. The history of Springfield in Massachusetts, for the young; being also in some part the history of other towns and cities in the county of Hampden. r the tail of the beast to theselectmen for proof. In those days children were more disturbed with storiesabout wolves than bears, but when in later years, the wolveshad been killed off, bears began to be troublesome, for theyliked pig pork, butchered by themselves, too well; so a re-ward was offered for bears and also for catamounts or pan-thers. It was not only the wild animals that the select-men had to look after. Everybodykept pigs and the p
. The history of Springfield in Massachusetts, for the young; being also in some part the history of other towns and cities in the county of Hampden. r the tail of the beast to theselectmen for proof. In those days children were more disturbed with storiesabout wolves than bears, but when in later years, the wolveshad been killed off, bears began to be troublesome, for theyliked pig pork, butchered by themselves, too well; so a re-ward was offered for bears and also for catamounts or pan-thers. It was not only the wild animals that the select-men had to look after. Everybodykept pigs and the porkers were alwayswatching for a chance to roam aboutand root up pastures and breakthrough fences with their strongsnouts. In the fall they were lookingfor acorns, just as they do now inthe southern states. So the townordered that they should wear a yokeand have a ring in the nose. It must have been difficult tomake a yoke stay on a pig and manywere careless about it; so JohnStewart, the blacksmith, was givenpower to catch every stray pig thatwas not yoked and rung, and thenhaving put a yoke on his neck anda ring in his nose, to collect pay of. 44 HISTORY OF SPRINGFIELD the owner. A man who looked after swine in this way wascalled a hogreeve and for a long period hogreeves were an-nually chosen. There were also officers called field drivers,who were to take to the town pound any horse or cow foundstraying, especially if doing damage. The pound was onthe northwestern part of what is now Court Square and wasin charge of a pound-keeper. In after years it was on thespot where now Pleasant street is located. Another duty of the selectmen was that of is a very long word for a very long walk whichis sometimes necessary in order to set right the boundarylines of a town. In our time, upon every road leading outof Springfield, except where the boundary is a river, may befound a substantial stone, marking the division between thecity and the next town; but in e
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