Springfield 1636-1886, History of Town and City, by Mason A. Green ...

SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886. 265
light, withal, and tor}' to the core. Hawley was much better equipped
to put his stalwart shoulder to the wheel of democracy that was des-
tined to be rolled across the century.
Among Worthington's co-practitioners in Springfield was one Cor-
nelius Jones, who had risen from a tailor's bench ; also Moses Bliss
and Jonathan Bliss. Colonel Worthington received his military title
by his command of the western Hampshire regiment of militia. He
figures on a committee of the Legislature which reconunended a con-
gress at New York in October, 1765, which promulgated the "Dec-
laration of Rights and Grievances." It is pretty evident that he did
not dominate the committee, for he declined to attend that congress
as delegate. Colonel Worthington was not alone in this devotion to
the law and the government of Great Britain ;
some of the best men in
the village, socially considered, shrank from the ordeal of a conflict
with the mother-country, even upon so vital a point as taxation with-
out representation.
The medical profession, as well as the legal, was Avell represented
at Springfield at this period, among the doctors being Charles Pyn-
chon, Edward Chapin, John ^"an]lorn, and Timothy Cooper. The
necessity of garrison soldiers, no doubt, was a means of spreading
disease, and the records show that deaths from small-pox became
frequent in 1758, and appropriations as high as £150, for stricken
soldiers alone, were made by the town. The question of inoculation
gave rise to spirited debates, and a motion for an inoculation hos-
pital was voted down, and the practice prohil)ited "• in any manner or
shape whatever." To avoid misunderstandiaig the selectmen were
expressly directed to desire "• Doc' Pynchon to Desist from Innocu-
lating any Person or persons in this Town." A pest-house was,
however, built, and Dr. John Dickinson, who had been summoned
from Midclletown, Conn., seems to have had the burden of the medical
care; but his bill — over £100 — was contested, and he was com-
pelled to collect it by due process of law.
Springfield witnessed a hanging in November, 1770, when Shaw