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

1783-1788.] MAJOR JOSEPH HAWLEY. 545
were about eight liundred acres, and in Nortliampton, Eastliampton
and Southampton, between one and two hundred
more. He gave to the " Inhabitants of Northampton my
land purchased of Joseph Allen, part of Thomas Allen's
home lot, from King Street to Blackpole way, 2 rods wide
upon condition the said inhabitants shall continue the way
and common open from Uncle Ebenezer's barn to John
Clark's home lot. Also my land south of Pelham that
came to me from my mother." In addition he gave to the
town "the lands that were Uncle Ebenezer Hawley's."
This embraced six lots in the meadows, the home lot on
Hawley Street, five lots in the different divisions of the
commons, and others in Easthampton and Southampton.
Ebeuezer Hawley's The real estate of Ebcuezer Hawley came
Property. ^q i^jjji from liis father, the first Joseph
Hawley. Ebenezer gave it all to his neph-
ews, Joseph and Elisha, and if they died without issue to
the children of his brothers Samuel and Thomas. But in
1783, Major Hawley, by a process of law ("law quirk,"
Sylvester Judd calls it), had the entailment to his cousins
set aside. Samuel Clarke demanded of Joseph Hawley the
estate of his Uncle Ebenezer, obtained it, and then deeded it
back to Joseph Hawley.
Lawsuit to Recover Moses Hawley of Amherst, son of Samuel,
the Real Estate. ^ud cousiu of Josepli, brouglit suit agaiust
the town in 1788, to recover the real estate
of his Uncle Ebenezer. He claimed to have been " seized
of the demanded premises in his Demesne as of Fee and
Right," within thirty years. The profits thereof he
asserted were worth £10 per year, and he demanded damages
to the amount of £1500. At a meeting, held in December,
1788, Caleb Strong, Samuel Hinckley, and Joseph
Clarke, were appointed agents of the town to defend the
suit. It came to trial in 1789, resulting in favor of the
town.
The Town Accepts The liomestcad of the first Joseph Hawley
the Gift. on Hawley Street was part of the property
bequeathed to the town, and at the December
meeting a movement was made to obtain a vote for