History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

338 HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON, [1773.
forty feet long, twenty-eight feet wide, and sixteen feet
high. The committee charged with its erection were Ebenezer
Mattoon of Amherst, Charles Phelps of Hadley, and
Josiah Dickinson of Northampton. It cost $5,183.85. Per-
sons now living who remember the building, state that it
was two stories in height, the debtor's room being on the
second floor. For more than half a century this building
was in use. In 1853, the present Jail and House of Correc-
tion was erected, at a cost of $49,000.
Horse-Biocks. Tlicsc couvenieuces are first noticed upon
the records in 1773, when a suitable number
were ordered to be set up near the meeting-house " for
those who ride to meeting." They afterwards became fix-
tures everywhere, and many other votes are recorded concerning
them. ^
In Marcli, the towu voted the usual pre-
Subscription for Bounty
on Wolves. mium of £3 for every wolf killed, in addition
to the same amount established by
law. But certain of the citizens "being apprehensive that
the raising of the premium about five or six pounds more
* * * would be vastly beneficial to the town & particularly
to the owners of the sheep therein, as it would tend
greatly & might be the means of their preservation * *
by encouraging persons skilled that way & others to employ
a much greater portion of their time than they have
been able heretofore to do in hunting, killing & driving
them away out of town," circulated a subscription paper
and raised £3.7.6 to be added to the premiums already
offered. Twenty-seven names are appended to this paper.
No one gave more than 4s., and none less than Is. These
twenty-seven names represent, undoubtedly, the owners of
the largest flocks of sheep in town.
One of the earliest attempts at manufactur-
Manufacture of
Pottery. {^g j^ Northampton, of which any record
has been found, was pottery. It was established
by Capt. Jonathan Hale, who came here from Had-
1 In the latter part of the 18"" century, horse-blocks were very common throughout
the town. In South Street one could be found at nearly every house on both
sides of the street. Some were made of boards and plank and slit work, or of large
timbers ; others were simply a log squared, with steps cut at one side.