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Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
Orange
Orange - Prescott Foskett, a respected citizen and well-to-do farmer, committed suicide by hanging himself at Orange, Sat. afternoon the 11th. He visited his son's wife, and deposited his spectacles, money, and a few mementos, stating that he was going to put himself out of the way. Upon being asked what was the trouble, he said he had seen trouble enough.
His son was immediately informed of his father's intentions, and a search was commenced for him, but after an hour proved unsuccessful; then an alarm was given, and business about the place was generally suspended. After another hour search, the body of Mr. Foskett was found suspended to a tree, about a half a mile from his son's house. The act occasions intense excitement in the vicinity. Domestic troubles are said to have led to the act. He was about 68 years old.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
Greenfield items
Greenfield - Mrs. A.C. Bullard of Conway Street has sent to us a ripe and fully developed fig. Her plant or tree this year bore 14 figs, which have ripened without the aid of hothouse culture.
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.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
The Coleraine Murder
The Coleraine Murder - As briefly stated in our last issue, Daniel Dwight, supposed to be one of the murderers of Joseph R. Farnsworth, was arrested Sat. night at the door of his father’s house on Catamount Hill, Coleraine, where he had come 5 days after the murder. There were 6 men, under Deputy Sheriff John Gould, stationed around the house, and between 10 and 11 o’clock, they saw a man coming up the road, which proved to be young Dwight.
They allowed him to approach near the house, when a signal was given, and they stepped from their hiding places. Dwight ran around the house in the direction of the barn, but he was then surrounded and forced to surrender. When taken into the house before his father, he fainted.
Dwight was confined in the lock-up at Shelburne Falls, and on Mon., Trial Justice Brainard of Greenfield held a court at the office of H.M.Puffer, Esq., and had the young man brought before him. A large gathering of people were in attendance, and among them Dwight’s wife, father and mother.
He pleaded not guilty, and the magistrate, without having a hearing of evidence, arraigned him on the charge of murder and continued the case to Mon. the 17th. Officers Swan and Gould then brought the prisoner to Greenfield,where he is now confined in jail. Dwight appears quite calm and is not disposed to talk much about the affair. He accounts for his absence and his whereabouts during the 4 days as follows:
"I had some trouble with my wife on Tues. aft., which had ended by my saying I was going off, and her replying that she hoped I would, and what was more, that I would stay away. She then started to go to father’s house, which is only a short distance from mine, and I started for a pasture where some of father’s cattle were grazing.
On the way I met Herbert Davenport, and together we went to Farnsworth’s house, and afterward went down the lane to the road leading to Shelburne Falls. Herbert wanted a cane, so we stopped and cut one, I bending the tree over while he cut it; but he did not carry it long before he threw it away.
From there we went through the fields directly to my house, where I changed my clothes and gave a suit to Herbert, as his were all patched and dirty. We left home about 5 o’clock, and went down the mountain to Heath, and then through Hartwellville down to North Adams, getting there on Wed. aft.
We walked all Tues. night.Wed. night we slept on the hills near North Adams, and on Thurs. morning, after staying a while in North Adams, we walked to Pownal on the railroad track. At Pownal we got on board a train which was returning with the firemen from the muster at North Adams that day.
At Petersburg Junction Herbert got left with some Salem, N.Y. firemen, because the train started so quick, and I could not get off, it was going so fast. That night I stopped at Greenwich, N.Y. and registered my name in the hotel book in full - Daniel J. Dwight, Coleraine, Mass. I remained there that night, but had nothing to eat, as I only had money enough to pay for my lodging.
[For more information on this area, see the Internet Archive’s "Williamstown, the Berkshire Hills, and thereabout"]
The next day I walked to Troy. I did not remain there long because I was hungry and sick, and thought I would go right home and go to work for father, and let my wife do as she chose. Coming back I got a ride part of the way on a freight train, and got to N. Adams Sat. aft.,and walked to central shaft in the tunnel, and from there I rode to the east end on the workmen’s train and walked to Zoar, where they let me ride on a hand car to Charlemont. From there I rode with a Mr.Wells as far as his house, and then went across the fields home".
A portion of Dwight’s story has proved to be true. Bradley Davenport and Wesley Woodard, sent to Petersburg Junction, sent back that two men answering the description of Dwight and Davenport had been there. At Greenwich, N.Y., Dwight’s name was found registered in full, as he had said, and there is nothing to show that Davenport was with him at the time.
The Davenport boy arrested - Search was continued for Davenport and finally he was tracked to Williamstown, and Thurs. aft. was found there by a Mr. White. He made no efforts to escape, but on the other hand seemed glad to give himself up.
He was brought through the tunnel to Shelburne Falls Fri. morning, and Trial Justice Brainard of Greenfield held a preliminary trial, arraigned him for murder, and continued the trial until the 27th. The Davenport boy’s narrative is substantially the same as that given by Dwight, but he does not deny that they killed Farnsworth.
He says their only object was to obtain money, that he had no enmity or ill will towards the murdered man. He and Dwight had made up their minds to go West and hoped to get enough money from Farnsworth to pay their expenses, but he says they only got about $4.
There were 2 sticks cut, he says, a walnut and a maple. It was with the latter that Farnsworth was knocked down. He says that he did not do the striking, though he was there. After he was left at Petersburg Junction, he wandered from place to place, working for something to eat when he could get employment, and was endeavoring to get back home.
Davenport is not of ordinary intelligence. He was dull at school, and has since been lazy and shiftless. Want of mental responsibility will be entered as a plea in his behalf. His mother says that he has always been a "strange boy". She has another son and a daughter who are bright, active and industrious.
Davenport was brought to Greenfield and lodged in jail on Fri. by Deputy Sheriff Swan. Both boys, who are allowed to be together when not locked in their cells, do not appear to be cast down or afflicted much with remorse. They will be brought before the Grand Jury at the November Court and if bills are found against them the trial will be before a special session of the Supreme Court.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
Foreign
The oldest tree in the world is said to be a bo tree at Anuradhapura in Ceylon, which was planted b.c. 288. It is so decrepid [sic] with age that it would have blown down long ago were it not for a strong wall encircling the trunk and pillars supporting all the main branches. Every leaf that falls from the tree is picked up with pious care by the Buddhist priests and preserved in a holy part of their temple. The leaves are thence sold to the people as a souvereign panacea for their sins.
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
Sunderland
Sunderland - Eli Duparo has about cleared Monsell's lot of timber, but has some wood, etc. to get off yet. He has another job all ready when this is done.
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
Greenfield -
Greenfield - Trial Justice Brainard disposed of the following cases last week: Michael Moran, who took wood from Millers Falls, the property of Oselo Goodnow, was fined $2 and costs, from which he appealed. James Dwyer, Whitney Barden, Horatio Cutler and David Buffum of Montague City, were arrested for assaulting Abner Avery, and were fined $5 and one fourth of the costs each, which amounted to $8.92.
John McIves, one of the Bardwell’s Ferry roughs, was arrested by P.M. Fitzgerald for drunkenness, fined $5 and costs, which if not paid within 3 days, he was to take 20 days in the House of Correction. Dennis Brown for assault on Michael O’Neil, was brought in by Sheriff Swan of Shelburne Falls, and fined $8 and costs. Justice Davis discharged Patrick Mahaney of Cheapside, who was brought up for drunkenness, and fined John McIves $2 and costs - $4.95, who was picked up drunk by night policeman Carbee.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
The Greenfield end of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad
The Greenfield end of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad - Messrs. Keith and Barton, Greenfield’s committee to adjust damages with parties on the line of the railroad, have been busy the past week, and have not yet completed their task. Starting from the track of the Connecticut River Railroad, a strip is taken from the Agricultural Fair Ground, the width of which is not yet determined.
A small portion of Mrs. Colle’s lot will probably be taken, and a little from the south side of John Osterhout’s lot and also Judge Aiken’s. A corner is taken from the Catholic premises, but the road will not come within 20 ft. of the new house, or seriously interfere with it. A small piece will be taken from the rear of Miss Lucy Billings’ lot, and the road will then cross lands belonging to the Methodist Society, H.J. Davis, A. DeWolf, L.T. Smith, Mrs. L.W. Rice, John Russell, and William Elliot, running for the most part on a side hill, and not greatly damaging any of the parties.
On E.J. Jones’ premises, it takes a part of his garden; on Dennis W. Jones, a rear lot; a strip of 50 rods, belonging to Charles L. Lowell; a strip fro the open lot adjoining, belonging to Joel Wilson, and also the premises in the rear of it belonging to ____ Merzh. Crossing the avenue, Mrs. Helen M. Pratt’s house stands directly in the way, and her whole lot is purchased. Mrs. Mary B. Coombs owns the remainder of the land to the Green River.
On the other side of Green River, the road will run 400 ft. south of James Newton’s hosue. At this point there will be a fill of 30 ft., which will require an embankment 16 rods wide at the bottom. The distance across the Newton premises is 1800 ft. It strikes the east side of J.M. Munson’s lot, not going within 25 rods of his house, taking from him 5 acres of pine land running through a cut of 33 ft. on the extreme south as it comes to the Deerfield line.
The length of the road on Munson’s land is 78 rods. The line of road is about half way between the old trotting park on Petty’s Plain and the County road west of it, crossing land belonging to the Bird heirs, a small corner of land belonging to Allen Newton, George W. Potter and Washington Jones, then lands of Caleb Jones, George W. Jones, ____ Hartwell, L.B. Wise, Elexis Jones, Charles Wood, Frederick Conant, and then on to the line at West Deerfield.
At Blakeley Hollow, the bed of the road is 23 ft. under the present track, and from that point west, runs on the side hill, a succession of cuts and fills, but nowhere interferes with houses west of Green River. The bridge across Green River is to be a two track iron bridge, 500 ft. long and 80 ft. high. The piers and abutments will have to rest on piles, as an iron rod has been sunk near the river, to the depth of 40 ft., and the ground was found to be soft and treacherous.
The bridge is to be of the first things constructed, and will be sub-contracted to one of the parties who are now making estimates.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
The Turners Falls bridge
The Turners Falls bridge - A prayer for an injunction was filed by the Montague Paper Co. at the office of the Clerk of Courts, to prevent the County Commissioners from building the new bridge at Turners Falls, as located by the Board, which will bring the matter before the Supreme Judicial Court, which will be in session in Greenfield on the 29th. The company claims that the commissioners had no right to lay out the highway and bridge without first ascertaining that the expenses to be incurred under the act of the Legislature would not exceed $42,000...
That if the bridge is built as located, cutting off the easterly end of the company's paper mill, heavy damages will be sustained, not only by the appropriation of the company's property, but also by the interruption and permanent injury which will thereby be caused to the business; the damage, the company claims, amounting to many thousands of dollars...The company claims that its land and property cannot be lawfully taken.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
The Catamount Hill Coleraine Reunion
The Catamount HIll Coleraine Reunion - The reunion of the present and former members of Catamount Hill, Coleraine occurred on Wed. Sept. 1. There was quite a large gathering of people, and the exercises which were as follows, were interesting and endorsed by those present: Reading of Scriptures by Andrus Shippee [also seen as Andros Shippee], President of the day, from Benjamin Farley’s old family Bible; Prayer by Daniel Davenport, an old resident of the hill; Hymn, Coronation Chronological History, by Dr. A.F. Davenport; Hymn, arranged for the occasion:
"This mountain, ’tis of thee
Land of sweet memory
Of thee we sing
Land where our fathers died
Land of their early pride
Aye from this mountain side
Let music ring.
Our native Mountain, thee
Land of the parent tree
Thy name we love.
We love the rocks and rills
Thy woods and towering hills
Our heart within us thrills
Like that above.
Welcome from Western lands
Thrice welcome in our hands
Ye friends of yore.
From distant home released
To mingle in glad feast
With kindred from the east
As wont before.
Let music swell the breeze
And ring from all the trees
Sweet memory’s song
Let every tongue awake
Let all that breathe partake
Let rocks their silence break
the sound prolong.
Our fathers, God, to thee
The highest praises be
To thee we song
Long may our lives be bright
Protect us by Thy might
Great God our King.
Family History, by Miss Emma Farley; Song, by Miss Gertrude Baker; Old Oaken Bucket, by David Cary; Sixty Years Ago, by Miss Nellie Ives; Dinner; After dinner there were speeches from a number of those present. The following is Dr. Davenport’s http://archiver.root...Y/2001-06/0991943526 address:
Chapter 1
And it came to pass in the reign of George and Martha, that certain tribes of the people who dwelt in many parts of the land, bethought themselves that they would leave their birth right to their brethren, and depart from the land of their fathers and go into a far off country, and make by the sweat of the brow a more noble inheritance, both to themselves and to their children.
And there was in these days a mighty wilderness, and no man kneweth the end thereof. Neither did any man dwell therein, save a few of the wandering tribes of the Gentiles called the "red man". And these did neither plant nor gather into barns; only slay a few wild beasts with the bow and arrow, for they were archers.
And now in the midst of the wilderness arose up even into the heavens an exceedingly high mountain, which was fair to look upon from the plains below, for it was covered with mighty trees even into the brow thereof. And then did roam upon this mountain many wild beasts, but the one that did most abound was one which was very fleet of foot, and did prey upon the lesser beasts of the forest, and upon the flocks of those who journeyed hither, and was called the catamount, and the region did very much abound in rocks which were the fastnesses of these beasts, and there was a cave which did reach even to the bowels of the earth in which these beasts did make their dens, and so much had they increased and multiplied that they were a terror to the coming tribes of the mountains, wherefore that place is called Catamount HIll to this day.
Chapter 2
Now the names of some of the tribes who first journeyed hither were these: Aaron, whose surname was Cary, Israel and Peter, and Amasa of the tribe of Shippee. Alden, who was also named Willis. Elihu of the tribe of Holden, and Paul, who was also called Davenport. And these said among themselves, come, let us get up and make some war upon the forests, and drive out the wild beasts, and make unto ourselves habitations.
And all the elders of the tribes said they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. And Aaron said unto Jemima, his wife, come, let us gather ourselves together, even from the middle of the Borough, and let us with our children travel westward, and they came and took up their abode upon the east side of the mountain.
And behold Hezekiah, whose surname was Smith, dwelt also on the east side of the mountain, even unto the entering in of the wilderness from the river. And their flocks were multiplied, for they dwelt among plants and hedges. And Peter went up and Amasa and all lsrael unto this mountain, and the tribe of Farly.
And Anan, also called Bass, went with Joseph, whose surname was Farnsworth, and they dwelt near together in the hollow according to their generations. And in those days came Paul and Alice, his wife, and they made war upon the wild beasts of the forests, and they pitched their tent and dwelt at the border thereof, where they cleared the land and had green pastures, and their flocks and herds were multiplied and they also begat children, whose names were Zacheus, Thomas and Paul, Daniel and Levi; and they also had daughters given unto them: Lydia, Sally and Alice.
And now Alice lay sick of a fever, and great fear came upon the whole household for she was nigh unto death. And Paul saddled his beast and did go for one Nathaniel, who dwelt in the valley by the river, and whose appellation was "Dr. Nat". And he came with saddlebags and he gave unto her pills of buckthorn and aloes,and the drink of herbs, queen of the meadow, motherwort and sarsaparilla, and after many days she recovered, and great rejoicing came upon all the household.
And behold Nathaniel found that she was fair to look upon, and he said, come in unto me and let us dwell together. And Alice said, I will go; and they went to dwell at the head of the meadow, in a house builded by one Artemas and Ruth. And now it came to pass after this, Joel, one of the Chiefs, and Zenas, the son of Cary, sent messengers to Nathaniel, and timbers of cedar, with masons and carpenters to build him a barn. And they builded it 40 cubits long; the stable thereof was 10 cubits, and a threshing floor 10 cubits and 20 cubits for a bay.
Chapter 3
Now it came to pass in those days, as Aaron sat in his house, that Aaron said to Jemima, his wife: "Behold, our meal getteth low, and our children hunger for bread, give unto me! I pray thee a bag that I may fill it with corn and go to the grinders". And Jemima said, go do all that is in thy heart. And Aaron arose and went. And it came to pass as he was journeying homeward from the mill, the even was come and darkness fell upon the whole land, and a great fog encompassed him about, and his way was lost. And Aaron lifted up his voice and cried aloud "Jemima! Jemima!! JEMIMA!!!"
Now Jemimah heard the cry of Aaron and answered, In here am I. But he heard her not, for her voice was weak. So she straightway took a stick and beat vehemently upon the side of the house, and Aaron hearing the sound thereof hastened homeward. Now the sons of Aaron were Zenas and Levi, but Levi died before his father and had no children. And the children of Zenas and Sally, his wife, who were of the tribe of Maxam, were these: Charlotte and Mariettie, John and George, William, David and Levi, 7 in all.
But the days of Mariettie on the earth were as a shadow, and she was not, for God took her; and Charlotte had wisdom and knowledge granted unto her, and she came in and went out before the children and taught them. And the sons of Zenas were skillful to work in stone and in timber and in tilling the land.
And behold, William was wiser than the others about bees, and the queens of Italia, and did make unto himself a great name. And David, like one of old, was a mighty man and a slayer of beasts and of cattle, and behold, the flesh thereof he did keep in markets, and with it he did feed the tribes of Aaron.
And now after many days it came to pass that Aaron and Jemima, being full of years, died. And Zenas and Sally reigned in their stead.
Chapter 4
Now Amasa, Israel and Peter were the three divisions of our tribe, who came to dwell in the hill country and they went even unto the top of the mountain and sought pastures for their flocks. Even over against the habitations of the wild beasts. And behold the house of Amasa increased greatly, and Andrus, Nancy, Jesse, Alvira and Jerusha, Henry, Chauncey, Nathan, Thankful and Kate, all these mentioned by their names, were the children of Amasa and Rhoda.
And after these days Rhoda saith unto Amasa, behold how our house has been multiplied, let us enlarge our borders, I pray thee, that there may be room in our house to dwell there. And this saying pleased Amasa and he straightway brought his cattle and his oxen, and gathered stones and timber and did build him an house, such as one as had not been there before him. He also made shingles of cedar and spruce and covered his house therewith.
Now Amasa was a man of great stature, even 5 cubits high. And Rhoda wrought fine linen and kersey, and with it did make clothes for her family and for Andrus, her first born. For behold, Rhoda was an helpmeet unto Amasa.
Now the children of Israel were Ira, Zovia, Azuba, Anan, Amasa, Catherine, Abraham, Israel, Martha and one younger called Darling. Now the children of Ira, the first born, were these: Delana, Dordana and Diana, and a son, a shepherd, who died in his youth. And Ira spake unto Dilla, his wife, to appoint their daughters to be the singers. So the daughters were appointed, and with their neighbors did often make merry with corn huskings and apple pearings [probably meant parings] with playing and dancing, making great noise with viols and with harps.
And it came to pass in these days that George took wives from the daughters of Ira, and went to dwell with Zenas, his father. And Zenas saith "Unto thee will I give the land of our fathers, even the house of Aaron, for the lot of thine inheritance" and he abode there many days. And George had exceeding much riches and honor, and he made himself treasures of silver and gold. Also storehouses for the increase of corn and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks, for God had given him substance very much.
And George prospered in all his works, and now sleeps with his fathers; and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of Aaron. And all the inhabitants of the hill town did him honor at his death, and Clark, his son, reigned in his stead.
And behold, Ira dwelt many years upon the mountain heights, well content with his lot. And one door of his house opened southward, and he was wont to remove his waistcoat and tarry long, even in the heat of the sun. Before his door, even near the steps thereof, the sweet-heart which Dilla had planted and watered waxed strong. And the sunflower towered high, even 6 cubits, and their fowls, their geese and their turkeys did gather in the shade thereof.
After these things it came to pass that Ira was stricken with a malady too grievous to be borne, and he died and rested with his father. And Dilla went to dwell in the house of her daughter, near the banks of the river; and in fullness of time she died. And behold, now the house of Ira was left desolate.
Chapter 5
And it came to pass in those days that Peter saw that it was not good for man to dwell alone. Now Dorcas was of the tribe of the Pikes, and Peter saw that she was fair, and he said unto her: "Dorcas, if you love me less buss [?] and they went to dwell together; and they builded them an house near the brook by the side of a rock, and nigh unto the habitations of Paul and of Levi. And lo! a mighty storm arose and it beat vehemently upon the house, but it fell not for it was founded by the rock, and darkness was upon the whole land for it was night.
And lo! while Peter and Dorcas slept, a thunderbolt descended from the heavens and did rend the house, and even the bed whereon they slept! and behold, it did divide in twain the soap trough, and did scatter the contents broadcast over the house and the children. And the dog and the swine were killed, and grat fear came upon all the household. And Peter arose and spake unto Dorcas, his wife, "Come, let us arise and give thanks unto the Lord, for he has been merciful unto us; He has saved us from the mighty judgments of the Lord".
And the next day was the Sabbath, and many people gathered in the house of the Lord, and as they went, they tarried at the house of Peter and Dorcas, and with them did offer up thankofferings [sic] that they were saved from the terrors of the thunderbolt, and He had made their lives precious in his sight. And Peter gathered with all the people in the house of the Lord, and Myres, the Elder, arose and said "The Lord hath been good unto his people; yea, He hath showed a great mercy even unto the house of Peter".
So Peter arose and sang a hymn:
"God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform
He plants his footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm".
And all the people said amen. And the Lord blessed Peter and his seed was multiplied: Peter, Susie, Rolly and Fanny, Annie,, Josiah, Patience, Eliza, Paul, Silas and Mila. These were his children - 11 in all.
Chapter 6
And it came to pass in those days that Daniel the prophet was joined to one of the tribe of Barnes, and her name was Patty: and Daniel was famous in his time as an expounder of the Scriptures, mighty in speech, and all the people came to hear him declare the truth on his day. And behold, he was sorely distressed, inasmuch as his substance was oftimes destroyed by fire, and desolation came upon his whole household.
And Daniel humbled himself before the God of his fathers, and the Lord favored Daniel and greatly blessed his household. And these were the sons of Daniel: David, Thomas, Alonzo, Orrie, Tirtious and Hiram; but the names of his daughters were Lucinda, Emily and Caroline. And it came to pass that these all went by themselves in families, some even to the four quarters of the earth, but David and Lucinda did abide near the house of their father.
And after these days Patty the Prophetess died, and Daniel lamented sore. But in process of time, it came to pass that Mary entered into Daniel’s house, and lo! there was restored unto him sevenfold in Mary, who was greater by far than all his former household. For since the time of the fathers there was not found the like in all the tribes of the mountain.
Chapter 7
Now it came to pass that Abraham, the son of Farnsworth, dwelt in the house of Joseph; and after many days Joseph died and Abram [sic] reigned in his stead, with Dolly, who was of the house of Holden. Now Abram was a tiller of the land, and behold, he was barefooted on the top of his head, as was also his father before him. And it came to pass that Orin was pleased with Roxy, the daughter of Abram, and he took her to wife, and they went to dwell in the house left by Nathaniel; and after many days Orin died, and Roxy tarried and reigned there.
And Riley, her brother, did dwell in the house of their father Abram. Now Dolly’s two brothers, Elihu and John, dwelt also on the south side of the mountain near the house of Anan, whose surname was Bass, and behold Anan had an impediment in his speech, and when he was old and infirm he rested from his labors; and Adna and Rebecca reigned there many years after.
Chapter 8
And it came to pass that Abram, the son of Shippee, said unto himself, Behold, I myself am a man, and I will leave even the house of my father Israel. And he married a wife from the tribe of Farley, and her name was Lucy, and they builded them an habitation and dwelt on the north side of the mountain. Now there were daughters born unto them (but behold the son shone not his face in all their household).
Fanny, Jane and Nancy, Martha, Almira and Parthena were the names of the daughters of Abraham. And it came to pass that when men did multiply on the mountains, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons saw the daughters, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. And one, a Levite, took the firstborn of Abram; and behold all the daughters were scattered abroad. And after the death of Lucy desolation came upon the whole house. And again, after many days, Abram was joined to another and went to dwell near the plains, in an Ashfield.
Chapter 9
And it came to pass that Peter, the brother of Paul and Silas, said unto Polly, let us pitch our tent and dwell near the house of our fathers, for so it seemeth good. And now behold near by their habitation was a dense swamp, and Peter was a man of great daring, and he fain would have walked upon the surface thereof, but his faith was weak, for there was much water there.
And behold a great calamity fell upon Peter, inasmuch as his nose was divided asunder and one of his eyes were blinded by the kick of old Gilpin, and Peter was sore discouraged, and all his household; and he said unto Polly, "Come, let us journey into a far country, where peradventure we shall find greener pastures for our flocks, and a richer inheritance for our children".
And they went on their journey and Nathaniel possessed the land. And behold Nathaniel was a man of great stature and of large understandings, and he was wont to remove the coverings thereof, and to tarry long among the eels and turtles that did much abound in the meadow ditches.
Now the length of this meadow, and the breadth thereof, was exceedingly great, and in it were many islands, both great and small, covered with trees and shrubs, and with herbs; and lo, Nathaniel and Alice were wont to go out and bring in of the abundance thereof in their season; for behold Nathaniel was a disciple of Hippocrates, and was possessed of the healing art in a great degree; and he had vessels of wood and of iron in which he did compound medicines for the cure of divers maladies.
And now it came to pass when the harvest was ended, and winter drew near, Nathaniel spent the long evenings thereof making baskets of willow, and hooping the sieves which Alice did weave from hair, and did bind with the leaves of the flag. And now Robert, their firstborn, was skillful to work in brass and in iron, and to grave all manner of graving, and to find out any device that was put to him.
And lo, it came to pass that he was pierced with a chisel, and so were his days numbered. And now Nathaniel’s 4th son was called Truair, after one, a high priest, who traveled the circuit of the hill country. Now Truair did in habits much resemble his father; he was a tiller of the ground, and he bethought himself that he would journey in a far country, where he might find more fertile fields; and he bought a parcel of land where he spread his tent.
And there his possessions increased much. And it came to pass in the sixth month - the month Sivan - that he was cultivating the land, when lo, there descended upon him a thunderbolt; and he was taken up dead, and they buried him in the field of burial, in the land of strangers.
And now it came to pass that there was born unto Nathaniel a daughter, and her name was called Lydia. Now Nathaniel and Alice did set their hearts upon her, because she was their only daughter, and well favored. So Lydia dwelt in her father’s household until his death. And she did many things that were praiseworthy, for behold she was a woman zealous of good works. And after many days it came to pass that Lydia was beloved by one Emerson, of the tribe of Cary, and they dwelt henceforth with the Adamonians.
Now Ammon, Joseph, and Jason were also of the household of Nathaniel, and behold they were diligent in sowing wild oats among the rooks and the hedges, and even over the ridgepole of the houses and barns. And after they were well brushed in, it came to pass that they did leave their father’s house, and did join themselves into the society of the Odentologues. And behold they were skillful in the making of gold and silver and of ivory, and did make appliances of cunning device and workmanship, which did even eat and speak for themselves; and all the Edentulous did greatly rejoice.
So they were very diligent in repairing the crumbling incisors, bicuspids and molars, and in all that, pertained to "restoring the contour of the human face divine". And behold one went to dwell with the Gothamites, by the border of the sea; but Joseph builded him an habitation in the Norwood of the Connecticut. and lo, it came to pass, that the house of Ammon was sawn asunder, and again, after many days, it was joified and perfected; and the household of Ammon did rejoice greatly in that they did dwell in broader fields, even in the "valley view" of the winding Hoosac River.
Chapter 10
And it came to pass that Levi was a shepherd born (not made) and behold to him fell the inheritance of Paul his father, and he took up his abode there, and did build him an house of hewn logs and timber. Now the house of Levi was more comely than that of Paul, inasmuch as it was broader and higher and was divided into diverse compartments for the convenience of his family. And behold Susan was exceeding glad and said, Come now, let us build storehouses for our flocks, houses for bees, and also for our cheese.
And now Levi was a man of great cunning and he was skillful int he hiving of bees, and their swarms did greatly increase and behold their household did flow with milk and honey. Now Levi possessed lands in great abundance, and his pastures did much abound in rocks and stones, and no beast could feed thereon, save that their noses were well sharpened. So their pastures did run over with sheep and with lambs, both great and small.
And in these days it came to pass that Levi and Susan did take in abundance of the first fruits of flocks, and of cheese and of honey, and of all the increase of the fields, and the tithe of all these things brought them in abundantly, and their coffers were filled with gold and silver. And behold Levi begat great honor unto himself, inasmuch as he tarried long to possess the lands of his fathers.
Chapter 11
And it came to pass that sundry members of Amasa’s household did journey westward; and one of the daughters tarried just over the mountain, and was joined to one David whose surname was Ives. And Kate, the younger, did worship the son of Simeon the Myres, and again she was made one of the tribe of Benjamin. And behold after many days she did return to the house of her father.
Now Nathan did much resemble his father in that he was tall and of a comely countenance, and he went to dwell in the Hub, where he did dispense to the tribes thereof of the milk of human kindness.
And now Chauncey the brother of Nathan was exceeding tall, even 5 cubits and over. And it came to pass in the reign of King Winter, when he did give his snow like wood, and did scatter his ice like morsels, and his hoar frost like ashes, that one Barton did gather together all the children of the hill tribes saying: harken ye unto me, and I will dispense unto you knowledge and wisdom, and learning in great abundance.
And now much learning did make Chauncey mad, and so he did sit down heavy upon his seat, and low the teacher was sore vexed, and commanded Chauncey that he rise and sit down again. And lo, Chauncey did all that was commanded him in that he did sit down threefold heavier than before, whereupon the teacher did rend his clothes and he drew forth a raw hide and with it Chauncey was beaten with many stripes until the ire of his wrath was kindled.
And behold he leaped over the counter and seized the teacher by the throat, and held him down until he begged for his life. And behold they armed themselves with shovels and with tongs, that they might be defended against the assaults of each other, and there arose a great tumult, and all the children quaked with fear and trembling. And it came to pass that when the noise of these things went abroad, Joel, Zenas and Levi consulted together, and Mary, the daughter of Smith reigned in his stead.
And now Andros the first born of Amasa was a captain and a man of great might, in that he did brave the storms and tempests of the mountain; he was also a man of great courage and daring in that he did dwell many years nearer the lions than any of the other tribes of the mountain; even after all his father’s household had forsaken him and gone. Now Andros did search diligently among all the daughters of the hill country, but found not one who would do him honor. So he chose to dwell alone in single blessedness, and verily he shall not lose his reward.
Chapter 12
Now it came to pass in those days that Alice said unto Emily, Behold, how sin doth abound, and the love of many doth wax cold. Come, let us assemble ourselves together, there am I in their midst. So they took their hymn books and journeyed to the old school house and lighted their candle and placed it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that it might give light unto all the house. Then after Alice had arisen from her knees they did sing an hymn. And Emily arose and said "Behold, this is the house of the Lord, let us assemble often together"; so Alice lifted up her voice and said "Amen" and they departed to their own households.
And it came to pass that the noise of these things did spread abroad throughout all the region round about. And behold all the tribes of the hill country were greatly moved and they came together by scores and by hundreds. Now Haynes, one of the elders of the people arose, and behold he was like unto Saul the son of Kish, in that he was taller by head and shoulders than the rest of the people, and he cried with a loud voice "Brethren and sisters, hearken unto me". and a great silence fell upon all the multitudes and he said "behold we are all gathered together from near and from far, let us give thanks unto the Lord, sing psalms unto his name".
Now Daniel, whose surname was Dwight, broke forth into singing:
"My chains fell off: glory! I cried
Was it for sinners Jesus died etc. etc. [sic]"
And all the people said amen and amen. And Zenas, who was greatly beloved by all the people, arose and said "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel forever and ever". And behold he did free his mind of a great burden which lay heavily upon it in that he did tell to the brethren and sisters that "he dreamed a dream; and it amounted even unto a vision". And all the people gave ear unto him, and after he had sat down behold Alice broke forth into singing:
"Oh that my load of sin were gone".
And scarcely had the voice of singing died away, when Sarah the Prophetess, the daughter of Hanshaw arose, and as she spoke a great silence fell on all the multitude for she spake of one Joel who had been suddenly taken to his death.
Now all the brethren and sisters knew and loved Joel, and they did mourn sincerely for him. And when these words sounded in their ears, their hearts were filled with sorrow; and they expressed themselves in singing mournfully. And it came to pass that Rebecca arose. Now Rebecca was a woman greatly beloved, and all the people gave ear to her as she said "It rejoiceth my heart greatly to meet with the brethren and sisters, who have come from near and from far". And when she had sat down all the people said amen.
Presently Peter arose, and his head was white and glistening, and a halo glowed around it, and his face did shine even as the light; and he blessed God with all his heart and soul; and behold, all his kinsfolk and neighbors became as lambs for quietness. But Per was greatly beloved, and when he had made an end of his sayings, he sang with a loud voice:
"On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan’s fair and happy land
Where my possessions lie".
And after this Samuel whose surname was Brown, arose and opened his mouth and said unto them "Men and brethren, it is with me as with Naaman the Syrian, when Elisha bade him go wash in Jordan; yea, more, it was as if the Jordan had been frozen over, and he had been bidden to go wash 7 times in the river. But he essayed the task, and said "Behold I have been ashamed of my brethren in the days that are past, but now do I greatly rejoice to see them zealous of good works". And Nathan, the son of Burns arose, and all the people knew that he had somewhat to say.
And Nathan said "He felt somewhat cold and lukewarm" and sat down, and all the people broke frorh into singing:
"Come Holy spirit heavenly dove
With all thy quickening powers
Kindle a flame of sacred love
In these cold hearts of ours"
And now it came to pass that Daniel the prophet arose. Now behold he was a prophet born (not made) and when the spirit seizeth him, the voice of Daniel was like the balm of Gilead, even like precious ointment upon their heads, that ran down upon the beard; even Aaron’s beard that went down to the skirts of his garments.
Now after this it came to pass that the hour was late and Myres the elder arose, and behold he was halt, and like Samson of old his locks were long and flowing. And he said "My brethren and sisters, if any man does ought to his neighbor, he must go to him and make restitution, or he can never enter into the pearly gates of the New Jerusalem". and all the people said amen and amen.
Now what shall I say more, for the time would fail me, to speak of Sister Farley and others who through faith wrought righteousness and obtained the promise. So after they had sung an hymn, they all departed and slept. And as for the rest of the doings of the tribes, are they not all written in the chronicles of our memory?
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 6, 1875
Shelburne Falls
Shelburne Falls - Aug. 3 John Collins, a railroad laborer from Bardwell's Ferry, had over 40 dollars stolen from him by a fellow laborer while he was asleep under an apple tree. The thief was finally arrested and locked up. The next day about $30 was recovered.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 6, 1875
Great fire at South Deerfield
Great fire at South Deerfield - over $40,000 worth of property destroyed. One of the most destructive conflagrations that has ever visited Franklin County raged at South Deerfield Sat. night, sweeping out of existence the two village hotels, the finest private dwelling house in the place, a manufacturing establishment, a livery stable with several buildings, sheds and other property.
About 15 minutes before 12 o’clock, fire was discovered in the trimming room, in the second story of the ell part of John Ockington’s carriage shop, which was located on Depot Street, a little west of the Main street of the village. Before the alarm became general the flames with almost lightning rapidity spread to the main building, a large 2 story wooden structure, used for the various branches of the carriage business, and a repository for finished work.
Mr. Ockington’s books were rescued, and a portion of his stock, but a carryall, buggy, express wagon, sleigh, and a no. of carriages in different stages of construction, tools and lumber and stock of various kind were destroyed. ..The wind, which was blowing strongly from the north and north west, carried the flying cinders in the direction of Main Street.
Ten and a half ft. from the shop was the livery stable owned by W. Houston and occupied by Frank Warren. Hardly 15 minutes from the breaking out of the fire the stable had caught, and in a very short time was reduced to ashes...The next building reached by the devouring fire fiend was the Hayden Hotel, a large 2 story wooden building in the south west corner of Main Street and Depot Street, 75 ft. distant from the stable. It was owned by L. Hayden and occupied by his son Charles Hayden.
...Nearly all the furniture was removed from the building, but still considerable valuable property was destroyed. Miss Benn Hayden occupied a fancy goods store in the block, and her stock was nearly all saved.
100 ft. to the south on Main Street was Loren Hayden’s fine dwelling house, built but a short time ago, the most extensive residence in South Deerfield, and well furnished. Only a part of the furniture was saved, and the building and most of its contents were soon in ashes. In the rear, 27 ft. distance, was a large new barn which with its contents of hay and grain were destroyed....
While the conflagration was waging its war of destruction upon this corner of the street, another had broken out with equal fury on the opposite corner. The Bloody Brook House, belonging to C.P. Aldrich, was in a few moments a mass of flames. This long building, extending over 100 ft. on Main Street, with a new ell on Depot Street, its barns and numerous outbuildings melted before the flames like frost beneath the rays of the sun.
Efforts were made to clear out the contents but they were mostly unavailing, and the furniture, a piano, billiard table, provisions, bedding, etc. were lapped up by the greedy element. In the large grocery store of L.T. Harris, in the ell part of the building, but little was taken out. Scudder, a jeweler, saved most of his stock, but shot himself through the hand while handling one of his revolvers. J.T. Burnett occupied a room as a barber shop, but met no serious loss.
S.F. Fisher, who had a harness shop in the building, packed his goods and tools in trunks, and saved nearly all. P. Corkins, the shoemaker, another occupant, was alike fortunate. Several boarders in the hotel lost their clothing, but fortunately no one perished or was seriously injured.
Providentially there was a change in the wind, and the fire made no further progress in a northerly direction; though a horse belonging to Edward Jones of Greenfield, which is adjacent, was scorched and vigilant watching was required to prevent it from igniting. O.S. Arms’ house, on the east side of Main Street opposite Hayden’s, was several times on fire. All of the furniture was taken out, and by cutting through the roof and applying water as best they could when flames were discovered, he and his neighbors managed to save the building.
On the corner of Main Street opposite the Hayden hotel, is a large wooden building belonging to C.A. Pierce. This too was scorched. and the roof was frequently on fire, but it was saved without serious damage. Its occupants, M. Roch, druggist, Boyd & Houghton, dry goods, Mrs. B. Parsons Mansfield, milliner, O.S. Arms, post office and shoe store removed a portion or all of their goods, and had them more or less damaged. William B. Houston, who occupied a tenement on the 2nd floor, had his furniture taken out.
Deacon L.H. Fellow’s house, some 20 ft. from the post office, was also on fire and its contents taken out, but the fire was kept at bay by the use of small hand pumps, such as are used in gardens and in washing carriages. C. Mosher’s livery stable was saved in the same way. Numerous other houses and buildings were at different times on fire, but the assembled people were able to put them out.
South Deerfield is without a fire engine, reservoir, or any organized means for extinguishing fire. The people who assembled in obedience to the alarm could do little but assist in moving furniture and goods, and the fire in the destruction of the buildings mentioned had it all its own way. Within two hours from the breaking out of the flames in Ockington’s shop they had done their work, and nothing was left but tottering chimneys and smouldering embers.
About a quarter past 12 a dispatch was sent to Springfield for help and an hour or two after, two steamers and a hose cart arrived, making the run from Springfield in 40 minutes; but it was too late to be of service, and if the engines had come earlier there would have been little water that could have been made use of. The train soon returned.
The Deerfield Guards, under Captain B.F. Bridges, who had returned from msuter the afternoon previous, were early called to guard the property scattered about the streets. Some disturbance was created by boys who had confiscated liquors, but it was quelled without serious trouble. The fire was seen for miles, and burning brands were carried as far as Sunderland.
Mr. L. Hayden was so prostrated from the excitement incident to the fire that there were rumors yesterday that he was not likely to survive; but these rumors were probably exaggerated. John Ockington, one of the principle sufferers, is away at the seaside.
[Article goes on to discuss policies and amount of insurance, but this is all nicely listed in the NYTimes article].
Though there is some doubt about the origin of the fire, the prevailing belief is inclined to incendiarism. There had been no fire about the carriage shop after 3 o’clock the previous afternoon. The place in the building where it broke out was quite a distance from the forging shop. The calamity is a serious blow to the community.
[See the article "Losses by fire" in the Sept. 6, 1875 issue of the New York Times Online Archive].
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 6, 1875
The Old Brick School house rejoices
The Old Brick School house rejoices - Ha ha! I am pleased. Relief has come: my eyes are partially in use. I am certainly improving, inwardly and outwardly. Past neglect has given way to present attention, and I am in high glee. In a few days I expect lots of company; and now that "Richard is himself again" all will go well.
The "five score of dollars" has been well laid out to help me in my declining years. Be assured, ye Fathers of the Town, and the School Committee, your labors in my behalf are fully appreciated, and I will serve you to the best of my ability. So send in the short folks. I will make room for them; they shall be well cared for.
Now I ask in closing, that I may have the "full use" of my eyes. Don't excuse the matter by saying that the boys will pelt me if I look at them. No such thing. The boys have too much respect for me at my time of life, to treat me ill. "Old Brick"
*Some windows are boarded up yet, and present a prison-like appearance.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 6, 1875
A fearful tragedy
In the northern part of Ulster County, on a southern spur of the Catskills, is the village of Pine Hill, where Abram Symonds lived. His only human companion was a daughter, whom he kept aloof from young society, and made of her a veritable recluse. Symonds liked to exhibit his autocratic power over his household, but it is not known that he was ever cruel. The relations of the father and daughter were also, so far as outward appearances went, most cordial and pleasant.
The girl seemed to bow to the will of her parent without a murmur. On Fri. night Nathan Peet, son-in-law of Symonds, called at the house, and seeing no one about, not even the dog, began to search about the premises. Entering the kitchen he saw Miss Symonds lying on the floor dead, and an ax lay on a table in the room, covered with blood.
She had been stricken down from behind. After a short search Symonds was traced to the woods near by, where his body was found lying across a log with his throat cut from ear to ear. Lying near the feet of his dead master was the old shepherd dog, his jugular vein was also severed.
From the trail of blood that could be seen heading to the log from a spot about 20 ft. away, it was evident that the dog's throat had been cut there, and that he had dragged himself to the feet of his old master to die.
[Jeez, this stuff is bloody and horrible! But then again, so darn interesting...].
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
Shelburne Falls
(Shelburne Falls) We have received from Mrs. Jerusha King of Hawley a very ancient barrel made from a hollow tree. It was made by Thomas King in 1712 and was used for holding the first corn raised in the town. It holds just 8 bushels.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
Turners Falls
(Turners Falls) The Union Machine Company of Fitchburg have nearly completed a set of machinery for the Montague Paper Manufacturing Company of Turners Falls, which will be on a larger scale, probably, than any in the country. There will be 9 four feet [?], and the setting will require a space of 100 ft. in length.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
Turners Falls
(Turners Falls) While Superintendent George Hance was working around a shaft in the Pulp Mill Fri., a large piece of iron flew from a workman's sledge and struck him in the knee, inflicting a very painful wound, from the effects of which it will take some time to recover. He is now able to walk about with the aid of a cane, but is unable to bend his leg.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
An old story
The following was told me by the late Theodore Hoyt of Bernardston, father of Richard Hoyt. Mr. Hoyt’s father was Jonathan Hoyt, born in the old Indian House at Deerfield and son of landlord Hoyt. He built a house upon his father’s land at West Deerfield, probably around 1760, where he lived to old age, and sent out into the world a large family of children and grand-children. Here Mr. T. Hoyt was born.
The family were obliged to cross the Deerfield river to attend the public meetings of the town, and to the post office and store. Much of the time the river was crossed in a wooden canoe, which was kept near the old cemetery , as the river at this time was making its way very near its sacred enclosure, and it was feared that it would disturb the sleeping inmates.
Mr. Hoyt was returning from the village, and had entered a ravine on the farm now owned by Salmon Chapman, when a raccoon started up and ran. Mr. Hoyt went for him. He said in those days they did not let any thing disturb them. The raccoon ran under some rubbish and roots of trees, which he began to remove, when he saw a large copper kettle, which he thought was taken by the Indians from the village of King Philip’s time, or in 1704, and buried there.
The old kettle was taken home, but a large hole was found in it, making it unfit for use; but neighbor Deacon Jehiel Jones, grandfather of G.W. Jones and Charles Jones, gave him an old kettle to mend it with, and it did good service for many years. Near where the kettle was found, the Indians had a cemetery and an armory, or a spot for burying arrowheads and other war implements.
The Indians were mostly buried in a sitting posture. This brought the head near the top of the ground. Mr. Hoyt said, when they plowed this land, the plows would cut off and turn out the Indians’ skulls. Oh, what a harvest Mr. Sheldon and Dr. Hitchcock would have gathered from that field! - enough to have filled several shelves of their cabinet.
This farm was then owned by Mr. Hoyt’s brother, father of S.B. Hoyt of Bernardston. The present owner, Mr. Chapman, found deposited in a cavity, 60 or 70 arrow heads, showing it to be a place of deposit. These, we are sorry to say, fell under the eye of Dr. Hitchcock a little too soon after they were found, and are now deposited in the Indian cabinet at Amherst College, with a promise to be returned to Deerfield and deposited in the Memorial Hall when completed. (N. Hitchcock)
- Fri, Feb 12, 2010
