The  first  minister  was  the  Rev.  Ed-
ward Billings,  who  was  ordained  in
1739.  At  that  time,  there  were  only
twenty  families  in  the  towTi.  On  a
monument  in  the  grave -yard,  is  found
the  following  inscription  : —

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Rev.  Jus-
tus Forward,  pastor  of  the  church  in
Belchertown,  who,  skilled  in  Evangel-
ical Doctrine,  exemplary  in  Christian
duty,  prudent  in  council,  valiant  for
the  truth,  faithful  and  successful  in
labors,  after  a  long  and  useful  minis-
try, in  which  with  reputation  to  him-
self, and  to  the  spiritual  benefit  of  his
flock,  he  served  God,  and  his  genera-
tion, fell  asleep  March  8,  A.  D.  1814,
in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age,
and  the  fifty-ninth  of  his  ministry.
Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the
Lord."

BELIilNGHAM.
Norfolk  Co.     The  soil  in  this  town


is  light  and  sandy,  and  not  very  good
for  agricultural  purposes.  It  is  finely
watered  by  Charles  river,  and  has  a
good  hydraulic  power.  Its  manufac-
tures, consisting  of  cotton  and  woollen
goods,  straw  bonnets,  boots  and  shoes,
amounted,  in  one  year,  to  about  one
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.
It  lies  eighteen  miles  south-west
from  Dedham,  seventeen  north  by
west  from  Providence,  Rhode  Island,
and  twenty-eight  south-west  from
Boston.
Peter's  river,  Bungy  brook,  and
Beaver  pond,  also  water  the  town.
The  factory  villages  are  pleasant  and
flourishing,  and  lie  at  the  north  part
of  the  town,  four  miles  from  the  cen-
tre village .  Bellingham  was  formerly
a  part  of  Dedham.
Its  first  minister  was  the  Rev.  Jon-
athan Mills,  in  1727.
BERKIiEY.
