The History of Pittsfield, ... Massachusetts, from ... 1734 to ... 1800. Compiled and written under the general direction of a committee, by J. E. A. Smith

Front matter

REV THOMAS ALLBN. THE HISTORY OF PITTSFIELD, (BERKSHIRE COUNTY,) MASSACHUSETTS, FROM THE YEAR 1734 TO THE YEAR 1800. COMPILED AND WRITTEN, UNDER THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF A COMMITTEE, BY J. E. A. SMITH. BY AUTHORITY OF THE TOWN. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY LEE AND SHEPARD, 149 WASHINGTON STREET. 1869. Entered, accoiding to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by THE TOWN OF PITTSFIELD, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. Boston : Stereotyped and Printed by Geo. C. Rand & Avery.

Preface

. At a town meeting held in the Town Hall, in Pittsfield, Aug. 25, 1866, Mr. Thomas Allen rose, and stated, that on the Centennial of the First Congregational Church and Parish, viz., April 18, 1864, he had been requested by a vote of the parish to prepare an historical memoir of that parish and church, embodying substantially, but extending, the remarks he made at that meeting. He stated, that, in looking over the records of the town and parish, he found them intimately con nected, so that a history of the one would be also a history of the other ; and he had found the history of the town highly interesting, and honorable to its inhabitants. True, there were no classic fields in Pittsfield, consecrated by patriotic blood spilled in battle in defence of the country, as in Lexington and Concord, simply because no foreign foe in arms had ever invaded its soil : but it was not the less true that Pittsfield had always promptly performed her part, and furnished her quota of men and means, in every war waged in defence of the country and the Union ; and that in the intellectual contests through which the just principles of republican government, and civil and religious freedom, have been established in this country, the men of Pitts field, on their own ground and elsewhere, have ever borne a part creditable alike to their wisdom, their sagacity, and their patriotism.

Pittsfield, therefore, had a history which deserved to be written. The first settlers had all passed away ; and their immediate descendants, witnesses of the earlier struggles, were

PREFACE.

. IV whitening with the frosts of age, and were also rapidly disap pearing. If the records of their history were to be gathered together, and preserved in a durable form, it was time that the duty be undertaken. He was satisfied that an honorable record would appear, and worthy of the place to which God had given so much that is beautiful in nature. He therefore asked leave to introduce a resolution, of which the following is a principal part, which was warmly advocated, and, with great unanimity, at once adopted : — "Resolved, That a Committee of five be appointed for the purpose of compiling, writing, and supervising the publication of, a history of the town, and that said Committee be authorized to select and employ a suitable person to aid them in the work." The Committee, then immediately appointed, consisted of Thomas Allen, Stephen Reed, Phinehas Allen, James Francis, and James D. Colt.

Dr. H. H. Childs was subsequently added, and an appropriation made to defray the expenses of the work. The Committee selected and employed Mr. J. E. A. Smith as a suitable person, qualified by experience as a writer, to aid them ; and by him, the work, under their general direction and superin tendence, and subject to their scrutiny, has been compiled and written. The work was commenced in September ; documents and books in manuscript and print, and records from private and public sources, were gathered together ; and Boston, Springfield, Hartford, Albany, and Lenox were visited to consult libraries, authorities, and public archives'. Gathering information from so many and scattered sources, and reducing it to writing in chrono logical order, has been, of necessity, a work of time ; but the result is that more of it has been obtained than was at first anticipated.

On this account, the Committee have deemed it best to issue a first volume, bringing the history down only to the year 1800. Dr. Childs having departed this life in March, 1868, and Dr. Reed not acting, John C. West and Thaddeus Clapp were at the April meeting, 1868, added to the Committee. The Committee and Mr. Smith desire to put on record here an acknowledgment of their indebtedness to various persons for

PREFACE.

. V facts, and especially to mention the following as some of the chief sources from whence material for this History has been derived. Rev. Mr. Allen left many papers of much historic interest, of which a considerable number have been preserved, and have been of the utmost service. Several of them we print in full. Col. William Williams was one of the most prominent citizens of the town from its settlement until the close ofthe Revolution, and held offices which led him into voluminous correspondence re garding its affairs, and made him the custodian of valuable papers. A great mass of these was in existence within the last twenty years ; but the larger portion have since been destroyed. For tunately, however, while the work of destruction was going on, it came to the knowledge of Hon. Thomas Colt, who saved a con siderable part, which forms the nucleus of his valuable historical collection, and has afforded us the greatest aid in our labors.

Many other exceedingly valuable and serviceable documents, saved from the Williams papers, have been contributed by M. R. Lanckton and Henry Colt, Esqs. The papers left by Col. John Brown to his family were inad vertently destroyed many years ago; but Henry C. Van Schaack, Esq., of Manlius, N. Y., a zealous and successful student of Revolutionary history, obtained a just conception of the charac ter and services of that officer at a time when they were more obscure than they have since become, and has been for more than a quarter of a century earnestly engaged in collecting documents regarding them. His labors have been richly rewarded ; and he has generously placed the results in our hands, together with his own interesting observations upon them. To Mr. Van Schaack we are also indebted for a large collection of interesting papers regarding his uncle, Major Henry Van Schaack, concerning the Shays Rebellion, the contest for religious equality, and other matters ; many of them pertaining to the period the story of which is to be given in the second volume of this work.

We are also indebted, for valuable papers, to Messrs. John P. Brown, J. A. Foote, and Ambrose Cadwell, of Pittsfield ; Mrs. J. V. C. Smith of New York ; Mrs. Butler of Northampton ; VI

PREFACE.

. H. W. Taft, Esq., of Lenox ; and Charles J. Taylor, Esq., of Great Barrington. We ought also to express our obligations to Mrs. Otis Peck for the loan of a file of " The Pittsfield Sun ; " and to Mr. G. A. Murdock, civil engineer, who superintended the enlargement of the Pittsfield lakes as reservoirs, for aid in matters pertaining to his profession. The records of Pittsfield are perfect from the incorporation of the plantation of Poontoosuck in 1753, with the exception of a few years during the last French and Indian War ; and many papers of importance are preserved in the town archives. And these, of course, have furnished a general outline of its story. But perhaps the richest source of information has been found in the archives of the State at Boston, among which are preserved a large number of petitions, memorials, reports, and military rolls, pertaining to Pittsfield.

In addition to these, we have made use of the files of the Bos ton newspapers published during the Revolution, and preserved in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society ; the files of" The Hartford Courant," in the collection ofthe Connecticut Historical Society ; the files of " The Pittsfield Sun ; " the county records at Springfield and Lenox ; and the archives of the State of New York at Albany. A large number of printed volumes have also been consulted ; most of which have been found to contain information valuable for our purposes. In the course of these researches, we have received aid and courtesies from many persons, and cannot refrain from express ing our obligations especially to the gentlemen connected with the Massachusetts State Department, to Hon. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff and Wendell Phillips, Esq., of Boston, Hon. Richard Frothingham of Charlestown, J. Hammond Trumbull, Esq., of Hartford, Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan, and Joel Munsel, Esq., of Albany, and to Mrs. Thomas F. Plunkett of Pittsfield. CONTENTS. TOPOGRAPHY.

Part I

— BERKSHIRE. Geography. — Physical Structure and Scenography. — Central Position of Pittsfield. — Manufactures. — Mineral Productions. — Aspect when first visited. — G-eographical Nomenclature. — Derivation of the Name " Housatonic " 3

Part II

— PITTSFIELD. G-eneral Description. — Adjoining TownB. — Lakes, Streams, Mountains. — Fish. — Manufactories. — Outlying Villages. — Central Village. — The Old Elm. — Maplewood. — Springside. — Churches. — Banks and Insurance OfficeB. — Railroads. — County Buildings. — Population and Valuation 22 HISTORY.

Chapter I. Aboriginal Occupation

The Natives as found by the Pioneers. — Relics. — Villages and Burial-Grounds in Pittsfield. — Scantiness of Native Population to be accounted for. — Mobegan Traditional History. — Wars of the Mohegans and Iroquois. — Changes in the Condition of the Mohegans of Berkshire. — Hunting-System of the Mohegans. — Berkshire a Hunting- Ground. — The Part of the Settlers of Pittsfield in various Indian Wars. — Remarkable Incidents 43 CHAPTER H. GRANTS.— SERVETS. — SALES. — [1620-1741.] Advance of Population Westward in Massachusetts. — History of the Western Boundary of Massachusetts. — First Settlement on the Housatonic. — Disposition by the General Court of Wild Lands in Hampshire County. — Jacob Wendell. — John Stoddard. — Grant to Stoddard. — Grant to Boston. — Boston sells to Wendell. — Adjustment of the Rights of Wendell, Stoddard, and Philip Livingston. — Cost, Form, and Dimensions of the Township ... 55 CHAPTER HI.

FIRST ATTEMPT TO SETTLE THE TOWNSHIP. — [1741-1749.] Settling-lots laid out. — Description of Lots and Roads. — Philip Livingston to procure Settlers.— Efforts to introduce Dutchmen fail. — Huston induces a Company from WeBtfield to purchase Forty Lots. — Pioneers commence a Clearing. —Poontoosuck as it appeared in 1743. — Work suspended by News of War. — Col. William Williams. — The War of 1744-8. — Building of Fort Massachusetts. — Hardships of Settlers in the War 69 CONTENTS. VIII CHAPTER P7. PERMANENT SETTLEMENT. — [1749-1754.] j Return of the Pioneers. — The First White Woman in Poontoosuck, and her Trials. — David Bush. — Nathaniel Fairfield. — Alone in the Woods.— A Bridal Tour in 1752. — Zebediah Stiles. — CharleB Goodrich. — Partition ofthe Commons made and annulled. — Col. Williams settles on Unkamet Street. — His Property there. — The Plantation organized. — Powers of Plantations. — Votes with regard to Meetinghouse, Preaching, Bridges, and Highways. — The First Bridge built. — Propositions for a Saw and Grist Mill 85

CHAPTER V. SECOND FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.

— [1754-1759.] State ofthe Plantation. — Position of Housatonic Indians. — Homicide of Waumpaumcorse. — Indian Massacre at Stockbridge and Hoosac. —Flight from Poontoosuck. — Poontoosuck Military Post. — Building of Fort Anson. — Garrison-Life at the Fort. — The Settlers during the War.— Fort Goodrich. — Fort Fairfield. — Fort at Onota. — Oliver Root.— William Williams 97

CHAPTER VI. THE PLANTATION ORGANIZATION RESUMED.

— [1759-1761.] Proprietors'-Meetings, 1759-60. — Vote to sell the 'Lands of Delinquent Tax-payers. — Committees to hire a Minister. — Coi. Williams's First Election as Clerk. — Highways and Bridges. — Highway-Surveyors' Districts formed. — Condition ofthe Settlers at the Close of the War. — Partition of the Commons 119

CHAPTER VII. PITTSFIELD INCORPORATED.

— [1761-1774.] Towns receive Names from the Governor. —Berkshire County erected. — First Pittsfield Town-Meeting. — Town-Officers. — Highways and Schools. — Pauperism. — Slavery. — Crimes and Misdemeanors. — Cattle restrained. — Wolves. — Anecdote of Mrs. Janes. — Grist-Mills. — Saw-Mills: — Fulling-Mills, and Malt-House. — Growth of the Settlement. —Col. Williams's House and Garden. — Other Dwellings. — Early Settlers' Names. — Condition and Prospects ofthe Town. — Taxation of Non-resident Proprietors ]30 CHAPTER vrn. FIRST MEETING-HOUSE AND MINISTER. — [1760-1763.] Massachusetts Laws for the Support of Public Worship. — Their inharmonious Operation in Pittsfield. — Differences between Resident and Non-resident Proprietors. — The Meeting-house raised. — Difficulties in finishing it. — First Sale of Pews. — Dignifying the Seats. — Description of the Meeting-house. — Burial-Ground. — First Attempts to settle a Minister. — Ebenezer Garnsey. — Enoch Huntington. — Amos Tomson, Daniel Collins. — Thomas Allen, called and settled. —Church formed.— Sketch of Rev. Mr. Allen 150

CHAPTER IX. ANTE-REVOLUTIONARY POLITICS.

— [1761-JUNE, 1774.] Public Sentiment. —Its Leaders in Pittsfield. — Israel Stoddard. — Woodbridge Little. William Williams. — Rev. Thomas Allen. — Elder Valentine Rathbun.— James Easton.— William Francis.— Josiah Wright.— Oliver Root. — David Noble. — John Strong. — Charles Goodrich. — Israel Dickinson. — Dr. Timothy Childs. — John Brown.— Eli Root.— Daniel Hubbard. — Census of 1772.— Censorship ofthe Town Records. — Revolutionary Measures.— Instructions to Representatives. — Action regarding the Boston Tea-party ■ ■ CONTENTS. IX

CHAPTER X. RESISTANCE TO PARLIAMENTARY AGGRESSION.

— [MARCH-OCTOBER, 1774.] Boston Port-Bill and Regulating Acts. — First Revolutionary Town Action of Pittsfield, — Committee of Correspondence appointed. — The League and Covenant adopted.— Pittsfield contributes in Aid of the Sufferers by the Port-Bill. — Obstruction of the King's Court. — Seth Pomeroy. — Oliver "Wendell 187

CHAPTER XI.

A SEASON OF PREPARATION.— [SEPTEMBER, 1774-MAT, 1775.] John Brown elected to the Provinc- .^Congress.— Pittsfield adopts Congressional Advice. — Adopts the Articles of Asss*-* Stion. — Revolutionary Committees. — Pittsfield Militia. — Generous Patriotism, of Capt. Noble. — The Minute-Men. — Spinning-Matches and Clothing-Bees. — News of Lexington Fight. — March of the Minute-Men. — Changes in Capt. Noble's Company. — Proceedings against the Tories. — Patriotic Labors of Rev. Mr. Allen 200 CHAPTER XH. FTTTSFTELD TN ETHAN ALLEN'S TICONDEROGA CAPTURE. — [DECEMBER-JUNE, 1775.] John Brown in the Provincial Congress. — On the Canada Committee. — Selected to go to Canada. — Perilous Journey. — Report of his Mission. — Recommende the early Capture of Ticonderoga. — Arranges it with Ethan Allen. — Connecticut plans the capture. — Connection ofthe two Schemes. — The Commissioners visit Pittsfield. — John Brown and Col. Easton join the Party. — Its Plans modified on their Suggestion. — Col. Easton raises Men for the Expedition. — Councils of War in Vermont, — Rank ofthe Officers fixed. — Ethan Allen. — Benedict Arnold claims the Command, and is resisted. — Important Letter from Arnold. — Allen captures the Fort. — Easton and Brown announce the Victory to the Continental and Provincial Congresses. — Reports of Col. Allen and Capt. Mott. — The great Services of the Pittsfield Officers officially acknowledged. — Malignant Course of Arnold. — He receives Troops, captures a King's Sloop, and sets up a rival Command. — Is placed under Col. Hinman of Connecticut by the Provincial Congress, and resigns. — Col. Easton appointed to fill the Vacancy. — John Brown commissioned Major. — Arnold embezzles the Pay of Capt. James Noble's Pittsfield Company 211 CHAPTER xrn.

PITTSFIELD IN THE FIRST NORTHERN CAMPAIGN, AND AT THE SIEGE OF BOSTON. [MAY-NOVEMBER, 1775.] Eivalries at Ticonderoga. — Col. Easton proposes an Invasion of Canada. — He raises a Regiment. — Pittsfield Companies in it. — Gen. Schuyler appointed Department Commander. — First Visit to Ticonderoga. — Opinion of the Troops there. — Major John Brown's Second Scout in Canada. — Returning, he urges an immediate Advance. — Appointed to command the Lake Fleet. — Hastens the March of the Army. — Siege of St. John's commences. — Major Brown again sent to Canada. — Reports to Schuyler. — Major Brown the first to lead a Detachment into Canada. — Captures Stores near Chamblee. — Unsuccessful Plan to capture Montreal. — Takes Fort Chamblee.— St. John's surrenders. — Col. Easton's Regiment advances to the St. Lawrence. — Entrenches at Sorel. — Its Sufferings. — Blockades the British Fleet. — Brilliant Services of the Pittsfield Officers acknowledged. — Close of the Campaign. — Col. Patterson's Regiment at Cambridge. — Extraordinary Transmission of Sounds . . . .226 X CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIV. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

— THE TORIES. — BATTLES OF WHITE PLATN3 AND THE DELAWARE. — [1776-1777.] King George's Name expunged from Military Commissions. — The Town instructs its Representative in Favor of Independence and a Free Republic. — Committees of Correspondence, &c. — Their Rules of Practice. — The Tories. — The Hue and Cry. — Hiding-place ofthe Tories. — The Ban of Community. —Its Effect illustrated by an Incident. — John Graves aids the Escape of a Royal Officer, and is punished therefor. — An ex-post facto Fright. — Infliction of Confiscation and Banishment. — Case of Elisha Jones and Others. — Enlistment of a Slave. — Woodbridge Little and Israel Stoddard. — Six Tories induced by energetic Measures to take the Oath of Allegiance. — Anecdote of a Soldier returned from a British Prison. — Mr. Allen's Diary at White Plains. — Patterson's Regiment rejoins Washington, '—Its reduced Condition . . 243

CHAPTER XV. PITTSFTELD EN THE SECOND CANADA CAMPAIGN.

— ARNOLD'S PERSECUTION OF BROWN AND EASTON.— [SEPTEMBER, 1775-1778.] Arnold arrives at Quebec. — Montgomery arrives. — Projected Assault on the. City. — Brown charged with creating Dissensions. — The Charge considered. — Assault on Quebec. — Death of Montgomery. — Arnold continues the Siege. — Brown's the most advanced Post. — Expects to be a Uriah there. — Small-Pox in the Army. — Attempt to set up Inoculation in Pittsfield. — Patterson's RegimeDt marches to Canada. — In the Affair of the Cedars. — Evacuation of Canada. — Miserable Condition of the Army at Crown Point. — Schuyler and the Berkshire Committees. — Arnold's Charges against Brown and Easton. — They demand a Court of Inquiry. — Singular Difficulty in obtaining it. — Brown impeaches Arnold of Treason and other Crimes. — Appeals to the Public. — Publishes a Hand-Bill against Arnold. — Remarkable Interview between Brown and Arnold. — An ex-parte Trial. — Gross Injustice to Brown. — His spirited Remonstrance and Resignation 255

CHAPTER XVI. THE INVASION OF BURGOYNE, AND BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.

— [1777.] Pittsfield Soldiers for the Continental Army. — Apprehensions of Invasion from Canada. — A Petition of 1775. — Pittsfield responds to Calls for Men. — Sends Companies to Ticonderoga in December and April. — Burgoyne approaches. — Extracts from Mr. Allen's Diary at Ticonderoga. — He addresses the Soldiers of the Garrison. — Evacuation of Ticonderoga.— Feeling at Pittsfield regarding it. — Correspondence of Gen. Schuyler. — Scbuyler and the Berkshire Militia. — Baum's Expedition marches on Bennington.— Met by Stark. — Rally of the Berkshire Militia. — Pittsfield Volunteers. — Anecdote of an Indian Scout. — Anecdotes of Rev. Mr. Allen.— He fires the First Gun at the Bennington Fight. —Anecdote of Linus Parker. — Rout of the British Forces.— Effect of the Victory on the Country.— Col. Brown's Lake George Expedition. — His Brilliant Success. — Surrender of Burgoyne. — His March through Pittsfield. — Quaint Patriotic Verses % 278

CHAPTER XVII. LAST TEARS OF TIIE REVOLUTION.

— [1777-1783.] Battle of Stone Arabia. — Death of Col. Brown. — Major Oliver Root defends Fort Paris. —Pittsfield Militia.— Pittsfield Soldiers in the Continental Army. — Action of the Town in filling Quotas. — Hosea Merrill.— Interesting Incidents. — Material Contributions of Pittsfield to the War of the Revolution. — Collection of Taxes. —Curious Papers relating thereto -na CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XVm. THE BERKSHIRE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. — [1775-1780.] Political Status of the County. — Its Origin in the Organization of the Provisional Provincial Government. — The Provincial CongresB. — Plan devised by the Continental Congress for the Q-overnment of Massachusetts. — The Western Counties oppose it, but yield. — Reasons for reviving their Opposition. — Feeling against the Provincial Charter accounted for. — Rev. Mr. Allen's Position. — The Judicial System of the Province oppressive. — The Civil Administration excluded from Berkshire. — The Memorial of Pittsfield. — Delay of other Counties in re-organizing their Courts . . 324

CHAPTER XLX. THE BERKSHIRE CONSTITUTIONALISTS

(CONTINUED).— [1775-1780.] Pittsfield challenges legislative Attention to its Recusance. — Second Memorial. — Congress practically revokes its Advice. — Berkshire demands a Constitution, which the General Court neglects to provide. — Projected Constitution of 1777. — Pittsfield accepts it in Part, but the State rejects. — The Non-constitutionalists memorialize. — Their Statement. — The Legislature appeals to the People of Berkshire. — Consequent Action. — Vote of the Towns still excluding the Courts. — The County petitions for a Constitutional Convention. — Strong Language ofthe Petition. — The Legislature passes an act of Pardon and Oblivion. — Pittsfield denounces it as uncalled for and libellous. — The Legislature informs Berkshire of Measures towards complying with its Demands. — The County nevertheless excludes the Courts until the Constitution shall be actually adopted. — Final Memorial to the Legislature. — Instructions of Pittsfield to its Delegate in the Constitutional Convention. — Newspaper Libels. — Conclusion 350

CHAPTER XX. THE BERKSHIRE CONSTITUTIONALISTS.

— COMMITTEE GOVERNMENT OF THE INTER- REGNUM.— [1774-17S0.] Committees of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety. — Their Character and Origin.— Subordinated in 1776 to the Courts of Law. — The Berkshire Committees refuse Submission. — Their Administration of Justice. — Curious Surveillance of Morals and Manners. — Town Court established. — Its Rules of Practice and Fee-Table. — Discipline of Capt. Goodrich by the Committee. — He appeals to the Legislature. — Details of the Case 374

CHAPTER XXI. THE SHAYS REBELLION.

— [1781-1786.] Its Causes. — Taxes. — Private Debts. — Harsh Laws and Customs. — County Conventions. — Popular Outbreaks. — Organized Rebellion. — The Peculiar Course of Berkshire County. — Convention at Lenox. — Courts obstructed at Great Barrington.— Gen, Lincoln establishes Headquarters at Pittsfield.— The Rebellion suppressed . 389 CHAPTER XXH. PITTSFIELD LN THE SHAYS REBELLION. — PAROCHIAL DIFFICULTIES.— [1786-1789.] Public Sentiment of the Town. — Its Comparative Prosperity. — Prominent Citizens labor for Law and Order. — Henry Van Schaack eulogizes the Town. — The Malecontent Movement modified in Pittsfield. — Instructions to Representative Childs.— A Stormy Town Meeting. — A Conservative Re-action. — Military Occupation of the Town. — Anecdote. — Parochial Dissensions. — Reconciliation effected. — Joshua Danforth. — Henry Van Schaack 4US CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXIII. COUNTY COURTS IN PITTSFIELD.

— [1761-1787.] Courts on Unkamet Street. — Peculiarities of the Court of General Sessions. — Court-house Scenes. — Dissatisfaction with the Place of holding the Courts. — Contributions and Plans for a New Court-House. — Various Sites advocated. — Change in the Shire-Towns proposed. — Popular and Legislative Action. — A County Convention decides for Lenox. — Opposition. — Delays. — The Legislature insists. — Court-House and Jail built 423

CHAPTER XXIV. THE MEETING-HOUSE OF

1790. — [1789-1793.] Accommodations for Religious "Worship in 1790. — Plans for a New Meeting-House.' — Items from the Assessment of 1791. — Sale of Continental Money. — Materials for the New Meeting-House. — Location of the House. — Salvation of the Elm, and Creation of the Park. — Building of the House. — Disputes about Pews. — The First Bell. — Destruction of the Old Meeting-House. — Ball-Playing forbidden on the Common. — Town House and Academy erected. — Protection for the Burial-G-round. — John Chandler "Williams. — Madam "Williams . 434

CHAPTER XXV. STRUGGLE FOR THE EQUALITY OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.

— [1772-1811.] State of the Law. — Appropriations for the New Meeting-House resisted. — Baptists, Shakers, Episcopalians, and Methodiste. — Protest of the Dissenters. — List of Dissenters in 1789. — Inquisition into Religious Faith. — Henry Van Schaack appeals to the Courts. — The Decision. — State Laws for the Support of Religious "Worship remodelled. — Pittsfield Parishes 450

Appendix

. A. — Depreciation of Massachusetts Provincial Currency .467 B.— Rev. Thomas Allen's Revolutionary Diary , 470 C. —Names of Early Settlers _ 475 D. — Records of the Revolutionary Service of Pittsfield in the Revolution . . . .477 E.— Census of Pittsfield in 1772 ' 497 F. —Rev. Mr. Allen's Account of the Battle of Bennington 499 GK — Plan of Pittsfield in 1794 . " 501 H. — Additional Incidents cno Explanation. -The initials T. C. C, refer to the Thomas Colt Historical Collection; H. C. C, Henry Colt Collection; Lane. Col., Lancton Collection; Am. Ar., to the American Archives of Peter Force; H. V. S. C, to the Henry C. Van Schaack Collection. TOPOGRAPHY. " Topographical pursuits, my doctor used to say, tend to preserve and promote the civilization of which they are a consequence and a proof.

" They have always prospered in prosperous countries, and flourished most in flourishing times, when there have been persons enough of opulence to encourage such studies, and of leisure to engage in them. . . . Whatever strengthens our local attachments is favorable both to individual and national character. Our home, our birthplace, our native land, — think for a while what the virtues are which arise out of the feelings connected with these words ; and, if thou hast any intellectual eyes, thou wilt then perceive the connection between topography and patriotism. " Show me a man who cares no more for one place than another, and I will show you in that same person one who loves nothing but himself. Beware of those who are homeless by choice : you have no hold on a human being whose aflections are without a tap-root." — Southey ; The Doctor.

P A. R T I BERKSHIRE. Geography. — Physical Structure and Scenography. — Central Position of Pittsfield. — Manufactures. — Mineral Productions. — Aspect when first visited. — Geographical Nomenclature. — Derivation of the Name " Housatonic." THE fourteen counties into which Massachusetts is divided are, most of them, distinguished by physical peculiarities, which shape the occupations of their inhabitants, and mould their habits of life and thought ; and among these subdivisions of the Com monwealth, in forming which the statute has, often with nicety, followed the demarcations of Nature, not even the sandy Cape or metropolitan Suffolk — hardly even insular Nantucket — is marked by features so unlike those of its sister shires as are those which characterize the county of Berkshire. The traveller who enters the mountain-walls of its upland valley soon recognizes the intense individuality of this region, and feels that he is among a peculiar people as well as amid novel scenes; and this notwithstanding the large infusion of foreign population into the manufacturing districts, and the constant tidal currents between city and country life, which have gone far to smooth away the strong although never very rugged lines that used to make the aspect of society no less picturesque than that of Nature.

The stranger with a moderately observant eye will soon perceive that the old lineaments, however softened, are still there; and he may often find them starting into prominence, which leaves the lineal likeness unmistakable. The people of Berkshire are the true children of their home among the hills. They are very much what its geographical and physical characteristics would naturally make the descendants of Massachusetts Puritans. Our first consideration, then, is of the influences of this kind which have tended to modify in them the common type of Massachusetts man. Berkshire, the extreme western portion ofthe Pilgrim Commonwealth, is divided from the counties of Columbia and Rensselaer, in New York, by a right line1 which runs for fifty-one miles along the summits ofthe Taconic Mountains.

On the north, a straight boundary of fourteen miles separates it from Vermont ; but the town of Munroe, belonging to Franklin County, juts into its north-eastern corner. Immediately south of that point, the width of Berkshire is about eighteen miles. Thence a line, rendered very irregular by numerous attempts to rectify the boundaries of towns and counties, divides the Hoosac Mountains, between Berkshire ou the west, and Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire on the east. Upon the south, the line again becomes straight, and runs for twenty-four miles along the borders of Con necticut. Thus the four cardinal boundaries of Berkshire he along four different States, including that of which it forms a part. The region thus defined, containing an area of a little over nine hundred and fifty square miles, forms a conspicuous feature in one of the most remarkable phases of New-England geograpihy, as described, upon the authority of Prof. Guyot's observations, in Palfrey's history of that section : and no better basis for a clear comprehension of the physical conformation of Berkshire could be desired than a slightly condensed extract from that work : — "Only moderate elevations," says Dr. Palfrey, " present them selves along the greater part of the New-England coast.

Inland, the great topographical feature is a double belt of highlands, sepa rated almost to their bases by the deep and broad valley of the Connecticut River, and running parallel to each other from the south-south-west to the north-north-east, till around the sources of that river they unite in a wide space of table-land, from which streams descend in different directions." . . . "To regard these highlands, which form so important a feature in New-England geography, as simply two ranges of hills, would not be to conceive of them aright. They are vast swells of land, of an average elevation of a thousand feet above the level of the i With the exception of a slight deviation at the south, caused by the cession of Boston Corner. sea, each with a width of forty or fifty miles, from which, as from a base, mountains rise in chains or in isolated groups to an altitude of several thousand feet more.