Craft Masonry in Albany County, New York - Onondaga and Oswego ...

On the morning of August 29, 1786, just six days after the Hatfield Convention, groups of men from surrounding towns began
making their way toward Northampton, where the quarterly session of the Court of Common Pleas was scheduled to open that day.
Luke and a body of men from West Springfield joined the hundreds converging on the town. Sheriff Elisha Porter of Hadley
recognized many of the men who entered town to the music of fifes and drums. By noon there were 500 armed men. Those without
swords or muskets wielded hickory clubs. Alarmed residents shuttered themselves in their shops and houses.
Sheriff Porter led the judges from Clark's Tavern, where they had put on their gray wigs and black gowns. Luke Day, who just a few
years before had defended the court, now insisted it not open. While his men surrounded the approach to the courthouse, Captain
Day stood on the steps with a petition in his hand for the judges. The petition stated that it was "inconvenient" to the people of the
state for the courts to sit that day, and entreated the judges to adjourn until the petitions of the conventions might be granted by the
General Court. By the time the judges retreated to the tavern to consider the petition, the crowd of men had grown to 1500. The
justices decided to "continue all matters pending" until November and "adjourned without delay."
During the fall of 1786, Luke Day and Daniel Shays of Pelham became the most conspicuous and authoritative leaders of the
insurgents in Hampshire County. Both spent time on the West Springfield common organizing and drilling militia who referred to
themselves as “Regulators.” They also met and discussed their plans and opinions in taverns and other public spaces. Although he
lacked a formal education, Luke was said to be a practical, intelligent, persistent and popular leader. As he looked over the crowd of
Regulators, armed with hickory clubs and distinguished by hemlock sprigs—signifying liberty—tucked into their hatbands, he must
have felt some pride realizing that among the West Springfield crowd were 26 of his relatives.
Of the men who were gaining attention as prominent Regulators, it was Daniel Shays rather than Luke Day who became identified
as the main leader of the movement that would bear his name—although Luke's stature in the community and his extensive kinship
connection may have made him the better choice. Later comparisons of Day and Shays published in a 1926 history of Springfield
suggested that it was as much chance as intent that resulted in Shays assuming a leadership role in the Regulation:
It was more the result of accident than any other cause that Shays had the precedence, and the fortune to make his name infamous
by association with the rebellion in which he was engaged. Day was the stronger man, in mind and will, the equal of Shays in
military skill, and his superior in the gift of speech.
Yet, other accounts emphasized the distrust some felt for Luke's emotionally outspoken religious sentiments, his tendency to draw
too much inspiration from the Bible for the job at hand. It was feared that a time would come when he would rely too heavily upon
divine guidance and become more of a dictator and less of a democratic leader.
Governor Bowdoin feared the protestors might disrupt the Supreme Judicial Court scheduled to meet in Springfield in September.
He therefore ordered out the militia from nearby towns under General William Shepard. Although the judges, protected by the militia,
managed to convene the court, hundreds of Regulators led by Shays succeeded in preventing them from transacting business.
Once the Court had closed, Shepard withdrew the government militia and began preparing to defend the United States Arsenal
located in Springfield.
In late October, the state cracked down on the Regulation, issuing the Militia Act and the Riot Act. In addition, the Legislature soon
suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus, thus allowing suspects to be imprisoned anywhere in the Commonwealth without the right to
challenge their imprisonment.
Like many other Massachusetts citizens, Luke Day and Daniel Shays were shocked by the suspension of Habeas Corpus and the
accompanying revocation of ancient English liberties they had fought to preserve in the War for Independence. Thousands of armed
protesters, including veterans of the state militia and Conitinental Army, continued seeking reform through regulating the
government and its leaders, including judges and courts. In the next months, the Regulators marched on Worcester and Concord.
On December 26th, 1786, Shays appeared in Springfield on a white horse, leading a well-armed, well-drilled company of 300 men,
including Luke Day. They took possession of the Courthouse and petitioned the Supreme Judicial Court not to open. The judges did
open the court, but complied with the request to adjourn without doing any business.
By January 10, 1887, with another court due to convene in Worcester in 10 days, Governor Bowdoin responded to fears that the
men the government called "Insurgents" would again try to interfere. He issued warrants to the Sheriff of Hampshire County for the
arrest of the ringleaders. Realizing that the conflict was escalating, and in need of arms and equipment, the insurgents turned their
eyes toward the barracks and stores of the United States Arsenal at Springfield.
On January 15th, Shays and his leaders dispatched orders to officers throughout Hampshire County to muster their respective
commands, fully armed and equipped, with 10 days' rations, to rendezvous in Pelham by January 19th. The rebels were divided into
three regiments, each under the command of a former Revolutionary War officer with five or more years of experience, but miles
apart in three different Massachusetts towns. Daniel Shays gathered his forces in Palmer; Eli Parsons collected his troops in
Chicopee; and Luke Day assembled his men across the Connecticut River in West Springfield. Since they were not in close
proximity, each would have to rely upon messengers for communication.
Just before a three-pronged attack planned for January 25th, Luke Day unilaterally decided to change the plan. Claiming to
represent the "body of the people assembled in arms," he sent an ultimatum to General Shepard, giving him and his forces 24 hours
to lay down their arms and return home. He declared that if they did not do so, he would "give nor take no quarter." At the same
time, Luke sent a message to the other two commanders informing them of the postponement of the attack until January 26th.
However, the message was intercepted by Shepard's men; Day's change of plan never reached Shays and Parsons.
Why did Luke Day change the plan? Some historians believe that Luke's unreadiness to march until January 26th explains the
delay; others suggest that Day wanted to give Shepard a 24-hour warning. An unsubstantiated story offers a third possibility.
According to this anecdote, on the eve of the arsenal attack, the pastor of the First Church of West Springfield, Joseph Lathrop, tried
to convince Luke to stand down. The minister, a strong government supporter and an influential local figure, allegedly told Day that
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