| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| MoneminsCastle |
Posted - May 25 2009 : 09:55:33 AM
Indian Mounument, Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Inscription on stone: The ancient burial place of the Stockbridge Indians / 1734 / The friends of our father /1877.
Library of Congress |
| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Monadnock Guide |
Posted - May 25 2009 : 10:03:33 AM
History
Mission House in c. 1908
Stockbridge was first settled in 1734 as a mission for the Mahican Indian tribe known as the Stockbridge Indians. The township was set aside for the tribe as a reward for their assistance against the French in the French and Indian Wars. The Reverend John Sergeant from Newark, New Jersey was their missionary. First chartered as Indian Town in 1737, it was officially incorporated on June 22, 1739 as Stockbridge, named after Stockbridge in Hampshire, England.
Although the Massachusetts General Court made an assurance that the Indians' land could never be sold, it was rescinded. Despite their further help during the Revolutionary War, the tribe was relocated first to New York State, then to Wisconsin. The village was taken over by English settlers. With the arrival of the railroad in 1850, Stockbridge developed as a summer resort for the wealthy. Many large houses called Berkshire Cottages were built in the area before World War I and the advent of income tax. One estate on the Lenox border, Tanglewood, is today the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Since 1853, Stockbridge has benefited from the presence of the Laurel Hill Association, a village beautification society.
Stockbridge was also the home to Elizabeth Freeman, late in her life. The former slave who was one of the petitioners in the lawsuit that had slavery declared unconstitutional in Massachusetts, Freeman worked in the household of the Massachusetts statesman Judge Theodore Sedgwick. She is buried in Stockbridge's downtown cemetery.
Famed 19th century literary figure, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, was born in Stockbridge in 1789. She is the author of six novels including her most famous, Hope Leslie (1827). The town has a tradition as an art colony. Sculptor Daniel Chester French lived and worked at his home and studio called Chesterwood. Norman Rockwell painted many of his works in Stockbridge, home to the Norman Rockwell Museum. |
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