Document text
Name Ethelda Stoddard Richardson
Topic Study of Folklore in the
Berkshire
Page 1
The section of Colrain between the largest manufacturing part of
the town, which is in Griswoldville, and the town line of Shelburne
and Colrain, was once known as "The Gap". The reason for this can
easily be seen when one totes the steep cut the North River has
made in one part of the little valley. Old timers say it was even
much steeper than it is now before there were so many terrific floods
that ripped and tore away the banks and wiaened the river bed. "The
Gap" remained the name of this place for some time. Then as has
seemed customary in the town of Colrain, the different sections chose
to name their little settlements after one of their well known persons.
Thus "The Gap" took the name of Shattuckville from one of its best
known but odd characters, Calvin W. Shattuck.
The Shattucks were an old English family. They came from their
native England in the year 1849. It was not long before they settled
in Colrain. They chose "The Gap" as their place of residence because
like many of the English who settled these sections, their interest
and business was in the manufacturing field. There was already a
box factory on the left bank of the North River and so the Shattucks
purchased the site and rights and proceeded to build up a new cotton
print factory. They were doing a rifle business when the fdLous
freshet of 1869 came along. This was one of the most disastrous
spring floods this section has ever known. "The Gap" was of course
damaged heavily because the narrow gorge from which the place had
taken its name was the only outlet for the raging stream. Rocky
Name Ethelda Stoddard Richardson
Topic Study of Folklore in the
Berkshire
Page 2
ledges rise high on either side. Thus the great torrent of water
was forced thru this narrow space at a terrific rate of speed and
the depth was alarming. It washed away everything in its path bridge,
houses and factory right to the foundations. After experiencing
a loss such as this, the Shattucks deemed it wise to forestall any
further trouble with the vagaries of New England weather and the
streams they harnessed for power. A new factory was built high up
on the right bank of the river above the narrow Gap. This flourished
in the hands of Calvin W. Shattuck whose name the settlement finally
took as their own as has been mentioned.
It is small wonder that the people chose to name their section for
him. fr. Shattuck, always energetic, put a large amount of money and
gave his time to running the large mill. He had several large houses
built to give his mill workers homes. He has his own very spacious
home built in the town. For great many years Calvin Shattuck was
the town's justice of peace and its town clerk. One old time resident
said of him. "He was quite a bright, smart man. Everybody went to
him for advice". He occupied a large space in the town's peoples
social and political.life as well as their personal affairs. With
most of the families, he was their landlord, their employer and
advisor. While he built no beautiful mansions (not even his own
home) he did have sturdy, practical houses made, which were able
to house five or six families at once. The proof of their sturdiness
lies in the fact that they have long outlived the old cotton mill
Name Ethelda Stoddard Richardson
Topic Study of Folklore in the
Berkshire
Page 3
and for more than sixty or seventy years have housed large families,
receiving in that time little care or repairing, for this section
has been very poor since the mill stopped running. The name of the
town was formerly Shattucksville but the possessive "(Srwas finally
left out and the section has remained Shattuckville. Mr. Shattuck
was a distinguished looking man and chose to give that definite
impression. All of the old folks speak of him as "Old Gentleman
Zhattuck" or just "Old Gentleman" whenever they mention his name.
Being somewhat on the alert for impressions and opinions given freely
by residents, I have been surprised by 'Lie certain reticence I find
whenever questions are asked about Mr. Shattuck. Among a people who
love to talk, especially of anyone or anything about which they could
bo -t a little, this quietness seems to hold somewhat of a mystery.
On numerous occasions I have casually diverted the st:ream of conver-
sation to embrace Mr. Shattucks life and characteristics. With only
one exception, I have met a protective wall of silence. If they are
asked a deliberate question requiring a definite answer, they- think
carefully and answer with a certain sober respect. If one seeks to
pursue the subject they are met with a_ shrewd, deliberate, yet
frankly disarming manner as the topic is changed definitely.
I tried to understand this reticence but could only surmise
what might be keeping them silent and then one day in the quest for
information, I met an old German fellow. He came to Shattuckvills
as a young man of .thirty-seven and has been a resident here for more
than forty-three years. he has a frank, open mind and admits that
Name Ethelda Stoddard Richardson
Topic Study of Folklore in the
Berkshire
Pe 4
he is inquisitive and likes to talk. Armed with the fact that
Mr. Finck Was c, watchman at the old Shattuck mill for quite a few
years and under the pretext of looking for local ghost stories, I
found a fine source of iniormation. here were no compunctions, no
unusual respect for the name of the dead and no sense of indebtedness
to the man. 6ince learning what I could from this informant, it has
oeen much easier to talk with others on the suotject becauee then one
seers to know all the "f cts" already there seems to oe little ke son
to oe secretive. It is still evident that people would rather confine
their discussions of Lr. Shattuck to the intimacy of their own fami-
lies however. This remains a strange fact since any slight scandal
receives much attention and is aiscusSed freely and often. Yr. Finck,
without mincing words, gave several reasons why thisehould oe. Many
of the families were in debt to Yr. Shattuck. Thus they harbored a
sense of guilt and fear where he was concerned. They felt a little
inferior to him too. He seemed to be so rich and powerful and they
had so many repeoneioilities and so few material oenefits. Then too
many a person was quiet for moral reasons. Lr. Shuck remained
unmarried out there were many attempts, by the local feminine popu-
lation, made on hie single state. He was a good one "to land" be-
cause of his position, wealth and name. Altho Yr. Shattuck was never
"taken in" he did not lack female companions. Mr. Finck said "He
always oe drunninl aroon vid da veemin. Dots why he hang himzelf by
der neck in hizh mill. No diffunce be do him if day oe mah reet oo
mebby don' be. Dots why he be always dress oop zo he can zee da
Name Ethelda Stoddard Richardson
Topic Study of folklore in the
Berkshire
Page 5
veemin all da day on nitezh alzo." This may provide a reason why
so many women refused to discuss him as a character and why many
of the men preferred not to bring into the open, scandals that might
involve their families.
"Yr. Shattuck was a nice lookin, oil man" A sweet old lady
almost eighty years old now, volunteered this information. She
worked in the mills when she was young. "I cen jest see how he looks
all dress up like he was always goini away." Another said of him,
*Someone was always diggin, him but then some folks are born gruntinl.“
The "Old Gentleman's" physical characteristics as the natives express
them are "short and thick set and'pretty.snotty lookin'." "Snotty"
seems to mean in the localmLialect", conceited or "stuck up". From
various sources we gather that he was extremely natty dresser. He wore,
striped trousers, and a black "cut -away" coat. he completed his outfit
with a high beaver hat, "gaiters" and a beautiful gold headed cane.
This was no special outfit but his every day, work and dress suit.
They proved to be his funeral clothes too. It is evident that this
is where his nickname of "Old Gentleman" found its origin. His hair
was as "white as snow and it became white early in his life so that
he seemed older than he was. He had no bad habits neither given to
smoking or drinking. his only pleasure and vice seemed to be his ex-
treme fondness for the opposite sex. It is that this prove to be
the cause of his downfall. He spent his personal funds and those of
the company or rather those that should have gone into the running
of the mill with equal abandon. Girls and women and the men who worked
Name Ethelda Stoddard Richardson
Topic Study of Folklore in the
Berkshire
Page 6
for him in the mill could do little against this evil because it meant
their homes and jobs. Work was not to be had everywhere and they were
treated well with kr. Shattuck. Then too it pleased the women to be
singled out for their boss' attention. It could not go on however.
The hypocritical and strenuous life he set for himself was too much
for his human mind and body. He tried so desperately to be or rather to
seem what he was not, that it finally drove him insane. One day he
was missed. Vb one saw for three or lour days. Then one morning the
the watchman, making a thorough inspection of the old mill, found his
well dressed body hanging in the *garret." This was to the town, an
open declaration of the low extent of his personal state and his
finances. It has never ceased being a common topic in this section
but oddly enough there seems to be little bitterness or censor in
the discussion of the man. They are loyal to the name of a great
family. Er. Shattuck gave them a great deal in material things in
fact the whole settlement owes its growth and continuance to him. They
know that even.tho his faults were great he did something for them which
no one else would or could have done.
They have kept his name alive in another manner. At least they
spoke of it as long as the old mill was standing in Shattuckville, a
great gray hulk of neglect. It was common knowledge that Er. Shattuck's
unhappy ghost wandered aubut his mill bewailing the fact that he hadn't
done more to keep the mill running while, he as on earth. The ghost
legend probably served the purpose of keeping children from playing
around the old boilers and decaying floors of the old building until
Name Ethelda Stoddard Richardson
Topic Study of Folklore in the
Berkshire
Page 7
it could be sold and removed.
Old Mr. Finck, who continued his nite watching after Mr. Shattuck
hung himself does not seem to have had the dubious pleasure of meeting
Mr. Shattuck's ghost. Mr. Finck's own words were, "I watch in da mill
frume midnite to mornin', Vich iss mos' goot dime for ghos' und I nefer
zee da ghos' of Zhatick. He hang himself in da garret and I go dere
sbecial (special) to look but he not coom ()wit for me.'t
Another incident which occurred at the mill but for which the
management was not responsible was on the gruesome side. It seems.
that the cotton came to the mill in enormous bales. The cotton was
raw and came as directly as possible from the South. Inspection could
not h ve been s rigid in those days as it is now or what happened could
not have occurred. For days after a new delivery of raw cotton, those
in the mill noticed a putrid odor about the place. Men were given the
job of finding whether or nor an animal had crawled into some place and
died. They looked every where conceivable and went to a great deal of
trouble stopping the machinery to search it. Then one day a new bale
of cotton was opened for use. As they unoound it the odor became
amazing and they were not surprised to make the gruesome find they
did. Inside was the decayed body and skeleton of a tiny negro child.
It had crawled onto the cotton bale presumably to sleep and had not
been noticettwhen the great bale was bound together. This occurrence
had an unwholesome effect on the mill's production altho the story
was kept as quiet as possible. Everyone in the mill knew of it however
Name Ethelda Stoddard Richardson
Topic Study of Folklore in the
Berkshire
Page 8
and so the story had numerous roads to travel. It may have been
only coincidence but the business of the mill failed steadily from
then on. Only the foundations and a few old timbers and boilers, rusted
and useless are left to show where the old mill was. Their dams which
furnished them excellent water power have gone out with other spring
floods and Shattuckville is no longer a town of business and industry.
Most of the houses in the place are occupied but the workers all go
out to the surrounding places such as Griswoldville, Lyonsville, (in
Colrain), Shelburne Falls and Greenfield. They are mostly mill workers
yet but Shattuckville almost died when its mill closed for good. If
the ghost of Calvin Shattuck still haunts the town of his birth it
must have a mingled sense of pride and shame of good done and wrongs
which all but destroyed the worthiness of the efforts.