acter which stood in such good stead in the toilsome life of the hardy pioneer. The husband, himself a representative of a family House Where Timothy Cooley Died. well established in New England, was a trifle below the average size, but, kind-hearted and vivacious, he made up by his untiring industry what he lacked in stature. For many years he was a figure in the community which developed about him, exciting the interest of all as he adhered to the old ways when changes came, and inspiring veneration as on the Lord's day he entered the meeting-house in antiquated dress, with accompaniments of bushy wig and curious cocked hat.       There was nothing strange in the beginning of Granville. Such migrations were features of colonial life. Again and again, when the sons of a family married, finding no opportunity to gaining a livelihood near the old folks, they bade a loving farewell to the tearful friends at home, joined hands with their heroic wives, and then plunged into the wilderness to lay the foundations for a new estate. Sometimes they went but a few miles, returning occasionally to visit the scenes of childhood; sometimes the record, "Went west," or "Went to Maine," is the last the family historian finds as he attempts to trace the various lines of descent. At times, a young couple went away by themselves, as the Bancrofts did; at others, a company of young people went together and formed a new town in the forests; but singly or in groups, by such slow means was New England settled, as western Massachusetts and Vermont, northern New Hampshire and Maine, gathered strength from the overflow of older districts along the seaboard.       Because of this constantly operating movement of population, the Bancrofts were not long left without neighbors. Two companies came. From Springfield were The Cooley Monument. Daniel Cooley, Jonathan Rose, Samuel Gillett, Thomas Spelman, John Root, Ephraim Monson, Phineas Pratt, Peter Gibbons and Samuel Church; from Durham, Connecticut were Timothy, Noah, Daniel and Phineas Robinson. , Ebenezer and Daniel Curtiss, Samuel Coe, David, Daniel and Levi Parsons. The very enumeration of names makes history, so important were these families in the subsequent development of the town, which, at first called Bedford, was named Granville — page 99 — Previous Page | Next Page | Granville Page | Hampden County History & Genealogy |