Chronology of Westfield

Louis M. Dewey
Copyrighted, 1905, '10, '19, L.M.D.

Introduction
1620. Plymouth, Mass, was settled December 21.
1630. Dorchester abd Boston were settled in May.
1635-6. Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., were settled.
1639-40. trading houses at Woronoke (Little River District) were established by Connecticut parties as they then claimed jurisdiction until a new survey showed the place to be in Massachusetts, and it was ordered that the Woronoke be a part of Springfield, November 11, 1647.

So this place has been in two towns, Springfield and Westfield; three counties, Hartford, Conn., Hampshire and Hampden, Mass.; two colonies, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and two nations, Great Britain and the United States of America..
1658. First permanent grant of land was given December 4 on 360 acres, now Union street district, to Ensign Thomas Cooper.
1660-1. The second grant (east of Cooper's bard) (Sibley farm) was made March 13 to Deacon Samuel Chapin.
1660-1. Hampshire County was formed in the spring. A country road from Northampton to Windsor was laid out, running through Springdale and Little River District.

Fifteen persons of Dorchester and Windsor petitioned for land at Woronoke. Major Humphrey Atherton and Capt. Roger Clapp had taken up farms at Pochassic before.
1663. George Saxton of Windsor bought land of Cooper, in June, a luittle east of where Homer Bush lives; in November Walter Lee of Northampton bought land of Cooper, the first lot west of the county road at Springdale; on October 11, 1664, John Sackett of Northampton bought Chapin's grant.

These three men were the very first settlers.
1664-5. Feb. 2. A settling committee was chosen to order matters at Woronoke.
1666. First allotment of land was made to eighteen men. In November a meeting of "Streamfield" was called by the committee. The first white child, Benjamin Sexton was born.
1667. In December homelots were laid out on Union street, the Fort side (Main street), and lots in Fort meadow (Meadow street) in March; also homelots on South side (Little River road) laid out, and West in the South side meadow (now East Main street).
1667-8 Grants were confirmed, January 9th, to George Phelps, Isaac Phelps, Thomas Noble, David Ashley, Rev. John Holyoke, the minister, John Ponder, and Hugh Dudley on Fort side (Main street); Capt. Aaron Cook, Mr. James Cornish, Thomas Dewey, John Osborn, and John Ingersoll on South side (Little River street), to be settled with families by November 10, 1668.

Thomas Gun, John Williams, Ambrose Fowler, Jonathan Alford, bought in the Cooper tract.

John Ponder, Thomas Gun, John Root, Thomas Root, George Typer, Joseph Whiting, had homelots on south side of Main street, west of Dudley's lot.

In March Union street was laid out, also Capt. Aaron Cook opened the first tavern on Little River street.
1668. Inhabitants voted to look for a minister and Moses Fisk was chosen, August 11. Minister's house was built in November.
1668-9. A meeting house to be built on present Main street. January 21, Joseph Whiting, the first merchant, was granted land. Land on Cellar side (Union street) was confirmed to the settlers there.

Springfield granted most of the land on the west side of Paucatuck brook to the new town and arranged for the election of officers, February 2.

First meeting of the proprietors of land on the Fort side to lay out their allotments was held March 18. Land south of Silver street was divided into First and Second divisions of plowland and meadow division. Thomas Gunn had first lot nest west of Little River.


Suckett's creek was granted, March 18, to Mr. Whiting, and David Ashley to set a corn mill. (This mill proved unsuccessful on account of sandy soil.)

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