Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-07
IN OLD STOCKBR|DGE
Homes Show Absence of 0sten-
tatiOn.
TRADING STATION LONG AGO
Where the Mohicans Were Educated
and Christianized.
TRIBUTE TO JOHN SERGEANT
Scene of the Labors of Jonathan
Edwards-Birthplac of the Cele-
brated Field Brothers.
TRIBUTE TO JOHN SERGEANT
By WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald


Special Correspondence of The and the Chicago
Record Herald.
STOCKBRIDGE Mass August %. 1907.
There is a great deal of history about old
Stockbrdge and romance and tragedy. 1t
is one Of the oldest towns in New England
and one of the most beautiful in the world,
being surrounded by the Berkshire hills,
watered by the Housatonic river and its
branches, decorated with numerous lakes
and Swallowed by the most glorious trees
you ever saw. Early in the settlement of
the Indian problem il was made trading
station, and a school was established here.
where the last of the Mohcans, who orig
tnally occupied the Berkshire country We're
collected, educated and christianized by
John Sergeant. Jonathan Edwards and
Gideon Hawley until after the revolution,
when they were removed in a body to the
reservation of the Six Nations in Cat
taraugus county, New York, An appro-
pirate monument. enormous boulder sur
mounted ny rough shaft of granite,
marks the Indian burial ground and it is
inscribed:
sacred to the memory of
The friends of our fathers
Sergeant died in 1912 but by that time
he had established the mission on sound
basis and had introduced Industrial edu-
cation and agriculture with considerable
and would have been empire builder had
his horizon been farther extended And he
gave the Mohicans and many Mohawks
VINO came here for instruction from the
region around Schenectady a fair knoWl-
edge of the peaceful arts, as well as the
blessings of Christianity. In quiet corner
OF the StOckbrldge cemetery the dust of
John Sergeant has been lying more than
q century and half under the following
quaint Inscription, which was written by
one OF his Indian pupils:
Here lyes
The body OF the
Rev. Mr.. John Sergeant,
who dyed
The q day of July. A. ID. 1I49.
In the fortieth year of his age.
Where is that pleasing fern, l ask?
Thou canst not show.
Hes not within false stone.
There's nought but dust below.
And where's that pious SOUL,
That thinking conscious mind
VIII thou pretend vain CIPHER
That its with thee rnshrined?
Alas. NV friends. not here with thee, that can
hni
Here's no, sergeant's body nor sergeant's
IN seek him hence for all aIlke's deception here
III z" to heaven and ind my Sergeant there.
The Indian Mission.
Sergeant was native of New Jersey,
a graduate of Yale and tutor there for |
several years. He taught school in Con- |
hectlcut and preached for four years until |
he was selected to establish a mission for |
the Indians at StoCkbridge IT was orig |
inaIly and until l775 sustained by the So |
clety for the Propagation of the GospeI |
in Foreign Parts of London. which was |
supported by the king the Prince of Wales |
anu d s0ng list OF dukes and other noble |
men. The Rev. DR.. Watts took up a col
lection for the mission annuaIiy and
among S'rEtants books when he died was |
an attnsiaph copy of his famous treatise. |
of Ihn 1i,,l rrl.
King took an active interest in the mission |
anu neISvdht reports were often submit !
yea 10 MN Serseants success was so |
great that when he died it was reported |
mat there was scarcely a semblance of |
tht traditional character of the savage |
among the SJockbridge Indians" One hun
area ana elghty-two of the Mohicans aC- |
Cepted Christianity and were baptized dur
ing ms fourteen years OF ministration and !
mear.y an Of the tribe could speak English |
1ht'r church stood on the green in the |
center of the village, where the present |
I = STANDS and Jonathan Edwards was |
his successor.
The mission building which occunJas o,o
or the most beautiful hills in the neiehbor-
hood OF Stockbridge and commands one of |
tne most extended Views in New England, |
now belongs TO Mr.. S. w Woodward of |
washington, who naS restored il as nearly
as possible TO its original condition when
II was built in 1892. the year that George |
W w "snIistoh was born The original frame |
OF oak is untouched and much of the |
ciapboard sheathing remains in a perfect |
state. II is a two-story gable house OF sim |
PIE olahnes and the Oldest in all this part |
OF the country. Mr.. Woodward is building
stately villa nearby and his family is |
occupying the old mission house in the |
meantime.
Beautiful and Dignified Village.
AS have already said. there is no more |
beautiful village in the world than Stock
bridge. But the residences are entirely diff |
ferent from those Of Lenox being old |
fashioned colonial homes with large gar J
dens around them. sitting with severe dig
NIFTY and aristocratic repose under rows of
ancient elms. Few of them are modern
and not one is offensive to the taste There
Is no ostentation. no extravaganza no pa
rade of wealth or bad taste, and the Occur
pants are Of the solid respectable class
who have something besides their money |
to recommend them.
The old Red Lion Inn, which has been
standing Tor nearly 20 years on the prin-