History of Pittsfield, (Berkshire County) Massachusetts United States of America

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Local History Notes:

PITTSFIELD, a flourishing post-town of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on the Western railroad, at the northern terminus of the Housatonic railroad, and southern terminus of the Pittsfield and North Adams railroad, 151 miles W. from Boston, and 49 miles E. S. E. from Albany. Lat. 42? 26' 55" N., lon. 73? 15' 36" W. It is delightfully situated at an elevation of upwards of a thousand feet above the level of the sea, and is handsomely laid out with streets intersecting each other at right angles. In the centre is a fine public square, on which front the principal hotels, the Berkshire Medical School a flourishing institution founded in 1823 and the First Congregational church, completed in 1853. The latter is an elegant stone edifice, in the Gothic style. The Southstreet Congregational church is also a fine building. Pittsfield contains 8 churches, viz. 3 Congregational, 2 Methodist, 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal, and 1 Roman Catholic; a bank, 3 newspaper offices, 3 railroad dep?ts, and about 60 stores. The Young Ladies' Institute, a very flourishing institution, occupies 3 handsome edifices, situated in the midst of spacious and beautifully ornamented grounds. The manufactures of Pittsfield are extensive, employing a large amount of capital. The leading articles are cotton and woollen goods, machinery, railroad cars, firearms, &c. Incorporated in 1761, and named in honor of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. Population of the township in 1840, 3747 in 1850, 5872; and in 1853, about 6500.

Biographies:

Theodore Ayrault Dodge, soldier and author, was born in Pittsfield, Mass., May 28, 1842; son of Nathaniel Shatswell and Emily (Pomeroy) Dodge; grandson of the Rev. Joshua and Mary (Shutswell) Dodge; fifth in descent from Gen. Seth Pomeroy of the French and Indian wars and of Bunker Hill fame; and eight in descent from William Dodge, who immigrated to Salem, Mass., in 1629. His middle name comes from Dr. Pierre Ayrault, the physician of the Newport colony of Huguenot immigrants. His father was a commissioner to the World's fair, London, England, in 1851; president of the Papyrus club, Boston, and author under the pen-name "John Carver, Esq." Theodore was educated abroad, studying four years in Berlin in the military family of Major-General von Froreich of the Prussian army, later at Heidelberg, and finally at the University of London, where he took his A.B. degree. He returned to the United States in 1861 and enlisted in the Union army. He was commissioned 1st lieutenant, 101st N.Y. volunteers, Feb. 13, 1862, and served with the army of the Potomac through all its campaigns up to Gettysburg, where he lost his right leg, having been thrice before wounded. He was appointed captain of volunteers, May 25, 1863, and promoted major of volunteers, Aug. 17, 1864. He was brevetted colonel of volunteers, Dec. 2, 1865, for gallantry during the war, and brevetted lieutenant-colonel in the regular service, March 2, 1867, for loss of right leg from wound in line of duty. After the close of the war he was ordered to duty in the war department and served as chief of bureau. He was commissioned captain in the 44th infantry May 28, 1866, and served as chief of bureau until April 28, 1870, when he was retired. While in Washington he pursued a law course in the Columbian university and was given the degree of LL.D. in 1866. After his retirement he removed to Boston, where he entered business, also devoting much time to literary work. He was married to Jane Marshall, daughter of Robert Elkin Neil, and grandniece of Chief-Justice Marshall. She died in 1881 and in 1892 he was married to Clara Isabel, daughter of Albion Bowden, a lady who for years assisted him in preparing his books. He was elected president of the Papyrus club of Boston, and a member of the Massachusetts historical society, and of numerous clubs and learned societies. He delivered a course of lectures on "Great Captains" before the Lowell Institute in Boston, and also lectured at Harvard university. His published writings include: The Campaign of Chancellorsville (1881); A Bird's-Eye View of the Civil War (1883: rev. ed., 1897); Patroclus and Penelope: a Chat in the Saddle (1885); Great Captains (1889); and in 1899 was engaged on a series of twelve volumes, comprising a history of the art of war, of which eight were issued: Alexander, Hannibal, C?sar, Gustavus Adolphus, Frederick and Napoleon (1890, et seq.).

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

William Miller, founder of a religious sect, was born at Pittsfield, Mass., Feb. 15, 1782: son of Capt. William and Paulina (Phelps) Miller; grandson of William and Hannah (Leonard) Miller and of the Rev. Elnathan Phelps, a Baptist minister. His grandfather removed from West Springfield, Mass., and settled on a farm in Pittsfield, Mass., about 1747, and his faiher served in the Revolution and removed to Low Hampton, N.Y., in 1786, where William was employed on the farm. His education was acquired chiefly through reading books which he procured with money earned by chopping wood. He was married, June 29, 1803, to Lucy Smith of Poultney, Vt., and engaged in farming there. He served as sheriff, 1809-10, and commanded a company of volunteers sent in 1812 to Burlington, where he was transferred to the U.S. army. He fought in the battle of Platteburg, Sept. 11, 1814, was promoted captain, and resigned from the army, June 25, 1815. During his residence in Poultney he became interested in the writings of Voltaire, Hume, Paine, Ethan Allen and others, and professed to he a deist, but was converted and joined the Baptist church at Low Hampton, to which place he removed in 1816. In 1818, at the close of two years' study of the Bible, he announced his conviction that in twenty-five years (1848 by Jewish time or 1844, Roman), Jesus Christ would appear in person to judge the world, and in 1831 he entered upon his self-imposed mission as a preacher on the topic of the second advent of Christ. He had been licensed to preach by the Baptist church at Low Hampton, but was never ordained. He spoke in Vermont and New York in the pulpits of all denominations, the Episcopal and Roman Catholic alone excluding him. People flocked to hear him and many were converted to his views. In 1839 he delivered his first course of lectures in Massachusetts. On March 14, 1844, he announced the second coming of Christ to he at hand. In Ootober, 1844, after seven months' waiting, work was suspended by the Millerites and all repaired to their tabernacles, where they waited until the end of November, when they dispersed and affiliated with various sects. "Father" Miller continued to hold together about 50,000 disciples, and in April, 1845, a declaration of faith was agreed upon and the name "Adventist" adopted, which sect under various names increased steadily. He helped to establish in 1840, The Signs of the Times and Exposition of Prophecy, published in Boston, which afterward became the Advent Herald. He published many sermons and lectures, and his Dream of the Last Day was widely circulated. See biographies by Sylvester Bliss, James White and Joshua V. Himes. He died at Low Hampton, N.Y., Dec. 20, 1849.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

George Edward Day, educator, was born in Pittsfield, Mass., March 19, 1815; son of Gad and Roxanna (Rice) Day, and a descendant of Robert Day who immigrated to America in 1634, and was one of the original settlers of Hartford, Conn. He was graduated at Yale in arts in 1833 and in theology in 1838, and was assistant instructor in Hebrew there until 1840, when he entered the ministry and for ten years was pastor of Congregational churches in Marlboro and Northampton, Mass. He was professor of biblical literature at Lane theological seminary. 1851-66, Holmes professor of the Hebrew language and literature and biblical theology at Yale, 1866-91, and dean of the faculty of the divinity school at Yale, 1888-95. He was made a member of the Asiatic society of Japan, and received his M.A. degree from Yale in 1836, and the honorary degree of D.D. from Marietta college in 1856. In addition to a translation from the Dutch of Van Ooterzee's New Testament Theology, and a revised translation in 1883 of (Eher's Theology of the Old Testament in German, he was associated from the first with the American Bible revision committee as its secretary, and as a member of the Old Testament company.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Thomas Childs, soldier, was born in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1796; son of Dr. Timothy and Rachel (Easton) Childs. He was graduated from West Point in 1814, and served with distinction at Fort Erie and Niagara in the same year. He was promoted 1st lieutenant, April 20, 1818, and captain, Oct. 1, 1826. In the Florida Indian war he planned the attack at Fort Drane, Aug. 21, 1836, and won for his conduct the brevet of major, and for subsequent service in the same war was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, Feb. 11, 1841. In the Mexican war he was brevetted colonel, May 9, 1846, for gallant conduct at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. He led a storming party at Monterey, and served at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo and Puebla. He was commissioned major of 1st artillery, Feb. 16, 1847, and brevet-ted brigadier-general, Oct. 12, 1847, and served as military governor of Jalapa and Puebla in 1847. He was designated by General Scott the "often distinguished Colonel Childs," and was in command of East Florida from Feb. 11, 1852, until his death by yellow fever at Fort Brooke, Tampa Bay, Fla., Oct. 8, 1853.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor