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Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
The first colored Senator Reverend H.R. Revels
The first colored Senator Reverend H.R. Revels [Hiram R. Revels] - A correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial writes from Holly Springs, Mississippi, as follows concerning ex-Senator Revels, now a Methodist minister near there: "When we entered the door of the plain white frame meeting house, it was filled with worshipers. The Pastor is held in high esteem by his flock at home.
He is both law maker and shepard [i.e. shepherd], statesman and preacher. His party has put an "Hon." [Honorable] before his name, and a college of his church has put a "D.D." [Doctor of Divinity" behind it. He cane home from Washington City as pure as he went,which cannot be said of every white Senator [or ANY Senator these days]...
Pastor Revels is a man of about 30, rather below medium height, with wide perceptive faculties, and a face remarkably bland and winning. He is a light mulatto,with eyes tinged with blue. He is comely, graceful and dignified, and in manner as polite as Chesterfield, without the least affectation.
His voice is strong and rich of accordant tones, his modulation distinct, his sentences models of compact English. You can almost see his punctuation points as he speaks, so exactly measured and as symmetrical as his diction. His gestures are mostly with the forearm, hand and finger, as if he would paint on canvas every shade of his meaning, and touch delicately every color of flower in his rhetoric.
There is no bombast, no trick of syllable or scare of sound. He just talks to you right out in an earnest, straightforward way, and you are arrested, interested, affected and helped by what he says. All this from a farm chattel - a United States Senator, a self-made man.
But he is far in advance of his race. He is a pioneer. Well might his colored substitute in the pulpit, a preacher black as ebony, referring to Pastor Revels in his public prayer, beseech blessings upon the head of "de old, leader of the army". We "heard a white amen to that. And he has an army of a congregation!"
It is much above the average in intelligence, and the order and attention excellent. The Pastor’s influence over the people is marvelous. He can sway a thousand people by a gesture or a word. He said to us that strange as certain demonstrations might seem, it was paradise in order and sweetness to what it had been in former days.
Metcalf & Luther - [Illustration of an eye, with an imp leaning on top of it with a bandage covering one eye, between the letters O and C]. O C $50,000.00 worth of house furnishing goods to be sold this Fall, regardless of cost! ...
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
Rev. Mr. Warfield of Greenfield, who was instrumental in getting up the protest of the Franklin County clergymen against Mr. Beecher's preaching at Lake Pleasant, and who bore the protest to Mr. Beecher at the Twin Mountain House, is man enough to publish a letter in the Greenfield Gazette, vindicating the motives of Mr.Beecher in making his engagement, and rebuking that paper for its unjust and uncharitable statement -- Springfield Union.
We deny that our statement was uncharitable to Mr.Beecher, or intentionally unjust. Mr.Warfield and every clergyman who signed the protest presented by Mr. Warfield to Mr. Beecher, and a large majority of the people of this vicinity, approved of our article and were glad to see it. It was the first thing that opened Mr. Beecher's eyes to the nature of his engagement.
The only thing stated, not strictly correct, was that Mr. Beecher was to receive compensation for his services. Whether people go back on us or not, the Gazette & Courier will not hesitate at all times to advocate an observance of the Sabbath and good morals for the community in which it circulates.
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
Stop the murderer!
Stop the murderer! $500 reward! The above reward will be paid for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who murdered Joseph R. Farnsworth of Coleraine, on the eve. of Sept. 7th.
Daniel J. Dwight and Herbert Davenport are suspected of being the parties who committed the deed. Dwight is a young man about 5 ft. 8 inches tall , 19 years of age, weighing about 140 lbs, light complexion, light hair, light eyes; he usually carries his head a little on one side, with a downward look.
Davenport is 17 years of age, not so heavy or tall as Dwight, with light complexion, light eyes and very light hair; head and shoulders quite stooping, eyes usually turned to the ground. Joseph B. Clark, Chairmen of Selectmen of Coleraine.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
Stop the murderer!
Stop the murderer! $500 reward! The above reward will be paid for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who murdered Jseph R. Farnsworth of Coleraine, on the eve. of Sept. 7th.
Daniel J. Dwight and Herbert Davenport are suspected of being the parties who committed the deed. Dwight is a young man about 5 ft. 8 inches tall , 19 years of age, weighing about 140 lbs, light complexion, light hair, light eyes; he usually carries his head a little on one side, with a downward look.
Davenport is 17 years of age, not so heavy or tall as Dwight, with light complexion, light eyes and very light hair; head and shoulders quite stooping, eyes usually turned to the ground. Joseph B. Clark, Chairmen of Selectmen of Coleraine.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
Shelburne Falls
Shelburne Falls - The 46th anniversary of the Franklin County Baptist Association was held on Wed. and Thurs. of last week. This association is not as large as its name would indicate - only about half of the Baptist churches of the county are in this body. The other churches of the county are connected with the Millers River Association, whose anniversary is to be held in Turners Falls this week.
This division of the Baptist churches of this county into two associations is found to work rather against the interests of the churches. Steps have been taken to unite these two bodies...As it is the Franklin Association is composed of only 11 churches, and of these only 7 churches support a settled ministry...
A feature of special interest was the presence of the venerable and beautiful old man, Father David Pease of Ashfield, now in his 93rd year. Although blind and quite lame, his mind is as clear, and his heart as warm as ever. His life has almost covered the century of our nation's history. The old man was quite elegant in describing the struggles of the Baptist denomination under the old tyranny of the standing order...
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
Greenfield - Susannah McIntyre, who lives on Ann Street, had a little unpleasantness the other day with a hoe, which she stepped upon, the handle of which flew up and struck her a severe blow on the right eye, disabling it for some time.
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
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
The town of Rowe
(Rowe) It is well known among botanists that many notable plants grow on sterile soil, so from some of our small and sequestered country towns have come many of our now prominent and useful men. I well remember when a boy, of living in the town of Rowe 40 years ago, just how it appeared.
I was a poor farmer’s boy, at work on a farm for wages, at 12 dollars per month. I had been well schooled in the village schools of the time, but they said "there was to be a select school in the center of the town, to be taught by Mr. John Wells, a son of Hon. Noah Wells of Rowe, who had just graduated at Williamstown, taking the highest honors in his class".
John succeeded in getting a large class, made up of the young ladies and gentlemen of his native town. I was a pupil among the others, and here I wish to say that a more successful school was never taught by any man. John Wells was then a young man, tall, straight as an arrow, with a beautiful face, and an expression like a modest girl. At the close of the school, we had an exhibition in the old Unitarian Church. It was filled to overflowing, and all the scholars took a part. The whole thing was a great success for Mr. Wells and a credit to his pupils.
The succeeding winter I taught the "winter school" in the center of the town, having among my scholars a small boy, the son of Rev. William Stearns, named George Stearns. George was a bright, blue-eyed boy of about 10 years old, good, but very mischievous. I gave him his first lesson in Latin grammar. I well remember how he used to recite in such a way as to make fun for the other scholars.
Well, Mr. John Wells is now Hon. John Wells of the Supreme court; and little Georgie Stearns is the celebrated Springfield lawyer, one of the most eminent of his profession in the State. The following year I taught a school in the north west part of the town, in a little "hut of a school house", and among my scholars was a little boy by the name of Noah Cressy.
[See Google Books "American Law Review: 1875 - 1876" for a long biographical entry on John Wells].
[See Google Books "Second annual report on the diseases of the domestic animals in Connecticut" by Noah Cressy].
There were 3 brothers of the Cressy family living in the district, and their children constituted the greater part of the school. the following year I went away to study medicine, and lost sight of little Noah, and the next I heard of him he was "Professor Noah Cressy of the Massachusetts Agricultural college, and veterinary surgeon to the State of Connecticut".
A chum went with me from Rowe to study medicine in the same office with me, the office of Moses Barrett M.D., located in the town of Charlemont. Dr. Barrett was a native of Rowe and had studied medicine and graduated with high honors. My chum was C.K. Fiske of Rowe, who graduated with me at the Berkshire Medical college in 1842. Dr. Fiske became an eminent dentist and settled in St. Johns, New Brunswick.
The late Major Reed, sheriff of this county, was for a long time a merchant in Rowe, if not born there. He had a son by the name of Samuel Reed, a scholar in my school, who afterward studied medicine, graduated, started for California, and died on the passage.
I frequently meet Prof. Cressy. He is a wide awake, congenial, friendly man, but eminently learned in his profession. Last week we exchanged some books, I giving him Harris on Insects, and he giving me "The Elements of General and Pathological Anatomy" by David Craige, M.D., published in Edinburg in 1828.
On the fly leaf is this, written in pencil: "To Dr. Craige, belongs the merit of having written the first distinct and comprehensive work on general anatomy" signed George Gulliver, M.D. There is probably not more than one or two other works of the kind and edition in this country. David Rice, M.D.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 6, 1875
A female burglar
A female burglar has just been caged in Indiana, whose ingenuity and daring would be worthy of admiration were they exercised in a different field of labor. Her name is Nellie Spencer, and she is reported to have had under her command as desperate a gang of thieves as ever flourished. The latest operations of her gang were undertaken in Evansville, where Nellie was so unlucky as to be caught.
She is described as a young woman and wears a determined look upon her face. She is of good large figure, and her movements are extremely graceful. Her eyes are coal black, and a winning smile plays about her mouth. She wears her hair short and curly, combed back from her forehead, and she has a very pretty way of throwing it back by a dash of her hand.
She is no ordinary woman, and has little of the timidity which characterizes her sex. She has discarded the garments of her sex with all other feminine attributes and donned the clothing of the sterner sex, while carrying out her plans.
Her gang would usually meet at 2 o'clock in the morning. The party assigned for the work of burglary would be assisted by one person to hold the swag, while the others would be posted around to give warning. The signals were various, sometimes a gentle rap on the fence, and again a low whistle.
When anyone approached, the party lay low until he passed, and the business was again resumed. No one person was selected to do the burglary, the risky work being divided between the members of the gang. Frequently however, Nellie is said to have accomplished a neat job single handed. Her valise was found where she boarded and among its contents were two suits of men's clothes.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
What is it?
What is it? Magic or Spirits? Mrs. Blair, the world renowned Spirit Artist, will give an exhibition of her wonderful power as a medium, on Tues. eve., Aug. 31, at Franklin Hall, Greenfield...She paints while thoroughly blindfolded, in the presence of the audience, producing the most wonderful paintings in an incredibly short time. Seance preceded by a lecture by Mr. Taylor of Boston. Admission 25 cents.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
The rage for short dresses
A song which Mme. La Mode is at present much engaged in singing is:
"If your foot is pretty, show it".
[OK I can’t resist sharing one verse of this wonderful 1857 ditty "sung by W.N. Smith, the great bone-player of Bailey’s Circus"
If your foot is pretty, show it,
No matter where, or when;
Let all fair maidens know it:
The foot takes all the men:
The face, so fair and lovely,
May charm the gazer’s eye,
But if the foot is homely,
He’ll quickly pass you by,
He’ll quickly,--He’ll quickly,
He’ll quickly pass you by.
See the rest of the lyrics at the Library of Congress’s American Memory site].
Dresses are growing shorter and shorter in front; to that extent it is almost as impossible not to know what sort of hose a lady wears. I cannot speak enthusiastically of this fashion. A woman’s charms are hightened [i.e. heightened] by their partial concealment, not their full exposure, and the poet who sang of a lady whose name I forget:
"Her feet beneath her petticoat
Like little mice stole in and out"
or words there or thereabouts, would perhaps have considered the lady’s feet regular full grown rats if he’d had a square look at them. [;-) ] And modesty - how about that? I remember at the time the short skirts, disclosing the very tops of boots, were worn in Paris. Eugenie, the lovely Empress, and Napoleon III went to pay a state visit to the sovereigns of Austria.
When Napoleon and Eugenie arrived at Vienna, they found Franz Joseph and the beautiful Empress Elizabeth awaiting them at the railway depot. Eugenia wore a delicious little short costume, in which she looked "ravissante", of course, but the Empress Elizabeth, unaffected by the latest French mode, wore the usual long dress of women. Eugenie sprang into the imperial carriage, making a display so lavish and beautiful of sky-hued hose of symmetrical proportions that such another would have secured an engagement to any ballet dancer on the spot, and then the lovely Elizabeth gathered up her skirts and placed her feet upon the carriage step.
Instantly Franz Joseph drew her drapery from her hand, and passing it closely about her, exclaimed "Take care, your Majesty, you might show your feet". Rather a smart speech, but I have often wondered whether such underhanded or underfooted slaps at guests were considered the correct thing in the Viennese code of gentility.
There’s no telling what Franz Joseph would say if he could see some of the women who prance up and down Long Branch piazzas. Might show their feet indeed! They do. And more. The first glance at these women with skirts so curiously short in front gives one an erroneous impression. Who says there’s danger of the American population fading out before the foreign cohorts’ prolific hosts, when __? Oh, no, quite the wrong tack - that’s the way they wear the dresses now. pardon, Madame! (Olive Logan’s Long Branch Letter).
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
Shelburne
(Shelburne) There was quite a fight down on the railroad Sun. night, in which about 60 were engaged. It was rather the worst time that they have had, and was bad enough, as appearances of heads and eyes testify.
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)
"Well, mum, I am near-sighted, and I thought the window was open", explained an Athol gentleman who had deposited several gills of tobacco juice against the car window, to a finely dressed woman, who had received most of the liquid on her lap.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
Northfield
W.J. Beaman, an artist from Westminster, is painting fine pictures from the natural scenery, which is so largely at command of an artist's eye.
[It appears that a relation of W.J., named Gamaliel Waldo Beaman, also an artist, so loved the Northfield countryside, that he took up residence with a mountain hermit there. See http://whitemountain...graphies/bio_gwb.htm ].
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 16, 1875
Coleraine
The bee man, extensively known among those interested in bees, is sending queens to all parts of the country. It pays to visit his place and see the bee city, and witness with what unconcern Mr. Cary handles the busy little creatures. Where there, you should not fail to look at Whiting's trout ponds, and feast your eyes, if nothing more, by a look at the finny tribes there.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 16, 1875
Shelburne Falls
Thurs. night Mr. Hogan, one of the railroad contractors was thrown from his carriage and severely injured. The scalp was torn from the skull fully 2 inches over the right eye, but it is believed no fracture of the bone was produced. The right knee and elbow joints were also badly bruised. On Fri. Mr. Offinger's son [probably Oefinger] had his right arm broken in two places. Both are under the care of Dr. Severance.
A youth walking several miles to a certain place, became wearied while passing across a pasture and seated himself a few moments to rest on a mound, when he fell asleep. He was aroused by something heavy striking his chest, and opened his eyes to see a colt’s hoofs just disappearing over his head. He had not seen the animal who was somewhere quietly feeding, but being suddenly startled ran upon him unawares. He felt the blow quite severely several days.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 2, 1875
The lament of the "Old brick school house"
I cam into being a good many years ago. Good men and true contributed towards my building up and sustenance. I never was called good looking, but the old saying is "handsome is that handsome does", and the public shall be jufges whether I have done the handsome thing. Mattters connected with my early history may as well be brought to light. Within my walls were educated a large number of young men. Then I went by the name of Felenberg Academy. After a time my name was changed to "Old Brick".
Still I continue to make myself useful. Thousands of children of both sexes were sheltered and educated under my roof, and I could name a long list of faithful, laborious, excellent teachers, who taught "young ideas how to shoot!" In that same old brick school house. So upon the whole, it can be said in truth that I was a success. My surroundings on the south were pleasant - a large playground, well graveled, with seats for the scholars when tired of play, and shade trees in the school yard, and having at all times the pleasant Main Street in view.
These things combined, contributed to the happiness of all concerned. But the day of sadness came. I as not "looked up to" as in days gone by. Some questioned my ability to be of further service to my young friends. It was hinted that I lacked strength to endure the hard strains to which I was subjected from day to day and from year to year' and to tell the truth, there were those who proposed to leave me altogether, and set up an opposition establishment. Yes they did do it. How ungrateful, when the best years of my existence have been spent in doing all that lay in my power to do for the rising generation, then to have those who ought to have befriended me, turn against me.
It was hard, but such is life. "Republics are ungrateful". But the cruelest part remains to be told. After all my service for years, and hard service at that, not only did they abandon me as useless, but actually "put out my eyes", thus adding insult to injury. Yet, notwithstanding such cruel and outrageous treatment, what did I do? When the public were again in want of my services, I was free to offer them. They accepted the offer; but, I am sorry to say, they acted like a faithless lover - they have left me again! Since they left me, it has not been an easy task to find another friend to serve them better than I have done...
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 26, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
J.B. Richardson has painted some very neat signs for the office of Manager Prescott of the Hoosac Tunnel Railroad, in the Mansion House Block. The rooms used by the Manager and the engineers have been fitted up with an eye to comfort and good taste.
- Wed, Feb 24, 2010
