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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
The Bloody Brook celebration
The Bloody Brook celebration - Though crippled and discouraged by the disastrous fire, the people of South Deerfield do not propose to "back out" of the Bicentennial Celebration of the Massacre of Bloody Brook which had been arranged for next Fri. With the aid and the cooperation of the residents of Old Deerfield and neighboring towns, they propose to carry out the programme, giving the thousands who may come to participate in the honors and pleasures of the day a cordial and generous welcome.
The services of commemoration are held in connection with the sixth annual field meeting of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. The President of the day is Hon. George T. Davis of Portland, Me., with Hon. George Grennell, Hon. James S. Whitney, Col. David Wells, Rev. C.S. Brooks, James C. Arms, Henry Childs, George W. Jones, Hon. W.B. Washburn, Rev. F.A. Warfield, Rev. J.F. Moors, Col. Austin Rice for Vice Presidents.
A grand procession will be formed at the depot on the arrival of the train from the north at 10 1/2 a.m., Col. J.B. Parsons of Northampton acting as Chief Marshal. Participating in the parade will be 7 companies of Col. Parson's command, the 2nd Regiment, the South Deerfield Band, members of the Grand Army and Veterans of the late war, the officers, speakers and poets of the day, Patrons of Husbandry, aged citizens, invited guests and other civic bodies and citizens generally.
The order of exercises will be as follows: Dirge by the South Deerfield Band; opening address by George Sheldon, Chairman of the Committee; an original ode by E.W.B. Canning, sung by the Quartette Club; prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. C.S. Brooks; music by the Band; oration by Hon. George B. Loring of Salem; collation; music; poem by William Everett of Cambridge; ode by Miss Eliza A. Starr, sung by the Quartette Club; and then will follow short addresses, music, etc.
The collation will be served in the same way as at the Whatelly Centennial - paper napkins being distributed and the provisions then passed around. The Deerfield Guards had invited several companies of their regiment, intending to provide for their entertainment, but as the fire destroyed some $500 or $600 worth of property belonging to the Guards, they are almost in a bankrupt condition, and the citizens of the town have now come forward and guarantee to furnish the military with a collation.
The people who attend are supposed to carry their lunch baskets and are requested to furnish what they can for our guests of the town who come unprovided. As the hotels of the place have been destroyed, all strangers will be dependent upon the citizens for entertainment. Passengers over the Connecticut River Railroad will be transported for half fare. and the same courtesy will be extended from North Adams and stations west of Greenfield on the Vt. & Mass. road.
All Grangers who attend the Bi-centennial are requested to report at the house of Norman B. Clark, a little south of the monument near the grave of Lathrop, where a committee of the order will be in readiness to receive and wait upon them. The people of Deerfield will be called upon to contribute provisions for the occasion by solicitors in each neighborhood, and they should be prepared to contribute biscuit, cold meats and plain cake.
The Pocumtuck Lodge of Odd Fellows of Greenfield have voted to attend the gathering and parcipate in the parade. The committee of arrangements though not issuing special invitations, desire the attendance of all organizations, including the Grand Army and other secret societies.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 6, 1875
A child on the witness stand
Little Walter Ross, brother of the missing Charlie Ross, was on the stand in the Westervelt (brother of the person who abducted Charley Ross [sic] but who was shot for burglary) trial at Philadelphia on Tues. He is about 7 years old, intelligent, and told his story in his own way with very little questioning. His evidence was as follows:
"I live in Germantown, on Washington lane; on the afternoon of July 1, Charlie went out with me into the lane and we were playing; two men came along and spoke to us; they were riding; they heard us shooting fire crackers up in the yard, and they said didn’t we want to go and buy some; and Charlie said he wanted to go and buy some and then the men asked us to get in; they lifted Charlie in and then I got in; they drove up the lane and then drove up toward Limekiln pike; before we got in they said they were going to take us to get some fire crackers.
I was between the two men and Charlie was sitting on one of the men’s lap; we went down Limekiln Pike down to Church Lane; then they turned up a great high hill and then turned up another street, and then they stopped at a hotel and got Charlie and me a drink; then they stopped in a street at the corner; they gave me money and I went in the buy the firecrackers; Charlie was in the carriage; I bought the fire crackers and came out of the store and then the buggy was gone.
A man came along and asked where I lived, and I said on Washington Lane; he asked me if it was in Washington and I said no, it was in Germantown; he asked if I wanted to go to the station house and I said no; I wanted to go home, and he took me home; I met my father in the lane coming up; while we were riding in the buggy Charlie cried a little, and the men said we were going to buy fire crackers now; Charlie said before he got in he wanted torpedoes; the men said they were going to buy the fire crackers at Juliann’s.
There was a red striped cover in this buggy; they had it spread over Charlie and all of us; Charlie rode all the time on the man’s lap; I had seen these two men before the day they took us away in the wagon; I had seen them twice before that and talked with them; when I saw them before that, they were riding in a buggy; they gave us candy first; they gave us candy twice before they took us away; they were right in front of Mr. Boutelier’s place; they were on the other side of the road from me, and they said Halloo; I did not see the buggy that day; that was in the afternoon when we were going to Sunday School...
The day they give us candy I took it up to Papa and told him that the man gave us candy; there were two new houses building opposite our house last summer; there was nothing said by the men about the houses at any time; one of the men had his nose up this way (pushing the end of his own nose upward); and the other had it down; the one whose nose was up had a cut on his nose, and the other had a mustache, which was red, and his hair as red; one man had on black pants and a light jacket; the pocket went below his knees; the other had on black pants and black jacket".
[For more information see Charley Ross in Wikipedia].
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 30, 1875
Foreign
According to present arrangements the Prince of Wales will, after remaining in Bombay for a short time, go on to Ceylon and thence to Madras. From Madras the Prince goes by sea to Calcutta, and as it has been arranged that he is to arrive there on Christmas Day, there will be a considerable interval to dispose of in the neighborhood of Madras. Probably Bangalore will be visited and Mysore elephants hunted, and it may be that Hyderabad may be looked in upon.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 23, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
H. Clarence Eddy treated a few of his Greenfield friends to an "organ recital" at the Second Congregational Church Fri. aft. The 150 or more who were in attendance included acquaintances and people of musical tastes in our village and Deerfield, and several of the summer visitors in the latter place. The concert gave the most pleasing satisfaction.
Many of the selections were of difficult execution, but Mr. Eddy proved himself, as on previous occasions, thoroughly familiar with every detail of his art. The more simple and familiar pieces were, however, the ones most fully appreciated, eliciting the warmest applause. The "Christmas pastoral", "Bridal Song" and variations on "Annie Laurie" were to our uncultured ears the gems of the programme. We assure Mr. E. that Greenfield people take no little pride in his attainments and fame, and are thankful for any opportunity to listen to his accomplished playing. Mr. Eddy leaves town today, via Boston, for Chicago.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 9, 1875
Northfield Farms
Samuel Alexander, who died here on Wed, aged 88 years, lived throughout his long life in the same house in which he was born, and was in the habit of eating his Thanksgiving dinner in the same room. His father, who lived to be 92 years of age, also dwelt before him in the same house from the time of his marriage, a century ago. Mr. Alexander was a soldier of the war of 1812, and the oldest member of Harmony Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. He retained his faculties till the last, and ate dinner at the table with the family the day of his death.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 19, 1875
Bernardston
Week before last was one of picnics, emphatically so, at Sylvan Grove in this town. On Mon. the 5th, the Hibernians from Keene N.H. celebrated the nation’s birthday by a picnic, which was numerously attended, there being several car loads of men, women and children. They brought their favorite beer in great abundance, and their own police to preserve order and guard the festivities of the occasion from all interruption that might ensue from the "working" of the beer. The police were mostly of the Yankee blood, large and powerful looking men.
They brought along with them two fine bands of music, a brass band, and a string band, to stir the soul with harmony. National pride was quite apparent on this occasion, several of the leading ones wearing the green plume and other trappings of Irish nationality. Upon one large and beautiful banner, we saw the name of Emmett, a name dear to every Irish heart, and a name worthy to be revered by every patriot. Upon the whole this picnic appeared to be a very enjoyable affair, and well enjoyed by all concerned, giving no unfavorable impressions of the Irish character.
There were some very sprightly and amusing single jig dancing, both by males and females, which was almost "super" Yankee. [?] There was only one beer fight, and this was soon checked by the long, bony arms of a Yankee policeman. One of those combatants did not belong to the party from Keene. As soon as clear from the grasp of the policeman, he made tracks as fast as his ten toes could carry him, for fear of being handcuffed and tied to a tree, a summary, but very proper and effective way of treating the license loving public when inclined to pugilistic sentiments.
At a seasonable hour the party all left for their homes in sober good nature, all feeling they had had a good time, and honored the birth of their adopted country. The next picnic in order was that of the two Baptist Societies from Springfield, called the Sunday School Picnic, and was the largest gathering of the kind held at Sylvan Grove this season, there being 9 car loads of old and young, and was evidently a gathering of [?] first social rank of the place. They also had two bands of music, a brass band and a string band, and in addition they had a choir of male singers, whose vocal powers can hardly be beat if equaled.
We cannot recall the time when we have been so highly pleased with social music. And we were not a little surprised, but very "agreeably" so, to learn that the Baptist people can "trip it on the light fantastic toe", and call the same an innocent and sinless amusement, as well as other professing Christians. Truly old prejudices are giving way and common sense is gaining ground...
Thurs. July 8, a colored picnic from Springfield occupied Sylvan Grove, numbering 201 grown up persons of both sexes, and 31 children. They called themselves the Pilgrim Baptists, and during their stay here their conduct was very exemplary and seemed perfectly consistent with the Christian name and character. Their sense of Christian propriety forbade them to indulge in dancing exercises, which seems almost an instinct of the African race, consequently they had no music but vocal, some of which was exceedingly charming to the ear. They were scrupulously neat in appearance, well dressed, though not fantastically so, which is considered by many to be an African characteristic.
They were all shades, from a jet black to a light quadroon, many of them having the straight auburn hair and the Saxon blue eye. Many of them gave evidence of a good degree of general intelligence and learning, being able to converse with ease upon various topics, especially religious topics, to which they seemed much inclined. Their demeanor, through the day, was such as to claim the respect of every one present; and we were very willing to admit that they rightfully belonged to the great Christian brotherhood of man.
Several of the first class citizens of the place showed them marks of politeness and courtesy, by carrying them about town in their carriages. "A blessing on him who cheers the downtrodden".
Fri. July 9, the Unitarian Society from Northampton held a picnic at Sylvan Grove. This party numbered 150, a number highly respectable for the Society, which we understand is quite small. It was quite evident from appearances that this party was composed of people of both sexes from the first circles of refined society in points of politeness and moral culture. They were accompanied by a band of music of 6 pieces, called the Arlan Orchestra, T.S. Billings, leader, a gentleman highly distinguished for musical talents, as also were the others of the band. The music of this band probably cannot be beat by any band in Western Massachusetts. Mr. Billings is, no doubt, an amateur of music from birth.
Of course a dance followed the sweet strains of this music; indeed, they couldn’t help it, so bewitching is the power of music over the head and heels. Among the dancers first up on this occasion we saw an old gentleman, 83 years old; and had you seen nothing of him but the nimble and elastic step of his feet, you certainly would have said those feet were not more than 20 years old; a remarkable instance of green old age. This was no less a man than David Damon, a well known citizen in the first circles of Northampton society. [See the Google book "Early Northampton", 1914],
(Pardon us for calling names). Nothing happened in word or deed to mar the enjoyment of this pleasant occasion. There was no smell of ’license" stronger than good tea and coffee, with plenty of cool lemonade. Joy and social kindness shone in every countenance, showing the unspeakable advantages of refined society. Even the gentle bearing and graceful manners of the little children lent a charm to the occasion. Such a picnic we would gladly see repeated. Scribe.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 12, 1875
Shelburne Falls
Sat. eve. July 3, while Miss Mary Whitney was sitting on the front steps of the Congregational Church, a rocket hit in her lap, which so expedited her movements as to cause her to sprain her ankle.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 12, 1875
Sunderland
There have been great exertions on the part of the parish committee and the inhabitants generally, for the past few years, to prevent the ringing of the church bells on the night preceding teh Fourth of July. On sun. eve., having secured the church from the possibility of entrance, they retired to rest, but the boys baffled all their precautions by climbing to the belfry. One narrowly escaped a fall from the top by clutching the lightning rod just as he reached the end of the roof.
They drew up a rope and threw it to their companions below and then descended. At the sound of the bell one of the parish committee was aroused, and securing the assistance of Constable Davis, attempted to disperse the crowd, when quite a skirmish ensued. Davis received a severe cut upon the face and some bruises, but they succeeded in securing the bell rope and preventing further disturbance. The boys may hear from them again, as their names are known.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 12, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
The 4th, observed on the 5th, was rather tame hereabouts. Even the firecracker nuisance was inclined to be a fizzle. The boys did "raise Cain", however, the night before, and in some parts of the village their singing, yells and rowdyism made the night hideous. But few stores closed on Mon., and the only variation from the usual appearance of things was a larger number of loafers and a few more tipsy men in the streets. The Catholics held a picnic at Pierces grove, the Sunday School in Greenfield uniting with the school at Turners Falls. The procession, escorted by the Fenian Brotherhood, and displaying a variety of flags and beautiful banners, marched through the principal streets, music being furnished by the Emmett Band of Turners Falls.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 12, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
People who invested in rockets and other small pieces of fireworks, were prevented from having their little exhibitions Mon. eve. by the storm, and consequently Tues. night there was quite a little display from different people of the village.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 12, 1875
News of the week
The first celebration of our national birth day ever attempted by American Indians took place at Atoka, Indian territory Mon. Over 3000 Indians participated, who sat down to a bountiful dinner in a beautiful grove near the town. Gov. Allen Wright, an educated Choctaw [and the person who suggested the name "Oklahoma", meaning Red People, for the eventual State], was president of the day, and welcomed the people in an appropriate address. He was followed by the present principal chief, Colonel Coleman [Coleman Nelson], who spoke in Choctaw language. His address was particularly interesting and progressive. Hon. M.W. Reynolds of Kansas was the orator of the day, and speeches were made by Hon. P.W. Perkins of Kansas, Mayor Wright, Col. Kelso, and others.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 12, 1875
News of the week
Notable feature in Monday's celebration: the presentation of a reconciliation bouquet to General Pillow [General Gideon Johnson Pillow http://www.pillowpa.org/general1.htm ] by a young colored woman at a negro barbecue at Memphis, Tenn.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 5, 1875
Bernardston
There was an exceedingly pleasant picnic in the western part of the town on Sat., the occasion being the dedication of Highland Maple Grove, on the premises of S.H. Wright. He has fitted up his grounds in the finest manner, with swings and other appliances for the amusement of the children. S. Sawin of Leyden acted as President of the day and made a patriotic speech, with the "Union" for his subject. There were about 150 present, largely from Bernardston and Leyden, and a few from Greenfield. A sumptuous dinner was served, and there was a glorious time generally. They adjourned to meet at the same place next year.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 5, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
When a legal holiday occurs on Sun., the law recognizes the succeeding day for its observance. The banks and other offices will therefore be closed today.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 5, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
One of our town families became conscious a few days since of an unpleasant odor about their premises. They tried to trace the smell to its source, but the most diligent search did not reveal it. Meantime the stench became more and more intolerable. A carpenter was sent for to rip up the floor, and a mason to remove the plastering with the expectation of finding the carcass of a dead rat stowed away somewhere. But during these operations an Easter egg on the mantel was broken, and then the mystery was explained. The egg had become addled, and in its place among the household ornaments had sent out the unwelcome perfume that had caused so much vexation and trouble.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, June 21, 1875
Mount Toby
Mount Toby is being put into the best of trim, for the accommodation of summer visitors. Mr. Goss has placed two patent swings on the summit, and two more in the grove at the base of the mountain, while there is a general slicking up and improvement all around. The First Church of Springfield will picnic there next Sat., while another society will celebrate the Fourth on the mountain, on Mon. the 5th. Toby promises to be more generally patronized this year than before, and Mr. Goss means to please everybody so well that they will be sure to come again.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, June 21, 1875
The location of the new bridge
The County Commissioners spent the Centennial, when other people were enjoying a day of recreation at home or of enthusiastic patriotism at the Hub, in settling the new Turners Falls bridge, making surveys and measuring distances. There were difficulties in their work that were not easily surmounted. It will be remembered that a few weeks ago the Board attempted to cross over to the island below the dam for this purpose, when an oar of the skiff they embarked in was broken, and they were forced to abandon the undertaking until the waters should get into a more placid state. On Thurs. Col. Holmes of Riverside acted as boatsman, and landed a portion of the party on the island by rowing out into the stream above the dam and then dropping down with the current to the desired point. Another party was entrusted to the care of Commodore Smith, the old ferryman, who piloted his skiff across below the dam, by which a wire for measuring was stretched from the shore to the island. The turbulent channel between the little and big islands was spanned by throwing across the line. the island was then surveyed and the distance across the channel on the Gill side.
/ This work, which required a good deal of paddling about from one point to another, consumed the entire day. The measurements taken are as follows: From the river wall on the Turners Falls side to the little island, 267 ft.; across the little island, 187 ft.; across the channel between the two islands, 451 ft.; across the large island 230 ft.; and from the island to the Gill shore, 216 ft. This would make the distance to be spanned by the bridge or rather bridges, for in reality there will have to be two, 821 ft. But this measurement is only from the river wall on the Turners Falls shore. The Water Power Company say that a bridge must span 150 ft. more to permit the widening, when necessary, of their canal. The only serious difficulty to be encountered at the terminus on the Turners Falls side. The space between the shops of the Clark & Chapman Machine Company and the building of the Montague Paper company is only 27 ft., and through this space the bridge must come. To be in a direct line with Avenue A, a small portion of the buildings on one side or the other, and perhaps both, will have to be removed; while directly in the center of this space just below the bulkhead, a water wheel is located, which would probably have to be taken out.
/ The place originally designed for this wheel was beneath the shop on the bulkhead, and it could probably be moved there with no serious opposition. We do not think that the Clark & Chapman Company will claim heavy damages unless there is serious interference with their buildings and the expensive machinery with which they are filled. On the other hand the Montague Paper company have built this portion of their mill since there was talk of locating a bridge here and since surveys were made expressly, the friends of the bridge claimed, to defeat their plans. Whether this would have any weight in awarding damages remains to be seen. A gentleman connected with the Water Power company informed the Commissioners that damages would be claimed if this location were adopted, that would amount to half the sum stipulated by the Legislature for the construction of the bridge, but the Commissioners propose to call a meeting at an early day, for the purpose of ascertaining the land damages, and settle this point, perhaps, before they accept proposals of the construction of the bridge.
/ It has been suggested, and we believe the plan is favored by the Turners Falls Company, that the eastern terminus of the bridge can be carried across the dam to a point just above the line of the bulkhead. But the danger from the logs that sometimes go over the dam with one end many feet in the air, or the liability of having the structure carried away by some bridge that may be swept down from above as they were in the great freshet, renders this location an impractical one. there are also those who claim that a bridge could be built for many thousand dollars less at the ferry above than at the dam. But the act of the Legislature requiring the commissioners to construct the bridge, designates the latter locality. The commissioners, who were hospitably entertained at the Farren House, completed their surveys, getting the heights, grades, etc. on Friday.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, June 21, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
Thursday, made a legal holiday by act of the Legislature, was not observed here with any noisy demonstrations; in fact, our streets were almost deserted. The stores and places of business were closed, and there was a Sunday like stillness throughout the day.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, June 14, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
The 17th of June having been made a holiday this year by the Legislature, the Banks and some other places of business will be closed on Thurs., and people generally are expected to be filled with patriotism and Bunker Hill enthusiasm.
"Onie" Lawrence is having quite a long holiday from school. He has had trouble from his head for a few months, and forbidden by his physician to study. May he soon recover. He is an unusually bright, intelligent, manly little fellow.
- Mon, Feb 23, 2009
