Wilbraham Town (part 1 of 8)

Wilbraham Town

"What is there to be seen On the Wilbraham hills of green, And what do you hear, and is it in your way? I hear my mother call, To her children one and all, And I see the children coming through all this summer day."

We have gathered on this anniversary occasion to recall the distant days of our ancestors. To re-tell the story of their struggles and their triumphs, and to gain such inspiration as we can, to carry on the work which they commenced here, and have now left for us to do. In a general way, to make ourselves better, to make Wilbraham better, and so, help to make the world better.

I shall try to tell the story, so far as I can, in the order in which the events happened, and shall quote from the address of Dr. Samuel F. Merrick, delivered here in the old First Church on "Election Day," May, 1831, and from the Stebbins History of 1863.

When we try to realize the great length of time which some portions of the world have been occupied by civilized people, we are astonished at the progress which has been made in this New World, in less than three hundred years. In the year 1630, seventeen ships sailed from England's shore, bringing 1600 passengers, to this, then almost unbroken wilderness.

Winthrop and his friend, William Pynchon, bringing the Charter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, both patentees, Winthrop governor, Pynchon assistant. They reinforce the company already there and rapidly increasing; bold, hardy, resolute men; brave, gentle, patient women. They settle in Roxbury, Newton, Dorchester, Watertown." Pynchon had lived in Roxbury scarce a year, when three Indian Sachems came from the valley of the fair Connecticut River. They bring rich furs of beaver, otter, fox, wolf, and mink. They tell of their great river, fertile meadows, the salmon, bass, shad and sturgeon. John Cable and John Woodcock go to explore. They bring back a good report. William Pynchon himself explores. The western fever grows, and while the people of the Bay protest, the boldest spirits, most enterprising, the very elect, prepare to go. - The Roxbury people will follow Pjmchon to Agawam. There is romance in those paths. The leavetakings with old neighbors, the Indian trail through dim old woods and boggy meadows, the river fords, the ringing axes, the camp fires under lofty pines or by some gurgling brook, the feebler women borne on litters, the little children lulled to sleep upon their hemlock beds by the soughing of the wind among the tree tops, frightened by the screeching owls, the howling wolves, or the painted Indian. The procession of lowing cattle, the shouting boys, the pack horses, the armed men with trusty match-locks on their shoulders; and at mom and night the waj^arers gather about the pastor while the psalms are read and the prayers are said.

In Dr. Samuel F. Merrick's address, delivered in Wilbraham, May, 1831 (after about 50 words of introduction) he says, "As the first settlement here took place but about twenty years before the speaker was bom, and he having conversed familiarly with the first settlers, and living here almost eighty years, he has been invited to communicate some of his recollections of past events." Speaking of the journey from Roxbury to eld, Dr. Merrick says, "They accordingly took their vith their wives and their little ones, their flocks and ;rds, and all that they had and entered the howling ;ss, where nothing dwelt but beasts of prey and men ivage far than they. And after encountering innuhardships, in three weeks they arrived at their destined abode, without being attacked by the savages or any aterial injury. They then took up four towns to wit, rsfield, Hartford, Windsor and Springfield, the latter )xbury."

bulkier goods have already gone by water in John )p's shallop, the Blessing of the Bay. "Learned, gifted, , devout, every way qualified for leadership, Pynchon ; the father of Springfield, as he had been the father of {." "On July 15th, 1636 a treaty of purchase was ith the Indians, the conveyance bearing the nam'es or of thirteen chiefs and sachems. The grantees named iUiam Pynchon, Henry Smith and Jehu Burr and their iS." About the same time the land easterly from the icut River, for a distance of about five miles, or to Five )nd, (near the present Parker Street) was purchased 5 IndiaAs, by William Pynchon and his associates for abitants of Springfield. In, or about 1674, Elizur I and others purchased from the Indians the land lying lence of the relinquishment of the claim of the Indians erritory west of the moimtains, found in the office of ' of Deeds of Hampden County.

mds from the five mile pond Eastward to y= motmtains & so orthward to Chickuppe River, being purchaes fro y' Indians iTequaugan Wawapaw & Wequampo: by & for y* Town of pringfield.

"These presents testify that the Indian called Wequagan, )rmerly called Wruthema & the Indian called Wawapaw jrmerly called Norapompolom in consideration of the sume of -ne Hundred & twenty fathom of Wampam to them in hand aid, And that the Indian called Wequompo in consideration of xty fathom of Wampam to him in hand paid Have given ranted bargain^ & sold. And by these p^sents Doe fully [early & absolutely give, grante bargain & sel unto Elizur [olyoke, George Coulton Benjamin Cooley, Samuel Marsheld & Anthony Dorchester, for the use & behoofe of the Town E Springfield certaine tracts of Land Upland Medowes and wamps hereafter mentioned & described. That is to say, the dd Wequagan & Wawapaw first acknowledging that their .ncesto" Did sel unto M' William Pynchon late of Springeld, for the use & behoofe of the said Town of Springfield a ood Portion or tracts of Land lying on the East side of the Liver Qrainecticut (& by the said River) that is to say, by the iver, along from the lower end of the" (medow, called by the fidians Massacksic & by the English called the) Long meadow p to Chickuppe River. And in breadth Eastward for al that ength about as far from the River Quinecticut, as the five mile ond w'^'' lyes by the Bay path; Concerning w'^'' Tract of Land le said Wequaugan & Wawapaw Doe for themselves & their uccessors, for the use & behoofe of the Inhabitants of Springeld, forever quit al right Title Interest Claime & Demand in : to al the said Tract of Land before described. And the Tract E Land w^*" the said Wequaugan & Wawapaw Do hereby Sel 3 aforesaid Lyeth partly by & adjoineth to the South end & !ast side of the Tract of Land above described (w'^'' they cknowledg was sold to the said M' William Pynchon as aforeiid) That is to say, All the Lands w'='' lie w^'in the bounds ereafter mentioned. And therefore the South bounds thereof, 1 the Riveret called by the Indians Asnuntuel (& by the English !alled freshwater River, or freshwater brooke) & soe from the louth of that Riveret vizt. from Connecticut or Quineciticut Liv' the botmds Runs up the said Riveret to the medows lereupon & from thence up the said Riveret, the bounds take 1 al the medows on both sides of freshwater River or brookes lat Rtm Into it to the upland on the Southerly side of such ledows: & at the Place where Freshwater River or freshwater ce turns Northerly, the south bounds extend Eastward to liveret called Seantuck, viz', the place by the fals, where path that leads to Pequit or Moheage goes over that ret & fro thence the s*^ River Se'antucke is the General ds of the Lands contained in this Purchase, vizt. up to the ; where the said River or Riveret Seantuck comes down the Place where Seantuck River conies down from the itaines, the foot of the mountaines is the Easterly bounds, 3 far Northerly til it meet with the Lands purchased of the Wequompo: & the West botmds or border are the Lands erly sold to m'' William Pjmchon late of Springfield as :s^ And the said Wequagan & Wawapaw Doe for eir successors to the use and behoofe of the Inhabitants of igfield for Ever quit al claime to & al right title & Interest ly of Lands above mentioned & hereby sold, & which are lined w'Hn the bounds abovementioned. Except liberty shing & hunting, which they Reserve to themselves, yet io damnify the English thereby. At w'^'^ tract of Lands ire Contained w"4n the bounds above mentioned, together il the profit and comoditys thereupon or thereunto belong- ;he said Elizur Holyoke, George Coulton, Benjamin Cooley, ael Marshfield & Anthony Dorchester for the use & behoofe ce & imploymen' of the Towne of Springfield (& not other- I are to have hold & Enjoy y"selves & their heires for Ever it let, ' trouble or molestation from the s^ Wequaugan rapaw or any other: And the tract of Land hereby sold by uompo are such as are contained w'Mn the bounds & s hereafter mentioned & Described, That is to say. The h bounds thereof are the lands before mentioned, sold by uaugan & Wawapaw; And Eastward the Foot of the [itaines are the boimds thereof; & Northerly Chickuppe r is the bounds thereof; And the Westerly bounds thereof ;he lands above mentioned form''ly sold to M"' William ;hon as aforesaid. At w'='' Tract of Land soe bounded & ibed together w"" all the profits & comoditys thereupon or !unto belonging the said Elizur Holyoke, George Coulton, amin Cooley, Samuel Marshfield & Anthony Dorchester he use & behoofe, service & Employm' of the Towne of Igfield & not otherwise, are to have hold & enjoy for thems & their heires for Ever, w^'out let trouble or molestation ihooie & benefit of the Inhabitants of Springfield for Ever lit al claim to & al his right, Title & Interest in any of the ands above mentioned to be sold & w'^'' are Contained wi'Mn le bounds above expressed: Except liberty of Fishing & unting w'^'^ he reserveth : And it is the intent of these presents lat y* s"* Elizvir Holyoke, George Covdton, Benjamin Cooley, imuel Marshfield & Anthony Dorchester themselves and their ;ires for ever by virtue of these Presents are not to have any mefit or Priviledge in the Lands, otherwise than as they are shal be Inhabitants of the Town of Springfield or otherwise, ten in General in & w"" the Town, or otherwise then they have gal Right therein, or may be granted by the Town, for that le Lands sold by the Indians above named, are so sold for & I y^ onley use & behoofe of the Inhabitants of Springfield & I be wholy at their disposure.

"Febr. 4th, 1678. Being desired at a Town meeting in Spring- ;ld to declare what I Imow concerning the Purchase of the mds abovesaid; I doe declare and attest as foUoweth viz: hat

Wecombo the true & proper owners of al the Lands above entioned Did sel and by sale forever passe away al the Land )ove mentioned to M' Elizur Holyoke, Geo. Colton, Benja. ooley, Saml Marshfield & Anthony Dorchester for the use & ;hoofe of the Town of Springfield: The bargain being made my presence, and as I remember It was in the year 1674 or lereabouts; I was often w"" y" in Treaty about it, w"^"" at st came to a conclusion, to be as above-mentioned, the payent also for the Lands as above exp'sse'*, passing through my mds to the Indians, which they Gladly accepted & did willgly own the sale to me after this Deed was Drawne, they imeing particularly one at a tyme to me to subscribe it, when told them they must come altogether, the want of which was le onley obstruction, for they often severaly acknowledged le sale, & this writing to be according to their mind, and meang. Also testifying their Readines to come altogether & Lscribe, w'^'' as they promised, so doubtless they would ive done but that the Indian Warre happening in the !ar 1675, They w"" other Indians were drove away, before hich time they made the above express"* Sale, And I do ;clare they did come personally & owne & acknowledg the inveighaiice & sale of the Land above mentioned, as above :p''ssed.

lave not been able to find the original deed convejring the east of the line indicated by this deed, lere are many traditions respecting the claim of a blind m to the (mountain part) of the territory of this town, and me compensation made to him to liquidate it. What was own of Wilbraham from 1763 to 1878, was originally a part be territory of Springfield, which territory was about ty-five miles square, extending from Connecticut River to the present line of Monson, west to Russell or therets and from Warehouse Point, or about the south line of ;ld, to the mountains or thereabouts on the north. I do indertake to trace the boundary line accurately. On the side of this territory extending from Connecticut line to lorth line of the then town of Springfield there was a strip miles wide, called the "Mountains," or "Outward Com- )" of Springfield. There was also a strip on the west side Dout two-thirds the same length, and whose breadth is by specified bounds called "Outward Commons of igfield, on the west side of the Great River." lese outward commons on each side of the river had not specially appropriated to any of the inhabitants of Springand there was reason to fear that Sir Edmund Andros, imor of Massachusetts, would take away the charter of the ly as he threatened to do, thus causing all the unapproed lands to revert to the crown-^become the property of :ing. To avoid such an undesirable transfer of ownership eir common lands, the inhabitants of Springfield voted in meeting February 3rd, 1685, that after reserving three red acres to the ministry, and one himdred and fifty acres ihools, on the "east side of the river" and a due proportion the ministry and schools on the "west side of the Great ver," the remainder be divided among the one hundred and enty-three heads of families or legal citizens; among these is ;luded, by special vote, "our reverend teacher, Mr. Pelatiah over."

Including the "ministry lot" and a "school lot," there 3 therefore one hundred and twenty-five proprietors, among lom the land is to be divided. The division is to be ide according to estates and polls - each poll to be valued at 2; It was also voted, that all male children, under age, Duld be counted as polls; and further, that while these lands 3 unfenced, any person can use them for grass, herbage, and aber and that they shall be free from taxes till improved. ; the lands appropriated would necessarily vary very much value, and as it was not only just, but desirable; that each oprietor should have at least a chance to secure a good lot or portion of one, these "outward commons" on the east side of e river were divided into three portions and those on the 2st side into two portions, making five portions in all. These irtions were numbered from one to 125, beginning with the irthemmost portion on the east side; and each of the one Lndred and twenty-five proprietors was to have one share in ch portion or division, making five shares in all. The first vision and part of the second were north of Chicopee River, le second division extended from about a mile north of tiicopee River, south about four miles to about 40 rods north the Tinkham Road, or to the south line of the farm of the irs of James Merrick, formerly of Deacon Moses Burt, who lilt the stone house now standing there in 1830, and extending 2st from Monson line four miles, to the line of the Inner Comons, about half a mile west of the four comers, where our -esent Springfield Street crosses West Street. The third vision was bounded north by the second division, east by [onson line, and extended south to near the top of the old otash Hill, to what was then supposed to be the line of Conjcticut, and west to the line of the "inner commons," the ime as the west bounds of the second division. The "inner is" was that territory which extended from the "outtmnions" west to the settled portions of Springfield, LBS called the plains. Each of these five divisions was jpropriated to one hundred and twenty-three persons, t for the ministry, and one for the schools. We may say !re one hundred and twenty-five proprietors, or persons, whom each division is to be divided. There will be e one hundred and twenty-five lots in each "division." its are numbered, beginning at the north side of each ; the north lot being one, the next two, and so on up to dred and twenty-five. These same numbers are drawn Dox like a lottery; from another box, at the same time suppose, is drawn a proprietor's name. The proprietor w. No. 1 would have the first lot in the "division," he w No. 2 would have the second lot, and so on till the umber, one hundred and twenty-five, was drawn. Then lid be drawn for the second division, and so on till all sions were drawn. After the number of the proprietor's settled, the next step was to determine its width; its vas four miles of necessity, because the lots extended he "commons" from east to west. The "width was tied by adding together, the value of all the polls and and then, as the whole amount would represent all the one division, or the whole extent north and south of lur miles, so each man's estate and polls would represent ddual portion of each division, or the width of his lot. sm in simple proportion. John Holyoke was chosen to it a list of the estates and poUs, and very probably to end the allotment. The lots varied in width from one . and thirty-three rods, fifteen feet, and nine inches, as the width of Colonel Pjmchon's lot, being No. 2 in )nd division, lying north of Chicopee River, and lot in the third division, lying about one and one-half or ;s south of the north line of the present town of Hampjm to only eight feet and nine inches in width, which width of the lot of William Brooks, being No. Ill in nd division, and No. 13 in the third division.

A lot four miles long and one rod wide would contain eight acres, so it will be seen that each of Colonel Pynchon's lots contained more than one thousand acres, and those of William Brooks about four acres each. It is said that no satisfactory, survey was made of these lots, though several were attempted, until 1729, when Mr. Roger Newbury ran the west line of the outward commons acceptably. In 1863 a boundary stone in the third division was said to be standing, or rather lying nearly buried, on the north side of the then Sylvanus Stebbins farm, about ten rods west of the Main Street, and another was said to be standing about 1830 on the north side of the then Dr. Samuel F. Merrick house lot. It was many years before these allotments were definitely marked. Many of the original proprietors were dead, and the heirs of some of them were found with great difficulty, and it is said that another allotment was attempted in 1740 to about 400 persons, and another in 1754, on a different principle to 544 persons. But serious difficulties were in the way of new allotments. Some of the original lots had been sold, either by the original proprietors or their heirs, and it is said that the Pynchon heirs having obtained excellent portions, under the first allotment, would not agree to any new arrangement.

In the survey of the original lots, for some reason, only sixteen feet were allowed to a rod. This is always mentioned in the early deeds, when the width of the lot in rods is given, so there would be a strip of "over-plus land" on the south side of each division. The "over-plus land" on the south side of the third division was sixty-two rods wide, and by some mistake supposed to be the loss of a tally, there were eighty-two rods in width of "over-plus land" on the south side of the second division. The south side of the second division, on our Main Street, is now the south side of the farm of the heirs of James Merrick, formerly of Moses Burt. The line is about 40 rods north of the center of the Tinkham Road.

The eastern line of the Outward Commons was bounded on Monson line, or Brimfield, as it was then called. On March 23, 1684-85 a committee was sent out to survey and establish the line between Monson and Springfield. I copy the first part of their report. "We quickly found the Brooke there (Commonly called Stony Brooke) to Part and become two brookes - ^followed up the largest stream and found it to turn away Eastward - our Grant by y= Gen" Corte was from the Brooke - about 40 or 50 rods east from where the brooke parts - on Rising ground by the side of Stony Brook we pitched otir East Bounds, - about 40 or 50 rods further north we came to cross the Bay Path." They then ran the line to the north, and on April 6, 1685 ran the line to the south. In 1735 the line between Brimfield and Springfield was again "Surveyed, Run & Renewed. Beginning at a dead Pine tree Standing a little Northward of the Bay Path or (more commonly called) the Old Rhoad."

"Further forasmuch as the additional bounds or Grant of Lands to this Town by the Hono'^'' Getf' Co" May last 1684, was & is to the present Inhabitants & proprieto" of Springfield their Heirs & assigns forever. Many of whom are desirous of & moving for their Share in s"* land, upon w'='^ w"" other Considerations Inducing, It was at this Meeting Voted & Concluded that the Eastern line or bound of the plantation of Springfield being run & Stated from Hadley Town bound on the North to Enfield Town bound on the South, Then aU the land from the s"* Eastern line for four miles westward toward the s^ Springfield from both the Northern & Southern bounds is hereby Granted & agreed to be laid out in Proprietys to Each p''sent Inhabitant & proprietor his Heirs & assigns forever his due proportion, & also the lands on the west Side of the Great River from John Riley'° Brook Northward to Northampton bounds, & to Westfield bounds westward. Also the land from the head of the Brook beyond Thomas Coopers that runs into three mile Brook unto Southfield Southward & unto Westfield westward be alike distributed to Each Inhabitant & propiieto'' their Heirs & assigns forever; & in special it was Voted that three hundred acres at the least be granted to the Ministry on the East side the River out of the land hereby first Voted to be laid out as af ores'*, & that one hundred & fifty acres be to the School out of the same & that the ministry & the School have their proportions in the lands on the west side of the Great River. As also that o' Reverend Teacher M"" Pelatiah Glover have his proportion in the lands hereby agreed to be laid out on both Sides of the Great River. It was further Voted & agreed that the lands on the East bounds of the Town Shall be laid out in three Divisions & that the lands on the west side the gr' River shall be laid out in two divisions to Each man his proportions. It was also Voted that these divisions to each man shall be by Casting of lotts, & that division by Casting lots, be by as many lots or Casting of lots as there be divisions. It was further Voted that the first lot begin on the Northerly part of the land to be divided; Also it was further Voted that these divisions be by Estates and poles, & that the poles be Esteemed in the Rate at twelve pounds p' pole, & that all Male Children under age be Valued as rateable polls Viz. 12 £ p' pole. It was ftirther Voted & Concluded that these lands when divided while Common or Unfenced shall be Common or free to all the Inhabitants for Grass, herbage & Timber & free from Rates till Improved & then Rated only as Improved, & that Jno. Holyoke draw a list of Estates & poles of the Inhabitants for the Measurer."

The following is a copy of the allotment, made from the records of the town of Springfield. There was one division - the first - flying wholly in the present town of Ludlow, north of this second division, which was mostly in what is now the town of Wilbraham.

"A list of the lotts in the second or middle division of the out-ward commons on the east side of the great river in Springfield are as follows viz : -

On "Nov. 7th 1693 Colon^' John Pynchon Esq^ M^ Pelatiah Glover En^ Joseph Stebbins Sen. David Morgan & Jehojadah Bartlett went to the Eastward End of the Town bounds to measured the four miles Granted by the Town in Proportion according to the Proprietors Estates, as it was Stated in Mar. Ano: Dom: 1685."

"And we Came to the Stated Pine tree over Twelve mil Brooke: on the Easterly Side of s"* Brooke w'^'' tree was marked with S. P. for Springfield bounds when first said bounds were laid out as our Most Easterly bounds, & found the line or Rang of Trees y' Run North & South there at Our Easterly End, & finding s"* Pine tree which was Marked of old S. P. to be much burnt & decayed, tho S. P. was fairly to be seen & left unbumt when as a gr' Part of the Tree both below & above the mark was burnt, & s"* tree like to decay, we therefore (haveing a Compas to direct us) Tooke y^ former & first line at the Easterly end s"* bounds w'^'' was North «& South & came to another pine tree about twenty rods more Northerly (in s'^ Line) which was as formerly marked at the first Lajdng out of our bounds, & had the Surveiors marke set on Each side of that Tree, which Tree being a fair & fresh pine Tree, & from the first markt there, we gathered to it some few stones - & fro Whence we Set to worke to measure of four miles towards the Town from this o"' most Easterly, bounds, marking Trees as we went." (I have abbreviated the report from this point, but have kept the names and description of localities.) "Coming on West and measuring One Mile we marked a white oake tree on the hill side which is on y^ easterly side of y= Brooke commonly called Eleven Mile Brooke, said tree being towards the Northerly end of s"* hil. Thence coming Still on west marked trees till we came to Manchonish pond and marked a white oake tree close to northerly end of it, being two miles west of our most easterly bounds, and about 20 rods south of the north end of Pond, We estimated the width of the pond there at about 60 rods and measured on west to the rising near the gutter to a tree which made three miles. Going on thence west marked trees for the 4th mile which led us to the North end of Stony Hill, where Rosin was first made by Cap' Germon by Chickupi River, then westerly over s^ hil a little towards the northerly end of it & throw those Pine Trees used for Rosin to the Pondy Low Land westerly, and a little over that Low or Pondy Land our four miles were Compleated. We marked 2 pine trees standing close together about 30 rods southerly of Chickupi River. The said 4 miles being Compleated a little on this Side the place where Cap' Germon made Rosin."

This survey or measurement, while it was doubtless made in a straight line, as laid out by the compass, seems to have been very near the Old Bay Path, and it mentions names of localities with which we are to-day familiar. We know that Five Mile Pond, Eight Mile Gutter, Nine Mile Pond, were given those names because they are about that distance from Springfield. But the name, "Twelve Mile Brook," as applied to the stream running into Chicopee River, where the river comes down from the north and makes almost a square turn to the west, has always seemed to me to be out of place. But I am glad to learn that it had in those early days the more appropriate name of Eleven Mile Brook and that Twelve Mile Brook is about where it ought to be, a mile further to the eastward, and about twelve mileis from Springfield. It is also very near the eastern border of our town. I have also fotmd those names applied to those' streams in the early records of alterations and changes made in the Old Bay Road. It is interesting to know that our Nine Mile Pond was once called Manchonish Pond, probably named for some Indian, and that, previous to 1698, rosin was made at the north end of Stony Hill, very near the place where the electric railway now passes over the tracks of the Boston and Albany Railroad.

On April 1, 1717, a coinmittee was chosen to fix the line between the Inward and Outward Commons. I have not foimd any record of a survey until that of Roger Newbury in 1729.

"Gen'n According to and in pursuance of the Instructions delivered to me from you With Respect to the finding out the length of your s"* Commons and dividing them into three equal parts I have with my Utmost Care and according to the best of my skill measured s^ land and divided it as foUoweth, Viz; on the 20th & 22nd days of May last I began at the Northwest Comer of s"* Outward Copunons at a Stake and heap of stones which according to the best light and Knowledge that I could anyways gain was the end of the four miles measured out for s* Outward Commons by Mr. John Chandler Jun' and from s"* Monumn' I run a due South line and measured down to Enfield bounds and found that there was twelve miles and one hundred and fifteen rods, which being divided into three Equal parts Each part or division wiU Contain four miles and thirty Eight rods and five feet and one half and at the Northwest Comer of the Upper Division by the Stake and heap of stones from whence we first set out we dug a Ditch East and South, And Another at the Northwest Comer of the Second Division in a low plain North of the west End of a certain Hill about half a mile North of Chickabee River, and another Ditch at the Northwest Comer of the third or last division at the South End of a little Marsh South of Worlds end Brook and another Ditch at the Southend of the s^ outward Commons Next to Enfield s"* ditch runs North and East.

"June y^23: 1729 "At a Meeting of the Proprietors of the Outward Commons on the East Side of the Great River in Springfield Pynchon Moderator Voted an acceptance of the within Return of M' Roger Newbury Surveyor, and that the within Monuments made by the s"* Newbury shall be the Standing Monuments for y^ three Division of y= s^ Outward Commons."

A few years ago I discovered a depression in the ground, in a piece of woodland south of "World's End Brook," (now Pole Bridge Brook), which seemed to me at the time, to have been made artificially. The place is in the woodland, about 40 to 60 rods south of the Tinkham Road, and about 60 to 90 rods west of West Street, very near the east side of the woodlot, and it may be the same ditch which Surveyor Newbury had dug, to fix the northwest comer of the third division. I have been informed by Mortimer Pease of Hampden, that there is a somewhat similar ditch in, or near, the meadow, about 70 to 100 rods westerly of where the main road to Somers crosses the Scantic in that toAvn. The Connecticut line, in those ancient days, was supposed to be about one mile north of where it now is. If these ditches are the bounds established by surveyor Newbury, they should be one-half mile east of the present west bounds of the two towns. They must be very near that.

The land in the Outward Commons was divided into three divisions, and a lot in each division allotted to each one of the 125 original proprietors, in 1685, but it was forty-one years before the lots were definitely fixed, and established on the ground itself. The report of the laying out of the lots on the east side of the river, seems to be included in the records of the laying out of the lots on the west side.

On April 12, 1726, a committee, consisting of Joseph Miller, Henry Rogers and Frances Ball reported as follows: (I have only copied what seems to relate to the east side.)

" Accordingly we have measured out allottments proportionable to Each Originall lott on y^ East side of y= River and headed y= Same on y' East End of Each allotment with Sufficient bound stones or other Sufficient monuments fairly marked with y^ Ntimber of Each lott agreable to y* list by w'='' the s'' lotts were drawn as appears upon Record and by which the particular lotts may be known in time to come. Viz. in y=- Eastward Teer or range y* monuments are Set at y^ South East Comer - ^but in y* Middle Range they are set on y'= North East Corner of y= lotts and y= marks are all facing to the breadth of y= lotts."

Such was the division made of the land; and the vote of the town of Springfield, by which this distribution of the territory of this town was made among those early proprietors, constitutes the original legal title which the present occupants have to the soil.

It was about ninety-four years after the first settlers reached Springfield, before any attempt was made to start a settlement in the Outward Commons. The appearance of the land was not attractive. Nearly the whole territory, called by the Indians Minnechaug, "Berry land," had been so devastated by fires, that in many places there were no forest trees - and in other portions hardly any shrubbery gtew. The low, swampy grounds and swales afforded a coarse grass which was mowed and cured for the support of cattle during the winter season, and the hills furnished pasturage during the summer. The tradition is handed down to us, from those early days, that the country was so bare in many places that a deer could be seen from mountain to mountain. Game was very abundant, and continued to be till long after the settlement of the town. Deer filled the pastures and the woods; wild turkeys ran in flocks over the fields and hills; the ponds were covered with ducks, and the squirrels on the trees, filled the air with their barking. Muskrats swarmed upon the banks^of the streams and beavers built their dams on Pole Bridge Brook.

About half a mile north of the centre ofj^otur Centre Village, there is a cart path running off westerly from our Main Street, on the farm of the late John W. Bliss, now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Gillet, and about one-third of a mile from Main Street the path crosses a narrow strip of swampy land on ground that has evidently been filled in at some time. It used to be said that the beavers did it, and within my recollection the place was called " Beaver Dam." Shad were in the streams in springtime, and salmon, weighing from seven to twelve pounds, came up the Chicopee River as far as Eleven Mile Brook - now frequently called Twelve Mile Brook - where they were caught in great abundance with seines.

Beasts of prey were not abundant, but sometimes bears made their appearance and feasted on the unripe com, much to the annoyance of the planter and the terror of his children. It was not uncommon for devout aunts to still the restlessness of the children, who were left in their care, both on Sundays and on other days, when their pranks were annoying, by telling them that the bears would hear them and come and carry them away into the woods and devour them. And I think it safe to say that some who take part in this anniversary may have been told that story. Not many Indians inhabited this territory at . that time. The Stebbins History says but one. But I have learned from two independent sources, that a family, or several Indians, lived about a half mile west of our West Street, and about midway between our Springfield Street and the Peggy's Dipping Hole Road, at a place still known as Indian Rock, (there is a lane or cart path, ruiming north and south, now connecting those two roads), and that some of those Indians frequently came over into the village, to Charles Brewer's tavern, to procure supplies, and possibly some of the white man's firewater.

Dr. Merrick says in his address, delivered here in May, 1831, "I have been told by the first settlers that when they were boys, the place was covered with them," (Indians) "but I have no idea that they were ever by any means so populous as we are." Still, there must have been a large number of Indians here at some time, or they must have dwelt here for a long time. The thousands of stone implements, spears, arrow heads, axes, hoes, hatchets and soapstone dishes which have been found in these fields, and many which must still remain, will substantiate that statement. One Indian squaw lived alone in her wigwam by a little brook, some fifty or eighty rods southeasterly of the present residence of Mr. BoUes, and that fact gave the name to "Wigwam Hill," on which his house stands, and where the first meeting-house and parsonage were erected. I have gathered from the traditions of the first minister's family, that her name was We-sha-u-gan, and that she was sometimes invited to take dinner with the minister's family, and that once she invited them to come and have dinner with her. Before accepting the invitation, the minister's wife felt a little anxiety to know what she intended to have for dinner. She approached the subject in a round-about way, and the Indian woman told her she had caught a nice fat skunk for roasting, and she wished them to taste the cooking of Weshaugan. To partake of such a dinner was, of course, out of the question. But Mrs. Merrick did not wish to hurt the old squaw's feelings, and so she told her, in as kindly a way as she could, that while it was perfectly proper for the Indian woman to eat at the minister's table, his position would not permit him to eat at hers. Doubtless the disappointed woman went down to her wigwam, by . the little rivulet, wondering at the strange fancies of white folks.

In his History Dr. Stebbins says qf her: "Alone, the last of that mysterious race who had chased the deer over these fields, trapped the beaver in these streams, speared the salmon in these rivers, enjoyed the freedom of these hills, kindled their evening fires by these springs, and, as they smoked their pipe, beheld the western sky lighting up when the sun went down, as if with the smile of the Great Spirit and of the heroes who had fallen in battle, and buried their kindred under these trees, she lived solitary, the curiosity of the early settlers, harmless, quiet, meditative, seldom entering any dwelling, and providing for her own wants. At last even she disappeared. Of the manner of her death, or of her burial-place, no man knoweth. She passed away, as a shadow of the vanished race, ' the himter and the deer a shade,' in the land of the sunset, beyond the western hills which she had so often seen empurpled at eventide." A poem, entitled "Minneola," published in 1905, represents that ancient woman, realizing "that the morning will soon dawn when she will not see its sunrise," telling the story of her people to a white hunter who had given her some game, and telling him how, when the others of her tribe had trailed away towards the sunset, she had remained here, to care for her blind and helpless father. And the author closes the story with this tribute to the old Indian squaw.

When I was a child, my great-aunt [Mrs. Gideon Kibbe], told me an experience of her mother [perhaps her grandmother], when she was a child of about eight or ten years of age, probably about 1740, or 1750. She was riding on a sled with her father, mother and other children near the close of a winter day, and they saw, a short distance in front, three Indians come out of the woods and stop in the road. The hearts of the children sank down into their little shoes as they cowered under the blankets, but the father drove right on to where the Indians were standing in the snow by the side of the road, and each was holding out his hand saying, "tobac," "tobac," "tobac." In a sermon some thirty years ago, our Pastor said, "Tobacco is good - to kill flies." [We have the same Pastor now.]

An account of the occupation of this territory by the Indians would be incomplete without mentioning the soapstone dishes, and fragments of dishes, which have been found in considerable numbers, and for a long time, in the eastern part of our town.

About ten years ago, the place where those dishes were made was discovered. It is about a mile, perhaps a little more, northerly of the Glendale Meeting-House, and about one-fourth of a mile easterly of the East road, or street, and just beyond a little brook running southerly through the swampy land there. The dishes were evidently made from some soapstone botdders, probably deposited in the glacial period, and the tools were pieces of trap-rock, probably procured from the Holyoke range of mountains. It must have been a slow, tedious process, which we cannot very well understand, any more than we can teU how those strange people made the arrow and spear heads 'which besprinkle our fields. About 1890, there were discovered, on the top of the first hill, at the north edge of our center village, near the present home of Wm. H. McGuire, and about ten or fifteen rods west of our Main Street, three Indian fireplaces, in a triangular position, about twenty feet apart. They were made of stones, none larger than a person's head, laid together, so as to form a circular wall, leaving a space in the center about twenty inches across, and about eight or ten inches deep. Two of them had been disturbed by the farmers' plows, but one was enough below the present surface of the ground so that it had not been injured. It was well filled with the ashes of many fires, and the soil within the others was blackened by the same cause. There are other places in town, which, when plowed, show where similar fires have burned, "When the smoke from many wigwams, Oft ascended at the sunset."

But the control, or occupation of this territory by the red men was practically ended. The land in the Outward Commons had been allotted to the 125 proprietors of Springfield in the year 1684-85, and each proprietor's portion had been definitely fixed by the survey of 1726. In this measurement of the width of the lots, the surveyors only allowed sixteen feet to the rod. Probably fearing that in measuring off 125 lots they might gain on the actual distance. The survey of Roger Newbury in 1729 fixed the western bounds. There was nothing to hinder the enterprising from entering in and taking possession of the Outward Commons of Springfield.

In the year 1727 Nathaniel Hitchcock purchased part of the lots drawn by John Hitchcock, No. 69 in 2nd Division, and No. 51 in 3rd Division. In 1728 Nathaniel Warriner purchased the lots in each Division drawn by Thomas Cooper, which are No. 119 in 2nd Division and No. 11 in 3rd. Each lot 18 rods, 7 feet, 3 inches wide. Also the J^ part of Thomas Merrick's 3 allotments, which are No. 106 in 2nd Division and No. 46 in the 3rd- The 3^ part of each lot would be 4 rods, 11 feet, 11 inches wide. Also the 3^ part of the lots drawn by Thomas Swetman, which are No. 62 in 2nd Division and No. 33 in the 3rd. The 3^ part of each lot would be 1 rod, 5 feet wide.

lots Nos. 15, 16, 17 and 18 in the 3rd Division. The entire width of the four lots would be 49 rods, 13 feet, 8 inches, which woiold make about 399 acres. But as each rod in the width of the lot was 6 inches short, we must deduct about 12 acres.

Indian Fireplace

SO far as to the top of the Mountain to a small Gutter Running across said Lots Whereabouts there is a Highway Proposed to be laid out." At another time he purchased "J/^ of the width of the lot granted to Widow Riley." (It is lot No. 101.)

In the summer of 1730, one hundred and eighty-three years ago, Nathaniel Hitchcock came out from Springfield Street, and cleared and broke up two acres of ground, and erected a log hut on the west side of our present Main Street, and about onehalf mile south of our center village.

After sowing his two acres with wheat, Hitchcock returned to Springfield Street to spend the winter and make the few preparations which were necessary to remove his wife, whom he had married that year, to his hut by the "Mountains." In the following spring, May, 1731, he came out with his wife to his narrow field and low hut, and resided here a full year, with no neighbors nearer than Springfield Street, nine miles away. He planted his crops, mowed his grass, dried and stacked his hay, husked and stored his com under the roof of his cabin, gathered his wheat; "and when the long, dark, stormy winter evenings came, he was .solaced with the music of his wife's song, and the voice of his child, and the crackling of the fire in his great open fireplace." "At last the spring opened, and not only the robins and the bluebirds returned, but what was better for him and for Hannah, his wife, Noah Alvord came and settled on the east side of the street," about 40 rods to the south, where Mr. Calkins lives now.

-v The report of the land was good; and the next year, 1733, Daniel Warner came and settled on the east side of the street, five or six rods north of the lane, which, when I was a boy, used to be called Federal Lane. The place is now owned by Mrs. Mary (Howard) Green. And the next year, 1734, Mr. Nathaniel Warriner, afterwards a prominent citizen, the donor of the ministry and school-fund, located on the west side of the street, about 20 rods north of Hitchcock, at the house recently sold by Mr. and Mrs. Martin to Thomas H. Nims.

"Of these four earliest settlers no descendant remained in town in 1863. Nathaniel Warriner had no children. Of Noah Alvord's four children, none had children, and the descendants of Nathaniel Hitchcock and of Daniel Warner all left the town years ago." It is possible that some other settlers may have come before 1734. Moses Burt, an industrious weaver and reed-maker, purchased the land where the stone house is, in <^

1733. Samuel Warner, and his father Ebenezer, settled on the west side of main street, where my home now is, in 1733 or 1734. I have not found that Samuel Warner was ever elected Precinct or Town Clerk, but he kept the record of births and deaths in the " East or fourth Precinct of Springfield" for almost fifty years. The record is still in existence. The first entry was made "March y= IS"- 1734," the last, August 28, 1783. For forty-nine years and five months, the faithful "Clark," as he was called, performed his labor of love, and 12 days after the last entry, he laid down his pen forever.

The Town Clerk at that time, Mr. James Warriner, made the following entry, which closes the record which Samuel Warner had kept for so many years. "Samuel Warner Who had the title of a Clark Dyed 10th day of September 1783, at Hancock: 70: miles from home, at his Daughter Rhoda'^ for a visit, near the warm pool, and was brought home to be buried by his Desire, when he lay upon his Dying bed - ^aged 75 years, wanting one month 4 days."

About 1734, Samuel Stebbias settled on the first road leading up the mountain, north of our present south boundary, on the easterly side of Main Street. This road runs easterly for about one-third of a mUe, then turns and runs nearly due south for perhaps one-fourth of a mile, then turns easterly, and continues on up the motmtain to the ridge road, to what is now known as the Burleigh place.

Samuel Stebbins built his house near where the road turns from its southerly to the easterly course, probably a little south of what was the Foskit place a few years ago; where Mr. Richards lived fifty years ago. I find it very tmsatisfactory to locate places where "somebody lives now." It will answer very well for to-day, but fifty years hence it will not be very definite. I intend to call this road, for its entire length, on both sides of otir Main Street, Stebbins Road, in remembrance of this first settler in that locality. Nathaniel Bliss soon settled on the east side of this road, a little north of Stebbins, where Mr. Powers now lives, and a little later Philip Lyon located a little north of Mr. Bliss, where Mr. Lines lives now.

I think there have never been any other places settled on that road, east of Main Street. David Merrick built his house on the west side of Main Street, near the brook which crosses the street, which I will call Merrick Brook. There he, and his descendants, lived for about one hundred and sixty years, until about twenty years ago, when the place was sold to Mr. M. C. Wade who lives- there now. Abel Bliss located on the Ridge Road about twenty or thirty rods south of where the Old Bay Road branched off to the eastward. Daniel Lamb, on the Bay Road in the northwest part of the Outward Commons ; Thomas Merrick, father of the young man Htten by a rattlesnake, immortalized in song, on the east side of Main Street, about twenty or thirty rods north of the present south boundary of our town, where Mr. Walter Bliss lives. David Warriner on the west side of Main, and the south side of Faculty Streets, about where the north end of the Academy Boarding House is. Isaac Brewer on the west side of Main Street, eight or ten rods south of Springfield Street. He and his descendants occupied the place for more than one hundred and sixty years until 1898, when it was sold to Mrs. Gumey, who lives there now. Moses Bartlett on the Ridge Road, near where the present highway, which leads off from the Main Street, just south of the Stone Church, enters that road, and about where the old stone chimney is now standing. I desire to name this road, which leads up the mountain at this point, "Waukegan's Trail," in remembrance of those earlier inhabitants who have lived, and loved, and died here. (A story of those ancient people in this vicinity, written a few years ago, represents their pioneer, " Waukegan," as having come down the mountain at that place.) David Chapin settled over the mountain near the present Ridge Road. So far as I have learned there were no set- tiers in the south part of the Outward Commons previous to 1741. "Few and scattered as the inhabitants were, they were not indifferent to the education of their children. As early as 1737 the town of Springfield appropriated three pounds for the support of a school in the "outward commons on the east side." The Stebbins History says, "there were then, as nearly as I can ascertain, but eleven families." The same amount was appropriated the following year. "In 1739, the sum was increased to four pounds, and in 1740 to six pounds." "The Testament was the text-book in schools, as well as the orade in the church. Dilworth's spelling-book was the guide in spelling." Of geography nothing was taught; of arithmetic but little. Writing received more attention, but the means of education were very scant at the best. During the first ten years, 1731 to January 1, 1741, there were thirty-eight children bom. The first one recorded is "Comfort Warner, daughter of Daniel Warner and Jerusha Warner, his wife, was bom Mar. 15, 1734." The first death recorded is that of "David Jones, son of David and Hannah Jones died Aug. 19, 1736. Burried at Springfield." Dr. Merrick says in his "address, that the father did not want his child to be the first tenant of the Bur5dng Ground. Two other deaths occurred before 1741, and both were interred at Springfield. The first tenant of the Burying Ground, now called Deacon Adams Cemetery, was "Widow Elizabeth Cockril who Dyed Apr. 26th 1741. She was the first person y' was Bured in y^ mountains." Dr. Merrick says of this incident: "In April 1741, Elizabeth Cockrel of Boston on a visit to her sister, who was Samuel Warner's wife, sickened and died here. Mr. Warner buried her here, and though he was not a stone man (stone cutter) he got two flat stones and engraved her name, the time of her death, and that it was the first grave. Though I knew of the stones, they were so covered with moss that they could not be read. I got the moss scraped off and pointed (?) so that now it is legible."

That

"Those early pioneers were hardy and industrious, and prosperity, such as they sought, as bounteous as they expected, was their reward; and eminently was fulfilled to every householder the promise of the Psalmist, 'Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house; thy children like oliveplants round about thy table.'

"Such was the condition of the settlement in the 'outward commons' at the close of ten years. .Twenty-four families, or twenty-six, scattered over a territory of about four miles square, possessing only the barest comforts of life, include all the population. Most of .their houses were probably framed, the sawmill at Sixteen Acres supplying sawed lumber, but they were poorly finished, scantily glazed, and meagerly furnished, and rarely even plastered. Their fields were still narrow, and but insecurely fenced. The wild animals shared their scant harvest. They were far from store and mill. They had no roads for wheel-carriages, nor any conveyances of this kind, even if there had been roads.

"They were religious men and women ; and the way was long and difficult to the first parish meeting-house. The sun smote them in summer, snow and ice blocked their path in winter. When the Sunday morning came, some on horseback, their wives on the pillions behind, and the baby on the pommel before, and some on foot, started in the early morning for the meetinghouse, nine miles away, by way of Pole Bridge Brook, over Stony Hill, along the Usquaick, or Mill River, at Sixteen Acres, and entering the Bay Road near Goose Pond" (now Winchester Park). "The young men and maidens, for reasons easily divined, preferred to walk even when there was no necessity; and it is reported, not slanderously it is to be presumed, that the way seemed all too short to Zion, and all the more lovely because so few went up to her solemn feasts."

On a Sabbath morning in winter, in that long ago, it is told how a certain Miss Peggy, clad in her "Sabba day" fixings and finery, mounted her horse and started for the distant sanctuary, passing along the highway which leads oflE to the westward from our West Street about midway between Springfield Street and Ludlow village. While crossing a shallow marsh, over which the trail led, the thin ice broke under the combined weight and the horse, the fixings, the finery, and - Miss Peggy, were all dipped in the freezing water. The place has since been known as "Peggy's Dipping Hole." The marsh, of some four or five acres, was drained about thirty-five years ago, and nowadays, in the good old summer time, the clatter of the mowing machine is heard, where then the screams of Miss Peggy resounded. For, of course, she must have screamed, when she saw that all of her fixings and finery were ruined.

The way to Zion, by way of Springfield, seemed long and difficult, and the elders wearied of the way. "The briers were sharp, the swamps were miry, the fords insecure, the storms were drenching. Their souls longed for the courts of the Lord. They had enjoyed the blessing of the preached word in their homes on a few occasions, and it was pleasant to their souls. They cherished tenderly, yet timidly, the desire to establish the 'means of grace' in their own settlement." They talked over the subject in their families, and when they met by the way.

"At last, Hitchcock and Warriner and Bliss and Burt and Brewer and Stebbins, and the rest, met, we may suppose, at Merrick's house, in the midst of winter, and talked the matter over, before the great fireplace. They are few, they are poor; they are not famous. But they loved the sanctuary and the ordinances of religion. They have faith in endeavor. They resolve to try the heart of the bretheren in the first parish, at Springfield Street, and of Longmeadow, incorporated as a precinct in 1713, and see if they would consent to their being set off as a separate precinct, and aid their petition to the provincial government to that end, so that there may no longer be a '.dearth of the word of the Lord' on the 'Mountains.' "

Their petition was favorably received by Longmeadow, and it was voted, March 10, 1740, that "the outward commons of Springfield, be set off for the benefit of the gospel ministry."

The first precinct passed a similar vote March 21. The "Outward Cojnmoners" take courage, draw up a paper empowering their agents, and certifying to their authority and responsibility, and send up their petition, signed in their behalf by Thomas Merrick 2d, and Abel Bliss.

The following is the appointment of "Thomas Merrick 2d and Abel Bliss to Prefer a Petition to the General Court to be set off as a Precinct."

"We the Subscribers who are settlers on the Lands Called the Outward Commons Dwelling Some in the Second and Some in the Third Divisions of the Said Comons In Springfield on the East Side of Connecticutt River do Hereby appoint and Impower Thomas Mirick 2d & Abel Bliss Settlers on the said Place to Prefer a Petition to the next General Court that we with our Lands and theirs together with all the Lands within Said Divisions being In the whole in length Eight Miles and in weadth four Miles May be Set off a Separate and Distinct Precinct and that all the Lands L3dng in said Divisions may be taxed at Such Rate as the General Court shall think Proper the better to Enable them to Settle a Minister Build a Meeting

"There are twenty-four of these subscribers. Adding the names of Thomas Mirick 2"* and Abel Bliss, (committee) signed to the Petition, the whole number is twenty-six." These names differ from those given in Dr. Merrick's address. The Stebbins History says they were copied from the Records of the General Court in the office of the Secretary of State.

"The Petition of Abel Bliss and Thomas Mirick second for themselves and the rest of the Inhabitants settled at the mountains So called at the east side of the great river in Springfield on the land called the Outward Commons, being the second and third divisions of said Commons

"Htimbly Sheweth that your Pet" live nine mUes from the said Town of Springfield, which distance makes it very inconvenient for them to attend Publick Worship of God especially, in the winter season, that they cant attend the Service and Duties of Gods House as they ought, by reason of the badness

"That the land Ijdng in the Second and Third Divisions of the S"* outward commons being in length north and South eight miles and east and west four miles are very convenient and Commodious for a Precinct which your pet" are very desirous of, for the building of a meeting house for the Public worship of God in the said Precinct that so they may attend the Dutys and Service of God's House seasonably and constantly as they ought to do.

"And your Pet" would suggest to your Excellency and Honours That the first Parish and Longmeadow Parish in S'' Springfield whereto they belong voted their consent that your Pet" should be set off a separate Precinct from the said Parishes.

"And therefore your Pet" htimbly pray that your Excellency and Honours would be pleased to set them off and also to set off all those Lands which lye in the Second and Third Divisions of the said outward Commons being in length north and south eight miles, and east and west four miles a Separate Precinct, and grant unto them all such powers and libertys priviledges and Immunitys as other Precincts have and enjoy with and under such restrictions and limitations as your Excellency and Honours shall deem meet; and that all the lands lying within the limits aforesaid may be taxed further to enable your Pet" to settle a minister &c for such term of time, and at such rate as your Excellency and Honours shall think proper.

Their petition was received by the House of Representatives, June 26, 1740, and it was "Ordered that the petitioners serve the non-resident proprietors of land with a copy of this Petition, by posting the same at the town-house in Springfield, and by inserting it in one of the Public Newspapers, that they may show, cause (if any they have) on the first Tuesday of the next session of this Court, why the Prayer thereof should not be

At the next session, January 2, 1741, the petition was taken up by the House "and it appearing that the non-resident Proprietors have been sufficiently notified, but no answer given in, Ordered that the Prayers of the Petition be so far granted as that the Petitioners Together with all the lands petitioned for Ijang southward of the River called Chicuepe River running Easterly and Westerly through the said Second Division of said Commons be erected into a Separate and distinct Precinct and that they be vested with all the Powers liberties Privilidges and immunities as other Precincts hold and Enjoy and that all the lands Petitioned lying Southward of the River as aforesaid be subjected to a tax of two pence old tenor Bills p"' acre p"' annum for the space of Four years Next Coming the money arising thereby to be applyed for the building of a Meeting house Settlement and support of the Ministry among them." This Order was concurred in by the council January 5, and was consented to on January 6, 1741, by Jonathan Belcher, Governor, and the "Outward Conunbns on the East Side of the Great River," or "Mountanes of Springfield," became the "fourth precinct of Springfield."

"There was joy in those households when the success of their petition was known, and more than one man called upon his neighbor to bless the Lord for his kindness to them.

On January 3,_ 1739, Springfield " Granted to y= People of y' mountains for y' procuring preaching 10 Sabbaths Twenty shillings p"" Sabbath provided they do not exceed Teen Sabbaths." On December 12, 1739, and on December 9, 1740, twenty shillings per Sabbath were granted for each Sabbath; provided they do not exceed twelve Sabbaths, to be paid to David Mirick as it becomes due.

painful jottmey, in cold and snow, of nine miles, to hear preaching." If there is any record of who preached for them, the papers of David Mirick must contain it. (Some of those papers are now in the possession of Mrs. Myron Bruuer.)

The first warrant for a precinct meeting was issued February 13, 1741, by W"". Pynchon Esq., "one of his Majastes Justeses of the Peace for Hampshire Cotinty," to Mr. Nathaniel Warriner, "upon application made by Nathaniel Bliss 2^, Sam'' Stebbins Junr., Samuel Warner 2^, Noah Alvard and Nathaniel Warriner," requiring him "to Notifie the Freeholders and other inhabitants of said Precinct Qualified to voat in town affairs, that they meet and assemble togeather att the Dwelling House of David Mirick in said Precinct on the second Thursday [the 12th day] of March next att one o clock afternoon."

The meeting was held at the place specified, and was organized by the choice of "William Pynchon Esq. Moderator. David Mirick was chosen Clerk and sworn. Thomas Mirick 2'', Isaac Brewer, Nathaniel Warriner, Committee of the Precinct for the year ensuing. Isaac Brewer, Treasurer, sworn; David Mirick, Thomas Mirick 2^, Samuel Stebbins, chosen Assessors, sworn. Nathaniel Warriner, chosen Collector, sworn." Thus the precinct was organized, and it is voted, that "the annual meeting for the choice of precinct officers shall be y' second Wednesday of March annually."

Six different meetings are held before the first day of June, to agree upon a minister and arrange his settlement and salary; for it was customary at that time to pay a considerable stun to a minister, at the commencement of his ministry, called a "settlement," in addition to his annual salary. At the first meeting, held at the dwelling-liouse of Isaac Brewer, March 25, 1741, called, among other things, to see "wheather they will give the worthy Mr. Noah Mirick a call in order to settle in the work of the ministry in case they have the advice of the neighboring ministers," they chose Joseph- Wright and Daniel Warner a committee "to make application to three neighboring ministers in behalf of said precinct for advice who to settle in the work of the ministry," and pending the procurement of this advice they voted "to hier Mr. Noah Mirick to Preach the word of God to them three Sabbaths beginning the first Sabbath in April next ensuing." Mr. Mirick had been preaching to them previously, as appears by subsequent votes, and had preached in aU twenty Stindays before his ordination.

They also direct their committee to "further pursue and execute a Deed that is Given of the Land called the Overplus Land given to the first settled Orthodox minister of this Precinct." This overplus land, it will be remembered, consisted of two lots four miles long from east to west, the one on the south side of the Second Division being eighty-two rods wide, and the only one probably which was deeded to the first minister, the one on the south side of the third Division being sixty- two rods wide. This land was owned by the heirs of the one hundred and twenty-five original proprietors. Phineas Chapin and Samuel Warner, the committee, have no small labor committed to them to hunt up these heirs and obtain their signatures to the deed of conveyance.

The following is a copy of the Deed of the overplus land of the second division in the Outward Commons. Recorded in Book U, page 96, Registry of Deeds, Hampden County.

"To all People to whom These presents shall come Greeting. Whereas There is a Tract of Land lying and being in the Township of Springfield in the County of Hampshire and province of the Massachusetts Bay in new England In the second or Middle Division of the outward Commons so Called on the East side of Connecticut River being in length about four Miles and in Breadth about Sixty rods lying on the Sowarly side of the said Middle Division and adjoyning to the third or lower Division of said Commons Called overplus land which has not as yet been Divided and alloted to the Proprietors or owners of the Same but lyes Common. And Whereas there is about or Near Twenty Families already settled on the said Commons southward of Chickabee River, and tis probable that in some short time they may be set off a separate and Distinct Precinct. And in Order to Encourage the same and Especially for the Encouragement of the first settled and Orthodox Minister there when they shall be set off a Precinct. We the Subscribers whose hands and seals are hereto affixed some of the owners and Proprietors of the Said Tract of Land called overplus land as aforesaid being in Breadth about Sixty rods as aforesaid and in Length Pour Miles. For the Encouragement of the First Minister of the Gospel that shaU be Ordained and Settled at the said place when they shall be set of a seperate and Distinct Precinct. Do hereby Give Grant Pass over Convey & Confirm to the First Orthodox Ordained Minister of the Gospel that shall be there Ordained and Settled among the People of that place all such Right Estate Title Interest proportion and Dividend of Land whatsoever which we and Each of us Have of in and to the said overplus Land Described as aforesaid. To be holden by him his Heirs and assigns to his and their own use benefit & benefit and behoof forever. So that we the Subscribers our Heirs and assigns from all Right Title to and Interest in the Premises by Means hereof shall be Secluded and forever Debarred, Saving only That we Reserve Necessary Highways through the same, as also so Much of the said Land as shall be suitable for the Placeing a Meeting House on and for a Burying Yard. This Deed not to Take Effect Except the Major part of the Proprietors in the s^ overplus land sign this Deed or at Least so many sign as to convey the Major part of it:

"In Testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands and affixed our Seals this Twenty Second Day Febru'y an. no: Dom : 1739/40. In the Thirteenth year of his Majesties Reighn George y= 2^ King i&c -

Seventy-five different persons signed the Deed, and sixtyfour of them appeared, at seven different times, before Charles Pynchon, Justice of the Peace, and acknowledged the same, and also on two occasions, before W". Pynchon, Justice of the Peace, for the same purpose. Several of the signers died with- out acknowledging it, and, at different sessions of the Court, two persons would testify that they were present and saw the deceased person sign the Deed. All of which is recorded with the instrument.

It will be remembered that Samuel Warner was one of the committee, chosen by the precinct, "to further pursue and execute a Deed that is Given of the Land called the Overplus Land" etc. - , and that they "shall hier a Justice Peace to take acknowledgements of the same att the Charge of the Precinct."

"1745, Dec. 16. Resaight Re"^"* of Samuel Warner 20 shillings old ten"' in full for taking sundry acknowledgements of a Deed made to Mr. Mirick

On the 17th of April, 1741, without waiting for the "advice of three neighboring ministers," they "unanimously voated a Gall or Desire that the Worthy Mr. Noah Mirick should settle with" them "in the work of the Ministry;" They also chose Aaron Stebbins to assist Chapin and Warner in getting "More Signers to a Deed of the overplus Land and get the same aeknolidged;" and to "hier Mr. Mirick Pour Sabbaths more, if he Give encouragement to settle. ' ' The meeting was adjourned to the 24th of April, and at that meeting they chose a committee of five to "State, Regulate and Draw up a scheem Relating to the Encouragement of Mr. Mirick's settling with them in the work of the ministry."

The importance of securing a deed of the "Overplus Land" is indicated by their voting that their committee on that subject, "shall hier a Justice Peace to take acknowledgments of . the same att the Charge of the Precinct." They then adjourn to the "Eleventh Day of May next." At this May meeting the committee chosen to "Regulate a salary to ofer to Mr. Mirick" make their report. They state that they have taken the matter into serious consideration, and that they find "the money or Coin in this Province is so variable and uncertain as to its value in Proportion with other commodaties that they can't think it a medium whereby the salary can be settled or ascertained with any safety or security either to the Minister or People." "Wherefore," they continue, "we have considered the value or Currant Market Price of the several Commodaties hereafter mentioned. Viz: Indian Com att 6s. per booshel; Wheat, lis. per booshel; Rie, 8s. 6d. per booshel; Barley, 8s. per booshel; Oats, 4s. per booshel; Flax, from y swingle. Is. 6d. per pound; Beaf, 5d. per pound." They further recommend "that Mr. Mirick be Elowed either money for his salary Bills or other Commodaties or Considerations Equal to One Hundred Pound a year for the first four years of his being settled and after the fourth year to Rise five Pounds a year till his sallary amount to one Hundred and forty Pound per annum in the Currancy above said so long as he continue to be their minister." They further recommend that a committee shall annually agree with the minister upon price, "before the meeting for Granting Precinct Charges," so that "the sum shall be Equal in value as above specified, and "that the whole of the salary be paid in by the Last Day of March Annually." They also suggest "that for his further encouragement he have the improvement of that part of the Ministry Land that will fall to the Ministry of this Precinct."

They also estimate, "by a moderate computation," that the "Overplus Land," of which they are obtaining a deed for the minister, is "worth three Hundred Pounds," which is considered, as it was, a generous settlement. They conclude their report in the following words: "and for the further encouragement of Mr. Mirick's settling with us, it is Proposed that we Cut and Boat of a sufficient Quantity of Rainging Timber for a Dwelling House for him and convey the same to the Place where he shall Determine to Erect said Building." Such is the offer which these twenty-two or twenty-four landholders make to the "worthy Mr. Mirick to settle" with them in the ministry. The meeting "voated that the same be Excepted, Granted and Elowed in the value maner and Proportion, as it is expressed and set forth in the Report." They choose a com- mittee to "wait upon Mr. Noah Mirick with a Copy of said Report and the aforesaid voat for his Answer," and adjourn to the "Eighteenth Day" of the month, seven days, to give Mr. Merrick time to consider the conditions and prepare his answer.

To us of the present day, when we consider the smallness of the number and the poorness of the possessions of the members of the precinct, the salary and settlement seem generous.

Mr. Merrick evidently had some of the wisdom of the children of this world, as well as that of the children of light. At SLTxy rate, at the adjourned meeting, "it was considered that the offers for the encouragement of Mr. Noah Mirick's settling with us as our minister were not sufHcient." This is certainly very modestly stated, and relieves Mr. Merrick from all suspicion of having offensively pressed a bargain of his solicitous hearers. It is very probable that he had hinted some additional favors which they might render him, which, while they would cost little but labor, would be to him as acceptable as gold, for they vote "to provide the timber for a Dwelling House for said Mr. Mirick, which was not included in the former voat;" also to "Hue, frame, and Raise said building, for said Mr. Mirick."

.Meanwhile Joseph Wright and Daniel Warner, who were chosen on March 25th to take the advice of three neighboring ministers, have made the journey through the woods to South Hadley, obtained the opinions of three ministers there assembled, and have safely returned with the advice of Samuel AUis, James Bridgham, and Edward Billings, which is in the following words : "These may signifye that upon Application made to us by a Committee from a Place called Springfield Mountains, of their choice of Mr. Noah Mirick for their minister, that we approve of their Choice, and Heartily Commend him and them to the Divine Blessing." The advice is acceptable, of course, for these men of a "Place called Springfield Mountains" had already strained a point to make the salary and settlement satisfactory to the minister.

"Dear Friends: I have now more thoroughly Considered your voats Relating to my settling among you, and must Confess that the matter Looks dark Enough with Regard to my support. Your encouragements, you must needs be sensible, being but small; but, how;ever. Considering your Present Circvunstances and the great need you stand in of a minister, and considering further the unanimity you have Discovered in your Choice and the seeming call of Divine Providence, I dare not think of leaving you.

"I have therefore determined (putting my trust in him who Careth for us all) to Except of your invitation with hopes and Expectations of your future Kindness to me, and your Readiness, att all times, to contribute to my support and comfort, as God shall give you ability; and the Lord grant that we may live togeather in Love while we are hear, and when we go home may set down -togeather in the Kingdom of our Lord and Sav"' Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, both now and forever. Amen.

The meeting "votes to Chuse a Committee to confer and agree with Mr. Noah Mirick Relating to the time of his ordination, and also what Churches to apply to for assistance in the ordination, and to act in- other affairs Dependent thereupon," who are to make "a Return of their Proceedings to the next meeting that shall be called." Events now thicken. The great day of desire is near at hand. A special meeting of the precinct is called, by a new warrant, May 29. Aaron Parsons "moderates" the meeting, and, with a pride which we cannot quite admire, and with an indiscretion which the fervor of their enthusiasm at the near prospect of having a minister aU their own will certainly excuse, they voted "That the Ordination of the worthy Mr. Noah Mirick shall be in the oldest Parish in Springfield, if Liberty can be obtained;" and, "that the Committee shall take care that suitable Provisions be made for the

Entertainment of those called to Assist in said Ordination att the expense of the Precinct." Whether "Liberty" could not be obtained, or whether the Warriners and Blisses and Warners came to their right minds after the meeting, which is to be hoped, they were saved that long tiresome journey across the plains, through the woods and swamps, by a final determination to have the ordination of their own minister among their own dwellings. Accordingly, a large oak tree, then standing near the house of Daniel Warner, which, as I have said, was a few rods north of Federal lane, was selected as the place to hold the services.

The morning of the great day to those people came at last; but it came not clear, balmy and fragrant as June mornings usually are; it was lowering, and the sky was hid by clouds. The "ministers and their dellegates and students" had come from Hadley and Springfield and Longmeadow and Brimfield, and the grave council was sitting in solemn deliberation, we may suppose, at Nathaniel Warriner's. The people were gathering, - Daniel Lamb from the plains, David Chapin from over the mountain, the Bartletts, and Blisses, and Burts and Warners.

The venerable oak seemed to feel the honor done it, and welcomed them lovingly to its shelter, if not to its shade. The sun was getting high, and the clouds were growing thick. But the council did not come. A very serious difficulty had arisen, which the learned and worthy ministers and their "Dellegates" could not remove. In organizing the church, before proceeding to ordain the minister, they found that there were but six members, - ^an insufficient number. There must be, said the venerable council, seven. On what ground this reason for not proceeding with the ordination was set up does not appear; the proceedings were all in abeyance. Dr. Merrick says in his address, "At length a man produced himself and said he had made up his mind to join the church, but waited only for the

"It would be curious to know what they built their opinion upon, but my father, who told me this, said he never asked them, and he could not conceive what it could be." In a history of Massachusetts published in 1839, it is stated that David Warriner was the man who came forward to make up the sacred and required number of seven, thus relieving the reverend coimcil of their difficulty, and the waiting and wondering audience of their impatience-

But they were not soon enough to escape the gathering storm. Hardly had they reached the welcoming oak, when it began to "rain, and they hurriedly adjourned the service to Nathaniel Warriner's bam. (This bam was standing in 1831.)

There the ordination services were performed. The hymn was sung, the sermon preached, the prayer was offered, the charge given, the benediction pronounced, and the audience departed to their homes, with hearts overflowing with joy that the Lord had heard their prayers, and given them so good a man for their minister as him whom they loved to call the "worthy Mr. Mirick." The reverend council, their delegates, and students, after partaking of the hospitality of these frugal people at the houses of Warriner and Brewer, and spending the night, started in the early morning for their distant homes, leaving behind them good wishes and prayers fragrant as the flowers. The following is a copy of part of the first page in the book of church records, written by Rev. Noah Merrick.

The record is in a homemade book of forty-four pages, consisting of blank sheets of paper, folded and stitched together. The pages are about four inches wide and six inches long. The writing is very fine and small, and some words abbreviated.

"June 24: 1741. was gathered a Ch'' in y= East or fourth Precinct in Springfield; consisting of y= following persons; Viz; Noah Merick, Joseph Wright, David Merick, David

Copy Of The First Page Of The Minister'S Record

And Noah Merick ordained Pastor - July 5: 1741. Tho= Son of David Merick, Baptised. Aug' 9: 1741. Miriam, Daughter of Sam" Kilbome, Baptised. Aug' 16: 1741. Sam" Wkmer, and Margret, Wife of Nath"

Warriner, admitted to communion. Aug' 23: 1741. Jerusha, Daughter of Dan" Warner, Baptised. Sep' 27: 1741. Phineas Chapin owned y' Covenant. Octob' 18: 1741. Noah, Son of Sam" Stebbins, and Ehzabeth,

It is interesting to read this first record of the church in this place, made one hundred and seventy-two years ago, probably on the day when the events happened.

"At the first precinct meeting held after the ordination, November 6, 1741, it was voted, as if in gratitude for having secured a shepherd to care for the sheep of the Great Shepherd," "to build a pound in this precinct att the Charge of the precinct," so that the cattle might also be saved from doing themselves or their owners, or others, harm.

Then came up next the very difficult subject of locating the meeting house, for some settlers had come into the southern portion of the precinct.

To give time for consultation apparently, the meeting is adjourned for "half an hour." Then the meeting is adjourned for one month to December 7, "Att nine of the clock in the morning." They met and "adjourned to one of the clock in the afternoon." Again they met, and it was "Voted that the 1st Meeting House or House for the Public Worship of God shall be sett on the Land Called the Over Plus Land in the Middle Division," a strip across the precinct from east to west, four miles long, as will be remembered, and eighty-two rods wide. This was as. near as they could come to agreeing upon a location after a month's special consideration and four meetings.

They voted and chose "James Wood of Summers, John Shearman Esq. of Brimfield, and Ephraim Terry of Endfield" a committee to determine on "what Spot or Place in the Over

Plus Land of the Middle Division said Meeting House shall be Erected." Another meeting was held the next week, December 14, 1741, at which the chief business was to raise and appropriate money. They "Voted and granted to Rev. Noah Mirick Fifty Pounds in money for half a years salary;" to "Nathaniel Warriner six pounds, one shilling and sixpence for his keeping the Ministers Dellegates and Scholars at the time of the Ordination;" to "Aaron Stebbins for the Expense he was att in Geting the Deed of the Over Plus Land further Executed, one pound ten shillings;" to "Isaac Brewer ten shillings for keeping the Ministers Dellegates and Scholars Horses att the time of the aforesaid Ordination;" and also, "Ten Shillings for the Boards and Nails he provided for a Pulpit and y' work he did tords y= same;" to "David Mirick four shillings for the work he did tords the same;" to "Rever""^ Mr. Noah Mirick Forty Pounds for Twenty Sabbaths Preaching before he was ordained;" to "Nathaniel Warriner for keeping Mr. Mirick and his Mair Eleven Pounds Ten Shilling;" to "Sam" Stebbins Jun'., Three Shillings for keeping the Rever""* Mr. Mirick's Mair Last Spring;" to "Thomas Mirick, 2^, one Pound Twelve Shillings for his Expense in pursuing a Petition in the General Court in Behalf of this Precinct;" to "Abel Bliss fifteen Shillings" for the same service; "Granted also Seven Pounds in money for Contingent Charges to be Disposed of by the Committee of this Precinct;" to "Daniel Warner for his Geting Mr. Mirick's Mair kept Last Spring two pounds;" " Voated to Chuse a Committee to se that Mirick's house be sett up agreeable to the Precinct's Obligation;" "Granted Twenty Pounds to Defray the Charge of Providing a Scriber and Building a House for the Reverend Mr. Mirick;"

"Voated that Isaac Brewer" (who kept a tavern on the west side of Main Street, eight or ten rods south of Springfield Street, where Mr. and Mrs. Gumey now live) "Shall entertain the Committee appointed to Determine a Place or Spot" for setting the "first Meeting House att the Charge of the Precinct;" "Voated that fourty-one Pound fifteen shillings and six pence of the money Granted at this Meeting shall be Raised of the Poles and Rateable Estates of the Inhabitants of this Precinct;" and finally "Voated that the whole sum of one Hundred forty-one Pound fifteen Shilling and six pence, that was Granted' att this meeting shall be Disposed of by the Committee of this Precinct."

House Of Isaac Brewer

that the smallest services rendered by any inhabitant of the Precinct were paid for. Very little seems to have been voluntarily given. At this meeting the committee on locating the meeting house presented their report. We can easily imagine with what eagerness and solicitude those freeholders and other inhabitants of the fourth precinct in Springfield, assembled at the dwelling house of Isaac Brewer, listened to the finding of

"Whereas we the subscribers being Chosen a Committee by a vote of the Freeholders and inhabitants of the fourth Precinct in Springfield to Determine what Place or spot in the over plus land in the Middle Division where the first Meeting House shotold be Erected or set up and haveing heard the Pleas of the inhabitants Relating to the said Affair and having Considered maturely thereon, Doe mutually Agree and Determine said Meeting House to be set up on that hiU lying in the over plus Land and about six score Rods East of the Westermost Rode" (Main Street) "in said Precinct and about sixty or seventy rods West or Westerly of the top of wigwam Hill so Called and Southerly of a Run of Water that Runs out of the mountains there being a small Black Oak Tree marked on the South side with a cross on said Hill.

When the reading was finished, it was "Voated, Excepted in the full intent Contents and Limitations Expressed and set forth in said Committee's Report." The great question now apparently settled, there is a lull in the storm of precinct meetings, and work is commenced in earnest on Mr. Merrick's house.

Probably each man's work was deducted from his tax; or if the value of his work exceeded his tax he was paid the balance in money. The work on Mr. Merrick's house seems to have been pushed forward so that it was soon occupied by him. In October, 1744, he married Abigail Brainard of Haddam, Conn. On their journey on horseback to his parish, she carried some slips of a rose bush from her old home, and set them out by the new one. She gave many slips to the neighbors, and some are still in existence here. The story was first told me when a child, by my great-aunt, who, in her youth was a near neighbor of Mrs. Merrick, but it passed out of my thought for fifty years, until a few years ago, when a lady of our town handed one of my family a bouquet of roses, and, indicating a few of the blossoms she said, "Those are the Parson's Rose." Then it all came back to me, and I wrote it out in a poem of thirty or more verses, with the title of the "Parson's Rose," which was

The Parson'S Rose

After the finishing of the minister's house, we hear nothing about btdlding the meeting house till November 24, 1742, when, at a precinct' meeting, "Eighty pounds old Tenor bills are Voated and Granted to Provide Matterials toards building a Meeting House in this Precinct, Viz. Nails, Glass, Covering &c.;" and "David Mirick, Sam" Stebbins, Daniel Cadwell, Sam" Bartlett and Abel Bliss are chosen a Committee to Take Care and Provide Materials in Order to Build Said Meeting House."

The winter of 1742-43 is improved by gathering the materials. On May 25, 1743, "The following Grants or Elowances that are made att this Meeting are made in the Old Tenor. " " Voated and Elowed" precedes each of the following.

"To Nathaniel Warriner 4 pounds 15 shillings for one thousand of Good Pine Boards inch thick Delivered on that Hill appointed by a Committee Chosen by this Precinct to Erect the first meeting house on. To Stephen Stebbins 2 pounds 15 shillings for 600 foot of Quarter Boards Delivered as a bove Said. To Sam" Stebbins 5 pounds 4 shillings for 1034 foot of Quarter Boards Del^"* as a bove said. To Aaron Parsons 2 poimds six shillings for 500 foot of Good Marchantable Pine Boards. Delivered as a bove said. To Jonathan Ely 1 pound 8 shillings 6 pence for 300 foot of inch Pine Boards. To Moses Bartlett 1 pound seven shillings and 6 pence for 300 foot of Good Marchantable Pine Boards. To Caleb Stebbins 18 shillings and 4 pence for 200 foot of Good Marchantable Pine Boards. To David Mirick 2 pounds -5 shillings for a 1000 of Good Seader Shingles. To Daniel Cadwell 18 shillings & 4 pence for 200 foot of Good Marchantable Pine Boards. To Moses Burt 2 pounds 5 shillings for a 1000 of Good Sedar Shingles. To Nathaniel Bliss 2 pounds 8 for a 1000 of Good Spruce Shingles without sap. To Sam" Bartlett 2 pounds 5 shillings for a 1000 of Spruce Shingles without sap. To Phineas Chapin 2 pounds and 7 shillings for 1000 of Spruce Shingles, without sap. To Daniel Parsons 2 pounds 8 shillings for a 1000 of Sedar Shingles. To David Jones 2 pounds & 5 shillings for a 1000 of Sedar Shingles. To Caleb Stebbins 2 pounds & 8 shillings for a 1000 of Good Marchantable Spruce Shingles. To Sam" Warner 3 poimds 6 shillings and a penny for 700 & 18 foot of Good Marchantable Quarter Boards. To Daniel Cadwell 2 pounds six shillings for 600 foot of Good Marchantable

It seems that quite an amount of material had been gathered, and we imagine that the hammerers and sawyers, the hewers and the framers are following close upon the "Scriber" as he lays out the work, improving every day, between planting and hoeing, and haying and sowing, so that when the autumn comes, the, doors of the sanctuary wiU be opened for worshipers. Alas for hxmian expectations! Instead of this result, we find that nothing had been done. For at a meeting November 29, an attempt is made to change the location, but it was not successful, for December 8, 1743, it is " Voated to build a meeting house on that spot of Land that this Precinct voated to build one on at a former meeting," and also that the "Precinct Committee shall take care to Provide a Place for the Carring on the Worship of God."