Hatfield Town (part 14 of 16)

-j-A woman of Pelham or Greenwich, who had had the disease, is said to have been impressed by authority to take care of John Alvord's family, and Ephraim Smith was concerned in the pressing. Such things were done in those days. The husband of the woman was indignant, and the tradition is, that he purposely left a small-pox garment at the house of Smith.^'g,;^^

Riding on a Rail. - In 1789, sixteen men of South Hadley were indicted for riding John Queen, (son of Hugh Queen, deceased,) on a rail from South Hadley to Granby. 8 were fined 20 shillings each, and two los. each, and costs ;^8. 12.0. The offensive conduct of Queen is not recorded.*

Slaves. - There was one slave in South Hadley, and probably more, March 6, 1778, David Mitchell of that town, gave to his negro man, Caesar Cambridge, his freedom, in consideration of 85 pounds paid in cash, and of an order for his wages in a cruise in the brig Defence, supposed to be 40 pounds. The 125 pounds may have been equal to 100 silver dollars, which the negro had earned, partly, if not wholly, in the service of his country. The emancipating paper was recorded.

Settlers and Heads of Families in South Hadley and Granby previous to 1763. Married men are accounted heads of families, and a few when unmarried. The 21 men named under 1727, (17 in S. H. and 4 in G.) are those who sent the first petition to the General Court in 1727. Of the 37 "South Inhabitants" in 1731, (see page 284,) 19 were there in 1727, the place of John Preston who died in 1728, being supplied by his heirs, and 18 were new planters. Two of the 21 were missing, viz., Ebenezer Smith, accidently killed in 1729, and one of the John Smiths, who soon returned.

*The same year a man was carried on a rail in Northampton, for abusing his wife. The rioters settled with the man and paid cost £5.11.2. - "To ride the stang," was the name of this unlawful punishment in England.

These lists are not perfect, especially the latter part of the time; and there may be some errors in the residence, the two places being one parish before 1762, and one district until 1768.

Of the early settlers of South Hadley, John Alvord, the three Judds, Titus Pomeroy and Nathaniel Bartlett were from Northampton. Of those of Granby, Noah, Seth and Israel Clark and Ebenezer Bartlett were from Northampton. Noah and Seth Clark were Baptists.

Largest estates. - The men who had the largest valuations in South Hadley in 1 771, were Josiah White, Lt. Luke Montague, Josiah Smith, (son of Samuel,) Jonathan White, Nathaniel White, Deac. Daniel Moody, Samuel Preston, Josiah Moody. In Granby, Deac. William Eastman, Jacob Taylor, John Moody, (son of Deac. John, dec'd,) Deac. Nathan Smith, Benjamin Eastman, Moses Moody, Phinehas Smith, Ebenezer Bartlett.

It is ascertained that John Chandler lived in the dwelling house, made from the old meeting house in 1770. He appears to have been the first purchaser, about 1764.

It is mentioned on page 299, that females formerly rowed themselves in a skiff across the Connecticut, between Northampton and South Hadley. I find that some young females, on each side of the river, readily do the same in 1859.

Physicians in the last century. - Doctors Crouch and Kellogg of Hadley, were the physicians of South Hadley until after 1760.* Doct. Samuel Vinton was in the east parish or Granby in 1762, and was of 'South Hadley in 1784, and died in 1801. Ruggles Woodbridge was in practice in 1765; he seems not to have continued many years. Doct. Ezekiel White died in 1789, a young man, Elihu Bissell was a physician in S. H. in 1784 and some years after. Elihu Dwight succeeded and was in practice thirty or forty years. He died in 1854.! Three doctors appear in Granby between 1774 and 1800, viz., Perez Chapin, Daniel Coit and Chester Cowles.

Chapter Xxxv

The Third Precinct, or East HadleyJ - First Meeting House and Minister - Church Members - Minister's Wood - Deacons - Second Minister - East Parish - District of Amherst - Representatives and Justices - Plan to divide Amherst - The Revolution - Tories - Taxes - Minute men - Delegates and Representatives - Schools - The Poor - Innkeepers, &c. - Highways - Flat Hills - Physicians - Planters and householders - Insurrection - School dames.

It is not known when men began to plant themselves at East Hadley. Circumstances render it probable that the first permanent settlement was in 1727, or 1728. It was certainly later than that of South Hadley.§ The east inhabitants are not noticed in the town records until Jan. 5, 1730, when a committee was appointed to lay out for them about an acre of land convenient for a burying place. || No town officer was chosen from the east inhabitants before 1730. In January, 1732, those of them that were at the charge of hiring a minister, were to be abated one-fifth of their tax for Mr. Chauncey's salary. Aug. 27, 1733, the town

charged for a visit south of the mountain 8 times as much as for one in the old village, or 5s. 4d. for the former when the latter was 8 pence, each mile being reckoned as much as a visit near home. They gave medicines excessively and blistered and bled extravagantly, and these things generally cost more than their visits, even in South Hadley.

-j-E. Dwight began to study with Doct. Ebenezer Hunt of Northampton, Dec. 11, 1790. He was to pay 50 dollars a year, and not stay less than two years. Doct. Hunt's students took care of the shop.

§South Hadley or the second precinct was in advance of East Hadley, and had twice as many settlers in 1731. After some years, the difference was much less.

||The committee laid out the burying place, before March, 1730, in the west highway, in length 15 rods adjoining Nathaniel Church's lot on the west, and in width 12 rods east in the highway, making one acre and twenty rods.

History Of Hadley 405

John Ingram and others of the east inhabitants,* believing they could support a minister, petitioned the General Court, June, 1734, to be a separate precinct. The first precinct thought their petition unreasonable, and'Capt. Luke Smith was sent to Boston to oppose it. In December, 1734, the eastern people again petitioned to be a precinct, and to include a tract 7 miles long and 2f miles wide,t having Hadley commons W., Boston road S., Equivalent land E. and Sunderland N.

The petition was granted Dec. 3 1 , and the precinct was bounded as they desired. They were to build a meeting house and settle a learned orthodox minister in three years; and they might tax non-resident lands, not belonging to the old precinct, two pence an acre for six years, to support the ministry.

The first meeting of the "third or east precinct" of Hadley, having been warned by Ebenezer Kellogg, was held at the house of Zechariah Field, Oct. 8, 1735. They chose Samuel Hawley, Moderator; John Nash, Clerk; John Ingram, Sr., Samuel Boltwood and Samuel Hawley, committee to call meetings; Ebenezer Dickinson, Aaron Smith and John Nash, Assessors; Ebenezer Kellogg, Collector. The precinct voted to hire a minister half a year; and to build a meeting house 45 by 35 feet, "to be covered with quarter-boards of spruce,":]: and to cover the roof with spruce shingles, 21 inches long and without sap; and to set the house up the hill, east of John Nash's house.

Nov. 25, 1735, they voted to set the meeting house near the Hartling§ Stake, so called. In December, they altered the place again. Nov. 14, 1738, they voted to set the meeting house in the place first designated, viz., on the hill east of the house of John Nash. Dec. 15, 1738, they voted to Thomas Temple £i()

*The petitions and names -were not found in the State House. It appeared that John Ingram was at the head of the first petition, and Zechariah Field, of the second.

JBy "quarter boards of spruce," they intended clapboards of white pine, probably split and shaved. Their spruce shingles were of white pine.

§The Hartling Stake was noted in East Hadley, and is several times mentioned. The records state in 1795 that it stood about one rod east of the N. E. corner of Lt. Gideon Parsons's house. That house was where Howe's public house now stands, near the N. W. corner of the common. There was formerly a school house not far from the Hartling Stake, and a pound.

for framing the meeting house, and to Ebenezer Kellogg 77 shillings for rum and sugar. The house must have been raised between Nov. 14 and Dec. 15, 1738. It was built upon the hill where the College Cabinet and Observatory stand. The work proceeded slowly, and the house was not finished until 1753. Meetings were held in it before 1742, and a person was chosen to sweep the meeting house, and to give a signal* when to go to meeting, in 1743. The house was first seated in 1749, and the seaters were directed to place "the males together and the females tegether," except in the two pews nearest to the east end of the pulpit. The seaters were to have the care of "deeming the seats," (estimating their dignity,) and in seating, were to regard age, estate and qualifications. The few pews then built, and those added for some years, were round the sides, next to the walls. There were galleries.

The people of East Hadley had preaching a part of the year after 1732. David Parsons, Jr.,t a Harvard graduate of 1729, began to preach there in November, 1735. April 13, 1737, the third precinct voted to give him a call to settle, and offered to him two lots of land given by Hadley, and a salary of ;£"ioo, and to set up for him the frame of a house, of two stories, 21 by 40 feet, and cover it and build a chimney and cellar. He did not accept then, nor in September when a salary of ;^I20 was voted. He preached at Southampton some months in 1737 and 1738.^ In July and September, 1739, the precinct again gave Mr. David Parsons, Jr. a call, and offered the two lots of land in the second and third divisions, £1"]$ towards building his house, his firewood, and a salary of ;^ioo, as polls and estates were January, 1739J to be increased to ;^i6o, as polls and estates increased - to be paid in province bills of the old tenor, or one-third as much in the new tenor, till 1741. The salary was to be paid after 1741, in

*A man was chosen "to blow the kunk," (conch,) as a signal, for many years. The conch was blown and the meeting house swept some years, for less than three dollars a year.

-j-His father, Rev. David Parsons, was a son of Joseph Parsons, Esq. of Northampton. He was first settled at Maiden and afterwards at Leicester. He was a man of strong passions, and the people of Leicester were unyielding, and after years of strife, he died and was buried by his special direction on his own land, being unwilling to be buried with his people. He did not die in 1737, as stated in Washburn's History of Leicester, for his son added " JunV' to his name in 1739.

jEast Hadley and Southampton gave to young preachers in those years, their board and 40 shillings a Sabbath, in the first old tenor, which was not far from one tiiird of tiiat sum in lawful money, or 13s. 4d. In 1741, this old tenor was 4 for I.

History Of Hadley 407

bills of the old tenor at the rate of 26 shillings for an ounce of silver. He accepted in the following brief manner - -"Sept. 28. Comply'd with the request of the inhabitants of the third precinct in Hadley. Per me, David Parsons, Jun'r." The Boston News- Letter states that he was "ordained pastor of the church newly gathered at East Hadley," on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 1739.* The ordination cost the precinct i^ii.

The salary of Mr. Parsons for some years seems to have been a little above 40 pounds lawful. In 1754, £^2, los. of the last old tenor, 7 J for i, equal to 41 dollars, were added to the salary, and additions were made until it amounted to £bo or 200 dollars in 1757, and to £bb.iT,.^ in 1759. It was raised to ;^8o in 1762, and was the highest salary in this vicinity, except Mr. Hooker's at Northampton. It was fixed at ;^8o in 1764, in lawful money, but if money became very scarce, he would receive wheat at 3s. 7d. and rye at 2s. 5d. per bushel. He offered to provide his own firewood yearly for ;^i 3.6.8, and the district accepted the offer. Though he was inclined to toryism, the people paid his salary as long as he lived, but not without some delay. He died Jan. 1,1781, in his 69th year.

Mr. Parsons's wood. - I never found in any records, a minister who consumed as much wood as Mr. Parsons. The precinct voted 60 loads in 1742, 80 loads in 1744, 90 loads in 1749, and

*I am indebted to Mr. L. M. Boltwood of Amherst, for the names of the members of the church. I have added to the females, the names of their husbands, and may have made one or two errors. Mr. Boltwood says the church was formed Nov. 7, 1739, of the following 16 males: -

100 "good" loads in 1751; they commonly voted 100 loads of wood, or ;^I5 for wood at 3 shillings for a good load, till 1760, but some years 93 loads, or £i/\. for wood at 3s. per load. In 1763, more than 120 "ordinary" loads were provided, at 2s. 5d. a load.*

Deacons. - In the records of East Hadley, Eleazar Mattoon has the title of deacon in June, 1739, and after 1740. He may have been a deacon at Northfield. Ebenezer Dickinson is called deacon in 1740, John Nash in 1742, Jonathan Edwards in 1766, Simeon Clark in 1770, Eleazar Smith in 1782.

Second Minister. - Mr. Parsons was succeeded by his son David Parsons, D.D. who was ordained Oct. 2, 1782. The town voted to give him a settlement of 300 pounds and a salary of 100 pounds, to be equivalent to Spanish milled dollars at 6 shillings; and 25 cords of wood, to be increased to 40 cords, annually. He graduated at Harvard in 1771, was dismissed at his own request Sept. i, 1819, and died at Wethersfield, Conn., May 18, 1823, aged 74.

The East Parish. - Capt. Ebenezer Mattoon and other members of the first church were strongly opposed to the settlement of Mr. Parsons, and they obtained an advisory council from five churches west of the river, and this council met at Amherst, Oct. I, 2 and 3, 1782, before and after Mr. Parsons was ordained, and gave their advice to the aggrieved members, who, on the 15th of October, 22 in number, agreed to organize a new church. Another council of ministers and delegates from five churches, viz., Southampton, Montague, Whately, Hatfield and Westhampton, (called by some Capt. Mattoon's council,) met at Amherst Oct. 28 and 29, and again Nov. 11 and 12, and on the last day, judged that the offer of the other party, (Mr. Parsons and the church,) "was unequal and unjust;" and advised the aggrieved, if the others would not unite in a mutual council in four weeks, to proceed to organize, and to settle a minister. Warm contentions and unfriendly dispositions, which were lasting, grew out of this division. f Rev. Ichabod Draper, the first pastor of the second church, was from Dedham and was a graduate of

*For a long time, the value of wood was only the expense of cutting it for the sled or cart and drawing it. For some years, a sled load of hard wood was only 2 shillings lawful; it gradually advanced to 2S. 6d. and 3s. The loads were examined by a committee. In Amherst and South Hadley, the price did not exceed 3s. down to the revolution. These old sled loads may have contained from two-thirds to three-fourths of a cord. Cart loads were less.

History Of Hadley 409

District of Amherst. - This was incorporated, Feb. 13, 1759,* six years after South Hadley was made a district. During these years, East Hadley was the second precinct of Hadley. The first meeting of the district was held at the meeting house, March 19, 1759, and the following officers were chosen: -

Deac. Ebenezer Dickinson, Moderator; Josiah Chauncey, Clerk; Joseph Eastman, Treasurer; Deac. Ebenezer Dickinson, Jonathan Dickinson, Doct. Nathaniel Smith, Ens. John Dickinson, Moses Dickinson, Selectmen; Deac. Ebenezer Dickinson, Jonathan Dickinson, Moses Dickinson, Assessors; Pelatiah Smith, Isaac Goodale, Constables; Joseph Eastman, Jonathan Edwards, Tithingmen; Simeon Clark, Nathaniel Coleman, Fence Viewers; Joseph Church, John Petty, Reuben Ingram, Hogreeves; Gideon Dickinson, Daniel Dickinson, Ebenezer Mattoon, Nathaniel Dickinson, Jacob Warner, Surveyors; Alexander Smith, Clerk of the Market. In 1760, Elijah Baker and Moses Dickinson were Deer-reeves. In 1761, three Wardens were chosen. In 1762, Isaac Goodale was Sealer of Leather, and there was a Surveyor of Timber. In 1763, three Surveyors of Wheat. - The officers of a district and of a town were the same.

As long as South Hadley and East Hadley were only precincts or parishes, the men came to the old village to do town business, and many town officers were elected from these precincts. f After they became districts, they and Hadley met once a year for the choice of a representative to the General Court until the revolution, and Granby, though called a town after 1768, met with them. These towns and districts commonly chose only one representative, and he was generally from the old town, but Daniel Nash of South Hadley was the representative in 1764 and 1765, and Josiah Chauncey of Amherst in 1760 and 1762, and Simeon Strong of Amherst in 1767 and 1769.I

*By the same act, five men of the first precinct of Hadley and their estates were annexed to Amherst. Hadley consented that East Hadley should be a district, but opposed the annexation of the five families, who seem to have resided on the road leading from Amherst to Sunderland.

-{"South and East Hadley could have outvoted the old or first precinct many years, and have controlled the town, but the records show that a majority of the selectmen were always chosen from the old village, excepting 1751 and 1757.

jThe four places united in the choice of a representative for the last time in May, 1774. Each of the four chose a delegate to the provincial congress in October, 1774.

Justices. - Josiah Chauncey was the first Justice of the Peace in Amherst in 1758, and Simeon Strong the second, in 1768. They lost their offices because they were opposed to the revolution, and whigs were appointed, viz., Moses Dickinson in 1775, Nathaniel Dickinson, Jr. I78i,and Ebenezer Mattoon, Jr. 1783.

Plan to divide Amherst. - When it was thought necessary to build a new meeting house, the inhabitants in the northern and southern parts, by uniting, formed a majority, and voted to divide the district into two parishes, Jan. 13, 1772; and they voted to build two meeting houses, April 14, 1773. Those residing in the central parts of the old parish were about to be placed on the outside of two new parishes, and to be taxed for building two meeting houses, and 70 men petitioned the General Court for relief, in May, 1773, and requested to be a parish in the middle of Amherst, if there must be a division. The majority voted in January, 1774, to divide the district by an east and west line from the center of the meeting house, and to send a reply to the notice from the Court. Both parties sent petitions, and the General Court appointed a committee, who visited Amherst in March, 1774. The revolution seems to have stopped the proceedings of those in favor of a division.

The Revolution. - A number of persons in Amherst, including several influential men, were unfriendly to the revolution,* and others were neutral. A majority however were ardent and active in the cause of their country, and they chose a Committee of Correspondence Jan. 26, 1774, to communicate with the Boston Committee of Correspondence. The reply of the Amherst Committee to the Boston Committee was accepted by the district, March 14, 1774, and recorded. It is in strong and patriotic language, approving the proceedings of Boston and justifying the destruction of the tea; and the Boston Committee are assured that they will be "supported by a large majority in this district." A standing Committee of Correspondence was chosen Sept. 20, 1774; a Committee of Inspection to carry out the resolves of the Continental Congress and Provincial Congress, Feb. 23, 1775; a Committee of Correspondence, Jan. 24, 1776, and another

*Rev. David Parsons, Josiah Chauncey, Esq. and his son Isaac, Simeon Strong, Esq., Lieut. John Field, Ens. John Nash, Solomon, William and Ebenezer Boltwood, Deac. Simeon Clark, Isaac Goodale, Moses Cook, Charles Chauncey and others were among these opposers. In 1776, the Amherst Committee sent two of the men named to Northampton jail, one because he was "notoriously inimical to American liberty" and the other because he was "an enemy to and acted in opposition to the just rights and privileges of America."

History Of Hadley 411

March 25, 1776; and a Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety, in 1777, 1778 and 1779. The names of the men of these eight committees follow, the figures signifying the number of committees of which each was a member: -

Feb. 23, 1775, the Committee of Inspection were to get subscriptions for the rehef of the poor of Boston and Charlestown. May 4, 1775, a committee was chosen to provide stores for the army at Cambridge. The district voted that they were not satisfied with the answers of Josiah Chauncey and John Nash to the charge against them; they must destroy their commissions from the king's governor.* March 25, 1776, Samuel Henry might take earth from under the meeting house to make salt-peter. June 13, 1776, if congress declare the United Colonies independent, "we, the inhabitants of the town of Amherst, solemnly engage to support them in the measure." Jan. 20, 1777," voted that the conduct of the Rev. David Parsons is not friendly with regard to the common cause." Jan. 8, 1778 and Dec. 28, 1778, voted to pay Mr. Parsons's salary. March 11, 1778, "voted that persons not owning independence on the crown of Great Britain, agreeable to the declaration of congress, shall not vote." Amherst, as well as many other towns, made useless endeavors to regulate prices, with a disordered currency. July 12, 1779, Ebenezer Mattoon, Jr. was sent to the Congress at Concord, that attempted to fix prices. In January, 1780, it was voted that Rev. Abraham Hill of Shutesbury be prohibited from preaching in this town. He was a violent tory. Oct. 16, 1780, the town voted ;^io,ooo to buy the beef first sent for. Beef was then worth above 4 dollars per pound in bills. Dec. 28, 1780, rye was estimated at 50 dollars a bushel in bills. - Amherst had a greater population than Hadley, South Hadley or Granby, and was required to furnish more men,

*The militia officers of Amherst, appointed by Gov. Hutchinson in 1773, ^'^''^ Captain Josiah Chauncey, Lieutenant John Field and Ensign John Nash. At a meeting of officers in Northampton, Nov. 10 and 11, 1774, these three and thirty others renounced in writing all authority they might have by a commission from Gov. Hutchinson. The three also disclaimed their commissions in Amherst, but Chauncey and Nash did not satisfy the whigs, who required that Chauncey "should burn all the commissions he had ever received from the king," and that Nash should destroy his. According to tradition, the whigs of Amherst burnt Capt. Chauncey 's commissions under a tree, with some display.

money, clothing and beef. The number of men called for in 1777, to serve three years, was from Amherst 35, Hadley 30, South Hadley 23, Granby 17, and this was the proportion for some years. The numbers were commonly less, sometimes 10, 8, 6, 5. In 1780, two state taxes were laid upon Amherst, ;^i6.283 and ;^i6.6i3, both amounting to 109,653 dollars, payable in continental bills. The polls were taxed 20 pounds, in each of the two taxes. In the same year, a state tax was levied in Amherst, of 768 dollars, in hard money.*

Amherst chose three men to attend the county convention at Northampton, Sept. 22, 1774, viz., Moses Dickinson, Jacob Mc- Daniel, John Dickinson. After this convention, companies of minute men were formed and trained in the Hampshire towns, and many marched for Cambridge in two or three days after the battle of Lexington, in April, 1775. Capt. Reuben Dickinson commanded the Amherst company, and the men on his "alarm roll" were paid ;^89.i.5. Capt. James Hendrick of Amherst received ;{^i5.io.o, in connection with this alarm. Many Amherst men enlisted for 8 months at Cambridge, and these and some from other towns formed a company under Capt. Reuben Dickinson. The pay of his company to Aug. i, 1775, was ;^289.i2.io.f

Amherst chose Nathaniel Dickinson, Jr.J as delegate to the first Provincial Congress, which met at Concord, Oct. 11, 1774; to the second which met at Cambridge, Feb. i, 1775; and to the third which met at Watertown, May 31, 1775. - In July, 1775, Moses Dickinson was elected representative; in May, 1776, John Billings; in May, 1777, Moses Dickinson, Esq. and John Billings; in 1779, John Billings and Ebenezer Mattoon, Jr.;J in May, 1780, Ebenezer Mattoon, Jr.; in Oct. 1780, under the new Constitution,

*The state and town taxes, levied to carry on the war, were heavy and oppressive, in all towns. Massachusetts assessed upon the people in two years, 1779 and 17S0, five taxes, payable in bills, amounting nominally to 17! millions of pounds. Of this sura, 11 1-5 millions of pounds, or 37 millions of dollars, were assessed in two taxes in 1780, to call in continental bills. When these bills were paid in, 100 dollars may have averaged in value about I dollar in silver. In April, 1 781, i dollar in silver was equal to 200 dollars in bills. It was in these days that the old soldiers, as they used to relate, sometimes paid 50 dollars for a meal of victuals, or a mug of flip. They had received the bills as of little value.

-[The late John Dickinson of Amherst, informed me in 1847, that he belonged to this company, and that a part of it was in the battle of Bunker Hill, but not in the hot fight. Capt. Dickinson was then at Amherst. The Lieutenant was Zaccheus Crocker of Shutesbury, and the Ensign, Daniel Shays. R. Woodbridge of South Hadley was Colonel of the Regiment.

jNathaniel Dickinson, Jr. and Ebenezer Mattoon, Jr. were men of collegiate education. The former was only 24 years of age, when first elected a delegate, and the latter was of the same age, when first chosen a representative. They drew up revolutionary papers, when needed.

History Of Hadley 413

Schools. - The first vote of East Hadley relating to schools was March 13, 1749. A committee was to hire three school dames for 3 or 4 months, in the summer season, to teach children to read. Undoubtedly there were private schools before 1749, and some boys were sent to the Hopkins school. Samuel Mighill, an old schoolmaster, resided in East Hadley in 1739. In 1753 there were to be three schools in the precinct - in the north, middle and south parts. The schools were long kept in private rooms. The first vote to build school houses was in 1761, and they could not agree where to set them. In 1764, the precinct voted to build four school houses, named north, south, west-middle, east-middle. One was built near the Hartling Stake.* In 1780, there were to be six schools, and each was to be kept 3 months. There were six districts in 1809.

The Poor. - The expense of Amherst in the last century, for the poor, was small, very few persons needing aid.f Jonathan Atherton, troubled with a stone in the bladder, which weighed three ounces when extracted by surgeons in 1743, (see page 368,) was aided by the precinct and individuals. He died in 1744, after great suffering.!

*Oct. 27, 1766, Josiah Pierce, the Hadley schoolmaster, began to teach school in Amherst, and he taught 6 months or more in a year for three years, half the time in each of the middle school houses, which were then new. His pay was 32 shillings, or $5,33 a month, and his board. In winter evenings, he kept ciphering schools a few weeks, at one shilling an evening. In the cold months, from 30 to 42 scholars attended his day school in Amherst, and in warmer months, from 15 to 30. His family resided in Hadley. He sometimes preached in vacant pulpits gratis, or at 18 or 20 shillings a Sabbath. - March 29, 1769, he dismissed the school for want of wood. Such things happened in other towns. In 1769, he lent 3 volumes of Dryden, to Ebenezer Williams, a farmer in A. - He probably taught Latin, if any desired, and in 1722, Wm. G. Ballantine taught Latin and English, and read theology with Mr. Parsons.

-j-Amherst paid its share for the support of the family of French Neutrals at Hadley, and appropriated 50 shillings in 1767 to send them to Canada.

JContributions were made for him and his family in other places, and Springfield sent up fjio, equal to 8 dollars or more. The people readily assisted those in distress.

In 1779 and after, Moses Hawley and wife, and in 1789, widow Mehetabel Smith, received some help fromthetown. In 1807, Aaron Kellogg, a deranged man, and Caesar Prutt, a negro aged 80 years, were set up at vendue to the lowest bidder, and the former was bid off for a year at 50 dollars, and the latter at 65 dollars. £6 were voted for the poor in 1789, i^20 in 1793, 75 dollars in 1801, and 150 dollars in 1809.

Innkeepers, Retailers and Traders, before the Revolution. - Ebenezer Kellogg was the first innholder in East Hadley, from 1 734 to 1 737 ; and he again kept an inn from 1 752 to 1 757. Ephraim Kellogg was an innkeeper from 1744 to 1756, and Martin Kellogg from 1771 to 1773. The Kelloggs were traders at times. Ephraim had mills on Mill river. Moses Smith kept a tavern on the Boston Road, from 1758 to 1766, Alexander Smith on the west street, south of the meeting house, from 1758 to 1783, and Moses Warner, north of the meeting house, from 1757 to 1771. Josiah Chauncey was a retailer of spirit many years from 1759, and Elisha Ingram from 1766, and others one or two years. Chauncey and Ingram sold other goods. The second Solomon Boltwood and his son Ebenezer, and Jacob McDaniel traded.

From 1780 to 1793, 3, 4 or 5 tavern keepers were yearly licensed in Amherst, and 4, 5 or 6 retailers of liquors. In 1783, there were 5 taverners and 8 rum-sellers.*

Highways. - The broad highways of East Hadley, originally 40 rods wide, occasioned much trouble and contention. The lines were not straight, many of the monuments were gone, and some men encroached on the highv/ays ignorantly, and others perhaps designedly. The town of Hadley began a controversy with John Morton, for obstructing the highway, in 1746, and afterwards with Nathan Dickinson, and it was carried on at times before county courts, referees and the general court until 1762. The district of Amherst aided the town. Morton and Dickinson seem to have been defeated. f The committee of the district stated in

Town meetings in Amherst were commonly held in the meeting house, or in the school house near the Hartling stake, but sometimes in a tavern, in cold weather.

j-John Morton and Nathan Dickinson were from Hatfield. They were resolute men, and tenacious of what they considered their rights. Their lots were in the eastern division, north of the Pelham road. Morton was the first settler on that division. Many others trespassed but not so largely, nor were they so firm and unyielding as M. and D.

History Of Hadley 415

1759, that Morton claimed almost all the broad highway at the west end of his lot. Dickinson's demand was less, but took in much of the highway. In 1754, Hadley reduced the west highway to 20 rods in width, and the east to 12 rods, and narrowed the cross w^ays,* and gave to the east precinct the land taken from the highways. Encroachments did not cease. Amherst sold many pieces of highway land and gave away some. In 1788, a committee of the town reduced the ways to 6 rods in breadth, and some to 4 rods, but left the whole width in certain places for public uses. They apprized the rest of the highway land against each man's lot, that the town might sell it. They valued it at ;^533.9.n, or 1778 dollars.

Flat Hills, &c. - The land north of the second and third divisions was laid out in 1740, to those who had lost land in the third division by the town line against Pelham, &c. except 220 acres to the south precinct. The east line of this land was about 560 rods in length, and chiefly against Shutesbury. This laying out did not include the land north of Mill river, nor do the records disclose how that was disposed of.

Physicians in the last century. - Nathaniel Smith, one of the first settlers of East Hadley, was a physician, but Doct. Crouch of Hadley was often employed in that parish, and later, Doct. Kellogg.f Seth Coleman commenced practice in Amherst in 1767 and died in 18 16. William Kittridge, who was a physician there in 1784, remained but a few years. Robert Cutler, who

*In measuring these roads, most of the trees marked are recorded as white, black or red oak. There are a few pine, maple, walnut and chestnut trees. Amherst had a greater proportion of hard wood trees than Hadley and South Hadley, and less sandy land covered with pines.

Crouch and Kellogg, in East Hadley as elsewhere, dealt profusely in medicines including mercurials, and in bleedings, blisters, issues, &c. In those days, physicians derived their profits mainly from medicines and external applications - a pernicious custom. According to Doct. Douglass, "the patient frequently suffered more from the physician than from the distemper." The charge for visits within a mile was trifling; only 6 pence lawful in Hadley village in 1730, and it had advanced only to 8 pence in Northampton and Hadley in 1775. Visits in East Hadley by Crouch and Kellogg, were 5 times as much as in Hadley street, but were much exceeded in amount by the medicines.

began to practice in Pelham in 1770, established himself in Amherst before 1787, and died in 1835. Doct. Samuel Gamwell exercised his profession in A. as early as 1793, and died in 18 14. Names. - East Hadley was sometimes named "New Swamp" in deeds and other writings. The New Swamp of the Hadley records was almost all west of East Hadley. Some denominated the 3d precinct "Hadley Farms," or "East Farms." A tract sold in the first division in 1735, is said to be "at our East Farms or New Swamp as it is called."

Planters and Householders of Amherst, before 1763, with a few who had not the care of a family. -The names of i8 men who had established themselves at East Hadley previous to 1731, are on page 284. Of these, John Wells removed, EbenezerScovil died in 1731 and Ebenezer Ingram in 1735, leaving 15 whose names are in a list taken in 1738, and I4''had been added to them, making 29 in that year. Three of them died before January, 1739, viz., John Ingram, Jr., Zechariah Field and Samuel Boltwood, but their famOies remained, and the names of the three were retained among the 29 settlers in 1739. The names of the 29 follow: -

Charles Chauncey Those from Hatfield are marked Ht. Samuel Hawley, Sr. who had 3 sons, was originally from Northampton. Ebenezer Williams was from Deerfield.

In 1738, these 29 inhabitants had 35 taxable polls, 49 horses, 39 oxen, 52 cows, some hogs, and 350 acres of improved land, and 6 non-residents had 43 acres of improved land. Such was Amherst 121 years ago, having only 393 acres of cleared land. Ebenezer Kellogg had 48 acres, or more than twice as much as any other person. Mr. Parsons's salary of 100 pounds was at first to be raised in this manner: -

35 polls, as in 1738, to pay 25s. 6d. each, £44.12.6 Ratable estate, £1101. ii. 6, to pay is. per pound, 55.1.7 Jonathan Atherton died in 1744, and Joseph Wells, Aaron Smith, Nathaniel Church and John Perry removed.

David Nash removed to South Hadley, Phinehas Smith to Granby, and David Smith returned to Hadley. Noah Baker removed to Sunderland; he was a Baptist preacher. Joseph Morton and Seth Kibbe died. Daniel Smith was crazy.

The Dickinsons. - These were more numerous in Amherst than in Hadley. Six are named on the preceding page. Of the 14 on this page, Gideon, Reuben, Joseph and Ebenezer, Jr. were sons of Deac. Ebenezer D. Nathan, Jr. and Ebenezer, 3d, were sons of Nathan D. Simeon, Noah and Jonathan, Jr. were sons of Jonathan D. Jonathan, Azariah, Nathaniel and Nehemiah were sons of Deac. Samuel D. who removed from Hadley to Shutesbury. These sons left Shutesbury, and settled in Amherst; Nehemiah died in the N. E. part of Hadley. David was the son of Israel D. of Hadley. John and Moses Dickinson had sons, but they werenot old enough for householders ini 763. Daniel Dickinsonhadnochildren.

Largest estates. - Amherst valuations in 1770, were sent to Boston, and the highest in pounds, omitting shillings and pence, were the following: - Solomon Boltwood ;^228, Moses Warner 146, Simeon Clark 145, John Billings 131, John Field 128, John Dickinson 123, Daniel Kellogg 119, Nathan Dickinson 118, Aaron Warner 112, Nathaniel Coleman in, Moses Dickinson 108, Simeon Strong 108, Alexander Smith 104, Jonathan Cowls 102.

The Insurrection. - Many persons in Amherst were inclined to favor the Insurrection, and a few bore arms under Shays. The rising in arms is not to be justified, but there were ample causes for agitation and noise, for meetings and conventions. The attempts to force people to pay taxes and debts, who could get no money, were oppressive; suits were multiplied, and lands,

Stock and other property were sacrificed on sale, and there was much distress. For several years after the close of the war, the times were gloomy and calamitous. A few lawyers and moneyed men may have prospered.

U. S. Constitution. - Amherst sent Daniel Cooley, an educated man, to the convention that met at Boston, Jan. 9, 1788, to consider the proposed U. S. Constitution, and he voted against it, as directed by the town. Benj. Eastman from Granby also voted against it, as did a majority of the delegates from Hampshire. Elisha Porter of Hadley and Noah Goodman of South Hadley voted for it.

Annexation. - Amherst sought in 1778 to have annexed to them a part of Hadley commons, adjoining Amherst on the west, and continued their efforts many years. In 1789, Silas Wright and three Dickinsons, living in Hadley on the road from Amherst to Sunderland, were joined to Amherst. In 18 12, the mountain division south of Amherst was annexed. In 1814, a tract in the north-eastern part of Hadley, containing perhaps 700 or 800 acres, was annexed to Amherst. - In 1795, Amherst refused to have any part of Belchertown annexed, and recently have refused to receive a part of Pelham.

Wolves. - "Wolf-pit brook" is named in Amherst records in 1767, showing that wolves were formerly caught in pits there as in other places. In 1787, Amherst paid Isaac Hubbard 6 pounds for killing a wolf. Amherst had not been troubled with wolves for many years.

School dames. - Females taught private schools, but were not often employed and paid by towns, previous to the revolution. They were commonly married women or elderly maids, and rarely young women, and they taught in their own rooms. Amherst hired school dames to teach children to read, and perhaps girls to sew, in 1749 and 1752. The late John Dickinson, born in 1757, said that females seldom taught a public school in Amherst when he was a young man. Their wages must have been small. Farmers often taught English schools in the winter in Northampton, a century ago, at from 4 to 5 dollars a month, and boarded themselves at home. Farmers' board, when paid for, was about 3s. 4d. a week.

Militia company. - This was organized after 1740 and the first officers were Jonathan Smith, Lieutenant, and Ebenezer Kellogg, Ensign. Jonathan Smith was the first Captain at East Hadley about 1749, ^^^ Ebenezer Kellogg then became Lieutenant.

Slaves. - Three owners of slaves in Amherst in 1771 are named on page 385. There were other slaveholders, some years before. Zechariah Field had a slave, who was valued at 130 pounds, (about 140 dollars) in 1738. Ebenezer Kellogg had slaves. Richard Chauncey, John Ingram, Sr. and Daniel Kellogg had each a negro, probably a slave.

Correction of a remark on 41 5th page, under "Flat Hills." - The land records show the lands north of Mill river were distributed in the 3d Division of the Inner Commons of Hadley.

History Of Hadley 419 Chapter Xxxvi

Hadley Broad Street - Wearing of the banks by the river - New North Lane - Injury to Hadley by the river^Floods - Middle Street - Side Walks - Shade Trees - Inhabitants in 1770 - North Hadley - Trees of Hadley - Mount Holyoke - Logs and Boards^Fences - Clearing Land.

The spacious street of Hadley is one of the most pleasant and handsome country streets in New England.* Most of the natural irregularities of the surface have been removed, and no permanent obstructions or deformities have been added. The width, at first 20 rods, has been diminished a little, and in 1791, was 16 rods wanting 3 links at the north end, and 17 rods and 1 1 links at the south end; and the course of the sides was from one to two degrees east of north or west of south. The street, now so level, had in the last century many knolls, ridges and hollows, and some ponds and puddles where the geese sported. The first meeting house which stood opposite the original homelot of John Dickinson, was on an elevation,f which some judged to be 8 feet high; the ascent was steep from the north but very gradual from the south: North of this ridge was agoose-pondin which waterstood almost all the year, and which was sometimes offensive in hot weather. The hill was removed into the hollow and elsewhere, mostly since 1800. There was another similar pond near the west side of the street, against a part of the old houselots of John Webster and William Goodwin, which was sometimes crossed by a foot bridge. In the lower and eastern part of the street was

*John Adams was in Wethersfield in 1 77 1, and a gentleman told him, "there was not another such street as this at Wethersfield in America, excepting one at Hadley." Diary of John Adams.

The greatest number of people that were ever in Hadley street, assembled in it Sept. 28, 1808, Major General Mattoon having ordered all the militia of Old Hampshire to parade there, viz., 10 regiments of infantry, 2 battallions of cavalry and two battallions of artillery. Many people thought it was wrong to subject the soldiers of distant towns to so much fatigue and expense.

-j-In the early part of the revolution, a liberty pole was erected on this hill. The bottom was dug up many years after, and was of yellow pine.

There were ridges and other rises in the homelots, and some of the early houses were built on these, from 8 to 12 rods from the street, the front being too wet. When tiie late Col. Moses Porter, born in 1768, was young, the house of Lt. Philip Smith, in which he was S'lpposed to be bewitched by Mary Webster in 1685, was standing on a ridge, some distance from the street. Some ridges extended obliquely from the lots into the street; and this in Philip Smith's lot crossed a part of the Montague lot and was connected with the meeting house hill. Boys slid down hill on it in the street, and loads were sometimes set in ascending it in the road.

a long and deep guUey, in which water flowed in rains and thaws, and into which the water of the river set back in freshets. The town long maintained a cart bridge over this ravine; one was built in 1747, and another "18 feet in breadth" in 1770. It is now nearly filled with earth.

Wearing of the street, &c. by the river. - The west side of the street, from the river on the south to the river on the north, was at first about a mile or 320 rods. The east^side, from the south highway into the woods to the river on the north, was not far from 340 rods. The west side may have lost in 200 years 30 rods in length at the north end, and has gained 50 rods in the meadow at the south end. The east line may have lost at the north end between 40 and 45 rods in length.* At the south end of the east side, the river carried away the west part of the south highway, and of the houselot south of it, a part of the west end of the houselot north of it, and the highway leading from the lower end of the street to Fort meadow. Since the river has been receding, in about 60 years, a meadow 50 rods in width or more has been formed at the lower end of the street.

The wearing of the bank commenced at the south end, and is first noticed in the records, June, 1689, when the water had worn away the west end of the south road, and a part of Nehemiah Dickinson's homelot north of it. Dickinson agreed to let the public cross his lot for a time, if the town would help him move his barn. The greatest flood in the river previous to the Jeff"erson flood of 1801, began Feb. 24, 1692, and did great damage. The county and town appointed men to secure a highway, and a road was laid on the lower side of Thomas Hovey's lot as far east as the palisade, and it then turned south and crossed Nehemiah Dickinson's lot to the old road, taking 49 rods of land from Hovey and 50 from Dickinson. This zigzag road was a part of the road to Boston until some time in the present century, when the road was turned to the south side of the buildings. The first direct notice of the wearing of the bank at the north end was in May, 1730, when the town voted "to do something to preserve the bank from wearing," and chose a committee to call out every

*On the west side at the north end, near half of the front of the homelot of Chileab Smith remains. (See page 24.) On the east side, a narrow strip is gone from the north side of the western part of Thomas Coleman's lot; and all the western part of William Partrigg's lot, but not the eastern end. Adam Nichols's three cornered lot came to a point westerly, and added very little to the length of the west side of the street. The shape of this lot is not correct on page 24. In 1738. there were 13 acres of land between Partrigg's lot and the river.

History Of Hadley 421

New North Lane. - The river having worn off the whole of the north highway in some places, and Hadley having applied to the county court, Benjamin Sheldon, Deputy Sheriff, was sent with a jury to lay a new North Lane, in May, 1737. They began about 25 rods south of the bank of the river, at the front of the lot formerly Thomas Coleman's, and laid a road two rods wide near the middle of the lot to the Back street, and laid the latter 20 rods wide northerly to the old country road. This lane remains; the western part is only 3 or 4 rods from the top of the bank of the river.

The tov.'n passed many votes in the last and present century, "to prevent the river from wearing the bank" at the north end of the village: they built wharves of stone and timber, and retarded the progress of the wearing off, but did not stop it. In 1801, they began to defend the bank against Fort meadow. In 1846, 2750 dollars granted by the legislature, and as much more raised by the town and individuals, were expended in defending the north bank, and the wearing was arrested.

The river has made extensive inroads above Northampton bridge, upon the western and northern sides of the Great meadow; also upon the uplands above and below Hadley village, opposite Hatfield and Northampton meadows, and at Fort meadow. The roads have been removed eastward several times. At Hockanum meadow, the river wore through the neck of the peninsula, Feb. 25, 1840, and the island that was cut off has been annexed to Northampton. Hadley has lost much land by the river, and has gained some south of Aquavitae meadow, of the west homelots and of the street, and elsewhere.

Floods. - There have been many heavy floods in the river besides the great ones of 1692 and 1801. The lower half of the west street has been mostly covered with water several times in the present century. The flood of April 30 and May i, 1854, was judged to be a few inches higher in Northampton and Hadley than the Jefferson flood of 1801.* The water at the north end of

*In this flood of iSoi, March 20 or 21, a large company from Northampton, in a river boat and a fishing boat, rowed from Pleasant street across the meadows and river into Hadley street. One boat stopped at Warner's tavern, and the other was rowed up the street almost half a mile, to the bar-room door of Cook's tavern, the second house below Russell street, and the rope was at first fastened to his bar-room table. After having a merry time, one boat was drawn by oxen to the river at the north end, where the men embarked for Northampton; those in the other boat returned as they went over.

Middle Street. - This, formerly named Back Street, is a fine, commodious street. It was at first 20 rods wide, but was narrowed in 1773, the town selling at £if per acre, the west side of the street to the owners of the adjoining houselots, most of which extended from the west street to the west side of this street, on the top of the bank. There was then no house on the west side below the north lane.

Side Walks. - Conveniences for foot passengers were not provided in our country villages until the present century. Those who walked went where they could find a place, often in the same paths with the horses and cattle. In the broad and narrow streets of Hadley, no place was appropriated for foot paths. Those on foot sometimes found in their way when it was not winter, a steep bank, a gutter, a puddle, a muddy or splashy place, or a pound. The middle street was covered with bushes, and descents in highways were gullies. The geese were however the greatest annoyance in the street.*

Shade Trees. - A few elms were set out in these villages 130 years ago or more, but people in general neglected ornamental trees until the present century. There were some large elms and yellow willows and a few smaller butternuts and button woods, in the west street of Hadley, 60 or 70 years ago. After 1800, Lombardy poplars were brought in, but were disliked in a few years and cut down. The beauty of the sugar maple was disregarded in all our villages until after 1800; there were but few in 1 8 10. Now they are in all streets, and some red maples are seen. The present shade trees of Hadley are principally elms and maples; there are some ash trees, buttonwoods, evergreens, &c.

*In Northampton, there were no side walks in the last century, and the streets were more obstructed than those of Hadley with piles of wood, boards and rubbish. Some of their stables were next to the street, and in the winter, manure was thrown from them into piles where the side walks now are, and remained until spring. The travelled way down their hills was a gully, as in other towns. - A man in Hadley says huge piles of manure were thrown from the stables of Oliver Smith, and lay in the street of Hatfield, opposite the meeting house.

Inhabitants of Hadley in 1770, and the parts of the village and town in which they resided; and their polls and valuations. From a valuation made in 1770, and sent to Boston.

The following names appear with one poll and no estate; they did not become permanent inhabitants; Beriah Smith, John Hulet, Isaac Clark, Thomas Elwell, Edward Rice, John Harkness, Jonathan Dickinson, Isaac Blanchard, Joseph Hubbard.

The largest estates in 1770 were those of Eleazar Porter, Charles Phelps, Jonathan Warner, Benjamin Colt, Doct. Kellogg, Oliver Smith, John Kellogg, Jonathan Cook, Elisha Porter, Noah Cook, Jonathan Smith.

Hadley in 1770. - The progress of the town was slow. There may have been in 1770 about 108 or no families and 600 inhabitants. Only a small portion of the 13,000 acres of inner commons, distributed long before, had been cleared, and not more than 6 or 8 houses had been built on the commons. Some of these were at North Hadley. A few men began to build on the Boston road about this time.* There were no inhabitants at Plainville, nor further south in the eastern part of Hadley, nor on the Sunderland road north of Caleb Bartlett, nor between Charles Phelps and the Back Street. Samuel Wrightf from Northampton had settled in the northeastern part of Hadley, where his son Silas, and his grandson Silas, the late senator and governor of New York, were born.|

*Lt. Enos Smith erected the house, in which his son Deac. Sylvester S. now lives, and finished one room in 1770. Most of the region around was covered with small pitch pines, as were many other tracts, and people told him that he could not get a living there. There was no house between his and Back street. Gideon Smith had a house northeast of him, Stephen Goodman had built a house a little beyond the mill, and Nathaniel White farther east, where he long kept a tavern. There was a house near the mill for the miller.

+Samuel Wright is said to have been a Baptist exhorter. Many of these early Baptists were in the habit of exhorting, and did not lack words. I once asked a Northampton nephew of Noah Baker, a Baptist, if he ever heard his uncle preach. "Preach!'" said he: "you could not hear him talk five minutes without hearing him preach."

History Of Hadley 425

North Hadley. - This thriving village is mainly the growth of the present century. In the latter part of the 17th century, on the lower part of Mill river, were a grist-mill belonging to the school, and a saw-mill, and at no great distance were the School meadows adjoining the Connecticut, and smaller intervals above and below. Men took care of the mills and cultivated the lands, and it is remarkable that the Indians never harmed them after burning the grist-mill in 1677. Sergt. Joseph Smith, the cooper, miller, sealer, &c. began to have the care of the grist-mill in 1687, (see page 40,) and he hired a part of the school land many years. He or his sons tended the mill most of the time during the Indian wars, and until his death. It does not appear that his family resided at Mill river, or that he, or his sons, or other tenants of the school farm, usually spent the night there, previous to the peace with the Indians in 1726. The house over the mill had a room with a chimney, and this was apparently the only house for a long period. There was a barn in 1716. Two tenants who had taken the school farm for 21 years appear to have built each a small house and barn after 1726, the school committee engaging to pay the value of the buildings when the lease expired. Joseph Smith and his son Benjamin built a house also, and three families resided at Mill river in 1731. Joseph Smith died in 1733, and his son Benjamin, who had a good estate, died in 1780. The latter, having no children, adopted Benjamin Smith, a grandson of his brother John. This Benjamin had three sons, Caleb, Erastus and Benjamin.

The names of those who lived near Mill river in 1770 are on page 424. The residence of Charles Phelps was some distance south, and he did not belong to the hamlet. Two or three of those named may have been his hired men or tenants. Caleb Bartlett came from Amherst in 1755, and had the care of the farm of the widow of Capt. Moses Porter a few years. He afterwards built the house which is still standing, a little north of that of Deac. Jason Stockbridge. Faxon Dean came in 1765, and tended the mill many years. Joseph Alexander seems to have lived south of Mill river. David Stockbridge, an enterprising man, came in 1779, and lived in the house of his father-in-law, Caleb Bartlett. George Hibbard and sons came from Windham, about 1780. Before 1790, John Russell, Daniel Russel and William Montague had settled on the Sunderland road. In 1790, 20 men were taxed who lived north of Charles Phelps, and in 1800, about the same number. Oliver Dickinson lived in Hadley, on the road from Amherst to Sunderland, and kept a tavern there in 1783 and

Deac. Jason Stockbridge, born in 1780, in the house built by Caleb Bartlett, informed me that when he was young, some land on the pine plains in that vicinity was sold at one, two and three dollars an acre, and some for half the first crop. There were but few large trees, and on the ground was much fat candlewood, - the heart, knots and roots of old trees. They made log fences of pine trees, and when the logs rotted, there was a new crop of candlewood. Some pines had marks of the old boxes cut in them.

The School meadows contained 90 acres of tillage land and 32 acres of mowing in 1770, according to the return of the assessors. This land was leased from 1778 to 1784, at 34 pounds a year, payable in wheat at 4s. rye 3s. corn 2s. oats is. 4d. &c. This was about 5s. 6d. per acre.

Trees of Hadley. - There is no reason to suppose that there is any tree growing in Hadley that is 200 years old. I have visited several peaks and elevations of Holyoke, where no tree had ever been felled by the axe, but the trees were not apparently very old. The largest trees cut in Hadley within 50 years were chestnuts and white pines. The tallest were white pines. Very few if any exceeded four feet in diameter, and not many were more than three feet. The sorts of trees that grew in Hadley two centuries ago cannot be certainly known, but it may be concluded that the same species of trees may still be found there, though in different proportions. Evergreens must always have been predominant in a large portion of Hadley, exclusive of mountains and intervals.

Trees of Hadley north of Holyoke. - Fifteen and ten years ago,* the trees that were the most numerous and covered the most land, were white and other oaks, yellow or pitch pine, white pine and maples, chiefly red. Trees less plenty were chestnut, shagbark and other walnut, birch of four species, hemlock, butternut, bass, ash, elm,, buttonwood, poplar, ironwood, wildcherry, willow, hornbeam, pepperidge, beech, sassafras, nettle tree, hackmatack, spruce, red cedar, dogwood, alder, shad bush or tree, viburnum, sumach, thorn bush or tree, witch hazel, &c.

The oaks were extensively distributed in Hadley, and many were stately trees. Besides two species of shrub oak, there are seven species of oak in Hadley, named white, red, black or yellow, scarlet, swamp white, rock chestnut and pin. I have seen the pin oak, (quercus palustris,) only on the banks of Fort river, and the rock oak only on a ridge of Holyoke.

*My remarks about trees in Hadley refer to examinations made from 1845 to 1850. I spent many days in those years in rambling over mountains and low-lands, in Hadley and elsewhere, partly to improve health. Forests were then fast falling before the axe, and the work of destruction has since gone on rapidly.

History Of Hadley 427

Botanists make but one species of the tall yellow pine and the shorter pitch pine. The pitch pine commonly grows on more dry and sandy land than the white pine, but the two species are mingled in many places. - The red maple grows on low, moist ground, and it occurs on the rocky summits of Holyoke. It crimsons many spots in Hadley in April. Ink was formerly made of the bark, and I have used such ink when a school boy. The white maple grows only near streams. - The chestnut grows on but a small part of Hadley, besides the mountains Holyoke and Warner, where it is with the oak.

Beech trees are not common in Hadley. In 1846, there were in Fort River Valley, above Spruce Hill, two wide spreading beeches, the handsomest that I ever saw. Some of the Amherst students had cut their initials in the smooth bark. Perhaps they were reminded of the "patulse fagi," in the first line of Virgil's Eclogues. On this tract of land were fine sugar maples, and iron-wood trees from 12 to 15 inches in diameter. It was a pleasant valley in 1846.

I have seen the nettle tree, (celtis occidentalis,) on the bank of the Connecticut, below the mouth of Mill river. There was a small tree on the summit of Holyoke, a few rods N. E. of the house. - I never saw the tulip tree in Hadley. - The poison sumach is rare in Hadley. It is sometimes named dogwood. The common dogwoods of the cornus tribe are not poisonous. - The shad bush continues to blossom about the time shad come up the river.

The large river poplar of the intervals, (populus lasvigata,) is different from the large poplar on the mountain, (populus grandidentata.) In 1783, a Hadley shoemaker bought of Oliver Smith a log of the latter for 5 shillings, to make heels for women's shoes.

To South

This figure is intended to represent the shape of the mountain from side to side, in a cross direction, with its slopes both gentle and steep, between the deep valleys called cracks. The slopes are numbered, and the species of trees, that are the most numerous on each, are given. Other trees are intermingled. The mountain has many irregularities and the form varies, but in general there is some resemblance to these outlines. The higher part of the mountain is greenstone, resting on sandstone.

No. I. This long and gradual slope on the north side is the chestnut region with many oaks. There are other trees, but most are chestnuts and oaks. Few chestnuts are found above this ascent; they are rarely seen on greenstone rocks. There are many clearings on this slope. The soil in many places seems not very fertile. There are very few rocks. Hollows extend across the chestnut region, and small streams run in some of them.

No. 2. This steep part is irregularly and variously inclined, and in some places presents a mural or perpendicular face or front, and the angular fragments of greenstone which have fallen from above, slope up against it, and form high heaps. Above the chestnuts, among the fragments, are birches and oaks, and they grow on the higher parts of the steep and on the brow.

No. 3, is the brow of the mountain, and is usually covered mostly with evergreens, viz., hemlocks and white pines, which extend down upon slope No. 2. Birches and oaks are mingled with these evergreens, on both slopes.

No. 4, is the top rock of the mountain, and walnuts, oaks and red cedars grow on it, many of them stunted. The trees on the rocky summits are neither large nor tall.

The cross valleys of the mountain between the top peaks or ridges, when not deep, have their precipices, piles of greenstone fragments, and evergreen brows. There are two deep valleys across the mountain, formerly called cracks and notches, one about half a mile northeast of the mountain house, and the other near three miles east of this, where is the road between Amherst and South Hadley and Granby. Between these cracks, more than halfway from the western one, is the "Low Place" of the old records, where men and animals, hunters and their game, used to cross the mountain, as well as through the cracks. This low summit is of some extent and there is a good team-road to it on the Hadley side, partly on a chestnut hill near the mountain. There are two such hills. There are nine distinct peaks or elevations between the western crack and the low place. The highest part of the mountain was the boundary between towns.

Trees on Mount Holyoke.* - Those most plenty are the oak, walnut, chestnut, birch and hemlock. The walnut is more abundant than any other tree on much of the rocky top and southern descent. The hemlock and white pine are in the steep places, and are scattered elsewhere, and there is some yellow pine. The Norway pine grows on Mount Tom, but not on Holyoke. In the winter, one might imagine that a large part of the forest on Holyoke was composed of evergreens. Other trees are sugar and red maple, ash, bass, butternut, iron-wood, poplar, red cedar, wild cherry, beech, sassafras, flowering dogwood and other species, striped or moose maple, spiked maple, witch hazel, sumach, shad-bush, &c. A few of the mountain ash grow in crevices of the rocks.

Many shrubs, herbs and flowers are on the mountain, for whose names I have not room. Some of these flourish on the high, greenstone summits, where flowers "waste their fragrance in the desert air." Usually all is silent in these elevated solitudes; rarely a chicadee, or squirrel, or distant crow is heard. Sometimes a butterfly shows its gay or dusky wings. Birds sing on the lower part of the mountain, and there katadids repeat the notes of their taborets, in the daytime. In my rambles on the mountain, I never saw a rattlesnake. On many tops, "the aged oak, ne'er echoed with the woodman's stroke," and no mark of the axe is seen; on others and on lower heights, the axe has been freely used, and the wood and timber have been cast or thrust down, the precipice. No. 2, to places where teams could come. Teams have conveyed much wood from the "Low place." Sprouts spring up abundantly from the stumps of deciduous trees on the rocky parts of the mountain, not from those of evergreens. There are pleasant paths in the woods in the chestnut region.

It is interesting in the spring to notice at some distance, the frequent changes of color, in the woods of Holyoke. After the buds begin to swell, before green leaves appear, the trees exhibit hues of brown, grey, silvery, leaden, purplish, reddish-brown, &c. The hues are much affected by the position of the sun. They continue after some leaves are visible. To an observer who is north or northwest of the mountain, the birches first show green leaves, between April 28 and May 12; and their green, very different from the darker color of the evergreens, rises in two or three days from the broken greenstone, to the rocky steep above and to the brow. The hard maple, in lower places, is in leaf soon after the birch, and in a few days, some species of oak, and the chestnut. The white oak is a little later. The north side of the mountain becomes mostly green, before the walnuts and oaks on the south side put forth leaves.

Autumnal colors. - These gorgeous colors on the mountain do not differ much from those on the lowland. Trees and shrubs exhibit crimson, scarlet, purple, russet, yellow, orange, buff, brown, &c. mingled with green, in September and October. Perhaps the brighter colors are as fully displayed between Sept. 25 and Oct. 10, as at any time. Many oaks are later. The colors do not depend on frost, though affected by it. When leaves have become yellow, red or brown, they begin to fall. The sumach is one of the first to turn red. The butternut is almost the first to shed its leaves, and the oak is nearly the last. The autumnal foliage of the elm has no beauty.

Ascending Mount Holyoke. - That part of the mountain, which has been commonly ascended to view the prospect, from time immemorial, extends southwesterly from the western crack, and not in the direction of the range east of that opening. The summit for sight-seeing has not been far from the present mountain-house. The crack is the northern part of a valley, which continues down on the back side of this ridge, and which may be entered by teams from the north and south. The ascent to the frequented eminence is gradual from the back side, but very steep in front, towards Northampton, and previous to about 1822, almost all who visited the mountain, went up from the crack-valley.

I have seen no description of the prospect from this summit, that was printed in the last century.* Doct. Douglass of Boston ascended the mountain about 1743, and noticed the fact in his History, but said not a word about any thing that he saw. Paul Coffin, a graduate of Harvard in 1759, visited the mountain with others, July 29, 1760. He said in his Journal, - "we rode halfway up, and then walked to the summit." He noticed some mountains, and the villages of Northampton, Hadley and Hatfield. He was delighted, especially with the crops on the intervals, which "looked like a beautiful garden. "f Timothy Dwight, afterwards President D. was a lover of nature and ascended the mountain many times. It was not a place of much resort in the last century, nor in the early part of the present. The first building was erected June 17, 1821, by men from Northampton and Hadley. They had a jovial day, and E. H. Mills, Esq. gave an address. The first way up the steep front, on the northwest side, was made a year or two after, partly in the form of steps. After this passage was made, the number that climbed the mountain was greatly increased, though a less number went up on the back side. A better path was made farther south in 1845. I" i^54> stairs were made up the steep ascent, and on each side planks were fastened on which the wheels of a car could run, and a car has since been drawn up and let down on this railway, by horse or steam power. A convenient house was built in 1851, and John W. French, the proprietor, has passed some winters on this summit.

Logs and Boards. - Most of the logs sawed in Hadley since the first saw-mill was built, have been pine and oak, and the pine have vastly exceeded the oak.J From 70 to 100 years ago, yellow

Dwight's description of the landscape was published in his Travels in 1821. President Hitchcock's first description was published in his small Geology, in 1823.

+Rev. Paul Coffin's short account was printed in the Historical and Genealogical Register in 1855. He found on the mountain in 1760, strawberries in plenty, and the feathers of wild turkeys. He says the prospect was surprisingly beautiful, when one stooped down and looked backwards. A singular posture.

History Of Hadley 431

and pitch pine logs were much more plenty than white pine, and other species of oak more common than white oak. Some trees of other kinds were sawed. The price of sawing boards was from I2S. to 13s. 4d. per thousand feet; more was charged for sawing old plank and slitwork. Ordinary pine boards were sold from 26s. 8d. to 32s. per thousand.* The best clear boards from the river, or from logs that came down the river, were worth about double those prices. Some Hadley pine logs were sold at the rate of is. to is. 6d. per hundred, for the boards they made. Slabs were from is. to is. 6d. per load. Not many chestnuts and hemlocks were sawed in Hadley in the last century. From 45 to 50 years ago, common pine boards were worth from 7 to 10 dollars per thousand, and clear boards from river pine, 15 or 16 dollars.

For 30 or 40 years after 1800, yellow and pitch pine logs were the most abundant, though there was an increase of white pine, white oak, chestnut and hemlock. f A great number of logs of river pine were sawed at two Hadley mills. Sometimes a whole raft was purchased for the North Hadley mill. A few logs of birch, maple, butternut, buttonwood, bass, ash, poplar and walnut were sawed, and plank have been sawed from the toughest of all trees, the pepperidge. The prices of sawing for many years was $2.50 per thousand, and more recently 3 dollars. The circular saw, which has been used in sawmills a few years, saws small trees, and greater havoc is made in the forests than before.

Fences. I - The people of Hadley fenced the common fields, school meadow and homelots, and for a century not many other lots. The fences were chiefly of two sorts, (see page 33.) ist, a fence was made of 5 rails with posts, about 4 feet high. 2d, a sufficient ditch was dug, (perhaps some were 3 feet wide and more than 2 feet deep,) and the earth was thrown upon one bank, and

*The price of boards about 1700, reduced to money, did not differ much from that of 1770. The charge for sawing was higher in 1700. See page loi. In 1726, the town granted a saw-mill at Mill river falls, on condition that the owners should saw logs at the halves.

examined the logs at three saw-mills in Hadley, in April, 1846. White pine logs were the most numerous; many of yellow pine, chestnut and oak, and some of hemlock, maple, &c.

Jjohn Pynchon had four kinds of fence at Springfield and SufEeld in the 17th century. The greater part was made of posts and five rails; other kinds were made of pales, of a ditch and dead hedge, and of a dead hedge alone. His rails, posts and pales were of white oak, and some of chestnut. His rails were 11^ feet long and posts 6 or 6^ feet. Carting rails from the woods in Springfield cost 4 or 5 shillings per hundred. Some of his ditches exceeded 4 feet in width and 3 feet in depth, with a dead hedge on the bank. Dead hedges were made by setting stakes in the ground 2 or 3 feet apart, and interweaving bushes, limbs and young trees. These wattled fences were very different from common brush fences.

a line of posts with 2 or 3 rails was set upon this bank. This fence, from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the rails, may have been near 6 feet high. It is believed that oak and chestnut posts and rails were used; and probably some rails were pine. A few made stone wall for common fence, getting stones from Mount Holyoke and Mount Warner; and in 1747, a complaint was made that fence viewers passed brush hedge for common fence. Some private lots were fenced with logs in the last century. The post and rail fence continues. The ditch fence was used many years after 1800, and some had brush fence.

Rails in the 17th century, were about 10 shillings per hundred. Very few were sold in Hadley. The carting was expensive; the trees grew on the commons and cost nothing. Rails rose to 12s. 14s. i6s. and i8s. before 1790. Posts with holes, rose from 3d. to 4d. and 5d. Men made good 5 rail fence about the school lot and found posts and rails, for 2s. 6d. a rod, or is. 8d. as money, in 1683 and 1699.* Ditches were dug in the last century at 8 pence per rod, when labor was 2s. a day. Three rods were a day's work.

The crooked Virginia fence was observed by Kalm in Pennsylvania and New York in 1749, and called worm fence. It was made in some towns in New England where rails were plenty not long after that date. It was not very extensive in Hadley in the last century; has been more used since. The rails are of chestnut.

Clearing Land. - The farmers of New England and other colonies long believed that a crop could not be raised on new land until it was plovved or broken up. To fit it for plowing, they stubbed, that is, grubbed up the roots of small trees and shrubs. These things are noticed by several writers. John Pynchon has recorded many agreements made with men, "to stub, clear and plow" new land at Springfield and Suflfteld, between 1668 and 1680. They were to girdle large trees, cut down and clear off smaller trees, and grub up the roots of little trees and bushes. He paid for stubbing, clearing and plowing, from 33 to 53 shillings an acre. It is not known how long it was before the people of this Norwottuck valley found out that a crop of corn or wheat could be raised among the stumps, without grubbing and plowing.

*About 1708, a fence of pales was built on a part of the School lot. There was doubtless other pale fence in Hadley. It was similar to a rough fence of stout pickets. The lower ends of the pales were sometimes set in the ground.

First Religious Society

Fifth Pastor. - Rev. John Woodbridge, D. D., born Dec. 2, 1784, a native of Southampton, and a graduate of WilUams College in 1804, was ordained as colleague of Dr. Hopkins June 20, 18 10, and remained pastor of the chvirch until Sept. 15, 1830, when he was dismissed to take charge of the Bowery Presbyterian church in New York city. During Dr. W's ministry, the church enjoyed several revivals. The most remarkable occurred in 1816. It is still spoken of as "the great revival." During that year, 187 persons were received into the church.

Rev. John Brown, D. D., the sixth pastor, was born 1786, in Brooklyn, Ct., graduated at Dartmouth College in 1809, and before coming here was settled first at Cazenovia, N. Y., and then over the Pine Street church in Boston. He was installed over this church March 2, 183 1, and retained the pastoral relation until his death, March 22, 1839.

Rev. Francis Danforth, the seventh pastor, was born 1793, in Hillsborough, N. H., graduated at Dartmouth College, 18 19, at Andover Theological Seminary in 1822, was ordained July 11, 1823, over the Congregational church at Greenfield, N. H., and dismissed April, 1831. His second pastorate was at Winchester, N. H. where he was installed Aug. 18, 183 1, and whence he was dismissed Nov. 26, 1839. He was installed here Dec. 11, 1839, and dismissed Feb. 2, 1842. He afterwards preached for a time in the western part of Massachusetts, and then removed to Clarence, N. Y., and d. Jan. 29, 1844, while pastor of the Presbyterian church in that place. During the period of his ministry, the house of worship erected in 1806, was removed from its location in the middle of the West street, a quarter of a mile eastward to Middle street.

Rev. Benjamin Nicholas Martin, a graduate of Yale College in 1837, succeeded Mr. Danforth, as the eighth pastor. He was ordained Jan. 19, 1843, and dismissed June 9, 1847. He is now Professor of Rhetoric and Intellectual Philosophy in the University of the City of New York.

Religious Society At North Hadley

The above Society was organized Oct. 26, 183 1, with 24 inembers. Its house of worship is located between three and four miles from that of the First Church, to which its members had previously belonged. Rev. Samuel M. Worcester, D. D., of Salem, then Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory in Amherst College, became the first supply, and preached in a hall fitted up for that purpose. Rev. Philip Payson succeeded Dr. Worcester, and preached about three years. The meeting house was built and dedicated in 1834. The first settled pastor was Rev. Ebenezer Brown, a native of Brimfield and a graduate of Yale College in 18 13. He had been from Oct. 27, 1827, to March 25, 1835 pastor of the church in Prescott. He was installed over the church in North Hadley April 8, 1835, and left town in 1838, although he was not formally dismissed until the day of Mr. Beaman's ordination. For about two years after the dismissal of Mr. Brown, the pulpit was supplied by Rev. David L. Hunn. The second pastor is Rev. Warren H. BeaiTian, of Wendell, a graduate of Amherst College in 1837. He commenced preaching May 10, 1840, and was settled Sept. 15, 1841. During 1854, a spire was put upon the meeting house, the pulpit re-modeled, the walls of the chvirch painted in fresco, and the house re-painted.

Russell Society

RUSSELL SOCIETY. This Society was organized in 1841, with about one hundred members. The meeting house is located on the east side of West street, near the site of the residence of Rev. John Russell, the first minister, from whom the Society takes its name. Rev. John Woodbridge, D. D. (who had previously been settled over the First church) was installed as first pastor Feb. 16, 1842, and dismissed July 15, 1857. The second pastor, Franklin Tuxbury, was ordained July 15, 1857, and dismissed Oct. 23, 1862.

Bi-Centennial Celebration

At a Town Meeting held March 30th, 1857, it was voted, in response to an article in the warrant calling the meeting, having reference to that subject, that a committee be appointed to carry the subject of the tenth article into effect, by employing some one of its emigrant sons to give a public address, and to take and adopt such measures as the case may require for a public celebration -

The following persons were chosen to act upon that committee: - Giles C. Kellogg, Sylvester Smith, Theodore G. Huntington, Eleazer Porter, George Dickinson, Jeriah S. Smith, Franklin Bonney, Thaddeus Smith, Royal W. Montague, E. H. Bartlett, Levi Adams, Edmund Smith, John A. Morton.

At a town meeting held March 28th, 1859, it was voted that the town appropriate the sum of seven hundred dollars to defray the contingent expenses of the celebration of the Two Hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town ; and that the money be placed in the hands of the Treasurer of the town's committee of thirteen, to be used by them in furtherance of said appropriation.

The committee of thirteen appointed by the town, met June ist, 1857, and organized by the choice of Giles C. Kellogg as Chairman, and F. Bonney as Secretary.

At a subsequent meeting the following officers and committees were chosen to assist the general committee in carrying out the objects of their appointment : - President of the Day - Erastus Hopkins, Esq., of Northampton. Vice Presidents - Rev. Dan Huntington, Giles C. Kellogg, Esq., Dea. Jason Stockbridge, Dea. Svlvester Smith, Rev. John Woodbridge, D. D., Dea. Ashley Williams, Chester Gaylord, Cotton Smith. Treasurer - Eleazer Porter. Chief Marshal - William P. Dickinson.

Executive Committee - The Committee of Arrangements. It was voted that the celebration be held on the eighth of June, and that there should be an Address, a Poem and a Dinner. Rev. Frederic Dan Huntington, D. D., of Cambridge, and Edward Clarke Porter, both natives of the town, were invited to deliver the Address and Poem. It was decided to have the exercises as nearly upon the sight of the first meeting house, as circumstances would permit.

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By advertisements and circulars the invitation was extended as widely as possible to all persons related to Hadley, by descent, marriage, or otherwise, to participate with the inhabitants in the exercises of the occasion.

The day was opened by the discharge of one hundred guns, the roll of the drum, and the ringing of the church bells atdawn. At an early hour, although the weather was unpromising, a large concourse of people began to gather and continued in unabated numbers, till the exercises were closed. Soon after lo o'clock in the morning, a procession was formed at the Town Hall, in the following order, and marched to the ground towards the upper end of the West street, where the exercises of the day were to be held.

Within the wagon were old-fashioned spinning wheels, kitchen utensils, farm implements, guns, cow-bells, a large wooden mortar and pounder, a warming pan, a cobbler at work, and much else, representing the past, that was novel and attractive. In direct contrast came representations of manufactures of the present day, comprising two large wagons, filled with mechanics at work, from Plainville and North Hadley. In the first of these were brooms in the course of manufacture, silver wire for piano strings, a card setting machine, sewing machines, and, not least important, a specimen of soap from the manufactory of W. A. Govern. In the second of these wagons were represented the celebrated wheel manufacturers of North Hadley, specimens of hubs, felloes, wheels, &c., with mechanics at work, from the establishment of J. Adams & Sons, W. E. & C. P. Clark, and D. S. Cowles; at the head of this wagon was a banner with the inscription -

After these exercises were closed, a procession was formed of those holding tickets to the dinner, which marched to the ample tent, located in front of the church in West street, in which plates had been set for sixteen hundred people, by John Johnson of Boston. Although there had been much rain during the day, nearly all the seats at the table were occupied, and the interest which had been manifested from the commencement of the day, seemed in no wise abated. At the close of the dinner, speeches were made by Governor Banks, Giles C. Kellogg, Esq., Rev. John M. Greene of Hatfield, Dr. Kittedge of South Hadley, Hon. Edward Dickinson of Amherst, Rev. Henry Mills of Granby, President Stearns of Amherst College, Judge Russell of Boston, Prof. F. D. Huntington, D. D., Rev. Gordon Hall of Northampton, Prof. W. C. Fowler of Durham, Ct., Hon. James B. Colt of Hartford, Ct., Rev. Jeremiah Porter of Chicago, 111., Rev. Warren D. Poor, D. D. of Newark, N. J., Hon. John Porter of Auburn, N. Y., Rev. John Woodbridge, D. D., and Dr. Smith of Newark, N. J., and at the hour of seven the great company quietly dispersed apparently well satisfied to have spent one day in commemorating the virtues of their ancestors, and reviving the friendships of earlier years.

Medicines, And Physicians

MEDICINES, AND PHYSICIANS. Medical writers of the present day manifest no respect for the theory and practice of medicine which prevailed in England and other countries of Europe when our ancestors came to New England, or in any part of the 17th century. There were ingenious and learned men among European physicians of several schools or sects, but they were misguided by false theories, indulged in fanciful speculations, and supported many doctrines which had no foundation in truth.* Though they made some important improvements, they were generally better adapted to expose the false opinions of their predecessors and of their rivals, than to establish true doctrines. The practice of medicine was not less erroneous and absurd than the theory. Much superstition was connected with it, and virtues altogether imaginary were ascribed to most of the vegetable, mineral and animal substances that were used as

of the physicians were able writers on other subjects. Many of the papers in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society were written by physicians.

Appendix To Original Edition 439

medicines. The greatest folly and credulity prevailed in regard to medicines. Among the parts of animals employed in the healing art were the fat of a dog and of a wildcat, blood of a goat and of an ass, tongue and lungs of a fox, feathers of a partridge, liver of an eel and of a wolf, horns of a hornedbug, teeth of a seahorse, dung of a peacock, horns of a stag, jaw of a pike, urine of a cow, claws of a crab, bone from the heart of a stag, the left foot of a tortoise, blood from under the wing of a white pigeon, and many more equally absurd, most of which were employed on the authority of learned physicians.

Among the imported articles in the English "Book of Rates," 1660, on which a duty was to be paid, are about 250 kinds of drugs, vegetable, animal and mineral, including several just noted. Many more, the produce of England, do not appear in this list. There was no lack of substances deemed medicinal, and physicians were not slow "to pour drugs of which they knew little, into bodies of which they knew less."*

Whoever investigates the domestic life and manners of the English in the I 7th century, will be convinced that many of the people had but little to do with professed physicians, and that the mother, or some other member of the family, or some experienced friend, was the physician of the family. Gervase Markham who wrote "the English Husbandman" and the "English Housewife" some 3'ears before our ancestors left that country, calls a knowledge of physic "a principal virtue of a housewife," and says she should know how to administer medicines to her family. He gives to the housewife, directions how to cure all kinds of diseases and professes to have derived these prescriptions from two or three doctors. Most of the medicines are vegetables. He suggests that some fevers ma}^ surpass the housewife's capacity. Some of the prescriptions are ridiculous, many may have been inert and powerless, and others were beneficial. None perhaps were injurious. Remedies are prescribed as if they were infallible; no doubt of their efficacy is intimated; they are "sovereign." The following are among the most absurd of these remedies.

For a new Cold or Cough. Take sugar and aquavitas in going to bed. [This medicine was used 200 years after Markham wrote. People loved the aquavitae. Sugar candy and licorice, he prescribed for colds, and they are still in vogue.]

For the Itch. Quicksilver beaten with other substances for an ointment. [This quicksilver unguentum was used for itch near 200 years later.]

To make Oil of swallows. He directs about 20 kinds of vegetables and " 20 quick swallows" to be beaten together in a mortar, and butter and wax to be added. This is exceeding sovereign for pains in the bones.

The housewife is directed to make sage, radish, angelica, celadine, rose and rosemary water, by distilling the plants. These waters are said to be good for various diseases.

Other books were published in England in the 17th century for Farmers and Housekeepers, which contained directions about Physic, Herbs, Medicines and Salves. Some of them were entitled "Closet." Hugh Piatt published his Closet in 165 1.

Surgery received less attention in England than medicine, perhaps because it is much more certain, and furnishes less room for theories, fancies, and impostures: Montaigne says : - ' ' Surgery sees and feels what it does ; physic goes much more upon conjecture." The barbers practised surgery. Young w^omen were sometimes initiated into the art of surgery. Chirurgery was the term used for surgery in the 17th century.

In England many medicinal plants were cultivated in gardens, and others grew in the forests and fields. They were kept by families and by apothecaries, and their supposed healing virtues were given in books, as in Markham's English Housewife, Parkinson's Flower Garden and Kitchen Garden, and in other publications. Parkinson was a London apothecary, and his book was published in 1629.

The seeds of many of these plants were sown in New England,* and the housewives on the banks of the Connecticut preserved a variety of dried herbs for those hurt or diseased. Among the plants from England esteemed medicinal, were sage, hyssop, rue, tansey, wormwood, celandine, comfrey, saffron, mallows, chamomile, mayweed, yarrow, shepherd's purse, dandelion, patience, bloody dock, elecampane, mother wort, burdock, plaintain, catnip, mint, fennel, and dill. Some of these are naturalized, and are quite too plenty by road-sides and in fields. Others were cultivated in gardens 40 years ago, and some still are. The New England housewives and physicians, in addition to European plants, had a large number of native herbs and shrubs of a medicinal character.

Josselyn, a careless writer, about 1672, mentions the reputed virtues of som.e New England plants, and other substances in medicine. He was no wiser than others of that age, and some of his notions are false or ridiculous. He notices the diseases of New England in his loose way; - griping of the bowels, bloody flux, small pox, quinsy, "great distempers of cold," pleurisy, the stone, sciatica, dropsy, palsy, pestilent fevers, &c.