of tj)e i^omottucfe anb ^onitntutife ^nbians ^vttnfitiXf ) PKICE, 10 CE,NTS "TIIKY \V\SI>; I > — A\ — I.IKI. Al'UII, SNf>W IN TDK WAHM NOOX, WK SHUINK AWAV. AND FAST THKY FOLLOW AS WE CO TOWARDS THK SKTTINC; DAV TILL THEY SHALL FILL THK LAND. AND WE ARE DHIVEN INTO THK WESTERN SEA." Through the Old-time Haunts of the Norwottuck and Pocumtuck Indian^ B Frances J. White SPRINGFIELD: MASSACHUSETTS NINETEEN HUNDRED b" THREE THE LIBRARY OF CONURESS, Two Cople» Received JUL 9 1903 CopyiiK'^t tntty CLASS ^ XXc. No. is "l- T- O ^ COPY B. Copyright b v Frances J . White I 9 o ,1 Printed by Thk F. a. Bassf.tte Comi'Any Springfield, Mass. INTRODUCTORY HE Greenfield, Deerfield and Northampton trolley route penetrates a region of matchless natural beauty and great historic interest, which it is the object of this pamphlet merely to hint at, and the detailed recital of which has filled volumes. The facts cited are from the histories of ] . R. Trum- bull, Hon. George Sheldon, Sylvester Judd and others, whose pages I have read to my great pleasure and profit. If the following pages shall be instrumental in creating an added appreciation of the beauties of the Connecticut and Deerfield vallej^s the purpose of the writer will have been fulfilled. F. ]. W. BIRDSEYE VIEW OF NORTHAMPTON N O R T H A M P T O N HE eyes of the pioneers in Northampton rested ;^i>i*^? upon far different scenes than those that greet ?\\:V|/ our eyes today. "The imagination pictures -^'>-\'^ them," savs T. R. Trumbull, "on a mild day ^^_^^>s ^s^rly ii^ the month of Ma}^, halting wearily upon 'Meeting House Hill.' Calm and peaceful stretch the wide expanding meadows, already smiling under the kindly influence of the genial season. The two mountains, clothed to their summits with green, are seen through the intervening forests as the setting sun illumes their wooded heights. Upward curls the smoke of the Indian wigwains, and dimly between the trees are seen glimpses of their dusky owners, watching the newcomers with eager interest." The Norwottucks. whose possessions extended from the "Great Falls" at South Hadley to Mt. Sugar Loaf, parted S^omc ptctttrcsquf ^rrnrci of willingly with their lands and. reservint,^ the right to fish, hunt and raise corn, dwelt with the new proprietors upon the most amicable terms. For twenty years the settlers were unmo- lested. They built their log houses, erected a "house for ye towne," settled a minister, made permanent provision for public schools and progressed and prospered generally. Then came King Philip's War; sweeping over the whole of Western Massachusetts and leaving death and devasta- tion in its wake. "The River Indians" made common cause with Philip and lurked in every available hiding-place, ready to pounce upon any who exposed themselves. The years of 1675-6 were years of dreary outlook to the dwellers along the "Great River"; but with the death of Philip came relief from the depredations of the Xew England savages, although the colonists experienced no feeling of real security until the final declaration of peace between England and France. During the first hundred years Northampton remained a frontier settlement; but with the birth of the "Hampshire Gazette" in 1786 she woke to a realization of her possibilities and thereafter made steady progress toward the cultured refinement which she enjovs today. In 1792 came the Post- office with its weekly mail, carried on horseback. A year later a stage route was established to Boston, and shortly after- wards was extended west to Albany. There was also estab- lished, about this time, a paper mill, a book store and a job printing office. In this age of railroads, trolley lines, automobiles, and projected air-ships it is hard to realize the difficulties under which our fathers travelled. When William Clarke removed from Dorchester to Northam])ton, his good wife "rode with panniers slung across her horse's back; in each ])annier was packed a boy, and a third was carried on her laj)" ; the husband and father "walked before." When Rev. John Hooker, the third minister, married a Miss Worthington of Springfield, COl'YKIl.H lEl) eN|m 1:V »\ . A. ^omr picturrsquf Scenes of she journeved to her new home, accurdini^; to the etiquette of the time, on a pillion behind one of her husband's deacons. Today, our Unictn Station is the converging point of three railway systems, and the trolley tracks at the junction of Main, State. Kim and South Streets, constitute an clcctro- plcxus, whose ganglia radiate in all directions; bringing the remote " Hill Towns " into easy and vital communication with the educational, social and business stronghold of the count\- — the "Shire Town"; making it possible for the jaded indo(jr workers of the citv to obtain a glimpse of this beautiful world as the Creator made it, and thus working incalculable benefit to all. In the earlv davs the savages far outnumbered the white men. Todav the only red men in the vicinity are the Cai)a- wonke tribe and the scattering wooden Indians which serve to call attention to the tobacco stores. In the earlv days mails were infrequent and news])a])ers were not considered mailable matter. Today a newsi)aj)er may be sent anvwhere in the United States for one cent and the local postoffice receives sixty-one mails daily, disjiatches a like number, and its gross receipts amovnit to 83.^.000 yearly. In the early days educational approi)riati(ms were in favor of bovs only. Girls were excluded from the ])ublic schools. But in the latter part of the eighteenth century a teacher in South Street, one Xathaniel Ivdwards, having been shown of God that the term, children, included both sexes, devoted his leisure hours to the instruction of girls. Today the co-educa- tional public school system, the Cai)en Classical School for Girls, and "Fair Smith," smiling from her gentle eminence upon the bustling business section of the city, continually demonstrate the truth that the feminine brain (.'([uals the mas- culine in quality if not in actual weight. It would be a work of pleasure to give a detailed account of the beauties, industries and institutions of modem North- ©lUtimc iJnUian ll)aunt6 PARADISE CORNER KING ANO MAIN STREETS, NORTHAMPTON §"omr pirttirrcqiir ^^rcnrc of am])t()n ; tutfllol" hcrlovc- Iv streets, and tasteful resi- dences; of gifts bestowed by loyal and generovis sons and daughters; of the famous persons who have visited and praised her; to " Tarry-a- while" at the home of the founder of the Home Culture ("lubs: to tell you that the cjld Ccjllege Bookstore has occu])ied its present site since 1790 and that the present ])ro])rietor, Mr. S. K. Bridgman. has been there nearly sixty years; to relate how the gallery of the "Second Church," filled with worshippers, fell one Sunday morning during the pastorate of Jonathan I-3dwards; to give the par- ticulars of his dismissal from Xorthamjiton and ut all this, and much more. - ''■"''-■'■■-' has been written by far more facile pens and fascinating though the svibject is, we must turn (!)ur attention elsewhere. ' Leaving the region of Paradise behind us we see on the right, as we take seats in the Hadley- homestead of Jonathan eowards, king street KING STREET: EDWARDS ELM ©IB time ^ntjian haunts Amherst car, the commo- dious Academy of Music , the scene of the annual presentation of the " Sen- ior Dramatics." On the left is the Edwards Con- gregational Church. On the right as we pass along the main street are Me- morial Hall, Unitarian Church and City Hall, all in a row; just below, on the left, is "Boyden's," dear to the memory of every graduate of Smith. The First Church is the fovu'th stately daughter of that little "house for ye towne, of sawen timber, 26 foot by 18 foot," with thatched roof, two win- dows and no pews or stove. The land on which the Court House stands was given to the town in 1767 by "fifty-six generous persons" for a Court House and Common, "and for no other purpose whatever." On the right, as we turn into King Street, is the First National Bank, and two doors below, on Main Street, IS Smith Charities Building. Proceeding along King Street we pass, on the right, the site of the Jonathan Edwards Homestead. The large elm was planted by him, and many good people point out a certain limb as having been a favorite seat of his ; needless to say, however, that he would hardly have endangered the life of the tree at that early stage of its trrowth bv sitting in it. '4 ^'omc puturreiqitr §rrnr6 of TROLLEY BRIDGE Xow, around Uir Armorx- corner, under the railwav tracks, and up Xorth Street, i)ast the cemetery, in use since 1661, across the bridjj^e, 1288 feet in leni,^th and the lon.ijest structure of the kind in the world to be used for exclusive trolley service, another mile over the State Road and we cross the old Front Street of ' H A D L E Y \ LM( )S'r as old as Xorthanipton, Hadley was, durinj^ the Indian disturbances, the niilitar\- center of Hamjishire County. Many stirrin,^ scenes have been enacted in this, its original "Town Street." General Burgoyne once s])ent a night here and. on his de])arture, ])resented his sword and tent to his host as a token of a])])reciation. All the militia in the County, numbering 10.000 men. were once ordered to i)arade here bv ©Ilj=timc 2^ntJtan bauntEi General libenezer Mattoon. General |ose])h Hooker was born at the north end of the street. He was known, during the civil war, as "Fighting Joe Hooker," and was called the handsom- est man in the army. His birthplace was standing in 1895, but was burned a few years later. Slavery existed here, as in most of the other towns in the vallev. In i 753 Rev. Chester Williams willed to his wife; "my negro woman, Phillis, my sheep and my cows," and Phillis was appraised at ;(^4o along with the cattle. The Elmwood House, corner of Academy Lane, stands on the original home lot of Parson Russell, in whose house the Regicides were concealed. Hopkins Acad- emy, at the upper end of the Lane, was founded by Edward Hopkins, Esq., and was the first institution devoted to class- ical learning within the limits of Hamjjshire County. Opposite the Academy, on Middle Street, is the First Church and the Town Hall. RUSSELL CHURCH AND ELMWOOD HOUSE, HADLEY I 6 ^-omc pirtiirreqttr §»rcnrB of Rf^^S?! St^vi^VJJk ■k. M^n njr^^ ^ tt .^^n ^^^^m ■ 'tifeS BS* limil Hid ' 41 ^^MK^^^^f- 10PKINS ACADEMY, liverybody knows the legend of the "Ans^'el of Hadley;" the i^atherinti: of the Iieo])le in the church, the cry of. "Indians!'' the confusion, and the sudden api:)ear- ance of "' a man of coniinandin.i^ mein, whom none of us had ever seen before." the rout of the " salv- ages," and the mysterious disappearance of their deliverer. It is an interesting story, and well within the limit of proba- bility. 1. Fennimore Coojjer has written around the incident that romantic tale " The We])t-of-Wish-ton-\Vish." Sir Walter Scott has i^ut the story into the mouth of " Major Bridge- north" in ''I'everil oi the Peak," although he gives the credit of the act to Whalley, rather than Goffe. But the historians differ in their opinions as to its authenticity. Some give it cred- ence; others pronounce it a myth; still others favor it scmiewhat but "do not know." Whether it realh" occurred or not, however, we max- well believe that, had occasion de- manded, the brave GoftV would have proved fully equal to the deed at- tributed to him. But our broomstick coach has borne us swiftly along until we find ourselves about to enter that temple of learning, the town of first church, hadley ©Iti-time 3fnDian foaunts ERST COLLEGE AMHERST A MHERST was ori,y;inal]v the Third precinct of Hadley and was a settlement in 1731, a district in 1759 and a town in 1776. It was probably named for General Jeffery Amherst, an English officer. Amherst Academy, established in 18 14, was the nucleus of the present Amherst College which crowns the rise at the southerly end of the street. It was co-educational dur- ing the first years of its existence and received at one time as a pupil, Mary Lyon, the founder of Mt. Holyoke College. The first college catalogue was issued in March, 1822, and the first commencement exercises were held in August of the same year ; the graduating class ntunbered two. The Amherst students of today go about, as did the aboriginal dwellers, with no head covering save that provided by nature. Doubtless they resemble them also in that they occasionally don their war paint and take the trail for "Hamp," in search of scalps and iS §omr ptrturrtsqtir §"rrnco; of jjlunilui". Amherst has been the abidinLj-place ul many illus- trious i)eople. Xoah Webster, the ejreat lexicographer, lived here for ten years and was one of the founders of the College. Helen Hunt Jackson was born here; Henry Ward Beecher prepared for college at Mt. Pleasant Institute; Eugene Field went to school here as a boy; and so we might proceed indefinitely, but we make close connections here and are soon whizzing along through the extensive grounds of the State Agricultural College, along the pretty street of North Amherst and at last, after a sharp turn around the shoulder of a sand bluff we swing into the broad street of that typical New Eng- land farming village, with its white church, fine new library. trim, thrifty-looking homesteads and fertile, well-tilled bottom lands, known to the early settlers as Swampfield, but later christened AMHERST COMMC (J^lii time 3'nUian hatmte; '9 SUNDERLAND STREET SUNDERLAND "X^ZHICH lies on the easterlvbank of the Connectieut River, facint^ Va. Sut^ar Loaf. The energies of the residents are directed largely to the cultivation of the soil, and the chief " money products'" are onions and tobacco. The farmers also do a Kicrative cream business, receiving some months as manv as $4,000 for their output. We may, if we choose, walk dri iiii i THE TWO RESIDENCES OF SOPHIA SMITH, HATFIELD 24 §omf |3irturrBquc ^ccnce of is the older and has a wide rei)Utatii)n for fine hardware. The Millers Falls Manufacturing Company's product is pa])er. The village is on the main line of the Fitchburg railroad and is the terminus of the Millers Falls branch of the Greenfield and Turners Falls trolley line, which ])asses beautiful Lake Pleas- ant, the home of the New England Spiritualists Camp-meeting Association. But though the body is borne for- ward by the whizzing car, through new and varied scenes, the mind lingers in Deerfield. Still, in fancy, we wander through the rooms of Memorial Hall ; again we saunter down the old Albany road to the ancient cemetery and, entering, stand reverently beside the graves of John and Eunice Williams. Again we retrace our steps to the "Old Town Plot" ; and as we linger in the shade of the venerable elm, that has watched all from the beginning, the ]iresent fades from our ken. The air grows cold and piercing: snow covers all the country; daylight INDIAN HOUSE DOOR begins to fade; the stars wink in tht disa])])ear in the houses about us an