For a series of articles about Sandisfield's connections to the struggle for American independence, 1775-1783, I wrote in The Times (November 2025) about the taverns that were situated near the Knox Trail in northern Sandisfield in the late 18th century. The most prominent of these was the Henry Spring Tavern. Below, a patron of the tavern mentions his visit there during a stormy night.

The Knurow Collection is one of the crown jewels at the Berkshire Atheneum in Pittsfield.

Berkshire native Edward R. Knurow (1909-1997), a career Mass. DCR employee, devoted his life to preserving every bit of Berkshire history that he could find. His collection, legendary among Massachusetts historians, consists of countless pictures of historical buildings, gravestones, historical markers, roads, photostats of old documents, newspaper articles, deeds, hand-drawn maps, and other drawings and more, including much about the Knox Trail.

I used this amazing collection while researching for Ye Trodden Path, the story of the 18th century "war road" best known as the Knox Trail, that I am writing with others. In it, I ran across a reference to a passage in the diary of an individual who spent the night of April 23-24, 1775, as a guest at Henry Spring's Tavern

James Jeffrey, who lived from 1733 to 1807, was a native of Salem, Mass., and a merchant by trade.

According to the modern miracle of AI, "Jeffrey was a civilian merchant's clerk in Quebec during the 1775 siege by American forces, not a soldier. His journal provides a unique perspective as a primary source from a non-military resident of the besieged city. His role during the siege was primarily that of an observer, recording events, conditions, and the atmosphere within Quebec as the American forces under Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold attempted to capture the city. His detailed civilian account complements official military records, offering insight into daily life, morale, and the impact of the conflict on the general populace during that period."

In 1966, historian Knurow transcribed Jeffrey's account of his passage through Massachusetts toward Boston, and his overnight stay at Spring's Tavern. Knurow prefaced Jeffrey's memoir with, "[The diary] begins Jan. 1, 1775, in Quebec City. A very good account. April 20, he was in Albany where he crossed by ferry and rode about 36 miles and lodged at Claverack."

Jeffrey wrote in the memoir:

"April 22. Rain this morning. Did not set off til 9 o'clock, Stopt at one Younger(?) at Barrington. There heard that an express came up yesterday which brot an account of a scurmish between some of the regular troops and some of the country people. At this place [Great Barrington] the drum was beating to arms and several people were muster'd, armed." (Jeffrey is describing the early news about the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, which marked the beginning of the American War of Independence.)

He continued: "Went on to Springs at the entrance of the green wood." The Springs he mentions is Henry Spring's Tavern. The "green wood" was the undeveloped section of the long colonial road from Albany to Boston. "Slept here for the night. Had here a confirmation of the skirmish [19th April], with the addition that the Regulars were drawn back from Lexington to Boston... Thunder, lightning & rain this evening and during good part of the night. The latter part of this day's good or bad as I ever travelled.

"23 Sunday. Rain this morning. Set out about 8 o'clock with two men who were going to Roxbury or Cambridge to hear the particulars of the engagement. Lodged near Springfield."

From here Jeffrey continued his journey, relating no more about his overnight stay during a dark and stormy night at Spring's Tavern. For a superb description of an overnight stay at a Massachusetts tavern at that time, a reader will have to refer to the account of Ishmael's stay at the Whaler's Inn in the early section of Moby Dick.

Ye Trodden Path: A History of the Knox Trail & Examination of the Longest Original Section of the Trail in Berkshire County, Mass., with contributions by local historians Bernard Drew, Gary Leveille, Rob Hoogs, Tom Ragusa, and Ron Bernard, will be available soon.