Gazetteer of Orange County, Vt., 1762-1888, Part 1

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers
Number of Pages: 836

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COUNTY

AZETTEER

AND

DIRECTORY

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GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01085 9681

GENEALOGY 974.301 OR1C

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PART FIRST.

GAZETTEER

OF-

ORANGE COUNTY, VT.

1762-1888. PART FIRST

COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY

HAMILTON CHILD,

AUTHOR OF WAYNE, ONTARIO, SENECA, CAYUGA, TOMPKINS, ONONDAGA, MADI- SON, CORTLAND, CHEMUNG, SCHUYLER, STEUBEN, ORLEANS, HERKIMER, CHENANGO, NIAGARA, ONEIDA, MONROE, GENESEE, SARATOGA, MONTGOM- ERY AND FULTON, ALBANY AND SCHENECTADY, RENSSELAER, WASH- INGTON, WYOMING, LEWIS, COLUMBIA, SULLIVAN, SCHOHARIE, OTSEGO, ULSTER, CHAUTAUQUA, ST. LAWRENCE, BROOME AND TIOGA, CATTARAGUS, ALLEGANY, AND OTHER COUNTY DI-

RECTORIES IN NEW YORK STATE, AND ERIE AND CRAW- FORD COUNTIES, THE BRADFORDOIL DISTRICT IN PENNSYLVANIA, BENNINGTON, RUTLAND, ADDI- SON, CHITTENDEN, FRANKLIN AND GRAND

ISLE, LAMOILLE AND ORLEANS, WINDSOR, WINDHAM, CALEDONIA AND ESSEX COUNTIES IN VERMONT, BERK- SHIRE COUNTY, MASS., AND CHESHIRE AND GRAF- TON COUNTIES, N. H.

PERMANENT OFFICE,

SYRACUSE, N. Y.

ESTABLISHED 1866.

" He that hath much to do, will do something wrong, and of that wrong must suffer the consequences ; and if it were possible that he should always act rightly, yet when such num- bers are to judge of his conduct, the bad will censure and obstruct him by malevolence, and the good sometimes by mistake."-SAMUEL JOHNSON.

SYRACUSE, N. Y .: THE SYRACUSE JOURNAL COMPANY, PRINTERS AND BINDERS. June, ISSS.

Almanac or Calendar for 20 Years.

1874

1875

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880

1881

1882

1883

A G

1884

1885

1 886

1887

1888

1889

1890

1891

1892

1893

8 15 22 29

Sun.

Sat.

Frid'y.

Thurs.

Wed.

Tues.

Mon.

2 9 16 23 30

Mon.

Sun.

Sat.

Frid'y.

Thurs.

Wed.

Tues.

3 10 17 2431

Tues.

Mon.

Sun.

Sat.

Frid'y.

Thurs.

Wed.

4 11 18 25 . .

Wed.

Tues.

Mon.

Sun.

Sat.

Frid'y.

Thurs.

5 12 19 26

. Thurs.

Wed.

Tues.

Mon.

Sun.

Sat.

Frid'y.

6 13 20 27 . .

Frid'y.

Thurs.

Wed.

Tues.

Mon.

Sun.

Sat.

7 1421 28 . .

Sat.

Frid'y.

Thurs.

Wed.

Tues.

Mon.

Sun.

Jan. and Oct.

May.

August.

Feb., March, Nov.

June. 1

Sept. and Dec.

April and July.

EXPLANATION .- Find the Year and observe the Letter above it; then look for the Month, and in a line with it find the Letter of the Year; above the Letter find the Day and the figures on the left, in the same- line, are the days of the same name in the month.

Leap Years have two letters; the first is used till the end of February, the second during the remainder. of the year.

1288708 INTRODUCTION.

In presenting to the public the "Gazetteer and Business Directory of Orange County," we desire to return our sincere thanks to all who have kindly aided in obtaining the information it contains, and thus rendered it possible to present it in the brief space of time in which it is essential such work should be completed. Especially are our thanks due to the editors and managers of the local papers for the uniform kindness they have evinced in calling public attention to our efforts, and for essential aid in furnishing material for the work. We have also found valuable aid in the writings of the various authors in Miss Hemenway's " Historical Magazine "; " Thompson's Vermont "; " Deming's Vermont Officers "; Hall's "Early History of Ver- mont"; the " Documentary History of New York "; in the reports of the Adjutant-General and State School Superintendent ; F. W. Beers & Co.'s " Atlas of Orange County "; and also the geological reports of Hitchcock and Hagar. Our thanks are also due to the clergy throughout the county, and to Salmon B. Hebard, of Chelsea ; Roswell Farnham, of Bradford ; William Hutchinson, of Washington, D. C .; and to many others throughout the county, who have rendered valuable aid.

That errors have occurred in so great a number of names, dates and state- ments, is probable, and that names have been omitted which should have been inserted, is quite certain. We can only say that we have exercised more than ordinary diligence and care in this difficult and complicated feature of book-making. Of such as feel aggrieved in consequence of errors or omissions, we beg pardon, and ask the indulgence of the reader in noting such as have been observed in the subsequent reading of the proofs, and which are found corrected in the Errata at the close of this volume.

It was designed to give a brief account of all the churches and other soci- eties in the county, but owing in some cause to the negligence of those who

$10:50

INTRODUCTION.

were able to give the necessary information, and in others to the inability of any one to do so, we have been obliged to omit special notices of a few.

We would suggest that our patrons observe and become familiar with the explanations at the commencement of the directory, on page 3, part 2d. The names it embraces, and the information connected therewith, were obtained by actual canvass, and are as correct and reliable as the judgment of those from whom they were solicited renders possible. Each agent is furnished with a map of the town he is expected to canvass, and he is required to pass over every road and call at every dwelling and place of business in the town in order to obtain the facts from the individuals concerned whenever possible.

The margins have been left broad to enable any one to note changes opposite the names.

The map inside the back cover will be found, in connection with the direc- tory, very valuable.

We take this occasion to express the hope that the information found in the book will not prove devoid of interest and value, though we are fully conscious that the brief description of the county the scope of the work enables us to give, is by no means an exhaustive one, and can only hope that it may prove an aid to future historians, who will be better able to do full justice to the subject.

While thanking our patrons and friends generally, for the cordiality with which our efforts have been seconded, we leave the work to secure that favor which earnest endeavor ever wins from a discriminating public, hoping they will bear in mind, should errors be noted, that "he who expects a perfect work to see, expects what ne'er was, is, nor yet shall be."

HAMILTON CHILD.

GAZETTEER

ORANGE COUNTY, VT.

T HE rivalries and jealousies that had made France and England so long enemies in the Old World, were transplanted to the New Continent. The French made allies of the savages and waged war against the English, and years of bloodshed followed. The first of these hostilities, which are now known as the old French and Indian wars, began with William's accession to the throne of England, in 1690, and was terminated in the peace of Ryswic, in 1697. Queen Anne's war, so-called, came next, commencing in 1702, and terminating in the peace of Utrecht, in 1713. The third contro- versy was declared by George II., in 1744, and continued until the prelimi- naries of peace were signed at Aux-la-Chapelle, in 1748. The final great con- flict was declared by Great Britain, in 1756, and terminated in the capture of Montreal, in September, 1760, when the whole of New France, or Canada, was surrendered to Great Britain.

During the progress of these wars the territory of Vermont was often crossed and re-crossed by portions of both armies, and a few military settle- ments sprang up. The first of these, however, was even before the wars, in 1665, on Isle La Motte, where a fort was erected by Captain De La Motte, under command of M. De Tracy, governor of New France. In 1690 Capt. Jacobus De Narm, with a party from Albany, N. Y., established an outpost in the present town of Addison, at Chimney Point, where he erected a small stone fort. The first permanent settlement, however, and the first of any kind by Anglo-Saxons, was begun within the limits of Windham county, in the town of Brattleboro, in 1724, when Fort Dummer was built. For six or seven years the garrison of this fort were the only white inhabitants. In 1730 the French built a fort at Chimney Point, and a considerable popula- tion settled in the vicinity. In 1739 a few persons settled in Westminster, and about the same time a small French settlement was begun at Alburgh, on what is now called Windmill Point, but was soon abandoned. The colony a Westminster increased but slowly, and in 1754 the whole population, alarmed

ORANGE COUNTY.

by the Indian attack upon Charlestown, N. H., deserted their homes. Forts were erected and small settlements were commenced in several other places, but fear of the Indians prevented any large emigration till after the last French war, when, the Province of Canada being then ceded to Great Brit- ain, the fear of hostile incursions subsided and the population rapidly in- creased.}

During these wars, also, grants of land lying within the present limits of the state had been made by the Dutch at Albany, by the French, and by the colonies of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York, and each claimed jurisdiction over them. All of these claims, except that of New York, however, were relinquished without much controversy, of which more will be said on another page. But at the close of hostilities the lands were sought so eagerly by adventurers, speculators and settlers, that in a single year subsequent to 1760, Gov. Wentworth, of New Hampshire, granted in the name of King George III., not less than sixty townships of six miles square, and two years later the number of such grants amounted to 138. The territory now began to be known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants, and the number of actual settlers soon became quite large. The affairs of these settlers were managed by committees in the several towns, who met in general convention, when occasion required, to provide for their common defense and welfare. The decrees of these conventions were regarded as law, and violations of them were punished with extreme severity. While the Revolutionary war was in progress, the land title controversy was in a degree suspended ; but soon after the war broke out it became apparent that the settlers of the grants needed some better organization than was possible by means of committees and conventions. Accordingly, in 1776, a conven- tion was held at Dorset, and an address to, Congress prepared, declaring the unwillingness of the settlers to be regarded as subjects of New York. This was not favorably received by Congress, whereupon the more resolute of the people determined to assume the powers of an independent state, " and risk the consequences." Another convention was held at Dorset, in June, and met again by adjournment in September, when such measures were taken that, at a convention held in Westminster, it was decided, on the 16th of January, 1777, that the following declaration should be adopted :-

" This convention, whose members are duly chosen by the free voice of their constituents, in the several towns on the New Hampshire Grants, in public meeting assembled, in our names, and in behalf of our constituents, do hereby proclaim and publicly declare, that the district of territory compre- hending and usually known by the name and description of the New Hamp- shire Grants, of right ought to be, and is hereby declared forever hereafter to be considered as a free and independent jurisdiction or State, by the name and forever hereafter to be called, known and distinguished by the name of New Connecticut, alias Vermont ; and that the inhabitants that at present are or may hereafter become residents, by procreation or emigration, within said territory, shall be entitled to the same privileges, immunities and enfran- chisements as are allowed ; and on such conditions, and in the same manner,

FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS.

as the present inhabitants, in future, shall or may enjoy ; which are and for- ever shall be, such privileges and immunities to the free citizens and denizens as are, or, at any time hereafter, may be allowed, to any such inhabitants, or any of the free and independent States of America ; and that such privileges and immunities shall be regulated in a bill of rights and by a form of govern- ment, to be established at the next adjourned session of this convention."

On the 4th of June the committee met at Windsor, there being present seventy-two members, representing fifty towns. A committee was appointed to prepare a draft of a constitution for the new state, and recommended to the town to choose delegates on the 23d of June, to meet at Windsor, July 2d, to discuss and adopt said constitution. The newly elected convention met July 2d, and continued in session six days. It received from the committee appointed for that purpose a copy of a constitution very similar to that of Pennsylvania, which was read and discussed. Before it was wholly adopted, however, alarming news of the British army in the western part of the state was received. It was proposed at first to adjourn and leave the work in hand unfinished; but this was providentially prevented by the sudden occur- rence of a thunder storm. Some who were less agitated by the news from the west side of the state, suggested the great importance of finishing the work in hand. This advice was followed, the constitution adopted, an elec- tion ordered, and a Council of Safety appointed to manage the affairs of the state until the government should go into operation under the constitu- tion.

This independence Vermont pursued, asking no favors, enjoying no bene- fits of the Union and sharing none of its burdens, until March 4, 1791, when she was admitted as one of the Federal States, with the full rights and immunities belonging thereto. Thus Vermont exists to-day-so may she always exist.

The constitution has remained without very material alterations, the chief being the substitution of a Senate of thirty members, appointed to the sev- eral counties, according to population, and chosen by a plurality of the free- men of the several counties, in lieu of a council of twelve members chosen by a plurality of the voters of the state at large; and in 1870 a change from annual to biennial state elections and meetings of the legislature. The frame of government now provides for, Ist, The executive, the chief officers of which are the governor, lieutenant-governor, and treasurer, all of whom are elected biennially, by the freemen of the state. 2d, A Senate of thirty members elected as before mentioned. 3d, A House of Representatives, ·consisting of one member from each organized town, elected by the freemen thereof. 4th, A judiciary, the officers of which are elective, the judges of the supreme court (who are also chancellors) by the Senate and the House of Representatives, in joint assembly, the assistant judges of county courts (a judge of the supreme court presides in each county court), judges of the probate courts, sheriffs, state's attorneys and high bailiffs by the freemen of

ORANGE COUNTY.

the respective counties ; and justices of the peace by the freemen of the sev- eral towns. The state election is held in September, biennially, and a ma- jority of all the votes cast is required to elect every officer, except senators and other county officers, including in the latter justices of the peace elected by the several towns ; but in March the freemen of each town meet for the transaction of public business of the town, and the election of town officers. Every term of town office is limited to one year, or until others are elected, and all town elections are therefore annual. The governor's power of ap- pointment is very limited, embracing, ordinarily, his secretary and military staff only ; but he has power to fill any office created by law, where the ap- pointment is not fixed by the constitution or statute, a case which has rarely occurred ; and also to fill any vacancy occurring by death, or otherwise, un- til the office can be filled in the manner required by constitution or laws. By recent statutes the governor may nominate, subject to approval by the Senate, various officers. The heads of the various state bureaus (except treasurer) and generals of divisions and brigades are elected by the Senate and House in joint assembly,-the former officers biennially and generals when vacancies occur. The general assembly meets in the even years, on the first Wednesday of October. The first officials elected, in 1788, were as follows : Thomas Chittenden, governor ; Joseph Marsh, lieutenant-gov- ernor ; Ira Allen, treasurer ; T. Chandler, secretary of state ; Nathan Clarke, speaker ; and Benjamin Baldwin, clerk.

Cumberland county was the first county established in the grants, being erected by the legislature of the province of New York, July 3, 1766, comprising about the district of territory now included within the limits of Windham and Windsor counties, and received its name . probably from Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, who, in 1746, met with distinguished success in opposing the rebels of Scotland. The lands now included in the area of Orange county, previous to 1764, were supposed to be in the New Hampshire Grants, and some of the land was granted by the governor of that state to different parties. It was, however, included in New York in the year above named ; and March 7, 1770, the government of that colony erected the county of Gloucester. It was organized by the assembly of New York, March 16, of the same year, with Kingsland for its shire, and contained all the territory in the north part of the state which has since been divided into Orange, Washington, Caledonia, Orleans and Essex counties. After Vermont became a state the first gen- eral assembly, in 1778, on the 17th of March, divided the state into Ben- nington and Cumberland counties, Bennington county on the west and Cum- berland county on the east,"'making the dividing line the height of land on the Green Mountain range, which was then supposed to be a regular range passing through the state from north to south, dividing it nearly in the center. But this was so indefinite that, February 11, 1779, they definitely fixed the division line as follows :-

FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS.

" Commencing at a point in the south line of the Province of Quebec, fifty miles east of the center of the deepest channel of Lake Champlain, extend- ing south to the northeast corner of the town of Worcester [in Washington county], and along the east lines of Worcester, Middlesex and Berlin, to the southeast corner of the latter town ; thence on a straight line to the north- west corner of Tunbridge [in Orange sounty], and on the west line of Tun- bridge to the southwest corner of that town ; thence in a straight line to the northwest corner of Barnard [in Windsor county] ; thence on the west line of Barnard and Bridgewater, and the east line of Shrewsbury [in Rutland county], to the southeast corner thereof; thence west to the northeast corner of Wallingford; thence south on the east lines of Wallingford, Mt. Tabor, Peru, Winhall and Stratton, to the southeast corner of the latter town, and west on the south line of Stratton to the northwest corner of Somerset ; thence south on the west line of Somerset to the southwest corner thereof ; thence east to the northwest corner of Wilmington; thence south on the west line of Wilmington and Whitingham to the north line of Massachusetts."

This session changed the name of Cumberland county to Unity county ; but as the change was made by a small majority it was recalled four days later and the name Cumberland reinstated. In October, 1780, the county of Cumberland was divided into half shires, of Cumberland and Gloucester, and in 1781, by act of legislature for the division of counties. Cumberland county, as a whole, was divided into Windham, Windsor and Orange counties. Orange county embraced all the northern part of the state as formerly embraced in Gloucester county, and Newbury was the shire. From this large county Caledonia and Essex counties, and a portion of Orleans, were taken, by act of the legislature, March 2, 1792.

By the same authority, March 2, 1797, the whole state was divided into eleven counties, namely, Bennington, Windham, Windsor, Rutland, Orange, Addison, Chittenden, Caledonia, Franklin, Essex and Orleans, and the boundaries of each definitely stated. Grand Isle, Lamoille, and Washington have since been erected, making in all fourteen.

Orange county, as established by the act above named, was bounded as follows :-

"Beginning at the northeast corner of Windsor county ; from thence northerly on the east line of this state to the northeast corner of Newbury ; from thence westerly, on the north line of Newbury, Topsham, Orange, Barre and Berlin, to the northwest corner of Berlin ; from thence southerly, on the west lines of the towns of Berlin, Northfield, Roxbury and Braintree; so as to include those towns, to the north line of Windsor county ; from thence easterly, on the north line of Windsor county to the place of Beginning."

On the formation of Jefferson county, December 1, IS10, the name of which was changed to Washington county, November 8, 1814, the towns of Barre, Berlin, Northfield and Roxbury were cut off from Orange county and incorporated into the new one. By these various excisions the formerly large county of Orange has been reduced to its present comparatively narrow limits. The towns at present belonging to the county are seventeen, namely: Bradford, Braintree, Brookfield, Chelsea, Corinth, Fairlee, Newbury, Orange,

ORANGE COUNTY.

Randolph, Strafford, Thetford, Topsham, Tunbridge, Vershire, Washington, West Fairlee, and Williamstown. Chelsea, near the central part of the county, since the present organization of the county has been its shire town.

This county occupies middle ground between the north and south lines of the state, and is bounded north by Caledonia and Washington counties, east by the Connecticut river, which separates it from Grafton county, N. H., south by Windsor county, and west by a part of Washington county, and a small part of Addison county. It is situated between latitude 43° 46' and 44° 13' north, and between longtitude 4° 15' and 4º 57' east, extending thirty- four miles from east to west, and twenty-eight from north to south, and con- taining about.650 square miles.

Orange county, though full of picturesque hills and smiling valleys, has no high mountains. The eastern range of the Green mountains extends through the northwestern part, constituting what is called the height of land, from the east of which the waters flow into the Connecticut river, and from the west into the Winooski and Lake Champlain. Knox mountain, in the town of Orange, is a considerable elevation, and affords an inexhaustible supply of granite, of excellent quality, for mill-stones, monuments and buildings. Wright's mountain, in Bradford, which rises about 1,700 feet above the Con- necticut river near it on the east, consists mainly of argillaceous slate, similar to that of the ledges so common in the Connecticut valley. The soil is gen- erally of good quality, not only along the streams, but the hills, to a great extent, are mellow, and fit for grazing or of more thorough cultivation even to their summits.

The whole county is remarkably well watered by innumerable springs and rivulets, and dashing brooks, and larger streams, of pure water, which furnish, by their numerous falls, a cheap and excellent power for driving the wheels of mills and other machinery, to almost any extent. Wells river runs across the northeastern corner of the county. Connecticut river and its tributaries, particularly Ompompanoosuc and Wait's river, water the eastern and south- eastern parts ; the First, Second and Third branches of White river water the south and southwestern parts, and Stevens branch of Winooski river the northwestern part. Wait's river having its sources in Washington, Orange and Topsham, enters the Connecticut at Bradford, affording, as it passes through the village, some of the finest mill-privileges in the state. Ompom- panoosuc river has its rise in Strafford, Vershire and West Fairlee, and flows into the Connecticut at Norwich. On its way through Thetford it becomes quiet an important stream. The principal northern affluents of White river, which flow through Windsor county, have their sources in the county of Orange, and on their way refresh the towns of Washington, Chelsea, Tun- bridge, Williamstown and Randolph, affording many good mill sites.

GEOLOGICAL.

The science of geology is ever an interesting study, and before mentioning the several rocks that enter into the formation of the territory, it may not be considered superfluous to briefly note the fundamental principles of- the science.

Among men of science it has become the common, if not prevailing, opinion that in the begining all the elements with which we meet were in an ethereal or gaseous state-that they slowly condensed, existing for ages as a heated fluid, by degrees becoming more consistent-that thus the whole earth was once an immense ball of fiery matter-that, in the course of time, it was ren- dered very compact, and at last became crusted over, as the process of cooling gradually advanced, and that its interior is still in a molten condition. Thus, if the view suggested be correct, the entire planet in its earlier phases, as well as the larger part now beneath and within its solid crust, was a mass of mol- ten fire, and is known to geologists as elementary or molten. Following this came another age, in which the molten mass began to cool and a crust to form, called the igneous period. Contemporaneous with the beginning of the igneous period came another epoch. The crust thus formed would naturally become surrounded by an atmosphere heavily charged with minerals in a gaseous or vaporous condition. As the cooling advanced this ethereal- ized matter would condense and seek a lower level, thus coating the earth with another rock. This is named the vaporous period. At last, however, another age was ushered in, one altogether different from those that had pre- ceded it. The moist vapor which must of necessity have pervaded the atmos- phere began to condense and settle, gathering into the hollows and crevices of the rocks, until nearly the whole surface of the earth was covered with water. This is called the aqueous period. As these waters began to recede and the "firmament to appear," the long winter that intervened, while the sun was obscured by the heavy clouds, would cover the earth with mighty ice floes and glaciers, forming a drift or glacial period.

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Gazetteer of Orange County, Vt., 1762-1888, Part 1

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers Number of Pages: 836

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers
Number of Pages: 836