THE •' Glass FTl Book .ClNNA EARLY DAYS THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY ALICE M. WALKER ILLUSTRATIONS AND COVER DESIGN BY MISS MARTHA GENUNG AMHERST MASS. 1901 Gift Publisber U Ja '06 Early Days in The Connecticut Valley. FAR up among the hills of northern New Hampshire rises the river called by the primitive dwellers upon its banks, "Quonektacut ". Beside its shining waters have been built the many thriving villages and cities, centers of industry, whose wheels and spindles turn, year after year, as they are driven by its ceaseless flow. Although more than two centuries have passed since the Indian built his wigwam and planted his corn where now we see the college and the church, the links of association which bind us to those former days are as enduring as our everlasting hills, and with them will for- ever serve as a reminder to future generations of the price paid by those old time fathers for the beautiful valley in which their descendants delight to dwell. The Puritans in Plymouth had heard from the Dutch of the fertile lands along the Connecticut river, and when, in the words of Cotton Mather, " The Massachusetts colony was become like a hive overstocked with bees, and many of the inhabitants entertained thoughts of 4 Early Days in the swarming into plantations extended further into the country," the fame of this " long, fresh, rich river, a little Nilus," attracted the attention of the people of Roxbury, and led them, having dispatched their goods by water in Governor Winthrop's vessel, to start on foot, through a pathless forest, for some " convenient spot," which they might call their home. No record of that journey has been found. We only know that about the first of May, 1636, standing upon an elevation in the territory known as Agawam, this band of weary pilgrims first gazed upon the "famous river" toward which they had been traveling, through a hun- dred miles of wilderness. The western hills were forest crowned as now, the silent stream unbridged. No homes were opened to receive the wanderers, and only the voice of Nature bade them welcome. How fair the scene to those who then beheld it after the toilsome journey, we can but imagine ! Lovely it is to day, in spite of seams and scars inflicted by the rude hand of man. But in addition to the charms of mountain and plain, of peace- ful river and wooded Hampshire hills, to that little com- pany in those early days the valley of the Connecticut represented home and freedom, to gain which they had fled across the seas. We know but little about these pioneers, except perhaps their names. They were too much occupied in getting a living to make many records of their feelings and impressions, for when we do find Connecticut Valley. 5 some ancient diary, or yellow, time stained letter, it is too apt to tell us of things material, and not enough of the thoughts and emotions which lay behind the valiant deeds of those heroic days. From history we learn that within a week allotments of land were made to heads of families, and that before another winter they were housed and fairly settled on their fertile farms, each settler being allowed a " house lott," a proportion of the " cow pasture to the north of End Brooke," and a " share of the hasseky marish over against his lott." For many years the people of New England cared little for the habits and customs of the early settlers, to whose self sacrificing efforts we of to-day owe all that we have and are. If the children of fifty years ago had not despised the tales which their elders would willingly have told them, how much of historical interest would have been preserved, which is to-day entirely forgotten ! But we of this generation are wiser than they. We love the straight backed chair, the tall old clock, the sampler worked by that little Puritan maiden from whom we are proud to have descended. We love each dim tradition, by whose magic power the present and the past are linked together, and eagerly treasure such relics as have not been swept beyond our reach, as the years have rolled by and those whose memories could have aided us have become forever silent. For seventeen years the settlement in Agawam grew 6 Early Days in the and the inhabitants prospered, changing its name to Springfield, building a tavern and a meeting house, and living in small thatched dwellings along the west side of Main street, the only street in town. The more preten- tious brick residence of " Goodman Pynchon " was called the fort, being fortified against surprise by Indians, and upon its ancient site has recently been placed a tablet which announces to the passer by that on this spot dwelt " Major William Pynchon, leader of the first settlers of Springfield." The "Great Falls" at South Hadley were for many years an obstacle sufficient to prevent any settlement above them, because all supplies were received and all pro- duce shipped upon the river. In 1653, however, an enter- prising company from Hartford and Windsor gained from the general court a " plantation at Nonatuck from the little meadow called Capawonke down to the head of the falls." Five years later the lands opposite, on the east side were settled, and the infant town was named Had- ley, from a village in old England. Thus the little ham- lets of Springfield, Hadley and Northampton were planted on the banks of Cotton Mather's "famous river," and the settlement of the Connecticut valley became an established fact. For more than a century the life of every citizen of New England was spent upon the farm, so that the history of the valley towns was, in effect, the history of Connecticut Valley. y the Puritan farmer, who stands before us, a strange and unique figure. Not merely to gain reHgious freedom did the early colonist brave the terrors of sea and wilderness, but also to improve his social and economic condition. On reaching America, he had everything to learn. New plants, an untried soil, an unknown climate, savage beasts of the forest and treacherous foes in human form, these he had to understand and conquer before a mere livelihood could be gained for himself and his family. The farmer's dwelling in the valley towns at that early period in their history was of the rudest possible descrip- tion, often built of logs, with floors of beaten clay or later of uneven planks covered each day with fresh white sand gathered on the river banks. This house con-' tained two rooms, a kitchen and a bedroom, with win- dows of oiled paper, and in the former a high deep fire- place, the spot whence issued things essential to bodily comfort, the true center of the farmer's home. Above Y the massive back-log was suspended crane, jack-spit and pot-hook, while on the embers bake-kettle and frying- j pan did substantial service. Sections of huge logs, set ' up in the chimney corner, were used as seats by the younger members of the family, and the high straight back of the hard wooden settle formed a partial protec- tion for the elders from continuous draughts sweeping in around ill fitting windows and doors. 8 Early Days in the Extended upon trestles in the middle of the room was a long narrow board taken from a packing box : this, covered with what was called a " board cloth," served as a dining table. Blocks of wood, hollowed in the center into a sort of bowl, and styled "trenchers," did duty as plates, one such being used by two or three persons. Only one drinking mug was considered necessary for a table full of Springfield people in those early days, and, when a Dutch-bred lady insisted upon having her own mug, great was the outcry against her extravagance. The beams and ceiling of that old time kitchen were decorated with suspended squashes, ears of corn and flitches of meat. Light was furnished, first by knots of candlewood, and afterward by a candle set in the can- dlestick with long back hung against the wall. Out of doors, fantastic figures flickered on the snow through the marvellous perforations of the queer tin lantern, car- ried by the " Goodman," as he went about his everlast- ing " chores." Having built and furnished his log house, the valley farmer proceeded to get for himself a wife. Scorning to steal his bride, as the manner of some was said to be, he gave a party to his friends, prolonging the festivities for several days. In this manner the girl of sixteen and her husband of twenty laid the foundation for one more New England home, for the furnishing of which the bride brought, as dower, many articles unknown to Coujieciictit Valley. g us of to-day. One maid of Westfield was given by her father as her "setting out portion," " 25 lbs. feathers, 7 yds bed ticking, a pillion and cloth, brass and iron pots and kettles, a wheel and a cap," and another added to her husband's store of furniture "a pair of andirons, a cow, and a warming pan." Thus fitted out for housekeeping, for many years the dwellers by the river in the valley towns lived quietly, children coming thick and fast, until the cabin with two rooms was full and running over. A line of canoes, fas- tened to stakes along the shore, danced up and down on the rippling current of the broad and shallow stream ; and paddling home in one of these, with a load of hay from the meadows, or of vegetables from his outlying " lott," the farmer brought for supper a shad taken in his net, disdaining utterly the salmon so easily caught, which was called by the settlers "Agawam Pork," and thrown back into the water as useless. The farmer's wife, in straight short gown and petticoat and enormous frilled white cap, trudged back and forth in clumsy leather shoes, as she broiled the fish over the glowing coals. After a long and fervent grace, the family ate in peace and slept the sleep of the weary. The baby was tucked away in a cradle made from a log, and older chil- dren were packed side by side in the ever present trundle bed, while big boys lay close in the attic to keep from freezing, and woke to find the snow piled in a miniature drift upon their beds. 10 Early Days in the T his primitive way of living seems to have been conducive to length of years, for we find recorded instances of extreme old age among the early settlers in the valley. A case is known of the birth of a child who had fourteen living grandfathers and grandmothers. A native of Shutesbury, up on the hill, Ephraim Pratt, born in 1687, grandson of John Pratt who came over in the Mayflower, died in 1801, aged 114. At the time when Captain Eli Parker of Amherst married Mrs. Abigail Lyon of Colrain, the pair had between them eighteen chil- dren, one hundred and seven grandchildren, and forty- one great-grandchildren. Had these numerous children not been subject to the stern law which governed the Puritan in the smallest detail of conduct, life among them might have been somewhat difficult, especially at the advanced age of one hundred and fourteen years ; but the youth of olden time were taught to be " seen and not heard," to stop and bow or courtesy when meeting an aged person on the street, never to answer back, and to rise when older people entered the room. That these venerable folk did not live by faith alone is illustrated by the case of Mr. John Weeks, who died at the age of 114, having married, when 106, his tenth wife, a girl of sixteen. His grey hairs were covered by a dark curly wig, and a new set of teeth enabled him, a few hours before his death, to eat two or three pounds of pork, the same of bread, and to drink a pint of wine. Con7tecticut Valley. ii He may have been the disconsolate father in Israel, who, in 17S8, advertised thus in the Hanipshire Gazette : " I am an old man, my case is quite common, I want me a wife, a likely young woman, I late had an old one, but three months ago, She sickened and died, and left me in woe, I cried, had a sermon preached when she was buried, Wore my old wig a fortnight, then longed to be married. If any one knows where a wife's to be had. Such as seventy wishes when wisdom is dead, A girl that will warm my old bones in the winter. Let him leave the intelligence with Mr. Printer." At first the Indians of the Connecticut valley were peaceably inclined, and the settlers did not fear them. When, however, enraged by real and fancied wrongs, and inflamed by rum and cider, of which they contrived to gain possession, they finally broke into open warfare, the farmer hastened to purchase a flint-lock musket, with which to defend the home he had struggled so hard to establish. The story of those dark and bloody days is too well known to need repetition. Each town became a fortified inclosure, each church a fort, each house an uncertain refuge from a savage and merciless foe. When that dark hour had passed and peace was again restored, along the river bank lay the remains of burned and devastated homes and graveyards filled with victims of tomahawk and scalping knife. Now and then 3 12 Early Days in the a refugee from the long lines of miserable captives, who had been led away into the boundless northern woods, came straggling back, to tell harrowing tales of torture and death. An ancestor of Judge Strong, who built the old Strong house in Amherst, was among those who thus returned; and such names as Deliverance, Praise God, Hope and Preserved recall to-day cases of what the Puritans considered direct interposition of Divine Provi- dence in behalf of the chosen people of God. Oliver Smith of Hatfield and his five brothers must often have heard the tale of their grandmother, Canada Wait, born in these northern woods, and to the descendants of Cap- tivity Jennings, the other girl whose birth is recorded as having taken place while her mother was a captive among the Indians, her tragic story must have been repeated. The treaty of peace was signed, and the farmers of the valley towns took up their ordinary avoca- tions, each carrying on for himself a variety of indus- tries, making his own rough shoes and carts and wagons, breaking up the forest soil by means of a plough made of three or four pieces of wood rudely joined together and sometimes tipped with iron, hoeing corn with the shoulder bone of a bear, moose or deer attached to a stick, and thrashing out grain by drawing it over a roller armed with wooden pins. And, while he worked, he pondered on the way best to promote the welfare of those two institutions which lay nearest to his heart, the church Connecticut Valley. 13 and the school, the former the exponent of his Puritan religion, the latter the place wherein his boys should gain the education which a Yankee has always numbered first on his list of the necessaries of life. ' To the founders of our faith, the meeting house was the chief object of common interest. Attendance at church was enforced by law, and only members of the church were allowed to vote. On Sunday morning, at the beat of drum in Springfield or in other towns at the blowing of " ye kunk," the farmer and his family proceeded on their way to the meeting house, where with his sons he took his seat on one side of the building, while his wife and daughters sat on the other side. Every hour, as the sands ran out, the sexton turned the brass-bound hour glass which stood upon the pulpit, failing however to have any effect upon the two hours of preaching and one hour of prayer which were considered to be the proper proportion. With guards outside to give the alarm in case of approaching Indians, with bags drawn over his feet to keep them from freezing, the head of the family was mercilessly rapped by the brass tipped staff of the tithing man, and the face of his wife was tickled by the fox's tail on the other end of the stick, at the least suspicion of drowsiness. There seems to have been something peculiar about Hadley church, for we find this vote of the town recorded : " There shall be some sticks set up in the meeting house, with some fit /^ Early Days in the persons stationed by them, to use the same as occasion shall require, to keep the youth from disorder." This was the church where Whitefield preached, when his voice, it is said, was heard in Hatfield ; and here a bride and groom, present at church for the first time after the wed- ding, rose from their front seat in the gallery during the middle of the service, and slowly turning round, displayed to advantage his velvet coat, lace trimmed shirt and white broadcloth knee breeches, and her peach colored silk gown and bonnet adorned with sixteen yards of white ribbon, a gorgeous spectacle. In 1727 a sober faced young minister was living a stu- dent life in old Northampton, devoting thirteen hours a day to his books, finding his only recreation in solitar}'' walks or rides up and down the river or through the forest, carrying with him pen, ink and paper, that no valuable thought should be lost or forgotten. Here he brought a fair girl, a bride of seventeen, but with a char- acter mature beyond her years. Thus began the life work of Jonathan Edwards, a man whose terrible earnest- ness in the line of belief and argument which his unwav- ering will had determined to be for him the path of duty, moved the religious thought and feeling of America and of the world. The power of this man's personality made itself felt upon his hearers from the first. His gestures were few, as standing erect before his people, with pierc- ing eyes seeing the invisible, he delivered a message sent from God. Connecticut Valley. 75 Marvelous stories are told of what followed when those stern eyes were turned upon the congregation, and his pale lips- pronounced those burning words which even to-day move the world. A dark and somber mood marked the opening of the eighteenth century in New England. Questions such as these, " In what lies the unpardon- able sin ?" " Is a man never justified in thinking that he has signed away the day of grace Y' occupied the minds of the thoughtful. Under these circumstances Jonathan Edwards, appearing in a Boston pulpit with a sermon entitled " God glorified in man's dependence," produced a profound impression. From this time the young Northampton theologian was a marked man. Edwards preached, and people listened, — were compelled to listen in spite of themselves, and were thrilled by the fervor of this man who, with a power which lingers yet around the printed page, described the condition of the unrepentant sinner. Edwards preached and crowds were thrown into agonies of terror. The time of the " Great awakening" had come ; a revival such as had never before been known shook all New England, and reaching abroad, gave form to ideas already fermenting in the mind of John Wesley. When, at the age of forty-seven, after twenty-three years of faithful service, this greatest of New England preachers was constrained by obedience to conscience to betake himself and family to the Indian settlement of 1 6 Early Days in the Stockbridge, there to deliver in a language unknown to the aborigines the message of the Gospel, and in his leisure hours to write those famous treatises on the "Free- dom of the Will," and " Original Sin," his consecrated spirit and tremendous personality had already stamped itself upon the place, where it lingers to-day about the church he loved and the beautiful valley in which he delighted to dwell. "The Rev'd Clergy," of those days were considered to be teachers sent from heaven, and their power among their people was almost unlimited. They were mostly men of sterling character and narrowest Puritan theological belief, who preached their religion of fire and brimstone in such a manner as to keep their hearers warm without aid from outside sources. And yet some reprobates in the congregation were subject to that drowsiness so prev- alent to-day, for one discouraged divine of olden time in closing a long article entitled, " Observations on sleeping in time of Divine Service," writes: " Minis- ters have tried a number of methods to rid our assem- blies of this odious practice. Some have reasoned, some have spoke louder, some have whispered, some have threatened to name the sleeper. The destruction of the habit belongs to the sleeper himself, and if neither reason or religion can excite him, why he must sleep on, till death and judgment awake him." The people of Deerfield in i6S6 strongly desired Mr. Connecticut Valley. i'/ John Williams for their minister. They offered him " A cow common of pasture, with a home lott on meeting house hill, to build him a house 42 feet by 20, with a linter on the backside, and furnish the house, to fence home lott, and in two years build him a barn, to break up his plough land, and give him £60 sallery, and in 4 or 5 years make it ;^So." Mr. Williams accepted this call and later was carried off by the Indians. After his return, he preached a very long sermon, which was sold by subscription, telling the tale of his capture and escape. Dr. Hopkins of Hadley smoked when he made his parish visits, and many people kept a long pipe on purpose for his use. When the gun was fired at Lexington, and up and down the valley drums beat to arms, nearly every minis- ter was found opposed to revolution. The pastor of Amherst church and also that of Shutesbury were vio- lent Tories, and so mixed up politics with theology that Amherst town meeting voted that " Mr. Hill of Shutes- bury shall not be allowed to preach in this town again." Mr. Ashley of Deerfield so offended his people by his preaching that they nailed up the door of the church. Upon his forcing it open with an axe his church members solemnly voted " not to furnish him with any wood," thus hoping to freeze him out of town. There were troubles also in South Hadley church, which voted regarding its pastor, a certain Mr. Rawson, " We have no further ser- l8 Early Days i7i the vice for him in the office of a public minister, and we expect that he will refrain from any public act in that office among us." He persisted, however, in continuing to preach, until a certain Sunday morning, when, enter- ing the pulpit and beginning to pray, he was seized by the " committee," dragged down and carried out, contin- uing his prayer, nevertheless, till his mouth was stopped with a handkerchief. Thus it seems that even the *• Rev'd Clergy," lost their sanctity when they did not conform to the unyielding will of the people upon whom they were dependent for their " salleries." The thirst of the Puritan for education is proverbial. It has been said of him that, if cast away upon a desert island, he would first make a spelling book, and then seek the wherewithal to satisfy his hunger. The meeting house and the school, in his opinion, ought to and often did stand side by side, but the idea of free schools did not at first enter his mind. In i6Si the town of Hat- field voted " to allow £-i^o for an able and faithful school master to teach the children to read and write, the ^30 to be raised as follows : all boys in the town from 6 to 12 employed in reading to pay 12 pence per year, whether they are sent to school or not, those who write to pay i6d per year per head: all others of whatsoever age at the same rate. If this does not make ^30, the rest to be raised by a rate, the whole to be paid, \ wheat, \ peas, \ Indian corn, at current prices." Connecticict Valley. ig In those days "children," evidently meant boys, for much schooling for girls was not considered necessary, perhaps because of their extreme precocity. One remark- able infant of four years, living in the old Colonial house now owned by Bishop Huntington, was found alone in a room, repeating aloud a hymn beginning with this stanza : " Lord, if Thou lengthen out many days, Then shall my heart so fixed be. That I may lengthen out thy praise, And never turn aside from Thee." Her prayer was evidently answered, for at the age of fifty years, more practical grown, she recorded in a diary which she kept for nearly half a century, " Took physic, and consulted the family physician, all to no purpose. Suspected the disorder to be nervous, faced about, put on great resolution, and made mince-pies, and found myself no worse than before." We know not who may have been this physician of whom she speaks, or what the " physic " she took. For some diseases a medicine made from rattlesnakes was used, and dock leaf cooked into a poultice was a certain cure for cancer, while a powder made from chickweed was a sure preventive of hydrophobia. Brimstone water would have cured the gout, and fermented mare's milk the consumption, while for small pox she could have gone to Peter Bryant's hos- pital, up on Cummington hill. But a mere attack of 4 20 Early Days in the "nerves" was a malady unknown, and doubtless the mince-pie remedy employed suited the case. Some tonic, aided by "great resolution," enabled our Colonial dame to ride on horseback to the top of Mt. Holyoke, when over sixty years of age. Just where she gained the education which enabled her to keep the diary so inter- esting to us to-day she does not tell. Possibly she attended the boarding school in Belchertown, which must have been the pioneer co-educational institution in the valley, for in 1789 a certain Dr. Howe and Dr. Scott, residents of Belchertown, advertised : " Young gentle- men and ladies may be instructed in English, Latin and Greek, and other parts of education and literature, by a young gentleman of liberal education and good charac- ter, on as reasonable terms as anywhere in this country." That the girls of that period appreciated their rare advantages is proved by extracts from an essay written by a "young lady of fifteen on leaving an academy." This sorrowful damsel bids farewell to her " lovely and dear companions," asserts that " the road to learning is planted with every flower which perhaps it is possible for academic ground to nurse," bids adieu to her "aimiable and beloved tutoresses," and declares of the "dear Dic- tator of this infant academy and his devoted lady, that their friendly images are too deeply engraved upon the tablets of our hearts for time to erase." How pleasant must have been the task of those "beloved tutoresses," Connecticut Valley. 21 and of that "dear Dictator," the teacher of the present day can hardly imagine. Whether the boys appreciated their advantages as did this young lady we do not know, but we do know that they were obliged to go to school, and that their fathers were constrained to send them. In 1667 " Goodman Granger was presented in Hampshire County court for the neglect of learning his children to read," No special superintendent or school committee was elected for the schools of that early day, but the select- men of the town were required to act as school visitors, and to have a constant supervision over teachers and pupils. In these schools the scholars learned, while very young " Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Man- ners." The text books for the first named study were "The Little Reader's Accidence," by Noah Webster, and *' The American Selection of Lessons in Reading and Speaking," by the same distinguished author, who sagely advises in his preface to the latter : " Begin with the infant in his cradle — Let the first word he lisps be Washington." We smile at the thought of the unfortunate " infant" whose first lisp should be a word of three syllables, but this advice of Webster was an indication of the feeling prevalent in the valley towns, in common with that which pervaded the whole land. Washington was the country's hero, and his very name was revered and loved before 22 Early Days in the that of any other. When the great general, inaugurated first President of the Republic, made his progress through Massachusetts to Boston in 1789, the road in all the country towns was lined with loyal citizens. A boy in West Springfield, who was was helping a farmer gather a load of corn stalks on the river bank, and who was after- wards for sixty years pastor of the Congregational church in Monson, tells how the coach and four fine horses were stopped in the road by the loaded cart, and that the driver, on being informed that President Washington was in the chariot, said " he had as good a right to the road as George Washington." This being reported, the gen- eral calmly said, " And so he has," and waited until the knight of the cornstalks reached his own door yard. This conciliatory disposition of the new president at once disarmed those who were on their guard lest a royal court should be set up in free America, but he whose soft answer thus turned away wrath knew also how to main- tain the 'dignity of the office to which he had been chosen. On Washington's arrival in Boston, Governor Hancock, crippled with rheumatism, sent word for him to " come up," which the President refused to do, main- taining that it was the place of the governor of a state to seek the presence of the chief executive of the whole United States. The doughty governor was obliged to concede the point, and was carried in the arms of his servants down the stairs to meet his distinguished guest. Connecticut Valley. 23 The citizens of Boston greeted Washington with every kind of ovation and ceremony; long sermons were preached and more lengthy odes were sung, the senti- ment of which appears in the following : " Great Washington, the hero's come, Each heart exulting hears the sound, Thousands to their deUverer throng. And shout the welcome all around. Chorus.— Now in full chorus join the song, And shout aloud— Great Washington." The papers were full of his visit, how he looked, what he said and did; and after his departure, for many years, the room in which he slept, the glass out of which he drank, and any article which he used, were held as sacred by their owners, and are found to-day preserved by their descendants. The self possession of the man who had guided the country safely through the Revolution contrasted him with the impetuous, effervescent Frenchman, whose influ- ence on the public was greatly dreaded by many level- headed statesmen, and of all his characteristics appealed most strongly to the reticent Yankee, who was a man of deeds and not of words. At the time when the country was wrought to the highest pitch over the arrival of Genet, one of our local poets sent the following verses to his newspaper : — 24 Early Days in the . "SIGNS OF THE TIMES," " Let wild enthusiasts rush in throngs, And madly rend the hurried air, With boisterous toasts and hiccuped songs, The honors of Genet declare. Our decent farmers, wiser far, Bless him who gave these halcyon days, And, calm as Washington in war, In sober silence muse his praise." When the melancholy news of their hero's death was received by the people of Northampton, the bells were tolled two hours, solemn services were held in all the churches, and the mourning continued for years. The loyal hearts of old New England could not forget his virtues, and tongues never tired of singing his praise. In 1802 a Commemorative Ode was printed, the first verse of which illustrates the sentiments of many that follow : " Slowly strike the solemn sound. Drop the pearls of sorrow round, Let the stabs of woe be felt. Let the heart of iron melt, Maidens, pour the plaintive verse. Soldiers, now your arms reverse, Patriots — mourn the patriot dead, Sigh the globe for virtue fled." What were called " Washington Benevolent Societies " were formed in all the country towns, and the love and veneration felt for the first president by the dwellers Connecticut Valley. 2^ along the river was in striking contrast to the general dislike of these outspoken farmers for Jefferson, Madison and Adams. This dislike was shown strongly at the tre- mendous Fourth of July celebrations held in those days, in the valley towns, when the " Rev'd Clergy," headed the processions and delivered long " appropriate dis- courses," while toasts corresponding in number to the states in the Union were drunk, worded in no uncertain language. In Northampton, in 1802, these toasts were offered: to Adams — " The president, economizing in milles, spending in eagles, and feeding the mouth of labor with honied speech ;" and to the vice-president, " Aaron's rod shall neither bud nor blossom more." On the same day at Amherst was given the sentiment : " The Executive — may it guard against foreign intrigues, and the flattering smiles of deception." The Amherst people took no notice of the vice-president at all. Long after Washington's death we find it recorded in Northampton: "The inhabitants of this town, together with a number of respectable citizens from the neighboring towns assembled in this place, for the purpose of paying a tribute to the memory of their common parent and benefactor, General George Washington." Thus in a union celebration of all the country round, the valley patriots honored his memory and mourned his loss. For many years the gently flowing river was the one means of communication for the country towns. Soon 26 Early Days i7i the after the settlement of Springfield, as Holland tells us, a fleet of fifty canoes, laden with corn, and propelled by the red man's oar, passed silently from Deerfield down the placid stream, " such a fleet as the waters of the Connecticut never bore before, shall never bear again." " It was a scene for a painter, as those crouching dusky forms bent to theii labor, an embassy of relief to save the lives of the starving settlers many miles below." Years after this, two men named Pynchon carried grain from Hadley to Hartford in boats of three or four tons. Daniel Lombard in Springfield and Colonel Whit- more at Sunderland each sold " plaister of paris," deliv- ering up or down the river as the case might be. White sand was brought from Pelham in ox carts, and loaded on great flat boats, at North Hadley, whence it was car- ried down the stream, that the house wives might have a covering for their floors superior to that furnished by the sand from the river banks. In early days Hartford was a great metropolis, through which passed the freight of all this valley. From the head waters of the stream the river men came down, a rough and boisterous crowd, in simple box- like barges with no keel, and one square mainsail. With stout oars and poles these boats were propelled southward, passing by means of the locks and canals the " Great Falls " at South Hadley and Willimansett, and then, guided by a special pilot, plunged down Co2inecticut Valley. 2'/ through Enfield rapids. Sometimes as many as twenty- five of these flat-bottomed boats started from Hartford up the stream, destined for points as far north as the White River, taking a week to make the trip, and having special aid from men stationed at each of the falls for the purpose. To move these boats, loaded with produce, was the hardest of hard work, and the early inhabitants of the valley towns rejoiced when it was voted that " Samuel Dickinson of Hatfield join with men from Northampton and Hadley, to lay out a way to the BaX for horses and carts, if possible." To those men of determined will all things were pos- sible, and not only the " Bay Path," formerly but an Indian trail, but also roads along the river were widened and made smooth enough for vehicles. The farmers of this region were making great strides in the practical science of Agriculture, and each farm was an experiment station, on the products of which depended the existence of its owner. He had learned one way of making butter, according to which the cows should be milked three times a day, and to the butter after churning, was added " A mixture of sugar, nitre, and Spanish salt." Of the process an old writer says : " This butter does not taste well till it has stood at least a fortnight, after which it eats with a rich marrowy taste, and is fit to be sent to the East and West Indies." Whether it was fit to be kept at home, the writer does not state. 28 Early Days in the About this time the canker worm was eating up the apple trees, and the state of Massachusetts offered $150 to any one who would give a history of the pest, and $100 more if he would devise a method of destroying it. Anything affecting their cider touched also the farmers' hearts and their pocket books. With enthusiasm they sang: " Oh cyder, better far than spirits, I can't do justice to thy merits. For the' I feel and know them well, Yet they are more than I can tell ; Then, e'er thou spread thine influence wider, I'll close my song, and echo cyder." Besides the problem of the canker worm, the amateur entomologist was discussing the question as to whether the grasshopper did, or did not, " chew the cud." Much interest was also felt in the great discoveries of astron- omy. One Mr. Herschel, as it was reported, asserted : " There are oceans in the moon, and continents and an atmosphere." His sister, " a sprightly, philosophical lady," went still further, and declared that "she hoped by means of her brother's improvements to have a fair view of the country seats of the lunar gentlemen." Soon after this, the first named astronomer discovered on the moon, "a large edifice, of greater magnitude than St. Paul's." These reports from such distinguished authori- ties were received and discussed with the utmost sobriety Connecticut Valley. 2<^ and credulity, but we look in vain for any more minute description of those " lunar gentlemen," whose acquaint- , ance that " sprightly, philosophical lady, "hoped to make. She must have died a disappointed woman. In 1787 a newspaper made its appearance in North- ampton, and great must have been the joy of the citizens I at the first issue of this four page sheet, by which they were enabled to express the very decided opinions of I their decided minds. This paper was in great demand, and up and down the valley and over the hills to Ches- terfield, Cummington and Conway, through winter's cold and summer's heat, the picturesque post rider took his way. The roads in many directions were but rough paths through the woods, but the Hampshire Gazette became at once one of the necessities of life, and by the aid of those fine horses raised among the hills the paper was delivered promptly, though the postman, alas, some- times had hard work to collect his pay, and the editor, in capital letters, emphasized his wish for the immediate delivery of the " clean rags," " tow cloth," " salt or flax seed," in which, for want of money, subscriptions were to be paid. He even had to threaten, for repeatedly there appeared this advertisement : " Those who expect to pay wood for this paper, are requested to forward it while the sleighing continues, or risk collection by attorney." Evi- dently the wood was forwarded, for the paper flourished, filled with communications from all sorts of persons. JO Early Days in the "Peter Paragraph," "Judas Iscariot," " Democritus," «' Baucis," " A friend to order," " Peter Thrift," and " A contented man," wrote voluminous letters, and " Simon the Tanner," sent words of wisdom from " Whackum." Life, even in the valley at that time, was hard and toil- some, and those who dwelt upon the adjoining hills and gained their livelihood by raising cattle and horses, read in the paper, with longing hearts, items concerning the fertile plains and rich soil of the far, unsettled west. They heard of a great river, and unlimited farming lands waiting to be claimed ; and old Revolutionary sol- diers resolved, taking their lives in their hands, to em- igrate to the West, in the hope of leaving to their children a heritage of more value than rocky hillside farms. Around the hearthstone of General Rufus Putnam in the town of Rutland, this project was conceived, and through the valley, in December, 1788, with wives and children and household goods, marched the company called the " Ohio Adventurers," led by the valiant general himself. Readers of the Gazette followed their fortunes with an interest almost breathless, and we to-day scan with a thrill of excitement those letters from Marietta, which describe the founding of that New England town, the child of Massa- chusetts and Connecticut, beyond the bounds of civiliza- tion, in the far away wilderness of Ohio. For more than a hundred years slavery existed in the valley towns, and the masters and mistresses were Connecticut Valley. 31 among the most respected of their citizens. One negro man, having been a slave in eleven different families in the various towns of the state, and having served in the the war by which the colonies were striving to gain their liberty, during which time he was sold from one to another, at last died a pauper, the town of Winchendon being in the act of sueing the town of Hatfield for his support at the time of his death. Jinny Cole, the daugh- ter of a king in the region of the Congo, and sold to Parson Ashley of Deerfield, could not forget her early home, and spent the leisure time of seventy years in gathering and stringing together all kinds of curiosities which she hoped to carry back to Africa, the only heaven which she could be brought to imagine. From 1775 to 1781, thirteen negroes died in Hadley, and the close of the iSth century found few if any slaves along the Connecticut river. In Hadley burying ground epitaphs such as these, "Our Rose," "Our old Peg," " Our little negro Phyllis," and " Our Ralph," showed in how much esteem the servants who had passed away were held by the families of those whom they had served. Joshua Boston, a very dignified Revolutionary hero of color, owned by Col. Porter, of Hadley, died at the age of seventy-nine, worth to his master ;^2o. Another negro, Zebedee, owned by Rev. Mr. Chauncey, is said to have climbed upon the weather cock now seen on the spire of the old church, and crowed in a manner worthy J2 Early Days iri the of the bird on which he sat. Many of the race perished of homesickness and disease, and slavery itself passed away forever from the old Bay state, driven out by the cold of the winters and the general spread of the spirit of freedom. Belief in the supernatural also died a natural death, to a certain degree, though for many years wise men read in the sky warning of coming events, and had implicit faith in signs and omens. In every civilized country the practice of witchcraft was made a capital offense, and the existence of witches was acknowledged by scholars, pro- fessional men and clergymen. Cotton Mather relates how Mary Webster of Hadley caused by her machina- tions the death of Philip Smith of the same town, and cheerfully remarks that " public opinion ran so high against her that a number of brisk lads gave disturbance to the woman on several occasions." The fact that she survived the ordeal of being hung till nearly dead and then buried in the snow, was, to her fellow towns- men, proof positive of her guilt. Also " a hen came down her chimney and got scalded in a pot," and after- ward Mary Webster was found suffering from a scald. Such things as these were solemnly believed by serious people, and as a consequence many innocent persons were condemned and put to death. Among the valley towns the coming of the 19th cen- tury was inaugurated with much discussion and dispute. Connecticut Valley, j»o After a year of disagreement and uncertainty one of tlie numerous poets wliich seemed to spring up in a night settled the matter thus : "Precisely twelve o'clock last night, The i8th century took its flight, Full many a calculating head, Has racked its brains, its ink has shed. To prove by metaphysics fine, A hundred means but ninety-nine. While at their wisdom others wondered. But took one more to make a hundred. Thus by an unexampled riddle, The world's divided in the middle. The Century, waking from its bed. Finds half mankind a year ahead, While t'other half, with lingering face. Has scarcely started in the race." For many years the history of the social life of the meadow city, and of its public meetings and organiza- tions was identified with the history of Asahel Pomeroy's tavern. Mr. Trumbull, in the second volume of the his- tory of Northampton, yet unpublished, says : " One of the most famous public houses of the present century in Northampton was what is known to the present genera- tion as the ' Warner house.' It stood on the site of the present Mansion House. A public house has been located on the spot for more than a hundred years." " Medad Pomeroy was its first owner and inn-keeper. He was licensed to keep an 'ordinary," in 1700, and ^A Early Days in the since that time a hotel has been kept on this location. It descended to his son, Col. Seth, who gave it to his son Asahel 1788. In 1791 the house, together with the adjoining house of Col. William Lyman, was burned. The next year Asahel Pomeroy rebuilt it, and undoubt- edly adapted it especially to the use for which he intended it." Near this famous tavern stood the pillory, confined in which the unprotected heads of criminals furnished fair targets for the bad boys of the neighborhood. Sometimes the offender was whipped at William Lyman's sign post next door, or was made to sit upon the gallows erected by the elm trees below the town hall. These sorry spec- tacles were often seen from the door of the Pomeroy tavern, before the prison was erected. Public branding and cropping of the ears also sometimes took place. More seldom, we hope, the guests about the tavern bar were called by screams and outcries to see a rabble of men and boys rush by, carrying a housewife who had used her tongue too freely, to give her a ducking in the river; and both men and women, for offenses of the graver sort, were ridden out of town upon a rail. In course of time, near the site of the town hall, a jail was built, which was used for a debtor's prison. By all accounts it was a place of torture, having cells scarce four feet high, into which no ray of light could penetrate. This prison was not to be compared with the notorious Connectic7it Valley. j^ Newgate, in Granby, Conn., where, in little pens of wood, from thirty to one hundred victims were confined, their feet fast to iron bars, and their necks chained to beams in the roof ; yet, from the many notices of prisoners who succeeded in escaping from what they termed the " goal" we may conclude that it was not desirable for a permanent residence. But pleasanter sights than prisoners and punishments were to be seen in this old "ordinary," kept by Asahel Pomeroy. A learned pig, brought from England, and worth $1000, was exhibited, "trained to read writing and spell, tell the time of day, distinguish colors, and do wonderful tricks with cards." Later the notice appeared: "The elephant may be seen to-morrow at Mr. Asahel Pomeroy's tavern." A dancing school was held there every week for several years, and there, no doubt, the rustic lads and lasses gained the skill which enabled them to ride off through the woods to neighbor- ing towns and, on one occasion to execute ninety-two jigs, fifty-two contra dances, forty-two minuets and seven- teen horn pipes. In this old tavern all the local societies had their headquarters, and held their weekly or monthly meet- ings, and around that bar-room fire the fate of the nation was discussed and decided. Here gathered for the very first time the " Ohio Adventurers," " to agree upon a method of obtaining a draft of the first division of land Connecticut Valley, j/ belonging to the company," and here the society of the " Cincinnati " met in secret session. Here also the " Society for detecting thieves and robbers and bringing them to punishment " contrived measures for preserving the public peace, and the landlord himself sold lottery tickets for a hundred different objects. When $1500 was drawn by the " Poor Widows of Marblehead," the follow- ing "Lines," appeared to celebrate the event: " Whence this increate of wealth, what bounteous hand, Grants more than sanguine hope could e'en demand ? " and continues, •' Here let us live as useful as we can, Grateful to God, beneficent to man. Possess obscure the power of doing good. Never so well explained as understood.'' Our good Puritan fathers firmly believed in the lottery as " designed for the general good by lessening the taxes of the people." All of the old covered toll bridges across the river were built with money raised by lottery, and always before the drawing, the " Rev'd Clergy " offered prayer. Within these tavern walls Miss Hannah Pomeroy, pre- sumably the daughter of the landlord, was married, and here also Mr. Jacob McDaniel of Amherst dropped down dead. At the Masonic funeral held in the old first church on College hill, Rev. David Parsons said: "The philanthropy and suavity of Mr. McDaniel's temper, j(? Early Days in the embellished by an engaging sincerity and affability of manners, must embalm his memory in the breasts of those who had the happiness of his acquaintance." Before those blazing logs in Pomeroy's tavern the pompous recruiting officer in his gay uniform, aided by the hospitable landlord behind the bar, persuaded the farmer's boy to enlist in the army, for the defence of the young nation, while up stairs the Hampshire county musical society rehearsed each week, in preparation for its tour of concerts, which it held from town to town, giving as a program in Conway : " Jerusalem," " Rich- mond," "Submission," "Zion," " Old Age," "Corona- tion," and many other tunes of like character. Most of the tunes sung by this organization were found in a book of original music, published by Timothy Swan, a hatter, who carried on his trade at Northfield, while practicing the making of Psalm tunes. The author did not think much of the use of sharps and flats, but put in a few now and then, " to accommodate the weaker brethren." He wrote his earliest music in two parts, and was the author of old "China," always performed to-day at old folks concerts. That the people of Hatfield and Hadley excelled in the performance of vocal music we have undeniable proof, for in the diary of one " J. Judd," we find the statement, concerning a lecture held in Hadley in 1768 : " People went over from Hatfield, and among them, J. Judd, Jr. Connecticut Valley. jp Fine singing, a good sermon, good beef and rich gravy. A great multitude in the evening was gathered at the singing school. Hatfield singers shined upon anthems. Hadley never shined so well — the town was alive and appeared with spirit." Some of the old time singers had special gifts in musi- cal lines. One man, it is said, could sing counter on one side of his mouth, and tenor on the other side, at the same time. We know not whether this remarkable per- former belonged to the musical society of Hampshire county. He may, perhaps, have devoted part of his talents to instrumental music, and joined the Northamp- ton band, which practiced in the tavern, and " shined " in public on training days. When the first piano came into Northampton, one must have been secured by the enterprising inn-keeper, for early in the century " Ladies who incline " might " hear of an instructress on Instrumental Music, by inquiring at Mr. Pomeroy's Inn." We can imagine this prim " Instructress," as she taught her pupils " The Battle of Prague," " Love Not," or " How can I leave Thee ? " with variations, and can almost hear the faint tinkle of that queer, old-fash- ioned instrument. Echoes from martial music played by that great grandfather of the present Northampton band, as it practiced the "Washington March," and the sturdy tones of the members of the Hampshire musical associa- tion, endeavoring with the assistance of the leader, who vigorously beat the time, to ^0 Early Days i7i the " Fly like a youthful hart or roe, Over the fields where spices grow," mingle to-day with the clang of trolley car and hum and bustle of every day life, surging about the Mansion House of the present. The very ghosts of those old time singers and dancers, those Revolutionary heroes and patriotic citizens, must linger round the spot where, for so many years, they passed their leisure hours before that hospit- able hearthstone. The spirits also of the " Rev'd Clergy," who in their " Fall-back " chaises drove from Amherst and Hadley and towns along the river, must haunt the place, where, in the body, they gathered to examine the latest publications kept by Simeon Butler. Of him they could procure Beers' Almanac, containing " A remedy for the scurvy," " An original receipt for the cure of cancer," "The Ladies' New Catachism," "The pleasing art of mone3'-getting," besides ''Useful calcula- tions." Here also were sold " The Cannibal's Progress, or the Dreadful Horrors of French Invasion," "Webster's Spelling Book," and his other school books before mentioned, and some copies of " Old Harmony," a sing- ine: collection for choirs and musical societies. "An essay on Christian Baptism, which solves all the common doubts on that subject, and in which, it is said, are some new sentiments," was offered for sale, and a treatise on medicine, from Edinburgh, wdiich contained in its preface appeals to every " tender parent " to use its marvellous remedies for all known diseases. Connecticut Valley. ^fi Not many books were written in those days, and most publications were sold by subscription. The thought of the adoption of authorship as a profession had not yet entered the minds of the farmers of the valley towns, and the proprietor of this new book store was obliged to import his goods at heavy expense. Perhaps this was one reason why Simeon Butler, in addition to all the latest English and German works, kept also in stock " Maccaboid snuff," " Cordial Balm of Gilead," and " Anti-Impetigenes," thus offering his customers both bodily and mental tonics suited to their tastes and at the same time adding to his daily sales. A little pamphlet, called " Food for the mind, or a New Riddle Book, compiled for the use of the great and little good boys and girls, in England, Scotland and Ire- land, by John the Giant-Killer, Esq.," was issued in Eng- land in 1778. It is probable that its red, yellow and blue covers, as well as those of " The Daisy, or Caution- ary Stories in Verse," and '• The Cowslip, or More Cau- tionary Stories in Verse," were displayed to tempt the gaze of the youth of one hundred years ago, in the same spot where now the children of their descendants feast eager eyes upon the treasures of literature and art in the windows of the "Northampton Book Shop, founded 1787." In early days, according to old records, the river over- flowed its banks even more widely than it does to-day. /^2 Early Days in the and one particular freshet, called the " Jefferson Flood," greatly interfered with travel. A gay Northampton party was said to have rowed from Main street up to the Hadley tavern, which stood on the site of the present one, and to have tied the boat to the leg of a bar- room table, by means of a rope passed through the window. During those spring floods, persons who desired the latest news were obliged to cross the river in canoes, in imminent danger of encounter with floating cakes of ice. But the Hadley dame was said to be expert upon the water, and no river was wide or turbu- lent enough to keep her from the shop where she could buy " shalloons, lastings, ratteaus, and tammys," out of which to construct her summer wardrobe. We almost see her now as, arrayed in calash, or thick pumpkin hood, if the weather happened to be cold, she rows across the stream to do her weekly shopping, paying in flaxseed or yard-wide tow cloth, raised or made by her strong and skillful fingers. Her sisters of to-day, riding in luxury over the new bridge, are not more healthy or happy than were these capable energetic housewives, dependent on their own exertions, and equal in themselves to any emergency. New England people have always found that agitation of a subject was a sure way to carry a point. Around the tavern fire the best method of preventing the extinc- tion of the fur trade by the indiscriminate killing of wild Connecticut Vatley, ^j animals on the mountain sides, was discussed, also the prospect that all the shad and salmon in the river would be destroyed. These social meetings of Northampton citizens were followed by bills introduced into the Legis- lature for the protection of the fur and fishing trade. But still more serious troubles agitated the breasts of those good Puritan people, in the fact that many inden- tured apprentices, whose aid was absolutely necessary to the beginning of manufactures and even to the carrying on of farms, persisted in running away. These appren- tices were of all ages, from boys of twelve to men of twenty. We have no record as to their ill treatment, though they undoubtedly had to work hard, as did all the members of the farmer's family. A man in Belcher- town offered a reward of $5 for the return of '-Joseph Robbins, a molatto or Indian, sold to me by authority." David Pomeroy of Amherst, lost his carpenter appren- tice, dressed, at the time of his escape, in a " Pea green coat," and would give twenty-five cents for news of him. Two apprentices at " Newgloucester," burned up their employer's house, and could not be found though all the authority of " E. Mattoon " was exer- cised in tracing them. Apprentices were always wanted, and were frequently advertised as having fled from their masters. Rewards were offered for their apprehension, I in " bungtown coppers," or "Continental," or " New Emission" money. Indeed, a perfect epidemic of run- ^^^ Early Days in the ning away seems to have pervaded the atmosphere along the river, for not only apprentices escaped, but cattle were always getting out of pastures and eating up the nei_ghbors' crops. " A middling sized brindle Ox, bowe backed," was driven off from " Hadley great meadow," by Eleazar Porter. Time and again, " bug horned heifers," and " stears " of various colors, and a " Red lined, fat steer, with high, bug horns," were adver- tised. It seems that there must have been some trouble about the rail fences, or perhaps there was something of severity about New England life which affected even the cattle in the fields, a tendency to break down barriers, and climb over walls, which reached even to the homes. The New England housewife of olden time was highly respected and honored. John Thompson, in the south part of Amherst, when offering to make for her " linen wheels," appeals to her thus : " To the industrious Fair : She layeth her hands on the spindle and her hands hold the distaff." An epitaph on Miss Betsey Fitch, reads as follows : " Here Betsey lies, let virtue shed, A tear for virtue's image dead, Letflourets spring, let roses bloom, Around the fair Eliza's tomb." And yet those " Images of virtue," those mothers in Israel, the pillars of the church, the almost saints as we have been taught to consider them, they too ran away ; Connecticut Valley. ^f.^ but whither they ran, we cannot imagine, with no rail- roads, and the highways only widened Indian trails. We find no reason why they left their homes, only the fact, from which we are left to draw our own conclu- sions. Perhaps they were getting strong-minded ; for in 1796 Jenny Dodge carried on the business of a dentist in Northampton, and a cook book was advertised by Simeon Butler written by a female who styled herself " An American Orphan." Perhaps they had to work too hard, for Mr. Judd says, " The Hadley women mostly worked," and of one family who despised labor, he says, they " died poor," Perhaps they became demoralized by attending the Northampton theatre, where in 18 14, was presented : " INKLE AND YARICO OR LOVE IN A FOREST," and thought they would apply the play to real life. As to why they ran and whither they ran we know not, but that they did run away, we have abundant proof. One deserted Shutesbury husband seem.s to have looked upon his wife's departure from a humorous point of view, since he wrote : " Patience, Patience, I have no Patience. The woman by this name who has lived with me for three years past, has conducted so /J.6 Early Days in the badly that I can have Patience no longer. I will not pay one cent of her contracting, for Patience is gone." Another husband writes the following epitaph, which he desired should be placed above the grave of his deceased consort : " Underneath this turf doth lie, Back to back, my wife and I, Generous stranger, spare the tear, For could she speak, I cannot hear. Happier far than when in life, Free from noise and free from strife. When the last trump the air shall fill, If she gets up, I'll e'en lie still." It is just possible that the sequel to the sentiments last expressed may be found in the following, entitled : " EPITAPH ON A VIOLENT SCOLD. " Beneath this stone a lump of clay Lies Arabella Young, Who on the twenty-fourth of May, Began to hold her tongue." A new epoch dawned upon the valley towns when the through stage lines were introduced and direct commu- nication was given them with the outside world. To build a road across the mountains seemed at first almost impossible even to the energetic dwellers along the Connecticut river. Nathan Patch and Co., having succeeded in establishing a route from North- ampton to Worcester, and finally extending the same to Connecticut Valley. 4^ Boston, in 1793 conquered the difficulties in the way, so that along the rugged highway toiled four horses, dragging the lumbering, swinging, creaking stage- coach into Albany village, with passengers and freight and mail, stopping always for rest and refreshment at Asahel Pomeroy's tavern. The great event for many years, to country people far and near, was the arrival of the coach, bringing the collected dust and gossip from a hundred miles away. The latest news from the south and west could now be learned a few days after it hap- pened, and political discussions waxed fierce around that hospitable fireside. To the orthodox believers of that day, an infidel or atheist was supposed to be possessed of hoofs and horns and to come straight from the Evil One himself. The arrival of Thomas Paine upon these shores was announced in the Gazette in these terms : "A being without a home, a being without a country, a wretch without character, an incendiary in Europe, an incendiary in America, the first reviler of Washington, the bosom friend of Jefferson, overshadowed with crimes, devoted to most bestial intoxication, the enemy of all religion, of all morality, the blasphemer of God, is among us." The local press, then, as now, gave forth no uncertain sound, and was the exponent of the public opinion of the people, who delighted to read its editorials and to dis- cuss them over a mug of liip. ^^8 Early Days in the When the slow sailing vessel, landing in Boston, brought the news of Bonaparte's final downfall, the people of the Connecticut valley, who had been watching his career with bated breath, gave a sigh of relief. With staring headlines the 6^^s^/'/^% :^i\: .i:i>'<'^^Ir M^ . A^i