Holyoke High School - Annual Yearbook (Holyoke, MA)

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Although the settlers now owned both sides of the river, they remained at the new settle- ment on the east bank. The fact that the west bank was victim to heavy spring floods dis- couraged its settlement. Also the Agaams had one of the area's largest Indian camps on the west side. The settlers, still attempting to es- tablish themselves, could not afford any strained relations with them. In 1637 the Pequot War was fought throughout the set- tlements of New England. It was started by Indians who feared the increasing settlement of the whites. The unmistakable menace of the Pequots forced Pynchon to cooperate against them. Safety required that the settlers live near each other, and prevented locating on the'west bank of the river. Nonetheless, the neighboring Indians taught the English many of their customs and were instrumental in the rapid settlement of the area. It was difficult to develop individual farmsteads in outlying districts because many tribes of Indians overran the area, and the set- flers had to contend with unfriendly Indians as well as the neighboring, friendly Indians. Through peaceful bargaining the settlers and the Indians developed close relations. The Indians sold beaver and other furs to Pynchon and in return purchased from him such goods as Pynchon kept in store to suit their needs: '4He, Pynchon, had been so prudent as to ac- quire, from sources unknown, bushels of loose wampum shells Cfrom which beads are madelf' At the time Pynchon had the exclu- sive privilege of trading with the Indians. His fur trade represented the only commercial in- tercourse between Springfield, Boston, and London. A few years after Springfield was settled, two scouting parties were dispatched to explore the region to the north. Elizur Holyoke, one of the early settlers of Springfield and Pyn- chon's son-in-law, commanded one party along the east bank of the Connecticut River while Rowland Thomas led the party along the west bank. ,Eventually both parties ar- rived at a place later known as Rock Ferry where they were able to converse across the river. The explorers christened the mountains on the east side of the river 'LHolyoke and those on the west Thomas.,, In 1650 the boundaries of Springfield em- braced nearly all the territory lying within the towns of Springfield, West Springfield, Wil- 9

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were to follow. These men erected a crude structure on the west side of the Connecticut River in a meadow which, because of their action there, was subsequently called Nhouse meadow. However, when Pynchon came with his family to settle, the site was aban- doned for another on the opposite side of the river. One reason for the change was that the west bank of the river, and particularly the meadow, was subject to overflow of the river. The reason given by Pynchon to Governor Winthrop for the abandonment of the site was the following: I am now preparing to goe to the bay and have settled upon a planta- tion at Agawamg and cannot fhere the letter is tornb . . . for the best ground at Agawam is so incombred with Indians what I shall loose half the benefit yearly, and am compel- led to plant on the opposite side to avoid trespassing thereon. Agawam .was the name given the west bank of the river. Pynchon and his family, and other settlers from Roxbury and their families, located themselves on the east bank of the river at the site of present-day Springfield. On July, 1636, two of the ancient Indians of Agaam, or Agawam, for themselves and other Indians who claimed ownership of the lands, deeded a large tract of land on both sides of the river to William Pynchon, Henry Smith, and .Iehu Burr, and their associates. The land included most of the city of Spring- field. The deed stated: It is agreed between the Com- mucke and the Matauchan Ancient Indians of Agaam for and in the name of all other Indians . . . to and with William Pynchon, Henry Smith, and .Iehu Burr, their heirs and associates, to trucke and sell that ground and meadows or lands on the East side of the Quinnecticut River called Usquaiok fthe end of the landD and Nayasset Cwhere there is a corner reaching about four or five miles in length from the north end of Massakauke, the great meadow, up to the Chickuppe Riverb. For this deed Pynchon and his associates paid a consideration which was satisfactory to the Indians.

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braham, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Westfield, Southwick, Holyoke, Northampton, Suffield, Enfield, and Somers. However, the only re- gions settled were those on the east bank of the river. Until 1675, the people had friendly and frequent trade with the Indians. When Philip of Poconoket, a Wampanoag chief better known as King Philip, organized a confedera- tion against the white man because of unfair trading, the settlers were engaged in King Philip's War. It endured from 1675 to 1676. During the war Springfield was burned and Elizur Holyoke was killed while commanding troops. Despite several bloody massacres the settlers prevailed. After the defeat of the In- dians, more houses were established on the west bank of the river. In 1684, .lohn Riley, an Irish settler who now dared to locate on the west bank of the river, purchased sixteen acres of land north of what is, now the southern boundary line of Holyoke. The brook defining this lot is called Riley Brook. Though there is no record of his having stayed on the land until 1725, Riley was the first permanent settler in the region I0 which became Holyoke. In 1696 the General Court of Massachusetts partitioned Springfield into two civil divisions, the First and Second Parishes. Under early Massachusetts law, a parish was an actual civil division of state, with territorial bounds as dis- tinctly marked and duties as clearly defined as in the case of a township. Every citizen be- longed to the parish and could vote IH parish meetings, was eligible for parish office, and must pay all taxes imposed upon him by the parish. Legal recognition of the parish entailed, according to Massachusetts law, responsibility for the support of a minister. When Springfield was partitioned into two parishes, the point, or rather, line, of boundary was the Connecticut River. The east bank was the First Parish, and the west bank was the Second Parish. Therefore, Holyoke was in- cluded in the Second Parish of Springfield. Despite the Indian raids in the early eight- eenth century, six families lived in the pre- Holyoke region, these families were the Days, Elys, Chapins, Balls, Morgans, and Millers. They 'Gforted togetheri' at night out of fear of the Indians. 'Early dwellings were located on Front Clxlorthamptonb Street.