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Yale University Library

39002005150439

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of
EDITH WETMORE

ft. ^^m^J)

and Its Historic Influences
1669-1919
The Life of an Early Town
With a Survey of Events in New England and
Bordering Regions to which it was related
in Colonial and Revolutionary Times

By
Rev. John H. Lockwood, D.D.
Pastor Emeritus of the First Congregational Church of
Westfield, Massachusetts

Printed and Sold by the Author

Copyrighted 19ii

~ i

V

$

o

PRESS OF SPRINGFIELD PRINTING AND BINDING COMPANY, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

DEDICATION

TO THE MEN AND WOMEN OF WESTFIELD
THE STOUT-HEARTED PIONEERS WHO ESTABLISHED WORTHY IDEALS
AND THEIR SUCCESSORS
WHO IN VARIOUS WALKS OF LIFE THROUGH TWO AND A HALF CENTURIES
HAVE MAINTAINED THOSE IDEALS
THIS STUDY OF OUR BELOVED TOWN
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS
I. COLONIAL PERIOD. Page
I. The Fathers of the Bay  1
II. Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley . . 13
III. Physical Features of Westfield ... 35
TV. Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco . 51
V. Early Settlers and Allotments of Land . 83
VI. Organization of the Church  102
VII. The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 126
VIH. The Pilgrim Pastor's Home and Family . 153
IX. Matters of Dispute and Discipline . . 173
X. The Indian Menace, Philip's War . 199
XL Philip's War. Concluded  229
Xn. King William's War  254
XIII. Schools and Teachers  274
XD7. Queen Anne's War  295
XV. The Second Pastor and Meeting House . 309
XVI. Father Rale's War . .  337
XVH. King George's War  350
XVni. The Third Pastor  369
XIX. The Third Pastor. Concluded .... 407
XX. The Seven Years' War  442
XXI. Fort Hoosac  485
II. REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
I. The Impending Crisis  509
II. The Maturing Struggle  529
III. Prolonged Trials  548
P7. The Concluding Conflict  566
V. Some Westfield Heroes  590

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Facing Page
Portrait of the Author . . Frontispiece
Portrait and Autograph of William Pynchon . 13
"Birth of Springfield" and Blockhouse . 33
Indian Map by Harry Andrew Wright 66
Deed of Pauneasun 75
Historical Map by Louis Marinus Dewey 97
Portrait of Eldad Taylor and Joseph Moseley House 165
Boulder and Map of Location of West Hoosac Fort 489
Inscription ... 501
General Warham Parks House, Ingersoll House
and John Root Tombstone . . 513
Moseley Homestead and Washington Tavern . 539
Landlord Fowler Tavern and Doorway 567
Valley Forge Map .... . 575
Valley Forge Marker of Glover's Brigade . . 579

FOREWORD
Early in my pastorate in the old Westfield church the idea
of writing a history of the town came to me. The purpose
to execute it steadily strengthened during my active ministry,
but the intensive and absorbing research involved became
possible only after my retirement in 1906, and since then it
has occupied much of my time.
Town histories vary in plan and scope. My determination
has been to maintain a broad outlook upon incidents, affairs,
and tendencies, in order that the annals of the town might
be presented not alone in their local significance, but also in
their relation to the wider field of Colonial and Revolutionary
Massachusetts. Hence my title.
In prosecuting my task I have gathered and fully prepared
for publication a vast amount of material not included herein.
Reduced as it is, I may be fairly accused of undue prolixity.
My obligation is very great to those who have preceded
me in these fields of research, both such as have published
results and local investigators who have refrained from so
doing. Among the latter three are outstanding, namely —
Henry Holland and Joseph D. Bartlett, both now deceased,
and Mr. Louis Marinus Dewey, who has a far more accurate
and extensive knowledge of Westfield history and genealogies
than any other living person. It is ground for deep regret
that he has not embodied his knowledge for preservation in
published form.
When failing vision ended Mr. Bartlett's labors he

viii Foreword
generously intrusted his notebooks to me to use, with no
restriction, and I shall convey them to the Western Hampden
Historical Society. It is but just to add that the sacrifice of
his eyesight became virtually complete some time before his
death, with no other recompense than the joy of service.
I am under obligations to many librarians and their assist
ants for favors patiently and courteously rendered, with special
mention of those at the Westfield Atheneum, the City Library
of Springfield, the Forbes Library at Northampton, and the
custodians of the Archives in the State House at Boston.
Two long-time friends, Miss Harriet Newhall and Miss
Mary E. Coughlin, have added to my obligations by rendering
valued services in the preparation and distribution of my book.
JOHN H. LOCKWOOD.
Springfield, Mass., November, 1922.

and Its Historic Influences

i
Colonial Period

Errata
The following typographical errors have been noted :
"Burt" for Burr, p. 17, 1. 25.
"Henry" for Harry, p. 29, 1. 29.
"Pauneasum" for Paunesun, p. 75, 1. 33.
"Ernest Bagg" for Ernest Newton Bagg, p. 76, 1. 29.
"Mather" for Matthew, p. 425, 1. 29.

CHAPTER I.
The Fathers of the Bay
The alternatives of history suggest to the curious many
interesting guesses. Had the Pilgrims in the autumn of 1620
been allowed to execute their plan of landing in Virginia as a
place of future settlement, what would have been the history
of New England? No authoritative answer can be given to
that question. However, it certainly affords wide scope to
the imagination. The fact that the Pilgrims started westward
across the ocean with the more southern destination in view
is well supported. That what was Virginia's loss, was New
England's gain, is unquestionable.
After having been for some years in Holland the conditions
of their sojourn proved to be such as to force their sensitive
consciences to seek some less dangerous environment. It is
said that "the manners of the Dutch were too licentious for
them. Their children left them: some became soldiers and
others sailors in the Dutch service." The danger menacing
them was speedy amalgamation with the nation that sheltered
them and extinction of the peculiar church life in whose behalf
they had become voluntary exiles. Sir Walter Raleigh had
brought Guiana to the public notice and its attractions made
it a rival of Virginia in their councils, but those of the latter
prevailed. Though the decision to immigrate to America
was reached in the summer of 1617 it was not until two years
later that they secured a patent from the Virginia Company.
That included a grant of land, but the charter which they
prayed for from King James was refused, though he offered
no objections to their plan in other respects. In answer to
his inquiry as to how they expected to support themselves,
some one replied "most likely by fishing." To that he retorted,
"Very good, it was the Apostles' own calling."
They expected to strike the coast somewhere in the neigh
borhood of the mouth of the Hudson or of the Delaware River.
Hutchinson says, "They intended for Hudson's River, or the
coast near to it; but the Dutch had bribed their pilot, and he

2 Westfield and its Historic Influences
carried them farther northward, so that they fell in about
Cape Cod, and arrived in that harbor the 14th of November."
Whether this charge was well founded or whether the
change of course was due to loss of reckoning consequent
upon foul weather, destiny determined that the scene of their
future struggles and successes should be New England.
Far larger issues than those which related to the distinctive
Plymouth Colony thus planted were by that fateful decision
shaped and insured. The settlement of Plymouth resulted in
the more pretentious settlement of Massachusetts Bay a decade
later and in immediately succeeding years.
Every age is to a large extent the product of forces working
in the life of preceding generations. Westfield of today is a
resultant of ideas, efforts and experiences in the lives of people
who have acted their parts in the world's drama from earliest
days. The links in the chain extending back to 1630 in the
Bay, and to 1620 in Plymouth, form but a section of a far
longer chain reaching back into dim ages in regions of
three continents on the opposite side of the globe. The attempt
to trace those influences is one of the fascinating tasks of the
historian. Every distinct and significant movement of nations, tribes
or bodies of people bound together by peculiar ties, must
depend largely for guidance and progress upon the quality
and forcefulness of its leadership. That the original Pilgrim
adventurers were signally blessed in that regard is commonly
recognized. The rank and file of the applicants for a charter
from the Company in London consisted not of weaklings but
of heroes made of stern stuff. They gave, among other reasons
why their proposed undertaking would not prove abortive,
these special reasons: "That they were well weaned from the
delicate milk of their mother country, and enured to the diffi
culties of a strange land: That they were knit together in a
strict and sacred bond, by virtue of which they held them
selves bound to take care of the good of each other and of
the whole: That it was not with them as with other men, whom
small things could discourage or small discontents cause to
wish themselves at home again." Still they needed leaders
and possessed them. No one familiar with the history of
that infant Colony can fail to place high estimate upon men

The Fathers of the Bay 3
illustrious in its annals. It must have failed soon and com
pletely without its potent leaders, the two Elders, Robinson
who, though remaining in Leyden maintained his moral and
spiritual influence, and Brewster who came to share the hard
ships of his flock in the wilderness; without Bradford the
scholar, the historian, the wise and energetic man of affairs;
without Carver the first Governor, without others, Winslow
who has been termed its diplomatist, Allerton the commercial
agent of the Colony, Fuller its good physician, and the doughty
Miles Standish, its military chief. Had these not been the
Colony had not made such noble history.
Not less fortunate in the quality and force of its leaders
was the younger Colony of Massachusetts Bay. Though
differing from the former in some particular motives prompting
to emigration to the new land over sea, the underlying prin
ciples of the two were one and the same, the noble, heroic,
democratic, and essentially religious principles, fused by a
passionate purpose to establish and maintain institutions
accordant with the will of God as declared in the Scriptures.
What is commonly recognized as the motive of these
who established the Plymouth Colony is declared by Fiske
to have constrained the sister Colony. He says, "The aim of
Winthrop and his friends in coming to Massachusetts was the
construction of a theocratic state which should be to Chris
tians, under the New Testament dispensation, all that the
theocracy of Moses and Joshua and Samuel had been to the
Jews in Old Testament days." (The Beginnings of New
England, p. 146.)
The enterprise of the Plymouth people was solely one of
Separatists who risked themselves and their possessions in
order to enjoy religious and ecclesiastical freedom. The
great bulk of them cherished no other purpose, though feeling
responsible to make such small returns to the London Company
for funds advanced as might be gained by fishing and trading.
The Bay Colony was definitely Puritan but not Separatist.
Mather records that Rev. Francis Higginson of Salem wrote
as follows :
"We will not say as the Separatists were wont to say at
their leaving of England, Farewell Babylon! Farewell Rome!
But we will say, Farewell Dear England! Farewell the Church

4 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of God in England, and all the Christian friends there! We
do not go to New England as Separatists from the Church of
England; though we cannot but separate from the Corruptions
in it : But we go to practice the positive Part of Church Ref
ormation and propagate the Gospel in America." (Magnalia
III, 74.)
But in the Bay Colony there was a large and influential
element of Commercialism.
Winthrop claimed, "It is by a mutual consent, through a
special over-ruling Providence, and a more than ordinary
approbation of the churches of Christ, to seek a place of cohabi
tation and consortship, under a due form of government, both
civil and ecclesiastical." (Mass. Hist. Coll. 27, 45.) At the
same time it must be recognized that subsidiary secular motives
were co-ordinated with the supreme motive of religion in their
movement. They were genuine Puritans and to be such
they must have been constrained by the fear of God in their
effort to free themselves from political and ecclesiastical tyranny.
Burke's characterization of these New England Puritans
after their experiment at nation making was a hundred years
old was true of the founders. He said that they were "not
only devoted to liberty, but to liberty according to English
ideas" and later in the same famous speech, "The people are
Protestants : and of that kind which is the most adverse to all
implicit submission of mind and opinion * * * Their religion
is a refinement on the principle of resistance: it is the dis-
sidence of dissent, and the Protestantism of the Protestant
religion." Those early settlers, so alive to the benefits of civil and
religious liberty and so resolute in securing them, were not
sentimentalists, dreamy doctrinaires, as they are frequently
represented. They did not go tilting against windmills, or
crusading for fanciful rewards. The major part of them
were plain, simple, intelligent, God-fearing folk. They had
to make their way in the wilderness by subduing forests and
securing the marketable pelts of its wild creatures. They
were sane, earnest, practical farmers for the greater part,
with a needed sprinkling of artisans and an occasional but
lowly scholar who could teach the young, and with a ministry
of loftier attainments. They were people "almost wholly of

The Fathers of the Bay 5
the middle class, who lived, for the most part, by their own
labor, and who rejoiced in conquering the wilderness, in making
the marsh into a meadow, in sucking by their fisheries of the
abundance of the seas, and in seeing the first houses of logs,
with mud mortar, and oiled paper for glass in the windows,
giving place to houses of finished timber, or imported brick
with sometimes even mahogany balustrades."
They came hither for fresh and larger opportunity to live,
toil and grow. They coveted possession of the soil to be their
very own and not another's which they rented in minute parcels
at ruinous rates. Proofs of this passion are abundantly fur
nished in the records of our Connecticut Valley towns as
will appear later.
Having cited Burke's incisive characterization of the
colonies during the 18th century, I cannot forbear giving at
length Parkman's estimate of them based on researches nearer
at hand from more copious records. Speaking of the colonies
composing New England he says: "The principal among
them, Massachusetts, may serve as a type of them all. It
was a mosaic of little village republics, firmly cemented to
gether, and formed into a single body politic through repre
sentatives sent to the 'General Court' at Boston. * * * Its
people were purely English, of sound yeoman stock, with an
abundant leaven drawn from the best of the Puritan gentry,
but their original character had been somewhat modified by
changed conditions of life. A harsh and exacting creed, with
its stiff formalism and its prohibition of wholesome recreation;
excess in the pursuit of gain, — the only resource left to energies
robbed of their natural play; the struggle for existence on a
hard and barren soil: and the isolation of a narrow village
life, — joined to produce, in the meaner sort, qualities which
were unpleasant, and sometimes, repulsive. Puritanism was
not an unmixed blessing. Its view of human nature was
dark, and its attitude toward it was one of repression.
It strove to crush out not only what is evil, but much that is
innocent and salutary. Human nature so treated will take
its revenge, and for every vice that it loses find another in
stead. Nevertheless, while New England Puritanism bore
its peculiar crop of faults, it produced also many good and
sound fruits. An uncommon vigor, joined to the hardy virtues

6 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of a masculine race, marked the New England type. The
sinews, it is true, were hardened at the expense of blood and
flesh,- — and this literally as well as figuratively; but the staple
of character was a sturdy conscientiousness, an undespairing
courage, patriotism, public spirit, sagacity and strong good
sense." (Montcalm and Wolfe, Vol. I., pp. 28-9.)
It is not strange that narrowness and fanaticism blemished
their character. They were common features of the age and
they were incident to the type of that religion which so engrossed
the thought and shaped the life of the colonists.
It was essentially Hebraic, the religion of the Old Testa
ment with its theocratic ideal, and its emphasis upon the unique
privileges of a chosen and peculiar nation. Because they
cherished this exalted estimate of themselves as special favorites
of God, constituted as such by their engrossing subservience
to the divine will, they consequently fell into the errors of self-
righteousness exhibited wherever and by whomsoever that
vain delusion has been cherished.
The whole matter may be summed up in the careful con
clusion of Fiske: "As regards their social derivation, the
settlers of New England were homogeneous in character to a
remarkable degree, and they were drawn from the sturdiest
part of the English stock. In all history there has been no
other instance of colonization so exclusively effected by picked
and chosen men. The colonists knew this, and were proud of it,
as well they might be. It was the simple truth that was
spoken by William Stoughton when he said, in his election
sermon of 1688: 'God sifted a whole nation, that He might
send choice grain into the wilderness.' " (The Beginnings of
New England, p. 143.)
This preliminary discussion of the general character of
the founders of Massachusetts has seemed essential to a proper
understanding of the fife of the community that is the subject
of this historical sketch. It is true that great diversities
obtained among them, even among the leaders who rise like
mountain peaks above the common plain, but the prevailing
type of rank and file, as well as of leaders, must be correctly
estimated and clearly recognized as here delineated.
The movements in England which issued in the wreat
Puritan exodus are interesting and easily traceable.

The Fathers of the Bay 7
The combined efforts of church and state to throttle and
extirpate Puritanism became so powerful and full of menace
that the bulk of those professing it were absorbed with two
horns of a dilemma, either one of which demanded patience,
struggle and sacrifice. They must either stay and maintain
a long, bitter struggle with the reigning powers in church
and state, or they must gain authority through chartered
rights to establish on New England shores a commonwealth
of their own as free as possible from oversea interference and
limitations. Two years after the landing of the Pilgrims an association
known as the "Dorchester Adventurers" was formed in response
to the appeals of Rev. John White, Rector of Trinity Church,
Dorchester, near the British Channel.
Its purpose was to provide supplies and religious instruction
for English fishermen who were sometimes obliged to spend
successive months on the New England coast. They estab
lished a feeble settlement on Cape Ann, which met with various
mishaps and was threatened with abandonment. On March
19, 1628, however, the enterprise had so far revived as to secure
more influential support in London and on that date there
was secured "A grant of lands extending from the Atlantic
to the Western Ocean, and in width from a line of latitude
three miles north of the River Merrimac to a line three miles
south of the Charles." During the summer Endicott was sent
over with a small party to become local manager at Naumkeag.
The newcomers, after some acrimonious disputes with those
already there, soon reached an amicable adjustment and
changed the name of the settlement to Salem, the Hebrew
word for peace .
Both the Dorchester Company and the company known
as the London Adventurers, were only voluntary partner
ships unincorporated. Later the Company having become
"much enlarged," application for a royal charter was suc
cessfully made, creating a corporation called the "Governor
and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England,"
and under it the Colony conducted its affairs for fifty-five years.
Prominent and influential men were interested in its affairs
and contributed to its exchequer. The organization having
been completed and the form of government decided upon,

8 Westfield and its Historic Influences
preparations were rapidly executed for sending over to the
infant settlement generous reinforcements, which were dis
patched in six vessels. They consisted of "eighty women
and maids, twenty-six children and three hundred men, with
victuals, arms and tools and necessary apparel, and with
one hundred and forty head of cattle and forty goats." A
committee of the Company took pains "to make plentiful
provision of godly ministers."
But a few months after their safe arrival an event of weight
iest import to the Colony transpired in England. August
27th twelve men of ample means and wide influence, one
of whom was our honored pioneer, William Pynchon, met in
Cambridge and pledged themselves to go to New England
with their families on condition that the charter and admin
istration under it might be transferred to this territory. The
matter was fully arranged two days later. John Winthrop
was chosen Governor, John Humphrey, Deputy Governor,
though being detained, his place was supplied by Thomas
Dudley. Eighteen Assistants were also chosen.
When the "Arabella" and the three accompanying vessels
were about to sail from Yarmouth, an address was proffered
to those remaining. It was entitled, "The Humble Request
of his Majesty's Loyal Subjects, the Governor and the Com
pany late gone for New England, to the Rest of their Brethren
in and of the church of England." So full of tenderness and
pathos is it, so indicative of the spirit of kindness cherished
toward the home land and the home church that the sub
stance of it is here quoted: "We esteem it our honor to call
the Church of England, from whence we rise, our dear mother,
and cannot part from our native country, where she specially
resideth, without much sadness of heart, and many tears
in our eyes * * * Wishing our heads and hearts may be as
fountains of tears for your everlasting welfare, when we shall
be in our poor cottages in the wilderness, overshadowed with
the spirit of supplication, through the manifold necessities
and tribulations, which not altogether unexpectedly, nor, we
hope, unprofitably, befall us, and so commending you to the
grace of God in Christ, we shall ever rest your assured friends
and brethren."
Other vessels preceded or immediately followed this small

The Fathers of the Bay 9
fleet, making the whole number of craft seventeen, and of
emigrants about a thousand as Palfrey states, but according
to Hutchinson they numbered "above 1500 passengers."
How their eager hearts must have sunk within them when
they faced the conditions of the Colony which awaited their
arrival! Hutchinson says, "The common people immediately
went ashore and regaled themselves with strawberries which
are very fine in America and were then in perfection. This
might give them a very favorable idea of the produce of the
country; but the gentlemen met with enough to fill them with
concern." (The History of Massachusetts, Vol. 1, p. 25.)
He then goes on to enumerate the tragic experiences through
which those who had survived the previous winter had passed.
Having arrived at Naumkeag the very last of June the previous
year they had but a few months of favorable weather in which
to provide shelter and provision against the coming winter.
Eighty persons, out of about three hundred in the Colony,
had succumbed to hardship. A Conspiracy of all the Indians
as far as Narragansett for the purpose of extirpating the Eng
lish had threatened their extinction. Many of those who
had survived the winter were in a weak, sickly condition. All
provisions were very scant and they had not corn enough
to last a fortnight. Those who had brought servants, and
the whole number that came amounted to one hundred and
eighty, had been obliged to force them to shift for themselves.
Among those of the new arrivals who proved unable to endure
the grievous privations was the Lady Arabella, the wife of
Isaac Johnson for whom the principal vessel of the fleet had
been named. Of her, the first woman of title to set foot upon
New England shores, Hubbard speaks in laudatory terms,
saying that she "came from a paradise of plenty and pleasure
in the family of a noble Earl, into a wilderness of wants; and
although celebrated for her many virtues, yet was not able
to encounter the adversity she was surrounded with; and in
about a month after her arrival she ended her days at Salem,
where she first landed."
She was the first fruits of a great harvest, since before
December they had lost, including a few who had died on
the passage over, two hundred of their number. The new
comers scattered to various localities which have come to

10 Westfield and its Historic Influences
be known respectively as Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester,
Watertown and other places about the Bay and its immediate
neighborhood. "Mr. Pynchon was at the head of another
company who settled between Dorchester and Boston. Their
town took the name of Roxbury." The weather proved
mild until December 24th, "but then the cold came on with
violence. Such a Christmas eve they had never seen before."
The struggle for existence that first winter was desperate,
and they were reduced to dire straits. How deep the pathos
of Hutchinson's description! "Their chief care was to keep
themselves warm and as comfortable in other respects as
their scant provision would admit. The poorer sort were
much exposed, lying in tents and miserable hovels, and many
died of the scurvy and other distempers. They were so short
of provision that many were obliged to live upon clams, mus
sels, and other shell fish, with ground nuts and acorns instead
of bread. One that came to the Governor's house to com
plain of his sufferings, was prevented, being informed that
even there the last batch was in the oven. Some instances
are mentioned of great calmness and resignation in this dis
tress. A good man who had asked his neighbor to a dish of
clams, after dinner returned thanks to God, who had "given
them to suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasure
hid in the sands." They had appointed the 22d of February
for a fast; but on the 5th, to their great joy, the ship Lyon,
Captain Pierce, of the last year's fleet, returned, laden with
provisions from London, which were distributed according
to the necessities of the people. They turned their fast into
a thanksgiving." (The History of Massachusetts, p. 28.)
Verily, were they made of stern stuff and their mettle
was put to the test of fire. The rank and file of the Colony
proved heroic, and naturally so under such leadership as was
there revealed and which neither flagged nor flinched while
the individual fives were spared to continue their service.
Illustrious among the noble group of leaders was Governor
John Winthrop who at the time of his arrival here was forty-
one years old, having been born in the fearful year of the
Armada, a man who by one of our most careful historians
has been compared to Washington in his power of winning
confidence and commanding respect. Few characters in

The Fathers of the Bay 11
American history outrank him in possession of qualities of
essential nobility. "He was a man of remarkable strength
and beauty of character, grave and modest, intelligent and
scholarlike, intensely religious and endowed with a moral
sensitiveness that was almost morbid, yet liberal withal in
his opinions and charitable in disposition."
March 26, 1649, this peerless father of his people, states
man, scholar, philanthropist, christian gentleman, died, less
than two months after the dramatic execution at Whitehall
of Charles, from whose tyranny he had fled, preferring exile
to its cruel injustices.
It was nineteen years since the Colony had struggled through
the horrors of its initial experiences on the shores of the Bay.
During eleven of those years he had served as its Governor.
"He had come," as Palfrey says, "in the prime of manhood,
to the various sufferings and endless anxieties of subduing a
'bare creation,' and of defending the fabric which he reared
there against hostility from without and from within. He
had not learned that, before he died, the infatuated king who
had wrought such sorrow to him and his, had perished by
the hand of public vengeance. But he lived long enough to
know that the party, of which he had been a not unhonored
associate, was installed in absolute control of the affairs of
his native country. And his last look abroad rested upon
the tranquil and affluent dwellings of a flourishing Christian
people, enjoying a virtual independence which realized the
longing of the best third of his life. The vital system of New
England, as it had now been created, was complete. It had
only thenceforward to grow, as the human body grows from
childhood to graceful and robust maturity." (Palfrey's New
England, Vol. 3, p. 265.)
To the stupendous task of founding, cherishing, and shap
ing the development of a free christian Commonwealth and
Nation, Winthrop gave his material resources and all those
mental and spiritual faculties and energies which, in their
grand total, made it no less than the unstinted gift of himself.
To the end of time, and with increasing unanimity and hearti
ness of appreciation successive generations shall rise up to
call him blessed.
Because of the prominence and potency of his life in the

12 Westfield and its Historic Influences
life of the infant Colony, no history of any integral part of
that Colony as subsequently developed, could be just to its
historical genesis without acknowledging large obligation to
that great and good Father of the Bay.
There is peculiar propriety in rendering such meed of grate
ful appreciation by the people of Westfield because Governor
Winthrop was the great grandfather of one of its own eminent
leaders during the concluding third of the first century of the
life of its church, the Rev. John Ballantine.
Before turning from this honored public servant to pro
ceed to other affairs preliminary to the settlement in the valley
of the Connecticut, it is worth while to tarry a farther moment
to give studied consideration to Winthrop's noble words when
in 1624 he was for the first time superceded in the office of
Governor. Having rendered his accounts and shown that his disburse
ments had exceeded by a thousand pounds his receipts, he
said that he would have "rested satisfied" with them but
that his accounts had been called for, rendering it necessary
to make them public. He proceeded, "It repenteth me not
of my cost or labor bestowed in the service of this Common
wealth, but do heartily bless the Lord our God that he hath
pleased to honor me so far as to call for anything he hath be
stowed upon me for the service of his church and people here,
the perplexity whereof, and his gracious acceptance shall
be an abundant recompense to me. I conclude with this
one request, which in justice may not be denied me, that as
it stand upon record that upon the discharge of my office I
was called to account, so this my declaration may be recorded
also: lest hereafter when I shall be forgotten some blemish
may be upon my posterity when there shall be nothing to
clear me." (Mass. Col. Rec. 1, 130-132.)

-^I^J-LlLlclhi SJ)yn<Oici

Portrait and autograph of the Father of the Valley; the original is in the
Essex Institute at Salem.

CHAPTER II.
Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley
Less than a year after the arrival of the company under
Winthrop, to be exact, April 4, 1631, an Indian sachem named
Wahginnicut, visited the Bay. He told attractive tales of
his territory on the Fresh River, which the Indians called
Quonenektacut. According to Winthrop the object of the
visit was to press a request "to have some Englishmen to
come plant in his country, and offered to find them corn, and
give them yearly eighty skins of beaver: and that the country
was very fruitful, etc., and wished that there might be two
men sent with him to see the country." (Winthrop, 1, 52.)
The Governor treated him courteously, entertaining him at
dinner, but would send no one back with him. The same
chief met with a more gratifying response from Governor
Winslow at Plymouth. He sent men to explore the territory
who brought glowing accounts of its resources. Hoyt, in
"Indian Wars," declares that they "found the river to be a
capacious stream of pure water, bordered by extensive bottoms,
partially cleared, on which considerable quantities of corn
and other esculents were cultivated by the natives." (p. 38.)
They found that the river and its confluents abounded
in fish, sturgeon, bass, salmon, and shad, which the Indians
succeeded in capturing in large quantities at proper seasons.
The woods adjacent were equally prolific in valuable game,
including bear, fox, moose, wolf, otter and beaver. Game
birds abounded, both land and aquatic. The flocks of pigeons
were so prodigious as to be incredible, even "darkening the
heavens in their flight." A plan was arranged after a time
to form a partnership of individuals in the two colonies for
the purpose of trading in that region and Winslow, who had
himself made some explorations there, sought a conference
in Boston with interested persons, taking Bradford with him.
The plan proposed included erecting a fortified trading house
before the Dutch could execute a similar plan. Governor
Winthrop at first inclined toward the project, but in view

14 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of the dangers and difficulties besetting its execution decided
otherwise. The Indians of the region seemed to be very
numerous and in case they should become hostile would be a
desperate menace to the settlers. During the winter months
the ice would prevent the transportation of supplies by vessels,
and communication across country was too difficult to be
practicable. In the same summer of 1633, the restless John Oldham
with three companions took that overland journey and found
the Connecticut River, which they reported to be about 160
miles from the Bay. A sachem received him hospitably
and made him a present of some beaver. The venturesome
explorers lodged in Indian wigwams and, besides the beaver,
brought back some specimens of Indian hemp which they
found growing abundantly in the meadows and which proved
superior to the English grown product. They also brought
back specimens of black lead "whereof the Indians told him
there was a great rock."
In October a vessel was sent from Plymouth with some
workmen and the frame of a house and materials for com
pleting it. As they sailed up the Connecticut, at the place
where Hartford now stands, their farther progress was threat
ened by a party of Dutch who had thrown up a rude work on
which two cannon were mounted. After parley and bluster,
each party defying the other, the vessel passed on to what
is now Windsor. The building was erected, fortified and
provisioned, then left to be held and defended by a part of
the small band, the rest returning home. That was the feeble
beginning of the English settlement of Connecticut and the
valley of its noble river. A party of Dutch, numbering seventy,
sent the following year from New Amsterdam to secure the
removal of that outpost was prevailed upon to return and leave
it unmolested. The settlement of the territory about Massachusetts Bay
had proceeded so rapidly that by 1634 nearly 4000 English
men had found habitations there in some twoscore villages.
They loved to live apart in small communities, near enough
together to allow for easy intercommunication, but in numbers
not too large for free and independent civic and industrial
life. The spirit of adventure was strong within them, they

Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley 15
coveted new territory and broad fields. It was the spirit of
English aggressiveness, an unquenchable land-lust.
Cotton Mather says: "It was not long before the Massa
chusetts Colony was become like an hive Overstocked with
bees, and many of the new inhabitants entertained thoughts
of swarming into plantations extended further into the country.
The colony might fetch its own descriptions from the dis
pensations of the Great God unto his ancient Israel and say —
'O God of Hosts. Thou hast brought a vine out of England:
Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it: Thou pre-
paredst room before it and didst cause it to take deep root,
and it filled the land: the hills were covered with the shadow
of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars: she
sent out her boughs unto the sea:' But still there was one
stroak wanting for the compleat accommodations of the descrip
tion: to wit, she sent forth her branches unto the river, and this,
therefore, is to be next attended. The fame of Connecticut
River, a long, fresh, rich river, had made a little Nilus of it,
in the expectation of the good people about the Massachusetts
Bay, whereupon many of the planters, belonging especially to
the towns of Cambridge, Dorchester, Watertown and Rox
bury, took up resolutions to travel an hundred miles West
ward from those towns, for a further settlement upon this
famous river."
They had made careful provision of five stock. "For four
thousand souls there are fifteen hundred head of cattle, besides
four thousand goats, and swine innumerable." (Wood, New
England's Prospect, p. 49.)
They needed and sought room for expansion and the New
town people gave first place among their reasons for desiring
liberty to remove to Connecticut River, "their want of accom
modation for their cattle." The subject of permission for
such removal was discussed by the General Court of 1634,
and not approved. Discussion was renewed by the Court
of 1635 and liberty was granted which resulted in the several
settlements on the River. The group from Newtown (Cam
bridge) selected Dutch Point, and founded Hartford, the
Watertown people established Wethersfield, the Dorchester
people chose the place where the fortified house had been
erected by the Plymouth pioneers the previous year and founded

16 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Windsor. Thus a company of settlers from the Bay occupied
territory at first built upon by the clearer visioned Plymouth
Colony. This is a notable instance of people of hindsight
forging ahead of those with foresight. Massachusetts was,
as the Scotch say, "slow in the uptake," but soon made atone
ment therefor by the vigor of its pursuit. The heroic hardi
hood of these several enterprises of the year 1635 make it
memorable in colonial history. Their rights to the land, even
in those days of vague authority, under absurd royal charters,
were questionable. John Winthrop, son of the Governor,
returned from England in 1635 with a commission from Lord
Say and Sele, Lord Brooke, and other patentees of Connecticut.
To them had been assigned by the Earl of Warwick in 1630
the territory that had been granted him by the Plymouth
Company. It included "all that part of New England in
America, which lies, and extends itself from a river, there
called the Narragansett river, the space of forty leagues upon
a straight line, near the sea shore, towards Virginia, accounting
three English miles to the league; and all and singular, the
lands and hereditaments whatsoever, lying and being within
the bounds aforesaid, north and south, in latitude, and breadth,
and in length, and in longitude of, and within all the breadth
aforesaid throughout all the main lands there, from the West
ern ocean to the South sea." (Hoyt, Indian Wars, p. 42.) It
was under that patent that all those early settlements on
the Connecticut River were established, including the com
pany from Roxbury, under Mr. Pynchon, which came to found
Springfield at Agawam in the following year, 1636.
Later, the territory thus occupied by squatters from the
Bay, without protest from its English proprietors, was bought
by the Connecticut adventurers for £1600. To satisfy the
claims of Plymouth Colony, the Dorchester settlers at Wind
sor paid the sun of £50, and surrendered "forty acres of in
tervale and a large tract of upland." (Trumbull I, 66.)
The journey from Cambridge to Hartford of the Company
of one hundred men, women and children in June, 1636, has
become historic. They were directed by their two ministers,
Hooker and Stone. A herd of 160 cattle found scanty herbage
for grazing by the way and furnished supplies of milk which
could not have been copious. Mrs. Hooker, being an invalid,

Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley 17
was borne in a horse litter, which in the rough conditions of
the trail must have enabled her to experience much of the
excruciation of a trip on camelback. How the poor lady
ever survived that fortnight's journey, suspended in a rude
framework from two horses harnessed tandem, is a mystery.
Hutchinson's description of that perilous journey of emi
grants through the primeval forest may suggest that of Pyn-
chon's company the same year:
"About an hundred persons in the first company, some
of whom had lived in splendor and delicacy in England, set
out on foot to travel an hundred and twenty or thirty miles,
with their wives and children, near a fortnight's journey,
having no pillows but Jacob's, and no canopy but the heavens,
a wilderness to go through, without the least cultivation, in
most places no path, nor any marks to guide them, depending
upon the compass to steer by: many hideous swamps and
very high mountains, besides five or six rivers, or different
parts of the same winding river (the Chickapi) not Everywhere
fordable, which they could not avoid." (Hutchinson I, 48.)
There is some difference of opinion among historians of
this region as to whether William Pynchon made his initial
exploration of the place for settlement by his company in
1634 or 1635. There is good authority for the earlier date
and the conclusion that during that year, he, together with
his son-in-law, Henry Smith, and Jehu Burt, made a prelimi
nary visit and decided what lands should be secured. Certain
it is that in time for planting in the spring of 1635 John Cable
and John Woodcock were sent forward to prepare for settle
ment in the following year by building a house and seeding
as much land as they could prepare and cultivate.
The house which they built was afterward appraised at a
value of £6. It was located in a meadow on the west side
of the Connecticut and on the south side of the Agawam,
or Woronoco, River, which was afterward called the house
meadow. It is impossible to determine exactly the course of the
trail followed by Pynchon and his companions in 1636. Green
opposes the idea that a tradition adopted by Dr. Holland
is well founded. He says, "The story that the Roxbury
party led by William Pynchon, approached the Connecticut

18 Westfield and its Historic Influences
valley substantially over the Boston & Albany route may
safely be set down as a piece of visioning. A speaker in an
historical address has recently assumed that the Windsor,
Hartford and Wethersfield parties came down the Chicopee
valley, and thence drifted south." (History of Springfield,
pp. 2, 3.)
He then proceeds to elaborate a theory that they followed
an old Indian trail through what now are the towns of South
Framingham, Hopkinton, Grafton and Dudley to Wood
stock, Conn. "Thence," he says of the Indians who carried
corn in skins upon their backs to Governor Winthrop in the
earliest days, "they took the trail known later as the Old
Connecticut Path, the one followed by John Oldham on his
way to the site of Wethersfield in 1633. Hooker and Stone
took this route in June 1636. It had been developed from
an Indian trail to an English bridle-path for horses and cattle."
(p. 3.)
But the reference of Hutchinson, in the passage quoted
above, to the difficulties due to the many crossings of the
"different parts of the same winding river (the Chickapi) not
everywhere fordable, which they could not avoid," seems to
militate against Green's theory. That occurs in Hutchinson's
description of the party led by Hooker and Stone. If they
were so harassed by the Chicopee River they could not have
followed the more southern Old Connecticut Path. And if
they, en route to Hartford, followed the more northerly path,
it seems highly improbable that Pynchon led his party by
the more southerly trail.
The question is important only as a matter of curious
interest, as anything relating to that momentous journey of
the pioneers of this portion of the Connecticut Valley is in
teresting to us who care for those heroic spirits.
The household goods, farm utensils and other personal
effects of Pynchon's party were shipped by sea to the Con
necticut River on April 26, in Governor Winthrop's small
vessel the "Blessing of the Bay" and another small craft the
"Batcheller." The "Blessing" was launched at Medford,
on the Mystic, July 4, 1633. She was of 60 tons burden,
the same size as Hendrik Hudson's famous "Half Moon," the
first vessel to sail up the waters of the Hudson River.

Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley 19
The "Blessing of the Bay" was the first seaworthy craft
built in New England, the forerunner of that vast aggregate
of shipping which so soon began to fret the sea from New
England shipyards. Her name was not merely poetic, but
was more emphatically prophetic. In that first season she
went to Hudson's River and visited en route Long Island
and the Connecticut River. (Winthrop, I, 112.) Plymouth
had built earlier a "great and strong shallop" which was used
for fishing purposes but the "Blessing" was of sufficient capac
ity to cross the ocean.
Though no journal of that trip through the wilderness
in the spring of 1636 exists, the imagination instinctively
strives to picture its details. There were twelve men in the
company, each of them probably with a family. They were
undertaking that perilous journey for the sake of new homes
and enlarged opportunities in a virgin territory. The rough
narrow trail had to be followed day after day at a speed no
faster than could be made by the frailest woman and tender
children and the herds that could not be hurried. Their
provisions were such as could be transported along that rugged
path and across unbridged streams. The nightly campfire
had to be lighted for the purpose of preparing their rude
meals and had to be kept burning, frequently replenished
with fuel during the hours of darkness, as a protection from
the menace of wild beasts. To meet that demand and to be
prepared against attack by any prowling Indians who might
be stirred by sudden passion of cupidity or bloodthirstiness,
sentinels must have been kept posted during the hours of
the bivouac. Each morning the horses had to receive their
packs, the cattle had to be gathered and everything made
ready before the tedious journey could be resumed. With
a considerateness which many a subsequent act in town meet
ing abundantly proved was not lacking in their Puritan char
acter, the strong bore the infirmities of the weak. Though
sturdiness and self-reliance were expected to mark each per
son in that heroic bond, yet reciprocal kindnesses, rendered
continually possible by the rugged conditions of the journey,
were continually exchanged. Though the fictitious cour
tesies of a palace were abjured, the essential graces of brotherly
love were daily practiced.

20 Westfield and its Historic Influences
A sketch of the general features of the region which they
found will be given in another chapter. Suffice it to say here
that they found one house on the Agawam side of the river
and no other place of habitation except the earth, unbroken
save where the Indians had scratched its surface to plant
and cultivate their corn, and sheltered only by such trees as
those simple husbandmen had left in the rich alluvial inter
vale. They had forsaken rude homes at Roxbury, and once
more they had to take the initial steps of civilization. Houses
must be built for shelter and crops must be raised for food.
Having arrived early in May, they had the few months of
summer warmth in which to prepare for the rigor of winter
and its daily hunger. It was but a brief respite of peace
in which to prepare for war. Since they were about to resume
community life they paused from the insistent demand for
material preparation to establish the foundation of their civil
relations. It was an act characteristic of the early New Eng
land Puritans.
On May 14th, 1636, these pilgrims from the Bay executed
an agreement which for the time being should be their con
stitution. Because it was so significant to that pioneer band
in the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, it is of vital in
terest to their successors who have become so numerous in
this region two and three quarter centuries after that first
settlement was established.
"May the 14th, 1636 — We whose names are underwritten,
being by God's Providence ingaged together to make a planta
tion, at and over against Agaam on Conecticot doe mutually
agree to certayne articles and orders to be observed and kept
by us and our successors, except wee and every one of us,
for ourselves and in oure persons, shall think meet uppon better
reasons to alter our resolutions.
"lly. Wee intend, by God's grace, as soon as we can,
with all convenient speede, to procure some Godly and faith-
full minister, with whome we propose to joyne in church cove
nant, to walk in all the ways of Christ.
"21y. Wee intend that our towne shall be composed
of forty family's, or if wee thinke meete after to alter our
purpose: yet not to exceed the number of fifty family's, rich
and poore.

Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley 21
"31y. That every inhabitant shall have a convenient
proportion for a house lott, as wee shall see meete for eveiy
ones quality and estate.
"41y. That every one, that hath a house lott shall have
a proportion of the Cow pasture to the north of End Brooke,
lying northward from the towne: and also that every one
shall have a share of the hassiky marsh over against his lott,
if it be to be had, and every one to have his proportionable
share of all the woodland.
"51y. That every one shall have a share of the meddow,
or planting ground over against him, as nigh as may be, on
Agaam side.
"61y. That the Long meddow, called Masacksick, lying
in the way to Dorchester [Windsor, Ct.] shall be distributed
to every man as wee shall think meete, except wee shall find
other conveniences, for some for theyre milch cattayle, and
other cattayle also.
"71y. That the meddow and pasture called Nayas, towards
Patuckett, on ye side of Agaam, lyeinge about fourer miles
above in the ridge shall be distributed [six and a half lines
erased] as above said in the former order and this was altered
and with consent before the hands were set to it.
"81y. That all rates that shall arise upon this towne,
shall be layed upon lands, according to every ones proportion,
aker for aker, of house lotts, and aker for aker of meddowe,
both alike on this side, and both alike on the other side; and
for farmes that shall lye farther off, a less proportion, as wee
shall after agree except wee shall see meete to remitt one half
of the rate from land to other estate.
"91y. That whereas Mr. William Pynchon, Jehue Burr
and Henry Smith have constantly continued to prosecute the
same at greate charges and at greate personal adventure,
therefore it is mutually agreed that fourty akers of meddowe
lying on the south of End Brooke, under a hill side shall belong
to said partys free from all charges forever. That is to say
twenty akers to Mr. William Pynchon and his heyres and
assigns for ever, and ten akers to Jehue Burr, and ten akers
to Henry Smith and to their heyres and assigns for ever; which
said fourty akers is not disposed of to them as any allotment

22 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of towne lands; but they are to have their accommodations
in all other places notwithstanding.
"lOly. That whereas a house was built at a common
charge which cost £6 and also the Indians demand a grate
some to bye their right in the sayd lands and also a greate
shallope, which was requisite for the first planting, the value
of which engagements is to be borne by each inhabitant at
theyre first entrance, as they shall be rated by us till the said
disbursements shall be satisfyed, or also in case the said house
and boat be not so satisfyed for; then so much meddowe to
be sett out about the said house as may counter vayle the
sayd extraordinary charge.
"Illy. It is agreed that no man except Mr. William
Pynchon shall have above ten akers for his house lott.
"121y. Annulled.
"131y. Whereas there are two cowe pastures, the one
lying towards Dorchester, and the other Northward from End
Brooke. It is agreed that both these pastures shall not be
fed at once; but that the time shall be ordered by us, in dis
posing of it for tymes and seasons, till it be lotted out and
fenced in severalty.
"141y. May 16, 1636. It is agreed that after this day
wee shall observe this rule about dividing of planting ground
and meddowe, in all planting ground to regard chiefly persons
wto are most apt to use such ground. And in all meddowe
and pasture to regard chiefy cattel and estate, because estate
is likely to be improved in cattel, and such ground is aptest
for their use. An yett wee agree that no person that is master
of a lott, though he hath not cattel, shall have less than three
akers of planting ground, and none that have cowes, steeres or
year olds, shall have under one aker apiece, and all horses
not less than four akers, and this order in dividing meddowe
by cattel, to take place the last of May next so that all cattayle
that then appeare, and all estates that shall truly appeare
at £20, a cowe shall have this proportion in the meddowe on
the Agawam side, and in the large meddowe Masacksick and
in the other long meddowe called Nayas, and in the pasture
at the northend of the towne called End Brooke.
"151y. It is ordered that for the disposinge of the hasseky
marish and the granting of home lotts, these five men under-

Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley 23
named, or theyre Deputyes are appointed to have full power,
namely Mr. Pynchon, Mr. Michell, Jehue Burr, William
Blake, Henry Smith." (First Book of Records.)
There follows the assignment of home lots for the twelve
men who had arrived and the whole document is formally
signed by eight of them, two of whom used "his mark."
On the 15th day of July following a regular deed was exe
cuted by "Commucke and Matanchan, ancient Indians of
Agaam" and eleven other Indians male and female, convey
ing to William Pynchon, Henry Smith and Jehu Burr, their
heirs and associates, land on both sides of the river. The
consideration was 18 fathom of Wampum, 18 coates, 18
hatchets, 18 howes, and 18 knives.
Thus those primitive settlers secured their lands and
arranged their allotments. They were then ready for the
business of living and preparing for those who should follow
them from generation to generation.
Among them, and those who within a few years joined
them, were men of note, worthy leaders who shaped the life
of this part of the valley. They did for this region what
other redoubtables did for Plymouth and for the region about
the Bay.
William Pynchon was a man of varied and large abilities,
well fitted for leadership in several spheres, political, com
mercial, intellectual and theological. Green sums up his
characteristics in the following terse and graphic sentence:
"He loved both money and adventure : he also loved the gospel
in its purity; he hated political corruption, and, at the same
time, he distrusted that phase of Puritanism which drifted
away from royalty." (History of Springfield, Introduction,
p. 3.) His was a masterful, independent, self-reliant spirit. He
had a rare faculty for dealing with men, even the wily, treach
erous Indians. He did not fear to defend his rights against
the jealous aggressions of the Connecticut authorities, and
his character against misconstructions of such august person
ages as their ministers Hooker and Stone. As a trader at a
frontier outpost having no base of civilization for a hundred
miles east or west, and twice as far on the north, he conducted

24 Westfield and its Historic Influences
large enterprises, gathering and shipping great quantities of
peltry and corn, and bringing in various articles of foreign
manufacture. As a Puritan christian he was keenly alive to the interests
of religion and heartily interested in its progress among his
people. Writing to Governor Winthrop in 1644 he says: "I
praise God we are all in good health & in peace in our planta
tion: & the Lord hath added some 3 or 4 yonge men out of
the River, that are godly, to us lately : & the Lord has greately
blessed Mr. Moxon's ministry, to the conversion of many
soules that are lately added to our church & hetherto the Lord
hath preserved us in peace from enemies."
Mr. Pynchon was one of the few men of wealth among
the earliest settlers at the Bay. He was one of the patentees
of the Colony in England, one of Governor Winthrop's magis
trates and assistants, treasurer of the Colony, and one of the
commissioners for the government of the Connecticut River
settlements. For the first sixteen years of the life of Spring
field he was, as Holland truly says, its "ruling spirit and good
genius." After his return to England in 1652, he was succeeded in
the office of Springfield's first citizen by his son John, then
about twenty-six years old, who having come as a lad with
his Father, was familiar with its affairs and interests during
the period of its life up to that time. In October, 1645, he
married Amy, the daughter of Governor George Wyllys of
Connecticut. The marriage ceremony was performed by
Governor Haynes of Massachusetts and Connecticut, the
Father of her brother Samuel's wife. Amy Wyllys was the
aunt of Ruth Wyllys who became the second wife of the Rev.
Edward Taylor of Westfield. John Pynchon became a more
extensive man of affairs, public and commercial, than his
Father. He employed many men, white and Indian, to col
lect furs, others were used to transport goods down the river
to Boston, and others of various trades and occupations for
his varied enterprises. He operated mills for sawing and
grinding. His public offices were more numerous than those of his
Father. For many years he was deputy at the General Court
and from 1667 to 1686 an assistant. He commanded a regiment

Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley 25
of militia and was commonly styled the Worshipful Major
Pynchon. When in 1664 the Dutch formally surrendered
New Amsterdam, he was one of the Commissioners to represent
the English authorities. Again in 1680 he was sent by the
General Court of Massachusetts to aid the Governor of New
York in arranging a treaty with the Macquas or Mohawk
Indians. Elizur Holyoke came with his Father to the Bay about
1637. In 1640 he married John Pynchon's lovely sister Mary,
described as "a very glory of womanhood." Holyoke and
his brother-in-law and Deacon Chapin were appointed com
missioners, after the departure of William Pynchon in 1652,
to hold courts and administer justice. They had jurisdiction
in all actions of small amount, and in the trial of criminal
cases that reached not to life, limbs or banishment, "saving
the parties the right of appeal to the Court of Assistants at
Boston." In the Westfield church records Mr. Taylor refers
to him as "that Godly Capt. Elizur Holyoake of Springfield."
His son John served the Westfield church as minister before
Mr. Taylor arrived, and occupied various town offices in
Springfield for many years.
Samuel Chapin came to Springfield about 1643. He was
one of the first two deacons of the church and a man promi
nent and influential in town affairs for many years. As a
type of Puritan manhood, revered for sterling qualities of
christian character, he is represented in the impressive statue
by St. Gaudens that adorns the library grounds of the city
which his life and character helped to start in its illustrious
career of honor and widening influence.
Among the various acts of the town meeting of December
30, 1664, are the following:
It was decided that thirteen legal voters should constitute
a quorum for the transaction of business at a regularly called
meeting. Any one absenting himself should be subject to a fine of
six pence. The Moderator or Selectman being absent unneces
sarily should pay a fine of twelve pence apiece. Three days'
notice of a meeting should be required. At the General Town
Meeting in February a Moderator for the whole year should
be elected, "ffor the prevention of Sundry eviUs that may

26 Westfield and its Historic Influences
befall this Township through ill disposed persons that may
thrust themselves in amongst us agt the likeinge & consent of
the generalfity of the Inhabitants or Select Townsmen by
purchasing a lott or place for habitation or otherwise.
"It is therefore Ordered & declared that no Inhabitant
shall sell or in any manner pass away his house lott or any
part of it or any other of his allotmts or any part thereof to
any Stranger before he hath made the Select Townsmen ac-
quaynted who his Chapman is, & they accordingly allow of
his admission for an Inhabitant, under penalty of paying
twenty shillings to the Town Treasury for each p'cell of land
Soe sold, or of forfeiting his land Soe Sold or passed away: But
if the Select Townsmen shall apprhend they have grounds
to disallow the admission of the said Chapman then the Towne
or Inhabitants shall have 30 dayes tyme to resolve whether
They or any of them will buy the said allotmts or accommoda
tions wch said allotmts or accommodations they may buy as
indifferent partyes shall apprize them: But in case the In
habitants shall delay to make purchase of it to the Select
Townsmen, then the said Sellar shall have his liberty to take
his Chapman & Such Chapman or Stranger shalbe esteemed
as entertayned & allowed of by ye Towne as an Inhabitant.
"It is Ordered That if any man of this Township or any
Proprietor of land in the Towne or any that shall or may
dispose of land here, shall under colour of friendship or other
wise entertayne any person or persons, here to abide as Inmates
or shall subdivide their house lotts or any other of their lotts
to entertayne them as Tenants or otherwise for longer tyme
than One Month or 30 days wthout consent or allowance
of the Select men (children or servants of the family that
remayne single p'sons excepted) shall forfeit for the first default
to ye Towne: and also he shall forfeit 20s p month that every
person or persons shall Soe continue in this Township wthout
the consent of the Select Men. And if in tyme of their abode
in the Town after limitation abovesaid they shall need reliefe,
not being able to maynteyne themselves, then he or they that
entertayned such p'sons shalbe liable to be rated by the Select
Men for the reliefe & mayntenance of the said party or partyes
soe entertayned as the Select Men in their discretion shall
judge meete: And it is further Ordered that noe person that

Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley 27
is a Stranger shall be entertayned in this Township wthout
leave obtained (vizt ye Select Men) longer than One Month
or 30 dayes: Soe that if he have beene in the Towne one Month
No Inhabitant may entertayne him a day longer wthout leave
as aforesaid on penalty of forfeiting 20s for the first default
& 20s p Month for soe long as they shall entertayne such p'son
or p'sons: And moreover if such person or persons shall need
reliefe during their abode in the Towne then he or they that
entertayned them shall be rated according to the discretion
of the Select Men for the reliefe & maintenance of such person
or persons :
"And Whereas it is found by exp'ience That some persons
doe disorderly thrust themselves into this Towne, and agt
the likening of the Select Men have here continued & abode,
notwthstanding all former Ordrs made to prevent such prac
tice, It is therefore Ordered That from henceforth that What
person soever shall intrude himselfe into this Towne without
the consent of the Major part of ye Select Men & shall presume
here to continue & abide longer than One Month or 30 days
after notice given him by any of the Select Men of their un
willingness that he should abide in the Towne: Such person
or persons hee or shee that shall soe continue in the Towne,
agt the consent of the Select Men or the Major part of them
shall for the first offence pay 20s. And if afterward they
shall still abide in the Towne wthout allowance as aforesaid
they shall pay 20s p Month for every Month they shall here
abide contrary to the Ordr: Which penalty shalbe due, exacted,
& paid, in to ye Town Treasury: (Burt's Springfield, Vol. I,
pp. 55-6.)
"It is Ordered that henceforward noe Persons who shall
come from other places & here reside shalbe accounted a
Settled Inhabitants to have power & liberty of voting in Towne
affaires although otherwise quallifyed according to law unless
such person or persons shalbe admitted into ye Towne by the
Select Men & their admission entered. It is Ordered yt the Select
men & Deacon or Deacons shall from tyme to tyme Seate
p'sons in ye Meeting house ayther higher or lower according as
in their sound discretion they shall judge most meete: And
the Select Men for ye tyme beinge from yeare to yeare shall

28 Westfield and its Historic Influences
wthin Some short time after their election attend the said
work, both to consider what persons want Seates or what
alterations is requisite to be made to persons sitting there, as
also to act therein accordingly & yt yeerely if need be that
Soe much alteration at any one tyme may be prvented. (p. 72.)
"Whereas It is found by experience that many Speakinge
together in Towne Meetings hinders the worke in hand, &
is also very dishonorable to God & grievious to many persons,
It is therefore Ordered that while any common bysyness is
under consideration or debate every man shall apply him
self to ye worke in hand: & in any Publike matter every man
may give his advice one after another & shall have free liberty
of Speach as he shall have leave from the Moderator: Soe
speaking one at a tyme lovingly & moderately: But there is
not to be more speakers than One at a tyme uppon penalty
that every one yt shall Speake in tumultuous manner Shall
pay 6d a peece to ye Towne Treasury: And if men gathered
together in compaynes to discourse by themselves & doe not
attend the severall workes in hand all such p'sons are to pay
6d a peece to ye Towne Treasury: (p. 71.)
"Whereas diverse offences arise through defective fences
& different appensions concerning the sufficiency of fences
betwixt Proprietors. It is therefore Ordered that all outside
fences about Meddowes or Corne ffeilds shalbe substantially
fenced eyther wth five rayles or posts & pales or ditch foure foote
& half broad wth a hedge on it, or otherwise according to the
judgemt & Satisfaction of the viewers, & that all partitional
ffences betweene Lott & Lott shalbe Ordered by the Select
Men in case of disagreemt between Proprietors, & in case
any damage arise to others by the defect of fences, the Party
whose fence is soe judged defective shall pay all damages
according as they shalbe adjudged by the Select Men or any
deputed by them upon complaynt of any damaged : (p. 60.)
"May the 7 th 1645 It is voted and agreed upon by ye
generall consent of the Plantation that if any inhabitant shall
absent themselves from any towne meetinge upon any suffi
cient warninge given them, or shall withdraw themselves
from ye meetinge before there shall be a full discharge with-

Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley 29
out sufficient excuse or leave, shall be lyable to pay halfe a
bushell of Indian corne for every such defect: it was voted
to be a sufficient warning if publik noticement given after
lecture to meet in the afternoon.
(Fine increased to a bushel Nov. 3th 1646.)
(p. 178.)
"January ye 8th 1645. It is agreed by ye Plantation with John
Matthews to beat the drums for the meetinge for a yeares
space, at 10 of ye clock on the lecture days and at 9 a clock
on the Lords days in the forenoon only & he is to beate it
fro: Mr. Moxons to R: Stebbins house & ye meetinge to
begin wthin halfe an houer after, for wch his paynes he is
to have 6d in wampam of every family in the towne or a peck
of Indian corne if they have not wampam. (p. 183.)
ffebr. ye 7th 1669.
"Granted to Thomas Miller 3 acres of land at Askannusick
by his other land there provided it prjudice not the laying
of ye highway to Westfield wthin conveniency in ye judgmt
of the Select Men or others appointed by them. (p. 385.)
"April 24th 1673 Rowland Thomas Rice Bedourtha & Thomas
Miller beinge appynted for pambulation of the bounds between
Springfield & Westfeild did wth diverse of Westfeild men
perform yt work :" (p. 118.)
In response to an inquiry respecting the route probably
followed by Pynchon and his company, Mr. Harry Andrew
Wright of Springfield, well known antiquarian and author,
has generously furnished the following monograph with per
mission to publish it herein :
"You asked me if Pynchon came here over the Bay Path.
Let this be my answer. Henry Andrew Wright."
"The settlement of Westfield was a natural consequence
of the settlement of Springfield, neither of which were religious
movements as earlier migrations may have been, but were
purely commercial enterprises. Even the Pilgrims were
aided by the 'Merchant Adventurers,' and the founding of
Plymouth would have been impossible had they not been

30 Westfield and its Historic Influences
financed by these commercial men who sought the beaver
skins of New England, after having exterminated the beaver
of Europe. "No animal did more than the beaver to effect the coloniza
tion of America. It lured men into the most remote wilder
ness, and formed one of the chief staples of commerce with
Europe. So universal an article of commerce did it become,
that in northern Canada, beaver skin became the unit of
currency. "Its flesh, skin, and castors were valuable. The latter
were formerly in high repute in medicine being used as a cure
for palsy, convulsions and similar ills. Later they were used
as a base in the manufacture of perfumes. The flesh was
excellent. The tail was considered a delicacy and was believed
to possess strong aphrodisiacal properties. Until the inven
tion of the silk hat in 1760, the skin was used in the manu
facture of beaver hats, and in 1638 Charles I, by royal proc
lamation, prohibited the use of any material in the manufacture
of hats 'except beaver stuff and beaver wool.' This action
was necessitated by the growing scarcity of beaver and the
use of rabbit and muskrat skins in its place.
"The preference for beaver over other furs was not alone
on account of its beauty, but for its size and durability as
well. The standard of the London markets, the great fur
centre of the world, called for a beaver skin 36 x 24 inches,
or a total of 864 square inches. Of the furs commonly dealt
in, it was exceeded in size only by the bear, with 2592 square
inches, the wolf, with 1250 and the lynx, with 900, while the
raccoon measured only 240 square inches, the fox 192 and
the muskrat 92 inches. The standard of weights also favored
the beaver as a weight of \y2 pounds to the skin, made it one
of the heaviest of furs.
"Taking the otter as the standard of durability with 100
points, the beaver was given 90 points, the raccoon 75, the
muskrat 33, the fox 25, and the hare only 5. And yet, today,
the hare fur is clipped or dyed and sold as sable, fox, seal,
ermine, chinchilla and muskrat.
"Next to the beaver, in the volume of trading, was the
muskrat; the musquash (musqui, red — oaas, animal) of the
Indians. Compared with most other furs of such small size,

Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley 31
it was of excellent quality and durability. It was made up
into an imitation of beaver, and properly treated, it was diffi
cult to distinguish it from the genuine. As the beaver became
scarce it was substituted for it in the manufacture of hats.
The growing importance of muskrat skins is indicated by
the London sales for thirty-eight years, from 1763 to 1800,
when an average of 75,000 skins were sold yearly, while in
recent years the annual output has been over 7,000,000 as
compared with 100,000 beaver skins. The muskrat was of
additional value in early days, as it furnished an oderiferous
secretion which imparted a strong scent of musk to the cloathes
in which the housewife wrapped it.
"In 1632, William Pynchon of Roxbury was granted ex
clusive right to trade with the Indians for beaver skin through
out the Massachusetts colony, for which he agreed to pay a
flat £25 a year in lieu of the 12 pence per pound of skins pre
viously levied on the trades, but within three years, the trade
became so depleted that £5 of the annual £25 fee was remitted.
"In 1635 came the general exodus to the Connecticut val
ley in search of larger opportunities. The people locating in
the vicinity of Hartford, traded with the Indians in the valley
above, and Pynchon conceived the idea of locating a settle
ment near the source of supply and so cutting it off from the
traders at Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield.
"After the close of the court session in August, he left for
a prospecting trip along the Connecticut, taking with him
his neighbor, John Cable, who was a competent carpenter
and builder, as well as a seaman, and his assistant, John Wood
cock. Following the line of least resistance, they came over
the well known 'Connecticut Trail' which led through Wood
stock and crossed the Connecticut river near Windsor. The
trail from Boston to Springfield, later called the 'Bay Path,'
was not known as such until 1646, although in 1642, Wood
ward and Saffrey passed over some such trail while surveying
for the Connecticut boundary line, and in 1645, John Winthrop,
Jr., came over a direct trail from Boston to Springfield.
"But Pynchon knew nothing of such a way and as he was
headed for the established settlement on the Connecticut,
instead of striking through an unknown wilderness he naturally
followed the known road to his objective point. This trail

32 Westfield and its Historic Influences
was through a district thickly populated with natives and
was of great economic value to him as it enabled him to 'lodge
at Indian towns all the way.'
"After reaching the river he followed it up in canoes, with
the assistance of local natives and on arriving at the mouth
of the Agawam he arranged with the owners of the territory
for land for his enterprise, returning to Boston in time for
the court sessions in October.
"Cable and Woodcock remained, and in the meadows
south of the Agawam river, built for the prospective town a
trading house, such as the General Court required, 'whither the
Indians might resort to trade to avoid their coming to several
houses.' They also built a 'great shallop,' and otherwise
arranged for the coming of the planters in the spring.
"This work was done at a common charge, and the house
must have been a fairly elaborate affair, as the charge of £6
for its building was a large sum for those days.
"During the winter, Pynchon engaged Isaac Allerton to
transport his goods by water to the Connecticut as soon as
spring should open, but Allerton, while on a voyage to the
French settlements at the Penobscot, ran his pinnace on a
rock and beat out her keel. There she lay for ten days, but
he finally obtained help from Pemaquid, and repaired the
vessel sufficiently to enable him to get back to Boston on March
30. Pynchon was in despair as the season was advancing
rapidly and it was found that extensive repairs were necessary
before the pinnace could go to sea again.
"From his dilemma he was extricated by the arrival at
Boston on April 14, of Governor Winthrop's barque, the
'Blessing of the Bay' and arrangements were made to have
her take sixteen tons of goods. Freight to the river mouth
was to be 35 shillings a ton, and if, on arrival there, the wind
should allow, she was to go on to Wethersfield or Hartford,
from which point Pynchon was to take the goods in his shallop.
For this extra service an additional price was agreed upon,
and it was also arranged that if the winds should not favor
the passage up the river, then John Winthrop, Jr., was to
provide storage room for the goods at Saybrook until such
time as Pynchon could make it convenient to get them.
"The barque sailed on April 27, and Pynchon and his

"THE BIRTH OF SPRINGFIELD."'
An imaginative painting of the original settlement by J. J. Lavalley. The
original is now in the private office of the Mayor of Springfield in the Administra
tion Building. Mr. Lavalley lived for many years on the spur of Mount Tekoa,
where Richard Failey had forged his famous gun barrels in the latter part of
the eighteenth century.

"-¦ ; --'¦¥**' N ¦ ¦,'f-V^W" -iVi' ' in ¥*- ' ^/F^W^^

BLOCKHOUSE AND SURROUNDING
PALISADES.
These defenses almost invariably proved
an adequate protection from Indian assaults.

Pioneers of the Connecticut Valley 33
companions came overland, driving their horses, cattle and
swine. Here Pynchon remained until June 2, when he went
to Boston to arrange for a shipment of goods to the Connecti
cut in the 'Batcheler,' but returned in time to formally com
plete his negotiations with the Indians on July 15.
"In his purchase of the meadows, he allowed the Indians
to retain everything of value to themselves. They reserved
the privilege of planting their old corn fields, and of fishing
and hunting as well as the gathering of ground nuts (apios
tuberosa), walnuts, acorns and sasachiminesh (cranberries),
and it was agreed that if cattle damaged their corn, it should
be paid for.
"But he soon realized that he had made a bad bargain.
Writing to John Winthrop, Jr., in June 2, 1636, he complained
that 'the best ground at Agawam is so encumbered with In
dians, that I shall lose half the benefit yearly and am compelled
to plant on the opposite side to avoid trespassing.' In spite
of legends that the settlement was moved across the river
because the meadows were subject to overflow by the high
waters each spring, this, in Pynchon's own words, is the real
reason for the move.
"After the town affairs were well under way, Pynchon
sent out his traders to the Indians. Joseph Parsons worked
among the hunters and trappers about Nonotuck, and Thomas
Cooper went to Woronoco, where the Indians not only brought
him their own furs, but also those which they obtained from
the Mohawks.
"It was Pynchon's practice to advance supplies to his
traders, who in turn made advances to the Indians trapping
in their territory. This advance, known as a 'debt,' was
taken out of the fur catch brought in the following spring.
In good years a nice balance was left over for the Indian, and
he and his family reveled in new blankets and gewgaws and
became possessed of more guns and much powder and ball.
When hard years overtook the Indian hunter, he was not able
to pay all of last year's debt, — was even forced to take out
a new one. Oftentimes he was compelled to mortgage his
land to the traders, as Amoakussen did to Thomas Cooper
and as Wequagon did to Joseph Parsons. But the Indians,
eternally improvident, seldom secured independence from
the fur men, and never redeemed their mortgages.

34 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"The volume of William Pynchon's trading can only be
estimated by comparison with that of his son John in late
years. In 1654 Edward Johnson wrote that Springfield,
'lying upon this large navigable river was fitly seated for a
beaver trade with the Indians, till the merchants mcreased so
many, that it became of little worth, by reason of their out
buying one another.' And yet, in that year 1654, in spite
of competing merchants, John Pynchon shipped to England
2518 beaver skins weighing 3572 pounds. For this he paid
10 shillings a pound, or a total of nearly $9,000. The impor
tance of this trade can be best indicated by comparison with
that of the great Hudson Bay Company, which commenced
trading with the Indians in the winter of 1668-1669, and yet, at
their first official sale in the winter of 1671-72, only 3000 pounds
of beaver skins were offered. And after 80 years of business,
for the ten years ending 1749, the average annual sales from
their great virgin territory was only $20,000 a year.
"If John Pynchon's trade of 1654, in spite of competition
and scarcity of beaver, was nearly one half that of the 'Great
Company,' a hundred years later, it may be assumed that
that of William Pynchon was most lucrative and of utmost
value to the infant colony, when the balance of trade with
England was always against. But the business was a gamble
at the best. One entire shipment of John Pynchon's was
captured on the high seas by the Dutch, and Joseph Parsons
finally became financially ruined through his dealings.
"In 1640, the exclusive right to the trade at Woronoco
was granted to Governor Hopkins, under the assumption
that it was within the jurisdiction of the Connecticut Colony,
but when shown his error he amicably withdrew and it was
the success of Cooper in the valley that led other Springfield
settlers to that section."
As an addendum to this very valuable monograph of Mr.
Wright it is interesting to note that the number of beaver
skins gathered by the Hudson's Bay Co. rose in 1831 to 87,000
according to official report as recorded in Mr. Henry Poland's
"Fur-bearing Animals in Nature and Commerce," quoted in
"Fur Farming in Canada," J. Walter Jones, p. 202.

CHAPTER III.
Physical Features of Westfield
The caption of this Chapter is used comprehensively to
include topography, geological formation, flora and fauna.
Treated exhaustively in all those departments the subject
would require a chapter of inordinate length, but treated
more concisely a few details relative to each of those features
may supply valuable information concerning the region which
is the central arena of the forthcoming history.
Located as it is in the old Bay State it may be pertinent
to recall at the outset Emerson's assurance of Thoreau's belief
that "the flora of Massachusetts embraced almost all the
important plants of America, — most of the oaks, most of the
willows, the best pines, the ash, the beech, the nuts. He
returned Kane's arctic voyage to a friend of whom he had
borrowed it, with the remark, that most of the phenomena
noted might be observed in Concord." While, however,
Westfield does not include all the physical features to be found
in the whole Commonwealth, it may be claimed without
presumption, nevertheless, to be more inclusive than Concord,
though less famous than that sister town on the eastern border.
The old town, with a history reaching back almost to
earliest colonial days, is situated nine miles due west from
Springfield and about the same distance north of the Con
necticut line. Its natural approach from the east passes
through a break made by the Westfield River in the ridge of
trap rock which runs from the Connecticut River a few miles
below Northampton down through the State of Connecticut
nearly to the shore of Long Island Sound, a contmuation of
the Mount Holyoke range. The valley in which Westfield
lies is one branch of the valley of the Connecticut River which
divides at that point between Mount Holyoke and Mount
Nonotuck where the Connecticut breaks through the Hol
yoke range, both valleys extending south to the Sound running
parallel to each other. At Westfield the valley having for
its western boundary the lower spurs of the Berkshires is

36 Westfield and its Historic Influences
about seven miles wide. Thus, though lying on an extensive
plain, the hills which bound it respectively on the east and
the west furnish its landscape with most attractively pictur
esque features. Unlike Springfield with a river which runs
south, Westfield's river has a generally easterly course.
For an indefinite period before the arrival of the white man
the Indian found the region a source of food supply not only
in the fish of the streams and the game of the forest, but also
in the arable plain land where year by year after having burned
the bushes and stubble he planted his seeds of grain, peas
and pumpkins, and though his husbandry was rude and ineffi
cient he succeeded in harvesting crops of considerable magni
tude. The soil consists generally of a light loam with large tracts
of sand north and south of the town proper, where white
and yellow pines, birches and oaks grow in profusion.
Westfield River is formed by the union of several streams
which rise respectively at widely separated points in the western
spurs of the Berkshires. One important branch, called from
early times Little River, rises in Granville and following a
northeasterly course from where it enters the valley at the
western edge of Southwick, empties into Great River near
the site of the old Indian Fort and the first meeting house.
The original bounds of Westfield were much larger than
those which now mark it, having included all of the present
town of Southwick and including the "New Addition" granted
in July, 1736, extensive portions of the present bounds of Mont
gomery, Russell and Granville. As in many other instances
the original bounds were somewhat indefinite in extent and
were only gradually defined.
Obviously since the white man came into possession of
the region two and a half centuries ago, great changes have
been wrought upon the landscape of the valley by the removal
of large portions of forest, by bringing under cultivation tracts
which originally were allowed to lie fallow, left to nature un
disturbed by the erection of dams in the streams creating
small ponds and the erection of mills upon their banks, and
in various other ways altering minor features of the surface
of the region. Nevertheless, in spite of all such changes, the
general features of the landscape are identical with those upon

Physical Features of Westfield 37
which the first adventurers from Springfield gazed after having
followed the course of the Westfield River into this smiling
valley. Plains, hills, streams and skies are virtually the same
when delighting the eyes of present generations as when viewed
by those sturdy pioneers. Some of the fauna which then
enticed hunter and trapper are no longer found here. Salmon
and shad no longer make annual visits to our streams; the
superb wild turkeys no longer range through the forest; in
numerable flocks of wild pigeons no longer pass like flitting
clouds across the face of the sky; but deer still wander even
through orchards and gardens, trout, the speckled beauties,
still lure the angler to our streams, occasionally an eagle perches
upon a denuded branch on a lofty crag, or soars into the eye
of the sun, while many new species of the feathered tribes
annually migrate hither to add ineffable charm to the summer
solstice. The author considers himself most fortunate in having
secured a concise and adequate paper upon the subject of
this Chapter, from his gifted friend, Charles B. Wilson, Sc.D.,
Ph.D., who for many years has efficiently filled the chair of
Biology in the Westfield Normal School. Gratefully and
complacently that paper is now presented for its intrinsic
worth to all readers of this History.
"We have become thoroughly imbued with the idea of
change and decay in all things animate, but we do not ordinarily
think of this universal law as applying with equal force to
the earth and the rocks, the mountains, the valleys, and the
plains. We still speak of the 'everlasting hills,' and our atten
tion is more frequently directed to the solidity and endurance
of the rocks than to their weathering and erosion.
"But the hills are 'everlasting' only as compared with the
brief span of human life, while the strongest rocks are torn
in pieces by the onslaughts of the ocean and the rivers, the
rain, the frost and the ice, and even by the persistent efforts
of the very air we breathe.
"The beautiful landscapes by which Westfield is surrounded,
the Connecticut Valley with its wondrous verdure and fertility,
and even the matchless Berkshires have not always existed
as they are found today. They are rather the result of numer-

38 Westfield and its Historic Influences
ous changes working through long ages, the history of which
is written in the rocks themselves and may be deciphered
by careful study. If this record be translated gradually we
find that the first dry land which appeared above the original
sea of waters included Westfield. All of the Mississippi val
ley was beneath the ocean and a broad estuary ran across
New York State and the northern end of Vermont to the
Gulf of St. Lawrence. Westfield was close to the shore of
this estuary, and the sea began at once to tear down the land.
In this work it was assisted by the atmospheric waters and
soon beds of gravel, sand and mud began to form upon the
bottom of the ocean and also along the valleys upon the land.
The original bed rocks were quickly covered by these deposits
and have remained covered ever since. As time went on
and the deposits accumulated, those first laid down were
buried beneath subsequent ones, and these in turn beneath
others, until the original layers were subjected to enormous
pressure. This pressure, together with the heat developed
from the interior of the earth and from the wrinkling of the
earth's crust, has baked and melted and crystallized the orig
inal material. We no longer find any sand or gravel or mud,
but they were first hardened into sandstone, shale and coarse
limestone, and subsequently crystallized into granite, gneiss,
schist, or crystalline limestone. The foundation rocks of
Westfield are thus crystalline in texture, but they have been
buried so deeply in their turn that the only place where they
can now be found is in some of the deep wrinkles that were
formed during the upheaval of the Berkshires. Here belong
the granites and gneisses found in Granville, Tolland and
adjacent Connecticut towns.
"By the accumulation of deposits the sea bottom was
gradually raised and the valleys and lowlands filled up on
the shore. And from time to time there were foldings or
wrinklings of the earth's crust that uplifted mountain ranges
and formed the Green Mountain plateau, a portion of which
we call today the Berkshires. Between the times of folding
there were long periods during which the rocks were softened
and partly disintegrated by the action of the atmosphere
and the rains.
"Then the land slowly settled again and the place where

Physical Features of Westfield 39
Westfield now stands disappeared beneath the waters. Beach
sand and pebble beds accumulated off the shore and were con
solidated into sandstones and conglomerates. Through the
agency of heat and pressure these were afterward converted
into granites, such as those found in Becket, and into the
various schists so common everywhere.
"Here belongs the so-called Hoosac Schist which forms the
bulk of Russell Mountain and Sodom Mountain to the west
and southwest of us and runs up into Blandford. That
found in Russell and Blandford and our own West Parish
is called the Savoy Schist. Another kind is known as the
Goshen Schist and is thickly studded with small garnets and
staurolites. This has been much used for flag-stones, as in
the old sidewalk that formerly ran around the corner from
Court on to Broad Street, and at many of the crossings.
Similar flag-stones still remain in some of the private walks
of older residences, and they were sometimes used for steps.
Another stone belonging to this period was the Conway Schist,
which was made up of layers of different hardness and conse
quently on weathering assumed grotesque shapes. This
is found in Montgomery near the reservoir from whence it
runs up through Huntington, and also in Southampton. This
is the stone that has furnished so many of the oddly shaped
horse blocks about town.
"But by far the most interesting of these rocks is that
known as the Chester Hornblende. This is dark green in color
and is made up of matted crystals of hornblende, in between
which are found a number of rare and beautiful minerals.
To this deposit belong the emery and magnetic iron ore of
the mine in Chester, and the so-called "Westfield marble"
at Atwater's quarry in the western part of the town.
"The combined thickness of all these deposits aggregates
many thousands of feet and indicates a very long duration
for this, which may be called the constructive period of the
Westfield valley.
"Toward the close of the period the land was again raised,
slowly at first but finally ending in the great folding and eleva
tion of the entire Atlantic seaboard. The large wrinkles
which form the Appalachians were made at this time and they
bent and twisted the rocks already laid down, and thrust

40 Westfield and its Historic Influences
up into them in many places masses of molten material from
the interior of the earth. As a final result of the folding and
twisting we find at the beginning of what is called the Juratriss
period, or the middle age in geological history, a valley not
greatly unlike the Connecticut Valley of the present day, but
differing in some important particulars.
"In the first place it was filled with salt water and formed
an estuary which extended from New Haven on the south to
Brattleboro, Vermont, a distance of 110 miles, and from the
Berkshires on the west to the Wilbraham mountains on the
east, a distance of 15 or 20 miles.
"Into this large bay ran many rivers and streams bringing
down from the surrounding hills sediment which was after
ward spread out over the floor of the bay by the shifting cur
rents and the waves. To the east and west close along either
shore were beds of coarse sand and gravel subsequently cemented
into the sandstone and conglomerate, which form today the
surface rocks underlying Westfield. The Longmeadow Sand
stone was deposited as fine sand in the deeper and quieter
off-shore area of the bay, while in the central zone, where
the basin was widest, and hence where there was the least
disturbance in the water, layers of mud were deposited which
have since hardened into the Chicopee Shale.
"This shallow inland sea must have abounded in fish,
Crustacea, clams and oysters, since their remains are found
scattered everywhere through the shale. This profusion of
food combined with the shallowness of the water and a luxuri
ant vegetation both upon the banks and along the sea bottom,
made an ideal breeding ground for the immense reptiles which
were characteristic of the times. These animals have caused
this period in geological history to be called the age of reptiles,
and their remains in the form of bones and footprints, chiefly
the latter, have given the Connecticut Valley its geological
prestige and made it famous throughout the world. Com
paratively few of these fossils have been found within the
boundaries of Westfield, but there is every reason to believe
that the reptiles themselves were as abundant here as else
where. "What a scene would have met the eye could we have
stood upon Mt. Tekoa in that long ago and looked down the

Physical Features of Westfield 41
Westfield valley and seen the fish jumping in the water, the
shoals of aquatic lizards swarming in the shallow ocean that
reached the base of the mountain, and the large reptiles and
Dinosaurs crawling or leaping about on the shore!
"And we might have happened to witness one of the volcanic
outbursts which came at about that time. For no sooner
had the debris accumulated over the bottom of this inland
sea than great fissures were formed through which the melted
rock rose up from below and spread out sidewise as tar oozes
and spreads from a crack. As soon as this volcanic material
was solidified it was covered with layers of sand and gravel,
and formed extensive flats near the tide level. There were
three of these great masses of molten rock poured out over
the bottom of the bay, and it is their remains today which
form the so-called trap rock range running from Mt. Norwotock
in Amherst, through Mt. Holyoke, Mt. Tom and Provin
Mountain in the eastern part of Westfield, down across the
State of Connecticut nearly to New Haven. In the movements
accompanying these outflows of trap rock there was a general
uplift of the entire valley, and Westfield became dry land
once more, this time to remain so.
"Its subsequent history is one of weathering and erosion
until the period known as the glacial epoch, just before the
advent of man. At this time for some reason ice and snow
began to accumulate in the Canadian highlands, and after
a time they pushed southward, westward, and eastward in
the form of great glaciers. These glaciers eventually united
into an immense ice sheet which covered the entire eastern
half of Canada and reached south over New England and New
York. The general direction of its flow here in the Connecti
cut Valley was from north to south. The first effect of its
passage was the removal of all the soil and decomposed rock
which had gathered during the previous periods. This soil
must have been rich and of generous depth, like that found
in the Mississippi valley, but every particle of it was ruth
lessly removed and nothing but the bare rocks and ledges
were left. This wholesale removal of the true soil explains
the general lack of fertility, for the substitute that was sub
sequently left by the melting of the glacier was a badly mixed
assortment of sand, clay, and gravel, and not real soil.

42 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"In places, however, our rivers have brought down some
silt from the hills and produced a fairly fertile but very shal
low loam.
"After removing the soil the great glacier rounded off
and smoothed the rocks themselves into the rolling form of
landscape so typical of New England. We do not know just
how much the hills were lowered, but we do know that they
were much higher than at present.
"During this erosion the rocks on either side of the trap
rock outflows, being softer than the trap rock itself, were more
susceptible to the action of the ice. In consequence they were
eroded to a much greater depth, and left the trap rock pro
jecting as a ridge above them, just as a knot in a floor board
will often resist wear better than the softer material around
it and in time will come to project as a prominence.
"Mt. Holyoke, Mt. Tom, and Provin Mountain, therefore,
are mountains of erosion, and were not formed like the Berk
shires by a wrinkling of the earth's crust.
"During this period of erosion and denudation our West-
field valley, which so short a time before had been the scene
of luxuriant tropical vegetation and life, must have looked
like the interior of Greenland, an immense wilderness of snow
and ice. Vegetation had well-nigh entirely disappeared,
and in place of the wealth of tropical animals we find those
peculiar to the arctic regions.
"The abundant waters formed by the melting of this great
ice sheet were drained off to the south and east, the Connecti
cut River forming the main channel. But the material de
posited formed a moraine across the valley and held back
the waters in a series of great lakes, which Prof. Emerson
of Amherst College called the Montague, Hadley, and Spring
field lakes. The rivers, streams, and brooks fed by the melt
ing ice carried a great deal of sand and gravel out into these
lakes and built up large deltas with deposits of finer sand and
mud in the deeper portions of the lakes. In this mud many
plants, representing a climate like that in Canada at the pres
ent time, have been found.
"The south lobe of Hadley Lake came down the Southamp-
ton-Westfield valley and filled the entire basin where West-
field now stands, and ran up the valley of the Westfield River

Physical Features of Westfield 43
at least as far as Russell. At this time the potholes were formed
at Salmon Falls and just below Russell, and the gorge of Little
River was carved out of the mountam side.
"This gorge is said by the geologists of the United States
Geological Survey to be 'the wildest, most picturesque and
most inaccessible canyon in central Massachusetts.' At
the same time that the gorge was being formed the sands brought
down into the lake by the Manhan River to the north uniting
with those of the Westfield River built up an immense area
now known as Hampden Plains to the north and Poverty
Plains to the south. Through the middle of this area the
Westfield River has cut its valley since the lake disappeared.
The clay at the brickyard and elsewhere about the region rep
resents the finer material deposited in deeper water, while the
fine sand brought down from the Little River gorge formed the
large sand pit just south of Crane's lower bridge. Portions
of the old lake shore beds are still visible on Hampden Plains,
to the north of the Westfield River in the Pochassic district,
and between the Westfield and Little Rivers a short distance
east of Russell Mountain. In cutting through these old lake
deposits both the Westfield and Little Rivers swung widely
to the north and south and made a broad valley, bordered on
either side by terraces. The highest of these terraces repre
sents approximately the level of the old lake bottom, and
can be seen on the north side of the river at Prospect Hill and
in the Pochassic district; on the south side of the river from
Tekoa Terrace westward beyond the Country Club, and to
the south of Little River in what is known as 'The W.'
"A second terrace shows behind the B. & A. R. R. tracks,
west of the station, and for some distance on both sides of
the Westfield River east of the Russell Mountain-Mount
Tekoa gorge. The most of Westfield itself stands upon the
lowest complete terrace, so short a distance above the present
level of the river that it must be protected from inundation
during freshets by means of a dike. During this long period
of erosion the rivers were bringing down silt from the moun
tains and spreading it out over the valleys, and even now
the plains along the river bottoms are covered almost every
year with another layer of silt, and in this way they have
become one of the few fertile spots in all New England. Such

44 Westfield and its Historic Influences
in brief has been the history of this little portion of the earth's
surface, not so much a record of gigantic upheavals or violent
cataclysms, but rather a slow and steady progress through
numberless minor changes, covering long periods of time.
"During all this time Westfield has been wonderfully
fortunate in its environment, except of course the periods
during which it was submerged. Not for a single period
alone has it been peopled with a remarkable variety of plants
and animals, but such a condition has been continuous from
the very first and we find that it prevails also at the present
day. When our Pilgrim forefathers first stepped upon the
shores of America the feature of its scenery that seemed to
them the most remarkable was the almost universal forest.
This has now well-nigh disappeared before the steady advance
of settlement and cultivation.
"But its influence still remains in the shade trees which
are so characteristic of every New England town. Originally
the forest must have betrayed the geological character of the
soil upon which it grew by the predominance of certain kinds
of trees and the absence of others. But the shade trees which
adorn our streets are selected artificially for a very different
purpose and tell us nothing about the soil in which they grow.
If any one tree is to be singled out for special mention it must
of course be the American Elm; no other tree is so character
istic a feature of our domestic scenery. It has been planted
and cherished from the first settlement of the town and has
acquired a degree of sacredness possessed by no other tree.
The magnificent avenues of elms on Main, Court, Broad,
Franklin, and Silver streets, not to mention many others,
still attest the universal admiration for this tree.
"Another very common tree is the sugar or hard maple,
which lines many of our shorter streets and contributes gener
ously to the brilliance of the autumn foliage. The oak, the
horse-chestnut, the ash, the walnut and the birch are also
generously sprinkled up and down the streets and upon the
lawns of private residences. There are comparatively few
evergreens, although these must once have been the most
stately of our native trees. And there is an almost entire
absence of poplars, especially the Lombardy poplar, which
is so much in vogue in many parts of New England.

Physical Features of Westfield 45
"Outside the immediate limits of the town first mention
should be made of the white pine. This has been character
ized as the 'loftiest and most valuable of the productions of
the North American forest,' and well deserves that distinction.
It harmonizes well with every kind of a landscape and any sort
of surroundings and always improves them. The most notable
group of pines in Westfield is in the cemetery which is named
for them and to which they contribute dignity and rever
ence. "Most of the higher terraces are clothed with oaks of
various kinds and chestnuts, whose foliage gives to the autumn
landscape its rich russet hues and the dark reds and browns,
and in the case of the oaks lingers upon the trees throughout
the winter. Hampden and Poverty Plains are covered with
clusters of the small gray birches interspersed with scrub or
pitch pines, which are more scraggly and less dignified than
the white pine. Along the river bottoms are a few trees
worthy of special mention. The cottonwood or river poplar is
characterized by the rich color of its leaf stalks and young
branches and by the profusion of its long red blossom tassels
in the spring. The buttonwood or plane tree, often falsely
called the sycamore, is remarkable for its great height and
magnitude, its huge palmate leaves, and its pecular globular
fruit, from whence it derives its name.
"Among our native shrubs none is more universally ad
mired than the mountain laurel, none equals it in artistic
elegance and beauty. It grows in great abundance on the
upper terraces and along the slopes of the mountains, and its
evergreen leaves as well as its gorgeous blossoms are in great
demand for decorations. Another shrub that is worthy of
mention is the sumac, which grows in great profusion in many
localities. Its long compound leaves, which turn bright
crimson in the early fall, and its conical clusters of crimson
fruit form pleasing color touches upon the canvas of nature.
"Among the wild flowers are many which are especially
attractive, although by no means peculiar to Westfield. Of
these the trailing arbutus is easily the most popular. This
dainty and fragrant flower, in spite of the ruthless manner
in which it is picked every spring, is still abundant upon the
dry knolls in swampy places everywhere around town.

46 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"The rock-loving columbine is found along the slopes
of the terraces and upon the mountain sides, together with
the early saxifrage, the trout lily or adder's tongue, the anemone,
the bloodroot and the quaint dutchman's breeches. The
fringed and closed gentians abound in many localities along
the mountam roads. The upper terraces and the sandy plains
to the north and the south of the town are carpeted in their
season with the dainty little innocents, the gorgeous sand
violets, the yellow stars of the cinquefoil and the blue clusters
of the lupine.
"In the woods of the same localities may be found the
purple lady's slipper, the various Solomon's seals, the bunch-
berry, partridgeberry and checkerberry, the sarsaparilla,
the betony, the pipsissewa, the rattlesnake plantain, the bell-
wort, the fringed polygala, and the parasitic Indian pipe.
"In the swamps of the river valleys are the wakerobins
or trilliums, purple and painted and white, the jack-in-the-
pulpit, the foam flower, the baneberry, the yellow Clintonia,
the large and small yellow lady's slippers or whip-poor-will's
shoes, and in favored localities the pitcher plant, the sun
dew and many varieties of violets.
"And the ferns must not be overlooked, the delicate maiden
hair that shyly hides in the recesses of the woods, with a few
of the shield ferns and flowering ferns, the common brake,
the lady ferns and the Christmas ferns that clamber over
the rocky sides of the river terraces, the sturdy interrupted
and cinnamon ferns that fringe the roadside, and the poly
podies that carpet the fields and meadows.
"These are but a very few of the plants that may be found
in and around Westfield; the plant lover who really searches
need have no fear of exhausting the supply. Every spring
the awakening life of the trees and flowers will have something
new in store, even though long years may have been spent
in the search.
"When the birds come back from the southland those
of them which come from afar, the long distance migrants,
follow two general routes, one along the Atlantic coast and
the other up the Mississippi River.
"The coastline route leaves the ocean when it reaches
Connecticut, and follows the Connecticut River into Canada.

Physical Features of Westfield 47
Westfield, being between the river and the Berkshire Hills,
is thus very favorably situated with reference to these migrants.
In addition it presents a happy combination of woodland
and shrubbery, broad fertile meadows, steep rocky terraces
and sloping mountain sides. As a result it is an admirable
locality for the study of bird life. Winter residents, straggling
visitors, regular migrants and local breeders are all well repre
sented in its bird fauna. The persistent student will have
no difficulty in bringing his list of observed birds up to 175
or even 200 species.
"Of these the commoner ones hardly need mention and
attention is chiefly directed to those that are rarer or more
conspicuous. "The white snow bunting, the rosy pine grosbeak, the great
northern shrike and the crossbill come in the stormy winter
season and usually stay but a very short time. The dainty
winter wren and the Hudsonian chicadee sometimes appear,
the latter in company with the common chicadee. The horned
lark at rare intervals gathers in flocks which frequent the open
waste places, and makes its presence known by the vociferous
calls. The southern mocking-bird and the brilliant cardinal
grosbeak only occasionally come thus far north in their mi
gration along the coast, although they are common at even
higher latitudes in the Mississippi valley. The black-backed
three-toed woodpecker and the log-cock or pileated wood
pecker, the largest and finest representative of its family, may
be found in the denser woods.
"The snowy owl appears as a frequent winter visitor,
while the long-eared owl, the hawk owl and the great gray
owl are more irregular in their occurrence. The American
goshawk is seen only in the winter season, the large duck hawk
or peregrine falcon nests on the crags in the immediate vicinity,
the golden eagle and the bald eagle or 'bird of freedom' both
breed quite regularly within the town limits.
"The great crested flycatcher appears and disappears
in the woods with what has been designated as 'regular irregu
larity.' It is of course only a summer visitor and rather shy,
keeping to the depths of the forest.
"The rose-breasted grosbeak comes to us early in the spring
and impresses us with the elegance and brilliancy of both

48 Westfield and its Historic Influences
song and plumage. Its favorite haunts are the thick under
growth along the river banks and upon the terraces. The
scarlet tanager is the most resplendent of all our birds and
is fairly abundant along the upper terraces. Its song suffers
by contrast with its plumage and seems more commonplace
than it really is.
"The fox sparrow plays the part of a spring and fall pas
senger to and from the Hudson Bay region. It is conspicuous
for its size and beauty and is one of the most accomplished
vocalists of its tribe. It lingers much longer than many of
the other migrants and while it remains frequents the shrub
bery and undergrowth, spending much time on the ground
where it thrashes among the leaves much like the brown thrush
or the towhee bunting. The white-throated and white-crowned
sparrows are also conspicuous migrants and very attractive
songsters. "The hermit thrush and the wood thrush are notable
chiefly for their attractive songs; the former is a migrant
but the latter stays with us throughout the season.
"The warblers constitute the largest single family of birds
and one that is difficult to master. They are all small birds
of about the same size and are beautifully clothed in varie
gated colors, each with its own peculiar hues. Their colors,
however, are far less distinctive than their habits, by means
of which they may be separated into small groups whose mem
bers are fairly well contrasted.
"The first of these groups includes the fly-catching warblers,
which catch their insect food after the manner of the king
bird and pewee. The redstart and the myrtle warbler are
the most common of these and they present a strong color
contrast. The Canadian warbler with its yellow throat and
its necklace of black beads also belongs here and remains
with us throughout the summer. The black-poll warbler
with its black cap pulled down over its eyes is one of the latest
arrivals in spring, not reaching Westfield before the last of
May. It is a migrant and only tarries a few days on its journey,
disappearing entirely by the first of June.
"A second group includes the creeping warblers which
run up and down tree trunks like the nuthatch or the brown
creeper. The black and white and the pine creeping warblers

Physical Features of Westfield 49
are the most common and they are easily distinguished by their
color. Indeed the creeping habit is so pronounced in the black
and white warbler that it was for a long time grouped with
the creepers rather than the warblers. They are tireless
insect hunters, scrambling up and down the trunks and branches
of the trees, peering into the crevices of the bark, scrutiniz
ing every leaf and exploring the very heart of the tender buds.
The parula warbler, whose ashy-blue back shows a conspicuous
golden-brown patch, may be placed in this group, although
its habits also somewhat resemble the flycatchers.
"A third group is made up of ground warblers, the only
members of the family that walk on the ground. The oven-
bird reaches Westfield early in May and the woods along the
upper terraces echo at once to the accelerated chant which
is often accepted as the only song the bird possesses. Its
real song is extremely varied and beautiful, but is probably
only uttered during the pairing time. The walk of this bird
is very nonchalant as though it were sauntering about for
amusement, but it is always on the alert for insects. The
Maryland yellow-throat is the most abundant of the ground
warblers and its vivacious call may be heard from almost
any shrubbery about the beginning of May.
"The water thrush is another ground warbler which fre
quents the wet swamps, from whence its clear and melodious
song is often heard. On the ground it walks very daintily
with mincing steps, frequently stopping to seesaw its tail up
and down after the manner of the spotted sandpiper.
"A fourth group includes such warblers as frequent the
tops of the tallest trees in the forest, and may hence be desig
nated as tree warblers. Fortunately the under surface of
the body is characteristically marked so that they may be
distinguished largely by their color. Here belong the Black-
burnian warbler with its intense orange or flame-colored
breast bordered by black streaks and with several of the outer
tail feathers white, which show conspicuously as it flies. The
black-throated green warbler shows a decided preference
for the white pines and are to be sought chiefly amongst those
trees. The jet black throat and breast contrast strongly
with the rich yellow of the forehead and sides of the head
and neck. The bay-breasted warbler comes closer to the

50 Westfield and its Historic Influences
ground than the other two and may be recognized at once
by the large chestnut patch on the top of the head and the
back of the neck, and by the duller chestnut or bay color which
covers the throat, the breast and the sides of the body. Con
trasting strongly with these chestnut areas is the black domino
mask which passes through the eyes and ends on the sides of
the neck in a buffy area, almost white.
"The fifth group comprises the wood warblers, which
frequent the shrubbery near the ground, hunting their prey
after the manner of the vireos. The most common of these
is the summer yellow-bird, which can be distinguished at
once by its uniform golden yellow color. It is one of the
very few warblers that consent to become friendly with man
and build their nests in orchards, gardens and parks.
"The chestnut-sided warbler has a yellow crown and chest
nut sides, but its most characteristic feature is the manner
in which it droops its wings and elevates its tail while hunting
its prey. The black-throated blue warbler wears a dark blue
coat and a snowy white vest which contrast strongly with
its black head and throat. It is very deliberate in its move
ments, treating a tree like a staircase, mounting one branch at
a time and following each of the branches to its very tip.
"The black and yellow warbler leaves two impressions
as it flits rapidly through the bushes, one that of heavy black
breast blotches, and the other that of large white patches on
the wings and tail. These added to the heavy yellow of the
under parts make a combination not easily mistaken.
"Having thus passed Westfield in review we must conclude
that whatever it may suffer in consequence of being robbed
of its soil by the great glacier is more than repaid in the won
derful richness of its fauna and flora."

CHAPTER IV.
Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco
In early colonial and town records the Indian name of the
region which became the town of Westfield is spelled in no
less than a dozen different ways. The meaning of Woronoco,
as given by R. A. Douglas-Lithgaw, M.D., in his "Dictionary
cf American Indian Places and Proper Names" is "The country
with windings." Game having been very abundant in the
neighborhood and situated so near to the foothills of the Berk
shires, it was a place much used by the Indians as a market
for furs. Its unusual facilities for the prosecution of trade
in valuable peltry gave it prominence in the earliest records
of the Connecticut River settlements. The lower Colony
was eager for its possession and Massachusetts was no less
so. The controversy of the two Colonies for the territory
which comprised much of the original plantation of Spring
field was long, tedious and, like all such disputes about property,
not always kindly.
All the early historians of this region devote large time
and space to an account of its tedious details and obstinate
continuance. Reference has been made in an earlier chapter
to the patent of Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brooke and others
which covered the territory of Connecticut and a strip reach
ing thence to the Western Ocean. John Winthrop, the Govern
or's son, on his return from England in 1635, brought a com
mission as Governor from those patentees, and the sum of
two thousand dollars to be used in the erection of a fort at
the mouth of the Connecticut River. A small work was
constructed in which two pieces of cannon were mounted.
Lyon Gardiner, an engineer brought over by Winthrop, had
charge of its construction and afterward commanded it. Four
years later, in 1639, George Fenwick, Esq., came from Eng
land to act as agent of the patentees of Connecticut. Hutch
inson characterizes him as "a worthy, pious gentleman, and of
a good family and estate." He took up his residence at the
mouth of the river and called it Saybrook, from the names

5$ Westfield and its Historic Influences
of the two noblemen who were distinguished members of
the company of patentees. In the following year 1640 a very
important transaction occurred, recorded in identical language
by Trumbull, in his "History of Connecticut,"and by Holmes
in his "Annals of America": "The people of Connecticut
purchased Waranoke and soon began a plantation there.
Governor Hopkins erected a trading house there and had a
considerable interest in the plantation."
In May, 1643, there met at Boston Commissioners from the
several Colonies, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven,
to arrange with others representing Massachusetts, a Federa
tion of the Colonies for the common defense and welfare,
which became known as "The United Colonies of New Eng
land." At the first meeting of their Commissioners in Boston,
September 7, of that year, Connecticut was represented by
George Fenwick and Edward Hopkins, both active agents
in the controversy over the possession of Woronoco. Two
years earlier, in 1641, the General Court of Massachusetts,
considering the purchase of lands in its territory by Con
necticut people who claimed it as a part of the domain of that
Colony, an encroachment upon the domain of Massachusetts,
wrote to the aggressors as follows: "It is grievos to us to
meete with any occation that might cause difference to arise
betweene yor people & us, standing in so near relation of
friendship, neighborhood & Christianity, especially; there
fore or study is (when any such arise) to labor the removing
of them upon the first appearance. Now, so it is, that we
have been certified that you have given leave to some of yors
to set up a trading house at Woronock, wch is knowne to
bee within or patent, lying as much or more to the north than
Springfield, wch wee apphend to bee an injury to us, & do
us such right in redresse hearof as you would expect fro us
in a like case. Wee suppose wee shall not need to use other
argumts; wee know to whom wee wright. Wee have thought
meete upon these occations to intimate further unto you that
wee intend (by God's grace) to know the certeinty of or limits,
to the end that wee may neither intrench upon the right of
any of or neighbors, nor suffer orselves & or posterity to bee
deprived of what rightly belongs unto us, wch wee hope wilbe
without offence to any: & upon this we may have some ground

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 53
preceding in or further treaty wth you about such things as
may concerne the welfare of us all. These things wee leave
to yor consideration & shall expect yor answer. In the meene
time wee rest."
May we not readily discover in this diplomatic document
the fine legal hand of William Pynchon who had not ceased
to burn under a sense of injustice since his trial and condemna
tion by those Connecticut neighbors three years before? In
the spring of 1638, while he was still one of the Commissioners
having in charge the river settlements, he was summoned
to appear before the Court at Hartford and make answer
to four charges. He was accused to his great amazement
and indignation, (1) of raising the price of corn purchased of
the Indians for the settlers, that he might increase his own
profit; (2) of having refused to lend a canoe to a Woronoco
Indian who wanted to carry corn down the river under con
tract with Captain Mason; (3) of keeping the Woronoco,
Nonotuck and Agawam Indians in abject fear of him, that
he might have a monopoly of their trade and be considered
the great English sachem of the Connecticut Valley; (4) of
prevailing upon some Mohawk runners to sell him some beaver
skins that had been sent by their chiefs as presents and proofs
of good will to the authorities in Connecticut.
When Mr. Pynchon defended himself before the Court by
explaining his method of dealing with the Indians by not
advancing wampum, but holding it until they delivered their
corn, Mr. Hooker, the minister, sneeringly replied that "Mr.
Pynchon knew that the Indians being afrayd of him, would
not bring downe any corne, but that he should have all the
trade to himself, & have all the corne in his own hands, and
bring all that water to his own mill, and so rack the country
at his pleasure."
He was ordered to pay a fine of "40tie bushells of Indian
Corne for the publique."
Feeling that his rights had been ignored, his dignity had
been insulted, his christian character had been dishonored,
it was but natural that he should resent the subsequent at
tempts of his traducers to encroach upon his domain and
limit the commercial prerogative to which he was justly en
titled.

54 Westfield and its Historic Influences
And so the struggle for Woronoco went merrily forward
between the Colonies and between those who were the giants
of those days.
At the second meeting of Commissioners of the United
Colonies, which was held in September, 1644, "The commis
sioners of Massachusetts also made claim to Waranoke, as
lying within the limits of their patent. Mr. Fenwick at the
same time claimed it as covered by the patent of Connecti
cut. However, as it appeared that Mr. Fenwick had promised
before this meeting, either to clear his title to Waranoke, or
submit to the Governor of Massachusetts, they determined
that Waranoke, with Mr. Hopkins's trading house, should
be under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts until it should
be made evident to which colony they belonged; but that
the propriety of the land should belong to the purchasers,
provided it should not exceed 2000 acres." (Trumbull, Vol. I,
p. 116.) It must have been this meeting to which Hollister refers,
though making the date of it 1645, when he says after speak
ing of Fenwick's claim, "It was finally decreed that West-
field, with all its houses and lands, should be under the juris
diction of Massachusetts &c." (History of Conn., Vol. I, p. 134.)
Dwight, in his "History of Connecticut," confirms the
statement and gives the correct date of the meeting, 1644.
In that same year there arose another dispute between
Springfield, backed by the Bay, and her neighbors down the
river. Connecticut bargained with Fenwick for the purchase
of the fort at Saybrook, agreeing to pay a small duty upon
grain that should be exported, and to assess an annual tax
upon hogs and cattle for his benefit. This tribute was to
be paid him for ten years, at the expiration of which period
the fort was to pass into full possession of the Colony. All
vessels that sailed from Connecticut towns were obliged to
take out clearance papers. The opportunity to squeeze their
Springfield neighbors was too good to be lost, and the demand
was pressed. There ensued immediately a hot tariff war
which, though very serious to the contestants at that time,
seems now a delicious bit of opera bouffe. The point at issue
was whether Springfield should be forced to help pay for a
fort, the ultimate ownership of which she should never share.

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 55
The impost threatened ruin to Mr. Pynchon, and the Massa
chusetts General Court rallied to his defense by a decisive vote
that "none of ours" should pay it. The Commissioners of
the United Colonies met at Boston in special session in July,
1647. Connecticut was represented by Deputy-Governor
Hopkins and Captain Mason, Pynchon's old enemy who had
just been made commandant at Saybrook, though a recent
fire had reduced it to a state of innocuous desuetude. The
position of the Massachusetts General Court was clearly
declared. It included a protest that it was very hard for the
people of Massachusetts to weaken their estates by being
"forced to such bondage." To that Mr. Hopkins made the
naive reply that "if weakenings of estates be a sufficient plea
to free men from payinge of taxes, we know not who will pay,
for all such payments doe weaken men's estates," verily a point
well taken.
The war having been prolonged with great acrimony on
both sides for several years, in May, 1649, the Massachusetts
General Court resorted to the drastic measure of imposing
tariff duties, both export and import, on all goods that passed
"the castle" in Boston harbor that were owned by any inhabit
ant of the three Colonies, Plymouth, New Haven and Connecti
cut. Appalled at the prospective ruin thus thrust upon them,
the Connecticut authorities at once annulled their action, and
the Massachusetts General Court immediately followed their
example. The war was over. Mr. Pynchon's boats sailed
down the river unmolested, the taxes that had been piling
up against him remain still unpaid and one more ground of
irritation between sister Colonies was permanently removed.
There still remained the question of the boundary line
between the Colonies of Connecticut and Massachusetts to
be settled, which was not finally accomplished until 1713.
That result is thus stated by Hutchinson: "It appeared by
the report of the commissioners that one hundred and seven
thousand seven hundred and ninety-three acres of land were
due from Massachusetts, who accordingly made a grant thereof
to Connecticut. They accepted and made sale of the same,
and applied the produce to the support of Yale College and
other public uses, and the controverted towns for many years
after continued without molestation under the jurisdiction

56 Westfield and its Historic Influences
by which they were first settled." (History of Mass. Vol. II,
p. 187.) This cut off from what had been the original territory of
Springfield, Suffield, Enfield and Somers. By vote of the
General Court, 1647, the claim to what is now Westfield was
accorded to Springfield. "It is ordered by this Court, that
Woronoke upon Connecticut River within ys jurisdiction,
shall be, and be reputed as a part of ye towne of Sprmgfield,
& liable to all charges there as other pts of the same towne:
untill errecting some other plantation more convenient, it
shall be thought fitt by ye Court to annex it to such new planta
tion." What seems to be the latest action of the Commissioners
of the United Colonies relative to jurisdiction over this ter
ritory is mentioned by Dwight. He says that at their meeting
in 1649 they decided that Springfield belonged to Connecti
cut. Be that as it may, by the above action of the General
Court of Massachusetts the Springfield authorities considered
the matter settled and acted accordingly, as shown by the
following votes:
"At a Towne Meeting Jan. 7, 1655, It was agreed & con
cluded yt ye land at Woronoco (being laid to this Towne by
ye Court) should be disposed off: To wch end John Pynchon
Mr. Holyoke Geo: Colton Benja Cooley & Tho: Cooper
were appointed & desired by ye Towne to yt work to whom
power was given to dispose of ye land at Woronoco to such
men as they Saw fit, & what quantity they should give to any
pson whomsoever they in theire best discretion saw fit; it
should be esteemed as theire ppriety & ye act of ye Towne.
"June 2d (1656) Whereas Wee: John Pynchon: Elizur
Holyoke: Geo. Colton: Tho Cooper, & Benja Cooly, were
appointed by ye Towne to dispose of ye land at Woronoco
wch ye Cort hath laid to this Township : Having made a View
of ye land there we Judge it may be divided into foure & so
distributed to foure severall psons: The first pt of it lyeth
on this side ye river next to Springfield up by ye river side:
& opposite agt it on ye further side of ye river lyeth another
pt or portion: & then further up ye river lyeth the other 2
pts or portions of land together on this side ye River.
"These severall pts of land lying remote fro: our Towne,

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 57
& there being noe appearance of any at prsent, yt will make
use thereoff: we thought good to ppound it to ye Towne to
allow some priviledges for incorridgement to such as would
appeare to live so remote: Where uppon this 2d of June 1656,
By ye Joint Consent of ye Plantation it is agreed & ordered
That for Sixe yeares ensuing fro: ye date hereof! : The land
at Woronoco wth such ratable estate as ye owners thereoff
shall have there, Shall be rated but half so much as other land
& estate in Springfield. And for ye Incoridgmt of Jonath
& John Gilbert, they shall be freed fro: Paying any Rates
to ye Towne for one whole yeare after ye 29th day of Septembr
next." "At a Town meeting ffebr. 15 1660. It being propounded
this day as a matter of importance & very Convenent for
the Towne that bounds were sett to this Plantation & con
firmed by the Genii Corte. It was by vote declared to be
the desire of the Inhabitants that the next Genii Cort be in
humble wise petitioned to settle bounds for this Plantation:
The Town desiringe that our Northerly bounds may meet
wth the bounds of Northampton on the West side of ye great
River & wth ye New Town on the East side of the great River
according as the bounds of ye said New Town were laid out
by the Committee appoynted thereunto & the Southerly
bounds to extend 20 poles below the place where Mr. Pynchon
had a ware house according to an Ancient Conditionall grant
of ye Genii Corte: Dated * * * & Soe to run the bounds
east from the Great River ffive mile: & fro: ye Said Ware
house place to runn cross the great River, & to runne West
as far as Woronoco is from Springfield, takeing in also the
Lands at Woronoco (according the Genii Cortes conditionall
grannt concerning those lands) except yt a plantation be sett
up at or neere Woronoco: & then Worronoco to be dismissed
fro: Springfeild: or if Worronoco be absolutely taken away
from us then to request the Corte to have ffoure miles in breadth
granted westward from ye great River: And in case ye Corte
shall not grannt five miles Eastward from the great River
for ye Townes bounds then to gett ffoure miles Eastward:
Or if North bounds will not be granted as is above defined
then to gett the bounds to be granted wthin two miles thereof:
But the deputy is gott as much in all these respects as Corte

58 Westfield and its Historic Influences
may be inclined unto: And Mr. John Pynchon Ensigne
Cooper Elizur Holyoke & Rowland Thomas are appointed
to make a draught of ye lands to be presented to ye Corte:"
At certain points it was necessary to establish gates to admit
of passage into and across the large enclosed tract. At a
meeting at Worronoco alias Streamfield, February 11, 1667,
it was "ordered that a convenient Gate for Carts easy and
handy shutting & opening shall by the proprietors of that
field be set up by the last of March next, which gate is ap
pointed to be set over the brook from Sackets house further
into the meadow about a rod and a half further than formerly,
and the fence to be made firm and good at both ends' up to it."
A little later it was ordered that "the gate by Sackets
be well hung for the security of the field by the 25th of this
inst. March and after yt time who ever shall leave open or
not shut the gate shall pay 5s to the use of the proprietors."
The need of having a gate at that point, near the present
Springdale mills, was due to the fact that one of the earliest
highways, that running from Northampton and Hadley to
Windsor, Conn., came down there from the northern plain.
It had to cross the common field. Greenough says: "This
road held its southerly course to the river, where there was
a ford called in some of the old documents 'the neck riding.'
The road then continued easterly along the south bank of
the Westfield river until it approached the present site of
the county bridge; then it took the present course of the road
running southerly from the bridge to the hamlet now known
as Little River. Somewhere across this road, perhaps where
the road left the common field as it proceeded to the south,
another gate was hung. This was to be closed by those pass
ing, under the same penalty "for the security of the corn field."
(Hampden County, Vol. II, p. 327.)
March 16, 1667, Major Holyoke and George Colton were
appomted by the Committee to go to Worronoco to meet
with landholders there "over the Rivulet by the Indian Fort"
to arrange with them about home lots and highways. They
with "Sergt. Stebbins the Measurer" determined to lay out
home lots to George Phelps first near the Indian Fort, and
Major John Holyoke 2nd & Isaac Phelps 3d 6 acres each. The
lots were to "lye butting on the highway near the Little River,

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 50
each lot to be 143^ rods broad and 80 rods long." It certainly
insured a sizable dooryard, but it was before the days of
the lawn mower and the boys did not need to be curtailed
in their sports to keep the sward from being damaged.
Another range of house lots was laid out lying at the rear
of the others and butting on a highway four rods wide "by
or near the meadow." They were equal in size to the former
and were assigned respectively to Samuel Marshfield, Hugh
Dudley, John Ponder, Thomas Gunn, David Ashley, John
Root and Thomas Root.
There was to be a highway two rods wide "all along the
meadow in most convenient places, as two men of the pro
prietary chose by the rest of them shall lay it out."
Another assignment of home lots was made March 19, 1667:
"upon the uplands without the meadow." They ran from
the "country highway that leads towards Windsor, both
towards Worronoco River, there being a highway of 2 rods
broad from the country highway down into Worronoco River.
On the south side of the way the first lot was John Ingesoll's,
then followed Thomas Dewey, Moses Cook, and James Cornish,
each with 5 acres. Next to him, [James Cornish] lies 12
acres set apart for the ministry if he shall like it. Next
thereto was Capt. [Aaron] Cook's homelot of 6 acres."
In January, 1668, those who desired renewal of their grants
in order that they might comply with the conditions of having
them confirmed, were George Phelps, Isaac Phelps, Capt.
Aaron Cook, Mr. Cornish, Moses Cook, Thomas Dewey,
Thomas Noble, David Ashley, Mr. John Holyoke and John
Osborne. Those who were "thence settled and have not
forfeited their grants" were John Ponder, John Ingersoll and
Hugh Dudley.
Farther action respecting fencing was soon taken but no
list of the dispossessed follows. It was very desirable to
secure permanent settlers and to that end it was expedient
to make their enactments in these matters as elastic as possi
ble. Affairs had progressed so far toward the fulfillment of
conditions which rendered it desirable to ask for separation
from Springfield and permission to organize an independent
town that formal steps were taken toward that end, at a meet
ing at Woronoco, January 21st, 1669. It was then "voted

60 Westfield and its Historic Influences
that James Cornish, George Phelps, Thomas Dewey and
Tho: Noble goe to Springfield the first Tuesday in February
next at a towne meeting to propound to the town for the
settlement of our place and affayres, in particular to determine
where the lyne shall run betwixt Springfield and us and to
appoynt persons to lay out the bounds granted unto us by
the Honord Genii Court and to allow us to be a township
of ourselves and signify the same to the honored Genii Court
&c." There seems to have been the kindliest feeling on the part
of the Springfield authorities toward this little band of set
tlers on the Woronoco, ambitious to conduct their own affairs/
It was the same hunger for independence in the souls of these
pioneers which evidenced itself in their hunger for land. They
wanted to own and control that which was a freeman's pre
rogative, so much of the soil as should provide him and his
family with the necessaries of life. Springfield acted con
siderately. General Town Meeting, February 2, 1668.
"The Inhabitants at Worronoco by mr James Cornish
Thomas Dewey & Thomas Noble makeing severall pposi-
tions to this Plantation at this Towne Meetinge namely, That
we would determine the bounds betwixt us & them, & settle
where the line shall run betwixt us, as also that wee would
appoint the Committee or some other to Order their pru-
dentill affaires or allow them to be a Township, that they
might Order their owne matters, And further yt wee would
deputy some Persons to lay out ye Six miles Square graunted
them by the Genrll Corte & by the said Corte appoynted
to be laid out by this Towne or Some p'sons deputed by us.
"This towne did take into consideration ye said prticu-
lars, and being willing to pmote & further them being a Town
ship, Did in ye first place vote & determine, to allow them
most of the land on the other side of Paucatuck brook by
Worronoco River on ye Northerly side of ye said River: And
for settling that line betwixt us & them George Colton Nathaneel
Ely & Rowland Thomas are chosen & appoynted & impowered
to view & take notice of the lands thereabout, & to consider
where about on ye Westrly side of Paucatuck brooke they

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 61
shall conceive it is most meete the Lyne betwixt us & Them
should run, that is to say from Agawam or Worronoco Rivr:
& Soe Northerly or North westrly towards Northampton: And
accordingly ye aforesaid Persons have power to determine
& to fix the bounds betwixt us & them in that quarter: And
at that place where the dividing line comes to ye River it
is to cross the River to the South of the River, And from thence
towards Windsor a direct South Lyne is to be the bounds
betweene us & them except it will not take in the Ledge of
Mountaynes for Worronoco, wch if it doe not, then it is hereby
Ordered & grannted, that this Lyne on the South side of Aga
wam river shall run Soe much Eastrly from ye South as to
give them the Mountaynes, & then the ledge of Mountaynes
is to be the bounds betwixt us & them: And ye said psons
thus chosen to run the Lyne betweene Vs & Them are to make
returne of worke to this Towne yt it may be entered in ye
Publike Record of ye Towne.
"In ye next place as to allowing them to be a Township
& releasing them from Vs. This Towne doth determine
order & appoynt, That ye Committee now in being, formerly
chosen for granting lands & ordering matters at Worronoco,
Soe as might best conduce to make them a Towne of them
selves vizt. Capt John Pynchon Elizur Holyoke George Col
ton Benjamin Cooley & Nathaneel Ely shall at Some con
venient tyme after this Towne Meeting repaire to Worronoco
& Settle all matters touching that place referring to grants
& orders made by the said Committee, wth all affaires they
have taken in hand. And haveing rectifyed all things after
their own best judgmt & Sett them in as good a posture as
they can, Then the aforesaid Committee wth ye Inhabitants
there are to make choyce of a meete number of ye fittest Per
sons there, for ordering their Prudentiall affaires, and to choose
them a Clark or Recorder Surveyors of high wayes a Con
stable & other needfull officers: And the Committee have
ing thus managed matters & furthered their work for a Town
ship, the Committee are to be discharged of their trust, And
ye Inhabitants there are to be left to themselves to order
their owne matters, or as the Honnord Genrll Corte shall
further Order: And wee hope the Corte will see cause to
Order them to be a Township & that they through the favor

62 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of God may grow into a Comfortable Society, & be a happy
Neighborhood to Vs & Our ffreinds & theirs:
"And Whereas the Honnord Genrll Corte in October
last uppon a petition presented to ym from ye People dwelling
at Worronoco, for inlargnt of their accomodations of land
&c Did make an addition of land to them to ye Content of
Six mile square & left it to this Town of Springfeild or whom
we should appoynt for ye Mangmt of ye matter: This Towne
doth now therefore Order & appoynt mr James Cornish John
Roote Thomas Dewey & John Sackett or any three of them
to lay out the aforesaid graunt of land adjoyning to what
is already allowed them from this Towne, or as shalbe most
to ye advantage of ye Inhabitants of Worronoco: only they
are not to intrench uppon ye bounds fixt & Sett, or to be Sett
as aforesaid between them & Vs.
"That this is a true copy taken out of the Town Records
at Springfeild.
Feb. 16, 1669. Attest. Elizur Holyoke, Recorder."
The General Court proved no less willing to promote the
cause so dear to the hearts of the neighboring settlement as
shown by the following action which constitutes the charter
of the town.
"There being a motion made to this Court in ye behalf e
of ye Inhabitants at Woronoake belonging to Springfield,
That they may be a Township of ymselves. Springfield
being willing theretoe as appeares by Coppy of an order of
that Towne under ther Recorders hand heretoe annexed.
Leaving Woronoak to ymselves & referring you to this Court:
This Court (therefore) Doth hereby Grant them to be a Town
ship, & allows them all Priviledges according as other Townes
have in this Collony, and that ye Sd Towne be called Westfeild:
"The magists have past this their brethren the Deputy s
hereto consenting.
28 May, 1669. Edward Rawson, Secty.
Consented to by the Deputys. William Torrey Cleric."
(B. 112, P. 193)

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 63
The matter of boundaries which hitherto, while the number
of actual settlers was uncertain, and the whole vaguely limited
territory was under the jurisdiction of Springfield, was not
exactly determined, demanded careful determination as soon
as the independent township was constituted. The several
votes dealing with this subject are not always lucid and are
always verbose and prolix, but they have an interest for us at
this distant day because so closely related to the significant
beginnings of the town and are therefore presented in full.
"Oct ye 5th 1669 This Towne at ye Genrll Town Meet
ing on ye 2d day of ffebr last, upon ye desire of ye Inhabitants
of Westfeild propounded to this Plantation at ye said meet
ing vizt yt this Town would Order & settle the bounds in the
land betwixt this Town & them Did appoynt a Committee
viz Quartermr Colton Nathaneel Ely & Rowland Thomas
for yt work as in ye Ordr of ffebr. 2d 68 more at large appear-
eth: And the said Committee Did on this 5th day of October
1669 repaire to ye lands about Paucatuck & haveing taken
good survey of the lands thereabout, Did come to a resolu
tion what shalbe accounted the bounds betwixt this Town
of Springfeild & ye Town of Westfeild in respect of ye lands
on ye North Side of Woronok River: And therefore in Order
to fixing the bounds betwixt Vs & Them in that quarter the
said Committee concluded & determined yt a du North lyne
from a white Oak tree neere the Said River wch ye said Commit
tee marked shall be & be accounted the bounds betweene Our
Town of Springfeild & the Towne of Westfeild: The said
white Oak soe markt is betweene ye two first dingles beyond
ye low lands at Paucatuck & neere the furthest of ye two dingles :
And because from ye said marked tree right cross the River
& thence Southerly a direct South lyne will not take in ye
Mountayne for ye Town of Westfeild therefore the Moun-
tayne is to be the bounds betwixt Our Town & Westfeild
according as Our Townes said act of february last doth deter
mine: And herein the said Committee fully aggreeing have
hereunto sett their hands :
"Att a Town Meeting March 23d 1669,-70 This Towne have
ing formerly appoynted mr James Cornish John Roote John
Sackett & Thomas Dewey or any three of them to lay out the

64 Westfield and its Historic Influences
quantity of Six mile square graunted to Westfeild by the Genrll
Corte, and finding that ye aforementioned p'sons have hitherto
soe neglected the said work that unless some speedy course be
taken or others appoynted thereunto that shall more readily
attend it, We shalbe altogether unable to render an account
to ye next Genrll Corte Therefore considering the act of the
Genrll Corte leaving ye worke to our Town & that there may
be noe further needless neglect on our pat: This Town doth
now order to appoynt Capt Holyoke Quartrmr Colton Row
land Thomas & Samuell Marshfeild to ye said work hereby
calling in & making voyd the power we conferred upon mr
Cornish & the rest above said forasmuch as they have not
done their work in their yeere: And the said Capt Holyoke
Quartrmr Colton Samll Marshfeild & Rowland Thomas or
any three of them are hereby appoynted a Committee whom
this Town doth now order & impower to lay out the content
of Six Mile Square graunted to Westfeild & ordered by the
Genrll Corte to be laid out by some that Springfeild should
appoynt thereunto : All wch worke is to be done by the Said
Capt Holyoke Quartrmr Colton Samuell Marshfeild & Row
land Thomas or any three of them are hereby appointed a
Committee whom this Town doth now order & impower to
lay out the content of Six Mile Square graunted to Westfeild
& Ordered by the Genrll Corte to be laid out by some that
Springfeild should appoynt thereunto: all wch work is to
be done by the Said Capt Holyoke Quartermr Colton Samuell
Marshfeild Rowland Thomas or any three of them before the
15th day of Aprill next: Wherefore they are forthwth to
acquaynt the Inhabitants of Westfeild herewth & inform
them of & appoynt the tyme when they shall attend ye work,
that Soe Westfeild may have opportunity to depute & Send
Some p'sons to goe along wth them to consider & advise about
the convenient laying out of the aforesaid tract cf land &
to observe & take notice where their bounds shalbe laid : And
all being done & effected by our now impowered Committee
they are to give an account thereof to this Towne that returne
thereof may be made to the Honnord Genrll Corte.
"Here followeth ye Returne of the Committee (mentioned
in ye foregoing page) appoynted by this Towne to lay out
the Six mile Square graunted to Westfeild for their Town-

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 65
ship, by ye Genrll Corte Which Returne was presented to
this Towne and a coppy thereof sent to the Generall Corte.
Springfeild April ye 14th 1670.
"We whose names are here subscribed being a Committee
appoynted by the Town of Springfeild for ye laying out the
quantity of Six mile Square granted to Westfeild by the Hon-
nord Genrll Corte have attended the said Work: & there
fore doe hereby declare how their Said quantity of land is
laid out to them five Mile broad at ye Northerly end thereof,
extending from a Pine tree marked at the East Mountayne
to a White Oak marked at the West Mountayne & it runneth
Southerly Nine Mile that is to say from the Said Pine tree,
holding the course of the South South West poynt upon the
Meridian compass. And at their Southerly end of their Nine
Mile their limits are ffoure mile broad Westward: And the
ledge of Mountaynes is to be the bounds between Springfeild
& Westfeild: Within this tract of land there is contayned
the quantity of about three Square Miles graunted before
by Sprmgfield to Westfeild and about the quantity of two
square miles in reference to the farmes of the Worthy Major
Atherton & Capt. Clapp.
Elizur Holyoke George Colton
Samuell Marshfeild Rowland Thomas
"At a Town Meeting Aprill ye 17th 1670. The Inhabit
ants of Westfeild intreating for Some accommodations of
land towards Springfeild then was formerly graunted them
by Springfeild that is to say Some inlargemt on this Side of
the Mountayne which is on the South Side of their River: This
Town doth graunt unto them All the land between ye bridge
called Logg bridge & the Mountayne that is to say all ye land
that lyeth between the mountayne & a direct lyne drawn
from the said bridge to a white Oak marked about 30 rod
from ye Northrly end of the pond that lyes by ye East Side
of ye Mountayne & wch is about a mile from ye said bridge:
And from the said marked tree the dividing lyne is drawn
to ye Mountayne: And then they are to keep to ye Mountayne
as the bounds between them & us, And from the said bridge
down to Woronoke River that little brook or gutter is to be
the bounds between Vs & them."

66 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Paucatuck brook thus often mentioned runs under the
present highway to Westfield River between the two Boston
and Albany R. R. underpasses.
The work of establishing, with such exactitude as was
possible by their primitive methods with a measurer's chain
and perhaps a square for the angles, the boundaries of the
new plantation completed, it was still necessary to keep track
of rude landmarks that determined the lines between town
and town. The office was performed from time to time by
men appomted by the related towns respectively who were
called "perambulators." The following is a sample vote
on the subject:
"Aprill 24th 1673 Rowland Thomas Rice Bedourtha &
Thomas Miller beinge appoynted for perambulation of the
bounds between Springfeild & Westfeild did wth diverse of
Westfeild men perform yt worke."
There yet remained one more essential condition of legal
settlement to be fulfilled according to the strict and just princi
ples of the Puritan immigrants in New England. The point
has been well urged that too much has been made of the fact
that in 1683 William Perm treated the aborigines so fairly
and generously in making formal purchase of their lands, as
though the act were unparalleled in American history. With
no disparagement to that large-hearted settler, whose treat
ment of the Indians has been properly made a synonym of
high and broad minded nobility, it yet would be most unjust
to the New England settlers to ignore the fact that the General
Court of Massachusetts demanded that Indian titles should
be respected and extinguished by honorable purchase before
rights to the land should be considered indisputable. The
celebrated picture by West is well known. It represents
Penn purchasing territory and executing the treaty at Schacka-
maxan (now Kensington) in 1683. By Raynal and other
eulogists, Penn is lauded as the only European who ever got
land from the Indians by method other than chicanery or
brute force. But fifty-four years before the treaty of Shacka-
maxan was executed, the Puritan proprietors in London in
1629 instructed their Governor Endicott as follows1

MAP OF INDIAN LANDS AT WORONOCO.
Kindly furnished by Mr. Harry Andrew Wright of Springfield, the diligent
and capable antiquarian expert.

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 67
"If any of the salvages pretend right of inheritance to
all or any part of the lands granted in our patent, we pray
you endeavor to purchase their tytle, that we may avoid the
least scruple of intrusion." (Hazard State Papers, I, 263.)
Bancroft says that at the period of King Philip's War,
on the authority of Winslow, in "Hubbard's Indian Wars":
"The inhabitants of New England had never, except in the
territory of the Pequods, taken possession of a foot of land
without first obtaining a title from the Indians."
All the early settlements on the Connecticut River were
based on that humane policy, Hartford, Wethersfield, Haddam,
Windsor, Sprmgfield, Northampton, Hadley, Deerfield, North-
field. The records of each of these towns, many of which
were subsequently divided many times, show that its land
was thus secured by purchase from the Indians. Hence,
it was both natural and obligatory for the people of Woronoco
to complete their title by purchase of their territory from the
natives of their region. The following deed was duly exec
uted: "These presents testify that Alquat the Indian Sachem
of Woronoake and Pojasick for & in Consideration of the Sum
of forty Pounds in English accot being so much Sterling to
him in hand before ye Sealing & Delivery hearof wel & truly
Payed by Capt Jno Pynchon of Springfeild for & in the be
half of Capt Aron Cooke Mr. James Cornish mr Joseph Whit
ing Geo: Phelps Tho: Noble David Ashley Jno Roote &
other ye Inhabitants of Woronoake alias Westfeild, the Receite
whare of the sd Alquat Doth Acknowledge by these presents
& therewith to be fully satisfied & contented Hath Given
granted bargained & sold & by these presents doth fully &
clearly & absolutely Give grant bargain & sell unto Capt
Aron Cooke mr James Cornish mr Joseph Whiting George
Phelps Tho: Noble David Ashley John Roote of Westfeild
alias Woronoake aforesd for themselves & the Present In
habitants of the abovesd Place or Plantation and theire Suc
cessors & Assigns from time to time & unto their heires &
Assigns for ever according as their severall Proportions or

68 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Divisions shal be Laid & proportioned to them. A certain
Parcel or Tract of Land Medow & Woodland lying & being
at Woronoake aforsd on the South side of Woronoake River
the great River & on the North or Northerly side of the Little
River or Forte River: Adjoining on the Southeast, East and
Northeast on Land formerly purchased by Saml Marshfield
of Sprmgfield for the Inhabitants of Westfeild aforesd & on
the South & South- West on the little River abovementioned
comonly called the Fort River: on the North or Northerly
It is bounded by the grt River called Woronoake River &
so runs up Woronoake river to the ffalls neer about a mile
above the present Houses to a marked Tree there and from
that marked Tree it Runs off westerly or Sou. Westerly upon
a straite line to the Little River or Fort River to a Stone at
the Nooke or point where all the good Land ends & where
going up the Hill the Pine Plaine begins the said Common
or pine Plaines being the Westerly or Nor Westerly bounds
of this Tract of Land The line of Division being Run by seveall
Inglish going along wth the Indians from the ffalls in the
grt River over to that Stone aforementioned wch is on the
top of the hill by the little River where the Pine Plaine begins
To have and To hold al the Parcel or Tract of Land before
mentioned containing seveal hundred acres wth al the profits
and appurtenances thereupon or thereunto belonging to the
sd Capt Cooke James Cornish Joseph Whiting Geo: Phelps
Tho: Noble David Ashley and Jno Roote for the Inhabitants
of Westfeild aforsd according as Division yr of shal be made
to ym & to their heires & assignes for ever onely reserving
& exempting out of the present sale seven acres of medow Land
for Wollump, son of sd Alquat, wch seven acres resarved and
exempted lyes in a nooke by the little River & agt land now
deeded & proportioned to mr Joseph Whiteing & to be at
the sole dispose of the sd Alquat & Wollump: also reserving
liberty for Indians to fish & take fowls: And the sd Alquat
doth Covenante & promise to & with the sd Capt Cooke mr.
James Cornish mr Joseph Whiteing Geo Phelps Tho: Noble
David Ashley & Jno Roote that he will save them harmless
fro al manner of Claim of any Person or persons Lawfully
Claiming any Right Title or Interest in the premises, other
wise than ye Reserve or Exemption of the seven acres for

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 69
Wollump. In witnesse whereof the sd Alquat hath hereunto
affixed his hand & Seale this 30th Day of June 1669
Subscribed sealed & delivered the marke of Al quat
in the presence of with his seale afiixt
Sam. Marshfield Timothy Cooper
William Brooke John Aeston
the marke of Wollump ) Indian
ye marke of Wallawunt ) Witnesses
"Alquat the Indian Sachem acknowledged this Instrumt
to be his act & Deed, this present 30th June 1669, before me
John Pynchon Asist.
Jan. 8 1684: Entered this deed fro the original
by me Jno Holyoke Recorder
Attested by me Isaac PhelpsTown Clerk.
A true cope of ye original deed"
(Hampden County Records, Vol. I-II: p. 50.)
The first deed of land at Woronoco purchased of the Indians
preserved upon the County records, is the following:
"The Coppy of Ensigne Thomas Cooper of Springfield
his deed of Morgage of certayne Lands at Worronoco from
Amoakussen the Owner thereof. These presents testify
That I Amoakussen of Worrinoke doe this present day make
over unto Thomas Cooper of Springfield all that parcell of
Land Lying on the Northeast Side of Worrinoke River, to
witt, betwixt the brook called Tomhaumucke & the River
called Worrinoke River from the mouth of said River Tom
haumucke, & soe up soe high towards Pochasuck, as untill
he cometh to the hill called Wasapskotuck: All this Parcell
of Land, doe I Amoakussen make over unto Thomas Cooper
of Springfeild his heires or assignes, for security of such debt
or debts as I ye said Amokussen doe own unto the said Thomas
Cooper or shall hereafter owe unto him, and that in case I
shall eyther refuse to pay him uppon demand, or yt I shall
by any providence be taken away, then shall this said Land fall
into ye hands & be at the full enjoymt of the said Thomas
Cooper or his heires or assignes for ever & without that molesta
tion from any: And herunto have I sett my hand this Ninteenth

70 Westfield and its Historic Influences
day of September, 1660: I doe acknowledge my seife indebted
unto Thomas Cooper the summe of 12 pounds, & for the
present debt, & for what I shall take up of him, To Pay with
in this twelve month doe I make over this said Land, with all
wood & trees or whatsoever else doth grow thereon, as wit
ness my hand the day & yeere above specifyed to wit that
tract of Land whereof Alamaquassuck is part.
Witness
Pelotiah Glover the marke of * Amoakussen
Timothy Cooper the mark of * Amoakussen his wife
"This deed of Sale or morgage was acknowledged by the
Indian above subscribing called Amoakussen: the 9th of
October 1660: Before mee Elizur Holyoke Recorder."
(Hampshire County Records, Vol. I. p. 17.)
There is the record of a curious confirmation of the pre
ceding document bearing a date of four years later:
"Here ffollowes a Coppy of a deed whereby Amoakussen
als Nacogewallant an Indian (Sometime Owner of certayne
Lands at Worronoco) doth make a further confirmation of
Said Lands to Ensigne T Cooper of Springfeild & to his Assignes,
the said Indian haveing formerly sold the said Land to ye
said Ensigne Cooper by way of Morgage, as appeareth by a
deed in page 17th also together with this deed there is annexed
the Coppy of ye Said Indians acknowledgmt thereof before
ye Comissionrs of Springfeild:
"These prsents testify that an Indian called Amoakussen
als Nacogewallant Sometyme Owner of a parcell of Land
at or neere the place called Worronoco Seaven or Eight Miles
from Springfeild wch Land is bounded by the River called
Worronoco River on the Southerly & Easterly part thereof
& by the brooke called Tomhamock Northerly •& by the great
hill called Wausapokatuck Westerly haveing formerly morgaged
& Sold the said parcell of Land unto Ensigne Thomas Cooper
of Springfeild & unto his heires & assignes for Ever for good
& valluable considerations: the said Indian called Amoakussen
als Nacogewallant doth now for & in other good considerations
hereby for the more full confirmation of the said Land bounded
as aforesaid unto the said Ensigne Cooper & to his assignes

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 71
for Ever, utterly disclaime all his the said Indians right or
interest in ye said Land giveing it wholly absolutely & clearly
over to the said Ensigne Cooper & to his assignes for Ever:
which said parcell of Land bounded as aforesaid The said
Ensigne Cooper Shall have hold & enjoy for himself & his
assignes for Ever: In witness whereof the said Indian hath
hereunto sett his hand this 20th day of Octobr 1664.
Subscribed & delivered
in ye presence of the mark of the Indian called
Elizur Holyoke Amoakussen *
Thomas Munson als Nacogawallant
John Holyoke
"This Deed was acknowledged by the abovesaid Indian
this 20th of October 1664:
Elizur Holyoke Commissioner. Before me: John Pynchon
"The above mentioned Ensign Cooper haveing formerly
Sold the Land at Worronoco (mentioned in the deed next
abve) unto his brother Henry Glover of New Haven & Some
others, he the said Ens: Cooper hath made an Assignemt
of ye deed above mentioned unto his brother Glover for a
further confirmation of the said Land to his said Brother
Henry Glover & the rest of the Proprietors of ye Said Land:
"A Coppy of wch Assignemt here ffolloweth:
"These prsents testify that I Thomas Cooper of Spring-
feilds doe in the behalfe of my Brother Henry Glover of New
Haven & the rest of the proprietors of the Land within men
tioned at Worronoco assigned & fully & clearly make over
& pass away this deed or writinge on the other side of this
leafe unto my said brother Henry Glover utterly disclaim
ing any right or interest in this deed or writing on the other
side of this leafe or in the said Land: And in witness hereof
I have hereunto sett my hand, this 28th day of Octobr Anno
Dm. 1664 Thomas Cooper
Subscribed & Delivered in the presence of
Elizur Holyoke
Thomas Musson Recorded November 7th 1664:
John Holyoke By mee Elizur Holyoke
(Idem. p. 49.) Recorder"

72 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Mr. Harry Andrew Wright, in "Indian Deeds of Hampden
County," adds notes to his copy of the preceding documents,
in which he defines the Indian place names :
"Worrinoke. — From the Algonquin root, wanon, 'in a
circular way; in a winding way,' with the substantive, ock,
'place, country.' By the substitution of r, one of the inter
changeable letters of the dialect, this becomes waron, and a
is pronounced nearly like the short English o. This then be
comes Woron-ock; 'the country with windings; the winding
land'; and the character of territory would not be opposed to
such an interpretation.
"Tomhaumucke. — From aito-maham-uck, 'land on both
sides (of which) water flows down,' or 'the canoe man goes
down.' The name would then mean 'the land where one
goes down stream on both sides.' This brook was probably
the common avenue in going from Worrinoke to Nonotuck.
In aito, as spoken by an Indian, the first syllable is less hard
than the second, and may easily have been disregarded. The
modern name is Sackett's Brook.
"Pochassuck. — 'Where the narrows open out.'
"Wasapskotock. — Was is the root for 'shining'; apikat
in Algonquin, and apiskan in Montagnais is 'rock' verbified
in the indicative mood. Thus we have was-apikat-ock, 'the
shining rock land.' The modern name is Prospect Hill."
Some litigation followed this transaction as shown by the
Records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. "June 8, 1671.
In ansr to the petition of Alquot & Wallump, sachems of
Pojassacke neere Westfield, complayning that an Indian
called Amoakisson sold a parcell of their land at Woronoake
to Left Cooper, wch is distributed amongst severall English
inhabitants of Westfeild, without giving them the true ouners
of ye land, any allowance, though often desired & demanded,
humbly desiring this Courts favor to releive them, the Court
judgeth it meete to refer it to the County Court at Hampshire
to order the petitioners sattisfaction, (if they find just cause,)
and to make a finall issue of the matter, & to return what
they doe herein to the Generall Court." (Vol. 4, p. 687.)
It is probable that the Hampshire Court Records of two
years later had reference to the above grievance.

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 73
That Lieut. Cooper failed to carry out all the conditions
of his contract with Wallump in the mortgage deed given
him by the latter is evident from the following record — though
there is no record of the purchase:
"Att the County Corte holden at Springffeild
Sep ye 30, 1673.
Leiut Cooper of Springfield Plant contra Wallump the Sachem
of Poch**ick in an action of the case for not performing
the tearmes & tenor of a deed of sale respecting some agt
those lands mentioned in that said deed wch is signed by
the said Wallump with all just damages.
"In this action between Leiut Cooper Plant & Wallump
defdt the attachment & evidences in the case being presented
& read in Corte (& wch are on file) & comitted to ye jury they
brought in their verdict that they find for ye Deft costs of
Corte. Costs as pr bill allowed is ten shillings."
Record of Land Purchase from Woronoco Indians.
"Thes presentes witnesseth this 20 day of Aprill 1641 a
bargaine betweene William Pynchon of Springfield on Quinetti-
cott River on the one party and Nippumsuit of Naunetak
in the name and with the consent of other Indians the owners
of certaine grounde hereafter named viz. with name and be-
halfe of Mishqua and her sonn Saccarant and Secansk and
Wenepawin all of Woronoco and Misquis the owner of Skep
and other grounds adioyning and Jancompawn of Nanotak
on the other party witnesseth that the said Nippumsuit
with the consent and in the name of the rest for and in con
sideration of the sume of fifteene fathom of wampam by tale
accounted and one yard and three quarters of double shagg
bages one bow seaven knifes seaven payer of sessors and seaven
aules with certaine fish hooks and other smale things given
at their request: all thes being in hand paid to the said Nip
pumsuit in the name of the rest: and for and in consideration
of the said goods paid before the subscribing hereof hath
barganed sould given and granted and by thes presentes hath
fully and cleerely barganed and absolutely granted to the
said William his heires and assignes for ever all the groundes
meddowes and woodlandes lieng on the East side of Quettcot

74 Westfield and its Historic Influences
river from the mouth of Chckoppy River up to another smale
Riveret caled Wollamamsak sepe which Riveret runs into
Quinnetecot River with the meddow and planting groundes
called Paconemisk and all the other meddowes that are wet
and hassocky lyeing betweene the said Riveretes. Also all
the woodlands lieng about three or fouer miles up Chickuppy
River and the meddow there caled skep alias skipnuck, or by
what other name or names the said groundes be caled with
all the pondes waters swampes or other profitte adioyning
to all the said premises with all the Hands in Chickuppy River
and the meddow and swamps called Pissak on the south side
of Chickuppy river near the mouth of the River: The said
Nippumsuit with the consent of the Rest above named hath
absolutely sould to the said William his heires and assignes
for ever: to have and to hould the said premises with all
and singular their appurtenances free from all incumbrances
of other Indians: and the said William doth condition that
the said Nippumsuit shall have liberty of fishing in Chickuppy
at the usuall wares that now are in use : In witnesse of these
presents the said Nippumsuit with the consent of the Rest
hath subscribed his marke the day and yeare first above writ
ten being the twenty day of the second month 1641."
(The subscribed names and their symbols follow)
"given to Wnenpawin at the subscribing one yard and 3^
for a coate of broad Bayes: and 1 pair of brieches to Mis-
quis and 6 Knifes to them all: also I trusted Misquis for a
coate which he never paid and he was trusted uppon respect
of setting his hand to this writinge.
"May the 24th 1641. When Seconsk sett her hand to
this writing Mr. Pynchon gave her 12 handes of wampam
and a Knife.
"8t mon: 9 day 1643. When Jancompowin sett his hande
in the presence of us and Coe Mr. Pynchon gave him a coate
and a knife. He came not to sett his hand to this writinge
till this day. Witnesses Geo: Moxon.
Henry Smith.
John Pinchon.
"The woman called Seconsk abovesaid who was the widdow
of Kenip after she had 12 handes of wampum and a Knife:

On the reverse of this page is an exact reproduction of the Deed of
Mr. Ernest Newton Bagg, quoted in the text.

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J^ftH %$*«4- <^tt^ ^^^^'^S^^ ^:^^
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tL<K<m*f t?4? <C* S*~ <*H*yj€ ¦CaJ&Z /^ka /*«*^*& 0H %>hi»0u^

£t*!U*H. <**>«**^*fz~ fy^^j

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 75
came againe to Mr. Pynchon the 27 June 1644: desyringe a
further reward in respect she said that she had not a full coate
as some others had: thereuppon Mr. Pynchon gave her a childe
coate of Redd Cotton which came to 8 hande of wampum
and a glasse and a Knife which came to above 2 hande of
wampum more: in the presence of Janandua her present
husband: witnesse my hand per me William Pynchon and
she was fully satisfied.
"Also Nippumsuit had another large coate for his sister
that he said had right in the said land which came to 13s.
"Also the wampom within named was current money
pay at 8s per fathom at the tyme it was paid, per me.
William Pynchon
"Know all men that I William Pynchon of Springfield
gent doe assigne sett over give and grant all my right in the
land within named which I bought of Nippumsuit and divers
other Indians 1641: to my son John Pynchon of Springfield
gent and to Capt. Henry Smith and to Ensigne Holioak all
of Springfield to them and their heires and assignes for ever
to be disposed by their discretion for Farmes belonging to
Springfield at such rates as in their coustome they shall iudge
to be Reasonable: witnesse my hand and seale this 17th day
of April 1651. William Pynchon (Seal)
"Sealed and delivered and possession given in presence of
Thomas Cooper
Henry Burt Rec'ed in Courte Septr.
Simone Barnard 30 1670. attest
Sam'll Partrigg Clerk."
(Proceedings of Massachusetts Historical Society October,
1914, pp. 51-4.)
"Be it knowne to all men by these psents that Paupsun-
nuck the wife of Pauneasum of woronoco on the one party
Doth give grant Bargaine & sell unto John Pynchon of Spring
feild on the other pty to him his heires assignes for ever &
associates viz Robert Ashly & Geo: Colton yt to ym & theire
heires for ever viz All ye Grounds, woods, Trees Ponds waters
stoones meddows & uplands Lying & being on the Noreast
side of woronoco River, namely from ye Peice of ground called

76 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Potoowak downe southward alonge by woronoco River side
to a brooke called Tawtumsquassick being about or rather
above halfe way from woronoak to Springfeild [illegible] &
from woronoak River Norward. 3. or 4 Miles toward Quinetticot
River The sd tract of Land called Yeumsk Minhansock Petaw
Maunchaugsick Tammiskseack Pauckkatuck Ashkanuncksit
and Tawtumsquassick wth what ever other names it is or
may be called being bounded by Potowwak on ye North &
by ye brook Tawtunsquassick on the south & by woronoco
River on ye west or souwest & Northeast by ye hills & swamps
halfe way fro woronoak River to Quinetticot River: the said
Paupsunnuck wife of Pannesun doth clearly & absolutely
Grant & sell it to John Pynchon of Springfeild aforesd & to
his heires & assignes for ever & that for & in consideration of
250 f adam of wampum & some coates & other things ye Receite
wheroff I doe by these prsents acknowledge & for other good
causes & consideration me thereunto moving Doe grant &
sell & have given granted & sold all ye aforesd tract of Land
to John Pynchon of Sprmgfeild his heires & assignes for ever
free from any Incumbrance & molestation of any Indian, &
I ye said Paupsunnuck will unto ye sd Pynchon warrant ye
prmises agt all claimes whatsoever: In testymony whereof
I doe hereunto set my hand this 4th day of May 1663.
!the mark of Paupsunnuck
John Holyoke
A 1 11 TUT • 1
Abell Wright
the mark of
Lowontock an Indian witness"
(An unrecorded Deed, the property of Mr. Ernest Bagg of
Springfield who has kindly allowed it to be copied
for this History.)
"These present writings dated September the twenty
ninth One Six hundred Sixty-five showeth yt wee Spanesa &
Poxonock both of us joyntly & Severally have upon a valluable
consideration to us Secured & by these presents do alienate
& sell unto Danioll Clark & Samuell Marshall of Windsor
their heires & assignes one parcell meddow land lying at War-
ranoco on ye south side of ye River part whereof hath been
already planted wch parcell of Meddow is in quantity fforty

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 77
acres wch parcell of meddow land, it shall be lawfull for the
said Danioll & Samuell their heires & assignes to enjoy and
possess & inheritt for Ever. And for the more full assurance
of the said land unto ye said persons wee the Graunters doe
hereby Morgage or fully engage that if wee make not the
title of the land good to these two Grantees then Samuell
Marshall is to have our little Daughter now about ffour yeeres
old to enjoy her & dispose of her as his own estate: And wee
the said Granters doe hereby promise & oblige ourselves unto
the said Grauntees that when wee be minded to make sale
of the other of our land at Worronoco they the said Grantees
shall have the first tending to them to take or refuse uppon
such terms as wee shall agree unto : Unto the due pref ormance
hereof wee the said Spanesa & Poxonock doe hereby bynd
ourSelves our heires & successors witness our hands & Seales
the day and yeere above written
Signed Sealed and
delivered in ye Spanesa * his mark
presence of Poxonock * his mark.
James Enno
his
John * Williams
mark "This above written is a true coppy of a deed whereby
Spanesa & Poxonock have sold certayne lands at Worronoco
to Capt Clark & Samuell Marshall of Windsor
Recorded April ye 17th 1666
By mee Elizur Holyoke Recorder
observe that here is noe legall acknowledgmt of this Deed
or Morgage" (Hampden Court Records. Vol. I, p. 54.)
"April 25th 1670.
An Agreement with Alquat alius Keeme the Sachem of Pojas-
suck & Son Wollump Touching theire Seven acres of Land
in ye feild at Westfeild wch they reserved out of ye Purchase
or sale to ye english wch seven or eight acrs of theire land,
lys by ye little River or fort River, & against Mr. Joseph
Whitings land in Westfeild aforesd in ye Hooke by ye River
yt lys agt Mr Whitings land :

78 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"It is Conditioned agreed & Consented to by ye aforesd
& above mentioned Indians, Alquat & Wollump, That Mr
John Pynchon & Mr Joseph Whiting shall have, Injoy & Posess
theire the sd Indians seven or eight acres of land, being meddow
Land for themselves and their heires & assigns forever: ye
sd Whiting allowing the sd Sachems of ye Indians some broken
up or Improved Land for ye same yearely: That is to say
Three acres of old ground for ye Indians to Plant Corne on
this yeare now coming, and after this yeare then only to allow
them five acres of broken up or improved and meere Land
fit for Indian Corne every yeare after this present yeare:
After this yeare ye sd Indians Alquat & Wollump are to have
if they ever demand it ffive acres of Land yearely, viz of Plan
ting land or old ground to plant Indian Corne on: and in con
sideration hereoff the sd Indians doe Relinquish all their
right & interest in their seven or eight acres of meddow Land
above mentioned be it more or less and yt for ever: resigning
it to Mr John Pynchon and giving him the Possession thereoff,
they ye sd Indians for ye five acres of Planting Land (wch
now they are to have yearely of Mr Whiting) being free of
all fencings or payment of Rates to ye english as they were
for their seven acres. In witness whereoff ye sd Indians
have set to their hands this 25th of Aprill 1670
John Pynchon Asst. The marke of Al*quat
Samuell Marshfield alius Keems
who was Interpreter & the marke * of Wollump
assisted in the Bargain making."
(Westfield Townes Deed.)
"These presents testifie That I John Pynchon of Spring
field Several yeeres since made a purchase of the Lands at
Westfield of the Indians for the Inhabitants of Westfield,
& particularly bought the Lands on the South Side of the
River there of Paupsunnuck the wife of Panesan to whom
the right of the Land on the South Side of Westfield River
did belong, by the acknowledgmt & grant of al the ancient
& cheife Indians To whom that is to say, to Paupsunnick I
did truly pay for the same about fifty pounds wch sum of
Fifty pounds I have received of the Inhabitants of Westfield,
according to Each mans Proportion, on whose behalfe I acted.

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 79
And doe hereby acknowledge the Same & to be fully contented
therewith for purchase of said Lands. The Deed whereof
from the Indians (whether dlrd up to Westfield Inhabitants
or mislaid) not being to be found at present, I doe ingage
it shal come to hand to dlr it up to the present Inhabitants of
Westfield To Whom of Right the Land belongs, according
as Each Mans proportion in said Land is or hath been Laid
out to Him. And in the meantime I do here declare & Testify
That I acted in the premises fer the Township of Westfeild, &
Inhabitants or proprietors thereof in General And doe for
me my heires & Assignes resigne up al my Genii Right Title
& Interest in Said Lands, on the South side of the River at
Westfeild, then called Woronoake, Reserveing only what
particular Grant, or Right I have therein, this only excepted
to me my heires & Assignes for Ever. All the rest of sd Lands
there Now & Henceforth to belong & be to the several Inhabit
ants & Proprietors thereof, according as Each mans Propor
tion is at present Laid out to Him, or shal hereafter be granted
& distributed to Him Them or their heires & assignes: by
the Town of Westfield aforesd: And by these presents Doe
for my selfe my heires executors Administrators & Assignes
Relinquish al Right & Title to said Lands, except as before
Excepted, Ratifying & confirming the aforementioned Lands
unto the Town of Westfeild. That is to Say, to the present
Inhabitants or Proprietors thereof, according to Each mans
Proportion therein, either alreadie divided, or as may here
after be further distributed to them for the use & benefite
of sd Inhabitants or proprietors, themselves their Heires &
Assignes for ever. In Testimony whereof I have hereunto
set my hand & seale this 11th Day of Feb. 1684.
Signed Sealed & delided John Pynchon
in ye presence of with his seale affixt
Samuel Marshfield
Jonathan Burt Sen
John Holyoke
"Aprl. 3. 1685. John Pynchon Esq. Owned & acknowledged
this Instrument to be his act & deed this day of the date aforesd.
before me Peter Tilton Assist.
"April 22d. 1685. Entered this Deed to the Inhabitants of
Westfield. by me Jno- Holyoke Recorder"
(Hampden County Records— Liber A-B p. 53)

80 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Thus began the organic life of Westfield, the fourth town
of western Massachusetts to be organized. The older settle
ments were organized, Springfield in 1636, Northampton
in 1654 and Hadley in 1659. In no case was there any regu
lar, formal act of incorporation. The General Court in response
to a petition of settlers declared a place to be a town, with
all the powers and privileges of a town. And there is not
even such recorded action of the General Court to establish
either Springfield or Northampton, strange as it may seem.
They simply came into being, began to exercise the functions
of community fife, and were recognized as established towns
by the authorities at the Bay.
"March the 12th 1667
"The Inhabitants of Waranoco spetially those that live
at the Cellars judging it necessary that there should be a
highway across the wett meadow under the hill for their pas
sage to the pyne playnes.
"The Committee doe determine order & appoint George
Phelps & John Williams to lay out a high way where it is
most convenient for the end aforesaid. And it is determined
that if John Sacketts five acres over the brooke doe come
wthin the common ffence that then he shall fence for it pro
portionally wth other men in the comon fence. And the
rest of the low land over the brooke & to the top of the high
hill (or where is most convenient to set the fence on the pyne
playnes) is granted to the several pprietors of land in the
meadow that is to say to each according to the breadth of
his land in the meadow.
"It is ordered that Thomas Bancroft shall have thirty
acres of land & a home lott on the ffort side.
"Att the County Corte holden at Springffeild Sept ye
30, 1673.
"Also the Committee that was appoynted at the Corte at
Northampton in March last to lay out a highway from West-
field to Springfeild made a Returne of their work to this Corte.
A coppy wrof here follows.
"Wee whose Names are under written Receiving an Order
from the Hamsr County Corte held at Northampton ye 25th

Beginnings of Settlement at Woronoco 81
of March 1672/3 to lay out a highway from Springfield to
Westfeild, Have accordingly mett together, & have viewed
& considered & marked out a way as followes. Beginning
at Woronoke River at Westfeild at the Old cartway above
Capt Cookes & soe through Mr. John Pynchons land accord
ing as the foot way goes to the little bridge by the boggy med
dow being two rod wide, then turning to the marked trees by
the house & straight to the next small brook as trees are marked
foure rod wide & soe running aslaynt to the foot of the hill
by the River then along the path till it come to Paucatuck
& soe on the first knoll next the Meddow to Paucatuck as
the trees are marked two rod wide, then all the tongue of
landin ye swamps that the way comes through being com
passed by the brook, then over the brook Eastward slaynting
up the great hill till it meet with the Old path on ye topp of
the hill ten rod wide along the Old path as trees are marked
& soe over the brook till it come to Thomas Millers land then
thorow the said Millers land as it is marked between the swamp
on ye Northside & ye cellar two rods wide & following the
old way up the hill & soe along the lower new beaten way till
it come to the old cart path at the head of Silver streame
and soe to turne down to the way that is twenty rod wide
wthout the genrll fence of Springfeild corne feilde wch lyes
on the West side of Connecticutt River & soe along that high
way by the sd fence wch is by Samuell Marshfeilds house
till it come to the said great River at Springfield. Also on
the South side of Woronoke river wee see it needfull to lay
out a way of six rod wide from two mile along the cartway
to Leiut Coopers & soe downe to the mouth of Agawam River,
to be two rod wide through all proprietyes & six rod wide
through Comon land.
Aaron Cooke Joseph Whiting
John Dumbleton Thomas Stebbin
"This returne of the Committee is approved of by this
Corte & competent allowance is to be made to the Proprietors
of land where such wayes pass through if required: And the
Corte Ordereth that care be taken that a sufficient cart bridge
be made by Springfeild over Paucatuck brooke & the way
soe farr before winter & that Westfeild make the way from
the sd brook to Westfeild viz : sufficient for a cartway : & that

82 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the Selectmen of each Towne take care to see that the wayes
be made as aforesaid: And wras it is reported by many that
the two mile brook below Westfeild is frequently unpassable
in the Road way to Windsor specially for carts, the Corte
orders that Westfeild Selectmen take care that ye passage
over that brook be made feazable by makeing a bridge over
the brooke or otherwise." (Westfield Proprietor's Book.)

CHAPTER V.
Early Settlers and Allotments of Land
A few years before the individual settlement of Westfield
was formally constituted, it seemed expedient to arrange
for the establishment of closer relations between the several
towns than had previously existed. Each of them had
advanced from the feebleness of earliest infancy to some degree
of youthful vigor, each had made rude preparation for defense
from possible Indian attack by organizing a military company
that had appointed days each year for training; each of the
three was carrying on successful farming operations, raising the
common grains, oats, barley, Indian corn, wheat, peas and
rye. As Holland says of them: "All these plantations were
weak, and yet they were strong, — strong in the excellence
of their soil, in force of will and purpose, in hardy constitutions
and in faith in God."
Intercommunication was frequent but still beset with great
difficulties because of the poor roads, indeed, the almost utter
lack of them except rough trails and bridle paths through the
forest and across the plains. To increase their strength and
promote their welfare, early in 1662 the General Court included
them and a vast tract of unsettled territory not accurately
bounded in constituting a new county, Hampshire. At that
time it embraced nearly all the western half of the State. The
following is the formal act:
"Forasmuch as the inhabitants of this jurisdiction are
much increased, so that now they are planted far into the
country upon Connecticut River, who by reason of their
remoteness cannot conveniently be annexed to any of the
Counties already settled; and that public affairs may with
more facility be transacted according to laws now established;
It is ordered by the Court, and authority thereof, that hence
forth Springfield, Northampton and Hadley shall be, and
hereby are, Constituted as a County, the bounds or limits

84 Westfield and its Historic Influences
on the South to be full 30 miles distant from any or either of
the aforesaid towns; and what towns or villages soever shall
hereafter be erected within the foresaid limits to be and belong
to the said County. And further, that the said County shall
be called Hampshire, and shall have and enjoy the liberties
of any other County; that Springfield shall be the shire town
there, and the Courts to be kept one time in Springfield and
another time in Northampton; the like order to be observed
for their shire meetings, that is to say, one year at one town
and the next year at the other town, from time to time. The
Deputies have passed this, with reference to the consent of
the honored Magistrates.
"16 (day) 3 (month) 1662. William Torry, Clericus.
"The Magistrates do consent hereto, and do further order
that all the inhabitants of the shire shall pay their public
rates to the County Treasurer in fat cattle or young cattle,
such as are fit to be put off, that so, no unnecessary damage
be put on the County, and in case they make payment in
corn, then to be made at such prices as do commonly pass
amongst themselves, any other form or annual order, referring
to the price of corn, to the contrary notwithstanding. Their
brethren, the Deputies, hereto consenting. Edward Rawson, Sec'y.
Consented to by the Deputies. William Torrey, Cleric."
As soon as actual settlement began it became necessary to
distribute among the homemakers definite portions of land
to which individuals should have legal right of proprietor
ship for their personal use and benefit. Besides these specific
allotments, there were large tracts of land still held in common,
wherein each settler had his share of privilege.
Of most vital importance were the home lots where the
settlers were to erect their respective houses, where each family
was to be sheltered, where the family altar was to be erected
and the family life was to be cherished. Those first rude
homes played a part of measureless significance in the early
life of New England and wielded a potent influence in molding
the developing life of the nation. The primitive homes of
Westfield were an integral part of that far-reaching influence

Early Settlers and Allotments of Land 85
which did so much in determining the type of American civiliza
tion. The following action was taken relative to that essen
tial matter:
"At a meeting of the proprietors of land at Woronoak
on the ffort side March the 13 1669 for laying out the pro
portion of land on the ffort side.
"All the proprietors unanimously agree that for the most
equall disbursing and dividing their generall portions of land,
the land to be now laid out shall be divided into three parts,
one part of it next to the ffort river shall be accounted or
goe in lieu of meadow where every man shall have his share
only Serg. Stebbins, Thos. Bancroft, & that which was William
Brookes allotment are to have their shares viz. three acres
not there but against their home lotts in the low land there
which is instead thereof, this for the first part or division of
land which is accounted the meadow division.
"Nextly the plowland is to lye in two divisions and every
man to have his proportion of the plow land. And for the
laying of mens land, that is the place where each mans portion
of land shall lye, it is agreed that it be determined by casting
lotts for it, every proprietor agreeing to acquiesce in that
place where his lott shall fall. And for the beginning of the
first division of plow land it shall be at the lowermost or south
easterly side there the first lot is to lye & from thence to goe
upward or Westerly.
"The first lott came out to Thomas Gun who lyes next
the river on the easterly side of all the other lotts where he
hath seventeen acres length 160 rod, breadth 10 rods at the
front and 24 rods at ye west and besides this there is 2 rods
broad allowed more to this lott for a high way downe to the
river all the length of it."
A detailed description of the lots laid out from these
several divisions follows, with the names of those to whom the
respective allotments were made. The whole matter can
be shown more comprehensively and intelligently by a dia
gram than by a copy of each several description as made in
the records:

8f>

Westfield and its Historic Influences

Thomas Gunn
David Ashley
John Ponders
Sergeant Stebbins
Joseph Whiting
William Brookes
Thomas Bancroft
Hugh Dudley
Isaac Phelps
George Phelps
Thomas Root
John Root
Thomas Noble

o
?J

3
45 67 8 9
10 11 12 13

c
¦a 03

17
11111316
10 11 6
10

acresacresacresacresacresacresacresacres acres acresacres acresacres

o

10 89 7
4

¦a a a
— WJ
o~ O
"ft- a
>3 3 P
[V?.2

6 acres
4 acres
4 acres
6 acres

2 acres
3 acres
8 acres
3 acres
4 acres
4 acres

12 7
10 4 1
86 2
11 9

¦J EN
O
"3. co
-o —
or

SJj B
'S c
3

9 acres
5 acres
3 acres
7 acres
5 acres
6 acres
4 acres
5 acres
14 acres
5 acres
6 acres
6 acres

It will be observed that there was no allotment in the
first division of plowland to Sergeant Stebbins, William Brookes
or Thomas Bancroft. The reason for such omission is stated
in the record to have been the fact that each of them received
an allotment adjoining his home lot. In the second plow-
land division there is a blank which is thus explained: "Mr.
Whiting's lot is wanting the land not holding out any more
in this place and so he must have it some other where which
he chooseth in Hundred Acres that parcell which remaynes
above the Rootes lot."

The term "Hundred Acres" which is still used in the Town
includes the large tract of meadow land lying south of Little
River, between it and the hill and bounded on the east by
the railroad embankment and on the west by the Southwick
road. In the original distribution of it ninety-seven acres
were allotted as follows :

Early Settlers and Allotments of Land
"An account of the land called the hundred acres.

87

Thomas Noble

7 acres

Isaac Phelps

6 acres

David Ashley

7 acres

Israel Dewey

6 acres

Thos. Gunn

10 acres

Thomas Stebbins

3 acres

John Ponder

7 acres

John Root

7 acres

Hugh Dudley

5 acres

Thomas Root

7 acres

George Phelps

16 acres

Mr. Joseph Whiting

16 acres

The above lists do not include all those who were actual
settlers at about the time that the town was organized. The
records contain references to Mr. James Cornish, John Sacket,
Capt. Cooke, Moses Cook, George Tyler, George Saxton,
Walter Lee, Ambrose Fowler, John Ingersoll, Thomas Hand-
chitt, Nathanael Weller, and the three Dewey brothers, Israel,
Josiah and Jedidiah. John Osborne, John Modesley who was
appointed lieutenant to the "footte" company in Westfield,
and Samuel Loomis who was made Ensign in 1674.
There were two grants of land made in those early times
that have special interest, though neither of the grantees
ever had a residence in the western part of the Colony, both
having lived at the Bay. Both are referred to in the report
of the Committee, Apr. 14, 1670, appointed by the town
of Springfield to lay out a tract six miles square for Westfield.
Within it was included "about the quantity of two square
miles in reference to the farmes of the Worthy Major Atherton
& Capt. Clapp."
In 1657 the General Court made large grants of land on
the eastern side of the Connecticut River near Northampton
to three of the magistrates, and to another one, Gen. Humphrey
Atherton, a grant of 500 acres "at Nonotuck beyond Spring
field, May 26, 1658." In May of the following year, it having
become known that a company of Connecticut people were
to plant a settlement on the east side of the river at Norwot-
tuck, now Hadley, the Deputies passed the following vote
in which the Magistrates concurred:
"The Court having granted to Mr. Bradstreet, Mr. Symonds,
Maj. Gen. Denison and Maj. Atherton, each of them, a farm,
which they intended to take upon Connecticut River, above
Springfield; but as the taking it there will be very prejudicial

88 Westfield and its Historic Influences
to the new plantation now going on there, which this Court
is very willing to encourage, the Deputies desire the four
Magistrates to find out some other place to take their farms
in, and if it shall not be equal in respect to quality, it may
be made up in quantity."
In November, 1659, the Court added 200 acres to Maj.
Gen. Atherton's grant and he took the whole amount of 700
acres at Waronoke. According to a deed dated October 18,
1702, Joseph Atherton of Northampton transfers to Nathanael
Bancroft of Westfield, "a certain parcell of Land Lying within
the bounds of Westfield In a place called Pogassuck being
about the eleventh part of a farm of four hundred acres, it
Being His whole share In that farm as it Lyes In common
with others and yet undivided and which Land however butted
or hereafter upon division may be butted and Bounded con
taining about thirty-eight acres be it more or less."
Nathanael Bancroft was the Grandfather of Capt. John
Bancroft who, in 1755, built in Pochassic what was probably
the second brick house in the present Hampden County, the
old Day house in West Springfield dating from 1754. The
Bancroft house was by far the more massive and pretentious
of the two and is still a notable mansion. Captain John, its
builder, was a prosperous farmer, owning slaves, like a few
of his fellow townsmen of the time. He was very proud of
his elegant mansion. A tale, which may be pure romance
founded on his well known characteristics, has come down
to our time, somewhat as follows: He was wont to sit
within his commodious domicile and watch for passers by
in order to gloat over their envious glances. One day, while
thus engaged, he called out to one on the road, "Did you think
that you had reached paradise?" Quickly came the stunning
response, "Yes! I did think so, until I saw the devil looking
out of the window." Sic transit gloria mundi!
The matter of Capt. Clapp's land in Pochassic, lying upon
the South side of the River, including the present site of the
Town Farm, has special interest because of its relation to
the early church in Westfield. He was one of the redoubtables
in that first generation of the Bay Colony.
Roger Clapp was born in Salcombe Regis, Devonshire,

Early Settlers and Allotments of Land 89
England, April 6, 1609. He came with the first great company
to the Bay in the ship "Mary and John," which reached Nan-
tasket May 30, 1630. The following month he took part
in the settlement of Dorchester. On the same ship that
brought him were the Rev. John Maverick, the Rev. John
Wareham and a young girl, Johanna Ford, daughter of Thomas
Ford of Dorchester, England. She was born June 8, 1617.
Whether the young man who had just reached his majority
and the girl of 13 years became specially interested in each
other during the long and tedious voyage from the Old Eng
land to the New, there are no records to affirm, but three years
later, November 6, 1633, Roger Clapp and Johanna Ford
were married, she having been then 16 years old. She out
lived her husband four years, dying in Boston June 29, 1695,
aged 78 years. He made the following provision in his will,
dated November 19, 1690, a few months before his death,
February 2, 1691:
"I give out of my farm at Pochassuc in Westfield fifty
acres unto the inhabitants of that town towards the mainte
nance of an able minister in that town with this proviso ; That
they pay or cause to be paid to my dear wife in Boston two
bushels of good wheat yearly during her natural life."
Another clause of his will disposes of another parcel of
the same farm:
"Preserved having had land of me already at Northamp
ton, he shall have a fifth part of my land at Pochassuck in
Westfield." This son, Preserved Clapp, was born in Dorchester and
lived there till he was about 20 years old when he removed
to Northampton, where he was admitted as a freeman in
1671. His grandson Ezra, born May 20, 1716, removed to
Westfield and may have worked some of the land that had
belonged to Captain Roger. He was married there by Rev.
John Ballantine, October 13, 1743, to Margaret Ingersoll.
Roger Clapp was a man of force, character and resulting
influence. When 28 years old he was chosen selectman, and
served in that capacity during fourteen later years, previous
to 1665. When the church was organized in Northampton,

90 Westfield and its Historic Influences
April 4, 1661, four of the foundation men, including the minister,
Eleazur Mather, were dismissed from Dorchester, and one of
the delegates of the church there, who was a member of the
ordaining Council, was Deacon Clapp. Thus he was honored
with office in both town and church.
Like many another leading citizen of that early period,
he was a military official besides. As Captain Clapp, in 1665,
he was made commandant of the Castle in Boston Harbor,
and so served until 1686 when he retired to Boston where
he spent the remainder of his life until his death five years
later. That fortress of so much importance to Boston, was not
without interest to the dwellers in the remote Connecticut
River Valley. Originally built in a very primitive way in
1634 it soon fell into decay, and in 1643 was rebuilt at a cost
of £4000. In 1672, eight years after Capt. Clapp had assumed
command of it, fire destroyed it, proving the perishable mate
rial of which it had been constructed. The Colony could
not afford to leave that island so near Boston unfortified.
Immediately the Governor, Magistrates and Deputies called
for voluntary contributions to be used in rebuilding, employ
ing stone instead of wood. They, having proven insufficient
for the purpose, were supplemented by assessments levied
upon the towns. The figures for a few towns nearby indicate
to some extent their relative size and wealth just four years
after the organization of Westfield:
NorthamptonHadleyHatfield Westfield In 1676 Edward Randolph sent over from England as a
special envoy from the King to make careful inquiry into
the condition of affairs in New England, in the course of his
report, describes the new fortification: "Three miles from
Boston, upon a small island there is a castle of stone, lately
built and in good repair, with four bastions, and mounted
with thirty-eight guns, sixteen whole culverin, commodiously
seated upon a rising ground sixty paces from the water side

Subscription

Assessment

41s.

£26. 9s. 2d

93s. 7d.

£23. 17s. 4d,

92s. 6d.

£11. 5s.

43s.

£12. 3s. 3d.

Early Settlers and Allotments of Land 91
under which, at high-water mark, is a stone battery of six
guns." That was the fortress, formidable for the age, which the
struggling settlers of Westfield helped to build, through free
will offerings as well as taxes.
It is impossible at this distant day to know very much
about the personal characteristics and histories of those pioneers
who began the life of the town. They came here from various
earlier settlements in the valley where they or their parents
had stopped for longer or shorter periods en route from the
Bay. Westfield was organized thirty-nine years, but little
more than a generation, after the great immigration to the
Bay began, which continued with vigor through a series of
years. All the early settlers in the Connecticut River Valley
came from those plantations in the immediate neighborhood
of Boston. Thomas Gunn was an old man to brave the hardships
of a new settlement. His home lot was the first one west of
Little River, opposite the meeting house. He came from
Windsor and though nominated as one of the foundation
men of the church in 1679, he was then so broken by age, as
Mr. Taylor says, that he was excused from that responsibility
and from giving a "relation," as the statement of personal
religious experience was then called. His wife died November
26, 1678, and he followed her February 26, 1680. His son,
Capt. John, was born in Windsor, July 8, 1647. He married
in Westfield, January 22, 1678, Mary Williams, daughter of
John and Mary Buckley Williams who also came from Windsor.
John Ponder married Temperance Budkland in Hartford,
June 22, 1668. She was the daughter of Thomas Buckland
who settled at Windsor in 1638. John Ponder's house was
south of the foot of Broad Street near the railroad bridge
locally known as the tin bridge. There are persons now
living who remember seeing the old cellar hole.
John Sacket came from Cambridge to Springfield in 1653.
He was born in 1632, three years after his Father Simon Sacket
and his wife Isabel came from England. John removed to
Northampton about 1659, and thence to Westfield in 1667.
He married 1656 Abigail Hannum in Northampton November
23, 1659. He lived to the advanced age of 87 years. She

92 Westfield and its Historic Influences
was the daughter of William and Honora Hannum. She
died October 10, 1690.
Walter Lee was among those who between 1653 and 1658
had grants of land in Northampton. In 1666 he was summoned
before the County Court there for neglecting public worship
and for profaning the Lord's Day by threshing corn "and for
calling Isaac Sheldon a member of Old Nick and a member
of Divell." Isaac Sheldon was a prominent citizen, a mem
ber of the church the year of its organization, a Selectman
the year after the town was organized and later, he was sub
sequently a Tithing Man and overseer of the poor. His may
have been that type of goodness which has a peculiarly exas
perating effect upon certain impulsive natures and thus pro
voked that desperate crime for which Lee was arraigned. It
is a relief to find that the next record relating to Walter Lee
that we have concerns his work done upon the Westfield par
sonage, the town having, in 1678, voted him 15 shillings on
account of loss of time about Mr. Taylor's chimneys. The
following year he was chosen Surveyor for the Country roads.
But a most impressive evidence of his amendment from his
early neglect of public worship and his sneers at the pious
citizen who became one of the first Tithing men of the Colony, is
found in the following vote recorded in 1689: "Walter Lee,
Samuel Fowler and the Serjeant of the guard are appointed
to take care of children on the Sabbath to see that they atend
and keep their places both before and during the time of exer
cises." Thus he himself, in the course of years, was trans
formed from a Sabbath breaker into a Tithing Man. He
died February 9, 1717, aged at least 84 years. His son John
was in the "Falls Fight" 1676.
Another early settler who came from Northampton was
George Fyler, the first chirurgeon in that town. He was
voted an inhabitant there in 1664, with a home lot of six acres
and thirty acres besides on condition of his settling there.
In March of the following year the County Court approved
of his practicing his profession by granting him the following
license :
"George ffyler of Northampton being prsented to this
corte to such work service & employment." A few years
afterward he removed to Westfield and he too was summoned

Early Settlers and Allotments of Land 93
before the Court. At the March term in 1673 he was called
upon to answer the charge of being hospitable to Quakers,
and a further charge akin to the one urged against Walter
Lee several years earlier. The record is curious and amus
ing, though so diffuse as those old documents, and indeed
more modern legal papers, are wont to be.
"George ffiler of Westfeild being prsented by the Jury
for diverse disorders & being examined firstly, for entertayn-
ing Quakers last Summer he owns he did entertayne thim
being necessitated thereunto because none else would as he
sayes. George ffiler sayth he shall before the World own
that he is one of them whom ye world calls Quakers: Also
he is prsented for absenting himselfe from God's publike
worshipp on ye Sabbaths he ownes he has genrally absented
himself genrally last winter: his speeches have been con
temptuous of the Ministers of the Word and their work, viz.
that they turne over 20 or 30 Authors in a weeke to patch
up an houres discourse or two on the Sabbath. And tho he
would prtend that he meant not the ministry in that town
or of N. England yet by the testimoneyes it appears otherwise :
He seems to be a very Seminary of corrupt heriticall opinions
tending to poysoning & corrupting the minds of them with wm
he hath to doe. And in Speaking of the religion of the Quakers
(he speaks of it as distinct from that prfessed by our Nation
in this country) he calls it Our religion, that is his Own &
such as hee. The said George ffiler for his venting of his
heterodoxyes & adhering to the pernicious wayes of the Quakers
was prtested agt by the Corte & admonish thereof. And
for his absenting himself fro God's Ordinances on the Sab
bath haveing been formrly admonished thereof both by ye
WorppU Major Pinchon & also by Westfeild Comissionrs
was now also admonisht yr of by the Corte: And it declared
to him that it was in order to further dealing with him except
he reform his course therein. And for his contemptuous
& scandalous speeches of the ministry of this countrey & of
Christ's holy institutions as denying the Sacraments &c he
is sentenced to pay a fyne to ye County of 51 or eles to be
well whipt." Thomas Noble of Westfield, engaged to see
the fine paid.
George Fyler must have left the neighborhood soon after-

94 Westfield and its Historic Influences
ward for in 1674 he was Hving at Shelter Island which was
included within the town limits of East Hampton, Long
Island. George Phelps came to Dorchester in 1667 where he died
July 9, 1687. His son Isaac, born Aug. 30, 1638, was for
many years prominent in Westfield affairs, having been one
of the foundation men and a deacon of the church, and served
as Selectman and Town Clerk for a long period.
Aaron Cook was one of the notables among the first set
tlers, having been already a man of prominence and marked
ability in Northampton, where he was one of the original
settlers and church members. Four New England towns
felt respectively in the first years of their existence the impress
of his personality. He came from England in 1630 when
twenty years old and took part in the settlement of Dor
chester, where he received the Freeman's oath in 1635. Seven
years later he threw in his lot with the infant settlement at
Windsor. Trumbull says: "Here he remained twenty-three
years, a leader both in civil and military affairs. For many
years in succession he served as juror and became well
acquainted with the methods of legal business as conducted
in the courts of that day. In 1656 he was employed by the
Town of Windsor to warn public meetings 'by drum or trumpet
on ye top of ye meeting house' for which he was paid '20s
for ye yeare.' His military service began in Windsor as a
private in the train band of that Town. In 1653 he was chosen
lieutenant, and captain two years later. Lieut. Cook was
appomted to the command of a company of sixty minute
men, in 1653, to be ready at a day's warning to operate against
the Dutch. The first troop of horsemen ever raised in Con
necticut was placed under command of Major John Mason, the
celebrated Indian fighter, and in 1657-8 Major Cook became
one of its members." (History of Northampton, Vol. I, p. 415.)
He was one of three men, one of the others having been
John Strong, his brother-in-law, to whom Trumbull says that
the town of Northampton was under greater obligation than
to any other three men at the time of its settlement. Capt.
Cook settled there in 1661. For the two following years he
was Selectman, and in 1662 a commissioner for small causes,
was on the first committee to seat the meeting house and

Early Settlers and Allotments of Land 95
headed the list of the first tithing men appointed in the Colony,
and was on the first committee ever appointed for laying out
highways in the region. His military capacity was recognized
by choosing him captain of the military company in 1663
and later he was chairman of the town committee on military
affairs. That he was an expert hunter is shown by the fact
that in three years he was paid bounties for killing twenty-
seven wolves.
The fourth venture as a pioneer was begun in 1668 when
he removed to Warranoco, after his return from the meet
ing of the General Court as deputy from Northampton. Soon
after arriving he was selected to go to the Bay to procure a
minister and was "to be in the Bay the first Sabbath in October."
For two years he was a Selectman, and from 1668 to 1672
he was licensed to keep an ordinary. The Rev. Edward Taylor
when reaching Westfield, December 1, 1671, found a hospitable
welcome at that first inn, situated as it was on the outskirts
of the settlement as he entered in from Springfield. Mr.
Taylor in his Diary says, "This being the 1st December we
came to Westfield the place of our desire in health where we
first called at Capt. Cook's who entertained us with great
joy and gladness, giving us many thanks for coming and at
such a season."
In 1678 Capt. Cook returned to Northampton, where
his home lot was on the crest of the hill, including the present
site of the Forbes Library and lived there until his death
September 5, 1690. Aaron Cook married in Windsor a daugh
ter of Thomas Ford. Their fourth child, Moses, born November
16, 1645, was in Westfield with his Father and November 25,
1669, married Elizabeth Clark of Windsor, daughter of Capt.
Daniel Clark. His is the distinction of having been the only
citizen of Westfield who was killed during King Philip's War,
the tragic event having happened "the last snowy day of
March," 1676.
James Cornish, born about 1634, was another Northampton
citizen who had to be restrained and corrected by the Court
in order that his ways might be mended. He came to North
ampton about 1660 from Saybrook, Conn., and was its first
school teacher, combining farming with the training of youth.
He removed thence to Westfield selling his home lot in 1669.

96 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Ten years later, in September, 1679, "It was voted to give
Mr. James Cornish 18£ for keeping school the half year ensuing
which is to be paid in Wheat, Pork and Indian corn by equal
proportion." Though being a man of considerable standing in the com
munity as is indicated by his bearing the honorable prefix
"Mr." to his name, which in those days was not used indis
criminately, yet he indulged in language which to the strait-
laced puritanism of the time seemed blasphemous, though
so far from it according to our modern conception. The
charge pressed against him before the Court in 1671 was for
taking God's name in vain in the summer of 1670. It was
at a town meeting in Westfield, where, replying to some
statement of Capt. Cook, his neighbor previously in Northamp
ton, he replied, "As God lives that which the Captain says
is false." He attempted before the Court to justify the strong
expression. But the Court denied his plea and fined him
10s. A farther charge of cursing was brought against him,
supported by the testimony of the two sons of George Sexton.
On that count he was fined 20s. the Court "highly resenting
that such an aged man" [he was then under 60 years old]
"and of his quality and profession, should so dishonor God
and give such evil example to youth and others."
In 1675 his house was burned by the Indians.
He was appointed Clerk of the Courts under the adminis
tration of Sir Edmund Andros in 1687 and served for two
years. There was such difficulty in collecting fees and
expenses of travel to which he was entitled that in 1691 he
petitioned the Court for remuneration but with the cold com
fort that he could resort to legal remedies, "he had liberty to
sue." It seems that finally he got his due, and the appeal
of his needy condition was so urgent that the Court ordered
that he be paid 20s. from the treasury. Whether his two
sons, James and Gabriel, were unable to support him does
not appear. In 1695 he was still living in Westfield, "being
upwards of four score years old." Two years later, accord
ing to a record of March 17, 1697, "Jeames Cornish, ranger,
of Windsor in the Colony of Conecut" files a bond for about
seven pounds received by his Father from several persons
in Westfield. The poor old man apparently was obliged

y/«" %,,

HISTORICAL MAP OF THE ORIGINAL SETTLEMENT.
Compiled after diligent research by Louis Marinus Dewey
Copyrighted, 1905. Used by permission.

Early Settlers and Allotments of Land 97
to solicit personal loans for small amounts in that final period
of stress. March 12, 1703, it was voted "to pay Benj. Smith 6/- for
a room for widow Cornish for one year."
Joseph Whiting is the only one of the original settlers
who was distinguished on the Westfield records by the term
"Mr." with the single exception of James Cornish. He was
the son of William Whiting who came to Hartford in 1636
and who was styled on the records "Gentleman." From
1641 William served as Treasurer of Connecticut until his
death in 1647. His son John was Pastor of the First Church
in Hartford from 1660 to 1670 and then for nineteen years
Pastor of a new church just organized. His second wife,
Phebe Grayson, became, three years after his death in 1689,
wife of the Rev. John Russell of Hadley.
Joseph Whiting, born October 2, 1645, married Mary
Pynchon, daughter of Major John Pynchon, October 5, 1669,
the year that he settled in Westfield. He was the first of
the long line of merchants who have offered wares for the
supply of the needs, and the gratification of the tastes of the
citizens. The following year he shared with Daniel Ashley a
grant of land on Sacket's Creek, as the site of a mill. About
1677 he returned to Hartford and the following year was
chosen to the office of Treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut,
which had been held by his Father until his death in 1647.
That office he retained until his death in 1717, a period of 39
years, and was succeeded therein by his son John, the youngest
of his nine children, who was born December 15, 1693, and
who held the office for 32 years.
John Root, one of the foundation men of the church, came
with his brothers Thomas and Samuel from Farmington,
Conn. Lieutenant Samuel was a deacon of the church from
1692 to his death, December 8, 1712. He left, by will dated
December 5, 1712, a large tract known as "the ministry land"
to his wife to enjoy during her natural life, adding the follow
ing clause "after which my will is that it shall fall unto ye
ministry that shall succeed in this particular church now
at this present in being in Westfield forever successively." That
was his homestead lot lying on the south side of Franklin
Street and through which later Washington Street was laid out.

98 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Among the books recorded in the inventory of his estate
are the following: "A great Bible, 2 small ditto, Mourners
Cordial, Souls Espousal, French Convert, Israels Safety,
Self Justiciary, Blessed Remedy, Groans of the Damned,
Baxters Now or Never, Young Mans Guide, Spur to Loiterers,
Discourse on Witchcraft, Pilgrims Guide, Barbarian Cruelty,
Heavenly Passtime, Military Discipline, Thirsty Sinner,
Dying Religion, Abrahams Priviledge, Law Book." That
he was equipped as a good soldier in this world is evident
from the following list: "Long gun, musket, 2 carbines, back
sword and belt, partisan, gun rest, 3 half pikes, 2 cartouche
boxes and ammunition, 2 pouches with bullets, bag of bullets,
lb. of powder and horns, bag of flints."
Josiah Dewey, one of the foundation men of the church and
its first deacon, though not elected until 1692, was born in
Windsor October 10, 1641, the son of Thomas and Frances
Clark Dewey, who were married March 22, 1628. His Father,
the founder of the Dewey family in New England, came early
to Dorchester and thence to Windsor, where he died April
27, 1648. The widow afterward, November 2, 1648, married
George Phelps, one of Westfield's earliest settlers. Josiah,
with his three brothers, Thomas, Israel and Jedediah, moved
to Westfield in 1667. They were active, energetic and use
ful citizens of a type greatly needed in an infant settlement.
Israel remained but a few years. Josiah had an early grant
of land in consideration of his expected services in building
the minister's house.
Josiah Dewey and his wife, Hepzibah (Lyman), left West-
field for Lebanon, near Norwich, Conn., taking their letters
in 1700. Thomas Dewey was the messenger sent to the Bay to
procure a minister, who secured Rev. Edward Taylor and made
that perilous winter journey home with him in 1671.
On the tombstone of Josiah Dewey in Lebanon, Conn., is
an inscription in capitals, pictured in Dewey Genealogy as
follows :
"Here lies ye body of Josiah Dewey he was born in Wind
sor 1640 long served ye Church of Christ in Westfield an
ordained Deacon removed to Lebanon in its beginning where
he did much sarvis for God & man he lived a holy & a religious

Early Settlers and Allotments of Land 99
life & lived to a great age & he slept in Jesus Septemr 7 1732
in ye 92 year of his age."
The three brothers, Thomas, Josiah and Jedidiah, had a
mill on Two Mile brook on the road to Windsor, used for
both sawing and grinding. For a time Mr. Joseph Whiting
was associated with them in the enterprise. Each of the
brothers served as Selectman for several years.
John Ingersoll, a foundation man of the church, was at
Hartford in 1650 and the following year married Dorothy,
daughter of Thomas Lord, by whom he had three daughters.
She died in Northampton whither they had removed, in 1656,
aged 26. By a second wife, Abigail, daughter of Thomas
Bascom, whom he married there, he had four more daughters
and finally a son Thomas born in 1668, his mother dying the
same year. John married for a third wife Mary Hunt, by
whom he had seven more children, belief in race suicide not
having become popular at that period. He removed to West-
field in 1666. His homestead was on the Little River street
just south of the road to Springfield. He served as Select
man in 1676. His death occurred September 3, 1684. The
immense square house, with overhanging eaves, built by
his grandson Thomas, early in the eighteenth century, was
one of those "forted" in the later Indian wars. It was one
of the most interesting antiquities of the town until its destruc
tion by fire somewhat more than twenty years ago.
David Ashley during a long life was a prominent and use
ful citizen of the town. He took such a place as his Father
occupied in Springfield. Robert Ashley reached there about
the time that William Pynchon began the settlement. In
1646 he was licensed to keep an ordinary, a privilege in those
days confined to men of probity and judgment. In 1653-4
and 5 he was Selectman.
His son David, born June 3, 1642, the firstborn of five
children, married Hannah Glover of New Haven, Conn.,
November 24, 1663, and four years later moved to Westfield.
In 1669, with Mr. Whiting, he had a grant of land on Sacket's
Creek for a mill, in 1672 he was chosen Constable and again
in 1690. He was Selectman in 1676 and in seven subsequent
years; in 1690, Highway Surveyor and the first Town Clerk
in 1693. His active life was ended December 8, 1718. His

100 Westfield and its Historic Influences
son, David Ashley, Jr., born March 10, 1663, married Mary
Dewey July 11, 1688, daughter of Thomas, born at Northamp
ton January 28, 1668, died at Westfield December 13, 1757.
Their son Israel, bora October 14, 1710, married Margaret
Moseley in 1735. He graduated at Yale College in 1731,
was a Physician at Westfield and Surgeon in the army, Select
man for many years, Deacon from 1746 to 1758. He died at
Stillwater, N. Y., August 2, 1758.
Captain John Ashley, son of David, was born at Westfield
June 27, 1669. He superintended the settlement of the Housa-
tonic Valley, married Sarah, daughter of Ensign Jedidiah Dewey,
September 8, 1692. He died April 16, 1759, aged 89 years.
His son John, born December 2, 1709, removed to Sheffield.
Nathanael Weller was born at Windsor January 15, 1648,
his brother Eleazar, November 20, 1650, children of Richard
and Ann (Wilson) Weller. He was Selectman for six years
between 1685 and '95. From 1692 until his death in 1711
he was a Deacon of the church.
"At the Second Sessions of the General Court held
at Boston in New England
October 2d. 1678.
"Whereas It hath pleased his most excellent Majestie ye
Gracious King by his Letters April 24th 1678, to signify his
Royal Pleasure that the Authority of this his Colony of Massa
chusetts in New England, do give forth orders that the Oath
of Allegiance as it is by the Law established wthin his King-
dome of England, be administered to & taken by al his sub
jects wthin this Colony, who are of years to take an oath;
"In olbedience hereunto, & as a demonstration of their
Loyalty the members of that said general Court did readily
take the oath of allegiance & by their Example & Authority
did require & comand that the same oath should be given to
& taken by al his Majesties wthin this Jurisdiction that are
of sixteen years of age & upwards.
"And to this end the said Genl Court did order the sending
of coppys of the said oath of allegiance exactly agreeing with
the copy of it enclosed in his majesties, & signed by the Secre
tary of State, to the magestratical power of the respective
Towns, & did further order that the Justices or those comis-

Early Settlers and Allotments of Land

101

sioned wth magistratical power in each Countys should order
the convening of the Inhabitants of the respective Townes
of the age abovesaid, & to take names & administer the oath
of allegiance to the Inhabitants of the Townes hereafter
expressed or enroled."
"The names of the Town of Westfeild, who have tooke
the oath of allegiance to his Majesty —

Mr Edward Taylor
Lieut.John Maudsley
EnsigneSamllLoomisThomas Gun.
Thomas Dewey.
Josiah Dewey.
Jedidiah Dewey.
John Root.
Thomas Root.
Samuel Root.
AmbroseFowler Senr.
Walter Leigh.

John Sacket Senr
.David Ashley.
Thomas Noble.
John Ponder.
Nathanl Weller.
Jacob Phelps.
Tho :Hanchet Junr
Edward Neal.
Fearenot King.
John Hanchet.
Ebenezer Weller.
Nathaneel Phelps
Joseph Pomrey.
John Scoone.

Ambrose Fowler, Junr.
Saml Taylor.
Gabriel Cornish.
John Fowler.
John Sacket, Junr.
Joseph Brown.
.Griffith Jones.
William Sacket.
Luke Hit.
John Adams.
Edward Adams.
Saml. Loomis, Junr.
ThomasBancroft Senr.
George Saxton Senr.
James Saxton.
Samuel Fowler."

CHAPTER VI.
Organization of the Church
The settleps of Westfield were alert, in the very beginnings
of their civic life, to fulfill the two chief conditions of church
life. They strove eagerly to secure a minister, and to build a
meeting house. That they were successful in obtaining a per
manent religious leader of such marked ability and fidelity so
soon after the town was organized, gave them ground for deep
satisfaction and gratitude. However, they had abundant
cause for regret and solicitude in the fact that the troubles
incident to the Indian menace and the uncertainty of the
tenure of their lands and their homes, delayed the formal
organization of their church until ten years after the town
was organized, and nearly eight years after the beginning
of Mr. Taylor's ministry. He voiced the painful trial of those
years of waiting, in the pathetic preface of his account of
formal organization:
"A sore temptation was thrust in upon us by the Adver
sary that seemed to threaten the overthrow of all proceed
ings unto a chh state by those on whom that interest was
before most apparently devolved. But God, whose designs
shall never fall to the ground, hath not only showed himself
gratious in this one respect, but also in ye others & therefore
after he had stilled the noise of War, hath in some measure
restrained the Adversary of the Gospel & hath recollected
that little strength that he hath preserved, so far as that in
this spring 1679 we came to determine on entrance into a
church state ye latter end of ye sixth month."
Even though the delay had been necessarily so prolonged,
after they had concluded that the conditions were favorable,
they showed no unseemly haste, but proceeded with care,
deliberation and dignity, as became the solemn enterprise.
While the undertaking was novel to the young minister and
the small group of brethren, it was by no means without prec
edent in many towns of the steadily growing New England.
More than forty years had elapsed since the mother church

Organization of the Church 103
of the valley was gathered. The Colonies had passed through
their first baptism of blood, from which they emerged, weakened
in men and means, but chastened and strengthened in spirit.
Their grip upon the great verities for which they and their
fathers willingly endured privation and hardship, had tightened;
their love for them had deepened. Their passion for religious
and civil liberty, "a church without a bishop and a state with
out a king," had even gained in intensity.
Half a century earlier the church in Salem had been organ
ized with primitive simplicity, according to the instincts
and principles of Puritanism. That was the mother church
of the Colony.
Mr. Skelton was chosen pastor and Mr. Higginson was
chosen teacher. They were inducted to their respective
offices by a simple ceremony. Mr. Higginson and several of
the gravest men laid their hands on the head of Mr. Skelton
and prayed, and then Mr. Skelton with the others repeated
the ceremony for his colleague. A confession of faith and
covenant were drawn up "according to the Scripture" copies
of which were sent to thirty persons, who later associated
themselves as a church, on an appointed day, the church of
Plymouth having been invited as a witness. Both ministers
preached and prayed and then were ordained to their respective
offices by another imposition of hands by brethren appointed
by the church. Morton, in his Memorial, says that Governor
Bradford and some others with him coming by sea and being
"hindered by cross winds that they could not be there at the
beginning of the day, came into the assembly afterward, and
gave them the right hand of fellowship, wishing all prosperity
and a blessed success unto such good beginnings."
When the church at Northampton was organized June
18, 1661, with eight charter members, six of that number, all
who had minor children, brought their eighteen children who
were received with the adults.
It is natural to try to picture the life and conditions of
that ancient time in the Colonies. Fortunately there has been
preserved a most interesting and illuminating picture of Massa
chusetts by an observer from oversea in 1676, midway between
the arrival in Westfield of Rev. Edward Taylor and the organ
ization of the church. It is from a report to his royal master,

104 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of Edward Randolph, sent as a special emissary by Charles II.,
to study conditions in the Colony and warn the inhabitants
respecting obedience to the navigation laws.
"The number of the church members and freemen com
pared with the rest of the inhabitants (who are termed the
dissenting party) is very inconsiderable, not being reckoned
above one sixth part. * * * The inhabitants within the govern
ment, including Hampshire and Maine, are computed to be
upward of 150,000 souls. There are rich men of all callings
and professions and all mechanical arts and professions thrive
well. The farmers are numerous and wealthy, live in good
houses, are given to hospitality and make good advantage
of their corn, cattle, poultry, butter and cheese. There are
about thirty merchants that are esteemed worth from ten to
twenty thousand pounds."
This was an observer's impression of great prosperity, but
the conditions in the frontier towns were far less favorable,
especially during the following year when the devastations
and the expenses of Philip's War had been fully reckoned.
And there must also be taken into consideration the statements
urged by William Stoughton and Peter Bulkely, in the writ
ten reply to Randolph's Narrative, which they presented
to the Lords of the Committees, declaring that "the rest of
the inhabitants were very inconsiderable as to number com
pared with those that were acknowledged church members."
Also they confidently believed "there would not be found
above twelve or fourteen merchants that reached up to £5000
and not half of these that came up to 15,000 apiece."
Randolph continues in his Narrative: "There are men
able to bear arms between thirty and forty thousand and
in the town of Boston about 4000. Their trained bands are
12 troop of horse and 6000 foot; each troop consisting of
60 horses, besides officers, are all well mounted and completely
armed, with back, breast, head-piece, buff coat, sword, carbine,
pistols; each troop distinguished by their coats.
"The foot also are well furnished with swords, muskets
and bandoliers. There are no pikemen, they being of no
use in wars with the Indians. The Governor, Mr. Leverett,

Organization of the Church 105
is the only old soldier in the colony: he served in the late
rebellion under the usurper, Oliver Cromwell, as a captain of
horse." He then describes the Castle in the harbor of Boston, and
minor fortifications about the city: "The town of Boston
contains about 2000 houses, most built with timber and covered
with cedar shingles, as are most houses in the country: some
few are brick buildings and covered with tiles." (Palfrey's
New England, Vol. Ill, pp. 267-9.)
It is remarkable that so great a degree of martial and
industrial development could have been achieved by the
colonists in forty years, even when making due allowance for
errors in Randolph's estimates. It must, of course, be remem
bered that the soldiery which Randolph described was made
up entirely of militia, a citizen soldiery with whom the use
of arms was only an avocation, undertaken from sheer neces
sity, to preserve life and property when every man was sorely
needed to toil for the essentials of physical well-being. We
can but wonder that so many of the needy settlers spared
so much time, and incurred so great expense, in their outfits
for the public defense. We need not look farther for evidence
of this widespread habit of the practice of arms than the several
town records, Westfield being no exception, afford, in the
large percentage of the male inhabitants of whom mention
is made, who bear military titles. They were very proud
and tenacious of the distinction which those titles conferred.
It is not, however, as a military power that the Colony
was most distinctive. The supreme purpose of the people
was to coordinate properly the civil and ecclesiastical powers
in the state at large, and in each separate community. From
time to time during that early period there were struggles
for supremacy between the civil and ecclesiastical authori
ties. Hutchinson, after detailing at length the controversy
waged in Boston, a few years before the Westfield church
was organized, incident to the calling of Mr. Davenport from
New Haven, adds the following explanation :
"I have been more particular in relating this transaction,
because it gives us a pretty good idea of the connection between

106 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the civil and ecclesiastical power; the churches notwithstand
ing their claim to independence, being liable to control as oft
as their proceedings were disapproved by the civil magistrates,
and on the other hand, the magistrates, who were annually
elected, being sometimes liable to be displaced by the influence
of the clergy in elections, when their proceedings were sup
posed to bear hard upon the liberties of the churches, for the
clergy still retained a great proportion of the weight they had
at the beginning." (History of Massachusetts, Vol. I, p. 251.)
The civil authority was freely recognized to the extent
that its formal permission was a necessary condition of the
organization of a church anywhere in the Colony. Though
at its extreme western frontier, Westfield would not have
thought of ignoring that condition. The original custom was
to limit the rights of civil authority and the privilege of the
ballot to church members, so that a law which forbade the
formation of a church without approval of the Magistrates
was believed to tend to secure accord between the sentiments
of the individual church member and the fundamental princi
ples of the Commonwealth. Hence, a stringent law was
enacted March 3, 1636, forbidding companies of men joining
in church fellowship "without they shall first acquaint the
Magistrates and the elders of the greater part of the churches
of this jurisdiction of their intention and have their approba
tion therein."
Before quoting in full that important authorization of
the General Court for the establishment of a church in West-
field, it seems fitting to set forth accurately the statement
of the minister preliminary to his account of the proceedings
of the little company whom it empowered to act. This is the
more needful and advisable, because the ravages of time have
already damaged greatly the original church record, no copy
of which has ever been published, and because this simple
and quaint statement of beginnings is so well worth preserv
ing to future generations. It is a rare distinction of the old
church to have still in possession that original record made in
1679, in the handwriting of Mr. Taylor, even though it is
most difficult to decipher owing to the wasting of the paper
on which the records were made, and the peculiar chirography

Organization of the Church 107
of the ministerial scribe. For many years the priceless volume
has been stored in the vault of Woronoco Savings Bank.
The caption on the first page is in ornate characters:
"The Publick Records
of the Church at Westfield
Together
With a brief account of or proceeding
in order to our entrance into
that State

"Warronoko or Kee ye Indian name of the place being
upon petition to ye General Court granted to be a Township
by ye Court — was by reason of the Rivers upon which it
was situated first called Streamfield: but after upon better
consideration arising from ye Cardinall Point of its situation,
as being almost if not wholly due West ffrom Boston ye Metrop
olis of ye Colony, as also it being the most westerly Planta
tion in all the Colony was called WEST ffl ELD ye name
being stated at first by ye Genl. Court:
"Westfield, then Warronokee, coming to be an English Plan
tation, had first mr John Holyoake, son to that Godly Capt.
Elizur Holyoake of Springfield to dispense ye word of life
amongst them Ano Dni: 1667 about a year, but in ye beginning
of winter following he as finding ye ministerial work too heavie
for him desisted ffrom which time till ye beginning of winter
they had no minister.
"But then the town being increased sent down to the
Bay to seek for one and were supplied by ye Rev. Moses Fiske
son of Rev. John Fiske Pastor of the Church of Christ at
Chelmsford, here in New England. But being here in their
beginnings met with many temptations, so that after he had
served the Lord amongst them about three years he left them.
"The town being now destitute of a minister sent down
to ye Bay with an eye to ye Revd Mr. Adams Pastor of ye
Church at Dedham my classmate yet designing to take ye advice
of ye Revd Elders in the Bay about this and finding that Mr.
Adams not as yet movable from ye CoUidge, their Messenger
advised to myself (ye meanest of those that labour in Christs
vineyard) who being advised did adventure to go with him

108 Westfield and its Historic Influences
home and upon ye Lords day following preached my first
sermon amongst them from Matt. 4. 17 Repent for the King
dom of Heaven is at hand.
"I being now brought among them did not determine
any settlement, but when I had served some two years here
we set Conference meeting at wch I went over all ye Heads
of Divinitie unto ye means of ye application of redemption,
in order to prepare them for a chh. state before we did enter,
tho we began this course, yet I was not determined within
myself what to do. But at length my thoughts being more
settled, I determined within myself that in case things could
go comfortably on, to settle with them & in order thereto
changed my condition & entered into a married state, hoping
that ye following summer could open a door to let us into a
chh. state, but the summer coming opened a door unto yt
Desolating war began by Philip Sachen of ye Pakanoket
Indians by which this - - handful was sorely pressed yet
sovereignly preserved."
There follows here a description of Indian depredations
quoted in the Chapter dealing with Philip's War. As a result
of those troubles, four of the nine church members among
the inhabitants removed from town, leaving too few to justify
their proceeding to organization.
Three more weary years passed until as already noted
the date was definitely determined.
The record proceeds: "And now coming to fix on the day,
we also determined what churches to send unto to desire their
assistance & fellowship therein: & so we fixt on this con
clusion, viz. to send to Norwich, to Windsor, to Springfield,
to Northampton & Hadley unto whom we broke or desires
in the form of this letter following —
"I then gave an account of the work of the day and in
quired into the order of our motions hitherto and our liberty
for the same from ( Civil Authority
( Church dismission of. members.
As for the answer unto the first this following order which
was granted the foregoing year was presented and read.
"August 9th, 1678.
" 'These doe signifie that we approve ye christian people

Organization of the Church 109
in ye colony of Massachusetts to enter into a church state
according to ye rules of Christ and ye laws of ye country in
that case provided and in particular the persons hereunder
named viz. Mr. Edward Taylor minister, John Maudelsy,
Samuel Loomis, Isaak Phelps, Thomas Gun, Josiah Dewey
and John Root, who have made application to us, who together
with such others living in that place whom God hath fitted
as living stones for that spiritual building (having testimony
of their professed subjection unto ye gospell of Christ) we
do allow to enter church state and commend them to ye Lord's
gracious blessing. Signed ye day and year above written.
JOHN LEVERETT, Govr.
SIMEON BROADSTREET\
DANLEL GOODWIN SR
THOMAS DANFORTH
JOHN PYNCHON
EDWARD TING
JOSEPH DUDLY
" 'Honrd & Revnd Sr: together with ye Much Respected
chh of Christ at Norwich in which you serve.
" 'After ye manifold Temptations & experienced Difficulties
of one nature & another that we ye Professed servants of
Christ in this place have met withall, & been delayed thereby,
with respect unto ye Interest of Christ in a Gospell instituted
Order: it hath graciously pleased ye Divine Omnipresent
Preserver, ye father of Spirits & ye God of all Mercy in Christ,
so far to shine forth upon us, as to lead us by ye hand, so,
through ye same as to bring us to a conclusion among o'selves
to fix upon ye last fourth day of ye sixth month next ensuing,
for ye managemnt of that solemn & holy work of entrance
into a city fframe, a chh Instituted State. And thereupon
in sense of our own Insuffisionsie for it, need of Advice,
Directions & Assistance, as also ye Right Hand of Fellow
ship in, & about ye same: as also considering ye Result of
civill Authority in this matter, yt it behooveth us as or Master
to fulfill all Righteousness: & also the custom of the chh of
Christ (wch in all commendable things is greatly to be adhered
unto) harmonizing herein, we have fixt on certain churches
in this business * * * also desire that you would accept of

110 Westfield and its Historic Influences
such a burden of Christ in ye Gospell put upon you by us
in this desire, as yt you would send yr Revnd Elders & Mes
sengers to help & incourage us in this worke yt is to be carried
on by us upon ye day mentioned.
" 'Thus earnestly desiring ye Everlasting ffather, ye Prince
of Peace & ye EternaU Spirit of love that sitts between ye
Cherubims, yt is in ye midst of ye Golden Candlesticks &
yt speakes unto ye churches, to prevent aU impediments,
obstructions to or motion, to stir you up to all readiness of
mind to accept thereof: to give his gratious presence to you,
& by & with you unto us, we remaine, subscribing o'selves
" 'Yr Neighbors ffriends, Companions & Brethren in ye
common Interest of Christ

WESTFIELD
July 1679

EDWARD TAYLOR
JOHN MAUDESLEY
ENSIGN SAML LOOMIS

SER. DEWY
ISAAK PHELPS
JOHN ROOT

' 'These for ye Revnd. Mr. J. F. pastor of, together with ye
chh of Christ at Norwich.' "
The account continues:
"These being sent our work came on apace, for tempta
tions having attended our work one time after time before,
I for my part was unhearted untU now to prepare, & therefore
now I had both hands fuU & must go down to the Bay before
the time. Wherefore having often in private sought God
together in order unto this matter, now upon the 20th day
of August, that day se' night unto the day of or coalessence
we set apart for a fast to be kept by our whole town in order
to ye great work of ye day of imbodying, on which day I
preached from I Kin. 8: 57. ye Lord our God be with us as
he was with our Fathers."
He showed from the text that those about to erect God's
ordinances "ought to pray hard to God" that He would be
with them, and he adds, "as for the duty of prayer two of th»
brethren did help carry it on."
Among the delegates to the Council was Capt. Benjamin
Newberry of Windsor, who a few years earlier had come to
Westfield with a squad of Connecticut troopers to protect
the settlement from Indian hostilities.
Mr. Taylor's description of the personnel and the pro-

Organization of the Church 111
ceedings is full of interest as a revelation of a phase of the
ecclesiastical life of the Colony in the seventeenth century.
We can but be grateful to him for carrying the description
to such minute details.
"The day being come, we had none from Norwich." The
pastor there, the Rev. Mr. Fitch, was Mr. Taylor's father-in-
law, to whose attractive daughter Mr. Taylor had addressed
the Model Love Letter elsewhere quoted.
"Capt. Daniel Clark & Benjamin Newberry only from
Windsor, Mr. Chauncy their Teaching officer, tho those be
sent, durst not adventure from home, Mrs. Chauncy being
waiting for her hour. From Springfield came cousin Glover
teaching Elder, Mr. John Holyoake, Deacon Burt, Dea Parsons.
Messengers from Northampton Mr. Stoddard Pastor, Mr.
Strong teaching Elder, aaron Cook & Lt. Clark messengers,
& from Hadley there came Mr. Russell Pastor, Lt. Smith,
Deacon TUton & Mr. Younglove messengers & there was
ye Worshipful Major John Pynchon of Springfield & ye Revd
Mr Samuel Kerr Pastor of ye church at Farmington Guests.
The Elders & Messengers coming aU over night except such
as came from Springfield, consulted our preparation which
in some things they did not well approve of, as we had not
drawn up a profession of faith & in that I had prepared to
preach in ye afternoon & not to begin ye worke with preach
ing: Their reasons for which were these, viz. as to Confession
of Faith, Temptations had so often encountered in our pro
ceedings formerly as I could not tell how to go about that
labour, as thinking it might be in vain untill we wrote unto
ye Churches & then finding our worke so much that I could
not weU get through it, concluding to do it by a professing
ye Doctrine laid out in ye Catechism of ye Assemblies of Divines
at Westminster so far as it goes & where it is deficient to acknowl
edge ye Platform of Church discipline put forth by ye Revd.
Elders & Messengers in a Synod held at Cambridge Anno
Domi 1647. If this would not be acceptable then to give
an account of our profession, the which I did at last, they not
accepting ye former: and indeed did stickle more than was
meet till Cousin Glover came & for ye other my preaching
in the after part of the day was principaUy to gain time for
otherwise there would be two intermissions."

112 Westfield and its Historic Influences
The remainder, a few lines, is lost.
In order to give each of the steps whereby the claim for
recognition as a church was pressed upon the Council, there
must be included the letter which the five brethren from
Connecticut presented as their title to an integral share in
the enterprise.
"The recommendation of ye Brethren from Windsor church
writ to myself — " 'To Revd Edward Taylor
Aug. 22d. 1679
" 'Hond & Revd & Beloved.
" 'The Lord who appoints the place of our habitation having
cast ye dwellings of our Brethren Thomas Gunn, John Mauds-
ley, Samuel Loomis & Isaac Phelps at Westfield (where by
the good hand of God upon them they are planting a church
for the enjoyment of fellowship with Christ in his ordinances
amongst themselves) they have desired their dismission from
us, which we have accordingly granted to them & desire that
they may be received as becometh saints to Communion in
all ye Ordinances of Christ, that they may be further bunt up
in the most holy faith & more obedient to ye praise of him
that hath caUed them.
"Thus desiring ye good Lord to be with you assisting &
blessing yr endeavors to buUd a house among you for him to
dwell in, commending you to ye grace of God we remain
Yours, in our common Saviour,
Nathanael Chauncey
in ye name of & by consent of
Windsor, ye Church.
Aug. 22, 1679.' "
The letter dismissing Josiah Dewey and John Ingerson
from the church at Northampton was brief as the one from
Windsor was diffuse. The next formal step in the proceed
ings was the presentation of the personal experience of the
seven "foundation men," as they were called. The faith
of the church as a basis of its claim to recognition by the CouncU
had been formally proffered, and then it was incumbent on
each individual applicant to present his personal claim to

Organization of the Church 113
be recognized as a unit in the new organization, one of the
stones in its foundation. Each of these declaration was caUed
a "Relation." Mr. Taylor says: "After the profession of
our faith was made we were called out to give some account
of the working of the spirit upon our hearts that might be
as a foundation for the charity of God's people to act upon
in order to ye inroling of us in their soule as suitable matter
for such a glorious structure in hand. An account of wch
as far as time would admit was then personally given in these
Relations (here abbreviated) following, ye wch had at least
soon been made & doubtless it would have been to more edifi
cation had not ye Elders & Messengers of Northampton &
Hadley drove on to ye contrary."
There is no explanation of this opposition given in the
record. It seems likely, judging from the length of these rela
tions as Mr. Taylor has laboriously spread them upon the
pages of the book in microscopic characters, that even in those
days of ample leisure, and pompous dignity of the clergy, the
delegates from up the river may have concluded that they could
not be detained from home indefinitely. They were all farmers
to greater or less extent, both ministers and messengers, and
the Council met at a period of the year when crops are wont
to need harvesting. As it was, the proceedings, with the time
involved in coming and returning, must have eaten up much
of three days for them and the delegates from Windsor.
In his own Relation, Mr. Taylor begins by saying:
"The work of ye spirit of God bringing a poor sinner unto
_, . . . . \ Conviction &
Christ consists in \ -.
[ Repentance.
"Conviction is ye first work of ye Spirit of God upon the soul
discovering unto it its sin & Misery by ye fall and its help &
Remedy through grace. John 16, 7, 8, 9. Ye which work as
it affects ye understanding is caUed illumination as Heb. 6, 4,
10, 32, but as it affects ye Conscience whereby it turns its
check upon ye wUl & affections, its properly called Conviction
Joh. 8, 9, Acts 18: 28, 1st Cor. 14, 24 & is a singular spur unto
Repentance. "Now in respect unto what I have observed of this work
upon my own heart with all humility & soul abasement be it

114 Westfield and its Historic Influences
acknowledged to ye praise of infinite grace I have and do
dafly find something of this nature. But to instance only
in such things as are pertinent to ye matter in hand.
"As for the first time that ever any beam of this nature
did break in upon me was when I was but small, viz. upon a
morning a sister of mine while she was getting up or getting
me up or both, feU on ye giving an account of ye creation of
ye world by God alone & of man especially & of the excellent
state of man by creation as yt he was created in ye image of
God was holy & righteous & how Eve was made of Adam's
Rib & was ye first woman, Adam's wife, how both were placed
in Paradice & ye garden of Eden, a most curious place & had
liberty to eat of all ye trees therein except the tree of knowledge
of good & evil, and this God would not suffer them to eat of.
"But the serpant did betray them & did draw them to eat
of that fruit & thereby they did sin against God, & God was
angry & cast them out of the Garden of Eden & set Angels
Cherubims & a flaming sword turning every way to keep ye
'Tree of Life' & so man was made a sinner & God was angry
with aU men for sin.
"But oh, this account came in upon me in such a strong
way that I am not able to express it, but ever since I have
had a notion of sin and its naughtiness remain & ye wrath of
God on ye account of ye same.
"Another morning (as I suppose ye next) foUowing she
began to give an account of Christ Jesus, who was ye son of
God that came to save poore sinners & to bring them to
Heaven." A synopsis of the story of Christ's life foUows, and then
he says: "But, alas this impression though it was great upon ye
affections was soon over in respect unto any Original Sin's
testifying influence & before growing up I was readily laying
after ye vanities of youth.
"But being under ye rigid & watchful eyes of my parents
who would crop ye budding forth of Original Sin unto any
visible sin with wholesome reproof or ye Rod I was thereby
preserved from a sinful Life. But yet ye transgression of
ye Sabbath & some degree of Disobedience to my parents &

Organization of the Church 115
too often ye evill of lying & also inward eviU were things that
did more prevail. All which have had their oppositions by
one reproof e or untfil they have been a burden unto me."
He then instances the sharp conversation of his Mother
against disobedience and lying and the severe texts of scripture
against them warning of brimstone and fire which she quoted
against them.
Under the second head of Repentance he speaks at length
of Conversion, Faith, Hope, Joy and Obedience.
He finaUy concludes his Relation with the prayer: "The
Lord help me carry on all to his glory."
The Relations of the six lay brethren are full of abnormal
introspections and extravagant accounts of mystical experi
ences. In each one there is an account of fierce struggles
to realize the enormity of personal sin and a due sense of the
wrath of God, the appeal being invariably to fear of the horror
of eternal damnation and consequent suffering. John Inger-
son feared that he had committed the unpardonable sin, but
got help from his Pastor in Northampton, Rev. Eleazur Mather.
In the course of the Relation of Ensign Samuel Loomis,
he says: "After this going as an apprentice to Hartford (now
under ye Revd Mr. Stone's ministry) as he was reprehending
ye evil of profaning ye Sabbath in ye meeting & sporting of
youth in ye evening after it, had such an expression as this,
yt ye Divell made bonefires by the way of Rejoicing thereat,
which feU with such impression upon my spirit as put a check
unto me in respect unto such practices."
Josiah Dewey refers to impressions made upon his heart
when he was in his thirteenth year, again in his sixteenth,
and again in his seventeenth year. StiU he put off repentance,
even under Mr. Mather's preaching at Northampton. He
says, "When I was entered into a married state I saw myself
under former engagement of attending heart searching and
repenting work." Still he had a long and hard struggle, but
became one of the members of the church at Northampton
when it was organized June 4, 1661. He was one of the thirty-
one subscribers to the covenant on that day, though not one
of the foundation men.
The sermon which was delivered by Mr. Taylor after the

116 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Relations had been concluded, was from the text Eph. 2: 22.
"In whom you also are building (up) together for an habitation
of God through the spirit."
It is not a rash statement to make, that there is not now a
man living who could write such a sermon, or who would if
he could, so greatly has the prevaUing, and even the exceptional
homiletical style, changed since that early day.
An exact and complete analysis of its complicated structure
would have a curious interest, but the obscurity of the writing
and the infinity of the subdivisions preclude the possibinty of
securing it. Mr. Taylor spent about ten minutes in "opening
the text," and then announced as the doctrine upon which
he was to speak :
"A Particular Church of Christ is bunt up an Habitation of
God through ye Spirit."
It is copied out in full with marginal notes and covers
thirteen pages of the folio volume. He surely must have
turned over the hour glass upon the pulpit long ere completing
its delivery. It contains numerous citations from Scripture
and from various other authorities and numerous words in
Latin, Greek and Hebrew. On two of the pages are figures
marking twenty-seven subdivisions of treatment.
After the conclusion of that brief homfly, Mr. Taylor says,
"ye Moderator stood up & gave a brief account of what was
done & propounded ye brethren to ye Elders & Messengers
for their approbation unto their proceeding if they desired
further satisfaction in ye matter, or judged anything yet
further to be attended to in this case before the covenant
was entered into, they were desired to manifest the same;
if otherwise let their silence manifest it. Whereupon nothing
appearing ye Moderator called us forth to enter into covenant,
which being done in ye words of ye covenant by and by recited,
he pronounced us a church of Christ orderly gathered according
to ye rules of Christ in ye gospell.
"And demanded of ye chh. whom they chose to receive
ye right hand of fellowship & myself being desired to do it for
them Mr. Stoddard upon ye desire of ye other Elders & Mes
sengers of ye churches gavem me in these words—
" T do in ye name of ye chhs give you ye right hand of
fellowship.'

Organization of the Church 117
"This was not altogether approved on but it was judged
to have been most meet to have been done in ye name of Christ.
"But Mr. Stoddard rather chose these words having some
instance for the use thereof.
"This being done the Moderator demanded of ye church
whom they chose their officer & into what office. Where
upon ye brethren of ye church laid my unworthy self under
a caU unto ye office of Pastor unto them. Which being pro
pounded unto myself for acceptance I manifested my
acceptance. "Then it being demanded of the brethren whom they
pitched on to carry on the worke of ordination for them they
desired ye Revd. Elders to manage the worke for them onely
Brother Samuel Loomis being chose to joyne in ye worke of
Imposition of hands, & this being manifested the worke was
thus performed. Ye Revd. Mr. Russell, Mr Glover Mr
Stoddard Elders & Brother Samuel Loomis laid on hands.
Mr. Russell prayed before ordination & Mr. Stoddard ended
ye worke with prayer.
"In ye Ordination wh was to this effect 'Whereas you
Mr. E. T. are caUed by this chh of Christ at Westfield into
ye office of Pastor unto them ye which call you having mani
fested ye acceptance of, we do here in ye name of Christ pro
nounce you Pastor of ye same &c' ye charge was almost wholly
omitted. "After ye whole was done, Mr. Stoddard being deputed
by ye Elders to give the right hand of feUowship to me in
this office, did it as before, wh being done Brother Loomis
set ye 122 Psalm which being sung ye assembly was dismissed
with a blessing & so ye work was accomplished."
In order to complete the account of the day's momentous
proceedings it is needful to append the form of the Church
Covenant to which reference was made by Mr. Taylor.
The Covenant was this f oUowing :
"In ye sense of or own Nothingness depending on God's gracious
supply & in faith in his ineouragement given us thereunto.
We in obedience unto his commands & in imitation of his saints
in scripture do here in ye presence of Almighty God & Men
give up orselves unto ye onely true God in Jesus Christ to

118 Westfield and its Historic Influences
walk in his ways with aU or hearts: Bewailing so much as all
these humane infirmities which do any way hinder the same.
"And further in awe of ye same God & dependence on ye
same supply of grace we mutually oblige orselves to walk
together according to ye Rules of ye Gospell in ye communion
of saints in a particular church Instituted Stated for ye carry
ing on of all GospeU ordinances, ye Ministry of ye Word Sacra
ment & Discipline & aUso aU those Mutuall Duties of Helpful
ness & Subjection in ye Lord one unto another according to
or places which God recognizeth in his Word as means for ye
preventing of or recovering from EviU yt Sin may not lie upon
us but that God may dwell amongst us. Unto ye performance
of wh covenant so & so long as we shaU remain members of
this Society, We Solemnly Oblige orselves Earnestly crying
in ye name of Christ unto ye Father of spirits to assist there
unto & subscribe our Names. Edward Taylor
John Maudesly
Samuel Loomis
Josiah Dewey
John Root
Isaac Phelps
John Ingerson."
The following note is appended :
"Brother Th. Gun being nominated for a foundation man
desired to be omitted & was admitted ye 21 ye 7 m. without
Relation in that he was so much decayed by age that it would
be a hard thing to gather it & he was a man of approved piety
& was recommended to us by Windsor church."
Two notable features in this account of their proceedings
from an ecclesiastical point of view are found in the recognized
position of Rev. Edward Taylor when about to be ordained,
and the fact that instead of having alone the hands of ordained
ministers placed upon his head in the formal act of consecration
to the ministry, a layman of the company just instituted as
a church, Samuel Loomis, was included among the ministers.
As to the former point, Mr. Taylor was among them as a
brother on equal terms and singled out by their vote for ordina
tion. The infant church thus constituted had no other officer

Organization of the Church 119
than Pastor for a long time. The record says, "No ruling
elder nor Deacon was elected only Brother Loomis was desired
to look after the preparing wine & bread & to furnish ye Lords
table." He was afterwards chosen deacon but hesitated about
accepting the election and while waiting for the election of a
coUeague he died without having been ordained to the office.
It was not until 1692 that Josiah Dewey and Nathanael
WeUer were ordained to the office, so that the church was for
thirteen years in the anomalous condition of having no other
officer than the pastor.
The course which was pursued respecting women was differ
ent from the present custom in organizing a church. Even
the wives of the foundation men were not admitted with them.
They, with Mr. Taylor's wife Elizabeth, were received several
months later.
During the first ten years of its life the ratio of women
to men in the membership was about two to one.
The custom of selecting seven foundation men may have
been instituted by Davenport and his company who sailed
from Boston to Quinnipiack, afterward named New Haven,
in the early spring of 1638. In order to choose their charter
members more inteUigently, they agreed to dwell together
a year before completing their organization. No church
having been formaUy instituted, they formed what they termed
a "plantation covenant" to distinguish it from a church cove
nant. In it they declared that all civil matters should be ordered
by the rules which the Scriptures held forth — all the free planters
having met in a barn June 4, 1639, "to consult about settling
civil government according to God."
Mr. Davenport prayed and then in his sermon proved the
fitness of choosing seven competent men to construct the
form of government which was contemplated. He recom
mended the appointment of twelve men "and it should be
in the power of those twelve to choose out of themselves seven
that should be most approved of the major part to begin the
church." In August of the same year, 1639, the church at
Milford was organized and in September the church in GuU-
ford. Each of them was on a foundation of "seven pillars."
The complete official equipment of a church in those

120 Westfield and its Historic Influences
early days included four classes, pastor, teacher, ruling elder
and deacon. The distinctive function of the pastor was
private and public exhortation and that of the teacher was
doctrinal and scriptural explanation, while both were author
ized to preach and to administer the ordinances. Many
churches had ruling elders who shared with the teaching elders
the province of discipline. The deacons had charge of pru
dential matters and provision for the poor. The offices of
pastor and teacher soon came to be combined in a single man
and the practice of maintaining two preachers in one church,
which was by no means uniform in early times, was graduaUy
abandoned altogether. Indeed the frontier churches were
too poor to afford a single minister aught but the scantiest
support, aU the settlers sharing the common lot of poverty.
Every one of the four classes of church officials was con
secrated to his duties by reUgious solemnities.
The infant church of Christ in Westfield was started on
its long career of usefulness and development, destined to
be the Mother of many children, in the home community
and in the region round about. It had but a feeble beginning
on the frontier of the Colony with only four neighbors in the
great county of Hampshire, but it was one more stake in the
wilderness. That handful of sturdy men at an outpost of
christian civilization was instinct with the devoted and heroic
spirit of the Puritan fathers of a preceding generation who
came to the Bay moved to a large extent by the purpose of
the Pilgrims who came to Plymouth but a decade earlier.
They founded their church on the same basal principles of
civil and religious liberty, determined to conserve the truth
in its purity as they interpreted it and to hand down to their
posterity inestimable privileges, in church and state. Their
young minister was the only man of them whose birthplace
was in the earlier home across the sea, but he, like their par
ents, had come oversea to gain rights denied them in England,
and with the heart of a religious zealot. He was to share
their labors and sacrifices during a long life and co-operate
with them in the maintenance of institutions that have made
the old Bay State synonymous with all that is highest and
best in civil and religious life. That first church in Westfield
is vitally related to every other Protestant church in the

Organization of the Church 121
territory which the town then comprised, including wholly
or partly the present bounds of several other towns, and it was
related indirectly to the life of many other churches subse
quently established in many other towns. Those men, like
multitudes of others of every generation, builded better than
they knew. They feared God and kept his commandments
and as a necessary result their influence spread in circles which
have been widening to this present time and shall not cease to
expand while men continue to dweU upon the face of the earth.
Hardly was the organization of the church completed
when it had occasion to realize its integral relationship to the
great body of churches in the Colony. What is known as the
"Reforming Synod" met in Boston September 10, 1679, in
response to a caU of Gov. Bradstreet, elected in the preced
ing May, and the General Court, to consider matters of grave
importance to church and Colony. It took up at once two
general questions: "1. What are the evils that have provoked
the Lord to bring his judgments on New England? 2. What
is to be done, that so these evils may be reformed?"
Mr. Stoddard of Northampton was a prominent member
of the Synod and perhaps Mr. Taylor also. He must have
felt eager to attend its sessions where were gathered the eccle
siastical leaders of the day, both lay and clerical.
The Synod sat for ten days and in its "Result" rehearses
an appaUing array of evils which were supposed to have pro
voked the Lord to judgment. Among them as recorded by
Mather in his Magnalia are "a great and visible decay of
the power of godliness," "abounding pride," "oaths and
imprecations in ordinary discourse," "Sabbath breaking,
remissness in family government and family worship," "sin
ful heats and hatreds," "intemperance," "promise-breaking,"
"inordinate affection unto the world." According to more
detailed specifications there are included "that heathenish
and idolatrous practice of health-drinking, immodest apparel,
laying out of hair-borders, naked necks and arms, or, which
is more abominable, naked breasts, and mixed dancings," &c.
The General Court which met in October, ordered the print
ing of the Result and "commended the same to the serious
consideration of aU the churches and people in the jurisdiction,
enjoining and requiring all persons in their several capacities

122 Westfield and its Historic Influences
concerned to a careful and diligent reformation of aU those
provoking evils mentioned therein." (Mass. Rec. V, 244.)
Cotton Mather did not share the desperately pessimistic
views of the Synod respecting the low ebb of morals and religion
in the Colonies. He says :
"New England was not become so degenerate a country,
but that there was yet preserved in it far more of serious
religion, as well as blameless morality, than was proportion-
ably to be seen in any country upon the face of the earth."
(Parentator &c. 82.)
The stern and strict Puritanism of the fathers was mani
fested in a habit of close scrutiny of the externals of conduct,
as well as in a keen search after the secret sins of the heart.
According to their severe principles, there were no trifles,
no things indifferent, in moral affairs. The individual con
science must conform rigorously to the strict standards com
monly recognized as obligatory upon society. The sweeping
generalizations of widespread degeneracy made from time
to time by individual censors, as well as by bodies convened
under ecclesiastical auspices, must be interpreted by us with
large allowance made for the excessively stern standards of
the period.
Twenty years later the ministers in the Bay took concerted
action to enlist all the ministers in the Colony in an earnest
effort to arouse the churches to renewed vigor and devotion.
A formal message was issued by a Conference of ministers
to all the churches in the Colony, a copy of which Mr. Taylor
has preserved on the church records.
d mo
"Boston 1-4-1704.
"To serve the great intention of Religion wch is lamentably
dekaying in the Country it is proposed 1st
"That ye Pastors of ye churches do personally converse with
ye people in their flocks & with all ye feasible * * * & good
ness endeavour to win their consent * * * of grace in all
ye glorious duties of it. 2nd
"That unto this purpose ye Pastors do take up ye laborious

Organization of the Church 123
but engaging practice of making their personall visits unto
all that belong unto their Congregations and the people among
them. 3rd
"That Pastors in this way of proceeding as far as they can
publicly & solemnly to Recognize ye Covenant of God and
to come into such a Degree of ye Church state as they shall
be made willing to take their station in, but not to serve of
until they shall be qualified for and persuaded to Commune
with ye Church in aU special ordinances. 4th
"That for such as have submitted to ye Government of Christ
in any of his churches no Pastor of any other churches any
way go to shelter then under their wing from ye discipline
of those from whom they have not been fairly recommended.
5th
"That those who have not actually Recognized their sub
jection unto ye discipline of Christ in his church yet, should
either upon their Obstinate refusall of such subjection or
their faffing into other scandals be faithfully treated with
proper admonition. About ye method & manner of managing
of which, ye Pastor with their several Churches will be left
to ye exercise of their own discretion. 6th
"It is desired & intended if ye Lord please yt at ye several
Conventions of ye Ministers there may be given by each of ye
Pastors present an account of their proceedings and success
in the holy work relating to that which has been proposed
that so ye joy of ye Lord may have ye Glory of his grace &
that ye condition of Religion in ye country may be better
known and served among us. 7th
"As subservient to these great & good intentions it is
proposed yt ye Associations of ye ministers in ye several parts
of ye Country may be strengthened & ye several Associations
may by letters hold more free communications with one an
other. Voted & Unanimously consented unto
Boston June 4th 1704."

124 Westfield and its Historic Influences
In December foUowing there came to the church another
deliverance, this time from a convention in Cambridge.
"The following Coppies were sent to the ministers of this
County & read by mee this 24th day of 10th month to the whole
assembly after ye preaching was over.
(Edward Taylor)
" 'To be communicated to ye
Association. " 'To ye Revd Solomon Stoddard Pastor of ye Church of
Christ at Northampton. " 'Cambridge, Nov. 6, 1704.
" 'Dear Brethren:
" 'The ministers who sometimes met at Cambridge & at
Boston The coppy of wch proposalls here enclosed will suffi
ciently give you to understand ye intentions of them & we
have all possible reason to believe their good affections for
such intentions.
" 'Its weU known ye Pastors who have taken ye pains
personally to visit their flocks suitably, prudently, & faith
fully address all persons on ye great concerns of their ever
lasting happiness have had an uniform success attending
their holy labours. Chrysostom, Augustine &c gave us an
encouraging example for such labours in after years. All
ye publick sermons in ye days of Calvin did not more good
at Geneva than ye private visits wch ye several ministers
of N. E. by joint consent made unto their several families
under their charge. Both Englands have seen a greater
influence of diligence & advantage in their discharge of ye
Evangelesticall Ministry.
" 'But then ye Pastors of or Churches may ye more com
fortably enjoy ye assistance of one another, which doubtless
all finde more than a little needful for them, under ye diffi
culties wch in their ministry they often meet with. AU you
are very sensible how useful their weU formed Associations
may be to them. Our own did not fail to feel the benefits
of them & it is to be hoped that where such Associations have
been already formed they wiU be lively maintained & pre
served & carried on. And where they are not yet formed
ye Lord wiU stir up his servants to consider what they shaU do
that they may not incur ye inconveniences of him that is alone.

Organization of the Church 125
' 'But there is one thing more that is greatly desired
and never yet so fuUy attained unto viz — That ye several
Associations of Ministers may uphold some communion &
Correspondency with one another & that they would freely
communicate unto one another by Letters whatever they may
apprehend a watchful regard unto ye great Interest of Reli
gion among us, may caU to be considered.
" 'It is with special respect unto this Design yt the Minis
ters of ye Association sometime meeting at Cambridge made
this essay & having laid these things before you do heartily
recommend you & all your studies to serve him unto ye bless
ing of ye Lord. " 'They do this by ye hand of
Sirs, yours
'' 'To ye Reverend Samuel WUlard
Solomon Stoddard, Moderator' "
To be Communicated
Not content with their long services on the Sabbath the
people early established a service during the week.
"After the churches had settled weU down to their work,
a weekly lecture— -essentially a repetition of one Sabbath
service, became a fixed institution. Different days were
selected for these observances and people in the eastern sec
tion of the colony had opportunity to hear a sermon every
day in the week by attending them in different towns." — (Dex-
ter's Congregationalism, p. 457.)
Judge Sewal in his Diary makes frequent references to
the Lectures which he took delight in attending. The cus
tom in the VaUey is thus referred to by TrumbuU :
"As the number of towns increased in this section they
united in carrying on the service. After six towns had been
formed in Hampshire County the ministers in them united
and there was a lecture in each town once in six weeks. Hence
they were called 'six weeks lectures.' It is stated that a daugh
ter of Rev. Solomon Stoddard in her youth often walked
to Hatfield to attend lectures there and back to Northampton
the same day. The six towns were Springfield, Westfield,
Northampton, Hadley, Hatfield, Deerfield."

CHAPTER VII.
The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House
The plans for settling the region of Woronoco included
from their inception the procuring of a spiritual leader, as
has been intimated, and as is shown by the following record of
action taken there when the name of the proposed town had
not been decided upon, a year before its formal organization:
"At a meeting of the Committee Aug. 11th 1668 at Stream-
field— "1 It was voted unanimously that we will looke out for
a minister to carry on the worke of God in this place.
"2 It is voted by all the Inhabitants and planters present
that they will allow to a minister the sum of forty pounds
the first year.
"3 It is voted that the said sum shall be raysed for the
present (untill the Company are settled here together & so
long as they shall agree) upon the land.
"4 It is voted that all mens lands wch they are possessed
of shall be vallued according to the goodness thereof in its
own nature & so pay to all rates.
"5 It is voted that wee look at ourselves as free & at
liberty to seeke out according as God shaU guide us for a
Minister to carry on the worke of Christ here.
"6 It is voted to send to Mr Holyoke to carry on the
worke. "7 It was also voted that Geo. Phelps & James Cornish
shall go to Sprmgfield to treat wth Mr Holyoke & to receive
his answer."
A month later another plan was decided upon, Mr. Hol
yoke having found that he could not continue to serve them
as they desired.
"At a meeting of the inhabitants on the 24th day of the
7th month, it is voted & agreed that Capt. Cooke shall goe
into the Bay to secure a minister for this place such a one as
he shall be advised to by the Elders in or about the Bay, if
the Committee at Springfield doe approve of our acts herein.

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 127
"It is voted that he shaU take his journey so soon as to
be in the Bay the first Sabbath in October.
"Voted that Jo: Cornish shall goe to the Committee to
morrow to get their approbation & acquaint the rest of the
pprietors there of what is done
"It is voted that he speake to Capt. Pynchon and desire
him to promote or designe in the Bay in getting a Minister."
Two months later further action in behalf of Mr. Fiske,
who had been procured from the Bay by Capt. Cook, was
taken. "Nov. 30th 1668 at a meeting of the Committee for Woro
noco they agreed determined & granted an allotment at Woro
noco for the Minister of 40 acres of land in all the divisions
and also a home lot of 6 acres. This may lye on the Fort
side where Mr John Holyoke had his grant or as Mr Fiske
or the inhabitants shaU desire."
In the foUowing January, 1669, it was voted unanimously
to urge Mr. Fiske to continue in the ministry with them,
promising him £40 per year "and for the future a good main
tenance as God shaU enable them."
"It was also voted that the Meeting House shall be set on
the Fort side, that is, near the junction of the two rivers.
"Feb. 5, 1667 certain lands were granted to Josiah Dewey
on condition that he express satisfaction for what he expects
of the town on account of building the ministers house."
The Rev. Moses Fiske, son of the minister of the church
at Chelmsford, served them about three years. The invita
tion given to Rev. Mr. Adams of Dedham after Mr. Fiske
left his position, was not accepted on account of some difficulty
about removing from the college. FaUing there the messenger,
as wiU appear later, turned to another divinity student at
Cambridge, Mr. Edward Taylor, and finaUy persuaded him
to accept the invitation of the frontier town to become its
minister. It is common to restrict the term "Pilgrim" to a person
who belonged to the original company which came to Plym
outh in the "Mayflower." For purposes of exact discrimina
tion that may be well. The pioneer band which reached

128 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the bleak coast of Massachusetts in 1620 must always occupy
a unique place of honor and esteem as heroes of christian
faith. But there were really other Pilgrims besides, who sought
freedom through exile, and proved themselves worthy scions
of the same Puritan stock. Continued outrages upon con
science in the homeland provoked continued emigration to
the rough shores and forest retreats of New England.
Though the Connecticut VaUey was not settled until
nearly a score of years after the landing at Plymouth, and
Westfield not until a long generation later still, yet at least
one actual Pilgrim was among the little company which faced
the dangers and waged the conflicts with wild nature and
savage men of the town which for three quarters of a century
marked the western frontier of the Commonwealth. The
towns of Springfield, Northampton and Hadley had been
established previously on the Great River, where some Pil
grims, and the children of others, had made their homes and
were proving their sturdy spirit.
These heroes of the faith in this Valley afford abundant
and worthy material for the pen of an eloquent historian.
The honor accorded the original Pilgrims of the Plymouth
Company should be shared with those who sought and sub
dued these inland regions. Dangers and hardships were
endured here more grievous in some respects than those of
the Bay. The pioneers were borne hither by the true PU-
grim spirit, to live as christian heroes, and, many of them,
to die as christian martyrs.
There should be in each one of the early towns of the Val
ley, a Pilgrim Hall, where the names of the primitive settlers
who braved so much in their zeal for Christ and His Church,
might be plainly emblazoned upon the waUs, and where such
of their personal relics and memorials as have survived the
ravages of time, might be garnered and sacredly preserved.
Though the records of that grand personality which domi
nated the early life of Westfield for more than half a century
are so meager, and what we can learn of the Rev. Edward
Taylor whets the appetite to know more, still there is enough
preserved to afford a fair sketch of his character. The more
thoroughly these too scanty items are studied, the more ear-

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 129
nestly do we long for more light to shine upon this Pilgrim
Prophet. He was the spiritual Father of the town to an extent
rarely equaled in the history of early New England life, or
indeed, of communities anywhere.
Coming hither when the settlement was small and new,
and abiding with benedictive influence through so long a
period, while church and town passed through critical experi
ences and harrowing trials, he must be revered for what he
was and for what he did.
The annals of that early colonial life concern Sacred History
though not contained in the oracles of Hebrew Scripture,
but still Sacred History. It is the record of men called of
God from a land of oppression to a land of liberty: a people
cherished by Him in its infant feebleness, taught by His Spirit
to do the things pleasing to Him and inspired with burning
devotion to Him. Every individual person in the band of
frontier colonists did not prove unflinchingly valorous, or un
swervingly virtuous, but neither did all the children of Israel
led out of Egypt toward Canaan.
But on the whole, the early life of the settlers of the Woro
noco vaUey was heroic; and the presence of such a priest of
God as Mr. Taylor did much to make its early history sacred.
He was both a true prophet and a true priest, since he spoke
for God to the people, and to God for the people. His life
was truly consecrated to their welfare, and it was a life so
rarely gifted and empowered as to make a deep and permanent
impress upon the town.
Edward Taylor was born at Sketchley near Coventry,
in Leicestershire, England, in 1642. No records of his parent
age or family have been preserved except in his vague reference
to a brother in his Diary, to his Mother and a sister in his
"Relation," given at the time of the organization of the church.
His early education was under a Non-conformist School
master, who qualified him for teaching. He kept a school
for a time at Bagworth, in his native country, and according
to a quaint record, "to such good Acceptance that some
Gentlemen in the Neighborhood took pains to procure him
a Licence, which was offered him in case he would take the
Oaths then required, which he conscientiously scrupl'd, and

130 Westfield and its Historic Influences
so was oblig'd to quit his School to the grief of the neighbor
ing Gentry, particularly the Family of the Harrisons, then
of considerable Note in those parts; otherwise (we may sup
pose) this Part of the World had never known him."
He studied seven years at one of the great universities,
probably Cambridge. The ejection of two thousand dissent
ing clergymen in 1662, and the persecutions to which the
Puritans were subjected, finally constrained him to exile him
self for the sake of the liberty promised in New England.
It was not till several years after the Act of Uniformity was
passed that he actually took that step, waiting, perhaps,
in the hope that more favorable conditions might obtain,
before starting on what proved to be a tedious and perilous
voyage of 70 days.
It is fortunate that he kept a diary in those days, and
fortunate, too, that it has been preserved. Though meager,
and covering only scattered incidents during three and a half
years, it is interesting and valuable for such dim light as it
throws upon his historic personality when approaching his
notable life work.
It seems as though it were a slighting of precious antiquarian
lore to omit any single item of that personal journal, but
nevertheless, it could not be quoted entire without too great
an expense of space in this volume, though that conclusion
is regretfully reached. However, generous quotations from
it will be made :
"A.D. 1668, April 26, being Lord's day, at between 10-11
at night, I came for sea, taking bote at Execution Dock, Wap-
ping, & a smooth tide, a gentle gale of wind & a prosperous
fare to Gravesend.
"Lord's day May 3. I had a sad forenoon but toward
evening the Shipmaster sent for me to go to prayer with them.
"Lord's day May 24th. I then being put to exercise [not hav
ing been licensed he could not preach] spoke from John 3d, 3d.
"May 31 Lord's day, wind west. I was very sick so that
I could not perform the duties of the day.
"June 7 Our latitude is 43° These last two days we sailed
well nigh 150 leagues. I being somewhat better in health
than before did exercise from & apply the doctrine that before
I approved.

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 131
"June 13 we exercised from Is. 3d 11th.
"June 18 after dinner I read the 4th chap, of John in Greek.
Lords day June 20 I approved the doctrine I delivered the
Lords day before. Lords day June 28 I exercised from the
words For the reward of their hands shall be given them.
Is. 3d 11.
"July 4, thick fog. we saw Land on both hands, Plymoth
on ye Left & Salem on ye Right towards Sunsetting. about
five a clock we saw ye Hands in our passage up to Boston:
about three a clock on ye Lords day Jul. 5 In ye morning
we came a shoar."
Mr. Taylor brought letters to the Rev. Increase Mather,
who at that time had been for four years minister of the North
church of Boston, and afterwards became President of Harvard
CoUege. Mr. Taylor spent his first two days in New England
as Mr. Mather's guest, and then presented letters to John
HuU, the mint master, who invited him to his house till he
had dispatched his "Businesse & were settled in the Colledge,
& also to bring his Chest to his wearhouse. This Gentle
man would not be said nay, therfore I was wt him, & received
much Kindnesse from him. I continu'd wth him till I settled
at Cambridge." A daughter of Mr. Hull became the wife of Judge Sewall,
Mr. Taylor's classmate at Harvard.
A third person to whom he brought letters was "Mr. Mayo,
minister of God's word to his people who meet in the new
meeting house."
Mr. Taylor must have been well considered by men of
influence among the English Puritans, in order to secure
personal introductions to such prominent divines on this
side of the sea.
His long voyage, with its discomforts and hardships, was
ended. It must have been to him a tedious trial of patience,
since the ship that bore him, though starting from its moor
ings on Apr. 26 did not finaUy move out into the open ocean
beyond Lands End until May 21, almost a month later,
having been detained by adverse winds and other hindrances,
long enough for one of our modern ocean greyhounds to make
four transatlantic trips.
His plan for entering Harvard was evidently well-matured

132 Westfield and its Historic Influences
before leaving the old country, as is shown by the account
of his movements after reaching Boston. His Diary states:
"About 14 July I went to Cambridge to speak wt ye Presi
dent. About Jul: 22, I went to Cambridge again, & lay at
ye Presidents: at night it thundered, lightened & rained,
very much & as his Son Elnathan & I were going to bed about
10 or 11 a clock in the night as it rained there came a white
peckled Dove Pidgeon & flew against ye Casement of or Cham
ber window: & there sat: & I onely being in bed when I heard
it were a Pidgeon got up, and so we opened the Casement
upon ye Dove So far, as that we took him in, & when he was
in we would have caught him, & he run from us & cooed &
brissled at us. in the morning he was let out againe. The
President, when he heard it, said he would not (of any good)
he should be hurt: ffor one should not heare of ye like: it
was omenous surely."
The President to whom reference is here made was the
Rev. Charles Chauncey, who was Professor of Greek at Cam
bridge, England, and became in 1654 the second President
of Harvard, a position which he retained until his death in
February, 1872, two months after Mr. Taylor reached his
parish in Westfield.
The Diary continues: "Jul. 23. I was admitted in to
the Colledge. Being settled in the Colledge, Pup ill under
Mr Thomas Graves senr ffellow in a great, & yet civill Classe:
I continued there 3 years & }/i all wch time I was CoUege
Butler, during wch time these occurrants are most observable.
"viz. I. Mr Graves not having his name for nought lost
ye Love of ye Under Graduates by his too much Austerity,
whereupon they used to strike a nail above the HaU-Doore
Catch while we were reciting to him, & so naile him in the HaU:
at wch disorder I was troubled, whereupon being desired
by him to go into the Buttry privily, & watch who did it, one
morning I did so: but being discovered by the Schollars I
was fain to hast out, & make hast to Boston, before I spake
to Mr. Gr : the better to cloake over ye businesse, that so ye
Schollars might conclude it was accidentall, & not ex proposito
(for I was fearfull of incensing them against mee) for wch,
notwithstanding the hazzard I was in of setting them against
me, & the love I expressed to Mr. Gr: in putting myselfe

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 133
for his sake unto such hazzard & I was checked by him when
I came up again.
"2ly When he went about to read to us Naturall Physick,
he would read to us out of Mageirus, wch was reputed none
of the best, & had not been read by ye other Classes in ye
Colledge, & so we did refuse to read it: & I also (though since
I have read it I am sorry I opposed it) in so much that he
seing he could prevaile wt me to read it tho: yy should con
tinue opposite thereto gave me (in his passion) ye unwerth-
iest language that ever I received of any man, to my knowl
edge. But before we had read it through he left us to Mr.
Joseph Browne who, upon his going away, being chosen ffel-
low, slighted it as much as wee. Mr. Browne now being or
Tutor carried so respectively to us that he had or very hearts,
& we scarce did anything wtout his advice.
"31y In the spring of my second years residence in ye
CoUedge (being 1670) I going to reckon wh Goodman Stead-
man for my winters wood, his wife Elizabeth lying at that
time under trouble of Spirit, though she had not at that time
revealed it, complain'd with griefe of my strangeness, saying,
that they were not good enough for my company. & withall,
said wt teares in her eyes that she was perswaded that if I
knew her condition how it was with her I would come often to
yer house: wch when I perceived that she was a woman of
a troubled Spirit, I went oftener, & was, though an unworthy
creature an instrument of some use unto her for her comfort,
& support: who afterward proved a great, & good nurse to
me whenever I was in any kinde of affliction. So long as
I was in the CoUedge the Lord gave me the affections of all
both in the CoUedge & in the town whose love was worth
having, yet some there were that added afflictions to me by
their whispering, backbiting tongues, wch made me much
desirous to go from Cambridge, judging it to be some who
spoke me fair to my face, but grudge me my Charitable, &
well grounded Esteem of goodw: St. ye object of their Envy,
when on this account I purposed to lay downe my place at
or Commencement, ye Praesident by his incessant request
& desires prevailed upon me to tarry in it as yet. but the quar
ter foUowing I had more afflictions than I had in all ye 3 years
before, but being invited by Mr. fflint over to Brantery to

134 Westfield and its Historic Influences
be at their house, & make use of his study there, I found some
inclination thereto, & went Nov. 13, 1671 to Brantery, but
not finding a second invitation upon the same ground, I
returned & settled in ye CoUedge & was instituted the 16
day of Nov: SchoUar of the house. But the 17 being the
Quarter day Thomas Dewey a Messenger sent from West-
field on Connecticut River to the Bay to get a Minister for
that People: being by 8 or 9 Elders, met at ye Lecture at
Boston ye day before directed to myselfe, came to me with
a Letter from Mr. Increase Mather Pastor of ye 2d Church
at Boston; whom for an Answer I referred to the Revd Presi
dent, & ffeUows. Reserving Uberty to advise with ffriends,
& finding Mr. Danforth for it, Mr Oaks indifferent rather
advising to it, the President altogether against it at this time:
& the ffeUows advising rather to it than anything else, giving
this a reason why their advice was not positive, because they
were to respect ye CoUedge good, hereupon I was both in-
corriged & discorriged. But Mr Danforth ye Magistrate
driving on hard, advised to take other advice, wherefore delay
ing to give an answer tiU 21th day I did on the 18th advise
with Mr. Inc: Mather, & Mr. Thacher whose advice was
positive for it. But the 20th day Thomas Dewey came again,
& lay hard at me to go wt him that weeke, but I could not,
neither did I promise him to go, yet he saw by my prepara
tion sufficient to raise his expectations & to make him con
clude that I would go, but on thursday, 23rd at night it fell
a great Snow, yet on ye 26th though it snow'd a pace he
came for me, & would have gone with me, would I have gone,
though on the 27th Mr. Belcher, Mr. Tim: Hide, Sam Green:
&c. were to go, wherefore tarrying till then, I not knowing
how to cast down Goodman Dewey's expectations after I had
raised them, I set forward not without much apprehension
of a tedious & hazzardous journey, the Snow being about
Mid Leg deep, the way unbeaten, or ye track filled up again,
& over rocks & mountains, & the journey being about 100
miles, & Mr. Cooke of Cambridge told us it was the desperatest
journey that ever Connecticut men undertooke.
"On the night before I went to take my leave of or Hond
President whose minde was changed & his Love was so much
expressed that I could scarce leave him & well it might be

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 135
so, for he told me in plain words that he knew not how to
part wt mee. But as my proceedings were by Prayer & con-
sell, so my journey was carried on by mercy & good success.
"The first night we Lodged at Malbury where or Com
pany was mcreased by one more, from thence we went out,
the day foUowing about half an hour before Sunrising, for
Quabaug, 1. e. Waterfield, but about 11 of clock wee lost or
way in the Snow & woods, wch. hindered us some 3 or 4 miles:
but finding it again by the markt trees, on we went, but or
talk was of lying in ye Woods all night for we were then about
30 miles from or Lodgen having neither house nor Wigwam
in or way. But about 8 at night we came in, through mercy,
in health to or Lodgen, from wch the next day we set out for
Sprmgfield which we arrived at also in health, & on the next
day we ventured to lead or Horses, in great danger over Con
necticut River, though altogether against my will, upon ice,
wch was about 2 dayes in freezing, but mercy going along
with, though the ice cracked every step yet we came over
safely, & well, to the wonder almost of all that knew it. this
being the 2d day of Deer, we came to Westfield the place of
or desire in health where we first caUed at Capt Cooks who
entertained us with great joy & gladness giving me many
thanks for comming, & that at such a season; but though we
had had both fair & warm weather aU ye way, yet before
I had been half an hour wth in his house, there came such
gusts of winde against his house, as I scarce ever heard, then
after a while we went to Mr Whitings, & then I know not
that ever I heard such gusts & Shuffs of winde as blew then.
There the men of the town came to Welcome me, & after
supper I went to Goodman Ashley's where I was to be till
Mr Whiting had Got his house ready yt I might be with him.
On Lords day after I preached to them from Matth. 3.2. my
first sermon, being Deer. 3, 1671, on thirsday I removed to
Mr Whitings where I settled in Quarters."
"On Friday at night Jan. 12 about nine or ten o'clock
Thomas Dewey being gone from home to Northampton had
his house and almost all his goods burned down, and one of
his children, i. e. a little girl, being almost undressed to go
to bed & affrighted ran into the parlor or bedroom where
had not the youth run in to have got something out, & as

136 Westfield and its Historic Influences
he went out hit her with his foot or stumbled at her she had
in all likelihood been burned. The fire came thus: one of the
boys went up into the chamber with a stick of candlewood
burning for some corns to play at checkers & the stick dropped
a drop in some tow & so fired. John Osburn their next neigh
bor a man likely to have stood them in stead at that time
was providentially hindered from taking any notice thereof
by the falling of his chUd into the fire at the same season.
This Thomas Dewey was the messenger that I came up with."
The courage and endurance requisite to attempting and
accomplishing such a journey were an earnest of the spirit
in which Mr. Taylor was to breast the dangers and hard
ships of his long pastorate on the frontier, a pastorate which
covered four of the six Indian wars. During its continuance
the years during which the Indian menace was not emergent
barely equaled those in which each day's work could be done
only with a weapon at hand and each night's sleep might
be broken by the war whoop. Even the elements, in the
savage fury which they displayed on that day of his arrival
in Westfield, symbolized to the young theologue the harsh
experiences in store for him as shepherd of that feeble flock
in the wilderness for nearly sixty years.
The first house that gave him shelter was the first house
of public entertainment in the new settlement. Capt. Aaron
Cook, taking up his grant of land three years before, had come
prepared to assume the hospitable task as shown by the Court
Records for March, 1668.
"Capt. Cooke hath liberty to give entertaynement at
Worronoco to travellers with liberty to seU wines or liquors
for ye yeare ensuing."
He continued in that capacity for five years, and for two
years was Selectman.
His house was on the northern side of the highway, some
what west of where the Little River Street, the old Windsor
road, leaves it, and west of the house of the late Peter Prout,
now marked by a small boulder.
The vote of the town has been already cited, whereby
he was to go to the Bay to procure a minister, so as to be
there by the first Sabbath of October, 1668. It was just

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 137
about that time that his name appears again on the Court
Records: "Sep. 29, 1668.
"The Indian Wollump of Woronoco complaining agt
the English there for damage done in his corn by their cattell
& particularly agt Capt. Cooke: This Corte ordered Samuel
Marshfield & Jno. Dumbleton to repair to Worronoco to
make inquiry the best they can wt damage the Indians had
in their corne and by whom & by what meanes & occasion
& to endeavor to gett ye neighbors there to make satisfaction
& in case they can gett no issue they are to prepare things
for us yt the case may be presented to ye next corte at
Northampton." The house and store of Mr. Whiting were on the north
side of Main Street just east of the corner of Meadow Street.
The lot was sold when in 1677 he returned to Hartford, the
purchaser having been Lieut. John Maudesley from Windsor.
The land, or part of it at least, has been in the family, through
successive generations, to the present day.
Goodman Ashley's house, whither Mr. Taylor repaired
after supper on that first evening, stood on the south side
of Main Street just about where Cross Street leaves it.
That he took up his task in the town with earnestness
and vigor cannot be doubted. He was one of many who came
out to the new world to develop a self-reliant manhood and
occupy a position of eminent usefulness and far-reaching
influence in colonial affairs, while making most emphatic
his mission as a preacher of the everlasting gospel:
"Theologian, from the School
Of Cambridge on the Charles,
Skilful alike with tongue and pen,
He preached to all men everywhere
The gospel of the Golden Rule,
The New Commandment given to men,
Thinking the deed and not the creed
Would help us in our utmost need.
With reverent feet the earth he trod,
Nor banished nature from his plan,

138 Westfield and its Historic Influences
But studied still with deep research
To build the Universal Church,
Lofty as is the love of God
And ample as the wants of man."
Longfellow might have written that with Edward Taylor
as his subject.
No less truthful a sketch of him, as many suggestive facts
in the town records indicate, is the sketch given by the author
of "The Colonial Parson of New England."
He says: "The parson is one who has had to do with
the inner life and immediate experiences of his people. Not
the less on that account, has he been a tremendous influence
and a vital factor in all the events of his day. WhUe there
are writers who contend that the parson in New England made
himself officiously prominent, yet we believe that such writers
misinterpret history. He was 'the power behind the throne'
on many of the great occasions. It was not modesty so much
as expediency that held him in reserve. He was at one time
somewhat like Savonarola at Florence, a dictator. But he
was wiser than the Florentine leader. The parson kept him
self discreetly in the backbround: shaped affairs through
his heedful servants, the magistrates : did not obtrude his inter
ferences in state matters: taught, inspired, moved, directed
the state, at the same time that he was simply identified by
the popular mind with the church and religion." (pp. 35, 36.)
The Pilgrim Pastor of the Westfield church, who for more
than half a century wrote himself into the life of the town,
shaping the development of its religious and civic organism,
was a peer of the foremost ministerial leaders of New England.
It is not an extravagant claim to assert that had he settled
in Boston, instead of spending his life on the frontier, he would
have been famous in the annals of colonial times. A com
petent, though friendly, contemporary critic, Judge Sewall
of Boston, said of him: "He and I were Chamber fellows
& BedfeUows in Harvard College Two years: He being
admitted into the College drew me thither. I have heard
him preach a Sermon at the Old South upon Short warning,
which, as the phrase in England is, might have been preached
at Paul's Cross."

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 139
During the perplexities and discouragements of Phuip's
War, it was he, who, though only thirty-four years old, was
deputed by the town to frame its reply to the provincial
authorities who had made almost mandatory their advice
that the enterprise of separate settlement should be given
up and the people should move to a safer region.
The first hearty welcome accorded him upon arrival, seems
to have been foUowed by generous appreciation of his value
on the part of his feUow townsmen. At the close of his first
year among them, though no church had been organized
and no meeting house had been completed, in December, 1672,
it was voted "that the town render their earnest desire of
Mr. Taylor's continuance with us in the ministry and are
willing to give him land house & maintenance as is formerly
recorded. "Mr. Joseph Whiting George Phelps, Deacon Hanchet
& Aaron Cook are chosen to present the thing to Mr. Taylor.
"The men chosen hath been with Mr. Taylor and say
though he hath not promist he may contmue with us, if more
be added to procure such helper as is necessary to carry on
the worship of the church as stated."
A preceding vote at the same meeting may be referred
to in this response to their appeal.
It was voted that 15 acres of land should be laid out for
some kind of a helper to Mr. Taylor. In Mr. Bartlett's copy
of the record which cannot now be found, he writes the word
"riffleman" and foUows it with an interrogation point, with
good reason, since it is perfectly unintelligible.
Mr. Taylor evidently felt some apprehension lest the work
should overtax his powers and wanted to have everything
possible done to insure its success.
Another movement in that direction was made at the
same meeting, looking toward the provision of a place of
worship. "Voted that the town wiU go on with building a meeting
house with all convenient speed as may be. The dimentions
are as foUows 36 foots square and the form to be like Hat
field meeting house as the Committee chosen shaU agree.
"Mr. Joseph Whiting, Deacon Hanchet, John Sacket,
John Root & Aaron Cook are chosen to manage all concerns

140 Westfield and its Historic Influences
about it for the best advantage to the town in building, to
employ the town help both in labor & teams in equal propor
tion, such as are able to do work about it are to have, with
and for such as may undertake the work, equal considera
tion." That is the first definite action, the record of which is
preserved, taken by the town in this important matter. There
was so much to be done in the way of preparing shelter and
essential supplies for the families in those early years of the
settlement, that it is hardly to be wondered at that a meeting
house was not provided at an earlier date.
The exiles from England recognized as an early require
ment of their community life, a place of worship. It must
of necessity have been plain and rude, since they had no
resources to make it otherwise. Nor was it an innovation
upon their custom to worship in buildings differing widely
from the substantial and beautiful parish churches of the
homeland. As Separatists from the Establishment they
had been obliged to put up with such shelter as their slender
means could command, and indeed, these more humble struc
tures, plain and bare, were in accord with their passionate
protest against the elaborate system of symbol and ritual
of the church which, to their minds, was hardly less obnoxious
than the scarlet woman of Rome herself.
When the Pilgrims reached Plymouth, they arranged as
soon as possible to use as the meeting place for worship on
the Sabbath, "a timber fort both strong and comely, with
flat roof and battlements," as Gov. Bradford teUs us in his
history. This served them as a place of worship for thirty
years. The fort and the meeting house thus united, provided
for two needs of essential importance to every Puritan com
munity in the new land, — protection from savage depreda
tion, and a place for the cultivation and expression of their
religious life, life without religion being not worth preserving.
The very earliest vote extant in the town archives relative
to this matter was taken at a meeting of proprietors "at
Waranoco, the 21th Jany 1668 article 6. It is voted that the
meeting house be sett on the ffort side." Thus it came about
that the building was erected very near to the old Indian
fort, at the confluence of Great River and Little River, near

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 141
the present iron bridge, another instance of the union of a
place of defense and a place of worship. The spot was marked
by a stone monument several years ago, though the contiguous
land has been considerably changed from the early days by
the changed courses of the rivers, the channel of the Great
River being farther south than it- used to be, and that of the
Little River being farther west. Part of the tongue of land
which defined them has been washed away.
Some thirty years ago there was a dim record on a tattered
leaf which has since been lost. It was then barely legible
and, as weU, barely intelligible, and undated. Its confused
and perplexing statement was as follows:
"Whereas there has been some difficulty about the former
vote about the standing of the meeting house upon the hiU,
after debating in the town came to vote of the town to lott,
that the friend one of God should determine it, and after
solemn looking to God the lots were drawn, the lot came
forth for the place before goodman Phelps or goodman Gunns
if Mr Taylor se cause."
If George Phelps were intended it was the first lot west
of Little River, part of which has since been washed away.
Next west of it was the minister's lot, originally John Hol-
yoke's, then Moses Fiske's, then Mr. Taylor's, and the next
on the west was Thomas Gunn's, all on the south side of the
highway. No farther action of the town is recorded respecting this
important matter, but we learn of a peculiarity of its con
struction from the records of the church at West Springfield,
built in 1702; a description of that neighboring meeting house
indicates that the floor was placed below the framework of
the sills, on sleepers which rested on piers. The floor, there
fore, was so low, being at the bottom of the sills, as to make
it necessary for every one entering the house to step over
the sill down to the floor, which must have been exceedingly
awkward. The account says that Westfield meeting house
was built on a similar plan "which was a stumbling block to
many." The Hatfield meeting house was built, probably, in 1671,
though the records do not make the date quite certain. On
the summit of its roof, which was pyramidal in shape, the

142 Westfield and its Historic Influences
house being square, was a turret which was utilized as a watch
tower during some of the Indian troubles. Whether the
Westfield building possessed a simUar feature cannot be known
absolutely. Where the people met for worship during the years pre
ceding the completion of the meeting house is an interest
ing question. Mr. Bartlett in an article published in the
Westfield Times and News Letter, August 28, 1901, says
that the house of George Sexton was utilized for this pur
pose. It was the first house in Westfield, and was buUt in
1660, on the west side of the road to Windsor, the present
north and south Little River Street, not far south of the road
to Springfield. It stood not far from the old Ingersol house.
His son Benjamin was the first child born in Westfield, who
lived to be 87 years old, and his funeral was attended by the
Rev. John Ballantine in April, 1754. A hundred years later
the old house was once again used for religious meetings,
then by the Separates, as they were called, who had come
out from the established Congregational church, and stood
for a stricter interpretation of doctrine and practice than the
popular habit of the period approved.
In 1675 the General Court enacted "that a meeting house
should be erected in every town in the colony," and if the
people failed to do so at once, the magistrates were empowered
to build it and to charge the cost of its erection to the town.
Two years later, in 1677, the General Court made arrange
ments for a consolidation of the inhabitants of Westfield,
they who lived near "the meeting house," breaking their
lots, to aUow those outside the fortification to come within
it, showing that at that date a meeting house was standing.
In December, 1672, the vote already quoted was taken
relative to building a meeting house like that in Hatfield,
and there is no more definite mention of the matter in the town
records, and, strange as it may seem, Mr. Taylor makes no
reference in any way to the meeting house, in the elaborate
account which he gives of the beginnings of settlement and
the organization of the church. It is fair to conclude that
the important task was completed about 1673.
Town Records:
"June 11, 1676. Voted that Lietenant Mosly Sergant

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 143
bancroft & Josiah Dewey shall apoint persons where they
shaU sit in the meeting house voted that the townsmen shall
endever to get a man to record mens land in the towns."
In January, 1678-9, Lieut. Moseley, Serg. Bancroft and
Josiah Dewey were appointed to seat people in the meeting
house: seats to be paid by the town for those who did not
pay for themselves.
A house for the shelter of the minister was provided several
years earher. In January, 16@8, more than a year before the
town was formaUy organized it having been voted unanimously
to urge Mr. Fiske to continue his labors, the following vote
was added: "It is agreed unanimously to disburse 40 lb in
bunding a house for the ministers incouragement wch shall
be paid in such maner as may be to best advantage." In
March, 1678, it was voted "to give Walter Lee 15 shillings
upon the account of the loss of time when he was a bought
Mr Taylors chimbleys, provided that he deliver up the bills,"
meaning, undoubtedly, give a receipt for the amount in an
itemized biU.
The same year a vote was recorded which, though quaint
in phrasing, is full of considerate courtesy toward the young
couple at the parsonage.
"It was voted that Lieut. Mosely & Isaac Phelps they
are to take care about Mr. Taylors hay & corn in hay time
& harvest for the gathering of it in and the town are to spin
Mrs. Taylor a day's work apiece in haytime & harvest &
they are to have a day or two to said warning."
Mr. Taylor's stipend varied during the early years, rang
ing from £50 to £80. In 1686 it was the larger of the two
sums and again in the following year. In 1691, however,
it was reduced to £60, and in the foUowing year £80 was
the sum voted, but with an added request that he would
abate £10 thereof. It was an original way of sugar coat
ing a demand for a rebate. Mr. Taylor could not fall back
upon any Interstate Commerce law as a justification for a
refusal to submit to the hard exaction, though what course
he pursued is not suggested by the records.
The steady growth of the town, in spite of the ravages
and hardships of two wars already endured and the menace
of a third about to begin, is indicated by the fact that the

144 Westfield and its Historic Influences
meeting house could not accommodate all the people who
desired to worship there, for in May, 1703, it was "voted to
build Gallereys on each side of ye meeting house, allso att
the same meeting Nathl Bancroft Joseph Mawdsley & Stephan
Kellogg were chosen to be a Committey for to agree with
a man or men to carry on said worke to effect.
"also voted that all persons that have seats in the meet
ing house that have nott paid for them ye Towne votted
that they should pay for them."
In December of the same year still farther changes were
decided upon which must have altered greatly the appearance
of the interior.
It was first voted "that there should be a new seating
in ye meeting house.
"Also voted that those antiant Inhabitants which are
now in Towne which paid 5 s a seat should have paid to them
again 1 s. 6 d. a piece out of ye next Town Rate which shall
be made. "Also voted to build pews in ye meeting house where
ye plank seats now stand.
"That the fore pewe to be in Dignity between ye fore
seat in ye body & ye Table. And ye second pewe to be in
Dignity between ye first & second seat in ye body.
"And ye fore GaUerey is accounted to be in Dignity between
ye 3rd & 4th in ye body.
"And ye 2nd seat in ye fore GaUerey to be in dignity
between ye 5th & 6th seat in ye body.
"And ye AUey seat in ye GaUery to be in Dignity with
the 6th seat in ye body.
"And ye 2nd seat in ye side GaUery to be in Dignity between
ye 6th and 7th seat in ye body.
"That Capt. Phelps, Lieut. Root, Nathl Bancroft, Saml
Ashely & Thomas Noble are to seat persons in ye meeting
house. "Also it was agreed that the vote made May 10th respect
ing persons paying for seats in ye meeting house should be
null & of no effect."
Even when the only seats were hewn planks raised on
legs with no support for the back, the matter of dignity was
carefully observed.

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 145
But when galleries and pews were added the task of
"dignifying the meeting house" became one of great com
plexity and delicacy, and was subject to frequent revision.
The grounds of precedence were as well established and
the necessity of observing them was as inexorable as they
are in the ceremonials incident to a modern Coronation in
Russia or England.
In 1688 "The Town agreed with Lt. Saml Loomis to sweep
the meeting house & to open & shut the doors when need
ful for which he is to have 20 shiUings a year."
How long he continued to act as janitor we cannot ascer
tain, but long afterward, April 19, 1716, a vote is recorded
which casts some reflection upon the tidiness of the person
who had then been acting in that capacity:
"The Selectmen have agreed with the Widow WiUiams
to sweep the meeting house from this time until the last of
March next & then to leave it clean swept & she is by this
agreement to have for her service either 20 shillings in money,
or in grain at Town prices one quarter which makes her due
to bee 26s. 8 d."
In 1689, "Walter Lee, Samuel Fowler and the Sergt. of
the Garde are appoynted to take care of the children and
youths on the Saboth to se that they atend and keep their
places and behave themselves seamly both before and in the
time of exercise."
Many years earlier it became necessary in Springfield
to provide restraints for children who even in that early period
had in them the spirit of play, and, perhaps, of mischief.
"At a meeting of the Select men ffebr. 22th 1663 vizt
Deacon Chapin Nathaneell Ely George Colton Rowland
Thomas & Elizur Holyoke
"The Select men considering the great damage done to
ye glas windows of ye meeting house by chUdrens playing
about y meeting house. They doe order yt if any persons
children or others shalbe found playing at any sports about
ye meeting whereby ye glass windows yr of may be endam
aged Such persons shalbe liable to a fine of 12d apeece for
each tyme they shalbe found soe playing, wch fine is to be
paid wthin 3 days after such default: & if the Governors
of any youth yt Soe offend shall refuse to pay the said fyne

146 Westfield and its Historic Influences
such youths shalbe liable to be whipt by the Constable before
3 or more of ye Select men who shall determine ye number
of stripes to be inflicted & if any other persons Soe offending
shall refuse to pay ye sayd fine as aforesaid they shalbe liable
to ye like punishmet as aforesaid & all such fines shall goe
one halfe to ye Informrs & ye other halfe to ye Select men
for the use of the Towne in bearing publik charges."
Trouble with the boys did not cease altogether with pass
ing years as may be readily believed, judging the past by
the present.
At the regular Westfield March meeting in 1718, after
the choice of town officers, it was voted:
"That the Tithing men shall have full power to take
especial care that all disorders in the meeting house especiaUy
on the Sabbath Day are * * * & to give such correction
that they shall think fit unto the boys to keep them in order."
In 1722 "It was voted that in case any persons were dis
orderly upon the sabbath day in the Public worship & so
made to appear, should be put in the stocks the Munday
following & that the Tithing men shall take the care that
the mater bee prosecuted to effect."
The town officers of those days were intent upon the
execution of their mandates and upon securing respect for
their authority. Responsibility sat heavily upon them and
none was to imagine that they bore the rod in vain. Rever
ence was then a legal obligation.
The physical vigor of Mr. Taylor is remarkable. With
all the work which he accomplished as minister of the town,
besides that which was involved in the cultivation of his farm
land, and in the making of many books for his library, in addi
tion to that of his various writings and his public obligations, in
spite of it all, there is no hint of the failure of his natural force
until he had nearly rounded out his fourscore years. In
the summer of 1721 he had help from Mr. Benjamin Lord,
who had married Mr. Taylor's daughter Ann in the previous
year and became the eminent minister of Norwich, Conn.
In October, 1721, Mr. Lord was voted "3 Pounds of the bank
money for his help" during the season past.

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 147
Early in 1722, Deacon Noble and Capt. Ashley were
appointed "to go and discourse with" him concerning the
selection of a colleague.
"At the same meeting Dea. Th. Noble was chosen as a
messenger to go in the towns behalf to give Mr. Brown [of
New Haven] a caU, and also voted to give Th. Ashley five
or six shillings to encourage him to go and accompany Deacon
Noble in his journey."
The quest was evidently vain, since negotiations were
opened in April foUowing, 1723, with Mr. Isaac Stiles "to
keep ye school for ye year ensewing & to assist Mr. Taylor
in the ministry in order to a settlement amongst us."
Daniel Bagg, Deacon Ashley and John Shepard were
appointed a committee to treat with both Mr. Stiles and
Mr. Taylor concerning the plan, and at an adjourned meet
ing £50 were voted to him for a year's work and a propor
tional part for less. On June 1, Mr. Stiles married Keziah,
daughter of Mr. Taylor, and two days later the town voted,
"to alow the Rev. Mr. Taylor help in carrying on the work
of the ministry."
In August Mr. Stiles was voted £100 annual salary when
he should undertake the whole work of the ministry, though
sundry persons entered upon the record a formal dissent
from that vote, for reasons not given. They were John Phelps,
John Shepard, Sam'l Fowler, Jr., David Ashley, Jr., John
Moseley, John Bancroft, Nath'l Bancroft, Jr., Joseph Root,
Jonathan Fowler, Hanford Old, Isaac Phelps. They formed
a very respectable minority as regards number and stand
ing, so that it is the more exasperating to have had them
leave the ground of their disaffection a matter of uncertainty.
The answer which Mr. Stiles rendered to the proposal
of the town was adequately safeguarded :
"Gentlemen: Upon mature deliberation & Good Advice
I have thought fit & advisable to accept your call at present
with this proviso — that there arise no sufficient discourage
ment, which if there should I shall then look upon myself
as free from any obligation to you."
Such hypothetical acceptance of a caU in these modern
days would hardly be considered a sufficient basis of a contract
between pastor and people. That Mr. Stiles did not at once

148 Westfield and its Historic Influences
enter upon his dual duties is evident from the following action
taken in the succeeding spring, March 10, 1724 :
"Voted, to give Mr. Stiles a caU into the school in order
to setle him in the ministry & to give Mr. Stfles 50£ for keep
ing the school one year that is to say the 3 summer months,
he shall be obliged onley for keeping the Latin schoolers &
that 3 months to preach half the time & the other part of
the year as to the preaching shall be left wholey to the Rev.
Mr. Taylor & Mr. Stiles, and if he preacheth half of the time,
he shall have Friday & Saturday, out of every weke for to
prepare to preach & when Mr Stiles doth not preach the one
half, then to atend the school every day in the week & ye
year shall begin on the 1st day of April 1724.
"Also voated to give Mr Isaac Stiles 100£ a year when
he shall take upon him the whole work of the ministry.
"Also voated that Deacon Ashley shaU go down to New
Haven to Mr StUes & treat with Mr Stiles & to lay ye Town
proposal before him & to recieve his answer & to make report
to ye town again."
Disappointment seems again to have followed, as in the
case of Mr. Brown. Mr. Stiles settled in North Haven and
became the Father of the renowned President Stiles of Yale
CoUege. In Feb., 1725, it was voted to allow Mr. Bull the
same terms as those which failed to secure Mr. Stiles, and
apparently he began about that time to act as schoolmaster
and assistant to Mr. Taylor.
"Apr. 1, 1726. Deacon Noble, Deacon Taylor & Capt.
Dewey were chosen a Comitey to go to Mr. Taylor and dis
course with him to se whether he be willing to lay down
preaching." Mr. Bull was ordained as associate minister October 26
following. The last vote respecting Mr. Taylor which appears upon
the town records was taken December 27, 1728, when it was
agreed "to rais 10£ for Ms Hitable Taylor to inable her to
provide help to tend Mr. Taylor," a most considerate act
to meet a most pathetic condition.
He never fully recovered his health after a severe illness
which prostrated him a few years before his death, though

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 149
during his long life previously he had been a man of exceptional
vigor. The divine caU to rest from his labors reached him
June 24, 1729, fifty-seven and a half years after he had made
that perilous winter journey from the Bay to become shepherd
of the feeble flock upon the frontier of the Colony.
He was buried in the old cemetery where his tombstone
stiU stands bearing the quaint and appreciative inscription:
"Here reste ye body of ye Rev'd Mr Edward Taylor ye
aged, Venerable, Learned & Pious Pastor of ye church of
Christ in this town, who after he had served God & his genera
tion faithfully for many years fell asleep June 24, 1729 in ye
87 year of his age."
A communication from Westfield in the Boston News
Letter speaking of his death adds: "And what a rich bless
ing God sent us in him almost Fifty eight Years Experience
has taught us * * * He was eminently holy in his Life, and
very painful and laborious in his Work tiU the Infirmities of
a great old age disabled him : and continued to have the sole
Oversight of this Flock till October 26, 1726, when the Rev.
Mr. BuU was ordain'd among us: in which solemn Action he
bore his Part." After that event "he declin'd preaching pub-
Uckly, tho' always before very loth to be prevented on any
account. And when about two or three Months after, he
was by much Intreaty prevaUed on (the only Time he was
so) he did as it were preach his own Funeral Sermon, from
Zechariah i. 5. Your fathers, where are they? and the
prophets do they live forever?" Respecting those days of
decrepitude, Judge Sewall writes under date of 18 April,
1728, a year before Mr. Taylor's departure:
"The Rev. Mr. Taylor of Westfield sits in his great Chair,
and canot walk from thence to his Bed without suport. He
is longing and waiting for his Dismission."
It was later in the same year that the town voted 10£
to his daughter Mehitable to help provide for his care, as
noted above. His long life bridged many momentous events
and epochs of English history. Born under Charles I, it
included the period of the Commonwealth and CromweU as
Lord Protector, and the reigns respectively of Charles II,
James II, William and Mary, Queen Anne, George I, and
the first two years of George II. Critical times were they

150 Westfield and its Historic Influences
in the experience of the Colonies, struggling on the one hand
against tyranny from oversea, and on the other, for the pres
ervation of life and property against the menace of savage
foes and their French allies. It was not until more than a
quarter of a century after Mr. Taylor's death that the home
conflict was finaUy settled and the English supremacy was
permanently established.
A brief sketch of his Grandfather, which we wish might
have been far more elaborate, was made by President Stiles,
who says:
"My Mother was the daughter of the Rev. Edward Taylor,
A.M. Pastor of the Congregational Church in Westfield, in
Massachusetts. He was an exceUent classical scholar, being
master of the three learned languages and every way a very
learned man. * * *
"The greater part of grandfather's library descended
to me, but did not entirely come into my hands till after the
death of my father, Rev. Isaac Stiles * * * Characteristic
anecdotes, very curious in botany, minerals and natural history.
He was an incessant student, but used no spectacle glasses
to his death. I have a manuscript folio of six hundred pages,
his commentary upon the Evangelists. He was a vigorous
advocate for Oliver Cromwell, civil and religious liberty.
A Congregationalist in opposition to Presbyterian church
discipline. He was physician for the town all his life. He
concerned himself little about domestic and secular affairs.
Attended to all the public state of the provinces and Parlia
ment; greatly detested King James, Sir Edmund Andross
and Randolph: gloried in King William and the Revolution
of 1688: felt for the dissenters in all their apprehension in
Queen Anne's reign, and triumphed in the House of Hanover.
He had a steady correspondence with Judge Sewall of Boston,
who duly communicated to him all the transactions of the
Assembly and occurrences in the nation.
"A man of small stature, but firm; of quick passions,
yet serious and grave. Exemplary in piety, and for a very
sacred observance of the Lord's Day."
Mr. Taylor was indefatigable and tireless in the use of
his pen, to an almost incredible degree. A large part of his

The Pilgrim Pastor and His Meeting House 151
library, a catalogue of which, as furnished by a testamentary
inventory of his estate, is given in the Appendix, was the fruit
of his prodigious industry in this respect. According to tradi
tion, he left no less than a hundred volumes which he had
transcribed and bound with his own hands. Two such speci
mens of his industry and handicraft are owned by the West-
field Atheneum, presented by one of his descendants, July,
1897, Dr. Oliver Brewster Taylor, of Manchester Green, Conn.
One of them, bound in hogskin parchment, is, "Origen
against Celsus" of about 500 pages. The other is "An Extract
of the Council of Trent which was set forth at large by Petro
Soane Polano, containing eight books, holding forth the Ordi
nary Acts of ye Council," &c.
"London, Printed by Bonham Norton & John Bill, Printers
to ye Kings most excellent Majestic 1629"
Many of the books which he thus transcribed were loaned
him for the purpose by his intimate friend and college class
mate, Judge Samuel SewaU of Boston, who made many refer
ences to him in his justly famous Diary and his less familiar
Letters. They are not devoid of interest as throwing side
lights upon the life and character of the great personality
of Westfield's Pilgrim Pastor.
"Aug. 20, 1685. Mr. Edw. Taylor lodges here this night,
he hastened to Town against Lecture day that so he might
see Mr. Adams among the Ministers after Lecture; but com
ing, found me gone to his Funeral."
That was the Rev. WUliam Adams of Roxbury.
"Sabbath Octr 17, 1686. Mr. Edward Taylor preaches
in the Forenoon."
"June 2, 1691. Mr. Edward Taylor puts his son James
to Mr. Steward, Shopkeeper of Ipswich, for Seven years, to
serve him as an aprentice. Term to begin the first of July
next, Mr. Taylor desires me to represent himself in making
the Indenture if Mr. Steward desires the accomplishment of
it before he comes down again."
"Wed. Mar. 22, 1693.
"Our Kitchen chimney fell on fire about noon and blazed
out sorely at top, appeared to be very foul: the fire fell on

152 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the shingles so that they began to burn in several places,
being very dry: but by the good Providence of God, no harm
done. Mr. Fisk was with us and we sat merrily to dinner
on the good Westfield pork that was snatched from the fire
on this Occasion."
When Mr. Taylor made his final visit to Boston there is
no means of ascertaining.

CHAPTER VIII.
The Pilgrim Pastor's Home and Family
The preceding chapter has dealt chiefly with the public
life of the Pflgrim pastor during the early struggles of the
town. He was for so many years so closely identified with
its affairs, and they in turn were so intimately associated with
his experiences, that neither can be considered independently
of the other. The church was an essential and prominent
feature of the life of the town and the attempt has been made
to show how largely he was instrumental in bringing it into
existence and shaping the first half-century of its progress.
A less talented and vigorous personality than his would have
met with less remarkable success than that which crowned
his long and devoted ministry. During it he received into
the church nearly two hundred people, and baptized nearly
seven hundred children though none but those, one or both
of whose parents were church members, were eligible to the
rite. The organization had grown during his pastorate
from infancy to maturity. So notable a public man pro
vokes curiosity respecting his private, home life. But here
again, as in the public life of Mr. Taylor, the data which are
the condition of acquaintance, are far too meager, but such
as have come down to us are full of interest. It is not easy,
at this remote day, to think of him as a young man, with
the making of a home before him. He was for so long a period,
to his people and the province, the "Aged, Venerable & Pious
Pastor," as described in his epitaph, that it is natural for us
to picture him, either in the maturity of his powers, or as
having passed beyond it.
But it was as a young man that he left his home in the old
country, and as a young man that he assumed his pastorate
in the wflderness without a ministerial brother on the West
nearer than the Hudson River. One cannot take a sym
pathetic view of this young christian hero without being
moved by the pathos of his condition.
However humble may have been his home in England,

154 Westfield and its Historic Influences
though we know absolutely nothing respecting it, we do know
that it was in the midst of an old civilization, while here he
was surrounded by the crudities and asperities of the frontier.
Springfield, the mother-town and nearest neighbor, was but
a hamlet, and Boston, the capitol, was but a small town.
Mr. Taylor was farther removed in time-distance from home
and family than a foreign missionary today, at hardly any
point of the earth's surface, would be from his home. The
voyage across the tempestuous Atlantic in that period of
rude and small safling craft was terrible in respect of danger,
duration and discomfort, his own having consumed, as
already noted, no less than seventy days. He was but
twenty-six years old when making that perilous and lone
some journey; and was twenty-nine years old when assuming
the pastoral care of the community, never again to see his
native land, or his family and friends left there when starting
hither. There is nothing to indicate that a single relative
of his was on this side of the sea to greet him, or came over
afterward to cheer his heart and become acquainted with
its later garnered treasures.
What strain upon his spirit must that long experience
of absence from familiar scenes and dear people have caused,
especially in its early years, before new ties could have grown
deep and strong!
One has written, somewhat recently, with great tender
ness and considerateness, of the "Homesickness of the Fathers,"
as shown by the way in which they perpetuated the old coun
try names of towns in the settlement of New England in each
of its several States. Two nearby instances are found respec
tively in Springfield and Northampton.
It was shown also by the eagerness with which they called
the first red-breasted bird which they chanced upon, a robin,
though so different from the English bird of that name. The
bright yellow flower which gleams in spring in moist places,
they called after the yellow cowslip of the homeland though
ours is really the marsh marigold. And because the white
flowers of the trailing arbutus suggested the very different
bloom of the hawthorne hedge, or May, they caUed it the
Mayflower. These illustrations of feeling for inanimate objects were

The Pilgrim Pastor's Home and Family 155
but evidences and symbols of the deeper feelings which yearned
fondly for beloved people in the distant homeland.
Braving the pangs of homesickness which few of his people
could share with him, the great majority of them having been
born in New England, the young minister of Westfield car
ried on his work in patient earnestness. That his was a sensi
tive spirit, easily subject to emotional excitement, his brief
Diary shows. The strength and tenderness of his early home
ties are also clearly suggested by references to a brother
Joseph in his Diary, and to parents and a sister in his "Rela
tion," given when the church was organized.
He had the privilege, shared by his parishioners, of mak
ing a home for coming years, though never again was he to
know the shelter of the rooftree of his childhood in England.
The parsonage which had been occupied by Mr. Fisk and
awaited Mr. Taylor's coming, would have been a cheerless
place for the lone man to occupy and hence, "he settled in
quarters" at Mr. Whiting's as his Diary records. Very prob
ably he remained there until ready to establish a home in
proper fashion.
What that original parsonage was like in size and form
we can know, not certainly, but only probably, concluding
that it was one of the common type of that day. It must
have been small and rude as first fashioned, in keeping with
the poverty and feebleness of the infant settlement. Even
though the people may have thought that the best was none
too good for the minister, yet their best was very primitive
and simple. There was at that period a great scarcity of
lumber and hardware for building purposes. Timber was
plenty enough, but the facilities for preparing and finishing
it for use were very limited. It is not unlikely that the
first parsonage was built of logs, perhaps unhewn, and con
tained but few rooms. During the half-century that Mr.
Taylor occupied it there was time, and there certainly was
necessity, for its enlargement. From the Inventory of his
estate we learn that, at the time of his death, it contained
a study and a parlor besides several other rooms, and the
family life which they sheltered hallowed their every feature,
nook, and cranny.
Caulkins, in his history of Norwich, Conn., says that

156 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Mr. Taylor studied for a while under the Rev. Mr. Fitch of
Norwich. Mr. Taylor makes no reference to that episode
in his educational career in the Diary which covers the period
at which it must have occurred. Had he been able to fore
cast the important bearing which it was destined to have on
his home life, he doubtless would have made at least brief
mention of the fact that he was for a time a student in that
Connecticut parsonage. At any rate, it played a signifi
cant part in the drama of his life. We have indisputable
evidence that about three years after his arrival in Westfield
his mind and heart were turned thither with absorbing inter
est shown by a well-known letter of his, bearing date of 8 day
of the 7 month, 1674, and is addressed to "my friend and
only beloved Miss Elizabeth Fitch at her father's house in
Norwich." It has been aptly called, "A Model Love Let
ter." The Rev. James Fitch was one of the original pro
prietors, and the first clergyman settled in the town of Nor
wich, and it was therefore with poetic justice that the first
settled clergyman in the town of an adjoining Colony should
woo his daughter.
The original of the Letter, a copy of which follows here
with, was intrusted many years since to the care of the Con
necticut Historical Society in Hartford though an effort to
discover it, subsequently made, proved futile. It is to be
hoped that so important a document may not continue to
be so safely laid away as to defy aU attempts to unearth it.
Whether or not that hoped-for result may eventuate, we may
feel complacent over the possession of a weU attested copy
of this quaint missive.
"Westfield, Mass., 8th day of the 7th month, 1674.
"My Dove: — I send you not my heart, for that I hope is
sent to Heaven long since, and unless it has awfully deceived
me it hath not taken up its lodgings in any one's bosom on
this side of the royal city of the Great King; but yet the
most of it that is allowed to be layed out upon any creature
doth safely and singly fall to your share. So much my post
pigeon presents you with here in these lines. Look not (I
entreat you) on it as one of love's hyperboles. If I borrow
the beams of some sparkling metaphor to illustrate my respects

The Pilgrim Pastor's Home and Family 157
unto thyself by, for you having made my breast the cabinet
of your affections as I yours mine, I know not how to offer
a fitter comparison to set out my love by, than to compare
it unto a golden baU of pure fire rolling up and down my breast,
from which there flies now and then a spark like a glorious
beam from the body of the flaming sun. But alas! striving
to catch these sparks into a love letter unto yourself, and
to gild it with them as with a sun beam, find, that by what
time they have faUen through my pen upon my paper, they
have lost their shine and faU only like a little smoke thereon
instead of gilding them. Wherefore, finding myself so much
deceived, I am ready to begrudge my instruments, for though
my love within my breast is so large that my heart is not
sufficient to contain it, yet they can make it no more room
to ride into, than to squeeze it up betwixt my black ink and
white paper. But know that it is the coarsest part that is
couchant there, for the finest is too fine to clothe in any lin
guist and huswifry, or to be expressed in words, and though
this letter bears but the coarsest part to you, yet the purest
is improved for you. But now, my dear love, lest my letter
should be judged the lavish language of a lover's pen, I shaU
endeavor to show that conjugal love ought to exceed all other
love. 1st, appears from that which it represents, viz.: The
respect there is betwixt Christ and his church, Eph. 5th, 25th,
although it differs from that in kind; for that is spiritual
and this human, and in degree, that is boundless and tran
scendent, this Umited and subordinate; yet it holds out that
this should be cordial and with respect to all other transcendent.
2d, Because conjugal love is the ground of conjugal union,
or conjugal sharing the effects of this love, is also a ground
of this union. 3d, From those Christian duties which are
incumbent on persons in this state as not only a serving God
together, a praying together, a joining in the ruling and
instructing their family together, which could not be carried
on as it should be without a great degree of true love, and
also a mutual giving each other to each other, a mutual suc
coring each other in all states, ails, grievances; and how can
this be when there is not a love exceeding all other love to
any creature? And hereby if persons in this state have not
love exceeding all love, it's with them for the most part as

158 Westfield and its Historic Influences
with the strings of an instrument not tuned up, when struck
upon makes but a jarring, harsh sound. But when we get
the wires of an instrument equally drawn up, and rightly
struck upon, sound together, make sweet music whose harmony
doth enravish the ear; so when the golden strings of true
affection are struck up into a right conjugal love, thus sweetly
doth this state then harmonize to the comfort of each other
and to the glory of God when sanctified. But yet, the con
jugal love must exceed all other, yet it must be kept within
bounds, for it must be subordinate to God's glory; the which
that mine may be so, it having got you in its heart, doth offer
my heart with you in it as a more rich sacrifice into God
through Christ, and so it subscribeth me,
Your true love till death,
EDWARD TAYLOR.
This for my friend and only beloved
MISS ELIZABETH FITCH,
at her father's house in Norwich."
His reference to the gentle bird by whose name he
addresses his betrothed was made realistic in the original
draft by an illustration which is reproduced in Caulkins'
History. It suggests a dove, the beauty of which is some
what marred by a total absence of feathers, they having been
sacrificed in order to admit of the following couplet being
stretched along the whole length of the ornithological curi
osity, bearing a stalk with a few leaves in its biU, —
"This dove and olive branch to you
Is both a post and an emblem too."
Soon after this curious blending of romance and theology
was dispatched on its amatory mission the two lives were
legally united and began in the new home what there is every
reason to believe was an experience of rich conjugal felicity.
The marriage occurred November 5, 1674.
During the fifteen years that Mrs. Taylor was spared to
preside over their home, eight children were welcomed into
it, only three of whom reached their majority. Samuel, born
August 27, 1675, took to wife, January 5, 1704, Margaret, the
daughter of John Moseley, one of the Foundation Men. The

The Pilgrim Pastor's Home and Family 159
second child, Elizabeth, named for her Mother, was born
December 27, 1676, and died February 5, 1683. James was
born October 12, 1678. As a youth he left the frontier home
to attempt a career in the far distant Bay. Two significant
entries respecting him are found in Judge Sewall's Diary,
the one already quoted in the preceding Chapter, relative
to his being apprenticed in 1691, when he was thirteen years
old, to Mr. Steward of Ipswich, the other, which here fol
lows, relative to his tragic death in a foreign land. In Sewall's
Letters he speaks of having written "To Mr. Edward Taylor
of Westfield, Mar. 14, 15, 1701, giving him an account that
Mr. James Taylor, his Son, arrived at Barbados, the 18th
January; about a week after, Fell sick of a Fever, died Janr
30, was buried the last of January.
"My wife and I more than sympathize with you, the Loss
is partly our own. Lost two thirds of his horses, most he
carried, came to a bad Martket. * * * Enclosed Mr. Wil-
lards Sermon against Swearing preached the day of Mr. Tay
lors death; might partly asswage his grief. Enclosed my
verses for opening the New Century."
From this absurd hodge-podge of commercialism, con
dolence, blundering stupidity and egotism, we may gather
the inference that this son, after having perhaps completed
the term of his apprenticeship with the Ipswich merchant,
attempted an enterprise on his own account which resulted
thus disastrously. The loss of this son was the more harrow
ing because before it occurred death had been so frequent
a visitor in the Westfield parsonage, as will appear. Abigail,
the fourth child, born August 6, 1681, did not live to com
plete her fourth year, having died July 26, 1685.
EHzabeth, born February 5, 1685, died the 25th of the
foUowing December.
Mary, born July 3, 1686, died May 15, 1687.
Hezekiah, born February 18, 1688, died March 3, 1689.
Only a few months later, July 7, 1689, the Mother, who
as a bride fifteen years earlier was reputed to have been a
beautiful and accomplished lady, and whose character must
have been matured and chastened by the varied experiences

160 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of home life as wife and mother, was taken from her sphere
of useful and devoted service. At that time there were left
to comfort the stricken husband and Father, only three chil
dren out of the eight who had been bestowed upon him, Samuel
the firstborn, then fourteen years old, James, then nearly
eleven years old, and one daughter, Bathshua, the fifth child,
born January 17, 1684, hence then five years old. She was
married, two years before her brother Samuel, in 1702, to
Col. John Pynchon, son of John and Margaret (Hubbard)
Pynchon, who entered Harvard and was there two years
when his Grandfather took him away and procured for him
the office of Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas and Court
of Sessions at Springfield. He was afterward made County
Register. He lived for some years with his Grandfather,
who was first Justice of the Court.
Children— Elizabeth, b. Dec. 27, 1702, d. Sept. 6, 1776,
married Benjamin Colton.
William, b. Nov. 11, 1703, d. Jan. 11, 1783, m. Sarah Bliss.
John and Joseph, John d. Apr. 6, 1754.
Mary, b. Oct. 10, 1706, married Brig. Gen. Dwight.
Bathshua, b. Jan. 11, 1708, m. Robert Harris, Feb. 18, 1730,
d. 1760. Bathshua, the Mother, died in June, 1710.
By the marriage of Bathshua, in 1702, the Taylor family
became allied with the most prominent and influential family
of the upper Connecticut Valley. By the marriage of Samuel
to Margaret Moseley, two years later, it became aUied with
one of the most prominent and influential families of West-
field, which was destined to maintain its leadership through
many successive generations. In the case of Samuel and
Margaret the pathetic experience of the Taylor family was
still farther exemplified. Within five years of their marriage
both died, she September 7, 1708, and he April 8, 1709; mean
while three of their children had died within two weeks after
their birth. Their first child, Elizabeth, born November
7, 1705, survived them and was received into the parsonage
for shelter and nurture, though six children of her Grandfather's
second marriage had already been gathered there.
Judge Henry Wyllys Taylor, late of Canandaigua, N. Y.,

The Pilgrim Pastor's Home and Family 161
said in relation to her, "In my early youth the traditions
of Elizabeth were clear and bright. According to tradition
she was an extraordinarily gifted and lovely girl." She
married Rev. Peter Reynolds of Enfield. In 1692, bereft
of his wife and five of his eight children, the lonely
and stricken minister in the Westfield parsonage, married
Ruth WyUys of Hartford. In a most curious and interest
ing way her life linked that Westfield home and the Taylor
family, both through her ancestors and her descendants,
with the adjoining Colony of Connecticut.
Her two Grandfathers were its Governors. Her Mother's
Father was John Haynes, who in 1635 was Governor of Massa
chusetts, and who the following year, according to Bancroft,
was the leader of the Rev. Thomas Hooker's party through
the forests of Massachusetts to found what became the city
of Hartford, the same year that William Pynchon led his
party to found Springfield on the same noble river. Haynes
was made the first Governor of Connecticut. This notable
man came to the Bay in 1633 and married for his second wife
Mabel Harlakenden, who had come from a luxurious home
in England and who was descended from noble ancestors.
Their daughter Ruth married Samuel, the son of Gov. George
Wyllys. The Governor's daughter, Amy, in 1645, as already
noted, became the wife of John Pynchon. Thus, John Pyn
chon was the husband of Mrs. Ruth Wyllys Taylor's aunt.
The home of Gov. Wyllys, famous for its situation and
elegance, was known far and wide as the "Wyllys Place."
It descended to his son, and there the daughter Ruth spent
her early days until the time of her marriage to Mr. Taylor.
An old oak in front of it, under which Ruth and the other
children of the family played, was destined to become the
most celebrated tree in America, the "Charter Oak." The
thriUing incident of Connecticut history which was the occa
sion of its name and fame, is familiar.
In the autumn of 1687, five years before Ruth's marriage,
Andros with a train of Massachusetts magnates and a com
pany of soldiers, marched into Hartford and demanded the
Charter of the Colony. The Council met in the church not
far from the WyUys home to debate the matter. Hour after
hour passed and darkness began to settle down over the excited

162 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Assembly. Candles were brought in and placed on the table
upon which lay the precious Charter. Suddenly they were
extinguished and in the consequent confusion and gloom,
some hand grasped the document and when the candles were
relighted it could not be found. According to tradition fondly
cherished, it was hidden in the old oak in front of Ruth's
home, which for twenty months kept its secret inviolably
until after the Revolution in England the following year,
and the consequent downfall of the detested Andros had
been consummated. In May, 1689, the charter was taken
from its bosom, the government was restored and Ruth's
Father, Hon. Samuel Wyllys, resumed his place in the Legis
lature, which he kept for six years longer, added to the thirty
during which he had already served.
It may not be uninteresting to pause a moment longer
to review the remarkable official history of this family.
In 1711, Hezekiah Wyllys, Ruth's only brother, was elected
Secretary of State, and continued to hold the office untfi his
death, twenty-three years later. His immediate successor
in the office was his own son George, who was annually elected
to the office until his death sixty-one years later, and, in turn,
he was succeeded by his son, Gen. Samuel Wyllys, who retained
the office for fifteen years, until 1809. Thus Ruth's brother,
his son and grandson served respectively in that position
of civic trust for ninety-six consecutive years. If to this
there be added the thirty-six years that Ruth's Father served
in the Legislature, and the years that her Grandfather, Gov.
Wyllys, held office either as chief magistrate, or assistant
in Connecticut, we have a record of one hundred and forty-one
years during which the successive generations of Ruth's family
held honorable official positions in that Colony.
Can a paraUel case be found in our country's annals?
Ruth Wyllys, like her Grandmother Mabel Harlakenden,
made willing sacrifice of luxury to love. The contrast between
the "Wyllys Place" of Hartford and the parsonage on the
frontier of the upper valley, must have been impressive to
the young bride, though we have no evidence that she deplored
her chosen lot or shrank from its hardships while performing
the duties of wife and Mother.
If the story of Mrs. Ruth Taylor's ancestors and her early

The Pilgrim Pastor's Home and Family 163
life is mteresting, that of her descendants is no less so. She
had five daughters, each of whom was wooed successfully
by a minister from a Connecticut parish.
Ruth, the eldest, born April 16, 1693, married in 1713 the
Rev. Benjamin Colton of West Hartford. Their son, George,
became a minister and settled in Bolton, his work continuing
until 1812. The two sisters, Naomi, born March 30, 1695,
and Ann, born July 7, 1697, were married on the same day,
June 14, 1720, by Capt. John Ashley, Justice of the Peace,
the former the bride of Rev. Ebenezer Devotion of Suffield,
the latter the bride of the Rev. Benjamin Lord of Norwich,
the parish whence Mr. Taylor brought his first wife, Eliza
beth Fitch.
Naomi's son became the Rev. John Devotion of Say
brook. Her eldest daughter married the Rev. Hezekiah
BisseU, and another daughter was the wife of Rev. Joseph
Huntington of Coventry. Descendants in later generations
became missionaries in Asia Minor and the Sandwich Islands.
Ann Lord was in the Norwich parsonage during the years
of the "great awakening" of the eighteenth century, when
hundreds were added to the churches. One has said: "A
mountain in the history of Norwich stands the work of the
Rev. Benjamin Lord, and from the base to the summit may
be traced the footsteps of his wife Ann." Yet, for sixteen
years she was confined to her bed, and during half of that
period she was incapable of feeding herself. Two of her four
boys, Ebenezer and Joseph, twins, were graduated from Yale
in 1758. Her daughter Ann married Capt. John KeUogg
of Westfield in 1766. She died in 1781 and was buried near
her Grandfather in the old cemetery.
Ruth's fourth daughter, Mehitable, born August 14, 1699,
married Rev WUliam Gager of Lebanon, Conn.
The fifth daughtei, Keziah, or Kezzy as she was famiUarly
and fondly caUed, born April 4, 1702, when she was twenty-
three years old, June 1, 1725, married the Rev. Isaac StUes,
who had been invited to become Mr. Taylor's assistant and
successor, but for some reason, after having accepted con
ditionally, decided to go to North Haven. The sweet June
bride of that year was spared only until December of the
year following. She left one frail son, Ezra, who, however,

164 Westfield and its Historic Influences
grew up to become the famous President of Yale College.
He was born December 15, and hence was left motherless
from his earliest days.
He was graduated from Yale in 1746 and was a tutor
there for some years. To him are credited the first electrical
experiments ever made in New England, suggested by
some apparatus sent to the coUege by Dr. Franklin. He
must have inherited his Grandfather Taylor's love of the
natural sciences. From 1778 until his death in 1795 he fiUed
the presidential chair and acted as professor of divinity.
EarUer in life he was Pastor of a church in Newport, and stiU
earlier studied law and was admitted to the bar. He was
one of the most broadly learned men of his time in New Eng
land, a worthy scion of the learned Pastor of the Westfield
church. Ruth Stiles, one of his daughters, married John
M. Gannett and became the Mother of the Rev. Ezra Stiles
Gannett of Boston.
Another daughter, Mary, was the first wife of Rev. Abiel
Holmes, D.D., the Father of Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Ruth Taylor's sixth and last child was a son, Eldad, born
April 10, 1708. He was the Benjamin of the Taylor house
hold, arriving when his father was sixty-six years old, and
after he had been minister of the town for thirty-seven years.
This fourteenth child married Nov. 1, 1732, Rhoda Dewey.
Breaking from the earlier tradition, none of his five daughters
married a minister, but his thirteenth child, John, became one.
These genealogical notes of the Rev. Edward Taylor's
family having been given largely to show the specific illus
trations of the ministerial tradition, a sketch of this grand
son John is added because it falls into line with it and adds
its evidence of the wide-reaching beneficence of the life of
that PUgrim Pastor in other communities of New England.
Hence Eldad will be passed by at present, in order to tell
of his son.
John Taylor was born December 23, 1762. He was grad
uated from Yale College in 1784, early in the presidency of
his uncle Ezra Stiles. After having been licensed as a minister,
he preached his first sermon, January 15, 1786, in the pulpit
of his Grandfather, the Rev. Mr. Atwater, then the Pastor,
having been absent, preaching in Southwick on that day

HON. ELDAD TAYLOR.

The youngest child of Rev. Edward Taylor.
and died in Boston, March 21, 1777, after e
Town and Province.

He was born April 10, 1708,
life of eminent usefulness in

THE JOSEPH MOSELEY HOUSE.
This house is now standing on the corner of Main and Meadow Streets on
land where the first store of the Town was conducted by Mr. Joseph Whiting.
Some of its timbers were in the house built here by Lieut. John Maudesley
soon after 1676. The lot on the left was the site of the second meeting house,
built in 1720.

The Pilgrim Pastor's Home and Family 165
on account of the long illness of the minister of the church
there, Rev. Mr. Forward, who, in fact, entered into rest late
on the same day.
Of this grandson of Edward Taylor, Mr. Bartlett says:
"In the early part of the year following, he received a call
to become the Pastor of the church in Deerfield, and was
ordained February 24, 1787. His settlement was £250, with
£100 salary and what firewood he needed at 6/ per cord.
At the time of his caU Shays's rebellion was at its height and
in his letter of acceptance he spoke discouragingly of the
political situation, having great anxiety concerning the final
result, his Father, Hon. Eldad Taylor, having been one of
the leading patriots during that part of the Revolution prior
to his decease in 1777. John seems to have imbibed the
patriotism of his Father and was in accord with the people
to whom he was caUed to preach, and very much unlike his
predecessor, also a native of Westfield, the Rev. Jonathan
Ashley, ordained in Springfield in 1732. He was during
the Revolution a virulent Tory, and not content with pray
ing for the King instead of the Commonwealth, he taught
that a fearful doom awaited the rebels who fell at Bunker
HiU." Mr. Taylor enjoyed harmonious relations with his people
during his ministry. He was one of the incorporators of
Deerfield Academy, March 21, 1797. In 1793 he published
an Appendix to "The Redeemed Captive," that famous
account by Rev. John Williams of his experiences incident
to his captivity in Canada. On February 29, 1804, Mr.
Taylor preached a centennial sermon of the attack on the town
by the French and Indians when so many of the inhabitants
were taken prisoners and borne northward over the snow,
some of them to perish by the way and others besides never
to return. His farewell sermon was preached August 6, 1806, his
resignation having been due to ill-health. He removed to
Enfield, Conn., engaged in farming, became an influential
citizen, was elected many times its Representative, and was
more than once Speaker of the House. In 1817 he did mis
sionary work in New York State, and in 1832 was settled as
a minister in Bruce, Michigan, where he died in 1840, aged 78.

166 Westfield and its Historic Influences
It is a remarkable fact as already noted, that three genera
tions in that family covered almost two centuries, it having
been one hundred and ninety-eight years from the birth of
Rev. Edward Taylor in 1642 to the death of John, his grand
son, in 1840.
The children in that first Westfield parsonage did not
unite with the church of their Father in early youth. Samuel
took the step when he was 32 years old, in 1707, two years
before his death. Naomi and Ann united in 1718, the former
23, and the latter 24 years old. Keziah was 23 years old when
she united in 1725, just before her marriage to Rev. Isaac
Stiles. Mehitable united under Mr. Bull in 1727 just before
her marriage to Rev. Mr. Gager, when she was 28 years old,
a year before her Father's death.
Eldad united October 14, 1733, when he was 25 years
old, a year after his marriage.
The following curious entry in Judge Sewall's Diary gives a
proof of the familiar intimacy of the two Harvard classmates:
"July 15, 1698. Mr. Edward Taylor comes to our house
from Westfield. Monday July 18 I walked with Mr. Edward
Taylor upon Cotton Hill, thence to Beacon HiU, the Pasture
along the Stone wall: As came back we sat down on the great
Rock & Mr. Taylor told me his courting his first wife & Mr.
Fitch his story of Mr. Dod's prayer to God to bring his Affec
tion to close with a person pious but hard-favoured. Has God
answered me in finding one Godly & fit for me and shall I
part for fancy? When came home my wife gave me Mr.
Tapan's Letter concerning Eliza which caused me to reflect
on Mr. Taylor's Discourse. And his prayer was for pardon
of error in our ways, which made me think whether it were
not best to overlook all & go on."
Curiosity is piqued to resolve the obscure reference of the
above, since they seem to suggest some deep secrets of the
noted author's heart.
"Aug. 20, 1698. Went to Long Meadow to bring the
Majr GeneraU going towards Hartford, meet with Jno Noble,
with him went to Westfield & Kept Sabbath with Mr. Taylor
Aug. 21."
In Judge Sewall's Letters there is the copy of one of Mr.
Taylor's of six pages quarto, concerning the object of the

The Pilgrim Pastor's Home and Family 167
vials, apocalyptic visions, etc., which is evidently one in a
controversial series which passed between them discussing
questions raised by the obscure book of Revelation.
In March, 1700, he writes Mr. Taylor concerning the death
of his son to which reference wiU be made in a succeeding
Chapter. June 27, 1710, he gives the following note of a letter to
Mr. Taylor: "Condole the death of his daughter Pynchon
buried last Midweek. Inclosed Mr. Danforth's Sermon
and the three last News Letters."
He makes frequent references to various sermons and other
documents sent to his friend on the western frontier, as, for
example :
"To Mr. Edward Taylor, inclosing Dr. C. Mather's Sermons
of Novr 5 and Deer 31, 1719. "Febr 16, 17, 1719-20
"Writ about his Meetinghouse, After two such Vows it may
be dangerous to make Inquiry. It is impossible to be a loser
by denying himself, taking up his Cross and following Christ.
You wiU say of your Uttle old wife the Congregation of West-
field— "Conjux crede mihi, si te quoque coUis habebit,
"Te sequar ascendens, et me quoque coUis habebit.
"Sent an extract of Mr. Mitchel's Letter to his cousin Priestly
Novr 19, 1646 — Mr. Hobart's versus — Node viator — May
God graciously govern and calm your Spirits! My dear
CoUeague, and ChamberfeUow and Bedfellow! I have lost
many of my Organs of Music: my Fore-Teeth, both uper
and nether. May we industriously help one another along
to the Regions of Light and Love, where there will be no
Sleeping, no Sinning, no Sorrowing. So prays and desires
to be prayed for, Sir, your ever loving friend and humble Servt
S. S."
"Dec. 29, Jan. 12, 1722/3 Writ to Mr. Edward Taylor;
inclosed Six of Mr. WiUard's Sermons. * * * Inclosed the
Gazett of Jany 7th that had His Majs Speech to the Parlia
ment, and the Lt Governour's Speech at his taking the Chair.
Congratulated his comfortable entrance upon the 52nd year
of his Ministry, Peace in his Church, his very roomthy and
good new Meetinghouse."

168 Westfield and its Historic Influences
A letter bearing upon this entry in his Diary will be quoted
in a subsequent Chapter, indicating Mr. Taylor's attitude
toward the vexed question of the location of the second meet
ing house.
Under date of December 18, 1727, Judge Sewall speaks
of having hired Blake's Coach with four horses to attend
the funeral of Rev. Peter Thacher at Milton. He then refers
to having been at the Interment of four of his classmates
and adds the following pathetic reflection :
"Now I can go to no more funerals of my Classmates;
nor none be at mine; for the survivors, the Revd. Mr. Samuel
Mather at Windsor, and the Revd. Taylor at Westfield [are]
One Hundred Miles off, and are entirely enfeebled. I humbly
pray that Christ may be graciously present with us all Three
both in Life and in Death, and then we shall safely and Com
fortably walk through the shady valley that leads to Glory."
A year and a half later he notes :
"July 7, 1729. My old Friend and CoUeague, Mr. Edward
Taylor, is now dead, was buried the 25 of June last, having
diligently and Faithfully served the people of Westfield in
the work of the Ministry 58 years. May God be graciously
pleased to prepare me to foUow — ".
In the extended sketch of Mr. Taylor published by Har
vard College, as a member of the Class of 1671, it is stated
that he "had through his life a passion for writing poetry.
There are extant specimens covering a period of about sixty-
seven years; not of a very high order, though some have
considerable merit. He gave orders that his heirs should
never publish any of his writings."
Two valuable original documents belonging to the ElweU
Collection have been graciously placed at the disposal of
the author by their present possessor, Mr. Ernest N. Bagg
of West Springfield. One is a personal letter without date,
thus addressed: "These For the Reverend Mr. Edward Tay
lor pastor of the church of Xt in Westfield."
"Beloved Sr I have yours, and by these I teU you, that
I am grieved as well as you to see how things are amongst
us: and as for the admitting members without dismissions,
they have admitted one that belonged to this church, who
neither had nor asked for any dismission from us: I am much

The Pilgrim Pastor's Home and Family 169
dissatisfied but know not how to help it : as for Scantick there
is less difficulty: but whether I shall bee there or no, I can
not tell, if I should be there I shall want your company: I
pray god to guide us in all things, and to help us in this back
sliding time, but I have this comfort, truth wiU live when
I am dead "I am yours syncerely, S. M.
"June 2"
The writer was Rev. Samuel Mather, pastor of the church
in Windsor, Conn. Scantic was a part of the town lying
on the east side of the Connecticut River, in what is now
known as East Windsor. The letter was probably written
during the last decade of the seventeenth century.
The sheet containing the note was folded twice and on
the back of one of the folds in very fine writing is a business
account, a series of charges, against some of Westfield's most
prominent citizens, including Ensign Dewey, Saml Loomas,
Danl. Dewey, Thomas Sheldon, Saml. Ashley, Stephen Kel
logg, Ambrose Fowler, James Noble, Joseph Bodman, Mr.
MarshaU, John Maudsly, Thomas Hanchet, John Sacket Jr.
Ensign Gun, Jos. Saxton and others. Most of the charges
are for Rum, including a half pint to Sara Dewey. Saml.
Bush's daughter is charged, "Silk 2 skeans." "Joseph
Maudsley Galloon 5}4 yds." "Ensign Dewy great nut
megs." Mr. Mather was in the same class at Harvard as Mr.
Taylor and Judge Sewall as noted in the Judge's letter above.
The other document bearing date of "17th of January
1686-7 in ye 2d yeare of ye Reigne of his prsent Matie James
ye 2d," is a deed given by Samuel Kent and Mary Kent to
John Pynchon.
It confirms to him the possession of two parcels of Land in
Westfield Meddow, one of two acres, and the other of four
acres, for which he paid Hugh Dudley, Mary Kent's former
husband, the sum of fifteen pounds, ten shillings.
The witnesses are James Dorchester and Jonathan Morgan,
the latter of whom made his mark, as was done also by Mary
Kent.

170 Westfield and its Historic Influences
The document is thus concluded;
"eodem die Sam Kent & Mary Kent his now wife (who was
ye Relict of Hugh Dudley deceased) in prsence of ye wit
nesses heretoe, acknowledged this their free & voluntary act
& Deed, Before ye subscriber one of his Maties Council for
this his Maties Territory & Dominion of New england.
John Pynchon de Concil:"
The following list of the domestic furnishings of that
ancient parsonage nearly two centuries ago must prove inter
esting:
INVENTORY OF REV. EDWARD TAYLOR.
In Records of Probate Office of Northampton, Vol. 5.—
an Ancient Tome Bound in Hog-skin Parchment.
"Hampshire Westfield, Oct. 14th, 1729 Deacon David Ashley
' & James Dewey & Nehemiah Loomis were ap
pointed & sworn to apprize the estate of the
Mr. Edwd ) Revd Mr. Edward Taylor Lately Deceased in
Taylor. ) Westfield aforesd. John Ashley Just. Peace.
An Inventory of the Estate of the Revnd. Mr.
t Edward Taylor Deceased this done Aug. 29th 1729.
"No. 1. — A Great coat 20s. A lined Jacket 20s. A shirt
6s, a shirt 3s, a pair of breeches 2s. Two pair of Breeches Is.
A Hat 13s. Gloves Is. 2 Bands Is. 6d. An old Gown 3s.
A Jacket 3s. Two brown under Jackets 2s. A white woolen
under Jacket 6d. To a Bed and Bolster in the Parlour Cham
ber £3.15:0. A set of brown stamped brown curtains &
Valliants 15s. Bedsted Rope & Rods 20s. Hair Cloth 20s.
An old flower'd Rug at 5s. A white Blanket at 8s. A Good
Flower'd Rug at 25s. A white Rug 10s. A Flag Matt, Is. 6d.
A Streaked PiUow 5s. A Red Rug 5s. An old Feather Bed
in the Parlour 40s. A Bolster 9s. A Pillow 6s. A Blanket
with black streaks 6s. A Set of Red Curtains & Valliants
30s. An old under Bed 2s. Bedstead & Rop. 20s. A new
Bed in the outward chamber £3. An underbed 2s. another
old underbed 3s. Old streaked curtains Vallece & Bedstead
6s. An old Bolster some feathers in it 3s. A Bed in the
outwd room Bolster & Pillows £4. 15s. Two Rugs in the
outward room 30s. the Bedstead Ropes & Matt. 5s. An

The Pilgrim Pastor's Home and Family 171
old white Blanket 3s. An old piece of Green Broad Cloth
3s. A pair of sheets 18s. A good sheet 9s. 3 old sheets lis.
A sheet 8s. An old sheet 3s. Two sheets 20s. Two old
sheets 3s. An old sheet 2s. 6d. An old Cotton sheet 4s.
A good sheet 8s. Another good sheet 8s. A pair of Good
sheets 25s. Six Cotten Napkins 18s. An old HoUand Table
cloth 3s. Another Table Cloth 2s. 5 ToweUs wove with
a wale 7s. 6d. Two old ToweUs Is. Two ToweUs 2s. A
Holland PiUow Bier 3s. 2 PUlow biers 2s 6d. A Table Cloth
Is. 6d. A Napkin Is. A strainer Is. A Great Pie Plate 10s.
A Great Platter 14s. A Platter 13s. Another Platter 13s.
3 Platters 36s. 3 more Platters 30s. One Platter 10s. one
Platter 12s. two Platters 18s. A little Platter 3s. 5 plates
15s. Two old plates 4s. A Bason 4s. 6d. 2 basons 4s. 6d.
2 little basons 2s. 6d. A pint cup, 4s. 6d. Old Pewter 6s.
A Tankard 6s. 6d. Part & wheels 10s. Cups & Tin 2s 6d.
A Coller 6s.
"No. 2.— Traces 18s. A Slead 6s. Small Caps & pin 2s.
1 Hoe 5s. An ax 4s. 2 Wedges 4s. Beetle rings 2s. 6d.
Yoak & Irons 5s. Several Old Rings & pieces of fetters 3s.
An ax 6s. Another pail 2s. Another pail Is. 2 pottles 2s.
A churn 2s.6d. Dishes & Trenchers 3s. A Great wheel 5s.
A little wheel 5s. A wreal 2s.6d. A cheese fat & straining
dish Is. 6d. An old Book Is. Cards 2s.6d. Old Iron 2s.
2 old Barrels 3s. Scales & Waits ls.6d. A Sow & two pigs
36s. Another sow 30s. 9 Swarms of bees £4.10s.0d. Two
forks 3s. A Plow & Irons 20s. Plow chain 14s. A Rug
in the Garret 15s. A hammer ls.6d. A Heifer 3. 5s. Od. A
little heifer 17s. Another heifer £l.l4s.0d. A Young horse
£7.0s.0d. A Colt 50s. A Malt Trough 10s.
"No. 3.— A Great Kettle £5. 0s. Od. A Midling Kettle
£2. 15s. Od. A Less Kettle, £1, 15s. Od. A little Skillit 6s.
A Three leged Brass pan 18s. A Brass Pan 20s. A Great
Skillit 10s. A Pie pan 4s. A brass Scummer & Ladle 7s. 6d.
A Brass Candlestick 4s. A flat candlestick 2s. Hand Irons
Brass Plates 16s. Hand Iron Tops 8s. A warming Pan 25s.
An Iron Dish Kettle 17s. An Iron Pot 20s. one Trammel 6s.
Another Trammel 4s. Pothooks 3s. A pair of Tongs 6s.
Another pair 4s. A slice 4s. Great Hand Irons 20s. Grid
Irons 12s. Great Flat Hand Irons 6s. Little Slim Hand

172 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Irons, 4s. Grid Iron 5s. frying pan 9s. A spit 5s. A
Brass Chopping Dish & little piece of Bass 4sf A Burning
Iron Is. A Fender Is. A Branding Iron 2s. A turn Gouge
Is. A Swivle Is. 6d. A Box Iron & Heaters 6s. An Iron
Candlestock Is Hetchels 5s. Musket 10s. A Pistol 4s.
A Hewing Ax 2s. 6d. A Parcel of old Iron 2s. 6d. Coller-
hooke Is. A Plain Iron 6s. hammer Is. A chamber pot
Is. A Tunnel lOd. paper box 4d. A Paper Morter & Pestle
3s. 6d. Earthen Pans Is. 4d. Great Table in ye Parlour
25s. A Great Table in the Outwd Room 20s. A Silver
Tankard £15. 5s. Od. A two ear'd cup, one Pottinger a salt
seller & 4 spoons & a drain cup Total wt. 37 oz. £34: 0s. Od.
A Black Cow £5. 10s. Od. The GaUows cow £5. 10. Od. The
Lined Cow £5. 5s. Od. A little Table 8s. 5 chairs 15s. 3
chairs 7s. 6d. 2 Great chairs 6s. one 2. Two high chairs
7s. 2 Old chairs Is. A Chest of Drawers 30s. A Narrow
chest 2s. 6d. A long form 7s. A Cupboard Cushion 10s.
A LookingGlass 2s. A staff Is. 6d. A chair table lis. A
Looking Glass 16s. A carved chest 16s. A new chest 6s.
A Trunk 6s. An Indian bark Is. A little square trunk Is.
A joint stool 3s. A compass Is. A flaskit 5s. The Studdy
Table 10s. The little old bellows 4s. An old hour glass Is.
A Box in the Studdy 4s. Wooden Steelyards Is. 2 old chests
5s. A Half bushel 2s. 6d. A two pound weight Is. 3 Sievs
Is. 6d. 2 old barrels 2s. a Pork barrel 2s. 6d. A Cider
barrel 2s. A cider barrel 3s. A small Cask Is. 6d. A Beer
barrel 2s. A Powdering Tub 2s. 2 old Casks in the Celler
2 s. An old lye tub Is. A Mashing Tub 2s. A half tub Is.
Funnel 2s."
The total valuation was £182. 0s. 6d.

CHAPTER IX.
Matters of Dispute and Discipline
The Fathers were God-fearing, earnest, honest men, but
they were passionately devoted to the defense and mainte
nance of their rights. It was inevitable that disputes should
arise between individuals and, as weU, between communities.
The original charters and cessions of land, made oftentimes by
those whose authority was not beyond question, and by those
whose claims to authority were disputed by other claimants,
these charters and cessions having been often very vague
and broad, it would have been strange indeed had not heart
burnings, wranglings, and suits at law been of frequent occur
rence. And when we consider the stern supervision of both
church and state over the persons, opinions and conduct of
all the colonists, the many recorded instances of discipline
and correction by both ecclesiastical and civil authorities
occasion no astonishment.
The dispute between Massachusetts and Connecticut
relative to jurisdiction over Woronoco, was closely related
to another relative to the boundary line on and near the river
marking the limits of jurisdiction of the two Colonies respec
tively. A detailed and extended account of it is given by
Hutchinson which here follows in abridged form.
From the time of its settlement Springfield claimed juris
diction, under the Massachusetts authorities, as far south
as to include the present towns of Enfield on one side of the
river and Suffield on the other. As early as 1638, in response
to a petition from Springfield to the General Court, they
were formally included within its bounds. In 1642 two mathe
maticians, Nathan Woodward and Solomon Saffrey, were
ordered by the Court to run a line west, as they supposed,
from a point three miles north of the Charles River until
they came to Windsor upon the Connecticut River. There
they struck the house of a man named Bissell who kept the
ferry. In point of fact the settlers in that region were merely
squatters, having no right but that of possession.

174 Westfield and its Historic Influences
When Mr. Fenwick came over as the agent of Lord Say
and others to take possession of the lands under their patent,
the fort at the mouth of the river was a symbol of his author
ity. The fort was purchased in 1644 by the settlers who
had formed themselves into a body politic. When in 1648
the dispute arose about paying duty on goods coming up the
river to Springfield, Massachusetts offered to run a new bound
ary line to supersede that of Woodward and Saffrey if Con
necticut would bear the expense. The condition was refused
and the old line stood until 1662 when Mr. Winthrop secured
from King Charles a charter for the Colonies of Connecticut
and New Haven united, the north line whereof was intended
to be the south fine of Massachusetts. In 1686 some peo
ple of Roxbury desired a tract of land for settlement which
was bounded on the south by Woodward and Saffrey's line
and it was granted to them, taking the name of Woodstock.
Massachusetts also made other grants of land near to that
line. In 1700 both Colonies appointed committees to in
vestigate the matter, Connecticut claiming that a line from
three miles north of Charles River running due west would
pass several miles north of Bissell's house, the point reached
by Woodward and Saffrey.
It was not until 1710 that the dispute was settled by
arranging that the towns should be retained by the govern
ments by whom they were settled, and thus Suffield, Enfield
and Woodstock were included in Connecticut. It was farther
agreed "that property of as many acres as should appear
to have been gained by one government over the other should
be equalized by grants of other unimproved lands."
The report of the Commissioners declared that 107,793
acres of land were due from the Upper Colony, and they were
accordingly granted. Connecticut sold them and applied
the funds thereby gained to the support of Yale College and
other public uses, as quoted in an earlier Chapter. The
official boundary line was not finally run until 1713.
Another matter in which Westfield was more particu
larly interested, related to the boundary line on its southern
border. Has any one ever looked at the boundary line between
Massachusetts and Connecticut without wondering about

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 175
the reason for the jog made by a strange protrusion of a bit
of the former into the latter? There is no river, a sharp bend
of which elbowing from a right line might have occasioned
it. Green, in his Springfield, gives an explanation made by
H. S. Sheldon of Suffield:
"Simsbury and Westfield retained their ancient bound
aries, being first incorporated, leaving west of the mountain
a strip of land about one mile in width between the two for
Suffield. Our proprietors mourned the loss of that part of
their grant secured by Simsbury, as it was supposed to be
rich in mines of copper and iron. They were consoled by
the Massachusetts Court, in 1732, granting them a town
ship six miles square (now Blandford) as an equivalent.
They sold it to Christopher J. Lawton of Suffield, receiving
but little therefor. Our bounds, with Simsbury (now East
Granby and Granby), settled in 1713, and perambulated
in 1734, were re-established in 1883. That part of Westfield
projecting into Connecticut between the top of the moun
tain and the ponds was annexed to Suffield and Connecti
cut in 1803. The remainder (now Southwick) containing
the ponds, is in Massachusetts, causing the curious notch
in the boundary line between the two states."
It was not until 1770 that the lands in Southwick were
set apart from Westfield as a separate town.
There was a dispute in the earliest days of settlement at
Westfield between Thomas Cooper and a Woronoco Indian
named Amoacussen. In 1660 Cooper had taken a mort
gage from him and in 1664 obtained the land by foreclosure.
It was claimed by Alliquat, Neeup and Wallump, sachems
of "Pochosick near to Westfield" that the land did not belong
absolutely to Amoacussen, but that they had rights in it.
They appealed to the General Court at Boston, by whom
the Case was referred to the Hampshire County Court, with
the result that Cooper had to pay one hundred and ten fathoms
of wampum to satisfy the Indians.
This certainly is a case where the wards of the Colony
were protected against injustice on the part of the English.
Another case in point occurred but a few years later, at
the instigation of one of the three "Pochosick" sachems who
was a principal in the foregoing suit. At a session of the

176 Westfield and its Historic Influences
County Court in March, 1668, "The Indian WoUump of
Woronoco complaining agt the English there for damage
done in his corn by their cattell & particularly agt. Capt.
Cooke: This Corte ordered Samuel Marshfield & Jno. Dumble-
ton to repaire to Worronoco to make inquiry the best they
can wt damage the Indians had in thier corne & by whom
& by what meanes & occasion & to endeavor to gett ye neigh
bors there to make satisfaction & in case they can gett noe
issue they are to prepare things for us yt the case may be
presented to ye next Corte at Northampton."
As already quoted in a previous Chapter, in the following
year the Court was appealed to for the exercise of authority
in the matter of Sabbath observance, and its decision was
a most equitable one:
"Certayne Indians being found at Worronoco traveUing
on ye Sabbath & carrying burdens, vizt. bringing apples wch
they said they had from Windsor & own shooting a Gun when
he came to the house there, the Constable there seized 4 guns
& one of them called [ ] to appear at the Court to
answer the offense.
"The wch being prooved & owned the Courte judges the
Constable striking the Indian and the dog biting him he
should be only admonished."
Who can criticize that verdict for lack of fine discrimi
nation and considerateness?
One case decided against Walter Lee for Sabbath breaking
and slander has been cited in an early Chapter.
In the same year, 1665, he was presented for neglect of
church attendance and a more serious offense, as it would
be considered at this day : "Mar. 28, 1665.
"Walter Lee prsented by ye Constable of Springfield
for that he very seldom comes to God's Ordinances on ye
Lords day he having not been at ye meeting at Springfield
from ffebr. 8th to this tyme & very seldome ye rest of this
winter past.
"The sd Walter Lee also being bound over to this Corte
by Springfield Commissionrs to answer Mr. Cornish upon
suspicion of killing a steere of his ye sd Mr Cornishes; at
Worronoco the summer last past;

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 177
"The Corte findeth that the evidences in ye case are strong
agt ye sd Walter to prove he hath made away Mr Cornishes
steere; and that therefore he shaU pay Mr Cornish for it
50s & the charges of ye Corte in ye case vizt. £3.04s.00d,
whereof 10s is to be allowed towards expenses of ye Corte
to be pd to ye County treasurer."
In spite of that and the previous conviction and fine,
he still held his reputation high and resented aspersions upon
his good name. At the same session of the Court he turned
prosecutor :
"Walter Lee complayned agt Cornelius Merry for mis-
deameaning himself towards him caUing him Rogue dog,
& rogue & thief &c" Merry was bound over in the sum of
£5 to answer at the next Court in Springfield.
The scrupulous care which the Puritan authorities, both
civU and religious, exercised over the morals and the man
ners of the people is amply attested by the sumptuary laws
early enacted and the stern attempts made to enforce them
from time to time as shown by the Court records. In a letter
to the Rev. Increase Mather of Boston, dated Sept. 15, 1675,
the Rev. Solomon Stoddard of Northampton closes with
the f oUowing appeal :
"I desire that you would speak to the Governour that
there may be some thorough care for a reformation. I am
sensible there are many difficulties therein, many sins are
grown so in fashion, that it becomes a question whether they
be sins or not. I desire that you would especially mention
oppression, that intolerable pride in clothes and hair; the
toleration of so many taverns especially in Boston, and suf
fering home dweUers to Ue tippling in them."
Two months later the General Court passed a law enu
merating prevailing sins, including those to which Mr. Stod
dard had urged attention.
A law enacted in 1657 declares:
"or utter detestation & dislike that men or weomen of
meane condition, educations and callings, should take upon
them the garbe of gentlemen by the wearinge of gold or sil
ver lace, or buttons or poynte at their knees, to walke in greate
bootes; or women of the same ranke to weare silke or tiffany

178 Westfield and its Historic Influences
hoodes or scarfes, which though aUowable to persons of greater
estates or more liberall education yet we cannot but judge
it intollerable in prsons of such like condition."
A penalty of 10s. was to be imposed upon any person
possessing an estate of less than £200 who should offend against
that law. By a shrewd provision of the statute, the Select
men of a town were authorized to assess at £200 any persons
who "exceed theire rankes & abilitie in the costly ness or
fashion of their apparraUl in any respect, especially in the
wearinge of ribbons & greate bootes."
In 1662 the law was amended so as to include children
and servants, and "taylors" were forbidden to make or fashion
rich garments for such as were not permitted by law to wear
them. For a first offense an admonition was to be given,
for a second a fine of 10s. was to be imposed, with fines increas
ing to 40s. for subsequent offenses.
At one meeting of the court, "Hannah Lyman of North
ampton, was presented for wearing silk in a flaunting man
ner, in an offensive way and garbe, not only before, but when
she stood presented, not only in ordinary times, but in extra
ordinary times when the people of God were faffing before
the Lord in public humiliation in respect of the heavy judg
ments and calamities that were threatening to come upon us."
Among those fined for breach of that law were four from
Westfield, Hugh Dudley and wife, Elizabeth Cooke and Mary
Fowler. At a Court held at Northampton March 29, 1676, Josiah
Dewey being a juryman, John Lee was condemned to be
"whipt on the naked body with 15 strypes" for resisting a
constable. September 26, 1676, Goodwife Granger of Westfield hav
ing been warned to appear at Court for not attending church,
her husband, Lancelot, "appeared to make excuse for her
weakness and the coldness of the weather and by the loss
sustained by the Heathen." The Court found that he (or
they) had been at too great neglect and admonished him
to be more careful. He promised reformation and paid
clerk's fees 2s. 6d. January 10, 1677. In March, 1677, the
town of Westfield was before the Court for not "providing
a pair of stocks in ye town."

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 179
County Court, September 30, 1673: "Edmund Hart
of Westfield dying suddenly this summer past Inquiry was
made by a Jury of 12 men who found it to be by the imme
diate hand of God in thunder and lightening as they con
ceive, their verdict is on file."
Contrasted with that is a later record of a self-inflicted
stroke :
"Westfield 17 Aug. 1684. We whose Names are under
written being desired by the Constable as a Jury according
to Law, to give or Judgmt on the awful, amazing and untimely
death of Eleezer WeUer, after due notice taken, we al unani
mously agree, that through the strength of temptation he
became his own Executioner, by hanging himself, al signs
and circumstances freely concurring therein, and nothing
appearing to the contrary, to the best of or Judgmts, we sup
pose he might be dead twenty four hourse before it was known.
John Maudesley John Root Samuel Root Samuel Loomis Sr.
John Sacket Jacob Phelps Isaac Phelps John Ponder John
Williams Thomas Noble Josiah Dewey Thomas Dewey."
Court at Northampton, March 26th, 1678.
"David Ashley being nominated for a Clerk of the Writs for
the Town of Westfield was approved & allowed of by this
Court for that worke."
"Lieut. John Maudesley of Westfield admitted to the
freedom of this Colony as by certificate from ye Secretary,
& tooke the freeman's oath in this Court, Springfield Sep.
24, 1678." "Action respecting way between Westfield and
Winzor. Court, Sep. 30, 1679, Springfield. Thomas Dewey
& David Ashley of Westfield, on Com. with Samuel Marsh-
field & Thomas Cooper of Springfield."
Further action, Northampton, March 30, 1680. Records,
p. 35 Same Court. "Whereas there hath been to the great
disturbance of the people here Reports scattered up & down
of the Killing of two Indians neer about Westfeild, & it being
affirmed that it was Thomas Bancroft Junr of Westfeild, that
had wth some others Done it, & reported of ye Doing of it,
upon wch Report aforesaid this Court forthwith sent for
Tho: Bancroft Junr Luke Hill, & Tahan Hil, & the said Thomas

180 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Bancroft & Luke Hil appearing in Corte, upon examination
the said Thomas Bancroft owned that he had reported such
a thing to Isaac Morgan, Though he recaUed what he had
said & peremptorily said, There was no such thing, that any
Indians were Killed, saying that he belyed himself, & Luke
Hil in so saying, and the Court not finding any ground to
Judge that any were really KiUed, but that the said Bancroft
had made & reported lyes onely as aforesaid, & considering
how heinously wicked such pernicious lying is, & how of ill
consequence such fals reports are to the whole, in one respect
& another, & especially to the sd Bancroft as to himselfe,
to be going on in such wickedness, & that the Country hath
been much disturbed & put to charge about this busyness,
Have adjudged the said Thomas Bancroft Junr — to be wel
whipt on the naked body wth fifteen stripes wel Layd on, &
pay for the charge of his apprehending securing &c: Fifty
shulings & stand comitted til al be pformed, & not be dis
charged til al further charges in comitting & securing Him
from this time also be fully discharged & paid.
"The said Tho : Bancrofts punishmt by whiping was exe
cuted on him."
Court held at Northampton, March 29th, 1681 :
"Josiah Dewey of WestfeUd plaintiffe P contra Griffith Jones
defendt in an action of slander or defamation of the sd Josiah
Dewey's Daughter, & al persons concerned agreed, that it
should be tryed by the bench onely — & the corte likewise
considering of how hainous a nature the matter of Defama
tion was, concluded it should be heard only by the bench,
& the said Griffith Jones engaged to pay ten shillings for entry
money & the bench find for the plaintiffe forty shillings, &
other charges as bill aUowed forty two shiUings."
"Joseph Sextone of WestfeUd haveing been apprhended
& brought before this corte, being by some charged wth sevrll
notorious & vitious speeches & Languages, upon wch account
he was examined in Corte, & found guilty of many notorious
villanaies infecting & unworthy speeches, to the defamation
of Hepzibah Dewey, daughter of Josiah Dewey of Westfeild,
this corte considering the case of how hainous & infecting
& spreading a nature such things are, adjudged the said Joseph

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 181
Sexton to be wel whipt on the naked body wth fifteen stripes
wel laid on, which accordingly was executed."
March 28th, 1682.
"Graham Hawley being bound over to this corte for that
he hath had lately a pack of cards in his hands, & for that
such things are of evil consequence, & it being put to him
whose they were, & if he would make discovery of it, but
refusing, this corte adjudged him to pay as a fine to the County
the sum of twenty shiUings."
County Court, Springfield, September 26, 1682.
"Samuel Ely being complained of to this corte for that he
contrary to the Law did smooke tobacco in the street before
his house, this corte doth sentence him to pay a fine of two
shiUings and sixpence as a fine to the Countie Treasurer."
In his "Connecticut Historical Collections," Barber says:
"About this period (1644) tobacco was coming into use
in the colony: the following curious law was made for its
regulation or suppression — " Tobacko
" 'Forasmuch as it is observed that many abuses are crept
in & committed by frequent taking of tobacko :
" 'It is ordered by the authority of this Courte, That no per
son under the age of twenty one years, nor any other that
hath not accustomed himselfe to the use thereof, shall take
any tobacko untill he hath brought a certificate under the
hands of some who are approved for knowledge & skill in
physick, that it is needful for him, and allso that hee hath
received a lycense from the courte for the same.— And for
the regulating of those, who either by their former taking
it have to their own apprehensions made it necessary to them,
or upon due advice are persuaded to the use thereof.
" 'It is ordered, That no man within this colonye, after
the publication hereof, shall take any tobacko publiquely
in the strett, highways, or any barn yards or uppon training
days in any open places, under the penalty of six pence for
each offence against this order, in any of the particulars
thereof, to bee paid without gainsaying, upon conviction by
the testimony of one witness, that is without just exception

182 Westfield and its Historic Influences
before any one magistrate. And the constables in the severall
towns are required to make presentment to each particular
courte, of such as they doe understand, & can evict to bee
transgressors of this order.' " (p. 17-18.)
"At a County Corte held at Northampton, March 27th,
1683, Thomas Noble of Westfield being prsented by the Grand
Jury for TraveUing in a day of Humiliation, publiquely
appointed by the Genii Corte which he owned pleading his
necessity for Comeing home, and yet this Corte Considering
said offense being a growing evil amongst us many Persons
too much disregarding such extraordinary Dutys & Seasons,
have adjudged sd. Noble to pay a fine to the County treasurer
five shiUings."
The foUowing instance of personal prejudice against a
man who in the early days was prominent in the affairs of
Westfield as weU as in those of three other colonial towns,
provokes curiosity relative to the ground of the action. Trum
bull pays high tribute to Capt. Cook and says that "in all
respects he was a worthy representative of the old time New
England pioneer." Still, for some reason the Dewey brothers
would have none of him in their miU concerns.
The statement in the book of Town Records is as follows :
"These may certify whome it may concern that wee whose
names are here subscribed beeing the copartners with mr
Joseph Whiting the owners of the grist mill and the saw mill
in Westfield do declare that there is agreement made between
the four partners that if any one desiring to sell his part the
rest of the owners are to have the refusal of it but under
standing that mr Whiting hath made sale of his part of the
mills to Capt Aaron Cook as appears by his demands that
he might injoy mr Whitings part with us wee declare to all
that wee neither do nor shaU att any time consent that the
said Capt. Cooke shall have any copartner or have any share
with us in the said mill. Thomas Dewey
May -.13:1676 Josiah Dewey
Jedediah Dewey. "

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 183
Several years later the two brothers, Thomas and Josiah
Dewey, had a suit at law against John Sackett, Samuel Tay
lor, Joseph Pomeroy and Nathaniel Williams for infringing
on their rights by setting another mill in their neighborhood,
higher up on the brook. The matter was tried at Northamp
ton, appealed to the General Court, and finally settled at the
Court in Springfield in the autumn of 1685. The Deweys
helped to move the rival mill to another location and were
themselves renewedly estabUshed in their rights as sole pro
prietors of that portion of the stream. After much hard
feeling the settlement finally reached seems to have been
mutually amicable. There are many curious records kept by
Eldad Taylor, the youngest child of Rev. Edward Taylor,
when Justice of the Peace in 1759-60.
One was the conviction of Tom, negro slave of Samuel
KeUogg, for threatening to set fire to the house of Rebekah
Ashley. Tom was bound over under sureties given by his
master and others to the Court of Sessions soon to be held
in Springfield. Warham WiUiams was bound over to a later session of
the same court under sureties of £16 for non-attendance
on public worship. July 2d, 1759, two enhsted men who
had received bounties, taken the oath and then deserted
his Majesty's service were arrested and delivered over to
Lieut. Ebenezer BardweU.
On complaint of Doctor Samuel Smith, Nero, negro servant
to John Bancroft, for smiting him on the side of his face with an
iron, was sentenced to be whipped seven stripes on his bare back.
The same medical practitioner instituted another action
as foUows:
"Sept 6th 1760—
"The King against John Neal Complaint of Samuel Smith
vs. John Neal for stealing Yi oz. saffron 4/ Gum Camfire
1/6 Glass Bottle /8 rum 2/ having heavy ey witnesses. Con
victed & ordered to pay ye damages 1 .4s.8d. Returned
ye saffron 4/ Gum 1/6 ye bottle 8d. Remains to pay 18/4
if oot paid to be sold one month & to ye King a fine of 20/
or 8 stripes which was laid on him & cost of prosecution 18/2
& stand committed untill satisfyed.
"Reed toward Charge 10/ — "

184 Westfield and its Historic Influences
On the same day the same man was tried for profane
swearing. He confessed and was fined, for the first oath 4/
and the second oath 1/; for the first curse 4/, and for the
second, 1/: Three other cases are recorded of similar char
acter, with penalties of fines to be used for the poor of West-
field, who probably did not refuse the several shiUings because
they were "tainted money."
Samuel Smith again appears with a grievance:
"June 20th 1760
"The King against William Goff.
"The Complaint of Samuel Smith against WUliam Goff
for stealing pair of garters, upon trial, found guilty. Ordered
to return ye Garters with 3 fold damages and cost 13/8d &
a fine to ye King 1/: Eldad Taylor
Just Pacis"
At the Court of General Sessions held at Sprmgfield,
May 16, 1786, the following action was taken:
"Ezra Clap, Innkeeper, Abijah Gilbert, yeoman, Jacob
Noble, Jr. yeoman, Solomon Lee, yeoman, & John BaUard,
yeoman, all of Westfield, were presented by the oath of twelve
jurors, together with divers other persons then unknown
to the jurors, for 'being Riotous Routous & Disturbers of
the Peace of the Commonwealth on the twenty-fourth day
of February last past at Westfield aforesaid with Force and
Arms, that is to say with Staves Pistols & Cutlasses unlaw
fully riotously & routously did assemble & gather together
to disturb the Peace of the Commonwealth and being so
assembled & gathered together, One Door of the Dwelling
House of Lovewell Thomas in Westfield aforesaid Innholder
then & there unlawfully riotously & routously did break &
destroy, and eight rods of fence of the said Lovewell then &
there standing did throw down & destroy and other Wrongs
to the said Lovewell then & there unlawfully riotously and
routously did to the great Damage of the said LoveweU
to the Terror of divers of the leige Subjects of the said Com
monwealth and against the Peace of the Commonwealth & the
Dignity of the Same.' "

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 185
The indictment continues repetitiously, adding the state
ment that the disturbance continued for the "Space of twelve
Hours." They were put under bonds to report at a subsequent
session of the Court. Eventually they were fined various
sums, thirty and twenty shillings and the cost of prosecution
amounting to £14-9-8 with sureties "in twenty pounds for
their Keeping the Peace & being of good Behaviour towards
aU the Commonwealth's leige Subjects for the Term of three
months." It was then, as it is now, contrary to law to kill a deer
in Westfield since Joseph Mansell was convicted for so doing
and placed under sureties in the sum of £20 for his appear
ance at the Court of Quarter Sessions to be holden at Spring
field in August, 1760.
Turning now from civil to ecclesiastical cases we find
abundant records of that character during the pastorate of
Mr. Taylor which he spread upon the pages of the church
book. Preliminary thereto is a statement bearing upon the sub
ject penned in 1681 :
"The Wisdom, grace & faithfulness of Christs domain
softly shine both in the particular Instituted Churches of
ye saints — Wherein may be seen ye image of God in a new
edition put forth its splendor again upon ye understanding
in Knowledge, upon ye will in Righteousness, & upon ye
life in Holiness, as also ye souls of ye N. E. W. Covenant
& New Covenant Ordinances dispensed. But all ye Golden
Keyes of that Covenant being fitted to ye Lockes of these
Churches Matt. 16,18,19. 18: 17,18. 1st Cor. 5,12 rightly
used for Christ, considering yt while this people are in this
MUitant State, they are not all spirit but part flesh & that
satan by his poisoned darts doth oft make it rankle & grow
proud flesh, which must be eaten out by Corrosives Hath
ordained ye Censure of ye Church to take down thereby to
recover ye poore souls from his wounds & take ye Captive
out of ye hand of ye Adversary & also to keep ye Holy Place
clean from being defiled by uncleanness & that ye necessity
of things require ye same. We have our experience to lay
down as one among other evidences. While being scarcely

186 Westfield and its Historic Influences
slipt into ye Temple door before ye Adversary had brought
us to ye need of this Corrosive."
In the list of instances of discipline recorded by Mr. Tay
lor there is a very curious one relative to the prominent
settler and foundation man, John Moseley. It was one of
the perplexing results of obedience to the order of the General
Court passed in October, 1677, providing for more compact
dwelling, as voted in a succeeding chapter. At a town meet
ing in the following spring, March 19, 1678, it was "voted
that the town wiU allow satisfaction to those men out of the
common that have parted with their lands according to the
Committees order." The practical outworkings of the plan
involved, in some cases, disputes and bitterness.
Mr. Taylor's record of this particular case is character
istically amplified:
"Brother John Maudesley —
"The occasion of his temptation was ye land laid down for
ye accommodating some of our neighbors who having just
returned to their own houses after ye Indian War was over,
before being terrified by ye unthought of Ruin & Captivity
upon poore Hatfield by a running parcel of Indians, they
were drove out from home again. Whereupon Authority
taking it into consideration enacted a new moddling of ye
town as ye only way appearing for its preservation, left ye
matter into ye hands of a Committee, viz. — Maj. John Pyn
chon of Springfield, Brother John Maudsley, who then was
not come from Windsor to us, but about to come, having
bought Mr. Joseph Whitings living house, & Brother Saml
Loomis. Which Committee laid out ye model of ye town
as now it is out of ye home lots of those taking to sup
ply their distressed neighbors, allowing them by way of satis
faction two (2) acres of Common land as convenient as they
could take it up for one (1) laid down, & on this occasion
almost four acres of Brother Maudsleys homelot was
improved, he before his purchase of the same & also before
Authority had inacted ye same, having a full account of this
business given him as ye only way appearing for ye security
& settlement of ye place, did fully as to appearance fully
comply with ye same & yt also as to ye matter of satisfaction.
But when ye Committee did their work the Lot being done

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 187
& appearing so far equal in ye case to ye observation of all,
none questioned his being satisfied.
"But as soon as we were slipt into a Church state the
case began to sparkle being blowed upon by ye Old Adver
sary whereupon he was urged hard by one of us to know what
would satisfy. At last he said if he could gain ye Next home-
lot to his West which was about 5 acres accounted of Thomas
Huxley it would do, thereupon he was urged to buy it & Pay
should be made for one yt would take it ye 8 acres of that
land laid out for his satisfaction by ye town. The which
was done & new deeds were given to those seated upon ye
lands laid down by him, only his wife would not sign them
without some consideration. Which refusal was upon advice
to gain some small matter towards ye Purchase of Huckslies
lot yet nothing was gained, before this also Authority of ye
Genl Court approved & confirmed ye Act of ye Committee
& Also Enacted ye Deeds should be given to those places
in this new 'Moddle' by ye first Proprietors upon Satisfaction
by this Committee of two Acres for one.
"Now all these things went well for a while, But Provoca
tions came ahand & ye Adversary is not Idle.
"One was about a Lane laid out into ye South Field to
make a more ready passage thither into ye woods for ye neigh
bors, which being debated it was thought most convenient
to run along by Brother Maudsley remaining but none
thought of runing it upon his land but without it.
"Another was in that Bro. John Hanchet who was seated
on a small bit of what Brother Maudsley laid down, having
received a Deed of him, after a while going to live at Stony
Brook being forced to sell & Lt. Maudsley not consenting
to buy it — had sold it to another, & other temptations com
ing upon him ye old Coler glowed: so he draws up this Peti
tion foUowing.
" 'To ye Honble & much Hond Genl Court
d m
Now assembled in Boston 27th 3 1682
" 'The humble Petition of John Maudsley
of Westfield Showeth
" 'That whereas shortly after ye fight with ye Indians

188 Westfield and its Historic Influences
at Hatfield ye Honorable Genl Court then made an Act for
ye several towns in ye Coloniy that lived remote & scattered
should gather in near together in a compact way, as judging
it to be most for ye severall plantations & inhabitants thereof.
" 'Our humble petition in obedience to your Authority
and in approbation of your Advice & Counsel & in ye Act
did singly lay down 4 Acres of his homelot to accommodate
4 neighbors that your end promised might be maintained
& that ye Plantations might be strengthened by fiving near
together & whereas ye former Inhabitants, upon satisfaction
to ye Petitioner tendered by ye demanded & pro
cured Deeds for ye same but not on behalf or in ye name
of ye Petitioner or his wife for her rights therein.
" 'The said Petitioner would be pleased that the Court
would understand that only one of ye inhabitants, namely
John Hanchet shortly after he had possest part of ye premises
hath sold & alienated his part of ye land to another formerly
settled on another Plantation and ye end advised is not
attended. 'Now whereas ye Genl. Court did in their order Grant
full satisfaction
" 'Now this Petitioner in this Plantation hath not
received above halfe of his satisfaction in respect to his
promises, neither according to ye same land sold by said John
Hanchet nor according to ye land next adjoining which ye
Petitioner hath purchased.
" 'Wherefore your humble Petitioner dost most humbly
crave yt ye Hon. Genl. Court would grant ye said land again
or ye money it was sold for in lieu of ye one halfe of ye £20
yet due for satisfaction although it be not a quarter part of
ye land ye petitioner laid down for ye same mentioned end,
there being a Highway laid out through ye same which ye
Petitioner had nothing for.
" 'And yet ye Petitioner having ye remainder of his land
lying at ye end near this Highway, ye inhabitants have agreed
to and desire to run a further highway to his great damage
through ye whole Lot. Also ye town may lay out a High
way in town lands as convenient or rather better.
" 'Wherefore your humble Petitioner doth humbly crave
you will take into serious consideration ye Premises & afford

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 189
such reliefe as in your Godly wisdom shall seem meet & he
shall daily pray for your Peace & Prosperity & remain
" *Yr Humble Servant John Maudsley.' m
" 'At a Genl. Court held at Boston ye 24. 3. 1682
" 'In answer to this Petition, ye Court judgeth it most
meet to refer ye whole matter to ye County Court of Hamp
shire who are hereby empowered to act therein, — so be it
in such a way as ye Law in this case doth direct & as may
remove all just grounds of complaint
" 'A true Copy Edward Rawson Scribe.' "
The foUowing curious echo of that local controversy over
the "bits of land" is found in the colonial records: m
"Westfield, 15th 3: 1679
"Honrble: Sr: together With ye Honr'd: Court.
"The Almighty having laid vs under Such an awfull Provi
dence as Hatfields ruins by the Indians, did So amaze vs,
yt it was a question whether we Should abide here, or no:
ffor or: neighbours, many of them being forced during ye war,
from, & now having but newly return'd to yeir: own habita
tions, were So far discouraged, as that they had no minde
ever to return to them more but had working thoughts to
leave ye town; ye wch if they had, the town would have
certainly, in away of ordinary reason, been deserted. Where
fore nothing at present Seem'd more a duty, than their in-
couragmnt: by breaking or homelots to allow Some Small
bits to them for houses, barns & Cowyards, & So, to come
into a new farm that we might all on this Side ye river at
least, be in a generaU ffortification. The wch they not oppos
ing came under debate, in a town meeting; & was effected;
& considering how much vnder, the war had already laid
them yt to put them to purchase could not be complied wth:
neither could well be, as all ye land to be laid down lay wtout
fence as ye Comon, it was complied with (one excepted) to
receive homelot Land for what was laid down, & ye Satis
faction Should be two acres for one, but night coming on,

190 Westfield and its Historic Influences
nothing was perfected: & he yt before was excepted ye next
time fell of, altho of all men he lay vnder ye Strongest duty,
having no less than 4 of his own, & 3 or 4 of his wives chil
dren in ye town, all wch: (two excepted) were to be provided
for in this new Moddle, but in ye interim yr ffatherly care
over vs coming forth, did require or Coming together, & left
ye Transactions about ye Same into ye hands of a Comit-
tee wch: accordingly did recommend to the town what we
had been about, & required it to be attended on forthwith,
wch: after was further carried on by ye Worshipfull Majr:
Pynchon who Set a Day appart to come himselfe to perfect
ye Same, ye wch: he did, & So hath determined ye Same
wth: Some of, ye Comittee, & ye Satisfaction wch: was
to be made, requiring forthwith an attendance hereupon.
The wch: as it did revive ye Spirits of or poore Distressed
Neighbours, So it did, effect Some melancholy aspects in Some
of ye Proprietors, whereupon all wheels moved heavily. But
fear, & danger admitting no delays, & ye winter Season mak
ing of it their onely duty, in obedience to Authority, they
bring their houses, & prepare fortifying matter: But having
thro mercy gone thro those Shocking occasions that they
found come Crushing on them, the foUowing Sumr: began
to consider where they were, & to looke after assurance of
those little bit of land allotted; & to meet with little else
but yt those that Set them there must give them assurance,
& no other assurance is like to be had of Some, if of any.
"Wherefore though or: Neighbours chiefly concern'd herein,
Stand in their discouragmnt: looking one on another, as
unwilling to Stir in any thing for themselves, yt hath ye
appearance of taking away an others intrest, yet we can
not but on their account intimate what is come to pass; &
considering how deeply ye Authority of God, put forth by
[blurred] is concern'd herein, as also how pleasant a work
it will be unto yr: Selves to Serve ye will of God in, to Shut
yt doore wch: if left ope wiU be Such a greate pleasure unto
Satan; we force orSelves to manifest or. desires thus; That
you would follow yr former proceeding with like Authority
as Shall Confirm in Law those little bits of land unto those,
who, in obedience unto yr. Authority have them in actuall
possession for wch they have that, & only that to Show.

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 191
"Thus Humbly begging The Almighty God to go along
with you in all Concerns & also in this before you, wch: we,
to prevent that burning wch: without doubt Satan harps
upon to kindle in this rubbidge, have laid before you; yet
being very fearfull of bringing Some of ye Sparks into or.
own thatch, we presume upon yr. Candour to crave that
it may be imputed to us as a pardonable errour in us in appear
ing herein onely in the Majusculas of or. names, Subscrib
ing or.Selves as we are indeed.
"Your Humble & obedient Servants
to or Power
E:T:T:N:"
(Mass. Archives, Vol. 69, p. 223.)
Those initials stand respectively for Edward Taylor and
Thomas Noble. How the use of the "Majusculas" of their
names, the term smacking of a delicious bit of pedantry,
could have been any safeguard to them personally against
the sparks flying into their own thatch, is a perplexing ques
tion since there could have been no doubt as to their identity
when thus indicated.
Several amusing incidents relating to church discipline
are preserved in the ecclesiastical records by Mr. Taylor.
"Touching our Brethren Stephen Kellogg & Sergt. Joseph
Maudsley who did somewhat buggle at our Church fasts
which in ye winter time we had attended once a month since
we were gathered in a Church state, except those four (4) years
when we had a monthly Lectures up & at length they wholly
desisted & Pleade against as unlawful being stated Fasts.
"Whereupon on ye 27 day of March 1710 ye last Fast
that winter Brother Kellogg being there & Sergt. Maudsly, ye
day before setting forth upon a journey to the BAY, I
enquired of Brother Stephan Kellogg ye reason why they
withdrew from ye Duty of Fasting & Prayer with ye Church.
"His reply was in effect this. He was not doubtful touch
ing ye Lawfulness of ye stating of them. For stated fasts
were held unlawful by ye Consociation of Elders in ye Bay."
Two years later, this doughty independent was caught
off from his guard by a temptation that has beguiled many

192 Westfield and its Historic Influences
persons through all human generations. As the record shows
in this case he became humbly penitent.
"Brother Stephan Kellogg at a Barn raising — June 17 1712."
"Being at ye Barn raising when the whether was com
ing warm & much sider was brought and after it Joseph PixUe
drinking with others, it was reported that he was overtaken
but it not being proved & he being sensible that many were
offended, stood up according to advise. Upon our Con
ference day 17d.4mo.1712 & spoke to ye following effect.
That he was sensible yt he was a very sinful creature and
apt to offend in many things, to his great griefe & if any had
observed any offence in him he earnestly desired yt they would
pardon the same & help him with their prayers & he hoped
yt God would enable him to walk with a greater watchfulness
over himself for ye time to come or in words to this effect
& so all things was an end."
A case of somewhat serious prevarication is thus recorded:
"Brother Samuel Bush's acknowledgment of ye account of
his telling Col. [John] Pynchon who on his wedden Contract
asked him whether he had ye Clarks Certificate answered
yt he had one but had lost it, made 22d. 3m. 1699.
"Whereas I understand yt my answer upon my wedden
day to ColonaU Pynchon, who asked me whether I had ye
Clarks Certificate & I through ignorance and inconsiderate-
ness, not thinking it to be any other than a Note that I was
published according to Law & being hurried in the morn
ing before I went to Springfield till I thought ye Clark was
gone from home about his business it was mooved yt a Note
from another person to intimate this matter of Publishment
was attended according to Law might serve. I went with
another to Certify ye thing not designing but to pay ye Clark
what was his due & upon such a ballancing I answered to
ye question that I had one, but had lost it.
"But ye matter since looked into, I am convinced yt I
have sin'd and done evil in so saying & desire to have ye sense
thereof upon my heart before God & desire also that
the offence hereof may be passed over be ye church & by
any other offender thereat & that they would help me by
their prayers to be more watchful for ye time to come.

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 193
"This confession being read in ye Assembly was accepted
by ye Church & voted & so a briefe was given to watchfulness
& chiefly to see that the beginnings of matters be laid right, for
if not commonly temptations afterwards will be ready to
rush into things not warrantable but evil, so he was dismist."
An exceedingly complicated and absurd case involved
Thomas Dewey and his wife and John Ingerson and his wife,
the occasion of the bitter quarrel having been the trespassing
of some "120 or more hens young & old" belonging to the
Deweys. They took possession of the Ingerson house when
ever the door was left open & refused so obstinately to be
driven off the premises that the Ingersons killed and devoured
several of them. The Ingerson girls subjected the Dewey
girls to scandalous treatment in public. Mrs. Abigail Dewey
was very obstinate when reasoned with and appealed to by
Mr. Taylor, but finally she consented to make a confession
and plead for the charity and prayers of the church.
In 1656 the General Court took heroic measures in deal
ing with the "cursed sect of heretics lately risen up in the
world, which are commonly caUed Quakers, who take upon
them to be immediately sent of God, and infallibly assisted
by the Spirit to speak and write blasphemous opinions, despis
ing government and the order of God in church and common
wealth, speaking evil of dignitaries, reproaching and reviling
magistrates and ministers, seeking to turn the people from
the faith, and gain proselytes to their pernicious ways."
(Massachusetts Records IV, 277.)
Massachusetts was the only one of the Colonies which put
the stern decrees of the Court into practice. It carried out in
this case its established policy of putting to death such as should
return after having been banished for any cause, though
hitherto the threatened death penalty had acted as an effi
cient deterrent, and none banished had returned. But its
menace was only an incentive to many of the persecuted
sect. The Court was determined to root out the heresy,
and the authorities of Boston shared their purpose. Before
the stern methods of procedure were relaxed or modified,
William Robinson, Marmaduke Stevenson, William Led-
dra and Mary Dyer were hanged. Three other recalcitrants

194 Westfield and its Historic Influences
suffered the penalty of the loss of the right ear. It is a ground
for restricted consolation that none suffered what was
threatened for a second and third offense respectively, the
loss of the other ear, and the boring of the tongue with a hot
iron. When the law inflicting capital punishment upon such
as returned after banishment had been repealed in 1661, the
following humane measures were substituted in its place
by the Court :
"Being desirous to try aU means with as much lenity
as might consist with safety to prevent the intrusion of
Quakers, who * * * had not been restrained by the laws
already provided," it was ordered that such obstinate mis
chief-makers should be "tied to a cart's tail," and whipped
from town to town "towards the borders of the jurisdiction."
If three such treatments of their religious mania should not
cure it, and they should return a fourth time, they were to
"be branded with the letter R on their left shoulder, and
be severely whipped and sent away in manner as before."
Again the smaU consolation is ours that the penalty of
branding was never inflicted under this law. Its enforce
ment was more humane than its letter.
That some of the feared and detested Quakers were thorns
in the sides of the pious people of the established faith is evi
denced by some instances of extreme provocation. They
disturbed congregations at worship; one deluded woman
walked about in a gown made of sackcloth; and another
smeared her face with grease and lampblack and thus dis
figured, paraded the streets. Still another, "was constrained,
being a young woman of very modest and retired life and
of sober conversation, as were her parents, to go through
the town of Salem naked, as a sign." "Lydia WardeU, being
a young and tender, chaste woman, * * * as a sign unto
them (the church at Newbury) went in (though it was exceed
ing hard to her modest and shamefaced disposition) naked
amongst them." (Bishop, New England Judged, pp. 377, 383.)
Respecting these absurd and revolting instances of fanat
icism, Arthur Gilman, as an extenuation of their outrageous
conduct, cites a statement of Whittier to the effect that as
a result of the habit of examining persons stripped of their

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 195
clothing for "marks of the devil," they had lost some of their
instinctive modesty and "had less compunction in thus pre
senting themselves in public than they otherwise would have
had." Two women, Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, on arriv
ing, had been thus stripped and examined by order of Deputy-
Governor Belhngham. (History of the American People, p.
154. Note.)
The controversy between Puritan and Quaker in New
England was embittered and intensified by the regnancy of
conscience on both sides. Each was confident that he was
doing God service by waging it to extreme issues, and there
fore was burning with zeal in his antagonism against the
other who did not share his point of view. They were both
dominated by a holy passion, the Puritan by the passion
for orthodoxy, and the Quaker by the passion for martyrdom,
in those early days. Between these two millstones, upper and
nether, the deluded Puritan fanatic ground the deluded Quaker
fanatic. It was pitiful, horrible! Nevertheless, it was
characteristic of the age and the stage of civilization then
attained in Old England, as well as in her Colonies oversea.
The better day of tolerance and charity was late in dawning
and slow in reaching noontide. George Filer was dealt with
while its foregleams brightened the eastern sky; and twenty
years later, in 1706, the Quakers had a meeting house in Bos
ton where their persecution had been hottest.
An interesting case of discipline is recorded in the latter
part of the eighteenth century. The heretical opinions enter
tained by the offending member are remarkable for a man
to hold at that time and place. Some of them seem to indi
cate that he had become tinctured with the rationalism so
prevalent in France and in some parts of this country at that
period. January 2, 1798, complaint was presented to the church
under the following heads :
"1. For absenting himself from the Lord's Table.
"2. For absenting himself from public worship.
"3. For rejecting a special Revelation & pretending that
the Bible was written by men through their reason upon
Creation & Providence without any supernatural influence
upon their minds.

196 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"4. For embracing the sentiment that none of the human
race will be miserable after death.
"5. For embracing the strange and singular notion that
Christ is death, that persons by him, that is by death, will
be saved." The church heard and duly considered his defense,
adjudged him guilty and voted to wait awhile for his repent
ance, and if it should not be declared he was to receive a pub
lic admonition at the close of service in the afternoon of the
first Sabbath of February. A later vote deferred the pub
lic admonition for six weeks. The admonition was given
March 18 and a copy of it was sent to him on the foUowing
day. After a second admonition had failed to bring him
to repentance, he was excommunicated.
There are two instances of the assertion by negro slaves
of their inherent right to liberty which were premonitions
of the dawn of the better era when Massachusetts purged
itself of the crime of holding men in bondage and treating
them as chattels to be bought and sold. These two instances
occurred during the early years of the pastorate of Rev. John
Ballantine. In addition to the cases of discipline, instances of which
have been cited, the church record contains a long list of
confessions, obtained evidently without due process of trial,
covering a variety of heinous sins chiefly sexual, and minor
offenses. "Dec. 31 Daniel Gunn made public acknowledgement
that he had treated his wife both with words & actions plainly
contrary to ye rules of ye Gospel & promised to watch over
his passions better & to resist temptation, & having profest
at ye same time Repentance grief & shame for his sin, foUy
& imprudence in them."
One of the same family name made public acknowledg
ment of his "making too free with strong drink some time
last winter at the Tavern."
A woman linked together things trivial and serious when
she "confessed herself guilty of foolish jesting in years past
& of breaking the 4th, 5th, 8th, Commandments in steal
ing a horse and riding away on the Sabbath without her hus
band's consent."

Matters of Dispute and Discipline 197
It is easy to understand her breach of the 4th and 8th
commandments, but what her failure to secure her husband's
consent to her evil doings had to do with the 5th command
ment does not appear.
"Handford Old confessed himself guilty of too much
indulging his passions in throwing fire on his sister Deliverance
Hanchet on ye sabbath."
"Pompey — negro servant of Lt. David Maudsley con
fessed himself guilty of holding a stick over his mistress head
about 8 years ago & wrenching a stick out of her hands about
6 years ago, talking disrespectfully to her & disobeying her
commands, & telling stories out of ye house."
If house servants in these days should be brought to formal
and humble confession of the fault last named in the above list,
how many confessions would be spread upon church records!
Several interesting cases came before David Ingersoll,
who went with the earliest emigration from Westfield to the
Housatonic region. He was one of the most prominent and
influential citizens there for many years after 1739, erected
a grist and saw miU, began the manufacture of iron from ore
in a local mine, and was Justice of the Peace. He decided as
foUows: "Aug. 14, 1754.
"The King 1
against [ for stealing sundry goods from Mr. John Brewer.
Eliner Ward J
She confest she stole 3 caps and J^M. Pins. Ordered to pay
32/ and ye goods : being 3 fold damages & cost, & to be whipt
20 stripes. All were performed."
At a court before Justices Dwight & Ingersoll October 5,
1754. "Samuel Taylor Jr. & Ebenr Crowfoot of Pontucusk com
plained of for making & spreading a false alarm, and digging
up & scalping an Indian which was buried. They confessed
themselves to be guilty. Taylor ordered to pay a fine of
20 shiUings for making and spreading a false alarm and making
a lie and spreading ye same; and for digging up said Indian
a fine of 20/, or be whipped 30 stripes; Neglects pay sd fine
and was whipped.

198 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"Crowfutt to pay 13/-4d for said alarm & for digging up
sd Indian 13/-4d or be whipped 20 stripes; omitted paying
& was whipped.
"Both to pay costs being £6.7.6. Committed untill per
formed. In addition they wer bound in the sum of £5. each.
"EUsha Rew & Samuel Dewey Jr. and Timothy Young-
love, brought before me upon complaint of Ebenr Hamlin
& Simon Cook, for firing or discharging Guns in the night
following ye 3d of Oct current. Convicted and they sat in
ye stocks one hour: paid cost. Bound to their good behavior
untill next Court."
They richly deserved the penalty for startling the people
when Indian alarms were frequent.
The dead Indian was mutilated in the hope of securing
a bounty for his scalp, in accordance with a hideous statute
then existing.

CHAPTER X.
The Indian Menace, Philip's War
During the earliest years of the Colonies the relations
between the English and the original inhabitants were
generaUy peaceable and friendly. The red men were not
always congenial neighbors on account of their different habits
of thought and life, their roaming disposition, their barbar
ous manners, their suUen resentment of the encroachments
of white men upon their lands and their game. So long as
the newcomers were few, there was an abundant supply of
land, food and pelts for both peoples, but as the ratio of whites
to Indians increased, the supplies which they both coveted
proved less ample for the common needs, though stiU sufficient.
The Indians were not unmindful of great advantages accru
ing to them from the presence of the English. For the first
time in their history they had a market near at hand where
they could barter the fruits of the chase, and such portion
of the fruits of their rude husbandry as they could spare, for
the products of civilization, hatchets, knives, hoes, cloth,
beads, and, what they coveted even more greedily, guns, pow
der and ball. For though stringent laws were early enacted
in the Colonies forbidding the sale of these last commodities
to the Indians, still they succeeded in procuring them in con
siderable quantity, though chiefly from the Dutch traders
over the New York border.
Another embargo, which was laid upon the sale of spiritu
ous liquor, they succeeded too frequently in evading. The
possession by the white man of these various commodities
made him a desirable neighbor so long as he could be induced
to part with them by any lure, or deprived of them by any
force, that the Indian could employ.
In the matter of land rights, he had for many years little
to complain of, a fact already emphasized in an earlier Chapter.
Such land as white men desired for settlement and husbandry,
they were willing to pay for at a price which both Indian and
Englishman considered fair. Both desired to consummate

200 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the transaction, and both were satisfied with the terms and
the result. Having sold his lands, the Indian was still ad
mitted to about the same privileges as had been his before the
sale was made, except in comparatively restricted areas. He
could stiU hunt and fish, cultivate fields of corn, beans, and
pumpkins, he could still raise his wigwam where he chose,
even in the bounds of the hamlets of the Englishmen, and
close to their rude dwellings. The Rev. Solomon Stoddard
says that the Indians during the first two decades of the life
of Northampton, "in all times of danger and war had been
wont to seek shelter by getting and crowding into our home
lots, as near our houses as possible, and begging house-room
for their stuff and themselves."
In a general way the Indians in the United Colonies recog
nized the political supremacy of the English. Their sachems
did not wield uniform authority. The extent of it in an indi
vidual tribe seems to have depended to a great degree on the
personal force and character of the sachem who happened to
be in office. In 1643, when they apprehended danger from
the Narragansetts, five separate sachems of Massachusetts
entered into solemn compact to submit to the government of
the Colony and to give notice of any intention of any enemy
from without to begin hostilities against the English, if such
intention should become known to them. The general policy
of the colonial authorities was to punish the Indian inhabit
ants under English laws for any offense against the EngUsh
and, in addition, for any capital or heinous offense among
themselves. Hutchinson cites a case of a squaw convicted of
adultery, which was referred to the elders for advice, whether
or not she should be put to death. They were merciful and
the criminal escaped with a smart whipping.
The Indians of the various parts of New England differed
quite widely from one another in important characteristics,
though possessing many in common, and being ready at times
to bury their tribal animosities and unite in seeking to ex
terminate the whites. They all belonged to the great Al-
gonquin-Lenape family, or, as commonly known, the Algon-
quins, who occupied Canada and what is now the territory
of the United States east of the Mississippi River, north of
Virginia and the Ohio River, except the region dominated by

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 201
the Iroquois. That powerful confederacy, called by the
English "The Five Nations," formed by the Mohawks,
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, occupied the
country around Lake Erie, south of Lake Ontario, west of
the Hudson River and extending into northern Pennsylvania.
Because of their valor and their successes in warfare they
were known as the Romans of America.
Daniel Gookin, who wrote in 1674, divides the New Eng
land branch of the Algonquins into the Massachusetts dwell
ing about the Bay of that name and immediately adjacent
parts; the Pawkenawkets or Wampanoags chiefly within
the jurisdiction of Plymouth Colony; the Pequots and Mo-
hegans in the eastern part and along the coast of Connecticut;
the Narragansetts in Rhode Island; the Pawtuckets, north
and northeast of the Massachusetts including the Penacooks
of New Hampshire and extending up to the Abenakis or Tarra-
teens of Maine; and the Nipmucks or "fresh water people,"
north of the Mohegans, and west of the Massachusetts, and
extending somewhat west of the Connecticut River. The
Nipmucks in this neighborhood were divided into the Aga-
wams in the vicinity of Springfield, the Norwottucks or Nono-
tucks about Hadley, Hatfield and Northampton, the Pocum-
tucks of the Deerfield valley, and the Woronoakes in the
region about Westfield, some of whom came from the Hudson
vaUey and returned thither after Philip's War. The Quaboags,
still another branch, occupied the region about Brookfield.
The Pequots were active and warlike, and called the Narra
gansetts, who were the most commercial of the tribes, a nation
of women, though upon occasion they proved fierce warriors.
Each tribe had its own sachem. The Pequots and Mohegans
claimed some kind of authority over the Nipmucks, while all
the New England tribes were overawed by the terrible Iro
quois, called also Maquas and Mohawks. Gookin, quoted by
TrumbuU, says that in time of war so great was the terror of
these eastern tribes that the appearance of four or five Maquas
in the woods drove them from their habitations and prompted
many of them to take refuge in forts. This statement may
explain the existence of the ancient Indian fort near where
the first meeting house in Westfield was erected. The terri
tory of the Woronoakes was on the frontier open to the in-

202 Westfield and its Historic Influences
cursions of those dreaded Indians from the west, rendering
necessary such a place of shelter.
The New England Indians however were never completely
subjugated by the Five Nations. One heroic effort was made
in 1669, the year of the organization of the town of Westfield,
to relieve the tension of existing conditions. Six hundred
braves from Massachusetts marched into the territory of the
Mohawks and attacked one of their forts, but were repulsed
with considerable loss. Two years later peace between them
was established through the efforts of the English and Dutch
at Albany, and the subsequent alliance of the English and the
Five Nations preserved the New England Indians from
farther attack.
The number of Nipmucks at the period of the beginnings
of English settlements has been estimated at about 800,
though Judd in his History of Hadley, thinks that it was from
1000 to 1100. In an account laid before the Assembly of Con
necticut in 1680, the number of warriors of the several tribes
in the state was estimated at 500. At the end of that century
the converted, or "praying" Indians as they were called, in
Massachusetts were reckoned at 3000 souls.
In an exhaustive "Synopsis of the Indian Tribes" by Hon.
Albert GaUatin, laid before the American Antiquarian Society
in 1836, he makes the foUowing statement :
"I think that the Indian population within the present
boundaries of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, and Connecticut, must have been from thirty
to forty thousand souls before the epidemic disease which pre
ceded the landing of the Pilgrims." (Transactions and Col
lections, Vol. II, p. 37.)
That epidemic made immense inroads upon the native
population from which it never fuUy recovered.
The Indians were all savages marked by repulsive
characteristics, while some tribes were lower than others in
their personal qualities. Those about the Bay seem to have
been of an extremely low type, probably the most degraded in
all New England. Two of the ministers characterized them
in a way far from complimentary. Mr Wilson, though com
passionating them, called them "the most sordid and con
temptible part of the human species." Mr. Hooker said that

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 203
they were "the veriest ruins of mankind upon the face of the
earth." In Hutchinson's History they are portrayed as
"more dirty, foul and sordid than swine, being never so clean
and sweet as when they were well greased."
In a scholarly and instructive address before the Con
necticut VaUey Historical Society delivered a few years since,
Prof. J. T. Bowne, of the Young Men's Christian Association
CoUege of Springfield, a painstaking student of Indian affairs,
and collector of Indian remains, said:
"Our ideas of Indian Ufe are shaped largely by pictures of
the modern Indian from the western plains. As I use the
term with you to-night you call to mind one mounted upon a
pony, covered with a blanket of many colors, carrying his
saber or rifle; or, it may be seated in front of his tepee wigwam.
Not one of those things was known to the Indian on the At
lantic coast at its settlement by Europeans. He had never
seen a pony, a blanket, a rifle, or indeed any instrument of
iron; nor is it probable that he had ever seen a tepee wigwam."
Gookin says: "Their houses or wigwams are built with
smaU poles fixed in the ground, bent or fastened together with
barks of trees oval or arbour-wise on the top. The best sort
of them are covered very neatly, tight and warm, with barks
of trees, slipped from their bodies at such seasons when the sap
is up; and made into great flakes with pressure of weighty
timber, when they are green; and so becoming dry they will
retain a form suitable for the use they prepare them for. The
meaner sort of wigwams are covered with mats they make of a
kind of bulrush, which are also indifferent tight and warm, but
not so good as the former." ("Historical Collections of the
Indians in New England," Mass. Historical Soe. CoUections,
First Series, 1792, pp. 149-50.)
Gookin is one of the best authorities on the subject. He
came from Virginia to Boston in 1644 and for the thirty years
foUowing had been giving careful study to the Indians before
the publication of this pamphlet in 1670. The information
which he supplies, is, therefore, first-hand and reliable. Some
interesting details are worthy of consideration by those who
would have a just conception of the aborigines with whom
our forefathers came into contact and conflict.
Some of the wigwams which Gookin describes were in-

204 Westfield and its Historic Influences
tended for several families. They ranged in length from
twenty to a hundred feet, and were thirty feet broad. The
small wigwams had a fireplace in the center, with an opening
above it, and another lower down for the escape of smoke.
The openings had mats to cover them which were adjusted
to conditions of wind and storm. In the larger wigwams the
openings were in the ratio of their size. The openings for
ingress and egress were closed by mats. Gookin says that he
had found these rude structures as tight and warm as English
houses. The food of the Indians was largely corn boiled with beans,
fish or the meat of deer, bear, moose, beaver, otter or any
game which they could capture.
They used also roots, nuts and pumpkins in their pottage.
"Also sometimes they beat their maize into meal, and sift it
through a basket made for that purpose. With this meal they
make bread, baking it in the ashes, covering the dough with
leaves. Sometimes they make of their meal a small sort of
cake and boil them. They make also a certain sort of meal
of parched maize. This meal they call hocake. It is so sweet,
toothsome and hearty that an Indian wiU travel many days
with no other food but this meal, which he eateth as he needs,
and after it drinketh water. And for this end, when they
travel a journey, or go a hunting, they carry the hocake in a
basket or bag for their use."
Their beds were made of poles lifted a foot above the floor
of the wigwams, covered with boughs and skins.
Their household utensils consisted of pots made of clay,
egg-shaped with the top cut off, spoons and ladles of wood,
pails of birch bark, baskets made of bark, rushes, corn husks,
grass and other pliable materials, sometimes elaborately
decorated. Their clothing was made of skins, tanned, with
or without the fur. They also made mantles of .quilted
feathers. Their only farming implements were rude hoes made of
trap rock, many specimens of which have been found in this
region, and a substitute for a spade made of wood.
Their weapons were bows and arrows, clubs and toma
hawks, the last named, like the arrows, having had stone
attachments sharpened by chipping and rubbing.

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 205
After trade with Europeans had been established the
Indians began to change their primitive possessions for the
products of civilization. They bartered the fruits of hunt
ing and trapping for utensUs of iron and copper, pots and
pans, knives, hatchets, guns, pistols, and for cloth, beads,
mirrors and many other things which were novelties to their
wondering and covetous eyes.
Hence it came about that the Indians as the early settlers
of Westfield knew them had among their belongings a combi
nation of things primitive and the products of the civilization
of the period.
A quaint statement of Roger WiUiams is very suggestive
of the limitations of primitive man. He says, "I have seen
a native go into the woods with his hatchet, carrying only a
basket of corn with him and stones to strike fire. When he
had feUed his tree (being a chestnut) he made him a little
house or shed of the bark of it; he puts fire and follows the
burning it with fire in many places; his corn he boils, and
hath the brook by him and sometimes angles for a little fish;
but so he continues burning and hewing until he hath, within
ten or twelve days (lying there at his work alone) finished his
boat." That was one kind of boat or canoe, two feet wide
and twenty feet long, hewed out after the repeated burnings
with a stone hatchet and clam shells. Surely the time sug
gested by WiUiams was none too great.
A fine sample of such Indian workmanship was preserved
for several years by the St. Bernard Fish and Game Club at
Camp Henry, St. Alexis, Des Monts, P. Q. The Camp is
situated on the south shore of beautiful Lake Sassacoma,
about 80 miles northeast of Montreal.
The dugout, bearing marks of great antiquity, was dis
covered several mUes away in the forest and was brought to
the Camp where it was an object of great interest until de
stroyed by fire with the building in September, 1917. The
dugout was of pine, 18 feet long, 18 inches wide in the middle,
8 inches wide at either end, and 12 inches deep. It ought to
have been preserved in some museum, thus avoiding its ir
reparable loss.
No lover of native skill in meeting the hardships, the per
plexities, the difficulties of wilderness life, no lover of hardi-

206 Westfield and its Historic Influences
hood and endurance, can fail to find much to admire in the
original claimants of the territory that is now so thickly studded
with cities and towns, which rejoice in the triumphs and de
pend upon the conveniences of modern civilization.
In the conditions that prevailed in this valley, as in other
regions of New England, during the colonial period, it was
inevitable that jars and discords, antagonisms and open hostili
ties should occur between the two races. The Indians were
by inheritance savages, though less fierce and bloodthirsty
than the Iroquois on the next great river to the westward
that ran paraUel to their own toward the sea. Much that
the white man esteemed highly they despised, and much be
sides that the white man had in abundance they coveted but
were averse to seeking it by his methods of thrift, prudence
and industry.
William Pynchon showed fine sagacity in dealing with the
Indians, who so often proved treacherous and even dangerous
from the earliest days, even though they were allowed very
large freedom in the infant hamlet and its homes. He was
a wise diplomat who knew the value of a habit of opportunism,
forbearance and patience. In an early letter to Gov. Win
throp he wrote: "My advise is that neather you nor the river
[Connecticut] should do anything else but use dilatory means,
for I percieve the nature of the Indians is uppon every like
occasion to be much provoked with the desyer of revenge,
but if meanes of delay be used but a while, the edge of their
revengeful desyer will soon be cooled. I percieve they are
carefull of this, not to begin first with the English, but they
make account, if the English begin first with them, to doe
great matters."
Not long before that letter was written, the General Court
of Connecticut, September, 1642, began an enactment as
foUows, "Forasmuch as the Indians growe insolent and com-
byne themselves together."
In the summer of 1667 some cattle and hogs which be
longed to people of Springfield, Northampton and Hadley
were killed in the woods and there was good reason to at
tribute the loss to Mohawks. It was known that they shot
and scalped an Indian servant of Nathaniel Clark of Northamp
ton, late in August of that year. The deputies of Hampshire

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 207
made complaint to the General Court in October following,
of these Mohawk outrages. In response to the complaint a
committee appointed to consider it urged that a letter be
sent to the chief sachem of the Mohawks, setting forth their
grievance and demanding damages. The letter, sent Oct.
31, is very diffuse and some of its realistic details are very
amusing, including the finding of "shoes made of green hog-
skins which were left at the places where the Mohawks made
their stands and from whence they were seen to go." The
Mohawks were sufficiently impressed by the letter to make
tardy reparation as shown in the records of March, 1669, to the
extent of £20. It was paid in leather, perhaps in poetic
justice for the injustice of the "shoes of green hogskins" and
was in the hands of Simon LobdeU of Springfield. He was
ordered to pay certain specified shares of it respectively to
the three towns, in shoes at a fair price. The peaceful re
lations indicated by Mr. Stoddard in terms already quoted
from his letter to the Council, was rudely broken in 1671. He
says farther of the Indians who had been on such intimate
terms with the Northampton townspeople, "A little before the
tidings of war with Plymouth brake out * * * they on a sudden,
without any cause given, plucked up their wigwams, took
away their goods which they had laid up in our houses, and
this they did at once."
These formerly friendly Nonotucks became at once un
easy and suspicious and soon made open alliance with the
eastern Indians against their former neighbors.
The modern student of King Philip's War can find ample
materials and diversified estimates of that famous son of
Massasoit. Whether or not he was the forceful statesman,
the skiUed diplomat, the shrewd and successful schemer, the
mighty savage general, that he has been held to be by many
students, in some way his name became associated with a
movement of several Indian tribes which wrought frightful
havoc in the four Colonies and seemed for a brief critical period
of the war to menace the very life of the English occupancy.
The treachery, duplicity and obstinate antagonism of
Philip, which he exhibited from time to time during a series
of years, and which became more pronounced and aggravat-

208 Westfield and its Historic Influences
ing in the spring of 1675, linked his personality with the early
stages of the war that is known historically by his name.
By a formal instrument executed "in the presence of the
Court [of Plymouth] and divers of the Magistrates and other
gentlemen of Massachusetts and Connecticut," Sept. 29, 1671,
he solemnly declared that he, his council and his subjects, the
Pokanokets, or Wampanoags, recognized the authority of
the King of England and the government of New Plymouth,
that they would obey their laws and render them fealty.
Three years later, Sausaman, a faithful Indian, informed the
Governor of Plymouth that Philip was stirring up discord
among various sachems and inciting them to war. This state
ment was corroborated by concurrent testimonies of others.
In June of the following year Sausaman was murdered and
the latter part of the same month the town of Swanzey was
attacked, houses were burned and citizens were butchered.
Soon afterward several towns of Plymouth Colony were at
tacked. The following month, the second stage of the war
was reached, the Nipmucks began depradations, and a skirmish
near Quaboag, now Brookfield, proved disastrous to a party
of English troopers sent as an escort of three citizens who
were appointed commissioners to attempt the pacification
of the Nipmucks, whom Philip had joined on the day before
the fight. By the end of August hostilities opened in the
Connecticut Valley, and troops had reached that region from
the eastern part of the State and from Hartford. This was
the frontier indeed, the towns here were the very outposts of
civilization, there having been no settlement for a hundred
miles to the westward and no European settlement to the
northward for twice that distance. The peril of these feeble
hamlets was appalling. All the way up the river from Spring
field to the northernmost town of Northfield (Squaukheag),
hostile savages were prowling. There ten men who had ven
tured too far from a blockhouse were killed Sept. 2. Captain
Beers was sent with thirty-six men as a rescuing party, but
before reaching Northfield they were waylaid and more than
half of them, including their commander, were killed. Major
Treat with a hundred men was then sent and fighting their
way through they brought the terrified people safely from
Northfield and for a time that settlement was abandoned.

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 209
On Sept. 9 at that critical epoch of 1675, the Commissioners
of the three Colonies gathered at Boston for their first meeting
after the new confederacy had been established.
They considered recent events, declared that the war, as
a defensive one, was both just and necessary, and should be
vigorously prosecuted by aU the United Colonies, decided
to raise a force of 1000 men and determined the quota to be
furnished by each Colony, from Massachusetts, 527, from
Connecticut, 315, and from Plymouth, 158. In reviewing
the relative power of the Indians and the English, Palfrey
estimates them about equal in number, though the Indians
having become well suppUed with firearms and expert marks
men, were, for various reasons, the more formidable. He says
of them, "They knew the country perfectly; the paths and
defiles by which they might reach an undefended hamlet; the
thickets in which they might wait for a company of travelers;
the hoUows where they might lie hidden and baffle pursuit.
They knew the haunts and the habits of their exposed white
neighbors; the day of the week when dwellings might be ran
sacked and burned more safely than on the other six; the
hours of the night when conflagration and carnage were easiest.
On the other hand, though the English were well armed, they
had no military experience. Not a man of them, if his life
had been passed on this side of the water, had ever been in
battle, unless he was old enough to have faced the Pequots,
forty years before. In open fight the manliness of his race
would have availed, and the slight savage could not have
prevailed against him. But it was not the habit of the red
man to try the hazards of the open field and in the arts of
Indian warfare the existing generation of Englishmen was
untaught." (History of New England, Vol. Ill, pp. 167-8.)
As an evidence of the ignorance of the authorities at Boston
as weU as the field officers, respecting the vital matter of adopt
ing the Indian method of fighting from shelter instead of main
taining close order in wilderness warfare, it is recorded that
Captain Lathrop was criticized because, after his surprise
and loss of a large portion of his command at Bloody Brook,
in Deerfield, he aUowed his men to scatter and seek cover.
Hubbard attributes his misfortune to "fighting the Indians
in their own way" and contends that if they had fought in a

210 Westfield and its Historic Influences
body, the result would have been different. The fatal fault
was, not in the method of fighting, but in the method of march
ing. Hoyt's sensible comment is, "In cases of ambuscade
no commander of a considerable force can shelter himself
under the plea that the enemy were not expected at the place.
For by due caution, a body of such strength may always dis
cover them in season, and avoid an attack on the main body.
But circumspection seems to have been a military virtue with
which the officers in our early wars were little acquainted.
Personally brave, they held the Indians in low estimation;
more discipline and knowledge of systematic war, would have
taught them more prudence; and had they adhered to the
maxim, so important in military operations, — that 'distrust
is the mother of security,' they would have baffled the enemy
with less expense of lives." (Indian Wars, p. 109.)
From the repeated disasters of those early days of con
flict, again and again the English suffered appalling losses
through the ambuscades of their wily foe. The Bloody Pond
massacre below Lake George in September, 1755, was a signal
instance. The awful slaughter of Braddock's command, two
months earlier in the same year, at Fort Duquesne, was an
other, when America came so near to losing the man who
proved its savior twenty-five years later. Washington was
the only one of Braddock's aids who escaped alive from the
ambushed French and Indian marksmen. The stubborn
English commander, taught only in the martial schools across
the sea, refused to protect his flanks by proper scouting parties
and paid the penalty of death and lasting disgrace.
Commission & Instructions to Maj. R. Treat, Aug. 30,
1675. Monday:—
He was to command the Connecticut forces sent into
Massachusetts, to be aided by a Council of War, to go first to
Westfield, and next to Northampton, to succor our neighbors
in danger, to go to other towns and places as need may be,
and meeting with the Bay forces to consult them for light &
information — "to see to the carriage & behavior of all under
your command, that it be sober, christian and comely both in
words & deeds, according to gospel profession," — to advise
with the Bay commanders "but not bound by their councfls
unless you accord with them; to preserve the lives & umbs

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 211
of your soldiers with your best skill; to see that Rev. Mr.
Whiting who goes out as minister is well provided for."
"Sep. 9. Major Treat has returned from the army, says
that the gentlemen from the Bay have ordered all their forces
out of the field up the river, & their towns to be garrisoned as
they may, that the army from this colony [Connecticut] is
about 40 at Hatfield, some at Northampton, and some at
Westfield which are desired to be continued. Council grant
26 at Westfield under Ensign John Miles, 16 at Springfield
under Lt. John Standly, & the rest both under Sergt. Joseph
Wadsworth & John Grant to return.
"11. Major Pynchon requests some forces against Indians.
Major Treat to meet with those 'gentlemen dragoons' formerly
placed under him, up to Hadley or Northampton, then to
consult with Major Pynchon and the commanders to form a
design against the Indians, to command also those in garrison
at Springfield, Westfield, Northampton & Hatfield, as well as
those that now go up with him or follow after him, English
& Indians." (Judd Ms. Forbes Library, Northampton.)
The first day of September was one of deep anxiety to
two of the river towns, Deerfield was attacked by local Indians,
who shot James Eggleston while searching for his horse. The
terrified inhabitants sought refuge in their blockhouses. The
sixty redskins were disheartened after two of their number
had faUen, and turned from fruitless efforts to drive the people
from their refuge, to the easier and more congenial task of
pUlaging and burning houses and barns.
On the same day a joint force of Nipmucks and Wampanoags
made their first attempt upon another town in the valley.
The people of Hadley were assembled in their meeting house
"seeking the Lord by fasting and prayer" as Mather says.
Suddenly the enemy appeared and threw them into confusion.
Some, if not all, of the men were armed, according to custom
in those perilous times, but they had no leader. The story
of the sensational appearance and the prowess of a mysterious
leader is familiar and interesting, dear alike to adult and school
boy, though discredited by some historical experts. Hutchin
son, whose history appeared in 1760, gives the first printed
account of it. He says, "The town of Hadley was alarmed by
the Indians in 1675, in the time of public worship, and the

212 Westfield and its Historic Influences
people were in the utmost confusion. Suddenly a grave,
elderly person appeared in the midst of them. In his mien
and dress he differed from the rest of the people. He not
only encouraged them to defend themselves, but put himself
at their head, rallied, instructed and led them on to encounter
the enemy, who by this means were repulsed. The people
were left in consternation, utterly unable to account for this
strange phenomenon. It is not probable that they were ever
able to explain it. If Goffe had been then discovered, it must
have come to the knowledge of those persons, who declare
by their letters that they never knew what became of him."
President Stiles published in 1794 a History of the three
Judges of Charles I, in which he amplifies this story of "The
Angel of Hadley" and argues earnestly for its authority. We
want to cherish his conclusions and cling to the romantic and
fascinating legend. However, it is hardly possible to study care
fully the Introduction to Judd's "Hadley" by George Sheldon,
the veteran historian and antiquarian of the upper Connecticut
Valley in this Commonwealth without feeling that the charm
ing story is without adequate historical basis. His analysis
of the data is acute and scholarly, leaving the ancient tradition
a mass of tatters.
Fiske, however, favors the credibUity of the tradition,
saying with respect to it :
"Sir Walter Scott has put this pretty story into the mouth
of Major Bridgeworth in 'Peveril of the Peak,' and Cooper has
made use of it in 'The Wept of Wish-ton- wish.' Like many
other romantic . stories, it rests upon insufficient authority
and its truth has been called in question. But there seems
to be nothing intrinsically improbable in the tradition; and
a paramount regard for Goffe's personal safety would quite
account for the studied silence of contemporary writers Uke
Hubbard and Increase Mather." (Beginnings of New Eng
land, pp. 218-19.)
In a footnote still farther supporting the claim, Fiske lays
stress on the fact that Hutchinson had in his possession
Goffe's personal diary.
Though the Commissioners of the United Colonies at
Boston were so ready to assume offensive operations and
voted to raise 1000 men for that purpose, Sept. 19, the com-

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 218
manders of the small body of troops that had gathered in the
Connecticut Valley, after a council of war held Sept. 8, de
cided, and probably wisely in existing circumstances, to act
on the defensive. After the disaster to Capt. Beers and his
command at Northfield, Major Treat had sent twenty dragoons
under Sergt. Wadsworth to garrison Westfield, and twenty more
under John Grant to Springfield. Later the Connecticut
troops under Major Treat were recalled except a garrison of
sixteen men at Westfield and another of fifteen at Springfield.
Northfield having been deserted by its dozen or more families
and its buildings having been burned by the Indians, Deer
field was left as the northern outpost. Thither marched Capt.
Samuel Moseley with sixty soldiers from the Bay, Sept. 14,
from Hadley, which was a kind of military center. Capt.
John Mason with a company of Mohegans and Pequots, allies
of the English, arrived there a few days later. These additions
to the town's population rendered it necessary to replenish
the commissary supplies. A harvest estimated at three
thousand bushels of wheat was stacked unthreshed in the
Deerfield meadows. Major Pynchon, who owned the greater
part of it, ordered it threshed and brought down to Hadley.
Capt. Lothrop with ninety sturdy troopers was sent as an
escort with the teamsters and eighteen carts that went on this
important errand. They finished threshing the grain, loaded
it with some furniture of the people, and started for Hadley
on Sept. 18. Captain Moseley still remained at Deerfield with
his command. The teams and their escort traveled without
molestation for a few miles, until, about seven o'clock in the
morning, they reached a stream which had to be forded, since
caUed Bloody Brook, but till then known as Muddy Brook.
Many of the soldiers, with most unsoldierly imprudence, put
their guns on the carts and hastened to regale themselves on
tempting wild grapes that grew there in abundance. Suddenly,
from the woods that bordered the stream, hundreds of muskets
poured forth a storm of leaden hail upon the startled soldiers.
Immediately, hosts of skulking savages sprang upon the panic-
stricken escort with hatchet and tomahawk. Lothrop, "a
godly and courageous commander," was killed with the great
bulk of his men, only about a half-dozen managing to escape
alive, one of whom forced his way through the assailants by

214 Westfield and its Historic Influences
wielding his clubbed musket with one arm, the other having
been broken. The account of the number slain given by the
Rev. John RusseU of Hadley seems to be the most reliable one.
He makes the aggregate seventy-one, including seventeen
teamsters, and gives the names of all of them, which may be
found in Judd's "Hadley," p. 141, note. As soon as Capt.
Moseley, scouting with his men in the woods about Deer
field, heard the musketry he hastened to the relief of the be
leaguered party, but arrived too late to be of much service.
He found the Indians reaping the fruits of their horrid victory,
stripping the dead and ripping open the bags of grain. Though
outnumbered many times, he fought the savages for several
hours, until Major Treat with a hundred white men and sixty
Mohegans arrived, on the way from Northampton to establish
a military outpost at Northfield. The Indians then withdrew,
and the weary troops, with the wounded men, moved to Deer
field for the night, returning next morning to bury the dead.
This massacre filled New England with horror and terror.
Hubbard bewails the loss of Lothrop's company, "the very
flower of the County of Essex, none of which were ashamed
to speak with the enemy in the gate."
Within two months Northfield and Deerfield had been
deserted, the latter soon after the Bloody Brook disaster
and one hundred and twenty-eight lives had been sacrificed.
Major Pynchon alarmed at the state of affairs, and distrust
ing the friendly Indians with too good reason, had written
to the Governor September 8, "Is the Lord about to ruin us?
And to leave us to be destroyed? It is a matter of lamenta
tion; some of our people speak of breaking up, and will be
gone, and discouragements enough are on all."
This may sound unmanly, coming from the lips of the
commander of aU the forces in this region, in the full vigor
of maturity, then about fifty years old, and the dominating
genius of the valley settlements. But the very fact that
he held so many positions of responsibility, the fact that
so many people and such vital interests depended upon him,
made him solicitous as a statesman and administrator, though
he did not lack courage as a military leader. He felt that
the military command should pass to other hands and made
a formal request for relief to the Council at Boston. In a

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 215
private letter sent from Hadley to a friend in Boston, Septem
ber 30, 1675, he says, "It is to much yt I should still troble
you wth my Continued desires for a rebate for ye charge
you have laid on me wch I am necessitated to doe yt ye worke
may not miscary by so much & unable a manager. It were
far better some more thorough & meete Instrument were
imployed in ye service & I discharge upon yt very acct; But
besides (not to mention some scruples upon my spirit) The
distressed state of my affaires at Horn, ye sorrows & afflictions
my Deare wife undergoes, & her continual calls to me for
reliefe & succor, she being almost overwhelmed with griefe
& Troble, & in many straites & pplexitys, wch would be some
what holpen & alleviated by my presence there."
He was reheved of his military command on October 4
and Captain Samuel Appleton was commissioned in his place.
Major Pynchon had been deeply concerned about the
local Indians with whom the people had been so friendly
and who had found their dusky neighbors generally peaceable
and weU-behaved. He complained of the indifference of
the English to the need of "scouting and spying." When
panic seized the valley, hostages were exacted of the Aga-
wams and sent for security to Hartford, but they soon escaped.
Early on Monday October 4, 1675, Major Pynchon under
orders from the commissioners, led a company of troopers
to Hadley, preliminary to offensive operations such as the
authorities at the Bay recommended, it having been rumored
that large bodies of Indians were gathering in the neighbor
hood of that town. He little dreamed of the awful disaster
that was to result from its undefended condition to the set
tlement into which he had put the best of his life.
During the night of that day, Indians gathered in great
numbers in their fort on Long Hill, on the height along which
the street of that name now runs. It was capable of holding
the wigwams of four hundred warriors. About forty Agawams
and several hundred others from up the river, sought its shel
ter under cover of the darkness of that night, intent on wiping
out the settlement and exterminating its inhabitants. In
all likelihood that fiendish purpose would have been com
pletely executed and all the men, women and children of
the region would have been mercilessly butchered, had not

216 Westfield and its Historic Influences
a friendly Indian in Windsor divulged the plot. Green's
account of the incident is vivid. He says, "Toto, an Indian
living with a Windsor family, became agitated on the night
of the 4th, and the family succeeded in extracting from him
the terrible secret. It was long after dark when Toto made
the confession, and in post-haste a man was sent to carry
the news to Springfield. He rode into town at the dead of
night, and roused the inhabitants, who were doubly terrified,
the soldiers having gone off on the Hadley campaign. The
alarm was sounded at every door in the village. What few
men there were seized their guns and ammunition, and with
all haste escorted the women and children to the three gar
rison houses of the place which had been recently repaired
and fortified. It was a night of dramatic consternation."
(History of Springfield, p. 162.)
Word sent to Westfield and Hadley could not have been
delivered before morning. Major Pynchon, with Captains
Appleton and Sill, hastened down from the north. Major
Treat hurried with his command from Westfield and reached
the river bank opposite the town about 11 o'clock, but hav
ing no boats could not cross. Pynchon and his troops arrived
late in the day after all possible damage had been accom
plished. Instead of attacking at early morn, for some reason the
Indians delayed till the panic-stricken inhabitants began
to discredit the warning of Toto. Rev. Mr. Glover, who
had hurried his "brave library" to Mr. Pynchon's forted
house in the night, carried it back to his own house. Others
probably returned in straggling groups to their homes, hop
ing that the alarm had been groundless.
Lieut. Cooper and John MUler rode out to reconnoitre,
but they were fired upon soon after leaving the shelter of
the fort. The latter was killed instantly. Lieut. Cooper
turned to ride back but fell from his horse dead just before
reaching the fort. Two other men were kiUed and one woman
who had probably gone to her home in the lower part of the
hamlet. The destruction of property was appalling to the
feeble community with winter not far distant. The savages
looted and burned with devilish malignity. They could not
reach the people in the forted houses, but they burned thirty-

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 217
three dwellings and twenty-six barns besides a building of
highest importance to the settlers, Major Pynchon's
null where aU their grain had been ground.
The outlook was certainly discouraging. Major Pyn
chon's loss was almost complete, the fruits of the patient
and careful accumulation of nearly forty years. He had lost
a farm house and barns on the west side of the river late in
September, now he had left only his brick forted house and
his lands. About half of the inhabitants were even worse
off as regards property, having lost their homes also. Only
fifteen houses were left in the town plot. On the other side
of the river and on the outskirts of the east side about sixty
houses remained standing with considerable stores of corn.
Three days after the disaster, Major Pynchon, in a letter
to Governor Leverett, said:
"Our people are under great discouragement talk of leav
ing the place. We need your orders and directions about it.
If it be deserted, how wofully do we yield to, and encourage, our
insolent enemy, and how doth it make way for the giving
up of aU the towns above. If it be held, it must be by strength
and many soldiers, and how to have provision, I mean bread,
for want of a mill is difficult. The soldiers here already com
plain on that account, although we have flesh enough, and
this very strait, I mean no meal, will drive many of our
inhabitants away, especially those that have no corn and
many of them no houses, which fills and throngs up every
room of those that have, together with the soldiers now (which
yet we cannot be without) increasing our numbers so that
indeed it is very uncomfortable living here, and for my own
particular, it would be far better for me to go away, because
here I have not anything left, — I mean no corn, neither Indian
nor English, and no means to keep one beast here; nor can
I have release in this town because so many are destitute.
But I resolve to attend what God calls me to, and to stick
to it as long as I can, and though I have such great loss of
my comforts, yet to do what I can for defending the place.
I hope God will make up in himself what is wanting in the
creature to me and to us all." How noble the spirit thus
revealed! The people of Springfield had to depend upon the mills

218 Westfield and its Historic Influences
at Westfield for the grinding of their corn though the way
thither was long, rough, and precarious owing to the menace
of skulking enemies. Rev. Mr. Taylor, writing of conditions
during that frightful period, says, "but summer coining opened
a door unto that desolating war began by Philip, Sachem
of the Pakonoket Indians, by which this handful was sorely
pressed, yet sovereignly preserved, but yet not so as that
we should be whoUy exempted from the fury of war, for our
soil was moistened by the blood of three Springfield men,
young Goodman Dumbleton, who came to our mill, and two
sons of Goodman Brooks, who came here to look after the
iron ore on the land he had lately bought of Mr. John Pynchon,
Esq. who being persuaded by Springfield folk, went to accom
pany them, but fell in the way by the first assault of the enemy
upon us, at which time they burnt Mr. Cornish's house to
ashes and also John Sacket 's with his barn and what was
in it, being the first snowy day of winter; they also at this
time lodged a bullet in George Granger's leg, which was,
the next morning taken out by Mr. Bulkley, and the wound
soon healed. It was judged that the enemy did receive some
loss at this time, because in the ashes of Mr. Cornish's house
were found pieces of the bones of a man lying about the length
of a man in the ashes."
That is about all that we know of martial incidents in
Westfield during that terrible autumn of 1675. But that
the settlement was keenly alive to threatening dangers
we need no specific records to prove. The fact that it was
the extreme western outpost, just beyond the line of the river
settlements, though stUl in vital relation to, and close fel
lowship with them, actually lessened the danger of hostile
operations against it. It did not seem so at the time, but
events, as the war progressed, proved it. The people in that
exposed hamlet were under constant apprehension, and took
wise precautions against possible hazards, as will appear
later. In the security of these modern days it is difficult to imagine
the condition of panic, in which the people of the whole Colony
spent that year of Philip's War. They realized vividly that
their whole enterprise was in danger. After the burning of
Springfield, while town after town in different parts of the

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 219
Colony, east, west and what little there was in the central
region, were attacked with results fatal to life directly, and
indirectly through the destruction of the property upon which
life was dependent, the authorities were at their wits' end,
counsels and orders were confused and conflicting, the require
ments of the exigency demanded more men and resources
than were available. The people were not numerous enough,
not far enough removed from the infancy of their several
settlements and the limitations necessarily involved, to sup
port even the nucleus of a standing army. What men there
were in the Colony were imperatively needed in their respec
tive settlements to care for their families and attend to the
practical affairs of the daily routine of life in the slowly grow
ing communities. When the officers and the rank and file
of the rude militia were summoned from the places of their
abode to protect places where the inhabitants were fewer
or more exposed, their departure not only left their several
homes unmanned for labor on the farm and in the simple
industries of those primitive times, but it also decreased to
the same extent the defensive force there. Hence, when
the savages in many regions committed depredations, and
slaughtered men, women and children as they could get
opportunity, it is not strange that panic became weU-nigh
universal. The authorities at the Bay sent orders to Major Appleton
who succeeded Major Pynchon as Commander-in-chief of
the forces in the valley, to concentrate his troops and make
a combined attack upon the enemy. But how could that
policy be executed when the enemy, instead of being massed,
was scattered up and down the valley and well over the
Colony, and when, besides, those scattered bands were per
petually on the move, stealthily treading the forest trails
from point to point, and only revealing their whereabouts
by some sudden musket shot that meant the wounding or
killing of an unsuspecting inhabitant? Each town, in very
desperation, clamored for a garrison adequate to its protection.
Capt. Appleton recognized the justice and wisdom of such
a defensive policy, and events proved how sound it was, for
in no instance where it was followed, supplemented by such
rude means of defense as a stockade of logs, did any signal

220 Westfield and its Historic Influences
victory reward the attacking party. The Indians were com
petent, neither to fight in the open field, nor to carry by assault
a fortified position. They could only sneak stealthily upon
a house or a hamlet under cover of darkness, or post an
ambuscade on a path along which bodies of troops were to
pass, and from their hiding places stampede and massacre
their surprised victims.
An Indian taken at Springfield revealed to Capt. Moseley
a plan to attack simultaneously the three towns of Hadley,
Hatfield and Northampton. Had they fallen, how long
could Westfield and crippled Springfield have held out
against the enemy? Whether or not the report was true,
an attack on Hatfield occurred October 19. The garrison
consisted of the companies of Moseley and Poole. When
the alarm was given by the entrapping of the men, sent out
on a scout, a couple of miles from town, one only of whom
escaped and returned to report the disaster, Major Appleton
hurried over from Hadley to support the defense against
several hundred Indians. With his help, after a furious
fight of two hours, at the end of which Major Treat arrived
to put on the finishing touches, the Indians retreated to the
western woods with a few prisoners whom they captured
from the scouting party. A few days later one of the captives
was subjected to the most horrible torture. "They burnt
his nails & put his feet to scald against the fire & drove a
stake through one of his feet to pin him to the ground." That
was a mild proceeding compared with many other barbari
ties practiced at various times and places. Theirs was human
nature at its first remove from the brute inheritance and in
instances not rare, the remove was but an attenuated shadow.
Shortly after the attack on Hatfield there was a less formi
dable movement against Northampton probably made by
stragglers from the former settlement. They burned a few
houses and barns before being repulsed by the ubiquitous
Major Treat. The danger of leaving the thickly settled
places proved to be so great that on November 12 Major
Appleton issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of the
five towns in his mihtary department, Springfield, Northamp
ton, Hadley, Hatfield and Westfield, which was practically
a declaration of martial law. He ordered "that no person

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 221
shall remove from or desert any of these towns so long as
forces are continued here for their defense, without liberty
under hand of the commander-in-chief, in each town, nor
shall any go out of the towns without a pass under the hand
of the commander-in-chief. * * * And if any be attempting
or preparing to depart otherwise,, all officers civil and mili
tary are hereby impowered & required to prohibit their
departure & also to secure them & their estates & bring them
to the chief officers."
Nov. 6, 1675. Major Treat asked permission to remove
his troops from Westfield to seek the enemy down the river
and a council of war was caUed for the 8th. Capt. Appleton
said he had not authority from the commissioners to allow
them to withdraw. The trouble seems to have been the un-
wUUngness of the Connecticut soldiers to remain in garrison in
Westfield. They preferred to go out and search for the enemy.
"Capt. Appleton suggests that if the army be drawn off
for the Winter and the Towns garrisoned, Connecticut troops
might more conveniently be placed and supplied at West-
field and Northampton and the other three towns garrisoned
with Massachusetts men." (Soldiers in King Philip's War,
Bodge, p. 103.)
Not getting orders from Council as expected he finally
"reluctantly yielded to the importunity of Connecticut, and
on Nov. 19th dismissed Major Treat and his forces at West-
field to march downwards to the Connecticut towns, accom
panying the order of permission with an urgent request to
the Council that Westfield and Springfield may be garrisoned
by their forces. * * *
"Twenty -nine soldiers taken out of the companies of
Capts. Moseley and Poole, and Lieut. Upham are left at
Westfield in charge of Serg. Lamb, and all under the com
mand of Capt. Aaron Cooke. John Roote is appointed com
missary of the garrison." (Idem, p. 104.)
Thus late in November the Connecticut troops under the
sturdy Major Treat left for home, all signs having indicated
that the Indians had retired to winter quarters. Thirty-
nine men under Major Pynchon were left as a garrison at
Springfield, twenty-nine at Westfield under Major Aaron
Cook, twenty-six at Northampton under Lieut. William

222 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Clarke, thirty at Hadley under Capt. Jonathan Poole, and
thirty-six at Hatfield under Lieut. William Allis.
"To Capt. Aaron Cooke at Westfield you are hereby
required to take care that ye soldiers that are left in Garrison
with you shall be well provided for with food & raiment and
you are to chuse a Commission who shall take an account
of ye provisions that are expended on them; and you shall
be allowed for it according as the Generall Court or Councill
shall so meet. And if any of the soldiers shall want cloath-
ing you are to repair to Mr. James Richards of Hartford or
to Mr. Blackleach; where you shall be furnished, the Com
missary is to take an account of ye cloathings with ye names
of ye persons that have it. And also you are to take care
that all fortifications in your Town (already begun) be speedily
finished with ye help of ye Inhabitants together with ye
assistance of ye soldiers. P Samuel Appleton
Comd in chiefe
"Dated at Westfield Nov. 19, 1675." (Mass. Archives, Vol. 68, p. 66.)
With such forces as were available outside the garrisons,
Appleton and Moseley moved through the Nipmuck country
looking for the enemy, but accomplished nothing save the
destruction of a large quantity of corn, and finally reached
Boston. Trumbull sums up the Engfish losses thus far in the cam
paign: "Most of the devastation and destruction already
suffered by the river towns had been caused by the local tribes
of Indians. They were aided by the Nipmucks who were
able to furnish much the largest number of warriors. During
the few months in which the war raged in the year 1675, about
one hundred and forty-five persons were killed in Hampshire
County ; forty-three or forty -four were residents of the county,
and more than one hundred were residents of the eastern
part of the Commonwealth. Every town in the county, with
the exception of Hadley and Westfield, had been partially
destroyed; Brookfield, Northfield and Deerfield had been
deserted, though Brookfield was still to some extent used
as a military post." (History of Northampton, Vol. I, p. 274.)

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 223
It had become evident that the plan of forting houses,
that is, providing them with loopholes and some kind of a
barricade, or erecting blockhouses at commanding points,
was an insufficient safeguard against the depredations of the
Indians. Not only did the inhabitants need the personal
protection thus afforded at great discomfort on account of
the crowded condition of such places of shelter in times of
alarm; their barns, their stores of grain and their livestock
needed protection as well. To provide more comprehensive
safeguards, the northern towns erected palisades, inclosing
their more thickly settled portions, in the latter part of 1675.
The idea of such a method of defense was probably derived
from the Indians and was conveniently accomplished because
the environing forests furnished abundant material which
needed only the axe with which each man's hand was familiar
to put it into proper shape, and time, which was the most
commonly diffused item of wealth in those days, to put it in
place. The plan pursued in constructing such palisaded
fortifications was to drive heavy stakes of cleft wood firmly
into the ground so closely together as to form a continuous
wall about eight feet high. The edges of these small logs
were trimmed off so as to make the thinnest portions of the
wall at least two inches thick and the middle portion of each
stake much thicker, according to its individual size before
being cleft. They were bound together at the top by strips
of wood held in place by wooden pinions. The method of
constructing the more elaborate and pretentious forts of
the frontier wiU be more carefully detailed in a succeeding
chapter. These rude palisades, when defended with any
degree of fortitude and skill, proved adequate shelters against
enemies that had no heavier missiles than musket balls and
arrows. It cannot prove uninteresting to trace the movements of
the arch-instigator of these barbarities, during the months
that ensued after the attack on Springfield October 5. With
patience, skill and rare acumen, Mr. Sheldon in his exhaust
ive "History of Deerfield and the Indian Wars of the Connecti
cut Valley" has traced carefully the movements of the
wily chieftain who succeeded so well in keeping himself mys
teriously hidden from the English of that period.

224 Westfield and its Historic Influences
After the burning of Springfield, Philip started for the
Narragansett country, carrying much spoil collected during
that eventful October 5. When hostUities first broke out
he sent the women and children of his tribe to seek hospitality
and shelter among the Narragansetts who felt bound to
receive them. By so doing they broke the solemn obligation
they had been forced by Moseley to pledge, whereby they
were to deliver to the English any hostile Indians that came
into their hands. But when Moseley withdrew the pressure
of his forces, Canonchet, the chief sachem of the Narragansetts,
asserted that he "would not give up a Wampanoag, nor the
paring of a Wampanoag's nail."
Confident that the Narragansetts intended to begin hos
tilities, on November 2 the Commissioners formally declared
war against them, and raised a thousand troops to carry it
on. The stronghold of the tribe was stormed December 19,
and hundreds of the Indians were slain, others were captured,
and others still perished from cold and starvation, their win
ter stores having been destroyed by the English. Such war
riors as escaped these perils fled to the Nipmuck country.
Before this crushing blow fell, Philip started to join the Pocum-
tucks on the Hoosick River in the Hudson valley. His object
was to induce the Hudson River Indians to renew an alliance
with the Pocumtucks which had formerly existed, in hostility
to the Mohegans in the lower Connecticut Valley. He suc
ceeded in drawing the Mohawks into an alliance against their
old common enemy Uncas and his Mohegans, but not against
the English. It is supposed that Philip made a stealthy
trip to Canada, though it was rumored that he was sick.
By the middle of January, 1676, an imposing force of
several tribes, many of the warriors being young and ambitious
bucks, who had joined the four hundred Pocumtucks and
Wampanoags, recruits from the Mohawks, Mohegans, Scata-
cooks and other clans, some fifteen hundred in all, camped
together eastward of the headwaters of the Pocumtuck in
what is now Vermont. Soon afterward they were joined
by six hundred French Indians from Canada, probably
induced to come down by the artful Philip. Two English
scouts captured at Hatfield in the attack of October 19, were
stiU held. To impress them with the Indian strength a grand

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 225
review was arranged, when the host paraded before them
"in two ranks."
"Here is related a story of 2 captives released by the
Indians and sent down to New York. They reported that
King PhiUp had a place 30 or 40 miles from Albany, that
they being carried 3 days journey from this place towards
N. E. came to an Indian place of rendezvous & a mighty
Sachem near Hossike river towards Canada, where one of
them counted 2100 men well armed & most of them young
men, among them were 500 French Indians. King Philip
and the party with him about 400 were not then there; his
own party was only 100. These North Indians boasted that
they would do great things this spring & summer. One of
the released captives says he returned with the rest towards
Albany & was given by the North Indians to the Mohicanders
or River Indians suspected of favoring Philip &c.
"Much discourse & consultation about this time, in regard
to engaging the Mohawks against these Northern Indians.
Uncas wondered we did not do it, said the Mohawks were
the only ones likely to put an end to the war, but this counsel
was not so vigorously persuaded as some expected."
"In July (1676) we killed or took 200 Indians. King
Philip & others having wandered towards Albany the Mohawks
went against them, & pursued them as far as Hossick River,
about 2 days march E. of Hudson's river, killing some & taking
some. This discouraged our Indians & many came in & sub
mitted. It is computed that the Indians killed, taken, sent
away and now come in by way of submission are 6000.
"It is thought the English have lost in men, women &
children above 800, of whom many were destroyed with exqui
site torments. They killed & wounded & maimed many of
our cattle." (Judd Ms. Forbes Library, Mass. Vol. II, p. 32.)
The plan of campaign for the coming spring, as there
agreed upon, seems to have involved a massed movement
on the vaUey towns, from a rendezvous at Northfield, while
the Narragansetts and Nipmucks ravaged the eastern frontiers.
Having cleared the valley of the English and annihilated
the hated Mohegans, headquarters were to be established

226 Westfield and its Historic Influences
in the valley where the women and children should be quar
tered, where fields could be planted and fishing attended to,
in order to gather abundant supplies of food for the future
winter. The French of Canada were to protect them and
send settlers to share their lands. Such was the diabolical
plan that threatened so seriously the whole English occupancy
of at least the western part of Massachusetts and Connecti
cut. It was surely "full sea with Philip his affairs" as quaintly
expressed by a writer of the time. The released scouts stated
that the Indians at their winter camp "in a vapouring man
ner, declared that their intent was first, to destroy Connecti
cut in the spring, then Boston in the harvest and afterwards
the Dutch (meaning what the Dutch had here)." (Present
State of New England, Merchant of Boston, p. 227.)
The grandiloquent but not absurd plan was rendered
abortive by the miscarriage of a foul plot of Philip. In order
to insure the alliance of the Mohawks against the English
as weU as against the Mohegans, he caused the death of some
Mohawks and attributed their fate to the English. One
of the Mohawks, supposed to have been killed, revived and
reported Philip's treachery to his tribe. The outraged
Mohawks swooped down upon the eastern Indians, kiUed
and captured many of them and sent Philip with his few
Pocumtuck followers scurrying over the Green Mountains
to Northfield, where they arrived, foiled and crestfallen,
the latter part of February.
The following pathetic and reasonable plea must have
been granted:
"Worshiful Sir — together with the Hond Council.
"The allwise Providence of God having brought these deso
lating wars into our parts the summer past, & thereby calling
us not only to the expense of a great part of our estate on
public occasions; but also threatening ruin both unto the
rest & to ourselves, it was a question with some of us whether
we were in our way or not to abide the event. The which
seems the harder to resolve when there came (from whence
we well know not) a report that there would be no allowance
for such charges as should be expended in quartering soldiers
(the which should be a truth would most certainly break up
our plantation & now undo the most here) but seeing neither

The Indian Menace, Philip's War 227
equity in any such report or thing, and considering what
as our judgment it is for towns to be laid desolate and made
ruinous heaps, as also that our calling & livelihood lay in
this place, the hand of God seemed to point out unto us some
special duty of self denial, wherein we stood bound with respect
to the public benefit and hereupon we adventured (not trou
bling you for advice) in keeping our station to draw out our
estates in public uses & in the service of God 8s this people,
in quartering of soldiers in maintaining of a garrison here,
sometimes consisting of about 20, sometimes above 40 8s
near about 30 soldiers as also in quartering Hartford soldiers
in their passing to 8s from, sometimes being more 8a, some
times less, sometimes leaving 40 or 50 or 60 Indian soldiers
with them as also in sending posts &c from the latter end of
August until this instant.
"Therefore having now expended a great part of our estate
thus in obedience to the call of Providence we proceed to
leave unto your consideration an account thereof 8s proceed
ing upon the common say, that things are with us, as for a
man 4/ per week, for a horse 1/ at grass and 1/6 at hay, as
for corn, wheat being at 3/6, Indian 8s oats 2/ per bushel,
as for flesh meat, pork being at 3d and beef at 2dH Per pound.
Also aUowing a post 3d per mile he bearing all the charges
(we say proceeding according to these rates of things) our
public expenses on Hartford soldiers amounts to £124.16.7 from
the latter end of August to the 19th of November and our
public expenses from the 19th of Nov. to March 3d 1675-6
(being just 15 weeks) the which have been disbursed on the
garrison soldiers left here by the Com. in Chief. Capt. Ap.
amounts to 87£13.0. To which we add troopers arrearages
25/ and for killing 2 wolves 20/ which being added to the
summers charges is £127.1.7. out of which subtracting the
County rates last summer demanded which come to 36.0.8J^
the remainder 90.13.6J/£ being that which we are still out
on public credit, the which 90.13.6J/2 of our charges on Hart
ford soldiers being added to the 87.13.0 the total is 178.6.6^
that we have still expended on public account which is believed
to be a faithful account as we are able with the best diligence
we could use to gather up. Only the last of the 3 county
rates would not we judge have come to so much as is set down,

228 Westfield and its Historic Influences
being that the list of our estates did not arise to so much, as
you may see; but not having at present to correct aright
we let it go at present. Thus having faithfully laid down
our expenses before you to your consideration 8s desiring the
Almighty to give you in all your consultations unto such
events as he of his grace shall bless to your good, & peace
of his poor wilderness people, we remain your humble servts.
"John Sacket, Constable
John Root, Commissary
"Westfield, 15.1.1675-6
"[Mar. 15, 1676. Handwriting of Rev. E. Taylor]"
(Judd Ms. Forbes Library.)

CHAPTER XL
Philip's War (Concluded)
The general rendezvous of the Nipmucks and the survivors
of the Narragansetts after the "Great Swamp Fight" was
at Wenimissett, north of Quaboag (Brookfield). Thence
they ravaged the frontiers of the Bay towns. Lancaster
was attacked on Feb. 10, 1676, where some fifty people were
killed or captured. Among the latter was Mrs. Mary Rowland-
son, wife of the resident minister. Her journal is of great value
for its account of the movements and methods of the Indians
during that critical winter. The horrible hardships which
she endured are heartrending. . That she could have lived
through them almost exceeds belief.
When the English learned of this great body of the enemy
in that locality they gathered a large force under Major Savage
to attack them, but the Indians discovering the movement
through their scouts, beat a hasty retreat to Squawkeag (North-
field), some two thousand in all, men, women and children,
where they joined PhiUp and the small band that had come
with him across the Green Mountains a few weeks earlier.
This manifest menace to the vaUey towns determined
Major Savage to hurry to their defense and he arrived none
too soon. It was just at this period that Westfield had its
second visitation from some wandering scouts probably. "Five
bushels of meal were stolen" from some place unspecified and
more serious damage was done as described by Mr. Taylor
in the church record from which a quotation has been made
already. He says, "Also in winter some sculking Rascals
upon a Lord's day in ye time of our afternoon worship fired
Ambrose Fowler's house and in ye week after Walter Lee's
barn, but in ye latter end 8s giving up of Winter on ye last
snowy day thereof, discovering an end of Indians, did send
out to make a full discovery of the same designing only three
or four to go out with orders that they should not assault them,
but to our woe and smart, there going 10 or 12 not as scouts
but as assalants, rid furiously upon ye Enemie from whom

230 Westfield and its Historic Influences
they received a furious charge whereby Moses Cook an in
habitant 8s Clemence Bates a soldier lost their lives, Clemence
in ye place 8s Moses at night; besides which, we lost no other
of the town, only at ye Falls fight at Deerfield, there going
from our town 9 men, three garrison soldiers feU, thus though
we lay in ye very rode of the Enemie were wee preserved, only
the war had so impoverished as that many times some were
ready to leave the place 8s many did, yea many of those that
were in full Communion went to other places."
The skirmish at Westfield was on March 9. During the
foUowing week, on March 14, 1676, "there occurred the most
serious and apparently the only organized attack upon
Northampton during the war," something which Westfield
was graciously spared, though, had it been successful, and had
the general campaign as arranged previously at the northern
rendezvous been a series of victories, Westfield would in
evitably have taken its turn in making a desperate defense.
The feeble garrison would then have proved inadequate to
cope with a host of assailants, as would have been the case in
Northampton had it been defended only by the garrison left
there through the winter by Major Treat. Most fortunately,
Major Treat returned March 13 and found Capt. Turner, who
had arrived there with eighty-nine foot soldiers a fortnight
earlier. The presence of this considerable addition to the
garrison of Northampton was evidently unknown to the Indians.
They attacked the town in three places at once. The assault
from the south was alone successful in breaking through the
palisades and there the savages swarmed in upon the sleeping
village. The defense, as soon as the ample garrison could
seize its arms and rush into action, was no less impetuous than
the assault, and proved far more successful. The Indians,
being overpowered, attempted to retreat through the breach
which had admitted them, but to find themselves hopelessly
entrapped, and to suffer serious loss of numbers and ignomini
ous defeat. Considerable forces of the redskins appeared on
two sides of the town a couple of days later in the early morn
ing, but the inhabitants were found prepared and no assault
was made then, or ever afterward. Retreating from Northamp
ton on that eventful 14th they appeared about Hatfield but
did not hazard another attack.

Philip's War 231
These operations must have disturbed greatly the people
of Westfield, and kept them in a state of perpetual alarm.
This is pathetically evidenced by the following record in the
town's archives:
"March 26, 1676.
"The town considering that the hand of God is upon us in
having or letting loose the heathen upon us so that now wee
cannot carry on our occasion for lively hood as formerly &,
considering that it is not a time now to advans our estates
but to deny ourselves of our former advantages that so wee
may carry on something together for the good of the whole,
that so by God's blessing on our labours we may be in a way
of getting food for our familyes, therefore in case the honored
counsel did not cost * * * we agree to carry on as followeth —
We agree to fence only the northeast field and
***** *
and we agree to plow and sow and carry on the improvement
of this land in general, that is such as shall agree thereunto
as it shall be ordered by some men we shall appoint, who shall
go out to work and who shall tarry at home from day to day,
and if it shaU please God to give opertunity to rattfy the long
fit of our labors each man shall receive an equal proporson
according to his family; necessary publick charges being first
cleared and the rest if any man sowes more seed than his pro
porson he shaU receive that again in the first place.
"The men chosen to order the whole matter for service
and fencing are goodman Ashly Senr 8s goodman Gun. We
who agree here unto do promise 8s engage to submit ourselves
to the said propositions thereof as
"Witness our hands
"George Phelps Josiah Dewey
Thomas Gun Nathaniel WeUer
Samuel Loomis Thomas Dewey
Isaac Phelps John Sacket
David Ashley Edward Neal"
In letters from a merchant in Boston published in London
in 1676, the following accounts relative to Philip's War appear:
"March 1676, Some christians going to meeting at Spring-

232 Westfield and its Historic Influences
field with a smaU guard were ambuscaded by 8 Indians and
a man Si woman slain: and the rest (supposing the enemies
number greater than it was, for in truth our men were twice
as many as they) fled Si left 2 women 8s 2 children to
the enemies' mercy, whom they carried away, greatly exulting
that so few of them should make so many English fly. Maj.
Savage at Hadley being informed by a post, dispatched a
party of horse to pursue the enemy; the next morning they
discovered them, who seeing our men approach, tossed the
infants up in the air 8s dashed out their brains against the
rocks, 8s with their hatchets knocked down the women 8s
fled 8s the place being rocky Si a swamp close by, our horse
men could not follow them. Both the women revived and
one of them said she knew every one of those eight Indians."
(Judd Ms. in Forbes Library, Northampton, Mass., No. 2, p.
32.) Indian depredations in Connecticut stirred the CouncU
of War to extraordinary measures against surprise. The
night watch of every town was ordered to call up the
inhabitants "an hower at least before day" to arm themselves
and stand upon guard at specified posts "until sunne be half
an hower high" when "the warders are to take their places
* * * Two scouts from every town" are to spend each day
on horseback scouting through the woods.
Affairs having been so desperate in the two Colonies, so
many settlements, so widely separated, having been in a state
of constant alarm, and watchfulness against a secret and every
where alert and wily foe, it is not strange that the authorities
at the Bay should have devised some method of contracting
the frontier by concentrating the inhabitants, at least tempora
rily until the war could be brought to an end. The CouncU
therefore decided that the settlements in the valley should be
reduced from five to two.
Secretary Rawson wrote to Major Savage on March 26,
1676, making the following recommendation:
"That those our towns on Connecticut River do im
mediately consult and determine the putting themselves into
such a position as may best accommodate their security and
provision, which we judge must be by their gathering together
in such places and numbers that they may be able to defend

Philip's War 233
themselves and some considerable part of each company be
improved in planting * * * and in case this cannot be in
each town, then the lesser towns must gather to the greater.
To remain in such a scattered state is to expose lives and estates
to the merciless cruelty of the enemy, and is no less than tempt
ing Divine Providence, and to quit our plantations one after
another refusing to comply to the present humbling and dread
ful hand of the Lord against us, is to be our own executioners
and we fear we will be * * * to our ruin more than the sword
of the enemy when too Late. Some that know these places
best do apprehend that Springfield and Hadley are the fittest
places for their fortifying and planting."
An earlier letter, dated Mar. 20th 1676 had been sent by
Secretary Rawson to Major Pynchon at Springfield, urging
the same plan. He can see no other way:
"But to come all together in some convenient place in the
town and take in so large a fort that the proprietors may live
in distinct houses or shelters * * * and Westfield must join
with you and totally move to you, for 'tis impossible to hold
both towns the enemy being so many in those parts and the
army must remove from them, we are assaulted on every side
* * * most of our frontiers are away off; our present work is
to secure the principal towns upon the seacoast; we cannot
see how you people can remove at present, but must ride it out
as best you can; we speak not of particular persons but of the
body of the people for whither will you go or how will you re
move your corn and goods? The like advice we have given
for the other towns upon the River, to come in all to Hadley
and fortify it well and there by united strength it may be kept
but otherwise all will be lost according to reason. Suppose
the enemy should plant upon your desired towns; it is hoped
when the corn is grown we may have ability to destroy it. We
must strengthen the heart. Ammunition is scarce here. If
your people be averse to our advice we must be necessitated
to draw off our forces from them, for we cannot spare them
nor supply them with ammunition. We have ordered the
Major to leave some of the garrison soldiers to strengthen
you if you are able to provide food for them."
If the Bay authorities supposed that the sturdy yeomen

234 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of the western frontier towns were going to submit meekly
to that advice, which was an implied command, they counted
without their host. Those men had spent too much hard toil
in building their homes, rude as they doubtless were, in break
ing up and cultivating their farms, in organizing social and
ecclesiastical institutions, to desert them even in extremity
except under the direst necessity. Whatever danger might
yet materialize, since during the months of the war already
past the people of Westfield had lost but two houses and one
citizen from the ravages of the enemy, they realized that it
would be absurd cowardice to desert the plantation just be
cause an army could not be spared for its defense.
The people of Northampton had sent on March 28th to the
Council at Boston, a noble protest against the proposed plan
of desertion written by their minister, Mr. Solomon Stoddard.
They plead for fifty soldiers in addition to the garrison of the
preceding winter and pledged themselves to feed them and
pay their wages. During the following month at a town
meeting in Westfield a committee was chosen to draw up a
statement of their objections to removal to Springfield. It
was prepared likewise by their minister, Rev. Edward Taylor,
and with all its deference to authority it is certainly instinct
with valor and heroism. Though it bears date of April 3 it
seems not to have been received until nearly the end of the
month. It may have been held for amendment after the
Committee had made report to the town, and then have been
stiU farther delayed until a proper messenger could be found
to convey it to the Bay, the Boston Si Albany postal train
service not having been then established. The State Archives
have thus preserved it :
"Westfield Letter
3 Aprill Rec'd
28 Aprill '76"
"Honrd Councill: We Presume a Second time to trouble yr
Worships with a few lines ffor having cast orselves upon yr
Honored Counsells concerning or abiding here, or removing
hence 8s for that end having faithfully represented our State
unto you we were in expectation of hearing yr advice. But
at last perceiving yr thoughts by ye order you gave unto Maj.

Philip's War 235
Generall Savage the which in pt we have attended upon, viz.
to gather op ye mindes of or town respecting or remoove where
we made such an offer as this to any that should come to us,
that we would deny orselves to accommodate between twenty
and thirty families of or Present tillage land if so many would
come to us 8s that during ye continuance of ye troubles; ye
which in a town meeting was judged by all that we could do:
But when or Committee came to consult with or Neighbour
towns although singly 8s apart it was generally thought strange
that Springfield should be judged a better 8s more convenient
place for ffortification than Westfield, they rather was silent
or moving for or remove to Springfield, the wch was 8s is al
together against or inhabitants, insomuch that there is not a
man among vs hath any ye least inclination to remove that
way, 8s in that there is an intimation of such a thing in yr
Honord Order to ye GeneraU, as if Springfield 8sc: was fittest
for ffortification, with great respect unto ye Information we
cannot but take ye boldness as to intimate ye grounds of or
thoughts to ye Contrary as 1. Its Situation lying on both
sides of ye great River Connecticut, whose East Side is voyd
of habitations being but a very few left 8s those a great distance
as under those on ye West side being scattered above a mile
up 8s down some of which are hid with brambles, 8s as for its
tillidge ground ye most being a great distance from ye town
8s not cleare from brush in some places of it 8s to it, in so much
as an indifferent person cannot but judge (as we suppose) yt
ye Danger is double in managing ffield imploym'nt; to what
ours is. 2. Its Preparation, It is a Place (with griefe of
heart be it spoken) most of ye East side in ashes, unbuilt Si
unfortified unless some few houses. 3. Its Providentiall
Dispensation. It hath been sorely under ye blasting hand of
God, So that it hath but in a lower degree than ordi
nary answered ye labour of ye Husbandman, 8s sometimes
his labour on it is wholly cast away, now these thoughts are
very discouraging unto aU thoughts of removall thither, for
to remove from Habitations to none, from ffortifications to
none, from a Compact and plain place to scatter'd, from a
place of less danger in ye ffield to ye more, from a place under
ye ordinary Blessing upon ovr labours to one usually blasted,
seems to vs such a strange thing that we finde not a

236 Westfield and its Historic Influences
man amongst us inclining thereto, wherefore being by ye
Honord CouncUl at Hartford vpon address for strength from
them yt with their own necessities could not dispence with,
adviced not to desert ye place as yet, we are determined to
draw in or out Garrison houses 8s to Contract or ffortification
into ye Compass of about 70 rods long ye wich or thoughts
are to ffortify strongly and to keep with five flankers and for
this end or earnest suit is that you would allow vs, if it may bee
a garrison of thirty souldiers, we are not without hope of gain
ing some Corn for our families as yet. But if you cannot
allow any, then or present thoughts are that if we cannot have
a safe Convoy from ye town to some other place downward, it
is judged that we had better abide here in or ffortification thus
strengthened, and that although we have no help from abroad
with respect to or own safety than to go to Springfield. It
grieves us that we should object so much against Springfield
for ye Worshipfull Maj'r Pynchon's sake, But we judge there
is a better way for his safety than this, and although we would
do much for his sake, yet we cannot adventure on this ground
into such great hazzard as appears. Here are some young
men with vs its said would inlist themselves in Country service
to garrison if they could be admitted, whom necessity will
force from vs if it cannot be.
"Ffurthermore we are at ye Present altogether incapacitated
for any removall, by reason of ye awfuU hand of God upon us
in Personall visitations, for here came a souldier sick of ye
Bloody fflux and dying amongst us in Capt. Cook's family hath
infected ye ffamily therewith in so much that he hath lost a
son of it, his Wife lies at ye point of Death his youngest son
is very weak of it, and he him selfe is almost brought to his
bed by it 8s there is another ffamUy in his house hath it. We
hope yr Worships will Pardon or tediousness 8s give or argu
ments a Patient hearing for surely it is against vs to say as
we do, if great danger did not stare us in ye fface. The Good
Lord Sanctifie, and deliver vs. We remain
Yr Servants 8s Suppliants
in the name of the Towne, Isaac Phelps,
David Ashley,
"Westfield, 3, 2m, 1676. Josiah Dewey."

Philip's War 237
A few days after the above letter was written, Mr. Taylor
prepared another to send to the Council at Hartford, which
was intensely interested in the maintenance of the towns of the
upper vaUey. Rev. Mr. Russell of Hadley corresponded
with the Hartford authorities respecting the proposed plan
of removal and concentration. They gave several reasons
why it should not be put into execution and wrote to the
Governor and Council of Massachusetts at the same time
urging the same objections. The Hartford authorities realized
the value to themselves of these towns as outposts of defence
from the Indians and also prized these towns up the river
as "the principal granary of Massachusetts" and, hardly less, of
their part of Connecticut.
Mr. Taylor's letter to the Hartford officials refers to the
order for removal to Springfield and the objections thereto,
and the measures taken to place the town of Westfield in a
state of defense. He then proceeds:
"If we must be gone from hence many of us have estates
and friends caUing of us elsewhere, and thereupon most of
us inchne, in case we remove, to come downwards."
Such inclination may have been due to the fact that many
of the early settlers came from Connecticut towns, and had
left relatives and friends in the lower settlements. It was
twenty-five years since the two Colonies had settled their
differences in the quarrel respecting jurisdiction over Woronoco,
and the bitter spirit had had abundant time to abate.
Mr. Taylor then repeats the doleful tale of the hardness
of God's hand upon them as proven by the grievous sickness
in the family of Capt. Cook, and continues:
"Wherefore the ground of these lines is, in part, to intimate
unto you that if there should be any convoy allowed at the
present by your honored selves to any one for the bringing
off of their estate, the opportunity being so desirable to us all,
if our town were not under circumstances by the hand of God
upon the persons of some amongst us, whereby it would be
their death to remove, (yet we see that it being such a desirable
opportunity,) that we fear we should lay our hands upon * * *
leaving our sick to look to themselves, and liable to the rage of
merciless enemies.
"This we thought good to leave to you that you might not

238 Westfield and its Historic Influences
against their wills, expose us to such a temptation as such an
opportunity might be. This, and not any respect of resum
ing the estate of any one with us, is the ground of this intimation;
but the ground also of our lines is to desire this favor — that you
would refresh us in this sad state that we are in by letting us
understand whether we may have any hopes of such a favor as
may be a safety for us, in case the Lord should put us in a per
sonal state to remove by removing his afflicting hand, and
whether or no you would advise us to adventure to cast any
seed into the land, if God doth detain us at the present where we
are. You know (we judge) where our fields lie. We request not
anything at your hands to lay you under any temptation,
and therefore we have ingeniously intimated what the thoughts
of the Bay gentlemen are concerning us. But our danger is
such as we cannot settle upon anything, and if we are like to
have no relief from yourselves, it being known, may be an
occasion to force us into the fields. The Lord shine forth
and show us our duty and bring us to a willing kissing of the
rod. We shall not add, only desiring the Almighty God to
be our shield."
The exact tenor of Mr. Taylor's letter must be left to
a master of casuistry. It is certainly obscure and seems to
have been an attempt at fine diplomacy which is rather re
markable in a man so young and inexperienced as Mr. Taylor
was at that stage of his ministry, having been then but thirty-
three years old.
The reply of the Hartford Council bearing date of April 7,
is hardly less ambiguous. It says, "as circumstanced, were
we capable to anything in way of supply for your continu
ance there we should do it; neither have we nor will we, do
anything irregularly to draw you from attendance of what
from your own authority is presented, if it be found for their
welfare and advantage; or to draw off any part to the hazard
and discouragement of the rest, and shaU forbear giving any
such opportunity. We cannot but say that when God shall
open the door with safety, both for shelter to you and security
to us, in reference to the disease, we shall account it our duty
and accordingly be ready to lend our assistance in your trans
port and give such entertainment as we are capable. In the

Philip's War 239
meantime, your patience a little longer will be advisable. If
you should venture while there to sow, it is somewhat possible
you may find opportunity of reaping. It is doing what we
can and leaving the event with God."
The sound christian philosophy of this last suggestion
and statement must surely be recognized, whatever skill of
fence and plausible casuistry may precede it.
These two letters certainly present an interesting study
in psychology and diplomacy. It may be that in the sim-
pficity of their minds, when beset by perplexities and diffi
culties of that embarrassing situation, they were absolutely
confused and bewildered, turning from one possible course of
action to another in painful doubt as to which policy was to
be foUowed. HoUand finds grounds for suspecting both Westfield and
the Hartford Council to be guilty of a little sharp practice.
He thinks that the Westfield people did not really intend to
remove and that the Hartford people did not really want to
have them. "At the same time, the inhabitants of the dis
affected town wished to have 'the gentlemen of the Bay' think
there was danger of their removal to Connecticut, in case they
were not humored and protected in their determination to
remain where they were, while their Connecticut friends, taking
care to disclaim all idea of any irregular proceedings, apparently
complied with their wishes, both to gain time and assist them
in achieving their ends." (History of Western Massachusetts,
Vol. I, p. 118.)
In pursuance of this plan the Connecticut Council wrote
to the Massachusetts Council on April 27th expressing strong
disapproval of the plan of deserting certain Hampshire County
towns as being very favorable to the enemy and not insuring
the larger towns against continued annoyance. The letter
recommends the removal of men from "the leaner places"
(meaning smaU settlements where the soil was not very fertile),
and planting them in the larger settlements on the river. The
authorities at the Bay heeded these protests and appeals, order
ing Major Savage to have ample garrisons in the several towns.
In view of the dangers and uncertainties that harassed
them the people of Westfield were awake to the necessity of
doing aU in their power for the defense of their homes.

240 Westfield and its Historic Influences
The following quaint record, in grotesque and almost
indecipherable characters stands upon the books:
"Aprill 12: year 1676.
"The Selectmen considering the commoson that is amonst
us in the towne with respect to removing: and being willing
to see who are willing to depend upon God in the youse of
meenes for our own preservation hear in contracting of our
fortification to fence it of [off] above Mr. Whitings house and
so to cep [keep] the lowr part and strengthen it wee are come
all within this compas."
Another vote relating to the same matter is equally per
plexing to one who would decipher it :
"May 8: year 1676
"The Towne agrees that the fortification shall be pro-
posened according to mens estates in the list of the country
rate and every man that was an inhabitant when sed wars
began or shall become owner of the land shall do his proposon
accordingly 8s this to be done weU and strongly according
to the judgment of the Comity of the malisha: and to be pro-
poshoned by the selectmen this to be done with al speed."
If the people cherished any settled purpose of removing
in case conditions became more desperate and the hand of
God relaxed its pressure in the matter of prevailing sickness,
they evidently determined to put up a stout defense while
they remained, aided by the small garrison which they were
still allowed. The above action related to the contraction
of a fortification already existing. When it was erected there
is no record to show, for no previous vote of the town still
preserved makes any reference to the subject.
The same is true of Northampton, no record there exist
ing shows that the town took formal action ordering the
erection of palisades. Trumbull thinks that the work might
have been done under the provisions of a general law of 1667.
Power was therein given to
"the comittee of militia in every towne, together wth
the selectmen thereof, or the major part of them, to erect
or cause to be erected wthin their townes, either inclosing
the meeting houses or some other convenient place, a forti-

Philip's War 241
ffication or fort of stone, brick, timber or earth as the places
may be most capable, of such dimensions as may best suit
their ability 8s use; in which fortiffication the weomen chil
dren 8s aged persons may be secured, in case of any suddaine
danger, whereby the souldjers may be more free to oppose
an enemy: for the effecting whereof itt is hereby ordered
that the trayned souldiers, both horse Si ffoote in every towne
upon their trayning dayes, shall be implojed about building
the sjd fort at the guidance of the chiefe military officers
of the towne: and all others exempted from ordinary trayn-
ings who have estates or bodily ability, that dwell in the towne
or belong to it, they shall also according to proportion contri
bute their help 8s assistance in bodily labour or otherwise
accordinge as the comitee of militia 8s selectmen shall order
8s appoint." This work was to be attended to immediately. The above
enactment, while specifying the forting of particular build
ings is broad enough to include the palisading of a village.
That enactment was made two years before the organization
of the town of Westfield so that the inhabitants would have
been justified at any time after settling in erecting such a
defense. From time to time later, they provided by formal
votes for the forting of certain houses in various parts of the
town furnishing more security than that of the extended
round of palisades.
The circuit of the enclosing palisade of the hamlet of West-
field during Philip's War was probably about two miles in
extent. Along a considerable part of its course the natural
contour of the land added much to its effectiveness, the slop
ing bank furnishing a real glacis to this primitive fortifica
tion. To trace its course one may start at what is now the
corner of Main and Meadow Streets, turning somewhat north
of easterly, follow the edge of the terrace around behind the
site of the second meeting house on the Moseley lot, and go
on in a generally northeasterly direction to the bank of West-
field River. That bank is to be followed to the mouth of
Little River and its bank in turn, southerly to the mouth of
the brook that crosses Noble Street. Thence the course is
westerly along its bank for some distance, then curving to

242 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the north to the starting point. The westerly gate into this
enclosure was near the present junction of Meadow and Main
Streets. Thus the majority of the dwellings were within that defen
sive wall; the first meeting house stood near its eastern side
and the second meeting house, erected in 1720, stood near
its western side. This rude defense served the people well
in perilous times. Such disasters as actually occurred were
outside its protecting walls. Peace Proposals
In view of the disaffection on the part of the River Indians
and the Nipmucks against Philip and his war, the Connecti
cut Council in April, 1676, sent envoys up the river to propose
an exchange of prisoners and make peace overtures.
Towcanchasson and another Indian bore the message
under a flag of truce. Negotiations were opened, and though
a strong peace party in the Indian camp sought to end hos
tilities, the Narragansetts, smarting under old wrongs, and furi
ous over the capture and execution of their great chief Canon-
chat, prevented any decisive action. Though they had little
seed for planting, they captured considerable livestock, which
made beef plenty, and made great preparations for the spring
fishing whereby they hoped to obtain food for coming months.
The quantities of salmon and shad that swarmed up the
Connecticut in thpse early days is weU nigh incredible. Hoyt,
writing in 1724, says that 5000 shad used to be taken in a
single day, scooped up by nets at the faUs where the Holyoke
dam now is.
Sheldon says of the preparations of the spring of 1676:
"Their principal camp was at the head of the rapids on the
right bank of the river at Peskeomskut (Turners Falls):
another was at some distance above it; a third nearly opposite
on the left bank, while a fourth was in Smead's Island, a short
distance below; and still another at Cheapside guarded the
ford of the Pocumtuck river. Besides these, every fishing
place on the Connecticut as high up as the Ashuelot had its
camp." Undisturbed by any English advance up the valley, satis
fied each day with the meat captured from the settlers below,

Philip's War 243
the Indians prepared for a great feast"|to be held at Peskeomskut
on the night of May 18th. They'gorged and reveled until
after midnight, then without taking even the precaution of
posting sentinels they stretched themselves in deep sleep.
The Falls Fight
The people below had become so exasperated by the art
ful parleyings of the Indians in the peace negotiations; by
their repeated raids on the outskirts of the towns; by the
attitude of the Council at Boston relative to providing troops
for prosecuting the war in the valley region, that they grew
clamorous for an advance with such forces as could be mus
tered to co-operate with the several small garrisons in assault
ing the Indian quarters. Rev. Mr. Russell and others began
a letter to the General Court, under date of Hadley, April
29, 1676, in these terms:
"It is strange to see how much spirit (more than formerly)
appears in or men to be out against the enemy. A great
part of the inhabitants here, would or committees of militia
but permitt would be going forth. They are dayly moving
for it, and would fain have liberty to be going forth this night
* * * It is the generall voyce of the people here yt now is
the time to distresse the enemy, and that could we drive them
from their fishing, and keep out though but lesser parties
against them, famine would subdue them."
The story of the Falls Fight has been told many times
and is a thrilling episode of the old days of the Colony.
Two Springfield lads, John Gilbert and Edward Stebbins,
who had been captured by the Indians, escaped the latter
part of April. Another captive, Thomas Reed of Northamp
ton, escaped shortly afterward. They brought stories of
the conditions up the river which intensified the desire for
an immediate offensive movement. Capt. Turner, left in
command of the garrisons distributed among the towns when
Major Savage marched to the Bay early in April, organized
the expedition that was to make a vigorous attempt upon
the enemy. Authorities differ slightly as to the aggregate
number of those composing it. Trumbull says "about one
hundred forty-seven men, nearly all mounted." That num
ber included officers, chaplain and guides. Sheldon's alpha-

244 Westfield and its Historic Influences
betical list which he compiled with great care and patient
research reaches the same figures. The garrison soldiers from
Northampton, Hadley and Hatfield numbered thirty-five,
who with twenty-five from the garrisons at Springfield and
Westfield were under command of Lieut. Isaiah Tay of Boston.
Volunteers from the several towns completed the expeditionary
force, twenty-five from Northampton under Ensign John
Lyman; twenty-six from Hadley and twelve from Hatfield
under Sergts. John Dickinson and Joseph Kellogg; twenty-
four from Springfield and three from Westfield, under com
mand of Capt. Holyoke. The whole force was commanded
by Capt. William Turner, with Capt. Samuel Holyoke of
Springfield and Ensign John Lyman of Northampton respec
tively the second and third officers. The Chaplain was the Rev.
Hope Atherton, the minister of Hatfield. Benjamin Wait of
Hatfield and Experience Hinsdell of Hadley acted as guides.
Though disappointed that reinforcements from Con
necticut had not arrived, the expedition made ready to start
from Hatfield on the evening of May 18. Chaplain Atherton
made a prayer which must have met with a fervent response
from every heart in view of their hazardous undertaking.
A ride of twenty miles was before them over neutral ground,
into the enemy's territory, bristling with actual and possible
dangers. They reached deserted Deerfield at midnight, the
scene of previous massacres, and where were the ashes of the
homes of some of the intrepid volunteers who were eager to
avenge old wrongs. They avoided the regular ford over
the Deerfield River because it was guarded by an Indian out
post, but still the alert sentinels heard the splashing of the
horses' feet in the stream at the point chosen, and hastened
to investigate the cause, but their torches having failed to
reveal the trail of the party, they supposed the sound to have
been made by a herd of moose and returned to their lodge.
Hoyt says: "Eluding these Indians, Turner continued
his march into what is now Greenfield meadow, and passing
Green river and a trackless forest of about four miles, halted
on elevated land, a small distance west of fall river, about a
half a mile from the Indian camp at the falls, where his men
dismounted and left their horses tied to saplings, under a
small guard." (Indian Wars, p. 129.)

Philip's War 245
It was just before dawn, and hurrying forward, the Eng
lish found the camp without even a sentinel on duty. The
Indians aroused from heavy sleep by the roar of musketry
were thrown into panic, and rushed toward the river crying
"Mohawks! Mohawks!" not dreaming that the English had
ventured upon such an expedition. The Indian loss was
heavy by the guns of the besiegers and by drowning. Many
of them leaped recklessly into their canoes, some of them
even without paddles, but to be carried over the falls to cer
tain destruction. It is impossible to determine the extent
of their loss with any degree of accuracy. Palfrey estimates
it at 300. It included many of their sachems and best warriors.
The English lost but one man.
The farther fruits of the victory are detailed in a Narra
tive published that same year 1676.
"We there destroied all their ammunition and Provi
sion, which we think they can hardly be so soon and easily
recruited with, as possibly they may be with Men. We like
wise here demolished Two Forges they had to mend their
armes; took away aU their MateriaUs and Tools, and drove
many of them into the river where they were drowned, and
threw two great Piggs of Lead of theirs (intended for making
buUets) into said River." (New and Farther Narrative of
the State of New England, p. 240.)
The critical period of the enterprise was now reached.
As indicated above, the Indians were scattered along the river
at various points and Capt. Turner lingered long enough
at the specific point of attack for great numbers of the enemy
to gather from camps near by and jeopardize his small force.
He was driven back to where he had left his horses, to find
the guard there already overpowered by the swarming savages.
Having with great difficulty remounted, the English con
tinued to retreat but beset by greatly superior numbers. The
whole enterprise barely escaped complete disaster. Capt.
Turner and many of his men were kiUed, and his command
devolved upon Capt. Holyoke, who, as chief officer of the
rear guard had already done brilliant service against terrible
odds. By desperate fighting he "received them with resolu
tion and often drove them back." His horse was shot from

246 Westfield and its Historic Influences
under him and numbers of the redskins closed about him,
but after he had kiUed one with his pistol his men rescued
him. He was but twenty -eight years old but proved a worthy
son of a worthy Father. He made himself the real hero of
the day. An old writer says: "If he had not played the Man
at a more than ordinary rate, sometimes in the Front, some
times on the Flank and Rear, and at all Times encouraging
the Soldiers, it might have proved a fatal Business to the
AssaUants." Green says : "He had taken charge of a rout and converted
it into a military retreat. But it cost him his life. He never
recovered from the exhaustion of those two days, and in Octo
ber he sank into his grave, and was buried beside his Father,
Elizur Holyoke." (History of Springfield, p. 174.)
When he was seventeen years old, in 1664, this redoubtable
captain of 1676 was fined for creating a rumpus on the Sab
bath. The Indians harassed the retreating English even across
the North Meadows and through the Town Street of Hat
field to the Bars. The total loss had been swollen from one
at the FaUs to forty-two, including Captain Turner, Sergt.
John Dickinson and Guide Hinsdell. It was a cruel ending
of an undertaking that cannot be considered other than fool
hardy in view of the awful risks which it involved. StiU,
the general effect of it was far-reaching and invaluable. It
practically proved the ending of the war. The Indians did
not recover from its disaster. The Pacumtucks ceased to
exist as an independent nation. The conspiracy of PhUip
was foiled and a few months later his own life paid the penalty
of his machinations against the English, his head was car
ried as a trophy to Hartford and his hands were taken to
Boston, for public exhibition.
Westfield was represented in the Falls Fight by seven
garrison soldiers of whom three were slain, according to Bart-
lett, and three citizen volunteers, according to Sheldon's
patiently collected list, John Lee, Eleazur Weller and Thomas
WeUer, another, John Munn, whom Bartlett credits to West-
field, is assigned by Sheldon to Colchester. James Munn,
of Colchester, was among the nine veterans of the fight living
in 1735. In the following year, a grant of land, six miles

Philip's War 247
square was made to the survivors of the fight and the heirs
of those participants who had died, which in 1762 was granted
a charter under the name of Bernardston.
Bartlett says that John Munn of Westfield was in the
Falls Fight and lost horse, saddle and bridle. Aid was asked
of the General Court in 1683 and urged on the ground that
"he is under a wasting sickness by reason of a surfeit got at
the Falls fight and will decline into an incurable consumption."
He died in 1684.
Benjamin Munn Senr. was a soldier in the Pequot War
in 1637, was a resident of Hartford in 1639, removed to Spring
field in 1649, and died there, a very aged man. John Munn,
son of the above, was born in 1652. He settled in Westfield.
Town Meeting, Westfield, February 7, 1670. "Granted
to John Munn a homelot of 4 acres, more, 5 acres of land next
to Thos. Hanchett, Jr. above half mile falls, more, 5 acres
in the first meadow on the other side of the River (Great)
more, 10 acres in the Newfoundland."
Munn's meadow and brook were named for him as the
first settler in that region.
"Petition of J. Munn of Westfield that he may be compen
sated for various services and losses.
"June 3, 1769"
(Mass. Archives, Vol. 69, p. 232.)
"Order that said Munn be paid
June 7, 1679." (Vol. 69, p. 237.)
Dr. Davis says that there were nine men from Westfield
in the FaUs Fight.
The General Court, in session at the time when these
stirring events were transpiring in the Connecticut Valley,
enforced the most rigorous measures to prosecute the cam
paign. Town officers were empowered "to impress men for
the management and carrying on of the husbandry of such
persons as were called off from the same into the service,
who had not sufficient help of their own left at home to man
age the same." Impressed persons who failed to report for
duty were to be punished, and such neglect, when "accom-

248 Westfield and its Historic Influences
panied with refractoriness, reflection, or contempt upon author
ity," was to merit grievous penalty or even death.
The General Court also sent messengers to the Indians
with offers of a treaty charging them to conduct the affair
"with clearness and confidence, that so no panic, fear, or
weakness of mind might appear; and let them know that the
English were resolved to make war their work until they
enjoyed a firm peace." (Mass. Rec. V. 94.)
In a letter from Capt. Benjamin Newbury dated West-
field, May 24, 1676, he says, "I find the people very desirous
for motion against the enemy, and according to best intelli
gence cannot but judge it may be for great advantage to be
doing as soon as may be; They seem to be secure by what
returns the scouts make, and doubghtly are not numerous;
It's credibly affirmed there is a considerable party at Quaboag,
nigh 300 from the intelligence that is come from thence last
night. So that we are apt to think if Major Talcott would
please to come this way with his forces he might do good
service both here and there." (History of North Brookfield.
Temple, p. 125.)
The success of the Indians in harassing the retreat of
Captain Holyoke from the FaUs to Hatfield on May 18,
emboldened them to attack Hatfield on May 30. The force
of six or seven hundred succeeded, however, only in firing
several buildings before being driven from the town.
Each of the three Colonies realizing the necessity of press
ing with continuous vigor their aggressive campaign, the
people of the Connecticut Valley arranged to co-operate with
a force from the Bay. Major Talcott of Connecticut marched
from Norwich with fifty English and two hundred Indians,
Mohegans and Pequots, to Brookfield, through the Nipmuck
country, capturing and killing many of the enemy on the way
and destroying their corn and cabins. The force under Cap
tain Henchmen, which he was to meet there, was delayed by
various attacks upon the foe about Lancaster. Therefore
Talcott hurried on to Northampton, arriving there most
opportunely, in time to march to the relief of Captain
Swain at Hadley. The place was attacked by seven hundred
Indians early in the morning of June 12 in a skUlfully planned
and desperate effort to capture and destroy it. The attempt

Philip's War 249
was foUed with small loss to the English and proved to be
the final effort of any considerable body of Indians against
the Valley settlement during Philip's War.
Hoyt makes it a far more formidable affair than Judd.
The Indians divided and scattered and whatever alliance
had bound them into the semblance of a united army was
dissolved. Soon after the repulse at Hadley, Henchman on the east
side of the river led one column, and Talcott on the west side
led another, as far as Turner's Falls, scouting widely as they
advanced but no Indians were found. They destroyed con
siderable quantities of fish and grain which had been stored
in cellars, and returned down the river.
Major Talcott left New London the latter part of July,
foUowed the enemy to the foot of the Great Falls of the Con
necticut, which they crossed on rafts August 11. He reached
Westfield August 12 but being short of provisions he sent
back his horses and aU his force except sixty soldiers and as
many Indian warriors and with these pursued the retreating
foe to the Housatonic. Rev. James Fitch, one of the founders
of Norwich, probably accompanied him as Counsellor and
Chaplain. (Caulkins, History of Norwich, p. 111.)
Rev. James Fitch was the Father of Rev. Edward Taylor's
first wife.
Talcott was ordered to take a station at Westfield and
attack any fugitives that might be discovered.
Hoyt says:
"Not long after his arrival at that place, the trail of about
200 Indians was discovered in the vicinity shaping towards
the Hudson. Talcot immediately took the trail, and pressed
on to overtake the Indians, and on the third day discovered
them encamped on the west bank of Housatonic river, in the
most perfect security. Being late in the day, he resolved
to postpone an attack until next morning and drawing back
lay upon his arms in the most profound silence. Towards
the dawn of day, forming his troops into two divisions, one
to pass the river below the Indians, make a detour, and attack
them in their rear, while the other was to approach by a direct
route opposite to their camp, and open a fire across the river
the moment the attack commenced on the opposite side.

250 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"The plan was partially frustrated. One of the Indians
left the camp in the night, and proceeded down to the river
for the purpose of taking fish, and as the troops who had crossed
the river as had been ordered, were advancing to the attack,
he discovered them and gave the usual cry, 'Awanux ! Awanux !'
on which he was instantly shot. Talcot, now opposite to
the Indian camp, hearing the report, instantly poured in a
volley, as the Indians were rising from their slumbers. A
complete panic ensued and they fled in confusion into the
woods foUowed by Talcot, and most who escaped the first
fire, made good their retreat. The division below was too
far distant to share in the victory. Twenty-five Indians
were left on the ground and twenty were made prisoners,
and among the former was the sachem of Quaboag. Talcot
lost but one, and he a Mohegan." (Indian Wars, pp. 138-9.)
This decisive victory occurred in the upper part of the
present town of Sheffield. When this party of Indians passed
through Westfield August 12, they seized some horses and
cattle, and in the stress of their hunger plucked up cornstalks
and sucked them for nourishment.
Major Pynchon, in a letter to Governor Leverett under
date of August 15, 1676, says:
"The body of Indians is drawn off towards Albany where
they are harbored under the government of Andros. We
shall be in danger of being disturbed continually if he harbors
the enemy." He then speaks of the body of 200 Indians
discovered on the preceding Saturday within 3 or 4 miles of
Westfield, and of sending 30 men to co-operate with Major
Talcott in their pursuit on sabbath, the foUowing day. While
he was writing, Major Pynchon learned of the return of a large
part of Talcott's force owing to shortness of provision. He
adds, "An old Indian whom he took told him the Indians
intended to rest at Housatonic and that they had 50 or 60
fighting men and 100 women, besides children. He hopes
to get up with them and do some execution which the Lord
in mercy grant."
A year after the ostensible close of Philip's War and the
death of that savage miscreant there was a startling recrudes
cence of hostilities that proved more calamitous than any

Philip's War 251
single engagement in the preceding two years. On September
19, 1677, a party of Indians surprised Hatfield about 11 o'clock
in the forenoon, while some of the men were scattered about
the fields and others were engaged in building a house outside
the palisades. It was, indeed, a bolt out of a clear sky so
long after any danger had menaced the inhabitants that it
is not strange that they were found off their guard. Twelve
persons were massacred, four more were wounded, seventeen
were taken captive, and seven buildings were burned. All
who thus suffered were women and children except five. Evi
dence seems to show that all of them and all the buUdings
burned, were without the palisade.
Taking their captives the Indians moved on to Deerfield
where a few people were getting ready to rebuild their houses,
of whom the Indians kiUed one and captured four, and the
next morning moved up the river far above Northfield. In
October they moved farther up the river, crossed the moun
tains to Lake Champlain and arrived in Canada in early winter.
These twenty-one captives were the van of the large company
which in the course of years endured the horrors of that experi
ence. Among the captives were the wives respectively, of
Benjamin Wait and Stephen Jennings, to each of whom during
the winter a daughter was born. To commemorate the cir
cumstance in which their lives began, Wait's child was named
Canada and Jennings' child Captivity, by which they were
called through all their years. The two men having obtained
a commission from the government of Massachusetts, set
out October 24 by way of Westfield for Albany to attempt
to redeem their wives and the other captives. They were
crueUy hindered, sent by the authorities to New York to Gov.
Andros, and only reached Albany again on November 19.
They finaUy hired a Mohawk Indian to guide them to Lake
George. There he fitted up a canoe, and made a rough
draught of the lakes which they were to pass. They were
the first New England men to pass through Lakes George and
Champlain. After horrible hardships they reached Chamblee,
January 6, 1678.
Having redeemed all the captives then living, they reached
Albany on their return in the following May. Thence Benja-

252 Westfield and its Historic Influences
min Wait wrote a letter which would have moved a heart
of stone. "Albany, May 23, 1678.
"To my loving friends and kindred at Hatfield:
"These few lines are to let you understand that we are
arrived at Albany now with the captives, and we now stand
in need of assistance for my charges is very great and heavy;
and therefore any that have any love of our condition, let
it move them to come and help us in this strait." After giving
a list of the party he concludes: "I pray you hasten the mat
ter, for it requireth great haste. Stay not for the Sabbath,
nor shoeing of horses. We shall endeavor to meet you at
Cantorhook [kinderhook] it may be at Housatonock. We
must come very softly because of our wives and children. I
pray you hasten them, stay not night nor day, for the mat
ter requireth haste. Bring provisions with you for us.
"Your loving kinsman,
"Benjamin Wait.
"At Albany, written from mine own hand. As I have
been affected to yours all that were fatherless, be affected
to me now, and hasten the matter and stay not, and ease
me of my charges. You shall not need to be afraid of any
enemies." A messenger bore this letter to Hatfield and four days
after he started, the little company which had to "come very
softly because of our wives and children" walked twenty-two
miles to Kinderhook and there met men and horses from
Hatfield. Thence they foUowed the road which was to
be traveled a century later by a larger company of captives
not redeemed, for it was the route of Burgoyne's Hessians
en route from Saratoga to Boston. They came through
Otis and Blandford, down the mountain into the West-
field valley, through the town to the old highway from
Windsor to Northampton, forded the river and passed up
the hill near the present Springdale mill to the upper plateau
and along it past Hampton Ponds, toward their homes. The
captives had been absent therefrom eight months, their
rescuers seven months. The two babies, Canada Wait and

Philip's War 253
Captivity Jennings, the former five months, and the latter
but three months old, were to see those homes for the first
time. There was great rejoicing at Hatfield over their arrival.
A copy of Benjamin Wait's letter was forwarded to the Governor
and Council at Boston and made the basis of an appeal by
Edward Rawson, State Secretary, for contributions from
the churches and towns of the Commonwealth for defraying
the charges of above two hundred pounds paid for the redemp
tion of the captives.
The people of Westfield, who had bidden Wait and Jennings
"God-speed" in October of the year before, must have accorded
them heartiest greetings and felicitations on the successful
termination of their arduous, perilous and heroic mission.
How active a part in Philip's War was taken by the Woro
noke Indians, cannot be determined with any accuracy.
It is declared by TrumbuU that much of the trouble in the
vaUey was caused by local Indians, who numbered, accord
ing to his estimate, perhaps 150 fighting men, who were possi
bly aided by the Woronokes, but he conjectures that some
of these last, soon after the war began, removed to the val
ley of the Hudson. One of the Woronokes figures earlier
in a sensational account given by HoUister and repeated by
Dwight. They say that in 1646 the Connecticut River Indians were
unusually troublesome. Sequasson, one of their chiefs,
conceived the design of murdering Governor Haynes,
Governor Hopkins and Mr. Whiting, one of the magis
trates. The violent hatred which he cherished against
these officials was due to the protection which they had
afforded Uncas. Sequasson hired a Waranoke Indian
named Watchibrough to execute the plot, then to
charge Uncas with the crime and escape to the Mohawks.
But the Waranoke, remembering the execution at New Haven
of an Indian named Busheag, and the reward which those
who informed against him obtained, "after he had received
several wampum belts, went to Hartford and made known
this plot."

CHAPTER XII.
King William's War
What is distinctively known as Philip's War was of brief
duration. The early autumn of 1676 marked its concluding
butcheries and skirmishes in the eastern settlements of Maine.
Still, however, the border towns of New England were in a
state of solicitude and fear because of the danger of renewed
outbreaks of their savage neighbors in the early spring of
1677. But not until the attacks were made upon Hatfield
and Deerfield sketched in a previous Chapter was there
any serious disturbance. They, however, aroused the people
and the Government to the necessity for renewed vigilance.
In October, 1677, the General Court passed the following
order :
"The townes in Hampshire being in more hazard of the in
cursions of the heathen ennemy than some others, this Court
doeth order, that each towne there doe endeavor the new
moddelling the scittuation of their houses, so as to be more
compact 8s live neerer together, for theire better deffence
against the Indians."
To carry this order into execution, a commission was
appointed, consisting of one member from each town of the
County, the one from Westfield having been Ensign Samuel
Loomis. This Committee took the foUowing action:
"Northampton, Nov. 19, 1677.
"At a meeting of the Committee for ordering Compact
Dwelling together for better defence and safety — present
John Pynchon, Lt. William Clark, Mr. Peter TUton, Lt. WU-
liam Allin, En'sn Samuel Loomise. For Westfield we do
order that the Inhabitants there do all possess and settle
together in that tract of land which lies about Hugh Dudley's
barn easterly to take in Mr. Taylor's house and their meeting
house and so to turn south or southwest beyond Goodman
Phelps his toward the hill by the bridge, so far that way as

King William's War 255
to have land for convenient building for all the Inhabitants;
and then turning westerly all they can near over against Hugh
Dudley's barn, whence to turn to that and into the street
there; and all the Inhabitants there are to repair to and settle
within that tract of land, except we do allow of Thomas Dewey
to Continue where he is, if he desire it, in regard of the mUl
that way and security to the Common road, yet it is provided
to be well fortified and take care to have 4 or 5 men with him
for his defence; and Ambrose Fowler having now built is
to fortify himself well and to have 5 or 6 men with him of
his family, we permit his abiding awhile till we see what next
summer may come to; but for all other persons, according
to order of General Court requiring our stating the compact
ness of their Dewellings, we order their removing and setting
as above, in the tract of land above mentioned and forth
with to prepair and fit to attend the same, getting fortifica
tion this winter and ready to sett up early in the spring which
wUl advise to be made strong and substantial and every one
of them to carry on their proportion in the fortification; and
in case of their disagreeing about the way or rule of propor
tioning it, Majr. Pynchon with any one more of the Com
mittee, to determine the same according to discretion we have
had together and directions thereabout; and for satisfaction
to such whose land must be made use of for others to build
on, understanding the Inhabitants are in a way to allow for
it, we advise their agreement thereabouts; and case of any
disagreement about it, according to the rule we have set for
others, Majr. Pynchon and any one more of the committee
to determine the same and order of the Committee."
The miU of Thomas Dewey was on Two-mile brook on
the Windsor road, and so far from the closely built part of
the town as to make it utterly impracticable to include it
within the general palisade, while it was of vital importance
to protect it from assault, having already been the dependence
of the people of Springfield after the burning of that town.
The house of Ambrose Fowler stood on the west side of the
road running from what is now Silver Street through the
meadows toward the railroad embankment and under it at
what is known as the tin bridge.

256 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Already in April, 1676, the Selectmen had provided for
a contraction of the fortification for greater security. Whether
the plan had been executed at that time cannot be certainly
known, since the inhabitants of those early days had a habit
of changing their minds and reconsidering acts in town meet
ing. There appears on the Town Records an item which
indicates previous action which has not been preserved, but
which may be easily inferred:
"At a town meeting May 14, 1677, it was voted Tho.
Dewey shall attend at the next General Court to manage
our petition to the Court and that the town will give him
reasonable satisfaction for his necessary charges about the
same, that is our former petition to the Court requesting
garrison soldiers."
The problem of securing enough men to constitute an ade
quate protection during those years when the Indian menace
was so formidable, overtaxed the resources of the General
Court, since available forces were too scanty to supply the
needs of the most necessitous settlements. The action of
the Committee of the General Court, Nov. 19, 1677, cited
above, was followed by an enactment by the General Court,
May 30, 1679, as foUows:
"Whereas the committee appointed by the General Court
in October 1677, for new modeUing the dwelling of people
in Hampshire, did accordingly order a coming nearer together
in some of those townes, Si living more compact, for safety
8s security of the said people and particularly appoynting
a tract of land for the inhabitants of Westfield, to build on
nearer together at or by their meeting house; and some of
the committee aforesajd having treated the inhabitants of
Westfield about it, who by a generall vote consented to the
settling thereon; and the proprietors of that land also yield
ing to breake their home lots, 8s forgoe part of their right and
interest in them to such other persons as should come and
settle on them, they, the present proprietors, being allowed
for the land they parted with two acres for one out of the townes
adjacent lands intended for home lots, or thereabouts, which
was accordingly granted by the town to incourage the per
sons to bring in and sett their buildings on those particular

King William's War 257
parcells or portions of lands which were sett out and measured
to them, being about half an acre, or three quarters of an
acre to a man, now, for the full assurances of those portions
of lands to such persons as have removed, or are about remov
ing, 8s settling, building thereon, this Court doth order those
persons which have or ought to have parted with their land
as abovesajd, having had or being tendered satisfaction from
the town, as above, they shall give deeds, and make legall
confirmations of those small portions of land unto those per
sons, who in obedience unto authority, have them in actual
possession or in grant in order thereunto."
The fears and distresses incident to Philip's War were
gradually aUayed, and for more than a decade the exhausted
settlers had peace, enabling them to resume their normal
methods of life and activity. The upper towns which had
been deserted or greatly weakened by the expenses and losses
in life and treasure during the years of conflict were reoccupied
and gained in strength to such an extent that in 1688 the
County of Hampshire had ten towns. The summer of that
year was marked by fresh outbreaks of violence in Maine
and in Hampshire. In July there came to the house of Thomas
WeUs of Deerfield for lodging fifteen Indians, apparently
friendly, some of whom had formerly lived in the region.
Only three days later, five friendly Indians were killed near
Spectacle Pond, Springfield, and in the following month three
men, two women and a girl, were killed at Northfield.
It was supposed that these visitors were hired by the French
in Canada to kill and capture whites and friendly Indians
within the English domains. It is not strange that the old
spirit of unrest and alarm revived throughout Hampshire.
Major Pynchon hurried soldiers to Northfield. Gov. Andros
sent Capt. Bull thither with a company of fifty-one men,
and a garrison was maintained there during the winter. In
1690 the place was abandoned for a second time, and not
again settled for a quarter of a century.
This outbreak in 1688 was the precursor of that long series
of troubles which, with few interludes, continued to keep
the colonists in a state of alarm until the final issue of the
struggle for supremacy of America was determined on the
heights of Abraham at Quebec seventy years later.

258 Westfield and its Historic Influences
The earlier disturbances, so threatening to the life of the
English settlement, had been due largely to local conditions
and causes. Philip and his Indian allies were moved by
passions aroused by the presence and encroachments of alien
settlers, jealousy, greed, revenge, hate, and the nobler instinct
of independence. The passions of nations oversea had no
little influence over the affairs of the Maine coast and the
valleys of the Connecticut and the Hudson. France and
England were already intriguing for the profits of the fur trade
and the favor of the Indians upon which that trade depended.
But at this juncture of affairs the fierce ambition of Louis
XIV reached out after conquest of the new continent, and
he planned with great adroitness to bring under his sway
so much of the vast domain as had become familiar to
European courts and the vaster unknown regions stretching
west to the Pacific and south to the Gulf of Mexico. The
humble hamlets on the confines of this Western wilderness
became strategic points on the far-flung battle lines of two
mighty nations of the old world. The destinies of heroic
pioneers who were toiling for subsistence at these distant
outposts of civilization were involved in the policies of sover
eigns and statesmen on the other side of the world. While
the sturdy handful of men clustered about the first meeting
house of Westfield were cultivating their acres, subduing
the forest, harnessing the streams to their rude machinery,
straining to feed, clothe, and shelter their famUies, the fate
of all that was dearest to them was being determined in the
cabinets of those distant courts; there depended the preserva
tion from the Indian's torch of the humble home, and the
safety from tomahawk and scalping knife of wife and chil
dren. It is common to consider that only in recent days
has the United States become prominent in world politics,
while in truth it has been an important factor there since
its earliest days of feebleness and its primal struggles for
existence. Louis XIV at Versailles, and Count Frontenac, his eager
and obedient tool at Quebec, were potent forces in the life
of our noble ancestors in the Valley of the Connecticut and
on the plain through which our Westfield River flows.
Late in 1688, the English Revolution was completed by

King William's War 259
the arrival of William and Mary, and the departure to France
of James II. Sir Edmund Andros had been made Governor
of New England, including New York, late in 1686. Unpopu
lar from the first, the people became increasingly hostile to
him, because "his administration was arbitrary, his demeanor
overbearing, his demands oppressive and overbearing."
Besides there was an old grudge against him on account of
his course during Philip's War while Governor of New York,
and he was suspected of being secretly favorable to the Roman
Catholic Church. Conscious of his unpopularity and desirous
of allaying it, he started on a tour of the Colonies with the
proclaimed purpose of taking "measures to prevent a second
Indian war." The trip consumed nearly three months, and
during its course he visited Hartford, New York, Albany,
and on his return, Springfield and Northfield and possibly
Northampton. About the middle of October, 1688, he mst,
according to Judd, "the leading men of the valley, both civil
Si military, at Hadley, at which the condition of affairs locally,
and the method of protection against the foe, were considered."
On the first of November he issued orders for the raising of
a force of six hundred men, consisting of ten companies of
sixty men each. John Pynchon of Springfield was made
Colonel commanding in the valley, and Aaron Cook of North
ampton, Major. This was denominated "Standing forces
for the defence of the country against the Indians." (History
of Hadley, Judd, p. 397.)
Within a few months, in February, 1689, the welcome
news that William and Mary had been proclaimed in England
reached Boston. Andros was arrested, and on the twentieth
a provisional government was established under the title
"Council for the safety of the People, and conservation of
the Peace."
Protestant New England hailed the advent of what seemed
destined to be a brighter day for its liberties and an earnest
of its prosperity. Whatever the ultimate issue, however,
of this significant revolution, its immediate effect was dis
tressful in the extreme. War was declared between England
and France, which inaugurated that horrible experience of
carnage and slaughter which extended with only brief inter
missions through two generations of the life of the Colonies.

260 Westfield and its Historic Influences
While these far-reaching events were in preparation on
the broader field, how insignificant seems the action of a
town meeting in Westfield in 1682, midway between the
two wars, known respectively as Philip's and King William's.
"The Committee of Militia and Selectmen did dispose
of powder and lead to the several persons then concluded
on, they to return it to the garrison when called for, it being
out of the town stock.
"To Thomas Dewey— 3 lbs. Powder 8s 5 lbs. Lead.
"To Josiah Dewey — 3 lbs. Powder 8s 11 lbs. Lead.
"To Mr. Taylor— 3 lbs. Powder.
"To Thos. Root. — 3 lbs. Powder and 4 lbs. and quarter
of lead. "To Widow Root.— 2 lbs. Powder 8s 4 lbs. and a quarter
of lead." Thus the town sought to provide against the ever threaten
ing danger of surprise by the wily warriors of the forest, even
though no depredations in the immediate neighborhood had
been committed for several years.
The menace of Indians under the French influence on the
northern border could be offset by alliance with the Five
Nations of New York, who were foes dreaded by the French,
a dread often amounting to panic because of the frequent
incursions of those fiercest of Indian warriors. Hence the
English were perpetually seeking to strengthen the bonds
of fealty which the French had long but vainly striven to
loosen by force of arms and by all the subtle arts of diplomacy.
August 27, 1689, a delegation consisting of three agents from
Massachusetts and one from Connecticut, with Major Pyn
chon as their leader, set out from Westfield for Albany, with
an escort of 10 troopers, to carry gifts to the Maquas, as the
Mohawks were called, and lesser gifts to the river Indians
and to individual sachems.
A grand feast was given to 100 assembled braves, speeches
were interchanged, and then presents were bestowed, costing,
with expenses of the trip, £327. These bids for savage fealty
consisted of 1,000 pounds of lead, 500 pounds of powder, 150
yards of duffel, 500 guilders in wampum, 90 shirts and 40
pounds of tobacco. The viands at the feast consisted of
beef, pork, bread, beer and other dishes agreeable to the savage

King William's War 261
palate, which had to be purchased in the local market. Major
Pynchon could not have considered that the delegates were
given any great discount by the thrifty Dutch citizens, since
he declared with evident feeling, "Albany is a dear place."
Though so stiff in their prices for breadstuffs, they were ready
to make the most of their New England neighbors when
threatened by the common enemy, for shortly after the return
of Major Pynchon and his escort, under fear of an attack
from the north, they appealed for 100 men to strengthen
their defense. In response, Connecticut sent about 66 men,
with 24 from Hampshire County, under Capt. Jonathan Bull.
They left Westfield November 18, 1689, and reached Albany
a week later. Capt. Bull had been there already earlier in
the year with several commissioners from Boston, to join
with the citizens in making a league with representatives
of the Five Nations. The council was held on May 24. Capt.
BuU reported to the Connecticut authorities that the Indians,
having chosen a speaker, remained silent while he made an
address. Under three heads he said:
"1. Breatheren, we are now com as our grandfathers
used to doe, to renew our unity 8s friendship and covenant
made between us 8s you.
"2. We desier yt this house being the covenant Si propo
sition house, may be kept clean, yt is, yt we may keep a clean,
single, not a double heart.
"3. We do renue the former covenant or chain yt has
been between us 8s you, yt is to say, New England, Vergenia,
Mereland Si all these parts of America on eavery side, yt it
may not rust nor be forgot." (History of Albany, A. J. Weise,
p. 223.) On this second visit, Capt. Bull and his command reached
Greenbush on November 25, averaging about fifteen miles
a day after leaving Westfield. The ancient records say that
on the following day he marched into the city with flying
colors where he "was reed by ye Mayr Si aldermen att ye
gate 8s bid welcome. He drew up his men in ye middle of
ye Broad [State] Street, gave three volleys 8s was answered
by 3 gunns from ye fort; ye men were orderly quartered in
ye Citty and extreamly well accepted."
Soon afterward Lieutenant Enos Talmadge of the Con-

262 Westfield and its Historic Influences
necticut Company was ordered to Schenectady with twenty-
four men to do guard duty, a post of danger which was so
soon to prove fatal to him and to several of his command.
It was in 1689 that Frontenac returned to his former post
as Governor of Canada, to execute the comprehensive plan
of his sovereign for the conquest of America. Because of
the vital relation of that grand scheme to the welfare of the
English Colonies, and the survival of the settlement of West-
field, then twenty years old, it may be interesting to note
the general details of the proposed treatment of the conquered
inhabitants as outlined to Frontenac by Louis.
It is given by Parkman, derived from a document in the
colonial archives of New York, after the campaign proposed
and urged by Callieres had been successfully accomplished.
This involved the capture of Albany and New York and the
command of the Hudson River, with the Iroquois cut off from
English supplies and support, isolating New England and
opening it to future conquest.
"If any Catholics were found in New York, they might
be left undisturbed, provided that they took the oath of alle
giance to the King. Officers and other persons who had
means of paying ransoms, were to be thrown into prison.
All lands in the Colony, except those of Catholics swearing
allegiance, were to be taken from their owners, and granted
under a feudal tenure to the French officers and soldiers. All
property, public or private, was to be seized, a portion of it
given to the grantees of the land, and the rest sold on account
of the King. Mechanics and other workmen might, at the
discretion of the commanding officer, be kept as prisoners
to work at fortifications and do other labor. The rest of
the English and Dutch inhabitants, men, women and chil
dren, were to be carried out of the Colony and dispersed in
New England, Pennsylvania, or other places, in such a man
ner that they could not combine in any attempt to recover
their property and their country. And that the conquest
might be perfectly secure, the nearest settlements of New
England were to be destroyed, and those more remote laid
under contribution." (Frontenac and New France, p. 198.)
There are many suggestions in that schedule of the bear
ing which its execution would have had, directly and indirectly,

King William's War 263
on this New England outpost. Westfield would have been
one of the "nearest settlements" to be destroyed, since it was
next neighbor in those days to Albany on the west, and not
far from the next neighbor to Quebec on the north. Or,
had it then been spared destruction, the success of this bril
liant campaign would have left it part of the New England
territory to be brought under the sway of the "Grande Mon-
arque" in the full realization of his grandiloquent dream.
It is bootless to characterize Louis as a driveling idiot,
and his schemes as a roaring farce, considering the respective
resources of the French and English on this continent at that
epoch. It stiU holds true that Westfield and adjacent set
tlements of Hampshire County were then included in the
fuUy matured plans of an able, adroit, energetic, resourceful
commander, having under him capable officers and a large
force of trained soldiery with innumerable savage allies; and,
unsuccessful though he was in the general conduct of his
scheme, the damage which he actually inflicted on the Eng
lish Colonies was grievous, and, for the time, almost paralyzing.
PhUip, ten years earlier, without the help of a European
exchequer or army, had seriously threatened the life of the
Enghsh occupancy, and the dream of the mighty Louis at
the zenith of his power, involving the co-operation of a great
European nation with the dusky hosts of the forests, to sub
due colonies of psalm-singing farmers already objects of jealousy
and animosity on the part of their English sovereign and
his ministers, does not seem wildly absurd. Whatever might
have been the final outcome of the rivalry of France and
England for dominion in the New World, temporarily at
least, France might have triumphed.
Frontenac's first grand effort consisted of movements
in three directions respectively, by three divisions of French
and Indians, starting, one from Montreal, one from Three
Rivers, and one from Quebec. The one from Montreal
headed for Albany along the natural route through Lake
Champlain, Lake George and the Hudson River. It consisted
of about two hundred men, nearly half of whom were christian
Iroquois whom the Jesuit priests had succeeded in convert
ing to the Romish faith and to French allegiance. They
would not fight their heathen brethren in New York whence

264 Westfield and its Historic Influences
they had been drawn to Canada, but would fight the English.
The French portion of the party was composed chiefly of
coureurs de bois, men inured to the hardships of the wilder
ness and skilled in woodcraft. The commanders were D'Alle-
boust de Mantel and Le Moyne de Sainte Helene, able and
brave, with competent lieutenants.
They reached the Hudson after eight days, and coming
to the point where the path divided, instead of following
that to Albany they turned to Schenectady. Their sufferings
were excruciating, and so spent were they by fatigue and hard
ship that, according to their own confessions, had a small
force of resolute men opposed them, they would have been
routed. In the early morning of February 9, 1690, they
burst into the sleeping town, having found the gates open
and not a single guard to give the alarm. The massacre which
foUowed is among the most horrible of those savage times.
Pieter Schuyler, Mayor of Albany, attempted a description
of it in a dispatch to the CouncU of Connecticut sent a few
days afterward: "No tongue can express the Cruelties that
were committed. The whole VUlage was instantly in a Blaze.
Women bigg with childe rip'd up, and the Children aUve
throwne into the flames, and their heads dashed to pieces
against the Doors and windows. Sixty Persons perished in
the Massacre, and twenty-seven were carried into Captivity.
The rest fled naked towards Albany, thro' a deep Snow which
fell that very night in a Terrible Storm; and twenty-five
of these Fugitives lost their limbs in the flight, thro' the
Severity of the Frost." (History of Albany, p. 245.)
Capt. Bull was sent with a detachment from Albany to
succor any of the people who might have escaped and to bury
the dead. He found that Lieut. Enos Talmadge, Sergeant
Jonathan Church and another Hampshire man had been
killed defending the block house. Three other Hampshire
men were then taken captive, one of whom escaped, and
another, David Burt, Jr., of Northampton, never returned.
The year 1690 thus inaugurated, was one of disaster and
disappointment to New England. Frontenac's other two
expeditions were successful. One attacked Salmon FaUs,
on the stream which separates Maine and New Hampshire,
killed thirty persons and took fifty-four prisoners. Then

King William's War 265
uniting with the third party they captured Casco Fort, where
is now Portland.
The pretentious expedition of the English against Canada
in two divisions failed disastrously. It was planned in retalia
tion for the triple attack on the places noted already, but
to the chagrin and humiliation of the colonists each of the
movements ended in a wretched fiasco. The one by land,
under Fitz-John Winthrop of Connecticut, which had Mont
real as its objective point, succeeded in getting no farther
than the southern end of Lake Champlain. The other, under
Sir. William Phips, which was planned to capture Quebec,
proved far more disastrous, losing ships and men, and entailed
upon Massachusetts an additional debt of £150,000. This
involved still farther disaster through the issue for the first
time of paper currency. Parkman, in summing up the results
of the year's failures, says, "Massachusetts had made her
usual mistake. She had confidently believed that ignorance
and inexperience could match the skill of a tried veteran,
and that the rude courage of her fishermen and farmers could
triumph without discipline or leadership. The conditions
of her material prosperity were adverse to efficiency in war.
A trading republic without trained officers may win victories;
but it wins them either by accident, or by an extravagant
outlay in money and life." (Frontenac and New France, p.
298.) King William's War, which so early in its course involved
New England in such losses, dragged on for many weary
years. Massachusetts was not alone concerned in the failure
of the plan to subdue Canada. The scheme had been developed
at a meeting of the Commissioners of the several Colonies,
which, in response to a call from the upper towns of Hampshire,
met at New York, May 1, 1690. Holland lays emphasis
on the fact that it was the first Congress of the American
Colonies. Though Hampshire County suffered no loss of men or
property during 1690, still the people were in such a state
of alarm, and danger from the enemy seemed so imminent,
that Major Pynchon finally decided to retain forty men whom
he had detailed to join the army at Albany which was pre
paring to march against Montreal. Of this company, nine

266 Westfield and its Historic Influences
were from Northampton, eight from Springfield, four from
Westfield, six from Hatfield, five from Hadley, five from Suffield,
and three from Enfield.
During the early months of the year he sent "scouts of
14 or 16 men to bee out by the week together for the dis
covery of the enemy" with pay guaranteed by the County
Court, "if ye General Court do not pay them," and a garrison
of sixty Connecticut men under Capt. Colton was established
at Deerfield, then the frontier town.
Added to the sorrows occasioned by the Indian menace
were those resulting from a malignant distemper which affected
the river towns. Peter Tilton wrote to Governor Bradstreet,
under date of August 23, 1690:
"The righteous Lord is sorely visiting these frontier towns
at present, with sickness by agues and fevers, of which many
are sick and weak and many are carried to their graves. The
arrows of mortalitie and death are flying thick from town
to town and from family to family. A hundred persons sick
at Deerfield, about fourscore at Northampton, many at Had
ley and Hatfield. The disease increased in the towns down
ward. Capt. Lewis and Capt. Moseley are dead."
How far the epidemic affected Westfield we have no means
of knowing, since the records make no mention of it.
Late in 1691 the people of Deerfield and vicinity were
greatly disturbed by the arrival from the Hudson of about
one hundred and fifty Indians and their encampment about
a mUe below the town. Major Pynchon wrote to Governor
Bradstreet a detaUed and verbose report of their presence
and of their conduct, which was generally peaceful and proper,
yet saying that "they are very unacceptable to our people,"
which may be readily believed after their experiences of recent
years. He proposed that a company of some fifty men should
be enlisted in the upper towns to be in readiness to march
at short notice in case of trouble, and adds this naive sug
gestion: "If such a company in their Arms should only march once
or twice this winter to Deerfield, ye very sight of them might
awe these lnds, who wiU thereby see 8s know we are in a war
like Posture; a laishlike indiscretion may procure some smart
blow (as it did at Scenectoke) which should stir us up to dili-

King William's War 267
gence and Prudence; or people minding there owne busnes,
without Arms or watches, requires that same orders be given
for rousing ym up, especially considering ye talke is of yt
the French coming down on us this winter. Doubtless there
is this winter as much danger as ye last."
The Indians had passes from the Mayor of Albany and
were forced by the scarcity of provisions there to come into
this region with wives and children for hunting.
Still feeling considerably alarmed by their presence, about
the middle of January, 1692, Major Pynchon, with Capt.
Samuel Partrigg as his agent, wrote out formal Directions
and Proposals concerning them. They were not to go out
hunting in companies numbering more than five; they were
not to enter the towns after sunset or at any time with their
"Armes." Well aware of the mischief wrought in the redmen, as
well as in the palefaces, by intoxicants, he includes this
emphatic injunction:
"We doe particularly caution you to beware of strong
drink, wch intoxicates men's braines 8s makes ym more dis
orderly than otherwise they would be, Si to warne your young
men in special least it occasion quarrels, wch are carefully
by you 8s by vs to be prevented, wherefore we aUow not or
people to seU it, 8s you would doe weU to acquaint vs wth
any wch does, that we may deale with ym for their disorder."
Pynchon adds their reply to this prohibitory deliverance:
"Our young men 8s sqvs wil buy it for all yt 8s your English
wil sel it." That certainly is a "touch of nature" which
"makes all the world akin."
In May following the inconvenient guests were summoned
back to Albany by messengers from the Mayor, who feared
an inroad from Canada.
In spite of repeated rumors of an invasion from the north,
the year passed without any attack, though the harvests
were meager.
Late in July, 1693, a party of Canada Indians, numbering
twenty-six, attacked Brookfield. They killed the wife of
Joseph Wolcott and her two young daughters and Thomas
Lawrence, Joseph Mason and his son. They seized and carried
away Daniel Lawrence and Mason's wife with her infant.

268 Westfield and its Historic Influences
There having been too few men in the garrison house to cope
with the captors, John Lawrence, brother of Thomas, rode
post haste to Springfield for help. Major Pynchon spent
the night gathering troopers, twenty men from Springfield
and eight from Westfield. Commanded by Capt. Thomas
Colton of Springfield they reached Brookfield early in the
afternoon, and buried the dead while waiting for thirty addi
tional men from the upper river towns.
Since there were eight Westfield men engaged in this enter
prise, which was quite brilliantly executed amid great diffi
culties, it seems worth while to give at length Pynchon's
report of it to Governor Phips under date of August 1, 1693:
"On Saturday July 29, Capt. Colton began his march
out of Quabaug about 10 o'clock in the morning (having
been detained by the rain) with 42 men, having left 16 at
the garrison, because he knew not certainly that the Indians
had drawn off. He went to Wolcott's house where the enemy
kept their rendezvous, found their tracks to go through Wol
cott's lot 8s followed the same, soon came to where the
enemy first lodged after the mischief at Quabaug, viz.
Thursday night last, which was about 10 mUes northerly from
Wolcott's house, where they killed Mason's child which they
had taken away, the Mother, as also young Lawrence about
18 years of age, being then captives with them. After a small
halt our men came where, as they supposed, the enemy dined
the next day, their 2d day from Quabaug; there they kUled
a mare of H. Gilbert's which they had taken to carry their
load 8s there also they had broken the drum taken from Law
rence's house. Our soldiers pursuing came to a great pond,
30 miles or more off from Quabaug, where they found the
enemy lodged the 2d night. Here they found a horse of
Mason's killed Si fresh tokens of them, their fire not out, which
encouraged the soldiers much, though the way was hideous,
swamps, stones, brush 8sc. scarce passable for horses — went
6 or 7 miles further that Saturday with their horses; find
ing they could not get along with horses, they left all their
horses 8s men that could not foot it; 19 men were dismissed
8s ordered to bring the horses after.
"Capt. Colton with 23 men, the most likely, pursuing the
enemy on foot, lightening themselves of their coats 8s with-

King William's War 269
out provisions; they hastened that if possible they might
come upon the Indians before night.
"But the night came on before any Indians could be seen,
the Capt. having gone 7 or 8 miles very briskly after he left
his horse, and he was forced to take up lodgings. Way very
bad, Horses came up within 2 mUes of the fort that night
(Saturday) which was 3d night the enemy had been gone.
"In the morning of Lord's Day July 30 the men resolutely
bent, thought they were near the enemy; Si they set off early
before the horses came up. When they had gone about l}4
mUe they came upon the enemy in a most hideous thick woody
place, when within 3 or 4 rods of them they discerned them
not, tUl they heard them laughing. Presently the Capt.
made signs to his men to come up and compass them about,
who did accordingly, about 10 of his men only just about
at his heels, the place obscure, the enemy hardly to be seen,
having also cut down bushes to shelter themselves, yet made
a shot upon them, as many of our men as had advantage,
the rest of our men also coming up gave their volley also,
just as the Indians rising up, being at breakfast about sun
a quarter of an hour high. Our men could not all make shot
at once, those that at first had not opportunity did it at the
Indians beginning to budge away, none of our men failing;
and the Indians not knowing or discerning them till the bul
lets were in some of their bodies, Si others of them alarmed
at the volleys ran away; not having opportunity to fire on
our men. The Capt. says the enemy fired but one gun, though
some of the soldiers say another was fired Si that the Indian
quivered so he could not hold his gun steady. They all ran
that had life to do it in an instant, 8s in such a hideous thicket
that our men could not see nor find an Indian more. Our
men killed 4 certain outright, which the Capt. saw 8s is sure
of; most of the soldiers say there were 6 killed outright, with
one that being wounded, one of our men ran up to 8s dispatched
with his hatchet. Many were sorely wounded 8s no doubt
ran into holes to die, for our men say the brush was bloody
in many places, which it was hardly possible to make discovery
of, Si Capt. Colton says he saw blood on the ground as well
as on the bushes.
"The Indians ran away so suddenly that they left their

270 Westfield and its Historic Influences
powder 8s ball though some snatched up their guns. Our
men brought away 9 guns, 20 hatchets, 4 cutlasses, 16 or 18
horns of powder, besides 2 barks full neatly covered about
1 or 2 lbs. in a bark.
"Also scalps our men got from them 8s burnt them. Our
men here regained the two captives the enemy carried away,
Mason's wife Si young Lawrence 8s brought them back in
safety, leaving plunder which they could not bring off, render
ing it unserviceable. On their return they met their horses
within 2 miles of them." * * *
In a postscript Pynchon writes:
"What I much wonder at, one of the soldiers a Smith
[blacksmith] of Northampton says that one of their hatchets
he knows well that he made it about a year ago." (Trum
bull's Northampton, Vol. I, pp. 435-7.)
That is a graphic sketch of experiences through which
the early citizens of Westfield passed in their heroic struggles
to prepare for their descendants a place of habitation. For
it was not for themselves alone that they endured such hard
ships and strained for such victories. They had in mind
the aim of those who preceded them, and sought to establish
in the wilderness an enduring and developing Commonwealth
which should be an integral part of a great nation.
In August, 1694, there was an assembly at Albany of
Commissioners from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York
and New Jersey, under guard of sixty horsemen from Con
necticut, to meet Iroquois sachems and load them with pres
ents. The expense to Massachusetts was £370, and about
the same to Connecticut, including the pay and the sub-
sistance of the escorting troopers.
During the following four years various incursions were
made and many settlers were killed at Deerfield and Hat
field. In 1696 Richard Church of Hadley was kUled while
hunting by two of the New York Indians who were sojourn
ing near Hatfield. The men were tried, convicted and by
order of the Court shot. These were the first executions
in Hampshire County.
During the period of King William's War Westfield suf
fered from no Indian depredations, but that the people felt

King William's War 271
the need of preparation for attack is evidenced by two votes
in town meeting:
"Feb. 7, 1694. The Town voted to raise a Rate of 10£
to procure a stock of Powder 8s Lead and to pay it in money
or wheat at 3/6 a bushel or Corn at 1/6."
"May 5, 1697. The Selectmen made a rate of ten pounds,
8s five shiUings for the procuring Powder and ammunition
towards a Town stock to be paid in money and to put it into
the hands of Joseph Maudsley, Constable, with a warrant
to him to colect and gather it in forthwith and make payment
thereof to the Selectmen of the Town on this order at or before
the last of this instant May."
King William's War is speciaUy significant because of
its introduction of French intrigue and French arms to our
colonial life and affairs. It was formally concluded by the
Peace of Ryswick, September 21, 1697, but in those days
of slow communication between distant points, it took long
for the fact that France and England had ceased from war
to reach their dependencies on this side of the ocean, and even
after it had been proclaimed the dusky allies of France were
loth to give up their forays. Even as late as July, 1698, there
was an encounter with them in the Hatfield meadows.
During the ten years of this war Massachusetts expended
for its prosecution more than £150,000, half a million dollars,
when money had a far greater purchasing power than it has
in these later days.
Though Hampshire County suffered far less than other
regions, at least 28 of its inhabitants were killed and many
were carried away into captivity. Its war expenses borne
by the Colony averaged more than £500 a year during the
last five years of the war. The soldiers who came here from
Connecticut were paid by that Colony, but Massachusetts
supplied their provisions. According to Judd, the pay which
soldiers received at that period was six shillings per week
for a private, for a drummer and corporal seven shiUings,
for a sergeant nine shillings, ensign twelve shillings, lieutenant
fifteen shillings, captain thirty shillings, major fifty shillings,
chaplain twenty shillings, surgeon twenty shillings.
Regular troopers, each furnishing his horse, private ten

272 Westfield and its Historic Influences
shillings, trumpeter and corporal twelve shiUings, and the
officers correspondingly more than the foot soldiers. A com
mon soldier with his horse received eight shiUings. They
were well supplied with food, and in at least one expedi
tion into Maine were provided with rum, sugar, pipes and
tobacco. The number of soldiers in five of the towns in May, 1690,
was given by Major Pynchon as foUows; Northampton 128,
Sprmgfield 120, Hatfield 80, Hadley 66, Westfield 60. It
is probable that the other towns of the county brought the
number up to about 600, from which it may be inferred that
the population of the county then was about 2500. A strik
ing proof of the changed relations of the people of this Colony
and those of that one lying directly south of it, from the jeal
ousies and contentions of a half century earlier, is found in
the readiness of Connecticut to send its soldiers to the reUef
of the upper valley during the prevalence of Indian troubles,
and the grateful appreciation thereby inspired. That the
help was highly esteemed received striking evidence by a
letter of which a copy is preserved, bearing among its notable
signers two Westfield names:
"The ready assistance this county of Hampshire, in their
Majesties province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New Eng
land, have had and found in our distresses in the times of
war, from our neighbors and freinds of Connecticut colony,
calls for our grateful acknowledgement, as we do expect the
continuance of their former friendliness and good neighborli-
ness. "Wherefore, these are humbly to signify, that we have
received great help and good assistance from their Majesties
colony of Connecticut, in a ready, large and plentiful sup
ply of men and help, both in the first war in the years 1675
and 1676, as also at divers times upon emergencies and exi
gencies, they have performed great helpfulness in going upon
discoveries and keeping garrisons, to their great charge, and
now lately in their assistance at Deerfield, our chief frontier
town; whereby through God's goodness, they have been
a great support and guard, encouragement and safety to our
county, and discouragement to our common enemy; and
hereunto we subscribe our hands, September 28, 1693.

King William's War 273
Solomon Stoddard, Minister of Northampton.
John WiUiams, Minister of Deerfield.
William Williams, Minister of Hatfield.
Edward Taylor, Minister of Westfield.
John Pynchon, \ Justices of the Peace
Peter Tilton, / for West Hampshire in
Aaron Cook, > the province of the
Joseph Hawley, I Massachusetts Bay in
Samuel Partrigg,) N. E.
Thomas Colton, Capt. of Springfield.
Samuel Roote, Lieut, of Westfield.
Timothy Nash, Lieut, of Hadley.
Samuel Partrigg, Capt. of Hatfield.
John King, Lieut, of Northampton."

CHAPTER XIII.
Schools and Teachers
The original settlers of New England were passionately
devoted to the establishment and promotion of essential
institutions, those respectively related to religion, educa
tion and civil liberty. There is a deep symbolic meaning in
the fact that the meeting house was used for both religious
and civic gatherings, and in the additional fact that the school-
house was often used not only as a place of educational enter
prises, but also for religious and civic purposes. Those sturdy
old Puritans put a high estimate upon the training of young
minds by teachers as competent as could be commanded
by the stipends which could be afforded by the inhabitants
of the Colonial towns, though the disparity between then-
financial resources and their spiritual ideals was pathetic.
When they were unable to secure such teaching talent as they
coveted, they accepted eagerly such as was avaUable.
The spirit of the settlers of New England differed widely
in this respect from that which prevailed in Virginia at the
corresponding period. Governor Berkeley in 1671, replying
to various inquiries respecting the condition of the Colony
sent by the Commissioners of Foreign Plantations, described
conditions there in 1670, the year after Westfield was
organized. The freemen engaged in military drill once every
month in their respective counties in numbers which he esti
mated at "near eight thousand horse" in a total population
of forty thousand. There were six thousand white servants
and two thousand negro slaves. Every man taught his own
children according to his inclination and abUity. Berkeley
devoutly declared, "I thank God, there are no free schools
nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these hundred
years!" He pronounced learning and printing the patrons
and promoters of heresies and sects and of libels on govern
ment. A dozen years later, in 1682, one Beeckner, because
he had presumed to print the laws of 1680, was put under

Schools and Teachers 275
bonds "not to print anything thereafter until His Majesty's
pleasure should be known."
In an "advisive narrative" sent toward the end of the
seventeenth century from America to the Bishop of London
it is said:
"This lack of schools in Virginia is a consequence of their
scattered planting. It renders a very numerous generation
of Christian's Children born in Virginia, who naturally are
of beautiful and comely Persons, and generally of more ingen
ious spirit than those in England, unserviceable for any great
Employment in Church or State."
The democracy of New England was deeply conscious
of dependence for its maintenance and vigorous growth upon
universal education.
John Adams records in his diary that he gave to a Vir
ginian "a receipt for making a New England in Virginia."
The secret lay in the adoption of town-meetings, town-schools
and ministers. "The meeting-house and the school-house,"
he said, "are the scenes where New England men are formed.
The four chief things were towns, militia, schools and
churches." (Fisher, The Colonial Era, p. 162.)
The Fathers of the Bay Colony provided early for a sys
tem of universal education within its borders. The General
Court, convened September 8, 1636, only six years after the
arrival of Winthrop and his associate immigrants, voted £400
toward a "schools or colledge" for the purpose of educating
the "English and Indian youth in knowledge and Godliness."
That was the initial step toward the establishment of Har
vard CoUege.
But far lower down than such an institution, primary
and intermediate schools were needed to fit pupils for the
higher privileges, and as the intimate relationship between
religion and education was emphasized in that earlier appro
priation, so it was in the subsequent action which was taken
by the General Court in 1642 which made the earliest provi
sion for more fundamental educational needs.
In that year the first school law of the Colony of Massa
chusetts was enacted, in order to make general provision for
what had been provided singly by a few towns. It ordered
the Selectmen of the towns to take account of all parents and

276 Westfield and its Historic Influences
masters respecting the education of their children, in order
that all children should be taught to read so as to understand
the capital laws of the Colony and become useful. Fines
were imposed upon parents and masters who might refuse
to render such accounts, with the possibility that their chil
dren might be taken out of their possession. Education was
declared to be essential to the welfare of the Colony; parents
were responsible for its promotion, and the right was asserted
to compel parents to furnish it.
The law of 1654 ordered that all teachers should be sound
in the faith and free from scandal in their lives on pain of
dismissal, and declared the right of the Colony to examine,
and certify to, the qualifications of all teachers within its
bounds. As an inducement to the work of education teachers
were exempted, in 1692 from taxes, in 1693 from militia duty,
and in 1699 from the watch.
The famous act of November 11, 1647, was thus framed:
"It being one chief project of that old deluder Satan to
keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former
times by keeping them in an unknown tongue, so in these
latter times by persuading them from the use of tongues that
so at least the true sense Si meaning of the original might
be clouded by false glosses of saint-seeming deceivers, that
learning may not be buried in the grave of our fathers in the
church Si commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors —
"It is therefore ordered that every township in this juris
diction after the Lord hath increased them to 50 householders
shall then forthwith appoint one within their town to teach
such children as shall resort to him to write 8s read, when
such wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters
of such children, or by the inhabitants in general, by way
of supply, as the major part of those who order the pruden
tials of the town shall appoint; provided those that send
their chUdren be not oppressed by paying much more than
they can have them taught for in other towns, but it is
farther ordered that when any town shall increase to the
number of 100 families or householders they shall set up a
grammar school the master whereof shall be able to instruct
youth so far as they may be fitted for the University: pro
vided that if any town neglect the performance hereof above

Schools and Teachers 277
one year, that every such town shall pay five pounds to the
next school till they shall perform this order." (Mass. Records
II, 203.) Commenting upon that enactment, Palfrey says: "The
measure is all the more impressive for having originated in
a general voluntary movement of the people in their several
settlements." In 1644 the inhabitants of Dedham, "taking
into consideration the necessity of providing some means
for the education of youth, did, by a unanimous consent
declare by vote their willingness to promote that work, promis
ing to put their hands for the maintenance of a free school."
They appropriated therefor some land and £20 annually.
In 1645 Winthrop wrote, "Divers free schools were erected
as at Roxbury."
It is a matter of deep interest to the people of Westfield
that the Father of one of its settlers, and a "foundation"
man of the church, was closely related to the establishment
of the free school in Dorchester which has a unique place in
the history of free education.
John Maudesley was among those who came to the Bay
in the second Puritan immigration in 1631 and settled in
Dorchester. The General Court, March 4, 1634-5, granted Thompson's
Island to the inhabitants of Dorchester, to be theirs forever
for an annual payment of 12 d. Four years later, May 30,
1639, the town laid a tax upon the proprietors of that island,
really a self-imposed tax upon themselves, for "the main
tenance of a school in Dorchester."
The peculiar significance of that action is that it seems
to have been the first instance in the world's history of pro
vision made by a town by direct tax or assessment for the
support of a free school.
Two years afterwards, in 1641, the proprietors formaUy
conveyed the island to the town for the purpose originaUy
declared and the name of John Maudesley appears as one of
the signers of that historical document. His son, John
Maudesley, Jr., moved to Windsor and thence to Westfield in
1677, and became here the head of one of the most honored and
influential families in the successive generations of the town's
life, the original name soon having become changed to Moseley.

278 Westfield and its Historic Influences
A traditional family interest in free education is shown
in Col. David Moseley, of the sixth generation of the name
in Westfield, born March 6, 1798, died in 1871. Mrs. Maria
Moseley Whitney, his daughter, states that before his death
he requested that instead of erecting a monument over his
grave, the money which it would cost might be expended
in educating some poor boys.
A movement toward the support of free education took
a curious form in Hempstead, Long Island, which had been
settled by people from New England in 1643.
At a general town meeting held on Nov. 27, 1658, the
following action was recorded :
"It is ordered that any manner of person or persons inhabit
ing within the town of Hempstead that after the day of the
date hereof shaU seU eyther wine, beere or any manner of
drams or strong licquors that they shall make entry of the
same unto the Clercke, and shall pay for any kind of drams
or Spanish wine; the som of 5 guilders the ancker; for the
half satt of strong beere 12 guilders, one half to be employed
for the provision of amonition for the use of the town, and
the other moytie and half part for the education of poor
orphants, or other poore inhabitants children." (Early Long
Island, Flint, pp. 143-4.)
Just when the first provision for the education of children
was made in Westfield cannot be determined. The first
vote appearing in records now preserved bearing date of Feb.
4, 1678, nine years after the town was chartered, indicates
that the teacher named had been engaged already in the
work of instruction.
"Voted, to give Mr. Deutre 15£ and what the schollars
dont pay the town agrees to make up Si to pay a third part
in wheat. "granted to Mr. Deutre a home lot about % acre and
6 acres of land by the home lot of Oliver Weller also 10 acres
of land by Pochasuck farm and 10 acres more where he can
find it not hindering former grants."
That is the extent of our information respecting him and
his educational service to the town. Two years later, in
September, 1679, the month following the formal organization
of the church, the name of another man appears about whom

Schools and Teachers 279
we know much more than we do of Mr. Deutre. "It was
voted to give Mr. James Cornish 18£ for keeping school this
half year ensuing which is to be paid in wheat, Pork 8s Indian
Corn by equal proportion."
Actual money in coin or paper as a medium of exchange
was rarely employed in those early times. Its scarcity neces
sitated the use of grain as a substitute.
James Cornish, a man having sufficient qualification of
some kind to justify the title of "Mr.," went from Saybrook
to Northampton in 1660 and became the first teacher there,
serving in that capacity from 1664 for three years, and soon
afterward moved to Westfield. He seems to have had a
disposition which according to our modern ideals would have
disqualified him for the intimate and influential relationship
of a teacher of children.
Feb. 18, 1696, it was "voted 8s left with selectmen to git
Si seteU a skool master in the town for half a year."
A year later "it was voted that such as send their boys
to scool 3 pence week for reading scolars and 4 pence per week
for wrighting "It was also voted that all boys from 7 to 14 years old
shaU pay by the week as above said — though they go not
to scool their parents or masters shaU pay for them."
In November, 1697, it was voted "that the Selectmen
shal indeavor to procure a scoolmaster for three or four months
this Winter, the scolars to pay 3 pence per week for reading
8s 4 pence for Wrighters and what wants to bee paid by the
Town and aU boys from 7 to 14 year of age shal pay whether
boys atend or not."
In the foUowing year similar action was taken with the
additional proviso that the payment was to be made "in Peas,
ry or indian corn at the town price and each person that sends
children to Scool shal provide a load of wood for each scolar."
It appears from the preceding records that the free school
system as we understand it had not yet been fuUy established.
Obligation for the support of teachers rested primarily upon
parents of children of school age, and any deficit in the salaries
was to be made up by the town, so that instead of levying a
tax upon the whole town for the entire support of schools,

280 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the town was held responsible only for so much of the needful
funds as the parents did not provide.
Judd says: "Schools were not maintained wholly by towns
till after much discussion and agitation. Those in moderate
circumstances, with large families, desired free schools. Some
of the wealthy and those with no chUdren to send, were opposed
to them. Few towns were willing to vote for schools entirely
free to the scholars, till after 1700, and it was many years
after 1700 before free schools became general in Massachu
setts." (History of Hadley, p. 56.)
It is a notable fact, however, that, according to TrumbuU,
the town of Northampton instituted a veritable free school
system as early as 1692. It then changed its system and
voted "to give forty pounds per year for A Schoole Master
that might be Attained fit for that worke and the aboue said
sum of forty pounds they Agree to pay for one yeare and the
Scholars to go free."
The difference was a radical one. Parents no longer
were obliged to pay per capita for their children, but the whole
town assumed obligation for the instruction of whatever
children attended school. The plan met with considerable
opposition, which found expression at successive meetings
and was only settled finally at a special meeting called "to
Againe consider about a Schoole," when the former vote was
confirmed, though nine prominent citizens registered a formal
protest against it. In May, 1693, the plan was ratified for
twenty years, during which the teacher's salary was ordered
to be forty pounds a year.
"Att a Town meeting legally warned November 1, 1700
it was voted that the Selectmen shall tak care for the wring
ing the Town bull at the Town charge.
"At the sam meeting it was voted that there shall bee
a scool house built Lieut. Root John gun Samuel Ashley and
David Ashley jnn: were chosen as a comity to tak care that
said house be built 8s finisht the said hous to bee about eight
een foot square the said comity are to call al persons to work
giving a day's warning each person to be alowed for his work
acording to what hee does acording to the judgment of the
Comity 8s what more may be needed for building said house
to bee paid by the Town in corn Si rye.

Schools and Teachers 281
"The said house to be set between the fortmeadow gat
8s the guly by John Nobles. It was also voted that the select
men shall endeavor speedily to provide a scoolmaster 8s a
place to keep scool in at the town charg the scolars to pay
3 penc a week readers 8s wrighters 4 penc :
"Jan 6. 1700 At a legall Townmeeting it was voted upon
farther consideration that the place for seting the scoolhouse
shall be removed from the place where it was formerly voted
to be set Si to be set nere the meeting house.
"At a Town meeting October 27, 1697 it was agreed upon
and voted that present select men shall endevor the repairing
the meeting house."
In Westfield quite an advance upon the earlier method
of employing a teacher for only half a year was made at the
April meeting in 1702, when the voters arranged to have
Nathanael Phelps, Thomas Noble and Joseph Maudesley,
Selectman, make a contract with Isaac Phelps to teach school
for one year, "to begin in May and receive as his stipend
twenty Pounds at or before the year is expired, to bee paid
in ry 8s indian corn, half of each, ry at 3 shillings per bushel
8s indian corn tow shillings price per bushel, the Select men
to see it paid accordingly."
In December of the following year a similar contract was
entered into by the Selectmen and Joseph Sexton, he to "keepe
schoole from ye day of ye date hereof untill the 15th day of
April nexte ensuing all which time hee Doth Ingage to use
ye best of his skill Si Industry so far as he is capassatated
to teach children to Reade 8s Wright which are sent to school
during said terms."
Inasmuch as the above document is signed "Jos. Sexton —
Towne Clarke," indicating that he was the author of its lan
guage and was responsible for its spelling, it would seem that
he himself was not above need of a tutor in one branch of
education. But the art of orthography was as tardy of intro
duction as were veritable free schools.
Before the above arrangement had been consummated
the following action was recorded :
"At a Legall Town meeting Desember ye 13th: 1703
ye Towne voted to hire some man in ye Towne to keepe Schoole
Att ye same meeting ye Towne voted yt ye selectmen should

282 Westfield and its Historic Influences
be Comitty to agree wth some man in ye Towne forthwith
to keep schoole as a foresaid
"Att ye same meeting ye Towne votted that ye schoole
master soe hired should keep schole teU ye middle of AprUl
nexte ensuing.
"Att ye same meeting ye Towne votted ytt ye ChUdren
ytt goe to schoole should pay (viz) Riters att 3d pr weeke
8s Readers att 2d per weeke
"Att ye same meeting ye severall persons whose Names
are hereafter mentioned enter there Desents from ye vote
above mentioned namely ytt Vote respecting 3d pr weeke
for Riters 8s 2d pr weeke for Readers Samuel Ashley, Jos
Mosley, Richard Church, Thomas Gunn, Stephen Kellogg,
David Dewey, Benj. Maudsley, Thos Ingerson, John Sackett
Junr Matthew Noble; Jos Sexton, Thomas WeUer, David
Ashley Jun
"Joseph Sexton, Town Clerk was elected"
That there was opposition to a complete system of free
schools as late as April, 1705, is shown by action of that date
when "it was agreed unanimously ytt ye selectmen should
ease such chUdren as through sickness or Lameness 8sc By
ye judgement of ye selectmen Renders them uncapable of
goeing to schoole as aforesaid AU former votes in this Respect
too ye contrary notwithstanding."
The poverty of the people accounts in part for such unwiU-
ingness to pay for schooling which was not actuaUy enjoyed
by a man's children. The broader view of universal responsi
bility for the teaching of aU the children of the community
came slowly into popular favor, but finally prevailed. But
the children of those who could not pay were provided for
from the first.
Isaac Phelps was recaUed to teach from May 1, 1711,
to the end of October. Before the latter month expired the
Selectmen were ordered to provide a schoolmaster, with the
qualification of the vote, "that they will not have a scolar
for a school master." Inasmuch as Isaac Phelps was engaged
in that capacity a few days later it is a fair inference that the
authorities did not consider him "a scolar." He seems to
have been continued in office until November, 1717.
There is one unique item in the report of the March meet-

Schools and Teachers 283
ing in 1716. Following a list of those who were chosen Sealers
of Weights and Measure, there appears, "School Committee,
Nathl Phelps, John Root 8s John Ashley to provide a teacher
and look after school land." It is the first time that a School
Committee is spoken of in the town books and it does not
appear again for more than a century.
Before tracing farther detaUs of the progress of schools
in Westfield it may be well to pause for a brief consideration
of the character and equipment of those primitive institutions
of learning in old Colony days, aided by the diligent researches
of skiUed investigators.
Alice Morse Earle, in her charming symposium, "ChUd
Life in Colonial Days," devotes large space to the subject
of education. In beginning a chapter on "Schools and School
Life," she says:
"No greater contrast of conditions could exist than between
the school life of what we choose to call the 'good old times,'
and that of the far better times of to-day. Poor, small and
uncomfortable school houses, scant furnishings, few and unin
teresting books, tiresome and indifferent methods of teaching,
great severity of discipline, were the accompaniments of
school days until the present century [the nineteenth]. Yet
with all these disadvantages children obtained an education
for an education was warmly desired; no difficulties could
chill that deep-lying longing for learning." (p. 63.)
She indicates the source of this passion in many instances
by quoting the exclamation of a noble New England Mother
of early days: "Child, if God make thee a good christian
and a good scholar, 'tis all thy mother ever asked for thee !"
The first reference to the education of girls which appears
on the town records is a vote of April 26, 1705. They were
to pay the same tuition as boys "if they goo" while the boys
from 7 to 12 years old were to pay "whether they go or not.'
It is difficult for us at this remote day, when the matter of
female education is considered as imperative as the education
of the sterner sex, to understand how it could have been con
sidered so lightly in the early days of New England and the
sister Colonies. That girls should not be absolutely illiterate
was needful in the popular estimate, even before they were
provided with schools. By some means they were expected

284 Westfield and its Historic Influences
to learn to read and write and to get a smattering of arith
metic, but it was not disgraceful for them to lack a grammar
school training to fit them for entrance to college since there
was no college open to them. When Jonathan Edwards
was eight years old he had five sisters, and in that year, 1711,
his Father, Timothy Edwards, a chaplain in the expedition
against Canada, said in the course of a letter to his wife at
Windsor, Conn.: "I desire thee to take care that Jonathan
dont lose what he hath learnt, but that as he hath got the
accidence and about two sides of Propria quae maribus by
heart, so that he keep what he hath got I would therefore
have him say pretty often to the girls. I would also have
the girls keep what they have learnt of the Grammar, and
get by heart as far as Jonathan hath learnt; he can keep them
as far as he had learnt. And would have both him and them
keep their writing, and therefore write much oftener than
they did when I was at home. I have left paper enough for
them which they may use to that end."
Whether or not they had attended school at all, the girls
as well as their brother probably had been taught by their
ministerial Father. Multitudes of girls who never enjoyed
school advantages were taught the rudiments at home. In
1817, the wife of President John Adams, who became famous
as a writer, born in the parsonage at Weymouth in 1744,
wrote: "My early education did not partake of the abundant op
portunities which the present days offer, and which even our
common country schools now afford. I never was sent to
any school. I was always sick. Female education in the
best families went no further than writing and arithmetic;
in some few rare instances music and dancing."
At the "Dame" schools, girls were taught to read and
write and sew, though the fact that the wiUs of many women
of property are recorded which have no signature but the
sign of a cross shows that the art of writing was too often
neglected. Even as late as 1790 the following action was
taken by the town of Gloucester: "And also that the master
be directed to begin his school from the first day of April
to the last day of September at 8 o'clock in the morning and
close at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, or any 8 hours in the 24

Schools and Teachers 285
as shall be thought the most convenient, but that two hours,
or a proportionable part of that time, be devoted to the
instruction of females — as they are a tender and interesting
branch of the Community, but have been much neglected
in the Public Schools of the town."
In Norwich, Conn., they were provided for "from 5-7 A.M."
In New London in 1774, Nathan Hale, the noble but ill-fated
patriot, wrote: "I have kept during the summer a morning
school between the hours of 5 and 7, of about 20 young ladies;
for which I have received 20 shillings a scholar by the quarter."
The dame school seems not to have been opened in West-
field untU the spring of 1725, when the town voted to "give
the widow Catherine Noble 25 shillings a month for keeping
school as long as the Town sees fit to improve her in that
service Si if she see cause to atend it."
There are traces of dame schools in England as early as
the fourteenth century. In the eighteenth century they
were very numerous there.
They came into Massachusetts with the early settlers.
In Woburn in 1673 one dame school was kept by "Allan
Convar's wife," another by "Joseph Wright's wife." Judge
Samuel SewaU, the lifelong friend of Westfield's first minister,
Rev. Edward Taylor, records in his Diary in April, 1691:
"This afternoon had Joseph to school to Capt. Townsend's
mother, his cousin Jane accompanying him; carried his horn
book." In many towns there were several private dame schools
and occasionally, during the eighteenth century, towns made
appropriations for their support as part of the system of pub
lic education, as in the case of the Widow Catherine Noble
in Westfield. They did much to provide rudimentary instruc
tion for boys and girls.
The aids to their tasks employed by the teachers in early
days were very simple and inadequate. The first in point
of time was the hornbook, long before famUiar in England.
Its importance and widespread use as a vehicle of instruction
justify a quotation here from Alice Morse Earle who describes
it thus: "The first book from which the children of the colonists
learned their letters and to spell, was not really a book at

286 Westfield and its Historic Influences
all, in our sense of the word. It was what was called a horn
book. A thin piece of wood, usually about four or five inches
long and two inches wide, had placed upon it a sheet of paper
a trifle smaller, printed at the top with the alphabet in large
and small letters; below were simple syllables such as ab, eb,
ib, ob, etc., then came the Lord's Prayer. This printed page
was covered with a thin sheet of yellowish horn, which was
not as transparent as glass, yet permitted the letters to be
read through it; and both the paper and the horn were fas
tened around the edges to the wood by a narrow strip of metal,
usually brass, which was tacked down by fine tacks or nails.
It was therefore a book of a single page. At the two upper
corners of the page were crosses, hence to read the hornbook
was often caUed 'reading a criss-cross row.' At the lower end
of the wooden back was usually a little handle which was
pierced with a hole; thus the hornbook could be carried by
a string, which could be placed around the neck or hung by
the side." (Child Life in Colonial Days, p. 118.)
What was called a "battledore" succeeded the hornbook;
it was printed on a double fold of cardboard with a flap of
the same material like a pocket bill book. On the inside of
it the alphabet was printed in capitals and small letters, with
sundry syllables of two letters each, some words of three let
ters each, the numerals and two small illustrations.
"Reading boards" were wooden tablets about fifteen inches
long and six inches wide, on which were pasted paper con
taining simple reading lessons. But most worthy of note,
because universally used for two centuries and over, is the
"New England Primer." Memory goes back to as late a
period as the middle of the nineteenth century when in the
writer's childhood home in Troy, N. Y., instinct with New
England tradition, the quaint miniature volume, with its
crude wood-cut pictures was used to impart religious instruc
tion on long Sunday afternoons, when coveted stroUs out
of doors were forbidden.
Paul Leicester Ford has made a valuable contribution
to Colonial History by his researches relative to this "Little
Bible of New England," as it has been called most aptly. He
adduces evidence that the New England Primer was arranged
for publication by Benjamin Harris, a London editor and

Schools and Teachers 287
printer, who came to Boston in 1686 for a brief sojourn.
Ford concludes that the first edition appeared about the begin
ning of the last decade of the seventeenth century. From
time to time it was renamed but to revert to the original
title under which it continued to be published until well along
in the nineteenth century. He says of it:
"For one hundred years this Primer was the school book
of the dissenters of America, and for another hundred it was
frequently reprinted. In the unfavorable locality (in a sec
tarian sense) of Philadelphia, the accounts of Benjamin Frank
lin and David Hall show that between 1749 and 1766, or
a period of seventeen years, that firm sold thirty-seven thou
sand copies. Liver more stated in 1849 that within the last
dozen years '100,000 copies of modern editions * * * have
been circulated.' An over conservative claim for it is to
estimate an average annual sale of twenty thousand copies
during a period of one hundred and fifty years, or total sales
of three mUlion copies." (The New England Primer, p. 45.)
In the course of years many variations of the rhymed
alphabet pages appeared, although the first and the last never
changed: "In Adams FaU and "Zacheus he
We sinned aU." did climb the Tree
his Lord to see"
were the same in each of the innumerable editions. The
"Shorter Catechism," which, however, always proved too long
for the youngsters doomed to commit it to memory, was
an essential feature of every edition, as was also the grue
some picture of John Rogers perishing amid flames and smoke
guarded by two soldiers armed each with an ax and in full
view of his fanuly. The children were depicted in varying
sizes, standing by their Mother, one reaching to the height
of her shoulder and the rest graduated down to one reaching
half way to her knee. Underneath it was the familiar descrip
tion: "Mr. John Rogers, Minister of the Gospel in London, was
the first martyr in Queen Mary's Reign and was burnt at
Smithfield, February 14th, 1554. His wife with nine small

288 Westfield and its Historic Influences
children and one at her Breast, following him to the Stake;
with which sorrowful Sight he was not in the least daunted,
but with wonderful Patience died courageously for the Gospel
of Jesus Christ."
The next step beyond hornbook and primer took the scholar
into Latin Grammar; an early one by Lilly was popular in
England and thence found its way over to the Colonies. It
has been said that "it named twenty-five different kinds of
nouns and devoted twenty-two pages of solid print to declen
sions of nouns ; it gave seven genders, with fifteen pages of rules
for genders and exceptions. Under such a regime we can
sympathize with Nash's outburst, "Syntaxis and prosodia!
You are tormentors of wit and good for nothing but to get
schoolmasters two pence a week." Ezekiel Cheevers, a famous
schoolmaster who died in Boston in 1708 after having taught
upwards of seventy years, published a Latin Grammar called
"Cheever's Accidence." Alice Morse Earle makes the fol
lowing reference to it illustrative of the intolerable method
of teaching Latin in the latter part of the eighteenth century :
"Josiah Quincy, later in life the president of Harvard Col
lege, wrote an account of his dismal school life at Andover.
He entered the school when he was six years old, and on the
form by his side sat a man of thirty. Both began Cheever's
Accidence, and committed to memory pages of a book which
the younger child certainly could not understand, and no
advance was permitted tUl the first book was conquered. He
studied through the book twenty times before mastering
it. The hours of study were long — eight hours a day — and
this upon lessons absolutely meaningless." (Child Life in
Colonial Days, p. 134.)
The first English Grammar used in the public schools
of Boston was a small volume with a large title. It was about
the size of the New England Primer, five by three inches,
containing but fifty-seven pages, of which a hundred thou
sand copies are said to have been sold.
Its pretentious title was "The Young Lady's Accidence,
or a Short and Easy Introduction to English Grammar, design'd
principally for the use of Young Learners, more especiaUy
for those of the Fair Sex, though Proper for Either."
"DUworth's Speller" was used very early, though not

Schools and Teachers 289
until the days of Noah Webster was there a systematic effort
made to secure uniform spelling. A second edition of his
"Little Reader's Assistant" was published in Hartford in
1791. It contained — I. A number of stories. II. Rudiments
of English Grammar. III. A Federal Catechism. IV. Gen
eral Principles of Government. V. The Farmer's Catechiz
ing, containing plain rules of husbandry — "all adapted to
the capacity of children."
Our educational debt to that masterly pioneer publisher
of English text-books can hardly be estimated.
Although "Cocker's Arithmetick" was largely used in
England in the later part of the seventeenth century, the
first use of any formal text-books on the subject was late in
the following century. Home-made sum books, such as
Abraham Lincoln has left as a memorial of his early educa
tional efforts, were common until a comparatively recent
period. The first text-book on Geography — Morse's — was
not published until after the Revolution. It was a very small
and crude affair.
"It had a mean little map of the United States, only a
few inches square. On it all the land west of the Mississippi
River was caUed Louisiana, and nearly all north of the Ohio
River, the Northwestern Territory." With such inadequate
implements the early educators conducted their important
tasks, in miserably furnished and equipped buildings, in strik
ing and pathetic contrast with the palatial structures devoted
to educational purposes in modern days, and the elaborate
and scientific text-books now available, furnished without
cost to any pupU in our carefuUy graded schools.
In October, 1717, the Selectmen were ordered to "hier
a schoolar to keep school for the space of 3 months and if
that cannot be obtained then provide some other man who
they shall think fit for the aforesaid 3 months."
They seem to have found a "schoolar" who proved satis
factory because at the March meeting following "the Town
agreed with Mr. Felix Habalah to keep school his year out
at the same rate he was hired for to wit, 30£ a year or more
if the Town see fit." It does not appear whether "more"
had reference to the length of the service for which he was
to be employed, or the amount of his stipend.

290 Westfield and its Historic Influences
In the preceding January, the weather having been
"extremely cold," the Moderator, by common consent,
removed the meeting from the meeting house to the school-
house, from a room without artificial heat to one provided
with a fireplace. Stoves for the meeting house were not
provided until a century later.
It is evident that boys were boys in the early part of the
eighteenth century, for in May, 1718, there was "Granted
to Consider Maudsley 10 acres of land absolutely on the
account of damage done by schoolars about the school house."
The monetary value of the land may be computed from
a grant at the same meeting of an equal amount of land in the
"new addition" to John Root, Town Clerk, "on account of
14 shillings due to him from the Town for drawing out of
Records into a new book."
The reference in that vote to the "new addition" is per
plexing, unless it was prompted by a wish which was father
to a thought, in which case John Root must have waited
impatiently for many moons for his ten acres, though a com
mittee of the General Court reported favorably Feb. 10, 1713,
on a petition of the town for it. It was not until January,
1736, that Thomas Ingersole, on behalf of the town, presented
to Governor Belcher and the General Court, a petition for
an enlargement of the town's territory to the amount of about
6000 acres, a copy of which may be found in the Appendix,
with a copy of the earlier report of the Committee. This
petition was granted in July of the same year, on several
conditions, among which it was provided that the Grantees
should lay out two hundred acres for the minister then in
the town, two hundred more for the ministry, and one hundred
for the school forever.
The land lay west of the town and ran from the south
west corner of the bounds of Northampton to the northeast
corner of the township granted to the proprietors of the town
of Suffield. It ran along the western hill tops, and was fit
only for pasturage and as a source of wood supply. It included
parts of the modern towns of RusseU, Montgomery and Gran-
viUe. In March, 1719, the munificent sum of forty-five shil
lings was aUowed "towards the school over the Little River,"
twice and a half as much as was voted at the same meeting

Schools and Teachers 291
per head for "cat a mounts" killed within ten miles of the
town. Provision was made for a "wrighting master" in Novem
ber of the foUowing year.
Whether or not it was hoped to secure one of a large class
of men who in that century were to be found in many towns,
does not appear. They were honored by any community
which was fortunate enough to possess them. The obituary
notice of one of them who died in 1769 in Boston includes
the foUowing encomium :
"Last Friday morning died Mr. Abiah Holbrook in this
town. He was looked upon by the best Judges as the Great
est Master of the pen we ever had among us, of which he
has left a beautiful Demonstration."
Of course the only pens used in that early period were
made of goose quills, steel pens not having been introduced
in England until 1803, and costing for a time two or three
doUars apiece. Ten years later the price had become reduced
to twelve cents apiece.
Ink was not furnished at the school, but was brought by
individual pupils in a bottle or horn, having been made at
home from ink powder or by some combination of vegetable
and mineral ingredients. Isaac Stiles served as teacher in
1722 and the year following whUe he was assisting Mr. Tay
lor in the work of the pulpit.
In May, 1723, it was voted that the Selectmen provide a
"gramer schoolmaster" for the next winter, but there is no
record to indicate whether or not they executed the commis
sion. In November, 1724, the usual arrangement was approved
whereby the Selectmen were to hire a schoolmaster and besides
they were "to provide a teacher for a Gramar school." A
special vote of 3£ was also passed for a winter school "for
the people at Little River."
It appears that Rev. Nehimiah Bull, who became the
second Pastor of the church, was at that time secured, who
also helped the aged Mr. Taylor in the pulpit, as thus indi
cated: "Also voated to alow Mr. Bull Friday 8s Saterday
out of the school to prepare for the preaching."
In 1731, the amount of six pounds was allowed for the

292 Westfield and its Historic Influences
school over Little River and two pounds for one at "Mun's
Brook." In January, 1749, there was a plain and direct vote "to
build a new school house with Brick at the same place where
the school house now stands" with Lieut. David Moseley,
Ensign Matthew Noble, Lieut. Taylor and Doctor Ashley
as a committee to execute the plan.
In May following the matter of leasing lands for one year
given to the town for the benefit of the school by Mr. Moses
Root was committed to the Selectmen.
Elisha Parks, who became a prominent citizen and official
in later years, was engaged to teach in the spring of 1751,
not however in the new brick schoolhouse, which proved
as slow in materializing as was usual with a new meeting
house in that early period.
The perplexing affair was finally settled. May 15, 1759,
the whole task of "providing a school or schools" was left
to the Selectmen. At the same meeting "it was voted to
set up a New Pound on the ground near Deacon Eldad Tay
lors dwelling house where the first meeting house stood."
That action enables us to be sure of the exact location
of that historic structure, since it is not many years since
people were living who remembered clearly the existence
of that pound in actual use, a few rods north of the stone
marker placed just west of the Little River bridge.
In January, 1772, the lump sum of 25 pounds was voted
"for the use of the schools for the last year and the present
year." Two years later it was voted to sell the Ministry and the
school lands in the new addition provided the whole could
be disposed of at a rate of "18/ per acre, one acre with the
other." At a meeting in December, 1775, Elisha Parks, Moderator,
before choosing a new Committee of Correspondence and
Inspection, the sum of 80 pounds lawful money was raised
for the maintenance of schools, an amount equal to that raised
for highways.
The same amount was raised for schools in 1777, equal
to the amount raised for preaching in that year when the
town paid for a man's work 4/ per day from April 1 to Oct.

Schools and Teachers 293
1, and 8/ for a man and team, the rates for the rest of the
year having been respectively 3/ and 6/.
In December, 1777, the amount raised for schools during
the ensuing year was 100 pounds, and the year following
it was 500 pounds, indicating the debased state of the cur
rency then prevailing.
In 1796 it was 140 pounds, in 1810 it was $500.00, rising
thence to $600.00 in 1813, to $800.00 in 1823, and $1000.00
in 1827. "Oct. 18, 1791, WUUam Shepard Warham Parks 8s Saml
Fowler Esquires a Com. to repair to the West Mountain
8s fix a place where the School shall be kept agreeably to a
Petition of sundry Inhabitants on s'd Mountain. Nov. 30,
1791 Eight pounds voted for the Purpose of keeping a Gram
mar School in addition to the sum that may be voted for
general purposes of Schooling."
The several school districts as determined in May, 1818,
Were as foUows on the town records:
"Green, Great River, Shepard Lane, Farms West, Munn's
Brook East, Silver Street, Munn's Brook West, Moses Dewey,
Noble Town, Owen, Main Street, Little River, East End,
Farms East, Stephen Sackett, Edmund Ely, District by himself."
In March, 1823, another was added, the Raner Knox
and Noah Clark.
The district system above indicated had been in opera
tion since the latter part of the preceding century when vari
ous modifications and amplifications of existing laws and
customs were formaUy established. The matter is fully
explained in a comprehensive work upon education pub
lished within a few years past, a compendium of great value.
Its conclusions are as foUows :
"The constitution of 1789 and the school law enacted
by the new state embodied into law the practices, as weU as
the principles of the past 150 years. The old laws had con
tained requirements so high that they could not be enforced.
WhUe retaining the old principles, the new law set require
ments capable of being enforced.
At a town meeting, Dec. 6, 1824, it was "voted to appoint
a Committee whose duty it shaU be to examine the qualifica
tions of aU school masters &, that no school master shaU be

294 Westfield and its Historic Influences
employed in any District without procuring his certificate
from sd Committee that he is qualified to instruct."
The members of that committee were Revd. Isaac Knapp,
Elder David Wright, Alfred Stearns, Dr. Wm. Atwater,
Augustus Collins, Esq.
In 1826 they were Job Clark, Rev. Isaac Knapp, Rev.
David Wright, Lucius F. Thayer, Ambrose Day, Jun., David
Moseley, Lewis Fowler.
In 1827 they were Henry Douglas, Thomas Loomis, Elihu
Ely, Jr., Lewis Fowler and Samuel Sherwood.
According to the law of that year aU teachers in the higher
schools must be coUege graduates, or instead, must have a
certificate from "a learned minister, well skilled in the Latin
and Greek languages, settled in a town where the schools
are proposed to be kept," or from two such ministers in neigh
boring towns.
The law of 1827 made the entire support of the schools
by taxation compulsory, for the first time in the history of
the State and Colony, thus, after so long a delay, putting into
fuU effect the principles declared in the law of 1647.
, The first truancy law was enacted in 1850, in 1852 the
first compulsory attendance law in the Union, requiring aU
children between 8 and 14 to attend school at least 12 weeks
unless excused on account of poverty or because otherwise
instructed. In 1873 school committees were required to appoint truant
officers. In 1898 aU from 7 to 14 were required to attend school
during all the time of its session, excuse of poverty rescinded,
and if they attended private schools they must be such as
the school authorities approved.
The first superintendent in this State was employed by
Springfield in 1840. The law of 1892 required individual
or union superintendents.
The struggle against the district system began in 1853,
but did not gain universal triumph until 1882.
The school districts of Westfield were abolished by action
taken at a town meeting April 23, 1863, when graded schools
were ordered to replace them, the town to purchase all the
school buildings.

CHAPTER XD7.
Queen Anne's War
During the all too brief interval between King William's
War and that which speedily followed the accession of Queen
Anne to the English throne, the people of this region were
stUl alert. They felt that incursions by bands from Canada
formaUy commissioned in spite of the fact that peace had
been declared, or by marauders on the lookout for scalps and
plunder might be made at any moment. In view of the dan
ger the foUowing action was taken at Westfield:
"March 21, 1700.
"The inhabitants especiaUy those that live on the Town
plot had a meeting to consider about fortifying for thar secu
rity, did agree and vote that four houses should be securely
fortified and Mr Taylors Fort repaired if needed. The four
houses agreed upon were John Wellers, Stephen Kelloggs,
John Sackets and Benjamin Smiths, and also Consider Moseleys.
"It was also voted that Isaac Phelps, Jedediah Dewey
and Nathanael WeUer should allot and appoint what persons
8s teams should work on each house aforesaid in fortifying."
The people of Hadley three years later were impressed
with the need of farther preparations for defense. The Rev.
John Williams wrote to Governor Dudley, in October, 1703:
"The fortification can be mended no longer: we must make
it aU new, and fetch the timber for 206 rods, 3 or 4 miles if
we get oak. We have been driven from our houses into the
fort, and there are only 60 homelots in it, and we have been
so crowded together that indoor affairs are carried on with
difficulty. Strangers tell us that they would not live where
we do for twenty times as much as we get."
Samuel Partridge wrote in the same month that North
ampton, Hadley, Hatfield and Westfield had all laid out much
in forting. Hatfield voted in 1703 to build stairs into the
turret of the meeting house so that a ward or day watchman
might be stationed there.
An excellent description of the garrison houses, so com-

296 Westfield and its Historic Influences
mon in various parts of New England in those days, is given
by Sylvester in his comprehensive work, "Indian Wars of
New England."
"These houses of refuge were similar in construction and
built after a general pattern. They were mostly of two stories,
the upper somewhat overhanging the lower. They afforded
opportunity for using the musket or fire pail upon the assail
ant who attempted to force the entrance or fire the buildings,
there being on the floor of the overhanging storey port holes
conveniently spaced for this purpose.
"The walls were pierced with port holes at regular inter
vals, both for observation and musketry. A flanker, or watch
tower, was not unusual at the opposite corners, and not a
few were constructed with projections as would enable the
inmates to see every foot of the outside wall of the building,
from which the musket could be directed against the savage
attack. Some were ordinary dwellings, enclosed by a stout
palisade, which was made more secure against assault by
the so-called flankers at the corners, the port holes of which
swept the palisades in all directions. These were built to
be used as sentinel towers, and were effective as they afforded
a wider view of the surrounding country.
"Other garrisons were constructed of timbers hewn square,
which were laid up log-house fashion, the windows of which
were heavily shuttered: these were utUized as port holes as
weU. The doors were of stout oaken plank and barred from
the interior. These garrison houses were generaUy of oak,
being less inflammable and offering a greater resistance to
musket ball and the hatchet. They were roomy and of gener
ous proportions. To the weapons of the time they might
be regarded as fairly impregnable to the devices of the savage,
unless from the torch. One finds an occasional rehc of those
days of barbarous warfare when the sUent hours from sun
set to dawn were tremulous with treachery and peril." (Vol.
II, p. 399.)
He cites for example, the Jenkins and Mclntire houses
stiU standing at York, Me., where so many Indian ravages
were committed.
In the Westfield records, under date of Dec. 16, 1703, we
read: "Att the same meeting it was votted that what forti-

Queen Anne's War 297
fying was Don in ye summer last past should be paid for by
ye Towne 8s allsoe yt it should be paid upon ye Cuntry list."
It was only fair that protection afforded for the general
welfare should be provided for from the common funds. That
such was the end in view is more clearly shown by a later
vote. The peril was rendered more appalling by rumors,
confirmed by Governor Dudley's Indian spies in May, 1703,
that preparations were being made in Canada for an attack
on Deerfield. They were still farther supported by a mes
sage sent by Major Schuyler of Albany to the town authori
ties. But though the town was freshly garrisoned and put
into a state of defense, the announcement proved premature.
The attack was not actually made until the following year.
When it came it fiUed New England and the adjacent Colony
on the west with horror and consternation.
Deerfield, which already had suffered from so many ravages
and had lost so many inhabitants, was to be the scene of a
crowning tragedy, in spite of extraordinary precautions and
defenses which were considered ample. The story is famil
iar to all students of colonial history, having been told graphic
ally by many writers. The most complete and reliable
account is that of Mr. Sheldon in his history of Deerfield,
given after having spent years in painstaking research. Its
general outUnes will be here presented.
In the winter of 1704, the expedition, so long threatened,
started from Canada under Major Hertel de Rouville, assisted
by his two brothers. They led two hundred French soldiers
and one hundred and forty Indians, through three hundred
mUes of forest in terrible winter conditions of cold and snow.
As the night of Feb. 28, 1704, fell they were near the doomed
vUlage. The snow was heaped almost to the top of the pali
sade surrounding it, and a heavy crust enabled the attack
ing party to pass over the defense easily and gain the vicinity
of the houses, the sentinels having been either asleep, or as
it was near dawn, withdrawn. The assailants scattered
through the town and made a simultaneous attack at many
points. The sleeping inhabitants were aroused, men, women
and children, dragged from their beds and coUected and bound
for the long march to Canada, and many were killed.
Some houses were easily forced, while others were stoutly

298 Westfield and its Historic Influences
defended by the inhabitants and by soldiers of the garrison
scattered among them. At the house of Capt. John Sheldon
the stout front door held and they hacked a hole in it through
which they shot Mrs. Sheldon in her bed. A son and his wife
jumped from a window, he escaping and she, having sprained
an ankle, being captured. The house of Benoni Stebbins
near by, defended by seven men and some women who cast
bullets for the men, resisted all attempts to capture or burn
it, but it accidentally caught fire during the fight and was
destroyed. Sheldon says, "In all the wars of New England there is
not a more gallant act recorded than this defense of an unforti
fied house, by seven men and a few women, for three hours,
against not only the fury and wiles of an unorganized horde of
savages, but also a large force of French soldiers, under officers
of the line trained in the wars of France."
The house of the minister, the Rev. John Williams, was
attacked among the first. He leaped from his bed and found
a party entering the door. CaUing to two soldiers in his
chamber, he seized a pistol, pressed it to the breast of an Indian
and pulled the trigger, but the powder flashed in the pan, the
Indian's life was saved, and probably his own as weU. He
was seized, bound and kept for some time without his clothes.
Two of his young chUdren and a negro servant were murdered.
Five other chUdren and their Mother were bound and the
house was speedily ransacked. Capt. Stoddard, a son of
the minister at Northampton, who was lodging there, leaped
from a window with his cloak, which he tore into strips and
bound around his feet, then escaped across Deerfield river
and reached Hatfield in an exhausted condition.
Sheldon, summing up the results of the attack, says, "Of
its forty-one houses, at least fifteen were within the line of
the stockades. About twelve were north, and fourteen south
of it. When the night of February 28th closed down, 291
souls were under their roof trees. Of these, twenty were
garrison soldiers, two visitors from Hatfield, and 268 inhabit
ants. They were of aU ages, from widow Allison of eighty-
fours years, to John, the youngling of Deacon French's flock,
of four weeks. Among them were three negro slaves, one
Indian and three Frenchmen from Canada. In a few hours,

Queen Anne's War 299
all but one hundred and twenty-six of the inhabitants were
either killed, or in the hands of the enemy, on a march over
the snow to Canada, three hundred miles away."
The Sheldon house, in which because of its capacity the
captives were gathered preparatory to the march, though
fired, was saved and stood, the widely known "Old Indian
House" until 1849. The door, bearing the marks of Indian
hatchet and tomahawk, supported by the original posts and
flanked by great oaken brackets from the front of the old
house is now a center of attraction and interest in Deerfield's
Memorial Hall.
The horrors of that midwinter march through the forest
to Canada, beggar description. It seems incredible that
the captives, especiaUy the women and children, could have
survived it. The Rev. John Williams, who was held in Canada
two years before being released, gives many of its harrowing
details in his remarkable book, "The Redeemed Captive."
Of the one hundred and eleven captives taken from the doomed
town, more than half were under eighteen years old, forty
of them were not over twelve and twelve of them under five.
Three of the women, including Mrs. Williams and one man,
were murdered within twenty-four hours after the march
began. A story is told to the effect that a wealthy lady of Mon
treal who had become interested in Rev. Mr. Williams offered
him a better suit of clothes than the one which he wore, if
he would consent to become a papist, to which he replied,
"Better a ragged coat than a ragged conscience."
A heroic attempt at rescue before the party had gone far
from the town failed because the English fighting men who
survived the massacre and escaped capture and such allies as
had hurried thither from Hatfield were too few to cope with
the enemy and could not follow up the attack later because of
lack of snowshoes, the crust having softened over the three
feet of snow which covered the ground. This tragic incident
has been sketched here in order to suggest the agonizing experi
ences through which neighbors of the early citizens of West-
field passed and which, coming so near to them, filled their
hearts anew with the most harrowing fears for their own
safety. As they lay down at night they could not be con-

300 Westfield and its Historic Influences
fident that before dawn they might not be aroused by the
blood-curdling war whoop of the Indians, and the crashing
in of their doors and windows under blows of tomahawk and
hatchet. They knew not but their children might be snatched
from their slumbers by dusky savages and either brained,
or bound as captives before their eyes. They knew not but
ere the morning broke their homes might be ransacked of
their precious though modest treasures, and set ablaze by the
resistless torch, leaving the inmates, even though they might
escape capture, without roof or shelter in the rigors of win
ter. Without a great and sustaining faith in divine Provi
dence they could not have endured the stress and strain of
those awful years. Surely "they endured as seeing Him
who is invisible." They nourished purposes as heroic as
fired the souls of the less fortunate citizens of the vaUey who
fell in the conflict by savage hands.
It is worthy of note, that at that epoch when there were
such fierce incentives to race hatred, when the feeble set
tlers had suffered so much from the red man whom they had
sought to treat fairly and considerately in business dealings,
buying at an agreed valuation their shadowy rights to the
lands which were needed for settlement, they were not so
embittered by the cruelties which had been already inflicted
by their Indian enemies as to change their commercial habits.
Instead we find the following action under date of Aug. 11,
1703: "Att a Leguall meeting itt was unanimously voted to pur
chase all ye Commons Lying within ye Towne bounds which
is not already purchased:
"Also voted that ye Selectmen with John Noble should
agree with ye Ingones for the above land which is not yett
purchased as above.
"Also voted that what money should be expended for
ye purchase of ye above land should be paid by ye Towne
within two months after this date.
"Also voted that ye Selectmen 8s John Noble should pro
portion 8s sett upon those men ytt are particular Proprietors
in said land above nott purchased: what each of them particu
larly should pay towards ye above said purchases and the
remainder of ye purchase to be paid by ye Towne."

Queen Anne's War 301
In the spring following the Deerfield disaster the town
was stirred to take additional precautions against attack.
"May ye 14, 1704.
"It was unanimously votted that all persons shall work
with themselves 8s their teams at repairing of ye Fort a boute
Mr. Taylors house forthwith 8s whosoever shaU neglect to
Doe his share shall pay their proportion to others according
to what worke shall be done at said Forte or work at some
other public work in Towne."
That action of the town was probably instigated at that
particular time by what must have been considered a narrow
escape of Westfield from attack just previous to it.
A party of French and Indians commanded by Sieur de
Montigny, said to have been on the way to attack Westfield,
but impeded by floods which rendered the streams impassa
ble, fell upon Pascommuck, a hamlet within the bounds of
Northampton, near the northeast end of Mount Tom, near
where the station of Mount Tom Junction on the Boston and
Maine R. R. now stands. Of the thirty-three people there
at that time, nineteen were killed, three escaped, eight were
rescued, and three of them were carried to Canada. Among
the wounded who were left for dead, was the wife of Benja
min Jones, who was taken to the top of Pomeroy Mountain,
tomahawked and scalped. Having been discovered by a
pursuing party she was carried on a litter to Northampton,
treated and nursed after the rude fashion of the time, and
eventuaUy recovering she lived beyond the age of eighty years.
Trumbull says that "for several years she was under the care
of Dr. Gershan Buckly and others of Westfield," but Judd
says of Wethersfield.
Whatever the difficulties which hampered this party from
attacking Westfield, it came perilously near the town when the
assault was made.
Warned of the attack by one of those who escaped from
the enemy, Capt. John Taylor, with a troop of volunteers
from Northampton, speedily started on horseback after the
assailants. They pressed to the westward of what is now
the town of Easthampton, and somewhat south of it between
the original road from Northampton to Westfield and Wind-

302 Westfield and its Historic Influences
sor, not far from the present Southampton line. Capt. Taylor
was shot and the pursuit was abandoned.
Reference has been made already to the general welfare
sought by the preparation for defense of specific houses in
the village. This is shown conclusively by the foUowing:
"June ye 30th, 1704.
"It was unanimously voted by the inhabitants of ye several
houses in ye Towne that are Forted hereafter named shaU
stand 8s be defended 8s have their several proportions of men
posted to ym by ye Comitty appointed as may be accounted
convenient under their circumstances for their defence viz.
Mr. Taylors, Stephen Kelloggs, Consider Maudesleys, John
Sackets and Thos Roots.
"Voted. Att ye same meeting that ye general housen
8s Garrisons above mentioned shaU be free as well for ye proper
owners, for all families and goods attending to their proportion
who shall be appointed to ye several Garrisons by ye Com
mittee of Malisha."
The success of the attack on Deerfield was so marked as
to inspire Vaudreuil, the French Governor, with a purpose
to follow it up with other expeditions to win farther victories.
Bands of Indians roamed the middle ground and in May
it was rumored that a party of French and Indians was plan
ning an attack upon Northampton. Lord Cornbury, Governor
of New York, sent messages to the Massachusetts authori
ties stating that his scouts had learned that "300 French and
Indians were marching with a design upon Northampton
in New England."
As a matter of fact, Vaudreuil placed an army of seven
hundred Indians and one hundred and twenty-five French
men under command of Capt. Beaucours to carry out the
project. Great expectations of their success were cherished
in Canada and they started under the impetus of great
popular enthusiasm, but, "to be forewarned is to be fore
armed" and an ample garrison from all parts of Connecti
cut was hurried up to the defense of the threatened town.
Several times during the summer, on the occasion of a new
alarm, the forces returned but no attack was made. In his
report to the home government, VaudreuU attributes the

Queen Anne's War 303
grievous failure to the fact that the English had heard of
the design and were prepared to resist it. According to his
account the culminating trouble was the fact that when the
army was within a day's march of Northampton one of the
men deserted and bore full information to the enemy. Eng
lish writers attribute the failure to dissension over the prospec
tive spoil. The actual ground of withdrawal from the enter
prise undoubtedly was the knowledge that the town was well
defended and on the alert to resist attack.
Trumbull says, "These constant rumors of an approach
ing enemy kept the country in a continued state of alarm.
At no time since PhilipJs war, twenty-eight years previous,
had there been so many soldiers in the country. They were
quartered in every town, and there were marchings and coun
ter-marchings in every direction. Indians, spies and scouts
of the approaching army filled the forest. Parties of Eng
lish, many of them citizens of the river towns, incessantly
ranged the woods. None of the inhabitants dared venture
far beyond the fortifications without an efficient guard, and
the occupations of the farming community were greatly inter
fered with, if not wholly suspended."
A party of men going to Westfield from Northampton
in August under Capt. Allen of Connecticut was waylaid,
two of them were killed and two others made prisoners.
These latter, however, were rescued speedily by a scouting
party, which kiUed two of the Indians.
The attack on Deerfield and the great advantage enjoyed
by the enemy through the use of snowshoes, while the English
wallowed helplessly in the drifts, moved the General Court
of Massachusetts, March 13, 1704, to order 500 pairs of snow-
shoes and an equal number of moccasins, a quarter of them
for Hampshire County. Only three shiUings a pair was the
allowance for them, though it was declared by Col. Partridge
and other Hampshire officers that a "good pair of snow shoes
with magasins and bands cost 10s." The allowance was
raised later to 5s. and a few years afterwards to 7s.
It was compulsory for each soldier to furnish himself with
a pair and the stinted allowance of the government was an
injustice to the citizen soldiery which braved so many dan
gers and endured so many hardships in the common defense.

304 Westfield and its Historic Influences
The years 1705-7 were free from great disasters though
not from grievous fears. During the winter of 1705 it was
deemed wise to garrison Hatfield, Hadley, Northampton and
Westfield from January to March, with two hundred soldiers
from Connecticut, provided with snowshoes. But no attack
was made at any point.
In July, 1706, Samuel Chapin of Springfield was wounded.
A woman was killed at Brookfield and a man at Suffield.
The only casualty in 1707 was the death in September of
Edward Bancroft of Westfield aged 19. He was shot in July
and survived untU September. The attendant circumstances
are not stated in the records.
In the spring of that year Capt. John Stoddard of North
ampton, he who during the attack on Deerfield escaped through
a window and carried an alarm to Hatfield, led a party of
twelve men across Vermont to Lake Champlain. They are
supposed to have been the first soldiers from the Connecti
cut VaUey to make the trip to the Lake.
Several Hampshire people were killed in 1708.
In the early summer of 1709 an expedition against Canada
started from Albany under Gen. Francis Nicholson. After
having made three forts at Wood Creek, farther advance was
abandoned, because co-operating naval forces failed to saU
from Boston owing to the non-arrival of promised ships and
five regiments of regulars from England.
So confident were Col. Schuyler of Albany and many
other clear-headed officials of the Colonies, that the only sure
way of ending the exasperating and exhausting border troubles
was by invading and conquering Canada, that after the fiasco
of 1709 he took five Indians and sailed for England, to press
upon the British ministry the necessity of continuing that
policy with more adequate force. When they reached Eng
land it is stated that the Indians "made a great bruit thro'
the whole Kingdom. The mob followed wherever they went,
and small cuts of them were sold among the people * * * Sir
Charles Cottrell conducted them in two coaches to St.
James's: and the lord chamberlain introduced them into the
royal presence." (Doc. Colonial Hist. N. Y., Vol. V, p. 252.)
Responding to Col. Schuyler's appeals, five thousand
troops from England and Flanders were sent over to aid in

Queen Anne's War 305
the reduction of Canada. In July, 1711, a fleet of twelve
men-of-war with forty-six smaUer craft sailed from Boston
for Quebec. Again a co-operating force marched from Albany
to attack Montreal, with Gen. Nicholson in command. It
consisted of about two thousand English and eight hundred
Indians. The naval expedition came to grief in the St. Law
rence River, losing eight transports and eight hundred men,
and as twice before in a similar attempt, the land forces made
a humiliating return to Albany.
Massachusetts expended £21,000 on this futile expedition.
It was the first time that men had been gathered from Hamp
shire to make the long and perUous voyage to Quebec. One
of the eighteen companies of Massachusetts troops sailing
from Boston was under the command of Capt. Ebenezer
Pomeroy of Northampton. Judd says that he must have
had under him men from all the Hampshire towns except
one or two. As a roster of his company has not been found
we cannot know how many names of Westfield men it con
tained. In June, 1710, passing by Westfield on one side or the
other, Indians penetrated as far as Simsbury and Water-
bury, committing depredations, but taking no lives.
Renewed action relative to defense at Westfield is shown
on the records :
"At a Town Meeting June 9, 1712, it was voted by the
Town that Mr. Taylor's, Saml Ashleys 8s David Ashleys
house shall be Forted.
"It was also voted, That ye Commission Officers 8s Select
men shall proportion persons Si famUies to ye houses above-
said. "It was also voted that Saml Deweys house shall be forted."
General relief and rejoicing followed the proclamation
of a cessation of hostilities in Boston by the Queen's authority
Oct. 17, 1712. The Peace of Utrecht was signed March 13,
1713. Thus, another ten years of wasting warfare had been spent,
involving tremendous expense of life and treasure, public
and private.
In this period Massachusetts expended for the conduct of
the war and to recoup some of its losses, no less than £285,000.

306 Westfield and its Historic Influences
In 1708 the Hampshire province tax amounted to £1056.
10s. and continued at the same rate for several years, appor
tioned as foUows: Springfield, £272; Northampton, £210;
Hadley, £157; Hatfield, £136; Westfield, £100; Enfield, £60;
Deerfield, £30.
Losses by life and capture in Hampshire were, 103 people
kUled, 123 taken, of whom 22 lost their lives on the way to
Canada, and two died after reaching there.
Penhallow estimates that every Indian killed in this war
cost the province £1000.
Palfrey says, in summing up the war, "It was estimated
that the eastern tribes had lost one-third part of the whole
number of their warriors during the past ten years, and an
equal proportion of women and children, and that the propor
tion of lives sacrificed had been little, if at all, less among
the English population of Maine. WhUe some famUies were
extinct, others mourned parents, brothers, children, murdered
or torn from them to hopeless captivity. The settlements
were reduced to miserable poverty; their trade was ruined;
their houses were burned; their fields were devastated. More
than a hundred miles of seacoast, lately the seat of prosperous
life, bore no longer a trace of civUized humanity." (History,
Vol. IV, p. 287.)
While no such widespread and crushing disaster had befal
len the western border, still the losses, direct and indirect, had
been immense, involving untold hardships. The whole con
duct of the war on the part of the French Governor had been
absurd as a matter of administrative pohcy and so barbarous
in its methods as to make the French instigators and promo-
tors of it immeasurably more despicable than the savage
tools employed.
The pen of a renowned student of the time has given a
scathing characterization of this atrocious pohcy and prac
tice of the French: "The war they waged was simply a suc
cession of isolated barbarities, accomplishing nothing what
ever towards a solution of the question of power. A band
of sanguinary savages was led hundreds of mUes over the
snow to an assault upon some hamlet, where a few poor peo
ple had made an opening in the forest, and were beginning
to get a hard living. Watching for a time when it reposed

Queen Anne'S War 307
in unsuspecting helplessness, they fell upon it by night, burned
the dwellings, tortured and massacred some of the inhabitants,
and then fled, carrying with them the rest. Of the spoils
they consumed the food and drink, as long as their fear of
pursuit allowed. But they found little or no money to carry
away, and for more combrous booty they had no means of
conveyance. They gained nothing except the gratification
of their monstrous appetite for mischief, and what they might
be paid by their French employers for the prisoners they
brought in. Nor does this latter kind of profit seem to have
entered much into their account, if one may judge by the lavish
butchering of their captives on the way." (Palfrey's Hist, of
New England, Vol. IV, p. 265.)
It was after Hertel de Rouville, who had made himself
infamous by the attack on Deerfield, led a similarly brutal
expedition for a second time against Haverhill that Peter
Schuyler wrote from Albany to Governor VaudreuU a scath
ing protest: "I hold it my duty toward God and my neigh
bor to prevent if possible, these barbarous and heathen cruel
ties. 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
iUustrated by briUiant examples, is degenerating into a sav
age and boundless butchery. These are not the methods
for terminating the war."
To the farther credit of Col. Schuyler it is to be noted
that he was bitterly opposed to the custom of the Dutch
traders of Albany who did not scruple to purchase openly
spoil which the Indians had taken from the people of New
England. This worthy man, prominent in civil and military affairs
in Albany for many years, passed through Westfield in the
summer of 1710. He landed in Boston in July on his return
from England with the four Indians whom he had taken over
the February before. They were feasted in and about Bos
ton for three weeks at the public expense on the way thither,
and on their way home Governor Dudley furnished them
nine horses and an escort of ten troopers as far as Westfield.
Whether its citizens showed them any marked attention, the
records do not indicate.

308 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"July 1712. Gray Lock with 12 Indians swooped down
upon Springfield. They captured Benjamin Wright of Skip-
muck and two others Benjamin Barrett of Deerfield and WU-
liam Sanford, a Connecticut soldier. This was the last raid
down the Deerfield vaUey during Queen Anne's war." (Syl
vester, Vol. Ill, p. 150, note.)
After the peace of Utrecht, negotiated March 31, 1713,
the province enjoyed a respite of a few years from serious
disturbances, and the people had a chance to attend to their
affairs without serious menace.

CHAPTER XV.
The Second Pastor and Meeting House
The first rude house of worship, though gaUeries had been
added in 1703, had long been inadequate to the needs of the
community when the first actual steps were taken toward
the provision of a new and better one. Indeed, forty years
was a long time for it to be used, during a period of steadily
though slowly increasing population, and it was several years
longer, as wUl appear, before the new edifice was actually
occupied and completed. The original building in Spring
field was used only for thirty years, up to about the time that
the first one in Westfield was erected. In Northampton
the second one supplanted the first one after about seven
years. In neither of those towns was there any such bitter
and extended struggle between factions relative to the loca
tion of the second building as agitated the people of Westfield.
We can hardly blame them for taking the matter so seriously,
when the subject of the controversy was so important as
that of the location, in the growing settlement, of the house
of God. It was nearly six years from the time the initial
vote on the subject was passed before the task of building
was completed.
It may not be uninteresting to note some of the succes
sive votes of the town dealing with the matter.
"Jan 21st 1716. It was voted to have a Comitey chosen
to consult and agree upon a place to set a meeting house 8t
to make a report to the town in a short time 8s to treat with
any person or persons if it so fals out who are proprietors of
the ground where they have fixed to set the Meeting house.
"The Comitey chosen for that end are Capt Isaac Phelps
Capt. Joseph Maudsley, Lt Adijah Dewey, Deaken Thomas
Noble, Capt. John Ashley, Ensign Stephen Kellogg 8s PhUip
Loomis." It was certainly a committee of dignity and worth, com
prising many of the leading men of the town, but stiU for

310 Westfield and its Historic Influences
some inexplicable reason nothing seems to have been accom
plished by it, there being no record even of its having reported.
A whole year later, lacking but a few days, another vote was
passed in almost the exact terms of the former one, and
another committee was appointed which contained not a
single member of the original one. Samuel Ashley, Daniel
Bagg and John Root, Sr., were the men appointed in the
place of the seven at first named. The next record was made
in May foUowing:
"The Town voted that a new Meeting house shaU be
set at the same place where the old meeting house now
standeth although several men made considerable demur,
but several men lookd upon it to bee a vote 8s the modera
tor did declare it to bee a vote."
In October of the foUowing year, 1718, a third commit
tee was appointed, no report of the second appearing.
Deacon Noble, Capt. Ashley, Lt. Dewey, Daniel Gun, were
deputed "to go and treat with John Gun Senr Si with ye widow
Noble concerning a place to set a new meeting house 8s the
terms thereof 8s to bring report thereof unto the Town at
the next Town Meeting."
Still the matter dragged its slow length along with noth
ing definite accomplished. After another year had passed
the delay proved so serious that energetic and revolutionary
action was taken, and outside help was called upon to settle
the controversy.
"Nov. 17, 1719. The Town took into consideration the
necessity that wee were in of putting ourselves into sum way
to find out a place to set Si to buUd a new meeting house 8s
it being one of the main things for which the meeting was
apointed therefore the Town proceeded as foUoweth.
"The Town voated to make choice of Deacon Nath'l Munn,
Lt. John Merrick Si Benj Lennard Senr. aU of Springfield
as a Comitey to consider, consult Si to perfix a place for the
Town of Westfield to set or erect a Meeting house within
the limite folowing, that is somewhere between the Little
River 8s the Fort Meadow Gate and that street which leads
along near Joseph Roots house."

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 311
The above limits were separated by less than a quarter
of a mUe, the distance between the stone marker which indi
cates the location of the first meeting house and the corner
of Meadow Street where the Fort Meadow Gate stood. Yet
so violent was the contention over that short space that it
seemed necessary to leave it to an imported tribunal.
"At the same meeting the Town made choice of Deacon
Thomas Noble, Deacon David Ashley 8s John Shepard to
accompany the Comitey above chosen 8s to Enform Si to
Enlighten them in respect to the surcomstances of the Town.
"Also voated 8s agreed to stand 8s abide by the deter
mination of the above said Comitey Respecting the place
which they shaU perfix for the erecting a meeting house.
"Also voated to build a meeting house barn fation with
a bell Coney upon the middle of it 52 foots in length and 41
foots in breadth."
A week later the foUowing record was made:
"Whereas it was voated at a legual Town meeting to leave
the Desition of that difficulty of Affixing a place to set a new
meeting house unto a Comitey, therefore having made choice
of these persons undernamed therefore Nov. 24th The Comi
tey were caUed 8s gave in their result as f olloweth —
" 'Gentlemen, seeing God in his providence hath called
us according to your desire' " [an instance of vox populi, vox
dei,] " 'to consider your surcomstances Si where may bee
ye Convenientest place for you to set your meeting house
our result is on the northwest corner of Capt [Joseph] Mauds-
leys lot by the meadow gate. Benjamen Lenard
Nathaniel Mun
John Merick.' "
It would seem as though that ought to have settled the
absurd and perplexing dispute; but the Puritan conscience
was involved on both sides as well as keen personal desires
and jealousies. The whole matter was threshed over yet
again as shown by the following formal action:
"Whereas notwithstanding the result or determination
of the Gentlemen above named in respect to the mater to
which they were Chosen 8s imployed sum persons being disatis-

312 Westfield and its Historic Influences
fied, the Town were called together again 8s then left the
Desition of the same mater as above said unto ColenaU Samuel
Partridge who acted upon the mater and gave to the Town
his determination as followeth —
" 'Whereas the town of Westfield at a legal town meet
ing on ye 21 day of this instant December 1719 past an act
in said meeting they being at a difficulty in concluding the
place to set their new meeting house at and voated to leave
the full desition of that matter unto me undersigned upon
which I together with Cap'n John Ashley and Lieutenant
Adijah Dewey went up to ye place of the cyder press their
standing which I judged too fur toward the West end of ye
town for conveniency of the peoples meeting at ye present
allso I vewed ye norwest corner of Deacon Root deseased
his lot I judged that place too near ye dwelling houses against
and as to Mr Gunns pastor and ye lot where old John Sacket
lived too much to the South end of the town and ye old meet
ing house much more I allso vewed Cap'n Maudesleys paster
on ye south side of the way and that I judge wUl be too near
Cap'n Roots barn therefore having maturely vewed the knowl
on Cap'n Maudesleys lot on the north side of ye way behind
his housing I hereby determine to bee the place for erecting
and setting up the new meeting house this I deliver as my
positive opinion upon the premises.
SAMUELL PARTRIDGE.' "
In selecting Col. Partridge as arbiter the Westfield wran
glers showed good judgment. He was for many years one of
the most prominent and influential men of the valley. After
the death of Col. Pynchon, Partridge commanded the troops
of upper Hampshire, and during the fourth Indian war in
1725, when 80 years old, he was chief in command in the whole
county with Lt. Col. John Stoddard of Northampton next
him in authority. He was a deputy in the General Court
in 1685-6, was Justice of the Peace, and Judge of Probate.
The town honored him by accepting his report and pro
ceeding immediately to long-delayed action.
At the same meeting that heard and adopted his con
clusion, a committee was appointed to engage carpenters and
other workmen, to gather materials, and also voted £20 in

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 313
money to procure nails for the meeting house, no small item
in those days when each nail was literaUy "wrought," ham
mered out by hand.
That committee met with the same fate as many a pre
vious one, having been discharged, and a new one was sub
stituted, consisting of Capt. John Ashley, Samuel Ashley,
Thomas Ingersole, Samuel Bush, Jr., Eliezer Weller, who
seem to have carried the task to a finish.
It was not yet plain sailing, however, for on April 27,
1720, it was "voated by the Town that they would not by the
land of the widow [Capt. Joseph] Mosley which was deter
mined to bee the place to erect 8s set the meeting house upon
by ye Comitey as a former record doth demonstrate, that
is to say at 20£ price."
Just a month later another meeting was called on account
of dissatisfaction respecting the site, and to make matters
sure, ratified what had been previously done in the matter
of location and the choice of a committee to have the work
in hand. A few days afterward the £20 for land that was
withheld by a previous vote was ordered to be paid. Then
the clouds seemed to have cleared permanently and a heroic
vote was passed.
"It was voated by the Town that they would begin to
raise the meeting house on Wednesday morning at 2 hours
by the sun, the 8th day of this instant June, atending to work
at the beat of drum every morning untill it is over.
"At the same meeting it was voated that all men belong
ing to the Town shall asist in the work of raising the meet
ing house from 17 years of age 8s upwards on pain 8s penalty
of 3 shUlings per day for every days neglect dureing the time
of Raising, except aU such as shall make a satisfactory excuse
unto the Comitey yt have the charge of ye mater.
"It was voated that the Comitey shall have liberty to pre
pare 4 or 5 barels of beer at the Town charge for the Consern
above mentioned.
"It was also voated that Capt Phelps Deacon Noble 8s
Deacon Ashley should go and desire Mr. Taylor to come to
the place of raising the meeting house then 8s their at the
time apointed to seek to God for his guide Si protection in
the work of raising."

314 Westfield and its Historic Influences
In November the town voted £5 for the use of the com
mittee and also voted that £260 should be raised to defray
the town charges respecting the meeting house. There seems
to have come in somewhere a voluntary subscription to help
along the enterprise, for according to the authority of Mr.
Bartlett in one of his articles on "The Old Cemetery" he
credits certain persons for that cause as foUows: Samuel Kel
logg, £53; Samuel Ashley, £13; Samuel Root, £9; Capt.
John Ashley, £9; Consider Moseley, £7; Joseph Pixley, £6.
He adds that these were Yankee pounds, $3.33 1/3, or six
shillings to the doUar.
"June 22, 1721, voated that there shall be a Aley across
the new meeting house, strait up to the pulpit 8s pews all
Round the house.
"Also voated, to face the pews 8s fore seats 8s ye back
seats with wainskut work.
"Also voated to seal up to the windows below 8s above
the rest whitewashed."
The fine deference paid to the aged pastor is evidenced
by the appointment of a committee to treat with him "Con-
serning his removing to the new meeting house to atend the
worship of God their."
"At the same meeting it was voated that if Mr. Taylor
will go to the new meeting house to carry on the public wor
ship, that the Comitey have liberty to remove some of the
timber 8s Carey from the old meeting house Si use it toward
finishing the new meeting house," which shows the slowness
with which the work was actuaUy performed, eighteen
months having elapsed since the modest structure was raised.
It shows also the rigid economy which was forced upon the
Fathers in those troublous times, even in the matter of such
deep public concern as the erection of a house of worship.
In October, 1721, a committee was chosen to seat the new
meeting house, having "regard to the last December list in
their seating."
The old house was sold to Thomas Dewey "for nine pounds
8s ten shUlings Curnt money," Jan. 9, 1722. Hence the peo
ple must have begun to occupy the new building late in 1721.

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 315
One more curious vote occurs in this connection to the effect
that "those people belonging on the south side of the Little
River hath liberty to build a hovel for their horses of an 100
foots long against the end of the Mosleys lots in the highway
over against Sam Roots hous lot." At the same meeting
it was voted "to alow the Town of Springfield 5 shillings
towards the building a Court house their."
The term "hovel" is still used by the lumbermen of Maine
for a horse barn in the woods. The hovel which was thus
authorized was a forerunner of the horse sheds which later
became so common an adjunct of country churches. The
primitive shelter arranged at that early day was needed only
for horses, vehicles to carry people not having come into
general use until many years later. The piUion enabled
the women to ride with comparative comfort behind the men.
It was a capacious, padded cushion with a sort of platform
stirrup, and was fastened behind the saddle, but could have
been safe and endurable only when the horse's pace was not
faster than a walk, though doubtless used often, especially
in emergencies, when the gait was faster, in which case the
rider upon the saddle must have been essential as a support
to his fair companion, and not always unwillingly.
There were in that early quarter of the eighteenth century
enough famUies with homesteads somewhat removed from
the compact settlement to warrant their riding to meeting,
except in the periods of greatest terror from the Indians,
when practicaUy aU the inhabitants sought shelter within
the pafisade. And for many years after the plan for the
"hovel" was put into execution, the Indian menace was from
time to time fearsome.
Soon after the new meeting house was occupied the chronic
difficulty of seating called for all the wisdom, discrimination
and diplomacy of the long suffering committee which was
appointed to wrestle with the desperate task.
In this case it consisted of Capt. Ashley, Mark Noble,
Joseph Dewey and Israel Dewey. It was voted that they
should seat by "age 8s estate only Sz that so much Estate as
any mans list is advanced by negroes shall be excluded 8s
cast out," a conscientious protest against the inherent right
of property in human beings. No man was to be seated

316 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"for more than onely a third part of what Estate he hath
by hier or by marrying of a widow."
It was decided that the dignification decided upon by the
committee should be confirmed by the vote of the town.
But when the report was made the town rejected it and
chose a new committee who should seat persons according
to their own judgment and discretion and make report on
the foUowing Friday. The time having arrived the com
mittee plead for another week, but whether the report was
actually made and accepted then or later, the records do not
reveal. "Aug. 20, 1723, it was voated that no children under the
age of 12 years shaU sit up in the gaUereys."
It has been natural to conclude that the new meeting
house was a finished structure; what then is the shock of
finding that on March 9, 1725, Nehimiah Lumis, John Root
and Jonathan Ashley were chosen "to go 8s stir up the meet
ing house Comitey to see that the meeting house be finished
speedily." Nor was the "dignifying" task completed to the general
satisfaction of the people. Jealousies and heartburnings
must have been rife, since we find that on New Year Day,
1731, it was voted "to choose a Comitey to make sum regu
lation in respecting persons siting in the meeting house, to
help sum persons who have been roughed in the former seat-
ing." And on September first, foUowing, the Selectmen were
"impowered to get the glass windows of the meeting house
repaired Si those put up as are yet down."
In November, 1735, it was ordered to have "a new seating
of the meeting house 8s to cut the two hinde seats in the body
of the meeting house and make pews in the place thereof,
8s the rules to be observed is age, Estate 8s qualification and
one year age to be reckoned equal to 2£ on the List."
The space given to these somewhat trifling details rela
tive to the second meeting house may seem to some readers
too extended, since the subject may not be sufficiently
significant to warrant it. But incidents of the intimate home
life of the fathers should insure our interested attention, as
weU as the more tragic incidents of war with its hardships.

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 317
and heroisms. When we consider the part played by the
church in each community in Colonial times, its unique and
comprehensive place in the interests and the activities of
those God-fearing and earnest people, it would be impossi
ble to get an adequate and truthful picture of their real life
without including in our survey as complete a knowledge
as possible of their church life. The church was an immensely
more influential and dominant factor in the life of the com
munity then than it is now in any part of New England, urban
or rural. Though many men of prominence and influence
in every community in the Colonial days were not formally
identified with the church as duly accredited members, stiU
they realized the essential importance of the church to the
weU-being of the community, they had votes, as citizens,
in the caUing and settlement of the minister, in the amount
of his salary and his holdings of land, as well as in the erect
ing, furnishing and maintenance of the house of worship,
and they attended the Sabbath services habituaUy.
Those services furnished material for thought and dis
cussion during week days; the mingling of the people in con
nection therewith involved valuable social privileges. Each
community in those days when means of travel were so primi
tive and limited, was self-dependent to a large extent, render
ing it the more needful that the people should see one another
as often as possible to keep hearts aglow and minds alert.
Hence the privilege of freedom to worship God according
to the dictates of conscience was linked with other high privi
leges in the conduct of the religious and social life of the people.
And even the petty differences and absurd squabbles,
which we ridicule and criticize, have an interest as incidents
in the subtle working of human nature, its ambitions, its
frictions, its struggles, its jealousies, its weaknesses, reveal
ing the essential likenesses between the people of that age
and those of this modern, advanced, complacent era. It
is a strange fact that although the actual work of raising
the meeting house began June 8, 1720, and slowly progressed
until it was occupied late in the following year, the deed for
the sale of the land, or rather a bond for a deed, was not exe
cuted untU several months after the building had begun to
be used for church purposes, as shown by the foUowing copy,

318 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the original of which was placed in the Westfield Atheneum
by Mr. Bartlett, for safe keeping as a valuable document,
in 1886. "Westfield, Feb. 13, 1722.
"This may certify that whereas, I the executor of the
Estate of Capt Joseph Maudsley Deseased haveing made
an agreement with the Town of Westfield to part with a cer
tain tract of land for the use of seting or erecting a meeting
house do hereby Covenant promise 8s promise 8s Engage
to give unto the Town of Westfield a legual title to said land
8s to confirm the same to the sd Town by the alienation of
a Deed at any time that the Town of Westfield shaU think
Convenient 8s that according to these boundaries as folow,
to say, a strait line ranging with the meeting house on the
back side to the highway westerly which leads out of the
Fort Meadow and from the Easterly corner of the Meeting
house a strait fine easterly untUl the line comes up agamst
the corner of Capt. Moseleys house southerly 22 foots from
the house 8s also a conveniency on the backside of the Meet
ing house to mend or repair the same as ocation may be and
furthermore, I Abner Maudsley the subscriber hereunto do
hereby acknowledge that I have received of the Town of
Westfield the sum of 20£ curant money which is in fuU com
pensation or satisfaction for the above tract of land. I say
received by mee Abner Mosely
Signed in presence
of us the subscribers
in the day and
year above dated
WiUiam Sacket
Josiah Phelps"
Joseph Maudsley, the third child and second son of Lieut'
John Maudsley, the settler, was born in Windsor, Conn.,
Dec. 21, 1670. He married Abigail Root, in Westfield, the
daughter of John Root the settler, Sept. 13, 1696, the cere
mony having been performed by Joseph Hawley, Justice
of the Peace, of Hatfield.

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 319
Abner, the second child and oldest son, his executor, was
born March 24, 1699.
Thus we have proof that the £20 which the town once
voted not to pay for the land was finally expended for that
purpose. A boulder at the corner of Main and Meadow Streets,
properly marked and placed by the Western Hampden His
torical Society, indicates to passers-by the location of the
second meeting house a few rods to the northeast, near the
old Moseley homestead, which still stands in good preserva
tion where it stood before the meeting house was erected.
The new house of worship could not have become greatly
endeared to the venerable Mr. Taylor. He was eighty years
old when it was first occupied, and greatly enfeebled. Indeed,
it must have been a trial for him to leave the old building,
associated with a half-century of his active ministry, where
he had received two hundred people into membership, so
slowly grew the church, two separate years having passed
without the addition of a single person, and where he had
baptized more than seven hundred children, not a few of
whom had become grandparents during his ministry.
That the aged pastor was averse to removal to the new
buUding is evidenced by an entry in a letter of his lifelong
friend Judge SewaU, just about the time of the transfer of
services :
"Nov. 22, 1722.
"In our difficult times the Inhabitants of Westfield have
buUt them a very roomthy and beautifuU Meeting house.
Mr. Edward Taylor, my old classmate at the College, 5 or 6
years above Seventy, is preaching in it. He had an aversion
to it because it was not built just in the same spot the former
sorry house was. The new one is buUt upon a little Knowl,
that it might be out of the way of the Overflowing of the
River. I writ to Mr. Taylor to incline him to remove to
his New House," and he concludes with a Latin quotation
which he had used in another connection. The Judge cour
teously pared off a few years from the age of his cherished
friend in the above reference to it.

320 Westfield and its Historic Influences
These were trying years for the church. Besides the
strain and loss due to the Indian menace, continued with
hardly an interruption since before the church was organized,
nearly a half-century earlier, there were the distresses inci
dent to the breaking health of the venerable pastor and diffi
culties and disappointments endured while seeking for some
one to be his coadjutor, and, in time, his successor. An
arrangement was finally completed with Mr. Nehimiah Bull,
who had been teaching in town. His family in this country
descended from Capt. Thomas Bull, born in England in 1606;
he came thence in 1635 and died in 1680.
Of his seven children, the third was Deacon Thomas,
born at Hartford in 1646. He married Esther Cowles, Aug.
29, 1669, the year in which Westfield was organized. They
had eight children. Their first child was John, born in 1670,
who married Esther Royce in 1698. Their second child was
Nehimiah, born in 1700 and graduated from Yale CoUege in
1723. In the course of an account of his beginning work here
recorded by himself in the church book, after having praised
the work of Mr. Taylor and recounted the efforts to obtain
first Mr. Brown, and then Mr. Stiles, as an assistant in his
declining years, Mr. Bull continues :
"Then they applied to no other until the latter end of
that year [1724], when I came from Long Island where I
had been teaching school for a year past, 8s they hearing that
I had come in to New England, sent to me to know whether
there was any likelihood of my coming if they should send.
I sent them word that I knew of nothing to the contrary,
whereupon about the beginning of January 1725, there came
a messenger to me, but I had been sick just before so that
I could not come then but gave him a promise that I would
come the week foUowing, Deo Volente, and accordingly I
came at the time or about the time appointed 8s came into
the town (I think) the 13th day of January 1725 and preached
my first sermon that I preached in the town, from 1st Cor. 8:4,
and that there is none other God but one. The sabbath
or Lords day following, being the 17th day of the same month
8s tho I was and am most unworthy to be employed in any
such service, yet God has continued me here ever since, but

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 321
by one difficulty or another that arose, I was not ordained
here until the 26th day of Oct. 1726, and indeed my difficulty
and the unfitness of myself to enter this work made the delay
no way disagreeable to me. We had agreed upon terms in
March this year, but the Ordination was deferred (as we
observed before) and when the fall of the year came on it
was tho't expedient by almost all that the Ordination should
be attended Si the church in this town being already gathered
8s their former Pastor living, there was nothing to do but to
send for Elders to come and assist in the Ordination of myself
as his CoUeague.
"Hereupon Letters were sent to the two eldest Churches
in Hartford, the church in Hatfield, three churches in Spring
field, the Church in Suffield, Si the church in Enfield, to send
their Elders and Messengers of the New Church at Hartford.
I think all the rest of the Elders that were sent for came over
night except Mr. Devotion [of Suffield] 8s being gathered
together it was thought by them best to do what business
they could that night that they might not be hindered next
day Si therefore they thought convenient to examine into
what opposition there was (for these just as the ordination
drew on caused a great stir). Therefore they sent for the
principal man who was so confident that he had a great party
on his side, if there was a Town Meeting. If the Elders
desired, there might be a Town Meeting the next morning
which was obtained, and the town was desired, if they desired
that Mr Bull should be ordained or that the ordination should
go on that day to vote for it Si the vote was so clear that the
Revd Elders judged that the barr was wholly taken out of
the way.
"Whereupon they proceeded to solemnize that affair 8s
those that managed the work were The Revd Mr. Edward
Taylor, Mr. T. Woodbridge, Mr. Wm Williams, Mr. D. Brewer
8s Mr. Devotion in this order, viz. Revd Mr. D. Brewer began
the work with prayer, Rev. William WiUiams preacht, Si
then they proceeded to set me apart by prayer and the lay
ing on of hands.
"Revd Mr. Taylor, Mr. T. Woodbridge 8s Mr. Wm Wil
liams laid on hands, then Rev. Mr. Woodbridge made ye
first prayer 8s gave ye charge 8s Rev. Wm WiUiams made

322 Westfield and its Historic Influences
last prayer. Rev. Mr. Devotion did that which served in
the room of giving the Right hand of fellowship. When
that was done I was directed to name a Psalm to be sung,
after which I was (according to the custom in these parts)
directed to bless the Congregation in the name of the Father,
Son Si Holy Ghost, 8s so this solemnity was finished."
Just what the bar to his ordination was, is not indicated
clearly, but from subsequent recorded incidents, it seems
possible that it may have had something to do with money
matters. Mr. Bull's account of the transaction throws an
interesting side-light upon the intimate relations between
church and town even in so decidedly an ecclesiastical mat
ter as the ordination of a minister. At the last moment,
even when the Elders and Messengers were assembled, a
town meeting was called to ascertain whether the important
affair should be carried to a conclusion.
On Sept. 26, 1726, the month preceding the ordination,
"It was proposed to the Town whether or no they would con
cur with what the church had agreed upon concerning Mr.
Nehimiah Bull being ordained amongst us, Si it was voated
in the affirmative." That seems to indicate that the town
stood in about the same relationship practically to the church
as trustees do in these modern days. The church took the
initiative but to become operative its action had to be rati
fied by the town. That practice was not invariably adhered
to, since there are recorded several votes of the town about
the calling and settlement of Mr. BuU.
Soon after his arrival, in February, 1725, the town voted
to have him help Mr. Taylor during his continuance in the
school that winter, and he was to have Friday and Saturday
out of school "to prepare for the preaching." In March
foUowing it was voted to hire Mr. BuU for half a year from
the time that his service in the school ended, and to pay him
therefor £25.
At the meeting a year later it was voted "That they would
set up a house 20 foot wide and 40 foot long with a. Cheek
ing and to dig a Celor, to stone it 8s to underpin the house,
to cover it outside 8s to build the Chimneys and to find bords
Si slitwork sufficient to finish the inside work of said house."
A year afterward, April, 1726, a committee was appointed

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 323
to do practicaUy what was then decided upon, but the action
at the later meeting was made contingent upon the accept
ance by Mr. Bull of the terms of settlement proposed by the
town. At the March meeting, 1725, it is noted that "The Select
men have agreed with Nathaniel Ponder to sweep the meet
ing house for the year ensewing 8s have promised him 35 shiU
ings for said service — 8s John Negro, to beat ye Drum on the
Sabath days 8s other days as ocation may serve 8s promised
him 23 shiUings for said service and the first drum is to be
beat against the , widow Moseley 's house in good weather,"
which means near the meeting house which stood next to her
house. Some interesting questions are suggested by the above
action. We wonder how often and how thoroughly during
the year the aforesaid Nathanael actually performed the
service for which he was to receive that modest stipend.
If the Widow WUliams, in 1716, was to have done the work
for the same period and leave the older meeting house "clean
swept," for 20 shUlings, it may have been taken for granted
that for an additional 15 shiUings this male janitor ought
to care efficiently for the newer and larger edifice.
We wonder too, whether John, Negro, was to restrict
his service to "good weather" in order to preserve the drum
from damage by storm, or because the church services were
omitted when the weather was inclement. This latter alter
native is hardly thinkable in connection with those sturdy
Puritans, who did not shrink from spending from two to three
hours even in zero weather in a meeting house where the
only artificial heat was contributed by an occasional foot
stove. John, Negro, seems to have approved himself to the
people, and must have attended faithfully to his duty in warn
ing the people of their obligations at the sanctuary, for a
year after his appointment as ecclesiastical crier, the town
voted him "liberty to finish his house 8s to live in it peacea
bly where it now standeth so long as himself 8s wife shaU live."
But however skillful and punctual his work with the drum
may have proven, the people were moved by a progressive
spirit to vote at the March meeting, 1728, "to raise £50 for
procuring a bell for the Church." It is to be noted in pass-

324 Westfield and its Historic Influences
ing that this is the first instance in the town records where
the building is caUed a "church," having been invariably
hitherto referred to as the meeting house.
The people of Northampton purchased a bell in 1687,
ten years earlier than the Springfield people acted in the mat
ter. In some places in New England, before beUs were
obtained, trumpets were used to caU the congregation. At
Hartford in 1677 a hand beU was rung along the street.
The next reference to the Westfield bell bears date of Dec.
27, 1728, when payment for it was voted in the form of 200
acres of land granted to Mr. Jacob Wendell of Boston "upon
condition of his exsepting it," in full satisfaction for it. Col.
Jacob Wendell was born in Albany of Dutch lineage in 1691.
He became one of the most prominent and successful mer
chants of Boston, a director in the first banking institution
established in America, a notable politician and a peer of
Col. John Stoddard of Northampton, as a dealer in wild lands
of the Colony. He married a daughter of Dr. James Oliver
of Cambridge, and their son was the distinguished Revolu
tionary leader, Oliver Wendell. They were ancestors of two
men, even more distinguished in other spheres a century later,
Wendell Phillips and Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Mr. Wendell already owned land in the southern part
of the town as is shown by records of an earlier transaction
in relation to the settlement of Mr. Eull. Oct. 9, 1727, a
committee, consisting of Thomas Ingersole, Thomas Dewey
and John Root, was appointed to sell 800 acres of land at
the southwesterly corner of the town at £25 for each hundred
acres to any who were willing to buy any portion of it. The
committee reported sales as foUows:
"To John Shepard 200 Acres.
To Qut. Mast. John Maudsley 200 Acres.
To Consider Maudsley 100 Acres.
To John Bancroft 100 Acres.
To Saml Kellogg 100 Acres.
To Stephen Kellogg 100 Acres.
"The above said 800 acres of land is bounded as followeth
— West by the west corner of the township, thence 400 Rods
North to a heap of stones, then running East, to Simsbury

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 325
road to a heap of stones bounded Northerly by land of Mr.
Jacob Wendell and Easterly by Simsbury Road and laid
out by order of the Town. John Root 1
Thomas Ingersole J Comity"
In February, 1730, it was voted "to aUow Mr. BuU 100£
to enable him to carey on the work of the ministry for the
year next ensuing," and a committee was appointed "to search
into the difficulty arising about Mr. Bulls salary for the time
past." In November of the same year it was voted "to rais
20£ and add it to the Town Rate, to be put into the Treasurers
hands for the use of Mr. Bull if he see cause to accept it, if
not then to convert it to other uses."
In 1734 Mr. Bull was to have £150 and it was agreed to
pay it in "wheat at 9/ Ry at 6/ and Indian Corn at 4/ per
bushel and pork at 6d per pound." That was a much higher
rate for produce than was allowed in an agreement of Spring
field with Rev. Mr. Brewer fifteen years before, when wheat
was at 5s. 6d., rye at 3/, and indian corn at 2/. It hardly
seems as though there could have been such a sharp advance
in the price of grain in so short a time, nor does it seem as
though Mr. Bull, who had a shrewd commercial instinct,
would have submitted to any bald attempt to force upon
him breadstuffs at more than current rates.
That the slowly advancing civilization had reached a stage
where greater deference needed to be paid to the requirements
of parliamentary law, is shown by action taken Jan. 3, 1732,
when "It was voated unanimously that for the year ensuing,
at the Town Meeting persons are to take there seats, and
to speak orderly, one at a time, and not without leave obtained
from the Moderator."
Whether or not the people approved the result of the
experiment is not recorded. Similar action was taken in
Springfield many years previously. The above meeting was
adjourned to Jan. 10, 1732, when action was taken preliminary
to the distribution of the Common Lands.
"It was unanimously voted and agreed upon that the
'divitionall line' between the inner and the outer Commons

326 Vi'estfield and its Historic Influences
so called is as foUoweth, viz. beginning at Muns Brook and
running a strait line along by Nathl Ponders house over to
the second Brook south of Nathaniel Lees house where Sims
bury road Crosses said Brook, then beginning at Ponders
Brook where Simsbury road crosses said Brook and then
down the Brook too the 'Two Mile Brook' to the mouth of
the 'Four Mile Brook' to the road that crosses said brook,
and then a strait line to the top of the East Mountam.
"Another divitionall line between the inner 8s outer Com
mons is as foUoweth, viz. 2 miles in width at the North end
of the Township beginning at Sprmgfield bounds, and so
running a strait line over too the West Mountain and then
running down 'Sandy Mill Brook' to a little brook coming
in from Samuell Bush's farm, then running up said little brook
a strait course to Springfield line, so aU the land contained
North of this line and likewise Southerly of the other line
is caUed the 'Outer Commons.' "
At the same meeting it was agreed to dispose of the afore
said "Commons or undivided land for reasons mentioned."
\Miat the reasons were is not recorded, but the proposed
action was carried out during that and the foUowing year.
(See Appendix.)
To facUitate that action "it was voted to choose a Commit
tee consisting of Capt. John Ashley, Thomas Ingersole, Con
sider Moseley, John Gun and Thomas Dewey," who were
"to take a survey of the aforesaid Outer Commons and see
how much land there is and in what form it may be best to
lay it out and what highways are needfuU." These new
grants were to "be free for timber, wood, stone and feeding
untill it be fenced."
In the distribution of the Outer Commons the largest
aUotment went to Capt. Ashley who received 515 acres, and
John Moadsley ranked next with 384 acres. He and another
Moseley were the largest recipients also, two years later,
Jan. 28, 1734, in the aUotment of the inner commons based
on the rate of "2 acres of land to one real estate," when the
portion of Capt. Ashley was 100 acres, and that of Ensign
[David] Moadsley was 90 acres.
This Capt. John Ashley was the one already referred to
who married for his second wife, in 1709, widow Mary Shel-

( The Second Pastor and Meeting House 327
don, daughter of Mr. Joseph Whiting and granddaughter
of Col. John Pynchon. His granddaughter Jane, the daugh
ter of his son Col. John Ashley of Sheffield, married Doctor
WUUam Bull, the oldest child of Rev. Mr. BuU.
In the division of the Outer Commons Mr. Bull received
36 acres. His portion in the subsequent distribution was
10 acres, but not in the regular allotment. His name stands
first in a fist of twenty-three persons indicated by the foUow
ing curious record:
"Jan. 28, 1734. It was voted to divide the rest of the
land in the inner commons, which is not disposed of in said
scheeme, excepting what land is given to Sundary persons
by way of Charraty, which are as foUoweth."
At that time Mr. Bull had three children, William, born
Dec. 3, 1729, John Partridge, born May 7, 1731, and Justin,
born Sept. 4, 1733. His marriage was published Jan. 4, 1728,
somewhat over a year after his ordination. The bride was
EUzabeth Partridge of Hatfield, daughter of Edward and
granddaughter of Col. Samuel. Her Mother was the daugh
ter of the prominent and influential minister of Hatfield, Rev.
WiUiam WiUiams. She was born Oct. 14, 1708. Thus by
marriage Mr. Bull became aUied with two of the most power
ful families of the valley, and we find him standing with them
in the strenuous religious controversies which soon divided
the region into hostile camps. Early in his ministry a mis
sion to the Housatonic Indians was undertaken. Dr. Davis
says of it: "Mr. Hopkins of West Springfield having learned
something of their condition and of their willingness to receive
reUgious instruction, set about the adoption of some measures
to furnish them with such instruction. Mr. Hopkins being
taken sick, the Rev. gentlemen, Bull of Westfield and Williams
of Deerfield, were appointed by Gov. Belcher in 1734 to super
intend the mission. They procured the Rev. J. Sergeant,
then a tutor in Yale College. He came immediately to West-
field and was accompanied to Hoosatonic by Mr. BuU. There
was at that time, 1735, only one house between here and
Sheffield. Mr. BuU, after introducing Mr. Sergeant to the
Indians, remained some days and baptized the first Indian
convert." The church record under date of Oct. 17, 1734,
reads: "Ebenezer an Indian, belonging to Ous-a-tonnuck

328 Westfield and its Historic Influences
embract ye Christian reUgion 8s joined himself to ye church
of Christ." The years 1734 and 1735 were marked by two signifi
cant movements, the influence of which extended far beyond
the two leading towns of the valley where they had their
beginning and which continued to be the chief centers of
their operation. One was what became known as the Great
Awakening, the primal force of which was the personal power
and the potent preaching of the young minister Jonathan
Edwards, the grandson and for a time the colleague of the
Rev. Solomon Stoddard of Northampton. The reports of
it which have been preserved indicate that it was one of the
most remarkable movements of the kind which have ever
occurred in this country.
Jonathan Edwards, great as a preacher, and as a theolo
gian the greatest which Congregationalism has produced,
was born Oct. 5, 1703, at East Windsor, Conn., where his
Father, Timothy Edwards, was pastor. The brilliant youth
was graduated at Yale CoUege in 1720, and was settled as col
league at Northampton in 1727, two years before the death
of his Grandfather Stoddard. An able historian says: "In
Edwards there was a rare combination of fervor of feeling,
of almost oriental fertility of imagination, and inteUectual
acumen, which clothed all that he said with glowing force,
while beneath his words flowed the stream of a most care
fully elaborated theologic system; and aU these more exalted
and impulsive moods were emphasized by the influence of
his wife, Sarah, a daughter of the Rev. James Pierpont of
New Haven, a woman of remarkable intellectual force, but
even more conspicuous for intense spirituality of nature."
The intensity, both of religious life and of preaching, which
marked the early years of New England, was lacking in the
third and fourth generations of the Colonies. Early strict
ness of standard relative to church membership had been
quite commonly relaxed. Conversions were comparatively
rare when Edwards began his pastorate, and the ratio of
citizens who were not in full communion with the church
to those who were had been growing increasingly large. Spirit
ual coldness, religious inertia and indifference were common
characteristics of churches and communities.

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 329
It was into this condition of lowered spiritual vitality
that the torch of Edwards's intense zeal and emotional fer
vency was thrust, with the result that soon this mass of
unpromising material was kindled into flame which glowed
and spread until not alone the community at Northampton
but towns as widely separated as Northfield above and New
Haven below, including every settlement between on the
river, were more or less fired with unwonted religious fervor.
That its influence was felt in Westfield is evident from the
recorded admissions to membership in the church during
the year 1735. They amounted to the notable number of
forty-five, all but two of them having been admissions to fuU
communion. They included many leading men of the town,
Eldad Taylor, Gen. Israel Ashley, A.M., and others promi
nent in its affairs.
In the five years succeeding the death of Mr. Taylor in
1729, the admissions had aggregated but thirty-three, two
in 1730, none in 1731, fifteen in 1732, ten in 1733, and six
in 1734. During succeeding years the revival interest in
Northampton was more or less marked, until the arrival
there of Rev. George Whitefield in October, 1740. He hadjjeea-
invited to visit New England by Rev. Dr. George'"Colman
of Boston, who had sent to his English correspondents an
account by Edwards, printed in 1737-8, of the awakening
in 1735, entitled "Narrative of the Surprizing Work of God."
Whitefield preached four sermons in the meeting house.
Edwards says respecting their effect: "The congregation was
extraordinarily melted by every sermon; almost the whole
assembly being in tears during a great part of sermon time."
Thence Whitefield journeyed toward New Haven, preach
ing in various towns, the first of which was Westfield as shown
by an entry in his Journal:
"Monday, Oct. 20. Left Northampton in the evening;
rode very pleasantly 18 miles to Westfield; conversed with
a poor woman on a sick Bed, who gave an Account of some
Discoveries she had of our Lord's redeeming Love. Met
with a little Book written by Dr. Cotton Mather, entitled,
'The Ornaments of the Daughter of Zion,' which I would
recommend to all, especially the Boston Ladies. Preached
in the Morning to a pretty large Congregation, and with

330 Westfield and its Historic Influences
considerable Power at the latter End. Hasted to Spring
field about ten miles from Westfield." (A Continuation of
the Reverend Mr. Whitefield's Journal, p. 49, London, 1744.)
What was the specific and immediate effect of that ser
mon we have no means of ascertaining. The church was
at that time without a pastor, Mr. Bull having died six months
before; and it was not until the foUowing summer that a
pastor to succeed him was settled. But that the influence
of the renewal of the revival movement was strongly felt
in the community is evidenced by the admissions to the church
in the years 1741 and 1742, when they equaled those of 1735,
about 45 to fuU communion each year, large ingatherings
for a town of the size of Westfield at that time.
Careful historians have estimated the number of con
versions during the ten years covering the "Great Awaken
ing," from 25,000 up to 50,000 in New England in a popula
tion of about 300,000, though Professor Walker considers even
the lower estimate much too high. While the exact or even
approximately correct figures cannot be determined, it is
unquestionably true that the movement was one of profound
significance in many portions of the Colonies, and that while
some deplorable features marked its progress, the general
effect of it was of immense benefit to churches and communi
ties alike.
The second significant movement of the years 1734 and
1735, to which reference has been made, and far less wide
spread in its influence, was the locaUy celebrated Breck Con
troversy. It made a deep cleavage in the church at Spring
field, disturbed all the ministers and churches of old Hamp
shire County, and was felt in Boston and Connecticut. As
a minister of Hampshire Association and through his per
sonal relation to the powerful Williams family, two minis
terial members of which were intense partisans in the con
troversy, Mr. BuU took a prominent part in it in opposition
to Mr. Breck.
The virulence of the Breck Controversy was so deep and
bitter as to affect ecclesiastical relations in the vaUey for many
years. A malignant outcropping of it will appear when we
come to consider the ordination of Mr. Ballantine, who suc
ceeded Mr. Bull in the Westfield pastorate.

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 331
Still another great movement affected the church during
the service of Mr. BuU, as the records reveal, more general
and more abiding in its influence than either of the two move
ments already considered.
As early as May 15, 1646, the General Court of Massa
chusetts, in response to an appeal from some of the ministers
of the Colony, issued a call for a General Synod of the New
England churches. An invitation was sent to the churches
of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven
to meet on September 1st of that year, "there to discusse,
dispute 8s cleare up, by the word of God, such questions of
church government 8s discipline * * * as they shall think
needfull 8s meete."
Among the most pressing questions, in the mind of the
Court, to be considered were "those about baptisme, Si ye
p'sons to be recieved thereto."
Although the synod, after having formulated the famous
"Cambridge Platform," finally adjourned in August, 1648,
without having dealt formaUy with that important question
of the conditions of baptism, the churches of New England
were obliged to deal with it. What was known as the "Half-
Way Covenant" became the subject of the first general dis
cussion of American Congregationalism. Professor WUliston
Walker has furnished such a clear and succinct analysis of
the essential points of the controversy as to make an extended
quotation from him a favor to those who are desirous of com
prehending it: "Unlike any other division of Protestantism
at that day except the Anabaptists, Congregationalism main
tained that only adult persons of Christian experience, in
the phrase of that day, 'visible saints,' should be admitted
to the covenant union which constituted the local church;
but they also held that, as in the Jewish church of old, chil
dren shared in their parents' covenanting and were there
fore truly members of the church to which their parents
belonged. The infant membership was not the result of
baptism; rather it was the covenant relation already acquired
by birth in a christian household that gave right to this sacra
ment. But the fathers of New England at their coming held
that it extended only to the immediate offspring of professed
christians, and hence restricted baptism to children one of

332 Westfield and its Historic Influences
whose parents at least was a declared believer, in fellowship
with some church. This restriction was comparatively easy
at first, in spite of the twofold mode of entrance into church
membership — by profession and by birth — because the leaders
of the emigration were men of tried religious experience,
generally able to give a reason for their faith. The line of
distinction was sharp between the consciously regenerate
and that considerable class even among the first settlers who
made no claim to a regenerative change. But with the growth
of the children of these first-comers the question was made
much more difficult. These members of the second genera
tion naturally showed some decline from the ardent type of
piety which marked many of the founders. They were pre
vailingly of moral life, anxious for the religious training of
their children, and desirous of throwing about them the safe
guards of church- watch and disciphne; but in many instances
they could point to no conscious work of divine grace in their
own personal experience." (The American Church History
Series, Vol. Ill, pp. 170-1.)
The problem, therefore, was what to do with that large
and important class of persons. As not professedly regenerate
they could not, according to the commonly accepted concep
tion of the church, be admitted to all its privileges including
participation in the Lord's Supper. But to deny some practi
cal participation in church affairs to those who were by birth
members of it, was both illogical and unjust, involving, as
well, a loss of strength and influence to the church which it
could ill afford.
In an attempt to solve this problem a custom was some
what commonly adopted whereby the chUdren who had
received baptism on the ground of the regeneration of their
parents were aUowed, on certain conditions, to have their
own chUdren baptized. The condition enforced was that
they should be familiar with the most important elements of
christian doctrine, should promise to walk in feUowship with
the church and hold themselves amenable to its discipline.
Their formal declaration to that effect was caUed "owning
the covenant," that is, they accepted for themselves the vows
made in their behalf by their parents when they were bap
tized in infancy. They were thenceforward recognized as

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 333
members of the church, but not in "full communion," and
were restricted in two important respects, being deprived
of the privUege of voting and not being admitted to the Lord's
table. Thus the church was composed of two classes, those who
claimed regeneration, and those who made no such claim.
It was from this latter class that opponents of the plan nick
named it the "Half- Way Covenant."
Though the debate upon this question was long and acri
monious, as the discussion of theological matters is apt to be,
and though the plan was not universally adopted, still the
Half-Way Covenant was adopted by a great majority of
the New England churches, and was practiced until early
in the nineteenth century.
What was known as Stoddardeanism, named from its
aggressive advocate, Rev. Solomon Stoddard of Northamp
ton, whose pastorate almost exactly corresponded in time
with that of the Rev. Edward Taylor, his Westfield neighbor,
that modification of the Haff-Way Covenant was widely
adopted during the eighteenth century. Mr. Stoddard main
tained that the Lord's Supper was designed for "all adult
members of the Church who are not scandalous," and was
to be "applyed to visible Saints, though Unconverted, there
fore it is for their Saving good, and consequently for their
Conversion." He defined "visible Saints" as "such as make
a serious profession of the true Religion, together with those
that do descend from them, tiU rejected of God."
The first reference on the records of the Westfield church
to this widespread controversy was made by Mr. Bull before
the death of Mr. Taylor. Allied with the conservative wing
of the ministerial association though he was, yet Mr. Bull
presented to the church the foUowing questions for its con
sideration and action :
"1. Whether such persons as come into full communion
may not be left at their liberty as to the giving the chh. an
account of the work of saving conversion i. e. whether Rela
tions shall not be looked upon as a matter of indifferency,
and the chh. desired some time of consideration so the mat
ter was deffered till the next Lord's Day, when it was voted
in the affirmative.

334 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"2. Whether a confession of faith drawn up in shorter
and more general terms should be used instead of the Assem
bly's Catechism.
"3. Whether all Baptized Persons who were come to
years of understanding and were capable of discipline belong
ing to this congregation should be lookt upon subjects of
discipline, and voted in the affirmative.
"4. Whether 5 men should not be chosen by the chh.
to meet and consult with me about the issuing cases of diffi
culty upon immergent occasions, this voted in the affirmative
8s the Persons chosen for the present were Deacon Thomas
Noble, John Shepard Sr: Serj. Consider Moydsley; Philip
Loomis Senior; Si Thomas Dewey."
Thus in 1728 four important changes from time-honored
custom were decided upon. The last plan adopted was the
initial movement toward what has been developed into the
church committee, an essential element of representative
government though possessing only moral and advisory
authority, the ultimate tribunal in all matters being always
the church as a purely democratic body.
"The Confession of faith then accepted by this Chh. was
as follows viz.
"I believe (we) yt there is one only living Si True God
Infinite Eternal Si Unchangeable in his being, wisdom, Power,
Holiness, Justice, Goodness Si Truth, Distinguished into 8s
subsisting in 3 Persons, who are ye same in substance essence
Si attributes Equal in Authority, Glory 8s Majesty but dis
tinguished by their Relative personal propertys, ye father
being ye first in order begetting ye Son, ye Son ye 2d begotten
of ye father, ye Holy Ghost ye 3d proceeding from ye father
8s ye Son. I (we) believe yt this God is ye Almighty Creator
ye wise 8s Good upholder, ye Just Sovereign Governour 8s
disposer of aU his creatures Si all their actions. I (we) believe
yt man created in his image in a state of integrity was placed
under a covenant of life upon condition of perfect obedience
but by his disobedience lost both his uprightness 8s title to
life 8s is by nature in a state of weakness enmity, poUution,
Guilt, unrighteousness 8s wrath. I (we) believe yt when ye
fullness of time was come God sent forth his only begotten

The Second Pastor and Meeting House 335
Son to take upon him ye nature of man yt so subsisting in 2
distinct natures (divine 8s human in one Person) he might
be a fit Mediator between God 8s man suitably qualified to
Redeem man by price Si power 8s effectively Reconcile him
to God, for which end God appointed (gave permission to)
his Son, to be a Prophet, Priest 8s King of his church, who
did in ye days of his flesh execute these offices by obeying
ye Law, ReveaUng ye Gospell Si suffering death, 8s when he
had continued under ye power of death for a time he arose
from ye dead, ascended into heaven Si sat down on ye Right
hand of God where he now continues to execute ye several
offices of a Mediator, Pleading his own merits on ye behalf
of ye elect, interceding for 'em, sending ye Holy Spt to inlighten,
convince, effectually call Si sanctify those that are given to
him, who being innabled to believe in his name to ye justi
fication of their persons shall be openly acquitted, pronounced
blessed Si invited by ye Supreme judge to take possession of
ye Kingdom of glory prepared for 'em, at that day when God
shall raise ye dead both just 8s unjust 8s shall judge ye herets
of men by J: Christ who also will condemn all that obey not
ye gospel to everlasting punishmt according to ye scriptures
of truth wch I believe to be ye word of God Si ye only Rule
of faith 8s manners."
There are indications in the town records that the rela
tions between Mr. Bull and his people were less peculiarly
happy than those which, from its organization until the present
day, with that exception, have been a distinguishing feature
of the church's life. Mr. Bull's disposition seems to have lacked
equanimity. There was bickering for years over his salary.
He seems to have had difficulty in meeting his obligations,
an experience which not a few modern ministers have known.
It was voted, Nov. 18, 1735, "To choose a Committee to
discourse with Mr. BuU concerning his being uneasy with
what the Town does for him."
In February foUowing it was voted to "raise 125£ to help
the Rev. Mr. Bull to pay his debts 8s every person shall have
liberty to pay the one half of his part in the same species 8s
at the same prices as was set for his last rate, and upon condi
tion that Mr. BuU gives acquittance under his hand whereby

336 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the Town shall be discharged of aU arrearages and defections
of all grants Si sallaries for the time past down to May the
first day which wiU be in the year 1736." At the March meet
ing, 1738, it was voted that he have £200 as salary.
Relations evidently became increasingly strained, for in
April reference is made to a suit at law, and in August it was
implied that he was to leave town, but finaUy the difficulty
was amicably settled before his death, April 14, 1740.
In Memorial HaU, Deerfield, there is preserved an account
book of Mr. Bull's, with entries running from 1721 to 1738.
It was bound by himself in hogskin parchment and tied with
thongs of the same material.
It is an mteresting fact that in the inventory of his estate
there are three items relative to negro slaves which he owned:
Tamer, £90; Philis, £65; Dido, £40.

CHAPTER XVI.
Father Rale's War
From the time when Frontenac instituted his general
campaign against the Colonies, until the fall of Quebec, Indian
depredations were more or less closely related to European
strategy. SmaU bands of savages continued to roam over
the vast territory of the middle ground practically compris
ing the present states of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine,
except a fringe of seacoast along the border of the last named
state, where were a few feeble and scattered hamlets. In
Hampshire County, early in Queen Anne's War, the redoubta
ble commander-in-chief of its forces, in fact if not in name,
during later years, the most influential of its citizens for a
generation, Col. John Pynchon, died Jan. 17, 1703. It would
be difficult to conceive of a man who, for versatility, capacity,
devotion and general personal power, could have been more
effective in several spheres than this noble son of the founder
and father of the Connecticut VaUey settlements in the Bay
Province. Such was the beneficent relation of John Pynchon to the
affairs of the county, civil, commercial, military and ecclesias
tical, that no history of a town of the county which came into
corporate existence before his death, could be complete with
out giving him a large share of credit for the promotion of
its welfare. His was the dominant life of the vaUey during
his span of the colonial period. He was its most efficient
and influential personal factor, the most highly honored,
the most widely known, of its citizens.
Green's sketch of him is worthy of quotation: "The figure
of John Pynchon stands out in the latter part of the eighteenth
century like a fair monument in a rude land. While the
hardest worked man in western Massachusetts, not a word
reflecting upon his honor has come down to us. He had a
placid disposition, a dignified bearing, and yet was as tender
hearted as a woman. He was a town organizer, a maker and
administrator and interpreter of laws, and a student of trade

338 Westfield and its Historic Influences
and commerce. When John Pynchon visited Boston he took
his place among the assistants in the General Court; when
he entered the County Court room, either at Springfield or
Northampton, his seat was at the head of the bench of Judges;
the town magistrate's chair was his chair; and at the town-
meeting he was always moderator, and at training day he
was captain of the company." (History of Springfield, pp.
198-9.) HoUand pays him high but merited tribute: "All the
trusts reposed in him, and all the offices conferred upon him,
he discharged with remarkable ability, entire faithfulness,
and with wide acceptation. He was loved, honored and
revered in all the complicated relations of a long, laborious
and useful life, and when he was gathered home, like a shock
fuUy ripe, he was missed not by Springfield alone, nor alone
by Hampshire County, but by New England, in aU parts
of which his name was familiar." (History of Western Massa
chusetts, Vol. I, p. 163.)
In so far as he had a successor in leadership in affairs civU
and military, Col. Partridge of Northampton may be con
sidered such, though a man of far less prominence and influ
ence. From 1722 to 1726, though the Province was disturbed,
but few Indian depredations were committed in Hampshire.
A few men lost their lives, but the towns were generaUy pre
pared for defense and alert to detect signs of an approach
ing enemy.
"At a Leguall Town Meeting, July 30, 1724, Deacon Thomas
Noble was chosen Moderator. It was voated to go on a
scout into the woods to make discovery of the enemy 8s for
our own safety to have every souldier go once apeace through
out the Town 8s exsept the Country doth alow for it then
such as shaU go shall have credit 3 shiUings a day 8s such as
neglect their turn, either by themselves or sum other man
for him there to have aded to his Town Rate 3 shiUings.
"At the same meeting it was voated that there shaU be
a grand scout up our River 3 or 4 days 8s to have 4 shillings
per day to be paid by the Town, ye scout consisting of about
12 or 13 or 14 men a day."
Such was the common practice in the valley towns for

Father Rale's War 339
many years when there was any threat of trouble. It had
in view a double benefit, that suggested in the vote above,
to habituate the citizen soldiery to the open country and
the woods beyond the confines of the town, and, as weU, to
show any prowling bands of redskins that the town was not
oblivious of danger.
Less than a month after that action was taken, the need
of it was proven, for the enemy actually appeared in the verv
settlement. A startling message was sent by Col. Partridge :
"Sprmgfield, Aug. 27, 1724.
"To Lieut. Root at Westfield.
"Sir: I hope you are apprized of the mischief done at
Northampton upon the road yesterday, near unto Joseph
Bartlett's house, about 4 score rods from said house towards
Northampton which alarms us to be careful in going out, 8s
I advise Si order that you be very careful in your going out
not to go near or further off from town with less in number
than 12 or 15 men to guard, and before any work is done to
scout the woods round about the place where the work is done
before they go to work and the guards to be very watchful
aU the time they are out.
"Also give notice of this mischief to the carters Si guards
coming from Hartford, that they see themselves weU guarded
with an addition of 6 men at least in addition to the guard
or scout men they now have, 8s do you supply the carters of
your young men accordingly to prevent any further mischief
as may be. "Your humble servant
"Sam Partridge, Col."
John Root certified that he sent an addition of 6 men to
Hatfield with the carters, viz., David Allen, Saml Bush, Jonah
Pixley, Moses Ashley, Wm. Conners (or Comes), Samuel
Dewey, all of Westfield.
Sylvester speaks of a party of Indians coming to North
ampton and killing Nathanael Edwards.
"The next day, the same party of savages came into West-
field. The Westfield settlers were many of them at work
in their fields, and as they were leaving them with their loaded

340 Westfield and its Historic Influences
carts they were attacked by the savages. One of them, who
had been wounded, came near falling into the hands of the
savages, but some of the settlers, having their guns along,
met their assailants boldly. PenhoUow notes a singular
circumstance; for it is from him the story is borrowed. Every
gun but one missed fire, that of Noah Ashley. He made
a good shot which operated to put the savages to their heels.
The settlers raUied, and pursuing them came upon the savage
shot by Ashley. Scalping him, they sent the trophy to Bos
ton, for which they received one hundred pounds,'which
proved to be a very exceUent day's sport.' " (Indian Wars of
New England, Vol. Ill, pp. 241-2.)
This incident suggests the low stage of warfare to which
the English had descended, imitating their savage foes. It
seems incredible that the General Court of Massachusetts
could have so degraded itself as to offer a standing bounty
for these ghastly trophies of barbarity, yet in July of this
year Lieut. Gov. Dummer wrote to Capt. Kellogg at North-
field, "I shall be glad to see a scalp or two brought down by
some of your scouts." And scalping parties were organized
to hunt for such spoils of war. A few years later the bounty
for a scalp was raised to £300. This was surely fighting
the devil with his own weapons, and in a way to stultify the
christian characters of all concerned, officials at the capitol,
officers, privates and all citizens who approved of the diabol
ical practice.
How far the people and their magistrates were from a
conscious recognition of guilt for atrocious methods of war
fare, though driven to desperation by their brutal enemies,
is manifest from an incident which occurred early in this
war. Governor Shute, weary of his wrangle with the representa
tives and the resulting confusion of authority, took ship for
London, Jan. 1, 1723, without revealing his purpose to any
body but two or three servants. He went to lay his case
before the King.
This left the burden of his vexatious office to Lieut. Gov.
Dummer. At his first meeting with the CouncU, Judge
Sewall as the senior member of the Board, inflated with the
dignity and responsibility of his position, with no sense of

Father Rale's War 341
humor, and well on in years, offered an exhortation to the
new chief magistrate "in a voice of quavering solemnity."
"If your Honour and this Honourable Board please to
give me leave, I would speak a Word or two upon this solemn
Occasion. Altho the unerring Providence of God has brought
you to the Chair of Government in a cloudy and tempestuous
season, yet you have for your Encouragement, that the peo
ple you Have to do with are a part of the Israel of God, and
you may expect to have of the Prudence and Patience of
Moses communicated to you for your Conduct. It is evi
dent that our Almighty Saviour counselled the first planters
to remove hither and Settle here, and they dutifully followed
his Advice, and therefore He will never leave nor forsake
them nor Theirs; so that your Honour must needs be happy
in sincerely seeking their Interest and Welfare, which your
Birth and Education wiU incline Difficilia quae pulchra. I
promise myself that they who sit at this Board will yield
their Faithful Advice to your Honour according to the Duty
of their Place."
The old man, complacent over the proper and dignified
performance of an important duty, went home and recorded
in his precious Diary that the lieutenant governor and the
councilors rose and remained standing during the delivery
of this address "and they expressed a handsom Acceptance
of what I had said: Laus deo." (Sewall Papers, Vol. Ill, pp.
317-8.) In fact, while smarting under the assumption that the
King could do no wrong, they themselves assumed the same
immunity from guUt, even when lowering their standards.
of warfare to conform to those of the native barbarians. Their
crime in this respect can be neither denied nor condoned.
In the summer of 1724, the year following the elevation
of Dummer, the horrible affair at Norridgewock was enacted,
when the Indians gathered by the Jesuit missionary and
wily Chieftain Rale, were overwhelmed by a party under
Capt. Harmon. The controversy which foUowed between
Vaudreuil and Dummer was bitter, the former charging the
death of Rale to wanton murder, while the latter contended
that he was slain in battle with arms in his hand and after
he had already kiUed an Englishman.

342 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Vaudreuil wrote to Dummer, Oct. 29, 1724: "You wiU
have to answer to your king for his murder. It would have
been strange if I had abandoned our Indians to please you.
I cannot help taking the part of our allies. You have brought
your troubles on yourseff. I advise you to pull down aU
the forts you have buUt on the Abenaki lands since the Peace
of Utrecht. H you do so, I will be your mediator with the
Norridgewocks. As to the murder of Rale, I leave that to
be settled between the two Crowns."
To this Dummer replied: "Instead of preaching peace,
love and friendship, agreeably to the Christian religion, Rale
was an incendiary, as appears by many letters I have by me.
He has once and again appeared at the head of a great many
Indians, threatening and insulting us. If such a disturber
of the peace has been kiUed in the heat of action, nobody
is to blame but himself. I have much more cause to com
plain that Mr. WiUard, minister of Rutland, who is innocent
of all that is charged against Rale, and always confined him
self to preaching the gospel, was slain and scalped by your
Indians and his scalp was carried to Quebec."
Gray Lock, a celebrated Waranoak sachem, led the raid
which resulted in the killing of the Rev. Joseph WiUard at
Rutland, to whom reference is made in the letter of Lieut.
Gov. Dummer. This Indian chief was known to the people
of Westfield in earlier days. During Philip's War he lay in
wait for captives during several months. He seemed at that
period to have less thirst for blood or plunder than for cap
tives. He boasted that having watched a family named
Noble for a long time he had many chances to kill several
of the children, even at a single shot, but that he wanted
neither their blood nor their scalps.
He was called Gray Lock from some peculiarity in the
color of his hair, and in later years became a well known figure
and dreaded leader of the Hampshire border. He is said
"to have been capable of inspiring regard by his friendly
offices and shrewdness in time of peace, as well as awaken
ing dread by his craft and cruelty in time of war."
But even when he was carrying carnage to other settle
ments and inspiring widespread terror, there is no record
of his ever having occasioned death or serious depredation

Father Rale's War 343
in Westfield. It may be that his old neighbors there had
dealt so fairly by him, and been so friendly to him and his
tribe, that he cherished for them kindly and generous feel
ings, proven by his refraining from any overt act against
their persons or property. For whatever his purpose in watch
ing the Noble family and another family named Bently, he
did not actually take one of them captive.
After Philip's War, Gray Lock removed to the Mohawk
country. During Queen Anne's War he was living near
Montreal under the guise of a French Indian, and began his
depredations as a leader of smaU parties against the Hamp
shire towns. His acquaintance with the territory in this
region must have been extensive and accurate, gained through
the years of his youth and early manhood.
On the breaking out of this later war he made his head
quarters on the shore of Missisquoi Bay at the northerly end
of Lake Champlain, where he had built a fort and collected
a considerable company of Indians who recognized his author
ity. They cultivated, with the help of their squaws, fertile
meadows, raising large crops of corn. He was accustomed
to sally forth from there with bands of warriors varying in
size from time to time, and having found a good camping
place within striking distance of some settlement, they would
settle down to watch for an opportunity to do mischief, for
this purpose maintaining diligent spies and scouts alert upon
scalps or captives to be borne back to Canada. Col. Part
ridge, then at the head of mUitary forces in Hampshire, wrote :
"This enemy can and sometimes do lie in wait for two months
about a town, before they kill or take, as some have acknowl
edged." Such a public menace had he made himself by these methods
that early in 1723 the acting Governor, with the military
authorities of Hampshire, made earnest efforts through the
mediation of Col. Schuyler and others at Albany, to con
ciliate this formidable chief. They sent belts and various
presents to him but in some way the wily savage eluded the
messengers. When they caUed he was never at home.
It was midsummer of 1723 before Hampshire realized
most keenly how much the failure to placate Gray Lock meant.
Aug. 13 two leading citizens of newly settled Northfield, Thomas

344 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Houlton and Theophilus Merriman, were waylaid and kiUed
by Gray Lock and a party of four warriors. Taking their
scalps, the savages pressed eastward and the next day appeared
at Rutland. On that morning Deacon Joseph Stevens went
to his meadow, a half-mile from the meeting house, and was
joined later by his four sons. The Indians attacked them,
kiUing, at the first fire, two of the boys, Samuel and Joseph.
The other two, Phinehas and Isaac, were captured. The
father, helpless before such odds, managed to escape to his
house. Three of the savages were left to guard the two boys,
and the other two of the band left them to waylay two men
in a field, who eluded them by taking another way home.
Starting back to join the guard, the two Indians met the Rev.
Joseph WiUard, minister of the town, returning from hunting.
They fired at him but missed him. He wounded one of them
and tackled the other with decided advantage, but the other
three savages coming up with the boys, he was worsted in a
plucky and unequal struggle and killed before the eyes of the
two lads. The Indians then started with their captives for
Canada. Phinehas became a celebrated warrior in Cape Breton,
and in April, 1747, bravely defended the fort at Charlestown,
N. H., when attacked by 400 French and Indians under Mons.
Debeline. It is interesting to note that two years later, in 1749, this
same Phinehas Stevens, as a Commissioner sent by the Gov
ernor to Canada to secure the release of captives, was able to
purchase for an Indian pony, valued at £103, the freedom
of John Stark, the hero of Bennington during the Revolu
tionary struggle.
When news of this raid of Gray Lock reached Boston, Gov.
Dummer issued orders to Col. Partridge to impress eighteen
able-bodied men to act as scouts at various exposed towns.
There were then two companies of cavalry in the County,
one commanded by Capt. Adijah Dewey of Westfield, the
other under Capt. Henry Dwight of Hatfield. An order was
sent to Capt. Dewey, Aug. 30, to "rally up his troopers and
march to the upper towns, scouting, and repairing to the
places of most danger, for the space of 14 days; then Capt.
Dwight, with his company was to take his place for the same

Father Rale's War 345
term of time: and so they were to alternate for a campaign
of 8 weeks."
To this was added the encouraging assurance: "You are
to provide for yourselves arms, ammunition, and provisions,
aU which are to be paid for by the public."
This postscript has additional significance as a revela
tion of the fact so familiar to the heroic citizen soldiery of
that day, and which it is well for us to realize in order to help
us understand the harassing limitations under which they
labored, the fact that there was no organized department
of military equipment or commissary stores upon which either
the authorities or the men in the field could depend. Every
thing was at haphazard, with no order, no system, and the
wonder is that in such conditions so much was actually accom
plished in resisting the subtle and tireless enemy.
In the instructions of Col. Partridge to Capt. Dewey indi
cated above, there was another significant injunction which
foUowed his signature: "If there be Need at Wesfd you must
take care at home yet must not Neglect this order."
Thus was each soldier, officer and private, in a strait betwixt
two, with a twofold responsibility, for his settlement and
his hearthstone on the one hand, and for the Province on the
other. Still, however, in the final analysis the two were one,
for the safety of the home was wrapt up in the common wel
fare, though for each individual there was a tearing of heart
between the two.
Early in October Col. Partridge wrote Capt. Dewey at
Westfield of the arrival from Albany of Daniel Ashley, reporting
great anxiety there lest the Indians were preparing for an attack.
This was soon foUowed by the following dispatch: "Sr
These Give you orders forthwith to Move with yor troop
up to Deerfd 8s when there to divide yor troop Si send one
half of them with one of yor officers to Northfield to improve
yr tyme in Scouting 8s Guarding the people to get in the
Remainder of their Harvest as also with some of the people
to go out scout Northard 8s Westard in the woods to make
discovery of any approaching Enemy 8s upon any Discovery
of a body of the Enemy forthwith to Alarm the people Si by
a post inform me I pray God guard prserve 8s be yor Safety.
"I am yor Humble Servt
"Hatfield, Oct. 10, 1723." Samll Partridge CoUl

346 Westfield and its Historic Influences
In a letter of the month foUowing Col. Schuyler writes
from Albany to Col. Partridge telling him of the return of
two messengers who were sent with a belt of wampum to
the Cognawago Indians, and the report that they were assured
by these Indians that they did not want to fight the English
but that some of their young men were drawn into making
an incursion by French bribes of guns and ammunition; that
they had returned and would never repeat the enterprise.
He also says, "The Gray Lock has kUled ye Minister 8s ye
four brothers of which two are alive 8s two scalpt the young
est is given to the Cognawagos." It was by that gift of the
younger of the Stevens boys to the Cognawagos that Gray
Lock co-operated with Gov. Vaudreuil in securing some of
them to join some of his own clan in making a fresh incursion
which Capt. Dewey was caUed out to repel.
In November the Governor ordered Lieut. KeUogg to raise
a company to be partly stationed at Northfield and partly
utilized for scouting, and sent him a captain's commission.
The muster roll of this company which served from Nov.
20, 1723, to May 30, 1724, contains the names of four West-
field men, David King, John Beamon, Jacob Wheeler and
David Sackett.
To afford Northfield, the frontier outpost at that time,
better protection than that furnished by a garrison and by
scouting parties however alert and efficient, some more ade
quate form of defense was necessary. It was too far removed
from the other river towns to depend upon quick communica
tion with them in case of attack. Accordingly the General
Court voted, Dec. 27, 1723, to erect a defensive fortification
above it on the river. The action was as foUows :
"That it wUl be of great Service to aU the Western Fron
tiers, both in this and the Neighboring Government of Conn.
to BuUd a Block House above Northfield, in the most con
venient Place on the Lands caUed the Equivalent Lands, 8s
to post in it forty Able Men, English Si Western Indians to
be employed in Scouting at a Good distance up Conn, river,
West River, Otter Creek, and sometimes Eastwardly above
Great Manadnuck, for the Discovery of the Enemy coming
towards anny of the frontier towns: and that so much of the
said Equivalent Land as shall bee necessary for a Block House,

Father Rale's War 347
bee taken up with the consent of the owners of said Land;
Together with five or six acres of their Interval Land, to be
broke up, or plowed for the present use of Western Indians
(In case any of them shaU think fit to bring their families),
and that His Honour, the Lieut. Gov'r. bee desired to Give
his Orders Accordingly. "In CouncU, Read Si Concurred.
Consented to, Wm. Dummer."
It was a hard task for winter days, the men engaged upon
it having to lie in the woods and work early and late. It
was buUt in February, about 180 feet square, of yeUow pine
logs locked together at the angles. Houses were built against
the waU on the inside and the open central space was used
as a parade ground. Difficult as the task was, the whole
expense incurred was only £256. It stood on the west bank
of the Connecticut River near the site of the present town
of Brattleboro, Vt., and was the first structure erected by
the EngUsh within what are now the bounds of that state.
Sheldon says, "I find no formal naming of this post. In the
official records and correspondence it is uniformly called the
'Block House above Northfield' or simply the 'Block House.'
The name of Fort Dummer is first noticed in a petition to the
General Court from Capt. Timothy Dwight, of Dec. 2, 1724,
and this name graduaUy came to be adopted."
On the muster roll of Capt. Dwight's company posted
there from Feb. 1 to May 31, 1724, there appears the name
of one man from Westfield, John Bement. It probably stands
for the same person as John Beaman who was on the roll of
Capt. Kellogg's company at Northfield, and he probably
served for a period in each of the two commands. In the
spring of that year, 1724, Capt. Dwight reorganized his com
pany, and among the additions to it was Isaac Sackett of West-
field. In the latter part of May Gov. Dummer proposed to Capt.
Dwight to raise a party of rangers, to which consent was given
by the sturdy officer, with the suggestion, "It seems to me
the most probable place to be attained, and the most servicea
ble when done, is Meseesquick, Gray Lock's fort."
The expedition started July 27, and after terrible hard-

348 Westfield and its Historic Influences
ship returned Aug. 29, having reached Lake Champlain and
the region of the fort, but without having attacked it because
their provisions failed. The death of Governor Vaudreuil,
Oct. 25, 1724, and the weariness of the Indians with the strug
gle, opened the way for a treaty of peace signed with the eastern
Indians at Boston, Dec. 15, 1725, which, however, did not
bind the western Indians. Gray Lock held aloof from it, and
in the year foUowing he gathered a band about Otter Creek
to make an incursion on our border, but they did not carry
out the plan. In the autumn of that year, 1726, an earnest
effort was made through the commissioners at Albany to con
ciliate him. They sent him a message early in January, 1727,
by his brother Malalamet, urging him to come to Albany,
but the message, like the presents sent in earlier years, missed
him. Dr. Emerson Davis, in his all too brief history of West-
field, relates the foUowing incidents: "There was an old Indian
whom they caUed Grey Lock that produced considerable
commotion among the people. He was constantly skulking
about, waylaying them for the purpose of taking captives.
He caught a young lad by the name of Loomis who went out
of the fort in the early part of the evening to get cherries.
He was soon released. Mr. Bentley in the east part of the
town worked at ditching all one summer. He uniformly
set his loaded gun one rod before him, and when he had cut
his ditch up to the gun, would move it forward again, but
the next year he was taken. Grey Lock said he had watched
for an opportunity to take him all the previous year but could
not: he might have kiUed him but he wanted captives. Mr.
Bentley was afterward released.
"Mr. Noble who lived near where Ambrose Day now
lives [on the present location of the State Sanatorium] was
much exposed. One night during family prayers Grey Lock
stepped up and puUed the string and let the door swing open,
some of the family shut the door and as soon as aU was quiet
he would pull the string again. Mr. Noble was persuaded
by his friends to move into Town.
"Mr. Phelps, who lived in Shepard Lane, returning from
work at Pochassuck came to the fording place of Great River,
and saw three Indians in the River. He considered his situa-

Father Rale's War 349
tion perilous. They were coming towards him. He clapped
his hands and exclaimed, 'here they are my brave boys, rush
on, we have them!' at which the Indians took alarm and
escaped." In a letter from Joseph KeUogg, an Indian interpreter,
giving news from Canada to Gov. Shirley, Dec. 3, 1744, among
other items this appears: "Some of the young Scatacooks
have gone to Canada to live with Greylock at his fort at
Massoeekoyneag where they have a French priest."
The Scatacooks were a small tribe of Hudson River Indians
living about 15 miles above Albany on the east side of the
stream. The signing of the Boston peace treaty left Hampshire
at rest from Indian incursions for eighteen years.

CHAPTER XVII.
King George's War
During what is known as King George's War, or the Old
French War, of four years, 1744 to 1748, the Hampshire fron
tier was farther from Westfield than during the earlier wars.
Hampshire included somewhat more than the area of the
present four western counties, Hampden, Hampshire, Frank
lin and Berkshire. At the time of the ratification of the
treaty of peace with the eastern Indians in 1726, it contained
twelve towns, Springfield, Northampton, Hatfield, Hadley,
Deerfield, Northfield, Brookfield, Suffield, Enfield, Brimfield,
Sunderland and Westfield. Thus it extended into Connecti
cut on the south, into Worcester County on the east, and over
the New Hampshire line on the north.
During the eighteen years of respite from Indian depreda
tions, the upper towns of the valley were enlarged and strength
ened and settlers pushed farther up the river. The building
of the Block House in 1724, known as Fort Dummer, carried
the technical frontier a score of miles farther north, but later
other townships were laid out in a series, one to four, running
still farther up the river, No. 4 being where Charlestown,
N. H., now is. Still, however, when war was again declared,
Westfield was a frontier town and had to pass through famU
iar experiences of exposure and menace. Each fortifica
tion in any border town, as well as each garrison and each
scouting party, helped to protect the whole border, because
it made the common foe more wary, and rendered depreda
tions more difficult and hazardous, though aU the defenses
combined did not insure any town on the whole border from
either sneaking depredation or carefuUy planned assault.
Danger of the latter had, indeed, become almost negligible
since the earlier wars, the Indians having no relish for attack
ing fortifications which had to be carried by direct charges,
even when supported by trained soldiery of the French.
A natural result of the unfortunate boundary dispute
between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was the loading

King George's War 351
upon the already overburdened shoulders of the original and
stronger Colony of an unequal share of responsibility for the
support and protection of the new up-river hamlets.
From the first settlement of New Hampshire in 1623 to
its formal separation for independent existence in 1741, it
had been under the administration of the Massachusetts
Court. By the original charter of Massachusetts its northern
boundary was made an east and west line, "three miles north
of the Merrimac River." Massachusetts claimed that any
point of that river might be made the basis of such a line,
which would have carried the boundary a third of the way
up the state of New Hampshire as constituted at present,
since the river became known by the name Merrimac at the
junction of its two main branches at Franklin. It would
probably have been possible to compromise on a point three
mUes north of the mouth of the river, which would have run
the Une so as to bring Fort Dummer, just below Brattleboro,
within the Bay State territory. The matter, however, hav
ing been carried to the Privy Council in England, its decision,
from which there was no appeal, determined the line to start
from the southernmost bend of the stream, just above Lowell,
and Surveyor Richard Hazen ran the new line accordingly.
This deprived Massachusetts of a strip of territory of four
teen mUes wide and fifty miles long which would have belonged
to the elder Colony had the line run, instead, from Franklin.
Fort Dummer, as weU as the four townships above, became
the property of New Hampshire, though that Colony was too
feeble to defend the newly acquired settlements and forts.
Soon after the breaking out of King George's War, Gover
nor Shirley appointed a committee of three to construct a
line of forts "from Colrain to the Dutch settlements." John
Stoddard of Northampton, Colonel of the Hampshire militia,
was chairman of that committee, and the other two members
were Oliver Partridge of Hatfield and John Leonard.
The first formal action of the committee of which we
have a record is indicated by a letter from Col. Stoddard to
Capt. WiUiam WUliams, which is preserved among the valuable
WiUiams manuscripts in the Pittsfield Atheneum. At the top
of the sheet is the following note: "The fort 60 feet Square
Houses 11 feet wide Mounts 12 feet Square 7 feet high 12

352 Westfield and its Historic Influences
feet High the fort roof of ye Houses to be shingled the Soldiers
Employed to be aUowed the Carpenter nine shUlings others
six shillings a day Old Tenor."
The letter appended records the initial act in execution
of a formaUy adopted strategic policy of defense of the old
Hanpshire frontier :
"Sir you are hereby Directed as soon as may be to Erect
a fort of the Dimensions above mentioned and you are to
employ ye soldiers under your command, viz. such of them
as are effective men and to aUow 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 NaUs that may be necessary the fort is to be
erected about five mUes and a half from Hugh Morrison's
house in Colrain in or near the line run last week under the
direction of Colo Timo 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 more forts
may be Erected Each to be about five miles and a Half Dis
tance upon the line run Last week as above mentioned or
the pricked line on the plate made by Colo Dwight you wiU
have with you.
"and further you are to order a sufficient guard of 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 undr the Command of Capt. Elijah in case there be any
such that wiU be proper to be Employed in building sd fort
you wiU 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. WiUiam WiUiams,
Northampton, July 20, 1744."
The following certificate was added:
"We the Subscribers being appointed by his ExceUency to
build a Line of forts from Colrain to the Dutch Settlements
8sc. Do approve of the building of a fort in ye place above

King George's War 353
mentioned and also of the manner of building the same and
the pay to be allowed therefor. John Stoddard, 1
01. Partridge, \ Committee"
John Leonard, J
Col. Timothy Dwight of Northampton, who surveyed
that line for the chain of forts, was the officer who, in 1724,
when a Lieutenant, built Fort Dummer. President Dwight
of Yale CoUege was his son.
Capt. WUliams promptly executed the above order, and
the blockhouse when completed in what is now the town of
Heath, was caUed Fort Shirley, named in honor of the Gov
ernor. Capt. WiUiams spent the winter there and it seems proba
ble that early in the spring of 1745 he built Fort Pelham,
which was rather a strong stockade than a fort of the block
house pattern. It was located in what is now the town of
Rowe and was never very important except as a link in the
chain which formed the strategic defense of the northwestern
border of Hampshire.
It may have been while Capt. Williams was engaged in
its construction that he received the first caU for volunteers
on that romantic expedition which, in a way that seems little
short of the miraculous, resulted in the capture, by a band
of raw provincial troops, of Louisburg, "the Gibraltar of
America." The foUowing letter, preserved, like the one previously
quoted, in the Pittsfield Atheneum, aroused Capt. Williams
from the petty details of garrison duty, supervision of parties
scouting on snowshoes, and plans for the erection of a stockade,
to a scheme of stupendous import, though its details are not
mentioned in this dispatch, not even the point to be attacked.
The fact that it was Louisburg had been guarded most scrupu
lously when at first suggested by Shirley to the Council, but
it soon became an open secret which was speedily whispered
from mouth to mouth throughout the Colonies.
"Northampton, Feb. 25, 1745.
"We are raising two or three companys of Volunteers
for the Expedition, Capt. Pumroy is beating up for men in

354 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the upper part of the county, I was provoked (when we mus
tered) 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 cant yet tell.
"I imagine that some of your men wiU readily List, and
if they will go they shaU 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 wUl 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 and you must be thorough in it.
"I am your sevant John Stoddard
"Capt. Williams
"Since I wrote the above, I reed a letter from the Govnr,
who depends on my getting some companies you must not
fail on your part. J. S."
Acting upon this order, the emergency of which is made
so evident, WiUiams raised a company, how large we know
not, but probably about as many as Col. Stoddard suggested,
and marched with them to Boston.
It must have been a sore disappointment to him to be
separated from the enthusiastic Volunteers who were eager
to have a part in this momentous undertaking which did not
seem in their eyes the foolhardy enterprise that it actually
was, in spite of its absurdly successful issue. His services on
the frontier having seemed to the authorities to be indispens
able, he was sent back to the important though rude fine of
forts, albeit later requisitioned for the more prominent field in
a way which he explains in a letter from Louisburg under
date of Oct. 3, 1745:
"Upon the war with France our Govr and General Assem
bly thinking it would be prudent to send a Number of Sol
diers into our Western Frontiers gave me a Majrs commis
sion (first a capts. then while the work was in progress a major's)
to command the several Companies sent thither; When the

King George's War 355
Governour saw twas requisite to send supplies to Gen. Pep-
pereU 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 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 Governour gave me a Lieut. Cols Commission in the Regi
ment of which Colo John Choate is Chief."
The records of the campaign against Louisburg which
was waged in the spring of 1745 and successfully concluded
on June 15, read like a fairy tale, interspersed with redoubta
ble feats of heroic endurance and courage. It was a martial
picnic of farmers, merchants and sailors, which was trans
formed into a conflict so strenuous and trying as to fill the
world with astonishment that it could be successfully endured
by men untrained and so iU-prepared. But the caliber of
the men made up for the inadequate caliber of their siege
guns. While crippled by the lightness of their cannon, they
wrested from the possession of the enemy such as were heavy
enough to batter down their fortress waUs and make their
numerous auxiliary batteries untenable. The whole story
of the inception, prosecution and completion of the siege,
as cuUed from original manuscripts and told by Parkman,
is fascinating and thrilling, while containing many grotesque
and humorous features.
The chapter in which he depicts the origin and early develop
ment of the plan has for its caption "A Mad Scheme." Mad
indeed it was, not only in features which were urged but
discarded, but also in the final and formal letter of instruc
tion from Gov. Shirley under which Gen. Pepperell sailed
from Boston on his Quixotic errand. The fortress to be
attacked had been under construction for twenty-five years
according to plans of the celebrated Vauban, and had cost
thirty million livres, about six million dollars.
According to Hutchinson, Belknap and other reliable
authorities, William Vaughan was the real author of the scheme.

356 Westfield and its Historic Influences
He was an extensive trader in fish and lumber, owning exten
sive lands on both sides of the Damariscotta river in Maine.
He advised Gov. Shirley to attack the completely equipped
fortress with fifteen hundred New England militia. But
the final provision was less absurd than that proposal.
William Pepperell, who commanded the expedition, was
a merchant of Kittery, Maine, who at about the time of his
majority was made justice of the peace and commissioned
Captain of militia. From that rank he rose to that of Colo
nel, commanding aU the militia of Maine.
Respecting his selection and the difficulties of deciding
upon a leader, Parkman says: "It was not easy to choose
one. The colony had been at peace for twenty years, and
except some grizzled Indian fighters of the last war, and some
survivors of the Carthagena expedition, nobody had seen
service. Few knew well what a fortress was, and nobody
knew how to attack one. * * * Shirley's choice of a com
mander was perhaps the best that could have been made;
for Pepperell joined to an unusual popularity as little mili
tary incompetency as anybody else who could be had. Popu
larity, we have seen, was indispensable, and even company
officers were appointed with an eye to it."
Of the large Massachusetts contingent, a third of whom
were recruited from Maine, which in turn constituted more
than a third of the entire fighting force of the state, he says:
"Perhaps there was not one officer among them whose experi
ence of war extended beyond a driU on muster day and the
sham fight that closed the performance, when it generally
happened that the rustic warriors were treated with rum at
the charge of their captain, to put them in good humor, and
so induce them to obey the word of command." (A Half
Century of Conflict, Vol. II, p. 81.)
Whitefield, who had been promoting by. his preaching
the "great awakening," when appealed to for a motto to serve
as a watchword of the expedition, after some hesitation sug
gested the words "Nil desperandum Christo duce," which
were far from inappropriate since the spirit of fanaticism was
so prevalent among these intense Protestant zealots as to
make the expedition a veritable crusade. Old Parson Moody
of York, the senior chaplain, indeed, is said to have carried

King George's War 357
with him aU the way from Maine to Louisburg, an axe, intended
"to hew down the altars of Antichrist and demolish his idols,"
according to the doughty Parson's statement.
The army finally assembled consisted of the following
contributions: Massachusetts 3,300 men, Connecticut 516,
and New Hampshire 304 in her own pay and 150 more under
pay from Massachusetts — 4270 in aU. The naval force con
sisted of 13 smaU vessels, carrying from 24 to 14 guns apiece,
together with a large fleet of fishing boats which acted as
transports for the army.
We can but smile at the sarcastic comment of Dr. Doug
lass who lived at that time in Boston, when writing that "the
expedition had a lawyer for contriver, a merchant for general,
and farmers, fishermen and mechanics for soldiers."
The most ludicrous feature of the whole affair is the letter
of instruction to the commander seriously composed by the
Governor. It was based on the theory of a surprise and in
volved arriving after the long voyage, which proved to be
very rough, at nine o'clock in the evening, landing without
noise, and sneaking in on the garrison. It should be filed
among the comic papers at West Point and Annapolis.
Among the documents of value for details of the experi
ence of the expedition is Seth Pomeroy's Journal, transcribed
in fuU in Trumbull's History of Northampton. He was a
gunsmith of that town who went out as Major of Willard's
Massachusetts regiment. In the next war he was an active
and prominent character in the battle of Lake George, and
twenty years later still, upon hearing in Northampton of
the critical condition of affairs about Boston, as Parkman
appreciatively describes, "he borrowed a neighbor's horse,
rode a hundred miles, reached Cambridge on the morning
of the battle of Bunker's Hill, left his borrowed horse out
of the way of harm, walked over Charlestown Neck, then swept
by the fire of the ships-of-war, and reached the scene of action
as the British were forming for the attack. When Israel
Putnam, his comrade in the last war, saw from the rebel breast
work the old man striding, gun in hand, up the hill, he shouted,
'By God, Pomeroy, you here! A cannon shot would waken
you out of your grave !' "
The details of the siege of Louisburg, as it progressed

358 Westfield and its Historic Influences
from late in April until the middle of June, are familiar, but
can never be reviewed without an experience of wonder, min
gled with pride, by any patriotic American. It was a most
remarkable reversal of the experience of Phips's disastrous
expedition against Quebec in 1690, of which Parkman said
in language quoted in an earlier Chapter, "Massachusetts,
had made her usual mistake. She had confidently believed
that ignorance and inexperience could match the skiU of a
tried veteran, and that the rude courage of her fishermen
and farmers could triumph without discipline or leadership.
The conditions of her material prosperity were averse to effi
ciency in war. A trading republic, without trained officers,
may win victories; but it wins them either by accident, or
by an extravagant outlay in money and life." The victory
at Louisburg may surely be attributed to accident in a broad
sense, whatever may have been the contributory causes.
Startling and disheartening as was the effect of the blow
at Louisburg upon the French Governor, it did not prevent
him from, indeed, it may have stung him to, sending out a
series of marauding parties in the following spring, 1746, to
ravage the frontiers, and make miserable the Ufe of the colonists.
There is among the New York Colonial Documents a
record in French of "military movements," a list of war parties
sent out from Montreal between March 29 and June 21, 1746.
During that brief period of two months it enumerates no
less than thirty-five distinct bands, of from a half dozen to
threescore Indians, an average of one party for every two
days, formaUy dispatched to perform deeds of dastardly
villainy upon helpless women and children and cattle, and
hardly less helpless men, waylaid and either shot down or
captured when dUigently laboring to cultivate their scanty
fields or otherwise provide for the needs of their families.
The story of the frontier for a century is a mass of harrow
ing details which outrage decency and belie civilization
through much of the period, incident to the hostilities of two
christian nations.
If the triumph at Louisburg did not relieve Massachu
setts of these exasperating hornets and vampires, it yet was
the occasion of relief from one great common disaster, that
of a hopelessly depreciated currency. For when, by the just

King George's War 359
response of England to her claims for the expense of the cam
paign incurred by Massachusetts, the mother country paid
in hard cash the full amount, £183,649 sterling, the whole
sum was most prudently employed in wiping out nine tenths
of the old tenor notes, nominally worth above two million
pounds. The market value at that time of an old tenor pound
was only one eleventh of a pound sterling. Thirty shiUings
of the new tenor biUs were required in exchange for a pound
sterling, a far less desperate depreciation. The remaining
tenth of the old tenor was at once wiped out by a stringent
tax, "and Massachusetts was restored to financial health."
Ere this felicitous issue had been achieved, in view simply
of the glorious victory of the provincial over the trained troops
of France, Seth Pomeroy, after having returned safely home
to Northampton, concludes his journal of three exciting months
in a pious and exultant pean: "My hearty desire and prayer
is that as long as I have a being I may give the great name
of God the praise of it, that he has written salvation for New
England." (TrumbuU's Northampton, Vol. II, p. 145.)
Among those bands of sneaking miscreants sent out from
Montreal in the summer of 1746 were some who hovered
around the settlements in this vicinity and wrought mischief
and sorrow. In August the houses of Aaron and Elisha Clark
in Southampton, then a part of Northampton, which their
owners had abandoned on account of threatened dangers,
were plundered, clothing and provisions were taken, beds
were cut in pieces, and other depredations were committed.
At Pomeroy's Mountain the Indians killed and wounded
several cattle and horses. Lieut. Lyman of Northampton
and Lieut. David Moseley with twenty-two men from West-
field pursued the viUains, but as usual the wily savages
escaped, to return a fortnight later and perpetrate further
wrongs. Lieut. David Moseley was born in 1704, the son of Joseph,
and grandson of John, one of the original settlers and a
"foundation man" of the church. His Mother was Mary,
the daughter of John Root, another original settler and one
of the "foundation men." The two families have been promi
nent in the affairs of the town from its organization. This
David was the first of a long succession of David Moseleys

360 Westfield and its Historic Influences
who have figured here, not uninterruptedly, but in many
generations. A son of the late Harold Moseley now bears
the name. The original David was married by the Rev.
Nehemiah Bull in 1730 to Margaret Dewey, daughter of
Jedediah, and granddaughter of Jedediah Dewey, one of
the three brothers who were among the original settlers.
Josiah, one of the three, was a "foundation man."
At the time of this pursuit of the Indians Lieut. Moseley
was serving for the third consecutive year as Selectman of
Westfield. At the annual meeting the foUowing year he
was chosen Moderator, and so served eight out of the fol
lowing ten years. He was chosen Selectman fifteen times
and perhaps oftener, since the records from 1762 to 1764
are missing. In 1749 he was commissioned as Justice of the
Peace by King George II, and in 1761 he was Representative
in Boston. During middle and later life he was one of the
very foremost citizens of the town.
In the Rev. John Ballantine's Journal we find the fol
lowing entry on Jan. 5, 1768: "Preached funeral sermon
for David Moseley Esq. Mtat 63 in ye meeting house, fol
lowed to ye grave by a great multitude of people. Spent
ye evening at David Moseley's house. They gave gloves."
As early as 1737, when he was but 33 years old, he is rated,
in the list of property holders published that year, at £114,
Thos. Ingersole, rated at £118, being the only one above him.
The two next below him are Lieut. Consider Moseley, his
uncle, rated at £110, and Cornet John Moseley, another
uncle, rated at £98. In civil affairs, as weU as in material
possessions, the family was prominent and influential through
successive generations.
A year from the time of the incursion in Southampton
which caUed out Lieut. Moseley and his troopers, the same
place was visited by another prowling band of Indians, and
Elisha Clark, who had escaped the previous year through
the abandonment of his house, was kiUed whUe threshing
grain in his barn. The miscreants scalped him and left his
body, pierced by seven buUets, hidden under some st-aw.
Again they fled, kiUing cattle on their way. The foUowing
night they camped near the house of Noah Strong in West-
hampton and left sixteen poles stuck up in the ground, pre-

King George's War 361
sumably to indicate their number. Lieut. Eldad Taylor of
Westfield, with thirty-six men, all but one of whom were
feUow townsmen, pursued them with as little success as marked
the attempt of Lieut. Moseley the previous summer.
Eldad Taylor was the youngest of the fourteen children
of the Rev. Edward Taylor, the late pastor of Westfield, and
for many years was associated with David Moseley in various
town offices. At this time he was just coming into the promi
nence and usefulness as a citizen and official in town and
Colony which marked him during his remaining years.
Among the Williams papers in Pittsfield there is a reference
to Westfield earlier in this year. In a letter to Col. Williams
dated March 1, 1747, Col. Stoddard says: "I heard by Ensgn
Noble of Westfield that there was some Hundred pair of snow
shoes carryed to Westfield last Winter and remain there still,
if it be so, doubtless they ought to be sent for forthwith and
carried into the frontiers."
It was probably to provide for some of them that on March
6 of that year Col. WiUiam Williams delivered to Capt. Elijah
WUliams, who commanded a company of "Snow Shoe Men,"
fifty pairs of moccasins, according to a record quoted by Shel
don. "At a Legal town meeting April 27, 1747 Thos Ingersole
was chosen moderator for sd meeting at the same meeting
it was voted to choose a committy to Consider what measures
to take about forting it was voted that the Commissions
Officers Si the Selectmen 8s Doctor Ashley shall be the Com
mitty to see what measures 8s what houses should be forted
and to make Report to the town what is best to be done, att
the same meeting it was voted to pay a Scout that may be
sent by the Commissioners officers out after the discovery
of the Enemy if the province will not pay them, at the same
meeting it was voted that the Select men should be Impowered
to provide a Schoolmaster untill the first day of April: 1748
this meeting was voted to be continued by adjournment untill
monday next the 4 day of May: the town met at the time
adjourned to the Committy Reported to the town that they
determined it was best to make a fort Round Stephen Kel
loggs house and Lt. Consider Moseleys and Doct. Ashleys
house and one over the Little River 8s one over the great

362 Westfield and its Historic Influences
River Si two watch boxes 8s to be done by the town At the
Same meeting it was voted: to adjourn to monday the 11th
of may at 4 o'clock in the after noon: town met together at
ye time of adjournment."
"May 12, 1748.
"At the same meeting it was voted to pay a Scout that
shall be from time to time untill the next October sent out
by the Commission officers for the security of the town against
the Enemy: the sum not exceeding the sum of 14s per day
Including what they may be allowed by the Province per
day untiU the sum of one Hundred pounds old tenor be
expended if need including what may be paid by the Province."
Turning again to the line of forts across the northern border
of Hampshire, there remains one important enterprise to be
considered. The extreme northwestern outpost, except a
blockhouse erected in West Hoosac, now Williamstown, within
a mile of the New York line, and really the most important
of the whole series "from Colrain to the Dutch settlements,"
was Fort Massachusetts. Who chose its exact location is
not known, though Perry inclines to the hypothesis that it
was Capt. Ephraim Wilfiams, who became the founder of
WiUiams CoUege, and for whom the town where it is situated
was named. It was built in 1745 and garrisoned, being under
the general command of Capt. Ephraim Williams, like the
other forts in the series. In August, 1746, while Capt. Wil
liams was absent, probably engaged in the enterprise against
Canada, a large force of French and Indians, numbering not
less than nine hundred, came up the valley of the Hoosac
from the Hudson, to attack it. Rigaud de Vaudreuil was
in command with several weU known officers as his subordi
nates. The garrison of the rude fort consisted at the time of Ser
geant John Hawks of Deerfield and twenty-one men, including
the Reverend John Norton, the chaplain of the line of forts
who happened to be there. Three women, wives of soldiers,
and five children were also there. A few days before the
investment was begun, Dr. Thomas Williams, brother of
Capt. Ephraim, had been sent to Deerfield for supplies of
ammunition. The careful Diary of Chaplain Norton says,

King George's War 363
"Lord's Day 8s Monday, 17th and 18th. We met with no
disturbance, nor did we discover the 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 griping and flux."
Thus the number of effectives was reduced to eleven men
and they were enfeebled by dysentery. That handful of men,
desperately short of ammunition, with no cannon, was called
upon to defend the fort against nearly a hundred times their
own number. But each man was a hero and the commander,
though but a humble sergeant, had the spirit of a lion. For
twenty-eight hours they held out against the fearful odds.
But one of the garrison was killed, while Rigaud reports one
Abenaki chief kiUed and sixteen French and Indians wounded,
himself among the number, which, as Parkman comments,
"under the circumstances, was good execution for ten farmers
and a minister."
In the afternoon of the second day, Aug. 20, Rigaud called
for a parley. Norton says: "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
in 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 con
sidered our case, whether there was any possibility of our
being able to withstand the enemy, for we supposed that they
would not leave us until 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."
It would have been the extreme of foolhardiness to hold
out longer in such conditions, soon to be without means of
defense other than their clubbed muskets or bare fists. To
the honor of Rigaud in this instance it is amply attested that
he treated the prisoners throughout their toilsome journey
to Canada most humanely, while encouraging the wild host
of his foUowers to wreak their vengeance on the property of

364 Westfield and its Historic Influences
settlers along their march back to the Hudson after having
burned Fort Massachusetts. He reports :
"I divided my army between the two sides of Kaskekouke
[the French name for the Hoosac] and ordered them to do
what I had not permitted to be done before we reached Fort
Massachusetts. Every house was set on fire, and numbers
of domestic animals of all sorts were killed. French and
Indians vied with each other in piUage and I made them enter
the [valleys of all the] little streams that flow into the Kaske
kouke and lay waste everything there. * * * Wherever we
went we made the same havoc, laid waste sides of the river
through twelve leagues of fertile country, burned houses,
barns, stables, and even a meeting house, — in all above two
hundred establishments, — killed all the cattle, and ruined
all the crops. Such, Monseigneur, was the damage I did
our enemies during the eight or nine days I was in their coun
try." (Journal de Rigaud.)
Those were the homes of Dutch settlers deserted by their
owners through fear of the Indians and thus left undefended.
Had the owners been there, however, they could not have
stood against such a force of the enemy.
It was from such havoc and utter destruction of property
that the rude defenses of the settlers in Westfield and other
valley towns sufficed to protect them, when carefuUy watched
and utilized during the successive wars. Even a few forted
houses, such as were provided for by the action noted above,
in April, 1747, served most useful purposes of defense, though
Westfield seems never to have boasted of a more elaborate
stockade or fort built solely for martial ends with no reference
to its use as a residence.
Fort Massachusetts was rebuilt in 1747, larger and stronger
than before, and had several smaU cannon mounted on its
waUs. Capt. Ephraim Williams commanded it with an ample
garrison. In August, 1748, two years from the assault on
the earlier fort, it was attacked by several hundred French
and Indians, but the assault was easily repelled.
The subject of the Block House, known as Fort Hoosac,
at what is now Williamstown, with the account of its tragic
assault, will be treated in a following Chapter.
Two other interesting events on the upper frontier of

King George's War 365
the valley are worthy of note, one of them quite intimately
related to Westfield through the prominence in the trans
action of a descendant of a Westfield family.
Both Massachusetts and New Hampshire having with
drawn from what was popularly known as Number 4, the
few famiUes, less than a dozen, living there realized their dan
ger at that remote outpost, thirty miles from an English neigh
bor, and in 1743 at a formal meeting resolved to build a fort
at their own charges, and that they should be assessed there
for to the amount of three hundred pounds. Parkman says,
"and to the end that their fort should be a good and credita
ble one, they are said to have engaged the services of John
Stoddard, accounted the foremost man in western Massachu
setts, Superintendent of Defence, Colonel of Militia, Judge
of Probate, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, a
reputed authority in the construction of backwoods fortifi
cations, and the admired owner of the only gold watch in
Northampton." The fort was built of hewn logs locked together at the
corners, and inclosed about three quarters of an acre of ground
and several log houses of the settlers. It had flankers, and
when completed by the sturdy hand of yeomen they proudly
claimed its superiority to Fort Dummer, its nearest neigh
bor, which had been built by the Province.
It stood directly in the path of war parties from Canada,
whether coming directly down the Connecticut from Lake
Memphremagog, or by way of Lake Champlain, Otter Creek,
and over the mountains to Black River and down that stream.
Its great strategic value was thus due to its exposure to attack.
Indeed, in two months in the spring of 1746 it was assailed
no less than five distinct times. The settlers found that,
even with the help of an occasional handful of soldiers from
below, they were unequal to its defense, and by midwinter
had aU withdrawn, leaving there only a dog and a cat to defend
what was so dear to the hearts of the sturdy frontiersmen.
The Massachusetts authorities, realizing the value of
this outpost for the protection of the lower settlements, in
March, 1747, sent Capt. Phineas Stevens with thirty men
to garrison it anew. To their astonishment they were greeted
upon arriving by the deserted dog and cat with signs of a

366 Westfield and its Historic Influences
hearty welcome. This Capt. Stevens was the same person
who so many years before had been taken captive at Rutland
by Gray Lock, at the time when the Rev. Mr. WiUard was
kiUed. He had become an accomplished frontiersman and
an intrepid and skillful fighter.
Soon after the fort had been put in a state of defense again,
Stevens discovered signs of the enemy. In fact, a large war
party of French and Indians was hovering about, under com
mand of General Debeline, as the colonial writers caUed him,
but actually Boucher de NivervUle, a French ensign. By
the aid of trained dogs which Stevens had brought as part
of his equipment, he routed out several Indians lurking behind
logs, and brought on a general attack. On the windward
side of the fort was a log house to which the assailants set
fire, hoping that the flames would be carried to the fort. But
while part of the garrison held the enemy in check, Stevens
set the rest of his men to digging trenches under the wall,
deep enough for men to walk in them protected from the
bullets of the enemy. Through the eleven trenches thus
prepared, the men carried vessels of water to use in quenching
any sparks which lodged on the outside of the wall. That
attempt having faUed, NiverviUe caUed for an interview with
Stevens, told him that he had under him seven hundred men,
and would storm the fort and put to the sword the whole
garrison. Stevens refused to surrender, to which NiverviUe
replied, "Well, go back to your fort and see if your men dare
fight any more, and give me an answer quickly; for my men
want to be fighting." Stevens adds in his report, "I went
into the fort and caUed the men together, and informed them
what the general said, and then put it to vote whether they
would fight or resign; and they voted to a man to stand it
out, and also declared that they would fight as long as they
had life." (Stevens to Col. WiUiam WiUiams, April, 1747.)
After three days of alternating attacks and parleys, dur
ing which the garrison had found scant opportunity for either
eating or sleeping, the vaunting assailants sneaked away
through the forest. Well might the heroic Captain include
in his report the complacent verdict, "I believe men were
never known to hold out with better resolution, and though
there were some thousands of guns shot at us, we had but
two men slightly wounded, John Brown and Joseph Ely."

King George's War 367
This redoubtable exploit of the faithful garrison won
enthusiastic encomiums throughout the Colonies. It so
pleased Commodore Charles Knowles, then in Boston, that
he sent to Capt. Stevens a silver-hilted sword. That act
of courtesy to their brave defender so pleased in turn the
settlers at Number Four, that they called the name of their
hamlet Charlestown, after the baptismal name of the Com
modore, and thus has it been known ever since.
The other striking affair to be considered is the one more
closely related to Westfield and is graphically described by
Hoyt. He cites it as an instance of the success of scouting
parties under brave and cautious officers, two qualities not
always united in a single leader.
In June, 1748, Captain Humphry Hobbs of Springfield
was ordered to go from Charlestown, through the woods, to
Fort Shirley, with a force of forty men. When they reached
the present location of Marlborough in Vermont, about twelve
mUes northwest of Fort Dummer, he halted to rest his men.
They were refreshing themselves on a piece of ground on
which grew alders and many large trees, through which a
rivulet flowed, when the guard posted by Hobbs on the trail
was driven in by a large body of Indians, commanded by
a chief named Sackett, a half-breed descendant of a captive
taken at Westfield in an earlier war. Though startled by
the sudden onslaught, and totally ignorant of the strength
of his opponents, Hobbs and his company immediately pre
pared for action, each man selecting a tree for cover. The
English had learned much about frontier warfare since the
days of Bloody Brook in Philip's War. Hoyt's account says :
"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 sharp
shooters. The two commanders had been known to each
other in time of peace, and both bore the character of intre
pidity. Sackett, who could speak English, in a stentorian
voice frequently called upon Hobbs to surrender, and threat
ened, in case of refusal, to rush in and sacrifice his men with
the tomahawk. Hobbs, in a voice which shook the forest,

368 Westfield and its Historic Influences
as often returned a defiance, 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 giving up an inch of their original
ground. At length, finding Hobbs determined on either
death or victory, and that his own men had suffered severely,
Sackett ordered a retreat, carrying off his dead and wounded,
and aUowing his antagonist to continue his march without
farther molestation." (Indian Wars, p. 250.)
The size of Sackett's force is estimated by Hoyt at fuUy
four times that of the English. Later in the same summer
a part of the same band killed and wounded several settlers
in the region of Fort Dummer and Northfield. This half-
breed chief was probably familiar with the region about West-
field. Doctor Davis, in his historical sketch of Westfield,
the only copy of which known to be extant is carefully pre
served in the Westfield Atheneum, says, referring to an earlier
period, "A daughter of the second wife of a Mr. Sackett (her
name I do not know) was taken captive by the Indians and
carried captive to the northwest part of New York, married
an Indian and remained among them as long as she lived.
Her descendants have been here to see their mother's friends
several times since the French war. Previous to that they
used some exertions to make others of the Sackett family cap
tives but did not succeed."

CHAPTER XVIII.
The Third Pastor
There is no direct reference in the town records to the
death of Mr. Bull. Nor is there any way of ascertaining
any of the details of his mortal illness. That it kept him
from ministering in his pulpit for some time previous to its
final issue is evident from a vote in town meeting on April
21, 1740, one week after Mr. Bull's death: "Voted to give
Rev. Mr. Parsons 3£ for his preaching the Gospel among
us each Sabbath day, he finding himself, both for the 6 Sab
baths that we are in debt for and for one quarter of a year
foUowing the said 6 Sabbaths."
Three months later the Selectmen were instructed to
engage him for another quarter, and in November it was
"voted to employ Mr. Parsons to supply the pulpit till Deacon
Shepard returns from Cambridge in procuring a minister."
According to the vote of July 7, this was Mr. David Par
sons, but how to reconcile the fact of his supplying in West-
field during those months, with the account in Judd's "Had
ley" of his settlement and ordination in East Hadley, now
Amherst, in November, 1739, is a bewildering historical puz
zle. According to Judd, David Parsons, Jr., a son of Rev.
David Parsons of Leicester and a Harvard graduate of 1729,
received a call to East Hadley in April, 1737, which he
declined. He preached for some months of 1737 and 1738
in Southampton. In September, 1739, the call was renewed
which he accepted in the following terse and original manner:
"Sep. 28. Comply 'd with the request of the inhabitants
of the third precinct in Hadley. Per me, David Parsons,
Jun'r." The Boston News Letter states that he was "ordained
pastor of the church newly gathered at East Hadley," on
Wednesday, Nov. 7, 1739.
It is humiliating to the writer to have to leave such a
paradox for his readers to ponder over, and thus make them
partners in his perplexity. The conflicting records are given,

370 Westfield and its Historic Influences
however, just as they stand, and some one may find an easy
solution of the problem.
At a church meeting held on Nov. 14, 1740, it was "unani
mously voted to send a man to procure a suitable gentleman
to come and preach the word of God among the people of
Westfield." The terms respectively applied to the layman
who was to act as messenger, and the minister sought, indi
cate the high social standing of the clergy of that day. Imme
diately following the church meeting at a Legal Town Meet
ing of the same date it was voted "to joyne with the Church"
on the important errand, the same terms being used as those
upon which comment has just been made. Deacon John
Shepard was the messenger agreed upon by both church and
town. He was "directed to take the advice 8s counsel of
the neighboring Ministers & then to repair to ye Reverend
Mr. Holyoke ye President of Harvard College at Cambridge
8s to any other Reverend Gentlemen that are able to give
advice and counsel in the affair and so to take other counsel."
The result of that voyage of discovery is set forth by the
minister whom Deacon Shepard found, in a much more formal
answer than that given by Mr. Parsons to his church. The
church book contains the account in his handwriting. Its
contrast with modern methods is striking: "After solemn
fasting and prayer the Church sent to Boston for advice about
a minister and were advised to Mr. John Ballantine, he was
applied to and came up 8s began to preach Dec. 7, 1740.
"Feb. 17, 1741, the Church being regularly warned, met,
and unanimously voted to give Mr. Ballantine a call to the
work of the ministry among them.
"The Town unanimously concurring with the same May
2nd, 1741, Mr. Ballantine gave his answer in these words,
viz. "Dearly beloved Brethren, Whereas it has pleased the
great God, who has all hearts in his hands 8s turns them as
pleaseth him to incline all your hearts to make choice of me,
poor 8s unworthy as I am, to supply that breach which God
has made upon you in the removal of your late Pastor, I having
revolved things in my own mind, advised with my friends
8s having addressed the throne of grace for direction accept
your call looking on your great unanimity in all that you have

The Third Pastor 371
done relating to me to be a voice of God to me to do so. I
henceforward devote my time and talents to the glory of God
in the service for your souls, and in promoting to my utmost
your eternal salvation 8s I hope in this I do this in the fear of
God, sensible of my own weakness Si entirely dependent upon
his gracious aid. My dear brethren you cannot but be sensible
of the vast importance of the office I am now engaging in 8s
the great charge I now take upon me, even the charge of your
souls, I shall be accountable for your blood. You cannot
but be sensible of the difficulty of the right discharge of the
Pastoral office Si beseech you that you strive together with
me in promoting the common salvation, be fellow labourers
with me. Brethren pray for me, that I may come to you in
the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ. That
I may have all that courage and freedom that may be requisite
for a right discharge of my office, that I may be filled with
love to God and with zeal for his honor 8s glory and love to
perishing immortal souls, and may at last give up my account
to my great Master (who is now sending me into his vineyard
to labour) with joy and not with grief.
"This will not be unprofitable for you — follow after the
things that make for peace 8s tend to edify, persevere in the
present happy union."
There foUows at some length the expression of prayerful
longings for their spiritual welfare and usefulness, concluding,
"Oh that the whole Earth was filled with God's Glory, that
the will of the Lord was done on earth as in heaven.
"Indeed I am your well wisher. "John Ballantine"
The man who thus accepted the call to become the third
Pastor of the Westfield church was of Scotch and English
ancestry. The following genealogical line is compiled from
notes in the Judd Manuscripts in the Forbes Library at North
ampton and those furnished by one of his lineal descendants:
1. William Ballantine of Ayreshire, Scotland, and Han
nah Hollard (or Holland) were married in Boston in 1648.
They had John b. 1653. David b. 1658. Benjamin b. 1661.
WiUiam b. 1665, a farmer.
2. Captain John, son of William, b. 1653, member of

372 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co. 1682, Captain of it 1703.
Married Lydia Barret of Boston. Died AprU 27, 1734.
3. Col. John b. 1674, Harvard College 1694, member of
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co. 1694. Colonel of Militia.
Clerk of Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the
Peace. Representative to Boston in the General Court.
Married, March 9, 1704, Mary Winthrop, daughter of Adam
Winthrop, Sr., who was a grandson of Gov. John Winthrop.
They had John b. Oct. 5, 1705, died young. Mary b. Nov.
29, 1712, died young. Lydia b. March 31, 1715, died young.
John b. Oct. 30, 1716, Harvard 1735. Mary b. Aug. 3, 1720,
died young. William b. Oct. 26, 1724, shopkeeper in Boston,
died 1753, unmarried and insolvent. John, the Father, died
1734, will dated Jan. 2, 1734, proved Jan. 27, 1735, leaving
a large estate.
4. Rev. John b. Oct. 30, 1716, Harvard 1735. Married
July 20, 1743, Mary Gay of Dedham. Died Feb. 12, 1776.
5. Among their children was Ebenezer b. 1756, Yale
1777, a surgeon in the army during the Revolutionary War.
Married Mary Osborne. Died 1823.
6. A son of his, Elisha Ballantine, LL.D., b. 1809, Ohio
University 1828. Married Betsy Ann Watkins of Prince
Edward Co., Virginia. Died 1886. He was for many years
a Professor in the University of Indiana.
7. A son of his, WiUiam Gay BaUantine, D.D., b. 1848,
Marietta CoUege, 1868. Married Emma Frances Atwood
1875, and is a Professor in the Young Men's Christian Asso
ciation CoUege at Springfield.
A descendant of Rev. John BaUantine in the same genera
tion is Mrs. Jennie Bates Greenough of Westfield.
Among the early records of such portions of his most valua
ble journals as have been preserved are these items :
"Entered Grammar School, 1724, Mr. Williams, Master.
Entered Writing School, 1725, Mr. Granger, Master."
He took his first degree at Harvard in 1735. That was
four months before his nineteenth birthday.
"July 6, 1737, 22 had a 2nd Degree. 34 Bachelors. Mr.
Cutler, Perkins Gray were Respondents in ye Masters Class.
Mr. Hutchinson was Orator in the Bachelors Class. Lysander
Elliot, Gay Harrington were Respondents, Oliver, Orator.

The Third Pastor 373
Mr. Hartshorn had a Degree who had neither tarried the
time by Law appointed nor would submit to an examination,
the only qualifications according to the CoUege Laws.
"I left Roxbury having tarried there one year."
Under date of March, 1737, he notes the death of President
Wadsworth, "a truly Godly man, who after he had served
God and his generation for a long time died in peace."
In June following appears the entry, "The Revd Mr Edward
Holyoke of Marblehead unanimously chosen President of
Harvard CoUege."
Later in the same month occurs the item: "The General
Court have settled 600£ per annum on the President of Harvard
CoUege and have voted 420£ to settle another minister in
Mr. Holyoke's stead."
This man, who served as President for thirty-two years,
a term exceeding in length that of any of his nine predecessors,
and that of any of his fourteen successors, except President
Eliot who so recently resigned, was a grandson of Elizur Hol
yoke, one of Springfield's worthiest pioneers. It was to an
uncle of President Holyoke that Rev. Mr. Taylor makes
reference in the opening sentence of the priceless church record
book, stiU preserved and cherished. He says, as already
quoted in an earlier chapter: "Westfield, then Warronnokee,
coming to be an English plantation, had at first Mr. John
Holyoake, son to that Godly Capt. Elizur Holyoake, of Spring
field, to dispense ye word of life amongst them Ano Dmi 1667
for about half a year."
Thus when Mr. BaUantine took his second degree as indi
cated above, it was under the Presidency of the grandson
of that noble settler of this region, and a relative also of the
man, who, though not an ordained minister, had been the first
to serve in the stead of one for the benefit of the first handful
of settlers of Westfield.
Under date of June, 1740, Mr. Ballantine notes: "Presidents
Lady died of throat distemper, Scholars dismist for 6 weeks."
Two months earlier is the entry: "Apr. 12. Died, the
Rev. Mr. Nehemiah Bull of Westfield."
How far from his thought at that time must have been
the idea that he should ever become his successor in the West-
field church.

374 Westfield and its Historic Influences
The Committee chosen by the town March 6, 1741, to
arrange terms of settlement with Mr. Ballantine, consisted
of "Joseph Root, Thos Ingersol, Esq. Capt [John] Gunn,
Dea. Shepard, Lieut. Ashley, Ensine Matthew Noble, James
Dewey, Ensine [David] Moseley, 8s Doct. [Israel] Ashley Si
Samuel Fowler."
The meeting of May 2 has been already noted when Mr.
Ballantine gave his formal reply to the caU. The terms which
had been mutually agreed upon included "200 pounds in BiUs
of Credit of the old Tenor, or 200 pounds silver money at
28 shillings 8s 4 pence per ounce as the BiUs now go, and his
fire Wood, for his sallary from year to year annually so long
as the said Mr. BaUantine carries on the work of the ministry
with us."
"May 14. Thos Ingersol having been chosen Moderator.
Capt. Ashley, Deacon Noble, Deacon Shepard, Lieut Consider
Moseley, 8s John Bancroft were chosen a Committee to Dis-
cours with Mr. John Ballantine to know his mind what day
will sute him best for his Ordination to be on. The Committee
made report they said Mr. Ballantine would leave the mat
ter with the Town to determine the day of his Ordination;"
a delightful exchange of courtesies between the new minister
and his flock.
The 17th day of June was decided upon and it was voted
that "the Charge of supporting the Ministers, Messengers 8s
others that may come to Mr. Ballantines Ordination shaU
be bourn by the Town."
When the final arrangements for the Council were being
perfected, the ghost of the Breck Controversy appeared and
threw the persons engaged into confusion. In order to show
just how this old ecclesiastical quarrel affected this enter
prise of a neighboring church more than six years after Mr.
Breck was formerly ordained in Springfield, when the con
troversy should have been finally adjusted, it is well to quote
at length the records as left by Mr. Ballantine :
"At a church meeting regularly warned May 18, 1741.
It was voted to choose a Committee to treat with Mr. Bal
lantine about what Churches to send to, to solemnize his
Ordination and to give him liberty to nominate or choose
some or all of them, and Thomas Ingersol Esq. Sergt Root

The Third Pastor 375
8s Mr. John Bancroft were chosen to inform Mr. Ballantine
of it. "Mr. Ballantine for certain reasons declining to choose
any, it was voted to send to the Rev. Dr. Colmans church
8s the Rev. Mr. Welsteads church in Boston, the 1st, 2nd, Si
3rd churches in Springfield, to the church in Northampton,
to the church in Sunderland 8s to the church in Enfield.
Deacon Shepard, Capt. Gunn 8s Thos Ingersol Esq, Lieut
Ashley, 8s Mr. John Bancroft were chosen a Committee to
provide for the Churches sent to — Deacon Shepard, Capt.
Gunn, Thos Ingersol were chosen a committee to sign the
letters to be sent to the several churches to desire assistance
in Mr. BaUantine's Ordination.
"Dea. Shepard, Capt. Gunn 8s Thos. Ingersol Esq. were
desired to ask Mr. Ballantine his opinion of Church Dis
cipline and bring it in writing to the Church."
Comparing the list of churches as agreed upon with the
list of those which actually assembled to ordain Mr. Breck,
we find that those common to the two were Sunderland, and
two Boston churches, Brattle Street and the New Brick, the
respective pastors of whom were favorable to Mr. Breck.
The letter from the Brattle Street Church was cordial
but guarded in its expressions, and Mr. Ballantine fortunately
furnished us with an explanation of it in the church record.
"June 7th 1741.
"To the Church of Christ in Westfield.
"Honored 8s Beloved we salute you much in the Lord.
"It is a great pleasure to us to hear with what unanimity
you have chose Mr. Ballantine unto the Pastoral office over
you, and it would have been a further pleasure to us to have
acted in his proposed Ordination according to your desire,
but beside the distance, there are some special difficulties in
the way at this juncture which oblige us to pray you to excuse
us Si at the same time to accept our thanks for the Xtian
respect you show us by your letter. We do by these dis
miss Mr. Ballantine from his relation to our Church as a
brother, to be received into your sacred Body, with our ear
nest prayers that in him you may long enjoy a precious gift
of the ascended Saviour 8s that there may be the evident

376 Westfield and its Historic Influences
tokens of the presence of the great head of the Church in
the solemnity before you.
"We are your Brethren in the faith Si fellowship of the
Gospel. Pastors in
the name of

"Boston June 7th 1741."

Benjn Colman
Wm Cooper

the Church.

Immediately foUowing this letter, which it wiU be noted
indicates that Mr. Ballantine had been in its membership,
he adds the following interesting explanation :
"N.B."The reasons of this church not sending was the difference
between the First Church in Springfield and some of the neigh
boring churches, which has for a long time subsisted, they
declaring that they did not concur with that Church.
"Mr. Cooper who was for Springfield 1st Church thinks
it would be most for peace if the Ordination were carried
on by the Gentlemen that opposed Mr. Breck.
"Mr. Cooper gives this reason in his letter to Mr. Bal
lantine. "Then the Church agreed to meet next day."
This interesting side light on the aftermath of the con
troversy, now published probably for the first time, suggests
several inferences. The pastors of the Brattle Street church,
though they had triumphed over the opposing faction of the
Hampshire Association of ministers, were not inclined to
foster a renewal of the bitter quarrel, and in a spirit of christian
forbearance and generous diplomacy made the suggestion
indicated above, hoping to heal any breach among the churches
which might have remained at the time. We may also infer
that because Mr. Bull had been in the party of opposition
to Mr. Breck, the conclusion was commonly drawn that his
church sympathized with him in that hostile attitude. This
conclusion may have been erroneous.
There is also strong evidence afforded by Mr. BaUantine's
refusal to have any part in naming the churches which should
be invited to the council, that he was a man of wisdom and

The Third Pastor 377
of peace, declining to be drawn into the old quarrel, or to
do aught to involve his church in its continuance.
The whole affair is certainly an interesting bit of church
history in that polemic period now nearly two centuries past.
The sequel is also interesting, and shows how narrowly
the church escaped a tragic fiasco in its earnest attempt to
secure the orderly induction to office of its chosen pastor,
as subsequent records show:
"June 8th they voted to send to the church in Hatfield,
Brimfield, Sheffield and Deerfield. At that meeting Mr.
BaUantine declared that the Congregational principles are
most agreeable to the natural rights of mankind."
What was the occasion of that oracular deliverance does
not appear. It may possibly have been prompted by a new
sense of appreciation of the fundamental principle of that
body of christians, namely, the absolute autonomy of the
individual church. If the people eager for ordination could
not secure their first choice among the churches, they were
perfectly free to send invitations elsewhere.
But the story of that council is not yet completed:
"June 17th 1741.
"All the churches sent to met, except Rev. Dr. Coleman's
Si Walsteds in Boston, the church at Hatfield 8s the church
of Sheffield. "The Church met Si desired the several Elders Si Mes
sengers present to prceed in the Ordination.
"Deerfield Church excused themselves because we said
in our letter to them that the several churches with whom
they were to act were enumerated and the first church in
Springfield being not with them they had no power to act
with them.
"N.B. Revd Mr Breck declined coming upon the account
of the difference there was between him and the other min
istry, but his church being uneasy at his declining 8s this
church stiU persisting in their desires that he should come,
he came Si Revd Messrs. Williams, Hopkins, Reynolds Si
Edwards withdrew, declaring their consent 8s approbation
to Mr. Ballantines Ordination and that the only reason for
withdrawing from the Council that they could not act with

378 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the first church in Springfield — so that the council was made
up only of the church in Sunderland, the church of Brim-
field 8s the 1st Church of Springfield, who, after Mr. Bal
lantine declared his principles as to the fundamental articles
of Religion, proceeded to ordain him.
"The Revd Mr Breck began with prayer, Revd Mr Rand
preached from 2nd. Cor. 6:10 — 'As poor yet making many
rich.' He also prayed and gave the Charge. Rev. Mr. Bridg-
man prayed Si gave the right hand of fellowship.
"We sang the 100 Psalm and were dismissed with a blessing."
It seems incredible that four ministers of the meek and
lowly Jesus, who taught brotherly love and forgiveness of
injuries as fundamental principles of His Kingdom, could
have acted in so churlish and pigheaded a manner. They
included Rev. William Williams of Hatfield, the Nestor of
the vaUey, and Rev. Jonathan Edwards of Northampton,
the prince of American pulpit orators of early days, the most
profound theologian of his day and perhaps of any period
of American life yet reached.
Strange indeed are the absurdities and outrages, the injus
tices and the tyrannies, which have shocked and cursed the
world at the behests of warped and misguided consciences.
Mr. BaUantine spreads upon the record no hint of criti
cism or complaint because of the unbrotherly treatment of his
brethren who had given him such a cruel reception when
entering what was euphemisticaUy called the fellowship of
the churches.
The whole matter at issue respecting Mr. Breck's ordina
tion had been solemnly and clearly passed upon with approval
by the General Court and Mr. Breck was faithfuUy and effi
ciently serving his Master and his people.
Mr. BaUantine's Journal for the years 1741 and 1742
unfortunately is lost, and there is no entry respecting him
on the Town Records from the time of his ordination until
Feb. 1, 1743, when a vote was passed that "Doctor Israel
Ashley be Impowered to give the Reverend Mr. John Bal
lantine, in the name and behalf of the Town, a well executed
Deed of the DweUing house, barn and home-lot that was the
Reverend Mr. Bull's late of Westfield Deceast, to act as agent
of the town of Westfield."

The Third Pastor 379
It is worthy of note that in that house Mr. Ballantine
from time to time entertained each of the ministers who had
been so obdurate at the time of his ordination. By their
friendly visits they surely verified the claim made before the
council that their objection and action in withdrawing were
based upon ecclesiastical, not personal grounds.
The house presented by the town in February, 1743, was
without a presiding mistress for several months. On July
9 the Rev. John Ballantine was published in Westfield to
Mary Gay of Dedham, Mass., though he makes no reference
thereto in his Journal, but the entries for September foUow
ing deal quite in detail with a momentous event in his life.
"12th Set out for Boston with Mr. Maudesley, dined at
Lambs, lodged at Hinds, Brookfield." That was a good
day's trip for a man on horseback, being more than forty
miles, but the next day's was considerably longer:
"13th Breakfasted at Sergeants, Leicester, dined at Marl
boro, came through Framingham, Sherburne, Natick, Need-
ham, Dedham, lodged at Dedham, at Mr. Gay's.
"16th Rode to Boston with Mr. Gay, lodged at Mr Wade's,
returned by way of Milton to Dedham.
"17th Went to Boston, returned to Roxbury, lodged at
Mr. Walton's.
"18th Preached, A.M. for Mr. Walton from 1 Cor. 13:8-10."
Turning to discover what this expectant bridegroom chose
for his text, it is no shock to find that the opening words of
the passage are, "Love never faUeth."
"19th Went to Boston, rode to Dedham.
"20th Was married to Molly Gay by Mr. Dexter.
"23rd Went to Boston by way of Milton; bargained with
Mr. Trescott for a Chair.
"24th Chair sent to Dedham. Deacon Tinker and Mr
Nash came to assist me in bringing home my wife."
The chair to which he refers was doubtless such a wheeled
vehicle as Alice Morse Earle thus describes, "The chair so
often named in letters, wills, 8sc, was not a sedan-chair, but
was much like a chaise without a top."— (Early Stage-Coach
and Tavern Days, p. 258.)
This luxurious article, as then considered, which the gal
lant gentleman provided for his bride, to make the journey

380 Westfield and its Historic Influences
less tedious than it would have been on a pillion, though less
romantic as well, was not improbably the first vehicle of the
kind to be introduced to the frontier town where he was to
establish her in his home.
Mary Gay was the daughter of Rev. WiUiam Gay, pastor
of the church at Dedham.
There is a break in Mr. BaUantine's Journal as preserved,
from the time of his arrival home on that tedious wedding
trip until January, 1753, a period of ten years. Even the
portions which have escaped loss and the ravages of time
are of inestimable value. This Journal of a country clergy
man sheds much light, direct and indirect, upon the life of New
England in his day. Because of his location in a frontier town
it lacks much of value and interest which attach to the more
famous Diary of Pepys in London a century earlier, and to a
less degree to that of Judge Sewall in Boston during a period
midway between that of Pepys and this of Mr. BaUantine.
Nevertheless, this one of the provincial parson is well worthy
of publication in full, which at some time it certainly ought
to receive. To any one especiaUy interested in the affairs
of Westfield during the period which it covers its value and
interest are immense. Not only does it furnish a minutely
detailed account of the daily life and activities of the minister
of the town, but it is amazing to note the evidence which
it affords of the breadth and scope of his familiarity with the
general affairs, civil, ecclesiastical and personal, of New Eng
land, while often including events and issues of the adjacent
Colonies and countries oversea.
It is, therefore, a serious question as to the extent to which
it would be wise and justifiable to incorporate its varied details
in a work of this character. The temptation which assails
the author is in the direction of profuseness, since it seems a
pity to deprive the public of a large part of material so uniquely
interesting and valuable. That what is furnished wiU prove
to be of such a character is the ground upon which the generous
policy is foUowed.
It begins while he was a student at Harvard, and from
that early period extracts wiU be made.
"Feb. 6. 1737. There was an earthquake about three
quarters after four in the afternoon.

The Third Pastor 381
"10. Mr. White ordained at Norton village.
"March. The market down by a mob in the night, they
were disguised.
"7. Public Fast. Major Bowler my Landlord died. A
very pious man and submissive to God.
"April. Very cold for the season, a very backward Spring
and the past winter was a very hard one and many have suf
fered from the cold.
"11. Cold weather remaining. Capt. Waterhouse from
England kept below for the small Pox.
"18. 2 ships arrive from England.
"20. We have Easterly winds for 9 days blowing hard.
"25. Mr. Davenport succeeds Mr. Harwood deceased at
Kings Chapel.
"May 6. Died the Revd. Mr. Ward Clark of Kingston in
the Province of New Hampshire.
"13. 6 men went out fishing, boat overset. 3 men drowned.
"17. The Rev. WiUiam Hooper ordained at Salem. Much
cattle have perished this spring, a very melancholy account
from the East that they have no corn to put in the ground
and the people have to eat clams not having any bread, which
has caused fluxes, the people and cattle are so weak that they
are not able to work. 6 yoke of cattle have been seen plow
ing on land broke up last year.
"June 4. very hard thunder and lightening. Capt. Pit
man of Salem and a young woman of Boston were Killed by
it. There was a violent wind which blew down several trees.
"Revd. Mr. WiUiams of Weston preached before the Artil
lery Co. They chose Hon. Richard SaltonstaU Capt. Samuel
Adams Esq. Lieut, and Mr. John Darrell, Ensign.
"August 4, 1737. Genl Court met, it being prorogued to
this time. General Court adjourned to Salisbury. The Com
missioners met to settle the line between this Province and
New Hampshire. The sickness is very fatal at Marblehead,
they say that 20 died of it in a week.
"11. Aurora Borealis. , Cool mornings and evenings.
Pigeons very plenty."
Reverting to March he makes this entry: "This month
died two very old men, Mr. Stoddard of Hingham M. 105 and
Mr. Ray of Block Island ^Et. 101."

382 Westfield and its Historic Influences
The next entry is a year and a half later:
"January 1739. Mr. John Winthrop instaUed Hollisian
Professor of Mathematics 8s Philosophy in Mr. Greenwoods
room. "The currency bills of neighboring Provinces stopt. such
biUs that have been made since last May not redeemable in
silver 8s Gold not to pass.
"People that have had the small Pox are recovered. Town
quite clear of it.
"August 1739. Mr. Joseph Mahem chose Fellow of Harvard
College by the Corporation in the room of Mr. Sewell made
Judge of Supreme Court.
"Oct. 18. Obit Mater mea. Etat. 56.
"Dec. 3. Mr. Timothy Woodbridge Ordained at Hat
field Colleague with the Rev. Wm. Williams.
"March, 1740. At Plymouth two young men were scuffling
one having a hot iron in his hand touched ye jugular vein of
the other and burned it through and he bled to death in 6
minutes. "Apr. 6. Revd. Mr. Thos Clap. Windham, installed Rector
of Yale College, Conn.
"21. War proclaimed against Spain in Boston, at same
time proclamation of Governor to encourage men to join
Admiral Vernon in his attempt on ye Island of Cuba."
After the break in the Journal already noted, from its
resumption in January, 1753, we have many items of pastoral
services and visits of neighboring ministers at the parsonage.
On one day Messrs. Williams, Hopkins and Breck dined there,
showing apparently that two of the hostile brethren had
become reconciled to the Springfield heretic during passing
years. The number of guests at the parsonage during a year is
appalling to consider in this day, when the custom of making
the parsonage a free public house has faUen into desuetude.
"Apr. 18. Separates, raised a meeting house."
Mr. Bartlett estimates that the number of those dissenters
from the established order was at that time from 35 to 40.
The general movement in New England of which that enter
prise was an outcome and symptom deserves to be treated
at some length later. It was for long a very disturbing element

The Third Pastor 383
in ecclesiastical affairs, though never reaching serious propor
tions. At the close of 1753 Mr. Ballantine records:
"No of Widows in Town 18
" " Widowers " " 8
Adult Separates 38
Families in Town 157"
That would indicate a population not much, if any, below
1000, the families in that day having been generally large.
"Jan. 19, 1754. 4 Negroes publicly whipt.
"Mar. 7. Jedediah Dewey set apart for a Teacher of ye
Separate company here by Payne Stephens and Frothingham
Wardsworth. [He organized the church in Bennington, Vermont, which
he served until his death in 1778.]
"Apr. 10. Benjamin Sexton, suddenly. The first Eng-
Ush Male child born in ye town. MtaX 88 years.
"Oct. 3. Mr. Breck dined here, rode with him to hither
part of Salmon Brook.
"Mr. Whitfield in Boston."
This was his second visit in this country. The fact of
his having preached in Westfield during his former visit, has
been noted.
"Nov. 13. Thanksgiving in Conn. Flood made Little
River impassible and made great breach in Great River Dam."
Sundry entries at the end of the year indicate his lively
interest in current events.
"A mortal distemper at Holliston, from Dec. 14th to January
29th, 47 died, 27 of them heads of families.
"Mr. Goodrich house burned at Pontusuc [Pittsfield].
"A house burnt at Bedford. A girl killed at Hatfield —
Thunder. "A man stood in the pillory for making money, Samuel
Taylor whipt at Stockbridge. 30 lashes, and Ebenezer Crowfut
20 lashes and fined 3£ each for digging up an Indian 8s cutting
off his head and pretending they had killed one and cut off
ye head from him."
This was during the period when the inhuman practice
was observed in this christian Colony of offering a bounty for
such a ghastly trophy.

384 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"April 16, 1755. Association here. Messrs. Rev. Wil
liams, Hopkins who preached, Mr. Reynolds, Mr. Breck,
Merrick, Gay, Leavit Si Morton.
"President Burr Si Capt Dwight supt here."
That was the President of Princeton CoUege, the unhappy
Father of Aaron Burr.
"June 27. Chaplain at ye Fort at Lake George died sud
denly of appoplexy at Weston.
"July 4. Capt. Vails Company of Dedham breakfasted
here. I prayed with Capt. Ingersoles Co. at the Meeting
house. I dined at Major Ashleys with the officers."
These two officers were both killed, as elsewhere noted,
at the battle of Lake George.
"29. Col. Worthington here, Mrs. Hannah Hopkins, Mrs.
Sarah Worthington, Mrs. Eunice Backus. 30 dined here,
people met in Meeting house for prayer in evening."
Earlier in the week they had met there "to bless God for
any token of his presence with our forces and to implore a
continuance." Two prominent citizens died within a few days of each
other. Thomas Ashley, aged 65, fell from a cart of hay and
was fatally hurt. He was the eldest son of Deacon Thomas
Ashley, one of a famUy of eight children, the youngest of
whom was the first Doctor Israel Ashley; Deacon Thomas
was a son of David Ashley the settler.
Lieut. Consider Moseley died Sept. 12, aged 80 years.
He was one of the wealthiest and most influential men of the
town, son of Lieut. John Moseley the settler and foundation
man, the last of the five children of the family who were born
in Windsor, five others having been born in Westfield.
"Oct. 8. Attended the funeral of Rev. Mr. Samuel Hop
kins." He had been for many years pastor of the West Springfield
church, and was one of the cabal who opposed Mr. Breck's
settlement. "Nov. 18. An earthquake a little after 4, threw down
bricks from ye tops of many chimneys.
"Mar. 16, 1756. Went to Springfield, dined at Mr. Brecks.
A skirmish between some soldiers 8s inhabitants, some much
hurt. Soldiers apprehended Si committed."

The Third Pastor 385
In February of this year action was taken in town meet
ing looking toward the making of needed repairs in the meet
ing house which had been in use for thirty years. It was
voted "to repair the meeting house so far as to prefer the
frame Si windows."
A year later, Feb. 7, 1757, it was voted:
"To new cover the meeting house Si Glase it 8s color it,
upon condition that Israel Ashley Esqr. 8s others will be at
the cost to build a Belfry at the South End of the meeting
house 8s a Porch before the fore Door 8s finish it.
"Voted that the Selectmen raise 30 pounds to do the above
work. "Voted to give the Rev. Mr. BaUantine 15 pounds in addi
tion to his salary for this present year."
A considerate spirit is thus shown toward their minister
in determining to add to his comfort while improving their
house of worship. In copying the Journal Mr. Bartlett states
that appended to the page for April, 1756, there is an auto
graph of Sarah Edwards, the wife of the Northampton min
ister. The signature was torn from the end of a letter and
thus reads:
"Oblige yr Humble Servt
Sarah Edwards."
Mr. Bartlett adds the comment, "the penmanship is excel
lent," which he surely could appreciate after having nearly
blinded himself in patient labors at deciphering obscure and
execrable manuscripts.
"May 14, 1756. Sergt. Connor of Newbury, Robert
Wyllys of Westfield, David Davis of Rumford, soldiers drowned
in Great River at Westfield."
He attended their funerals on the 16th.
On a trip to Boston at end of May, 1757, he saw a negro
hanging in chains at Mr. Edwards' bookstore.
The first formal action respecting vagrants taken by the
town was on Feb. 6, 1758:
"Voted — That the Selectmen be empowered to hire a
house to employ Idle persons in to labor Si to appoint a Master
to take care and govern all such persons as are or may be sent
there by authority to be employed in labor to see that such
persons do perform the tasks that shall be enjoyned upon them."

386 Westfield and its Historic Influences
A committee was appointed for the purpose of investigating
the matter, consisting of David Moseley, Esq., Eldad Taylor,
Esq., Dea. John Shepard, Samuel Fowler, and Asa Noble.
In March of the year foUowing the matter came up again,
so amended as to include impoverished people.
"Voted. To appoint ye house that was Isaac Phelps for
a work house.
"Voted. That Joseph Root be a Task Master to take Care
and over see ye Idle or poor persons sent there by ye select
men 8s be Impowered to keep them to labour 8s keep accounts."
There certainly is no flavor of sweet charity in that action.
Its basis seems to have been purely economic and practical.
The willful vagrant and the enforced pauper, however self-
respecting, were placed on a common level under the iron heel
of a "Task Master." The final clause is to be interpreted as
applying to the Master, not as indicative of an obligation
pressing upon him to teach his victims the art of bookkeeping.
In a summary at the end of 1757, Mr. Ballantine credits the
Adult Separates as 37 and the Negroes, aU of whom of course
were slaves, as 36. That they were generaUy well cared for
is indicated by an entry, Jan. 25, 1759:
"Visited Wm Sackets negro boy Mtat. 11, in a consump
tion and Dropsy, in great distress and pain, a little while ago
firm and strong. Youth and health dont secure from Death.
I see from his distress that a sick bed is a poor place to prepare.
The lad was dear to the famUy. They would give much that
his life might be spared. Psalms 49:6-9. How sad ye con
sequences of Apostasy, how foolish to persist in sin.
"26. Caesar, Wm Sackets negro died, how many warn
ings have youth, how inexcusable if they neglect to prepare
on presumption that they will live to be old, earthly enjoy
ment uncertain.
"His Master depended on his help, vain is ye help of man.
Masters should take care of the souls of their servants as well
as their bodies. Attended Caesars funeral, when we are dead
those to whom we were desirable desire to bury us out of
their sight. A very stormy day. In ye grave, secure from
storms and then ye weary are at rest, and servants are free
from their Masters, death levels all, the lowest are equal to
the highest.

The Third Pastor 387
"Feb. 1. Visited Mr Israel Noble who has had the lung
fever to such a degree that his life was almost despaired of,
but through God's goodness was recovered to such a state that
he has been able to go abroad, a few nights ago waked up,
sweat very freely, complained of a pressure in his stomach,
on raising him up, he vomited a quantity of fresh blood judged
by ye spectators to be a pint, at ye same time purgd, face
very black, stank much, cant be raised up without fainting,
his pulse scarcely perceptible. Has a cough but not violent,
has met with no hurt. Doct. Pynchon being consulted judged
that ye texture of his blood being much broken is extrava-
sated and that though he is not sensible of one part being
weaker than another yet judges if he gets well will be [illegible]
is afraid of ye putrefaction of ye bowels. Prescribed Rhubarb
a large dose of which, not working he prescribed Caena
Liquorish, Cream Tartar, judged it necessary that his bowels
be cleansed, if Physic should work, he prescribed Elixir Vitriol
dropped on Conserves of Roses, a concoction of ye Cortex.
Claret wine, pap of wheat bread, rice for food.
"When can we say ye bitterness of death is past. The
clouds return after ye rain, when we are ready to say peace
and safety, many times sudden destruction, Jer. 8, 15. we
looked and no good came, and for a time of health and behold
trouble Isa. 64, 3. Thou didst terrible things which we looked
not for.
"How heavy is an affliction thus circumstanced, it is Uke
plunging a man again into the sea that had narrowly escaped
drowning, and had begun to entertain hopes of living.
"Mr Noble last faU 8s his wife heard an unusual knocking
at their door which began, if I mistake not, about daybreak
and continued tiU sunrise, but could hear no voice, nor see
any one though they got up."
Four months later this patient who had so long survived
that awful complication of diseases and the more appaUing
complexity of drastic doses, suddenly succumbed to the inevi
table. "June 5. Visited ye family of Israel Noble, as I have
mentioned before has been under long and distressing diffi
culty 8s has been again 8s again brought nigh ye grave, and so
far recovered as to attend ye pubfic worship last Sabbath,

388 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Ante Si Post meridian, this morning, being as weU as he had
been for some time, as he was cutting Tobacco intending to
go to Springfield, fell out of his chair 8s died instantly. When
his friends thought him nigh death, he lives — when they thought
him recovering, he dies.
"June 6. Attended funeral of Mr. Israel Noble .Etat. 57."
He was a grandson of Thomas Noble the settler, and son
of Deacon Thomas. He lived in a house about 20 rods west
of the old Noble homestead, which though long unoccupied,
and known as "the old Day house," stood near the Tuberculosis
Hospital on the north side of the Boston and Albany railroad
until a few years since.
"Mar. 16. Lydia, my daughter born about 2 in ye morn
ing. O ye goodness of God in taking us out of ye womb. God
confers favors before we ask him — before we can serve him.
"How do women travail to bring children into this sinful
world. How should we travail to be born of God. God
has given us Lydia. What obligations are we under to serve
God, God give us grace to keep us, and to bring up her and
our other children in ye nurture and admonition of ye Lord.
May ye children not only be blessed, but blessings."
"Apr. 17, 1759. John Ashley Esq. died aged 90, he has
been Captain of a company, a representative of the town
many years, and one of the judges of the Court. He outlived
the expectations of his friends, and even the desires of some
of his relation. He was forgotten as one that has long been
dead. Very few attended his funeral considering the number
of his relatives and the offices he has held.
"18. Widow Sexton aged 80, a separate, went out of
the door to-day and in a few minutes was found lying upon
the ground dead.
"The papers inform us that the Princess of Orange, the
eldest daughter of King George is dead. The King of Spain
has been in a strange condition ever since the death of his
wife. He is melancholy and refuses to be seen. He has
given an immense sum of money to be distributed among the
clergy of his Kingdom for praying for the repose of his soul.
"The comet so much talked of has been seen. The measles
have been in every house but six or seven in town. Many
have died, nine in April, one child lost the sight of one eye."

The Third Pastor 389
Here is a sample of a day's work in the life of a country
parson of a century and a half ago.
"April 9. Called up in ye night to visit David Baggs wife
— visited Elisha Roots daughter who died while I was there,
visited Old Widow Hanchet, visited Old Mr Wadkins, dined
at David Fowlers, visited Ebenr Bushs wife sick with ye
measles. Supt at Aaron Bushs, visited David Baggs wife.
"June 25. John sick, the Lord spare him and make him
a blessing, may the Lord who revived him from ye measles,
recover him from ye fever, that will be another obligation to
devote him to Thee."
This prayer of Mr. BaUantine's for his third child and
firstborn son was abundantly answered, since he reached
the age of 84 years, and was a man of very religious life.
Among several young men whom, from time to time, Mr.
BaUantine fitted for college, was Nathanael, son of Capt.
Pynchon of Springfield. Stories of some kind had reached
Capt. Pynchon which made him doubtful about sending his
son to take the entrance examinations, but it was finally
decided that he should go, and on July 17 Mr. BaUantine
started with him for Cambridge.
"20. Examination Day. Pynchon examined 8s to my
mortification as well as his, found wanting — put off to ye
end of ye vacancy [vacation]. I took more pains with him
than I had done with any, he had construed 8 Orations in
TuUy, good part of it 3 times, for Virgil he had gone through
ye Eclogues, 3 Eneid 8s had got 50 or 60 Unes at ye begining
of every Eneid to ye 11th, some part of it 4 times. He had
gone through Clarks introduction in Greek, through Mat
thew, Mark 8s Luke and entered John, rendered considerable
of it into English as well as Latin, parsed 8 verses in a recita
tion. He could perform tasks prescribed I make no doubt.
Was told by one of ye examiners that if he minded his studies
in ye vacancy, there would be no doubt of his admission at
ye end of it."
Poor Nathanael, with his heritage of culture and efficiency!
How dull or how easily rattled he must have been! His
worthy but frustrated tutor makes no farther mention of
him until he attended his funeral, Aug. 3, 1764.
The repairs in the meeting house, for which the town

390 Westfield and its Historic Influences
made provision in February of this year, seem to have been
characteristicaUy slow in accompUshment, as indicated by
Mr. BaUantine's entry:
"Aug. 1. Went to ye meeting house to see ye repairs,
drove a nail, as they phrase it."
The journey was not a long one for him, since the building
stood on the east corner of Meadow and Main Streets and
his house stood on the east corner of Cross Street, almost
directly opposite.
A year later an addition was put upon the parsonage.
"Aug. 2. News came to-day that Ticonderoga is taken.
"5. News that Niagara is taken. General Prideaux
KiUed by the bursting of one of their own shells. Gen. John
son has the command. 800 men in garrison and 100 prisoners
on the way.
"9. Attend meeting at Clark Kings to thank God for
the success granted to English arms, and to pray for a con
tinuance of his smiles.
"12. News came of the capture of Crown Point.
"15. Went to Justice [Eldad] Taylors to hear a cause
tried: Lieut. Dewey brought a writ of replevin against D.
Bagg who had impounded his sheep. Defendent plead he
had a right to do so, the plaintiff demurred on the ground
of its being too general; defendent abode by his plea, judged
good, plaintiff appealed. It was tried by the Inferior Court
and judged bad. 'Leave off contention before it be meddled
with' 'The beginning of strife is like the letting out of water'
The niceties of the law too great obstructions of justice.
"31. The whooping or chin cough prevails in town. Bears
are numerous in town this summer and do great mischief
in the fields. Squirrels and woodchuchs are very abundant.
"Sep. 6. Mr. C. minister of Bifierica discovered to be
guilty of intemperate drinking, how such instances tend
to bring ministers into contempt, how they wound religion.
how aggravated are such sins in ministers. Rom. II, 17-24.
Psalm IX. 6
"9. Sunday, a bear was killed in the afternoon. Was
it a violation of the Sabbath? Answer. If a house take
fire on the sabbath men may labor to put it out, if an enemy
come among us on the sabbath we may secure him if wre have

The Third Pastor 391
an opportunity. These beasts destroy the corn, kUl sheep
hogs and young cattle, the lives of men are exposed, it seems
therefore to be a work of necessity to and no breach of the
sabbath. "17. Called to visit a negro child belonging to widow Gunn.
"Quere. Is baptism the privilege of any but believers or
the children of believers? From 1 Corinthians 7:14 I infer
that if the unbelieving parent is not sanctified by the believ
ing one the children are not entitled to baptism. From Gala-
tians 111:14 taking it for granted that the blessing of Abraham
was the privilege of circomcising not only children but slaves
I infer that believers may give up their servants in baptism.
"Quere. might not the servants have been proselytes
and thus baptized on their own account?
"It is not said they were. Paul said believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved and thy house. Acts
XVI, 31. which means doubtless that if the parent believed
it should bring in some sense his family within the pale of the
church. "Quere. May baptism be administered in private? Philip
baptized the eunuch privately.
"Oct. 7. Went to Blandford, preached a Lecture, they
are in a very decided state about ruling elders. The Presby
terian canons say that vacancies in the sessions shall be sup
plied by the surviving elders. Mr. Morton and one elder
nominated elders, the notice had been given six weeks when
Mr. M. proceeded to ordain them. The people imagine
their rights are infringed."
It is no wonder that Mr. Morton had much trouble in
his church, trying with some Scotch-Irish members to graft
Presbyterianism upon a stock of New England Congregation
alism. "Nov. 1, 1759. Benjamin Remmington came to be mar
ried after I had gone to bed, got up and married him.
"2. Rev. Mr. Lord of Norwich and wife here with her
sister, and Mr. Lords daughter Anne visited us."
In 1720 Mr. Lord married Rev. Edward Taylor's daugh
ter Ann, his eleventh child. The daughter here spoken of,
bearing her mother's name, became the second wife of Capt.
JohnKellogginl766.

392 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Mrs. Lord very probably came with these members of her
family to visit her brother Eldad, at that time forty-one years
old, the youngest and fourteenth child of Mr. Taylor, and
Mrs. Lord's junior by nine years. There were eight children
in his family to entertain their visiting aunts and cousins,
varying in age from Eldad, twenty-six years old, who then
had been married for five years, to Anne, then two years old.
"5. Was at Capt. Sheldons, bought of him 6 Bbls. of
Cider at 4 shiUings a Bbl.
"9. At Mrs Guns, gave her a Dollar for Primus, bringing
6 Bbls. Cider from Suffield.
"10. My birth day, 1716. I have lived 40 years in this
world. Do I live so as becomes one that has had so much
time and so many advantages to know my duty — how have
I spent this time, have I spent it for God, my great Master
whom I am in so many accounts obliged to serve, how great
has been God's patience toward me. I am nearer my end,
am I nearer to God, nearer to heaven? May I work while
it is yet day, for the night cometh when no man can work.
"13. The Small Pox in many Towns, spread by ye sol
diers and very fatal.
"23. Rev. Mr. Judd Southampton dined here, also a
soldier. 2 soldiers supt here."
An account is given of a Council at WiUington, Conn.,
Nov. 28, when Mr. Gideon Noble, a member of the Westfield
church, was ordained. Mr. BaUantine was chosen Moderator
and preached the sermon.
"Feb. 2, 1760. Mr. Maxwell of Swanzey dined with us.
He has been pastor of a Baptist church, but in the late times
of confusion the church left him. He was afterwards instaUed
pastor of a church of the same denomination in Rehoboth,
but became convinced in his own mind that infant baptism
was a doctrine of the bible, and refusing to re-baptize one who
had been baptized in his infancy; he was obliged to leave
the church. He is the thirtieth child of his father, who had
twenty-one by his first wife and nine by his last. He is 72
years old, has not had a liberal education, but served an
apprenticeship to a shoemaker in Boston; afterwards, while
deacon of a church in Newport, commenced preaching.
"Feb. 10. Attended a lecture at Agawam. Mr. Breck

The Third Pastor 393
preached from Matthew xxiii, 8, after which the pedo-baptists
and anti-pedo-baptists brought forward terms of coalescence
previously prepared. It was a rare instance of Catholicism.
I was weU pleased with it. It appears to me quite reasonable
that we should hold communion with those with whom we
hope to live in heaven, though they differ from us in some
non-essentials, as the subjects and mode of baptism. All
true Christians are members of Christ. If one of the mem
bers of our body should be imagined by us to be out of order,
or should be really so, should we neglect it or cast it away?
Should we not try to recover it? Or, if we had no hopes of that
we should make ourselves easy with it. So should Christians
deal with each other. Perhaps some things are left obscure
by God to exercise the charity of his children. It is arro
gance in any man to set himself up as the standard, and con
demn or approve others according as they appear when meas
ured by this standard. I disclaim infallibility in myself and
wUl not allow it to others.
"March 18. Town meeting. The non-commissioned offi
cers, being displeased with the proceedings of the last train
ing, showed their resentment by turning out of office all com
missioned officers.
"April 28. Saw an account in a Connecticut paper to-day
of a yearling calf that weighed 355 pounds. Also a lamb
at Guilford had one head, two bodies and eight legs.
"Oct. 22, 1760. The smaU pox is in many towns and
is in one family in this town. Inoculation is practiced in
Connecticut, New York and the Jerseys. A new method
of treating this distemper is practiced, which renders the
disease milder.
"June 11. Orders came to enlist more men, a bounty
of £12 offered to each man.
"20. Two vagabond persons, a man and his wife whipt
for stealing.
"23. Visited Esquire Moseley who has just returned from
Boston, he brings news that the French raised the siege of
Quebec, and went off in great confusion on the arrival of the
fleet under Lord ColviUe, leaving their tents standing, their
cannon and ammunition in the field.
"26. There is in town a regular officer captured at Quebec

394 Westfield and its Historic Influences
in April last. He says he was discharged by an order from
the British camp. He confirms the report of raising the seige
of Quebec and says the French are in a desperate condition.
"July. 22. At Captain [WiUiam] Shepards request went
to Captain Clapps, prayed with and counseUed his company
being about to march. Captain C. gave me a doUar.
"Sep. 6. One Neal who caUs himself a doctor and has
been living about a month with Dr. Smith was publicly
whipped for stealing.
"10. News that St. John is taken by the English.
"18. News that Montreal is taken and of the reduction
of Canada complete Oct. 9. Thanksgiving through the Prov
ince for the reduction of Canada.
"Nov. 13, 1760. Visited Old Mr. Parks Si Ensign Parks.
Received a 'Johannes' through ye hand of Mrs. Dixon 8s Mrs.
Anne Ingersol, sent me by Capt. Danks from Halifax, may
the favor bestowed on me unobliged by me be returned into
his own bosom."
The foUowing items of personal reference and service in
the pulpit on a Sabbath day are selected from scores of such
notes through the years covered by Mr. BaUantine's Journal.
They emphasize strongly the thoroughly family character of
the church of that period, and the bond of genuine sympathy
and feUowship existing among the people of the community.
Church attendance was practically universal and habitual.
"30. Preached. Thanks, requested by Capt. Shepard,
Oliver Root, and Ozem Sackett, returned from ye War.
Prayers requested by Sergt. Isaac Stiles 8s Wife, that the death
of her sister, Adams of Suffield, who hanged herself with a
wheel band just having been under disorders of body and
mind, might be sanctified.
"James Stevenson prayers for his child burnt. William
Sackett 8s Wife, thanks for recovery from child bearing, prayers
desired by widow Noble that Ensign Graves death might
be sanctified. "Dec. 1. I received a letter from Rev. Mr. Breck saying
yt he cannot go to GranviUe because of ye Small Pox at Spring
field. "2. Two men carried from Widow Shepards to ye Hospital
broke out with ye Small Pox.

The Third Pastor 395
"3. Fast at Springfield 1st parish occasioned by ye small
Pox. Visited Widow Noble who is exercised with fear yt
she is infected with ye small Pox by ye 2 soldiers, broke out
at her house.
"4. A man carried from Widow Carter's sick with ye
small Pox to Hospital. Widow Mercy Ashley gave me a pig.
"7. Widow Margaret Ashley sent me a pig. Eldad
Palmer, Lee's child Si Hannah Old sick with ye small Pox.
"10. Mr. Eliakim Sacket gave me piece Beef and suet.
"11. Palmer, Lee's child and Hannah Olds were infected
by a soldier who had been dead 18 days before he broke out
Si was not supposed to have ye small Pox when he died. Palmer
and Lee's child was disordered on ye 14th day.
"14. Preached. A girl named Wright was carried from
Stephen Nobles to Ichabod Lees house, broke out with ye
small Pox. was at Doct. Smiths, he was suspected to have
ye smallPox. 4 soldiers have died in Town of it. Thanks.
Ofiver Weller, George Patterson, for preservation in ye sum
mer campaign.
"21. Preached, prayers for Lydia Kelsey and Rhoda
Hill both sick with small Pox."
Thus the horror of a loathsome disease was an aftermath
of the horrors of war, carried by returning soldiers from town
to town and then by the infected inhabitants borne from house
to house. The wonder is that annihilating epidemics did
not sweep the Province bare of population.
"Jan. 6, 1761. News of the death of King George II,
in the 77th year of his age, and the 34th of his reign. He died
suddenly. The surgeons who opened his body, judged that
his death was occasioned by a rupture of the right ventricle
of the heart.
"Jan. 27, 1761. A singing meeting at my house in evening.
"29. People sledded wood for me. Capt. Ezra Clap
gave me 2 quarts of Rum. Esqr. Taylor [Deacon Eldad]
8s Sergeant Fowler 2 qts. Sergt. Samuel Noble 1 qt. Daniel
Noble a spare rib.
"31. This month a great fire in Boston by which Faneuil
Hall Si a number of shops belonging to ye Town of Boston
were consumed.
"Feb. 3. 20 Teams sledded Timbers Ss logs to build me

396 Westfield and its Historic Influences
a barn gratis, made a supper for those who were so Kind as
to help me."
He appends a list of his benefactors in which appears the
name of Capt. William Shepard.
"6. A number sledded logs for slitwork for my barn.
"12. An earthquake.
"13. Sent for by Widow Wadkins her daughter supposed
to have ye small Pox. went.
"Detained by sickness from public worship. Have not
been kept away but one day and a half for 20 years.
"15. Thanks. Ensign Ingersol 8s wife recovered from
child bearing.
"17. Was at Justice Taylors. Capt. Moseley's Negro
examined by him for assaulting Mary Shepard ye night before,
whipt 28 stripes.
"18. Doct. Smith sent me a loin of veal, Clark Moseley
a piece of Pork 8s Sergt GiUett sent me a sparerib."
Under date of the following day he gives a list of twenty-
five men who came to hew timber for his barn and tells of
gifts of two legs of pork and two quarts of rum, and other
gifts, on the 26th.
"27. Ensign Ingersol gave me 2 qts. Rum.. Elisha Root
1 qt. Erastus Sacket 1 qt. Simeon Stiles 3 Doz. Eggs.
"Apr. 1. My barn raised. The people got ye Timber
framed it gratis, made a plentiful supper, sent in much more
provisions than was needed. The good Lord give me a thank
ful heart, let it be a motive to faithfulness. Let not their
kindness prove a snare 8s indispose me to reprove for fear of
offending good friends.
"Capt. John Moseley gave me 4 dollars. Luke Phelps
gave me a spare rib."
The considerate and generous treatment which his people
accorded him is fuUy attested in his Journal and shown also
by the town records. In February, 1759, the town voted
to add the sum of £22. 10s. 6d. to his stated salary which had
been 200 old tenor. It was explained that the addition made
his compensation £70 lawful money besides his firewood.
At the March meeting following he offered prayer and
returned thanks to the town for the honorable settlement
it had made with him.

The Third Pastor 397
At a meeting in the following May, 1759, "it was voted
to set up a New Pound on the ground near Deacon Eldad
Taylor's dwelling house where the first meeting house stood."
That vote is of great value, since it has made possible the
identification of that important historical site. It is not many
years ago that men were living who had been shown exactly
where the pound had stood and who had seen the stone posts
that marked its four corners. Several years ago the Western
Hampden Historical Society placed a granite marker near
the spot to perpetuate through succeeding generations a
knowledge of it.
"Apr. 15, 1761.
"Association at Westfield, Rev. Messrs. WiUiams, Rey
nolds, Breck, Merrick, Leavit, Morton, Smith, Lothrop, also
Mr Hooker and the Rev. Mr. Ashley here. Rev. Mr. Mer
rick preached on the 'duration of HeU torments.'
"May 5. Cold storm ground covered with snow in ye
morning. "7. Sent for to Simeon Ashleys to see a girl supposed
to have small Pox, was in doubt about her, sheared the sheep.
"9. The girl at Mr Ashleys proves to have ye swine Pox.
John Si William [sons] drove ye sheep to Blanford.
"21. Began to cover ye barn. Bought a Wig. 6 dollars.
"June 20, 1761. Mrs. Williams, daughter of Rev. Mr.
Williams of Deerfield, taken captive when about 4 years of
age, has continued with them ever since, is a Catholic, is mar
ried to an Indian. She with her husband and daughter and
daughter's husband and child being on a visit to Rev. Mr.
Williams of Springfield breakfasted with us as they went along
on their journey.
"July 6. Mr. Throop preached at Jonathan Fowlers. He
is a trimmer, he tries to please me and the Separates.
"10. Mrs. WiUiams, her husband, her daughter, her
daughter's husband and grandchild dined here on their way
back to Canada.
"July 21. Mr Throop came to ask me to preach at Capt.
Nobles. He tries to please me and the separates. He had
no credentials: I declined. My going would look too much
like countenancing him.
"30. Doct. Mather was married in Meeting house."

398 Westfield and its Historic Influences
That must have been a sensational innovation, being the
first record of such an incident.
"Aug. 10. Doct. Mathers house raised. I supt with ye
company. "12. Fast observed by us occasioned by drought, ditched
my well next to ye house. Well at ye barn very low — drove
ye cows to ye River.
"14. River very low, difficult to get grinding.
"21. A young man kUled by a Rattle snake at Farming-
ton. Deacon Merrick's son of Springfield mountain. [The
historical basis of the old song 'Springfield Mountain,' of two
generations ago among coUege boys.]
"22. Rained all night and day.
"Sept. 3. General fast throughout the Province on account
of the drought, and a fire which has run over many mUes of
land. By order of the Court of Gt. Barrington, Warham
Williams is to stand in the piUory. Carl and one other is to
be whipt for making and passing counterfeit doUars.
"Sept. 7. Visited Dr. Smith's wife, who is unusuaUy
affected. Her head is turned back and one quarter round,
so that her face is over her shoulder, looking up.
"Daniel Fowler licensed to be an Innholder instead of
Deacon Taylor who resigned.
"Sept. 12. News reached here to-day of the surrender
of Havana to the English, August 11. The spoUs are to be
shared by the sea and land forces. The share of the general
officers is 12,000 pounds sterling. Nine ships of the line were
taken at Havana.
"Sept. 24. A young man in Montague shot his father
the other day, whUe hunting. He saw him, dressed in black,
at a distance, through the bushes, and took him for a bear.
"Oct. 14. Went to Suffield in a chair."
Very probably it was the one which he purchased in Bos
ton for the comfort of his wife on her wedding journey.
"Oct. 20. George Throop has turned churchman.
"Oct. 29. A lad in Boston fell into the water, sank, and
when taken out was to all appearances dead. By wrapping him
in a warm blanket and rubbing with fine salt, he was restored.
"21. A number of Turkey Hills people in conjunction
with people in South part of Town violently took 

The Third Pastor 399
wife and set her on a rail and carried her on their shoulders,
they set her likewise on a sharp back horse, carried her along
hooting at her and ringing cow beUs and blowing horns, ye
pretense was (adultery) and maltreatment of her husband.
O tempora, O mores.
"Nov. 4. We found out on looking over our linnen that
was washed this week that 2 shirts of Brother Josephs were
stolen, 4 of mine and 1 of my wife's and 3 Handkerchiefs were
stolen off the hedge. Some Regulars were in Town last even
ing. We suspected them.
"5. Brother Joseph set out after the thieves, overtook
them at Sheffield, got a warrant from Brigadier Dwight,
searched them, found the linnen. The feUows were whipt.
He got the Unnen and 3 dollars.
"11. Mr. Oliver Noble late minister of Coventry, Conn.
lodged here. There was great opposition made to the gentle
man's settlement at Coventry 8s by some unguarded expressions
about a black velvet Cape on a white great coat gave such
an handle against him as occasioned his dismission from there.
Singularity in dress sometimes proves a snare to one that
has a mind to be popular. We should dare to be true though
we expose ourselves to banter 8s ridicul — a small spark may
be blown up to a great flame. Be careful what you say and
before whom. Dont meddle with other people's affairs, by
asking impertinent questions, it may lead to bad consequences.
'Tec. 6. Attended Dr. Smith's wife's funeral. As her
disease and manner of death were remarkable, so was she
remarkable, in her fife. She was indicted, on the charge of
being confederate with Crocker in counterfeiting dollars,
plead guilty, was fined and imprisoned. She previously
had declared, under oath, that she knew nothing of it. She
was suspended from the church and never restored. She
appeared unmoved at the prospect of death and professed
hopes of happiness.
"Feb. 15, 1762. Town meeting. The inhabitants of the
south part applied to the town to pay George Throop, who
has been preaching to them, but were refused because they
employed him contrary to the advice of standing ministry.
"March 16. Mr. Throop was warned out of town with
his wife."

400 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Whether or not he heeded the warning, five months later
he dined with Mr. Ballantine, and in May of the foUowing
year he preached for Mr. Ballantine.
"May 20. Married David Moseley. I asked none of
ye guests tho ye wedding was at my house. I did not pre
tend to do much. Esq. Moseley made a supper, on that
account thought it proper to caU ye guests, besides I judged
it liable to less exception not to invite any than not to invite
all. "22. Notwithstanding my care not to give offense with
regard to ye marriage that was at my house, much offense was
taken. "24. Some pretend that we not only did not invite them
but hindered their being invited to the marriage. How watch
ful is Satan for opportunities to alienate people from me.
What need of prudence by a minister. That is a most reasona
ble caution Christ gives, be ye wise as serpents and harmless
as doves. What care need be taken in ye conduct of every
affair, that we be not the occasion of others seeing."
The bride who was the unconscious occasion of that
unseemly rumpus in the parish was Lydia Gay, a niece of
Mrs. Ballantine, who outlived her husband many years and
who has been clearly remembered by people not long gone
from earth, as a refined and lovely gentlewoman. Her death
at the great age of 93 years did not occur until 1835. David
and Lydia Moseley had ten children, the firstborn having been
David, the third in line of the name, who was the great-great
grandchild of John Mosely, the settler and foundation man.
"June. 2. Rev. Mr. Forbes of Brookfield and Mr Asaph
Rice a missionary to the Indians visited us.
"7. Matthew Noble's house raised, supt at Engsin Nobles.
[Matthew, his Father.] We prayed and sung psalms.
"9. My wife d — d of a son, three o'clock in the morn
ing, blessed be God for his goodness to my family. Mrs.
Bagg came to nurse my wife.
"June 13. Preached. Thanks for my wife's safe deliv
erance also James Stevenson's wife. Baptized my child,
called his name Winthrop. My 5th child was called Winthrop
8s was suddenly taken from us. May this serve to remind
us of the uncertainty of children and all other comforts, may

The Third Pastor 401
it quicken us to do our duty to our children while we have
them, not knowing how soon they may be taken from us.
We first lost a Lydia [died Aug. 27, 1749, aged 2 1/3 years]
then a Winthrop [died Sep. 23, 1758, aged 4^ years] The
repairer of breaches granted us first a Lydia, then a Winthrop.
O that he who renews the face of ye earth would give us a
new heart. May new mercies beget new love and bring forth
new praises. We have dedicated him to God, may we bring
him up for God.
"23. Scholars mowed in home lot."
These literary husbandmen were the several pupils whom
Mr. Ballantine was fitting for college.
"24. Had ye cholic. Azariah Moseley married to Miriam
Parsons, was invited to sup with them, not able to go.
"July 4. Hot. Preached. My wife went out of doors.
"7. Sylva came to live with us."
She was a slave belonging to Rev. William Gay, Mrs.
BaUantine's brother in Suffield.
"8. Rode out with my wife to-day.
"One Spring, of Tyringham, having drank pretty freely,
got upon a brisk horse and spurred him to make him rear
up. He feU over backwards with Spring on his back. He
got up and seemed not much hurt. Soon after he was found
in the street. Supposing him drunk, he was carried into a
house and laid upon the floor. In the morning he was found
in the same place dead.
"Sept. 4. Samuel Eaton of Enfield here. Born in Bos
ton. Lived near my father's when a boy. I had not seen
him for 30 years.
"Sept. 24. Visited Thomas Murrayfield, hurt by a faU
from a horse, coming to public worship.
"Nov. 21. Money makers [counterfeiters] apprehended
at Suffield last Sabbath. Have seen the form of oath admin
istered by them to persons when admitted to that wicked
society. It, in the most horrid manner, imprecates plagues
on themselves if they do not prove faithful.
"Dec. 26. Deacon Taylor thanks, wife d— 1— d."
This was Eldad Taylor's last chUd, the 13th, Eldad him
self having been his Father's 14th child. John Taylor, born
Dec. 23, 1763, who became the Rev. John, was settled for

402 Westfield and its Historic Influences
many years at Deerfield and died at the west in 1840, aged
78 years. He was born 120 years after his grandfather, Rev.
Edward Taylor, who died in 1729, aged 87 years. Hence
from the birth of the grandfather to the death of the grand
son was 198 years, as noted previously.
"Jan. 22. 1763. Went to Suffield west road, such drifts
could not keep ye road, took a wrong path, found ye right
path tho' insensible of it untiU I got to Mr. Phelan's.
"25. Mr. Hathaway drank tea with us."
This is the first use in the Journal of this expression, the
expression hitherto having been "supt with us."
"26. Visited Capt. Moseley lately returned from Bos
ton, preliminaries of peace signed, several houses 8s shops
burned in Boston. Repaid Col. Moseley what paid for me
to London 3/. paid Mr. Parks 1/6 for my half of 3 Magazines
for May, June Si July.
"Feb. 10. Difficult traveUing, people go to meeting on
snow shoes.
"Feb. 13, 1763. A beggar belonging to New London
lay by the fire. It is difficult to know one's duty to such
persons, there are so many imposters. Kindness encourages
them. Some get more and fare better than laboring men,
which may tempt some to neglect labor and betake themselves
to this mean practice. Every town should maintain their
own poor, or, if in any case it is necessary for them to go abroad,
they should go well recommended. When persons are away
from home and reduced to straits, it is plain they ought to
be helped, but beggary as a trade is not to be introduced.
2 Thes. iii, 10.
"Feb. 16. Six neighboring ministers have agreed to have
lectures at each other's parish once in six weeks, if encouraged
by the attendance of the people, and if it does not occasion
young people to frolic after it. Exodus xxxii, 6, and 1, Cor
inthians x, 7.
"March. 2. Great body of snow on Ground more than
has been known for many years."
That exceptionally large snowfall marked the winter follow
ing the appaUing drouth of the preceding summer when days of
fasting and prayer were held in many places to avert the ca
lamity. Evidently extremes of weather are no modern novelty.

The Third Pastor 403
"March 16. A sheep in Milton strayed from the flock
on the second of January and remained buried in snow till
the 31st. A boy on that day, walking upon the snow, feU
through into the cavity the sheep had made by its breath.
It was alive, but could not stand nor eat, but eventually
recovered. "A sheep in Hingham had 15 lambs in five years, 14 of
which lived Ye sheep died this winter with 3 Lambs in herd.
"Mar. 24. Married Nero and Chloe, servants of Capt.
Bancroft. "May. 3. Visited Rev. Mr. Reynolds, siesed ye Friday
before with a lethargic disorder, a very threatening case.
The Lord spare ye life of this good man. It is a great calamity
to have ye PUot taken away from ye ship in a storm. Enfield
is torn by grievous wolves. They do not spare ye flock when
ye shepherd is with them. What will they do when ye shep
herd is taken from them."
Mr. BaUantine's reference is to the divisive work of the
Separates who were active in Enfield and had a church there.
"4. Saw some snow.
"6. Attended the funeral of Mrs. Bethia Noble, wife
of Silas Noble of Blandford Mt&t 24, her distemper was Con
sumption. She had such evidences of her happiness that
she was waiting to die, even desired death.
"12. Deacon Eldad Taylor chosen Representative.
"26. Capt. Shepard's house raised.
"May 21. Frost last night. Season backward.
"June 20. Visited Deacon Taylor, lately from Boston.
Esq. Otis, a representative from Boston, attempted to model
the Court. Did not carry his point, and very solemnly
resigned his seat — takes it the next day. Col. M. of Rut
land, wrung Brigadier B's nose. The Brigadier belongs to
the Council.
"Aug. 3. Went with Deacons Taylor Si Shepard to talk
with Martin  wife, most scandalously drunk last week.
"9. Peace proclaimed. 11. General Thanksgiving for
Peace." That was the formal end of the series of wars which for
almost a century had, with only temporary lulls, raged about
the heads of the devoted Colonists. Their Thanksgiving

404 Westfield and its Historic Influences
must have been sincere, deep and hearty, in view of continuous
hardships, losses and terrors from Indian enemies and their
no less treacherous and hardly less brutal and cruel French
allies. Yet the period of peace thus heralded and welcomed was
destined to continue only about a decade before the flames
' of the Revolution burst over them and their sister Colonists
along the Atlantic seaboard. They did well to make the most
of that respite, undisturbed as yet with premonitions of the
coming struggle with the Mother Country.
"Aug. 15. My wife and I set out in a Chair for Hinsdale,
N.H. Visited Mr Hooker, lodged with Mr. Hopkins, Hadley.
"16. visited Rev. Joseph Ashley, Sunderland, stopt at
Capt. Root's Montague, dined at Rev. Mr. Hubbard's, North-
field. Ashuelot river high, rapid. It was with difficulty
that we got over. Mr. Smith of Northfield fell in, my saddle
bags were on his horse, everything in them got wet. I crossed
in a canoe, lodged at Mr. Hinsdales at Hinsdale.
' "17. Mr. Bunker Gay ordained at Hinsdale. I began
with prayer. Mr. Gay of Suffield preached. Mr. Gay of
Hingham prayed before ye Charge. Mr. WiUiams of Spring
field gave ye charge. Mr. Jonathan Ashley of Deerfield prayed
after ye charge. Mr. Carpenter of Swanzey gave ye right
hand of feUowship.
"Several people fell into Ashuelot River, a pack lost of
considerable value, hard showers.
"Rev. Messrs. Gay, Tyler, Haven, each set out to cross
Connecticut River. Visited Mrs. Toot formerly Ford, who
had been captured by the Indians and her daughter who had
been preparing to take ye vow of chastity. Dined at Mr.
Hinsdale's, set out homewards, visited Mr. Evans, he accom
panied us to ye River, my head swam, was in some danger,
Jodged at Mr. Hubbard's Northfield, went through part of
FaUs Town, visited Rev. Mr. Newton of Greenfield, dined
at Rev. Mr. Ashley's, Deerfield, visited Rev. Mr. Wood-
bridge, Hatfield, lodged at Rev. Mr. Hooker's, Northampton.
"20. Dined at home."
That was a sensational journey to take part in the ordina
tion of a relative of Mrs. BaUantine's. Rev. Jonathan Ashley
of Deerfield was a native of Westfield, of whose acerbity in

The Third Pastor 405
view of conditions in his parish and outside it, an account
has been given already.
It may be well to pause for the consideration of some mat
ters which had been acted upon in Town Meeting to which
Mr. Ballantine makes no reference in his Journal, inclusive
and minute as its items are.
The custom of holding court alternately in Springfield
and Northampton had been observed from the beginnings
of settlement, while Springfield had continued to be the shire
town. It was natural, however, that with the preponderance
of population along the valley in the county which extended
so far north of Springfield, an effort should take shape look
ing towards the transference of the county capital to a point
nearer the center of population. A loud echo of that move
ment is heard in action taken in Westfield Town Meeting,
June 3, 1761, Deacon John Shepard, Moderator.
"At this meeting ye question was put to the Town to know
if the Town was wiUing the Shire Town should be removed
from Springfield to some other Town up to ye Northward,
"It was voted to ye negative.
"2nd It was voted to chuse a Committee to send their
objections against its being removed to David Moseley Esq.
our Representative now in Court to offer our objections against
its being removed as that we have heard that Col. Partridge
and Col. Timothy Dwight have exhibited a prayer to ye
General Court that it might be removed to Northampton
from Springfield.
"Voted, that Eldad Taylor with ye Selectmen be a Com
mittee to wright to David Moseley Esqr. our objections to
be offered to ye General Court against ye Shire Town being
removed." Another matter, quite revolutionary in character, a local
sensation, in fact, came up at the same meeting.
"Voted to take all ye long seats in ye body of ye Meeting
house and build or make in their places pews."
Opposition to the plan developed at once, as was evidently
anticipated, since having appointed a committee to build
pews the meeting adjourned for a fortnight. Upon reassem
bling a motion was made to see if the town would not recon
sider the vote about building pews, and was negatived.

406 Westfield and its Historic Influences
At a meeting, however, held a week later the town refused
to vote money for the purpose, and then reconsidered the
vote to make the proposed change in the seats.
A case of Yankee prudence is pictured in action taken at
a meeting in February, 1762. An article was presented rela
tive to building a cart bridge "over ye Little River, that leads
to Ponder 's Hollow or at ye Road that goes up to ye hundred
acres." It was decided to build the described bridge "pro
vided that those persons which have contributed to said Bridge
will give in what they have already done."
An innovation was brought into a meeting held May 17,
1762, John Shepard, Moderator.
"Voted — To chuse a Committee to provide a house, by
purchasing of Wm Harrison Church's house or Ezekiel Noble's
shop, or by building of a suitable house for ye use of the Town
in anything the Town shall have occation for it 8s also to set
a house on any place on ye town land as they shaU judge
most convenient for ye use of ye town, fully authorizing to
act according to ye best of their judgement for ye good of ye
town. "Committee chosen, David Moseley Esqr. Eldad Taylor,
Esqr. Nathl Weller, David Fowler 8s Capt. John Moseley."
Up to that time all meetings of the town had been held
in the only public building within its borders, the meeting
house in a double sense. What farther action in this impor
tant matter was subsequently taken, cannot now be deter
mined, since, most unfortunately, the records are missing from
that date for three succeeding years.

CHAPTER XIX.
The Third Pastor (Concluded)
Peace had been declared, and enthusiastically celebrated,
but there were stUl savages in the land who had depraved
tastes and brutal habits. Occasionally still a shocking story
reached the confines of civilization and was rehearsed with
trembling gusto.
Mr. BaUantine was always alert for any fragment of the
sensational: "Aug. 30, 1763. See in the newspapers, Sir
Robert Davens boiled and eat by the Indians."
Earlier that month he records: "23. Molly went to
Springfield to buy wool, wool is 1 shilling 6 pence a pound."
When, in the history of the valley, has Springfield failed to
draw shoppers to its stores?
"24. My Razors ground by a man who had an apparatus
for grinding on a wheelbarrow." Another modern industry
anticipated in past ages.
"29. Rev. Mr. Alexander Cummings, one of ye Ministers
of ye Old South Church, died 25th inst of a bilious Cholic.
^Etat 37.
"September, 1763, 24. Cow hunched me, it is of ye Lord's
mercy she did not tear my bowels out, how do ye preserva
tions of every day increase my obligation to serve him. may
ye bruise on my body remind me of God's mercy.
"30. Separate Meeting house raised, about 30 rods from
ye Old one, by vote of Town Meeting at Suffield.
"Nov. 10. Troubled with a bad cold, speak with diffi
culty. My 41st birthday. I must decrease, as my outward
man perishes, may my inward man be renewed day by day.
"Dec. 6. Mr. King gave 2 Fowls, half a buUock's heart,
and 2 lbs butter.
"Capt. Day gave Loaf Sugar, Brown Sugar, Rice, Allspice,
Cinnamon, Nutmeg, 5 oranges, 2 qts. Brandy 8s 2 qts. Rum.
"9. Went to Capt. Days saw ye under Jaw of an Elephant,
ye head of a sea Horse, part of ye head of a wild boar, 2 Came-
lions, saved in spirit. Supt at Capt. Day's.

408 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"Jan. 1, 1764. Preached. Thanks Sol. Roots wife d — d.
Capt. Days horse in a slay took a fright, he was untied by
his Gate, run upon Joseph Ashley's slay which was before
them Si in such a place they could not turn out, broke ye
box of his slay, hurt his Mother and Mrs. Cadwell very much.
"11. Association at Springfield.
"12. Bought a Felt Hat at Mr. Churches' 5/4, paid
him. Went to Mr. Bliss for ye News Papers, dined at Mr.
Brecks. Visited Madam Hopkins in a very languishing state,
at Col. Worthington's, stopt at Stephen Nobles [the Old Day
House] when returning home.
"Strange woman came in at ye back door of ye Kitchen
about 10 in ye evening, no one being in ye kitchen, with a
design as I thought to secrete herself there. She not being
able to give a good account of herself, I turned her out.
"31. Small Pox in Boston in 14 houses. General Court
set at Cambridge Si Hollis Hall named with a great deal of
solemnity, senate present. Keys delivered by committee to
Speaker, by speaker to Governor, by Governor to President.
"Law against innoculation.
"Feb. 12. Great River bridge carried away. WeUer's
Mill Dam and MiU much hurt.
"Mar. 23, 1764. Concourse of people to see a game of
Football for a wager. O tempora.
"Apr. 9. Saw a She Lyon at Landlord Fowlers."
That tavern was what is now popularly known as the
Biirgoyne House, for some recent years, the residence and
cegar factory of Mr. Schaefer on Main Street.
"20. Visited Moses Ashely. They had an account of
an horrid attempt to destroy ye scholars of Yale College by
Poison. The poison was taken by nigh 80 scholars. The
effects were excessive vomiting, Convulsions, Fits, sweUing,
lo."3 of use of limbs. It was supposed ye poison was conveyed
into a batch of dough, or into some fat they were melting,
hi? a French woman.
"17. Deacon Taylor Raised a barn. I supt there, sang
before Si after prayer.
"21. Town Meeting Deacon Taylor Chosen Representative.
"25. Heard from Barrington that a son of Brigadier
Dwight aged 20 hanged himself in a barn.

The Third Pastor 409
"31. Frost, beans kiUed.
"June 27. Preparatory Lecture."
This is his first reference to what became a universal observ
ance in Congregational churches.
"28. Churche's Mill raised. I prayed with them in
morning. "Feare of Sheffield dined with us. He asked whether
it was lawful for a man to marry of his wife's sister and whether
it was forbid by Lev. 18:14 and whether if a man was mar
ried to such an one he ought to put her away.
"July 4, 1764. Visited Eliakim Sackett, in a very dan
gerous condition, a Tumor on his head, it has struck in at
times, he appears in great distress and stupor, has been opened."
Mr. Pynchon, the young student whose failure to pass
examinations at Harvard was a ground of serious mortifi
cation to his Preceptor, may have been hindered by some
physical ailment even when a student in Westfield, judging
from the foUowing statement :
"Aug. 3. Went to Springfield. Attended the funeral
of Mr. Nathaniel Pynchon /Etat 21. He lived in my house
3 or 4 years. Death has long laid seige to him, he has had
a long time to consider his latter end. He was calm and
composed under his great difficulty. I hope he hath peace
in his end. Was at Mr. Pynchon's after ye funeral, they
gave me and my wife a pair of gloves.
"Nov. 1. Pot Ash first made at Westfield. ye business
set up by Deacon Taylor 8s Clark King.
"5. Went to see them make Potash.
"8. Went to see them melt off Potash, it did not all melt
this time nor ye time before. Ye cause assigned was ye bad
ness of ye ashes.
"Dec. 4. Visited Capt. Bancroft's Negro — dangerously
sick. "10. Nero, Capt. Bancroft's servant died.
"16. Preached. One of our domestic animals died, our
old dog. Prayers Captain Bancroft, that death of his negro
may be sanctified &c.
"Thanks. Doct. Mathers wife d — 1 — d.
"31. Town Meeting, to see whether we should petition ye
Genl Court for help about a Bridge over Great River.

410 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"1765. Jan 26. A man froze to death in Springfield,
His name was Symonds.
"Mar. 18. Town Meeting. South part [Southwick] peti
tioned to be set off.
"22. Ground covered with snow.
"29. Crossed ye River at Kings Meadow [opposite end
of Shepard Street] rode the wrong way, was in great danger
but through God's goodness got through without any hurt.
Blessed be his name.
"May 2. Was insulted by a principal man in Town for
a plain sermon delivered last Sabbath against idleness. May
none of these things move me. May I be taught whom to
fear. May this make me concerned to cut off occasion from
them that seek occasion, since so many difficulties in my way.
May I be thoroughly sensible of ye importance of casting
my care on ye Lord, help Lord for ye godly man ceaseth.
"May 18. Lately had news that one half of Dominica
was sunk by an Earthquake.
"20. Town Meeting. Deacon Taylor elected Representa
tive. "June 13. Informed of death of Brigadier Dwight last
Saturday. Chief Justice of County of Berkshire iEtat 63."
Mr. BaUantine attended Commencement at Harvard,
his Alma Mater, this year, 1765. His schedule of the exer
cise is interesting.
"July. 19. Went to Cambridge with Mr. Gay. Went to
Meeting House, a great concourse of people. A Latin Oration,
syllogistic dispute as usual, English Oration, dined at Mr.
Winthrop's. Was at Sir Winthrops chamber in ye Hall,
saw a number of my Class. Mr. Curwin, Swift, Smith, Durant,
Patesbe. Went to Meeting house, Syllogistic dispute, Eng
lish dialogue, Valedictory Oration in Latin. Sung an Anthem.
A great concourse of people, a long day.
"Aug. 19. Had an account of a great tumult in Boston.
Secretary Oliver who had ye care of ye Stamps had his Office
pulled down, timbers carried off, and burnt, his windows
broke. "Sep. 7. Disturbances on account of 'Stamp Act' They
hang 8s burn ye distributors of 'stamps' in effigy in divers
places.

The Third Pastor 411
"Nov. 1, 1765. Stamp Act in force but not submitted to
in consequence of which we are outlaws. We cannot have
writs, cannot recover our rights, cannot give or take deeds
or bond notes — a Jubilee for debtors. The Governor keeps
at the castle, he is treated with contempt and advertised
under the name of Peter Haking. Great collections of people
to prevent the landing of the stamp paper. General Assem
bly passed a resolve against the stamp act.
"10. Simeon Stiles family requested prayers that the
death of Ephraim Stiles may be sanctified to them. Two
months before the deceased died he told his family that his
first wife had appeared to him and after that he gave them to
understand that he should die soon.
"1766, Feb. 10. Town meeting. Mr. Miller was granted
£13 for preaching at South part of Town."
This is the first record of such a grant, a former applica
tion of a similar nature having been refused on the ground
that Mr. Throop who was acting as minister there had not
received the approbation of the ministers. Mr. Miller was
probably recognized as orthodox. Side lights on the wide
spread controversy with the Separates are frequently appearing.
"Mar. 1. Squaw Field Bridge went off.
"24. Rev. Mr. Hopkins of Hadley had his house 8s furni
ture 8s Library burnt Si barely escaped with life.
"April. 14. 3£ in money. 4 Bbls. Indian Corn. 1 Bbl.
V\ heat, 1 Bbl. Ry. Tow Cloth collected for Rev. Mr. Hop
kins of Hadley."
The generosity of the Colonists in such cases of distress is
evidenced in multitudes of cases. They gave out of their
poverty to the more necessitous.
"Apr. 13 News. Stamp Act repealed by a great majority
in Parliament on Feb. 8th."
Thus the knowledge of that important transaction was
more than two months in being conveyed from London to
Westfield. Mr. Ballantine noted under date of May 26, "Thanks
giving in Connecticut for the Repeal" and not until July 24
does he record. "Thanksgiving for repeal of Stamp Act,
thro' ye Province."
These were formal, official celebrations of the momen-

412 Westfield and its Historic Influences
tous event, but the popular response to its announcement
was immediately enthusiastic, expressed by bonfires through
out the provincial towns and general rejoicing.
At a Town Meeting held in April, 1766, a committee
consisting of Eldad Taylor, Esq., David Moseley, Esq., and
John Ingersoll, was appointed to appeal to the Committee
of the General Court "to repair to Westfield, 8s view the Great
River in order to build a Bridge Si to report to the said Court."
The devastation repeatedly wrought by that stream in
its wild excesses was so great as to discourage the inhabitants
in their efforts both to sustain thoroughfares over it and to
harness it to industrial uses. So often had bridges been swept
away by its floods that the people felt justified in appealing
to the Province for help in maintaining communication between
the different parts of the town which it separated. The
town records for the next three years are lost, and again
recourse must be had to the invaluable Journal for items of
interest. It recounts a tragic incident in the adjoining Prov
ince down the river, in connection with the public rejoicing
over the repeal of the obnoxious Act of Parliament.
"May 24, 1766. While the people of Hartford were pre
paring for a rejoicing at the repeal of the stamp act, their
store of powder caught fire which destroyed the house and
8 men were so burnt that their lives are despaired of. 2 were
kiUed instantly, 30 wounded more or less, 6 of whom died.
"31. Attended ye funeral of Deliverance Hanchet ^Etat.
72, never married, maintained by ye Town. Unhappy in her
temper, provoking in her language, lived undesired, died
unlamented. "Aug. 5. Eclipse of Sun — 9 digits eclipsed, % of ye diam
eter, about as dark as when cloudy, a luminous obscurity.
"19. Visited Aaron Dewey, his daughter and others in
that neighborhood, concerned, I fear rather frightened than
convinced. The Lord keep them from delusion.
"Sep. 9. Committee of General Court came to town to
determine ye place for a Bridge."
This was in response to the action of the town in April
voted above.
"12. Mr. Kellogg brought home his wife, supt there."
This was his second wife, Anne, daughter of Rev. Benjamin

The Third Pastor 413
Lord, D.D., of Norwich and granddaughter of Rev. Edward
Taylor. Mr. Ballantine notices frequent visits to Westfield
which she made with her parents. She was 42 years old at
the time of her marriage.
"13. Was at Sergt Samuel Nobles and married his daugh
ter Silence, to Mr. Gideon Shepard."
The groom was a brother of Gen. William Shepard and
was a deacon in the Baptist church which was organized in
1784. He died in 1790.
"17. Found ye back door open between 12 8s 1 last night.
missed a bread cake 8s some taUow.
"28. Went to Springfield, attended Mrs. Worthington's
funeral ^tat. 36. died 25th held ye pall. Rev. Messrs.
Breck, Merrick, Gay, Lothrop, had pair of gloves, had
prayers at ye Meeting house, large coUection of people.
Mrs. Worthington died of Dropsy, she had ye character of a
virtuous woman, kind to ye poor.
"Dec. 6. Kidney trouble, in pain, relaxed, when ye walls
are broken down ye Enemy will soon have a conquest.
"6. Sent for Doctor Mather, every inlet in ye body 8s
every outlet may let out life.
"8. Bridge over Little River repaired." [That was the
Squawfield bridge which was carried away March 1.]
"12. Sailors here begging in ye evening."
The January thaw must have set in early in the year
1767, from Mr. BaUantine's account of damage done by the
streams. "Jan. 7. The Bridge by Deacon Taylor's spoilt.
"8. Ensign Parks FuUing MU1 very much hurt. Ye
stream at Dewey's Mill left ye wheel and runs at ye hither
end. Wilcox MU1 dam broke.
"9. My son [John] got home this morning from Cam
bridge, which frees me from much anxiety occasioned by ye
difficulty in crossing ye stream.
"12. Viewed ye desolations made by ye late flood, much
land spoilt.
"14. Set out for Enfield, was at Rev. Mr. Griswold's.
The ice came down so fast we thought it not prudent to go
over ye river. Much damage to mill dams Ssc on Conn. River.
A man 8s son drowned at Middletown. One Hale of Suffield

414 Westfield and its Historic Influences
feU from a mow and run a flail into his body 6 inches which
proved fatal.
"15. Sent for to Zebediah Williams wife in travail in
evening, was d — 1 — d by Doct. Pinchon of Twins.
"Feb. 1767, 18. Was at Jonathan Fowlers, married his
daughter Basmath to John Armstrong of Bennington, supt
there, talked with some young men who gathered to gether
8s raised a dead creature on a pole and made a fire under it
to show their resentment that they were not invited — they
dispersed. "Mar. 16. Town Meeting. Mr. David Moseley Jr.
chosen Treasurer in room of Mr. Moses Dewey, who being
reduced it was thought proper to discontinue him. Luke
16: 1-2.
"30. Long seats taken down in ye Meeting house, pews
to be put in their place."
Thus the tedious controversy was finally ended.
"Reported that a woman in men's clothes was kept in
coUege Cam — . reported that 15 scholars expeUed on that
account — afterward that there were but 6 rusticated.
"Apr. 14. Received a letter from my son informing me
that 7 were rusticated and 3 degraded for ye disorder men
tioned before. When I first heard of ye affair I was concerned
about my son, not that I had any special reason therefor to
make me think so, but such is ye depravity of ye human nature
and the abundance of temptation every where, it made me
say it may be my son hath sinned, — was much comforted to
hear of his innocency. Lord be ye guide of his youth.
"May 3. Preached, some offended on account of seats
Si refuse to come and worship with us, some threaten never
to come into ye house never.
"14. Town Meeting. Representative chosen David Mose
ley Esq.
"17. Preached — prayers for Dea. Taylor son sick. Thanks.
Wm Churchs wife d Id. John Grays wife did. Zechariah
Bushs wife did.
"22. [Rev.] Mr. Morton 8s Elder Gibbs here. Ye County
Sessions on Mr. Morton's complaint to them ordered his
parishoners to pay him 10£ arerages 8s 60£ per annum during
ye time he was their Minister. They gave him but 33£ per

The Third Pastor 415
annum and denied him his wood. [Mr. Morton was at Bland
ford.] "23. A negro child belonging to Mr. Parks found dead
in ye bed. I prayed in ye family — in first year boy.
"19. I went to ye River to see them fish — bought 2 sal
mon 8s 2 Pickerel.
"Aug. 9 Preached — had an ague fit just after I came home
— high fever in ye night.
"10. Very ill — high fever in ye night.
"11. better but confined my difficulty is in my left leg
part of it swelled Si inflamed — can walk with difficulty.
"12 — Doct Mather visited me — washed my leg with Cam-
phire Si Rum
"Rev. Mr. Breck sends word by Deacon Hitchcock of
GranviUe that his wife is dying.
"Aug. 13 — Mr. Brewer of Springfield comes to inform
me of Mrs. Breck's death Si to desire me to attend ye funeral
to-morrow at 12 o'clock. A young hearty sailor comes a beg-
gmg- "Sep. 4. A beggar with one arm 8s one eye, gave him
an alms — but was obliged afterwards to turn him out of doors
for his saucy and profane talk — to take ye cup out of his hands
to prevent a greater degree of excess, his name Jackson. I
see something of ye evU of ingratitude in ye mans sauciness
to me after I had shown him Kindness, its wonderful God has
not been provoked to cast me off for ingratitude to him.
"11. David Ingersoll Sen'r of Barrington had his house
burned — set on fire purposely by a Negro woman.
"13 Preached — prayers — that death of Mrs. Amos Sher
man of Haddam be sanctified to Widow IngersoU, Ensign
IngersoU Si wife. Capt Clap 8s wife, Ensign [EUsha] Parks 8i
wife. "Thanks. Mrs. Ingersoll d — 1 — d.
"Mrs Sherman died of a Consumption Mtat. 30
"Noah Ford Si wife thanks, forgot to mention it.
"15. My Sugar brot from Rocky Hills in a boat to Spring
field. Deacon Taylor brought it from thence gratis.
"21 Had ye Cholic. 22. P.M. Set out for Suffield,
having got nigh 3 miles a Cart being in ye way my horse started
8s run back. I fell out of ye Chair, ye horse run back over

416 Westfield and its Historic Influences
me but through Gods goodness not much hurt, lodged at
Noah Parsons.
23 Cholic pains return — had a weary night. 24. Was
in much pain. Kept in ye bed most of ye P.M.
"30. Crost our River in a canoe by Wellers MiUs.
"Dec. 1 Capt. Clap sent beef. Seth Sacket piece Beef.
"2. Mr. David Moseley sent 2 Fowl. Doct. Mather 2
Fowls Capt Moseley 2 Fowls. Ensign Ingersol 2 qts Rum.
"3. General Thanksgiving. Mr. Gay preached
"Mr. Morton preached at Silas Fowlers [who was the
eldest son of Sergt. Samuel].
"Was at Capt [Ezra] Claps and married his daughter to
Doct. [David] Shepard"
This brother of Gen. William Shepard had moved to Ches
ter to practice his profession. Margaret his wife lived but
little over a year longer, having died, probably in Chester,
Feb. 10, 1769. Her handsome tablet of blue slate stands in
the old Cemetery very near the grave of Rev. Edward Taylor.
"I went from there to Ensign Wellers and married his
daughter to Paul Noble, they gave 6 shUlings"
Paul Noble, son of Ensign Matthew Noble, was a soldier
in the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars, and died
in 1795. His wife, Hannah Weller, reached the great age of
98 years and 11 months, living until Sept. 7, 1842.
"6. Preached. Prayers. Edward Taylor bound to sea.
"7 Visited Deacon [Eldad] Taylor his son to set out
tomorrow. "1768. Jan. 5. Preached funeral Sermon for David
Mosely Esqr. iEtat 63, in ye Meeting House, followed to
ye grave by a great multitude of people. Spent the evening
at David Moseleys house. They gave gloves.
"9. My sons [John 8s WiUiam] got home from College.
"12. Wm's Horse, belonging in Cambridge got ye Dis
temper common among horses, a swelling in ye throat, gave
brimstone with Rye, smoke Brinstone under ye horse.
"17. Preached — sung twice in Forenoon, singers stood
up in ye Gallery. New Tunes — some disgusted went out
last singing.
"29. Negro whipt 29 lashes for severely abusing Col.
Moseley.

The Third Pastor 417
"Feb. 6. Ruth Weller went home, who came ye 1st to
make Garments.
"18 My wife paid Mr. Church for a Hat 30 s.
"Mar. 28. Sent for to visit Aaron Bush's wife, dying.
Prayed with her, she died while I was there. Her difficulty
was convulsion fits which disenabled her from speaking and
impaired her reason. The indolence of many destroys them,
but her death was occasioned by hard work. She answered
some part of Solomon's description of a virtuous woman. 'Her
candle went not out by night, she layeth her hands on the
spindle and her hands hold the distaff, she riseth while it is yet
night.' "Apr. 3. Sunday. Sent for by Adnah Sackets wife who
hath been in travail since ye first inst. prayed with her.
Preached. Prayers. Aaron Bush bereaved of his wife.
Widow Mary Ashley of a daughter, Simeon Ashley 8s wife,
and Bethia Ashly of a sister. Thanks Capt. Moseleys wife
did. visited Sackets wife gave thanks for the delivery
[additional proof of the assurance that 'The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man avaUeth much'].
"11. Great convulsions in Harvard College. 3 Classes
left College. Tutors made an agreement that no excuse for
absence if not given before recitation should avail. Tutor
WiUard's windows broke. One Whiting was shut up in his
chamber ten hours which course led 3 Classes to come off.
heard Whiting assert he belied ye Tutors.
"13 Mr. Lord sent me his Yi Century sermon. [Mr.
Benjamin Lord of Norwich, son-in-law of Rev. Edward Tay
lor, often referred to in the Journal.]"
On Fast Day, April 14, Mr. Ballantine appealed for help
for a man in Monson whose house had been burned, he gathered
"18/11 d Cash 8s 6 Bbls Corn."
"May 12. Received a letter from Mr. Peter Reynolds
informing me of his fathers death yesterday morning.
"13. Went to Enfield, dined at Madam Reynolds. Went
to Meeting house. I began with prayer. Mr. WiUiams
preached from 1st Thes. 4:13 or 15th. Rev. Mr. Breck con
cluded with prayer, people were very desirous to see ye
body but it was so much changed it was thought best to nail
it up. FoUowed the body to ye grave. The members of

418 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the church went before it. Rev. Messrs. WiUiams, Gay,
Graham, Russell, McKinstry Si myself held ye Pall. Mr.
Reynolds was about 68 years old, hath been in ye ministry
about 42 years. He had treasured up a good degree of knowl
edge, especially in Divinity, he was a judicious preacher,
his conversations savery 8s serious, had a very engaging way
of conversing, exemplary for conjugal 8s parental affection,
patient amidst trouble of which he had met with much from
an unkind people, tho' he met with much trouble in ye world
he died in peace caUing on God. Lodged at Mrs. Reynolds.
"May 18. Town met to Choose a Representative. Capt.
John Moseley chosen." [He was an own cousin of David
Moseley Esq. the late Representative, and had married Han
nah, David's sister.]
"July 3. Gerard Pratt's wife of GranviUe desired me to
baptize their child because they were offended with Rev. Mr.
Smith for preaching in ye West part of the Town according
to vote of inhabitants. I refused to baptize it."
Mr. BaUantine started July 13 for Commencement at
Harvard, as was his annual custom.
"20. Went with my wife to Cambridge, attended public
exercises, dined at my son's Chamber, Attended public exer
cises, lodged at my son's chamber, great rout in ye night, some
Chambers broken open, attempt to break that where I lay.
I thought it prudent to put on my clothes. Some on whom
so much is laid out to polish them do what would be deemed
mean in ye lowest persons.
"My wife came to Cambridge. Parks admitted."
That was Warham Parks then about 16 years old, who
had been fitted for coUege by Mr. Ballantine. He became
one of Westfield's very illustrious citizens, Gen. Warham
Parks, prominent in the war of the Revolution.
"Sep. 11. Preached. Lieut Collins [a prominent Sepa
rate] held forth over ye River.
"12. One Mr Loring of Boston 8s Miss Bliss a daughter
of the late Rev. Mr. Bliss of Concord crossed ye River at
Agawam which was very low, in a carriage 8s taking a wrong
path that led them back to another part of the river where it
was deep 8s supposed they had not crost ye River but a brook.
They drove in when ye young woman 8s ye horse were drowned.

The Third Pastor 419
"18. Mr. Ebenezer Moseley preached. I was so lame
I could not attend.
"Oct. 10 Regular Troops in Boston. Province to find
Barracks wood Si Candles.
"11 Picked Winter apples.
"Oct. 12. Went to Granville. In ye night ye house of
Mr. Jonathan Rose took fire 8s was burnt down. Mr. Rose
burnt in it — all that could be found of him might have been
put in a Y peck measure. It's supposed that ye fire was
occasioned by a Candle. He was 90 years old, used to lodge
in his room alone, got up in night, when ye fire was first dis
covered his bed was in flames, he was heard to cry for help
but none could help him. The goods were mostly lost. The
rest of family escaped with difficulty.
"20. Had a load of corn, my part of ye produce of Town
land, 20 Baskets of husked corn.
"Oct. 25. Bo't a Salmon — very poor — nothing like Sal
mon in ye Spring, it checks their increase to take them at
this time.
"27. Attended Capt. Clap's funeral. Aa they were letting
down ye Corpse into ye grave ye head string broke — it fell.
ye head of ye Coffin broke out, ye lid broke off, they took it
up and mended it.
"1769. Jan. 23. Mr. Stickney ye singing Master came
to ye town.
"26. Preached a Lecture on singing as a part of ye insti
tuted worship.
"27. Was at singing school.
"Feb. 19. Preached, prayers, that Widow Sarah Dewey's
death and Silas Fowler's daughter's death might be sancd
8sc." Silas Fowler was a Captain in Shays' Rebellion, was con
demned to death, but afterward was pardoned and removed
to New York State where he died in 1813.
"May 7. Preached, sung without reading ye last time.
Clark Phelps, Zechariah Bush, Simeon Ashley and then-
wives and Clark Moseley went out.
"22. Town Meeting — about singing & setting off ye
South part [Southwick]. Capt. John Mosery chosen Repre
sentative.

420 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"24. Boundaries Set up between Westfield and South
part. Col. Worthington 8s Lady drank Tea here.
"25. Was at Noah Loomis 8s married his daughter to
Benjamin Dewey, received 6/
"Mr. J — J — buys a horse of a stranger for 8£ which
appeared to be stolen, he was obliged to surrender 8s loose
his money. "Jan. 6. Was at Bohan King's shop."
Mr. Bartlett says: "Bohan King learned his trade of
Hatter in Northampton, which business he carried on in West-
field for 40 years, until he became too old. He died in 1823
aged 80 years. He had a large family. His wife was Thank
ful Taylor, daughter of Deacon Eldad Taylor. He built
in 1782 a house now standing on Church Street, the original
location of which was on the corner of Main and School Streets."
It was moved to make place there for the Methodist church,
later for many years occupied by the postoffice and stUl by
stores and offices.
Mr. Ballantine notes the death of President Holyoke of
Harvard, June 1. "He gave me 2nd Degree ye 1st Commence
ment he officiated. President of ye College 31 years."
"Sep. 4. Comet appears."
A significant event in the life and home of Mr. Ballantine
was the marriage of Mary, his firstborn child. The generous
provision made by his people for the parsonage festivities
is "indicated by the following list of gifts received on the day
before the wedding.
"Oct. 16, 1769. Mrs. Parks 1 Gallon Rum. Capt. Mose
ley 2 qts of Rum. Deacon Shepard a Breast of Mutton, Mr.
Bildad Fowler, a Loin of Mutton, Mrs. Clap 1 qt Rum.
Thomas Root 2 qts Brandy, Mr. Matthew Noble Flour 8s
Suet. Ensign Noble, Butter, Clarke King a pig, Ensign
Ingersol 2 qts Rum, Mrs. Margaret Ashley a Loyn of Mut
ton, Mr John Kellogg, Cranberries, Mr. Seth Sacket Cran
berries, Mr. David Mosely a Pigg, 3 Fowls 8s Suet, Mr.
Nathanael Weller, Piece of veal Si suet. Ensign Weller
apples, flour Si suet, Mr. Ford cabbage Si potatoes. Mr.
Stephen Noble 2 Fowls 8s Pork, Deacon Root 2 qts Brandy.
"17. Married my daughter to Capt. John Ashley. Mr.
Gay made ye last prayer in ye Meeting house. I gave a

The Third Pastor 421
general invitation, some stayed away because they thought
some had a more particular invitation, some stayed away
because they thought there would be too many for comfort.
Capt. Ashley gave me a 'Half Johannes' [$4.00 gold coin]
which I gave to my daughter.
"18 A number from Sheffield dined here. My daugh
ter set out for Sheffield with her Consort accompanied by
two brothers. Lydia Gay, Molly Morton, &, Messrs. Root,
Dutcher, FeUows, Mr. David Mosly, Doct, Shepard 8s Moses
Ashley also a number went with them as far as Shepard's"
probably Doct. David Shepard's at Chester.
"Ye Company that went to the Mountain supt here.
"23. Mr. David Mosely returned from Sheffield. Our
folks got up well Si seasonably."
The relations between that new settlement in the Housa
tonic valley and Westfield were naturaUy very intimate, Shef
field having been settled by people from , here. The groom
on the occasion was a descendant of one of the oldest and most
prominent Westfield families.
The New England progenitor of the family, Robert Ashley,
coming from England located first in Roxbury and thence
moved to Sprmgfield among the earliest settlers there. His
oldest son, David, born in 1642, was among the earliest settlers
in Westfield, having had land granted to him in 1667, two
years before the town was organized, and until his death in
1718 he was one of its most prominent citizens. His second
son, born in 1667, became Deacon David. The next son,
John, born in 1669, married for his second wife widow Mary
Sheldon, who was the daughter of WiUiam Whiting of West-
field and his wife Mary, a daughter of Col. John Pynchon
of Springfield. They had two sons, the elder of whom, John,
born in Westfield in 1709, moved early in life among its first
settlers, to Suffield and established himself as a lawyer, becom
ing Judge John Ashley, and was a Colonel in the militia. His
daughter Jane married Doct. WiUiam Bull, son of Rev. Nehe
miah Bull of Westfield. Judge Ashley's only son was John,
the third of the name in successive generations. He was
graduate from Yale College in 1756. For; his second wife he
married Mary Ballantine as narrated above. He became
prominent as Major Gen. John Ashley in. the war of the Revo-

422 Westfield and its Historic Influences
lution. Their granddaughter, Jane Pelletreau Ashley, became
the wife of Hon. WiUiam G. Bates of Westfield.
During January, 1770, Mr. Ballantine records the recep
tion of seventy-seven loads of wood, his annual supply hav
ing been an essential part of his salary, and besides he received
sundry gifts of provision and four quarts of rum.
On Sunday, Jan. 28, he speaks of Lieut. Coffins, a well
known Separate preacher whose home was in Westfield, "held
forth at Sergt. Samuel Nobles." On the foUowing day he
was visited by his daughter and her husband Capt. Ashley
from Sheffield.
"Feb. 12. 2 sleighs came for my daughter's goods.
"14. Capt. Ashley 8s wife, John 8s Wm Throop, slays
with goods, set out for Sheffield.
"27. Set out for Pittsfield with Deacon Root, Thomas
Root, 8s Desire Root, had a shoe set on my horse at Bemans
shop, baited at Blanford, at Pease's, at Messingers in Becket,
at Foots in Hartwood. Was at Ensign Roots, Pittsfield,
lodged at Mr. AUens with Rev. Mr. Welch of Williamstown.
He teUs me there is a warrant to arrest Jedediah Dewey of
Bennington for a riot, a reward offered.
"28. Went to Mr. Graves, attended ye Court, returned
to Mr. AUens, visited Nathanael Phelps, lodged at Mr. Aliens
with Mr. Caleb Strong of Northampton.
"Mar. 1. Left Pittsfield with Caleb Noble, dined at Rev.
Mr. Wests Stockbridge, lodged there.
"2. Dined at Col. Ashleys 8s lodged at Capt. Ashleys
Sheffield." On the 5th, after enumerating various visits, Mr. Bal
lantine makes a reference to the Boston Massacre, written
between the lines, "The Soldiers abuse ye inhabitants. 4
kiUed, some more died."
After having visited at several places, and having been
entertained at a dinner party at his daughter's, the wife of
Capt. Ashley, he returned home, reaching there after an
extended and interesting trip through the recently settled
Berkshire region, March 8, having been away nearly a fort
night on a trip which must have been a memorable one. The
Mr. AUen at whose house in Pittsfield he visited became
famous as the fighting parson who led his people to the Ben-

The Third Pastor 423
nington battlefield. It was also Mr. BaUantine's first visit
at the home of his daughter.
"Apr. 27. Jedediah Dewey of Bennington, who separated
from the church, visited us.
"29. Jedediah Dewey had a meeting over ye River.
"May 6. Preached. A number of young men went out
of ye Meeting house occasioned by a fire in ye woods. Read
ye last time of ye singing occasioned by many going away.
"10. Richard Failey raised a house.
"12. The Selectmen agreed with my son John to Keep
ye school. Aaron WeUer Si Gad Kellogg made Garden fence,
waited on Rev. Mr. Lord at Mr. John Kelloggs." It wiU
be recaUed that the wife of Mr. Kellogg was the daughter of
Mr. Lord, whose wife in turn was the daughter of Rev. Edward
Taylor. "14. My son began to keep school and to board with me
on ye town's account.
"22. Town Meeting. Ensign Ingersoll chosen Repre
sentative. "July 15. Some expectation of Rev. George Whitefield
but it fails. I preached.
"Aug. 2. My daughter Ashley delivered of a son.
"9. Men at work at County Bridge to bring it back to
its place from which it departed in ye flood last winter.
"Nov. 8. Went to Sprmgfield at ye desire of Mr. Sheldon,
dined at Mr. Lothrops, there were there Rev. Messrs. Breck,
Gay, Griswold, Potter.
"Question put — Whether Mr. Elijah Fitch being baptized
by a Lay Preacher, would be a bar to our having fellowship
with him as a minister. It was answered, we approve not
of lay baptisms, look on it as an unhappy circumstance, but
inasmuch as he hath a sense of ye obligations of it, is admitted
a member of a regular Church, 8s hath been approved by regu
lar Ministers, we think if he is regularly introduced it ought
to be no bar to communion with him."
Early in October Mr. Ballantine speaks of a case of murder
in the Springfield gaol, by a man named Straw. Dec. 12,
is the entry, "Straw in his wifes clothes let out, retaken,"
which evidently was a bold, though unsuccessful attempt to
escape, when the day appointed for his execution was very near.

424 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"Dec. 13. Wm Straw executed at Springfield for ye mur
der of Edward East. Rev. Mr. Baldwin of Palmer preached
from Romans 1:5. Rev. Mr. Breck prayed at ye Gallows —
great concourse. Justice of his execution disputed by some.
He asserts his inucency. In support of him it is said that
the wounds given to East were not mortal, that he was an
insain man Si thus thought that if he had not received any
blows he would have died. It is said that he was not season
ably taken care of, but neglected for a long time after his hurt,
but supposing that ye wound was mortal it does not follow
as there were two with him that Straw gave the wounds.
The witnesses which fix ye charge on Shaw might be mistaken
as they were in another apartment, could see nothing. They
determined from the difference of the voices. The witnesses
infamous. "Dec. 6. General Thanksgiving. I preached, sung 4
times. Zechariah Bush, Senr much offended at our present
way of singing, entertains Lieut. Coffins a lay preacher 8s
goes to hear him preach.
"20. One Ichabod Jones lodged here — he is said to have
a considerable estate but makes no use of it. Rides about
ye country, lives on ye charity of ye people, says he is sick
but travels in all weathers, in aU ways, there is an appearance
of religion. "Jan. 3. 1771. Married Bohan King to Thankful Taylor."
[She was the seventh of thirteen chUdren of Hon. Eldad Tay
lor.] "Feb. 27. Flood. Wellers Dam brok. Bridge on Sims
bury road carried off — other Bridges hurt.
"Mar. 10. North East storm. Preached — prayed for Capt.
Moselys child, visited Capt. Moselys infant — difficulty occa
sioned by putting a teaspoonful of vitriol into its mouth by
mistake. "Apr. 6. Attended funeral of Capt. Moselys negro's
child — 1st year" [probably the one tmentioned as a sufferer
from accident, Mar. 10].
"30. Superior Court set 1st time at Northampton. Law
yer Fowler hath my horse to go thither.
"May 28 Samuel Fowler brought home his wife to whom
he was married ye 16th I was at his house."

The Third Pastor 425
The following records appear on Mr. Samuel Fowler's
family bible, published in Cambridge, England, 1769.
"On the 16th of May 1771 I was married to Miss Eliza
beth Dwight of Springfield the delight of my Eyes —
"On the 11th Deer. 1786 was again married to Miss Jemima
Lyman of Northampton equally agreeable."
He became Hon. Samuel Fowler, a distinguished citizen
and patriot, one of the Committee of Correspondence and
Safety during the war of the Revolution. His son James
was also a prominent citizen, whose house was the building
now occupied by the Westfield Atheneum.
"28. Hard frost.
"June 2. Public worship interrupted by cry of fire need
lessly. "18. Received a letter from Rev. Mr. Hooker desiring
me to come to Northampton to assist him in examination of
Mr. Huntington.
"19. Rec'd a letter from Rev. Judd [Southampton] to ye
same purpose. Ordination deferred.
"Set out for N. Hampton, dined at Mr. Judds, met a num
ber of Ministers there, examined Mr Huntington, gave him
testimonials agreeable to a law of ye Province which makes
void aU Taxes in favor of a Minister not educated or graduated
at a College, except he have testimonials from major part of
ye ministers of ye County where he settles.
"July 26. One Gilbert took away 2 Bbls Shad left here by
Dumbleton, left 4 dollars.
"Aug. 9. Rev. Gideon Noble of Willington, Conn, preached
the funeral sermon of his Father, Ensign Mather Noble, I
foUowed him to the grave and went back with the mourners."
It wUl be recalled that Matthew Noble was one of the
committee that went after Mr. BaUantine to bring him to
settle as pastor of the church. During the thirty subsequent
years he was a close personal friend of Mr. BaUantine, he
with Deacon Eldad Taylor and Doctor Samuel Mather were
pillars upon which Mr. Ballantine depended for support,
counsel and cheer under the strains and perplexities of his
long pastorate.
"17. Ebenezer k Winthrop [his sons] went to Mr. Mor
tons [Blandford] to fetch cow Si calf.

426 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"Samuel Dumbleton here, gave him 24 shillings Si 2 far
things received for his Shad. £ s d
1 Dollar 0—6 — 0
1 Crown 0—6 — 8
3 half crowns 0 — 10 — 0
1 Pistereen 0 — 1 — 2 — 2
3 Coppers 0— 0 — 2

1 — 4 — 0 -- 2 farthings
"Sons returned without ye cow.
"Sep. 4. Samuel Eaton of Enfield here, born in Boston,
lived near my Father's house when I was a boy, my play
fellow whom I have not seen for 30 years.
"9. Went to ye parsonage land, the mowing land very
much rooted by Hogs, that rule little minded. Phil: 2-4-
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also
on ye things of others. People that would judge such things
intolerable seem not to care what hurt their Creatures do.
"13. Mr. Eldad Taylor of Becket here — gave him Si wife
a certificate that they had made a public profession of religion.
"23 My son WiUiam set out for Dedham to keep school
there. "Oct. 21. My son John set out for Amherst to keep school.
"Nov. 1, 1771. Rec'd Bbl of Sugar from Hartford, freight
from Boston 2/6, Storage lOd, Carting 3/ — the whole 6/4.
gave a dollar to Capt. Shepard to give to Jonathan Shepard
who brought it up. Paid Deacon Taylor 10 lbs. of Sugar
borrowed of him.
"Dec. 19. Was at Ensign Parks. She gave me two
screws with brass heads to hang clock.
"30. Snow. They bring wood. 73 loads bro't.
"31. 13 Loads wood brought.
"1772. Jan. 1. Preached Preparatory Lecture. Church
dont approve of N. W. making a confession before them only.
"2. Had endeavours to persuade N. W. to make a con
fession before ye Congregation, ineffectual. A. N. strengthens
him. "5. Preached— prayers, A. King that death of Peter

The Third Pastor 427
[his slave] may be sanctified to him for his spiritual 8s ever
lasting good Mtat. 60. A separate.
"16. Town Meeting to choose a Committee to adjust
debts 8s to see whether wiU seat ye Meeting house. My
daughter Ashley 8s child came from Sheffield with Mr. Azariah
Root. "Committee chosen to seat ye Meeting house.
"26. Ye Crust on ye snow wiU bear a man, wiU not bear
a horse, makes it difficult traveUing.
"Mar. 9. Town Meeting. I prayed in ye meeting house.
Selectmen same as last year, except Mr. David Mosely in
place of Mr. Zechh Bush.
"20. Mr. Noah Parsons of Durham lodged with us, a
young gentleman who hath rec'd a liberal education, a good
scholar. Tutor, but is now gloomy 8s melancholy.
"Apr. 7. Ensign Ashley 8s Brother went from our house
to Hartwood [Washington] in a slay.
"12. Preached. Stevenson sung, numbers offended, went
out. "24. Singers met here in evening, proposed to me a par
ticular metre for the Sabbath, did not determine.
"26. Preached. Singers staid away. I expected we
must have omitted singing for want of a Chorister.
"May 3. Preached. Singers took their seats.
"4. Lame. John Graves of Southwick bottoms chairs here.
"25. Went to Meeting house to hear them sing.
"27. Election Day. Rev. Mr. Lothrop dined here. Sing
ing Lecture. Mr. Lothrop preached very well attended.
"Tunes sung. Dalton, Landoff, Stevenson, 15th Psalm
Tune, 2 Anthems. The whole service performed with decency
and to general satisfaction.
"June. 1. Multitude of Caterpillars here, some Orchards
stript of leaves, they come to ye houses.
"5. My son WiUiam returned in a Stage Coach [from
Boston] to Springfield, fare 33/. hired horse from Springfield.
"22. Visited John Lee's child 8s Russell Dewey sick at
Mr. Fords."
Much more will be learned of RusseU Dewey, at this time
17 years old. He fought at Bunker Hill and was a soldier

428 Westfield and its Historic Influences
through the Revolutionary War, dying at the age of 72. Gen
eral William Shepard married his sister Sarah.
"23. Cloudy. Was at Mr. David Moseley 's, paid him 30/
for 10 Gals. Rum. Rev. Messrs. Jones, Baldwin, Strickland
and Mr. Jones son dined here.
"30. Cromwell Oliver a free Negro here, of Rutland, owns
land at Murrayfield [Chester], tryed to buy, could not agree.
"July. 14. Thunderstorm in P.M. Hail did great damage
at Southwick Si Salmon Brook, Windows broke, Gardens
spoilt, grain also. A Robin run under a Turker for shelter.
A horse run into a house upon the door being opened.
"Aug. 7. Josiah Parks makes a complaint of some lads
breaking windows fences Si other mischief.
"8. Sent for in the evening to Deacon [Joseph] Roots
wife in a fit, prayed with her.
"Sharp lightening. 15 sheep KiUed by it over Little River.
"16. Preached. Thanks. Ensign [David] WeUer for Gods
gracious appearance for him when his life was in danger.
"28. Mr. Jonathan Judd Jr. [Southampton] dined with
us. [Mr. Judd was an intimate friend and often in his Diary
refers to Mr. Ballantine.]
"30. Preached at Springfield 1st parish. Mr. Church
preached at Westfield.
"Col Israel Williams spent evening at Mr. Brecks. I
lodged at Mr. Brecks. [Col. Williams of Hatfield had been
for many years one of the most prominent and influential
men of the Connecticut River VaUey, commander of the Militia
of the western part of the Colony during the French and
Indian War.]
"31. Rev. Mr. Smith of GranvUle here.
"A Susquehannah man weU mounted with Velvet Jacket
8sc brought a paper setting forth his shop was broken open,
begged. "Sp. 2. Mr. Edward Taylor gave piece Venison.
"4. Mr. Crosby, missionary dined with us."
The remainder of the Journal for 1772 is lost.
"1773. Jan. 11. Received a letter from Col. Ashley 8s
his son. my daughter d — d of a son the 4th, about 6 in the
morning." This boy became Major William Ashley, who was grad-

The Third Pastor 429
uated from Harvard in 1793. His later life was spent as a
gentleman farmer, looking after his large estates in Sheffield,
where he died April 26, 1849. The following obituary appeared
in a Sheffield paper: "Major William Ashley died at his resi
dence on the 29th ult. at the age of 76 years. Major Ashley,
the son of General Ashley who commanded in the Shays'
insurrection in Berkshire County, and the grandson of Col.
John Ashley, formerly one of the Judges of the old Court of
Common Pleas, and one of the original settlers of Sheffield.
His Mother was a daughter of the Rev. John Ballantine of
Westfield, Mass. Major Ashley was educated at Harvard
College, and after his graduation devoted himself to the care
and improvement of his estate. In all the transactions of
life he has been distinguished, by his just dealings, his rigid
integrity, and his conscientious regard to duty. By his death
the poor are deprived of a generous friend, to whom they
never applied in vain, the community of a highly respected
and valued citizen, and the church of a sincere Christian."
It is gratifying to consider such a tribute to the grand-
chUd of the honored pastor of the Westfield church. Major
Ashley was in that respect of character no exception to the
descendants of its successive pastors, from the beginning of
its history, and may this noble record be maintained through
aU its generations to remotest ages!
"13. Went to [West] Springfield. Mr. Lothrop 8s I went
to the River, but the Ice came in such quantities we judged
it imprudent to cross, returned to Mr. Lothrop 's, dined Si
lodged there. Association was to have met at Rev. Mr. Wil
liams [Longmeadow].
"16. Sally Noble, tailor, worked here.
"Apr. 7. I was witness to Deacon Taylor's will yesterday.
He desired me if I outlived him to teU his chUdren that he
did not give his daughter Ashley much because there was
danger of its being taken by Officers. He would therefore
have his other children be kind to her.
"21. General Fast in Conn. I preached at Turkey Hills.
"The new way of singing opposed, hardly any singing, a
meeting of ye singers at Bro. Gay's. It is a pity that sing
ing in God's house should be so poorly, when there are a num
ber of good singers in the place.

430 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"22. Was at Deacon Shepards, at his son Johns, Mar
ried his daughter Lucretia to David Sacket. Lucretia has
just entered her 16th year. Received 6/-
"28. Preached before the Association at Rev. Mr. Brecks
meeting house, lodged at Mr. Brecks.
"29. My son John examined 8s licensed to preach. Dined
at Mr. Brecks. Preached a lecture to Mr. Lothrops people,
lodged at Mr. Lothrops. Was at Mr. Stebbins, bought a
salmon, dined at home.
"May 5. Planted Springfield Hill. Company met to
quilt. "6. Company to quilt.
"11. Town Meeting. Capt. Mosely chosen Representa
tive. "16. My son John preached his first sermon at Murray-
field. "20. Doct. Young of Boston here. The Line settled
between New York & Massachusetts, for which purpose com
missioners met at Hartford last week.
"21. One Paris of Greenwood here. One Curtain of
Pittsfield, a mendicant. A man 8s woman begging, whom I
asked to eat & drink 8s gave small matter of money to them,
very much abused by ye man, how evil did I think it. This
should lead me to think how evil it is to sin against God the
great benefactor.
"June 1. 1773. I visited Tirzah Holcombs very sick. She
desires to be baptized, wants to be baptized directly, afraid
she shall not Uve till the Church meets. She hath been con
vinced of her duty in this respect but neglected it hitherto.
"Exod. 4 : 24-25 And it came to pass by the way in the
Inn the Lord met him 8s sought to slay him, then Zipporah
took a sharp stone Si cut off ye foreskin of her son — so she
let him go. Discoursed with her, prayed with her.
"2. Visited Tirzah Holcomb Si Widow Margaret Ashley.
"3. Visited Tirzah Holcomb.
"4. Prayed at the funeral of Abigail wife of Benjamin
Sexton Mt&t 52 a Separate. [Benjamin Sexton was the son
of the first man born in Westfield in 1666, who died in 1754.
His funeral was attended by Mr. BaUantine.]
"5. A Frenchman dined here.

The Third Pastor 431
"6. Preached. Prayers. Tirzah Holcomb sick, visited
Tirzah Holcomb. She made a profession of Religion, owned
the Covenant, was baptized in bed.
"Eliakim Marshall a Separate held forth over ye Little
River at Benj Sextons.
"12. Frost lost nipt the plants in garden which it hath
not done before this Spring, raw 8s cold.
"14. James Nimocks mowed head of meadow lot 8s Gar
den. 2 Beggars here to-day, one born in Bristol England,
sailor feU from Round Top. The woman had ye store burnt
with goods of value 900£."
[Thus in colonial times the country minister was made
the prey of plausible suppliants for alms whose successors
from generation to generation have haunted the parsonage
doors, and too often alas, not in fruitless quests.]
"22. Prayed with the company who were to raise the
Southwick Meeting house. Spent ye day there. Supt at
widow Fowlers. The Frame finished.
"28. Many stalks killed by a worm among my Rye.
"Aug. 5. Ensign Weller gave qt Metheglin.
"7. My son William came home. Sir Parsons with him
his classmate. They were both examined 8s licensed to preach
this week.
"10. Doct. Anthony Yeldal set up a stage, on it 2 lads
entertained ye spectators by walking on their hands Si by
various feats of activity. The Doctor harangues on what
he can do, ye terms on which he doth anything, the way he
goes on in. He harangues on the virtues of certain Medi
cines he hath to sell. There was not a large collection of
people. He is to appear on 5 Tuesdays.
"17. Went to Southwick. Attended Public worship.
Rev. Mr. Strong of Salmon Brook preached from Psalms,
8.:ult. 'All my springs are in thee.'
"I baptized a child, gathered a church there.
"Sep. 1. Preached preparatory Lecture — storm, hail, rain,
dark cloud scared some.
"7. Doctor Yildals stage set up. Walk, on wire. Many
spectators." Aug. 16. Mr. Ballantine wrote to President Locke, and
his son WUliam went with the younger son Ebenezer to Cam-

432 Westfield and its Historic Influences
bridge for admission to college, the two elder sons John and
WiUiam having been graduated there. Ten days later he
records: "My sons returned. Ebenr not admitted, examined
Ephesians, studied only in the Evangelists."
"Sep. 6. My sons John 8s Ebenr set out for New Haven.
"11. My sons returned from New Haven. Ebenezer
freely admitted.
"13. Son WiUiam returned from Turkey HiUs where he
preached yesterday ye first time.
"26. My son John preached at Westfield.
"Oct. 21. Fast at Southwick preparatory to Ordination.
Rev. Mr. Strong preached A.M. from Luke 16:12-23 I
preached P.M. from 2 Cor. 2:16.
"26. Went to Southwick. Council formed. J. Strong,
Scribe. Examined Mr. Forward, approved him, distributed
ye parts of ye Service.
"27. Rain A.M. Mr. Abel Forward Ordained— Rev.
Rufus Hawley of Northington began with prayer. Revd
Justus Forward preached from Rom. 10:15 How can they
preach except they be sent. Rev. E. Gay prayed before
Charge. I gave the Charge. Rev. J. Graham prayed after
ye charge. Rev. Jedh Smith of GranviUe gave right hand
of fellowship- — sung 132 Psalm.
"31. Preached Messrs. Lyman 8s Hunt of Northampton
attended. Prayers that death of Isaac Sacket may be sancti
fied to Ezekiel, Adnah 8s David Sacket 8s their Wives, also
to Danl Sacket, Deacon Shepard & their Wives.
"Thanks. Joseph Ashleys wife d — d. and Gad Deweys
wife recovered.
"Attended Isaac Sackets funeral, age 70, people met at
Deacon Shepards.
"Nov. 3. Visited and prayed with Mr. Samuel Noble
dangerously Ul.
"4. Visited Sergt. Samuel Noble, prayed, died while I
was there Mt&t 51st year.
"An hearty strong man he was at the ordination last week
at Southwick, was taken iU in the night after, proper means
were neglected for want of a skilful Physician. The dis
temper was Pleurisy in the breast.
"He was one of ye Selectmen, hath been chosen several

The Third Pastor 433
times to that Office. He made a profession of religion and
was admitted to the watch care of the Church — had some of
his children baptized. Joined with ye Separates, very rarely
met with us for worship.
"5. Rain in night. Sergt. Noble was buried. A Separate
Baptist held forth.
"7. Preached. Prayers. Samuel Noble. Grace Noble.
Gideon Shepard 8s Richard Nimocks and their wives that
the death of their Father may be sanctified to them. Capt.
Asa Noble, Jacob Noble 8s Enoch Holcomb and their wives
that their brothers death may be sanctified to them.
"Dec. 1. Miss MoUy Gelston of Long Island and Miss
Jenny Strong of Simsbury visited us.
"Dec. 14. Cloudy. Bought 16 lbs. Tallow of a Gran-
vfile man. paid 8/.
"15. Great disturbance about Tea shipt by the East
India Company.
"17 Mr. Samuel Fowler gave a piece of Venison. So
warm people plow.
"19. 3 inches of snow. 1 slay at Meeting house.
"21. People in and about Boston will not suffer ye Tea
to be landed.
"26. I preached. A great flood, damage done to Bridges
Si Dams, no crossing Great River, nor Little River at Deacon
Taylors. County Bridge destroyed, much damage done to
lands and roads.
"29. Mob cleared the ships of Tea."
From that date to May, 1774, there is a break in what
has been preserved of the invaluable Journal.
"May 30, 1774. Governor Gage negatived 13 CouncUlors
among which are Hon. James Bowdoin, Samuel Dexter 8s
John Winthrop, Esq.
"31. Go to Blanford, attend ye CouncU, dine with the
Presbytery at Pease's, attend P.M. Lodge at Mr. Mortons.
"June 1. Attended ye Presbytery. Mr. Patrick silenced,
dismist for scandalous intemperance. Dined with the Presby
tery, returned
"Boston blocked up by English men of war. Vessels may
come in, the vessles that have not got in their lading have
14 days allowed them, after that none to go out, except those

434 Westfield and its Historic Influences
that bring Provisions 8s Fuel, on pain of forfeiture of vessel 8s
Cargo. The siege not to be raised till they have satisfied
the East India Company for their Tea 8s the duties may be
peacefully CoUected, or till we believe the doctrine of non-
resistance 8s passive obedience.
"Pitcher 8s Rudd dig the cellar.
"2. Married Benhadad Negro 8s DoUy, mullatto. Received
6/- "7. General Assembly to meet at Salem by adjournment.
General Assembly of Court take under their protection a
third part of Southwick, which wUl very much weaken if not
ruin ye district.
"8 Fast at Hartwood [Washington].
"11. My son Wm goes to Hartwood. My son John goes
to preach for Rev. Mr. Smith of Granville.
"14. Set out for Hartwood with my wife, son John 8s
Esqr. Taylor, baited at Peases, Blanford, dined at Rev. Mr.
Huns, Becket, lodged at Mr. Foots, Hartwood.
"My son examined, approved by aU but Mr. Keep who
dissents because he (Wm) holds that unregenerate men may
partake of the Lord's supper.
"15. My son William ordained Pastor of the Church at
Hartwood. "Rev. Mr. Whitman Welch of WUliamstown began with
prayer. I preached from 2nd Cor. 2:16 Rev. Adonijah Bid-
well prayed during imposition of hands. Rev. Ebenezer
Gay of Suffield gave the charge, Rev. Mr. Zadoc Hunn of
Becket gave right hand of fellowship. Rev. Mr. AUen of
Pittsfield made the last prayer. Sung the 132 Psalm, dismist
with a blessing. Showers.
"Council dined at Mr. Foots, lodged there.
"20. Was at Ensign Parks lately from Boston. Regu
lars encamped on ye Common.
"24. Was at Capt. Moselys returned from Court which
was dissolved last Saturday. Congress agreed on Commis
sioners chosen, Hon. James Bowdoin, Thomas Cushing Speaker.
Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Payne, Governor
Gage refuses to concur, to sign a warrant to get money out
of the Treasury.
"Recommended to the Several Towns to raise 500£ to

The Third Pastor 435
pay by 15th of August. Westfield's part of it is forty shil
lings. 40/-" [This amount was unanimously voted at Town
Meeting, as wiU appear.]
"30. It was proposed that this day be kept as a day of
Fasting 8s prayer. On account of the difficulties we are
involved in by ye late oppressive laws. It having been con
curred in by ye House of Representatives as seasonable. The
Governor declined issuing a Proclamation though desired by
both Houses. The House did not pitch on a day but left it
with the Ministers. Boston Ministers having proposed July
14th to be kept as a Fast Si published ye proposal, for the
sake of union when we came to know ye proposal we post
poned our fast to that day.
"Sep. 12. Visited Doct. Ashley, who lately brought home
his wife. They were insulted by some sons of Belial after I
came away."
This was the second Doctor Israel Ashley; his bride, "Miss
MoUy Gelston of Long Island," had spent a few days at the
parsonage with a friend from Simsbury in December, 1773.
A grandson of these contracting parties was the Hon. William
Gelston Bates, whose grandson now bears the name of Gelston.
It was common for those who were not invited to weddings
or wedding parties, a hundred years ago and more, to show
their resentment by riotous and shameful acts, in which per
sons of much respectability were wont to engage.
In a few days after there was a public fast, in view of the
distressed condition of the country. Mr. Ballantine, in his
sermon on fast day, mentioned the conduct on the aforesaid
occasion as among the sins of the people, that ought to be
lamented. He did not introduce it into his sermon not because
it was a species of iniquity, nor because the conduct on that
occasion was more shameful than on any other, but because
the evil caUed aloud for a remedy, and the occasion furnished
a suitable apology for taking notice of it from the pulpit. The
practice soon went into disrepute. The following is an extract
from the sermon in which the affair is mentioned :
"One thing more I am constrained to notice, and that is
a late instance of riotous behavior among ourselves. I mean
the outrageous insult to a newly married couple. It is so
manifest an evil that nothing need be said in proof of that

436 Westfield and its Historic Influences
point. Your consciences, before this time, must have con
vinced you of what incivility, what rudeness, nay, of what
barbarity you were guilty on that night, by conduct that bid
defiance to the laws of God and man. One might have feared
such treatment had they lived among savages and barbarians,
but who could have expected it in a civUized country, where
there are such good and wholesome laws, and where the Ught
of the gospel shines? Who could have expected it from friends,
relations, neighbors and acquaintances? What can be the
reason they weary themselves to commit iniquity? The
want of an invitation to a party of pleasure cannot justify
such an outrage. The gospel requires us to be kindly affec-
tioned one to another; to be courteous. How contrary was
that conduct to the gospel. I am very sorry that the heads
of families should be left to such folly. They have pecufiar
reason to be ashamed. Says the apostle, 'When I was a chUd,
I spake as a child, but when I became a man, I put away chUd-
ish things.' It is a disgrace for men to act as children. Should
your children five to grow up, could you approve of such con
duct in them — would it not shame you? Would it not involve
you in difficulty? How could you reprove them without con
demning yourselves? My friends, it is a regard for your souls
that has directed this reproof. It is given in this manner in
obedience to a divine command. Those that sin rebuke before
all, that others may fear. May this rebuke have this effect,
that all may fear and do no more so wickedly."
"13. Attended the funeral of Jonathan Fowler who had
almost completed his 89th year. He was a virulent opposer
of Ministers, differed from every one and he made a great
deal of disturbance in his family for some years past by his
provoking tongue. His wife 8s son have impatiently waited
for his death. He lived undesired Si died unlamented."
Mr. Ballantine, as has been abundantly proven, had a way
of saying just what he thought in what was then the privacy
of his Journal. The fact that the above characterized Jona
than Fowler, a grandson of Ambrose the settler, was a Separate
and opened his house for meetings of that disturbing element
in the community, may account in part for Mr. BaUantine's
uncomplimentary remarks. StUl, according to invariable
custom, on the following Sabbath he prayed for "Hannah

The Third Pastor 437
Fowler bereaved of a husband 8s Luther Fowler bereaved of a
Father." "19. Was at Fally's shop 8s paid for grinding a Razor 8s
scissors. "29. Military Co. set up. Choose officers.
"30. Town met to Choose Representatives. Capt. Mosley
8s Ensign Parks chosen.
"Oct. 11. Provincial Congress at Concord. [The above
Representatives, Moseley and Parks, were in attendance as
noted in another Chapter.]
"12. Was at Ichabod Comstocks, dined at Rev. Mr.
McKinstrys, began with prayer, Rev. Dr. WiUiams preached
A.M. Rev. Mr. Breck prayed. I preached P.M. I lodged
at Mr. McKinstrys.
"13. Dined at Rev. Mr. Lothrops, visited Mr. Thos
Noble." [That was on the way home from West Springfield,
at the Noble homestead later known as "the old Ambrose
Day house."]
"19 My horse dropt down dead in the street tackled in
Cart, opened him, a bunch of Botts in his pipe.
"20. Enoch Holcombs house burnt down, shavings in
the corner, husks on the floor, but little saved, people had
gone out to work.
"Dr. Langdon instaUed President of Harvard College 14th
inst. "21. A sergt. who had been broke plotted to destroy the
Magazine of the Army, discovered, sentenced to be whipt
1000 Lashes received at different times
"Nov. 8. Mr. Benj. Lord Junr from Norwich here. My
son Wm goes to Turkey HiUs 8s Suffield. Rev. Mr Lothrop
Si Mr. Morton dined here. Was at Doct. Mathers.
"9. My son returns.
"10. Mr. Smith of Hadley here."
End of Journal
Somewhat more than a year after those closing words
were written in the Journal their noble and devoted author
closed his useful ministry in the Westfield community, Feb.
12, 1776, the birth year of the Republic. Had he been
spared a few years longer how he would have exerted his

438 Westfield and its Historic Influences
ripened powers to promote the interests of that significant
experiment in nation building!
In his funeral sermon, Rev. Joseph Lathrop, D.D., of
West Springfield extolled the virtues and abilities of the man
who had been so eminently useful during his ministry in the
frontier town for thirty-five years. In the course of it he said,
"Without detracting from the merits of any minister, it may
be said few have supported so amiable and unexceptionable
a character both at home and abroad as Mr. Ballantine. His
conversation was ever such as became a christian and a minis
ter: agreeable, useful and edifying: free from austerity and
affectation. His moral character was unstained. He breathed
a spirit of benevolence to mankind: he was a lover of peace,
given to hospitality, meek and condescending in his deport
ment, and easy of access to all. He was ready to oblige, a
sincere, faithful, unwavering friend, open artless and undis
guised, tender of others' character and an enemy to slander
and detraction. His sermons were composed with a richness
of sentiment, a pertinence of diction and a natural arrange
ment of thoughts often enlivened with beautiful and striking
imagery and ever pronounced with an effectiveness and ear
nestness that bespoke a soul deeply impressed with the weight
of solemn truths he delivered to others. * * * In a word, he
was a good and faithful minister and I am persuaded that
none who have been acquainted with him entertain one uneasy
doubt, but his soul was formed to the spirit of that divine
religion which he preached and is now gone to rest with that
Savior whom he served in the gospel." (Quoted in Westfield
Journal, Sept. 23, 1834.)
Mr. Ballantine preached a sermon on May 28, 1758, to a
company of soldiers from Westfield, and Capt. BaU and Lieut.
Bancroft about starting for Canada. His text was Exodus
17: 9: "And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men,
and go out, fight with Amalek: to-morrow I will stand on top
of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand." An outline
of the sermon as quoted in the Westfield Journal, Oct. 7, 1834,
shows its applicability to soldiers of every generation and
every national campaign.
"1. War is lawful. To engage in war is no violation of
the command to love our enemies. The Judge pronounces

The Third Pastor 439
the sentence of the law upon the criminal and may feel pity in
his heart. Soldiers should not fight with brutal rage or malice,
but like angels should go forth to execute the wrath of Heaven.
"2. Fit means are to be used against an enemy.
"I. Courageous men must be chosen, and the people
must be concerned to know the difference between good and
evil, and the particular sin for which the present evil comes.
II. They should engage to refrain from aU sin and exert
themselves to suppress wickedness among others. III. They
should hold up their hands and thus engage to contend not
only against the practice but the love of sin.
"3. Moses going to the top of the hill and holding up his
hands is expressive of his earnest prayer for the success of
the army. It is reasonable that we pray for soldiers if we con
sider I. That the calling of a soldier is dangerous. They
have long marches, have to cross lakes and rivers, meet with
bad companions and are exposed to sickness. II. That they
are exposed to numerous temptations. III. That they go to
defend us."
The foUowing was addressed particularly to the soldiers:
"Despise not this good land, despise not these privileges, think
them worth fighting for. ShaU Frenchmen, subjects of an
arbitrary power, whose bodies and souls are slaves, their
bodies to the King and their souls to the Pope, shall they so
exert themselves and wUl not New England men? I do not
wish our army to treat them barbarously or cruelly, but I do
heartily pray they may subdue them. If you wish to suc
ceed, go forth in the name and strength of God; carry not
your sins with you. Let me entreat you to guard against
profane swearing: I fear you wiU have many examples of it
where you are going: keep from it: its being fashionable does
not justify it. Beware of intemperance: it will enfeeble and
dispirit you and expose you to a great variety of evils in this
world and misery in the next. Be not bantered out of your
religion: be not ashamed to appear religious, though you may
be laughed at as precise."
The foUowing Westfield men were among those who
belonged to the army in that final campaign for the conquest
of Canada: Aaron Ashley, Peleg Comes, Stephen Ward, Enos
Loomis, Nathaniel Church, Joseph Barker, Stephen Sexton,

440 Westfield and its Historic Influences
WiUiam Patterson, Benjamin Pike, Samuel Johnson, Moses
Root, Zenas Noble. (Quoted in Westfield Journal, Oct. 7,
1834.) In an old account book of Datis Ensign there are some
very mteresting items relative to the mill at Little River, the
weather, family and other matters, justifying sundry quota
tions therefrom.
"1761. June ye 4 I Datis Ensign came with my family
to Westfield to live in the 32nd year of my age.
"1763 May 20th There feU a considerable snow which I
believe if it had not thawed as it fell would have been 4 or 5
inches, which continued on the ground to May 21, about 9
o'clock in the morning. The ground froze under an apple
tree in my garden where there was no snow about half an inch
thick. "1763 Nov. 2nd. The Grist MU1 that stood on ye 2 mUe
Brook was torn all to pieces by water and wholy demolished,
and Nov. ye 7th we began to rebuild it again.
"1764 In Feb. the Mill was rebuilt and went again.
"1765 May ye 8th Snow fell 2 inches deep.
"May ye 18th 1772 The fisherman on the Little River
side catched 2130 shad in one day at three hauls which came
to £l8.11s.8d. "Doctor John Jones to shaving 25 times in 1764 8s 1765 8s
1766— 4s-2d.
"An account of the births of my Honord Father's David
Ensign's children.
"He was born in Hartford and so were all his children.
He died there Dec. ye 4, 1759 in ye 71st year of his age.

1.

Abigail,

Mar. 22, 1710

2.

Hannah,

Feb. 19, 1712

3.

Zerviah,

Dec. 29, 1713

4.

David,

June 12, 1716

Lanesborough, Mass.

5.

Eliphalet,

April 29, 1718

6.
Sarah,
Feb. 19, 1727
7.
Datis,
Sep. 22, 1729
Came to Westfield 1761
8.
Jerusha,
May 25, 1731
Died 3 weeks old
9.
Ezekiel,
Jan. 21, 1733
0.
Solomon,
May 19, 1738
The Third Pastor 441
Children of Datis Ensign, born
1. Datis Jr. June 20, 1752, md. Abigail Woolworth, Pub.
Nov. 14, 1779.
2. Lucretia, May 7, 1754. Died Aug. 25, 1756.
3. Isaac, Feb. 24, 1756. Md. 1st Sarah Pitt. 2nd Lydia
Noble. 4. Lucretia 2nd, Jan. 1, 1759
5. Sarah, Aug, 22, 1760. Md. Thomas Ashley, Jan. 16,
1783. [Thomas Ashley, son of Simeon, born, Oct. 12, 1757]
Datis Ensign Sr. died Nov. 11, 1788, aged 58 years. His
widow died Apr. 22, 1814, aged 83."
The foUowing is a partial copy of an undated Deed: "To
aU people, 8sc. 8sc. Know ye that I Datis Ensign of West-
field Mass. 8sc. &c. for and in consideration of £1000 to me
in hand well 8s truly paid by Datis Ensign Jr. and Isaac Ensign
do grant and convey to them their heirs 8s assigns forever
one tract or mesuage of Land lying in Westfield 8s over the
Little River 8s that place that John Jones possessed and is
Butted and bounded as foUoweth viz. North on the County
road that leads from Westfield to Suffield, East on Zadoc
Martindale, Southerly on John Ingersoll partly 8s partly on
Aaron Deweys heirs, 8s West on Jonathan Ingerson's heirs
with one Mansion house Si Barn standing on said premises
8sc. 8s also one Fulling Mill standing on the Brook called the
Two mUe Brook and near the Grist Mill that is known by the
name of Baggs MiU 8sc. 8sc."
An approximation to the date of the above Deed may be
inferred from a record on a loose slip of paper :
"Westfield Feb. ye 18th, 1779. •
"We whose names are underwritten Do promise to pay
the Respective sums thereto annext in labor or something
that shaU answer toward building a Saw Mill, to be paid to
the Ensigns provided they build a Saw Mill on the Brook
called the Two MUe Brook on the road that leads from West-
field to Suffield and near their Fulling Mill.
"N.B. To be paid in the old way."

CHAPTER XX.
The Seven Years' War
The Peace of Aix la Chapelle, which ended King George's
War in 1749, was but a hollow truce which left the question of
boundaries between the French and EngUsh on this side of
the ocean to a Commission. While that was holding pro
tracted sittings in Paris the wily French were pushing their
traders and forts along the lakes and down the Ohio, crowding
the English into narrow territorial limits along the Atlantic
seaboard. They in turn were attempting to hold their pos
sessions in New England and New York. What is known
as the Seven Years' War was not formally declared in Europe
until 1756, but in America hostilities had then been main
tained for two years. They began in May, 1754, when in
the valley of the upper Ohio Major George Washington, then
twenty-two years old, under commission from Gov. Dinwiddie
of Virginia, after a sharp skirmish captured a detachment of
French soldiers under Jumonville. It was not only the first
engagement of that long war, but it was more notable as the
first fight in which that young officer engaged, who was destined
to become one of the world's great military leaders. In a
letter to one of his brothers written while the flush of battle
was stUl on him he said, "I heard the bullets whistle, and,
believe me, there is something charming in the sound."
(Irving's Life of Washington, Vol. I, p. 111.)
In June, 1754, under orders from the Lords of Trade and
Plantations, the several Governors, seven in all, of New York,
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the four of New England respec
tively, sent commissioners to Albany to negotiate with the
New York Indians and secure them as loyal allies. It has been
spoken of as "a body of men who for character and ability
had never had an equal on the continent," and was the first
Colonial Congress.
Franklin was the leading spirit of the Congress, and turn
ing from Indian affairs to the more vital matter of some form
of effective union of the Colonies, he suggested a plan that

The Seven Years' War 443
became famous. It was, however, rejected by the Crown
because it gave too much power to the Colonies, and vice versa.
Neither side was willing to concede as much of its prerogatives
as the plan exacted. The rough woodcut, an early cartoon,
which had lately been published in the Pennsylvania Gazette,
gave warning which stUl demanded public attention and
action. It represented the several Colonies under the form
of a snake cut into several pieces, with the motto, "Join, or
die." In that same month of June, Governor Shirley issued or
ders to the towns of Massachusetts to lay in a stock of ammuni
tion and to prepare to defend themselves. He made Col.
Israel WiUiams commander of all the Hampshire forces raised
for its defense, and commissioned Elijah Williams of Deer
field as Major. Under him the line of northwestern forts
was strengthened. Major Elijah WUUams was also appointed
as Commissary, and Deerfield was made the depot for the
frontier supplies. Early in September Col. Israel Williams
wrote to Secretary WiUard, giving sundry items relative to
the conditions of affairs in his territory :
"The people of the new settlements have generally with
drawn; some few have shut themselves up in poor forts and
palisaded houses. * * * What Fall-town people could not
get into Lieut. Sheldon's fort, are withdrawn. * * * Some
remain at Charlemont Si are picketing a house Si some of the
inhabitants remain. * * * Pitsfield is deserted. * * * 6 Indians
seen at Southampton yesterday."
Sept. 12 he wrote Gov. Shirley: "It is open war with us Si
a dark and distressing scene opening. A merciless miscreant
enemy invading us in every quarter." FuUer details of that
letter will be given later.
His alarm was due to the capture of eight people at No. 4,
a few days before the date of his letter. Because of the alarm
occasioned by the sight of the six Indians in Southampton,
Rev. Mr. Judd records in his Diary that he "rid to Hatfield
and obtained orders to Major Hawley for 10 soldiers." They
were sent from Northampton and marched to Mr. Judd's
house, the only fortified one in town, put it in a good state of
defense, and made their headquarters there for three months.
The people may have been made unduly nervous by an alarm

444 Westfield and its Historic Influences
during the time of worship on Sunday, Sept. 1. Mr. Judd
entered an item in his Diary on that day, "The assembly broke
up in sermon time by a gun shot at a bare," and added the
next day, "The scout came in who went out yesterday; peo
ple began to move together." He does not say whether the
scout discovered the "bare" or whether the bullet shot at him
found a vital spot.
There seems to have been considerable indignation on the
part of Major Hawley against his cousin Col. WiUiams. In
a letter addressed to him under date of Oct. 3, Major Hawley
suggests that there should be a conference on military affairs
"for ye defence of our people on ye west of Connecticut river,"
in which Col. Israel Williams, Col. Oliver Partridge, Major
Ephraim Williams, and himself should join. With some bit
terness he protests that Col. Israel and Major Ephraim devise
such schemes as they "think proper, and labur it with ye
Governor and he also with ye whole Court." While "Col.
Partridge schemes something different perhaps, which he will
labour with the Governor and House. I am privy to neither
scheme, and perhaps ye first of my hearing thereof should be
in ye House." He later took an active part in the organiza
tion of the Hampshire County Regiment.
It is not strange that the arbitrary methods of "the river
gods," as they were sneeringly termed, should have provoked
jealousy and criticism even among themselves. The term
was applied to Joseph Hawley of Northampton, Israel Wil
liams of Hatfield, and John Worthington of Springfield, men
of commanding influence and consummate abUity, who bore
great civic responsibilities and were of immense service to
the county and the Colony in later colonial times. That
they were often arbitrary and dictatorial, and aristocratic
rather than democratic in their spirit and habit, is not a serious
indictment, since they rendered great benefits through their
private and public efforts. In some respects they were proto
types of the modern "boss," but not in his most hateful fea
tures of greed and graft. Men of the type of these leaders
during the middle of the eighteenth century, including Col.
Oliver Partridge, and those of the previous generation, Col.
John Pynchon, Col. John Stoddard and Capt. Samuel Par
tridge, were shaping affairs, of their own towns not only, but

The Seven Years' War 445
of the communities round about, and of the young nation
just emerging from infancy. Though there was at this era
a great dearth of capable mUitary captains in New England,
the number of men efficient as civic leaders in the various
towns of this Colony is very remarkable. They wrought
nobly and well, and subsequent generations have abundant
reason to rise up and caU them blessed. Westfield was no
exception in this respect, though her public spirited citizens
of that age have not come so conspicuously into view on the
pages of recorded history. They were instinct with the same
spirit that ennobled and energized the Pynchons, the Hawleys,
the Williamses and the other civic notables of that epoch.
WhUe New England was maturing men who should impress
themselves upon the life of the nation which was destined to
play so important and beneficent a part in the world's affairs,
the rulers on the two thrones which were so vitally related
to its destinies were intriguing and maneuvering for any possi
ble advantage to be gained in this distant hemisphere. While
the travesty of peace was maintained, and the people upon
our frontiers were praying that it might become a matter of
fact as weU as of form, England, on the one hand, was start
ing hither two regiments of 500 men each under Gen. Brad-
dock, and France, on the other hand, was preparing to dis
patch eighteen ships-of-war with 3000 men, in six battalions,
under Baron Dieskau. The two commanders were tried
veterans of many campaigns. Each saUed, ostensibly, to
reinforce garrisons which had been respectively depleted by
the natural waste of war and disease, but each sailed also
with secret orders to assume at once the aggressive, while
the semblance of peace should be maintained. It is amazing
what crimes against cardinal principles of righteousness can
be committed with unblushing effrontery under the casuistic
justification of the necessities of war. The English were to
attack Fort Duquesne at the forks of the Ohio, and the French
were to assault Fort HaUfax, one of two forts lately built upon
the Kennebec. The English claimed that Fort Duquesne
was within the bounds of their own territory, while the French
had not even that shred of an excuse in making an inroad
during a period of technical peace. Note has been made
already of Indian depredations in the vaUey during the sum

446 Westfield and its Historic Influences
mer of 1754, even as near to Westfield as the adjoining town
on the north, and the warning issued by Col. Israel Williams
to the several towns to put themselves into a state of prep
aration for defense. As early in 1755 as Feb. 10 he ordered
Capt. Ephraim WiUiams and Capt. Phineas Stevens to raise
each a company and build a fort at the "great carrying place"
on the Hudson, where the village of Fort Edward now stands,
to provide for the protection of stores to be gathered as sup
plies for a proposed expedition against Crown Point. Dur
ing the summer many persons in the upper parts of the Con
necticut River VaUey were killed or captured.
In April, 1755, there was an important conference of Gover
nors at Alexandria, called by Gov. Shirley to consult with
the newly arrived Gen. Braddock. Washington was present,
soon to be made an aide of Braddock, while William Shirley,
the Governor's son, was his secretary. An extensive and
comprehensive plan of campaign for the year was formulated,
looking toward the expulsion of the French from English ter
ritory, and the capture of a fortress on the border. It was
to execute four distinct campaigns at widely separated points.
Braddock with his two regiments and such provincials and
Indian allies as could be gathered was to strike through the
wilderness and over the mountains to Fort Duquesne. Shir
ley, who since the former war had held the rank of Colonel,
and unknown to all the officials in the Conference was soon
by the death of Braddock to be made Commander-in-Chief,
was to lead two recently formed regiments, PeppereU's and his
own, against Fort Niagara. Lieut. Col. Monckton, a regular
officer, was to lead a body of New England troops to capture
Beausejour, and complete the subjection of Acadia. Col.
WiUiam Johnson, because of his potent influence over the
Indians, and his prominence in military affairs in New York,
was to command such provincials as could be enlisted in New
England, New York and New Jersey, against Crown Point,
the key of Lake Champlain, and the recognized highway con
necting Canada and the Provinces.
Theoretically this plan was magnificent and of brUliant
promise, and had it been successful at all points would have
crippled greatly the French power on this continent, but the
results of it are pathetic. The failure of two of the campaigns

The Seven Years' War 447
brought successive shocks of disappointment to the popular
heart, amounting, after Braddock's defeat, almost to despair.
Parkman sums up the results as foUows: "A disastrous rout
on the Monongahela, failure at Niagara, a barren victory
at Lake George, and three forts captured in Acadia." The
appaUing disaster at the forks of the Ohio was due to the
prejudice and pigheadedness of Braddock. Had the expedi
tion been under the command of Washington, who, though
but a young officer and with little martial experience, had
been a ranger through those forest fastnesses and knew some
thing of the essential rudiments of backwoods warfare, and
moreover had energy and alertness which would have for
bidden such waste of time in reaching the point to be attacked
as Braddock aUowed, who can say whether the issue might
not have been the very reverse of what it actually was? He
was so impatient of the snail-like advance of the body of
selected troops after having left the heavy baggage and much
of the artillery at Fort Cumberland, that he wrote to his
brother, "My hopes were brought very low indeed when I
found that, instead of pushing on with vigor without regard
ing a little rough road, they were halting to level every mole
hiU, and to erect bridges over every brook, by which means
we were four days in going twelve miles."
The task attempted was certainly a herculean one, trans
porting supplies, ammunition, equipage and artiUery more
than a hundred miles from Fort Cumberland, through the
virgin forest, along a narrow pathway where the primeval
trees had been but just removed. The line of march often
extended four miles. It has been said that "It was like a
thin, long, party-colored snake, red, blue, and brown, trail
ing slowly through the depth of leaves, creeping around inac
cessible heights, crawling over ridges, moving always in damp
ness and shadow, by rivulets and waterfalls, crags and chasms,
gorges and shaggy steeps."
It was a more stupendous task than would have been a
similar campaign from Westfield to Albany. Had Col. Wil-
Uams's regiment with its Westfield company, and another
regiment of equal size, been ordered to that undertaking,
instead of marching unencumbered with heavy impedimenta
over that road en route to Lake George, it would have experi-

448 Westfield and its Historic Influences
enced some of the difficulties which Braddock's men knew,
yet the road would have been far less rough and the heights
to be crossed would have been far less lofty.
Braddock had to cross the watershed between the Atlantic
and the Gulf of Mexico, without accurate knowledge of the
easiest grades and the least rugged trails.
As it resulted, the disaster which cost him his life and
his reputation, cost the Colonies dear, for Dunbar, left in
charge of the rear guard and the supplies, destroyed provi
sions, ammunition and cannon, and hastened with the panic-
stricken fugitives to Fort Cumberland, leaving the frontier
open to Indian incursions which burst upon it in "a storm of
blood and fire."
Before starting for his momentous conference at Alexan
dria Gov. Shirley sent the foUowing letter to Col. Williams :
"Boston, 29th March, 1755.
"Sir, I am setting out on my journey to meet with General
Braddock. Must entreat your favour and assistance in set
tling the Officers for a Regiment to go ag'st Crownpoint, the
Regiment to consist of 500 men with ten Captains, ten Lieuten
ants Si ten Ensigns, including field Officers: it wiU be a great
pleasure to me to have Majr 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 wiU bring all necessary papers
with him. "I am with Truth 8s Esteem, Sir,
Your Most assur'd Friend and Servant,
W. Shirley.
"To Israel Williams, Hatfield."
Very soon afterward, Ephraim WiUiams received his com
mission as Colonel of this new regiment, and engaged with
others in raising, each for himself, a company. It had come
to be the custom for the Colonel of a regiment to be at the
same time at the head of one of its constituent companies,
with the additional emoluments of a Captain.
Sheldon gives a list of the staff officers with the monthly
pay of each appended :

The Seven Years' War 449
"Colonel Ephraim Williams, Deerfield and Hatfield £12.16.0
Lieut. Colonel Seth Pomeroy, Northampton 10.13.4
Major, Noah Ashley, Westfield, 9. 1.4
Surgeon, Thomas WiUiams, Deerfield 10. 0.0
Surgeon's Mate, Perez Marsh, Hadley, 5. 6.8
Chaplain, Stephen WiUiams, Longmeadow, 6. 8.4
Commissioner of Hospitals, Eleazur Burt, 5. 0.4
Adjutant, Philip Richardson, 2. 2.8
Armorer, John P. Bull, Deerfield, 2. 0.0"
The Lieut. Colonel, Seth Pomeroy, was the man who
from making and repairing guns at Northampton had gone
to fire them at the enemy at Louisburg, and to keep the valua
ble Journal which gives so many mteresting details of the
siege and capture of that stronghold, besides writing letters
to his wife which supplemented and enlarged upon the inci
dents of the Journal.
Major Noah Ashley belonged to one of the most influential
famines of Westfield. He was born June 15, 1704, grandson
of David Ashley, the settler, and son of Capt. John Ashley
and his wife Sarah Dewey, daughter of Jedediah, one of
the three notable brothers of that name. Capt. John Ashley
married for his second wife widow Mary Sheldon, born in
Westfield, Aug. 19, 1672, the daughter of Mr. Joseph Whit
ing and his wife Mary, who was the daughter of Col. John
Pynchon as already noted.
Westfield gave of her best in this Seven Years' War which
Edward Everett caUed significantly "the school of the Revo
lution." The town was getting into training for larger gifts
of hfe and treasure in the more expensive sacrifices of the
longer and fiercer struggle which was to be begun a brief gen
eration thence.
Just when Capt. Ingersoll's company and Major Ashley
marched from Westfield, we have no means of knowmg. A
brief but interesting Journal of Capt. Elisha Hawley, son of
the second Joseph Hawley, and only brother of Major Joseph,
has for its initial item the foUowing:
"June 26th 1755 set out from Northampton for Albany
in order to proceed in the Expedition against Crownpoint,
road to Westfd and Lodged there."

450 Westfield and its Historic Influences
His company started shortly before him and were at Green-
bush when he arrived on Sunday the 29th. Lieut. Col. Seth
Pomeroy started a few days later as his longer and fuller
Journal records. "Northampton, July 1, 1755.
"Tuesday, set out from home to the Expedition to Crown
Point. Arrived at Westfield, lodged at Clapp 's Tuesday and
Wednesday night."
He may have had some affairs of the regiment or the West-
field company to attend to which kept him there over Wednes
day. He spent the next night at Stockbridge and Friday
night at "Cantuhook" [Kinderhook] and reached Albany at
noon on Saturday- The daily travel of these two men is
thus seen to have averaged about thirty miles.
Pomeroy, under date of July 10, says: "Governor Shirley
came to town with several officers and two companies of sol
diers for his army. At his arrival the cannon in the fort was
discharged, the field officers that were in town waited upon
the Governor and drank a glass of wine with him." Major
Ashley may have been included among them.
On the following day they were invited to dine with the
Governor and General Johnson. "Saturday, the 12th, I
dined with Maj. General Lyman at Col. Rensalers."
It is interesting to note that they were probably enter
tained on that day by the man who ten years later erected the
magnificent Manor-house which until recent years was one
of the show places of Albany, standing in the northern part
of the city. It was finally in 1894 sold to the Sigma Phi Fra
ternity of Williams College, carefuUy taken down, removed
to WiUiamstown and set up in its original form, minus the
side wings, far back from the street on the lot next east of
the Congregational Church, and has since been used as a
Lodge, and the headquarters of the fraternity.
The two Journals of these officers are of peculiar value
because they contain private personal records of the move
ments and activities of the Hampshire regiment of Col.
Ephraim Williams, with its contingent of Westfield officers
and privates.
They both refer to a case of martial discipline, which
shows that at least one heroic attempt was made to keep that

The Seven Years' War 451
Continental camp free from the breach of the third command
ment which made the army in Flanders proverbial.
Capt. Hawley says, under date of Aug. 6, "this day one of
our army was whip'd for the most vile Cursing 8s Swearing."
Pomeroy adds important details, "100 lashes and drummed
out of the army with a rope about his neck, and ordered to
be sent to a convenient place, there to be kept and placed
tUl the Crown Point expedition was over." As his name
was Bickenstaff we may conclude that he was not a Hampshire
man, but may have belonged to one of the other Provinces,
and that he was punished so severely, either by singling him
from many offenders to make his penalty an awful warning
to others, or because his offense was particularly outrageous.
Col. WiUiams wrote to Col. Israel WiUiams at Hatfield, under
date of Aug. 16, "I beg your prayers for us aU 8s me in perticu-
lar. We are a wicked profane army, more especially New
York troops 8s Road Island, nothing to be heard among a
great part of them but the language of heU. I assure you
Sr if ever the place is taken, it will not be for our sakes, but
for these good people left behind."
On the other hand, a private letter of one Johnson says,
"Prayers have a good effect, especially among the New Eng
land men." WUliam Smith of New York wrote, "Not a
chicken has been stolen," showing either remarkable restraint
on the part of the campaigners or a strange dearth of poultry
in the neighborhood. The Massachusetts Archives show that
its troops at least had sermons twice a week, daily prayers
and frequent psalm-singing. Private Jonathan CasweU of
that Province wrote to his Father, "Prayers among us night
and morning. Here we lie, not knowing when we shall march
for Crown Point, but I hope not long to tarry. Desiring
your prayers to God for me as I am going to war, I am Your
Ever Dutiful Son."
While at Stillwater, employed in getting up stores for
their expedition, Pomeroy notes that on Sunday, July 27,
Mr. Williams preached. The following Sunday they were
on the march, reaching Fort Nicholson, or the great carrying
place, just before noon. On Aug. 10 Mr. WiUiams preached
"both fore and afternoon." A week later the Journal records,
"Sabbath day, 17th 1755. A fair day. So much business

452 Westfield and its Historic Influences
this forenoon that no sermon. Met at 11 o'clock, sang and
publicly prayed. Orders given for a meeting 5 o'clock in the
afternoon. Just after we met and began prayers news came
that the wagons were attacked by 300 Indians."
Two weeks later he says, "Sabbath day Aug. 31, 1755. A
fair day. In the forenoon Mr. WiUiams preached a sermon
to Indians by Interpreters. In the afternoon one to the Eng
lish in the camp, at 5 of the clock, a Mr. Newell, a young
gentleman in the Rhode Island Government a chaplain of
Capt. Babcock's preached a very good sermon from Christ's
sermon on the Mount, 'Love your Enemies.' ' It certainly
was a strange text to choose for that place and hour, just a
week and a day before the tragedy of the "bloody morning
scout" on ground but a short distance south of the camp at
Lake George. The text had a fair and notable iUustration
in the preaching that forenoon to the Indians by Mr. Wil
liams, then a venerable man, who forty-one years before had
been carried captive from Deerfield to Canada. He must
have learned to love his enemies in the long interval between
the horrors of captivity and this day when facing another
attack from the same Canadian tribes, and the same French
invaders, as had made him suffer the horrors of captivity in
boyhood. On the Tuesday previous to that Sabbath of three sermons,
Pomeroy records, "Orders given to march with about 2000
men, and a number of waggons to carry cannon and stores.
We set off about 4 of the clock in the afternoon, 6 or 8 can
non fired at our departure. We proceeded a little above the
faUs which were about four miles. There encamped with our
army under hemlock and bush shelters.
"Wednesday, 27th. A fair morning. We set out with our
army Y an hour after 7 o'clock in the morning went on about
4 or 5 miles then stopped, eat pieces of ham broken bread
and cheese, drank some fresh lemon punch and the best of
wine with General Johnson and some of the field officers,
we staid about an hour and then marched on slow for the
road was not clear, but a large number of hands clearing before
the army.
"Thursday, 28 Our army encamped at a good brook
about half way from the carrying place to the lake: a smaU

The Seven Years' War 453
party of Indians went off to hunt a little above last night;
they kiUed and brought in 3 deer; they gave me a thigh of
one on which I supped and breakfasted next morning with a
good appetite. Set out about 8 of the clock with our army
having early sent about 400 men to cut our way; about noon
stopped and dined with General Johnson by a small brook
under a tree; eat a good dinner of cold boiled and roast veni
son, drank good fresh lemon punch and wine, we came to the
lake about 4 of the clock."
That point "about half way" was in the region of Glens
FaUs, where Cooper, in his Leather Stocking Tales, locates a
fight with the Indians of his great scout and backwoodsman,
Deerslayer. During that leisurely march of the little army to the head
of Lake George, while the men toiled arduously to make a
road for the cannon and baggage, the officers, at least the
higher ones, seem to have enjoyed a kind of cheerful picnic
on those late summer days, though bloody work and cruel
havoc were so soon to test their mettle. WeU was it for those
noble patriots that the hardships necessarily incident to a
campaign in the wilderness could have even such small com
pensations, in bread and cheese and venison, washed down
with lemon punch and the best of wine, though, perhaps, as
to this last, even a homely vintage, in the circumstances,
might have been glorified into veritable nectar.
The slow progress of the expedition may have been inevi
table, due to the tardiness with which means of transporta
tion could be secured, as in Virginia when Braddock was try
ing to move his forces to Fort Duquesne, stUl it seemed inex
cusably slow to Doctor Thomas WiUiams, brother to Colonel
Ephraim, and Surgeon of the regiment.
Under date of Aug. 17, in a letter to his wife, he says,
"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 that
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 cant say I dont fear a fruitless one. We
know not yet which way we are like to proceed, as the country

454 Westfield and its Historic Influences
has not yet been sufficiently reconnoitered, at least so as to
give us satisfactory intelligence, notwithstanding we had
about eight 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 or
der for us to find out the best way for us to proceed. Captain
Taylor of Hartford, a vigilant, active, good officer, goes ahead.
Captain Burke is also this day going with the ten picked men,
and three of the General's Indians to Lake St. Sacrament [the
French name of Lake George, changed from the Indian name
Lake Horicon], to view that road. With submission to the
general officers, I must think it a very grand mistake that
the business was not done two months agone, but so it is, and
impatience wiU only add to the difficulty. I endeavor to
keep myself calm and quiet under our slow progress and wait
God's time to order 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."
From the Carrying Place, where they remained so long in
camp, building a fort and gathering material, it was about
equidistant to the head of Lake George, somewhat west of
north, and to the navigable waters of Wood Creek, flowing
north, into Lake Champlain, to each of which points Indian
trails led. The openness to attack of the "drowned lands,"
in the neighborhood of the head of Lake Champlain, finally
determined the officers to take the other route.
The delay of which Dr. Williams complains was of a piece
with the earlier delay and confusion incident to the organiza
tion and advance of Col. WiUiams's regiment. In the first
month of summer Col. John Worthington of Springfield wrote
to Col. WiUiams complaining of affairs and indicating that
Westfield was at that time an important rendezvous of the
Hampshire force then gathering.
"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 soldiers is that they march to West-

The Seven Years' War 455
field on their tour to Albany 8s be muster'd 8s receive their
residue of bounty, wages 8sc, there at Westfield. This Sr
gives them uneasiness, very considerable, 8s if orders per
emptory are given for it I am very sorry, 8s I may Sr 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 muster'd ten days ago, 8s to have known
certainly who would be accepted 8s who not, that such as were
accepted might have had their money to have furnished them
selves wh necessary cloathing &c for their march, 8s to have
provided to have left their famUies (such as have them) pro
vided for at home, for many such there are who depended
on their money to do these things, 8s will be reduced to great
difficulties without they receive it in season St where they can
dispose of it to these purposes.
"This shd 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, 8s be denied the favour on the
cheapest terms. It would have been easy I conceive for the
Gent'n commission'd to muster the men to have muster'd
them near home seasonably for their being aUowed to return
home after muster for the purposes I have mention'd 8s for
others Yt might be suggested. I am sure it could make them
but little trouble, nor the Province but a trifling expense.
The contrary I am sure wiU subject the soldiers to difficulties
very great and very needless, 8s I am very sorry to find that
any of the men of this respectable character (I mean soldiers
Sr) who deserve esteem 8s acknowledgm'ts from everybody
where they have out of regard to the public good voluntarily
offered themselves to risque their lives 8s encounter fatigues
Si hardship in a thousand various shapes, that we might some
of us rest in ease 8s quiet at home, should in any instance
imagine they have the least colour to suspect they are sub
jected to any 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, 8s we wiU endeavor to relieve 8s quiet them under
it as well as may be.

456 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"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
"Col. Ephr. Williams. J. Worthington.
"Springf'd, June 15, 1755.
"It is no inconvenience to the men to have their blankets
8s knapsacks (kept back) but the contrary, but as to their
money it is much otherwise."
That surely is a noble letter, coming from one of the "river
gods," a man esteemed by his neighbors as "aristocratical"
in his notions and habits. He is entitled to honor for the
chivalrous spirit of considerateness therein shown toward
the humble but heroic men of the rank and file who were
eager to run the "risque" of death and capture, to bear the
brunt of toil and hardship and battle, for the sake of their
country. On the evening of Sunday, Sept. 7, public worship having
been held as usual, news reached the camp on Lake George
of "a large body of men travelling south up or near the Wood
Creek." That body was the army of Baron Dieskau, who with a
force of about 3500 men had reached Crown Point at about
the time that the Provincials reached camp at Lake George.
Leaving part of his troops at Ticonderoga, with 216 French
regulars, 684 Canadians and 600 Indians, he started southward
on the Lake toward the present site of Whitehall. Leaving
his canoes there under guard, he took the trail leading to the
Carrying Place, where the Provincials had been erecting Fort
Lyman, afterwards called Fort Edward. When within about
three miles of it, he learned of the English and Mohawk force
at Lake George, and under constraint of his Indian aUies
who objected to assailing a regular fortification defended
by cannon, he turned northward.
Stephen Williams, the boy captive from Deerfield in 1703,
pastor in Longmeadow 1716-1782, was Chaplain in Ephraim
Williams's regiment. On Sunday, Sept. 7, he preached to his
men from the text Is. 65 : 4 "which remain among the graves
and lodges of the mountains." He had been Chaplain at
Louisburg.

The Seven Years' War 457
About 8 o'clock on Monday morning, Sept. 8, Col. Wil-
fiams with his regiment, and a force of Connecticut men under
Lieutenant Colonel Whiting, moved out of camp, and were
soon caught in a death trap. Dieskau had arranged his com
mand into a kind of fish hook formation, hidden on both sides
of the road by trees, and blocking the road in front of the
advancing column which, with inexplicable folly, was pro
tected by no scouts in advance or on the flanks. When the
force of Col. Williams had advanced well into this pocket,
the enemy opened a galling fire with terrible execution. The
story of this "bloody morning scout" has been told often,
and is very familiar. Among the victims soon to perish was
Col. WUnams. Strangely enough Lieut. Col. Pomeroy,
though writing quite a long account of the day's experiences,
makes no mention of that significant catastrophe, nor does
he refer to it directly in later records. He says of the fight
later in the day, after Dieskau had driven the detachment
back to the camp, and when the whole English force was
engaged in its defense, "As soon as they all came within shot
of the regulars rank and file they came up towards the west
part of the camp, there I placed myself and part of Col. Rug-
gles and of our regiment along together the fire began between
11 and 12 of the clock and continued till near five in the after
noon, the most violent fire perhaps that ever was heard of in
this country in any battle." And he wrote to his wife, "Per
haps the hailstones from heaven were never much thicker
than their buUets came; but blessed be God! that did not
in the least daunt or disturb us."
Surgeon WiUiams wrote to his wife, "It was the most awful
day my eyes ever beheld, there seemed to be nothing but
thunder and lightening and perpetual pillars of smoke." It
was his first battle, but Seth Pomeroy having been through
the siege of Louisburg, had become famifiar with the scenes
of carnage. Late in the afternoon a saUy was made, and the attack
ing party was completely routed. Part of Dieskau's force
which had gone back to the scene of the morning ambuscade,
"Bloody Pond," as it has since been called, fell to robbing
the slain there but were attacked by a detachment which had
come up from Fort Lyman and were scattered in great con-

458 Westfield and its Historic Influences
fusion into the environing forest. The remnants of the French
force hurried back to their canoes and made a swift return
to Ticonderoga. Baron Dieskau, fearfuUy wounded several
times, was captured. Among the kiUed in Col. Williams's
regiment were the two Westfield officers, Major Noah Ashley
and Capt. Jonathan Ingerson, with a private soldier, Richard
Campbell. Samuel Ponder of the same company was wounded
and in November foUowing he was reported on the sick list
at the Lake George camp by Thomas Williams, Surgeon.
A younger brother of Capt. Ingersoll, Daniel, was killed
during the French and Indian wars, and a great uncle, Joseph,
twelfth child of John the settler, had been killed at the sack
of Deerfield, Feb. 29, 1704.
Col. Ephraim Williams, when in Albany en route with his
regiment to the northern camp, made his will, July 22, 1755,
bequeathing the bulk of his property to the "support and
maintenance of a free school (in a township west of Fort Massa
chusetts, commonly called the West Township) forever, pro
vided the said township fall within the jurisdiction of the
Province of the Massachusetts Bay, and provided also, that
the Governor and the General Court give the said township
the name of WUliamstown."
Thus that martyr of the "bloody morning scout" became
the honored founder of WiUiams CoUege, an institution which,
year by year, is continuing to add glory to his name. Many
sons of Westfield are among those who have there been trained
according to the best standards of New England life and have
been fitted for useful and worthy service in various spheres of
activity, professional and mercantile.
The Hampshire regiment, though suffering so severely in
the morning surprise, did noble service the rest of the day.
Dr. Perez Marsh, Surgeon's Mate of Dr. Williams, in a letter
to William WiUiams of Hatfield, son of Col. Israel WUliams,
reports the estimate of their valor expressed by Baron Dieskau.
"The Gen'r'l's observation who 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 regiment remained there, building Fort William Henry,
suffering many hardships and much consequent sickness, until
late in November, and then turned homeward, leaving only

The Seven Years' War 459
a part of its number to share, with detachments from other
regiments, garrison duty during the winter.
Lieut. Martin Dewey, grandson of Jedediah the settler of
Westfield, is named on "a list of 151 men voluntarily inlisted
into his majestys service for reinforcing the army destined
for Crown Point out of the Southern regiment in the County
of Hampshire." (Mass. Archives, Vol. 94, p. 1.)
That was Col. Worthington's regiment, which was thus
drawn upon to strengthen Gen. Johnson after the defeat of
Dieskau. Lieut. Dewey is also reported the foUowing year
as doing service for thirteen weeks in the company of Capt.
Day of Springfield.
WhUe the forces under Gen. Johnson were passing through
the experiences in the early September days of 1755, already
sketched, another of the four campaigns decided upon at
the convention of Governors in Alexandria in the preceding
spring was being brought to a close in Nova Scotia, and the
Acadian farmers about the Basin of Minas were being gathered
for deportation to English settlements in New England and
other Provinces. The tragic basis of Longfellow's Evange
line was in process of laying on the fertile meadows of that
region, famous for its wondrous beauty, as weU as for its
pathetic tragedy.
Lieut. Col. Monckton, and under him Lieut. Col. Winslow
and George Scott, had succeeded so far as to gather, for trans
portation to wretched exUe, several thousand helpless rustics,
whUe technically justified in the heartrending proceeding by
their refusal, on account of mistaken religious scruples, to take
the oath of allegiance to the EngUsh Sovereign. This appar
ently necessary war measure has been severely censured by
many critics, and it certainly must ever be heartUy deplored.
However, so fair and painstaking a historian as Parkman thus
sums up his estimate of it:
"New England humanitarianism, melting into sentimen
tality at a tale of woe, has been unjust to its own. Whatever
judgment may be passed on the cruel measure of wholesale
expatriation, it was not put in execution tiU every resource
of patience and persuasion had been tried in vain. The agents
of the French court, civil, military, and ecclesiastical, had
made some act of force a necessity. We have seen by what

460 Westfield and its Historic Influences
vUe practices they produced in Acadia a state of things intol
erable, and impossible of continuance. They conjured up
the tempest; and when it burst on the heads of the unhappy
people, they gave no help. The government of Louis XV
began with making the Acadians its tools, and ended with
making them its victims." (Montcalm and Wolfe, Vol. I, p. 294.)
In this connection it may be well to recall the significant
fact, noted in the Chapter on King William's War, that the
distinctly outlined policy of Louis XIV in that campaign
under Frontenac, included just such a course of conduct in
reference to the New England Colonists of that period as
was actually carried out under the necessities of war a half
century later by the English in Acadia.
One short segment of a ripple of that commotion in Acadia
reached the distant Massachusetts frontier in Westfield several
years later, as indicated by the following obscure vote: "Town
Meeting, June 23d 1761" after reconsidering a former vote
to build pews in the meeting house, "To see what the Town
will do with the French family sent here by order of the General
Court, Voted to leave it with the selectmen to provide for
them 8s improve them to ye best advantage they can." Just
when the family arrived and how long it remained cannot be
ascertained, this being the only record of action in Town
Meeting relating to it, though the Treasurer's book shows
that a house was built for it. For a family of exiles, similarly
assigned, Northampton provided four shiUings per week
and the use of a house, from 1760 to 1765. Hadley had
another such family for whom it voted support from 1762 until
1767, when it voted three pounds to remove it to Canada.
The Westfield contingent may have accompanied that from
Hadley on the journey back home.
The general attitude of the Province is thus indicated:
"French Neutrals, Aug. 25, 1756.
"An act relative to their removal —
"The Committee are further of the Opinion that the Select
Men of the several Towns, where any of those French People
are or may be placed, be directed to assist them in procuring
Employment at such Rates as they shall judge reasonable,
and if thro want of Employment or thro want of Ability,

The Seven Years' War 461
any of them can't earn a Support for themselves Si Families,
the Select Men be directed to afford them such Relief as may
be neccessary for their comfortable Subsistence, in the same
Manner as if they had been proper Inhabitants of this Province
8s exhibit their respective Accounts of Disbursement into the
Secretary's Office as Occasion shall require."
Though the Crown Point expedition had cost Massachu
setts £80,000, in December, 1755, Shirley called the Gov
ernors of all the Colonies to meet him in New York; only
four, however, responded, representing Connecticut, New
York, Maryland and Pennsylvania. He laid before them a
most ambitious plan of campaign for the following year, includ
ing ten thousand men to attack Crown Point, six thousand
against Fort Niagara, and three thousand against Fort
Duquesne. The scheme appeared far too pretentious and
expensive to the General Court of Massachusetts, though
it consented to estimates which in the existing condition of
the exchequer were very liberal. But in June, 1756, Shir
ley, who had been Commander-in-Chief since the death of
Braddock, was superseded by Col. Webb. He was to retain
the command until the arrival from England of the Earl of
Loudon or Gen. Abercrombie.
After hostilities between the French and English had
thus been more or less vigorously maintained for two years,
during which the borders of Virginia and Pennsylvania suf
fered far more terribly than those of New England, war was
formally declared by England on the 18th of May, 1756.
It would be interesting to review the complications of
European politics which culminated in that formal act, but
it would lead us too far afield for the limitations which should
bind this local history. It was a war of the giants of that
European era, while it involved the feeble Colonists on this
side of the sea like the successive wars which had preceded
it, in terrors, hardships and sacrifices, which are too big for
words. In the campaign of 1755 against Crown Point Massa
chusetts raised 4500 men, one in eight of her adult male popu
lation, and in later campaigns of the long and tedious war
she furnished a still larger percentage.
Bolton, the King's agent, writing to his royal master after

462 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the conflict had been ended, said, "In the late war near one-
third part of the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay, able of
body to bear arms, become your Majesty's soldiers."
They were but rude countrymen for the most part. In a
return of Capt. John Moseley's company, of Col. Worth
ington's regiment, in camp at Fort Edward July 26, 1756, the
Captain, with his Lieutenant, David Pexley, his two Sergeants,
John Hobbs and Dan. Cadwell, are described as husband
men, together with the following Privates, Abiather Jones,
John Pateson, Elnathan Smith, Thomas CampbeU, James
Smith, Tyler Larrabee, David Stone, John Beament, Benony
Sackett, Simeons Root, Elijah Messenger, John Jones, Gideon
Root and Cesar a Negro. The only exceptions on the roU
are Corporal Nat Lee and Private Elnathan Smith, each of
whom is put down as a blacksmith.
The sturdy Col. Seth Pomeroy of Northampton, who
became a successor of Col. Ephraim Williams in command
of the regiment, was a gunsmith. Israel Putnam, who fought
as a private at Lake George among the Connecticut troops,
and John Stark, who was there as a Lieutenant among the
New Hampshire levies, were husbandmen.
"The soldiers were no soldiers, but farmers and farmers'
sons who had volunteered for the summer campaign. One
of the corps had a blue uniform faced with red. The rest
wore their daily clothing. Blankets had been served out to
them by the several Provinces, but the greater part brought
their own guns; some under penalty of a fine if they came
without them, and some under the inducement of a reward.
They had no bayonets, but carried hatchets in their belts as
a sort of substitute. At their sides were slung powder-horns,
on which, in the leisure of the camp, they carved quaint devices
with the points of their jack-knives. They came chiefly from
plain New England homesteads — rustic abodes, unpainted
and dingy, with long well-sweeps, capacious barns, rough
fields of pumpkins and corn, and vast kitchen chimneys, above
which in winter hung squashes to keep them from frost, and
guns to keep them from rust." (Parkman, Montcalm and
Wolfe, Vol. I, p. 302.)
This graphic picture of the great historian is a fair delinea
tion of the men from Westfield who spent those tedious months

The Seven Years' War 463
of 1755 in camp along the Hudson and on the banks of Lake
George, and their fellow townsmen who in later years wrought
and suffered on the shores of the larger Lake Champlain, on
the RicheUeu and on the St. Lawrence, besieging Montreal
and Quebec, at times to be repulsed, but finally to carry their
colors in triumph over all obstacles and plant them on the
captured battlements as a symbol of enduring conquest. For
it is to be remembered that many Westfield men shared in
aU those campaigns and ultimate victories.
With a new commander at the head of each army, Loudon
over the English, and the far abler Montcalm over the French,
the campaigns of 1756 were conducted. While Winslow was
gathering troops and supplies at Fort WiUiam Henry, Lake
George, for an advance on Ticonderoga, Montcalm captured
Oswego and thus gained supreme control of the Great Lakes.
That victory was so alarming and appaffing to the English
that the plan to attack Ticonderoga was given up for the
year. Among the embarrassing military customs which exas
perated Loudon was that of dividing the commissary and
quartermaster's departments into as many separate bureaus
as there were Provinces which had formal organizations engaged
in a campaign. Each of the four New England Colonies had
its own special committee "for clothing, arming, paying,
victuaUing, and transporting" its troops. Thus four inde
pendent committees were busy caring for men in the same
expedition, because each Province decided to keep the con
trol of its own property. Lord Loudon, perplexed by the
confusion and inconvenience resulting from that method,
wrote to Winslow, "I wish to God you could persuade your
people to go all one way."
It seems that Judge John Ashley was a member of such a
committee for Massachusetts and found the office not a bed of
roses. He was the son of Capt. John Ashley of Westfield,
born in 1709, graduated from Yale in 1730, who established
himself as a lawyer at Sheffield and rose to the rank of Colonel
in the militia. Smarting under the indignities which aggra
vated the difficulties of his position on the committee, he
wrote to Governor Phips: "Sir, I am apt to think that things
have been misrepresented to your Honor, or else I am cer-

464 Westfield and its Historic Influences
tain I should not suffer in my character, and be styled a
damned rascal, and ought to be put in irons 8sc, when I am
certain I have exerted myself to the utmost of my abUity to
expedite the business assigned to me by the General Court."
This spirited protest may have helped to bring about a
change late in the autumn of that year, when Loudon
persuaded the Colonies to turn over their stores to a com
missary-general, and to accept his receipts therefor.
The muster roUs among the Massachusetts Archives record
the names of many Westfield men who served in the army
in various companies. Samuel Dewey, Jr., is credited with
11 weeks, 5 days, in the company of Capt. Elisha Noble of
Sheffield; Stephan Dewey from Apr. 2 to Dec. 5 as Ensign,
Lieutenant and Clerk with Capt. Ithamar Hubbell of Shef
field; Abner Dewey as private in Capt. Joseph D wight's
company. John Stone, armorer's mate, is reported in Capt.
Benj. Williams's Co. in Col. Richard Gridley's Regiment at
Fort Edward, July 26, 1756. James Duey of Westfield was
Corporal in Capt. James Reed's Co. in Col. Ruggles's Regi
ment, from Capt. Moseley's Co. and Col. Worthington's
Regiment, a blacksmith age 25, Fort Edward, July 26, 1756.
Capt. Asa Noble, son of Searg. Luke, a shoemaker, a Select
man, 1745, a Lieut, in Capt. David Moseley's Co. in 1755,
was, in 1759, at Lake George Captain of a Westfield Co.
The following record is found in Mass. Archives, Vol. 94, pp.
423-4: "An account of the marching Subsistance money paid
Capt. John Moseleys men for the Crown Point Expedition,
1756 viz. (March to Albany)
Capt. John Moseley 95 miles £0.9.6
John Noble " "
David Cadwell " "
* Nathaniel Lee " "
* Elijah Messenger " "
David Stone " "
* James Smith " "
Simeon Root " "
Tyler Leatherby " "
Abiathar Jones " "

The Seven Years' War

465

Thomas Campbell
Ebenezer Holden
John Paterson
John Beamon
Benoni Sackett
John Clark
Elnathan Smith
Gideon Root
Cezar (a) Negro
John Hones

95 miles

£0.9.6

i CC ((
t it (.
« 66 6
6 66 6
« 66 6
t. a 6
t 66 6
< l< (
6 66 6

*With the sick at Albany."
The years 1757-8-9 were marked by many alarms and the
loss of many Uves, besides losses consequent upon captivity,
along the northern border of the Colony. It was still neces
sary to be vigilant, to work with weapons close at hand, and
even when borne to the field and placed near by the sneaking
redskins sometimes crawled between the laborers and their
weapons, leaving them defenseless victims of brutality. Mont
calm was intent on continuing the policy and habit of his
predecessors in the matter of incursions, as is evidenced by
a statement which he sent home to France in September after
assuming command. "I will as much as lies in my power
keep up small parties to scatter consternation and the miseries
of war throughout the enemy's country." Fortunately the
distresses were not borne to the towns of the lower valley.
On the broader field, the year 1757 was one of disappoint
ment and disaster. Lord Loudon led an army to recapture
Louisburg but it returned without striking a blow. Montcalm
improved the time of his absence on that distant campaign
by attacking Fort William Henry with an army of eight or nine
thousand men, including two thousand Indians. The
defenders under Col. Munro numbered only about a quarter
as many, but they were fairly well fortified. They did heroic
work for five days under their intrepid commander while
Gen. Webb with 4000 men lay at Fort Edward about four
teen miles distant without marching to the relief of the gar
rison. Then, Munro's ammunition having been spent, there
was arranged a surrender on the most honorable terms, and
with most solemn guarantees from Montcalm that the brave

466 Westfield and its Historic Influences
men who had given up the fort should be safeguarded from
the Indians.
Instead of executing this compact of honor, the French
commander did not prevent his red allies from committing
a most atrocious massacre; women and children, soldiers
lying wounded under the surgeon's care, as well as soldiers
who, though retaining their muskets, had neither anmunition
nor bayonets for defense, were mercilessly tomahawked and
scalped. Montcalm made earnest personal efforts, by appeal, com
mand and threat, to restrain the Indians from barbarity; of
that there can be no question. In a letter to Gen. Webb he
says that the Indians were given rum and that the christian
Abenakis began the outrage, and adds, "You know what it
is to restrain 3000 Indians of 33 different nations, 8s I had
but too many apprehensions, which I did not conceal from
the commandant of the fort in my summons. I consider
myself lucky that the disorder was not attended with conse
quences as unfortunate as I had reason to fear."
The very fact that he had such apprehensions and saw
unmistakable signs on the evening before the massacre that
horrible outrages were imminent, rendered it imperative that
he should, if necessary, caU all his regulars to escort duty.
He was in honor bound to protect his paroled prisoners and
their defenseless wounded, women, and chUdren, and no
intensity of personal entreaties or politic subterfuges pressed
upon the Indians under his command could absolve him from
official blame for neglecting the only adequate provision for
the protection of his helpless prisoners. His regulars could
have fulfilled that imperative condition, but neglecting to
employ them, it seems absurd and puerUe to dismiss the atro
cious incident with such a mild verdict as that of Palfrey,
"In such catastrophes blame is apt to be imputed without
reason. There was at the time a complaint, but it does not
appear to have been satisfactorily sustained, that the promised
guard was not furnished by the French." (History of New
England, Vol. V, p. 152.)
The disaster at Fort WiUiam Henry loomed so portent
ously before the shuddering eyes of the Colonists, officials
and common people alike, as to create a panic even greater

The Seven Years' War 467
than that which foUowed Braddock's defeat three years earlier.
The condition of Albany, on the direct line of travel but sixty
miles away, seemed hardly less desperate to its inhabitants
than that of the towns in the Connecticut Valley, more than
twice the distance away and separated from the victorious
army of Montcalm by a lofty mountain range. Such was
the temporary demoralization that Palfrey ventures the con
jecture that Montcalm "might have hoped by a vigorous
movement to push his way into the heart of New England."
He could have foUowed the weU trodden trail up the Hoosac
valley, swept Fort Massachusetts once again from its senti
nel post, crossed Hoosac Mountain by the well-known
Mohawk TraU, and swung down the valley of the Deerfield
to the Connecticut with but slight opposition. If the plan
occurred to him, it may have provoked the prudent, secondary
consideration that though the advance proved easy, the task
of either remaining in "the heart of New England" or retreat
ing in good order from his raid, might prove embarrassing
if not hopeless.
It was on the ninth day of August that Col. Munro capit
ulated and the news of the downfall of the fort started over
the country. The week before, Thomas PownaU reached
Boston with his commission as Governor. The chance thus
came to him early to show the stuff that was in him. Indeed,
before the disaster was more than threatened, Gen. Webb at
Fort Edward when he learned of the approach of Montcalm
sent for reinforcements, and on Aug. 6 Gov. PownaU ordered
Col. Ruggles of Worcester and Cols. WiUiams and Worthington
of Hampshire to raise men and dispatch them to Albany. He
commissioned PeppereU as Lieutenant General of the Massa
chusetts forces, and on the 8th ordered him to Springfield. What
he discovered upon reaching there is noteworthy. He thus
reports the condition of affairs on the 13th to Gen. Webb:
"When I came here I found that Col. Worthington, Col. Wil-
Uams and Col. Ruggles Regiments were all marched forward
to relieve Fort William Henry, some of them even before
the Governor could get orders to them to march, such was
the readiness of this people to go to the assistance of the dis
tressed, that this part of the Province seems almost evacuated,
and the frontier thereof in the north in a most dangerous

468 Westfield and its Historic Influences
situation, the whole militia within 30 or 40 miles being drawn
off * * * They went off on a sudden with great freedom
in great numbers and thro' great difficulties of their private
affairs." These were men who had found it so hazardous during
many summers to cultivate and harvest their crops, even
when they could be spared from scouting and garrison duties,
that for e^ery hiU of corn or beans which they hoed they
instinctively scanned the neighboring woods and the edges
of the stumps, where an enemy might lurk, for signs of his
presence, their trusty weapons being kept within easy reach.
Once again, when their fields were whitening for the harvest,
these loyal patriots, dropping the implements of husbandry
and grasping their weU-worn guns and powder horns, pressed
over the familiar road across the mountains from Westfield
to Albany, leaving their official marching orders to foUow
them. Some of them got nearer the threatened point than
others, but aU went forward until ordered home because the
danger from the north seemed no longer imminent.
Col. Oliver Partridge, who succeeded Col. WUliams as
commander of the Hampshire forces after the latter had mobilized
his regiment, received news of the fall of Fort WiUiam Henry
on Aug. 11, two days after it occurred, and at midnight of
the same day Sir WiUiam PeppereU heard it at Springfield.
On the 13th Col. Chandler's Worcester regiment marched into
Springfield, and on the same day Gov. PownaU sent Gen.
Pepperell orders in view of contingencies: "If the enemy should
approach the frontier, you wiU order all waggons west of the
Connecticut River to have their wheels knocked off, and to
drive the said country of horses, to order in aU provisions
that can be brought off Si what cannot to destroy. You
wUl receive this as my orders not to be executed but in such
case of necessity 8s then not to fail to do it."
The query naturally arises why wagons that might be
seized by the enemy for military purposes should have their
wheels removed, and supplies should be protected, west of
the Connecticut River, whUe those so near as Springfield
and Hadley should not be cared for.
More than six hundred men marched from Hampshire
County in this emergency, some getting no farther than Spring-

The Seven Years' War

469

field, some getting to Westfield, some to Sheffield, some to Kin
derhook, and a few to Fort Edward, before being ordered back.
Capt. Ezra Clap of Westfield with forty or more men marched
nearly two hundred miles in fourteen days. Lieut. Martin
Dewey of Westfield with thirty-five men marched about one
hundred and eighty miles in thirteen days. All of the men
did not go the whole distance for some reason, as is indicated
by the foUowing record:
"A Muster Roll of Capt. David Moseley's Co. of West-
field that went from the South Regiment in the County of
Hampshire under command of Lieut. Martin Dewey for the
relief of the Garrison at Fort Wm Henry on the Alarm in
Aug. 1757.

Ensign John IngersoU

26 days service

Sargt. Asa Noble

a a <<

Lieut. Martin Dewey commanding

the

Company

U 66 <«

Sergt. Thomas Dewey

ii 66 66
Corporal Aaron Dewey
14 1/3 "
Private Ashbell Dewey
ft 66 66
Private Abner Dewey
13
" Israel Dewey
it 66 66
Sargt Samuel Noble
26
Corp. Benjamin Sexton
24
Corp. Stephan Noble
66 66 66
Private Zackariah Bush
9 2/3 "
" John Bancroft
26
Clerk Aaron King
26
Private Isaac AUes Jr.
14 1/3 "
" SUas Noble
26
" Simeon Tremain
24
" John Sloan
14 1/3 "
Ezekiel Root servant to Lieut
Martin Dewey
66 66 66
" Daniel CadweU
" " **
" Gad Noble
(( 16 66
Stephan Goodman
servant
to
Aaron Dewey
it 66 ct
" James Watson
11 It 66
470

Westfield and its Historic Influences

Private Abel Drake servant to Matthew

Noble

14 1/3 days

WUliam Burt

14

Timothy Rice

13

Lemuel Martindell

K6 66

Thomas Morley-

66 tt

Eldad Taylor jr

26

John Lee jr

23

Daniel Noble jr

26

Joseph Ashley

24

Joseph Bagg

66 66

Moses Bagg

ii 66

Eldad Palmer

25

James Carter

16 1/2 "

(Mass. Archives, Vol. 95,

service

p. 522.)
In the Roll of Capt. Ezra Clap's company, most of whom
went about one hundred miles from home and back again,
and charged for a service of 14 1/13 days, we have

"Capt. Ezra Clap.
Ensign Elisha Parks.
Clerk George Phelps.
Sergt. Ebenezer Weller
Eliakim Sackett.
Ezra Strong.
Corporal David Root.
Corporal John Freeman.
Chaplain Jedediah Dewey. Privates.
Elijah Messenger
Abner Rice
Solomon Root
Isaac Sackett
Thomas Merrifield
William Harrison Church
Seth Sacket
Aaron WeUer servant to Kellogg
Seth Loomis
Ephraim Stiles
Timothy Simons

William Loomis
Ozem Sacket
John Bement
David Noble
James Noble
John Barber
Daniel Sitarn
Luke Phelps.
David Burch
Nath'l Egleston
Josiah Parks
David Weller jr
Reuben WiUiams
Samuel KeUogg jr
Nat Weller
Elisha Old
Jonathan Shepard
Moses Kellogg
Gad Kellogg
Daniel Stiles
Eldad Graves."

The Seven Years' War 471
Those must have been sensational days in the town when
Westfield was not only hurrying forward her own citizens
in such numbers, but when she was also an important station
between points of muster and the seat of war. The Rev.
John BaUantine in his Diary notes among the townsmen who
died during August, 1757, William Kerr and Shem Kellogg,
kiUed at the siege of Fort WiUiam Henry.
As early as Aug. 2 Mr. Ballantine notes: "Met for prayers
in Meeting house and prayed with ye men going for ye relief
of Fort WiUiam Henry besieged by ye French." "Aug. 12.
Preached a Lecture occasioned by Fort Wm Henry being
taken." "Nov. 19 — Visited Richard Failey returned from
Captivity." Three months before, that lad, seventeen years old, was
among the Massachusetts soldiers captured at Fort William
Henry, though at first reported among the killed. In the
historical notes of J. D. Bartlett, gathered with such patience
and at such personal cost, is an interesting sketch of the Fai
ley family, written by a son of Richard when he was 61 years
old, prefaced by the following statement, "At my request
Uncle RusseU Failey wrote the foUowing history of his pro
genitors. "Sept. 1831. Henry Fowler."
In the course of the biographical narrative, Russell says:
"My father learned the blacksmith's trade partly in West-
field and partly of Mr. Chapin in Springfield. In the interim
of his business he went as a soldier against the French at
Canada at fort Wm Henry after a troublesome siege of a few
days the Garrison surrendered to the Enemy, he was taken
prisoner, he went a few miles to Lake George where the Indians
with their prisoners slept, his repose, although a prisoner among
savages was refreshing and delightful on account of his hav
ing been deprived of sleep for several nights by the confusion
of the camp. They crossed Lake George in bark canoes, from
there to Lake Champlain they travelled loaded both Indians
and prisoners, encamped here the Indians gave themselves
up to drunkenness. One under penalty of death must keep
sober to watch the prisoners. He to indulge himself with the
precious Liquors would take a spoonful at a time at a short
interval and would always give as much to the prisoners. By

472 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the extreme drunkenness of the Indians the lives of the pris
oners were endangered. When one would commence the
work of destruction whether on man or beast the whole
drunken gang would unite and the victim was not left until
he was hewn in pieces.
"At this time (after they had reached Montreal) a lady
came daily in her coach with an attendant to purchase the
prisoners. My father at first cautiously lest the Indians
should know his desire to leave them begged the gentleman
to buy him and the purchase was made. He with a num
ber walked toward town a little girl unbought was huddled
with the company toward the Gate, they hoped to have got
her without the gate as she would then have been safe from
the Indians, but her Keeper missing her came running with
the swiftness of the wind, caught her and bore her back crying
hideously to the great grief of her friends. He was soon
taken from Montreal to Quebec and put in prison and by
eating dry food was sick. Through a hole in the wall he was
enabled to get into an adjoining garden at night, by procur
ing fruit in this way he was cured. After being here awhile
he went on a vessel with other passengers and went to Bos
ton. On the voyage he had the SmaU Pox, but lightly and
soon got well. On arriving at Boston he traveUed to West-
field, his Mother was so affected at seeing him although she
had been informed of his safe arrival, that she swooned in his
arms." A descendant of Richard Failey, H. G. Cleveland, writ
ing in 1885, says that the price paid for the young captive
was 16 gaUons of rum. He says also that Richard commanded
a company at Bunker Hill and his eldest son Frederick (after
ward Major), then 14 years old, was his drummer and drummed
all through the fight.
This brave young soldier, who had endured so many hard
ships, should be spoken of as Richard Failey, Jr., his Father,
who died in Westfield in 1756, when the son was 16 years
old, having borne the same name. He was a great-Grand
father of President Grover Cleveland.
A musket made by Richard Failey, owned by C. R. George
of Springfield, was exhibited in the Parish house of the First
Church, Springfield, with many other interesting historical

The Seven Years' War 473
relics, at the celebration of the 275th anniversary of the town, in
1911. As additional evidence of the number of Westfield men
who saw service in the early period of the Seven Years' War,
it seems worth while to add to the Usts already recorded,
one more Muster Roll, that of Capt. John Moseley, as given
in Boston, Feb. 22, 1757, men who are there shown to have
been paid for service ranging from 11 weeks to 44 weeks,
averaging indeed about a half year apiece.
(Mass. Archives, Vol. 95, pp. 141-2.)
"Capt. John Moseley Sergt. Robert Blair
Lieut. David Pixley Corp. Nathaniel Lee
Ensign Silvanus Walker " Elijah Messenger
Clerk Daniel Walker " David Stone
Sergt. John Noble " Daniel Miller
Daniel Cadwell — privates —
James Smith Simeon Root Tyler Larrabee
Samuel Lynde Jacob Bacon Abiather Jones
Thomas Campbell John Walker Hezekiah Attwell
Ebenezer Holden John Patterson John Bement
Benona Sacket fell down Si broke his nose
Abner Olds Elnathan Smith servant to Martin Dewey
John Jones Gideon Colton Gideon Root
Caesar Negro servant to Robt Ashley
Nathaniel GUmore Peter Fletcher Timothy Obrian
Charles Clap Benjamin Ridd Solomon SartweU
Gad Noble son to Noah Noble EUsha Smith
Aaron Day WUliam Hitchcock Solomon Brown
Daniel Root Abiel Drake servant to Martha Noble."
Three of the names on that list, Simeon Root, Tyler Larra
bee and Thomas Campbell, appear among fifteen names in
the Ballantine Diary under date of Feb. 1, 1757, as "In ye
service from this Town." Besides them there are WiUiam
Shepard, Eli Noble, WiUiam Kerr, Shem Kellogg, Daniel
Hubbard, Gideon Gun, Richard Failey, Elisha Martindale,
Seth Root, Wm Hitchcock, Israel Noble and James Wilson.
In the State Records it is stated that several companies
from different parts of the Province marched as far as West-

474 Westfield and its Historic Influences
field in August, 1757, on their way to relieve Fort WiUiam
Henry, and though not specifically indicated they probably
turned back home from there when it was found that their
services were not required at the front.
"A company of foot under Lieut. Jesse Rice of Col.
Abraham's Regiment, spent 3 days in Westfield with their
horses." How many horses were provided for that com
pany of infantry is not stated.
"A company of foot commanded by Ensign Robert Baker,
detached from the same Reg. Capt. Benjamin Faye's Co. of
same Reg. marched from Westborough, 75 miles.
"A squad out of Capt. Eleazer Warners Co. in New Brain-
tree. "Lieut. Stephan Maynard's from Marlboro."
A decided change had come in this war in respect of West-
field's relation to affairs. It could no longer be considered
a frontier town. Instead, it had become an important station
on the route from this Province to the center of operations
on the Hudson and the Lake route to Canada. From as
far north as the border towns on the Connecticut, and from
all the towns to the eastward, forces passed this focal point
on their way to grapple with the common enemy. It is not
strange that under excitement incident to the sight of march
ing battalions, Richard FaUey, Jr., and other youths in their
"teens" responding to the calls of patriotism, should have
dared hardships and dangers most appalling, to secure immunity
for the country from the horrors of Indian ravages and butch
eries. Even as young as sixteen years old they went from
Westfield and from other communities, leaving home and
family with courageous hearts, to come back, if not kiUed or
captured, with the benefits of discipline and experience which
fitted many of them for efficiency in the later struggle for
national independence and which they wiUingly consecrated
thereto. A turn of the wheel of English politics which restored
Pitt to power in June, 1758, thereby opened the way to a
new order of things in the conduct of their mUitary affairs
in the American Colonies. On this side of the water a most
comfortable and stimulating faith in his leadership, and in

The Seven Years' War 475
the promise of its ultimate success, moved the people to phe
nomenal efforts and sacrifices. In response to his assurance
of securing for them permament deliverance from the attack
of French and Indian foes, twenty-eight thousand troops
were raised and put at his disposal, one quarter of which were
contributed by Massachusetts.
Gov. PownaU wrote to Pitt that in spite of grievous finan
cial burdens which that Province had to bear, yet the Court
had voted to borrow twenty-eight thousand pounds for the
approaching campaign and that "such was the spirit of the
people * * * that upon the treasurer's opening his sub
scription, it was fiUed in twelve hours." Later the same
year he wrote in most appreciative terms, that "the military
expeditions of the last three years, over and above the expense
of forts, scouts and ships," had involved the Province in an
expense of more than two hundred and forty-two thousand
pounds, of which sum "less than a third had been reimbursed
by the Crown," and that it was "a certain fact that the country
had been hitherto preserved by the efforts which this Province
had made * * * This Province ever did, ever will, and ever
must take the lead when a spirited measure is expected."
Pitt's plans included three expeditions, one for the capture
of Louisburg, commanded by Lord Jeffrey Amherst with
Wolfe as one of his brigadiers; another under Abercrombie
against Ticonderoga; a third under General Forbes against
Fort Duquesne. Abercrombie failed ignominiously, but the
other two were victorious, and in addition to the grounds for
encouragement and hope thus afforded, Bradstreet captured
Fort Frontenac, the formidable French stronghold which
had for so many years menaced Lake Ontario. The year's
results are thus summed up by Parkman : "So ended the cam
paign of 1758. The centre of the French had held its own
triumphantly at Ticonderoga; but their left had been forced
back by the capture of Louisburg, and their right by that
of Fort Duquesne; whUe their entire right wing had been
weU-nigh cut off by the destruction of Fort Frontenac. The
outlook was dark. Their own Indians were turning against
them." (Montcalm Si Wolfe, Vol. II, p. 169.)
The Westfield men who were engaged the following year
were numerous even as their names can be culled from several

476 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of the Muster Rolls preserved among the State Archives.
The list of Capt. John Bancroft's company which served in
the Crown Point expedition from March 31 to Dec. 27, 1759,
is practicaUy duplicated in another Ust made out and sworn
to by Col. John Worthington, except that he does not include
2d Lieut. William Shepard. It contains personal references
to many of the company. He concludes the complete list,
from which the names of those from Westfield are selected
and recorded below, as follows :
"The foregoing is a true List of the Names Si Times of
Inlisting or impressment of One Hundred Seventy three Men
raised in the South Regiment in the said County of Hamp
shire for ye expedition now forming for a general Invasion
of Canada, being part of the Quota of said Regiment of the
Five Thousand Men agreed to be raised for said Service which
have been mustered and had the Oath of Fidelity administered
to them agreeable to Authority for his excellency ye Governor.
1759 John Worthington Colonel"
(Mass. Archives, Vol. 97, p. 237.)
"Aaron Noble impressed Apr. 6, 1759 age 23
Caleb Noble inlisted Apr. 2 age 18 Samuel Noble Master,
Thos. Noble Father.
Benjamin Pike Apr. 2 age 18 Benj Sexton Master
WiUiam Morely Apr. 2, age 27 had been with Benj Pike on
the expedition against Canada in 1758.
Gad Noble Apr. 6 age 21 had been on the Lake George expedi
tion in 1756.
Simeon Tremain Apr. 2 age 27 on the expedition of 1757
Lake George.
Josiah Watkins Apr. 6 age 37 Exp. 1757 Lake George.
Reuben Williams Apr. 2 age 22 exp. 1758 Lake George.
John Graham Apr. 2 age 26, 1756 Si 8 Lake George.
Ezekiel Sacket Apr. 6 age 20
Thomas Merrifield Apr. 6 age 20, 1758 Lake George
David Kellogg impressed Apr. 6. age 35
David Noble impressed Apr. 6. age 28
Obadiah Moore inlisted Apr. 6 age 29 expedition to Ticon
deroga 1758.
Thomas Rowley Apr. 6. age 38

The Seven Years' War 477
David Bagg Apr. 6. age 20. Widow Margaret Ashley Mistress
Eldad Phelps Apr. 6 age 30
Joseph Moor Apr. 6 age 16
David Stone Apr. 6 age 21. 1758 Ticonderoga.
David Spencer Apr. 6 age 16.
Nathan Hayward Apr. 2 age 22 exp. 1758.
David Olds Apr. 2. age 42 Crown Point. 1755.
Job Phelps impressed Apr. 6 age 35."
This year of 1759 was one of signal victories, completing
the general plans of the preceding year. Amherst succeeded
where Abercrombie had failed, capturing Ticonderoga and
Crown Point. The latter fortress was a specially valuable
prize. "The capture of these important posts immediately relieved
the frontiers of New England from incursions from the western
quarter, and a general joy spread through the long distressed
Colonies. Crown Point had been in the possession of the
French for nearly thirty years, and from that place predatory
parties had issued and involved the frontiers of Massachu
setts and New Hampshire in blood and slaughter; and numer
ous were the prisoners who had there suffered the disgraceful
and cruel treatment of the savages." (Hoyt's Indian Wars, p.
301.) The time involved in the clearing of Lake Champlain
of hostUe battalions and menacing fortifications detained
Amherst until too late to co-operate in the attack on Quebec
as had been intended. Hence he decided to complete the
task of vengeance and purgation by sending the noted ranger
Rogers with an expedition against the Abenakis of St. Francis.
They had been settled there, nominal christians under the
care and direction of French priests, for three generations.
Their permanent camp was at St. Francis, on the river of
that name near its confluence with the St. Lawrence, about
midway between Montreal and Quebec. Thence for three-
quarters of a century they scourged the New England borders
and the frontiers of the Hudson VaUey, approaching their
victims either by way of the upper Connecticut or by way
of Lake Champlain. It was largely from them that Gray
Lock secured at his camp on Missisquoi Bay recruits for his

478 Westfield and its Historic Influences
marauding parties which were so long a terror to the Hamp
shire settlers. Amherst's orders for this important task
were as foUows: "Camp at Crown Point.
"Sep. 13, 1759.
"You will this night set out with the detachment as ordered
yesterday, viz., of two hundred men, which you will take
under your command, and proceed to Missisquey bay, from
whence you wiU march and attack the enemy's settlements on
the south side of the River St Lawrence, in such a manner as
you shall judge must effectual to disgrace the enemy, and
for the success of his Majesty's arms.
"Remember the barbarities that have been committed
by the enemy's Indian scoundrels on every occasion where
they had an opportunity of shewing their infamous cruelties
on the King's subjects, which they have done without mercy.
Take your revenge but do not forget that though these vil
lains have dastardly and promiscuously murdered women
and children of all ages, it is my orders that no women or
children are killed or hurt.
"When you have executed your intended service, you wUl
return with your detachment to camp, or join me wherever
the army may be. Your's 8sc,
"To Major Rogers. Jeff. Amherst."
The heroism and tragic sufferings of that expedition on
its return from the victorious execution of its mission may
not be here rehearsed. It destroyed the hornet's nest and
reheved the border settlers of exasperating torments.
The crucial blow of the Seven Years' War, the most dra
matic in the long series of hostilities between French and Eng
lish on this continent, was struck by the gaUant Wolfe on the
plains of Abraham, Sept. 13, when both he and his noble
French opponent gave their lives, the one in glorious victory,
the other in bitter defeat. Wolfe died happy because the
enemy were in retreat. Montcalm welcomed death as a
relief from the agony of seeing Quebec in the hands of the
English. Work still remained to be done during two years follow
ing in completing the subjugation of Canada, for which pro-

The Seven Years' War 479
vmcial soldiers were needed, and among them were Westfield
men. Capt. WiUiam Shepard led a company thus engaged
in 1760, and another muster roll of March, 1762, shows that
he and his feUow-townsmen were even then in active service.
He appears as 2 Lieutenant, as has been noted, in the com
pany of Capt. John Bancroft which was with Amherst in his
expedition to Lake Champlain in 1759, as was also Capt.
Asa Noble with another Westfield company. The muster
roUs as preserved contain the names of fifty officers and pri
vates from the town that thus took part in those important
operations, serving on an average about thirty weeks apiece.
On a roll of 1760 and on another of 1761, the name of Oliver
Root appears as a private, of whom more will appear in a
later Chapter on the Revolutionary campaigns. About
twenty other names of Westfield men are scattered through
various rolls in the closing years of the war.
An aftermath of the movements of troops back and forth
through Westfield is disclosed by the following, recorded in
the Archives but not preserved in the town books :
"The Province of Massachusetts Bay, Dr. to the Select
men of the Town of Westfield for Cash 8s Charges expended
in a private House provided for entertaining of Soldiers on
their Return from the Army, suspected to have the small Pox,
together with those that returned, being not sufficiently cleansed
of said Disease, 8s therefore were refused entertainment by
the Tavernkeepers."
Then foUows a list of twenty-three men of various com
panies and regiments, but without any indication of their
respective residences.
"Several of the above named Soldiers were lame 8s sick,
therefore were detained several days."
One Nicholas Brown owned the house.
The whole biU amounted to 7.16.6, and was signed by the
Selectmen as foUows : "Matthew Noble.
Aaron King.
Joseph Root.
1760 Samll Fowler.
Saml Noble."

480 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Judd, in his History of Hadley, says that in the Westfield
hospital, whether or not the house indicated above cannot
be determined, twelve soldiers had the smallpox from Novem
ber, 1760, to February, 1761, and six died, and that in those
three months seventeen gallons of rum and several gallons
of wine were consumed there.
The last incursion of Indians in Hampshire County, of
the war, at the close of which such barbarities ceased altogether,
was in the autumn of 1760, at Colrain, where a dozen savages
captured Joseph McKown with his wife and child. Mrs.
McKown was killed soon after the march northward began,
and the man and child were carried to Canada.
Montreal fell into the hands of the English on Sept. 8, 1760,
under the combined attack of three armies which met before
it within two days of the time agreed upon, Gen. Amherst
coming by way of Oswego and the St. Lawrence, Gen. Murray
from Quebec, and Col. Haviland through Lake Champlain.
The capture of the city involved the capitulation of Canada,
though peace was not formally declared in Paris until Feb.
10, 1763, almost nine years from the opening of hostUities
by Washington in the upper Ohio Valley in May, 1754.
Thus the long series of disasters inflicted upon the Provinces
by their implacable savage foes was brought to a close. In
spite of the holocaust of lives which it involved, the people
had steadily mcreased in numbers. Hoyt, commenting upon
this significant fact, says:
"From the commencement of King Williams War in 1689,
with the exception of a few short intervals to this event, the
frontier people of the English northern Provinces were doomed
to destruction, captivity and slaughter. Relieved from their
embarrassments, they reoccupied their plantations, and new
ones were commenced, and population began to spread. At
the close of hostUities in 1760, notwithstanding the losses
sustained by the incursions of the enemy and the fatalities
of the armies, the number of inhabitants in New England
was reckoned at five hundred thousand, and Canada in 1763 is
said to have contained sixty-five thousand French inhabitants."
(Indian Wars, p. 309.)
Palfrey puts a larger estimate upon the French population,
making it "not far from eighty thousand in number." After

The Seven Years' War 481
speaking of the baleful influence of French authorities, civil
and ecclesiastical, over the Indians, he concludes: "With
intervals, and with different degrees of horror, this barbarity
of Indian war under French influence had been going on for
more than eighty years. It could not stop too soon; and
for putting an end to it, were that alone his merit, the name
of Chatham should be dear to humanity." (History of New
England, Vol. V, p. 172.)
No more fitting and discriminating conclusion of this
final Chapter on the Indian Menace, its meaning to the people
of several generations, and the meaning of its removal from
the life of New England, could be given than that furnished
by the oft-quoted, famiUar, and eloquent words of HoUand,
the local historian of the region originally comprised in the
County of Hampshire :
"This closed the long and terrible tragedy of the Indian,
and French and Indian, wars. From the first settlement at
Springfield until the conquest of Canada in 1760, a series of
one hundred and twenty-four years had passed away, and by
far the larger part of this time the inhabitants of the territory
embraced in old Hampshire had been exposed to the dangers,
the fears, the toUs and trials of Indian wars, or border depreda
tions. Children had been born, had grown up to manhood,
and descended to old age, knowing little or nothing of peace
and tranquility. Hundreds had been kiUed, and large num
bers carried to captivity. Men, women and children had been
butchered by scores. There is hardly a square acre, cer
tainly not a square mUe, in the Connecticut Valley, that has
not been tracked by the flying feet of fear, resounded with the
groans of the dying, drunk the blood of the dead, or served
as the scene of toUs made doubly toUsome by an apprehension
of danger that never slept. It was among such scenes and
such trials as these that the settlements of Western Massa
chusetts were planted. It was by these scenes and trials that
their sinews were knit to that degree of strength that, when
the incubus of fear and war was lifted, they sprang to those
enterprises of peace which in less than one century have trans
formed the vaUey and the Berkshire hUls into a garden of
beauty, a home of luxury and refinement, an abode of plenty,
and a seat of free education and free religion. The joy of

482 Westfield and its Historic Influences
victory that spread everywhere over the Colonies was great,
but the joy of peace was greater. The relief felt on every hand
can hardly be imagined now. The long-clogged wheels of
enterprise moved again, and settlements that had been for
saken were reclaimed, while new ones were commenced. The
ax resounded in the forests, and smiling harvests returned
once more to be gathered rejoicingly beneath the reign of
peace." (History of Western Massachusetts, Vol. I, p. 195.)
LETTERS OF ELDAD TAYLOR
To the Hon Thomas Hubbard, Speaker of the House:
"Westfield Mar. 10, 1756. Can obtain corn at 15/ pr. bushel,
wheat at 30/ per bushel, peas at 30/ per bbl. pork at 12/ 8s 13/
per hundred." (Vol. 55, p. 152.)
To the same March 21, 1756, "pork of Westfield better than
ordinary." (Vol. 55, p. 144.)
To Hon. John Osborne, May 12, 1756: Relative to "40
pair of oxen sent to ye Com. at Albany 8s getting ready to send
more, up to 60 pair, also hired a small sloop of 28 tons."
Signed — Your affectionate Friend 8s Humble Servant Eldad
Taylor." To same, Westfield, July 6, 1756. "I hope your Honour
will the more Readily forgive my not wrighting by the post
Considering it was my not being at home but in ye province
business. I have been upon the wing Ever since I left Bos
ton & have applyd my self with the utmost Diligence to the
work your Honour entrusted me with Si although I thought
at the beginning I should not get any or but few otes I have
at Last had good success 8sc. My business has suffered whilst
I have been ingaged about the publick affares so that if there
is not money in the treasury to pay for provision I bought,
I hope to be excused coming to this Session's 8s I desire the
Speaker to ask favour for me in the House."
Another, July 12, 1756, relating to pay for supplies, (p.
365.) Another, Sept. 15, 1756, to John Osborne, (p. 370.)
After writing about money, he says:
"Dear Sir. I cant but hope yt God has a favour for New

The Seven Years' War 483
England 8s although he hides his face it will be but for a small
moment 8s with Everlasting mercies will he gather his Elect
into the Chambers of Safty untUl the Indignation be over
past; wiU not the prayers of Gods Elect Enter the Ears of
ye Lord of Sabioth; 8s aveng the Quarrel of his Covenant
people who Cry night 8s Day for mercy Surely he wiU, there
fore may we hope he wiU. I have been in a very poor state
of health ever since I Left Boston, pray never forget me in
your sweetest Retirement. from your Affectionate Friend
8s Servant, Eldad Taylor"
(Province Archives, Vol. 55, p. 460.)
"Francis Poland of Ipswich, returning from Camp at Lake
George, sick at Deacon Taylor's at Westfield.
Joseph Poland asks for two shillings a day for him for nursing
for 21 days.
AUowed £.4:7:10-" (Province Archives, Vol. 75, p. 209.)
"To His ExceUency Wm Shirley Esq. 8sc
"The Petition of Joseph Barker of Westfield, Humbly
Sheweth That whilst I was Engaged in the Battle Near Lake
George in the first onset on the Scout in the front of the Bat
tle under Capt IngersoU and Col. Williams was order to throw
off our Packs whereby I lost my Blanket and near the Con
clusion of the Battle was Shot Down 8s Lay for Dead (as I
am Informed) where I lost my gunn and Suffered Extremely
by my wound, which has occasion'd Some Expence as may
appear by the account herewith, Exhibited which I pray may
be aUowed to me under my Needy Circumstances as in Duty
Bound Shall Ever Pray Joseph Barber"
He was aUowed four pounds and ten shillings in full con
sideration for the articles lost and expenses mentioned, June
10, 1756. (Province Archives, Vol. 75, p. 409.)
There is a similar [Petition of Dan Cadwell of Westfield
in Capt. Jonathan IngersoU's company, Col. Williams' regi
ment, in the same engagement. His bUl is thus itemized:

484 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"The Province of the Massachusetts Bay Dr. to Dan
Cadwell of Westfield.
"March 26, 1756

To Blanket

0-10- 8]

West Coat

1- 0- Of

Test

Metumpline

0- 1- 01

Dan Cadwell

Knife

0- 1-6/

1-12-14
"Hamp. ss Westfield March 26, 1756
"Then Dan Cadwell the Subscriber to the above account
PersonaUy appeared and made oath thereto
Coram Israel Ashley Just : Pacis."
He was aUowed only for the blanket at value named.
(Province Archives, Vol. 75, p. 417.)
"Apr. 26, 1758.
Israel Ashley — 13-73 for medicine 8s attendance on sick sol
diers, under His Excellency the Earl of Loudon. To same
5-12-8 for Dr. Nathaniel Smith for same. To same 11-7-3
for Daniel Cooley for nursing one of Loudons soldiers sick
with smaU pox. To same, for Selectmen of Westfield 9-8-11
for care of William Stut a soldier sick with smaU pox." (Prov
ince Archives.)

CHAPTER XXI.
Fort Hoosac
The strategic importance of a line of defenses along the
northern border of Hampshire was recognized early, as has
been indicated already. The most important point in the
series of fortifications against invasion was the Mohawk Trail,
from time immemorial a popular highway of the moccasined
native travelers between the Hudson and the Connecticut.
Fort Massachusetts was its main defense, but another out
post proved necessary a few miles down the vaUey of the
Hoosac. That Colonel Israel WiUiams, at the head of the Hamp
shire forces, had begun to realize the importance of covering
that corner of the state by vigilant service is indicated in a
letter which he addressed to Governor Shirley, dated Hat
field, Sept. 12, 1754, to which reference was made in the pre
ceding Chapter. He writes: "I propose that there be at least
fifty men at Fort Massachusetts, thirty at Pontoosuck, they
to maintain a constant scout from Stockbridge thro the
western parts of Framingham township and the West Town
ship at Hooseck to the said Fort and from thence to the top
of Hooseck Mountain. That there be 14 men at FaU Town,
20 at Morrisons and 12 at each garrison at Charlemont, these
to perform a constant scout from Connecticut River against
Northfield to the top of Hooseck Mountain. These scouts
thus performed cross aU the roads the Enemy ever travel
to come within the aforesaid Line of Forts. There will
doubtless be more wanted for the Protection to some places
within the Line. * * * I propose that some of the men posted
at Massachusetts be employed to waylay the road from Crown
Point south of which place I conclude has not been ceded to
the French. The Enemy generally when they leave that
place come to the south side of the Lake or drowned lands,
leave their canoes and come down to Hooseck, or they may
turn off to the East: let which wiU be the case that Fort is
best situated to send parties from for the purpose aforesaid
to gain advantages."

486 Westfield and its Historic Influences
He advocated neglecting Shirley and Pelham because the
enemy rarely came down the Deerfield River from far north,
the road being bad and almost impassable along its upper
course. "After aU if our Government would build a fort upon the
top of Hooseck Mountain between Pelham and Fort Massa
chusetts it would shorten the scouting and answer as well
the first proposed line thro Charlemont.
"I would further propose that two Forts be built between
Massachusetts Fort and Hudsons River, as laid down in the
plan, between which places there is a large opening where
the Enemy can (now that Hooseck is destroyed) come down
to the Dutch Settlements, Stockbridge and Suffield, and where
they are gone without difficulty.
"Nay I apprehend the Westerly towns of Connecticut
are exposed now to such bold fellows as were at Stockbridge:
that one Fort be built and garrisoned by Connecticut, and
the other by New York.
"This line of Forts will shut up all between Connecticut and
Hudsons Rivers and be the cheapest and best defence and
security to aU within, if well supplied with men, of anything
I can at present think of, and if your excellency approves of
it and should press it upon those Govts, it is so reasonable
and also necessary for their safety I cant but hope they would
at once comply with it."
In response to those suggestions Governor Shirley says:
"Boston, Sep. 26, 1754.
"Sir. Major WUliams wiU accept of a new commission
for Fort Massachusetts which I design shall be enlarged by
a superior command over the soldiers posted at Pontusuck in
special cases: I should be sorry to do anything, which may
look like a slight upon the present Commander Captain Chapin,
of whose courage I have 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 Wil
liams, besides being an officer whom I look upon to be well
qualified for it, hath these further pretensions to it, that it
was upon his resignation of the command of the Fort, that
Captain Chapin was commissioned for it. I hope he will
not think it a slight upon him, if when I add another charge

Fort Hoosac 487
to the Captain's Commission for that Fort, I give it Major
Williams; I shall be very glad if he wiU serve as Lieutenant
under Major Williams, and will give him the first proper pro
motion, which shall happen in my power: You will be pleased
to let Captain Chapin know this: and I will leave it to your
discretion to act in the manner, you shaU think proper with
the inclos'd blank Commissions concerning the Captain and
Lieutt. of Fort Massachusetts as well as the others.
W. Shirley."
(The Correspondence of WiUiam Shirley. Lincoln. Vol. 2, pp.
87-8.) Colonel WiUiams informed Captain Chapin of the
Governor's orders in a note dated at Hatfield in October
following. Major Ephraim WiUiams, who succeeded Chapin as
commandant at Fort Massachusetts, was to have his patriotic
military career cut short the following year when as Colonel
of the Hampshire Regiment he fell in the tragic disaster of the
Bloody Morning Scout below Lake George. Though the
two men differed widely in character and ability, they seem
to have sustained very friendly mutual relations, WiUiams
having helped his impecunious comrade out of many financial
difficulties. In his memorable will, executed at Albany,
July 22, 1755, is the following 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."
But yet later he gave proof of loyalty to his unfortunate
friend, since probably about the last signature of his name
by Colonel WiUiams was attached to a bond executed at Al
bany July 31, 1755, but five weeks before his death. The bond
was executed to release from gaol in Albany Elisha Chapin
who had been arrested on two complaints, the grounds not
specified in the bond, one by John Graham, the other by
John Depuyster.
Chapin gave as security two lots of land in the north part
of Springfield known as Chickobee. The original bond is

488 Westfield and its Historic Influences
among the valuable Williams archives presented to the CoUege
by the late R. Henry W. Dwight, Esq., of Cambridge, shortly
before his death.
It is rather puzzling to find in the County Hall of Records
in Springfield three deeds executed by Elisha Chapin cover
ing his homestead. The first, dated April 14, 1755, con
veyed it to Abel Chapin for £250. The second, referred to
above, dated July 1, 1755, conveyed it to Ephraim WiUiams,
Jonathan Ingersoll, Samuel WeUs and Eliazar Burt. The
third, dated March 24, 1756, conveyed it to Joseph Ely, Jr.,
and Benjamin Ely, both of Springfield.
Elisha Chapin, son of Japhet, who was in the great "Falls
Fight," May 18, 1676, owned the house at the head of Chico
pee Street. His son Samuel, born July 4, 1665, died Oct.
19, 1729, built near his Father. It was he who was wounded
by the Indians when returning in a canoe from his farm across
the river. He had ten children, six girls and four boys.
Elisha, one of them, was born July 16, 1707. He therefore
had survived his forty-ninth birthday by but five days when
he was slain at the West Hoosac Block House on July 11, 1756.
He married, March 30, 1737, Miriam, daughter of Joseph and
Margaret Ely of Springfield. They had nine children, Sophia,
born April 14, 1748, married Russell Dewey of Westfield,
whose adventures, as detailed in his interesting Diary kept
while he was a soldier in one of the expeditions to Canada,
are recorded in another Chapter. Sarah A. married another
hero of Westfield, John Farnham, one of Paul Jones's men.
Sewall, a graduate of Dartmouth in 1779, studied theology,
became an instructor in the academy in western Virginia,
and was an incumbent of the Episcopal Parish of Westover
near Richmond from 1793 to 1805.
The thrilling story of the erection, maintenance and defense
of Fort Hoosac was told by the author of this History at the
unveiling and dedication of the memorial boulder, June 21,
1916, on the lawn of the Kappa Alpha Society. It seems
fitting to include here that address because of its historic value,
and to add an Ode prepared and delivered by Talcott Minor
Banks, L.H.D., of WiUiamstown, a feUow member of Kappa
Alpha.

MAP of the boulder site.
Based upon a map of the Proctor estate made in 1905 by Frederick S.
Smith, C. E. The Minister's lot, No. 36, is the present site of the Greylock
Inn.

— iiiguiii.iumiur!:

¦m

THE BOULDER.
Weight about 13 tons and more than 6 feet high. It was brought from the
eastern slope of Hoosac Mountain below the Mohawk Trail, about a mile
south of North Adams.

Fort Hoosac 489
ADDRESS AT DEDICATION OF A MEMORIAL OF
WEST HOOSAC BLOCKHOUSE
The place whereon we stand is holy ground. This hillock
was consecrated long since by noble lives spent in heroic ac
tivities, endurances, and sacrifices, inspired by devotion to
sublime ideals. Here was the civic center of the infant settle
ment which was founded in the times that tried men's souls.
With that instinct for the proper organization of civil affairs
which was universal among the settlers of New England, those
sturdy pioneers estabUshed the symbols of their civilization
about what, in the earliest legislative acts relative to the town
ship, was termed "The Square." A few rods to the eastward
of where we are assembled the two main thoroughfares of the
settlement intersected, one running east from Fort Massa
chusetts to this point and down the adjacent slope to Hem
lock Brook and beyond: the other north from Stone Hill up
to the Hoosac River and along toward the Dutch Settlements
at what is now Hoosac Falls. The corner where the Greylock
Hotel now stands, Lot No. 36 in the original survey, was
assigned to the first minister: the lot next below it, No. 38,
was to be used for the support of the ministry in succession.
The corner opposite, No. 35, where the Zeta Psi house is now
located, was set apart for school uses, though the first log
structure employed for educational purposes stood on No. 36,
the minister's lot, and it was used also for various meetings,
social and rehgious, besides sheltering for a few years the
family of Mr. Welch, the first settled Pastor of that flock in
the wUderness.
On the day of the battle of Bennington the brave women
of this hamlet, whose husbands, sons, brothers and lovers
were enduring the perils of the fray, made the rude structure
a shrine where they spent hours in strenuous prayer until
the sun went down, the booming of the distant guns ceased,
and the strain upon their hearts was relieved by tidings
brought by a swift messenger giving assurance that the God
of battles had vouchsafed them victory. Then their supplica
tions were changed to haUelujahs.
Opposite us, on Lot No. 3, Benjamin Simonds opened and
maintained for many years the first house of public enter
tainment, the Town Tavern, an important institution in those

490 Westfield and its Historic Influences
times, serving many useful community purposes besides
ministering to the needs of travelers.
In the middle of Main Street, fronting on the line of North
Street, and dominating the landscape for long distances on
every side, stood the first meeting house — built in 1768, sup
planted in 1797 by the second one which held that point of
vantage until destroyed on a Sunday afternoon in January,
1866, by a fire which I was the first person to discover from the
piazza of the original Kap House.
Here, on Lot No. 6, stood the Fort as a bulwark of de
fense for the essential institutions just enumerated. Their
aggregate value was safeguarded by the rude fortification
surrounded by a pahsade which included this Lot and the
one next it on the west No. 8, the property of Colonel Ephraim
Williams. This, therefore, was most emphatically the center of the
plantation in those pioneer days. The Fort, and men upon
whose hardihood the maintenance of the settlement depended,
we gather today from near and far to commemorate.
A further word needs to be spoken relative to the place
of our assembly.
This hiUtop looks down upon what was a great highway
connecting vast regions, northward and westward — Canada
and New York, with regions less vast but no less important
in our national life east and south of it — Massachusetts and
Connecticut, pioneer Commonwealths in the establishment
and development of our free, democratic institutions.
This vaUey of the Hoosac, buttressed on the one side by
the Taconic range, and on the other side by the equally lofty
Hoosac range, was traversed by the moccasined feet of Algon-
quins, Iroquois and Mohegans before civilized man ever fol
lowed its serpentine trail.
One of the earliest extant maps of the territory between
Canada and the mouth of Hudson's River, that of Governor
PownaU, preserved in the British Museum, pictures graphically
this important gateway which had been discovered in pre
historic times and utilized for incomputable ages by the
Aborigines of this continent, and was often deluged by their
bloodshed in desperate struggles for supremacy.
Here, perched above that well-worn Mohawk Trail, upon

Fort Hoosac 491
which this Boulder until recently looked from the slope of
Hoosac Mountain yonder, West Hoosac Fort afforded an
observation point of its traffic and a place of refuge from
parties foUowing it with hostUe intent. Because, as Von
Moltke once said, "geography is three fourths of mUitary
science," this was a strategic position of immense importance —
more wisely chosen, indeed, than that of the more famous
Fort Massachusetts, and it deserved more adequate and pre
tentious works of fortification and equipment than it ever
secured. Each fort served a double purpose, immensely important,
as a refuge, and as a defense. They differed in that Fort
Massachusetts was originally established as a frontier out
post for the safeguarding of the regions behind it: while Fort
Hoosac's original function was the protection of settlers in
its vicinage. For years after the former was built the only
people in the region were those in the garrison assigned to
its service, whereas, the necessity for the West Hoosac Block
house was begotten of the perils of the resident Homesteaders.
Men, women and children required a place of refuge.
In each case the secondary purpose of building was finally
executed: the eastern fort providing shelter for panic-stricken
families and Fort Hoosac proving useful in general military
operations. The intimacy of their mutual relationship is still farther
emphasized by the fact that a large percentage of the settlers
here were men who had served for longer or shorter periods
in the garrison of Fort Massachusetts. Because the primary
purpose of Fort Hoosac was to give shelter to fear-stricken
families, it has always had a warmer place in the hearts of all
who love Williamstown than the more famous eastern fort.
To find the primary grounds of their establishment we
must go back to a period which preceded it — early in the
second quarter of the eighteenth century when this north
western corner of the Commonwealth was a region of mystery
about which the inhabitants to the eastward of the formidable
barrier of the Hoosacs wondered and speculated.
The long cherished desire of the great and general Court
that the region should be explored and settled was hampered
by other considerations than the natural difficulties of ap-

492 Westfield and its Historic Influences
proach and by other dangers than the incursions of French
and Indian warriors. The boundary line at this corner had
been established neither on the north nor on the west, and
Dutch settlers were persistently pressing up the vaUey of
the Hoosac. Not until 1725 was there any movement of
settlers from the east and south into what is now Berkshire
County. During the eight succeeding years several families
from Westfield formed the nucleus of what was incorporated
in 1733 as Sheffield, the first township organized within the
present bounds of the County. In 1734 John Sergeant and
Timothy Woodbridge, supported by the authorities of the
Province, founded a mission to the Stockbridge Indians.
Five years later, four English families were designated by
the Court to settle there to encourage the enterprise. The
head of one of those families was Ephraim Williams, Senior,
of Newton. Soon after his arrival, in the autumn of the
same year, 1739, WilUams was directed by his friend Governor
Belcher, supported by his Council at Boston, to employ a
sworn surveyor and chainman and proceed with them to
"lay out two townships of land in the name of the Province
on what proved to be the head waters of the Hoosac River,
and to unite the two townships together in a form favorable
to future mutual assistance and protection."
How significant is the fact thus occasioned, that the Father
of the illustrious founder of this town and its noble CoUege,
was one of the first three white men known to have explored
this corner of Massachusetts!
For some unknown reason that earliest survey of Nathanael
KeUogg, under the direction of the elder WiUiams, was not
officially approved.
Not until ten years later, in 1749, one year after the Decla
ration of Peace at Aix la Chapelle, did the Court take farther
action in this matter.
In April of that year it appointed a Committee consisting
of Colonel Nathanael Dwight, Colonel Choate, and Colonel
Oliver Partridge of Hatfield who became the original pro
prietor of Lot No. 4, on which the Kappa Alpha Lodge now
stands, "to survey and lay out two townships on Hoosac
River, each of the contents of six miles square, in the best part
of the land and in as regular form as may be, joining them

Fort Hoosac 493
together : and return a correct plot of said townships : and also
to return the course and distance of said towns from Fort
Massachusetts." (House Journal)
The survey was made in October and the Committee's
report was made November 10th in which it was declared that
"in the West township there is not so great a quantity of
intervale, but a very valuable and large tract of land in the
middle of the township, insomuch that the Committee do
esteem the West township the most valuable." (Mass.
Records, Towns, Vol. TV, p. 532.)
Thus the present towns of North Adams and Williams
town were charted, and as a result, apparently, of the energetic
influence of Captain Ephraim Williams, Jr., who remained in
Boston during the legislative session of 1749-50.
As a further result of his efforts, "a committee was ordered
on the 17th of January, 1750, to lay out the West township
into sixty-three contiguous home lots of from thirteen to
fourteen acres, each lot being entitled to one sixty-third part
of the township."
The Committee was directed to reserve one lot for the
first settled minister, one for the support of the ministry,
and one for the support of schools, then upon the usual con
ditions, to dispose of the sixty lots remaining to actual settlers
at £6-13s-4d. each. The Committee was still further
directed "to grant as many to the soldiers of the garrison of
Fort Massachusetts as they should think proper." (House
Journal, February 7, 1750.)
In September, 1752, the Committee, consisting of Joseph
Minot, Samuel MiUer and Samuel Livermore, presented its
report with a detailed account of receipts and expenses.
About a quarter of the lots disposed of by this original
sale were purchased by officers and men of Fort Massachusetts,
Captain Ephraim WiUiams its commander having secured
Lots 8 and 10 extending from this one No. 6, held by Sergeant
WiUiam Chidester, down to Hemlock Brook.
In the words of Joseph White, Esq., an honored member of
Kappa Alpha, in his scholarly address before the Society of
Alumni of WUliams College in 1855, the centennial of the
death of the Founder of the College, "Thus it appears that
these sister towns in the upper valley of the Hoosac are the

494 Westfield and its Historic Influences
foster children of Fort Massachusetts, and may look to
Ephraim Williams as their founder."
The names of Fort Massachusetts men enrolled on the
list of original purchasers of lots at West Hoosac are, Captain
Ephraim WiUiams, Lieutenant Isaac Wyman, Sergeant
William Chidester, Dr. Seth Hudson, Samuel Calhoun, Ezekiel
Foster, Benjamin Simonds, Abner Roberts, Thomas Train,
Micah Harrington, Captain Elisha Chapin, John Bush, John
Chamberlain. The name of Thomas Train is included in that
number because, although not strictly an original purchaser,
he soon became owner by gift of Lot No. 4 from Colonel Oliver
Partridge where, as already stated, the Kappa Alpha Lodge
now stands.
Among the men thus enumerated those who were the
earliest to begin to subdue their lots and attempt the erection
of rude homes were William Chidester, Isaac Wyman, Ben
jamin Simonds, Thomas Train, Ezekiel Foster and Eliazer
Graves. Professor Perry includes with these six, seven others
who may be justly considered as constituting the original
settlers of West Hoosac before the renewal of the French War
in 1754, namely — Elisha Higgins from Fort Massachusetts,
Silas Pratt from Worcester, Allin and Elihu Curtis from Canaan,
Connecticut, Gideon Warren from Brimfield, Darius Mead
from Dutchess County, New York, and Tyrus Pratt from
Shrewsbury. These thirteen men signed a petition to his Excellency,
WiUiam Shirley, and the General Court in September, 1753,
to appoint some proper person to call a meeting of the pro
prietors of West Hoosac — "to agree upon the building a Meet
ing House, Settling a Minister, Making Division of other
Lands and to do and Transact aU such matters and things as
may be necessary and proper for proprietors of New Townships
to do." WiUiam WiUiams, Esq., of Pittsfield, "one of his Majesty's
Justices of the Peace for the County of Hampshire," was
authorized to caU such a meeting. He directed 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" for
the purposes above specified.

Fort Hoosac 495
In accordance with that call the first meeting of the pro
prietors was held one hundred and sixty-three years ago next
December, in a house which stood on Lot No. 9, opposite the
lower lot of Ephraim Williams. Allin Curtis was chosen
Moderator of that meeting and Isaac Wyman was chosen
proprietor's Clerk, an office which he held for many years.
Then and there was instituted for this frontier corner of
the Province, town government, the essential unit of New
England organized life. A second proprietors meeting was
held four months later at the house of AUin Curtis, when he
was chosen Moderator for the second time. A third was
held the foUowing month, in May, 1754, at the same place,
when Captain Elisha Chapin was chosen Moderator. The
proprietors did not convene formally again for six years, then
at least six meetings were held within West Hoosac fort during
the years 1760 and 1761.
The Peace of Aix la Chapelle proved to be but a shallow
and brief truce, both parties to it using it as a convenient
condition of preparation for renewed conflict. During the
early months of 1755 the enemy made bloody incursions along
the whole border from the Allegheny to the Kennebec. One
of them occurred early in May when a party of Schaghticoke
Indians, many of them descendants of New England warriors
who had fled to the Hudson valley after the collapse of Philip's
War, attacked and ravaged Dutch Hoosac, a few miles down
the river from here, kiUed Samuel Bowen, wounded John
Barnard, and destroyed houses, barns, cattle and grain. The
value of the property destroyed was estimated by Captain
Elisha Chapin, then commanding at Fort Massachusetts, at
"four thousand pounds, York currency." Another party
soon afterward attacked Stockbridge and killed one man and
two children. (Hoyt's Indian Wars, p. 226.)
The Provincial authorities were aroused to the necessity
of providing more adequate defensive fortifications. Governor
Shirley intrusted Colonel Israel WiUiams of Hatfield with
the execution of that task. Garrisons were maintained at
Bernardston on the Connecticut, Colrain and Charlemont
on the Deerfield, and Pontusuck, now Pittsfield, and small
works were proposed at Blandford, Sheffield and Williamstown.
The defense of the frontier was essential to the safety of the
interim settlements.

496 Westfield and its Historic Influences
While the strategic value of an outpost at this point was
thus recognized by the Provincial authorities, the essential
necessity of a place of refuge from ravaging foes was pressed
upon the handful of homesteaders here, and the first tragic
plea therefore in this emergency was dispatched to the authori
ties at Boston in January, 1756, by WiUiam Chidester whose
home was built upon this Lot No. 6, a copy of which appeal is
furnished by the program of these exercises in your hands.
Its pathos is intensified by the fact which he urges that but
five families were left of those who had established their homes
here. A petition sent a year and a quarter earlier, October 17,
1754, was signed by the heads of eleven families which had
then taken shelter in Fort Massachusetts and pleaded for
help from the Court to insure them protection at their homes,
four miles distant at West Hoosac. Thus less than half of
those who at that time were refugees at Fort Massachusetts
had returned to their homesteads at the time of Chidester's
petition. The eleven names on that earlier petition are of
deep historic interest. Jonathan Meacham, Gideon Warren,
Benjamin Simonds, Oliver Avery, Thomas Train, Seth Hudson,
William Chidester, Ezekiel Foster, AUin Curtis, Jabez Warren,
Jr., Jabez Warren. To that earlier petition the authorities
did not deign to reply. The response to the later one from
William Chidester was but scant and inadequate, to the effect
that if the proprietors or any part of them should at their
own expense erect a sufficient Block House in the place caUed
the Square by the tenth day of March next ensuing, ten
soldiers from Fort Massachusetts should be aUowed for a
garrison, and that such of the proprietors as should engage in
that task should be aUowed from the Provincial stores their
subsistence for two months. In case the proprietors should
not generaUy respond and complete the task within the speci
fied time "then the Petitioner with such as shall appear spirited
with him, and shaU erect a Block House round his house and
the two other houses convenient to be taken in shall be en
titled to the same subsistence above sd while building said
Block House." When erected it was to be garrisoned by
ten of the inhabitants in the pay of the Province, and whUe
it was being built those engaged upon it should be guarded by

Fort Hoosac 497
ten men from the eastern Fort. The official order to that
effect was issued by Governor Shirley, February 6, but Chi
dester could only accomplish the lesser task, the erection of a
Block House on his own Lot No. 6, with a palisade inclosing
this lot and the one next it owned by Ephraim Williams, No. 8.
Chidester was aided by Benjamin Simonds, Jabez Warren
and Seth Hudson, and later by Nehimiah Swedley, Josiah
Hosford and WUliam Hosford upon their return from their
old home in Connecticut. The undertaking was completed
in the month of March, under protection of a smaU squad from
Fort Massachusetts. It was then garrisoned by ten men,
one half of them from that Fort, and the other half from the
inhabitants. In April Chidester went to Boston and there
secured appointment as a Sergeant and authority to take
command of West Hoosac Fort.
Soon afterward a party of New York soldiers on the way
from Half Moon on the Hudson to Fort Massachusetts were
surprised about a dozen miles from Fort Hoosac, eight of
them were killed and the remaining five were captured.
It became the defenders of the outpost to be wary. The
sage warning of Colonel Israel Williams to Major Ephraim
WiUiams, Sr., urged nine years before, was no less relevant
than at that earlier day. "I advise you always to be on your
guard, nor suffer any idle feUows to stroU about."
We know not how scrupulously that charge was heeded
by the garrison at the Block House, or whether the three lives
lost on that tragic eventide of July 11, 1756, were guilty of
rashness in leaving the security of the palisade. The venture
may have seemed to those men to be demanded by the exi
gencies of the situation, the live stock which had strayed
beyond safety having been very important to the welfare of
the settlement. Whether heroic or foolhardy, the venture
proved calamitous. The official account of the tragedy, and
the attendant menace to Fort Hoosac, is furnished by Colonel
Israel WilUams in his graphic report to Governor Shirley dated
two days later. "Hatfield, 13 July, 1756.
"Sr. This morning by an Express from Fort Massa
chusetts, I am inform'd that on ye 11th instants near Sun
Setting Sergt. Chidester, his son James Chidester, and Capt.

498 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Elisha Chapin went from ye Block House at West Hoosac so
caUed, to seek their Cows, and had not got far before they
were fired upon by a Body of French and Indians, and are
kiUed or Captivated: Part of the Enemy then attacked ye
Block House, while some others of them were employed in
killing the Cattle: They fired about two Hundred Guns:
Night coming on, they withdrew: The soldier, who in ye
Night got away and brought this Account, says, that they
saw about Forty or Fifty, and expected to be attacked again
in the morning." (Province Archives, Vol. 55, p. 375.)
The hopeless terror of the settlement before such superior
numbers of assailants, and under further embarrassment
of the menace to the helpless families outside the inclosure,
can hardly be imagined. Too well known was the meaning
of the shots just beyond the palisade. Some of the depleted
garrison rushed to the loopholes to repel the attack then immi
nent; others hurried to the nearby houses to press women
and children toward the shelter of the Block House. Within
its confines the refugees huddled in dismay or proffered awk
ward assistance to the defenders, broaching kegs of powder
and distributing it as needed, nervously molding bullets and
dipping water from the well to use in case fiery arrows should
start a conflagration, while the little ones watched wild-eyed
the confused proceedings or stopped their ears to the din of
the musketry. Only when darkness added new terrors to
their situation did the turmoil cease and a chance occur for a
brave messenger to steal out of the Fort and speed for assist
ance which was hopelessly distant. Colonel WUliams makes
the pathetic admission in continuing his report: "There
is not a sufficient number of men at both the Garrisons to
pursue the Enemy, or oblige them to leave the Ground."
Fortunately the attacking forces did not feel sufficient
confidence in their strength to press the assault to such a
disastrous issue as resulted at Fort Massachusetts ten years
previously. Content with the slaughter of men and cattle
they collected the three scalps and retired to prosecute their
fiendish campaign in other quarters, leaving the panic-stricken
and exhausted homesteaders to pass the night in unbroken
vigil, dreading the return of daylight but impatient for an
opportunity to venture forth in search of their dead.

Fort Hoosac 499
Too late the frail Block House was strengthened and more
adequately equipped and garrisoned, but never again did
hostile force threaten its defenses, probably because their
additional strength was recognized, respected and feared.
The price of safety had been paid and it was thus insured.
From the time of that incursion the garrison suffered seriously
from the inadequacy of the provincial commissariat, but not
from the weapons of foreign troops and their dusky aUies.
That the shelter of the Fort was subsequently appreciated
and sought by the settlers is evidenced by the fact that within
its walls was born in 1760 the first white male child of the
township, WiUiam Pratt — not our "BiU" of cherished memo
ries and traditions, whose sawbuck oratory became famous
in later days. The original WiUiam became a soldier and
served three years in the Revolutionary War, during which
he was a witness of the execution of the attractive but ill-fated
Major Andre.
The appreciation in which the Fort was held is also proved
by its having been the appointed place for holding meetings
of the proprietors, as already noted.
After the triumph of Wolfe on the Heights of Abraham
in 1759 had insured the Peace of Paris, signed February 10,
1763, and consequent cessation of hostilities, the Block House
and its palisade were left to the natural processes of disso
lution, but to be cherished in the fond remembrance of suc
ceeding generations. Its timbers hewn from the environing
forest, and the no less stalwart frames of those who defended
it, have returned dust to dust, but the heroic lives and deeds
of those pioneers upon this hiUcrest achieved immortality.
Before concluding this commemorative address, permit
me to consider briefly the type and cahber of those home
steaders, "by hardships sinewed and by danger fired."
They were citizen soldiers, martial enterprises were forced
upon them as avocations by the cruel necessities of the time
and the place. The vocation of each man of them was peace
ful, not militant. It was essential, however, that all should
know the use of arms and something of the art of war. They
needed to be expert in woodcraft, as well as in the use of tools
of husbandry and domestic craft. Truly our National annals
prove the existence of martial and naval heroes before the

500 Westfield and its Historic Influences
establishment of schools at West Point and Annapolis. Those
early defenders of home and country were volunteers, not
conscripts, not hirelings. They were such as fought at Lake
George in "the bloody morning scout" where Colonel WiUiams
met his untimely death. As described by Parkman:
"The soldiers were no soldiers, but farmers and farmers'
sons who had volunteered for the summer campaign. One
of the corps had blue uniforms faced with red. The rest
wore their daily clothing. Blankets had been served out
to them by the several provinces, but the greater part brought
their own guns. They had no bayonets, but carried hatchets
in their belts as a sort of substitute." (Montcalm Si Wolfe,
Vol. 1, p. 302.) Their personal ambitions centered not in
the pomp and circumstance of war, not in the perfection of
its machinery in men and material, but in the conditions and
methods of worthy living. The essential objects of their
endeavor were homes, and lands to furnish those homes with
needful staples sought as conditions of achieving stiU dearer
ends, liberty to worship God and liberty to develop a weU
rounded manhood. To secure that spiritual argosy they
cheerfully endured hardships familiar to the husbandmen
who now cultivate these Berkshire farms — rigors of frost and
blizzard, the blight of drought, the stress of tempest, the
limitations of poverty, felt even yet in some instances, but
over and beyond all that they faced perpetually the "ap
palling loneliness" of the wilderness, and the fearsome menace
of wily and cruel foes. Their day dreams, as weU as their
visions of the night, were haunted by specters, — the sudden
gleam of steel or the flash of musket amid the leaves of the
encircling forest; ambushed savages bearing their symbols of
horror, bow and gun, tomahawk and scalping knife. Simply
to hold life safe from such dangers, while the women cared
for house and children, and the men cultivated a patch of
wheat, a few hiUs of corn and beans, among which pumpkin
vines wandered, — to do only that required unrelaxing vigilance.
Behind any bole or stump or bush might lurk at any moment
a savage, greased and painted, palpitating with passionate
lust for torture, slaughter and devastation.
In defiance of such continuous perils and hardships those
sturdy men and women "pressed toward the mark for the prize

HERE STOOD THE WEST HOOSAC BLOCKHOUSE
BUILT-IN-1756-ONTHIS-HOUSELOT-NUMBER-SlX-UNDER-DECREE-OF-THE-GREAT-AND-GENInALCOURT- OF-THE-PROVINCE- OF-THE- MASSACHUSETTS -BAY- -IN- COMPLTANCEW1TH-URGINT
APPEAL- FROM-THE-HOMESTEADERS-IT-SERVEDAS-SOLEREFUGEFROM-THEIRAL1IED-FOES
THE-FRENCH-AND -INDIANS- • •IT-WAS-W1TNESSON-THE-EVENING-OF-JULY-11-1756
OF-THE-MASSACRE-OF-SERGEANT-WILLIAM-CHIDESTER-HIS-SON-JAMES-AND
CAPTAIN-ELISHACHAPIN-BYTHEENEMY- IN -AMBUSH -WITHOUT- ITS -NORTHERN-PORTAL
HERE-IN-PEACEFUL- ASSEMBLY- WERE-LAro-THE-FOUNDATIONS-OF-TOWN-GOVERNMENT
T0HON0RTHEMEMORY0E-THEORIGINAL-SETTLERS-OF-WEST-H00SAC ^VHO•ENDURED•THE•PERILS•AND•THE:APPALLING•10NELINE5S•OF•THE•WILDERNESS IN- HEROIC-DEFENSE- OF-THIS -BARRIER -TOWNSHIP
KAPPA- ALPHA- IN • WI LLIAMS • COLLEGE
PLACES-THIS-STONE-OF-REMEMBRANCE-IN-THE-YEAR ONETHOUSANDNINEHUNDRED-AND-5IXTEEN

BRONZE INSCRIPTION
Written by Fisher Howe, Esq., cast by Tiffany & Co., New York, and set on the face of the Boulder at Williamst

;own.

Fort Hoosac 501
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus," Puritan christians
on their chosen territory, ready to do, and ready to die when
their service should be done. They lacked the graces of
earthly courts, but they possessed the virtues approved by
the King of Kings.
That Block House upon the hilltop! How fragile it looks
in this day, when concrete and steel are shattered by one
sheU from a 42 centimeter gun; but it served its purpose as
an outpost of the line of humble defenses of the border of
civiUzation as then existing. How petty and puny seem a few
mortised logs, a handful of men with muzzle-loading, flintlock,
smooth bore guns, in comparison with the serried miUions
now in death grapple oversea, equipped with modern skiU
and prodigafity. Yet those pioneers in the wilderness have
laid the world under enduring obligations to their visions,
their endurances, their sacrifices. Then, as now, moral and
spiritual forces were wreathing for victory and God shaped
the issue.
Those humble men and women little dreamed of the
magnitude and sublimity of the structure which has risen
upon the foundations which they patiently laid; but they
did their bit with whole-hearted devotion and left the result
with God and succeeding devotees. To say that they builded
better than they knew is but to declare what is true of every
noble soul of every age of the world.
Brethren in Kappa Alpha, feUow alumni of WUliams
CoUege, we have peculiar reason to commemorate them and
to exult in one of the results of their lives; but for them our
noble school of culture in this corner of the Commonwealth,
founded by an honored leader among them, would not have
begun its enduring career of world-wide beneficence.
This hour we realize a dream cherished from his coUege
days by our beloved brother Fisher Howe, of the Class of
1872, to whose patient research among Colonial and later
archives relating to the Town and the CoUege, and his un
quenchable ambition to have Fort Hoosac adequately me
morialized, is largely due the consummation of this worthy
enterprise, and to him we tender assurances of grateful ap
preciation. We of this Society, which within a decade is to celebrate

502 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the first Centennial of its existence, feel honored as possessors
of historic land, next door to the original purchase in this
township by Ephraim WiUiams, and as custodians of the
memorial which we have now dedicated, in full confidence
that it will help to keep in perpetual reverence, esteem and
gratitude the lives of the early Homesteaders of West Hoosac,
which has become endeared to succeeding generations under
the name of Wilhamstown.
The following poem was read by Talcott M. Banks, L.H.D.,
of WiUiamstown: THE WEST HOOSAC FORT
Here stood the fort; and here the stout stockade
Stretched off toward yon great elm; then down the slope,
And so returning, closed the blockhouse in.
Hard by, the settlers' homesteads fringed the brook
Where hands of sturdy pioneers had won
A few scant acres from the wilderness
That roUed unbroken to the circling hills,
And onward o'er a continent's vast domain.
'Tis sunset of a sweet midsummer day;
The eastward mountains catch the slanted beams
And shine with ruddy splendor. In the fort
The evening watch is set, for war's alarms
Have reached the lovely vaUey — how the French
Have spurred the cruel Indians to their work
Of flame and slaughter in the countryside.
Who knows how near the lurking foe may lie?
Listen, a shot, a yell, a voUeying fire
In quick succession echo from the wood!
To arms! The Savages! To arms! To arms!
The call resounds; and now the little band,
From every house assembled in hot haste,
Behind the rough-hewn pickets of the fort
Stands firm and ready; from the twilit grove
A sudden crowd of dusky forms appears —
Whose was the shriek that like a death cry rings?

Fort Hoosac 503
The picture fades ; and on this velvet lawn
Mid peace and plenty, we can scarce recall
The memory of that drear and troublous time.
Climb the green hillside where, in quiet sleep
The fathers of our village — yea, even some
Who were the first to clear the rugged land
And claim a harvest from it — could they speak
Of what befell along this lone frontier,
How much of want and peril they endured,
Till England beat the Frenchmen at Quebec,
Our hearts would glow with pride; could Hemlock brook
That slips below us there by field and farm,
Repeat the story of the sunset fight,
When war's swift horror on West Hoosac fell,
What vengeful wrath would kindle in our eyes !
But all is past. Those gaUant men are dead
Who held the barrier: in the leafy dell
The stream's low voices croon a gentler song;
Blockhouse and palisade are rotted down;
Alone unchanged, the silent mountains keep
Their ceaseless vigil through the centuries.
Right well we love thee, hiU-girt Williamstown.
Planted by soldiers, by a soldier planned;
Whether we number with the native born
Or came as strangers to thine elm-arched street
To find the way of knowledge in the school
That Ephraim Williams founded long ago;
Right weU we love thee, village beautiful,
And lest thy brave beginnings be forgot,
We bring a faithful witness to this place,
Whose living characters shall here proclaim
To children's chUdren in the coming years
A tale our grandsires from their elders learned.
The curtain lifts, and o'er the phantom stage
Dim figures of the past go flitting by,
Hudson and Pratt and Simonds— look again!
The blockhouse, the stockade! And shadowing all
Looms the mysterious forest, dark and still!

504 Westfield and its Historic Influences
0 God ! To whose august eternity
The generations are like moments gone,
We travelers, pausing in our pilgrimage
To dedicate this work, lift up our eyes,
As did our fathers, unto thee alone,
A stronghold sure against the unseen foe.
Thou who hast loved the bold, and granted strength
To toiling arms, and hope to stedfast hearts,
Send us they blessing, as with reverent hands,
For town, for college, for our brotherhood,
We raise and hallow this memorial stone.
Mass. Archives, Vol. 55, pp. 375, 376.
"Hatfield 13. July 1756
"Sr This Morning by an Express from fort Massachusetts, I
am inform'd, that on ye 11th Instant near Sun-Setting. Serjt.
Chidester, his Son James Chidester, and Capt Elisha Chapin
went from ye Block House at West Hoosuck, so caUed, to seek
their Cows, but had not got far, before they were fired upon
by a Body of French and Indians, and are kill'd or Captivated;
Part of the Enemy then attackt ye Block House, whilst some
others of them were employ'd in kUling the Cattle; They fir'd
about two Hundred Guns; Night coming on, they withdrew.
The Soldier, who in ye Night, got away and brought this
Account, says, That they saw about Forty or fifty, and ex
pected to be attacked again in the Morning.
"There is not a sufficient Number of Men at both the
Garrisons to pursue the Enemy, or oblige them to leave ye
Ground; And tho our Army are near, I doubt of Relief from
that Quarter. I have not sent any Succours from hence,
supposing it would be too late.
"The Men destin'd to the Several Garrisons, are scarce
sufficient to defend them, and perform the Scouting, and altho
they make almost daily discovery of ye Enemy, Yet being at
such Distances from each other, before A Number can be
collected and joyned, with whom it would be Prudence to pursue
them, they have escaped all Danger.
"Many of the People in the Frontiers, work in Jeopardy
of their Lives every Hour: none to guard or defend Them but
at their own Cost — Their Situation is very distress'd —

Fort Hoosac 505
"Many of the Militia of my Regiment have freely ranged
the Woods, and gone to the Relief of their Neighbours in
Distress. I make no Doubt the Enemy have observed it, and
thereby been intimidated; But they dont think It reasonable
to employ their whole Time that Way, without any reward
from the PubUck, which they are told they must not expect —
I see not but the Enemy are like to dwell among Us, to harrass,
vex and ruin Us, unless some other Measures are soon gone
into. "I hear the Court, at their last Sessions, desired ye Lieut
Govr. to direct Me, to employ Part of ye Forces destin'd for
scouts, for the Protection of the Inhabitants at A Place called
Huntstwon, I have not as yet received his Honour's Orders
respecting that Affair, — Tho I think it highly reasonable the
Govt should grant Those People Protection, yet I am sure
there can not be A Man spared from the other Service, without
greatly injuring It, and therefore humbly desire they may be
provided for some other Way.
"I am fully sensible the Charges and Burthens of the Pub
Uck are very great, and would be far from urging any un
necessary Expence; But the Govt I trust will protect their
Members and not suffer them to be ruined.
"Our Numbers diminish daily, how soon some more fatal
Blow, God only knows. May a kind Providence still guard
and defend our unwalled VUlages —
"I am your Excellcys most Obedt humble Servt
"Govr Shirley Isr Williams"

3.0.0

1.19.6

Province of the Massts Bay to Benjamin Alvord — Dr. 1756
July 15 To Riding Express from Hatfield to Boston by
Order of Colo Isl. WiUiams givg. an accot. of
Mischief done at West Hoosuck
By Cash reed, of Mr Treasurer Gray my
Accot. of sundry Expenses which Colo
Williams had reed, for me 8s I was ignorant of
BaUance due 1.6.3
Please to pay the above BaUance to Thomas Clarke
I having reed, the same of him Benjn. Alvord
Order Capt. Berrys Letter June 5, 1756
(Province Archives. Vol. 75, p. 729.)

and Its Historic Influences

n
Revolutionary Period

CHAPTER I.
The Impending Crisis
At the period immediately preceding the Revolution,
New England had passed beyond many of the crudities and
the hardships of Colonial times. With changed conditions,
changes had passed also upon the people who had wrought for
the solution of many problems, political, commercial and social,
with varying degrees of success. The Colonial age was one of
experiment in many spheres, and through the experience of
trial the people had learned much. The early simplicities of
life had been followed by more complex relations, as is always
inevitable with advancing civilization anywhere. Such a
result must foUow even an increase of numbers of population.
When only a handful of people are clustered together, the
conditions of living are very different from those which obtain
in large towns and cities. The earliest settlements which
fringed the coast hne of New England and ventured a few
score miles inland along the banks of the principal rivers, for
many years were smaU and feeble colonies drawn from the
main hive by hunger for land and adventure and elbow room.
The spirit of independence, even of duly constituted and
reverently recognized authorities, burned with passionate
intensity in the breasts of the settlers and their descendants.
They coveted individual place and influence to an extent that
was not feasible in the older and larger communities. And
each new settlement was for a more or less extended period
marked by such crudities and roughnesses as had for a time
marked the beginnings of the older towns.
Though Westfield was settled less than forty years after the
Puritan immigration under Winthrop began the Bay settle
ments, and for various causes its growth had been slow, stiU,
at the beginning of the Revolutionary period it had advanced
to a considerable degree along the line of civilization. It
was stiU a frontier town, but versed in the orderly conduct of
affairs, the home of people who had made some progress in
culture and refinement. Industry and frugality had relieved

510 Westfield and its Historic Influences
much of the stress and pain of the earlier poverty, though the
people, even those most resourceful, while comfortable, were
stiU but moderately circumstanced. Dwellings and schools,
though still humble, had been improved in appearance and
convenience. Much land had been brought under cultivation
and infant industries had been fostered, precursors of the vast
establishments which during recent years have furnished
employment to thousands of artisans.
The people had not fully recovered from the losses conse
quent upon the century of conflict with savage enemies and
their allies from oversea, but each successive year did some
thing in the way of restoration, and the blessings of long de
layed peace fiUed the popular heart with gratitude and hope.
The times were generally propitious and encouraging.
Franklin wrote to Joshua Badcock, London, January 13,
1772: "I have lately made a tour through Ireland and Scot
land. In those countries a small part of the society are land
lords, great noblemen, and gentlemen, extremely opulent,
living in the highest affluence and magnificence. The bulk
of the people are tenants, extremely poor, living in the most
sordid wretchedness, in dirty hovels of mud and straw, and
clothed only in rags. I often thought of the happiness of
New England, where every man is a free-holder, has a vote
in public affairs, lives in a tidy warm house, has plenty of
good food and fuel, with whole clothes from head to foot, the
manufacture perhaps of his own family."
Such felicitous conditions doubtless prevailed in West-
field as elsewhere. The tasks of seff-government had been
faithfully performed while larger and broader political prob
lems which fretted the statesmen of the Commonwealth were
carefully and solicitously considered by the more thoughtful
of the inhabitants of this town and its sister communities.
The early New Englanders were natural politicians. They
had to be such in self-defense. From the very beginnings of
settlement until the issues of the great, conflict with the mother
country were finally decided and its results were formaUy
confirmed, there never was the time when the people could
relax their alertness or abate their struggle to defend their
hard-earned liberties from the encroachments of foreign author
ities.

The Impending Crisis 511
Every town in New England, from the metropolis on
the Bay to the remotest and smaUest hamlet on the frontier,
was vitaUy interested in the machinations of the Court of
Saint James, in the bickerings and ambitions of English poli
ticians, in the plans and acts of Parliament, Cabinet and Lords
of Trade. The mother country and her children in the Colonies
were wrestling with new and perplexing problems of govern
ment. Policies never before tried had to be attempted and
tested by practical experience in order to determine their
justice and value to both parties concerned, looking at them
respectively from widely different points of view, and each
eager to gain from the other the larger personal advantage.
The conflict of authority was constant and intense, often
bitter and desperate. Years of friction resulted in some
mutual adjustments, whUe still great points at issue remained
unsettled. The Englishmen on this side of the sea resented
the attempts of narrow and misguided countrymen in the
homeland to deprive them of inalienable, essential rights
under the time-honored British Constitution. Basal princi
ples were at stake which New Englanders could not permit
the Crown to override without self-stultification and self-
destruction. During the whole progress of the extended and
exasperating conflict they contended for the ancestral right
to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The demand
was vocal in their souls long before it found formal expression
from the pen of Jefferson in the immortal Declaration of Inde
pendence. An item in Mr. BaUantine's Diary copied in a previous
Chapter concerns rioting in Boston when the house of Gov.
Hutchinson was sacked and considerable property besides
was destroyed. It was not a matter of great magnitude,
yet, after the repeal of the Stamp Act, great stress was laid
upon it by the Crown authorities. Indeed, one of the seven
Resolves of Parliament passed in connection with the repeal
dealt with the matter of indemnification of any persons who
had suffered in relation to the matter. Persons who had
manifested a desire to comply with or to assist in carrying into
execution the obnoxious acts were entitled to the protection
of the House, according to the fourth, fifth and sixth Resolves.
AU such persons "ought to have full and ample compensation

512 Westfield and its Historic Influences
made to them by the respective Colonies for any injury or
damage sustained by reason of their dutiful conduct."
Such was the formal claim, and Gov. Bernard did not
allow it to be forgotten. He impressed upon the General
Court when it next assembled in May, 1766, the demand "that
full and ample compensation be made to the late sufferers by
the madness of the people."
The House voted to refer the matter "to the next session
of the Court that the members of the House may consult
their constituents thereon." When in response he pressed
it again upon the attention of the members, they replied that
they had "the greatest abhorrence of the madness and bar
barity of those persons who were the instruments of their
sufferings," but that since "to make up their losses appears to
this House not as an act of justice, but rather of generosity,
they are in doubt whether they have any authority to make
their constituents chargeable with it without their express
consent." It was finally decided to frame a bill providing
for compensation. What was the attitude of the people of
Westfield toward the proposed legislation is clearly indicated
by the foUowing action:
"Legal Town Meeting. Oct. 22, 1766
"John IngersoU was chosen Moderator for said Meeting.
"This Meeting was to see if the Town would give any
instruction to their Representative considering the making
up the loss of the sufferers in Boston.
"The vote was put to see if the town was willing to do
anything toward making up the loss and it was voted in the
negative. "Voted also to choose a Committee to draw up instruction
for their Representative to carry into the General Court.
"Capt. John Moseley, Capt. Wm Day, Mr. John Phelps,
John IngersoU, Ss Doct. Samuel Mather were chosen a Com
mittee to draw up said instruction, then the meeting was
adjourned to Friday the 24th of Oct. inst. sun one hour high
at night. "The Town met according to adjournment on Friday 24th
inst. "The Committee reported and the instruction was read
in the meeting, viz. —

¦ "* a,

*' "v

\ jd

.

MB?*-- I

^^Mr-itS3

K '
BPvF
KsE*L;*s$l
|  !  -$^ *WC2£
*W*I?:;
t-Aul'
THE GEX. warham parks house.
This house stood on the lot now known as 24 Union Street. It was burned
about 1874.
n
,;*»..
TOMBSTONE OF JOHN ROOT.
Probably the oldest in the old cemetery. John Root was an original
settler and a "Foundation man" of the church.
THE OLD INGERSOLL HOUSE.
This house stood a few rods southwest of the County bridge on the old
highway from Northampton to Windsor, Conn. It was built about 1698 by
John Ingersoll, son of John the original settler, on the home lot grantedJoJthe
latter in 1678-9. It was burned in July, 1890*?=
The Impending Crisis 513
"At a legal meeting Oct. 24th, 1766, the inhabitants of the
town of Westfield met to give instruction to Eldad Taylor Esq.
Representative of our said town, Your Constituents hereby
direct and inform you as our Representative, not to give in
your vote at General Court that any Tax should be laid upon
the Inhabitants of this Province to make up any loss that
any particular Gentlemen have sustained within the Province
by reason of the late mob. The town having heard the above
report of instruction, they voted to accept of it.

John IngersoU
John Mosely
Wm Day
Samuel Mather
John Phelps

Committee for
the town of
Westfield."

It is deplorable that the town records for several years
at this critical period in the affairs of the Province are lost.
There is none preserved for the years respectively 1767, 1768,
1769, and 1773. What action, if any, was spread upon the
pages for those years must be left solely to conjecture.
It was not until May 25, 1774, that any further record
bearing upon public affairs appears. Under that date the
following action was taken.
"Mr. Elisha Parks was chosen Moderator.
"2nd article
"To see what answer the Town wiU make to a letter re
ceived from the Town Clerk of Boston, setting forth the sore
calamities that their town labours under.
"After some discourse upon the letter of grievance from ye
Town Clerk of Boston
"It was voted to appoint a Committee of 5 men to enquire
into the state of Boston as it is represented in their letter and
of the pubUc calamities of the present time and report.
"Eldad Taylor, Mr. Elisha Parks, Mr. John Phelps, John
IngersoU Esq. 8s Doct. Samuel Mather were chosen a Com
mittee for that purpose."
The report of that Committee is thus recorded :
"At a legal town meeting of the Inhabitants of Westfield in
the County of Hampshire the 19th day of July 1774 —
"Whereas the late House of Representatives of this

514 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Province on the 17 day of June last past taking in considera
tion the many distresses and difficulties into which the
American Colonies and this Province in particular are Si must
be reduced by the operation of Certain late Acts of Parliament
did resolve and determine that it is Highly Expedient that
a Committee shall be appointed to meet the Committees
that are, or shaU be appointed by the several British Colonies
on this Continent to consult together on the present state
of the Colonies Si to deUberate and determine upon the Proper
measures to be by them recommended to all ye Colonies for
the recovery Si establishment of their Just rights Si Liberties
Si the restoring of that Union and Harmony Between Great
Britain and the Colonies ardently desired by aU good men,
and did on the same day appoint a Committee of five Gentle
men to meet said Committees on the first day of September
at the city of Philadelphia for the purposes aforesaid.
"Voted — Unanimously — that we the Inhabitants afore
said and in Town meeting assembled, do cordiaUy approve of
the above measures, taken by the said House and most
fervently pray that the Great Father of ye Universe out of
his abundant goodness would bless their Meeting Si afford them
that Wisdom that is profitable to direct upon measures most
salutary to extricate us from ye difficulties 8s distress under
which we are labouring, and that we are cheerfuUy ready to
adopt and strictly to adhere to any measures that said Con
gress may recommend relative to said refief not inconsistent
with our duty to God and aUegiance to our rightful Sovereign
George the Third. And in the meantime we shaU encourage
our own manufacturies and discountenance the unnecessary
use of India Teas 8s British Goods and that we shall not be
wanting in Charity to ye Town of Boston 8s Charlestown in
this distressing day, but think that they ought to be reUeved
Si sustained until the sense of the Colonies may be had touching
their conduct, and shaU send them that relief that their cir
cumstances and our abilities upon due consideration had,
shall dictate Si direct.
"The foregoing was voted to be accepted by the Town
unanimously 8s the Clerk of the Town is desired to forward it
to the Chairman of the Congress at Boston 8s that it may be
Publicly entered in ye Publick Prints."

The Impending Crisis 515
There is no uncertain sound in that document. It rings
true in every line and syllable. The people of Westfield re
sponded to the call of the hour with enthusiasm and devotion
which none can gainsay. If the town records of this pre
liminary period are more scanty than we could wish, such as
remain glow with most intense patriotism. Westfield was
not hampered and overawed by an influential group of loyal
ists like Northampton and other of the northern towns of the
County. If possibly we don't know who constituted its earli
est Committee of Correspondence and Safety, we know that
there was abundant material for such Committee when it
was instituted.
Trevelyan, with grim humor, gives an account of the
futile efforts which were made in various towns to hold court
and the experiences of several Judges, whose persons, however,
were respected :
"They took their seats at Boston only to learn that those
citizens who had been returned as jurors one and all refused
the oath. A great multitude marched into Springfield, with
drums and trumpets, and hoisted a black flag over the Court
House, as a sign of what any one might expect who entered
it in an official capacity. At Worcester the members of the
tribunal with aU their staff walked in procession, safe and
sorry, through a quarter of a mile of street lined on each side
by people drawn up six deep. These militia men (for such
they were) had their company officers to command them,
and wanted nothing to make them a military force except the
fire arms which were standing ready at home, and which two
out of every three amongst them could handle more effectively
than an average European soldier. Wherever the Judges went,
if once they were fairly inside a town, they were not allowed
to leave it until they had plighted their honour that they would
depart without transacting any legal business." (American
Revolution. Part I, pp. 196-7.)
It was the regular session of the County Court of General
Sessions of Peace which was thus interrupted at Springfield
on Aug. 30.
Mr. Judd in his Diary thus alludes to the affair which
stirred the region so deeply: "Vast numbers gone from the
West by way of Westfield," and added the foUowing day,

516 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"hear this Morning that 3 or 4000 People were collected that
they would not let the Court sit. Afterwards they trimmed
some of the court aU opposition was in vain every Body sub
mitted to our Sovereign Lord the Mob — Now we are reduced
to a State of Anarchy, have neither Law nor any other Rule
except the Law of Nature which [is] much vitiated and
Darkened to go by."
This was so significant an event in local as well as provincial
history as to warrant the quotation of much of a long letter
by an eyewitness of the momentous proceedings. It is stiU
further justified by the numerous touches of local color, in
cidents relating to prominent personages of the mother-town
of the County, which crowd it.
The letter was written by Joseph Clarke of Northampton,
law-partner of Major Joseph Hawley, the most illustrious
patriot of western Massachusetts, and is given by Trumbull
in his History of Northampton. The Mr. Parsons referred to
was the keeper of the tavern on Court Square, licensed first in
1773, and famous for many succeeding years.
"Springfield, Aug. 30th, 1774.
* * * We arrived in town about noon this day and found aU
the people gathered before us. A committee from the body of
the county had just waited upon the court to demand a satis
factory answer, that is, whether they meant to hold their
commissions and exercise their authority according to the
new act of Parliament for altering the constitution of the
province, which being answered in the negative, It was put to
vote after the sd message 8s answer were read to the people
assembled before the meeting house, whether they were wiUing
the Court should sit; it passed in the negative.
"Then the people paraded before Mr. Parsons's from thence
marched back again to the meeting house and demanded the
appearance of the judges. The judges came according to
desire, and amidst the crowd in a sandy, sultry place, exposed
to the sun as far as they were able in such circumstances, gave
a reasonable, Si, to the major part, a satisfactory answer to
such questions as were asked.
"It was also demanded of them that they should make a
declaration in writing, signed by all the justices and lawyers
in the County, renouncing in the most express terms any

The Impending Crisis 517
commission which should be given out to them or either of
them under the new arrangement, which was immediately
comphed with and executed accordingly.
"The People then reassembled before Mr. Parsons's house.
Your uncle CatUn [a noted tory] faUing into a personal quarrel,
at length gained the attention of the people. They considered
him as an object worthy of their malice, as he was an officer
of the court. He was treated with candor and too mildly to
make any complaint. His boasted heroism failed him in the
day of trial, and vanished like a puf of smoak. He and 0.
Warner, who came to his assistance in the quarrel, made such
declarations as were requested of them, and then were dis
missed, unhurt, and in peace. Your uncle may say what he
pleases with regard to their abuse of him, but I was an eye
witness to the whole, and you I believe wiU be satisfied that
no abuse was intended when I tell you what easy terms were
requested 8s were satisfied with, namely, only a declaration
that he would not hold any office under the new act of parlia
ment. "Col. Worthington was next brought upon the board.
The sight of him flashed lightning from their eyes. Their
spirits were already raised and the sight of him gave them
additional force. He had not refused his new office of coun-
seUor. For that reason especially he was very obnoxious. But
the people kept their tempers. He attempted to harangue
them in mittagation of his conduct, but he was soon obliged
to desist. The people were not to be dallied with. Nothing
would satisfy them but a renunciation in writing of his office
as Counsellor and a recantation of his address to Gov. Gage,
which last was likewise signed by Jona. Bliss Si Caleb Strong, Jr.
"Jonathan Bliss next came upon the floor, he was very
humble and the people were very credulous. He asked their
pardon for all that he had said or done which was contrary to
their opinions; and as he depended for his support upon the
people, he begged to stand weU in their favor.
"Mr. Moses Bliss was brought into the ring, but the ac
cusation against him was not well supported and he passed
off in silence. The Sheriffe was the next who was demanded;
he accordingly appeared. He was charged with saying some
imprudent things, but none of them were proved, 8s he departed.

518 Westfield and its Historic Influences
But he was humbled. Col. Williams took the next turn. He
went round the ring and vindicated himself from some ac
cusations thrown upon him and denied some things that were
laid to his charge.
"He declared in my hearing that altho' he had heretofore
differed from the people in opinion with regard to the mode of
obtaining redress, he would, hereafter, heartily acquiesce in
any measures, that they should take for that purpose, and
join with them in the common cause. He considered his
interest as embarked in the same bottom with theirs, and
hoped to leave it in peace to his Children.
"Capt. Merrick of Munson was next treated with for
uttering imprudent expressions. I thought that they would
have tarred and feathered him, and I thought he almost de
served it. He was very stubborn, as long as he dare be, but
at length he made some concessions. But not tiU after they
had carted him. No men received the least injury, but the
strictest order of justice were observed. The people to their
honor behaved with the greatest order 8s regularity, a few
individuals excepted, and avoided, as much as possible, con
fusion. "The people of each town being drawn into separate
companies, marched with staves Si musick. The trumpets
sounding, drums beating, fifes playing and Colours flying,
struck the passions of the soul into a proper tone, and inspired
martial courage into each.
"I kept all the time amongst the people, and observed
their temper and dispositions, which I shall be better able to
inform by word of mouth than otherwise. * * The people wiU
probably be condemned for preventing the sitting of the court
but their conduct yet is comendable."
That letter is full of side lights on the state of the popular
mind at that crucial period of provincial history. What Judd
denominated the "Sovereign Law the Mob" was evidently
a very self-restrained and reasonable monarch, differing widely
in spirit and in method from the sovereign across the water
who was subjecting a loyal and affectionate people to cruel
indignities and overt acts of tyranny. If the Springfield
mob on that 30th day of August, 1774, infringed upon the
personal liberties of a few fellow citizens it was done with no

The Impending Crisis 519
brutal harshness, and to an extent no greater than the exigen
cies of the case demanded. It was done to gratify no personal
or political ambition, but simply in defense of the liberties of
many communities of people who honored and obeyed laws
which did not transgress essential principles of truth and right;
in short, to protect Massachusetts and her sister Colonies from
the menace of weapons more dreadful than the tomahawk and
scalping knife of painted savages, or the musket and saber of
European battahons.
There were men from Westfield among those sturdy patri
ots, ready not only for such a bloodless conflict with officers
of the Crown and those who were unpatriotic enough to side
with them, but ready also, when the issue became more pro
nounced, to go to the front where buUets sang and blood flowed.
The action in Springfield at the end of that summer was but
a prelude to, and a step toward, the more tragic and decisive
action which was to be taken before another summer should
be ushered in.
That the pubfic pulse was throbbing excitedly is farther
evidenced by another event in the rapidly maturing crisis.
Less than a month after the Springfield incident just narrated,
there was an important gathering of the citizens of the County,
simUar in purpose to the Berkshire meeting in July. It is
foreshadowed in the foUowing action of the town at a meeting
held Sept. 19, 1774, the chairman of which was Capt. John
Mosely. The record reads :
"This Meeting was in consequence of a letter from ye
Committee of Correspondence from Springfield to see if ye will
send a delegate or Delegates to Northampton to meet ye
Gentlemen from other towns of this County on Thursday 22nd
of Sept. inst. to consult and deliberate on ye present distress
ing times.
"After some discussion it was voted unanimously to send
3 persons to represent them in a County Congress and it was
voted that Eldad Taylor, Capt. John Mosely 8s Mr. Elisha
Parks be delegated for the proposed Meeting."
There were delegates representing Northampton, four of
whom were among the nine members of its Committee of
Correspondence. Joseph Hawley was the first named in each.
The chairman of the Convention was Timothy Danielson of

520 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Brimfield, who the next year was Colonel of the Regiment of
Minute Men in which William Shepard of Westfield was Lieu
tenant Colonel.
The formal result of this important local Convention, as
prepared by a Committee of nine appointed for the purpose,
was a thoughtful, reasonable, calm, and forcible setting forth
of the points at issue between Crown and Colony, and its
earnest recommendations were worthy of ratification by each
town of the county and the people at large.
Whether or not the town of Westfield would have taken
just such action as it did in several particulars without being
fully acquainted with the spirit and recommendations of this
County Congress, may not be matter of certain knowledge, but
undoubtedly that action seems to indicate the definite and
potent influence of that representative assembly at Northamp
ton. It has all the features of a ratification of that recent
meeting. At a town meeting held a week afterward, Sept. 30,
"for Choice of Representatives to the General Court, — after
some debate ye selectmen put to ye town to see if they would
choose 2 Representatives. Voted affirmatively 8s Capt. John
Mosely 8s Mr. Elisha Parks were chosen."
The fact that they were two of the five Selectmen that
year, another of whom was Capt. WiUiam Shepard, evidences
the attitude of the leading men of the town toward the burn
ing questions of the day. As local leaders they were in fuU
sympathy with influential patriots in other towns of the Prov
ince in the van of the great movements which were resist-
lessly sweeping the country toward its glorious destiny.
At the same meeting it was "Voted, that if the General
Court doth not set constitutionally that our Representatives
with the Representatives of the Province if they judge it expedi
ent, do form themselves into a Congress unitedly to set at Con
cord or any other place where they may agree to consult the
best interest and safety of the Province at this critical time."
The non-essentials of time and place could be adjusted
to circumstances, but the great issues of constitutional liberty
must be safeguarded and promoted at any cost.
As an Ulustration of what to the casual observer will seem
like a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous, but as evi
dence also to the thoughtful student of civil affairs of the

The Impending Crisis 521
thoroughness and the scrupulous care for details with which the
Fathers of the New England town bore their responsibilities
in the body politic, consider the foUowing votes which im
mediately succeed the one quoted above :
"Voted that Simeon Ashley be permitted to set a house on
ye school land for himself to dwell in during ye towns pleasure.
"Voted to choose a Comtee to stake out ye bounds for
the said house to be set Si Elisha Parks Capt. John Mosely John
IngersoU Esqr. Nathl Weller and Aaron Bush were chosen
such Committee."
Two of the above Committee at the same meeting had just
been chosen Representatives in the General Court at that
critical epoch in public affairs, and it was not considered to
be beneath their dignity, with other prominent citizens, to
mark out bounds for a dwelling house. No man, however
prosperous or learned, considered himself demeaned by per
forming the most trifling civic duty. It had worth and im
portance in his eyes because related, more or less directly, to
the general civic welfare. Some one had to attend to it, and
he was none too good for the humble duty, though a member
of the legislative body of the great Province, and fighting for
its life with King and Parliament. Faithful in few things, they
were faithful in much. That spirit and habit, indeed, were
characteristic and healthful signs of that early life of Massa
chusetts in Church and State. Men were willing to bear per
sonal burdens, even when involving pain and danger, for the
public weal. And so must it ever be if nation, state, and
town are to enjoy highest and largest prosperity.
The careful watch upon, and the deep interest in, public
affairs of Mr. Ballantine, is evidenced by sundry entries in
his Journal during the period of preliminary skirmishing before
the death grapple in final conflict. As already quoted in a
previous Chapter, they show that he and his people were alert
to read the signs of the times and to be prepared, as far as
possible, for whatever might eventuate.
During the session of eight weeks of the Continental Con
gress at Philadelphia, word arrived from the Boston Com
mittee of Correspondence announcing the threatening action
of General Gage and asking for advice. The response of
Congress was speedy and positive. A remonstrance was

522 Westfield and its Historic Influences
sent to General Gage and Resolves were passed approving
"the opposition of the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay to
the execution of the late Acts of Parliament." To this was
added the declaration that "if the same shaU be attempted to
be carried into execution by force, in such case all America
ought to support them in their opposition." Other vigorous
recommendations were urged, encouraging the Province in
resistance of British usurpation. During that important
session of the Continental Congress, a hardly less important
session of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts was being
held. Among the ninety Representatives who gathered were
the two Westfield delegates, Col. John Mosely and Mr. Elisha
Parks. Choice was made of John Hancock as Chairman.
Its meeting for organization was held in Salem and soon after
ward removal to Concord was decided upon, a move which was
indirectly responsible for the opening gun of the Revolution.
The proceedings of this Congress and of the one which foUowed
it a month later in February, transacted while events were
hastening toward the final crisis by leaps and bounds, were
so significant, and Westfield, represented there by its duly
appomted and instructed delegates, was so vitaUy related
thereto, that an outline of those proceedings is here relevant.
Though warned by the Governor to desist from their "Ulegal
and unconstitutional proceedings," they decided to sit with
closed doors, and went boldly forward with the business in
hand. They recommended "to the people of the Province
an abhorrence and detestation of aU kinds of East India teas,"
and "advised that every town and district appoint a Com
mittee to post up in some public place the names of aU * * *
who should seU or consume so extravagant and unnecessary
an article of luxury." They arranged for the usual day of
thanksgiving, when special prominence should be given to
the "union, so remarkably prevailing, not only in this Province,
but throughout the Continent, at this alarming crisis." They
determined to purchase ordnance stores, powder, and ammu
nition to an amount costing above twenty thousand pounds.
They chose a permanent Committee of Safety with broad
military authority; arranged for a complete organization of
the militia, and a force of minute men consisting of one quarter
of the whole military force of the Colony. They selected a

The Impending Crisis 523
Receiver-General to be the custodian of aU public moneys, in
the place of the royal Provincial Treasurer. The Counselors
chosen by the last General Court but deposed by the Governor
were invited to sit at their next meeting to give "the benefit
of their advice."
After an adjournment of three weeks the Provincial Con
gress met again, ratified the proceedings of the Continental
Congress, chose as members of the next session of the national
body the four men who had been members of its first session,
and added to them John Hancock, their own chairman; they
urged the towns to contribute liberally for the relief of Boston
and Charlestown, and the ministry to interest the people in
favor of "the resolutions of the Continental Congress, as the
most peaceable and probable method of preventing confusion
and bloodshed."
They recommended to the towns to arm thoroughly and
drill frequently the minute men, and to send Representatives
to a simUar Congress to convene several weeks later.
In anticipation of that event the town of Westfield pro
vided for it at a meeting held Nov. 14, 1774, Deacon Joseph
Root, Moderator: "Voted. That Mr. Elisha Parks and
Capt. John Mosely be desired to attend the next session of
the Congress at Cambridge."
At the same meeting it was also "Voted — and accepted
the list of the soldiers as returned by the Committee, viz.,
Eldad Taylor, Elisha Parks, Dea. Joseph Root, Capt. John
Mosely, Daniel Sacket, Jr., Daniel Fowler, Oliver Ingersoll,
Capt. Wm Shepard appointed to made a division of the Town
into 2 Companies."
Two months later, Jan. 5, 1775, at a meeting presided over
by John Ingersoll, Esq., the Town "Voted to send 2 persons to
attend the Congress at Cambridge the 1st day of Feb. next,
and but one to attend at the same time except by instruc
tion from ye town.
"Voted, that
Col. John Mosely Si Elisha Parks be our delegates.
"Voted, that our Delegates shall not consent when in ye
Provincial Congress to any acts that may be there made to
take up Government or to assume Kingly authority."
Resolute in the defense of their charter rights, zealous in

524 Westfield and its Historic Influences
preparation to resist infringement thereupon, even ready
to shed blood in the heroic struggle, they yet were loyal to
the King and eager to have his authority maintained, if so be
that he should exercise it with full respect to sacred consti
tutional limitations. In the above noted action of the town
there is no suggestion of a craven spirit, no looking back after
having put hand to the plow, no trace of disloyalty to the
patriot cause, no shrinking from natural and logical results
of action taken at various times by the town in view of impend
ing issues. It was indicative of the almost universal attitude
of Massachusetts and the most progressive and alert leaders
and people of the other Provinces in the delicate, anxious
and perplexing position to which they had been driven by the
exigencies of the period. They were not yet rebels, but they
were protestants in imminent danger of becoming such. The
die had not yet been cast, and deeply did they dread the ne
cessity that it should be.
The services of Mosely and Parks as delegates were re
warded by the town to an extent that could barely have met
their personal expenses for travel and board. The Town Treas
urer's book shows the following items during the year 1774 :
"Col. Elisha Parks for attending Congress 48 days at 6/
per day 14/8/0.
Col. John Mosely for a buU 40/-
2| yds shirting for Mary Trill 5/8
for 2 qts Brandy for Mr Trill 1/6
to Attending Congress 33 days 6/ £9.18.0 "
Those sums in the depreciated currency of the times did
not leave them any large amount for luxurious festivities.
Nor would they have felt the loss of them while engaged in
the solemn and strenuous work which had to be prosecuted.
The Second Provincial Congress of Massachusetts con
vened at Cambridge in February, 1775, with two hundred
and thirty Deputies in attendance, two and a half times as
many as were at the first Congress in the autumn, showing
that interest in its proceedings and in the cause which it pro
moted had spread among the towns.
It adopted Resolves which condemned the sale of "ma
terials of war and of straw to the British troops which might

The Impending Crisis 525
be wanted by the inhabitants of the Province, in case they
should be driven to the hard necessity of taking up arms in
their own defence." It extended the powers of the Com
mittee of Safety and the General Officers so that they should
be better able to resist by force any efforts to execute the Acts
of Parliament "for regulating the government of Massa
chusetts Bay." It arranged for the custody of arms and other
mUitary stores and their distribution whenever "the consti
tutional army should take the field."
American manufacturers of firearms and bayonets were
encouraged, the inhabitants were recommended through the
public press "immediately to prepare against every attempt
that might be made to attack them by surprise," since from
"the tenor of intelhgence from Great Britain and general
appearances, there was reason to apprehend that the sudden
destruction of this Colony, in particular, was intended." A
recess of five weeks having been taken, in the light of latest
information from over the sea, aU hopes of redress by peaceful
methods were bhghted.
A Resolve was sent to the newspapers "that the measures
which have heretofore been recommended by this and the
former Provincial Congress, for the purpose of putting this
Colony into a complete state of defence, be still most vigorously
pursued by the several towns, as well as individual inhabitants,
and that any relaxation would be attended with the utmost
danger to the liberties of this Colony and of all America; es
peciaUy, as by the latest advices from Great Britain, we have
undoubted reason for jealousy, that our implacable enemies
are unremitting in their endeavors, by fraud and artifice as
well as by open force, to subjugate this people."
There is a note in that deliverance more belligerent than
had been sounded before, a note of anxiety and defiance which
was premonitory of events which were about to happen with
startling suddenness, just as death always produces a shock
however long it may have been feared and anticipated.
After having made other provisions for the public welfare
and defense, the Congress adjourned only four days before
the firing of "the shot that was heard around the world."
During the session of several weeks a considerable amount of
arms and ammunition had been collected under the direction

526 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of the Congress at Concord, which was the special object of
the expedition of British regulars on April 19. Relations
had become so strained that there had to be a break somewhere,
and it happened to occur there. Another "Seven Years' War,"
more terrible and sanguinary than the earlier French and
Indian one, was thus inaugurated.
The people of Westfield, realizing increasing responsibili
ties, held a meeting Feb. 6, 1775.
"Col. Elisha Parks chosen Moderator.
"2nd thing in ye warrant,
"To see if ye Town will do anything to encourage the
Company of ye Minute Men who have generously offered their
servic to ye Public. Voted in ye affirmative.
"Voted — To appoint a Committee to Examine 8s Look up
the arms that is reported to be in ye Town belonging to ye
Province or private persons and to se how they can be ob
tained for ye Minute men Si report to ye Town.
"Voted — To chuse seven for a Committee — Doct. Ashley,
Saml Fowler, Capt. Shepard, Colo. Parks, Martin Root, John
Atwater 8s Ensign R. FaUey.
"Voted — To chuse a Comitty of five persons to receive
Donations for ye use of ye poor of Boston.
"Dea. Joseph Root, Eldad Taylor, Mr. John Phelps, John
Ingersoll Esq. 8s Lt. David WeUer.
"Article 4th — To see if ye Town wUl appoint a Comtee of
Correspondence Si Committee of Inspection 8s to carry into
execution the Resolves of the Grand Provincial Congress.
"Voted — to chuse a Comitee of 13 Persons — Doct. Mather,
Colo. John Mosely, Capt. Wm Shepard, Eldad Taylor Esq.
Colo. Parks, Daniel Mosely, Daniel Fowler, Capt. David
Mosely, Dea. Joseph Root, WiUiam Sacket, Samuel Fowler,
Lt. John Shepard Jr., Mr. John Phelps, were chosen as above
Committee. "Article 5th — Is to see what directions the Town will give
to ye Assessors 8s Constables with regard to paying unto the
Treasurer or ordering the hand of the Province receiver the
moneys now outstanding.
"Voted. That the sum or sums of money that is assessed
8s to be collected be lodged with the Town Treasurer untill
further order from the Town.

The Impending Crisis 527
"Voted to adjourn this meeting one fortnight to Monday
the 20 of this inst February at 2 o'clock P. M."
"The Town met according to adjournment. The Com
mittee appointed to search for Province Guns Si to see what
may be Procured for ye use of ye Minute Men on a sudden
Emergence— Reported that they found in the hands of Sundry
Persons some province arms with what can be hired is be
tween 30 or 40 8s a few Bagganets.
"Voted. To appoint a Comtee to Provide necessary Provision
for those Persons that are not able to Provide for themselves
Si to see that all Persons be immediately Equipt with Mili
tary accoutrements as the law of the Province requires.
"Voted. That the Committee of Correspondence be a Comtee
to adjoyne with the Selectmen to make the necessary Pro
vision as granted above.
"Voted — by Great Majority that there, or may, be raised a
Company of Minute men.
"Voted — That minute men shall have 1/ for half day Exercis
ing, spending 4 hours once a week untill the last of May next.
"Voted — that ye Town do desire the Minute Men to Rein
state themselves into their Company again."
The great importance of that meeting is manifest from
the record of its acts. More definite action than heretofore
was taken regarding the organizing and equipping of the
minute men who soon afterward played so important a part
in the initial movements of the opening campaign. How
they were all provided with arms before starting for Boston is
a mystery if the researches of the Committee into the town
armament were at all thorough, since there were found between
30 and 40 guns, and 53 men marched in the first company.
That the above thirteen men constituted the first Com
mittee of Correspondence seems probable. It may be
questioned why Westfield was so tardy in attending to that
important business. Northampton elected its Committee
in the preceding September, Springfield at about the same
time, and Pittsfield a few months later. When finally elected
the Committee was worthy of the honor thus conferred, com
posed as it was of Westfield's noblest citizens.
Doctor Samuel Mather, son of a physician of the same
name in Windsor, Conn., was born in 1737, in Northampton,

528 Westfield and its Historic Influences
whither his Father had removed in 1730. The son moved to
Westfield and July 30, 1761, was married by Rev. John BaUan
tine to Grace Moseley. She was a daughter of the first David
Moseley, and the sister of Hannah who in 1753 married then-
cousin, Col. John Moseley. Doctor Mather was a noted
practitioner and a useful citizen of Westfield until his death,
Dec. 7, 1808.
Of the three Moseleys upon the Committee, Col. John, son
of Quartermaster John, was born in 1725, and his cousin Capt.
David, was ten years his junior. Daniel, their cousin, son of
Consider Moseley, was the eldest, having been born in 1714.
Col. EUsha Parks, or Ensign, as he was commonly caUed,
came to Westfield from Worcester with his brother Josiah.
Mr. BaUantine offered prayers for them in 1766, upon the
death of their Father.
Elisha married, 1751, Mary IngersoU, daughter of Thomas.
Their son Warham, born in 1752, became a Revolutionary
General of whom the town had good reason to be proud.
John Phelps married Mercy Moseley, another cousin
of Col. John, a sister of Grace and Hannah.
Lieut. John Shepard, Jr., was the Father of Gen. WiUiam
Shepard. Eldad Taylor was the youngest of Rev. Edward Taylor's
children. At a Town Meeting held AprU 10, 1775, Col. John Moseley,
Moderator, the third article in the warrant was "to see if
the Town wiU take any measures to procure powder and war
like stores — voted in ye affirmative.
"Voted — to raise the sum of 25 pounds for to procure
powder." Shortly before the outbreak of the Revolutionary struggle
the following report of the town's resources was pubUshed:
"Westfield Property List, 1771.— 299 Polls 8s 16 more.
162 houses. 27 shops. 7 miUs. Annual worth of Real
Estate, 1601.11.11. 10 slaves. 900 stock on hand. £1407
money at interest. Horses — 251, Oxen — 310, Cows — 384,
Sheep — 1300, Swine — 431. Amount of Pasturage 1087 acres.
Acres of TUlage 2338. Grain 13590 bushels. 1261 barrels of
cider. 327 acres N 8s E mowing 429 tons of hay. 960 fresh
meadow. 795 tons of hay." (Judd Mss., Forbes Library.)

CHAPTER II.
The Maturing Struggle
The detaUed account just given of the proceedings of the
two Provincial Congresses affords ample evidence that the
incredible swiftness with which the mintary forces of Massa
chusetts massed themselves in the vicinity of Boston im
mediately after the Lexington Alarm was not due to a sudden
spasm of patriotism stung into action by an outrage upon
the body politic. The people had made careful and thorough
preparation for an emergency, and when aware that it had
eventuated they simply carried out well matured plans. It
is interesting to dwell thoughtfully upon the ways along which
New England had been preparing for the terrific revolutionary
struggle. This theme has proved fascinating to many a his
torical student.
The fact that the Colonists in this region of the new world
inherited the intense religious traditions which filled them with
the consciousness that they were chosen of God to peculiar
rights and peculiar responsibilities in this new country, gave
them the zeal and the confidence of religious fanatics. Soldiers
thus inspired have ever made doughty warriors. "The
sword of the Lord and of Gideon" is a thrilling battle cry.
The zealots under Mahomet and the Ironsides under Cromwell
were terrible adversaries. Something of their spirit inflamed
the Colonists in successive generations as they fought with
painted savages or uniformed battalions from foreign shores
for the homes which they had built and the institutions which
they had founded in the wilderness.
And the long series of wars which they had waged already
were important features of the discipline which fitted them
for another conflict. They were thereby trained, not only
in the use of arms, but also in endurance of the rigors of cam
paigning in all seasons and in all weathers. The hardships
thus suffered by those in active service, and the scarcely less
rigorous sufferings of those left at home, upon whom feU re-
sponsibiUty for providing necessities of common life, food,

530 Westfield and its Historic Influences
fuel, raiment and other essentials, developed toughness of
fiber, seff-reliance, courage of soul, power of initiative, general
resourcefulness, which were of inestimable value to the genera
tion which had to grapple with the trained tacticians and the
professional soldiery of Great Britain. The mental and moral
benefits of the discipline received by the common people in
town meeting and in the General Court, where affairs local and
provincial were thoroughly discussed and great issues were
threshed out, were of inestimable value to a people who were
contending for broad constitutional prerogatives and passion
ately struggling to work out a glorious destiny. The rank
and file of the provincial militia were no soldiers of fortune,
no hirelings ready to seU brain and brawn to the highest bidder,
to campaign on any field whither they might be ordered. They
were freemen combined to preserve a magnificent territory and
institutions of inestimable worth from vandal hands, and to
pass them on, a unique inheritance, to generations yet unborn.
It has been said with manifest truth, that "the war of the
Revolution commenced long before the soil of Lexington drank
revolutionary blood."
The British ministry had no adequate conception of the
extent to which this preparation had been carried by the
Provincials who were proving so bold and so obstinate in
protesting against the invasion of their rights.
A British officer in Boston wrote to friends at home: "As
to what you hear of their taking arms to resist the force of
England, it is mere bullying, and wiU go no further than words.
Whenever it comes to blows, he that can run the fastest wiU
think himself best off. Believe me, any two regiments here
ought to be decimated if they do not beat in the field the whole
force of the Massachusetts province: for though they are
numerous, they are but a mob, without order or discipline,
and very awkward at handling their arms." (Frothingham's
Siege of Boston, p. 44.)
What a change must have come over the spirit of the writer's
dreams after the revelations of provincial valor at Lexington
and Bunker Hill! The exact hour at which the news of Lex
ington reached Westfield is not ascertainable. Green says
that Capt. Elihu Kent with a company of fifty-nine men
from Suffield reached Springfield on the 20th, took supper

The Maturing Struggle 531
and pressed on. In case of the truth of the statement, there
must be good ground for the tradition that on the same day
the Westfield company of minute men started for the new
seat of war. Bartlett, in his list of the company, dates the
beginning of their term of service on that day. Trumbull
says that the news of the battle reached Northampton on the
morning of the 21st, and according to Smith it reached Pitts
field at noon on that day.
There is no question respecting the method whereby the
momentous tidings were conveyed. In the archives of the
city clerk's office of Springfield is the original bulletin brought
across the hundred miles of intervening territory by courier.
"Watertown, Wednesday Morning 10 o'clock.
"To all friends of American liberty: Be it known that this
morning before break of day a brigade consisting of about
1,000 or 1,200 men landed at Phips farm in Cambridge and
marched to Lexington, where they found a company of our
colony mUitia in arms: upon whom they fired without any
provocation and killed six and wounded four others. By an
express this moment from Boston we find another brigade
are now on their march from Boston, supposed to be about
1,000. "The bearer, Mr. Isaac Russell, [is] charged to alarm the
country quite to Connecticut, and all persons are desired to
furnish him with such horses as they may be needed.
"I have spoken with several persons who have seen the
dead and wounded.
"Pray let the delegates from this colony to Connecticut see
this. "They know J. Palmer
"One of the Com. of S  y
"Col. Foster is one of the delegates. "A true Coppy"
Having started before noon on the 19th from Watertown,
there is no improbability in the claim that he covered the
distance of somewhat over ninety miles to Springfield in
twenty-four hours. Hence the Westfield company of minute

532 Westfield and its Historic Influences
men must have been warned, gathered and started not much
if any later than the company from Suffield.
We have no record of the incidents of the reception of
the startling intelligence in Westfield and of the hurried
preparations for the march which followed. Fortunately,
however, records of such incidents in two towns respectively of
old Hampshire County have been preserved and are quoted
by Holland in his History of Western Massachusetts, records
which are so interesting as to be well worthy of quotation here.
They suggest what must have been, in general outline, ex
periences in other towns of the Province in those times which
tried men's souls. The first account is taken from Willard's
History of Greenfield:
"Immediately after the battle of Lexington the towns re
ceived circulars, by express or otherwise, and the people of
this town assembled instanter, on the afternoon of the day on
which the intelligence was received. It is related of one indi
vidual, Mr. Elijah Mitchel, that being in the village at the
time, he went home on foot, a mile or more West, and returned
with his equipments ready to march in fifteen minutes from
the time he started. The suddenness of the gathering re
minds us of Scott's beautiful description of the gathering of
a Scottish clan, summoned in the hour of danger by the rapid
passage over hill and dale of the cross of fire, sending far around
its beacon light. There were two military companies, one
of which, under Capt. Agrippa Wells, met in the village, and
the other at the North meeting house, under Capt. Ebenezer
Wells. A great number assembled at the meeting house.
With few exceptions, this assembled throng, the bowed with
age, and the stripling with scarce the down upon his cheek,
were ardent in the patriot cause: the ardor spread from heart
to heart as the story was told that American blood had been
shed by British soldiery.
"It was immediately proposed that Thomas Loveland,
the drummer, should take a station on the horse-block, under
an elm at the South side of the Common, and beat the long roll
for volunteers. It was accordingly done and sounded far
and wide among the woods and fields. The officers of the
company, Capt. E. Wells, Lt. Allen, and Ensign J. Severance,
were there but stood aloof, dissuading from the adventure as

The Maturing Struggle 533
savoring of treason and rebellion against the Government.
They had not made up their minds to join the patriot cause.
But the long roU of Thomas Loveland had done its work.
There was an overwhelming majority for the contest. The
cautious advice of their respected and beloved officers, hitherto
Ustened to with respect, and obediently followed, was now no
more regarded than the passing breeze. Upon the first beat
ing of the long roU, first and foremost, stood out that hardy,
industrious and bold yeoman, Benjamin Hastings, a William
WaUace in intrepidity and determined bravery. Who so
daring as to come next and risk the halter? It were difficult
to say: the whole mass was in motion, on that bleak and barren
old common, Trap Plain. The assembled townsmen volun
teered almost to a man. The long roll of Thomas Loveland
was electric and contagious."
Under Capt. Timothy Childs, the company started on the
day following.
The other account is taken from the Barre Gazette :
"When the intelligence reached New Salem, the people
were hastily assembled on the village green by the notes of
alarm. Every man came with his gun, and other hasty
preparations for a short march. The militia of the town
were then divided into two companies, one of which was com
manded by Capt. G. This company was paraded before
much consultation had been had upon the proper steps to be
taken in the emergency, and while determination was ex
pressed on almost every countenance, the men stood silently
leaning on their muskets, awaiting the movement of the spirit
in their officers. The Captain was supposed to be tinctured
with toryism, and his present indecision and backwardness
were ample proof, if not of his attachment to royalty, at least
of his unfitness to lead a patriot band. Some murmurs began
to be heard, when the first Lieutenant, William Stacy, took
off his hat and addressed them. He was a man of stout heart
but a few words. PuUing his commission from his pocket,
he said, 'FeUow soldiers, I don't know exactly how it is with
the rest of you, but for one, I will no longer serve a King that
murders my own countrymen'; and tearing the paper in a
hundred pieces, he trod it under his foot. Sober as were his
people by nature, they could not restrain a loud, wild hurra,

534 Westfield and its Historic Influences
as he stepped forward and took his place in the ranks. G.
still faltered, and made a feeble endeavor to restore order; but
they heeded it as Uttle as the wind. The company was sum
marily disbanded, and a reorganization begun on the spot.
The gaUant Stacy was unanimously chosen Captain, and with
a prouder commission than was ever borne on parchment, he
led a smaU but efficient band to Cambridge. He continued
in service during the war, reaching, before its close, the com
mand of Lieutenant Colonel under Putnam."
Whether or not any such instances of reluctance marked
the gathering of the people of Westfield, cannot be known.
From the patriotic spirit which evidently marked them in
the successive actions taken in town meetings, and marked
also their leaders, there must have been no such hesitation in
taking up arms and rushing to the scene of conflict. Their
meeting house at that period stood on the corner of what we
now know as Meadow and Main Streets. NaturaUy their
drill ground would have been near that center of civic life,
on what was not long since known as Hampden Park, north
of Main Street and across Meadow Street west of the church.
Gathered there the eager minute men must have been speeded
on their toilsome journey by a prayer from the heart and lips of
their beloved Parson Ballantine, whose house was opposite
the training field, on Main Street. It was then not quite a
year before his death. How deplorable that his Journal cover
ing that critical period has not been preserved, that it might
furnish us his comment upon the stirring incidents of the day!
In the earlier wars he had often prayed with the soldiers when
leaving home to face the hardships and terrors of bivouac and
battlefield, and at this outbreak of the Revolution his patriotic
soul must have been molten with zeal for the sacred cause of
American liberty.
According to the roster of Mr. Bartlett, taken from the
Provincial records, the company which then started from
Westfield consisted of fifty-two men, including the following
officers: first lieutenant, John Shepard; second lieutenant,
Zechariah Bush; sergeants, Benjamin Dewey, Moses Dewey,
Gideon Shepard, Asa Noble; corporals, Israel Sackett, Roger
Noble, Benjamin Winchell, James Nimocks. The drummer
was Ruggles Winchell, and the fifer was Jedediah Taylor.

The Maturing Struggle 535
The name of the Captain is not given, but the muster roll
makes Lieutenant Shepard the commanding officer.
Among the old Westfield family names included in the list
are six Deweys, two Taylors, two Sacketts, three Nobles, and
the same number of Bushes and Gunns. All but sixteen of
the fifty-three continued in service after the date, May 12,
that terminated their original enlistment; and of those thus
discharged, several enlisted again later in the war.
The provision of munitions of war made for this first com
pany of minute men by the town is in the report of the Town
Treasurer, Doct. Samuel Mather.
"April 20th 1775.
Received of the Town stock of Ammunition —
Three Y Bbls. of Powder containing 50 lbs. each.
259 lbs Lead, and 912 Flints.
Taken out by the Selectmen 21% lbs. Lead Apr. 22, 1775.
Powder taken out by the Selectmen's order 18 lbs, — which was
delivered to the soldiers when they marched."
There follows in the Treasurer's book a list of 36 men who
received powder out of the town stock, April 22, 1775. It
is quite perplexing to note that there are several discrepancies
between the list thus published and that of Mr. Bartlett. In
this one, Wm. Twogood is named as Captain, the first lieutenant
is Zadoc Martindale instead of John Shepard; the name of
James Nimocks is not given as one of the corporals, or as a
private. There are twenty-six names on Bartlett's list which
do not appear on the Treasurer's, and six on the Treasurer's
which do not appear on Bartlett's. According to Bartlett,
who gives the weeks and days of each man's service, with the
date of his discharge or re-enlistment, the company marched
April 20th but the Treasurer charges them with powder on the
22d "when they marched." It is a matter of curious interest
rather than of serious moment, but we naturaUy wish that the
discrepancies might be solved. A possible explanation may
be found in the hypothesis that Capt. Twogood, who is not
included in the record of the minute men and others to whom
powder and lead were issued on April 22, did not enter active
service until later, whUe distribution of powder and lead is
charged to both them and the minute men at the later date.
The 52 men including both contingents were probably under

536 Westfield and its Historic Influences
pay from April 20. The Provincial Congress adjourned April
15, 1775, to meet again at Concord May 10 following, unless
sooner called together by delegates from the towns immediately
around Boston. Before they could be reassembled, action,
stimulated by the Lexington tragedy, was taken by the Boston
Committee of Safety at Newton, including a circular letter
to be sent to each of the towns of the Province. Westfield
must have received one of these stirring appeals. "April 20, 1775.
"Gentlemen:— The barbarous murders committed upon
our innocent brethren, on Wednesday, the 19th instant, have
made it absolutely necessary that we immediately raise an
army to defend our wives and children from the butchering
hands of an inhuman soldiery, who, incensed at the obstacles
they meet with in their bloody progress, and enraged at being
repulsed from the field of slaughter, will, without the least
doubts take the first opportunity in their power to ravage this
country with fire and sword. We conjure you, therefore, by
all that is sacred, that you give assistance in forming an army.
Our all is at stake. Death and devastation are the certain
consequences of delay. Every moment is infinitely precious.
An hour lost may deluge your country in blood, and entail
perpetual slavery upon the few of our posterity who may
survive the carnage. We beg and entreat, as you will answer
to your country, to your own consciences, and above all, as
you will answer to GOD himseff, that you will hasten and
encourage by aU possible means, the enlistment of men to
form the army, and send them forward to headquarters at
Cambridge with that expedition which the vast importance
and instant urgency of the affair demands."
We have no records of the action of the Westfield Com
mittee of Safety, nor any reference upon the town records
to show what specific response was made to this appeal. As
soon as the Congress reassembled in response to the emergency
call, April 23, a call for 30,000 men from the various Provinces
was made, of which Massachusetts was to furnish 13,600.
It was also decided to reduce the companies of militia to fifty-
nine men each, with a captain and two subalterns. In con
sidering what that quota meant to this Province it is to be

The Maturing Struggle 537
remembered that her whole population in the following year,
1776, was only 338,627 as shown by the census.
It is impossible to determine just how many recruits went
from Westfield in response to that call, but taking Mr. Bart
lett's schedule of those who enlisted from among the company
of minute men that hurried to the front upon the Lexington
alarm, Westfield must have more than doubled its quota. He
gives the names of thirty-eight men who enlisted, while on the
basis of a population in the town of fifteen hundred, its quota
would have been only eighteen. The Committee of Safety
soon sent to the several towns a second appeal:
"Cambridge, April 29, 1775.
"Gentlemen: As many of the persons now in camp came
from their respective towns without any expectation of tarry
ing any time, and are now under the necessity of returning,
this is to desire you would, with the utmost haste, send other
persons to supply their places, for a few days, until the en
listments are completed, and the men sent down to us."
The appeal was emphasized by a harrowing hypothesis
respecting the danger that General Gage would speedily send
his army to ravage the country. The towns in the neighbor
hood of Boston were to send half of their militia, and the rest
of the inhabitants were to hold themselves "in readiness to
march at a minute's warning" — thus, under the excitement
of the sore emergency, failing to specify the able-bodied male
inhabitants, and including inferentially women, children
and cripples in the list of available minute men. How far
from needing the spur of such an appeal Westfield was, is
evidenced by the fact that of the fifty-two men who consti
tuted her company of minute men, thirty-eight had already
enlisted on the day before that call was dated.
During the year 1775, the Town Treasurer paid nine
different persons for bread for soldiers; paid also Col. Elisha
Parks £5.11.11 for Sundries for soldiers, and paid David
Fowler for a Waggon to Roxbury at one time and again for
a Horse 8s Waggon to Watertown, presumably used to haul
various supplies, perhaps some of those for which Colonel
Parks presented a biU, to minister to the needs of the West-
field soldiers in those places of encampment.

538 Westfield and its Historic Influences
There were a few Westfield men, Russel Dewey, David
Shepard, Richard FaUey and his son Frederick, but could
not have been many besides, in the famous battle of Bunker
HiU, June 17, 1775, when for the first time the raw Provincial
militia, faint of body from hours of arduous toil and fasting,
under a broiling summer sun, stood to their breastwork and
twice repulsed the trained veterans of European campaigns.
The Hampshire regiment, on duty on the other side of Boston,
was not called into action on that day.
When a little later General Washington came from Hart
ford to Springfield en route to Cambridge to take command
of the continental forces, he passed as near Westfield as Aga
wam, having forded Westfield River there with his coach and
four, and was thence ferried across the Connecticut to be met
by the Committee of the Provincial Congress deputed to
welcome him and escort him to Headquarters at Cambridge.
Another call was made by the Provincial Congress for men,
5000 this time, June 25, 1775, of which Westfield's quota was
to be thirty-one, but on what principle of apportionment is
a puzzling question, with population at its basis. A full
battalion was thus raised in Hampshire intended for service
in Canada and on the northern frontier, where in the following
winter their sufferings were excruciating. The General Court
attempted to provide for them in January, 1776, and issued
a demand for blankets, the quota from Westfield being thirty-
two while Springfield's was only twelve. It was necessary
thus to depend on local suppUes and to exact them of individ
ual families out of their respective home stocks, because of
the limited number of manufacturers of such articles. The
same was true of clothing. When one order was issued by
the Court for blankets, coats, stockings, shoes, the respective
towns appointed their committees to collect them, paying for
them in the paper money of the day which so soon became
practically valueless, making such calls really assessments
on the resources of the people, with no taxes levied to make
good the currency received for them. HoUand says, "The
mode was, for the committees to go to a house, make up their
minds whether the house was good for one, two, or three
blankets, and then inform the householder that he must pro
duce the articles, and take his pay for them. In many

m

1

m^3

*«r

THE BEAUTIFUL MOSELEY HOMESTEAD ON UNION STREET.
Built by Captain William Moseley in 1786.

THE WASHINGTON TAVERN (So-Called).
Still standing at the end of Western Avenue, near where the original trail,
and later cartway and road, leading to Kinderhook and Albany, turns up the
mountain. It was built by a member of the Sackett family in early Revolu
tionary times. Stephen Sackett, born 1748, lived there after his marriage.

The Maturing Struggle 539
instances, blankets were taken from beds in use, and were
often given up with a cheerfulness that showed how hearty
was the sympathy felt in the cause which called for the sacri
fice." (History of Western Massachusetts, Vol. 1, pp. 215-6.)
It does not seem improbable that as a result of such requisi
tions there were people who shivered under inadequate pro
tection from the cold in their home towns while soldiers
suffered in the winter campaigns. There were no furnace-
heated houses in those days, and though careful covering of
hard wood coals at night kept hearthstones from becoming
actuaUy cold, there was not enough heat as the hours crept
on even to keep the chiU from rooms where the fireplaces
were; as to the bedrooms which had no provision for heating,
they were hardly less frigid than the air outside their waUs.
The work of the Provincial Congress at its three sessions
was so important to the patriot cause, taking the place for
the time being of the General Court, which did not meet be
cause of the tyrannous opposition of the British ministry
and Governor, that any part played in its proceedings by the
two Westfield Representatives is of interest in this connection.
They are often mentioned in the carefully kept Journal of the
Congress, having served on various committees and places
of responsibifity as its work advanced. Col. John Moseley and
Elisha Parks, caUed variously "Ensign," "Mr.," "Capt." and
"Col.," were honored by election as the town's delegates to
each of the three sessions, held respectively Oct. 7, 1774, to
Dec. 8 foUowing; Feb. 1, 1775, to May 29 following, having
adjourned for three weeks meantime; and May 31, 1775, to
July 19 foUowing. The various sessions were held at four
different places as the business proceeded, Salem, Concord,
Cambridge and Watertown.
The special services of Colonel Moseley are as foUows, in
the second and third Congresses respectively. He was ap
pointed on the county committee for Hampshire with Major
Joseph Hawley of Northampton, Col. Timothy Danielson of
Brimfield, Mr. Noah Goodman of South Hadley, and Col.
Elisha Porter of Hadley. He was sent express from Watertown
to repair immediately to Cambridge to procure the result of
the Committee of Safety in session there, "with respect to
the moving out the inhabitants of Boston." A far more

540 Westfield and its Historic Influences
responsible task was assigned him early in May, 1775, when
with six other members he was appointed to a "committee to
enquire what number of province arms there are in the prov
ince, and in what place; and, in particular, that they apply
to the committee of supplies to know what number of fire
arms they have procured and how they have disposed of
them." The effort to equip properly the hastily gathered provincial
army was beset by immense difficulties, which often proved, for
the time being, insuperable. The committee of supplies was
empowered and directed to procure in "any colony on the
continent such a number of fire arms and bayonets, for the
use of this colony as they shall think necessary." The first
thought of the Massachusetts authorities, upon hearing of the
cannon and ammunition captured by the daring Ethan Allen
and his small command at Fort Ticonderoga in this month
of May, 1775, was to procure, if by any means possible, a part
of the armament for use about Boston.
May 8 it was "ordered that Col. Mosely and Major Bliss
be, and are hereby, empowered and directed to coUect all
the province arms which are in the county of Hampshire."
On the same day Colonel Moseley was appointed on a
committee "to confer with the committee of safety, with re
spect to settling the appointment of field officers."
In July he was placed on a committee "to consider the
subject of a letter from Capt. James Noble" from Pittsfield, a
native of Westfield as was his brother David, who led the
company of Berkshire minute men immediately after the
Lexington alarm and who wiU receive much more extended
notice later.
The latest notice of Colonel Moseley in the Journal related
to a minor matter of the expense of bringing ten prisoners
from Machias.
Turning now to his fellow Representative, Col. Elisha
Parks, we find that his first call was "to wait on the hon.
general Ward, and hold a conference with him on the state of
the army, and to desire him, as soon as may be, to inform
the Congress, of the number and equipments of the troops
raised by this colony, and now in the camps at Cambridge
and Roxbury, and stationed elsewhere, that due advisement

The Maturing Struggle 541
be had thereon." That was just ten days before the battle
of Bunker HU1.
A few days later, he was put upon a committee of such
importance that Major Hawley was made its chairman, "to
take into consideration the artificers which may be necessary
for the army in the pay of this colony, and that they report,
as soon as may, in what way such artificers shall be established,
the numbers wanted for the army at Cambridge and Roxbury
of each kind, and the sum that is proper to be allowed them
each month."
A committee previously appointed had ascertained from the
Committee of Safety, and reported to the Congress, that
thirteen armorers had been appointed already and that several
others had been nominated, but that the general officers had
agreed that no more were needed.
This gives special significance to action that was soon taken
respecting Richard FaUey of Westfield, an Ensign in Colonel
Danielson's Regiment. A committee of three was appointed
June 8 to consider his appointment in addition to the number
already chosen. Its report was made to the Congress, June
13. "That, whereas, it has been represented to your committee,
that the armorers, or many of them, who are already estab
lished, are very imperfect in the business they profess, and
that the above said FaUey is a complete master of the same:
in consideration of which your committee think it of the high
est importance, that he, (the said FaUey) should be empha
sized in said department, and be allowed and paid forty
shUlings per month, in addition to his pay as ensign, and be
under the same rules and regulations as the other armorers
already appointed or to be appointed."
The work of this class of artisans was greatly needed,
there having been so many firearms and other weapons re
quiring repairs. The whole available stock, as has been seen,
was so far below requirements, that any arm which could
be patched into moderate efficiency had to be utUized.
This high encomium of FaUey's mechanical skill was
worthily bestowed. The Westfield Treasurer's records show
that he was employed for all kinds of workmanship in iron,
from repairing the tongue of the meeting house bell to forging

542 Westfield and its Historic Influences
a gun barrel and finishing a musket. It was just at this time,
a few days before Bunker Hill, that the Congress took formal
action respecting army rations:
"Resolved, That each soldier in the Massachusetts army
shaU have the following allowance per day, viz. — 1st One
pound of bread: 2d Half a pound of beef and half a pound of
pork: and if pork cannot be had, one pound and a quarter of
beef: and one day in seven they shall have one pound and
one quarter of salt fish, instead of one day's allowance of meat:
3d One pint of milk, or if milk cannot be had, one gill of rice:
4th One quart of good spruce or malt beer: 5th One gill of
peas or beans, or other sauce equivalent: 6th Six ounces of
good butter per week: 7th One pound of good common soap
for six men per week: 8th Half a pint of vinegar per week
per man, if it can be had."
It will be observed that in that generous provision for the
soldier there was no tea or coffee, spirits or potatoes. That
last named item, though introduced into the Colony as early
as 1718 by the Scotch-Irish immigrants, had not become
generally cultivated at the period of the Revolution, most
farmers then having raised but a few bushels. Peas, beans,
the various grains, turnips and pumpkins were the main reli
ance for vegetable food.
The next special responsibility laid upon Colonel Parks
related to a "letter from General Ward respecting the supply
ing the soldiers with blankets and other articles lost in battle,
also for providing spears for defence. ' '
This was just after the battle of Bunker HiU, and General
Ward had been informed by the Committee of Safety that
many soldiers had lost their blankets and clothes in that en
gagement, also that spears might have saved the intrench-
ment. Few of the guns in use had been designed for definite
military service by fitting them with bayonets, hence the
need of some weapon for work of defense at close quarters.
The committee reported :
"That the committee of supplies be, and they are hereby
directed, to furnish those destitute soldiers with clothes and
blankets, as soon as may be, who shall produce from the colonel
of the regiment they belong to, certificates of their having
lost such clothes and blankets in the late engagement : and that

The Maturing Struggle 543
a committee be chosen immediately to procure, from such
as can most speedily and conveniently supply them, a sufficient
number of good spears, not exceeding 1500, either by pur
chase or hire; and that the same be transmitted to the army
at Cambridge as soon as possible; all which is humbly sub
mitted. Elisha Parks, per order."
He also reported respecting the expediency of establishing
certain officers, storekeepers, conductors and artificers for
taking care of ordnance stores, with pay as follows: "The
storekeeper, $80 per month, four conductors, each $48 per
month: one master Carpenter, or overseer, $80 do.: two
clerks, each $48 do.; 49 privates, they to find their own tools,
$50 do. each. AU which is humbly submitted. Elisha Parks,
per order."
How primitive it all sounds, these first halting steps by an
aroused people toward systematic provision for the initial cam
paign which was to be foUowed by so many another in long
succession! In the matter of coUecting arms and bayonets,
an arrangement was made whereby the people of Worcester
and Hampshire counties should deposit such as they could spare
with the treasurers of their respective towns and should re
ceive therefor biUs of credit according to the value of the
articles as estimated by their selectmen, who were directed to
give aid in such collection and urge all possible dispatch therein.
The quota which was desired from Hampshire County was
334 from its forty-one towns and districts, of which Westfield's
share was 16.
How were they to be found in the town where a committee
had been able to discover of "Province arms: with what can
be hired between 30 or 40 8s a few Bagganets," which were
not sufficient to furnish the company of minute men? By
a subsequent vote of the Congress the quota of Westfield
was raised to 19, that of Springfield being 26, and that of
Northampton 25.
In July a similar plan for procuring clothing was determined
upon: "Resolved, That thirteen thousand coats be provided, as
soon as may be, and one thereof given to each non-commissioned
officer and soldier in the Massachusetts forces, agreeably to the
resolve of Congress, on the 23rd day of April last."

544 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"Resolved, That the said thirteen thousand coats be pro
portioned immediately on all the towns and districts in this
colony, except the towns of Boston and Charlestown (in
proportion) as they paid the last provincial tax: which said
towns and districts are desired to cause them to be made of
good plain cloth, preference being given to the manufacturers
of this country, and to be delivered to the committee of sup
plies, without buttons, on or before the first day of October
next and sooner if possible."
Five shUlings and four pence was to be aUowed for every
yard of cloth of seven-eighths of a yard wide, and four shUl
ings for the making. Nothing is specified respecting cut or
color, and the result must have been marked by wide diversi
ties. As to individual fit, that must have been a complete
lottery with strong chances in favor of drawing blanks.
The final notice of Colonel Parks relates to a matter as
trivial as that which completes Colonel Moseley's record.
Before turning from the work of the Provincial Congress
it would be a blunder to neglect one matter of exceeding im
portance to the people of the time, the establishment of post
riders and postoffices. This was done by the second Congress,
May 13, 1775.
The first semblance of a postoffice in New England was the
establishment of a place in Boston in 1637 where foreign corre
spondence was set up. (Mass. Col. Rec. I, 281.)
In 1639 the General Court took the foUowing action: "It
is ordered that notice be given that Richard Fairbanks, his
house in Boston, is the place appomted for all letters which
are brought from beyond the seas, or are sent thither, to be
left with him, and he is to take care that they are to be delivered
or sent according to direction; and he is allowed for every
letter a penny, and he must answer aU messages through
his neglect of this kind."
Thirty years later, arrangements were made for a mail to
leave New York for Boston on the first Monday of every
month. In 1691 Parliament arranged for the rude beginnings of a
postal system. Two years later Massachusetts estabhshed
a "General Letter Office" in Boston and established rates
of postage. While it was only two pence for a letter from

The Maturing Struggle 545
Europe or the West Indies, it was three pence to Salem and
four pence to Portsmouth and two shUlings to Maryland or
Virginia. It was a great step forward which the Provincial Congress
took in 1775 when it resolved "That post riders be immediately
established to go from Cambridge, and to ride the following
roads, viz. to Georgetown in the county of Lincoln, to Haver-
hiU, to Providence, to Woodstock by Worcester, and from
Worcester to Great Barrington by Springfield, and to Fal
mouth in the county of Barnstable, and that post offices be
kept as foUoweth, viz. One at Cambridge; one at Salem;
one at Ipswich; one at HaverhiU; one at Newburyport; one
at Kennebunk or WeUes; one at Falmouth in the county of
Cumberland; one at Georgetown in the county of Lincoln;
one at Worcester; one at Sprmgfield; one at Great Barrington;
one at Plymouth; one at Sandwich; one at Falmouth, in the
county of Barnstable."
Postmasters were then appointed for each of these offices,
Mr. Moses Church at Springfield, Doct. William Whiting at
Great Barrington. The foUowing rates for letters were es
tablished, "for any distance not exceeding 60 miles, 5Y pence;
upwards of 60 mUes, and not exceeding 100 miles, 8 pence;
upwards of 100 mUes, and not exceeding 200 mUes, \®Y pence;
upwards of 200, and not exceeding 300, 1 shUling 1 penny;"
and so on in a rising scale to distances far beyond the limits
of the Province. Those rates were for a single letter, and
were to be doubled for a double letter; trebled for a treble
letter; and for every ounce weight, four times as much to be
charged as for a single letter.
Many years passed before an office was established in
Westfield. That the inhabitants of the town were in hearty accord
with the recommendation of the Congress in respect of the
disposition of the amounts raised for provincial taxes is evi
dent from action taken AprU 10, 1775, when it was voted
"That the Province Rates now outstanding 8s heretofore
ordered to be paid unto the Town Treasurer Doct. Samuel
Mather should be paid to Henry Gardner Esq." the Receiver
General appointed by the Congress. This action was based
on the principle that the Province had inalienable right to

546 Westfield and its Historic Influences
determine the disposition of its own property and the use to
which it should be put for the public welfare.
At a meeting held July 5, caUed to see whether the town
would choose a new Committee of Correspondence, or add to
the one already chosen, it was voted to add five men — "Ensign
Zechariah Bush, Doct. Israel Ashley, Aaron Bush, Lt. Daniel
Sacket Si Aaron King." The first named had been out as
Lieutenant in the company of minute men. That made a
committee of eighteen.
At a meeting held Dec. 28 of that year, 1775, it was voted
to choose a new Committee of Correspondence and Inspection,
when a return to the original number of thirteen was made.
Choice was made of Col. John Moseley, Daniel Fowler, Capt.
David Moseley, Lt. Daniel Sacket, Bohan King, David Weller,
Jr., Col Elisha Parks, Doct. Samuel Mather, Lt. John Kellogg,
Ens. Zechariah Bush, Oliver Ingersole, Ensign Danl. Bagg
and Lieut. Stephen Noble.
Seven of the original number were retained. Of those
left off one can easily be accounted for, WiUiam Shepard, who
was away at the war, Lieut. Colonel in Danielson's regiment.
At the town meeting in the foUowing March, five of the Com
mittee were chosen Selectmen, Col. John Moseley, Daniel
Fowler, Daniel Bagg, Doct. Samuel Mather, and Daniel Sacket,
and another, Bohan King, was chosen constable.
It is a commentary upon the inadequacy of the reports of
its town meetings to indicate what Westfield was thinking and
doing at critical periods in the continental life, that in the year
of our national birth, 1776, after the report of the Spring meet
ing for the annual election of town officials, the only action
recorded, with one exception, related to the supply of the
pulpit rendered vacant by the death of Rev. John Ballantine.
The one exception is the record of a meeting held in the month
foUowing the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
We would naturally look for some reference to that event of
world-wide and age-long significance. The descent from
the sublime to the ridiculous is startling, for consider what
matter was acted upon.
"On a motion made by Simeon Ashley that some boards
lying near his house belonging to Col. Parks might be re
moved to some other place, Voted — that the said boards be

The Maturing Struggle 547
removed to some convenient place Si at ye cost of the said
Simeon without damage to said boards by there Removing."
It wiU be recalled that "the said Simeon" was the one to
whom the town granted permission "to set a house on ye school
lands for himself to dwell in during ye town's pleasure" and to
stake out the bounds of which a Committee of five leading
citizens was appointed, one of whom was Colonel Parks, the
owner of these boards.
It would be deeply gratifying to have some copious annals
of events in the town during that significant year, and especially
to learn how the news of the immortal Declaration was cele
brated. We know about how many of Westfield's citizens
were in the ranks and who they were, what families were left
without their respective heads, but not what tidings drifted
with exasperating slowness to quivering hearts, relating to
sickness, privation, danger, wounds and death, among loved
ones in distant camp, in toUsome march, in skirmish and
battle. We know that one of Westfield's most Ulustrious
sons was severely wounded during the year in the operations
incident to the retreat from New York, when Colonel Shepard
received a musket ball in the neck, and that E. Lyman also
was sfightly wounded there. Who besides suffered from lead
or steel, we do not know.
There were Westfield men in the desperate assault on
Quebec on the last day of 1775. The personal annals of one
who marched thither early in 1776, as recorded by himseff,
are to be transcribed later.

CHAPTER III.
Prolonged Trials
The campaign in Canada needed reinforcements, and
efforts were made to hasten them forward. Mr. Henry H.
Strong, a former resident of Westfield, has among his colonial
papers one of the original circulars sent by the General Court
to the towns of the two western counties at that critical time.
"In the House of Representatives, January 21, 1776.
"Whereas it is of very great Importance to our Brethren the
Inhabitants of Canada, and to the Inhabitants of the United
Colonies, especiaUy to the Western and Northern Counties
thereof, that the advantages gained by the American Arms,
during the Year last past, over the Ministerial Forces in Canada,
should be maintained, and the Remainder of them there effec
tually subdued; as well as the Rights and Liberties of our
Brethren in that Colony secured; and Whereas his Excellency
General Washington, has applied to each of the Colonies of
Connecticut, New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay severally,
to furnish a Regiment, consisting of Seven Hundred and
Twenty Eight Men, including Officers, to be raised with aU
possible Dispatch on the American Establishment, and to
serve the United Colonies until the First Day of January next,
if required thereto. It is therefore,
"Resolved, That a Regiment consisting of Seven Hundred
and Twenty Eight Men be raised for the Purpose aforesaid,
in the Counties of Hampshire, and Berkshire; and to be under
the Command of Elisha Porter, Esq.; as Colonel; Thomas
Williams, Esq. as Lieut Colonel; and Abner Morgan, Esq.
as Major, who have been unanimously chosen by the General
Court of this Colony to those Officers respectively. And that
the commanding officer of each Company of Militia, in the
Towns of the said Counties of Hampshire and Berkshire here
after mentioned, chosen agreeable to the Direction of the
Provincial Congress, be and hereby is directed, to cause his
Company without delay, to be Mustered, and that out of the

Prolonged Trials 549
Company or Companies in such Town, they cause to be volun
tarily Inlisted, the Number of Effective Men herein affixed
to such Town respectively, to serve the United Colonies, on
the Continental Establishment and under their Generals,
until the first Day of January next, if the Service shall require
it. And each Officer and Soldier shaU be aUowed and paid for
their Services respectively, the same Sum by the Kalender
Month, as is aUowed to other Officers and Soldiers in the
Establishment aforesaid; the Time of Service to be computed
from the Time of his Inlistment or Entering the same, to the
Time of his Discharge, and aUowing sufficient Time for his
Return Home; that is to say, accounting one Day for every
Twenty MUes March. Also one Penny per Mile to compensate
his Expences on his March to and from the Camp, for so many
Miles as he shall bear his Travelling Expences in the March
aforesaid; And each Non-Commissioned Officer and Soldier
shaU be aUowed a Blanket, or Twelve ShUlings to pay for the
same, if he finds it himself.
"And whereas the Season is Severe, and the Service both
Important and Necessary: It is further Resolved, as a further
Encouragement to such non-Commissioned Officers and
Soldiers, as shaU appear to Inlist for the Succour of their
Brethren in Canada, and for the Defence and Support of the
just Cause of America, on this Occasion; that in Addition to
one Month's advanced Wages to be paid them by his Excellency
General Washington there shaU be paid them also out of the
pubUc Treasury of this Colony, one other Month's advance
Wages, upon their passing Muster, by a Muster Master to be
appomted by his ExceUency, in full Confidence that the Justice
of the Congress will order the same to be reimbursed: And
the Treasurer is hereby ordered to pay the Sum of Thirteen
Hundred Ninety Eight Pounds eight ShiUings to Col. Porter,
for the Purpose; he to be accountable to this Court for the
same. "And the Selectmen and Committees of Correspondence
and Safety of each of said Towns are requested without Fail,
to afford their immediate assistance, fully to effect this Busi
ness, with the utmost Dispatch, as they regard their Country's
and their own Safety and Welfare. And it is further,
"Resolved, That the Captains, Subalterns and Non-

550 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Commissioned Officers of the several Companies shaU be
chosen by the Companies respectively from those Inlisted or
others, and Commissioned by the Council, and that the Com
mittee appointed by this Court in Conjunction with the Field
Officers aforesaid, distribute the Men InUsted as aforesaid,
into Companies —
"For the County of BERKSHIRE.
"Sheffield 24; Tyringham 13; Sandisfield 11; Stockbridge
12; New Marlboro' 16; West Stockbridge 7; Egremont 11;
Richmond 13; Great Barrington 15; Lenox 13; Afford 7;
Becket 9; Hopland and Glass Works 9; Gageborough 3; Pitts
field 21; Jericho 8; Hartwood 8; New Providence 10; Lanes-
borough 19; WUliamston 14; Partridgefield 8; East Housuck
9; London 5. "County of HAMPSHIRE.
"Springfield 19; Hatfield 10; Wilbrahamll; Whateley 6
West Sprmgfield 2; WUliamsburgh 7; North Hampton 23
Deerfield 13; South Hampton 9; Greenfield 11; Westfield 18
Sherburne 10; Southwick 9; Conway 12; Hadley 10; Sunder
land 7; Amherst 14; Montague 9; Granby 7; Northfield 10;
Brimfield 13; South Brimfield 10; Ware 7; Monson 8; War
wick 6; Pelham 10; Bernardston 9; Greenwich 9; Murray-
field 6; Blanford 10; Charlemont 7; Leverett 5; Ashfield 8;
Palmer 11; Worthington 8; Granville 13; Shutesbury 9;
New Salem 12; Ludlow 5; Belchertown 12; Norwich 7; Col
rain 10; Chesterfield 12.
"Sent up for Concurrence. JAMES WARREN, Speaker.
"In Council January 21, 1776. Read and concurr'd.
JOHN LOWELL, Dep. Sec'ry, pro tern.
"Consented to
"W. SEVER, WALTER SPOONER, MOSES GILL, J.
WINTHROP, M. FARLEY, JOHN WHETCOMB, SAM'L
HOLTON, JED. FOSTER, JOHN TAYLOR, ELDAD TAY
LOR, B. WHITE, B. LINCOLN, JABEZ FISHER,
CHARLES CHAUNCY, CALEB CUSHING."
There were Westfield men in the siege of Boston so long
and persistently pressed, and perhaps among the stalwart
fellows who threw up the redoubts on Dorchester Heights

Prolonged Trials 551
on the night of March 4, 1776, which, as afterward elaborated,
gave to the siege a successful issue. Fiske thus describes the
work of that eventful movement:
"Eight hundred men led the way, escorting the wagons
laden with spades and crowbars, hatchets, hammers, and naUs;
and after them foUowed twelve hundred men, with three
hundred ox-carts, carrying timbers and bales of hay; while
the rear was brought up by the heavy siege guns. From
SomervUle, East Cambridge, and Roxbury, a furious cannonade
was kept up through the night, completely absorbing the
attention of the British, who kept up a lively fire in return.
The roar of the cannon drowned every other sound for miles
around, while all night long the two thousand Americans,
having done their short march in perfect secrecy, were busily
digging and building on Dorchester Heights, and dragging
their siege-guns into position. Early next morning, Howe saw
with astonishment what had been done, and began to realize
his perilous situation." (The American Revolution, I, 180.)
The solidity of the ground from frost not yet softened by
the spring sunshine rendered the task the more arduous. But
that it was well done is evidenced by a comment of Gen. Howe,
who exclaimed, "I know not what I shaU do. These rebels
have done more in one night than my whole army would have
done in a whole month."
It is a notable fact that the immediate occasion of each
of two such momentous events in the early Revolutionary
struggle as Bunker HiU and the Evacuation of Boston, was
the work of tireless bands of patriots respectively during the
dark hours of a single night.
Jan. 25, 1776, John Adams on his way to Philadelphia saw
at Framingham the train of artillery brought from Ticonderoga
by Colonel Knox:
"It consists of iron, nine eighteen pounders, ten twelve,
six six, four nine pounders; three thirteen inch mortars, two
ten inch mortars; one eight inch and one six and a half
howitzer; and one eight inch and a half, and one eight. Brass
cannon; eight three pounders, one four pounder, two six
pounders, one eighteen and one twenty-four pounder; and one
eight inch and a half mortar, one seven inch and a half dto.
and five cohorns."

552 Westfield and its Historic Influences
The need of artillery having been so pressing, especially
for the prosecution of the siege of Boston, the trophies of
the capture of Ticonderoga were of great value to the conti
nental troops. Colonel Knox wrote from Fort George to
Washington under date of Dec. 17, 1775, "I hope in sixteen or
seventeen days to present to your Excellency a noble train
of artiUery, the inventory of which I have enclosed." It was
drawn through Westfield on forty-two sleds, the whole con
signment having included 8 brass mortars, 6 iron mortars, 2
iron howitzers, 13 brass cannon, 26 iron cannon, 2300 lbs. of
lead and 1 barrel of flints. That was a notable addition to
the scanty equipment of the besiegers.
The Committee of Safety for Hampshire County in 1776,
which supervised the enlistment and equipment of troops
under the successive calls which were so numerous, consisted
of Joseph Hawley of Northampton, Noah Goodman of Hadley,
Major William Pynchon of Springfield, David Moseley of West-
field, and Capt. Israel Hubbard of Hatfield.
In the early autumn of 1776 Gen. Seth Pomeroy was
ordered by Brig. Gen. Danielson of Brimfield to fiU his regi
ment, by draft if necessary. The regiment under the com
mand of Col. John Moseley of Westfield marched through
Connecticut to General Washington in the neighborhood of
New York. After serving three months it was discharged
in November, having been at Westchester and Valentine's
HU1, and within hearing of the guns at the battle of White
Plains. An account has been given in a preceding chapter of the
mob which resisted the sitting of the Court in Springfield,
Aug. 30, 1774. That was a spontaneous and irregular popular
uprising against the outrage by the mother country upon the
rights of the Province. A more formal and regular effort to
protect the courts from foreign interference was made a year
and a half later. The Committees of Correspondence of the
several towns of Hampshire County met March 11, 1776, at
the Court House in Northampton, under call of the Northamp
ton Committee. It was to act upon the question, "Whether
or not it is proper and expedient for the Court of Genl Sessions
of the Peace for the County aforesaid, should be dissolved
or Adjourn'd to some future season and whether the Justices

Prolonged Trials 553
aforesd shall in any case Act by Vertue of their present com
missions." The meeting was organized with Major Hawley as
Moderator. Twenty-eight of the forty-three towns of the
County were represented by eighty-two delegates. Where
a town was represented by more than one delegate a majority
vote was to decide its action, and a tie vote was to be "con
sidered as nothing." The Moderator was desired to "explain
why it is that the Justices Commissions in this Colony are in
the Name of George the Third of Great Britain, and under
what authority the said Justices do act."
Each delegate was to "manifest to this congress what he
supposes is the sense of the Town he represents in regard to
the seting of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace."
On the first of the two questions, whether the present
session of the Court should be held, the vote stood 39 in favor
and 43 against. Among those in favor was the one Westfield
delegate, but who he was is not indicated. The more im
portant question, as to the "subsiding" of the Court, was
unanimous in the affirmative.
A committee was appointed to wait on Mr. Justice
Mather, President of the Court of Sessions, with the above
resolve, and the congress adjourned tUl the next morning at
8 o'clock. When it again assembled, the convention voted "That
it be recommended to the Court of genl Sessions of the Peace
to adjourn without day. Accordingly the Justices of s'd
Court met at the usual place and Adjourned without day."
In consequence of the above action, the session of the
Court which met in May following was held by authority, not
of George the Third, but of the people of Massachusetts.
The pressing need of recruits for the army was commonly
recognized and the national authorities, in view of it, took
vigorous action, and held out such inducements as seemed
feasible :
"In Congress Oct. 8, 1776 resolved that for the further
encouragement of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers
who shall engage in the service for the war; That a suit of
clothes be given each of said officers and soldiers, to consist
the present year of two linen hunting shirts; two pairs of

554 Westfield and its Historic Influences
overaUs and a leather or woolen waistcoat with sleeves; one
pair of breeches; a hat or leather cap; two shirts; two pair
of hose; two pair of shoes amounting in all to the value of
$20.00 or that sum to be paid to each soldier who shall pro
cure those articles for himself, and produce a certificate thereof
from the captain of the company to which he belongs, to the
paymaster of the regiment."
Later, Congress offered a bounty of £20, and certain
amounts of land.
The battle of Long Island, Aug. 27, 1776, was a sad disaster
for the Continentals, retrieved however in large measure by
the retreat which "has always been regarded as one of the
most briUiant incidents of Washington's career."
Happily, our ignorance of personal tidings which reached
Westfield from the front in the eventful year under considera
tion is not quite complete. Through the careful research and
the generosity of Mr. Bartlett, there are preserved in the
Atheneum a few letters of priceless value. One of the three
written by E. Lyman was sent immediately after the battle
of Long Island where he was wounded, to his brother-in-law
in Westfield, Bohan King. "New York, Sep. 2d 1776.
"Dear Brother. After my kind love to you and your family
including my Uttle chUd I would in a short manner give you
to understand a little of our circumstances at this present
time. We are in trouble here at this day, its likely you wUl
hear of the Battle we had on Long Island before these fines
reach your hand. August 27th the Battle commenced. There
was about 2000 of our men as guards in the woods about two
miles from our lines. We were surrounded unawares by great
bodies of men vastly superior to our numbers, it is thought
near ten to one, after we were attacked we had to fight our
way through to our Lines, although our circumstances were
bad yet we got through with the greatest part of our men,
though we lost some hundreds, how many is unknown at
present, two general Officers have been taken prisoners, Maj:
Genl Sullivan 8s Brigr Genl Sterling, in great haste must con
clude. "Your Friend 8s Brother E. Lyman."

Prolonged Trials 555
"It fell to my lot to be in Battle that day. In the be
ginning of the Battle I was slitely wounded in the calf of my
leg by a Grape shot, it lamed me some so I was not able to
keep up with the Regiment on their retreat but through the
goodness of God I made my escape though numbers were
left behind. We live in expectation of a general attack every
hour hope we may gain the Victory. E. Lyman."
Another of the letters is from Hon. Eldad Taylor, a member
of the Governor's Council, from Watertown on the day after
the evacuation of Boston by the British and was written to
his wife in Westfield. "Sunday March 18' 1776.
"My dear — This morning opens with much news, no doubt
it wiU be pleasing to you and all friends to have ye most out
landish account probable. The ministerial vermin left Boston
yesterday morning in utmost confusion 8s ye Town is now
open, 3 of ye Selectmen viz. Deacn Newhal Mr. Holby 8s Mr
Marshall came to Watertown, Doct. Winthrop 8s Mr  were
caUed out of ye publick worship about ye middle of ye first
prayer in ye afternoon to see ye Selectmen. This morning I
have been with Doct. Winthrop to get ye best intelligence.
They say that ever since our cannonading ye sabbath before
last they viz. ye Regulars have been upon ye moove 8s de
signed to withdraw last Friday but ye wind not favoring of ym
were detained 8s left Saturday night. Our forces took pos
session of a small hUl nearer Boston Si ye shipping than ever
before on Dorchester Point caused ye Regulars to fire at ym
aU night but without any hurt to any of our men except one a
little, not much hurt by ye scattering of some gravel Si we
did not return one shot; In ye morning early they left in utmost
haste and confusion and sailed below ye Castle 8s where they
are destined is not known but supposed to Halifax. The
Tories are gone of with ye Regulars except a few, but Ruggles,
Marsh, Putnam Si Willards , are gone. Ye selectmen say
that ye Tories were ye most dreadful against ym of any. They
say that aU ye sufferings of ye poor for want of Provisions 8s
necessaries of life was not equal to ye insult, scorn, derision,
and contempt from them. The ministerial Butchers have

556 Westfield and its Historic Influences
robbed the warehouses 8s shops of all ye best goods they could
carry and destroyed what they could in their hurry. They
destroyed the Furniture of ye houses, Books, ye windows.
Chairs, Desks, Tables, 8sc. 8sc. They loaded their vessels so
deep that they cast overboard much of ye lumber lading that
floated on ye water. Of heavy carriage they left much of
them. They spiked up ye cannon. They had one very great
amazing Iron Mortar, as they were getting it aboard it fell
into ye water, of from John Hancocks Wharf, with an Iron
Bed. "Bunker HU1 is left 8s all their Barracks in good order.
Their Fort there is amazing strong. In their hurry or purposely
they scattered numbers of good blankets. It is said that in
one of them was wrapped up a chUd rotten with ye smaU Pox.
We are now in more danger from that quarter than from ye
enemy. "Cols. Bond, Eaton 8s Patterson are ordered to march to
New York with their Regiments. They aU passed this fore
noon for New York and more are for to march that way soon.
The poor distressed captives from Boston came with a most
pleasing aspect in their faces rejoicing at so great deUverance.
"Col. Putnam entered the Town of Boston yesterday
with an uncertain number of men, some say 1500. The
General has forbid people going into Boston, but ye people
are so resolute that it is near impossible to prevent them.
This morning we have intelligence that ye King of France has
sent to ye King of England that if he should bring the Rushens
Troops into America he would declare in favor of the Americans.
Upon yt ye King of England reconsidered his intentions to send
Rushan troops here. I desire that none of our people come
here to gaze as it is ye utmost danger of ye smaU Pox, but when
the grass is grown it wUl be much safer then Si more to be seen.
Last Saturday 14 Captives were brought to Genl Washington
taken near Marthas Vineyard it was a vessel of 300 tons from
White Haven, laden with Cole Porter 8s 30 live Hogs 8sc. there
is said to be 7 or 8 or ten from White Haven, it was going to
New York.
"Since I wrote ye foregoing two of ye selectmen of Boston
came into ye Council 8s they confirm what I have written
excepting ye chUd which was that there was a child found in

Prolonged Trials 557
a garret in Boston sewed up in a Canvas which had been there
5 or 6 weeks.
"They say that ye Tories about a fortnet ago was in high
spirits encouraging ye Troops that they should be soon Masters
of America, but when ye orders were given to prepare to saU
they were struck with paleness 8s astonishment Si there is not
a Chandler nor a WiUard nor a Putnam, but all are gone, morti
fying indeed. They, ye selectmen say, ye Towne is in a most
dreadfuU condition, houses torn, streets nasty, Town empty.
They carried away our Prisoners taken at Bunker Hill fight
in Irons, also Master Loverwell. They left some of their draft
horses Si about 1000 bushels of Wheat. The bells 8s organs
are not hurt. "from as always your Consort
Eldad Taylor."
His premonitions respecting the menace of smallpox were
too weU founded. Only a little more than a year after the
letter quoted above was written, he was stricken with the
disease in Boston and died. In the old cemetery in Westfield
stands a memorial stone inscribed :
"Hon. Eldad Taylor Esqr.
Died in Boston May 21st 1777
Aged 69 years and lies interred in
The Tomb of Hon. John Wendall, Esq."
In the old book of the Town Treasurer Mr. Bartlett found
many years ago a sheet of paper pinned to a leaf which has
since disappeared. Fortunately he made a copy of it in his
note book, which shows that in October, 1776, there was some
alarm which resulted in a muster of men under Capt. David
Mosely and an issuance of powder, lead and flints. The names
of the company will appear elsewhere.
Late in December an order was issued "that one fourth
of the Berkshire militia, and one eighth of the Hampshire
militia, ordered by a late act to enforce the army near New
York, be forthwith marched to Albany to be under Gen.
Schuyler's order."
In April following, 1777, two battalions of 750 men each
were ordered from Hampshire County to be there for two

558 Westfield and its Historic Influences
months. Northampton seems to have been a favorite place
for County gatherings during this period, partly because of
its position so near to the center of the County. A convention
of the Committees of Safety of the County was called to meet
there on the fifth of February, 1777, for the purpose of con
sidering the suffering condition of the Northern Army. It
hastened to advise the Committee of Supphes of the Province,
to forward such supplies as were necessary for the comfort of
the army, "not doubting that the General Court will approve
thereof." Westfield seems to have had far less trouble from schem
ing and virulent tories than many other towns in the Con
necticut Valley. An original document in the Atheneum
shows that one of the despised class who proved obstinate in
his resistance of the patriotic spirit of the age and of the laws
of the Commonwealth, was sternly dealt with, a month before
the gathering of that convention in Northampton.
"Hampshire, ss. To Bohan King, Constable of the Town
of Westfield and to the Keeper of the Common Gaol of the
County of Hampshire of the Town of Northampton, Greet
ing: "Whereas, Roland Parks of the Town of Westfield was by
us the subscribers appointed a soldier according to ye direction
of a late Act of this Government for providing a reinforcement
to ye American Army, has been duly notified of such appoint
ment and did not within 24 hours after such notification pay
to us the sum of £10. nor make any reasonable excuse and
the said Roland Parks was on the first day of January instant,
caUed out according to law to march, but neglected so to do or
to provide any person in his stead, you the said Bohan King
are hereby required forthwith to apprehend the said Roland
Parks and him commit to ye common 'Gaol' in said County
and you the said keeper of ye said 'Gaol' are likewise required
to receive the said Roland Parks into your custody there to
remain untill he pay the fine of £12 as ordered in said Act, to
gether with charges of commitment 8s imprisonment or be
discharged by order of Law. Hereof fail not. Given under
our hands and seal this second day of January, A.D. 1777.

Prolonged Trials
John Mosely (Seal)

559

Saml. Mather (Seal)

Daniel Fowler (Seal)

MilitiaOfficers of
Westfieldby order.
Selectmenof Westfield
by order.
Committee of
Correspondence 8s Safety of
Westfieldby order."

An inscription on the back of the warrant reads :
"Hampshire, ss. In obedience to this warrant, I have taken
the body of Roland Parks and him committed to the Gaol in
Northampton. Bohan King, Const'e.

Constable fees.
WarrantCopy 8sc.
Travel 40 m.
To attendance 2 days

1 s.
1 s.
3 s.
16 s.

4d.

21 s. 4"

The tragedy of that indictment and penalty lay in the fact
that Roland Parks was the son of one of the noblest of the
town's patriots, Elisha Parks, who had served honorably,
as has been shown, in the three sessions of the Provincial Con
gress, and was a member of two of the bodies whose authority
was exercised in the above action, having been both a Select
man and a member of the Committee of Correspondence and
Safety. The tory son is said to have received a life pension
from the British government.
During the following year Bohan King received a letter
addressed to him at the "Sign of the Lamb, Boston," relating
to another tory of the town:

560 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"Westfield, Nov. 8, 1778.
"Sir — The man you went to see will be concealed at Capt.
Jones, the tavern in Weston, in case he is not to be found
in Boston, this is from good authority; in haste.
Your humble Serv't,
Warham Parks.
"P.S. We now think Lee is not on the business we thought
he was. W.P."
Sabine, in his American Loyalists, says of John Bancroft of
Westfield that in "1776 the Whig Committee of that town
published him as an enemy to his country and ordered that he
be confined within the limits of his own farm," which was in
Pochassic, his house having been the impressive brick one
built in 1755, to which reference has been made in a previous
chapter. Even at this day of long perspective upon the events and
perplexities of that epoch, we can hardly blame the Committees
of Safety for being bitterly indignant against their neighbors
who were thus constituting themselves Committees of Danger.
It was fortunate for the cause of freedom that the preponder
ance of patriots over tories was so immense as it was.
The varied perplexities incident to the method of admin
istering mUitary affairs which obtained for some time after the
war opened were so grievous that the authorities were moved to
determined efforts to put them upon a different basis. Origin
ally, because of the deep seated aversion of the people to a
standing army, the plan foUowed to employ the militia of
the several provinces, enlisted for short terms, and under the
command of their local officers: "To all intents and purposes,
the colonial army was but a gathering of militia squadrons,
owing aUegiance to the state which paid their wages and fur
nished their equipments. Patriotism, the governing motive
in the earlier enfistments, was the principal bond of cohesion,
and that was greatly weakened by a senseless spirit of state
jealousy, which everywhere prevailed."
Chafing under this condition of affairs, Washington pressed
upon Congress the necessity of gathering an army of men
enlisted for long terms, for not less than one year, and if possi
ble for three years. In approval of this policy the General

Prolonged Trials 561
Court of Massachusetts in 1777 resolved to raise a Continental
army contingent, to be enforced by draft if necessary, each
town being required to furnish a stipulated quota. This call
required the services of so many men as to constitute one-
seventh of the male population of the State over sixteen years
old. What persistent and strenuous efforts were put forth
to fiU Westfield's quota for that caU, and for many another,
wUl be indicated as shown by successive town meetings until
the very close of the war.
In March, 1776, a new Committee of Correspondence,
Inspection and Safety was chosen, consisting of Col. John
Mosley, Col. Elisha Parks, Bohan King, Capt. David Moseley,
Doct. Mather, Martin Root, Daniel Bagg, Daniel Sacket,
Daniel Fowler, David WeUer Junr, Zechariah Bush Jur, St.
John Kellogg, Lt. John Gray.
In August foUowing still another Committee was chosen,
some who were elected in March having asked to be excused.
The places of Elisha Parks, Doct. Mather, Lt. John Kellogg,
and Lt. John Gray, were taken respectively by Robert Hazard,
Wm. H. Church, WiUiam Hiscox and Oliver Weller. Position
on that famous Committee was so responsible and honorable
that every name elevated to it by popular vote should be held
in perpetual remembrance. At a meeting held Jan. 13, 1777,
one of the Articles was adopted providing "Eighty Pounds for
to hire Preaching the Ensuing year," the 7th Article was taken
up "to see if ye Town wiU direct ye Selectmen to provide Tav
ern in the Town, nothing done about it."
March 10 a new Committee of Correspondence, Inspection
and Safety was chosen, Capt. David Moseley, Bohan King,
Benjamin Saxton, Daniel Fowler, Lt. Zechariah Bush, David
WeUer, Jr., Martin Root, Daniel Sacket, Capt. John Gray,
the new name appearing then having been Benjamin Saxton,
born in 1720, second son of Benjamin, who was the first child
born in Westfield in 1666.
Though it would seem as though the terror, loss and suffer
ing incident to a bitter war were enough for the afflicted people
to endure, these Uls were augmented in the year 1777 through
the ravages of the smaUpox. It was not a new enemy, having
been more or less prevalent during many previous years. A
quarter of a century earlier it is reported by Palfrey to have

562 Westfield and its Historic Influences
raged fearfully in Boston. The question of inoculation was
fiercely discussed by ministers, physicians, and laity, in face
of the fact that only 31 persons died out of 2100 who were
inoculated whUe out of 5550 persons not inoculated who had
the disease, more than a quarter of the town's population, 514
died, one in ten of those attacked.
"Accounts of small pox in Westfield, Nov. 26, 1760 to
Jan. 2, 1761, £53.15.4
Blankets, beds, provisions, 8sc.
Cider 6/ bbl. cheese 5d. lb. fowls 7d. each, pork SY d. lb. Po
tatoes 2 bushels 3/ butter 7 d. candles 7 d milk 2 d. quart wood
4/ a load.
Tenders were impressed by the constable and two men were
"brought out of the woods being sick."
"Tenders 116 days at 4/ a day, aU men 23.4.0."
There was a "Proof house" in connection with the hospital.
Elisha Parks charged from Nov. 12, 1760 to Jan. 1, 1761, 17
gaUons of rum at 6/, some gallons of wine at 9/, sugar at 8d.
Rice at 4 d. 8sc.
Another Small pox account at Westfield from Jan. 1 to Feb. 1,
1761, £32.10.6. The first bill above was for 5 Massachusetts
men and 4 New Hampshire men only 9, of whom 6 died. The
second bUl was for 3 men, 2 Mass. 8s 1 N. H. The hospital
was a "valuable house," had from Nov. 26 to Feb. 1." (Judd
MS., Forbes Library.)
Judd reports that in the Westfield hospital twelve soldiers
had the smallpox between November, 1760, and February,
1761, of whom six died, as already stated.
Owing to the alarming spread of the disease in 1777, Spring
field built a "Cleansing House" near the pest house, arranged
to have both buildings completely isolated, and forbade inocu
lation in any case without permission of a major part of the
Selectmen. The votes in the Westfield records are numerous and be-
wUderingly conflicting. It is evident that much excitement
prevailed, in view of the menace of the malady.
April 23, 1777. A committee of five was chosen "to inspect
the SmaU Pox," Daniel Fowler, Daniel Mosley, Dea. Joseph
Root, Capt. David Mosley, 8s Bohan King.

Prolonged Trials 563
Sundry votes foUowed. No person should come into
town under ten days after having left the pest house, and not
until pronounced clean by the Committee. No person be
longing to Westfield should take the infection of the small
pox on any consideration whatever, meaning, of course, by
voluntary inoculation.
The Committee was to send a letter to Southwick to forbid
the doctor or any other person giving the infection to any one
from Westfield. Any one who should come from the pest
house into town within ten days should forfeit the sum of
twenty pounds, and the same amount was to be paid by any
one who should go nearer the pest house than half a mile and
then come into town within ten days.
"Voted that the Town would indemnify the Committee to
take the Estates of such Persons as forfit the Sum proposed.
"Voted that those Persons who are not able to pay the sd
Sum should be publickly whipped twenty stripes upon the
naked back."
The sum of twenty pounds was also to be forfeited by any
person who should leave his own house for five days after he
had left the pest house. No person should leave the pest
house without a certificate from the doctor that he had not
been in the pest house within ten days from the time of his
cleansing. In May it was voted "to build a house to accomodate those
Persons who might be taken with the SmaU Pox in the Town."
In the following February, 1778, at a meeting of which
David Mosley was Chairman, the above action was repeated,
with the specification "that the house should be built with
logs, 35 or 36 feet long Si 18 feet wide." The Committee
chosen for the work consisted of Elisha Parks Esqr. Dean
Joseph Root, Capn Daniel Sacket, Martin Root and Capn
David Mosley, who were to look up a convenient place for the
house and negotiate for the land.
It was also voted at that meeting "to give Liberty for
Inoculation for the Small Pox under the Inspection 8s Regula
tion of a Committee to be chosen for that purpose. The five
persons chosen were Elisha Parks, Esqr. Capn David Mosley,
Capn John Kellogg, Lt. Richard Failey, 8s Doctr Mather.

564 Westfield and its Historic Influences
It was also agreed "that the houses belonging to Ozean Sacket,
Moses Sacket, Asher 8s Abner Sacket be devoted to the use
of Inoculation," and "that no person should be inoculated
after the 15th Day of February instant." Any person who
should be inoculated without the consent of the Committee
was to "be prosecuted at common Law." Mr. SamU Fowler
and James Taylor were chosen Prosecutors. At a meeting
held Feb. 26 Uberty of inoculation was again refused, and a
week later that action was again reversed, but inoculation was
to be in some part not "in the Town Plot." After sundry
related votes it was finaUy decided "to aUow of a House at
Lump's Bottom belonging to George Phelps for Inoculation"
and "all the houses Eastward or below Capn. Daniel Sacket's"
for the same use. StiU farther action, relative to persons from
other towns being carried away, was taken.
There is no entry on the town records which makes ex
plicit reference to the Bennington alarm. Half of the effective
mUitia of Massachusetts was in active service during the sum
mer of 1777, large reinforcements having been sent to strengthen
General Gates in opposing the advance of Burgoyne from
Canada toward New York to effect a junction with Howe.
The battle of Bennington was fought Aug. 16 of that year,
and when news of it reached Northampton the whole town
was aroused by the beating of drums, and a company of more
than a hundred men hurried toward the front, to be turned
back at Lanesboro because their services were not needed.
The only suggestion that a company from Westfield started
out is found in two items on the Treasurer's book for that
year with no reference to month or day. They are:
"To Cash paid out for Soldiers Mileage Si Baggage £83.12.4
To Cash paid out for do 60.12.0"
Among the forces sent to General Gates was a Hampshire
regiment which went in July, commanded by Colonel Moseley
of Westfield, but what Westfield men besides him were on its
roster does not appear. It was discharged in August after six
weeks of service in the region of Fort Edward and StiU water.
It may have been for service in this regiment that the above
payments were made by the Treasurer, and not for men re
lated to the Bennington alarm. Another regiment which

Prolonged Trials 565
served about an equal time, gathered and forwarded in Sep
tember, was commanded by Colonel May of Goshen.
The exacting demands of that summer are evidenced by the
fact that early in July Hampshire and Berkshire were caUed
upon to march "all they can" to reinforce the northern army,
and every seventh man was to serve in the field. A second
caU in August ordered out every sixth man in Hampshire be
cause the former one had not been filled. General Coumay,
a distinguished French officer, said to the American patriot,
Dr. Rush, that the people of no other nation were so quickly
transformed into soldiers as those of the United States. In
December, 1777, Lord Chatham, who had ranked Sir WiUiam
Howe's army above all others ever gathered as regarded its
appointments, said, in view of the defeat at Saratoga, "Those
men whom you called cowards, poltroons, runaways and knaves,
are become victorious over your veteran troops, and in the
midst of victory and the flush of conquest have set ministers
an example of moderation and magnanimity well worthy of
imitation."

CHAPTER IV
The Concluding Conflict
The exultation of the people of Westfield over the mag
nificent victory at Saratoga must have been the greater because
of the part played in it by Colonel Shepard and his feUow
townsmen who were an integral section of the victorious army.
How intensely popular excitement burned when the captured
Hessians, detested as brutal hirelings, came over the road
from Albany down the western hUls and across the interven
ing plain to spend a night in the town !
It is distressing to lose confidence in the tradition so long,
fondly and universally cherished in Westfield, relative to the
presence of General Burgoyne among that group of prisoners.
Evidence to the contrary, however, is too strong to be contro
verted. The well-attested fact that he was in Hadley and
presented a sword to his host there, has been accepted, with a
proviso that he must have gone there from Westfield, since
the main road from Albany to Boston ran through the town.
But the statements of General Glover prove that the con
tingent of British prisoners followed a more northerly route,
and there would have been no conceivable reason why Gen
eral Burgoyne should have been separated from the group and
brought from Hadley back to Westfield. The traditional
stories relating to him were evidently based upon the popular
confusion due to mistaking the person of the Hessian General
Riedesel for that of the British General Burgoyne.
This cherished popular tradition must be sadly placed
beside the no less popular one relative to the presence in town
of General Washington at some undetermined period of his
official career. The most painstaking research has failed to
discover a scintiUa of evidence that either as General or Presi
dent he was ever nearer the town than the ford in the Agawam
near the Eastern States Exposition grounds and the ferry to
Springfield on the west side of the Connecticut. This is
emphasized in the face of a tradition which is supported by
many features which seem to establish its credibiUty.

THE LANDLORD FOWLER HOUSE.
Captain Clapp 's Tavern in Revolutionary times, known as the "old Burgoyne
House," on Main Street at the corner of Exchange Street. General Riedesel,
the Hessian, mistaken popularly for General Burgoyne, was entertained there
as he passed through Westfield a prisoner.

THE DOORWAY OF THE LANDLORD FOWLER HOUSE.
Because of its artistic design purchased a few years since and placed in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The Concluding Conflict 567
In Lynn in the Revolution, the author makes the follow
ing quotations from the Memoir of General John Glover of
Marblehead, by WiUiam P. Upham, Salem, 1863: "Gen.
Glover's Brigade was Aug. 15, 1777, at Van Schaick's Island,
at the mouth of the Mohawk River. At the battle of Still
water (Freeman's Farm, Bemis Heights) it formed part of the
right wing of the army Sept. 19, and was stationed on the hiUs
back from the river. It was in the second battle of Freeman's
Farm not far from where Arnold fell wounded, Oct. 7. The
Brigade marched to Albany and was assigned to convoy Bur-
goyne's army to Boston. Gen. Glover in his letters says that
he sent the British troops, 2242 in number, by way of WiUiams-
town and Northampton, and the foreign troops, numbering
2198, by way of Kinderhook and Springfield, he and Bur
goyne starting on the foUowing day. He speaks of the great
difficulty which he experienced in procuring provisions and
forage for the great multitude (2500 prisoners and their guards),
being obliged to take hay and burn fences by the way. Bur
goyne was obhged by the terms of the Convention to pay for
the subsistence of his men in hard money." (Part I, pp. 106-7.)
There is some compensation for the discomfort of our
shattered tradition relative to Burgoyne in the fact thus es
tablished that the brigade of which Col. William Shepard's
regiment formed a component part was honored with the
responsibUity of guarding that great batch of prisoners, the
largest captured at any one time before the final capitulation
at Yorktown. In one of Mr. Bartlett's earliest notebooks the foUowing
records appear:
"Eliot Dewey who was the son of James Dewey and who
worked for my Father 30 years, told me when I was a little
fellow, that Burgoyne was brought to this town on his way
to Boston after his surrender and stayed at Capt. Clapp's
who kept tavern at what is now the Stocking house and that
when he went away he kissed Capt. Clapp's wife.
"Squire Saul Fowler of Southwick told me that when he
was 18 that he with 8 or 10 others started from the Stocking
house [known as the old Burgoyne house on Main St.] to go
out to Saratoga to fight Burgoyne, they got to Albany and heard
that the Battle was fought so they returned home.

568 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"The ornamental work around and over the front door
my Father said, took a man a month's work. S.F."
Those initials probably stand for Samuel Fowler, son of
James, and grandson of Samuel Fowler, one of the Committee
of Inspection and Safety. Samuel Fowler, who lived next to
Hon. E. B. GUlett, his brother-in-law, on Court Street, died
in 1888, aged 67 years.
The Baroness Riedesel teUs of the loss of all their camp
equipage by theft in Albany, and adds: "Fortunately I had
kept by me my Uttle carriage which carried my baggage. As
it was already very late in the season, and the weather was
raw, I had my calash covered with coarse linen, which in turn
was varnished over with oil; and in this manner we set out on
our journey to Boston, which was very tedious, besides being
attended with considerable hardship. I know not whether it
was my carriage that attracted the curiosity of the people to
it, for it certainly had the appearance of a wagon in which
they carry around rare animals, but often I was obliged to
halt because the people insisted upon seeing the wife of the
German general with her children. For fear that they would
tear off the linen covering from the wagon in their eagerness
to see me, I very often alighted and by this means got away
more quickly. However, I must say that the people were
very friendly, and were particularly deUghted at my being
able to speak English which was the language of their country."
(Journals relating to the American Revolution, Mrs. General
Riedesel, pp. 137-8.)
That the procession of Hessian prisoners presented a pa
thetic picture is evident from the story of eyewitnesses, aggra
vated by the fact that many of them had their wives with them.
"Their advent into Cambridge, near Boston, is thus noticed
by the lady of Dr. Winthrop of that town, in a letter to Mrs.
Mercy Warren, an early historian of our Revolution: 'On
Friday we heard that the Hessians were to make a procession
on the same route. We thought we should have nothing to
do but view them as they passed. To be sure the sight was
truly astonishing. I never had the least idea that the creation
produced such a sordid set of creatures in human figure, poor,
dirty, emaciated men. Great numbers of women who seemed
to be the beasts of burden, having bushel baskets on their

The Concluding Conflict 569
backs by which they were bent double. The contents seemed
to be pots and kettles, various sorts of furniture, children
peeping through gridirons and other utensUs. Some very
young infants who were born on the road; the women bare
footed, clothed in dirty rags. Such effluvia fiUed the air while
they were passing, that, had they not been smoking all the
time, I should have been apprehensive of being contaminated."
(Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution, Vol. I, p. 82.)
The Hessian prisoners reached West Springfield Oct. 29,
marching in rain, snow and hail. It is spoken of as "a village
of scattered houses with its iron church." They were received
into the homes of the people and were objects of prolonged
and curious scrutiny, it even being suspected that a small
admission fee was charged those inhabitants who had come
from a distance to inspect the foreign prisoners.
General Riedesel was the guest of Rev. Doctor Joseph
Lathrop, whose great grandson, the esteemed Clerk of Courts
of Hampden County for so many years, Robert Morris, says
that the General being unfamiliar with English and the Doc
tor not being versed in German they resorted to Latin as a
vehicle of communication.
The General's horse was shod there by a blacksmith named
White. About a dozen of the Hessian prisoners were so favorably
impressed by the region that they eluded the vigilance of a
guard which may have been wiUing to lessen the amount of
its responsibUity, and deserted the convoy. Mr. Harry Andrew
Wright in an address to the Sons of the American Revolution
in 1903, enumerates them as follows: "Apollos Miller became
a farmer, John Andrice Isensee a farmer and was kUled by
lightning while haying in the Agawam meadows; Godfrey
Vanganeer, commonly caUed 'Old Waggoner,' became a miUer,
David Hartunk a mason, Valentine Worthy a weaver, Thomas
PoUock a weaver, Hendrick Salter a tailor, Frederick Stock
man a shoemaker, Thomas Ewing a farmer, and Dr. Hilliam a
physician who lived to an advanced age with an extensive
practice in Chester, Blandford and GranviUe. Dr. Brewer
came over from Springfield to attend some of the Germans,
and as the paymaster's chest was empty he was given the chest
in payment." (Springfield Republican, February 1, 1903.)

570 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Among some prisoners from the battle of Bennington
farmed out among the inhabitants of Sprmgfield whom General
Riedesel met, were Cornet Johann Balthasar Stutzer, Chaplain
Melzheimer of the regiment of dragoons, and Lieut. Theodore
Frederick Gebhardt of the grenadier battalion, all wounded,
Stutzer severely, who survived in Brunswick after having been
exchanged, as a lieutenant colonel, until Nov. 29, 1821. Melz
heimer deserted from his regiment in 1779 and joined the
American army. When the two divisions of prisoners finally
reached Cambridge early in November, it was found that no
less than 100 of the original contingents, Hessians and British,
had deserted. In November of the foUowing year they began
the long march to the cantonment in Virginia, passing through
Sudbury, Worcester, Spencer, Brookfield, Palmer, Wilbraham,
Enfield, Suffield, Simsbury, New Hartford, Norfolk, and, after
crossing the Housatonic, SaUsbury and Sharon, to FishkiU,
where they crossed the Hudson, reaching their destination in
January, 1779. Two years later the officers were brought
back to East Windsor, Connecticut, where those who had not
already been exchanged remained until the conclusion of the
war. In the Memoirs of General Riedesel, a Hessian officer
who was among the prisoners captured at Saratoga and sent
thence to Boston, may be found the foUowing reference to
Westfield: "On the 28th [Oct., 1777] they were to have arrived
at West Springfield, but the weather being bad and cold, it
snowing and hailing considerably, they only reached Westfield.
The march was so disorderly that prisoners and men belonging
to the escort remained behind, and in consequence lost their
way. General Riedesel finally succeeded, by making friends
of the inhabitants, in finding quarters for his men. Two
German soldiers were frozen to death on this day in the woods."
(Vol. I, p. 215.)
Among the papers of the late Lyman Lewis of Westfield
there is a half-sheet, unsigned and undated, bearing the foUow
ing items:
"This house was buUt in 1764, buUt by Alexander Grant,
for John Moseley, to pay for the house Mr. E. Grant now lives
in, the latter' house was bought of John Moseley by Alexander
Grant. This was a tavern, 8s the officers of Burgoyne's army

The Concluding Conflict 571
stopped here, on their way through town. A sentinel was
kept marching up and down in front of this house, 8s as Mr.
Grant went to school (in a school house where Mr. Harrison's
house now stands) he used to stop Si look at this sentinel. One
of the officers died here Si his body was laid in Mr. Grant's
corn house, 8s the buttons on his gaiters Mr. Grant wore on
his clothes a long time."
The first house spoken of in that quotation is what was
later known as the Lyman Lewis house which stood on what
is now the northwest corner of Main and Cherry Streets. It
was destroyed by fire Dec. 3, 1875. The second house, now
owned by Walter White, stands on the northwest corner of
Main and White Streets. They stood one next east, and the
other next west, of the house built by Lemuel Grant and now
occupied by his son Frank. The house called Mr. Harrison's
is the one now standing on the south side of Main Street next
east of the N.Y.N .H. Si H.R.R. embankment. The Mr. Grant
who went to school in a house formerly standing on that lot
was Erastus, who for many years kept a furniture store on the
south side of Main Street between the present office of the H.
B. Smith Co. and Park Square. Mr. Grant died Nov. 26, 1865,
at the advanced age of 91 years. He was quite eccentric, as is
evidenced by sundry anecdotes still cherished in local traditions.
One of the most familiar of them relates to the effort to change
the ancient custom of "keeping Saturday night," whereby the
Sabbath was treated as beginning at sundown on Saturday.
At the period in question some of the people adhered to the old
custom which kept Sunday night. In an effort to secure
uniformity on the part of all the people, Rev. Mr. Davis, their
pastor, requested that they indicate to him in writing their
individual preferences. The note received in reply from Mr.
Grant was characteristic of him, having been thus expressed:
"I am not strenuous; but I always have kept Saturday
night, and always shaU. E. Grant."
In a letter from the Baroness Riedesel, wife of the General,
is the foUowing interesting observation: "Negroes are to be
found on most of the farms west of Springfield. The black
farmer lives in a little outhouse. The negroes here are very
prolific, like the rest of the cattle. The young ones are well
fed, especiaUy whUe they are still calves. Moreover, the

572 Westfield and its Historic Influences
slavery is very bearable. The negro is to be looked upon as
the servant of a peasant ; the negress does all the coarse house
work and the black children wait on the white children. The
negro can take the field in place of his master, and so you do
not see a regiment in which there is not a large number of
blacks, and there are weU-grown strong and sturdy feUows
among them. There are also many families of free blacks who
occupy good houses and have means and live entirely in the
style of the other inhabitants. It looks funny enough when
Miss Negress pulls up her woolly hair over a cushion, puts a
little shade hat on her head, wraps herself in her mantle and
shuffles along the road in this finery, with a slave negress
waddling along behind her."
There are several remarkable features in that statement.
It seems as though the Baroness must have been drawing
largely on her imagination when writing it, as respects the
number of negroes in the region. As Mark Twain said in
reference to a telegraphic account of his death, "Report grossly
exaggerated." In 1765 there were in Hadley twenty negro
slaves over sixteen years of age, and six in Amherst. A good
authority has declared that there could not have been more
than forty in Springfield at any one time. Mr. BaUantine in
his Journal refers to negro slaves in a dozen families in West-
field, and to one free negro who must have been a rarity in
this region at the Revolutionary period.
Mr. Ballantine says that in December, 1757, there were
thirty-six negroes in town. The number had been slightly
increased at the end of twenty years when the Baroness passed
through, since the census of the town in 1776 gives 41 as the
negro population. Five years later the town took action to
check the tide of "poor whites and blacks coming into town."
The passage of the Bill of Rights, enacted in 1780, resulted in
the legal extinction of slavery in the Commonwealth, and
made free negroes more numerous throughout the territory.
General Riedesel succeeded in securing shelter for his men
in West Springfield by the same persuasive means employed
in Westfield. They reached there Oct. 29, and rested over
one day, a fact duly commemorated by a properly inscribed
boulder which has been placed at the eastern end of the com
mon, opposite the entrance to the bridge across the Connecticut

The Concluding Conflict 573
River. While they were thus having a respite from the fatigues
of travel, General Riedesel crossed to Springfield to arrange
for a supply of provisions, but was so shabbily treated that
the weary troops were obliged in the next stage of their march
to press on to Palmer, fifteen miles beyond. They stopped
over the night of Friday, Oct. 31, at Brookfield. This de
tachment of Hessian prisoners was under the escort of Gen.
James Brickett. Whether or not the force of Continental
soldiers in his command was not adequate to prevent straggling,
many of the "Burgoyne men," as they were popularly called,
were later living in various towns along their line of march
toward Cambridge and in neighboring places.
Though the victory at Saratoga was the turning point of
the Revolutionary struggle, the ultimate fruit of this crucial
success was not plucked for many a long year. Washington
was unable, with his inadequate resources of troops and equip
ment, to hold Philadelphia, which was occupied by Lord Howe,
Congress retiring to Baltimore. The battles of the Brandy-
wine and Germantown were not encouraging to the patriot
cause, and Washington led his army into camp for the terrible
winter at Valley Forge.
The third period of the great conflict, comprising the years
1776 and 1777, thus closed, the essential feature of which,
according to Fiske, "was the struggle for the state of New
York and the great natural strategic line of the Mohawk and
Hudson rivers." Later he says, "In this period of the war
everything centers about New York, such an outlying expe
dition as that of Howe against PhUadelphia having no decisive
military value except in its bearings upon the issue of the great
central conflict. The strategy of the Americans was mainly
defensive, though with regard to certain operations they
assumed the offensive with brilliant success. The period
began with the disasters of Long Island and Fort Wash
ington; it ended with the triumph of Saratoga. As the net
result of the two years' work the British had taken and
held the cities of New York and Philadelphia and the town
of Newport. The fortress of Ticonderoga, which they had
likewise taken, they abandoned after the overthrow of
Burgoyne; and in like manner they retired from the high
lands of the Hudson, which the Americans now proceeded

574 Westfield and its Historic Influences
to occupy with a stronger force than before. In short,
while the British had lost an army, they had conquered
nothing but the ground on which they were actually en
camped. Their attempt to break through the center of the
American position had ended in a total defeat, and it now
began to seem clear to discerning minds that there was small
chance of their conquering the United States." (The Ameri
can Revolution, Vol. II, p. 2.)
The people of Westfield were too near to those crucial
events to see clearly their full significance, though exulting in
their immediate benefit to the patriot cause. Dark clouds
still overhung threateningly. Fathers, sons, and brothers
were still enduring awful privations, and it would be long
before active operations of a spring campaign could be under
taken, but the fires of patriotism still glowed in courageous
hearts. The foUowing letter throws a flood of light on the desperate
situation : "Camp at Valley Forge Pa. Jan. 25th 1778
"Sir. As you belong to the General Assembly and to the
Committee of the town, I think myself in duty bound to let
you know the true state of our Troops belonging to the Mass.
Bay. "Notwithstanding all the promises we had made us by the
State at the time that we entered into the Service that we
should be amply supplied with clothing and aU other of the
necessities of life — all at reasonable and stated prices. But,
alas! how are we disappointed! I do assure you that the
officers and soldiers are suffering everything but death and
imprisonment, and some are even suffering that, and alltogether
through the neglect and carelessness of the State. By the
conduct of the sd State I am led to believe that they have
forgot that they have any Troops in Service, or in other words
they despise them. This my friend is exceeding mortifying
to me as well as to many others.
"I do assure you Sir, that I have seen the Soldier turned
out to do their duty in such a poor condition that notwith
standing all the hard heartedness I am naturaUy possessed of,
I could not refrain from tears. It would melt the heart of a
Savage to see the situation wee are in.

MAP OF THE ENCAMPMENT AT VALLEY FORGE, 1777-8.
Drawn by the Chevalier Louis Le Begue de Presque Duportail, a French
engineer who served under General Washington and was commissioned a
Major General by Congress. The location of General Glover's Brigade in
which was Colonel Shepard's 4th Massachusetts Regiment of Infantry is
shown at the lower part of the map.

The Concluding Conflict 575
"The State of Connecticut has supplied there Troops with
every article of Cloathing completely and with all the neces-
sarys of life at a reasonable price, and the regiments of the
States are patterning after them. I am sure we are able to
defend ourselves against all the powers of Europe with a grate
deal of loss did we conduct with common prudence but alas!
after all our great fateague and bloodshed to see my country
take any advantage by trafficking or trading. The soldier
last Spring when he engaged in the Service, he could purchase
a pair of shoes for eight shillings that now he is obliged to
give eight dollars for, and other species have risen in like per-
potion. "You must need think this is very distressing to the Officer
and Soldier that have families at home who depend on there
wages for there support. Give me leave to tell you that it is
not in my power to save one farthing to support my family
and am obliged to live very sparingly in order to support
myself, and I wUl leave it to you to judge what a Soldier can
lay up of his pay. The peopole at home are destroying the
Army by there conduct much faster than HOW and all his
Army can possible do by fighting us. By this means many of
the best Officers are leaving the Army daily, which if not
prevented wiU reduce the Army soon.
"Sir, I do assure you that the life and strength of the Army
is in the Officer. K they are good the Army in general will
be good. If they are bad the Army wUl be like them.
"Perhaps you may find fault with Officers and Soldiers and
say they have not done there duty, but as God is my judge I
wUl appeal to Heaven that I have ever done all that lay in my
power to save my bleeding country, and have impressed it on
my Officers and Soldiers to do the same, and I must say that
to there honor I never saw many of them flinted for anything.
I wUl chaUenge all the Officers of the Army or my friends at
home if any of them ever knew me shirk from hardships or
neglect my duty for fear of the enemy. I have fought and bled
to save my bleeding country but alas! how are wee requited
for aU our Services. The State has not supported the Troops
with one single article for more than three months past.
"I do assure you Sir, that there is at least fore hundred
men in the Brigade which I belong to that have not a shoe nor

576 Westfield and its Historic Influences
a stocking to put on, and more than that number that have
not half a shirt apiece, and many officers that have not a second
shirt to put on in this situation in this cold season of the year
we are obhged to do our duty.
"To see men almost naked going into the snow and frost
to defend the rights of those very men that are contriving
every way to distress the poor soldiers now in service by putting
their specie at such exorbitant price and under-valuing the
currency now passing, the soldiers wages are stated at a certain
price which is out of there power to alter, and they cannot
revenge themselves by there folley, it greives me to my very
soul. "God bless you. I wish you helth and happiness. BeUeve
me Sir, I am with esteem your sincere friend and most obedient
Hule Serv't
"David Mosley Wm Shepard."
"Westfield." It is generally understood that the hardships of the army
during that terrible winter at VaUey Forge were appaUing, but
the details specified in the letter of that noble patriot to his
personal friend at home reveal conditions of almost inconceiv
able suffering. StiU the stress of that superb patriot's plea
is for relief not of his own privations but of those of his feUow
patriots, especiaUy the rank and file of his command.
Three years later General Glover wrote to the Council of
Massachusetts, Dec. 11, 1780, "It is now four days since your
line of the army has eaten one mouthful of bread. We have
no money, nor wiU anybody trust us. The best of wheat is at
this moment seUing in the state of New York for three fourths
of a doUar per bushel and your army is starving for want. On
the first of January something will turn up, if not speedUy
prevented, which your officers cannot be accountable for."
(Journal of Henry HaUoweU, in Col. Rufus Putnam's Fifth
Reg. Gen. Nixon's Brigade.)
At the March meeting, 1778, the needs of the army were
considered. Major Warham Parks was chosen to go to Boston
"on the cost of the town," as its agent in consequence of
certain letters received from Colonel Shepard and others in
the Continental Army. Then a committee consisting of John

The Concluding Conflict 511
Ingersoll, Esq., who was Moderator of the meeting, Doct.
Mather, Elisha Parks, Esq., and Capt. David Mosley, was
chosen "to remonstrate to the General Court 8sc. of the
Nakedness of the Army 8s of the Necessity of its being
supplied with Cloathing 8s other Necessaries immediately."
How pathetic is that tender consideration of the town, in
public meeting assembled, of the sufferings of the soldiers on
distant fields!
Among the letters referred to in the town's action must
have been one from E. Lyman which is still preserved in the
Atheneum. He had written in September, 1777, from Van
Schaicks Island, and concluded as foUows: "As to news I
have none except it is thought that we shall pay Genl Bur
goyne a visit soon if he does not us but how it will be I cannot
teU. It is hard living in the Camp one Point of Rum a day
takes all my wages Rations and all. We cant live so. The
Camp wUl break up if there aint some alteration."
General Glover's brigade stopped there at the mouth of
the Mohawk en route from Peekskill to Stillwater.
The expectation of paying a visit to Burgoyne was realized,
and resulted in the glorious victory of Saratoga, a pivotal point
of the Revolution, though so far from its conclusion. The
hardships in the matter of rum of which he complains were
slight compared with what he experienced afterward, with
which the later letter deals: "Camp at Valley Forge
Feb. 21st 1778.
"Brother King. I would gladly undertake to give you a
Particular account of the Circumstances of our Army at Present
were I able to do it, but being unable I should faU much short
of a true description of the miserable situation we are in at
Present that I shaU not attempt it no farther than this. That
we are at this Present Recked and miserable, Poor and Blind
and Naked. This account is short but it is true — no doubt
before this time you have seen Letters from Colo Shepard or
some other gentlemen in the Army that has given a direct
account about the army and the situation we are in on the
account of clothing which we suffer the most for of any article
at all. Hope you wUl write often, must conclude,
Your Friend & Brother, E. Lyman."

578 Westfield and its Historic Influences
At a meeting held the second month foUowing, April 15,
1778, practical action was taken relative to that heartrending
statement of conditions at Valley Forge. A committee was
chosen, Major Warham Parks, Capt. Daniel Sacket, Lieut.
Winchell, Lieut. Zechariah Bush and Doct. Israel Ashley, "to
provide fifty-three Shirts 8s Fifty three pair of Shoes 8s
Stockings for the use of the Continental Army at the Cost
8s Charge of the Town."
The writer of those letters, Elihu Lyman of Northfield,
was the son of Aaron and Eunice, daughter of Rev. Josiah
Dwight. In 1770 he married Esther King, sister of Bohan,
of Westfield. They had two children, Sally, born Sept. 12,
1771, who, left motherless, was intrusted to the care of her
uncle Bohan in Westfield, referred to as "my little child" in
Lyman's letter from New York in September, 1776, after the
battle of Long Island. She became the wife of Ephraim WeUs
of Greenfield. The other child, Esther, baptized June 12,
1774, died in August following. The mother, Esther, died
a few days later.
Lyman married again, Nov. 27, 1781, Sarah, daughter of
Joseph Stebbins of Deerfield, by whom he had several children,
two of whom were graduates of Dartmouth College. He
died at Greenfield, Sept. 12, 1823.
His military service was long and varied, its first experience
having been as Captain under Arnold in that awful march
through the wilderness of Maine for the invasion of Canada,
begun in September, 1775, and continued until its disastrous
failure in the following spring.
He was a Lieutenant in Capt. Alvord's company, Col.
Shepard's regiment, serving from Jan. 1, 1777, to March 1,
1779. Reference has been made already to a letter signed by
him and other officers of Colonel Shepard's (4th) regiment
from VaUey Forge, dated May 1, 1778, requesting that appU-
cation be made to the President of the Board of War for cloth
ing granted to them by Resolve of March 13, 1777.
He was also Captain in Col. Elisha Porter's Hampshire
regiment July 20, 1779, to Aug. 31, 1779, in the march to
New London.
At a town meeting held May 13th, 1778, it was voted that
each man raised to reinforce the Continental Army for nine

JM

,.  III IN,,..., | ||... - ¦ I„l.||.l|,,l II,

{¦%¦

•- 1 4 "C**-.

L'i'i

r-i

- :..,.. L'j^CmJ-

MARKER OF GENERAL GLOVER'S BRIGADE AT VALLEY FORGE.
iq fmited by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and dedicated November
io, iyii.

The Concluding Conflict 579
months should be paid out of the town treasury the sum of
thirty pounds, and that such as should be raised as guards for
the North River, probably to garrison its forts, should re
ceive ten pounds.
In August a committee consisting of Dea. Root, Elisha
Parks, Esq., Capt. Daniel Sacket, Col. John Mosley, and Mr.
Samuel Fowler, was appointed to collect the clothing sent for
by the General Court for the use of the Continental Army.
At the March meeting, 1779, a committee of five was chosen
"to inspect the rivers in this Town Si prosecute the Breakers
of the Laws made by the State to regulate the Fishery in the
same," but when, at the next meeting, a motion was made
and seconded "to see if the Town would buUd a Sluice Way
at WeUer 's mUl Dam for the shad to pass up the River" it was
negatived. Aug. 11th Col. John Mosley was appointed to represent
the town at the Convention caUed to meet at Cambridge "the
first day of September next for the Purpose of forming a New
Constitution or Form of Government," and a Committee of
nine persons was appointed to instruct the delegate relative
to the matter in hand.
Even as early as this, mutterings of the gathering storm
began to be heard, which was to culminate seven years later
in the Shays RebelUon. The record shows that one of the
patriots who had been at the front was restless and dissatisfied,
it having been voted at this same meeting "That the Petition
of Benjamin Winchell and others for the Purpose of stopping
the Courts of Justice in this County be not sustained."
Symptomatic of the same spirit of resistance to duly consti
tuted authority was the action taken in the foUowing spring.
A meeting held March 1, 1780, of which Colonel Mosley was
Moderator, was called "to see if the Town will pay that Rate
caUed the Penobscutt."
"It was moved 8s seconded that the Town delay acting
on the aforesaid Article until Capn David Mosley shall go to
Boston 8s transmit to the Town the Journals of the House of
Representatives relative to the Penobscutt Expedition."
The meeting then adjourned for three weeks and when
reassembled voted not to pay the Rate.
At a meeting in May, 1780, the Committee which had been

580 Westfield and its Historic Influences
appointed to consider the new State Constitution reported
objections to some of its features and the town voted not
to accept it "without Alteration or Amendment." The vote
stood 17 for and 36 against. May 23 it was voted to accept
the Constitution "excepting those Articles which are objected
to by the Committee chosen for that Purpose."
The action, as recorded in full detaU, is interesting as show
ing the independence of the individual citizens and the differ
ent opinions which prevailed among them.
The Constitution was formally adopted, June 16, 1780.
Oct. 20, 1779, the sum of thirty pounds was voted for each
soldier then to be raised for the Continental service and destined
for Claverack and mUeage money of two shillings per mUe.
Five days later it was decided to raise the men aforesaid "on
the cost of the town and not by Detachment." The miUtia
officers were to be indemnified from aU fines which might be
laid upon them because of raising the men in that way and not
"according to an order of the General Court." A committee
of nine persons — Daniel Fowler, Ozem Sacket, Luke Phelps,
Martin Tinker, Moses Dewey, Simeon Tremaine, Stephen
Lee, Lieut. Adnah Sacket and Benjamin Dewey — was chosen
to assist in this matter. They were to agree with the men for
20 shiUings per month, the old way, exclusive of their bounty,
mileage and wages aUowed by the State. FinaUy it was
"Voted after a long Debate that the Committee chosen to
hire the soldiers above should be directed to agree with them
at any Rate they shall think reasonable."
June 16, 1780, a new quota of nineteen soldiers for the
Continental Army was exacted of the town and a Committee of
twelve persons was chosen to secure it. They were Capt.
Martin Tinker, Capt. Daniel Sacket, Simeon Tremaine, Lt.
Richard FaUey, Jabez Baldwin, Ichabod Lee, Moses Dewey,
Capt. Gray, Capt. KeUogg, Asa Noble, Jr., James Taylor and
Daniel Fowler.
It must have been with considerable satisfaction and civic
pride that the voters in Westfield as in the other towns, on Sept.
4, 1780, for the first time, cast their baUots for the highest
state officers.
The new Constitution, adopted in June preceding, accorded
them this privUege. There were no printed baUots, probably,

The Concluding Conflict

581

each voter having written his choice for the several officials
on a slip of paper.
It is interesting to note the result in Westfield on that
memorable day: ( Hon. John Hancock
J James Bowdoin
John Worthington
Genl. James Warren
) Honl. James Bowdoin
) John Hancock
John Pitts
Joseph Hawley Esq.
Hono Timo Danielson
Caleb Strong

Sly For Senator

"lly For Governor

"2ly For Depy Governor

54 Votes

17 Do.

2 Do.

36 Votes

17 Do.

4 Do.

1 Do.

42 Votes

36 Do.

44 Do.

22 Do.

7 Do.

28 Do.

6 Do.

4 Do.

2 Do.

2 Do.

2 Do.

1 Do.

1 Do. "

Timothy Robinson Esqr. 22 Do.
John Bliss Esqr.
Samuel Mather Esqr
Oliver Phelps Esqr.
John IngersoU, Esqr.
Eleazer Procter Esqr.
Noah Goodman Esqr.
Simeon Strong Esqr.
John Worthington Esqr.
\ WiUiam Pynchon Esqr.
It is evident that the independent voter was not then
trammeled even by the action of a party caucus, but exer
cised the fuUest personal liberty.
For the year previous to March 30, 1781, the Treasurer's
book shows interesting items. "The Town of Westfield to
Samuel Mather in silver" these accounts, therefore, being
in hard money. Fathers coUected for the services of their
minor sons in the army:
"Pd. Moses Dewey for his sons service 3 mos.
Oliver Ingersoll for his sons do.
Paul Noble, his son in Army 3 mos.
Jared Plumb do. do. do.
Heman Dewey do. do. do.
Dan KeUogg do. do. do.
Daniel Ray for his service in army

3.0.0 3.0.03.0.03.0.0 3.0.0
3.0.0
15.0.0

582 Westfield and its Historic Influences
John Church 3 mos. in Army 8.0.0
Phillip WUliams for his sons service 8.0.0
Andrew Walton 3 mos. service £3.0.0
To Widow Rebh. for Zilpah sweeping 10/
Benhadad, Negro for ringing beU 9/9
Wm Allen, Ebenezer Herrick Jr. Gideon Pitts
Wm BiUs, Jacob Noble, Abner Weller all 3 pounds each.
(probably for service as soldiers like those above named)
To Esqr Ingersoll for to hire teams 12.0.0
Mr. Samuel Fowler for Putty for Meeting House 6/.
Mr. King to purchase beef 35.6.0
Cash paid 14 soldiers for 1 months service, 4 each 56.0.0
Josiah Halliday for his cattle 1.3.0
Col. Mosley 1 shirt Si one pair of stockings 8s one Pare
shoes 1.4.10
(probably for supply of army)
Mr. Saml Fowler, 3 pair shoes 24/
4 Brooms 8/ one quire paper 2/6 5/6
Doct. Ashley 2 shirts 8s 1 pair stockings 8s 1 oz. nutmeg 30/
to transporting stores to Barrington 8s cash 9/6 4.5.6
Doct. Whitney 5 gals. Rum 8s 7 1/2 lbs loaf sugar 2.12.6
Y lb. spice Y -M pepper 2/6 2 doz. pipes 10/ 23/
Capt. Bancroft 10 lbs Butter 10/ 17 lbs Pork 6/5 16/5
To a turkey 7/1 2 lbs cut tobacco 2/ 9/1
Wm Ashley transporting stores to Barrington 2/10/6
John Fowler 2d to Keeping 2 horses 2 nights 4/-
Thos Noble one load Wood for Mr. Atwater 5/4
to 2 pair shoes 8/ 16/-
Mrs. Hannah Mosley for boarding Dinah for one year
at 2/6 per week 6.10.0
to yd cloth for Dinah 3/ 6/
Lt. Bush for mending Clock 6/, Warning six town
meetings 6/ 12/1
Widow Katherine Noble 1 shirt 10/
Benj Saxton 1 pair stockings 6/-
Lt. Martin Smith 1 pair stockings 6/ shirt 10/ 16/-
Solomon Dewey 2 pairs shoes 8/ 16/-
Asa Noble 6 pair shoes 8/ 48/-
Dea. Joseph Root to 4 shirts 10/ 40/-
3 pair stockmgs 18/- 2 pair shoes 16/- 1/2 bush apples / /8d

The Concluding Conflict 583
20 1/2 lbs Meat 6/10 keeping 6 horses 1 night 6/-
to one bushel turnips 2/6
Jacob Noble 4 pair shoes 32/
transporting stores for Barrington 6.18.0
Solomon WeUer do. do. do. 76/-
Lt. Moses Dewey do. do. 76/-
John Wilson for conducting teams 42/6
Mr. Saml Fowler 2 1/2 days Perambulating 12/6
"1 day Classing 5/- 2 quires paper 5/ 10/-
to ringing BeU for 6 months 12/
Richard Failey for attending Convention 7 days
at 6/- per day (at Hadley in February 1782) 42/- "
Thus the work of collecting for the needs of the army was
steadily prosecuted, as shown by many entries above.
Besides the entries already quoted from the town treasurer's
book, there are others recorded earlier, in 1776 and 1777, which
on various grounds are interesting enough to warrant their
transcription for modern readers:
Lt. Zechariah Bush for mending bell tongue 12/2
do do do for handles for Mr. BaUantine's
coffin 8sc. 12/2
Alexander Grant for Mr. Ballantines Coffin 7/10
Doct. Mather for ditching Town Lot 7/-
Thos. Noble for boarding Mary TrUl one year 8s
mending her cloathes 78/-
Aaron King for pair of shoes for Azubah Old 6/6
do do " mending Mary Trills 1/2
Aaron WeUer for making a bier 8/-
Moses WeUer for his Bulls 40/-
To Moses Dewey for repairing Gate near Cadwells 3/-
for Widow Abigail Ashley nursing Crawfords wife 10 days 30/-
Richard Failey making 8s mending locks 18-
to Widow Kellogg for nursing Murphy for 15 weeks
at 12/- ' 180/-
for nursing 8s boarding Murphy 4 1/2 weeks 108/-
to 1 qt. Metheglin for Murphy 3/-
Capt. David Moseley for Flax 1/6 Line 1/6 for making
a Box for Clock 8sc. 62/
do for tending clock one year 60/-

584 Westfield and its Historic Influences
for Winding Sheet for Widow Roberts 6/-
Elisha Parks Esq. 1 qt. Rum for M. TrUl 3/-
800 Brass naUs at 4/- 32/-
Deacon Shepard for boarding Si nursing Widow Roberts
from Jan. 1st to Nov. 6, 1777 £24.10.0
for a pint of Brandy 5/-
for naUs for Coffin 2/8
for mending a Bed Tick 3/-
extraordinary trouble 30/-
Simeon Tremaine for digging 3 graves 18/-
Aaron WeUer for making 2 coffins 36/-
1777 To Cash paid out for Soldiers MUeage 8s Baggage £83.12.4
" To Cash paid out for do 60.12.0"
One of the prominent and influential tories of Hampshire
County was Jonathan Ashley, a minister, born in Westfield
and a graduate of Yale CoUege in the class of 1730. He was
born in 1712, the son of Jonathan and great grandson of Robert,
one of the founders of Springfield. After graduation from
coUege he taught for a whUe in Suffield, and was settled as
minister of the church in Deerfield, Nov. 8, 1732. He took
an active and aggressive part in the controversy with Jonathan
Edwards, who was his cousin. Two of the sermons which he
preached in Edwards's pulpit were published. Edwards
characterized him as "a young gentleman of liberal education
and notable abilities; a fluent speaker; a man of lax principles
in religion, falling in, in some essential things, with the Ar-
minians, and is very bold and open in it." His loyalist tenden
cies became known early in the controversy between the
Colonies and the mother country. On July 22, 1774, "Parson
Ashley had a tea in defiance of the non-consumption associa
tion, and his son carried a pound of tea, which he had pro
cured Fast day of Israel WUliams and Son at Hatfield, to the
wife of Parson Roger Newton at Greenfield." Mr. Ashley
made himself so obnoxious to his patriotic parishioners that
by mutual consent an Ecclesiastical Church was caUed to
settle the differences between them. It met in May, 1780,
and after a session extending through eleven days, adjourned
without having accomplished its purpose. His church was
so evenly divided between loyalists and patriots, that at some

The Concluding Conflict 585
times one party and at other times the other party, was in the
ascendency. "When the Whigs were in the majority, they
refused to vote him his firewood."
¦ Two of the many anecdotes relative to his acts as a tory,
out of many which have been preserved, may be cited. "When
the provincial congress of Massachusetts issued the proclama
tion for the annual Day of Thanksgiving, they substituted
the ejaculation, 'God save the people,' instead of the former
one, 'God save the King.' He read the proclamation from
the pulpit, but when he had come to the close, he raised him
self above his ordinary height, and, with great vehemence,
subjoined, 'And God save the King,' I say, 'or we are an un
done people.' "
The other of the two rehearsed by Sabine, in his "Bio
graphical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution,"
relates to an exchange between Mr. Ashley and Rev. Mr.
Newton of Greenfield, to whose wife the pound of tea was sent.
He also was a loyalist, and told Mr. Ashley that he might im
prove the occasion by speaking of the Revolution "by way of
caution to his people." Mr, Ashley made good use of his
opportunity and seriously offended the congregation. During
the noon intermission the patriots met to talk things over
and decide upon a course of action. A committee chosen for
the purpose fastened up the meeting house. When Mr. Ashley
arrived to conduct the afternoon service, one of his Deerfield
parishioners met him at the door and gave him a significant
nudge with his elbow. When the action had been repeated,
Mr. Ashley asked him to explain his treatment, and warned
him that he "should not rebuke an elder." "An elder? an
elder?" repUed his tormentor, "if you had not said you was
an elder, I should have thought you was a poison sumach."
A little later in his own pulpit he preached against the
patriot cause, and asserted that in his opinion those Americans
who feU at Lexington had gone straight to hell. Upon at
tempting to enter his pulpit on the following Sabbath he found
it spiked up. Failing to break the fastening he called upon
one of his deacons who was a blacksmith to get a hammer
and force an entrance, but the deacon replied that he did not
work on the Sabbath. The parson finally procured an axe
and forced the door open.

586 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Parson Ashley's second son, Jonathan, was also an active
tory, and became so obnoxious that he, with Seth Catlin and
John WiUiams his fellow townsmen, was summoned before
the General Court in Boston, in February, 1781, which con
demned them to the Suffolk County gaol in Boston where
they were held for several months. That heroic treatment
of three prominent citizens had a salutary effect upon those
who sympathized with their loyalist principles and practices.
From that time forward there was no dUatoriness in Deerfield
town meetings in voting supplies for the Continental Army.
As evidence of the spirit of bitterness toward the tories
which was cherished and preached at the close of the war,
there may be cited an item of news followed by comment
published in the Massachusetts Gazette of Springfield, in an
issue of May, 1783, just before the celebration at Westfield
of the establishment of peace.
"Boston, May 22. Nothing can exceed the distress of the
tories in New York; they are very unwUling to go away, and yet
they are afraid to stay to meet the vengeance of their injured
countrymen. As Hannibal swore never to be at peace with
the Romans, so let every Whig sware, by the abhorrence of
slavery, by liberty and religion, by the shades of those de
parted friends who have faUen in battle, by the ghosts of our
departed brethren who have been destroyed on board of prison
ships and in loathsome dungeons, by everything that a free
man holds dear, never to be at peace with those fiends, the
refugees, whose thefts, murders and treasons, have filled the
cup of woe; but shew the world that we prefer war, with aU
its direful calamities, to giving those fell destroyers of the
human species a residence among us. We have crimsoned
the earth with our blood to purchase peace, therefore are
determined to enjoy harmony uninterrupted with the con
taminating breath of a tory."
Over against such virulence may be put the proof afforded
by an extract from a letter written by one patriot to another,
that the acerbities of war times were being smoothed and
softened. Dr. Eben Hunt, writing from Northampton to Gen. WiUiam
Shepard in Congress, March 27, 1798, says in a postscript:
"I had forgot to inform you of the Death of our friend Seth

The Concluding Conflict 587
Catlin, who died in Consequence of an Injury received by
being pressed against the side of his Stable by a Horse, which
bro't on a Mortification of the Bowels, died in 4 days after
the Injury, universally lamented."
Seth CatUn, after having fought in the French and Indian
War, became a prominent tory of Deerfield. It was he to
whom reference was made as "your uncle Catlin" dealt with
by the mob described in the letter from Joseph Clarke to Major
Joseph Hawley, Springfield, Aug. 30, 1774, quoted in a previous
Chapter. Another serious trouble against which the patriots had to
contend was the frequency of desertions, and which in the
war of the RebeUion was commonly known as "bounty jump-
ing." "Springfield Feb. 25, 1782.
"Sr In consequence of an order from Genl Washington to
Col. Shepard he is authorized to call on any officer on Furlough
or otherways at home to set on a Genl Ct Martial at Spring
field as soon as possible for the Tryal of one CoUins — long
confined — to accomidate which you are Requested to attend
next Wednesday as a Member 8s pray you would not fail as
the officers are caUed on in several Towns near this Post, to
attend at that time and the disapointment of non attendance
wiU be great. Pr order Col. Shepard.
Capt. Goodale 8s Seth Bannister Capt.
Capt. Cobum
N. B. Continental aUowance
wiU be had for man and Horse."
Massachusetts Gazette, June 17, 1783 —
"The respectable manner of the late rejoicing at West-
field, on occasion of the peace, by one who was present at the
same —
"The morning being ushered in by a report of cannon, and
the flag of the United States being displayed on a pole erected
for that purpose on the green, at noon thirteen cannon were
fired, when an exceedingly well adapted discourse was de
livered by the Rev. N. Atwater, and an excellent Anthem sung
suited to the occasion; after which most of the principal persons

588 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of the town, with a number of gentlemen from Springfield
and the neighboring towns dined together, and the following
toasts were drank, each accompanied by a discharge of
cannon. "1. May the dawn of peace — that source and soul of public
happiness — be welcome to every American, and be had in
greatful remembrance to latest posterity.
"2. The United States of America.
"3. The Continental Congress.
"4. The generous and faithful aUies of these States.
"5. His Excellency General Washington, with all the officers
and soldiers of the American army.
"6. To the memory of the brave officers and men who have
faUen a sacrifice in the glorious cause of their country.
"7. May American independency, in the advantages arising
from it, exceed the highest expectations of the supporters of it.
"8. May blasting and mUdew foUow close at the heels of
those who, under the mask of patriotism, beUow out for liberty
and their country, whUe they are secretly endeavouring to
undermine the foundations of our constitution.
"9. The liberal and benevolent spirits on both sides of the
Atlantic, who have lent their aid to rear up the glorious fabric
of peace.
"10. Success to the lover, honor to the brave, Health to the
sick, 8s freedom to the slave.
"11. May Commerce and agriculture go hand in hand and
flourish far and wide.
"12. May the wings of extravagancy be dipt by the shears of
economy."13. May the odious distinctions of Whig and tory be utterly
forgotten under the benign auspices of peace.
"In the evening there was an exhibition of fireworks, and
the whole ceremony was conducted with the greatest regu
larity and good order, to the honor of aU concerned."
Two items foUow: " 'Tis reported that the definitive
treaty of peace, between the powers lately at war, was signed
at Paris on the first of May last." "About 7 or 800 of the
troops have passed thro' this town since our last, on their
way to their respective homes; the uncommon good order,

The Concluding Conflict 589
decency and civility of behaviour, which they have as yet
observed during their march, does them great honor."
The issue of Dec. 23, 1783, contains an account, dated
London, Oct. 9, describing the reading of the Proclamation
of Peace with great pomp, first before the gate of St. James
Palace, then at Charing Cross, then at Chancery Lane, then
"at the end of Wood St. where the cross formerly stood," and
finally at the Royal Exchange.

CHAPTER V
Some Westfield Heroes
Among the most valuable original manuscripts preserved
in the Atheneum is an account of personal experiences by
Adjutant RusseU Dewey, who was in the regiment commanded
by Col. EUsha Porter of Hadley which was raised for service
in Canada in the two western counties under the call of the
General Court, Jan. 21, 1776, quoted in a previous chapter.
"January 1776
A Journal of our march to the northard traveled
to worthington
31 tarried in the town that day
February the 1
traveled to gageborow the 2 day traveled to landlord Kings in
new lebanon the 3 traveled to landlord corbins in albany had
sum difference lay at the barbers the 4 we vewed the city taried
their 3 days the 7 day we traveled to landlord briants in StiU-
water their we heard the harpiscord and se the negro dance
the 8 day traveled to Sarratogue the 9 day traveled to landlord
Smith in fortedward which makes in whole of our travel to this
place 133 miles.
February the 10 we marched from fortedward to half a
way brook to landlord wing which was a plane way very bad
traveling upon the account of a rain the night before the water
was a near about midlg deep some part of the way 7 miles
the 11 we marched from fort half away brook to fort george
which was a plane way 7 miles
the 12 we Left Fort George 8i Came to Ticonderoga a Cross
the Lake 40 Miles
the 13 we Left ticonderoga 8s Came above Crown pint on
the Lake Champlain 20 miles
the 14 we marched on the lake to Stilburn which was 25 miles
the 15 we marched on the Lake near 30 mile with the com
pany and in our march one Span of our horses broke threw
the Lake which took us a our to get them out at night we made

Some Westfield Heroes 591
a halt for to incamp it being twenty one mile to any house
eight of us had a mind to go to the house we got of the Capt.
to go on we traveled about 16 mUe two of us gave out and could
not go any farther we went on to the land and made a fire and
stayed their that night we eight traveled 46 mile
the 16 we eight marched to the white house and waited
their for the company 5 miles
the 17 we Left the Lake champlane 9 miles.
Sunday the 18 we marched on the river to St John
21 mUes Monday the 19 we Left St John and marched to
Montreal 27 mile
Tuesday the 20 we lay by in montreal
Wednesday the 21 we Vewed arms at night three or
four of us went to Cor Pressons Quarters
Thursday the 22 I had a very bad cold and was very
Poorly Fryday 23 nothing remarcable happened
Saturday 24 nothing remarcable happened Amen
Sunday 25 I went to the french Church and se them
cary on and heard the orgain
Monday 26 two companys marched in Montrall and one
marched for Quebec
Tuesday the 27 a post arived at montreal and brought
news that our troops had burnt and toock Boston
Wednesday the 28 we Settled all our affairs in the mess
and used the pot together
Thursday the 29 nothing remarcable hapened except
two bottles of wine which was handed round among us con
siderable: — dito Amen
March 1776
Fryday the 1 Nothing remarcable hapened
Saturday March the 2 we used the pot together strangely
Sunday 3 nothing remarcable hapned except brandy
and lofe shugar
Monday the 4 nothing remarcable except a fire which
broke out and burnt out the armerer shop and one gun that
belonged to our Company and how many more I cannot
tel Tusday the 5 three company marched for Quebec eleven

592 Westfield and its Historic Influences
slayload of Provision arrived to Place at night two or three
of us walk into the sity and used the pot with Lieut
herrinton Wednesday the 6 we left montreal and marched for
Quebec 4 miles
Thursday the 7 we Proceded on our march toward Que
bec on the river St. larrance mUe 20
Fryday the 8 we marched on the river 22 mile it being
Settled all the way we came by 11 towns with churches in them
nothing remarcable hapned that day nor the day before only
the Capt. Chursing and swearing to the Lieut.
Saturday the 9 nothing remarcable hapned on our
march 24 mile we marched by three towns that day
Sunday the 10 we marched by two towns and came to
a town caUed the three rivers a large town with three meeting
houses mile 27
Monday the 11 we marched by two towns nothing
remarcable hapned except sore eyes mile 18
Tuesday the 12
we lay still upon the account of its Raining in the morn
ing and one of our company being sick and able to march
Wednesday the 13
we marched 30 mile part of the day we marched upon
the land we marched by 5 more towns that day
Thursday the 14 it was very bad stormy we marched by
3 more churches one had 3 steples mUes 20
Fryday the 15 was a fine pleasant day we arrived at
Quebec we marched by 4 churches and one image that day
mile 22 the whole of my march from Murryfield to this place
is 520 miles Saturday the 16 nothing remarcable except a smoke
house where our company was put into and almost Smoked
my Eyes out three companys marched in this day
Sunday the 17 they fired from the wals of Quebec con
siderable Monday the 18 I vewed the wals of Quebec they fired
at me two or three times without damage
Tuesday 19 nothing remarcable hapned except the
infection of the smaU pox which begun to prepare for
Wednesday the 20 nothing remarcable hapned

Some Westfield Heroes 593
Thursday the 21
nothing remarcable hapned except hungry men for we
being a fixing for the smaU pox might not eat nor drink any
thing except bread and water that is we could not get anything
else to eat
Fryday the 22 nothing remarcable
Saturday the 23 we had news that the Kings troops
had taken 20 slay load of Provision and about 60 of our troops
went down the river to retake them again
Sunday the 24 was a cold windy day and the snow flu
and winds was so high that we was affraid to go out a dore for
fear we should be blowed away for our Preperation brought
us so low that we were almost as light as eagles
Monday the 25 news Came to head Quarters that our
men had kUed and taken upward of thurty of the Enemy
Tusday the 26 I began to Brake out with the Small Pox
Wednesday the 27 the Comadore arived at Quebec and
brought us the good news that Genl Lee was at Crownpoint
with 1500 troops 700 of them french Regulars from france and
that the french brought 60 tons of powder with them
Thursday the 28 I was very sick
Fryday the 29 I gru better and got so weU that I went
to git my bottel but in vain the place whair it was left was a
grog shop the man said it was stolen by Sombody but Swore
he new not whare it was
Saterday the 30 the Regulars haled a gun out of the
city and fired at our maingard and jest at hight they kiled
one of men Sunday the 31
the Capt and Lieu went to the hospital and what beat
aU was some Crows which kept a croing round their and I
could not kiU them but I stired them dito considerable
Monday April 1 nothing remarcable
Tusday the 2 they wounded two of our men at the
alarm post Wednesday the 3 our men opened a batrey from Pint
levi upon the three companies marched in this day belonging
to Colo P [cut off]
Thursday the 4
nothing remarcable except half a alowance

594 Westfield and its Historic Influences
Saturday the 6 gunpowder smoke fire and baUs about
these days Sunday the 7 balls flying in the air
Monday the 8 Some firing
Tusday the 9 continual firing from Pint Levi and from
the town Wednesday the 10
A Post arived at Quebec and brought news that
Boston was taken he said that our people bilt batries at the
mouth of the harber and stoped the shipin from going out or
in and that they had bilt another upon dorchister Point and
some others that they had bilt that they drove the Shiping
up in a heap round the north part of the town and that our
people played upon them so smart that they did send out a
flag of truce to get Ueve to go of with their baggage and stores
which was not granted but our people at last marched into
town and tock it with the los of a number of men but how
many we did not hear
Thursday the 1 1 nothing remarcable hapned
Russell Dewey
Fryday the 12
their was a report in the camp that a woman came
out of City this night and brought out this nues that there
was a meeting in the City and that Colton was for giving up
the City and Colol Mackleen was for keeping it Mackleen
had the stronger party and over came Colton and Confined
him Saturday the 13 the BuU that we sot such a great Store
by died and is not dead for the want of blood his blood is aU
gone which causes us to lement greatly for his blood was excil-
ent and nourishing to nature
Sunday the 14 nothing remarcable hapned
Monday the 15 was the day we longed to se for that
was the day that our time was out and our Regiment had
not pass we turned out that day to See if Should Pass and the
mustermaster not coming they whiped the Snake a while and
we was dismist for that time
Tusday the 16 a Post arrived at this Place and Con
firmed the nues about Boston being taken and brought nues that
the King of France had sent a daligate to the congress and had

Some Westfield Heroes 595
sent over a shipload of war like stores and that he would assist
us if the King of Ingland Ingaged the hanovarians against us
Wednesday the 17
Our Regiment turned out and Mustered it being the
third time that we attempted the King and nobody appeared
for to muster us the same day about 40 of the yorkers Paraded
themselves Before the Generals for to get Liberty to go home
some of them not being suted swore that they would Plunder
the inhabitants and fired at some people and tryed blow up
the magazine but was taken and carried to the gard house and
put in Irons
Thursday the 18 two of our men deserted into the City
Fryday the 19 nothing remarcable
Saturday the 20 nothing remarcable except the com
pany turning out in the morning by three a Clock in which
the company never did before
Sunday the 21 two men coming to the river and caling
for the conne and I went to set them over and came to the
other side and who should one of them be but George Knox and
he not knowing me I sot them over and then I spoke to them and
then he knowd me and he seemed to be so glad to see me that
he scarcely know'd what to do with himself
This day one man died out of the company it being
the first man we lost sense we left home
Monday the 22
Our men opened a batry down by the nunnery upon
the town and there was a continual fire from the batry and
from the town aU the forenoon our men fire Forty Shot from
the batry that day and they Plumpt thirty nine of them into
the thickest of the City
Tuesday the 23 they fire from the town and dismount
the Bellowses with their Balls but hurt nobody
Wednesday the 24 one of our men was a Raming down
a hot Ball and not haveing suffitient wading the gun went of
and burnt the man badly
Thursday the 25
we was Alairmed in the night and was ordered to be
upon abrahams Planes amediately, for what we new not but
it was supposed that our men was a going to send a fire ship
in among their shiping that lay haled up close into the town

596 Westfield and its Historic Influences
in order for to burn them but it being a rainy night our men
had but jest turn out before was dismist and their was nothing
done that night
Fryday 26 their was such a firing that the air was full
of balls some of them flying one way and some the other our
men being so ingaged afiring that they split one of their cannon
and hurt one man very bad so that he died"
Thus abruptly the unique document concludes, leaving
us hungry for more, like Oliver Twist; and, luce him, helpless
to supply the lack. Its pages are bound in book form without
covers, sewed at the back with black thread, the whole dis
colored and tattered by age. Its dimensions are five and a
half by three inches, comprising twenty-six pages.
On the last inside page the following items appear:
" February 3 1776 L S d
Paid out for the company 0 3 3
Colo Shepard Dr.
to 6 shillings for pipes
to 6 shillings for Charles
to 3 shillings at Norwitch
Russell Deweys
Journal
Revolutionary War "
On the outside of the last leaf appears one more item:
February the 8
L S d
Paid out for cyder 0:1:2
Febru the 9
more to peper and peper box 0 : 2 : 0
more to a cheas 0:9:9 "
In preparing a copy of this important manuscript the
utmost care has been exercised to make it accurate to the
minutest particular. The original is almost absolutely devoid
of any punctuation marks, and therefore they have been left
out of this copy, whUe all the peculiarities of spelling have
been retained in order that the reader may have the clearest

L

S

d

0

6

0

0

:6:

0

0

:3:

0

Some Westfield Heroes 597
conception of the work of the author during that perilous
campaign in the winter and early spring of 1776.
Through personal correspondence of the author with Dr.
W. B. Webster, a local antiquarian of Schuylerville, N. Y., the
original site of "Surrotogue" of the Diary, under date of June
29, 1915, he says:
"Bryant's Inn was located at Bryant's Bridge, three or
four miles 'up the creek' west of this village. The old Revo
lutionary Inn is stUl in existence although now divided into
two tenements situated about J^of a mile apart. * * * Land
lord Smith in 'fort edward' Kept an Inn on the old stage road
leading to Fort Edward and located at the mouth of 'stoney
creek.' The territory is in the township of Greenwich, N. Y.,
at the present time. The old house burned about thirty
years ago. Opposite the house in the river was an island
of several acres on which refugees hid before the advance of
Burgoyne's army. This was known as Smith's Island being
owned by Landlord Smith, the State however reserving the
right to tie log rafts to said Island. The above State right
stiU exists though the island has been reduced by action of
the current to a mere strip of land covered by a few trees and
bushes." That travesty of a siege of the famous fortress in which
RusseU Dewey was a participant, following the tragic failure
to carry it by storm on the last night of 1775, when Mont
gomery fell and Arnold was severely wounded, was both absurd
and pathetic. It involved untold hardships for the insufficient
force of the Americans, with no shadow of a chance of success
under existing conditions.
General Wooster assumed command of the besiegers on the
first of April, and Bancroft thus describes his appearance and
the conditions which he found upon his arrival: "The garrison
laughed as they saw from the ramparts the general, now venera
ble from age, and distinguished by his singularly large wig,
walking solemnly along the waUs, to spy out their weak parts.
Scattered round Quebec, on both sides of the river, and at
great distances from each other, lay about two thousand men;
of whom not more than half were able to do duty. How to
supply them with food was a great difficulty. The insignificant
batteries of three light guns and one howitzer on Point Levi;

598 Westfield and its Historic Influences
of twice that number of guns, two howitzers and two small
mortars on the heights of Abraham; and of two guns at the
Traverse, were harmless to the enemy; the store of powder
did not exceed three or four tons; of shot, ten or twelve; there
were no engineers and few artiUerists; of those who had
wintered in Canada, constituting more than half of the whole
number, the time of service would expire on the fifteenth of
April when neither art, nor money, nor entreaty would be
able to prevail on them to remain." (History of the United
States, Vol. VIII, p. 420.)
How much more formidable those batteries looked to
Dewey and his companions than they reaUy were before the
task of subduing that mighty fortress! The "Balls" which
flew so often before his wondering gaze were hardly more
effective than peas from a boy's tin shooter would have been.
Just after the Journal closes, and fifteen days after the time
of enlistment of Dewey's company had expired, though it was
still held in service by a trick of arbitrary martial authority,
Major General Thomas of Massachusetts superseded Wooster.
He found nineteen hundred men there, half of whom were
sick, and of the other half, a third was composed of men whose
enlistments had expired and who seriously objected to go on
duty. "In all the magazines there remained but about one
hundred and fifty pounds of powder, and six days' provisions."
It is very interesting to study this Journal in connection
with an account which Sylvester Judd gathered from Noah
Cook of Northampton, as published in Trumbull's Northamp
ton. Cook started for Canada a month after Dewey started
from Chester, taking a more easterly course from Worthington,
through WiUiamstown, Bennington, Shaftesbury, Arlington
and WeUs Pond to Ticonderoga. He reached there March
10, having crossed Lake Champlain on the ice, nearly a
month later than Dewey, who arrived there Feb. 12.
The company in which Cook was a private had for a captain
Israel Chapin of Hatfield. Its scanty baggage, no tents being
used, was carried by Perez Bardwell of Hatfield in a sleigh
drawn by two horses. This detachment must have traveled
very rapidly, having reached Ticonderoga on the seventh
day after leaving Northampton, while Dewey and his company

Some Westfield Heroes 599
did not reach there until the thirteenth day after leaving
Chester, stopping, however, three days at Albany.
Judd's report of Cook's account speaks of the distribution
of provisions at Ticonderoga, and continues as foUows: "The
weather had grown much milder, but they went up to Crown
Point on the ice, which was in some places covered with water.
They continued the march on the ice, but it soon became too
fraU. So weak was it that they were compeUed to lead the
horses, and draw by hand the sleigh and a hay sled. One
horse broke through the ice and was drawn out of the water
nine times. The other one was placed on the sled and drawn
to the shore. They succeeded in reaching the eastern side
of the lake in safety, just at the narrows, but found no inhabit
ants. They proceeded to Onion river, now Burlington, by
land, where they found a famUy of high Dutch. No house
was seen between Crown Point and Burlington. At Col
chester, the next stopping place, temporary barracks were
found but no inhabitants. Here BardweU left his sleigh and
returned home with his horses. At Crown Point nothing
remained but the old fort with a scanty guard. From
Ticonderoga they had a Frenchman for a guide. The weather
turning cold they were able to cross the lake on the ice, land
ing just below Grand Isle, then uninhabited. In crossing the
lake from Colchester they put up a pole with a blanket, and the
wind being favorable they went swiftly across the lake to the
White House, nearly opposite the lower part of Grand Isle.
Only one house was seen there and that appeared to be tenant-
less." Dewey speaks of having waited at the White House with
his seven companions, for the rest of the company to join
them, but he does not say whether it was tenanted at that
time. The hardships endured by both Dewey and Cook
must have tried their mettle severely.
Russell Dewey was the son of Moses and Sarah Dewey,
born Aug. 7, 1754. His sister Sarah was the wife of Gen.
WiUiam Shepard. Russell Dewey was married at West Spring
field, after Aug. 5, 1781, to Sophia Chapin, daughter of Capt.
EUsha and Miriam (Ely, daughter of Joseph and Margaret).
They Uved on the northwest corner of Franklin and Shepard
Streets. Captain Chapin commanded at Fort Massachusetts

600 Westfield and its Historic Influences
in 1754 and was massacred by the Indians at West Hoosac,
now Williamstown, July 11, 1756. His daughter, Sarah A.,
married John Farnham of Westfield, who had been one of
Paul Jones's men. RusseU Dewey marched in April, 1775,
in the company of Capt. David Shepard, Col. Seth Pomeroy's
regiment, was at Bunker HiU and took his station at the "rail
fence" and fired 13 of his 17 cartridges, was at the taking of
Burgoyne, and at VaUey Forge in 1778. In 1783 he was com
missioned Adjutant by Governor Hancock, serving in the
2d and 3d Regts., Massachusetts militia, until honorably
discharged in 1805. His height is given as 5 feet 7 inches.
The foUowing "Declaration" of Adjutant RusseU Dewey
was sent to the War Department with his application for a
pension : "Westfield, May 6th, 1818.
"Marched from Chester on or about the 23rd of April,
1775, and joined the troops in Cambridge, near Boston; en
listed on the forepart of May as fifer in Capt. ChUd's company,
Col. Gardener's regiment, for eight months. Was discharged
in the fore part of Jan., 1776, and returned to Chester. En
listed on the first of February under Capt. Grovner for three
months in Maj. Cady's detachment and marched immediately
to Quebec. Was discharged on or about the 6th of May,
when our troops retreated from that place and returned to
Chester. Enlisted about the first of June under Capt. Gray,
of Col. Woodbridge's regiment and marched immediately
for Ticonderoga. Soon after our arrival at that place I was
appointed Fife Maj. of Gen. Bricket's brigade. Was dis
charged about the first of December and returned to West-
field. Enlisted in February or March 1777, during the war
under Lieut. Martin Smith, of Capt. Ball's Company, Col.
Wm Shepard's regiment, Gen. Glover's brigade, a Quarter
Master Sergt. Rec'd my warrants as Q.M.Sergt. Sep. 14th,
1778. Was promoted to Wagon Conductor on the 21st of
August, 1779, to Gen. Glover's brigade. Was returned pro
moted and left off the rolls of the regiment. Continued in
the brigade until the fore part of June 1780, then by the con
sent of Col. Shepard and Gen. Glover resigned and left the
service and returned to Westfield. RusseU Dewey. "

Some Westfield Heroes 601
He was placed on the U. S. pension roll Oct. 1, 1818, and
commenced to draw May 6, 1818, received $843.20 back pay
and $96.00 a year until his death Feb. 18, 1827.
The foUowing document shows that Adjutant Dewey had
an eye for the possible benefit of modern inventions, which
were devised by Yankee minds as long ago as the early years
of the nineteenth century :
"Know aU Men by these presents that I Simeon Glover
of New Town Cont for $10 Received of Russell Dewey of
Westfield in Mass. do sell convey quitclaim 8s release unto
him the sd Dewey the fuU 8s exclusive right Si Uberty of Mak
ing constructing using 8s vending to others to be used the
Cross-cramp for four Wheeled-Carriages within 8s for the
Town of Westfield which Town is to him a District wheren
the Sd Dewey has AU the rights Si privileges that I had to
Sd District before this sale of a Patent from the United States
bearing date May 4th 1805 8s the Sd Dewey has no right to
encroach upon the Patenter in any other place — in witness
whereof I have hereunto set my hand 8s Seal this 16th day of
August 1806 at Westfield.
In presence of Simeon Glover
WiUiam Moseley (L.S.)"
WiUiam Dewey
That Adjutant Dewey had some delay in the final settle
ment of his claims against the Government is indicated by
the foUowing letter on file in the Atheneum:
"Dear Sir — I tryd my utmost endeavour to get your Certificates
but in vain. You must make oath to what money you have
Received from the time your RoU specifies. The Gentleman
thinks you was in the Service longer than your Roll is made
up f or —
"The Soldiers or Waggoners pay wiU not come through
your hands except you have paid them and produce vouchers;
"If you get the Waggoners to sign an order make oath that
those are the men specified in the RoU, and that the names
are their own signing; that I am sure will leave no room for
Caveling. I tryed hard to get yours and Witherels Certificates
Sepperate, but could not untill I informed you how the matter
stands.

602 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"I was taken Sick directly after I got to N York, and when
I got my health Mr. Deming was absent which prevented my
making you returns sooner —
I am Sir Yours
"New York Oct. 27th 1784 Saml. Chapin
"N. B. My compliments to aU friends and Inform Genl.
Shepard that Money cannot be borrowed in York under 4 per.
cent Interest pr month. I am in good health."
The children of RusseU Dewey and Sophia Chapin Dewey
were Sewell, born March 3, 1782, died June 30, 1858; WiUiam,
born June 7, 1784, died March 13, 1844; Sophia, born Feb.
9, 1787; Laura, born May 18, 1790.
The inscription of RusseU Dewey's tablet in the old ceme
tery is : "In memory of
Adjt. RusseU Dewey
who died Feb. 18, 1827
Aged 72 years."
His widow lived untU Aug. 13, 1830.
A curious affidavit is on file in the town records bearing
date of March 25, 1831, witnessed by Jonathan Taylor and
James Fowler, and executed by James Fowler, Justice of the
Peace. It declares that SewaU, WiUiam and Sophia Dewey,
and Laura (Dewey) Perry and Samuel Perry of Connawangs,
New York, heirs at law of the late RusseU Dewey, in con
sideration of the sum of forty-five doUars, paid by Robert
Whitney, release and seU to him their right to a "certain Pew
in the Meeting House on the margin of the Green in said West-
field, being No 88 and situated on the centre or broad Aisle,
bounded in front by Pew No 89 occupied by the Rev. Emerson
Davis, 8s in rear by No 87, occupied by the heirs of John Ban
croft late of Westfield deceased, 8s originaUy bought owned and
occupied by said RusseU Dewey deceased, owned in common
8s undivided with Dr. Horace Smith 8s Warham Shepard or
the heirs of the late Genl. WiUiam Shepard deceased."
That historic pew, occupied in common from 1807 by the
two redoubtable heroes, General Shepard and his brother-in-
law, Adjutant Dewey, until the death of the former in 1817,

Some Westfield Heroes 603
stiU continued to be held in part after the death of the latter
by the General's son Warham. To be thus associated from
generation to generation with the life of a family is surely
one ground of justification of the custom, on many grounds
reprehensible, of selling a certain space in the house of common
worship. One of the notable soldiers of the town, who did deeds of
valor in two wars, was Oliver Root, son of Samuel Root, Jr., a
descendant of John Root, one of the "Foundation Men."
Oliver was born Nov. 24, 1741, and his Father died Jan. 14,
1743, as Mr. BaUantine notes in his Journal.
When he had reached a proper age Oliver was apprenticed
to a shoemaker, and while but a youth, taking advantage of
a law which aUowed apprentices to enlist, he went with a
company raised in Westfield for the French war, to Albany,
foUowing the road cut in 1753 along the Westfield river through
Poontusuck which had been but recently opened for settlement.
According to Smith, in his History of Pittsfield, that road was
not much better than a narrow path for pack horses, and
described by Oliver Root as in horrible condition, there having
been no less than five hemlock swamps, almost impassable
bogs, between the Hoosacs and the Taconics. The mire was
so deep that the soldiers were obliged to support their horses
with their burdens through them by putting the bands on
which their muskets were slung, under the horses' belfies,
and thus aid them in reaching ground firm enough to sustain
them. Young Root, after reaching the scene of active operations,
had the honor of enrollment in the hazardous service of the
famous Corps of Rangers under Major Robert Rogers. Only
those who gave promise of endurance under most trying con
ditions, inteUigent skiU in woodcraft, and indomitable courage,
were accorded that honor. John Stark and Israel Putnam
were among its officers, who, with rank and file of splendid
material, made it the most unique Corps of Rangers in history.
Their equipment, besides their arms, consisted only of a tin
cup and single blanket per man, while their commissariat
included only a "Uttle parched corn meal." "Singly, or in
parties, they lay down to rest wherever inchnation and oppor
tunity found them, with no shelter but their blankets. Their

604 Westfield and its Historic Influences
strength was sustained, and their umpampered appetites
satisfied, with a little corn stirred in their cups with water
dipped from the wayside brook or spring; although they did
not forbear to forage for choicer viands when circumstances
favored, nor disdain the game with which the forest abounded,
when prudence did not forbid the noise necessary for its cap
ture, or the smoke which would arise in cooking it."
Smith's description of the services which they rendered is
so graphic as to warrant more extended quotation: "In aU
marches they piloted the way, and scouting along the edges
of the columns, rendered surprise or ambuscade impossible.
Always on the alert they patroUed the forests in aU directions;
making prisoners of unwary enemies, skirmishing with exposed
outposts, rescuing captured friends, and giving warning to
those in danger, until they surpassed the red man in his own
craft, and became the terror of Frenchman and hostile Indian."
Their chief scene of action was the rough region of forest
and mountain between Ticonderoga and Fort WiUiam Henry,
the wild shores, heights and fastnesses about Lake George.
Parkman says, "In summer they passed down tha lake in
whaleboats or canoes, or threaded the pathways of the woods
in single file, like the savages themselves. In winter they
journeyed through the swamps on snowshoes, skated along
the frozen surface of the lake, and bivouacked at night among
snowdrifts. They intercepted French messengers, encountered
French scouting parties, and carried off prisoners from under
the very waUs of Ticonderoga." (The Conspiracy of Pontiac,
Vol, I. p. 169.)
For a young man under twenty years old to be enroUed in
that famous band of Rangers is a high testimonial to his virile
qualities; to have shared their hardships so long is evidence of
rare physical endowment. Proof of higher quahties stiU is
furnished by the fact that though enfistment in the army
freed him from all further pecuniary responsibility as an ap
prentice to his master, he nevertheless upon returning home at
the close of the war, in 1760, brought aU that he had been able
to save from his bounty money and regular pay, and placed
the sum in the hands of his former master, saying substantially,
"This money I might legaUy retain, but justly and rightfully
it is yours; take it." He retained through life the same high

Some Westfield Heroes 605
sense of honor, which prompted him in old age to refuse to apply
for the pension to which he was entitled for heroic service in
the Continental Army, insisting that the Act of Congress
estabUshing the pension system could have been intended only
for the benefit of those who were left destitute, and that though
he was not wealthy he had sufficient means for his support.
It was in one of the minor affairs of the campaign in central
New York that the most tragic and heroic incident of the
martial career of Major Root occurred, in the summer of 1780.
In the autumn preceding, Washington had sent General SuUivan
to make reprisal upon the Six Nations for the horrible massacres
perpetrated in 1778 at Wyoming and Cherry VaUey. The
Iroquois had become cultivators of vast farming regions,
raising annuaUy immense quantities of grain, besides beans,
pumpkins, apples, pears and peaches. They had great store
houses for the preservation of these crops, and depended upon
such produce of the farm rather than upon the chase for their
yearly supplies.
Speaking of the campaign of SuUivan against these hostUe
tribes who were led by the famous Brant, Thayendanegea
as the Indians knew him, whose headquarters were at Fort
Niagara, Fiske says: "From Tioga, the American army marched
through the entire country of the Cayugas and Senecas, laying
waste the cornfields, and cutting down aU the fruit trees. More
than forty viUages, the largest containing 128 houses, were
razed to the ground. So terrible a vengeance had not over
taken the Long House since the days of Frontenac. The
region thus devastated had come to be the most important
domain of the Confederacy, which never recovered from the
blow thus inflicted." (The American Revolution, Vol. II,
p. 96.) But general sickness among his troops and a dangerous
lack of supplies rendered it unwise for SuUivan to press on to
the investment of Fort Niagara. Thayendanegea stiU held it,
and therefrom he and his savage battalions salfied forth during
the winter of 1780 to crush the Oneidas, who had seemed friendly
to the Continentals. In the summer following he and Sir
John Johnson joined forces to devastate the Mohawk vaUey,
upon whose teeming harvests Washington depended largely
to supply his commissariat. It was to defend that important

606 Westfield and its Historic Influences
territory that a Berkshire regiment was sent to augment the
American forces. Col. John Brown, with a noble record for
patriotic services, was its commanding officer, and Oliver
Root was its Major.
The most important feature of the campaign to Major
Root was the engagement of Stone Arabia. The Berkshire
regiment was posted at a smaU blockhouse called Fort Paris,
about three mUes north of the Mohawk River in the district
which is a part of what is now the town of Palatine. The
hordes of Indians and Tories started October 14, on a career
of devastation and slaughter through the vaUeys of the Scho
harie and Mohawk, burning everything inflammable, houses,
barns and grain, and ruthlessly butchering the Whig inhabit
ants, men, women and children.
Gen. Robert Van Rensselaer with a body of militia arrived
in the region October 18, and found the vUlage of Caughnawaga
a mass of smouldering ruins. Hearing that Fort Paris, about
twelve miles distant, was to be attacked the next day, he
sent orders to Colonel Brown to form a junction with him at
a designated point, to intercept the approaching force.
Colonel Brown, though warned that the plan was ex
ceedingly hazardous, started, in obedience to orders, early on
the morning of October 19, his thirty-fifth birthday. Through
the treachery of some people who appeared on the way, he led
his men by a road upon which the enemy had arranged an
ambuscade so common in Indian warfare, near an abandoned
work called Fort Keyzer, in the midst of heavy timber.
Suddenly a sergeant exclaimed, "See that damned Indian!"
and fired his musket. Immediately the woods blazed with the
discharge of a thousand guns, pouring death upon the startled
and ensnared troops. Colonel Brown was one of the first
victims, shot through the heart, leaving Major Root in com
mand. The only hope, forlorn though it was, and apparently
ignominious, was in flight from that awful death-trap. Forty
of the detachment were slain and the rest succeeded in reaching
Fort Paris, whence they had marched forth a few hours earlier.
Conditions there were heartrending. Women and children
had sought refuge there, hoping to escape from their savage
foes. What foUowed is almost wholly preserved in tradition only,

Some Westfield Heroes 607
but weU authenticated, since it was imparted by Major Root to
two of his friends from whose lips Mr. Smith himself heard it.
He thus recounts it: "Fortunately Major Root had been
trained in a school which rendered him famUiar with such
scenes, as well as with the character of the enemy with whom
he had to deal. The fort he knew was not at all competent
to sustain an assault from the forces which now thronged into
the edges of the clearing around it, and were evidently eager
for an attack. But he was weU aware of the terror with which
'big guns' inspired the savages, and was convinced by the
temerity with which they exposed themselves that they be
lieved him whoUy unsupplied with artiUery. The wretched
little fortress, however, was by chance supplied with one poor
dwarf of a four pounder, although its ammunition was limited
to a solitary ball and three charges of powder. With this
the Major determined to make a demonstration; and wheehng
his gun to the gateway, he sent the lonely missile bowling
among, or at least towards, the astonished group. A charge
of horse-chains next went singing through the air. But in
the meanwhUe, by order of the Major, a huge old cast-iron
dinner pot had been broken up; and when its fragments came
shrieking and screaming among the besiegers it completed
their dismay and they withdrew rapidly within the shelter
of the woods. Even the tory officer who commanded them
does not seem to have noticed the scarcity of ammunition which
the strangeness of the missiles would have indicated to one of
more shrewdness or experience; for he gave over his purposed
attack, remarking that "he had a mind to take that fort by
storm, but it would cost too many lives." (History of Pitts
field, Vol. I, pp. 314-5.)
Thus, by his courage and resourcefulness in the extremity
of peril, Major Root rescued his command and the defenseless
women and children who had fled to the blockhouse for shelter
from the terrible menace of mutilation, torture, and death.
If "battle" is too pretentious a term to apply to that affair at
Stone Arabia, it stiU was an occasion for the display of the
most heroic qualities in the officer suddenly forced into su
preme command, the noble man who as a lad had been a shoe
maker's apprentice in Westfield.
The second of the two Westfield names which rank high in

608 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the Revolutionary history of Pittsfield is that of David Noble.
He was born in Westfield, the son of David and Abigail Loomis
Noble, Jan. 25, 1732. During his first year his parents re
moved to Hebron, Conn. The family moved back to West-
field as early as 1737. The younger David there married his
cousin, Ruth Noble, on Feb. 21, 1753, his junior by about
six weeks only. His trade, that of a shoemaker, was the same
as that of Oliver Root.
In May, 1761, he was chosen a warden in Pittsfield, and
four years later when the town voted to erect three school-
houses he was employed to buUd the one in the western dis
trict. The name of David Noble appears among the ten signers
of a petition to the selectmen of Pittsfield, requesting them
to caU a town meeting "to act and do what the town think
proper respecting the circular letter sent out by the town of
Boston and other towns in the Province; and such other
matters as the town shaU think proper in regard to the invaded
liberties of the country." Pursuant to that caU a meeting
was held which appointed "a standing committee to correspond
with the correspondent committees of this and other provinces."
It consisted of seven persons, one of whom was Lieutenant
David Noble, and the Rev. Thomas AUen, who became so
widely famous as Pittsfield's fighting parson, was the chair
man. One of the alarms preliminary to the actual outbreaking
of hostilities was a false report which was started in some way
and spread like wildfire across the Province, to the effect that
the British troops and men-of-war had fired upon Boston.
The report reached Pittsfield Sept. 1, 1774, and aroused the
people there as elsewhere to a high pitch of patriotic fervor.
The Pittsfield company, with David Noble as Captain, was
quickly mustered and marched at top speed as far as West-
field to the defense of the capital, ere news of the falsity of the
report reached them. For that service the town voted to pay
to each private and non-commissioned officer two pounds for
"himself and horse," and six pounds apiece to the captain
and his lieutenant.
The zeal of Captain Noble was met most satisfactorily
by his fellow townsmen. His company of minute men was

Some Westfield Heroes 609
comprised of fifty-one men from Pittsfield and twenty-one
from nearby Richmond, weU driUed and equipped. For
arms and uniforms they were indebted to their generous and
patriotic leader. Instead of returning with his men from
Westfield in September, he pressed on to Boston to study
existing conditions and to learn what preparations for the
impending conflict were most necessary. On reaching home
he proceeded at once to put into execution a noble purpose,
which has been characterized by the local historian as "one of
the most splendid displays of patriotism in the Revolutionary
story of Pittsfield." He sold two farms in Stephentown,
N. Y., and some land in Pittsfield, with the proceeds of which
he went to Philadelphia, bought buckskin for breeches, and
cloth for coats "of blue turned up with white." He hired
a breeches maker who returned with him to Pittsfield, and the
uniforms were made up at his own house during the winter.
Captain Noble also provided arms and accouterments for his
whole company, and never asked for repayment of any sums
expended then or subsequently for his men. That crack
company marched as a part of the regiment of Colonel Patter
son as soon as the news of Lexington reached Berkshire. They
probably did not return home until after the battle of Bunker
HU1, where they are said to have taken part in defending Fort
No. 3, one of their own works.
At the close of 1775 Captain Noble returned from Pittsfield
to Boston, a final separation from his home and from his family
except as his wife and son joined him at Skeensborough shortly
before his death.
Upon the evacuation of Boston by the British in March,
1776, he accompanied Washington's army to New York, and
thence went to Canada to join Arnold. But the disaster at
Quebec occurred before Patterson's regiment reached there,
so that it joined in the retreat from Canada southward.
Wasted by fatigue and virtual starvation, he was stricken
with smallpox at Isle aux Noix and late in June, 1776, was
removed to Crown Point. A letter written thence to his wife
has been preserved describing the tragic conditions under
which he and other heroic patriots suffered. It is addressed
to "Mrs. Ruth Noble, Pittsfield, per favor of Mr. Chamber
lain"

610 Westfield and its Historic Influences
"Crown Point, July 1, 1776.
"Dear Wife: I would inform you that through Divine good
ness I am alive but not very weU, for by reason of hard fatigue
before I had the smaU-pox by marching and unsuitable diet,
the distemper has left me in a poor state of health, though I
had it very Ught. Ten days ago I was sent with the sick from
Isle Auxnaux to this place, and have grown more poorly than
better since I came here. Our army is very distressed by
reason of the smaU-pox: we have had four thousand sick at
once: I have not lost one of my company yet, though some
have had it very severe: Sergeant Colfax is now very bad and
it is doubtful whether he ever recovers. I had two men taken
by the Indians in Major Sherbern's party which are redeemed,
and one Samuel Merry of my company is either kUled or taken
by the regulars going down on a raft from Montreal to Sorrel.
The distresses of our sick is so unaccountable that I cannot
point it out by pen and ink. (All my company have had it.)
If it was not for the danger of the smaU-pox I should be glad
to have brother James or David come up and see me and
bring my horse for I intend to try and come home if I remain
so poorly. I believe that one of them may come safe by tak
ing good care when he gets here. I suppose that there is about
four thousand of the well of our army at the Isle Auxnaux, and
whether they wiU stay there or come here I do not know. TeU
Croner's wife that he has had the smaU-pox and has got weU
over the distemper, but he has had the misfortune to have it
fall into one of his eyes so that I am afraid he wiU lose the
sight of one eye. He remembers his kind love to her and child.
He intends to try to come home when I come: he cannot write
for want of paper. It is very hard Uving: wine one doUar
per quart: spirits one doUar per quart : loaf sugar three shillings
per pound: butter one shUling and sixpence, nor to be had for
that : no milk. AU the above articles hardly to be had. Vine
gar three shiUings per quart. I shall write no more at present,
but remain Your loving husband, David Noble, Captain."
He lived but about a month longer and got no nearer home
than Skeensborough (now Whitehall) where he died, Aug. 5,

Some Westfield Heroes 611
1776. Westfield may well be proud to cherish among its
heroic sons such a patriot.
After the expenditures of his private resources incident
to the equipment of his company as already noted, Captain
Noble in the spring of 1775 sent from the camp at Cambridge
"for all the goods that remained in his store at home, both linen
and woolens, that would answer for soldiers clothing." His
son says, "we harvested thirty acres of wheat which was flourd
and sent to Cambridge the next winter, all excepting what
our famUies used."
Thus this patriot, like his great Commander in Chief, held
his private resources at the disposal of the necessitous army
of liberty. In view of such magnanimous sacrifices, how
inconceivably brutal was the tory who, just about the time
of Captain Noble's death, applied the torch which destroyed
his house in Pittsfield together with his barn, store, saddler's
shop, and tannery.
The late Senator H. L. Dawes, in a private letter quoted
in an editorial of the Berkshire County Eagle of May 21, 1858,
speaking of the above letter of Captain Noble, says, "I think
it wiU be of interest to the people of Pittsfield, who should
erect a monument to the glorious old patriot in their beautiful
cemetery. I have the original of the letter copied in the
(congressional) report, and were it an heirloom in my family,
no money should induce me to part with it."
The editorial adds, "Every glimpse which we thus get
into the fading story of the old time goes to prove that it is
no fiction, founded in local or famUy pride, that attributes
to those who laid the foundation of our prosperity, an earnest
ness, courage, and pure elevation of character which places
them in the first rank among heroes and patriots."
A large portion of the early settlers of Pittsfield were from
Westfield, among them representatives of weU known famihes
of the latter town, Ashley, Bagg, Bush, Cadwell, Dewey,
Francis, Hubbard, Noble, Piercy, Sacket, Stiles, Taylor and
Weller. David Bush was one of the earliest, having com
menced a clearing in 1749 on which he "had cut several tons
of hay before the first white woman came to town."
Captain David Noble had a younger brother James there,
who was himself a captain and rendered valuable service in

612 Westfield and its Historic Influences
the Continental army at Ticonderoga, Bennington and in
other fields. He and his company were the victims of one of
the early dastardly schemes of Col. Benedict Arnold which
foreshadowed the stupendous treachery to his country which
has made Arnold's name a hissing and a byword to all suc
ceeding generations. He had received from the Committee
of Safety at Cambridge a commission as "colonel and com
mander of forces not to exceed four hundred, to be raised for
the reduction of Ticonderoga." His plan was to raise men
for that purpose in Berkshire, and having reached Pittsfield
early in May, 1775, he there learned that an expedition was
already under way commanded by Ethan AUen, James Easton,
and Seth Warner. Fearing that they might reap laurels
which he coveted for himself, he hastened forward to enforce
his claims as superior officer.
From Reuport, May 8, 1775, he sent back a letter "to the
Gentlemen of the Southern Towns" explaining the condition
of affairs at Ticonderoga and urging them to send on reinforce
ments. It concludes as foUows:
"I beg the favor of you, gentlemen, as far down as this
reaches, to exert yourselves and send forward as many men to
join the army here as you can possible spare. There is plenty
of provisions engaged, and on the road, for five or six hundred
men six or eight weeks. Let every man bring as much powder
and baU as he can, also a blanket. Their wages are 40 s. per
month. I humbly engaged to see paid: also the blankets.
I am, gentlemen, Your humble servant
Benedict Arnold
Commander of the forces."
In response to this appeal Capt. James Noble led to Ticon
deroga a company composed of fifteen men from each company
in Pittsfield and vicinity, who took part in operations against
the enemy in that region. How Arnold fulfiUed his "humble"
engagement to see the men paid is indicated by the follow
ing action taken four months after the conclusion of their
service :

Some Westfield Heroes 613
"In the House of Representatives —
Nov. 9, 1775
"The Committee on Col. Arnold's account have examined
Capt. Noble's pay-roU and find that the said Arnold has charged
this colony with said Noble's pay-roU, and has received the
whole amount thereof. It further appears that the balance
due the said Noble, which the said Arnold has received,
amounts to £36.5s.5d: and as it appears that the said Noble
and his men are in great want of their money, and the said
Arnold is now in the Continental service, and cannot at present
be come at, to pay the sum he received to pay the said Noble
and his company, therefore resolved, that there be aUowed
and paid by the Treasurer of this colony to the said Capt.
James Noble the sum of £36.5s.5d., being the full balance of
his muster roU: he giving security to pay the men made up in
said roU the sums severaUy due to them.
"And it is further resolved that this court prefer to Gen.
Washington a charge of the sum aforesaid against the said
Arnold: that a stoppage of so much as is before ordered to be
paid to said Noble may be made for the benefit of the Conti
nent." (Mass. Archives. Vol. CCVII, p. 200.)
The very pettiness of the embezzlement, which, however,
entaUed hardship upon many noble patriots, is a commentary
upon the character of the man who became so notorious as an
arch-traitor to his country.
Smith, in his history, relates a curious incident of the ex
perience of Nathaniel Fairfield, before the formal settlement
in 1752. He was born in Boston in 1730, one of a large family
of chUdren. His Father having lost most of his property,
Nathaniel was adopted by a Mr. Dickinson of Westfield. Hav
ing reached the age of 18, he became eager to seek his fortune,
and went with Dan CadweU, who had purchased of Amos
Root one of the lots in Poontoosuck, to examine the region.
Before they had completed their investigations, their pro
visions ran low and Mr. Cadwell started back to Westfield
to procure new supplies, leaving young Fairfield alone in the
forest for three nights, during which he lay hidden in a hoUow
log greatly terrified by the guttural voices of prowling Indians.
Afterwards Fairfield cleared some land, built a log-cabin,

614 Westfield and its Historic Influences
and in 1752 returned to Westfield, married, and with his bride,
and a yoke of oxen dragging a cart which bore a few household
goods, made his way back by the aid of marked trees over
the hUls and through "the green woods between Westfield and
Poontoosuck." How deplorable is the lack of records to portray for our
reverent consideration and proud approval the noble deeds
and devoted sacrifices in camp and field of many another
Westfield hero of the Revolution. The scanty details relative
to Adjutant Dewey, Captain Noble, and Major Root which
have been preserved, give only faint hints of their superb
services. And these three heroes are but types and suggestions
of others innumerable among the hundreds of patriots who
went forth from the humble homes of Westfield into that long
struggle for liberty. As privates and petty officers they showed
as fine a spirit, as glorious a devotion, as lofty a heroism, as
the officers of the line whose names have become illustrious
in our country's history.

INDEX

Abenaki Indians of St. Francis defeated by
Maj. Rogers under orders of Gen. Amherst,
477.
Abercrombie, Gen. James, 475.
Act of Uniformity in England, its effect, 130.
Adams, John, 275, 551.
Adams, Rev. William of Roxbury, pastor of
the church at Dedham, 107.
Agawam (Agaam 21) (Woronoco 17),
beginnings of Springfield at, first house,
allotment of land, 16-22.
Alaquat, Indian Sachem, signs sales-contract
of land in Westfield, 69.
Algonquin Lenape, 200.
Allen, Rev. Thomas, 108.
Allerton, Isaac, 3, 32.
Amoacussen (Amoakussen) , Indian sachem-
69,175.
Andros, Sir Edmund, and the "Charter Oak,"
161, 162; arrest of, 259.
Appleton, Capt. Samuel, 215, 219.
Arabella, ship, 8; Lady Arabella, wife of
Isaac Johnson, 9.
Arbitration early practiced between Colonies,
174.
Arnold, Col. Benedict, 612.
Ashley, David, son of Robert, selectman,
pillar in the town, his wife, Hannah Glover,
99; called also Goodman (good man)
Ashley, 135; location of house, 137.
Ashley, Israel, 329.
Ashley, Capt. John, 309-313, 326.
Ashley, Col. John, 327.
Ashley, Rev. Jonathan, tory, 584 et seq.
Ashley, Maj. Noah, 449.
Ashley, Robert, in Springfield, 75; keeper of
an inn (ordinary), 99; family record, 421
Ashley, Maj. William, tribute to his memory,
429.
Askannusick, 29.
Atherton, Rev. Hope, chaplain, 244.
Atherton, Maj. Joseph, 87, 88.
Atwater, Rev. Noah, 587.
Bagg, Daniel, 147, 310.
Ballantine, Ebenezer, 432.
Ballantine, Rev. John, third pastor at West-
field, 12, 142, 360; call and letter of accept
ance, genealogical line, ordination, marriage,
370-379; his diary and many quotations
therefrom in chaps, xviii and xix, 380; his
death, Feb. 12, 1776, and tribute to his
memory, 437 et seq.
Ballantine, John, Jr., 413, 414.
Ballantine, William, 416.
Ballantine, Rev. William Gay, 372.
Bancroft, Edward, killed by Indians, 1707, 304.
Bancroft, John, 88, 183.

Bancroft, Nathaniel, 8S.
Bancroft, Thomas, 80.
Banks, Talcott Minor, author of Boulder
Poem (1916), 488.
Bannister, Seth, 587.
Baptism, Lay-Baptism, 423.
Bartlett, Mr. J. D., letter to Westfield Times,
142.
Bates, Clemence, a soldier killed by Indians,
1676, 230.
Bay Path, 24, 29.
Beaucours, Capt., 302.
Beavers, 30-34; exclusive rights to Wm.
Pynchon, 31.
Beers, Capt., 208.
Bellingham, Deputy Gov., 195.
Bement, John (Beamon), in Indian war, 1723,
346.
Bentley, Mr., captured by Gray Lock, 348.
Berkeley, Gov. of Virginia, his opinion of
schools and printing, 274.
Bernard, Gov., 512.
"Blessing of the Bay,*' vessel, 18, 19.
Block House above Northfield, 346, 350.
Bloody Brook, Deerfield, 209, 213.
Bloody Pond, 457.
Boston, 10; first meeting of Colonial Com-
missoners, 1643, 52; second meeting, 1644,
54, 55; taken by Colonists, 1776, 594.
Boston Mob and Gov. Hutchinson, 508.
Boundaries between Springfield and Westfield
determined, 1669, 63-65; between Massa
chusetts and Connecticut, 173; of Westfield,
175, 325-326.
Bowne, Prof. J. T., 203.
Braddock, Gen., Conference at Alexandria,
1775, 446.
Bradford, Gov. William, 3, 13.
Bradstreet, Gov., call of "Reform Synod," 121.
Breck controversy in the churches, 330.
Brewster, Rev. William, 3.
Brooke, Lord, 16, 51.
Brookfield, 222, 229; attacked by Indians,
1693, 267.
Brown, John, wounded at No. 4, 1747, 366.
Brown, Col. John, 606.
Bull, Capt. Jonathan, his speech to the Indians,
261.
Bull, Rev. Nehimiah, second pastor at West-
field, his letter and ordination, 320, 321;
marriage and children, 327; death, 373.
Bunker Hill, Westfield at, 538.
Burgoyne, Gen., 564; not at Westfield, 566,
567.
Burr, Jehu, 17, 21, 23.
Bush, Samuel, prevaricating about wedding
license, 192.

616

Index

Cable, John, pioneer, 17,
Cambridge, letter missive calling for minis
terial associations, 124.
Canonchet, Indian chief, 224.
Captives by Indians at Hatfield and Westfield,
wives rescued by Benjamin Wait and Stephen
Jennings, 251, 252; 1704, 299.
Carver, John, first governor of Plymouth
Colony, 3.
Catlin, Seth, 587.
Chamblee, 251.
Chapin, Capt. Elisha, 487.
Chapin, Capt. Israel, 598.
Chapin, Deacon Samuel, 25, 145, 304.
Charter Oak, see Wyllys, Ruth.
Chauncey, Rev Charles, president of Harvard,
132.
Chauncey, Nathaniel, 111, 112.
Chicopee (Chickapi), 17; Chickobee, 487.
Childs, Capt. Timothy, 533.
Choate, Col. John, 355.
Church bells, 323.
Church discipline, interesting charges, 195.
Church at Westfield (see "Names"), names of
sundry members before organization as
church state, 106-109; church state approved
by civil authorities, letters to other churches
to co-operate, council and delegates, letters
dismissing church members, 109-112; relig
ious experiences (relations) of laymen,
right hand of fellowship, ordination vows,
112-118, 333.
Cider (sider) drinking and Joseph Pixlie, 192.
Civic leaders of New England and the imperial
rulers of the old, 445.
Civil punishments, whipping, fines, stocks,
197, 198.
Civihzation, lack of, at times displayed by
Colonists, 340.
Clapp, Capt. Roger, provision in will for sup
port of minister, his son Preserved, Ezra (his
grandson), 88-90.
Cleveland, President Grover, 472.
Colman, Rev. Dr. George, 329.
Colonial controversies, 51-55, 173.
Colton, George, 63, 65.
Commissioners of the three United Colonies,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island,
first meeting, 209.
Commissoners of Foreign Plantations, 274.
Committee of safety at Newton (Cambridge)
letter of, after Lexington, 536; at Westfield,
523; its members characterized, 524, 525;
second committee, 546.
Commucke, Indian, 23.
Community hfe for a brief time in Westfield,
231.
Confession of sins, 196.
Congress, first Colonial, 442; (the first) of the
American Colonies, 265 ; Continental,
Provincial, of Massachusetts (Salem, Con
cord), 522.
Connecticut (Quonenektacut, 13; Great
River, 13; Quinetticott, 76.
Constitution, laws or agreement of the first
settlers on the west side of the Connecticut
River in Agaam (Agawam), May 14, 1636,
20-23; Connecticut Colony, 34.

Cook, Capt. Aaron, his influence in various
positions, 94, 136; trouble with the Deweys,
182; son Moses, 95.
Cook, Moses, 59.
Cook, Noah, winter trip to Canada, 1776, 598.
Cooper, Thomas, fur trader with Indians, 33;
purchase of Indians' land, 69-71, 175, 216.
Cornish, John, school teacher, 95, 279.
County Congress at Northampton, to discuss
issues between Crown and Colony, West-
field delegates, 513.
Court riot in Springfield, Mr. Judd's Diary,
Mr. Joseph Clarke's letter, 515, 516; courts
under commission of George HI, 553.
Cromwell, Oliver, 105.
Crown Point, 446; expedition against, 448;
captured by Gen. Amherst, 477.
D'Alleboust de Mantel, 264.
Davenport, Rev., at New Haven (Quinnipiack),
119.
Dawes, Hon. H. L., Senator, 611.
Debeline, French General, 366.
Deeds and grants of land to and by Indians,
others among early settlers, 67-75.
Deerfield, captives and academy, 165; attack
by Indians, 211; again, 251; old Indian
house, 299.
Denison, Maj. Gen., 87.
Dentre, teacher at Westfield, 278.
Desertions or "bounty jumping," in 1782, 587.
Devotion, Rev. Ebenezer, 163.
Dewey, Abigail, 193.
Dewey, Lieut. Adijah, 309.
Dewey, Israel, 87.
Dewey, Jedediah, brother of Thomas, 182,
Dewey, Josiah, brother of Thomas, first deacon;
inscription on tombstone, 1639, 98.
Dewey, Lieut. Martin, in service, 1755, 459.
Dewey, Adj. Russell, journal of, in 1776,
march from Chester to Canada, 590 et seq.;
application for pension, 600; his pew at
church, 602.
Dewey, Sarah, sister of Russell and wife of
Gen. WiUiam Shepard, 599.
Dewey, Thomas, seeking a minister, 98, 134;
home burned, 135; suit at law, 182, 183.
Diary of Rev. Edward Taylor, 132-136; of
Judge Samuel SeweU, 151-168.
Diary or journal of Adjutant Russell Dewey,
590 et seq.
Dieskau, Baron, 456.
Dilworth's Speller, 288.
Disputes and discipline: Woronoco and Con
necticut, 52, 173; Massachusetts and New
Hampshire, 350.
Dorchester Adventurers, 7-15; Dorchester
Heights Redoubts, 551.
Dudley, Gov., 295.
Dudley, Hugh, original settler, 59.
Dwight, R. Henry W., 488.
Dwight, Col. Timothy, line of forts surveyed.
Fort Dummer built, 353.
Dyer, Mary, hanged for witchcraft, 193.
Earle, Alice Morse, 283.

Index

617

Edwards, Rev. Jonathan, 284; the "Great
Awakening," 328, 378; his wife, Sarah
(Pierpont), 328.
Edwards, Timothy, Father of Jonathan; army
Chaplain, 1711, 284.
Ely, Joseph, wounded at No. 4, 1747, 366.
Ely, Nathaniel, 60, 63.
Emerson, Prof., on the Ancient Lakes, 42.
Endicott, Gov., 7, 66 et seq.
FaUey, Richard, captured at Fort WiUiam
Henry and carried to Canada, 471.
"FaUs Fight" with Indians, 243.
Female Education, 284, 285.
Fenwick, George, Esq., 52, 54.
Fish: salmon and shad in the Connecticut
River, 242.
Fiske's summary of results of the first years of
the American Revolution, 573.
Fiske, Rev. John, 107.
Fiske, Rev. Moses, first minister at Westfield,
serving three years, 107, 127.
Fitch, Elizabeth; daughter and wife of Rev
Edward Taylor, 156; marriage, children,
death, 158-160.
Fitch, Rev. James of Norwich, Conn., Ill,
156, 249.
Forbes, Gen., 475.
Ford, Paul Leicester, 286.
Fort Hoosac, Massachusetts, 485.
Fort Massachusetts, building and attack by
Gen. Vaudreuil and Indians, 362.
Fort William Henry, capture by Montcalm,
465; relief of, 468 et seq.
Fortification and palisading of towns during
Indian War, 240.
Fortifications and contraction of population
into more limited space, 254.
Forts Louisburg, Ticonderoga, Duquesne,
expeditions against, 475.
Founders of New England; points of agree
ment and differences between the Plymouth
and Massachusetts Bay Colonists, 4-6.
Fowler, Ambrose, 87, 229.
Fowler, Hon. Samuel, 425.
Fowler, Samuel, 568.
Franklin, Benjamin, 287, 442, 510.
Frontenac, Count, 25S, 262.
Frontenac, Count, plan of campaign against
the Colonies, 262.
Fur-trading and early business, 33, 34, 51.
Fyler, George, first surgeon (chirurgeon), 92.
Gage, Gen., 521.
Gallatin, Hon. Albert, 202.
Gardiner, Lyon, engineer and commandant
of Fort at mouth of Connecticut River, 51.
Gay, Rev. William of Dedham, daughter,
Mary Gay, wife of Rev. John Ballantine,
379, 380.
General Court: established, 1634-5, 277;
action in favor of "schools or colledge,"
Sept. 8, 1636, 275; circular letter, held by
Mr. Henry H. Strong, of Jan. 21, 1776,
sent to towns of western counties, calling
for additional troops, 548.
Gilbert, Jonathan and John, 57.

Gillett, Hon. E. B., 568.
Gilman, Arthur, 194.
Glover, Gen. John; route of prisoners from
Saratoga to Boston, 562.
Glover, Hannah, wife of David Ashley, 99.
Glover, Henry, 71.
Glover, Rev. Mr., 216.
Goffe, the angel of Hadley, 212.
Gookin, Daniel, historian of Indian life, 201 .
Grant, Alexander, 583.
Grant, Erastus, 571.
Grant, Frank, 571.
Grant, Lemuel, 571.
Granville, 36.
Gray Lock, Indian, 308, 342.
"Great Awakening," 328.
"Great Swamp Fight," 229.
Greenfield, 244.
Greenough, Mrs. Jennie Bates, 372.
Gunn, Thomas, 59, 141.
Habalah, Felix, teacher in Westfield, 1717, 289.
Hadley (Norwottuck), 83; first settlement,
1658, 87; attacked by Indians, 211; hard
ship of the early settlers, 128.
Hale, Nathan, teacher in New London, 1774,
285.
Half-way Covenant, 332.
Hampshire County, its formation and extent,
83, 350.
Hanchet, John, 187, 188.
Hancock, John, at Salem, Concord, 522.
Handchitt, Thomas,. 87.
Hartford, 14, 15; Hartford Council, letters of
Rev. Edward Taylor and reply, 237-239.
Harvard College, 275.
Hatfield, attacked by Indians, 220, 251.
Hawkes, Sergt. John, commander at Fort
Massachusetts, 1746, 362.
Hawley, Joseph, 318; Col., 444.
Haynes, Gov., 24.
Hazen, Richard, surveyor of north line of
Massachusetts, 351.
Hempstead, Long Island, 278.
Hertel, Maj. de Rouville, 297.
Hessian Prisoners on their way from Saratoga
to Cambridge, 568; thence to Virginia, 570.
Higginson, Rev. Francis of Salem, 3, 103.
Highway from Westfield to Springfield, 80.
Hobbs, Capt. Humphrey; defeat of half-
breed Indian, Sackett's attack, 368.
HoUand, Dr. J. G., 17, 24.
Holyoke, Rev. Edward, grandson to Capt.
Elizur, president of Harvard, 373.
Holyoke, Capt. Elizur, 65, 70.
Holyoke, Rev. John, 25, 59, 373.
Holyoke, Capt. Samuel, 244; his death, 246.
Homes, establishment of, and influence on
national fife, 84; aUotments of home lots,
84; home and family life of Rev. Edward
Taylor, Chapt. viii, 153.
Hooker, Rev., 16, 18, 23, 53.
Hoosac, Fort, memorial boulder; address at
the dedication of, 489-502; Ode, 502.

618

Index

Hopkins, Gov. of Connecticut Colony, 34, 52.
Hornbook, school text-book, 285.
Howe, Fisher, 501.
Hudson Bay Company, 1668, 34, 48.
Hull, John, of Boston, 131.
Hunt, Dr. Eben, 586.
Huxley, Thomas, 187.
Indians of New England: general conditions
of Indian hfe and their proper management,
206; Indian traders, 33; treatment of, by
New England, 67-72, 199, 200; general
characteristics, houses, food, tools, weapons,
201-203; Indians in England, 304; Housa
tonic (Ous-a-tonnuck), mission, education,
conversion, 327.
Ingersoll, John, 59, 99, 513.
Ingersoll, Margaret, 89.
IngersoU, Thomas, son; his square house, 99,
374.
Jennings, Captivity, 253.
Jennings, Stephen, 251.
Johnson, Edward, 1654, recommends Spring
field as a trading station, 34.
Johnson, Col. WiUiam, 446.
Journey from Cambridge to Hartford over
land, by Messrs. Hooker, Stone, Mrs.
Hooker and others; Pynchon's journey,
16-18.
Judd, Rev. Jonathan, of Southampton, 443-
515.
Judd, Sylvester, 598.

KeUog, Ens. Stephen, 309.
Kellogg, Samuel, owner of Tom, a slave, 183.
Kellogg, Stephen, 191, 192.
Kent, Samuel, gave deed to John Pynchon,
1686, 169.
Kerr, Rev. Samuel, pastor of Farmington
church, 1779, 111.
King, David, serving as a soldier, 1723, 346.
King Philip's War, 207; commissioners of
the three United Colonies at Boston, 209;
martial law and other orders, 221; English
losses, 222; methods of defense, 223; King
Philip himself, his wandering and schemes,
223,224
King William's War, 254; motives for it, war
between England and France, end of this
war, Sept. 21, 1697, letter of thanks by
prominent citizens, 258-273.
Knowles, Commodore Charles, 367.
Knox, Col., 551.
Lancaster, attacked by Indians, 1676, 229.
Land granted to officials by General Court,
87, 88; "Hundred Acres," 86.
Lathrop, Rev. Dr. Joseph, 569.
Lectures, religious, during the week, 125.
Lee, John, in the "Falls Fight," 1676, 246.
Lee, Walter, 87, 145, 176, 229.
Le Moyne, St. Helene de, 264.
Lenard, Benj amen, 311.
Letter and document of Elwell CoUection of
Mr. Ernest Newton Bagg of West Spring
field, 76, 168.

Letter missive of Colonial ministers as to
reforms, 122.
Leverett, Gov. John, 1679, 109,
Lewis, Lyman, 570.
Lexington, announcement of killing Colonists
by British from Watertown by J. Palmer
and Col. Foster; messenger Isaac RusseU;
Westfield's minute men, 531, 534.
Loomis, Philip, 309.
Loomis, Lieut. Samuel, 110, 145, 186.
Loomise, En'sn Samuel, 254.
Lothrop, Capt., killed by Indians, 209, 213.
Lord, Rev. Benjamin, pastor at Norwich ,
Conn., 146.
Loudon, Gen. (Lord Loudon), 463.
Louis XIV, 258.
Louisburg, campaign against, r 1745, 354;
Lord Jeffrey Amherst and Wolfe's expedi
tion against, 475.
Lyman, E. (Elihu), letters from the front,
554, 578.
Lyon, ship, 10.
Malanchan, Indian, 23.
Malbury, 135.
Mansell, convicted of killing a deer, 1760, 185.
Marshfield, Samuel, 59, 69.
Massachusetts Bay Colony, origin, develop
ment, characteristics, 3, 7, 10-15.
Massasoit, 207.
Mather, Rev. Cotton, 15, 121, 122.
Mather, Rev. Eleazur, pastor at Northampton,
115.
Mather, Rev. Increase, at Boston, 131, 134,
177.
Mather, Rev. Samuel, Dr., at Windsor, 168,
169.
Mather, Rev. Samuel, son, 527.
Maudesley (Maudsley, Moseley), Lieut. John,
137, 179.
Maudsley, Consider, 295, 326.
Maudsley, Ens. David, 326; Moseley, 359.
Maudsley, John, Jr., 277.
Maudsley, Sergt. Joseph, 191; captain, 309.
Meeting House, first action, location, and
construction, seats appointed "in dignity,"
behavior of children, 139-145, 167, 168, 315;
second Meeting House, difficulties of, and
final location, 309-313.
Merick, John, 311.
Miles, John, 211.
Miles, Standish, 3.
Military conditions among Colonists, 105.
MiUer, John, shot at Springfield, 1675, 216.
Miller, Thomas, 29.
Ministerial Associations; see "Cambridge"; see
"Pastors."
Minute men organized, 523, 526; their pre
paredness and efficiency, 529; Westfield,.
534; Greenfield, 532; New Salem and Lieut.
WiUiam Stacy and Company, 533.
Mohawk Trail, 485.
Mohawks (Macquas), Indians, 25-33; shoes
ot green hogskins, and letters of General
Court, 207; assistance in the Indian wars,
225.

Index

619

Money, scarcity of and substitutes for, 279.
Monroe (Munroe, Monro), Col., 465.
Montcalm, Gen., 463.
Moseley (Maudesley), Capt., 213; Col. David,
278.
Moseley, Lieut, David, prominence of the
family in Westfield, 360.
Moseley, Harold, 360.
Mosely, John, 513.
Mosely (Maudesley, Maudsley), Sergt. Joseph,
191.
Moxon, Rev., 24, 29.
Mun, Nathaniel, 311.
Munn, Benjamin, Sr., 247.
Munn, John, in the 'Tails Fight," 1676, 246,
247.
Names of Committee of Safety for Hamp
shire County in 1776, 552.
Names of some Westfield soldiers in the Seven
Years War, 479.
Names of those who took oath of aUegiance
to king of England, 101; of books in library
of Samuel Root, 98.
Names of Westfield men who went to war
against Canada, 439.
Narragansett Indians, war with, 229.
Naumkeag, 7-9.
Nayas, 22.
Neal, Edward, 101.
Negro, John, janitor, 323.
Negroes, slaves and free in this section, 572.
Newberry, Capt. Benjamin, 110.
New England after the Indian and French
Wars, 509.
Newtown (Cambridge), 15; perpetuation of
English names in New England, 154.
Nicholson, Gen. Francis, 304.
Nipmucks, Indians, 201, 202, 208, 211, 229.
Noble, David, 540.
Noble, Capt. David of Pittsfield, born in West-
field, a brief account of his fife and work, his
letter from Crown Point to his wife, 607-610;
Senator Dawes' tribute to his memory, 611.
Noble, Jacob, Jr., 184.
Noble, James, brother, 611.
Noble, Capt. James, 540.
Noble, John, 300.
Noble, Matthew, 374, 425.
Noble, Sergt. Samuel, 432.
Noble, Thomas, 59, 191, 309.
Norridgewock, 341,
Northampton Court, 55, 183; first session of
Superior Court, 424.
Northfield (Squakeag), 67, 208, 229, 257.
Norton, Rev. John, 362.
Norwotuck, Mt., 41.
Oldham, John, overland journey to Con
necticut, 14.
Pacumtucks, 246.
Parks, Col. Elisha, 292, 510, 513, 526. 561.
Parks, Roland, 558.
Partridge, Col. Samuel, 75, 295, 312, 339.

Pascommuck, 301.
Pastor or Parson; his influence among first
settlers of New England, 126, 127, 138;
see "Taylor."
Paucatuck, 63, 81.
Penn and the Puritans as to the Indians'
land, 66.
Pepperell, Gen., 355.
PeppereU, Sir WiUiam, 468.
Perambulators to maintain boundaries, 66.
Peskeomsket, 243.
Phelps, George, 59, 94.
Phelps, Goodman, 254.
Phelps, Isaac, 59, 94.
Phelps, Capt. Isaac 309.
Phelps, John, 513.
Phips, Sir William, 265.
Pierpont, Rev. James of New Haven, 328.
Pilgrim; extension of meaning; Pilgrim Hall,
128.
Pilgrim Fathers: landing at Cape Cod Bay,
Nov. 14, 1620; hardship, character, and
leadership, 1-3.
PiUion, behind the saddle for women to ride,
315.
Pitt, William, 475.
Pocumtuck Indians, 224.
Pomeroy, Joseph, 183.
Pomeroy, Seth, 257, 449.
Ponder, John, 59.
Pontoosuck (Pittsfield), 485.
Poole, Capt. Jonathan, 221, 222.
Porter, Elisha, Esq., 548.
Porter, Col. Elisha, 590.
PostofEce, first in New England, other devel
opments, and postmasters, 544, 545.
PownaU, Gov., 475.
Presbytery, 433.
Prohibition of house and lot sales to outsiders
without consent of the authorities, enter
tainment also limited, 27.
Prout, Peter, 136.
Pumroy, Captain, 353.
Putnam, Israel, 357.
Pynchon, Col. John, purchase of land from
the Woronoco Indians, 75, 127; his death,
January 17. 1703, and tribute to him, 337.
Pynchon, Mary, sister of John, and wife of
Capt- Elizur Holyoke, 25.
Pynchon, WiUiam, in England, 8; in Boston,
10; his journey to and life and influence in
the Connecticut Valley, 15-33; his losses
in the Indian Wars, 217.
Quabaug (Waterfield), 135; (Brookfield), 229.
Quakers; George Fyler, 93; hanging and
cutting off ears, harsh laws repealed, 1661,
162, 193, 194.
Quebec, 258; English attack on, 265, 591.
Quincy, Josiah, 288.
Quonenektacut (Connecticut), 13.
Randolph, Edward, report to King Charles II
on Colonial conditions, 104, 124.
Rawson, Edward, 84, 189, 133.

620

Index

Records; value of good town-records, 547.
"Reforming Synod" at Boston, 121.
Rice, Bedourtha, 66.
Riedesel, Baroness, 568.
Riedesel, Hessian General, 566.
Robinson, Rev. John, 3.
Robinson, William, hanged for witchcraft, 193.
Rogers, Rev. John, martyr, 287.
Root, John, settler and "foundation man," 97 »
118.
Root, Oliver, a hero in the War of Inde
pendence; a brief account of his hfe, 603.
Root, Samuel; gift of land for the support of
the ministry in Westfield; names of some
books in his library, 97, 98.
Rowland, Mrs. Mary, 229.
RusseU, Rev. Jobn, 111, 214, 243.
Sabbath breaking, fined and reformed, 92.
Sackett, David, 346.
Sackett, John, and wife, Abigail, 80, 91, 183.
Sackett's Brook (Tomhaumucke), 72.
Saffrey, Solomon, 174.
Salem, Rev. Skelton, first pastor, 103.
Sausaman, friendly Indian, murdered, 208.
Savage, Maj., 229, 232.
Say, Lord, his concession, 173.
Scatacooks, Indians, 349.
Schenectady, burning and massacre by French
and Indians, 264.
Schools; teachers and churches ever the aim
of our early settlers, 274; school laws of,
276; free town school of Dorchester, 277;
the Hornbook, school text-book, 285, 286;
New England Primer, 286; district school
system abolished, 294.
Schuyler, Col., letter to Gov. Vaudreuil, 207.
Schuyler, Maj., 297.
Schuyler, Peter, 264.
Seconck, Indian woman, 72.
Separatists in England, 3.
Sergeant, Rev. J., 327.
SewaU, Judge Samuel, 149-151; diary of, 151,
168; 341.
Sexton, George, his house used as a meeting
house, 142.
Shackamaxan, 66.
Sheffield, victory at, 250.
Sheldon's History of Deerfield, 297.
Shepard, John, 147.
Shepard, Gen. WiUiam, and Westfield men at
Saratoga, 566; letter from Valley Forge to
David Mosly, Westfield, 574.
Shirley, Gov., and Gen. Williams; activities in
"Seven Years War," 448; letter about forts,
486.
Shorter Catechism, 287.
Sins acknowledged and repented of, 191-193;
some specifications of, by "Reforming
Synod," 121.
"Six MUes Square," granted Westfield, 63-65,
175.
Skelton, Rev., first minister at Salem, 103.
Smith, Benjamin, 295.
Smith, Henry, 17, 21, 23.

Smith, Dr. Samuel, 183, 184.
Snowshoes and moccasins, 303.
Southwick, set off from Westfield, 410, 419.
Springfield (at Agaam), beginnings of, 10, 15-
17; why William Pynchon passed to the
Springfield side of the river, 33; tariff war
with Connecticut, 54; looted and burned
by Indians, 216.
Stamp Act, 410.
Stark, John, 344.
Steadman, Goodman, his wife, Elizabeth,
troubled with spirits, 133.
Stevens (or Stevans), Joseph, Father and sons
at Rutland, 344.
Stevens, Capt. Phineas, 365.
Stevenson, Marmaduke, hanged for witch
craft, 193.
Stiles, Rev. Isaac; offer of position as assist
ant pastor at Westfield, 147, 148; tribute
to his Grandfather, Rev. Edward Taylor,
150; married to Keziah Taylor, 163.
Stoddard, Col. John, judge, builder of forts,
298, 304, 365.
Stoddard, Rev. Solomon, pastor at Northamp
ton, 111, 124, 177.
"Stone-Arabia" and its defense by Maj.
Root, 606.
Stoughton. WiUiam, 6.
Strong, Henry H., 548.
Strong, Noah, Southampton, 360.
Suffield, Separate Meeting House, Sept. 30,
1763, 407.
Supplies for soldiers and army in the Revo
lutionary War, 542.
Swearing and Court fines, 184; swearing and
prayers in the army, 451.
Sylvester's "Indian Wars of New England,"
296.
Synod; General Synod of the Massachusetts,
Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven
churches; baptism, Half-way Covenant, 331.
Talcott, Major, 248.
Talmadge, Lieut. Enos, 261.
Taylor, Rev. Edward; pastor of church state at
Westfield, spiritual Father of the town, out-
fines of his life, 117-129; journey to West-
field from Cambridge, his home-life, 153;
love-letter and first marriage, 156; second
marriage, 161; alliances between Taylor,
Pynchon, and WyUys families, 160, 162;
his death, June 24, 1729, and tributes to
his memory, burial, and inscription, 149-152.
Taylor, Hon. Eldad, letter of, on the evacua
tion of Boston by the British, 555; death,
557.
Taylor, Judge Henry WyUys, 160.
Taylor, James, son of Rev. Edward Taylor,
apprentice to Mr. Steward, shopkeeper
(merchant), of Ipswich, 151, 159.
Taylor, John, grandson of Rev. Edward Taylor
at Deerfield, 164, 165.
Taylor, Capt. John, 301.
Taylor, Dr. Oliver Brewster, 151.
Taylor, Samuel, 183.
Thatcher, Rev. Peter of Milton, 168.
Thayendanegea (or Brant), Indian, 605.
Thomas, Maj. Gen., 598.

Index

621

Ticonderoga, 458; artiUery taken to Boston
by Col. Knox, Jan. 25, 1776, 551.
Tobacco (tobacko) and cards forbidden, 181.
Tomhamock (brook), 70.
Tories in the Revolutionary period, 559, 560.
Tories, treatment of, in 1781-1783, 586.
Toto, the Indian, 216.
Towcanchasson, Indian, 242.
Town Meeting, Dec. 30, 1669, laws against
persons obnoxious in town and church, court
order, proprietors of land, other interesting
acts of town meeting, 27-29.
Treat, Major, 208, 210.
Turner, Captain William, 243, 244.
Uncas, the Mohican, 224.
Vallev Forge, its condition, and letters from
Westfield soldiers in 1778, 574.
Vaudreuil, French Governor, 302.
Vaudreuil, Rigaud de, 362.
Wahginnicut, Indian Sachem, his visit to
Governors Winthrop and Winslow, 13.
Wait, Benjamin, letter referring to captives
by Indians, 252.
Walker, Prof. WiUiston, his account of the
baptismal controversy in the churches, 331.
Wallawunt, Indian, 69.
WaUump, the Sachem, 73.
Wampanoags, Indians, 211.
Wareham, Rev- John, 89.
Warwick, Earl of, his patent, 16.
Washington, Gen., and President George, 538;
battle of Long Island, 554; not at West-
field, 566.
Wausapokatuck (hiU), 70.
Webb, Col., 461.
Webster, Noah, his school books, 289.
Webster, Dr. W. B., of Schuylerville, N. Y.,
597.
Weddings and riots, 435.
Weekly or midweek religious services, 125.
WeUer, Eleazur and Thomas, in the "Falls
Fight," 1676, 246
WeUer, Nathaniel, selectman and deacon, oatli
of allegiance by Colonists to His Majesty,
the King of England, list of names, 100, 101.
WendeU, Col. Jacob, and church bell, 324.
Westfield: its relation to the past, 2, 3, 12;
Its settlement, 29; change of name, Stream-
field, 107; Worrinoke, 72; Waranoke, 52;
Worronoko, 107; Woronoco, 51; Westfield,
107; original extent, and Westfield River,
36; loss in King Philip's War, 218, 227, 230;
refusal to give up homes and land on account
of Indians, 234; fortified by palisades and
population contracted, 241, 254, 338; its
progress in schools, 274; action regarding
the "Stamp Act," India Teas and British
Goods, also desire to obey King George III
and avoid trouble, 512-514; meeting at
beginning of Revolutionary War, Feb. 6,
1775, 526; some families — Moseley, Parks,
Ingersoll, Phelps, Shepard, Taylor, West-
field property, 1771, 528; Westfield heroes
in the War of Independence, 590-614; peace
festival at, June 17, 1783, 587.

Wheeler, Jacob, in Indian war, 1723, 346.
Whipping, punishment by, 180, 383, 416, 451.
White, Rev. John, 7.
White, Joseph, Esq., 493.
White, Walter, 571.
Whitefield, Rev. George, and the "Great
Awakening," 329.
Whiting, Joseph, and others of the family;
first merchant at Westfield, 97-135; location
of grist mill, 182, 186.
Whiting, Rev., 211.
Williams, Maj Elijah, 443.
Williams, Col. Israel, 423; his letter in regard
to Hoosac Block House, 505; head of
Hampshire forces, 485.
WiUiams, Rev. John, 195; the redeemed
captive, 295-299.
Williams, John, 80.
Williams, Roger, describing making of Indian
dugout, 205.
Williams, Rev. Stephen, 456.
WiUiams, Thomas, Esq., 548.
Williams, Dr. Thomas, 453, 458.
Williams, Warham, fined for neglecting public
worship, 183.
WiUiams, Capt. William, in King George's
War, 353.
WiUiams, Rev. WiUiam, 327, 378.
Williamstown (West Hoosac), 485, 502; Capt.
and Col. Ephraim Williams, founder of
Williamstown and WiUiams CoUege, 458;
his death, 487.
Wilson, Prof. Chas. B.; valuable account of
the physical features, past and present, of
Westfield and environments, 37.
Winslow, Plymouth Governor, 3, 13.
Winthrop, John, first governor of Massachu
setts Bay Colony; character and death, 10,
12, 24.
Winthrop, John, Jr., 16-51; patent of Lord
Say and Seal, Lord Brook and others to
western lands, 51.
Wolfe, Gen., victory at Quebec, end of Seven
Years War, 478.
Wollump, Indian, 69.
Woodward, Nathan, and boundary line, 173.
Wooster, Gen., 597.
Woronoco (see Westfield), petition to Spring
field for a separate township, and reply,
60-62; lands, lots, highways, and first set
tlers, 56-59.
Worthington, John, 444, 456.
Wright, Harry Andrew, letter as to Bay Path,
and value of Pynchon's beaver trade, 29-34,
569.
Wyllys, George, Gov. of Connecticut; Amy,
daughter, wife of John Pynchon, Jr., 24.
Wyllys, Rev. Joseph, at Rutland, 342.
Wyllys, Ruth, second wife of Rev. Edward
Taylor; "The Charter Oak," 161; review
of the WyUys family and influential descend
ants, 162.
WyUys, Samuel, Hon., 162.
Yale College, benefited by land settlement
between Massachusetts and Connecticut
Colonies, 55, 174.

. . ¦ ¦ .