Long before people of European descent came to Ashfield, native Americans came here to hunt, fish, and gather food. This period has received little attention in the literature, and it is hoped that more about this period can be added later.
1654 Northampton
purchase. Puritans purchased the site for Northampton from the
Nonotuck Indians in 1654.
1656 Northampton riled by witch
hysteria.
1669 Deerfield settled. The first
settlers came to Deerfield from Dedham, Mass in 1669. It would
take another 76 years for Ashfield, a few miles away, to reach
the same stage of development.
1690 Captain Hunt's expedition. The first name
of Ashfield was Huntstown in honor of Captain Ephraim Hunt.
In 1690 Capt.. Ephraim Hunt, of Weymouth, led a military company
in an expedition against "the Canadas," in a contest
between the English and French, known as King William's war.
The company under Capt. Hunt was fitted out by the united colonies
of New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts "for the reduction
of Montreal and Quebec." They did not succeed. The success
of the expedition had been so confidently expected that no provision
had been made for paying the troops. Some forty-six years later,
the soldiers or their heirs were paid in the form of land in
what is now Ashfield.
1704 Surprise
attack on Deerfield. Indians executed a surprise attack on Deerfield
with help from Canadian allies and killed many citizens and
carried others off.
1736 Land granted. Massachusetts compensated
the soldiers of Capt. Hunt and their heirs with grants of land.
The grantees were expected to make rapid progress in settling
it, clearing land, and establishing schools and a church.
1738 Proprietors Meet in Weymouth. The grantees,
or "Proprietors" as they were called, first met in
Weymouth in 1738. In 1739 they met again and drew lots for the
rights to land.
1741 Proprietors decide on bounty. To promote
rapid settlement, which would enhance the value of their property,
the Proprietors agreed that a bounty of 5 pounds to each of
the first 10 who take possession of the land, build a house,
and bring under cultivation six acres of land.
1745 First permanent settlement. According to Shepard's
account, the first permanent settlement was 1741, but other
accounts said 1745. F. G. Howes accepted 1745 as the year of
permanent settlement based on the Ellis genealogy. In any case,
the settlers were making seasonal trips to build and clear before
they actually moved permanently. The first settler was Richard
Ellis, a native of Dublin, Ireland. The second settler was Thomas
Philips and his family from Easton. The third family was that
of Chileab Smith from South Hadley. Chileab Smith was a Baptist
and left his old home because of religious differences within
that community, just as his grandfather had migrated from Connecticut
before because of religious differences. Chileab's great-grandaughter
was Mary Lyon, founder of Mount Holyoke College.
In 1743 the first grist mill was built.
1751 Proprietors raise funds for
minister. The first minister was Rev. Dickinson, a Congregational
minister from Hadley. The meetings were first held at the dwelling
of Deacon Ebenezer Belding. In 1754 a sawmill was erected on
Bear River. By 1754 there were 10 to 15 families and nearly
100 people in the town. The Proprietors held a meeting in Huntstown
in 1754. (Previous meeting had been in Weymouth, Hadley, and
Hatfield.)
1753 Greenfield becomes a separate
entity. The town of Greenfield had formerly been a part of Deerfield,
but had reached a stage of development that warranted it becoming
a separate entity.
1755 Settlement abandoned. In 1754 there was
a new outbreak of hostilities between the English and the French.
In June of 1755, men near Rice's fort in Charlemont were attacked
by Indians. Two were killed, and two were captured. When the
news reached Huntstown, there was much alarm. The settlers decided
to flee to older settlements. While some remained away for two
or three years, others were back the next summer cautiously
going about their work. When they returned, a fort was built
around Chileab Smith's house for protection. In 1757 the authorities
of the colony provided a guard of nine soldiers to help protect
the settlers. Eventually a second fort was built.
1761 Baptist Church. The first regular church
was the Baptist one constituted in 1761, consisting of nine
members. This was one of the earliest Baptist groups in Western
Massachusetts. Rev. Ebenezer Smith, the eldest son of Chileab
Smith, was ordained its pastor. Elder Smith served in that capacity
until 1798. In 1768, seventeen members of the church, calling
themselves "Anabaptists," petitioned the General Court
to be exempted from from taxation to support the Congregational
ministry. After much perseverance, this plea was granted, and
religious tolerance in Ashfield had been extended to a second
religion.
1763 Congregational Church formed.
The Congregational church was founded with 15 members and Jacob
Sherwin was appointed its pastor. He served for 11 years until
he was dismissed over disagreements with church members.
General Court establishes Ashfield. The town of Ashfield was
incorporated under an act of the General Court in June of 1765.
Volume I of the History of Ashfield suggests that the name was
probably chosen by Governor Bernard in honor of his friend Lord
Thurlow of Ashfield, England.
1771 King George
III settles conflict between Ashfield's Baptists and Congregationalists.
A long feud between the two churches was finally settled by
the king himself. The two churches had battled over which church
could posess the church lands, and over whether the Baptists
needed to pay taxes to support the Congregational Church. The
king's ruling was a general one that said that individuals could
not be compelled to support a church if they were not a member.
1774 Ashfield Citizens petition against British
oppression. Sixty-five Ashfield citizens signed a petition protesting
British oppression in September, 1774. Tensions had been rising
in and around Boston, and the first Continental Congress had
commenced its session in Philadelphia. The petition began with
an article professing obedience to the King and "to all
his good and wholesome laws," but then went on to protest
oppressive and unconstitutional laws of the Parliament, pledged
to boycott trade with Great Britain, pledged to join with other
towns and colonies to defend rights, and to acquire arms and
ammunition.
April 19th, 1775 Battle at Lexington. British
soldiers under Major Pitcairn battled with with the Minutemen
at Lexington. In August, 1775, the Town of Ashfield voted to
send an agent to Albany to purchase at town expense some guns
and ammunition. The town history tells of many actions to support
the soldiers in the revolutionary army. It also shows that in
1777 several loyalists were identified and confined for their
beliefs against the American States.
1782 "Tremblers" warned
to leave. According to the town history, "during this year
the north part of this town was infested with a company of vagrant
religious fanatics called 'Tremblers.' Such extravagance and
disorder and indecency were exhibited by them in their intercourse
with the inhabitants, and especially in the acts of worship,
that the people living in the vicinity where they located themselves
became very seriously annoyed and presented them to the authorities
of the town as a public nuisance. Whereupon it was voted in
legal town meeting that 'the Selectmen be requested to warn
said straggling Tremblers now in town, and those that shall
come in hereafter, to depart in twenty-four hours or expect
trouble.'"
The group in question were followers of Mother Ann Lee, leader
of the Shakers. The visitors managed to stay a few more months.
Then they left for a while, but were persecuted, and returned
to Ashfield in the fall of 1782. They stayed, but suffered a
confrontation by a large crowd in March of 1783. In April of
1783 they left town.
1786 Taxpayers revolt. The long
and costly revolutionary war put strains on the economy, caused
inflation, and caused increases in taxes. Massachusetts raised
taxes, and it was believed by many that the taxes were unfairly
high for landholders, and too easy for those who did not hold
land. Tension was rising, and the farmers in the west felt that
they were paying too much relative to the merchants concentrated
in the east. In 1789 the Town of Ashfield openly supported the
insurgents in Shay's Rebellion in which 500 farmers marched
on the Hampshire County Courthouse.
1787 Bounty of $4 placed on each
wolf killed in town.
1790's Holyoke Canal. A pioneering canal
around the Holyoke/Hadley Falls was constructed, eliminating
a major obstacle to shipping.
1811 Hampshire
County divided. Franklin County was created when Hampshire County
was divided into two parts. In the census of 1810, the population
of Ashfield was 1809, the peak population that would decline
to 959 over the 100 years that followed.
1812 Samuel Ranney begins growing
peppermint and distilling peppermint essence. This business
proved very profitable, and by 1821 there were five distilleries,
and by 1830 there were ten. Other essences distilled included
tansy, spearmint, hemlock, spruce, and wintergreen. In 1830
the Bement store began equipping peddlers with essences and
other items. Many of the families in this industry eventually
relocated to New York, where the growing conditions were better.
1814 Second Baptist society established.
A second Baptist society was formed and a meetinghouse was built
"on what is called the Flat, about one mile east of the
Congregational Church."
1814 First postal service. The first
postal service in Ashfield was set up in Levi Cook's saddler
shop. Before this, the citizens of Ashfield had mail service
in Northampton or Worthington, with notices in the Northampton
Gazette announcing arrival of letters for citizens of Ashfield.
Mail at this time was weekly.
1820 Episcopal society formed. In
1829 they built a church, St. John's.
1824 Stage and daily mail reach
Ashfield. A four-horse stage began daily service as part of
the Boston to Albany route. The route went from Greenfield,
to Conway, then Ashfield, Spruce Corner, Plainfield, Hawley,
and Adams.
1834 Dr. Shepard's History. The
first account of Ashfield's history, covering the first 90 years,
was published in 1834 by Rev. Thomas Shepard. This is incorporated
in Volume I of the History of Ashfield by Frederick G. Howes.
1835 Canal links Northampton to
New Haven. Canals were allowing easy transportation of trade
goods as they were developed in different parts of the region.
The Erie Canal was a particularly important part of the canal
system, but only lasted ten years before the railroad system
made it obsolete.
1835 Northampton Silk Company Founded.
Samuel Whitmarsh founded a silk company, built a factory, and
planted mulberry trees to feed the silkworms. Northampton was
caught up in the silk boom. The silk industry remained an important
business in Northampton for a century.
1840's Railroad reaches Northampton,
Mass. The railroad system rapidly affected patterns of settlement
and trade.
1845 Northampton Canal closes. Competition
from the rail system made the canal uneconomical.
1846 Connecticut railroad reaches
South Deerfield.
1867 Rail service reaches Shelburne
Falls
1879 Charles Eliot Norton convenes
first Ashfield Dinner. Sanderson Academy had ceased functioning
as a school, and was in a state of disrepair. Two summer residents,
Charles Eliot Norton (prominent author and educator), and George
William Curtis (author and political editor of Harper's Weekly)
decided to use a money-raising dinner liberally spiced with
speeches to raise funds to reopen Sanderson. The dinners became
annual events for 25 years, and received press coverage far
and wide. Many of the great orators of the day made appearances
in Ashfield. (Mark Twain declined an invitation to speak, replying
that "A few years ago I was growing old and rheumatic.
But all that is changed now. I am old and rheumatic.")
1903 Last Ashfield dinner held. The last Ashfield Dinner was a relatively peaceful one after the controversies of the years that preceded. Norton himself gave a closing address, in which he thanked his neighbors and friends "for all that you have been to me and have done for me." Norton died in 1908. A plaque honoring Norton was placed in the town hall where it can be seen today.