minister officiated in the old meeting house. Preachers were occasionally employed for short terms; but for a very great part of this time the pulpit was unoccupied, In this interval a few women of the town-as they always have been and still are-were more zealous than the men; and we have it from an old lady, now deceased, that she when young, had been frequently sent by her mother, with other girls of the neighborhood, to sweep the meeting-house and put it in decent condition for occupancy, when, by chance, a minister had been secured for a Sabbath. We quote below from the Rev. Doctor Patten a sorry picture of the condition both of the people and meeting-house-about the year 1794. At this time the Rev. Samuel Hopkins re-visited the town, accompanied by Doctor Patten, and desired to preach to his old parishioners. The latter writes as follows: "the people were without a minister, nor was there any convenient place in which to assemble for public worship. Doctor Hopkins inquired if his former meeting-house could not be fitted for the purpose for one Sabbath; but it was found to be impracticable, as the windows were broken, the door had fallen down, and the floor had been occupied by sheep, who resorted to it from the Common at night, and in storms. It was further said, that if a meeting should be appointed anywhere else, there would be but little interest taken in it; but few would attend. It was common for those who regarded the Sabbath and public ordinances to go to other towns to enjoy them; while others devoted the day to visiting, to sitting in taverns, to horse racing, and other amusements; but Mr. Hopkins supposed they expended much more in these ways, and the consequent dissipation and extravagance, than would be necessary for the support of the gospel ministry among them."

In 1798, President Dwight visited the town and wrote, "It is probable that there has been more horseracing in these two towns [Great Barrington and Sheffield] than in all the State of Massachusetts besides." At about the same time Mr. Hopkins wrote in his autobiography, "They have had no minister settled among them, except for a short time, since I left them. The church has dwindled, and come to almost nothing, or

worse. They have not prospered in their worldly concerns, but the contrary. And are far from being respectable as a people or town in the sight of those who are acquainted with them, and their circumstances."

President Dwight, in his visit above referred to, says: "The soil of Great Barrington is excellent, yet we saw very few marks of thrift or prosperity. The houses are in many instances decayed; the Episcopal church barely decent; the Congregational ruinous." He found greater proofs of industry and wealth among the descendants of the Dutch than of the English. "Few places," he writes, "can boast of a better soil, or more delightful situation, yet I suspect few have been less prosperous or less happy. Religion has had here, generally, a doubtful existence, and during the little time in which they have had a minister of the Gospel, he has scarcely been able to find a subsistence." But in later visits, about 1806, President Dwight, "observed with satisfaction that the people are beginning to exhibit more generally proofs of industrious exertions," and he "learned with particular pleasure that the Presbyterian congregation had settled a regular and respectable minister, after a vacancy of thirty-four years. A spirit of improvement was visibly increasing." (1)

Such are the gloomy presentations of the character and condition of the people of the town at the close of the last century. May we not hope that the portrayal is exaggerated and overdrawn? But the fact that the newly incorporated Congregational society, when the responsibility of the support of preaching devolved upon it, permitted sixteen years to pass without settling a minister, warrants the inference that its people were not more zealous in religious matters than the inhabitants of the town, as a whole, had previously been. The course pursued by the inhabitants in the matters which we have been considering, may to-day seem illiberal and unwise. But of this it is not well to judge too harshly, for many extenuating circumstances attended. Some of these appear in the facts that the people, from the time of the formation of the parish,

(1) Dwight's Travels, Vol. 2, page 360.

DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED.

327 had been divided in their religious views, had quarreled for years over the salary of their first minister, had been very poor before the Revolution, had suffered the further impoverishment of a seven years' war, and were battling with the many difficulties incident to that chaotic state of public affairs which intervened between the war and the establishment of the Federal government.

CHAPTER XXIII.

NEW FAMILIES AND NEW LOCATIONS, OLD ROADS AND OLD INHABITANTS.

1780-1800.

With the close of the war and the advent of peace many new families moved into the town. But the unsettled state of public affairs, the poverty of the country, the town, and of individuals, caused by the war, with the contentions and animosities attending the Shays Rebellion, conspired to prevent a speedy return to prosperity, and it was not until after 1790, that any very marked improvement in the condition of the inhabitants became noticeable.

A large portion of the new comers-1780 to 1800 -were from Connecticut; many of whom were of a better class than had composed the original settlers of the town. We propose now, briefly to notice some of the more prominent of these new settlers, and to point out their locations. The descendants of many of them still reside here, whilst the names of others are not represented amongst our inhabitants.

As early as 1780 Doctor John Budd, said to have been from New Bedford and a Lieutenant in the army at the capture of Burgoyne, moved into town and had his dwelling for a time near the west end of the Great Bridge, but afterwards owned and lived upon the farm, now of John A. Cone, west of Green River. Doctor Budd was an energetic, enterprising man and secured a large practice as a physician. He died in 1804, leaving two daughters, one of whom married Garret Burghardt and was the mother of the late John Budd Burghardt,

JOHN AND STEPHEN SIBLEY.

329

and of Lonson N. Burghardt, who still resides here; the other became the wife of Mervin Pitkin, and was the mother of Rev. John Budd Pitkin- -a Unitarian clergyman, who died many years since at Richmond, Va.-and of Mervin Pitkin, who is supposed to have been lost at sea when a young man.

About 1780-81, Doctor John Sibley, who had been a surgeon in the army, settled here as a physician, and married Elizabeth Hopkins, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Hopkins. But after a few years-apparently in 1784--he removed from town and afterwards resided

in Fayetteville, North Carolina. One of his sons, Major George C. Sibley, born in this town in 1782, whose early life was spent in North Carolina, was appointed Indian Agent by President Jefferson. He held various offices of public trust, and died at Elma, Missouri, January 31st, 1863.

Stephen Sibley, a brother of Doctor John Sibley, came here as early as 1782. His occupation was that of a brasier and clock maker. He had his shop, in 1785, in a building which stood at the north-east corner of the new Town Hall ground-the corner of Main and Castle streets-the site the same afterwards occupied by the law-office of the late General John Whiting. Mr. Sibley purchased of Benjamin June, in 1789, a house, built by June, which stood on the present site of the Asa C. Russell house on Castle street, and resided there. He is supposed-at about that time-to have built the house, on the opposite side of the street, in which Lonson N. Burghardt now dwells; and this he used as a shop for his business. Mr. Sibley was a skillful artisan, as his works still attest. He made the tall, old-fashioned, eight-day brass clocks, some of which are still in use. One of these, known to be ninety-six years old, is still doing service in the possession of the writer. Mr. Sibley was for several years an acting Justice of the Peace, and was intimately -identified with the business interests of the town. He, in connection with Abel Sherman from Rhode Island, first improved the water power at Housatonic, in the north part of the town, as will be more particularly mentioned hereafter.