Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-12
w. B. MOSES s. SONS, F STREET, COR IITH


house and hung her to tree in her or,
chard. Then they cut her body down and
buried 1t in the snow, but. according to
the records. she survived the vengeance
of this vigilance committee, and on the
following morning was found at her cabin
as usual. The miraculous manner in which
she escaped death was conclusive proof
that she was witch, but 1t is very likely
that the young men in their excitement
let her down from the tree before life was
extinct and that she was resuscitated by
years after this incident and bore the
blame of all the calamities that happened
in the neighborhood of Hadley, even
flood of the Connecticut river, which she
predicted.
The first case of witchcraft in New Eng
land was not at Salem but at Springfield,
where. in 1851, Hugh Parsons and his wife
were accused of and tried for practicing
the arts of ;,atan. Mrs. Parsons exercised
evil spirit which entered into the bodies
of Martha and Rebecca Moxon, daughters
of well-to-dO citizen of Springfield, and
did many other acts which showed conclu-
sively that she was witch. While in one
of her tantrums in March. 1851, Mrs. Par
sons killed her own infant, and when
arrested the ioor demented creature con-
fessed to an intimacy with the devil; in
deed, she boosted of it. She was taken to
Boston, tried, and condemned to death, but
was repreved and imprisoned for fur
Their investigation. AS her case Is not men
toned again in the records it is probable
that she died in prison. In the follow
Ing her husband was. tried for witch
craft, and the jury brought in a verdict
of guilty, which was set aside by the great
and general court.
Abundance of Fish.
The Indian name of the Connecticut river
was Quonektacut. which means River of
Pines and the modern term is evidently the
spelling used by the early settlers. When
the white men came they found shad and
salmon in abundance, and, as 1 told you in
letter from Hartford the early chron-
icles say that one year the shad were SO
numerous that man walked across on
their backs with a pair of SnowShoeS
Every farmer became a fisherman in the
spring and used seines and scoop-nets to
secure a sufficient supply of fish for the
rest of the year. Salmon We're in favor for
several years, and shad, when scooped up
by mistake, were thrown back into the
river. Then the fashion changed; shad be-
came the favorite. while the salmon were
discarded; but sailed fish was considered
very poor eating. Pork was the great lux
ury, and when a family was detected eat
ing fish it implied a scarcity of pork and a
state of poverty to be deplored
The records of Old Hadley say that forty
salmon, weighing between thirty and forty
pounds each, We're caught by one man in a
fishing, while Emos Lyman took 3,140 fish in
a single haul of his seine. Shad We're SO
plentiful that they We're sold for a penny
apiece. Farmers came from all the coun-
try around on horseback with bags in
which to carry their fish, and often brought
an extra horse to bear the load. Many
brought provisions and camped on the river
bank. The inns on both shores were crowd
ed and private houses We're filled with
guests. On one occasion 1,512 horses We're
tied to trees in the vicinity of Hadley
Falls. where their owners were either buy
ing or catching fish. When they reached
home with. their catches several days were
required to clean and salt the shad and
smoke the salmon for winter use and each
family usually had several barrels of both
In the attic.
Yearly Reunions.
The fishing season which brought the far
mers of the. country together was looked
forward to with great pleasure, especially
by the men and boys, who had been kept
close at home all winter without vacations.
The camps along the river banks We're il
Illuminated with torches made of pine Knots
and roaring fires around which the older
fishermen would sit and gossip while the
young men spent the evenings in wrest-
ling and other trials of strength and skill
Barrels of rum were secretly brought and
hidden in the trees for the refreshment of
the fishermen, although this practice was
frowned upon by the elders of the COM
munity because during their freedom from
the restraint of home influences the young
er men were apt to drink too much. The
idea of selling fish in the neighboring set
Elements or shipping the surplus to the
markets down the river where they sent
CURED to these honest yeomen. The first
sale of Connecticut shad was not made
until the year 1888
The same practices prevailed on the Hon.