USA > New Hampshire > The Connecticut River Valley in southern Vermont and New Hampshire; historical sketches > Part 16
USA > Vermont > The Connecticut River Valley in southern Vermont and New Hampshire; historical sketches > Part 16
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The duties of the two field-drivers and of the pound- keeper were about the same. The field-drivers elected at the first town meeting were Amaziah Wright and Wil- liam Simonds. At the second town meeting, 1762, it was voted to build a pound and William Simonds was chosen pound-keeper also. For many years after the settlement of Rockingham, most of the unimproved lands were held in common by all citizens. It was the duty of the field-drivers, and later of the pound-keeper, to impound all animals running at large upon the public roads, the common lands, or upon private lands without the con- sent of the land owners. For such services they received a fine of one shilling each for cattle and horses, and three-pence each for sheep and swine which had to be paid by the owner before the animals could be taken from the custody of the officer. Much trouble arose between early residents because of this practice, as it was often
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open to question when animals were astray, or off the owner's premises.
The first pound was located a mile or two north of the Village of Rockingham, on the farm and near the dwelling of Captain William Simonds. It stood on the north side of the road, near the top of the hill beyond what is now known as the Jonas Aldrich place, near the Bellows Falls Country Club. Later one was established on the Capt. Michael Lovell farm south of the road from Rockingham village to Chester and a short distance beyond the turn to Lawrence's Mills. Various other pounds have been located in different parts of the town during its history.
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UNIQUE CATTLE AND SHEEP MARKS-LOT-
TERIES FOR BUILDING BRIDGES AND
CHURCHES
The records of the town of Rockingham, in which the Village of Bellows Falls is today the principal vil- lage, show very many quaint and curious customs of early days. The records are complete and perfectly legible from the granting of the charter by King George, through his governor, Benning Wentworth of the Prov- ince of New Hampshire, down to the present time. The date of the charter, granting all the land to fifty-nine men, was December 28th, 1752, and these Proprietors' Records during the nine years they handled all the busi- ness of the town, comprise the first volume. During all these years Colonel Benjamin Bellows, for whom the village was afterwards named, was the "Proprietors' Clark" and signed the records of every meeting, although a resident of Walpole. In 1761 the actual residents then in the town gathered and held their first meeting, electing their own full board of officers, and complete records of every town meeting from then down to the present time are available. On the occasion of the fire which destroyed the town building May 10th, 1925, these records were saved, being in the safety vault, and are now in the vault of the new building.
Among the interesting records previous to the be- ginning of the last century are those indicating the methods of identifying the ownership of the cattle, sheep, hogs and other live stock before the various farms were fenced. The cattle and other domestic animals ran in the woods and clearings, and before being turned
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out in the spring all stock was required to be marked in such manner that they might be identified, and the ownership proven. The marking was usually done by disfiguring the ears, and the records show very many certificates of the different devices that were used. Each man had a mark which was registered by the town clerk, and among the great number the following are samples :
Vol. 4, page 246, "Luther Webb Cattle mark Swal- low Tale in Right Ear. Recorded by me Jonathan Burt Town Clerk."
Page 242, "Ely Evans Cattle Mark being a half crop on the Right Ear ; Recorded by me this 24th Day of December 1810. Jonathan Burt Town Clerk."
Page 289, "The Cattle & Sheep marke of Samuel Marsh of Rockingham in Windham County & State of Vermont being two holes in the right ear & one hole in the left ear, rec'd 11th day of April, 1812 & rec. by me Jonathan Burt Town Clerk."
Page 53, "Quartus Morgan Sheep mark crop off of both Ears Recorded by me Jonathan Burt Town Clerk."
Page 112, "David Wood Junr Cattle & Sheep mark being a 10 in the left Ear. Recorded by Jonathan Burt Town Clerk."
Vol. 6, Page 19, "Sheep mark of David Campbell Esqr of Rockingham. The end of the left Ear cut Square & a notch on the under side of the same Ear. Rec'd Februay ye 21st 1816 recorded by me Joseph Weed Town Clerk."
Vol. 6, page 2, "Dexter Newtons Sheep Mark is both Ears cut square about one third of the length off,
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& a slit in Each Ear Recd October 19, 1815, and recorded by me Joseph Weed Town Clerk."
Vol. 1, page 300, "Frederick Reades marke for Stock Neat may ye 27 1769, on the Left Ear a happeny off the under side and a Slit on the End of the same. Jehial Webb, Reg'r."
The practice of raising money for lotteries for public or charitable purposes was sanctioned by the Ver- mont legislature in those early days, as it was in most other states. A number of the early bridges in this town were built by the aid of these lotteries. Up to about the year 1825, or a century ago, many petitions were granted by the legislature for establishing lotteries for building and repairing bridges; to aid in erecting a brewery, a court house, to repair losses by fire, and at least one was presented asking for a grant of a lottery to build a church. The files of the early years of the Bellows Falls Intelligencer, a newspaper established in 1817, contained each week for a number of years the adver- tisements of these lotteries, stating the purposes for which the "drawing" was to be made. The usual place where lottery tickets were kept for sale here was at the toll house at the Connecticut river bridge, probably because of there being so many passers-by, to whom the glittering possibilities would be a temptation.
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A CURIOUS CUSTOM OF "WARNING OUT OF TOWN" ALL NEW-COMERS
A curious custom, prevalent to a large extent in most of the New England states a century ago, was that of "Warning Out of Town" new-comers, fearing they might become town charges. In Vermont this law was in effect 38 years and in New Hampshire 119 years. It was in accordance with a statute of the states whereby, if the town so voted, and legal notices was served upon the new-comers within the first year of their residence in town, the persons so warned were prevented from gaining a residence, and the towns escaped liability for support should they ever become dependent.
As early as 1769, eight years after the organization of this town's government, the record of the town meet- ing shows "Voted that all Strangers who Com to Inhabit in said town being Not Freeholders be warned out of town." This process implied nothing against the char- acter of the party or individual, and it often happened that such warned persons eventually became honored and wealthy citizens. In one or two instances such per- sons in later years represented the town in the Vermont legislature. During the year 1808 the constables ren- dered bills to the town for having "warned out" 31 families, and in 1809 it was 26 families. In the town of Newbury, Vt., there were warned out at one time 126 persons.
The legal form of the warning, used in cases to the number of hundreds who came into this town between the years mentioned, was as shown by the following sample. In both these cases the men described became
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prominent citizens in later years. Both have descend- ants still living here, and the record of each family is an honorable one. Mr. Divoll represented the town in legislature for three terms about 20 years later.
"STATE OF VERMONT)
Windham County ss To either constable of Rockingham in the County of Windham,-Greeting. You are hereby commanded to summon Samuel Billings, Susannah Billings, Susannah Billings, 2d, Sarah Divoll and Manassah Divoll now residing in Rockingham to depart said town. Hereof fail not but of this precept and your doings thereon, due return make according to law. Given under our hand at Rockingham this 12th day of March, 1807.
Elijah Knight ) Selectmen David Wood of Alex. CampbellJ Rockingham
"Windham ss, Rockingham, 14th March, 1807, Then I served this precept by leaving a true and at- tested copy of same with each of the within named Sam- uel Billings, Sarah Divoll and Manassah Divoll.
Elijah Mead, Constable. "Fees $.56 Recd. 9th April 1807, recorded by Jonathan Burt, Town Clerk."
Henry Atkinson Green, who in after years became a member of the well known mercantile firm of Hall & Green, and who was the father of Edward H. Green, the husband of Hetty Green, was served the "warning out" process November 12, 1811, by Constable Ebenezer Locke.
Massachusetts had this system beginning in 1692 for 135 years, and Connecticut 127 years from 1669. The practice was abolished in Vermont in 1817. As all
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new-comers had to have this notice served upon them within the first year of coming into a town, in many instances a census of new-comers was made, telling when they came, and thus these lists are valuable records of genealogical data which could not be found in any other way. The records thus being accurate are frequently consulted by both historians and genealogists.
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KEY TO THE OLD ROCKINGHAM MEETING HOUSE SOLD AT AUCTION-TOWN PAUPERS SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDERS
The early records of the town of Rockingham carry many interesting indications of the quaint and primitive conditions of those early years.
At the annual town meeting in March, 1803, the key to the meeting house, which had been built in 1787 and is still standing, was put up at auction and struck off to the lowest bidder. James Marsh bid it off for the sum of $2.50 for the year. By the terms of the bid he gave bonds to unlock and lock the house every Sunday morning and evening, and at all other public meetings, at all times, on a penalty of four cents for every neglect of duty. He also agreed to sweep the house four times a year, that is during the first week in every three months and for every failure in sweeping he was to forfeit the sum of 50 cents. It is not to be supposed that $2.50 was considered as sufficient to pay for the services rendered by Mr. Marsh, but the honor of the thing was a consid- eration then, as now, to the office holder. It was no small trust, that of having charge of the key of both the town house and the house of God, and if the people had not at that day considered the office of sweeper of some im- portance, it would not have been necessary to have required bonds for the faithful discharge of the duty.
In the year 1791 occurred the first sale of a white woman at public auction, a practice which was kept up by the town for many years thereafter, the records showing sales, who the paupers were, and to whom they were sold. In that year Mrs. Burr, a town pauper, was
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sold at public vendue. She was bought by Capt. John Roundy. She was "bid off at five shillings per week, to be paid in wheat at five shillings per bushel. People at this day will perhaps be at a loss to understand this traffic in human flesh. It was not a sale like those made at the slave markets of the South and yet it was an in- human practice now done away with. The poor of the different towns were put up at auction and the persons who bid to take care of them the cheapest were called the purchasers for the coming year. Thus John Roundy received one bushel of wheat per week for taking care of, feeding and clothing Mrs. Burr. A few of the smaller towns in Vermont and some other states, have kept up this practice until within the last 40 or 50 years. In several instances during those early years there were cases of greed which caused the parties who had bid off the paupers not to furnish proper food and clothing so that suffering occurred, and one notable instance during the last years of the practice occurred when it was said that a woman who had been "sold" was actually starved to death, not in Rockingham, however.
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A CURIOUS CENSUS ERROR REPORTED 17 SLAVES HELD IN VERMONT IN 1790
A clerical error in the office of the United States Census Bureau in its report of the first census taken in Vermont in 1790 makes that report say that there were 17 negro slaves in Vermont that year, as against the generally understood and frequently repeated assertion that no person was ever held in bondage in this state. Vermont declared against slavery in 1777, and that declaration has always been adhered to.
It is true that the printed report of the United States census of 1790 gave sixteen slaves to Vermont, all of them in Bennington County. But it has long been known that that first census, as given to the public, con- tained numerous errors, and that this assignment of slaves to Vermont was one of them.
The facts are that in consequence of the discovery of many errors in the reports of previous censuses, Gen. Francis A. Walker, superintendent of the census of 1870, instituted a critical comparison of the printed reports of previous censuses with the manuscript returns of the same on file in the census bureau. In the course of this examination Mr. George D. Harrington, chief clerk of the bureau, made the important discovery that in com- piling the returns of Vermont the careless clerk or copyist who did the work transferred the footing of the column of "free colored" persons to the foot of the adjoining column of "slaves." Gen. Walker, in his introduction to ninth census report, noted the discovery in the following words :-
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"A single result of these examinations into the earliest censuses has enough of curious and substantial interest to be noted here. The State of Vermont was, in the publication of the first census, that of 1790, put down as numbering among its inhabitants sixteen slaves. In subsequent publications this number was by a clerical or typographical error changed to seventeen; but with this accidental variation the statement of the first census has passed unchallenged; and antiquarians have even taken pains to explain in what manner it was this small number of slaves should have been found in a State otherwise through all its history a free State. The reexamination of the original census roll of Vermont at the census of 1790, for the purpose of this republica- tion, brought to light what had never before been sus- pected-that these sixteen persons appeared upon the return of the assistant marshal as "Free colored." By a simple error of compilation they were introduced into a column for slaves; and this error has been perpetuated through nearly the whole history of the government until corrected in the accompanying tables." (See page 46 of Introduction to the volume of Population of the Census of 1870.)
Under the corrected table for Vermont on a subse- quent page of that volume will be found the following note: "An examination of the original manuscript returns shows that there were never any slaves in Ver- mont. The original error occurred in preparing the result for publication when sixteen persons returned as 'free colored' were classified as 'slaves.' "'
It is certainly remarkable that this erroneous assign- ment of slaves to Vermont should have gone uncorrected for eighty years. It was not because Vermonters of that day did not know better, for the Vermont Gazette, printed at Bennington by Anthony Haswell, in its issue
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of Sept. 26, 1791, said, "The return of the marshal's assistant for the county of Bennington shows that there are in the county 2503 white males over sixteen years of age, and 2617 under that age; 5559 white females; 17 black males over 4 and under 16; 15 black females. Total of inhabitants 12,254. To the honor of humanity, no slaves."
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AZARIAH WRIGHT OF WESTMINSTER-HE WAS NOT EXCOMMUNICATED
Westminster, our nearest neighbor on the south, has an interesting history replete with many remarka- ble incidents which have never been gathered into a much needed volume of town history. An incident of which an account was printed in London, as early as 1797, in Dr. John Andrew Graham's book, "A Descrip- tive Sketch of the Present State of Vermont," describes the typical independent spirit of a farmer, Azariah Wright, a member of the Westminster Congregational church, the second Protestant church in Vermont.
After describing the noted piety and strength of character of Mr. Wright, and telling of his being greatly troubled by the depredations of a large bear in his corn field, which bear had seemingly come to know that on Sunday Mr. Wright was always in church, the narrative continues :-
"At last it had learned its cue so thoroughly, as only to commit its depredations on the Lord's day, when it knew from experience that the coast was clear. Wearied out with these oft repeated trespasses, the good man resolved on the next Sunday to stay in his fields, where with his gun he concealed himself. The bear came according to custom. He fired and shot it dead. The explosion threw the whole congregation (for it was about the hour of people's assembling for worship) into consternation.
The cause was inquired into and as soon as the pastor, deacon and others became acquainted with it, they called a special meeting of the church, and cited the offending member before them to show cause, if any he had, why he should not be excommunicated out of
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Christ's church for this daring and unexampled impiety. In vain did he urge from the Scriptures themselves that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath day. He pleaded before judges determined to condemn him, and the righteous parson, elders and church, 'una voce,' agreed to drive him out from among them as polluted and accursed.
"Accordingly he was enjoined (as is the custom on such occasions) on the next Sabbath to attend his ex- communication in the church. He did attend, but not entirely satisfied with the sentence, and too much of a soldier to be scandalized in so public a manner for any action which he conceived to be his duty, he resolved to have recourse to stratagem. He therefore went to the appointment with his gun loaded with a brace of balls, his sword and cartridge box by his side, and his knap- sack on his back, with six days' provision in it. Service was about half over when he entered the sanctuary in his martial array. He marched leisurely into a corner and took his position. As soon as the benediction was ended, the holy parson began the excommunication, but scarcely had he pronounced the words 'offending brother' when the honest old veteran cocked and levelled his weapon of destruction, at the same time crying out with a loud voice, 'Proceed if you dare, proceed and you are a dead man.' At this unexpected attack the astonished clergyman shrunk behind his desk, and his opponent with great deliberation recovered his arms. Some moments elapsed before the parson had courage to peep from behind his ecclesiastical battery. On finding the old hero had come to a rest, he tremblingly reached the order to his eldest deacon, desiring him to read it. the deacon with stammering accents and eyes staring with wild affright began as he was commanded, but no sooner had he done so, than the devoted victim again leveled his piece, and more vehemently than before ex- claimed, 'Desist and march, I will not live with shame. Desist and march, I say, or you are all dead men.'
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Little need had he to repeat his threats. The man of God leaped from the desk and escaped. The deacons, elders and congregation followed in equal trepidation. The greatest confusion prevailed. The women with shrieks and cries sought their homes, and the victor was left undisturbed master of the field, and of the church, too, the doors of which he calmly locked, put the keys in his pocket, and sent them, with his respects, to the pastor. He then marched home with all the honors of war, lived 14 years afterwards and always remained a brother in full communion."
This story is well authenticated. It was published in somewhat different language in an old almanac about 1800 by Asa Houghton. A former well known resident of Westminster named Wright wrote over 20 years ago as follows to the writer :-
"I think the story as published in London in 1797 is reliable for it is substantially the same as told by my grandfather, Caleb Wright (a son of the captain) and repeated to me by my parents in my childhood. My grandfather used to say that his father, Azariah, had a voice like a lion; and when he gave to the panic- stricken congregation the word of command 'March' there was but one thing to do. Grandfather enjoyed telling about the queer things certain people said and did, and how the women shrieked in their desperate hurry to get out of the meeting-house."
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THOMAS GREEN FESSENDEN-FIRST EDITOR OF THE FIRST BELLOWS FALLS NEWSPAPER -BECAME OF WORLD-WIDE FAME
The first editor of the first newspaper published in Bellows Falls was Thomas Green Fessenden, a man widely known in this country and in England for his marked peculiarities and writings. He was a writer of both poetry and prose of much force. During his entire mature life he was a celebrity of note, interest and im- portance. He established the "Vermont Intelligencer and Bellows Falls Advertiser," in January 1, 1817, and edited it until he went to Boston and there estab- lished the "New England Farmer" in 1822.
He was born in Walpole, N. H., April 22, 1771, a son of Rev. Thomas Fessenden, the second town min- ister of Walpole, who served the town for 46 successive years (1767 to 1813). He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1796 and studied law in the office of Nathaniel Chipman at Rutland, Vt. He went to England in 1801 where he wrote extensively and published several vol- umes, which appeared in both England and America.
In 1805 he returned to America, being in New York City and Philadelphia until 1808, when he came to Brat- tleboro. In 1812 he established a law practice in Bellows Falls, which he continued while editing the local paper. One of his warm personal friends during his lifetime was Nathaniel Hawthorne, who said of him at one time that he "was ill qualified to succeed in the profession of the law, by his simplicity of character, and his utter inability to acquire an ordinary share of shrewdness and worldly wisdom." He was married Septembed 5, 1813,
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while at Bellows Falls, to Miss Lydia Tuttle, a daughter of John Tuttle, of Littleton, Mass., who was visiting relatives in this village. His residence after 1822 was largely in Boston, as an editor of several newspapers, and writer of well known books. At one time he was interested in the silk industry, which in the '30s spread over New England and was for a while a prominent factor in Bellows Falls business. He died in Boston in 1837 and was interred in Mount Auburn cemetery.
During Mr. Fessenden's residence in Bellows Falls he boarded at Robertson's Tavern, which was erected in 1816, the year before he made Bellows Falls his residence. The proprietor was John Robertson, and his son, Richardson Robertson, was then a boy employed about the hostelry. The latter gave the writer many years ago an interesting account of Mr. Fessenden as he remembered him. Although Mr. Robertson was then a young boy he remembered Mr. Fessenden clearly. He described him as a tall man of very robust stature and constitution, dark complexion and with a rather forbidding aspect, always full of fun and the life of any party in which he might be. Many of his various pub- lications that contributed to making him famous were written by him while in Bellows Falls, living in that early hotel. Among them was a volume entitled "The Ladies' Monitor," which was a poem of 130 pages, giving excellent advice to young ladies in a doggerel rhyme, the whole being of considerable merit. A copy of this book was in the ownership of the late George O. Guild of this place, and highly prized as the paper was made in the first paper mill here, in which in later years Mr. Guild was employed. It was printed and
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bound by Bill Blake & Co., who owned and operated the first paper mill here; the covers of the volume were made of birch wood cut thin and covered with colored paper, this being the usual method of binding books in those early days.
Mr. Robertson said that Mr. Fessenden was an ex- cellent singer, and during his college course supported himself by teaching in town schools, while in his vaca- tions he taught music, and held singing classes and sing- ing schools in the evenings. He was devoted to his cello, or bass viol, as it was then called, and while here kept it behind the dining room door of the hotel. On this instrument he often played when the meals were late, amusing himself to the edification of the patrons of the hotel.
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