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

58a HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON. [1805.
Hadley Falls Company, by whom it was purchased. Navigation
constantly decreased till the railroad usurped the
freighting business, and the canal was used solely for manufacturing
purposes. ^
The Rapids at wii- The act of incorporation empowered the
limansett. compauy to improve the navigation of the
river from the mouth of Chicopee River in
the town of Chicopee to Stony Brook in South Hadley.
This of course included the rapids at Willimansett, which
are situated about a mile below those at South Hadley.
They could not be passed except at certain stages of the
water, unless some improvement should be made. Nothing
shows that this company did anj'- work there, but in 1805,
they were passable. A canal had been built a mile long,
about twenty feet from the east bank of the river. At this
point there is a fall of sixteen feet, and two locks were
found necessary. "A sort of dam" was built in order to
fill the canal. * It is hardly probable that this work had
been done previous to the incorporation of the above company.
No allusion was made to it in any advertisement of
the company, and it may be that those rapids were considered
but a continuation of the falls at South Hadley.
Illegal Voting Sup- In 1798, a vote was passed directing the
pressed. selectuieu, and it was especiallj" enjoined
upon them, to challenge any person who
should attempt to vote in town-meeting, unless he was
qualified according to law. Illegal voting it would seem
could not have been very extensively practiced in those
days without immediate detection, as everybody knew all
about everybody else, and in many instances knew more
about his neighbors than they knew about themselves.
School-House in East- Mcdad Strong and others built a schoolhampton
and Rob- Iiqusc at Easthamptou, and requested the
erts Meadow. Sing- j. p ii x n-ii <
ing-Master Hired. towu to pay part ot the cost. i lie town,
however, voted not to grant any money to
the parties, but committed the matter to the selectmen.
1 For authorities consult Judd MSS.: Dwighfs Travels, vol. 1, p. 331, etc.; Hol-
land's Western Massachusetts, vol. 1, p. 300, etc.
2 Morse's Geography, ed. 1805.