This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Allen, Baker, Bangs, Burt, Cooley, Farnsworth, Grout, Hall, Hawley, Hitchcock, Howes, King, Leonard, Lilley, Longley, Marsh, Oakes, Page, Parker, Parsons, Seymour, Sherwin, Strickland, Taylor, Thacher, Wood Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/4EB.2ACE/897 Message Board Post: Holland, Josiah Gilbert History of Western Massachusetts. The Counties of Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin & Berkshire Springfield, MA: Samuel Bowles & Company, 1855. Vol. I, 520 pp; Vol. II 619 pp, three parts. Call number 974.4, H71 Vol. II, Part III. pages 377 - 379 HAWLEY. Names found in this transcription: Allen, Baker, Bangs, Burt, Cooley, Farnsworth, Grout, Hall, Hawley, Hitchcock, Howes, King, Leonard, Lilley, Longley, Marsh, Oakes, Page, Parker, Parsons, Seymour, Sherwin, Strickland, Taylor, Thacher, Wood ....This town, named in honor of Hon. Joseph HAWLEY of Northampton, received its first settlers about 1770. Their names were Capt. Samuel HITCHCOCK, Daniel BURT, Reuben COOLEY and Noah STRICKLAND. Subsequently there came in Nathaniel PARKER, Noah COOLEY, Zebedee WOOD, Arthur HITCHCOCK, Joel COOLEY, Thomas KING, Timothy BAKER, Abel PARKER and Joseph BANGS. The town was incorpo- rated February 7, 1792, and the organization took place in the April following. One school district in the North part of the town bears the name of "Bozrah," its settlers coming from a locality in Connecticut, of that name. It may be mentioned here that another, near the center of the town bears the name of "Pudding Hollow," from the fact that two women living there, in the early times, matched themselves in the endeavor to make the largest pudding. One of the interesting reminiscences of the early settle- ment relates to the presence, in the town, one winter, of Col. Ethan ALLEN, who brought with him a drove of hogs, that they might fatten themselves on beach-nuts. The town has neither Indian nor Revolutionary history, and the narrative of its important events is very brief. The territory covered by the town formed No. U of the series of ten townships sold at auction by the Government, June 2, 1762, and was sold to Moses PARSONS for £875. To whom PARSONS sold does not appear. page 378 The First Church was formed September 16, 1778, with 20 members. They built their first meeting house in 1794, their second in 1824, and their third in 1847. This church has been the scene of frequent and powerful revi- vals. In 1816, no less than 118 persons were added to the church. The first preacher was Rev. Jacob SHERWIN of Ashfield, and the first settled minister, Rev. Jonathan GROUT, who was ordained October 23d, 1793. He continued to be the pastor until his death, which occurred June 6, 1835. Mr. GROUT was a native of Westboro, and gradua- ted at Cambridge in 1790. The following epitaph is in- scribed upon his grave-stone: - -"This stone was erected by the first parish in Hawley, to the memory of the Rev. Jonathan GROUT, who departed this life June 6, 1835, in the 73rd year of his age, and the 42d of his ministry. He was the first minister in Hawley. Great unanimity among his people prevailed during the ministry of this devoted servant of Christ." ....Rev. Tyler THACHER of Princeton, a graduate of Brown University in 1824, was installed as colleague pastor with Mr. GROUT May 14, 1834. He was dismissed January 31, 1843, and was succeeded October 3, 1849, by Rev. Henry SEYMOUR, whose name will be found mentioned in the his- tory of the Orthodox Church in Deerfield. Mr. SEYMOUR is still the pastor. ....The Second Congregational Church is located in West Hawley. August 24, 1825, 43 members of the First Church were Organized into this new body, which built its first meeting house the same year, and its second in 1847. The church has had but two pastors, and has been without a settled ministry during 16 years of existence. The first minister was Rev. Moses MILLER of Heath, for a long time pastor of the church in that town. He was settled May 20, 1840, and was dismissed October 20, 1846. Rev. John EASTMAN, the present pastor, was a native of Amherst, and was installed Nov. 11, 1847. ....Hawley has given birth to a long list of Congregational preachers, briefly enumerated and noticed as follows: Rev. Oramel W. COOLEY, a graduate of Williams in 1841; Rev. Marshall L. FARNSWORTH, a graduate of Union in 1825; Rev. Thomas a HALL, a graduate of Williams in 1838; Rev. Urbane HITCHCOCK, a graduate of Williams in 1806: page 379 Rev. Jonas KING, D. D., a graduate of Williams in 1816, subsequently missionary to Jerusalem, and now the cele- brated missionary of the American Board in Greece; Rev. Foster LILLEY, Jr., a graduate of Williams in 1838; Rev. Alfred LONGLEY, son of Hon. Thomas LONGLEY, did not graduate; Ref. Moses M. LONGLEY, brother of the pre= ceeding, a graduate of Oberlin in 1842; Rev. Isaac OAKES, a graduate of Williams in 1820; Rev. Alvah C. PAGE, a graduate of Amherst in 1829; Rev. Jeremiah TAYLOR, a graduate of Amherst in 1843; Rev. Rufus TAYLOR, a grad- uate of Amherst in 1837; Rev. Timothy a TAYLOR, a graduate of Amherst in 1835. Besides these, several who removed to Hawley in their boyhood became Congregational clergymen. Three Methodist preachers also originated in the town, viz: Rev. Judah CROSBY, Rec. Silas LEONARD, and Rev. Proctor MARSH. ....There are 11 school district in Hawley, and the amount appropriated for schools in 1854 was $500. The average time during which schools are kept, in the several district, is five month in the year. ....Hawley is almost exclusively an agricultural town. There is one tannery, owned by Henry HOWES, who gets out $5,ooo worth of hides a year. Other articles manu- factured are broom handles, lather boxes and palm-leaf hats. There are beds of iron ore in West Hawley, and there was formerly a gorge an furnace there, but the works have been abandoned, from the lack of facilities for getting the iron to market. ....Gen. Thomas LONGLEY, an important man in Franklin County during his life time, was, from his boyhood, and in- habitant of Hawley. He died in September, 1848, at the age of 74. ....The amount of money raised by tax, in 1854, was $2,000. The amount of the town debt is $600, number of square miles in the town, 30, ratable polls, 218. The population in 1840 was 931; in 1850, 861; decrease in ten years, 70.