
 10th. Sent a scout East. 
 
 The next day after this last entry in Wy man's jonrnal, Captain 
 Chapin and the two Chidesters were killed and scalped on Hemlock 
 Brook in the West Town, as already related. There is a letter from 
 Colonel Williams to the Governor at Boston, enclosing an "Express " 
 from Captain Wyman in relation to the killing of King and Meacham 
 the month before. The enclosure is as follows : — 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, June 7, 1756. 
 Sir, Our scout I sent west this day upon their return was shot upon by the 
 Indians, about half a mile distance from the Fort, and are booth killed and 
 scalp'd. Benjn King Wm Meacham was the scout. I sent Ens, Barnard with 
 a number of men after them. They returned in a short time. Thought they 
 could not overtake them. The En? thinks there was about Seven or Eight of 
 the Indians. j ^yman. 
 
 William IVTeacham was from New Salem, in the present county of 
 Franklin, the first settler of which town, in 1737, was Jeremiah 
 JMeacham, of Salem by the sea. The first of the name in this country 
 was Jeremiah, of Salem, 1660, a ftdler. The fate of their brother 
 (or cousin) W^illiam did not deter James and Jonathan Meacham, 
 who w^ere cousins, from coming a few years after from New Salem 
 as permanent settlers in the "new town," where both became promi- 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 281 
 
 nent landowners and useful citizens ; and where James, who became 
 one of the two original deacons here, left a large landed estate, which 
 is still in the hands of his great-grandson of the same name, James 
 B. Meacham (Williams College, 1854). Deacon James Meacham 
 died in 1813, aged 79. His youngest son, Israel, was a graduate of 
 the College in its third class, 1797, who became a physician in Rich- 
 field, New York, and died there in 1824. Both James and Jonathan 
 Meacham will cross our path many times in many relations; and 
 members of the family, intermarried with the AVarners, immigrated 
 early into western Vermont, and have been prominent and excellent 
 people there. James Meacham, clergyman and college professor, 
 was member of Congress from the Middle] nuy district from 1849 
 till 1855. 
 
 The last of June of this discouraging year, 1756, Captain Wyman 
 wrote the letter that follows to Colonel Williams, which is worth 
 quoting entire for many reasons, especially as indicating a better 
 state of feeling than always existed between the garrisons at Fort 
 Massachusetts and at West Hoosac. The last sentence of the letter, 
 namely, " Serj.'* Chidester is not ret- yet," may perhaps go far to 
 explain this. 
 
 Hono* Sir, The seventeenth of this month one of our men saw an Indian 
 about sixty rods from the Fort. I went out with eighteen men. Found where 
 five or six of them run aerost the River, Stearing west, I ret4 to the Fort- 
 Called the men together and enlisted sixteen of em to go out with me two day 
 scout. We went to the Town. They join'd us, maid our number twenty one 
 with the Duch that went with us. I went down the River 10 mils that night. 
 The next morning I set out to go to the loar eand of Hoosuck Town. Found where 
 some of the enemy had got before us. We went down a little further — found 
 a place where we thought they would come along, if we ware before any of them 
 there. We laid an ambush, but did not see much above half a day. Our men 
 seem to be as unea.sy as tho they lay on nettels. We ret^ within about ten miles 
 of the Fort — there lodg^. The next day we ret^ to the Fort. Our scouts have 
 discovered signs of the enemy booth east and west. I sent of one man yesterday 
 to pilot three men aerost to the army, at the Half Mon. They came upon a 
 number of Indian tracks about ten miles Norwest from the Fort. • They say they 
 believe there is upwards of twenty by there signs. The enemy's tracks seem 
 to be as new as thers they tell me. 
 
 General Winslow sent last week Maj. Thaxter with one hundred fifty men 
 aerost to our Fort at the loar Eand of the Melomscot. They saw three French- 
 men and one Indian, and shot at them. They run up the mountains. The 
 Majr told me he thought it not worth a while to follow them. They wounded 
 one of there men by the way with a pistail going of so that he died the next 
 morning at the Fort. They left one man sick and 2 lame at the Fort, and three 
 to tend them. The General rote me word that the enemy ware verry thick 
 about them. 
 
282 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTGWN. 
 
 Serj^ Taylor is very desirous of being put into the service somewhere if it 
 could be. He hath no way to supoart his famole under his circumstances. He 
 liveth there at the Town waiting for some releaf . It is a general time of helth 
 amonst us. I have bin not well this two or three days. I am got some better. 
 Serj' Chidester is not ret^ yet. 
 
 From, Sir, 
 
 Your verry Humble Serv* 
 
 Isaac Wyman. 
 
 The only direct evidence known to the writer, that there was a 
 fort during this war near the junction of the Walloomsac and the 
 Hoosac, what is called now in railroad phrase " Hoosac Junction," is 
 the incidental expression in the above letter, " our Fort at the loar 
 Eand of the Melomscot." This fort was doubtless built and main- 
 tained by the province of New York, within whose assumed jurisdic- 
 tion it stood, although the boundary line between New York and 
 Massachusetts was not settled till 1787, and still later the line 
 between Vermont and New York. It was a strategical point, at any 
 rate, for much the same reason as the site of Fort Massachusetts was 
 at the junction of the north and south branches of the Hoosac, twenty 
 miles up that stream. The Walloomsac gave easy access by its three 
 main head streams (though small) from the Green Mountains to the 
 central valley of the lakes and the Hudson, up and down which, of 
 geographical necessity, all the chief operations of all the French wars 
 had to be conducted. There was then, and remains to this day, a 
 ford across the Walloomsac about twenty rods from its mouth, the 
 stream below the ford being deep and swift, and above it a series of 
 stony rapids and steep banks. Across this ford passed our captives 
 of 1746, on their way to Canada, and all the soldiers of Massachu- 
 setts to and from Ticonderoga and Crown Point; for the path lay on 
 the north bank of the Hoosac all the way, and another path ran up 
 from the ford on the north bank of the Walloomsac to the north end 
 of Bennington Hill, and it was not an unreasonable matter (as hap- 
 pened once in a notable case) for soldiers coming from the north to 
 mistake the path leading to Bennington for the one leading to Fort 
 Massachusetts. It was along this very path up the Walloomsac, 
 later widened into a rude road, that the so-called battle of Benning- 
 ton was fought in 1777. 
 
 Captain Wyman mentions more than once in these dispatches " the 
 loar Eand of Hoosuck Town." This was at the junction of the 
 " Little Hoosac " with the Hoosac Eiver proper, about six miles south 
 of the Walloomsac ford, termed now in railroad parlance "Peters- 
 buro: Junction." The extended hamlet alon.e^ the lower Little 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 283 
 
 Hoosac and on the broad meadows around its mouth was called in 
 those days " Dutch Hoosac," from the nationality of its first settlers, 
 — Van der Vericks, Bratts, Breeses, Van Vosburghs, and others, — and 
 included the present village of North Petersburg and the scattered 
 farm-houses on both the Hoosacs near their junction. The next 
 hamlet north is what was long denominated " Hoosac Corners," 
 because the turnpike from Bennington to Troy here crosses the old 
 Hoosac road. Next below is '' Hoosac Falls," the origin of wliich 
 designation is obvious. Then follows at the mouth of the Walloom- 
 sac the " Hoosac Junction," of which we have been speaking ; and 
 up the Walloomsac itself, where the " Little White Creek " drops 
 into it from the north at right angles, is the straggling village of 
 " North Hoosac," where the battle of Bennington began and ended. 
 All five of these present railroad stations, and indeed a sixth, called 
 "Buskirk's Bridge," where Owl Kill tumbles in also from the north 
 into the Hoosac below the junction, are within the large township 
 of Hoosac, Rennsalaer County, New York. All these places are of 
 lasting interest and significance, (1) because they were points and 
 camping-places on immemorial Indian paths ; (2) because most of 
 them played a figure and came of record during the old French 
 wars ; and (3) because many of them were either a rendezvous or 
 a fighting-place in the war of the. Revolution. 
 
 The appended letter from Colonel AVilliams to the governor at 
 Boston bears indeed no date, while its contents demonstrate that it 
 must have been written in July, 1756. It was about the darkest 
 period for all the English colonies in America during the whole 
 course of the Seven Years' War. In no other letter of Israel 
 Williams extant is there seen so pervading a spirit of despondency 
 as in this. There was jealousy and bickering between Sir William 
 Johnson and Governor Shirley, the commander-in-chief; and a cabal 
 instituted by the former against the latter made head with the home 
 government, and sent over in succession three Incompetents, Webb 
 and Abercrombie and Loudon, to supersede Shirley, and to botch 
 the whole business. While General John Winslow, of Massachu- 
 setts, was pushing his men and supplies forward from Albany to 
 Half Moon and beyond to Fort William Henry, French and Indian 
 scouting parties constantly harassed him ; although the colonial 
 rangers became after a little as active as the French, and Captain 
 Robert Rogers particularly distinguished himself in this and the 
 following year, both years however proving in general disastrous to 
 the English. 
 
28-4 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Sir, This acquaints you that at Capt. Bridgman's Farm about Eight miles 
 above Northfield a week since 3 women 11 children were captivated by the 
 Indians — 1 man kill'd, and one Endeavoring to make his escape supposed to be 
 drown'd in Con't lliver. The buildings burnt — and Tuesday last one man 
 killed or (?) captivated at ye Ashuelots. The enemy are discovered dayly, and 
 within these few days — in almost every part of our Frontiers, 150 are said to 
 be come down with design to murther and destroy our people. We have full 
 evidence of their being very numerous. This Morning by express from Capt. 
 Wyman of Fort Massachusetts I am inform' d that the scouts from that garrison 
 this week discovered the tracks of 30 or 40 Indians steering towards pontoosook, 
 besides diverse other small partys — their course southward — Two men present 
 in order to inform ye people at pontoosook saw five, fir'd upon 'em & probably 
 kill'd one. 
 
 The people in the new places above keep close — business is at an end, and 
 they will be impoverished and ruin'd. And if our enemy s continue to press us 
 at this rate, we must quit our husbandry and other business and take to our 
 arms. I can't think the people at Southampton Blondford No. 1 — New Marl- 
 borough &c, &c, and the other places between Westfleld and Sheffield will be 
 safe & secure any longer. I sent 8 men yesterday to Wings garrison at No. 4 — 
 and expect 8 men more from below, which I design for Southampton. It is not 
 in my power to grant relief to any other at present. Several places before men- 
 tion' d are a cover to your people, and unless protected, they tell me they must 
 & will leave their habitations. Notwithstanding the gloomy prospect our people 
 support with the hopes of being soon delivered from ye cruelty & inhumanity of 
 our inveterate as well as savage foes. 
 
 To have our people women & children butcher'd and captivated by such 
 miscreants is very provoking, but not wholly to be prevented. The murdhers & 
 deaths of so many innocents, & the Cruel oppressions we now groan under, Cry 
 aloud to Heaven for vengeance. If our iniquities don't prevent may we not 
 hope to have an Almighty arm engaged for our help. Pray God turn to flight 
 the armys of the aliens, & crown all our enterprizes with success. 
 
 I have directed ye bearer to wait y'r answer. 
 I am w^ sincere respects to y'r Hon'lile Council of war, Sir, 
 Your Most Ob^ Hum'e Serv't, 
 
 I. W. [Israel Williams]. 
 
 Meanwhile things were going badly at the West Hoosac fort. 
 Aug. 9, 1756, two days less than one month after the surprise and 
 massacre there of Chapin and the two Chidesters, Captain Wyman 
 writes from Fort Massachusetts to his Colonel at Hatfield as 
 follows : — 
 
 Hono^ Sir, The men at the west Fort live in continual confusion together. 
 Serj't Taylor was over at our fort last Satoday with fore men with him for 
 stoars. They tell me that Seth Hudson, Jabez Worren, John Horsford, Will'm 
 Horsford, and Will'm Chidester are set upon it that they will obey no orders but 
 what cometh amediatly from the Governour to them. Hudson and those with 
 him ensist upon it that they are an endependant Company. The way that they 
 go in I am afraid will not only be a means of there losing there own lives but 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 285 
 
 the lives of those that are posted there with them. Taylor tells me they go as 
 carles about there work as tho there never had bin any Indians there, and will 
 do no scouting at all, but seam to trye to destroy themselves and others withe 
 them as fast as they can. My having to many men at this fort I have dismissed 
 Tyras Pratt and Noah Pratt I have sent over to fill up the vacancy there. I 
 have neglected sending a scout to the army by reason of a scouts coming from 
 there last week. Our scout have of late discov'd the tracks of Indians boorth 
 east and west of us Small scouts of them. 
 
 These from, S'r, 
 
 Your Verry Humble ServM, 
 
 Isaac Wvman. 
 
 For some reason not known to the writer, Captain Wyman was 
 absent from his fort in October of this year (and perhaps for a 
 longer period), and Ensign Salah Barnard, of Deerfield, after- 
 wards Captain in Colonel William Williams's regiment, who seems 
 to have been for some time second in command to Wyman, became 
 for a little the chief officer at the fort, and consequently the superior 
 officer over the one having for the time being the command over the 
 blockhouse in the West Town ; and, in this capacity, Barnard wrote 
 a letter to Colonel Israel Williams, describing a visit which he made 
 to the blockhouse, and letting us into the secrets of that establish- 
 ment as they were slowly revealing themselves in the early days of 
 October, 1756. We dwell with the more interest and in the more 
 detail upon these rude contemporary documents because they give 
 up glimpses — not always flattering to the men themselves — of 
 those who commenced " to replenish and subdue " the original fields 
 and homesteads of a town now dear to multitudes of hearts. Most, 
 if not all, of the men mentioned by name in this letter were among 
 the early proprietors of Williamstown. 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, Oct. 3, 1756. 
 Hon'i^ Sir, The paper y^ you d** to me at yr Hon's is enclosed herein. When 
 
 (•Ulivcred) 
 
 I was at the West Fort I let the men know that I had it by me and if they own** 
 it as theirs ait (?) they might have an opportunity to put their hands to it. At 
 first the two Ilorsfords, Warren, and Noah Pratt made answer that they intended 
 to have done it before it was carried down, but when it was read to them they 
 refused to do it, but said since it was to be laid before His Excellency they chose 
 to have one written in another form and send it themselves, fearing that might 
 turn to their disadvantage. 
 
 Serj't Taylor requests that he may carry his family from the Fort, the which 
 I let the men know, which seam'd to pleas them quite well. But at the same 
 time I let them know y* I should not consent to it untill I could see a belter 
 spirit in them towards him, and that since they had try" to impose upon liim in 
 every respect he should still continue to have the command of that garrison. 
 Taylor has all along taken his turn in the Box with the rest of the men, but 
 
286 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 I have let them know that I think that by their misdemeniours they give him 
 
 quite trouble enough without assisting them in that shape, and therefore have 
 
 freed him from that part of duty. Warren has got liberty to be absent from the 
 
 garrason ten days. Suppose he intends to ask a dismission from the service 
 
 when he comes to see y? Hon'F. Should be glad you w^ grant him his request if 
 
 you can think proper. It may be a means of making peace at the garrison. 
 
 Serjt Taylors intend to carry off his family to Northfield as soon as he can get 
 
 liberty. Sends his duty and prays that y? Honr w^ give him a birth as near his 
 
 family as may be. 
 
 I am Sir, 
 
 Yr very Humble Serv'^ ci -r. 
 
 CoL? Israel Williams. Salah Barnard. 
 
 This Samuel Taylor referred to in the above letter as commanding 
 at the blockhouse at West Hoosac, and as being very desirous to be 
 dismissed from that service, was a Northfield man, born in 1716; 
 was older than most of his fellow-soldiers in Fort Massachusetts and 
 at West Hoosac, but was constantly in the service with them from 
 1746 to 1757; his wife was with him much of the time in the garri- 
 sons ; their daughter, Susanna, was born in Fort Massachusetts, 
 June 27, 1754, and their son, Elias, exactly two years later to a day 
 in the West Hoosac Fort; and so far as appears at present, this 
 " Elias Taylor " was the first male white child born in Williamstown. 
 Eachel Simonds was born here, April 8, 1753, and this Taylor boy 
 was apparently next in order, and the first of his kind. The father 
 soon obtained the dismission from West Hoosac that he desired, for 
 we find him the next March in the service at Charlemont, and a year 
 later at his home in Northfield. He and his wife were dismissed 
 from the church in Northfield in March, 1780, to be gathered into a 
 church in Hartford, Vermont.^ 
 
 We must now go back a little in point of time to the expedition 
 against Crown Point of 1755, under the command of Sir William 
 Johnson. Our long story of Williamstown and of Williams College 
 turns radically upon this expedition, and upon some of its issues, 
 and particularly upon Ephraim Williams, who commanded one of its 
 regiments, who had had a peculiar personal training for ten years 
 in connection with a line of small forts and their garrisons stretch- 
 ing from the Connecticut River to the upper water of the Hoosac, 
 who had had also an unusual opportunity during these years to 
 acquire influence with each branch of the Provincial Grovernment at 
 Boston, whose popularity in the West had been availed of by the 
 government to raise a new regiment for the expedition, who had 
 started upon his march from Fort Massachusetts to Albany with 
 
 1 See Family Genealogies in Temple and Sheldon's Northfield, pp. 555, 556. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 287 
 
 unwonted trains of thought stirring in his brain, — trains of thought 
 that discriminated hiin sharply from all the rest of his own able, and 
 ambitious, and self-compacted coterie ; trains of thought which not the 
 trials nor the turmoils of the rendezvous, nor even the desperate news 
 soon arrived from the Monongahela, could drive away. There is a 
 plenty of indirect proof that premonitions of coming death hovered 
 over his mind. He was forty -one years old. He had neither wife 
 nor child. A very few children had already been born to his trusted 
 comrades, subalterns, and centinels, in, or in connection with, each 
 of the rude forts of his line; there would certainly be more, and 
 especially at West Hoosac, where the centrifugal force of the num- 
 bered house lots, several of them with their " regulation " houses 
 already erected and individually owned by the garrison, made against 
 the common blockhouse on No. 6 as a centre, which came to be 
 regarded rather as a place of refuge in times of alarm than as a 
 residence for their families; and Colonel Williams that summer 
 through all its delays, first in Albany itself, and later camped with 
 his regiment " On the Flats " to the northward, kept thinking of 
 those children present and prospective, and could not rest at ease in 
 mind in the " Dutch " country till the stranger lawyer was sought 
 out, the scheme of the school for his comrades' children unfolded, 
 the will drafted and signed and witnessed and sent back to his 
 executors upon the Connecticut. There were })icturesque incidents, 
 a great number of them, that late summer and early autumn along 
 the upper Hudson and across the " Great Carrying-Place," in the 
 " Bloody Morning-Scout," and in Dieskau's deadly battle on the lake ; 
 but looked back upon from the vantage-point of three half-centuries 
 of development, nothing seems to the present onlooker so pregnant 
 of consequences and so potent of good-will to men, as the bluff 
 questions put and the legal queries raised, the tentative dictation of 
 items on the one hand and the awful legalization of terms on the 
 other, the solemn and soldierly signature and seal-affixing with the 
 witnessing of the three other Yankees (one of whom signed twenty 
 years later the Declaration of Independence), in that lawyer's office 
 in Albany on the twenty-second day of July, 1755. 
 
 About a month before this memorable date all the forces destined 
 for the reduction of Crown Point had assembled at Albany. They 
 were composed chiefly of provincial militia from the colonies of 
 Massachusetts and Connecticut. New York had contributed one 
 regiment to the expedition, mainly in recognition of Braddock's 
 courtesy at the council at Alexandria in the spring, in making their 
 fellow-citizen, William Johnson, a Major-General and Commander-in- 
 
288 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Chief of this one of the four campaigns of the season; and New 
 Hampshire had raised for the same object 500 sturdy mountaineers, 
 and had placed them under the command of Colonel Joshua Blanch- 
 ard, and John Stark (later to become famous) was one of Blanchard's 
 Lieutenants. Boston had been, during the preceding winter, the head- 
 centre of counsel and intrigue. Massachusetts was loyal towards the 
 crown, and bitter towards the French Catholics and the wily savages 
 of Canada. There was no proposal to invade Canada in the present 
 campaign, but only to repel encroachments along the frontiers from 
 the Ohio to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Massachusetts cheerfully lev- 
 ied about 7900 men, or nearly one-fifth of the able-bodied men in the 
 colony. Of these, one detachment under Winslow took part in the 
 scandalous deportation of the Acadians from Nova Scotia, and the rest 
 mustered under Johnson at Albany. The towns on the Connecticut 
 Eiver, on both banks, and pretty well back from the stream east 
 and west, which was the realm of the Williamses, shared to the full 
 the military spirit of the colony in general, and this, as well as the 
 natural push of these leaders, gave them a right to expect and cour- 
 age to demand from Governor Shirley both influence and promotion. 
 Letters passed back and forth with rapidity, and journeys were fre- 
 quent. As always happens under such circumstances, there were 
 envies and jealousies a plenty. Colonel Israel Williams, of Hatfield, 
 very properly and very strongly considered that he should have the 
 direction of affairs at the west ; also that it was time his cousin. Major 
 Ephraim Williams, should have the command of a regiment of his 
 own ; had he not been for ten years pretty constantly in the service 
 on the frontiers in subordinate positions ? and that Major Joseph 
 Hawley, of Northampton (though then fully in the ring), and Major 
 Seth Pomeroy (distinguished at Louisburg in 1745) ought not to 
 cl^im precedence over the bachelor and popular and aspiring man 
 of Fort Massachusetts. The writer may be mistaken in his judg- 
 ment, but he believes that some at least of his future readers 
 would like to take a look into some of the letters of that time 
 and that crisis, both as illustrating colonial character and manners, 
 and as forecasting a light on the great revolution even then draw- 
 ing on. 
 
 The following extended letter from Colonel Israel AVilliams to 
 Governor Shirley at Boston, which is dated Hatfield, Sept. 12, 1754, 
 will well repay an attentive perusal in every line of it, both for 
 the light that it casts on the temper and position of the Colonel 
 and the governor respectively, and for that cast also on the circum- 
 stances (trying enough) under which each was acting at the time: — 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 289 
 
 Sir, I conclude you have before this time been fully informed of ye hostile 
 attempts of ye Indians, and the mischiefs done by them in our own Frontiers, 
 & also in ye Frontiers of ye neighbouring Gov** — in one of which they have 
 made most terrible wast — and the universal terror and surprize the people are 
 in. It's now open War, and a very dark & distressing scene opening. A 
 merciless, miscreant enemy invading us in every quarter, push'd on by our invet- 
 erate enemy as if their savage nature and blood-thirsty temper needed excite- 
 ments to perpetrate their cruel and barbarous & designs. The designs of ye 
 French in all this are very visible — to prevent our making any new sett'?!** to 
 ye North — ye Northern GovL* sending any assistance of men to Ohio — impov- 
 erishing even as much as possible, preventing y*'": Indians trading to Albany, 
 opening the way for ye reduction of that city, and finally, if attended like suc- 
 cess, ye securing ye Six Nations in their interest — which when effected farewell 
 peace & prosperity to New England, yea to North America. 
 
 It gives me no small satisfaction that under God we have y'^ Ex'cy still whose 
 enterprizes ag't our common enemy have heretofore been attended with great 
 success to apply to for relief in our distresses, of whose wisdom, care, and com- 
 passion we have had so large experience, and in assurance of y'r tender care, 
 ability, and readiness to afford succour & help to us under our pressures, we 
 shall as to our Com'on Father make our application. 
 
 My situation & circumstances makes ye Western Frontiers of the County of 
 Hampshire ye imediate object of my attention, and the violent attacks of ye 
 enemy in tliis quarter calls for the publick more than any other part of the 
 province. I begg leave therefore to represent the state of this Frontier, and to 
 lay before y'n Ex'E? what I judge woud most conduce to its safety, & ye security 
 of His Majes^ subjects here & ye neighbourigGov'^. Herewith I send a plan of 
 the Western Frontiers, by which y'r Ex's^ will be able to form a judgment of our 
 situation, and whether what I am about to propose will serve ye good of ye 
 whole — which is that there be a garrison at Fall Town, another at Coldrain, at 
 Morrisons, two at Charlemont, Massachusets Fort — & a garrison at Pontoosook. 
 At the two first places there are Forts, which the Gov'.^ have been at some 
 expense in building heretofore. At Charlemont & Pontoosook the people are 
 preparing for their defence, and the charge in makeing those places sufficient 
 will not as I apprehend be great to yt Gov'K 
 
 I propose that there be at least fifty men posted at Fort Massachusets — 
 thirty at Pontoosook, they to maintain a constant scout from Stockbridge thro' 
 the Westerly part of Framingham [Lanesboro], and the west Township at 
 Hooseck [Williamstown], to ye fort, & from thence to ye top of Hooseck 
 Mountain. That there be 12 at each garrison at Charlemont, 20 at Morrisons & 
 12 or 14 at Fall Town, who shall perform a constant scout from Con'? river 
 against Northf'd to ye top of Hooseck Mountain. 
 
 These scouts thus perform'd will cross all ye roads ye enemy ever travail to 
 come within ye afore'j? line of Forts. The'd also afford ye people a guard where 
 they can be spar'd for that purpose. There will doubtless be more men wanted 
 for ye protection of ye inhabitants at Coldrain and some other places. However 
 I apprehend the aforemention'd garrisons will be a great security to ye old 
 towns and new places within ye line aforesaid — and if the scouts are faithfully 
 perform'd there can't any considerable body of ye enemy come within ye line 
 aforesaid undiscov'd, and they will be a great restraint upon small parties, who 
 
290 ORIGINS IX WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 will be afraid of being ensnar'd. The reasons why I propose such a large num- 
 ber of men at Fort Massachusets and Pontoosook are, because it's most likely 
 the approach of ye enemy within ye line will be chiefly thro' ye line of scouting 
 from Stockbridge to ye top of Hooseck Mountain, and if they make a discovery 
 there ought to be a sufficient number of men imediately to pursue within ye line 
 and out — and also to give intelligence & defend ye garrisons at ye same time, 
 and also that parties might be sent from Fort Massachusets to way lay ye roads 
 from Crown Point, & we not be altogether upon ye defensive. The enemy gen- 
 erally when they leave Crown Point come to ye south side of ye Lake or 
 Drowned Lands, leave their canoes, and come down to Hooseck, or turn off to 
 ye East. Let which will be ye case that fort is best scituate to send out parties 
 from to gain advantages. The reason why I woud neglect Shirley & Pelham is 
 because the Indians were scarce ever known the last war to come down Deer- 
 field river, and that road is almost impassable. Shirley is rotten, and if main- 
 taind must be rebuilt — and I think that at Morrison's will answer all intents 
 full as well, & be much easier supply'd. As to ye forts above ye line, if ye 
 Gov't of New-Hampshire will support 'em it will be well. But as for ye advan- 
 tages that will arise to this Gov'? should they maintain & defend 'em, they 
 will never countervail ye charge and expence. Not with stand' g a garrison at 
 No. 4 the Indians can & will come down Black River, Williams River, or West 
 River, turn down South, pass over Connecticut River to ye Eastern Towns, with- 
 out the least hazard, and, when they have done mischief, return with like security, 
 or pass up above. The last war the French were with ye Indians, and the Forts 
 were often attack' d, & ye enemy in some measure diverted. But Indians alone 
 will never fight forts much, and indeed we lost more men above ye line ye last 
 war than in all parts of ye frontiers, those taken at Massachusets Fort included. 
 
 The grand design C0I2 Stoddard proposed in having a garrison at No. 4 
 was that parties might be sent from thence to way lay ye roads from Crown 
 point, and said there ought to be 100 hundred men posted there, one half 
 to be out at a time. But his scheme was intirely frustrated. The Gov'? never 
 did afford a sufficient number of men for that purpose, and they were scarcely 
 able to obtain a supply of provisions for those that were there, and many there 
 were lost in going thither without doing any good. I expect ye like shoud that 
 place be again detain' d, and it appears to me to be much best that those distant 
 places should be broke up, as it never was prudence to attempt ye settlement of 
 'em, whilst there was such a wilderness between them & ye old towns, & the 
 charge of defending 'em will be very great protection being granted 
 
 other places within our own Jurisdiction, which will want it every whit as 
 much, whether those places above ye line are protected or deserted. The 
 charge to ye Gov't in supporting men at Northfield and other places East will 
 be much cheaper to ye Gov't, and with suitable guards provisions may be rais'd 
 for ye men necessary to be sent there. It appears most likely this will be a 
 scalping war till ye French openly enter into it, and affect all parts of ye 
 frontiers, and therefore our interest to be as compact as jjossible. 
 
 I would further propose that two forts be built between Massachusets & 
 Hudson's River as laid down in ye plan between which places there is a large 
 opening where the enemy can come down to ye Dutch settlements or to Stock- 
 bridge & Sheffield & whe' they are gone to Conn? without difficulty — That one 
 Fort be built and garrison'd by Con't, ye other by New York. This line of 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 291 
 
 Forts will shut up all between ConM & Hudsons River, & be ye best defence & 
 security to all within, if well supply'd wi'b men of anything I can think of, and 
 if y't Excy approves of it & sliould press it upon those Gov'^, it is so reasonable & 
 necessary for their safety, I can't but think they will at once comply with it. 
 I submit ye whole, and ask y'L Exiy't patience for ye tediousness of my letti. 
 
 [Israel Willia3is.] 
 
 This document demonstrates Israel Williams to have had a good 
 military eye, and a sterling regard for the welfare of the new set- 
 tlers who had been crowding in upon the exposed frontiers over 
 which he had been in faithful charge ever since the death of Colonel 
 Stoddard in 1748. More than on anybody else a good deal, military 
 affairs in the west of New England turned on the vigilance and activ- 
 ity of this patriotic and competent offtcer, until tlie great battle of 
 Wolfe in 1759 settled that whole set of questions. For the most 
 part he stuck steadily to his headquarters at Hatfield. Expresses 
 were all the time coming in to him from the forts and the scouts, 
 and couriers as constantly going out bearing orders and conveying 
 counsels to non-combatants ; and consequently it was necessary for 
 him to keep confidential agents more or less constantly both at 
 Boston, whence his own authority emanated at once from the Gen- 
 eral Court and Governor Shirley, and later at Albany, where the 
 Crown Point expeditions concentred. It was undoubtedly this 
 felt need for authentic news and for influence as direct as possible 
 on affairs, that led him to find Major Ephraim Williams more 
 useful to the cause by attending on the governor and Court during 
 the fall and winter of 1754-55 than he could be presiding over the 
 routine of the line of forts. There were also ulterior reasons, of 
 course. Both of these gentlemen were ambitious of personal and 
 family preferment. They all clung together as towards these ends 
 with remarkable skill and persistence. The now to be quoted letter 
 from the ^Major to the Colonel reflects abundant light upon the char- 
 acter of each, and also upon the general state of colonial activities 
 as the great crisis was now drawing on. 
 
 Boston, Novt 21«*, 1754. 
 
 Sir, I have recv'^ yours & [one from] Capt. Steven. Have inclos'd the direc- 
 tions from Moffet. Shall bring Mr. Sales Capashun [capuchin-cloak] with me. 
 S?i William [Johnson] has not been in town. I sent yt letter [to] Colo. Williams 
 of Weathersfield. Have received no answer. They have agreed to raise in the 
 County of Hampshire 40 men to be posted at Stockbridge & elsewhere. 
 
 Lt. Brown is desirous to have 5 men put into the service Bilonging to Stock- 
 bridge, which are drove of their lands, which I can't but think will be very ser- 
 visible for beds of scouts, since they are all smart able-bodied men. 
 
292 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 As to Capt. Chapin gitting the Com5 from me I bleve there is nothing in that. 
 But the GoverL has promist to restore him to the Chief command of the Fort 
 as soon as a fort is built west of that, which is to be erected imediately, which 
 I conclude I shall have the command of, if I please. They have noted 530 
 pound to be laid out to the west, part of which is to be laid out for the above 
 mentioned fort. The Com'ls is Capt. Ruggles, Maj. Hawley and Mj. Williams. 
 They have not made any supply as yet. Last evening the Board nonconcur'd 
 the Bill for laying the excise upon the Still Head. Chapin will be along very soon, 
 I conclude, but has not got his money as yet. Can't git out of town without it. 
 I bleve it will be most likely to keep things easy to let him have his Lt. Comn. 
 
 The last time I dined with the Goyi he told me he would git your Comi 
 ready & send it up by me. I shall return as soon as I can have his leave. 
 I am S?i your Honr'i Most Humble 
 
 Serv't, Eph. Williams. 
 
 Colo. Israel Williams. 
 
 About three weeks after the above letter was written, the Colonel 
 despatched to the Major an apparent reply from Hatfield, which 
 indicates the extremely confidential relations between the two men, 
 and illustrates at many points the condition of society at that criti- 
 cal time. The Colonel's wife was Sarah Chester, sister of Colonel 
 Chester, of Weathersfield, Connecticut. 
 
 Hatfield, Dec'LlG, 1754. 
 
 Sir, I rec'd y'l!. MajL [Elijah] W™?. forgot in his hurry to leave any money. 
 
 I am sorry ye publick affairs are so many of 'em retarded, and am very much 
 dissatisfied with ye conduct of his Majest'i wise Council in some particulars. I 
 hope you are satisfied as to the necessity & prudence of your remaining at 
 Boston, and that you do good ef others dont — if not I think you ought in duty 
 to return to yi family. The great schemes on foot we are not inform' d. I wish 
 well to my country, & hope others will be directed right, and a foundation laid 
 for our future tranquility & well being. I mentioned to you ye advantage that 
 woud arise from ye intelligence that might be obtain' d from a certain quarter 
 with some cash. I am certain of a greater necessity now than ever. The Scan- 
 ticook Indians have been to Hooseck & and tell ye Dutch they must not stay 
 longer than March, when the river must be open. They are gathering their 
 stuffs & preparing for a remove, 
 
 Chapin return'd across lots — Tells the Soldiers he has got no money, and 
 that he has ye comisary business. The man has undone himself and Graves is 
 in great horror least he undo him, and beggs your help. He has deliv'd into ye 
 fort under ye care of Lt. Wyman, to whom I have given a Commission, 
 ab* 12000 lb of meat, and is purchasing what wheat he can, but complains there 
 is no convenient place for ye stores. 
 
 If you dont interpose in Graves's behalf and secure ye Comisary business to 
 him he will be soon ruin'd ; and as it's probable he must pay all if you ever get 
 y'r money, I think you ought in justice. He desires you to send him 1 doz. of 
 lemons by ye first opportunity, which are wanted to make a medicine for his 
 poor wife. I hear nothing from S'? Woi. Conclude he will be at Boston, & 
 desire you would press him on my behalf. I rec'd a Comission from ye 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 293 
 
 Gov'?. I don't write him because he is so extremely press' d, but if you are 
 permitted at any time to see him, return him my thanks, and tell him I wish 
 my service may be acceptable to him. If we are to have a Vice-president, use 
 all your interest in engaging those who can do any good by writing to ye other 
 side of the water for Gov'r Shirley. He is certainly best acquainted by far of 
 any GenT? with the state of ye Colony & North America that we can expect, 
 and I dont doubt but he will vigirously pursue their several interests and exert 
 himself as much as any man for ye ruin of ye comon enemy. God can and I 
 know will raise up instruments to do his own work. What is in ye womb of 
 Providence, or what ye event of ye present projections may be I desire humbly 
 to refer to ye wise Governour of ye world, who can save His i>eople and advance 
 ye Redeemer's Kingdom in ways unthought of by us. May Zion's peace be 
 prolong'd and establish'd. I desire you would get me 2 quire of Blanks & a box 
 of wafers, & other things wrote for heretofore. Remember ye blank musterolls, 
 and be able to let me know ye Establishment wages of officers & men, how 
 many Subalterns etc. Get me 2 '*» of good tea — we have drank wishwash till 
 we are tir'd. Inclos'd is ye patteni of ye cloth I chuse for a coat unless he has 
 a better. Let there be a collar, & mettle buttons — not too bigg — no shapes. 
 
 There will be occasion for a considerable number of magasons ; if Mr. Wheel- 
 wright will give order, our leathr will do for that purpose. There are but a few 
 left that are good, they are now wanted for ye scouts. If you can find at ye 
 leathr-dressers a good fine oil dress'd skin that is clean & white I desire you to 
 get me one large eno for a p'r breeches. I send no money — Col. Chester pays 
 all. I have put down things as they come to mind in my hurry — & you will 
 think it well crouded wb. errands. Salles is afraid ye winter will be over before 
 ye Capashun [the cloak] arrives. The news you will write me if you shoud not 
 return soon yrself. The men ordered to Stockbridge Sheffield Brewers Kings 
 Glasgow &c. are not needed, and ye main of them at present are a needless 
 expense to ye Gov'^ I hope unless they are needed for some service ye 
 Gov'? will give orders for their discharge, which may be of advantage hereafter. 
 Those in ye line for scouts, and some at Pontoosook are necessary, & at present 
 ye Con? soldiers are at ye last place. I fear ye great schemes afoot will prevent 
 due care of ye frontiers, and also prevent ye building of Forts, & before we put 
 our schemes into execution the French will theirs, surprize us in ye spring, & 
 very much distress us. But as I dont expect to turn ye tide, shall make myself 
 easy. I have wrote the Gov'r my fix'd opinion, respect'g Stockbridge Indians, 
 and if a neutrality be never discovered, I shall notwithstanding firmly believe it. 
 
 I am determined never to restore Capt. C n [Chapin] to his butlership. He 
 
 has almost ruin'd ye garrison as I am sufficiently inform'd — the soldiers were 
 debauch'd &c. Wyman behaves well — has restored good order & government 
 and things are now to satisfaction. I hear y? Carpenter is & I fear Hall 
 
 is who was dismiss'd from Pelham, and if so Cofferan. See how long. Keep 
 this letter. Write without order to yourself. 
 
 IamyTafl-.;Hum'.Ser-., I,„. w.ll.am,. 
 
 MajT Elijah just now sent ye money — I know not how much. 
 Sarah desires you would get her a white Twitcher — they know y£ thing at ye 
 shops. 
 
 ^Ja.!'" Kill* ■ ^^'ll.l.lAMs. 
 
294 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 There is a significant letter from Grovernor Shirley to Colonel 
 Israel Williams, dated Boston, Feb. 7, 1755, which shows, among 
 other things, that Major Ephraim did not fling up his general com- 
 mand over the forts and squads in the west, when he left Fort 
 Massachusetts in the autumn under the direct command of Captain 
 Wyman, but retained his position and pay as was proper, while 
 residing mainly in Boston during the fall and winter, in close con- 
 sultation with Governor Shirley and others in authority, as to the 
 pressing matters of the impending campaign. Wyman's command 
 was, and continued to be, merely local ; and, as the offensive against 
 Canada was already determined on in the projected Crown Point 
 expedition, the soldiers posted at Blandford and Stockbridge and 
 Pontoosuck, and relatively even those in Fort Massachusetts, — all 
 to be soon in the rear of a large force advancing up the North Eiver 
 and down Lake Cham plain, would be of little or no use where they 
 were, and might well be drawn upon for the new regiments to be 
 impelled northwards. The popularity of the Major with the scat- 
 tered soldiers, who had been more or less under his command for 
 ten years, is another thing very visible in this letter : it was evi- 
 dently relied upon at Boston as a good resource for gathering in the 
 new levies. That the Major had come to have a strong personal 
 hold upon the governor, as well as upon the members of the General 
 Court, who must pass all the legislation required for the campaign, 
 — in short, that he was a very influential person in Massachusetts, 
 during the last winter of his life, — may be read in every line, and 
 between every two lines, of this brief letter. 
 
 Sir, As Maj. Ephraim Williams will engage in my Regiment, it may be nec- 
 essary to appoint an officer to his Command, which I must leave with you. The 
 soldiers in the Several Forts he may enlist their places you must see supply'd by 
 a new detachment or by a removal of the forty men sent to Stockbridge and 
 places adjacent if you have not already dismist them. 
 I am with great Truth, Sir, 
 Your most assured Friend 
 and Servant, 
 Col. Israel Williams. W. Shirley. 
 
 Four days after this letter was written to Israel Williams, in 
 which Ephraim Williams is spoken of by Shirley as "Major," gen- 
 eral orders for the guidance of his conduct in enlisting men were 
 forwarded to him, which orders in full follow hereby, in which the 
 title of " Colonel " is accorded to him in form, although in the body 
 of the paper itself he is still denominated " Major," and although at 
 that time (as we shall shortly perceive), he was only expecting a 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 295 
 
 first lieutenancy in the "company" to be called Shirley's in the 
 " regiment " to be so named also, which position involved certain pre- 
 cedencies and contingent promotions in the service, all which we 
 shall understand better when we come to the battle of Lake George. 
 
 By his Excellency William Shirley, Esq., Colonel of a Regiment of foot to be 
 raised for the defence of his majestys Colonies in North America. 
 
 To Majr Ephraim Williams, 
 
 Sir; As you have received Beating Orders from me to inlist men into his 
 majesty's Service in the Regiment under my Command, for your management in 
 that affair I give you the following directions. 
 
 1. You are to enlist no person below the age of eighteen years, nor above 
 thirty five years. 
 
 2. You are to inlist none but able bodied, EfEectivis men, such as be free from 
 all bodily ails & of perfect limbs. 
 
 3. You are to inlist no Roman Catholic, nor any that are under five feet four 
 inches high without their shoes. 
 
 4. You are to assure the persons inlisted that they shall enter into his 
 majesty's pay from the day of their inlistm'.' to be paid them at their arrival at 
 the headquarters, which is Boston. 
 
 6. You are also to assure 'Em that they are to have his Majesty*s Cloaths 
 delivered them before they enter on actual duty. 
 
 6. Such persons as shall not choose to inlist at large you are to engage for 
 t)-ree, five, or seven years, & for those who inlist for three years, I will allow 
 twenty shillings sterl'g a bounty, for five years thirty shillings, & for seven 
 years forty shillings, & for those who shall inlist at large fifty shillings ai)iece, 
 one quarter part to be paid at the time of inlistment & the other three parts at 
 their arrival at the Head quarters. 
 
 7. You are to inlist no persons but such as you can be answerable for the 
 money you advance, as well for their being fit for the service as for their deser- 
 tion before their arrival at Boston. 
 
 8. You are before paying any part of the bounty to cause the 2* & &^ Sec- 
 tions of the Articles of War to be read to them & have them also sworn & 
 attested before a justice of the peace. 
 
 Given under my hand at Boston 
 
 By order of Gov'r Shirley, 
 
 E?*. Hutchinson. 
 
 Fortunately, we possess over his own sign manual the evidence 
 that Williams (whatever his military title at the time) proceeded to 
 carry out, at once, the desires of the governor in respect to the enlist- 
 ment of men for what was to be called " Shirley's own Regiment," 
 and in the exercise of that function ran across obstacles, which he 
 himself describes in a letter to the governor dated " Hatfield, March 
 7, 1755." The ^' Phinehas Stephens," who signs the letter in con- 
 junction with "Eph. Williams," was a man whose acquaintance we 
 have already made, was a character which grows more interesting by 
 
296 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 lapse of time, had been a comrade with Williams many years before 
 as well as at the present time ; while Williams was commanding at 
 Fort Massachusetts in the last war, Stevens was a volunteer in an 
 expedition against Canada, whither he had been carried a prisoner, 
 at the age of sixteen, from Eutland, New Hampshire ; he was after- 
 wards ordered to the frontiers, and at " No. 4 " made a memorable 
 defence against the French and Indians in March, 1741 ; for his 
 bravery on this occasion he was presented with a valuable sword by 
 Commodore Charles Knowles, from which circumstance the name of 
 No. 4 was changed to " Charlestown,'' where Stevens was in command 
 till 1750 ; and Governor Shirley sent him on a confidential mission to 
 Canada in 1749, of which he kept a copious journal published in the 
 " New Hampshire Historical Collections.'^ He died at Charlestown 
 in 1756, surviving his old comrade and coadjutor but about one year, 
 and leaving a name cherished on much the same grounds as his. 
 
 Sir, We have in pursuance of y'r Excel, cy's orders endeavor'd to enlist some 
 effective men & have engaged between 40 & 50, and assured them upon w^hat 
 Colo. Partridge wrote their service would be to the northward, and we were to 
 go with them, which we supposed we might safely do. But as the projections 
 are still a secret, and fearing we may incur blame if we proceed & make such 
 declarations, upon consideration, we think that it is our duty to acquaint your 
 ExceljCy with what we have done, & further inform that unless the great obsta- 
 cle, ye uncertainty of the service can in some measure be removed there is but 
 little prospect of success, but if it can we have good assurances of raising a con- 
 siderable number of likely, effective men, who act upon principle, and have 
 the interest and security of their country at heart, and wou'd with courage and 
 resolution engage the com' on enemy. The enlisting for three years is a difficulty 
 with many, and that the bounty is no more for three years than for one, which 
 occasions our losing some likely men, who engage in the other regiments. And 
 yet after all if y Excel, cy will give leave to enlist conditionally that if they 
 should not be destined to the northward upon their returning ye bounty they be 
 discharged, if they desire it, the bounty being increased withall, we hope to sur- 
 mount the other objections, and engage some good men that we shan't be afraid 
 to trust our lives with. People begin to guess that their is something projecting 
 by the gover^i that will demand men, tho' they no not what, and imagine that 
 their will be as much gain, & more freedom than in ye regiments now raising, 
 however it may fare with those that now inlist if called to action, they shall be 
 discharged and allowed to return to their respective homes. 
 
 We submit the whole to your Excel, cy's wisdom & direction, and beg leave 
 to assure your Excel, cy we shall cherfully contribute everything in our power 
 to serve our king and country, and to our utmost approve our selves, your 
 Excelcy's 
 
 Obedient Humble Serv'ts 
 
 Eph. Williams 
 
 Phinehas Stephens. 
 Gov? Shirley. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 297 
 
 The same day on which this joint letter was penned by Williams, 
 he wrote to Shirley another letter strictly personal, which we are 
 happy to quote here in full, because it does great credit at once to 
 the modesty and to the penetration of the writer. In no other 
 extant letter of the founder so much as in this, perhaps, do the 
 man's personal and radical qualities become so transparent. Every 
 line in it is precious, because it emphasizes some line in the charac- 
 ter of a man all too little known under the closest scrutiny of tlie 
 far too scant records of the times. 
 
 Hatfield, March 7, 1705. 
 
 Sir, I received a letter from Colo. Partridge at Fort Massachusetts by express, 
 in which he assur'd me that your Excel,cy was pleased to signify to him it was 
 your desire I should inlist some good Effective men to go in your regiment, with 
 a prospect of having ye firet Lieu,cy in your Exce,lcy's own Company with some 
 other advantages — of all which I took a very gratefull notice and now return 
 your Excel.cy my sincerest thanks — having maturely consider'd the proposal, I 
 determined to quit my com'and & engage in the affair, yet with apprehensions of 
 those difficulties, which Capt. Stephens with myself in our's to your Excel,cy 
 of this date have mentioned — I have inlisted a few, but not with out engage- 
 ments, and if the obstacles, we have suggested can't in some considerable meas- 
 ure be removed I shall not be able to raise any great number of such men 
 as your Excel, cy expects — which if taken out of the way I have the vanity to 
 think I could do, and of such with whom I shou'd not be affraid to venture my 
 life. Some may probably drop in without conditions. By Colo. Partridge I am 
 further informed, that your Excel, cy has some expectation of ye first Lieut's 
 coming over, which may prevent my obtaining ye proposed commission — which 
 has put me very much to a stand. I desire to be excused engaging in any shape 
 inferiour, to what was propos'd, and am not over anxious abodt that, yet if it is 
 your Excel,cy's pleasure I should engage in that form I will do what I can. The 
 men I have engaged expect to go to the northward, and that I go with them, 
 otherwise they declared they would not inlist. And if there be any difficulty 
 like to arrise, whereby your Excel'y will meet with trouble, 1 chuse now to desist, 
 upon that acco't, and also because of ye unea-siness I foresee will arise in the 
 minds of the men that will inlist. I have no disposition to deceive or disapoint 
 them or others, and shall not be forgiven by them or their friends if I shou'd, 
 which nothing will tempt me to do. If your Excel, cy pleases to direct me to 
 enlist men to go to the northward without any regard to my going with them 
 (as was the case when I joined with Mr. Ingersol) I will endeavor it to my 
 utmost, but without they are assured of that service, or to be discharged in case 
 they are not destined that way, it will be I fear spending time to little purpose 
 to attempt the inlisting likely men for 3 years. I" shall wait your Excel, cy's 
 answer & further orders, and if it be your Excel, cy's pleasure, I desist & 
 return to the com'and of Fort Ma.ssachusetts, shall cheerfully obey, and am 
 Y'r Excel,cy8 Most Obe,dt Oblig'd Humble Serv.t, 
 
 E. Williams. 
 GoY^B SHiHLar. 
 
298 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Both the last two quoted letters, dated March 7, were despatched 
 from Hatfield to Boston by express, as urgent; and on the third 
 dixj thereafter, Governor Shirley replied to them both, sending his 
 answer also by express, which answer serves to show up Shirley also 
 as an open and honorable dealer, even in the matter of offices. Shir- 
 ley has been much maligned in New England for a century and a 
 half. All the later and fuller researches, however, tend to exonerate 
 and uplift him. This letter speaks well for him. 
 
 Boston, March 10'^, 1755. 
 
 Sir, I am sorry you meet with the difficulties in raising men for my Regiment, 
 w5li you mention in your letter of the 7'^ instant by express. I am persuaded 
 that my Regiment will be continually employed to the Northward and Eastward 
 of Philadelphia. But such conditional inlistments, as you mention in your 
 letter, are not allowed in his Majesty's Service. 
 
 As there is this obstacle in the way of your coming into my Regiment, I shall 
 think no more of it. But you may depend upon my providing for you in the 
 other service to the northward, w£!i you hint at in your letter (if it goes on as I 
 hope it will) in the best manner I can. 
 
 I was very much disposed to have given you the Lieutenancy in my Regiment, 
 as I told Colonel Partridge, I designed to do. But a letter, I have receiv'd since 
 that from England, hath put it out of my power. It would have given me pleas- 
 ure to have done you that piece of service, if it would have been very agreeable 
 to you, and as things have happen'd, I am glad you are not over anxious about it. 
 
 You will greatly oblige me, if you can raise me some men for my own Regi- 
 ment, and to make it more practicable I will allow fifteen pounds, old tenor, per 
 man, for three years, twenty for five, thirty for seven, and thirty five for such, 
 as shall enlist at large. 
 
 The more you shall enlist the better. But I desire there may be none, but 
 right good men enlisted, and not under five feet five inches without their shoes, 
 unless they are young enough to grow to that height, and none above forty 
 years old. 
 
 I desire, you would pay the express and charge it to me. 
 I am, Sir, Your most assur'd 
 Friend and Servant, 
 
 Major Ephraim Williams. W. Shirley. 
 
 When he received the above letter, Ephraim Williams was just 
 turned of forty-one years. At this distance of time, and in the 
 present ignorance of persons and circumstances then, one cannot see 
 how Shirley could have written differently from what he did in this 
 letter. He had been receiving constant instructions from England. 
 He was a man under authority, as well as having soldiers under /w*m, 
 though Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in America, until 
 superseded by Braddock, who arrived in Virginia only a few days 
 before this letter to Williams was penned. What the British War 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 299 
 
 Office thought* of colonial officers in the pending war against the 
 French, may be seen in Braddock's own constantly expressed con- 
 tempt for them. Notwithstanding all this, Williams felt himself 
 wronged by the present action of Shirley. Both were very ambi- 
 tious men. Up to the present time, both had had remarkably suc- 
 cessful careers, though that of Williams had been relatively obscure. 
 As always happens under such circumstances, each had cliques of 
 enemies, and also emphatically friends in cliques. The W^illiams 
 family up and down the Connecticut, reinforced by the Chesters of 
 Weathersfield, with whom they had intermarried, formed a clique of 
 their own of strong consistency and great influence ; and they had, 
 consequently, what is called in modern corrupt parlance a "pull" on 
 the General Court in both these colonies. Colonel William Williams, 
 alluded to in the following letter, had already come to be by much 
 the most important person in Pittsfield; and he never failed to 
 strike in upon occasion in behalf of his relations to the eastward, as 
 they, too, for him, when anything was to be gained in the way of 
 profit or preferment. Under all these circumstances this letter from 
 Major Ephraim to Colonel James Otis, the elder, then a very influ- 
 ential man in Boston, becomes unusually significant. It runs as 
 follows : — 
 
 Hatfield, March 28, 1755. 
 Sr, In my letter of yesterday's date, I forgot to inform you that Colo. Wol Wil- 
 liams has wrote to Sr W!?l Pepperrel by Colo. Partridge to give me his Capt 
 Lieut,cy. It was what he did without my desire or knowledge. I knew nothing 
 of it untill I heard him read his letter. I told him it was now too late for me to 
 do any great feats in raising recruits, that I had not above 30 men engaged, the 
 County now being full of recruiting officers, to raise men into his Majesty''s ser- 
 vice for the term of one year, and as the recruits for his Regiment must be 
 raised for the term of three years, it would be imposable to raise many effective 
 men for that term. I further told him that had I engaged to have gone in the 
 Gov'rs Regiment when at Boston, and had then gone upon the business, had it 
 been in my power to have made promises to the men, I could with ease have 
 raised 200 good, effective men by this time, but as that was over I should not 
 think any more about it. I further told him when I spent some time in Sheffield, 
 and in the uper parts of Connecticut in raising recruits for the Gov'rs Regiment, 
 in company with Mr. Ingersoll, that in the time I spent with him in raising 26 
 men, if I should have told them I would have gone with them I could have 
 raised 70. I conclude Sr the Government will raise a number of men to join the 
 King's troops to go to Crownpoint, & I believe the gov'r means by the service to 
 the northward that he will serve me in that service, which if it should I beg 
 he will give his commissions to his friends, for I sha'n't thank him, nor will I 
 take one in that service. If the Army should proceed for Crownpoint, & should 
 meet with opposition & stand in need of more men, I will go with the greatest 
 cheerfulness, with a number of men, but then it shall be without pay from the 
 
300 OKIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN.' 
 
 govern't. But if the Govr shall raise some more Regiments at 'the charge of the 
 Crown, & should give Brigr Dwight a Lt. Colo, commission, I shall look upon 
 myself under oblagations if his Excel,cy wou'd give me a Majority in that 
 Regiment. I have a great desire Canada should be demolished, and am willing 
 to go personally, provided I could have had an equal chance in raising men, in 
 order to entitle me to a commission. But when you with some other friends 
 offer'd a handsom sum, & promist I should over and above raise a good number 
 
 of men for a C cy, which if I had obtained would have set me above some of 
 
 mine & his enemies & have put me into a condition to have served him & myself, 
 both at Court and in the Regiment, I say when this could not be obtained, & 
 that a Lieut, cy shou'd be promised me one day & the next be out of his power 
 to give, I assure you S? sinks my spirits. The conciquence of this conduct is I 
 am insulted by his and my enimies. You are sensible Sr I look to you as a 
 Father, therefore intreet you would inquire into the affair I mentioned in my 
 last letter, & let me know by a line, and if anything should open to the north- 
 ward I have mentioned, you wou'd take some care of me. I further beg no 
 person may know the contents of this or my other letter. 
 
 I am Sr with great Respect your Hon? most 
 
 obliged & most obe'<i' Hum^ Serv't, 
 
 Eph. Williams. 
 Colo. James Otis. 
 
 The very next day after Williams had penned the not unnatural, 
 but yet ill-natured, epistle just quoted, Shirley wrote the appended 
 courteous and kindly letter to Colonel Israel Williams ; which shows 
 him disposed to do what was fair and right in the premises, and 
 which brings in again Major Joseph Hawley, of Northampton, who 
 was one of the ablest and best of the " river-gods," Into the circle 
 of the well-wishers of the Williams family. We have already seen 
 that he was at times more or less alienated. 
 
 Boston, 29*^ March, 1755. 
 Sir, I am now setting out on my journey to meet with General Braddock [at 
 Alexandria]. Must entreat your favour and assistance in setling the Officers 
 for a Regiment to go ag'st Crownpoint, the Regiment to consist of 500 men with 
 ten Captains ten Lieutenants & ten Ensigns, including field Officers : it will be a 
 great pleasure to me to have Maj'r Ephraim Williams engage as one. I can't be 
 content without having the Officers of one Regiment from your parts. Major 
 Hawley is coming up to settle the affair with you, who will bring all necessary 
 papers with him. 
 
 I am with Truth & Esteem, Sir, 
 
 Your Most assur'd Friend and Servant, 
 
 W. Shirley. 
 Col. Israel Williams, Hatfield. 
 
 Within less than ten days from the date of this letter, Ephraim 
 Williams was commissioned Colonel of the new regiment referred to 
 in the letter itself. Shirley, by inference, fairly justifies this action, 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 301 
 
 though he does not expressly authorize it in the letter. " It will be 
 a great pleasure to me to have Maj'r Ephraim Williams engage " (as 
 one of the field officers). He may have been more explicit with 
 " Major Hawley [who] is coming up to settle the affair with you 
 [and Colonel Partridge], who will bring all necessary papers with 
 him." The whole matter was thus left in hands very friendly to 
 AVilliams. Colonel Oliver Partridge, next to Colonel Israel Wil- 
 liams, was the most influential man in Hatfield. He was a Yale 
 graduate of 1730. Traditions concerning him, who became more 
 loyal to the colonies as the Revolution drew on than Israel Williams 
 did, are only less lively in Hatfield to this day than those relating 
 to Williams himself. At this time, and previously, Partridge har- 
 monized fairly well with the Williams family, and is often reckoned 
 in among the " river-gods," though never coming into rank with the 
 *' first three." That Joseph Hawley had been in some way per- 
 sonally efficient in the bringing about the colonelcy of Ephraim 
 Williams, becomes plain enough in the tone of his letter written a 
 few days after to the Hatfield parties, strongly commending Major 
 Seth Pomeroy for the lieutenant-colonelcy of the same regiment. He 
 was at once commissioned. He succeeded Williams in the colonelcy 
 on the death of the latter at Lake George, the 8th of September, 
 and buried him the next day under the pine tree. It is believed 
 the reader will like to run over Hawley's letter entire, and it is 
 consequently here quoted verbatim. 
 
 Col. Israel Williams ^ Nobthampton, Ap'l 9'^, 1755. 
 
 CoL. Partridge C Gentlemen: 
 
 Col. EpL' Williams ) 
 
 ^yitlI great Submission I am still of the opinion as when at South Hadley 
 y** on all things considered Maj't Pomroy is ye best man to go second in ye reg- 
 iment. It is ye general vogue & opinion of our people yM he not only has meritted 
 it, but y'? he will in most respects perform ye service and duty of that place 
 well. He is much disposed to go as is pretty easily perceived by his conversa- 
 tion, and is very well satisfied with ye field officers already appointed, as he has 
 fully declared to me, so that it will not probably be his fault if there should not 
 be harmony among ye field officers in case of his appointing There is not one 
 man among us who will probably go in officers whom I have heard converse 
 on ye affair but think that he ought to have ye above!!^ birth. And I am sure 
 that if he is neglected, it will give uneasiness among us, and will very much 
 prejudice ye service here, for it is generally thought by our people that he 
 is free to go and has by his former services merited it. And it is said by 
 sensible persons among us that altho' he was strait handed to his company in ye 
 Canada service, yet he was just and honest to his soldiers, particularly my 
 brother says y'? he is knowing to it yM he never took any furlow money, which 
 he says was generally by other officers taken to themselves. And it appears to 
 
302 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 me y't it is of as much importance to promote and encourage ye service here 
 as at Deerfield where Maj'r Elij'b said it would discourage it, and even in that 
 I believe he was mistaken, I don't doubt at all but L'^ Hawks woud be well 
 pleased with him if others should not disaffect him. 
 
 Gentlemen, I have this day heard y'-' it is very probable y'^ Capt. Nathl] Dwight 
 would accept a Captaincy if he could have it seasonably, and it is thought there 
 would be no difficulty in his raising a company spedily in his own parts, and for 
 my own part I don't think there will be a better Cap*, in ye regiment y'n he 
 would make. 
 
 Please to pardon me if I am too oflQcious. I think it of a good deal of im- 
 portance be sure with us y'* the enlistment begins forthwith, for people are now 
 full of ye affair. Ye spring business is now coming on, which will determine ye 
 business of ye year, and if ye men are not taken before they engage in 
 y'F Spring business it will be vastly more difficult to obtain them. I think ye 
 aff'r ought not to suffer a moment's delay — and I am also sensible that with us 
 the suspension of ye appointm'-' of ye L'*. Col. injure ye aff'? 
 I am, Gent'D, with humble respects, 
 
 Y'r Most Ob'? Humble Ser'*, 
 
 Joseph Hawley. 
 
 At the time when Williams received his long-coveted commission 
 of Colonel, which may have been, say, the 4th of April, 1755, there 
 was not, probably, a single one of the ten companies of which the 
 regiment was to consist completely enlisted for the Crown Point 
 expedition. That work was still largely to be done by the various 
 captains, under the difficulty that the spring's work was now open- 
 ing on the farms, from which alone the men were to be drawn. In 
 accordance with a custom of that time, the Colonel of each regiment 
 was also Captain of one of its companies, and had the emoluments of 
 that position, so that we shall read pretty soon of Williams's com- 
 pany as well as of Williams's regiment. Undoubtedly, the "30 or 
 40 men," which he had just previously enlisted under other consid- 
 erations, formed the body of his new " company," of which, as of all 
 the companies, the normal number was fifty. The interesting refer- 
 ence in Haw ley's letter, just quoted, to Captain Nathaniel Dwight, of 
 Belchertown, as being probably able, in case he received a captaincy 
 " seasonably " in the new regiment, " to raise a company spedily in 
 his own parts," illustrates the way in which regiments were raised 
 in those days. As a matter of fact, Captain Dwight did not go with 
 Colonel Williams, but on the first news of the battle of Lake George, 
 in September, he took a commission dated two days after the battle, 
 and went to reinforce the army there, keeping a valuable diary, still 
 extant, of the events of the autumn, from which we shall quote 
 hereafter ; and Colonel Williams and his captains, for the next two 
 months after his commission was received, were busy in recruiting 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 303 
 
 men and in getting ready generally for the "Marching Orders," 
 
 which he received as follows, from Governor Shirley, on the last 
 
 day of May : — 
 
 Province of the Massachusetts Bay. 
 
 By his excellency the Governour. 
 
 To Ephraim Williams, Esqi, greeting: 
 
 You are hereby required and directed to issue your Orders to the several Cap- 
 tains in the Regiment under your Command, requiring and directing them to 
 march their several Companies, as they are able to compleat the same, without 
 delay, to the General Rendezvous at Albany, and on their arrival there to follow 
 such orders and directions as they shall receive from Major General William 
 Johnson, Commander in Cliief of the Forces raised within the several Provinces 
 and Colonies, for the intended expedition to erect a Fort or Forts on his Majesty's 
 lands near Crown point, and for the removal of such encroachments as have 
 already been made there by the French. 
 
 Given under my hand at Boston, the thirty first day of May 1765, in the 
 twenty eighth year of his Majesty's Reign. i^ c„t„,„^ 
 
 The road by which Colonel Williams was thus ordered to take his 
 companies to Albany, and did take them, was a rude road laid out 
 as such by the colony of Massachusetts in 1735, from Westheld 
 through Blandford and Otis and SancUstield and Monterey and Bar- 
 rington to the New York line in North Egremont. This came very 
 shortly to be commonly called the "Albany road." Like all the 
 other oldest roads in New England of any considerable stretch, 
 this was undoubtedly an Indian trail from immemorial time. It 
 was the probable route of Major John Talcot, of Hartford, to his 
 successful battle with the Indians on the Housatonic River in 1676; 
 for Hubbard says in his "Indian Wars," that about 200 fugitive 
 Indians were observed to pass by Westfield, going on westward ; and 
 "news thereof being brought to Major Talcot, he with the soldiers 
 of Connecticut colony under his command, both Indians and English, 
 pursued after them as far as Housatonic river (in the middle way 
 betwixt Westfield and the Dutch river and Fort Albany), where he 
 overtook them and fought with them, killing and taking 45 prisoners, 
 25 of whom were fighting men, without the loss of any one of his 
 company save a Mohegan Indian." 
 
 In connection with the laying out of this road, and during the 
 same year, a committee of the General Court reported, that they were 
 "of opinion that there be four new townships opened upon the road 
 between Westfield and Sheffield, and that they be contiguous to one 
 another, and either joined to Sheffield or to the township lately 
 granted to the proprietors of Suffield," which was the present Bland- 
 ford, at first called New Glasgow by its Scotch-Irish settlers. These 
 
304 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 townships were, at first, numbered, and afterwards named in order, 
 Tyringham, New Marlborough, Sandisfield, Becket. The new road 
 led to the settlement of these townships, and especially of the more 
 important townships on the Housatonic, Stockbridge and Barrington, 
 in one or the other of which occurred Talcot's fight in King Philip's 
 War. For some years the new road was passable only on horseback ; 
 but in the winter of 1738-39, ten of the principal dwellers on the 
 Housatonic, two of them, John Sargeant and Timothy Woodbridge, 
 missionaries to the Stockbridge Indians, — 
 
 did undertake and with great fatigue and difficulty upon our own cost and charge 
 make a good and feasible sleigh-road from New Glasgow, being according to 
 common estimation thirty five miles, by which means a much more safe and 
 convenient way of transportation is now oppened from said Sheffield and the 
 several settlements upon the Housatonic river to Westfield and the neighboring 
 towns, and whereas, before it was very difficult for anybody, and for strangers 
 almost impossible, in a snow of any considerable depth, without a track, which 
 often happens in the winter season, to find the way, now by our having marked 
 a sufficient number of trees on each hand, an entire stranger cannot easily miss 
 it, and the people living in these parts are now able, and in the winter past actu- 
 ally did pass and repass to and from Westfield, with more than twenty sleighs, 
 well laden, through a wilderness which before that was almost impassable on 
 horseback, which by reason of the badness and length of the way, it was almost 
 if not utterly impossible, for his Majesties' subjects living in these parts of the 
 Province, to supply themselves with foreign commodities, the never so necessary 
 in life from any town within this section. 
 
 If the reader be interested in early roads through this region of 
 country, he will find in " Berkshire Book," Vol. 1, a paper on this 
 topic of good interest and authority by H. F. Keith, from which 
 the following excerpt relating to the old Albany road is taken. 
 
 After passing through Blandford, the road entered Berkshire County at East 
 Otis, and formerly made a detour to the north of the East Otis hotel, thence in 
 or near the present travelled way for a short distance ; thence by a direct west- 
 terly course it crossed the Farmington River a little over a mile south of Otis 
 Centre, thence continuing westerly over a steep hill, through the northerly part 
 of Sandisfield, between the two Spectacle Ponds, to a junction with the present 
 road from Cold Spring to West Otis, about one mile south-east of West Otis. 
 Within the distance just described of about six miles, and which is now almost 
 entirely abandoned, there were in the time of the Revolution four hotels, at one 
 or more of which Burgoyne and portions of his troupe and captors, en route for 
 Boston, were fed and lodged. From West Otis the road followed in or near the 
 present travelled way through Monterey, past Three Mile Hill, through the vil- 
 lage of Great Barrington, across Green River, through North Egremont, and 
 thence into New York State. With the exception of about a mile and a half of 
 new road in the westerly part of Monterey, laid north of the old road, it can be 
 readily traced as one drives over the present road. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIA^IS. 305 
 
 It is almost certain, when Williams's ten companies, one after 
 another, averaging perhaps forty men each, made their way over it as 
 best they could in obedience to his marching orders received, that no 
 organized military companies had ever before straggled and struggled 
 over this Albany road ; but four years later, and earlier in the season, 
 Major-General Amherst took a large army of British regulars and 
 American militia over this road to the Hudson, and from the Hud- 
 son to Tieonderoga and Crown Point; and in less than twenty years 
 after Amherst's final overthrow of French America, Major-General 
 Burgoyne, with a part of his captured army, traversed the same in 
 the reverse direction ; while many a regiment of New England 
 soldiers, in tlie War of 1812, passed and repassed that way in both 
 directions. After a full century's use as the main thoroughfare 
 between Xew England and Albany, it was still a doubt and a debate 
 whether the Boston and Albany Kailroad, which was laid out along- 
 side the eastern end of the old road from Westfield west, should 
 continue to the Housatonic in Barrington, or should turn to the 
 right up the west branch of the Westtield River over the watershed 
 in Washington to the main Housatonic in Pittsfield. The latter 
 course was preferred; as was also a more northern route through 
 Worcester, and the Brookfields to the Connecticut at Springfield 
 preferred to the old " Bay Path " through Grafton, and Sutton, and 
 Oxford to Hartford. 
 
 It is evident in many ways, that Colonel Williams's enlistments 
 for his new regiment drew heavily from the garrison at Fort Massa- 
 chusetts, and from the men who had formerly served as soldiers in 
 the line of forts under his command. He was always personally 
 popular with the men under him. He joined in their recreations, 
 whenever it was proper for him to do so. The discipline was doubt- 
 less lax as compared with that in all regular services then and now ; 
 for the volunteer was in most cases an independent farmer or 
 artisan, who felt himself the equal in nearly all respects with his 
 superior officer. The following resolve, passed at this time, shows 
 the difficulty of keeping men in garrison, when active and offensive 
 service under an officer known and liked was optionable. 
 
 In the Hous of Rept?, June 12, 1765. 
 
 Resolved that in order to prevent an impress of men there be a bounty of 
 three dollars per man allowed to fifteen men who shall Inlist for Fort Massachu- 
 sets and find their own gun, the s'^ fifteen men being part of the forces allredy 
 allowed on the Western Frontiers, the money to be put into the hands of Israel 
 Williams, Esq'r for that servis, he to be accountable. 
 
 Sent up Concurrance, T. Hubbard, Sp'^ 
 
306 ORIGINS IN WILLtAMSTOWN. 
 
 Rev. Stephen Williams, of Longmeadow, was appointed Chaplain 
 to his cousin's regiment, as he had been Chaplain also ten years 
 before, under Pepperell, at Louisburg. He was son of Rev. John 
 Williams, of Deertield, the famous "Redeemed Captive," and shared 
 the captivity of his family in Canada during his twelfth year, and 
 wrote at the time a full diary of its incidents, which was published 
 a century and a third afterward by Dr. S. W. Williams, of Deerfield. 
 These two chaplaincies scarcely interrupted a continuous ministry 
 at Longmeadow from 1716 to 1782, — sixty-six years. His receipt 
 for his first month's salary as Chaplain in the Crown Point expedi- 
 tion is annexed : — 
 
 June 24, 1755. 
 
 Rec'cl of Col. Ephraim Williams by hands of John Worthijigton, Esq?i six 
 pounds eight shillings, being in full for one month's advance pay from the Prov- 
 ince as Chaplain in his Majesty's service for the Expedition to Crown Point &c. 
 
 Stephen Williams. 
 
 The following letter from Captain Isaac Wyman, now command- 
 ing at Fort Massachusetts, to Colonel Ephraim Williams, illustrates 
 at once the eagerness to get men to enlist for Crown Point, the 
 looseness of military discipline on the western frontiers at- that 
 time, and, more obscurely (at the end), some difficulties that had 
 arisen between Fort Massachusetts and the West Hoosac in Williams- 
 town, which will be illuminated in the course of our next chapter : — 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, June 28, 1755. 
 Hono** Sir, I have one man deserted from the Fort, Joseph Bigelow, and Capt. 
 Joseph Whitcome hath inlisted and taken him to Albany, and I was acquainted 
 of it before they got verry far from the Eort and sent Serj^ Taylor with 5 men 
 with orders to bring him back to the Fort. The Serj* overtook them and got the 
 man, and bringin him of Capt. Whitcome ordered two Serj'-«. with two files of 
 men to take him from them, which they did and are gone of with him. I weight 
 your Honours pleasure to know what to doe in the afair. My scouts are constant 
 east or west, and have not maid any late descovery of an enemy. 
 
 From Sr Your Most Humble Serv.t, j^^^^ ^^^^^^_ 
 
 Sir there is a famoley of the Duch that have maid there escape to the Fort 
 when the Indians fell upon them at Hoosuck. Serj* Taylor and Silas Pratt will 
 moove there wives out of the Fort as soon as the Duch can git away with safty. 
 
 I. W. 
 
 Here should come in a precious bit of officialism in a letter from 
 Governor Shirley to Colonel Williams, in relation to the oaths to be 
 exacted from all the officers in the latter's regiment. The history of 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 807 
 
 all these oaths would involve pretty much the whole political history 
 of England after the great revolution of 1688. It is pleasant to 
 reflect that the then present war against the French, in America, 
 was the last one in which such ponderous and multifarious swearing 
 could be demanded of American officers of any sort. 
 
 Province of tub 
 
 } 
 
 By His Excellency the Governour, 
 
 Whereas Commissions are issued to the several officers of a Regiment of Foot, 
 whereof Ephraim Williams is Colonel, being part of the Forces raised within 
 this province for the expedition against Crown point, of which Forces William 
 Johnson, Esq?:, is Commander in Chief. 
 
 These are to authorize and impower Ephraim Williams, Seth Pomroy, and 
 Noah Ashley, Esq'r!, or either of them, to administer to the said officers respec- 
 tively the Oaths appointed by Act of Parliament to be taken instead of the (Jaths 
 of Allegiance and Supremacy ; and to cause him to repeat and subscribe the test 
 or declaration in said Act contained together with the Oath of Abjuration, and 
 also the Oath appointed by Law to be taken respecting the Bills of Credit of the 
 neighboring Governments ; Return to be made of this Warrant with the Doings 
 thereon into the Secretary's Office in Boston. 
 
 Given under my Hand and Seal at Boston the twelfth Day of June, 1755, 
 
 In the twenty eighth year of His Majesty's Reign. 
 
 W. Shirley. 
 
 Posterity is fortunate in possessing an all too brief, but sufficiently 
 ill-spelled, letter from Ephraim to Israel AVilliams, relating to his 
 journey from Stockbridge to Albany, and also to what he found at 
 that rendezvous at first. Stockbridge was all the home he had had 
 for some years, and the chief seat of his landed property, which was 
 not considerable in amount. He seems to have had a sort of premo- 
 nition of coming death before he started, which showed itself in a 
 desire to put into manageable shape his private affairs of all kinds, 
 and which was further illustrated in the making of his will almost 
 as soon as he reached Albany. Two or three sentences of this letter 
 are quite obscure in meaning, but the general drift is plain enough. 
 To share " bed and board " with a trained engineer of the British 
 regulars, was no small privilege for a colonial Colonel, whose active 
 military life had been confined to the routine of Fort Massachusetts. 
 
 Albany, July 8«»», 1765. 
 Sir, I wrote St Williams of my disapointment in not gitting to Blanford on 
 Wednesday, which was no small damage to my private affairs, as I was obliged 
 to go of from Stockbridge and setde ym in part. We got to Stockbridge a Thurs- 
 day night, altho we had 30 horse in company, Friday to Kenderhook, Satterday 
 
308 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 about 2 of the clock we arrived safe at the Green Bush, where I found the biger 
 part of my Regiment, in as good health as cou'd be expected. I hear nothing of 
 Govt Shirley, nor Gen'i Johnson is not come to the city, tho' expected every 
 hour. I hope some of the troops will march for the carying place [Fort Edward] 
 this week. I look upon it necessary ye men should march very soon, or else 
 they will be sickly. The battoes are in a good way, tho' very little care has been 
 taken about them untill about 15 days ago, and by a genu one Capt. Smith Ayrs 
 whom Geni-'I Braddock has sent for our engineer. He is a geno of smart powers, 
 understands his business well it's said by those y* know what belongs to it. In 
 a word we bed and bord together. Appears a good companion. As yet I feel 
 bravely. Should have felt much better, had it not been for some imprudences 
 which happin'd among us a little before our coming, of, which I fear has laid a 
 foundation for a grait deal of trouble this campaign, tho' at present nothing 
 appears. 
 
 I am S?i yi Honi? most ob* Humble Serv't, 
 
 Eph. Williams. 
 
 P.S. I return thanks for ye two bottles of wine. Send proper salutations to 
 your family and all inquiring friends. I desire you wou'd allow Capt. Sheldon 
 what is proper, for bringing back my horses from Stockbridge, and desire Colo. 
 Partridge to pay it out of the money he stopt of Daggit's (or Doggit's) wagis. 
 
 E. W. 
 
 I hear Si Wm. Pepperall is sick at New York. 
 
 What is fairly suggested by the letter of Captain Isaac Wyman, 
 now commander at Fort Massachusetts, to Colonel Ephraim Williams, 
 quoted in full a little way back, is pretty certainly made out by a 
 second letter from same to same, dated July 11, and sent to Albany ; 
 namely, that Colonel Williams still retained a nominal superior 
 command over that fort ; for Wyman virtually writes to him in both 
 letters for instructions and orders ; and although in the second letter, 
 Wyman refers to Colonel Israel Williams as his undoubted military 
 superior in the matter of the Indian shoes, he also in the same makes 
 a full return of his men, as well as asks for orders, to Colonel 
 Ephraim. It is to be presumed that Colonel Ephraim held on to 
 his nominal command at the fort, and perhaps also to its current 
 emoluments, w^ith reference to returning to them both when the 
 Crown Point expedition was over. All this would be in accordance 
 with the usual precedents of the British army, and especially with 
 the prevailing methods of the unusually consolidated Williams 
 family. 
 
 Hono^ Sir, I rece'd your letter by Serj'' Town, and according to your orders 
 and instruction I shall improve the first opportunity of persuing the Enemy that 
 is likely for success. Ensin Barnard with the men are ret^ with the scalp which 
 they found the Indian about one mile distance from where he was shot down. 
 I hope your Honour will direct them what to do with the scalp so that they may 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 309 
 
 return as soon as posable they can. I should be glad of some Indian shues for 
 these marches, if the Col? could send me them. The old ones are allmost all 
 woar out, T s^nd you the names of the men. 
 
 From Sir your Humble Serv*, 
 
 Isaac Wtman. 
 
 Ensin Barnard Clerk Chapin 
 
 Serj» Taylor John Crawfourd 
 
 Serj? Town John [illegible] 
 
 Eben'zr Graves Jabiz Warren 
 
 John Wells Derick Webb 
 
 Tyras Pratt Benjn Simonds 
 
 Thom? Train Seth Hudson 
 
 Gad Cors [Corse] Gidan Worren 
 
 John Vanornum Joseph Brush 
 
 Elijah Sheldin John Holdbroock 
 
 Benjo King Daniel Miller 
 
 George Willson Joseph Richards 
 
 Noah Pratt Saml^ Hudson 
 
 Abra*? Bass Isaac Saris [Searle] 
 
 Enoch Chapin Willi!? Barron 
 
 Silas Pratt Simon Morgan 
 
 Adington Gardner Ezeki Day 
 
 Isaac Bond Isaac Morgan 
 
 Joseph Lovell Levi Eley 
 
 Josiah Sodwick Joseph Bigelow — deserted. 
 
 Pall Rice 
 
 Of these forty names (skipping the deserter), almost exactly one- 
 half will meet us again in the next chapter, among the earliest pro- 
 prietors and landowners of Williamstown. Of several of them, we 
 have made partial acquaintance already; particularly, of Benjamin 
 Simonds, Seth Hudson, '' Clerk Chapin," and Captain Wyman him- 
 self. At the time this return was made, about a dozen of these 
 men were clearing up and cultivating in the summer their little 
 homesteads in "West Hoosac, where they had troubles enough, as we 
 shall see, both as among themselves relating to their two rival forts, 
 and as from their constant enemies, the French and Indians. Two 
 of them, Simonds and Wyman, lived to distinguish themselves, the 
 former especially, in the Revolutionary War. 
 
 The troops that had been straggling into Albany as a rendezvous, 
 preparatory to marching up the North River to "ye great carrying- 
 place," later named by Johnson " Fort Edward," and the town there 
 still so named, were mostly New Englanders, some of them led by 
 officers who knew better what French and Indian war was, than 
 did Johnson himself, who was a young Irishman of no military 
 experience, sent over in 1738 by his uncle. Admiral Sir Peter 
 
310 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Warren, to care for some lands of his in the Mohawk valley. He 
 was then twenty-three years old. About seven years later he built a 
 massive stone house on some land purchased for himself, which he 
 called Mount Johnson, which became the seat of numerous confer- 
 ences with the Indians, the Six Nations, and others, over whom 
 Johnson gradually acquired a great influence and even ascendency, 
 which he continually turned to the advantage of the English ; and 
 on this account Shirley had early named him as a proper person to 
 command the Crown Point expedition, and he had been confirmed 
 for this post by the council at Alexandria. But he was unfit for 
 the place. He gained no military reputation that was permanent, 
 either then or afterwards, although the Parliament voted him 
 £5000 in money and made him Sir William Johnson, Baronet, on 
 account of a partial victory at Lake George gained wholly by the 
 brave conduct of the New Englanders. 
 
 Among those Yankee officers gathered at Albany to be under his 
 command, who surpassed him in knowledge and experience of war, 
 were General Phineas Lyman, a Connecticut man, a graduate of 
 Yale College in 1738, and thereafter a tutor there for three years, a 
 lawyer in Suffield, a conspicuous civil magistrate, Commander-in- 
 Chief of the Connecticut militia, placed now second in command to 
 Johnson; Colonel Moses Titcomb, of eastern Massachusetts, who 
 had been a Major in Hale's Essex Regiment at the siege of 
 Louisburg in 1745, and had rendered distinguished services for its 
 reduction, who came now to Albany at the head of a Massachusetts 
 regiment ; Lieutenant Colonel Seth Pomeroy, of Northampton, who 
 had been engaged in militia matters from a boy, became Captain of 
 his company in 1744, was an efficient Major in his regiment at the 
 capture of Louisburg the next year, and now for ten years had 
 been an interested student and counsellor of every phase of mili- 
 tary affairs in western Massachusetts ; and even Colonel Williams 
 himself, for whom military eminence cannot justly be claimed on 
 any ground, though now superior in rank to Pomeroy, may fairly be 
 said to have seen more and known more of war, as well as to have 
 more stomach for it, than Johnson. Another Massachusetts Colonel 
 was at Albany with his regiment, Timothy Ruggles, of Hardwick, 
 a graduate of Harvard in 1732, a lawyer and an inn-keeper, who, 
 though he was scarcely more used to arms than Johnson, was in 
 several respects the most remarkable man in the camp, rude in 
 speech and manner though a scholar and a wit, destined to become 
 president of the Stamp-Act Congress ten years later, and destined 
 thirty years later than that to end his days as a self-exiled Tory in 
 
EPHRAOI WILLIAMS. 811 
 
 Nova Scotia. The later famous John Stark was a Lieutenant in the 
 
 New Hampshire forces present, as was also present the afterwards 
 
 not less famous Israel Putnam, born in Massachusetts, though now 
 
 a Connecticut private. 
 
 While New England energetically and patriotically sent her 
 
 oflicers and men to fight the French, in the loose organization of 
 
 the colonial governments, and over the wretched roads between the 
 
 Connecticut and the Hudson, it was difficult or impossible to supply 
 
 them at Albany with prompt and sufficient commissary stores. 
 
 The following letter from Ephraim to Israel Williams discloses the 
 
 pitiable situation of the men under the deplorable weakness of 
 
 their commissariat. 
 
 Albany, July IG'**, 1755. 
 
 Sir, I received your's per Smith. Have sent you 2 since my arrival at this 
 place, but as they were wrote in such hurry & confusion, I bleave you could not 
 read them. I have yet to inform you that our kittles are not arriv'd, nor any 
 necessarys for the sick, nor is the doct's chest, nor do I hear of any fresh pro- 
 vitions upon the road. Our men begin to be sickly. Some Company's are a 
 great part of them ailing, & had not the people been kind in lending their kittles, 
 I make no doubt }4 of the men would have been sick, but then. Sir, you can 
 easily perceive y't they are not able to supply them with half kittles enough, so 
 that great part of ye men are oblig'd to eat the victuals almost as salt as brine. 
 The Doct. tells me by the best observation he can make that in a very little time 
 (except fresh provitions can be had) the men will be so sickly y* the expedition 
 will be at an end. You must know, Sr, our being long in camp must be fatal, 
 and can't but know it's impossable to march the whole, untill the above men- 
 tioned diflacultys with the addition of one more is removed, which is that the 
 ordenence stores are not yet arrived. Now, Sr, how must you feel, and every 
 honest man, when he sees a number of brave [men] who have engaged cheer- 
 fully in a most glorious cause, where everything sacred is [at stake] should be 
 murdered by those persons from whome they might justly expect to be supply'd 
 with eveiything necessary for their comfort. This minute Colo. Ruggles is 
 ordered to march & join Gen'li Lyman, with his Regiment, 1400 troops in the 
 whole. Is to march for the carying place [Fort Edward]. I hope to have orders 
 to march part of my own Regiment with them. I have deliver'd your letters to 
 ye Govr, but can't get an opportunity to say a word to him in private. Have 
 dined with him today as all the rest of the field oflBcers from this Gover't. He 
 appears cheerfull but something lies heavy on his mind may be easily discovered 
 by those of his acquaintance. Yesterday we passed ye 2 Revew, which was 
 pleasing to him, to see so many of his children as he was pleased to call them. 
 The Review was at 2 places. Conn.*, Road Island & New York, with 2 of my 
 Company's was at the Green Bush — the province troops of Colo. Scyler's at the 
 Flats. I beg you would take care to send us fresh provitions, it being the life of 
 the army. I pray God bless you & your's with all friends in ye county, & send 
 proper salutations to all y* inquire after me. 
 
 I am your Hon'r's most oblig'd Humble Serv't, 
 
 CoLO. Israel Williams. Eph, Williams. 
 
312 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Leaving for a moment only the destitutions and distresses of the 
 soldiers in the camps near Albany, the jealousies and counterwork- 
 ings usual in such circumstances among the officers of all grades in 
 the town itself, and the forebodings produced by the news that now 
 began to trickle in of a great disaster to Braddock and his troops on 
 the Monongahela, let us give our attention to a letter written six 
 days after the preceding one, and between the same parties, relating 
 to a matter that will engage us with some deviations increasingly 
 from now on to the end of our self-imposed task, — relating, in short, 
 to Colonel Ephraim's will. His premonitions of approaching death, 
 of which mention was made a little way back, were not likely to be 
 weakened by the confusions and sicknesses of the camp, and espe- 
 cially by the rumors of Braddock's defeat and mortal wound on the 
 9th of July instant. At any rate, he had his last will and testar 
 ment drawn in Albany, signed and sealed it on the 22d of July, and 
 sent it with the accompanying letter to the two executors in order 
 named within it. The writer has studied carefully the original of 
 this letter, — now^ in the possession of Captain Ephraim Williams, 
 U. S. A., a descendant and heir of Dr. Thomas Williams, the 
 Colonel's only own brother, — and has satisfied himself that the 
 erasures near the middle of it were made after the writer's death 
 by the recipient or his representatives, on account of one or two 
 expressions deemed disrespectful to the memory of Ephraim Wil- 
 liams, Senior, the writer's father, probably on the principle that no 
 evil should be spoken of the dead. It may be added, that the 
 alleged copy of this letter, printed in the appendix of Durfee's "His- 
 tory of Williams College," is a mere mangling and caricature of the 
 letter itself. The contents of the will will not be studied in this 
 place, but considerably further on ; but it is relevant to remark here, 
 as perhaps partially explanatory of the letter, that a tradition came 
 down in the Williams family and was more than once mentioned to 
 the writer by the late Mark Hopkins, a lineal descendant of the 
 elder Ephraim Williams, that Ephraim Williams had contemplated 
 jnarriage at one time (it may be guessed to a daughter of Israel 
 Williams), and that the money donated in the will to found a free 
 school in Williamstown might readily have taken another direc- 
 tion. "The lady Colonel Williams didn't marry!" was toasted 
 with applause under Mark Hopkins's auspices and impulse at the 
 "Jackson Festival" of 1859. 
 
 Albany July 21, 1755 
 
 Sir Inclosed I send you my last will and Testament, & desire you together to 
 consult with Mr. Worthington whether it be legal — if it is not plese to write one 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 313 
 
 that is — send it up and I will execute it — I have altered my mind since I left 
 your house for reasons as to what I designed to give (which should have been 
 handsome) to one being near to you — have given a small matter to others, as 
 near to you — whose conduct to me has [proved] themselves most amiable. 
 Also since I left your house for reasons I have altered my mind as to what I 
 designed to give to ye children of my great Benefactor ; have given but a small 
 matter to two of y™ only — you will perceive I have given something for the 
 benefit of those unborn — and for the sake of those poor creatures I am mostly 
 concerned for fear my will should be broke. I believe, Sir, it would have been 
 more agreeable to you if I had gave it for an Accadamme at Hadley. I turned 
 the affair over and over in my mind, found some difficulties, & thought it was 
 best to give it in another shape. I desire that you and Mr. Worthington would 
 inquire into the affair of Stockbridge Indians, which my Hon*' [Father] left in 
 charge by no means [satisfactory to me ?] I desire you to pay at a venture 
 [£20 to the ?] widow of Jonathan. [I do not know as we owe ?] 1 quarter of 
 it, but for fear, you do, I will put enough in. Also plese to pay the following 
 persons whose names are hereafter mentioned, if they are to be found, being 
 soldiers under my command. I received the money out of the Treasury, but 
 never could find the men. Have paid all but these — Dan' Wood £4, 10« Sd. 
 Jonatlian Conolly £1, 13s. 6d. Nathi Ranger £2, lOs Od. W^ Williston £1, 
 16s — lives near Rehoboth. These things above mentioned are most material. I 
 shall conclude by recommending myself to your prayers & you & your dear 
 family to the Divine Protection, 
 
 I am, Sir, with great esteem 
 
 Yr honored & most humble & most obliged servant 
 
 £pH. Williams. 
 To IsBAEL Williams Esq. 
 
 P.S. In my will you find provided some money for the benefit of ye East 
 town, I dont know there will be enough for the west, but so far as it goes, very 
 well, and then some good will come of it. 
 
 E. W. 
 
 P.S. Let no one but your whole self and John Worthington know what my 
 will contains. 
 
 The next day after the letter transmitting his will, Colonel 
 Williams wrote again to the same correspondent, announcing the 
 important news that had now reached Albany in two or three differ- 
 ent ways, — the entire defeat of General Braddock before Fort 
 Du Quesne, with all that that involved to the prospects of the two 
 remaining expeditions that were to act simultaneously with Brad- 
 dock's, and that still lay almost helplessly at Albany. The good 
 plan, devised at Alexandria, was, that Braddock, the Commander-in- 
 Chief, should strike the French line at the head of the Ohio River ; 
 Shirley, the next in command, the central point in that line at 
 Niagara; and Johnson, the vital outpost of Canada at Crown Point. 
 The first was intended to be the main expedition, composed mostly 
 
314 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 of British regulars, though Washington was there as Braddock's 
 aide-de-camp, and many backwoodsmen of Virginia and Maryland, 
 whom Braddock despised as militia. Now, word comes to Albany 
 that makes, indeed, Shirley Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's 
 forces in America, by reason of General Braddock's death, but 
 greatly discourages the officers of both expeditions still lying there, 
 which ill news the officers strive in vain to keep from their own 
 rank and file. There was an increasing jealousy between Shirley 
 and Johnson, although the latter owed his undeserved appointment 
 to the former. Shirley, doubtless, heard of Braddock's death before 
 anybody else did at Albany. The news brought him promotion 
 indeed, but also vastly augmented responsibilities. In the letter 
 appended, Williams could not understand why Shirley still tarried 
 at Albany. He tarried because he was now responsible for John- 
 son's expedition to the northward, as well as for his own to the 
 westward. Johnson intrigued against Shirley, and the latter's heart 
 was heavy. There were direful premonitions of disaster in both 
 directions, which actually followed in due course of time. Neither 
 Niagara nor Crown Point was reached in this campaign. All the 
 papers of General Braddock fell into the hands of the French at 
 the Monongahela, and these unfolded to them the entire plan of 
 the campaign, and halved the chances of any English success at the 
 northward. Williams's letter that follows does credit to his mind 
 and heart. It is sad reading, but it lets us into the man more than 
 any other document he left behind him, except his will : — 
 
 Albany, July 22th, 1755. 
 Sir, In my last I let you know that Gen'^'B Lyman had orders to march for ye 
 Carrying place, with a Detachment of 1000 men, &c. He marcht last Wednesday 
 with his own Regiment. Colo. Ruggles was to join him with his & 4 Companys 
 out of mine. But insted of joining we are not marcht from the Flats yet. 
 What with the quarrel about Com,gs [Comissaries? Companies?], and what for 
 want of stores from Boston, we have been retarded ever since. Gov" Shirley 
 has given orders y't Mr. Emerson should not give out but 10 weeks' allowance. 
 Emerson in obedience to ye Gov""s orders will in his computation allow nothing 
 for wastige nor leakige. So y't as to ye Rum it will not hold out nine weeks. 
 
 I am suppris'd to see how things are conducted. Hear Gov'r S y lies [yet], 
 
 for what no person knows, except its said to pus — e [puzzle?] the Ex — n to 
 C— n P— t. Things appear most melloncolly to me. Their is no provition to pay 
 the waggoners, I am told. How the stores will be got along leave you to judge. 
 Last evening an express arrived from Meriland with advice y't Gen'''^ Braddock 
 has been attaced, & has lost many men, with part of the artilery. Is himself 
 wounded. It's to be feared he is cut to pieces and great part of the army, if not 
 the whole. I have seen Capt. Shirley he tells me he can't let me know what he 
 knows. He is under oath. Expect to hear the next news of a total over through. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIA3IS. 315 
 
 I have this minute something more pellicular — the acco't comes from Fort 
 Cumberland — Colo. Eanas (?) — he received it from one who made his escape, 
 who says they had got within 20 or 25 mile of the Fort. The General had sent 
 600 some small distance before. He then marcht himself with the baggige and 
 artillery. The French and Indians let the 600 pass them, and fell upon the 
 General, cut him to pieces, and the party with him, before those in the rear got 
 up — that they took all the artillery. He farther says the whole army is lost. 
 'Tis certain this is the acco't y't is come, for I have had from two y't heard the 
 letters read. Now L» all the hope y't we have left is, y't a man coming of in 
 that manner, is such a supprise, may in many things be mistakein. We expect 
 a post very soon, which will give us a more perticular acco't. I have not to ad, 
 save this, The Lord have mercy upon poor New England. 
 I am your Hon'" Most Humble Serv't, 
 
 Eph. Williams. 
 Colo. Israel Williams. 
 
 P.S. I salute all your famely with all friends. 
 
 E. W. 
 
 CoL. IsBAEL Williams. 
 
 The forces destined for the reduction of Crown Point had mostly, 
 if not wholly, assembled at Albany by the 1st of July. They were 
 in camp at two places: partly at Green Bush, on the east of the 
 Hudson, and partly at " The Flats," so-called, on the Mohawk near 
 its mouth, a few miles above Albany to the west of the main river. 
 They were composed chiefly of provincial militia from the colonies 
 of Massachusetts and Connecticut. New Hampshire sent 500 men, 
 largely Scotch-Irishmen, under the command of Colonel Joshua 
 Blanchard, John Stark being one of Blanchard's lieutenants. Both 
 of these officers, as well as many of their men, were out of the immi- 
 gration to Londonderry of 1719. Governor AVentworth sent Blan- 
 chard first to build a fort on the Coos meadows of the upper 
 Connecticut, being under the impression that that was the true 
 route to Crown Point. Shirley, however, sent Blanchard advices 
 to hasten to Albany; and he retraced his steps to "No. 4," and 
 marched through the woods, it is likely, by substantially the same 
 route Stark took twenty-two years later from No. 4 to Bennington. 
 New York contributed one regiment to the expedition. Hendrik, 
 the Mohawk chieftain, who had been much in Stockbridge, bringing 
 the youth of his tribe to the Indian school there, who was well 
 acquainted with Colonel Williams and always faithful to the Eng- 
 lish, brought 250 braves of the Six Nations to the camp on the 
 Mohawk. Johnson had expected many more, and referred the 
 failure of his Indians to rally at his call, to mischief wrought among 
 them by Shirley and his agents. 
 
316 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Shirley, as was natural and proper, had become fully conscious on 
 Braddock's death, that he was Commander-in-Chief of all the English 
 forces in North America. Johnson, apparently, never recognized 
 the difference between those broad functions, and those of a royal 
 governor of Massachusetts, and a second in general command. 
 This was the fountain and origin of all the quarrel between the 
 two men ; which became bitter at the time, and lasted long after- 
 wards; which, in its results, wrecked, as Shirley believed, his own, 
 the central expedition to the Niagara frontier ; which prevented, as 
 Johnson thought, the coming of as many more Iroquois to his stand- 
 ard as those that actually followed Hendrik to Lake George ; and 
 which made Johnson regardless of Shirley's orders to push on the 
 offensive to Crown Point after the battle there, with the men who 
 had not been in that fight, on the boats which were already launched 
 on the lake. We have no call to enter into these disputed, and no 
 longer important matters ; but as Hendrik's name will be forever 
 strongly associated with that of Colonel Williams, since they fell in 
 the same ambush, if not by the same volley, it is proper that we 
 should place here one of Hendrik's speeches, the last formal one he 
 ever uttered, made in council at the lake only four days before his 
 death, explaining to Johnson and the other officers why so few 
 warriors had joined their standard : — 
 
 Some time ago, we of the two Mohawk castles were greatly alarmed, and 
 much concerned, and we take this opportunity of speaking our minds in the 
 presence of many gentlemen concerning our brother, Governor Shirley, who is 
 gone to Oswego ; he told us, that though we thought you, our brother War- 
 raghiyahgey [Johnson], had the sole management of Indian affairs, yet that he 
 was over all ; that he could pull down and set up. He further told us, that he 
 had always been this great man, and that you, our brother, was but an upstart 
 of yesterday. These kind of discourses from him caused a great uneasiness and 
 confusion amongst us, and he confirmed these things by a large belt of wampum. 
 
 I just now said, these matters made our hearts ache and caused a great deal 
 of confusion in our castles. Governor Shirley further told us ; " You think your 
 brother Warraghiyaghey has his commission for managing your affairs from the 
 King our father, but you are mistaken, he has his commission and all the moneys 
 for carrying on your affairs from me, and when I please I can take all his powers 
 from him; it was I gave him all the presents and goods to fit out the Indians with." 
 
 He further told us when he came to our fort : " This is my fort ; it was built 
 by my order and directions ; I am ruler and master here, and now brethren, I 
 desire twenty of your young vp'arriors from this castle to join me as your brother 
 Warraghiyaghey promised me you would do, and be ready at a whistle. Brethren, 
 you may see I have the chief command ; here is money for you, my pockets are 
 full ; you shan't want ; besides I have goods and arms for all that will go with 
 me." He said a great more of the like kind, which time will not permit us to 
 repeat at present. 
 
EPHRAOI WILLIAMS. 317 
 
 He was two days pressing and working upon my brother Abraham to go with 
 him as a minister for the Indians, he said to him : " Warraghiyaghey gives you 
 no wages, why should you go to Crown Point, you can do notliing there ; but 
 with me there will be something to do worth while." Those speeclies made us 
 quite ashamed, and the Six Nations hung down their heads and would make 
 no answer. 
 
 But brother, notwithstanding all these temptations and speeches, we that are 
 come and now here, were determined to remain steadfast to you, and had it not 
 been for Governor Shirley's money and speeches you would have seen all the 
 Six Nations here. Brother, we have taken this opportunity to give you this rela- 
 tion, that the gentlemen here present may know and testify what we have said, 
 and hear the reasons why no more Indians have joined the army. 
 
 Ill the meantime, on the 2d of August, as we shall see in the next 
 following letter of Colonel Williams, orders came to march all the 
 Massachusetts and Connecticut troops from their camps near Albany 
 to the " Great Carrying-Place," whither General Lymau had gone 
 a short time before with a considerable detachment in order to build 
 a fort, on or near the site of the old Fort Nicholson ; that is, the 
 point where the North River turns pretty sharply to the south from 
 its previously southeast course out of the Adirondacks ; a ix)int mid- 
 way between the head of Lake George to the left, and the navigable 
 part of Wood Creek flowing north to Lake Champlain on the right. 
 In Queen Anne's War, well-nigh forgotten in 1755, Fort Nicholson 
 had been built on the Hudson, and Fort Anne on Wood Creek, the 
 one to command the old Indian Carrying-place to Lake George, and 
 the other the equally old (both immemorial) route to Lake Cham- 
 plain. Over these portages the Indians had carried their canoes, 
 and the French their bateaux, along Indian trails from water to 
 water, nobody knows for how long a time. It was fourteen miles 
 from river to lake on the left hand, and more or less than that on 
 the right hand, according to the place of embarking on Wood Creek. 
 Geneml Johnson had not made up his mind by which of these routes 
 he would strive to reach Crown Point; and General Lyman worked 
 away at his fort on the east bank of the upper Hudson, for a year or 
 two justly named Fort Lyman, until Johnson, after directly compli- 
 menting his king by naming what had hitherto been a French lake, 
 " Lake George," indirectly complimented him further by christening 
 his own fort at the head of the lake "William Henry," and rechris- 
 tening Lyman's fort " Edward," in memory of the king's grandsons. 
 
 Camp at the Flats, August 2'', 1755, 
 Sir Enclosed is a list of the oflBcers killed and wounded on the Banks of 
 Monongahela — if this should arrive before you have it in the public prints I 
 shall be glad. — I received it of the Gen" with a charge not to let any one see it 
 
318 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 in the camp. Notwithstanding I have suffered Lt. Col. Whiting & Doctor Marsh 
 to take a coppys of it for his friends in New England. Gen'' Shirley & Johnson 
 both keep it as private as they possibly can, for fear it should intimadate the men 
 — and as we have had various accounts — and know not what to depend upon, 
 it has in a very great measure answered their intention. It appears at present 
 the Genii was not so much to blame as was expected by the first accounts. It 
 seems when he had got within about 10 miles of the Fort with the first Devition, 
 He sent S"" John S' Clear with a detachment of 300 men to Keconnoytoire the 
 country & cross the revir ; to support him he sent 200 at a small distance and 
 brought up the rear with 100 men, being at about five miles distance from Col^ Dun- 
 bar, who brought up the rear of ye whole body, and who had with him ye heavy 
 artillery. S'" John crostthe river without any opposition, but had not march far 
 before their rise up a number of Indians, about (as it is said) 300, with some 
 few French, and fired upon him, & gave a horrible shout. It being a large 
 medow and the breacks [brakes] being high, they all fell flat, so that the men 
 could not see their enemy, if they had had a mind to fight. It seems the shout 
 set them into a pannick (and they in spite of all their oificers could do) turnd & 
 run back to the 200 yt was to support them which put them into disorder, so that 
 the whole run back to the main body, which put them into such a disorder yt 
 they could not be prevailed, upon to make the least stand. The Gen^i did all in 
 his power to make them face about, but to no purpose. During the engagement 
 he had four horses shot under him, at last was shot through his arm, & the 
 bullet lodgd in his vitals. In this confused manner, he retreated back to Dun- 
 bar, and notwithstanding they had when they were joined, 1500 men, they could 
 not prevail upon them to make a stand, but were obliged to blow up Maggazien 
 and leave all the artillery and baggige to fall into the enemy's hands. The 
 Gen" died of his wound on the forth day after the battle. It appers the officers 
 behaved exceeding well, for after their men left them, they fought untill almost 
 all of them were killed and wounded. This acco't was wrote by order of Mr. 
 Orn? aid de camp to the Gen^', but was not able to sign it by reason of his 
 wounds. 
 
 No doubt we shall have a more particular acco't very soon in the prints. 
 S' we have orders to march this day for the great Carrying Place with part of 
 the artillery. The whole of the troops belonging to the Massachusetts and 
 Connecticut, — the Gen" with the rest will march next week ! We are as heathy 
 here as can be expected — much better for having bran kittles. How they be 
 above us can't tell. Ensign Barnerd informs me you will send a scout to the 
 Carrying place, which I like much. I send proper salutations to your family & 
 Enquiring friends. 
 
 I am your Hon'^ most obed* Humble Servt. 
 
 Eph. Williams. 
 
 To CoL« Israel Williams. 
 
 Inadequate as was Williams's conception of the true character of 
 Braddock's defeat in a French and Indian ambush, as appears at 
 length in the above letter, it was still correct enough to have put 
 him thoroughly on his own guard against anything similar as likely 
 to occur in his career as a commanding officer. Before this letter 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 319 
 
 was commonly known, the excuse was often raised in Williams's 
 behalf in view of a like disaster happening to himself and his com- 
 mand just a month after, that he did not know of the details of the 
 rout and ruin of Braddock. But he did know them. He knew also 
 in general, from his long experience of French and Indian warfare, 
 its wiles and stratagems, as commander at Fort IMassachusetts 
 what should be the caution and prevision of one taking the offen- 
 sive against them, exposing his own and the lives of other brave 
 men in such circumstances. Ephraim Williams had many amiable, 
 and some great, qualities; but a high military capacity was not 
 among them. His good name and never-to-be-forgotten memory 
 rest on other foundations. 
 
 His regiment, when reunited at Fort Lyman, appears to have con- 
 sisted of about 420 privates, and about thirty officers of all grades. 
 There were ten companies. The Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, and 
 Major had each a company; and Captain Burt, Captain Hawley, 
 Captain House, Captain Porter, Captain Ingersoll, Captain Hitch- 
 cock, Captain Doolittle, were each at the head of the other seven 
 companies. There were many old soldiers of Fort Massachusetts 
 among the rank and file. Better and braver men never marched 
 along a river's brink, or plunged into the stream to haul boats up 
 over its falls, or in camp gathered more reverently to daily prayers 
 and sermons twice a week, and joined in frequent Psalm-singing 
 that alternated with the military drill, than the Connecticut and 
 Massachusetts men who marched up the Hudson to a temporary 
 camp at old Fort Nicholson. *^ Prayers," wrote Johnson at the time, 
 "have a good effect, especially among the New England men." 
 "Not a chicken has been stolen," wrote William Smith, of New 
 York. " Prayers among us night and morning," wrote Jonathan 
 Caswell, a private of Massachusetts, to his father: "Here we lie, 
 knowing not when we shall march for Crown Point; but I hope not 
 long to tarry. Desiring your prayers for me as I am agoing to war, 
 I am your ever dutiful Son." On the other hand. Colonel Williams 
 wrote in the letter about to be copied in full : " We are a wicked, 
 profane army, especially the New York and Rhode Island troops : 
 nothing to be heard among a great part of them but the language of 
 hell. If Crown Point is taken it will not be for our sakes, but for 
 those good people left behind." 
 
 The army, marching up the west side of the Hudson, crossed the 
 river where it had been crossed also in both the two preceding wars ; 
 namely, at the point where Fish Creek drops rapidly into the main 
 river on the west side, and where the village of Schuylerville now 
 
320 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 lies. Old Fort Saratoga, built by the English and burned down by 
 them in 1747, stood on the opposite bank. The present writer has 
 traced the old road up this bank (now much depressed and over- 
 grown with trees) from the brink of the river to the site of the 
 fort. From this point one old trail, already in 1755 developed into 
 a road, ran up the river due north to old Fort Nicholson; and 
 another ran southeast, crossing the Batten Kill twice, through what 
 is now Union Village and Cambridge, to North Hoosac on the 
 Walloomsac River. Over the latter trail, since become a highway, 
 passed both detachments from Burgoyne's army to the battle of 
 Bennington, while at the crossing-place at Schuylerville Burgoyne 
 himself surrendered his army the 16th of October, 1777. Colonel 
 Williams's letter from the "Great Carrying-Place " will be found 
 illuminating. 
 
 Camp at the Fort Nicolson, 
 August 16, 1755. 
 
 Sir, I received your favour yesterday per Colo. Willard. Have to inform y't 
 we arriv'd here on the 14 instant, with the remaining part of Connectic't troops. 
 Road Island and New York we expect will join us tomorrow. Expect to pro- 
 ceed as far as Wood Crick, if we should go that way, also expect the several 
 Governments reinforce us as soon as possable. I don't expect at pressent we 
 shall succeed without greater numbers. Colo. Gilbord is sent Express. Beg if 
 you have any regard for your friends, you send us fresh provitions, which will 
 be much the cheapest. It's not in our power to purchase y^ here. The men 
 have been extremely beat out in haling the battoes over the several falls, being 
 obliged to waid up to their middles near )4 day at a time. Our heavy artillery 
 & magazine are arrived safe. The rest comes in the last Divition. Ye Gen'ili 
 arrived the same day we did, with about 20 Indians fit for war. We expect a 
 large number soon, but the defeat of Braddock has shaggrined them very much, 
 & Gov. Shirley has took too many indirect methods to git them with him, has 
 offered them large sums of money, has done everything in his power to disaffect 
 them to the General, and its said has counterfitted Letters, too many things to 
 mention at this time, the consequence of which no doubt will be y't they won't go 
 to war at all, I mean not }4 the number which otherwise might have been expected. 
 I am sorry we did not go by the way of your town & so Fort Massachu,ts, & 
 carried our 18 & 32 pounder. I am sure it would not have cost the Gov'r'nt 
 }^ it has now done, & would have been terrible to the Enemy. Our great diffi- 
 culty now is to know which way to go. It's agreed on all hands yt Wood Crick 
 is best, if there was water, but by several scouts it seems yr is not. But we 
 shall be able I hope with the help of the Indians to go forward in a few days. 
 What you propose in your's as to the Mohawks, I will lay before the Gen,*"'". 
 I believe we have not one man of any consideration at all but is determined at 
 all adventures to conquer or die, but then if it should appear y" numbers vastly 
 exceed our's, you must expect we shall not proceed to lose the whole. There- 
 fore I hope the people in gen'" as one man will be ready at a minute's warning, 
 (if the reinforcements are not sufficient) to come for our relief, & their security. 
 
THE OLD "CARRYING PLACE," FROM THE HUDSON TO LAKE GEORGE. 
 
 Th« Locality of th« " Bloody Morning Scout " and of tha " Battia of Lake Gaorga," 
 Sept. 8, 1755. 
 
 321 
 
322 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 I don't know what Admiral Boscawen is about. If he would proceed up the 
 River of St. Larence, it would be of infinite service to us. Whether their has 
 been proper care taken, or not, I can't say. I had the misforten to have one of 
 my men (big) Winchell have one of the waggon wheels of a 32 pounder run 
 over him, which however only broke his thigh. Another man in a Coiinectic't 
 regiment shot his arm to pieces and has had it cut of. You mention in y'r letter 
 sent by Ashley, you would look into my will, and give your opinion. I should 
 be glad that you would, & that Colo. Worthington does also, & let it be drawn 
 over again, if it won't answer, by you both, as near as you can to what it is 
 now, & send it up by an express. I will be at ye charge of it. I assure you, 
 Sir, y't affair lies much on my mind. Am sorry you did not give me your advise 
 at least, in your last but one, although you then had not seen Colo. Worthing- 
 ton. I hertily mourn with you, in the loss of y'r Brother. Pray God to sanctify 
 it to all of us, & fit us for our own turns which will soon arrive — how soon God 
 only knows. I beg your prayers for us all, & me in perticular. We are a wicked 
 profane army, more especially New York troops & Road Island, nothing to be 
 heard among a great part of them but the language of hell. I assure you, Sr, if 
 ever the place is taken, it will not be for our sakes, but for those good people 
 left behind. I salute your family, with Mr. Woodbridge's, & all inquiring 
 friends. 
 
 Colo. Ruggles sends his compliments to you. We have a very good under- 
 standing — line in harmony. I understand by Capt. Porter, y't he expected to 
 have his part with all ye rest of the Com'n officers of what ye Gov't allowed for 
 our table, y* he had his acco't from Colo. Porter & Capt. Marsh. I told him 
 I should make no divition [with him] nor no one else. It seems there has a 
 number sent down a petition to the Court, which I am not sorry for. You won't 
 forgit to send your scout. 
 
 I am, Sr, with great Respect, your Hon'r's Most Obed't Humble Serv't, 
 
 Eph. Williams. 
 Colo. Israel Williams, Esq. 
 
 The above letter was "written on August 16, and it is a pleasant 
 coincidence that we happen to possess the military " orders " for that 
 day, given out by Peter Wraxall, aide-de-camp, to the army at old 
 Fort Nicholson, then called Eort Lyman, and a little later christened 
 by General Johnson Fort Edward. Owing in part to this super- 
 abundance of names, the place continued to be called for some time 
 the "Great Carrying-Place," it being nearly equidistant from the 
 head of Lake George to the northwest, and from the navigable point 
 on Wood Creek to the northeast, over both which intervals boats 
 and luggage had to be borne by hand. Wood Creek drops into Lake 
 Champlain at what is now Whitehall. Doubt as to which of these 
 routes it were best to take for Crown Point delayed the army a 
 long time at this Carrying-place, and so jeopardized the success of 
 the expedition. The Orders of the Day throw some light on the 
 situation. 
 
EPHRAI3I WILLIAMS. 323 
 
 Head Qcabtebs at the Camp at the Great Cabbyino place, 
 Fkyday the 16th August, 1755. 
 
 Pabole Ltman — Obdebs. 
 
 Colo'l Titcomb Field Officer of the Day for tomorrow. 
 
 That Colo'' Ruggles and such other officers as he shall pitch on do imediately 
 look out for proper places to erect a sufficient maggazine for powder, and also a 
 proper place to build an Hospital on, and make a reports of tlie same at Head 
 Quarters. 
 
 That publick proclamation be forthwith made by the Maj'r of each Regim* 
 that whosoever presumes to fire off his piece without leave first obtained from 
 the field officer of the Day be immediately put in confinem? to be trj'ed by 
 a Court Martial for the same. 
 
 That publick proclamation be also made by the Maj'r of each Regim't that no 
 person whatsoever does presume to sell or give to any Indian either rum or any 
 other strong liquor, and that no soldiers come over to the Ilsland where the 
 General is encampt, without being sent or ordered by their proper officers, when 
 they are first to come to Head Quarters. 
 
 That these two foregoing orders be wrote out in a large, legible hand, and 
 fixed up at the Head of each Regim'.'. 
 
 That a Serjt from each Regiment be appointed weekly, to take care that their 
 respective encampm'?? be kept clean, & all filth removed as soon as discovered. 
 
 Peteb Wraxall 
 
 A. D. Camp. 
 August y? 16, 1755. 
 
 These was the within orders publickly read unto the Ridgment under the 
 command of Colo'^ Ephraim Williams, Esq, per me 
 
 Noah Ashley, 
 
 Major of si Regiment. 
 
 It may weU have been that very day also, when Ephraim WiUiams 
 received at the Carrying-place the subjoined letter from Solomon 
 Williams, a distant cousin, which emphasizes a point we have already 
 learned; namely, that the Colonel was desirous to settle up his 
 pecuniary affairs and to collect his debts, before exposing his life 
 to the French. His will indicates directly the same anxiety that is 
 implied indirectly through this letter of his lawyer : — 
 
 Salisbuby, [Conn.], August 4th, 1756. 
 Sir, Tls a common observation that let men care never so little about their 
 agents, they have always a special regard for their actSt as they sensibly affect 
 their constituents. Taking this for truth, I make bold to trouble you by acquaint- 
 ing you that ye Execut's vs. Kent is paid up — that against Fitch is put into ye 
 officer's hand, tho' nothing as yet done upon it. Am at a loss within myself 
 what directions to give ye off'r which will be most expeditious in procuring ye 
 money tho' have told ye aff'? that provided F — h could not turn out estate, that 
 would speedOy command ye cash to commit him^ for their is no other way 
 
324 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 as yet opens whereby I can come at it, unless ye execut'B is extended upon his 
 land, & that dare not do without first having y'r approbation. There is so much 
 of his estate already parted by means of other execut'-^s that half enough per- 
 sonal estate is not, now, left him, to satisfie your's, so that Neck or land seem 
 to be ye case, & which impatiently wait your resolve. Have nothing worthey 
 notice to communicate, saving that this Colony, understand, have resolved to 
 raise a body of reserve to ye town of 500 men, to be in half pay till by ye Gen- 
 eral call'd for. Should be glad to know ye true reason of General PepperelPs 
 return home, for see one in a news print a few days since which I take to be a 
 very salim sarcasm, viz* : that he was to take ye Command of 5000 men, pro- 
 vided with a fine train of artillery, to rendezvous at Fort Hallifax, & thence to 
 proceed immediately towards Quebuck, &c. Should be glad to hear of y'^ wel- 
 fare, as well as of ye whole army — how far you have proceeded on y'r march, 
 & of any remarkable occurrent during ye same. 
 
 With proper compliments to all Friends, wishing you in constant readiness 
 every heroic virtue that can render man illustrious, is all at present from y'? poor 
 tho' sincere Friend & very humble Servant, 
 
 SoL'ii Williams. 
 
 Col2. Eph : Williams — marching to Crown point. 
 
 The New England men, whose hearts were thoroughly in this 
 expedition against Crown Point, some more on one account and some 
 on another, but nearly all in dead earnest, were restive enough under 
 this long delay through August at the Carrying-place. Protestant 
 zeal in a war against Catholics influenced some of the men. To 
 them it seemed as if they were engaged in a crusade against the 
 myrmidons of Eome. Seth Pomeroy, of Northampton, second in 
 command of Williams's regiment, wrote to his friend, Israel Wil- 
 liams : "As you have at heart the Protestant cause, so I ask an 
 interest in your prayers that the Lord of Hosts would go forth with 
 us, and give us victory over our unreasonable, encroaching, barbar- 
 ous, murdering enemies." Others were more touched by a remem- 
 brance of the sufferings of New England under former inroads of 
 the French and Indians, — of the sack of Deerfield in 1704, for ex- 
 ample, — and there was at least one man in the army. Captain Joseph 
 Kellogg, who was a child-captive to Canada on that occasion ; and 
 Colonel Williams could not but be reminded of the burning of Fort 
 Massachusetts in 1746, and the massacre on Deerfield meadow fol- 
 lowing upon that, and he wrote from the camp, " The Lord have 
 mercy on poor New England ! " 
 
 Dr. Thomas Williams, only own brother of the Colonel and Sur- 
 geon of his regiment, was chafed at the incessant delays, and 
 especially at the unaccountable slowness in determining by which 
 of the two possible routes to proceed from the present camp north- 
 wards. Letters are preserved from the Surgeon to his wife, and 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 325 
 
 from the Colonel to his cousin Israel, both written on the 17th of 
 August, and both breathing a spirit of impatience. The Surgeon 
 writes: — 
 
 It seems if we drive on (not Alexander like) we may possibly see Crown 
 Point this time twelve months. It is a fortnight this day since I came to this 
 place, and was in hopes tliat ere this time we should have advanced to the other 
 side of the Carrying Place, but the old proverb is, great "wheels move slow." 
 I wish it may be sure ; am pretty certain of a long expedition, and I can't say 
 I dont fear a fruitless one. We know not yet which way we are like to proceed, 
 as the country has not yet been sufficiently recconnoitred, at least so as to give 
 us satisfactory intelligence, notwitlistandiug we had about eij^ht days ago 300 
 men at work cutting the road to Fort Ann, supposing we should go by Wood 
 Creek, and in two days they cleared a road thirty feet wide, about eight miles, 
 or two thirds of the way to Wood Creek, but now that is stopped, and forty 
 picked white men, with three of the General's Indians are gone to view that 
 whole country, in order to find out the best way for us to proceed. Captain 
 Taylor of Hartford, a vigilant, active, good officer, goes ahead. Captain IJurke 
 is also this day going with ten picked men, and three of the General's Indians 
 to Lake St. Sacrament to view that road. With submission to the General offi- 
 cers, I must think it a very grand mistake that the business was not done two 
 months agone, but so it is, and impatience will only add to difficulty. I en- 
 deavor to keep myself calm and quiet under our slow progress, and wait God's 
 time who orders all events, trusting he will yet appear for our help, and his own 
 time favor this our cause which I believe to be just and good. 
 
 Colonel Ephraim^s letter, written the same day, must now be 
 quoted in full, as it is the last but one that we have from him. 
 The things concerning him have an end. This letter is significant, 
 in that it proves, that he had at length the full particulars of Brad- 
 dock's defeat and death; that he was coming to have, in common 
 with most of the New England officers, a high opinion of General 
 Johnson ; that his feelings ran strongly against Governor Shirley, 
 Commander-in-Chief, then on his military way to Oswego ; and that, 
 like his brother, he was full of forebodings over the issue of their 
 
 own expedition. 
 
 Camp at the great Carry-Place, 
 
 Aug'st 17, 1755. 
 
 Sf, My other letter I was sending by the way of Springfield, but that minute 
 I finished it, the scout arrived from y!i Fort. This day we have sent off the 
 Capt's person [Capt. Taylor of Hartford] with 40 whites and 3 Indians, in order 
 to find out a road to Broad Bay [commonly called "South Bay"]. My Capt. 
 Lt. [Capt John Burke] is ordered to go to Lake St. Sacrement, with 12 whites & 
 3 Indians. We are sensible what is like to be the consequence of Braddock's 
 defeat. Begin to feel it in the Five Nations, as the Gen''*" has let us know at 
 Council. 
 
 No doubt St you are quite wright when you say you canH think our men, 
 upon hearing of Braddock's defeate, will be intimidated, but on the contrary 
 
326 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 will be inspired with more courrage & resolution, but I assure you I wont be 
 bound for many who have the most true account of that defeat. Must think it 
 will [be] for the best to have it remain at uncertainties. 
 
 As for Gov'r Shirley, I wish him well. Don't think but he will return again, 
 however the battle goes with the rest. Must think if Braddock was alive he 
 soon wood feel the resentment of his sovereign, for being so slow in his march. 
 The old fellow went of with a heavy heart. Was hertily sorry it was not in his 
 power to order the whole y't way. I long to see the worst of it. Don't find but 
 ye Gen.r'i considering he has not had experience, behaves extremely well — longs 
 to be upon action. I doubt not but he will turn out a man of courage & pru- 
 dence. I take it for granted you will continue your scout to Wood Crick, or 
 where ever we may make the next place for our retreat. I heartily wish you & 
 your's the Divine protection. 
 
 I am. Si your Hon.^'s Most Humble Serv't, 
 
 Eph. Williams. 
 
 Colo. Israel Williams. 
 
 While the Crown Point army lay at Fort Edward, and afterwards, 
 while Fort William Henry was abuilding and garrisoned at the head 
 of Lake George, Fort Massachusetts was the chief half-way house 
 between the army and the Connecticut River and Boston, — a sort of 
 rest and rendezvous for soldiers going both ways, and the principal 
 point of communication, bdth west and east, for letters and expresses 
 and scouts. The only other way was by Albany and the old road 
 thence through Blandford to Springfield. Captain Wyman kept 
 faithful and efficient watch and ward at the old fort. The first sen- 
 tence of Colonel Williams's letter, just quoted, shows how the way 
 homewards looked to the Massachusetts officers at the Carrying- 
 place : " My other lett3r I was sending by the way of Springfield, 
 but that minute I finished it, the scout arrived from your fort'' 
 (that is, the fort under your military authority). The letters of 
 Surgeon Williams to his wife show the same thing: "I having an 
 opportunity to send to Fort Massachusetts, improve it to let you 
 hear from me, as also the rest of my friends there, if I have any, 
 which I might rationally suspect I -have not, by not receiving any 
 tokens thereof for above a month past, excepting a line from the 
 Rev. Mr. Ashley, which favor I have a few days since returned him 
 my thanks." And again, later: "I wrote a line by Dr. Mattoon to 
 Dr. Field, desiring him to send two horses by the first opportunity 
 to Fort Massachusetts, in order to Capt. Wyman' s sending them to 
 Albany." Surgeon AVilliams's letters, of which a large number are 
 extant, indicate that he had a much better education than his 
 uterine brother, the Colonel. He acquired a high professional repu- 
 tation both in the army in several campaigns, and in Deerfield and 
 vicinity, where he practised till his death, in 1775 ; and, unlike his 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 327 
 
 brother, who died unmarried, he has had, in successive generations, 
 a very large posterity, both direct (bearing his name) and in collat- 
 eral branches, many of whom have been distinguished physicians. 
 Dr. Edward Jenner Williams, who died at Charles City, Iowa, about 
 1880, born in Deerheld in 1823; his father. Dr. Stephen W. Williams, 
 born in 1790, and living his whole life in Deertield (1790-1855) ; 
 and his father, Dr. William Stoddard Williams (1762-1828), son of 
 Dr. Thomas Williams, and practising in Deerfield till his death, 
 illustrate the heredity in the direct line. Dr. Stephen W. is re- 
 ported to have said : " My father was a doctor, my grandfather was 
 a doctor, I am a doctor, and, I swow, Jenner shall be a doctor ! " 
 Three of Dr. Thomas's daughters married physicians; and Dr. 
 Timothy Cliilds, of Pittsfield, and his more distinguished son, Dr. 
 Henry W. Childs, long head of the Berkshire Medical Institution, 
 were physicians in collateral lines. 
 
 Excepting that we shall quote in full, a little later. Dr. Thomas 
 Williams's account of the battle of Lake George, as an eye-witness 
 and participant, we here take final leave of him with the remark, 
 and the proof of it, that he seems to have been much too favorably 
 impressed with the military abilities and resolution of his General, 
 the later Sir William Johnson. This impression was indeed shared, 
 more or less, by most of the New England officers in this exi)edi- 
 tion. His brother had it, and tough old Seth Pomeroy had it, and 
 others ; but the verdict of history, which has the marked advantage 
 of hindsight, does not corroborate it. The Surgeon writes to his 
 wife, just one month after the battle, in reference to General 
 Johnson : — 
 
 I must say he is a complete gentleman, & willing to oblige & please all men, 
 familiar & free of access to the lowest Centinel, a gentleman of unconnuon 
 smart sense & even temper ; never yet saw him in a ruflBe, or use any bad lan- 
 guage, — in short I never was so disappointed in a person in the idea of him I 
 had before I came from home, in my life ; to sum up he is almost universally 
 beloved & esteemed by officers & soldiers as a second Marlborough for coolness 
 of head & warmness of heart. We are now building a strong fortress, expecting 
 to go no further considering the advanced season [Oct. 8] & difficulty of pro- 
 visions being brought us, which is extremly great. 
 
 On August 22 a serious and extended council of war was holden 
 at Fort Edward. Johnson had sent four Mohawk scouts to Canada, 
 and they had returned on the 21st with the report that the French 
 were alive to the situation, and that 8000 men (French and Indians) 
 were coming to defend Crown Point. The council came to two main 
 conclusions: (1) To send back to tlie colonies for strong reinforce- 
 
328 OKIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 ments ; and (2) to advance by way of Lake George, and not by way 
 of Wood Creek. The vigor of the call for reinforcements appears 
 best in the letter of Governor Phips, of Massachusetts, in response, 
 Governor Shirley being now in the field as General-in-Chief. The 
 letter was written to Colonel Israel Williams at Hatfield, who was 
 and had been doing his duty manfully as the general commander in 
 the western part of the province. We will furnish the reader this 
 letter in full : — 
 
 Boston, Aug. 30, 1755. 
 
 Sir, Last night I received by express a letter from General Jolinson, and a 
 result of a Council of War begun &. held at the Great Canying place the 
 22'! instant, by all which it appears absolutely necessary there should be a strong 
 and speedy reinforcement of our Army against Crown Point ; and as your County 
 is so much concerned in the event of that expedition, & so well spirited in pro- 
 moting the same, I have enclosed you beating Orders and blank Commissions 
 for you to fill up, confiding in your wisdom and great fidelity, not doubting but 
 that you will exert yourself in so critical a conjuncture. The bounty money shall 
 be paid with punctuality, & the officers and soldiers be put upon the same foot- 
 ing with the rest of our Forces. 
 
 I shall depend upon hearing from you touching the premises, as often as the 
 importance of these affairs shall demand. 
 
 I am extreamly pleased with the Scouting Party you have destined for the 
 
 recovery of intelligence from the army by w'£li I hope to hear from them much 
 
 oftener than I could have done any other way. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your Humble Servant, e x) 
 
 ' S. Phips. 
 
 The decision of the council as to the route of advance was no less 
 definite. They would turn to the left and go by Lake George, 
 although a military road had already been cut two-thirds of the way 
 to Wood Creek, for this best of all reasons, that a boat-journey down 
 the southern end of Lake Champlain through what were then, and 
 are still, called the " drowned lands," would expose both their flanks 
 without the possibility of resistance to the cannon of the French 
 army at this moment advancing up the lake. Gangs of axemen were 
 sent at once to hew out the new road ; four days after the council 
 2000 soldiers were ordered to the lake ; while Colonel Blanchard of 
 New Hampshire with 500 men remained to finish and defend the 
 new fort at the Carrying-place. The fanners of the province of New 
 York had furnished a train of Dutch wagons to bear the stores and 
 artillery ; and while these jogged slowly over the stumps and roots 
 of the new road, guarded by small bands of soldiers, the regiments 
 followed on at their convenience. Although there are two small 
 islands in the Hudson directly west of Fort Edward, on the larger 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIA3IS. 329 
 
 of which Johnson had his headquarters while at the Carrying-place, 
 and over which the Saratoga and Whitehall Railroad now crosses 
 the river, the army did not cross there, which would involve another 
 crossing further up at Glen's Falls, but preferred to go straight 
 north on the east side of the river to its great bend where the village 
 of Sandy Hill now lies, and then to turn sharp west to Glen's Falls, 
 thus avoiding any crossing at all. From Glen's Falls to the head of 
 the lake the route was a straight line bending a little west of due 
 north. This road, tlien opened, has never been abandoned. A plank 
 road followed it with scarcely any variations during the last half of 
 the nineteenth century. 
 
 Seth Pomeroy, Lieutenant-Colonel in Williams's regiment, in his 
 ill-spelled journal, gives a pleasing picture of the way the chief 
 officers jogged along from the fort to the lake. " We went on about 
 four or five miles [to the sharp bend of the Hudson south], then 
 stopped, ate pieces of broken bread and cheese, and drank some 
 fresh lemon-punch and the best of wine with General Johnson and 
 some of the field-officers." Also the next day: "Stopped about 
 noon and dined with General Johnson by a small brook under a 
 tree ; ate a good dinner of cold boiled and roast venison ; drank good 
 lemon-punch and wine." That afternoon they reached the head of 
 Lake George, fourteen miles distant from Fort Edward. The axemen 
 had preceded the little army, and had cut down the pine trees on a 
 strip of rough ground reaching down to the water's edge, considerably 
 longer north and south, — that is, alongside the new road, — than 
 east and west, that is, at right angles to it. The tents were pitched, 
 and a considerable number of wooden storehouses were built among 
 the stumps of the newly felled trees. The camp fronted south, 
 towards ground gently rising up from the lake, and covered with 
 a pitch-pine forest ; on their right was a marsh, choked with alders 
 and swamjvmaples ; on their left lay the low, rocky hill, on which 
 Fort George was afterwards constructed ; and in their rear was the 
 peaceful lake. 
 
 We will now leave the army in this their well-chosen position for 
 a little, in order to bring up some subsidiary matters needful to the 
 comprehension of our story as a whole. The Xew England men 
 were far from home. Supplies were forwarded from Albany with 
 great difficulty. If the army were to reach Crown Point by the 
 lake, vast numbers of boats must be brought up the river from 
 Albany to Fort Edward, and then carted across the Carrying-place to 
 the camp. Boats began to arrive in this way almost as soon as the 
 camp was laid ont. Some were thrust out into the edge of the lake 
 
330 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 and fastened to the shore, and some were dumped down almost at 
 random, to be used a little afterwards in strengthening the breast- 
 works. Strong words had gone back to New England for reinforce- 
 ments, and a deep interest was felt in the situation throughout the 
 towns of the four provinces. The interest in the expedition had 
 been large throughout the summer ; but the last Sunday in August, 
 and the first Sunday in September (the day before the battle at Lake 
 George), had been rallying days at home, as well as solemn days in 
 camp. Rev. Stephen Williams, of Longmeadow, himself one of the 
 " redeemed captives " of 1704, now a gray-haired veteran. Chaplain 
 of his cousin Ephraim's regiment, preached in camp on both these 
 Sundays to the gathered Mohawks the first day, — but how New 
 England Calvinism lent itself through an interpreter to Mohawk 
 terms hath not come down to us, — and on the second day (September 
 7), to the white soldiers from a text in the prophet Isaiah. On the 
 first of these Sundays, young Chaplain Newell of the Ehode Island 
 troops expounded in the afternoon, to the New England men, a text 
 apparently untimely, — " Love your enemies." 
 
 No one can fairly estimate what a significant day in the history 
 of New England the 8th of September, 1755, proved in the sequel 
 to be, who does not glance at some of the contemporary proofs of 
 interest in the expedition extending through the later summer 
 months. There is a letter, for instance, from Dr. Perez Marsh, sur- 
 geon's mate to Dr. Thomas Williams, the Surgeon of his brother's 
 regiment, who married a daughter of Colonel Israel Williams, — a 
 letter written to William Williams, of Hatfield, destined a little 
 later to become, with Dr. Marsh himself, the two foremost founders 
 and settlers of Dalton in this county. 
 
 Albany, July 7, 1755. 
 
 Honest Friend, You remember I set out on Wednesday. I lodged at West- 
 field that night. Joyn'd in Company about 30. A Thursday to Stockbridge. 
 A Eryday after dinner to Canterhook. A Saturday about noon to Albany. All 
 the Connect* & Rhode Island Forces are arrived, and the most of the Companys 
 under Col'? Williams, Ruggles, & Titcomb. The Govenour [Shirley] is not 
 arrived, nor any of our stores, medicines &c. The Commissary's obliged to 
 borrow all the provisions. Connecticut Forces are allready to march, and 
 Generall Lyman is determin'd they shall set out this weak at all adventures. 
 About five hundred of the Six Nations have taken up the hatchet under General 
 Johnson, the most of them determined for Crown Point. The Catnowagoes 
 they appear to be very friendly, and the Generall is confident we shall meet with 
 no oppositions from them. By reason of the tents not being come, the soldiers 
 lodge in barns at all corners of the city. They at present are healthy, but I fear 
 they will not continue so, for I see no prospect of our marching this month. 
 No Governour, no stores, no medicines, no battoes, at least there is not one 
 
EPHRAIM "WILLIAMS. 331 
 
 ready — there are a number made but not corked nor tared. They tell me the 
 reason of their being so slow in their motion is because nobody hurrys them. 
 There are men enough in the city understand the business, and one of the car- 
 penters told me this morning he was certain he could have them allready in five 
 days if they could say the word. I very much fear the consequences of thus 
 delaying Doct'r Williams and myself. Lodge at the house of one Mrs. Wen- 
 dell, a widow woman whose husband wjvs brother to Col. Wendell of Boston. 
 They are quite friendly & obliging old & yong. I like the city & the people in 
 generall much better than I expected, and believe them to be as hearty in the 
 present Expedition as any of us. They seem all engaged to expedite matters as 
 much as possible. This is contrary to common fame, but I must at present 
 believe it (excepting two or three Gentlemen) General Johnson is to be here 
 this day. What determinations will he come into after his arrival I know not. 
 Would delay wrighting, but the bearer sets out immediately. Thus, S'r, without 
 form or connection, in a hurry, I have given you an imperfect sketch of my 
 journey, safe arrival, and the most material things worthy of notice. 
 
 I am, S'r, in good health and spirits, after proper salutations to your Hon'^ 
 Father and Mother, To the Rev'^ Mr. Woodbridge, Mrs. Sally &c. Your Sincere 
 Friend & Most Obliged Hum'l Serv't, p^^^^ ^^^^^ 
 
 To Mr. Will'?? Williams. 
 
 Then there is a letter written about the same time by Colonel 
 John Worthington, of Springfield, to Colonel Ephraim Williams, 
 which presents both of them in a pleasing light, and which serves 
 in part to unfold the reason why Williams, in drawing his will in 
 Albany at just about this time, made Worthington one of his two 
 executors. The other was his cousin, Israel Williams. These two 
 were his most intimate friends ; and they were also, in secular mat- 
 ters, the two most influential dwellers in the valley of the Connec- 
 ticut within the limits of Massachusetts at the middle of the last 
 century. It was characteristic of the founder of the College, as it 
 was of tlie individuals of his tribe generally, to select " the best " 
 that offered as friends and companions : they came under the sWeep 
 of the saying, then and still current up and down the Connecticut, 
 " Tell me who your company are and I will tell you who you 
 are " ; and there was something good personally and socially, as well 
 as something evil socially and politically, in the general habits thus 
 engendered. The Williamses and their special confederates became 
 what were termed at t;he time "aristocrats"; and, lacking a true 
 fellowship with the masses, when the struggle with the mother 
 country broke out, they took the side of the crown almost without 
 exception. John Worthington writes : — 
 
 Sir, I rec'd yours by L'u't Taylor. Am very much oblig'd to you for your 
 care in the favours I ask'd of you. 
 
 Leut Taylor informs the officers here that the present design respecting the 
 
332 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 soldiers is that they march to Westfield on their tour to Albany & be muster' d 
 & receive the residue of bounty, wages, &c there at Westtield. This S'l gives 
 them uneasiness, very considerable, & if orders peremptory are given for it 
 I am very sorry, & I may S't say it to you tho not to them that tho I am all 
 submission to the wisdom of our Fathers (if their Wisdom is in it) yet that this 
 must needs be misjudged. The soldiers ought in all reason to have been mus- 
 ter'd ten days ago, & to have known certainly who would be accepted & who 
 not, that such as were accepted might have had their money to have furnished 
 themselves w^ necessary cloathing &c for their march, & to have provided to 
 have left their families (such as have them) provided for at home, for many 
 such there are who depended on their money to do those things, & will be 
 reduced to great difficulties without they receive it in season, & where they 
 can dispose of it to these purposes. This sh'^ have been done also that such as 
 are so unhappy as not to be admitted to risque their lives for us, may be saved 
 as much trouble as might be, & be denied the favour on the cheapest terms. 
 It would have been easy I conceive for the Gent'° commission'd to muster 
 the men to have muster'd them near home seasonably for their being allowed 
 to return home after muster for the purposes I have mention' d, & for others 
 y'-t might be suggested. I am sure it could make them but little trouble, nor 
 the Province but a trifling expense. The contrary I am as sure will subject the 
 soldiers to difficulties very great and very needless, & I am very sorry to find that 
 any of the men of this respectable character (I mean soldiers S'l) who deserve 
 esteem & acknowledgn?ls from everybody where they have out of regard to 
 the public good voluntarily offered themselves to risque their lives & encounter 
 fatigues & hardship in a thousand various shapes, that we might some of us 
 rest in ease & quiet at home, should in any instance imagine they have the 
 least colour to suspect they are subjected to any one additional inconvenience 
 that is not necessary for the publick service. 
 
 If this matter can be otherwise I am certain it will be a great favour to the 
 men, but if it cannot they must bear it as it comes, & we will endeavor to relieve 
 & quiet them under it as well as may be, 
 
 I am, Sir, with great respect for you in every charact'r, but especially now 
 in that of a soldier, 
 
 Your very humble Servant and Sincere Friend, 
 
 J. WORTHINGTON. 
 
 CoL. Eph? Williams. 
 Springf'P-, June 15, 1755. 
 
 It is no inconvenience to the men to have their blankets & knapsacks [kept 
 back], but the contrary, but as to their money it is much otherwise. 
 
 There is also an illuminating letter, that belongs here, from Israel 
 Williams, co-executor with John Worthington of Ephraim's will, a 
 will not yet a month old, but already hastening towards its probate, 
 a letter that lets us more deeply into the personal and patriotic 
 affections of " ye monarch of Hampshire " than perhaps any other 
 one of a long series. The details of Braddock's defeat, and its 
 points of application to the Crown Point expedition, had not then 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 333 
 
 been ascertained on the Connecticut, as they were by this time thor- 
 oughly known at the Great Carrying-place; and yet the present reader 
 will observe how prompt Colonel Israel was to draw the lesson of the 
 Monongahela, and to exhort the parties immediately concerned on the 
 upper Hudson to apply to themselves the fore-thrusting precautions. 
 '' I am extremely concerned for you and the forces with you, and 
 beg you to take all necessary precautions, and if you want help let us 
 know it. If Braddock is lost, it will be ye greatest folly for iSIaj'r 
 Gen- Shirley to proceed, and hope you will join and be joined with a 
 gr^^ater number of troops and proceed directly for Canada." The fol- 
 lowing letter, taken as a whole, presents the Hatfield Colonel to us 
 in such a natural and favorable light, that we are glad to take formal 
 leave of him while dwelling on the traits presented here, as a vigilant 
 commander of men, a wise military counsellor, a warm personal 
 friend, and a loving father of a family. Five years before this we 
 have seen him intriguing persistently, almost malignantly, against 
 his great cousin, Jonathan Edwards, his neighbor in Northampton ; 
 fifteen years after this, we might find him taking strong sides for 
 King and Parliament against another great cousin, Joseph Hawley, 
 who was slowly organizing the patriotic forces of the valley to co-op- 
 erate with similar forces on the seaboard under the lead of Samuel 
 Adams ; but we choose to take historical leave of him, though we 
 shall casually cross his path again, penning this friendly letter of 
 caution and counsel to still another cousin, five years his junior, con- 
 stantly cared for by him as a son. 
 
 Hatfield, Aug'l 7, 1755. 
 
 Sir, The enemy are still very thick in y« frontiers, destroying our people and 
 their substance. A particular acc'^ you will have by Col. Willard or others. 
 And if Gen'l Braddock is disappointed I expect ye French will take courage, and 
 by their Indians press us much harder, as ye forces belonging to New Hampshire 
 are come away from their Frontiers. The Inhabitants above y« line will be 
 imprison'd in their fjjarrisons, and y? Indians will come lower for game I expect 
 very soon. I should be {?lad to hear you are mov'd from Albany and like to do 
 business. I am extreemly concerned for you & the Forces with you, & begg you 
 to take all necessary precautions, and if you want help let us know it. If Brad- 
 dock is lost it will be ye greatest folly for MajT Genl Shirley to proceed, and 
 hope you will join and be joined with a greater number of troops & proceed 
 directly for Canada. We hear the Regency upon ye rec't of Admiral Boscawen's 
 Express imediately ordered 20 more ships of ye line to Nova Scotia. What is 
 doing or what orders may be sent I dont know. Hope for ye best, and if possi- 
 ble some past mistakes will be rectified. 
 
 Our Gen'l Court sits this week — for what, I dont know. I tho't it was more 
 duty for me to take care of y« Frontiers. Give my service to Gen'l Johnson, 
 and tell him that if he woud send out some of his Mohawks with directions to 
 speak with ye French Indians, & tell 'em our designs, and that unless they 
 
334 OEIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 return'd, & left off harassing us, they might possibly be oblig'd to pay part of ye 
 
 reckoning, they might bethink themselves & not pursue us so violently, and 
 
 much bloodshed be prevented — this way they might do much good for New 
 
 England. The French doubtless secrete things from 'em. We at home are thro 
 
 mercy well. Biller & Sister gone to Boston. 
 
 I am your Afft£ Hum3 Ser'*, 
 
 /-( T7I A17- ,,^ IsR. Williams. 
 
 Col. Ep. Williams. 
 
 " Posterity delights in details/' said John Quincy Adams, presuma- 
 bly in relation to his own minute diary, kept throughout an exceed- 
 ingly busy life, and since published as if to test and verify the 
 dictum. A firm persuasion that there will always be those in every 
 generation who will be glad to see all accessible data throwing light 
 upon the life and service of the founder of this town and College, 
 has colored the construction of the present chapter throughout ; 
 authentic details have been given wherever they have been found, 
 and illustrative documents have been copied at length and arranged 
 in historic order; and the same considerations now determine the 
 quotation in full of the last pecuniary account passing between 
 Ephraim Williams and his native province of Massachusetts, which 
 he served in a public capacity almost uninterruptedly from 1744 to 
 1755. The final account, as here presented, relates solely to the 
 raising and equipping and marching and paying his new regiment, 
 recruited expressly for the Crown Point expedition, and led by him 
 to Albany, there to unite with other forces from New England and 
 New York, all under the immediate command of General William 
 Johnson, soon to be knighted; himself, however, subordinate after 
 Braddock's death to Governor and General William Shirley. 
 
 It is plain by all the papers left behind him by Colonel Williams, 
 and especially from the details of his last will and testament, that 
 he '^ was fond of money," as that phrase has long been current in 
 New England, to express at once power and zeal in acquisition, and 
 some ostentation in expenditure. In these and nearly all other 
 traits of character, he belonged emphatically to the Williams family. 
 There was no such other family in New England during the eighteenth 
 century as that constituted by the descendants of Robert Williams, 
 of Eoxbury, who died Sept. 1, 1693. This Eobert left a very con- 
 siderable estate by will, mainly to his three sons. The same is true 
 of one of these sons, Isaac, who died in 1708. The elder Ephraim 
 Williams, son of Isaac, was a man of large property for the times, 
 acquired by assiduity and enterprise. Quite a number of associated 
 lines of descent under the Williams name exhibited the same traits : 
 inheriting and acquiring wealth, they displayed it freely in the 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 335 
 
 fashions of the times ; they were quite select in their associations 
 and intermarriages ; they were fond, as a rule, of public office, — 
 of its emoluments and display ; they esteemed themselves to be " of 
 the best," and were regarded by their neighbors as *' aristocratical " 
 in their tastes and tendencies ; they were almost all of them pro- 
 fessedly religious men, i^erhaps as prominent in church as in state ; 
 and several of them, for whom Elisha Williams, Kector of Yale 
 College (1726-39), may stand sponsor, were remarkable for preach- 
 ing power and for long pastorates in the best places. As a family, 
 though widely scattered locally, each branch and individual stood 
 up for the personal and political preferment of other branches and 
 individuals in a manner unparalleled in the history of New England. 
 As a single instance of this, in a small way, let us see how Colonel 
 Ephraim Williams organized his own personal staff in the Crown 
 Point expedition. He had raised his own regiment for the occasion, 
 in virtue of his great popularity in Hampshire, and by an appeal to 
 his old soldiers in the line of forts, who had served under him, more 
 or less, for ten years past. He appointed his own brother, Thomas, 
 just three years younger. Surgeon; Perez Marsh, who married Sarah 
 AVilliams, Colonel Israel's eldest daughter, Surgeon's Mate; William 
 Williams, called in all the letters of the time "Billy," eldest son of 
 Colonel William Williams, of Pittstield, Surgeon's Mate's Assistant; 
 Rev. Stephen Williams, of Longmeadow, C/ia/^/a/>i ; another William 
 Williams, son of Rev. Dr. Solomon, of Lebanon, Connecticut, — 
 twenty-one years afterwards a signer of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, — was Colonel Ephraim's Adjutant, or Quartermaster ; and 
 his half-brother, Josiah, was Ensign in one of the ten companies, 
 and was fearfully wounded in the battle. 
 
 Dr. The Province of the Massachusetts Bay to Col? Ephraim Williams. 
 
 To raising 406 private men a 4 dollars p'r man £487 4 
 
 To cash del^ Col? Clapp to raise a Company as pr his receipt will 
 
 appear 163 4 
 
 To cash deW Col? Partridge Muster-Master for the County of 
 Hampsh? for 420 private men — 2 dollars bounty for eacli 
 man's finding his gun & £1 6 8 pr man for his month's 
 adv?« pay 812 
 
 To marching Capt. Doolittle's, Capt. Ingersoll's and my own 
 Company from their respective homes to the place of muster 
 in the County of Hampsh?^ 30 
 
 To marching Col?. Pomeroy's, Capt. Hawley's, Capt. Porter's, 
 Capt. Doolittle's & my own Company from Northampton, 
 Hatf^, Deerf^ to Albany each man being allowed days for 
 his march 85 
 
336 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 To marching Capt. Hitchcock's Comp?: ad 6 days allowance — 
 
 pard pd the Capt. and part pd Lieutenant Taylor .... £ 17 
 To march'g Capt. Burt's Comp. to Albany — part pd the Capt. 
 
 and part Lieut. Taylor a 7 days allowance 20 
 
 To mustering eight men & paying them £1 18 8 pr man for find- 
 ing their own arms and for their advance pay 15 9 4 
 
 To powder for their march to Albany 8/4 8 4 
 
 To inlisting 406 men a 1/6 p man 30 9 
 
 To marching Maj. Ashley's Company a 3 days allowance ... 8 10 
 
 To supplying with blankets in ye whole fifteen 8 
 
 To a Month's advance pay to ofl&cers 184 1 1 
 
 Harrison Gray, Esqn, Dr. to a mistake in ye money sent to Col. 
 
 Pomeroy 3 5 
 
 To two Inlistments more a 62/8 p 1 a 50/8 5 12 4 
 
 To pd Lieut. Rolf for the inlistment of one man 1/6 and for his 
 
 travel to Albany after ye settlement of ye above accot 11/4, 12 10 
 
 £1870 3 1 
 To pd. EnsB Pixley for his march to Albany 3 days 3/5 and also 
 
 for finding his own blanket 12/ after ye settlem* as afores^, 15 5 
 
 £1871 11 4 
 Creds. 
 
 By Cash to inlist 500 men £600 
 
 By warrant for Bounty & adv^ pay 937 17 10 
 
 By a warrant to march my men and advance pay 200 
 
 By a warrant for advance pay for officers 184 1 1 
 
 By a warrant for pay for 23 Blankets 12 5 
 
 £1934 3 11 
 1870 3 1 
 
 Ball?? due to the Provin?? 64 10 
 
 1 8 3 
 
 [Some errors in the figures] Due £62 12 7 
 
 The above Ace? I Certifie to be a true account according to the best of my 
 knowledge. 
 
 Eph. Williams. 
 Albany, July 16, 1755. 
 
 It has already been mentioned that an important council of war, 
 held at Fort Edward on the 22d of August, decided on the future 
 route of the expedition, and also to request instant reinforcements 
 of the several governments represented in the army. This was by 
 much the most important council of war ever attended by Colonel 
 Ephraim Williams, or ever held at any stage of the Crown Point 
 expedition. The proofs are strong that Williams possessed the 
 complete confidence of General Johnson. For reasons never fully 
 cleared up, there was some lack of harmony and co-operation between 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 337 
 
 Johnson and Lyman of Connecticut, who was the second in com- 
 mand : the renovated fort at the Carrying-place was named, at lirst, 
 *' Fort Lyman," and very properly so, for the renovation was made 
 under his own direction ; and the reason for the continuance of the 
 name was emphasized by Lyman's great skill and courage at the battle 
 of Lake George, where he was the real commander on the English 
 side, Johnson having been wounded at the outset of the fight, and 
 kept thereafter in his tent ; but in Johnson's official and extended 
 account of the battle to the respective provincial governors, Lyman's 
 name is not even mentioned, and Johnson soon after gave to the 
 fort the name which the locality still bears, " Fort Edward," from 
 one of the boys of the royal family of England. 
 
 We are now to quote in full the last letter, apparently, that 
 Ephraim AVilliams ever wrote. The original is endorsed to this 
 effect by its recipient, Colonel Israel Williams, of Hatfield. It was 
 written from what is now Fort Edward, on the 23d of August, 1755, 
 just sixteen days before the death of the writer. It carries a serious 
 and earnest and patriotic and comprehensive and disinterested tone. 
 The letter is worthy of the man, the cause, the environment. There 
 is in it much of the soldier, something of the statesman, and a great 
 deal of the neighbor and counsellor and friend. Let us read the 
 lines and between them. 
 
 From the Camp at ye great Carrying place, 
 Aug't 23, 1766. 
 
 Sir, By the information Gen'" Johnson has obtained from Canada, the whole 
 body of the Indians, and all the strength that [they] can raise, will undoubtedly 
 meet us. I suppose that the Indians in the French interest, as well as the Eng- 
 lish, will be very much affected by the success of this army. The defeat of 
 Braddock has had such effect on them that their has not yet above sixty joined 
 us, tho' more are expected, & all tho' they say they are our Brothers and will 
 live and die with us, I should not choose to venture my life with much depend- 
 ence on them, for anything but intelligence, unless we could raise in them some 
 confidence of success. I can't but think to lie still will have a bad effect on 
 y™, and give great advantage to the French. We have therefore resolved, at a 
 council of all the field officers, to march by the way of Lake St. Saccrement, and 
 to immediately open a road there, and build a very strong fort, sufficient to 
 stand a regular siege, which will doubtless be done soon enough to take Crown 
 Point, before winter, if sufficient reinforcements should join us without loss of 
 time, and from there we can have constant intelligence of the state of ye French 
 army, and shall march against yn? from thence, as soon as we shall judge it safe, 
 considering the vast importance of success. The reason of chusing that road 
 rather than Wood Creek, is because the way down the Drawned Land is such 
 y't a few French, with a battery of Cannon, might stave us to pieces, when we 
 could not get to shore to attack them. 
 
338 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 By the Lake it's said the road is good both by water and land, on the west 
 side of the Lake, but we must land 20 miles on this side the Narrows called 
 Tenondorogo [literal], and draw the cannon by land. There is 400 men at 
 work to open the road, and on Sat, day next we expect to set out with 2000 to 
 finish the road to said Lake, and shall build as above, and also shall take along 
 half the artillery. The Council of War are fully of opinion that we must take 
 them winter or summer, and are unanimously willing to venter on and continue, 
 till the work is done, viewing our all to be at stake. And we think there is 
 time enough if the recruits are sent quick, for it will probably take but a short 
 time, when we march from the next stage. We are all willing to venture our 
 lines as far as the good of our country calls us, and have no fears of success, if 
 we are soon joined by a sufficient number of men, which may be supported here 
 till provition may be sent after the army. We have agreed to support the 
 N. Hamp'se troops untill they can be provided for, not being able to march 
 without y"i. 
 
 The several Governments are to be at their proportionable part. Whether 
 the [Court] Sets or not am not able to say. But beg when it does set y't you 
 have Colo. Partridge to take care of the Frontiers, & go to Boston. I refer 
 you to Genrl Johnson's letter to Gov.r Phips for a more perticular information. 
 As ye Council did not think it proper to fix upon any number of men, yet it was. 
 agreed we might wright to our friends our opinion, which is y't the jobs will not 
 be done short of 10000 or 12000 men. We have not above 3000 effective men in 
 the whole, including New Hampshire troops. You must remember we have 
 often said it would take as many men to take Crown point as Canada, without 
 their strength could be devided. Had Braddock, Shirley and we struck at same 
 time, it might have answered to have proceeded with our number. But y't is 
 over, and if we should be beat, our country is lost. Therefore suffer me once 
 for all to beg of you to exert you self for your country — it's upon the brink of 
 ruin. It's who shall remember Sr what King William said, when the case of the 
 Dutch was prity much the same with our's — I pray God unite your Councils, 
 and show the world you are true patriots of your Country, and give to us ta 
 behave as becomes Englishmen. 
 
 I am, Sr, your Hon'r's most obed't Humble Serv't, 
 
 Colo. Israel Williams. Eph. Williams. 
 
 P.S. I should of wrote to my good friends Worthington and Partridge, but as- 
 you are all together at Springfield, this would answer. Being also desired by the 
 Gen'J to wright to several members of the House, I had but little time to spare. 
 E. W. I send my best compliments to all inquiring friends. 
 
 The same day this letter was written by Colonel Ephraim Wil- 
 liams, Dr. Thomas Williams, his owm brother and Surgeon of the 
 regiment, wrote a letter from the same place to his Avife in Deerfield, 
 as follows : — 
 
 From the Camp at the Carrying Place, 
 Aug. 23, 1755. 
 
 My Dear : I having an opportunity to send to Fort Massachusetts, improve it 
 to let you hear from me, as also the rest of my friends there, if I have any 
 
BPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 339 
 
 which I might rationally expect I have not, by not receiving any tokens thereof 
 for above a month past, excepting a line from the Rev. Mr. Ashley, which favor 
 I have a few days since returned him my thanks. I am now at the same place I 
 was 20 days agone. The Expedition goes on very slowly, in some expectation of 
 marching two days hence to Lake St. Sacrament [Lake George], as they have 
 this day begun to open a road that way, not being to find one any other. I 
 suppose the several governments are sent to, to reinforce us with more men, 
 which I hope will be cheerfully complied with, if they desire we shall be suc- 
 cessful against Crownt Point. My compliments to Major Williams, let him 
 know I expect he will, agreeable to his promise, be here with some of his first 
 recruits. Saving a too great laxness of my bowels, which is common in the 
 army, I am in considerable health. Want very much to hear from you and the 
 dear children, who are often in my mind. Our army in general pretty healthy, 
 not having more than 20 of the Province forces in the Hospital, & but one or two 
 dangerous, have lost three of our troops, who died at the flats, ere they [sic] 
 reached this place. Capt. Kellogg died at Schenectady last MoiniMv ifti.r an 
 illness of 15 days. Fever and Dysentery. 
 
 Your affectionate Husband 
 
 Thqs Williams. 
 
 This Captain Joseph Kellogg, referred to here by the surgeon, was 
 one of the Deerfield children carried captive to Canada in 1704, a 
 sack and capture made doubly famous by the " Redeemed Captive," 
 written by the Rev. John Williams, then pastor and principal man 
 in Deerfield, and another account written by his son, Stephen AVil- 
 liams, a boy not quite eleven years old, when he began to share his 
 father's captivity, Feb. 29, 1704. In this Crown Point expedition, 
 Stephen Williams, then pastor at Longmeadow, was the Chaplain of 
 Colonel Ephraim Williams's regiment, sixty-two years old. Besides 
 his pastoral labors at Longmeadow, which continued from 1716 to 
 1782, he was mucli in the public service, for example, Interpreter for 
 Governor Belcher in the Indian treaty at Deerfield in 1735 ; Chaplain 
 under Pepperell in the Louisburg expedition in 1746; and again 
 Chaplain under General Winslow to the northward in 1756. 
 
 There were two immemorial Indian trails leading from what is 
 now Fort Edward to Ticonderoga: the first, running nearly due 
 north soon struck Wood Creek, which drops into the head of Lake 
 Champlain at Whitehall ; the second, turning sharp west at what is 
 now Sandy Hill, and at Glen's Falls (now so-called), leaving the 
 Hudson for a straight course northward to the head of Lake George. 
 It is thirteen miles from Fort Edward to the head of this lake ; and 
 just about the same distance to a ix)int on Wood Creek navigable for 
 that sort of boats with which the expedition of 1755 was provided. 
 Johnson and his officers had been quite too slow in deciding which 
 of these routes to take. A road was first begun to Wood Creek ; 
 
340 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 then it was countermanded for the excellent reason that both shores 
 that way were low and marshy, and that the French, known to be 
 coming up the lake to defend Crown Point, and who might well 
 come further south (as actually happened), could easily, with a few 
 cannon placed on some rising ground, blow the expedition out of the 
 stream, and they be helpless to land and defend themselves ; and so 
 they began to open a road in the other direction on the 23d of August, 
 over a dry and sandy country covered for the most part with dwarf 
 pines. The reason why the locality at Fort Edward was so long 
 called the " Great Carrying-Place," is, that boats and their belong- 
 ings had to be carried by one or other of these two ways over the 
 watershed dividing the Hudson and its tributaries from the two 
 narrow lakes and their tributaries, flowing northward to their union 
 at Ticonderoga. Gangs of axemen were sent forward to cut down 
 the pines close to the ground, and remove such other obstructions 
 as they could ; and the road thus made has continued for the most 
 part till this day to be the travelled way from Glen's Falls to Cald- 
 well, at the head of the lake. When the plank road was laid over 
 the sand not far from 1850, it was found better to abandon that 
 stretch of the old military road that ran through the rocky ambush- 
 ground in which Colonel Williams and his comrades were killed, for 
 a more level lay of land a little to the eastward. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 26th of August, 2000 men were ordered over 
 the new road to the lake, while Colonel Blanchard, of New Hamp- 
 shire, was left with 500 to complete and maintain Fort Lyman. 
 Parts of two days were occupied to reach their camp on the lake- 
 shore. On the march they had fronted north ; but as the lake was 
 the best possible defence for their rear, their camp was laid looking 
 to the south, and the tents were pitched among the stumps along 
 the edge of the lake, on a piece of rough and rising and partly 
 swampy ground. In their front were the pine woods, through 
 which they had just come over their newly made road; on their 
 right was a considerable marsh, making a good defence on that 
 flank ; and on their left was higher and better ground, over much of 
 which the native rock comes to the surface. The present writer has 
 studied carefully, at several different times, the lay of this ground, 
 the location of the original and later roads leading to it, and 
 especially the so-called '' bloody pond " and the seat of the Indian 
 ambush of 1755, about three miles to the south of the lake. Noth- 
 ing in the whole region has been changed much in the long interval 
 of time since 1755, except the camp-ground on the rim of the lake. 
 There the building of Fort William Henry in the autumn of that 
 
EPHRAEM WILLIAMS. 341 
 
 year ; still more the building of Hotel Fort William Henry, more 
 than a century afterwards, on the same site ; and, most of all, the 
 building of a railroad and its appurtenances, about 1880, right across 
 the old cami>-ground and battle-field, have hopelessly disfigured 
 (except to one skilled to pick the old out of the new) this most 
 interesting stretch of ground. 
 
 Notwithstanding the Crown Point expedition was wholly an offen- 
 sive one, in which everything depended on celerity and vigilance, — 
 designed to assault and capture a fort on the Point that the French 
 first built in 1731, — everything moved forward in a leisurely, happy- 
 go-lucky manner, because General Johnson knew nothing of civilized 
 warfare, and had received his command solely on account of his 
 great influence over the Six Nations, of whom, nevertheless, fewer 
 than 300 rallied to the expedition ; while the French, under Baron 
 Dieskau, who had learned war under the famous Marshal Saxe, were 
 alert and swift and brave and skilled. Dieskau reached Crown 
 Point at the head of 3573 men — regulars and Canadians and 
 Indians — about the time that Johnson's camp was laid at the lake; 
 but he had no thought of waiting there to be attacked. With short 
 delay he moved on with nearly all his force, light-weighted, to 
 Ticonderoga, a promontory at the junction of lakes George and 
 Champlain, commanding perfectly both of the two routes, by one of 
 which Johnson must strike at Crown Point, if at all. Dieskau did 
 not know precisely where Johnson's army was, but he was led to 
 believe that it still lay (at least a part of it, which was true) at 
 Fort Lyman. At noon of the 4th of September, leaving a part of 
 his force at Ticonderoga, he embarked 216 French regulars, 684 
 Canadians, and about 600 Indians, in canoes, and, taking the east- 
 erly water, he pushed up the narrow prolongation of Lake Cham- 
 plain, through what are called the "drowned lands," towards the 
 spot where Whitehall now stands. Just a little way above that 
 point, he turned to his right into deeper water, then, as now, called 
 South Bay. This led them southwest, in an almost direct line, 
 towards the head of Lake George. They landed at the head of 
 South Bay, left their canoes under a guard in a brook that drops 
 into it, and started their march southward through the forest, just 
 about midway between W^ood Creek and Lake George. Two days 
 more brought them athwart the new road leading from Fort Lyman 
 to the head of Lake George, only three miles from the former post. 
 Here Dieskau learned from a captured wagoner that a large English 
 force lay encamped at the lake. His wish and will was still to 
 strike and capture Fort Lyman, and thus put himself directly in the 
 
342 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 rear of the entire expedition, trusting to his force left at Ticon- 
 deroga to keep the English between two fires, to their military 
 destruction. But his Indians now held a council after their man- 
 ner, and soon announced, as the result of it, that they would not 
 attack the fort, which they supposed was well mounted with cannon, 
 but were willing to help attack the open camp at the lake. Dieskau 
 remonstrated in vain, and then yielded with the best grace he could. 
 This was Sunday, the 7tli of September. 
 
 That Sunday was kept at the lake after the New England man- 
 ner, except that 200 wagons came up from Fort Lyman loaded 
 with boats. The already venerable Stephen Williams, Chaplain of 
 Colonel Williams's regiment, preached to the assembled soldiers from 
 a text in the prophet Isaiah. The Sunday before, he had preached 
 to the Mohawks in camp through an interpreter. About sunset an 
 Indian scout came in, and reported the important news, that he 
 had found the trail of a body of soldiers moving from South Bay 
 towards Fort Lyman. General Johnson called for a volunteer to 
 carry a Avarning to Colonel Blanchard. A brave wagoner named 
 Adams galloped off with the letter, but he never reached Fort Ly- 
 man. Sentries were posted, and the soldiers went quietly to sleep. 
 
 A good idea of the ground, and of the way their tents were 
 pitched that night and on the eventful morrow, may be gained from 
 the annexed woodcut, taken from the original " Prospective Plan," 
 made at the time by Samuel Blodget, an eye-witness of all that he 
 carefully describes as well as pictorially illustrates. If the reader 
 will imagine himself standing at the lower right-hand corner of this 
 picture, all will be easy to him. He fronts the west, with the edge 
 of the lake, in which the boats are represented to lie, on his right 
 towards the north ; on his left, towards the south is a low rise of 
 ground, with smooth rock coming to the surface for the most part, 
 and so nearly destitute of trees ; on his front lies the camp, irreg- 
 ular and inconvenient on account of gullies and swampy ground 
 near the rim of the lake, into which they drain, and marked '' 19 " 
 on the plan; the collection of tents nearest to him in front marked 
 ''33," is Colonel Harris's regiment, and directly behind his tent 
 stands the tent of General Johnson, marked ''31," both tents sur- 
 mounted by the British flag; the next collection of tents beyond, 
 marked "32," were those of General Lyman and his Connecticut 
 men, both of whom did extraordinary service in the battle of the 
 morrow ; in the rear of these towards the lake, marked "34," was 
 the regiment of Colonel Cockroft, and behind these tents, under 
 numbers "20," "21," "22," "23," "24," were "cannon pointed all 
 
nt\^ ] 
 
 ^M'l 
 
 
 ^ ^"K1 ^ 
 
 ^>>v 
 
 343 
 
344 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the ways in which the enemy could attack us with a number of men 
 to make use of them," " wagons placed so as to be a kind of bat- 
 tery to the G-uard/' "our Magazine of Powder," "our Store of shot 
 of various sizes," " our Shells of various Sizes " ; the next regiment 
 encamped towards the west, marked "38," was that of Colonel 
 Gutridge, occupying nearly the centre of the camp east and west ; 
 then beyond the central gully, which really divided the camp in two, 
 marked "35" on the cut, were the tents of Colonel Williams and 
 his subordinate officers and men; behind these, and marked "36," 
 lay Colonel Timothy Buggies and his men ; and still further on, at 
 the extreme right of the camp, designated as "37," were the tents 
 of the brave Colonel Titcomb and his no less brave men. Titcomb 
 had done splendid service at the capture of Louisburg ten years 
 before this; and Euggles was one of the great men of Massachu- 
 setts, and was president of the Stamp Act Congress ten years later 
 than this. 
 
 Thus things stood at the lake during Sunday night, the 7th of 
 September. At midnight, however, some wagoners came into the 
 camp and reported at headquarters that a war party of French and 
 Indians were on the road, not far from Fort Lyman. Johnson 
 called a council of war in the morning. Instead of sending out 
 scouts (he had a plenty of skilled ones, both whites and Indians), 
 and finding out all about this " war party," how many they were and 
 whither they were bound, he began to act in needless ignorance, 
 and, therefore, in criminal folly. The council came to the strange 
 resolution of sending out immediately two detachments of 500 men 
 each, in order, as Johnson explained the next day in his " Letter to 
 the Governors of the several Colonies," " to catch the enemy in their 
 retreat." But Dieskau had not the least thought of any retreat. 
 Baffled by his Indians in his original plan to attack Fort Lyman, he 
 accepted with vehemence and enthusiasm all the risks of an attack 
 on the main army at the lake. He knew that they greatly outnum- 
 bered him. But did not Braddock, also, greatly outnumber the 
 French and Indians at the forks of the Ohio, just two months 
 before ? He hoped to take the camp unawares, as Braddock was 
 surprised on the Monongahela. He was already on the march while 
 the council were debating. The new military road, just cut by the 
 English a few days before, served his regulars well in their advance, 
 while his Canadians and Indians pushed their way along through 
 the trees on either flank. 
 
 When the decision of the war council at the lake — to send out 
 at once two detachments, one towards Fort Lyman and the other 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 345 
 
 towards the head of South Bay, where Dieskau had left his boats 
 — was mterpreted to Hendrik, king of the Mohawks, who himself 
 knew a little English, in consequence of his havmg spent considera- 
 ble time at the Indian Mission in Stockbridge, he gave his opinion 
 signiticantly by picking up a stick, which he broke easily, and then 
 by putting several sticks together, which he could not break. The 
 officers were wise enough to learn from a better strategist than 
 themselves, though a savage, and the two detachments were joined 
 in one, to be under the command of Colonel Ephraim Williams. 
 But the Mohawk chieftain was still unsatistied. He shook his 
 head : " If they are to be killed, too many ; if they are to fight, too 
 few." Nevertheless, he was too brave and faithful not to share in 
 the risks he disapproved of. He had known the Colonel in Stock- 
 bridge, and the Colonel's father very well there. ^lounted on a 
 gun-carriage, he eloquently harangued his ^lohawks, for he was the 
 greatest Indian orator of his time ; and then, bestriding a small 
 horse lent him by General Johnson, he trotted to the head of the 
 column, followed by about 200 of his Mohawks. 
 
 A little after eight o'clock. Colonel Williams led out his regiment 
 a short distance from the camp, on the road towards Fort Lyman, 
 and then waited a little while for the rest of the detachment, under 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Whiting, to come up. Whiting was a Connecti- 
 cut officer, and led Connecticut men, and both did excellent service 
 on this memorable day. Going on about two miles further, there 
 was another wait to allow Hendrik's Indians, who had fallen into the 
 rear, to come up and take the head of the column again ; and the 
 march was resumed without any apprehension that the enemy were 
 near, and without the precaution of throwing out flankers, or even a 
 vanguard, in Hendrik's front. Possibly Colonel Williams entrusted 
 this service to the Mohawks. Certainly his commanding General 
 had set him a very poor example in respect to scouts and runners 
 all the morning ; but nothing can ever relieve the military memory 
 of Colonel Williams of culpable negligence at this most essential 
 point of vigilance, considering who his enemy were. He com- 
 manded this detachment of 1200 men. He knew even down to the 
 details, and so did all the higher officers, of Braddock's terrible defeat 
 in July, in rough and wooded ground, like parts of that through 
 which he was leading some of the best men in New England. 
 
 On the other hand, Dieskau knew very well what was going on 
 above him. His own mind worked like lightning, and he had 
 nimble servitors on both his flanks and far in front, reporting to 
 him constantly the lay of the land and the posture of the foe. For- 
 
346 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 tune favors the active and the provident. There was one piece of 
 broken and rocky ground, full of bushes, with a few pines, through 
 which the old road ran (not the present plank road), forming a sort 
 of defile, and very suitable for an ambuscade in war. On the west- 
 ern side of the road the ground rises considerably, and is in places 
 quite abrupt, extending about half a mile parallel with the road; 
 while on the east side, for about half that distance, there is a 
 ravine, through which ran and runs a small brook. This narrow 
 and not long defile was entered from the south from tolerably open 
 ground, and debouched on the north again into the open. Dieskau, 
 commonly called the " Baron " by the New Englanders, who reported 
 these events as eye-witnesses, had just time to deposit his packs 
 under a small guard, and to plant his regulars (say 200) across the 
 road near the southern debouche of the defile, and to post his Cana- 
 dians and Indians (say 1200 in all), the greater part on the higher 
 ground on the western side of the road, behind the trees and rocks 
 and bushes, and the rest in the ravine sloping down to the east 
 from the road. This was called at the time placing troops in double 
 potence ; that is, throwing forward both flanks at an angle from the 
 base, thus making three sides of a rough parallelogram. It is like 
 what is called in London streets a " close." In this case the nature 
 of the ground did not allow of right angles, but the whole position 
 was curved like a sickle, the handle-flank being on the west side of 
 the road and about twice as long as the other, and the soldiers 
 pretty equally con(!ealed around the whole curve by rocks and trees 
 and bushes. The Baron's orders to both his flanks were to keep 
 concealed and reserve their fire till the head of the English column 
 should strike his regulars in front, where the battle should begin. 
 
 Continuing their march till about half-past ten without sus- 
 picions, the advanced Mohawks had gotten wholly within this 
 ambush, and Williams's regiment partially so, when Hendrik, jog- 
 ging along by Colonel Williams's side, between the two columns, 
 said to him : " I smell Indians ! " and, pressing on a short distance 
 further, he was suddenly hailed by one of Dieskau's Indians, — 
 •^' Whence come you ? " — " From the Mohawks ! " — " Whence came 
 you ? " rejoined Hendrik, who was dressed after the English man- 
 ner. " Montreal ! " was the answer. Just then a gun was fired 
 from the bushes, whether by accident or design will never be 
 known. It has been said that some of Dieskau's " Six Nations," 
 who were kinsmen of the Mohawks, wished to give them warning 
 before it was too late. At any rate, it was too late. After a 
 momentary pause, the terrible Indian yell rose on both sides of the 
 
EPIIRAIM WILLIAMS. 347 
 
 road, followed by iit-a>\ imiij^, esp.H-ially from the ravine on the 
 left, which cut down the ^lohawks in front in large numbers, and 
 the head of the English column on that side. King Hendrik's horse 
 was shot down, and the brave chief bayoneted as he tried to rise. 
 He was both old and corpulent. Colonel Williams, seeing rising 
 ground upon his right, ordered his men, then extended in files along 
 the road, to mount it, and gain a more defensible position. They 
 obeyed, but had made only a short advance when they came within 
 range of the main ambush on that (western) side, and a deadly fire 
 showered down upon them, which killed the commander, threw the 
 whole line into confusion, and strewed the ground with dead and 
 wounded. 
 
 Then naturally enough there was a panic among the raw troops ; 
 considerable numbers abandoned the field in headlong flight ; the 
 vanguard suddenly became the rear; the Baron quickly brought up 
 his regulars, and the men in ambush on both sides crowded after 
 the confused retreat of English and Mohawks intermixed, and both 
 fell in large numbers at this point ; some of both, however, falling 
 back fought bravely against their pursuers from tree to tree and 
 rock to rock ; and many of these pursuers never saw the English 
 camp at the lake, nor their own men in the rear guarding the packs. 
 Dieskau himself described a little later this part of the struggle, by 
 saying, that the head of the English column was " doubled up like 
 a pack of cards." 
 
 The annexed woodcut, also taken from Blodget's "Prospective 
 Plan," though Blodget himself was not an eye-witness here, gives a 
 correct outline of the ambush-field, and of the beginning of the 
 fight. His accompanying descriptions, however, are not so vivid as 
 those of the scenes at the lake in the afternoon, which he saw him- 
 self; nevertheless, we will give them in full because they are 
 contemporary and illustrated. 
 
 1. The Koad from the Camp to Lyman's Fort, in which Road a detachment 
 of 1000 English and about 150 Indians, with Hendrik the Mohawk Sachem 
 among them, were marching in order to annoy the enemy, who it was supposed 
 were attacking the Fort, or retreating from it. 
 
 2. The Form in which the French and Indians appeared, being like that of a 
 Hook ; for so they had placed themselves, extending a curve line from their 
 Front on each side of the Road, near half a mile on the Right, and about one 
 half that space on the Left. They had Opportunity to do this, as they had 
 received intelligence from a Scout they had sent out that a considerable Body of 
 our Men were marching in order to oppose them. The Rea.son of their thus 
 forming themselves was this ; — on the left of the Road all along the Line they 
 had placed themselves in, they had the advantage of being covered with a thick 
 
348 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 growth of Brush and Trees, such as is common to Swampy Land as this was ; 
 On the right they were all along defended, as with a Breastwork by a continued 
 Eminence filled with Rocks, and Trees, and Shrubs as high as a Man's Breast. 
 Our Men while marching in the Road, were within 150 yards of the Enemy, 
 who lay invisible on either side. They had posted themselves in the most 
 advantageous Place there was between the Camp and the Fort for an Ambus- 
 cade. And considering this, together with their great Superiority in numbers, 
 being upwards of 2000, 'tis a wonder they had not entirely routed and destroyed 
 this Detachment. Our men must have behaved with the utmost Bravery, and 
 Wisdom too, or they could not have made so honorable a Retreat, killing even 
 more of the Enemy than they lost themselves ; as the French General owned 
 after he was taken : Tho' in this Fight, which began about two miles and a half 
 from the Camp, our loss both of OfiBcers and private Men, was much greater 
 than in the other Battle. 
 
 3. Hendrik, the Indian Chief or King of the Six Nations, who was dressed 
 after the English Manner. He only was on horseback, because he could not 
 well travel on Foot, being somewhat corpulent as well as old. He fell in this 
 fight, to the great Enragement of the Indians, and our Loss, as he was a verj^ 
 good Friend to the English, and had most influence to keep the Mohawks so. 
 
 4. Our men represented as breaking their order, and hastily running. Their 
 Design herein was to gain the Advantage of the Eminence on the Right ; but 
 the Enemy having unhappily got the Possession of it, rose up from the Rocks 
 and Shrubs, and from behind the Trees, when our Men came within sure Reach 
 of their Guns, and made a considerable Slaughter among them. The Trees 
 were thinly scattered where our Men were thus fired upon, and the Shrubs but 
 low : However they made the best use of them they could, and continued Fight- 
 ing here for some time with the greatest Resolution. The greater part that 
 were killed in this Fight, whether of the Enemy, or of our People, were found 
 the next day at this Ambuscade, or not far distant from it ; tho' they lay scat- 
 tered more or less all the Way to the Camp. 
 
 6. An advanced Party of Indians, who first discovered the Enemy, and fired 
 upon them ; which gave the Alarm to our Men, began a very furious and desper- 
 ate Fight and led the Enemy, by our Retreating from them, into the Engage- 
 ment they afterwards had with the Army at the Camp. 
 
 Several eye-witnesses or participants give us more exactly what 
 happened between the first panic and retreat of the Williams men, 
 and the arrival of the broken detachment as a whole at the camp. 
 A part of Williams's regiment rallied under the command of Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Whiting at a small pond near the road, since called 
 " Bloody Pond," and some degree of order was restored there, and 
 good fighting done, when Lieutenant-Colonel Cole with 300 men from 
 the camp, arrived at a point a little north of the pond, ordered by 
 Johnson, so soon as he heard the firing below, to hurry to sustain 
 Williams or to cover his retreat. Whiting and Cole united here, 
 and maintained their ground for some little time with resolution 
 and effect J for the tradition has been strong for a century that 
 
THE BLOODY MORNING SCOUT.' 
 
 349 
 
350 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 many dead bodies of Frenclimen and Canadians falling near by were 
 thrown the next day into the pond, — hence called "Bloody Pond"; 
 but they were soon compelled to retire from the position, overpowered 
 by superior numbers, while that retreat was bravely made, continu- 
 ing to fire for a mile or more from behind trees and logs and other 
 covers, which checked the pursuit of the enemy and allowed the 
 stragglers to get into the camp, and also many of the English who 
 had been wounded in the running fight were carried by their com- 
 rades back into the camp. The Mohawks of the detachment, angry 
 at the fall of Hendrik, did brave service in this retreat, and lost 
 during the morning about forty of their warriors ; but they did 
 scarcely anything more after they reached the camp. Of course the 
 fugitives and non-fighters of Williams's detachment, who arrived 
 first at the camp, spread exaggerated stories of the numbers and 
 ferocity of the enemy. The fighting men gave the French their last 
 fire when within about three-quarters of a mile of the camp at 
 the lake. 
 
 Thus ended what was long called in New England " The Bloody 
 Morning Scout." Its details, with their inevitable exaggerations, 
 and subsequent mixings and crossings with other war horrors in the 
 same neighborhood during the three following campaigns in which 
 New England again took large part, Avere talked over and over 
 around New England firesides, until the American Eevolution, which 
 some of these very officers and soldiers lived to take part in, pushed 
 back into a misty limbo the incidents of what they still fondly called 
 the " Old French War." Strictly speaking, the column and the 
 errand of Colonel Williams that morning was not a " Scout " at all ; 
 it might perhaps be called a " reconnaissance in force " ; but old 
 Hendrik was right in his judgment about it in the war-council of 
 the early morning; it was a nondescript, unmilitary, and careless 
 proceeding from beginning to end ; it cost many very precious Eng- 
 lish lives; and it came near costing the destruction of the army 
 encamped at the lake. For Dieskau, having repulsed the column, 
 and sent the survivors helter-skelter within the camp, along the front 
 of which, in the meantime, after the firing began to be heard to the 
 south, a slight barricade of army wagons and turned-over boats and 
 trunks of trees laid end to end in a single row had been hastily 
 thrown up, ordered a halt of his men when he reached the eminence 
 in the road, since called " Gage's Hill," in plain sight of the camp 
 and the lake, and sounded his trumpets to call in his scattered 
 Canadians and Indians ; it has been thought by many, that if he 
 had pressed right on down the little slope, and entered the camp 
 
EHHKAIM Willi \MS. 351 
 
 witii the last of the iugitives, lur iiic oDstrut'tiuns were low and 
 broken, the appearance of his regulai-s with their shining bayonets 
 (then a new thing in the colonies) formidable, the fugitives and the 
 wounded brought in had spread a sort of panic through the camp, 
 he might have borne down all before him, — making a path for his 
 Canadians and Indians, — and killed or taken prisoners or scattered 
 through the woods the whole little army. 
 
 This was certainly Dieskau's plan, and it might have prospered 
 in his hand, could he have controlled his allies. He saw that these 
 were inclined to scatter right and left from his regulars, who kept 
 the road in splendid order, and that he must halt for a parley with 
 them. His trumpets called them in. Parleying in battle-time is 
 always demoralizing. His Indians looked downcast and unmanage- 
 able ; they had lost heavily in the encounters of the morning ; they 
 knew also there were some cannon in the English camp, and proba- 
 bly they could see at that instant thtee or four of them mounted, 
 and pointing south : the Canadians, too, showed signs of discourage- 
 ment, for they had just lost their veteran commander, St. Pierre, 
 the same who had negotiated with Washington at Fort le Boeuf in 
 1753, and who, in this campaign, commanded both the Indians and 
 the Canadians. Nevertheless, the magnetic and imperturbable Baron 
 persuaded them all to move on with him again, — the regulars in 
 front and the rest on his left in straggling order, making their way 
 northwest and designing to operate on Johnson's extreme right; 
 and a little before noon, what Blodget calls '' the second engagement " 
 began. The regulars advanced down the road to the edge of the 
 woods, deployed in front of Johnson's left-centre, and opened a 
 platoon-fire at a distance of about 140 yards, which kept up for some 
 time but without great effect; until Captain Eyre, who commanded 
 the camp artillery, trained three heavy cannon upon them (shown 
 in the cut of the fight under the numoral "11"), but these were 
 aimed too high, as is usual with inexperienced gunners, and the 
 balls crashed into the trees over the lieads of the French some 
 twenty feet; and Blodget says, they were not "discharged more 
 than four or five times"; because the regulars, finding their platoon- 
 fire ineffectual, broke their ranks and took to cover Indian fashion. 
 Then it was that the second battle really began. The fusillade on 
 both sides soon became furious, and was kept up for about four 
 hours without intermission. The day was fair, but the wind was 
 southerly and drove the smoke into the eyes of the English. The 
 bullets flew all over the camp, even round the heads of the surgeons 
 dressing the wounded in the rear. 
 
352 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 After the initial trepidation common to raw troops was over, 
 encouraged and at first threatened by their officers with drawn 
 swords, the New England men became cool and remained so, " our 
 people took sight and were all good marksmen" (Blodget). The 
 Baron, unable to make any impression on the English, left and 
 centre, where the Connecticut people were, and a few Mohawks, 
 seeing his regulars falling around him unsupported by his Cana- 
 dians and Indians who had gone mostly round to a knoll on John- 
 son's right, changed his special point of attack towards the English 
 right, and opened a heavy fire on the three Massachusetts regiments, 
 — Titcomb's, Ruggles's, and Williams's, — the last now under the 
 command of Lieutenant-Colonel Pomeroy. Apparently, one motive 
 of Dieskau's in moving to his own left, was to knit connection with 
 his allies already operating on that side. If so, he was disap- 
 pointed. '' Are these the so much vaunted troops ? " he cried bit- 
 terly, as he saw some of them disinclined to fight at all, and some 
 of the rest inclined to fight as safely as possible. Yet for all this, 
 a galling fire was thrown into the camp, by a considerable -psntj of 
 French and Indians from the high ground beyond the swamp directly 
 west of the Massachusetts regiments ; until a field-piece, marked 
 " 12 " on Blodget's Plan, was discharged, and two mortars marked 
 " 25 " threw a few shells among them, and scattered them, weaken- 
 ing the whole attack on that flank. 
 
 Dieskau maintained a hot fire for about an hour opposite to the 
 Massachusetts men. All fear was now gone from the latter, and 
 they gave as good as they got. Johnson had received a slight flesh 
 wound near the beginning of the fight, and had retired at once to 
 his tent, leaving the sole command to Lyman, who was everywhere 
 in the heat of action, directing and animating his men for four 
 hours, and marvellously escaped without a wound. ^'16. Colonel 
 Titcomb and Lieutenant Barron, that they might fire at the enemy 
 at greater advantage, got behind this tree, tho' at a rod's distance 
 from the breastwork; and here it was they both unhappily fell, 
 being insensibly fianked by some of the enemy " (Blodget) . Dieskau, 
 exposing himself near the English line, was twice severely wounded; 
 his Adjutant, himself wounded, was trying with a Canadian to carry 
 their helpless commander to the rear, when the latter refused to be 
 moved, and ordered the Adjutant to lead the regulars in a last 
 effort against the English line. 
 
 But it was now too late. One by one, or in little knots, the New 
 England men were already jumping over their row of logs ; even the 
 wagoners about the camp took guns and powder-horns from the 
 
EPHRAIM ^VILLIAMS. 353 
 
 wounded, and prepared lu j«uii m liu- int\ ; ami iii a few moments 
 the whole line, with a great shout, dashed over the slight barricade, 
 and fell upon the French, with hatchets and the butts of their guns. 
 It was now near five o'clock. The French and their allies fled from 
 all sides of the field unpursued, and had not rejoined a large body 
 of Indians and Canadians who had retreated early in the afternoon, 
 back to the place of the morning ambush, and a little further to the 
 place where the French packs had been left as preparatory to that, 
 when the latter body were suddenly attacked not far from Bloody 
 Pond, and then and there took place what Blodget called " the third 
 or last engagement"": — and we will let him tell the story of this 
 in his own words. 
 
 They heard at Fort Lyman, between 9 and 10 o'clock, the Noise of a Multi- 
 tude of Guns ; and as it continued without Interruption, they judged that our 
 Army at the Camp [it was the Ambush-Fight] was attacked by a large Body of 
 French and Indians: upon which it was tho't proper to detach between 200 and 
 300 men to their Assistance. This detachment consisted partly of Yorkers but 
 mostly of New Hamp.shire troops [made up largely of Scotch-Irish], and was 
 put under the Command of Capt. McGinnis and Capt. Folsom. They arrived 
 between 4 and 5 o'clock, at the place where the French encamped the Night 
 before, which was near the place where the Fight began in the Morning ; and 
 here they discovered about 500 of the enemy (chiefly Indians) who had fled from 
 the Battle at the Camp ; upon which they fell upon them, drove them from the 
 Encampment, and pursued them till Evening came on, making a considerable 
 slaughter among them. Our loss was small ; but by all accounts, an Hundred of 
 the enemy were killed. Our men loaded themselves with their Packs, and left 
 great Numbers behind that they could not carry away ; which were brought in 
 the next Day, with as much Ammunition, Provisions, and other Plunder, asfllled 
 4 or 5 Wagons. Their Flight was so hasty, that tlu'v dropped some of the Scalps 
 of our Men, which we recovered. 
 
 The brave McGinnis was mortally wounded in this fight, in which 
 the attacking party was greatly outnumbered. He continued, how- 
 ever, to give orders till the firing was all over, when he fainted, and 
 was carried dying into the camp by the lake. The several bands of 
 Dieskau's fugitives, from the several fields of fight, reunited them- 
 selves in the forest in the course of the evening, encamped there for 
 the night, and reached their canoes, at the head of South Bay, the 
 next evening, "spent," as Parkman^ says, "with fatigue and fam- 
 ine." Dieskau himself had a hard fate. He was thrice severely 
 wounded, the last time after his regulars had fled, and he lay help- 
 less in his blood. He was carried into General Johnson's tent, where 
 his wounds were dressed, though they proved to be incurable, and 
 
 1 Montcalm and Wolfe, Vol. I., p. MOH. 
 
354 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 where he was defended by Johnson and other officers, and put under 
 a guard, against the bitter revenge of some of the Mohawks, who 
 tried repeatedly to kill him outright on account of the fall of their 
 Sachem, Hendrik. So soon as his desperate wounds would allow 
 it, he was carried on a litter, strongly escorted, from the lake to Fort 
 Lyman, and thence to Albany, and afterwards to New York. He 
 was an object of universal interest and curiosity Avherever he went. 
 In the spring of 1757 he sailed for England, and was for some time 
 in Falmouth, and longer in Bath for the benefit of the waters. In 
 1760 the famous Diderot met him in Paris, and the latter's Memoirs, 
 published in 1830, give extremely interesting conversations as 
 between the two men at that time on this Crown Point expedition. 
 There is another paper in the French archives, purporting to be a dia- 
 logue between Marshal Saxe and the Baron Dieskau from the Elysian 
 Fields, in which the same expedition figures largely and truthfully. 
 Both these papers are translated in the New York Col. Documents, 
 X., pp. 340-343. Dieskau died in 1762. Interest will forever gather 
 on both the continents around the name and deeds of this gallant, 
 intellectual, vivacious, truth-loving, and grateful Frenchman, immor- 
 talized by one fateful day of intercourse with rustics and savages in 
 the wilds of northern New York. 
 
 The same day and the same field immortalized another man of 
 greatly inferior genius and prominence and opportunities, whose 
 grip, nevertheless, upon posterity, is even firmer than the French- 
 man's, because on his way to the battle-field he turned aside to do a 
 conscious act of lasting benefit to those then unborn, and went for- 
 ward to seal the contract in his own blood. Ephraim Williams's 
 niche of fame will be high and safe, so long as there remain citizens 
 of Williamstown and students of Williams College. The night 
 after the battle was dolorous in the camp at the lake, and the morn- 
 ing scarcely less so. The burial of the dead seems to have fallen 
 into the care of Lieutenant-Colonel Pomeroy, who had now succeeded 
 to ,the command of Williams's regiment. "At least forty biers, 
 cross-poles to carry the dead upon," were sent out; and sepulture 
 was accorded (for the most part) to the bodies of friend and foe 
 alike. When this fact was reported throughout New England, the 
 military authorities at the lake were harshly chidden ; Dr. Chauncy 
 relates that the opinion in Boston was, that the officers were " too 
 polite by half to Dieskau, and all the French " ; and attention was 
 widely called to the contrast between this and the treatment of the 
 bodies of English and Virginians on Braddock's Field two months 
 before. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 355 
 
 Colonel ^^'illiams's body was found where it fell twenty-four 
 hours before, — a little to the west of the old military road, on 
 ground still rising to the west. The body hatl not been rifled or 
 disturbed. His watch and sword, a small ivory memorandum-book, 
 and several other trinkets were taken charge of by his brother the 
 Surgeon, taken by him to Deerfield, where they were carefully i)re- 
 served, together with the Doctor's own sword and other equipments, 
 until the centennial celebration at the College of the battle of Lake 
 George, when the watch and sword were presented to Williams 
 College ; and later the Doctor's own sword and other memorials of 
 the two brothers were given to the College by Captain Ephraim 
 Williams, U. S. A., and Bishop John Williams, of Connecticut, both 
 of them lineal descendants of Dr. Thomas Williams. These relies 
 are now (1892) in Clark Hall, forming a small, but valuable, part of 
 a collection of local antiquities gathered by the ])r('s»'iii writer 
 mainly in the decade of 1880-1890. 
 
 Colonel Williams was buried that day under a pine tree larger and 
 taller than most of those then growing over considerable portions of 
 the battle-field. Tradition naturally preserved the spot, for armies 
 from New England annually, or bftener, passed it, till the final 
 conquest of Canada; and very soon thereafter permanent set- 
 tlers crept into that neighborhood, and kept alive the local word. 
 Dr. W. S. Williams, a grandson of the Surgeon, found no difficulty in 
 exhuming the skeleton in or about the year 1837. The skull was 
 taken away at that time; and, it is said, was carried to North 
 Carolina, where two members of the family, both physicians, resided 
 about that time. When a committee of the alumni of the College, 
 of which E. W. B. Canning (1834) was chairman, visited the place in 
 some reference to the centennial of 1855, they found an old man 
 living near who had helped in the exhumation just referred to, and 
 had filled up the grave. He pointed out to this committee the pre- 
 cise six)t of the burial, who caused to be drawn over it a rock of 
 considerable size, into which the " E. W." initials were cut. About 
 twenty-five years later, David Dudley Field authorized A. L. Perry, 
 of the College, to purchase the ground holding this grave, and then 
 to surround it with a heavy stone and iron fence. The land was 
 accordingly bought, and stands now in the name of the President 
 and Trustees of Williams College; and Robert R. Clark, for a whole 
 generation the skilled and worthy carpenter of the College, was of 
 much assistance in placing the granite posts, and fixing the iron 
 rods which, in that sandy soil, will probably stand for a century in 
 the true. The rock above the grave was left where it was placed in 
 
356 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 1855, while the initial letters of the brave Colonel's name were more 
 deeply and indelibly sunk into it. At the same time, Perry trimmed 
 up carefully a young pine growing near, doubtless, in some sense, a 
 representative of the old one of 1755. 
 
 Besides Blodget's very good descriptions of the battle, and his 
 pretty fair pictorial representations of it, a large part of which he 
 saw, and the Boston Dr. Chauncy's " First and Second Letter to a 
 Friend," whose informants were a " Major Hore," a participant in 
 the fight, and especially Blodget himself so soon as he returned to 
 Boston, there are several other connected accounts of the scenes of 
 the day, by those who were eye-witnesses and participators ; and of 
 these accounts, the readers of the future time will pretty surely 
 approve the judgment of the present writer if he give in full 
 General Johnson's official report, written the day after the battle, 
 the letter of Colonel Pomeroy to Israel Williams, also written the 
 next day, and the letter of Dr. Thomas Williams, the Surgeon^ 
 written two days later than these to his wife at Deerfield. We 
 must remember while reading the official account, that General 
 Johnson was inexperienced in civilized war, that he overestimated 
 his own function in the fights, and that he does not even mention 
 the name of his second in command. 
 
 Justin Winsor, Librarian of Harvard University, kindly sent to 
 the present writer, with the word, '' Professor Perry may like to see 
 this," his own note on one of the contemporary pictorial represen- 
 tations of the battle of Lake George. The note is appended in fulL 
 
 The sketch on the other side of this leaf follows an engraving, unique so far 
 as the editor knows, which is preserved in the library of the American Anti- 
 quarian Society. It is too defective to give good photographic results. The 
 print was " engraved and printed by Thomas Johnston, Boston, New England, 
 April, 175G." 
 
 The key at the top reads thus: " (1.) The place where the brave Coll. Wil- 
 liams was ambush'i & killed, his men fighting in a retreat to the main body of 
 our army. Also where Cap*. McGennes of York, and Cap* Fulsom of New 
 Hampshire bravely attack' d y^ enemy, killing many. The rest fled, leaving 
 their packs and prisoners, and also (2.) shews the place where the valiant Col. 
 Titcomb was killed, it being the westerly corner of the land defended in 
 ye general engagement, which is circumscribed with a double line, westerly and 
 southerly; (3.) with the s<i double line, in y^ form of our army's entrench- 
 ments, which shows the Gen. and each Col. apartment. (4.) A Hill from 
 which the enemy did us much harm and during the engagement the enemy had 
 great advantage, they laying behind trees we had felled within gun-shot of our 
 front. (W.) The place where the waggoners were killed." 
 
 On the lower map is: " The prick'd line from South Bay shews where Gen. 
 Dieskau landed & y^ way he march'^ to attack our forces." 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 357 
 
 The two forts are described: " Fort Edward was built, 1755, of timber and 
 earth, 16 feet high and 22 feet thick & has six cannon on its rampart." 
 
 "This fort [William Henry] is built of timber and earth, 22 feet high and 25 
 feet thick and part of it 32. Mounts 14 cannon, 33 & 18 pounders." 
 
 The dedication in the upper left-hand corner reads : "To his Excellency 
 William Shirley, esq., Captain general and GovMn-chief in and over his Majesty's 
 l*rovince of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, Major General and Com- 
 mander-in-chief of all his Majesty's land forces in North America ; and to the 
 legislators of the several provinces concerned in the expeditions to Crown 
 Point, — this plan of Hudson Kiver from Albany to Fort Edward (and the road 
 from thence to Lake George as surveyed). Lake George, the Narrows, Crown 
 Point, part of Lake Champlain, with its South bay and Wood Creek, according 
 to the be.st accounts from the French geneml's plan and otlier observations (by 
 scale No. 1) & an exact plan of Fort Edward & William Henry (by scale No. 2) 
 and the west end of Lake George and of the land defended on the S'** of Sept. 
 last, and of the Army's Intrenchraents afterward (by Scale 3) and sundry par- 
 ticulars respecting y*^ late Engagement with the distance and bearing of Crown 
 Point and Wood Creek from No. 4, by your most devoted, humble servant, 
 Tim? Clement, Surv": Havel Feb. 10, 1756." 
 
 Camp at Lakk Gkorge, 9 Septb' 1755. 
 
 To THE Governors of the Several Colonies who 
 RAISED Troops on the present Expedition. 
 
 Gentlemen, Sunday Evening the 7'*^ Ins*. I received Intelligence from some 
 Indian Scouts I had sent out that they had discovered three large Roads about 
 the South Bay and were confident a very considerable Number of the Enemy 
 were Marched or on their March towards our Encampment at the Carrying 
 Place where were posted about 250 of the New Hampshire Troops and five Com- 
 pany's of the New York Regiment. I got one Adams a Waggoner who volunta- 
 rily and bravely consented to ride Express with my Orders to Col. Blanchard of 
 the New Hampshire Regiment Commanding Officer there. I acquainted him 
 with my Intelligence and directed him to withdraw all the Troops there within 
 the Works thrown off. About half an hour or near an hour after this I got two 
 Indians and two soldiers to go on Foot with another Letter to the same purpose. 
 
 About 12 o Clock that Night the Indians and Soldiers returned with a Wag- 
 goner who had stole from the Camp with about 18 others their Waggoners and 
 Forces without order. This Waggoner says they heard and saw the Enemy 
 about four Miles from this side the Carrying Place, they heard a Gun Fire and 
 a Man call upon Heaven for Mercy which he judged to be Adams. The next 
 Moniing I called a Council of War who gave it as their Opinion and in which the 
 Indians were extremely urgent that 1000 Men should be detached and a Number 
 of their People would go with them in order to Catch the Enemy in their Retreat 
 from the other Camp either as Victors or defeated in their design — the 1000 
 Men were detached under the Command of Coll^ Williams of one of the Boston 
 Regiments with upwards of 200 Indians — they Marched between 8 and 9 
 o'clock — in about an hour and a half afterwards We heard a heavy firing and 
 all the Marks of a Warm Engagement which we judged was about 3 or 4 miles 
 from us. We beat to Arms and got our Men all in readiness — the Fire 
 
358 OEIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 approached nearer upon which I Judged our People were retreating and detached 
 Lieut. Colo. Cole with about 300 Men to cover their Retreat — about 10 o Clock 
 some of our Men in the Rear and some Indians of the said Party came running 
 into Camp and acquainted us that our Men were retreating, that the Enemy- 
 were too strong for them. The whole party that escaped returned to us in large 
 Bodies. 
 
 As we had thrown up a Breast Work of Trees round our Encampment and 
 planted field pieces to defend the same we imediately hauld some heavy cannon 
 up there to strengthen our Front took possession of some Eminences on our left 
 Flank and got one Field piece there in a very advantageous Situation. The 
 Breast Work was manned throughout by our People and the best disposition 
 made thro' our whole Encampment which time and Circumstances would permit. 
 About half an hour after 11 the Enemy appeared in sight and marched along the 
 Road in a very regular Order directly upon our Center. They made a small halt 
 about 150 yards from our Breast Work, when the Regular Troops (whom we 
 judged to be such by their Bright and fixt Bayonetts) made the grand and Cen- 
 ter Attack, the Cannadians and Indians squatted and dispersed on our Flanks — 
 the Enemys Fire we received first from their Regulars in Platoons but it did no 
 great Execution being at too gi'eat a distance and our Men defended by the 
 Breast Work. Our Artillery then began to play on them and was served under 
 the direction of Capt Eyre during the whole Engagement in a manner very 
 advantageous to his Character and those concerned in the Management of it. 
 The engagement now became general on both sides — the French Regulars kept 
 their Ground and order for some time with great Resolution and good Conduct, 
 but the Warm and constant Fire from our Artillery and Troops put them into 
 disorder, their Fire became more scattered and unequal and the Enemys Fire on 
 our left grew very faint. They moved then to the right of our Encampment and 
 Attacked Col. Ruggles, Col. Williams and Col. Titcombs Regiments where they 
 maintained a very warm fire for near an hour, still keeping up their Fire in 
 the other parts of our Line tho' not very strong, the three Regiments on the 
 right supported the Attack very resolutely and kept a constant and strong fire 
 upon the Enemy. This Attack failing and the Artillery still playing along the 
 Line. We found their fire very Weak with considerable Intervals, this was about 
 4 o'clock when our Men and the Indians jumped over the Breast Work, pursued 
 the Enemy Slaughtered Numbers and took several prisoners amongst whom was 
 the Baron Dieskau the french General of all the Regular Forces lately arrived 
 from Europe who was bro* to my Tent about 6 o' Clock just as a wound I had 
 received was dressed the whole Engagement and pursuit ended about 7 o' Clock. 
 
 I dont know whether I can get the returns of the slain and wounded on our 
 side to transmit herewith, but more of that by and by. 
 
 The Greatest Loss we have sustained was in the Party commanded by Coll? 
 Williams in the Morning, who was Attacked and the Men gave way before Col. 
 Whiting who brought up the Rear could come to his Assistance, the Enemy who 
 were more Numerous endeavoured to surround them, upon which the Officers 
 found they had no way to save the troops but by retreating which they did as 
 fast as they could. 
 
 In this Engagement we suffered our greatest Loss. Col. Williams Major 
 Ashley Capt Ingersal and Capt Cuter of the same Regiment. Capt Furrall 
 Brother in law to the General who Commanded a party of Indians, Cap* Stod- 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 359 
 
 dert, Capt MaGinnis Capt Stevens all Indian Officers and the Indians say near 
 40 of tlieir People who fought like Lions were all slain. Old Hendricks tiie great 
 Mohawk Sachem we fear is killed. We have abundant reason to think we killed 
 a great Number of the Enemy amongst whom is Mon' S' Piere who commanded 
 all the Indians the Each Number on either Side, I cannot obtain for tho' I sent 
 a party to bury our dead this Afternoon, it being a running Scattered Engage- 
 ment we can neither find all our dead nor give an exact acc^* as fast as these 
 Troops joined us they formed with the rest in the main Battle of the Day, so 
 that the killed and wounded in both Engagements Officei*s excepted, must stand 
 upon my Return. 
 
 About 8 o clock last night a party of 120 of the New Hampshire Regm! and 90 
 of the New York Regm^ who were detached to our Assistance under the Com- 
 mand of Cap' McGinnes from the Camp at the Carrying Place to reinforce us, 
 were attacked by a party of Indians and Cannadians at the place where Coll<> 
 Williams was attacked in the Morning. Their engagement began between 4 & 5 
 o Clock. This party who our People say were between 3 and 400 had fled from 
 the Engagement here and gone to scalp our People killed in the Morning. Our 
 brave men fought them for near two hours and made a considerable Slaughter 
 amongst them. Of this brave party 2 are killed 11 wounded and 5 Missing. 
 Capt. MaGinnis who behaved with the utmost Calmness and Resolution was 
 brought on a Horse here and I fear his wounds will prove mortal. Ensign Fal- 
 sam of New Hampshire Regiment wounded thro' the Shoulder. 
 
 I this Morning called a Council of War a copy of the Minutes of which I send 
 you herewith. 
 
 Mon»' Le Baron de Dushau [Dieskau] the French General is badly wounded 
 in the leg and thro' both his Hips and the Surgeon very much fears his Life he 
 is an Elderly Gentleman an experienced Officer and a Man of high consideration 
 in France. From his papers I find he brought under his Command to Canada 
 in the Men of War lately arrived at Quebec 3171 Regular Troops who are partly 
 in Garrison at Crown Point and encampt at Ticonderoga and other Advantage- 
 ous passes between this and Crown Point. He tells me he had with him yester- 
 day Morning 200 Grenadiers 800 Canadians and 700 Indians of defferent Nations. 
 His Aid de Camp says (they being separately asked) their whole Force was 
 about 2000 — severall of the Prisoners say about 2300. The Baron says his 
 Major General was killed and His Aid de Camp says the greater part of their 
 Chief Officers also he thinks by the Morning and Afternoon Actions they have 
 lost near 1000 Men, but I can get no regular Accounts, most of our People think 
 from 5 to 600. We have about 30 Prisoners most of them badly wounded the 
 Indians Scalped of their Dead already near 70 and were employed after the 
 Battle last night and all this Afternoon in bringing in Scalps and great Number 
 of French and Indians yet left unscalpcd. They carried of Number of their 
 Dead and secreted them. (Jur Men have Suffered so much fatigue for 3 days 
 past, and are constantly standing upon their Arms by day half the whole upon 
 Guard every Night and the rest lay down Armed and Accoutred, that both 
 Officers and Men are almost wore out. The Enemy may rally and we judge they 
 have considerable Reinforcements near at hand, so that I think it necessary we 
 be upon our Guard and be watchful to maintain the Advantages we have gained. 
 For these Reasons I dont think it either prudent or safe to be sending out 
 ]>nvti..c ;., ^(^arch of the Dead. 
 
360 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 I dont hear of any Officers killed at our Camp but Col. Titcomb and none 
 wounded but myself and Major Nicolls of Col. Titcombs. I cannot yet get cer- 
 tain returns of our dead and Wounded but from the best Accounts I can obtain 
 We have lost about 130 who are killed about 60 Wounded and severall missing 
 from the Morning and Afternoons Engagement. 
 
 I think we may expect very shortly another and more formidable Attack and 
 that the Enemy will then come with Artillery, The late Col. Williams had the 
 Ground cleared for Building a Stockaded Fort. Our Men are so harassed and 
 obliged to be so constantly upon Watchful Duty that I think it would be both 
 unreasonable and I fear in vain to set them at work upon the designed Fort. 
 
 I design to order the New Hampshire Kegiment up here to Reinforce us and 
 I hope some of the designed Reinforcements will be with us in a few days when 
 these fresh Troops arrive I shall immediately set about building a Fort. 
 
 My wound which is in my thigh is very painful. The ball is lodged and can- 
 not be got out, by which means I am to my mortification confined to my Tent. 
 
 10th This letter was begun and should have been dispatched yesterday, but we 
 have had two Alarms and neither time nor Prudence would permit it. I hope 
 Gentlemen you will place the incorrectness hereof to the Account of our Situ- 
 ation. I am most respectfully. 
 
 Gent" Your most obedt serv* 
 
 Wm. Johnson. 
 
 If General Johnson in the comparative quiet and comfort of his 
 tent during these two days, looking over at his leisure the papers of 
 his distinguished captive, Dieskau, and holding pleasant conversa- 
 tions with him and his aide at sundry times, felt called upon to 
 apologize for any incorrectness in his prompt report to the governors, 
 what shall we say in the way of excuse for mistakes in his letter to 
 Israel AVilliams of Colonel Seth Pomeroy, who, on the same day, was 
 evidently in military charge of the camp, certainly of the Massachu- 
 setts end of it, giving orders of all sorts, receiving reports of the 
 numbers of the dead and wounded and missing, superintending in 
 some sense the burial of the dead, and the care of the stores and the 
 spoils ? This letter will speak for itself in every way. It is among 
 the most precious of the colonial documents during the old French 
 War. 
 
 Lake George Sept^ 9'^ 1755. 
 Honor'd & Dear S« 
 
 [To CoL. Israel Williams.] 
 
 Yesterday a Memorable day. I Being the only Field officer In Co^? Ephreham 
 Williams Rigement Suppos'd to be now Living think It my Duty to let you know 
 what happen'd ye 8^^ of this Instant which was yesterday — the forenoon & till 
 near 2 of y^ Clock Spent In Council this Day & now So many to write too must 
 be Excused for my Shortness & Imperfections — news as follows viz — Sabbath 
 day Just night we had news y* a Large body of men March'd up wood Creek 
 Southwardly — we Suposing y' they Intend to Cut of our wagons or atack 
 
MONUMENT ERECTED BY THE WILLIAMS ALUMNI IN 1855 UPON A ROCK 
 WHICH BECAME THE TRADITIONAL. BUT WAS NOT THE ACTUAL, PLACE 
 WHERE COLONEL EPHRAIM WILLIAMS WAS KILLED. 
 
 361 
 
362 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 ye Fort at ye Carrying Place but wanted better Information Sent monday morn- 
 ing about 1200 Men near 200 of them Indians Commanded By Col". Williams 
 Colo Whiting & Col^ Cole of Rhode Island Whiting In ye Middle Cole brought 
 up ye rear old Hendreck king of ye Six nations before with Col^. Williams the 
 Indians Some afore some in ye middle & Some in ye rear & so Intermix' d Through ; 
 as they got ready to March — got about 3 Mile off our Camp ye guns begun to 
 Tire It was then between 10 & 11 of ye Clock we Put our Selves Into as good a 
 Posture of Defence as we Cou'd not knowing but our men wou'd retreet & bring 
 ye army upon us, & not Long before (to our grate Surprise) they retreeted but 
 numbers y* Came furst Bringing wounded Men & Soon flock' d In by hundreds all 
 ye Time a Perpetual Fire & Drawing nearer and nearer & between 11 & 12 of 
 ye Clock ye Enemy Came In Sight the Regulars March'd as near as I Cou'd Tell 
 about 6 Deep & as I Judg'd about 20 rods In Length Close order, ye Indians & 
 Regulars at ye Last wing hilter Scilter ye woods full of them — they Came with 
 In about 20 rods & fir'd Regular Plattoons but we Soon brook there order i 
 ye Indians & Cannadians Directly took tree with In handy gun Shot — Such 
 a Battle It is Judg'd by all y* I have heard was never known In America the 
 Enemy Fau't with undanted Corage & the gratest Part of ye English with Heroick 
 Bravery till about 5 of ye Clock aftarnon then we got ye grown'd Having Lost at 
 this place (I have not had time to get a Certin ace', but going over y' ground) 
 about 12 Men. Col? Titcomb was one — what ye Enemy Lost I never took much 
 Pain to know not having time only Just to run out upon ye ground; before 
 a party yt Lay & stood along near ware I stood to fight ; there I found ten Dead 
 & 3 wounded all Frenchmen, them I ordered to be Carried In Immediately, one 
 a Gentleman ; ye number In all taken (I have not Counted 'em) but I think it 
 about twenty — amongst y* rest the general of ye French army & the AD Camp 
 & by there Papars we know there numbers & what He brought with him the 
 numbers at Crown Point . . . about 4000 brought with him about 1800 — the 
 whole Plan of there opporration & Design, a map of our Fort at ye Carrying 
 Place & our Camp : an ace' of Marches our number & 2000 more y' they heard 
 ware to joyne us : Came with full asureance to Lodge In our Tents that night 
 which to his grat surprise Did (But Blessed Be God as a wound Captive) & It is 
 thought not Like to live the French General Saith that our People made such a 
 regular Retreet & gave them such Close shots yt Dampen'd his Indians & Cana- 
 dians ; having there Principle Indian Officer Kill'd & a grate number of French 
 Gentlemen Officers there was not above 100 of our men y' Fired at all : But they 
 Did with undanted Bravary & well answer'd ye Caractter of Englishmen ; kill'd 
 Taken or Lost In that Battle In our Rigement I have Inclosed which was vastly 
 ye gratest Part ; they being foremost & stood for a Considerable time the fire of 
 there whole army till they ware lik'd to be surrounded which oblig'd 'em to 
 retreat Col" Williams was Shot Dead In a Moment & before he had Time to Fire 
 his Gun Capt Hawley Shot I Fear Mortal before he had time to fire his gun : My 
 Brother Lieut Pomeroy I have had an ace* his being well till the army retreated 
 & ask'd what are they a going to run ; Yes It was said well said he I will give 
 'em one Shot more before I run any further I hant heard, since I have heard he 
 is ded & scalpt. Our People are out Burying ye Dead now when they return 
 I may give a More Particular ace*. — we Design to Make a Stand here till we have 
 
 1 Firing our Field Peaces among 'em not one Indian Found any ware there 
 about. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 363 
 
 a sufficient Reinforcement what number y^ must be I Cant tell but they Deter- 
 mine to stop us before we get to Crown Point the French General saith If we give 
 them one more such a Dressing Crown Point & all there Country will be ours 
 But they Design to Put a Stop to y» — But I hope in God they will be Disapointed 
 for I Judge humanly speeking our all Depends on y* success of this Expedition 
 Therefore I Pray God wou'd Fire the Brests of His People with a True Zeal & a 
 Noble Generous spirit to Come to the help of y« Lord to y^ help of y« Lord 
 against y* Mighty & I trust all those y» value our Holy Religion & our Liberties 
 will spare nothing Eaven to y^ one half of there Estate General Johnson shot In 
 the Thigh not Brook Maj' General Lyman well both behaved with stediness & 
 resolution. 
 
 I Desire y« Prayers of God's People for us, y' we may not turn our backs 
 upon our Enemies but stand & make a victorious Defence for our selves & our 
 Country Crown us with victory to the Glory of God & return us in Safty. 
 From Your Most Obedient Humble Serv» 
 
 Seth Pomeroy. 
 
 P.S. ther is Someting I have omitted now han't room. Shall mention In one 
 to my wife or Maj' Hawley, 
 
 Probably as a sort of postscript of this letter, and almost certainly 
 by the same messenger and on the same day, Colonel Pomeroy sent 
 to Israel Williams at Hatfield the following official list of casualties 
 in the Hampshire regiment. It will be remembered, that while there 
 were then as now ten companies in a full regiment, there were but 
 seven of these commanded by Captains, the Colonel and Lieutenant- 
 Colonel and Major each having a technical company of his own. 
 There were casualties in every company. The regiment was not full 
 by any means. 
 
 A TRUE ACCT OF THOSE KiLLED WoUNDED AND MiSSIXG OF COLO. WlL- 
 
 LiAMs's Regiment in action Sept. 8, 1765. 
 
 Colonel Williams^s Company. 
 
 Colo. Eph. Williams 
 
 EnsD Stratton 
 
 Serj't Welles 
 
 Corpl Graves 
 
 Rob'? Royn 
 
 John Taylor. 
 
 Corpl Bourn 
 
 Tho? Serjeant , „ , _ , 
 
 Lemuel Stoddard [ Supposed Dead. 
 
 Dead. 
 
 Sol? Stone. J 
 
 Micah Harrington 1 „_ , , 
 
 £,., ^ > Wounded. 
 Silas Graves. 
 
364 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 Colo. Pomeroy''s Company. 
 
 Serj't Caleb Chapin i 
 
 Corpl Ebenr Wright l Supposed Dead. 
 
 Daniel Hinkley. J 
 
 Capt. Simon Davis i 
 
 Serj'l Gen'Li Thomas \ Wounded. 
 
 Daniel Grainger. J 
 
 Maj. Ashley'' s Company. 
 MajT Noah Ashley ] ^^^^ 
 Israel Shaw. J 
 
 Gideon Stiles 
 
 ^ , o I Wounded. 
 Gordon Symson. 
 
 Capt. House'' s Company. 
 
 Lieu*. Cobb and Son 1 
 
 Serj't Kendal I 
 
 Benj'n Bosberg (?) ^ Dead. 
 
 Wertherley (?) j 
 
 Fours (?). J 
 
 Rob* Craige 
 Jona Dracke (?). 
 
 Wounded. 
 
 Wounded. 
 
 Capt. BurVs Company. 
 
 Saml Livermore 1 ^ 
 
 1-1, ,r A ^Dead. 
 
 Eben'i Ames. j 
 
 Capt. Hawley's Company. 
 Capt. Elisha Hawley 
 
 Corpl. Sternes 
 
 Lemuel Lyman 
 Saml Fairfield. 
 Lieut. DanI Pomroy 
 
 Serj't Wright 
 
 Thomas Wait 
 Danl Kentfield (?) 
 Saml Marshal 
 ElnathP Phelps 
 Jon*. Harmon 
 Eben'r Kinsley 
 Dan'i Wells. 
 
 Capt. Porter'' s Company. 
 Capt. Moses Porter j 
 Ens'D. Reuben Wait I Dead. 
 Henry Bartlet. J 
 
 Asa Stratton 1 „ , -r^ •, 
 
 Zebediah Williams. | ^^VVO^^^ Dead. 
 
 Zebediah Williams 1 „_ , , 
 T TT 1,1 ^ V Wounded. 
 
 James Hubbard J 
 
 Supposed to be Dead. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 365 
 
 Capt. IngersolVs Company. 
 
 Capt. Jon*. Ingersoll 
 
 Serj't Ball 
 
 Aaron Bagg Dead. 
 
 Abra'^ Picket 
 
 Richard Campbell. 
 
 Ens5. Josiah Williams 
 
 Tho« Welcher 
 
 Jn? French 
 
 Josiah Barker 1^ Wounded. 
 
 Jn? Aulkam 
 
 Hebert Miller 
 
 Saml Ponder. 
 
 Capt. Hitchcock's Company. 
 
 Lieut. Burt -i 
 
 Wn? Hitchcock j- Dead. 
 
 Solom : Chandler. J 
 
 Capt. DooliUWa Company. 
 
 Pelatiah Bugbe 
 
 Saml Southwark 
 
 Elijah Balcom I- Dead. 
 
 John Warrin 
 
 Charles Cuiso (?). 
 60 Dead — 21 Wounded. 
 French Captives 27, of which 20 Wounded. 
 
 The above ace? was drew in haste & I have had but a minute's time to peruse 
 it. but I think it is a just account. 
 
 Seth Pomeroy. 
 
 In a letter to his friends in Northampton, written a little later, 
 Colonel Pomeroy gives the losses of the several corps as follows 
 In the Massachusetts regiments, the killed were, in Titcomb's, 35 
 in Williams's, 50 ; in Ruggles's, 37 ; — in the Connecticut troops, 39 
 in the Rhode Island troops, 20 ; in the New York troops, 10 ; and 
 among the Mohawks, 40. This list aggregates 231 killed, and prob- 
 ably includes the missing. Dr. Perez Marsh, Surgeon's Mate in 
 Colonel Williams's regiment, and ever after closely connected with 
 the Williams family, making on the spot a two weeks' later calcula- 
 tion than Pomeroy's, concluded that there were 216 killed, 96 
 wounded, and a few missing. It will not escape the observing 
 reader, that the proportion of killed to wounded was vastly greater 
 in that battle than in any of the battles anywhere in the present 
 century. 
 
366 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Herewith follows the deeply interesting letter of Dr. Thomas 
 Williams, the Surgeon, written from the camp to his wife in Deer- 
 field the third day after the battle : — 
 
 Lake George, Sept. 11, 1755. 
 My Dear Spouse : Last Monday, the 8*^ instant, was the most awful day that 
 my eyes ever beheld, & may I not say that ever was seen in New England, con- 
 sidering the transactions of it. Having intelligence that an army of French & 
 Indians were discovered by our Indian scouts, part of our army were detached 
 to intercept their retreat, as it was supposed they were designed for Fort Lyman, 
 [now Fort Edward'] at the south end of the Carrying-place ; about 1000 whites 
 under the command of my dear brother Ephraim who led the van, & Lt. Col. 
 Whiting who brought up the rear & about 150 Mohawks under the Command of 
 King Hendrick, their principal speaker, were attacked by the French Army con- 
 sisting of 1200 regulars, & about 900 Canadians & Savages, about 3 miles from 
 our encampment. & the main of our detachment it is said, put to a precipitate 
 flight, but the certainty is not yet known, besure those brave men who stood 
 fighting for our dear country perished in the field of battle. The attack began 
 about half an hour after ten in the morning, & continued till about four in the 
 afternoon before the enemy began their retreat. The enemy were about an 
 hour & a half driving our people before them, before they reached the camp, 
 where to give them due credit they fought like brave fellows on both sides for 
 near four hours, disputing every inch of ground, in the whole of which time 
 there seemed to be nothing but thunder & lightning & perpetual pillars of smoke. 
 Our Cannon (which under God it appears to me) saved us were heard down as 
 low as near Saratoga, notwithstanding the wind was in the south, & something 
 considerable, & which by the way was a great disadvantage to our troops, as the 
 smoke was drove in our faces. The wounded were brought in very fast, & it 
 was with the utmost difficulty that their wounds could be dressed fast enough, 
 even in the most superficial manner, having in about three hours near forty men 
 to be dressed, & Dr. Pynchon, his mate & Billy (one of his students) & myself 
 were all to do it, my mate being at Fort Lyman attending upon divers sick men 
 there. The bullets flew like hail-stones about our ears all the time of dressing, 
 as we had not a place prepared of safety, to dress the wounded in, but through 
 God's goodness we received no hurt any more than the bark of the trees & chips 
 flying in our faces by accidental shots, which were something frequent. Our 
 Tent was shot through in divers places, which we thought best to leave & retire 
 a few rods behind a shelter of a log house, which so loose laid as to let the balls 
 through very often. I have not time to give a list of the dead which are many, 
 by reason I have not time to attend the wounded as they ought to be. My neces- 
 sary food & sleep are almost strangers to me since the fatal day ; fatal indeed to 
 my dear brother Ephraim, who was killed in the beginning of the action, by a 
 ball through his head. Great numbers of brave men, & some of the flower of 
 our army died with him on the spot, a list of which I refer you to Capt. Burke's 
 letter to Lt. Hoit, having not time to get a copy of one myself. Twenty odd 
 wounded in our regiment, amongst whom some, I fear will prove mortal, & poor 
 brother Josiah makes one of the number, having a ball lodged in his intestines, 
 which entered towards the upper part of his thigh & pased through his groin. 
 Poor Capt. Hawley is yet alive, though I did not think he would live two hours 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 367 
 
 after bringing him in being shot in at the left pap (& the ball cut out near his 
 shoulder blade) cutting his pleura, & piercing through the left lobe of his lungs. 
 As the violence of his symptoms are this day somewhat abated, I have some 
 small hopes he may recover. Our Mohawks suffered considerable in the action, 
 having thirty three killed, with the brave King Hendrick, which has exasperated 
 them much, so that it is with a great deal of difficulty that we can keep them 
 from sacrificing the French General & Aid-de-camp, & the rest of the French 
 prisoners, about 21 in number, which we have taken. The French General is 
 much wounded, whose name & title is as follows : (as appears by his papers) 
 M. Le Baron des Dieskau, Marshall cle Camp et Annies Envoye in Canada pour 
 Commander Tout les Troupes. It seems he was a Lt. Col^ under Count Saxe 
 last war in Flanders ; & was sent over with the same power & command from 
 that country that the late Gen. Braddock was from England ; but must con- 
 clude, being interrupted every moment by my patients wanting something or 
 other. 
 
 Our recruits begin to come up, which if the remainder soon join, hope we 
 shall yet see Crown Point in a few weeks, & by God Almighty's assistance make 
 it our own. The remainder of the French army were attacked by 250 of the 
 New Hampshire troops after they left us ; & put to a precipitate flight, as they 
 were not apprised of those troops, they left their baggage & most of their provi- 
 sions, packs, & some guns, «& many dead bodies on the spot where the attack 
 began in the morning, when our troops came upon them, as they were sitting 
 down to rest after their fatigue with us. The French General says he lost 600 
 of his men, & the Aid-de-camp says more, & that they have lost 1000. It is cer- 
 tain they were smartly paid, for they left their garments «& weapons of war for 
 miles together after the briLsh with the Hampshire troops like the Assyrians in 
 their flight. If we had had 5 or 600 fresh troops to have followed them it is 
 thought very few would have gone back to Crown Point to tell what had become 
 of their brethren. It is now 11 oclock at night & I have had scarce any sleep 
 since the action, must therefore wish you a good night, looking to a merciful & 
 gracious God to keep & preserve you with all my dear relatives & friends «& in 
 his own due time return me home to you in safety laden with the experience of 
 his salvation, & a grateful sense of his divine mercies to us all. "With love to 
 my dear children & proper regards to all, as due, I subscribe myself 
 Your affectionate Husband till Death. 
 
 Tho» Williams. 
 
 writ's. F'^THKK Williams. 
 
 The olticial and original return of the losses of the day, as given 
 by Peter Wraxall, who signs himself " A. De Camp to Gen^ John- 
 son," now lies before the writer, and is one of several valuable 
 originals loaned to him for the purpose to which this is now put by 
 his friend and former pupil, Fisher Howe, of Boston. Only the 
 losses in Colonel Williams's regiment are given in detail here from 
 that invaluable paper, and then a summary of the losses in the other 
 regiments, and then the aggregate of them all. 
 
368 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Massachdsetts RegT Command, by Col. Eph^ Williams — 
 
 Killed "Wounded Missing 
 
 Col. Eph. Williams 1 
 
 Major Noah Ashley 1 
 
 Capt. Moses Porter 1 
 
 Capt. Ingersole 1 
 
 Lt. Simon Cobb 1 
 
 Lt. Daiil Pomroy 1 
 
 Lt. Nathl Burt 1 
 
 Ensign John Stratton 1 
 
 Ensign Reuben Wait 1 
 
 Sergt." Corpus and Privates 32 
 
 Capt* Simon Davis and Elisha Hawley 
 
 Ensign Josiah Williams 
 
 Sergts. Corp\8 and Privates 
 
 Missing 
 
 "IT 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 23 
 
 Col. Titcomb's Reg. . . 
 Col. Ruggles' Reg. . . 
 Lyman's (Conn.) Reg. . 
 Goodrich's (Conn.) Reg. 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 9 
 
 29 
 
 Rhode Island Reg 20 
 
 Three (Conn.) Comp. with N. Y. Reg 7 
 
 Total N. England 120 
 
 
 3 
 
 26 
 
 3 
 
 27 
 
 25 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 16 
 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 62 
 
 Capt. Stoddart, Capt. Magin and Capt. Stevens, Indian officers, all killed in 
 the Morning Engagement. 
 
 There are several good reasons that make it seem proper that this 
 chapter on Ephraim Williams should be brought to a close by 
 quoting verbatim a letter written from Lake George less than three 
 weeks after the battle, by Dr. Perez Marsh, Surgeon's Mate there, 
 to "William Williams at Hatfield." Both the writer and the 
 recipient of the letter became afterwards prominent people in 
 Dalton. Marsh was graduated at Yale College in 1748, became a 
 physician, married a daughter of Colonel Israel Williams, was 
 appointed Justice of the Peace at Dalton in 1761, and a Judge of 
 the Court of Common Pleas in 1765, — retiring from public life in 
 1774, because he sympathized strongly (like the Williams family in 
 general) with the royal cause. The recipient of the letter, William 
 Williams, was son of Colonel Israel Williams, removed from Hat- 
 field to Dalton not far from 1761, became deacon of the church and 
 a father of the town, was an original member of the Board of Trus- 
 tees of the Williamstown Free School and later of the College, and 
 was chosen the first President of the Board. This letter shows, as 
 no other contemporaneous document shows, the strong colonial 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 369 
 
 strifes and jealousies, felt if not manifested, even on the battle-field, 
 as between Yorkers and New England men in general, and more 
 minutely as between the men of the separate eastern colonies one 
 against another. The letter shows also the kind of stories current 
 in the camp in those days, and under those circumstances, both in 
 regard to allies and enemies. The damaging reference to Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Whiting, of the Connecticut troops, had probably not a })ar- 
 ticle of foundation in fact. That a commander should wish to pull 
 his men back out of a local ambuscade is natural enough, and would 
 seem to be good tactics. Indeed, the military criticisms of Dr. 
 Marsh, including the fling (if it be one) at Colonel Pomeroy, are 
 very light weight. Let the surgeon stick to his scalpel. 
 
 In reference to the poisoned bullets alleged by Marsh and many 
 others to have been used in the battle of Lake George, it is certain, 
 if that were done at all, that it was not done with the knowledge 
 and approval of the government of France, or of the Baron General 
 Dieskau. It was done secretly by the savages, if it were done at 
 all. If actually used by the Indians in that battle, it would have 
 been just as likely beforehand to characterize the Mohawks on the 
 English side, as the Canada Indians on the French side. In truth, 
 the charge, though stoutly raised by the New England men against 
 their enemies in general, was nevei' proved in any proper sense of the 
 word. The surgeons strongly suspected it in certain wounds prov- 
 ing mortal ; they allowed the accusations to go forth ; they even 
 specified the names of certain supposed victims, particularly Micah 
 Harrington, of Fort Massachusetts; but lapse of time and the nature 
 of the proof gradually made the surgeons less confident, and the 
 public less credulous about the whole matter. 
 
 Lake George 20'^ Sept'!i/5o 
 D'? S't, I this instant received yours of ye 12'*». Col?- Pomroy rec'd another. 
 The letters I imagine have been at Albany about a weak. Col'?. Pomroy has 
 wrote several times since the date of these & Withal has given you a truer rep- 
 resentation of the Battle & all its circumstances than I can amidst sick & 
 wounded who take up tlie most of my time & tho'ts — so Much that I have 
 hardly realiz'd ye death of our dear friend who fell gloriously in the defence of 
 y't Country & priviledges. The victory be sure is great & noble, but the loss of 
 80 many good men — the best in ye regim'?, the best in ye army — the loss itself 
 especially considered in its circumstances, eclipses all the glory & darkens 
 every prospect. In the first place that the army should be here a fortnight in 
 the enemies country without the least fortification is to me very surprizing, but 
 that they should still continue in this defenceless posture, even after they had 
 heard of an army not far off, is more surprizing. But the most astonishing thing 
 that happened was that Col«. Williams should go three miles from the Camp, 
 with 12 hundred men, expecting an attack every minute, or at least that it was 
 
370 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 quite probable, & yet keep no [advanced] scouts. I have often heard him 
 speak of this very thing, & the danger of marching without it. That the 
 Colo'y should neglect this & give ye enemy the best advantage you can conceive 
 of is very remarkable. The enemy could not have had a more advantageous 
 place, nor our Forces a worse. One thing more, which is your desire to know, 
 & most shocking & surprizing to us was the shamefull retreat of a certain 
 Gent'n in the Army who brought up the rear, Notwithstanding ye express orders 
 of our dear friend C0I2. Williams that no man retreat upon pain of death. 
 This Gent'n, upon the first fire of the enemy, gave express Command retreat ! 
 retreat ! — left their friends (who fought valiantly while they lived) to fall a 
 prey into ye hands of an enemy whose orders were ye most shocking that ever 
 were heard — neither to give nor take any quarters. Agreeable to ye same we 
 found Capt. Porter & others butcher' d alive who were captivated by 'em without 
 any wound. 
 
 The Gent'n whose conduct has been thus surprizing you have doubtless been 
 acquainted with at N. Haven. The Col. & he were peculiar good friends, which 
 aggravates ye thing & makes ye sin unpardonable, for had they stood ye ground, 
 tho' they were under such disadvantages, I doubt not they could easily have 
 drove 'em, & had not those in ye camps perceived their fire to draw nearer 
 they would soon have issued forth to their assistance, but on ye contrary hear- 
 ing by ye report they came nearer to ye camps every minute all they had to do 
 was to put 'em [themselves] into a [readiness] to engage 'em. The enemy 'tis- 
 true were confident of success, & behaved with all the courage & resolution pos- 
 sable. I suppose one half of the 1200 who were first attack'd never fired a gun 
 till they came within ye camps, their fright was so great they disheartened many 
 soldiers in ye camps, & they & many others would have gon clear, had not it 
 been for the Gen'i'l & other officers who drew their swords & declar'd they would 
 run era thro. After they were once ingaged they fough[t] well. The Gen'i^l^ 
 observation who [Dieskau] we took prisoner was that our men "in ye morning 
 fought like good boys, about noon like men, but in the afternoon like the Devil." 
 The numbers of the enemy slain is not known. An account of ours you have 
 doubtless heard in our report — 45 dead — 24 wounded. In the army, 216 dead, 
 96 wounded. 
 
 The cruel treatment of our regiment, who, without any disparagement, was 
 the best in the army, you have doubtless heard. Envy & mallace seems to be ye 
 occasion. I hope for ye honour of ye County, without bringing into consideration 
 the reflection upon Col. Pomroy, your honour'd father will exert himself in this 
 affair, for if possable we have actually jumped out of the frying-pan into the fire. 
 
 Capt. Hawley is dead you will hear by the bearer. Ens's Williams is not out 
 of danger, but vastly better. His wounds work exceeding well, & 'tis probable 
 he may recover. You have heard the ace'* of poison bullets &c. I would be 
 more particular, but Mr. Clarke [the messenger] was ready to set out when I 
 receiv'd your letter. His Company is gone and he impatient. I hope to see 
 you shortly, & converse freely. 
 
 Please to make my compliments acceptable to all friends. 
 
 Your sincere friend & Hum'kl Servant, 
 
 Perez Marsh. 
 
 P.S. Whether we proceed this fall is now debated, & what will be deter- 
 mined I know not, but tis generally tho't in ye negative. 
 
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS. 371 
 
 A little side light is thrown in conclusion upon the futile Crown 
 Point expedition by the following bill for services rendered the 
 returning soldiers at the close of the season. Dr. Samuel Lee, who 
 had come into what is now Berkshire County, from Lyme, Coimecti- 
 cut, and was practising medicine at the time iu the Upper Housatonic 
 township (Great Barriugton), sent in a bill to the General Court as a 
 " Practitioner in Physick," of which the following is the heading : — 
 
 The Province of the Massachusetts Bay Dr. 
 
 For what I have done for the Soldiers on their Return from thk 
 
 Camp at Lake Geor«;k. 
 
 These services extended throughout the mouth of December, 1755. 
 At that time the principal road from Albany to AVestfield and Boston 
 ran through the Upper Housatonic township, and had been called 
 since 1735 the " Albany road." Over this road passed, both ways, 
 most of the military companies between the Connecticut and the 
 Hudson during the two last French wars and the Revolutionary War 
 that followed.^ Dr. Lee had many patients among the Massachu- 
 setts soldiers, sick and scattered along this road. He speaks of an 
 Aaron Smith, belonging to Captain Jolin Phay's company, who "was 
 sick 8 or 9 miles from me," and whom he visited repeatedly. He 
 speaks also of "Ebenf Hide 2** Belonging to Capt. Elisha Noble's 
 Company in ye Reg^ of Col! Ejdiraim Williams Esq. Deceased. The 
 Above Said Hide was sick about Nine or Ten miles Distant from 
 me." He also treated Ensign Caleb Wright, of Captain Elisha 
 Noble's company. 
 
 Dr. Lee took oath to this bill (before sending it) in Canaan, Litch- 
 field County, Connecticut, before David Whitney, Justice of the 
 Peace. The aggregate charges were £3 Is. 9d. 
 
 The charges in the above account I apprehend to be reasonable. 
 
 W. Brattle. 
 
 1 See Berkshire Historical Collections ^ v. 1, pp. 118 et seq. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WEST HOOSAC. 
 
 ' ' — Holding the care 
 Of home and children, and the hope to die, 
 Kemembered 'mong the mossy names that haunt 
 The pine-hid churchyard ; happy in the toil 
 That seeks night's peaceful couch with lamps unlit." 
 
 Until the building of Fort Massachusetts in 1745, very little was 
 known in the settled parts of the state about its extreme northwest 
 corner. It was cut off on the east by the high mountain wall of the 
 Hoosacs, over which there ran at that time only a very narrow and 
 pretty straight Indian trail. The only other practical access to it 
 was from the south, over the rough and rocky watershed that divides 
 the head streams of the Housatonic from those dropping down into 
 the Hoosac. Much interest was felt, however, in this strip of land 
 and in those streams, by the people of the " Bay," and perhaps even 
 more by the dwellers along the Connecticut ; for New Hampshire 
 had long claimed a strip off the northern boundary of Massachu- 
 setts, and New York quite as persistently another strip over the 
 Taconics to the eastward. The former controversy was finally set- 
 tled in 1741, and the latter only in 1787. 
 
 Access was really had into the valley of the Hoosac for purposes 
 of settlement and civilization from the south, namely, from the 
 Indian town of Stockbridge, incorporated in 1739. The first Eng- 
 lish family to join the missionary station in Stockbridge, started in 
 1734 by John Sergeant and Timothy Woodbridge, was that of 
 Ephraim Williams, Senior. He had been a man of affairs in New- 
 ton, Justice of the Peace and Captain ; and when the General Court 
 made grant to the Housatonic Indians of the town of Stockbridge, 
 they made reservation of certain portions of the land to Sergeant 
 and Woodbridge, and also certain other portions to four gentlemen 
 whom they might appoint as companions and exemplars to assist the 
 missionary and school-teacher in civilizing and Christianizing the 
 
 372 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 373 
 
 Indians. The first naiued of these four, and the first to arrive in 
 the early part of the year 1739, was Ephraim Williams. It is just 
 about forty-five miles from the Connecticut River through Westtield 
 to Stockbridge. A horse-road had just been laid out over the hills 
 following in general an old Indian trail ; and Williams is said, by 
 tradition, to have brought his young children to Stockbridge in pan- 
 niers on a horse. Williams brought also with him to Stockbridge 
 a commission to lay out at his earliest convenience two townships on 
 the Hoosac River; and apparently as soon as he had gotten his 
 family housed on Stockbridge Hill, and their most pressing exigen- 
 cies provided for, with proper assistants he carried out this commis- 
 sion according to his best judgment, and reported results to the 
 court in Boston in the month of June. This is called the survey of 
 1739. The report of it is interesting reading, as it is preserved 
 in the archives of the state ; and especially interesting is the rude 
 map of the townships accompanying the report. 
 
 In the wood-cut annexed the reader will see the reproduction of 
 that map, and the earliest local construction of these two townships 
 on the Hoosac, by the first white men known to have ever traversed 
 the banks of our river and those of its two forks. They made the 
 main river the centre of the west township, and as far as possible 
 the two forks the middle of the east township. The courses of the 
 two forks are, in general, almost continuous north and south, and 
 they come together at a very large angle in the present town of 
 North Adams ; the course of the united stream for five or six miles 
 is nearly west, so that the plan of Williams required a lay-out of 
 the two townships nearly at right angles with each other : the east 
 town lying in general north and south, and the west town bearing an 
 east and west course. 
 
 For some reasons (we do not know what they were) this first 
 survey, doubtless made in haste, for all the lines of it were not fully 
 brought together on the map, though the wood-cut represents them 
 as completed, did not please the parties most interested in the local- 
 ity. After Fort Massachusetts was built in 1745, and rebuilt in 
 1747, quite a number of the "river-gods" clambered over the Hoosac 
 ^Mountain to take a look at the main valley, and the subordinate 
 valleys. Colonel Oliver Partridge came over in 1746, to superintend 
 burying the dead around the fort, and Major Epliraim Williams 
 doubtless made himself very familiar with the lay of the land 
 throughout ; at any rate, after the representations of somebody, the 
 General Court ordered, in April of 1749, a new survey and plan of 
 the two townships, then first distinctly designated as "East Hoosac" 
 
"A Plan of 23,040 acres of Land lying on the East Side of Ashuwilticook River and South Branch 
 of Hoosuck River, beg'ing at a Hennlock Tree nnark'd + . 
 
 "Surveyed May 1739, by the Needle of the surveying Instrunnent, 
 
 "By Mr. NATH. KELLOGG, 
 
 Surveyor." 
 
 374 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 375 
 
 and "West Hoosac." The reader will be doubtless pleased to see 
 the order of the court in their own language : — 
 
 In House Reps. Apr 18, 1749. 
 
 Ordered, That Col. Dwight & Col. Choate with such as the Hon. Board shall 
 join be a committee to repair to the Province Lands near Hoosuck, as soon as 
 may be, with a skilful surveyor and chainmen under oath, and lay out two 
 Townships of the contents of six miles square, in the best of the land and in as 
 regular form as may be, joining them together, and return a correct plat of said 
 Townships to this court for their further order thereon. And also to return the 
 course and distance said Towns bear from Fort Massachusetts, and as near as 
 they can the quantity of Intervale Land contained in each Township and what 
 the quality of the soil adjoining to the said Township is. 
 
 This order was coiunirred in by the Council, and Oliver Partridge, 
 Esq., was joined to the committee on the part of that body. 
 
 The new survey discarded the former one. It set down the new 
 towns parallel with each other, rectangular in form, intended to be 
 equal in area, although the most cursory observation showed the 
 west town to be much the better for agriculture, because it held 
 much more intervale and the upland was more level. Partially to 
 equalize this difference, the north line of the east town (later 
 Adams) was not carried north over the mountain to Hazen's line 
 run eight years before, and its south line was carried south (where 
 there was better land) a corresponding distance below the south 
 line of the west town. Tlie north line of the west town was 
 Hazen's line for the distance, and its south line, of course, so much 
 above the south line of the other. The committee had been in- 
 structed by the court to lay out botli townships six miles square ; 
 but the lay and the quality of the land alike forbade this ; twelve 
 miles from the assumed east line of New York (not finally settled 
 until 1787) would have carried the east line of East Hoosac well up 
 the precipitous sides of the Hoosac Mountain ; and so the actual 
 survey made the townships about five miles wide, and something 
 more than seven miles long. The division line between the two has 
 never been altered to this day, and the same is true of the eastern 
 line of East Hoosac, although that township was divided a few 
 years ago into " North Adams " and " Adams " by an east and west 
 line near the middle. 
 
 The official report of the committee for the new survey makes 
 interesting reading. It was made on the 10th of November follow- 
 ing the appointment of the committee in April, 1749, by Oliver Par- 
 tridge, of Hatfield, their chairman : — 
 
376 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 The com. appt'd by the Great & Gen Court in April last to repair to the 
 Province lands near Hoosuck to lay out two Townships of the contents of six 
 miles square &c Report — 
 
 That on the 26 day of October the com. went from Hatfield, and the next day 
 came to Fort Mass — (having obtained Mr Nathaniel Dwight a skilf ull Surveyor 
 to survey the Townships) The next day we went out to view the lands, ordered 
 the surveyor to measure the distance from the fort to the line that is run between 
 this Government & New Hampshire (which was run some years since by Mr. 
 Hazzen) and on Monday & Tuesday following we proceeded to view the lands. 
 In the meantime directed the Survr to take the courses & distances of ye adja- 
 cent mountains, and when we had sufficiently satisfied ourselves in what form 
 the Townships be laid out, we directed the Survr to lay them out agreeable to 
 the plan herewith presented (Having caused the Surv & chainmen to be 
 sworn. ) 
 
 As to t!ie quantity of intervale contained in the townships, we made no par- 
 ticular measure thereof by the survey, but carefully viewed the townships and 
 would inform that the land on the river, running through the centre of the East 
 Township for more than 4 miles northerly and southerly about half a mile East 
 & West appears rich & good, a considerable part thereof is intervale. 
 
 In the West Township there is no so great quantity of Intervale, but a very 
 valuable and rich tract of land in the middle of the Township, insomuch that 
 the com. do deem the West Township the most valuable. 
 
 Great part of the land in both townships is considerably loaded with timber. 
 
 As to the quality of lands adjoining sd townships the Com. would inform 
 that on the East of sd Townships lie the Great Hoosuck Mountain (so-called) 
 which is about 7 miles from side, on which mountain there is a sufficient quan- 
 tity of land for a township or two — a great part of it is valuable — On the West 
 side of the West town lays a range of mountains, and between the two 
 townships lays another range of mountains over which the dividing line runs 
 — Between the North line of the East town and the Province line the land is 
 mountainous and broken — and the land on the south of sd town is — some very 
 poor and some of it good and accommodable for settlement. 
 
 All which is humbly submitted in the name and by the order of the Committee. 
 
 Ov. Partridge. 
 Nov. 10. 1749. 
 
 The north, line of West Hoosac was shortened a few rods at its 
 western extremity, in 1787, by the final New York line, which shaved 
 off an elongated corner at that point of no great consequence ; 
 while the establishment of the same ^ew York line created an 
 elongated gore, 446 rods long at its base, which was continuous 
 with the original south line of West Hoosac, which came to a 
 point at the point of the little triangle just referred to as cut off 
 at the north, which gore was added to Williamstown in 1837; so 
 that only the east line of West Hoosac remains now the east line of 
 Williamstown, just as it was platted in 1749. 
 
 At the next session, January, 1750, the settlement of the town- 
 
WEST HoosAr. 377 
 
 ship thus laid out was uiuii'i- lik' conMiU'iiiuuii of the Legislature, 
 and the result was the adoption by both branches of the following 
 orders : — 
 
 Ix Ho. litis. Janlauv 17, ITIU (1750 New Style.) 
 Voted, That Col. Miller and Capt. Livermore with such as the Hon. Council 
 shall appoint be a com. to lay out 63 house lots in the Westernmost Township 
 (Each house lot to draw one sixty third part of sd. Township) one for the first set- 
 tled minister, one for the ministry, and one for the school, as near the centre of 
 the Township as may be with convenience, the said lots to contain 10 or 12 
 acres each as the Com. shall best judge — said house lots to be adjoining — and 
 also that said Com. be directed to lay out such Highways, streets and lanes to 
 and amongst the house lots as shall be necessary and convenient, and that said 
 Committee have power to admit sixty settlers or inhabitants into said Township 
 
 — each of them shall be entitled to one sixty third part of said Township upon 
 the conditions following viz. — That each settler pay the Com. upon his being 
 admitted, £6. 13. Lawful money for the use of the Government, and that he 
 shall within the space of Two years from the time of his being admitted build a 
 house 18 feet long, 15 feet wide and seven foot studd, and shall fence five acres 
 of his said house lot and bring the same to English grass, or fit it for plowing 
 and raising of wheat or other corn, and shall actually by themselves or assigns 
 reside on said house lot five years in seven from the time of their being admitted 
 
 — and that they do settle a learned Orthodox minister in said Town within the 
 term of five years from the time of their being admitted — And in case the 
 aforesaid conditions are not fulfilled, according to the true intent and meaning 
 thereof — that then such settler or settlers' right shall be forfeit and revert back 
 to the Province to be disposed as the Gen. Court shall and may hereafter order 
 and determine — any thing in their grant to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 And that the sd Com. be further directed to take a bond of each person by 
 them admitted as a settler of the penal sum of fifty pounds money payable to 
 the Province Treasurer or his succesors in sd office for the faithful performance 
 of the conditions of sd grant — the sd Com to make report of their doings — 
 and due return of sd bonds to the Province Treasurer as soon as may be — who 
 shall be paid for their service out of monies received of the settlers — And as 
 to the Easternmost Township to be settled as the Gen Court shall order. Sent 
 up for Concurrence. ^^^^^ Hubbard, Speakr Pro Tempore. 
 
 In council Apr 6. 1760 
 
 Read and Concurred and James Ninatt Esq is joined in the affair. Saml 
 Holbrook Depy Secretary Consented to S. Phipps. 
 
 The normal scheme on which these lots were to be laid as a village 
 centre is plain enough both from what was actually done, and from 
 the later testimony of some of the original proprietors ; namely, to 
 lay out on both sides of a main street fifteen rods wide, extending 
 from Green River at the east, one and three-eighths miles to Buxton 
 P>rook at the west, sixty-three house lots, each lot thirteen and one- 
 third rods wide on the street, and running back from it 120 rods, 
 
378 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 thus making each lot contain just ten acres. The odd number of the 
 lots (63) made a strict rectangle of them impossible ; and the actual 
 encroachment of the Green Eiver on the southeast corner of the 
 general plot, as that was then located, threw live lots more on to 
 the north side of the street than on the south side. Sixty-three lots 
 were laid out on the prescribed street, but they are both wider and 
 deeper than the normal plan allowed for. Instead of a uniform 
 depth on both sides of 120 rods, Alexander Walker, a Scotch sur- 
 veyor of some attainments and reputation, for a long time now 
 (1892) a citizen of Williamstown, after repeated and variously diversi- 
 fied measurements, finds the thirty-four lots on the north side of 
 Main Street each 125 rods deep, and the corresponding twenty-nine 
 lots on the south side, each 129.5 rods deep. The normal plat would 
 have been 255 rods north and south, and 420 rods east and west. 
 The actual plat is irregular for two probable reasons : (1) The Green 
 Eiver cuts off a considerable corner on the south side towards the east, 
 and (2) The surveyors of that time are known to have made large 
 allowances in their measurements for " slag " or slack ; that is, the 
 chain could not be carried straight and held taut on account of trees 
 and other impediments in the line being measured, and accordingly 
 the chain was reckoned short, and more land given to the rod. 
 The actual width of the lots, according to Walker, is very nearly 
 13.75 rods each, instead of the normal 13.33 rods each; which is an 
 increase very nearly in proportion to the increase in the depth of 
 the lots from 120 rods to 125 on the north side of the street. 
 Nothing known to the present writer accounts for the still greater 
 •depth beyond the normal of the fewer house lots on the south side 
 of the Main Street. In those days lands were abundant, and conse- 
 quently cheap; and all of the after lots surveyed in West Hoosac 
 now overrun in the same way, and probably for the same reason, 
 their original and prescribed dimensions. 
 
 Mr. Walker makes the bearing of the Main Street N. 61° 55' W. 
 In this direction, accordingly, the actual plat was extended, as 
 between the two streams mentioned a moment ago, over four emi- 
 nences, the summits of each of which are very nearly 100 feet above 
 the Hoosac Eiver, flowing north of the village plat at an average 
 distance of perhaps three-quarters of a mile from its northerly line. 
 The Main Street bisects the plat the longer way, and is itself 
 bisected the other way by a continuous North and South Street, 
 whose bearing is S. 29° 30' W. or N. 29° 30' E. The broad space at 
 the intersection of these streets was originally called " The Square,'^ 
 and is now called " The Field Park." It constitutes the third of the 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 379 
 
 eminences but just now referred to, and was occupied for a century 
 by two Congregational meeting-houses in succession. The first two 
 " Inns " of the village adjoined upon it, as do also the two present 
 hotels. It was designed to be, it has always been, and is likely per- 
 haps ever to continue, the technical centre of the village ; but a 
 strong competitor for this position, certainly in point of business 
 and places of assembly and residence, have latterly become the two 
 more easterly eminences and the shallow valley l)etween them. Into 
 this valley came the new meeting-house in 1809, after its immediate 
 predecessor was burned on the old site in 1866 ; and about the same 
 time was built, in the same valley, the principal school building for 
 the village, accommodating also the High School of the town. 
 
 On the north side of the Main Street were laid down thirty-four 
 settling lots, — seventeen on each side of the North Street; on the 
 south side of Main were plotted twenty -nine of these lots, — seven- 
 teen on the west side of the South Street and twelve on its east side. 
 The Green River tumbles down over natural falls and through pre- 
 cipitous places, just where five of these lots would naturally have 
 been located, although Water Street finds a way from Main Street, 
 down a steep hill and then up alongside Green River, and, although 
 one house lot, No. 57, was laid out at right angles to all the rest, 
 parallel with and alongside of the Main Street to its east end. This 
 lot, 57, is not as long as the rest, and is in several ways anomalous. 
 The contents of each of the rest of the lots on the south side of 
 Main Street are eleven acres and thirteen one-hundredths, while the 
 area of each of the lots on the north side is ten acres and three- 
 quarters. The aggregate area of all the house lots, exclusive of the 
 streets, and reckoning No. 57 as a full lot on the southern tier, is 
 687 acres and a quarter. The average contents of the sixty-three 
 lots is, as nearly as possible, eleven acres. 
 
 The original house lots of the town having been thus surveyed and 
 mapped out for exhibition to would-be purchasers, the next thing in 
 order was to dispose of them to actual settlers. There w^ere two 
 main obstacles in the way of this. Almost everybody expected a 
 speedy resumption of hostilities in a renewed war with the French 
 and Indians ; and, in that case. West Hoosac would lie right on the 
 path of all the main war parties from Canada, and any scattered 
 dwellings built on these lots would be wholly exposed to the merci- 
 less savages. In the second place, similar lands and homes were 
 then being offered by agents of the General Court in perhaps a score 
 of new towns scattered through the western part of the colony. 
 Ephraim Williams, Senior, Imd, some time before this, opened up 
 
380 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the four "Housatonic townships," so-called, and invited into them 
 his old neighbors of Newton and Watertown, and welcomed new- 
 comers from any quarter. Stockbridge itself and Pittsfield were 
 then bidding for English inhabitants. Good lands were then very 
 cheap, in any quantity, on every hand. 
 
 The committee in charge of selling the West Hoosac lots could, 
 nevertheless, make a pretty fair show. The original scheme of the 
 village contemplated two roads, each parallel with the Main Street, 
 along the ends of the lots the entire distance, both north and south. 
 A part of this north road was actually built very early, is still in 
 use at the northwest corner of the plat, but was there intermitted as 
 to the rest of the circuit, and has never been resumed. These roads 
 looked well on a parchment plot of the proposed homesteads, in 
 connection with the central streets in both directions, which latter 
 formed a perfect Greek cross. Then, the purchaser of any one of 
 these house lots bought thereby and at the same time the fee simple 
 of one sixty-third of the whole township, as the proprietors might 
 conclude afterwards to divide up the lands among themselves, as 
 into meadow lots, oak lots, fifty-acre lots, and so on, until all the 
 land was thus distributed. Moreover, the committee could say and 
 did say to buyers, "Fort Massachusetts is only about four miles 
 from ' The Square ' of the new village, and will serve as some sort 
 •of defence — at the least, of a refuge — to the pioneer settlers." 
 So they offered the lots for sale, under the certain prescribed condi- 
 tions already quoted, which were considerably complicated, to the 
 ofl8.cers and soldiers in Fort Massachusetts, in the chief towns along 
 the Connecticut, in Concord and Boston, and in Canaan and Litch- 
 field, Connecticut. It took a good while to dispose of them all. 
 
 In the meantime, at the beginning of February, 1751 (new style, 
 1750 old style), the following petition was presented to the General 
 Court by Captain Ephraim Williams, in behalf of himself and some 
 of the soldiers under him in Fort Massachusetts : — 
 
 Feb. 1750 — Petition of Ephm "Williams Commander of Fort Massachusetts : 
 Most Humbly showeth that your petitioner hath been detained in Boston 
 ever since ye last of Nov. past waiting for money due to him and Company out 
 of the Province Treasury for which he hath his warrants duly executed. But 
 there being no money in the Treasury for the payments of them, he must either 
 wait longer (which is very expensive) or return home without ; ye later of 
 which will be very Detrimental (as also the former hath been) by reason that 
 fifteen of the Lotts in ye land to the westward of sd Fort Massachusetts, and (by 
 the Committee appointed for the sale of them) virtully Bargained to some of his 
 soldiers upon conditions they speedily pay what they bargained to give, which 
 they (foremost of their money due aforesd) are unable to do and so consequently 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 381 
 
 must lose them, and as that would be a great disappointment, therefore your 
 petitr Humbly prays Your Honr and Honrs would direct the Comee aforesd to 
 take ye warrants above mentioned into their own hands, they advancing the 
 Contents of them to your Petitr, which will not only enable sd soldiers to pay 
 for sd Lotts, but Save your Petitr a vast charge, which he humbly hopes your 
 Honor and Honors in your known wisdom will do and as in duty bound will 
 ever pray — signed E. Williams Jr — (own hand). 
 
 This petition appealed to the sense of fair and right in the minds 
 of the legislators, and was acted upon at once and favorably, as 
 appears by the following vote : — 
 
 House Reps. Feb. 7, 1750. 
 
 Reed and Ordered that the Comee for admitting settlers in the West New 
 Township at Hoosuck, be and they hereby are directed and impowered out of 
 the monys which they shall receive from the said Settlers to pay the within 
 named Williams the money due on said warrants — He delivering the sd com- 
 mittee with proper orders on the Treasurer to discount the same with them. 
 
 And the said committee are also allowed to admit as many of the Soldiers at 
 Fort Mas.sachusetts, as Settlers as they shall judge proper. Sent up for concur- 
 rence. T. Hubbard Spkr. 
 
 Concurred — Consented. T. Phipps. 
 
 As an inducement to buyers and settlers, the committee were able 
 to urge the fact, that, in 1750, a grant of 200 acres of land had been 
 made to Captain Ephraim Williams, Junior, in East Hoosac, by the 
 General Court, on condition that he should reserve ten acres of the 
 meadow around Fort Massachusetts for the use of that fort, and also 
 build a grist-mill and a saw-mill on one of the branches of Hoosac 
 River near their junction, and keep the same in repair for twenty 
 years for the use of the settlers in the two townships. The mills 
 were built accordingly on the south branch (Ashuwillticook) at a 
 natural fall, still utilized for a water-power, a couple of rods above 
 the bridge, by which one enters the present village of North Adams 
 from the west. The mills were the first resource of the first settlers 
 of both townships. 
 
 The committee were required, by law, to reserve three house lots 
 in West Hoosac, " one for the first-settled minister, one for the min- 
 istry, and one for the school, as near the centre of the township as 
 may be with convenience." They reserved, accordingly, for these 
 purposes in their order, near the square, Nos. 36, 38, and 35, the first 
 two out of the north tier, and the third from the south tier alongside 
 the South Street. The remaining sixty lots were put upon the mar- 
 ket substantially in the following manner: The price was uniform 
 for all the lots, namely, £6 13s. 4d., although there were very con- 
 siderable differences in the value of the same for homesteads. 
 
382 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Chance determined by the number drawn the location of each man's 
 purchase. One could buy just as well in Concord or Litchfield as in 
 West Hoosac itself ; and the process could go on without confusion 
 till the last number was drawn from the box. The name of the 
 man and the number of the lot went together ; there was no oppor- 
 tunity of choice as between the lots themselves. 
 
 In September, 1752, the committee reported to the province of 
 Massachusetts Bay in the following words : — 
 
 We the Subscribers appointed by this Honored Court to lay out 63 Houselotts 
 in the Westernmost Township at Hoosuck — sixty of which to be disposed of by 
 us — We have completed that service as directed by the order of the court here- 
 with exhibited. ^ t tit 
 
 f James Minot 
 
 Com. < Sam^ Miller 
 
 ( Samuel Livermore. 
 
 The committee then present their account for services, horse-hire, 
 and subsistence, — fourteen days in " lotting" : — 
 
 3 days at Concord to sell lots at 6/ per day — 
 
 3 ' 
 1 ' 
 
 ' " Worcester " " 
 ' " Watertown" " 
 
 " 2/ horsehire — 
 
 Total 
 To surveyor & chainmen 
 Paid Prov. Treasurer 
 
 Balance to be paid Treas, 
 
 £ 34 10 
 9 18 10 
 239 15 
 
 
 £284 3 10 
 115 16 2 
 
 £400 
 
 The committee charge themselves for several lots of land, to 
 wit : — 
 
 60 Lotts of land sold to several persons as per particular list herewith annexed 
 
 at £6 13 4. 
 3 Lotts to ye minister, ministry, and school. — 
 In Council Jany 3, 1753. Voted, that the within account be allowed, and 
 that the Com. to pay the ballance thereof being £115 16 2 into the Province 
 
 'r^^^^^^y- S.Phipps. 
 
 Thus the house lots were all disposed of in the first instance, — 
 about one quarter of them to officers and men at Fort Massachusetts ; 
 some to land speculators of the time 5 some to men whose motives 
 appear to have been patriotic merely, to help on the settlement as a 
 good mode of defence against Canada ; and some to men whose resi- 
 dence and character cannot be ascertained at this late day. There 
 were forty-six buyers in all. Lieutenant Samuel Brown, of Stock- 
 bridge, took three lots, and there were twelve others who took two 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 
 
 383 
 
 lots each. The remaining thirty-three subscribed for one lot only. 
 It is probably best to make a permanent record here of all the names 
 of these forty-six persons, their residences at the time so far as 
 these are known, and the numbers of the house lots originally drawn 
 by them ; although a brisk trade in the lots sprang up almost imme- 
 diately, and only a small part of these first drawers ever became 
 resident settlers upon them. Before doing this, however, we will 
 give the original scale as each man drew his lot, or lots, and the 
 place of each lot upon the rectangle. 
 
 Original Drawings of Houselots. 
 
 Reuben Eliding 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 
 34 John Moffat 
 
 Micah Harrington 31 
 
 
 32 Elisha Williams Jr 
 
 Nath"! Russell 29 
 
 
 30 Tho« Train 
 
 George Willis Esq 27 
 
 
 28 Isaac Wyinan 
 
 I^muel Avery 25 
 
 
 26 Josiah Dean 
 
 Tho» Moffat 23 
 
 
 24 W"' Chidest€r 
 
 Elizur Dickinson 21 
 
 
 22 Beng. Simonds 
 
 John Chamberlain 19 
 
 
 20 Aeneas Mackey 
 
 Lieut Moses Graves 17 
 
 
 18 Joel Dickinson 
 
 Thos Moffat 15 
 
 
 16 Josiah Williams 
 
 Ezekiel Foster 13 
 
 
 yl4 Abner Roberts 
 
 Joseph Smith 11 
 
 
 12 Sam' Wells 
 
 Dr. Seth Hudson 9 
 
 
 10 Eph^ Williams Jr 
 
 Josiah Williams 7 
 
 
 8 " " *' 
 
 Sain^ Calhoon 5 
 
 
 6 W" Chidester 
 
 Timo Woodbridge 3 
 
 
 4 Col. Oliver Partridge 
 
 Sam^ Brown Jr. 1 
 
 
 2 Lieut Isaac Wyman 
 
 S. Street 
 
 Sqcake 
 
 N. Street 
 
 School 35 
 
 
 36 Ministers 
 
 Sam' Calhoon 37 
 
 
 38 Ministry 
 
 Lieut Sami Brown 39 
 
 
 40 Lieut Elisha Hawley 
 
 Capt. Elisha Chapin 41 
 
 
 42 John Buch 
 
 ! Elijah Brown 43 
 
 
 44 Josiah Dean 
 
 Lieut Obadiali Dickinson 45 
 
 
 46 John Moffat 
 
 Joseph Hawley Esq 47 
 
 
 48 Moses Graves 
 
 Daniel Haws 49 
 
 
 60 Sami Taylor 
 
 Elisha AUis 51 
 
 
 52 Saml Smith 
 
 Eben' Graves 53 
 
 
 64 Saml Brown 
 
 Olivur Avery 
 
 56 
 
 
 50 Eben' Graves 
 58 Saml Brown 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 
 59 John Crawford 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 « 
 
 
 60 Aaron Denio 
 
 
 
 Ze 
 
 
 61 Obadiah Dickinson 
 
 •< 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 62 Aeneas Mackey 
 
 $ 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 63 Dani Donillson j 
 
384 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN, 
 
 Lots and Purchasers Grouped. 
 
 Capt. 
 
 Ephraim Williams, Jr. 
 
 Fort Mass. 
 
 Lieut 
 
 . Isaac Wyman 
 
 (( t 
 
 
 
 William Chidester 
 
 " ' 
 
 
 Dr. 
 
 Seth Hudson 
 Samuel Calhoun 
 
 H 1 
 
 
 
 Ezekiel Foster 
 
 4( ( 
 
 
 
 Benjamin Simonds 
 
 (( ( 
 
 
 
 Abner Roberts 
 
 (( ( 
 
 
 
 Thomas Train 
 
 U 
 
 
 
 Micah Harrington 
 
 ii i 
 
 
 
 Elisha Chapin 
 
 ii ; 
 
 
 
 John Bush 
 
 u ( 
 
 
 
 John Chamberlin 
 
 4( ; 
 
 
 Lieut 
 
 . Samuel Brown 
 
 Stockbridge 
 
 
 Samuel Brown, Jr. 
 
 (( 
 
 
 Josiah Williams 
 
 (( 
 
 Col. 
 
 Oliver Partridge 
 Timothy Woodbridge 
 
 Hatfield 
 
 Lieut 
 
 . Moses Graves 
 
 t( 
 
 
 Reuben Belding 
 
 (( 
 
 Lieut 
 
 . Obadiah Dickinson 
 
 u 
 
 
 Elisha Allis 
 
 (( 
 
 
 Joseph Smith 
 
 <.( 
 
 
 Samuel Wells 
 
 (( 
 
 
 Joel Dickenson 
 
 (( 
 
 
 Joseph Hawley, Esq. 
 
 Northampton 
 
 Lieut 
 
 . Elisha Hawley 
 
 (( 
 
 
 Josiah Dean 
 
 Canaan, Ct. 
 
 
 Elisha Williams, Jr. 
 
 Weathersfield, Ct. 
 
 
 Oliver Avery 
 
 Charlemont 
 
 Serg. 
 
 Samuel Taylor 
 
 u 
 
 
 Thomas Moffat 
 
 New London, Ct. 
 
 
 Ebenezer Graves 
 
 North Reading 
 
 
 John Mofiat 
 
 Boston 
 
 
 Daniel Donalson 
 
 Coleraine 
 
 
 Aaron Denio 
 
 n 
 
 
 Nathaniel Harvey 
 
 u 
 
 
 Samuel Smith 
 
 (( 
 
 
 Daniel Hawes 
 
 (( 
 
 
 John Crofoot (Crawford) 
 
 Worcester 
 
 
 Aeneas Mackay 
 
 Unknown 
 
 
 Lemuel Avery 
 
 u 
 
 
 Elisha Brown 
 
 (( 
 
 
 George Willis, Esq. 
 
 (( 
 
 
 Nathaniel Russell 
 
 (( 
 
 
 8 10 
 
 2 28 
 
 6 24 
 
 9 
 
 5 37 
 
 13 
 
 22 
 
 14 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 
 41 
 
 42 
 
 19 
 
 39 54 58 
 
 1 
 
 7 16 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 17 48 
 
 33 
 
 61 45 
 
 51 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 47 
 
 40 
 
 26 44 
 
 32 
 
 55 
 
 50 
 
 15 23 
 
 53 56 
 
 34 46 
 
 63 
 
 60 
 
 57 
 
 52 
 
 49 
 
 59 
 
 20 62 
 
 25 
 
 43 
 
 27 
 
 29 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 385 
 
 These forty-six were the ''first proprietors" of William stown. 
 By much the most distinguished name among them is that of Joseph 
 Hawley, of Northampton, who played a great part in the history 
 of Massachusetts for thirty years after he became proprietor here 
 of house lot 47. Some account of this man's activity and influ- 
 ence in church and state has been given on a preceding page. The 
 writer has now in his possession the manuscript deed of Joseph 
 Hawley, wholly written out with his own hand, conveying to 
 Nehemiah Smedley, in April, 1760, this original house lot 47, along- 
 side of which, and partly tlirough which, runs the present Spring 
 Street of our village. Two of these first proprietors were killed in 
 the battle of Lake George with Colonel Ephraim Williams in 1755 ; 
 namely, Lieutenant Elisha Hawley, brother of the statesman; 
 Micah Harrington, supposed to have been killed by a poisoned mus- 
 ket-ball ; and a third, Ensign Josiah Williams, half brother of the 
 commander, was severely wounded. Two others of these proprietors 
 were killed July 11, 1756, near the West Hoosac fort, as we shall 
 learn more particularly later, namely. Captain Elisha Chapin and 
 William Chidester, both long in Fort Massachusetts, and in West 
 Hoosac fort also. 
 
 The first actual settlers upon any of these lots, who were also 
 original proprietors of the same, seem all to have been soldiers at 
 Fort Massachusetts. Isaac Wyman, second in command there, com- 
 menced pretty soon on his lot. No. 2, which stretched along flank- 
 ing North Street on the west side, and the front of which is now 
 graced by the Lodge of Kappa Alpha; Seth Hudson, sometimes 
 surgeon at the fort, and sometimes commander of West Hoosac fort, 
 very influential in the settlement, and by much the last survivor of 
 the original proprietors, built his house on his lot No. 9, which lay 
 on the west declivity of the third eminence, south side of Main 
 Street near Hemlock Brook, which house is still standing, much 
 transformed, about half a mile down the brook from its first site ; 
 Benjamin Simonds, the same who was carried captive to Canada 
 from Fort Massachusetts in 1746, began to clear up and to build 
 on his drawn lot No. 22, situated on the east slope of the fourth 
 eminence north side, where the underpinning of the house is still 
 (1892) visible, two or three rods southwest of the Danforth mon- 
 uments in the old cemetery, in which house was born the first 
 child of the hamlet, Rachel Simonds, April 8, 1753, and near which 
 are still living and growing less four or five old apple-trees prob- 
 ably set in that year or the next, which house is yet standing, sub- 
 stantially unchanged across the Main Street nearly opposite where 
 
386 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 it first stood; Thomas Train, who drew No. 30, which was the 
 fourth lot west of Simonds's, in the same tier of lots, and who mar- 
 ried long afterwards this same Rachel Simonds, whose posterity 
 both from this marriage, and a second with Deacon Benjamin Skin- 
 ner, have been numerous and prominent in Williamstown ; Ezekiel 
 Foster, who was of Fall Town (Bernardston), began on his drawn 
 lot No. 13, which was the second west of Seth Hudson's in the same 
 tier, and lay a good deal in the valley of Hemlock Brook ; and Eben- 
 ezer Graves, who was from North Reading, and who drew Nos. 53 
 and 56 near the east end of the plat, 53 being on the south side. 
 
 SETH HUDSON'S ORIGINAL HOUSE ON LOT 9. 
 First Proprietors' Meeting held in it. 
 
 and 56 on the north, the front of the latter being now occupied by 
 the premises of James M. Waterman. 
 
 Besides these six, there w^ere seven others, who may fairly and by 
 way of precedence be termed the original settlers of West Hoosac, 
 that is to say, who actually occupied their lots before the renewal 
 of the French War in 1754, and who united in a petition soon to be 
 quoted entire to the General Court in September, 1753; namely, 
 Elisha Higgins from Fort Massachusetts, Silas Pratt from Worcester, 
 Allin Curtiss from Canaan, Connecticut, Gideon Warren from Brim- 
 field, Darius Mead from Dutchess County, New York, Tyras Pratt 
 from Shrewsbury, and Elihu Curtiss from Canaan, Connecticut. 
 
 In response to this petition, William Williams, Esq., of Pitts- 
 
WFS^T H(>n>; An. 
 
 387 
 
 field, "one of his ^NEajestys Jusrict's oi me I'eace for the County 
 of Hampshire," was authorized by the governor and Council to 
 issue his warrant for the first proprietors' meeting in West Hoosac, 
 and it was issued accordingly, directing Isaac Wyman to " Notifye 
 and warne the said proprietors to assemble at the house of Mr. Seth 
 Hudson on Wednesday the fifth day of December next, at Nine of 
 the clock in the forenoon," to act upon articles specified in the war- 
 rant. Thus began the civic life and government of West Hoosac, 
 and it has never been intermitted from that day to this. Allin Cur- 
 tiss was chosen the moderator of this first meeting, and Isaac 
 Wyman proprietors' clerk. To choose committees to lay out new 
 
 BENJAMIN SIMONDS'S ORIGINAL HOUSE ON LOT 22. 
 Moved, but otherwise unchanged in 1894. 
 
 divisions of land, to lay out roads, and to lay and collect suita- 
 ble taxes, was the principal business of this meeting. Its date 
 was Dec. 5, 1753. There is no proof that Ephraim Williams, 
 although he constantly kept the earliest settlers in mind until he 
 fell, ever took any practical steps to have either, of his two lots 
 cleared up and built upon, in accordance with the terms of the legis- 
 lative grant; lie was extremely busy elsewhere during those four 
 years. Colonel Oliver Partridge, of Hatfield, gave his house lot 
 No. 4, the second lot west of North Street, and next to Captain 
 Wyman's, to Thomas Train, whose own lot 30 was less eligible, on 
 condition "that he completely fulfill the conditions enjoined by the 
 General Court." Partridge, however, reserved to himself a part of 
 
388 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the afterdrafts of the house lot, which Train subdued, and cultivated 
 till 1768, when he sold it to Dr. Jacob Meack for £40. Meack, whO' 
 was the first physician in the place, if we except Seth Hudson, later 
 made his homestead just over Hemlock Brook, on No. 12 north tier, 
 in a house still standing, but many times built over. Partridge's lot, 
 then Train's, then Meack's, is the lot next west of the Kap lot, and 
 the highest and easternmost portion of the fine estate of Mr. Proc- 
 tor. Timothy Woodbridge, of Hatfield, kept his lot No. 3 for twelve 
 years, and paid his annual dues for the same, and then sold the 
 house lot, and the meadow lot, and the second-division fifty-acre lot 
 drawn by No. 3 to Benjamin Simonds for £25, Aug. 15, 1764. This 
 lot is exactly opposite across Main Street to the Partridge lot No. 4. 
 This became the home and the tavern-stand of Simonds for many 
 years. 
 
 But the larger part of the first proprietors began at once to sell 
 off their rights to other parties, oftentimes without ever having seen 
 them. As a sample of many more, we will just trace the fortunes 
 for a few years of house lot No. 1, whose front is now covered by the 
 beautiful stone building of the Delta Psi Society, and ran along 
 South Street, as far as the present land of Deacon James Smedley. 
 In the original drawing this lot fell to Samuel Brown, Junior, of 
 Stockbridge, who belonged to one of those four English families first 
 brought thither by the action of the General Court for the encour- 
 agement and support of the Indian Mission. Brown held the lot 
 but a short time, and then sold it to Ezekiel Hinds, a resident of 
 Stockbridge and a soldier at Port Massachusetts, who sold the same 
 to Samuel Smedley, of Litchfield, Connecticut, Oct. 31, 1752, for 
 £27. Consequences important to Williamstown in the sequel fol- 
 lowed upon this sale of No. 1 from Hinds to Smedley, " husband- 
 man" to "husbandman'^; ^ for one result of it was, that three young 
 men from Litchfield, Nehemiah Smedley and William Horsford and 
 Josiah Horsford, the first the son and the two others later the sons- 
 in-law of Samuel Smedley, came up he-re probably in 1753 to look 
 the ground over. They liked it, but they did not like the increasing 
 signs of a renewed French and Indian war. They returned to Con- 
 necticut, and not very long after enlisted in a military company 
 raised by that colony to protect itself from Indian incursions, by 
 helping Massachusetts garrison, the '' West Hoosac fort," so-called. 
 Afterwards all three of these young men became very prominent in 
 the settlement. It was believed and reported by his eldest son, 
 
 1 The deed now lies open before me. It is one item among the *' Smedley 
 Papers." 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 389 
 
 Levi, ill his old age, that Neheiniaa 6iiitniley set out the first orchard 
 in town on No. 1 in 1754; it was, at any rate, in full bearing in 
 1765. After the death of the father, Samuel Smedley, No. 1 was 
 deeded to Nehemiah by the widow and the eldest son, John, March 
 21, 1758. Precisely when Nehemiah Smedley built the house on 
 No. 1, whether it were before or after he became the sole possessor, 
 cannot now be told ; it was a " regulation " house, and its sills were 
 of white oak ; it had been incorporated early in this century into a 
 larger gambrel-roofed house, which had become old itself and was 
 taken down in 1884 to make room for the Delta Psi Lodge; the 
 present writer found then and there pieces of two of the old oaken 
 sills, and bits of them are preserved in the historical museum in 
 Clark Hall ; and he hazards little by the opinion that those sills had 
 lain there at least one century and a quarter undisturbed. 
 
 No. 1 continued to be the homestead of Nehemiah Smedley till 
 after 1765, when the next stage of our story will begin, since that is 
 the date of the incorporation of West Hoosac under the name of 
 "Williamstown"; and in the mean time five brothers and four sis- 
 ters of Nehemiah came up from Litchfield to become dwellers in 
 West Hoosac, all sons and daughters of that Samuel Smedley who 
 bought No. 1 of Ezekiel Hinds in 1752, whose own genealogy is so 
 significant and relevant to the after history of Williamstown, that 
 it may as well be given here as anywhere. 
 
 When the Rev. Peter Bulkley, of the parish of Odell, Bedfordshire, 
 in the diocese of the Bishop of Lincoln, emigrated to this country 
 with a considerable number of his English congregation, and settled 
 with them in Concord in 1636, there were two brothers in his church, 
 both admitted freeman in Concord in 1644, namely, John and Bap- 
 tist Smedley. John was the elder, and became the more prominent 
 in church and state. He was representative to the General Court 
 in 1667 and 1670, and was senior selectman in 1680. A colony went 
 early from Concord to Fairfield, Connecticut ; and Samuel Smedley, 
 undoubtedly a son of John, appears in Fairfield in 1690. The name 
 soon became extinct in Concord, so that the historian of that town 
 knew nothing of any Smedleys anywhere ; but this Samuel, of Fair- 
 field, preserved the seed of a large family in Connecticut. His son, 
 Samuel 2d, was born in 1702, married Esther Kilborn Feb. 1, 1729, 
 and died Feb. 16, 1756. He had moved from Fairfield to Woodbury, 
 and from Woodbury to Litchfield, and bought a farm in 1741, " at ye 
 south End of ye Great Pond" (now Bantam Lake in Morris), of 
 fifty-four acres, from which all of his eleven children with one excep- 
 tion, Joshua, the youngest, became sooner or later residents of Wil- 
 
390 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 liamstown : the sons, John, Nehemiah, Jedidiah, Samuel 3d, Moses, 
 and Aaron ; and the daughters, Esther, Jemima, Ann, and Lucina. 
 
 Samuel 1st, of Fairfield, had certainly one other son, Ephraim, 
 and Ephraim had Ephraim, Junior, who was born in 1746, and mar- 
 ried Ann Gibbs Jan. 28, 1767, and died May 20, 1821. He was the 
 ancestor of the New Haven Smedleys, expressmen there, some of 
 whom have strikingly resembled in physiognomy the Williamstown 
 Smedleys. The Gibbs family, with which the Smedleys much inter- 
 married, were neighbors of theirs on Bantam Lake. The most dis- 
 tinguished scion of the Smedley name in America was Captain Samuel 
 Smedley, of Fairfield, perhaps another son of Ephraim 1st, who was 
 a fighting sea-captain during the Eevolutionary War. Major Hincks, 
 in some sketches of the men of the Ke volution, says of him: "Capt. 
 Samuel Smedley sailed upon the Atlantic as commander of the brig 
 Defense, perhaps the most successful vessel in the Colonial Navy. 
 He captured many prizes, among them the British ship Cyrus, 
 mounting eighteen guns and laden with a cargo that sold for about 
 £20,000, one of the most valuable captures made during the Eevolu- 
 tion. After the war Capt. Smedley was for many years collector of 
 Customs for this district, residing and having his office at Fairfield." 
 He was a Democrat in politics. President Jefferson appointed him 
 to this office in 1801. He left some valuable papers, now in posses- 
 sion of the city of Bridgeport. In England, too, the Smedley family 
 have continued to be somewhat notable in the eastern and northern 
 countries. Frank E. Smedley, author of the " Colville Family," and 
 other tales, is a writer of reputation at the present time ; and we 
 are told that the family circle in the sanctuary at Westminster 
 Abbey have been Smedleys for several generations. 
 
 We return now to some others of the earliest actual settlers upon 
 the house lots, besides those already characterized, who obtained 
 their lots by purchase, or otherwise, from the original drawers of 
 them. Speculation in the lots was rife almost from the beginning. 
 Elisha Higgins, long a soldier in Fort Massachusetts, bought of 
 Reuben Belding, of Hatfield, house lot 12, with all its afterdrafts, 
 for £20, the 12th of October, 1753. This is the first lot over Hem- 
 lock Brook on the north side, to one going west on Main Street. He 
 sold this the next spring for £27 13s., to Nathan Mead, "gentle- 
 man," of Oblong, Dutchess County, New York. Darius Mead, of the 
 same locality, was a settler here in 1753, and both continued to buy 
 and sell land here for several years, though it is not certain that 
 Nathan Mead ever permanently resided here. Elisha Higgins, how- 
 ever, after selling No. 12, bought No. 17, the third lot west of 12 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 391 
 
 and on the southern tier of lots. Here he built his house and lived 
 for many years, buying, in 1762, for £10, the next lot west, namely, 
 No. 19 ; and still further west, along this tier, may be seen to this 
 day the stones of cellar-walls and bits of brick of the chimneys of 
 two or three other houses. The southwest quarter of the plat, 
 except the easternmost and the four westernmost lots, were not so 
 eligible for building as most of the fronts of the lots in the other 
 three quartei-s of the plat taken as a whole, on account of an irregu- 
 lar and rocky bluif that begins to rise on that side almost as soon as 
 one crosses the Hemlock Brook. One such rocky protuberance 
 from this base juts over across ^lain Street, and covers the street 
 front of Xo. 22 on the north side, which was the reason why Benja- 
 min Simonds placed his original house quite to the north of the 
 street, over a little run of water (which was, doubtless, another 
 inducement to the location of the house), near the top of a fine 
 slope, giving a splendid view over the entire plat; so that Simonds, 
 and, later, his son-in-law, Putnam (the lot is still called the " Putnam 
 lot'^ by old inhabitants), reached the street by a road running down 
 by the little water-course that flanked the bluff in front. Higgins's 
 house was on the east declivity of the fourth eminence, just middle 
 way between Nos. 1 and 33, which constitute (seventeen lots) the 
 southwest quarter of the plat. 
 
 Silas Pratt, originally from Worcester or Shrewsbury, a good 
 soldier in Fort Massachusetts for several years, a soldier also in the 
 West Hoosac Fort, a man of courage and enterprise, who ultimately 
 settled on Northwest Hill, on the first farm over the line in Ver- 
 mont, who took part in the battle of Bennington with at least one of 
 his sons, may perhaps be reckoned as the eighth positive settler in 
 West Hoosac ; and his son William, born in 1760 within the lines of 
 the West Hoosac fort, may be the first male child born in town. Two 
 girls had preceded William Pratt, namely, Kachel Simonds and 
 Esther Horsford. All three were bom within a stone's throw of 
 Hemlock Brook; and the reader may have noticed that all the first 
 homesteads thus far delineated were upon the third and fourth emi- 
 nences, and most of them on the declivities sloping down to the 
 brook between these. It is not entirely certain which house lot 
 Silas Pratt first pitched upon, for he owned several of them first and 
 last ; but it is, on several grounds, probable that 19 was the number, 
 because he certainly sold that to Elisha Higgins in 1762, and because 
 John Chamberlin, who originally drew it, was a soldier in Fort 
 Massachusetts with Pratt and Higgins. We shall learn more about 
 Silas Pratt — and most of it to his credit — before we have done with 
 
392 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 him ; but we pass now to Tyras Pratt, many times closely associated 
 with Silas, and probably closely related to him, who was a settler in 
 West Hoosac in 1753, a soldier previously in Fort Massachusetts, 
 and who made his home before 1757 in Eoadtown, now Shutesbury, 
 whence he went out soldier again in Captain Samuel Taylor's com- 
 pany, Sept. 17, 1776. We may call, if we choose, Tyras Pratt the 
 ninth of our actual beginners on the purchased house lots, and may 
 be pretty sure that he began on No. 53, at the other end of the plat 
 from the rest, near the east end of the southeast quarter. At any 
 rate, he sold that lot, in 1756, to William Horsford, with one-half of 
 the afterdrafts, exclusive of the meadow lot. 
 
 Our tenth man, according to the loose reckoning followed at pres- 
 ent, was Gideon Warren. We have already found David Warren a 
 soldier in Fort Massachusetts at the time of its capture in 1746, and 
 he was of Marlboro. Jabez Warren was a corporal in the fort at 
 Coleraine in 1748, and he was from Brimfield. Gideon Warren was 
 also a soldier in the line of forts, but we hear little of him till he 
 made a settlement in West Hoosac in 1753, where for some years he 
 was prominent. It is likely that he bought No. 50, on whose then 
 rocky front Griffin Hall has stood since 1828, because he afterwards 
 sold different parts of the first-division fifty-acre lot 30, which was 
 drawn by house lot 50. Reference has already been made to the 
 course of Green Eiver as cutting off five house lots at the east end 
 of the southeast quarter, leaving in that but twelve lots. There are 
 two considerable falls in that stretch of the river running north that 
 occupied what would otherwise have doubtless been a house lot, and 
 another considerable fall at no great distance below, after the river 
 turns sharply to the east — almost at right angles. It was early 
 perceived that these falls would be useful for mills, and might make 
 it needless for the settlers to frequent longer Colonel Williams's 
 grist-mill, more than four miles away, in East Hoosac. The two 
 first-mentioned falls came in the fifty-acre lot 30 and the last one in 
 the corresponding lot 29. 
 
 Gideon Warren, yeoman, sold Samuel Payn, of Dutchess County, 
 New York, for £6, two acres on Green River (part of a lot known as 
 No. 30) with privilege of flowing the river bank " as hie up as ye 
 top of ye upper falls " ; " and also a strip of land two rods wide by 
 the west side of said river, beginning at the north side of said land 
 I sold to said Payn, and running north by the river to the mouth of 
 the brook, and up the hill to the lot now enclosed, and so out to the 
 main road or Highway, to be a highway for the use of the town." 
 This important sale was made June 1, 1761. It opened into Main 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 393 
 
 Street at right angles to what has always been called "Water Street, 
 and paved the way for the first grist-mill in town, whose stones, 
 and those of its several successors till this day, have been whirled 
 by water stored up at the lower of the two falls. The language of 
 this old deed — "mouth of the brook" — gives the first mention of 
 what has long been called " Phebe's Brook," from Phebe Holmes, an 
 old colored woman, whose cabin stood near the head of the little 
 stream, which, reinforced by the overflow of the " College Spring," 
 drops into the Green "Riv»'r iiwt at its own sn(l«l«i! I.piul to the 
 eastward. 
 
 Samuel Payn bought also the next year, the nieatlow lot 56, eleven 
 acres, about a mile above his mill privilege, on both sides of Green 
 River, of Joseph Ballard, then of New Salem, but afterwards of 
 West Hoosac. Ballard also sold in August, 1761, to James Meacham, 
 of New Salem, Nos. 7 and 8 of the first-division fifty-acre lots, 
 which have been in active possession of his direct descendants from 
 that day to this. James B. Meacham owned in August, 1892, what 
 lands his great-grandfather, James ^leacham, first occupied in 
 August, 1762, just 130 years. The lots were bought just one year 
 before that, for £73 Ss. Hd. Mrs. Meacham brought with her, through 
 the almost unbroken wilderness, two little girls, one not quite four, 
 and the other not quite two ; and a third, Lucy, was born just six 
 weeks after the father put up his temporary shelter on one side of 
 an isolated big rock near the middle of fifty-acre lot No. 7. The 
 birth is recorded as falling on Sept. 26, 1762. The mother also 
 brought with her a root or two of a hop-vine, and planted it on the 
 other side of the same rock. That vine has leaved out, blossomed, 
 and borne fruit for 130 years, and seems likely to do the same for a 
 century longer. A grandson of hers, Captain James Meacham, 
 pointed out to the writer, about twenty years ago, the rock and the 
 growing hop-vine; and the latter has taken occasion many times 
 since to make the short pilgrimage thither (the rock is in plain 
 sight from his south windows), to be sure that the hops were still 
 growing. The tall Captain died in his eightieth year, May 20, 1883. 
 Soon after their arriving, the first James Meacham was fortunate 
 enough to kill a bear, whicli furnished the family what they quaintly 
 called " pork " ; and once, at least, they found a deposit of wild 
 honey to be a welcome addition to their slender commissariat. 
 
 But the rock and its hop-vine, and the log-cabin lean-to, was a 
 considerable distance from Samuel Payn's authorized road along the 
 west side of Green River, to and past his mill-privilege; and so, 
 our tenth settler, Gideon Warren, sold to James Meacham, both 
 
394 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 " husbandmen," another piece of eleven acres from his fifty-acre lot 
 No. 30, drawn by house lot 50, which brought the Meachams snug 
 up to Green River road, where they built their second house in 1764, 
 which is still standing as a shed, in connection with their third 
 house, a commodious brick one, to which the second one was drawn 
 an eighth of a mile further north on the same street. Later on, 
 we shall hear more about the Meachams. The Revolutionary War, 
 and even Shays's Rebellion brought them into notice. Gideon 
 Warren, too, will at least make his bow on our stage once or twice 
 more. 
 
 The eleventh and last, but one, principal settler in West Hoosac 
 before the renewal of the French and Indian war, was Captain 
 Allin Curtiss, of Canaan, Connecticut. He bought the house lot 
 originally drawn by Ezekiel Foster, of Falltown and Fort Massachu- 
 setts, namely, No. 13, already characterized in connection with 
 Foster, who continued a settler and citizen for many years, but 
 bought lands, and had a home in different parts of the town. Cur- 
 tiss's dwelling-house stood just beyond the bridge over Hemlock 
 Brook on the left-hand side to one going west. It is more than 
 probable, that the present house of Mark Gamet occupies the site of 
 Captain Curtiss's dwelling,, in which was held the second meeting of 
 the West Hoosac proprietors, in April, 1754. Captain Curtiss was 
 then chosen ^^ Moderator " in his own house. But he was also 
 ■chosen Moderator of the first proprietors' meeting in the fall before, 
 which was held in Seth Hudson's house just across the brook to the 
 •eastward, on No. 9. Curtiss was a very capable man. He returned 
 after a little to Canaan, and the town books there show his activity 
 and prominence for many years. There are still families of his 
 name in Canaan, as there are also Deans and Horsfords, who repre- 
 sent, in a certain way, Josiah Dean, who drew, originally, house lot 
 26, and Josiah and William and John Horsford, who came from 
 Canaan a little later, and stayed very much longer. Elihu Curtiss 
 was presumably a brother of Captain Allin. Elnathan Curtiss, whose 
 name we shall meet with pretty soon, was from Kent, a little way 
 from Canaan, south, both on the Housatonic River. 
 
 The following petition to the General Court presented in Septem- 
 ber, 1753, by these first proprietors, shows that no provision had yet 
 been made for their legal organization as a "Propriety" then so- 
 called. 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 395 
 
 To Ilis Exclly William Shirley Esqr Captain General &c., the Honble his 
 Majisty's Council, and House of Representatives in General Court assem- 
 bled Sept. 1753. 
 
 The Petition of us the Subscribers in behalf of ourselves and Others, Proprie- 
 tors of the West Hoosuck Township at Hoosuck, Lately sold by the General 
 Court Humbly Sheweth 
 
 That the General Court was pleased to open the sd Township and lay out the 
 House lots under the Direction of the Courts Comtee, and the Proprietors owners 
 of said lots are divers of them at work upon them and bringing forward Settle- 
 ments ; but upon advisement find they are incapable of Calling and Holding 
 meetings, without the Aid of yr Excelcy and Honours which we exceedingly 
 want in order to agree upon the building a Meeting House, Setling a Minister, 
 Making Division of other Lands and to do and Transact all such matters and 
 things as may be necessary and proper for proprietors of New Townships to do. 
 We therefore Humbly pray yr Exclcy and Honurs to appoint some proper per- 
 son to call a Meeting of said proprietors for such purposes as may be necessary 
 and direct a method of calling meetings of said proprs in the future, and as in 
 duty bound shall Ever pray &c. 
 
 Isaac Wyman 
 Elisiia Higgins Allin Ccrtiss 
 
 Silas Pratt Darius Mead 
 
 Tyras Pratt Setii Hudson 
 
 Gideon Warrin Thomas Train 
 
 EzEKL Foster Ebenr Graves 
 
 Elihu Curtiss 
 
 In the House of Representatives Septr 10. 1753 
 Read and Voted that William Williams Esqr one of his Majs Justices of the 
 Peace for the County of Hampshire Issue his Warrant for calling a meeting of 
 the proprietors of the West Township at Hoosuck so called Directed to one of 
 the principal proprietors of sd Township, Requiring him to set up a Notification 
 in some public place in sd Township Setting forth the time, place and Occasion 
 of sd Meeting fourteen days beforehand, which Meeting shall be holden in sd 
 Township, and such of the proprietors as shall be present at sd Meeting are 
 hereby authorized and impowered by a Maj. vote to Determine upon a Division 
 of all or a part of the Lands in said Township not already allotted, also Chuse a 
 Comtee or Comtees to lay out the same, also to raise moneys to defray the 
 Charges that may arise by means of laying out sd Lands, also for Clearing High- 
 ways, as also to Chuse a proprietors' Clerk, Treasurer, Assessors and Collectors 
 and also to agree and determine upon a method of calling meetings of said pro- 
 prietors for the future. 
 
 Sent up for Concurrence 
 
 T. Hubbard Sp'k»r 
 
 In Council Sept. 10. 1753 — Read and Concurred 
 
 Tiios Clark Dep. Sec'y 
 Consented to W. Shirley. 
 
396 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 In response to this order of the court, William Williams, of Pon- 
 toosuck, now Pittsfield, the real father and founder of that town, 
 issued his legal call to the West Hoosac proprietors, as follows : — 
 
 Province of the Massachusetts Bay. 
 Whereas I have Rec? special Direction from the great and Gen > Court of this 
 province at there Sessions in September last to issue my warrant for calling a 
 meeting of the proprietors of the west township of Hoosuck so called Directed 
 to one of the Principal proprietors of s'd Township requiring him to set up a 
 Notification in some publick place in s'd Township seting forth the time place 
 and occasion of s'd meeting fourteen Days beforehand, s'd meeting to be held 
 in s'd Township and such of the proprietors as shall be present at s'd meeting 
 are by Said order of Court authorised and impowered by a major Voate to act 
 and Determine upon the following articles. 
 
 Vizt. To agree upon a Division of part or all the lands in said township Not 
 allready allotted = to Choose a Committee or Committees to lay out the 
 same = to Choose a Committee to lay out high ways = to raise money to 
 Defray the Charges of laying out the Lands and highways and Clearing the 
 same = or any other Necessary Charges. 
 To Choose a proprietors Clerk. 
 To Choose a proprietors Treasurer. 
 To Choose proprietors assessors. 
 To Choose a proprietors Colector or Colectors. 
 To agree upon a method for Calling meetings for the future. 
 In observance of which Direction 
 
 Hampshire SS. To Isaac Wyman one of the proprietors of the 
 said west Township at Hoosuck Gent? Greeting. You are hereby Required to 
 Notify e and warne the proprietors of s'd Township that they assemble at the 
 House of Mr. Seth Hudsons in s'd Township on Wensday the Fifth Day of 
 December next at Nine of the Clock in the four noon to act upon the fouregoing 
 Articles as they shall think proper by Setting up in some publick place in said 
 Township an attested Coppy of the foregoing order of Court and this warrant 
 by you Sygned fourteen Days before the time of said meeting. 
 
 Poontoonsuck 
 November 15 : 1753. W" Williams 
 
 Just. Peace. 
 
 " Some publick place in said Township." Where was there such 
 a " place " in West Hoosac in November, 1753 ? There were proba- 
 bly eight or ten small houses of the prescribed pattern then built, or 
 begun, along the broad Main Street, which was then full of trees and 
 rocks from end to end ; but nearly all of these houses were towards 
 the west end, either on the plateaus of the third and fourth emi- 
 nences, or in the valley between them of Hemlock Brook. The 
 house in which the proprietors were to meet was on the east side of 
 the brook, and near it ; the house of the man who was to be chosen 
 moderator was on the west side of the brook, and near it ; so that 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 397 
 
 the supposition seems rational that Captain Wyman posted his 
 " Notifycation " somewhere on the rude, log-built bridge over the 
 brook, which was then the only bridge, and apparently the most 
 " publick place " in the precinct. Accordingly, the proprietors pres- 
 ent came together for their first meeting (a notable one) in the 
 house of Seth Hudson. The room in which they met has been but 
 very little altered since. The followin<r is the official record : — 
 
 At a rroprietor.s iuet'iin<; lawtuliy wanu'd in tlio west township at hoosuck ss 
 
 Called December the fifth 1753 — Voted by the major part of the proprietors at 
 
 s'd meetin the fouregoing articles Vizt. 
 
 First. Voted and Chose Allen Curtice moderator for s'd meetin. 
 
 Second Voted and Chose Isaac Wyman Proprietoi-s Clerk 
 
 Thirdly Voted by the proprietors to lay out all the medow land lying upon the 
 Main River [Hoosac] and all the medow land lying upon green Kiver as far 
 as the first Brook or Creek in Equal proportion to each Right in Said Town- 
 ship and one hundred acres of upland to each Right adjoyning to the medow 
 land or as Near as they Can to lay out the best land. 
 
 Fourthly. Voted to leave it to the Commite to Lay out the land in one Division 
 or two as they shall Judge best. 
 
 6lr Voted and Chose Allen Curtice Seth Hudson Jonathan mechom Ezekiel Fos- 
 ter Jabiz Worren the Commite to lay otit the land in s'd Township 
 
 6'y Voted and Chose Samuel Taylor Giden Worrin .Jonathan mechom the Com- 
 mite to lay out high Ways in s'd Township that shall be Necessary. 
 
 Vy Voted and Chose Allen Curtice sevayer to Clear the Roads in s'd Township 
 
 8'y Voted at s'd meeting to Lay the Roads at the Baud of each main street foure 
 rods wide in said Township 
 
 d^y Voted that the Roads to accommidate the medow land shall be but two Rods 
 wide, and all the Rods to accomidate the other Divisions two Rods widf 
 allso 
 
 Voted to raise a rate of Eight Shillings upon Each Proprietors Right in sci 
 Town to pay the Charges that may arise by Laying out s'd Land 
 Voted to Rase ten shillings to pay for a Proprietors Book 
 Voted and Chose Isaac Wyman I*roprietors Treasurer. 
 Voted and Chose Thomas Train Josiah Deean Colectors for said Proprietors 
 Voted and Chose Ebenezer Graves Allen Curtice and Ezekiel Foster asses- 
 sors for said Proprietors 
 
 Voted at said meetin that five or seven of the proprietors of said Town 
 makin application to the Clerk of Said Proprietors for Calling meetings for 
 the future 
 
 Voted at sM meetin to Lay out the Land in said Town as soon as may be 
 convenant 
 at a meeting held at West Hoosuck pursuant to the Court order on the fifth 
 
 Day of December 1753 the above said votes paist in a legial manor 
 
 Test = Allen Curtice moderator for said meetin 
 
 Isaac Wvmak 
 
 Prop* Clerk, 
 
398 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Then and there, and thus, began the self-government of this town. 
 Further to the east in Massachusetts, what has been called the " New 
 England Townmeeting," had been the governing agent in numerous 
 little republics for a century ; this was the first upon the Hoosac, or 
 in its immediate vicinity. Of course, the Tojal governor at Boston, 
 in this case a man of wide renown, William Shirley, as representing 
 directly the crown of England, was the highest political authority in 
 the province ; but in all personal interests of the settlers, and in all 
 local matters, the town-meeting was as sovereign then as it is now, 
 and we look back with a fond curiosity, if not with affection, upon 
 every man recorded as having a part in that primal assemblage of 
 citizens. All but two of them had been soldiers in Fort Massachu- 
 setts ; Isaac Wyman, the clerk, was then commanding officer there, 
 and Seth Hudson had been surgeon there; Captain Allen Curtiss 
 brought his military title from Connecticut, and after a couple of 
 years carried it back there, where he honored it by a life of useful- 
 ness ; and Jonathan Meacham, who was appointed on two important 
 committees at that first meeting, was long a citizen and church mem- 
 ber here. He was own cousin to James Meacham, who was lately 
 characterized, and they both came here from New Salem, where 
 their ancestor, Jeremiah Meacham from old Salem, was the first set- 
 tler in 1737, receiving £10 from his fellow-proprietors, residents of 
 Old Salem, for assuming the hardships of the pioneer in their new 
 town. Jonathan Meacham was with Ephraim Williams in the battle 
 of Lake George, nearly two years after this town-meeting. 
 
 Just four months after the first proprietors' meeting, a second was 
 called by the clerk at the instance of "five or seven" of the local 
 proprietors, as provided for in the first meeting : — 
 
 Whereas application hath bin maid to me the subscriber hearof by a number 
 of the Proprietors of the west Township of Hoosuck so called to Issue out a 
 warrant for Calling of a Proprietors meeting in s'd Township setting forth the 
 time Place and ocasion of s'd meeting which meeting is to be held at the Dwelling 
 house of Capt. Allen Curtiss then and there to act on the articles as follows : 
 Vizt. 
 
 1 To choose a moderator for s'd meeting 
 2iy To se if the Proprietors will Except the Keturn of the Commite Chosen to 
 
 lay out the Division or Divisions of land and the Return of the Commite 
 
 Chosen to lay out the high ways 
 3iy To se if the Prop? will Draw for there medow Lots and there first 50-acre 
 
 Division as they are now laid out. 
 4^y To se if the Proprietors will hear and Except the accompts of any if they 
 
 be offered 
 5'y To se if the Props will agree upon some place for a buring place or apoint a 
 
 Commite to do the same and allso for Clearing some part of it. 
 
WEST HOOSAC. ^^99 
 
 6'^ To see if the i ^.^.i . „iii hiive ihe Gu»pel Preach in this town ilii> .^uiuiut i or 
 
 some part of it and if so to Chose a Commite to bring in some authodox 
 
 min. to preach the gospel. 
 7'y To se if the Propr? will raise money to Defray the necessary Charges arising 
 
 in s'd Town 
 8'y To se if the Propr* will agree upon some man or men to buld a grist mill 
 
 and a saw mill and what bounty they will give for the incouragement of 
 
 the building the same 
 Which meeting is to be on Thirsday the Eightenth of this Instant at Nine of 
 the Clock in the fournoon and such of the Tropr? as shall asemble and meat at 
 s'd time and place are hearby Impowered to act on all or part of the foregoing 
 articles. 
 
 Fort Massachusetts April 6, 1764. 
 
 Isaac Wyman Propr? Clerk. 
 
 At a Proprietors meeting lawful! warned in the west Township at Hoosuck 
 
 April the Eighteenth 1754 
 
 Voted and agreed upon at s'd meeting as follows Vizt. 
 
 1 . Voted and Choose Capt Allen Curtiss moderator for s'd meeting 
 
 2iy Voted and Excepted the Return of the Commite Chosen to lay out the 
 Divisions of lands in s'd Township and allso the Return of the Commite 
 Choosen to lay out highways to accomidate said Town. 
 
 3'y Voted and agreed to Draw the medow Lots and the first fifty acre Division 
 as follows : Choose Mr, David King Surveyor to Draw for the Divisions to 
 Each Right in s'd Town s'd meeting adjourned untill one a Clock in the 
 afternoon and then meet. 
 
 4'y Voted and Granted to Mr. David King, Surveyor his acompt for Laying 
 out the Divisions of Land in s'd Township and Granted the whole of all 
 the accompts Delivered to the Clerk of said Proprietors. Adjourned Said 
 meeting untill the Nineteenth of this instant at 12 a Clock and then meet. 
 
 6'y Voted to Leve two accres and a half for a burial Place in said Town at the 
 North East Eand of the Lot No. 2 on the west side of the street Leving a 
 two Rod road at the eand of s'd Lot and allso to Clear half an acre at the 
 South East Corner of s'd Land the Proprietors Cost. 
 
 6'y Voted and Granted to raise 12 Shillings upon Each Proprietors Right in s'd 
 Town to Defray the necessary Charges arising at a meeting of the Proprie- 
 tors regularly worned and met on the W^ of April 1754 the above written 
 vots voted and mineted in a regular form, test Allen Ccrtiss moderator 
 
 Isaac Wyman Propr? Clerk. 
 
 So far, matters had gone smoothly in the settlement of West 
 Hoosac. About a dozen house lots had been roughly occupied. A 
 meadow lot of ten or eleven acres on one of the main streams had 
 been drawn to each house lot, and one fifty-acre lot also. As the 
 spring of 1754 was drawing on, there was a desire on the part of the 
 settlers, who seem to have been contented with their home, to have 
 some roads laid out by which they could reach their new lots, and 
 
400 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 also to draw their second-division fifty-acre lots, which, it was under- 
 stood, would be located on the more level lands in the south part of 
 the town. Accordingly, about ten days after the adjournment of 
 the second pro^^rietors' meeting, api)lication was made to Captain 
 Wyman, at Fort Massachusetts, their clerk, to issue a call for a 
 third meeting of the proprietors. This proved to be the last meeting 
 for more than six years and a half. The Erencli and Indian war 
 was about to break out again with more violence than ever ; and the 
 almost universal law, that such an enterprise as settling and civil- 
 izing the beautiful Hoosac valley can only be compassed, in the 
 nature of things, through contentions and difficulties, was soon to be 
 illustrated for the thousandth time. The following are the sum- 
 mons and the doings of that meeting : — 
 
 Whereas application hath been maid to me the Subscriber hear of by a Suffi- 
 cient number of the Proprietors of the west Town at Hoosuck for to call a 
 meeting of the Propr? of s'd town Setting forth the time Place and ocashon of 
 s'd meeting Which meeting is to be held at the Dwelling house of Capt. Allen 
 Curtiss on wensday the fifteenth Day of May at ten of the Clock in the fore- 
 Noon then and there to act on the following articles : Vizt. 
 1. To choose a moderator for s'd meeting 
 2iy To see if the Proprietors will draw for there Second Fifty acre Division and 
 
 after what manner they will do the same 
 S^y To see if the Propr^ will Clear Some part or all the highways that are Laid 
 
 out to convene the fifty acre Division and the medow Land. 
 4iy To see if they will Raise money to Defray the Charges of the same or any 
 
 other Necessary Charges that may arise in said Town or to make any other 
 
 proper votes as they shall think best. 
 These are therefore to Notifye and worn the said Proprietors that they assem- 
 ble and meat at s'd time and place to act and Determine on all or part of the 
 fourgoin articles as they shall Think Fit. 
 
 Isaac Wyman Prop Clerk 
 
 Fort Massachusetts April 29 1764. 
 
 At a Proprietors meeting lawfuU worned in the West Township at lioosuck 
 
 and the following articles acted upon as follows : vizt. 
 
 1. Voted and Choose Capt. Elisha Chapin moderator for s'd meeting. 
 
 2iy Voted by the Propr? to Draw for the Second fifty acres Division in the fol- 
 lowing manner Choose Capt. Allen Curtiss to Draw a ticket to Each Right 
 for s'd Propr? 
 
 3'y Voted at s'd meeting to Clear the Road from the North Eand of the Cross 
 Streeat in s'd Town to hampshear line [Vt. line] one rod wide and for the 
 Propr? to work for two shillings and Eight pence a Day. 
 
 4iy Voted and granted Oliver Avery's and John Crawfoord's accompt for Clear- 
 ing part of the burial Place 
 
 6iy Voted and Choose Capt. Allen Curtiss surveyor to Clear the fore mentioned 
 Road 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 401 
 
 .. \ uted and granted to Raise Six Shillings upon Each Propr* Risrht in s'd 
 Town to Defray the necessary Charges of the Same. 
 
 Test. Elisha Chaimx uKxierator 
 
 Na AC Wyman Propr Clerk 
 
 War burst upon the valley just one month after this meeting, 
 May 28, 1754; about one hundred Indians assaulted "Dutch Hoosac," 
 now Hoosac Falls, about twelve miles down the river. Their first 
 attack was made on a few men at a mill, where they killed Samuel 
 Bowen, and wounded John Barnard; they then rushed into the 
 little settlement, burned the houses and barns and a large quantity 
 of wheat in the stack, and killed most of the cattle. The next day, 
 they burned the little settlement at St. Croix, now Hoosac Junction, 
 so-called, at the mouth of the Walloomsac, and up its fertile valley ; 
 but as most of the ^jeople had previously fled from both places, but 
 few lives were lost. The garrison at Fort Massachusetts was too 
 weak to afford effectual aid even to the West Hoosac homesteads, 
 still less to those lower down the river. Captain Elisha Chapin, 
 who commanded the fort at that time, the same who was the last 
 moderator at West Hoosac, stated the loss at Dutch Hoosac at seven 
 dwelling-houses, fourteen barns, and fourteen barracks of wheat ; 
 and very nearly the same at St Croix ; amounting, as he estimated, 
 to £4000 York currency. These depredations were attributed prin- 
 cipally to the Schaghticoke Indians, many of whom were descend- 
 ants of the New England Indians, who had left the region of the 
 Connecticut Kiver in King Philip's war. Of course, these were 
 set on by the Canada Indians, and were soon followed by their 
 principals. 
 
 All the settlers at West Hoosac immediately abandoned the 
 place on news of the approaching ravages below them ; those who 
 had families betook themselves to Fort Massachusetts, where they 
 were not very welcome, and others returned to their homes over the 
 mountain or into Connecticut. The second Indian party, more dis- 
 tinctly announcing the renewal of the French war from the north, 
 shrewdly avoided Fort Massachusetts, flanking it on the west, fol- 
 lowing up the Green River to the south, from its junction with the 
 Hoosac, and so over the low water-shed to the upper Housatonic, 
 which they followed down through Lanesboro and Pontoosuck as 
 far as Stockbridge. A scout was sent after them from the fort. 
 In following their tracks in what is now Lanesboro, two Indian 
 chiefs were discovered stooping down and tying on their moccasins. 
 Each of the two scouts selected one, and both the chiefs were killed 
 
402 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 on the spot. The scout safely escaped to the fort, though closely- 
 followed for some distance. A larger party from the fort set out 
 at once to find the bodies of the slain chiefs, and found them buried 
 in all the bravery of their war-costume. The Indians proceeded 
 through Pittsfield, driving off several families from there and 
 Lenox, and penetrated to Stockbridge, where they attacked the 
 house of Joshua Chamberlain, who lived on the " Hill," on ground 
 well known to this day. It was Sunday, and most of the people 
 of Stockbridge were at church. Chamberlain had a brave hired 
 man whose name was Owen, who kept the Indians at bay while 
 Chamberlain and his wife escaped, but who himself fell under 
 mortal wounds, and died very soon. The Indians scalped him, and 
 killed and scalped one child, and carried away another, which they 
 soon killed and scalped, in consequence of discovering that a party 
 was forming, or formed, to pursue them. 
 
 This bold incursion taught two important lessons. It taught the 
 people of Connecticut that they were much exposed to Canada by 
 way of the Housatonic, and that they ought to help the " Bay " ta 
 defend the gateway of the Upper Hoosac. They raised a small 
 body of troops immediately, some of which were soon posted at 
 Pontoosuck, and others, later, helped to garrison the AVest Hoosac 
 fort as soon as that was ready to receive them. For the other les- 
 son taught by the incursion of the summer of 1754 was, that Fort 
 Massachusetts was not well placed to defend the frontier towns in 
 what is now Berkshire from the French and Indians. It stood ta 
 one side of the hostile route. This item of experience doubled the 
 confidence of the West Hoosac settlers, who were at the same time 
 soldiers, to demand of the General Court a fort of their own, to be- 
 manned by themselves. 
 
 The following petition to the General Court gives an interesting 
 account, written by themselves, of the condition of our pioneers 
 during the summer of 1754, and probably discloses the names of all 
 those who had made a beginning on their house lots and had not 
 gone back to their original homes. Indeed, of the eleven precious 
 names appended to this petition, there are only two with which we 
 have not already become familiar ; namely, Oliver Avery and William 
 Chidester. Avery was from Charlemont, and Chidester was from 
 Cornwall, Connecticut. The latter was an original proprietor in 
 West Hoosac, drawing house lot 6, and in June, 1752, buying, by 
 bond, house lot 18 (£20), which was the breadth of one lot east 
 of Benjamin Simonds's lot ; while in April, 1754, he sold to his son, 
 of the same name, WiUiam Chidester, house lot 24, which was the 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 403 
 
 lot next west of Simonds's, — all, except No. 6, on the fourth emi- 
 nence, northwest quarter. 
 
 To His Excellency Win Shirley Esqr Captn Genl and Governor in Chief in and 
 over his Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay and &c. 
 
 To the Honble his Majestys Council and The House of Representatives in 
 Genl Court Assembled — Oct. 17. 1754. 
 
 The Petition of the inhabitants of West Hoosuck — Humbly Sheweth 
 That upon Survey of the Plan of sd Township and from the information of 
 the Gentn of this Honourable Court that sold us our Kespective Lotts we are 
 abundantly Satisfied that the Government designed it for a Barrier Town into 
 which Succour upon any rupture would be thrown, which induced us to take up 
 with Narrow Lotts less than fourteen Rods wide and thereby subject ourselves 
 to the inconveniences of living in a Huddle, also to give moneys for our Land 
 (which the Government has had the Benefit of) which used to be given upon the 
 promise of selling and Large Bonds to the Province Treasurer for Settleing which 
 now lie against us &c. But may it please your Excellency and Hours Such is 
 our case upon the late Alarm we for Shelter ran to fort Massachusetts and are 
 there with our familys who Clutter the Fort, and make our lives and that of the 
 Soldiers very uncomfortable — in this poor Situation your Pettnrs are wait- 
 ing your Excellencies and Honours Directions how to Bestow ourselves, and 
 would let your Excellency know there is about E leaven families of us that 
 would gladly Return to our Settlements, and a considerable number more, could 
 we receive proper incouragemt from this Honable Court, Whose Determination 
 we all Humbly wait 
 
 And as in Duty bound shall ever pray &c 
 
 Signed by 
 JoxA Meachm Seth Hudson 
 
 Gideon Warrin William Chidester 
 
 Benj. Simoxds Ezekl Foster 
 
 Oliver Avery Allin Curtiss 
 
 Thomas Train Jabez Warrin Junr 
 
 Jabez Warrin 
 
 This petition for aid does not seem to have impressed the Legis- 
 lature favorably, under thQ circumstances; and it was certainly- 
 contrary to the views of Colonel Israel Williams, of Hatfield, the 
 military commander of the "western frontier" throughout the 
 impending war. He had advised the abandonment of forts Pelham 
 and Shirley upon the hilltops, and the concentration of all defences 
 into the valley of the Deerfield River, keeping up in full vigor, how- 
 ever, the one chief fort over the mountain, — dear to all the Williams 
 family, — Fort Massachusetts. He advised these petitioners to re- 
 move their gathered crops of wheat and their other effects to some 
 place of safety, and to abandon their little homes till after the next 
 yearns campaign against Crown Point, which was already being coun- 
 
404 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 selled over on both sides of the Atlantic. Jonathan Meacham and 
 his brother William enlisted, the next spring, with several others at 
 the fort, under Colonel Ephraim Williams, and shared in the perils 
 of the battle of Lake George 5 and when the news of that drawn 
 battle, as it were, reached Hampshire County, with a call for re- 
 inforcements, James Meacham and others, of New Salem, enlisted 
 in the company of Captain Nathaniel D wight, the same who ran out 
 the lines of our two towns in 1749, and his Diary notes the passage 
 of his company through West Hoosac, on Sunday, September 28, on 
 his way to Lake George. Not much, if anything, was done here in 
 the way of improvements during that summer and autumn of 1755 ; 
 but many an active young fellow from the eastward and southward 
 had his eyes open as he trudged along the old military paths by the 
 Hoosac, Owl Kill, the Battenkill, and the upper Hudson, prepared 
 to take advantage of what he had seen when Peace and Canada had 
 been conquered. 
 
 Besides the company of Captain Dwight, there were a good many 
 other companies, and parts of companies, that pressed through West 
 Hoosac in the fall of 1755, to reinforce Johnson's army at the lake, 
 and to work on the great wooden fort that he was building on the 
 northwest corner of his battle-field of September. He named this 
 fort William Henry, after another of the grandsons of King George, 
 and it was completed about the middle of November ; and then the 
 New England men, who had not already been sent home, turned 
 their faces towards Fort Massachusetts. There were certainly some 
 four or five hearth-fires kept burning in West Hoosac during that 
 winter of 1755-56 ; and there is good reason for believing that the 
 little hamlet on Hemlock Brook was not wholly deserted, except, 
 perhaps, for a few days, even while the Indians were burning and 
 ravaging on the Hoosac, a few miles below, in the summer of 1754. 
 The women and children were taken over to the fort, while the men 
 passed more or less back and forth. The evidence points to a prac- 
 tically continuous occupation, on the part of a very few, of their 
 little homes near the brook, from 1752. The conviction was deepen- 
 ing on the part of all the actual settlers, and doubtless as well on 
 the part of all the military bands passing through the place, back 
 and forth, that Fort Massachusetts had been misplaced, and that 
 the third eminence in West Hoosac could be more easily defended, 
 and could much more easily defend the settlers. Especially would 
 this be the view of the Connecticut men, having found out by expe- 
 rience that the Green River made an easy path for the Indians to 
 the Housatonic. Very interesting and significant, accordingly, is 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 405 
 
 the following petition of William Chidester, a Connecticut man, to 
 the General Court of Massachusetts, for aid to erect a blockhouse 
 in West Hoosac. The petition wiis sent and answered in the depth 
 of winter : — 
 
 Province of the 
 Massachusetts Bay 
 
 To his Honour Spencer Phipps Esq Commander in Chief 
 in and over His Majesty's province of the Massachusetts 
 \ Bay in New England, To the Honourable His Majesty's 
 Council, and House of Representatives in General Court 
 assembled the 18 Day of Jany 1750 
 
 The Petition of William Chidester of the Place called Hoosuck in the County 
 of Hampshire in said Province Humbly Shews: 
 
 That your petitioner purchased several lotts of land in the Westerly Town- 
 ship called Hoosuck Townships, which lays about four miles to the westward of 
 fort Massachusetts, and liad Removed his family on to said lots In order to Per- 
 form the Duties In joined the several Purchasers of lotts in the said Township, 
 with an expectation that the other purchasers would have followed him to fulfill 
 their obligations on their Respective lotts, and so strengthen the Town, that they 
 might not only Defend ourselves against the common Eniray, but be a Barrier 
 to Province, But so it is that Your Petitioner and Some Others, to tuk amoi.nt 
 OF FIVE FAMiLYs are left alone in the said Westerly Township as he apprehends 
 in Emmenant Danger of being Murthered, and their substance destroyed by the 
 Common Enimy, as there is but about five familys between his habitation, and 
 the place Coled Scotohook (Schaghticoke) in the Dutch County which the 
 Indians and French burnt and distroyed the last fall, Notwithstanding our 
 forces were at lake George at the same time. Your Petitioner therefore humbly 
 Prays your Honour and Honours would be Graciously pleased to take his 
 Distrest Condition into your wise Consideration and grant such Releife as in 
 Your great Wisdom you shall see meet. And as in Duty bound shall ever pray. 
 
 William Chidester 
 
 This petition was acted upon in the Popular Assembly in ten 
 days, and by the Council and governor in five days more. Their 
 reply was as follows ; — 
 
 In House of Representatives, Jany 28 1756 
 Read and Ordered, That the prayer of this Petn be so far granted as that the 
 Commander in Chief be disired to give orderr, That if the Proprietors of said 
 Township or any part of them shall at their own cost and charge erect a suffi- 
 cient Block house in said Town, in the place called the square by the 
 tenth day of March next, that then there be allowed Ten Soldiers, either out of 
 the number now Stationed at Fort Massachusetts, or otherwise by a new Levy 
 as this Court shall judge best: and that the sd proprietors or such of them as 
 shall appear and labour in the Erecting of sd Fort be allowed their Subsistence 
 out of the province stores for the space of two months ; and that if the Propri- 
 etors shall not appear by the tenth of March next to erect a Block-house on the 
 place called the square, that then the Petitioner with such as shall appear 
 
406 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 spirited with him, and shall erect a Block-house round his house and the 
 TWO other houses convenient to be taken in, shall be entitled to the same 
 subsistence above sd while building said Block-house, and that when sd Block- 
 house is finished Ten of the Inhabitants which shall have Erected said Block- 
 house be put into pay and subsistence during ye Courts pleasure, and that the 
 Commander in Chief be disired to give orders that there be a Guard of Ten men 
 taken from Fort Massachusetts to guard the Labourers while they are at work 
 
 on sd Block-house 
 
 Sent up for Concurrence 
 
 T. Hubbard Spkr 
 In Council Feb 2. Read and Concurred 
 
 Thos Clark Depty Sec'ry 
 
 Consented to W. Shirley. 
 
 Governor Shirley issued an executive order on the 6th of February, 
 in accordance with Chidester's request, authorizing him to build a 
 blockhouse on the " Square," — that is, in the Main Street on the 
 third eminence, — if he could induce a sufficient number of the pro- 
 prietors to join him so as to complete the work by the 10th of March ; 
 otherwise to build the blockhouse on his own lot, house lot No. 6, 
 and afterwards to picket the front part of that lot and of the lot next 
 west, house lot No. 8. Chidester only found encouragement to do 
 the lesser thing. Benjamin Simonds, Seth Hudson, and Jabez War- 
 ren, three of the oldest homesteaders whose lots were near Chides- 
 ter's, chipped in to aid him in his work. His own lot was the third 
 west of North Street, or twenty-eight rods west of the present Kap 
 House, east line. These four men commenced at once to erect the 
 blockhouse on the eastern line of No. 6, where it touched the Main 
 Street ; and several others, who had left on the alarm in 1754, and 
 among them Nehemiah Smedley and Josiah Hosford and William 
 Hosford, from Connecticut, returned and aided ,in the work. Ten 
 men from Fort Massachusetts served as a guard from February 29th 
 to March 29tli, when the blockhouse was finished. We cannot tell 
 exactly when it was done, but we know that pickets were set after 
 the manner of Fort Pelham around the fronts of both of those lots, 
 enclosing the two houses (built before), each on its own front lot 
 next the street. A good well was also within the enclosure. 
 
 This rude work, not very well placed, and not meeting the views 
 of a considerable number of the resident proprietors, was called 
 " West Hoosac Fort," and it had a history, as we shall see. It was 
 accidental, but it is interesting nevertheless, that this local fort occu- 
 pied the front of one of the two original lots drawn by Ephraim 
 Williams, the founder. It is claimed that William Pratt, son of Silas 
 Pratt, born in this fort, was the first male child born in town. He 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 407 
 
 died in Pownal in 1846, and transmitted to his children many credi- 
 ble traditions of " ye olden time." The old well of the fort has had 
 a somewhat peculiar history. After the tooth of time had gnawed 
 into utter disappearance Chidester's house and the blockhouse, their 
 site remained unoccupied and the well unused until about 1825, when 
 the nucleus of the present house was built on the old site, and the 
 well came again into family requisition. Arad Horsford, William 
 Bridges, James Smedley, and Robert Noble lived in it successively, 
 and usually found the well ample for their purposes. The last- 
 named extended his kitchen northwards over the well, arranged a 
 chain pump to draw up the water, when an animal of the genus not 
 commonly mentioned in polite society (Mephitis americana) fell 
 into the well, with such disagreeable consequences that Mr. Noble 
 filled it in "for good." Its position, however, can be precisely 
 pointed out at the present. 
 
 It was inevitable, in the nature of things, that jealousy should 
 spring up between the newer and the older forts in one small 
 valley. Before the blockhouse was finished, March 9, 1756, the 
 General Court 
 
 Ordered, That there be Forty Men at Hoosuck and no more. Thirty whereof 
 to be posted at Vort Massachusetts, and ten at the West Township, the said Ten 
 at ye West Township to be inhabitants of sd Township, if tliere shall be so many 
 inhabitants effective for the service, alwaies including the men that shall have 
 been concerned in building the Block-house agreeable to the vote of this Court 
 of the 28th of Jany last. 
 
 In obedience to this order Captain Wyman, March 23, detailed 
 five men from Fort Massachusetts, under the command of Sergeant 
 Samuel Taylor, to guard the new work, in connection with the men 
 who had built it. This put the new fort under the control of a 
 subaltern of the old one. Chidester went to Boston in April, and 
 obtained from Governor Shirley a Sergeant's commission and author- 
 ity to supersede Taylor in the command of the new fort. There 
 seems to have been another jealousy stirring in the minds of these 
 men, not exactly parallel to that as between the forts, but perhaps 
 deeper than that, and, at any rate, working into the hands of that, 
 — namely, the antipathy between the Connecticut men and the men 
 of the Bay. Chidester and his chief friends were from the southern 
 colony ; most of the other leading men were from the eastward. This 
 colonial bickering had certainly broken out at Lake George the fall 
 before ; and it seems difficult to account for the facts here without 
 this further hypothesis. A portion of the settlers were not satisfied, 
 
408 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 at any rate, with the proceedings of Chidester, his sons, and his 
 followers. 
 
 Thomas Train, who was originally from Weston (a part of Water- 
 town), and who seems to have been a special friend of Colonel Par- 
 tridge of Hatfield, which latter character married Anna Williams, 
 daughter of the Weston minister, and so came into favor beyond 
 his deserts with the Williams family as a whole, and who had given 
 to Train house lot 4 (next to the new blockhouse), presented the 
 following petition on the 27th of May, 1756, for public aid to build 
 another fort. 
 
 To His Honour Spencer Phipps Esq — Lieut Govr and Commander in Chief of 
 His Majisties Province of Massachusetts Bay &c 
 
 The Honble His Majisties Council and ye Honble House of Representatives 
 in General Court Assembled — May 26. 1756. 
 
 The memorial of Thomas Train of West Hoosuck in behalf of himself and 
 Divers others of the Proprietors of West Hoosuck, Humbly Sheweth : 
 
 That your Memorialist and others of the Proprietors of ye aforesaid Town- 
 ship, would with ye countenance and encouragement of ye General Court build 
 at their own proper cost and Charge a Block-house at said place upon the Square 
 so called which will be of special service in order to bring forward a settlement 
 of said place, and beg leave to Represent that ye Block-house (if it will bear ye 
 name) built by William Chidester and others answers no good purpose and was 
 erected contrary to the minds of ye Proprietors in general, and as we think 
 contrary to ye design and order of ye Genl Court ; therefore your memorialist 
 humbly begs leave to erect a Block-house at ye aforesaid place of ye following 
 Dimensions viz: Eighty feet square, two mounts twenty feet square, with a 
 sufficient Watch Box to ye same — all with Hewn Timber. And that your Hon- 
 ours in your wonted goodness would subsist your memorialists whilst erecting 
 said Block-house and grant them such a number of men to mantle ye same 
 (During their perilous season) as your Honours in your great wisdom shall see 
 
 best and as in Duty bound shall ever pray. 
 
 Thomas Train. 
 
 Attached to the above petition is the following subscription paper, 
 all the names upon which are men of the "Bay." Joseph Hawley 
 of this list, who then owned house lot 47, on which now stands the 
 Post-ofiice and bank block of the town, was at that time the most 
 important man in Northampton; and John Moffat was a painter 
 in Boston, who sold in 17G0 his house lot 46, on whose front the 
 Congregational Church now stands, to William Horsford for twenty 
 shillings. William Horsford also owned in 1765 the next lot west, 
 44, on which the president's house now stands ; and Josiah Horsford 
 the next, still west, 42, on which the Whitmans lived for three- 
 fourths of the present century. 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 
 
 409 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, May ye 10, 1756. 
 We the subscribers do promise to pay unto Any Person or persons the several 
 siuns subscribed if they will undertake and finish a sufficient fort on the Square 
 in the West Township at llusack so called at the compleat finishing said fort — 
 the Dimentions are as followeth viz. said fort to be 80 feet square with two 
 mounts each 20 feet square, the said Fort to be built of hewn timber and a suf- 
 ficient Watch Box — and we the subscribers do promise to pay the several sums 
 subscribed or to work till we have Compleated the Superscription, as witness 
 our hands — 
 
 Isaac Wvman 
 
 6-0-0 
 
 Thomas Train 
 
 3-0-0 
 
 Ben Symonds 
 
 3-0-0 
 
 Elisha Higgins 
 
 1-10-0 
 
 William Meacham 
 
 3-0-0 
 
 William Train 
 
 1-10-0 
 
 Tyras Pratt 
 
 1-6-8 
 
 Joseph Hawley 
 
 0-18-0 
 
 Gad Ciiapin 
 
 3-0-0 
 
 Jonathan Meacham 
 
 2-0-0 
 
 John Wells 
 
 3-0-0 
 
 Derick Webb 
 
 0-1-10 
 
 Noah Phatt 
 
 1-6-8 
 
 John Moffat 
 
 3-0-0 
 
 Saml Taylor 
 
 3-0-0 
 
 
 
 No response appears to have been made to this petition, with its 
 liberal pecuniary offer of £35 12s. 4d. Meanwhile there were 
 rumors here of an enemy approaching from the northwest. The 
 blockhouse had no artillery at all, and had but ten men as a garri- 
 son. Early in June, Chidester went to Boston again, and took with 
 him the two petitions that follow, whose contents and signatures, 
 though they have a decided Connecticut flavor as over against Massa- 
 chusetts, have also in both respects a spirit of compromise. 
 
 To his Excellency William Shirley Esq. Capt General, &c, and to the Honble his 
 Majesty's Council, and the Honourable House of Representatives in General 
 Court Assembled. 
 
 The Petition of the Proprietors of the West Hoosuck Humbly sheweth, 
 That whereas ten of the Proprietors of West Hoosuck have obtained Liberty 
 from the Honble Court to build a Fort in sd township with the Incouragement 
 of the Pay and Subsistence of the Province as Soldiers, and as there is allowed 
 forty men for the Defence of the western fronteers at fort Massachusetts and 
 West Hoosuck, fort Massachusetts is a Considerable Part of it fell down and it 
 is Daly expected the rest will fall — and Concluding the Province will P^ither 
 Rebuild that fort agin or Bild some other for the Defence of the fronteer, your 
 Petitioners Humbly Prays that Massachusetts fort may not be Rebuilt but that 
 we may Have the Liberty of Erecting a fort in our township that shall answer 
 the (same) intent of the Government as that, and that we may have the artillery 
 and the seame strength allowed as was there — and inasmuch as those ten of our 
 Proprietors Have already ben at great cost in Erecting a block-house in town, 
 and Have Don it in such a manner as with some addition will accomadate the 
 whole propriety, your Petitioners Humbly Praieth that we may Have the Like 
 Encouragement allowed us as those ten Have, and we will forthwith join those 
 ten, and by adding other work to the fort allready Built make it a sufficient fort 
 
410 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 to answer the intent of the Government as a fort instead of Hoosuck fort, which 
 will at once Build up this town & will be as much Defence to the Government 
 and for less Charge, the Determination of which your Pettrs shall wait and as 
 in Duty bound shall ever Pray — 
 
 JosiAH Dean Elisha Higgins 
 
 Samuel Kellogg Seth Kent 
 
 Nehemiah Smedley Josiah Horsford 
 
 Jonathan Kylborne Jesse Sawyer 
 
 SoLOxMON Buel Elnathan Ashmun 
 
 Elisha Chapin Tyras Pratt 
 
 Noah Pratt Enos Hudson 
 
 Gideon Warrin 
 
 June 9th 1756 — presented. Referred to ye next Sitting. 
 
 Petition of William Chidester. 
 
 May it please your Honor, ^^^^«^^' J^^^ 1^' ^^^^' 
 
 Whereas there are now two small swivel Guns in Fort Massachusetts unim- 
 proved by said Garrison who are otherwise supplied with Artillery, and the same 
 would be of Singular Service at the Block-house at Hoosuck where they are 
 destitute of any artillery. This is to pray the Favor of your Honours regard to 
 our circumstances in Exigency as to give Orders that the same may be removed 
 from thence to said Block-house at Hoosuck, with ammunition for the Improve- 
 ment of said Swivel Guns in case of need. Or otherwise supplyed as your 
 Honour shall judge necessary at this time of Danger. And your Petitioner as 
 
 in duty bound shall ever pray &c -1,^ r^ 
 
 ^ "^ William Chidester 
 
 To the Honourable Spencer Phipps Esq. Lt Govr & Commander in Chiefe of the 
 Province of Massachusetts Bay. 
 
 Chidester returned from Boston, without much, if any, encourage- 
 ment from high quarters, to his blockhouse and few faithful com- 
 panions at West Hoosac. Before he arrived, perhaps the very day 
 he started, at any rate on June 11, a series of hostile operations by 
 French and Indians were begun on the Hoosac, which cost the lives 
 of many of its brave defenders, and made the campaign of 1756 
 a gloomy one in New England, only surpassed by the deeper glooms 
 of 1757. It had long been the custom to keep small scouting 
 parties in motion from fort to fort, from the Connecticut to the 
 Hoosac, and down that river to the Hudson, and then back again. 
 To the scattered garrisons, this was the main source of news from 
 the eastward as well as from Canada. Sometimes only two soldiers 
 would make these reconnoissances, tramping and watching after the 
 Indian fashion. Benjamin King and William Meacham had been 
 sent by Captain Wyman down the Hoosac on such an errand, and, 
 returning, fell into an ambuscade only about three-quarters of a 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 411 
 
 mile from the fort, and both were killed. This was June 11. King 
 was from Palmer; and his body lies in the old burying-ground there, 
 with a still legible inscription on the slate-stone monument at his 
 grave. Meacham was from New Salem, and was own brother to 
 Jonathan, who played a pretty conspicuous role here for many years 
 both in things civil and ecclesiastical. The brothers were own 
 cousins to James Meacham, who was not, like them, in the battle of 
 Lake George, but who became a soldier on that ground a few weeks 
 liiter, and wrought in that capacity on Fort William Henry. 
 
 Fifteen days after this, a detachment of thirteen soldiers under 
 Lieutenant Grant, from the main army of General Winslow, then 
 encamped at Half Moon on the North Kiver, were on their way to 
 Fort Massacliusetts, when they were surprised by the enemy in the 
 present town of Hoosac, about thirteen miles below the fort; eight 
 of their number were killed outright, and the remaining five cap- 
 tured. The next day. Ensign Barnard was sent from the fort by 
 Captain Wyman, with a small party, to reconnoitre the ground, and, 
 if possible, to bury the dead, when he found, on approaching tlie 
 place where the dead bodies lay in the road, a large body of Indians 
 in ambuscade ready to pounce upon the party. Barnard warily 
 withdrew his men, and made good his retreat to the fort. Hearing 
 of the circumstances, General Winslow detached Captain Butter- 
 field with a strong body from Half Moon, who took possession of 
 the ground and buried the slain. 
 
 July* 11, as Chidester and his son James and Captain Elisha Cha- 
 pin were looking for some strayed cows along Hemlock Brook at 
 some little distance from their fort on the hillside above the brook, 
 an Indian volley killed the two Chidesters, and wounded Chapin, 
 who was seized, carried off about sixty rods, and killed and scalped. 
 This was that Chapin of "Chickobee," who was characterized as 
 follows in Colonel Ephraim Williams's will, drawn the year before : 
 " I give and devise and remit to the poor, distressed, and improvi- 
 dent Captain Elisha Chapin, the sum of one hundred pounds, to be 
 deducted out of the bond given jointly by Moses Graves, and said 
 Elisha Chapin ; the said hundred pounds to be remitted out of said 
 Chapin's part" Chapin had some good and generous qualities. 
 He had commanded Fort Massachusetts for a time in 1754, and had 
 acquired the reputation of a brave officer. This surprise occurred 
 about sunset. The Indians then pressed up the hill, opened fire 
 upon the blockhouse, killed the cattle in the vicinity, and soon after 
 retreated into the woods. Nobody dared, apparently, to carry the 
 news at once to the other fort ; and it was only on the second day 
 
412 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 from the attack, that '' Captain Wymau sent twenty men to search for 
 the body of Captain Chapin, who found him, and buried him in a 
 decent manner, and returned with his family to Fort Massachusetts." 
 It was about this time, both before and after the death of Chapin 
 and the Chidesters, nearly two years in all, that Seth Hudson was 
 acting as surgeon at the two forts, as well as in other public capaci- 
 ties ; and his original bill for medical services, presented to the 
 General Court and approved by a committee of which J. Wendell 
 was chairman, is now in possession of the excellent antiquarian, 
 Fisher Howe, of Boston. He has kindly loaned it for use in the 
 present instance. The heading of this bill entire, and some of the 
 items in detail, the reader will certainly be glad to see. The whole 
 bill would be here reproduced verhatim et literatim, were it not for 
 the fact that the doctor deems it incumbent on him not only to 
 specify the names of the soldiers treated, but also, in abbreviated 
 medical terms, the general treatment followed, and the medicines 
 administered. These are difficult to decipher, and, in the present 
 state of medical science and of the apothecaries' art, are not impor- 
 tant, especially as Hudson was always more soldier than surgeon. 
 The heading is as follows : — 
 
 Province of Massachusetts Bay to Seth Hudson Dr. 
 for Medicines &c administered to the Souldiers 
 at Fort Massachusetts, at the Blockhouse at 
 West hoosuck, and others Souldiers in the Province 
 Servince, from June 12, 1755 to April 1, 1757. 
 
 About one-half of the soldiers named in this bill as treated by 
 him, were among the earliest proprietors of West Hoosac. The 
 names are as follows : — 
 
 John Crosby Edmond Townsend [Town?] 
 
 Gad Chapm Joseph Bush 
 
 Noah Pratt Adington Gardner 
 
 Samuel Calhoun Derick Webb 
 
 Joseph Soodwick [Southwick] James Butterfield 
 
 Jos. Birchard Lemuel Lyman 
 
 Ebenezer Graves Tyrus Pratt 
 
 Thomas Train Elijah Shelding [Sheldon] 
 
 Job Spafford Samuel Smith 
 
 Jacob Pattison James Man 
 
 Abram Bass Benj. Simonds 
 
 Jesse Graves Joseph Lovel 
 
 Geo : Willson William Horseford 
 
 Noah Brooks John Horseford 
 
 Silas Pratt 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 413 
 
 For " Bleeding " he seems always to have charged a sixpence. The 
 largest single charge in this bill is on account of Benjamin Simonds : 
 ^' Dressings and &c from S'^ to IS'** Nov. 1755, £1. 16. 6." The next 
 June he treats Simonds again, bleeding him and administering 
 spirits of nitre and (apparently) St. Croix rum and one other 
 restorative, £0 14s. 6d. The entire bill amounts to £11 5s. lOd. It 
 was allowed and certified in Boston, April 16, 1757. The bill bears, 
 at the bottom, Hudson's own autograph, a handwriting much infe- 
 rior to that in the bill itself, which is elegant. The Horsfords and 
 Pratts and Derick Webb (twice) and Thomas Train and Ebenezer 
 Graves, and other names familiar, all figure in this bill. To jot 
 down the ailings of " Benj. Simonds," and the sums he cost the 
 General Court for surgeon's service, gives the writer a queer sensa- 
 tion, while the Colonel's original portrait taken at seventy, in the 
 flush and fulness of wholesome old age, looks down upon him from 
 the wall of his study. 
 
 Seth Hudson succeeded to the command of the West Hoosac 
 fort on Chidester's death, and considerable accessions of men 
 were received there at various times during the next two years. 
 Ammunition and subsistence were supplied from the older fort, 
 and the settling of the town went forward somewhat; but the 
 principal body of the settlers felt themselves aggrieved at what 
 they considered the niggardly supplies of men and provisions re- 
 ceived from the commander of Fort Massachusetts. The house- 
 holders were evidently more or less divided into a party of the 
 ^'Bay," and a party of Connecticut; and, what was much the 
 same, into those who favored the pretensions of the eastern fort, 
 and those who deemed the western the better place of defence. 
 Of course, local pride and security entered, as elements, into the 
 dissension. Jan. 11, 1757, twenty-one of the householders pre- 
 sented to the Legislature at Boston, through a device which they 
 themselves explain, a petition for the redress of their grievances, 
 as follows : — 
 
 To His Honour Spencer Phipps Esq Lieut Grovr &c, The Honourable His Majesty's 
 Council, and the Honble House of Representatives in Gen. Court Convened 
 at Boston 
 
 Petition of a number of the Proprietors of West Hoosuck in behalf of 
 ourselves and divers others of the Proprietors of West Hoosuck Humbly 
 Sheweth : 
 
 That your Honours Petitioners Have Built a Sufficient Block-house in said 
 township agreeable to the orders of the Government which will be of Special 
 
414 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Service in order to bring forward a Settlement in said place if we can but Sup- 
 port our Hold which we trust we Could Well Do, Had we but a little more 
 Strength and a Sufficient Quantity of Stores within our walls. But since we 
 are allowed but Ten men and all our stores to fitch from fort massachusetts or 
 to subsist our Selves without any allowance from the Government the matter is 
 somewhat Precarious — for during the Perilous Season the Sumer Past we with 
 our teams was under a Necessity of taking one Part of them and to turn out 
 and go to fort massachusetts once in 14 days for our Subsistence — Nor could we 
 prevail with Capt Wyman to Let us Have any more than 14 Days allowance 
 at a time and then stay until that was allmost gon before He would Let us 
 Have any more — so that many times we had Had not a Days allowance in the 
 fort at a time when we had Reason to think we should be attacked by the Enemy 
 Daly by the frequent discoveries we made of them. — We have made applica- 
 tion to Major Williams as we under Stood He was ordered by the Government 
 to Subsist us, & likewise to Col Israel Williams and to the Comassary General, 
 But all to no purpose as we apprehend, for the Last Stores we went for we 
 Could not Get but 14 Days allowance, and a Number of us Have not Had any 
 bread for three weeks past, only what we are forced to Provide for our Selves. 
 Your Poor Petitioners Humbly Prays that your Honours in your great Wisdom 
 & goodness would Consider our Distrest Circumstances, and if your Honrs in 
 great wisdom can See fitt we Pray that we may be allowed twenty more men to 
 be added to our Number, as we are the most remoat and most Exposed of any 
 Place in the Government, and that we yr Honrs Petitioners that are not already 
 in the pay and Subsistence of the government may be some of those that may 
 be put in, and that we may be allowed the Liberty of Subsisting our Selves and 
 be allowed therefor the Same Consideration that is allowed the Comasary for 
 Hoosuck, for as there is a number of us Have our familys Hear we must Provide 
 for them, and with a little more expense we could Subsist our Selves also, and 
 could we but obtain leave therefor it woold Be a great Incouragement Settlers to 
 come for it would Provide a sufficient Store of Provision in the Winter Season, 
 so that we might not be layed under any obligation of turning out in the Perilous 
 Season — furthermore our allowance is but Small and not Sufficient to live on, 
 for we receive but five lbs and a half of flour for Seven Days allowance of Bread 
 and six pounds and 2 ounces of pork pr week and six gills of rum for Seven days 
 and half a pint of pease pr Day wine measure, which is the Whole that we get 
 as allowance, and if any man is gon from the fort on what ocasion So Ever He 
 Hires His Duty Done and looses His Subsistance, for notwithstanding a mans 
 Doing His Duty Capt Wyman stops all his allowance so many Days as He is 
 absent, and we By no means might be allowed to make Known our Circumstances 
 to the Honourable Court but our officers Wholy refused us that Liberty, but 
 now at Last we have obtained a furlofe [furlough] for one man, he not knowing 
 our Design, but notwithstanding his furlo He must Hire his Duty Don at the 
 fort and Loose His Subsistance. We furthermore Pray that we might Have an 
 officer amongst our Selves one that would Do us Justice and lett us Have what is 
 allowed by the government and not put it in to his own pocket, thus your Honrs 
 petitioners Humbly beg that your Honours would do for us as in your great 
 wisdom & goodness you see Best, and your petitioners as in Duty bound shall 
 ever pray — 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 
 
 415 
 
 N B All the assertions in the Bove written Petition Can and may be proved 
 by able witness at the Desire or by order of the Honrble Court — 
 
 Samuel Kellogg 
 Nehemiaii Smedly 
 Jonathan Kilborn 
 Solomon Buell 
 Setii Kent 
 
 ElISIIA HlGGINS 
 
 JosiAH Dean Jb 
 Elnatiian a sum in 
 Noah Pratt 
 Jabez Warrin 
 Jesse Sawyer 
 
 Seth Hudson 
 William Horsford 
 Isaac Vanarenem 
 JosiAii Horsford 
 John Horsford 
 Isaac Searl 
 Tybas Pratt 
 Gideon Warrin 
 William Chidesteb Junk 
 Archelaus Temple 
 
 Fully one-half of these signatures are names new to the record 
 up to this time. This proves that a considerable number of new 
 settlers came in during 1756, and these mostly from Connecticut, 
 notwithstanding the lack of all military successes to the westward 
 that year. The next year, 1757, was destined to witness horrible 
 military disasters at Lake George, which are only indirectly con- 
 nected with our story. The Legislature received rather coolly the 
 West Hoosac petition but just now quoted, as is shown by their 
 nTwwt'v to it, as follows : — 
 
 In House Reps Jan'y 11, 1757 — 
 
 Head and Ordered, that Mr. Lyman and Capt Richardson with such as the 
 Honble Board shall join be a Committee to consider this Petition, to repair to 
 Hoosuck lo examine ye state of ye forts there, and consider whether it be most 
 expedient to Repair Fort Massachusetts & to Keep a Garrison there and at the 
 Block-house, or to build anew elsewhere, & that the Comtee inquire into the 
 Facts alleged in the Petition & hear ye parties, and are hereby impowered to 
 take Evidences relative thereto on oath, and report. 
 
 Also Voted, That the Ten men stationed at West Hoosuck, as within men- 
 tioned, be allowed to Billet themselves at ye charge of the Province until the 
 further order of this Court, provided they do not charge more than five shillings 
 and four pence pr week for each man. 
 
 Sent up for Concurrence 
 
 T. Hubbard Spkr 
 In Council 11 Jany 1757. 
 Read & Concurred & James Minot Esq is joined in the affair. 
 
 A. Oliver, Secy 
 Consented to S. Phipps — 
 
 For some unexplained reason, though it is easy enough to guess at 
 it, the committee thus appointed failed to act in the premises, where- 
 upon Seth Hudson, in behalf of the petitioners, presented the fol- 
 lowing on April 22 : — 
 
416 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Province of the ) To the Honble his majesty's Council and the Honble House 
 Massachusetts Bay S ot Representatives. 
 
 The Petition of Seth Hudson, Humbly Sheweth 
 
 Whereas Josiah Horsford, and others, Proprietors and Inhabitants of West 
 Hoosuck, on the 8th day of Jany last presented a memorial and Petition to this 
 Honble Court, representing their grievances, and praying relief, and the Court 
 was pleased, on the 11th of Jany, to grant us the liberty of Billeting ourselves, 
 and also to appoint a Committee to repair to West Hoosuck, and examine the 
 truth of our Complaint, but it hath so happened that the Committee hath not 
 yet been there — 
 
 Your Petitioner humbly prays ; That the Committee appointed, or any other 
 Committee, be directed to repair to West Hoosuck, and view our situation and 
 circumstances, which when justly represented to your honours, will we doubt 
 not, meet with due encouragement, as it is the most exposed of any upon the 
 western Frontiers, and the properest place to make a stand against the Enemy — 
 Your Petitioner as in duty bound shall pray &c 
 
 Seth Hudson 
 Commanding Officer at West Hoosuck 
 Boston 22d April 1757 
 
 In Council April 25, 1757 
 Read and ordered that Timothy Woodbridge Esq, of Stockbridge with such as 
 the Honble House shall joyn be a Comtee to take the Petition above referred to 
 into Consideration, Repair to Hoosuck to Examine the state of the Forts there, 
 and Consider whether it be most Expedient to Repair Port Massachusetts, to 
 keep a Garrison there and at the Block-house, or to build Elsewhere ; That the 
 sd Comtee inquire into the Pacts alledg'd, hear the Parties, and they are hereby 
 Impowered to take Evidence relative thereto on oath, 
 
 Sent down for Concurrence 
 
 A. Oliver Secy 
 In the House of Reps April 25, 1757 
 
 Read and Concurred, and Coll. Morey & Capt. Livermore are Joined in the 
 ^^^^^ T. Hubbard S'k'r 
 
 The new legislative committee displayed the alacrity becoming to 
 all the circumstances. AYoodbridge, the chairman, had himself been 
 a frontiersman for many years at Stockbridge, and knew how to con- 
 strue the feelings and needs of the West Hoosac men. Woodbridge 
 and his two associates at once " repaired " to the western frontier, and 
 examined full}^ into the state of affairs there, studied the lay of the 
 land in the whole region, talked with all parties and heard their 
 complaints, and in little more than a month presented a full report 
 to the General Court at Boston. In its general tenor, it was much 
 more favorable to the West Hoosac settlers and their claims than 
 anything before officially exhibited in their behalf. The court, how- 
 ever, took no action upon it for more than six months. Other mat- 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 417 
 
 ters were more pressing. Montcalm's capture of Fort William 
 Henry at Lake George on August 9, and the massacre of large num- 
 bers of the garrison the next day, though prisoners of war, by 
 Indians infuriated by rum and revenge, kept the thoughts of Massa- 
 chusetts busy elsewhere for that summer and autumn. 
 
 The following deposition of the two Warren brothers explains 
 itself, and gives a vivid picture of some of the privations and hard- 
 ships and hazards incident to the settlement of West Hoosac. 
 
 The deposition of Jabez and Gideon Warren of full and lawful! age propri- 
 etors and settlers in the Township of West Hoosac. Testifie and say that in the 
 Latter end of Aug* 1754 when the Enemy fell upon and Destroyed what is called 
 the Dutch Iloosuck. The Inhabitants of West Hoosuck Fled for shelter to the 
 Fort Massachusetts when the said Inhabitants arrived at said fort with their 
 families they found many of the Dutch who had Escaped the Enemy and fled 
 there also. Which so cumbered the fort that it was with great difficulty that we 
 subsisted. 
 
 But hearing that Capt. Ephraim Williams was Coming to the fort with orders 
 to relieve the Inhabitants of West Hoosuck we patiently waited his arrival. 
 But when he came he refused to give us any relief saying he had orders from 
 Co'i Williams [Col. Israel of Hatfield] not to take any of the Town Inhabitants 
 into the service only Hudson Simonds and Meacham and not to take Hudson nor 
 Simonds unless they would carry of [off] their families. The distressed pro- 
 prietors earnestly intreated that they might be favored and put into the service 
 alledging that they could reasonably expect the favour of the Goverment for 
 they had spent all they had to Carry on a Settlement. Capt Curtis Mr. Chides- 
 ter and others desired favour might be showed under our miserable Circum- 
 .stances but was denied and ordered away with our families tho we desired the 
 Liberty of building without the fort yet could not obtain the request altho many 
 from the duch had it granted them and even allowed to live in the fort and in 
 the very room where the Government stores were kept, and others was allowed 
 to come to fort with their families soon afterward and altho the fort was not at 
 that time supplied with its quoto of men yet the distressed proprietors could not 
 be put into service when those who were no proprietors nor under such needy 
 Circumstances were admitted and even one from another Government. Further 
 your deponents say not.- ^^.^^^^^ Jxbez Worbin. 
 
 GlDEOX WORRIN. 
 
 March 30 1757 the above was solemnly sworn to before Tim^ Woodbridge 
 Justice Peace. 
 
 On the same day, and at the same place, one of the above, namely, 
 Jabez Warren, together with William Horsford, took " solemn oath " 
 to the following. 
 
 The testimony of Jabez Warren and William Horsford of Hoosuck West 
 Township of full and lawfull age who Testifie and say that in April 1756 when 
 Serg* William Chidester came from Boston with orders to take the Command of 
 
418 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 the fort west Hoosuck and for the Commissary for fort Massachusetts to supply- 
 said West fort with proper stores said Commissary directed Mr. Chidester to 
 receive the same of Capt. Wyman at Fort Massachusetts. But we never have 
 been able from that time to this to obtain more than fourteen days pr man 
 allowied at a time Except twice we have been allowed one months provision for 
 said fort, at all other times out of the few men we have we have been obliged 
 to travil four miles once every fortnight at the peril of our lives to fetch our pro- 
 visions which keeps us in perpetual danger and difficulty. And that the said 
 Capt. Wyman has constantly kept back every mans allowance when absent altho 
 the absent Soldier hires his duty done. And after Serg' Chidester was killed the 
 soldiers of said West fort being apprehensive from many reasons they should be 
 ill used begged the favour of Lieut Barnard (who commanded at said fort) that 
 they might lay the state of their Case before the Great and General Court and 
 be directed by them but our request was perremtory refused and none of the 
 soldiers could have Liberty to leave the fort but upon a promise that they would 
 go no further than Hatfield. 
 
 And when the Government orders came for the Soldiers to billet themselves 
 there was not stores in said fort for each mans allowance one week. Further 
 one of the deponents says (viz) Jabez Warren that met with many discourage- 
 ments in building said fort for the guard that was sent by Capt. Wyman would 
 guard none but while the peopje were at labour at the fort and refused to do any 
 other duty and would not put a hand to help up with a stick of timber tho 
 we were few and our timber heavy and declared that to be their orders not 
 to help us altho we offered them pay and sometimes the Guard left us entirely 
 when greatly exposed. Further your deponents saith not. Stockbridge March 
 30'^ 1757. [Not like the preceding in Timothy Woodbridge's own hand.] 
 
 In the meantime, even before the committee reported in June, 
 Seth Hudson, feeling his responsibility as the commanding officer at 
 the fort, sent down a petition that some artillery might be allowed 
 there, and also some services of a chaplain. One distinction of Seth 
 Hudson is, that he was by several years the last survivor of those 
 original property-holders at West Hoosac ; interest attaches to him 
 on many grounds ; and we can perhaps gain a glimpse of some of 
 his personal qualities from the words and arrangement of this 
 petition. 
 
 Province of the > 
 
 Mass Bav \ "^^ ^^® Honble his Majesty's Council 
 
 The petition of Seth Hudson of West Hoosuck, in behalf of the Inhabitants 
 there — Humbly Sheweth : 
 
 That the Block-house at W. Hoosuck is, by the continued labors of the Inhab- 
 itants made very strong, and greatly improved by additional works, so as to 
 be the strongest Fort on the Western Frontier, well situated for a Barrier, and 
 will probably save in a short time, great charge to the Government by its being 
 in a Township of the finest land in the Province, which will soon fill with People, 
 many of the Proprietors being in Connecticut, and others from that Colony 
 being desirous of settling there ; but we are wholly without artillery, 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 419 
 
 They therefore humbly pray your Honours would grant such a part of the 
 artillery from Fort Massachusetts, with Powder, Shott, & Shells, with other 
 necessarys, as may be suitable for defending the Block-house. And if a Chap- 
 lain should be appointed this summer for Fort Mass. we beg we may likewise 
 have the privilege of his preaching with ils, a favour we have not hitherto 
 enjoyed, tho but four miles distant from Fort Massachusetts. 
 
 Your Petitioner as in Duty bound, shall ever Pray &c 
 
 Seth Hudson 
 Commanding Officer of West Hoosuck 
 Presented. May 1757 
 The' artillery in Fort Massa are 
 3 — i Pounders 
 1— field piece 
 2 — Swivels 
 2 — Cohorn mortars — 
 
 In official reply to this request, one of the three four-poundets, 
 and the two swivels, named in the above memorandum, were sent 
 over to the blockhouse. The following is the prompt report of 
 the Woodbridge committee, so far as it relates to West Hoosac 
 matters : — 
 
 The Comtee appointed to repair to Hoo.suck to examine the state of the forts 
 there and to consider the complaints contained in a petition Exhibited by Sundry 
 persons of West Hoosuck, 
 
 Are of the opinion that the fort Called the Massachusetts being placed and 
 built where it is was owing to the want of a better acquaintance of the state, 
 Situation and Circumstances of that part of the province. 
 
 The Comtee Humbly conceive that the great ends and designs of the Govern- 
 ment in being at the Expense of fortifying and maintaining a garrison there 
 was to promote and bring forward settlements in that expos'd & unsettled part 
 of the province, and to be a protection to such as would bring forward Settle- 
 ments, and in some measure a defence to the Settlements below, bj' diverting 
 discovouring annoying & giving intelligence of the approach of the Enemy. 
 And if those things were the purjDose of the Government the Comtee are of 
 opinion that the said fort is not so Suitably and conveniently situated to answer 
 those Ends as might be in some other place. For by the best information it 
 appears that the enemies chief gangway to the western frontiers is about the 
 west part of the west Township. The Comtee upon a carefull Examination of 
 tlie Condition of the said fort find it much decayed, but still in such condition as 
 may answer for a while the purpo.ses of a garrison without cost to repair it 
 
 The Comtee upon a view of the Fort or block-house Erected in the west 
 Township find it a place of considerable strength and tolerable situation, and 
 with some additional building and properly man'd it would be in a condition of 
 • being maintained against a considerable force. And altho the fortress is not 
 built on the Square yet it is so near that it will accommodate the Settlers almost 
 as well, and with the addition of Barracks or Stockades from the block-house 
 to the TOP OK TtiK fM > . ^••of•T aix .. v Roix. wjtli a mouut at ye oiul of tlie said 
 
420 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Barracks or Stockades on said hill, the whole will be as well situated for 
 defence as any place the Comtee could discover. 
 
 The Comtee having Examined into the grounds of the Complaints in the said 
 petition committed to their Consideration are of the opinion that the complaints 
 Exhibited in Said petition are well supported Excepting the charge of the Sub- 
 sistence being withheld on all occasions when any soldier is absent from the fort. 
 For it appeared to the Comtee that when any soldier is sent on an express his 
 Subsistence is not withheld. The Comtee are also of opinion that the adding of 
 twenty more men to the ten at the block-house or fort in the west Township 
 would be of public service, as well as very beneficial to the settlers. 
 All which is Humbly submitted 
 
 TiMO WOODBRIDGE 
 
 Samuel Livermore 
 Stockbridge June 10. 1757 ^^^^^ ^^^^^ 
 
 In the House of Rep's January 10. 1758 
 Read, and Voted, That this report be accepted so far as it relates to Fort 
 Massachusetts and the block-house at West Hoosuck 
 
 Sent up for concurrence 
 
 T. Hubbard Spkr 
 In Council Jany 10. 1758 
 
 Read and Concurred 
 
 A. Oliver Secy 
 
 That part of the Wooclbridge committee's report which related to 
 the conduct of Captain Wyman in his capacity as commander at 
 Fort Massachusetts, to Major Elijah Williams as commissary at the 
 West, and to Colonel Israel Williams as commander of the o.ntire 
 western department, together with the copious memorials of each 
 of these officers in the premises, was referred to a new committee 
 to make further and more thorough examinations. A large mass of 
 testimony was taken, including numerous depositions, in behalf of,, 
 and in opposition to, the complaints of the petitioners, which papers, 
 in confusing abundance, are now in the secretary's office at Bos- 
 ton. Captain Wyman, on the whole, came out of the investigation 
 unscathed. 
 
 In connection with the above action of the General Court, it was 
 also voted there, — 
 
 Whereas the House are informed that there is a large Quantity of Provisions 
 provided by private persons, and now deposited at the Block House at West 
 Hoosuck which may be had for the Province use for billeting the Ninety men 
 which by this court are destined for that place, which, if procured, will prevent 
 a great Charge and Hazard to the Province in the transporting Provisions in 
 this time of danger ; therefore the Commissary-General be directed to contract 
 with the proper owners for said Provisions, provided the cost shall not exceed 
 five shillings and four pence for each man per week which is what the Inhab- 
 itants at that Block House have agreed to billet themselves for. 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 421 
 
 The reference in the foregoing vote to the "large quantity of 
 provisions provided by private persons, and now deposited at the 
 Block House at West Hoosac," is proof at once of the remarkable 
 original fertility of the lands there, and of the industry of the com- 
 paratively few landholders there in clearing up and subduing their 
 lots, all covered with heavy growths of timber, and of their courage 
 also in holding their ground in war-time under the general protec- 
 tion of the two forts, and accomplishing so much with many inter- 
 ruptions in six years' time. 
 
 The military campaign of 1758, to the northward, participated 
 in by a number of the settlers and soldiers at AVest Hoosac, and 
 watched with deep anxiety by the rest, was hardly, if at all, less 
 discouraging to them than that of the preceding year. ^lontcalm 
 gained a complete victory over Abercroiiibie at Ticonderoga, July 8, 
 in whicli Lord Howe, a great favorite in New England, to whose 
 memory Massachusetts erected a monument in Westminster Abbey, 
 was killed, when, as Major Mante says, "the soul of the army 
 seemed to expire " ; but the appointment of Jeffrey Amherst as Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the English forces in America, on September 30, 
 two months after his reduction of the Fortress of Louisburg, gave 
 a kind of presage that the tide of success was about to turn. Turn 
 it did in the next campaign. The pivotal year in the history of 
 America in the eighteenth century was 1759. The surrender of 
 Crown Point and Ticonderoga to Amherst in person, and of Quebec 
 to the army of Wolfe, September 13, ended the dream of French 
 ambition in America, gave quiet and content to every English garri- 
 son and settlement on this continent, and opened up to peaceful 
 immigration from the older colonies vast stretches of fertile lands 
 both north and south. 
 
 From the moment that the military temper and resources of 
 General Jeffrey Amherst were understood in New England, let us 
 say from Sept. 30, 1758, the individual importance of the two forts 
 on the Hoosac began steadily to decline, and of course also the 
 bitterness and bickerings between them. It is pleasant to note, 
 that the last official request of the commander of the West Hoosac 
 Fort was, that his garrison and neighbors might share in the priv- 
 ilege of hearing the preaching of the chaplain at the older fort 
 a part of the time. Since the captivity of Chaplain Norton in 1746, 
 such an official had rarely visited Fort Massachusetts, and only one 
 entr^' has been found of a money payment made to a chaplain there ; 
 during the season of 1757, the subject of a resident chaplain there 
 was a good deal agitated, both locally and at Boston; and very early 
 
422 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 in 1758, Eev. Stephen West (Yale College, 1755) went there to 
 reside, and stayed till November, when he was introduced to the 
 church in Stockbridge, where he continued their pastor for sixty 
 years. It is altogether probable, although the fact is not of record, 
 that he preached occasionally, during that year of 1758, in the block- 
 house, as Seth Hudson had requested. 
 
 Nobody in New England failed to appreciate the battle of 
 Quebec, Sept. 13, 1759. Captain Wyman kept up the show of 
 authority, and of garrison life at the eastern fort, for some time 
 longer. He is known to have lived in the house within the pickets, 
 and to have cultivated the land reserved for the use of the fort. 
 There had been no proprietors' meeting called or held at West 
 Hoosac for six years and six months, when Wyman was requested 
 to call one Sept. 17, 1760, as still being nominally proprietors' clerk 
 there. It is noticeable that he dated this call "East Hoosuck," 
 and not any longer "Fort Massachusetts"; and the proprietors 
 were summoned to meet " at West Hoosuck Eort." By this time, 
 things were reversing themselves a little, along the river. Wyman 
 could have had no heart in this meeting which he perfunctorily 
 called and attended. He kad not relished the charges so persis- 
 tently made against him in his military capacity by his co-propri- 
 etors in civil life. He had indeed been exonerated for the most 
 part of the charges preferred; but his personal interest in the little 
 western hamlet had sensibly declined. He kept the record as clerk 
 for the last time at this meeting of the proprietors in the fall of 
 1760, "at West Hoosuck Fort.'^ William Horsford was then chosen 
 clerk in his place ; and we read in the Eegistry of Deeds, that 
 "Isaac Wyman, Gentleman of Fort Massachusetts, sold to Benj. 
 Kellogg of Canaan, Connecticut, for £140" all his lands in 
 West Hoosac including his fine house lot No. 2, "November 13, 
 1761." Shortly after this, Isaac Wyman, who had played a large 
 part here, disappears from the Hoosac records altogether. He 
 comes into sight again for a little as a settler, in what is now Keene, 
 New Hampshire, and on the organization of the 1st New Hamp- 
 shire regiment in 1775, John Stark, Colonel, appears for the last 
 time the name of " Isaac Wyman, Lt. Colonel." 
 
 A few of the otherwise homeless soldiers continued to linger 
 around the old fort for some years. In 1762, the General Court 
 sold at auction the entire township of East Hoosac, and Colonel 
 Elisha Jones, of Weston, became one of the four proprietors, by an 
 arrangement with Nathan Jones, who had bidden off the property 
 in June for £3200. Weston was one of the seats of the Williams 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 423 
 
 family, Rev. William Williams having been a minister there from 
 1709 till 1760. The Jones family were, doubtless, drawn towards 
 East Hoosac by their relations with the Williams family. Ephraim 
 Williams, the founder, was, it will be remembered, the first land- 
 holder in the east township by grant of the General Court in 1750. 
 The ten acres reserved out of his 200 acres enclosed Fort Massa- 
 chusetts. Colonel William Williams, the father of Pittsfield, and 
 Mr. Nathaniel Williams, almost equally the father of Lanesboro, 
 were both sons of the Weston minister; and Israel Jones, son of 
 Colonel Elisha Jones, of Weston, after a short residence in Pitts- 
 field, became the proprietor, in 1766, of the farm, of which the main 
 part was the broad and fertile meadow around Fort Massachusetts. 
 By that time, the wooden fort had fallen into utter decay, and the 
 exterior pickets had mostly rotted otf at the ground, and Farmer 
 Israel Jones began to plough over and around the rude lines, which 
 process he kept up at intervals till his death in 1829. Clement 
 Harrison, then of Williamstown, bought the farm of the Jones 
 heirs, and continued to cultivate the meadow, and to plough down 
 the little terrace, till few indications of the site of the old fort were 
 left, but the print of a small cellar and some horse-radish that had 
 been planted by the soldiers. In 1852, Mr. Harrison gave permis- 
 sion to the present writer to remove to the College the only remain- 
 ing headstone from the little burying-ground of the fort, which had 
 long been ploughed over, and the stone (lying on the ground) was 
 in danger of becoming illegible. In 1858, the two men critically 
 examined the ground together, with reference to the planting of an 
 elm tree to mark the exact site of the fort. Mr. Harrison was con- 
 fident that he could indicate very nearly what had been the centre 
 of the parade; when the hole was dug to receive the tree, many 
 bits of brick, and other fragments, were thrown out. A small party 
 of college students assisted the writer to plant the tree, which, how- 
 ever, did not survive the following winter; with his own hands, in 
 the spring of 1859, the writer set the elm which is now growing on 
 the spot, and is represented by the accompanying cut as it was 
 in 1888. 
 
 The decadence and final disappearance of West Hoosac Fort was 
 similar in its course to that of the other. Besides the blockhouse, 
 there were two other houses within the pickets, all standing on the 
 front of lots 6 and 8, the blockhouse being on the eastern line of 
 the third house lot (6) west of North Street, and the two other 
 houses still further west, on the declivity towards Hemlock Brook. 
 The picket line was twenty-eight rods along the Main Street. How 
 
424 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 far the picket lines extended northward, and consequently how much 
 land was enclosed by them, there are no present means of determin- 
 ing; but the position of the blockhouse and the easterly line of pick- 
 ets can be determined almost exactly. The writer has, this morning 
 (April 25, 1892), carefully measured with a rod pole, made for the 
 purpose, the front line of house lot 4, — fourteen rods, — begin- 
 ning at the southwest 
 boundary stone of the 
 Kappa Alpha lot, 
 which is the front of 
 house lot 2, and to 
 the east line of house 
 lot 6, which was the 
 east line of the West 
 Hoosac Fort, and 
 found the southeast 
 corner of Chidester's 
 house lot exactly in 
 line with a fine, large 
 elm, standing on what 
 is thought to be the 
 original boundary line 
 between Nos. 4 and 
 6. This elm is eight 
 or ten rods north of 
 that southeast cor- 
 ner of No. 6. The 
 eastern line of the 
 old blockhouse was in 
 that line. That elm 
 is likely to stand for a 
 century longer. May 
 it become as lasting a. 
 mark as "Endicott's 
 Tree " ! A magnificent 
 house in Massachusetts colonial style has recently been built on. 
 the front of house lot 4, by H. T. Procter. 
 
 As the war-clouds gradually dispersed after the battle of Quebec, 
 families continued to live in the houses within the pickets at West 
 Hoosac, and particularly the family of Silas Pratt, originally of 
 Worcester, and long a soldier at Port Massachusetts, and afterwards 
 one of the garrison at the west fort so long as it was used and desig- 
 
 PERRY'S ELM. 
 
 Planted in 1859. 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 425 
 
 nated as such. His son William was born within the fort in 1760. 
 The following is the epitaph in the "Lovat burying-ground," just 
 over the line, in Pownal : — 
 
 In memory of 
 
 William Pratt 
 
 the first white male child born in 
 
 WiLLIAMSTOWX MaSS. WHO DIED JaN. 16, 
 
 1846, IN THE 86'" YEAR OF HIS AGE. He WAS A 
 
 MEMBER OF THE MeTHODIST EPISCOPAL ChURCH 43 
 
 YEARS ; HE WAS A REVOLUTIONARY PATRIOT ; 
 
 HE ENLISTED IN 1777, AND SERVED THREE YEARS. 
 
 This William Pratt was a drummer in the Revolution, and saw 
 the execution of Major Andre, Oct. 2, 1780. He had a stiff arm and 
 could not well handle a musket. He had an early pension from the 
 United States, and was always fond of telling stories of what he had 
 seen in the service. He lived all his life on the northern slope of 
 Northwest Hill, on what was a part of his father's extended farm, 
 which is the first farm as one goes over the Hill and over the line 
 into Pownal. William stown will always be proud of her first-born 
 son, and of his birthplace within the pickets of her only fort ; for he 
 was a patriot in his boyhood, and served his country three full 
 years in the field before he reached his majority, and thereafter 
 served his heavenly Master during a long life. He left his rude 
 house and small, rough lands to his son William, who also lived to 
 old age in and upon them, and from conversations with whom the 
 writer learned some of these facts. For example, he said that he had 
 often heard his father, and his Uncle Silas, also, give incidents, by 
 the hour, of their personal experiences in the War of Independence. 
 
 In the same burial-ground is extant and legible the epitaph of 
 this Silas Pratt, Junior, as follows : — 
 
 In MEMORY OF SiLAS PrATT, 
 
 WHO DIED April 2, 1830, aged 70 years. 
 He was an honest unpretending man. 
 He has gone where decay or death may not come. 
 
 He, too, had a United States pension for revolutionary services, 
 always lived near his father on Northwest Hill, and the two were in 
 the battle of Bennington together. The father used to say that 
 in the thick of the fighting, at the Tory breastwork, "I waited 
 behind a staddle for the smoke to clear away, when a bullet struck 
 the staddle, and then I let fly without waiting any longer ! " It will 
 be remembered that Pownal fell north of Hazen^s Line, and conse- 
 
426 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 queiitly under the jurisdiction of New Hampshire, which chartered 
 the township in 1760, and settlements commenced from this side in 
 1762, when there were four or five Dutch families there claiming 
 under the "Hoosac Patent," granted by the state of IS'ew York. 
 Under these circumstances, the first English families had close rela- 
 tions with Williamstown. The town was named after Governor 
 Pownal, of Massachusetts. In the Revolution the Pownal men 
 often enlisted in Williamstown companies, and served under Massa- 
 chusetts officers. Two of them certainly went up the Kennebec 
 with Arnold. Charles Wright, originally from Amherst, an enlisted 
 man in Colonel Israel Williams's regiment for the northward in 
 1759, who had received a license from the Province of Massa- 
 chusetts, a year or two later, to keep a tavern opposite Port 
 Massachusetts, where Israel Jones afterwards lived and died (the 
 ^'Harrison place"), moved his family and his tavern down the river 
 to Pownal in 1762, after the migrations to Bennington had well com- 
 menced. The Wrights, Pratts, Morgans, Dunhams, Xobles, Cards, 
 Gardners, and Seelyes, among the very first settlers of Pownal, were 
 almost equally at home in Williamstown. 
 
 Williamstown claims Silas Pratt, the elder, as one of her most 
 enterprising and persistent promoters. He was a blacksmith by 
 trade. He owned, first and last, several of our house lots, besides 
 making a home for some years in the old fort on No. 6 ; and he 
 seems to have sold out his lands here in time to migrate to Pownal 
 in 1762, and to be there among the very first settlers. His nearest 
 neighbor in Pownal was Nehemiah Williams. As early as 1767, 
 certainly, this neighbor, whose whole course in life was much like 
 his own, had bought a large farm next east to his, on the northern 
 declivity of the same hill, and built his house on the public road 
 (now discontinued) parallel with the western road on which the 
 Pratts lived. The vestiges of this house are still to be seen two 
 rods west of a very big rock by the old roadside. Here he brought 
 up a family whose descendants are still very numerous in the region 
 round about. Our William Pratt married Eosanna Williams, who 
 saw from her father's house, in 1777, Burgoyne's men, as prisoners 
 of war, fill up with their shiny uniforms and equipments the road 
 on Pownal Hill opposite. She lived to be very old in her husband's 
 house on the other road, and used to relate this incident of her girl- 
 hood to persons who lived to tell those still living. A portion of 
 the surrendered army of Burgoyne certainly filed down Pownal Hill 
 that autumn, in plain sight of Nehemiah Williams's house. 
 
 Olive Williams married Silas Pratt, Junior; and Elsie Williams 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 427 
 
 married John Smedley, 2d ; and Stephen Williams, the eldest son, 
 a shoemaker, lived in the corner west of the present schoolhouse 
 where the present road turns north, and brought up a family, of 
 which Electa married Amos Pratt, and Nehemiah married Sally 
 Treadwell. Van Rennsalaer Williams, a good man, worthy of mem- 
 ory, son of these last, died here Jan. 15, 1887. The tradition is 
 manifold and wholly credible, that while the first Kehemiah Wil- 
 liams was absent from home in Bennington Battle, one child lay 
 dead in the house, and another dying ; while the -wretched mother, 
 whose maiden name was Elsie Gallup, of Rhode Island, heard 
 distinctly all day the booming of the cannon. The blood of old 
 Silas Pratt and of old Nehemiah Williams lias been greatly com- 
 mingled, and, perhaps, somewhat degenerated, in the many genera- 
 tions since their time. Silas Pratt, Junior, and Olive Williams had, 
 among many other children, Zadoc; and Zadoc's oldest son was 
 Stephen, who married Margaret Green, daughter of Frederick 
 Green, a family famous on '* the Gore " in the olden time. Henry 
 Green, of " Green Hollow " will probably step upon our stage in a 
 later act. Stephen and Margaret were the parents of " Steve " and 
 " Jerry," the noteworthy stage-drivers and story-tellers of our own 
 time. Stevens best may serve as a sample of the good things of 
 both : he had driven to the railroad station a not over-bright Wil- 
 liamstown boy and graduate, who was just starting to go to India as 
 a missionary ; as the train rolled off, " Steve " gravely informed the 
 bystanders, " He has gone to teach ignorance to the heathen ! " 
 
 To come back now to the West Hoosac Fort, — at least four pro- 
 prietors' meetings were held within its rude walls of hewn timber 
 in the years 1760 and 1761. At the first of these, held Oct. 1, 1760, 
 it was 
 
 Voted as f oilers — Vizt — (1) Voted and Choose Jabez Worrin moderator for 
 s'd meeting (2) Voted and Choose Will»?! Horsford proprietors Clerk (3) Voted 
 and Choose Josiah Horsford Treasurer. (4) Voted and Choose Benj p. Simons 
 Gideon Worrin and Seth Hudson a Commite to settel with the Colector and 
 Treasurer (5) Voted to Clear the Streat East and West as far as the Town lots 
 Extend and North and South from Stone Hill to the River — (6) Voted and 
 Choose Jabez Worrin Sovare (7) Voted to hire preaching for Six months Begin- 
 ning at the first of May next — the 8 artikel [which was "To bye a Law 
 Book "] Dismist— (9) Voted to Rais 12 Shillings on Each Right to Defray the 
 Chargeses. 
 
 Some comparatively new names greet us in this new record, — the 
 first official record of the proprietors since 1754. William Horsford 
 was. chosen fl^rk in place of Isaac Wyman, towards whom there 
 
428 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 were already signs of decided hostility ; and Josiah Horsf ord was 
 chosen treasurer. These young men were from Canaan, Connecti- 
 cut. The first connection of this family with West Hoosac dates 
 from Nov. 1, 1752, when Daniel and William Horsford bought house 
 lot 44, for £260 Connecticut money old tenor, of Josiah Dean, Junior. 
 In the original drawing of lots, Josiah Dean, Senior, had chanced to 
 get this choice lot, on whose front now stands the president's house, 
 directly north of West College. The younger Dean sold it to the 
 Horsfords, father and son, shortly after, and the son, William, bought 
 out the father's share for £26, in February, 1761. Thenceforth Wil- 
 liam Horsford made this fine lot his home ; built upon it early a 
 good framed house, whose timbers are still standing in a two-story 
 house on South Street; ten children were born here to William and 
 Esther Smedley Horsford, of which the eldest, Esther, born May 
 19, 1760, was the second female child born in the hamlet ; his mother, 
 called in the record, '^ Elizabeth Horsford, the aged," died here in 
 May, 1781 ; and his wife, Esther, died in March, 1791, aged fifty- 
 four, not long after which the property passed over into the hands 
 of General Samuel Sloan, who built upon it the present house, an 
 extraordinarily fine one for the time. William Horsford served his 
 generation well. 
 
 So did Josiah Horsford, his brother, whose wife, Jemima Smedley, 
 was sister to William's wife. He settled down next to his brother 
 on house lot 42, which he bought in October, 1759, of John Chamber- 
 lain, of Stockbridge, for £45. He, too, built a good house just west 
 of his brother's, which is still the central part of what became long 
 after the "Whitman house," and is now owned and occupied by 
 Dr. L. D. Woodbridge. He had nine children born to him, 1762-84. 
 Eev. Whitman Welch, the first minister of Williamstown, sold to 
 Josiah Horsford, in October, 1767, "the minister's lot," so called, 
 £25. This lot, house lot 36, was originally set apart to be given in 
 fee simple to the first minister. This is the " Mansion House " lot, 
 lying first east of North Street. Horsford also owned at different 
 times, house lot 40, next west of his own, whose front has long been 
 occupied by the house of the late B. F. Mather ; and house lot 46, 
 on which the Congregational Church now stands. There is extant 
 an order of Josiah Horsford, per son Ambrose, for sling, on J. P. 
 and T. Whitman, Aug. 3, 1803. As the Whitmans came here from 
 Hartford in 1797, and bought Horsford' s premises when they first 
 came, there is a slight indication of decay in Horsford's circum- 
 stances in his old age. But his credit seems to have been good at 
 "the store." John Horsford and Daniel, undoubtedly brothers of 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 429 
 
 William and Josiah, were settlers here very early, though they never 
 became prominent. John and Daniel bought of Ephraim Williams, 
 Junior, house lot 10, db* 30, April 14, 1753. John Horsford, " Bloomer," 
 bought house lot 9, of Seth Hudson, " Gent." Indeed, all the Hors- 
 fords bought and sold land a good deal, as, indeed, did most of the 
 early proprietors. 
 
 William and Josiah Horsford, by locating permanently on the 
 second eminence, and by becoming influential men in the ^'Pro- 
 priety," as it was then called, undoubtedly did something to draw 
 actual settlements towards the east. The first centre of dwellings 
 and of proprietary business was in the valley of Hemlock Brook, 
 sometimes called in the records at that time " Hudson " Brook, from 
 Seth Hudson, whose house, on No. 9 (pretty close down to the brook 
 on the south tier of lots), held the first proprietors' meeting in 1753; 
 when the proprietors met several times during 1760 and 1761 in the 
 blockhouse, it was coming east nearly to the summit of the third 
 eminence, but not quite upon the "Square," where at length the 
 centre of business and of assembly rested for a century. 
 
 The most important vote in this meeting of 1760 was, " To clear 
 the street east and west as far as the town lots extend, and north 
 and south from Stone Hill to the River." The "river" means the 
 Hoosac at what we call "Moody Bridge," and the term " Stone Hill" 
 in this connection proves that designation to have been coeval with 
 the laying out of the house lots in 1750. It has been the uniform 
 designation ever since of that striking feature of our landscape. It 
 is, perhaps, needless to write that a vote to clear the street was not 
 equivalent to clearing it. To clear it with the then present means 
 and numbers was a herculean, an impossible task. The street east 
 and west was almost a mile and a half long, was laid out fifteen rods 
 wide the entire length, ran over four quite considerable elevations 
 with the intervening valleys; on at least two of these elevations (the 
 first and second reckoning from the east) limestone rocks projected 
 from the general surface from ten to twenty feet, the hollows between 
 the heights were wet and Hemlock Brook ran low between precipi- 
 tous banks, and first-growth forest trees of large size covered the 
 greater part of this large space of rough ground. The street north 
 and south, though longer, had been laid out much narrower, and ran, 
 on the whole, over smoother ground. There were, however, three 
 decided, though broad, elevations along this route, one on each side 
 of the " Square," itself one of the eminences of the other street. 
 The county of Berkshire, incorporated the next year, 1761, practi- 
 cally "cleared" tliis nortli and south street for its "County Road," 
 
430 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 which coincided for this distance with the West Hoosac lay-out of 
 1750. Roads were the great burden and expense of the little pro- 
 priety until it became a town in 1765. It showed, however, great 
 enterprise and persistency in this regard. " Water Street " was laid 
 out and made passable in 1761; and it was voted on the 19th of 
 April, 1762, '^ To clear a road to the East town for a cart to get 
 along," and also (same day), "To clear a road through this town 
 towards Franiingham [Lanesboro] for comfortable carting." 
 
 Jabez Warren was chosen moderator of the first proprietors' meet- 
 ing, after the close of the French War, marked by the surrender of 
 Quebec, and also at the same time surveyor for the "Propriety." 
 He was a husbandman from Brimfield, and sold land there in 
 March, 1751 ; but he had been in the military service in the line of 
 forts over the mountain, from Northfield to the Hoosac, during 
 nearly the whole war. He was a corporal in Coleraine in 1748, and 
 afterwards served both in Fort Massachusetts and in West Hoosac 
 Fort. Gideon Warren, perhaps a brother of Jabez, and both, very 
 likely, related to David Warren, who was carried captive to Canada 
 from Massachusetts Fort in 1746, was chosen, at this first-renewed 
 proprietors' meeting, one of a committee, Benjamin Simonds and 
 Seth Hudson being the other members, " to settel with the Colector 
 and Treasurer." These Warrens grant but scanty glimpses of them- 
 selves to the modern investigator, but enough to excite his curios- 
 ity to learn more. Gideon Warren owned, very early, first-division 
 fifty-acre lot 30, which, with the windings of the lower Green River 
 through it, occupied the southeast corner of the town plat, which 
 space would otherwise have been laid out into five house lots like 
 the rest. Warren, a yeoman, sold to Samuel Payn, of Dutchess 
 County, Kew York, carpenter, " two acres of Green River, part of a 
 lot known as ^o. 30," with the privilege of flowing the river bank 
 " as hie up as ye top of ye upper falls," " and also a strip of land two 
 rods wide by the west side of said river, beginning at the north side 
 of land T sold to said Payn, and running north by the river to the 
 mouth of the brook [Phebe's Brook], and up the hill to the lot now 
 enclosed, and so out to the main road or Highway, to be a highway 
 for the use of the town." Isaac Stratton and Daniel Stratton sign, 
 as witnesses, this deed for the first opening of " Water St.," June 
 1, 1761. 
 
 Three years after this opening of Water Street into Main Street, 
 Gideon Warren sold off eleven acres more from his fifty-acre lot 
 No. 30, to James Meacham, who had recently established himself on 
 fifty-acre lot No. 7, directly south of the southeast quarter of the 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 431 
 
 house lots. This brought the Meacharas into Payn's new road, 
 along Green River and up the hill into Main Street, — a road the 
 Meachams have been travelling ever since. James Meacham, a 
 great-grandson of the original James, still owns the ancestral acres. 
 Elkanah Parris and Josiah Horsford sign, as witnesses, this deed 
 of alienation from Warren to Meacham. But Gideon Warren did 
 not get rooted here, as did the Meachams and the Horsfords. He 
 was swept on, with others, by a strong current, to the northward, 
 into Vermont ; and we find Warren proprietors' clerk in Pittsford, 
 in March, 1771. 
 
 But both the Warrens had considerable more to do in West 
 Hoosac before they should be suffered to pass on. In the second 
 legal proprietors' meeting, after the French War was over, " att the 
 Place Called the fort in West Hoosuck," Nov. 20, 1760, Jabez War- 
 ren was again chosen moderator and also one of the three assessors 
 (the others being Thomas Dunton and Benjamin Simonds), the 
 three being also authorized " to Sell the Land of those Proprietors 
 who are Delinquit in Paying their Rates." Gideon Warren, too, 
 and Thomas Train were chosen at this meeting "to Hier a Good 
 orthodox Preacher for s'd Propriete." The chief purpose of the 
 meeting was to settle for the work already done in the clearing of 
 the Main Street, and to provide means for resuming that work in 
 earnest the next spring. They voted to accept Jabez Warren's 
 account, viz. : " Seventy Six Days works of men in s'd Highways in 
 West Hoosuck at three Shillings a Day and fourteen Days Work of 
 Oxen at one Shilling and Sixpence a Day in s'd Highways also a 
 Plow one Shilling and Six Pence ; " and they also voted " to Raise 
 a tax of Eight Shilling on Each Proprietor's Right to defray the 
 Xecessari Charge in s'd Propriete." 
 
 The two proprietors' names encountered in the record of this meet- 
 ing, with which we are not already somewhat familiar, are Thomas 
 Train and Thomas Dunton. Train's story has the trail of mystery 
 alx)ut it from beginning to end. If ever romancer to the manor born 
 should seek for a theme amid the origins of his beautiful town, all the 
 elements of a powerful story are found in the little that is known 
 of Thomas Train. He was of Weston, which was a part of Water- 
 town, right in the thick of the Williams family and influence. If 
 the genealogical tables betray us not, he was a great-grandson of 
 John Train, who came to Watertown in 1635, in the Susan and 
 Ellen. Thomas Train, of Watertown, who died in 1739, aged 
 eighty-six, may have been his grandfather. He was born in August, 
 1727. In 1751, when he was twenty-four years old, he was published 
 
432 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 to be married witli Abigail Viles, but for reasons unknown to us lie 
 did not marry her, for she married a certain Jonas Barnard the next 
 year. Thereafter, Train acted in certain respects like a disappointed 
 man bereft of hopes. Before long, we find him an enlisted soldier 
 in the garrison of Fort Massachusetts. When the house lots in the 
 west township were offered to that garrison, fifteen of them pur- 
 chased the right to draw for choices at one time, and the state 
 accepted, at Ephraim Williams's instance, the evidences of their 
 soldiers' wages due, as payments made for their lots. Train drew 
 house lot No. 30, which is the lot on which Judge Danforth now 
 lives, and on which his father lived before him. 
 
 Not long after, Train became possessed of house lot No. 4, which 
 was the lot next east of the fort, of which Train did not entertain 
 a good opinion, as we have already seen. He sold house lot 4 to 
 Dr. Jacob Meack, in October, 176§, for £40. He bought and sold 
 lots more or less, like the rest, but he does not seem to have settled 
 down in one place to try to find a home ; like many another, in 
 similar circumstances, he had, doubtless, resolved never to marry. 
 He seems to have been thrown in a good deal with Benjamin 
 Simonds, our old Canada captive of 1746-47, especially after the 
 latter was married in Northampton, to Mary Davis, April 23, 1752, 
 and brought his wife to West Hoosac, and settled down on house 
 lot 22. Train's own original lot was house lot 30, the fourth to the 
 west in the same tier. As Simonds has already been, and will con- 
 tinue to be a considerable figure in our story, it is, perhaps, worth 
 while to note in passing, that this marriage was performed by 
 Joseph Hawley, Esq., himself the original proprietor of house 
 lot 47, and that the celebration of the rite by the magistrate, rather 
 than the minister, was more or less related with the bitter quarrel 
 at that time going on between Jonathan Edwards and his late 
 parishioners in Northampton. 
 
 It is a strong tradition in the Meacham and Simonds families, 
 transmitted to present times by their children, that this husband 
 and wife were the eighteenth family to settle on the West Hoosac 
 house lots, and that, in the military troubles that soon came upon 
 the hamlet, this family often found a shelter or a temporary home 
 in the old fort or blockhouse on house lot No. 6, the ruins of which 
 remained in situ and in sight until the opening of the present 
 century. 
 
 April 8, 1753, a child was born to these parents, a daughter 
 named Eachel, the first child born in the propriety, nor was there a 
 second for seven years according to tradition, which must be Avrong 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 433 
 
 in this particular, because the record of births in the old '' Proprie- 
 tors' Book " is distinct and unbroken, as follows : — 
 
 Benjamin Simonds and Mary his wife, — 
 
 Rachel, bom April b, i70;>. 
 Justin, born Feb. 17, 1755. 
 Sarali, bom July 8, 1757. 
 Marcy, bom Dec. 2, 1769. 
 
 Then follows the record of the birth of six other children from 
 17G2 to 1773, a stretch of time during which many other families in 
 Williamstown were blessed with children, of which the first, accord- 
 ing to the record, was that of William Horsford, whose first child, 
 Esther, was born May 19, 17G0. Then follows the birth of eight 
 children in that family till 1779. The mother, Esther Horsford, 
 died March 1, 1791 ; and this interesting item concludes that list, 
 "Elizabeth Horsford the aged Died May 28'^ 1781." She was the 
 mother of William and Josiah Horsford, of Canaan, Connecticut. 
 Owing to the almost purely military origin of West Hoosac, very 
 few parents of the first settlers accompanied or followed their 
 children hither. 
 
 But Rachel Simonds, the first-born child in the place, — as such 
 drawing the attention and exciting the interest of all the hardy set- 
 tlers, especially as she in some sense belonged to the public, living 
 in the people's own fort, at least a part of the time till 1760, — was 
 growing up under circumstances of peculiar isolation from young 
 men, and also probably of peculiar intimacy with Thomas Train, 
 who was twenty-four years her senior. At any rate, when ahe was 
 nineteen years old, early in January, 1772, they were married, and 
 went to housekeeping on the south slope of Townsend Hill, in a 
 small house whose cellar is perfectly visible to this day, and is 
 marked by a rugged elm already of considerable size, and likely to 
 endure for a century to come. This house stood on second-division 
 fifty -acre lot 63, which was bought by Jonathan Train, probably a 
 brother of Thomas Train, of Benjamin Simonds, whose house lot 3 
 drew this 63 in the regular order. Here, at all events, was born a 
 daughter to Thomas Train and Rachel Simonds, Oct. 15, 1772. As 
 Rachel Simonds was the first daughter of the town (1753), so, 
 emphatically, was Sarah Train the first granddaughter of the 
 town (1772). 
 
 But before this child was born, and before the mother was twenty 
 years old, Thomas Train had gone off to Virginia, to secure a new 
 home for himself and family. Wliy Williamstown did not satisfy 
 
434 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 him, what there was in Virginia to attract him, we shall never 
 know ; after obtaining a good title to some lands in this oldest of 
 our commonwealths, and starting to return to the North, Train was 
 seized with his mortal sickness, and lies buried no one knows where ; 
 the fact of the death, and probably the place of it, were communi- 
 cated to his friends not very long afterwards ; and after the Eevo- 
 lutionary War was over, and Virginia land-titles were settling into 
 permanent record, there was an official communication from the 
 South to his family here in relation to the land, but nothing further 
 was ever done or known about it. Mrs. Thomas Train became, in 
 a very few years, Mrs. Benjamin Skinner, — a very proper marriage 
 in every respect to a man but three years older than herself, — and 
 Sarah Train was brought up with Deacon Skinner's children, until 
 she, too, at nineteen years of age, Avas married to AVilliam Blair in. 
 1791. She had many children of her own, and died here June 26, 
 1864, in her ninety-second year; a mother in Israel. 
 
 Thomas Dunton was from Western, now Warren, Massachusetts. 
 So far as can be known, his was the first family to settle directly 
 on the bank of the Hoosac River, and his house was near the Noble 
 Bridge, and he must have reached it from the Main Street, by a 
 path corresponding, in general, with the present Cole Avenue. For 
 a number of years, Dunton owned house lot 13, and sold to promi- 
 nent parties the outlots drawn in succession by this house lot. For 
 example, he sold to Daniel Burbank, also from Western, the second- 
 division fifty-acre lot 56, October, 1763, which Burbank afterwards 
 bravely defended in the battle of Bennington. Burbank's first 
 house was a framed building of one room. He soon doubled his 
 farm, by buying the adjoining fifty-acre lot 57, half a mile from 
 South Williamstown on the road to New Ashford, and there his 
 family resided well into the present century. Dr. Asa Burbank, 
 his son, was a graduate of the College in 1797, a tutor, and a pro- 
 fessor in the Berkshire Medical School ; and the other son, Samuel, 
 at the instance of his mother while Bennington battle was going 
 forward, put his ear to the ground, and heard successive discharges 
 of cannon. Daniel Burbank was then Lieutenant in the military 
 company of South Williamstown; and to his neighbors, who 
 croAvded around on the return, and wanted to know if he felt afraid 
 during the fight, he answered, '' After they had fired once, and 
 we had fired once, I was no more afraid on the battle-field than 
 I am on the potato field ! " 
 
 Thomas Dunton drew also in virtue of his house lot 13, 100-acre 
 lot 23, which he sold to Hezekiah Brown, of Sharon, Connecticut, in 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 435 
 
 1767 ; two years later Brown sold the same to Joseph Deming, of 
 Weathersfield, Connecticut, who, with his two sons, Aaron and Titus, 
 purchased also the adjoining 100-acre lot 24, which two furnished a 
 home to the Deming family for fully one hundred years. The tra- 
 dition in the family was, that the 200 acres cost them at the rate of 
 eight shillings an acre. The 100-acre lot 25, next south of 24 as 
 that is south of 23, extends to the New Ashford line ; and through 
 all three flows down the Ashford Brook to its junction with the 
 Hancock Brook at South Williamstown ; and the public road to Pitts- 
 field follows up the brook, and bisects all three of these lots. Joseph 
 Deming, bom in the year 1708, was about sixty-two years old when 
 he came here, and died in 1783 ; his son, Aaron, born in February, 
 1744, died in March, 1837, aged ninety-three years. Aaron's son. 
 Captain Joseph, with two unmarried sisters, lived till his eightieth 
 year in the same house which his father had built, and Captain 
 Joseph's son. Nelson, an excellent man, was the last of that name 
 and line in Williamstown. Titus Deming, who left a posterity as 
 numerous as did Aaron, though all of both lines are now gone 
 from this town, established his homestead just where the two roads 
 bifurcating at " Taylor's Crotch " come together again two miles 
 and a half further south. He had four sons, of whom Francis 
 inherited the farm, whose son, Richard Titus, was graduated at 
 Williams in 1852; Moses, who is generally referred to as "Moses 
 the Mormon," and who died in 1873; and ]\Iartin, born in 1792, 
 whose son, Eli Rix, was adopted by the good Deacon Beers, other- 
 wise childless, whose farm was 100-acre lot 26, which touched the 
 other Deming lots on two sides, and which, when inherited by 
 Rix Deming, brought all the Deming lands into contiguity. Rix 
 Deming married Harty Johnson, a gifted daughter of one of the 
 old families of South Williamstown; and they migrated about 
 1880 to Lawrence, Kansas, where they are living at the present 
 writing. 
 
 Whereas Hequisi Hath Ben made to me the Subscriber by a Sofisient Number 
 of Proprietors to Issue out a Warrant for Calling a Proprietors meeting to act 
 on the articiles as follow (viz) Uy To Chuse a moderator for s'd meeting. 
 21y To Chuse a Surveyor for the Proprietors of West Hoosuck. Sly To Chuse 
 a Corametre to lay out a Common Rhoad or Private Way to Convean the 
 Intended Place of a mil or mils on Green River. 41y To act on all the fore- 
 mention articiles Which meeting is to be on tuesday ye fourteenth Day of July 
 Next at the Place Called the fort att the House of David Robart in West Hoosuck 
 att four o'clock in the after Noon. West Hoosuck, June ye 30 Ad 1761 Test 
 William Horsford Proprietors Clerk. 
 
436 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 The term "the fort," as used in these minutes and in common 
 talk at that time, included everything within the pickets or stockade ; 
 that is to say, the blockhouse that stood on the eastern line of house 
 lot 6, and two houses, one on 6 and the other on 8, pretty near to 
 each other. Soldiers lodged in any one of these, with or without 
 their families, were said to live in " the fort." Silas Pratt was one 
 of these dwellers, and here his son, William, was born in 1760 ; Ben- 
 jamin Simonds lived here off and on according as the times were 
 perilous, but whether any one of his four children born in West 
 Hoosac before 1760 were born in the fort, or all were born in his 
 own house on house lot 22, cannot now be determined ; and accord- 
 ing to this minute of June, 1761, David Roberts was one of the 
 dwellers within the enclosure. Richard Stratton was chosen mod- 
 erator of the meeting thus warned ; Gideon Warren was chosen sur- 
 veyor for the proprietors ; and Richard Stratton, Thomas Dunton, 
 and Josiah Horsford, were chosen a committee to lay out the road 
 to the intended place for a mill, that is to say. Water Street. The 
 return of this committee was rendered on the first day of August, 
 1761. This was the first road laid out by the proprietors. It was 
 laid out two rods wide. The first half of it from the south, "Begin- 
 ning at the North Side of Samuel Payen's land on the West side of 
 the above s'd Rever," was near to and parallel with Green River, 
 then it mounted " to the top of the Hill to the East Side of Gedion 
 Warrin Land and by the s'd line upon s'd Warrin Land to the main 
 Rhoad." Of ten trees marked by this survey for the line of this 
 road, eight were hemlocks, showing the prevailing timber along the 
 lower Green River. 
 
 The name of Richard Stratton appears for the first time officially 
 in the minutes but just now quoted. He was moderator of that 
 meeting, and chairman of its most important committee. His acces- 
 sion to the little settlement in the spring of 1760, bringing with him 
 from Western (now Warren) a family of eight children, proved in 
 the sequel to be a matter of great importance to the town. He was 
 a man of probity and of property. He was a Baptist, and came to 
 be called "Deacon," although there was hardly another person of 
 that religious sect in West Hoosac for a number of years after he 
 came ; and although three of his sons and two of his daughters 
 became prominent members of the Congregational church here. 
 Ichabod Stratton came hither some time after his brother Richard, 
 but presently went away again; and David Stratton, John Stratton, 
 and Joel Stratton were fathers of families here in the last quarter 
 of the last century, although not closely related to Richard. The 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 437 
 
 latter bought of Moses Graves house lot 54 for £50, June 3, 1760. 
 Unquestionably there was a " regulation " house upon that lot at 
 that time, and Stratton moved his family into it upon his arrival; 
 the price of the lot proves the presence of the house, because five 
 months afterwards Stratton bought the adjoining house lot 56, which 
 was every way as good as land, and on which Stratton proceeded 
 shortly to build the first two-story house in the hamlet, which house 
 is still standing substantially unchanged (1892), for only £12. 
 Sixteen months after the second purchase, he bought the next 
 adjoining house lot 58, together with thirteen acres of beautiful land 
 to the north of that lot, for £34, tlio price showing that there could 
 have been then no house on 58. 
 
 Xow it is certain that, in April, 1762, Richard Stratton owned 
 the three contiguous house lots just referred to, all of them as level 
 as a barn floor, perhaps the best lots out of the seventeen constitut- 
 ing the northeast quarter of the entire house-lot plat. Directly 
 across Main Street from the front of 58 was the then new opening 
 into Water Street, and to its prospective and promised mills on 
 Green River. What was it, then, that led Stratton to prefer the 
 front of 56, on which to build a little later his own expensive resi- 
 dence ? The reasons can only be guessed at at this late day ; but 
 even guesses on reasonable grounds, by and for the only parties 
 legally entitled to that privilege, — namely, Yankees, — may prove not 
 unacceptable. The present owner of 56, James M. Waterman, who 
 has both owned and occupied the Stratton premises since 1860, and 
 who, during much the larger part of this interval, has been the senior 
 selectman of Williamstown, told the writer yesterday, that the nat- 
 ural site of the house, which is understood to be on the very line of 
 Main Street, is considerably higher than the corresponding fronts of 
 
 54 and 58 Then the house already built on 54 could shelter the 
 family, while the young men should be provided for with permanent 
 homes, and the father could determine the most eligible place on 
 which to build for himself. In 1765 the father had bought also 
 house lot 52, the lot next west of 54, whose front came snug up to 
 the foot of "Consumption Hill," afterwards so called. 
 
 In September, 1766, Richard Stratton both sells and gives to 
 Isaac Stratton, " both husbandmen," for £7, " together with that 
 parental love and affection which I have and do bair to him the said 
 Isaac Stratton, my well-beloved son," the two fifty-acre lots 53 and 
 
 55 of the second division, and " the pine lot No. 30 in the north 
 part of said Williamstown." Isaac was his eldest son, and was born 
 Nov. 25, 1739. He was nearly twenty-ono when the family came to 
 
438 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Williamstowii, and fully twenty-six when he took title at South 
 Williamstown. But he had been at work, the very first settler 
 there, for three or four years before he took title, on the spot of 53 
 that has been a tavern almost ever since. He lived to play a great 
 part in the civil history of the town, and in the hazards and suc- 
 cesses of the Eevolutionary War ; and he died April 3, 1789, aged 
 fifty years. He was alone in what is now the village at the south 
 part for a considerable time ; but Daniel Burbank, also from Western, 
 became the second settler and his nearest neighbor about half a mile 
 south on the New Ashford road. The way in which Burbank got 
 hold of his farm illustrates a method of purchase more or less pre- 
 vailing at that time. He bought of David Koberts, carpenter, one 
 half of two fifty-acre lots drawn by house lot 14, No. 40 of the first 
 division, and No. 57 of the second division, for £15, in December, 
 1761. Just two years later he bought of Benjamin Simonds the 
 other half of 57, paying him for it Ms half of No. 40. In the mean 
 time, Burbank had bought for £23 the entire lot 56 of the second 
 division, adjoining Isaac Stratton's lot 55. So Burbank made up his 
 farm at the south part. He was the first to clear up and plough 
 those fertile acres. Let it be called the " Burbank farm '' forever. 
 Nine children, the eldest, Samuel, were born to Daniel and Mary 
 Burbank, 1766-86. 
 
 Isaac Stratton's wife was Mary Fox. Their children were not so 
 numerous as the Burbank children, but they were earlier born, 1762- 
 75. A bridge over the Hancock Brook just before its junction with 
 the xishford Brook, the two constituting thenceforth the Green River, 
 was built close by Stratton's first house, to accommodate him and 
 Burbank before any bridge was put over Green Eiver at the eastern 
 end of the north-village plat. Stratton afterwards built another 
 house across the brook on the right-hand side of the Ashford road, 
 on which he left a lasting memorial of himself. The house is still 
 standing in good repair. It is of two stories, and of large size. 
 On the chimney any one may read to this day, "I. S. 1785." 
 This house stands on lot No. 54, the middle part of his farm, and 
 across the road a little further to the east, and near the junction of 
 the two brooks, is the first and only " God's acre " for the south part, 
 on his own land ; and on a substantial tombstone there we may read, 
 "Isaac Stratton Esq. died April 3, 1789, aged 50." We shall 
 encounter this good man's name and deed in striking scenes before 
 our task is done. His widow married Rev. Clark Rogers, and died 
 March 20, 1812. She is buried by the side of her first husband. 
 
 It seems to be impossible to fix from extant data the exact year in 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 
 
 439 
 
 which Richard Stratton built the existing "Stratton house." It 
 cannot have been far from 1765. In a list of the holders of house 
 lots for that year, in reference to another drawing of outlots, his 
 original purchase, house lot 54, is put down to his son, Ebenezer 
 Stratton, then twenty years old ; while in his own name stand 
 Xos. 52 and 7. In that year and the next, he seems to have been 
 dividing up his lands freely among his adult children. Isaac, the 
 eldest, had been already generously provided for at the south part, 
 although the legal title did not pass over to the son until September, 
 
 DEACON EBENEZER STRATTON'S HOUSE. 
 
 17G0. in the same month and year, Richard Stratton sells and gives 
 to his son, Daniel Stratton, then twenty-three years old, for £5 and 
 for love, etc., the two meadow lots 26 and 27 so far as they lie " on 
 the north side of the stream of the river," and also the first-division 
 fifty-acre lot 51 (adjoining these meadow lots to the north), and also 
 the oak lots 14 and 27. Thus was laid out in a deed of gift from 
 Richard Stratton to Daniel, with just sufficient pecuniary consider- 
 ation to make it legal, what has been known for more than a century, 
 and is still known, as the "Bridges farm," from Jonathan Bridges, 
 originally from Colchester, Connecticut, and from his son Samuel 
 Bridges, his grandson Edwin Bridges, his great-graiidson Charles E. 
 Bridges, the present owner, in succession. The last-named has 
 
440 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 lately sold parts of these lands to the Fitchburg Railroad for station 
 and switching purposes. 
 
 The next February, Richard Stratton, " from parental affection," 
 etc., sold his "well-beloved son, Ebenezer," the adjoining fifty-acre 
 lots of the first division 54 and 33, except ten acres of the north- 
 east corner of 33, also pine lot 45, and all that part of meadow lot 
 53 east of Green River. All these parcels were contiguous land not 
 far from the eastern end of the village plat, and constituted what 
 was commonly called the " Stratton lot " ; and the town of A¥illiams- 
 town, in 1891, legally named the road that was laid out "to con- 
 vean" this farm "Stratton road." Ebenezer Stratton was then 
 twenty-two years old. He led an extremely useful life thereafter on 
 that farm, till his death in 1814. We shall run across him later. 
 One of the latter's sons, Rev. Ebenezer Harrison Stratton (Williams 
 College, '28), was still living in 1892 in Branchport, New York. 
 
 In June, 1766, Richard Stratton sold to William Foster, black- 
 smith, 100-acre lot 15, drawn by house lot 7, " lying on or near Tay- 
 lor's Crotch Brook," £20. That brook is what we call the " Hopper 
 Brook," and its junction with Green River was long called Tay- 
 lor's Crotch, from Samuel Taylor, of Charlemont, who first built 
 mills there, where they have continued ever since. This William 
 Foster married Richard Stratton's eldest daughter, Ruth, who was 
 born in February, 1747. There are persons still living in town who 
 remember " Aunt Ruth Foster," as she lived in her old age and pov- 
 erty with her nephew, Cyrus Stratton, son of Deacon Ebenezer Strat- 
 ton, and as at last she was assisted by the town. Richard Stratton's 
 second daughter, Lucy, born July, 1753, married Seth Luce from 
 Western, who bought 100-acre lot Ko. 3 in May, 1768, a rough 
 lot well up on the side of Mount Prospect. Luce was a "joyner" 
 by trade. His lot is still called the " Luce lot " ; but it was sold to 
 the Smedleys about 1812, and continued in their possession more 
 than half a century. Ten children were born to these parents before 
 they left the town, and were dismissed from the church, which both 
 joined in 1780. Luce was often out as a private and also as a subor- 
 dinate officer in the Revolutionary War, as the muster-rolls disclose to 
 this day. He was born July 16, 1744, of JEbenezer and Sarah Luce, 
 and had brothers Timothy and Ebenezer, and sister Sarah. Eben- 
 ezer Luce, whose wife was Sarah Stratton, lived for a time in Wil- 
 liamstown, and both united with the church here by letter in 1780, 
 but they left no such impression on the town as did Seth and Lucy 
 Luce. The sister, Sarah Luce, married Joseph Byam, of whom we 
 shall hear more by and by. 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 441 
 
 The other children of Richard Stratton do not concern us particu- 
 larly ; but it may be worth the noting, that Abner was born Dec. 
 20, 1751, and Rachel and Phebe, twins, were born in August, 175G. 
 It is more to the point to observe, that the three house lots, of which 
 he first became possessed, and on the middle one of which he built 
 his own fine house, were the only lots on either side of Main Street 
 east of Chapel Hill to have houses built on them of much pre- 
 tension either as to size or cost until the opening of the present 
 century. Two possible exceptions to this statement might be made 
 as to houses built in the last decade of the last century, namely, the 
 brick house built on house lot 63 by Judah Williams, and so long 
 occupied by the Nobles and the Coles ; and the house on the opposite 
 side of the Main Street built by Bissell Sherman. It is curious 
 that that part of house lot 57, the only house lot that runs east and 
 west, on which Bissell Sherman built this house, had been bought by 
 Richard Stratton of Joseph Ballard, of Xew Salem, in March, 1762 ; 
 one-eighth of this lot had been sold from off its western end in 
 January, 1758, in some connection with the opening out of Water 
 Street ; and the remaining seven-eighths had passed through several 
 hands, including Ballard's and Stratton's, when, in November, 1768, 
 Jacob Meack sold to Ebenezer Cooley two acres from off the east 
 end, reserving a roadway one rod wide *^ above the bank from the log- 
 way northward to accommodate the mill that is now standing, or 
 mill hereafter to be built." This ^''one-rod road" is "Pork lane." 
 Bissell Sherman, who was born in North Kingston, Rhode Island^ 
 Oct. 13, 1759, the very day the news of Wolfe's victory at Quebec 
 reached North Kingston, came ultimately to own by much the most 
 of house lot 57, and built his own two-story house (still standing) 
 on about the middle point of it in 1796. The L part of this house 
 is the old " regulation " house on 57, and is at least thirty years 
 older than the main. It is characteristic of Bissell Sherman, who 
 always seized the main chance, that when the carpenters then build- 
 ing the new meeting-house on the Square got short of lumber at one 
 time in 1796, Sherman hired them off in a body to work on his new 
 house. Under the circumstances he got them cheap. 
 
 But the two undoubtedly fine houses in this quarter of the town 
 were the " Day " house built on house lot 54, and the ^' Noble " 
 house built on house lot 58. Daniel Day came hither from Colches- 
 ter not far from 1770, an enterprising farmer, and established him- 
 self on the fine lands on both sides of the line between Adams and 
 Williamstown, just south of the Hoosac, and of the present village 
 of Blackinton. He became very well-to-do, and raised a large 
 
442 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 family of nine children. He was generous, also, to his sister's 
 children, a Mrs. Baker of Vermont, and Mary Baker was adopted 
 by him. Some time before the close of the century, Day purchased 
 house lot 54, and proceeded to build on it what was, for the times 
 and circumstances, an elegant dwelling, so elegant, indeed, that it 
 pecuniarily ruined him. Much of its ornamentation, both external 
 and internal, was brought from Boston; and when his daughter 
 Sophia was married in its jmrlor to James Sherman (Williams 
 College, 1802), she was dressed, as she told her own girls in her old 
 age, " Boston girls fashion" — white satin and all that. The father 
 came naturally enough into financial straits, and sold his house and 
 lot to Judge Daniel Dewey, and moved his family to Cazeuovia, 
 New York, where he kept a tavern for some time on the public 
 square. Debts threw him again into difficulties, and James Sher- 
 man (his son-in-law) took the first mortgage on the public house, 
 and temporarily relieved him. In his old age, he used to make 
 journeys from "the West" to Williamstown and Colchester, in his 
 own old-fashioned gig, and with his well-known sorrel horse. He 
 died in Eome, New York, aged eighty-four. He was in the battle 
 of Bennington. His house here became known as the "Dewey" 
 house, and three generations of that prominent family dwelt in it; 
 and it is now the home of one of the Greek-letter College Societies. 
 Its entire interior was burnt in 1893, and elegantly rebuilt in 1894. 
 Daniel Day's wife was Martha Isham ; both united with the church 
 here in 1806, and both were dismissed to the church in Cazenovia. 
 Mrs. Day was sister of Mrs. Colonel Samuel Tyler. 
 
 The " Noble " house, on 58, was built in the early years of this 
 •century by Daniel Noble (Williams College, 1796), a son of David 
 Noble, one of the early settlers. He Avas the first alumnus of the 
 College to be placed on the Board of Trustees, and he was the treas- 
 urer of the College from 1814 till his death in 1830. He was a law- 
 yer of ability, and commenced the practice of his profession in 
 Adams, where he continued till 1811, when he returned to his native 
 place. His house was not so fine as the Day house, nor so high 
 between joints as the Sloan house; and tradition has it that his 
 daughters cried with disappointment when they first saw the rooms, 
 so inferior were they to what they had expected. But the house 
 was a strikingly good one, and was occupied by the Noble family 
 till past the middle of the century, when the estate was purchased 
 by Joseph White, then treasurer of the College, was repaired and 
 enlarged and beautified by him, and is still occupied by his family 
 (1894). At the present time, there are two other noticeably fine 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 443 
 
 residences on the plateau constituting the eastern end of our vil- 
 lage ; namely, that built by the late Thomas Mole, and improved by 
 its present owner, James White, who has been treasurer of the 
 College since 188G ; and the one of a quite novel pattern, long in 
 process of construction, by Clarence M. Smith. 
 
 To return now to the struggling proprietors here during the 
 autumn of 1761, we find from the minutes of a meeting, held at the 
 place called "the Fort," September 24, of which Benjamin Simonds 
 was moderator, and at which Kichard Stratton was chosen clerk for 
 the proprietors, that they had fallen into difficulties with Isaac 
 Wyman, their former clerk ; and that the main object of the meet- 
 ing was to choose a committee " to sew [sue] the Proprietors 
 Records Plan and Lift out of the Hands of Isaac Wyman the former 
 Clerk." The committee chosen for this purpose were Gideon War- 
 ren, Benjamin Simonds, and Richard Stratton. Were ever the 
 foundations of a New England village laid without a quarrel and 
 a lawsuit ? Among other votes at this meeting, was one to pay 
 Gideon Warren £2 os., and Thomas Train 12s., " for Going after a 
 minister," and another one, to appoint Josiah Horsford and Samuel 
 Kellogg " to Hier a good orthodox Preachor," 
 
 One name of very considerable significance in the early history of 
 this town, occurs, for the first time, in the Proprietors' Record just 
 quoted, — that, namely, of Samuel Kellogg. From that date to 
 this, the name has seldom been absent from the current records of 
 the town and the church and the College. This Samuel Kellogg, 
 son of Benjamin, was born in Old Hadley, June 9, 1734. He came 
 to Williams town from Canaan, Connecticut, where resided Benjamin 
 Kellogg and Zebulon Bobbins and others, who dabbled a great deal 
 in real estate here, but never came to be permanent residents. 
 Ebenezer Kellogg, a half-brother of this Samuel, and who, after the 
 death of his wife without children, made Samuel's house his home 
 to an extreme old age; Ebenezer Kellogg (Yale College, 1810), 
 who was professor of ancient languages in the College from 1815 
 till 1844, and who had no children; and this Samuel, who left a 
 large posterity, to say nothing at present of Charles and Nathaniel 
 Kellogg, brothers, and those in the line of descent from them, — 
 have made this name a notable one here in every generation, and in 
 many relations. 
 
 It is noteworthy, that Samuel Kellogg received his first appoint- 
 ment at the hands of the proprietors, on a committee to hire a good 
 Orthodox minister, because the New England Kelloggs, who believed 
 themselves to be of Scotch descent, were certainly strict Puritans .; 
 
444 ORIGINS IN AYILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 for Old Hadley, where this particular line of the Kelloggs in the 
 person of their ancestor, Joseph, settled at the very outset, namely, 
 in 1660, defended and concealed the English regicides, as all the 
 world knows ; and Benjamin Kellogg, father of our Samuel, born in 
 Hadley, as was also his son, married into the family of Sedgwick, 
 afterwards so distinguished in Berkshire, who were certainly in the 
 line of Major-General Sedgwick, of Cromwell's army. Besides 
 being Puritan Christians, they were usu-ally prosperous farmers, and 
 many of them were made deacons in their respective churches, 
 selectmen, and minor military officers in His Majesty's colonial 
 army. It is altogether probable from firm traditions in the family, 
 although not provable, as in the case of Nehemiah Smedley and 
 Josiah and William Horsford, that Samuel Kellogg was one of a 
 party of quite young men from northwestern Connecticut, who 
 came to the Hoosac to look out future homes for themselves during 
 the lull between the last two French Wars, quite a number of whom, 
 later, enlisted in a military company, and were sent by their colony 
 to garrison West Hoosac Fort. At any rate, Kellogg came here to 
 stay, and became a proprietor in 1761. 
 
 Although Kellogg bought and sold house lots and other lots in 
 different parts of the town, particularly house lots 28 and 30, now, 
 and long, a part of the Danforth estate, he selected for his farm and 
 permanent home a section of lands in the eastern, and then wholly 
 unoccupied part of the West Hoosac lay-out. The reason why that 
 part had been so long neglected was, that the meadows along the 
 Hoosac where it enters the town, and for some distance further, were 
 low and swampy, and the higher lands sloping down to these from 
 the base of Saddle Ball, were clayey and inclined to be wet. But 
 the higher lands were naturally occupied first. Kellogg came to 
 own, in a body, three of the fifty-acre lots of the first division, and 
 several meadow lots, which here lie wholly on the south side of the 
 stream. He paid Oliver Partridge, of Hatfield, £25 for No. 15, one 
 of these three fifty-acre lots, in October, 1766. Benjamin Simonds 
 and Oliver Partridge, Junior, signed this deed, as witnesses. His 
 framed house of two stories, still standing in situ, and now owned, 
 with the farm, by Fred. Gr. Smedley (Williams College, 1864), was 
 built on No. 26, of the same division, which lay north of the road 
 towards the river, while No. 15 and the rest of his uplands lay 
 south of the road towards the mountain. There is no doubt that 
 his first house was built on the higher ground south of the road, and 
 that his clearings were first made there. His son, Samuel, born in 
 1766, used to say to persons still living, particularly to his son, 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 445 
 
 Giles B. Kellogg (Williams College, 1829), who is the unquestion- 
 able authority for many of these facts, that the forest was uubroken 
 when his father began there, and that, when he himself was a lad, 
 all that part of the farm lying between the house and the river 
 was a spruce swamp, and the only way he could get through it was 
 by jumping from one fallen tree to another. 
 
 The public roads in this part of the town, as they were early built 
 and are still maintained, tell a striking tale to this day of the low- 
 ness of the land on the south of the Hoosac in this quarter, and of 
 the difficulties in the way of anything like a straight road from the 
 east end of our village to Fort Massachusetts. As soon as one 
 crosses the bridge over Green River at that point, the road bends 
 immediately to the right, in search of higher land for itself than 
 any furnished by the Smedley meadows. After climbing the slight 
 hill directly south of the Smedley house, the Stratton road continues 
 due south a mile and a half, over high land, till it turns abruptly 
 west, and strikes the Green River road at Blair's. But, pushing on 
 from the Stratton road, still bending south in order to keep dry, 
 the Adams road, when it comes opposite the Kellogg place, strikes 
 the Luce road, another road straight south, parallel with Stratton 
 road, " convening," like that, many of the fifty -acre lots of the first 
 division, and, unlike that, in connection with the Paul road and its 
 continuation, giving a southern and mainly upland way to North 
 Adams. All these roads are old roads, going back nearly to the 
 beginning of West Hoosac, formerly much traversed, now mostly 
 abandoned, but destined, doubtless, to renovation and occupation. 
 
 Samuel Kellogg, after getting his home farm into some shape, 
 possessed himself of another, a mile and a half to the southeast, 
 reached by the Luce and Paul roads, and partly over the line in 
 East Hoosac. It was afterwards called the *' Loveland place," from 
 a man of that name who lived on it and carried on a part of it on 
 shares. Kellogg planted two apple-tree orchards on this place, and 
 reserved on it a fine grove of sugar-maples, and used the rest, as did 
 also his son after him, as pasturage for sheep and calves. The lot 
 lay at the foot of Saddle Mountain. Shortly after locating his home 
 lots, Samuel Kellogg found a wife in Chloe Bacon, daughter of 
 Daniel Bacon, blacksmith, from Middletown, Connecticut, who, two 
 years after this marriage (which took place on the 4th of March, 
 1764), located himself on Nos. 61 and 63 of the first fifty -acre 
 division, which lay on the l^lair road, and could be reached indiffer- 
 ently by the Luce road or by Green River road. A son of this 
 Daniel Bacon, with the same name, was killed in the battle of Ben- 
 
446 OEIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 nington, perhaps standing by the side of his brother-in-law, Samuel 
 Kellogg, or by the side of his father's nearest neighbor, Absalom 
 Blair ; for they were all there in the same company, commanded by 
 Captain Nehemiah Smedley. The information is direct and certain 
 that Samuel Kellogg was an active patriot throughout the Revolu- 
 tion, and that he went to Boston several times as a member of the 
 Committee of Safety, and on other business also pertaining to the 
 colony. He was an enterprising and a leading man both in church 
 and state. His name and that of his wife are on the earliest list of 
 church members that has come down to us, — a list consisting of 
 sixty-one members, twenty-four men and thirty-seven women, — 
 who were members at the time of Eev. Mr. Swift's settlement 
 in 1779. 
 
 Giles Bacon Kellogg, still living in extreme age and infirmity in 
 Bennington, though his professional life was passed in Troy, a 
 grandson of Samuel Kellogg, and one who enjoyed exceptional 
 opportunities of learning about his grandfather, wrote as follows 
 concerning him : " He was a Justice of the Peace prior to and dur- 
 ing the Revolution. The mention of his being a Justice of the 
 Peace reminds me that there was a tradition in the family that 
 while he was Justice a gang of counterfeiters of money was arrested 
 in the Hopper at the foot of Mount Saddle, on a process issued by 
 him, who were betrayed by the smoke arising from their fires. I 
 know there was a mysterious chest, kept locked or nailed up in the 
 closet of the southeast chamber of our house, which was said to 
 contain the tools taken from the counterfeiters and delivered to 
 grandfather. I never heard what became of the counterfeiters, nor 
 know what became of the tools." It may be added that this tradi- 
 tion of the counterfeiters has come down in other families, also, than 
 the Kelloggs, particularly the Paul family. Alleged incidents con- 
 nected with their trial and the testimony against them are repeated 
 to this day. As Mr. Justice Kellogg died Sept. 2, 1788, when he 
 was fifty-four years old, and as the first American silver coins were 
 not issued till 1794, this story of the Hopper counterfeiters is con- 
 siderably discredited by a comparison of dates, although it is possi- 
 ble they may have tried their hands to imitate the English shillings 
 or the Pine-tree shillings of the Massachusetts colony. 
 
 Samuel Kellogg had a half-brother named Ebenezer, considerably 
 younger than himself, Avho lived to a great age, who made his 
 brother's house his home for many years, who outlived him, and 
 who communicated to Giles B. Kellogg many facts of the earlier 
 generations. He, too, was born in Hadley, married Filena Fuller, 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 447 
 
 settled somewhere in the western part of Massachusetts ; but, as he 
 had no children, and his wife died early, he came, naturally enough, 
 to lead the somewhat roving life that Giles B. Kellogg thus de- 
 scribes : " I remember him well. He continued at father's after 
 grandfather died, and remained there as long as he lived. He was 
 a man of no ordinary intelligence, in height above the common size, 
 and well preserved in body and mind. He was a great hunter and 
 fisherman, and claimed to be a skilful root-doctor. I have known 
 him to leave father's house and be absent for a week at a time in 
 the woods and mountains, hunting, fishing, and searching for roots." 
 Further on in our task (if life be spared), we shall resume some 
 account of the interesting and influential Kellogg family, and of the 
 pioneers who settled beyond them on the eastern lines of Williams- 
 town ; but now we must go back to the strifes and struggles and 
 physical difficulties of the first proprietors of West Hoosac. 
 
 March ye 11 — 1762 — whereas application is made unto me by five of ye 
 proprietors of this township for calling a proprietors meeting they are therefore 
 Notifyed & wamded to assembl themselves together at the dwelling house of 
 Mr. Josiah Horsford in s'd town on monday ye 29 of this instant month at one 
 of ye clock in y nfitriKM.n tluMi and there to act on or consider the following 
 articles viz. 
 
 The action on these on that day was as follows : — 
 
 1. Voted & Chose Jonathan meachem moderator 
 
 2 Voted & Chose Nehemiah Smedley Surveyor of Highways 
 
 3. article of raising money to hire preaching tryed voted in ye Nagative 
 
 4. Chose for a commity to lay a road or renew ye road already allowed through 
 
 this town towards fraimingham Richard Stratton Jonathan Meacham Asa 
 Johnson commity 
 6. Voted to allow the following accounts 
 
 Mr. allin Curtises account 2£ 5s Od 
 
 thomas train 080 
 
 Ezekiel foster 028 
 
 micah Herienton 054 
 
 Islah Horsford 128 
 
 gideon warrin 028 
 
 William Horsford 11 9 
 
 Jonathan meacham 040 
 
 The above s'd survaor & committy under oath 
 
 Test Richard Stratton proprit Clark 
 
 The careful reader will note, at this point, how matters, public 
 and private, in our incipient township, are working steadily towards 
 the eastward in the local sense. No doubt, also, in the moral sense, 
 
448 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 West Hoosac was striving to "orient itself." The first three or 
 four proprietors' meetings were held in the very valley of the Hem- 
 lock Brook. The next three or four were held within the palisades 
 of the fort, which stood considerably to the east, but still on the 
 upper part of the slope leading down to the same brook ; but now, 
 by a long leap eastward, the proprietors are summoned to assemble 
 at the house of " Mr. Josiah Horsford," that is, on house lot 42, that 
 is, on the western slope of the second eminence, to crown which 
 West College was built thirty years later. That house is still 
 standing, — the small nucleus of a large house on the same site, — 
 occupied by the Whitmans for three-quarters of a century, and now, 
 after many alterations and additions, owned and dwelled in by Dr. 
 L. D. Woodbridge. 
 
 The first action of the little propriety, in distinct and avowed 
 reference to a neighboring one, is the vote of this meeting, in March, 
 1762, to lay or renew a road through this town "towards fraim- 
 ingham." " Fraimingham " is Lanesboro. Its original proprietors 
 in Framingham, Middlesex County, voted, in 1742, to call their 
 township Richfield; but the earliest settlers, a dozen years later, 
 called the place Ncav Framingham, until in 1765, at the incorpora- 
 tion of the town, the General Court named it Lanesboro, undoubt- 
 edly at the instance of Francis Bernard, governor of Massachusetts 
 1760-69, out of compliment to the " lovely Lanesborough," as she 
 was called, wife of the Earl of Lanesborough, who was extremely 
 jealous of her, while both had much influence at the English Court. 
 Looked at from one point of view, the change of name was a disad- 
 vantage to the little settlement on the uppermost Housatonic ; for 
 "Framingham" is a contraction, drawn in England, of the old 
 Saxon words, Fremdling Hehn, that is, Stranger's Home. There is 
 still in the English county of Suffolk a town named Framlingham, in 
 Norfolk another called Framingham, and in Northumberland a third 
 denominated Framlington, — which is of the same derivation, except 
 that the old German " ton " takes the place in the compound of the 
 equally old German "heim"; and the good old English name, 
 brought down through an early Massachusetts town, might have 
 stimulated, had it been continued, some historical research on the 
 part of some Lanesboro people, as well as have comforted new 
 settlers there in the successive decades. 
 
 Two or three new names encounter us in the old record of the 
 proprietors' meeting in March, 1762. Jonathan Meacham is one of 
 these. He was cousin to James Meacham. Both were from New 
 Salem. Both had been soldiers in the last French War, and had 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 449 
 
 passed through this town, down the Hoosac, on their way to Lake 
 George or Crown Point. James Meacham was a " centinel " in 
 Captain Nathaniel Dwight's company, hastily mustered after the 
 battle of Lake George, in September, 1755. Both were original 
 members of the church in Williamstown, and James was one of the 
 two original deacons ; but there were these differences : except on 
 account of his conspicuous sympathy and co-operation with Shays's 
 men in 1787, James's character and conduct appear to have escaj^ed 
 serious animadversion on the part of his neighbors, while Jonathan 
 came under the censure and public discipline of the church in a 
 manner hereafter to be described. James left a large posterity, 
 which has continued to be identified with the town until the present 
 time, while, so far as the record goes, Jonathan left none. His 
 wife, Thankful • Rugg, it is believed, was sister to James's wife, 
 Lucy Rugg ; and James continued all his life upon one farm, bought 
 Aug. 5, 1761, and died lamented, in his own house, July 28, 1812. 
 Jonathan lived in several different parts of the town, and finally re- 
 moved to distant parts, it is not known whither, but undoubtedly into 
 Vermont, which drew off many an old settler after the Revolution. 
 
 Both the Meachams bought lands here for new homes before they 
 left New Salem, their old home. Jonathan's first purchase was 
 house lot 43, bought of Dr. Seth Hudson, for £o, Oct. 2, 1760. It 
 had been then several times bought and sold, but not yet builded on. 
 ^Meacham's deed is witnessed by Noah Grant and Jedidiah Smed- 
 ley, and it was acknowledged before William Brattle, of Boston. 
 !Meacham built his first house on the front of 43, and very near its 
 western line, of which fact we should not have been so definitely 
 informed, if it had not been for the construction of a tennis-court, 
 in 1888, on the spot, which disclosed pieces of brick and other 
 unmistakable signs of an old house. This tennis-court lay a little 
 to the east of the present Chi Psi building, which itself occupies 
 the front of house lot 41, close up to its eastern line. As the 
 builders of West College, in 1790, found it impossible, on account of 
 the underlying limestone, to dig a well in its near neighborhood, and 
 as Meacham's house was only a dozen rods from West College, it is 
 to be presumed that Meacham was obliged to bring his water from 
 some distance, probably from the copious spring that still gushes out 
 near the foot of Spring Street ; and it is to be presumed further, 
 that, as he soon came to own house lot 45 also, he built the house 
 on 45 (quite near to this spring), the hearthstone of which was 
 discovered in 1889, while digging the cellar of the house of Pro- 
 fessor Bliss Perry. This hearthstone is now in Clark Hall. 
 
450 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Even if this original house on 45 were not builded by Jonathan 
 Meacham, it is evident enough that it was put up by somebody 
 there for the sake of easy access to this spring; because, so far, 
 every dwelling on the house lots had been placed on their fronts, 
 directly on Main Street, on the one side or the other ; but this house 
 on 45 was located about seventy rods from Main Street, and as near 
 to the Walden Spring, which is on house lot 47, as it could be placed 
 on house lot 45. But even this moderate proximity to the spring 
 did not ultimately satisfy Meacham, provided he was the builder of 
 that house ; for he certainly erected afterwards, on house lot 49, at 
 a spot still further from Main Street, and almost on the very edge 
 of the College Spring, which is about fifteen rods east of the Wal- 
 
 AUTHOR'S HOUSE. 
 Built in 1872. 
 
 den Spring, another house, the cavity of whose cellar is still dis- 
 cernible just west of the big rock there, a present depression that 
 was a large open hole a fcAV years ago, when it was filled in to 
 accommodate the students' ball-field. 
 
 Jonathan Meacham had evidently sterling qualities both for peace 
 and war, but was as evidently restless in relation to his home. 
 After living some time by the College Spring, he moved upon Bee 
 Hill, where the Hickocks now are, and have been for more than a 
 century. He was often out during the Eevolutionary War, — the 
 last date that has been noticed Avas in October, 1780, in Captain 
 Israel Harris's company of sixty-three officers and men, all from 
 Williamstown. He mortgaged to Albany parties, in July, 1769, his 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 451 
 
 house lots 43 and 45, to secure a debt of £89, New York money, 
 whicli was paid in 1772, — £102, principal and interest. Under 
 date of Feb. 13, 1779, in the tiist entry made by Kev. Mr. Swift, in 
 the church-record book, occur these words, " Voted that Sampson 
 Howe and Nathaniel Sanford be a Committee to wait on Jonathan 
 Meacham to inquire the reason of his absentini:: himself from 
 Communion." 
 
 House lot 43, on whicu :>ircuiiani built his tirsi iiou.sf. is the lot 
 on which the writer's own house has stood since 1872, which is 
 fairly represented, when new, by the annexed wood-cut ; the eastern 
 line of 43 runs along by the lattice-work under the piazza of the 
 house ; consequently it bisects north and south the new chemical 
 laboratory, which was finished for Professor Mears in the summer 
 of 1892; and West College, while it stands wholly in Main Street, 
 would be bisected in the same direction by the continuation of the 
 line dividing 43 and 45. On the last-named lot, directly in front of 
 the writer's house, was erected the same summer, by John B. Gale 
 {Williams College, 1842), a dwelling for Professor Spring. The north 
 front of that lot has been cumbered since 1847 by a small college 
 dormitory, originally with two recitation-rooms on the lower floor, 
 in one of which Professor I. N. Lincoln and in the other Professor 
 A. L. Perry heard their first college recitations at the same hour in 
 September, 1853. A tolerable picture of Kellogg Hall, with Mount 
 Williams and Bald ^lountain in the distance, will here be greeted, 
 perhaps, with pleasure by many, especially as its speedy demolition 
 is already projected. A physical laboratory to be used by Professor 
 Lefavour, and to stand wholly on 45, and a biological laboratory to 
 be occupied by Professor S. F. Clarke, and to stand wholly on 43, 
 were projected and erected and completed by the bounty of Trustee 
 Thompson. 
 
 Asa Johnson was another name first met with in the " Propriety " 
 record of 1762. He came here, like many another young man, from 
 Canaan, Connecticut ; for we read that " Asa Johnson and Thankful, 
 his wife, had Hannah born in Canaan, 29 Oct. 1760." We shall have 
 to deal with many Johnsons in the course of this our task, but this 
 Asa seems to be apart from the rest, with no signs of near relation- 
 ship, and with some personal qualities discriminating him from 
 them. He seems to have settled pretty soon after he came on first- 
 division fifty-acre lot 37, its eastern end abutting on Green River, 
 and its western running up on Stone Hill, about half-way between 
 James Meacham's and Taylor's Crotch ; for in March, 1764, he sold 
 to Jacob Brown '•' one sartuiii fiftv acre lot 37 that I now live on with 
 
452 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the house and barn," etc. He sold, the year before, to "White 
 David " Johnson, second-division fifty-acre lot No. 7, for £19, which 
 White David cultivated as the house lot of " Stone Hill Farm " till 
 after the opening of this century. He sold, also in 1764, meadow 
 lot No. 1 for £5, " said meadow lot lyeth joining on the Township 
 called East Hoosuck," to " Ephraim Selah." Notwithstanding these 
 and other sales of property, including one to Benjamin Simonds for 
 £37 10s., Asa Johnson could not get out of debt. Albany was then 
 the chief market of the settlers for purchasing supplies. E-obert 
 
 illli 
 
 1 1 I I i 
 
 KELLOGG HALL. 
 
 Built in 1847. 
 
 Henry was then a merchant of Albany. Johnson was sued by Henry 
 in September, 1766, and judgment found against him in £141 lis. lie?, 
 debt, and £3 7s. costs. Samuel Kellogg and Eichard Stratton and 
 Jonathan Meacham took oath to appraise the real estate for satisfy- 
 ing this execution. 
 
 In the mean time Johnson had built a house and made a home on 
 the county road, the extension of the North Street northward, 
 between house lots 2 and 36, a six-rod road at right angles to Main 
 Street, and from the northern end of the house lots (themselves 
 bounded there by a two-rod road, which was never completed as 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 453 
 
 intended) a four-rod road running north to the river and beyond. 
 Just where the six-rod road contracted to the four-rod road, on the 
 west side of the latter, and on the north side of the two-rod road, 
 two acres and a half were laid out in October, 1762, as a burying- 
 ground for the Propriety. It was three-eighths of a mile north of 
 the Square, on the left hand of the road leading to Bennington, 
 on the southern edge of first-division fifty-acre lot 35. It was used 
 for some years as a burial-place, both before and after the formal 
 bounding of the lot by a committee consisting of Samuel Kellogg 
 and Thomas Dunton ; in the warning for a meeting to be holden on 
 the 19th of April, 1762, at the house of Mr. Josiah Horsford, the 
 last article was, "To see if the propriators will clear any more 
 of the burying place, or allow Mr. Johnson anything for the work 
 he has done in the burying place," which article was voted to be 
 " dropped " in the meeting itself; the place was difficult of access, on 
 account of a very steep pitch in the clay road about one-eighth of a 
 mile south of the lot 35, which obstacle to travel caused long after- 
 wards the abandonment of that part of the county road in favor of 
 another running down the Hemlock Brook, and coming back into the 
 old road about fifty rods south of the bridge over the Hoosac; and 
 how inaccessible the graveyard was from the west by the narrow 
 road designed to flank the northern ends of the house lots, and actu- 
 ally flanking them to this day about half of the way, any one may 
 see by looking up the present rocks by the old poplars in the line of 
 the Bulkley road east. 
 
 In the warrant for the next meeting is found the article, "To 
 see if ye propriators will alter the burying yard " ; and in the action 
 on the same is found the clause, " Voted to alter the burying yard." 
 Then comes the return of Kellogg and Dunton : — 
 
 Whereas We the Subscribers being chosen a commity to establish the bounds 
 of the burying place and we have bounded the Same as follows beginning at a 
 Stake at the North end of the Six Rods Highway where the four Rods Highway 
 first Enters the first fifty acre Lot Noin"" 35 Ituning thirteen rods and the third 
 part of a rod North on the west side of S^ Highway from thence thirty rods west 
 to a Stake & Stones from thence South thirteen rods and one third of a rod to a 
 Stake Standing on the North Side of the two rod road that runs at the North end 
 of House Ix)ts from thence thirty rods east on the North Side of S* Highway to 
 the first bounds containing two acres and a half of Land bounded this 26 — day 
 of October— 1762. 
 
 But nothing could make this yard for the dead — God's acre — accep- 
 table to the majority of the proprietors. It was too inaccessible. 
 Another was not long after selected, lying upon the Main Street, just 
 
454 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 west of Hemlock Brook, which has continued the principal cemetery 
 of the town till the present time ; and many of the bodies laid in 
 the first ground were removed to this. 
 
 Asa Johnson evidently did not get on well pecuniarily. He was 
 still in debt to Eobert Henry. He sold off to William Horsford, for 
 £9, in October, 1767, ten acres more of his fifty-acre lot 35, adjoin- 
 ing the burial-ground ; and in 1770 he sold off the rest, and migrated 
 to Vermont. He sold to Eobert Henry, " merchant of Albany," for 
 £45, twelve and one-half acres, including his dwelling-house and 
 out-buildings. The plat is described in the deed as " bounded north- 
 erly on land of said Eobert Henry, westerly on William Horsford's 
 land, southerly on the burial yard, and easterly on the County Eoad." 
 Going from here to what is now Eutland, Vermont, his family was 
 one of the first four white families in that town. His daughter, 
 Chloe, was born there, Oct. 3, 1770, the third white child born in 
 Eutland, the two first having been born within the ten days preced- 
 ing. His house here, which was well built, stood in its place by the 
 old road for a century. The present writer remembers it well. It 
 was occupied successively by Solomon Woolcot and Samuel Tyler. 
 The old road, though long disused, can still be traced most of the 
 way north to the spot where the new one joined it ; and at the north- 
 ern end of the part disused, a new road admirably constructed has 
 lately been put in along the line of the old one, to his own elegant 
 mansion crowning the height of the hill, by Eugene M. Jerome 
 (Williams College, 1867). 
 
 The years 1762 and 1763 were pivotal in the history of West 
 Hoosac. Not far from twenty-five young men were actually clearing 
 up their lots, and fulfilling the other conditions prescribed by the 
 General Court, under which the lots were to become their own in 
 fee simple. They were stalwart young men, and they were looking 
 forward. Those actual settlers even, who had had a past, like Isaac 
 Wyman, for example, and still more those prominent men to the 
 eastward, who had bought lots on speculation, or to encourage the 
 settlement as a barrier against French and Indians, like Oliver Par- 
 tridge, had, by this time, sold out and withdrawn from the field. 
 Eichard Stratton is almost the only instance of an elderly man, who 
 had come and come to stay, — to cast in his lot for good or ill with 
 the actual founders of a town. The proprietors' meetings during 
 these two years were frequent and significant. The debates were 
 earnest, and they concerned the future. They related mainly, (1) To 
 clearing out and making passable the Main Street (especially towards 
 its western end), and the two streets at right angles with this 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 455 
 
 leading north and south from the Square, all which had been laid 
 out in 1750; (2) To laying out new streets in the right places, 
 so as "to convean" the purchasers of the outlots of the several 
 classes ; (3) To the raising of money by local taxation for these and 
 other needful ends; (4) To the procuring and maintenance of "a 
 good orthodox minister"; and (5) To getting into practicable com- 
 munication with their neighbors both to the east and south. 
 
 We will now give a few votes, as specimens merely, under each of 
 these heads, during those two years. We will also in this connec- 
 tion note the places of the meetings, and the names of any proprietors 
 mentioned, who became prominent. Two of these meetings were 
 held at the house of "Mr. Benjamin Simonds." As the meetings had 
 been pretty constantly working their way to the eastward of Hem- 
 lock Brook, and as two or three of those just preceding these con- 
 vened at the house of Josiah Horsford on the second eminence, this 
 cannot mean that the proprietors were called on to cross that brook 
 and climb up the steep pitch to the west of it to Simonds's house on 
 No. 22, probably then the farthest house to the west on Main Street, 
 and certainly further west than any meeting was held before ; and 
 when we come to look carefully, we find that Simonds had sold 
 No. 22 to Joshua Simonds in 1760, and had begun the yegir before 
 to buy up the house lots on the south side of Main Street, from 
 Hemlock Brook up to the level of the Square, — buying No. 5 in 
 1759, 7 in 1762, 9 in 1762 also, and 3 in 1764. He ultimately placed 
 his own-built house on No. 3, in which he kept an inn for several 
 years, the site of the present elegant house of Henry Sabin ; but 5 
 and 7 and 9 each had its house in 1762, and the proprietors had met 
 more than once with Seth Hudson on his then No. 9 ; so that, these 
 later meetings with Simonds were certainly east of the brook, and 
 on one of his recent purchases. He is designated as an " innholder" 
 in December, 1763, the first of that craft in West Hoosac, and promi- 
 nent as such for many years, the necessity for the " landlord " being 
 the current now beginning to set strongly from Connecticut into 
 Vermont. 
 
 •• Voted, to chuse a commity to remove all incumbrances out of 
 the main street croos street or private Roads that obstruct common 
 traveling." " Voted, to clear or dig to make comfortable passing on 
 the west end of ye main street " [Danforth Hill]. " Voted, to clear 
 a road through this town towards fraimingham for comfortable cart- 
 ing." " Voted, to clear a road to the east town for a cart to get 
 along." " Voted, to clear a road from the east end of main street 
 by wppb's rpMrri"k Webb's] to the mouth of crreen river." "Voted, 
 
456 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 to have preaching for the future." " Chose thomas dunton asa Jon- 
 son Samuel Kellogg commity to provide a minister." "Voted, to 
 raise twelve shillings on each propriators rite to defray the charge 
 of preaching." " Voted, asa Jonson's account of Nine days £3 12s. 
 for going after a minister." " Voted Samuel Kelloggs account for 
 going for a minister £3 14s." " Voted to give mr warner a call to 
 preach on probation — 2 — chose Nehemiah Smedley Benjamin 
 Simonds Derick weeb commity to treat with mr warner or provide 
 another minister if need be." '' Voted a tax of one pound on each 
 rite" (19 April, 1762). "Voted twelve shillings on each rite" 
 (10 March, 1763). 
 
 Several of the proprietors failed to respond to these lawful levies 
 on their "rites," and the rights were accordingly sold at public 
 auction; for example, Benjamin Simonds bought house lot 2, for 
 £4, William Horsford bought house lot 4, for £4 12s., and Isaac 
 Searle bought house lot 8, for £2. Samuel Kellogg and Zebulon 
 Eobbins were other purchasers at this " Publick Vandue," as Eich- 
 ard Stratton announced it, he continuing to be proprietors' clerk 
 till 1765, when the town was incorporated. Lands were abundant 
 in West Hoosac, and consequently cheap. Ever after the date last 
 mentioned, and even somewhat before, the lands of Vermont came 
 into competition with those on the upper Hoosac, and tended to 
 make the latter cheaper still. All kinds of timber but pine were 
 plenty in the town, and the proprietors voted themselves the 
 "liberty to cut timber on the undivided land"; but the pines were 
 more precious, and were zealously watched, — " voted and Chose 
 Joseph ballard Josiah Horsford John Smedley commity to prose- 
 cute those men that have cut the pine timber in this township that 
 have No rite in s- township." The pines were localized on the 
 northeastern boundaries of the town, and sixty-three pine lots were 
 soon laid out, one for each owner of a house lot ; most of these were 
 on Broad Brook or near it, but eight of them may be said to have 
 been on the Hoosac, Nos. 7 and 8 at the junction of the brook 
 and river. 
 
 Whether it was as a member of the committee to prosecute tres- 
 passes on the pine lands, or in the exercise of native Connecticut 
 sagacity as a private person, John Smedley, eldest of the five 
 brothers, sons of Samuel, of Litchfield, early perceived the possibili- 
 ties of both land and water at the junction of Broad Brook and 
 Hoosac River. There were two pine lots, and parts of five meadow 
 lots, the latter partially covered with pines also, in the north angle 
 between the streams. He had noticed a considerable fall in Broad 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 457 
 
 Brook, just above the point where the bridge now crosses it, on the 
 road to Bennington ; and in June, 1763, he asked, in due and legal 
 form, " If the proprietors will grant John Smedley liberty to Set up 
 a Sawmill upon the brook called broatl brook also to carry the water 
 acrost the highway on his own cost to the common land Lying North 
 of the meadow Lots nom? thirty nine forty and forty one also to see 
 if tlie proprietors will grant to the S** John Smedley two acres and 
 an half between S** meadow Lots & the highway that goes to pow- 
 nal to accommidate S** Sawmill said land to be reducted out of his 
 next draft or pitch of Land also to chuse a commity to Lay out 
 8** land on S*^ Smedleys cost." A month later, the proprietors 
 " voted John Smedley liberty to build a Sawmill on broad brook 
 and to carry the water acrost the highway on his own cost also two 
 acres and an half of land to acomidate s** Sawmill S** land to be 
 Reducted out of his next draft or pitch of Land voted Richard 
 Sutton derick weeb Jonathan Meacham commitee to Lay out the 
 Land to accomidate S* mill to be done on S** Smedley's cost." 
 
 Here we have the interesting history of the second (even if not 
 the first) sawmill in this township. Probably a dam had been 
 thrown across the Green River by this time, at the lowest of the 
 three falls, at tlie east end of the southeastern tier of house lots, 
 where there has been a dam ever since, to which access was early 
 given by "Pork lane," now dignified by the town as Bingham 
 Street, and a sawmill located there. At any rate, Smedley soon had 
 his mill agoing lively. It stood right on the bank of tlie Hoosac, 
 into which his waste water fell easy, and its old timbers have been 
 seen in place within fifty years by Ripley Cole, a reputable living 
 citizen of the White Oaks ; and the writer himself has seen im- 
 mensely wide pine boards sawn at this mill, with which Smedley 
 sheathed his own house, built on the bank above, along which now 
 run the tracks of the Fitchburg Railroad. Those boards were then, 
 doubtless, a century old, — probably more, — and were fastened to 
 the studding by large, hand-wrought nails, both boards and nails 
 wrenched and twisted by time and exposure. This house is figured 
 on Coffin's map of Williamstown, 1843, as standing on pine lot No. 
 7, about equidistant from the Hoosac and the Broad. Smedley 
 came to own both the pine lots there, parts of several meadow lots, 
 and what he himself described as the "common land" north of the 
 latter. He carried his water from brook to mill, about eighty rods, 
 along a little channel dug by the north side of the '^ highway," still 
 visible all the way, till it came near a steep rise then and now in the 
 highway, when, as authorized, he "crost the highway," and took his 
 
458 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 water around the hill, on descending ground, to his primitive mill- 
 race on the river. The sluiceway across the road is just where it 
 was dug 130 years ago, and a little water still drizzles along the 
 entire channel and across, under the tiny bridge, and disperses itself 
 in the green meadow on the south of the road. 
 
 As it was with the pines, so also was it with the white oaks. 
 They, too, were localized. They were wholly in the northeast cor- 
 ner of the township, wholly north of the Hoosac, and almost wholly 
 east of Broad Brook. There were almost literally none in the other 
 parts of the town. The writer has heard an old woodsman declare 
 that there was not a single white-oak tree within three miles of 
 Greylock. Next after the pine lots, — which was the sixth division 
 of lands among the proprietors of house lots, these constituting 
 the first division, the meadow lots the second, the fifty-acre lots at 
 the North Part being the third, at the South Part the fourth, and 
 the 100-acre lots the fifth, — the sixty-three oak lots were laid out. 
 There was a pretty strong desire to possess one or more of these, 
 ■either by allotment or subsequent purchase, on account of the utility 
 and durability of white-oak timber, especially for the sills of build- 
 ings. There is good evidence, at least in one case, of such timbers 
 being hauled, for such use, three miles or more into the Hopper. 
 More than half of these oak lots abut on the western line of the 
 present town of Clarksburg, and that entire line is covered by them ; 
 and the rest are scattered on or near Broad Brook, and between or 
 among small groups of the pine lots. The oak lots were the seventh 
 division. The eighth were sixty-acre lots. The ninth and last were 
 " pitches," so-called, each owner of a house lot being authorized to 
 lay out for himself, on any of the still undivided lands, thirty acres, 
 in one or two or three pieces, as he chose. Even after these pitches 
 were all located, there remained in the outskirts of the town, mostly 
 on steep slopes of mountains in the south and west, considerable 
 patches of undivided land. These were afterwards sold, if any one 
 wished to purchase, by the Selectmen. A land-grabber of that 
 period, named Ephraim Seelye, got most of these into his hands, 
 and then peddled them out to a profit. He owned also, at one time 
 and another, wide stretches of the best lands. It was said of him, 
 by one of his quick-witted neighbors, that, had he been in the place 
 of our Lord when Satan offered all the kingdoms of the world and 
 the glory of them, he would have exclaimed, without a minute's 
 hesitation, "I'll take it, I will ! " 
 
 All that northeast corner of the town north of the Hoosac, and 
 on both sides of the Broad, has been called, time out of mind, the 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 459 
 
 " White Oaks." It is a happy designation, and is to be presumed 
 coeval with the settlement of the town. As " Broad Brook " is 
 so named in the records the first time the stream is referred to, and 
 as '' Stone Hill " received that appellation officially as early as 1762, 
 and as " Green River " was so called at least as early as that, it 
 is pleasant to remember that the marked things here that needed 
 naming, the things close at hand and striking, were well named 
 at the very first ; because 
 
 ' * The past will always win 
 A glory from its being far ! " 
 
 The " Sand Spring," which is the jewel of the White Oaks, and 
 which was naturally so called at the outset, because the warmish 
 water gurgles up through innumerable little hemispheres of sand, 
 and makes the bottom of the spring, to one gazing down through the 
 depth of clear water, look like a gigantic ant-hill, itself a hemisphere 
 made up of countless smaller ones. The first person known to live 
 on the Sand Spring lot, which was a pine lot, was John Smedley, 2d, 
 who married Hepzibah Philips in 1786 ; and the first person known 
 to claim curative properties for the water, provision for bathing in 
 which was very early made, and has never been intermitted, was old 
 Aaron Smedley, his uncle, born March 9, 1750, wlio, though a land- 
 owner at one time in Williamstown like all his brothers, became a 
 sort of vagrant hunter in Vermont, and whose eczema (as he 
 asserted) was always helped by a bath in the Sand Spring water. 
 
 The population in that part of the town was as respectable at 
 first, and perhaps as independent, as that in the other parts, 
 although much of the land there is stony, and more is sandy. Old 
 John Smedley, born Jan. 4, 1731, did not borrow leave to dwell in 
 plenty by his sawmill, where he reared a family of eight daughters ; 
 Ephraim Seelye, with a choice of lands of his own in every quarter 
 of the town, fixed his permanent home at the junction of the " North 
 Hoosac road " with the " Simonds road," as both were voted to be 
 called by the town in 1891 ; Benjamin Simonds himself, before the 
 outbreak of the Revolution, left his " inn " in the straggling village, 
 which he had done more than any one else to build up, and built a 
 much larger hostelry in the White Oaks on what is now named the 
 River-Bend Farm, where he lived and died, rearing his seven 
 daughters to match those of his neighbor to the north, John Smed- 
 ley; and Jonathan Bridges from Colchester, Connecticut, early 
 bought the fine farm on the North Hoosac road, still owned by his 
 great-grandson, Charles E. Bridges, and, marrying Prudence Simonds, 
 
460 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 born Dec. 4, 1763, brought up a family that has brought credit to the 
 White Oaks ever since. His youngest daughter, Lucy Bridges Smed- 
 ley, is yet living in town, well on in her eighties, and well estab- 
 lished in the respect and affection of her children and children's 
 children. 
 
 But the fact is well known, and the reasons of it also, that a very 
 different class of people gradually inserted themselves between the 
 hills and into the dells of the White Oaks. Some lands were very 
 cheap there, and others in the rougher districts could be squatted on 
 with impunity. The line of Vermont borders the entire district 
 on the north, and the line of New York is only a little way to the 
 •west ; and it was easy for fugitives from debt, and from petty crimes 
 too, to find a refuge in a bordering state, and in physical conditions 
 so favorable to temporary concealment and permanent harborage. 
 Negro slavery vsras not legally abolished in the state of New York 
 until 1836. Considerable numbers of colored people from that state 
 percolated into the White Oaks, and perpetuated themselves there. 
 Indian-Dutch families, like the Orcombreits, came also. All sorts, 
 and colors, and conditions crept in; low-downs from Massachusetts 
 were not wanting : these all intermarried, or, at least, intermingled 5 
 and the result, in course of time, was a very curious and a morally 
 obstinate state of society. Begging in the street, and thieving every- 
 where, became hereditary features in a number of families. The 
 state of things over there rested, more or less, on the conscience of 
 the churches over here in every generation ; various religious and 
 educational efforts of a spasmodic nature were made from time to 
 time for the benefit of the people. About 1865, Professor Albert 
 Hopkins began on a systematic and persistent plan for the moral 
 elevation of the White Oaks, by means of a local church and Sunday- 
 school, in the execution of which, and in its continuation since his 
 death, the brothers Woodbridge (Williams College, 1872 and 1873) 
 :and the family of the late B. F. Mather have been prominent and 
 patiently efficient, and great good has been accomplished ; and, while 
 during the last decade, the population of that section has rapidly 
 increased, owing to the operations of the Fitchburg Railroad there, 
 the current year has witnessed the hopeful beginning under Metho- 
 dist auspices of vigorous religious efforts, of which the '' Clarke 
 Chapel" is the centre. 
 
 Before quitting the present topic, it will be proper to refer to the 
 " Line House," so-called, the last house in the White Oaks, as one 
 passes into Vermont by the river road. The division line between 
 the states, which is Hazen's Line of 1741, passes directly through 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 461 
 
 this house. It is a convenient site for a house, as Rattlesnake 
 Brook flanks the place at short distance, furnishing both occupants 
 and travellers abundant water. A certain Esquire Ware was the 
 first known dweller and tavern-keeper there, after whom the brook 
 was sometimes named " AVare's Brook " ; Ephraim Seelye, Junior, 
 whose wife was Ann Bridges, lived there a long time, and kept a 
 tavern, as did also *' Vane " Danforth, whose strange history may 
 confront us later; and Charles D. Sabin, Jesse's son, died there, 
 Dec. 27, 1841, aged thirty-four. On account of the house being 
 situated in two states, and bearing, at least, a semi-public character, 
 it was an early and frequent resort for clandestine marriages, — 
 Mr. Justice-of-the-Peace Danforth (for one) being happy to sol- 
 emnize that rite for Massachusetts parties in a room in the north 
 end of the house, understood to be under the jurisdiction of the 
 state of Vermont, whose commission as Justice he bore. Gradu- 
 ally, for this and other reasons, the house came to bear a question- 
 able reputation. Since the liquor laws of Massachusetts have been 
 stringent, and, of course, divergent from those of Vermont, the 
 pliice has been noted for the illegal sale of intoxicants. The house, 
 at present, carries a well-painted and sleek-repaired exterior, but 
 passers-by, rarely, if ever, see the front door open, and those who 
 prize character and good name most, are least likely to be seen at 
 the back door by day or night. 
 
 It must be borne in mind as we study the present paragraph, that 
 the committee of the General Court, laying out the limits of the 
 town in 1749, prepared a rude plan of it, as did also the committee 
 of 1739, and the proprietors, from the first, had a parchment copy 
 stretched upon a bit of board, on which a few of the main roads 
 were provisionally put down, but the proprietors had the right, 
 practically, to build all the roads as and where they chose. Thus 
 the plan contemplated two roads, each exactly parallel with the 
 Main Street, along the northern and southern ends of the house 
 lots ; but the proprietors only built one-half of the proposed road 
 on the north, and none at all on the south. There seems to have 
 been sketched out on the plan, also, a road from Taylor's Crotch to 
 the old Deming place, where the present Potter road joins the 
 Ashford road. Richard Stratton and Jonathan Meacham and Asa 
 Johnson were chosen. May 15, 1762, 
 
 a commity to renew the road towards fraimingham & to make alteration if we 
 thought best We have therefore faithfully attended the business and we find 
 according to the best of our Juderaent the Road must go on tlie west side of 
 Stone Hill we begin at the South end of the cross Street &, Keep tlie Road till we 
 
462 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 come to the Northwest corner of the lot Nomb 9 fr' divition then runing almost 
 west acroos a corner of the Lot Nom^ 41 and then a little way near South in the 
 Lot Nom'^ 42 — the westerly side of the marked trees with one chop in the mark 
 & on common Land till we come to the Northwest corner of the Lot Nom' 46 — 
 then keep the Road allowed on the plan by that Lot then Runing near Southeast 
 the east side of the marked trees as afores^ acroos the Lots Nom' 48 fr' divition 
 & nom'^ 7 second di'*' to the Northwest corner of the Lot Nomr 8 second divition. 
 then runing the same course acroos the Lots Nom' 30 & 28 — to a beach tree 
 the Northwest corner of the Lot Norn' 27, Standing on the former Road then 
 Keep that Road as on the plan to the Southwest corner of the Lot Nom^^ 53 
 where the Road comes in from the west [Sloan road] then runing South about 
 one degree east acrost five Lots Nom'"^ 54 — 55 — 56 — 57 — 58 and so by the 
 marked trees on the lane of land that Lyeth along there till we come to the old 
 Road and we think it not best to Lay it any farther at present. 
 
 Thus was early established the present Stone Hill road, and no 
 change has been made in it for 130 years, except that a little part 
 between the Woodcock road and the present Hemlock road was 
 discontinued a few years ago, by town authority. It seems likely, 
 however, to be reopened again shortly by the same authority. Two 
 roads, in general parallel with this, now lead from the north village 
 to a common junction in the centre of the south village; namely, 
 the Green River road on the east, and the Hemlock road on the 
 Avest. The latter was built about 1827, under the supervision of 
 the elder Keyes Danforth. The former is but the gradual continu- 
 ation up the Green River of the original Water Street, from Main 
 Street to the mill privilege, whose story has been given already. 
 When this committee made a point, in 1762, of "the southwest 
 corner of the lot number 53, where the read comes in from the 
 west," they marked the site, for all time, of the village of South 
 Williamstown, a small spot of earth that has played its part well 
 (as we shall see) from that time to this, in its varied relations. 
 
 In July, 1763, the proprietors are legally warned to " assemble 
 themselves together at the place called the Schoolhouse in said 
 township." This is the first reference to any such building. It is 
 very doubtful whether any school of any kind had yet been opened 
 in the town. There are votes a plenty in all these years in refer- 
 ence to getting a minister, or hiring preaching, or paying some com- 
 mittee or other for "going for" a minister; but no vote as yet about 
 a school-teacher, or till now about a place for a school. The reason 
 is obvious : the children to the first settlers, born in the hamlet 
 itself, of which there were then seven or eight, five of whom were 
 Benjamin Simonds's children, were not yet of school age; and while 
 a few of these settlers brought older children with them, born else- 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 463 
 
 where, most of them were young men bringing hither their brides. 
 About this time, however, new proprietoi-s came in, like John New- 
 bre, for example, who lived just west of the second burying-ground, 
 and very likely some of these had children requiring school privi- 
 leges ; and at any rate, we may fairly infer that the desire to pro- 
 cure a minister while there was no place for him to preach in, 
 co-operated with the now-felt necessity for a school, to cause the 
 erection of a building "called the Schoolhouse," which might serve 
 (and did serve) both purposes. It is almost an accidtMit that gives 
 us certain knowledge of its location and character. 
 
 It was a log building of some size, and stood near the southwest 
 corner of house lot 36, which had been originally reserved for the 
 first minister, and which Whitman Welch sold, in 1767, to Josiah 
 Horsford, for £25; and its location on the minister's lot, though 
 back from its frontage on Main Street, where it might be supposed 
 the minister would wish to place his own dwelling, indicates its 
 purpose as a preaching-place, while it was also " called " the School- 
 house. With one exception, when they met at the house of William 
 Horsford, on house lot 44, where the president's house now stands, 
 the proprietors uniformly held their meetings at this schoolhouse 
 for several years ; and public worship was held in it, whenever 
 there was any, until the first rude meeting-house was built, 
 30 X 40, in 1768. The log building acquired a certain sort of sanc- 
 tity thereby, which was never wholly lost as long as it remained 
 standing. Its location was on Xortli Street, a few rods back from 
 Main Street, and in all probability it stood between the present 
 " Laundry " of the Greylock Hotel, and the rear of the main struc- 
 ture. It may probably have been taken down on the erection in 
 front of its site of the original "Mansion House," which was burned 
 down in October, 1871 ; and its successor as a schoolhouse was cer- 
 tainly put up a little southwest across Main Street on the line 
 between house lots 1 and 3, and quite on the edge of the street. 
 
 A circumstance that will commemorate forever the old log school- 
 house of West Hoosac was the assembling within it of the pious 
 women of Williamstown on the afternoon of Aug. 16, 1777, to pray 
 for the safety and victory of their fathers and brothers and kinsfolk 
 in the battle of Bennington, then raging. The sharp and credible 
 tradition is, that there were not men enough left in the entire town 
 "to put out a fire." The boom of cannon to the northward was 
 occasionally heard by the participants while the meeting was in 
 progress; their fears were deepened by the sight of women and 
 children in wagons and on foot, with their little valuables snatched 
 
464 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 up, hurrying past towards places of safety from Bennington and 
 Pownal ; and their hearts were filled to the full with gratitude when, 
 in the edge of the Saturday evening, a swift horseman, said to have 
 been sent by Major Isaac Stratton, of South Williamstown, from the 
 field of fight, rode past the schoolhouse into the anxious hamlet, an- 
 nouncing a great victory, and so breaking up a unique prayer-meeting 
 that had lasted for hours without intermission. These simple para- 
 graphs are being written Aug. 16, 1892. It falls on a Tuesday, 115 
 years after the swift revulsion of feeling in the log schoolhouse. 
 
 The moderators of the various meetings of the proprietors, from 
 the time they began to assemble in the schoolhouse, whence on one 
 occasion they adjourned to the house of Nehemiah S medley opposite 
 across the " Square " on house lot No. 1, were William Horsford, 
 John Newbre, Samuel Kellogg, Josiah Horsford, Titus Harrison, 
 John Smedley, Ephraim Seelye, Samuel Payn, and Richard Stratton. 
 The last-named continued to be "Proprietor's Clerk," and as such 
 warned out all the meetings and authenticated their proceedings by 
 his signature, until Dec. 3, 1763, when William Horsford was chosen 
 clerk, and continued such till after AVest Hoosac became Williams- 
 town in 1765. Some of the votes in this interval are of special inter- 
 est: for example merely, April 16, 1764, "voted to build a bridge 
 over green river by Isaac Stratton " ; Sept. 27, 1764, " voted to build 
 a bridge over green river at the east end of the town Street " ; same 
 day, " voted also taylor's crotch and ten acres of land for the privi- 
 lege of a mill " ; Dec. 3, 1764, " voted Nine Shillings on each rite to 
 build the bridge over green river " ; March 6, 1765, " votted there be 
 Nine Shillings of money Raised on Eaich Proprietors Eight to Soport 
 the Gospel " ; and April 12, 1765, " Votted that the Proprietors will 
 Eecawl the vote that Hath Ben Past to Sequester the Land on the 
 North Side of the Greate River [Hoosac] and Lay out the Same in 
 two Divisions and Left it to the Dischression of the Commetres to 
 Lay out the Pine Lots as they Shall think Best Votted that the 
 Second Division of Land on the North Side of the Greate River Shall 
 be Sized both in Quantity and Quallity." 
 
 The enterprising proprietors were largely occupied during the two 
 years preceding the incorporation of the town, (1) in laying out 
 their roads "to convean" the different parts of the town and the 
 successive divisions of their lands ; (2) in selecting and surveying 
 and distributing the fifth, sixth, and seventh divisions, namely, the 
 100-acre lots, the pine lots, and the oak lots, each drawn in sixty- 
 three parts ; (3) in determining what portions (if any) of their 
 territory " to sequestor " for the common use of the proprietors ; 
 
WEST HOOSAC. 465 
 
 (4) in sending some one or more of their number on repeated, and 
 for the most part futile, missions " to hier a minister," though they 
 negatived a proix>sition to call " Mr. Strickland on probation " ; and 
 lastly, (5) in selling off at " publick vandue " for what they could 
 get the lots on which the legally assessed " rates " had not been paid. 
 For instance, March 10, 1763, Benjamin Simonds bought in this way 
 house lot No. 2, for £4: ; William Horsford bought house lot 4, for 
 £4 12s. ; Isaac Searle bought house lot No. 8, for £2 ; same bid off 
 second-division tifty-acre lot, " drew in favour of house lot No. 30," 
 for £2 5s.; and Samuel Kellogg bought half of tirst-ilivision fifty- 
 acre lot No. 27, for £1 4s. 
 
 The money accounts passed upon at nearly every meeting of the 
 proprietors, which were not otherwise valid for collection, are at this 
 late day curious and instructive. Let us note those validated in 
 public meeting May 21, 1765, remembering that the colonial pound 
 was just three-fourths of the English pound, namely, $3.63. 
 
 £ s d 
 
 Richard Stratton to 10 Days Laying out Land 1 10 
 
 William Horsford to Billiting Mr. Hubbel one week 
 
 Ephraira Seelye 9 Days Laying out Land 170 
 
 Samuel Smedley Billiting the Surveyor [Hubbel] Six Days .... 6 2 
 
 Jonathan Meaicham Eight Days and a half Laying out Land .... 1 5 6 
 
 Jonathan Kilborn to 2 list of Assessment 040 
 
 Josiah Horsford to 8 Days Laying out Land 140 
 
 Asa Johnson to Laying out Land 2 Days and a Half 7 6 
 
 Samuel Kellogg 5 Days Laying out Land 1150 
 
 John Newbre to Billitting the Surveyor 8 Days and a Half 7 6 
 
 Samuel Kellogg one Kate Bill and 2 Notifycations 4 
 
 Titus Harrison to keeping Mr. HubbePs horse three weeks &c. ... 1 1 
 
 Nehemiah Smedley going after a Surveyor 078 
 
 Nehemiah Smedl'y Laying out Roads 046 
 
 John Newbre accompt for keeping a minister's horse one week also a 
 
 Plough in the Highways 4 
 
 We will now leave the " Proprietors," technically so called, with 
 their manly deeds and ill-spelled words, for a little time, premising, 
 however, that the incorporation by the General Court at Boston, of 
 the town of Williamstown, in due form, by no means submerged the 
 proprietors as an organization keeping themselves especially in 
 charge of the unsold and undivided lands of the town, and for a 
 good while, also, of the places of public worship. Indeed, the 
 proprietors, as a "Propriety," only went out with the century. 
 They went out, little by little, as the town came, gradually, to 
 assume the entire functions of government. James H. Meacham, 
 
466 ORIGINS IX WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 son to James Meacham, was the last proprietors' clerk, and was 
 sworn in as follows : — 
 
 Berkshire Ss 4 Ded 1792. 
 Then personally appeared James H. Meacham who was duly chosen Proprie- 
 tors Clerk of the Township of Williamstown by the proprietors of the same and 
 made a solemn oath that in performing the duties of the said office he would do 
 it faithfully and impartially, according to his best skill and abilities. 
 
 Before W« Towner, Just. Peace. 
 
 The last legal meeting of the proprietors was summoned at the 
 house of Deacon James Meacham, on the 23d of December, 1800, 
 and was wholly concerned with certain pitches and remnants of lands 
 in various parts of the town ; and adjourned, to meet at the same 
 place, March 2, 1801, and then again to the second Monday in April, 
 1802 ; and then and there " Voted and desolved the meeting," — 
 which never reconvened. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 "He had observed the progress and decay 
 Of many minds, of minds and bodies too ; 
 The history of many families ; 
 
 How they had prospered ; how they were o'ertlirown 
 By passion or mischance, or such misrule 
 Among the unthinking masters of the earth 
 As makes the nations groan." 
 
 — Wordsworth. 
 
 Before we quit for good our now familiar and significant and 
 euphonious name of " ^Vest Hoosac," and accustom ourselves to the 
 more commonplace, and yet most appropriate, and, in 1765, legalized 
 designation of '' Williamstown," it will be i)roper to quote, in refer- 
 ence to the earlier name, the unmatched authority of Mr. Secretary 
 Trumbull, of Hartford : " Hoosac belongs to the territory, from 
 which — as is the case with many Indian names in New England — 
 it was transferred by the settlers to the river. It designates the place 
 or region which, to the Mohicans of the valley of the Hudson, was 
 * far-off ' or * beyond ' the mountains. In ' Housatonuc,' we have the 
 term for * mountain ' expressed ; wauss'-auk (* beyond-place ') and 
 wauss'-atene-auk (the * beyond-mountain-place ') indicate nearly the 
 composition and the relation of the two names." 
 
 It will be well also, before we proceed further on our quest, to 
 remind ourselves that a committee of the General Court at Boston 
 laid out the exterior lines of AVest Hoosac in the early autumn of 
 1749, and that another committee from the same authority, in the 
 spring of 1750, laid out sixty-three house lots "of ten or twelve acres 
 each," in the northerly part of the township between the Hoosac 
 and Green rivers, and near to their junction. With one exception, 
 these house lots abutted on a wide street one and three-eighths miles 
 in length, whose bearing, by the solar meridian, is K. 50° 41' W. 
 The exception is house lot 57, which Jfanks the Main Street at its 
 eastern end, and is both shorter and wider than the others, whose 
 normal length is 120 rods, and width thirteen and one-third rods, 
 making an area of just ten acres ; but the actual average area of 
 
 467 
 
468 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the sixty-three lots is nearly eleven acres. These lots are divided in 
 number, nearly equally, by a Cross Street at right angles to the Main 
 Street, whose bearing, by the solar meridian, is IST. 16° 46' E. 
 
 These lots, each one carrying with it a prospective valid title to 
 one sixty-third part of the rest of the lands of the township, with 
 a reservation of three of them for public purposes, had been sold, 
 in the course of a couple of years or so, with some difficulty, by 
 the commonwealth, to forty-six proprietors, only about one-third of 
 whom became actual settlers. Before 1765, the rest, and even most 
 
 THE SMEDLEY HOUSE ON NO. I. 
 
 The Original "Regulation" House was built into the " Ganribrel-Roofed " House, which was taken 
 
 down about 1880. 
 
 of these, had sold out their rights to other parties. We have a com- 
 plete list of the original purchasers, and a complete list of the legal 
 owners in the year just named, and only two names are common in 
 the two lists. These house lots, -however, had aggregated, in the 
 interval, into fewer hands. Eight persons now held thirty-seven of 
 these lots. To take Nos. 1 and 2, both on the ^'Square," as specimens 
 of the way in which nearly all of them rapidly changed hands in the 
 land speculations of the time, we find that Samuel Brown, Junior, 
 one of the principal founders of Stockbridge, bought ISTo. 1 about as 
 soon as the lots were exposed for sale ; he sold it to Ezekiel Hinds, 
 then " resident " of Fort Massachusetts ; but soldier Hinds, appar- 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 469 
 
 ently, bought to sell; for, on the 31st October, 1752, he sold the 
 lot to Samuel Smedley, of Litchfield, Connecticut, for £27, Smedley 
 appearing as " husbandman " in the deed, which was acknowledged 
 " coram Joseph Dwight J. P.," in Stockbridge. Samuel Smedley 
 having died in the interval, the lot was deeded over by Esther (his 
 widow) and John (his eldest son), to Nehemiah Smedley, all of 
 Litchfield, for £27 21,s., ^[arcli, 1758, the deed acknowledged the 
 same day before Thomas Harrison, Justice of the Peace, of Litch- 
 field. Benjamin Woodruff and Jedidiah Smedley sign as witnesses. 
 All these Smedleys write a fair hand, and Nehemiah, who began tu 
 clear up the lot for his father in 1753, built the first house on it, and 
 occupied the lot, in dead earnest, for more than twenty years. The 
 young orcliard that he planted on it was in full bearing in 17G5. 
 
 Lieutenant Isaac Wyman, of Fort Massachusetts, was the original 
 purchaser of No. 2. We have seen that he did his best to bring 
 forward the settlement in its earliest days, apparently alternating his 
 residence between Fort Massachusetts and his " regulation " house 
 on No. 2 ; he was the last commander at that fort, and cultivated the 
 land within the pickets even after the fort was dismantled ; on 
 grounds very imperfectly understood at this late day, he quarrelled 
 with the other settlers and they with him, — the bone of contention 
 was undoubtedly the West Hoosac Fort, the rival of the older estab- 
 lishment, — and he withdrew not without a mutual bitterness ; and he 
 sold his lot, with several other lots drawn by it, for £140, to Benja- 
 min Kellogg, Nov. 13, 1761; and when the new holder failed to pay off 
 the dues legally assessed on it, it was sold at public auction to Benja- 
 min Simonds for £4, who held it (with six other house lots) in 1765, 
 
 The names of the holders of the house lots, when the town of 
 WillianistowTi wns incorporated, are as follows: — 
 
 Nehemiah Smedley. Benjamin Simonds. 
 
 Mus. David Roberts. Richard Stratton. 
 
 Benjamin Cowles. Eimikaim Seelye. 
 
 JosiAH Horsford. Samuel Payn. 
 
 Thomas Dcnton. Samuel Kellogg. 
 
 William Horsford. Asa Johnson. 
 
 Elisha Higgins. William Wells. 
 
 Eli Cowles. Samuel Smedley. 
 
 John Smedley. Jonathan Kilijorn. 
 
 Titus Harrison. Daniel Stratton. 
 
 Jonathan Meacham. Jedidiah Smedley. 
 
 ICHABOD SOUTIIWICK. ISAAC WyMAN. 
 
 Derick Webb. Stephen Davis. 
 
 Elkanah Paris. Ebenezer Stratton. 
 
470 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Besides these twenty-eight, who owned house lots in 1765, there 
 were then just about as many more who had located on outlots in 
 different parts of the town, as these had been successively divided 
 off to the respective holders of house lots, in accordance Avith the 
 original plan of the settlement. The following twenty-six names, 
 together with those just given, comprise all the landowners and citi- 
 zens of position at the organization of the town. These fifty-four 
 men may be called, in strict justice, the actual Founders or Wil- 
 LiAMSTOWN. A few worthy names besides these, like Allen Curtiss 
 for one, had labored faithfully in the very beginnings, and had 
 retired from the grounds ; and a few of these, like Joseph Ballard 
 and Seth Hudson, may not have been residents in 1765 ; but the first 
 town-meeting was held July 15, 1765, and from the " List " of that 
 year it appears that the taxable polls were only fifty-nine. Only 
 about 578 acres were then under cultivation in the town, as appears 
 from the listed tax of £426 at fifteen shillings per " improved " acre. 
 Isaac Searle and Nehemiah Smedley were the only proprietors taxed 
 for money at interest, the former for £700 and the latter for £126. 
 These are the names : — 
 
 James Meacham. Isaac Stratton. 
 
 John Newbre. James Kellogg. 
 
 Samuel Taylor. Gideon Warren. 
 
 Isaac Searle. Joseph Tallmadge. 
 
 Samuel Clarke. Nathan Wheeler. 
 
 JosiAH Wright. Daniel Burbank. 
 
 Robert McMastei^. Moses Rich. 
 
 Seth Hudson. John McMaster. 
 
 Bartholomew AVoodcock. David Johnson. 
 
 Jesse Southwick. Tho3ias Roe. 
 
 John Horsford. Thomas Train. 
 
 Joseph Ballard. Elisha Baker. 
 
 Samuel Sloan. Ebenezer Cooley. 
 
 The town boasted at its inception of fifty-seven yoke of oxen, just 
 about one yoke to each head of a family ; of eighty-three sheep ; two 
 dairies possessed six cows each, and two others four; and the four 
 largest flocks of sheep counted eighteen, fourteen, thirteen, eleven. 
 
 Now, it is to be noticed, that these men had not been at any 
 time wholly absorbed in the pressing cares to provide a new home 
 and maintenance for their families in what was then strictly a wil- 
 derness. Even after they heard the news in the late autumn of 
 1759 of General Wolfe's great victory at Quebec, they knew well 
 enough there would be no more French and Indian wars. They 
 
WILLI AMSTOWN. 471 
 
 knew that Fort Massachusetts and West Hoosac Fort had now lost 
 their significance, though fully manned up to that time. With the 
 feeling of security and stability thereby induced, and a consequent 
 resolution to make a permanent home for themselves and their chil- 
 dren in a beautiful and healthful and fertile spot, there recurred 
 continually the desires and efforts to secure and maintain religious 
 and educational opportunities. They built their log schoolhouse, 
 which was to serve for the present for preaching also. May 21, 1765, 
 they " votted and Chose Benjamin Simonds a Commetree to Geet a 
 Coppy of Colonel Ephraim Williams sur-will out of the Probate Office 
 in the County of Hamshier " ; and a little later 3s. id. were paid to 
 said Simonds for a copy of the will. In less than a month later, 
 among the causes stated in the warrant for the next meeting of the 
 proprietors was this, " To chuse a Commetree on the affair of Colonel 
 Ephraim Williams Willing Land or money to ward a free school in 
 West Hoosuck and said Commetree to prosecute the same." At the 
 meeting, however, it was voted " to dismiss the articiel." 
 
 In truth, the question of a minister was the more pressing. They 
 came up to it boldly again and again. They had had hard luck, 
 and been at much expense, even to get a suitable man to try for a 
 settlement. In two cases, where the candidate was willing, the 
 constituency disapproved of him. At last a young man from New 
 Milford, Connecticut, named Whitman Welch, a graduate of Yale 
 College in 1762, seemed to meet the views of all parties concerned. 
 In the legal call for a meeting " att the School House," on July 26, 
 1765, these points are stated : — 
 
 l*t To See if the Proprietors will Give Mr. Whitman Welch a Call to the work of 
 
 the ministry in this Town 
 2»y To See What Settlement they will Give Him 
 3»y To See What Sallary they will Give Him 
 4'y To Chuse a Commetree to give mr Welch a Call 
 
 To these queries the meeting in question promptly responded : — 
 
 l»t Voted and a Greed to Give mr Whitman Welch a Call to the work of the 
 minlstrj' in this Town 
 
 2iy Voted to Give mr Welch Eighty Pound Settlement Lawfull money one Half 
 to be paid the first year the other Half to be Paid Second year 
 
 3'y Voted to Give mr Welch for his Sallary Seventy Pounds a year forty Pounds 
 the first year and forty Pounds the Second year then to rise three pounds 
 yearly till it comes to Seventy Pounds and the use of the ministry House 
 Lot Exclusive of the Remainder of the wright 
 
 4^y Voted and chose Samuel Kellogg Benjamin Simonds James Meacham Com- 
 metree men to treete with mr Welch Concerning His Settleing in this Town 
 
472 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 Williams Town October 22^ 1765 att a meeting of the Proprietors Lawfully 
 
 Warned and Held att the House of Deacon Richard Stratton in Said 
 
 township 
 !»* Votted and chose Samuel Payen Moderator for Said meeting 
 2'y Votted and chose Richard Stratton Josiah Horsford and William Horsford a 
 
 Commetree to Provide for the ordination 
 3iy Votted that they will Raise money to Defray the Charges of the ordination 
 
 Votted to Raise three Shillings on Eaich Proproprietors Right to Defray 
 
 the charges of the ordination 
 
 4iy Votted Samuel Kellogg for going to the Association 9s 
 
 William Horsford for Keeping a horse for Mr, Welch 2s 
 
 The next meeting of the proprietors, on Jan. 14, 1766, 
 
 Voted Richard Stratton Expence of the ordination Vittels and Horse Keep- 
 ing £5 2 8 
 
 Josiah Horsford to Providing for the ordination 13 
 
 William Horsford to Providing for the ordination 7 4 
 
 Thus came to Williamstown its first, and, all things considered, 
 its most attractive, minister. His term of service was ten years, 
 and was cut short by a series of romantic and patriotic incidents, 
 which will draw our attention and sympathy in a subsequent chap- 
 ter. He was a native of Milford, Connecticut ; but, as his father 
 died early, the care of his education devolved on an uncle, with 
 whom he went to reside in New Milford. Not far from the time of 
 his settlement here, he married Marvin Gaylord, daughter of Deacon 
 Gaylord, of New Milford ; and she, after the death of her husband, 
 in 1776, returned thither with two or three children born here, and 
 married there again, and lived to an extreme old age. 
 
 Professor Ebenezer Kellogg, writing, in 1829, for Field's Berkshire 
 County, and deriving his information, in all probability, from Deacon 
 Levi Smedley, born here in 1764, gave the following careful and vivid 
 description of Rev. Whitman Welch : " He was a man of intelli- 
 gence and activity, attentive to the duties of his office, and serious 
 and earnest in the performance of them. His religious opinions 
 seem to have agreed with those of the clergy of that day, that are 
 now spoken of as approaching to Arminianism. He always wrote 
 his sermons, and delivered them with animation and propriety of 
 manner. He was social in his habits, fond of conversation, in which 
 he was often sportive and shrewd, and sometimes, perhaps, too gay 
 and jocose. In person he was rather short and light. He was fond 
 of athletic exercises, and excelled in them whenever the manners of 
 the day allowed him to join in them." 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 473 
 
 Unfortunately the records of the church during his ministry have 
 not been preserved, nor is it certainly known when the church was 
 formed, what persons first constituted it, how many belonged to it at 
 the close of his ministry in 1775. The likelihood is, that the church 
 was first gathered at the time of his ordination, for there is no hint 
 of any such organization previous to that, all the motions towards 
 getting a minister were made in the proprietors' meetings, and some 
 of the men prominent in the entire quest are now known never to 
 have been public professors of religion; and that the number of 
 members was small at the outset is proven by the facts, (1) that 
 fourteen years after the ordination of Mr. Welch, when Rev. Seth 
 Swift was ordained, the members amounted to but sixty-one, — 
 thirty-six of these women, — and (2) in 1768, when the ratable 
 |X)lls wei-e 102, the " voters by law," that is, legal church-members, 
 were only twenty. In truth, there is no historical basis for the 
 claim, often made and reiterated, that Williamstown had a specially 
 religious origin, and ever maintained a peculiarly religious character. 
 This is neither true of the town, nor of the College. Though pre- 
 sumably and certainly Christian men, neither Benjamin Simonds 
 nor Nehemiah Smedley, the two most prominent citizens of West 
 Hoosac from its beginning, and of Williamstown for its first twenty 
 years, were ever church-members. Next to these two, Richard 
 Stratton, who was the most influential settler during the same inter- 
 val of time, was a Baptist, and was usually called "Deacon." 
 Though older than Smedley and Simonds, he was better educated 
 than they, and was a long time clerk of the proprietors, and built 
 the first two-story house in the hamlet, which is still standing 
 intact ; but he was not a " voter by law," because he did not belong 
 to the "standing order." His two sons, nevertheless, Isaac and 
 Ebenezer, were orthodox Congregationalists here, and the latter 
 was chosen Deacon in 1784 and held the office till his death in 
 1814. As late as 1791, the town refused " to incorporate Matthew 
 Dunning and fourteen others into a Baptist society," according to 
 their petition ; the next year, however, " Isaac Holmes was chosen 
 ty thing-man for the Baptist society in this town." Without dis- 
 paraging the religious motives or unanimity of the early settlers, 
 it must yet be borne in mind, that worldly reasons conspired 
 with the genuine religious impulse to settle a minister and build 
 a meeting-house, because no new town in the commonwealth could 
 successfully compete with other new towns for desirable inhabi- 
 tants without offering the then usual and much-prized "privi- 
 leges." 
 
474 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Doubtless the very considerable expenses connected with the ordi- 
 nation of Mr. Welch, and the difficulty in raising the money to meet 
 them, led the proprietors to negative for the present the legal inquiry 
 in January, 1766, " To See if the Proprietors will Come into Som 
 measure to Build a meeting House and chuse a Commetree to do it 
 and Determin How big and in what Shape s** meeting House Shall 
 be Built and How and by what means and When." The log school- 
 house was felt to be an unsuitable place for the young minister to 
 preach in, or for the church and congregation to assemble in, but the 
 proprietors did not feel able as yet to meet the cost of even a small 
 edifice for public worship. In October, 1767, Whitman Welch sold 
 house lot 36, the lot drawn for the first minister, and the lot on 
 which the log schoolhouse stood, to Josiah Horsford for £25. Hors- 
 ford was a strenuous supporter of Mr. Welch, and the latter bought 
 back the lot when the former wished to leave town a few years later ; 
 the pastor had the use of the " Ministry lot " by the vote of the pro- 
 prietors, but not of the outlots drawn by that, which was house lot 38, 
 and contiguous to the ^'Minister's lot" east. After Mr. Welch's 
 death, the ministry house lot was sold by the proprietors in 1777 ; 
 and the school lot, which was house lot 35, and directly across the 
 Main Street from the first minister's lot, and the outlots drawn by 
 this and by the ministry lot, were sold in 1772 for £328, and the 
 proceeds devoted to school and ministerial uses. 
 
 It is perhaps probable, at any rate, nothing to the contrary is cer- 
 tainly known, that Mr. Welch did not live during his ten years' pas- 
 torate either on the first minister's lot, which was his own in fee 
 simple, or on the ministry lot next to it east, the use of which was 
 given to him by vote of the proprietors. Such signs as are left point 
 rather to his residence on the Green Eiver, just outside the village 
 plat to the eastward. He owned, at any rate, the meadow lot No. 14 
 drawn by house lot 49 very early, which lay alongside of the Green 
 Biver on the east side of it — possibly on both sides of it — at the 
 point where the road from Fort Massachusetts crossed the bridge 
 built over that river in the early spring of 1765, and entered the 
 Main Street of the village. Richard Stratton and Samuel Kellogg 
 were the committee to build that bridge ; and on the 6th of June, 
 1765, the proprietors voted '^ to accept the whole of the accounts of 
 the committee to build the bridge over Green Eiver, namely, — 
 
 For Bridge, £2 8 
 
 For Railing, o. 149 
 
 £3 12 9 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 475 
 
 A bridge had been built the fall before by the proprietors over 
 Hancock Brook just before its junction with the Ashford Brook to 
 form Green River, to accommodate Isaac Stratton ; so that what is 
 now the south village, had its bridge across its main stream before 
 the north village had one ; and what is always called in the records 
 of the time the " Greate River," that is to say, the Hoosac, did not 
 receive its first bridge till some time later, as we shall see. "What 
 evidence remains points to the residence of Mr. Welch on the south 
 side of Main Street opposite the later "Smedley House." There 
 was certainly a barn standing there, if not a house, when Nehemiah 
 Smedley bought of Whitman Welch, May 4, 1775, the meadow lot 
 No. 14. The original deed conveying this lot from Welch to Smed- 
 ley now lies open before the writer. The consideration paid was 
 £75 10s. The area of land conveyed was " Eighteen Acres and three 
 Quarters with an allowance for the Highway." Smedley had then 
 owned for ten years three other meadow lots, Nos. 10 and 12 and 13, 
 in the immediate vicinity of this one ; and he had owned for nine or 
 ten years the two first-division fifty-acre lots, Nos. 28 and 29, which 
 partly enclose these meadow lots; he had also in the mean time 
 bought an oak lot or two on what we now call " Smedley Height," 
 having evidently designed for at least ten years to aggregate a farm 
 for himself at the junction of the Green and Hoosac rivers. It is 
 almost certain that the present "Smedley house" was raised in 
 October, 1772 ; that relatives of the family came to the " raising " 
 from Bennington ; that a cellar-kitchen was shortly after covered in, 
 and a large stone-oven built in it, which remains intact till this day, 
 and in which bread was baked for the soldiers in the battle of Ben- 
 nington ; and that the owner, having gone so far, and the Revolu- 
 tion already impending, said that he would wait the completion of 
 his house till he could tell better who was going to own it ! His 
 eldest son, Levi Smedley, was born Oct. 8, 1764, and lived till May 
 13, 1849, and always said that the oak timbers of the house were 
 lifted into their place the day he was eight years old, that is, Oct. 
 8, 1772 ; he always said that bread in large quantities was baked in 
 the old oven on Saturday the 16th of August, 1777, and that he him- 
 self carried the bread to Bennington the next day after the battle, 
 which was Sunday, to his father, who was certainly there both days 
 as the Captain of the militia company of the north part of Williams- 
 town; he was then thirteen years old, and might well have been 
 trusted for such a purpose with the family horse and vehicle ; and 
 it may be added, that contemporary muster-rolls confirm his story 
 in all its main particulars. Whether it were then completed or not. 
 
476 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the family had evidently moved into the new house before the battle 
 of Bennington. As it stands to-day, the house is figured below ; but 
 as originally built, it had a flat roof, and the piazza, of course, is 
 modern, but the clapboards on the north end are still the thick and 
 rived clapboards of the Revolutionary time, fastened with the large 
 and hand-wrought nails of that time also. 
 
 - Pretty soon after selling this prominent meadow lot 14 to Smed- 
 ley, which thus became incorporated with the Smedley farm. Rev. 
 Mr. Welch went to Washington's camp at Cambridge, where was 
 a company of minute-men, made up largely of his parishioners, 
 
 NEHEMIAH SMEDLEY'S HOUSE ON GREEN RIVER. 
 Its frame was lifted 8 Oct., 1772. He was bom in Litchfield in 1732, and died in this house, 1789. 
 
 a number of whom were drafted a little later in the season, to 
 accompany Arnold through the then wilderness of Maine to a win- 
 ter surprise of Quebec, with which the American Revolution offen- 
 sively began. It is thoroughly characteristic of this pastor's 
 ignitable spirit and athletic body, that he felt an invincible im- 
 pulse to accompany this expedition as a volunteer — not, as has 
 often been said, as a chaplain, but as a volunteer sentinel. After 
 the repulse from Quebec, he was seized ill of the small-pox, and 
 died in March, 1776, not far from Quebec. Samuel Spring, of New- 
 buryport, was Chaplain to this extraordinarily hazardous expedition 
 in early winter up the Kennebec, and down the Chaudiere, and 
 
WILLI AMSTOWN. 477 
 
 there is no hint of Welch being an assistant to him, or of his being 
 anything else than a camp-follower and adventurer; but the fact 
 that he went because he wanted to go, because he could not hide 
 nor resist the inner bidding of his spirit, had its influence on Wil- 
 liamstown at the time, and has liad its influence here ever since. 
 The incident seems to be unique. The man stands by himself. 
 His call was an inner call of the most constraining kind; he had 
 a bai>tism to be baptized with, and was straitened till he had 
 received it, — a baptism of blood; and Williamstown became a 
 better town to live in, and to strive for, and Williams College be- 
 came, long afterwards, a better and a broader and a more patriotic 
 institution, because the first college-bred citizen here, the first 
 Joshua on this ground, was a man who saw visions and dreamed 
 dreams, was Whitman Welch, a young man aflame ! 
 
 As both the Town and the College derived their permanent and 
 legal designations under the last will and testament of Ephraim 
 Williams, it is time now to furnish our readers that document 
 entire, and, furthermore, to study it more or less in detail, with 
 a view to gain any further characteristics of the Colonel acces- 
 sible to us along this line of research, and also to trace back our 
 Town and College to the germs of them as they lay in the mind of 
 one, of whom it is possible to learn at this late day only a very 
 little at the best. 
 
 It was not by any means a sudden impulse that led Colonel Wil- 
 liams to seek out a scrivener's oftice in Albany on that July day 
 when his will was actually drafted at his own dictation. It had 
 been on his mind all summer. More, perhaps, than is common in 
 such cases, he had a premonition of approaching death from the 
 outset of the campaign. His own brother Thomas, who was the 
 surgeon of his regiment, related afterwards, that before they two 
 left Deerfield for the rendezvous, Ephraim requested his help in 
 drafting his will, altliough he gave no intimations as to the dispo- 
 sition of the property. As these two were the only children of the 
 first mother, and as the property of each came in part from their 
 own grandfather Jackson, Dr. Thomas, from motives of delicacy, 
 declined his brother's request, and the matter was then dropped. 
 A credible tradition has always maintained, that in some talk with 
 his old soldiers at Fort Massachusetts, he intimated to them his 
 purpose to do something for them in the way of a school for the 
 children of the settlers, both at West and East Hoosac. Benjamin 
 Simonds had certainly two children, both born in West Hoosac, 
 when Colonel Williams was last at Fort Massachusetts. 
 
478 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Another entirely distinct tradition from this came down in the 
 family of Ephraim Williams, the father, to the effect that it was 
 expected in that family, that the younger Colonel would marry a 
 Miss Williams, of Hatfield, a daughter of Colonel Israel Williams ; 
 and that his will would convey the bulk of his small property to her, 
 in case of his own decease. The late Mark Hopkins, of Williams- 
 town, who was great-great-grandson of the elder Ephraim Williams, 
 repeatedly conversed with the writer in respect to this tradition in 
 his own family, which he trusted implicitly ; and he once furnished, 
 accordingly, the following toast to one of the student-speakers at one 
 of the " Jackson Festivals " here in honor of the founder, namely : 
 " The lady Colonel Williams did not marry ! " If the will had been 
 what the Hatfield William ses had expected, there would have been 
 no free school at West Hoosac. In a letter from Albany to Israel 
 Williams, dated one day before the will is dated, Ephraim betrays in 
 three or four passages his sense that there would be disappointment 
 along the Connecticut Eiver when the contents of his will became 
 known there. "I have altered my mind since I left your house, for 
 reasons, as to what I designed to give (which should have been hand- 
 some) to one very near to you." " You will perceive I have given 
 something for the benefit of those unborn, and for the sake of those 
 poor creatures I am mostly concerned for fear my will should be 
 broke." "P.S. In my Will you will find I ordered some money for 
 the benefit of the East town. I do not know that it will be enough 
 for the will, but as far as it goes it will pay well, and then some good 
 will come of it." "P.S. 2'?'^ Let no one but yourself and John 
 Worthington know what my will contains." 
 
 While awaiting in Albany the gathering of the '^new levies" 
 from is"ew England for the Crown Point expedition, so-called, in 
 common with a number of other officers. Colonel William^s fell sick 
 in the July weather, and was reminded again of the uncertainty of 
 life in war time, and that his cherished purpose to bequeath some- 
 thing to the benefit of his old comrades at Fort Massachusetts was 
 still unfulfilled. He made no further delay. A competent scrivener 
 was looked up in some office, Dutch or other, along the street ; and 
 it is pretty certain to have been a lonesome and homesicky function 
 to have gone over the numerous items one by one. It is evidently 
 his own work, item by item. His father had died the year before at 
 Deerfield, leaving some property matters dangling in a way quite 
 contrary to the son's sense of justice. His kinsman, William Wil- 
 liams, then a member of his staff, and afterwards to become a signer 
 of the Declaration of Independence from Connecticut, witnessed the 
 
WILLI AMSTOWN. 479 
 
 signature of the will, July 22, 1755, as did also Noah Belding, another 
 of the Hampshire soldiers present, and Richard Cartwright, too, 
 who may have been the drafter of the will. 
 
 The following letter, perhaps the last formal one ever written by 
 Ephraim Williams, the founder, was sent down to Hatfield with the 
 will itself, to Colonel Israel AVilliams, first of its two executors. 
 
 Albany, July 21, 1755. 
 
 Dear Sir : — Enclosed I send you my last Will and Testament, and desire you 
 to con.sult with Mr. Worthington whether it be legal, — if it is not, please to 
 write one that is, — send it up and I will execute it. I have altered my mind 
 since I left your house, for reasons, as to what I designed to give (which should 
 have been handsome) to one very near to you ; have given a small matter 
 to others, as near to you, whose conduct to me has rendered themselves most 
 amiable. Also since I left your house, for reasons, I have altered my mind, as 
 to what I designed to give to the children of my great benefactor [Col. John 
 Stoddard of Northampton, who died in 1748] ; have given but a small matter 
 to two of them only. You will perceive I have given something for the benefit 
 of those unborn, and for the sake of those poor creatures I am mostly concerned 
 for fear my will should be broke. I believe, Sir, it would have been more agree- 
 able to you if I had given it for an academy at Iladley. I turned the affair 
 over and over in my mind, found so many difficulties, I thought it was better to 
 give it in another shape. I desire that you and Mr. Worthington would inquire 
 into the affair of the Stockbridge Indians, which my Honored [Father] left in 
 charge ; by no means let them be [wronged in any way]. I desire you to pay 
 £20 to your nieces, at a venture upon [it. I do not] know that I owe them one 
 quarter of it, but for fear I do, I will put enough in. 
 
 Also please to pay the following persons whose names are hereafter men- 
 tioned, if they are to be found, being soldiers under my command. I received 
 the money out of the treasury, but could never find the men ; have paid all but 
 these: Daniel Wood, £4 10s Sd; Jonathan Conally, £1 13s Gd ; Nathaniel 
 Sawyer £2 12s 5cZ ; William Williston £1 IGs, lives near Rehoboth. These things 
 above mentioned are the most material. I shall conclude by recommending 
 myself to your prayers, and you and your dear family to the Divine protection. 
 
 T am, wifii great esteem, your honored, 
 
 Most humble, and most obliged servant 
 
 To IsuAKL Williams, Esquire. Ephraim Williams. 
 
 In the Name of God Amen. I Ephraim Williams of Hatfield in the County 
 of Hampshire in New England now at Albany in the Province of New York, on 
 my march in the Expedition against Crown Point, being of sound and perfect 
 mind and memory (blessed be God therefor) but not knowing how God in his 
 providence may dispose of my life and remembering the uncertainty of it at all 
 times, I do therefore make and publish this my last Will and Testament in the 
 following manner. 
 
 First I give my soul into the hands of God that gave it and my body to the 
 dust from whence it was taken humbly hoping for pardon acceptance and a res- 
 lurection to immortal Glory, thro' the merits & mediation of a Glorious Re- 
 
480 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 deemer ; and as touching such worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to 
 bless me in this life, I give bequeath and dispose of the same in manner and 
 form following that is to say. 
 
 Item It is my will and desire that my just debts and funeral charges be first 
 paid and discharged by my Executors hereafter named out of my estate. 
 
 Item It is my will and desire that the Deed I gave my brother, Elijah 
 Williams of my house and homestead at Stockbridge and my note hand payable 
 for One Hundred pounds in twelve months after my parents decease, as also his 
 mortgage Deed and his bond to me be destroyed and made of none effect. * 
 
 Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved brothers Josiah Williams and Elijah 
 Williams and the heirs of their bodies my Homestead at Stockbridge with all the 
 buildings and appurtenances thereunto belonging, with all the stock of Cattle 
 and Negro Servants now upon the place to be equally divided between them 
 upon the following conditions and not otherwise viz That they pay annually to 
 my Honour' d Mother for her support Twenty six pounds thirteen shillings & 
 four pence, and also provided they fulfill the obligations I laid myself under in a 
 certain bond to my Hon^ Parents for their support and decent interment, exclu- 
 sive of the money I there obliged myself annually to pay her, provided also that 
 they pay unto my sister Judith Williams or the heirs of her body the sum of One 
 Hundred pounds and to my sister Elizabeth Williams or the heirs of her body the 
 sum of One Hundred pounds and to the heirs of my sister Abigail Dwight born 
 of her body the sum of One Hundred pounds, to be paid them severally within 
 twelve months after my hon^ mothers decease. In case my sisters Judith or 
 Elizabeth should come to die without heirs then it is my will that her or their 
 part or parts shall devolve to the heirs of my sister Abigail Dwight. 
 
 Item it is my will that in case of my aforesaid brothers die without issue 
 then the whole of the above bequest revert to the survivor and the heirs of his 
 body, provided he fulfill the above obligations laid on them both ; but in case 
 my said brothers die without issue then my will is that the abovementioned 
 estate be sold and the money be put out to interest, and that the said interest 
 shall be used for some pious or charitable purposes, as the propagating Christian- 
 ity, the support of the poor in the County of Hampshire, or for schools on the 
 frontiers in the county aforesaid to be at the direction of my Executors herein- 
 after named, and after their decease to be at the direction of the Justices of the 
 Sessions for the County aforesaid but in case my brother Elijah Williams should 
 deny or refuse to destroy the above mentioned writings as above directed then it 
 is my will to pay to my Hon4 Mother annually for her support Twenty six 
 pounds thirteen shillings and four pence and also the sum of Thirteen pounds 
 six shillings and eight pence to my brother Josiah Williams annually until my 
 Hon^ Mothers decease after which to pay to my sisters and the heirs of my 
 sister Abigail Dwight as above directed and that within one twelve month after 
 my Hon^ Mothers decease, also to pay to my brother Josiah Williams or the 
 heirs of his body the sum of Four Hundred pounds, and in case my said brother 
 Josiah should die without issue then it is my will that my brother Elijah shall 
 pay the said sum of Four Hundred pounds to my Executors to be appropriated 
 by them to some or all the public uses above mentioned. 
 
 Item. I give and bequeath unto my beloved brother Thomas Williams One 
 Hundred pounds to be paid him out of my bonds but in case of his decease in the 
 present expedition to be equally divided amongst his five daughters viz, Eliza- 
 beth Anne Cynthia Mary and Martha. 
 
WILLIA3IST0WN. 481 
 
 Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved cousin Thomas Williams son to 
 my brother Thomas Williams Nine Hundred acres of Land known by the name 
 of the Equivalent and joining upon the Township of Stockbridge, & in case he 
 dies without issue, I give it to my beloved cousins Erastus Sergeant and John 
 Sergeant to be equally divided between them but in case one die without issue 
 the whole to go to the survivor if they both die without issue the whole to be 
 appropriated to public uses as before mentioned. 
 
 Item I give and bequeath unto my loving cousins Elijah Graves, Moses 
 Graves, John Graves and Martha Graves children of Moses and Martha Graves 
 the sum of One hundred pounds to be equally divided between them, in case 
 any dies without issue, then the whole to go to the survivor or survivors, and in 
 case they all should die without issue then the said hundred pounds to be appro- 
 priated to the publick uses as above directed, the said money to be taken out of 
 Moses Graves and Elisha Chapin's joint bond and to be put on interest until the 
 children come of age. 
 
 Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved cousins James & John Gray sons 
 of James and Sarah Gray Fifty acres of land lying north of the great pond in 
 Stockbridge, so-called, bounded upon land of their father James Gray on the 
 East by Josiah Jones' land on the West by the great pond on the South, & the 
 Town line on the north to be equally divided between them, but in case they die 
 without issue then the said land to be disposed of for publick uses as aforesaid. 
 
 Item I give and bequeath unto loving cousins William Williams and Israel 
 Williams sons of Israel Williams Esq? and Sarah his wife Two lots of Meadow 
 land in Hatfield great Meadow, the contents of which & the bounds may be seen 
 in a Deed given to me of the same by Moses Graves of Hatfield The lot lying 
 nearest to Pine Bridge I give to William and the other to Israel and in case one 
 of them dies without issue then both lots to go to the Survivor if they both die 
 without issue then the lots to be disposed of for the publick uses as above directed. 
 
 Item I give and bequeath to my beloved Cousins Eunice Williams Jerusha 
 Elizabeth and Lucretia Williams daughters of Israel Williams Esq*: and Sarah 
 his wife the sum of Twenty pounds each in case any of them die without issue 
 their part to be equally divided among the survivors, and in case they all should 
 die without issue then the money to be disposed of for publick uses as aforesaid. 
 
 Item I give and bequeath to my loving Cousin Elizabeth Williams over and 
 above the Twenty pounds above mentioned my Silver Cream pot and Tea spoons. 
 
 Item I give and bequeath unto my loving brother Thomas Williams all my 
 Wearing apparel my Shoe buckles, but in ca.se my said brother should die I then 
 give them to my surviving brothers to be equally divided among them. 
 
 Item I give to my beloved friend and kinsman Israel Williams Esq« of Hat- 
 field my Sorrel mare now at Northampton and my bald Colt now at Sheffield. 
 
 Item I give to my trusty and well beloved friend John Worth ington Esq* of 
 Springfield my Chambers Dictionary with the whole of Pope's works and some 
 other books that came in the same box now in his hands and also my French 
 Fire arm my case of Pistols and Hanger in case the French dont get them but 
 if he dies without issue then the above articles to be given to the eldest male 
 heir in Coll Israel Williams family. 
 
 Item I give and bequeath to my beloved brother Thomas Williams my Fire 
 arm now in his possession. 
 
 Item I give the remaining pan ui my Library not yet disposed of (excepting 
 my large Bible and Ridgley's Body of Divinity) to my beloved brother's, Thomas 
 
482 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 and Elijah Williams to be equally divided between them but in case my brother 
 Thomas dies his part to go to his son Thomas and in case my brother Elijah 
 dies without issue then his part to be given to my cousins William & Israel 
 Williams to be equally divided between them, over and above the lots of land 
 bequeathed them above, and it is my will and desire further that my cousin 
 William Williams above mentioned shall have the perusal of the books hereby 
 given to my brothers Thomas & Elijah, any reasonable time upon his desire. 
 
 Item I give and bequeath unto my brother Thomas Williams's two eldest 
 Daughters Three Silver spoons now at Hatfield and a Silver Tankard now at Stock- 
 bridge and what Silver may be bequeathed me by my Aunt Cooke in Newton. 
 
 Item I give to my brother Josiah my large Bible and Ridgley's body of 
 Divinity. 
 
 Item I give to Solomon & Israel Stoddard sons of my great benefactor John 
 Stoddard Esq? dec^ my two colts now at Northampton. 
 
 Item I give and devise and remit to the poor, distressed, and imprudent 
 Captain Elisha Chapin the sum of One hundred pounds to be deducted out of 
 the bond given jointly by Moses Graves and said Elisha Chapin the said Hun- 
 dred Pounds to be remitted out of the said Chapin' s part. 
 
 Item It is my will and pleasure and desire that the remaining part of Lands 
 not yet disposed of shall be sold at the discretion of my Executors within five years 
 after an established peace, and the interest of the money and also the interest of 
 my money arising by my bonds and notes shall be appropriated towards the sup- 
 port and maintenance of a Free School (in a Township west of Fort. Massachu- 
 setts, commonly called the West. Township) forever, provided the s? Township 
 fall within the jurisdiction of the province of the Massachusetts Bay and provided 
 also that the Governor and General Court give the s^ Township the name of 
 Williamstown, and it is my further will and desire that if there should remain, any 
 monies of the above donation, for the said School, It be given towards the support 
 of a School in the East Township where the Fort now stands but in case the above 
 provisos are not complied with then it is my will and desire that the interest of the 
 above mentioned monies be appropriated to some pious and charitable uses in man- 
 ner and form as directed in the former part of this my last Will and Testament. 
 
 Lastly I nominate and appoint my trusty and well beloved friends Israel 
 Williams Esq? of Hatfield and John Worthington Esq? of Springfield in the 
 County of Hampshire and Province of Massachusetts Bay of New England to 
 be Executors of this my last Will and Testament and I hereby revoke disannul 
 and make void all former wills and Testaments by me heretofore made done or 
 executed and I do hereby confirm and allow this and no other to be my last will 
 & Testament, and desire it may be observed as such. 
 
 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the twenty second 
 day of July in the twenty ninth year of his Majesty's reign and in the year of 
 our LORD one thousand seven hundred & fifty five. 
 
 Signed sealed published pronounced & declared by 1 
 the s4 Ephraim Williams as his last Will and Testa- ! -^^^ Williams [seal] 
 ment (the erasure at the word Hatfield being first made) j 
 in the presence of us who were present at the signing. J 
 
 W^ Williams JunT 
 Noah Belding 
 Rich? Cartwright 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 483 
 
 At a Court of Probate holden at Northampton within and for the County of 
 Hampshire on the second Tuesday of November being the 1P> day of said 
 month anno Dom. " 1755 p. Timothy Dwight Esq? Judge of said Court The 
 foregoing will was presented for probate by the Executors therein named and 
 Noah Belding one of the witnesses to the same personally appearing made oath 
 that Col." Ephraim Williams Esq^. the Testator, signed, sealed, pronounced & 
 declared the above instrument as and for his last Will & Testament in his pres- 
 ence and in presence of William Williams JuuT and Richard Cartwright the 
 other witness to said will and that he the said Testator was of sound mind & 
 memory when he did it and that he with the other witnesses above mentioned all 
 signed as witnesses to the same in the said Testators presence, wherefore it is 
 ratified approved & confirmed as the last Will and Testament of said deceased so 
 far as to the conveyance of the personal estate of said deceased only according 
 to the said Testators bequests of the same in the foregoing will 
 
 p. TiMOTHV DwiGHT 
 
 At a Court of Probate holden at Northampton within & for the County of 
 Hampshire on the second Tuesday of December being the lOl** day of said month 
 Ane Do* 1755. p. Timothy Dwight Esq*" Judge of said Court William Williams 
 Junf another of the witnesses to the foregoing will personally appearing made 
 oath in every respect as the above said Noah Belding did as is above certified 
 wherefore the said will is ratified approved & confirmed as the last Will & 
 Testament of said deceased as to the conveyance of the Real a« well as the 
 personal estate agreeable to the Devises of the same in the foregoing will. 
 
 p. Timothy Dwight. 
 
 Hampshire ss. Probate Office Sept. 1, 1812. 
 I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the last will and testa- 
 ment of Ephraim Williams formerly of Hatfield in said County deceased as 
 recorded with the probate thereof in said Office 
 
 Attest 
 
 Sam*- F. Lyman Reg' of Prob 
 
 Rev. Stephen Williams, pastor at Longmeadow, son of the famous 
 "Redeemed Captive" John Williams, of Deerfield, at that time 
 sixty-two years old, was in Albany when the will was drawn, as 
 Chaplain to his kinsman's regiment, but he evidently was not con- 
 sulted, in reference to it, and it is plain that the relations of tlie two 
 men were not any too cordial. An extant diary of the clergyman, 
 as yet unpublished, for the year 1749-50 contains two or three 
 memoranda^ in relation to the officer : — " Dined with Col. Williams." 
 " This night was hurt by discourse of Colonel Williams with Colonel 
 Choate : I dislike ye conduct of my kinsman." Stephen Williams 
 had been Chaplain under Pepperell at Louisburg, in 1745, and after 
 this service at Lake George under Sir William Johnson ten years 
 
 1 Communicated to me by my friend Fisher Howe, Williams College, 1872. 
 
484 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 later, he served in the same capacity in the same region under 
 General Winslow in 1756. He was minister in Longmeadow for 
 sixty-six years, 1716-82. One of his deacons, Nathaniel Burt, was 
 killed in the battle of Lake George, alongside of Colonel Williams ; 
 and his pastor published later an elaborate eulogy of him, and also 
 married his widow. 
 
 More is probably to be learned from this his will of the personal 
 characteristics of Ephraim Williams, than from all other sources 
 put together. If the kind reader please, we will study now this 
 document a little in detail, with a view to gain (if possible) a firm 
 possession of some of the founder's leading qualities. 
 
 (1) He was a man of more than common gratitude. "Item. 
 I give to Solomon and Israel Stoddard, sons of my great benefactor, 
 John Stoddard, deceased, my two colts now at Northampton." 
 When this will was drawn. Colonel John Stoddard had been dead 
 seven years. He was son to Solomon Stoddard, second minister of 
 Northampton, and own cousin to Jonathan Edwards, settled in 
 Northampton in 1727, as colleague with his grandfather Stoddard, 
 Thereafter, those two men, until the death of the Colonel in 1748, 
 were the most influential men in New England, at once in church 
 and state, as well in Boston as in Northampton. Edwards delivered 
 a commemorative discourse on the death of Stoddard, in which he 
 ascribed to him the highest native gifts of mind, a peculiar genius 
 for public affairs, a thorough political knowledge, great purity of 
 life, incorruptible principle, and sincere piety. " Upon the whole, 
 everything in him was great, and perhaps there was never a man in 
 New England to whom the denomination of a great man did more 
 properly belong." Governor Hutchinson says : " He shone only 
 in great affairs, while inferior matters were frequently carried 
 against his mind, by the little arts and crafts of minute politicians, 
 which he disdained to defeat by counter-working." 
 
 When Ephraim Williams came back from his foreign voyages to 
 stay, and his father had moved from Newton to Stockbridge, and the 
 thunder-heads of the old Erench War began to loom up around 
 the horizon of New England, John Stoddard stood at the head of 
 the political and military administration of western Massachusetts ; 
 William Shirley was the able and excellent colonial governor at 
 Boston, whose estimation of Stoddard was so high, that he practi- 
 cally left the direction of affairs at the west in his hands; and it 
 was undoubtedly Stoddard's promotion of an untried man to the 
 command of the " line of forts " from the Connecticut River to the 
 Hoosac, and his steady support of him in that position, notwith- 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 485 
 
 standing some things that looked dubious in a military point of 
 view, that constituted the ''great benefaction" immortalized by 
 Williams in his will. After so much lapse of time and change of 
 circumstances, and after the benefiictor had been seven years in his 
 grave, many men, most men, would have regarded an incident of 
 that sort as a by-gone, something, indeed, to be cherished in the per- 
 sonal memory, but not something to be formally and legally empha- 
 sized and thrust forward into :ni"<^i""- •■■"neration. Colonel Williams 
 was a grateful man. 
 
 (2) He had more than the usual sense of what constitutes 
 right and fair between man and man, without reference to the social 
 position of the party of either part. This appears in numerous 
 minute incidents in his career, and particularly in the letter which 
 he wrote from Albany to Israel Williams, to accompany and explain 
 the will. The writer has studied the original of that letter with 
 care, and is certain that one passage in it is illegible, not in conse- 
 quence of the gnawing of the tooth of time (the date is July 21, 
 1755), but in consequence of a purposed obliteration on the part of 
 somebody (likely to have been Dr. Thomas Williams), in order to 
 save his father's memory from a censure implied in the original 
 phrases. Nobody in Stockbridge had been satisfied with the deal- 
 ings, general and particular, of the elder Williams with the Indians 
 there. He had left Stockbridge under the profound odium of a 
 selfish and unchristian conduct towards them. In this letter the 
 founder desires that the executors of his will " would inquire into 
 the affair of the Stockbridge Indians, which my Honored . . . left 
 in charge ; by no means let them be . . . I desire you to pay £20 
 to your nieces at a venture ujx>n . . . know that I owe them one 
 quarter of it, but for fear I do, I will put enough in." 
 
 The Williams family, as such, were aristocratic in their tenden- 
 cies, in their intermarriages w4th other families, in their political 
 opinions strongly inclined to monarchy, and in their social instincts 
 and practices haughty, even if not positively unjust towards the 
 masses of men. The founder's father inherited from his own 
 mother, Judith Cooper, a reckless acquisitiveness in relation to 
 property, and a singular dulness of conscience in relation to the 
 inherent rights of the poor and unbef riended ; and it seems likely 
 that he transmitted something of these traits to several generations 
 of his descendants ; but his eldest son appears to have been remark- 
 ably free from them; and Vherever we can touch his points of 
 contact with the common soldiers, and with others who had no 
 champion, he shows the broad sympathies and that quick sense of 
 
486 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 justice that mark the true and great man. The obliterations made 
 in this letter, probably long after it was written, do the writer much 
 credit, and cannot but throw discredit back on the paternal stock. 
 
 (3) Considering his broken youth and imperfect education, and 
 considering, too, that he never had a permanent home during his 
 manhood, the thoughtful and religious traits of Colonel AVilliams 
 strikingly appear in those phrases of his will that give the titles of 
 some of his books, and make careful bequeathments of them all. 
 " Item. I give to my trusty and well-beloved friend, John Worth- 
 ington Esq., of Springfield, my Chambers's Dictionary, with the 
 whole of Pope's works, and some other books that came in the 
 same box, now in his hands ; but if he dies without issue, then the 
 above articles to be given to the eldest male heir in Colonel Israel 
 Williams's family." This copy of the " Dictionary," or more prop- 
 erly Cyclopedia, of Ephraim Chambers, first published in London in 
 two very large folio volumes, may, very likely, have belonged to the 
 sixth and last edition, which appeared, with much new matter, in 
 1750, and became the basis of Dr. Eees's Cyclopedia in forty-five 
 quarto volumes. 
 
 " Item. I give the remaining part of my library not yet disposed 
 of (excepting my large Bible and Eidgley's Body of Divinity), to 
 my beloved brothers, Thomas and Elijah Williams, to be equally 
 divided between them ; but in case my brother Thomas dies, his 
 part to go to his son Thomas ; and in case my brother Elijah dies 
 without issue, then his part to be given to my cousins, William and 
 Israel Williams [sons of Colonel Israel, of Hatfield], to be equally 
 divided between them ; and it is my will and desire, further, that 
 my cousin William Williams, above mentioned, shall have the 
 perusal of the books hereby given to my brothers, Thomas and 
 Elijah, any reasonable time, upon his desire." This William Wil- 
 liams was just turned of twenty-one, and had just been graduated 
 at Yale when these words were penned; and he lived to become, 
 perhaps, the most efficient agent in the carrying out of another, the 
 central, clause in Ephraim Williams's will, as one of the original 
 trustees of the Eree School and the College, and the first president 
 of that incorporated Board. He will be hereafter designated in 
 these pages as Deacon William Williams, to distinguish him from 
 several others of the same name in the same general family. 
 
 " Item. I give to my brother Josiah, my large Bible and Eidgley's 
 Body of Divinity." All these words taken in their connections, and 
 taken in connection with the solemn commitment, at about the same 
 time, of himself and others to the prayers of Israel Williams, " and 
 
WILLI AMSTOWN. 487 
 
 you and your dear family to the Divine Protection," must be the 
 words of a thoughtful and comprehensive and deeply religious 
 spirit. Among the books that thus fell to his own brother Thomas, 
 was "An Universal History from the Earliest Account of Time," 
 in twenty large volumes, strongly and elegantly bound, published 
 in London, in 1748, by "T. Osborne in Gray's Inn; A. Millar in the 
 Strand ; and J. Osborn in Paternoster Row." These volumes, com- 
 plete, have recently been presented to the Williams College library 
 by tlie heirs of Dr. Thomas Williams. They were kept, till well 
 into this century, in the old Williams house in Deertield. They 
 passed through the hands, in regular descent, of Solomon and Henry 
 and Henry. The last enters an interesting autograph account of 
 them on the inner cover of volume first, in connection with their 
 presentation to the College. Bishop John Williams, of Connecticut, 
 an heir along this line of descent, has long been generous and 
 intelligent in behalf of the College. 
 
 (4) A quick sense of humor, well known on other grounds to 
 have been characteristic of the founder, comes out even in his will. 
 He bequeaths to John AVorthington " my French firearm, my case 
 of pistols and hanger, in case the French donH get them!" Luckily, 
 the French got nothing that belonged to him, except his life. His 
 body was not rifled in consequence of the temporary retreat, nor his 
 effects in his tent at the camp scattered. " ^ly firearm, now in my 
 possession," went, as he willed, to his brother Thomas ; the sword 
 and watch that he wore in the fight, and the sword that his brother 
 Thonitis wore at the same time, are the property of the College, and 
 formed the nucleus of the small historical museum now in Clark 
 Hall ; and some other articles of utility and ornament on his person 
 when he fell are in the hands of the descendants of his brother 
 Thomas. 
 
 " Item. I give and devise and remit to the poor, distressed, and 
 imprudent Captain Elisha Chapin, the sum of one hundred pounds, 
 to be deducted out of the bond given jointly by Moses Graves and 
 said Elisha Chapin ; the said hundred pounds to be remitted out of 
 said Chapin's part ! " 
 
 (o) The magnanimity of Williams is shown in his will by his 
 treatment of his half-brothers and half-sisters, as well as of some 
 others. One would never know by the reading of this will, that the 
 testator's relations were anywise different towards his uterine brother 
 Thomas, with \vhom he had been brought up from infancy in the 
 family of his grandfather Jackson, than those sustained towards his 
 broil. ..v^ .T,wi i]i and Elij'^' :'M'1 l"'^ ci^f .vc A}>igail and Elizabeth and 
 
488 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Judith, who had been brought up in another family and under quite 
 different auspices. ^^ Item. I give and bequeath unto my beloved 
 brothers, Josiah Williams and Elijah Williams, and the heirs of 
 their bodies, my homestead at Stockbridge, with all the buildings 
 and appurtenances thereunto belonging, with all the stock of cattle, 
 and negro servants now upon the place, to be equally divided 
 between them, upon the following conditions, and not otherwise, 
 viz. : That they pay annually to my honored mother [step-mother], 
 for her support, twenty-six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence, 
 and also, provided they fulfil the obligations I laid myself under, in 
 a certain bond to my honored parents, for their support, and decent 
 interment, exclusive of the money I then obliged myself annually 
 to pay her; provided also, that they pay unto my sister Judith Wil- 
 liams, or the heirs of her body, the sum of one hundred pounds, and 
 to the heirs of my sister Abigail Dwight, born of her body, the sum 
 of one hundred pounds, to be paid them* severally, within twelve 
 months after my honored mother's decease. In case my sisters 
 Judith or Elizabeth should come to die without heirs, then it is my 
 will that her, or their part or parts shall devolve to the heirs of my 
 sister Abigail Dwight." 
 
 This sister Abigail, the first-born of Ephraim Williams's second 
 marriage, born April 20, 1721, came to Stockbridge with her father's 
 family in 1739, and was shortly after married to E,ev. John Sergeant, 
 the Indian missionary there, and became the mother of his three 
 children. Electa, Erastus, and John. The latter are referred to in 
 Colonel Williams's will, — "I give it to my beloved cousins, Erastus 
 Sergeant and John Sergeant, to be equally divided between them.'^ 
 The missionary Sergeant died in 1749, and his widow not long after 
 married Brigadier-General Joseph Dwight. The sister Elizabeth 
 married Kev. Stephen West, who was, for a short time, Chaplain at 
 Fort Massachusetts, and was settled pastor in Stockbridge from 1759 
 till 1818. She died in 1804. The third sister Judith married Eev. 
 Ezra Thayer, of Ware, who was ordained there in 1759. The half- 
 brother Josiah was an ensign in Ephraim's regiment in the battle 
 of Lake George, and was desperately wounded. His half-brother 
 Thomas, who was the surgeon there, wrote to his wife three days 
 after the battle, — " Twenty odd wounded in our regiment, and poor 
 brother Josiah makes one of the number, having a ball lodged in the 
 intestines, which entered towards the upper part of his thigh and 
 passed through his groin." Nevertheless, like Dieskau, Josiah Wil- 
 liams survived his wound for a number of j^ears, though he ulti- 
 mately died in consequence of it. The youngest half-brother, Elijah, 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 489 
 
 bom in 1732, lived an honored life in Stockbridge, and died there in 
 1815. The house is still standing in West Stockbridge, which he 
 built and occupied for twenty-five years ; and he was mainly instru- 
 mental in having that township set off in 1774 from the old " Indian 
 Town.'* 
 
 (6) ^^Item. I give and bequeath to my beloved cousins, James and 
 John Gray, sons of James and Sarah Gray, fifty acres of land lying 
 north of the great pond, so-called, bounded upon land of their father, 
 James Gray, on the east, by Josiah Jones's land on the west, by the 
 great pond on the south [Stockbridge Bowl], and the town line on 
 the north, to be equally divided between them." There are two 
 reasons for referring now to this particular bequest; first, to dis- 
 cover the painstaking action of Williams^s mind, to include in his 
 benefactions all his relatives (even those by marriage), as well as 
 to secure by means of other parts of his small fortune certain ends 
 of public benevolence ; second, to show how and how widely the 
 Williams blood entered the leading families of western Massachu- 
 setts, particularly this Scotch-Irish family of Gray, with which the 
 writer also is lineally connected. Sarah Williams, own sister of 
 Ephraim Senior, and three years older, the two youngest children 
 of Captain Isaac, himself son to the progenitor Robert of Roxbury, 
 married John Marsh, of Hadley, in October, 1718. Her husband 
 dying, she married James Gray, then of Hadley, a weaver, one of 
 the Scotch-Irish immigrants of 1718 into Worcester. They were 
 married in July, 1732, and had these two sons, James and John, 
 mentioned by name in Colonel Williams's will, as above. They 
 were thus his own cousins. 
 
 In February, 1749, James Gray, "Weaver," and Sarah, his wife, 
 sold their lands in Hadley, and bought in the following October of 
 Ephraim Williams Junior, " Gentleman," 200 acres of land in 
 Stockbridge " on the north line of the town by the Great Pond," 
 etc. In February, 1762, Sarah Marsh Gray having in the mean 
 time died in Stockbridge, June 1, 1759, James Gray, "Weaver," and 
 James Gray, Junior, " Gentleman," sold this land to Charles Stone, 
 of Guildford, Connecticut, for £264. Notice that the father in his 
 old age is still " weaver," and his son, by virtue of being the nephew 
 of Ephraim Williams, Senior, is " gentleman." So it went in those 
 days. Twelve days later the same two parties, under the same 
 styles, bought fifty acres in the heart of Stockbridge village, for 
 £264, " bounded by land of T. Woodbridge, and of the heirs of 
 John Sergeant, and of land of Samuel Brown and James Wilson, 
 with dwelling-house, orchard and growing grain." 
 
490 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 The story of these youngsters of that time, James and John Gray, 
 and specially of the former and elder of them, may afford some in- 
 struction and more amusement. The Williams influence got James 
 Gray appointed a sergeant in one of the companies of Colonel Pep- 
 perell's regiment, which accompanied Governor Shirley's central 
 expedition against the French and Indians, in 1755. As General 
 Braddock commanded at the southward, and Sir William Johnson 
 to the northward, so Governor Shirley personally led the centre up 
 the Mohawk Biver towards the Great Lakes. Shirley's own regi- 
 ment, so-called, and Pepperell's, though paid by the king and counted 
 as English regulars, were in fact raw provincials just raised in the 
 colonies, and all hands wore their gay uniforms with an awkward 
 air. Sergeant Gray wrote as follows to his brother John in Stock- 
 bridge of his status in the army : " I have two Holland shirts, found 
 me by the king, and two pair of shoes -and two pair of worsted 
 stockings ; a good silver-laced hat (the lace I could sell for four 
 dollars) ; and my clothes is as good scarlet broadcloth as ever you 
 did see. A sergeant in the king's regiment is counted as good as 
 an ensign with you ; and one day in every week we must have our 
 hair or wigs powdered." More fortunate than young William Shir- 
 ley, who went in a similar capacity with Braddock, and was killed, 
 young Gray returned to Albany with the broken expedition, and 
 kept some position in the army : for he writes a letter from Halifax, 
 Nova Scotia, in 1757, " to Mr. William Williams at Hatfield." In 
 this letter he sends his " duty to your honored parents," that is to 
 say, to Colonel Israel Williams and his wife. His correspondent 
 in this case became the Deacon William Williams, of Dalton, of 
 whom much will be said in the sequel. 
 
 The name of this James Gray, Junior, appears in a ludicrously 
 aristocratic light in the earliest records of the Court of Common 
 Pleas of the county of Berkshire. This county was set off from the 
 old county of Hampshire in 1761. The court followed closely the 
 old common law forms, and insisted on great strictness in pleading, 
 even in cases in which Parliament had by statute long before relaxed 
 the formalities. At the September term, 1768, of the New Berkshire 
 Court, a writ was brought by George Wilmot, of Hartford, "Gentle- 
 man," plaintiff against James Gray, Junior, of Stockbridge, " Gen- 
 tleman," defendant. The defendant came into court and prayed 
 that the writ might be abated for these reasons : — 
 
 1. For that he the said James long before the purchase of this writ, by a 
 good and lawful commission from Francis Bernard Esq., Captain General of his 
 Majesty's Province of Massachusetts Bay, was appointed, constituted and made 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 491 
 
 a Major of a Brigade to the forces raised by the said Francis Bernard, to be 
 employed in his Majesty's service, in the year of our Lord 1762, under the 
 command of His Excellency Gen. Amherst, and therefore that he has not his 
 proper addition given him in said writ, for that he should therein have been 
 called James Gray, Esquire, and not James Gray, Gentleman. 
 
 2. Because the plaintiff calls himself of Hartford in the County of Hart- 
 ford, Colony of Connecticut, whereas before and at the time of the purchase of 
 said writ, he lived at and belonged to Albany in the County of Albany, in the 
 Province of New York, and ought to have been so called. 
 
 3. Because the plaintiff hath given himself the addition of Gentleman, whereas 
 the said James says the plaintiff is not a Gentleman, and ought to have been 
 called George Wilmot, Yeoman, and not George Wilmot, Gentleman. 
 
 The court after consideration and inquiry ordered, that the writ 
 abate, and the said James recover his costs. The judges at that time 
 were William Williams, of Pittsfield, a nephew of John Stoddard 
 and of Colonel Israel Williams; Perez ^larsh, of Dalton, a son-in- 
 law of Colonel Israel Williams ; John Ashley, of Sheffield, a descend- 
 ant of John Pynchon, of Springfield ; and Timothy Woodbridge, of 
 Stockbridge, out of a long line of clergymen, and a great-grandson 
 of the Apostle Eliot; the sheriff of the court was Elijah Williams, 
 of Stockbridge, the youngest son of Ephraim W^illiams, Senior. 
 James Gray was own cousin of Elijah Williams. 
 
 In January, 1768, James Gray, Junior, Esq., sold to Dr. Mar- 
 shall Spring, of Watertown, Massachusetts, lifty-two acres of land 
 in Stockbridge, on the road from the meeting-house to the Great 
 Pond, for £100. His wife, Sarah vSpring Gray, signs with him the 
 deed of transfer; and she outlived him in Stockbridge nearly thirty 
 years. The epitaph upon his tombstone there is as follows : — 
 
 CoL. James Gray, 
 DIED Aug. 25, 1782, 
 
 IN THE 49*" YEAR OF HIS AGB. 
 
 One may read this, too, on a neighboring headstone : — 
 
 Mrs. Sarah (Spring) Gray, 
 
 RELICT OF Col. James Gray, 
 
 DIED Oct. 26, 1809, in her 72" year. 
 
 Erected by heb grandson John Hunt. 
 
 (7) '^Item. It is my will, that in case one of my aforesaid brothers 
 die without issue, then the whole of the above bequest revert to the 
 survivor, and the heirs of his body, provided he fulfil the above obli- 
 gations laid on them both ; but in case my said brothers die without 
 issue, then my will is that the above-mentioned estate be sold, and 
 
492 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 the money be put out to interest, and that the said interest shall be 
 used for some pious or charitable purposes, as the propagating Chris- 
 tianity, the support of the poor in the County of Hampshire, or for 
 schools on the frontier, in the county aforesaid, to be at the direction 
 of my Executors, hereinafter named, and after their decease to be at 
 the direction of the justices of the sessions for the county aforesaid." 
 
 This clause in the founder's will lets the penetrative reader 
 deeper into his inmost character, and manifests forth better the real 
 spirit and purposes of his life than any other clause of his writings, 
 or than any other action of his life. He had not had the oppor- 
 tunity usually accorded to young men steadily to unfold, under the 
 constant scrutiny of his contemporaries, the broad choices and best 
 courses in life. His early manhood had been more or less perturbed, 
 and more or less migratory by land and sea. Indeed, he had never 
 had a true home of his own in his conscious life. His last ten years 
 were spent in the military service of his native colony, — passing as 
 an officer from pillar to post. Fort Massachusetts was as much his 
 domicile as any other place. He had lived some time with his father 
 in Stockbridge, and had even represented that town one or two years 
 in the General Court. He had also dwelled, more or less, in North- 
 ampton, with the Stoddards and other relatives ; he calls John Stod- 
 dard in his will " my great benefactor " ; he also speaks in the same 
 of "my sorrel mare now at Northampton," and of "my two colts 
 now at Northampton." 
 
 Still, he was evidently drawn, in the later years, by somewhat 
 different and stronger ties, to Hatfield as a transient home, — to the 
 roof-tree of his kinsman and friend, Israel Williams ; " my beloved 
 friend and kinsman," he denominates him in the will. He bequeaths 
 to him the sorrel mare just mentioned, " and my bald colt now at 
 Sheffield." ^^ Item. I give and bequeath to my beloved cousins, 
 Eunice Williams, Jerusha, Elisabeth, and Lucretia Williams, daugh- 
 ters of Israel Williams, Esq. and Sarah his wife, the sum of twenty 
 pounds each." ^^ Item. I give and bequeath to my loving cousin, 
 Elisabeth Williams, over and above the twenty pounds above men- 
 tioned, my silver cream pot and teaspoons." Here it comes out. 
 " The lady that Col. Williams did not marry," toasted at the Jack- 
 son Supper of 1859, was, in all human probability, Elisabeth 
 Williams, of Hatfield. The reference is undoubtedly to her in 
 the founder's last letter to Colonel Israel : " I have altered my 
 mind since I left your house, for reasons, as to what I designed to 
 give (which should have been handsome) to one very near to you." 
 The reference of the strong tradition in the family that he intended 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 493 
 
 to marry some one (which came down to the present writer direct, 
 through the late Mark Hopkins, who belonged to the family by 
 straigiit descent) was, beyond question, to Elisabeth Williams, of 
 Hattield. The tradition in his family, as it came down in Berk- 
 shire, is silent as to the " reasons " wiiich led the Colonel to change 
 his mind as to the amount of the bequest to her ; the tradition in 
 her family, as it has come down to the present in Hampshire, takes 
 on the color that she rejected him in their last interview. She 
 afterwards married, at any rate, Elisha Billings, Esq., of Conway, 
 and Dwight Whitney Marsh (Williams College, 1842) is a descendant 
 of that union, and publicly voiced, in a humorous way, the tradition 
 of "rejection" at the Commencement dinner here in 1892. Her 
 elder sister, Jerusha, also mentioned in the will, married William 
 Billings, Esq., of Conway. 
 
 Now, for a man only forty-one years old, subjected to such strange 
 and changing environments as his, having acquired a moderate 
 fortune by his own exertions, to propose, of his own motion, on a 
 not unlikely contingency, "that the above-mentioned estate be sold, 
 and the money be put out to interest, and that the said interest 
 shall be used for some pious or charitable purposes, as the propagat- 
 ing Christianity, the support of the poor in the County of Hamp- 
 shire, or for schools on the frontier in the county aforesaid, to be at 
 the direction of my Executors, hereinafter named, and after their 
 decease to be at the direction of the justices of the sessions [Probate 
 Court] for the county aforesaid," indicates a far-reaching benevo- 
 lence and a Christian depth of purpose every way remarkable. Nor 
 is it once only that he puts this general disposition of his estate 
 upon a possible or probable contingency ; he recurs to the same six 
 times more in the course of the will, the last time as follows, after 
 providing for the free school in the West Township, and contin- 
 gently, also, for one in the East Township, he adds ; " But in case 
 the above provisos are not complied with, then it is my will and 
 desire that the interest of the above-mentioned moneys be appropri- 
 ated to some pious and charitable uses, in manner and form as 
 directed in the former of this, my last Will and Testament." 
 
 (8) We come at last to that peculiar clause of the Colonel's will, 
 which has immortalized his name in the name of a town and a 
 college, and which has steadily altered and uplifted, for a century 
 past, the entire development of the western end of Massachusetts. 
 This clause is distinct in character and purpose from the general 
 one quoted under the last head, and indicates a different phase of 
 mind and heart from that as also characteristic of the personal 
 
494 OKIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 donor. That indeed refers, also, in a general way, to " schools on 
 the frontier in the county aforesaid ^^ ; but this, on the other hand, is 
 a specific appropriation of definite moneys for a single "free school," 
 placed in a described locality, " forever," on two clean-cut condi- 
 tions, both of which were actually met, "but in case the above 
 provisos are not complied with," the moneys were to revert to the 
 general and above-mentioned pious and charitable uses. 
 
 " Item. It is my will and pleasure and desire that the remaining 
 part of lands not yet disposed of shall be sold at the direction of 
 my Executors, within five years after an established peace, and the 
 interest of the money, and also the interest of my money arising by 
 my bonds and notes, shall be appropriated towards the support and 
 maintenance of a free school (in a township west of Fort Massachu- 
 setts, commonly called the West Township), forever, provided the 
 said township fall within the jurisdiction of the Province of the 
 Massachusetts Bay, and, provided also, that the Govenor and Gen- 
 eral Court give the said township the name of Williamstown ; 
 and it is my further will and desire that if there should remain any 
 moneys of the above donation, for the said school, it be given 
 towards the support of a school in the East Township, where the 
 fort now stands." 
 
 Ephraim Williams was, at any rate, a bachelor; it is possible, 
 perhaps even quite probable, that he had then recently been disap- 
 pointed in the expectation of a future marriage with Elisabeth 
 Williams ; he v^^as already well forward in a military campaign that 
 would certainly prove personally hazardous, and very likely to prove 
 fatal ; the natural coveting for personal remembrance after the inex- 
 orable has been confronted, which possesses, more or less, every man 
 of culture and character, was without question felt by the lonely 
 officer, as he saw around him at Albany, and more and more day by 
 day, the instruments and agents of sudden death in the shock of 
 battle ; he had no child to perpetuate his memory, his relatives of 
 the name were extremely numerous throughout New England, he 
 himself had done and suffered nothing as yet, to give him a pass- 
 port over more than one coming generation, and even his old ser- 
 geant (John Hawks), by an heroic defence of Fort Massachusetts 
 against Vaudreuil, had attached his name to that locality more last- 
 ingly than its commander; to an elect and serious spirit like his 
 own, it was, under all the circumstances, a God-given impulse to 
 shape a sentence or two in his last will and testament, that might 
 be likely in its results, not only to secure the lasting good-will and 
 gratitude of some of his old comrades in arms along the Upper 
 
WILLIA^ISTOWN. 495 
 
 Hoosac, but also to attach his name iu a distinctive form, and for a 
 definite reason, to a beautiful spot of earth sure to possess its loyal 
 dalesmen till the end of time ; and so, there came out of his human 
 longings and aspirations the right and vital word, — '' provided 
 also, that the Governor and General Court give the said township 
 the name of Williamstown." 
 
 They did. When the town was incorporated, ten years after 
 this, that is to say, in July, 1765, the " West Township," dear to 
 the Colonel's heart, became *' Williamstown," never to be changed. 
 While the ColonePs motive in the name was doubtless strictly per- 
 sonal, and appropriately so, and while any such end of personal 
 remembrance as lay in his mind has already been reached a thousand- 
 fold, and will be met in swelling volume till human memories shall 
 fade out, the name of the Town and the College is also felicitous as 
 helping worthily to perpetuate the memory of several other mem- 
 bers of the Williams family who played well their part (though 
 much subordinate to his), in the direct or indirect upbuilding of the 
 Town and the College and the country. Let us briefly run over 
 some of these services of the Williams family. 
 
 Ephraim Williams, Senior, father of the founder, was chairman 
 of a committee appointed by the Legislature in January, 1739, 
 " carefully to view the land situate on or near Hoosuck River ; and 
 if they find the land accommodable for inhabitants, that they sur- 
 vey and lay out one or more townships of the contents of six miles 
 square and Return a Plat or Plats thereof to this Court at their 
 next May session with an account of the Quantity and Quality of the 
 said land, so that this Court may dispose thereof as they shall think 
 proper." Thomas Wells was joined with Williams in this affair, and 
 in May the committee repaired to the Hoosac, and with the aid of 
 Timothy Dwight and Nathaniel Kellogg, surveyors, partially laid out 
 three townships, and submitted their report in June following. 
 
 We the subscribers have carefully viewed the lands on and near the Hoosuck 
 River and finding the same very accommodable for settlement have by the 
 assistance of Timothy Dwight Esq., and Mr. Nath. Kellogg, survey's, laid out 
 three townships each of the contents of six miles square. Two of which are 
 adjoyning and lye on Hoosuck River the other on Mayoonsuck, being the north- 
 em branch thereof about three miles northward of the lowest of the two towns 
 all which will fully appear by the plans herewith humbly presented. We have 
 not perfected all the lines occasioned by the Great Opposition we met with from 
 Sundry Gent'n from Albany a particular account of which we are ready to lay 
 before y'r Excellency and Honours if thereto required, and are your Excellency's 
 and Hon's most obedient and dutiful servants. 
 
 Eph" Williams \ p^_„^...^^ 
 
 Boston June O'N 1739. Thomas Wklls ( ^«"^°^^^^^- 
 
496 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 The " Gentlemen from Albany," referred to in this report, repre- 
 sented the government of the province of New York, between 
 which and the province of Massachusetts the boundary line was 
 not finally settled till 1787. The report of Captain Williams ex- 
 cited a deal of interest in Boston, particularly on account of the 
 alleged encroachments and activities of New York along on the 
 Upper -Hoosac ; and a committee of the Council and House, to which 
 the report was referred, very speedily reported in turn in the fol- 
 lowing words : " The committee to whom was referred the Keport 
 of Captain Williams and Wells and their doings with the platt of the 
 three townships lately surveyed and laid out at or on Hoosuck 
 River &c.. Offer as their opinion that for the better securing the 
 undoubted rights this governm't have to those and other lands there- 
 about lying in this province, that the most northerly of the three 
 townships aforesaid of the contents of six miles square adjoyning 
 thereto and southward thereof, which the said Williams and Wells 
 had not time to take a survey of tho' well assured of it and accom- 
 modable for a town and whereon some few people have already got 
 and inhabit ; Bee granted to such of his Majesty subjects as will 
 effectually settle the same in the space of two years with fifty or sixty 
 familys on each tract and give sufficient bonds therefor," etc. 
 
 Something, we know not now what, quieted the fears of the authori- 
 ties at Boston in relation to Dutch encroachments at the northwest 
 for several years, and then the breaking out of the old French War 
 made New York and Massachusetts allies as against a common enemy, 
 and the building of Fort Massachusetts in 1745 furnished a Yankee 
 garrison sufficient to protect eastern interests in the neighborhood 
 till the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ; so that nothing was done in the 
 way of settlement until the new survey of the two townships in 1749, 
 which followed different lines throughout from that of 1739, and 
 which laid the western boundary of Williamstown (except at the 
 northwest corner) considerably to the east of the New York line as 
 finally adjusted forty years later. It is to the credit of the Williams 
 family, and of the name officially given to the town in 1765, that the 
 founder's father made the first survey, and confronted for the first 
 time in loco the few Dutch inhabitants that had already straggled 
 up the Hoosac towards the junction of its two branches, and threw 
 bold protests into the face of the Albany " Gentlemen " who were 
 pushing these stragglers from behind. The stragglers themselves 
 receded down the river. Not a solitary Dutchman, or other squatter, 
 cumbered the ground in any direction when the house lots were sur- 
 veyed out in the spring of 1750. 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 497 
 
 The claim of New York to extend over the Taconics to the east- 
 ward, which had already been put forcefully forward in the southern 
 part of the county of Hampshire, still hovered over the mind of 
 Colonel Williams when he dictated his will in 1755; for he made it 
 a proviso to his gift for the free school in the West Township, — 
 "provided the said township fall within the jurisdiction of the Massa- 
 chusetts Bay." It is a curious thing in this connection, that one of 
 the most distinguished of the Williams family, Samuel Williams, a 
 grandson of the original " Redeemed Captive," of Deerfield, surveyed 
 and settled finally the boundary line between New York and Massa- 
 chusetts in 1786-87, and so in the way of result added a very con- 
 siderable area to the town of AVilliamstown, the southwest corner 
 being thus placed 446 rods further west than the survey of 1749 
 made it. This Samuel Williams, who was a Harvard graduate and 
 Professor of Mathematics, had a son, Charles K. Williams (Williams 
 College, 1800), who became a governor and chief justice of Vermont; 
 and the latter a son, Chauncey K. Williams (Williams College, 
 1852). 
 
 Colonel Israel Williams, of Hatfield, after the death of Colonel 
 John Stoddard in 1748, had the direct military command of the 
 western frontier till the end of the last French War. He planned 
 the West Hoosac Fort, and controlled in the first instance all its 
 relations with Fort Massachusetts. There was, indeed, a good deal 
 of appealing on the part of the soldiers and settlers from him to the 
 governor and Council at Boston ; a good deal of fault-finding and 
 general abuse of the Colonel, which called out from him at length, 
 in the way of personal defence, a long statement of his action and 
 policy through a number of years, — a paper which has never yet been 
 printed, but which must needs be read, in order to understand fully 
 his great services in critical times to this whole region round about. 
 There are reasons multiform and manifold why West Hoosac should 
 have been named Williamstown. The fact that Israel Williams 
 developed into a Tory, and could not even be '•' smoked into a Whig," 
 is no reason for belittling his long and stout services to Williams- 
 town and its vicinity. 
 
 The issue of the battle of Lake George was the deliverance for 
 the time being, and practically for always, of the Upper Hoosac from 
 the French and Indian attacks. Besides the chief figure in that 
 victory, commemorated in the name of our Town and College, there 
 were five other men of the same name, all his near kinsmen, con- 
 spicuous in the battle and its sequels. Williamstown might well 
 have been so named even on account of the bearing on its history of 
 
498 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 these subordinate services alone. There were Stephen Williams, 
 Chaplain ; Thomas Williams, Surgeon ; William Williams, or "Billy," 
 so called. Surgeon's Mate ; William Williams, Quarter-Master ; and 
 Josiah Williams, an Ensign, fearfully v»^ounded in the battle. Besides 
 these six members of the Williams family and bearing their name, 
 there was present there, professionally. Dr. Perez Marsh, who mar- 
 ried Sarah, eldest daughter of Colonel Israel Williams. 
 
 The reasons are not far to seek — that is to say, they are not hard 
 to find — why Ephraim Williams in his will gave the west town pre- 
 cedence over the east as the certain seat of the free school for the 
 benefit of the settlers. So far as he himself held landed property 
 in the two, it lay mostly in the east town. In 1750, the General 
 Court had given him, in fee simple, a fine estate of 200 acres on the 
 great bend of the Hoosac, reserving to the province ten acres of the 
 same, on which Fort Massachusetts then stood, on condition that he 
 build and maintain, for twenty years, mills for the use of the soldiers 
 and the settlers on one of the branches of the Hoosac above near 
 their junction. The mills were built. We know their place on the 
 Ashuwillticook in the heart of the village of North Adams. On 
 the other hand, he had drawn two house lots in the west town, Nos. 
 8 and 10, which would ultimately, if he held them, entitle him to 
 two sixty-thirds of the entire township. His farm (the present Har- 
 rison farm) and his mills were doubtless worth then four times as 
 much as his house lots and their chances. 
 
 Still his mind was clear that the free school should be set up in 
 the west town, and only the remnants of the bequest (if any) go to 
 the benefit of the east town. Why was this ? There were topo- 
 graphical reasons : the east town was relatively to the other a dell, 
 a ravine, the two branches of the Hoosac rushing to their union 
 between steep mountains and through very narrow valleys, the 
 meadow on which Fort Massachusetts stood being the only broad 
 and open space in the whole township ; while the two main tribu- 
 taries of the Hoosac in the west town, the Green River and the 
 Hemlock Brook, had made in the course of ages comparatively wide 
 valleys for themselves parallel to each other and at right angles to 
 the chief -vale of the Hoosac, the spaces between which were beauti- 
 ful uplands having knolls of every variety of shape rising up out of 
 relative levels, the encompassing hills no longer steep and ragged 
 barriers, but receding lifts of then warm woods and now fresh green 
 fields. The father had doubtless often told over to the son what his 
 observant eye had caught on purpose to officially report, when he 
 had rambled over these sunny hills and along these perpetual streams 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 499 
 
 with his surveyor, Nathaniel Kellogg, in 1739 ; and the Colonel him- 
 self, especially after another committee with their surveyor had 
 wisely laid out the house lots in 1750 at the northern centre of the 
 oblong concave, must more than once in the five years have person- 
 ally scrutinized with the zeal of a landowner present and prospective, 
 and with the living interest in others of a proposed benefactor, these 
 varied slopes and hills and levels, already oflBcially pronounced to 
 be so " accommodable for settlement." 
 
 There were agricultural reasons, — the soldiers at Fort Massachu- 
 setts, during the ten years past, had all been brought up on farms to 
 the eastward or southward, and were all looking forward, on their 
 discharge from military service, to farm life on lands of their own; 
 the heart of their commander had long been strongly drawn out 
 towards them and their future interests, as appears from letters and 
 arguments addressed by him in their behalf, to the General Court at 
 Boston. The testimony is abundant that he had drawn out towards 
 himself their respect and confidence to a remarkable degree. It was 
 to the interest of all parties that they should ultimately settle on 
 the best farming lands to be had in the province, and considerable 
 numbers of them had already purchased such lands in actuality and 
 prospective in West Hoosac; such lands as these were would be 
 pretty sure to be taken up i)retty soon by actual occupants, while 
 this was more doubtful in respect to the less eligible lands in the 
 east town. The Colonel had noted well what almost everybody has 
 an opportunity to see, namely, that where folks are there will be 
 children ; and, consequently, on this ground too, he made provision 
 for the school where it was most likely there would be scholars to 
 attend it and profit by it. 
 
 And there were historical reasons why the west town should have 
 the preference in this regard. As we have seen already, he himself 
 had assisted quite a number of his garrison to buy and pay for their 
 house lots in West Hoosac. One family there, well known to him, 
 had already two children, a boy and a girl, when this will was 
 drafted in Albany. It has been said and is credible, though the 
 authority for it is not distinct, that the Colonel had given some inti- 
 mations to his men of his intention to do something for them, in a 
 general way, as settlers upon these fertile lots, of which he was a 
 co-purchaser with them. We have seen that the proprietors of West 
 Hoosac learned, in general terms, of this bequest not very long after 
 the will was probated in November, 1755. They do not seem to have 
 been surprised at all by its terms, and they took simple and natural 
 action in sending Benjamin Simonds, the father of the two children 
 
500 OBIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 but just referred to, down to Northampton to get a copy of the will. 
 The charge for this service was extremely small.. It can scarcely 
 be questioned that Simonds expected, in the person of his children, 
 to become a speedy beneficiary of his commander's gift ; but while 
 he lived to see the free school open in 1791, and the College open in 
 1793, and twelve classes graduated in order from the latter, his 
 youngest child was twenty years old when the school was opened. 
 Very few, if any, of the children of actual settlers, prior to the 
 incorporation of the town in 1765, ever received any direct advan- 
 tage from the commander's charity, — so wisely and broadly did his 
 executors construe their duties under the will in favor of a school of 
 high grade, when once it might be established. 
 
 In quitting now for good the will of Colonel Williams, we quit 
 also all further direct references to his motives and character. If 
 we have not been able to reproduce so long after his death a living 
 image of the man as he was, going in and out among men, it is 
 because the data do not exist for such a vivid picture. Nearly 
 every extant writing of the Colonel, whether epistolary or other, 
 has been given and commented on in these pages at length. The 
 reader may thus construct for himself, as well as the writer for 
 others. The impression produced on the latter's mind by these 
 long-continued studies is of a man attractive in person and manners, 
 ambitious, scholarly beyond his opportunities, broad-minded in vic- 
 tory over strong temptation to be otherwise, democratic in the midst 
 of a very aristocratic generation. Christian in and to the core even 
 if not in form, influential in his life through obvious purity and 
 strength of motives, able to receive from and impart to the very 
 able men of his time, and through the divine blessing and happily 
 concurring circumstances and obstacles overruled for good, powerful 
 through a single clause in a simple will to maintain through many 
 generations, not only his own name fragrant as ointment poured 
 forth, but also the two causes dearest to his heart, — education and 
 piety. 
 
 John Worthington, of Springfield, one of his executors and an 
 intimate acquaintance, has left on record the following remarkable 
 judgment : ^' Humanity made a most striking trait in his character, 
 and universal benevolence was his ruling passion : his memory will 
 always be dear." 
 
 The chief source of present knowledge of the slow developments 
 of Williamstown as a self-governing body controlling all local affairs 
 by the major part of votes in a legal assemblage, from the first meet- 
 ing of the few proprietors, Dec. 5, 1753, till the end of that century, 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 501 
 
 are the records in the old "Proprietors' Book," so called, of their 
 duly warned meetings and votes from time to time. It is thus that 
 we learn in detail, through a single example, the best lesson that 
 New England has had the privilege of teaching to the world at large. 
 The roots of all our civil politics, municipal and state and national, 
 are uncovered and displayed at this ix)int. In preceding sections 
 and chapters we have often referred to, and quoted from, these 
 precious records, with a view of exhibiting the individual and social 
 condition of the primeval settlers in this loved valley ; is it not our 
 function, also, to remind the later generations of the way in which 
 self-respecting and liberty-loving and rights-defending citizens of a 
 great Republic made up of co-equal states were trained here from 
 the very beginning ? 
 
 In the fall of 1753, there were about sixteen proprietors of house 
 lots living on their respective lots, and fulfilling the conditions pre- 
 scribed by the General Court of the province of Massachusetts Bay 
 requisite to their owning these lots, and the further rights coupled 
 with such ownership. This province, or colony, was then living and 
 acting politically under a formal charter, granted to it for that pur- 
 pose by William III., king of England, in 1691. Most of these 
 sixteen proprietors had been previously soldiers in Fort Massachu- 
 setts under the pay and direction of this province, which had built 
 the fort, and maintained in subordination to the mother country a 
 war against France. Isaac Wyman, then in nominal command of 
 the fort in time of peace, and at the same time the most conspicuous 
 of the West Hoosac proprietors, drew up a petition to the General 
 Court at Boston in behalf of all the proprietors, himself and several 
 others subscribing it, asking for formal organization as a "Pro- 
 priety" ; that is, to be authorized and empowered by a major vote, in 
 regularly notified meetings, to divide and apportion the lands held 
 common, to lay out and construct needed highways, to raise money 
 by taxation of themselves to defray the charges of laying out lands 
 and roads and any oth'^r necessary charges, and to agree upon a 
 method of calling legal meetings in future. 
 
 In the House of Representatives, Sept. 10, 1753. Read [this petition of 
 Wyman's] and voted that William Williams Esqr one of his Majesty's Justices 
 of the Peace for the County of Hampshire Issue his warrant for Calling a meet- 
 ing of proprietors of the west Township at Hoosuck so called Directed to one of 
 the principal proprietors of said Township, Requiring him to set up a notifica- 
 tion in some pubHck place in said Township setting Forth the time place and 
 occasion of said meeting fourteen Days Beforehand which meeting shall be 
 holden in said Township and such of the proprietors as shall be present at said 
 meeting are hereby authorised and impowered by a major vote to Determine 
 
502 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 upon a Division of all or part of the Lands in said Township not already alloted 
 also to Choose a Committee or Committees to lay out the same also to Kaise 
 monies to Defray the charges that may arise by means of laying out said land 
 also for Clearing Highways as also to Choose proprietors Clerk Treasurer asses- 
 sors and Collectors and also to agree and Determine upon a method for calling 
 meetings of said proprietors for the future. 
 
 Sent up for Concurrence : T. Hubbard Spk?". 
 In Council Read and Concur.^ Tiiof. Clerk Deputy Secry 
 Consented to W. Shirley 
 A True Copy per Thos. Clerk Dep^y Secry 
 
 William Shirley, one of the ablest and by far the most interesting 
 of all the colonial governors of Massachusetts, had returned from 
 England only just in time to sign, as governor, this bill for politi- 
 cally organizing the inhabitants of West Hoosac, some of whom had 
 served as " centinels '^ in Fort Shirley, built in 1744, and named after 
 him. Almost everybody of prominence in Massachusetts, during the 
 last half of the last century, touched in some relation or other this 
 remotest corner of the colony ; and local students of its history may 
 well feel a sort of gratulation that the governor's own autograph is 
 appended to their humble magna cliarta, rather than that of Spencer 
 Phips, who, during Shirley's long absence in England, had acted as 
 governor, and had signed most of the papers relating to the line of 
 forts, and to the surveys of the two townships. In 1755, Governor 
 Shirley was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in 
 America, and planned the expedition of that year against Niagara, 
 which he led in person as far as Oswego, where his son John died in 
 the service only about a month after his elder son, William, was 
 mortally wounded with General Braddock at the forks of the Ohio. 
 
 Colonel William Williams, of Pittsfield, in some aspects of his 
 remarkable career more potent than any other member of the family 
 in that generation, took the next hand in helping to organize into a 
 self-governing community the few determined settlers on the Upper 
 Hoosac, his official mandate to them being worded as follows : — 
 
 Provance of the Massachusetts Bay. Whereas I have received special Direc- 
 tions from the great and General Court of this provance at their sessions in Sep- , 
 tember last to Issue my warrant for Calling a meeting of the proprietors of the 
 west township at Hoosuck so called Directed to one of the Principle proprietors 
 of the s'd Township requiring him to set up a Notyfication in some publick place 
 in s'd Township seting forth the time place and occasion of s'd meeting fourteen 
 Days beforehand, s'd meeting to be held in s'd Township and such of the pro- 
 prietors as shall be present at s'd meeting are by Said order of Court authorized 
 and Irapowered by a major Voate to act and Determine upon the following arti- 
 cles, Vizt. To agree upon a Division of a part or all the lands in said township 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 503 
 
 Not allready allotted = to Choose a Committee or Commiteses to lay out the 
 same = to Choose a Commite to lay out high ways = to Raise money to Defray 
 the Charges of laying out the Lands and highways and Clearing the same or any 
 other Necessary Charges = To Choose a proprietors Clerk. To Choose a proprie- 
 tors Treasurer To Choose proprietors assesors. To Choose a proprietors Colector 
 or Colectors. To agree upon a method for Calling meetings for the future. 
 
 In observance of which Direction 
 
 Hampshire ss. To Isaac Wyman one of the proprietors of the said west 
 Township at Hoosuck Gent?. Greeting you are hereby Required to Notifye and 
 wanie the proprietors of sM Township that they assemble at the House of Mr. 
 Seth Hudson in s'd Township on wensday the Fifth Day of December next at 
 Nine of the Clock in the four noon to act upon the fouregoing Articles as they 
 shall think proper by Setting up in some publick place in said township an 
 attested Coppy of the foregoing order of Court and this warrant by you Sygned 
 fourteen Days before the time of said meeting. 
 
 Poontoosuck 
 November 15: 1753. ^" Williams Just. Peace 
 
 The two foregoing papers and the one to be appended to the pres- 
 ent paragraph — namely, the record of the votes passed and of the 
 persons present at the very first legal meeting of the proprietors — 
 are the three most venerable political documents in the history of 
 the town. It is reasonably certain that all the men chosen to offices 
 and appointed as committees in this primal meeting were present 
 and participators. There were eleven of them. Their names were 
 these : Allen Curtiss, Isaac Wyman, Seth Hudson, Jonathan Meacham, 
 Ezekiel Foster, Jabez Warren, Samuel Taylor, Josiah Dean, Thomas 
 Train, Gideon Warren, Ebenezer Graves. Substantive political power 
 passed over, then and there, into the hands of these men and their 
 successors. Xot so complete, indeed, was this jurisdiction as that 
 conferred twelve years later, by the same body, in the act incor- 
 porating the town, but it was complete so far as it went ; and even 
 the town and the town-meeting under the Provincial General Court 
 were not what these became twelve years later still, under an inde- 
 pendent state Legislature. Power, in all its gradations, is agreeable 
 to men, and it is to their credit as men that it is so. These eleven 
 came together under the modest roof of Seth Hudson, and went out 
 from it to perform, in due time, their several functions, with a 
 decided accession of self-respect, with a new sense, the sense of citi- 
 zenship, — a corporate sense of self-guidance as towards self-chosen 
 ends. The room in which they met on that day has remained essen- 
 tially unchanged until this day, — one hundred and forty years, — 
 although the house has been removed down Hemlock Brook, about 
 
504 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 half a mile from its original location. Hudson drew house lot 9, 
 and built his house near its northern end, on the eastern bank of 
 the brook, called for some time, from this circumstance, Hudson's 
 Brook. Captain Hudson, or Dr. Hudson, as he was indifferently 
 called, because his medical and military education had been but 
 indifferent, was a leading member and the last survivor of the 
 original proprietors. 
 
 At a Proprietors meting lawfully warned in the west township at hoosuck ss 
 
 called December the fifth 1753 = Voted by the major part of the proprietors at 
 
 s'd meetin the fouregoing articles Vizt 
 
 First Voted and Chose Allen Curtice moderator for s'd meetin. 
 
 Second Voted and Chose Isaac Wyman Proprietors Clerk 
 
 Thirdly Voted by the proprietors to lay out all the medow land Lying upon the 
 main River and the medow land lying upon green River as far as the first 
 Brook or Creek in Equal proportion to Each Right in Said Township and 
 one hundred accors of upland to Each Right ajoying to the medow land or 
 as Near as they Can to Lay out the best land. 
 
 Forthly Voted to Leave it to the Commite to Lay out the Land in one Division 
 or two as they shall Judge best. 
 
 5i.y Voted and Chose Allen Curtice Seth Hudson Jonathan mechom Ezekiel 
 Foster Jabez Worren the Commite to lay out the land in s'd Township. 
 
 6ly Voted and Chose Samuel Taylor Giden Worrin Jonathan mechom the Com- 
 mite to lay out high Ways in s'd Township that shall be Necessary, 
 
 71? Voted and Chose Allen Curtice sevayer to Clear the Roads in s'd Town- 
 ship 
 
 S'y Voted at s'd meeting to Lay the Roads at the Eand of Each main street 
 foure Rods wide in said Township 
 
 9ly Voted that the Roads to accommidate the medow Land shall be But two 
 rods wide and all the Roads to accomidate the other Divisions two Rods 
 wide allso. 
 
 Voted to Raise a rate of Eight Shillings upon Each Proprietors Right in s'd 
 Town to pay the Charges that may arise by Laying out s'd Land 
 
 Voted to Rase ten shillings to pay for a Proprietors Book 
 
 Voted and Chose Isaac Wyman Proprietors Treasurer 
 
 Voted and Chose Thomas Train Josiah Deean Colectors for said Proprietors 
 
 Voted and Chose Ebenezer Graves Allen Curtice and Ezekiel Foster assessors 
 for said Proprietors 
 
 Voted at said meetin that five or seven of the proprietors of said Town makin 
 application to the Clerk of said Proprietors for Calling meetings for the 
 future 
 
 Voted at s'd meetin to Lay out the land in said Town as soon as may be Con- 
 venant 
 at a meeting Held at West Hoosuck Pursuant to the Court order on the fifth 
 
 Day of December 1753 the above said votes paist in a legial manor 
 
 Test = Allen Curtice moderator for said meetin 
 
 Isaac Wyman 
 
 Props Clerk 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 505 
 
 When these few proprietors of house lots then and thus entered 
 upon the axlrainistration of affairs in West Hoosac, the only points 
 that had been already settled for them by committees of the General 
 Court at Boston were the boundary lines of the town as they were 
 laid out in 1749 much as they are now, and the village plat or house 
 lots as another committee from Boston determined them in the fol- 
 lowing spring. What we still call the " Main Street " had been then 
 surveyed out fifteen rods wide from the Green River to Buxton 
 Brook, that is, 467 rods east and west in general trend ; and what 
 we still call North and South streets was, at the same time, laid out 
 six rods wide at right angles to the other, 265 rods north and south. 
 The land covered by this extended Greek cross never became the 
 property in any sense of the individual proprietors of the house lots 
 that abutted upon it, and never came under the touch of the " Pro- 
 priety " or the ''Town" as a whole, except superficially for the pur- 
 poses of a roadway. These two highways were surveyed and donated 
 by the province as a condition precedent to the sale of the house 
 lots. Each householder was to have the privilege of them as a road- 
 way, and nothing more. There were no owners of adjoining lands, 
 no " abutters " in the legal sense, when these roads were laid out. 
 They were conveyed by the commonwealth as commons in perpetuity 
 to a possible body corporate not yet created. 
 
 While these lines are being penned, a wordy and acrid controversy 
 is going on in South Street as to the right of the selectmen of the 
 town to treat that road solely in its interest as a highway, without 
 reference to the wish or will of the parties owning the lands on 
 either side of it. The selectmen have exercised this right with 
 obvious legality and propriety. The ordinary claim of abutting 
 owners to hold the land to the middle of the road, and to control it 
 for all purposes except a free passing, only applies to roads built on 
 lands owned by individuals, who do not part with the fee simple of 
 their land in order that a road may be built, but only convey an 
 easement to the authorities for roadway purposes. The same prin- 
 ciple of commons to be controlled by representative officials only 
 applied to any roads surveyed and set apart as such by the proprie- 
 tors as a body, before any of the lands were parcelled out to individ- 
 ual owners. In their first meeting, months before there was any 
 private division of the land, they voted " to lay the roads at the end 
 of each main street four rods wide," and also, " that the roads to 
 accommodate the meadow land shall be but two rods wide, and all 
 the roads to accommodate the other Divisions two rods wide." 
 
 At their second meeting, April 18, 1754, they voted to accept the 
 
506 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 return of the committee chosen to lay out the divisions, and also 
 the return of the committee to lay out the highways " to accommo- 
 date said Town." Such highways, so accepted, before there had 
 been any (the least) actual division of the lands, were clearly not 
 subject to any abutters' rights, because there were no abutters at 
 that time. 
 
 The next thing at the second meeting was : " Voted and agreed to 
 Draw the medow lots and the first fifty accre Division as follows : 
 Vizt Choose mf David King Surveyor to Draw for the Divisions of 
 Land to Each Eight." At the same time, they voted and granted to 
 Mr. King his accounts for laying out the first two divisions ; namely, 
 the meadow lots and the first-division fifty-acre lots. 
 
 The sixty -three meadow lots Avere surveyed out at an average of 
 ten acres each — the modern measurements pretty uniformly overrun- 
 ning the ancient — along the Hoosac and Green rivers, single lots 
 more frequently than otherwise crossing the rivers. A half-dozen 
 of the lots were located on both sides of the last stretch of Broad 
 Brook also. Beginning very near the division line between the two 
 towns of East and West Hoosac, on the river, with meadow lot No. 
 1, the lots are numbered regularly down the river, without any 
 break, until, in No. 37, the river takes a sharp lurch to the north, 
 striking there the stubborn roots of Northwest Hill, enclosing what 
 is now called the Biver-Bend Farm, when, in consequence, the 
 meadow lots jump across to Broad Brook, and, after the junction 
 of that with the main river, the lots continue on the Hoosac to the 
 Vermont line, ending there in No. 46. Then they commence again 
 in No. 47, in what would have been a part of the village plat if the 
 southeast quarter of that had been completed towards the east, on 
 Green Eiver, and, running regularly up that river to the south, com- 
 plete their number — sixty-three — at what was then called (and 
 long after) " Taylor's Crotch," or the junction of the Hopper Brook 
 with the larger stream. Some of these meadow lots became after- 
 wards the sites of important and permanent dwellings, in which the 
 same family lived generation after generation. Such, for example, 
 was No. 62, on which the Blairs lived for three long-lived genera- 
 tions, and No. 14, near which the Smedleys lived for four gen- 
 erations. As a rule, however, the meadow lots were low land, unfit 
 at first for houses, and some of them were for a long time sub- 
 merged. Samuel Kellogg, Senior, reported, in his old age, that the 
 only way one could get over his own meadow lots along the river, 
 at first, was by jumping from one prostrate log to another. 
 
 It was a much more important stroke towards the permanent 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 507 
 
 settlement of Williamstown, when, in this same spring, Mr. David 
 King surveyed out and drew for each proprietor of an house lot 
 a fifty-acre lot of the first division ; for this was intended to be the 
 out-farm, or the nucleus of it, of each village proprietor. The 
 theory of the house lots was that the people must live close 
 together and near the church, or meeting-house, as they called it, so 
 as to be able to defend themselves and their dwellings from incur- 
 sions of the hostile French and Indians. The theory of the other 
 divisions, and especially of the two fifty-acre divisions, was appar-' 
 ently to furnish each villager with an upland farm, as much land as 
 he would care to cultivate, with the due portions of pasture and 
 forest, in addition to the home lot of ten acres and a meadow lot of 
 the same area. This general plan, however, did not work well in 
 practice. The fifty-acre lots, though they constituted the best lands 
 in the town, were so scattered about all over the town as to be 
 inconvenient of cultivation from the village. The village lot re- 
 quired a barn as well as a house, and the outlot would, in most 
 cases, need another barn, or demand a far-carrying of crops and a 
 tending of cattle at a distance from home. And so, even before the 
 victories of Wolfe and Amherst dissipated the fear of the Indians, 
 and more particularly after that time, the more thoughtful and 
 enterprising villagers began to sell their house lots, and to make 
 homes for themselves, as well as farms, on the outlots. For exam- 
 ples merely, Nehemiah Smedley sold his house lot No. 1, and slowly 
 aggregated a fine farm for his family on Green River, near its junc- 
 tion with the Hoosac; and Benjamin Simonds sold his house lot 
 No. 3, on which he had a home and tavern next west of Smedley's 
 home, and bought the outlots on the Hoosac, constituting the River- 
 Bend Farm, now owned and occupied by Sherifl: George Prindle. 
 
 The lots of the first fifty -acre division were remarkably scattered 
 over the town, and it is difficult to discover the principle of their 
 numerical location. The first three numbers (1, 2, 3) and the last 
 three (61, 62, 63) were laid out directly to the east of Taylor's 
 Crotch, and this may probably indicate an expectation of a greater 
 development around the mill privilege there than has ever been actu- 
 ally realized. There was a *' mill lot " early laid out around the 
 junction of the two brooks, of about seven acres, and Samuel Taylor 
 became the first owner and improver of the privilege ; it then went 
 into the hands of Asa Douglas of "Jericho," now Hancock, who 
 sold, in 1769, his " right in mill place called Taylor's Crotch " to Wil- 
 liam Krigger. The Kriggers, a Dutch family from down the Hoosac, 
 — William, John, Peter, Jolm George, — are characterized in old 
 
508 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 deeds as " Miller " or " Yeoman," and some of them carried on the 
 sawmill and gristmill at the Crotch for two generations ; some mem- 
 bers of this family bought parts of No. 50 of this division, which 
 lies to the west of the junction of the brooks, and these parts have 
 remained in the mill-estate till the present time ; and parties by the 
 name of Sweet — whence the modern and transient designation 
 " Sweets' Corners " — owned the lands around the mill till 1892, 
 when the town bought them as a home for their poor. 
 
 Nos. 4, 5, and 6, of this division, were located north of the Hoosac 
 E/iver, as were also Nos. 51, 52, and 53, and these were the only fifty- 
 acre lots of either division in the White Oaks. Five of these lots, 
 beginning with No. 7, lie in order south of the southeast quarter of 
 the village plat, and east of South Street and the Stone Hill road ; 
 while seven, commencing with No. 40, were laid out in order to the 
 west of those highways and adjoining them, 46 and 49 lying to the 
 east of the Stone Hill road towards the Crotch, while 48 is bisected 
 by that road. Then four lots, 36-39, are located in order on the 
 Green Eiver road, from north to south, just about half way between 
 the village plat and the Crotch, and made up some of the best farms 
 in town. The seven lots, 28-34, were cut out of low and fine lands 
 on both sides of the lower reach of Green River, east and southeast 
 of the hamlet, 35 flanking the north ends of about half of the house 
 lots of the northeast quarter of the plat. Beginning on the boun- 
 dary line separating the two towns, Nos. 12-21 flank the main road 
 connecting them ; while 22 and 23 and 54-60 are all on the Stratton 
 road towards its southern end. 
 
 As a sort of sample of the farms early constructed out of these 
 first-division fifty-acre lots, though it be more favorable and perma- 
 nent than the average of them, a sketch of the Meacham farm, com- 
 prising Nos. 7 and 8, whose west ends touch South Street, and east 
 ends Green River road, may be rightly placed at this point. Jona- 
 than Meacham, from New Salem, a soldier, who had been in the set- 
 tlement from the very first, an influential though migratory body, 
 never succeeded in fixing his name to a single local habitation, as did 
 James Meacham, his cousin, from the same place, also a soldier in 
 Captain Nathaniel Dwight's company, working on the construction 
 of Fort William Henry in 1755, who bought of Joseph Ballard, both 
 then of New Salem, these two lots for £73 Ss. Sd. in August, 1761. 
 Just a year later, he brought on his wife and family through the 
 woods and over the Hoosac Mountain. His daughter Lucy was then 
 six weeks old. She was the fourth child, and seven others were 
 added here. Either on the way or soon after arriving, he was fortu- 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 509 
 
 nate enough to kill c bear, which furnished the family what they 
 quaintly called " pork " for a considerable time. Once, at least, they 
 found a deposit of wild honey to be a welcome addition to their slen- 
 der commissariat. Mrs. Meacham, whose maiden name was Lucy 
 Rugg, brought along with her a root or two of a hop-vine. One 
 hundred and thirty years has not yet exhausted the vitality of those 
 roots, for the vine is growing yet by the side and in the crevices of 
 the large rock on No. 7, near which they built their first log cabin. 
 Their second house, which was framed and plastered, was built on a 
 knoll to the southeast overlooking the Green Kiver road and a spring 
 near it, which was doubtless the motive for the new location. Their 
 third house was of brick which were burnt near the site of the new 
 house, which was placed much nearer the house lots than either of 
 the others, and the second house was drawn down to the brick one to 
 serve as an L or addition, and it is still standing in that relation in 
 this year of Grace, 1892, though now used as a worn-out and topple- 
 over shed. 
 
 The first James Meacham, besides being a prominent farmer and 
 citizen here for fifty years, was one of the two original deacons of 
 the church, which he served faithfully in that capacity nearly as long. 
 He was a good and constant Revolutionary soldier and petty officer, 
 though, like many another such, he sympathized with the movements 
 of Captain Shays and his men in 1787, and left his home openly one 
 Sunday morning (gun on shoulder) to join them. He died in July, 
 1812, in his eightieth year, leaving the farm to his eldest son, James 
 H. Meacham, bom here Christmas Day, 1769, who married Kabby 
 "Warner, a sister of the famous Colonel Seth Warner, and who 
 became even more prominent than his father in the affairs of the 
 town during a long and useful life. He died in March, 1837, in his 
 sixty-eighth year. The farm descended to his only son, James 
 Meacham (there were five daughters, of whom one, Emeline, is still 
 living at the old homestead), born Feb. 3, 1805, and died May 20, 
 1883. This Captain James Meacham was an excellent man and a good 
 citizen. He enlarged his already large house about 1840, to accommo- 
 date, for their meetings and festivities, the Kappa Alpha Society of 
 the College. They continued to meet with him for many years, 
 until they procured ample quarters of their own in the heart of the 
 village. James B. ISIeacham (Williams College, 1854) and a younger 
 brother, now a merchant in St. Louis, are the present owners of the 
 farm, which has never been alienated from the family during the 
 century and a third of unintermitted ownership and occupation. 
 Israel Meacham, youngest son of the original James, was a graduate 
 
510 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 of the College of the year 1797, and became a physician ; and Frank- 
 lin Meacham, son of the late Captain James, born in 1833, was for 
 many years a distinguished surgeon in the United States army. 
 
 The chief business of the third public meeting of the proprietors 
 of West Hoosac, convened at the dwelling-house of Captain Allen 
 Curtiss the 15th of May, 1754, was " To Draw for the Second fifty- 
 acre Division in the following manner Choose Capt. Allen Curtiss to 
 Draw a ticket to Each Eight for s'd Proprf '^ Also it was then and 
 there voted, ^' To Clear the Road from the North Eand of the Cross 
 Streeat in s'd Town to hampshear line one Eod wide and for the 
 Proprf to work for two Shillings and Eight pence a Day.'' At 
 the same time and place it was, in addition, " Voted and granted 
 Oliver Averys and John Crawfourds accompt for Clearing part of 
 the buriel-Place." As no other and further proprietors' meeting 
 than this was holden for six years and a half, on account of the 
 acute reopening of the French War, viz., until October, 1760, and 
 most, if not all, of the householders re-entered the military service, 
 and the new West Hoosac Fort became the centre and support of 
 the settlement much as Fort Massachusetts had been before, — this 
 is the proper place to say what needs to be said about the fifty-acre 
 lots of the second division. 
 
 The very best farming lands in the entire town were distributed 
 in this third drawing. They were surveyed out in two groups : 
 Nos. 1-6 lay together north of the north line of the village plat, 
 and on its prolongation towards the west ; and much of this land is 
 now incorporated in the fine " Buxton Farms," of Colonel A. L. Hop- 
 kins ; some of it surrounds the elegant summer home of Mr. S. P. 
 Blagden (Williams College, 1862), and the rest is laved by the lower 
 reaches of Hemlock Brook. Nos. 7-63 lie altogether in a rectan- 
 gular body on the southern central plateau of our Williamstown 
 valley, the straggling village of South Williamstown being some- 
 what to the south, and to the east also, of the centre of this parallel- 
 ogram of good farms. The first-division fifty-acre lots were scattered, 
 without much reference to their numerical order, pretty much all 
 over the northeast quarter of the town. Not so the second division. 
 The first six lots were all contiguous on the lower slope of North- 
 west Hill, the southern line of all of them resting upon the straight 
 line but just now described. Most of the rest of these lots were 
 very symmetrically arranged, abutting upon one or other of the two 
 parallel east and west roads constructed on purpose '^ to convean " 
 them. For example, the north line of the lots, odd numbers 9-29 ex- 
 tending west to east across the plateau to Green River, abuts nearly at 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 511 
 
 right angles upon the '' Woodcock road " ; while the south line of 
 the corresponding even numbers 10-30, each odd opposite its even, 
 juts down upon the same road. 
 
 Twenty-two of these lots were thus symmetrically disposed of, 
 and made accessible by, the Woodcock road. Woodcock's own lot, 
 still holding his cellar and the cellar a growing commemorative tree, 
 being No. 27. John Torrey, of Middletown, Connecticut, bought 
 No. 20 of Isaac Searle in 1766, and raised a very large family over a 
 cellar still visible in a clump of bushes on the north side of the 
 Woodcock road ; and his brother, William Torrey, established him- 
 self, about the same time, on Nos. 14 and 16. AVilliam Torrey 
 died Oct. 30, 1820, in his seventy-seventh year. His son William 
 spent a long and useful life upon the same premises ; his son Myron 
 spent a life equally long and useful upon Nos. 10 and 12, parallel 
 with, and just west of, his own. Myron's son. Homer Torrey, is 
 present owner and cultivator of his father's farm ; and all four of 
 these men, in their three generations, have been much employed 
 as town officers, particularly as selectmen and assessors and tax- 
 collectors. 
 
 A similar lay-out of eighteen of these fifty-acre lots, Nos. 31-48, 
 was made on either side of the '* Sloan road," which stretches 
 straight from the immemorial tavern in South Williamstown to 
 "Oblong road." The south ends of the odd numbers, 31-47, run- 
 ning from east to west, abut on the Sloan road, while the north ends 
 of the even numbers opposite, 32-48, strike the same road on its 
 south side. By much the most remarkable family of those originally 
 settling on these two tiers of lots was that of Samuel Sloan, of 
 Canaan, Connecticut, blacksmith, whose original log house, built on 
 the southern edge of No. 43, was standing well into the present 
 century, and who opened the first tavern in what came to be the 
 South Village, on another of these fifty-acre lots. No. 53, a site kept 
 as a tavern ever since; while Sloan, rising up through all the grades 
 of the militia service, became a General, and, rising up from the 
 poverty of a journeyman artisan, with his kit of tools, through 
 legitimate buying and selling, till he became the richest man in 
 town, built for himself, at the very opening of the new century, by 
 far the finest house in the town, now owned by the College and 
 occupied by the president. 
 
 The rest of the lots of this important division, 49-63, with two 
 unimportant exceptions, lay in a body at the South Part of the town 
 and upon the most level area of land within the limits of the town. 
 The junction of the Hancock Brook with the Ashford Brook to con. 
 
612 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 stitute Green River falls upon No. 53, on the western edge of which 
 is the tavern-stand so often referred to. The ten lots, 49-58, are con- 
 tiguous with each other, run east and west, and the Green River, 
 with its two tributary brooks, flowing for ages through that part of 
 the valley, slowly flattened it almost to a dead level. The sur- 
 veyor laid out these ten lots so that each of them is crossed by one 
 of these streams. No wonder these lots took the eye of the very 
 earliest proposed settlers at the "South Part," as this section of 
 the town has always been called, and always will be. These lots 
 were surveyed and distributed to the then owners of the house lots 
 in 1754; but there is not a particle of proof that any one of them 
 
 GENERAL SLOAN'S HOUSE. 
 
 Built in 1801. 
 
 was built on prior to 1760. Renewed war rolled down the Upper 
 Hoosac in that interval of time, until the English conquest of 
 French Canada at Quebec and Montreal. Civil affairs were mostly 
 at a standstill even within the village plat. Military exigencies 
 controlled everything for six years. Lands, indeed, changed hands 
 frequently. Speculators came and went. Richard Stratton and 
 his two sons Isaac and Ebenezer, from Western, now Warren, all of 
 them later among the most influential citizens of William stown, 
 were among a very few others who came in that perturbed interval 
 to cast in their lot, for better or for worse, with the soldier-men of 
 West Hoosac. Richard Stratton bought, at different times, house 
 lots 57 and 58, and at length built upon the latter the first two- 
 story house erected in the borough, in which he died in an honored 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 513 
 
 old age, and which is still standing substantially unchanged, having 
 been the home for the past tliirty years of James M. Waterman ; 
 about the same time, Richard Stratton, from " parental affection, 
 etc.," sold his '♦well-beloved son Ebenezer Stratton," the first- 
 division fifty-acre lots, 33 and 54, who occupied them as a farm 
 during a long life, having his farm-house at lirst on a knoll near the 
 southern limit of his farm, and afterwards, on account of winds 
 and drifts, building another one near the northern limit of his land, 
 much nearer to meetings for himself and to schools for his children, 
 though both houses stood on the " Luce road," west side, the latter 
 one, in which the good deacon died in 1814, standing till about 1880. 
 
 Isaac Stratton, born in Western in 1739, and coming here with his 
 father and older brother on attaining his majority, preferred to 
 pitch his tent alone at the South Part on the second-division fifty- 
 acre lot No. 54. He was the first settler on any one of the lots of 
 that division. It is nearly certain that he located his first cabin 
 there in 1760 ; and it is certain that he had no neighbor at all upon 
 that splendid level of fifty-acre lots for three full years. Then 
 Daniel Burbank, from Western, located to the south of him on No. 
 57, his first house being a framed building of one room, erected on 
 the east side of the "Ashford road," which runs liere diagonally 
 as straight as an arrow across the lots 53-58, Stratton's house being 
 on the west side of the road, and just to the south of the brook, 
 over which the town as soon as it was incorj^orated built a bridge 
 for him and Burbank, even before they built a bridge over the 
 Green River at the east end of the north village. Stratton built 
 his second house, a large two-story one, on the same site in 1785, 
 and the passer-by may still read on its chimney "I. S. 1785." 
 Considering that he was the first settler in South Williamstown, 
 and later proved attractive to valuable neighbors on every side of 
 him, and considering the record he made for himself as a patriot 
 Major in the battle of Bennington, the high mountain that rises 
 up out of those farms (as it were) and overlooks them, and stands 
 sentinel between the Ashford and the Hancock brooks, was delil> 
 erately christened by the town in 1891, for all time, "Stratton 
 Mountain." 
 
 At tliis same proprietors' meeting, in May, 1754, it was voted, as 
 the next most important matter, to lay out a road, one rod wide for 
 the present, from the north end of the " Cross Street," which was 
 laid out (on parchment) six rods wide, and at right angles to the 
 ''Main Street," which was to be fifteen rods wide, to the line of 
 New TT;>iin><l>ire, so-called; that is to say, to "Hazen's Line," the 
 
514 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 present line separating Massachusetts from Vermont. West Hoosac 
 was a very isolated spot in 1754. Hoosac Mountain, to the east- 
 ward, was high and broad, and had not then been tunnelled for a 
 steam railroad. There was an old-time Mohawk path over it, and 
 by much the larger part of all the soldiers and settlers had worked 
 their way over that path from the valley of the Deerfield Eiver. 
 From a quarter to a third of the then soldiers and settlers on 
 the Upper Hoosac had come up from Connecticut, following up the 
 Housatonic to its main watershed at Pontoosuck, and then up the 
 northern tributary of the lake to its head-springs in New Ashford, 
 and striking, almost within a stone's throw, the source of the Ash- 
 ford Brook, which finds its fellow at South Williamstown, coming 
 down the Green River, that just laves the east end of the village 
 plat of West Hoosac. The watershed is not high to the southward, 
 but there was then no good market in that direction. Albany had 
 been the best hold for supplies for Fort Massachusetts from the 
 beginning, and it was the best hope, in 1754, of the dozen families- 
 or so clustered around the West Hoosac Fort ; and the only way to 
 reach Albany was to drop down the Hoosac to its junction with the 
 North River. Hence this proposed road for two miles to the north- 
 ward, to the New Hampshire line of 1741, had an energetic surveyor 
 (Curtiss) to clear it, and fair pay per day (2s. Sd.), in lieu of rates 
 to proprietors willing to work on it. 
 
 This very early sign of Albany as the place of supply for the 
 pioneer farmers is followed, in due time, by signs in plenty of their 
 uncomfortable indebtedness to Albany merchants for these supplies. 
 For example, Jonathan Meacham mortgaged to Albany parties, for 
 £89 (New York money) his two house lots, 43 and 45, — on the 
 former of which he dwelt, and parts of both of which are owned 
 by the present writer, — to repay a debt as it stood in July, 1769 ; 
 it was repaid in January, 1772, — £102, principal and interest. 
 Take another example, out of many: Isaac Stratton sold, by 
 mortgage deed, to Robert Kinney and Robert Kinney, Junior^ 
 merchants of the state of New York, for £105, part of his original 
 home lot 54, June 7, 1788. He did not live to repay this debt and 
 release the mortgage. He died April 3, 1789, aged fifty years. 
 
 There was another pressing reason, however, aside from markets, 
 for opening up that roadway to the north. Nearly one-third of the 
 meadow lots, otherwise at that time inaccessible, could be reached 
 pretty directly by that road of two miles. Not much, if anything, 
 was practically done with any of the meadow lots for ten or fifteen 
 years after this time. They lay low, as their name implies, and were 
 
WILLI AMSTOWN. 515 
 
 heavily wooded with those kinds of trees that are not afraid of wet- 
 ting their feet ; but every householder owned one or more of them, 
 and all were naturally desirous to be able to get at them to see 
 them, and some, perhaps, to sell them. Moreover, although the 
 pine lots were not yet surveyed out for distribution, this stretch of 
 new road actually went through some of the finest pines in the town- 
 ship, — wliat furnished, at any rate, when they came to be set off, 
 Nos. 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 61, all nearer to the village than the rest of the 
 pine lots, which lay, with two exceptions, on tlie extreme northern 
 line of the town. Before many years had run their course, John 
 Smedley had his sawmill built near this new road, on the bank of 
 the Hoosac, near its exit from the town, though it was fed from 
 Broad Brook, and the tall and huge pines from Nos. 7 and 8 — 
 which lots became his property — soon felt the teeth of his steel. 
 
 One other vote of the last meeting before the six years' intermis- 
 sion will delay us but for a moment. Two householders, Oliver 
 Avery and John Crawford, had, in virtue of a vote at an earlier 
 meeting, expended labor and skill in clearing up a part of the bury- 
 ing-ground, which lay just at the junction of the proposed wide 
 Cross Street with the now proposed narrow North Street. They 
 brought in their bill. Their account was voted without delay or 
 objection. Death had already visited the little settlement but two 
 or three years old, and was sure to return on his never-to-be-inter- 
 mitted rounds. The people were evidently then looking rather 
 northward than southward from the Square, both for routes for the 
 living and a resting-place for the dead. Many bodies slept in this 
 first-chosen spot. For reasons not now capable of full explication, 
 but springing perhaps in part from some want of faith as to whether 
 the large scheme of the village and township would ever be fulfilled 
 in such troublous times, and with so many such others bidding for 
 the public favor, the resolve came very shortly to have another ceme- 
 tery — that is, sleeping-place — within the house lots themselves, 
 and nearer to the few homes already made. The short • stretch of 
 Hemlock Brook as it crosses the Main Street was just about the 
 centre of the houses already built when the town was incorporated, 
 and so the southern end of house lot 12, just over the brook and 
 abutting on the street, was set apart for future burials. This choice 
 of place was fortunate, and the location beautiful ; a few bodies were 
 removed from the earlier to the later ground; from time to time 
 contiguous parts of house lots 14 and 16 and 18 and 20 have been 
 added to the original plot ; and it is much to be hoped that all of 
 the land of theso five lots west of the Hemlock and south of the 
 
516 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Buxton brooks, as far as to their junction, may ultimately be incor- 
 porated into this early and beautiful sleeping-place of our dead. 
 
 We have already given in preceding chapters, and in their proper 
 places, the military events that make forever memorable this valley 
 of the Upper Hoosac River in the interval of time between the pro- 
 prietors' meeting in May, 1754, and the next following one in October, 
 1760. We gather up now in a few items and documents what remains 
 of the most interest in the records of the French wars, having a 
 bearing upon the growth and fortunes of Williamstown and its 
 College. 
 
 The deposition of Jabez and Gideon Warren of full and lawfull age, proprietors 
 and settlers in the Township of West Hoosuck. Testifie and say that in the 
 Latter end of Aug' 1754 when the Enemy fell upon and Destroyed what is called 
 the Dutch Hoosuck [Hoosac Falls] the Inhabitants of West Hoosuck Fled for 
 shelter to the Fort Massachusetts when the said inhabitants arrived at said fort 
 with their families they found many of the Dutch who had Escaped the Enemy 
 and fled there also. Which so cumbered the fort that it was with great difficulty 
 we Subsisted. 
 
 But hearing that Capt. Ephraim Williams was Coming to the fort with orders 
 to relieve the Inhabitants of West Hoosuck we patiently waited his arrival. But 
 when he came he refused to give us any relief saying he had orders from Co^^ 
 Williams [Colonel Israel Williams] not to take any of the Town Inhabitants 
 into the Service only Hudson Simonds and Meacham and not to take Hudson 
 nor Simonds unless they would carry of their families. The distressed proprie- 
 tors earnestly intreated that they might be favored and put into the Service 
 alledging that they could reasonably expect the favour of the Government for 
 they had spent all they had to Carry on a Settlement. Capt. Curtis Mr. Chides- 
 ter and others desired favour might be shewn under our miserable Circumstances 
 but was denied and ordered away with our families tho we desired the Liberty 
 of building without the fort yet could not obtain the request altho many from 
 the duch had it granted them and even allowed to live in the fort and in the very 
 room where the Government stores were kept, and others were allowed to come 
 to fort soon afterward with their families and altho the fort was not at that Sup- 
 plied with its Quoto of men yet the distressed proprietors could not be put into 
 service when those who were no proprietors nor under such needy Circumstances 
 were admitted and even one from another Government. Further your depo- 
 
 "^"'^^''^"°*- [Signed] j,,,,Wokk™ 
 
 Gideon Worrin. 
 
 March 30 1757 the above was solemnly sworn to before Timo. Woodbridge 
 Justice Peace [Stockbridge] 
 
 Fellowship with the Dutch farmers further down the Hoosac had 
 not yet come to be an achievement of the Yankee settlers above, as 
 is evident from the tone of this deposition. Proofs as towards the 
 same conclusion, not only for that time but also for times long sub- 
 
WILLIAMSTOWX. 517 
 
 sequent, are abundant on all sides. The reasons also are very plain 
 to be seen. For one, the boundary line between New York and 
 Massachusetts was not finally established till just thirty years after 
 this deposition was taken ; and the feeling was strong on this side, 
 that the other province was inclined to crowd, and hatl actually been 
 crowding, its settlements too far to the eastward ; as early as 1692, 
 settlers under New York authority had occupied parts of what is 
 now Mount Washington in Berkshire County, not without jealousy 
 and protest on the part of Massachusetts ; the slow pushing of the 
 Dutch farmers up the Hoosac about fifty years later was one occasion 
 of the erection of Fort Massachusetts, as we have seen ; no love was 
 lost as between Yankees and Dutchmen during the whole course of 
 the French wars, so different were they in customs and costume ; 
 and even General Schuyler, substantial as were his merits, never 
 drew during the Revolution the full confidence of the New England 
 soldiers. 
 
 On the same day and at the same place of the above deposition, 
 Jabez Warren, one of the deponents, and William Horsford, another 
 of the original proprietors of West Hoosac, took solemn oath to the 
 following: — 
 
 The Testimony of Jabez Warren and William Horsford of Iloosuck West 
 Township of full and lawfull age who Testifie and say that in April 1756 When 
 Serg' William Chidester came from Boston with orders to take the Command of 
 the fort west Hoosuck and for the Commissary for fort Massachusetts to supply 
 Said West fort with proper stores said Commissary directed Mr. Chidester to 
 receive the same of Capt. Wyman at Fort Massachusetts But we never have 
 been able from that time to this to obtain more than fourteen days per man 
 allowed at a time Excpt twice we have been allowed one months provision for 
 said fort, at all other times out of the few men we have been obliged to travil 
 four miles once every fortnight at the peril of our lives to fetch our provisions 
 which keeps us in perpetual danger and diflSculty. And that the said Capt. 
 Wyman has constantly kept back every mans allowance when absent altho the 
 absent Soldier hires his duty done. 
 
 And after Serg' Chidester was killed the soldiers of said west fort being appre- 
 hensive from many reasons they should be ill used begged the favour of Lieu* 
 Barnard (who commanded at said fort) that they might lay the state of their 
 case before the Great and General Court and be directed by them but our request 
 was perremtory refused and none of the Soldiers could have Liberty to leave 
 there but ujwn a promise that they would go no further than Hatfield. 
 
 And when the Government orders came for the soldiers to billet themselves 
 there was not stores in said fort for each mans allowance one week. Further 
 one of the deponents says (viz) Jabez Warren that met with many discourage- 
 ments in building said fort for the guard that was sent by Capt. Wyman would 
 guard none but while the people were at labor at the fort and refused to do any 
 other duty and would not put a hand to help up a stick of timber tho we were 
 
518 ORIGINS IN \yiLLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 few and our timber heavy and declared that to be their orders not to help us 
 altho we offered them pay and sometimes the Guard left us entirely when 
 greatly exposed. Furthermore your deponent saith not. 
 
 Stockbridge March 30'^ 1757. 
 
 In these papers the two Warrens and William Horsford do pos- 
 terity a great favor, without foreseeing it at the time, or ever know- 
 ing it. They voice the inevitable jealousy between the garrisons 
 and government of the older and larger, and the newer and more 
 transient fort. They tell the truth undoubtedly, but not at all 
 points the whole truth. Indeed, they were not in position to be 
 able to see the whole truth. For instance, they represent as heart- 
 less and blameworthy their best friend, Captain Ephraim Williams, 
 in insisting on the orders of his own superior officer, Colonel Israel 
 Williams, requiring the West Hoosac men to go back to their cabins 
 and defend and secure their crops, in August, 1756, while the Dutch 
 farmers from below were allowed still to cumber Fort Massachusetts. 
 The point was, that West Hoosac was an outpost very important to 
 be defended against another raid of the French and Indians, and 
 quite possible to be defended from Fort Massachusetts, provided the 
 owners of the little properties there should go back and keep watch 
 and ward over them, and be on the alert to send word to the fort of 
 any approach of the enemy, who always came up the Hoosac, and 
 had no other route ; while Massachusetts, as such, had not the least 
 interest in sending back and maintaining the Dutch farmers in their 
 places below. The sooner those Dutchmen abandoned their farms 
 as too hazardous, and gave up the job altogether, the better would 
 like it the Great and General Court. 
 
 It is a curious thing, and yet explicable, that Captain Williams 
 should then have brought over with him from the Connecticut per- 
 mission to take three of the West Hoosac settlers, by name, into the 
 province service at Fort Massachusetts and no more. These three 
 were Seth Hudson, Benjamin Simonds, and Jonathan (?) Meacham. 
 The condition was that Hudson and Simonds should carry off their 
 families from the fort, implying that Meacham had, at least then 
 and there, no family. We know that Simonds had then two chil- 
 dren, both born in West Hoosac. It is implied that Hudson had 
 also wife and children, but there is no record of it covering that 
 time, and no probability of children born in West Hoosac at any 
 time. Hudson was a man of merit on many grounds, as we have 
 already seen ; but he lacked the staying qualities of Simonds and 
 Meacham ; he came early and went often ; of course, that involves 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 519 
 
 that he returned from time to time. He came back in his old age, 
 the last survivor of the first settlei-s, with young children of an 
 undoubtedly second marriage, liaving been, in his comparative 
 youth, both Captain and Surgeon in each of the forts ; but Simonds 
 came nearer than anybody else here to the full confidence of the 
 Williams family, for he had begun early and suffered much ; he had 
 given hostages to society, and never failed at the sticking-point, and 
 the contrast was great and painful in the opening years of this 
 century (Colonel Simonds died in 1807) between the well-to-do and 
 highly honored old age of the one, and the poverty-stricken and 
 well-nigh forgotten status of the other. 
 
 "As the old birds have sung so the little birds will twitter." These 
 very early jealousies and misunderstandings between the East Hoosac 
 and the West, beginning in the forts and their administration, con- 
 tinuing more or less in all matters military and later civil, intensified 
 by disputes over that clause of Colonel Williams's will, in which he 
 seemed to make conditional provision for a school in the east town 
 also, hinging in part, too, on the fact that nearly all of the first-rate 
 land lay in the west town, which consequently drew nearly all of 
 the soldiers of Fort Massachusetts thitherward as settlers, while a 
 very different class of people, and many of them Quakers, came to 
 be the inhabitants of the east town, have brought it about genera- 
 tion after generation that the neighborhood harmony, as between the 
 two places, has never been striking ; that the spirit and development 
 of the two have been along quite different lines ; that farming has 
 always been the main industry of the one, and manufacturing of the 
 other ; and while both have proved in these latter days to be attrac- 
 tive to capitalists from other sections of the country, the beauty and 
 variety and healthfulness of the hills and valleys of the one have 
 proved inviting to retired and retiring capital, and the market oppor- 
 tunities of the other in banks and factories and all other kinds of 
 trade have brought in rather the quick and still augmenting stores 
 of capital. 
 
 The Petition of Thomas Williams 
 humbly shews 
 
 That Ephraim Williams of Stockbridge deceas<* had the Honour to be Colonel 
 of a Regiment in the Expedition against the French Fort at Crown Point A.D. 
 1755. And that in order to encourage the soldiers to engage in s*^ Service : It 
 was by an Act of this Province of the 28 March, 1755 among other things pro- 
 vided that the Wages and Subsistence of the non-commissioned officers and 
 soldiers should commence upon their Arrival at the Place of Rendezvous within 
 this Province. That nine of the Companies in s* Regiment after their Arrival 
 at tho p!?^" '>f Rendezvous and before they march<* on s^ Service were subsisted 
 
520 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 according to the amount herewith produced. The Charge of which has never 
 been paid by the Province. That s<i Ephraim relying on the Faith of the 
 Province did in his life time defray part of the s^^ amount and gave assurance in 
 behalf of the Province for payment of the whole. Which engagements are not 
 expected to be performed at the Expence of the Heirs of s<i Ephraim. And 
 your Petitioner who had the honour of being appointed Lt. Colo of s^ Regiment 
 upon the Decease of a^ Ephraim humbly conceives the expence of s^^ Subsistence 
 is a just Debt on the Province to the Soldiers, and in behalf of said Companies 
 prays the same may be allowed him for the use of s*^ Ephraims Heirs so far as it 
 was paid by him and the residue for the Use of the Soldiers as are yet unpaid. 
 — and your Petitioner as in Duty Bound shall ever pray — 
 
 Thos. Williajis. 
 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 April 16, 1757. Read and Ordered &c. &c. (except Major Ashley's Company 
 already paid) at the rate of four shillings per week and so in proportion &c. 
 And that the Sum be paid into the hand of the Petitioner Thos. Williams to be 
 by him paid to the several persons &c. 
 
 T. Hubbard Speaker 
 A. Oliver Sec. 
 
 The whole action of the General Court of the province, the entire 
 bearing of the several heirs of Colonel Williams as mentioned in 
 his will, and especially the patience and assiduity of his executors, 
 — Williams and Worthington, — were throughout favorable to the 
 fulfilment of his desires in relation to a free school, and to the name 
 of the town. The sums to be cared for by the executors were small 
 and scattered and perplexing. The executors apparently never 
 wearied for thirty years in giving thought to the dry details. So 
 far as appears in the records examined by the writer, they did this 
 as a labor of love and memory towards the testator, charging the 
 estate nothing for their services. The relations, accordingly, of 
 the Town and the College from the very first, and onwards to the 
 commonwealth and its varied agencies of administration, have been 
 special, and perhaps unique. Williamstown, with its school, is a 
 " child of the state " in a sense in which Amherst is not, and pos- 
 sibly not even Cambridge. 
 
 Thomas Pownall, English Governor of Massachusetts in 1757-60, 
 wrote to William Pitt, Prime Minister of England in 1757-61, that 
 the whole cost to the province of the expedition to Crown Point of 
 1755, on whose issues so much of our local history for all subse- 
 quent time was depending, amounted to £87,058 ; the cost to Mas- 
 sachusetts of the next year's expedition to the northward, under 
 General Winslow, was £101,613; and the expense to the same 
 colony of the disgraceful campaign of 1757, under Lord Loudon, 
 was £48,319. 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 621 
 
 The intimacy of the relations also between the settlement and 
 development of Williamstown, and the friendly and masterful 
 qualities of the man whose name it bears, is perhaps best made 
 to appear in a comparison of the last muster-roll of the company 
 of Captain Ephraim Williams, from Sept. 23, 1754, till March 28, 
 1755, with the names of the men now known to have been con- 
 cerned in such settlement and development. The roll holds forty- 
 one names. They had been subsisted at Fort Massachusetts, 
 reckoned as one man, for 981 weeks and five days, at the public 
 expense of £699 10s. 9d. lawful money at that time, which was sil- 
 ver debased twenty-five per cent as compared with the purity of the 
 English shilling. Captain Williams took oath to the correctness of 
 this muster-roll and subsistence June 12, 1755, before Samuel 
 Watts, Justice of the Peace. In the mean time, he had been pro- 
 moted to be Colonel in the current Crown Point expedition, and had 
 been for weeks busy in enlisting men for his new regiment. In 
 those days, and in that service, the Colonel was technical Captain 
 of one of the ten companies in his own regiment ; and a few soldiers 
 from this last muster-roll in the fort service under Williams en- 
 listed for Crown Point ; not many, because the fort must be kept 
 well garrisoned as a refuge and defence for the province in case of 
 defeat to the northward. 
 
 Now, of these forty-one men, constituting Williams's last com- 
 pany at the fort, some of whom were killed with him at the lake, 
 all whose names are worthy of this special and final record, more 
 than half, or say twenty-four men, were personally engaged in the 
 foundation and building up oi Williamstown. This would never 
 have happened under all the other circumstances, unless the cap- 
 tain had possessed remarkably attractive traits of character, unless 
 he had enjoyed the respect and confidence of his soldiers to an 
 unusual degree, unless they had actually found him by personal 
 dealings with him to be a man of his word, and a man of solid 
 power and strong influence to carry out his pledges. 
 
 Ephraim Williams Capt. Isaac Wyman Lieut. 
 
 Samuel Taylor Serg* Edmond Town Serg! 
 
 Gad Chapin Serg! Oliver Avery Corp. 
 
 Samuel Calhoon Corp. Samuel Catlin Cent. 
 
 John Taylor Cent. Elisha Higgins " 
 
 Benjamin King " George Wilson " 
 
 John Kosher " Tyras Pratt " 
 
 Noah Pratt ''• . Abraham Bass " 
 
 Jeremy Chapin '• John Wells " 
 
 Enoch Chapin " Silas Pratt " 
 
522 OKIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Ezekiel Foster Cent. John Crofford Cent. 
 
 John Brown " Thomas Train " 
 
 John Herrold " Micah Harrington " 
 
 Ezra Parker '* Elisha Sheldon " 
 
 John Bush " Simeon Crawford " 
 
 Josiah Goodreesh " John Meecham " 
 
 Nathaniel Nicholls" Derrick Webb " 
 
 John Gray " Benjamin Simonds " 
 
 Seth Hudson " Gad Corss " 
 
 May hew Daggett " Gideon Warren " 
 
 The incorporation of the propriety of West Hoosac into the town 
 of Williamstown by the Great and General Court, under the usual 
 terms and conditions, in July, 1765, made very little difference in the 
 practical way of doing ^he public business until after the Eevolu- 
 tionary War. Whatever meetings may have been held by the 
 ^' Town," technically so called, whatever business of any kind may 
 have been transacted in them, no records have been preserved on the 
 spot. The " Proprietors," technically so called, invested with their 
 peculiar privileges of which they were jealous, and which were 
 indefinite relatively to the privileges of the town as such, inasmuch 
 as the proprietors and the citizens consisted for the most part of the 
 same persons, continued to hold their meetings just as before, and to 
 carry on the mass of public business just as before. Nearly the whole 
 of this business came under the four following heads : (1) Gradu- 
 ally to distribute among themselves all the lands included within 
 the limits of West Hoosac as laid out in 1749 ; (2) To construct 
 highways to "convean" as far as possible all the owners of these 
 lands ; (3) To provide both as to place and minister for religious 
 worship, for schools, and burials ; and (4) To lay and collect taxes 
 among themselves for all these purposes. These were large matters 
 for such men to handle in a wise and effective way. There were, as 
 always in such cases, great obstacles. Differences of opinion were a 
 matter of course. There were, for example, delinquent tax-payers : 
 the only remedy as against such was to expose by special committee 
 their lands for sale at public vendue ; this was carrying coals to 
 Newcastle, for the land-market was then overstocked everywhere. 
 Proprietors, too, absorbed in the struggle for subsistence, and for 
 other reasons as well, naturally became delinquent in attendance 
 upon proprietors' meetings, — the only government among and over 
 them, the one consequently whose strong maintenance was absolutely 
 essential to their legal and prosperous continuance. Strange to say, 
 as a remedy for this difficulty, they proposed, in November, 1766, 
 what is sometimes practised by modern corporations to secure regu- 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 523 
 
 lar attendance of directors, namely, " To 3e if the Proprietors -will 
 Pay those men that attend the meetings of Said Proprietors." 
 
 Probably there are, or may be some time, some persons who will 
 not begrudge the attention of looking over a table compiled care- 
 fully from their own records — as testified to by their own clerk — of 
 dates and places of meeting and moderators of these old, persistent, 
 though often perplexed, proprietors, to whom the modern genera- 
 tions owe so much : — 
 
 Dates. 
 
 
 
 Places. 
 
 
 
 
 
 MOPERATORS. 
 
 1753, Dec. 5 . . . . Setli Hudson's Allen Curtiss 
 
 1754, April 18 . 
 
 
 
 Allen Curtiss's . 
 
 
 
 
 Allen Curtiss 
 
 1754, May 15 . 
 
 
 
 Allen Curtiss's 
 
 
 
 
 Elisha Chapin 
 
 1760, Oct. 1 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jabez Warren 
 
 1760, Dec. 16 . 
 
 
 
 West Hoosac Fort 
 
 
 
 
 Jabez Warren 
 
 1761, July 14 . 
 
 
 
 West Hoosac Fort 
 
 
 
 
 Richard Stratton 
 
 1761, Sept. 24 . 
 
 
 
 . West Hoosac Fort 
 
 
 
 
 Benjamin Simonds 
 
 1762, March 29 . 
 
 
 
 Josiah Horsford's 
 
 
 
 
 Jonathan Meacham 
 
 1762, April 19 . 
 
 
 
 Josiah Horsford's 
 
 
 
 
 Gideon Warren 
 
 1762, Oct. 21 . 
 
 
 
 Benjamin Simonds's 
 
 
 
 John Horsford 
 
 1763, March 10 . 
 
 
 
 Benjamin Simonds's 
 
 
 
 Josiah Horsford 
 
 1763, July 8 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . . . 
 
 
 
 Josiah Horsford 
 
 1763, Nov. 16 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 William Horsford 
 
 1764, March 28 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 John Newbre 
 
 1764, July 16 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 John Horsford 
 
 1764, Sept. 27 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Titus Harrison 
 
 1764, Dec. 3 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse 
 
 
 
 
 
 Josiah Horsford 
 
 1765, March 20 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ephraim Seelye 
 
 1765, April 12 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 John Smedley 
 
 1765, May 21 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse 
 
 
 
 
 
 Richard Stratton 
 
 1765, June . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Richard Stratton 
 
 1765, July 2 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Samuel Kellogg 
 
 1765, July 20 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ephraim Seelye 
 
 1765, Oct. 22 . 
 
 
 
 Kichard Stratton' 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 Samuel Pay en 
 
 1766, Jan. 14 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nehemiah Smedley 
 
 1766, March 17 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 Benjamin Simonds 
 
 1766, April . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 John Newbre 
 
 1766, May 15 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ebenezer Cooley 
 
 1766, Oct. 9 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 John Smedley 
 
 1766, Dec. 9 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse 
 
 
 
 
 
 Richard Stratton 
 
 1767, May 8 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Richard Stratton 
 
 1767, Oct. 13 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse 
 
 
 
 
 
 John Smedley 
 
 1767, Dec. 25 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Richard Stratton 
 
 1768, March 11 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Richard Stratton 
 
 1768, April 18 . 
 
 
 
 Schoolhouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stephen Davis 
 
 1768, Nov. 7 . 
 
 
 
 Meetinghouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Richard Stratton 
 
 1769, April 10 . 
 
 
 
 Meetinghouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Richard Stratton 
 
 1769, Oct. n 
 
 
 
 Meetinghouse . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jonathan Meacham 
 
524 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Dates. 
 
 
 
 1769, Oct. 
 
 30 . . . 
 
 1770, Jan. 
 
 1 . 
 
 
 1770, April 
 
 13 . 
 
 
 1770, Nov. 
 
 1 . 
 
 
 1771, April 
 
 11 . . 
 
 
 1771, May 
 
 2 . 
 
 
 1771, May 
 
 17 . . 
 
 
 1771, June 
 
 20 . 
 
 
 1771, Aug. 
 
 22 . 
 
 
 1771, Nov. 
 
 22 . 
 
 
 1771, Dec. 
 
 17 . 
 
 
 1772, April 
 
 6 . 
 
 
 1772, Oct. 
 
 20 . . 
 
 
 1773, June 
 
 14 . 
 
 
 1774, Feb. 
 
 7 . 
 
 
 1792, Dec. 
 
 4 . . 
 
 
 1793, March 
 
 4 . 
 
 
 1793, Sept. 
 
 2 . . 
 
 
 1794, June 
 
 16 . . 
 
 
 1795, June 
 
 1 . 
 
 
 1800, Dec. 
 
 23 . . 
 
 
 1801, March 
 
 2 . . 
 
 
 1802, April 
 
 7 . . 
 
 
 Places. Moderators. 
 
 Meetinghouse Samuel Clark 
 
 Meetinghouse Samuel Clark 
 
 Meetinghouse Elkanah Parris 
 
 Meetinghouse JohnNewbre 
 
 Meetinghouse Josiah Horsford 
 
 Meetinghouse Isaac Stratton 
 
 Meetinghouse James Meacham 
 
 Meetinghouse Samuel Kellogg 
 
 Meetinghouse Nathan Whetar 
 
 Meetinghouse James Meacham 
 
 Meetinghouse Elkanah Parris 
 
 Meetinghouse Samuel Kellogg 
 
 Meetinghouse Josiah Horsford 
 
 Meetinghouse Samuel Clark 
 
 Meetinghouse Jacob Meack 
 
 Meetinghouse David Noble 
 
 Meetinghouse David Noble 
 
 Meetinghouse David Noble 
 
 Meetinghouse Ephraim Seelye 
 
 Meetinghouse James Meacham 
 
 James Meacham's .... Ephraim Seelye 
 
 James Meacham's .... James Meacham 
 
 James Meacham's .... James Meacham 
 
 The meetings and mutterings of the proprietors, as such, ceased 
 with the last distributions among themselves of the " common and 
 undivided " lands of the town. These " leavings " lands were of 
 very little value, and excited little interest on the part of anybody, 
 and many of them were bought up for a song, or less, by Ephraim 
 Seelye, and afterwards peddled out by him, as woodland or mountain 
 pasture, to the neighboring farmers. This was a legitimate trans- 
 action economically, but it made Seelye, who was much better off 
 than most of his neighbors, very unpopular among them, who called 
 him a land-grabber and a thief. After the eighth division, — which 
 was into sixty-acre lots, — each owner of a house lot was authorized 
 to select and lay out for himself, from the still undivided land, 
 thirty acres, in one, two, or three pieces, as he chose. These lots 
 were called " pitches.'' When it came to such operations as these, 
 nothing could make the proprietors, as such, respectable, or their 
 meetings any longer significant. They passed out of view, — that 
 is, out of existence. The war and its results constantly brought the 
 ^' Town " forward as the unit of local government, subordinate to 
 the county, and the county as subordinate to the state, under its 
 new constitution of 1780, and the state, nine years later, as in some 
 sense subordinate to the United States. We must still cling to the 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 525 
 
 acts of the proprietors, however, since all this is much later than 
 the epoch we have reached in the un foldings of Williamstown. 
 
 It will be noticed, from the table above, that every public meeting 
 of the proprietors from November, 17G8, till December, 1800, was 
 holden in the " ^leetinghouse." This meeting-house has an inter- 
 esting history, and it may as well be given here as anywhere. 
 
 About eight months after the organization of the " Town," at a 
 lawfully warned proprietors' meeting at the schoolhouse, March 17, 
 1766, which was organized by the choice of Kichard Stratton as 
 moderator, it was next voted to adjourn the meeting to the house of 
 Lieutenant Benjamin Simonds. Simonds was then an "innholder" 
 on house lot No. 3, the site of the present house of Mr. Henry Sabin. 
 Why the meeting adjourned thither, immediately it was organized, 
 can only be conjectured; one guess is perhaps as good as another; 
 only a bold man would venture on two, namely, first, the schoolhouse 
 was a public place compared with Lieutenant Simonds's, his bar-room, 
 and the rights of the new town to build a meeting-house as compared 
 with those of the proprietors, should that discussion arise, might be 
 heard and reported by those unfriendly to the scheme of the latter ; 
 second, the services connected with the ordination of Mr. Welch 
 were then only about a year old, the expenses of which had been 
 paid by the proprietors, a considerable part of which expenses was 
 for stimulants, and as the present question was about a meeting- 
 house for Mr. Welch to preach in, it may have been thought that 
 a more convenient proximity to the Lieutenant's bar might be a stim- 
 ulus to some to liberality in votes for the meeting-house. At any 
 rate and for some reason, they trudged across the " Square '^ to the 
 tavern. 
 
 Voted to Build a meeting House also vot€d that said meetiiiu House be forty 
 feet in Length and thirty feet in IJreadth Voted to finish Said House in two year 
 Voted said House be Studed and Bracesed Voted to Plaster as far as is Needed 
 Voted to Lay the uper floer on the top of the jice and Laith and I'larster on the 
 under Side of the jice Voted and chose Nehemiah Smedley Samuel Sanford 
 Richard Stratton Conimetree to tinish Said meeting House Voted to Raise three 
 Pounds on each Right to Build Said meeting House Voted to Leave the Rest of 
 Said work of •<* House to the Discrestion of Said Commetree. 
 
 William Horsford was the proprietors' clerk, who entered all 
 these votes in his own hand and style. He was clerk for a great 
 many years. He was one of the very earliest settlers in West 
 Hoosac. His house lot was No. 44, and the frame of his house was 
 removed therefrom to South Street to make room for General Sloan's 
 fine house, still standing, as is also the other, moved by old Mr. 
 
526 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Bardwell for a long-time home, now owned and occupied by James 
 Fitzgerald. William Horsford and his brother Josiah, both from 
 the northwestern corner of Connecticut, both married Smedley 
 sisters from Litchfield, and both raised large families here on adja- 
 cent house lots, Josiah's being No. 42, and his original house becom- 
 ing the nucleus of the Whitman house, now owned and occupied by 
 Dr. L. D. Woodbridge. William Horsford's eldest child, Esther, 
 named from the mother, was born in May, 1760, and, next to 
 Simonds's children (of which there were then four), was the first 
 child born in the borough. 
 
 The committee to build the new meeting-house was well chosen, 
 although we know but little of Samuel Sanford, except that he came 
 here from Milford, Connecticut, which was also the home of Pastor 
 Welch. Kichard Stratton was then relatively an old man, but ener- 
 getic for one of his age, and highly honored in the community. He 
 was a Baptist, and was called "Deacon," though there was no Baptist 
 society here till 1792 ; there was a small congregation of Baptists, 
 however, much earlier, to which, doubtless. Deacon Stratton in some 
 sense ministered. His capacity to serve on a building committee is 
 demonstrated by the excellent state of preservation in which his own 
 house is standing to this day, — the first two-story house built in the 
 town. It is an odd coincidence that Nehemiah Smedley, the chair- 
 man of this church-building committee of 1766, built also for himself 
 the second two-story house erected in the town, and that, too, is still 
 firm and strong in this year of Grace, 1892. 
 
 The proprietors prescribed to their committee the dimensions of 
 the building, 40 x 30, that there should be studs and braces, and 
 that it should be lathed and plastered; and wisely left all else to 
 their committee, in whom they felt full confidence. Their finan- 
 cial provision for the house would seem to have been meagre : 
 "three pounds" tax to "each Kight"; there were sixty taxable 
 rights ; three times sixty is £180, or $600, as the old colonial silver 
 money would stand to the soon-to-be-adopted national silver stand- 
 ard. But then, the chief materials cost but little at that time. 
 Lumber was exceedingly abundant. The sills and corner-posts 
 were undoubtedly of white oak, perhaps, also, the rafters and studs 
 and braces, and certainly all the pins that in those days fastened 
 the timbers together ; and white oaks were so plenty just north of 
 the Hoosac as to give a permanent and beautiful designation to 
 that entire locality. It is altogether probable that the white-oak 
 timbers were sawed out at John Smedley's mill, which was two miles 
 due north of the " Square " on which the meeting-house was to 
 
WILLI AMSTOWN. • 527 
 
 stand, and there was already a fair road passing near this mill to 
 what is now the Vermont line. A bridge over the " Greate River " 
 to connect the two parts of this north road had been ordered in 
 1765; a tax of fifteen shillings to each right was laid at the same 
 time, in order to build it. Benjamin Simonds and Nehemiah Smed- 
 ley and Josiah Horsford were appointed the same day a committee 
 " to See the work is Don," so that there was no obstacle in fetching 
 the logs to Smedley's mill from north of the river, even if it were 
 necessary to go so far for the white oaks. 
 
 In respect to pine lumber for boards, pews, rived clapboards, 
 cleft shingle, and finishing, there can be little doubt all these came 
 from Smedley's mill ; for pine lots Nos. 7 and 8 adjoined this mill, 
 and became his own property, and the writer has himself seen im- 
 mensely wide pine boards, used for external sheathing on Smedley's 
 own house, which stood on No. 7, — lumber which, it is certain, 
 whether in log or deal, was never many rods distant from John 
 Smedley's sawmill. 
 
 At the same time it must be remembered that the meeting-house 
 committee, whose chairman was Smedley's own brother, were not 
 shut up to his mill. There was wholesome competition. Titus 
 Harrison had come up here from Litchfield, in or near 1761, bring- 
 ing with him a large family and much personal enterprise. Titus 
 was a son of Thomas^, who was the son of Thomas^, who was a son 
 of Thomas^, the first settler of Branford, Connecticut. He and his 
 children and grandchildren played a strong role in this valley, 
 especially along the Green River, for a century. Titus is called, 
 in the early deeds here, "husbandman," but later on "miller," 
 because his first purchase seems to have been the middle water- 
 privilege of the three on Green River, all coming in close succession 
 in what would have been the southeast corner of the original village 
 plat, if that had been carried out symmetrically. The fall of water 
 at this privilege was so abrupt, and its volume then so ample, tliat it 
 was only necessary to cut a conduit down the stream on its left 
 bank for a few rods, to obtain head enough without any dam to run 
 the sawmill and the grist-mill that Harrison soon had in operation 
 upon a site that has never lacked a mill from that day to this. 
 First the Harrisons, afterwards and now the Towns, have been the 
 owners. Gradually, Titus Harrison increased his purchases of 
 lands up the Green River from his mills until he became a large 
 landholder. In 1765, he owned house lot 39. But as old age crept 
 on, he practically gave away to his sons all of his real estate : first, 
 to Noah, in December, 1785, thirty acres bounded on the west by 
 
528 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. . 
 
 Green Eiver road, on the south by land of Eev. Seth Swift, on the 
 east by Ebenezer Stratton's land, and on the north by land of Tim- 
 othy Northam; and second, he deeded to his sons Almond and 
 Truman all his other lands on Green Eiver, together with the 
 grist-mill, eighty-two acres in all, in consideration of their joint 
 bond for the fulfilling of certain purposes mentioned in the deed, 
 which was signed as a witness by Salmon Harrison, his fourth and 
 only other son. This was in February, 1788. 
 
 To return to our tiny meeting-house on the Square. The ridge-pole 
 ran north and south the longer way of the building, which was forty 
 feet. The roof was plain, without belfry, or tower, or other pro- 
 tuberance whatever. The only door was in the centre of the east 
 side ; the only aisle led straight from the door to the pulpit, which 
 filled the centre of the west side within; the pews rose up at a 
 slight angle on both sides the aisle to the north and south ends, 
 which were thirty feet each ; there were two galleries on these ends, 
 reached by stairways on either side of the pulpit ; the pulpit was a 
 high one, as was universal in those days, and the preacher preached 
 at right angles to the people; that is to say, the audience on the 
 south side of the aisle below and above fronted exactly the audience 
 on the north side below and above ; and it is no more than charity 
 allows us moderns to infer, that the young people certainly (perhaps 
 the old ones too) watched each other across the chasm more than 
 they watched the minister. The windows were few, and there was 
 no chimney at all, consequently the room was relatively dark and 
 cold ; the site was high, in the middle of the Main Street and at the 
 junction of that with the two cross streets, exposed to all winds in 
 all weathers, but somewhat protected, after all, in the fact that there 
 was no door or other opening on the west side, or either end. 
 
 As a place of worship, nevertheless, it was a large improvement 
 over the log schoolhouse, and also as a legal place of meeting for the 
 proprietors ; and the Rev. Whitman Welch, after having preached in 
 the schoolhouse for more than three years, preached in it with ani- 
 mation and propriety for more than seven years, until the autumn 
 of 1775 ; and the proprietors did not await the conclusion of the 
 Revolution to settle a new minister, for the Rev. Seth Swift, a 
 graduate of Yale twelve years after Mr. Welch, was ordained in 
 May, 1779, and preached with power and success in the little build- 
 ing, which must have been sorely crowded at times, until 1797, when 
 a new church building was erected in its room. 
 
 Before that time the College had been founded, and there was no 
 place for the students to worship on Sundays except with the towns- 
 
WILLI AMSTOWN. 529 
 
 people, and that was already too strait for the latter, and so Presi- 
 dent Fitch interested himself in the project for a new church edifice, 
 and wrote out and circulated personally a subscription-paper to that 
 end. This paper is now in the possession of the writer, and will be 
 referred to more at length on a later page. The scheme was suc- 
 cessful. The money was raised largely under College influence and 
 necessities. But the old building occupied the most conspicuous 
 and central site in the village, and must accordingly be removed to 
 make space for the new and larger edifice. In 'fact, it was turned 
 half-way round, and hauled back a number of rods due west, so that 
 the single door was now to the south, and what had been the north 
 end was now the east end. Nothing was altered within, — the pul- 
 pit still towered, and the opposite galleries glared at each other. 
 Gradually it became a scene of desolation. The regular meetings 
 of the proprietors were held in it till 1795, and afterwards (and 
 perhaps occasionally before) the regular town-meetings until 1828. 
 
 Schools were often held within it in summer until well into the 
 present century; and it is from the living lips of one of these 
 scholars, — an eye and ear witness, — that many points of this 
 description have been carefully derived. William Townsend, a 
 graduate of Yale in 1773, — always called here " Master Townsend," 
 perhaps because he took his Master's degree there in 1778, — was one 
 of those who taught in the old meeting-house. He taught also at the 
 South Part and elsewhere. He had married a sister of the Skinners, 
 two very prominent citizens here for many years, and was befriended 
 by them in later life when he had become intemperate, and but for 
 them homeless.. After General Skinner's death in 1809, Deacon 
 Benjamin Skinner virtually provided for him till his death in 1822. 
 Master Townsend's learning was ample, and his manners very cour- 
 teous to everybody out of school; but he had made a substantial 
 failure in life, and knew it, and became captious and cross to his 
 scholars, who were crude and ignorant enough. In the dark and 
 dismal den, to which the old meeting-house had degenerated, it 
 would have been difficult for anybody to keep up uniform patience 
 and courtesy. As a matter of conspicuous favor to the largest boys, 
 he would sometimes allow them to study in the pulpit, but the con- 
 cession did not always secure attention to study on their part. 
 William Bridges and Albert Smith were boys once honored in that 
 manner. " None of your pranks up there, William and Bill ! I will 
 throw you over ! " Occasionally he would permit, if they desired it, 
 some of the girls also to study in one of the galleries ; but usually they 
 were afraid to go up there : the wlinlo nl^cp \v;i< neopled with spooks. 
 
530 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 When my esteemed informant, who, as a school-girl, Mary Tall- 
 madge, shared in the superstitions of the time and place, became 
 Mrs. Jeremiah Hosford, a name she still retains, she kept house and 
 boarders in a dwelling very near the old church, a dwelling that was 
 begun by Douglas Sloan, and has now been occupied, for more than a 
 whole generation, by the Noyes family. One day in 1828, Mrs. Hos- 
 ford expressed, in the presence of some of her student-boarders, 
 one of whom was Foster Thayer of that class, her disgust at the 
 proximity of the old shell, and her desire that some one would 
 burn it down. In a few hours it lay in ashes. General opinion 
 fastened upon Thayer as the torch-bearer ; but as nobody regretted 
 the conflagration of what had become a public nuisance, he was 
 never seriously questioned or disturbed. He was from North Caro- 
 lina, became a clergyman, and, at the same time, a teacher at the 
 South. "Bad habits brought him to a dishonorable death," says 
 Calvin Durfee, in his "Annals of Williams College." 
 
 The proprietors continued to experience difficulty in laying out 
 their own land in successive divisions. The proximate reason for 
 most of this difficulty was, that they felt obliged to employ an 
 inferior surveyor, because they could get him cheap, who made gross 
 mistakes in his plotting, which gave rise to constant irritation and 
 interference and controversy. Jedediah Hubbel was a common 
 farmer of Lanesboro, an excellent man, but a very indifferent sur- 
 veyor, who possessed, nevertheless, such a good conscience in his 
 old age that he lived well into his 100th year, as one may read on 
 his headstone in the south cemetery of that town. 
 
 Anno Domini 
 1720 
 
 WAS BORN JeDIDIAH HuBBEL 
 
 DIED Aug. 14, 1819. 
 
 In laying out the second division of fifty-acre lots, sixty-three in 
 all, most of which fell at the South Part, so many and so great errors 
 were committed by the surveyor and his helpers, that a resurvey 
 and attempted corrections were had, amid evidences of much dissat- 
 isfaction ; but ultimately, through reiterated votes of the proprietors, 
 Hubbel's original lines were maintained just so far as they did not 
 clash with each other. By sending to Northampton, or other Con- 
 necticut Eiver town, or to what is now Belchertown, where Captain 
 Nathaniel Dwight lived, skilled surveyors could be had, and had 
 been had, but that would take much more money, and the only way 
 to raise it was by a tax levied upon each right ; and when the tax 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 531 
 
 came to be collectible, it was found that many of the proprietors 
 were non-residents, and their whereabouts unknown; and even 
 when these delinquent rights, or portions of them, were exposed 
 for sale at public vendue to meet these taxes, they fetched only a 
 paltry sum, — such a drug, in the commercial sense, were lands here 
 at that time. For example, at a public auction, Nov. 30, 17G3, 
 William Horsford bought one-quarter of the right, that is, the undi- 
 vided land of house lot No. 9, for thirteen shillings; and Isaac 
 Searle bought another quarter of the same, at the same time, for 
 fifteen shillings. 
 
 At their meeting, March 26, 17G5, the proprietors voted (1) '• To 
 Lay out another Division of Land to Eaich Right of one Hundred 
 acres; (2) Chose Richard Stratton, Jonathan Meaicham, Josiah 
 Horsford, Samuel Kellogg, Titus Harrison, Ephraim Seelye, and 
 Asa Johnson, Commetree men to Lott out Said Division ; (3) That 
 there be Nine Shillings of money Raised on Eaich Proprietors 
 Right to Pay for Laying out •'^ Land." At a later meeting it was 
 voted, (1) " That the Publick Rights Shall be Drawn out by a Com- 
 mon Lottery " ; and (2) "That the Proprietors Will be Gin to chuse 
 for their Hundred acre Lots the Seventh Day of June A D 1765." 
 
 Twenty-two of these 100-acre lots were located on Northwest 
 Hill, Birch Hill, and Bee Hill, hills secondary to the Taconics, on 
 pretty good upland, out of which came at length tolerable farms, 
 though many of them are no longer ploughed and sowed, but are 
 utilized as pasture and woodlands ; beginning with No 1 on the 
 North Adams lx)undary line near Paul's, the public road there 
 towards Williamstown running through Nos. 1 and 2 and just graz- 
 ing the upper corner of 3, twenty-two more of these 100-acre lots 
 skirt round the base of Prospect, turn up into the Hopper to Bacon's 
 and beyond, extending also south in a continuous line along the 
 Potter road to the New Ashford line ; and the remaining nineteen 
 lots of this fifth division were placed pretty close together in the 
 southwest corner of the town, nearly all of them on the Hancock 
 Brook and its little tributaries. Numbers 45, 46, 47, and 51 of this 
 division touch upon the Vermont line ; No. 1 only, as has just been 
 said, is coincident in its east line with the line of North Adams ; 
 Nos. 25, 36, and 37 rest on the southern line of the town; and 
 Nos. 32, 33, 34, and 35 adjoin upon the original west line of the 
 town, namely, the east line of the Gore. 
 
 These 100-acre lots proved attractive to a somewhat different class 
 of settlers from those who had purchased the original house lots, 
 those, namely, who had no objections to a sort of village life, and 
 
532 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 who looked to the after-drafts of their house lots to make up to 
 themselves either in situ or by exchange, the requisites of an ade- 
 quate farm. But 100 acres in one piece was enough in itself for an 
 average farm. The village holder, who wanted an outlot or two, 
 had, doubtless, in most cases, already supplied himself from the 
 three previous divisions, — two of fifty-acre lots and one of meadow 
 lots along the chief streams. Besides this, the new 100-acre lots of 
 1765 were mostly quite remote from the Square, and, moreover, had 
 not in general been surveyed out from the more eligible patches of 
 land. Clay predominated more than was meet (or meat) in most 
 of the lots near the southern line of the town. For example, 
 No. 25, which has always constituted the last farm in Williamstown 
 on the Ashford road, and was very early cleared up by Andrew 
 Young, from Western, now Warren ; and Nos. 31-35 on the Hancock 
 road, which have always constituted the so-called " Young neighbor- 
 hood," and Nos. 29 and 30, on which the Corbens originally settled, 
 and some of the fifty-acre lots opposite them, became noted as 
 clay farms. 
 
 A scene once in town meeting will illustrate the reputation of 
 some of these lands. The late Dudley White, who owned a farm 
 in the Corben district, had occasion to appeal to the town for some 
 legal alteration of a highway in his neighborhood. This was wittily 
 and successfully opposed by a neighbor of his in South Williams- 
 town, Thomas Smith, a blacksmith, on the ground of the difficulty 
 of making a road on such clay, alleging that, " if anybody should 
 stand on any one corner of Dudley White's farm in the springtime 
 and teeter, he could shake the whole farmP The Youngs, neverthe- 
 less, Moses and Andrew and William, all from Western, and the 
 Corbens, Asa and Amasa and Joseph, from New Haven, Connecticut, 
 and other early settlers on these 100-acre lots in the southwest, 
 obtained a good living for themselves from off these lands, and 
 transmitted to their heirs, fair farms and good houses. 
 
 Among the five shiploads of Scotch-Irish immigrants that landed 
 at Boston in August, 1718, there were a very few Celtic-Irish 
 families that had become attached to, and connected with, the 
 Scotch people who had settled in Ulster a long time before. About 
 one-third of those who thus entered New England at the invitation 
 of Governor Shute, of Massachusetts, permanently tarried in Boston 
 and Andover ; another third proceeded to Worcester that autumn, 
 and made a permanent settlement there ; while the rest, wishing to 
 look about more before they settled down, spent the winter and 
 spring on the coast of Maine, and then sailed up the Merrimack 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 533 
 
 Kiver and made their settlement in and around Londonderry, New- 
 Ham pshire. Among those proceeding very shortly after their 
 arrival, from Boston to Worcester, was a remarkable Irish family 
 by the name of Young. The patriarch of this family was John 
 Young, who is said to have been over ninety years old at the time 
 of the immigration. He died, at any rate, June 30, 1730, and was 
 buried on Worcester Common. His son David, who was thirty-six 
 at the time of the coming-in, died in Worcester, Dec. 20, 1776, and 
 was buried by the side of his father. David's son William was a 
 stone-cutter, and put up the double stone on the common in memory 
 of his father and grandfather, holding the following inscriptions : ^ — 
 
 Here lies interred the remains of Here lies interred the remains of 
 John Young, who was bom David Young, who was bom in 
 
 in the Isle of Bert, near London- the parish of Tahbeyn, County of 
 
 derry, in the Kingdom of Ireland. Donegal and Kingdom of Ireland. 
 He departed tliis life, June He departed this life, December 
 
 30, 1730, aged 107 years. 26, aged 94 years. 
 
 The aged son and the more aged father 
 
 Beneath these stones. Their mould'ring bones 
 
 Here rest together. 
 
 Besides William, the stone-cutter and rhymester, David Young 
 had sons David, John, and Moses, all born in the old country ; and 
 Moses was the ancestor of the Williamstown Youngs. His wife's 
 name was Rebeckah, and they were married in 1736. They mi- 
 grated from Worcester, and made a home near the boundary line 
 between Brimfield and Western, now Warren. He became a con- 
 stable in Brimfield, and among his papers are receipts from Harri- 
 son Gray, Treasurer of the province of Massachusetts, for moneys 
 thus paid in by him in 1764 and 1765. He never came to Williams- 
 town, but three of his sons and two of his daughters had made per- 
 manent homes here before the father's death, which fell Sept. 25, 
 1781. His son Moses, born April 25, 1747, came first and " went to 
 chopping" on 100-acre lot 34, which is still in the hands of his 
 descendants. Before he had made much of a clearing, he went 
 home to Western, and brought back with him, his younger brother 
 Andrew, who bought the 100-acre lot 25, on the Ashford road. 
 Andrew had no children, but was otherwise a prosperous man, and 
 built the two-story house on that farm which was burned down 
 about 1880. Not long after Andrew came William, the third 
 brother, two years younger than Andrew, and seven years younger 
 
 1 Lincoln's Worcester, p. 50. 
 
534 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 than Moses. He settled in what is now the hamlet of South Wil- 
 liamstown, in a house that is still standing substantially as he occu- 
 pied it, and as it had been built by Captain Samuel Clark, and came 
 to play a conspicuous part in town affairs, and even in the politics 
 of Massachusetts, as we shall see at length upon a later page. He 
 was in the Legislature from William stown, in 1792, 1793, 1795, and 
 in 1800-1808 inclusive. He was a Jeffersonian democrat, as have 
 been most of the Youngs in Williamstown. 
 
 This William Young married first a daughter of Zebediah Sabin, 
 who had established himself early on 100-acre lot 41, on which the 
 west end of the Sloan road abuts directly, and which continued the 
 
 WILLIAM YOUNG'S HOUSE. 
 
 home lot of the Sabin family for much more than a century. This 
 Mrs. Young died without children; when the husband married Cur- 
 rence Meack, a daughter of Dr. Jacob Meack, a German physician, 
 the first of that profession to settle in Williamstown. His house 
 is still standing much altered and enlarged on house lot No. 12, in 
 the upper cemetery, just as one crosses the bridge over Hemlock 
 Brook in the Main Street on the right hand going west. On account 
 of his dwelling on its banks in the very early time, the brook itself 
 was often designated the "Doctor Brook." Mrs. Currence Young 
 had several children, and survived her husband many years. Her 
 daughter, Zerviah, married Lorin Smith in 1833, and they spent 
 their married life in the Young house, which is now owned and 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 535 
 
 WILLIAM YOUNG. 
 
 occupied by their son and heir, George Smith. The house has still 
 a chamber in which the Freemasons are said to have met when 
 there was a lodge at the South Part. Another daughter, Betsy 
 Young, married Harry Johnson, who has descendants in Louisville, 
 Kentucky. The only son of 
 " Esq. AVilliam Young " went by 
 the name of " Wicked Bill," and 
 died in Canada. William Young 
 went to Cambridge with the 
 minute-men of Captain Samuel 
 Sloan's company in 1775, and 
 his powder-horn (still extant) 
 bears date " ye 4th of May, 1775, 
 Charleston." He carried the 
 same powder-horn into the bat- 
 tle of Bennington, 1777. George 
 Smith, his grandson, has a sil- 
 houette picture of him, hereby 
 displayed in a woodcut, and 
 valuable documents belonging 
 to him. Also a silver shoe- 
 buckle, and other relics. 
 
 When the first Moses Young died in Brimfield, Sept. 25, 1781, his 
 three sons and two daughters in Williamstown, Mrs. Stephen Davis 
 and Mrs. Robert Harrington, were not pleased with the disposition 
 of his property made by will shortly before he died, and they sent 
 the following letter from here there, which is interesting on many 
 grounds. The original lies now before the writer, and is scrupu- 
 lously transcribed. 
 
 "Williamstown March C 1782 
 friends and Brothers after servis and all due Regards we understand there is 
 a will signed By father-young and commited to your Care which for sume 
 important Reasons we object against first Becaus he was Not of A sound 
 memory secondly Becaus Persons Born free are Not subject to Bondage By the 
 will of any man 3<* Becaus the persons are Coled Noncompus mentus that have 
 been the instruments of Earning the Estate and for Ever ought to have the 
 Benefit of it 4''^ Becaus we suppose it Not to Be the will of the Deceast as he 
 inquired what thay was going to do when they asked him to sign the will and 
 Persons then Present say that he was not himself — we Desire you to Omit the 
 Execution of the will till you favour us with a Coppy — we Remain your Real 
 friends Stephen Davis 
 
 Robert Harrington 
 Moses Young 
 Andrew Young 
 William Young 
 
536 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 This letter was written and copied by Stephen Davis, the husband 
 of Kebeckah Young, an elder sister of the three brothers here. He 
 was an able and influential man. He had gone to Lake George 
 from Western in Captain Nathaniel Dwight's company, — enlisted 
 on the news reaching there of the battle of Lake George, in August, 
 while Dwight's company passed Fort Massachusetts and down the 
 Hoosac, in September, 1755. In the Captain's manuscript papers 
 are receipts given by Davis, and others, who were afterwards set- 
 tlers in Williamstown, for pay and arms. Davis's home lot was No. 
 11 of the first-division fifty-acre lots, which he bought of Eli Cowles, 
 in October, 1763, for £30. He subsequently bought two other lots 
 in close proximity to this, and thus aggregated a farm which has 
 always been regarded as among the best in Williamstown. It now 
 goes under the designation of "Farm B," and is owned by John 
 B. Gale (Williams College, 1842), whose "Farm A" is next north 
 of it, and separates it from the "Meacham Farm," — all three on 
 Green Eiver, to the west, and, in the reverse order, next and south 
 to the house lots. Stephen Davis rose in the militia to be Captain, 
 did excellent service in the Revolutionary War, and was a member 
 of the Massachusetts Convention of 1779-80, called to frame the 
 state Constitution. Elisha Baker was the other member from 
 Williamstown. Jonathan Smith was their colleague from Lanes- 
 boro, and greatly distinguished himself in the councils and debates 
 there. 
 
 Moses Young, the first of the name to settle here, and Susannah, 
 his wife, brought up a very large family of children, all born between 
 1774 and the end of the century. He never left his original 100- 
 acre lot as his own homestead, but settled his several sons on 
 adjacent 100-acre lots, as they came to maturity, he holding the 
 title to all the lands. He built for his own immediate family a 
 large and strong two-story house, which is still owned and occupied 
 by his grandson, Erastus Young, who pursues a policy with his sons, 
 as to his own broad lands, similar to that of his grandfather; 
 namely, giving them nominal ownership only to their farms during 
 his life. This Moses Young died in 1819. Reuben, his firstborn, — 
 which means in Hebrew " See ! a son ! " — became a prominent citi- 
 zen at the South Part, and was commonly designated "Squire 
 Young." He was a member of the Legislature in 1833. He lived 
 and died near the east end of the Sloan road, north side, where the 
 late Dr. Young lived. He once brought from Boston, in his satchel, 
 some slips of willow, and a tree from one of these is still standing 
 west of the house, and the little brook that crosses the road near by 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 537 
 
 is often called ''Willow Brook." Reuben Young married Sally 
 Meack, a younger sister of Currence, his Uncle William's second 
 wife. They had no children. 
 
 Reuben Young's brother. Moses, five years younger, lived and died 
 on lOO-acre lot 31, the lot next north of his father's old homestead, 
 on the farm and in the house long afterwards owned by Augustus 
 Hand, and carried on for him by a competent Irishman named 
 Navin. This Moses, born in 1779, married on Stone Hill Lucy 
 
 REUBEN YOUNG. 
 
 Brewster, a daughter of Mrs. Mary Brewster, the second wife of 
 "White" David Johnson, who came here from Middletown, Con- 
 necticut, about 1763, and began the Bulkley farm there, and built 
 the house on it torn down in 1828 to make room for the present 
 brick house occupied by the Bulkleys ever since. Mr. Johnson's 
 first wife was Phebe Cole, from Canaan, Connecticut, and their mar- 
 riage was the first one celebrated here by the Rev. Mr. Welch. 
 Moses Young and Lucy Brewster were the parents of Horace H. 
 Young, a distinguished dentist in Troy, New York ; and of Betsey 
 Ann YnuTur ^ho became the wife of Dudley W^hite, and later of 
 
538 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Titus Mitchell, of Ballston, New York ; and of Eliza A. Young, who 
 was first a Mrs. Bardwell, and afterwards Mrs. Bristol, of Utica. 
 Mrs. Bristol's body was brought to South William stown for burial 
 Nov. 11, 1892, accompanied by her only son, Henry Bristol, of 
 Chicago. 
 
 The third son of Moses and Susannah Young, born on the old 
 homestead in 1781, was John, who married Clarissa Crofoot, born 
 Nov. 21, 1786, and the two passed a very long life together on land 
 inherited from Father Young, and still owned and cultivated by their 
 children. They were married in December, 1807. Their son, Sey- 
 mour, has carried on the farm for nearly fifty years ; and another 
 son. Orange E,., has long been a dentist in Troy, associated in business 
 there with his cousin. The Crofoot family was more highly gifted 
 intellectually than the Young family ; both families probably came 
 together from Ulster to Boston in 1718, in the very considerable 
 migration of Scotch-Irish invited and facilitated by Governor Shute ; 
 the Crofoots, or Crawfords, however, were of the people who had 
 previously migrated from Scotland to Ireland, while the Youngs 
 were native Irish ; the letter of the first Williamstown Youngs to 
 their immediate kindred in Brimfield, quoted but a few pages back, 
 resented the imputation put upon some of them by their own 
 brethren, that they were ^^non compos mentus^' ; the records of 
 Worcester, whither about a third of these immigrants passed in 
 the autumn of 1718, make prominent among them both John and 
 Eobert Crawford ; and there is probability, but no known proof, that 
 the Crofoots of Williamstown were the progeny of these Crawfords 
 working their way tvestward through the province gradually, with 
 many other families of the same race, like the Blairs and the Duncans. 
 
 There were something like fifteen of the 100-acre lots located in a 
 body towards the southeast corner of the town, and accommodated 
 by what we now call the " Hopper road " and " Potter road " and 
 '' Burchard road.'' Joseph Crofoot, then of Weathersfield, Connecti- 
 cut, bought in October, 1768, of Ichabod Southwick, of Williams- 
 town, for £60, 100-acre lot No. 12 on the Hopper road. Isaac Strat- 
 ton and Samuel Clark, then the two principal men in South Wil- 
 liamstown, sign the deed as witnesses. Crofoot's wife was Elizabeth 
 Clark ; and it is possible that she was related to Samuel Clark, who 
 came here from Washington, Connecticut, in 1765. This farm, called 
 for a century the " Crofoot farm," has been for a quarter of a century 
 the farm of John Lamb, who, in conjunction with his excellent wife, 
 kept the town's poor upon it for many years, until the town bought 
 a small farm for that purpose at "Taylor's Crotch" in 1891. 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 539 
 
 Crofoot's family, which was large, lived for nearly twenty years in 
 a log-house which stood a little back, that is, west, of the brick 
 house which he proceeded to build in 1785, when he was sixty years 
 old. He was a mason by trade, and he himself burnt the lime, and 
 made the brick, and built the house. Limestone and clay lie con- 
 tiguous upon a number of single farms in Williamstown. His 
 granddaughter, Mrs. Anna Sherman, is competent authority for the 
 statement, that on the very day he was sixty (June, 1785) he struck 
 3000 bricks with his own hand ; and she remembered, in 1877, to 
 have seen in her girlhood brick-molds, and trowels also of many 
 shapes, in the garret of the brick house. He lived to occupy and enjoy 
 his new house for nearly thirty years. In 1811, a cheese-press weight 
 fell on his foot, as he was busy in making the cheese, and crushed 
 the big toe. Dr. Porter was sent for, who was then at the height of 
 his reputation as a country surgeon, and said the toe must be ampu- 
 tated. " Strike home when you do strike ! " cried the old man, as 
 he set his foot upon a block, and his son Joseph held him up, while 
 the doctor with chisel and mallet excised the toe. He could not walk 
 well after that, but would mount his horse on occasion and ride off 
 like a boy. He had just entered his eighty-ninth year, when, being 
 alone, he went, as he said, " to toggle the fire," and somehow fell 
 upon it and was badly burned. He lingered, in great pain, from 
 Monday till Friday, in July, 1813, when he died, and was buried in 
 the Hemlock Brook ground at the North Part. 
 
 John Crofoot, eldest son of Joseph, reared here a family of ten 
 children, all born between February, 1776, and April, 1792, one of 
 them named Joseph and a twin brother with Benjamin, and all these 
 moved as a family to Auburn, New York, after the death of the 
 father. Joseph's second son was Mark Crofoot, who was in the 
 battle of Bennington as one of a full company of sixty-five men from 
 South Williamstown, and who seems to have been the wit of the 
 family. His brother next younger, Joseph Crofoot, Junior, had a 
 son named Joseph, and there were one or two more of the same 
 name in the large circle before the patriarch died in 1813 ; and Mark 
 used jocularly to designate the five Josephs — all here at one time 
 — as " Old Joe, Young Joe, Young Joe's Joe, Cross-eyed Joe, and 
 Toe-in Joe." Mark evidently thought, also, that there was scarcely 
 room on the Hopper road for so many Crofoots as were accumulating 
 there, for he moved from here with several other families about the 
 same time to Granville, New York, where he died in 1818. 
 
 Joseph Crofoot, Junior, bom March 6, 1768, and intermarried with 
 Sarah "Wilkinson, always lived with his father in the brick house. 
 
540 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 He was lame in the hip for life from a cold caught after wading in 
 the Green River in a chase of a deer near Deer Hill. He was the 
 father of Clarissa Crofoot, who was the wife of John Young, and 
 who died here as his widow April 4, 1876 : John Young died May 
 12, 1857 : he was the father also of Orange and of Joseph 3d. The 
 latter married Euth Williams here on Thanksgiving Day, 1811, and 
 moved to Batavia, ISTew York, where he died Thanksgiving Day, 
 1812, aged twenty-four. His brother. Orange, married his widow, 
 and they continued on the brick homestead here until it was sold 
 to another member of the same family. 
 
 This farm changed hands a number of times before it was bought 
 by John Lamb, the present owner; and the brick house was con- 
 stantly occupied by at least one family for a little over one hundred 
 years, when Mr. Lamb took it down and built another commodious 
 wood house in its place ; and on one of the bricks, as they were taken 
 from the old wall, was luckily noticed the word " Crofoot " neatly 
 written upon the moist clay and perfectly preserved in every letter 
 throughout the thorough burning and the century's service, — a 
 pleasant and lasting memorial of a worthy family, whose name 
 utterly disappeared from the town before 1830, and which does not 
 appear at all in the church or College records. 
 
 William Young, still another son of the original Moses, was settled 
 by his father on another 100-acre lot considerably south of the home- 
 stead on the same road. His wife was Lucy White, daughter of 
 Peregrine White, who came to Williamstown from Hebron, Connec- 
 ticut, about 1800, when Lucy was eight years old. They settled at 
 first on Northwest Hill, and went thence to Westfield, Kew York, 
 but returned after no great interval and located on Stone Hill, where 
 the daughter was married in 1811. They spent their wedded life on 
 this Young lot, but had no children. Mrs. Reed Mills once told the 
 writer in her old age, that on her sleigh-ride to New Lebanon to be 
 married, on a bitter cold day in the winter of 1816, they stopped to 
 warm, both going and coming, with Mr. and Mrs. Young at their hos- 
 pitable fire in this house where Hiram Smith has long lived at this 
 end of the century. It is incredible in this more practical and com- 
 fortable generation, how thinly clad brides would then ride to their 
 weddings in the depth of winter. Mrs. Young long outlived her 
 husband. Her brother. Rev. Alfred White, was much with her in 
 her later years, was much respected both as a man and a minister, 
 and is buried beside her in the cemetery at the South Part. 
 
 James Young, still another son of the first-comer, Moses, was 
 united in marriage with Narcissa Bliss, a distant relative, then of 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 541 
 
 Georgia, Vermont, June 4, 1818; and these, spending a long-con- 
 tinued married life on the original lot, and in the large house, 
 transmitted both, under certain restrictions, to their sons Erastus 
 and Justin, both of whom have reared families on the spot, and 
 both are still tilling the ancestral acres. Harry Young, the last male 
 scion of this long line to be mentioned here, led a highly respected 
 life on another stretch of these broad Young lands ; and two of his 
 daughters, Mrs. Rand and Miss Sarah Young, are, at the present 
 writing, in 1892, cultured people held in esteem in the city of Troy. 
 
 If we pass over now from the Hancock road and Young neighbor- 
 hood located upon it, to the parallel Ashford road, a couple of miles 
 to the eastward, we shall strike a number of 100-acre lots, that call 
 for a brief notice at this point, and especially No. 24, next north of 
 Andrew Young's lot on the Ashford boundary. Twenty -four became 
 in a few years, and remained for a century, the most populous lot in 
 its number of families, of any one in this fifth division. The land 
 was fertile, the Ashford Brook flowed through it diagonally, it was 
 well served with roads, and enterprising and excellent i^eople first 
 settled it. In August, 1766, Barnabas Woodcook, Junior, of Mil- 
 ford, Connecticut, seaman, bought this lot of Ephraim Seelye, land- 
 grabber, for £30. It is evident that this Barnabas did not intend 
 to abandon the sea, but that he did intend to assist his brothers 
 Bartholomew and Nehemiah to keep comfortable, in his old age, 
 their honored father. The following epitaph in the cemetery at 
 the South Part is significant : " Here lies interred the body of 
 Mr. Barnabas Woodcock, who was born in Dedham 25 Sept. 1710, 
 and departed this life March 14, 1786, aged 76 years 5 months 
 and 18 days." About the time his brother bought the lot 24, 
 Bartholomew purchased lot 26 adjoining it to the west, and pro- 
 ceeded to settle upon it. The depression is yet visible of the cellar 
 of the log-house which he put up on the east side of the road, just 
 as one driving south is about to make the sharp turn to the left to 
 cross the bridge and strike the south end of the Potter road. After 
 some years of residence here, he built the substantial framed house 
 still standing on the opposite side of the road near by, in which he 
 spent his active life, selling this house and farm, in 1820, to his 
 foster-son, Andrew Beers, for a consideration of ^2000, and buying 
 for himself, at about the same time, the Isaac Stratton place in the 
 south village, where he died. Nathan Rossiter and Lyman Hubbell, 
 both then prominent in that village, witnessed the deed from 
 Woodcock to Beers. 
 
 Many stories with a point to them are still told of Thol. Wood- 
 
542 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 cock, as he was always called by his neighbors, the Christian name 
 Bartholomew being quite too long for those busy times. He had 
 an agricultural maxim and practice which was probably more or less 
 current at that time, but has been supplanted by an opposite one, — 
 he would never sow grass-seed on his land to stock it down, saying, 
 ^' Land that will not seed itself is not good enough for me." The 
 common usage is now among farmers in Williamstown, to sow a 
 bushel of seed, for that purpose, to each acre. Any one passing 
 Woodcock's original farm, going south, will be likely to notice on 
 the broad meadow to his right, at some distance north of the house, 
 a very large elm tree. Woodcock himself used to relate when the 
 tree had become considerably grown, how he, while ploughing near 
 the spot, had bent the little sapling down to the ground to break it 
 off and be rid of it, when a chance suggestion' of his own mind, or, 
 perhaps, of Andrew Beers, who lived with him, led him to spare it. 
 It has been the pride of the farm for three-quarters of a century. 
 Woodcock was in the battle of Bennington, with all his neighbors. 
 His name is borne on several other muster-rolls of the Eevolutionary 
 time. He did not, like his brother ISTehemiah, rise into influential 
 positions in the town and in the state. Neither name is to be found 
 on the records of the church. The epitaph of the one, however, 
 marks a difference between the two, — " Erected to the memory of 
 Nehemiah Woodcock he was one of the first settlers of Williams- 
 town, a firm supporter of his Country's Eights and Independence." 
 He died March 10, 1816, in his seventy-ninth year. 
 
 Andrew Beers came with the Woodcocks from Milford, and passed 
 a long and honored life upon the same farm. He married Elisabeth 
 Deming, and they both lived to be very old, but they never had 
 children. Early in life he united with the church at the North Part, 
 and was chosen a deacon in it in 1828. Eight years later fifty-one 
 members of that church were dismissed in a body to constitute a new 
 church at the South Part ; and Deacon Beers and Deacon William 
 Dickinson, who had been chosen a deacon in 1834, became the first, 
 and for a long time the only, deacons in South Williamstown. Elisa- 
 beth Deming united with the old church in 1806, and thirty years 
 later was dismissed with her husband and the rest to form the 
 new church. After 1820, they kept house by themselves in the 
 Woodcock house, and both died not far from 1870. As they had 
 no children, they adopted a nephew of Mrs. Beers, Eli Eix Deming, 
 whom they well brought up, to whom they transmitted the farm, 
 and who carried it on about fifteen years after their death and then 
 migrated to Lawrence, Kansas, with other members of his own 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 543 
 
 family. He united with the old church in 1831 ; and when he left 
 town to go West about fifty years later, he was the only man in town 
 bearing the name of Deming, which name li;vl ^^^^n very luinierous 
 liere for a long time. 
 
 It was first brought here in a permanent way when Joseph Dem- 
 ing, of Weathersfield, Connecticut, bought 100-acre lot 23 in April, 
 1769, for £(yo. It was bought of Hezekiah Brown. Isaac Stratton 
 and Daniel Burbank sign the deed as witnesses. Deming was sixty- 
 two years old at that time ; and his two sons, Titus and Aaron, came 
 with him. Two other 100-acre lots to the west of this were soon 
 bought, tradition says, at eight shillings an acre. The families 
 localized themselves on these lots, and clung to them for three gen- 
 erations ; and by and by required for their convenience the east and 
 west road (long ago discontinued) connecting the Ashford and Han- 
 cock highways. This cross-road runs straight along the north line 
 of lots 27 and 28 and 29, bridging the Hancock Brook at a point 
 where there is a small mill-privilege, which was utilized by the 
 Deming families for several manufacturing purposes at different 
 times. The father, Joseph, built his house near the east end of this 
 cross-road, — a good house that was burned down in 1876. There 
 was another house a little further west on the same road, understood 
 to have been built and occupied by the son, Aaron, and meml^ers of 
 his family. The Demings were diligent and thrifty. The fathers 
 cleared off the lands, and the sons widened and improved the clear- 
 ings. They occupied altogether about as much land, and for nearly 
 as long a time, as their neighbors, the Youngs. 
 
 Aaron Deming died March 12, 1837, lacking twenty-seven days of 
 being ninety-three years old. Two unmarried daughters always lived 
 with him, and his two sons, Joseph and Salmon, lived in the other 
 part of the same house, which was a custom also with the Young 
 families. The father, Joseph, had died in 1783, in his seventy-sixth 
 year. Captain Joseph, the son of Aaron, died in December, 1870, 
 seventy-nine years old. Nelson Deming, Captain Joseph's son, a man 
 of admirable character, was the last of the name to operate the little 
 mill on the brook, and the last of the name in town of the line of 
 Aaron. His widow was the last person in Williamstown of either 
 sex or of any age to bear the name of Deming. An easy lesson fell 
 to the officiating clergyman to be given at Nelson Deming's funeral, 
 namely, that the world is passing away and the lust thereof, to fami- 
 lies as well as to individuals. 
 
 Titus Deming, the other incomer here with the father, Joseph, 
 built his house on the southern line of lot No. 2'! just at tlie point 
 
644 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 of junction of the two roads from the north, — the old road from 
 Taylor's Crotch to the Ashford line, running wholly through 100- 
 acre lots, and the road from the south hamlet to strike the other at 
 right angles, running diagonally over a dead level of the second 
 division of fifty-acre lots. Here Titus Deming reared his sons, 
 David, Martin, Francis, and Moses the Mormon who died in 1873 ; 
 and his daughters also, Betsey, Sally, Sybil, and Nancy. Their 
 mother, Sybil, died in 1844, aged eighty-two years. This Martin 
 was the father of Eli Rix, who was adopted and reared by Deacon 
 Andrew Beers. Francis inherited the farm, and brought up in the 
 ample and good-looking two-story house, two sons and one daughter. 
 The eldest son was Richard Titus Deming, called from his grand- 
 father Titus, a graduate of the College in 1852, and a classmate of 
 the present writer. He was born in 1825, and was about three years 
 older than the average age of his classmates, a tall and straight and 
 fine-looking man, who assumed to say of the society of which he 
 was a member, — " The Sigma Phi does not aim to exhibit scholar- 
 ship, but to develop the practical man and the gentleman." He did 
 not, accordingly, attain to a rounded education in his college course ; 
 and going afterwards to New York to study and practise law, the 
 common belief and report was, that he was the means of bringing 
 his father into severe pecuniary embarrassment, and that his own 
 life was shortened and made useless by excesses and immoralities. 
 He died, it was said, in the street, in 1868. At any rate, the home- 
 farm was sold out of the family, and his younger brother, Dow Dem- 
 ing, an intelligent and estimable man, removed to Lanesboro, where 
 he is successfully tilling a good farm. 
 
 Aaron Deming was in the battle of Bennington. He and his 
 brother Titus were out repeatedly in the militia service during that 
 war. The following list, compiled from the church records, contains 
 the names of all the members of the Deming family who were mem- 
 bers of the local churches : — 
 
 Dorcas Beckley Deming Elisabeth Deming Beers 
 
 Sybil Jaffords Deming Sarah Lewis Deming 
 
 Lydia Stoddard Deming David Deming 
 
 Cynthia Deming Sybil Deming Krigger 
 
 Sarah Chamberlain Deming Salome Wright Deming 
 
 Martin Deming Mary Utley Deming 
 
 Salmon Deming Francis Deming 
 
 Nancy Deming Mary Deming Mills 
 
 Moses Deming Amos C. Deming 
 
 Ann White Deming Titus Deming 
 
 Hester Whitman Deming Eli R. Deming 
 
 Charlotte E. Deming Harty Johnson Deming 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 545 
 
 The 100-acre lot that fell by chance to Rev. Whitman Welch, the 
 first minister, was No. 7, situated on the east side of the Hopper 
 road not far from the " Crotch " ; and over this lot passes to this 
 day the Burchard road to the centre of No. 16, where stands the 
 Burchard house, which was built under extraordinary circumstances 
 115 years ago, and which is occupied at present by Chauncy Whit- 
 ney. Samuel Burchard was from Danbury, Connecticut. He came 
 early. In 1771 he owned five of the house lots, but it does not 
 appear that he ever lived in the village. We run across him first as 
 living on what is now called the Stratton road, east side, on No. 57 
 of the first-division fifty-acre lots, where William Hall lived for 
 a long time, and after him George Ford, and now Abner Town. The 
 house stands a little way back from the road. In all probability a 
 farm was first cleared here by Burchard, who had a family largely 
 grown when he came. They soon moved, however, to this 100-acre 
 lot 16, reaching it through the Dominie's lot. Burchard and his 
 wife, Elizabeth Hamilton, were members of the church. The father 
 was several times out in the Revolutionary militia service, and one 
 of his sons was so much afraid of being drafted for the war, that he 
 wore round an overcoat in summer, pretending ague. The mother 
 was a notable woman, and not afraid of anything. The late William 
 Torrey used to tell from his father, a contemporary, that while the 
 men folks were off in the war, Mrs. Burchard herself struck the 
 brick for the present house, the clay being taken out from the cellar, 
 and her girls carried out the moist forms from the moulds to dry. 
 Exactly in what service the ague patient was then employed, tradition 
 saith not. In their old age the Burchards bargained away their farm ; 
 the good lady, still active and economical, carried off and threw 
 away a cartload of stuff from the house, old shoes and other such 
 trumpery, and then when the bargain flew off, she went out and care- 
 fully gathered up the old things and brought them all back again. 
 
 This Burchard family must not be confounded with that of Joseph 
 Bircliard, wlio originally cleared up the Samuel Foster farm on Bee 
 Hill, a sixty-acre lot of the eighth division, whose son Amos, after a 
 considerable residence in Treadwell Hollow, went with his own chil- 
 dren, and with at least four of his brothers and sisters, to Catta- 
 raugus County, New York, where, with other families from here, 
 they helped to found another Williamstown. 
 
 The minister, Mr. Welch, sold off his lot No. 7, next north of the 
 Burchards's lot, to two men of New Milford, — with which town he 
 kept up close connection, — Ruggles and Hubbell, for £30, April 11, 
 1769. He had previousl}'" '^"^'^ ^^'^^ lirm>;.^ lot .%. wliioh ramp to him. 
 
546 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 as the first settled minister, in gratuity, and which drew for him, 
 in succession, meadow lot 51, fifty-acre lot (first division) 48, fifty- 
 acre lot (second division) 51, pine lot 53, oak lot 5. He also bought 
 and sold other lots upon occasion; for example, the meadow lots 
 Nos. 24 and 25 in the "Great Meadow" on the Hoosac (£40), in 
 June, 1766. He seems to have been an intermediary, or agent, in 
 the good sense of those terms, between those of his former towns- 
 people in Connecticut, who wished to buy lots up here, and those of 
 his own people who wished to sell them. A good number of Mil- 
 ford and New Milford citizens settled here, first and last. He 
 seems to have been very ready to help them in their selection of 
 lots, and to sign their deeds for them as a witness. He also bought 
 and sold lots on his own account, but not to any extent, or in any 
 manner interfering with his duties and good name as a pastor. He 
 was here as an ordained minister just ten years (1765-1775), the 
 most critical decade in the history of Williamstown ; and he proba- 
 bly did more than any other person, in that decade, to make the 
 place attractive and the settlement permanent. He gathered a 
 church of between seventy and eighty members in that brief time ; 
 for, while there is no list of them then, at the time of the settlement 
 of his successor, Eev. Seth Swift, in 1779, there were seventy-nine 
 members, and we fortunately know their names. 
 
 Some time during his pastorate, Mr. Welch bought lands on Green 
 River, at the east end of the Main Street, and probably on both 
 sides of the river. The only evidence as to the place of his resi- 
 dence while he was pastor here is the following : Chloe Bingham, 
 who is now about eighty years old, and has always lived in one spot 
 at the west end of the Green River bridge, has often repeated what 
 she heard from her mother, — the eldest daughter of Theodore Board- 
 man, whose home was near the same spot, and who was a contempo- 
 rary of Mr. Welch, — namely, that the Welches lived directly opposite 
 them, across Main Street, on ground just east of house lot 63, be- 
 tween that and the river. This was, indeed, outside of the house 
 lots, and nearly a mile from his meeting-house ; but then it was so 
 much the nearer to Fort Massachusetts, and it was by much the 
 safer end of the straggling village, for the French and Indians had 
 always come on from the northwest, and it was on Hemlock Brook, 
 and not on Green River, that Captain Chapin and the Chidesters 
 had been killed, in 1756. At any rate, on the 4th of May, 1775, 
 just fourteen days after the news of the battle of Lexington had 
 reached Berkshire, and only thirteen days after Colonel John Pat- 
 terson's regiment of minute-men had left Berkshire for Cambridge, 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 547 
 
 and, beyond doubt, in some living relation with those stirring events 
 to the eastward, Whitman Welch deeded to Nehemiah Smedley 
 eighteen and three-fourths acres of land, directly east of Green 
 River at that point, "with an allowance for the Hic^hway'' (the 
 present main road to North Adams). 
 
 Those eighteen and three-fourths acres from Wekii i.. .>umuii-s 
 were evidently adjacent to, and became easily a part of, lands pre- 
 viously bought by Smedley, namely, firet-division fifty-acre lot 28, 
 bought in June, 1765, and same division fifty-acre lot 29, bought in 
 October, 1766. These Welch acres thus sold seem to include meadow 
 lot No. 14 ; but it is remarkable that Cofiin's map of 1843 puts an 
 interrogation point, as indicating *^some incongruity of the survey 
 or other cause of doubt," after No. 14 of the meadow lots, as well as 
 after Nos. 28 and 29 of the fifty-acre lots, which, with meadow lots 
 10 and 12 and 13, and oak lot 7, made up the noted Smedley farm. 
 We cannot tell certainly on which of the lots the farmhouse (still 
 standing) was put up in 1772. Smedley's oldest son, Levi, born 
 Oct. 8, 1764, believed, in his old age, the house to have been built on 
 the lot bought of Welch, which could not have been the case if the 
 house were raised in 1772, for Welch did not sell till 1775. It is 
 more probable that the house stands on fifty-acre lot 28, bought in 
 June, 1765, of John ]\Ioffat, painter, of Boston, whither Smedley 
 went personally to make the purchase. Besides Levi's own state- 
 ment in favor of 1772 as the date of the house, there is a strong 
 tradition in the family that the house was raised tlie day Levi was 
 eight years old, and that numbers of men came from Bennington to 
 the " raising." That would be Oct. 8, 1772. 
 
 The deed of the eighteen and three-fourths acres is in ^Ir. Welch's 
 own handwriting. The complicated surveyor's description — the 
 plot had nine separate angles — looks as if he had also surveyed it, 
 which, as a college graduate of that time, he was doubtless able to 
 do. The deed was never recorded, and was never questioned. The 
 land remained in the hands of the Smedleys for longer than a 
 century's time. The consideration paid was £75 10s. This was 
 undoubtedly the money on which Welch himself, shortly after, went 
 to Cambridge, and late in the autumn went up the Kennebec to 
 Canada, in Arnold's column, in volunteer company with several of 
 his own parishioners. Nothing is said in this deed about any build- 
 ings on the land; but Levi Smedley said, in 1829, "One of the 
 barns now standing there is much older than the house," which is 
 pretty good, though not conclusive, additional proof that the Smed- 
 ley house was not erected on the land sold by Welch to Smedley. 
 
548 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 As Mr. Welch did not live to return from Quebec, Mrs. Welch, who 
 was a daughter of Deacon Gaylord, of New Milford, went back to 
 that town with two or three small children, was married again there, 
 and lived to an extreme old age. She left growing in her garden here 
 (wherever it was) some roses of the simple red variety, from an 
 original root or two brought with her when she came. That she was 
 highly esteemed here, and pitied in her strange widowhood, seems 
 to be proven by the fact that Mrs. James Meacham and Mrs. Betty 
 Cox transplanted the rose in memory of her, each to her own front 
 yard, where they are still growing, much multiplied, with the pres- 
 ent credible tradition attached to them, — a tradition that Bliss 
 Perry has wrought out imaginatively, for publication, under the 
 title, "The Colchester Rose." The Youth^s Companion of March 
 21, 1889, holds the story. 
 
 In the mean time, while these outlets of the fifth division were 
 being slowly occupied, mostly by farmers from Connecticut who 
 came up by the rude road over the watershed between the Housa- 
 tonic and the Green rivers, a road siuce eulogized by Henry Ward 
 Beecher, — " From Salisbury to Williamstown and thence to Ben- 
 nington there stretches a country of valleys and lakes and moun- 
 tains, that is to be as celebrated as the lake district of England or 
 the hill country of Palestine," — matters were moving more briskly 
 with the house lots and householders of the incipient village. 
 Proprietors' meetings were held frequently, particularly during the 
 year 1765, the birth-year of the town, and the first year of their 
 ordained minister. Every item of common expense must pass sharp' 
 muster in these popular gatherings, because every shilling of the 
 money must come out of the individual pocket of the proprietors ; 
 roads were laid out in all directions, and each day's work of man or 
 team must be passed upon and voted "pay for," in proprietors' 
 meeting viva voce ; the pine lots and the oak lots, all of both being 
 located north of the " Greate Biver," were surveyed out by Jedediah 
 Hubbell, and distributed by a " common lottery," in this year, 1765. 
 The committee, under whom these surveys of the sixth and seventh 
 divisions were made and reported, were Elisha Higgins and John 
 Smedley and Thomas Dunton and Jonathan Kilborn ; and William 
 Horsford, whose house lot was 44, directly north across Main Street 
 of the later West College, was the faithful proprietors' clerk from 
 the beginning of 1765 till 1774. 
 
 Of course, the need of the common mechanic arts of all kinds 
 was soon felt in the now growing hamlet; and a curious concession 
 was made in the proprietors' meeting of Jan. 14, 1766, to Joseph 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 549 
 
 Tallmadge, a shoemaker who had recently come from Colchester ; 
 making shoes and tanning leather were trades, at that time, and 
 long afterwards, in New England, closely allied, and often united, in 
 the hands of one man ; Tallmadge had evidently asked the proprie- 
 tors for the privilege of having a tan-yard on the common land in 
 the Main Street, near what has long been called Hemlock Brook, but 
 which was then called " Hudson " Brook, from Seth Hudson, whose 
 house stood on its eastern bank ; and it was accordingly '* Voted to 
 Give Leave to Mr. Joseph Talmadge to Sett up a tan yeard on the 
 North side of the Highway on Hudson Brook of one Quarter of an 
 acre of Land to have the use of Said Land ten year Not obstruct or 
 Hinder Passing Provided He the Said Joseph talmage can agree 
 with Mr. Ebenezer Cooley & obtain Leave of Him." Ebenezer 
 Cooley then owned house lot 12, just west of the brook, north side, 
 in front of whose lot the tan-yard would be. It is not likely that 
 his consent was secured, for he sold the lot in June following, to 
 "Isaac Searle Esq.," for £20. Searle was, at this time, the most 
 forehanded man in the borough, though he had come from Northamp- 
 ton as a " cordwainer " about ten years before, and it was not like 
 him to buy encumbered property, or to agree to have his own 
 encumbered in that way. Another thing that makes it improbable 
 that Tallmadge actually gained the permission of the owner of 
 No. 12, is the fact that he bought, himself, the next March, house 
 lot 13, directly opi>osite No. 12, on the south side of the highway, 
 and only the width of that way above on the same brook, described 
 in the deed as "at the westernmost end of main street." He X)aid 
 £15 for his house lot. 
 
 Whether Tallmadge actually started a tannery at the north end 
 of his own house lot 13 cannot now be determined; there is no 
 direct proof that he did; tan-bark is one of the most indestructible 
 objects in nature, and none of this has been thrown up there by 
 plough or spade in the memory of living men while the early exists 
 ence of a tan-yard on the east side of the brook close by is proven 
 by such casual manifestations there ; and besides, Tallmadge only 
 stayed on No. 13, with his newly married wife, Martha Marks, for 
 three years, when he bought in April, 1770, his farm on Northwest 
 Hill, on which he lived and died. This was fifty-acre lot No. 4. It 
 was the ministry lot of the second division of fifty-acre lots, drawn 
 by house lot 38. Tallmadge bought it of Samuel Smedley, and the 
 deed was signed by Nehemiah and Aaron Smedley, as witnesses, all 
 three of these brothers from Litchfield. This lot proved to be as 
 productive as any parcel of ground in Williamstown, and has been 
 
550 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 often called the best '^ grain-farm " in town. Its northern line just 
 grazes the Hoosac Kiver, and its southern line is the straight high- 
 way bounding the ends of the house lots lying in the northwest 
 corner of the entire plat of house lots. 
 
 If Joseph Tallmadge had been content to confine himself to 
 ploughing his fields and raising his crops, he would have been a 
 prosperous and envied farmer. Indeed, he became and continued 
 such, until in an evil hour he concluded to utilize a fine spring to 
 the north of his house, whose clear waters drop down into a little 
 stream that drops into Hemlock Brook just before the junction of 
 that with the Hoosac, as a means of distilling brandy out of cider, 
 which had then become exceedingly abundant in the town. Public 
 opinion had not then turned against the distillation of brandy. 
 Deacon James Smedley told the writer, that he as a boy had helped 
 his father carry cider to this place to be distilled into brandy; 
 his father was Deacon Levi Smedley, the head of perhaps the most 
 precise and puritanic family in the town. Joseph Tallmadge did 
 not forfeit his good name among his neighbors by setting up this 
 still : there were at least three others put into operation not long 
 after in different parts of the town, all by reputable parties. 
 Nevertheless, the phrase above used, "in an evil hour," is well 
 considered and appropriate. There was a generation of drunkards 
 raised up in this town in direct connection with these four stills. 
 Not one of the four families escaped personal demoralization and 
 pecuniary losses. Tallmadge had four sons. Each of them became 
 compromised in turn, both in respect of the personal habit and of 
 the monetary ruin. The very locality, though naturally prospec- 
 tive and picturesque, became a by-word and a hissing. 
 
 The beautifully wooded little valley that runs across the farm 
 with its stream and its spring has been called now for a long time 
 "Flora's Glen," and A. L. Hopkins, who owns this and many 
 adjoining lots, has lately built two expensive dams on this stream 
 and thus made two lovely ponds, and also walled in the spring, that 
 bubbles out on the very marge of the lower pond, making the 
 whole region one of peculiar beauty and consequent attractiveness 
 both to natives and strangers ; but the late C. E. Taft, who was 
 more than twenty years postmaster, used to tell, that the whole 
 place was a "turkey-shoot" when he was a boy, and that he him- 
 self had witnessed the scenes of drunkenness and fighting, that 
 always in those days accompanied the cruelty and gambling of that 
 so-called "sport." Many persons still living remember Phebe 
 Holmes, an old colored woman, whether African or Indian was left 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 551 
 
 in doubt, who lived and died in an old cabin on the little brook that 
 flows past the College spring. Her husband, Holmes, a well- 
 authenticated Indian, was stabbed and nearly killed at one of these 
 turkey-shoots near the " Still Spring." The name, " Phebe's Brook," 
 commemorates in a pleasant way the poor and aged woman ; the 
 only memorial of her husband is the turning of a point in the de- 
 scription of a brutal autumn festival, at once attracted by and 
 affiliated with Joseph Tallmadge's cider-brandy. 
 
 After the public religious services of Thanksgiving Day, in 1892, 
 the chief feature of which was a powerful sermon by John Bascom, 
 on the nature and coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, the penman 
 of these present lines visited alone the Still Spring and its neighlxjr- 
 hood. Gratitude to God for the many favorable local contrasts as 
 between the first and last decades of the century was tinged and 
 intensified by a personal gratitude for a lifelong and stimulating 
 friendship with the fearless and profound and eloquent preacher of 
 that Thanksgiving Day. 
 
 Joseph Tallmadge had five children : Martha, the eldest, born in 
 1768, married shoemaker Stone, of Hoosac, both excellent people in 
 all the relations of life ; Joseph, the second, was born exactly two 
 years after his sister, Feb. 27, 1770 ; the next son, Josiah, married 
 Jan. 3, 1793, a Williamstown girl, Ada Hickox, and they became the 
 parents of Mary Tallmadge Hosford, the oldest i^erson now living 
 in town, and one among those most highly esteemed by everybody ; 
 Ephraim, born in 1774, made his home elsewhere; and Asa, the 
 youngest, born Oct. 1, 1776, who married Abigail Tyler, and reared 
 a large family here, living on Northwest Hill, and in several other 
 parts of the town, and manifesting in more directions than one 
 (even to old age) the untoward influences of the cider-brandy still. 
 His son, Edwin Tallmadge, and his daughter, Orcela Tallmadge 
 Blakeslee, are the only persons now in town (besides Mrs. Hosford) 
 perpetuating a respected name. Edwin Blakeslee, the husband, was 
 lx)rn and bred in Howe on the upper reaches of the Deerfield River, 
 in plain sight of the vestiges of old Fort Pelham. His grandfather, 
 Caleb Blakeslee, was the composer of the famous minor hymn-tune, 
 *' Windham," usually sung to the words, " Broad is the road that 
 leads to death," etc., and very popular in New England for a century. 
 He sold the copyright of the tune for thirty dollars, to his own and 
 others' subsequent regret ; for the tune should have borne his name. 
 He was the son of Seth Blakeslee, of North Haven, Coniiocticut, 
 whence the son came to Rowe. 
 
 Edwin Blakeslee built one of the first houses on the present .>i)ririg 
 
552 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Street in 1847 ; Thomas Mole had built the very first one the year 
 previous, during which the street had been opened by S. V. R. 
 Hoxsie; George Koberts, and Charles Spooner, and Edwin Sander- 
 son, and Frederic Sanderson, the two last in company for awhile with 
 Edwin Blakeslee, all tailors, occupied houses on the same street 
 within a twelvemonth. Blakeslee has practised his trade in this 
 town and its immediate vicinity for more than fifty years. An 
 eccentric and disagreeable character, JSTathan Hoskins, who was 
 graduated at Dartmouth College in 1820, a classmate and (as he 
 always claimed) a room-mate, too, with Rufus Choate, was the 
 seventh in order to build a house on Spring Street. All these 
 houses were hastily and cheaply constructed, the ground was origi- 
 nally low, and otherwise seemed unsuitable for houses ; Daniel N. 
 Dewey, then treasurer of the College, opposed the opening of the 
 new street, and Hoxsie was angrily compelled, owing to the situ- 
 ation of a corner of College ground, to make his lay-out narrow and 
 inconvenient of entrance ; nevertheless, the new street was a neces- 
 sity of the time in affording homes to many of the young artisans 
 of the village; it has been pretty steadily lifted and improved as 
 a place for residerjce, the town high-school building was erected 
 upon it in 1866, and business of various kinds kept creeping in along 
 its whole length until in 1892, by the removal into it of the post- 
 office, and the bank, and several stores and places of recreation and 
 amusement, it became, and will probably remain, the chief business 
 street of. the town. 
 
 The next public meeting of the proprietors to that which gave 
 the concession to Joseph Tallmadge for a tan-yard, was occupied 
 mainly with the vexed question of roads in the different parts of 
 the town, — a point that made constant friction and open dissatis- 
 faction for several years. The principal clause in the warrant for 
 this meeting was as follows : " To See if the Proprietors will Chuse 
 a new Commetee to Lay out E-oads wheare they are Needed and give 
 them Power to Prise Land that are and Shall be Laid out for Eoads 
 and to make Return to the Proprietors of the Sum or Sums and to 
 Give the sd Commetee Power to Exchange Roads for Roads or Sett 
 of Common or undivided Land to make Restitution for Land taken 
 out of the Lots for Roads Belonging to any Person Whatsoever 
 lying in this town." This article was voted bodily April 26, 1766, 
 and a strong committee, consisting of Richard Stratton, and Benjamin 
 Simonds, and Jonathan Meacham, and Samuel Kellogg, and Thomas 
 Dunton, chosen to carry it out ; but at the next meeting. May 15, a 
 fortnight later, the vote was reconsidered, and it was agreed "to 
 
WILLI AMSTOWN. 553 
 
 give the Road Commetee no Power only to Lay out Eoads and to 
 veu others Roads in order to Exchange and to veu Common Land in 
 order to l\ay for Land wheare it will sute and Bring their Doings to 
 the Proprietors for Exchange." William Horsford had become 
 obnoxious to some of the proprietors in connection with these road 
 and land difficulties, and there Avas a clause in the April warrant, — 
 " To See if the Proprietors will Chuse a New Clerk," — on which 
 the May meeting " Voted in the Negative." 
 
 Civil government, under any and all circumstances, everywhere, 
 is always an awkward instrument by means of which to reach the 
 true ends for which government itself is instituted; the radical 
 reason for this is, that the persons selected to administer the gov- 
 ernment, no matter on what plan, are always possessed of the same 
 selfish tendencies, which, in the masses of men, make governments 
 needful at all; all men esteem their own private interests higher 
 than the interests of their fellows, and when these two seem to 
 come into collision, are ready, unless restrained, to sacrifice the 
 rights of others to their own apparent gains ; this is the universal 
 fact that makes governments necessary ; but, unluckily, the govern- 
 ments are compelled to be administered by men of the same soi-t in 
 this respect as all the rest, and political constitutions are framed 
 with the express purpose of restraining this selfishness of the gov- 
 ernors, as laws are enacted to restrain that of the governed ; neither 
 the one nor the other are ever wholly effective, and consequently 
 the organization and continued administration of governments are 
 always accompanied with frictions and difficulties and wrong-doings. 
 This is just as true of local governments of small circumference, as 
 of national governments of the widest, — just as true of West 
 Hoosac and Williamstown, as of the state of Massachusetts in 1780, 
 and of the United States in 1789. 
 
 The early roads here made endless trouble and contention, partly 
 because individual proprietors cut roads to their outlying properties 
 at their own cost, expecting to be reimbursed by their road becoming 
 a public road, or by exemption from taxation for other roads ; and 
 partly, because it was impossible to foresee in what directions 
 population would ultimately become thickest, so as to demand pub- 
 lic highways. At the next meeting of the proprietors, in chrono- 
 logical order, Oct. 9, 1766, another set of unavoidable difficulties 
 confronted them ; namely, matters of taxes to meet current and past 
 expenditures. " Voted to Raise Nine Shillings on Eaich Right to 
 make up old Rearridges." " Voted and Chose Jonathan Meacham, 
 Stephen Davis and Elkanah Parris a Commetree to sell the Land of 
 
554 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the Proprietors that are Delinquent in paying their Rates." " Ex- 
 cepted the account of the Commetree of the Greate River Bridge 
 which is £48 12 3." Then follow accounts of several publicly 
 advertised " Vandues," " Published in the Boston Prints as the Law 
 Directs," at which the lands delinquent went oif, for the most part, 
 pitifully low, many of them to Ephraim Seelye, the land-grabber. 
 One oak lot, No. 12, was bidden off by Benjamin Simonds, for 
 Is. Ad. 3 farthings an acre. The only possible income for the 
 propriety arose from lands, either the tax voted in the proprietors' 
 meetings on each " Right," as it was called, or the small sums 
 realized from the sales of the lots of those owners who refused, or 
 were unable to pay, or had withdrawn from the settlement alto- 
 gether, abandoning their lands. This aggregate income was always 
 inadequate to the necessary expenditures. This led to frequent mis- 
 understandings with the successive treasurers. The first treasurer, 
 as we have learned already, was Isaac Wyman, long clerk and com- 
 mander, both at Fort Massachusetts and West Hoosac Fort ; but as 
 treasurer of the proprietors of West Hoosac, he soon fell into dis- 
 trust and troubles, and left the place entirely, and went to Keene, 
 New Hampshire, where he was very prominent and much trusted, 
 becoming Lieutenant-Colonel under Stark, in 1775, and appointed 
 Colonel, in July, 1776. The second treasurer was Josiah Horsford, 
 one of the early Connecticut soldiers here, whose wife was Jemima 
 Smedley, and whose house is still standing as the kernel of the 
 later Whitman house, now owned and occupied by Dr. Woodbridge ; 
 and he kept to the post patiently and uprightly till 1766, when Samuel 
 Kellogg was chosen in his place. There were frequent '^ reason- 
 ings " and '' reckonings " with the treasurer in all these years. 
 
 It may be easily gathered from all the foregoing that the stated 
 proprietors' meetings were not specially attractive places to the 
 proprietors themselves. The same is betrayed also by a clause in 
 the warrant for such a meeting issued Kov. 24, 1766. "To Se if 
 the Proprietors will Pay those men that attend the meetings of Said 
 Proprietors." Though at the meeting thus called it was " Voted to 
 Drop this articiel," its admittance into the public warrant reveals 
 another large obstacle in the way of the practical administering of 
 such a pure democracy as that was. All were on an equality of 
 privilege within the government; but all, or nearly all, were poor; 
 great sacrifices were required of all in order to build up and keep 
 agoing the little rustic commonwealth, — roads and bridges and a 
 meeting-house, and the ordination and salary of a minister, were to 
 be provided out of their own slender gains or reserves ; frictions 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 555 
 
 between officers and non-officers, and between individuals as such, 
 were certain to arise under such circumstances, and between the 
 minority and the majority on many questions passed upon; an obvi- 
 ous way of manifesting those dissatisfactions was to stay away from 
 the authorized and only legal gatherings for governmental purposes, 
 and at the least it took time and trouble to attend them ; and so, as 
 the meetings grew thin, it occurred to somebody to try the experi- 
 ment of a paid attendance. In their poverty, it is surprising that 
 this should have been even proposed; more surprising, a great deal, 
 than that bank directors and other members of corporations in our 
 own day should be actually paid out of the common fund for par- 
 ticipating in the common counsels of the body corporate. 
 
 Any five of the proprietors could, at any time, by request made to 
 their clerk, secure the issuance of a public warrant by him, calling 
 a legal meeting, the warrant stating in order the items of business 
 to be acted on at that meeting, and no other business could then be 
 legally transacted. The painstaking and fidelity manifested in gen- 
 eral by the various committees raised to prepare the reports on which 
 public and final action was to be taken, is proven and illustrated at 
 length in the minutes of the proprietors, to which reference may be 
 had. The original copy of these minutes is in the office of the town 
 clerk of Williamstown ; and the writer is possessed of a copy of 
 that, made at his instance and expense, and sworn to as to its exact- 
 ness before Keyes Danforth, justice of the peace, and Charles S. 
 Cole, town clerk, Dec. 4, 1878. 
 
 We will give two specimens of these reports of committees, because 
 we believe that the reader of the future will be pleased to see them 
 just as they were rendered, bad spelling and all. The first is the 
 report of Richard Stratton and Benjamin Simonds on a new burial- 
 lot, the original lot for that purpose at the end of the North Cross 
 Street having been proved unsatisfactory, presumably on account of 
 the steep hill by which alone it could be reached. 
 
 October the 1 AD 1706 we the Subscribers being chosen a Commetee to Pro- 
 vide a better Place for a burying yard Have attended the Business and the Best 
 Place we Can fiend is the frount of mr John Newbre Home Ix)t : No : 14 and 
 Part of the Street Joyning to it we Suppose to Begin att the South East Corner 
 of s** Lot and runs Eight rods into the Lot Northward and 12 rods and an Half 
 west and 5 rods into the Street we take of mr Newbre Land Half an acre and 
 Half a Quarter we sopose to Give Him £2 10 for it what we take from the 
 Street is a quarter and Half a quarter and 2 rod and an Half of Ground. 
 
 This is the origin and nucleus of the West Cemetery. It has 
 been several times enln-'-.Ml. more specially towards the west and 
 
556 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 north ; and it is one of the current ideals of the town at present, 
 that it be again much enlarged towards the north so as to have the 
 shaded Hemlock Brook its eastern boundary for a considerable 
 stretch, and be beautified throughout, as the lay of the land invites 
 to ornamentation suitable to God's sown field and the burial-place 
 of the fathers. Also this report is evidence enough of the little 
 esteem had by the early settlers for the fifteen-rod Main Street west 
 of the Hemlock Brook. It did not seem to them that so wide 
 a street would ever be needed so far from the Square. This com- 
 mittee proposed a burial-lot of one acre, five-eighths off from one 
 end of a house lot, and three-eighths out of the Main Street. The 
 proprietors had granted leave conditionally only a few months 
 before, to Joseph Tallmadge, to take one quarter of an acre for a 
 tan-yard out of the street at almost the same spot, " not to obstruct 
 or hinder passing." Passing was the main matter with them, and 
 scarcely at all a broad and beautiful avenue for the future. The 
 west end of the Main Street has never recovered from this levity of 
 the original proprietors. It is nowhere of the full width, and much 
 of the way quite narrow and neglected. 
 
 The second and only other specimen of early action that we will 
 quote here, is in the form of a report from an important committee, 
 consisting of Eichard Stratton and Thomas Dunton and Samuel 
 Kellogg. 
 
 Williams Town December the 8 1766 we the Subscribers being chosen to Lay 
 out and Exchange Roads for the Propriete we Have Laid a road from green 
 River Bridge a South East Coarse Eighty two Rods to a burch tree marked H 
 then Running South theirty five rods to the old Road wheare the first two rod 
 road goes of to the South to a maple tree marked H the road runs through Der- 
 ick webbs meadow Lot No 14 and through Nehe Smedly fifty acre lot No 28 the 
 Road to be four rods wide and said webbs and Smedly to have the old Road in 
 Exchangue for this We Have also Laid a two rod road from the above Said 
 Burch tree East forty eight rods through sd Smedly fifty acre lot to a maple tree 
 marked H thence a little to the North East Eight rods a Crost a Little Corner 
 of mr. Kellogg Land to the old Road by the meadow Lots sd Smedley to have 
 the meadow Road through his land to Pay for this. 
 
 This was the beginning of the present road of egress from out the 
 east end of our village, towards IS^orth Adams. It was a forked 
 road, starting single from the bridge, and dividing at the foot of 
 what used to be called the " Smedley Hill," and afterwards " Deacon 
 Foote's Hill" (who married a Smedley and passed a long life there), 
 avoiding the hill, and striking the old path to Fort Massachusetts at 
 a point further east. This straightened, and, of course, shortened. 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 557 
 
 the road to the East Town, besides avoiding a clay hill ; but, for 
 some reason (perhaps because the ground was wet as well as clayey), 
 the new road was not long maintained, and there has been, of late 
 years, much talk of reopening it, or one corresponding to it, across 
 the meadow land nearer the Hoosac. 
 
 The Derick Webb referred to in the above report as the owner of 
 meadow lot 14, which not long after became a part of Nehemiah 
 Smedley's farm, had been a soldier in the line of forts ten years 
 before, became a very early settler in West Hoosac, and made his 
 home on the plateau west of Green River, and east of the northeast 
 quarter of the village plat. This was on hrstnlivision tifty-acre lot 
 34, high ground, that skirted the meadow lots on lowest Green River, 
 and on the Hoosac as far as the Noble Bridge. In all probability 
 Rev. AVhitman Welch had his home near to Mr. Webb's. The latter's 
 meadow lot Xo. 14 joined his own home lot, though it lay mostly 
 east of the river. Thomas Dunton, a man in Avhom apparently all 
 the proprietors had confidence, a member of this very committee 
 whose report we are considering, the father of five children, born 
 1762-1771, had pitched his place near the Noble Bridge on this 
 same fifty-acre lot, where is now the hum of a huge cotton-factory 
 and the bustle of a railway station. For some reason, partly, 
 perhaps, because it was so sightly and defensible, this lot No. 34, 
 which flanked the river on one side and the house-lot plat on the 
 other, was early cut up into dwelling lots much more than any other 
 fifty-acre lot of either division. A short time before the death 
 of its late lamented owner, John M. Cole, he iX)inted out to the 
 writer the remains of at least two cellars upon this plateau besides 
 those of the three houses already referred to. It is quite possible 
 that Derick W^ebb found his neighbors here too close ; for we find 
 him moving on into Vermont, after a fashion that was much followed 
 later, and making himself a new home in Sunderland, Bennington 
 County, in tlie first company of settlers there in 17G6. When he 
 sold his Williamstown lands in July, 1768, he is described as of 
 '' Sunderland in the Province of New York so-called " ; and the deed 
 was acknowledged in " Hoosack before John MaComb one of His 
 Majesty's Justices," etc., in December, 1769. Derick Webb was the 
 holder in 1765 of house lot 58 here, and sold to Joel Simonds for 
 £40, three years later, 100-acre lot 9, and oak lot 38, and pine lot 41, 
 all drawn by house lot oS. 
 
 Just midway between the two villages in Williamstown, on the 
 Green River road, is a fair mill privilege (formerly much better 
 than now), called in all the old records " Taylor's Crotch," from 
 
558 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Samuel Taylor, the first proprietor of land at the junction of the 
 Green Eiver and the Hopper Brook, which constitutes the Crotch. 
 Foreseeing that a mill would probably be needed there, the original 
 proprietors sequestered ten acres of land, including the junction of 
 the streams, for public purposes, and called it the " Mill Lot." It 
 proves that population had already crept up the Green River beyond 
 that point, when a proprietors' meeting on the 15th of October, 
 1767, " Voted to Give John Kriger Peter Kriger and William Kriger 
 their heirs Liberty to Sett up a Grist mill att taylor's Crotch by the 
 1 Day of August Next on those Conditions that they have all the 
 Land on the west Side of the West Branch except what is Necesery 
 for Roads and as much of the East Side of the west Branch as is 
 Nessery to Dam or flow for the use of the Corn mill With Liberty 
 to Cutt any timber for the use of the Mill or Dam on the ten acre of 
 Land theire Sequestered Provided they will keep sd mill in order 
 Haveing a Sutable time to Repare said mill in when it is out of order 
 they to Have the Privileges Solong as they keep a good mill and 
 Nolonger." Under this public encouragement there came into town 
 a family of Dutch millers, who were then living in Pownal below, 
 and who became good citizens for a century, intermarrying with the 
 Youngs and other old families, so that even the name has but recently 
 died out here. " Krigers' Mills " is still the best established name 
 of the locality ; for a year and a half after the above concession on 
 the part of the proprietors to the three " Krigers," they voted to 
 the same parties by name " Liberty to Sett up a Sawmill at taylors 
 Crotch on the East Branch Provided they will Sett up a Sawmill 
 by the first Day of may Next on these Conditions that they Build 
 Said mill and keep it in Good Repare So Long and No Longer 
 they to Have it Haveing a Sutable time to Repare Said mill in." 
 
 A clause in the warrant for a proprietors' meeting, to be holden 
 in the new meeting-house, Oct. 9, 1769, reads as follows : " To See if 
 the Proprietors will a Low or for Bid milstones Being Carred out of 
 Town that are found on the Proprietors Land with out a Reasonable 
 Satisfaction." In the record of that meeting these words are found 
 in relation to that item of business : " articiel Dismissed by a Vote." 
 Mr. Dale, the United States geologist, who is familiar with every 
 part of the surface of Williamstown, informs that those supposed 
 millstones could have been no other than the quartzites, still found 
 in limited quantities on Stone Hill and near the top of East 
 Mountain. Quartzites, he says, are not well adapted to become mill- 
 stones; nevertheless, they were sometimes used for that purpose, 
 and the reference can be to no other. 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 559 
 
 Some proprietors continued to be delinquent in the payment of 
 the rates assessed upon them from time to time, for certain public 
 expenses, such as roads and bridges, and at length the meeting- 
 house ; and public auctions were ordered, in order to sell off such 
 portions of the lands delinquent as might satisfy these claims. 
 Many lots became more or less divided up in this way, — titles dis- 
 putable, and owners indifferent. Frequent parties from Connecti- 
 cut, on their way through the town to new homes in Vermont, 
 proved attractive to many families and intlividuals that had been 
 less successful in their choices or less fortunate in their neighbors, 
 and some of these dissatisfied ones passed on to the northward. 
 The ix)pulation, as a whole, was considerably unstable. The ele- 
 ment that proved the steadiest, that had been the most successful, 
 and that became, about 1770, in the good sense predominant, was 
 decidedly the old garrison element ; that is to say, the young soldiers 
 became settlers, who had done duty in the line of forts in the French 
 war, specially in Fort Massschusetts and in the West Hoosac Fort. 
 These men, as a rule, became the stand-bys and the leaders while 
 peace lasted, and the strong defenders of colonial rights and liber- 
 ties in the next decade. 
 
 The solidity of some of those old soldiers is illustrated in connec- 
 tion with the story of the first meeting-house. It was a good deal of 
 an achievement to build that house, under all the circumstances. It 
 was first occupied by the proprietors for one of their own meetings, 
 Nov. 7, 1768. At that meeting it was " Voted to Give Instructtions 
 to the meeting House Commetee Concerning the Pew Ground also 
 Voted to Build Pews Voted that Said Commetee Go on and Build 
 Pews according to their Dischression and then Sect Said House." 
 At the same meeting, adjourned, — " Voted Excepted the Hole of the 
 account of the meeting House Commetee in the Hole — £149 14«. 
 lid." Who were the persons entrusted with the delicate and much- 
 disputed questions about the first meeting-house ? The original 
 committee to build consisted of Richard Stratton, and Xehemiah 
 Smedley, and Samuel Sanford. Sanford was from ^Milford, Con- 
 necticut, the birthplace of Whitman Welch, the minister, and was 
 probably put on this committee as the special friend of the min- 
 ister; but, for some reason unknown to us, Sanford fell out before 
 the work was done, and in March, 1768, the proprietors " Voted and 
 chose Benjamin Simonds a Commete man in the Room of mr 
 Samuel Sanford for Building the meeting House." Simonds's name 
 is as indissolubly joined to the story of the Massachusetts Fort as 
 that of any other man, unless it be Ephraim AVilliams ; and Smedley 
 
560 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 was a Connecticut soldier in the garrison at West Hoosac as early as 
 anybody was, and his father had bought house lot No. 1, in October, 
 1752, which the son purchased in his own name, in March, 1758, and 
 still held. There was great difficulty in determining the place of 
 the new house of worship, as is shown by the clauses of the warrant 
 for the meeting in April, 1768; namely, "to See if the Proprietors 
 will appoint a Place wheare to Sett a meeting House or to Com into 
 any measures for the Same " ; " to See if the Proprietors will agree 
 with the town to Chuse a Place for the meeting House or to chuse a 
 Commete for the Same " ; " to See if the Proprietors will forbid 
 the Commetee to Raise the meeting House till such time as there is 
 a Place legally appointed for the Same " ; " to Give Instructions to 
 the Commetee of the meeting House that they may know How to 
 Proceed concerning the Charges for Raising Said House." 
 
 It will be remembered that the " Town," as such, was incorporated 
 in 1765 ; but this came, very slowly, to be able to confront, as an 
 organization, the older and naturally stronger "Proprietary," which 
 held in its own hands the times and modes of dividing up the lands 
 among the proprietors, and which owned absolutely all the common 
 and undivided lands of the town. At the April meeting, 1768, the 
 proprietors refused to let the " town " have any voice in hxing the 
 site of the meeting-house. They refused, also, to forbid their com- 
 mittee to raise the house till a place were legally appointed. They 
 voted, the same day, to appoint themselves a place " to Sett up a 
 meeting House-" They decided that each proprietor should have as 
 many votes, for or against the " Square " as the place, as he was 
 possessed of acres in the town. 9880 acres then voted for the loca- 
 tion on the Square, and 5035 acres voted to the contrary, and 
 finally (same day), "Voted to Leave it to the Discression of the 
 Commetee to Provide for the Raising Sd House." In October, 1769, 
 the proprietors "Voted to Raise one Pound on Eaich Proprietor 
 Right to finish the meeting House and Some other old Rearriges." 
 Also, "Voted Excepted accounts as follows to Benjamin Simonds 
 and Nehemiah Smedley for finishing the meeting House : £4 8s. 3d." 
 In March, 1770, it was "Voted to Build 2 Pews in the East End of 
 the meeting House." Also, at the same time, it was " Voted not to 
 Except the meeting House as finished." The records of the propri- 
 etors contain no further references to the erection and equipment of 
 their meeting-house. It is plain that their building committee pos- 
 sessed their entire confidence both as men and as builders. 
 
 They had been instructed by vote of the proprietors as to the size 
 of the building, 40 x 30 feet ; as to its location on the Square, at the 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 661 
 
 intersection of the Main Street by the two cross streets north and 
 south, on nearly the highest ground in the entire stretch of the Main 
 Street, which is one mile and three-eighths in length from Green 
 Kiver to the west branch of Hemlock Brook; also as to the pew- 
 system and body pews, and two additional pews at the east end 
 before the finishing ; and the same committee was directed finally 
 " to seat " the meeting-house, that is, to arrange the families in the 
 pews for Sundays according to some imaginary order of rank or 
 social worth. For the rest, the committea seems to have gone for- 
 ward at its own discretion, and to have done everything to the satis- 
 faction of their constituents. The house continued to be used for 
 the worship of God for just thirty years, — the only one so used 
 in the entire town. Towards the last, for some unknown reason, 
 Stratton seems to have retired more or less from active direction in 
 the building, and left it to his younger colleagues, Simonds and 
 Smedley. Simonds was forty -two and Smedley thirty-six in 17()8. 
 It is a noteworthy fact, that, after building the meeting-house con- 
 jointly and thus demonstrating their capacity collectively, each of 
 the three committee-men should have erected his own house not far 
 from the same time, and that all three of these houses should be 
 standing strong and in good repair and substantially unaltered in 
 this year of Grace, 1893. All three are two-story houses, and 1773 
 may be fairly assumed as the avemge date of their erection. 
 
 Unluckily, the original seating of the meeting-house has not been 
 preserved. There were certainly very few grounds of social distinc- \ 
 tion among the proprietors of West Hoosac in 1768. They were all j 
 farmers without exception ; even the minister and the doctor bought 
 and sold and cultivated lots more or less, like all the rest. The 
 minister was the only college graduate in the place. The doctor 
 was Jiicob Meack, a German or Hollander, who had probably strolled 
 up the Hoosac from Albany or its neighborhood. It is likely that 
 he married his wife here, although her full maiden name has not 
 been ascertained. " Betsey Meack, relict of Jacob Meack, physician : 
 she departed this life 6 Nov. 1797, in her 57"' year." They reared 
 five daughters here, born 1768-76, and all were married here; Han- 
 nah to John Kilborn, Junior, Currence to William Young, Esq., and 
 Sally to Keuben Young, Escj. Their home was on Main Street, 
 house lot 12, just over the east branch of Hemlock Brook, which 
 was often called from this circumstance the " Doctor Brook." The 
 house is still standing, thoroughly repaired, after having been occu- 
 pied for two generations by the Kilborn family. Nearly every other 
 proprietor, besides being a farmer, had learned and mnlfl practise 
 
562 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 some mechanical trade. One proprietor, doubtless, gained some little 
 precedence over others by length of time passed in the settlement 
 or its neighborhood, which tended so far forth to make prominent 
 those who had been soldiers in the two forts ; the few who were 
 well-to-do had, of course, the usual advantage over those more strait- 
 ened by the res angusti domi; and a greater age, a better education, 
 and any supposed superior personal merit, other things being equal, 
 would serve as principles of grading in seating a small meeting- 
 house. Any Yankee has the privilege of guessing as to the slight 
 precedence of 1768, after the minister and doctor. 
 
 1. Eichard Stratton would be likely to come first. He was older 
 than the rest, came earlier than many, was well off, and he had 
 three or four promising sons who had nearly reached to man's estate 
 when he came hither to make his home, from Western, about 1760. 
 He was moderator of the proprietors' meeting in 1761, and served 
 in that capacity eight times more. There were sixty -three proprie- 
 tors' meetings in all, from 1753 till 1802, and Stratton was moder- 
 ator in one-seventh of them. No other citizen served so many 
 times. Josiah Horsford served five times, and James Meacham five 
 times, and all others a less number of times. The two most notable 
 purchases of lands that Stratton made, were house lot 58 and three- 
 fourths of house lot 57, which is the lot that runs at right angles to 
 all the rest of the house lots, on account of the lay of land and 
 water at the east end of the southeast quarter of the village plat. 
 He built his house on the front of 58 in such a masterly manner 
 that it is a good house to this day, and has had a remarkable suc- 
 cession of owners and tenants. Stratton himself died in it, although 
 we do not know the date ; Dr. Remembrance Sheldon lived in it 
 many years at the beginning of this century ; Gershom T. Bulkley, 
 the first postmaster of Williamstown, was long a tenant, if not an 
 owner ; Captain Isaac Latham, also postmaster and a leading man, 
 owned and occupied it ; and James M. Waterman, chairman of the 
 board of selectmen longer than any other citizen has been from the 
 beginning, is the present owner and occupant. The rear of this 
 house lot is just as it was surveyed out in 1750. Some time after 
 Eichard Stratton came also his brother Ichabod, who presently went 
 away. Eichard's sons, Isaac and Ebenezer, who came with him, 
 became leading men in the next generation. Isaac was the first set- 
 tler at the south part, and continued the most prominent man there 
 so long as he lived. In February, 1767, the father sold his " well-be- 
 loved son, Ebenezer, from parental affection," for £5, the two fifty-acre 
 lots of the first division Nos. 54 and 33 (except te.n acres, north- 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 563 
 
 east corner of 33), and pine lot 45, and part of meadow lot 53 
 adjoining the two larger lots. This virtual gift constituted Deacon 
 Ebenezer Stratton's farm, on what we now call the "Stratton road," 
 which he cultivated in whole, or in part, until his death in 1814. 
 The father was commonly called " Deacon Stratton," and was a Bap- 
 tist, but whether such when he came and when he helped to 
 build and " seUt " the meeting-house, is a point impossible now to 
 clear up. 
 
 2. Captain Isaac Searle may well have ranked second on the 
 meeting-house scale in 1768. He was a dweller in Northampton in 
 1749, and sold land there at that time. In 1759, and afterwards, he 
 was a considerable buyer and seller of lands in West Hoosac, and is 
 designated as " cordwainer " in all those deeds. He located early 
 on house lot 55, which is the house lot that skirts Water Street on 
 the west, as that street opens up on Main Street. The Methodist 
 meeting-house and parsonage now occupy a part of the front of 
 No. 55, as do also Sherman's hardware store, and the old and long 
 two-story house just west of it. Searle lived on the site of this 
 house ; and it is more than probable that he built it in his old age. 
 A little of the extreme west end of house lot 57, cut off to the west 
 by Water Street striking Main at right angles, is now indistinguish- 
 able from the front of house lot 55; the old ''Union House," 
 so-called, long kept as a tavern by " Uncle Jerry Hosford " and 
 others, stood where the church now stands, and probably wholly on 
 No. 57 ; if so, the present lumber-yard and opera-house of Water- 
 man and Moore in the rear, are mainly on 57, and i)artly on the side 
 of 55. The Union House and the present hardware store are said 
 to have been built by David Noble, a prominent character we shall 
 have to study in the sequel ; at any rate, Isaac Searle owned a good 
 many lots of land on both sides of Water Street, all the after-drafts 
 coming from house lot 55, other house lots too, and some of the 
 after-drafts from them also. More than any one of his neighbors, 
 Searle was getting rich under the circumstances. In the first year 
 of the town government, 1765, he was taxed for £700 at interest. 
 Only one other was taxed that year on interest money at all, and 
 that was Nehemiah Smedley, for £126 in that form. Money makes 
 the mare go ; and his increasing stores made Searle of too much 
 consideration to be longer characterized as "cordwainer" in the 
 deeds, of which there were many ; and he is " Gentleman " in this 
 connection thereafter. He buys and sells lands, too, in other parts 
 of the county, e.g., in New Marlboro ; and in the Vermont Gazette, 
 10th July, 1795, Isaac Searlo and sixty-two others were published 
 
564 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 as delinquents in paying dues to the new town of " Stratton " 
 on the Green Mountains, which derived its first settlers from 
 Williamstown. 
 
 3. James Meacham is pretty sure to have been well rated in the 
 meeting-house list the first time round. He was a subaltern in 
 Captain Nathaniel Dwight's company, rallied to the relief of the 
 camp at Lake George, after the battle there, Sept. 8, 1755, in which 
 Colonel Williams was killed. Indeed, Meacham's commission is 
 dated September 10, and the men were mustered for marching Sep- 
 tember 15. He was then twenty-two years old, having been born in 
 Salem, March 19, 1733. When he was four years old, his father, Jere- 
 miah Meacham, became the pioneer settler in New Salem, in what is 
 now Franklin County. Dwight led his company up the Deerfield, 
 and over the Hoosac Mountain by the old Indian trail, to Fort Massa- 
 chusetts, and down the Hoosac, through what afterwards came to be 
 Williamstown, and up to Lake George by the usual route, where he 
 stayed through the autumn, working part of the time on the luckless 
 Fort William Henry. Like many another soldier from the east- 
 ward, thus casually passing through the gateway of the west, James 
 Meacham remembered, from the relatively barren hills of New 
 Salem when he had gotten home at last from the wars, the fertile 
 leagues of land on the sunset side of the mountain. A townsman 
 of his in New Salem, by the name of Joseph Ballard, had already 
 become possessed, in the usual ways, of several desirable lots in 
 West Hoosac, and, on the 5th of August, 1761, sold to Meacham for 
 £73 8s. 8c?., Nos. 7 and 8 of the first fifty-acre lots, adjoining the 
 village plat on the south. Meacham came over here to live in 
 August, 1762, his family consisting of father and mother and three 
 little girls, the youngest, Lucy, being only six weeks old. She 
 never moved again, dying here, unmarried, May 6, 1842. Her 
 mother was Lucy Rugg, one year older than her husband, who bore 
 him eleven children. Both were original members of the church 
 here, and he became its first deacon, serving till his death in his 
 eightieth year. After he had been more than twenty years a 
 deacon, he rode past the old S medley place at the east end of the 
 village, of a Sunday morning, with his gun on his shoulder, to take 
 part with Shays's men in their famous insurrection of 1787. It is 
 scarcely needful to add that many of his neighbors, and the Smed- 
 leys among them, did not sympathize with the good deacon in his 
 political passions. But Berkshire was very much divided on the 
 questions then at issue. Shays made his last stand in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of Deacon Meacham's early home ; and it is interest- 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 5Q5 
 
 ing to conjecture that the man was thinking of Xew Salem that 
 Sunday morning, as well as of democratic equalities, when he 
 headed his horse to the eastward. 
 
 4. The second original deacon of the Williamstown church was 
 a man of whom we know little, and would gladly know more, while 
 he was sure to have a good seat — probably in a special deacon's 
 seat — in the new meeting-house. His name was Nathan Wheeler. 
 He came up here from New Milford about the time the young pas- 
 tor did, and perliaps in some connection with him, as did certainly 
 several others. He continued a deacon till 1784, when he went 
 away. There is no record of children born to him here ; but his son, 
 Nathan Wheeler, Junior, came with him and probably went with 
 him, and was an active church-member. His farm proved to be, and 
 has continued to be, one of the best in town. Its original nucleus 
 was tifty-acre lot No. 12, " lying on the east line of West Hoosuck,'' 
 first occupied by Ephraim Seelye from " Amenia Precinct," Dutchess 
 County, New York, " Gentleman," who soon passed on to Pownal, 
 whence his sons, Ephraim and Reuben, returned after a few years, 
 the whole Seelye family becoming a large factor (especially in rela- 
 tion to lands) for nearly a century of time. Ebenezer Stratton, son 
 of Richard, became the successor in the deaconate to Nathan Wheeler 
 in 1784, and Daniel Day his successor on the farm, much enlarged. 
 The farm afterwards came into possession of old Bissell Sherman, 
 and was inherited by one of his sons. 
 
 5. Jonathan Meacham, a cousin of the preceding Deacon James 
 Meacham, who had also taken an active part in the French and 
 Indian war, and was, in some respects, a more enterprising settler 
 than the deacon himself, came also from New Salem before he did, 
 and left lasting marks of his residence both in church and town 
 records. He bought after some other and earlier purchases, which 
 entitled him to a place in the first proprietors' meeting of 1753, first 
 of Seth Hudson for £5 house lot No. 43, a lot a considerable part of 
 which has long been owned by the writer, and on the eastern edge 
 of which stands his present house. This purchase of Meacham's 
 was made Oct. 2, 1760. He proceeded to set up his house on the 
 north front of this lot on Main Street, very near where the West 
 College was afterwards built. In 1880, one hundred and twenty- 
 five years after, it may be presumed, that ^leacham put up his house 
 there, the College (now owning the land) gave permission to the 
 Chi Psi fraternity, which had built its fine fraternity house a little 
 to the west, to cut and use a tennis-court which happened to be laid 
 out on tho wpstfrn pdc'p of hous^ lot 43. Horo wov ♦^i-o" ...yw>,'OT.of| 
 
566 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 the distinct remains of a house, some of the bricks being entire or 
 nearly so, and many more in fragments ; and there can be very little 
 doubt that this was Jonathan Meacham's first house, although the 
 ^'oldest inhabitant" had no intimation that any house ever stood 
 there; and it is a matter of trustworthy record, that, in 1766, 
 Meacham lived in a house by the College Spring on house lot 49, a 
 lot which he certainly owned, and on which he had probably built 
 himself, and the cellar of this second house remained open till long 
 past the middle of the next century. It stood just to the west of a 
 big rock still reclining there. It is a fair conjecture that Meacham 
 found the same difficulty in finding water near his first house that 
 the builders of the West College experienced thirty years later ; and 
 that what has been designated for a long time the " College Spring " 
 furnished the motive for his move from No. 43 to No. 49. Some- 
 what later, he changed his residence again to Bee Hill, to the excel- 
 lent farm on which four generations of the Hickox family have now 
 dwelt without a break. Jonathan Meacham was an original mem- 
 ber of the church, and so was Thankful Rugg, his w^ife ; and the 
 first recorded instance of church discipline is stated in the follow- 
 ing words, the church meeting being holden Feb. 13, 1779 : " Voted 
 that Sampson How and Nathaniel Sanford be a committee to wait 
 on Jonathan Meacham to enquire the reason of his absenting him- 
 self from communion." So far as existing church records extend, 
 this committee never made a formal report. Meacham and his wife 
 were not dismissed from the church, but are designated among those 
 " removed to distant parts." 
 
 The second case of church discipline, which may be properly 
 enough conjoined with this, made pastor and people a vast deal more 
 of trouble, and issued rather in their humiliation than in that of the 
 offending brother disciplined. Thomas Dunton, from Western or 
 its immediate neighborhood, had married there Mary Davis, a sister 
 of Stephen Davis, with whom we are already acquainted as the 
 husband of Rebecca Young. The Duntons came to West Hoosac 
 very early as settlers, made their home on the Hoosac River near 
 to the present Noble Bridge, and took their full share in all the 
 forms of life within the narrow limits of the precinct. Like the 
 rest, they bought and sold lands, the chief commodity at that time; 
 they reared at least five children, and he was in no wise remiss in 
 his duties as a citizen-soldier. "This church think it their duty 
 to make known and declare to the world. That, whereas, Thomas 
 Dunton formerly a professing member of this church, having been 
 repeatedly guilty of excessive drinking or drunkenness was and has 
 
WILLIAMSTOWX. d67 
 
 been as this church trust dealt with according to Christ's rules and 
 directions," — then follows a detailed account of the pastor's private 
 interviews with the brother, in which the offence of absenting him- 
 self from the communion paved the way to a discussion of the more 
 heinous sin of ''excessive drinking"; and then an account of an 
 interview between the pastor, accompanied by Captain Israel Harris 
 and Mr. Nathan Wheeler and the member under discipline; and 
 this, too, brought nothing to a head. However, — 
 
 he said he would see and converse with the pastor in private within a few 
 days. However the pastor did not have any opportunity to converse with him 
 till sometime after, when Mr. Nathan Wheeler Jr. came to the pastor and informed 
 him that Mr. Dunton was going to leave the Town in a short time and expressed 
 an opinion that he should not leave the Town under these circumstances, there- 
 fore desired that there might be a meeting of the church as soon as might be : 
 Accordingly one was appointed and the church met in the meeting house and a 
 verbal complaint was exhibited to the church against Mr. Dunton for neglecting 
 or absenting himself from the communion of the church and for being frequently 
 guilty of excessive drinking or drunkenness and for persisting in these practices 
 impenitent when dealt with by his brethren or in other words refusing to hear 
 them. The church referred the matter and chose a Committee of three Capt. 
 Israel Harris, Mr. Nathan Wheeler and Mr. Daniel Burbank who were to convey 
 to him and ask him to answer to the above complaint. The Committee repaired 
 immediately to Mr. Dunton and laid the result of the church before him. But 
 he refused to come and appear before the church or give any satisfaction ; and 
 even renounced all relation to or connection with the church and affirmed that 
 he had never been a member of Mr. Swift's church, tho' it had not been known 
 to any of the Brethren but that he was satisfied with Mr. Swift as to his pastoral 
 character or with the conduct of the church at the time of his settling, for he 
 made no objections but appeared pleased and spoke in favor of Mr. Swift's min- 
 isterial character repeatedly and did after his ordination apparently submit to 
 brotherly discipline and reproof without pretending or intimating that he was 
 not a member of the church. However at this time he refused all relation and 
 connection to the church telling the church Committee that " he must answer for 
 his conduct and they for theirs." This report the Committee brought to the 
 church at another meeting. However after this upon Mr. Dunton intimating 
 that he had something to say to them the church met. He appeared but said 
 very little else than to renounce or repeat his renunciation of all connection and 
 relation with the church alleging that they had gone and left him and he thought 
 he had not left them, though it would not appear wherein unless every alteration 
 and reformation of practice be a going away from him. These being the circum- 
 stances of the affair between Mr. Dunton and the church. Therefore : Voted 
 and Resolved that this church do view and consider the said Mr. Thomas Dun- 
 ton as unconnected with this church and not in the fellowship and communion 
 of them. 
 
 Test. Seth Swift Pastor. 
 
 Wn.LiAMSTowx the 2 of July A.D. 1780. 
 
568 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Thomas Dunton, of Williamstown, '' Yeoman," sold to David Noble, 
 of Williamstown, *' Gentleman," two acres of land on Hoosac River 
 " adjacent to my now dwelling house all the land lying on the east- 
 erly bank of said river which belonged to the meadow lot 19, and 
 also a privilege to use and occupy the river on which said lot is 
 bounded," etc. So vanisheth Thomas Dunton. 
 
 6. John Smedley, the eldest of a large family of brothers and 
 sisters from Litchfield (now Morris), had become, by 1768, so prom- 
 inent and prosperous a citizen as the proprietor of the chief saw- 
 mill of the place, and of the two best pine lots, and several meadow 
 lots on the Lower Hoosac as well as of house lots Nos. 29 and 48, that 
 he would naturally have been well seated in the new meeting-house. 
 His brother Nehemiah, next younger, was of the building and seating 
 committee, but that circumstance would hardly have postponed the 
 claims of John Smedley, although very likely Smedley and Simonds, 
 of that committee, would serve themselves later on that account, 
 especially if they two had combined to give the other member of the 
 committee the first seat, as has been supposed above. John Smedley 
 was not a member of the church. Neither w^as any one of the 
 building committee; but Eichard Stratton's wife Avas an original 
 member, and after his death (which occurred not far from 1779) 
 the church repeatedly met at her house, which was then by much 
 the best house in the hamlet. The meeting-house had been built 
 and was always owned by the proprietors ; undoubtedly, the seating 
 proceeded on the basis of some real or fancied precedence among 
 them. The concession has already been described by which the 
 proprietors, in 1763, permitted John Smedley to take the water for 
 his sawmill out of Broad Brook at the north end of the present 
 bridge, and to carry it across the public road. In the warrant for a 
 proprietors' meeting, issued in February, 1768, one of the items 
 of business was, " To chuse a Committee to Sew John Smedley for 
 Not making the Bridge when he turned the Brook." But at the 
 meeting itself, in March, it was " Voted not to sew John Smedley." 
 The Smedley family came with Bev. Peter Bulkley from England, 
 and followed him from Boston to Concord, which he founded in 1636. 
 They were John and Baptist. Both became freemen in Concord in 
 1644, and John prominent there later. John's son, Samuel, was in 
 Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1690. His son, Samuel, born in 1702, 
 married Esther Kilborn in 1729. Their eldest child, born Jan. 4, 
 1731, was our John Smedley. He married Deliverance Humphreys, 
 and they had eight children, three born in Litchfield and five in 
 Williamstown. One only was a son, John ; the seven daughters all 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 569 
 
 lived to be married; Deliverance to Joel Baldwin, Amy to James 
 Fowler, Amelia to Samuel Hawkins, — these three continued to live 
 in Williamstown ; Mary to John Boynton, who moved to Cornwall, 
 Vermont; Huldah to Warren Uibbs, who moved to Middlebury, Ver- 
 mont; and Tryphena to Richard Kinney, and Olive to Moses 
 McMaster, and both of these families removed to Georgia, Vermont. 
 Mrs. Baldwin lived here to old age, and went by the name of "Aunt 
 Dill " in the neighborhood where she dwelt, but finally migrated 
 with her grandnephew, Lemuel, to Great Bend, Pennsylvania, within 
 the memory of some now living. 
 
 John S medley, Junior, married Elsie Williams, daughter of that 
 Nehemiah Williams whose acquaintance we have made as living by 
 the big rock near the Pownal line, on Northwest Hill, and as wit- 
 nessing some of the surrendering soldiers of Burgoyne filing down 
 the opposite Pownal hills. Smedley's home was not far from his 
 father's, on fifty-acre lot No. 6, of the first division, whicli holds the 
 famous Sand Spring; and the second John Smedley was the first 
 known owner of that watering-place, which has had a vicissitudinous 
 history as such ; and the tradition is still stirring, adown its appro- 
 priate lines, that old Aaron Smedley, born in 1750, who was a 
 vagrant hunter, living mostly in Vermont, used, on his visits to his 
 relatives in Williamstown, to frequent his nephew's rude bathing- 
 place, for the benefit of his eczema. A third John Smedley, son of 
 John, Junior, born April 21, 1780, married Mary Morse, moved 
 afterwards to Clinton County, New York, returned to Williamstown 
 in 1822, and then moved to Allen County, Ohio, where he died. 
 This Smedley is more interesting on account of his posterity than 
 from anything in his own biography. His daughter Lois, born 
 March 12, 1783, was married to Reuben Stetson at Cornwall, Ver- 
 mont, in July, 1801, and thirteen children were the fruit of that 
 union. Mrs. Stetson died the last day of August, in 1866. One of 
 her sons, named Lemuel Stetson, after one of her brothers, Lemuel 
 Smedley, the same who took "Aunt Dill," in her old age, from 
 Williamstown to Great Bend, Pennsylvania, became the father of 
 Francis Lynde Stetson, born April 23, 1846 (Williams College, 
 1867), distinguished as a lawyer in New York, and particularly as 
 bringing into his law firm President Cleveland, at the close of his 
 first administration. F. L. Stetson's mother was Helen Hascall; 
 and his father was in political and judicial life in the state of New 
 York all tlie time (nearly) from 1835 to 1862. 
 
 7. Daniel Burbank, of Western, referred to in the above case of 
 church discipline against Thomas Dunton as a coadjutor with the 
 
570 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 pastor, is written in old deeds as of '' West Hoosuck," as early as 
 1761. He bought in that year, in company with Benjamin Simonds, 
 one-half of two fifty-acre lots of the second division, — :N"os. 56 and 
 57, —which, two years later, became wholly his own, and on the 
 latter of which he built, shortly afterwards, the first framed house 
 in the South Part. It consisted of one room. The next year another 
 room was added, in which Aaron Deming was permitted to live 
 until he could house himself upon his own 100-acre lot, as already 
 described. Burbank's lots were level and fertile and heavily 
 wooded. The Ashford Brook crossed them both not far from their 
 eastern end and but a little before its junction with the Hancock 
 Brook, and the road to the south crossed them diagonally just about 
 their middle. He had at first but one neighbor, and that was Isaac 
 ^tratton, li-ving then in a log-house on No. 53, just north of the 
 Hancock Brook, where that hastens to unite with the Ashford, in 
 the same lot, 53, on which is the present site of the Sabin House, in 
 the centre of the little village, — a site that has been occupied as a 
 tavern almost ever since. But Stratton soon crossed the brook upon 
 IN"o, 54; and built his house on the site occupied for life, a few rods 
 South, on the west side of the road ; and he shortly after owned and 
 cultivated No. 55, also, which lay between himself and Burbank. 
 The latter' s own axe was the first to make clearings on 57 and 56, 
 and his own plough was the first that ever stirred the rich intervale 
 there. It was long called the Burbank farm. Let it be so called 
 forever! His wife was Mary Marks, — likely to have come from 
 Western, — and the eldest of their ten children was born in Febru- 
 ary, 1766. Both Burbank and his wife were original members of 
 the one church, and their place of meeting was more than five miles 
 from their home. The roads were rough, and over Stone Hill very 
 steep both ways, but it is altogether likely that they were in their 
 pew in the new meeting-house, after 1768, most of the Sundays of 
 the year, and he was certainly often at the church meetings on week 
 days. The same was true of Isaac Stratton, his next neighbor. 
 Accordingly, we find the proprietors building a bridge for them over 
 the Hancock Brook, in what is now the hamlet of South Williams- 
 town, even before they built one over the Green River, at the east- 
 ern end of the north village, although there were many more settlers 
 east of that stream than south of its tributary. The truth is, that 
 Stratton and Burbank were pushing and prosperous young men, and 
 soon became prominent. 
 
 The only reason why the writer presumes that Burbank may have 
 been seated in precedence to Stratton is, that the latter was son to 
 
WILLIiUISTOWN. 571 
 
 that one of the seating committee, Richard Stratton, who would nat- 
 urally take the first seat, by the vote of his two colleagues, much 
 younger than he. Burbank's life was uneventful, except as he went 
 out repeatedly in the militia during the Revolutionary War. He 
 was in the battle of Bennington as a private, though his rank in the 
 militia at that time was Lieutenant. His eldest son, Samuel, be- 
 tween eleven and twelve years old at that time, lived to tell William 
 Dickinson, who told the writer, that his mother directed him repeat- 
 edly, on the memorable day of the battle, to put his ear on the ground 
 and listen, and that he did so, and heard the sound of the cannon 
 distinctly and more than once. The distance is twenty miles. 
 This son, also, transmitted the never-to-be-forgotten remark of the 
 father, when he had returned from that battle, in which a bullet 
 had grazed his ear: •• After they had fired once and we had fired 
 once, I'd just as soon be in the battle-field as in the potato field ! " 
 
 8. Isaac Stratton had a much more intimate and influential con- 
 nection with the battle of Bennington than his brave neighbor Bur- 
 bank ; but the story of that is best deferred until a later chapter may 
 open up that whole subject. So far as appears at this late day, Isaac 
 Stratton, more than any one else in the early times here, was under 
 the dense shade of his father's good name and great activity. But 
 they lived about five miles distant from each other, and the son easily 
 held the first place at the South Part, as the father did more easily at 
 the North Part. Richard Stratton's sons clung firmly to the old, 
 established church order, as did also his wife, while he himself became 
 a Baptist, and has no name on the Congregational church-record. 
 This does not seem to have detracted at all from his influence and 
 popularity. Isaac was his oldest chikl, and seven others followed, all 
 born in Western. Isaac's birth fell in November, 1739, and he was 
 consequently twenty-two years old, if, as is probable, the family 
 moved hitlier in 1761. Tlie father seems to have been a man of 
 property when he came. He bought, in April, 1762, what ever after 
 continued to be his homestead ; namely, house lot 58, and a part of 
 fifty-acre lot 34, directly north of the house lot, " and supposed to be 
 about 13 acres." For this he paid Derick Webb £34, and Elkanah 
 Parris and Isaac Stratton signed the deed as witnesses. It is reason- 
 ably certain that the older Stratton had bought, a year or two before 
 this, the two fifty-acre lots at the south part, Nos. 53 and 54, which 
 soon became the patrimony of Isaac, because the evidence is com- 
 plete that Isaac built his cabin on No. 54 by the brookside in 1761, 
 if not in 1760. Professor Kellogg, in "Field's Berkshire," wrote in 
 1829 from hearstiy : " It was not till about 1760 that Isaac Stratton, 
 
572 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 son of Eichard, began on the spot ever since occupied by a tavern in 
 the centre of the village. He was there alone about three or four 
 years." In September, 1766, the father, in consideration of £7, 
 " together with that parental love and affection which I have and do 
 bear to him the said Isaac Stratton my well beloved son," deeded the 
 lots, 53 and 55, to the son. In August, 1767, the latter sold No. 53 
 to Samuel Sloan, who soon built and opened a tavern on the site of 
 Stratton's cabin, while the latter moved south of the brook and 
 established himself for life on a pleasant knoll on No. 54. 
 
 Isaac Stratton and Mary Fox, his wife, had two children born to 
 them while they still lived north of the brook, and at least three 
 afterwards at their permanent home south of it. Both were original 
 members of the church, and he died in its communion ; while, after 
 his decease in 1789, the widow married Eev. Clark Eogers and left 
 the town with him ; but when she died in 1812 her body was brought 
 back, and lies buried by the side of her first husband in the burial- 
 yard at the junction of the brooks. Besides military services of a 
 high character under all the commissions in the militia up to Major, 
 Isaac Stratton was early commissioned as a justice of the peace, and 
 began to draw the simple legal writings needed in so primitive a 
 community. He was town clerk also for a long time. He drew the 
 entire confidence of the people in all parts of the town. He was 
 pecuniarily prosperous in the then current usage of that term. After 
 the definitive treaty of peace with Great Britain in 1783, he prepared 
 to erect for himself a new house of two stories and ample dimen- 
 sions. The materials, for the most part, were close at hand, growing 
 upon his own land. The timbers are still in place and in good pres- 
 ervation to the present time. "The rafters are long poles of quite 
 uniform size, such as grew then luxuriantly on intervale land by the 
 brooksides. A bit of white marble set in the chimney bears the 
 legend legible yet : — 
 
 I. o. 
 
 1785 
 
 Stratton enjoyed his new house but four years, and passed on 
 into a house not made with hands. His headstone in the cemetery 
 nearly opposite the house to the eastward bears the simple epitaph : 
 "Isaac Stratton Esq. died April 3, 1789, aged 50." 
 
 The precedence of Isaac Stratton at the South Part, both in point 
 of time and general position over the other early and excellent 
 settlers there, makes the appellation of " Stratton Mountain," 
 appropriated to the huge wedge of rock and soil and forest, thrust 
 northward into the acute angle formed by the Hancock and Ash- 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 573 
 
 ford brooks, a good name to the mountain, and a fitting memorial to 
 the man. On the same day in September, 1766, when Richard Stratton 
 gave his son, Isaac, his farm in South Williamstown,he also gave his 
 second son, Daniel, for £5, "together with that parental love and 
 affection which I have and do bear/' etc., a good farm in the White 
 Oaks, consisting of first-division fifty-acre lot No. 51, with parts of 
 two meadow lots adjoining the main lot, and two oak lots convenient 
 of access to the homestead. It has been noted already that the father 
 also gave on similar terms to his third son, Ebenezer, an excellent farm 
 on Green River, on which this son lived and died, the road leading to 
 which has recently been christened by the town the " Stratton road." 
 
 ISAAC STRATTON'S HOUSE. 
 Built 1785. 
 
 9. Not much inferior in point of social consideration to Daniel 
 Burbank was Thomas Roe, from Canaan, Connecticut, who bought 
 of Asa Douglas, then of that place, for £30, in December, 1764, the 
 fifty-acre lot next south of Burbank's, and the last in that tier of 
 lots. Then follow in that direction the 100-acre lots, on which the 
 Demings first sat down. The deed from Douglas to Roe was exe- 
 cuted in Canaan, when the latter was twenty-eight years old, and 
 his wife, Mary Welles, was three years younger. She was from 
 Hartford. They undoubtedly began on their new lot in the spring 
 of 1765. The deed was executed in Canaan before John Beebe, 
 Justice of the Peace. Here they lived to have twelve children, of 
 whom the eldest was Elisha, born Dec. 5, 1768. Their lot. No. 58, 
 ran back to the Ashford Brook on the east, and was flanked on that 
 
574 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 side by Deer Hill, one of the foothills of the Greylock group ; and 
 Elisha Eoe, as well as Samuel Burbank, reported in their old age to 
 the youngsters that they used to see the deer sport and graze on 
 the swell over the brook. Hence the name "Deer Hill." 
 
 Both Thomas and Mary K-oe were members of the first church 
 here when Mr. Swift was settled in 1779 ; and as there is no list of 
 the church-members previous to that time, and as, after Mr. Welch 
 went away to the army in the autumn of 1775, all church matters were 
 in confusion for four years, it is best to regard Mr. Swift's flock of 
 1779 as the primitive sheep of the place. Forty of these were hus- 
 bands and wives, of whom eleven couples continued for life in the 
 communion of the church, and nine couples were dismissed, or 
 removed from the town. Of the remaining twenty-one, nine con- 
 tinued in their relation to the local church till their death, and 
 twelve withdrew elsewhere. Tradition still continues to whisper 
 kind words about the family of Thomas Eoe at the south part, but the 
 inexorable silence will soon set in. The first and only well-authen- 
 ticated case of '' bundling " in the early times of West Hoosac has 
 been preserved in connection with the hospitable house of Thomas 
 Roe. Old Aaron Deming told Dan Foster, who owned and occupied 
 the Roe place during a long and reputable life, that he slept in the 
 Roe house the first night he ever slept in the town, and that he 
 found a couple there who were sparking and bundled ; and that he 
 slept with them on the same bed, the young lady on the front side, 
 and the " Sparker " next, and he on the outside ; " But I didn't 
 covet her ! " The second son, Welles Roe, born Dec. 29, 1779, was 
 killed while driving into the barn on a load of hay, after a manner 
 somewhat common in Kew England in the olden time. The eldest 
 son, Elisha, married Electa Hill, of Goshen, Connecticut, a daughter 
 of Ambrose and Lucy Beach Hill. They moved to Medina, New 
 York, and had eleven children between 1799 and 1819. Four of 
 these were still living in 1885. One of them, Mrs. Roxanna Roe 
 Pratt, at that date resided at 3823 Ellis Avenue, Chicago, and com- 
 municated with parties in Williamstown on points relating to her 
 ancestry. Elisabeth Roe, a sister of Elisha and Welles, married, in 
 1793, Rev. Aaron Simmons, a Baptist minister ; and another sister 
 married Mr. Martin, of Bennington ; and still another, Mr. Calkins, 
 of Waterbnry, Vermont. The following letter, this day received 
 from Mrs. Roxanna Roe Pratt, a granddaughter of Thomas Roe, 
 herself born on the old farm in 1812, printed exactly as she wrote 
 it, may interest somebody long after both writer and recipient (to 
 use her words) " have past to their long home " : — 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 575 
 
 Professor Perrv, f^"'"""' ""y ^S. 1893. 
 
 Dear Sir, Your letter in answer to my daughters husband Mr. Steele was 
 received with many thanks, for your kindness in giving us the information con- 
 cerning the Roe family, Thomas Hoe was my Granfather, I was the daughter 
 of his son Elisha Roe. You were correct in the number of children of my 
 Grandfather, my Father hatl eleven children. I was the youngest of five girls, 
 and all have pi\st to their long home, but myself only waiting until the shadows 
 are a little longer grown. I have the Old family Bible of my Grandfathers, it 
 is so old that some of letters and dates are Illegible. I know my Grandfather 
 was in the Revolutionary war, but Imve no proof of it, but through you, my 
 older brothers used to play Soldiers with his Regimentals I was quite young 
 when they died. I think my Grandfather was eighty seven, and my Grand- 
 mother eighty two, I remember them veiy well, The reason of this request, my 
 daughters wished to join the Daughters of the Revolution. There is a large 
 Society of them in this city, of all the prominent familes of the eastern states, 
 and are quite Enthusiastic so all join that can. You remember my daughter 
 Mrs Sidley in one of her visits to see her son William while he was in College, 
 told me of your kindness in taking her to ride down through South Williams- 
 town, by the old Homestead, and I feel very much gratified for your kindness 
 in so doing, my Grandson William is a lovely man, he is a Lawyer in a very 
 prominent firm here, and doing very nicely. 
 
 He and his Mother sends their kindest regards to you, hoping to see you this 
 summer at our Worlds Fair, and they will give you a most cordial welcome at 
 their home, Please excuse my long epistle explaining family matters, you can 
 p^.o t),.. (\](\ hand a little shaky, again thanking you I remain your friend 
 
 Mrs Roxanna Pratt. 
 
 10. In one of the preceding chapters we have learned some 
 interesting facts in relation to Samuel Kellogg, who, by the time the 
 first meeting-house was built in 1768, was well established on his 
 farm, situated just half-way between the east end of the village and 
 the east boundary of the town, and who would doubtless consider 
 himself, and be considered by others, entitled to a pew of, at least, 
 the average respectability; especially as he and his wife, Chloe 
 Bacon, were both in personal covenant with the church, and as they 
 had had three children when the " seating of the meetinghouse '^ 
 took place. Samuel Kellogg, the son of Benjamin, Avas born in old 
 Hadley (long the seat of the family), June 9, 1734, and, like many 
 another young man of his time, dropped down the Connecticut 
 River into the state below, and crept back into Massachusetts by 
 the Housatonic. The fact is, the direct mountain barrier in Massa- 
 chusetts between the Connecticut and the Hoosac and the Hou- 
 satonic was, for a long time, too formidable for direct assault. 
 Kellogg came up from Canaan, Connecticut, in 17G1, along a path 
 that had l)ei*n already, for ten years. i)retty well frcfiuented ])v ' 
 
576 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 young men both in peace and war. The place where he sat down, 
 after some shiftings, was on the rude path between Fort Massachu- 
 setts and West Hoosac Fort, midway between the two. It was the 
 present road. It was the path, in reference to which the West 
 Hoosac proprietors voted, on the 19th of April, 1762, " To clear 
 a road to the East town for a cart to get along." The surveyors, 
 in laying out the fifty-acre lots of the first division, caused ten of 
 those lots to abut at their north end upon this road, while they 
 stretched upon the south towards Saddle Mountain; and north of 
 this road to the Hoosac Eiver were two fifty-acre lots (Nos. 26 and 
 27) and several meadow lots. Kellogg began on the north end of 
 No. 19, but still on the south side of the fort road, because the land 
 was a little higher on that side. His first log house stood a little 
 back of some present poplar trees planted by his son, and now (1893) 
 very old. He bought, at various times, adjoining lands on both 
 sides the road, and extending northwards as far as the river, to and 
 along which it was only possible to pass, at first, by jumping from 
 one prostrate log to another on account of the wetness of tl^e land, 
 until he had compacted there a farm of about 170 acres. 
 
 Of course, the first thing for him to do, as for each other pristine 
 settler throughout the town, was to chop down some trees at some 
 selected point, and thus at once to make a place, and get the mate- 
 rials for a log cabin for shelter and an incipient home ; and the next 
 thing was to clear off more ground for some arable land. All this 
 involved hard labor, and much of it, and the time could not be 
 essentially hastened ; and nothing but the plough could determine, 
 beyond all question, the quality of the soil. Kellogg found his land 
 south of the fort road, and near it, to be very clayey upon trial. 
 When he came to be able to put up a framed house, and a two-story 
 one at that, on his slowly expanding arable acres, he selected a site 
 on the opposite side of the road, where the land, too, proved to be, 
 and has continued to be till this day, of a more tractable and fertile 
 quality. 
 
 Pretty direct and reliable tradition maintains that Samuel Kel- 
 logg, while subduing his homestead in the early years, sometimes 
 felt obliged to take refuge o' nights in one or other of the two forts 
 which were about equally accessible to him. The Indians continued 
 to prowl along their old war-paths even after the gen,eral Peace of 
 Paris of 1763. In the course of twenty years or so, Kellogg became 
 possessed of another farm southeast of his homestead and at more 
 than a mile interval from it, on the high and excellent land toward 
 Saddle Mountain, partly in the present town of North Adams, to 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 577 
 
 which and across which ran then, as now, a road parallel to the river- 
 road, hugging tlie hills. Samuel Kellogg, Junior, inherited, on his 
 father's death in 1788, both the homestead and the hill-farm, and 
 some account of these lands, as typical of others like them through- 
 out the town, may, perhaps, be found on pages to follow. The elder 
 Kellogg is believed by his descendants to be in the direct line of 
 Joseph Kellogg, one of tlie original settlers in old Hadley in 1660, 
 a Puritanic family, and, as first exemplified in Williamstown, intelli- 
 gent and enterprising and prosperous and patriotic. 
 
 Samuel Kellogg was prominent among the proprietors here from 
 the first, sometimes presided at their meetings, and more often was 
 assessor or other officer, and chairman of their important committees. 
 As the questions that slowly culminated in the American Revolution 
 were developed one after another, he took upon them a decidedly 
 patriotic stand, perhaps in part on account of the warm Scotch blood 
 that flowed in his veins, and certainly in sympathy with his relatives 
 of the same name in Hadley and Hatfield. As the war drew on, he 
 went to Boston several times as a member of the local " Committee 
 of Safety " in Williamstown, and on other business connected with 
 the colony; and he was in the battle of Bennington with nearly 
 every other able-bodied man of the town. His wife's father, Daniel 
 Bacon, was killed in that battle, as were two other citizens of the 
 town. It is believed by his grandson, Giles Bacon Kellogg, that he 
 was commissioned a justice of the peace here under the Crown before 
 the war broke out, and that he bore the title of " Esquire " from 
 that source ; at any rate, he served as a justice and bore that title 
 after the war was over ; and there is very little, if any, doubt that 
 he tried in that capacity a gang of counterfeiters that had operated, 
 or were supposed to have operated, in the depths of the Hopper. 
 They were betrayed by the smoke arising from their fires, and were 
 arrested on legal process issued by him. Giles B. Kellogg (Williams 
 College, 1829) writes as follows : " I know there was a mysterious 
 chest kept locked or nailed up in the closet of the southeast chamber 
 of our house, which was said to contain the tools taken from the 
 counterfeiters and delivered to grandfather. I never heard what 
 became of the counterfeiters or knew what became of the tools." 
 
 Samuel Kellogg died when he was fifty-four years old, leaving 
 much of his projjerty and of his position to his son of the same name, 
 who was born Sept. 29, 1766. The father had a half-brother, Eben- 
 ezer Kellogg, who outlived him more than forty years, and who 
 made his home with him the latter part of his life, and who exem- 
 plifies a sort of character considerably common in New England 
 
578 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 during the last part of the last century and the beginning part of 
 this. His wife was Filene Fuller, and they lived at the eastward 
 till after her death, when, having no children, he came over the 
 mountain to his brother's, and never after removed, but died here 
 about 1831. He was a man of fine physical frame and of no ordinary 
 intelligence, and was exceedingly fond of the unbroken forests. He 
 was a great hunter and fisherman, and claimed to be a skilful root- 
 doctor. After his brother's death, he would sometimes leave his 
 nephew's house and be absent for a week at a time, hunting and fish- 
 ing and searching for roots in the woods and mountains. He came 
 and went easily, making no reports of his journeys, nor seeming to 
 think of them as worthy of any chronicle. But he had a good mem- 
 ory of the earlier times and persons, was fond of reporting the 
 epitaphs of the Kelloggs in the old Hadley burying-ground, and 
 some of the facts above noted in relation to Samuel Kellogg have 
 come down through this singular informant. 
 
 11. Daniel Bacon, the father-in-law of Samuel Kellogg, was from 
 Middletown, Connecticut, a blacksmith by trade, son of Nathaniel 
 Bacon, 2d, of Middletown, and the best known of the three men 
 from Williamstown killed in the battle of Bennington. His daugh- 
 ter Chloe married Kellogg, in March, 1764, and some time after her 
 husband's death, in 1788, she married Thomas Henderson, a farmer 
 of Bennington, and lived there until 1829, when she died, aged 
 eighty-five. She was, accordingly, twenty-three years old when she 
 married Kellogg, and her father must have been older than the 
 average incomer when he settled here. His ultimate farm con- 
 sisted of two fifty-acre lots of the first division, — Nos. 61 and 
 63, — adjoining end to end, and lying directly east of Taylor's 
 Crotch. His nearest neighbor was Absalom Blair, who was with 
 him and Kellogg in Bennington Battle. Bacon's father preceded 
 him in the buying and selling of lands in Berkshire, as appears 
 from certain deeds in the old registry. For example, Nathaniel 
 Bacon, 2d, of Middletown, gave, under the usual formula, his lots in 
 " New Framingham " (Lanesboro) to his son Jacob, 20 Aug., 1761 ^ 
 and this Jacob lived, in 1765, in "Yokuntown" (Lenox), and, still 
 later, sold the lands in Lanesboro to Elijah Hurlburt. Daniel came 
 to Williamstown before Jacob did, and in September, 1766, bought 
 of Samuel Payen, of Water Street, fifty-acre lot 61, for £23; and 
 apparently, some time after, bought No. 63, adjoining, for £40, of 
 Aaron Bacon, who may likely have been another brother, though we 
 know little about him. The description of No. 63 in the deed from 
 Aaron to Daniel is worth quoting: "bounded West on highway, 
 
WILLI AMSTOWN. 579 
 
 East on land belonging to Jonathan Kilborn, South on land belong- 
 ing to Josiah Wright, North on a highway." This second ''high- 
 way " is what is now called the " Blair road." The cellar of Bacon's 
 original house, on No. 63, is still visible enough, near a spring of 
 living water, on the south side of the lot. There is an old plum 
 tree or two still growing near the cellar-wall. The next house 
 built on that lot was on a knoll considerably further north, — a 
 brick house, in which Cai)tain Isaac Latham lived for many yeai-s, — 
 but the present farm-house is still further north, and on the very 
 edge of the Blair road. Daniel Bacon seems to have been a stirring 
 man, and ultimately reached the rank of "Sergeant" in his militia 
 company, and would doubtless have been fairly seated in the meeting- 
 house by 17G8, which was nine years before his honored death. 
 
 Though in somewhat rude lines, Jacob Bacon also left deeply cut 
 memorials of himself in the town of his final choice of residence. 
 He lived and died on what is now " Farm B," belonging to John B. 
 Gale (Williams College, 1842), originally No. IX of the first division 
 of the fifty-acre lots, on the Green River road. He died Dec. 27, 
 1819, in his eightieth year. His wife, Lois, died Nov. 23, 1818, in 
 her fifty-ninth year. Their son Stephen, born Feb. 28, 1771, made 
 his home well up into the Hopper, where his posterity have resided 
 ever since. His wife's name was Mehitable. They were married 
 Feb. 2, 1789, when the groom was not quite eighteen. Their son 
 Stephen was born Oct. 7, 1804, and practically spent his life on the 
 Upper Hopper Brook. He once told the present writer, that, when 
 he was a small boy, Aaron Wright lived still further up the brook 
 than the Bacon place ; indeed, somebody has lived beyond the 
 Bacons during the whole of this centur}', Stephen Pettitt being the 
 last long-lived and well-known occupant of this obscure ultima 
 Thule. The second Stephen Bacon said, also, once, to the writer, 
 that he remembered his grandfather Jacob perfectly well, that he 
 visited him often on " Farm B," as it was then, and that he once 
 gave him a penny ! The present Stephen Bacon, the third of that 
 name in regular succession, an intelligent and enterprising and 
 excellent man, is still cultivating the ancestral acres, and many 
 more well-rounded ones in extension of them ; in fact, the Upi^er 
 Hopper would no longer be itself without some hospitable family, 
 with that well-known name to give its greeting, and, perchance, its 
 succor, to the passing wayfarer towards, or in return from, the sum- 
 mit of Greylock. Still, it was an old soldier of Fort ^lassachusetts, 
 Elkanah Parris, becoming a Quaker after the Peace of Paris, leaving 
 his own-built ''regulation" house in <^1i" vilLige, on Green T>i"v"v 
 
580 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 (still standing), who, with his wife Grace, and four children, first 
 followed up the beautiful brook, and chose the site and built the 
 house, with its white-oak sills from north of the Hoosac, in which 
 four generations of the Bacons have already dwelt. 
 
 Besides this Parris house, called now for three-quarters of a cen- 
 tury the " Bingham house," and which is still owned and occupied 
 by Chloe Bingham, there are two other original " regulation " houses 
 standing intact in this village, very similar to this one ; namely, the 
 " Simonds house," originally built on house lot 22, but long ago 
 
 THE "REGULATION" HOUSE OF ELKANAH PARRIS. 
 
 moved across the street to a high position opposite, and now form- 
 ing the west end of the home of Mrs. Patrick Kelly ; and the second 
 one, now forming the L part of the old Bissell Sherman house, itself 
 erected in 1797. The General Court required, in 1750, of each pur- 
 chaser of a house lot, in order to maintain his landed rights in the 
 "propriety," that he build a house on it, within a specified time, 
 " at least 18 feet long and 7 foot stud." 
 
 12. It was just fifty years after the big immigration into New 
 England of the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, in 1718, that the first 
 meeting-house was built in Williamstown. In the mean time, the 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 581 
 
 original Worcester contingent had colonized Blandford and Coleraine 
 bodily, and large numbers of families had gone into Western and 
 other towns in Worcester County, and there was a considerable ten- 
 dency, from the original New Hampshire settlements, of these people 
 into these towns of western Massachusetts ; and Berkshire County 
 at last, and even Williamstown, felt the impulse of their coming. 
 Absalom Blair, with Martha Young, his wife, both from Western, 
 and she a sister of the Williamstown Youngs, who have been already 
 considered, were among the Hrst of the Scotch-Irish people to settle 
 in Williamstown, and the very first to become anywise prominent 
 here. Abraham Blair was one of the soldiers who distinguished 
 himself for bravery and endurance in the famous siege of the Irish 
 Londonderry in 1689, and he was made free of taxes thereafter any- 
 where within the British dominions. His son Robert, then thirty- 
 four years old, was one of the Worcester incomers of 1718, and died 
 there Oct. 14, 1774, in the ninety-first year of his age. His wife, 
 Isabel, died nine years before, aged eighty-two. They left a very 
 large posterity in Worcester and in western Massachusetts generally. 
 There was a Robert, Junior, in Worcester, who had sons, — Robert 
 and David, — and these also had very large families. There were 
 other Blairs besides Robert — a plenty of them — in the great 
 immigration of 1718. There was James Blair, "a man of gigantic 
 stature and of fearless courage," who was one of the pristine settlers 
 of Londonderry, New Hampshire. Ensign David Blair died in 
 Western in 1804, aged ninety-six. He was, consequently, ten years 
 old at the incoming. John Blair also died in Western (now Warren) 
 in 1796, aged eighty-six, and was thus eight years old in 1718. He 
 was the father of Ezekiel Blair, born in April, 1742, who came to 
 Williamstown and bought his farm in 1764. Blandford, also, was 
 full of Blairs, among others Deacon Robert, of the Presbyterian 
 church there, who owned and livod on the "Govv" ^nvl 'l'''"l tltr're 
 in 1802. 
 
 Absalom Blair, who came ultimately to be Captain in his militia 
 company, a patriotic man throughout the Revolution, the father of 
 ten children, was born in November, 1742, and died in April, 1811, 
 at the age of sixty-nine. His widow survived him eighteen years. 
 He settled on Green River but a little way below its crotch, and the 
 broad and fertile farm went by the name of " Blair's " for more 
 than a century. It consisted of two or three meadow lots and two 
 fifty-acre lots. The Green River was bridged to reach the house, 
 which stood on meadow lot No. 62, on the north side of the road 
 whoro is now an orchard, whilf tlie new and l>f'tt'pr lionsp w:is built 
 
582 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 on higher ground on the south side of the road opposite to the old 
 one. This Blair road, about half a mile long, running due east, 
 strikes at right angles the Stratton road running due south from 
 the east end of the Main Street at Markham's. Absalom Blair 
 seems to have possessed the main characteristics of the Scotch-Irish 
 people in New England : namely, they were rather rough in speech 
 and manner, wilful even if not imperious in temper; while not 
 broadly intelligent, penetrating in intellect; industrious and frugal; 
 of strong prejudices not unlike grudges; taking easily to non- 
 monarchical forms of governmeiit, and lurching heavily against all 
 classes specially privileged by law ; as compared with the descend- 
 ants of the Pilgrims and the Puritans not peculiarly religious, but 
 perhaps peculiarly attached to their old Presbyterian forms. As a 
 rule, too, they had very large families, and were apt to live till they 
 were very old ; and as a general thing, they did not seem to put up 
 into as high a notch on the scale of the virtues as it might always 
 well hang in the virtue of personal cleanliness ! 
 
 Absalom Blair's oldest son, and the inheritor of his farm, and the 
 transmitter of his name in this town to this day, was William 
 Blair, born in October, 1765. He was old enough at the time of the 
 battle of Bennington — namely, twelve years old — to be set by his 
 anxious mother, who lived to tell the tale to the next generation, 
 to listen intently out of doors that August afternoon for sounds 
 from the northward. The boy asseverated at the time, and ever 
 afterward, and his mother believed him and reported it down to her 
 old age (she died in 1829), and his father on his return did not dis- 
 credit it, that he heard distinctly, at considerable intervals, volleys 
 of what he supposed were cannon ; and although cannon played a 
 relatively small part in the battle of Bennington, they were fired 
 a good many times, and especially a good many times in the second 
 fight ; and so the boy's testimony becomes credible, particularly as 
 confirmed by that of Samuel Burbank, who, though two miles fur- 
 ther south, compensated that disadvantage by keeping his ear to 
 the ground for long spaces of time. 
 
 William Blair married the most interesting girl there was in Wil- 
 liam stown at the time ; and she continued to be, perhaps, the most 
 interesting woman in Williamstown till her death, June 26, 1864, in 
 her ninety-second year. Her name was Sally Train, and she became 
 Mrs. Blair July 17, 1792. He was twenty-five, and she was eighteen. 
 Her mother was the first child born in Williamstown, Eachel 
 Simonds, born April 8, 1753, whose own childhood was nurtured 
 amid constant hazards, French and Indian stratagems, frequent 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 583 
 
 removals for greater safety from the home on the west side of Hem- 
 lock Brook to the fort upon the east side, — including stays in the 
 fort for months together ; when she was three years and a half old, 
 three men from the fort were killed by Indians on the banks of the 
 brook within a stone's throw of either home or fort; and as she 
 grew up towards womanhood under kindlier conditions, and in a 
 larger and better home, as there were apparently no eligible young 
 men for her to marry, she married Thomas Train, who had been a 
 soldier or officer in both forts, an excellent man, but twenty or 
 twenty-five years her senior. We have already, in another connec- 
 tion, pointed out the place of their brief home together as marked 
 at present by the sturdy elm tree, and told the story of his strange 
 journey to Virginia and sudden death there, leaving here a youthful 
 widow with her infant daughter, Sally Train. 
 
 Mrs. Train remained a widow but for a few years with her little 
 daughter — both young together — when she was married to Benja- 
 min Skinner, a young man who came up here from Colchester in 
 1775 with an older brother, Tompson J. Skinner, sons of the Rev. 
 Thomas Skinner, of West Chester, a parish in Colchester. The 
 older brother was destined to play a great part in Williamstown, 
 and to become celebrated in both senses of that word throughout 
 Massachusetts; the younger one, who was less gifted and conse- 
 quently overshadowed, became, notwithstanding, a very useful and 
 prominent man during a long life. Mrs. Train's second marriage 
 proved happy and fruitful ; and Sally grew up with the elder of the 
 Skinner children, of whom there were, in all, three daughters and 
 four sons. Each of the daughters married distinguished gentlemen, 
 and two of the sons filled also large spaces in the public eye. The 
 other two sons are mentioned in an uncomplimentary way in the will 
 of Colonel Benjamin Simonds, who was their grandfather. The epi- 
 taph of Mrs. Skinner is quotable : " Mrs. Rachel Skinner, amiable 
 consort of Mr. Benjamin Skinner, b. 8 April 1753, died 29 Nov. 1802." 
 Mr. and Mrs. Skinner united with the church together in 1780. He 
 became one of the deacons in 1802, and continued as such till his 
 death in 1828, aged seventy-eight. He was also appointed post- 
 master in 1819. Just a year after the death of his first wife, he 
 married Deodama Noble ; and one son, George Noble Skinner (Wil- 
 liams College, 1827), was the sole fruit of that union. "Aunt Skin- 
 ner," as she was always called in her old age, is still remembered by 
 many persons not yet called old. 
 
 Mrs. Sally Train Blair assumed the resix)nsibilities as mistress at 
 the Blair farm on her early marriage to William Blair, or rather. 
 
584 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 shared them at first with her mother-in-law, Martha Young Blair, who 
 survived the marriage of her eldest son for thirty-six years, and con- 
 tinued to sustain these responsibilities with unusual cheerfulness and 
 vigor, until they were shared in her old age by her unmarried daugh- 
 ter, Maria Blair, who was born in November, 1803. Besides this 
 daughter there were two others, Alice and Harriet, and six sons, two 
 of whom, Bernard, 1825, and George Train, 1833, were graduates of 
 Williams College. The latter, taking up his residence in Troy directly 
 after graduation, studied law, held the office of city clerk for several 
 years, was chosen surrogate and held the office for ten years, was 
 appointed postmaster of Troy in 1861, and in 1865 paymaster in the 
 United States army. He came to Williamstown on business in 1867, 
 was taken suddenly ill, and died amid the familiar scenes of his youth, 
 April 3, aged fifty-seven. Bernard Blair, the only other graduate of 
 that surname in the first century of the College, spent his entire 
 life after leaving college in Salem, New York, both studying and 
 practising law there, was elected a member of the Twenty-seventh 
 Congress from that district, and usefully served his generation as 
 president of a local bank and railroad, and in all other relations of 
 life. Edwin Blair, another brother, ultimately came to carry on the 
 farm, and to furnish a home for his -maiden sister Maria; but not 
 succeeding well financially, and marrying also late in life, he became 
 melancholic, and committed suicide. At the present writing, Deacon 
 Henry Blair, born in May, 1812, and the last survivor of the chil- 
 dren of William and Sally, and Austin Blair, his son^ named for his 
 uncle, Austin Wing Blair, who was the youngest child of William 
 and Sally, are the only men left in Williamstown of that once preva- 
 lent name. Alice Blair, the oldest child of William and Sally, born 
 in September, 1796, still remembered by at least one old lady in 
 Williamstown (Mrs. James Smedley) as a beautiful young lady 
 riding gracefully, was married to Hiram Bacon of the family but 
 just now characterized in these pages, and they removed with their 
 family to Indiana in 1822. Many of the later descendants of the 
 Blairs, and also of the Kelloggs and other families, migrated to 
 Georgia, Vermont, and settled down there. 
 
 13. William Horsford has perhaps been postponed in this imagi- 
 nary order of seating to a later place than was his due accorded to 
 him by the committee at the time. He was a very early comer. 
 He was one in a select company of soldiers sent up hither by the 
 colony of Connecticut as the best place at which to guard its own 
 frontiers from the French and Indian raiders from Canada. It was 
 easy for these to drop down the Housatonic into Connecticut, if they 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 585 
 
 could once get by the two forts on the Hoosac, and the watershed a 
 few miles to the south of them. One such raid actually penetrated 
 through Stockbridge into the border towns below. But William 
 Horsford and his brothiBr Josiah and Nehemiah Smedley and Allen 
 Curtiss and John and Jonathan Kilbon, all from Litchfield or its 
 immediate vicinity, had been up to West Hoosac to prepare for 
 themselves and their families a new home on the soil some consid- 
 erable time before they, with others, enlisted into this select company 
 of militia. It was in the latter part of the lull between the Peace 
 of Aix-la-Chapelle and the fresh outbreak of the war in 1754. It 
 was, indeed, their individual sense of the hazards of proceeding under 
 their purchase of houselot-rights, some of which had been vended 
 by Massachusetts in Litchfield and its neighborhood, that led these 
 young men to return to Connecticut and to report on the prospect of 
 things here, and then to enlist with many more under public author- 
 ity and come back to help garrison the West Hoosac Fort. Xot a 
 great deal more was done in the way of subduing fresh house lots, 
 although a few kept along with their work in summer, having the 
 two forts as a base of safety and supplies, until the news came of 
 the battle of Quebec in 1759. Then soon all was astir again. Sev- 
 enteen hundred and sixty marks the beginning of settlements in 
 West Hoosac on a considerable scale. 
 
 William Horsford married in Litchfield, in 1759, Esther Smedley, 
 born March 20, 1737, eldest sister to Nehemiah Smedley ; and their 
 first-bom, Esther, saw the light in West Hoosac, May 19, 1760. 
 Some, who were ignorant of the facts in regard to Benjamin Simonds, 
 who already had four children native to this soil, used to claim that 
 Esther Horsford was the first child of English parentage born in the 
 town. Eight brothers and sisters followed in due succession, includ- 
 ing Rhoda, the last, bom May 2.3, 1779. The mother of these chil- 
 dren died March 1, 1791. The primitive record ends, — '* Elisabeth 
 Horsford the aged Died May 28, 1781." This was unquestionably 
 the mother of W^illiam and Josiah Horsford, who had accompanied, 
 or at least followed, them into the wilderness. 
 
 The original holder of house lot 44, the lot directly north across 
 Main Street from the West College, was Josiah Dean, of Canaan, 
 Connecticut, and he sold the lot, " and all appertaining to it, that is, 
 ■^ part of West Hoosuck," to Daniel and William Horsford, both of 
 Canaan, for £260 of then lawful Connecticut money, JVov. i, 1752. 
 William Iwught out Daniel's share, that is, one half of No. 44 and 
 all after-drafts, for £26 of Massachusetts money (which was then 
 silv»M^. F<'1». 2. 1761. Daniel is called in this deed "Senior" — 
 
586 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 undoubtedly father to William and Josiah, and husband to " Elisa- 
 beth Horsford the aged." The interesting point to notice is, that, 
 the day before this sale to the Horsfords, namely, Oct. 31, 1752, 
 Samuel Smedley, of Litchfield, bought of Ezekiel Hinds, of Stock- 
 bridge (then of Fort Massachusetts), for £27, house lot 1 "and all 
 appertaining," etc. Samuel Smedley was the father of Nehemiah ; 
 and the latter came into full possession of No. 1, March 21, 1758, in 
 consequence of the father's death in the mean time and by virtue of 
 a deed then executed to him by the widow and the eldest son, John, 
 jointly. Scarcely any doubt can remain upon a mind weighing 
 closely all the dates and circumstances, that it was in the spring of 
 1753 when these Connecticut young men first crossed the watershed 
 between the Housatonic and the Hoosac, and made some little begin- 
 nings on their respective lots, — the main fact of their coming about 
 that time, and for that very purpose, being clearly testified to long 
 afterwards by Nehemiah Smedley's oldest son, Levi, born in 1764. 
 It will perhaps be remembered by the careful reader of the preced- 
 ing chapters, that the first proprietors' meeting was convened Dec. 5, 
 1753, at the house of Seth Hudson on house lot 9. The proprietors 
 certainly present at that time were Allen Curtiss, Isaac Wyman, 
 Seth Hudson, Jonathan Meacham, Ezekiel Foster, Jabez Warren, 
 Samuel Taylor, Gideon Warren, Thomas Train, Josiah Dean, and 
 Ebenezer Graves. It must not be inferred from the attendance of 
 these eleven men at that meeting, that all of them had already built 
 houses on their house lots; most of them, indeed, were then lodged 
 in Fort Massachusetts as soldiers, as was Isaac Wyman, then com- 
 manding there, and yet made clerk and treasurer of the proprietors 
 at that time ; the only houses that are certainly knoivn to have been 
 already built on the house lots at the date of that meeting were 
 Simonds's on No. 22, Curtiss's on No. 13, and Hudson's on No. 9; 
 each of these three was on one side or the other of Hemlock Brook ; 
 and Elisha Higgins, a soldier in Fort Massachusetts, had purchased, 
 for £20, No. 12,, directly on the brook the north side of Main Street, 
 as Curtiss's lot was opposite on the south side. Higgins's purchase 
 was Oct. 12, 1753. Higgins subsequently bought house lot 17, and 
 made it his permanent homestead. This is the second lot west of 
 Curtiss's, fairly on the present Danforth plateau south side of Main 
 Street. 
 
 When William Horsford came back to West Hoosac to stay, which 
 was about the time when Allen Curtiss went back to Canaan to stay, 
 although the latter did not sell out his house lot 13 until March, 
 1762, the former began to buy and sell lots all over the town (as 
 
WELLIAMSTOWN. 587 
 
 did also his compeers), though he never sold his homestead house 
 lot 44 until he left the town for good in the last decade of the cen- 
 tury. As his family increased, he put up on 44 a good-sized framed 
 house, which is still standing enlarged in another part of the village. 
 He was active in all the affairs of the propriety till the incorporation 
 of the town in 1765, in all whose further affairs he was patriotic and 
 influential for about thirty years longer. Why he went, whither he 
 went, and exactly when he went are questions that cannot now be 
 answered. His wife died here in 1791, and after that there has been 
 found no note or sign of him in Williamstown. On the popular sub- 
 scription-paper for the new meeting-house, started in September, 
 1796, the original of which is in the writers possession, Horsford's 
 name does not appear, although had he been at that time a resident, 
 it would naturally and almost certainly be found there, inasmuch as 
 the second meeting-house was built l)y the proj)rietors as well as the 
 first one, and yet by subscription. Both Horsford and his wife 
 united with the church in 1781. She died in its communion ten 
 years later ; while the letter " r " appended to his name in the man- 
 ual shows that he had " removed to distant parts." It is to be 
 presumed, and will probably some day be ascertained, that he passed 
 on with many of his neighbors, and perhaps some or all of his chil- 
 dren, into the new state of Vermont. Tlie attractive house lot 44 
 passed shortly into possession of General Samuel Sloan, who soon 
 built upon its front the fine residence now occupied by the president 
 of the College. The west corner of that front was set off from the 
 rest of the lot for some purpose or other a long time ago ; and about 
 1860 the Catholics bought it and erected upon it their present hand- 
 some church. 
 
 14. Josiah Horsford, the brother of the foregoing, was only a 
 little younger than he, and the lives of the two in most respects ran 
 parallel with each other. Josiah's wife was Jemima Smedley, sis- 
 ter of William's wife ; they too had nine children, each of whom, as 
 a rule, was about two years younger than the corresponding child 
 in the brother's family; Josiah bought early and kept long house 
 lot No. 42, the lot next west of his brother's, and the nucleus of the 
 present old house standing on its front was built by Josiah Hors- 
 ford, — probably his "regulation house" erected in 1761; and the 
 last visible tracks made by Josiah's family, while in general coeval 
 with those of the other family, in one important respect, soon to be 
 noted, were in contrast with them. Jemima Smedley Horsford 
 joined the church in 1781, the same year as her sister and husband, 
 but her own husband never became a member; she was regularly 
 
588 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 dismissed to unite with some other church (such was the custom), 
 in all probability a church to the northwards. Josiah Horsford, 
 unlike his brother, had two sons who remained and married here, — 
 Josiah, Junior, whose wife was Sevelle, and who had four children 
 between 1790-1801, and Roswell, who married Elizabeth Morse in 
 February, 1792. The great service of Josiah Horsford was as pro- 
 prietors' clerk, succeeding Hichard Stratton in 1765, and continuing 
 until the proprietors' meetings were practically suspended in 1774, 
 under the double pressure of the oncomings of the Eevolution, and 
 the consequent growth of the town organization as such. The ill- 
 spelled records in Horsford's own hand during that quarrelsome 
 interval of nine years, show him to have been a man of character 
 and influence and persistence. However, he did not hold on to 
 his homestead, as did his brother William. Like him, Josiah had 
 vigorously bought and sold lands in all parts of the town in specu- 
 lative times; for example, he bought of Eev. Whitman Welch, for 
 £25, in October, 1767, house lot 36, the original minister's lot, that 
 cornered on the " Square," and that early came to be the site of the 
 chief public house of the village and has continued so ever since ; 
 and he sold the same year, in May, 100-acre lot No. 47, to ISTehemiah 
 Williams, which holds the big rock on the northern slope of North- 
 west Hill. 
 
 But it may well have been that his pecuniary fortunes decayed 
 in his old age; and it may possibly have been that he became 
 addicted to strong drink. At any rate, the homestead was sold in 
 the spring of 1796 to the Whitman brothers of Hartford^ who imme- 
 diately opened a store for the sale of dry-goods and groceries in the 
 east end of the house, afterwards building two stores in succession 
 attached to the house at the east end, and at last the present store 
 detached from the house and a little further to the east ; and in these 
 stores a mercantile business was kept up, in the name and interest of 
 the Whitman family, for over sixty years. For many years now 
 lately past, Charles H. Mather has owned and occupied, as a mer- 
 chant, the last-named of these stores. In a promiscuous lot of old 
 papers and bills belonging to the Whitmans, that were not long ago 
 discovered in the house last occupied by them, was found a bill 
 to Josiah Horsford for liquors sold him " per son Ambrose " as late 
 as 1803. Ambrose was Josiah Horsford's youngest son, born Dec. 31, 
 1781, and was consequently twenty-one years old when he procured 
 the stimulants at Whitman's store as agent for his father. This is 
 absolutely all we know of Ambrose Horsford ; and the last glimpse 
 we get of the sturdy old pioneer, and proprietors' clerk, and Kevolu- 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 589 
 
 tionary soldier, Josiah Horsford, the never-to-be-forgotten, is in 
 playing the rather passive role of sending his grown-up son to the 
 store for strong drink, and getting it charged. William and Josiah 
 Horsford were steadily so prominent here, as much to overshadow 
 their near relatives of the same name and from the same place 
 (Oanaan, Connecticut), who played no insignificant part in West 
 Hoosac and early Williamstown. John and Daniel Horsford bought 
 of Ephraim Williams, Junior (the founder), house lot No. 10, for £30, 
 April 14, 1753. The same parties sell the same house lot in Septem- 
 ber, 1765, to Daniel Horsford, Junior, for i^70, — an increase of 
 value in twelve years of 133 per centum. John Horsford, Bloomer, 
 bought of Seth Hudson, Gentleman, house lot No. 9, which was 
 Hudson's original draft, and directly opposite Colonel Williams's 
 original drafts, Nos. 8 and 10. 
 
 15. At this distance of time, and in the writer's real ignorance of 
 the exact condition of things in 1768, it seems quite likely that the 
 two junior members of the building and seating committee would 
 not postpone provision for themselves and their families to a point 
 later than that to which we have now come. We have already 
 learned quite a good deal about Benjamin Simonds, and something 
 about Mary Davis, of Northampton, his wife. They were married 
 in Northampton by the famous Joseph Hawley, Justice of the Peace, 
 April 23, 1752. They had, when the meeting-house was done, eight 
 children, — 1753-1768. They lived, then, very near to the new place 
 of worship, namely, on the south side of Main Street, in a house 
 that they had built themselves on house lot No. 3, and in which they 
 had kept a tavern, at least, since 1763, — the first tavern in the 
 hamlet. They owned, in 1765, six other house lots close by, on both 
 sides of Hemlock Brook, including No. 22, their original purchase, 
 and on which they built their first house, whose precise site can be 
 pointed out to this day, and some of the stones of whose cellar or 
 underpinning are now scattered on the surface of the ground. 
 Simonds was enterprising, and already experienced. He was now 
 forty-two years old. He had the confidence of his fellow-settlers to 
 a remarkable degree. Neither he nor his wife ever became members 
 of the church ; but, in connection with the Searles, the Meachams, 
 and the Strattons, they represented the indefinable East-of-the- 
 Mountain sentiment, in contradistinction from the j^eculiar Connecti- 
 cut sentiment, voiced (we may suppose) by the Welches, the Hors- 
 fords, and the Smedleys. We cannot infer what the differences 
 between these were, but we perceive considerable signs of collision 
 between them. 
 
590 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Simonds was laying the foundations in his increasing property, 
 in his general enterprise and public spirit, in his broadening acquain- 
 tance as a tavern-keeper, and in his early experience and constant 
 interest in militia affairs, for the astonishing influence, both military 
 and civil, that he exerted in the two decades following. We shall 
 recur to this in the next chapter; here we wish only to indicate 
 a few facts of his personal and family history not heretofore touched 
 upon. The following table is extracted mainly from the family 
 Bible still preserved in the line of his descendants, the Blairs : — 
 
 Benjamin and Mary Simonds, their Children. 
 
 1. Rachel, born April 8, 1753. She became Mrs. Thomas Train & later 
 Mrs. Benj. Skinner. 
 
 2. Justin, born Feb. 17, 1755. Nothing is now,known of his after life. 
 
 3. Sarah born July 8, 1757. She became Mrs. Ithamar Clark of Pownal. 
 
 4. Marcy born Dec. 2, 1759. She became Mrs. Charles Kellogg. 
 
 5. Joseph, born April 8, 1762. He was named from his grandfather Simonds. 
 
 6. Prudence, born Dec. 4, 1763. She became Mrs. Jonathan Bridges. 
 
 7. Ablina, born Oct. 8, 1765. She became Mrs. Joseph Osborne, later 
 Mrs. Paddock. 
 
 8. Electa, born in 1768. She became Oct. 21, 1787, Mrs. Thaddeus Edwards. 
 
 9. Polly, born in 1771. She became Mrs. Perley Putnam. 
 10. Benjamin born in 1773. He died June 16, 1786. 
 
 The epitaph of Benjamin Simonds is as follows : — 
 
 This monument erected in memory of Col. Benjamin Simonds, one of the 
 first settlers in Williamstown, and a firm supporter of his country's Independence. 
 He was born Feb. 23, 1726, and died April 11, 1807. 
 
 The epitaph of the mother of his children is as follows : — 
 
 Mary Simonds, wife of Col. Benjamin Simonds, died 7 June, 1798, in the 70 
 year of her age. 
 
 The inscription on the tombstone of Colonel Simonds' s second 
 wife, who was the widowed mother of Perly Putnam, one of the 
 sons-in-law of Simonds, runs as follows : — 
 
 In memory of 
 
 Anna 
 
 Wife of Col. Benj Simonds 
 
 and relict of 
 
 Asa Putnam of Brattleboro' Vt. 
 
 Died April 3, 1807, aged 61 years. 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 591 
 
 The formal contract of marriage between Colonel Simonds and 
 Mrs. Putnam, drawn by Daniel Dewey, Esq., and entitled " Articles 
 of Agreement," bears date Nov. 4, 1798. Tompson Joseph Skin- 
 ner, Esq., is in this paper the party of the third part, widow Anna 
 Putnam is the party of the second part, and Benjamin Simonds, Esq., 
 is the party of the first part. She is to have ^GOO in six annual 
 instalments, if she survive her husband ; she " shall have decent 
 and convenient accommodations in his now dwelling house for and 
 during the term of one year next after his decease " ; " his executors 
 and administrators shall during that time support and maintain the 
 said Anna in a decent and reputable manner suitable to her habits 
 and circumstances of life ; and shall likewise as soon as convenient 
 after the decease of the said Benjamin furnish the said Anna with 
 a decent suit of mourning," etc. " As a jointure in lieu of dower," 
 said Benjamin covenants to give "three acres of land to be taken 
 off the east end of Oak Lot No. 53, and to be included between two 
 parallels across the east end of said lot to the use of the said 
 Benjamin and Anna for and during their joint lives, remainder over 
 to the use of the said Anna to take effect immediately on the 
 decease of the said Benjamin, for and during her natural life, to hei 
 own proper use, behoof, and benefit, with full power and liberty for 
 the said Anna to cut, fell down, carry away and dispose of any 
 wood or timber growing on said land," etc. Anna Putnam had an 
 estate of her own, and the " Agreement " covenants that she shall 
 hold, enjoy, and bequeath the same as though she were feme sole 
 during said intended intermarriage; and if she die intestate, her 
 property to go to her children. T. J. Skinner was to be trustee of 
 the said Anna, to manage her property, etc. 
 
 John Putnam, of Buckinghamshire, England, which was the 
 county of John Hampden at the same time, emigrated to Massachu- 
 setts in 1G34, and settled in Danvers, where many of his descendants 
 are still living. Asa Putnam, of Brattleboro, was of the fifth gen- 
 eration from John, through the latter's son Nathaniel, while General 
 Israel Putnam stood in the line of Thomas, another of John's sons. 
 Asa Putnam was the son of Josiah Putnam, of Western, now 
 Warren, Massachusetts. Josiah was own cousin of General Israel 
 Putnam. Josiah's son. Captain Josiah, who died in 1835, aged eighty- 
 six, owTi brother of Asa, sent two of his sons, W^illiam and James, 
 from Western to Williams College, at the outset of the institu- 
 tion. William entered in 1793, when the College opened, but died 
 three years later, and without graduating. James, wlio was younger, 
 entered later, but was iK»t i/iaduated. It is iirobable tliat Riifns 
 
592 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 Putnam (Williams College, 1804), was a brother of these two. At 
 any rate, he was from Western, was a lawyer by profession, and 
 died in Eutland, Vermont, in 1847, aged sixty-four. The way to 
 Williamstown was thus paved for the Putnams. Asa Putnam, a 
 farmer, born in Western in 1742, died in Brattleboro, in September, 
 1795, aged fifty-three. Mrs. Anna Putnam brought three of her 
 nine children, the three youngest, into Colonel Simonds's family on 
 her intermarriage with him ; while her eldest son, Perly Putnam, 
 was already settled in Williamstown as the husband of Polly 
 Simonds. These three children were Sewell, Sylvia, and Harvey. 
 The last-named, youngest of all, was born in Brattleboro, Jan. 5, 
 1793. He was four years old when he came to Williamstown, and 
 lived with his mother till her death in 1807. Shortly after this, he 
 removed to Skaneateles, New York, where he was apprenticed to 
 his elder brother Perly to learn the saddle and harness-making trade. 
 Two years at this, and then he entered the law office there of 
 Daniel Kellogg, also from Williamstown, and a son of that Samuel 
 Kellogg who has already been characterized at length in these 
 pages. Harvey Putnam studied his profession before he was ad- 
 mitted to practise it, as long as Jacob served for Rachel, and then 
 he, too, like Jacob, married, not indeed his own cousin, but one of 
 the own granddaughters of Colonel Simonds, Myra Osborne. This 
 marriage took place at Skaneateles, Aug. 5, 1817. Western New 
 York witnessed thereafter, in the person of Harvey Putnam, a dis- 
 tinguished lawyer, a reputable member of Congress repeatedly 
 elected, and an excellent judge in different positions, till his death, 
 in 1855. James 0. Putnam, of Buffalo, long in the public and 
 diplomatic service of his state and country, is his son. Harvey 
 Putnam was of medium size and a very light complexion ; he had a 
 quick and elastic step, and a movement that gave one the impression 
 that he was in a hurry ; he was for thirty years a member and officer 
 of the Presbyterian church; and one of his daughters was married 
 to John B. Skinner, 2d (Williams College, 1842), son of Samuel 
 Skinner (Williams College, 1816), and grandson of Deacon Benjamin 
 Skinner. 
 
 When Colonel Simonds made his last will and testament in 1803, 
 and its two codicils also in the two successive years, these were all 
 witnessed formally by Ephraim Seelye (his nearest neighbor across 
 the road), and the two other Putnam children, Sewell and Sylvia. 
 The last-named was a member of the family, seventeen years old, 
 when her mother and the Colonel both died in April, 1807 ; and in 
 her old age caused to be communicated to the writer her recollec- 
 
TVILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 593 
 
 tion that the Colonel did not care to live after her mother died, and, 
 in fact, dropped away eight days later. Mrs. Simonds was born in 
 1746, the year of Simonds's captivity in Canada, and was conse- 
 quently twenty years younger than her second husband, yet he out- 
 lived her, and mourned her loss in his eighty-second year. Sylvia 
 Putnam married Mr. Z. A. Hamilton, and lived about forty years 
 in Aurora, New York, and died in October, 1883, aged ninety-four, 
 with her daughter, ^Irs. Salmon Johnson, in Cattaraugus, New 
 York. She was the mother of General Charles S. Hamilton, of 
 "Wisconsin. The present writer had the pleasure of sending her, 
 when she was about ninety years old, a photograph of Colonel 
 Simonds, taken from an original portrait referred to in his will, and 
 painted by W. Jennys in 1796. She recognized tlie picture in- 
 stantly, and it moved her deeply; and as the Colonel's portrait, 
 after many mutations, had then come to be the property of the 
 sender and hung in his study, she proiX)sed to Mrs. Johnson to send 
 to him an original portrait of her own mother, which, she said, had 
 hung beside the Colonel's in her early home in Williamstown. 
 Accordingly, after a separation of about seventy-five years, the two 
 portraits were united again in Williamstown for a number of years. 
 It later appeared, however, that Mrs. Hamilton had previously 
 promised her mother's portrait to her great-granddaughter, Harriet 
 O. Putnam, of Buffalo, in whose hands it is at the present time. 
 Mrs. Hamilton communicated other pleasant recollections of Colonel 
 Simonds in her girlhood: such as, for example, he always wore 
 his military costume more or less complete till the last, as it 
 appears in his portrait, — the cocked hat and powdered wig, the 
 white neck-kerchief and frilled shirt-bosom, the regimental coat 
 and buttons, and also the short clothes and knee-buckles; he always 
 went to church in full costume ; and he occasionally offered family 
 prayers, standing by the back of his chair. The late Dr. ^Morgan, 
 of Bennington, told the writer that when he was a small boy riding 
 past with his father, he had repeatedly seen the Colonel sitting in 
 summer in his front doorway in his military toggery, being saluted 
 by, and saluting in turn, the passers-by. 
 
 The Colonel's will lets a good deal of light into the condition of 
 things in his family at the opening of the century. It was drawn 
 by Judge Daniel Dewey, who was appointed one of the two execu- 
 tors, Jonathan Bridges, one of his sons-in-law, being the other. 
 When the will came to probate in May, 1807, the latter in a good 
 hand waived administration on the estate of Benjamin Simonds, and 
 requested the judge that Daniel Dewey might be appointed sole 
 
594 ORIGINS IN WILLIAM STOWK. ' 
 
 executor of said will. The first clause directs his executors "par- 
 ticularly to pay to my beloved wife, Anna Simonds, six hundred 
 dollars at the several times and in the manner specified in the con- 
 tract made with her before our intermarriage/' — a copy of which 
 contract was deposited with the will. Anna, his wife, was also " to 
 have the use of the house in which I now live, and of the eight 
 acres of land adjoining for one year,'' and then all real estate was 
 to be sold to carry out the other provisions of the will. By the 
 second codicil, added in March, 1805, — "I give and bequeath to m.y 
 said wife, Anna Simonds, my chaise with the harness and horse 
 which I use in the chaise, to keep and use during her natural life." 
 
 Colonel Simonds had had three sons in all, but Justin and Benja- 
 min had both died before the will was made, leaving only Joseph, 
 who was born in 1762, and was consequently forty-one years old in 
 1803. Mrs. Sylvia Hamilton had the impression, in her old age, 
 that Joseph Simonds was a ne'er-do-well ; at any rate, she remembered 
 very little about him, and certainly very few echoes of the man have 
 reached down to the present time. The grandfather, Joseph Simonds, / 
 made a very distinct impression upon his generation by uniting with 
 the Scotch-Irish in the founding of Londonderry, New Hampshire, 
 by helping to settle the so-called " English Kange " in that town, and 
 becoming an early leader there, and also later by becoming one 
 of the pioneers and leaders in the settlement of " Ware River " in / 
 Massachusetts, whence his son Benjamin enlisted for Fort Massachu- 
 setts in 1745 ; but this Joseph, though named after his grandfather, 
 and having before him as an example the great enterprise and success 
 of his father, seems to have amounted to but little, and is thus men- 
 tioned in his father's will : " Unto my son, Joseph Simonds, I will 
 and bequeath my clock and the case which contains it, my desk and 
 book-case, and my firelock and side arms and my powder Flask and 
 all the ammunition I have on hand, also all my wearing apparel of 
 every description including buckles and buttons." 
 
 When this will was drawn, his eldest daughter, Rachel Train-Skin- 
 ner, had recently died, and also his second daughter, Sarah (Mrs. 
 Ithamar Clark), and her husband, too; and these facts help to 
 explain the terms of the main clause of the will, which was to this 
 effect ; namely, that the rest of his estate, real and personal, should 
 be divided into equal parts, — one each to go to Benjamin Skinner 
 (Rachel's second husband), Joseph Simonds, jCharles and Marcy Kel- 
 logg, Jonathan and Prudence Bridges, Joseph and Ablina Osborne, 
 Thaddeus and Electa Edwards, Perly and Polly Putnam, and to the 
 five sons of Sarah Clark, deceased, — eight equal parts in all, but Ben- 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 595 
 
 jamin Skinner and Jonathan Bridges had already had $1000 each, 
 and this sum was to be deducted from their shares respectively ; but 
 *' all other sums of money and other things by me given to my said 
 son or any of my daughters shall not be taken into consideration " in 
 this division. By the first codicil to the will, the eight shares were 
 to amount to $1000 each and no more, and the residue was to go to 
 his son, Joseph Simonds ; and by the same, all claims of Rachel 
 Skinner's children (said Rachel having received her portion) are cut 
 off by one dollar to each. By the second codicil, Joseph Osborne 
 having died since the execution of the will, his daughter Ablina was 
 to have the whole share. *' I likewise give to my daughter, Polly 
 Putnam, my Portrait." ^* And to my granddaughter, Sally Blair, the 
 wife of William Blair, my large family Bible in two folio volumes 
 after the expiration of one year from my deceas*'. until wliicli timp 
 it is my desire that it remain with my said wife. 
 
 This Bible has already become an heirloom in the iiiair tamily lu 
 "Williamsto^vn, being the property, at present, of Deacon Henry 
 Blair, to be inherited by his eldest son, Austin Blair. The portrait 
 passed over by gift, or otherwise, from the Putnams to the Osbornes 
 and their heirs, and by these latter courteously and generously trans- 
 mitted to the writer, whose family are in the direct line of Colonel 
 Simonds through Jonathan and Prudence Bridges, to the eldest 
 of whom, Grace Perry, the portrait is destined to fall. This can 
 always be identified by many infallible marks and scars, but chiefly 
 by the signature of the arti^^ 1)iins»'1f udoii tli.* l>;ir-k of the o.niv.is:. 
 '' W Jennys pinx' 1796." 
 
 Among *' the five sons of Sarah Clark deccastd," entitled to one 
 share out of the eight, into which their grandfather's general estate 
 was to be divided for distribution, was one, Dr. Billy J. Clark, who 
 became distinguished, and will always be remembered for signal ser- 
 vices rendered to the cause of temperance in this country. Some 
 account of his early life, and of the circumstances under which he 
 conceived an invincible repugnance to the drinking of intoxicants, 
 has been put down on the pages of an earlier chapter of this book. 
 From a country tavern, kept by his father, near Centre Pownal, where 
 this repugnance was engendered, he passed to the study of medicine, 
 married Joanna Paine, settled down for a forty years of most suc- 
 cessful practice in Moreau, New York, but closed his career in the 
 neighboring town of Glens Falls as an apothecary, and as a temper- 
 ance leader and organizer. Appleton's Cyclopaedia has this to say of 
 this son of " Sarah Clark deceased " : " The earliest organization to 
 stem the tide of intemperance in this Republic would seem to have 
 
596 
 
 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 been that of 'The Temperate Society of Moreau and Northumber- 
 land,' which was instigated by Dr. B. J. Clark, of Moreau, in March, 
 1808, and constituted by the signature of forty-three members, mainly 
 substantial farmers of the two towns named. Their constitution 
 stipulated, that ' no member shall drink rum, gin, whiskey, wine, or 
 any distilled spirits, or composition of the same, or any of them, 
 except by the advice of a physician, or in case of actual disease (also 
 excepting wine at public dinners), under penalty of twenty-five 
 cents. Provided that this article shall not infringe on any religious 
 
 ordinance.' And further, 
 that ' no member shall be 
 intoxicated under penalty of 
 fifty cents.' And again : 
 ' no member shall offer any 
 of said liquors to any other 
 member, or urge any other 
 person to drink thereof, 
 under penalty of twenty-five 
 cents for each offence.' 
 Through Dr. Clark's energy 
 and perseverance, a special 
 act of the New York Legisla- 
 ture was obtained, incorpo- 
 rating the Saratoga County 
 Medical Society, the first 
 organization of the kind in 
 the state. He was also a 
 member of the New York 
 Electoral College in 1848. 
 He was born in Northamp- 
 ton in January, 1778. A few years later his parents removed to 
 Williamstown (his mother's birthplace and grandparents' residence), 
 where he attended the free school founded under Colonel Williams's 
 will. At the age of seventeen he commenced his medical studies 
 with Dr. Gibbs in Pownal, and continued them with Dr. Wicker in 
 Easton, New York, and commenced his practice, in Moreau, in 1799. 
 His wife died in January, 1839, and not long after he moved to 
 Glens Falls, where he died, greatly honored, in September, 1866, in 
 his eighty -ninth year. His son Walter was a member of Williams 
 College in 1831, but was not graduated. His four brothers, referred 
 to with himself in Colonel Simonds's will, were Ira, Isaac, Chester, 
 and Sereno. 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 597 
 
 If Billy J. Clark proved himself to be the most distinguished scion 
 of the Sarah Simonds branch of the large paternal tree, what shall be 
 said of John B. Skinner as illustrating and making famous the elder 
 and double Rachel Simonds branch of the same tree? We have 
 already spoken of the Blairs as springing from Sally Train, the only 
 child of Kachel Simonds by her first husbiuid, to whom the Colonel 
 expressly willed his " large family Bible in two folio volumes " ; we 
 liave also noted the disparaging mode of reference in the ColonePs 
 will to the children of Rachel Skinner, of whom there were five in 
 all, the two eldest sons in which group, Harry and William, having 
 alreiidy given marked signs of intemperance and inefficiency; but 
 there were two younger boys, Samuel and John Burr, respectively 
 nine and five years old when the will was drawn, who showed them- 
 selves in after life to be men of very different character. Samuel 
 Skinner, born in 1794 (Williams College, 1816), studied law with 
 his sister's husband, Samuel A. Talcott, of whom we shall learn 
 more by-and-bye, till 1819, when he settled down in his profession at 
 Leroy, New York, where he died in 1852. Durfee's "Annals of Wil- 
 liams " has this to say of him : " Mr. Skinner was a well-read, safe, 
 and careful lawyer, devoted to the interests of his clients, distin- 
 guished for fairness in practice, and diligence and uprightness in 
 business. He acquired a handsome fortune, and left an unsullied 
 name. He was for many years a ruling elder in the Presbyterian 
 church at Leroy, an active, liberal, and devoted Christian, possessing 
 uncommon gifts for the duties of the office. He exerted a wide influ- 
 ence in the community, which is still felt, and where his memory is 
 cherished with the deepest tenderness." 
 
 While the alcove picture is not in terms overdrawn, John r)urr 
 Skinner, l)orn in 1799, the youngest child of Deacon Benjamin and 
 Rachel Train-Skinner, became a much more famous and deeply 
 influential man and lawyer than his brother. In partial explanation 
 of his remarkable career, it should here be premised that Deacon 
 Skinner was a Jeffersonian Democrat and a devoted Freemason ; he 
 was a man of fine appearance, with a clear and penetrating voice, of 
 warm feelings readily expressing themselves in manly tears, and a 
 natural leader in all church matters and a frequent and acceptable 
 lay reader in public church worship. In an atmosphere diffused by 
 such a positive man as this, John Burr Skinner grew up, to say 
 nothing of the natural influence of his uncle, General T. J. Skinner, 
 who was a consummate speaker and adroit politician, and the politi- 
 cal leader of his party for many years in Berkshire County. After 
 his graduation at Willi '"<< i" 1818, youn<r Skiiin»'r iiMturiinv drifted 
 
598 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 into democratic circles ; he entered the law office of Hon. Daniel 
 Buel, of Troy, New York, where he formed a life-long friendship 
 with his fellow-student, the late William L. Marcy, governor of New 
 York and secretary of state under President Pierce. He completed 
 his preparatory studies at the then celebrated law school of Judges 
 Gould and Reeves, at Litchfield, Connecticut ; and soon after estab- 
 lished himself as a lawyer in the hamlet of Wyoming, New York, 
 in the present county of Wyoming, both of which names were given 
 by himself to their respective localities-. His cousin, James 0. Put- 
 nam, said of him : — 
 
 His success, solid and brilUant, was assured from the first. His industry, his 
 fidelity to professional trusts, his learning and his marvellous power before juries, 
 gave a leadership at the circuits which he never lost. The jury trial was the 
 favorite theatre of his professional contests, and it was as the advocate that he 
 was without a peer. The methods of conducting litigation in his time differed 
 from the present. Then the great object was to secure a verdict from the twelve 
 men. On their decision hung the issues of life and death and fortune. This 
 made the counsel who could carry the jury, whether by magic or storm, an indis- 
 pensable ally. Appeals were comparatively few. Now-a-days when the jury in 
 so many trials is but an incident, and law, as has been said with much humor 
 and some wisdom, is the power of decision of the last judge that can hear the 
 case, the eloquent advocate holds a position less relatively important in the trial 
 of causes. But Judge Skinner was learned as a lawyer, as well as eloquent 
 as an advocate, and it was this rare combination that gave him a position so 
 distinguished before the courts. 
 
 Ex-President Fillmore, Avho presided at a meeting of the Bar of 
 Erie County, convened to give some expression of its sentiment on 
 the occasion of his death, in 1871, said : — 
 
 My acquaintance with Mr. Skinner commenced in 1829, when he and I were 
 both members of the Assembly. That was my first year, but I think it was his 
 third year, and he had then an enviable reputation for so young a man in that 
 distinguished body, as yet free from the suspicion of bribery, and adorned by 
 the talents of such men as John C. Spencer, Erastus Koot, Benj. F. Butler, 
 Frank Granger, and of others. The revision of our statutes, the great work 
 which did so much to methodize and relieve them from the cumbrous language 
 and accumulated contradictions and inconsistencies of years, was then just com- 
 pleted, and in that great work Judge Skinner bore a conspicuous part. I know 
 he was listened to with confidence and respect, and no member of the House 
 seemed to exert a more salutary influence. My subsequent acquaintance with 
 him was mainly at the Bar. Here he was distinguished for his legal arguments 
 and forensic eloquence. I have often felt a tremor of anxiety when I have had 
 to meet him. He was a man religiously devoted to the interest of his client, 
 without ever compromising his own conscience or dignity. He prepared his 
 case with great labor and assiduity, and whatever could be said in favor of his 
 client's interest he presented with great clearness and force, and when that was 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 599 
 
 done he conceived that he had dischai^ed his professional duty, and he patiently 
 waited the result. The highest encomium that can ever be passed upon a man 
 of his profession may with great propriety be passed upon him, and that is, he 
 was a learned, conscientious lawyer. 
 
 Hon. James R. Doolittle, late United States senator from Wis- 
 consin, had this to say, two years after Judge Skinner's death : — 
 
 The late John B. Skinner, as a lawyer and advocate, had few equals, and no 
 superior, for many years, in western New York. To uniform courtesy, untiring 
 industry, uuflincliing and incorruptible fidelity to his clients, you must add 
 great tact and knowledge of human nature, as well as great legal learning, 
 and oftentimes the highest order of eloquence, to make a just estimate of his 
 character. It was before a jury that he was, in some resi^ects, unequalled. His 
 efforts there were entirely extemporaneous. Those who have had great oppor- 
 tunity to hear the most eloquent of American orators, say there were occasions 
 when those extemporaneous efforts of Mr. Skinner, in true eloquence and 
 power, surpassed all his contemporaries. When fully roused, his language wa» 
 pure English, — chaste, elegant, and concise. He spoke without apparent effort, 
 with a directness, earnestness, and naturalness that seemed almost inspired. 
 His mind, like his person, was high-wrought and of the finest mould. All his 
 appeals and all his conversations were addressed to the better part of our 
 nature. With truth it may be said, no one ever heard him at the Bar, or held 
 private conversation with him, who did not feel his nobler sentiments strength- 
 ened and elevated by his influence. 
 
 Judge Martin Grover, of the Court of Appeals of the state of 
 New York, who knew him very thoroughly on the circuit, and 
 otherwise, from 1836 onwards for twenty years, embodied his recol- 
 lections, in 1873, in a paper prepared for the Buffalo Historical 
 Society. We quote : — 
 
 Mr. Skinner attended all the circuits in Livingston, Allegheny, Cattaraugus, 
 Chautauqua, and Genesee counties, and his presence was regarded almost as 
 essential as that of the Judge. There were then no railroads in any part of the 
 district, and Mr. Skinner travelled from one country town to another, in com- 
 pany with the Judge, each with his own horse and sulky. Extensive study and 
 large experience had made Mr. Skinner perfectly familiar with, and master of, 
 nearly every legal question presented, and he was, therefore, able to take a 
 leading part in nearly every case tried. His clear intellect and capacity for 
 (luick comprehension enabled him to try a cause with great ability, without any 
 previous preparation, and with but little consultation with his client and the 
 other counsel. He would grasp the entire case at once and adopt the correct 
 mode of conducting the trial. He was very sagacious in the examination of 
 witnesses. An adverse witness rarely succeeded in baffling him, and, as a gen- 
 eral rule, he would derive an advantage for his client from the reluctance of 
 such a witness to disclose the whole truth. But his great power was in summing 
 up to the jury. In this I have never seen one superior and scarcely ever his 
 equal. His clear statements and close logical arguments usually convinced the 
 
600 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 understanding of his hearers, and when to these were added his powers of per- 
 suasion, the effect was overwhehning. He possessed in an eminent degree the 
 highest powers of an orator. In listening to him no one could doubt his entire 
 sincerity, and when he appealed to the highest and noblest principles of human- 
 ity it was the outpouring from the heart. His words went directly to the hearts 
 of the audience. His control of their emotions was, for the time, complete. 
 Nothing seemed to give him greater pleasure than the exertion of these high 
 powers in the cause of justice. He was a gentleman of the old school, and 
 exhibited these traits in all his conduct during a trial. Always courteous to 
 the Bench, though firm and earnest in insisting upon the rights of his client, 
 his uniform politeness to the adverse party — counsel and witnesses — had a 
 strong tendency to restrain undue exhibitions of passion, too frequently wit- 
 nessed upon exciting trials. 
 
 His early friend and fellow-studentj Governor Marcy, appointed 
 Mr. Skinner, in 1838, to the office of judge of the eighth circuit, 
 who, at that time, had equity jurisdiction as vice-chancellor; but 
 he declined the appointment. President Pierce nominated him for 
 United States District Attorney for the northern district of New 
 York ; a position which he also declined. In the mean time, in 
 1846, the governor of New York appointed him Judge of the county 
 court of Wyoming, under the new constitution of that state, a place 
 which he held but for a few months, until the election, which inau- 
 gurated the new elective judiciary system. He failed of his election 
 under that system, on political grounds, which are clearly unfolded 
 by his kinsman, James 0. Putnam. 
 
 During the period of Mr. Skinner's service in the Legislature, a new element 
 appeared in western New York politics, a sort of Nile inundation, breaking up 
 and sweeping away all old political organizations. I refer to Anti- Masonry. It 
 took the form of a political party, and from the start was at the white heat of 
 popular passion. The tide kept rapidly rising, and floated out on the sea of 
 popular favor all the men of that generation in the career of politics in western 
 New York. To be an Anti-Mason was to be in the realm of possibilities for any 
 position within the gift of the local constituency. To be of the opposition was 
 to be whelmed under a flood of majorities which made hopeless, almost down to 
 the present day, all its political aspirations through popular election. Mr. Skin- 
 ner's father was a Mason, and that fact powerfully influenced him. He could 
 not be floated off on any impulsive tide, and he would not hold an organization 
 responsible for a crime, atrocious as it was, of a few individual members. He 
 united with the opposition to the Anti-Masonic party, and when the Anti- 
 Masonic was merged in the Whig party, his attitude remained unchanged in the 
 Democratic organization. The result was that tho standard majority of about 
 3000 in " old Genesee," Anti-Masonic and Whig for forty years, was as Ossa on 
 Pelion and both on Atlas, over the hopes and candidacy of every man of the 
 minority for political promotion. Mr. Skinner was often the candidate of his 
 party for high honors, but the contest was always a forlorn hope, and he led it 
 with characteristic courage and devotion. 
 
WILLIAMSTOWX. 601 
 
 No other native of Williamstown certainly, perhaps it may be 
 said no other graduate of Williams College, ever gained the breadth 
 and constancy and solidity of reputation, at once as a lawyer and as 
 an orator, and as a genial friend and gentleman, and as a high officer 
 and representative of a great national church, that was acquired by 
 John B. Skinner (Williams College, 1818), 1799-1871, the most 
 honored among the many honored descendants of Colonel Benjamin 
 Simonds. Let us listen for a moment to what a clergyman. Rev. 
 J. E. Nassau, who knew him thoroughly, said of him two years after 
 his death : " He was a person of the finest sensibilities, that mani- 
 fested themselves continually in his domestic. Christian, and pro- 
 fessional life and intercourse. I have often seen him profoundly 
 affected and moved even to tears in religious meetings and public 
 addresses, and even in common conversation upon topics that greatly 
 interested him. And nothing took deeper hold of his emotion than 
 the grand elemental truths of the Bible, the permanent interests of 
 the Church, the sorrows and iovs of friends, or the vital interests 
 of the Country." 
 
 After his removal to J-Juiiaio in 1800, — except an interval of 
 eighteen months of foreign travel, in the course of which he lost, 
 by death in Switzerland, his only child (Mrs. Letchworth), and 
 his only grandchild, — Judge Skinner passed the last ten years of 
 his life in the varied duties of a useful and honored citizenship. 
 His last years, with the exception of the great sorrow just referred 
 to, were serene and happy. A paragi-aph from an address made by 
 him before the American Bible Society in New York, will exhibit 
 some of the traits of the man and the orator : — 
 
 But I have touched only a single point ; — such a view of this subject would 
 be like that relief which should take the hopeless, drowning man from the fatal 
 wreck, and carry him within view of the cheering light, and within sound of the 
 glad voices of sympathy and kindred, and leave him there to die unblest. I 
 liave not referred to the power of the Gospel to break the fetters in which pride 
 and avarice and selfishness have bound up the charities of the soul ; nor to those 
 fountains of benevolence which this week commemorates, and which, springing 
 from this source, have sent forth their gushing waters over the dry earth, pro- 
 ducing moral beauty and verdure and loveliness. I have not alluded to that 
 noble institution in the father-land, whose jubilee has just been celebrated, and 
 which ha-s shed Ita radiance over every clime, and whose light, mingling with 
 ours, beams from those bright spots Indicated on your missionary map, which a 
 kindred institution has rescued from the desert. I have not spoken of that boon 
 of sympathy and brotherhood which has reclaimed the drunkard, and sought 
 out the abandoned, and carried the hopes of life to the lost. These are the fruits 
 of that Tree of Life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. Nay, this 
 influence is the voice of the Son of God in the sepulchre of Lazarus. It penetrates 
 
602 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 the grave, and rescues its tenants from corruption and the worm ; it clothes them 
 with a robe of spotless righteousness ; it furnishes them with a passport to that 
 city that hath foundation, to those joys which " eye hath not seen, nor ear 
 heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man to conceive." i 
 
 4 
 
 Colonel Simonds's third daughter, Marcy, born Dec. 2, 1759, be- 
 came the wife of Charles Kellogg, and they the ancestors of a con- 
 siderable number of distinguished men and of admirable women, but 
 not of men so much distinguished as some of those springing from 
 each of her elder sisters. The several Kellogg families have played 
 a prominent part in the story of Williamstown, and in that of the 
 College too, even down to the present time. They all sprang from 
 Samuel of Hatfield, through Nathaniel, his eldest son, who settled 
 and remained in Colchester, Connecticut, whence came to Williams- 
 town Charles and Nathaniel, brothers of the fifth generation from 
 Samuel of Hatfield. The Samuel Kellogg already characterized 
 in these pages, who came to Williamstown considerably earlier than 
 these two brothers, was of the same lineage with them, while the 
 exact degree of kinship has not been ascertained. The two lines 
 came together again, as we shall shortly see. Charles Kellogg 
 probably married Marcy Simonds in 1775 ; if so, she could not have 
 been more than sixteen years old ; the births of five of their children, 
 born in Williamstown, are recorded in the old proprietors' book ; and 
 of these, Justin was born Jan. 17, 1781. Charles Kellogg was the 
 first innholder of record in the old Mansion House, which was 
 burned down in October, 1872, and which had a sort of history very 
 closely interwoven with that of the town and the College ; and so, 
 for a time at least, the son-in-law followed the vocation of the 
 wife's father here, but he moved on about the opening of this cen- 
 tury into the new promised land of Washington County, New York, 
 and settled in Middle Granville, where he died in 1828, aged sev- 
 enty-eight. His son, Justin, went early from Granville to Troy, 
 and became a merchant there, highly esteemed and prosperous, was 
 for many years a Justice of the Peace, and a prominent member of 
 the Presbyterian church. He was killed by the overturning of a 
 stage-coach, while descending Oak Hill near Buskirk's Bridge, in 
 May, 1839, in his fiftieth year. He left two daughters, Adeline and 
 Harriet ; the first of whom, born in 1816, a well-educated and beau- 
 tiful woman, intermarried, in 1836, with Giles B. Kellogg (Williams 
 College, 1829), a grandson of the first Samuel Kellogg of Williams- 
 town. Two lines were thus happily united. Justin Kellogg 
 (Williams College, 1865), a well-known lawyer of Troy, and at the 
 present time an alumni-trustee, as was also his father before? him 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 603 
 
 in 1868-78, and Giles Kellogg (Williams College, 1876), now a 
 business man in Boston, were sons of this intermarriage and repre- 
 sent, among her other numerous posterity, ^larcy Simonds, who died 
 in Middle Granville in 1834, aged seventy -eight. Justin A. Kellogg, 
 of Indianapolis, is another scion of this widely extended stock, — 
 a descendant of Marcy and Cliarles Kellogg. 
 
 Prudence, the fourth daughter of Colonel Simonds, bom Dec. 4, 
 1763, was married before she was nineteen years old to Jonathan 
 Bridges, who was ten years older, and who migrated hither from 
 Colchester, Connecticut, just as the embers of the Revolutionary 
 War were being raked in. Jonathan left two brothers in Colches- 
 ter, Samuel and Amasa; Samuel always remained there, and sent 
 his son, Samuel A., to Williams College, from which he was gradu- 
 ated in 1826, and became a prominent man in Pennsylvania, a mem- 
 ber of Congress, LL.D. in 1876, and trustee in Mirhlenburg College; 
 and Amasa, a blacksmith, came much later than his brother to Wil- 
 liamstown, and lived (always poor) both on the crest of North- 
 west Hill and afterwards at its foot in a small house built by him, 
 and but recently removed by Colonel A. L. Hopkins. After the 
 birth of three children in Williamstown, Jonathan Bridges removed 
 to Adams, where three others were added to his family, and then 
 he returned here and bought the farm north of the Hoosac River, 
 which has been owned and occupied by his descendants — Samuel 
 and Edwin and Charles in succession — down to the present time. 
 Four more children were born to Jonathan and Prudence during 
 theiif second sojourn on the Hoosac, of whom the last was Lucy, 
 bom Feb. 2, 1808, and still living in 1893. Jonathan died in 1818, 
 and Prudence in 1844. As a rule, the posterity of the latter have 
 not shown the conspicuous talents nor gained the usual prominence 
 of the posterity of her three older sisters; indeed, she herself, 
 though a kindly and painstaking woman devoted to the interests 
 of her family, showed in her old age symptoms and even evidences 
 of a sort of harmless insanity ; and her eldest son, Elam, died in an 
 insane hospital in Utica, in 1847. She herself passed all the latter 
 years of her life in the family of her youngest daughter, Lucy 
 Bridges Smedley, and died under her loving and watchful care in 
 her eighty-first year. Mrs. Smedley's eldest daughter helped to 
 care for and to comfort her grandmother in her latest years ; and it 
 is noteworthy, and most gratifying to a father's love to note, that 
 the eldest son of this granddaughter. Bliss Perry (Williams College, 
 1881), and professor both in his own Alma Mater and in Prince- 
 ton College, has been thus far the only one of the descendants of 
 
604 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 Prudence Simonds who has enjoyed and maintained what is rightly 
 and usually termed a public reputation. He has already distin- 
 guished himself both as public teacher, and a literary worker on 
 the highest fields. 
 
 Ablina Simonds, the fifth daughter of the Colonel, born Oct. 8, 
 1765, the year of the incorporation of West Hoosac as Williamstown, 
 married, when she was but just over nineteen, Joseph Osborne, who 
 was an enterprising citizen here for many years ; and who, if he 
 were the Joseph Osborne " of the mountain land west of Sheffield, 
 yeoman," who sold land to Nathan Benjamin of "said mountain 
 land" in 1764, must have been much older than his wife. They 
 were married Dec. 2, 1784. Three children of this union, Emmet 
 and Melissa and Julia, were all baptized here the 21st of July, 1793, 
 on the occasion of both their parents uniting with the church. The 
 fourth and last child, Myra, was born Dec. 6, 1795. Both parents 
 were living when Colonel Simonds made his will ; but in the second 
 codicil of the same, drawn in March, 1805, Joseph Osborne's death 
 is mentioned, and a direction given that his widow receive the whole 
 share intended for them both. Mrs. Osborne afterwards married 
 Judah Paddock, Esq., of Skaneateles, New York, but there were no 
 more children. Emmet Osborne, the only son, — what generation is 
 wholly without such, — proved to be "a ne'er-do-weel." Melissa 
 Osborne, born Nov. 20, 1787, was married to Pharez Gould in due 
 time, and one son and one daughter were the offspring of this union. 
 Miss Gould became Mrs. Addison G. Jerome, of New York, and she, 
 in turn, the mother of Eugene Murray Jerome (Williams College, 
 1867), who is now with a beautiful family a highly respected and 
 influential resident of Williamstown; and Mr. Gould became the 
 father of the late lamented Edward Osborne Gould (Williams Col- 
 lege, 1867), who was a broker in New York, and died in 1883.^ 
 Julia Osborne married, in 1816, Alfred Northam, born in Williams- 
 town in 1788, and a graduate of Williams in the class of 1808. He 
 was the eldest son of Timothy Northam and Eebekah Meacham. 
 He studied law with Daniel Kellogg at Skaneateles, New York, and 
 became a partner with him in the practice of that profession. After 
 a residence there of about fifteen years, he removed to Syracuse, 
 where he acted as Justice of the Peace for several years, and where, 
 
 1 Ned Gould, as he was called in College, and by his confreres generally, was an 
 extremely genial student and man. Colonel Simonds had willed his own portrait to 
 the Putnams, but it had passed over in some way to the Osbornes, and Gould claimed 
 it as his own, and gave it to me. He said, "Now, Professor, if I should ever get 
 married and beget sinners of my own, you'll have to give this back ! " He died a 
 bachelor. 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 605 
 
 in November, 1832, in her fortieth year, his wife committed suicide 
 in the night by opening the jugular vein. This is said to have given 
 his system such a shock that he never fully recovered from it. He 
 removed, however, the same year to Peoria, Illinois, but returned to 
 Syracuse in 1840, and was cared for in his old age by Mrs. Jerome, 
 a niece of Mrs. Northam's, at Lockport, where he died in 1858, and 
 where some of Mrs. Jerome's children remember him vividly as 
 swinging his cane with vehemence to keep them off from his gouty 
 feet! Mrs. Julia Northam never had any children. Miss Myra 
 Osborne, the youngest of the Colonel's grandchildren in this family, 
 was united in marriage with Harvey Putnam in 1817, the youngest 
 of his step-sons. A great-great-gran-lson of the Colonel, through 
 James 0. Putnam, is now (1893) in attendance upon the Yale Theo- 
 logical Seminary in the same class with another of his great-great- 
 grandsons, a son of the present writer, Carroll Perry. 
 
 The Colonel's sixth daughter, Electa Simonds, born in 1768, 
 married, when she was nineteen, Thaddeus Edwards, and died in 
 Skaneateles without children in 1841. She was a fleshy woman, the 
 largest of all of Colonel Simonds's daughters. Polly, the youngest 
 daughter, born in 1771, married in due season, that is to say, early, 
 Perly Putnam, the eldest son of her stepmother. He was a harness- 
 maker by trade, and lived for some years on the house lot originally 
 bought and occupied by his father-in-law, No. 22, and still occasion- 
 ally called b}' old people the " Putnam lot." He migrated with his 
 family to Skaneateles, where his youngest brother, Harvey, was 
 apprenticed to him, where his family was brought up, and where 
 both the parents died. Their son, Henry, inherited at first his 
 grandfather's portrait from his mother, to whom it was specifically 
 willed, whence it passed into the hands of the Osborne cousins. 
 Contrary to the wishes and judgment of both families, their daughter, 
 Mary, a name that now began to expel the more common " Polly," 
 was wooed and won (in a clandestine way) by Thaddeus Edwards, 2d, 
 a nephew of the husband of Electa Simonds; and another daughter, 
 Electa Putnam, became the second wife of James Northam, of Wil- 
 liamstown, a brother of Alfred Northam, who was the husband of 
 Julia Osborne. Thus the Northams, the heads of whose families 
 all came from Colchester to Williamstown, were intermingled with 
 the older Meacham and Simonds families. 
 
 In connection with this account of all the children of Benjamin 
 Simonds, and of his last will and its two codicils, it will be appro- 
 priate' to copy the "Inventory of his estate, whereof he died seized 
 and possessed " in 1807. The appraisers were Deodatus Noble, 
 
606 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Ephraim Seelye, and Asa Northam ; and these, as such appraisers, 
 took oath before Joshua Danforth, Justice of the Peace. The 
 ^'shares" mentioned in Simonds's will had all been distributed to 
 his children previous to his death. 
 
 7 acres of land with dwelling house and barn $600 
 
 1 Chaise and harness 75 
 
 1 horse $35 2 cows $42 77 
 
 Clock and Case $35 watch $15 60 
 
 Silver hilted sword $10 cherry desk $12 22 
 
 Case of drawers $25 Feather bed and pillows $12 37 
 
 2 woolen rugs $1.50 7 woolen blankets $2.50 4 
 
 Wig .50 Old Beaver Hat $1 Great Coat $2 3.50 
 
 Black Coat vest and Breeches $15 arm Chair .50 ........ 15.50 
 
 7 pewter plates $1.25 silver shoe buckles $1.50 2.75 
 
 Pair knee buckles . 50 6 silver tea spoons $4.50 5. 
 
 Ivory headed cane .75 2 cotton sheets $2.25 3. 
 
 2 linen sheets $2.50 Pair linen pillow-cases .50 3. 
 
 6 linen sheets $6 2 pair table linen $1.50 7.50 
 
 Carving knife and fork .40 warming pan $1 1.40 
 
 5 iron spoons .50 4 pans .40 2 skimmers .12 1.02 
 
 Brass kettle $10 7 barrels Cyder $10 20. 
 
 >^ barrel Pork and barrel $8 10 bushels Wheat $12.50 20.50 
 
 Brown's Family Bible 2 vol, fol 6. 
 
 Tin stove .25 small chest .50 axe $1 shovel and tongs .50 . . . . 2.25 
 
 Iron fetters .50 2 linen shirts 1.50 2 pair hand irons $1 3. 
 
 And many other items aggregating .• • • $1039.70 
 
 16. When the new meeting-house was built and seated, in 1768, 
 the youngest member of the building and seating committee, 
 Nehemiah Smedley, was thirty-five years old. Some account of his 
 ancestry and immediate parentage, of his brothers and sisters, — of 
 whom there were ten, — and of his own movements from Litchfield 
 to West Hoosac, both as a soldier first and a settler afterwards, has 
 already been given in these pages. We reserve till the next chap- 
 ter all references to his conspicuous Kevolutionary services. The 
 enterprise and business capacity and general good judgment of this 
 comparatively young man were recognized by the proprietors in his 
 selection to serve upon these two important committees. No por- 
 trait or other likeness at all of this Smedley has been preserved 
 to posterity. Strange to say, no headstone was ever erected over 
 his grave, and even the place of his burial, within the limits of the 
 graveyard, is unknown. He was not even a member of the church, 
 in which his son and grandson served an aggregate of seventy-five 
 years as deacons, and in which one of his great-great-grandsbns is 
 now a deacon. His personal education was slight, as is manifested 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 607 
 
 in his personal papers, all of which are preserved, and are the prop- 
 erty of the writer ; and yet, it may well be questioned whether any 
 one of the original proprietors of Williamstown — save only each of 
 his two senior colleagues of the church-building committee — exerted 
 upon the town a more wholesome and pervasive influence. He 
 made such an opening here as rendered feasible and desirable the 
 subsequent coming and settling of five brothers and four sisters. 
 He acquired property easily, and both retained and increased it. 
 He built his first house and planted his first orchard on the front of 
 house lot No. 1, and the next door to the west of him was the first 
 tavern-stand of the little hamlet ; and it is quite possible, perhaps 
 even probable, that the first five or six families who settled in Ben- 
 nington (about twenty persons in all) in June, 17G1, who certainly 
 came over the Hoosac Mountain on horseback in that month, and 
 passed through West Hoosac, and so on through Pownal, tarried 
 over night at this tavern and in the small houses adjacent to it. 
 At any rate, Mary Harwood, then just sixteen years old, was in that 
 little company, which was led by Peter Harwood, her brother, ten 
 years older than herself. Another brother, Eleazar, two years 
 younger than Peter, was also along; and two brothers Robinson, 
 Leonard and Samuel, Junior, from Hard wick, and Samuel Pratt and 
 Timothy Pratt from Amherst, were the only other adults in the 
 party. It is much more likely than not that a part of these persons 
 lodged one night in the tavern, another part in the West Hoosac 
 Fort opposite, and still other persons in one or more of the houses 
 on Hemlock Brook close by. 
 
 It is possible that Nehemiah Smedley opened his bachelor hall to 
 one or more of these pioneers into the regions beyond, and that thus, 
 or otherwise, he gained, at this time, a speaking acquaintance with 
 Mary Harwood. If not, then such acquaintance was not long 
 delayed ; for in two years time, at most, Mary Harwood became Mrs. 
 Smedley, and mistress of the " regulation " house on No. 1. Levi 
 Smedley, their first-bom, enlivened the scene in the aforetime bache- 
 lor hall on Oct. 8, 1764. Seven other children rapidly followed, 
 about half of them born in the new and large house (still standing) 
 near the junction of the Green and Hoosac rivers. Indeed, the 
 heavy oak timbers of this new house were lifted into their place on 
 the eighth birthday of little Levi ; that is to say, Oct. 8, 1772, and 
 Harwoods and other friends from Bennington came down to the 
 ** raising." Tlie war was drawing on ; and Captain Smedley, twelve 
 years older than his wife, was away from home much of the time 
 for several years, which, of course, in such times, increased the cares 
 
608 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 and anxieties of the mother with her little flock; and just eight 
 days before she became thirty-seven years old, she passed away into 
 a realm unvexed by wars, and leaving her youngest born, Samuel, 
 but nine months old. In less than a year thereafter. Captain Smed- 
 ley married an old acquaintance and neighbor of the Smedleys in 
 Litchfield, Mrs. Lyman Gibbs, and one son crowned this marriage 
 also, James, born Dec. 23, 1783. 
 
 Nehemiah himself was drawing near to his earthly end. He had 
 led a life of hardships and exposure, and of unintermitted activities. 
 He was one of the first to perceive that the system of house lots of 
 ten acres each, and the rest of the farm made up of lots drawn by 
 the homestead in different parts of the town, was ill-adapted to a 
 community of farmers ; and he early cast his eyes about to see where 
 he could aggregate a good farm not far from the " Square," in which 
 he could have all the requisite kinds of land in essential contiguity 
 around his homestead. This end was essentially accomplished in 
 1765. The first-division fifty-acre lot No. 28 lay a little to the east 
 of the Green River " on the road to the east town," and was owned 
 by John Moffat, painter, of Boston, the original drawer of house lot 
 46, which, in turn, had drawn this fifty-acre lot. Smedley evidently 
 went to Boston to buy this lot, the consideration for which was £50 
 lawful money, and the deed to convey which was signed in Boston 
 by Moffat, and witnessed there by Belcher Noyes, and William 
 Smibert of that town, June 21, 1765. Earlier in the same year, two 
 meadow lots adjoining this lot were secured, — No. 12 from Ephraim 
 Seelye for £13, and No. 13 from William Horsford for £30,— 
 both of these meadow lots extending north across the Hoosac to the 
 old Mohawk trail, later developed into the "north road to the east 
 town." The autumn before he had bought meadow lot No. 10 for 
 £20, which was near, but not adjacent to the others, and which lay 
 mostly north of the river. In October, 1766, he bought, also, fifty- 
 acre lot No. 29, which lies directly opposite the home lot on the 
 south side of the road, and comes up to the bridge over Green River 
 at the east end of the house lots. This purchase virtually completed 
 what has been called for a century and a quarter the " Smedley 
 farm," though he bought of Rev. Whitman Welch, May 4, 1775, 
 eighteen and three-fourth acres more of land contiguous to what he 
 held before, and a little afterwards oak lot No. 18, containing nineteen 
 acres. When he died, in 1789, in his fifty-seventh year, the public 
 inventory of his estate sets down the " Homestead Farm," as con- 
 taining 177 acres, which, with the " Dwelling House and Barn," 
 were valued at £1300 ($4333.33) ; one sixty-acre lot at £60 (|200) ; 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 609 
 
 one pine lot containing about three acres, at £4 ($13.33) ; the live 
 stock at £92 19s. ($309) ; and furniture and all other items at £109 
 148. (.S308). Total, $5224.66. 
 
 When Smedley made his will, Dec. 17, 1787, "being weak in body 
 but of sound mind and memory (blessed be God!)," he made his 
 eldest son sole executor, who had just passed into his twenty-fourth 
 year, and who gave bonds in the sum of £1000. Two of his near 
 neighbors, Samuel Kellogg and Ira Baker, owning the farms next to 
 his to the eastward, signed Levi Smedley's bond, and the same, with 
 William Wells, witnessed the will. The testator lived about two 
 years after his will w^as drawn, and the same was approved by 
 the Judge of Probate March 2, 1790. The father's methods of doing 
 business are shown in the accounts of his executor; namely, the 
 debts due to the estate at the testator's death were £6 5s. Orf., all 
 but nine shillings for hay sold to sundry persons ; the nine shillings 
 were owed by William Towner, Esq. The debts owed by the estate 
 were £4 8«. Orf., more than half of wliich was due to Dr. Sheldon, 
 his attending physician, and eight shillings to Dr. Porter, presumably 
 for counsel. Tradition has it that Nehemiah S medley died of con- 
 sumption, and alleges as corroborative proof that it was noticed 
 long before his death, that when he crossed the Hoosac in his boat to 
 those parts of his farm north of that river, and returned, the matter 
 he expectorated sank into the water instead of floating, which was 
 supposed to be sure proof of the presence of blood from the lungs. 
 
 After the father's death, the two eldest sons carried on the large 
 farm, for many years in company, and both brought up large 
 families under the one roof in harmony ; but they finally resolved 
 to divide between themselves the farm which they had jointly 
 increiised by considerable purchases of land, and especially by the 
 " Luce lot," at the same time resolving to take no outside counsel 
 over the division, and to make no after complaints about it in any 
 case. This mutual understanding was carried out in the letter and 
 spirit of it to a good old age of both parties. Levi naturally took 
 the homestead, and died in 1849, aged eighty-five. He and his wife, 
 Lydia Gibbs from Litchfield, united with the church in 1792, and 
 he became a deacon in 1828, and served twenty-one years. Elijah 
 Smedley and his wife, Liicy Gibbs, a cousin of the other, united 
 with the church in 1793. After the division, these lived in a house 
 southeast of the old homestead, and both died there in an honored 
 old age. Asahel Foote (Williams College, 1827) married their daugh- 
 ter Mary, assumed the care of the farm, taught a successful private 
 school in the bouse for many years, became a deacon in the church 
 
610 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 in 1838, and died in the old house in 1882. Charles Eollin Foote 
 (Williams College, 1859), now a citizen of California, was their only 
 son. Besides Levi and Elijah, Captain Neheiniah Smedley had four 
 other sons, Moses, Elisha, Samuel, and James. The two first men- 
 tioned migrated early to Hinesburg, Vermont. Any other air than 
 that of Williamstown does not seem to be wholesome to the S med- 
 leys, either physically or morally. George, the son of Elisha, 
 returned to Williamstown in 1856, and bought the Kellogg farm, 
 next east of the old homestead. Frederic George (Williams Col- 
 lege, 1864), now a prosperous lawyer in New York, still owning 
 and occupying in summer the old Kellogg farm, is his only son. 
 Frederic Miller Smedley (Williams College, 1893) is the only son 
 of Frederic George. Samuel, who went from here to New Lisbon, 
 Otsego County, New York, did not leave behind him there a savory 
 reputation ; but James, the youngest son of Nehemiah, who married 
 Emily Wheelock, daughter of John Wheelock, who was a drummer- 
 boy in the Eevolution, became, like his father-in-law, a pious man 
 and a good citizen, both in Hinesburg, Vermont, and in Lockport, 
 New York. Of the children of Deacon Levi Smedley, Levi, born 
 in 1795, inherited the farm in due time, lived a long and useful life 
 upon it, represented his town in the General Court for one year, and 
 did good service in forwarding the cause of the Hoosac Tunnel, then 
 before the Legislature. He did not, however, show the vigor and 
 enterprise as a- farmer and citizen that the good deacon exhibited 
 before him ; and the good deacon himself was, perhaps, inferior in 
 those respects to the good Captain Nehemiah. The " Western 
 fever " struck, at last, Chauncy, Levi's son, after he had owned and 
 operated the ancestral acres for half a lifetime, and he sold out 
 and migrated to Illinois, and his son, Leveus Smedley, is now a 
 farmer in Indiana. The deacon's youngest son, James, born Dec. 1, 
 1804, spent his whole life in Williamstown, except for two brief 
 intervals, and died on Good Friday, 1892, in his eighty -eighth year. 
 Like his fathers before him, he, too, dwelt among his own people. 
 His lot in life was comparatively obscure, not succeeding well in the 
 medical profession, which he learned in his youth, on account of 
 abnormally quick sensibilities, which would not allow him to sleep 
 whenever he had a critical case on his hands. He lacked a needful 
 confidence in his own knowledge and judgment, and necessarily, 
 after a little, the medical confidence of the communities in which he 
 practised. He enjoyed, however, the moral confidence of those com- 
 munities to a remarkable degree, and to an extreme old age. He 
 fell back early on the life of a small farmer and fruiterer; and was 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 611 
 
 half-way through the eighty-eighth year when his call came. He 
 was chosen a deacon in the church in 1838, and served in conjunction 
 with his father for eleven years, and then onward for forty-three 
 years longer. During the long period of tifty-four years of an 
 unbroken deaconate, this good man was not absent from his place at 
 the memorial table more than two or three times all told. Next to 
 the native church, of which he stood an unblemished member for 
 just seventy years, his interest centred in Williams College, which 
 he watched very closely all his life. He attended the commence- 
 ment of 1810, and all the succeeding commencements but five up to 
 and including that of 1890. He studied one year in College, and 
 then passed to the medical school at rittstield, at that time a depart- 
 ment of the College, at which he was regularly graduated in 1829. 
 He knew, personally, each of the six successive presidents of the 
 College from the first, and could well describe their looks and char- 
 acteristics. He had a remarkable memory for the names and faces 
 and residences of the students of many generations, and they, in 
 turn, were fond of seeing him and hearing his fluent accounts of 
 the men and days of old. 
 
 Tlie following appreciative words are from the admirable funeral 
 sermon preached by Rev. Dr. John Bascom : — 
 
 Deacon Smedley was a plain, simple-hearted, and very devout man. He was 
 an excellent illustration of the strength of character and breadth of influence 
 w^hich are secured by an unfailing hold in the invisible things which pertain to 
 the Kingdom of Heaven. His long life and very long deaconry, without quite 
 covering the early era of the Willianistown church, fully embraced and expressed 
 its spirit and methods. He clung tenaciously to the good men, the memories, 
 and the religious experiences of his youth. The definite and very positive faith 
 of those eariy times, with a periodic fervor of enforcement, were with him the 
 familiar type of an earnest Christian life. The less stringent but more compre- 
 hensive beliefs, the less incisive but more inclusive religious action, we are slowly 
 approaching, had the appearance, to him, somewhat of the subterfuges of a lax 
 and shifty generation. Deacon Smedley was a fine example of one of the many 
 forms of profitable and commanding character, which are built up, each in its 
 own fa-shion, by the progress of our very variable and very complex Christian 
 faith. 
 
 Deacon Smedley married Lucy Bridges, a granddaughter of 
 Colonel Simonds, and thus, in one way, these two sturdy stocks 
 were engrafted into each other; and her brother, Samuel Bridges, 
 intermarried also with Irene Smedley, a sister of the deacon; and a 
 number of the present families in Williamstown sprang from these 
 two unions. The deacon's eldest daughter, Mary, married A. L. Perry 
 (Williams College, 1852) ; and Grace Perry (Wellesley, 1881), Bliss 
 
612 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 Perry (Williams, 1881), Walter Perry (Williams, 1887), and Car- 
 roll Perry (Williams, 1890) are of that line; while Lucy, the 
 deacon's youngest daughter, was united in marriage to Jonathan 
 Wadhams (Williams College, 1867). Another of Deacon James's 
 sisters, Lydia, born and bred like him by the riverside, married Noah 
 Sheldon (Williams College, 1815) ; and two of their sons, Charles 
 and Samuel (both Williams College, 1847), were honored in their 
 graduation, one with the Philosophical Oration, and the other with 
 the Salutatory. Another of these sisters married Manning Brown, 
 a native of Cheshire, and a successful farmer and manufacturer in 
 Williamstown and Adams ; and their son, Timothy M. Brown (Wil- 
 liams College, 1859), has long been a prominent citizen and lawyer 
 in the city of Springfield on the Connecticut Eiver. Deacon James 
 Smedley's widow, her son AVilliam and wife, who care for her in 
 her extreme age, and two orphan children of her youngest son, 
 Edward, who was in the Signal Corps on Commodore Farragut's flag- 
 ship in the battle of Mobile Bay, a son and a daughter, are the only 
 persons in Williamstown bearing the name of Smedley as the nine- 
 teenth century draws to a close. What a contrast in point of num- 
 bers as compared with the close of the eighteenth century here ! 
 
 17. There came to Williamstown in 1764, from Weathersfield, 
 Connecticut, a man by the name of Josiah Wright. His wife's name 
 was Abigail, and both became members of the Williamstown church, 
 it is to be presumed, by letter. They had a son, Josiah Wright, 
 Junior, and probably several other sons. There was a Gideon Wright 
 and his wife Sarah, who were also very early members of the church; 
 and it is not to be doubted that a pew was set aside in the meeting- 
 house of 1768 for the Wright family. There is an epitaph in the old 
 burial-ground by the Hemlock Brook, — " Mr. Jonathan Wright, who 
 died April 10, A.D. 1766 in the 30'^ year of his age." Justice Wright 
 and his wife, Mercy, had children born in town, 1779-1782 ; and Ste- 
 phen Bacon, 2d, told the writer that when he was a small boy — that 
 is, at the beginning of this century — there was an Aaron Wright, 
 who lived on the Upper Hopper Brook above Bacons'. But, as we 
 shall see shortly, interest in the Wright family turns rather on a 
 locality than on persons particular. Josiah Wright, Junior, bought 
 of Samuel Clark in July, 1772, for £5, the meadow lot No. 63, which 
 is the meadow lot directly south of Blair's (now Hubbell's). As we 
 have seen before, Blair's original house stood north of the road, in 
 what is now an orchard ; and there is some considerable evidence 
 that Wright owned meadow lot No. 62 as well as 63, and, at any 
 rate, his access to 63 must have been past the present Hubbell build- 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 613 
 
 ings to the south. However this may be (and it is not important), 
 it is certain that Josiah Wright's son settled not long after his 
 arrival in town on first-division fifty-acre lot No. 61, the northern 
 end of which comes up to the Blair road before that road turns 
 sharply north into the Stratton road. The eastern side of Wright's 
 lot 61 Hanks what was then Aaron Bacon's lot 63 (these were both 
 fifty-acre lots), and Bacon must have come out to the Blair road 
 very near where the senior Wright built his first house. This house 
 was superseded after a while by a brick house, which has only lately 
 been taken down, and about which cluster a series of weird tradi- 
 tions, which the future novelist of the town (may God speed his 
 coming !) may likely enough work up into a tale that shall outlive 
 these imperfect records now being woven into a loose fabric that 
 may ravel out in time. 
 
 It is not at all certain, hardly probable, that the brick house 
 was built while the elder Wright was still in the saddle there. If 
 not, it was certainly built by one or more of his sons. The family 
 remained in possession, and gradually acquired a bad reputation. 
 The father and mother moved on to Arlington, Vermont, where 
 Abigail died in February, 1795, and Josiah in February, 1799, he in 
 his eighty-seventh year and she in her seventy-ninth ; and at some 
 time between the close of the war and the close of the century, the 
 inmates of the brick house were thought so ill of by their neighbors 
 that the latter lent a ready ear to a story of murder committed by 
 the former, and repeated it over, little by little, with ghostly details 
 and additions, to their children, from several of whom the writer 
 has derived it directly, though, of course, with quaint and consider- 
 able varijitions. This is not history, nor does it aspire to become 
 such ; but there must have been some basis of fact, and surely a 
 stiff basis of locality, for a story that has been told under breath, 
 and not without shudders, for several generations, in the Blair fam- 
 ily and in the Williams family, — the two nearest neighbors, — and 
 also in the Corbin and other families at the South Part. It is the 
 only tale of robbery and murder and ghosts that connects itself, 
 even in dimmest outline, with the early story of Williamstown, and 
 runs in general in something like the way following : The Wrights 
 had become considerably indebted to a certain pedlar driving one 
 horse, who frequented those parts in quest of the usual driblets of 
 gain. The neighbors had seen him drive up to the brick house, had 
 watched for his return, and liad not discovered it. In the mean 
 time, mysterious movements were observed in and around the house. 
 Lights were seen at unusual times, and in usually unfrequented 
 
614 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 parts of the house. The suspicions of the neighbors, that something 
 wrong was going on in and around the Wright house, were thor- 
 oughly aroused, and these suspicions were mutually inflamed by 
 communicating them. In a day or two, all was still and apparently 
 abandoned at the brick house. Neighbors combined in fear and 
 dread, but with all due resolution, to search for the body of the 
 pedlar and for his various effects. Possible places of interment or 
 hiding away were scrutinized, sheds and barn and cellar were exam- 
 ined, and nothing was found anywhere of a questionable character, 
 until at last the pedlar's horse was discovered in the best room of 
 the brick house, with cloths wrapped round his hoofs, apparently so 
 that his stampings on the floor might not be heard by the neighbors, 
 before the inmates had gotten a good ways off from the premises. 
 No stampings or neighings from the real horse had then been heard 
 by anybody ; but years and years afterwards, and to many successive 
 occupants of the house, mysterious sounds issued from that room, 
 slight but distinct, treadings on that floor, deadened as if falling on 
 cloths, and neighings, not equine and earthly, but stifled and super- 
 natural, as if the ghost of the pedlar had come back to seek for his 
 horse, and the horse had greeted his old master with at least the 
 distant echoes of accustomed sounds. There are old people, still 
 living, who have confessed, in the writer's hearing, to strange per- 
 turbations of mind as they have entered or quitted, or even thought 
 of (in the night), the square room of the old brick house above 
 Blair's. 
 
 18. Titus Harrison was from Litchfield, and owned, in 1765, house 
 lot No. 39, the third lot east from South Street, and the one on 
 which Eli Porter lived a great many years, and on which the late 
 Dr. Samuel Duncan built the present house owned by his children. 
 Harrison soon quitted the Main Street, even if he ever occupied his 
 house lot 39, and established himself on Water Street, where he 
 utilized, for the first time, the successive falls in the Green River at 
 that point, for milling purposes. He built a house there on the 
 bank of the river, and had for near neighbors Joseph Osborne and 
 Samuel Payen. The last-named was a carpenter from Dutchess 
 County, New York, who, like many others before and after him, 
 was drawn towards the mill-privileges on the lower course of 
 Green Eiver. There are three or four of these natural falls in the 
 stream, near the east end of the Main Street and to the south of it, 
 and one (lower down) to the north of it. The last one was not util- 
 ized for a water-privilege till after the Civil War, when the Arnold 
 brothers, of North Adams, and other capitalists, using Professor 
 
WILLIAMSTOWN. 615 
 
 Chadbourne as a sort of partner, or rather agent, availed themselves 
 of it, in connection with a local fall in the Hoosac, to obtain power 
 for the present large cotton-mill at their junction; but the falls 
 above drew attention to themselves at the very first, and occupied 
 the minds of many projectors and many purchasers before Titus 
 Harrison first practically made them tell. The standing difficulty 
 was, that first-division fifty-acre lot No. 30, which covered all the 
 land contiguous to the falls on both sides of the river, was about 
 sixty feet below the nearest point of access to the Main Street from 
 any prospective mill or mills, and this point of access was a regular 
 jumping-otf place at that, — rocky and precipitous. In June, 1761, 
 Gideon Warren, formerly a soldier at Fort Massachusetts, but then a 
 yeoman of West Hoosac, sold to Samuel Payen, for £6, "two acres 
 on Green river, part of a lot known as No. 30, beginning at the 
 N.W. corner of M. L. 47, thence North 20 rods, thence East 16 rods 
 across Green river, thence South 20 rods on the east side of the 
 river, thence West across the river 16 rods to the place of begin- 
 ning, with privilege of flowing the river bank as hie up as ye top of 
 ye upi)er falls " ; " and also a strip of land two rods wide by the 
 west side of said river beginning at the north side of said land 
 I sold to said Payn, and running north by said river to the mouth of 
 the brook [Phebe's Brook], and up the hill to the lot now enclosed 
 and so out to the main road or Highway, to be a highway for the 
 use of the town." Isaac Stratton and Daniel Stratton sign this 
 deed as witnesses. 
 
 This was a very important deed. Gideon Warren and Samuel 
 Payen solved the mill question, opened up Water Street into Main 
 just as it runs to-day, and went part way towards justifying the loca- 
 tion of the house lots as a site for a permanent village. There can 
 be little or no doubt that the commissioners sent up by the General 
 Court in the spring of 1750 to lay out the house lots — that is, the 
 prospective village — were a good deal controlled in their selection of 
 a site, in many respects unfortunate, by the situation of these Green 
 River Falls. If they had carried fully out their original scheme of 
 a uniform rectangle, one quarter of the lots in number coming into 
 each angle of their Greek cross constituted by the Main Street and 
 North and South Streets bisecting it, these falls would have fallen 
 into two individual house lots, otherwise almost worthless on account 
 of the high and abrupt wall dividing the Main Street from the 
 tumbling stream. Hence, they threw out five house lots altogether 
 from the east end of the southeast quarter of their rectangle, and 
 ran one lot (No. 57) parallel with the Main Street, while all the rest 
 
616 ORIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 were at right angles to it. At the same time the falls might serve 
 the hamlet fairly well, though they were at one extreme corner of it. 
 The plot was laid out too long for its width (one mile and three- 
 eighths), and on very uneven ground, apparently for the purpose of 
 bringing as many lots as possible into contiguity with running water, 
 and also of bringing the whole plot into neighborhood with those 
 successive mill-privileges. Posterity will never find fault, on the 
 whole, with the commissioners of 1750. They had a difficult task 
 to fulfil. They did not know whether or not wells could be suc- 
 cessfully sunk into, or through, or towards the limestone rock. They 
 managed to get in sixty-three house lots of ten acres each (and 
 more), twenty-one of which were traversed by one or other of the 
 two tributaries of Hemlock Brook, or by the united stream; the 
 Green Kiver skirts the eastern ends of both the eastern quarters of 
 the quadrangle in their entire extent; and there are, at least, eight 
 or ten copious springs of water within the designated area. For 
 some reason Gideon Warren did not feel warranted in facing the 
 practical difficulties involved in his mill-privileges, so he sold them 
 to Payen with a way out into the street above ; three years later he 
 sold off from his lot No. 30 eleven acres more from the southern end 
 to James Meacham ; and the very last glimpse that we reach of our 
 old soldier and early settler, Gideon Warren, is as proprietors' clerk 
 in the brand-new town of Pittsford, Vermont, March 19, 1771. 
 
 Neither did Samuel Payen ever reach the point of opening an 
 actual sawmill for logs, or a grist-mill for grain to be ground for toll, 
 on his new Green Kiver privileges. He was enterprising and appar- 
 ently well-to-do ; he bought of Titus Harrison, at one time, October, 
 1765, first-division fifty-acre lot 61, and second-division fifty-acre lot 
 30, and 100-acre lot 46, all drawn in succession by Harrison's house 
 lot 39; he bought, also, of Jedidiah Smedley, the next year, a pai*t 
 of Smedley's home lot No. 30 on upper Water Street, what is now 
 Gale's " Farm A " ; he seems to have been the most influential man 
 on Water Street up to his time ; he doubtless co-operated with the 
 then owner of that stretch of house lot 57, across which the proposed 
 road up the steep hill from Water Street must pass into Main, for it 
 was alike the interest of both parties, and of all parties, to have the 
 road built ; nevertheless, it was reserved for Titus Harrison, the next 
 owner of the privileges, to erect the mills, and set things agoing on 
 Water Street. He gradually bought a large estate in lands in that 
 vicinity, — three meadow lots, at one time, on Green Eiver, of Judah 
 Williams, for £168, in 1782. He sets himself down as " Miller " in 
 his deeds. He was probably past middle life when he migrated from 
 
WLLLIAMSTOWN. 617 
 
 Litchfield to Williamstown. He had many sons and daughters ; and 
 while neither he nor they were professing Christians in 1768, he was 
 too prominent a proprietor to be passed by in the pew-distribution, 
 and his family was large enough to fill up the pew. His wife, Anna, 
 could not write, but made her mark upon the deeds, by which, near 
 the close of the decade of the eighties, he began to divide, among 
 his sons, his real estate, including his grist-mill. The cares of a 
 large business were likely enough a burden to him. He gave to his 
 son, Noah, the thirty acres bought of Judah Williams. He deeds to 
 his sons. Almond and Truman, his remaining lands on Green River, 
 which amounted to eighty-two acres, in consideration of their joint 
 bonds for the fulfilling of certain specified purposes. This act con- 
 veyed the grist-mill, whose wheel has not ceased to turn, nor its 
 stones to revolve, from that day to this. As is usual and inevitable 
 in such cases, Titus Harrison's sons crowd him out of the field 
 of view thereafter, and off from the records of the time. 
 
 Noah Harrison and his wife, Huldah, brought up a family of 
 children on Water Street who did credit in life to their parents 
 and grandparents. Lois, the eldest of these, married Hendrik 
 Willey, who operated for a time a small woollen-mill (the first one 
 of its kind in the town) on one of the Green River falls next above 
 the one where stood and stands the grist-mill. John AVilley, a 
 brother of this Hendrik, took out in marriage Julia Stratton, 
 Deacon Ebenezer's daughter, who lived a little east of the Green 
 River mills on the present Stratton road. Polly Harrison, another 
 daughter of Noah, was married in due time to Asahel Stratton. 
 Almond Harrison, another son of Titus, bore a very considerable 
 part for a lifetime in the measures and enterprises of his town. 
 He married Jerusha Bacon, a daughter of old Jacob Bacon, of 
 whom we have already spoken, and the fortunes of the two families 
 became much intermingled. His home farm, on which he built 
 a brick house still standing, is the one next but one north of the 
 Stone Church on the Green River road ; and he brought up a large 
 family there. He also bought of Ephraim Seelye, the land-grabber, 
 1300 acres on Bald Bluffs for 31000, and gradually cleared up the 
 land there, built a good log-house near what has long been the 
 Greylock summer camp, where the stones of the cellar and the cel- 
 lar itself may still be seen, and in which a succession of respectable 
 tenants helped him to raise there good crops of wheat and other 
 cereals. He sold tliis land after a time for about what he gave for 
 it to his brother-in-law, Stephen Bacon, who improved the road to 
 it, and thus accustomed his family to the slopes of the Hopper and 
 
618 OKIGINS IN WILLI AMSTOWN. 
 
 to the Hopper itself, which has supported the Bacons in plenty for 
 three or four generations. Almond Harrison, however, who had 
 a cider-mill near his homestead, transformed it afterwards into 
 a cider-brandy still, the frame of which is yet doing duty in situ 
 as a barn, and became himself addicted to that stimulant to his 
 ruin, so that Deacon Levi Smedley was appointed guardian of his 
 children and their property. 
 
 Chloe Harrison, Almond's eldest child, born in 1785, was married 
 to Oliver Barrit, a son of Peter Barrit, of the North Part of the 
 town. Almy, the second daughter, married Dr. Ebenezer Stratton, 
 Deacon Ebenezer's son, and the doctor died in his father's house 
 on Stratton road, and Ebenezer Harrison Stratton (Williams Col- 
 lege, 1828), in 1893 the oldest living graduate of the College except 
 David Dudley Field, notes in his name the two families of his birth- 
 place from which he sprang, in which place there is now no person 
 of either name. Jerusha and Lucy Harrison were married respec- 
 tively to a Dr. Thacher and a Mr. Walker, both of whom lived in 
 Manchester, Vermont, and the writer had the privilege, many years 
 ago, of talking over with Mrs. Walker the matters of auld lang 
 syne in Williamstown. Clement Harrison, the oldest son of Almond, 
 born Feb. 8, 1789, inherited the Green River farm of his father and 
 its appurtenances, and did not escape unscathed the temptations 
 arising in connection with the cider-brandy still ; but he reformed, 
 abandoned the bad associations of place and neighborhood, purchased 
 the Fort Massachusetts farm in North Adams originally owned by 
 Colonel Ephraim Williams, united with the Methodist church there, 
 and died in a prosperous and honored old age. It was he who first 
 pointed out to the present writer, when he was a senior in College, 
 the lines of the old fort, over which he had often guided the plough 
 with his own hands, and permitted him to remove to the College 
 the last headstone remaining complete in the little old burial-ground 
 attached to the fort. Six years afterwards, the same persons scru- 
 tinized the site of the fort a second time more carefully, with refer- 
 ence to planting an elm tree in the centre of the open parade-ground 
 of the fort. The owner of the farm felt sure that he designated 
 very nearly the exact spot, and the other party opened the ground 
 for the tree then and there ; but the present tree was set a year 
 later (1859), because the first one did not thrive in its new environ- 
 ment. Bradford Harrison, the son and successor of Captain Clement, 
 though he had the blood of the good old Pilgrim governor in his 
 veins, recurred to the habits engendered by the cider-brandy still on 
 the Green River farm of his grandfather. 
 
WILLIAM STOWN. 619 
 
 Joel Harrison, a younger brother of Clement, who married Eliza 
 Wells, a sister of Mrs. Truman Paul, migrated, with others, into the 
 state of New York, where he became a General in the militia. 
 Three of Clement Harrison's brothers. Almond and Salmon and 
 John, all married daughters of the Hickox family living on Bee 
 Hill, where dwelt also, at that time, Colonel William Waterman, the 
 father of a large and reputable family here. At the wedding of 
 John Harrison, who had joined the church in 1826, Mrs. Hickox, 
 the mother of the bride, enlarged to Colonel Waterman, a neighbor 
 and a guest, on the general merits of the incipient son-in-law, adding, 
 " And what is more, Colonel, he can make just as good a prayer as 
 Mr. Gridley ! " Rev. Ralph W. Gridley was the peculiarly fervent 
 and excellent pastor of the church from 1816 to 1834. 
 
 19. If the lines here drawn of most of the old settlers and their 
 families seem stiff and hard and become monotonous to the modern 
 reader, it may be in part because of the nature of the meagre 
 records from which even the outlines of these pictures are derived. 
 Only now and then there steps into view from out the general dim- 
 ness of the old time a man or woman about whose person plays, if 
 not a fuller, at least a rosier, light. Such is cei*tainly the fact in 
 regard to Elkanah Parris and his wife, Grace Parris. We know 
 but little about either of them, and never shall know; but the little 
 we do know begets a strong desire to know more. They had at 
 least four children born in town, and these between the dates 
 1763-1770. He was a soldier in Fort Massachusetts for a consider- 
 able time. He appears in the scanty records in intimate and re- 
 peated relations with Daniel Donalson of Coleraine, one of the 
 Scotch-Irish immigrants of 1718, when he was about twelve years 
 old. Donalson became the original proprietor of house lot No. 63, 
 the one lying nearest to the last stretch of Green River, but he 
 seems never to have become a resident, although he too was a 
 soldier in Fort Massachusetts, and as such became interested in 
 West Hoosac. After a little, he sold his lot to John Chamberlin, 
 of Stockbridge, for £13. The deed bears date Oct. 10, 1751. 
 Elisha Chapin and Samuel Brown witnessed it. Chapin and 
 Chamberlin were fellow-soldiers with Donalson in the line of forts, 
 and Brown was a leading citizen of Stockbridge. Chamberlin sells 
 the lot and all its after-<lrafts to Elkanah Parris, expressly desig- 
 nated in the deed as of " Fort Massachusetts," and received there- 
 for £38. When the propriety became a town in 1765, this lot is 
 set down as belonging to Elkanah Parris ; and six years later, it is 
 put down in the name of "Daniel Donalson per Elkanah Parris." 
 
620 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 Instead of building his "regulation house" on his house lot ^3, 
 which lies on relatively high ground above the river, he preferred 
 for some reason to build it upon the other side of the Main Street, 
 and outside of any house lot, on the low bank close by the river, and 
 on land then of little or no value, belonging to fifty-acre lot No. 30. 
 There it stands to-day almost precisely as he built it. The motive 
 in placing it down there rather than on the high and sightly ground, 
 later occupied by the fine two-story brick house still in excellent 
 condition, was in all likelihood the facility of getting water. How- 
 ever, he did not stay there very long, perhaps because the ice in the 
 spring freshets as Green Kiver then was may have threatened the 
 east end of his house; the river has worn its way to the east at 
 that point more than three times its breadth since Parris built his 
 house there, and in 1869 a sudden " flood " not only carried away 
 the bridge entire, but also cut a passage through the bank at its 
 east end considerably wider than the bridge was long. For some 
 reason, at any rate, Parris moved about half a mile to the east, near 
 to Samuel Kellogg's house, probably into the house afterwards occu- 
 pied by Lieutenant Sampson Howe, on the south side of the road. 
 Whether it were the Quaker principles which he imbibed and pro- 
 fessed after the close of the French and Indian War, or a natural 
 love for solitude and contemplation amid the vast works of God, 
 he moved next into the Hopper, and built the good house with its 
 white-oak sills, now owned and occupied by Stephen Bacon, 3d. 
 His is the only well-authenticated Quaker family that ever dwelt 
 in Williamstown. He owes to this circumstance, and to the con- 
 trast between his early life in the line of forts, and in marches 
 between them and very likely also to Ticonderoga and Crown Point 
 and his later life in the great gorge crowned by Greylock, a weird 
 distinction and a sort of halo that will never wholly fade out. 
 There are those who are willing to take the risks of the conjecture, 
 that his wife, Grace Parris, was a quiet and beautiful woman. 
 That he was a kindly and neighborly man seems to ba shown by 
 the frequent recurrence of his autograph as a witness in the deeds 
 and other documents of his time. He owned, at one time, the whole 
 of house lot 57, and sold the west end of it to Isaac Searle for £15 ; 
 and in 1771 the whole lot is put down to Caleb Parris. 
 
 20. Perhaps the last family to be provided for in the narrow 
 quarters of the new meeting-house, was that of Asa Johnson, who 
 was from Canaan, Connecticut, and who fixed himself about 1762 
 on a sightly swell just north of the house lots and near to the first, 
 but soon abandoned, burial-ground. The old county road ran past 
 
WILLI AMSTOWN. 621 
 
 his house from Pittsfield to Bennington. That portion of the county 
 road that passed over " Johnson Hill," as it has been recently pro- 
 posed that that broad and comely height should be named, was long 
 ago discontinued; but several elegant residences now crown the hill, 
 conspicuous among them those of Mr. Jerome, Professor Hewitt, 
 and Mrs. Huntoon. Asa Johnson and Thankful, his wife, had a 
 daughter born to them in Canaan, named Hannah, on the 29th of 
 October, 1760. When they arrived in West Hoosac a year or two 
 later, he seems to have shown a certain enterprise and vigor in buj^ing 
 and selling lots, and in various dealings with the leading settlers 
 who had preceded him ; but evidence of bad management and want 
 of thrift soon begins to peer out between the lines of various old 
 records ; he gets heavily into debt to Robert Henry, of Albany, a 
 merchant there, from whom other settlers also purchased their sup- 
 plies in part ; in September, 1766, Henry sued Johnson, and obtained 
 judgment against him in £141 lis. lid. debt, and £3 lis. costs; 
 Samuel Kellogg, Richard Stratton, and Jonathan Meacham took 
 oath to apprise the real estate in order to satisfy this execution; 
 Johnson sold in November, in part satisfaction of this debt, to Ben- 
 jamin Simonds for £37 10s., meadow lots 29 and 32, oak lot 15, and 
 pine lot 3; but the large debt would not wholly down, until in 
 1770 he sold to Henry directly, for £45, his homestead, twelve and 
 one-half acres, the remnant that was left to him of fifty-acre lot 
 No. 37, including his dwelling-house and outbuildings. This patch 
 is bounded in the deed as follows : " northerly on land of said Robert 
 Henry, westerly on William Hosford's land, southerly on the burial 
 yard, and easterly on the County Road." This patch of land soon fell 
 into the hands of Robert Hawkins, of New Milford, Connecticut, 
 and later was long occupied as a home by Solomon Wolcott, of Col- 
 chester, and later still, by Colonel Samuel Tyler, who lived for some 
 time in the same house with Wolcott. The writer remembers the 
 old house well, and it was taken down not far from 1852. Asa John- 
 son and his wife removed from Williamstown, poor, but not dis- 
 couraged, to what is now Rutland, Vermont, and their daughter, 
 Chloe, was born there Oct. 3, 1770, the third white child to be born 
 in Rutland, the two previous births having happened within ten days 
 before, — William Powers on September 23, and William Mead on 
 the next day. Rutland, however, had been a focus of Indian travel, 
 and of white men's military marches, long before 1770. After Fort 
 Dummer was built in 1724, Rutland lay in the most accessible path 
 from the Connecticut River to Lake Champlain. Massachusetts 
 sold goods at Fort Dummer cheaper tlian the French sold the same 
 
 / 
 
622 ORIGINS IN WILLIAMSTOWN. 
 
 in Canada ; and hence a brisk Indian trade across the highlands of 
 Vermont. Three times in the course of the year 1759, brave sights 
 were seen at the crossing of the Otter Creek in what is now Centre 
 Rutland : first, 800 New Hampshire troops with axes and shovels 
 and hoes, cutting down trees and levelling hummocks, and making 
 a military road from Charleston, New Hampshire, to Crown Point, 
 in order the better to co-operate with General Amherst, in his part 
 towards the conquest of Canada ; second, soon after, 400 fat cattle 
 in five droves, passing over this new road to diminish (if possible) 
 the scurvy in the great garrison at Crown Point; and third. Major 
 Kobert Eogers, the great ranger and indomitable forester, with a 
 new corps of rangers, recruited at Charleston, on his return from the 
 exploit of destroying the Indian village of St. Francis on the St. 
 Lawrence, the pest of New England, and now after two months' 
 absence on his way to rejoin Amherst at Crown Point. 
 
 It only remains in this long chapter to quote verbatim the differ- 
 ent orders taken, in well-warned proprietors' meetings, in relation to 
 the erection and occupation of this first meeting-house of 1768. 
 
 Voted to Build a meeting House also voted that Said meeting House be forty 
 feet in Length and thirty feet in Breadth. Voted to finish Said House in two 
 year. Voted Said House be Studed and Bracesed. Voted to plaister as far as 
 is Needed. Voted to lay the uper floer on the top of the jice and Laith and 
 Plaister on the under Side of the jice. Voted and Chose Nehemiah Smedley 
 Samuel Sanford Richard Stratton a Commetree to finish Said meeting House. 
 Voted to Raise three Pounds on Each Right to Build Said meeting House. Voted 
 to Leave the Rest of Said work of ^d House to the Discrestion of Said Com- 
 metree. [Dec. 9, 1766.] 
 
 Voted and Chose Benjamin Simonds a Commete man in the Room of mr 
 Samuel Sanford for Building the meeting House. [March 11, 1768.] 
 
 Voted to appoint a Place to Sett up a meeting House. Voted by Intrest and 
 to Sett it on the Square 9880 acres the Contray by Intrest 5035 acres. Voted to 
 Leave it to the Discression of the Commetee to provide for the Raising S^ House. 
 [April 18, 1768.] 
 
 Voted to Give Instructtions to the meeting House Commetee Concerning the 
 Pew Ground also Voted to Build Pews. Voted that Said Commetee go on and 
 Build Pews according to their Dischression and then Sect said House. [Nov. 
 7, 1768.] 
 
 Voted to Raise one Pound on Eaich Proprietor Right to finish the meeting 
 House and Some other old Rearriges. Voted Excepted accounts as follows 
 to Benjamin Simonds and Nehemiah Smedley for finishing the meeting House 
 £4 8s. Sd. [Oct. 9, 1769.] 
 
 Voted to Build 2 Pews at the East End of the meeting House. Voted Not 
 to Except the meeting House as finished. [April 13, 1770.] 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abbott, Samuel, 150, 211. 
 
 Abenakis of Maine, 72. 
 
 Acadie, 239. 
 
 Adams, John Q., 334. 
 
 Adams line, 4. 
 
 Adirondat'ks, 21. 
 
 Aix la Chapelle, 73, 186, 204, 223, 233, 685. 
 
 Albany, 70. 
 
 Albany as place of supply, 514. 
 
 Alexander, Corporal, 103. 
 
 Alexandria, 271. 
 
 Allen, Samuel, 131. 
 
 •' Alpine Club," 14,45. 
 
 Amherst College, 32. 
 
 Amherst, Greneral, 171, 421. 
 
 Anthony, Mount, 37. 
 
 Argall, Captain, 74. 
 
 Arnold's exi)edition, 41. 
 
 Arnold to Quebec, 47(>. 
 
 Artillery at Fort Massachusetts, 419. 
 
 Ashford Brook, 4, 7. 
 
 Ashley, Rev. John, 226. 
 
 Ashuwillticook, Preface, 107. 
 
 Avery, Oliver, 515. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bacon, Aaron, 50, 578. 
 Bacon, Daniel, 50, 445. 
 Bacon, Jacob, .50, 579. 
 Bacon, Stephen, 52,579. 
 Baker Bridge, 62. 
 Bald Mountain, 12, 28. 
 Baldwin, Joel, 17, 569. 
 Ballou, Aaron, 6.'i. 
 Ballon family, «>3. 
 Bancroft, George, 105. 
 Bantam Lake, 389. 
 Baptist Society, 473. 
 " Bardwell's Ferrj'," 112. 
 Barnard, Salah, 285. 
 
 " Bars Fight," 118, 130. 
 Bascom, John, 8, 13, 551. 
 "Bascora Meadow," 14. 
 Batten Kill, The, 155. 
 Battle, Lake George, Ml. 
 " Bay Path," 305. 
 Beecher, Henry Ward, 548. 
 Bee Hill, 18, 62, 531. 
 Beers, Deacon Andrew, 541. 
 Belcher, Governor, 16, 77, 218. 
 Belding, Noah, 479. 
 Bellows-Pipe, 33. 
 Bennington, 7, 315. 
 
 Berlin Pass, 22. 
 
 Berlin road, 25. 
 
 Bernard, Governor, 227. 
 
 Bill for supplies at Fort Shirley, 84. 
 
 Billings, Elisha and William, 493. 
 
 " Bingham house," 580. 
 
 Birchard, Amos, 25. 
 
 Birchard family, 545. 
 
 Birch Hill, 17, 18, 531. 
 
 Birch Hill Brook, 18. 
 
 Blackinton, woollen-mill, 4. 
 
 Blagden, S. P., 510. 
 
 Blair, Abraham, 91. 
 
 Blair, Austin, 44. 
 
 Blair, Bernard, 584. 
 
 Blair family, 581. 
 
 Blair, Maria, 5^. 
 
 Blakeslee, Caleb, 551. 
 
 Blakeslee, Edwin, .551. 
 
 Blanchard, Colonel, 208, 315, 342. 
 
 Block house at West Hoosac, 256. 
 
 Blodget, Samuel, 342. 
 
 " Bloody Morning Scout," 105, 322. 
 "Bloody Pond," 348. 
 Board of Commissioners, 3. 
 Body of Divinity, Ridgeley's, 486. 
 Boove, Peter, 202. 
 Bounty for scalps, 275. 
 Braddock's Defeat, 130. 
 
 623 
 
624 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Braddock, General, 287, 313. 
 Bratt, Barnardus, 114. 
 Braytonville, 62. 
 Bridges, Jonathan, 43G, 593. 
 Briggs, Enos, 28. 
 Broad Brook, 8, G4. 
 Brookman's, 22, 24. 
 Brooks, Albert, 40. 
 Brown, Samuel, 218, 382. 
 Brown, Timothy M., 612. 
 Bulkley farm, 537. 
 Bulkley, Gershom T., 562. 
 Bulkley, Rev. Peter, 389. 
 Burbank, 434. 
 Burbank, Daniel, 570. 
 Burchard family, 545. 
 Burgoyne, General, 305, 426. 
 Burial-place, The first, 515. 
 Burt, Deacon, 484. 
 Burying-place, 463. 
 '• Buskirk's Bridge," 283. 
 Buxton, 16. 
 Buxton Brook, 22, 33, 377. 
 
 Caldwell, William, 91. 
 
 Calhoun, Rev. Dr., 259. 
 
 Canada Indians, 5. 
 
 Canning, E. W. B., 355. 
 
 Cape Breton, 74, 100. 
 
 Captives of Fort Massachusetts, 128. 
 
 "Captive, The Redeemed," 73. 
 
 Carillon, Fort, 71. 
 
 " Carrying-Place," 321. 
 
 Carter, Franklin, 38. 
 
 Cartier, explorer, 75. 
 
 Cartwright, Richard, 479. 
 
 Caswell, Jonathan, 319. 
 
 Catlin, John, 107, 110, 226. 
 
 Catskills, 12, 19, 21. 
 
 Census in 1765, 470. 
 
 Chadbourne Mountain, 29. 
 
 Chadbourne, P. A., 30. 
 
 Chambers' Dictionary, 486. 
 
 Champlain, Samuel, 71, 155. 
 
 Chapin, Captain Elisha, 248, 256, 280, 
 
 411, 487. 
 Charlemont, 111, 273. 
 " Charlestown," 296. 
 Charlestown, New Hampshire, 210. 
 Chauncy, Rev. Dr., 224, 354. 
 Chester, Colonel, 292. 
 '•Chickobee,"248. 
 
 Chidester, father, son, 280, 284. 
 Chidester, William, 402. 
 Children of West Hoosac, 499. 
 Childs, Dr., 327. 
 Chi Psi fraternity, 248. 
 Choate, Colonel, 483. 
 Church, Formation of, 473. 
 Clark, Dr. B. J.,595. 
 Clark Hall, 355. 
 Clark, R. R., 355. 
 Clark, W. L., 106. 
 Cleveland, President, 23, 569. 
 Cockroft, 342. 
 " Colchester Rose," 548. 
 Cole, Charles S., 555. 
 Cole, John M., 14, 557. 
 Coleraine, 226. 
 Collins, Isaac, 163. 
 Comstock Heights, 40. 
 Connecticut River, Preface, 5. 
 Converse, Harriet, 42. 
 Converse, Olive, 42. 
 Converse, Walter, 42. 
 Cooke, Rev. Phineas, Preface. 
 Cook, W. L., 89. 
 Cooper, Judith, 485. 
 Coots, Charles, 105. 
 Corner of Massachusetts, 1. 
 Corps of Rangers, 274. 
 Cowdin, Abel, 262. 
 Crawford, John, 275. 
 Crofoot family, 538. 
 Crown Point, 169, 175. 
 Crown Point expedition, 308. 
 Culloden Moor, 176. 
 Curtiss, 389, 394. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dale, geologist, 558. 
 
 Dalton, 321. 
 
 Dana, Professor, 60. 
 
 Danforth, Keyes, 462, 555. 
 
 Daniels, Starling, 46. 
 
 D'Anville, 123. 
 
 Dartmouth College, Preface. 
 
 Davis, Stephen, 535. 
 
 Day, Daniel, 441. 
 
 De Lancey, Governor, 116. 
 
 Deming, Aaron, 544. 
 
 Deming family, 435, 543. 
 
 Demuy, Lieutenant, 148, 176. 
 
 Denio, Aaron, 122. 
 
 Dewey, Daniel, 591. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 625 
 
 Dewey, Daniel N., 552. 
 
 Diana's Bath, 17. 
 
 Diderot, 354. 
 
 Dieskau, General, 145, 276, 346, 488. 
 
 Dodd, Professor, 4. 
 
 Dodd's Cone, 20, 33. 
 
 Dome and Doinelet, Preface, 11, 13. 
 
 Donahue's, 17, 18. 
 
 Donalsou, Daniel, HIO. 
 
 Doijlittle, Rev. Benjamin, 174. 
 
 Doiigan, Governor, 113, 158. 
 
 Douglas, Asa, 507. 
 
 Drake's " Particular History," 144, 164. 
 
 "Dug Way," 8, 26. 
 
 Dummer Fort, 78, 122. 
 
 Duncan, Samuel, 40. 
 
 Dunning, Matthew, 473. 
 
 Dunton, Thomas, 434. 
 
 Durfee, Rev. Dr., 312, 530. 
 
 Dutch encroachments, 496. 
 
 Dutch farmers, 516. 
 
 " Dutch Hoosac," 151, 264, 401. 
 
 Dutch in New York, 2, 70. 
 
 Dwight, Abigail, 488. 
 
 Dwight, Anna, 43. 
 
 Dwight, Captain Nathaniel, 81, 302, 404, 
 
 564. 
 Dwight, Colonel Joseph, 126, 218. 
 Dwight, Colonel Timothy, 81, 96, 99, 483. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eagle Bridge, 154. 
 " East Mountain," 10. 
 Edwards, Jonathan, 219. 
 Eldridge, J. A., 5. 
 Emmons, Mount, 10. 
 Emmons, Professor, 172. 
 " Endicutt's Tree," 15. 
 Erskine, Letter to, 252. 
 Everett, Edward, 108, 193. 
 Ewing, John, 3. 
 Eyre, Captain, 351. 
 
 F. 
 
 Falltown, 124. 
 Field, David D., 21, 355. 
 Field's " Berkshire," 571. 
 Fitch. Asa, 163. 
 Fitch, Ebenezer, 222. 
 Fitch, Mount, 29. 
 Five Nations, 72. 
 " Flora's Glen,*' 550. 
 
 "Foote's Hill," 556. 
 
 Ford of the Hoosac, 206. 
 
 Ford's Glen, 15. 
 
 Ford, Zadock, 15. 
 
 " Forest trees," 9. 
 
 "Fork Lyman," 337. 
 
 " Forks," The, 8. 
 
 Fort Anne, 317. 
 
 Fort Clinton, 1(^. 
 
 Fort Edward, 160, 276, 309. 
 
 Fort Massachusetts, 521. 
 
 Fort Nicholson, 160. 
 
 Fort St. Frederic, 169. 
 
 Fort Saratoga, 320. 
 
 Fort William Henry, 145, 276, 340. 
 
 Foster, Ezekiel, 260. 
 
 Foster family, 28. 
 
 Founders of Williamstown, 470. 
 
 Founder's will, 492. 
 
 Fowler family, 17. 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 265. 
 
 French Flag at Fort Massachusetts, 
 
 143. 
 French Protestants, 231. 
 Frontenac, 72. 
 
 Gale, John B., 536. 
 "Garden of Eden," 14. 
 George, Lake, 75. 
 Ghost story, 614. 
 Gibbs family, .*i90. 
 Gilson, Michael, 108, 197. 
 Glen Bridge, 24. 
 Glen Brook, 19. 
 Glen's Falls, 329. 
 Gneiss, 11. 
 Golden Gate, 50. 
 "Goodeirs,"45, 46. 
 " Gore," 22, 42. 
 Gore annexed, 4. 
 Gould, Edward O., (304. 
 Grass, Blue, of Kentucky, 59. 
 Gray, James and John, 489. 
 Gray, John, 2(K>. 
 Greenfield, Preface. 
 Green, Henry, 42. 
 Green, Librarian, 110. 
 Green Mountains, (5. 
 Grey lock, Preface, 4. 
 Griffin, Mount, 29. 
 Griffin, N. H., 35. 
 "Gully," 19. 
 
626 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 H. 
 
 " Half Moon," 69, 383. 
 
 Hall, Clark, 59, 119. 
 
 Hall, Goodrich, 59. 
 
 Hall, Griffin, 59. 
 
 Hall, Morgan, 59. 
 
 Hancock Brook, 7. 
 
 .Harrington, Micah, 369. 
 
 Harrison, Almon, 51. 
 
 Harrison, Bradford, 618. 
 
 Harrison, Clement, Preface, 119, 423. 
 
 Harrison family, 527, 617. 
 
 Harrison's Pasture, 32. 
 
 Harwood, Mary, 607. 
 
 Hatfield, 492. 
 
 Haverhill, 1. 
 
 Hawks, Eleazar, 111, 139. 
 
 Hawks, John, 111, 209, 494. 
 
 Hawley, Joseph, 224, 267, 288, 300, 385. 
 
 Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 67. 
 
 Haynes, John H., 97, 247. 
 
 "Haystack," 12. 
 
 Hazen, Mount, 10, 263. 
 
 Hazen, Richard, 1, 8, 12, 66. 
 
 " Heart of Grey lock," 47. 
 
 Hemlock Brook, 22, 448. 
 
 Hemlocks, 23. 
 
 Hendrik, Mohawk, 316, 345. 
 
 Hickox, Deacon Stephen, 64. 
 
 Hickox family, 24. 
 
 " Hickox Height," 25. 
 
 Higgins, Elisha, 391. 
 
 Hobhs, Captain, 203, 205. 
 
 Holmes, Isaac, 473. 
 
 Holmes, Phoebe, 551. 
 
 "Hoosac," derivation, 467. 
 
 Hoosac Junction, 282. 
 
 " Hoosac Patent," 113. 
 
 Hoosac River, Preface. 
 
 " Hoosac Road," 14. 
 
 Hoosacs, Preface, 5, 21. 
 
 Hoosac Tunnel, 6, 109. 
 
 Hopkins, Colonel A. L., 64, 510, 550, 603. 
 
 Hopkins, Harry, 34, 36. 
 
 Hopkins, Louisa Pay son, 48. 
 
 Hopkins, Mark, Preface, 36, 200, 312, 
 
 478. 
 Hopkins, Mount, 27. 
 Hopkins, Professor, 9, 12, 13, 35, 36, 47, 
 
 65. 
 Hopper, 20. 
 "Hopper Brook," 440. 
 Horsford, William, 60. 
 
 Hoskins, Nathan, 552. 
 Housatonic River, 7. 
 Howe, Fisher, 412. 
 Howe, Lieutenant Sampson, 620. 
 Howe, Lord, 421. 
 Hoxsie, S. V. R., 552. 
 Hoyt, General E., 277. 
 Hoyt's "Researches," 181. 
 Hubbard, historian, 303. 
 Hubbell, Jedidiah, 530. 
 Hubbell, Lyman, 541. 
 Hudson, Captain, 11, 223, 261. 
 Hudson, Captain and Surgeon, 519. 
 Hudson, Henry, 69. 
 "Hudson's Brook," 504. 
 Hudson's Height, 10, 263. 
 Hudson's River, 2. 
 Hutchinson, Governor, 484. 
 Hutchins, Thomas, 3. 
 Hyde, Deacon Alexander, 65. 
 
 I. 
 
 Indian Mission in Stockbridge, 219, 248, 
 
 252. 
 Indian path, 37. 
 Indian scalps, 102. 
 " Irish potatoes," 91. 
 Irish spinning-wheels, 91. 
 Items of expense at Fort Shirley, 86. 
 
 J. 
 
 Jackson, Deacon John, 221. 
 
 Jackson, Elizabeth, 218. 
 
 "Jackson Festival," 312, 478. 
 
 Jackson, " History of Newton," 217. 
 
 Jericho, 44, 507. 
 
 Jerome, Eugene M., 604. 
 
 Joel's Sentry, 17. 
 
 Jones, Israel, 242. 
 
 Johnson, Asa, 451, 621. 
 
 Johnson, Lieutenant David, 41, 142. 
 
 "Johnson Pass," 41. 
 
 Johnson, Sir William, 136, 276. 
 
 Johnson, W. E., 
 
 " Journal " of Richard Hazen, 
 
 K. 
 
 Kalm, Peter, 161, 170. 
 Keith, H. F., 304. 
 Kelley, Mrs. Patrick, 580. 
 Kellogg, Captain J., 324. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 627 
 
 Kellogg farm, 64. 
 
 KelloRg, Giles B., 55, 445, 577. 
 
 KeWoiiii Hall, 451. 
 
 Kellogg, Justin, fi02. 
 
 Kellogg, Mr. Justice, 55. 
 
 Kellogg, Natlianiel. 4il5. 
 
 Kellogg, Professor. 472, 571. 
 
 Kellogg, Samuel, 444, 474, 576. 
 
 Ken»el>ec expetlition, 476. 
 
 Kidder, George, 40. 
 
 Kidder Pass, 23, 38, 41. 
 
 Kill, Batten, 69. 
 
 Kill, Kinderhook, 69. 
 
 Kinderhook Creek, 7. 
 
 King, Benjamin, 410. 
 
 King, David, fXH). 
 
 Kinney, Daniel, 45. 
 
 Kinney Place, 46. 
 
 Kinney, Robert, 514. 
 
 Knowles, Commodore, 78, 296. 
 
 Kuowlton, Thomas, 135. 
 
 " Krigger Mills," 39. 
 
 Kriggers, a Dutch family, 507, 558. 
 
 I.a Come, Colonel, 147, 162. 
 I>ake George, 32«), 497. 
 I^imb, John, 540. 
 Land-grabber Seelye, 524. 
 I^nesboro, 7, 252, 448. 
 I^tham, Captain Isaac, 562. 
 Lebanon, New Hampshire, Preface. 
 Lee, Dr. Samuel, 371. 
 Leet, Governor William, 20. 
 Leet Hill. 19, 26, 33. 
 Leet, .Jared, 2(5, 33. 
 Limestone, Chazy, 172. 
 Lincoln's '* Worcester," 92. 
 Line between New York and Massachu- 
 setts, 376. 
 Line House, 8, 461. 
 " Little Hoosac," 19, 20, 152, 282. 
 ♦* Little Tunnel," 6, 33. 
 Little White Creek, 116. 
 Livingstone, Robert, 159. 
 Log meeting-house, 463. 
 Long Oblong, 39. 
 Louisburg, Fortress of, 74, 93. 
 Lowell, city, 1. 
 Luce, Seth, 441. 
 Ludden, W. W., Preface. 
 L>^nan, Phineas, 310. 
 Lyme, New Hampshire, Preface. 
 
 M. 
 
 Macomber Mountain, 34. 
 
 McCosh, 6(>. 
 
 McGinnis, :?53. 
 
 McMaster Mountain, 38, 40. 
 
 McMaster, Robert, 38. 
 
 " Mac's Pattin," ."58. 
 
 •'Mansion House," 463. 
 
 Map of first survey, 374. 
 
 Marcy, Governor, <)00. 
 
 Marsh, Dr. Perez, XiO, 365, 491. 
 
 Marsh, Dwight Whitney, 493. 
 
 Martin's Mount, 40. 
 
 Mason's Hill, 13. 
 
 Massachusetts Fort, Preface, 14, 69, 79, 
 
 107, 178, 198, 242. 
 " Master Townsend," 528. 
 Mather, Charles H,, 588. 
 Maxwell, Orsamus, 82. 
 Mayunsook, Preface, 5, 107. 
 Meacham family, ;i93, 431, 508, 509. 
 Meacham, Jonathan, 280, 404, 565. 
 Meacham, William, 280, 404, 411. 
 Meack, Dr. Jacob, 4:32, 561. 
 Meeting-house, 474, 52(>, 560. 
 Merrimack River, 1, 76. 
 Mills, B. F., 38. 
 Mills, Captain Samuel, 42. 
 Mills in West Hoosac, 498. 
 Mills, Mrs. Reed, 46. 
 Ministers' lot, 474. 
 Ministry lot, 474. 
 Mohawk River, 2. 
 Mohawk trail, 14. 
 Mole, Mrs. Thomas, 262. 
 " Money Brook," 55. 
 Monongahela, 137. 
 Montcalm, General, 140. 
 Montreal, 75. 
 Moody Bridge, 7, 421. 
 Moon Hollow, 16. 
 Moore, Mount, 31. 
 Moore, President, 32. 
 " Mount Belcher," 2, 16. 
 Mount Fitch, 4. 
 Mount Mills, 40. 
 Musgrave, Sir Anthony, 21. 
 
 N. 
 
 New Hampshire, 77. 
 New Mil ford, rAi). 
 New Salem, 288, 508. 
 
628 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 " New tenor" money, 88, 121. 
 
 " New York," 70. 
 
 Nims, Elisha, 118. 
 
 No. 4, 26G. 
 
 Noble, David, 563. 
 
 Noble, Deacon Deodatus, 63. 
 
 Norridgewock, 75. 
 
 North Adams, 241. 
 
 North Granville, New York, 166. 
 
 "North Hoosac,"283. 
 
 Northwest Hill, 15. 
 
 Norton, Chaplain, 101, 123, 183, 277. 
 
 Norton, Mrs. John, 83, 89. 
 
 Notch road, 32. 
 
 Oak Hill, 10, 14, 37. 
 
 "Oblong road," 511. 
 
 Old lime-kiln, 60. 
 
 " Old tenor " money, 88, 121. 
 
 Ontario, Lake, 72. 
 
 Original drawings of house lots, 383. 
 
 Otis, James, 299. 
 
 Owl Kill, 37, 114, 153, 283. 
 
 P. 
 
 Park, Deacon William, 216. 
 
 Parkman, Francis, 115, 132, 148. 
 
 Parris, Elkanah, 51, 52, 579. 
 
 Parris, Grace, 020. 
 
 Partridge, Captain Oliver, 191, 225, 301, 
 
 373. 
 Pawtucket Falls, 1, 77. 
 Peace of Ryswick, 72. 
 Peace of Utrecht, 168. 
 Pelham, Fort, 97, 122, 194, 235. 
 Pelham, Henry, 101. 
 Penniman, Christopher, 64. 
 Penniman, Harvey and Chester, 64. 
 Pepperel, Sir William, 299. 
 Perry, A. L., Gil. 
 Perry, Bliss, 548, 603. 
 Perry, Grace, 595. 
 
 Perry, John, 101, 108, 120, 139, 189, 241. 
 " Perry's Elm," Preface, 424. 
 Petersburg Junction, 152. 
 Petersburg Pass, 18. 
 Petersburg road, 19. 
 Petition of soldiers, 415. 
 Phelps, Dan, 39. 
 Phips, Spencer, 239, 272. 328. 
 Pickets at Fort Massachusetts, 245. 
 
 Pidgeon, Daniel, F.G.S., 67. 
 
 Pierce, President, 600. 
 
 Pine lots, 456. 
 
 Pocumtuck Memorial Hall, 89, 106. 
 
 Pomeroy, Seth, 105, 236, 288, 360. 
 
 Porter, Dr. Samuel, 42. 
 
 Pottery work here, 62. 
 
 Pownal, 8, 426. 
 
 Pownal, Governor, 227, 520. 
 
 Pratt, " Jerry," 260, 427. 
 
 Pratt, Mrs. Roxanna, 575. 
 
 Pratt, Silas, 259, 391. 
 
 Pratt, " Steve." 260, 427. 
 
 Pratt, William, 425. 
 
 Prindle place, 19. 
 
 Prindle, Sheriff George, 507. 
 
 Privy Council, 1. 
 
 "Proprietors," 465. 
 
 "Proprietors' Book," 501. 
 
 Proprietors' meetings, 398, 405, 466, 523. 
 
 Purchasers of house lots, 384. 
 
 Putnam, James O., 600. 
 
 Putnam, Mrs. Anna, 592. 
 
 Putnam, Schuyler, 52. 
 
 Putnam, Sylvia, 593. 
 
 Putney, Vermont, 109. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quartzite, 62. 
 
 Quebec, 71, 144. 
 
 " Queen Anne's War," 73, 146. 
 
 " Queen's College " in Hatfield, 228. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rale, Father, 75. 
 
 Rale's bell, 76. 
 
 Rations in garrison, 106, 199. 
 
 "Raven Rock," 5. 
 
 " Redeemed Captive," 124, 306. 
 
 Redemption of paper money, 88. 
 
 Red House Farm, 18. 
 
 Regicides, 20, 26, 33. 
 
 Rice, Moses, 96, 111, 273. 
 
 Rich, Moses, 38. 
 
 Richards, Colonel, 40. 
 
 Richards, James, 40. 
 
 Rittenhouse, David, 3. 
 
 " River Bend Farm," 7, 150, 459, 507. 
 
 " River-gods," 225. 
 
 Roadtown, 392. 
 
 Roberts, Zenas, 46. 
 
 Robinson, Governor Moses, 157. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 629 
 
 Roe, Thomas, 573. 
 •• Rogers Rangers," 90, 171. 
 Rogers, Robert, 274, 283, 622. 
 Rossiter, Nathan, 541. 
 Ruggles, 310, 344. 
 Rutland, Vermont, 621. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sabin, Charles, 41, 43. 
 
 Sabiii, Dr. H. L., 43. 
 
 Sabin Heights, 43. 
 
 Sabin, Lieutenant Z., 43, 142. 
 
 Sabine's "Loyalists," 230. 
 
 Saddle Mountain, 5, 12, 44. 
 
 Saflford, Professor, 4. 
 
 St. Croix, 115. 
 
 St. Croix rum, 51. 
 
 St. Lawrence River, 71. 
 
 St. Pierre, 351. 
 
 " St. Sacrament," I>ake, 115. 
 
 " Sand Spring," 13, (>4, 459. 
 
 Sand Spring Hotel, 14. 
 
 Sanford, Samuel, 52<;. 
 
 " Saratoga River," 154. 
 
 Sawmill, 457. 
 
 Saxe, Marshal, 354. 
 
 Scheme of a village centre, 377. 
 
 Schodock, 7, 69. 
 
 Schoolhouse, 474. 
 
 Schuyler, General. 517. 
 
 Schuyler, Peter, 73, 158. 
 
 Schuylerville, 320. 
 
 Scotch-Irish, 90, 118, 157, 258. 
 
 Searle, Captain Isaac, 60, 5(53. 
 
 "Seating" the meeting-house, 562. 
 
 Sedgwick, General, 444. 
 
 Seelye, Ephraim, 51, 4:i8, 524. 
 
 Semi-centennial of the College, Preface. 
 
 Sergeant, Rev. John, 219, 488. 
 
 Shattuck. Mary, Preface. 
 
 Sheldon, Dr., 562. 
 
 Sheldon, George, 89. 
 
 Sherman, Bissell, 441. 
 
 Sherman, James, 442. 
 
 Sherman, Jolin, 24, 25. 
 
 Sherwood district, 42. 
 
 " Shirley Fort," 80, 134, 235. 
 
 Shirley, Governor, 74, 272, 294, 398, 484, 
 
 502. 
 Shirley, .lohn and William, ."KK. 
 Shute, (Jovernor, fK), 5,32, rm. 
 Siege of Fort Massachusetts, 135. 
 Simonds, Benjamin, 121, 150, 385, 590. 
 
 Simonds, Joseph, 594. 
 
 Simonds Peak, 29. 
 
 Simonds, Rachel, 286, 387, 433. 
 
 " Six Nations," 69. 
 
 Skinner, Deacon, 529, 583. 
 
 Skinner, General, 529, 591. 
 
 Skinner, John B., 597. 
 
 Sloan, General, 428. 
 
 Sloan road, 511. 
 
 Slope Hawks, 31, 191. 
 
 Slope Norton, 2<.), 191. 
 
 Smead, Captivity, 153, 173. 
 
 Smead, John, 189. 
 
 Smedley, Captain, 389. 
 
 Smedley, Deacon Levi, 52. 
 
 Smedley, Edward. 612. 
 
 Smedley, F. G., (>4. 
 
 Smedley Height, 6, 10, 475. 
 
 " Smedley house," 475. 
 
 Smedley House No. 1, 468. 
 
 Smedley, James, 38, 65, 263, 407, 611. 
 
 Smedley, John, 5(58. 
 
 Smedley, Levi, 475. 
 
 Smedley, Nehemiah, 606, et seq. 
 
 Smedley 's, 3<K). 
 
 Smith's " Pittsfield," 30. 
 
 Smith, Stephen, Preface. 
 
 " Snow-Hole," 22, 28. 
 
 South Williamstown, 6. 
 
 Southwick, Ichabod, 64. 
 
 Spring, Rev. Samuel, 476. 
 
 " Square," 379, 420. 
 
 Stark, General John, 141, 219, 488. 
 
 " Steepacres," 14. 
 
 Stephentown, 7. 
 
 Stetson, Francis L., 569. 
 
 Stevens, Captain Phineas, 78, 102, 121, 
 
 203, 295. 
 Stockbridge, 372, 402, 485. 
 " Stockbridge Bowl," 489. 
 Stoddard, Colonel John, 79, 94, 104, 120, 
 
 484. 
 Stone Hill, 429. 
 Stratton, 437. 
 Stratton, Deacon. 439, 513. 
 Stratton, Hezekiah, 103. 
 Stratton, Major Isaac, 513, 571. 
 '• Stratton Mountain," 4, 12, 44. 
 Stratton, Richard, 436, 474, 513. 
 Stuyvesant, Governor, 70. 
 Survey of 1839, 373. 
 Sweet Brook, 23, 39. 
 ** Sweet's Corners," 508. 
 Swift, Rev. Seth, 473. 
 
630 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tacitus, historian, 136. 
 
 Taconic Ridge, 3. 
 
 Taconic System, 173. 
 
 "Taconics," 22. 
 
 Taft, C. R., 550. 
 
 Talcott, Mayor John, 303. 
 
 Tallmadge, Joseph, 64, 549. 
 
 Tatlock, John, 11. 
 
 "Taylor, Elias," 286. 
 
 Taylor, Samuel, 286. 
 
 " Taylor's Crotch," 52, 440, 506, 557. 
 
 Tenny, Rev. Erdix, Preface. 
 
 Thacher, Oxenbridge, 227. 
 
 Thayer, Foster, 530. 
 
 Thayer, Rev. Ezra, 488. 
 
 Thermopylae, 108, 193. 
 
 Thetford Academy, Preface. 
 
 Ticonderoga Fort, 71, 156, 339. 
 
 Titcomb, Colonel, 310, 344. • 
 
 Tithing-man, 473. 
 
 Torrey, Homer, 511. 
 
 Torrey, John, 38. 
 
 Torrey, John, Jr., 38. 
 
 Torrey, Justin, 42. 
 
 Torrey, Myron, 42. 
 
 Torrey Plateau, 38. 
 
 Torrey, William, 5, 38. 
 
 "Torrey Woods," 23. 
 
 Townsend, Martin, 44. 
 
 Townsend, M. I., 44. 
 
 Townsend, Nathaniel, 44. 
 
 Townsend, R. M., 44. 
 
 Townsend, R. W.,44. 
 
 Train, Sally, 582. 
 
 Train, Thomas, 386, 408. 
 
 Treadwell, Agur, 23. 
 
 Treadwell Hollow, 20, 22. 
 
 Treadwell house, 23. 
 
 Trumbull, J. H., 22. 
 
 Trumbull's " McFingal," 230. 
 
 Turnpikes, 25. 
 
 Utrecht, Peace of, 73. 
 
 V. 
 
 Van Der Heiden's Ferry, 195. 
 Van Der Verick, 113, 152. 
 Van Ness, 113. 
 " Vandues," 554. 
 
 " Vane, Danforth," 461. 
 
 Vaudreuil, General, 132, 165, 177, 494. 
 
 Vaudreuil, Governor, 73, 127, 140. 
 
 Vermont, Southern line, 1. 
 
 Village " lots " of Williamstown, 380. 
 
 "Vista," 50. 
 
 Voters by law, 473. 
 
 W. 
 
 Walker, Alexander, 28. 
 
 Walker, Surveyor, 328. 
 
 Walloomsac River, 115, 282. 
 
 Walpole, Robert, 168. 
 
 Ware's Brook, 8, 461. 
 
 War, King William's, 72. 
 
 Warren, Gideon, 275. 
 
 Washington, Colonel, 75. 
 
 Washington County, New York, 37, 61. 
 
 Watch-box of Fort Massachusetts, 138. 
 
 Waterman, James M., 562. 
 
 Water Street, 436, 615. 
 
 "Wawbeek Falls," 56. 
 
 " Wawbeek Falls," Poem on, 58. 
 
 Welch family, 17. 
 
 Welch, Mrs., 548. 
 
 Welch, Rev. Whitman, 142, 463, 471, 473, 
 474, 528. 
 
 Well of Fort Shirley, 85. 
 
 Wells, David A., Preface. 
 
 Wentworth, Governor Benning, 77, 229. 
 
 " West College," 449. 
 
 " West Hoosac " Fort, 406. 
 
 West, Rev. Dr., 219, 277. 
 
 Wheeler, Deacon, 565. 
 
 White, Joseph, 273. 
 
 " White Oaks," 9, 13, 63, 438, 508. 
 
 White Oaks Chapel, 460. 
 
 White, Rev. Alfred, 540. 
 
 White sand, 63. 
 
 Whitehall, New York, 167. 
 
 Whiting, Colonel, 345, 369. 
 
 "Wilbur's Pasture," 4, 32. 
 
 Will of Ephraim Williams, 479. 
 
 Williams, Bishop John, 487. 
 
 Williams, Captain Elijah, 89, 104. 
 
 Williams, Charles K., 497. 
 
 Williams, Chauncey K., 497. 
 
 Williams, Colonel E., Preface, 66, 100, 
 104, 372. 
 
 Williams, Colonel William, 74, 82, 92, 
 226, 503. 
 
 Williams, Deacon William, 490. 
 
 Williams, Dr. S. W., 222. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 631 
 
 Williams, Dr. Thomas, 98, 125, 133, 224, 
 
 ;i:i8, :k*y, 477. 
 Williams, Ephraim, the founder, 83, 89, 
 
 104, 179, 206, 221, 254, 287, 477. 
 Williams, Ephraim, Senior, 19(5, 202. 
 •* Williams family," 222, 242, 2«i8, 291. 
 Williams, Isaao, 216. 
 Williams, Israel, 100, 104, 285, 291. 
 Williams, Mount, 29. 
 Williams, Professor Samuel, 3. 
 Williams, Rector E., 335. 
 Williams, Rev. John, 73. 
 Williams, Rev. Stephen, 306, 330, 483. 
 Williams, Robert, 100, 215, 324. 
 Williams, William, 478, 480. 
 Williams's mills, 241, 381. 
 Williamstown and Williams College, 
 
 Preface. 
 Winslow, General, 281. 
 Winsor, Justin, .^56. 
 Winthrop, General John, 158. 
 Wolfe's victory, 421. 
 Women's prayer-meetings, 17, 77, 464. 
 
 Wood Creek, 129, 167, 317. 
 Woodbridge, Dr. L. D., 526. 
 Woodcock, Barnabas, 541. 
 Woodcock, Bartholomew, 542. 
 Woodcock, Neheniiah, 541. 
 Woodcock road, 511. 
 Woodcock's Corner, 39. 
 Worthington, Colonel John, 224, 265. 
 Worthington, John, 313, :<21, 487. 
 Wraxall, Peter, 323. 
 Wright, Deacon, 174. 
 Wyman, Captain Isaac, 224, 270, 272, 276, 
 mi, 422, 501. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yale College, 125. 
 
 Young, family of, 534. 
 
 Young, John, 6'.iii. 
 
 Young, John and David, 633. 
 
 Young Men's Christian Association of 
 
 North Adams, Preface. 
 " Young Neighborhood," 532. 
 Young's Point, 44. 
 
 XortoooD iSrcBB: 
 
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