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HISTORIC HOMES
OF
AMHERST
BY
ALICE M. WALKER
Published under the auspices of the Amherst Historical Society
Amherst, Massachusetts
1905
/^S\V'
UQHAHY of CO:\GKtSS
Two Copies Heceivsu
MAY 8 1^05
Copyng.ii tiitf^
Ciji^.n. fqer
cuss a. xxc Noi
COPY fif.
Copyright 190S
Bv Alice M. Walker
PRESS OF CARPENTER S MOREHOUSE
TO THE
DESCENDANTS OF THOSE ANCIENT WORTHIES
WHO FOUNDED
THESE HISTORIC HOMES OF AMHERST,
THIS RECORD OF THEIR DEEDS IS DEDICATED.
BItat of 3(U«0tratt0tt0.
Old Strong House on cover.
Old Strong House from the Garden— frontispiece.
Mrs Sarah Strong McConihe, 8
The Bridgman Tavern on the Bay Road, ... i8
Silhouettes of Mr. and Mrs Jonathan Bridgman, . 20
Mrs. Porter, 24
Mrs. Porter in her Wedding Gown, 28
Dr. Nathaniel Smith's Watch, 40
Dr. Timothy Gridley, 44
Dr. Gridley's House, . 48
Mark's Meadow, r^
Captain Mark in Uniform, ^6
Captain Walter M. Dickinson, 66
The Hubbard Tavern at Plumtrees, .... 70
Caleb Hubbard and Wife, 72
Nancy Hubbard, . y.
President Hitchcock's House, s6
President Edward Hitchcock, ...... 88
The Return, 02
Amherst College and Bell Tower, .... 96
(UIj? (ilh i'trong Ifousp.
The old Strong house, beneath its towering buttonwood trees,
attracts the admiration and excites the interest of all visitors to
Amherst. It is not only the most picturesque dwelling, but the
oldest house in town, and is the home of the Amherst Histori-
cal Society and the Mary Mattoon Chapter, Daughters of the
American Revolution. It dates back to the time of the French
and Indian wars, and stands to-day a perfect model of the ar-
chitecture of that period and a monument to its builder, Nehe-
miah Strong.
The early settlers of old Hadley were energetic and progress-
ive. Not satisfied with cultivating the meadows along the
river, they gazed with eager eyes toward the wooded hills and
fertile lands which bounded their eastern horizon. As early as
1728, finding the broad and shaded street of the mother town
was becoming too populous to accommodate their increasing
families and numerous flocks and herds, a few old Hadley
farmers, more venturesome than the rest, penetrated into the
eastern wilderness and formed a settlement known as " Hadley
Farms." Two years later these " East inhabitants " set apart
a burying place for their dead, and in the old " West cemetery "
Nehemiah Strong and his descendants sleep.
2
2 Historic Homes of Amherst
The little hamlet 3'early received accessions from neighbor-
ing towns, and its inhabitants increased and prospered. Its soil
was fertile and its pastures rich and abundant. The game w^as
plentiful on the mountains and the air was free from the fog
and dampness which brought disease to many dwelling along
the river. No floods nor freshets could reach those living on
the highlands of Eastern Hadley, and to these advantages were
added others not often found in outlying districts of that day.
Blacksmith Aaron Warner followed his trade in the new settle-
ment, and Dr. Nathaniel Smith was ready by means of pills and
potions to kill or cure. His lancet, calomel, and jalap seldom
failed to produce an effect, and should the result prove con-
trary to expectation, ample accommodations in the new ceme-
tery awaited unfortunate patients. A doctor and a graveyard
once provided, there were needed but a meeting-house and
parson to complete the inducements offered strangers to settle
among the eastern hills.
What now is Amherst, in 1732 became Hadley third pre-
cinct. Three years later Rev. David Parsons was engaged to
preach in the new district, and in 1739 he was ordained as pas-
tor of the church. Where his first service was held we cannot
determine, for though the parish voted in 1735 to build a
" meating-house," the primitive structure covered with boards
of spruce was not completed until 1753, though services were
held in it before 1742. The " meating house " stood near the
present site of the old Amherst college observatory, which
was then about the center of the common. Here the " learned
and orthodox divine," wdth fiery eloquence w^armed the hearts
of his shivering congregation through the winter Sunday ser-
The Old Strong House j
vices, and in turn his people made desperate efforts to keep the
ministerial woodpile replenished with that which seemed most
needful to the comfort of the parson and his family. The scat-
tered residents in the new third precinct were now glad to wel-
come others able and willing to help them pay the taxes and
draw the minister's wood.
The village of Northampton was at this time the home of a
notable family of Strongs, descendants of " Elder John Strong,"
who was born in Taunton, Eng., sailed from Plymouth in 1630,
settled in Dorchester, and afterward made his home in Wind-
sor, Connecticut. In 1659 he removed to Northampton, where he
lived for forty years and became a leader in the town and in the
church. He was a man of wealth, a tanner by trade, and car-
ried on his business near the present site of the railroad station.
In 1663, Rev. Eleazer Mather of Northampton and Parson
Russell of Hadley ordained John Strong to be a ruling elder in
the church, by the ceremony known as the " laying on of
hands." A few years afterward Elder Strong assisted in the
ordination of Rev» Solomon Stoddard as pastor in Northamp-
ton. His first wife died on the passage from England or im-
mediately after, and her infant child did not long survive her.
His second wife, Abigail Ford, whom he married at sixteen,
died at eighty, the mother of sixteen children. The head
of this remarkable family lived to be ninety-four, and at
the time of his death had been the father of eighteen chil-
dren, fifteen of whom were living with families of their own.
His grandchildren numbered one hundred and fourteen, and his
great grandchildren, thirty-three. The eldest and youngest
children of Elder Strong were thirty-nine years apart in age.
4 Historic Homes of Amherst
These children, strong in nature as in name, inherited from
both parents sterUng qualities of character which fitted them to
become leaders among men. Abigail married Rev. Nathaniel
Chauncey of Hatfield, and for her second husband Deacon
Medad Pomeroy of Northampton. Elizabeth married Joseph
Parsons, also of Northampton, and Experience became the wife
of Zerubbabel Filer of Windsor, " who left a good estate."
Mary Strong married Deacon John Clark of Northampton, and
Sarah was the helpmeet of Joseph Barnard of Hadley, who
followed his father's profession as a '* viewer of chimneys and
ladders." Hannah married Capt. William Clark and went to live
in Lebanon, Connecticut. Hester married Thomas Bissell of
Windsor, Connecticut, and Thankful Strong became the wife of a
'' Mr. Baldwin," of Milford, Connecticut, whose family the histo-
rian was not able to trace. The numerous descendants of these
daughters were men of wealth and learning, eminent in all pro-
fessions, very religious and in many cases famous for their
bravery in battle. Three sons, John Jr., Return, and Ebenezer,
were tanners like their father, John and Return settled in
Windsor, Connecticut, and Ebenezer carried on his trade in
Northampton, and was a ruling elder in the church. Thomas,
Jedediah, and Jerijah, the farmers of the family, lived in North-
ampton. The former married Rachel Holton for his second wife,
and died, the father of fourteen children, nine of whom were
under fifteen years of age. Jedediah married three times, and
dying at the age of ninety-six left a large family of sons and
daughters. Jerijah married Thankful Stebbins, and died on
his farm when eighty-nine years old.
Samuel Strong, the ancestor of the Strongs in Amherst, and
The Old Strong House 5
twin brother of Joseph, who died in infancy, married Esther
Clapp, and soon after her death took for his second wife Mrs.
Ruth Sheldon Wright. He had twelve children, most of whom
settled on farms in Hadley and South Hadley. His third son,
Nehemiah, married about 1728 Hannah Edwards, the daughter
of Jonathan French of Northampton, and widow of Nathaniel
Edwards, who was killed by Indians. Unwilling for some
reason to settle permanently in Northampton, Nehemiah Strong
took council with his brothers, living across the river, as to the
most desirable location for a home, and settled upon Hadley
third precinct, where land was cheap and plentiful. He pur-
chased a tract at the junction of the west highway and the road
leading to Hadley, with the intent of building a mansion of the
latest style and most approved design.
Houses in those days were meant to last for generations.
With this in mind, having observed the homes of certain of his
friends in other towns, Nehemiah Strong made plans for his
new dwelling. The house should have the fashionable gambrel
roof, and spacious, low ceiled rooms, and great brick oven and
fireplaces, in which the massive back log should smoulder
through the night and furnish embers for the morning blaze.
All these and other details were settled in his mind before the
owner of the land shouldered his axe, and with his neighbors
went into the woods near by to cut great forest trees and draw
them to the spot. Willing helpers aided in the task of hewing
into shape the massive timbers and splitting the clapboards for
the covering of the frame. The foundations were laid on the
north side of the broad highway, and then the invitations to the
raising were sent by word of mouth to neighbors far and near.
6 Historic Homes of Amherst
We may well imagine that many distinguished persons gath-
ered on this occasion, which afforded opportunity for social
festivity as well as strenuous toil. Each side of the building
firmly fastened together, was lifted by united effort and held in
air until the wooden pegs were pounded home and the whole
frame was in position. Then a nip of toddy, accompanied by
home-made doughnuts, were enjoyed, and the wearied visitors
rested and " passed the time of day." The doctor and the
minister, no doubt, were there in readiness to officiate in case
of accident. We find no record, however, of any mishap, and
in 1744 the building was completed, and worthy Nehemiah
Strong with his wife and children, Nehemiah aged fourteen,
Mary aged twelve, and Simeon aged eight, were fairly settled
in their new home.
They found themselves in a community of farmers, who em-
ployed their leisure time in carpenter work, and fishing and
hunting, and digging pits to catch the wolves which killed their
sheep. The women spun flax and carded wool, and wove the
cloth in which the family was clothed, and were equally dex-
terous in firing a gun, handling a broom and raking after the
hay-cart in the field.
The year this house was completed, soldiers were needed to
garrison the forts built at Heath, Rowe, " East Hoosuck " and
Charlestown for defence against the French and Indians, who
threatened the frontier. Many citizens of Hadley and East
Hadley were recruited for this service, but Nehemiah Strong
stayed at home and made himself of use in the community. In
1748 he was appointed a " committy " to " hire suitable persons
to blow ye kunk," and sweep ye meeting hous for this yeare,"
The Old Strong House 7
and later he blew " ye kunk " himself. He even attempted to
furnish firewood for the minister, and was not dismayed when
the shivering parson demanded " eaighty Uoads." ^ Another
thankless task, "to seat ye meating house anue " was en-
trusted to Nehemiah Strong.
The family life of the children beneath that gambrel roof we
can but imagine. The oldest son, Nehemiah, prepared for col-
lege, perhaps with their distant cousin. Rev. David Parsons.
He graduated from Yale in 1755, was tutor in the college for
three years, and settled as pastor in "Turkey Hills," Connecticut.
For eleven years he held the position of professor of natural
philosophy in Yale college, and was, according to President
Dwight, " a man of vigorous understanding." His family rela-
tions were somewhat peculiar, for, when the first husband of the
supposed widow whom he married returned from sea, she left
her professor for the sailor. The Rev. Nehemiah, however, was
not heartbroken, but lived to the age of seventy-seven, and
died in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Mary Strong, the daughter of the house, married Lieut. Solo-
mon Boltwood, and became the ancestor of the famous Bolt-
wood family, whose influence was felt in Amherst through many
generations. The marriage was performed by Rev. David
Parsons, probably in the family mansion, though the couple
may have gone to the meeting-house on the hill. They had
eleven children. Their grandson, Elijah Boltwood, for many
years was the genial landlord of the Boltwood tavern, near the
site of the present Amherst House, and well known as one of
the best inns in Western Massachusetts. In his day it was a
two-story structure painted yellow, with a bar-room in front and
8 Historic Homes of Amherst
a ball-room overhead. The old sign, which swung from a stout
post in front of the tavern, is now the property of the Amherst
Historical society, and is preserved in its rooms in the old
Strong house.
Simeon Strong, the youngest child of Nehemiah, was a pre-
cocious boy, and graduated from Yale in 1756 among the first
scholars in his class. A biographical sketch in the " Panoplist
and Missionary Magazine United," says of Simeon Strong:
'' At the expiration of his collegiate term, a premium called the
Dean's Bounty was adjudged to him, by which he was enabled
to spend a fifth year at that seat of learning." When this fifth
year was completed, he studied theology and preached for sev-
eral years, but on account of a consumptive tendency did not
accept any of the calls to settle which he received. He finally
decided to become a lawyer, and entered the office of Colonel
Worthington of Springfield. His studies were barely com-
pleted and the young law student ready to set up for himself,
when in 1761 his mother, the wife of Nehemiah, died, leavino-
the old man alone. We can easily see the reason why, know-
ing that his son was about to marry, Nehemiah that same year
deeded to Simeon " my dwelling house and barn in said Am-
herst, both standing on a piece of land now in my possession,
which land is bounded on the east and south on the King's
Highway." This gift provided a home for the young lawyer
and his wife, Sarah Wright, and the children who came after,
and the deed proves certainly who built the old Strong house.
Young Simeon erected for himself an office on the west side of
his dwelling, and it is possible made some changes in the back
part of the mansion, as tradition hints that once the roof sloped
Sarah Strong McConihe
The Old Stroiior House
&>
to the ground. But the palatial residence of his father was
good enough for him and his descendants, and there they lived
during the eventful years which led up to the Revolution and
decided forever the fate of the Nation. We can imagine the
excited discussions as those assembled in town meeting agitated
questions of vital purport to themselves and their posterity.
With calmness and deliberation Simeon Strong listened to the
arguments of his excited fellow townsmen, weighed them care-
fully in his judicial mind, and formed his own opinions. We
find his name in the town records as church treasurer, and a
member of many important committees. But when the district
of Amherst was called upon to contribute stores and money
and men to defend the " Common Cause," some of her influen-
tial citizens were found to be loyal to King George. Most
prominent among the loyalists was Simeon Strong, and the old
Strong house became the headquarters of the Tory faction.
The patriots who remained at home showed no mercy toward
those who differed from them in opinion. When the selectmen
found it difficult to furnish the eight blankets for the soldiers
which was the town's proportion of those required of Hamp-
shire county, they boldly " impressed " a blanket belonging to
Simeon Strong, for which he brought suit against Constable
David Blodgett and compelled payment. The learned advo-
cate, honest in his convictions, in spite of his Tory principles,
kept the respect of his fellow townsmen, maintained his stand-
ing at the bar and accumulated wealth. The small addition to
the rear of the family mansion held his law library and pam-
phlets, and served him as an ofiEice. Here he interviewed his
clients and pursued those studies in theology and metaphysics
10 Historic Ho7nes of Amherst
which were his delight to the close of his life. In 1787 Simeon
Strong was appointed a member of a committee to build a new
meeting house on the hill. Having served the town acceptably
in the General Court, he was elected to the Senate, and in 1800
was appointed Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massa-
chusetts. He was one of the " Proprietors of the Locks and
Canals on Conn, river," and took an active interest in all pro-
jects for improvements at home and abroad. In his last years
he was owner of all the land near the northeast and northwest
corners of Main and Pleasant streets, and was greeted with re-
spect as he rode about in his stylish fall back chaise, the first
carriage owned in town. He died in 1805, at the age of sixty-
nine, the most distinguished lawyer who has ever made his
home in Amherst. He was buried in West cemetery, and upon
his stone appears this inscription :
Simeon Strong, Esq.
(Judge of the Supreme Judicial Court of
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.)
died Dec. 14, 1805.
" Man dives in death, dives from the sun in
fairer day to rise ; grave his subter-
ranean road to bliss."
Four of his seven children w^ere living at the time of his
death. Just before he died, the University of Cambridge con-
ferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws. Timothy Dwight,
president of Yale college, the intimate friend and admirer of
Judge Strong, says :
" On his integrity all who knew him relied without a sus-
picion. In the various relations of private life he shone with a
The Old Slrono- House ir
^
mild and delightful luster. His manners were an unusual mix-
ture of gravity and cheerfulness, of simplicity and propriety, of
modesty and dignity. The religion which he professed and
lived so long gilded his exit with the calm sunshine of a Sum-
mer evening."
A family of lawyers, inheriting the keen intellect, shrewd wit
and sterling honesty of their ancestors, were born and trained
beneath the gambrel roof of the old house, and came forth to
settle the disputes of the community, and win renown in neigh-
boring towns. Each of Judge Simeon's four sons received a
college education, Simeon, Jr., graduated from Yale in 1786,
and practiced law in Conway and in Amherst. John went to
Williams college, read law with his father, and was ad-
mitted to the bar, and though he did not become so famous as
his younger brother, Solomon, yet, according to an old record,
" He was an upright Christian man." Solomon, also a gradu-
ate of Williams, became eminent in his profession, represented
the town in the General Court, was elected to Congress in 18 15,
and for more than twenty years was Judge of the Massachusetts
Court of Common Pleas.
For many years the family in the old Strong house and their
descendants were identified with the life of the town in all de-
partments of activity. The second son, Hezekiah Wright
Strong was greatly interested in procuring the advantages
of higher education for the poorer boys and the girls of his
native town. He graduated from Yale, practiced law at
Deerfield, and finally settled down in Amherst, where he was
postmaster and kept a country store on the present site of
Adams' drug store. In company with Samuel Fowler Dickin-
12 Historic Homes of Amherst
son he started a subscription, by means of which, on land do-
nated by Rev. David Parsons, son of the " learned and ortho-
dox divine," Amherst academy was built. This school was
prosperous from the very beginning, and boys and girls in equal
numbers hastened to avail themselves of the advantages offered
at a minimum charge. Among the pupils in 1818 was the
daughter of Hezekiah, Sarah Sophia Strong, who had evidently
inherited a desire for knowledge from both her father and
mother, Martha Dwight of Belchertown. Miss Sarah Strong,
at the age of sixteen, became a teacher in the academy, and
numbered among her pupils Mary Lyon, an awkward girl from
Buckland, afterward to be regarded as one of the great educa-
tional leaders of the world. In Professor Tyler's history of Am-
herst college, Sarah Strong, great granddaughter of the builder
of the old Strong house, describes the work of the academy,
the visits made to it by Noah Webster, vice-president of the
Board of Trustees, and theatrical exhibitions given by the stu-
dents in the old meeting house on College hill. Sarah Strong
married in Amherst, April 19, 1826, Hon. Isaac McConihe,
LL.D., son of John McConihe, a Scotch Presbyterian, who fled
from Scotland to Ireland in 1678 to escape the persecution, and
finally came across the sea and settled in Merrimack, N. H.
Mr. and Mrs. MeConihe made their home in Troy, N. Y.,
where their descendants may now be living.
From x\mherst academy in fullness of time came Amherst
college. When the " Charity Fund," to train young men for the
ministry, was provided, Hezekiah Wright Strong was among
those who selected college hill as the proper site for the new
institution. One moonlight night Mr. Strong and Col. Rufus
The Old Strong House ij
Graves, to whose efforts, in a large measure, the raising of the
charity fund was due, visited the ground, measured the land,
and paced off the spot where the first building was to stand.
He lived to see the college prosper, though his last days were
spent in Troy, where he died in 1848.
Simeon second married Miss Louisa Em.erson, daughter of
Rev. John Emerson of Conway, and sister of Dr. Joseph Emer-
son, whose wife and children sometimes visited " Aunt Strong,"
and enjoyed exploring the quaint old house. The seven out-
side doors and many hiding places afforded ample opportunity
for games, and the large family of sons and nieces and student
boarders made things lively. The present parlor was then the
living room, and opening out of it, where North Prospect street
now passes, was the ofhce. Beneath the shadows of the east
porch the lads and lasses loved to linger, and several friend-
ships here formed resulted in marriage. Simeon third, a mem-
ber of this family, left a record in which he relates that his great
grandfather Nehemiah removed from Northampton about 1744,
and built the family mansion of which his descendants have
been so proud. More than sixty years ago, Frederick W.
Strong of Lancaster, Wisconsin, spent two years in the old
house, and says his father used to tell him that the house was
built by his great grandfather, and was then one hundred years
old. The builder, Nehemiah, late in life, married Catherine
Barrett, and with her he probably lived on his land just south
of Joseph Dickinson's, owned by John Strong within the mem-
ory of the present generation. When Nehemiah died, in 1772,
he left to his wife, Catherine, one-third of his real estate, to his
daughter Mary ^^53, 6s, 8d, to his son Nehemiah the rest of his
/^ - Historic Hoines of Amherst
real estate, and to Simeon 6s, " having already, as I judge,
sufficiently advanced him." As Nehemiah second died with-
out heirs, his real estate came into the possession of his nephew
John and descended to his children, Milton and Mary.
After the death of Dr. Joseph Emerson, his widow, desiring
to educate her children, came to Amherst and bought the old
Strong house. In this way the venerable mansion passed into
the possession of the family by whom it has been occupied for
fifty years, and to whom its history and traditions are dear and
sacred. The new owner finished off rooms in the spacious
attic, and built the dormer windows which to-day, like eyes,
peer out upon the passer-by. Mrs. Emerson's son, John, grad-
uated from Amherst college in the class with Edward Hitch-
cock and Julius Seelye. The daughters all attended Amherst
academy.
The old Strong house appears to-day substantially the same
as when it was completed one hundred and sixty years ago.
Its deep front yard illustrates the width of the broad highways
of that time. The wrought iron nails, driven and clinched by
workmen whose very names are now unknown, still hold the
ancient clapboards firmly where they were placed when Am-
herst was in its infancy. Above the gambrel roof great button-
wood trees, a hundred feet in height, twist their gaunt limbs
and sway and groan, and with hoarse voices croak ever of
the past. Nearer the road, tall elms and maples murmur tales
of famous guests who passed beneath their shade one hundred
years ago, and whisper softly of the schoolboy, Eugene Field,
who with his brother Roswell made this their playground when
attending Miss Rowland's private school nearby. Behind the
The Old Strong Hotise i ^
house a gnarled and knotted pear tree, said to have been planted
by the judge himself, still lives, and every season puts forth a
crown of pure white blossoms, perfuming all the air. The old
well, twenty-seven feet deep, is supplied by an ever-living
spring, and during all these years has been an unfailing foun-
tain to its owners and the neighbors when other sources of
pure water have been exhausted.
Inside, the house is in most respects unchanged. The "west
door, front door, porch door, garden door, back front door,
front back door, back door, and back back door " still allow
the visitor to enter and leave the dwelling. The building shows
antiquity in every detail. No parallel lines are to be found.
The wooden cornices fail to meet in any corner. Broad win-
dow sills are seen and wrought iron hinges on the doors, and
little closets and hidden drawers set deep in unexpected places.
In a high cupboard at the end of the parlor mantel tinder and
flint and tobacco for pipes were kept. The old red paint put
on when the house was built still clings to many of the closet
shelves. Iron hooks from which some old-time Madam Strong
hung the canopy for her best bed are firmly fastened into the
ceiling of the righthand room, which was in former days the
parlor of the colonial mansion. A handsome corner cupboard,
oval at the top, with doors in which are set small panes of glass,
attracts our attention as being an admirable specimen of its
kind. Up two turns we follow the narrow stairs, and notice
the elaborate panelling, and see in every room, above and be-
low, the heavy oaken beams which divide the ceiling
and strengthen the massive frame. In one bedroom closet,
above the wooden pegs, beyond the reach of any but a giantess,
1 6 Historic Homes of Amherst
are pieces of antique paper, probably as old as the house itself.
Handsome mahogany furniture is all about. In the third story
we see a " low-boy," left in the garret by the Strongs, and are
shown a child's toy whistle, finely carved, which was found in
the walls about thirty years ago when a room was being re-
plastered. We can easily imagine this may have been dropped
by little Simeon the first when his father Nehemiah was build-
ing the house.
In recent years the ofhce of Judge Simeon Strong has been
transformed. The spirit of the staunch old loyalist, returning
to its ancient haunts, would find the rooms, once the head-
quarters of Amherst Tories, now filled with relics of the past,
and fitted up as the home of Mary Mattoon Chapter, Daughters
of the American Revolution, and the Amherst Historical so-
ciety. A great brass knocker on the door gives warning of the
guest. The small paned windows are shaded with white fringed
curtains, and the uneven floor covered with rag carpeting.
Upon the walls, displayed against the paper of antique design,
are portraits and pictures of historic interest and value, so many
that they crowd each other for space. Here we see General
Ebenezer Mattoon, an Amherst hero of the Revolution, and
Mary Mattoon, his wife, a typical housewife of the olden time.
The first piano ever brought to town, with thin legs and jang-
ling keys, is here, and in the corner cupboard is arranged a
valuable collection of old china. An antique secretary con-
tains old books and pamphlets and works presented by Amherst
authors, which constitute the library of the Amherst Historical
society. Small articles of value are arranged in cases, the
latest addition to these being a collection of Indian relics found
The Old Strong House ly
in Hadley and vicinity, and presented by President Harris and
Dr. Edward Hitchcock.
The generosity of the late Professor Herbert B. Adams, of
Johns Hopkins University, a native of East Amherst, assisted in
furnishing these rooms, and by donations of pictures and books
encouraged the Mary Mattoon chapter to form the Historical
society. This now, as an independent organization, led by its
enthusiastic president, Mrs. Mabel Loomis Todd, holds regular
meetings in its rooms, listens to papers prepared by its mem-
bers, and in many ways has created and fostered an interest in
local history throughout the town.
Amherst, though young in years, is rich in historic incident
and association. Its early settlers lived heroic lives and died
to be unforgotten. A few old houses yet remain whose ancient
walls, could they but speak, would answer many a query and
fill many a vacant place in the town's history. A vet-
eran among such, the old Strong mansion stands, an embodi-
ment of stability and strength, a connecting link between the
present and former generations.
©tjf Iribgntan ©awrn
ON THE OLD BAY ROAD.
Jonathan Bridgman, the genial landlord of a famous tavern
on the old Bay road, founded in South Amherst a notable fam-
ily of thinkers, scholars, and writers, whose influence has been
a power for good in the community, and whose philanthropic
enterprise has extended not only throughout America, but also
to the Chinese empire and within the Arctic circle. His
strong convictions and deep religious nature led to the founding
of the South Amherst church, which his descendants have
loyally supported for eighty years. With diligence and fore-
thought he cultivated his farm, managed his brickyard, and
gave hospitable entertainment to his guests. He was success-
ful in all his undertakings, and used the means acquired to
educate his children for positions of usefulness and honor. He
was a model of industry, frugality, and thrift, a typical New
England farmer of the olden time.
James Bridgman, a carpenter by trade, sailed from Winches-
ter, England, in 1640, and settled in Springfield, where he lived
for eleven years, his " homelot fronting on Main street. Here
he was a constable and surveyor of fences until, in 1654, he de-
cided to move up the river, and chose Northampton as a per-
manent residence. He built his house in Hawley street, was
constable and sealer of weights and measures, and found that
^''>mw
The Bridgmmi Tavern ig
his services as a carpenter were in great demand. After a time
of peace, the Indians became hostile, the stockades about the
village were strengthened, and all the settlers were on guard.
The venerable James, being about to die, sent for the lawyers
to come and make his will. While it was yet unsigned, that
very night, an alarm was given, and all, lawyers included, rushed
to the defense. The town was saved, but when John Lyman
and Medad Pomeroy leturned to witness the will, the old man
James was dead. The son born that night to his son John re-
ceived the significant name of Deliverance. This grandson,
with his brothers, Isaac, Ebenezer, and Orlando, founded the
four branches of the Bridgman family in New England. De-
liverance was the ancestor of Sidney Edwin Bridgman, the well-
known bookseller of Northampton, who entered the store of
J. H. Butler as clerk when seventeen years old, and has re-
mained at the same stand, and is now proprietor of " Bridg-
man's Book Shop, founded 1797."
Ebenezer, the grandson of James, was the ancestor of the
Bridgmans in Amherst, He married Mary Parsons, of North-
ampton, and receiving from his father " one acre of land in old
Rainbow," settled on the " Plain." In 1732, Ebenezer and his
family removed to "Cold Spring," where they " took up " a
piece of land on the old Bay road, about three miles from the
present center of Belchertown. The site of the log cabin
where these settlers first made their home, and the place where,
in the meadow behind the homestead, the old man was buried,
are still pointed out to visitors seeking to locate landmarks in
the early history of the town.
Joseph, the son of Ebenezer, was a deacon in the Congre-
20 Historic Homes of Amherst
gational church, and married Elizabeth Warner of Northamp-
ton, and their son, Joseph, took for his first wife, Ruth, daugh-
ter of Reuben and Sarah Edwards Wright, also of Belchertown.
Wright, Theodore, Joseph, and Jonathan Bridgman, sons of
Joseph second, and his wife, grew up in Belchertown. Wright
became a merchant. Joseph fitted for college in Hopkins
academy, and about 1790 ascended Mount Holyoke and planted
the first flag ever thrown to the breeze from the summit of the
mountain. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1795, practiced
law in Belchertown, and represented the town in the General
Court.
Lieutenant Theodore Bridgman owned the farm at Pond hill
which belonged to his father, grandfather, and great grand-
father, Ebenezer. His second son, Elijah Coleman Bridgman,
is well known as having been the first American missionary to
China. He was converted when only eleven years old during the
great revival in Hampshire county, and was among the company
of one hundred and six persons who together joined the Belcher-
town church. He graduated from Amherst in 1826, from Andover
in 1829, and at the altar where he had been baptized in infancy
was ordained to the Christian ministry and dedicated to service
in China. He rode in a carriage to Northampton, traveled in
the fast mail coach over the mountains to Albany, then with
fear and trembling went on board a steamboat and reached
New York in safety. Embarked for China on a sailing vessel,
he spent the journey of four months in the study of the Chinese
language. His impressions on his arrival and the story of his
life are well known to those interested in missions. His loss
was deeply felt in the family circle, and the sight of so brilliant
Mk. and Mrs. Jonathan Bi^ii)(;.max
The Bridgman Tavern 21
and youthful a scholar joyfully leaving home and friends for a
life among heathen in an unknown land, produced a profound
impression on the community and on the college of which he
was a recent graduate. His letters, which came after an inter-
val of eight months, were claimed almost as public property,
and the interest in missions was greatly increased throughout
Western Massachusetts by the fact that it had a representative
in this new section of the foreign field.
Jonathan Bridgman, the youngest of the brothers, lived in
Amherst in 1793, when a boy twelve years of age. He may
have been apprenticed to a brickmaker, and in this way have
learned his trade. That year a library association was organized
in South Amherst. The books were kept in a case six feet high
by four or five feet wide, in the home of Deacon David Moody.
Among the grave and reverend fathers of that portion of the
town who composed the purchasing committee, we find this
little Belchertown boy, whose inquiring mind, not satisfied with
the Hampshire Gazette and Missionary Magazine, sought in this
public library a means of gaining information about the outside
world.
In early days residents on the Bay road lived in the woods
with forests all about them. Here and there hospitable taverns
formed links in the chain of primitive highways which con-
nected the scattered New England hamlets. These early hos-
telries offered entertainment for man and beast. The weary
traveler, jogging along on horseback over the rough and stony
»road, hailed with delight the creak of the swinging tavern sign
or the glimmer of the candles which betokened that the end of
his journey was at hand. Stretching his tired limbs before the
22 Histoi'ic Homes of Amherst
blazing bar-room fire, he smoked his pipe and drank his mug
of toddy until summoned to the evening meal. Here with
lavish hand the hostess displayed the products of her skill, and
sharpened appetites did full justice to the bounty thus pro-
vided. Far down in the depths of the voluminous feather-bed
beneath the home-spun counterpane and patchwork quilt, the
traveler slept the dreamless sleep of the weary and awoke re-
freshed to enjoy his bowl of Indian pudding and milk and
briskly travel on his way.
Shrewd young Jonathan Eridgman, when grown to manhood,
perceived a favorable tavern stand on the Bay road, and bought
of Marson Eaton the frame building now in the rear of the
brick portion of the dwelling. Here in 1806 he brought his
bride, Achsah Granger of Granby, and the couple set up house-
keeping. Their happiness, however, was of short duration, for
in three years the young wife died, leaving no children. In
those days, as at present, it was not good for man to be alone.
Believing this, and following the custom of putting his convic-
tions into practice, Jonathan Bridgman married for his second
wife Jerusha Smith, the daughter of Deacon Elisha and Ursula
Billings Smith of Amherst. The former wife, however, was not
forgotten. That tender sentiment so often hidden beneath the
rugged exterior of our stern old Puritan ancestors caused this
father to name his first little daughter, who lived but three
short years, Achsah Granger, and to add the name of Granger
to the ancestral name of James, by which he christened the son,
who was afterward to sacrifice his life for the cause of missions.
Our foremothers, however, were not jealous of shadows, and
practical Jerusha Smith did not object to this reminder of
The Bridgman Tavern 2^
her husband's early love and mourned sincerely when the
little Achsah was laid away beside her namesake. Now came
to this new family a time of struggle. The master of the
house, although endowed with an old-fashioned New England
conscience, possessed also a keen eye for chances of turning an
honest penny and a dogged determination to achieve what the
world calls success. His wife, mature beyond her years, bravely
took upon her girlish shoulders the ordering of a house-
hold whose members multiplied after the good old fashion.
When the wooden house became too small for the increasing
family, ambitious Jonathan decided to build a house of brick.
A mountain stream, flowing beside a bed of clay, was near at
hand. Here he started his brickyard and made the bricks with
which he built the walls of the Bridgman tavern. These bricks
were firm and of regulation size and orthodox in their composi-
tion as the character of their maker. Orders came in and bricks
were sent to Belchertown and throughout Amherst. An assist-
ant was employed, who lived in a cabin beside the brook, and
horrified the children by eating the legs of the frogs which he
caught with a hook. With his aid, the shrewd Yankee trans-
formed the soil unfit for cultivation and the water running to
waste into building material, which he sold at a considerable
profit. The energetic wife at the age of forty-seven, had been
the mother of ten children, eight of whom were living. The
family now consisted of six sturdy boys, Erastus Smith, Edward,
Richard Baxter, James Granger, Guilford, and Coleman, and
two little daughters, Louisa and Harriet, seven and five years
old.
These children were wide awake and energetic. Their father.
24 Historic Homes of Amherst
though severe and strict, was genial in his home. He lived the
religion which he professed, conducted family prayers each
morning and at night when practicable, observed the Sabbath
beginning at sundown Saturday night, and with his wife and
flock of little ones went five miles to church, no matter what
the weather. The tavern was equally distant from the meeting
houses in Amherst center. East Amherst and Belchertown, so
there was no choice as to distance. Mrs. Porter remembers
well the sounding board and great square pews of the second
meeting house on College hill and the discomfort she endured
therein when a little more than three years old.
The mother of this family, when very young, covered her
abundant hair with the cap supposed to be the proper head-
dress for the matron of that day. Attired in short, plain-
waisted gown, to which, when older, she added a little shoulder
cape, she moved about her daily tasks, keeping the house as
neat as wax, knitting and spinning, making butter and cheese,
and, withal, ruling her children, and perchance her husband,
with mild and gentle sway. The tall clock in the kitchen
showed a shining face, and the cherry table, an heirloom from
her grandmother, shone like the looking glass upon the wall.
Her wedding dishes, blue and white and gold, though daily
used, were never chipped or broken. The dark blue glossy
English ware, adorned with the picture of " Castle Toward,"
and bearing the trademark of J. Hall & Sons, though handled
by all those children and tavern guests, escaped the slightest
injury, and are treasured by their owner, Mrs. Porter, as among
her most valuable relics.
The Bridgman boys and girls learned their first lessons in a
Mrs roRTKK
The Bridgman Tavern 25
wooden schoolhouse on the site of the present home of Dwight
Dickinson, in the southeast district. Tiieir teachers were
Ehza Franklin, Candace Blodgett, Miss Robbins and Parmela
Russell. Among their schoolmates were the Nutting children
and Emeline Kellogg, who afterward married Henry Nash.
The girls wore low-necked, short-sleeved dresses and panta-
lettes. Little Louisa, three years old, who had a passion
for drawing, sat upon a low front seat and was punished for
making pictures on her book. Later the wooden schoolhouse
was moved away, and a fine brick building erected in its place.
Here during school hours Webster's spelling book and the
queer geographies and arithmetics of that day were diligently
studied, with variations of " I Spy " and jumping the rope at
recess. But the most important elements of education in olden
time were not acquired in schoolrooms. Trained by their
father the boys learned to plow a straight furrow, to sow and
reap and swing a scythe, and to compel the rugged soil to yield
a plentiful harvest. Milking the cows, gathering apples and
peaches in the orchard, selecting great watermelons in a patch
and disposing of the same, were pleasant tasks enjoyed by boys
and girls alike. Louisa and Harriet practiced domestic science
in their mother's kitchen, assisted now by an adopted daughter,
Mary Shumway, who was loved by all.
The Bridgman tavern soon became a favorite stopping place
for travelers on the long journey to the eastern part of the
State. A sign in blue and gilt, surmounted with an urn, and
swinging between two red and white posts above the watering
trough, bore the words,
26 Historic Homes of Amherst
JONA. BRIDGMAN'S TAVERN
- 1822
The fame of Mistress Bridgman's cooking, passed by word
of mouth along the Hne, attracted many guests. Seated in the
bar-room on yellow wooden chairs, made by Hosea Goodale,
thirsty strangers drank from glasses holding a quart, and slept
beneath a red and green counterpane of home manufacture and
remarkable design. The chairs, the glasses, and the quilt re-
main, but as no register was kept, the names of those distin-
guished visitors will forever be unknown. An impecunious
artist, probably to pay his bill, cut some silhouettes of the land-
lord and his wife, which show us how they appeared when man-
aging the tavern.
Those of the present day know the Bay road as a neglected,
grass-grown highway. In olden time it was the scene of con-
stant activity, along which a moving panorama made its way
even by night. The sleeping tavern guests heard dimly through
their dreams the fast mail coach as, having started from North-
ampton at 2 A. M., it rattled over the hill and so into the dis-
tance beyond. Drovers and teamsters, flocks of sheep and
cattle and turkeys, on their way to market, passed in slow pro-
cession, or stopped to drink at the watering trough where Bur-
goyne's defeated forces are said to have watered their horses.
Menageries passed along with bears and elephants and camels
and cages of wild animals akin to those whose calls were heard
through the darkness from among the shadows of the Holyoke
mountains. Travelers on foot, on horseback, and in fall-back
chaises, a never-ending procession, passed the tavern, or lin-
The Bridgman Tavc^ni 2^
gered to enjoy its hospitality. The iron ring now seen on the
left-hand side of the front door casing, was driven by a stage
driver that into it he might tie the long reins of the four horses
and thus secure them while he partook of refreshment at the
bar within. Other drivers found the ring convenient, and for
this purpose it was used till stages ceased to run.
Jonathan Bridgman was a public-spirited citizen and a firm
supporter of the Whig party. In 1822, and again ten years
later, he served as selectman of the town. In 1824 he was a
leading member of the committee which organized the South
Amherst church. Services were held in a carpenter shop until
in 1825 the meeting house was built and dedicated, and Rev.
Horace Chapin was ordained and installed. Jonathan Bridg-
man was the largest contributor toward the expenses of this
undertaking. After its organization the Bridgman family
transferred their allegiance to the South Amherst church, at-
tending its services, filling many offices, and giving all its de-
partments loyal support. Jonathan never allowed business to
detain him from the preparatory lecture which was held in the
afternoon, and formidable indeed were the snowdrifts through
which he could not break a road and go three miles to church
on Sunday. He was a true apostle of Sabbath observance in
the .old-fashioned sense, and exemplified in his daily life the
precepts which he taught. He did not believe in frivolous
amusements, therefore there was no ballroom in the tavern,
and cards were things unknown. His children inherited his
deep religious nature, and made this manifest in early youth.
In later years, the mother said that Baxter never had to be cor-
rected, but was always a " good boy." The same was also said
28 Historic Homes of Amherst
of Edward, who loved the Bible, and when plowing carried a
Testament in his pocket for consultation. James, when a little
boy, used to persuade Louisa to go apart with him and have a
prayer meeting. This sister now displays a book which was
given to him for being the best reader in school.
The Bridgman family were all singers and natural musicians.
They attended the singing school on the Green, taught by
Dr. Woodman, and afterward by Mr. Gorham of Amherst
college. The boys sang tenor and bass. Harriet had an
alto voice of remarkable quality and range, and Louisa sang
soprano or alto as the case required. Baxter learned to
play the flute and clarinet. They mastered all the pieces in
" Kingsley's Social Choir." In summer evenings they often
went up on the hill and there sang glees and madrigals, while
Baxter played. The music floating down seemed to the trav-
eler passing by like songs from heavenly choirs. These were
happy days in the old Bridgman tavern before separation came,
and the band of brothers and sisters was broken, never to be
united.
The Bridgman boys attended Hopkins academy in old Had-
ley, and all but two became teachers. The eldest, Erastus, was
a dashing soldier in the militia. His sister well remembers his
uniform and cap with its cockade. Edward, when a student in
1834, kept a diary, now in the possession of his daughter, Mrs.
C. A. Shaw. The daily entries speak of almost constant ill-
health, for which much medicine was required. Hard manual
labor was performed. The lessons were difficult. The youth
attended prayer meeting every night, and was possessed with a
constant anxiety as to the state of his soul and the souls of his
p| i ,yp, i m^jpmw«4w i jjiju i i | i , 1 1 'j^
Mrs. Porter in Her Wedding Gown
The Bridgman Tavern 2g
fellows. In the course of one day he unloaded hay, ascended
Mount Holyoke, attended prayer meeting, and was much dis-
couraged about his studies. He went to the river to see
the steamboat, but even this mild excitement failed to relieve
his depression. The unhappy boy climbed a tree from which
he could see one corner of his father's farm, and longed for
his home.
Letters from the missionary in China, who had been for
years laboring to translate the Bible into the Chinese tongue,
fostered the desire in the mind of young Baxter to dedicate his
life to the same noble service. An injury received while help-
ing his father in the brickyard made further study impossible,
and thus destroyed the hopes of years. While his elder
brother's disappointment was the subject of discussion, James
pondered these things in his heart, and quietly decided to fol-
low^ in the footsteps of his cousin. Doubtless the parents
counted it a privilege to dedicate this son unto the Lord, and if
they felt misgivings, they gave no outward sign, but quietly re-
moved all obstacles from his path and helped him on his way.
He entered Amherst college when sixteen years old, and
graduated second in his class, giving the salutatory address.
He taught one year as principal of Monson academy, and then
came the appointment from the American Board, and the day
of parting was at hand. Going to China in those days was
like going out of the world. His sister well remembers how
the family group about the tavern door, with grief too deep for
tears, bade farewell to him whom this side of heaven they could
hope to see no more. The carriage in which, with his brother
Edward, he drove to Hartford, passed slowly from their view^
JO Historic Hofues of Amherst
No lingering glances back were given, but with tear-dimmed
eyes and steadfast heart the brave young soldier of the Lord
went fearlessly forward in the path of duty. Four months of
tossing on the ocean brought him to his desired haven, where
he found a welcome from his cousin and abundance of work
ready to his hand. Four months more, and tidings of his safety
came to the waiting ones at home, who went about their daily
toil, the same yet not the same, for one best loved of all was
gone.
Harriet and Louisa Bridgman, under the training of their
admirable mother, developed from romping country girls into
capable and accomplished young women. They became expert
in all domestic arts, could spin and weave, braid hats, knit
stockings and cook as delectable dishes as the mistress herself.
They were handsome girls, full of life and health and energy
and ambition. They assisted in milking, just for fun, and sang
duets while engaged in this homely avocation, and Louisa com-
posed some of her best poetry sitting by her cow. Mounted
each on a white horse, they ran wild races up and down the old
Bay road. They went chestnutting on the mountains, and now
and then attended a husking bee. In company with their
brothers, they sang in the South Amherst choir to the music of
violin and bass viol and Baxter's clarinet. Jonathan Bridgman
was proud of his two daughters, and gave them all the advan-
tages in his power. Harriet attended the academy in Monson
and the one in Brookfield, and taught school in New Salem,
North Hadley and Ware. She was an excellent teacher, and a
favorite everywhere on account of her sweet singing, which
charmed all listeners. Louisa was a pupil in Amherst academy
The Bridgman Taver^i jr
and a classmate of Emily Fowler, Emily Dickinson, and Fanny
Montague of Sunderland.
Emily Fowler was a beautiful girl, and a brilliant scholar.
She read a notable composition beginning " Sing a Song of
Sixpence." She was very intimate with Kate Hitchcock. Ed-
ward Hitchcock was also at this time a pupil in the academy.
Emily Dickinson was very bright and original, and Fanny Mon-
tague possessed an acute mind and vivid sense of humor. Mrs.
Hunt, the widow of the first minister of the North Amherst
church, was the preceptress, and was a "very nice lady."
While in the academy Louisa wrote a composition on " Local
Attachments," and also wrote much poetry. She was the artist
of the family, sketched everything she saw and was anxious to
take lessons in drawing and painting, but the philosophy class
came at the same hour, and so she tried to take half of each.
After leaving the academy she was a successful teacher, in Am-
herst, New Salem and Belchertown.
Time brought many changes. Erastus Bridgman married
Lucinda King Smith of Amherst, and named his first child Ach-
sah in loving memory of the little sister who died when he was
five years old. Edward took for his wife Elizabeth May Blodgett,
of East Windsor, Connecticut, and settled near the old home,
where he could catch a glimpse of his father's farm without be-
ing obliged to climb a tree. Baxter took a trip to Illinois, then
the far West, and, finding no place more attractive than his
native town, married Mary, daughter of Captain George and
Judith Nutting, and settled in South Amherst. The Bridgman
girls were too attractive to remain unnoticed, and soon it was
made plain that Harriet had decided among her many admirers
32 Histoi^ic Ho7nes of Amherst
and fixed her choice on James Ely Merrick, the son of Aaron,
who had been a school teacher like herself. Their wedding,
the first in the old tavern, took place Dec. 24, 1845. The
bride, in her gown of drab corded silk, seemed dearer than
ever to the sister when she was about to leave. A poem, writ-
ten for the occasion, in Mrs. J. E. Merrick's album, " To Sister
Harriet on the Day of Her Marriage," and signed " Louisa,"
expressed the feelings of the latter on this occasion.
The ceremony was performed by Rev. Dana Goodsell, and
then the couple drove away to the new house in West street,
South Amherst, built for them and now occupied by their eld-
est son, named for his grandfather, Jonathan. With rare good
sense and judgment young Mrs. Merrick applied herself to
second the efforts of her husband and make his farming a suc-
cess. She was a busy woman, and in later years, with seven
children to train and educate, her heart and arms were full.
Her melodeon remained closed and her voice M^as used only for
songs of lullaby. Hard work and anxious care drew lines upon
her brow, yet to the last her courageous spirit failed not, and
her smile was ever sweet, the outward expression of a soul at
peace with itself and all mankind. Her memory is to-day a
benediction to the community in which she lived, and her de-
scendants rise up and call her blessed.
Five years had passed since Harriet's wedding, when word
came that the brother in China, on account of ill health, had
received permission to make a visit home. Joyful anticipation
now filled every heart. Alas, how terrible the day when his
brother Baxter saw in a religious paper a notice of the tragic
death of the missionary, James Bridgeman, and his burial in the
The Bridgman Tavern jj
island of Whampoa. The next day letters were brought con-
firming the news. A stone thrown from the Chinese wall in-
jured his head, and brought on inflammation of the brain,
which produced violent insanity, and finally was the cause of
his -death. Letters came from his fiancee, also a missionary,
to whom he was soon to have been married, and from Elijah
Coleman, expressing his high regard for the young missionary,
and deepest sorrow at his death. A copy of his life work, the
" Notitia Lingual Sinicae of Premare," translated into English,
is in the college library. The mission which he inaugurated
among the people of China has gone on and on unto the pres-
ent day with results which are recorded only in heaven.
This crushing sorrow brought sad changes into the Bridg-
man home. The father's health, impaired by arduous toil,,
could not endure the strain, and after several months of illness
he died, and was buried in the Belchertown cemetery.
After the death of the landlord the business of the tavern
declined, and Guilford, with his family, made it their home,
Louisa and her mother keeping house together in what was
known as "grandmother's part." When Harriet went away,
Louisa felt that she, too, must have a melodeon, so her good
father had one made for her in Buffalo, for which he paid ^loo.
Her niece remembers, when a tiny girl, going into the shaded
front room to hear Aunt Louisa play on the melodeon and sing
old-fashioned songs. Mother and daughter lived quietly to-
gether until the sweet-voiced singer was called to grace another
home, and relatives gathered to witness her marriage to Moses
Chapin Porter, a prominent citizen of Hatfield. The picture
of Mrs. Porter, copied from an ambrotype taken by a North-
4
j^ Historic Homes of Amherst
ampton artist, introduces us to the bride in her wedding gown
of stone-colored silk, striped with brown, with trimming bought
in New York city. A wreath of orange blossoms, tied with
broad white ribbons, encircled the heavy braid of jet black hair.
After the ceremony, performed by Rev. James L. Merrick, din-
ner was served. Then the bride put on her silk velvet cape
and bonnet, and with the groom headed the long procession of
carriages in which the wedding party drove to Hatfield, where
a reception was held in a manner befitting the position of a
man of wealth and influence in the town. Twenty-five years
later the couple celebrated their silver wedding, at which
brother Baxter read an original poem.
After this marriage grandmother's company w^as in great de-
mand, and though she made her home with Edward, yet ever
and anon she would go to Hatfield to see Louisa, or spend a
few days with Harriet in West street, or visit her " good boy "
Baxter, into whose home had come ten children, eight of whom
were living. This favorite son was one of the strong men of
South church. His prudent forethought and excellent judg-
ment managed its business and kept it on a firm financial basis,
and caused it to be acknowledged one of the most flourishing
of the rural churches of Western Massachusetts. His children
all showed signs of unusual ability, and the man who was not
able himself to obtain a college education, determined that
those bright boys of his should enjoy the advantages denied
their father.
Erastus Bridgman died in Newton in 1892, leaving a son and
daughter. He was a business man, respected and honored by
his associates. Edward died in South Amherst in 1877. His
The Bridgman Tavern J5
son, Harlan Page, lives in the old home and carries on the
farm. His daughter, Mrs. C. A. Shaw, is president of the
Thursday club of South Amherst. Her youngest son, Charles
Harlan, a graduate in the class of 1905 of Annapolis academy,
is now a midshipman on board the Minneapolis. Coleman
Bridgman married Sarah Louise Cook of Granby, and
moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he recently died,
leaving no children. Guilford married Martha Ober of Bridg-
ton, Maine, and died in 1886. James Ely Merrick, who held
several town offices and was for many years one of the promi-
nent members of the South Amherst church, died in 1885.
His wife, Mrs. Harriet Merrick, died in 1893 at the home of
her daughter, Mrs. Gilbert Manley. Their sons are among the
chief supporters of the church. James Ely is postmaster and
a successful business man, has traveled extensively, and is one
of the assessors of the town. Richard Baxter Bridgman and
his wife lie side by side in the South Amherst cemetery. The
homestead where their children were born and reared is the rally-
ing place for the family, to which they come for an occasional
reunion. Their three sons, graduates of Amherst college, are
well-known journalists and authors. Herbert Lawrence of Brook-
lyn, was in 1894 a member of the Peary auxiliary expedition to
North Greenland, and in 1899 commanded a Peary relief expe-
dition. Raymond Landon and Arthur Milnor have been for
many years reporters for the Legislature. The daughters
are all musicians. Helena Frances is the widow of Rev.
Dr. Charles M. Lamson, the noted divine, trustee of Am-
herst college, and president of the American Board. Mary
Lyon married Rev. Herbert W. Boyd. The three younger daugh-
ters, Gertrude, Clara, and Amy, have been successful teachers.
J 6 Historic Homes of Amherst
The Bridgman tavern on the old Bay road is again the home
of Mrs. Louisa Porter, who hopes to spend her last days be-
neath its sheltering roof. Her husband died about 1888. Her
stepdaughter, Mrs. Augusta Porter Graves, who is a great great
granddaughter of Jonathan Edwards, through Colonel Porter
of Hadley, occupies the homestead with her husband, Myron
C. Graves, who cultivates the farm. Though eighty-two years
old, Mrs. Porter reads without glasses, and takes an active in-
terest in all about her. She rides three miles to church, attends
the missionary meetings in the village and is the only repre-
sentative of her generation to entertain the Thursday club by
telling stories of her youthful days. She enjoys letters from
Henry Bridgman Dickinson, the son of her adopted sister, who
calls her " Aunt Louisa," and writes from Illinois. Surrounded
by mementos of the past she delights to welcome visitors and
show them the urn which surmounted the old tavern sign, the
huge glasses, andirons, and yellow wooden chairs and other
relics of old tavern days, and the body of the fall back chaise
in which her mother used to ride nearly one hundred years
ago. She is the living embodiment of that kindly courtesy
which distinguished the true New England gentlewoman of the
olden time. Her story of those early days in the Bridgman
tavern holds up a picture of that old New England family life
upon which is founded our modern civilization.
lEarl^ Aml|?rat iorlora
AND THEIR HOMES.
The doctors of Amherst, since the earliest settlement of the
town, have been of great importance to the welfare of its citi-
zens. The climate of the hills, though clear and bracing, could
not entirely prevent disease and death. Such accidents as
were common in those days of strenuous toil required .the
prompt presence of a " bonesetter " and surgeon. Therefore,
about 1730, Dr. Nathaniel Smith, the first physician to practice
among the " East Inhabitants," moved from Hadley and set-
tled in the woods on land which included the territory now
known as College hill, and which extended as far south as
Fort river.
Dr. Smith was the great grandson of Lieutenant Samuel Smith,
who sailed from England in the good ship Elizabeth of Ipswich,
lived for a time in Wethersfield, and then removed to Hadley,
where he held important offices in town and church. Lieu-
tenant Philip, the son of Samuel, one of the first men in the
place of his adoption, was, according to Cotton Mather, " mur-
dered with a hideous witchcraft." Philip's son, Ichabod, when
ten years old, must have witnessed the tragic events caused by
the machinations of Mary Webster which preceded his father's
j8 Historic Hofnes of Amherst
death. The reputed witch was hung up until nearly frozen,
and left buried in the snow, thus giving her victim an oppor-
tunity for rest. The woman survived this violent treatment,
and several years after passed away in peace. The bewitched
man, however, became " very valetudinarious." " Gaily pots "
of medicine ordered by the physician were spirited away by
unseen powers, and death ensued in spite of all the efforts of
those " brisk lads " who " gave disturbance " to the witch.
Such unusual scenes, impressed upon the mind of the boy,
Ichabod, must have been described to his son Nathaniel, and
may have influenced the latter to study the medicinal proper-
ties of roots and herbs in the hope of finding a remedy for the
dread effects of witchcraft. His great great granddaughter
states that it is supposed Dr. Nathaniel Smith acquired his
medical skill from observing the methods used by Indian doc-
tors in their treatment of disease. There was no medical col-
lege in those days, and Dr. Smith left no diploma. He built
his log cabin just under the brow of the hill, behind the loca-
tion of the house occupied by John White, until his death, and
immediately monopolized the practice among the scattered resi-
dents in the hamlet.
The country doctor in those days was obliged to be an expert
in all branches of his profession. He doubtless earned his fee,
which was usually paid in produce, or pork, or the products of
the housewife's spinning wheel. The doctor was also dentist,
and twisted out teeth with great iron turnkeys after the most
approved fashion. He even made teeth out of the tusks of the
hippopotamus. An advertisement in a Boston paper in 1795
was headed : " Live teeth. A generous price paid for human
Early Amherst Doctors ^g
front teeth perfectly sound." These teeth were to be set in
other and vainer persons' mouths.
How skillful a dentist Dr. Smith became we cannot tell.
There is no doubt but that he pulled the teeth for the commun-
ity and gave full value for commodities received. He was fa-
vored above his fellows in that he possessed a ponderous silver
"bull's eye" watch, by means of which to count the pulses of
feverish patients. This watch, now owned by his great great
granddaughter, Mrs. Enos Baker, bears inside the case the
date and name of the maker, which proves it to have been
manufactured in London 300 years ago. This venerable relic
kept time for continuous generations until about 1876, when its
ticking ceased, and no maker in Boston or New York could re-
place its wornout wheels. Nathaniel Smith received it as an
heirloom from his father Ichabod, which leads us to believe
that his great grandfather, Lieutenant Samuel Smith, may have
brought the watch from England in the good ship Elizabeth.
Mrs. Baker has also her great great grandfather's iron bowed
spectacles, with joints and rings by means of which they might
be tied with ribbons behind his head. No portrait of this first
Amherst doctor has been preserved and his personal appear-
ance is unknown. In imagination he is ever pictured peering
through those ancient glasses as he notes the seconds on the
venerable timepiece, and measures out doses of calomel and
physic warranted to kill or cure.
Our forefathers had some queer diseases. They often suf-
fered from a " cold stomach," for which the doctors gave " sage
wine," of which an old writer says :
" It will cure all aches and humours in the joints, and dry
rheum, and keep off all diseases in the fourth degree. It helps
^0 Historic Homes of Amherst
the dead palsy and prevents convulsions. It sharpens the
memory, and from the beginning of taking will keep the body
mild and sane, and stimulates Nature until the fulness of your
day be finished. Nothing will be changed in your strength ex-
cept the change of hair. It will keep your teeth sound, and
prevent swelling of the joints or body."
People were afflicted with " pain in the bones," and were
dosed with "oil of swallows," made by beating " twenty quick
swallow^s in a mortar, and adding butter and wax." Simple
diseases were treated by the mothers of the family, as a good
housewife was supposed to understand the medicinal herbs and
how to administer their compounds to her numerous flock.
Sage, hyssop, rue, tansy, wormwood, saffron, dandelion, catnip,
fennel, and mint grew in the kitchen garden. From these were
brewed mixtures whose healing virtues were believed to be pro-
portioned to their strength. We de not wonder, then, that w^hen
home-made remedies failed and the doctor was called, he was
expected to give doses whose effect would be at once apparent,
and seldom was the patient disappointed. Even the bite of
the rattlesnake had its antidote, for " snake balls," made of the
gall of the snakes mixed with chalk, was a certain cure, if good
care supplemented the remedy. The women of those days were
all trained nurses, who freely gave their services when illness
occurred in the home of their neighbors. Some of these old-
time nurses were considered better doctors than the physicians
themselves. They taught physical culture in the kitchen and
even in the hay-field, and exemplified the value of the mind
cure treatment by enduring with cheerfulness their hard and
toilsome lives. Should these precautions fail to keep the mem-
bers of the household well and happy, the relentless home doc-
CO
Early Amherst Doctors ^/
tor decided that the " blood was out of order," and prescribed
a " great spoonful of sulphur and molasses " before breakfast.
Many a young patient, convinced that the remedy was worse
than the disease, recovered speedily under this treatment, and
betook himself with alacrity to his daily tasks, fearing lest bitter
boneset tea might follow a relapse.
The " East Inhabitants " were not much given to illness, and
therefore their physician had leisure to interest himself in the
welfare of the new settlement. He gave the land on which the
first meeting-house was built, on the hill above his cabin, and
was elected the collector of the parish at the second town-
meeting. Later, the voters met in the home of Dr. Smith and
fixed the " sallery " of Rev. David Parsons at i^ioo the first
year, with an increase the second year according to the number
of " poles." In 1743 the doctor was hired for "teen shillings
ould tennor to Sweep ye Meeting House this Yeare," and later
he was appointed to provide new windows for the building.
We find the record that in 1749 the Amherst doctor was one of
three members constituting a " Committy to Hire three Scool
Dames for three or four months in the Summer Seson to Learne
Children to Read." Later, the important office of seating the
meeting-house was conferred upon him with these instructions :
" That the two fore Seats in the Woeman's Gallary in the front
shall be seated with men, and to Build a Pew for the Woemen
upon the Back Part of the front."
While engaged in these perplexing duties. Dr. Smith did not
neglect to bleed and blister his patients and administer doses
of saffron, aloes, senna, pills, and calomel as occasion required.
His business must have prospered, for when the log cabin be-
^-? Historic Ho77ies of Amherst
came too small to suit his daughters, the doctor built a frame
house near the same location, with great oaken timbers and
small windows high up in the walls, so that the Indians could
"2^* ■ "^^ climb in, and a coating of yellow paint which stamped its
'^ I residents as people with aristocratic tastes. His daughter,
'Z ] Elizabeth, married Ebenezer Mattoon, and became the mother
^ of the famous Ebenezer, Jr., adjutant-general of the State
militia. Rebecca married Jonathan Smith, and her one child,
Jerusha, became the wife of Colonel Elijah Dickinson, who gave
the land on which the Amherst college buildings were erected.
Dr. Nathaniel lived and practiced and finally died in the yellow
house, which was then sold to Professor Tuckerman, and years
afterward was moved to South Pleasant street, where it is now
the home of Robert VV. Dickinson. Though greatly altered in
appearance, its frame and timbers prove it to be the dwelling
built by the first physician of Amherst, when the town was in
its infancy. In spite of his generous gifts. Dr. Smith died
worth $25,000. The yellow house was moved from its first lo-
cation to make a place for what was then a palatial mansion,
the house recently occupied by John White, which was built by
Colonel Elijah Dickinson. His wife, Jerusha, related all these
tales of her grandfather to her little granddaughter, who owns
the doctor's watch, and from whom we learn the facts to-day.
Dr. Nathaniel Smith died March 9, 1774, aged seventy-three.
Before this time, Dr. Seth Coleman, a graduate of Harvard,
came in to take his practice. He was a very religious man, a
deacon in the church and clerk and treasurer of the parish.
The most we know about him concerns a smallpox hospital
which he estabUshed and which was burned in the night. No-
Early Amherst Doctors 43
vember 7, 1776, by citizens of Hadley, Amherst and Pelham.
The incendiaries first drove out the fifteen patients who were re-
covering from inoculation, and then and there " took fire from
the herth and put It Into a slawbunk and knoct the slawbunk
to peices and put on the fire In the slawbunk and gathered
other fuel and put to the fire and knoct the windows to pieces
and soon got the house all In a flame."
Smallpox was a disease much dreaded, and generally fatal,
and the dislike to having such a pesthouse established in their
midst probably led its perpetrators to this desperate deed. One
of the patients who was turned out into the cold of that No-
vember night gave the names of those whom he recognized
among the guilty, but we have no proof that they were ever
punished.
Dr. Samuel Gamwell practiced medicine in Amherst in 1793,
and was moderator of the meeting which voted that the town
was opposed to the events which brought on the war of 181 2.
Five years after. Dr. Gamwell, for reasons unknown, com-
mitted suicide at his home in East Amherst. But long before
these two physicians passed away others came in to take their
places.
Dr. Robert Cutler was for many years the leading physician
of the town. He moved from Pelham to Amherst before 1784
and bought the dwelling built in 1750 by Lieutenant William
Boltwood. This house, next in age to the old Strong house, is
in outward appearance unchanged, and is the home of Dr. E.
B. Dickinson. Here Dr. Cutler had his office, and received
his patients. His son Isaac, born in Pelham in 1782, was
graduated from Williams college in 1801, and came home to
^^ Historic Homes of Amherst
engage in the practice of medicine with his father. Heretofore
the bodies of the dead had been borne to the cemetery on the
shoulders of pall-bearers. It is a significant fact that about
this time the town voted to " Build a Hears to Convey dead
Corpses to the Pleas of Enterment," and gave the selectmen
^50 to meet the expenses. Whether deaths were more numer-
ous as doctors increased, or people were beginning to take
pride in having a stylish funeral we cannot tell. The fact re-
mains that as soon as the selectmen could procure the " Hears,"
" dead Corpses " rode in state to the cemetery, and the pall-
bearers were relieved of their burden.
A few persons remember Dr. Robert Cutler, as with his snow
white hair arranged in a queue, three cornered hat, knee
breeches, and white topped boots, he rode about the town,
smiling and bowing to those he met. His affable manners
caused him to be termed the most polite man in Amherst. In
1830 he was the first lieutenant of the Hampshire Rangers, of
which Osmyn Baker was captain. He seems to have had a
lucrative practice, although the fees received could not have
been large. Nine pence a visit was the common charge, or a
shilling if the doctor had to ride more than three miles. Dr.
Cutler seems to have been physician to the town poor. We
find a record that the selectmen paid Dr. Robert Cutler, on
account of Widow Anna Bigelow, for " various visits and medi-
cines, from the first attack of her complaint until her death,
$22.59." ^^^^ included fees for thirty-nine visits and all medi-
cines furnished. Tapping was $\. Dr. Isaac Cutler was a very
popular physician and officiated at 1336 births. Both father
and son were interested in public affairs. Dr. Robert was a
Dr. Timothy Gridley
Early Amherst Doctors ^5
trustee of Amherst academy, and Dr. Isaac served as town
treasurer, and in 1830 represented Amherst in the General
Court. It is probable that late in life the senior physician
allowed the burden of the practice to rest upon his son, and
upon the younger doctors, of which Amherst at that time seemed
to have a full supply. Dr. Chester Cowles, the son of Oliver, who
was born in the old homestead, which is still standing, next to
the Experiment station at the Agricultural college, after serving
his apprenticeship in neighboring towns had returned to his
native place to exercise his skill upon his relatives and neigh-
bors, and lived in the house now occupied by Sumner Dickin-
son. His brother, Dr. Rufus, a graduate of Dartmouth, had
his home and office in the old house in Cowles lane, and kept
a little apothecary shop near the road.
Before 1820 a physician, whose reputation had preceded his
arrival, came to Amherst and bought of some unknown person
the red frame dwelling on Amity street, now the property of
Dr. C. F. Branch, which was built probably in 1798. Timothy
J. Gridley was born in Connecticut, graduated at Yale in 18 18,
and studied medicine with Dr. Nathan Smith. He married
Dorothy, the youngest daughter of General and Mary Mattoon^
of East Amherst, and set up housekeeping in the house which
has been the home of Amherst doctors for eighty-five years.
Dr. Gridley was a man of strong personality and decided char-
acter, a good citizen, as well as a skillful physician. For a
time he practiced medicine in partnership with Dr. Isaac Cut-
ler. In 1832 the town instructed the selectmen to pay Cutler
and Gridley $50 for vaccinating the " inhabitants of Amherst."
Next to Dr. Gridley's home was a wooden building, and next
4^ Historic Homes of Amherst
to that a brick building, in the upper story of which the doctor
had his office. To reach this room the patient was obliged to
ascend a stairway on the outside of the house next door, and
then cross over a wooden bridge. Many people remember
climbing up to call on Dr. Gridley, and it is said that the cour-
age necessary to procure the drawing of a tooth had time to
ooze out of fingers and toes before the office was reached.
After a few years, Mrs. Dorothy Mattoon Gridley died, leav-
ing three children, Isaac, Fannie, and Maria. The latter was
the mother of Timothy Gridley Spaulding of Northampton.
Two younger daughters by a second wife, Sarah and Jane, were
born in this old house. The latter is living still. The son, Isaac,
never lost his interest in the home of his childhood, often visited
Amherst, and about three years ago called at the old house and
asked to see the office of Dr. Branch, in which his mother died.
He presented the Mary Mattoon Chapter, D. A. R., named for
his grandmother, with an elegant silk flag. His body, and
shortly after, that of his sister. Miss Fannie Gridley, were
brought to Amherst, and were buried in Wildwood cemetery. In
his will this son of Dr. Gridley left a generous bequest to the
Mary Mattoon Chapter and to the Amherst public libraries,
thus proving that although for many years a resident of another
State, he retained to the last his love and loyalty for his native
town.
Dr. Rufus Cowles and both Cutlers were members of the
Massachusetts Medical society, and in 1833 I^^- Cowles and
Dr. Isaac Cutler took a prominent part in the organization of
the Hampshire District Medical society. The years immedi-
ately following seemed fatal to Amherst doctors, for the sudden
Early Amherst Doctors ^7
death of Dr. Isaac Cutler in the prime of Hfe was followed in
one year by that of his venerable father, and shortly after Dr.
Rufus and Dr. Chester Cowles both passed away. All these
were buried in West cemetery, near Dr. Nathaniel Smith.
Thus four physicians in active service were removed from the
town, leaving extra burdens upon those who remained. Dr.
Gridley must have been extremely busy, for in addition to his
practice, he was moderator of town meeting year after year,
was representative four successive terms, and was a member of
the Governor's council. He lived a strenuous life, and must
have been relieved when G. S. Woodman, a graduate of Am-
herst college in the famous class of 1846, married his daughter
Jane, and came, the second doctor to live in the old house.
He is remembered not only as a medical practitioner but also
as a skilled performer on the piano and the teacher of a singing
school in South Amherst, in which members of the family of
Jonathan Bridgman acquired their vocal training.
The surgical operations of those days were somewhat crude,
and were only justified by their results. An old resident re-
members seeing Dr. Gridley sew up a cut on her father's foot
with a needle which he pushed through a bed quilt to remove
the rust, and yet the cut healed and no bad results followed.
Dentistry at this time was a branch of the practice by itself,
and skill in this department was not so much expected of the
average doctor. The " anodyne vapor," greatly feared by
patients, was yet being used as an experiment in pulling teeth.
J. W. Smith, M. D., had an office on the corner of Main street,
where he furnished whole or partial sets of teeth " on the ab-
sorption plan when it was practicable." People who desired
/fS Historic Homes of Amherst
" mineral teeth," " incorruptible teeth," or " double sets of teeth
with springs," could get them of Dr. Charles Walker of North-
ampton. Dr. Woodman probably brought to Amherst some
new methods, for the science of medicine was making rapid
progress, and young doctors of that day were bound to be up-
to-date and would not be left behind. Advertisements of patent
medicines now came into competition with the regular practice.
Newton Fitch was selling in his drug store " Castor Oil Candy,"
" Extract of Wa-a-hoo," a sure cure for consumption, and "Balm
of Columbia," which would make the hair grow on a shining
bald pate. A water cure establishment came into Northamp-
ton, and all the country round was excited over this simple
method of curing diseases. Mineral springs were discovered
in Pelham, the water of which was for the healing of all the
neighborhood. Mrs. Young, " the celebrated Indian Doctress,"
came to the American House, and advertised by means of
remedies made from roots and herbs to cure all diseases,
" chronic, acute, incipient, eruptive, scorbutic, symphatic, sym-
pathetic, and epidemic." And worst of all the Amherst paper
advertised : " Doctor yourselves for 25 cents by means of the
Pocket Esculapius."
Amherst people read these advertisements and wondered,
and possibly invested a quarter, but when they were really sick
they sent for Dr. Gridley. In those days, as at the present
time, the good old doctor was good enough for those who had
learned to feel confidence in his skill, and when, but sixty-one
years of age, in the midst of active service, the good old doctor
died, deep was the mourning among the friends whose family
physician he had been for thirty years. Others were ready to
Early Amherst Doctors ^g
take up the work, but to those who loved him no other was ever
quite the same. His home remained the " doctor's house."
After Dr. Woodman's day, it was bought by Dr. D. B. N. Fish,
the son of Dr. Seth Fish of North Amherst. This latter
practitioner was a deacon in the Baptist church, and a believer
in the principle that if a little is good more is better. One who
was his patient when a child remembers with a shudder the
quart of lobelia and other horrors which he mixed and left for her
to take, and the agonizing results which followed obedience
to his directions. His fees were not extortionate, for he rode
on horseback from North Amherst to visit Jonathan Bridgman
in his last illness in the tavern on the Bay road and furnished
medicines for fifty cents.
The younger Dr. Fish is remembered by most of the present
generation as a skillful practitioner and a public spirited citi-
zen. His life in Amherst is well known and needs no eulogy.
His contemporary. Dr. O. F. Bigelow, so recently gone from
our midst, is mourned as a devoted friend and a beloved physi-
cian. But the home of Dr. Gridley is still the " doctor's house,"
for the mantle of his predecessors has fallen on Dr. C. F.
Branch, its present owner. He is the commander of the
Edwin M. Stanton post, G. A. R., a member of the Loyal
Legion, medical examiner of the district, and president of the
Association of Amherst Physicians of to-day.
The old time doctors were men of strong convictions, loyal
alike to church and state. With conscientious care they meas-
ured out their medicines and left the results to a higher power
than theirs. To their generous gifts the town owes her most
valued institutions. Their example is worthy of all praise, for
to the best of their ability they served their day and generation.
5
MnvWs mmham.
The Dickinson estate, just north of the Agricultural college
grounds, has been in the possession of the family for six gen-
erations. Here a succession of thrifty farmers have subdued
the rugged soil, and transformed its products into the means of
education and culture for themselves and for their children.
In those critical days, when the fate of the Nation hung trem-
bling in the balance, from this ancestral spot went forth a son
who, in the first provincial Congress, with voice and vote helped
on the righteous cause. Moved by the same patriotic zeal,
Nathaniel Dickinson's great grandson, Captain Walter Mason
Dickinson, laid down his life, July 2, 1898, on the battlefield of
El Caney, a willing sacrifice in the cause of that universal lib-
erty which his forefathers labored to establish. The principles
of righteousness and justice inculcated in this historic Amherst
home have brought forth a plentiful harvest even unto the third
and fourth generation.
The common ancestor of the family, Deacon Nathaniel Dick-
inson, was born about 1600 in the cathedral town of Ely, on
the east coast of England. About 1630, he came to Water-
town, Massachusetts, thence removed to Wethersfield, Connecti-
cut, in 1636, and afterward, in 1658, returned to Massachu-
setts, becoming one of the founders of old Hadley. Lieutenant
Mark's Meadow j/
Nehemiah, his seventh son, was a town treasurer, and laid out
" large peces of land " as far as Pelham and Belchertown, and
thus was enabled to estimate the value of the territory now
known as Amherst. Doubtless before he died the fact was im-
pressed upon the mind of his son, Samuel, that Amherst was a
worthless swamp, not desirable for a home. To get there,
Hadley farmers had to travel over *' a highway forty rods wide,
which goeth over New Swamp and runs to Foote's Folly." No
person of sense would settle in a swamp, either old or new, or
partake of the " Folly," which is all that is known of the mys-
terious " Foote."
Among those Hadley citizens who were not content to dwell
upon the plain was Deacon Samuel Dickinson, mentioned be-
fore as the son of Lieutenant Nehemiah. Remembering his
father's counsel, the worthy deacon cast his eyes upward and
found on top of Shutesbury hill what seemed to be the fulfill-
ment of his heart's desire. The forests of Shutesbury were
full of giant trees, which led the meadow men to think the land
out there "powerful rich." Deacon Samuel, with his wife,
Hannah Marsh, and his four sons, Azariah, Nehemiah, Na-
thaniel, and Jonathan, left their Hadley home, emigrated to
Shutesbury and settled on the Pool place, afterward the site
of the Shutesbury hotel, where there was a mineral spring.
The romantic by-way in Amherst known to-day as " Lover's
Lane," is a continuation of the old traveled road which ran
from Hadley to Shutesbury through the lands owned later by
James Cowles and Charles Kellogg. The sons of Deacon
Samuel Dickinson often passed over this old road, and after his
death, about 1750, they all in turn made haste to come down
^2 Historic Homes of Amherst
and select for themselves farms on or near the despised "flat
hills " of their fathers. The brothers settled in different parts
of what was then Hadley third precinct. Each became the
founder of a family noted for its thrift and interest in the wel-
fare of the community, the State, and the Nation. All were
religious, all were patriotic, and the descendants of all are to-
day among the leading citizens of the town.
Nathaniel, the ancestor of the family whose home we are about
to describe, married Thankful — probably Barrett — whose sur-
name it has been impossible certainly to fix. In 1749 he
bought a farm which he had often admired when traveling
over the old road. The land extended on both sides of the
highway, but the old house was on the west side, opposite
" Mark's Meadow." This ancient dwelling was two stories in
height, with a slanting roof in the rear and a great square chim-
ney. North of the house was an " ell," which was afterward
removed to Mount Pleasant and became the home in which
Henry Jackson spent his boyhood. It was the site of the resi-
dence of Isaac Goodale, whose daughter Eleanor became the
mother of the illustrious Silas Wright, governor of New York.
A wide door in the kitchen opened to the west, through which
the great back log was rolled into the fireplace. From the
small front entry the stairs started toward the west, then turned
toward the south, and finally landed in the east. The walls of
the north room were covered with wonderful landscape paper
on which ladies and gentlemen in fine costumes danced and
capered night and day. Handsome panels set off these works
of art, and an open door to the north showed an extensive
landscape more beautiful than any human handiwork.
Mark's Meadow §j
In this lonely spot Nathaniel Dickinson left Thankful, his
wife, and went with the company of Captain Moses Porter to
fight the French on Lake Champlain. Returning safely, he was
appointed to "build two schoolhouses," was chosen one of the
" Dear Reeves " and surveyor of " heighways." Into his home
came several children, most of whom died young. Nathaniel,
Jr., in whom seemed to have gathered the virtues of his ances-
tors, lived to become a leader in the time of the Revolution,
whose voice rang out for liberty with no uncertain sound.
Amherst was at this time a hamlet in the woods. The home
of Thankful Dickinson was far from neighbors, far from church
and must have been far from the home of her childhood. The
public duties of her husband called him to distant parts of the
town. Her children did not thrive, but drooped and died.
Six slaves were owned in Amherst, but no proof exists that
Thankful had a servant. Her great delight must have been in
the society of her sturdy first-born son, Nathaniel, Jr., who
showed no signs of feebleness, but lived the hearty, happy life
of the New England farmer's boy.
He entered Harvard at the age of seventeen, and graduated
in 1 77 1. He studied law with Major Hawley of Northampton,
but hardly was admitted to the bar before his counsel was
needed in the crisis which preceded the Revolution. Squire
Nat, as the son was called after he was appointed justice of the
peace by Governor Hancock in 1781, had no time to work upon
his farm. He married Sarah Marsh of Hadley, and brought
her to the old home, and must have left her there with his
mother. As chairman of the committee of correspondence, he
drew up the letter w^hich Amherst promptly sent to Boston in
^^ Historic Homes of Amherst
response to the appeal, and was the delegate to the first pro-
vincial Congress, to the second which met in Cambridge, and
to the third which met in Watertown. In 1778, 1780, and
1782, he represented Amherst in the General Court. In 1780,
he was appointed to notify Rev. Abraham Hill of Shutesbury
that on account of his tory doctrines he would not be allowed
to preach in Amherst again. His time was given to public
affairs, to settling disputes, acting as moderator of town meet-
ings and as clerk, treasurer and selectman of the town. His chil-
dren, Susannah and Walter, could not have seen much of their
father during those stirring years. His mother, Thankful, lived
to see her son a famous man, and died in 1783, aged sixty-one.
In 1787, in company with Eleazer Porter and Ebenezer Mat-
toon,- Squire Nat received the oath of those engaged in the
Shays rebellion. He died in 1802, only fifty-two years old,
leaving his father, who followed him in 1806, aged eighty-five.
All the family, Nathaniel and Thankful, his wife, Squire Nat
and Sarah Marsh, his wife, lie in the old West cemetery. The
farm descended to his son Walter, who married his second
cousin, Lydia Dickinson, of East Amherst, a girl of sixteen, and
settled down to spend his life in the home of his fathers.
This Walter was a typical farmer, whose ancestral acres
comprised a kingdom, within which he was lord of all. He was
not ambitious to explore the world without. He did not feel
called upon to serve the public, but spent his energies in the
improvement of his farm. He procured young trees, which he
planted about the house. One of these, a giant maple, has
flourished for an hundred years before what is now the home of
Charles Kellogg. Walter and his young wife, after two years
Mark's Meadow §^
of married life, fearing lest the Lord might fail to send them
children, adopted a daughter, Julia Brigham. Events, however,
soon proved their anxiety to be without foundation. Sylvester
was born, then Frederick Ely, and then another little boy in
whom we take much interest. Walter Dickinson was not an
admirer of the French nation, yet in his nature there must have
been a vein of romance. Departing from all family traditions,
he gave this baby the high-sounding title of Marquis Fayette,
in honor of that brilliant soldier. This is the only act of his
life to which we can trace the probable influence of his distin-
guished father. Walter no doubt supposed that Marquis was a
man's first name, and, had he known the truth, would not have
heeded, for what did blunt New England care for titles ! So
little Marquis Fayette was named and Marquis he remained
throughout his strenuous life. Close following after him into
this home came Nehemiah Othman, Nathaniel Albert, Lydia
Eastman, Amy, Leander Melancthon, Walter Mason, and
Sarah, and, as we may imagine, the nest was full. Worn out
with many cares, ten days after the birth of her baby, Lydia
Dickinson died, aged thirty-six, leaving ten children.
The family life within that old North Amherst home during
those twenty years we can but imagine. No one could say that
Walter did not stay at home and look after his farm. He was
obliged to go to general training, but we do not find his name
in the town records. He sent his children to the nearest school,
and probably, when they were young, went with them to meet-
ing, though in later years he would not go because he " hated
the fiddle." Rev. David Parsons, Jr., as strong a Tory as his
father, was settled over the first church. Old soldiers of the
5<5 Historic Homes of Amherst
Revolution, feeling that they could not endure another Tory
pastor, organized the second church. Among them were many
from North Amherst. For their own convenience the Triangle
road was laid out and accepted by the town, but so great was
the opposition that the town voted to discontinue it. Then
followed the great fight over this road, when the East street men
worked by day to put it in order and by night the West street
men built fences across it and placed obstructions so that it
could not be traveled. Many declared they would never set
their foot on the new road. Among such was Walter Dickin-
son, and when at general training the lieutenant, knowing the
antipathy of several of his men to that highway, purposely at-
tempted to march his men over it, he stood by his determina-
tion and stepped out of the ranks. This act was an index to
his character. He had no use for a man who went back on his
word or gave up his will at the command of another.
When Lydia Dickinson died, the house, though full of chil-
dren, was left desolate. Upon her tombstone at the North
Amherst cemetery we find the words :
"A SINCERE CHRISTIAN.
How loved, how valued, once avails thee not,
To whom related or by whom begot,
A heap of dust alone remains of Thee,
'Tis all Thou Art and all the Proud shall be,
Life How Short, Eternity How Long."
Walter engaged a housekeeper, and life went on after a
fashion, but all was changed, the homemaker was gone. About
1830, the eldest son, Sylvester, persuaded his father to sell part
Captain Mark ix Uniform
Mark's Meadow S'/
of the farm to Timothy Henderson, and emigrate to the West.
This journey which Walter Dickinson took is shrouded in
mystery. W^e do not even know his route, but imagine he w^ent
by stage to Albany, and then on the canal to Buffalo, and
farther as best he could. He went only as far as Ohio, and was
gone three weeks. He did not like to travel, even at the rapid
rate of seven miles an hour, which was the average in long
journeys. Returning home, in company with his sons, Sylves-
ter and Marquis, he built the North Amherst grist mill, in
which they worked as partners until 1844, when it was sold to
Stephen Puffer. Before this time, however, Marquis Fayette
had gone to Shutesbury and brought back a wife, Hannah
Shepard Williams, the daughter of Asa Williams, who enlisted
from Norwich, Connecticut, at the age of sixteen, was with
Washington in the Jersey campaign at Valley Forge and at the
crossing of the Delaware, and took part in the capture of the
Hessians at Trenton. He starved and froze and suffered all
one terrible winter, and w^as a pensioner of the Republic until
his death. Hannah was the child of his old age, her mother,
Prudence Pease of Somers, Connecticut, being his second wife.
The young couple were married in the bride's home on
Shutesbury hill. Ransom Cowles is the only person living in
Amherst known to have been present at the wedding. The
bride and groom took a carriage drive to Somers, Connecticut.
Somewhere on the journey young Mrs. Marquis picked up a
tailless cat. which she brought home, and which it is claimed
has been the progenitor of all the cats of that variety which
have since appeared in town.
^8 Histoinc Homes of Amherst
North Amherst, though a lonely spot, seemed a pleasant
home to the bride from Shutesbury hill. The stream which
turned the mill wheel brought greetings from her native town.
Two houses and a store were near the church, and the house
to the west was only two miles away. While working in the
mill Walter Dickinson often thought with longing of the fine
property lying on the east side of the road opposite the old
home. At last, it was proposed that he and his son Marquis
should build a house together on this farm. The agreement
was made that at the death of his father Marquis should have
the house, in which his sister Lydia should always have a home.
No time was wasted in putting this project into execution.
The barn and all parts of the dwelling were built in 1844, and
Thanksgiving day they all moved in. The children, Marquis
Fayette, aged four, and Walter Nehemiah, aged one and a half,
found the moving great fun. The older boy remembers w^ell
how on that memorable moving day sixty years ago, he hauled
his little brother over the feather beds which had been dumped
on the kitchen floor. That year the old house across the road
was pulled down, and the following year the main part of the
present house was built. This mansion was colonial in style,
with porch in front and hall straight through the middle and a
square room on each side. In the right hand tenement lived
Walter and his daughter Lydia, on the left Marquis Fayette
with his family, and in a room specially built for her, Hannah
Shepard's mother, Prudence Pease, who with her pension of
$96 a year, procured for her by Hon. Edward Dickinson, was
the richest woman in town.
Mark's Meadow 59
Marquis F. Dickinson had been trained to hardness from his
youth. When a boy of thirteen he went with a drover to take
fat cattle to Boston, and came home alone " on a dog trot," as
he expressed it, starting from Cambridge at sunrise. Taking
off his shoes, and running all the way, he ate his supper in
Leicester, spent the night in Spencer, and reached Amherst at
two o'clock the next day. This performance would have killed
a horse. He repeated this trip many times, but took three
days for the walk home. When a young man, he learned in
North Hadley to tie brooms, and drove teams loaded with
brooms from Hadley to Boston, bringing back general merchan-
dise. He was remarkably strong and athletic, was a champion
wrestler, and could pick up and put in a cart a stone which
other men would not try to lift. All these qualities found im-
mediate exercise in the necessary work upon the farm. The
east end of the estate was heavily timbered with v.'hite oak
trees, which were cut off to get money to pay for the buildings.
The best of the timber, sent to Boston to be used for ship-
building, sold for $3,000. Where the oak forest was cut off,
a fine crop of winter wheat was grown. Other parts of the
farm were planted with corn, potatoes, rye and oats. After-
ward tobacco was raised, and later onions became a profitable
crop.
Walter Dickinson enjoyed life upon the farm in his own way,
and manifested his enjoyment in a manner peculiar to himself.
In person he was short and thin and very lame. He was in-
dustrious, always at work, was very kind hearted, especially to
his little grandson, Fayette, and was known to the community
as " Uncle Walter." He never took a journey and never went
6o Historic Homes of Amherst
to church. He lived a widower about twenty-five years, and
when asked the reason why, replied : " Those whom I would
have wouldn't have me, and those who would have me the devil
wouldn't have." He was afflicted with moods or spells of
silence, when he would speak to no one for days, which almost
broke the heart of his daughter, Lydia, called by the neighbors
" Aunt Lyddy," who tenderly cared for him to the close of his
life, and feared lest she unintentionally should give him offense.
Besides this eccentric old father in the house, there was also a
grandmother on the other side. Though afflicted with cancer
for almost fifty years, she nevertheless went regularly to Sab-
bath school till over eighty years of age, was "great in figures,"
and knew the Bible by heart. With such peculiar people under
the same roof we may imagine there sometimes were compli-
cations.
Uncle Walter Dickinson lived only six years after he re-
moved to the farm. He died April 9, 185 1, aged sixty-seven,
and was buried beside his wife in the North Amherst cemetery.
The Sunday after his death Rev. George Cooke announced
from his pulpit : " The surviving children of Walter Dickinson
desire the prayers of this congregation that the death of their
father may be blessed to their spiritual and everlasting good."
Soon after his father's death, Sylvester emigrated to Michi-
gan with his family. Frederick settled in North Leverett near
the Montague line, foot of Mount Toby, and spent his later
years in discussing projects for digging gold out of the moun-
tain. Leander married Laura Adams, and died long ago, leav-
ing his widow, who made her home with her son, Frank Dickin-
son, in North Amherst. Another son. Mason Adams Dickinson,
Mark's Meadow 6r
is proprietor of the Grange store. Amy, who married Avery
Hubbard, was the mother of Mrs. Silas D. Ball. Sarah mar-
ried Jonathan Cowls. Her son, Walter Dickinson Cowls, is the
president of the Amherst and Sunderland Street Railway com-
pany. Nathaniel Albert lived a bachelor in a little house at
one end of the farm, and died many years ago. All the chil-
dren except Nehemiah grew up. Nehemiah died at the age of
fourteen as the result of an accident.
Walter Mason Dickinson, a carpenter by trade, in 1853 was
offered a position in the railroad repair shops at Macon, Geor-
gia. He started at once for the South, traveling by water, and
on his arrival wrote a letter to his brother describing his trip
and impressions of the country. The slaves were of course of
most interest, and from his observation Walter thought them
very lucky and happy, much better off than if they were free.
He contrasted the easy Southern life with the hard work on a
New England farm, found the people agreeable and social, and
thought he should like to settle among them. Speaking of
Amherst he said : " The good old town in which I drew my
first breath will always be held in my memory as long as my
life shall last, and when I am gone it shall be my last wish to
be laid in her soil." True to his thought he married and set-
tled in Macon. At the time of the Civil War, he entered the
Confederate army, and served in Wade Hampton's Legion.
He sent his daughter Lydia, when a child, to the old home to
spend a year under the care of Aunt Lydia and attend the Am-
herst public school. He lives to-day in Macon, Georgia, the
last survivor of Walter's children.
62 Historic Homes of Amherst
Marquis F. Dickinson became a prominent man in the com-
munity. In 185 1 he was elected captain of the artillery com-
pany in which he had served as lieutenant. After this he was
known as " Captain Mark." April 24, 1852, A company, Cap-
tain Dickinson commanding, went to Northampton, crossing
the river in boats on account of the freshet, and with the artil-
lery and Torrent fire companies of Northampton, escorted Kos-
suth from the station to the first church, where services were
held. After the address Captain Dickinson was presented to
the eloquent patriot. The Amherst militia officer made a fine
appearance in his uniform, as we may see by the picture.
Captain Mark was selectman and assessor for several terms,
vice-president of the agricultural society, and fire warden the
year the town bought a " new and powerful fire engine." He
was a Whig and temperance man. He was interested in the
town lyceum the season the annexation of the Sandwich islands
and the annexation of Pelham were among the subjects dis-
cussed. It was concluded that though the former might be
allowed, the latter was not desirable.
The home of Captain Mark and his wife was now filled with
a wide-awake crowd of boys and girls. The second child died
in infancy, but Marquis Fayette, Lydia Jane, Sarah Amelia,
Roxy Elizabeth, Asa Williams, W^alter Mason, Julia Cowls, and
Hannah Frances, all were there and very much in evidence.
" Aunt Lyd," known as " Aunt Lydia " when there was com-
pany, was also there. The parents of this family were con-
scientious people, who brought up their children in the fear and
admonition, not only of their heavenly Father, but also of their
father on the earth. Simplicity of life was then the fashion.
Maj'Izs Meadow 6j
and social equality prevailed. The day's work began at sun-
rise, the old church bell at noonday sent people to their dinner,
and the curfew at 9 o'clock sent them to bed. Sabbath began
on Saturday night. Sunday was a long and tiresome day, on
which the family attended two services and the girls learned
Bible verses in grandmother's room, and waited anxiously for
sundown. Then grandmother took out her knitting, and the
children drew long breaths of relief. The bell in the steeple,
used so often, became cracked, and another one was bought.
Captain Mark and his brother went to Springfield to bring it
home, and when in " Turkey Pass," amid the mountain shadows,
paused to wake the echoes by a vigorous peal from the new
church bell, the only one ever sounded in that " Devil's Gar-
den."
The members of this family were fond of pets. Walter's
dog, Zip, is worthy of especial mention. Her ancestor, old
Fan, a full-blooded St. Bernard, was with the government ex-
pedition conducted to Alaska by Franklin L. Pope, sent to de-
termine whether a cable could be run through Behring's Strait
instead of under the Atlantic ocean. Caught in a blizzard and
losing a snowshoe, Mr. Pope was left behind without much
hope of rescue. Old Fan, starting out by herself, found the
missing snowshoe, brought it back and guided the owner to
the party, and thus saved the life of one who returned to Am-
herst, married Captain Dickinson's daughter, Amelia, and be-
came a distinguished electrician. Zip, the descendant of this
famous St. Bernard, was Walter's dearly loved companion.
She could not bear correction, and when, assisting in driving
young cattle to pasture across Sunderland bridge, she was
64 Historic Homes of Amherst
struck with a whip, the dog disappeared. Her little master's
heart was almost broken. He could not eat or sleep until she
returned, drenched with her long swim across the river. After
Walter left home the old people felt that she was too much care,
and Captain Mark exchanged her for a shepherd dog. Her new
owner tied Zip behind his wagon and dragged her away, her
mournful eyes the while gazing back upon her home until lost
to sight in the distance. Within a month she died of a broken
heart.
The Dickinson family were all singers except Walter, who
once with rueful face, coming from milking with an empty pail,
replied to questioning, that he was '' only singing " when the
cow kicked over the pail, and received from his father the com-
ment that he did not blame her. From her accumulated sav-
ings grandmother bought a piano for Jennie and Amelia, the
first Steinway that ever came to town, and on it all the daugh-
ters learned to play.
The mother of this family was a woman of unusual ability
and strength of character. She was determined that her chil-
dren should receive an education, and early laid her plans to
that effect. Captain Mark did not oppose his wife's resolu-
tion, and rejoiced when his namesake and eldest son was grad-
uated from Amherst college in 1862 among the first scholars
in his class. Grandmother lived to see this happy fulfillment
of all her hopes, and died in 1864, aged ninety years. A string
of gold beads, descended to her from an English ancestor, she
bequeathed to her favorite granddaughter, Amelia, and they are
now the property of her daughter, Miss Anna Pope. Four
Mark's Meadow 6§
months after the grandmother's death another child, Mary Un-
derhill, was added to the family. She died when six years old.
In 1865, Captain Mark Dickinson drew from Pelham the
first load of stone for the Agricultural college buildings. In
this institution his son, Asa, spent three years. Walter entered
and remained two years, until, by President Seelye's appoint-
ment, he was enrolled at West Point, where he was graduated
in 1880. The sisters, Jane, Julia, and Frances, were graduates
of Mount Holyoke seminary, now Mount Holyoke college,
while Amelia and Roxy completed the course in the Amherst
high school. The daughters were not long allowed to follow
their chosen vocation as teachers. The old home now became
the scene of wedding festivities. Lydia Jane, known as " Jen-
nie," when teaching in the institute for the blind in Colum-
bus, Ohio, met a theological student, Henry N. Couden, wha
lost his sight in the Civil war. Their wedding took place in a-
bower of evergreen trees on the lawn south of the old house.
The ceremony was performed by Rev. D. W. Marsh. Mrs.
Couden died in 1884. Her son Henry, at the age of nineteen,
fought in the Cuban war. Another son, Fayette Dickinson
Couden, graduated in 1904 from the Agricultural college. Rev.
Dr. Couden has been for many years the chaplain of the House
of Representatives in Washington. The weddings of the re-
maining daughters took place within the old home. Amelia
was married to FrankHn L. Pope by Rev. D. W. Herrick in the
room at the right of the hall. Roxy and Elihu Holbrook were
married in the room at the left, only the family being present.
The wedding of Julia to Rev. C. S. Nickerson and of Frances
to J. B. Lindsey took place in the more commodious dining-
6
66 Historic Homes of Amherst
room, which was prettily trimmed for each occasion. Both
ceremonies were performed by Rev. G. H. Johnson. The sons
of the house all married and settled at a distance, and Captain
Mark and his wife and " Aunt Lyd " were left alone. The
row of trees which the Captain planted the year of the Centen-
nial exposition and named after his children grew and flour-
ished, but the children were gone. The three old people lived
peacefully together, their hearts rejoiced by numerous letters
and visits from those who would always be to them boys and
girls.
The soldier son, Walter, was a lieutenant in the Fourth
United States cavalry, stationed in the far West, when all the
children were summoned to celebrate the parents' golden wed-
ding. The morning, November 21, 1888, dawned bright and
clear, a typical autumnal day in Amherst. The wooded Hamp-
shire hills stood out against a cloudless sky, while Sugar Loaf
and Toby and the woods bordering Lovers' lane seemed un-
changed by passing years. The children all were there, Julia
coming home from Chicago, Walter from his station on the
frontier, and Amelia from across the sea, bringing a set of
English china as a wedding gift. Captain Mark sat on the sofa
between " mother " and " Aunt Lyd," and the three received
the guests. That was a joyous day in the old home. Con-
gratulations were offered by Rev. G. H. Johnson, prayer by
Rev. Henry N. Couden, Rev. D. W. Herrick made facetious
remarks, Mrs. Nickerson read an original poem, and the young
people gathered around grandmother's piano and sang old-
fashioned songs.
Captain Walter M. Dickinson
Mark's Meadozv 6y
This happy family gathering was the last. The mother,
worn out with care and toil, failed slowly until she became a
helpless invalid, too feeble to appreciate the beautiful gold
spoon given her as the real daughter of the Mary Mattoon
chapter, D. A. R. The tragedy of Captain Walter Mason
Dickinson's death is too well known to need repetition. As
professor of military science in the Agricultural college, he was
popular among his associates and loved and respected among
his pupils. His career as a soldier, his bravery in battle, the
story of his life and of his death, July 2, 1898, on the battle-
field of El Caney, all were described and emphasized in an ad-
dress delivered by President Goodell at a memorial service held
in the Agricultural college chapel. He was a born leader, who
died as he had lived, at the front. He sleeps in the soldiers'
cemetery at Arlington. A tablet on the walls of the chapel at
the college where he was pupil and instructor bears this quota-
tion from his own words, which embodies the principles and
practices of his life : '' The day will surely come when one
could wish no other epitaph than this : he lived and died an
American citizen."
Asa W. Dickinson, a leading lawyer in New Jersey and a
colonel on the Governor's staff, died in January, 1899. His
sister, Mrs. Amelia Pope, died in Amherst March 20, 1900, two
weeks after the death of her mother, who had been for four
years in a helpless condition, tenderly cared for by her niece
and housekeeper, Mrs. Silas D. Ball. Old Captain Mark re-
tained his vitality to a wonderful degree. When President
Harris was inaugurated at Amherst college, the venerable militia
officer was given a seat upon the platform in College hall, in
68 Historic Homes of Amherst
recognition of the fact that when a boy he assisted his father in
drawing the bricks from which South college was built. In him
the determination of all his ancestors seemed to center. His
old horse, Bucephalus, would turn his head and watch the
master climb slowly into the wagon, and never move until all
was ready, as if he knew the captain was in his charge, though
he would be frisky enough when others attempted to drive.
At last the burden of years became too great and the old man
gave up the struggle and was buried among his kindred in
North Amherst. He left the estate to Charles Dickinson, the
son of Marquis Fayette, with a life tenancy to Marquis. The
young owner, who is a member of the firm of Dickinson, Farr
& Dickinson, 53 State street, Boston, was graduated from Har-
vard in 1896, one hundred and twenty-five years after the grad-
uation of his great great grandfather Nathaniel from the same
institution.
The house has been fitted with modern improvements, and
the family occupy it as a Summer residence. A spacious
veranda has been added, from which the visitor looks out over
the amphitheatre of hills, a broad and smiling landscape. En-
tering the house, we see in the right hand room Captain Mark's
old desk piled high with leather bound books, in which were
kept accounts of crops and cattle. Over Walter's picture hangs
the sword presented to the old militia officer. In this room
grandfather Walter, Captain Mark, and Aunt Lydia died.
Across the hall is Aunt Lydia's table, the old piano, the stand
on which Prudence Pease rested her candle. Handsome ma-
hogany furniture, inherited from past generations, may be found
Mark's Meadow 6g
in all the rooms. In the chamber above, hanging on the wall,
is a family record, with design in ink, on faded yellow paper.
The inscription reads :
"A REGISTER OF THE FAMILY OF MR. NATHANIEL
AND MRS. SARAH DICKINSON."
" Time, what an empty vapor 'tis,
And days, how swift they are ;
Swift as an Indian's arrow flies,
Or like a shooting star.
Naked as from the earth we came,
And crept to life at first ;
We to the earth return again,
And mingle with our dust."
This was the family record of the delegate to the provincial
Congress, chairman of the committee of correspondence, an
Amherst patriot and hero. A list of his children and grand-
children follows, and is continued in another record on the op-
posite wall. The story of their life is finished, but their deeds
live after them.
®I|f (§ih l|«bbarli ®au?rn
AT THE " PLUMTREES.
The early settlers in Amherst and Sunderland were prosaic
people. They had no time or inclination to devise high-
sounding names for each locality, but designated hill and brook
and plain by some title associated with its owner or with events
unknown to the present generation. Descendants of these an-
cient worthies have found it difficult to change the names thus
given, however great was their desire. Thus in the northeast-
ern part of Amherst, though the postoffice has become Cush-
man, yet the settlement will long remain, in the minds of old-
fashioned folk, North Amherst City. President Hitchcock and
the august senior class of Amherst college could not persuade
the people of Sunderland that the name " Mount Toby " should
be transformed into " Mettawompe," or that " Mount Taurus "
was a more euphonious name than " Bull Hill." An elevation
in South Amherst, for many years the property of a worthy
deacon in the local church, is much better known as " Lyman's
Hill" than as " Mount Pollux." " Factory Hollow," " Nut-
tingville," " Hawley Swamp," and " Kelloggville," are well
known to residents of Amherst, and the " Devil's Garden " in
The Old Hubbard Tavern yi
" Turkey Pass " only lost its name when the trap rock was car-
ried away by the Amherst & Sunderland street railroad, to be
used in the construction of State highways.
The old-time fathers, however, occasionally by chance be-
stowed a title at once poetic and descriptive. The forests were
to them of no particular value except to furnish lumber with
which to build their homes. To find a single fruit tree among
the oaks and maples, even though its product might be acrid
and imperfect, was indeed a blessing, and a grove of wild plum
trees was of sufficient importance to give a name to the locality
in which it was discovered. Thus travelers by trolley to-day,
after passing through North Amherst, are shown, just over
the Sunderland line, an ancient dwelling near the " Dry brook,"
and are told that this district is the " Plumtrees," and this
house is the " Old Hubbard Tavern." The last wild plum tree
died a natural death on the Hubbard farm within the memory
of the present generation, but its kindred are still living among
the forests of Mount Toby. The children of Parker Hubbard
remember well the taste of its sour and bitter fruit, and its
name will forever be connected with the hamlet where their
ancestors built among the plum trees the historic tavern home.
George Hubbard, the common ancestor, was in 1636 a sur-
veyor in Windsor, Connecticut, and afterward moved to Weth-
ersfield. His son John became one of the founders of Hadley,
and his grandson, Isaac, and great grandson, Isaac Jr., were
among the forty first settlers of Sunderland. The former was
a deacon in the Sunderland church, and the latter served as
selectman and town clerk. His great great grandson, Israel,
'J2 Historic Ho7nes of Amherst
the eldest son of Isaac Jr., settled on the farm at present occu-
pied by the fifth generation of his descendants.
The extreme southern part of Sunderland was at this time a
wilderness of woods. Lieutenant Abner Cooley of Springfield
had ventured, about 1739, to build a log cabin within these
shadows, and finding it a safe and comfortable place in which
to live, a few years later had erected a frame house south of
where the brick house stands, which is now the property of his
great grandson, Deacon George L. Cooley. The Cooley family,
living so far from the center of civilization, naturally in these
troubled times desired to have neighbors, Isaac Hubbard, Jr.,
had settled in the north part of the Plumtrees district, and his
son, Israel, intended to build north of the " Dry," or " Mohawk,"
brook. The story runs that Abner Cooley, in order to persuade
his townsman to build still nearer, gave him ten acres of land
south of the brook, including the site of the present school-
house. Here Israel Hubbard built his cabin, in which he lived
until 1763, when history states that the present house was com-
pleted. If this date be correct, among the children born in
that humble home was Caleb Hubbard, afterward to become a
famous leader in the Revolution.
Israel Hubbard was a staunch Federalist, and a member of
the first Provincial Congress. He was shrewd in business, and
willing to turn an honest penny in any way he could. Farm
products did not bring him large prices in those days, and mar-
kets were unknown. Therefore, to gain a little income from
the passing stranger, Israel obtained a license as " innholder
and taverner, and to sell strong drink," and found this occupa-
tion profitable and less laborious than clearing up the virgin
CALEB -HUBBARD-AND'WIFE
The Old Hubbard Tavern 7J
soil. The license was renewed until 1783, and continued in
the name of his son, Caleb, and grandson, Ashley, who kept a
wayside inn until 1839. Then the house was closed to the
public, but has been occupied as a dwelling by the descendants
of Israel Hubbard until the present time.
In cutting off the forest trees their owner was careful to
leave a few saplings for the benefit of future generations. The
beautiful maple grove which is to-day the admiration of all be-
holders, and under which many a picnic party has been held,
attests the value of his forethought. In building the house he
also had an eye to the welfare of his posterity. The square
brick chimney, equal to a room in size, has stood unmoved,
though hurricanes have broken down the veteran trees nearby.
The great hewn timbers, showing the marks of woodman's axe,
have neither settled nor decayed. Some of the small-paned
windows, from buffetings by storms of many winters, are loos-
ened in their casings, but the glass remains unbroken. No
drop of rain has found an entrance between those ancient clap-
boards which clothe the massive oaken frame. Each wrought-
iron nail was pounded in and clinched by conscientious work-
men, under the watchful eye of the owner, who was at once the
builder and contractor. The ell, in which was the barroom,
has been moved away, but the main building, a solid structure,
stands secure, and gives fair promise of a home for generations
yet to come.
Caleb Hubbard, the son of Israel, was brought up in a good
old-fashioned country home. His mother was Abigail, the
daughter of Nathaniel Smith, one of the first settlers in Sun-
derland. His muscles were developed by work upon the farm,
7^ Historic Homes of Amherst
and his ready wit was sharpened by the discipline of the old-
time district school. He was a youth of decided character and
determined will, and when the disturbances arose which trans-
formed the farmers into soldiers, the boy Caleb, twenty years
old, enlisted as a minute man, and with a company of his com-
panions, engaged a British deserter to drill them in the use of
arms. In 1774, Caleb Hubbard was appointed, with a com-
panion, to " collect whatever specie the inhabitants of the town
were willing to give to the poor people of Boston, and also to
convey said collection to the town of Boston." Then came the
Lexington alarm. Caleb Hubbard was plowing with a pair of
oxen and one horse in the field north of the " Dry brook " when
the tidings were brought to him of the expected attack. Leav-
ing the oxen standing and the plow sticking in the furrow, he
jumped upon the horse and galloped off to Sunderland to give
the alarm. The minute men quickly gathered and spent that
eventful night of April 19, 1775, in Israel Hubbard's tavern,
then at four o'clock the next morning rode to Belchertown,
where they left their horses and marched away toward Boston.
The patient oxen must have waited for an indefinite ti;ne as,
though history relates the fact that they were left, it gives no
proof that they were ever removed. The tree under which they
stood was blown down a few years since. Young Caleb was in
active service about fifteen months, at Cambridge, Ticonderoga,
and other strategic points, and was appointed quartermaster
sergeant of the company of which Zebina Montague was quar-
termaster. After the surrender of Burgoyne, the young officer,
a veteran at the age of twenty-three, came home, married Try-
phena Montague and settled down to keep the tavern at the
Nancy Hukbard
The Old Hubbard Tavern y^
Plumtrees. His war record and superior intelligence gave him
much influence among his fellows, and his ready repartee and
keen sense of humor made him a favorite with all. He was a
genial landlord and a jolly companion. He became a Jefferson
Democrat, much to the disgust of his father, Israel, who, being
a Federalist, did not agree with Caleb in his politics, and could
not tolerate opposition.
Israel, having served from 1776 to 1781 in the General
Court, felt that he understood the situation, and Caleb, having
been himself in the thickest of the conflict, was sure that he
was right. Two men with similar characteristics and opposite
convictions in the same family were like steel and flint, and
sparks were sure to fly. Long and hot were the discussions,
from which neither came out victorious. To the last year of
his life the doughty Israel persisted in attending town meeting
in order, as he said, that he might " spile Caleb's vote." He
lived to the advanced age of ninety-two, and died in 18 17.
Caleb Hubbard and his father were both progressive men,
interested in new movements which promised to advance the
public welfare. January 8, 1801, Pacific lodge of Masons was
organized by men from Amherst, Leverett, Hadley, and Sun-
derland, and the first place of meeting was the double room in
the Hubbard tavern. This was divided by a swinging parti-
tion, so that it could be made into one large room or two small-
er ones, as occasion required. Phineas Hubbard, son of
Giles, was the first master of this organization, and Caleb Hub-
bard, his cousin, was its first treasurer. His insignia of office^
in its antique frame, is seen to-day hanging in the hall. For
one year Pacific lodge held its meetings in this upper room.
y6 Historic Homes of Amherst
after which it passed through many vicissitudes, but rallied,
and is to-day one of the strong and flourishing organizations of
Amherst. Its members had to pass through a lonely country
to reach their lodge room. Major Caleb used to tell his grand-
children tales of bears being seen in the woods near by, which
probably had their dens in the recesses of Sunderland cave
among the rocks of Mount Toby. Wolves ranged all through
that section as late as 1805, killing sheep and frightening the
children, so that they did not dare to peep out of doors after
nightfall. These foes, so dreaded by the farmer, were destroyed
by a party of citizens, who tracked them after a light snow, and
other wild creatures, as settlers became more numerous, fled
into the depths of the woods, pursued by the hunter, who was
loth to give up the game which was so large a part of his sub-
sistence.
The Hubbard tavern during Major Caleb's reign was a fa-
vorite place of resort for old and young, who loved to hear the
landlord's funny stories, while enjoying his generous hospi-
tality. Sleighing parties came to have a dance in the ball-
room and kept up the festivities until daylight. The master
was also a justice of the peace, and many a marriage ceremony
was performed in the old tavern for country couples, who trav-
eled on horseback, the bashful bride seated on a pillion behind
her rustic swain. When the old soldiers were gathered in Bos-
ton to dedicate the Bunker hill monument. Major Caleb, so-
called from his command in the militia, was among the guests,
sat upon the platform and made a speech. The old war vet-
eran kept his strength until late in life, and when ninety years
of age beat all the boys at splitting rails, and laughed at their
The Old Hubbard Tavern yy
discomfiture. These old-time Hubbards were a long-lived
race. The funeral of Israel, who died in 1817, aged ninety-
two, and that of his son Caleb, when at the age of ninety-six
the weakness of old age overcame his courageous soul, were
doubtless held within these walls. Their bodies, placed at first
in the vault across the road, were afterward laid to rest in the
burying ground beside the river.
Ashley, the son of Caleb, inherited the tavern after his
father's death. He married Nancy Henderson, and for his
second wife Betsey Dole of Shelburne. Of his seven children,
but one, Mrs. Elizabeth Peck Alvord of Winsted, Connecticut,
is living to-day. She married George Alvord, who was con-
nected with the sanitary commission and with the navy depart-
ment during the war, and was formerly cashier of the Winsted
National bank.
Students of local history, searching the files of old news-
papers published about fifty years ago, have noticed many
poems signed " Viola." Graceful lines they were, treating of
varied subjects, but giving no clew to their authorship. The
writer was evidently a lover of nature and a student of history,
well versed in the usage of the old-fashioned English of that
day. No clash of rhyme or fault of rhythm, no exaggerated
sentiment or coarse allusion, marred the beauty of the unpre-
tentious verses which, like a mirror, flashed out a clear reflec-
tion of plain and healthful rural life. Viola climbed the Hol-
yoke range, and described her impressions in the poem,
" Musings on Norwottuck." She told the Indian tale of " The
Moon of Falling Leaves," and gave expression to her patriotic
nature in stirring words entitled " My Country." The death
Y8 Historic Homes of Amherst
of a neighbor's infant was memorialized in the " Dirge to a
Child." " May You Die x^mong Your Kindred " was sug-
gested by incidents of the Mexican war. " To the Memory of
a Friend," " To a Group of Children," " The Water Lily," all
show forth the character of the writer, but none disclose her
name. At last an item in the Havipshire and Fratiklm Express
of -Amherst, describing the graduating exercises of a North
Amherst private school for girls, gives us a "Valedictory Hymn,"
written by Miss Nancy Hubbard of Plumtrees, and reveals the
identity of this talented young writer with the poetess whom
we have known as " Viola."
Nancy Henderson Hubbard, the daughter of Ashley and
granddaughter of Major Caleb, was born in the Hubbard tav-
ern, April 4, 1823, and spent her girlhood in this historic
home. When very young she began to write verses, and con-
tinued during her school days in North Amherst and New
Salem academy. A friend of her youth, Mrs. M. C. Copeland
of Northampton, says of the young authoress : " She was a
very sweet, refined, cultured, warm-hearted girl, whom every-
body loved and admired." Brought up within the shadow of
Mount Toby, this descendant of a line of heroic ancestors was
not content to spend her life in the seclusion of her rural home,
but yearned for wider opportunity and more extended vision.
After graduation at North Amherst, when studying or teaching
in West Brookfield, her ambitious soul found utterance in the
following lines :
The Old Hubbard Tavern yg
" O, fame and greatness ! dreams of earthly splendor!
What now are all your trumpet notes of praise ?
O, can one strain of that loved paean render
More bright, more happy here our toilsome days?
Yes, but one breath, one sound of that sweet music,
For which my spirit doth so strangely pine,
Such is the homage that my heart now chooseth,
The fresh green laurel round my brow to twine."
The family at the Plumtrees was interested in the North
Amherst church, and have always been its loyal supporters.
Ashley Hubbard was one of the assessors at its organization.
A bouquet of wild flowers which was placed upon the pulpit
was removed during the intermission by some person who felt
this innovation not consistent with the orthodox character of
Oliver Dickinson's meeting house. In the next week's paper
Viola appeared with an effusion, " Bring Flowers," setting
forth the fitting nature of the act which placed the flowers
within the sanctuary. On leaving North Brookfield the poetess
was presented with a wreath, to which she made response :
" I soon shall lose all these wild haunts,
These woods and flowing streams,
Yon lakelet with its golden chain
Of sunset's radiant beams.
And when in lands, far, far away,
'Mid other scenes I roam.
Still back to many an hour that's past,
On spirit wings Fll come."
This seems to have been a farewell, for soon Viola went
South as a teacher. Returning, she brought with her two
So Historic Homes of Amherst
Southern lads, and gave them lessons in the old tavern. She
married Ansel Kellogg, president of the First National bank of
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and a leading financier in the State. He
was the brother of Rufus Kellogg, a benefactor of Amherst
college. The poetess of the Plumtrees died in her Western
home in 1863. Her body was brought to Amherst and buried
in the North Amherst cemetery. Her brother, Parker Dole
Hubbard, inherited the old homestead with all its memories
and traditions.
True to the spirit of their grandfather. Major Caleb, both
the sons of Ashley Hubbard earnestly desired to perform their
part in the struggle to preserve the Union, which their ances-
tors fought to establish, but the younger, Stephen Ashley, at
that time editor of the Hartford Couranf, had to stay on duty
and take care of the paper while his associate, the future Gen-
eral Hawley, became a leader among the Union forces of the
Civil war. Parker Hubbard enlisted in the 52d Massachusetts
Volunteers. He was not obliged to gallop on horseback to
the front, but traveled by car and boat to New York city, and
thence embarked on the steamer Illinois for Louisiana. Com-
pany G, which included forty-two soldiers from Amherst and
twenty-four from Sunderland, saw much hard service, but most
of its men returned in safety to their homes. Parker Hubbard
became a member of the Edwin M. Stanton post, G. A. R., of
Amherst. He cultivated his farm of about one hundred acres,
raised tobacco, and made fine sugar from the maple grove.
He died in 1895 in the house where he was born, and was
buried in the Sunderland cemetery.
The Old Hubbard Tavern 8i
The atmosphere of the Plumtrees seemed conducive to artis-
tic development. From its romantic surroundings Viola drew
the inspiration needed to produce her poems. The mysterious
mountains, the " Mohawk Brook," flowing near her home,
whose very name suggested that fierce tribe of Northern In-
dians so feared by the more peaceable natives of the Connecticut
valley, the flowers and birds, and rural scenes by which she was
surrounded, all contributed subject and material for verses
without end. In the drought of Summer, when the water dis-
appeared, and' naught was left but stones and sand, the com-
mon name of the stream, " Dry brook," seemed good and fitting.
But when in Spring or Autumn the swollen torrent came raging
down, carrying everything before it, then the old traditional
name may have been remembered and possibly used. Whether
Viola knew the brook as " Dry," or " Mohawk," she certainly
made use of that and all other beauties of nature near her home
as warp and woof with which to weave the subtle fancies of
her poetic soul.
About 1850, Erastus Field, a portrait painter, chose this lo-
cality as a suitable place in which to pursue his avocation.
He was born in Leverett, began to draw and paint in early
youth, studied in New York city, carried on his profession in
Monson and in Hartford, and finally settled in a cottage on
the Hubbard farm, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Across the road from the old house, among the trees upon the
hill, he built a little studio, and there from early Spring till
Winter's snow he painted, and was happy. When cold made
this retreat impossible, the artist found in the commodious barn
7
82 Historic Homes of Amherst
behind the Hubbard tavern a place where he might exercise his
skill without interruption from the outside world. Daguerreo-
types were at this time expensive, and photographs unknown.
To have a local artist within reach was a great boon for Am-
herst and Sunderland people, and old and young eagerly
availed themselves of this opportunity to hand down their fea-
tures to their posterity. Many faces of old residents would be
unknown were it not for the portraits painted by Erastus Field
and preserved by children and grandchildren as heirlooms
for future generations. A picture of E. D. Marsh, when four
years old, a sample of the artist's skill, hung in his mother's
room during her lifetime, one of the most precious of her treas-
ures.
The well-known portrait of Oliver Dickinson, the builder of
the North Amherst church, was undoubtedly painted by Mr.
Field. With unbounded imagination he was even able to paint
a resident of North Amherst after death, and put eyes which
were pronounced to be natural into the picture, though he had
never seen them in life. His industry was indefatigable, and
his enthusiasm could not be restrained. As age advanced, he
enlarged the scope of his endeavor and painted Bible and his-
torical scenes. Samples of these are owned by North Amherst
residents and by the North Amherst church. The children in
the Hubbard tavern delighted to spend hours in the studio on
the hill, watching the artist create his marvelous productions
and hearing him explain his work. He died in extreme old
age, a painter to the last, the only known artist in that section
of the community.
Probably the largest collection of his portraits owned by any
The Old Hubbard Tavern 8j
one family may be seen to-day in the Hubbard tavern. The
walls of the parlor were at one time lined with these pictures in
such a manner that the room seemed full of eyes staring the
visitor out of countenance. There were Major Caleb Hubbard
and his wife, stiff and straight and orthodox, as seen in the
illustration. In the painting the old soldier holds in his hand
a public document and his iron-bowed glasses. Next, Ashley
Hubbard and his wife, Betsey Dole, were seen, the former
clutching with grim determination a Democratic paper, the
Boston Statesmafi, the latter in white collar, and gold beads,
with hair in puffs, and prim white cap, and in her hand a gay
bead bag. Another picture of Betsey Dole Hubbard repre-
sents her as older and less formidable, with mouth not quite
so firmly closed and eyes less staring and more kindly.
Then came the sons of Ashley, Israel, Parker, and Stephen,
very proper young men, strangely alike in features, and all
attired in bright yellow vests, exactly similar in fashion. The
eldest, Israel, distinguished by a black silk stock, was a school-
mate of Deacon Edmund Hobart. The placid faces of Parker
and Stephen give no premonition of the future soldier and
journalist, and seem the personification of calmness and con-
tent. Two pensive damsels, Nancy and Lizzie, complete the
list. Both are dressed in grass-green gowns of antique fashion.
Nancy has a curl hanging straight before each ear, and a broad
white collar fastened with a pin, while Lizzie wears a locket
and chain. The primness of these youthful faces cannot be
described, and we attempt in vain to discern beneath the sur-
face of that chubby countenance Viola the rustic poetess of
our imagination.
8^ Historic Homes of Amherst
The old Hubbard tavern is of exceeding interest to all who
know its history. We are shown a corner cupboard now used
as a bookcase, a " courting chair," with low back and double
seat, which was stuffed in olden time, and of unknown age.
Here are beautiful mirrors, the conch shell probably used to
call the boy Caleb to dinner, and an antique chair with double
arms, rush bottom and wooden rollers, which look as if they
were made when castors first were invented. Two volumes of
newspapers in which are printed poems by Viola, are pre-
served, and specimens of crayon work by the poetess, who also
seems to have been an artist. Pewter dishes, a whisky meas-
ure, a lamp, a porringer, a glass decanter and long-necked
wine glasses, all relics of old tavern days, are seen below, and
on the stairs hangs a temperance banner painted by Erastus
Field. The upper ballroom where the Masons held their meet-
ings is panelled with wood, and overhead are the marks where
hung the swinging partition. The garret is a storehouse of
relics, with saddle bags and settle and flip irons and tall clock
and tin kitchens and antique furniture galore. The favored
visitor who is allowed to inspect these curios comes back as
from a journey among the shadows of the past.
Mrs. Parker Hubbard and her son, George Caleb, Agricul-
tural college, '99, named for the first ancestor, who came from
England, and for the Major, his great grandfather, live in the
Hubbard tavern. Her daughters are Mrs, Nancy Kellogg
Hubbard Howes of Holyoke, a graduate of Mount Holyoke
college, and Mrs. Helen E. Stowell of North Amherst. The
latter is a member of the Mary Mattoon chapter, D. A. R., of
Amherst.
The Old Hubbard Tavern 85
The residents at the Plumtrees, though living in the town of
Sunderland, are yet identified with Amherst by many interests
and associations. Soldiers from both towns fought together in
the Revolution and in the Civil war, and citizens of both towns
organized Pacific lodge in the old Hubbard tavern. Descend-
ants of these ancient worthies were among the first members
of the North Amherst church and have always attended its ser-
vices, and boys and girls from Sunderland to-day crowd the
trolley cars on their way to the Amherst high school. In view
of all these facts, Amherst may claim a share in the famous
Hubbard tavern, and with her sister town may exhibit with
pride this historic home, built by Israel Hubbard among those
ancient plum trees so many years ago.
®I|t l|om? of Prfstbfttt Ifttfinrork.
The bell in the old meeting-house on the hill pealed forth an
urgent summons on that bright autumnal morning, September
29, 18 19, and citizens of Amherst and adjoining towns hastened
to obey the call. The need of a college in the Connecticut
valley had long been recognized, and Amherst seemed, to those
most interested, the best location for such an institution. The
academy which, according to Professor Tyler, was the Willis-
ton seminary and Mount Holyoke seminary of that day united,
for a time seemed to fill the demand.
Later, the trustees, realizing the need of students for the
ministry, formed a plan to establish a professorship of lan-
guages, by the assistance of which " indigent young men '*
might fit themselves to preach. This plan was not received
with favor, and therefore it was determined to strike out boldly
and found a separate institution. Hence the imperative clangor
of the old church bell, and the distinguished company of dele-
gates from thirty-seven towns who sat with patience in the
square, high-backed pews, listened to a lengthy discourse from
the lips of Rev. Dr. Lyman, discussed a constitution and by-
laws, and separated, to be entertained in the homes of the peo-
ple, only to argue concerning the location of the college during
the greater part of the night.
4 m
m'^
'^^SS«^
jiiE
The Home of President Hitchcock 8j
Amherst was determined to have the " literary institution,"
and would not be denied. The second day of the session the
business of the town ceased, the academy took a recess, and all
crowded into the church to hear the debate. Lucius Boltwood
made an able plea in favor of the town. He was supported by
indisputable arguments from the eloquent lawyer, Samuel Fow-
ler Dickinson, and the day was won. The town had gained
its college, and now with eager hands and generous hearts its
citizens offered of their best for its building and support.
Colonel Elijah Dickinson presented ten acres of land in a
suitable location. The first load of granite for the foundation
was given by Wells Southworth of Pelham. The rail fence
was taken away, the horse sheds removed, lime, sand, and lum-
ber were contributed and carried to the spot by men and boys,
who were glad to give their services to the good cause. Au-
gust 9, 1820, the laying of the cornerstone took place, with an
address by Noah Webster. Ninety days after, the roof was
placed on South college. President Moore of Williams was
chosen president of the " Charity Institution of this town," and
September 18, 1821, the dedication of the building and in-
auguration of the new president took place in the old church,
Noah Webster being the presiding officer.
Hardly was the college fully in operation when President
Moore suddenly died. His courtly manners and winning ad-
dress had caused him to be greatly loved. His successor was
the Rev. Heman Humphrey, pastor of the church in Pittsfield.
In 1824, after much difficulty, the college obtained its charter.
The president and his associates returned from Boston in the
stage. Their messenger, sent to communicate the good news.
88 Historic Homes of Amherst
was carried on the shoulders of the citizens to the hotel. That
night the town blazed with illuminations and there was great
rejoicing.
At the first annual meeting held under the charter, Rev. Ed-
ward Hitchcock, pastor of the church in Conway, was chosen
professor of chemistry and natural history, with a salary of
$700. Thus did the college secure for itself the services of
one who for thirty-eight years devoted all his efforts to its wel-
fare, and in its time of great need proved, according to Profes-
sor Tyler, to be the " Joshua " who led the college into the
promised land.
The founders of the Hitchcock family are supposed to have
come from Wiltshire, England, where they lived at the time of
William the Conqueror. Luke Hitchcock removed from New
Haven to Wether^field, where he died, after which his children
came to Springfield. He was a shoemaker and very friendly with
the Indians, who, tradition says, gave him a deed of the land on
which is built the town of Farmington. This document would
have been of value to his descendants, if his wife had not used it
to cover a pie in the oven. Luke the second became a prominent
citizen of Springfield, made shoes, kept a tavern, was a captain
in the army and sheriff of old Hampshire county, and was in
the fight at Turners Falls. His son, Luke, married Martha
Colton and afterward Mrs. Hannah Day. Luke Hitchcock,
fourth, married Lucy Merrick of Springfield, was a deacon in
the church and a member of the General Court, and fought in
the Northern army against Burgoyne.
Justin, the son of this Luke Hitchcock, was born in
Springfield and served as apprentice to Moses Church, the
President Edward Hitchcock
The Home of Pi^esident Hitchcock 8g
hatter. In 1774 he moved to Deerfield and married Mercy
Hoyt, who was born in the historic old Indian house. Justin
was a fifer in the Deerfield company of minute men and car-
ried both gun and fife on the march to Cambridge. In 1777
he was with the militia called out to assist in the capture of
Burgoyne. He was a prominent man in Deerfield, deacon
in the church and leader of the choir, playing a bass viol of
his own manufacture which is now on exhibition in Memorial
hall. He paid for his home lot with one hundred and fifteen
bushels of wheat.
Here was born his eldest daughter, Charissa, who married
Dr. Jonathan Swett and went to New York State. Of her two
daughters, one, Charissa, outlived four husbands, and the other,
Minerva, was the mother of sixteen children. The other chil-
dren of Justin Hitchcock were Henry, Charles, Emilia, and
Edward. The latter was to become a scientist of world-wide
reputation and the venerated and beloved president of Amherst
college. The old homestead descended through Justin's son,
Henry, to the grandson, Nathaniel, and after one hundred and
twenty-six years' ownership has recently passed out of the
family.
The children of Justin Hitchcock enjoyed the intimate com-
panionship of an intellectual father, who, though his church
passed into Unitarian hands, retained his evangelistic belief.
The three sons graduated from the academy, after which Ed-
ward, not wishing to become a hatter, worked on the farm for
several years, spending evenings and every spare moment in
scientific studies.
The necessity of rigid economy in those early days taught
go Histo7'ic Homes of Amherst
the boy the value of money, and enabled him afterward to apply
his rules of frugal living to the business affairs of Amherst col-
lege, and thus rescue it from the slough of debt and discour-
agement into which it had fallen. He was an enthusiastic stu-
dent of astronomy and made himself sick calculating eclipses.
When twenty years of age he published an almanac, making
his own observations and correcting the calculations of Euro-
pean astronomers and, when taken to task by them, entered
into a contest and came off victorious. He greatly desired to
enter college and overtaxed his eyesight, so that he was obliged
for a time to give up his astronomy and Greek. About this
time he wrote and produced on the stage in the old Deerfield
church a tragedy, '• The Downfall af Bonaparte." The author
calls this a "juvenile production which should not have been
published." " But," he added, " it contained some real poetry
and was loudly called for by the rural population, before whom
it was acted with much success."
When principal of Deerfield academy, Edward Hitchcock
began to study for the ministry and also to study natural his-
tory. The latter, involving out of door exercise, was very
beneficial to his health. We judge that his labors in the acad-
emy were agreeable from the fact that his associate. Miss Orra
White, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jarib White of Amherst, con-
sented after a time to become his permanent assistant.
When the call came from the college in Amherst, the profes-
sor elect, feeling the need of some extra training in chemistry,
went with his wife to New Haven, where for a year he studied
with Professor Silliman, after which, having learned the secrets
of success in the performance of chemical experiments, he came
The Home of President Hitchcock gi
to Amherst and set up housekeeping in the dwelling on North
Pleasant street now owned by F, S. Whipple. Soon after, de-
siring to live nearer the college, Professor Hitchcock exchanged
his house for the one on South Pleasant street belonging to its
builder, W. S. Howland, now the property of Morris B. King-
man. Here the Hitchcock family lived until the professor was
elected president, and to this house he returned, after resigning
the presidency, to spend the remainder of his life.
The house was at first a plain building with no wings and a
small porch in front. Professor Hitchcock was the State geol-
ogist and made three collections of minerals, one for himself,
one for the State, and one for the college. The State collection
is now in the museum of the Agricultural college. Needing a
place in which to arrange his private collection, between 1836
and 1840 he built an octagon, thirty feet away from the house
and entirely separate from it, in which his treasures were dis-
played to the best advantage. This curious building was lined
with shelves which extended to the ceiling. The visitor who
desired to examine these specimens was invited to climb the
stairs and walk around the gallery, which afforded access to
the upper shelves. The outside of the cabinet was marked off
in squares in such a manner as to appear to be made of blocks^
of stone.
Inside the dwelling house were large square rooms, with a
spacious hall at the left, the whole hung with paper dark in
color, with large figures and antique designs. The walls of
the sitting room were decked with various shades of green.
The kitchen, with hospitable air, seemed to invite the visitor to
sit before the blazing fire upon its immense hearthstone and
.<^2 Historic Homes of Amherst
await the dainties sure to be produced from the great brick
oven.
Professor Hitchcock was a man of tremendous energy and
indomitable will. These he brought to bear upon his asso-
ciates and students with marvelous results. When he came to
Amherst, the problem of the college and its future awaited solu-
tion. Among the trustees with whom he was associated were
Colonel Rufus Graves, whom for his enthusiasm he likened to
Peter, the Hermit ; Nathaniel Smith of Sunderland, called by
President Humphrey the " good Arimathean ; " Hon. S. F.
Dickinson, Hon. John Leland, treasurer for fourteen years ;
Lucius Boltwood, commissioner of charity fund ; and Hon.
Samuel Williston of Easthampton. The latter, on account of
weak eyes, being unable to go to college, began covering but-
tons to earn money for benevolence. By means of manufac-
tures of which this was the beginning, he secured the funds
which enabled him to found Williston seminary and to make
valuable gifts to Amherst college.
The affairs of the college were for the time prosperous.
The townspeople were proud of their institution and its stu-
dents. The latter devoutly attended morning and evening
prayers in the old church, summoned at 4.45 a. m. in the sum-
mer and 5.45 A. M. in the winter by the ringing of the bell
which hung in the wooden tower near the buildings. Dis-
cipline was strict in those days. The boys were fined for not
keeping study hours, for firing a gun, and for playing musical
instruments on the college grounds. Board was $1.25 a week,
washing from twelve to twenty cents.
The students took care of their rooms, sawed wood, made
The Return
The Home of President Hitchcock gj
fires, and each year had a " chip day " to clean the grounds.
Thus did the collegians gain their exercise. The rest of the
time they studied, having nothing else to do. Soon the college
numbered more students than Harvard.
Meanwhile Professor Hitchcock was busily at work pushing
his department with might and main. His associates were
Nathan W. Fiske, a man of ready wit and wonderful power of
description ; Samuel W. Worcester, Jacob Abbott, who after
teaching five years retired to write innumerable books for the
young, and Ebenezer Snell. Professor Hitchcock and Pro-
fessor Snell worked together thirty-eight years. The former
said of his friend : " He was a man of strict fidelity and
punctuality. His example has always tended to keep the ship
at Amherst steadily on her way."
During this season of prosperity, six children, Mary, Cather-
ine, Edward, Jane Elizabeth, Charles Henry, and Emily, were
born into the Hitchcock home. The first baptism in Johnson
chapel was that of little Edward, who was carried thither by
his parents that he might be christened by President Hum-
phrey. The family attended church in the chapel, but went to
Sunday school in the First church meeting-house. There at a
later date S. C. Carter and J. S. Adams were the superinten-
dents and Mrs. Sweetser and tutors from the college were
the teachers. The children studied little question books with
stiff covers, containing lessons made out for the whole year.
The Hitchcock boys and girls at first attended a private
school near by, kept by the daughters of the Baptist minister,
Miss Helen and Miss Emily Nelson, and afterward they went
to Amherst academy. But the best teachers of these children
p^ Historic Homes of Amherst
must have been their gifted mother and enthusiastic father.
Mrs. Hitchcock was a woman of fine artistic taste and talent,
which she afterwards used in making illustrations for her hus-
band's geological reports and lectures. To her skill we are
indebted for the only picture in existence of the old meeting-
house and the bell tower on College hill. Plain living and high
thinking reigned within the home whose very atmosphere was
weighted with wisdom.
The $700 salary of the professor did not suffice to feed and
•clothe six children, and buy expensive furniture, so its appoint-
ments were not elegant, but solid and substantial. The house
was shaded by a row of buttonball trees which extended far up
the street, of which a few aged veterans remain. The black
cherry trees which the boys used to climb to eat their fill of
the fruit have all disappeared.
The mother's flower garden was her delight and her taste
was inherited by her daughter Mary, for whom in later years
the good father built a little conservatory. The south cham-
ber, the professor's study, was lined with bookcases. In the
parlor was the old piano, now to be seen in Deerfield Memorial
hall, on which the daughter Emily made sweet music.
In an upper back room Mary Lyon slept during the months
she spent as a member of the family while forming her plans
and consulting with Professor Hitchcock with regard to the
establishment of Mount Holyoke seminary. The family ate
from mahogany tables, sat on mahogany chairs, and slept in
cold rooms on feather beds placed on high, old-fashioned bed-
steads. The rooms downstairs were warm, however, for there
was plenty of maple and oak wood, which Edward was obliged
The Home of President Hitchcock 95
to bring in, much to his dislike. He also had to weed the
vegetables and help pick the raspberries, of which there was
an abundance. Boys of that day were useful instead of orna-
mental, and their labor was an important factor in the home.
Professor Hitchcock did not believe in Unitarian doctrines,
but was liberal in his scientific view of the Bible, and did not
think the world was made in six days. Professor Fiske, his
next door neighbor, was very strict in bringing up his children.
His daughter Helen and Edward Hitchcock were playmates
and were always together. Helen was a young athlete, and in
trials of strength came out victorious. When she ran away to
Hadley, young Edward, among others, went to search for her.
There must have been lively times in that neighborhood, for
these young people were all wide awake and ready for fun or
mischief, whichever offered first. They went to singing school,
where to an accompaniment of bass viol, flute and violin they
learned by heart the tunes in the Carmina Sacra. Then all
the children attended the academy and made their record
there.
Suddenly the friends of the college realized that a crisis in
its history had come. The wave of religious excitement which
had swept over New P^ngland began to abate and the craze for
an education in order to enter the ministry subsided. The
citizens lost their interest in the students, who began to play
pranks about the town, driving the cattle ofT the common the
night after cattle show and capsizing and destroying the old
bell tower, so that the bell had to be placed in the tower of the
chapel.
Expenses were higher, and the anti-slavery excitement split
g6 Historic Homes of Amherst
the college into two parties. Without one cent of endowment,
and subscriptions exhausted, it seemed that the college must
become merely an academy. President Humphrey resigned
and the trustees appointed in his place, as the one man equal
to the emergency — Professor Edward Hitchcock.
The new president accepted the office with reluctance, as it
interfered with his scientific work. He found that trustee and
faculty meetings made his head feel as if " bound by a hoop."
Finally, by taking a drive with his old sorrel horse, Tobias,
every morning and a bowl of arrowroot for breakfast, he found
it possible to endure the protracted sessions. The only way he
could be the president of Amherst college with comfort was to
live on hominy and milk, and he recommended this diet, with
total abstinence from intoxicating drink, to all his successors.
President Hitchcock rented his own house to Professor
Haven, and moved his family to the president's house, which
he considered to be too near the college, where the president
could " see too much." Then he made a successful effort to
stop the college from running in debt. The professors were
Warner, Fiske, Tyler, Snell, and Shepard. After deducting
expenses, the income of the college was divided among the
faculty. This gave the president $550 a year and the profes-
sors $450.
After an unsuccessful attempt to secure funds for buildings
to be used for scientific purposes, the president declared that
he had made up his mind to two things : " To go back to
Amherst and labor on for the college as long as he could keep
soul and body together, and never to ask anybody for another
dollar."
The Home of President Hitchcock gy
This policy produced wonderful results, and the money that
was not asked came in. Josiah B. Woods of Enfield, grand-
father of Josiah B. Woods, iVmherst, '05, provided means for
the Woods cabinet. In this were arranged specimens sent by
missionaries, sixteen of whom were graduates of the college.
Professor Fiske sent three hundred specimens from Mount
Zion just before he died and was buried near the tomb of
David.
Justin Perkins, missionary to Persia, secured a collection
from the top of Mount Ararat and thereabouts, which for want
of cases he sent to Amherst packed in several extra pairs of
pantaloons. Lawrence observatory, Appleton cabinet, Nineveh
gallery, all were built during President Hitchcock's administra-
tion. In three years the college was prospering, and the tide
of public opinion had changed. In spite of his hominy and milk
and rides with old Tobias, the president found himself in failing
health and desired to go back to his former professorship and
old home. This the college would not allow, but gave him
leave of absence to go to Europe.
This journey was a wonderful experience, and in spite of
continual illness was greatly enjoyed. He examined agricul-
tural schools, studied the geology of England, and for his re-
ports presented to the government received nearly enough
money to pay the expenses of the trip. When President and
Mrs. Hitchcock returned, they were met by a delegation of
students at the foot of the hill, who escorted them to the house,
where the president of the class made an address of welcome.
The town and college buildings were illuminated and joy was
manifested on every side.
8
g8 Historic Homes of Amherst
Time passed swiftly on. A revival in the senior class took
place each year. The president, anxious lest this might not
continue, urged that the vital doctrines should be preached, and
that the desire to excel in piety rather than in scholarship
should be encouraged. With strenuous effort he had for twenty
years kept the temperance flag flying in the college. He said,
" Let those who come after me see to it that it be not torn
down and trampled in the dust."
President Hitchcock had not only been active in his
efforts for the college, but he had also been a loyal citi-
zen of the town. Town meeting found him ready to preside
or vote as the case might be. In the cattle show he was at the
head of the procession, at the right of the speaker at the din-
ner, always ready with a smile and pleasant word and a new
scheme to help the world along. His son Edward went with
him to cattle shows, and on the expeditions to name the points
of interest up and down the valley. Nine mountains have kept
the names he gave them, but Toby positively refused to be re-
christened Mettawompe.
During these years he was collecting the fossil footmarks which
have made his name famous the world over. Many a time the
enthusiastic scientist might have been seen driving into town
mounted on a load of the stones which contained the mysterious
records of creatures which lived in prehistoric ages, and care-
fully depositing the same, lest any should be injured by care-
less handling. One stone containing these tracks he placed be-
fore his own front door. This same slab may be seen to-day
behind the Kingman house.
In 1853 the president donated his collection of " bird tracks"
The Home of President HitcJicock gg
to the college. The next year, after ten years of service as
president, he resigned, and moved with his family back to the
old homestead which they had been so loth to leave. The
bookcases were placed in the southeast room below, which
saved him from climbing the stairs. The octagon was con-
nected with the house as it is seen to-day. After this was
done. Deacon Peckham of Westminster painted the picture
called " The Return," now in the possession of Dr. Edward
Hitchcock. The stage coach, the costume of the returning
father, the cap and 'kerchief of the mother, all are true to the
fashions of that day.
Inside the parlor window grandmother White peeps out and
she too wears a cap. The solemn rabbit in the corner and the
stiff quadruped at the master's heels are members of the family
whose existence has been forgotten. The blue umbrella with
which the president was wont to shield his frail form on a
windy day does not appear, but is doubtless somewhere near.
During these last years his sons, Edward and Charles, had
been of great assistance to their father, accompanying him on
his expeditions in search of footprints and sympathizing with
him in his work. Edward, Jr., graduated from college in 1849
and Charles in 1856. In their day candles had been exchanged
for whale oil lamps, by the light of which at early dawn they
began their daily tasks.
For exercise the students played wicket ball and shinny.
The Hitchcock boys seemed to follow in their father's footsteps
in their fondness for scientific pursuits. Charles Hitchcock on
graduation was appointed lecturer on zoology and curator of
the museum, and as his father's health declined, acted as his
assistant.
LofC.
100 Histoi^ic Homes of Amherst
In 1 86 1, Edward Hitchcock, Jr., M. D., was elected profes-
sor of physical education, and to his skill and tact in dealing
with students the college owes its success in a department
which almost everywhere else has proved a failure.
President Hitchcock had been connected with the college
during its entire existence as a corporate institution, and had
heard the recitations of 1520 pupils. Though always in ill
health, he had never allowed sickness or absence to prevent
him from giving his assigned courses, and the last years of his
life were most active and fruitful. Broken down by the loss of
his wife, who died in 1863, and having long lectured to his
classes from his sick room, that same year he resigned his pro-
fessorship, and at once commenced to write those " Reminis-
cences " which have been invaluable to those interested in the
history of the college. He died in the old home February 27,
1864, aged seventy-one. A great congregation assembled in
old College hall to attend his funeral and follow his body to
West cemetery. There a granite stone which marks the spot
bears this incription :
Edward Hitchcock,
Pastor in Conway,
President and Professor in Amherst
College.
A Leader in Science.
A Lover of Man.
A Friend of God.
Ever Illustrating
The Cross in Nature
and
Nature in the Cross.
