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

ITflS] ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT—POST-OFFICE—FIRE-ENGINE. 555
many times drawing upon his imagination for incidents as
he proceeded with his narrative.
Mail and Stage Line. In March, the jjost-office department advertised
for bids for carrying the mails
once a week np and down the Connecticut River from
Springfiekl by way of Northampton to Brattleboro, and
from Brattleboro to Hanover, N. H. The advertisement
was inserted in the Gazette of April 18**", and bids were to
be handed in by the first of June. Levi Pease^ was the
successful contractor, and on the S^^ of August he advertised
that he " had at great expense erected a line of Stage
from Springfield in Massachusetts to Dartmouth College in
New Hampshire. It leaves Springfield every Monday at
one o'clock, P. M. Tlie same day a stage sets off from
Dartmouth College — meet at Brattleborough on Tuesday
evening, exchanges passengers, and return to Springfield
and Dartmouth College, on Thursday. The stage from
Springfield stops at Northampton on Monday night, dines
at Greenfield, and arrives at Brattleborough on Tuesday
evening. The Stage from Dartmouth dines at Windsor,
and lodges at Charlestown on Monday night ; leaves
Charlestown on Tuesday morning and arrives at Brattleborough
the same evening." The fare for passengers was
3d. per mile, with 14 lbs. of baggage. One hundred fifty
pounds of baggage was equivalent to one passenger. The
limitation of baggage to 14 lbs. was not deemed an inconvenience,
as few people desired to carry more. Trunks
had not then come into general use, and nearly everybody
carried clothing, etc., in saddle-bags, portmanteaus, or
valises, as they had been accustomed to do when horseback
riding was the principal mode of conveyance.
stage Line to Boston. Tlic ncxt year, in July, a line of stages
was established from Boston to Northampton
by Patch & Draper, Worcester being the point
1 Capt. Levi Pease had been engaged in the stage business for many years, and
•was well equipped for such au enterprise. He was a native of Enfield. Ct., born in
1739. Throughout the Revolutionary War he served in the commissary department,
and as a bearer of dispatches. After its close he engaged in staging, and established
a route between Hartford and Boston. He was one of the first to organize a stock
company to build and maintain turnpikes. In 1704, he was a resident of Shrewsbury.—Temple's
History of Palmer, pp. 22.3, 234.