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Woodlands Cemetery Update and History
The calendar has changed, we are now in a new year. Happy New Year!
It is the New England winter and our “residents” are resting comfortably
under a cozy blanket of snow.
We are attempting to rally interest and commitment to address badly
needed repairs in Main Road and Northeast (Old Westfield Road)
Cemeteries. This month we will be again requesting CPA funding for cemetery preservation. Woodlands
needs a small amount to finish a few repairs remaining from last year. And now we are also requesting
funding for Main Road cemetery and Northeast (Old Westfield Road) cemetery.
The Main Rd cemetery was once owned by
the Congregational Church and was turned
over to the town when it no longer had the
financial resources to maintain it. The town
mows and takes care of some landscaping
issues but the stones have deteriorated
badly; some have broken and fallen. It is a
closed cemetery in that sites are no longer
available. This cemetery is easily viewed by
everyone who drives by on route 57.
The Northeast Cemetery resides on
property still owned by the town but
surrounded in part by the City of
Westfield Water Resources and in part
by a private resident. It also is a closed
cemetery with many stones badly in
need of repair. Northeast Cemetery is
quietly half‐hidden on a hillside. It is a
small, very lovely old cemetery and
worth a stop to visit.
For 21 years, Marie Beckman Shaughnessy was a very active participant in the Woodlands Cemetery
Association. She was a member, an officer, and a tireless worker for the benefit of not only Woodlands but
the Main Road Cemetery also. From 1950 to 1971, she filled many positions and worked tirelessly for the
benefit of both cemeteries. Not only did she take care of a multitude of administrative responsibilities but she
also rolled up her sleeves and did much of the physical work herself. She was a determined spirit with ideas of
her own. The minutes of meetings reflect an appreciation for that contribution.
“For a long time she suffered with arthritis but nothing would deter her from performing tasks in the
cemetery far beyond her strength. For much of her work she received little or no remuneration. Her
reward was the satisfaction of seeing the two cemeteries, neat, well‐trimmed and places of beauty”.
Cont’d ‐‐‐‐>
� Woodlands Cemetery Update and History Cont’d
On one occasion, Marie helped a descendant of the Rose family from New York
find the graves of her ancestors in Main Road Cemetery and received this thank
you note in response.
“I found Granville so lovely, and its people so gracious that it will be a
pleasure for me to return. Strangely I did not feel like a stranger, but like
one going home for a visit. Went to the old cemetery and found the graves
of Elisha Sharon and Peter Rose. How lovely and well‐cared for the
cemetery is, and it was thrilling for me to know that the people in Granville
still remember and care enough about their early settlers to maintain their
graves and set out those beautiful flags.
At dusk I sat down on Elisha’s grave and mentally told him about his
descendants, not that they are very spectacular – just good people trying to live right and of none of
them ever set the world on fire, none of them ever tried to burn it down either. I was by myself – but
not alone at the end of this perfect day”. Leona Strella Delanson, New York.
Marie was also instrumental in the building
of a dam that resulted in our large wetland
called Shaughnessy Swamp. She and her
husband John Brooke Shaughnessy, a
veteran of World
War I, are buried
in Woodlands
Cemetery. She is
the grandaunt of
our special town
guys John, Mark
and Bud Beckman.
From the members of the Woodlands Cemetery Association,
WoodlandsCem@comcast.net
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Woodlands Cemetery Update and History
CPA Applications have been submitted for 2020 for the Woodlands, Main
Rd, and Northeast cemeteries. This is a joint effort by Woodlands
Cemetery and Dick Rowley who volunteers at NCCHP and the Granville
Library Historical Room, and maintains the Granville History web site.
His ancestors are from Granville.
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In 1873, there was published, in an unknown newspaper, a
Mi£1J l'lm O.N=- L~ ~ 'I' <•ll .\ '\ 11.J.1',
testimonial to the town of Granville for the longevity of many of
1'hi!i pufi. h ii- nota,1 f r th long \ ity
its residents. Keep in mind that the life expectancy for someone its inbabit'!l1l1 .:. 'l'h • followh1•1 iu·u thll
born about 1800, as these people were, was well short of 70 and Jl41U • o( pcr.;.ou uuw li\'IUJl ht llmL p1tri h
some publications state that it was younger than 40.
who are npwnrch of i.ctcnty y nr-. nf :•:?._. ~
Ju tit no . •. l ye:\l"S old, r ~~\;ll\ no~t.•~
In 1910, in just that thin slice of history, the federal census of
l. Ilumn.11 Barlow. b:l. r onr llnlllo\\" llf\-'c-.
.
.
that year reports that there were 781 people living in Granville,
1. )It... ,Persc ll:amtuon. SI, Ir::-. l.•;lcct:1
86 of whom were immigrants. They came from 14 different
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.
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countries between the years 1848 and 1908. Most from Ireland,
followed by Denmark, Russia, Canada, Germany, England,
Phebe Ptrr?>o1r1s. • J.ul l'hdou. !-IO. lfT~..
G tHl Phclon1 • 7'', lb-s. ,.\h·a , tQw\, • . o.
Austria, Italy, Finland, France, Scotland, Sweden, Norway and
i\l"
Jb.n<'..t·ot\ "hnNh, ·o. Ardon
yHolland in that order. These folks, born outside the US,
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iek, 3;,.)hi,., ~t 1'he11
accounted for 11% of our town residents. If we add their
ll_~_niek, l,31 lh~- Rntb R u rup 1u·0 r , ~H!-, l
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immediate offspring, the numbers become very considerable.
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According to the Jensen descendants, the Danes came for the
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availability of land. They were farmers. They purchased land and , l1J h CJuL})blli.U pt:Jmau, 7' J, Wlllo,v .Mllliu
s~i~!u,nr. 70, ) Ir~. Or pha . Sc)•mmu-. ,r ..
lived spartanly in order to do so. They wrote back to the families
\V.wuun 1,,.nraou,;;, 7,,. ...1)" • tr<>nt, t'
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in Denmark and others came to join them. Tobacco was a big
vatnu 'l'm.ke1\ rn. widow .....\J1mra. '1\ Oil1 .
first endeavor followed by the apple orchards and berry fields.
bot'l , 70, lf:r • J umlnm. ]l<)l'.(C M~,n ·lu. i i
,
-Jtai1 ala.er n m-ti~ , 72. / aQmcl I(. \\' blluc.)1 .
And as time passed, Granville became the apple town. Jens and
i-i. 'ru•lton ~TOng. iO~ lb,. 1>in1rn Unrlt,,
Sophia Jensen, who
~pubm,n~71. AJ1 n f'l1n-k 1 "1, P!.!mUL•r F~lt-came from Denmark in
l y. 1 \\' idow .Ho.wkW, ~- Mr~•. :\11111 •
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the early 1890’s,
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purchased land on Old
Westfield Road. Their house is now
gone. The children continued the
farming tradition with the
establishment of Mountain Orchard
on Main Road 100 years ago. In
the early days, son Edward and wife
Anna, grew not only apples but
peaches and even celery, turnip, and potatoes, some in the lower wetter
areas of the fields. Early on, Edward and Anna purchased the house at 678
Main Rd for $10,000 and with 3 of the best apple years ever, paid off the
property in 3 years. Two more generations of Jensens have continued the
orchard tradition and Mountain Orchard is still producing apples and fruit
for our health and enjoyment.
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Andrew Nestrovich, who immigrated to the USA from Russia in
1912‐13, also established an orchard in Granville in 1914. It is now
in its 106th year.
Other surnames that you may recognize from that group of 86
immigrants in 1910 are: Clifford, Hansen, Holcomb, Phelon,
Rowley, Shaw, Beckman, Dubois, Dickinson, and Deganio. They
were generally strong, industrious and enthusiastic and embraced
the town as their own…which it was. They had farms, started
business, provided services, were instrumental in the success and well‐being of our town and have
descendants who still live and work here today.
Credits to Jim Jensen and ancestry.com.
�
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4c3313f607dcdff773621cb512c086b6
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Cemeteries (By Cemetery)
Description
An account of the resource
Information on the following cemeteries:
Hamilton Burying Ground (Tolland)
Hubbard Cemetery (Tolland)
Main Road (Center)
Northeast Cemetery
Silver Street Cemetery
West Granville Cemetery
Woodlands Cemetery
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Woodlands Cemetery Country Caller Articles, 2020
Description
An account of the resource
Beginning in February 2019 Carolyn Donatini began writing a monthly article for the Granville "Country Caller." The articles for <strong>2020</strong> appear on this page. <br /><br /><a href="https://granvillehistory.omeka.net/items/show/1214"><em><strong>CLICK HERE</strong></em></a> for the <strong>2019</strong> articles. <br /><br /><em><strong><a href="https://granvillehistory.omeka.net/items/show/897">CLICK HERE</a></strong></em> for more information on the Woodlands Cemetery, a list of burials, and GPS coordinates for all known graves.<br /><br /><em><strong><a href="https://granvillehistory.omeka.net/items/show/1080">CLICK HERE</a></strong></em> for photos of all known headstones at the Woodlands Cemetery.
2020
Country Caller
Granville
Massachusetts
Woodlands Cemetery
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September
1983
Long Ago Days
School days, school days,
Dear old Golden Rule Days,
Readin and writin', and rithmetic
Taught to the tune of the hickory stick--- ,
1
Anyone remember that old tune? Well, summer vacation being about
over here they come again! ---minus of course, the "hickory stick"! I dare say
discipline problems were fewer when it was around. Be that as it may, those
days are gone for better, for worse, who can tell. Ih..a1 problem ~ in many
cases, become much worse---all you have to do is read or listen.
Long ago on the first day of school off we went to Ore Hill schoolhouse.
Everyone had something new and special to wear. It might have been a "handme-down" but it was new to us and we felt pretty special in it, whatever it
was! New shoes were always on the agenda although, Sept. being still pretty
warm, at least part of it, many boys still went barefoot. Then there was a new
pencil box, had to have them, not that such things weren't furnished but a new
pencil box, perhaps with your name on the pencil carried a certain amount of
prestige!
Some years the same teacher would return who had "struggled" with us
the year before, possibly longer. When you arrived on the grounds there was
usually time for a game or two before the bell rang at 9 A.M. There was really
nothing exciting then about the first day unless a new pupil or two showed up.
BUT OH! if there .YL.M a new teacher coming in, one went agog with curiosity
and some trepidation. One tried to size up the newcomer through a window or
open door and wondered what the coming year was going to be like.
In long, long, ago days most teachers were men. Sometimes a woman
would teach the summer session. Many of them had little education. Very
often they went from being a ninth grade pupil to becoming a full fledged
teacher. My own aunt Jennie Nelson was one of those, and when I lived with
her during my high school years, she could help me with filli. problem.
In my nine grades of Grammar school our teachers were coming mostly
from the eastern part of the state and from two years of State Normal School.
My first teacher was the only exception during my nine years. She was Ruby
Smith and had graduated from Monson Academy. I know very little about her
except that one day, taking her for an easy mark, (I was almost five at the
time), and being bored stiff, I told her I had to go right home at noon because
my mother was taking me to the Doctor. She let me go and I don't remember
the outcome, which is probable just as well, but she must have smelled a rat.
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However I was only in school that year from April until June. Mother thinking
a little indoctrination before first grade might do me good!
My teacher was Bernice Dole from Billerica, Ma. and Lowell Normal, and
before she finished her four years she was Bernice Nelson and also my cousin.
I suppose I may have pulled a fast one or two on her also but I really don t
remember. After her marriage she boarded for a time with my parents. Her
husband was Harold Nelson Sr., mothers nephew, who still owns the Nelson
farm in West Granville. Now, one had to be fairly good twenty four hours a
day as it were. We got in wrong with her once while she lived there though. In
her closet were many empty candy boxes, souvenirs from previous beaux
and they had beautiful ribbons on them. We decided as they were empty she
wouldn t care if we took some for our dolls, which we proceeded to do. We
found out almost immediately that she did care very muchl Mother may have,
and probably did warm our bottoms but she also promptly made some paste
and we had to put back every single ribbon on every single box. I remember
that lesson plain enough--- even at 71; You don t ever steal anything from
anybody and if you do you pay! (one of the Golden Rule items.)
Then for three years I had someone many of you know and all of you
should, if not, yours is a great loss. Helena Duris W omboldt came from Newton
and Framingham Normal. All the children loved her and she not only taught
us but she did so many extra kindness, beyond the call of duty, for us,
sometimes long after our school days with her were over. When she found out
my sister and I were going out of State to High School, two years after she left
Ore Hill, she gave us each a beautiful black shiny suitcase. What a thrill! Our
very first ones! That will stick in my memory as long as I have onel There
were many other things but I don1t want to risk embarrassing one of the best
friends I ever had or ever hope to have, I must mention one more thing. You
must know, if you have lived here long, her dedication to the beautiful
Historical Room in the Library and to the Granville Historical Commission. Any
town anywhere is fortunate to have her kind.
My last two years Elsie Broga from Lee, Ma. and Westfield Normal came.
She left then---- didn t marry here as many teachers formerly had---. I lost
track of her until long afterwards when she came to Old Hone Day in West
Granville and brought along her children. Children!? All were grown up and
one was following in her footsteps at Westfield State College. Hard to believe.
Where had the time gone? Your kids had grown up but somehow you hadn 1t
expected her to 1
Good old days! Education has changed fil}.. much. There are lots of frills
that we never had or ever wanted, which is not only costly but which would
never get you a living. Most people I know don 1t agree, but boy! Way back
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�then, sixty years or so ago, when we finished those nine grades we knew how
to read, write, spell, sing, after a fashion and we had an introduction to art on
Friday afternoons if we'd been good and if there was time to spare. We got our
"gymnastics", if you will, on the school grounds in all our games, some of which
were pretty strenuous as I recall. Most except for tag and hide-and-seek were
products of our imaginations. Never a still moment at noon or recesses and we
walked three quarters of a mile to and from the school house each day. Many
walked farther. Those were really the Good Old Days, though I'm positive not
one of us realized it then.
As a sidelight I studied up on those days and ways in my collection of
town reports of which I have a complete set since 1900 except for 1982 if it
ever gets to town! They used to be on hand for town meeting but this another
story.
1900:
Nine classes, eight buildings. Teachers were paid for summer, fall and
winter terms, $2183.60 for_ill! The Superintendent got $435.00 from the town
but he was Supt. of the district so he must have received more.
1917:
My first year. There were still nine classes and eight buildings, but
things were looking up. The teachers got $3591.00. The Supt. $485.00.
1927:
There were six classes, four buildings. The teachers
Supt $1020.00.
got $6875.00. The
1981:
The last report I have, two buildings, eight grades and the teaching bill
was $159,334.00. 206 pupils. This is about twice as many as when I attended.
Only one thing remains the same---school expenses were and still are
the biggest item on the town budget, while all we read in the papers and see
on T.V. is about the many kids going into college who can't read, write, figure
or spell. They1re great on getting sport scholarships however, so I suppose all
is not lost. WOW!
Leona A. Clifford
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Long ago Days
A while ago Ed and Anna Jensen told me that there was in Granville
some years ago, a farmers Co-operative Exchange and they thought it would
be interesting to tell about it. Very few remember it and very few are living
who belonged to it. Shortly after I talked with them one: of their record books,
or possibly the only one was turned over to the Historical Room by Walter
Phelan.
When it was in existence and active I was very young. At that time just
about every man in town was a farmer and kept a few cows, chickens, a pig
or two, in some cases sheep, farm horses or whatever. A few sold milk. The
Champlins, who lived where the Galegos do now, had a dairy business and
delivered milk door to door. Others sold butter, eggs, chickens, potatoes, half a
freshly butchered pig or quarter of beef if they had a surplus. Cyrus Ives and
later his son-in-law, William Cooley had a regular butter and egg route in
Winsted, Ct. every Friday for years, but the other things were sold when they
had too much of a given thing for home use. Each farm had at least one
orchard, large or small. Most of these were in East Granville but Grandpa,
(Major Nelson) Will Reeves, Gilbert Miller and later Steve Roberts had sizable
ones in West Granville, and Austin Phelon on Beech Hill. Now there are only a
few large ones where apples are the chief business of the farm where they
are raised. Only two or three large dairy farms remain. The rest of the old
ways are long gone. Pi tty!!! It was fun to have animals around and it was fun
at apple picking time at home. Every weekend Uncle Olin Nelson would bring
up men from Bristol, Ct. where he lived and worked for New Departure Co. to
help and the rest of the time daddy and grandpa did the best they could.
When load after load had been taken in the old farm wagon to the house and
those for our own use were safely in barrels and bins in the cellar, and the
others had been sorted and sold to the dealers who came every fall, it was
fun to gather up the cider apples and carry them to Howard Dickinson's Mill.
It was even more fun to more fun to go after the cider whilst anticipating
how good it was doing to taste and thanksgiving would never have been the
same without it.
But to get back to the Co-op. On page 74 of the Treasures book there is
a notation that the date of the chapter for this organization was Jan. 17, 1917.
It was No. 121 under Mass. law. On its first page there is a list of some 37
names and it seems as if the late Peter Hedrickson was the one who got it
started. Howeverthe sherter itself is missing and actual records begin Feb. 14,
1921. Receipt accounts were for grain, fertilizer, spray materials, sheres of
�stocks, cider mill account and interes. Its disbursements were for grain,
fertilizer and spray materials, plus $10.00 to Alex Brunk for a sap pan and
$1.50 to silas Root for a deed. Later they mentioned salaries for their manager
and treasurer, names not given, filing a "certificate of condition" and taxes of
various kinds. In 1921 it sold 102 shares of stock at $5 .00 a share, bringing m
$510.00, and $567 .00 worth of cider. This seems to me to have been a
considerable amount for those days. In June of 1921 they began to
_
accumulate a building fund which by years end was $1905.72 and they
bought land and built what is now Humphreys garage. They also bought a
cider mill, value Dec. 31, 1921 $300.00, an engine, value $175.00 and a
fertilizer sower, value $25.00 which they rented out for $1.00. (per day?)
They seemed to be doing rather well but by 1925 the cider buisness was
slipping and they gave it up. The building was sold to Ernest Humphrey Mar.
19th and on April 24th the cider mill was moved by "E.J. K.H. and R.D.
--no doubt Ed. Jens en, Karl Hansen and Richard Dickinson.
In 1923 312 shares of capital stock were listed, still at $5.00 per. and
the surplus was healthy but the writing was on the wall--farming except for
apples was slipping a bit. The spray material was growing. By 1928 the grain
account was dropped . The rental of the fertilizer sower remained at some
time back there. The late Cosepin Dickinson became agent for Eastern States
Farmers Exchange and and s7v to the farmers needs as to grain and fertilizer
and I presure anything else to do with farming. Also various dealers in
Westfield would deliver to the door. There were several then but now down
to Agway and Methe. Apples don't need grain: In 1935 59 members received
a small divident.
The Co-op must have filled a gr:eat need in its day but "the timed they
were a changin" and big things were gobbling up small things. I think this
was especially true of farms in America. By 1968 several years were showing
a loss and no business can run that way. The last year of records was 1973
although the other years to 1981 are listed. On July 16, 1981 they had some
money in ,their bank account and on Aug. 21, that year the few living
members voted to dissolve the organization. They turned over as gifts,
$731.17 to the Ambulance fund and $500.00 to the Restoration fund of the
Granville Historical Society. Thus enden one more of the formerly very
worthwhileprojects in town. It had lost its usefulness for many reasons and
had joined the "limbo of the lost" if you will!
Call me a "fuddy duddy" if you will!
P .S. I would love to hear from anyone who ever knew anything more about
the Co-op. There must have been much more to tell.
Leona A. Clifford
11
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November 1983
Long Ago Days
If we could only see far back into the early days of Granville we would
be in for some surprises. It is easy to picture Sybil Root coming on horseback
from Hebron, Connecticut in 17 67 to visit her betrothed, Edmund Barlow, who
was busy setting up their future homestead and returning whence she came.
What young lady would like to undertake, now-a-days, a similar trip of 40
miles or better each way thru what amounted to a wilderness for the most
part, with its compliment of bears and wolves roaming about---Oh yes---a
bounty was paid in Granville beginning in 1767 on the latter, two pounds per
grown animal and one pound per wolf whelp for they become a nuisance. I'm
sure I wouldn't have dared! Not me! Or, how about the Twinings and Rodgers
families coming into Tolland, a few years later from Eastham on Cape Cod? Did
they walk? I have heard they led a cow or two all the way! It has been said
they carried a very young pear tree with them and that it prospered and bore
fruit for many years.
Most of the settlers arrived the hard way but it was the way of the
times, either on horseback or by "shanks mare"! Not everyone was affluent.
Many had very little of this worlds goods as we think of them now-a-days.
Because of this fact I was quite startled to hear of a record of· a very
wealthy settler who came to town about 1758 and of whom I had never heard.
I decided to look into it further. What I found was both interesting and
frustrating. Who was George Lason? There are two deeds, one to him and one
to his wife. Sarah at the registry in Springfield and an inventory of his estate
plus papers granting guardianship of two daughters to his wife in the Probate
records in Northampton(All probate records up to 1812 are there but all
property deeds are in Springfield). He left no will and may have been fairly
young at his death.
One of the deeds reads, in part, date of Oct. 27, 1758, know ye that I
Samuel Hubbard, Jr. of Granville in the County of Hampshire and Province of
Massachusetts Bay in New England, weaver, for, and in consideration of the
sum of 40 pounds, lawful money, to me in hand paid before the ensealing
hereof by George Lason, etc. etc. etc. do freely, clearly, and absolutely give,
grant, bargain, sell, aline and release, convey and confirm unto him land lying
in Granville and containing 105 acres. etc. (After all that I think you might
assume he did indeed own it!) His wife, Sarah, bought 20 acres about the same
time.
Sad to say. in 1760, George died leaving Sarah and at least two daughters
Sarah June and Anne who were put under her guardianship at their request.
�He dying intestate, Stephen Hickox, Samuel Coe and Timothy Robinson were
appointed appraisers of the estate of which Sarah was administrator. The
complete inventory fills many pages and I can't list all of it but among the
most interesting items were:
Value
105 acres of land
73 1bs. --10 shillings
1 negro, Primus by name
44 lbs.
1 negro, woman, Sable by name 44 lbs
1 negro boy, Peter by name
9 lbs.
1 set silver spoons
1 lb.--10 shillings
1 pair silver shoe buckles and
1 lb. --5 shillings
knee buckles
1 gold ring
12 shillings
1 quadrant and 8 sea books
4 lbs. (also a sea chest)
(Could have been a sea captain at one time)
32 assorted books, Bible, prayer books, histories and sermons
18 pewter plates
1 lb.--16 shillings
I chain of gold buttons
7 shillings
And much more of all kinds of animals, farm crops, household goods, and on
and on to the value of 357 lbs 14 shillings 2 pence.
I read a lot of old wills and as regards Granville people of that period I.
have never seen an inventory like it.
On October 30, 1969 there is another deed. Sarah Lason, wid., Sarah
Lason Jr. and Anne Lason Alias Joyce, all of Middletown, Connecticut for
consideration of 60 lbs. sold to Timothy Ives of Wallingford, Connecticut 105
acres of land. It is the same 105 acres purchased in 1758. This land lay on
what is now the State Forest Road and seems to have been on the west side of
the present road. The 20 acre plot was about where Alfred Latham lived in
grandfather's day and was purchased by him, though more than 20 acres then,
when Wid. Mary Latham sold it. So it is now part of the present Nelson farm,
so far I haven't found the sale of Sarah's plot but I shall keep trying. There is
no record of the burial of George Lason in Granville in those early days and
information about him is pretty scanty but I shall try to trace him back.
Knowing that he spent even two short years on the land where I grew up and
which I shall dearly love until I die will keep me looking. So far it continues to
be a fascinating mystery.
Note-In the Published Granville Town Records to 1850 in the deaths:
11 Primus, colored man,
found frozen on the mountain m 1768".
Leona A. Clifford
�December 1983
Long Ago Days
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Granville Beginnings Part 1
Albion Wilson's History.
On_ June 10, 1686, a large tract of land which included what is now
Granville and Tolland was sold by Toto, an Indian Sachem, living near
Hartford Connecticut to one James Comish. Cornish had settled in
N ortharnpton and was the first school master there. He later moved to
Westfield and was appointed Clerk of the Court of Hampshire County by Sir
Edmond Andros, personal representative of King James II, who had
instructions to call in the charters already granted to settlers of New England
and set up instead Judges and officers for His Majesty's judicial courts, which
is where James Cornish comes into the picture. (When Sir Edmond tried to
take the charter of the 11 Colony of Connecticut 11 the people refused and hid
theirs in the famous .Charter Oak! He became a very unpopular man. In 1689
King James II was overthrown and Andros was imprisoned at Boston and
sent to England for a trial that never came to pass. In fact, he returned to
Virginia in 1692 as Governor and became very popular. He died in 17}4.
When the plans of Andros went awry and Massachusetts resumed a
government under its charter, Cornish lost his job but the Court 11 applauded
his good services and recommended him to public favor 11 • He had been a
petitioner for Westfield to become a town on Jan. 21, 1668 and was one of
the Grantees named in the deed of Alquot, the Indian Sachem, which
conveyed the greater part of present Westfield, then W oronoake, to its
inhabitants on June 30, 1669. He became very interested in Real Estate and
knew a lot about the surrounding territory. He became the first white man to
lay claim to that portion of said territory, then a wilderness, which included
in part the present towns of Granville and Tolland. He was not attracted to
the arduous process of actual settlement to gain land as was the common
custom in those days but preferred to purchase it outright.
It was not difficult to find the Indian Sachem who claimed to be its
owner and possessed it by virtue of being the son of his father, who
possessed it before him and the grandson of his grandfather who had
possessed it before that! The Sachem was Toto and he deserves more than
passing mention. He was a Poquonoc Indian and his tribe lived around the
Farmington River area in the town of Windsor, Connecticut, near where the
present village of Poquonock now is. The Tunxis Indians lived to the west
�and the Podunks to the east of them. The grandfather had had dealings with
the whites previously and were on good terms with them.
Toto is credited with being in a class with Massasoit and Uncas and he
richly deserves the gratitude of the people of the Connecticut Valley. But for
him the now city of Springfield would have been wiped off the map and
probably all the settlements along the river. He learned that the Indian fort
near Longmeadow had received 300 of King Phillip1s warriors and that they
would attack the town the next morning. Tradition says he ran all the way to
Springfield and back home that night, and also got word to Major Treat who
was in Westfield. Fact or fiction, he ,g_g_t the word to them. The people were
incredulous and in spite of the warning suffered the surprise attack and
were barely saved by the arrival of Major Treat and his troops. Thirty-two
houses were burned and several settlers killed, including John Keep with his
wife and infant child. John Keep was the direct ancestor of the Chapman and
Henry Johnson families of West Granville and Clarence Mott of Tolland.
So far as is known no Indians ever lived in Granville at that time. (John
Mohawk owned land in the vicinity of South Lane I much later). The town
boasts no Indian names and no relics have been found except one or two
arrowheads by the late Raymond Noble in what is now Ralph Hiers' meadow.
James Cornish got in touch with Toto and purchased from him a six
mile square tract in the area in June1686. Tradition says the price was a gun
and sixteen brass buttons and a short time past, Bonnie King wrote a
delightful children's story about this, but it has never been proven. The deed
says "for good and loving considerations" which could have been the said gun
and buttons or most anything else that Toto considered of sufficient value
and that Cornish was willing to pay. The deed is recorded in Book A page III
of the Hampshire County land deeds, now in Springfield Registry of Deeds. It
reads "the land to be six miles square, or contents thereof if the area is not
square. It was bounded South by Simsbury, as it was then Westerly toward
Housatunnick, bounded by the mountains, Easterly by land belonging to
Westfield and Springfield, and Northerly by land previously granted by Toto
to John Williams. How long and how wide does not appear.
Toto personally appeared at Hartford June 28, 1686 and acknowledged
"the above written deed to be his free and voluntary act and deed", before
me, John Allyn, Assistant of His Majesties Colony of Connecticut.
Thus was the first page of Granville's history written. (And recorded by
Granville's historian, Albion Wilson).
Leona Clifford
�January
1984
Long Ago Days
Granville Beginnings
What became of James Cornish after 1689? It is believed he went to
Simsbury, Ct. to live with a son. He had two, Gabriel and James Jr. James Sr.
diedoin Oct. 20, 1698, intestate, and our " Town of Granville" became theirs.
Gabriel married and had two children- James and Demaris, he died in 1702.
He also left no will and the owners were now three, those two and James Jr.
James (3) joined Queen Anne's Army or Navy about 1710 when he was
twenty-two but before leaving for Port Royal he made a will Aug. 17, 1710,
and well that he did for he never returned. Damaris, who married William
Fuller of Simsbury, came into possession of her brother's estate.
However, the impulse for speculation was still thriving and brought
about further progress toward settlement, when Atherton Mather, a planter
of Suffield, Ct. , which at the time belonged to the Mass. Bay Colony, found
that the tract of land west of Westfield could be bought at a price. He looked
it over and agreed to pay thirty pounds in current bills of credit for this
wilderness and the deal was consummated June 26, 1713 at Simsbury. Once
more the parties to the transfer went home happy-- the sellers with their
thirty pounds and the buyers with their deeds. Land values had risen from
the traditional gun and sixteen brass buttons!
Another page had been written but there was neither name nor settlers.
Indeed, up until this time, no definite line had been settled among Mass. and
Conn., but one was finally decided upon July 13, 1713, less than three weeks
after the sale by a commission appointed by both colonies.
Mr. Mather was a very different sort from Mr. Cornish. After having
secured his title, he next desired to turn his land into cash as speedily as
possible. In order to do this, though land was fertile and there was much
timber, it was of little value without settlers ... so settlers must be had! His
acquaintances must have been wide, his business connections extensive and
his energy without limit for in about twenty years he had sold the entire
property between the western boundary of Westfield and the Farmington
River, interpreting the expression in Toto's deed "westerly towards
Housatunnick" as "westerly to a river," (known as the Farmington now), and
the " six miles square or contents thereof' as being of no significance. More
than a third of his buyers lived in the Boston area, the others lived in the
various towns in the Conn. River Valley. His first sale, Aug. 13, 1715,
conveyed 2,000 acres in three tracts to Dr. Oliver Noyes of Boston, Vol. C,
page 180, Hampden County Registry of Deeds. ( The lake at Tolland's Tunxis
Club has always been known as Noyes Pond--- the last reminder, as far as I
�know of any of these original owners). In April 1719 he conveyed 1400 acres
to son William and described said acreage as "being in the tract of land called
Bedford, lying west of Westfield." So, at last, the wilderness that was
someday to become Granville, had acquired a name and it was so called for
the next twenty-five years. After these two sales he moved more rapidly
toward his goal, two more in 1719, three in 1720, five in 1721 and ten in
1722. The ball was really beginning to roll! These deeds often referred to
the "Plantation of Bedford". A plantation, however, presumes the existence of
settlers and these it did not have. The Proprietors, as they were called, had no
plans to live there. Profits were what was uppermost in their minds.
All or part of Bedford had been surveyed and boundary points
established as early as 1721 when a deed from Mather to Timothy
Woodbridge and William Mather both of Simsbury, Ct. , conveyed 2,000 acres
included in a survey by Jonas Houghton "and a deed of 1,000 acres to
Timothy Boylston of Boston in 1731/32 reads", according to a survey by Mr.
Timothy Dwight, Surveyor. It is probable, though, that a single survey of the
entire area was not made until 1738. On Oct. 19,1733, Mr. Mather conveyed
the last bit of his land. If he received all the "considerations" set forth in his
forty-four deeds, and there is no reason to believed he did not, he had taken
in 5377 pounds, 18 shillings, a tidy sum to realize on an investment of 30
pounds even though it took him twenty years.
To go back to the 1738 survey. The proprietors, around fifty of them
listed by Mr. Wilson, were having problems. Apparently there was no mad
rush by the public so they decided to give some of their lands--- one fifth of
each man's holdings, as an "encouragement to settlers." They would give
4,000 acres to forty families and any residue would be for Publik uses. This
came about between 1722 and 1736 as they prepared for the 1738 survey.
It had been rumored for some time and finally said out loud that there was
trouble about the title which covered " six square miles." Bedford had
become much more than that ---Nathaniel Dwight's survey dated Nov. 12,
1738 showed not 23,040 acres but 42,532--------quite a difference! They
prepared, or had prepared, a petition to the Great and General Court in Boston
saying that they "had purchased their land in good faith but that, while
Mather sold the whole of the land they had bought, it didn't appear that he
had the right to do so, of which, nevertheless, the petitioners were, at the
time of their purchase, all together ignorant." They asked that their purchases
be confirmed upon the condition that they "Do, within three years from the
end of the Present Session of the Court(l 738), Build so many dwellings
Houses thereon with what are already built to make Seventy in the whole
and have Seventy families settled thereon and each of said families to have
�six acres of land plowed or brought to English Grass and Fitted For Mowing,
also within said time to build a Meeting House for the Publick Worship of God
and settle a learned Orthodox Minister." It was quickly confirmed and bears
the signature of Richard Saltonstall and date of Jan. 5, 1738, old style. They
had wanted settlers and now the die was cast--they must have them by 1741 !
Mr. Wilson wrote; "Truly a Herculean task but what must be done 1s
likely to get done especially if it hits hard on the pocketbook. It was
unthinkable to go anywhere but ahead!
Leona A. Clifford
�February
1984
Long Ago Days
Tradition has it that Samuel Bancroft was the first settler, arnvmg in
1735, but no deed is found. One from Jonas Clark of Boston in 1759, however,
described a square mile "excepting, out of the same 100 acres granted to
Samuel Bancroft and 18 granted to Nathaniel Bancroft for settling land," so he
was an owner before that. (Lately, what is Samuel's first deed has been
discovered in the Southern Berkshire Registry of Deeds in Great Barrington,
Massachusetts. I do not know the details but I certainly plan to go out there
when winter is over ... ) Rev. Timothy Cooley in his address at the Granville
Jubilee of 1845, said he remembered Samuel and that he used to come to
church in his great wig and cocked hat--- a conspicuous figure" He lived in the
area of the Westfield Reservoir and I think there is a marker on or near his
home site.
Other prospective settlers, hearing of the proprietor's proposal to get
seventy of them with 100 acres each, decided to look the situation
over. One fact is ~ interesting. In some way, David Rose, who lived in
Durham, Connecticut, heard about this promised land. He came, liked what he
saw, picked his acreage, built a cabin, started his clearing, and moved his
family there. In 1741, he bought 1500 more acres. He lived in the area around
North and South Lanes in West Granville. As a child his home site was pointed
out to me in the so called elm tree lot at the top of East Hill. It is pretty well
covered with brush now, but I think the old ridges of its foundation must still
be there.
Either Mr. Rose had great powers of persuasion or else he was looked up
to as a man of good judgment for as a result of his settling in Bedford no less
that 26 other families very soon followed him from his former hometown in
the "new township." They were as far as is known;
Amos, Ebenezer and Ezra Baldwin
Benjamin Barnes
David, Jacob, John, John Jr. and Nathaniel Bates
Isaac Bartlett
Aaron, Samuel and Enoch Coe
Aaron, David and Ebenezer Curtiss
Roswell Graves
Stephen Hickox
Benjamin and David Parsons
Phineas, Dan and Noah Robinson, also Timothy
John Seward and
�John Tibbals
Later came Thomas Spelman, Israel Bartlett, Ezra Baldwin Jr., and
Jonathan Rose. So far as is known, no other group of this size ever came from
any other single town, but came they did in ones, twos, and threes from other
places in Connecticut and Massachusetts and the oncoming "tide", after some
trials and tribulations, kept on coming until the required 70 families had
arrived. There is a list of 76 plus "three residents" June 20, 1750. They had
built 73 dwelling houses and brought more than the required land to
cultivation. They had become "embodied" in a church state and had chosen and
ordained the Rev. Moses Tuttle to be their pastor (1747) and there was built a
meeting house, which, "being by the Providence of God, consumed by Fire, "
another was built and "all has been effected by the Carge of Owners said land."
These churches are to presumed to have been near the corner of Regan Road
and Rt. 57, near the Great Rock, long since gone. Although the way had been
long and hard and beset with difficulties, the goal had been reached even
though it was nine years later than the original requirements. Granville, nee
Bedford, was all set to grow!
Very few paths being easy, by now more problems raised their ugly
heads. TAXES, the only sure thing except death, were needed--also assessors
and other town officers to see to the needs. This called for a town meeting.
Early records are missing or sketchy, but one was held in 1750--another in
1751. There was no clerk and neither was signed by anyone. After 1751
Ephraim Munson described himself as "Clerk of the Society." About that time
also it was "voted said collector, Samuel Church, for collecting two year's rates,
have 2 pounds." Not a very well-paying job! Approximately half the tax in
those times went to the church and the rest for roads. So things went on rather
muddled still.
Up until this time, Bedford had no official existence. The inhabitants
called meetings when thy needed money for public uses, levied the taxes, chose
a collector, who collected and reported his take. It mattered not a whit what
the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony really had no
knowledge of their existence. With the self-reliance of hill-dwellers, they were
quite able to take care of themselves. The spirit of America was in the making.
However, then as now, demands for more and more public services arose.
Each man's efforts along these lines were no longer adequate. They needed
some legal status and petitioned to incorporate on October 26, 1753 at what
turned out to be the last political meeting of the inhabitants of Bed ford.
Incorporation had failed once before. Now Phineas Pratt, who had come from
Hingham via Worcester, had become a prominent citizen, was voted to be the
man to do something about it. He was the decisive type. It was a pretty safe
�forecast that he would accomplish what he set out to do or know the reason
why, and he either sent or took a petition to the General Court. It must have
been complete and persuasive in its description. The bill was introduced to the
legislators and it passed January 4, 1754. One change came, though-- it
emerged with a new name. The Great and General Court, so far away from
Bedford hills, knew practically nothing about it and so, when parts of Billerica
and Concord had asked for incorporation as a new town in 1729, 1filU'.. were
called Bedford. So it was necessary to find a new name and Granville was
chosen.
It seems very likely that some friend of Lord Carteret, Earl of Granville
and President of the Kings council suggested the name. At any rate it was
chosen.
This year of 1984 the Lions Club calendar bears the likeness of the Earl of
Granville and it was donated for the purpose by George Sattler who did quite
some research into the man in London, England a while back. I hope that
shortly George will write something about this research for the Country Caller.
Get with it, George!
NQfE:
Taxes were, then as now, a burden sometimes, no doubt. Money is the
current problem but in 1751, and for some time thereafter, Provincial and
County and other taxes could be paid in certain marketable commodities-- such
as GOOD codfish, iron, winter wheat, rye, Indian corn, barley, barrel pork, beef,
long whalebone, beeswax, tallow, peas, wool sole leather, etc. Wouldn't we have
fun scratching up the where-with-all for our taxes that way---as much if not
more than our hardy forefathers did scratching up currency!
Granville Beginnings
Albion Wilsons History
Part Three
Leona A. Clifforc
�March 1984
Long Ago Days
Yesterday, after what seemed to me a cold winter, suddenly the
thermometer shot up to 55 degrees. Every winter bird was peeping, chirping
or singing and the promise of spring was in the air. In a very few days March
will be here and usually March brings some ~ nice days.
As a child this season brought about one of West Granville's event of the
year. . . . the annual oyster supper. It was a special feast ---one did not
suffer from an over-abundance of seafood in those days in the back country
towns so it was a rare treat and greatly looked forward to. The oysters
arrived in a large metal can from one of the Westfield stores. I believe it may
have been from Schermerhorn's, which was there years ago. They probably
arrived on the stage as most provisions did in those days.
Huge kettles of oyster stew were served up by the Ladies Aid along
with quantities of oyster crackers and other little goodies. There were always
one or two souls who desired to have a few raw ones served up--- not like
today's fancy appetizers---ice cold with cocktail sauce, lemon or a variety of
accompaniments, but just plain to be downed enter a dash of vinegar, salt,
and pepper. They looked sort of slithery, but, always having had the desire
to try any food that others seemed to enjoy, I finally, after some years,
decided to try them myself and found them very good indeed! I can't help
but think that people who dislike lots of kinds of food never tried them and
have missed out on one of the great joys of living!
Church suppers were our social events back then in the small towns
along with an occasional shower for a new bride or a new mama and an
occasional housewarming. I was deeply hurt, if on rare "big nights" I missed
one for some reason such as illness, which left me to the tender care of
Grandpa Nelson for the evening!
There was one of these suppers every two weeks in good weather
(spring, summer and fall). They began with the oyster suppers and ended
with the annual Christmas supper which was a "freebie." All the townspeople
brought food and all ate it and enjoyed the Sunday School's Christmas
program in the church next door complete with a tree and Santa Claus. Each
child in town, without regard to race or color or creed, received a nice gift
plus an orange--- no small thing years ago, plus a bag of candy. These were
provided by the Sunday School with a BIG assist from our superintendent for
years---the late James E. Downs. Mr. Downs was a well-to-do summer
resident from Chicago who lived where Betty and Bill Heino do now. I
remember him with great affection.
�The general "run of the mill" supper was the one based on good old
home baked beans. Whoever dreamed of using "boughten" ones then? These
luscious, juicy viands were accompanied by homemade pickles or relishes of
various kinds, with plenty of Grandma Sheets homemade rolls and her
homemade butter. If those rolls she baked all the time were placed end to
end I am sure they would have circled the Earth! For dessert there would be
a mouth watering array of homemade cakes and pies and one ate one's fill
while enjoying a good visit with friends and neighbors that, in most cases, one
hadn't seen since the two weeks before. All this for the magnificent sum of
ten cents!! After the eating was over all the ladies pitched in for the clean up.
My mother was a dish washer par excellence, and I hated to think how many
dishes she must have "shampooed" in the old West Granville Academy--thousands ! Meanwhile the men removed the tables to the kitchen and folded
them against the walls and pushed all the chairs back. The two that were
relegated to the kitchen were stacked, one on its legs the other bottom side
up on top. These also received several sleeping babies before the night was
over.
Now it was time to sprinkle powdered wax on the floor. The children
had a great time sliding until my dad got his fiddle tuned up and he, along
with my mother at the piano, played for square and round dancing until
midnight and "Good Night Ladies" heralded- the end of another good time.
As the years rolled away, the suppers changed as does everything else
in the world. Usually potato salad, scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese,
coleslaw, sliced tomatoes in season, with sometimes boiled ham or dogs, began
to appear on the menus. Homemade baked beans were still king, but now the
rolls were delivered by a bakery truck and the butter came from the store.
The price climbed ever upward and onward but you always got your money's
worth. If you didn't, it was no ones fault but your own!
Besides the oyster feast, two other special events occurred. In June the
Strawberry Supper rolled around. It had the regular menu but dessert was
strawberries---as they were on BISCUIT shortcakes---none of these sticky
sponge cups! Accompanying them was homemade ice cream, several freezers
of which, well packed ice, sat just outside the kitchen door on the old
walkway. One year one freezer full had a slightly scorched taste. Whoever
made it had burned down the custard that was used as its base, but ice cream
was not such an everyday occurrence that it was thrown out. We ate it all --better by far than no ice cream at all. Then too, all those strawberries helped
to make it palatable.
Later, in October, the chicken pie supper was held. It took a lot of
"doing" on everyone's part. Each family furnished a large chicken pie AND
�their own chickens--- (fat hens most likely whose laying days were over), a
quart of gravy, a kettle of either mashed potatoes or squash, or turnip or
boiled onions, plus one or two dessert pies. We went to that one loaded down,
as we ourselves would be later when we had polished off our share. I believe
those suppers were about a dollar a person.
Now all of this is long gone. The oyster suppers went first, after a
disastrous date when the oysters arrived on time along with a blizzard that
blocked the whole area and no one could attend. The oysters were salvaged
by being sold around town, but the discouragement was complete. All the
other ones continued on until well after I married my husband whom I had
met first at the annual Strawberry Festival of 1933. I don't know the exact
date when they were dropped on a regular basis, but will guess about 1940
or so.
Today other churches and organizations are holding them once in a
while so you can get to one or another most times and there are some
excellent ones. Granville Federated Church has a great chicken pie supper. St.
John's Lutheran in Westfield serves. and is coming up right away, an
absolutely splendid sauerkraut feed. The church on Chester Hill has, in the
summer, monthly suppers that are superb. Westfield Grange has fine ones
the third Friday of the month. I can really enjoy any of them.
However, I do miss the old fashioned ones I used to dote on. Most of all
I miss those dedicated, friendly neighbors who worked so hard to make them
all possible. There is a lot of pleasure and much sadness looking back to all
those good times--- the highlights of my childhood as well as some later years
in West Granville. As one song goes, "Those were the days, my friends . . . . . . . "
Leona A. Clifford
�April 1984
Long Ago Days -- Hubbard Mills
In July 1747, Nathaniel Hubbard of Middletown, Ct., began to acquire
land in Bedford. He bought 400 acres for 400 pounds from Noah Ashley of
Westfield. In 1748 he bought ½ of 1534 acres from Jonothan Worthington. That
same year he bought I 00 acres from Daniel Brown, blacksmith, to be his "settlin
lot." Quite a sizeable estate! This man seems to be the father of the Nathaniel
who had the mills.
April 7, 1750. Book Y pg. 21
"I, Nathaniel Hubbard, of Middletown, Ct., for consideration of the
paternal love, I bear my three sons, Nathaniel, Samuel and David, all of
Bedford, in the colony of Massachusetts Bay, and for 60 pounds, which said
Samuel paid towards it purchase, I do give .... etc ..... to my three sons my (by
estimation) 400 acres in Bedford that I have bought of Captain Noah Ashley,
July I 7, 17 4 7." Here follows a description of the boundaries in south west
Granville. THEN---First I order that a highway be laid out athwart said land beginning I 0
rods eastward of the brook called Mill Brook, at the south side of said land and
running two rods wide northward, where the path now is, to the north side of the
land. Then I order that a piece of said land be laid out on the west side of said
highway at the southern end for the convenience of a mill or mills to lie 3 0 rods
wide and extend so far as, with said highway, to contain 10 acres. The said IO
acres I give to all my sons in equal parts." The rest was divided between them,
so many acres each.
Thus, as far as I can ascertain, was born Granville's first mill or mills.
There are hints of a "first mill, location unknown", and as Hubbard's deed calls
his brook "Mill Brook", it may have been on it earlier.
My family supposed that Hubbard's Mill was north of the Rt. 57 bridge
near the Tolland line where much later Cyrus Ives had his shingle mill and that
his house was probably, where old foundations and a small very ancient apple
orchard and a good spring of water where, on the road that ran through Ives'
sheep pasture to the river. However, from other deeds through the years, many
clippings and Elizur Moore's letters, which I sent to the Country Caller a while
ago, appears that they stood just west of the present bridge on the State Forest
Road on the south side of the brook where large "laid up" stone foundations still
stood until 1938/39 when the flood the former year and the building of a new
bridge the latter year completely destroyed them.
There was a gristmill and a sawmill, probably of the pit type. Nathaniel
seems to have been the operator most of the time. Samuel sold his 1/3 to him
and David in 1752 and I find no more record of David except that he died in the
Revolution. In any case the mills did run and the town had 2 mills that were
necessities if progress was to be made. For poor Nathaniel it was a rather shortlived venture for on April 20, 1762, he "drowned there at the time of a freshet
while trying to repair his dam!" (having seen several "freshets" at this spot
during my life-time, I can believe it!) Account of death is from Edward Days
Hubbard History --- He left a wife Ruth (Barnes) and 6 children - one yet
�unborn. She was a fourth generation descendant of Thomas Barnes of New
Haven. Ancestor of all the early Barnes in town and on down to Sheldon Barnes
still living in Granville.
By 1764 the town had a surveyor of clapboards, shingles, hoops and
staves, suggesting that the manufacturer of these commodities had reached a
considerable volume, probably in more that one mill. Jonathan Rose had been
granted the "sawmill Lot" for his settling lot and in 1780, Elinu Stowe, also a
Middletown man, settled in the north part of town and set up a mill that was in
operation for about 142 years and was in operation in 1894 when it was called
the oldest in Massachusetts.
In 1774, Nathaniel Hubbard (Jr.?) sold his holdings to Timothy Robinson,
Aaron Coe and David Parsons --- "the Hubbard Mill lot: --- on which there is a
corn mill, a saw mill, two houses and one barn --- and he conveyed all but his
mothers third to them. She was by now Mrs. Joseph Clark. Later, David Parsons
sold ¼ of the gristmill and 1/8 of the sawmill with the mill lot to Timothy
Robinson, by then known as the Robinson Mills.
In 1805 David sold his sons, Joel and Seth, ¼ of the gristmill lot. In 1812,
Joel and his sister Catherine Booge, sold 1/8 part the Robinson Mills to Jesse
Cornwell. Each was said to be "seized with their right of 1/3 of¾ of said
property." There's something to figure out!
It is a long story, but many transactions later, James Johnson came into
possession. He made wooden articles - no more about the gristmill --. My
grandfather, living just north of the mill during the later part of Mr. Johnson's
ownership, called it the Bowl Mill and said it also made piano keys~ the wooden
parts---. About 1881 the whole thing burned and Mr. Johnson declined to
rebuild. Instead he sold out and moved to east Granville to the house where
Miss Skelling lives now. Many people still in town certainly remember his
daughter Jennie who married our town's Dr. Clifford White, and her mother who
was the sister of Milton Whitney to whom Granville is indebted for its nice
Library.
After some years and various owners, all of this old mill tract and several
hundred more acres were purchased by the State of Mass. In 1933 the C.C.C.
Camp came in and turned some of it into the nice camping and picnic grounds,
which are still there and much used.
Since 1939 not a vestige of this once thriving enterprise remains. All that
reminds us of the Hubbard Family is Mill Brook, now Hubbard River~ and a
small family burial ground in the "North Quarter" the final resting place of
Nathaniel's great-grandson, Alanson Hubbard, a Revolutionary Veteran.
Two members of the family remain. One is Pearl Phelon, a ninth
generation of George from Middletown and sixth from Nathaniel of the Mill.
The other is G. Earl Miller who is the tenth generation from George and seventh
from Nathaniel. To still have family members after 23 7 years is quite a record!
Leona A. Clifford
�May 1984
Long Ago Days
I like Andy Rooney of TV's 60 Minutes. I have just read his book "And
More by Andy Rooney." I think he's my kind of people. In it he brought up the
subject of Memorial Day and his opinion that it isn't what it used to be ...... that
i f ~ are remembered, as those who have gone before are, things don't look
too good. He speculates that we are all a part of the lives out forefathers lived
in the way we do things. Our habits and customs are oft times theirs. True!
Memorial Day began in 1868 as a way of honoring the veterans of the
Civil War. It has come to honor all veterans of the United States as well as our
relatives and departed friends. The Stars and Stripes fly over all soldiers
including those of the old French and Indian Wars who were loyal British
subjects . There were several such in our town .
I, too, think the " honoring has slipped from what it was when I was in
grammar, and later, high school . " The Civil War veterans still rode in parades
on that day. Children put their small bouquets of wild flowers and lilacs in old
cans or jars of water and placed them fillll_ a small flag on each of the two or
three graves the teacher had ....... assigned to them. Then we had "Exercises " m
the cemetery---poems and other recitations such as Lincoln's Gettysburg
Address, song, Tenting Tonight and Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory. Our little
hearts swelled with pride even if we didn't, in those long ago days, understand
exactly why. Those were solemn, stirring moments!
Understanding or not, I was impressed by the number of veterans
buried in West Granville, mostly of the Revolution--Forty-two of them-with a few of 1812 and the Civil War, where we went each May albeit I knew
nothing about any of them. Over the years I have learned a thing or two!
Col. Timothy Robinson comes to mind, a real patriot and town leader. He
was commissioned in Boston, Feb. 8,1776, and was in the Third New Hampshire
Co. Regt. Samuel Thrall of Granville was Quartermaster in the same outfit.
Timothy served in many places and was respected citizen and 'leading light' in
town affairs. His grave stone says, "He was a Deacon of the church 30 Years. He
lived respected and died lamented." There follows an inspiring epitaph!
Jacob Bates was in Capt. Lebeus Ball's Co. of minutemen--was in Roxbury
went to reinforce the northern Army under General Gates, supposedly was with
Washington when he crossed the Delaware and also went to "quell the mob in
Northampton " in 1782 .
Capt. Benjamin Barnes was at Ticonderoga with Ethan Allen when it was
captured from the British. We have all heard of Thans dramatic words on that
�fateful night in 1775 --"Surrender in the name of the Great Jehovah and the
Continental congress." Some historians think that more than likely, his speech
was a little more "earthly. " When he disagreed with someone's idea that "cool
it" at one of the conventions of the military, possibly the one at the Dorset , he
informed those who didn't care much for his tactics that he was going home
(into the mountains) and that the "law of the hills wasn't the law of the valleys,
by God! He and his Green Mt. boys proved it, too! Over the years some
descendants of Capt. Benjamin have had their ashes brought to rest near him.
There's family pride for you.
Capt. Aaron Coe was in Col. Robinson's Co. and went with him io lots
of hot spots and also to the fracas in Northampton.
Lemuel Haynes , West Granville's first minister, went through Bennington
on his way to the War and is still remembered in town where he preached an
at least one Sabbath day, by a large portrait of him in their museum.
There were many.many more from our town who went to do what they
considered their duty. They suffered extreme hardships and must have been
foot weary, or if they were lucky enough to have a horse, saddle sores!
Recently I received a letter from a friend, Don Hamill of Chicopee. He is
descendant from the Stewarts, Halls and Potters in the "North Quarter." He sent
me Thaddeus Potter's deposition taken May 30, 1832 , when he applied for a
pension. He describes marching through Danbury to Fishkill, N.Y. and across
the North River to New Jersey. He said they were frequently exercised by
Baron Von Steuben. He saw General Washington several times-- saw Major
Andre the day before his execution at West Point-- and saw Benedict Arnold
before he escaped to the British at Nelson's Point. He said he had been blind for
seven years and wanted a pension. He was turned down for he was discharged
as disabled from exposure inl780 by Gen. Washington and fell short of the
required time. Later-through his son Pierpont Potter -a lawyer in Jamaica, Long
Island, an award of $10,000 to the date of his death in 1836 and $10.00 until
the time said award was made, was granted him. Thaddeus died at his son's in
Jamaica, and is no doubt buried there. But his wife Sarah, another son Joseph
and Joseph's wife, Wealthy, are forever in the old part of 'my ' cemetery.
We can scarcely imagine the trials of those who fought to free us from
England, who fought to keep the country united a hundred years later, and who
fought 'the war to end all wars' fifty years after that. Since then there has been
a steady stream of wars, hot and cold. I guess we're so busy worrying about
nuclear war and "The Day After" that we have just about given up on the good
old-fashioned honoring we used to do.
One more thing. The late Joseph Duris, veteran of WWI, after visiting an
old New York State graveyard where many Revolutionary soldiers lie, decided
�to do what they had done and erect a flagpole with a large flag in the West
Granville Cemetery. He tended it faithfully as long as he was physically able. It
was a grand idea, for in every such place there are veterans who, for one
reason or another, never had monuments or flags and who are unknown now,
like the Unknown Soldiers in Washington, D.C., only to God. A large flag on a
staff honors one and all.
Leona A. Clifforc
�June 1984
Long Ago Days*** (And some new)
California---here is one certainly aware of both. Mid California had a
nice write up in a recent National Geographic and it is in this section that I
have spent the last five weeks with my daughter, Kathleen and family. Some
people tend to think of California as a "Johnny come lately" being the 31st
state admitted to the Union, Sept. 9, 1850---quite a bit after Plymouth, 1620-but not so!
In Oct. 1542, Spanish adventurers sailed into the Santa Barbara channel
let by Juan Cabrillo, the first to name the California area. In 1579 Sir Francis
Drake explored part of the coast and claimed the land for England, naming it
New Albion. Spain sent out Sebastian Vezcaino in 1602 who was impressed
enough so that settlers came and established a few villages along the coast
and owned huge cattle and sheep ranches, some of which are still in the same
family name. Russia got a foothold in 1809 to carry on a fur trade but by
1824 agreed to limit their settlements to Alaska. In 1769 Junipero Serra, a
Franciscan priest with other missionaries arrived and built their first mission
in San Diego. By 1823 they had 21 of them, each about a days walk apart
along the trail, now a road, the Camino Real. Mexico claimed theirs in 1825
and set up a government of sorts. In 1796 the first American sailing ships
reached Monterey and from then on many more arrived. Jedediah Smith, the
famous "mountain man" came overland in 1826. Others, including Kit Carson
and John Fremont, followed. By 1841, many settlers were clamoring to belong
to the other United States and finally, in 1848, after the U.S./Mexican War,
Mexico surrendered it to them. That same year gold was discovered and some
of us tend to think that that was the beginning of California. Many from "back
east" started for the gold fields with dreams of making their fortune.
Granville had its "gambler" Alfred Searle who married Betsy Whiting in
Barkhampsted in 1837, moved to Granville in 1845 where he ran a
blacksmith shop with his brother Daniel. He and Betsy had several children
but he got the gold fever and started out. He never realized his dream of
great riches, dying on the journey, March 13, 1849.
He left three children. In 1858 Betsy married Benjamin Clark, Sr. who
had lost his wife a year before. They lived in Hartland Hollow and had three
sons---Benjamin, Jr. who married Mary Winchell of Granville; Fred, who
married my mother's sister Anna Nelson; and Delbert who was an optician m
New York State.
Benjamin Jr. ran a sawmill in the Hollow and Fred and Anna lived
nearby. Benjamin and Mary had 12 children. While I was in California, I
�received word of the death of one of the last of them, Ella (Clark)Thrall of
Poquonock, CT age 97. She was my mother's lifelong friend, having
established a lasting relationship when Mother visited her sister. Today,
Benjamin, Sr. and Betsy, as well as his first wife, Marcia Rockwell, lie in the
extreme northern section of the West Granville Cemetery. At least one Searles
child is there, too.
But to get back to "LONG AGO"---it is thought that for about 10,000
years, the Chumash Indians lived along this mid coast in their thatched
wooden huts, clad in skins and sporting elaborate "hairdos". A trip to the
museum at Lompoc shows that they were quite skillful. They wove baskets
depicting wildlife very realistically. They made excellent pottery often inlaid
with abalone shells and other things. They had weapons and tools as fine as
any in the country and in those days, rocks in the surrounding hills have a lot
of pictographs. At the present time an archaeological dig is taking place on the
Vandenburg A.F.B. and other interesting artifacts are coming to light there.
Today only a remnant of this civilization remains on the reservation at Santa
Inez, the smallest in the U.S. containing less than 100 acres.
PAST TO PRESENT: Across the street from Kathleen lives an elderly
retired Air Force Colonel. He is a grandson of the great Sioux warrior Sitting
Bull nemesis of General Custer at the battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. The
missions have become mostly historical sites. Most pleasant to visit!
Lompoc and other towns are near to or adjoin the huge Vandenburg
A.F.B. All are noted for their flower fields where Burpee and three other seed
companies raise them for seeds. They are gorgeous. Right now there are acres
of sweetpeas in full bloom but all kinds are raised. Along the mountainsides
white spots show where the Johns-Manville Company is carrying
diatomaceous earth for industrial uses. It is there for this section was once a
sea bed. Gantrys stand on the mountain tops and May and I were lucky
enough to see a Titan III missile streaking into the wild blue yonder one day,
leaving a wide curly vapor trail. Some of them shake the houses when fired.
This base is readying itself for the launching and re-entry of our spaceships
in the very near future---hope I get to see that! In this state are designed
and made many of our most sophisticated technologies. In this computer age
we've all heard of Silicon Valley. Sometime ago California had become the
aircraft and shipbuilding center of America. Tons of produce and thousands of
cattle and horses call this region home. There are no citrus groves but
artichokes, avocados(? for $1.00), strawberries, grapes, all kinds of nuts(not
human ones, but you wonder about some in the big cities). The list is endless.
Prices are very good, too, for what they raise.
This California, as far as I have seen parts of it, from San Diego to San
�Francisco, is a great place m our great nation, right now, and it's surely bound
to play a tremendous part m the future of America. I wish everyone who has
never seen it could do so.
Leona A. Clifford
�July 1984
Long Ago Days
You can't go home again.
The past is under lock and key,
All that is left is what you remember,
What you've read of it,
What you imagine,
You can't open the door and go back.
Whoever wrote these lines was almost right. I have found that one can't
go home again, but you can open the door and go back a little bit.
This past Wednesday I was working at the Registry of Deeds in
Springfield, and Bill Heino was more or less concentrating on Granville's
southwest quarter. On coming home I dug into Mother's papers and found her
account of "West Granville People and Places in the Old Days."Most of it had to
do with that part of town, and I thought some might be interested in what
was her "home territory." She began:
"Where Nelson Harger lived on the road leading to the Otis Road, there
previously lived Charles Curtiss, Henry Clark, Samuel Granger, Dwight Wheeler,
William Jones, Eli Beach, Dewitt Coe, Lawrence Smith, Nelson Harger, and last
of all, Jacob and Sarah Yarmitsky and her brother and his wife, George and
Minnie Ominski( They were living there when I was born). Nelson Harger
married Harriet Hunt, daughter of James Hunt. She had a sister that married
Charles Moody, who lived in the north quarter of Tolland, one who married
Duane Hall, and I think one who married a Fay in Chester. Dwight Wheeler
later bought our farm from Dennison Parsons, who sold it to Henry Peebles.
Dwight later moved to Barkhampsted's Center Hill section. William Jones was
Ben Jones' father, who married Lucy Bell of Chester, Ma. Ben had a sister Lucy
who married Ariel Frost who lived where Fred and Nellie Coe later lived on
the Hartland Hollow Road. Ben married the widow of Lawrence Smith, who
was brother to Emmiline, wife of Cyrus Ives and mother of Carrie Cooley.
The next place south was Roswell Smith's house who married Eliza
Harger and I remember "Aunt Liza". Just below them was the house of
Leander Harger who married Marcia Coe, daughter of Seth and Rebecca
(Bishop) Coe. This house was moved and added to Aunt Liza's place and
Charles and Nelsie Sheets lived in it. The cow barn stayed at the Roswell Smith
place but Sheets used it.
Below these was Lyman Granger, who might have been Samuel
Granger's son. He never married and later lived in the north of Tolland. When
�he died he was buried in Pine Hill Cemetery in Westfield.
(At the four corners mother left out A very Bates 's house, thinking, I
guess, that it belonged to her reminiscences of the Main Road.)
Opposite this road was the one south leading to West Hartland, CT. I shall
always think that Isaac Chapman and his wife Ruth Fenn Robinson were the
ones who built the house, a story and a half affair that was later made into a
two story with an attic by Dwight Wheeler. The next owners were Capt. Cyrus
Webster, Ephraim Root, Dennison Parsons, Dwight Wheeler, Henry Peebles and
Major Nelson in Company with Anna Barlow. (They moved there in 1872. Still
m the family 1984.)
As I was asked to write short pieces I will finish this story in August.
Leona A. Clifford
�August 1984
Long Ago Days
Last month I began a copy of a paper my mother wrote years ago that
she entitled "West Granville People and Places in the Old Days". This month I
will finish what she wrote about the West Hartland or State Forest Road.
Next South on the left was Isaac Miller, Dwight Hamilton, and Alfred
Latham. Later it belonged to John Brodrib, Major Nelson, and presently Harold
Nelson. (I believe Myra Reeves told me that her parents lived in it once but
don't think they owned it). She had a picture showing one of her sisters
sitting on the wall south of the old house. It was all down by the time I can
remember. All that was there was uncle Olin's shingle Mill, but he set the
woods on fire with that so Major wouldn't let him use it anymore. It too is all
gone and the whole "Latham Place" is now woods!
Almost opposite I shall always think there was a house by the big
maples, as there was a well there and a barn below it, which was sold and
moved to the south part of Tolland (Rivers place, now John Battistoni). I feel
that the house was moved to our place and used for the hens and pigs. It was
plastered inside and had a chimney, which my brothers took down one day
when my father was away. (I don't agree with this. The "pig pen" house had a
well too and I think it may have been the original house on that farm,
probably belonging to Isaac Chapman).
At the corner of the old Pease Road was once a house. A cellar hole and
a well are there but no one has been able to tell one of its early owner.
(Harold Sattler filled in the wall for he felt it was dangerous to hunters, etc. It
had tremendous lilac bushes until the woods grew about it so high they are
about gone). Lydia Taylor's cellar hole is down the hill a little way on the
right. ("Aunt Lids cellar hole" my folks always called it. A son of theirs, James,
born in Sandisfield, died there 1847.)
The next house on the right belonged at different times to Chauncey
Johnson, Chase, Weatherwax, Mosely for a short time and John Brodrib. My
father bought the barn there and built a horsebarn at his place. (This is still
standing in poor condition). The house sold to Ab Johnsons' sons. Later Mr.
Howell owned it and then the state.
(Across the bridge) on the left at the foot of the hill lived Calvin Fuller,
father of Lawyer Henry Fuller of Westfield, who married one of Milton
Whitney's daughters. Calvin was killed by Jesse Hall of Hall Pond and thrown
in the pond(l 837).
(Across the road the old River Road runs all the way to Rt. 57. In the
corner of it is an old cellar hole. I have seen an account saying a Ransom lived
�there but this may not be so).
(At the top of the hill the Jeff Miller Road runs across to Tolland).
On the next right, George Atkins bought and lived in an old house and
later built a new one which has been torn down by the State (1961). I don't
know who lived in the old house previous to Atkins. In the new one, after
Atkins was Albert Hitchcock, and after the State owned it, Joe and Dorothy
Boehm and Lester and Edith Sattler lived in it. It too, has been torn down and
a pity for I thought it was a beautiful house! (Chas. Magvanis lived there for a
time-Wm. Cooleys stepfather.)
Next right Ed. Chase. I don't know if others lived there before but Burt
Magvanis lived and died there. Afterwards the State bought it and tore it
down.
Next right stood the Southwest district schoolhouse. My husband,
George Aldrich, bought it from the town and made it into a henhouse at the
farm in 1920's.
I'm getting ahead of myself! Just before the schoolhouse on the right
lived James Johnson, son of Eli Johnson, (who lived on the Sattler farm on Jeff
Miller Rd). I don't know if James built it. Fred Dutton who married 1st Minnie
and 2nd Lena Hunt lived there when it burned. I was around eight or nine.
Next right beyond the school (and across Halfway Brook) lived William
Keep who married Eliza Perkins of Colebrook River. It was sold to the State.
Mattie Hunt, mother of, Ruth Broughton was a Perkins also and related to Eliza.
The next right---Talcott Coe and his son Ward Coe(whom I remember)
lived. Later it was sold to the State and has been the home of Harold Sattler,
State Forest Supt. (When he retired he move to Colebrook, Ct. The house 1s
now torn down.)
Next left lived Harlow Coe who married Emily Hopkins. Later the
Edward Ransom family got the place for caring for Emily's sister until she
died. It now belongs to James Krasnoff. (Now a Snowmobile Club.) Here
Mother continued on to West Hartland for she knew just about everyone
there but today things have changed. Often we don't know the people next
door and there is not much old-fashioned neighborliness!
Leona A. Clifford
�September
1984
Long Ago Days
There is an old saymg, "In spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to
thoughts of love." There was probably more to it, but I don't remember.
Anyway, September and fall are coming up now and a lot of people's
thoughts are turning to "School days, school days, dear old golden rule days."
Seeing the children off to school again certainly turns my thoughts back to my
days as a pupil at Ore Hill in West Granville.
Last spring a friend celebrated her 80th birthday at a lovely party
sponsored by the Library Club in town. I was asked to say a few things about
my sixty year association with this lady, which I was very happy to do. Since
then several older people who have attended told me they had heard almost
none of my remarks that day and that they wished I would put them in the
Country Caller. I can't think of a better time to do so than in September where
it all began, so here goes ......
There came into my life in September 1923, a red letter day, although I
didn't realize it at the time. The old Ore Hill School in West Granville got a new
teacher! This was an outstanding event! For all my grammar school years
there had been one teacher until then, Bernice Dole, later Nelson, and by that
marriage, my cousin. I am sure all the pupils were early on that morning so as
to get a peek at the new teacher through a window and try to size her up
before the bell rang. Well, she wasn't very big and didn't look mean. She didn't
look like anyone to be afraid of but time would tell. At nine o'clock the bell
rang and we found ourselves under the tender, loving care of Helena B.
Wamboldt and the beginning, for me, of the happiest years and memories of
my nine grades at school, plus the beginning of friendship now spanning some
sixty years.
I wonder, looking back from this far, what it must have been like coming
from a big town like Newton, Massachusetts to a "back in the hills" town like
Granville- from all the comforts of city life to the more primitive farmlife then
existing in most West Granville families. No running water, some of the more
fortunate had pumps at the kitchen sink but several still depended on a
bucket and windlass, sometimes in a shed sometimes out. No bathrooms, no
central heat, only privies, pumps and wood stoves!
Well, as we can see, she stuck it out and also became one of the many
who, back in those days, quite often married locally and never left. She was
married to Joseph Duris, Nov. 27, 1930, in her home town church.
Therein lay Granville's gain. As most of you know, I am very interested
in Granville's history, and the genealogy of its early families, but NO ONE, in
�my lifetime so far, has spent more time in that type of research here than she
has. No one has answered more letters to more people seeking "roots" here and
no one else can take the credit for the beautiful historical room at the library
that Granville is so fortunate to have today.
My Aldrich Family Association reunion was held here, in part, in 1983
and they were 1Jl.Q.ll impressed with it. Nathan Aldrich Jr. of Farmington, New
York was especially thrilled with the framed document to do with a debt owed
by Job Stiles and signed by Oliver Phelps. He and his family before him live on
a farm that was originally part of the Phelps-Gorham purchase in New York
State. They all also have enjoyed visiting the Historical building on the hill, to
which Helena has given much time and effort. When any town anywhere has
such a person in their midst, they can be most thankful. They are a credit to
their community!!
Leona A. Clifford
�October 1984
Long Ago Days
" Once upon a time" Tolland was a part of Granville. According
to Elias Nasons Gazateer of Mass, published in 1873, it had 509
inhabitants and 108 farms. It was incorporated June 14, 1810 and
became Tolland instead of West Granville, that designation going to
what, up to then, had been Middle Granville. It had, in 1873, eight
sawmills, two shingle mills, 1 turning mill, 1 bedstead factory and
one tannery. There were eight school districts. The tax rate was
$0.75 per thousand! It sent twenty five soldiers to the late war,
(Civil), twelve of whom died. Rev. Roger Harrison was its first
minister, also post master, town clerk, and Representative. The Rev.
Gordon Hall, 1st American missionary to Bombay, and well known
author, was born here Apr. 4, 1784 and died in India of the cholera,
Mar. 20, 1826. Tolland is a pleasant village, having a Congregational
Church on elevated ground, supposed to be the highest lying in the
same latitude between the Connecticut and Housatonic Rivers." So
much for Mr. Nason!---right or wrong.
Here came, fairly early, several settlers and among them were
Jabez Rogers and Thomas, Elijah and William Twining, brothers who
came from the town of Eastham on Cape Cod. The father of Jabez was
Nathaniel (4) son of John (3) who had married Elizabeth Twining in
1699 at Eastham. There was at least one more marriage between
these families at Tolland.
My sister and I spend a week at South Wellfleet every
September and this year I finally got to the County Seat in
Barnstable to look them up. Thomas (1) Rogers the first in the
country, came over on the Mayflower with a son Joseph (2) about
twelve years of age. Thomas died in the " Great Sickness " in the first
year but Joseph survived and removed at some time to Eastham. He
married Hannah, (possible) Houghton and had several children.
Joseph (2) Rogers left, what was to me, a very interesting will.
Amusing was the fact that he left his daughter, Hannah, a cow of her
choice " if she is unmarried before my and my wive's decease, and
that until his wifes decease, " nothing ( of mine) to be disposed of
save only Hannahs cow"! He owned considerable land, some of which
" I bought off the Indians, Francis and Joseph". His holding included
the Cedar Swamp, now a part of the National Seashore, and a visit to
it is one of their guided tours which I have taken and enjoyed, and
�he owned Billingsgate Island which I understand has now sunk, the
area of the Cape having changed pretty drastically since his day. He
was all in all a pretty large landholder which he designated as
"purchased and unpurchased". He is buried in the ancient Cove
Burying Ground at Eastham, probably with others of his family but
the very few stones there are mostly worn away to "nubbins" and
unreadable. I took pictures of the monument erected there by his
descendants in the l 960's a large boulder with a bronze plaque. Two
other Pilgrims are also buried there, Giles and Constance Hopkins. It
is a well kept spot. I was disappointed not to see the volume of
Probate Records to do with the early Twinings as it was in use and
my time was limited.
After Probate I visited the beautiful Sturgis Library, also in
Barnstable, which has an outstanding genealogical and historical
collection and there both families came to light right up to the births
of the Tolland settlers. This was due to several volumes of "General
notes of Cape Cod families" put together by three Duxbury, MA ladies
and dated 1967. I was delighted and could have spent hours there,
but again we were on our way home and short of time. Also it was
Saturday and the library hours were few on that day.
I certainly hope to get back there sometime for it may be that
other Tolland families such as Higgins came from there too.
Topping things off the cottages where we have gone for several
years belonged to a man whose wife is also a direct descendant of
Thomas (1) Rogers through his grandson James (3) brother of the
Jone (3) of the Tolland line. We compared notes and she kindly let
me copy her records.
Supposedly these two families came to Tolland about 1783.
What a trip that must have been and what a wilderness they landed
in. Thomas Twining (5) is said to have built on what is now the
Deming place and Jabez Rogers on the "old north road", not far from
them. It is on this road that the Twining Cemetery is situated and
signs of the old road are still plain in spots. It meandered
considerably and parts of it were still in use until what is now Rt. 57
first built. When my great grandfathers lived at the Bates place they
were still arguing which road was the better to use, especially in
winter! Soon though it was abandoned though as a child I walked the
part on the Bates place many times.
Well, in any case they stayed on in town many years. Jabez (5)
was among the first eleven members of the Tolland church and some
�of them are still in Granville and Tolland, including Florence Sussman
and Alan Moore. I am not sure about the Twinings but I believe
Robert Alden is one. They were also intermarried with the Parsons
family this name also having disappeared.
However it is exciting to study up on those early settlers who
dared the "howling" wilderness--- and there were wolves about on
which a bounty was paid about 1790--- so long ago, and who stuck
with it and helped to build the two towns into the beautiful one
town it is today.
Leona A. Clifford
�November
1984
Long Ago Days
Someone wondered a while back as to how long one must live
in a town before their home would be called the "Smith place" instead
of the "Jones place" ---their name!
I suppose it is annoying to
always have your property known as the "Smith place," said Smith
long ago departed for that realm where "moth and dust doth not
corrupt nor thieves break in and steal," and whom nobody living
remembers, in most cases. However that seems to still be the case in
small country towns, not only here, but also in rural Canada and
maybe everywhere for all I know --- especially where one family
lived for a long time, possibly for several generations.
I am reminded quite often that an owners name on a deed does
not necessarily mean that he lived there, but when said land is still
called the "old Moore place," the "Harlow Coe place," the "Spelman
place," or the "Cooley place" by the present day inhabitants, someone
by that name li.Y&d. there long ago! This also applies to old cellar
holes of which there are many in our town, as well in any of the hill
towns around us.
There is a good example of this in West Granville where a road
long abandoned, leads from Leroy Clink's place to the Hartland Hollow
Road running South from Benton's store and joining it just a good long
jump from the Connecticut line. Today it is a wilderness but there
were at least four farms there 100 years or so ago. The first was the
Pease place (Sylvannus) and it was about where the old Cross Road
leaves it on the right and connects with the State Forest road, at the
top of the "Brodribs Hill". Next was the "Hayes place" (Thomas). In
later years I believe his daughter, Augusta, owned the Tavern stand
in West Granville. It was on his farm that there was said to be a huge
old hollow tree that, for a time, someone lived in. I believe he was
born in England. "Uncle Tom Hayes," as mother called him, gave her a
silver dollar when she was a small girl. She must have felt quite rich!
I am sure she never parted with it. After Hayes came the "Hall
place"--- (Chauncy). His son Steven married my grandfather's halfsister, Jennie Nelson, and was living within my lifetime, first where
Helena Duris does and later where Ernie Sattler does. He died a long
time ago in Plainville, CT.
After the state bought a lot of property in the area one of the
old houses, and I think it was probably the Hayes house was burned
�to make a documentary film about forest fires, while our neighbor,
Carrie Cooley and her two little boys played the part of a family
whose home was being destroyed by the fire. ---needless to say, all
escaped unharmed! As this road turned South East and met the
Hartland Hollow Road, was the "Cornwell place." Jesse Cornwell, not
the first of the name to live there nor the last, at one time was a part
owner of the old Hubbard Mills about which I wrote a short while
back. I remember aunt "Gusty" Cornwell, daughter of Anson and I
believe great granddaughter of Jesse, who was a friend of mothers.
Eventually ill these names will be forgotten and maybe some
day new houses will appear on the road---it really is a very pleasant
one--- although the whole area is just about one vast woodland. Until
then us "old folks" will have to be pardoned for remembering them as
our grandfathers, great-grandfathers and possibly even an earlier
generation remembered them.
We still love you newcomers--- pardon the expression--- We're
just sticking with a bad(?) habit we've had for years!
Leona A. Clifford
�December 1984
Long Ago Days
Another year has rolled around faster than any I can remember in my
whole lifetime and I have realized more than ever that I don't want to do so
many things that I used to enjoy. I've just about gotten to the point where
reading, record searching and answering letters from all the people
nationwide who believe their roots lie in Granville is what I mostly keep busy
with and enjoy! Quite often the search is useless. Whether this is due to the
poorly kept records in "long ago days" or on the fact that the people in
question never lived here is anybody's guess. There is one problem that
constantly appears. The Town Clerk registered many babies as son or
daughter of John Brown and wife, or worse yet as child of said Brown. I
suppose in the very long ago days the time of year played a part. Granville
including Tolland covered a lot of territory and it was cold several months of
the year. Also transportation was slow and poor! There was a large family
born in the later l 800's who registered all their twelve children except the
oldest. Later I found out that she was born in January in the Granville section
of Hartland Hollow! It apparently didn't appeal to her father to take the long
trip by horse and buggy or sleigh as the case might have been to register her.
So many reasons kept popping up for skipping records.
In any case I now have several problems. First was the letter from a
man in California who was writing a dissertation for a degree who had to
know how the town of Granville voted in June 1754 on Governor Shirley's
proposed excise tax on lemons and oranges! My goodness! At that point the
town had finished quite a battle to get themselves incorporated besides
trying to earn a living and no doubt many other more pressing things than to
worry about lemons and oranges which few possibly none, ever had. After
two letters from him, I told him to write to the Secretary of State's office in
Boston and I sent the address. That suggestion was Sam Wackerbarth's idea
and I guess it worked. At least I have had no more letters. I would be
surprised if that office had records, either. That was about the time they
discovered Bedford and as they already had one of those we got the name of
Granville to be incorporated with. The Great and General Court seems not to
have known of us back in the western hills!
Another was from someone interested in Lester Strickland. There is no
record here, but if I was a gambling woman I would bet on Blandford or
Otis(once Glasgow and Louden). There were many families by that name in
those places and Millie Strickland still lives on Beach Hill.
Robert Hubbard married his wife Mehitable Turner in Middletown,
�Connecticut, but they both died here and are buried in Woodland Cemetery
with many of their family. He had a son Linus and Linus had a son Emerson
but I can't connect them with the earlier Hubbards, also from the Middletown
area. Linus married Elvira Cooley and their son Robert 2nd married a
Beckwith I think, still, who were Robert 1st's father and grandfather?
Another person is looking for Seth Granger, supposedly the son of
Nathaniel. Suffield, Connecticut would be a good bet on that one. The Grangers
in Tolland and Granville came from there but they had more high-minded
names--Lancelot, Lafayette and George Washington. Not a Seth in the bunch
that I can find.
Amos Spring and his wife Reliance Snow. There were two Snow families
in Tolland, but she isn't listed. Tolland records were in Granville until 1810
and missing since then until 1844. The ones since then are very scanty due
possibly to the fire that destroyed the schoolhouse when it was being used for
a Town Hall a few years ago. Amos was of Otis and there were several there.
In fact--I talked with Olive Spring widow of Martin, son of Sammy the old
time fiddler, a few weeks ago. Some of us old timers danced many a time to
his music!
James Searle; he and his family lived on a farm in West Granville on the
old abandoned road opposite the Krasnoff place. The wife was Susan Olive
Gillet, although our records call her "Gilbert". They had their own private
graveyard across from the house and in it they buried their first child Melvin,
who died young. Three other sons went to the Civil War. George died in the
South but Dwight and Julius got back home though in such poor health that
they did not long survive. They finally joined Melvin and their father James,
who died in 1868 of cancer. About 1889 or so, Susan, mother joined them.
Only Julius had a gravestone. Each Memorial Day the state of Connecticut sent
a flag and a geranium for the grave. He also had a Civil War marker. Local
men saw to it that the decorations were placed but as time went on it became
an impossible task.
In 1957 permission was given by the authorities in such things as to
remove Julius to West Granville. At the same time, the mother's remains were
put into a small casket with those of Julius and they were buried near the
East Wall in the "new" part of the cemetery where they can be better cared
for. Nothing was found of any others for they had been there too long and had
been badly flooded in 1955 as well as probably other times. Hunters had used
Julius' stone for a target which damaged it somewhat. Also lumbering
operations had turned the whole place into a disaster area. It is much nicer
where they are with the gravestone at the head and the government marker
�at the foot of the grave.
Well, all in all, it is a fascinating and frustrating puzzle to unravel some
of my inquiries. Thank God for the New England Historical Genealogical
Society in Boston. I still hope to find some of the answers there as I have
often done in the past. In the meantime I would love to hear from anyone
who knows anything about any of these people.
I need help on one more very important search. In 1909, the Reverend
Henry Coolidge, minister in West Granville, made a chart of the West Granville
Cemetery. It was 30 or so inches square and was on a frame. The whole thing
was in a cloth or canvas bag. When my father took care of the cemetery for
several years, he had the chart at our house. When the job went to someone
else the chart went with it. Now it has disappeared! It doesn't seem possible
that anyone would discard it. I am sure it was in existence in 1975. I would
appreciate seeing it regardless of the shape it now may be in.
Last, but not least-- MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU FROM ME!!!
Leona A. Clifford
�February
1985
Long Ago Days
A while back we took a trip down West Granville's State Forest Road
and we also explored the Sheets Road. It seemed like a good idea to copy one
of my favorite folk singers, Willie Nelson, so I'm "On the road again."
Will Rogers used say something to the effect that all he knew was what
he read in the papers. Well, part of what I know is what I read in old
newspaper clippings, old records, what I've heard from old-timers and what
I remember. Going back to the first settlement of Granville covers about 250
years. Things are pretty dim on the way back to those days. I know I am
bound to make mistakes and be wrong sometimes, and I'd only be too glad to
hear anybody elses versions of what used to be.
Today I'll take a stroll, and a stroll is about all I can manage nowadays,
from the Tolland line to the east. We always thought of the Hubbard River as
being the town line but a marker stands a little west of the present bridge.
This bridge, having been replaced several times and not always in the same
spot over the years, probably it was the line in Grandpa's day. In any case,
we'll go up the hill east of the bridge and then we will leave the present
Route 57 and follow the old road if we can find it. When Cyrus Ives, and later
Will Cooley, owned it there was a barway across this road at both ends for
they enclosed a sheep and cow pasture. They were good markers but are long
gone now so one has to look closely. It turned right for a short distancc-(there was quite a large gravel bank where red foxes had dens and a spring
with a huge beech tree nearby where my uncles, who had Ii ved at the Bates
place, had carved their initials as boys). About there you turned right again
and went up the hill coming out about in Lennon's dooryard. My mother
wrote, "How many times I remember Mr. Ives driving his sheep and cattle to
that pasture." About half way up the hill there were many signs of an old
homestead: stone foundations, an apple orchard, and a good spring where a
tin can was kept on a stake driven in the ground. When the Cooley boys and
May and I walked that road we would have to have a drink, thirsty or not,
with never a thought of acid rain or PCB's or any other dangers. That water
was cold and delicious and we are still living! Who lived there? My mother
thought Nathaniel Hubbard did, but so far I've found nothing to verify this. I
wish I could. Unsolved mysteries such as this really bother me! It must have
been a pleasant spot with a nice view to the west, but it was gone long ago,
for a map from 1855 does not show it. The road was a matter of controversy
as the residents argued over whether to maintain the "old" or the "new" road
�especially in winter, and at one session great Grandpa Aaron Nelson
threatened to close off the old one. It ran on his land!
Now we'll go through Mr. Lennon's dooryard and we'll be back on Route
57 once more and near the four corners whose side roads I've already written
about.
At the northwest corner of this intersection stands the home of Avery
Bates, who has made extensive changes in it. It used to be a rather large two
storied grey shingled house--that in 1864 Aaron Nelson III bought off the
widow Elisha Miner. The Miners had come from Stonington, CT. At one period
several Granville families seemed to have come from there, including
Benjamin Clark Sr., the Terretts and possibly the Babcocks. Great Grandpa and
Cyrus Ives claimed the house was built around 1810 by Perry Babcock. Some
believe (I suppose because of its situation on the cross roads) that it was a
tavern, but there is no record I can find of any of its owners ever holding a
license. In 1881, the roof of the house caved in because of the weight of the
snow--nobody was injured. In 1884, Aaron Nelson sold or gave the property
to their sons with the stipulation that they should provide for their parents
during their lifetimes "as children should do for their parents." The Nelson
'boys' finally moved to Westfield where job prospects were better and sold in
1885 to Cyrus Ives a native of Tolland who had been living in the Pease place
south of Leroy Clinks. Mrs. Ives was formerly Emmeline Smith of Sandisfield.
I remember Mr. Ives. At his death the place went to their daughter Caroline
who married William Cooley( Mother was her bridesmaid when they
married). Next Russell, Carrie's son had it, then Durand Miller and now Bates.
There was another owner but not for long. In 1866 Aaron sold the place
to a Mr. Streeter. Others think is was not Streeter but a similar name. Aaron
went to Iowa to visit his oldest son Riley Nelson. He thought Aaron would like
living there better than in West Granville but I guess Aaron was too old to
undertake such a big change so he came back and bought the place over again.
Next month we'll go beyond the crossroads to an interesting(mine)
house.
Leona A. Clifford
�March 1985
Long Ago Days
I thought my story in the last Country Caller ran along somewhat
smoother than usual until I got to the end and there it was, the line that read
"to an interesting house place. .
.mine." That was supposed to read " to me."
It was never mine!
Oh well, as little batches of homemade leaven were saved in the old
days for the next batch of bread, pancakes or whatever, that can become
leaven for my "on down the road" story this time.
Across the four corners where the Sheets Road and State Forest Road
cross Route 57, and on the north side of the road a short distance east, there
stood for many years a large old house, Several sheds and barns stood across
from it. Here in the earliest days, Col. Timothy Robinson probably lived. He
owned land here so it is easy to assume that he built the house. In his day he
seemed to have been THE leader citizen! East of the old house and on the
south side of the road are still signs of the building site and I've heard that
the Colonel had a store there. Alfred Latham (born 1802 died 1887 age 85)
was my Grandpa's neighbor for some time and he told my Grandpa that story
and said that store was very similar to the one now at the village run by
Helen Benton. It may be that it could have been moved there. People did
move buildings in the Long Ago Days. I suppose they could have used logs
for rollers and oxen for power. In any case, I know- of several instances
when it was done, one being the Farm Museum in Hadley, Mass. that had
been a barn about two and a half miles north of the village at the PorterPhelps Huntington House. A most interesting place.
In 1855 a map puts Samuel Marks living there. He was no doubt father
to Lyman Marks who lived where Dave Day does now; the Nelson Frisbie
place, and ran a tannery on the brook there. The Marks were from Hartland
and both men and their families are buried in West Hartland except for
Lyman's son Julius who is buried in West Granville. Lyman's daughter Anna
married J. Wilbur Gibbs and his daughter Jennie married my uncle Leland
Nelson.
Sometime after that Rob Carney owned it. He was an Irishman who
came from Meriden, Connecticut(! have his picture). He sold to Nathan Fenn,
also from Meriden, and lived for a time in a shed across the road. Mother said
she would bypass his place any way she could on her way to Ore Hill School to
avoid his ugly geese! She said Rob later went back to Meriden and so did the
Fenns. They were still in West Granville in 1881, but Nathan died in Meriden
in 1905. While in town he assumed the title of Doctor and had considerable
�success, though in his own hometown he was in the clock and jewelry
business.
He had a daughter who married Samuel Bodurtha of Agawam and had
three sons. The sons did a great deal of hunting in Vermont and were the
means of getting my father to come to town where he later married Mother. I
have always been grateful to them for that for he was the best father in the
whole world and I adored him!
My mother remembered the big fire when this house burned, but I
don't know the date. I never saw it...for years it was just another old cellar
hole, but then Albert Sheets, son of Charles and Nelsie (Harger) Sheets,
married a teacher Lucy Warner, from Belchertown, Massachusetts and built a
new house on the site around 1917-1918. The Sheets' have passed on but I
have fond memories of being taken by them to the Sammy Springs dances at
the Otis Fireman's Hall on Friday nights, and of many good times spent in that
house when I was young.
To be continued next month.
Leona A. Clifford
�April
1985
Long Ago Days
Most folks in town no doubt know where the "Berry Patch" is in West
Granville. It is a little distance east of the old Fenn place. A large swamp lies
on both sides of the road between them, which in my day accounted for most
of our problems in mud season. A kid could sink in up to his knees m some
places!
From my earliest memories of the house at the "Berry Patch" the farm,
with its large house belonging to Gilbert Miller, son of Milo of South Lane 2
and father of Earl Miller. He owned both sides of the road.
My map of 1855 names Nathaniel Ives as the resident. I have found so
far, nothing about him. He may have been related to Cyrus at the Bates place,
but I just don't know.
Gilbert married Laura Robinson the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth
(Richards) Robinson -- she of Blandford. Henry was the son of Chauncy and
Polly Hubbard. The Robinsons and Hubbards go a long way back! I recently
received a copy of Henry and Laura's wedding picture from their
granddaughter Doris Thatcher of Palmer, Ma. and I treasure it! They lived for
a time on the Harger place on Sheets Rd., but in 1886 Henry Robinson died in
an accident with his team of horses and Gilbert and Laura moved in shortly
after. Laura died rather young leaving 3 boys, the youngest about 6. Having
possibly heard of or known of "wicked stepmothers" she made Gilbert
promise never to remarry. So it came about that he hired "Aunt Libby" Ives
as a housekeeper and she held that position until her death in 1925. She was
a good friend of Mother's and a dear old lady, very generous with cookies and
other goodies for the water carriers from Ore Hill School. She was a sister of
Cyrus Ives at the Bates place. She was born in Holland, daughter of Truman
Ives, and had a sister, "Aunt Lindy" living on the old home place there, west
of Tolland Center. She was a good cookie maker, too! Neither ever married
and both are at rest in the West Granville Cemetery near Gilbert and Laura.
Sometime after Libby died, Gilbert went to live with his son Henry who
owned a large dairy farm in East Longmeadow.
Several owners since that time. Joseph and Dorothy Boehm, she sister to
Millie Sattler, owned it for quite a time and finally sold it to Byron Bronson of
Illinois, a relative of Steven Roberts. Morton and Josephine Barnes and their
family lived in it, also for some time, and she died there. Later it was sold to
Andrew and Pearl Duris who did much restoration on the house and planted
and cultivated blueberries, now the "Berry Patch." However, Mr. and Mrs.
Baker were the ones who christened it that. Both of them are now dead and
�I'm ashamed to say that I don't know who owns or lives there.
At some much earlier time this house had had drastic changes made in
it and not for the better---probably to "modernize" it! It's big central chimney
was torn out which caused the whole place to sag. The Duris's corrected what
they could. I would love to have seen it when it was first built. I'm not too
much for modernization; restoration, yes!
Leona A. Clifford
�May 1985
Long Ago Days
I intended to go through West Granville Village and all the side roads
where different people lived in the long ago and not so long ago, but I guess I
have spring fever, and having 'bogged down' as it were, at the Baker place. I
am going to take a break from that until I can get to Springfield to the Registry
of Deeds or until Bill Heino gets back from Florida with his vast amount of
material on West Granville properties.
I was very glad to read the nice remarks about Russ Avery in the last
Country Caller, whom I have known since my high school days in East Hartford
Ct. 192 7-193 1. I remember the first time I saw him as he walked down the aisle
in the high school auditorium. His family attended the Methodist church there,
as I did with my Aunt Jennie (Gibbs) Nelson. Indeed she and Uncle Leland
Nelson were amoung the founders of that church. I not only knew Russ, but his
mother and sisters as well, and Fran (Atwood) Avery's family, too. She and I
were in the same graduating class at E.H.H.S. At church there was a young
peoples group-Epworth League. All of us enjoyed some good times there
traveling about by trolley car to neighboring towns for suppers and
entertainments at their churches.
I will never forget the day I got a letter from Fran asking if there were
any places to rent in Granville. I was sure she was fooling! Well it didn't turn
out so and because they came here and have stayed, I've known her almost 60
years! It doesn't seem that long, and attending Russ' funeral was a sad and
nostalgic occasion! Still it was nice to see members of their families for I
seldom do. Time goes so fast, especially the older we get; and I think
sometimes everyone I ever knew has gone on.
Not just yet, however, for last Monday I had a lovely visit with our
neighbor of the old days, Harriet (Sheets) Julian and her son-in-law and
daughter, Arthur and Margaret Moore. I always enjoy talking to old friends and
there are very few now. Harriet lived with her family on the Sheets Road north
of where Charles Sheets lives now, but the old home is gone.
When I was a kid, she was a young lady and I thought SHE was really
something- the height of fashion! Her mother was head of the Ladies Aid for
years and there were church suppers every two weeks, church and Sunday school
services, plus Wednesday night prayer meeting every week. I just waited to see
what Harriet would be wearing! I yearned to grow-up and wear her kind of
clothes instead of ferris waists and bloomers and wooley underwear and wooley
dresses in winter that itched! To this day I detest wool clothing-I itch thinking
about it. It seemed that day would never come! The epitome arrived the first
Sunday she attended church after her wedding to Frank Julian of Winsted, CT.
She was, I thought, a vision of beauty! How I envied her! Frank and his 3
brothers had a great quartet and they would sing at our church suppers. They
were really good. Looking back now the years flew like lightening. For a while
when I was in high school they lived in East Hartford and I loved to go to their
house. It was a 'piece of home' so to speak, in a vast land of strangers. I would
ride up home with them sometimes when they went to visit her folks on a
weekend. Later, at Westfield, for convenience in getting to work, Dennis
boarded with Mr. and Mrs. Sheets, and Harriet and family lived upstairs in the
same house
So vou see that frienci.shin lasted all mv lifetime. one of the few
�that has, and looking back it seems like only yesterday that my mother and sister
would walk up to the Sheets for an afternoon visit or when I picked blueberries
for them in the summer at their farm, or the Harger place, or Chestnut Hill near
Hall Pond where we would go by horse or farm wagon with pickers, pails,
crates, lunches, etc. with Albert Sheets driving the whole shebang!
It brings back so many memories that I think I could write pages, but I
won't so don't get nervous! I am just thankful for the nice visit I had with an
old friend and I will keep the memories with myself for dark days when I really
need them. Meantime I hope Harriet, her family and I get in a few more. The
time grows short when we reach September, as the song goes and I think maybe
our time is more like November.
Leona A. Clifford
�June 1985
Long Ago Days
I still haven't gotten to the bottom of the heap as to the Blueberry
Patch, but until I do, we'll explore some more. A little building stood east of it
and on the same side of the road. It may have been an old house but when I
was little it was Mr. Gilbert Miller's "pig nursery" and fun to visit. To my
mind there wasn't any cuter baby animal than a piglet!
Just beyond it on the corner of Lover's Lane (according to old maps),
stood a school. It was voted to build it in 1807. In 1814 it was voted to "save
the remains of the late school" and a new one was voted to be built on Heziah
Robinson's southeast corner. He seems to have given the land for both. The
first may have partially burned for the new one was to have no fireplace!
Today, and for many years, this building has been the home of Minnie and
Leroy Clink. It appears an old blacksmith shop stood there for "old clinkers"
from a forge used to be quite commonly found there.
Across the road from there was, and still may be, a well. Whether a
house was there is unknown to me, but probably was. Below it, some
distance Earl Miller's father built the house were he and Olive live. It might
been an old home sight, too, but I don't know that either.
On the south of the highway across from them stood an ancient, very
large house, wood colored. It was at one time the home of Rev. Joel Baker,
West Granville's pastor from 1795 to 1833, and much revered. At his death it
was sold by his son Francis to the Sheppard Family and so on down to the
Treats and Bruneaus, in the same line. I have a poor picture of it at the east,
and wish I had taken a picture of its front before it was torn down. It was a
beautiful old house, somewhat on the style of the Merrill Brooks home on
South Lane. It had all the old features of paneling, fireplace etc.
Beyond it, down Ore Hill, (a West Granville old timer once told my
mother that a man named Ore lived on it, but I have never found any record
of him anywhere). It seemed to me that it was probably named that for
when there was any water in the ditches they were red with iron ore. There
seemed to be plenty of water in that old hill and in spring it turned to a bog.
Down at the foot a little brook runs under the road and in the old days a large
hop vine grew on the south side of the road on the west side of Said Brook. It
was the only one I ever saw and disappeared when, at some time, the road
was widened. I wonder? Do you suppose they made beer around there?
Up the small rise between the brook we arrive at the village. The
village and the first house there on the north side of the road is John Phelp's
house. It is a brick house and I have heard that the bricks were made from a
�small deposit of clay somewhere on the Hartland Hollow Rd. Strange, but
there are no more brick houses in West Granville. Hon. John Phelps was the
High Sheriff of the then Hampshire County and it is said that when he set out
for the county seats in Springfield or Northampton, he was quite a sight to see
with his fine clothes, powdered wig and his " retinue." He supposedly was a
friendly man who always spoke to everyone he met including the children.
Across the road, where Helen Benson lives now, a pretty old house was
trying to fall down when I was little. The doors and windows wore out and
the paint was just about off. Like all the kids we had the desire to go in and
look about but mother was forever telling us to keep out of it. It wasn't ours
and it was in very dangerous condition. William Reeves finally restored it and
it is one of my favorites in town. Francis and Ethel Reeves lived in it for a
while and, as they were good friends of Dennis and I, we spent many happy
times there 45 or so years ago. Way before my time Horatio and Mary (Reed)
Wheeler lived there for a while. He owned a factory in New York City and
made all sorts of blank books. I think for a time he dealt in dry goods, too.
When he retired they came to West Granville for May Wheeler was sister to
my great, great aunt Anna (Reed) Barlow who was living on the Nelson Farm
with
my grandparents.
They were the daughters of Israel Reed, master mason from Harvard,
Mass, and were born there. Israel Reed built the piers for the old Springfield
toll bridge and many other such jobs. He is said to have built the foundation
for one of the monuments on Lexington Green, to do with the Revolutionary
War.
I have yet old account books of Horatio Wheeler that were stored in the
attic at the farm. At one time at one business exposition in New York his
company won a prize for the excellence of their product. All four are buried
in the Silver Street Cemetery in Granville. I should have liked to have known
all of them. Well of course that was not to be. What I find out about my
ancestors I do the hard way. Reading reams of papers and books with the
likelihood that I shall never really know all the story of them---frustrating to
a " would be" ( especially amateur) genealogist!
In July we get to the old Church, Academy, Store and Hotel. I do not
claim to be an authority on any of them, but will write what I've found. I am
always interested in hearing any one else's opinion and welcome them. I
would consider it a favor.
Leona A. Clifford
�July 1985
Long Ago Days
The Village Green
Some time ago I wrote for the Country Caller a rather long piece about the
church in the middle (West Granville). It is the oldest church building in the
town, dating from 1 782, so I will not go into it again but will go on to the West
Granville Academy.
Mr. Wilson's history states that "it was about 1835 when a wave of
private Academies swept through New England" and it was about then that it
struck our town. Middle Granville had quite a few highly educated men from
those days, and being convinced that a knowledgeable higher education was
desirable, some of the more progressive residents set about getting it. They
decided to start a subscription, and if possible, raise funds for it in this way.
The list has survived!
$5
Elizur Robinson
Nathan Parsons
$50
$5
$50
Leander Harger
Rev. Henry Eddy
$5
$50
John Kent
m.H Squires
$9.50
r. Vincent Holcomb
$50
Jesse Rose
$10
Josiah Atkins
Samuel & Luman Parsons
$30
$5
Wetmore Baldwin
Dea. H. Robinson
$25
D. L. Munn
$3.67
$39.91
Seth Coe
$5
$10
E. G. Baker
Jabez Atkins
$5
Frederick Hodkins
$5
Joel D. Harger
$5
$2
. W. Shepard
Samuel Wilcos
$5
Lyman Shepard
$40
Edmund Munson
$5
$100
George W. Terrett
Noah Cooley
$15
$5
Nathan Atkins
r. Moss
$5
$25
J. R. & M. K. Bates
L Curtiss
$7
Levi Parsons
Ezra Baldwin
$10
$10
William A. Baldwin
Eoderick Spelman
$6
$5
Ethan Coe
Grand Total of
$674.63
Probably there were others who gave time and labor. In any case it was
rd
first used in 1837. In 1850 the Parish voted on April 3 to choose a board of
trustees to have supervision of the Academy School.
There is a very Fragmentary list of teachers that has been handed down
none of which is of much interest now, except for Russell Conwell, the famous
founder of Temple University and author of "Acres of Diamonds", who lectured
for it. As a child I met the man at his home in Worthington, Ma but mother
wouldn't let me shake his hand for we had just had a picnic and my hands were
covered with plum juice!
This old Academy survived until 1869 when George H. Atkins was the last
on to conduct it, modern high schools having become more common.
After some years of idleness it became a hall for the use of Ladies Aid
and of the church and a place where all town "doins" were conducted. In 1891
it was used to lay out the body of John Gallagher who had been killed by a
fallimz tree. The same eveninQ some sort of church services were also held
�there. I don't know if the deceased was among the congregation or stashed
away upstairs! (An account of this is in Leland Nelson's diary).
Many delicious suppers, and in my day many lively dances for which my
mother and dad provided the music, followed suppers. It seems now that most
of the good times of my youth occurred there. It too, like the church is now
only occasionally used. It was beautifully restored for the Bi-Centennial as
someone said " in true Williamsburg style" I really doubt, that its beginnings
could have held a candle to the real Williamsburg, VA.having visited their
buildings built in the very early days of our country. I can't somehow imagine
there being the kind of buildings that were built in tiny old West Granville!
However, it is gorgeous and we are lucky to have it and the church after so
many years.
To close, I quote from an advertisement in Ben Jones' scrapbook WEST
GRANVILLE ACADEMY. This institution will open its winter session Monday,
December 2, 1844 and will continue, as formerly, under the care of the
subscriber. Thorough instruction will be given in all branches pursued and in
effort will be spared for the intellectual and moral improvement of the pupils.
(Here follows a long list of the textbooks used in classes, including Cicero and
Virgil.)
There will be weekly exercises in Declamation and Composition. The
Tuition for the term of 11 weeks will be:
$3 .00 for the Common English Branches
$3. 50 for the Higher English Branches
$4.00 for French, Latin and Greek
Good board can be obtained within a short distance of the Academy for $1 &
$1. 50 per week, fuel, lights and etc. included.
H.S. Bartlett, Principal
There were 3 7 students, 16 males and 21 females. Most were local but
there was at least on from each Springfield, W. Springfield, Norwich CT,
Hartland, Stutesbury, Whately and Farmington that year. IT MUST HAVE
ENJOYED A GOOD REPUTATION!
Leona A. Clifford
�August
1985
Long Ago Days
In the early days when stores were finally opened to supply settlers
with what they could not raise or make, such as salt, tea and molasses, etc.
Also rum, indispensable for house and barnraisings, funerals, and ordinations,
to say nothing of warming the inner man's in the days of primitive heating.
Some women, too, as the records plainly show. I imagine the hotel, next east
of the store, was well patronized between the Sunday a.m. and p.m. services
in the old days. They were also the social centers of the town.
Supposedly Timothy Robinson owned a store east of Albert Sheets and
for years its location was well defined. It is said it resembled the present one
and may have been moved there but some records seem to have been
pointing to Daniel Gillett as the one builder of the one still owned and
operated by Helen Benton.
The late Lester Sattler said the very first one was in what is now called
Tolland on the Hartland Rd. in someone's house.
Possibly so, for it was some distance from village to village then and no
rapid means of conveyance.
]
Mother, some years ago, made a list of the owners of Benton's store. It
may not be absolutely correct. They were:
Samuel Wilcox, 1780-1802
Kent & Shepherd
Squires and Stowe
Rufus Smith
Daniel Gillett, 1804-1811
Crocker & Parker
Marshall & Hills
Joseph Welch, Sr.
Noah Cooley
Charles Winchester
Cooley & Curtiss
Helen Benton
In 1818 a Post Office opened up in this store with Reuben Hills as a
Postmaster. It has been 83 years since the town's settlement. News had
traveled mostly by word of mouth until then, I guess. It lasted until 1909
when the population had really dwindled and two other Post Offices had
opened on Granville Hill and in Granville Corners from whence mail came by
stage to West Granville and Tolland. The first driver I remember was Ed L.
Holcomb with his team of white mules! The postal boxes were sold to Wiggins
Tavern in Northampton and I saw them there, but do not know if they still
survive.
The early stores not only kept up a supply of necessities, but did much
bartering. They took the cheese, butter, eggs, chestnuts, veal, in fact,
whatever the farmers had a surplus of, and they received groceries or cash in
return, or in some instances, an item, such as an umbrella, or a merino shawl
�ordered by a wife. We got our groceries from J.M. Gibbons in Granville
Corners for many years. We sent a large order of eggs and the grocery list
one day by stage and received the groceries and the crate the next. We
walked to the corner to pick them up. There was no door-to-door service-simple and easy! !
The West Granville store had ceased to stay open all day when I
remember it as a child. You had to go to Mr. Welch's house, where George and
Rudy live now, and get him to open up. I imagine he got a little sick of
opening it for 5¢ worth of candy, but he always obliged. In earlier days, and
now, it was open all day and evening. My uncle's diary of 1891 tells of going
to the store in the evening mostly to visit with other customers and also to
get the mail, papers and latest gossip. He had recently married Jennie Gibbs
and they were living where David Day does with her parents, Joseph W. and
Anna Gibbs. In that year they finally went to East Hartford, CT where they
spent the rest of their lives.
One sees many pictures of an old country store with the cracker barrel
handy to the wood burning stove and to the checker game going full tilt, along
side. I don't know if this went on in our store, but I expect it did. Outside of
church services, which seem to have been held several nights a week at that
time , and visits to the neighborhood, the store was the only source of social
life.
It was somewhat different from the huge modern impersonal
supermarkets of today. They have everything one could wish for, are cheaper,
but for some time have been slowly bringing an end to the village stores and
neighborhood groceries. This is called progress. I call it rather a shame!
Leona A. Clifford
�
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"Long Ago Days" (PART 3 of 4) by Leona A. Clifford (1912-1990), Originally Published in The Granville Country Caller
Description
An account of the resource
When Leona Aldrich Clifford passed on in 1990, her Country Caller articles were compiled by Ralph Hiers and reprinted in book form. All these copies were sold to benefit the Granville Library Club.
In April of 2000, the Granville Historical Society invited Leona's granddaughter, Darcy Clifford Cooley to talk about her Grandmother at one of their series on the history of Granville.
The talk was so well received that the Society asked Teddi Daley's 6th and 7th grade media classes at the Granville Middle School to retype the articles for republication. Chris Teter, Joan Clendenin, and Tiffany Blakesley also assisted with the typing and the Granville Historical Society members assisted with the proofreading and publishing.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
Published 1980-1990 and 2000
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Granville Library Club, the Granville Historical Society, and the Clifford family. May not be reproduced without permission.
Country Caller
Granville
Leona Clifford
Long Ago Days
Massachusetts
West Granville