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

SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886. 279
spondence, and a fourth Pynchon was town treasurer. There was
nothing t(jry about this. Jonathan Hale was a carpenter, and James
Sikes, like all of the family of that name, was a part of the bone and
sinew of the town.
The patriotism of the Springfield Pynchons during the Revolution
is all the more wort! 13^ of note from the fact that in Connecticut and
Eastern Massachusetts branches of the family were tory in sentiment.
In fact, AVilliam Pynchon, of Salem, and Joseph Pynchon, of Guil-
ford, Conn., were notorious tories, and were forced to leave the country
in consequence. Joseph Pynchon might have been Governor of Con-
necticut if his political views had not led to his self-banishment to
Nova Scotia. His great-grandson is Dr. Thomas R. Pynchon, of
Trinity College, Hartford.
Merchant Jonathan Dwight, at the first echo of war, made his plans
to leave Springfield. He even closed his store. Hearing a rumor
that a decree had gone forth from Boston for the seizure of his goods,
he directed his slave Andrew to drive his cattle across the Connecti-
cut line. But it was due to the influence of his wife that he modified
his political sentiments and reopened his store.
In January, 1775, the several special town-meetings must have
been intensely interesting. Capt. George and Dr. Charles Pynchon
and Jonathan Hale, Jr., had just returned from the Provincial Con-
gress, and their reports of the doings at that body gave the yeomen
of the community the first definite glimpse of the great struggle.
Means were taken to aid the poor at Boston. The town stock of
ammunition was materially increased, and George Pynchon headed a
committee which recommended that the provincial tax be paid into
the town treasurer and held " safe during this time of General Dis-
tress & Confusion." An association had been formed (1774) pledg-
ing the members not to wear or use any clothing or product imported
from Great Britain, — a self-imposed embargo that was a severe test
of patriotism. The subsequent exclusion of tea from the table was
accepted in good part by the community, although we do have it by