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Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
Obituaries
Died, in Vernon, Vt. Aug. 12, John Stebbins Esq., aged 81. He was the son of Eliakim and Rebekah Hawks Stebbins, and the grandson of Col. John Hawks, formerly of Deerfield, Mass., who was known to history as the "hero of Fort Massachusetts" [located in North Adams], from the fact of his having [?] two soldiers in the Indian Wars of 1746, and successfully defended it for 48 hours, against a combined force of 800 French and Indians, who surrounded and sought to take it. Mr. Stebbins represented his native town in the Legislature 4 years, and held the office of Justice of the Peace and other positions for a great many years.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
Whately
Whately - Captain Seth Bardwell and wife celebrated their golden wedding Wed., with about 100 of their immediate family friends. Brief addresses of congratulation were made by their pastor, Rev. J.W. Lane and others. A poem by Mrs. J.W. Lane was read, and in the eve. a serenade was given by the choir of the Congregational Church. The Haydenville Band also enlivened the festivities. Some 3 years ago Spencer Bardwell- brother of Capt. Seth celebrated his golden wedding, and within the coming year a sister living at Worcester will celebrate hers.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
Millers Falls
Millers Falls - The village is justly proud of its band. It has been organized about a year, and consists of 20 pieces, under the instruction of William L. Day of Greenfield. We doubt if ever a musical organization that has had so little practice can show greater proficiency. The members are determined to perfect themselves, and if they keep up the way they have commenced, Millers Falls will have one of the "crack" bands of Western Massachusetts. [Prophetic? You decide ;-)]
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
The Caledonians at Lake Pleasant
There was not the anticipated crowd at the Tournament of the Springfield Caledonian Society at Lake Pleasant on Wed. Special trains were run up from the South and from the east on the Fitchburg road, but many of the cars were nearly empty. The lake has had its attractions for the season, and people are now holding on to the spare coppers for the needs of approaching winter.
But few of the Caledonians were in full costume, yet the advertised programme was carried out, and the day’s sports were by no means a fizzle. The Fitchburg Band and Russell’s orchestra furnished the music, and the following were the successful winners in the principle athletic feats:
In the three-legged race, in which the competitors race in pairs with a leg of each tied to that of his comrade, Richard Harvey of Easthampton and Paul Fitzgerald of Shelburne Falls took the first prize of $6, and Hutchins and Wilson took the second of $3.
In the Hop, Skip and Jump contest, Thomas O’Donald of Northampton proved the best man, clearing 38 feet, and took the first prize of $5; and P. Sullivan of Ftichburg, who cleared 37 1/2 ft. took the 2nd prize of $2."Putting heavy stone" was a trial of strength of throwing a 16 lb. iron ball; John Purcell of Florence threw it 41 1/2 ft.and won the 1st prize of $6; Patrick Purcell of Florence, who threw it 31 ft. 4 inches, had the 2nd prize of $3.
Dancing the Highland Fling in costume was an interesting feature,George Bothwick of Boston taking the 1st prize of $6, and W.G.Smith of Boston the 2nd of $3. Tossing the caber ( a 12 ft. stick of lumber) was won by John Purcell who threw it 30 ft. 1 inch, receiving $5, and E.R. McCormick of Florence came next, and received $3.
In vaulting with a pole, Richard Harvey cleared a perpendicular jump of 8 ft. 7 inches and took the 1st prize of $5, and P. Purcell took the 2nd of $3. In the mile foot race, P. Sullivan of Fitchburg made the best time and took the 1st prize of $10, and E. Wilson was 2nd, and took the prize of $5.
There was a hurdle race, which was quite an exciting affair; R. Harvey took the 1st money, $6, and __ Hitchcock, the 2nd, $3. There were 4 contestants in the swimming match. The course was from the gent’s bath house to the landing. F.M.Sweeney of Worcester took the 1st prize of $15, and G.H. Crocker of Fitchburg the 2nd, of $10.
The single scull race was the great event of the day. There were 4 entries, and the course was the length of the lake and back. It was a close and exciting contest. John E. Brown of Worcester won the race and the 1st money, $40; Daniel McSweeney of Fitchburg came in 2nd, for $30; Jerry Callahan of Springfield came in 3rd and received $15.
Some boys caused no little sport in the tub race, where they were frequently capsized. The games were continued until the departure of the trains at night.
by the Indians of Bloody Brook, occurred on Sat. the 18th, and was celebrated by services of commemoration at S. Deerfield on Fri. the 17th. Held in connection with the celebration was the Sixth Annual Field meeting of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association...We doubt if ever South Deerfield witnessed such an influx of strangers as thronged to her beautiful streets on this pleasant morning. From a radius of many miles they came...
(For a complete account of the event, please see p. 283+ of Google Books 'History and proceedings of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association'].
[The account itself takes up 4 long columns in the paper, so please take advantage of the Google Books account!]
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
News of the week
A singular accident occurred at Amesbury on Wed. morning. A son of Mr. McHugues took up an ax, and while swinging it about his head in imitation of an Indian, the ax separated from the handle and buried itself in the shoulder of his sister, who stood a short distance from him. A fearful wound was inflicted, but fortunately no cords or arteries were severed. It was considered a very narrow escape from a fatal result.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
News of the week
Moses Hull of Boston and a crowd of other lunatics, profaned the Sabbath and the beautiful Lake Walden at Concord on the 12th by a noisy meeting, advocating free love and Spiritualism, and resolved "that our present system of marriage is slavery, and that, considering that idiocy, insanity, prostitution, adultery, rape, drunkenness and murder are its legitimate fruits, it is the duty of every lover of humanity to protest against it".
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
News of the week
William Knapp, aged 90, died at Newburyport on Sun. He was one of the first abolitionists and the brother of Isaac Knapp, the original partner of Garrison in the Liberator. He was one of the oldest Freemasons in the State, and was Master of a Lodge 60 years ago.
[See the Internet Archive's full text of "History of Newburyport, Mass., 1764-1905].
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
Oration of Hon. George B. Loring at Bloody Brook, Sept. 17, 1875
Oration of Hon. George B. Loring at Bloody Brook, Sept. 17, 1875 - Fellow citizens: 200 years ago an event occurred on this spot, which on account of its significance and its touching details, has passed into that long heroic line over which the mind of man is compelled to pause and ponder...At the name of Bloody Brook the men, women, and children of New England started and held their breath in horror, in that primeval time when the sickening tidings were borne on the wings of the wind as it were from hamlet to hamlet...
The sad event of the 18th of September 1675, calls upon us still to remember the trials through which our fathers passed and to rejoice over that fraternal spirit which bound them together in their day of sorrow, and watered the soil of this charming valley with the choicest blood of the sons of Essex. I stand on ground made sacred to you by the sacrifices of your hardy and devoted progenitors; but I meet here the names of Lothrop and Stevens and Hobbs and Manning and Dodge and Kimball and Trask and Tufts and Mudge and Pickering, of the three-score braves who died that you might possess this goodly land and these pleasant homes...
How would they who were familiar with the cruel warfare of the savage; whose ears had heard the shrieks of the tortured mother mingling with the groans of her dying child, and whose eyes had beheld her fear, her patience and her despair; whose highway was an Indian trail, and whose home was a frontier block-house - how would they rejoice over these sunny fields, these laughing harvests, these busy towns, these tasteful homes, this cultivated landscape adorned with these institutions of learning and religion; and how would they count their own sufferings but small when compared with the manifold blessings which have descended upon the spot made sacred with their blood?
...Deerfield two centuries ago, was on the very confines of civilization - one of the outposts of a feeble Christian people, who had hardly a foothold on this continent, and between whom and the strongholds of power and wealth and learning, rolled 3000 miles of stormy and almost unknown sea. The fate of a great and wide spread empire rested then in the hands of a few colonists scattered along the Atlantic seaboard, divided in interests and tastes, perishing continually from exposure and want, not all actuated by the highest motives, but all recognizing, as by an unerring instinct, the fundamental principle out of which was to grow the American government, and all in danger of being exterminated at any time by the "pestilence which walketh in darkness and the destruction which wasteth at noonday".
Scattered up and down the great extent of territory stretching from the Passamaquoddy Bay to the capes of Florida were but about 200,000 souls, of whom Massachusetts, with Plymouth and Maine, may have had 44,000; New Hampshire and Rhode Island, with Providence each 6000; Connecticut from 17,000 to 20,000; that is, all New England, 75,000...
These people had come largely from that "Germanic race most famed for the love of personal independence". They were not men of high estate, but they were men who possessed an inherent love of land, with all the individual honor and freedom which go along with it...
Of one colony said "Spotswood, a royalist, a High churchman, a traveler", "I have observed here less swearing and profaneness, less drunkenness and debauchery, less uncharitable feuds and animosities, and less knaverys and villanys than in any part of the world where my lot has been"...
In all their customs they were obliged to exercise the utmost simplicity and they voluntarily regulated their conduct by those formal rules, which, in their day, constituted the Puritan’s guide through the world. We are told, as an illustraton of their character and manners, that by the laws of the Plymouth Colony, in 1651, "dancing at weddings was forbidden". In 1660, one William Walker was imprisoned one month for courting "a maid without the leave of her parents".
In 1675, because "there is manifest pride appearing in our streets", the "wearing of long hair or periwigs", and so "superstitious ribands, used to tie up and decorate the hair were forbidden under severe penalty"; the keeping of Christmas was also forbidden "because it was a popish custom". In 1677 an act was passed "to prevent the profaneness of turning the back upon the public worship before it was finished and the blessing pronounced".
Towns were directed to erect a cage near the meeting house, and in all this all offenders against the sanctity of the Sabbath were confined. At the same time children were directed to be placed in a particular part of the meeting house, apart by themselves, and tything-men were ordered to be chosen, whose duty it shall be to take care of them. So strict were they in their observance of the Sabbath that "John Atherton, a soldier of Col. Tyng’s Company", was fined 40 shillings for wetting a piece of an old hat to put into his shoes, which chafed his feet on the march; and those who neglected to attend meeting for 3 months were publicly whipped.
Even in Harvard College students were whipped for gross offenses in the Chapel, in presence of students and professors, and prayers were had before and after the infliction of the punishment. As the settlers of Deerfield are described as being of "sober and orderly conversation", we may suppose that these laws and customs were here rigidly enforced.
[Here follows a section on "subsistence and diet of your ancestors". Also talks about how they were good farmers, fishermen and readers]...
...Possessed evidently of a common origin, for "between the Indians of Florida and Canada the difference was scarcely perceptible", they were divided into tribes, which differed from each other mainly in their fighting capacity, and the vigor with which they roamed from place to place; and they were liable at any time to be swept off by disease, or exterminated by war, or absorbed by other and more powerful tribes.
In language, the North American Indian was limited by the material world, an abstract idea finding no birthplace in his brain and no expression on his tongue. "In marriage the Indian abhorred restraint, and from Florida to the S. Lawrence polygamy was permitted". Divorce meant merely desertion. The wife was a slave. Domestic government was unknown. The Indian youth grew up a warrior, adorned with vermilion and eagle’s feather, as fleet of foot as the deer, and as tolerant of hunger as the wolf; the Indian girl grew up a squaw, degraded and squalid and servile.
A rude agriculture, resulting in a weedy corn crop, and a few squashes and beans, was the Indian’s, or rather the Indian woman’s occupation; he had neither trade nor manufactures. "There can be no society without government; but among the Indian tribes on the soil of our republic, there was not only no written law - there was no traditionary [sic] expression of law; government rested on opinion and usage and the motives to the usage were never imbodied [sic] in language; they gained utterance only in the fact, and power only from opinion...
The Indian had a government without laws; a State without institutions; a church without faith, or creed, or head; a town without schoohouse or meeting house; a punitive system without jails or gibbets; a history based on tradition; a religion based on superstition; he was ignorant of the ownership of land; and knew nothing of a system of inheritance.
As in peace he was an idler - so in war he was a marauder. An organized army was to him unknown. He fought in small bands, seldom over 50 in number, to surprise and slaughter. He pursued, and killed, and scalped. He had neither commissariat nor hospital. He fought his enemy in the rear and in ambush; and he tortured and roasted and devoured his captives. These were the national characteristics which our fathers found on this continent.
Nor did their attempts to modify and humanize and Christianize them meet with much success. The Indian could be tamed, but he was the Indian still...Neither John Eliot nor Roger Williams was able to change essentially the habits and character of the New England tribes..."They are unspeakably indolent and slothful; they deserve little gratitude; they seem to have no sentiments of generosity, benevolence or goodness".
The Moravian Loskiel could not change their character...In New Hampshire and elsewhere schools for Indian children were established; but as they became fledged they all escaped, refusing to be caged. Harvard College enrolls the name of an Algonquin youth among her pupils; but the college parchment could not close the gulf between the Indian character and the Anglo American.
The copper colored men are characterized by a moral inflexibility, a rigidity of attachment to their hereditary customs and manners. The birds and brooks, as they chime forth their unwearied canticles, chime them ever to the same ancient melodies; and the Indian child, as it grows up, displays a propensity to the habits of its ancestors...
The trouble lay deeper. Year after year the Indian discovered an irreconcilable difference between himself and the stranger...When he entered the home of the settler, he discovered that the joys of the fireside could never be found in the group squatted beneath the shelter of the wigwam. He felt the antagonism - and his soul burned within him. The strife was not for land...It was for supremacy. And as revenge is stronger than ambition, and hate is stronger than avarice, so the war raged with unspeakable fury, and was as cruel as the passions of a desperate savage could make it.
The great contest which grew out of this antagonism, and lasted more than a year, unabated either by the heat of summer or the frosts of winter, threatening destruction to the New England colonies, was known as Philip’s War. With the story of this conflict you are all familiar. The peaceful death of Massasoit at a good old age, after a long life of friendly relations with the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies; the sadder death of his son Alexander, worried out of life by the failure of his intrigues against the colony, and the exposure of his meanness and his crimes; the gradual development of the worst of passions in the breast of Philip, and his passage from treachery to war are all fresh in the memory of all who have traced the hard path which our fathers traveled in the work of settling these shores.
The war which began in Swanzey on the 24th of June, 1675, reached this spot on the 18th of September - three months of murder, and fire, and all the bloody horrors of savage warfare. At the time the war broke out Deerfield had been settled 10 years, or had been deeded for the purposes of settlement to John Pynchon that length of time. It was then, as it is now, one of the most delightful spots in New England...
And here in the luxurience of that natural beauty, and in the wealth of wood and stream, the Indian found his favorite resort. In this town and in the towns of Hadley and Hatfield he mustered a numerous and a powerful tribe. And upon these lands purchased by the settlers, with titles confirmed by the court, the whites and Indians lived together in peace for years. It is amazing with what rapidity the war, once opened, spread from village to village, and from tribe to tribe in this wilderness...
The Pocumtucks had received their orders - and in a day had stepped from the blessings of peace to the misery of war. having promsied to deliver up their arms, on suspicion that they might misuse them, they broke their promise, fled to Sugar loaf Hill, engaged with Captains Beers and Lothrop commanding the English here, lost 26 of their number, and then sought shelter under the standard of King Philip...
Deerfield too was abandoned; and the attempt to secure a quantity of wheat which had just been partially threshed by the farmers there before their flight, resulted in the massacre which still thrills me with horror, and the anniversary of which we have met to commemorate...From behind hundreds of trees the savages poured their deadily [sic] fire. At the first volley many were killed, and the remainder were panic stricken...Lothrop...was among the first to fall. The savages, numbering nearly 700, "rushed upon the defenceless men, and the work of slaughter was soon complete.
But 6 or 7 Englishmen escaped to tell the tale, of whom one had been shot and tomahawked and left for dead, and another forced his way through the yelling ranks of the savages with the but [sic] of his musket...
While the Indians were employed in mangling, scalping and stripping the dying and the dead, Captain Moseley, who, as has been observed, was ranging the woods, hearing the report of musketry, hastened by a forced march to the relief of his brethren. The Indians, confiding in their superior numbers, taunted him as he advanced, and dared him to the contest. Moseley came on with firmness, repeatedly charged through them, and destroyed a large number with the loss on his side of but 2 killed and 11 wounded...
A quantity of bones lately found in that quarter is very probably the remains of the Indians who fell there at the close of the action. The united English force encamped for the night at Deerfield. They returned in the morning to bury the dead and found a party of the Indians upon the field stripping the bodies of their victims. These they quickly dispatched, and the remains of the brave young men, or some portion of them, were committed to the earth near the spot which we have this day consecrated anew to their memory.
The stream on whose banks they fell, and whose water ran red with their blood, has been called from that day, in memory of the disaster, Bloody Brook...[Two more entire columns follow, but they are quite blurry and unreadable].
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
A man murdered in Coleraine
A man murdered in Coleraine - He is killed and robbed by two young ruffians - It is now 8 years since Simeon Peck killed Miss Cheney at Griswoldville, and Coleraine is again the scene of a tragedy, which in all its details has never had a parallel in the criminal annals of the County. The victim of this terrible crime is Joseph R. Farnsworth [i.e. Joseph Riley Farnsworth], known among his townsmen as "Riley", a quiet, inoffensive man, who dwelt with his wife and two children on his mother’s farm, on what is known as "Catamount Hill", some 2 miles and a half from Shelburne Falls.
The circumstances of the affair are these: On Tues. last Farnsworth, who served in the late war, went to Greenfield to be examined by a surgeon, as required, before making out an application for pension. He went back to Shelburne Falls on the train, and at the office of H.M. Puffer Esq., had his pension paper made out. When this business was finished, he started for home, getting a chance to ride with Levi Davenport, a neighbor.
They rode together until they came to the fork of two roads which led to the mountain. Farnsworth took the road up the ravine on the easterly side, while Davenport went the other way to his home. It had by this time begun to grow dark, and Farnsworth pushed along alone through a wood and came to a place where the road separates, a path leading up to Jack Woodard’s on the one hand and to his mother’s place on the other.
At this point someone steps suddenly from the cover of bushes by the roadside and, without a word of warning, strikes him a blow upon the forehead with a stick which prostrates him upon the ground. The blow is followed up with others or with kicks, until the man’s head is covered with ghastly wounds. He is then robbed of the few dollars which he had in his pocket book.
Farnsworth was not long wholly unconscious. Within half an hour he must have rallied sufficient strength to get upon his feet, and staggering and frequently falling, he made his way home, some one hundred rods distant, and which he reached by half past 7. He was able to tell his mother and a neighbor present a part of what had happened, and Dr. Canedy of Shelburne Falls was immediately sent for.
He arrived in the evening, but found the man so badly wounded there was little that could be done for him. Farnsworth could not tell who struck him, and becoming unconscious, he lingered until about 10 o’clock Wed. morning, when he died.
The news of the affair had by this time spread over the town, and efforts made to ascertain who were the perpetrators of the crime. Suspicion soon rested upon two young men who live in the vicinity, and who had not been seen since the murder. These were Daniel Dwight, a son of Josiah J. Dwight, and Herbert Davenport, a son of widow Roxana Davenport, and a nephew of the murdered man.
The former is 19 years of age and the latter 18, and both had borne a hard name among the people of the town. Going to the scene of the assault, a heavy print of a shoe was found, where the desperado stood when he gave the murderous blow, and a few feet in front was found the pool of blood which flowed from the wounds of his victim, and a bloody trail was made by Farnsworth as he rested and stumbled home.
Not far from his place a hickory stub was found where the stick, about an inch in diameter, had been cut; and in another direction the stick itself was discovered, which corresponded with the stub, and which had been thrown away after the assault. The stick, which is in the possession of one of the officers, was evidently cut by a left handed person. Dwight is known to be left handed.
It seems that the two boys had been to Farnsworth’s house the afternoon that he was away, borrowed fifty cents from his wife, all the money that she had - they agreeing to pay her back before the time of the county fair, when she wanted to spend it. They also took away a cheap watch which belonged to Farnsworth.
Before going to Greenfield Farnsworth had made known his errand to the neighbors, and the boys probably thought that he was going to bring home his pension money and so made their plans to waylay and rob him. But the money Farnsworth had on his person could not have exceeded 2 or 3 dollars. There had been ill feeling between the boys and Farnsworth before. He had not got along happily with his wife, being frequently jealous, it is thought by some, without cause, and the fellows had taken her part.
They have been heard to threaten him on her account. Dwight, who was married and lived with his wife in a house on his father’s farm, took away with him two suits of clothes, but young Davenport is not known to have carried away only such clothes as he happened to have on, and left behind a little money and a bank book.
Wed. aft. upwards of 50 men were out scouring the woods of Coleraine, Whitingham and Heath, under Officers Henry A. Howard of Coleraine and Deputy Sheriff [?] S. Frost of Shelburne Falls, and the search by some of the party was kept up all night, but was fruitless. Dwight and Davenport are both familiar with the woods for miles around, having hunted and roamed over them together.
It was thought that perhaps the fugitives had gone in the direction of North Adams, and an officer was sent there Thurs. morning, while the general search was partly abandoned. Though the young ruffians may evade their pursuers for a while, it is hardly possible to make a successful escape. Their photographs and descriptions will be sent broadcast. The Selectmen have offered a reward of $500 for their recovery, and mean to bring them to justice.
As there is no coroner in the vicinity, S.D. Bardwell Esq. of Shelburne Falls, as a Justice of the Peace, summoned a jury to view the remains. The jury consists of Hezekiah Smith, C.W. Shattuck, A.A. Smith, Thomas D. Purrington, H.C. Millington and Russell J. Smith. They visited the scene of the murder Wed. aft., and will meet again today, when probably a verdict in accordance with the facts we have related will be rendered.
Farnsworth’s funeral took place Thurs. morning and was largely attended by the people of the town. Rev. Mr. Cole, the Methodist clergyman of Coleraine, conducted the services. Farnsworth leaves a boy of 9 and a girl of 7. His age was about 35, and his mother, with whom he lived, is about 75. The family, though poor and ignorant, were considered of average respectability. The mother of the Davenport boy has always opposed his keeping company with Dwight, who is generally supposed to have been the leader in the matter, but the two were together a great deal, and had become hardened and desperate.
A note received by J.B. Clark, one of the Selectmen of the town on Sat., stated that there was no trace then of the murderers, but that the watch supposed to have been stolen by one of the boys, was found, and was in his possession.
Latest - Intelligence from Shelburne Falls yesterday, states that Dwight was caught about half past 10 Sat. eve. Half a dozen men were laying in wait for him around his house, and he came home at that time and fell into their clutches. The whereabouts of Davenport is not known. Dwight was put into the lock-up at Shelburne Falls yesterday morning.
[A followup to this murder can be found on p. 371 of Google Books "Publications of the American Statistical Association", 1892 - 1893. There is also mention of the sentence on p. 5 of Google Books "Public Documents of Massachusetts", 1876].
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
The Bloody Brook celebration
The Bloody Brook celebration - Though crippled and discouraged by the disastrous fire, the people of South Deerfield do not propose to "back out" of the Bicentennial Celebration of the Massacre of Bloody Brook which had been arranged for next Fri. With the aid and the cooperation of the residents of Old Deerfield and neighboring towns, they propose to carry out the programme, giving the thousands who may come to participate in the honors and pleasures of the day a cordial and generous welcome.
The services of commemoration are held in connection with the sixth annual field meeting of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. The President of the day is Hon. George T. Davis of Portland, Me., with Hon. George Grennell, Hon. James S. Whitney, Col. David Wells, Rev. C.S. Brooks, James C. Arms, Henry Childs, George W. Jones, Hon. W.B. Washburn, Rev. F.A. Warfield, Rev. J.F. Moors, Col. Austin Rice for Vice Presidents.
A grand procession will be formed at the depot on the arrival of the train from the north at 10 1/2 a.m., Col. J.B. Parsons of Northampton acting as Chief Marshal. Participating in the parade will be 7 companies of Col. Parson's command, the 2nd Regiment, the South Deerfield Band, members of the Grand Army and Veterans of the late war, the officers, speakers and poets of the day, Patrons of Husbandry, aged citizens, invited guests and other civic bodies and citizens generally.
The order of exercises will be as follows: Dirge by the South Deerfield Band; opening address by George Sheldon, Chairman of the Committee; an original ode by E.W.B. Canning, sung by the Quartette Club; prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. C.S. Brooks; music by the Band; oration by Hon. George B. Loring of Salem; collation; music; poem by William Everett of Cambridge; ode by Miss Eliza A. Starr, sung by the Quartette Club; and then will follow short addresses, music, etc.
The collation will be served in the same way as at the Whatelly Centennial - paper napkins being distributed and the provisions then passed around. The Deerfield Guards had invited several companies of their regiment, intending to provide for their entertainment, but as the fire destroyed some $500 or $600 worth of property belonging to the Guards, they are almost in a bankrupt condition, and the citizens of the town have now come forward and guarantee to furnish the military with a collation.
The people who attend are supposed to carry their lunch baskets and are requested to furnish what they can for our guests of the town who come unprovided. As the hotels of the place have been destroyed, all strangers will be dependent upon the citizens for entertainment. Passengers over the Connecticut River Railroad will be transported for half fare. and the same courtesy will be extended from North Adams and stations west of Greenfield on the Vt. & Mass. road.
All Grangers who attend the Bi-centennial are requested to report at the house of Norman B. Clark, a little south of the monument near the grave of Lathrop, where a committee of the order will be in readiness to receive and wait upon them. The people of Deerfield will be called upon to contribute provisions for the occasion by solicitors in each neighborhood, and they should be prepared to contribute biscuit, cold meats and plain cake.
The Pocumtuck Lodge of Odd Fellows of Greenfield have voted to attend the gathering and parcipate in the parade. The committee of arrangements though not issuing special invitations, desire the attendance of all organizations, including the Grand Army and other secret societies.
Greenfield - The tournament of the Springfield Caledonian Society will be the great attraction at Lake Pleasant this week. It comes off on Wed., and excursion trains are to be run over the various roads. $250 are to be distributed in prizes. There are to be foot races, hurdle races and other athletic sports, and a single scull race, in which Harrington, the Springfield champion, and Brown, the champion of Worcester will participate. It will be the first boat race on the Lake. The Scottish societies will be in costume, and the "Highland fling" will be one of the features of the occasion.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
Greenfield - George Woodard, the boy brought before Judge Conant for stealing a gun and powder horn, was on Wed. turned over to Gordon M. Fisk, the agent of the Board of State Charities, who has placed him in the State Primary School at Monson.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
Wellesley College for Females
Wellesley College for Females was opened Wed. 300 pupils took possession of the beautiful apartments, and about 200 disappointed applicants were turned away, the institution being full.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 6, 1875
Born
Born in Greenfield Aug. 8, a daughter to Samuel Parker; Aug. 29, a daughter to R.P. Whipple and grand-daughter to J.M.A. Squier on Monson; Aug. 27, a daughter to E.E. Lyman Esq., Clerk of Courts; Aug. 31, a son to William Schuler.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 6, 1875
Died
Bardwell, George W., age 39, died of Bright's disease of the kidneys in South Deerfield on Sept. 1. He was a member of the 52nd regiment, and a member of the Legislature in 1873.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 6, 1875
Camp Devens
The five days muster of the 3rd Brigade began at Framingham Tues., 1236 officers and men and 3 bands of music being in the camp which was named in honor of General Charles Devens...There was an unfortunate affair on Tues. George Bartlett of the Chelmsford Cavalry, who has been in the army and knows his duty as a provost guard, was roughly resisted and his horse kicked without good cause. When the bridle of his horse was seized, he struck Corporal Cunningham of Co. A 10th Regiment with the flat of his sabre.
The cry was then raised by Cunningham's companions "drag him off", "kill him" and Mr. Bartlett's Company was ready to sustain him, but serious trouble was averted by the prudence of the Provost Marshal. The matter was amicably settled between the two men, and good feeling was restored between the cavalry and infantry company...
A pleasant incident during the week was a visit by Col. H.S. Greenleaf of the "Old 52nd" to Co. L. of Shelburne Falls...
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 6, 1875
Millers Falls
(Millers Falls) The occasion of the changing of the name on the Fitchburg Railroad of our village from "Grouts" to "Millers Falls" was appropriately celebrated on the eve. of Sept. 1, by a salute of 30 guns fired from Prospect Hill. The band were present and discoursed some fine music, and Mr. Lester furnished lemonade for the crowd, who, before dispersing, gave 3 cheers for the village and its name.
- Sun, Feb 21, 2010
