Hatfield Town (part 13 of 16)

-j-The tackling consisted of a head-stall, collar, hames, rope-traces and lines, and for the sleigh, a holdback. The leather part of this gear was made by the shoemaker or tailor, and the rest by the carpenter and rope-maker. For a century, there was no such mechanic as a harness maker in the county. The stuffed part of the neck harness was the collar, and the two crooked pieces of wood, the hames, both so named in England. Dutch collars of leather were later.

^Between 50 and 60 years ago, Chileab Smith & Co. and their successors in Hadley, occasionally gave notice that they wished to purchase 20 or 30 shipping horses, and had for sale, 15, 20 or more hhds. of rum.

a good height for horses, and most of the horses advertised in the last century were reported to be "about 14 hands high;" a few were 15 hands. There were ambling or pacing horses, and some were described as "natural pacers," and others were said to trot, or to trot and pace. The hire of horses in Northampton and Hadley, from 1700 to 1775, was commonly equal to one and a half penny lawful, per mile, and from 1783 to 1800, two pence, and a little more when a horse carried double.

Oxen. - In Hampshire, oxen were the principal animals in the labors of husbandry, to the close of the last century, and some years later.* The oxen and cart conveyed loads on the highways, a few miles and many miles.f A few two horse wagons were employed on the roads, the latter part of the century. - The price of working oxen in Hampshire, from 1680 to 17 15, reduced to our present currency, was from 17 to 28 dollars a yoke. From 1750 to 1775, the price was from 23 to 37 dollars a pair, and a few were worth 40 dollars. For a few years after 1783, good cattle for the stall were bought from 40 to 45 dollars a yoke.

Fat Cattle. - John Pynchon sent cattle in the fall, from Springfield to Boston, before 1655; and he sent winter-fattened cattle in the spring before 1670, and many years after. It is not known when the farmers of Northampton, Hadley and Hatfield began to stall-feed oxen for market. It is manifest from the records of Hatfield, that a number of cattle were fattened there in the winter of 1696-7, and that this was not a new business. In April, 1701, 23 fat oxen were purchased in Hampshire and Connecticut, for 15^ dollars each on an average, in our present money, and they were sold at Boston for 17^^ dollars each. - William Clark of Northampton, drove fat cattle to Cambridge from 1753 to 1757, and his papers give the weight of 12 oxen, which was from 607 to 970 pounds, and averaged 767 pounds. They were sold from i6s. 8d. to 20s. per 100 pounds. J Few if any cattle were sold above 20 shillings, down to 1775.

There was some horse-stealing in New England, though less than in other colonies. Horse thieves were hanged in several colonies and in England, but not in New England.

+The sick and wounded, and sometimes the slain, were moved by cattle and cart. Doctors Gardiner and Douglass of Boston extracted a stone from the bladder of Jonathan Atherton, at Hadley, June 9, 1743. ^^' Crouch took care of him in Hadley until Oct. 5, when, the account says, "he went home to East Hadley in Samuel Hawley's cart." There was no other way to remove the feeble sufferer. A cart was the only vehicle with wheels in Hadley, in 1743.

jTwo of these oxen belonged to John Cook of Hadley, and weighed 747 and 803 pounds. They were sold in 1755 at is. jd. per lb. old tenor,equal to i8s. lod. per 100 lbs. lawful,

History Of Hadley 369

Grass-fed Cattle. - Before and after 1700, the price of steers, cows and other beeves in Hampshire, in October, November and December, was from five to six farthings per pound, or from IDS. 6d. to I2S. 6d. per hundred in money. A few were sold at one penny per pound. The price of fall beef in Hadley, when Mr. Hopkins was settled in 1754, (see page 324,) was 13s. 6d. per hundred. In 1789, it was from 15s. to i6s. 8d. per hundred.*

Grass-fed cattle were driven to Boston from Hampshire in the 17th and 1 8th centuries,! and great numbers after the grazing towns were settled. Many were barreled for market, in Hadley and other parts of the county.

Cows. - Milk was formerly a much more important part of the food of families than now.| Children and many adults commonly had milk with bread or hasty pudding for breakfast and and came to $48,79. One yoke belonging to Lt. Montague of South Hadley, weigb.ed 1622 pounds, and were sold in 1757 at is. 4d. per lb. old tenor, and came to $48,06.

The late Col. Moses Porter of Hadley went to Boston with fat cattle every year for 51 years, beginning in 1791. Joseph Hooker went with him some years. The price in 1791 was about four dollars per hundred, but the best brought a guinea. Many farmers in Hadley stall-fed a few cattle 50 and 60 years ago; more are fed now, probably about 300 yearly. Edxnund and Chester Smith, in the eastern part of the town, fatten above 80.

*Butchers. - Oliver Thayer, who came from Braintree about 1783 and settled in Williamsburgh, was the first man in this vicinity that bought and slaughtered animals for the fresh meat market. He commenced about 1787, and for many years, brought his meat to Northampton in panniers or baskets, one on each side of his horse. He came once or twice a week, during about four months, beginning in June. For four or five years, he sold veal, lamb and mutton at two pence, and two pence half penny per pound, and rarely at three pence. He did not bring beef. He sold butter at six pence.

Before and after 1800, meat was occasionally brought to Hadley in panniers or baskets, from Pelham and other towns, and sold to innkeepers and a few others. Asahel Wright from Northampton sold meat in Hadley regularly about 1805, and he afterwards removed to Hadley and butchered there some years. The late Hiram Thayer, who carried on the business in Hadley about 15 years, was a grandson of Oliver Thayer, and Justin Thayer of Northampton, long engaged in the same and other employments, is another grandson.

The people were not destitute of fresh meat, before there were regular butchers. When a man killed an animal, he sold some, and he lent some to his neighbors, who made a return when they killed. In the winter, fresh meat could be kept a long time.

Jin a discussion in the Boston newspapers in 1728, respecting the expense of housekeeping in Boston, "of families of a middling figure," including ministers, three writers gave all persons in these families only bread and milk for breakfast and supper. A minister in 1737, in calculating the expenses of his family, set down nothing but bread and milk for breakfast and supper. We may suppose however, that the adults in those families had some food besides bread and milk.

After cows became plenty, their value before and after 1700, reduced to dollars, was from 6h to 9 dollars. Previous to 1775, the price was from 7 to 1 1 dollars, and for some years after 1788, from 8 to 13 dollars.

Eighty years ago, a large part of the milch cows and other neat cattle in Hadley obtained most of their food from the highways and woods, during several months until the meadows were opened. Towards night "the lowing herd wound slowly o'er the lea" and came home; some needed the aid of a driver. Many creatures wore bells, and their tinkling noise did not cease through the day. Sixty years ago, bells were heard in the roads and unfenced woods. J In old accounts and inventories are found cowbells, oxbells and sheepbells.

Swine. - These prolific animals, which arrive so early at maturity, were very useful to the early planters of Massachusetts and other colonies. They became plenty much sooner than neat cattle. Our fathers in this valley had the English swine, which originally came from the wild hog. They had arched and narrow backs, were excellent runners, and good to fight bears and wolves in the woods, and are supposed to have preyed upon rattle snakes. In the forest counties of England, hogs were fattened on acorns, beech-nuts, and other mast, ending with peas. In New England, after the mast, here called shack, Indian corn was given instead of peas.

John Pynchon purchased and barreled a great number of hogs between 1662 and 1683. The weight of 162 hogs amounted to 27,409 pounds, averaging about 170 pounds each. 16 weighed less than 120 pounds each and 25 weighed above 200 pounds. The two heaviest were 270 and 282 pounds. Pynchon's prices

-{-Those of us born in the last century, and some in the present, remember the short allowance of boiled skim-milk, a few weeks in the winter, and the cider used instead of milk. Many children were fond of bread and cider. The cider was not very sour and it was diluted with water, sweetened with molasses and warmed in a basin, and the bread was toasted. Some poetry in the Hampshire Gazette, May, 1792, says people often make use of cider with bread, "for want of porridge, milk and tea."

John Pynchon gave to his cows fanciful and flowery names, as Rose, Primrose, Strawberry, Red Cherry, Black Cherry, Gentle, Pretty, Bosse, Hopewell, &c. His cows and other horned cattle were black, red and brown; - black was the most common color. A number had a white streak along the back.

History Of Hadley 371

A century later, 1766-1768, Timothy Dwight of Northampton, bought 50 hogs, which averaged 201 pounds. The price then and down to 1 775, was from 2|d. to 3d. per lb. ; many were sold at 4 coppers or 2fd. Deac. E.Hunt of Northampton killed a hog that weighed 335 lbs. in 1 774 - the first one over 300 lbs. recorded in this vicinity.

Salt Pork and Bacon. - The people of New England in the 17th century preserved meat for family use in a tub-shaped vessel, called a "powdering tub." To powder meat, was to salt or corn it. Some of the pork was kept in brine, but many sides were salted in large pieces, and then smoked in the great kitchen chimney. These smoked sides were the "flitches of bacon," of the old records. The people of Hadley, down to 1700, had powdering tubs with salt pork, and flitches of bacon; they had no pork hams prepared diff"erently from the sides. +

Puddings and Sausages. - Of old, the word puddings denoted the bowels of an animal. "Pudding Lane" in London received its name from the puddings of hogs slaughtered there. The intestines of animals, cleansed and filled with eatables, were called puddings. When Markham published his "English Housewife," before 1631, puddings of many kinds were put into intestines and boiled. Links or sausages were puddings, and are named "Hogs-puddings" in the Spectator, No. 269. The bowel skins were not much used in New England except for sausages.

*The lightness of swine when butchered, in former days, was owing in part to the frame and form of the breed. There were no choice breeds. The only colors of swine noticed by John Pynchon are black and sandy.

-j-Barrels sent to market held 220 lbs. of pork, and sometimes 240 lbs. of beef. Massachusetts reduced the quantity in a barrel to 200 lbs. in 1782. Some pork was sent to market, even down to the revolution, that had four half heads and eight legs in a barrel of 220 pounds. Connecticut pork, including that of Hampshire, was highly valued in Boston.

The younger part of the community never saw a hog in the highways with a yoke on his neck and a ring in his snout. The old laws of Massachusetts directed that hogs that went at large should wear a yoke as long up and down, as two and a half times the depth of his neck, with a bottom piece three times as long as the thickness of the neck. Ringing and yoking hogs were formerly common in England.

JThe people of New England, in using powdering-tubs, and in smoking sides of pork, followed the practices of Old England. Sometime in the last century they had meat barrels and smoked only hams. Salt pork kept in brine has been the principal meat of New England farmers during most of the year, for several generations. In this, they have differed from the English.

Lard. - The swine of former days did not yield lard abundantly, but there was no lack of that article, for the people required much less than the same number now. The old name was suet. The price was nearly the same as that of butter and tallow.

Sheep and Wool. - John Pynchon and others bought sheep at Rhode Island in 1655, and at Sudbury in 1656. There were sheep in the towns above the falls soon after 1660, and they were gradually increased. Though so much care was requisite to preserve them from beasts of prey, their value during a century after 1690, was commonly only from 4 to 6 shillings each, in dollars at 6 shillings; some were worth 8 shillings. The price of live sheep in 1790 was one penny per pound. Merino sheep were first brought over in 1802.*

The cash price of wool on Connecticut River, before 1700, was from 8 pence to one shilling per pound. Previous to the revolution in 1775, it had advanced about 50 per cent, and was from one shilling to is. 6d. Wool was bought at Newport at one shilling in 1709, and at is. 4d. in 1775.

For three-fourths of a century, commencing about 1700, some families in these Norwottuck towns, occasionally sent to "the Island,"! as Newport, R. I. was called, for wool and other things. The diligent housewives made woolen cloth for garments and bed coverings, and they knit stockings. They "sought wool and flax," and cotton, "and worked willingly with their hands." They and their daughters were manufacturers, and a part of almost every house in our country towns was a factory, at times. {

*The Hadley sheep run in the streets until 1790, and a part of two or three later seasons. Their pasture and that of the geese were the same. In warm days, many collected under the old meeting house.

was a place of much business before the revolution; one branch of its trade was the infamous slave trade. Northampton men began to traffic at the island not far from 1700. Men from Hadley and other towns traded at Newport, but few of their names can now be found. Jonathan Preston of South Hadley went to Newport in 1758, John Eastman of Hadley in 1762, Samuel Gaylord of Hadley in 1765, and Reuben Smith, supposed of South Hadley, in 1775.

Those who went to the island from these towns did business for all who wished, often for twenty or thirty. They carried for them much tow cloth, some whitened cloth, many bags and a little cash, and obtained wool, molasses, sugar, indigo, tea, &c. The heavy articles were sent home by water by way of Hartford, and when they arrived, the purchaser went from house to house, and distributed the wool, molasses, &c.

JCarding machines, which were built in many towns in a few years after 1802, relieved women who carded wool. One was erected in Northern Amherst in 1803, one at the Lower Mills (Smith's) in Hadley in 1805, and one at North Hadley, a few years later. In those days, before there were one horse wagons, girls sometimes carried behind them on a horse, a bundle of wool almost as high as their heads.

The household manufacture of wool continued in Hadley and elsewhere many years in the present century. It ceased in many families before 1822, and continued longer in some. In general the rising generation know not how their grandmothers made cloth. - (See the end of this chapter.)

History Of Hadley 373

Domestic Fowls. - The dunghill cock and hen were brought to New England by the early settlers.* They were in Springfield before 1645; ^^^ ^^ "^^7 ^^ concluded that the crowing of cocks at day-break, and the cra-ing and cackling of hens, were heard in the towns above Springfield soon after they were settled. One hundred and fifty years ago, these fowls were sold from four pence to six pence each, and eggs at three pence per dozen; and their feathers were used for beds. Hens then caught grasshoppers and scratched in gardens. A century later or about 1800, the price was from eight pence to one shilling each, and that of eggs sixpence per dozen. For some generations, the chicken pie has been a Thanksgiving dish, and the young people have sometimes cracked the "wish-bone" at the Thanksgiving table.

Tame Turkeys were not common when wild ones were plenty, and have never been numerous in Hadley. 60 years ago, some were barbarously set up as marks and shot at, and some were cooked for the Thanksgiving dinner.

Geese. - Domestic Geese were rare in Massachusetts for a long time. Vast numbers of wild geese and other water fowl were shot on the seacoast, and great quantities of feathers were plucked from them and sold for beds. I have seen no evidence that there were geese in the Hampshire towns for more than sixty years after Hadley was settled. Many men who were fitting out a daughter, purchased in Boston, feathers for at least one bed. Geese began to appear in inventories of estates in Hampshire, about 1740. They were valued at is. and is. 4d. each. In 1776, Titus Pomeroy of South Hadley had 21 geese, valued at is. 8d. each. Some were 3s. each before 1800. - There were many geese in most towns, in the early part of this century.

Hadley was as remarkable for geese perhaps as any town in New England, the latter part of the last, and early part of the present century. Most families had a flock of geese, and they abounded in the broad street and in other streets; their clanking noisef was almost incessant by day, and was often heard at night. They fed on the grass in the public ways and frequented the puddles and ponds that were formerly in the streets, and fouled the streets exceedingly. Some carried yokes, made from a crotched branch with a bottom piece, or from a shingle with a hole

Whistling girls and crowing hens, Always come to some bad end. loud noise of geese was called "squawking," in this part of the country. White of Selhorne says: - "The voice of the goose is trumpet-like and clanking."

in it. In the winter, they were kept in barnyards, and goslings when young were in yards near the house. Much of the year, each flock rested at night in the street, not far from the homestead of their owner, and often near the front gate. Geese were of old reputed to be vigilant, and a Hadley woman, some years since, gave me the following account. One goose in each flock appeared to watch in the night, and if a dog, or other animal, or a young man on his return from courting, disturbed the sentinel, he gave an alarm, which was repeated by the flock in loud notes, and the clamor was continued from flock to flock through the street and into other streets, until the village seemed in an uproar.

The Hadley geese were commonly picked four times in a year, but some five times and a few only three times. About threefourths of a pound of feathers were obtained at four pickings. The quills were pulled but once; many were shed in the streets. The women and girls of Hadley, of families that owned geese, knew how to pick them. This was cruel and most disagreeable work. They put on worn and faded garments, tied a handkerchief over the hair to keep it from the down, and drew a stocking over the head of each goose which they picked, to prevent its biting.

were both in Hadley street, as they had been in Goldsmith's Deserted Village, and both were noisy. - When the congregation left the meeting-house, on the Sabbath and other days, they made their way among flocks of geese, and were greeted by their clamorous cries.*

The geese furnished feathers for families, and for daughters about to be married, and for sale.f They were a great nuisance and were so esteemed by a number of families who did not keep geese, and by some men that did, and they had many enemies. Boys now and then killed a goose, and after the Academy was established in 1817, the scholars from other places united with the town boys against the geese, and some were missing, at times.

*Giles C. Kellogg, Esq. says the geese sometimes made so much noise in the time of public service, that he lost many fine sentences of Dr. Woodbridge's sermons. Mr. Kellogg thinks that Chickopee street in the town of Springfield, was nearly as full of geese as Hadley, fifty or sixty years since.

[^- -j-The price of geese feathers in this part of Hampshire, in old tenor, was i8 shillings per pound. This sum was changed to 2s. 5d. lawful in 1750, and 2s. 5d. continued to be the price in Hadley and other towns more than 40 years. Feathers afterwards rose to 4s. and 4s. 6d. per pound. - The Suffield feather-peddlers are not yet forgotten.

History Of Hadley 375

The war became exterminating, about 1828. Flocks of geese were driven some distance in the night, killed, and left in a pile. Heaps of dead geese were found east, west and south of the village, and above 60 geese are said to have been collected in one heap. The Academy boys and others destroyed a large portion of the geese in the village, and those kept after 1828 required much care and attention. All have since disappeared.

Bees and Honey. - The early settlers of Connecticut transported bees from the towns about Boston, and they had many hives before 1648, especially at Windsor. There were hives or skeps of bees at Northampton and Hadley in early days. Many ministers formerly kept bees. Honey was sold in the last century, at about 8 pence per pound, beeswax at one shilling, and metheglin at 10 dollars per barrel. Many hives were made of straw. The bees were suffocated with fire and brimstone, as in England. Bees were never plenty in Hadley.

Swarms of bees sometimes flew to the woods, and the racket made by beating pans and kettles did not check them. Bees have inhabited hollow trees in the woods of Hadley and other forests from time immemorial,* and many persons have hunted for bee trees. Those found were marked, and afterwards cut down and the honey taken out. There is still some bee hunting.

Tobacco. - This nauseous and noxious plant, first used by the American Indians, was cultivated in Europe before 1570. It was smoked by men and women, and in after years was assailed in vain by European sovereigns, and the General Courts of New England. It was pretended in Europe and America, that tobacco had medicinal virtues. Smoking was so common in New England in 1676, that Mrs. Rowlandson says an invitation to smoke, "is a usual compliment nowadays among saints and sinners." She smoked before she was captured, and found the use of tobacco "bewitching." Soldiers in England and America loved liquor and tobacco, and in Philip's war, it was necessary many times to send tobacco to soldiers, who were to pay for it from their wages. Capt. Poole, who commanded at Hadley in the winter of 1675-76, sent to Hartford for 50 pounds of tobacco, for the soldiers in these towns.

In the 17th and i8th centuries, merchants sold pipes in abundance, many tobacco tongs to light pipes, tobacco boxes before chewing commenced, as well as after, and tobacco. The chewing

*Rev. J. Judd of Southampton says in his Diary, Oct. 20, 1746, - "went to hunt bees." Bees were doubtless hunted in this vicinity long before.

of tobacco is noticed in 1704; it is not known when it began. The Boston Courant complained in 1724, of the enormous use of tobacco, in smoking, chewing and snufF-taking. The accounts of some traders in Hampshire in the last century, show that they sold many pipes as well as spices, a few days before Thanksgiving; and that innkeepers sometimes bought a gross or more of pipes at once.* Many of the clergy were smokers. Connecticut paid for pipes and tobacco for the General Court. Yet many men did not use tobacco.

In Hadley, 60 and 70 years ago, many elderly men and women smoked, and some men chewed. These women seemed to have a pleasant time with their pipes when they came together. The plastering of some rooms is said to have been tarnished by tobacco smoke. The young did not smoke. Many men had little yards or patches of tobacco in Hadley, as in other towns and some was sold.f Tobacco for smoking was often cut on a block by a cutter or knife; and some had a little wooden box hanging against the wall, with pipes in the upper, open part, and tobacco in a draw at the bottom. A few of the old tobacco tongs remained. Some took snuff.| Cigars w^ere little known. §

Butter and Cheese. - The dairies of New England were long quite ordinary, and much inferior to those of England and Ireland; a few in Rhode Island excelled others. Butter was imported from Ireland and cheese from England, to supply the commercial places, dowm to the latter part of the last century. The price of butter in Hampshire was 4 pence per pound as money, until after

*Taverns, especially those frequented by soldiers in the French and Revolutionary wars, were as Macauley says of the old London Coffee Houses, full of the "eternal fog and stench of tobacco."

price of leaf tobacco during the last century, was from 2 to 6 pence per pound; commonly 3 or 4 pence. Twist and pigtail were higher.

JSnuff was first advertised in Boston in 171 2, and there were silver snuff-boxes. To take snuff was accounted genteel. Farmers' families seldom took snuff, and it was not kept for sale in Hampshire until near 1760; and purchasers were few 20 years later. It was at first sold here in bottles. In Hadley, the second Samuel Porter had a snuff-bos in 1722, Doct. Squire in 1731, Rev. C. Williams in 1753, and John Dickinson's widow in 1762. These were of silver, except that of Mr. Williams. - After yellow snuff was brought here in bladders, about 1786, snuff taking was much extended. Maccoboy snuff was sold some years later. Snuff-takers are now less numerous than heretofore.

§Cigars (or Segars) were used after the peace of 1783. A South Hadley trader bought* 200 in 1795. They were first advertised here in 1802, by a Northampton trader and a Hadley trader. Cigar-smoking has vastly increased, to the injury of many boys and young men and not a few older ones.

History Of Hadley 377

The river tow^ns, for a long time, made their own butter and cheese; that is, they made all they ate and no more. The present population of Hadley, above 2000, are as well supplied with butter from their own cows as less than 600 were a century ago, though butter is now much more freely used. They make more than they consume. The return of butter with the census of 1850, gives 24 pounds yearly to each inhabitant.

Cheese was 3|d. and 4d. per pound before 1700, and 4d. and 5d. in the next century. Many of the cheeses made in Massachusetts and Connecticut for near 100 years were surprisingly small, weighing from 3 to 5 pounds* and valued from is. to is. 8d. each. Some were heavier. Better cheeses were made in Rhode Island, and in the latter part of the last century, in many towns in New England. - Cheese is still made in Hadley by a few.

Flax seed and Oil. - A mill for linseed oil was built at New Haven in 1718, probably the first in New England. In 1735, John Fitch of Hatfield erected an oil mill in that town, perhaps the first in Massachusetts. There was not much demand for oil in those days.f The price of flax seed formerly was from three to four shillings a bushel. ij!

David Stockbridge of Hadley and a Riley of Wethersfield, built an oil mill at North Hadley, about 1795, which was in operation 12 or 15 years.

Berries. - The open woods of New England were full of strawberries. In these Norwottuck towns, whortleberries (often spelled huckleberries) were formerly plenty, and were used in milk, pies and puddings. Small parties went to "huckleberrying," from Northampton and Hatfield, a century ago, and Hadley must have had such parties. Peter Domo sold huckleberries in 1739. They were sold in Northampton at ih penny a quart in 1764. They grew in Hadley on the mountains and plains, and m some highways. Sixty years ago, much of the Back street, (now Middle street,) was covered with these bushes and persons

*The mother of Major Hawley, a daughter of Rev. Solomon Stoddard, made many cheeses every season, and those sold weighed from 2^ to 6 pounds. I cannot account for these small cheeses.

-j-A Chesterfield man, who passed through Hadley and Northampton when young in 1762, told me that most of the buildings were old and dark colored, and he believed that no dwelling-house was painted on the outside.

now living have picked berries in that street. Many whortleberries are still gathered in Granby. For 20 or 30 years past, whortleberries have been sold in Hadley, as in Northampton,* by men from Pelham, Shutesbury and Leverett. - Many dewberries or running berries are gathered in Hadley. Large blackberries, raspberries and thimbleberries are not plenty. The large grapes are generally stolen. Children pick the scarlet checkerberries, and eat the spicy leaves when tender. - Garden strawberries are cultivated in Hadley by many. Almost all have currants.

Nuts and Nutting. - Chestnuts and shagbark walnuts were sold in Springfield in 1760, at two coppers a quart. Children gathered walnuts, chestnuts and some butternuts in Hadley 70 and 80 years ago. Walnuts and chestnuts were sold at 62 and 75 cents a bushel after 1800; they have been higher since. Walnuts have often been plundered, and the owners of the trees have sold many for timber. Chestnuts have always been free to all.

Maple Sugar was first made by the Indians. The manufacture was described by Paul Dudley, in the publications of the Royal Society in 1720. Rev. Samuel Hopkins of West Springfield published an account of the Indian way of making maple sugar in 1752. Previous to this, a little had been made in Northfield and Coleraine. Simeon Wait of Hatfield had a "Sugar Place" in what is now Williamsburgh, in 1754. The people of Chesterfield sold maple sugar in Northampton at 5d. and 6d. per pound for many years after 1763, and some molasses at 2s. 5d. per gallon. Sugar maples did not abound in Hadley. There was a sugar place many years, east of Plainville, near Amherst, and maple trees were tapped in a pleasant part of Fort River Valley. Amherst had many trees and made sugar and molasses.

Soap. - In Hampshire, families made soap from their own ashes and grease, in early and later days. Some had not a supply of grease, and John Pynchon bought in Connecticutf and sold, mostly to Springfield people, more than 100 firkins of soft soap

*It is supposed that more than 300 bushels of wild berries were sold in Northampton in 1859, from 6 to 12 cents a quart, averaging about 8 cents. - Parties sometimes go from the river towns to the whortleberry towns, and pick and bring home some bushels.

soap was made for sale, of whale oil from Long Island, at New Haven, Stratford, &c. Isaac Nichols of Stratford, (whose daughter Mary was the motherof Rev. Isaac Chauncey of Hadley,) was a soap-boiler and sold much soap in New York.

History Of Hadley 379

Soap was usually made in the spring. Madam Porter was well supplied. She records in 1752 - "made soap three days, the first week in April," and in 1756 - "made three great kettles of soap the first week in April," and another in May. Soap-making was tedious and sometimes vexatious, and a woman who had good luck was congratulated by her neighbors.* Most families in Hadley still make their soap; many use potash instead of wood ashes. - A soap factory has been commenced at North Hadley the present year, 1859.

Lights. - In these old towns, rooms were lighted in the evening more than 150 years by tallow-candles, candlewood (see page 294) and the blazing fire that warmed the room. Most housewives spun wicks of tow or Cotton, fastened them to little rods, dipped them in melted tallowf and made candles, which were very savingly used. Some families run candles in tin or pewter molds. Candlesticks were of tin, iron, pewter and brass. Oil and lamps were seldom seen until some years after 1800. A South Hadley trader purchased in Hartford in 1795, a junk bottle of oil and a tin lamp. - For singing schools, spelling schools, &c., cheap candlesticks were made of a piece of board four inches square, with three or four nails fastened to it for a socket.

Time Pieces. - The early settlers of New England brought over hour-glasses and sun-dials, and a few clocks and watches. Clocks in those days had no pendulum, and watches no hair spring. They were more perfect the early part of the last century, and eight-day clocks and gold watches began to appear in Boston.

It is not known that there was a clock or watch in Hadley in the 17th century, but as many ministers had one of these, it may be supposed that Mr. Russell and Mr. Chauncey had something better than a dial. The first watch in Hadley on record, is a gold one of Doct. Wm. Squire in 1731, valued at £^0 in bills, or about

*So I am told by a woman who is a native of Hadley; and she says that making Thanksgiving cake was another operation that occasioned anxiety fifty years ago.

-{"T allow bore the same price as butter. Candles were i^ to 2 pence per pound higher than tallow. - Candles are still made in many families.

Snuffers. - Many of the middle class in England used their fingers for snuffers 250 years ago and after. William Perkins notes the manner in 1635. He says - "if a man be to snuff a candle, he will first spit on his fingers." In New England metal snuffers and fingers were used, in early times, and some used fingers and old shears 60 years ago.

50 dollars. The second is a silver watch of Col. Eleazar Porter, valued at 40 shillings in 1758. There w^ere not many clocks or watches in Northampton before 1783 nor in Hadley before 1795. A sun-dial was set on a post on the south side of a few houses, in both towns, and was consulted by the family and others. It was useless in a cloudy day. An hour-glass was used in some families and schools in Hadley.*

Elijah Yeomans, a goldsmith and clock-maker, resided in Hadley from 1771 to 1783. He made gold beads, lockets, &c. An eight-day clock, which he made for Lt. Enos Smith, now keeps good time in the house of his son, Maj. Sylvester Smith. It has on the face, "Elijah Yeomans, Hadley, No. 40. "f John Hodge did some business as a goldsmith.

Blue Dyeing. - Our fore-mothers began to dye blue with indigo before 1700, in order to make stripes and (Checks. Much more of this dyeing was done 25 years after 1700, and it was continued more than 80 years. The women made checks and stripes of wool, flax and cotton, for shirts, trowsers, aprons, gowns, bedticks, &c. Checked shirts were worn by men and boys on Connecticut River. When Benjamin Tappan first attended meeting in Northampton in 1768, he was surprised to find that all the men in the meeting-house, except five or six, wore checked shirts. Hadley shirts were equally checkered. The people of Worcester county wore white shirts, and they said they could tell a Connecticut River man by his checkered shirt.

To color blue there was a dye tub in most houses; it stood near the great kitchen fire-place, and made a seat for one child. When uncovered and stirred up, it sent forth a pungent, fetid odor. Daniel Webster, being annoyed by a dye-tub in an inn in 1802, called the innkeeper, "a knight of the blue dye pot."

Cotton. - Owing to the scarcity of wool and flax, Massachusetts and Connecticut obtained cotton from the West Indies before 1643, and the people began to manufacture cotton, some by itself, and more mingled with flax or wool. After flax and wool were more plenty, some in these old towns in Hampshire purchased cotton of the merchants,* and it was spun on the large wheel. During 130 years, cotton yarn was spun at times in many families. The people of New England had a larger share of cotton in their garments, napery and bedding, than those of Old England. They had many printed calicoes and other cottons from India, the use of which was restricted in England, because it interfered with their linen manufacture. New England ragsf had more cotton than those of Old England.

Plain, white cottons from England or India were hardly known in New England before the revolution. Some years after the peace of 1783, great quantities of white cottons were imported from India, and the Hampshire traders began to sell them in 1794. The sales were extensive many years after 1800. Those India cottons, which sold for 25 cents per yard, were not as good as cottons now sold for 8 or 10 cents.

Sleighs. - The Dutch at New York had sleighs before 1700. A few appear at Boston some years after 1700, but they were uncommon in 1720 and 1730. There were not many sleighs among the farmers in the vicinity of Boston in 1750.

The first horse-sleds or sleighs found in Hampshire were in Hadley. In the inventory of Timothy Eastman, Jr. in 1733, are two hand sleds, 3s., an ox sled, los. and a "horse sled and seats, 5s." Some early sleighs were like this horse sled, and had sled runners, a lumber box and seats. Doct. Crouch had a sleigh in 1737! and 1740, and visited some patients in it in East Hadley and South Hadley. In 1746, he hired James Kellogg's sleigh. Westwood Cook's sleigh was valued at a few shillings in 1748. Capt. Moses Porter's sleigh and tackling were apprized at i8s. 8d. in 1756. James Kellogg's sleigh and tackling were valued at 27s. in 1759. Eliakim Smith made sleigh boxes from 1758 to 1770, and Samuel Gaylord, Jr. from 1766 to 1788. Most of the boxes were of four boards fastened together, and set on runners like those of

*John Pynchon retailed much cotton from 1659 *° '^78> from is. to is. 4d. per pound. In the last century, the retail price in Hampshire advanced to is. 6d., 2S. and even to 3s. per pound. It was brought from the West Indies until a few years before 1800.

- The Boston papers advertised for rags many times, from 1724 to 1761, and offered about two thirds of a lawful penny per pound. They complained that people did not save their rags. The paper mill, when there was one, seemed to be at Milton. - The traders in this part of Hampshire bought rags in 1776 and 1777, at two pence per pound, for a new paper mill at East Hartford. The people appear to have had no market for rags before. The price was two pence per pound more than 20 years after 1783.

a sled but lighter, and the making of the boxes was from 2s. to 3s. 4d. Such were the greater part of the sleighs before the revolution. A few had a more expensive and handsome box, which cost 20 shillings, viz., Elisha Porter, in 1761, Stephen Goodman, 1762, Eleazar Porter, 1765, Jonathan Warner, 1767, Moses Kellogg, 1769, WiUiam Cook, 1770, Benjamin Colt, 1770, Enos Smith, 1772, Thomas Arnold, 1773, John C. Williams, 1774. Some of these had well-framed runners which cost 20 shillings, making the expense of a decent sleigh 40 shillings, and a few cost more. From 1775 to 1788, the prices of boxes and framed runners were nearly the same, but some sleighs cost 50 shillings or more. The expense of shoeing is not given. Two or three were painted. Similar sleighs, a little improved, continued down to 1800. Sleigh-bells were advertised in Boston in 1755 and in Northampton in 1791.

Sleigh rides. - Young people could not have had sleigh rides in comfortable sleighs until after 1762.* Small parties may have previously rid in the lumber boxes, which Gaylord names "loading boxes." Such boxes were much used long after 1800.

It is not known when sleighs first went from Connecticut River to Boston; perhaps soon after 1760. Elisha Porter went in his sleigh to New London in 1763. Sleighs with pork, &c. went from Southampton to Boston in 1771.

Pung was the name given to a small, cheap, one-horse sleigh with thills. The harness was equally cheap. The cheap collars noticed page 367, were many of them made of braided husks without any leather. - Good one horse sleighs with a neap were few before 1800.

Carriages. - A coach is named in Boston several times before 1700, and a calash soon after. Riding chairs which had a sort of chaise body without a top, appear in 17 13, a stage-coach to run between Boston and Newport in 1716, and chaises in 1724. There was a carriage tax in Massachusetts every year from 1753 to 1757, and there were in the province in 1753, 6 coaches that were taxed ids. each, 18 chariots 5s. each, 339 chaises 3s. and

*In Northampton, there were 6 or 8 large sleighs in 1772. When the young people had a sleigh ride, they filled as many of these sleighs as they could get. If a dance was connected with the ride, they took in Moidore, the negro of the first Caleb Strong, for a fiddler.

There were pleasant sleigh rides 50 years ago, in cold nights, when the moon shone brightly, and the snow was of dazzling whiteness, and the bells jingled and the runners creaked and hissed. The girls were not incommoded with hoops, and their faces were protected by bonnets, and their feet rested on warm stoves. There were no buffalo robes, but plenty of warm blankets. Now and then a load of young people were overturned into the snow, but this usually occasioned more mirth than injury.

History Of Hadley 383

992 chairs 2s. each. The only carriages in Hampshire, which then included Berkshire, were two chairs, one owned by Moses Porter of Hadley and one by Israel Williams of Hatfield, and these do not appear after 1753.

Elisha Porter had a chair in 1763, and Doct. Kellogg in 1768, and before 1785, Elisha Porter, Eleazar Porter, Charles Phelps, Madam Crouch, Jonathan Warner, Oliver Warner and Rev. S. Hopkins had each a chaise. In 1791, the following Hadley carriages were taxed, viz., 3 fall-back chaises belonging to Eleazar Porter, Elisha Porter and Azariah Dickinson los. each; 2 stand-top chaises belonging to Charles Phelps and Enos Smith 6s. each, and William Shipman had a riding chair and paid 4s. Simeon Strong of Amherst had a fall-back chaise, the only carriage in that town taxed in 1791.

Two-Horse Wagons. - There were a few of these in Massachusetts in the French war, 1755-1763. The Dutch of New York had used them for a century. There were only two in Hadley before the revolution, owned by Elisha Cook and Samuel Sheldon. When the Hadley troops marched to Cambridge after the battle of Lexington in 1775, Cook's wagon was hired to carry their baggage, provisions, &c. In 1800 there were about half a dozen wagons owned in Hadley, perhaps half of them at Hockanum.

One-Horse Wagons. - Mason Abbe of Amherst is said to have first made one-horse wagons in this vicinity, except some lumber wagons. The first owned in Hadley was purchased of Abbe by Joseph Smith in 1808. In 1809, Joseph Marsh of Hadley, Calvin Marsh of North Hadley, and Cotton White of Hatfield began to make wagons, and Mason Abbe removed to Belchertown. A few years later, Ebenezer Harrington and Henry Seymour made wagons at Hadley, and David Jones at North Hadley. For some years, they were sold slowly, and they were not numerous until about 1820. The price was from 35 to 50 dollars. There have been many changes in them since 1820.

The use of carriages with four wheels drawn by one horse, and the disuse of saddles and pillions, made a great change in traveling, and in the conveyance of various articles and small loads.* Previously, men and women had ridden on horseback, short and long distances, ever since the country was settled, except in later

*Those of us born in the last century have often rid several miles to mill on the top of four bushels of grain, fastened to the saddle by the stirrup leathers.

Wagon to and from Boston. - There is no record of goods being brought from Boston to Connecticut River by land, except small quantities on horseback, before 1767. In that year and in succeeding years, until the war began in 1775, Simeon Smith of Amherst went to Boston with a team, probably horses and wagon, and carried down produce and brought up goods for traders and others, in the towns on both sides of the river. His load was sometimes 2000 or 2100 pounds. He charged for most freight between Northampton and Boston 4s. per 100 pounds, for some, 4s. 8d.; and at times he carried down at less than 4s. He went sometimes in the winter. He conveyed to Boston much potash and pork. He brought up great quantities of N. E. rum at 12s. to 13s. 4d. per barrel. - He died in 1777. He was a son of Moses Smith, who lived on the Bay road in Amherst.

Time of Planting, Harvesting, &c. in Hadley and Northampton, from 1762 to 1785, derived from the records of Josiah Pierce, Esq. of Hadley, and Deac. Ebenezer Hunt of Northampton, and other sources.

Plowing began in these towns from April 10 to April 25. Barley, flax, peas, peas and oats mixed, oats, rye and oats mixed, were sowed in April and the first week in May. Corn was planted from May 5 to May 23; hoed the first time from June i to June 15, the second time from June 15 to July 5, the third time from July 6 to July 25. Stalks were cut from Sept. 5 to Sept. 14, and corn was picked from Sept. 24 to Oct. 14. Homelots were mowed the first time from June 14 to July 5, and the second time from July 15 to Aug. 10. Mowing began in the meadows from July I to July 10. Rye, meslin and wheat were reaped from July 19 to Aug. 5. Barley was mowed the last week in July. Peas hooked from Aug. 23 to Sept. 5. Peas and oats mowed from Aug. 4 to 15. Oats and rye and oats cradled from Aug. I to 15. Flax pulled from Aug. i to 10, spread and turned in September, and taken up the last of October. Fall ploughing was done, and winter rye, meslin and wheat sowed in September. Potatoes were dug, beans gathered, turnips pulled, and pumpkins carted, in October. They had frosts that damaged their crops in those days. Pierce records some small crops - 6 bushels of peas on an acre, 8 bushels peas and oats, 7 bushels rye, 7 bushels meslin. - The seasons seem to have been as forward 80 or 90 years ago as in late years.

*Females easily mounted and dismounted without aid, and had not the helpless appearance of those of the present day who wear fashionable riding dresses.

Negroes. - According to returns, there were in Hadley in 1755, 18 negro slaves above 16 years of age, and in 1765, 20 negroes in Hadley and 6 in Amherst. In 1771, Hadley had 4 slaves for life between 14 and 45, viz., Doct. Kellogg had i, Charles Phelps, i, Jonathan Warner, i, and Oliver Warner, i. There were others under 14 and above 45. In Amherst, 2 slaves between 14 and 45, belonged to Josiah Chauncey, i and John Adams, i ; and Ephraim Kellogg had a slave.

Traders. - The shops were those of traders and mechanics. In Hadley in 1771 were three traders - Eleazar Porter, Jonathan Warner and John Chester Williams, and each had a shop and a warehouse. In South Hadley, Doct. Ruggles Woodbridge and John Marshall each had a shop, and may have sold goods. In Granby, Deac. William Eastman had a trading shop. In Amherst, the traders are not ascertained.

Mills. - In Hadley in 1771, were the school gristmill and a sawmill at North Hadley, the latter owned in 7ths; and a gristmill owned in I3ths, and a sawmOl in loths, on Fort River, where the lower mills are. In South Hadley were three sawmills connected with the Falls, the upper one reported as belonging to Noah Goodman, the middle to William Taylor, and the lower to Titus Pomeroy, and Doct. Ruggles Woodbridge had a sawmill elsewhere. Samuel Preston had a gristmill on Stony brook, and Josiah Moody one on Bachelor's brook. In Granby, no sawmill was reported, and the gristmill returned as belonging to John Moody may be an error. In Amherst, John Adams had a mill, and Simeon Clark three fourths of a mill, and another was held in I4ths. The Kelloggs owned a part of the other two, perhaps the whole of one.

Fulling MOls. - The only one returned was that of Caleb Ely in South Hadley. Deac. Daniel Moody had long before been a clothier, in South Hadley. - A fulling mill was built in Hadley in 1775.

Potash Works. - After various unsuccessful attempts, good potash was made in Massachusetts a few years before 1760. In 1761, there was a potash in Cold Spring, on Mascarene's farm, not far from the line of South Hadley. In Hadley, Eleazar Porter and Eliakim Smith put up a building for a potash on Porter's north homelot, in 1766; little or no potash was ever made in it. Hadley ashes were carried to Amherst. In South Hadley, Doct. Ruggles Woodbridge and John Marshall had each a potash in 177 1. It is not known where they stood. Many years later, Joseph White made potash in a building west of his inn. In Granby, Israel Clark had a potash, which is not recollected. In 1770, Israel Clark sold a ton, and Deac. Daniel Moody three tons, of potash to Northampton men. Potash was then worth 34 shillings per cwt. in Boston. - In Amherst, in 177 1, Martin Kellogg owned a potash, and Elisha Ingram, Moses Warner and John Billings had another.

Money at Interest. - Those who had 100 pounds or more at Interest were in Hadley, Eleazar Porter, £800, Oliver Warner, 300, Elisha Porter, 100; in South Hadley, Deac. Daniel Moody, 120; in Amherst, Solomon Boltwood, 300, Nehemiah Strong, 200, Simeon Strong, 100, Nathaniel Smith, 100, and Nathaniel Dickinson, 100.

Domestic Animals. - In the four towns and districts, a few men had 3 or 4 horses, most had 2 or I , and some had none. - Four men owned 6 oxen each, 28 had 4, 10 had 3 , the rest 2 or none. - John Cook of Hadley had 9 cows, Solomon Boltwood and Daniel Kellogg of Amherst, and Josiah White of South Hadley, had 8 each, 7 men had 7, 5 had 6, 14 had 5, the rest 4, 3, 2, i or none. Wm. Eastman of Granby had 40 sheep, Solomon Boltwood of A., 35, Josiah White of S. H., 33, others not so many; few had above 20.

Much of the green feed of these animals must have been derived from the highways and woods. The fenced pastures, and the after-feed of the mowings, fell far short of a supply.

Cider. - The returns of cider in 1771 are noticed on page 365. Elderly men now residing in these towns, say that 12 or 15 barrels of cider were brought out of many cellars in mugs in 12 months, 50 and 60 years ago.

Grain produced. - The assessors of the 4 towns, in their reports, gave an average of 5 i-ioth to 8 i-ioth bushels of grain to an acre of tillage land. The lands yielded much more. The crops of mixed grain, flax, turnips, potatoes and some others were not returned, and there may have been other reasons for the seemingly small harvests reported.

Those who raised the most grain in Hadley, were the Hadley School, 540 bushels, Noah Cook, 482, John Montague, 391, Charles Phelps, 369, Jonathan Warner, 350, Elisha Cook, 280, Oliver Smith, 270, Eleazar Porter, 268, Jonathan Smith, 255, Elisha Porter, 248, Jonathan Cook, 247. - In South Hadley, Josiah White, 210, Jonathan White and Nathaniel Ingram, 200 each, Luke Montague, 178, Moses Montague and Josiah Smith, 150 each, John Gaylord, 130, John Marshall, 128. - In Granby, William Eastman, 182, Jacob Taylor and Israel Clark, 175 each, Nathan Smith, 150, Asahel Smith, 144, John Ayres, 133, John Moody, 128. - The report of grain produced by Amherst men was not found.

Hay. - Those who mowed the most hay were among those who raised the most grain with one or two exceptions. The Hadley School had 37 tons, Charles Phelps, 36, Benjamin Colt, 32. No others cut 30 tons.

Hadley and Amherst. - The inhabitants of Amherst began to exceed those of Hadley about 1753. Hadley possessed the most property many years after.

Sellers of Tea, Coffee and China Ware. - These articles were considered luxuries and an excise, or duty on the retail, was laid on them. In Hadley, Jonathan Warner and Eleazar Porter were licensed to sell them most of the years from 1758 to 1765. In South Hadley, William Eastman was licensed in 1758, 1759 and 1760, Elijah Alvord in 1761, and John Marshall in 1764 and 1765. In Amherst, Josiah Chauncey and Elisha Ingram were licensed in some of the years, from 1759 to 1764. They all sold tea chiefly.

History Of Hadley 3S7

Weaving. - Our remarks regarding female household manufactures may need a little explanation. Women did not weave all that they spun. Before and after New England was settled, men performed much weaving. In the old towns in Hampshire, some men learned the trade of weaving and followed it a part of the year, in shops built for that purpose. The 2d Samuel Gaylord, of Hadley, who did much farming, was a weaver and had a shop. Jonathan Smith, a man of large estate, but of infirm health, was a weaver and had a shop. Women had long been gaining ground in this employment, and it is believed that men seldom, if ever, learned the trade after the revolution. The Pelham women were excellent weavers.

The present inhabitants of Hadley may like to know some of the kinds of homespun cloth made in that town loo years ago. The following articles and the price of weaving, are taken from Samuel Gaylord's account book, from 1745 ^° i??^- The prices may be considered barter prices.

Tow Cloth and Tow and Linen Cloth, woven at 5 and 6 pence a yard, fine Linen, 9d. Cotton and Linen, 8d. and lod. Sacking, 3d. and 4d. Linsey-Woolsey, 8d., plain Woolen Cloth, 6 2-5d. and fine, 8d. Checked Linen and Checked Woolen, 8d., fine Check, lod. Checked Cotton, gd. Bedtick, 9d. and lod., fine Cotton Bedtick, is. id. Diaper, lod. and II d. Diamond Table Linen, 8d. and gd. Birdseye, 8d., fine Wale, yd. Striped or Streaked Cloth, 8d. (the stripes were made in the filling, and if there were three colors, three shuttles were used.) Crape, 8d., Blanketing, 8d., fine Crash, 9d., Coverlids, 6s. 8d. each.

Chapter Xxxiv

South Hadley*^First Settlement - First Meeting House and Minister - Mr. Rawson forcibly ejected from the pulpit - Mr. Wood bridge settled - Contest about the second meeting house; one end cut down - the Parish divided - the first Parish - the Common - Schools - the Poor - Innkeepers and Retailers - the Revolutionary War - the Canal and Visitors - the second Parish and Granby - Various matters.

There may have been a few settlers in South Hadley as early as I725.t Their first petition to the General Court was in November, 1727. Twenty-one men represented that they were "residents on a designed precinct in Hadley, south of Mount Holyoke," that they were about 8 miles from the place of public worship in Hadley, and the way mountainous and bad. They desired to be a precinct, and to have added, a tract of province land on the eastern border, 4 miles long and 2 miles wide. (Afterwards named the Crank.) The General Court granted their requests,

+The Indian war would have prevented the removal of families to the south side of Holyoke sooner than 1725. A number of persons were slain in Hampshire in 1723 and 1724, and several within a few miles of Hadley. - Falls Woods Field was to be fenced by May 31, 1721, and the town chose fence viewers for this field in 1722, 1723 and 1725, but not in reference to settlers.

The proprietors laid out a burial place March 26, 1728, upon the Sandy Hill, on the west side of the country road, 28 rods long on the road and 12 rods wide, leaving the road 10 rods wide. John Preston, the first person buried here, died March 4, 1728.

A second petition of 26 persons, was presented July, 1728, requesting to be a precinct, from Mount Holyoke to Springfield bounds, and from Connecticut river W. to the equivalent lands, E. The petition was granted Aug. i, provided they built a meeting house and settled a minister in three years. Daniel Nash was empowered to notify the first meeting.

In June, 1732, they sent a third petition, requesting that their precinct might be established, though they had not been able to settle a minister in the time limited. The Court July 4, gave them two years from Aug. L, 1732, to settle a minister.

The first meeting of the South Precinct of Hadley, in the records preserved, was held March 12, 1733. There must have been previous meetings, the record of which is lost. They chose Ebenezer Moody, Moderator; Daniel Nash, 2d, Clerk; John Taylor, John Alvord, Samuel Smith, Assessors and Committee; John Smith, son of Ebenezer, Collector; Ephraim Nash, one of the committee to finish the meeting house. They had previously erected and covered the frame of their meeting house, and now voted to build a pulpit, and to ceil and plaster the house up to the plates. They had before invited Mr. Grindall Rawson to become their minister and now granted him some land, provided he settled in the ministry there. The settlement and salary which they offered him, and which he accepted, are not in the record that remains. He was to be provided with wood. The precmct were building Mr. Rawson's house in 1733 and 1734.

It was agreed Aug, 10, 1733, that Mr. Rawson should be ordained, on the 3d of October, and a committee was appointed to send for ministers and messengers. Nothing more is known respecting the ordination. It took place October 3, 1733.*

Sept. 13, 1733, they voted to finish the body of the meeting house, (meaning the lower floor,) with seats and nine pews; and voted a broad alley from the east door to the deacons' seat. - In March, 1734, they again voted pews in the lower part, and to ceil and plaster up to the plates, and to provide window frames and glass for the galleries. - March 10, 1735, they voted a floor and front seats in the gallery, and to plaster the walls and overhead; these things were not all done until 1736 and 1737, and the gallery was not finished until 1744. There were pews in the gallery.

History Of Hadley 389

Oct. 28, 1734, a committee was first chosen to seat the meeting house. Men were to be seated according to ratable estate, regard being had to age and ability. The dignity or rank of the pews and seats seems to have been estimated, but cannot now be understood.* Some of the front gallery was seated, 1746.

Trouble with Mr. Rawson. - It appears from the "Life of President Edwards," pages 376 and 380, that a mutual council met in some place, May 3, 1737, of which Mr. E. was the scribe, and the question was, "whether Mr. Rawson was qualified for the work of the ministry as to his learning, his orthodoxy and his morals." Their decision is not given. The precinct records do not allude to the council nor to any difficulties with Mr. Rawson so early.

The first vote of the precinct, expressing dissatisfaction with Mr. Rawson, is the following explicit one, Feb. 25, 1740 - "Voted that it is the desire of this precinct, that Rev. Mr. Rawson be dismissed from, and lay down the work of the ministry among us," and a committee was appointed to inform him of the vote, and to take measures to effect the matter. March 23, 1741, the precinct voted, that as Mr. Rawson had in a public manner withdrawn from 33 brethren of his church, and thereby gone contrary to the minds of the greater part of the church, and virtually withdrawn from the major part of the precinct, it was the mind of the precinct that he was no longer their minister. And they chose a committee "to acquaint him that we have no further service for him in the office of a gospel minister, and that we expect he will refrain from any public acts in that office among us."t On the 30th of March, they chose a committee "to take all regular methods to prevent Mr. Rawson's officiating for the future."

*The pews were next to the walls. The great pew, in which lo were to be seated, was No. 1, and a pew at the east door was No. 2. A flank pew held 7, those on the east side 5 each, and the seats 5 each. Samuel Taylor was to sweep the meeting house in 1734. He died in 1735, and his widow was paid 30 shillings. - Seaters were to make room for Madam Rawson, Jan. 1739. Madam Woodbridge was seated in the pew next to the pulpit, March,

men dissented from this vote, viz., Ebenezer Moody, Nathaniel White, Joseph Kellogg, John Moody, Richard Church, Jonathan Selden, Noah Ferry, Nehemiah Dickinson, Luke Montague, Timothy Nash, Deac. Joseph White, Wm. Montague, John HOlyer, Samuel Moody, Nathaniel Ingram. Some may have dissented because they thought the proceedings irregular, and others because they were friendly to Mr. Rawson. There were dissenters from other votes.

curred with the advice; and informed Mr. Rawson that they expected he would refrain from ministerial work among them. They desired to know how much they owed him. They chose a committee to get some person to preach, and "to take all suitable measures to prevent Mr. Rawson from officiating in public." Yet Mr. Rawson sometimes contrived to get possession of the pulpit and to officiate as a minister, until the irritated parish, on the 30th of October, 1741, chose a committee of fifteen,* and gave to them the following plain directions: -

"As Mr. Rawson has lately in an abrupt manner entered the meeting house and performed divine service, contrary to the mind of this precinct, the committee are directed and empowered to prevent Mr. Rawson from entering the meeting house on the Sabbath, by such. means as they shall think best, except he shall promise not to officiate or perform service as a minister, and if Mr. Rawson shall offer to perform service as a minister, the committee shall put him forth out of the meeting house."

In a few weeks, Mr. Rawson with foolish boldness again entered the pulpit and commenced a prayer. He was immediately seized by some of the committee, or by some young men employed by them, dragged from the pulpit, and led or carried out of the house, without bodily injury.f He did not again intrude. On the nth of January, 1742, the precinct voted 10 pounds "to defend those men that acted in behalf of the precinct, in keeping Mr. Rawson from officiating in public." They were not prosecuted and the money was not needed for their defense.

The precinct paid to Mr. Rawson all that was due to him, for salary and wood, which seems to have been £,110 in bills, or above 180 dollars. South Hadley was his usual residence until 1744. J

*These 15 were Hezekiah Smith, Stephen Warner, William Gaylord, Ephraim Nash, William Smith, Samuel Preston, Sergt. John Smith, Chileab Smith, John Alvord, Peter Montague, Corp. John Smith, Moses Taylor, Samuel Smith, Jonathan Smith, and John Preston.

|There is a tradition, that the council of May, 1741, advised that Mr. Rawson should be dismissed, and that the parish should pay what they owed him; and that, from the language used, Mr. Rawson claimed to be the minister till he was paid. The parish judged differently. They intended to pay him, but could not raise the money in a short time.

For some reason, Mr. Rawson never attended a meeting of the Hampshire Association, after April 8, 1735. He was eccentric, free-spoken and rash, as was his relative at Ware. He graduated at Harvard College in 1728. He married Dorothy, daughter of Rev. Isaac Chauncey of Hadley, May 19, 1738. He was settled in the parish of Hadlyme, in Connecticut, in 1745, 'wriere he is said to have been a useful minister. He died in 1777.

Mr. Rawson's homelot in South Hadley was that on which Col. Woodbridge erected his large house, and his shop; and Mr. Rawson's house was a few rods north of the groundplot of Col. Ws. The first Moses White bought the place of Mr. Rawson, and it was after-

History Of Hadley 391

Dec. 29, 1 741. A committee was appointed to seek after a minister. lO men dissented. Jan. ii, 1742, the precinct chose Rev. John Woodbridge of Suffield to be their minister, the church having previously invited him. At that and subsequent meetings, the precinct voted a settlement of ;^300 in land and buildings, ;^I50 salary and after 4 years ;^i6o, in bills equal to old tenor. The salary was to rise and fall as bills of the old tenor, then 28 shillings for an ounce of silver, rose and fell. He was to have 50 loads of wood. He was installed at South Hadley, April 21, 1742.

South Hadley was made a district in April, 1753, Hadley giving full consent. A district had the powers of a town, except that of sending a representative to the General Court. The first meeting of the district was warned by Daniel Nash, April 21, and was held in the meeting house, April 30, 1753. The following officers were chosen: -

Deac. John Smith, Moderator; Samuel Smith, Thomas Goodman, Deac. John Smith, Deac. John Smith, Jr., Luke Montague, Selectmen; Daniel Nash, Clerk; Samuel Smith, Deac. John Smith, jr., Luke Montague, Assessors; Moses Montague, Asahel Judd, Constables; Deac. John Smith, Sr., Treasurer; Josiah Moody, Experience Smith, Joseph Cook, Hogreeves; Reuben Smith, Clerk of the Market, Sealer, Packer and Ganger; Thomas Goodman, Job Alvord, Fence Viewers; Stephen Warner, Jr., Josiah White, Surveyors of Highways. The next year, two Tithingmen and two Haywards were added. In a few years two Wardens and two Deer-reeves were chosen. - South Hadley united with Hadley and Amherst in the choice of representatives until wards purchased by Major John Woodbridge, son of Rev. John W. who lived there until his death in 1782. Col. W. built his expensive and respectable dwelling about 1788. After the raising, there was a great wrestling match.

*In this contest, those who may be reckoned as' inhabitants of the western part of the district were a majority, but several of them sometimes voted with the eastern men, and gave to them a majority. Thus they did and undid in the district meetings, expressing their wUl by votes, and soon after annulling those votes. The eastern people were determined that the meeting house should be set as far east as Cold hill, or in some place not far distant from this hill. The western people, with some exceptions, were as fully determined that the new meeting house should stand not far from the old one. Most of the committees from abroad seem to have been in favor of Cold hill or some place in the vicinity.

they voted to build a meeting house 60 feet long and 45 wide, and to set it where it would best suit the inhabitants; and they chose a committee from other towns to say where it should be set. In March and October, 1759, the district voted to set it in the street, between Nehemiah Dickinson's house and Waitstill Dickinson's barn, (on or near Cold Hill.) Dec. 5, they chose a committee from other places to select a place; they had agreed to abide their judgment; Dec. 17, they voted not to abide their judgment. At meetings Dec. 24 and 26, 1759, and Jan. 14, 1760, a majority voted to set the meeting house in five places; - ist, north of Benjamin Church's house; 2d, where the committee had fixed the spot; 3d, south of Reuben Smith's house; 4th, near Nehemiah Dickinson's barn; 5th, near the present house. Thus they voted and unvoted.

In March, 1760, 47 persons of the eastern party petitioned the General Court to send a committee to fix and enjoin the place. The district voted to come into a lot where to set the meeting house. When the Court's committee came, they fixed upon a place near the old meeting house, and did it by lot. The western inhabitants desired to abide by the lot, but the eastern, in January, 1761, requested the General Court to separate them from South Hadley, if the house must be erected in the place fixed jupon. They said, - "owing to the soil, the eastern parts of the district are likely to be much sooner filled with inhabitants than the western part; we think a large portion of the land in the western part is so poor, it never will be inhabited." In March, 1761, Phinehas Smith and Eleazar Nash, in behalf of the eastern people, prayed that the second committee appointed by the Court, might be sent on soon. They came to South Hadley, in April, and decided that the meeting house should be erected "at the head of the lane, on Cold hill." The two houses disagreed, and the report was not accepted. In June, 1 761, Wm. Eastman and Phinehas Smith, for the east inhabitants, prayed the General Court to accept the report, or separate them from South Hadley.

The western inhabitants, having a majority, had voted in April, 1 76 1, not to abide the judgment of this committee, and not to pay them, but to go on with building the meeting house near the old one. August 31, they chose men to go to Boston and hinder the division of the district. V/hile they were framing the meeting house, a few eastern men secretly drew away three posts and hid them in Pichawamiche swamp.* After the frame

*The story, that some women of Granby sat on these posts and sang songs of triumph, is entirely untrue. Possibly they sang such songs at home. - The first parish estimated these posts at ^^, The order of the Court did not include them.

History Of Hadley 393

was raised, a large number of the eastern inhabitants came, apparently in October, and cut off the plates near the end and the girding timbers below, and pushed or pulled over the whole of the south end of the frame. Oct. 29, 1761, the district by a majority of nine voted "to prosecute the men that cut down part of our meeting house, and drew away three posts."*

Dec. 21, 1761, the district voted to call five ministers to judge whether the lot be binding; if they should esteem it so, the district would po on in building the meeting house where it is now raised. Four ministers came in March, 1762, and agreed that the lot was of a sacred nature, and did not see how it could be departed from, according to the Old and New Testament. f

Feb. 18, 1762, the General Court set off the eastern part of South Hadley, as the second parish in the district :| and the first parish was ordered to pay to the second, all the monies raised in the second and expended on the meeting house, deducting so much as the frame was damaged by cutting down part thereof by inhabitants of the second parish. In July, three Hampshire men were appointed to determine this damage, and they estimated it at ;^26, IDS. (about 88 dollars.) The two parishes could not agree respecting the sum to be paid by the first, and the second sued the first for £i6j, los., after taking out ;{^26, los., claiming half of all that had been expended in controversy. The parties at length agreed to refer the matter to Wm. Pitkin, Jr. of Hartford, Ebenezer Hunt of Northampton and William Wolcott of Windsor. The arbitrators decided about December, 1762, that the first parish should pay to the second £io.\\.']. This ended the matter.

The first parish again erected the south end, spliced the plates, and made all strong with iron. July 22, 1762, they voted to cover, glaze and color the meeting house and lay the floor. In 1763 and 1764, they finished the lower part and the front and fore seats of the gallery. The meeting house was first seated in 1764. The galleries were finished in 1771. The building, 60 by 45 feet, was larger than they needed.

*Twenty-five eastern and three western men were bound before magistrates, to appear at the November court in Northampton. They appeared and were all discharged, perhaps with the consent of the prosecutors.

j-The eastern people did not regard the lot, nor did the second Court's committee. This is not the only instance in which the lot was disregarded by those to whose wishes it was adverse.

the east side, and the pulpit was on the west side. It stood perhaps 6 or 8 rods southerly of its present site. It was sold, removed a few rods and converted into a dwelling-house.*

Mr. Woodbridge continued to preach without aid until 1776; in that and subsequent years, he had assistance. f He died Sept. 10, 1783, in his 8ist year. He was a son of Rev. John Woodbridge of West Springfield, a graduate of Yale College in 1726, and was first settled as a minister at Poquonnoc in Windsor.

His salary of ;^i6o, in bills that required 28 shillings to equal an ounce of silver, did not exceed £4.0, or 133 dollars. It was raised from time to time, until it amounted to ;^66.I3.4 ($222,22 cents,) in 1761, and during most of the remainder of his life. One third was sometimes paid in wheat at 4s., rye at 3s. and corn at 2s. - the prices of grain before the revolution. His wood was increased to 65 or 70 loads.

Mr. Joel Hayes, a graduate of Yale College in 1773, was invited to settle as colleague pastor in 1781. They voted to give him a settlement of ;^275 in hard money, a salary of ;^90, (300 dollars,) in hard money, and his firewood. He was ordained Oct. 23, 1782, and having preached more than 40 years, was dismissed in 1823. He died July 29, 1827, ^g^^ 74-

In May, 1791, Col. Ruggles Woodbridge having offered the town a bell, they voted to build a steeple and belfry. The bell was broken three times. The town voted to purchase a clock for the meeting house, Nov. 1802.

Early Deacons. - John Smith, who lived on the Springfield road, was called deacon in 1736, and Joseph White in 1738. John Smith, who lived on or near Cold Hill, was Deacon John Smith, 2d, in 1743. Daniel Moody and David Nash were deacons before 1763.

The Common about the Meeting House. - This was- formerly larger than now, extending north and west nearly or quite to the dingle named Lubber's Hole. The western road from Hadley to Springfield, was west of the buildings now on the west side of the common. Previous to the revolution, there were only three dwelling houses near the borders of the common. These were the house of Daniel Nash, a little south of that of the late Doct. E. Dwight, the house of Rev. J. Woodbridge, where John W.

*The first purchaser is not known. It was long in possession of the Goodmans. It has been owned and occupied many years by Alfred Judd and the widow of Salathiel Judd. It is 40 by 30 feet, of good height, and is a comely dwelling. The frame is 127 years old, and may yet last a century.

History Of Hadley 395

On the west side, the town built a house for the Rev. Joel Hayes, in 1783. Joseph White built the house which he occupied as an inn, and he had a trading shop north of it. A part of that house is now in the public house of George L. Smith. About 1785, a small house was removed from the place where Jonathan Burnet lives, and set on the corner where the road turns westerly. These three houses were the first on the west side of the common.

Schools. - The means of education were quite limited in the South Precinct for many years. Probably there were some private schools, and most children were taught to read at home. They voted in 1738 to build a school house 23 by 18 feet and 7 feet between joints, and they voted to finish it in 1747 and again in 1754. The first vote to provide a school master was in 1747. In 1755, a school was to be kept by one teacher in three places, two months in each place, viz., at the school house, near Cold Hill, and in Falls Woods. After 1762, there were two schools some months in the year, in the first parish, viz., at the school house near the meeting house, and in Falls Woods. A school house was to be built in the latter place in 1769. A third or south district was ordered in 1793, at the Falls.

The Poor. - The expense of the South Precinct for the poor, was trifling for many years. The first pauper whom they supported was Mr. Samuel Mighill, a native of Scituate, and a graduate of Harvard College in 1704. He taught the Hopkins School in Hadley in 1705, and after living in Hartford and elsewhere, he returned to this vicinity in 1728. In 1759, styling himself, "Master of Arts," he petitioned the county court for aid, stating that

*The late Gardner Preston born in 1749, told me that he could remember when there were only two dwelling houses, the old meeting house being used for public worship.

|Miss Abby Wright taught a private school for young ladies in South Hadley, a number of years, commencing about 1802; it was in good repute.

he was infirm and poor, and that he was an inhabitant of South Hadley. The district denied that he belonged to them, but the court decided against them, and they were obhged to maintain him until his death, April ii, 1769, at the age of 84. His name is often Miles or Mials in their records.

Comfort Domo, a daughter of Peter Domo, (page 289,) was warned out of town by South Hadley in 1790, and that town and Granby were contending in law about her support in 1797. She died in Granby, March 17, 1798.

A man bearing the singular name of Peter Pendergrass, appeared in South Hadley in 1765. He is supposed to have been a British soldier in the French war. He became a pauper, and the record informs us that in November, 1800, "Peter Pendergrass was set up at vendue and struck ofFtoDeac.Enoch White at 50 cents a week." In later years, a few poor persons were set up at vendue and struck off to the lowest bidder. In almost all towns, some were disposed of in this improper manner. The annual expense of the poor in South Hadley, for some years after 1802, was from 150 to 300 dollars. It is now about 450 dollars.

French Neutrals. - South Hadley paid its proportion for the support of the family of French Neutrals at Hadley. (Page 343.) Their part in 1762 was ;^I3.4.7, in old tenor at 7 J for i.

Innkeepers and Retailers. - Samuel Smith, who lived on the Springfield road, not a great distance north of Jonathan Burnet's, was the first innkeeper in South Hadley in 1729, '30 and '31. Samuel Kellogg, who lived on the same road, was the second, from 1733 to 1740. Wm. Eastman is said to have been an innkeeper and trader in the same neighborhood, some years after 1750, before he lived in Granby, and John Smith kept an inn from 1759 to 1 77 1. John Marshall was a retailer of liquors from 1765 to 1772. Ruggles Woodbridge began to retail spirit in 1773.*

The revolutionary war increased the number of innkeepers and retailers of spirits in most places. South Hadley had from 4 to 8 innkeepers and retailers, 1778 to 1783, and from 8 to ii, about half of each, 1 785 to 1 800. After the canal was commenced in 1793, there were usually four innkeepers, near the canal.

History Of Hadley 397

The Revolution. - South Hadley bore its full share of the burdens of the revolutionary war. The people were united, active and unwavering in the cause of their country. The calls for men, clothing and provisions were answered. A pamphlet relative to the rights and grievances of the people, sent by the Boston Committee of Correspondence, was read in a town meeting, and a patriotic reply was reported by a committee, and unanimously adopted, in January, 1773.

A Committee of Correspondence was chosen June 14, 1774; a Committee of Inspection relative to the drinking of East India tea, Nov. 7, 1774; a Committee of Inspection respecting the consumption of British goods, Jan. 2, 1775; - more were added to the Committee of Inspection, Nov. 28, 1775; a Committee of Correspondence, Safety and Inspection, March 14, 1776, another March 17, 1777, and a third March 2, 1778. The men on these committees were the following, the figures denoting the number of committees to which each man belonged: -

Jan. 2, 1775, men were chosen to collect donations for the poor sufferers in Boston. March 2, 1775, a committee was chosen to promote peace and good order, and to prevent tumults and riots. June 20, 1776, the town voted that it was their mind that Independence should be declared. South Hadley united with others in their efforts to regulate the prices of labor, produce and merchandise, while the value of bills was constantly falling. This was a vain attempt. The town in its pecuniary affairs, estimated continental bills 3 for i in hard money, Dec. 1777; at 6 for i, Dec. 1778; at 24 for i, Jan. 1780; at 72 for i, or a dollar for a penny, Jan. 178 1. They soon fell lower, and ceased to circulate. In the latter part of the war, when men were required, a town meeting was held, and hard money was voted or grain at old prices, to pay them. The revolutionary taxes were heavy. In

1780, South Hadley paid two state taxes of 27,000 dollars each, in bills, after deducting large sums paid to soldiers for bounties. Paper money was plenty, and these taxes were paid more easily than small taxes in silver.

Joseph Moody, Josiah White and Noah Goodman were chosen to attend a county convention, v/hich met at Northampton, Sept. 22, 1774. Ens. Noah Goodman was elected to attend the Provincial Congresses at Concord, Cambridge and Watertown, in 1774 and 1775, and he was a representative to the General Court, whenever one was sent, from 1776 to 1785. - He was a Justice of the Peace in 1775, and was the first South Hadley man that held that office. He was often employed in military aflFairs.*

The Canal. - Preparations for the construction of a canal around the Falls at South Hadley were made in 1792, and about 250 men were employed in 1793, and a larger number in I794.t Benjamin Prescott was superintendent. In December, 1794, the canal, inclined plane and dam were so nearly completed that people had a day of rejoicing, and a large number of men and women were let down and drawn up the inclined plane, in a boat, on the grand carriage. In April, 1795, they began to let down and draw up loaded boats. J This inclined plane and the machinery connected with it were used several years instead of locks. In the fall of 1801, the Company were obliged to take away a part of the dam, because it raised the water so much as to occasion diseases in Northampton and elsewhere. The works had then cost 81,375 dollars, exclusive of the tolls received. About half the shares were owned by Hollanders. In about three years, the canal was deepened, and locks substituted for the inclined plane. Ariel Cooley was engineer.

The canal was an object of curiosity and attracted many visitors from the beginning. In 1795 and a few years after, great numbers of married men and women, and of young men and maidens, came to this place to see the works, and to have a ride down and up the inclined plane on the great car. Many parties came so far that they remained at the public house of John

*Aged men in South Hadley, who remember Major Goodman, say that his education was quite limited. Col. R. Woodbridge seems not to have been inclined to civil ofEce in those days. He commanded a regiment in the revolutionary war.

South Hadley was called a town instead of a district in 1775. South Hadley and Granby tried to unite and become one town several times, without success.

History Of Hadley 399

Bennet, or some, other, through the night. Almost all rode on horses. No other place in the old county of Hampshire drew so many people by novel and interesting sights. In shad-time, in May, there was a great accession.

The second Parish and Granby. - The second or eastern parish of South Hadley was formed Feb. i8, 1762. A meeting house was erected on land given by Samuel Moody, a church organized, and Rev. Simon Backus settled as pastor, the same year. James Smith gave an acre of land for a burial place in 1769. The salary of Mr. Backus in 1772 was -^11, los. and in 1779, they voted to give him ;^75, equal to silver at 6s. 8d. per ounce - a higher salary than many towns gave. He had 60 loads of wood in 1773, which cost the town 2s. 8d. per load. Deacon John Smith, 2d. resided in the second parish, and may have been one of the first deacons. John Moody was a deacon before 1767.

Granby was incorporated June ii, 1768, and called a "town," but it had not the privilege of sending a representative until the revolution. Granby was a part of South Hadley until 1768.* The division line was long a source of much trouble. The people of Granby, excepting a small number of tories, were patriotic and decided in the revolution, and furnished the men, money, clothing and provisions required of them.f The town voted Feb. 1775 to call Capt. Eastman, Lieut. Eleazar Nash and Ens. Experience Smith to account, for holding commissions received under Gov. Hutchinson and Gen. Gage. They refused to resign their commissions, but declared that they would not act under them, and would observe the resolves of Congress. The town were not satisfied. They voted June 20, 1776, to support Independence with their lives and fortunes. Their Committees of Correspondence, Inspection, &c. were vigilant. They sent Jonathan Selden to Northampton jail for breaches of the peace, Oct. 1775. In January, 1776, they published in a newspaper at Watertown, that "William Eastman of Granby, is an enemy to his country." During the war, there were 30 or 40 requisitions upon the Hampshire towns for soldiers. The number required of South Hadley was from 4 to 23 men, and of Granby from 3 to 17. Some calls may have been for more than 23 and 17 men. Granby and other towns paid in the eight years of war 16 or 17 state taxes.

Sept. 22, 1774. Captain Phinehas Smith attended two of the provincial congresses in 1774 and 1775, and was a representative to the General Court with Nathan Smith in 1777, and alone in 1779, 1780 and 1 78 1. John Ayres was representative in 1778 and 1783, and Benjamin Eastman in 1784 and 1785.

Granby voted for schools ;^20 yearly before the revolution. In 1788, £2^, and the districts might hire "dames" instead of masters; in 1800, 280 dollars for schools and 20 dollars for singing; in 1810, $330 for schools and ^90 for singing; in 1854, $850 for schools.

Rev. Simon Backus was dismissed March 3, 1784, by a council that met at Granby, March 1st. Rev. Benjamin Chapman was settled in February, 1790, dismissed in January, 1797, and Rev. Elijah Gridley succeeded him in May, 1798. Mr. Gridley's salary was 300 dollars.

Baptists. - Ninety and a hundred years ago, there was a small society of Baptists, who had been "Separatists," in Granby and the vicinity. James Smith of Granby was their minister. Chileab Smith of South Hadley, was a brother of James. Chileab and his sons were among the first settlers of Ashfield, and were Baptists.*

Draining Pichawamiche meadow. - Ten proprietors, in May, 1744, represented to the General Court that this land was unprofitable by reason of wetness and sourness, and prayed for a commission of sewers to drain said meadow. The meadow was partially drained before 1748. In May, 1766, there was a similar petition from 12 proprietors; the meadow was still wet and sour. Hezekiah Smith, Daniel Moody and Aaron Nash were appointed commissioners of sewers. This meadow is in Granby.

The Crack Road. - The way from Amherst to South Hadley and Springfield was over a low place in Holyoke, called the crack or notch. The first county road from the Bay road in Amherst, through the crack, to South Hadley meeting house, was laid in 1762. A way from the crack, by the meeting house of the second parish, to the Springfield road near Moses Taylor's, was laid in 1766.

Making Whisky. - There was one whisky distillery in Granby in 1 8 10, and four more in a few years, whisky being very high, owing to the war, &c. The price fell, and many farmers concerned in the business lost money, and some were ruined. - There were two whisky distilleries in South Hadley.

*James and Chileab were great grandsons of Rev. Henry Smith of Wethersfield. Miss Mary Lyon is said to have been a descendant of this Chileab.

History Of Hadley 401

Lining out the psalm. - South Hadley voted, March, 1776, that singing should be carried on in the afternoon of the Sabbath, without reading; that is, without reading the psalm line by line. The old way was not then changed in the forenoon, and it was continued when the sacrament was administered long after 1776. In many places, the practice of doling out the psalm a line or two at a time, was not given up, without much heat and contention.*

Small pox. - This dreadful disease was in two families in Falls Woods, in South Hadley, in 1757. Gideon Alvord, son of John A., had the small pox in the army, and came home with stockings not cleansed. His mother washed them and took the disease. When the small pox first appeared, many of her children, grandchildren and others who had been exposed, were inoculated, and John Alvord's house became a pest-house. Doctors Crouch and Kellogg of Hadley had the care of the patients from Oct. 28 to Dec. 28. John Alvord's wife is said to have died of small pox, and he died of that or some other disease, Nov. 21, 1757. - In December, the family of Ephraim Smith, 7 or 8 persons, having been exposed, were inoculated. f They all recovered. - The red flag waved at these houses several weeks, to warn travelers of their danger.J

Old Accidents. - Ebenezer Smith was killed at the raising of Ebenezer Moody's house, and one Montague was much hurt, in June, 1729. Smith left a family. He was a brother of Chileab and James. This same house of Ebenezer Moody was burnt, Feb. 23, 1744, and a man named Green and a mulatto child 6 years old were burnt to death. Hugh Queen was killed by lightning about 1759. He left seven children. He lived near Elmer's brook. Nov. 15, 1768, Samuel Ayres of Granby was drowned

*John Stickney, born in Abingdon, in 1742 or 1743, came to this county about 1765, as a teacher of music. He taught singing schools in several towns in this vicinity and in Connecticut, and did much to introduce a better style of church music and a greater variety of tunes. He settled in South Hadley, and continued to instruct in music in the winter until he was above 60 years old.