belonging to societies in the adjoining towns. The church was organized with about 35 members, in 1770, and the Rev. Stephen Tracy, from Norwich, Connecticut, was ordained their pastor in April, 1772. The first meeting-house was erected in 1780, and the present one July 18, 1807. It is a remarkable fact, that the rain from the east roof of this house flows into Connecticut river, and from the west into the Housatonic. This town is about 15 miles N. E. of Lenox, and 111 W. of Boston. Population, 656.

PITTSFIELD.

THE settlement of this town was commenced in 1752, by Solomon Deming, who moved with his family from Wethersfield, Con., and settled in the east part of the town. Charles Goodrich and a number of others soon followed. Mrs. Deming was the first white female who came into the town, and was often left alone through the night by the necessary absence of her husband, when there was not another white inhabitant in the town, and the wilderness was filled with Indians. She was the last, as well as the first, of the settlers, and died in March, 1818, aged 92. Mr. Goodrich (who died in 1815, in the 96th year of his age,) drove the first cart and team into the town from Wethersfield, and was obliged to cut his way through the woods a number of miles. In the year 1753, Simeon Crofoot, Charles Goodrich, Jacob Ensign, Solomon Deming, Stephen Crofoot, Samuel Taylor, and Elias Willard, obtained an act from the general court, incorporating them by the name of "The proprietors of the settling lots in the township of Poontoosuck." This was the Indian name of the place, which was retained until 1761, when the town was incorporated by the name of Pittsfield, in honor of the celebrated statesman William Pitt. The proprietors were driven off once or twice by the Indians in the time of the second French war. Three small forts were erected in different parts of the town, as places of safety against the Indians.

The first meeting-house was erected a little south of the present Congregational church. The Rev. Thomas Allen was ordained the first pastor, April 18, 1764. He continued in that relation till his death, which occurred Feb. 11, 1810. Owing to political differences this church was divided from 1808 till 1817, during which time the minority were a separate church, and settled Mr. Thomas Punderson their minister, but were again united in the last-mentioned year, and Rev. Heman Humphrey installed their pastor.

Pittsfield is finely situated at the junction of the principal branches of the Housatonic river, and occupies a beautiful expansion of the valley between the Taconic and Green mountain range. The soil of this township is of a superior quality, and is divided into farms exhibiting fine specimens of agriculture. The village in the central part of the town is one of the largest and best built in the county. There is a public square in the center, containing about

four acres in the center of this square is a large elm, which was left standing when the original forest was cleared away. It is 126 feet in height, and 90 feet to the limbs. It is a striking object, and never fails to attract the notice of strangers. There are in the village 4 churches: 1 Congregational, 1 Episcopal, 1 Baptist, and 1 Methodist; the Berkshire Medical Institution, and a number of other public buildings. There is also a bank, the "Agricultural Bank," incorporated in 1818, with a capital of $100,000; a printing-office, an academy, and other seminaries of learning. The Berkshire Medical Institution was incorporated in 1823, and is connected with Williams College, at Williamstown. There is a Lyceum of Natural History connected with this institution, formed by its trustees, according to act of the legislature. Pittsfield is 6 miles from Lenox, 33 E. S. E. from Albany, and 125 W. from Boston. Population, 3,575.

In 1837, there were in the town 2 cotton mills, consuming 125,000 lbs. of cotton; 500,000 yards of cotton manufactured; 6 woollen mills, consuming 315,000 lbs. of wool; 233,000 yards of cloth manufactured, valued at $547,000. There were 2,135 Saxony sheep; 10,534 merino sheep; other kinds of sheep, 293; the value of the wool produced, $19,443; capital invested, $349,974. The value of muskets manufactured, $24,000; and 30 hands employed. Value of carriages manufactured, $20,000; hands employed, 30. Beside the above, various other articles are manufactured, such as buttons, brooms, hats, leather, chairs, &c.

RICHMOND.

THIS township was first purchased of two chieftains of the Stockbridge tribe of Indians, by the agency of Samuel Brown, jr., Esq., of Stockbridge, in or about the year 1763. The consideration for the purchase was £1,700. It appears that by a resolve of the general court, passed Feb. 17 of the same year, the purchase was confirmed to the several proprietors on condition of their paying the stipulated sum of money to the Indians, and that they should, within five years' time, have 50 settlers residing within the limits, who should each have a good dwelling-house, and that they should have a learned Protestant minister settled among them within the time specified. The settlement of the town commenced in 1760. In the summer of that year, Capt. Micah Mudge moved his family into the place, and in the succeeding autumn Mr. Ichabod Wood, from Rehoboth. These two families settled about 3 miles apart, and remained alone in the wilderness through a long and gloomy winter. In the year 1761, several families moved to this place, viz. Elijah and Isaac Brown, John Chamberlain, David Pixley, Joseph Patterson, and Daniel, Timothy, and Aaron Rowley, who generally settled in the south and west parts of the town. In 1762, Joseph and Paul Raymond, and John and Daniel Slosson, from

Kent, Con., moved in, and some others. From that time, the settlement advanced rapidly, until every part of the town was inhabited. The most part of the first settlers were from Connecticut and Long Island. The church was formed in Richmond about 1765. In that year, the Rev. Job Swift, afterwards the minister of Bennington, Vt., was settled as their pastor. He was a native of Sandwich, Mass., and a graduate of Yale College in 1765. President Dwight says, "Dr. Swift was one of the best and most useful men I ever knew. To the churches and ministers of Vermont he was a patriarch: and wherever he was known he is remembered with the greatest veneration." The present Congregational meeting-house was built in 1794, at the cost of $4,000. The Methodist society have a neat and convenient meeting-house, which was built in 1825.

This town was incorporated on the 20th of June, 1765, by the name of Richmond, (after the Duke of Richmond). In the year 1766, on the 26th of February, the township was divided by an act of the legislature, and the easterly part incorporated by the name of Lenox. The tract included between the mountains is a pleasant and fertile valley, averaging about 3 miles in width, enclosed by hills on the east and west, commanding delightful prospects. An intelligent gentleman, who had spent many years in foreign countries, after passing through this town, and viewing the valley from the hill on the west, observed that in natural scenery it excelled the view from the famous Richmond Hill, in England. This town joins Lenox: distance from that place, 5 miles, and 135 W. of Boston. Population, 820. There is a furnace in the town for the manufacture of pig iron, which in 1837 employed 40 hands. who manufactured 600 tons, valued at $26,400. There were 4,835 merino sheep, whose fleeces averaged 3 pounds and valued at $8,703; capital invested, $90,000.

SANDISFIELD.

THIS town, in connection with others, was granted to a company who petitioned for the same in 1735. It was called No. 3. The proprietors mostly lived in the county of Worcester. The patent of the town was granted in 1736, and soon after the location of town lots was made. No family moved into the place till 1750. Thomas Brown was the first. Soon after, his father, Daniel Brown, Esq., moved in with his numerous family. He was one of the principal men; was born near Boston, but had lived for some time in Enfield, Con. The settlement of the town advanced rapidly. A large number of families came in from Wethersfield, Con., and the adjoining towns, and also a considerable number from the towns below Plymouth, on Cape Cod. The first white child born in the town was named Lot Smith, Aug. 7, 1757, because the proprietors, meeting on the day he was born, proposed giving him a lot of land. The town enjoyed the preaching of the gospel within