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

50 SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
In April, 1641, John Cable, who had concluded to seek his fortune
at Windsor, proposed to sell his real estate for £40. The town
bought it back, paying £10 down, and the balance in instalments.
A portion of this was paid in corn delivered at AVindsor. Again,
anticipating a few years for fuller illustration of this point, we find
that in January, 1645, it was ordered, —
By
y*^ Joynt consent of y*^ Plantation their is leave granted (notw^'standinge
a former order dated March 17"' KUl to y« contrary) unto William Vaughan
to lett out liis land to Kise Bedortha for y"^ space and terme of six yeares to be
imp'^ved by him.
There is here much more than a hint of the land theories that obtain
in certain quarters in the present age. Not only was the land tenure
and proprietorship grounded in a rule of communism, but the hand
of the town democracy was upon the shoulder of every man in his
daily work and walk. At the close of the year 1639 is this vote —
:
It is alsoe agreed for y ordering of Laborers wadges y' carpenters shall have
for 9 mouths 2s 6d p day & for 3 months from y'' 10'^ of Novembr to y"^' 10"' of
ffebr : 2s p day ; mowers shall have 2s Gd p day sawers Cs Gd p they to fall &
hewe & the owner to bring to y^ pitt. Alsoe for husbandry or any ordinary
labor to have 2s for 9 months, only from y^' 2-4"^ April till the 24"' June they are
Left to theyre Liberty as men can agree w"' them & for the other 3 months viz
from November 10"' till Frbr 10"' to have 18d p daye.
The town was laid out in a peculiar manner for New England,
where a twenty-rod road was the usual rule. This was incidentally
of service to a community exposed to the Indians. It could be
stockaded, and cattle could be safely pastured on the broad street.
But the original Agawam seems to have had no such street. The
plantation was housed upon the narrow plateau tliat stretched
between the great river and the swamp at the foot of a sharp bluff.
There has been time out of mind a brook running along Springfield's
business street, and the presumption is that the ^Jauters found it there