years which he spent in this town were few in number— the nine latter years of his life-nevertheless the important part which he took in that period, in forming and shaping the character of the town and in the direction of its affairs, together with his earlier public serv-ices, both civil and military, entitle him to a particular notice in these pages and to a more faithful portrayal than we are able to produce.

Joseph Dwight was a son of Captain Henry Dwight of Hatfield—one of the committee for settling the Housatonic townships-and a descendant of John Dwight, who emigrated from England in 1734-5 and 1634 settled at Dedham, Mass. He was a native of Hatfield, born October 16th, 1703, and a graduate of Harvard College in 1722.

He studied law, and resided for several years in Springfield, where he was engaged in trade, and where he married, August 11th, 1726, Mary Pynchon of that town. About 1730-31 he removed to Brookfield, where he soon entered upon the practice of the law, and in 1731 was the representative of the town of Brookfield in the General Court, an office to which he was chosen in ten subsequent years; he was also a member of the Provincial Council, and in 1748-9 speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1739, he was appointed judge of the court of Common Pleas of Worcester county. In addition to his legal and judicial employments, he devoted much time to military affairs, was a colonel of militia, and at the time of the expedition against Louisbourgh, on Cape Breton, was commissioned a Brigadier General-February 20th, 1745 -by Governor Shirley. In that year he distinguished himself as the commander of the Massachusetts Artillery at the siege and capture of Louisbourgh, and was commended by General Pepperell who commanded in that expedition. General Dwight, soon after, raised a regiment for a proposed expedition against Canada; but his regiment was for the most part employed in frontier service. Not long after the death of his wife, which occurred March 29th, 1751, he removed to Stockbridge, as a "trustee of the Indian schools," and there married Mrs. Abigail Sergeant, widow of the Rev. John Sergeant, in August 1752.

From 1753 to 1761, he was one of the judges of the courts for Hampshire county, and at the incorporation of Berkshire county he was appointed judge of both the County and Probate courts, which offices he held to the time of his decease. In the second French war1756-he commanded a regiment in service about Lakes George and Champlain, and soon after his return from this campaign removed from Stockbridge to Great Barrington-probably in 1757. In 1759, he purchased the place in the village, since occupied by the late Deacon Allen Henderson, with twelve acres of land adjoining including the premises on which Parley A. Russell now resides-and erected the Henderson House. This house, which was at that time considered a very fine one, is still well preserved, and if spared by the hand of improvement, may last through another century.

In the act for incorporating the town-1761--General Dwight was authorized to issue his warrant for convening the first town meeting of its inhabitants; he was chosen moderator of that meeting and also one of the selectmen of the town. General Dwight died June 9th, 1765; his remains were interred in the south burial ground, where a broad, antiquated and somewhat elaborately carved slab of white marble marks. his grave and bears this inscription:

Though great in council and in arms,
The pious, good, and just.

Yet death her cruel debt demands,
Dwight slumbers in the dust.

The widow of General Dwight continued to reside, for several years in this town, but eventually removed to Stockbridge, where she died February 15th, 1791. In a notice of General Dwight, in the History of Berkshire, it is said: "His personal appearance was very fine. He was dignified in his manners, an upright judge, and an exemplary professor of the religion of

the gospel. No man in the county, in civil life, was more esteemed; and aged people still speak of him with great respect.' Another writer says, "he was a man of singular veracity; and all who knew him spoke of his virtues with enthusiasm."

General Dwight had a large family of children, among whom were: Dorothy, who married the Honorable Jedediah Foster of Brookfield, and whose daughter-Ruth Foster-was the wife of General Thomas Ives of Great Barrington; Elijah, who was first Clerk of the County Courts, and a prominent citizen of Great Barrington; by his second marriage-Pamela, who became the wife of Hon. Theodore Sedgwick, and Henry Williams Dwight who resided in Stockbridge and was for many years Clerk of the Courts.

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CHAPTER XIV.

WATER POWER AND ISRAEL DEWEY'S MILLS.

1762-1791.

The town early directed its attention to recovering possessionof the water power of the Housatonic River, which had thirty-five years before, been sequestered by the settling committee for the joint use of both the Upper and Lower Townships, but which had for a long time been occupied by David Ingersoll, and of which, John Williams, as successor of Ingersoll, then claimed possession. At the meeting of November 16th, 1761, Joseph Dwight, Timothy Hopkins and Daniel Allen were chosen agents, in behalf of the town, to join and act with agents that might be appointed by the town of Sheffield, "in ejecting and dispossessing any person or persons who may unlawfully hold the aforesaid towns out of their right to such part of the Housatonnock River, so called, which is the joint right or interest of said towns." This action was with reference to the water privilege now occupied by the Berkshire Woolen Company, as well as to that on which, a little lower down the stream, the now abandoned, India Rubber Works stand. Some allusion has already been made to the earlier occupancy of this water privilege, and to the decrees of the settling committee, made with reference to it. It will be remembered that the divisional line between the two townships, as established by the settling committee in 1726-afterwards the north line of Sheffield-crossed the river at the Great Bridge, or, in the language of the records, "that the Lower Township shall extend up the Maine River, from ye Path yt goeth over ye River by ye Great wigwam, something above the Middle Falls, which is some

WATER POWER RECLAIMED.

179

thing above half a mile from s'd Path, and if there should be a mill or mills sett up there in ye Great River, that each Town shall have ye privelege of ye streame for yt Porposs;" and that the committee also decreed that the proprietors "must not divide the land above the path that goes over the river by the Great Wigwam." This reservation of the water power was definite and explicit, and the premises were carefully guarded by the provision that individuals should not lay out the land adjoining the falls of the river. But, in 1736, Moses Ingersoll, disregarding the decrees of the settling committee, made a pitch of land, of seventeen and one-half acres- -lying on both sides of the river-which extended from the divisional line southerly, nearly to the present "Rubber Bridge," and included a large part of the water power. Three years later in 1739-Moses Ingersoll, by deed, conveyed this property to David Ingersoll, who--as we have before stated-built a dam, and erected a saw-mill, gristmill, and forge on the east bank of the stream, a short distance below the Great Bridge. It is probable that doubts then existed as to the validity of Ingersoll's title-though we have no evidence that his right of possession was disputed-but as his improvements were both a convenience and a public benefit, it may be inferred that he was, by common consent, permitted to remain in occupancy. It is, however, a noteworthy circumstance in connection with this conveyance, that the deed, though dated in March, 1739, was not officially acknowledged until February 1749, nor placed upon record until 1752-after the decease of Moses Ingersoll. David Ingersoll continued in occupancy of the premises for several years, but became pecuniarily embarrassed; and in December 1755, the "corn-mill and saw-mill, mill-dam and stream," together with about one and one half acres of land adjoiningon the east side of the river-the whole appraised at £133. 6s. 8d.-were taken on execution, to satisfy a judgment which had been obtained against him by one Jonathan Mason. Probably under title derived from Mason, John Williams-who was also the proprietor of the mills at Van Dusenville-obtained possession o