Berkshire County. Its past history and achievements

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Berkshire Count}^.

ITS PAST HISTORY

AND

ACHIEVEMENTS.

Bv

Charles % Palmer.

^15

BEBKSHme COUNTY•^ «** AND -c* -3*

WliAT IT HAS BONEFOI^ THE WODLB.

By CHARLES J. PALMER, Lanesborough.

The early settlement of what is nowcalled Berkshire County, was partlydelayed and partly hastened by thesame cause, viz: the uncertainty of

the exact boundary line between Mas-sachusetts and New York. On the onehand, there was the danger that a set-

tler on a gi'ant from Massachusettswould be arrested by the New Yorkauthorities, lodged in jail, heavily fined

and finally dispossessed. On the otherhand, Massachusetts, in her anxiety toactually settle the disputed territoryand establish a prima-facie claim tothe region, was disposed to offer everyinducement to those willing to under-take the task. Still, in point of fact,

the first settlers came from New York,and settled in what is now called Mt.Washington as early as 1693, andothers soon followed. These settlersundoubtedly supposed they were occu-pying New York territory and tookpossession under patents granted byLivingston. John Hallenbeck states in

1753 that the farm then tilled by himhad been occupied for 60 years, andhis name would seem to be the oldestknown in the settlers of the county.The next settler in the county ap-

pears to have been also from NewYork, a Dutchman bearing the name of

.Van Valkenburg; his errand being one

which has often been repeated sinceby border-whites i. e., to sell rum tothe Indians.

It is also proper to remark that asearly as 1676 an army of white menunder Major Talcott had passedthrough Berkshire county in pursuit ofthe refugees of King Philip's Indians,passing through West Otis, Montereyand Great Barrington. These were ofcourse in no sense settlers, but wereprobably the first white men to setfoot in the county.However, as early as May, 1722,

there was a Massachusetts grant oftwo townships, under which what is

now Sheffield, Great Barrington, Al-ford, Egremont and Stockbridge wereoccupied, at least in part. The In-

dian titles of these lands were extin-guished by the payment of three bar-rels of cider and 30 quarts of rum. Thesettlers came from Springfield, North-ampton and Westfield; the first Mas-sachusetts settler being MatthewNoble from Westfield. In 1735 therewas a grant made of land for fourtownships, to lie next each other alongthe trail between Westfield and Shef-field. This was for the purpose of ren-dering it likely that a passable roadwould be made and kept open betweenthe Connecticut and the Housatonic,

a^t73i

affording a base of supplies for troops

marching by what was then consideredthe most natural route to Montreal.Tnis result followed ; the road as thenconstructed being long Known as the''Great Road."These townships occupied nearly

the territory now held by New Marl-

boro, Sandisfield, Monterey, Tyring-ham and Becket.The necessity of having a continu-

ous string of settlers aiong this im-

portant highway in order to keep theroad passable, is shown by a petition

sent to the legislature about this time.

"It was very diflacult, and for strang-

ers almost impossible, to find the wayand there being no other way of trans-

portation but on horseback which, byreason of the badness and length of

the way was exceedingly difficult, it

was almost if not utterly impossiblefor His Majesty's subjects living in

these parts to supply themselves withforeign commodities, be they never sonecessary." A further idea of the modeof travelling to this region may begained from an account by one whomade the journey from the east. "Myfather and mother, with three chil-

dren, started for Berkshire in a cart

containing the provision for the jour-

ney, and all the household goods,drawn by a yoke of oxen. We travelled

from five to eight miles a day, muchof the way through a wilderness whereroads had to be cut and bridges made.After a journey of a month's time, wereached our new home, a log hut. Our•cabin was very small, and we had to

partition off nearly half of it for a fold

tor our sheep to keep them from thewolves, whose nightly howling echoedamong the surrounding mountains.After three years, my father conceivedthe idea of building a frame house, butwas cautioned by the neighborsagainst so wild a project."

As far as the object of securing thedisputed territory was concerned,these settlements by Massachusettsmen were successful; the boundaryline being placed very nearly where it

now runs, as early as 1731. In so far

as the settlement of Berkshire was for

the purpose of serving as a help and

barrier in the French Canadian wars,the result was not so agreeable to thesettlers. Being on the highway be-tween New England and Canada, Berk-shire occupied a position very like thatof Virginia in the late civil war. TheIndians, thoroughly familiar with thisregion and induced by a reward offer-

ed by the French for each scalp of anAmerican, had an unpleasant way ofmaking occasional descents on Berk-shire without the slightest warningand prosecuting other attacks with all

their accustomed vigor and barbarity.The numerous forts and stockades,

whose ruins are found all over thecounty, are reminders of the dayswhen the settlers required places ofrefuge to flee to at the least sound ofdanger; leaving their houses, herdsand crops to the mercies of the foe. Inpoint of fact, the real source of protec-tion for Western Massachusetts camenot from the services of politicians orthe building of forts, but as is so oftenthe case, from the work of the mis-sionaries. It was the securing thefriendship and gratituJe of the Berk-shire Indians, so thoroughly acquaint-ed with the habits of the more north-erly red-men, which proved the realsource of protection to New England.The story of the work among theStockbridge Indians is worth recalling,

There was, during the 18th century,a certain tomantic interest in the In-

dians throughout the British Empire,and support came for work in their

behalf from two quite diverse sources.

As the only representatives of theeasily accessible heathen, missionarywork centered on them, andalso as representatives of

pure Nature, as distinguish-

ed from Culture or Religion, writers,

like Pope and Rosseau and Voltaire

and other Deists had dwelt withaffectionate tenderness on their char-

acter.

The interest had taken shape, so far

as the Stockbridge Indians were con-

cerned, as early as 1734 in the way of

planting a mission under the leader-

ship of Sergeant, being sustained for

the most part by funds furnished bythe Church of England Society for the

Propagation of the Gospel. The pro-

ject at once enlisted a wide-spread in-

terest among the churches and peopleof Great Britain and the details of theplans were formed in consultation withmen of distinction abroad. As anotherhas said:

Rev. Isaac Hollis. of London, anephew of Hollis, the distinguishedbenefactor of Harvard College, hadbeen Interested in the mission fromits start, and offered to support twentyof the Stockbridge Indians at an an-

nual charge of 500 pounds. Rev. Dr.

Watts also took up a collection amonghis friends in its behalf, and sent Ser-

geant 70 pounds, toaether with a copyof his treatise on the "Improvement of

the Mind," a little volume which is

cnerished as a memorial among thedescendants of Sergeant to this day.Other Englishmen took hold of thematter with interest . The Prince of

Wales, also, and the Dukes of Cumberland and Dorset, and Lord Gowerwith others, became liberal subscribers to the mission and to the schoolMr. Francis Ayscough, of Londonclerk of the closet and first chaplainto the Prince of Wales, also made adonation of a copy of the Scriptures,in two large folio volumes, gilt andembellished with engravings. Uponthe flyleaf was written, "Presented byL»r. Ayscough to Rev. John Sergeant,missionary to the Stockbridge Indians,in the vast wilderness called New En-gland." It is creditable to the catho-licity of Dr. A. that, when he wasinformed that Mr. Sergeant was a Dis-

senter, he replied, 'What if he be aDissenter? It is time those distinc-

tions were laid aside. ... I loveall good men like, let them be Church-men or Dissenters."

When Sergeant came to his mission-ary field, he found a greater obstacleto his success in the lawless and im-moral conduct of some whites fromthe Dutch plantations on the Hudsonthan from the paganism of the In-

dians. As one has said, "the trials

coincident to other missionaries wereto be encountered—perils among theheathen, perils in the wilderness—andone which the apostle does not men-

tion—peril among the Dutch." It is

the old story which runs through all

our Indian history. Even in thoseearly times there were to be foundthose who, for their selfish purposeswere ready to make victims of theaborigines. Rum was then as it hasbeen ever since the grand instrumentof their success. Happily the influenceof the missionary was so great andsuch the good sense and moral princi-

ple of a portion of the red men thatthey were led early to take strongmeasures against the threateningevil. It was not a year after Sergeantcame a«nong them when they passeda resolution "to have no trading in

rum." The general court also came totheir assistance with its law antedat-ing the "Maine Law" by more than acentury making it a criminal offensefor any private person to sell strongdrink to an Indian. The Dutch traders,

fearing like those of old who madesilver images of Diana, that the hopeof their gains would disappear in pro-

portion as the Gospel should produceits effect upon the Indians, endeavoredto excite their opposition to the mis-sionary, and to the colonial govern-ment, telling iHiem that the latter wasunfriendly to them, and seeking to de-

prive them of their liberty in not al-

lowing liquor to be freely sold them.But their confidence in their pastorenabled him to convince them that thelaw was enacted for their welfare, andthat the traffickers in ram were their

real enemies."

It is melancholy to read that this

early prohibition of liquor applied onlyto the Indians. What were deemednecessities of the whites may be in-

ferred from records in a neighboringtown, of a vote respecting the raising

the frame of a church, when amongthe requisites for the occasion, it wasvoted to provide three barrels of beer,

1.0 gallons of rum and 20 pounds ofsugar to go with the rum.Sergeant was, however, not the man

to be intimidated by difficulties or op-

position. His plans were formed in ac-

cordance with the latest and most ap-proved methods. For example headopted precisely what we sometimes

fancy to be a recent discovery, theprinciple of the University Settle-

ment among the degraded; i. e.,

planting a little colony of the educatedand refined in the very heart of thedegraded, and thus establishing a cen-

tre of elevating and sympathetic min-istrations to gradually uplift the fall-

en; an object lesson and model whichwould tend to reproduce itself in thehearts and lives brought within thesweep of its influence. One hundredand sixty years ago Sergeant's mindgrasped the significance and power of

this conception, and he began his

work, not by preaching, but by bring-ing four families of whites with himto establish a focal point of influence.

Again, his mind reached forward to

modern conceptions, in that he estab-lished a school like that at HamptonCourt, where the Indians should betaught not mere book learning, but theart of Agriculture, the various modesof earning a living, the sciences of

Housekeeping and Domestic Economy.Still, again. Sergeant grasped the

idea of the necessity of training nativepreachers for any considerable successin spreading the Gospel, and raised upquite a number who bore the messagesheard at the Mission, far and wide,among distant and inaccessible tribes.

Here again he anticipated the methodswhose absolute necessity is only be-ginning to be realized by MissionBoards. It is not wonderful to find

among the graduates of such a schoolas this, Indian youths who wentthrough Harvard and Dartmouth, andwho proved shining lights in their dayand generation. Nor is it wonderfulto find that these Stockbridge Indiansproved a tower of defense to New En-gland in the wars of those troubledtimes. So highly did Washington es-

teem their services that at the closeof the Revolution he publicly bore wit-ness to the fact, by presenting to theIndians an ox for a barbecue in honorof the successful issue of the war. Asis well known, on the death of Ser-geant, a successor was found in thecelebrated Jonathan Edwards, whofound not only a certain congruity be-tween the savage impulses of his audi-

tors and the severities of his dogmaticsystem, but also an environment ofpeace and quiet in which he was ableto elaborate his immortal treatieswhich have made Stockbridge a nameof eminence in the literary annals ofthe world.About 1760, shortly after the death

of Edwards, such Indians as had notbeen brought under the humanizing in-

fiuence of the Mission, having beenpermanently expelled from this region,a considerable number of townssprang into being, and the few alreadyprovisionally established began to rap-idly increase. For the most part, thesewere settled by that constant overflowof population and movement west-ward, which has been the story of theworld in all ages. Some towns, how-ever, had another origin. Dalton wasestablished as an equivalent for an-other grant made to settlers on theNew Hampshire line, whose grant ona new survey was found to lie on theNew Hampshire side of the line. Thistownship being called Ashuelot, Daltouwas styled for some years, "The Ash-uelot Equivalent."

Peru v/as set apart by GovernorBernard, the British governor of Mas-sachusetts as a sort of country seat forhimself which he expected to makelike the country residences of theEnglish nobility v/ith their surround-ings of aristocratic pomp and luxury.

Lenox was first .occupied by Jona-than Hinsdale, a kind of hermit, whov/anted to get away from the world;very much the same reasor v/hichprompted Blackstone to settle Boston.

It is a part of the irony of historythat Boston and Lenox should havebeen the tv/o towns of Massachusettsto be settled so as to get away fromthe world, and yet finally prove to bethe two places most characterized bythe luxury of the world, of all parts of

the Commonwealth.In May, 1761, the western part of

Massachusetts, which had hithertobeen called Hampshire County, wasdivided and the westernmost part wascalled Berkshire.The county was settled to a consid-

erable extent from Connecticut, but

also in part from the neighborhood of

Boston; one town, Lee, being largely-

settled by the Ultra-Puritans of CapeCod. The position of the county asbordering on several states has alwaysgiven it a peculiar character more in-

dependent of Boston influences thanother sections, and more varied in its

sympathies, and cosmopolitan in its

make-up. From the very first therewas a curious blending of diverse ele-

ments. There were the hardy pioneersand Indian fighters, with their sturdyindependence and democratic simplic-

ity, and at the same time there wasan unusually large percentage of thehighly-educated, the cultured and thearistocratic; the ideal elements out of

which a strong community shouldspring; elements which would lead usto expect on the one hand a people of

such independence of spirit as to bethe first to resent impositions fromtyranny and to rebel against unlawfulexactions from across the seas; andon the other hand, along with this be-

ing first to seek independence, a strongconservatism that would be eminentlyconstructive after the war be over, andbe in the forefront in establishing asettled constitution and the due ad-ministration of law.Now, how far do we find these ex-

pectations realized as to leadershipamong all Americans In respect to

throwing off unlawful authority, andalso as to promptness in organizinglawful government on a solid basis atthe conclusion of the struggle for in-

dependence? Let us see.

1st—as to renouncing allegiance to

unlawful authority—On January 12,

1773, we find a resolution adoptedunanimously by the men of Berkshireassembled at Sheffield, so nearly in

the language of the subsequent Declar-ation of Independence of 1776 that thelatter might seem to have been copiedfrom it. And as the resolution wasdrawn up by the celebrated TheodoreSedgwick, even then, as afterwards,prominent in National Councils, it is

not impossible that there may havebeen a close relationship between thetwo. This appears to have been thefirst, or very nearly the first, public

action of the kind in the whole land.In 1774 when British aggressions be-came still more pronounced, threaten-ing to virtually reduce Massachusettsto the condition of a conquered prov-ince, although the Boston Gazette de-

clared, "The whole Continent seemedinspired by one soul, and that a rigor-

ous and determined one," yet of all thecounties, Berkshire was the first tomeet and pass resolutions of the moststringent character: Resolutionsdrawn up by a convention,one member of which was from Lanes-boro (Peter B. Curtis) also a solemnleague and covenant boycotting all

goods and merchandise from Englandand every Berkshire merchant hand-ling such goods. This action was prac-tically the beginning of the Revolu-tionary war; after such a covenant,compromise was impossible.

After this we are not surprised to

read that when a liberty-pole waserected in SheflBeld and it was cutdown by two men, that one of themwas compelled to walk between a longfile of citizens and ask pardon of everyone; and the other tarred and feather-ed and forced to knock at the door of

every house in town and ask pardonof the residents.

It is singular to notice one exception;Pittsfield then, as now, containing themost aristocratic element of the coun-tr3% was a long way behind the rest.

When, in 1765 ,the celebrated BostonTea Party threw overboard the teain Boston harbor, rather than submitto paying a tax on it, the Pittsfield

town meeting voted that "this destruc-

tion of tea was highly unwarrantable,and we wish to express the abhorrenceand detestation that we have of this

extraordinary and illegal transaction,

and desire that our representatives ex-

ert themselves to the utmost of their

power ,to bring the persons concernedwith the destruction of said tea to con-

dign punishment." It is proper to saytnat Pittsfield was soon abreast of thetimes, and some time before theDeclaration of Independence voted to

erase King George's name from all of-

ficial insignia, thus actually commit-ting the overt act of rebelling without

8

waiting to see whether the rest of the

county did so or not; and as though to

show their contempt for the import-

ance of King George they coupled withthis vote a number of miscellaneousprovisions of the most trivial and in-

significant character; the next item of

business being that hogs should not

be allowed to run at large.

This spirit of not submitting to un-

lawful authority was not limited to op-

position to British aggressions and did

not terminate with the RevolutionaryWar. For quite a long period Berk-

shire was administered as practically

an independent principality; its peo-

ple, being above all others great read-

ers on the principles of government,claimed that by the revolution they

had relapsed to a state of nature; that

the old provincial charter had expired

and they would admit no courts or pre-

tended authority from Boston until astate convention had been held andlawful government had been organ-

ized, de novo.They were governed meanwhile by

a sort of committee of prominent men.This was done in no spirit of lawless-

ness, but rather with a supreme regardfor law being established on a firm

basis.

Knowing this, it is not wonderful to

know that it was owing to a Berkshireman (Jonathan Smith of Lanesboro)more than to any other one man thatMassachusetts came to ratify the Fed-eral Constitution and have a settled

government. The fact seems to be, as

the commissioners for publishing theMassachusetts colonial records wroteme a few weeks since from the State

House: "While all our people seem to

have shown a genius for code-makingand a wonderful apprehension of thephilosophy of republican government,the honor of being first and most zeal-

ous in insisting upon a new constitu-

tion, properly and lawfully formed, un-

doubtedly belongs to the little commu-nity scattered along the extreme west-ern border of the Province along thebeautiful and fertile valleys of theHousatonic. And yet how little prom-inence is given to this fact in ourbooks of history. It is certainly very

modest in the intelligent people ofBerkshire not to have claimed moretnan they have for the achievementsof their forefathers."This happy mixture and combination

which we thus find in the politics ofearly settlers of the democratic andaristocratic elements extends to everydepartment of action. Everywhere wefind the two elements of severe demo-cratic simplicity with, the virtues of

ruggedness, severity, sturdiness andhard work; and also aristocratic su-

periority of mental insight and fine-

ness of culture. As though the pro-

duct of our environment, i. e., a homein the hills and mountains, toweringabove the ordinary level and yet with-

out rugged and severe.

In education how plainly we see this

combination of severity and superior-

ity:—e. g. in the early half of this

century the county was dotted overwith academies, the resort of pupils

from New York and Boston, and in-

deed from all over the land, wieldingfar more than her share of the influ-

ences that have made Massachusettsas a whole the centre of literary andeducational activity and helpfulnessfor the whole land; and yet every oneof the schools was no mere place for-

giving the fashionable veneering of

the ordinary boarding school but rath-

er the severe round of training in theSpartan virtues of hard, severe, hon-est, legitimate toil and earning everystep of advance achieved. And fromthose schools, as well as from themountain farms and hillside slopes of

the Housatonic there has flowed aconstant stream of manly vigor whichhas served to replenish the wear andtear and waste and strain of many atown and city in every portion of the

land. The same is true of her institu-

tion of higher learning in Williams-town; although small (as modern col-

leges count size in terms of mere bulkand numbers,) she has the distinction

of being the pioneer in American col-

leges in adopting the modern methodof studying not books but facts: e. g..

Prof. Albert Hopkins appears to haveoeen the first in America to adopt the

methods of discarding books as pri-

mary sources, and taking the classes

into the actual fields and studying therocks and flowers themselves. It wasalso under his direction that the first

college astronomical observatory waserected, thus affording the students achance to study not what the bookssaid about the stars, but the starsthemselves.

In Professor Amos Eaton the collegegave to America its first botanical in-

structor and opened up to the people anew conception of the beauty of thefields, and taught them how to hearagain the voice of God in the gardens,and to consider the lilies how theygrow.

In the department of philosophy thesame originality of conception wasseen. In President Mark Hopkins'recitation room the prevailing methodwas not the old-fashioned text-bookrecitation, but on the first day investi-

gating a topic, after the method of theGerman Seminar, by free discussion,reading of essays ,investigating origin-

al sources, and then on the followingday demanding of the student, not theviews of the author, but what conclu-sions he himself had come to as theresult of the previous discussion; thestudent being required to defend theseviev/s against objections from any onein the class. These methods are com-monplace now; they were absolutelyunprecedented then. As it has beenhappily expressed, "The larger institu-

tions might have brought more men tothe college, institutions like Williamsbrought more college to the men."" liie one might be more extensive intile range of their sweep ,the othermore intensive in its effect upon theinaividual student.

This college life was an epitome andpicture of the county life as a whole;i. e. great limitations of means to dowith, great results accomplished withthose scanty means. In other wordsthe combination of democratic sim-plicity with aristocratic culture. Com-pare for instance, the fact of theactual presence in this county fromthe first, of an unusually large per-centage of families of prominence andadvanced culture, as evidenced by

Berkshire's pre-eminence in organiz-ing the government on a sound andscientific basis; compare this with thefact that about as late as a centuryago there was only one post office in

Western Massachusetts, and that in

Springfield; and the further fact thatthe only newspaper in the count}'- wasobliged to frequently print half asheet, as no paper could be gotten for

any more. Do we not here again find

scanty tools 'for communicating intelli-

gence combined with the greatest re-

sults, secured with those tools?

A second illustration of the sameprinciple is found in the striking his-

tory as to Berkshire's relation tomeans of transportation and facilities

for conveying news. Her postal facil-

ities have been already indicated, theroads which Nature had provided, havebeen already referred to; the roadsany where in the early part of this

century being no better than theroughest kind of mountain wood roadsnow; people coming to church onhorseback or afoot. Now this is notprecisely the region from which to ex-

pect any great leadership or advancediaeas on the subject of roads andtransportation, and the rapid circula-

tion of news. But what were the facts?In 1806 a student of Williams collegebroached the idea of a railroad fromBoston to Albany (long before anyrailroads in the world;) the idea beingsuggested by reading of a horse rail-

road in Wales for transporting slate.

In 1826, by urgency of Stockbridgepeople, the idea was seriouslv ad-vanced in the legislature. And theBoston and Albany railroad began to

be constructed, and in climbing theBerkshire mountains proved to theworld for the first time that railroadswere a possibility not merely on thelevel but up and down severe grades.Also in 1826 an elevated railroad wasproposed by Theodore Sedgwick ofStockbridge. As is well known, oneof the first large railroad tunnels in

the world is also in Berkshire; it be-

ing proposed as early as 1826, Andstill further, the principle of electric

railroads was first patented by Steph-en Field of Stockbridge. So much for

lO

wnat Berkshire has done for theworld, despite her own early peculiarhardships, in the way of transportationwithin the memory of persons nowliving.

And as to circulation of news, whatcan more eloquently appeal to theimagination than the contrast betweenthe one post office in western Massa-chusetts, the best the world could dofor Berkshire, and the oceanic cablesof today, flashing the world's newsabo'^t the globe ,the return gift of ason of Berkshire to the world.

It is not alone in material thingsthat Berkshire has taken the lead in

inaugurating new projects. As is wellknown, the Agricultural society whosefair ground is located in Pitfsfield, wasone of the first societies in the UnitedStates of any practical character, toelevate agriculture and to inspirefarmers to advance and improve andget out of and beyond the ruts of theirown ways. To my own mind the es-

tablishing the Aggasiz association,branches of which—now all over theUnion, is not the least important of all

the noteworthy things this county hasbeen instrumental in blessing mankindwith. A great blessing which we takeas a matter of course is the matter of

religious equality, but men not veryaged may remember that it was owingto its earnest labors of Pittsfield menmat Massachusetts at last removedthe remaining relics of Puritan legisla-

tion and made all religious bodies ab-solutely equal before the law.

In some quarters ,the chief distinc-

tion of this region lies in the fact ofWilliamstown being the well-knownspot which witnessed the revival offoreign missions and the rising to theconception that in Christian work thesympathies of men should know nolimit narrower than the whole world;a conception which found a suitablehome in a county of the varied andcosmopolitan sympathies of Berkshire.

It is interesting to notice that thedoctrine of the possibility of Christianperfection in this life in the form inwhich has been widely held of late.

appears to have been first held inVy^illiamstown.An historical fact of very different

significance is that when the Mor-mons commenced their aggressivemissionary movement, they selectedWest Stockbridge as their sphere of

operations, and when compelled to

withdraw from this region, several of

the Berkshire converts became emi-nent in the counsels of that objection-able sect. It is certainly somewhatsingular that this same region shouldhave been also the seat of the exactlyopposite sort of sect of the Shakers;Lebanon itself at one time being with-in the borders of this county.

It is claimed thaf the world owes tothese Lebanon Shakers, the buzz-saw,metallic pen, brush brooms and rais-

ing of medicinal herbs.People whose memory goes back for

60 years will recall the excitementconnected with the Millerite teachingconnected with their proclaiming theena of the world in 1843; but possiblythey do not recall that Mr. Miller fromwhom the movement gained its name,was a resident of West street, Pitts-

field. Many other things took their rise

inBerkshire,tooi numerous for mention,but it would be a great omission to for-

get the village improvement move-ment which we owe to Stockbridge,and possibly some besides the childrenmay feel a debt of gratitude to Berk-shire when they are reminded that it

is believed that the Stockbridge In-

dians were the first discoverers of howto utilize the sap of the maple tree for

the making of sugar. It is somewhatmelancholy to read that when thewhites perceived this new syrup, theonly reflection it inspired was the hopethat it would afford a good basis for

the manufacture of rum.Taken as a whole it may well be

doubted whether any county in theLTnited States has contributed moreto the well being of mankind,and sure-ly none is more worthy of the ancientbenediction of the Hebrew Leader, "InThee and in Thy seed shall all thefamilies of the earth be blessed."

OmCIN OF THE NAMES«* •»r OE THE *^ «*

TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF BERKSHIfiE

COUNTY.

DALTON.

Dalton was so named from TristramDalton, speaker of the House of Rep-resentatives at the time of the incor-

poration of the town. There are twotheories as to the origin of the nameDalton. The most probable makes it

from Daletown that is, a town in avalley. Some, however prefer to de-

rive it from the French word, D'Alton,that is, "of the mountain." A life of thestatesman v/ho gave his nameto the town is given below:Tristram Dalton, senator, was born in

Newbury, Mass., May 28, 1738. He at-

tended Dummer academy, at Byfield,

Mass., and graduated from Harvard in

1755. He inherited from his father alarge fortune and studied law as anaccomplishment. He also devotedhis time to the cultivation of a large

estate called "Spring Hill" in WestNewbury, where he entertained amongother prominent men, George Wash-ington, John Adams, Louis Philippeand Tallyrand. Represented his state

in the convention of committees of the

New England provinces, December 25,

1776. He served in the state legisla-

ture as representative, speaker of thehouse, and a senator. In 1778, he waselected a United States senator andbeing assigned by lot the short termhe served through the 1st congress,1789 to 1791. In 1791, when the city

of Washington was founded, he invest-

ed his entire fortune in land and lost

all, through the mismanagement of his

business agent. At the same time, avessel freighted with his furniture andvaluable library were lost on the voy-

age from Newburyport to Washington,anu he was left penniless. The gov-

ernment at once tendered him a choiceof several official positions and he ac-

cepted that of surveyor of the port of

Boston. He was a fellow of the Amer-ican academy of arts and sciences. Hedied in Boston, Mass., May 30, 1817.

TYRINGHAM.Tyringham derives its name from

Tyringham, England, which wasconnected with the family of GovernorBernard. This was so called from be-

ing settled by the Thuringiams, a pow-erful tribe in Central Germany, fromwhom the institution of the Salic lawwas in part at least derived. Thur-ingia was so called from being con-

quered and settled by a tribe bearingliie name of Durii, who originally camefrom Greece. Durii is an abbreviationof Hermanduri, which was derivedfrom Hermione, the wife of Orestez,

and the daughter of Menelaus andHelen concerning whom was vagedthe celebrated Trojan war, liO v^ears

B. C.

The Tyringham family has recently

become extinct. The following is anobituary of the last member of the

family who it will be seen bears the

name of the governor of Massachu-setts at the time Berkshire county was

12

Settled. Sir Thomas Tyring-ham Bernard, of Winchendon.Priory, Bucks, died on the8th inst, in his 92d year. He was thefourth son of Sir Scrope Bernard, Mor-land fourth Baronet. He was educatedat Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford.He sat in Parliament as member forAylesbury, from 1857 to 1865 and wasfor 25 years Lieutenant Colonel of theBucks Yeomanry. In 1816 he servedas high sheriff and in the same yearsucceeded to the title, at the deceaseof his brother. Sir Francis Morland.On July 26, 1819 ,he married SophiaCharlotte, only child of Sir David Y/ill-

lams Bart of Rose Hallhersts; second-ly, Oct. 12, 1840 ,Martha Louise Mun-shall, and thirdly, Ellen of MarchamPark. By his first wife, he haatwo sons, both deceased and twodaughters, Charlotte, who died in 1865,wife of Mr. Francis Pigott, and Sophia,wife of Mr. Napier Higgins. The Baro-net not leaving any male issue his

title became extinct.

EG REMO NT.

This was so called from CharlesWindham, the earl of Egremont, whowas the secretary of state in Englandat the time of the incorporation of thetown, Windham w^as elected to theParliament as early as 1734, being attnat time a Tory. He soon after-

wards became a Liberal and was agreat friend of the American cause.All estimates of Egremont's characteragree in ascribing to him a large shareof the inordinate pride of his maternalgrandfather, the "proud duke" of Som-erset. Walpole also adds to his badqualities ill-nature, avarice, and notalways speaking the truth. He denieshim parliamentary ability and busi-ness capacity, but allows him humorand sense. Chesterfield thought him-self sufiicient but incapable. Lordbiandhope's pronouncement that Egre-mont owed his advancement to his fa-

ther's name rather than to his ownabilities seems scarcely tenable inview of the fact that for the greaterpart of his career he was in close alli-

ance with leading whigs. He marriedon Mar. 12, 1751, a reigning beauty.

Alicia Maria, daughter of George Car-penter, second baron Carpenter ofKilliaghy. In 17G1 when she was thelady of the bedchamber of Queen Char-lotte, some verses were written in herhonor by Lords Lyttellos and Hard-wicke. June, 1767, she married as hersecond husband. Count Bruhl and sur-vived till June, 1794. By her marriagewith Egremont, she had four sons andthree daughters. Of the latter, Eliza-beth married Henry Herbert, andIterances married Charles Marsham,first earl of Romeny. There is oneother town in New England derivingits name from the above, Windham,Maine. The place was located in theincidents referred to in Holmes' poem,"The One Hoss Shay,"

A LFORD.This town was so called from the

Hon, John Aiford of Boston. He wasa man of large vrealth and was distin-

guished as the founder of the Aifordprofessorship of Natural Religion andMoral Philosophy at Harvard college.

He was baptized at the Old Southchurch, July 5, 1685 and died Septem-ber 30, 1761.

SHEFFIELD.This town was named after Sir Ed-

mund Sheffield, the second duke of

Buckinghatn. His grandfather wasKing James, the second. He died Oc-tober 20, 1735, and his title became ex-

tinct. His father was one of the lead-

ing statesmen under Queen Anne.

OTIS.This town was so called

from Harrison Gray Otis, whowas speaker of the House of

Representatives at the time of the in-

corporation of the town. Mr. Otis v/as

born in Boston, October 8, 1765, andwas a nephew of the celebrated JamesOtis. He was admitted to the bar in

1786, and soon became a distinguishedorator. He was aide to Gen. Brooksin the Shay's Insurrection in 1786, wasa member of the Legislature in 1796,

and a prominent leader of the Federalparty in 1797 to 1861. He was UnitedStates district attorney in 1801, and

13

also was a member of the Legislaturefrom 1803 to 1805. He was presidentof the state senate and was mayorof Boston from 1S29 to 1SG2. Promi-nent member of the Hartford conven-tion in December, 1814, the views andproceedings of which he afterwardswrote and published a series of letters

upon. The name Otis is derived froma Greek word which means, "quick of

hearing."BECKET.

This was the birthplace of GovernorBernard in Berkshire County, England,and he naturally named one of thefirst towns he had the opportunity of

naming, in honor of that fact. Theword Becket means Big War, beingderived from tn.e two Celtic words. BigHad having that meaning.

FLORIDA.This town is so called from the ac-

cession of what is now the state of

Florida in the United States about thetime of the incorporation of the town.

PERU.Peru is called from Peru in South

America, which v/as revolting from th&Spanish domain at the time of the in-

corporation of the town, and withwhose efforts for freedom arousedgreat sympathy. Peru itself was socalled by Gen. Birou, who was one of

its celebrated heroes.

MARLBOROUGH.This tov/n is named after Marlbor-

ough, England, wnich v/as so calledfrom the celebrated Saint Maidulf.The earlier name was called Madluf'sborough, vv^hich was shortened to

Mailsborough and after marl or claywas discovered in the neighborhoodthe spelling was altered by mistake toMarlborough, its real origin being for-

gotten. It is a singular coincidenceas clay was also discovered in ourMarlborough, which was derived fromClayton, one of its villages.

CLARKSBURGH.This place was named after the

Clark family extensively representedamong the first settlers.

HINSDALE.Named after Theodore Hinsdale, one

of the first settlers. The name Hins»

dale appears to have been originally

Endsdale, apparently meaning the fam-ily that lived at the end of the valley.

WASHINGTON AND MT. WASHING-TON.

Both named of course for PresidentV/ashington. The origin of the nameis suggested by the original spelling of

the word, Wessington, which is com-pounded of three words, Wys—mean-ing creek w^ashing in from the sea,

ing—meaning low ground—and ton

being an abbreviation of town. Theword therefore means a town lying onthe lowlands by an estuary of the sea,

v/hich is somewhat similar in contrast

with either of the Berkshire Mt. Vvash-

ingtons.

GREAT BARRINGTON.At whose suggestion this town re-

ceived its name "Great Barrington" is

now unknown. In the petition for its

incorporation no name was presented,

and in the preliminary stages of the

bill in the House of Representatives,

the name of the town was left blank.

It was formerly currently said by the

old inhabitants that the town wasnamed in memory of Lord Barrington

of England, then deceased, who during

his life had manifested an especial in-

terest in and had been particularly

friendly to the colonies of New En-gland. At the time, the divisional line

between Massachusetts and Rhode Is-

land v/as unsettled and in controversy.

The tov/n of Barrington, now in RhodeIsland, lay near the disputed line and

had been in some degree subject to the

jurisdiction of Massachusetts, but as

it was uncertain whether by an ad-

justment of the line, Barrington wouldfall within Massachusetts or Rhode Is-

land, and to obviate the possible im-

propriety of having two towns of the

same name in the province, it was de-

termined that the new tov/n be called

Great Barrington. Lord Barrington—John Shute, a son of Benjamin Shute,

and a younger brother of SamuelShute, governor of Massachusetts from

14

1716 to 1723, born in 1687 and died atthe age of 56 years. He was a Protes-tant dissenter and in 1701 publishedpamphlets "in favor of the civil rightsof Protestant dissenters to which classhe belonged." "On the accession of

George 1st, he was returned as a mem-ber of Parliament for Berwick uponTweed in 1720. The King raised himto the Irish Peerage by the title of Vin-cent Barrington of Ardglass." Four of

his sons became distinguished, and theeldest, William, succeeded his fatheras Viscount Barrington.

SANDISFIELD.Was named after Samuel Sandys,

the president of the board of trade inBoston and great friend of the Ameri-can cause. He was celebrated for hisopposition to lotteries, the favorite re-

sort in those days for raising money.The only exception to this rule whichhe was ever known to make was in fa-

vor of Harvard college, the raising of

money for which he considered so gooda cause as to justify the use of the lot-

tery.

SAVOY.Was so called on account of Savoy

in Italy, coming into prominenceabout the time of the incorporation of

the town in connection with the victo-

ries of Napoleon.

ADAMS.Was so named for the celebrated pa-

triot, Samuel Adams, whose name car-

ries us back to the parent of thehuman race. The name Adams is sup-posed to mean, the created thing. TheAdams family find their earliest ap-pearance in history in Wales, a greatmany centuries ago, one bearing thename of Ap Adams, being the one first

recorded. The ancestry of the familymay be found in Volume 7 of the NewEngland Genealogical Register, Page39.

WILLIAMSTOWN.Was named after Colonel Ephraim

Williams, who was very celebrated in

the early annals of Berkshire as theconstructor of several of the principalforts found in Western Massachusetts,including Fort Massachusetts itself.

A full sketch of Colonel Williamswill be found in Professor Perry's"Origin of Williamstown." The Will-iams family is one of the oldest fami-lies in the world. They can be tracedback 1100 years before Christ to thefirst king of the British Isles. Theyalso were the ancestors of the royalhouse of Tudor, including Henry VIIIand Queen Elizabeth.

HANCOCK.Was named for John Hancock, who

was at that time president of the Con-tinental Congress, and was the first

one to sign the Declaration of Inde-pendence, just two days after the in-

corporation of the town. The nameHancock goes back to the earliest daysof Anglo-Saxon history. The earlierform is Endicott and the last syllableis a modification of the word, Goth, car-

rying us back to our Scandinavian an-cestors.

MONTEREY.Was incorporated just after the bat-

tle of Monterey, in the Mexican war.

STOCKBRIDGE AND WEST STOCK-BRIDGE.

Appear to have been named afterStockbridge, England, probably on ac-

count of their mutual resemblance.There is ,no evidence that any of theearly settlers of Stockbridge, Massa-chusetts, came from Stockbridge, En-gland, but some of them appear tohave come from its vicinity. ProfessorFrost, in his essay on the origin of thenames of Berkshire tov/ns claims thatthe names Woodbridge and Stock-bridge were originally identical andthat Timothy Woodbridge, the secondsettler of the town suggested thename. This I believe to be a puremyth. It is also a curious fact, thatthe Williamses who were the first set-

tlers of Stockbridge came from thatpart of eastern Massachusetts wherethe Stockbridge family is extensivelyrepresented. It is possible that somerelationship between the two families

may furnish a clue to the mystery, butthe explanation first given seems themost probable.

15

PITTSFIELD.Was named after William Pitt, at

that time Prime Minister. The learnedessay bj^ Joseph Smith on the circum-stances connected with the choice ofthis particular name renders any fur-

ther explanation unnecessary.

WINDSOR.Was named after Windsor, Connec-

ticut, which was named after Windsorin Berkshire county, England, the seatof Windsor Castle and the home of

British royalty for many centuries andscene of Shakespeare's play, "MerryWives of Windsor"; the name is amodification of Windle shore, meaningthe town on the shore of the riverWindle.

CHESHIRE.Was named after Chester, England,

the oldest town with a continuoushistory in that country and the seat of

many notable historical events. It is

a singular coincidence, that Cheshirecounty, England, is principally cele-

brated for the unusually fine brand of

cheese produced there and that ourCheshire is probably best known tomost people from the mammoth cheesesent by its inhabitants to PresidentJefferson.

LEE.Was named after Charles Lee of the

American army. The name Lee is ofgreat antiquity. It first appears asLega, De La, De la Lee, and of variousspelling, gradually taking the presentform, Lee. In the "Doomsday Brook"Lega and Lee are often used to denotethe same family. The name has alsosometimes assumed still other forms,as Lea, Leigh, Lay and Ley. The word"Lee" signifies a "pasture, meadow orgrass land." Previous to the use of

surnames, persons were designated bythe place of their residence, or someepithet descriptive of their personalcharacter or occupation. Thus, John,residing near the lee, eventually be-

came "John Lee," Samuel, very pale ^rwhite, became "Samuel White," andWilliam the carpenter, became "Will-iam Carpenter," etc. The family of

Lee is one of the most ancient in En-

glish history. In the eleventh centurythe name of Launceloc Lee is associ-ated with William the Conqueror, andis of Norman origin, and in the divi-

sion of estates by that chieftain, a fine

estate in Essex county was bestowedupon him. Lionel Lee "raised a com-pany of gentlemen cavaliers," at thehead of which he accompanies RichardCoeur de Leon, in the third crusade,A. D. 1192. For gallant conduct at thesiege of Acre, he was made "earl ofLitchfield," and another estate wasgiven to the family, which was latercalled "Ditchly." The armor worn bythe crusaders is still preserved in theHorse Armory, Tower of London. Theywere devoted followers of the Stuarts,and distinguished for loyalty to thecrown, and, for their acts of valor, re-

ceived various honors and distinctions.Two of the name have been Knightsof the Garter, and their banners, sur-

mounted by the "Lee Arms," may beseen in St. George's Chapel, Windsor.

LENOX AND RICHMOND.Were originally one town and were

named after Charles Lenox, Duke of

Richmond and when the town was di-

vided one portion took one part of thename and the other the other. Thename Lenox is derived from the wordsLlevan-ax, meaning smooth fiowing wa-ter. The river Llevan still bearingthat name fiows past the Lenox statein the south of Scotland. It is in theimmediate neighborhood of DumbartonCastle associated with Shakespeare'splay, Macbeth, and the memories of

Robert Bruce, The name of Richmondis derived from the old Saxon root, ric,

Y/hich means conqueror, and which ap-

pears in our word rich, meaning a con-queror of wealth. A sketch of the life

of Lenox, one of the great friends of

the American cause, is given below:Charles Lennox, third duke of Rich-

mond and Lennox (1735-1806) third

son of Charles, second duke of Rich-mond and Lennox, was born in Lon-don, Feb. 22, 1735. He was educatedas a town-boy at Westminster school,

where Cowper remembered seeing himset fire to Vinney Bourne's "greasylocks and box his ears to put it out

i6

again." He graduated at Leyden Uni-versity on Oct. 28, 1753, and subse-quently travelled on the continent.Having entered the army he was gazet-ted captain in the 20th regiment offoot on June 18, 1753, lieutenant-colo-nel in the 38rd regiment of foot, June7, 1753, and colonel of the 72nd regi-

ment of foot in May 9, 1758, and is

said to have served in several expedi-tions to the French coast, and to navehighly distinguished himself at thebattle of Minden in August, 1759. Hesucceeded his father as third duke ofRichmond and Lennox on Aug. 8, 17;

and took his seat in the House ofLords for the first time on March 15.

1756. On November 25, 1760, he wasappointed a lord of the bedchamber,but shortly afterwards quarreled withthe king, and resigned office. He car-

ried the sceptre with the dove at thecoronation of George III, in September,1761, and became lord-lieutenant ofSussex on October 18, 1763. He subse-quently broke off his relations withthe ministry and attached himself tothe duke of Cumberland. Upon theformation of the Marquis of Rocking-ham's first administration he refusedthe post of cofferer, and in August,1765, was appointed ambassador ex-traordinary and minister plenipoten-tiary at Paris, being admitted to theprivy council on Oct. 23 following.Though young and inexperienced heconducted his mission with great pru-dence and temper. Upon his return toEngland he became, in spite of theking's dislike, secretary of state forthe southern department in place ofthe Duke of Grafton, and retired fromoffice on the accession of Chatham topower in the following August. Duringthe debate on the bill of indemnity onDecember 10, 1766, Richmond calledChatham "an insolent minister," andwhen called to order replied that he"was sensible that truth was not to bespoken at all times and in all places."Both lords promised that the mattershould go no further. After this quar-rel during the remainder of his admin-istration he appeared no more in theHouse of Lords. On June 2, 1767,Richmond moved three resolutions in

favor of the establishment of civil gov-ernment in Canada, and censuringLord Northington's neglect of cabinetbusiness, but was defeated by 73 to 61.

On May IS, 1770, his eighteen concil-iatory resolutions relating to the dis-

orders of America were met by a mo-tion for adjournment, which was car-ried by a majority of 34 votes. Heconstantly denounced the ministerialpolicy with reference to the Americancolonies and during the debate en thesecond reading of the American Pro-hibitory bill in December, 1775, declar-ed that the resistance of the colonistswas "neither treason or rebellion, butis perfectly justifiable in every possi-ble, political and moral sense. In Au-gust, 1776, Richmond v/ent to Paris inorder to register his peerage of Anbig-ny in the French parliament, a formal-ity which had never been gone throughwith. It was during the memorabledebate upon Richmond's motion forthe withdrawal of the troops in Amer-ica, April 7, 1778, that Chatham wasseized with his fatal illness when at-

tempting to reply to Richmond's sec-

ond speech. In May, 1779, he support-ed the Marquis of Rochingham's mo-tion for the removal of the cause or

Irish discontent by a redress of

grievances, and in reference to an illu-

sion to a union of the two countries,declared that, "he was for a union,but not a union of legislature, but aunion of hearts, hands, of affections

and interests."

In June, 17 < 9, Richmond received awell-merited rebuke from Lord Thur-low, whom he had taunted with thelowness of his birth, and who in replyreminded the duke that he owed his

seat in the House of Lords, "being theaccident of an accident." On June 2,

1780, Richmond, who had previouslyjoined the Westminster committee of

correspondence, attempted to bringforward his reform bill, but was in-

terrupted by the confusion which pre-

vailed in the house owing to the pres-

ence of the mob in Old Palace Yard.On the following day he explained thepurport of his bill, the reading o;.'

which alone is said to have occupiedan hour and a half. The three m-ain

17

features of the proposal were annualparliaments, manhood suffrage andelectoral districts. It was rejected

without any division and practically

without discussion. In consequence01 some expressions of speech, withwhich he introduced his motion for aninquiry into the execution of ColonelIsaac Hayne on Feb. 4, 1782, he becameinvolved in a quarrel with Lord Raw-don but afterwards apologized. At ameeting held at Richmond's houseearly in May, 1782, a resolution pro-

posed by Sheridan requesting Pitt to

bring forward a motion on Parliament-ary reform in the House of Commonswas carried. The committee was neverappointed, for which Richmond wishedto be appointed upon the parliament-ary reform during the session, remind-ing Rockingham that it "was my bar-

gain," for Rockingham died on July,

1782. Upon his death Richmond ex-

pected to be named as his successor in

the leadership of the party. Hisnephew tried in vain to pacify him bypointing out that they "were both out

of the question owing to the decidedpart we have taken in parliamentaryreform." In March, 1787 an arcrimoni-ous discussion took place betweenRichmond and Marquis of Lansdowneduring the debate upon the treaty of

commerce with France, which put anend to their friendship and nearly end-

ed in a duel. He spoke for the last

time in the House of Lords on June 25,

1804, during the debate on the secondreading of the Additional Force bill,

which he condemned as a feeble andinadequate measure. He died at Good-wood, Sussex, on December 29, 1806,

in the 72d year of his age and wasburied in Chichester Castle, his bodyhaving been first opened and filled

with slack lime, according to his direc-

tions . Richmond was a remarkablyhandsome man, with a dignified bearingand graceful and courteous manner.As a politician he was hasty and am-bitious. Though an indifferent speak-er, at "the house of the East India," in

his quality of a proprietor, no less thanas a peer of parliament at Westmin-ster, he was ever active, vigilant in

detecting and exposing abuses, real or

imaginary, perpetually harassingevery department with inquiries, andattacking in turn, the army, the ad-

mirality, and the treasury. Richmondmarried on April 1, 1757, Lady MaryBruce, the only child of Charles, third

earl of Ailesbury and fourth earl of

Elgin, by his third wife. Lady CarolineCampbell, only daughter of John,fourth duke of Argyle. "The perfectest

match," says Walpole, "in the world

—

youth, beauty .riches, alliances and all

the blood of the kings from Bruce to

C. arles II. They are the prettiest

couple in England, except the father-

in-law and mother."

LANESBOROUGH.This town was so named from the

countess of Lanesborough, Ireland,

who was a court favorite and a friend

of the governor of Massachusetts.This title was originally derived

from the Lane family, who were mem-bers of the peerage, but who becameextinct. The title was revived in 1728

and conferred upon Brindsley Butler,

colonel of the Battle-ax guards in Ire-

land. As he had 23 children, it is need-

to say that the title has not run out in

his family and is now held by JohnVansittart-Danvers Butler, who wasborn April 18, 1839 . The Butler family

came from France, the original formof the name being Boutellier or Bot-

tler, the family being cup-bearers to

tue king. They first appear among the

titled gentry of Ireland in about 1600,

but may be easily traced in Englandto about 1350. As the genealogy of

the Lane and Butler families is of someinterest, it will be given in full in the

forthcoming pamphlet on Berkshire.

It is of interest to notice that the

Lane family were ardent friends of the

American cause and endeavored to get

Ireland to rebel at the time of the

American revolution on which atti-

tude, Mr. Froude, in his history of Ire-

land, comments. The town of Lanes-

boro, Ireland, is in Roscommoncounty, population 2S0, noted for its

iron ore beds and codl mines. Theiron mines were opened at a cost of

$400,000, but are not now worked. Thecoal mines are not worked on account

i8

of the frequency of bogs. The townlies on the celebrated river Shannon,said to be the largest in the world inproportion to the country it drains.

ASHUELOT.Which means a town between the

rivers, being derived from the landnear the Nashua river, wnicn was theregion originally granted to Daltonpeople, but a portion of it being foundacross the New Hampshire line, whatwe now call Dalton, was granted as anequivalent for the territory thusnamed.

CRANEVILLE.A village in Dalton named after the

Crane family. This name first appearsin the year 1272, the family being ten-ants of William le Moyne and bearingthe names of Andreas, John, Oliverand William, who came from the an-cient province of Maine in the north ofFrance. The name probably was de-rived from the town of Craon and sig-

nifying the place by the stream. Thefamily at present are found for themost part in the counties of Norfolkana Suffolk. Among the most promi-nent of the family in the County otNorfolk was Sir Francis Crane and hisbrother. Sir Richard, both of Woodris-ing. Sir Francis v/as secretary toCharles I., Prince of Wales, andKnighted at Coventry, Sept. 4, 1617, byKing James I., father of the Prince. Hev/as also made Chancellor of the Orderof the Garter, a mark of special andrare distinction. The emblem of theoraer is a dark ribbon edged with gold,bearing the motto, "Honi scit qui m.al

y pense," that is, "Accursed be he whothinks there's evil in it," printed ingolden letters, with a buckle andpendant of gold richly chased, and is

worn on the left leg below the knee.ij.T Francis, in the year 1613, Intro-duced into England the manufactureof curious tapestry, and, with the as-sistance of King James I., wno con-tributed two thousand pounds towardsthe enterprise, built a mill ait Mort-lake, then a village on the River'inames in the County of Surry, aboutnine miles distant and in a westerlydirection from London. This mill con-

tained three rooms, one twenty feet inwidth by eighty-two in length, inwhich were set twelve looms. The sec-ond room was half the size of the first

and contained six looms. The thirdwas called the "Linning Room." Heengaged workmen to come from thetapestry works at Paris, France, andfrom other parts of Europe, employingliie highest skiled labor that was atthat time to be obtained. To accom-modate his Flemish tapestry weavers,he, on March 20, 1621, secured a li-

cense from the Archbishop of Canter-bury for them to assemble for worshipin the parish church of Mortlake, athis house or in any other suitableplace, and arranged that a ministerand an elder should be sent out fromthe old Dutch Reform church, Austini^riars, in London, when necessary toperform the service. On July 8, 1623,for the encouragement of the work.King James L wrote to the King ofDenmark asking that Francis Cleyne,a painter, might be allowed to come toEngland for the purpose of being em-ployed as a designer at the MortlakeTapestry works. He was immediatelycalled, a.nd the success of the workwas now doubly assured and greatprogress in the art of weaving rareand beautiful designs in tapestry wereachieved during the years that follow-

ed. Through the assistance of FrancisCleyne, Sir Francis succeeded in man-ufacturing many historical and gro-

tesque pieces of gold tapestry, and therecords state that the work was car-

ried to singular perfection. In 1634 hewas chosen one of a commission topurchase a tract of land to be used byKing Charles L as a game park. For17 years he was given by the King, ex-

clusive privilege of making copperfarthings for circulation at the yearlyrent of one hundred marks payable in-

to the exchequer. He contributed 500pounds towards the building of St.

Pauls church in London. Another notedmember of the family was Sir RobertCrane, who was elected to Parliamentin 1620 and was created a Baronettein 1627. He became a member of thefamous Long Parliament and was onthe side of the people against the

19

king. In Massachusetts the name first

appears in 1635 in the town of Weath-ersfield, Connecticut.

PONTCOSUC.Former name of Pittsfield, meaning

"winter home of the deer,"

HOOSAC.Former name of Williamstown and

Adams, which means the region be-

yond, the name being given by thoseliving in Troy and Albany.

HOUSATONIC.The region beyond the mountains.

SEECONCK.The home of the wild goose.

VAN DEUSENVILLE.Was named after Isaac Van Deusen,

tne founder of its earlier manufac-tories. The name seems to have beenderived from Van Doesen, a village in

Lower Saxony, the former residenceof the family.

WILLIANISVILLE.Named after Colonel Elijah Will-

iams, one of the earlier settlers in that

part of West Stockbridge.

NEW STATE.A village in Savoy, so called after

the effects cf a fanatical revival in

1810. conducted by the notorious Jo-

seph Smith, who turned out to be avery unprincipled man, but who left

tne people in a condition of extrava-gant excitement.

CURTISVILLE.A village in Stockbridge, so called

from the Curtis family. The name Cur-tis is probably derived from the words,curt-hose—meaning short stockings,

the family being one of the first to

adopt wearing the short stockings in-

stead of the old-fashioned high stock-

ing and knee breeches.

NEW BOSTON.A village in Sandisfield. Named after

Boston, which was named after Bos-ton, England, and is a contraction of

Botolphtown, St. Botolph being patronsaint of that section of England.

LOUDON.Former name of Otis, and being a

contraction of Julia's down. The townin England being the former domainof a lady bearing that name.

JERICHO.Former name of Hancock, being

derived from the Bible Jericho, whichmeans a city worshipping the moon,but which some think means rathercity of the fragrant.

GOODRICH.Name of the southern part of Han-

cock, the name meaning "rich in godli-

ness."GAGEBOROUGH.

A former name of Windsor. Namedafter General Gage of Revolutionaryassociations.

NEW ASHFORD.Probably named after the old fort

whose ruins are still to be seen near acelebrated ash tree.

ASHLEY FALLS.A village in Sheffield. Named after

tue celebrated John Ashley, who wasborn September, 1738, and died

on March 8, 1S27, spending his entire

life in Sheffield. John Ashley gradu-ated at Yale College in 1758. Return-ing to the home of his father, JudgeAshley, in Sheffield, he read law, andwas admitted to the Hampshire bar at

the April term of 1762. Being an only

son, and destined to succeed to large

interests in land, he engaged early in

mercantile business and followed his

profession for only a few years. Heowned a piece cf land in the adjoining

town of Mount Washington that is stiii

known as Ashley hill, and the streamwhich runs through it is Ashley brook.

His father built him a house a shortdistance south of his own, and abouta mile north of the present AshleyFalls post office. The house stands ontne west bank of the Housatonic river

on what is known as the "back road"between Ashley Falls and Sheffield,

20

and is now owned by Mr. George Bar-tholomew, who has altered its appear-ance by the addition of a front porchana other improvements. John Ash-ley, from his youth was interested in

military affairs, and rose successivelythrough the several grades of ensign,lieutenant and captain in his father's

regiment. On September 3, 1771, hewas commissioned second-major of

the South Hampshire regiment, of

which his father was then colonel, andtwo years later he was commissionedmajor. After the outbreak of theRevolution, his patriotism and positionin the militia naturally led him to en-

list in the army. He was commission-ed colonel of the 1st Berkshire Regi-ment, April 4, 1777, receiving his ap-

pointment as field officer on May 4th.

Colonel Ashley took a prominent partin the suppression of Shays' rebellion.

On September 10, 1786, Major GeneralJohn Patterson, anticipating that themob would attempt to prevent the sit-

ting of the court at Great Barrington,issued orders to his officers to havetheir men assembled there, fully arm-ed, on the following morning. ColonelAshley among the others replied, say-ing that he had called upon the severalcompanies in the regiment under his

command for a respective number ofmen. The court was intimidated andvoted to adjourn. Colonel Ashley heldnumerous civil offices. He was ap-pointed a justice of the peace on June27, 1771, and continued in frequent at-

tendance on the Court of Sessions, of

which he was a member, both beforeand after the Revolution. He was aselectman of Sheffield and at varioustimes represented that town in theGeneral Court.

"General Ashley was ever a firmfriend to the constitution and libertiesof the United States. As a magis-trate he was upright. By his death hisaged parent is deprived of a dutifulsop; the town has lost a friend to or-

der; the poor have lost a benefactor;and his family a loss irreparable. Hereceived a wound in the leg a fewdays before his death, which his sur.geon supposed was healing. On theseventh he was buried with military

honors. A large number of people tes-tified their respect by attending hisfuneral." The sermon on that day waspreached by Rev. Ephraim Judson offohefiield and the text was taken fromEcclesiastes 7:2. He was buried inthe Ashley lot in the old cemetery in

Sheffield.

NEW FRAMINGHAM.Former name of Lanesboro. Named

after Framingham in Middlesex coun-ty, from whence the greater part ofthe earlier settlers came. This townwas first settled in 1633 and was thetheatre of King Philipp'soperations in the Indian wars.In 1692 a large number of set-

tlers came hither from Danvers, prin-

cipally composed of families involvedin the celebrated witch trials. TheBridges, Nourses and Elliots wereprominent among these. In 1676, therewas an Indian descent upon the townwhich resulted in some persons beingcarried into captivity. In 1700 thetown was incorporated as the result of

a petition on the part of those wish-ing to attend church, without travelingas far as they had hitherto been com-pelled to do. The Pratt and Gleasonfamilies were prominent among thosemoving in at this time. The first min-ister was John Swift, vv^ho remained45 yeal's on the salaryof $300 and 35 cords of

wood. Framingham people figuredprominently in the earlier colonial

wars in the battle of Lexington and in

Arnold's journey to Quebec. The townis now best known as the seat of thefirst normal school for female teach-ers. The town was named after

Framingham, England, the word mean-ing the home of the strangers. Thereis located within it, the castle of theHoward family. A college is alsothere for the middle classes, built in

memory of Prince Albert, the husbandof Queen Victoria. The town is one of

the oldest in England, dating back to

the time of Redwald, king of the eastAngols. The castle was at one timethe residence of Queen Mary, and nowis the property of Penbroke hall in theuniversity of Cambridge. The Howard

21

family are now the owners of the cas-

tle and is the family having the mostdistinguished ancestry in England.The name is thought to be a modifica-

tion of Hereward, the Saxon. The How-ards are the Dukes of Norfolk andoften appear in Shakespeare's histori-

cal plays. The most celebrated of thefamily was Admiral Howard, who fig-

ured extensively in the SpanishArmada. One of his ancestors. Sir

John Howard, figured extensively in

the war against Joan of Arc, the sub-

sequent wars of the Roses and fell in

the battle of Bosworth. Anothermember of the family was commanderat the Flodden Field, another was theluth wife of Henry the eighth, anotherwas the principal instrument in thediscovery of the gunpowder plot. Thefamily is in part descended from theMobrays and Bigods, who came overwith William the Conqueror and fig-

ured prominently in the Battle of

Hastings and who are the two oldestfamilies in the British Peerage. Amore complete account of these distin-

guished families will be given in thepamphlet soon to be published.

QUEENSBOROUGH.Original name of West Stockbridge,

which it is needless to say wasnot tolerated after the Revolutionarywar. This name was given in the hon-or of the Queen of England, the wife of

George the third. This lady was bornat Mirow, May 16, 1744. It is said thata letter written by Frederick the Greatdeprecating his wars was the cause of

King George being attracted to her,

and the treaty of marriage was signedAugust 15, 1761. She crossed the En-glish Channel at the time of a danger-ous storm, having at length disem-barked at Harwich she began her jour-

ney towards London, accompanied byan escort of noble ladies and gentle-men. She retained her bouyant spirits

until she arrived in sight of the Palaceof St. James, where her public presen-tation was to take place. Here she forthe first time became somewhat dis-

concerted and grew pale. The Duchessof Hamilton endeavoroJ to reassureher, when she replied: "My dear duch-

ess, you may laugh, you hav3 beenmarried twice; but it's no joke lo me!"She soon recovered her usu'al self-pos-session as her inteudcl h unhand mether at the palace gates; and as sheknelt on one knee to him, he preventedher, and kissed her with more than anordinary show of princely affection.

During the whole scenes of her pres-entation to the monarch and his court,she conducted herself admirably andproved herself worthy of the high alli-

ance which had been tendered her.The marriage ceremony took place afew hours after her arrival, and wascelebrated in the chapel of the Palaceof St. James. Walpole says of her,ixiat she looked sensible, cheerful andremarkably genteel. He does not saythat she was pretty, and it must beconfessed she was rather plain, tooplain to create a favorable impressionupon the youthful monarch whoseheart was certainly occupied by theimage of a lady, who nevertheless fig-

ured that night among the brides-maids,—namely. Lady Sarah Lennox."An involuntary expression of theking's countenance, "says Mr. Galb,"revealed what was passing within,but it was a passing cloud—the gener-ous feelings of the monarch were inter-

ested; and the tenderness with whichhe henceforth treated Queen Charlottewas uninterrupted until the momentof their final separation." Queen Char-lotte's wedding dress was of white andsilver. "An endless mantle of violetvelvet," says Walpole, "lined withcrimson, and which, attempted to befastened on her shoulder by a bunch oflarge pearls, dragged itself and almostthe rest of her clotnes half way downto her waist." The coronation passedwith the usual ceremonies, and lastedinto the evening. Nothing of note oc-

curred unless we think it such thatthe king, while moving with the crownon his head, was so unfortunate as todrop out the large diamond in the up-per portion of it. Had there been anyone present gifted with propheticpower, he might have deemed the lossot the diamond typical of the loss of

the jewel—America—from the chapletof the English possessions. The

22

queen passed most of her mornings in

receiving instructions from Dr. Majen-die in the English congue. She wasan apt scholor and improved rapidly,

and though she never spoke or wrotewith exceeding elegance, yet she learn-

ed to appreciate justly the best au-

thors, and was remarkable for the per-

fection of taste and manner withwhich she read aloud. Needlework fol-

lowed study and exercise needlework.The queen usually rode or walked in

company with the king till dinner-

time ; and in the evening she played onher harpischord or sang—and this shewould do almost en artiste; or shetook share in a homely game of crib-

bage, and closed the innocently spentday with a dance, and "so to bed" as

the Pepys would say, without anysupper. The life of Queen Charlottewas so essentially domestic as to af-

ford few materials for the historian.

At first she was girlishly and ingeign-

edly pleased with her jewels and theinsignia of royalty, but she very soonwearied of them, for to use her own ex-

pression, "the fatigue and trouble of

putting them on and the care they re-

quired, and the fear of losing themwas so great that I longed for my ownsimple dress and wished never to see

them more." Throughout her entire

reign the kingdom was almost continu-

ally at war, the first with Frederickthe Great, then with America and thenwiiu Napoleon. The cares and vexa-tions of the period at least resulted in

the king becoming insane. What a life

Queen Charlotte must have led in

those long years about which nobodywill ever know anything now, whenher husband was quite insane, whenhis incessant tongue was babbling fol-

ly, rage, persecution, and she had to

smile and be respectful and attentive

under this intolerable ennui. Thequeen bore all her duties stoutly, as

she expected others to bear theirs. In

1816 the public distress was verygreat, and those in high places werevery unpopular, often for no better

reason than that they were in highplaces, and were disposed to be indif-

ferent to the sufferings of the morelowly and harder tried. The queen

came in for more than her share of thepopular ill will, but she met the first

expression of it with uncommonspirit; a spirit indeed which gained forher the silent respect of the mob whohad begun by insulting her. As hermajesty was proceeding to her lastdrawing room in the year 1815, shewas sharply hissed, loudly reviled, andinsulted in a variety of ways. She wasso poorly protected from the mob thatshe was actually stopped. She waitedfor a few moments and then said calm-ly, "I am about 70 years of age, I havebeen Queen of England over 50 years,and I never was insulted before." Themob admired the spirit of the undaunt-ed lady and allowed her to pass with-out further molestation. She died onNovember 16, 1818. (Abridged fromAgnes Strickland's Queens of En-gland.)

Most of the villages in the countyderive their names from the proprie-tors or the principal industry in their

midst, and hence the origin of most of

them is obvious. A few cases of spec-

ial interest are analyzed below.Pomeroys, a village in West Pitts-

field, so called from the ancestor of thefamily being a gardner who raised

apples for the king, or as it would bedescribed in French "Pomme Roi."

Barkerville, a village in West Pitts-

field, so called from the ancestral

family having been engaged in thebusiness of stripping tne bark from the

trees for the purpose of tanning.

Partridgefield, former name of Peru.

This name means field of the illus-

trious rulers.

Briggsville, a village in NorthAdams, so called from the old Anglo-Saxon word Brigg, which means abridge, the family living near a cele-

brated bridge. In connection with this

word "bridge" a popular false etymolo-

gy may be explained away= It is

frequently said that Stockbridge is the

same name as Bristol, both words be-

ing composed of Brigg and stock

meaning the bridge where the stock

were accustomed to cross. In one case

case one syllable being placed first,

and in the otner case, the other. This

23

is ingenious but is not in accordance

with the facts of the case. The city

of Bristol, England^ being in point of

fact derived from the old Gaelic wordBris which means broken and Tol

which means chasm, the city lying

near a chasm through which the river

Avon goes to the sea. This is still

further confirmed by the fact that the

former name of the city was Caer-oder

meaning "City of the Gap."

Russells. The word Russell is de-

rived from Rosel which is compounded

of the two syllables Roz which meansan old French rock or castle and Elwhich means water (spelled in mod-ern French Eau.) The town of LeRosel from which the Russell familycame lies in lower Normandy in theBarony of Briquebec about a mile fromthe Atlantic, five hundred feet abovethe water which it overlooks from a

position of majestic grandeur. Thistown was made the Appanage of the

Bertrand family who were descendantsof the celebrated Norman prince

Rollo who was a descendant oi Sigurd,

King of Sweden who reigned in 735.

The first member of the Bertrand fam-ily was William and his son Robertwas named Le Tort on account of his

lameness, the word "Tort" meaningtwisted and being the Norman original

of the English family called Twiss.The Bertrands came into England withWilliam the Conqueror bringing withthem the name of their Norman vil-

lage from which they were called RnS'sells. The Russells soon becameDukes of Bedford probably the richest

Dukedom in Great Britain. For awhile they were only Barons but Johnthe third son of Henry the IVth whoappears frequently in Shakespeare'shistorical plays was made Duke of

Bedford and Regent of that portion of

France which then belonged to Eng-land. He was the commander whocaptured Joan of Arc and was theprincipal agent in putting her to death.

As the result of the benefactions of theRussell family it is said that the townof Bedford has more public endow-ments than any place in the Kingdom.

The town itself dates from 54 B. C,when the chief of the inhabitants of

the town became the commander of

the united forces of Britain in the

vain endeavor to oppose Julius Caesar.

The name Bedford first appears In

1345 and probably means "The houseof prayer near the Ford." It had for

many centuries a celebrated Normancastle and the arms of the corporation

of the town consist of a castle sur-

mounted by a Roman eagle with out-

stretched wings. The spirit underly-

ing the name of the town is interest-

ingly associated with the fact that

previous to the reformation it wascelebrated for the number and the

wealth of its religious houses. Thetown was prominently identified withsecuring the Magna Charta and with

the long contest against Henry the

Third in his vain attempt to repeal

the provisions of that instrument. Thetown is best known to the world fromits having been the residence of JohnBunyan and being the place where hewrote the Pilgrim's Progress. Thecelebrated philanthropist, JohnHoward, also lived in its environs. It

is interesting to remember that the

city of New Bedford, Massachusetts,

was so called in honor of the Russell

family who were prominent among its

early settlers.

Farnhams, a village in Cheshire;

the name is derived from Fernham,meaning Home of the Ferns; that is,

the family originally living where the

ferns were abundant.

Taconic, a village in Pittsfield. Thename is a simplified Indian name whichmeans forest, and has since passed (as

a geologic designation) to the rocks

found in the Taconic mountains.

White Oaks^ a village in North Wil-liamstown, where that tree was no-

ticeably abundantDewey's, a former name of New

Lenox. The Dewey family derived

their name from Donay in France,

most familiarly known as given to the

Roman Catholic English translation of

the Bible. The Dewey family are the

descendants, on the various sides of

24

their ancestry from Alexander the Capet dynasty who reigned over Fraiice

Great Charlemagne, Pepin. Constan- so many years. It is interesting to

t^ne the Tst Christian Em- notice that the later English Deweys

T,eror The Scandinavian heroes lived in Berkshire county, England,

Thor' and Woden and Frea, and were prominent in securing for

thP wife of the latter, from whom English speaking people the blessings

Thursday, Wednesday and Friday of liberty as witnessed to in the Magna

take their names; Hengist the tradi- Charta.

tional conqueror of England, and the