1 1 5845

V;

'^^
X
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LEE, MASS.

LECTURE,

DELIVERED BEFORE THE

YOUNG MEN'S ASSOCIATION, OF LEE,

MARCH 33d, IBS'*.

BY REV. AMORY GALE.

LEE, MASS.:
PRINTED BY FRENCH & ROYCE.
185i.

Lee, March. 28, 18.';4.
Ket. Amoet Gale :
Deae Sir,— In behalf of the Lee Young Men's Asspciation, I would
re.'ipectfully solicit a copy of your interesting Lecture on the History of Lee,
recently delivered before our Association, for publication.
-Very respectfully yours,
James T. Leonaiid, Sec'y.

5. T. Leonaed, Esq. :
Your kind note of the 28th inst., requesting for publication a copy
of the Lecture -which I had the pleasure of presenting before your useful
Association, a few evenings since, lies before rae. I cheerfully comply with
your request, not because it is wliat I wish it was, but because it contains
information relative to the early history of Lee, which can be handed down
to posterity in no surer way than on the printed page.
That the perusal of this Address may incite tlie young men of Lee to
imitate the unbending integrity and sterling virtues of our fathers, and
that your Association may continue to exert its elevating and instructive
influence upon the masses of our people, is the sincere wish of

Yours, respectfully, Amoet Gale.

Ue, March 80, 1851.

HISTORY OF LEE.

In selecting a subject for a Lecture this evening, I could
think of none that could interest and instruct the members
of the Young Men's Association, more than a History of
Lee. I cannot hope to present anything upon this subject
but what is within the reach of you all. The want of time,
howeyer, has probably prevented the most of you from inves
tigating this subject, and (hereby making yourselves familiar
with the history of our town. The fathers are dead, and
their sons are rapidly passing away, and unless our history is
soon written, it -will be too late. The sources of my infor
mation have been the Records of the town, and the scraps of
historic facts that have been handed .down from father to son.
The citizens generally have very kindly furnished me with
what knowledge they respectively had upon the subject.
Allow me, however, to acknowledge my special obligations
to R. H inman, F. Sturgis, H. Bartlett, and Lemuel Bassett,
Esqrs., for valuable information presented in thi.s Lecture,
I propose to divide this subject into 10 Divisions.

I. ORIGIN AND GENERiVL HISTORY.
Less than one hundred years since, the territory now in
cluded in this town was a howling wilderness. With the
exception of a few families of the Stockbridge tribe of
Indians, cultivating small patches upon the banks of the
Housatonic, " Nature in all her solemn wildness reigned
supreme." No voice of the White man echoed through these
native forests ; no hum of business was heard ; no skillful
work of Art or Science was seen. The majestic oak and
genteel spruce reared their lofty heads with fearless defiance.
The wild turkey and fearful eagle found here their native
home. The wolf and the wihl cat roamed our mountains
unscared ; the savage bear and bounding deer had possession

4 HISTORY OF LEE.
of our mountain glens and alluvial valley unmolested, save
by an occasional dart, necessary to bring the needed fare to
the Indian wigwam.
Our noble river, rich valley, and mountain peaks, rendered
this a favored home for the romantic Red Man of the forest.
Here he was " monarch of all he surveyed."
For twenty years the White man had lived in Tyringliam,
Stockbridge, New Marlborough, and Alford ; and for thirty
years he had been in Great Barrington, SheflBeld, and
Egremont. Such was the state of things here in 17C0, when Isaac
Davis moved on to the farm now owned by John M'Allister,
in the south part of the town, where he built the lirst frame
house that was erected in Lee.
During the ten years from 1760 to 1770, only thirteen
families had moved into town. They lived in small log
houses, mostly located upon our mountain sides. No roads
or bridges had then been built. Marked trees served for
the former, and a tree fallen across the river served for the
latter. In 1770, John Winegar, of German origin, grandfather of
our citizen of that name, came into town, and built the first
grist-mill in this region. It was located a few rods above
Whyte & Hulbert's paper-mill. Ilis log house, the eleventh
log house in Lee, was" built against a perpendicular rock on
the east side of the road as we pass around the cove beyond
the mill. That rock served as the back part of the house
and chimney, which -was so constructed that the wood could
be drawn upon the hill in the rear and precipitated down thf
chimney to the place for the fire. This process saved the
time and labor of cutting and splitting the wood. Mr. Wine-
gar, five years afterwards, built another grist-mill, where
Royce & IM'Laflin's mills now are, and he also erected the
dwelling-house in front of them, which is the oldest building
in town. When Mr. Winegar built this house, the nearest
place that he could find stone for the cellar was on the Pixley
mountain. The leaves and moss in the native forests proba
bly concealed the stone from public view.
When John Winegar was living at Crow Hollow, he was
persuaded by an Indian to accompany him upon the mountain
to hunt deer. The Indian soon left Mr. Winegar alone, and
for three days, in mid winter, with the thermometer below
zero, he wandered without fire or food, unable to find his
home. When found by his friends, his feet and other parts
of his body were so badly frozen, as to cause him to bo a
cripple for life. He, however, recovered suflficiently to attend
to his ordinary business. This was deemed a great event in
the early history of the town. In 1770, Isaac Davis was
hvmg on his farm; Reuben Pixley lived where Dea. Henry

HISTORY OF LEE. 5
Bassett now does ; John GoflTe the Irishman lived where
Kenas Clark now does ; Hope Davis in the old orchard
about forty-six rods east of May & Dean's mills ; near him
lived Aaron Benedict and George Parker ; William Chanter
the Quaker, commonly known as " Friend William," lived
on the Snow farm, next beyond Dea. Culver's ;• Mr. Atkins
lived nearly opposite of the old Shailer tavern, in Cape street ;
Lt. Crocker found a home where P. Shailer now resides ;
Mr. Dodge pitched his tent on top of the mountain, one and
a half miles east of P. Shailer's, which place was afterwards
called Dodgetown, Mr. Stanley and others afterwards set
tled around him. This for many years was the centre of
business. Here lived the blacksmith and shoemaker, tanner
and currier ; and here it was proposed to erect the church.
Jonathan Foote occupied a rude structure where Lyman
Foote now lives ; and Elisha Freeman owned the farm where
his grandson, John B. Freeman, now lives. Two rude log
huts stood near H. Bartlett's, and in and around this village
there were not five acres of cleared land. In one of these
log huts lived Prince West. Kunkerpot occupied the Indian
wigwam, standing in what is now the Park, and several
other rude Indian huts were at the Quarr}', occupied by
the hardy sons of the forest. A log tavern, sixteen feet
square, was erected about this time, where Oliver Kellogg
now lives, on Mr. Hinman's lot, kept for a time by an uncle
of the late Mr. Abner Taylor. You recollect the couplet in
the old Primer, "The Eoyal oak, it was the tree
That saved his Eoyal Majesty."
Nathan Foote, the grandfather of this Jonathan Foote, put '
Charles the Second, king of England, into the oak, to shield
him from his enemies ; and afterwards, when the king was
in a situation to do so, he remembered his preserver, and
granted him a tract of land in Connecticut. The Foote
family have for their coat of arms, a design representing an
oak and Charles the Second, and Nathan Foote endeavoring
to assist Charles into the oak.
The men living in the Eastern part of the town' were
mostly from the Cape, and hence the principal road running
through that part of Lee is called Cape street. Most of the
others came from Connecticut; and a few families were from
Germany. To contrast the mode of travel then and now, I will state
that Capt. Joseph Crocker, who settled on the William Cone
farm, moved his family from Cape Cod in an ox cart. He
and his aged mother came in advance of the rest of the
family, both riding upon the same horse.

e HISTORY OF LEE.
Durin<r the next ten years, from 1770 to '80, many valu
able citizens of the town settled here, among whom were
Nathaniel and Cornelius Bassett, Jesse Gifford, Jesse Brad
ley, William Ingersoll, Timothy Thatcher, Oliver and Prince
West, Arthur Perry, Samuel Stanley, Amos Porter, Josiah
Yale, Ebenezer Jenkins, Nathan Dillingham, Job Hamblin,
and other honored names, of whose memory their children
may justly feel proud. They were generally men, intelligent,
good, and true, actuated by religious principles, strangers to
fear, inured to hardship, strong in body and native intellect.
They were peculiarly adapted to pioneer life.
The story of riding a horse across the river upon a string-
piece of the bridge, I think I am able to state correctly.
When Asahel Foote, father to Lyman Foote, left the Revo
lutionary army, at the proclamation of Peace, he was a young
soldier of sixteen years old, of a daring spirit, and when he
came to the river near Mr. Ballard's, he found the strmg-
pieces had been put into their places, but there was not a
plank upon them. He determined to ride his horse upon
one of them over the river, in which he was successful.

II. THE FIVE GRANTS.
The town of Lee is made up of five Grants, — Hopland,
Watson's, WiUiams', Laraby's, and Glassworks.
1st. The Hoplakd Grant is a strip of land extending
almost across the southern portion of the town. The north
ern line commences near the Stockbridge boundary, about
half a mile north of William Blake's, running a little north
of J. C. Stephens', and thence nearly with the road to R.
Hinman's, and John Baker's in Cape street; thence southerly
to the Tyringham line. The name is derived from the great
quantity of hops that formerly grew upon the banks of the
river which flows down from Tyringham, This territory
includes six School districts, — the two at South Lee, the one
near C. Hinckley's, the two in Water street, and the one at
East Lee. This tract belonged to the town of Great Bar-
rington, in 1777, and was included in this town at the time
of its incorporation.
William Ingersoll owned about one quarter of this grant,
whicli was enough to furnish himself and each of his seven
sons with a farm of no mean dimensions.
2d. The history of Watson's Grant is as follows. In
1757 and '8, Robert W^atson of Sheffield, assisted by David
Ingersoll, Esq., a Tory lawyer of Great Barrington, purchased
of the Indians a tract of land now comprising the town of

HISTORY OF LEE. 7
Washington, and parts of the towns of Middlefield, Hinsdale,
Lenox, and Lee. That portion included in the corporation
of Lee was in the eastern and northern parts of the town.
It's western line began at the south-east corner of Hopland,
running northerly to John Baker's ; thence westerly to near
R. Hinman's ; and thence northerly following the old road
from Mr. Hinman's to the Housatonic river.
Mr. Watson purchased this land of Benjamin Konk-ke-
-we-nau-naut, John Pop-kne-hon-au-wah, and Robert Nung-
hau-wot, Chiefs of the Stockbridge tribe of Indians. What
they paid for it I am not able to say, only so far as that a
part of the consideration was to be in the " fire water" of
that day. They called this territory Watsontown, after the
name of its owner.
Soon after this purchase, Mr. Watson sold his title to this
grant to a company of sixty men, the most of whom resided
in Hartford, Ct. This company divided their land into sixty-
three shares, one for each of the proprietors, one for schools,
and two for their minister. They also changed the name to
Greenock, for what reason I have not been able to learn.
These proprietors soon found that Watson had failed to
fulfill the obligations to the Indians ; and the Indians, there
fore, retained their right to the township now called Greenock.
The Greenock company re-purchased of the Indians the
town, for which they paid £179 York money ; and applied
to the Governor of the colony to establish their title to
the town.
On the 22d of Dec, 1760, the proprietors held a meeting
in Hartford, Ct., and, among other votes passed at that meet
ing, was the following : — " Voted, That each proprietor shall
clear three acres of- land on each of his settling lots, girdle
seven acres, and build a log house 16 feet square, on or
before the 16th day of Oct. next."
Action on the above petition was delayed till Sept. 8, 1763,
when " Francis Barnard, captain-general and commander-in-
chief of the province of Massachusetts Bay in N. E., the
Honorable his Majesty's Councillors, and House of Repre
sentatives in General Court assembled, Jan. 13th, 1762,"
granted the petition, and again changed the name of the
town to Hartwood. The more common name by which this
part of the county was known was " Mount Ephraim." It
had borne, therefore, four names, — Watsontown, Greenock,
Hartwood, and Mount Ephraim ; by the last of which it was
more widely known.
A year before the time of the above action, the Hartford
company sold their right in the land to Samuel Brown, jun.,
of Stockbridge, and Ephraim Kidder, of Yoakintown (now
Lenox) ; and it is probable that Messrs. Brown & Kidder
also sold soon after their purchase, as they are not included

8 HISTORY OF LEE.
among the corporators. Nathaniel Hooker, John To-wnley,
and Isaac Shelden, are only mentioned, -with " their associates,
heirs, and assigns." The conditions of this grant ai-e, that
they shall pay to the Province Treasurer, within one yeav,
£300. 1-63 of the land shall be held for the use of a school,
and 2-63 for a minister, who shall be a Protestant, and settled
in town ; and within five years they shall have at least sixty
households, and each one must have a dwelling 24 by 18, 16
ft. posts, and have seven acres of land well cleared, fenced,
and brought to English grass or plowed.
The Records of Hartwood contain nothing out of the usual
events of town aflfairs at that time, unless it be the building
of a road from the south part of Hartwood to Pittsfield, eight
rods wide. From 1762 to 1777, when Washington and Lee
were incorporated into towns, Hartwood manifested a com
mendable interest in the erection of a church, settlement of a
minister, and other things laying at the basis of good society.
3d. WiLLiAJts' Grant, embracing about 650 acres, A\-as
located in the north-west corner of the town. With the
exception of 140 acres, the farm now owned by Jonathan
Johnson, set oflf to Stockbridge, this grant was included with
in the territory of Lee, at the time of its incorporation. Tho
annexation of the " Whelply farm,'; as it was formerly called,
to Stockbridge, accounts for the irregularity of the line be
tween these towns.
Col. Ephraim Williams, the founder of Williams' college,
was an efficient soldier in the second French war, and who
fell in his country's service, as commander of a regiment, on
the 8th of Sept., 1755, near the shores of Lake George, when
only 41 years of age. As a testimony of the high estimation
in which his services were held, the authorities granted him,
before his death, this tract of land, for many yeai-s known as
the Williams' grant.
4th. Larabt's Grant was another tract of land included
in this town at the time it received its charter. It embraced
about 1000 acres, and was located at and about Lenox
Furnace. John Laraby, to whom this grant was made, was probably
a Frenchman, and, in consideration of his valuable services
in the Revolution, this land was given to him. For several
years, the towns of Lenox and Lee both claimed this grant,
when,_ about thirty years since, Lee voted that Lenox might
have it ; and thus the controversy was terminated.
5th. The Glassworks Grant is another and important
part of Lee. It is located between tlie other grants, and is
bounded by them. It is, therefore, in the central part of the
to-mi. There existed in Boston a company for the manufacture of
glass. The colony of Massachusetts Bay, to encourage them

HISTORY OF LEE. 9
in their work, gave them this large tract of land as a bounty.
Although it is now the most thickly settled, it was the last of
the grants to be bought up by actual settlers. Our fathers
loved the mountains, and reluctantly built their rude log huts
in our beautiful valley till the skiU of the mechanic subdued
our river to be a servant of man.
Families continued to come on to these grants from Cape Cod,
Connecticut, and a few from Ireland and Germany. Among
those from the latter country was Isaac Howk, who settled on
the place now owned by John C. Stephens, whose large Dutch
barn gave the name to his establishment of " The Howie
Barracks," and which was a sort of landmark in this region.
There are many incidents of thrilling interest told of these
early settlers, which, of themselves, might constitute an inter
esting theme for an evening's entertainment, but which would
swell this lecture to an unpardonable length.

III. CHARTER.
In 1777, the inhabitants of these grants and parts of grants
petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts Bay for a
Charter of Incorporation, and, in answer to this petition, the
foUowing was received, viz. :
" State of Massachusetts Bay, in the year of our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven. An Act to
incorporate the south-westerly jsart of Washington, the
north-easterly part of Great Barrington, or Hoplands so
called, the Glassworks grant, and part of Williams' grant,
in the County of Berkshire, into a Town by the name
of Lee. ^
" "Whereas it has been made to appear to Court that the
incorporating the south-westerly part of Washington, the
north-easterly part of Great Barrington, or Hoplands so
called, the Glassworks grant, and part of Williams', into a
To-wn, will greatly contribute to the benefit of the inhabitants
of the said lands,
" Be it therefore enacted by the Council and House of
Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the
authority of the same, that the said south-westerly part of
Washington, the north-easterly part of Great Barrington, or
Hoplands so called, the Glassworks grant, and part of Wil
liams' grant, beginning at the south-east corner of Stockbridge,
thence running east 7 degrees south, 632 rods, thence run
ning north 37 degrees east, 617 rods, thence running east 617
Tods, thence running east 1204 rods on Tyi-ingbam line,- thence

10 HISTORY OF LEE.
running north 7 degrees east, 379 rods, thence running north
30 degrees west, 540 rods, thence running south 30 degrees
west, 200 rods, thence running north 30 degrees west, 1230
rods, to Lenox line, thence running south 7 degrees east, 808
rods, thence running west 7 degrees north, 686 rods, to Stock-
bridge line, thence running south 7 degrees west, on Stock-
bridge line, 1550 rods, to tlie first-mentioned bounds, contain
ing in the whole 14,237 acres, — be, and they hereby are,
incorporated into a town by the name of Lee. And the
inhabitants be, and thej hereby are. invested with all power,
privileges, and immunities, which the inhabitants of other
towns within this State enjoy.
" And be it further enacted. That Charles Goodrich, Esq.,
be, and he hereby is, empowered and dii-ected to issue his
warrant, directed to some principal inhabitant within the said
town, having a free note therein to the value of 40 shillings
in amount, or other estate to the value of £40, to meet at
such time and place in said town as shall be therein directed,
to choose all such officers as are required by law to manage
the affiiirs of the said town. And the officers that may be
chosen in consequence thereof, shall hold, and exercise the
powers to their respective offices belonging, until the time
that shall be appointed for the Town's annual meeting, in
March next.
" And be it further enacted. That the inhabitants of the
said lands be, and they hereby are, held and enjoined to pay
a proportionable part of the State' and County taxes of each
of the towns to which they have hitherto been annexed, be
longed, or by which they have been taxed, till the further
order of this Court.
"In Council, Oct. 17, 1777, This Bill having had two
several readings, passed to be engrossed. Sent do-wn for
concurrence. John Avert, Sec'y.
"In the House of Representatives, Oct. 18, 1777, This
Bill having been read m the House three several times, pass
ed in concurrence to be engrossed. Sent up for concurrence.
J. Warren, Speaker.
" Consented to by the major part of the Council. A true
copy. Attest, j. Avert, Secretary."
The name of " Lee" was given to this town in honor of
Charles Lee, then a popular major-general in the Revolution
ary army.
What the population of the town was at the time of ite
incorporation I am not able to state definitely. Seven years
before, i. e. 1770, when John Winegar came into town, he
found only thirteen families living in town, his own making
fourteen. For ten years after the incorporation of the town^
the votes for Governor was from 14 to 24. I think that the

HISTORY OF LEE. 11
number of families could not have exceeded thirty, and the
number of voters was not probably over twenty-five. Allow
ing five persons to a family, Lee had, at the time of its incor
poration, 150 souls.
First Town Meeting. — According to the provisions of th©
Charter, the first Town Meeting was held on the 22d of Dec,
1777, about two months after the passage of the Act of In
corporation, at the house of Peter Wilcox, which was a log
house, with only one room in it, and that not so large as some
of our parlors. That dwelling occupied the place where no.w
stands the house on Main street in which lives Mrs. Smith,
the mother of Elizur Smith.
The following is the result of our first ToAvn Meeting ; and
you will notice that there were 20 offices to be filled, and 25
men to fill them :
Moderator — William lim-i,-rr;oll.
Tou-n C^eri— Prince West.
Selectmen — William Ingersoll, Jesse Bradley, Ohver West,,
Amos Porter, Prince West.
Treasurer — William Ingersoll.
Constables — Reuben Pixley, James Pegoher.
Highway Surveyors — Daniel Church, Job Hambhn, John
Nye, William Ingersoll.
Tythingmen — Abijah Tomblinson, Samuel Stanley.
Committee of Correspondence — William Ingersoll, Jesse
Bradley, Oliver West.
Leather Sealer — Samuel Stanley.

IV. WARS.
Our fathers began the settlement of Lee in perilous times.
From 17 60, when Isaac Da^ is first settled in town, to 1783, when
Peace with England was declared, they were constantly fami
liar with war and its associations. The second French war
was carried on from 1754 to 17(i3 ; and from that time to '76,
they were amidst scenes of defiance to English Rule. Those
who came from the Cape had assisted in ducking the Enghsh
Judge of their Courts in their own briny Bay, and anon
knocking him down -with their canes and old French firelocks ;
and then again they surrounded the Court-House, and pre
vented the ministers of Justice from entering it. Those who
came from Connecticut had fought the French and Indians.
Judge Bacon, of Stockbridge, who also preached, and who
was^among the first that preached in Lee, was from Boston.
He disliked the British so badly, that he moved among these
mountains, that his eye might not fall upon the redcoat,'.

1^2 HISTORY OF LEE.
Under the political, judicial, and clerical tuition of this man,
our fathers were educated for the scenes that were opening
upon them. . .
With such an early experience, and adult training, as we
might suppose, our fathers were not the men to shrink from
their country's service, when it was wanted. Consequently,
one of the first acts of the town was to vote seven men for-
Washington's army ; and at almost every subsequent meeting
during the war, the town voted men, horses, money, sheep,
clothing, and grain, — such things as were wanted for the army.
On several occasions, the town voted a bounty to their soldiers.
Thus, in 1779, £210 lawful money, was voted as bounty for
this purpose. Lee furnished her full share of men and means
for the Revolutionary war. The battle of I>exington was
fought on the 19th of April, 1775, two and a half years before
Lee was incorporated. The news reached Berkshire on the
20th, at noun. At sunrise the next morning. Col. Pattison, of
Lenox, was at the head of his regiment, completely equipped
and uniformed, marching to the field of hattie. And Col.
Fellows, of Sheffield, with equal promptitude, with Iris regi
ment, was on his way to Roxbury.
In these movements, the fathers of Lee were not idle spec
tators. I regret that I am unable to give the names of all
the Lee men who were out in the Revolutionary war. I am
told that the following gentlemen were among the number : —
Jesse Bradley, Eh Bradley, Jesse Giflfbrd, Fenner Foote,
Ephraim Sheldon, Joseph Handy, — Tilden, — Totman,
John Percival.
Perhaps the year 1780 is a good sample of other years
during the war. Dec. 20, 1779, the town voted £210 law
ful money, as a bounty to her soldiers in the army, and to
such as should enter the ser^•ice. "June 10, 1780, voted to
raise, for a bounty for the same purpose, £108 hard money,
and that each soldier should have £12." By this vote, it
appears that Lee intended to have nine men in the Conti
nental army. This would be one-quarter of her men. And
then, in July, the town voted to give two other men the same
that the others had. These eleven men appear to have been
what was termed " three months' men, and six months' men."
Their regular wages were forty shillings per month. In Nov.,
"Voted to raise £55 silver money, to be assessed immediately,
to purchase beef for the use of the army ;" and near the close
of the year, we find the following, " Voted to raise seven men,
to serve in the Continental army for three years, or during
the war." Jan. 8, 1781, it was " voted to raise the sum of
£6818, to be assessed immediately.. Voted, that grain shall
be received for pay, viz., Wheat at $72 per bushel ; Rye,
$48 per bushel; Indian Corn at $26; Oats, $27."
Here we have a little town, three years old, -with not more

HISTORY OF LEE. 13
than thirty -five families, all of whom would now be considered
poor, voting to send one-half of their able-bodied men into
Washington's army, voluntarily taxing themselves $35,000
to support these soldiers and their families, and supplying
the army with beef. About $2000 of it was to be in hard
money, or its equivalent ; whilst $33,000 was to be in con
tinental money, or its equivalent. Verily our fathers were
sincere, when, a year before, they passed the following vote :
" Voted, That we hold ourselves bound to support the civil
authority of this State for the term of one year, and bound
to obey the laws of this State."
As a specimen of the patriotism of our fathers, allow me
to refer you to the acts of two men who came into town at
the close of the war. Cornelius Bassett, father of Lemuel,
took a lively interest in that contest. For a time, he was
engaged in privateering. He succeeded in capturing a prize
which brought him £100, and so desirous was he to keep up
the credit of the State, that he invested the whole of this
sum in the depreciating continental money. Afterwards, he
exchanged it for a watch, which he gave for the place now
owned by Sheriff Pease.
Capt. Amos Porter was a resolute man. He was in the
French and Revolutionary wars. He devoted a large pro
perty in the support of his company ; and when Peace was
declared, he led his company of 64 men up to Toucey's, and
treated them each with a bowl of grog, at $60 a bowl,
making a bill of $3840.
Jesse Bradley, then only 14 years of age, enlisted under
Col. Brown, and was at the battle of Fort Stanwix. In the
confusion of the defeat, an Indian chased Jesse for several
miles, when the lad turned around, and fired in the direction
of the Indian. Not being troubled any more with his pur
suer, Mr. Bradley, througii life, looked back to the event
with some compunctions of conscience, fearing that he might
have killed a man.
These, and many other incidents of a similar character,
•indicate the generous patriotism of these lovers of freedom
and of their country.
At the close of the war, many valuable families moved
into this town ; most of whom sleep among the thronged
dead, but who have left to their children the best of all patri
mony, a legacy of strict morality, stern integrity, and untiring
industry. At this time, a minister, Mr. Parmeley, their first
pastor, was settled. Mr. C. Bassett and Major Dillingham
erected the Red Lion, on Mr. Pease's lot, which was used for
a tavern for fifty years. This was the first two-story house
built in Lee, and I am told that in it was the flrst store in
Lee, kept in the buttery. Job Hamblin went to Boston to get
a load of salt, and it required forty days to make the journey.

14 HISTORY OF LEE.

SHAY'S WAR.
At the close of the war, in 1783, the people found them
selves overwhelmed in debt. Massachusetts came out of the
war with a debt of £3,050,000, including her proportion of
the national debt. This, with private debts necessarily con
tracted by men engaged in the war, for the support of their
families, and their own personal aflfairs having been for so
long a time neglected, disaflfected the minds of many. They
were unwilling to embarrass themselves farther with enor
mous taxes. This originated what is called the Shay's war.
The people in this county were the first " to put a stop to
Courts" at the commencement of the Revolution. No Pro
bate courts were held here from 1774 to 1778, and during
the last two of these years, no deeds were recorded. Witii
this contempt of courts, as we might suppose, the people
reluctantiy consented to have Courts of Justice set within
their bounds. In 1786, there were 800 of Shay's men
assembled in Great Barrington, under arms ; and soon after,
a company of 250 assembled in Lee, composed of men of
Lee and vicinity. This company finally concentrated their
forces on the Perry place, in Cape street, which Dea. Culver
now owns. Gen. Pattison, at the head of the Government
forces, came from Stockbridge, and took his position on Mr.
Hamblin's hill, upon the opposite side of the Greenwater
river. This hero had engaged Dr. Sargent, with a company
of assistants, as the surgeons of his army, who occupied
Lyman Foote's house. And while the army was preparing
for battle, the surgeons were tearing up sheets and other linen
for bandages for the wounded, preparing tables, blocks, and
other necessary things pertaining to their work. Gen. Patti-
son's men had cannon, but the Shay's men had none. To
supply this deficiency, the Shay's men put Mrs. Perry's yarn-
beam upon a pair of wheels and drew it up back of the house.
The ramrod, and other appendages for cannon in actual ser
vice, were exhibited to their enemies in the most impressive .
waj'. The ignited tar-rope was freely swung in the air, and
the men were running in every direction to put everything in
order for battle ; and when Peter Wilcox, their leader, with
a stentorian voice, heard by their enemies, gave the order to
fire, the valiant Pattison, with his men, fled for life before
Mother Perry's old beam.
Peter Wilcox and — Austin were arrested for treason,
and cast into our County prison, where they lay for several
months. Their wives were allowed lo visit them occasionally,
and carry to them articles of food. On one occasion, these
women carried to their husbands a loaf of bread, in which
was the saw used in amputating the frozen feet of John

HISTORY OF LEE. 15
Winegar. Early the next morning, Wilcox and Austin, hav
ing .sawed off the irons upon their feet, passed out of prison
habited in their wives' clothes. When the jailer carried in
breakfast to his prisoners, the men were gone, and in their
place were their wives, dressed in men's clothes, who were
soon after released.
Peter Wilcox repaired to a cave on Henry Bowen's farm,
in the rear of the Academy, where his friends fed him till
the civil authorities withdrew the prosecution. The cave to
this day is known as " Peter's cave."
As another illustration of the patriotism of the women of
Lee, I will allude to another incident, which, at that time,
caused no little merriment. The house now occupied by
Lyman Foote was the head quarters of the Shay's party for
some time after " Mother Perry's victory." The Court party
concentrated their forces in Stockbridge. Most of our fathers
and mothers sympathized -with the Shay's party. Scouting
parties from Stockbridge frequented the farm of Mr. Foote,
for the purpose of arresting those who had driven them from
Hamblin's hill. This became intolerable to the Shay's party,
and they were determined to stop it.
Lovice Foote and Sarah Ellis, two young ladies of Lee,
put on gentlemen's coats and hats, and, with guns in hand,
sallied forth in the first of the evening ; when they saw two
gentlemen riding up on horseback. On their arrival, these
girls ordered the men to dismount. They refused at first ;
but, on the presentation of the unloaded guns in the ladies'
hands, with the assurance, that if they did not obey, they
should receive the contents of their guns, the gallant fellows
dismounted, and were ordered to enter the house, where it
was ascertained that they were Ebenezer Jenkins, jun., and
Crocker Taylor, two young bucks of Lee, and intimate ac
quaintances of their captors. The Shay's men were molest
ed but little after this event. Most of our fathers enlisted
into this movement. Ira Parsons led 400 Berkshire men to
Springfield, " to oppose the Courts ;" but when some of our
Lee men saw the rabble that composed the major part of that
army, they were ashamed of their company, and immediately
left for home.
WAR OF 1814.
While on this subject, it may be proper to allude to the
part that Lee bore in the war of 1812.
At the commencement of the war, an order came for four
teen men. This number was accordingly draughted ; but it
was not till 1814 that they were called into service, when, I
am told, that fourteen men of Lee joined a company fontied

16 HISTORY OF LEE.
in the south part of this county. These men were John Nye,
Thomas E. M. Bradley, John Olmsby, Samuel D. Sturgis,
J. M. Bemoley, Silas Garfield, John Norcort, Eben C. Brad
ley, Horace Treat, John Woolly, John Howk 3d, Benj. G.
Osborn, John Allen, Arthur Perry, and — Keith.
Mr. Nye was elected captain of the company, and Mr.
Garfield was 1st sergeant ; and Gen. Whiton, of this town,
was major-general of a division in that war. These good
men and true fought valiantly at the heavy-loaded tables of
Boston generosity, and returned home in six weeks without
seeing the enemy.

V. CIVIL HISTORY.
The Town Meetings were held at first in Peter Wilcox's
house and barn ; afterwards at Major Dillingham's tavern ;
and then at the meeting-house. The warrants for these
meetings were for many years posted upon the three grist
mills, Mansfield's, Lee's, and Winegar's ; and also upon the
whipping-posts and stocks, which were located near Joseph
Bassett's front-gate.
By the records of the town, and the statements of our
oldest citizens, it is evident that our town has ever been dis
posed to regard impartially the different interests of the town,
which appropriately came within her jurisdiction. The elec
tion of Town, County, and State officers; the raising of funds
for religious instruction and schools ; the repairs of roads and
bridges, of which we have seven spanning the Housatonic ;
are among the prominent objects attended to in these town
meetings. The following Table contains the names of all the Town
Clerks, Selectmen, Representatives to Boston, votes for Gover
nor, and the total vote, for each year since our organization :

Yeae

To-WN Cleeks.

Selectmen.

Eepkesentatives.

Votes foe

Goveenoe.

1777

Prince "West

William Ingoi-soll, Jesse Bradley, Oliver and
Prince West, Amos Porter

1778
<t
Arthur PiJjTy, Samuel Stanley, .\mos Porter
0*1779
(C
Wm. Iiiffcrsoll, Jesse Bradley, llopo D.^vis
1780
It
Oliver West, Josiah Yale, lA'in. Crocker
John Hancock 24
James Bowdoin
6
1781
n
•J. Yalu, Amos Mansfield, Jesse Bradley
27
tt
11
1782
Thomas Beecher
Eben Jenkins, Oliver West, A, Mansticld
" 13
ft
4
1783
Nathan Dillingham
" Thomas Crocker, Josiah Yale
Eben Jenkins
13
Geu. Lincoln
1
1784
u
Jesse dh'adley, A. Mansfield, Joshna Wells
" 13
tt
1
1785
li
J. Wells, Setli Bacltus, Isaac Davis
11
Tliomas Cusliing 16
Bo-wdoin
8
1786
c
" David Porter, Jesse iJradlcy
tt
¦J dm Hancock 4
tt
13
1787
<(
Nathan Ball, Seth Backus, Prince West
Josiah Yale
36
tt
2
1788
tc
S. Backus, N. Ball, P. West
Eben Jenkins
40
Gerry
25
1789
(C
Enoch Garfield, J. Wells, Jesse Bradley
Not rcjircsentcd
" 49
Sam. Chadwick
1
1790
(C
J. Yale, John Nye, N. Dillinu'luim
E. Jenkins
50
tl
1
1791
(c
" Enoch Garfield
(1
39
1792
((
It U ((
J. Y'ale
" 42
1798
Daniel "Wilcox
" " Arehelas Chad-wiek
Not represented
E. Jenkins
" 50
1794
ti
it (( (t
Wm. Gushing 67
1795
n
Jai-ed Bradley, J. "Whiton, Seth Abbott
J. Yale, John Nye, A. Chadwick
Not represented
Samuel Adams 47
Wm. Gushing
9
1796
It
J. Yale
Increase Sumner 64
1797
u
J. Whiton, " "
u
48
J. Sullivan
1
1798
((
(( C( tt
tt
59
Gill
51
1799
tl
" " J. Tale
Joseph "Whiton
72
It
63
1800
tt
J. Crocker, " A. Chad-wiek
^ 11
Caleb Strong 106
ft
8
1801
(1
J. Y'ale, ¦' Nathan Bassett
11
81
E.Gerry
21
1802
t.
J. "Whiton, " David In<rersoll
(1
118
u ''
8
1803
tl
J. Yale, Eli Bradley, Nathan Bassett
It
" 113
((
8
1804
tt
J. Nye, " John Stearns
It
124
((
24
1805
Eben Jenkins, -jun.
J. Yale, " Eliiah Garfield
Jared Bradley
" 152
Sullivan
30
1806
N. W. Thayer
" J. Nye, J. Vhiton
It •'
166
(C
29
1807
C. T. Fessenden
Nathan Ball, " Elijah Garfield
"
156
((
38
Teai

I

To-WN Cleeks,

1808

C

T. Fessenden

1809

1810

1811
1812
1813
1814
Nathan Dillingham
1815
ft
1816
E
Hinman
1817
ft
1818
(1
1819
11
1820
11
1821
11
1822
ft
1823
11
1824
"Wm. Porter 1
1825
"
1826
Leonard Ohuroli I
1827
If
1828
E.
Hinman
1829
H.
Bartlett
1830
1831
1832
1833
1884
1835
1836
1837
1838
1889
Seleotuen.
EEPEESENTATrTES.
"Votes eoe Goveenoe.
J. Wliiton, J. Nye, Eli Bradley
J. Yale, " Moses HaU
" " Jared Bradley
Joseph Whiton, Jas. Whiton, Jared BratJley
J. Yale, Tim. Thatcher, "
" J. Nye, Eli Bradley
Jog. Whiton, " Eben Porter
A. Hall, Eben Porter, G. Bassett
" J. Nye, inn., "
E. M. Ashley, ''^ "
" " N. Tremain
J. Yale, J. Nye, Joseph Whiton
G, Bassett, E. M. Ashley, Lem. Bassett
J, Nye, inn., Tim. Thatcher, A. Merrell, jun.
It It ft
" Francis Hearick, Wm. Merrell
" Joshua "West, "
Wm. Morrell, " "W. Laflin
" J. Yale, jun., "
G. Bassett, " EU Bradley, jun.
Thomas Hulbert, " "
It ft 11
" Z. "Winegar, James "Wakefield
L. D. Bidwell, " S. A. Hulbert
" "Wm. Porter, "
C. M. Owen, " "
L. D.- Bidwell, Asa Stebbcns, Lyman Foote
James Keep, Crocker Thatcher, "
" Cutler Laflin, C. Hinckley
C. M. Owen, Z. -Winegar, I. M. Ives
Billings Brown, " "
J. Whiton
J.YaleJared Bradley
J. Whiton
James Wliiton
J. B. Perry
Gersham Bassett
11
J. B. Perry
G. Bassett
John Nye
" Lem. Bassett
Lem. Bassett
Hubbard Bartlett
11
C. M. Owen
" Wm. Porter, jun.
E. Loomia, " "
C. M. Owen
E. Loomis, Stephen Thatcher
T. Hulbert, W. Lafiin
W. Laflin, J. Yale
J.Yal6,A. G.Weloli, N.Tremain
A. G. Welch, W. Laflin
W. Laflin, Wm. Merrell
Wm. Merrell
Leonard Church, Eli Bradley
Gore
185
Sullivan
84
11
191
Lincoln
44
11
194
Gerry
49
It
192
11
45
Strong
192
11
48
11
194
It
89
It
198
Dexter
46
11
206
It
46
John Brooks
189
11
S3
11
187
Dearborn
35
a
165
Cro-wninshield
24
11
172
11
27
ft
169
Eustua
26
(1
142
i(
82
11
132
If
33
Otis
181
ft
55
Samuel Lathrop
177
ft
101
Lincoln
180
Morton
2
If
89
Mills
8
It
87
(f
79
Morton
17
If
62
11
20
tf
176
ft
30
ft
126
.1
20
fl
255
ft
57
J. Da-vis
91
ft
11
ft
250
ft
62
Everett
193
ft
149
11
206
If
159
11
280
11
lis
11
213
If
109
11
240
ft
155
Teas

To-WN Clbrks.

1840

H. Baxtlett

1841

If

1842

E. Hinman

1843

ft

1844

ft

1845

fl

1846

tt

1847

H. Bartlett

1848

ft

1849

Thomas Steele

1850

K. Hinman

1851

tf

1852

ft

1858

tf

Selectmen.

1. M. Taylor, L. Beach, Jared Bradley
ft ft 11
S. S. Dorr, " Charles Thatcher
J, H. Eoyee, Henry Smith, "
" f' A. G. Hulbert
" F, N. Lowrey, "
E. S. May, " "
" " C. B. Phinney
" B. Brown, "
F. N. Lo-wrey, Lucius Crocker, "
Henry Smith, Eli Bradley, W. P. Hamblin
Wm. G. MerreU, " "
" Leman Phinney, "
« " H. Garfield

BEPBEBENTATrvES.

S. A. Hulbert
Not represented
Isaac Ball
Zack Winegar
Lewis Beach
G. W. Plainer
I. M. Taylor
Henry Smith
Elizur Smith
Not represented
H. Garfield
J. H. Eoyee
C. B. Plunney
W. P. HambUn

Votes fob Goveenob.

Davis

269

Morton 187 ,

(1
197
" 172
11
188
" 164
Sewall 26
Briggs
228
" 159
" 29
246
Bancroft 168
" 31
(C
206
J. Davis 109
11 17
((
208
" 89
" 14
It
215
C.Cushing 120
" 12
(t
254
14
Philips 134
u
260
Boutwell 55
" 195
({
283
" 188
" 31
Winthrop
256
" 194
Palfrey 22
Clifford
282
Bishop 229
Mann 30
Washburn 274
" 190
Wilson 45
Jesse Bradley was a Delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ; James Whiton do. do. in 1820 ; S. A. Hulbert do. do. in 1853.
20 HISTOKY' OF LEJ-:.
By this Table, it appears that we have had 1 2 Town Clerks,
some of vrhom held their office for a long time. Nathan
Dillingham was Town Clerk 13 years, Daniel "\Mlcox 12,
Hubbard Bartiett 15, vrhile Ransom Hinman is upon his
20th year.
Some of our fathers were on the Board of the Selectmen
for a long time. 'Squire Yale filled that office for 20 years,
John Nye, sen., 22, Joseph Whiton 10 ; and yet the duties of
that office have been performed by 72 different men.
Lee has represented herself in our General Court GO years
of the 71 since the adoption of our Constitution, leaving 1780,
'93, '95, 1811, and '49, — iive years, in which she has not been
represented. Wo have sent to our Legislature 80 Represen
tatives in the persons of 33 different citizens. Some of these
were elected for several years. Mr. Jenkins held a scat in
the Massachusetts Legislature 8 years, 'Squire Yale G, Jared
Bradley 7, -while Joseph Whiton's term extended through
9 j-iars. Fi^•e men, Jenkins, Yale, Jared Bradley, Joseph
and James Whiton, represented the town for the flrst 33 years;
since then, this office has been generaUy held by the same per
son for only one year.
The vote for Governor, usually the full vote of the town,
has run from 14 to 541. At the close of the Revolutionary
war, so many of our men were in the Army, that the vote for
two years was only 14 ; and then again, in the Shay's war,
the 17 votes cast for Governor indicates the absence of many
of our voters, for the nest year it increased to 38. For the
first 10 years, the largest vote of the town never reached 25.
For the last few years, our vote has rapidly increased, till the
votes actually cast for Governor constitute us the third town
in the County.
Lee has furnished the Cotmty with four Senators in our
General Court —
Joseph Whiton, -for the years 1813 & 1814
William Porter, " " 1834 & 1835
Samuel A. Hulbert, " " 1846 & 1847
Asa G. Welch, " « 1851
John Nye held the office of County Commissioner six
years, from 1846 to 1852.
Allowing 30 families in town at the time of its incorpora
tion and five persons to a family, Lee had a population in
1777, when she received her Charter, of 150 soulsf
In 1791, the 1st Census, she had 1170
' " 1262
' " 1305
• « 1384
¦ « 1825
« 2428
' " 3220
1854, we have not less than 3700

1800,

ii

2d

1810,

((

3d

1820,

a

4th

1830,

Sth

1840,

ii

6th

1850,

ii

7th

HISTOKY OF LEE. 21
VI. PROFESSIOlSrAL MEN.
MINISTERS.
Lee has had 56 settled Pastors, — 7 of the Congregational
church, 17 of the Methodist in Lee Centre, 3 of the Free
will Baptist, 1 of the Baptist, 4 of the Branch of the Baptist
church in Tyringham, located at South Lee ; and allowing for
the Methodist Society at South Lee one preacher for two
years, 24 more. I shall speak of them again at another time.
JUSTICES.
Lee has had 44 Justices of the Peace, of whom 21 are
now living in town, — enough to keep us all just. Their
names are — Ebenezer Jenkins, Wm. Ingersoll, Josiah Yale,
Jared Bradley, John Nye, sen., Jedediah Crocker, William
Sturgis, Jolm Freese, Abijah Merrell, jun., William Merrell,
James Whiton, .John B. Perry, John Nye, jun., Lemuel Bas
sett, Hubbard Bartlett, Alvan Coe, Augustus Collins, R. C.
Dewey, WilUam Porter, Stephen Thatcher, L. D. Bidwell,
C. M. Owen, W. Laflin, Asa G. Welch, Leonard Church,
N. Tremain, jun., Franklin Sturgis, Alden Werden, Lewis
Beach, G. W. Platner, Harrison Garfield, Franklin Cham-
berlin, Thomas Greene, Ransom Hinman, Alexander Hyde,
Caleb Belden, J. F. Cook, F. N. Lowrey, Albert M. Howk,
L. D. Brown, G. H. Phelps, Wm. T. Fish, Marshall Wilcox,
John Branning, and M. D. Field.
LAWYERS.
We have had 13 Lawyers in town, 6 of whom are now
in Lee.
Alvan Coe was the first lawyer in Lee. He was a native
of Granville, Came into town in 1807, and left in 1809.
He afterwards became a preacher in Sandusky, O.
Augustus Collins was a native of Guilford, Ct. Moved to
Westfleld.
RoUin C. Dewey was a native of Sheffield. Admitted to
the Bar in 1813. Moved to Indiana.
William Porter, native of Hadley, graduated at Williams'
College in 1813. Admitted to the Bar in 1817. Died
in 1853.
Edward V. Whiton, native of Lee. Admitted to the Bar
in 1831. Now Chief Justice of Wisconsin.
L. D. Bidwell, native of Tyrmgham, graduated at Williams'
College in 1814. Admitted to the Bar m 1817. Now
living in Stockbridge.
Franklin Sturgis, native of Lee, admitted to the Bar in 1830.
Jonathan F. Cook, native of Minisink, Orange Co., N. Y.,
admitted to the Bar in 1839.

22 HISTOET OF LEE.
John Branning, native of Amenia, Duchess Co., N. Y., ad
mitted to the Bar in 1845.
Franklin Chamberlin, native of Dalton, admitted to the Bar
in 1845. No-vv of Springfield.
L. D. Brown, native of Lee, admitted to the Bar in 1841.
Marshall Wilcox, native of Lanesborough, graduated at
Williams' CoUege in 1844. Admitted to the Bar in 1847.
N. W. Ayer, native of Preston, Ct., graduated at Brown
University. in 1840. Admitted to the Bar in 1843.
PHYSICIANS.
Lee has had 18 Physicians, 6 of whom remain with us.
Gideon Thompson, a native of Goshen, Ct., was the first
physician in Lee. He moved to Galway, N. Y.
Dr. Rathburn followed Dr. Thompson.
Erastus Sargent, a native of Stockbridge, a graduate of
Dartmouth CoUege in 1792.
Nathaniel Thayer, native of Boston, died at Westfield.
Hubbard Bartlett, native of Richmond, received his honor
ary M. D. from Williams' CoUege in 1835.
Asa G. Welch, native of Norfolk, Ct., received his honorary
M. D. in 1831, at WiUiams' College.
Coriden Guiteau, native of Norfolk, Ct., graduated at Berk-
sliire Medical College in 1830.
James Welch, native of Norfolk, Ct. Now in  .
Eliphalet Wright, native of Hinsdale, Mass., graduated at
Berkshire Medical College in 1841.
H. S. Lucas, graduated at Berkshire Medical College in
1842. Now Uves in Chester, Mass.
Charles M'AlUster, practiced in South Lee. He is now in
Stockbridge.
Horatio S. Cobb, native of Hawley, Mass., graduated at
Berkshire Medical College in 1845. Died in California
in 1850.
Asariah Judson, graduated at Berkshire Medical CoUege.
Now in California.
L. B. Way, native of Meriden, Ct. Now in Portland, Ct.
Received his Diploma from a Medical Institute at Hart
ford, Ct.
Samuel G. Harrington, native of North Brookfield, gradu
ated at Berkshire Medical College in 1850. Now in
North Brookfield.
John B. Gifibrd, native of Lee, graduated at Berkshire
Medical CoUege in 1849.
M. C. Lathrop, native of ToUand, Ct, graduated at Worces
ter Medical CoUege in 1852.
J. M. Leonard, native of Liverpool, England, graduated at
Berkshire Medical CoUege in 1851.

HISTOET OP LEE. 23
Besides these, Drs. Heywood, Ebell, Cady, MiUs, Fuller,
and others, spent some time with us, but whose residence
among us as physicians was of a short duration.
POST-MASTERS.
While on this subject of Professional Men in Lee, it wUl
not do to omit so important a one as Post-Master, with whom
we aU have to do. We now have three Post-offices in town.
Jedediah Crocker was the first post-master in Lee. His
office was in his pubUc-house, now o-wned by' John Baker, in
Cape street. He fiUed the office from 1803 to 1811, when
Richard Brush assumed its duties. The bar-room of the
above house seryed the treble purpose of bar-room, post-
office, and tailor's shop, Mr. Brush himself working at that
business when his other engagements would allow.
RoUin C. Dewey, in 1816, received the appointment, and
had the office in the old house next north of Eldridge's Block,
then standing opposite to Dr. Bartlett's.
In 1817, J. B. Perry was appointed, who also held the
office one year ; when, in Jan. 1818, Hubbard Bartlett was
appointed, who fiUed the office till 1845, 27 1-2 years ; when
L. D. Brown took it, who was succeeded by Geo. H. Phelps,
and Albert M. Howk, the present incumbent.
In 1848, a new post-office was created at East Lee, caUed
" East Lee Post-Office," and S. D. Sturges was appointed
P. M., who held the office till Jan. 1, 1850 ; when Lyman
Smith received his appointment for that office. April
12th, 1850, Wm. P. HambUn became P. M., who was suc
ceeded by the present incumbent, George R. Sturges, in
October last.
A post-office was opened at South Lee in 1826. Thomas
Hurlbut was P. M. from Nov. 1826 to 1848 ; L. D. BidweU,
from 1848 to 1850; Wm. G. Merrell, from 1850 to 1853;
A. B. Manley, from' 1853, and is the present incumbent.

VII. EDUCATION.
The first pubUc school in Lee was established in 1784,
when the town appropriated £40 for schooling that year, and
divided the town into four School Districts. The 1st District
embraced all included in the roads running from the Park to
Stockbridge and Tyringham. The 2d District embraced all
that were left upon the west side of the river, except Ashbell
Lee and James Penoyer. The 3d District included all east
of the river not included in the 1st, as far east as Freeman's
and Stanley's, and so on to the northern line. The 4th Dis
trict included all that were left in the eastern part of the town.

24 HISTORY OF LEE.
With School Districts covering such vast territories, it must
have been impossible for many of the chUdren to derive much
advantage from their schools. These four Districts have
been subdivided into t-\velve ; and the 100 scholars in 1784
have increased to 758 in 1853.
I am satisfied that few towns in Western Massachusetts
have better advantages for education than Lee. In 1837, our
Academy was erected, at a cost of ^3500, which, for 15 years,
exerted its elevating influence; but which is now merged
into the town .High School, where young gentlemen and
misses can acquire as good an education as at any other school
for aU the practical duties of life. Young gentlemen can
here fit for College, if they wish to. A school of an equal
grade is sustained for a part of the year at South Lee.
We have also a gdod school for young misses, and a family
boarding-school of too long standing to need commendation.
The first appropriation of £40 has been increasing, till,
the past year, it has reached :^2G50; and, if we add the
annual interest of the Hopland fund, we shall have $274G
expended for schools. This is >?3,55 per scholar.
In the graduated scale in the last Report of the Board of
Education, Lee is numbered 153 ; but if the Hoplands Dis
trict had been included, we should stand No. 129, and, if I
mistake not, we should then stand at the head of the Berk
shire list of appropriations for scholars.
Add to the above for building new school-houses and repair
ing old ones, ^1000 ; add also for private schools and school
ing out of town, $800 ; and we find that we are expending
for education annually not less than $4500.
In 1851, the citizens of Lee endowed a scholarship in
Marietta CoUege of $5000.
The origin of the HorL.VND School Fvnd was as fol
lows: — On the petition of 177 inhabitants of the Upper and
Lower Housatonic townships, to the Great and General Court
of ^las>acliusetts Bay, for lots of land situated in their terri
tory, a Committee was appointed ttj attend to that matter,
and, in their instructions, which were adopted June 29, 1722,
they say, that,
'•John Stoddard, Henry Dwight, Luke Hitchcock, John
Asliley, and Samuel Porter, be a Committee to admit setflers,
or mhabitants, to grant lots, and manage aU the prudential
affairs of the settlers, tUl this Court shall give further orders.
" The said Committee are hereby directed to settie said
land in a compact, regular, and defensible manner. They are
further required to admit 120 inhabitants, or settiers, in the
two townships, givmg preference to such of the petitioners as
they shaU judge most likely to bring forward the settiement,
allowmg none of them more than three years' time from the
aUotment of said lands, to bring forward a settlement by

HISTORY OF LEE. 25
building a suitable house, and tilling such a quantity of land
as the Committee shaU appoint, in order to their being entitled
to their grants'; reserving a convenient quantity of land for
the first settled minister, ministry, and school. The Commit
tee are further du-ected to demand and receive of each grantee
the sum of thirty shillings for each hundred acres, and pro
portionable for a less quantity ; out of whicli money they
shall pay a reasonable sum to the Indians for the purchase of
their rights, together with the charge of laying out the two
townships, and of the Committee settling them, and the re
mainder be improved in building meeting-houses in said
townships." In the Upper to-wnship so called (Great Barrington), there
were 40 shares — 37 for as many settlers, one for the first
minister, one for the ministry, and one for the school. 400
acres were aUowed to a share, on the first aUotment ; after
wards, the Hoplands so called were apportioned to the said
40 original recipients, at six different times, ranging from 10
to 40 acres at a time. The school portion from the Hoplands
amounted in all to about 170 acres.
This land became the -exclusive property of the inhabitants
of the said Hoplands by the foUowing vote, passed at a meet
ing of the original proprietors of the said Upper township,
on the Housatonic, held Jan. 22, 1770, p. Ill of their
Records :
" Voted, That all the land belonging to the said proprietors
that Ues in the Hopland Division so called, that is, all the
lands lying north of Stockbridge south line, continuing said
Stockbridge south line east to the east Une of Great Barring
ton, all the lands north of said Une granted for the use and
benefit of a school lying within said Great Barrington, be dis
posed of and improved, for keeping a school for the benefit of
the persons that have or shaU settle in said Hopland Division.
" And Ensign Wm. Ingersoll, Mathew Van Deusen, and
Jeremiah Wormer, are chosen and appointed to be a Com
mittee for disposing said lands for said purpose."
This land was sold, and the proceeds invested for the above
purpose. The fund is now $1608,33, yielding an income of
$96,50 per annum. On March 18th, 1782, the town "voted
to take care of the school land ;" and, on the 28th of that
month, the to-wn " voted that the above land is voted to that
part of the inliabitants belonging to the said Hoplands." In
1792, the Hoplands were incorporated under the name of
" The Lee Hopland School District." It embraces six School
Districts, — two at South Lee, the one near C. Hinckley's, the
two in Water street, and the one at East Lee, embracing
nearly 400 scholars, between 5 and 15 years of age.
The foUowing is the Charter of the Hopland 'School Dis
trict, with the Amendments :
4

26 HISTORY OF LEE.
An Act for incorporating a certain part of the to-wn of Lee
into a School District, called the Hopland School District,
taken from vol. 1st, page 294, of Special Laws.
Whereas it appears to this Court, that certain lands lying in that part of
the town of Lee which formerly belonged to the town of Great Barrington,
in the County of Berkshire, we"re appropriated for the use and support of
schools, which lands, by Act of Incorporation of the said town of Lee, are
reserved to said to-wn of Lee :
And whereas it also appears that the said to-wn of Lee have, since their
being incorporated as aforesaid, relinquished their right in said land (so fer
as it respects the support of schools in the said town of Lee) to those per
sons who do now, and who may hereafter, reside on the same lands :
And whereas, in order to carry the good design of the appropriation
aforesaid into effect, it is found necessary that the persons residing on the
said lands should be incorporated into a School District as aforesaid :
Sec. I. Be it therefore enacted by Senate and House of Eepresentatives
in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, that all the
inhabitants now living on the aforesaid lands, or that may hereafter live on
the same, with all their estates, be, and they hereby are, incorporated into
a School District, by the name of the Hopland School District, in the town
of Lee as aforesaid.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted hy the authority aforesaid, that the
inhabitants of the said Hopland School District be, and they hereby are,
vested with all the privileges, powers, and immunities, -necessaiy for en
abling them to use and improve all the monies that have or may arise in
consequence of the aforesaid appropriation, for the support of a school or
schools in the said Hopland School District ; but the said inhabitants are
still to be considered as belonging to said town of Lee, in every respect,
sa-fing their being subject to be taxed to the support of schools in the other
parts of said town.
See. 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that Ebe-
ne26r Jenkins, Esq. be, and he hereby is, empowered to issue his warrant,
directed to some one principal inhabitant of the District aforesaid, requir
ing him to warn a meeting of the iphabitants of the District aforesaid,
(lualified by law to vote in District affairs, to assemble at some time and
place within the said Hopland School District, to be mentioned in the same
warrant, for the purpose of choosing such olEcers as may be necessary for
transacting the affairs of the District aforesaid, so far as respects schools
only, according to the power and authority given by this Act ;' and the said
inhaiiitants quahfled as aforesaid, being so assembled, shall be, and they
hereby are, empowered to choose such officers as may be necessary for the
purpose aforesaid.
iS«o. 4. 'Provided always, that the inhabitants of the aforesaid Hopland
School District shall keep, maintain, and support, within the said District,
their proportionable part of all schools by law hereafter required to be kept,
maintained, and supported, within the aforesaid town of Lee;
This Act passed March 7th, 1791.
A true copy. Attest, John Wineqak, CfcrJ.
Vol. 2d, page 154.
An Act in explanation of, and in addition to an Act, enti
tled " An Act for incorporating a certain part of the town
of Lee into a School District, by the name of the Hop-
land School District."
Whereas doubts and difficulties have arisen upon the construction and
operation of the said Aot :
Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Eepresentatives in
General Court assembled, and by the authority of the^ame, that the said
Hopland School District shall be understood and construed to include all
the lands situated in that part of the town of Lee which formerly belonged
to the town of Great Barrington, together with all the inhabitants and resi
dents thereon, but not to include any land or real estate situate -without
the said limits, though owned by a resident or residents within said Dis-
tnct.

HISTORY OF LEE. 27
Sic. 2. Be it furlher enacted, that the Assessors of said District, for the
time being, or tho Treasurer or the Clerks of said District, when there are
no such Assessors, be, and they hereby are, respectively authorized and
required to call District meetings for the purposes mentioned or intendecl
in this and the former Act, iu the same manner and under the same regu
lations and penalties as Selectmen of towns by law are.
Sec. 8. And bo it further enacted, that the polls and estates belonging to
the said District are, and shall.be, exempted from being snbjeot to be taxed
by the said town of Lee, to the maintenance and support of schools, and
trom being liable to be prosecuted and punished, or subject to the payment
of an;^ fines or costs with the rest of said town, for any neglect of said to-wn
in maintaining and supporting schools.
Sec. i. Provided always, and be it further enacted, that the said District
shall be liable to be prosecuted and punished, as a District, for neglecting
to maintain and support their proportionable part of all schools by law
required to be kept, maintained, or supported, by or within said town, in
the same manner as a town is by law liable to be prosecuted and punished
for neglect of schools.
This Act passed March the 11th, 1797.
A true copy. Attest, John Wineoab, Cferi.
Vol. 2d, page 238.
An Act in further explanation of, and addition to an Act,
entitled " An Act for incorporating a certain part of the
town of Lee into a School District, by the name of the
Hopland School District."
Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Eepresentatives in
General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, that when
ever the rents and incomes of the school's lands, and other property be
longing to the said District, shall be insufficient for the purpose, the said
District may, at any District meeting regularly called and warned therefor,
from time to time, grant such school taxes as may be necessary and suffi
cient, together with such rents and incomes, to build and repair a suitable
school-house or school-houses for said District, and to provide and support
a suitable school or schools within and for said District ; which taxes shall
be assessed by the Assessors of said District, or by the Assessors of the
said town of Lee, for the time being, upon application of said District,
upon the polls and estates belonging to said District, and shall be collected
by the Collectors of the said District, or hy the Collectors of said town of
Lee, for the time being, upon application of said District, in the same man
ner and under the same regulations and penalties as town school taxes by
law are assessed and collected.
Sec. 2. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the. said
District shall be understoocl and construed to be capable of suing and being
sued, and of appearing in Court to prosecute or defend, and of possessing,
improving, and leasing, from time to time, the school lands belonging to
Baid District, by a Committee or Agents thereto duly appointed' at any
meeting regularly called and warned therefor.
Sec. 3. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the said
District shall have power to exchange any parts or parcels oF tho school
lands belonging to said District, for other lands lying within said District,
to be holden m the same manner and to the same uses as th& lands so
exchanged. Sec. 4. And be it further enacted by the authoritry aforesaid, that the
said District shall be capable of taking any estate, real or. personal, to tho
amount of five thousand dollars, which may hereafter voluntarily be be
queathed, granted, or given to said District, for the use and support of a
school or schools, and of holding the same for the use of schools within
said District. This Act passed June 19th, 1798.
A ti-ue copy. Attest, J. Wdjegae, CUri.
CoM.MON-wEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty.
An Act in addition to an Act, entitled " An Act for incor-

28 HISTORY OF LEE.
porating a certain part of the town of Lee into a School
District, by the name of the Hopland School District."
Sec 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Eepresentatives in
General'Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the said
District is hereby authorized and empowered, at any District meeting
legally called for that purpose, to divide said District into as many School
Distrjjjts as from time to time may be deemed necessary, and to determine
and define the limits of said School Districts.^ ^ . , , „ .
Sec 2 Be it further enacted, that the provisions of an Aot entitled An
Act to "provide for the instruction of Youth," passed on the tenth day of
March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-
seven be, and the same arc hereby extended and made applicable to the
said Hopland School District, and to the several Districts into which the
same may be hereafter divided, anything in the Acts to which this is an
addition to the contrary notwithstanding.
Provided, however, that the Committee chosen for the purpose of im
proving and leasing the school lands of the said Hopland School District,
shall be authorized to do and perform the several acts and duties which the
Selectmen of towns are authorized by the aforesaid Aot to do and perform.
This Aot passed February 12th, 1830.
A true copy. Attest, L. D. BrowELL, Olerh.
Before Jeaving this subject, allow me to aUude to another
somewhat akin to it.
There haye been at least 27 young gentlemen, natives of
Lee, who have graduated at different Colleges, viz. : Solomon
Foote, M. D., Rev. Cyrus Yale, Beza Hinckley, M. D., Wm.
H. DilUngham, Esq., Charles Dillingham, Esq., John ©.
Crocker, Esq., Lawrence Warner, Esq., Isaac Howk, Esq.,
Jonathan Foote 3d, Esq., Rev. Alvan Hyde, Joseph Hyde,
Esq., WilUam Hyde, Esq., Alexander Hyde, Esq., Solomon
Foote, Jun., M. C, Rev. Barnabas Phinney, Rev. Noah
Sheldon, Rev. William Bradley, Rev. Thomas Scott Bradley,
Rev. EUhu P. Ingersoll, EUsha B. Bassett, Esq., Rev. Edward
Taylor, Rev. William Porter, Rev. Charles B. Ball, Addison
H. Laflin, Esq., Rev. Lavius Hyde, Asahel Foote, Esq., Rev.
Stephen Peet.
Besides these men, many of whom distinguish themselves
in their respective professions, other sons of Lee, who did not
enjoy the advantages of a Collegiate education, are rendering
themselves highly useful. Gen. Whiton had three sons,
natives of Lee, who, are now Judges, — two of them in Ohio,
and the other is Chief Justice of Wisconsin. This Chief
Justice owes more to the old Social Library now merged into
the library of the Young Men's Association, than to any other
one thing, for his present position. Rev. Wm. Ross, Rev.
Samuel Leonard, Rev. Samuel Leonard 2d, and Rev. Marvin
LeflBngweU, have rendered themselves useful in the work of
the Christian ministry. Rev. John Chadwick is also a native
of Lee. Lester Keep, M. D., now Uving in Fairhaven, Ct.,
is a native of Lee. Alvan T. Cone, M. D., is also a native
of Lee. He graduated at the Berkshire Medical College in
1845, and also at the CoUege of Dental Surgery, Baltimore,
Md. Dr. Cone died in 1849, in Kentucky. Hiram Egbert

HISTORY OF LEE. 29
FuUer, a native of Lee, graduated at the Berkshire Medical
CoUege in 1852. He is now practicing in Monterey.
Others, in the Mechanical, Manufacturing, and other lucra
tive pursuits, have arisen to opulence and fame ; while many
more of our long list of young aspirants, pusliing themselves
up through the various strata of society, wiU eventuaUy find
themselves among the first in their respective callings.

VIII. HEALTH.
This town is considered a healthy town. For the past four
years, about one-third of the deaths in this town have been
of people over 50 years old. The average age iu Massachu
setts is 27.78, while in Lee, the average age, I think, is
about 32 years. From 1792 to 1837, one in every fourteen
persons that died in town was over 80 years of age.
The first death in town was probably that of a son of John
Winegar, while Uving at Crow Hollow. It was before the
purchase of our burying-ground. The child was buried on
the west side of the river. The first person buried in our
pubUc burying-ground was Matty Handy, sister of the late
Seth Handy.
For seyeral years, we have buried about 70 of our people
per year.
The first publishment recorded upon our town books is
between Mr. Noah Burdin, of Lee, and Miss Avis Their, of
Chesterfield, and bears date of Dec. 26, 1777.
The first marriage recorded upon the town Records is that
of Capt. Josiah Yale and Ruth Tracy, Sept. 26, 1776.
The first birth recorded is that of a son of Daniel Church.

IX. MANUFACTURES.
The pecuUar advantages afforded by the Housatonic and
its tributaries for manufacturing purposes, are seldom sur
passed. Goose Pond, lying upon the Tyringham mountains,
some six hundred feet above the Housatonic, containing suffi
cient water, when fuU, to run aU the mUls upon the stream
running from it four months -without rain, affords rare oppor
tunities for a long series of rnUls upon its banks. Greenwater
Pond, situated in West Becket, of about the same height as
Goose Pond, sends it surplus water into our river. This
Uttie stream is also fast being improved for useful purposes.
A complete history of the manufacturing interest of Lee
would be a fruitful theme for an evening's lecture.

30 HISTOUY OF LEE.
At an early date, the gristmill, forge, furnace, and other
shops were erected upon our streams. We now have four
woolen and satinet mills, with nine sets of machinery, em
ploying 150 hands, using 450,000 pounds of wool, and pro
ducing 528,000 yards of cloth, per year. The yearly value of
these goods is $390,000. We have also a mUl which produces
annuaUy 140,000 meal bags. We have two shops for the manu
facture of paper machinery, to the amount 'of $37,000 annu
ally, in which are employed about tlurty hands. We have
numerous estabUshments for the manufacture of various use
ful articles, such as leather, hats, boots and shoes, iron cast
ings, axes, shovels, hoes, forks, tin ware, lime and brick. We
have also a printing-office and book-bindery, (in which this
document is printed and bound, the paper for which is also
made in Lee, and which, in these respects, speaks for itself.)
But the leading business of the town is the manufacture of
paper. In 1806, Samuel Church removed from East Hartford, Ct.,
to this town, and immediately commenced the erection of a
paper-miU at South Lee, where Owen & Hurlbut's mUls now
stand. This was the first paper-miU built in town, and among
the first built in the county.
In 1808, by the strong soUcitation of gentlemen Uving in
this part of the town, and the offer of liberal assistance in the
erection of the building, Samuel Church was induced to put
up a paper-miU near the spot where Platner & Smith's new
stone miU stands.
Lee has now become one of the most important centres of
this extensive branch of business. The following is the
aggregate of the items furnished by the nine Companies
engaged in this business :
No. of paper-miUs in running order, 20
" engines in running order, 71
" lbs. of rags ground up daily, 27,270
" annually, 8,453,700
" " paper produced daily, 18,972
" " annually, 5,865,700
" hands employed, 972
Value of paper produced annually, $1,008,250
There are several other mills that will go into operation in
.a few months.
AU^ the paper made in Massachusetts in 1840 was worth
only $1,659,934, and all that was then made in the United
States was worth in the market $5,641,495. After a few
months, Lee wiU annually make more paper than was made
in the entire State prior to 1840. The present prospect of
this busmess among us is, that it is very far from having
arrived at its maturity.

HISTORY OF LEE. 31
The whole amount of goods manufactured in Lee during
the year ending April 1, 1837, was $405,000, and for the
single item of paper for that time $274,500. By comparison,
we learn that one of our firms is making more paper now
than was made in town at that time, and that another is pro
ducing nearly as much; while all of them are annually
enlarging their business, and other new Companies are formed
for the same business. The value of our manufactures and
marble per year now is about $1,630,000.
Not less than 1500 of our people are actually employed in
our mills and shops.
With this amount of business, we are not surprised that
the Lee Bank, incorporated in 1835, and which has now a
capital of $200,000, should pay to its shareholders ten per
cent, annually.
When John B. Perry opened his store, south of the Park,
about the year 1807, he was the leading merchant of Lee.
He went to New York twice a-year, and brought home with
him all the dry goods that he needed for six months in two
trunks. Now, our 14 dry goods stores have to be replenished
every month. Besides these dry goods stores, which wUl
compare favorably with any in Western Massachusetts, we
have about 30 stores and shops, making 44 stores and shops
where goods are kept for sale of almost every description
called for by our citizens. By the last Census, Lee is repre
sented as having 140 shops and 27 stores.
Lee has had 13 public-houses, of which 5 remain. The
first public-house was located where a house now stands,
o-wned by R. Hinman, and occupied at present by Oliver
Kellogg. It was a log house, 16 ft. square. The next one
stood near Ingram's miU, in Cape street. The third was the
Red Lion. This was the first two-story house in Lee. It is
the old building now known by that name, and stood till
recently on Sheriff" Pease's lot. It was built in 1778, by
Major Dillingham and Cornelius Bassett, and it continued to
be used for a public-house tUl 1833.
In 1803, and for several years after, the house occupied by
John Baker was kept as a tavern. In 1809, the house now
occupied by Jared Bradley was a public-house. Lyman
Foote's house, for a time, was kept as a public-house. Then
came the house at South Lee, for some time kept by Abijah
Square. In 1815, the Shailer tavern was opened in Cape
street, where Isaac Gardner now Uves. In 1820, the Sturges
tavern at East Lee was opened. In 1834, the Housatonic
was erected. For many years, Mr. Merrell has kept a pub
lic-house at South Lee. John McNaUy for two years has
kept a tavern on Centre street. Last, but not least, the
" Centre Hotel" was opened a few months since.

82 HISTORY OF LEE.
X. AGRICULTURE.
Thus far I have only spoken of what Lee has produced in
men and manufactures. This sketch would be imperfect
if I did not also speak of the productions of our soil.
From the State Census of 1850, the foUowing statistics are
gathered relative to Lee :
No. of acres of surface, 16,056
" « tiUage land, 928
« " mowing " 2596
« " pasture " 4630
" « wood " 2648
" " town and county roads, 385
" " railroad, 40
" « water, 615
" tons of hay, 2984
" bushels of rye cut in 1849, 1724
« " oats " " 13,768
« " corn " " 894
" " bariey " " 236
" horses in town, 309
" oxen " 142
« cows " 590
« sheep « 1277
" swine " 193
The real estate taxed is, $698,169 00
The personal " " 282,994 00
Non-resident, 60,615 00

$1,041,778 00
This is considered quite low. Tax the present year is 77
cents on the one hundred dollars.
Present number of poUs, 842
The original price of land in this town was one doUar per
acre. Some of it has recently been sold at the rate of
$10,700 per acre.
The following description of our land is from the pen of
the Rev. Dr. Hyde :
" The town is six miles in length and five in breadth, and
presents a very diversified appearance. It forms a part of
the interval which lies between the Taghconic and Green
Mountain ranges. The Green Mountain range, which rises
to a moderate elevation, runs partly within the eastern limits
of the town, presenting a very picturesque appearance.
These mountains are, for the most part, of gentie acclivity,
and are cultivated in some places quite to their summits.
From the base of these mountains, the surface of the earth

HISTORY OF LEE. 33
is rather uneven, occasionally rising into hills of considerable
height, but generaUy descending untU it reaches the plain
upon the banks of the Housatonic. West of this river, the
land is everywhere undulating in its appearance, inclining
towards the south."
So diversified is the scenery in and around our town, that
you cannot change your position a rod without a change of
scenery, and new objects of interest coming into view.

XI. MINERAL RESOURCES.
Makble is the most valuable mineral in Lee as yet dis
covered. The supply is inexhaustible. It is easy of access,
and for a generation at least it will be comparatively easy of
exportation, as some of this marble lies 120 feet above the
river. This marble is of a superior quality. Prof. Hitch
cock says that it " is a pure crystaline double carbonate of
magnesia and Ume." It is therefore dolomite marble. It is
pure white, and is susceptible of a very fine polish. It will
also work a perfectly square arris. This renders it a desira
ble material for chimney-pieces, furniture, &c. Frost and
heat effect scarcely no change in size or weight, and its strength
will sustain 26,000 lbs. to the square inch, while Italian mar
ble crushes at 13,000 lbs. to the square inch, and most of the
American marble will crush at 12,000 lbs.
By some of the severest tests to which marble can be put
by the chemist and architect, Lee marble was decided to-
be the best in the world for a building material ; hence, a
Congressional Committee decided that this should be the
marble to be used for the enlargement of our national Capi
tol. The owners of our Quarry have contracted to furnish
the marble for that vast enlargement for $1,000,000.
The foUowing statistics -will give an idea of the extent of
this branch of business. The Company work 100 men, who
get out 500 feet of marble per day. This will weigh 60
tons. The single item of freight is $800 per week, and the
Company pay out about $300 per day. The value of marble
annually produced is about $125,000.
This business adds wealth not only to the Company en
gaged in it, but to the town. It supports some 500 of our
people. Lime is another production of our mineral resources.
Limestone is readily obtained in various parts of the town.
30,000 bushels of good lime are annually produced in Lee, and
this business can be enlarged to any extent that enterprise
and capital will admit.
5

34 HISTORY OF LEE.
Iron Ore is found in different parts of the town. The
ertensive beds of this ore tliat have been examined and
tested, the specimens in our stone walls and fields, are con
clusive evidence that the mineral resources of our town are
not yet fully understood. The time is not distant when this
useful ore will be sought for, and be converted into iron -within
our own limits.
BpacK Cl.^y is found in several parts of the town, and at
the south part it is worked to a considerable extent.
Potter's Clay is found in the south part of the town; and
is said to be susceptible of producing exceUent ware.

XII. ECCLESIASTICAL.
The religious privileges of our fathers were* very few.
This region was a howling wilderness. For many years, the
inhabitants were few and scattered over a large territory.
Old Mr. Swift visited the Bassetts soon after their settle
ment here, and, as he looked around him, exclaimed to his
friends, " I think that you are very highly favored in this
town." When asked, why so? he replied, "I have always
noticed that ministers and other good men always pray for the
desolate parts of the earth, and I have no doubt but that you
share in their prayers."
When David Baker left the Cape, in 1780, he was a young
man, and so desolate this region was tinen considered, that his
pious mother remarked, as he left her home, " David is going
to Mount Ephraim, and he will never hear another sermon."
These circumstances will, perhaps, illustrate the privation
of religious privileges experienced by our fathers. And yet
the tone of morals among them was such as should put us,
their degenerate sons, to the blush. They were too near the
Mayflower to tolerate error in doctrine or immorality in prac
tice. The Town Treasurer's book indicates this high tone of
morality. As early as 1780,
Seth Handy paid for breach of the Sabbath, $2,00
Owen Swift for breach of the Sabbath, 2,00
Travellers on the Sabbath, 2,00
Job Hamblin for swearing, 1,00
A stranger for swearing, ,63
For several years, our fathers had preaching from three to
eight Sundays in a year, by such men as could for the time
be obtained.
The Charter for the incorporation of Ihe town was accept
ed Dec. 26th, 1777, and on the Sth of Jan., 1778, thirteen

HISTORY OF LEE. 36
days after, the second Town Meeting was held, when the fol
lowing vote was passed, which was all that was done at that
time, — " Voted, to raise the sum of £30 lawful money, to be
laid out in preaching the gospel. Voted, to choose three men
for a Committee, to employ a preacher, and to pay him the
above money that is voted,— Jesse Bradley, Oliver West, and
Job HambUn."
Thej^rs< sum of money which the town voted to raise was
" for preaching the gospel."
The first religious meeting -ivas held in Dea. Oliver West's
barn, which stood where a barn now stands upon the old
Wakefield place, near the burying-ground. The hay-mow
constituted the orchestra. That old barn echoed in the sweet
est melody, with the divine songs sung by that chiiir in -n'hich
the children of Jonathan Foote composed the most important
part. In view of this latter fact, Nathan Dillingham, the
then poet of Lee, perpetrated the following :
" David and Ase sing bass,
Jonathan and Fenner sing tenor;
Vice and Sol beat them all."
The meeting afterwards was held in Peter Wilcox's bam,
which stood in the rear of Mr. Linn's house, on 1! ain street.
The meetings were held in Mr. \\ ilcox's barn, and in the un
finished chamber of Lyman Foote's house, till 1780, when
they were held in the first meeting-house.
On the 16th of Nov., 1778, the next year after the adop
tion of the Charter, it was " voted to build a meeting-house
48 by 36 ; and that £700 be raised to defray the expense.
Voted, to set the meeting-house where the last Committee set
the stake," which, on inquiry, I find was in the east side of
the Park. For several years, this house had no glass v/in-
dows, no stationary seats, no door-step, and never ^^as lathed
or plastered. The rough, massive timbers vteie exposed from
the floor to the ridgepole.
Conceive, if you can, of the place where our fathers wor
shipped God, as it appeared in 1792, when Dr. Hyde first
came to town. In the east side of the Park, directly in front
of Joseph Bassett's house, stood a building fronting the south
36 by 48, with 30-ft. posts. There is no steeple nor tower.
The sides are sheathed up with wide unpainted boards. There
is an 8-foot projection in front, of one-third the width of the
building. As we enter that sacred place, the frame, cornpfosed
of timbers of enormous dimensions, rough as the woodman's
axe left them, meets our eye all around and above. The
square pews occupied the larger part of the floor. There are
three galleries : in the front of each was one long seat, back
of the side seats were four square pews, and in the rear of
the front seat were three others. In that front seat stood the
singers, with Mr. HoUster, their leader. On one side of th«

36 HISTORY OF LEE.
only door of entrance sat Daniel Santee, the negro, with his
long cane in hand, and Betty his -wife sat upon the other side
of the door. Daniel faithfully kept the unruly dogs out of
the church, and became a terror to aU roguish boys -\vithin.
In that plain pulpit, fastened to the north end of the house,
midway from the floor to the plates, stood Rev. Alvan Hyde,
then a young man. No cushions reUeved the tedious hour, — no
stove quieted the chattering teeth during those cold Berkshire
winters. Such was the place in which, for t-\venty years, our
fathers worshipped God.
Our fathers recognized the liberty of conscience more
readily than the most of their cotemporaries, as the following
vote will show. At a meeting of the town, for the purpose
of inviting Rev. A. Fowler to become their Christian minis
ter, held April 7th, 1780, it was " voted to exempt aU the
Churchmen, and Baptists, and the Quakers, from settiing and
supporting a Presbyterian minister in the town."
The next year, wdien the town passed a vote to raise money
for Kev. Mr. Kirkland, it was " voted to exempt all Church
men, Baptists, and Quakers, paying for preaching."
Here is a recognition of a religious freedom not common
in those days.
In 1800, the old unfinished church gave place to this (Con
gregational), which was enlarged in 1848, by the addition of
22 i'eet. This house is now, by including the vestibule, 50 by
92 feet. When this house was raised, in 1800, one hundred
able-bodied men were selected from this and other towns to
raise the frame ; and when the frame of the steeple had been
raised to its place, Roland Thatcher, the sailor, ascended to
the top of the eight-inch stick upon which rests the brass ball,
and, standing upon the top, swung a bottle around his head
three times, and then threw it to the ground. This was
deemed a great feat. In the erection of this house, in 1800,
Josiah Yale, Esq., one of the early settlers of the town, took
a lively interest. To his property, influence, credit, and per
sonal e-ffbrts, more than that of any other man, was the erec
tion of this edifice indebted.
When this house was dedicated, in 1800, the young people
of Richmond and Pittsfield came on horseback, and hitched
their horses to hemlock staddles standing in a hemlock swamp,
situated where this church now stands. The original bed of
our river is under this church, extending to Dr. Bartlett's, and
thence down the CathoUc lot.

The Congeegational Church in this town was organ
ized on the 25th of May, 1780, with thirty members. The
same Articles of Faith and Covenant then adopted have
remained unchanged to the present time. In 1790, the town

HISTORY OF LEE. 3Y
appointed Eben Jenkins, Joshua Wells, John Keep, Abijah
MerreU, Seth Backus, and Edmund Hinckley, a Committee
" to make some alterations in the Church Covenant ;" but no
change was effected.
Several extensive revivals have been enjoyed by this
church, and in some of them more than one hundred persons
united at each season. In 1834, this church numbered 407
members ; and I am told that, in 1826 and 7, it could not have
numbered less than 440 — a much larger number than what
has been associated with this body at any one time, before
or since.
This church embraces many members whose loyalty to
Christ is unquestioned, and whose benevolence is worthy of
commendation ; and many have gone out from this body who
are filling honorable and useful stations in the world.
In 1811, the Congregational church in Dover, Ashtabula
Co., O., was constituted in this town, the most of whose mem
bers were till then connected with this church. This emigrat
ing church was then emphatically a " church in the wilder
ness." The members of this Dover church, and congregation
connected with it, emigrated from this and adjoining towns.
The statistics of the Congregational church in Lee may be
stated thus :
Whole number, 1228
Present " 358
No. that have entered the Christian ministry
from this church, 16
" " " died while members, 354
" " " been honorably dismissed, 475
This church has had seven Pastors, viz. :
Rev. EUsha Parmley, ordained July 3, 1783, died 1784
" Alvan Hyde, D.D., " June 6, 1792, " 1833
" J. N. Damforth, installed Junel8, 1834, dismis'd 1838
" W. B. Bond, ordained March, 1840, " 1845
" Ralph Smith, installed Dec, 1845, " 1850
" S. D. Clark, " June, 1851, " 1852
" Nahum Gale, " Sept. 1, 1853.
Mr. Gale is a native of Auburn, Mass. Graduated at
Amherst CoUege in 1837, and Windsor Theological Institu
tion in 1840.
By these statistics, it appears that the Congregational
church in Lee has a history of 74 years. It has had seven
pastors. It has been destitute of a pastor 16 years. And
yet, since the dismission of Mr. Damforth, their pulpit has
not been vacant a single Sabbath when they have not had a
pastor. Two of these pastors have died while sustaining
that relation.

38 HISTORY OF LEE.
This sketch would be imperfect did I not particularly speak
of the venerable Il3'de. If any one raan more than another
is worthy of the naUu- of " father of the town," that man was
the Rev. Alvan Hyde, D. D. He came into Lee when it was
new, and, for many years, he was the only minister in town.
The people were few, and permanently located. They were
-a church-going people. Skepticism and immorality rarely
manifested themselves. The fathers loved the Sabbath and
its institutions, and their children never heard them speak
aught against their religious teacher. The children grew up td
maturity around the same pastor, and were wont to regard
him more as a parent than one sustaining to them any other
relation. Such was the state of things here during most of the time
that Dr. Hyde was the minister of Lee. For more than 41
years, he remained at his post. A whole generation had
grown up around him, who loved and revered him as tlieir
only pastor.
Mr. Hyde was a good man. Tho poor, afflicted, and dis
tressed ever found in him a sympathetic friend. He buried
the original settlers of the town, with many of their children,
and children's children. He married the fathers and mothers
of Lee, their children, and grandchildren. His memory is
identified with much that was afflictive and joyous — with all
the important interests of the people of this town, during that
40 years' pastorate. His deportment was dignified, exemplary,
and devout ; and when occasion offeied, he was approachable
and quite sociable. He was singularly methodical in all his
labors. His time was so appropriated as to give ample time
for every duty ; hence, everything that he did \\'a3 well done.
He seldom indulged in anything that neutralized his public
efforts. He knew every person in town, and, as a good shep
herd, he called each of his own flock by name, even the
youngest chUdren. For more that forty years, Mr. Hyde
visited each of the Common schools in town four times a year,
and examined the scholars not only in their appropriate
studies, but he invariably questioned the older pupUs in the
"Assembly's Shorter Catechism."
No man has done more to train the rising generation, con
struct the conventional forms of society, and mould this eon>
munity, than did Dr. Hyde. He considered the whole town
as constituting his parish, and every individual in it had a
claim upon his attention and sympathy. Intruders sometimes,
however, caused him much anxiety. Had Mr. Hyde lived
fifty years later, with the new elements introduced into this
community, he would evidently have found it impossible to
exert that controlling influence over our people which was
universally felt during his useful career. Such -a long and
successful pastorate is a great blessing to any town.

HISTORY OF LEE. 39
This church has had 13 Deacons, of whom four are now
fiUing this office :

Oliver West,

Elected 1783

Died 1816

Jesse Bradley,

a

1783

1812

Levi Nye,

a

1792

1825

Edmund Hinckley,

(C

1804

1822

David Ingersoll,

a

1812

1839

John Thatcher,

tc

1816

" 1828

Josiah Spencer,

it

1821

Removed 1833

Nathan Bassett,

ti

1826

Died 1842

Hubbard Bartlett,

ii

1829

E. C. Bradley,

ti

1833

Resigned 1846

Caleb Belden,

a

1842

Alexander Hyde,

it

1846

Samuel A. Hulbert, " 1852
Oliver West was the first Clerk of this church, and con
tinued to perform the duties of that office tiU the settlement
of Dr. Hyde, when he performed its duties till the time of
his death ; when Dea. Bartlett was elected to the office, and
is the present Clerk of the church.

The Methodist Church at South Lee has a history
of 49 years.
In 1805, a Rev. Mr. Garrison, an Episcopal Methodist,
began a religious meeting in the Red school-house, in the east
end of the village, in the south part of the town, which has
been contintied to the present time. For several years,
only one service was held upon the Sabbath. The preachers
were generally itinerants, but most generally lived in to-wn.
The Rev. Wm. Ross, a native of Lee, was among the first
that preaclied to this people. This bhurch has had not less
than 35 different preachers, among whom Rev. Messrs. Gar
rison, Ross, Woolsey, Cook, Rice, Herbberd, Jacobs, T. Clark,
Horatio Smith, and Nathan Bangs, are affectionately spoken
of. Since 1825, this church has had preaching every alter
nate Sunday. It was formerly a much larger society than at
present. Their present number is 42. Much good has been
accomplished by this body of Christians in times past. Rev.
Richard Hiscox is their present preacher.

The Baptist Meeting at South Lee originated as fol
lows. In 1825, Rev. Ira Hall, a Baptist minister, came to
South Lee, and commenced a religious meeting in the old
Red school-house, and for eight years preached every alter-

40 HISTORY OF LEE.
nate Sunday in that village. The other Sabbaths he spent
in Tyringham. Mr. HaU was a good man. His Christian
and ministerial mfluence is stiU felt by many families in
this town.
The Baptist chm-ch of Tyringham and Lee was consti
tuted August 22d, 1827, with twenty members. The mem
bers of this church lived in both of these towns. It has stated
pubUc and church meetings, and the observance of the church
ordinances in both places.
For nine years past, each meeting has had its own pastor ;
while the church organization remains as when first consti
tuted. There is, therefore, one church organization, two
societies, two meeting-houses, two meetings, and two ministers,
one at Tyringham and the other at South Lee.
In 1828, a Baptist society was organized in connection with
the meeting at^ South Lee, of which N. Tremain, Esq., was
the first Clerk. Through the agency of this society, in part,
the meeting-house at South Lee was erected as a " Union
Church," owned by everybody and yet by nobody in particu
lar. The people of Lee generally assisted in the erection of
that house.
Several extensive revivals have been enjoyed in connection
with their meetings. But the removals from to^vu, and by
death, and the change of the population, have greatly re
duced the number of professed Christians in that village.
The following table wiU indicate those who have been their
pastors :
Rev. Ira HaU, settled 1825 resigned 1833
" Isaac Child, " 1836 " 1837
'•' Alex. Bush, ordained Oct. 1838 died June 1844
•' Geo. Phippin, settled April 1844 resigned April 1846
" Forris More, '• " 1846
The Deacons of the Tyringham and South Lee church are
as follows :

1847

Arvid MerreU, elected 1832

dead

Ezra Heath, " 1832

resigned

Cyrus Heath, " 1847

o

Solomon Garfield, " 1851

Henry Bassett, " 1851

Whole No. that have been members. 242

No. baptized.

132

" died.

21

" honorably dismissed.

76

" present members.

103

HISTORY OF LEK 41
The Methobist Chcech in Lee Centre dates its com
mencement as early as 1831. Prior to this time, Methodist
meetings had been occasionally held iu the school-house near
Beach & Royce's, to which several local preachers ministered.
In 1831, the Rev. Messrs. Homer and Starks, two itinerant
preachers, established stated meetings in Water street. At
this point, Lee Centre became known to the Conference as a
missionary station. But it was not tUl 1838, that they had
meetings every Sabbath. The hall in the Centre school-house
was fitted up at that time, and served for a place of worship
till Jan. 15, 1840, when their church was dedicated. This.
house was 40 by 56 ft. It was built principally by gentlemen
that heretofore had not sympathized with that meeting.
In 1849, their house betioming too strait for them, was
enlarged by the addition of 20 feet to its former length. They
were encouraged to make this enlargement by a generous
proposition from Wm. Taylor, Esq.
In 1837, the society connected with this congregation was
formed, of which Hosea Allen is the present Clerk.
I regret that I am unable to state the whole number that
have been connected with this church. The present number,
as last reported, is 135.
The preachers of this church are as follows :
1831 Homer and Starks 1843 Charles C. Keyes
1832 Julius Field ' 1844 John Sellick
1833 " " 1845 " "
1834 J. B. Wakeley 1846 James N. Shaffer
1835 « " 1847 "
1836 Denton Keeler 1848 Peletiah Ward
1837 Keeler and Warner 1849 « "
1838 Van Deusen and Nash 1«50 J. Z. Nichols
1839 " " Sbaw 1851 Z. N. Lewis
1840 Wm. Gothard 1852 " «
1841 " " 1853 L. W. Peek
1842 Charles C. Keyes
The Rev. L. W. Peck is a native of Luzern, Penn. He
graduated at the New York University in 1845.

The Feee-Will Baptist Chuech is the next in the
order of time.
In 1844, Albert Marie came into town, and visited the
colored people in this place. He met with them and preached
to them in school-houses and private dwellings. He organized
" The Free-Will Baptist Church in Lee" sometime during
that year. It was provided with the proper officers. On the
6

42 HISTORY OF LEE.
death of Mr. Juba. Stephenson, theii- last preacher, five years
since, this little church lost their greatest support. For several
years they have had no church meetings.

The Baptist Church in Lee is the last ecclesiastical
organization in this town.
On the 14th of July, 1850, a Baptist meeting was com
menced in the Academy Hall, and was continued there tiU
Nov. 23, 1852, when their church edifice was dedicated. Their
house is 50 by 67 feet, with a spire 148 feet from the ground.
There are 109 slips upon the floor of the church, 15 of which
are free slips.
The church was organized Sept. 14, 1850, with twenty
members. There.have been 12G different members connected
with this church, 56 of whom were added by baptism.
Few churches have been more united and energetic in the
accomplishment of their appropriate work. I do not recol
lect of a single dissenting vote in any decision to which the
body has arrived relative to any matter that has come before
it. There is no society connected with this church ; but the
rent of pews is intended to meet the current expenses.
Rev. Amory Gale has been with this people from their
commencement, who acCepted of the pastorship Sept. 14,
1850, the day of their organization. Mr. Gale is a native
of Royalston, Mass. He graduated at Brown University in
1843, and at Newton Theological Institution in 1846.
J. W. MiUs was the first Clerk, and A. P. Werden fills
that office at present.
The following persons have been elected Deacons of this
church : Moses E. Culver, elected Sept., 1850
EU Tainter, " May, 1852
Hosea Codding, " May, 1852

The RoJiAN Catholics, for a year past, have held occa
sional meetings in our viUage. They have purchased an
eligible lot, and intend to erect a marble church in the course
of another season.

These six and a half churches are sufficient to meet the
present wants of this place ; and if our people do not attend
church, it cannot be for the want of suitable accommodations,
or churches of their own preference.

HISTORY OF LEE. 48
XIII. ASSOCIATIONS.
We have a number of Associations worthy of a place in
this sketch of the town ; some of the most prominent facts
in the history of which have been kindly furnished by their
respective officers.
Freemasons. The Evening Star Lodge of Free and
Accepted Masons, was constituted by Charter from the Grand
Lodge of the State of Massachusetts, October 10, 1795. Its
first Master was William Walker, Esq., of Lenox. Its present
Master is Eli Bradley, of Lee. The whole number wlio have
been associated with this Lodge from its commencement i.'^
1 63. Its present number is 64.
Odd Fellows. The Mahaiwe Lodge, No. 126, L O. of
O. F., was instituted in Lee, Mass., March 30, 1848, with ten
Charter members. Since then, therOihave been initiated and
admitted by Card, 114, making in all, 124
Dismissed, to unite with other Lodges, 11
Suspended or excluded for intemperance, and
other conduct unbecoming Odd Fellows, 17
Died, 2
Present number, 94

The Lodge commenced with a debt of
It has received for Contributions, Degrees, and

Quarterly Payments,

$3085 41

It has paid

for extinguishing Debt,

$400 00

«

Sick Benefits,

923 42

ti <t

Funeral Benefits,

160 00

Benefits to Widows,

81 25

ti ti

other Charitable purposes, 250 00

.i ti

Lodge Expenses,

872 92

Balance ui Trea;

 2087 59

sury, $997 82

The first Noble Grand was H. S. Cobb,

M. D. The present

Savings Bank. The Lee Savings Bank was chartered
March 5, 1852, and commenced business in June following.
This is an Institution of a benevolent character. It is in
tended to encourage the young and the poor to save the sur
plus of their earnings. The depositors are the shareholders.
The officers have mere nominal salaries. The Listitution
is able, therefore, to give credit to the depositors six per cent.
interest semi-annually. It receives any amount from $1 to

44 HISTORY OF LEE.
$1000. Up to the 1st of June, 1854, the whole number of
depositors was 316, and the number then was 250, who had
on deposit S40,000.
The Officers of the Lee Savings Bank are —
Harrison Garfield, President.
Thomas Sedgwick, Vice-President.
E. A. Bliss, Secretary ^ Treasitrer.
Board of Trustees.
Wm. Taylor, Increase Sumner, Gt. Brng'ton,
Eli Bradley, KendaU Baird, Becket,
S. A. Hulbert, Charics' Heebner,
T. P. Eldridge, H. H. Bidwell.
Wm. WiUiams, Stockbridge,
Young Men's Association. A meeting of the young
men of Lee was held Dec. 15, 1852, to form an Association
for their moral and intellectual improvement. Such a Society
was organized, to be known by the above name. By its
order, a petition was presented to the Legislature of this
State for a Charter, and the following was received, viz. :
An Act to Incorporate the Toirng Men's Association of Lee.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same,
as follows :
Sect. 1. Alexander Hyde, Z. N. Lewis, Amory Gale, F.
Sturgis, their associates and successors, are hereby made a
Coi-poration, by the name of the Young Men's Association of
Lee, in the County of Berkshire, for the purpose of improving
the moral and intellectual condition of the young men of said
town, by means of a library, reading-room, and lectures, with
all the powers and privileges, and subject to all the duties,
liabilities, and restrictions, set forth in the forty-fourth chapter
of the Revised Statutes.
Sect. 2. Said Corporation may hold real and personal
estate, to an amount not exceeding twenty-five thousand
doUars. [Approved,by the Governor, March 24, 1853.]
The Association was re-organized under the Charter, Sept.
1st, 1853, and the following Constitution, as amended at
several times, is that under winch their business is trans
acted, viz. :
I. This Association shaU be called the "Young Men's
Association of Lee."
II. The officers of this Association shall be— a President,
two Vice-Presidents, Secretai-y, Treasurer, and Librarian,
who shall together constitute an Executive CommiUee, and
shall be elected annually by ballot. No officer of this Asso
ciation shaU be eligible to election to the same office for two
successive terms, except the Secretary and Librarian.

HISTORY OF LEE. 45
m. The annual meeting of the Association for the choice
of officers shall be holden on the first Wednesday of Sept., at
which time the Executive Committee shall make a report of
their doings.
IV. Any person may become a member of this Associa
tion by subscribing to this Constitution, and the annual pay
ment of one dollar, if over 21 years of age, or half a dollar
if under that age. And any person may become a member
for life by the payment of ten dollars at any one time. The
money received for lifp-membersliip shall constitute a perma
nent fund for the Association.
V. It shall be the* duty of the Executive Committee to
appropriate the funds, to make arrangements for an annual
course of lectures and for debaies, and such other means of
improvement as shall seem to them expedient, subject to this
Constitution and the By-Laws, and decisions of this Asso
ciation. VI. This Constitution may be altered and By-Laws estab-
Ushed at any regular meeting, provided notice of such altera
tion and By-Laws be given to the Association at least one
week previous to such meeting.
The Association has four departments, — Public Lectures,
Debates, Reading- Room, and Library.
During the winter months, a course of Lectures is sus
tained, of an instructive and entertaining character. In con
nection with the Lectures, Debates are maintained. These
occur on the alternate weeks of the Lecture.
The Reading-Room, open at all hours of the day, is an
inviting place for every young man. It has 25 different
periodicals ; — 4 of these are Dailies, 1 semi-Weekly, 8 are
Weeklies, 8 are Monthlies, 4 are Quarterlies. The present
number of books in the Library is about 400. Many of
them are valuable, and some of them are of recent pro
duction. There have been 150 different persons, mem
bers of that body, and the present number of members is 79 ;
life-member-, 1.
This Association, which I have the honor of addressing
this evening, is certainly worthy of the patronage of all our
citizens. We have no Society that can accomplish more ibr
our voung people than this.
The first President of this Society was Alexander Hyde,
Esq. The present Board are —
Charles Ballard, President.
John Branning, ) yice-Presidents
MarshaU Wilcox, | "-"^^ ^'"^^ ««'««•
J. T. Leonard, Secretary.
E. H. Saunders, Treasurer.
Benjamin Dean, Librarian.

46 HISTORY OF LEE.
We have had other Societies for moral and intellectual
purposes, such as Temperance Societies, Libraries, Reading
Circles, &&, but whose existence has ceased with the demand
of the particular exigences wliich called them forth.

I have now accompUshed my design. It has been my aim
to present a sketch of our town " as it was and as it is."
I regret that I have not been able to gather more facts
relative to former times. Those who have never been engaged
in such an undertaking as this, are unprepared to appreciate
the amount of time and labor required ^to gather and arrange
what I have here presented. Most of what I have said of
men and things in the early history of this town, has reached
us in scraps of historic facts as they have been handed down
from one generation to another.
I regret that, in the notices of the two Methodist churches,
there were no records to which I could have access.
If there should be detected any mistakes in this Address,
allow me to say that no time or labor have been spared to
make it as perfect as possible. I have done what I could.
If I have succeeded in presenting a fair description of Leei
my object is gained.
Lee, located territorially in the centre of Berkshire County,
possessing the most healthy climate, and presenting the most
enchanting scenery, cannot fail of eliciting the admiration of
all. With our privileges, geographical, civil, educational, and
religious, combined with our vast water jiower unimproved,
there is no reason why we should not continue to extend our
business and increase our population to an indefinite extent.
If a general inteUigence, high tone of morality, among a
majority of our citizens, private enterprize, devotion lo busi
ness, and a distribution of wealth, combined with a family
pride, love of home and home scenes, and an unconquerable
perseverance and industry will build up a place, then Lee, at
no distant day, must take her place side by side with the lead
ing manufacturing cities of New England.
Let the stern integrity, unbending patriotism, the love of
the good and the true of our fathers, be cherished, — let the
principles of strict ti;mperance and moralit}' be observed, —
let a generous public spirit become prevalent, and the recog
nition of political and religious rights and privileges be cheer-
fuUy acknowledged, and the Giver of all good will continue
to smile upon our town.

INDEX.

ORIGIN AND GENEEAL HISTORY, . p. g
John "Winegar and the Indian, -' 4
The first fourteen Families and their Location, 5
Nathan Foote and the Eoyal Oak, 5
Asahel Foote rode a Stringpieee, 6
THE FIVE GEANTS, B
Hopland Grant, - , - B
"Watson's Grant, 6
"Williams' Grant, 8
Laraby's Grant, 8
Glass'u'orks Grant, - 8
CHAETEE, a
First To-wn Meeting, 11
WAES, 11
Revolutionary 'Wear, - - li:
Shay's "War, li
Mrs. Peri-y's "Victory, - - 14
Scouting Parties, 15
¦War of 1812, 15
CI-VIL HISTORY, 16
Table of Clerks, Selectmen, Eepresentatives, and Votes for
Governor, 17
Senators from Lee, 20
PROFESSIONAL MEN, 21
Ministers, Justices, and La-wyers, 21
Physicians, - 22
Post-Masters, 28
EDUCATION, - 28
Origin of Hopland School Fund, 24
Hopland Charter, 26
CoUege Graduates from Lee, 28
HEALTH, 29
First Birth, Publishment, Marriage, and Death, 29
MANUFACTUEES, - 29
-Woolen Manufactures, 30
Paper Manufactures, 30
Lee Bank, 31
Stores and Shops, 81
Public-Houses, 31

48 INDEX.
AGEICULTUEE, ' - p. 82
MINEEAL EESOUECES, - 88
ECCLESIASTICAL, 84
Early Eeligious History of the Town, 84
First Meeting-House, - 85
Congregational Church, 88
Methodist Church at South Lee, - S3
Baptist Meeting at South Lee, - 39
Methodist Church in Lee Centre, - 41
Free--Will Baptist Church, 41
Baptist Church in Lee, - 42
Eoman Catholics, 42
ASSOCIATIONS, 48
Freemasons, 4S
Odd Fello-n's, 48
Savings Bank, 48
Young Men's Association, 44
CONCLUSION, 46

k>.#.

'^-¦*

•d rnl

'.^~ ."jr. '^. ^i 4 , ft "^4%

"1 .^ '•'

^.n-.

^ '•? r t > ' V ' *!*i]'' f*t! '' a ' » s ^ d
.¦ .-:¦• ••* ."4. y'p-^^A 'r\ '¦¦'¦ vl
? k
^* , . 4'sl 'f f-"*
'1 A(
E."'
:f iVkf
6 M'-
, *' •»
.'¦^^•\, 4 ,
^feiwii^