Memoirs of Dr Wheelock

(Published in 1811)

Accommodations had been retarded, as was suggested, by disappointment in not finding water, where the first ex-1 periments were made. After digging more than sixty feet in that part of the plain where they first began to clear the ' ground, and finding no stream or foun. tain near, they removed sixty rods southerly, where they found water at a convenient depth. Had their wells failed of water here, they were not very distant from a beautiful perennial : stream, which runs along the declivity of the plain.

Oil that stream Doctor Wheelock had directed a saw and grist mill to be built, but by some failure in the construction, they did not answer any valuable purpose. In this new scene of life, he felt much anxiety for the comfort of his numerous dependants. He was obliged to send a great distance into Massachusetts and Connecticut, for necessary provisions, and by untoward accidents, and at that season, from the badness of the roads, supplies were sometimes scanty, and they submitted to coarse fare.

Upon a circular area of about six acres, the pines were soon felled, and in all directions covered the ground to the height of about five feet. Paths of communication were cut through them. The lofty tops of the surrounding forests were often seen bending before the northern tempest, while the air below was still and piercing. The snow lay four feet in depth, between four and five months. The sun was invisible by reason of the trees, until risen many degrees above the horizon. In this secluded retreat, and in these humble dwellings, this enterprizing colony passed a long and dreary winter. The students pursued their studies with diligence; contentment and peace were not interrupted, even by murmurs.