BOSTON TO ALBANY. 97 



articles which we consider the commonest comforts of 

 life. 



Hon. John Worthington, ^' One of the Gods of the 

 Connecticut Valley/' owned the first umbrella in 

 Springfield. He never profaned the article by 

 carrying it in the rain, but used it as a sun-shade 

 only. 



In 1753 there was but one clock in Springfield. It 

 was considered a great curiosity, and people used to 

 stop to hear it strike. 



As early as about 1774 that wonderful innovation, 

 a cooking-stove, made its appearance in Springfield. 

 The stove was made in Philadelphia, and weighed 

 eight or nine hundred pounds. 



It was 1810 when David Ames brought the first 

 piano into the little settlement. 



We are furnished with a description of Springfield 

 in 1789 by the journal of the Great Washington. 

 Under the date of October twentv-first he wrote, 

 ^^ There is a great equality in the people of this 

 State. Few or no opulent men, and no poor. Great 

 similitude in their buildings, the general fashion of 

 which is a chimney — always of brick or stone — and a 

 door in the middle, with a staircase fronting the 

 latter, and running up by the side of the former ; two 

 flush stories, with a very good show of sash and glass 

 windows; the size generally from thirty to fifty feet 

 in length, and from twenty to thirty in width, ex- 

 clusive of a back shed, which seems to be added as the 

 family increases." 



Much later in our national history, Springfield 

 became one of the most important stations of the 

 " Underground Railroad.'' 



