Tag Archives: Lenox History

Stockbridge Indian Mission

March 9, 2015 lenoxhistory

The Stockbridge Indian lands included part of what would become Lenox. Why the Stockbridge Indians were here and why they sold their land is an important part of the story of the settlement of the Berkshires. The story is complex and poignant. Blog readers are particularly encouraged, on this topic, to follow up with the many fine books and other sources listed below.

Very briefly

The Mahicans*, in 1734, found themselves in a difficult situation. Part of the Algonquin linguistic group of Native Americans that extended southward from Canada, the Mahicans had formerly occupied both sides of the Hudson River and their ancestors probably had been among those who watched with amazement in 1609 as Henry Hudson sailed by. They had survived on a combination of limited agriculture and woodland hunting (see Life Berkshire Before Europeans.) By now they had been decimated by disease and changes wrought by the Europeans to their homeland. They were hemmed in by their Mohawk enemies to the west and explosive European expansion to the east. (Various spellings of the tribe’s name have been found — Mohican, Mahican, etc.)

Mahican Etow Oh Koam, known as Nicholas (18th century depiction from New York Public Library Collections) — Mahican Chief Etow Oh Koam, known as Nicholas (18th century depiction from New York Public Library Collections)

Although sentiment about Indians, even the Mahicans who had been allies of the English for several generations, was mixed, there was a group of religious leaders who felt obliged to honor what had been part of the original Puritan mission (to bring Christianity to the Native Americans). In addition, it was in the political interest of the English Colonial government to cement Indian allies in their continuing wars with the French and their Indian allies
Much of modern day Sheffield and Great Barrington had already been sold, by the Mahicans, for colonial settlement
Consequently, the royal government of Massachusetts and a missionary group agreed to purchase a tract of (est.) 9000 acres north of modern day Great Barrington to establish a mission for the Mahicans and other Native American allies. The agreement was that the Mission would include establishment of minister to teach the gospel to the Indians, a school, and settlement of four English families to lead the Mohicans in learning the ways of Christianity and English life.
The minister (John Sergeant) who agreed to launch this effort did establish a mission in 1738 and made every effort to live up to the high ideals set for the mission.

However, despite the high ideals, this agreement with Native Americans, like so many before and after, would be overwhelmed by the Europeans’ lust for land and their sense of entitlement.
The Mohicans farmed (although the men still thought of it as women’s work), converted to Christianity, went to school, and fought (and died) side by side with their English (and later American) allies. However, the also found themselves with less land or less desirable land than had originally been envisioned (because, among other things more than the four families settled).
With no source, other than the sale of their land, for exchange for rum (illegal but sold anyway) and trade goods, they sold to the colonials. The land for goods/land for currency exchanges that resulted may have allowed the colonials to feel justified in what they were doing but were, in hindsight, one sided and unfair.
An example of this one sided trading is highly relevant to the history of Lenox. In 1739, the Indians wanted some 280 acres of meadowland recently sold for 450 pounds. To obtain the meadowlands, the Indians gave up 4,000 acres to the northeast – most of present-day Lenox. The new owners of this extensive woodland included the proprietors of the mission and were: Stephen Williams, Samuel Hopkins, Neimiah Bull, John Sergeant, , Timothy Woodbridge, Ephraim Williams, and John Stoddard’s nephew Jonathan Edwards. Ephraim Williams acquired 900 acres plus a 130 acre pond, Bull 700 acres, and the remainder approximately 480 acres each. (Some pretty sharp Yankee dealing for a bunch of missionaries.)
Eventually, the Stockbridge Indians found themselves with more and more mouths to feed on less and less land. In 1780, many accepted the invitation of their Oneida cousins to resettle in upstate New York and stayed their long enough for their tales to influence James Fenimore Cooper to write The Last of the Mohicans. The modern day Stockbridge Indians are to be found in Wisconsin where they remain one of only a few tribes that have retained their pre-colonial identity.

See:

To Live Upon Hope, Mohicans and Missionaries in the Eighteenth Century Northeast by Rachel Wheeler

The Mohican World, 1680-1750 by Shirley W. Dunn

Lenox Massachusetts, Shiretown by David Wood

Places

Settlement of Berkshire County Begins With Sheffield

March 7, 2015 lenoxhistory

Settlement of Berkshire County Begins with Sheffield

As early as 1662, John Pynchon, son of the founder of Springfield, attempted to establish a trading post on the Housatonic between what would become Sheffield and Ashley Falls. The area was too wild to sustain the post but it does indicate the area was known to the English settlers of the Connecticut River Valley.

What an Early Woodland Path Might Have Looked Like

In 1725, with authorization from the Massachusetts General Assembly a committee bought from Sachem Konkapot the southwestern corner of what would become Berkshire County. The tract was about 12 miles wide and 18 miles long and included much of modern-day Sheffield, Great Barrington Egremont and Mount Washington as well as parts of what would become Alford, Stockbridge, West Stockbridge and Lee.

Purchased from Chief Konkapot

Originally called Outhotonnook (later corrupted as Housatonic), meaning “over the mountain”, the land was purchased by a committee approved by the General Court on April 25, 1724, from Chief Konkapot and 20 other Mahican Indians. Its price was 460 pounds, 3 barrels of cider and 30 quarts of rum. The committee was to manage apportionment of land and supervise settlement (see New England Town Formation).

First Settler Mathew Noble from Westfield

The lower township of Housatonic (as Outhotonnook would be corrupted) was first settled by Matthew Noble of Westfield, who arrived in 1725. Many of the earliest English settlers came from Westfield. These would, like many other early settlers of the Berkshires, have been ambitious, hearty frontier people whose parents or grandparents would have been initial settlers of the Connecticut River Valley or lower Housatonic Valley. The New World economy was still driven by land and rapid population growth meant buying low and selling high was the entrepreneurship of the day. It would have been hard work. Mathew Noble spent the first winter, entirely alone except for a few Mahicans, clearing and putting up rudimentary shelter. His 16 year old daughter (one of nine Noble children) would follow in June wending her way through the dense woods riding on horseback with her mattress.

Importance for Lenox History

Sheffield was not only the first settlement but one to which Lenox had many direct ties. Theodore Sedgwick first practiced here and defended the famous Mumbet who was owned by Sheffield resident Colonel Ashley. The final “battle” of Shay’s rebellion was fought here.

The family names of the initial Sheffield settlers would find their way into Lenox and the rest of the Berkshires….including Ingersoll, Dewey, Judd, and Egleston.

Beginnings of Berkshire County Late in Colonial Period

What would become Berkshire County (1761) was settled relatively late in the colonial period because:

–the 85 years of wars with New France and their Indians allies discouraged settlement in wilderness areas

-there were border disputes between the Dutch and the English; and later, the royal provinces of New York and Massachusetts

Sheffield Landscape DSCN9314 — Sheffield, at least according to its historians, had some of the most farmable land in the county

-better farmland was, at least until the 18th century, elsewhere (Connecticut and Hudson River Valleys)

-hills, thick woods and, other than a few Indians trails(one roughly along modern route 23) and the Housatonic River, the area was impenetrable.

At the time of the earliest European settlement in the Berkshires, the hilly and heavily wooded area was sparsely populated by Native Americans – primarily Mahicans.

The earliest known European inhabitants of the Berkshires probably would have been Dutch. In the 1680’s Dutchmen from New York started buying up parcels from the Indians, consolidated by the colony of New York into the patent of Westenhook granted to a syndicate of New York investors. The patent included much of modern day Litchfield and Berkshire County. The New York colony made the grant based on the prior claim of New Netherland to all land west of the Connecticut River. However, there is no evidence to suggest that there were more than a handful who actually settled in Berkshire County.

Be sure to check out the Sheffield Historical Society which has research materials, exhibits and many interesting events.

Also see josfamily history website, (Sheffield Frontiertown, Lillian Priess, 1976 Sheffield Bicentennial Committee), The Housatonic, Puritan River, by Chard Powers Smith, Rinehart and Company, 1946, Early Life in Sheffield Berkshire County, Massachusetts, A Portrait of its Ordinary People from Settlement to 1860, James R. Miller, Sheffield Historical Society 2002

The Big Picture

Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713) Brings European Conflict Closer to Home;

February 26, 2015 lenoxhistory Leave a comment

Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713)

In Europe, this conflict was known as the “War of the Spanish Succession,” and was, as the name suggests a balance of power struggle between England (and others) vs. France and Spain. The North American theatre of operations had expanded with both French and Spanish territories involved vs. the English. In the northeast, it took the form of continued raids and counterattacks.

Areas of Potential Dispute at the Time of Queen Anne’s War

Northeastern United States in the Early 18th Century

The borders between New France and the northeastern English colonies were not well defined, were thinly settled and formed the main location of conflict.

The English and French had very different approaches to colonization. New France was initially populated by single men under the direct control of the King and was focused on the fur trade and converting the Indians. Soldiers and roving fur traders still formed a high % of the population. The smaller French population was very thinly spread – mostly along the St. Lawrence.

Although less organized than the more militarized French, the English colonial population had grown remarkably and was about 250,000 by the beginning of the 18th century. They lived towns in New England and larger plantations in New York and the South. One consequence was that the New England colonies presented more “soft targets.”

The French and the English each had Indian alliances and used the Indians as mercenaries. Although the raids were fairly isolated they spread the kind of fear terrorists do today. Between the fierceness of these mercenaries, the competition for the northeastern fur trade, and the growing population imbalance, the French and English colonies were beginning, with Queen Anne’s War, to seek opportunities to permanently control the continent.

Deerfield Destroyed

Settlers Huddled Here During the 1704 Raid on Deerfield

The most famous New England event in this war was the February 29, 1704 raid on Deerfield.

Called the Deerfield Massacre, the raid was typical of all of the 18th century raids on New England in that it was led by a French officer, Jean Baptiste Hertel de Rouville, but primarily carried out by up to 300 Indians from a variety of nearby tribes. (some of whom had formerly occupied the land purchased -at a very low price- by the English. These enemies would raid and then disperse.

Nonetheless, the fear was warranted. Despite a timely warning that allowed many of the town’s residents to gather in a fortified home, 40% of the village houses were destroyed, 56 villagers were killed and 109 were taken captive. The captives were forced to trek (in February) to an Indian camp outside of modern-day Montreal.

This was the second time Deerfield had been raided – see “King Phillip’s War.”As you might imagine, word of this the horror of this horrendous experience spread far and wide and mightily discouraged settlement in areas that would be difficult to defend.

From Florida to Hudson’s Bay

Since the Spanish were also involved in this war and English colonists from Carolina attacked Florida. They did not succeed in capturing the Spanish territory, but did manage to destroy most of the Indian population and wipe out the Spanish mission system in Florida.

The English colonies of New England fought with French and Indian forces based in Acadia and Canada. Quebec City was repeatedly targeted (but never successfully reached) by British expeditions, and the Acadian capital Port Royal was taken in 1710.

The French and Wabanaki Confederacy sought to thwart New England expansion into Acadia, whose border New France defined as the Kennebec River in southern Maine.

On Newfoundland, English colonists based at St. John’s disputed control of the island with the French based at Plaisance. Most of the conflict consisted of economically destructive raids against the other side’s settlements. The French successfully captured St. John’s in 1709, but the British quickly reoccupied it after the French abandoned it.

Following a preliminary peace in 1712, the Treaty of Utrecht ended the war in 1713. It resulted in the French cession of claims to the territories of Hudson Bay, Acadia, and Newfoundland to Britain, while retaining Cape Breton and other islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Some of its terms were ambiguous, and concerns of various Indian tribes were not included in the treaty, setting the stage for future conflicts

What Did This Mean for Those Who Would Eventually Settle Lenox?

The burden of this war fell primarily on New England so it is possible some of our town founders’ grandfathers would have been involved in the numerous attempts to take Quebec or in capturing Acadia.

Massachusetts broke the bank on the costs of this war (and it wasn’t the last time). Soldiers and suppliers were paid in paper money that had little value. This may have hampered the families trying to finance expansion to new towns in Massachusetts. Nonetheless between the British troops that eventually participated and the outfitting of war vessels, the overall impact on the merchant economy was probably positive.

The most important impact was the fear of raids that continued to shape the pattern of settlement. Although our town founders’ grandparents probably would have moved on from the coast by this time, they would have been inclined to stay close to existing towns and avoid northern or western Massachusetts. Hence, most of our town founders came from settlements along the southern Connecticut River.

See Wikipedia, A Few Acres of Snow by Robert Leckie and The First Frontier by Scott Weidensaul

The Big Picture

King William’s War (1688-1697)-Background for Future Conflicts That Would Effect the Berkshires

February 18, 2015 lenoxhistory

First of Four Wars Impacting Western New England

King William’s War was the first of four wars in which the French colonials (in Canada and elsewhere) and the British colonials (in New England and elsewhere) had several elements that would repeat in later years with substantial impact on western Massachusetts:

-The colonies were incidental to a European conflict having to do with royal succession and balance of power (but by the 1750’s the colonies would be a much more important part of the conflict)

-Native Americans (by now largely dependent on trade for European goods) would be sought as allies

-Each conflict served to escalate resentments on both sides and provide tinder for future conflagration.

King William’s War in New England, New York and Canada

Continue reading King William’s War (1688-1697)-Background for Future Conflicts That Would Effect the Berkshires →

The Big Picture

What Were the French and Indian Wars and Why Do We Care

February 15, 2015 lenoxhistory Leave a comment

Four Almost Continuous Wars in the 18th Century

The Four Wars Fought in 17th and 18th Century North America Concerned, Among Other Things, Who Would Control the Northern United States

All four of the French and Indian Wars were fought before the settlement of Lenox.

However they are part of the Lenox story since the wars:

-continued the fear of Indian/ Canadian raids that delayed settlement of remote areas such as the Berkshires

-by the end of the four wars the practice of using Indians as allies to be played against each other and the enemy largely ceased

-demonstrated the importance of the colonies in international trade and prestige

-involved substantial resources and manpower in New England (the families of early Lenox settlers and the Stockbridge Indians may have participated in fighting in northern New York, Nova Scotia, and the Great Lakes)

-cost Great Britain a great deal which resulted in new taxes and duties that contributed to the 1775 Revolution of the British Colonies

-although key territories (in treaties) and fortified holdings (Fort Duquense – modern day Pittsburgh, Detroit, Fort Ticonderoga), changed hands (several times), the 85 year period ended with a major power shift to the British in North America now including most of the territory south of the Great Lakes and East of the Mississippi

All four involved a European dynastic/balance of power war. The fourth (the one people may be thinking of when they say “French and Indian War”) was the one that was the most driven by Colonial issues and received the most support from the respective mother countries. In the earlier wars, the Colonials were largely on their own and an after thought to the European theatre (hence the reference below to “Intercolonial” wars. and the size of the color bars below.

Years of War	North American War	European War	Treaty
1688–1697	King William’s War 1st Intercolonial War (in Quebec)	War of the Grand AllianceWar of the League of Augsburg Nine Years’ War	Treaty of Ryswick (1697)
1702–1713	Queen Anne’s War  2nd Intercolonial War	War of the Spanish Succession	Treaty of Utrecht (1713)
1744–1748	King George’s War  3rd Intercolonial War  War of Jenkins’ Ear	War of the Austrian Succession	Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
1754–1763	The French and Indian War 4th Intercolonial War  4th Indian War[1]	Seven Years’ War	Treaty of Paris (1763)

See

The First Frontier, The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery and Endurance in Early America, by Scott Weidensaul, Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, 2012

American History, 1690 – 1740, Provincial America, Evarts, Boatel, Greene, 1905

The French and Indian War, by Walter Bornean, Harper Collins eBooks, 2006

The French and Indian Wars, Wikipedia

The Big Picture

Massachusetts Government – From Theocracy to Royal Colony

February 8, 2015 lenoxhistory Leave a comment

Theocracy

By the time Lenox was founded, Massachusetts had become a secular British colony. But it is worth reviewing the evolution from theocracy to colony since many elements of the distinctly religious orientation of early Massachusetts government lingered until 1824 religious tolerance acts and the 1832 Constitution.

Starting with the 1620 Plymouth covenant, religion colored Massachusetts law.

Settlements Based on Church — Town Development Based Partly on Worship

One of the reasons New England towns were small was so families could walk to required church services. As was the case in Lenox, the meeting house was part of initial town development and was used for both religious and civic meetings. As of 1647, towns were also required to teach reading and arithmetic (so all could read the Bible) Local revenues supported the one (Puritan/Congregational) Church and Church membership was a requirement for voting. The Puritans not only excluded the Church of England but persecuted Quakers, Anabaptists – and Catholics – fagetetaboutit.

In the early part of the 17^th century Massachusetts was left pretty much on its own. Colonists had emigrated 1620-1640 to flee persecution from Charles I

and the English attitude was pretty much good riddance. The colonists fought the Pequot War in the 1630’s with no help, so, it must have been a shock when the mother country suddenly began making itself felt economically with the Navigation Acts of the 1660’s which restricted trade to England and English vessels. King Phillip’s War (another Native American War in the 1670’s) was also fought with little help from England and it devastated Massachusetts. In a pattern that would be repeated later, England was looking for revenue at just the time when Boston merchants had the least to give.

Secularism and the Salem Witch Trials

The colonists refused to enforce these new laws and the Massachusetts Charter was revoked in 1684. Neither Charles II or his brother James II had any great love for the Puritans who had beheaded their father. So it’s not surprising that new charters kept the hammer down economically but also began the walk back from government sanctioned Puritan religious intolerance.

edmund_andros_prisoner_boston — Massachusetts Revolted Against Sir Edmond Andros

With the New Englander’s refusal to enforce the Navigation Acts, James moved on to a new charter that further restricted local government. The 1686 Dominion of New England merged the British territories from Delaware Bay to Penobscot Bay under a royal governor –Sir Edmund Andros who was especially hated in Massachusetts. He enforced the unpopular Navigation Acts, vacated land titles, restricted town meetings, and appropriated a Puritan meeting house for Church of England services. A Boston revolt deposed Andros in 1689 and the Dominion was voided.

Increase Mather (son of Richard, father of Cotton) and others traveled to London to petition the new rulers, William and Mary, to restore the old charter. But fearing religious rule, William refused. Instead , management was turned over to the Lords of Trade, religious tolerance was required and royal governors were appointed rather than elected.

Salem Witch Trials Contributed to the End of Puritan Rule

It is speculated that the end of Puritan rule truly ended with the Salem witch trials in 1692. To the Lords of Trade it looked like the worst possible outcome from a theocracy.

Places

Snow on Church St. – Then and Now

February 4, 2015 lenoxhistory

Now gone – structure on southwest corner of Housatonic and Church and on northeast corner.

Church St. Looking North - Maybe 1900? — Church St. Looking North – About 1900?

What’s the same?

Former Episcopal Church on the left (27 Church)
Edge of former Methodist Church (now Shear Design) next door – 25 Church)

Three residences across the street(although much altered today)

Out of frame but still standing

William Walker House – 1835 (21 Church)
John Whitlock House – 1771 (16 Church)
Michael Mahanna House – 1888 (50 Church St.)
Mahana House – 1875 (56 Church St.)

The Big Picture

What Was the Great Migration and Why Do We Care?

January 25, 2015 lenoxhistory Leave a comment

Between about 1630 and 1640, as many as 20,000 men, women and children left England for New England. Most if not all of the settlers of Lenox can trace their roots to this hearty group of emigrants.

The Beginning and Then the End of Puritan Persecution in England

Who were these emigrants and why did they come? John Winthrop organized a fleet of ships to transport the emigrants, but it was a reflection of individual households making similar decisions – not an organized group. The emigrants included indentured servants and household servants but the decision makers were primarily farmers and merchants who could generate enough capital, generally by selling their holdings in England, to pay for passage and enough supplies for the passage and a year in the new land. Also carpenters (Joiners), tanners and other skilled trades were in great demand and could sometimes get their passage paid.

Three quarters of the emigrants to New England were not members of the Puritan church but the Puritan beliefs characterized the group. The time of the migration coincides with the height of the persecution of the Puritans under Charles I and ends with the outbreak of the Civil War that ended the reign and the life of Charles I. The beginning of the exodus coincides with the dissolution of Parliament in 1629. Although the ostensible purpose for the emigration was to escape religious persecution, it was undoubtedly also a hope for better economic opportunities. In England population growth had exploded without any great increase in agricultural productivity and the primary industry, wool, had been seriously hindered by the 30 years war in Europe. In addition, Charles I was warring with Scotland (and looking for the money to pay for it) at the same time he (and his Catholic wife) were warring with the Presbyterians of Scotland and the Puritans of England.

Unique Characteristics

Many came from East Anglia and other parts of southeastern England (thought by some to be the source of the distinctive New England dropped “r”) and the majority were from market towns – often involved in textile trade and in local government. The farmers among them were generally landowners (hence the ability to sell for the cash needed for passage and supplies). Almost all were families with most of the single adults being servants. They were unique among emigrants to the New World in:

being almost universally literate (importance place on being able to read Scripture)
moving as families – an often with kinship groups (in-laws, cousins, etc.)
a range of ages (generally heads of household ranging from young to late middle age plus children)
experienced in self-government and business
having cashed in all or most of what they had on the bet that opportunity would be better in the new land
homogeneous in religious believes and background.

And, like most other emigrants of the era, self selected to be healthy enough to survive the arduous voyage and difficult first several years. Also, like other emigrant groups of the era, there was a great premium on creating your own labor force combined with cleaner water and less crowded living conditions. The result was remarkably large families. For all of these family members to find adequate farm average they had to further migrate north and west – often to the Connecticut or later Housatonic River Valleys. Hence, many descendants spread over the early Massachusetts settlements, some of whom would find their way to Lenox.

Just to illustrate a couple of Lenox settlers with ties to this “Great Migration” (data from Ancestry.com public family trees):

Lenox Descendents

Jonathan Hinsdale (first known settler of Lenox) – was born in Hartford, apparently the great grandson of Robert Hinsdale, born 1617 in Dedham, Essex, England and who died in 1675 at Bloody Brook (near Deerfield) – part of the hostilities of King Phillip’s war. Jonathan apparently came from a long-line of risk takers..from England to an unsettled area (Deerfield) and to an unsettled area again (Lenox).

Israel Dewey (an important member of the initial purchasers of Lenox open land in 1762) was the great-great grandson of Thomas Dewey born 1606 in Sandwich, Kent, England. Thomas Dewey apparently moved at least once after landing as he died in 1748 in Windsor, CT. The various locations of his parents, grandparents, etc. suggests Israel came from a long line of real estate entrepreneurs – his grandfather, Thomas Dewey, was among the original settlers of the Berkshires coming from Westfield to Sheffield. And, indeed, Israel him self would die, not in Lenox, but in Vermont in a another new community he had participated in launching.

And, of course, Grenville Winthrop, an important part time resident who lived at the current BUTA campus on West Street was a ninth generation descendent of John Winthrop.

See:

New England’s Greatest Generation, The Great Migration and The Formation of Society and Culture in the Seventeenth Century, by Virginia DeJohn Anderson, Cambridge University Press, 1991

Ancestry.com – public member family trees

Daily Life in Colonial New England, by Claudia Durst Johnson, Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series, 2002

Places

Groton Place – 45 West. St., Completed 1905

September 27, 2014 lenoxhistory Leave a comment

wintrop house groton place CF46568831_120278530120 — Groton Place – 1905 – Became the Summer Home of Grenville Lindall Withrop and His Two Daughters

Grenville LIndall Winthrop built Groton Place in 1905 as a summer home. It encompassed the stone villa on this site from 1858 (The Elms). The new Carrera & Hastings designed building replaced the old with a classical, symmetrical order preferred by Winthrop. He had all Victorian features removed.

The formality of the design is an interesting contrast to the Carrere & Hastings designed Bellefontaine (now Canyon Ranch on Kemble Street). The Groton Place building is not only more formal but is set in a more recessive landscape. The building and landscape seem uniquely appropriate for the somewhat reclusive, 9th generation Winthrop owner.

Winthrop was highly involved in the design of the grounds. At his direction, a landscape was created that was very sculptural with massed shrubs, ornamental ponds, decorative out buildings and highly tailored hedges…..no flowers.

Grenville northrop CF46568831_132896543291 — Groton Place Library-Everet Hale Lincoln Photograph Collection Lenox Library

Winthrop House MNY240574 — Double House at 15 E. 81st St. Winthrop Purchased to Accommodate His Collection (Museum City of New York)

Reportedly, Winthrop’s favorite room was the wood- paneled library.The house was full of clocks and artworks. (1)

Winthrop was a discerning and extensive collector who, in addition to his Lenox summer home, moved, in the 1920’s, to a double house at 15 East 81st St. in New York to accommodate his collection.

In addition to the 150 acres he owned for his summer house, he bought large tracts near Bald Head Mountain to protect his views. He was said to employ 40 men to mow the lawns and to keep 500 peacocks and pheasants that roamed the property (2).

After Winthrop’s death in 1943, Groton Place was purchased by the Bondy’s to be the home of the Windsor Mountain School. Currently, the property is owned by Boston University and used as a summer music school and also for Berkshire Country Day classes.

Boston_University_Tanglewood_Institute_-_Grafton_Place,_Lenox,_MA,_USA — Groton Place Today

1. Houses of the Berkshires 1870-1930, by Richard S. Jackson Jr., and Cornelia Brooke Gilder, Acanthus Press, 2006, pps. 230-233

2. Harvard Magazine, “Unveiled – For the First Time, a Recluse’s Treasures Go Traveling,” by Christopher Reed, March-April 2003

People, Places

Church on the Hill Burying Ground

September 14, 2014 lenoxhistory 2 Comments

169 Main St., Church on the Hill - 1805 — 169 Main St., Church on the Hill – 1805, Site of Church on the Hill Burying Ground

Church on the Hill Burying Ground

Lenox received three acres for a burying ground in 1770 and the first burial took place the following year. The Church on the Hill Cemetery (at the intersection of Main and Greenwood Streets, adjoining the Church on the Hill), is a typical Colonial burying ground–close to the meetinghouse with single graves in rows. According to several recorders of early history, children played in the graveyard area during breaks in the long, long services and sheep grazed to keep the grass down.

Traditionally, in colonial burials, the deceased were buried with their feet to the east so that as the day of judgement dawned they could sit up and face the rising sun. The earliest gravestones show evidence of the Puritan reminders that life was brief and grim with skulls or crossed bones. As time went on, gravestone imagery shifted more toward mourning and loss with weeping willows, cherubs or vases of flowers.

Continue reading Church on the Hill Burying Ground →