USA > Vermont > Washington County > Gazetteer of Washington County, Vt., 1783-1889 > Part 1
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Gc 974.301 W27c 1288729
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01092 5367
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/gazetteerofwashi1783chil
PART FIRST. C
GAZETTEER
OF
WASHINGTON COUNTY, VT.
1 783-1889.
EDITED BY WILLIAM ADAMS.
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 BRADFORD OIL DISTRICT IN PENNSYLVANIA, BENNINGTON, RUTLAND, ADDI- SON, CHITTENDEN, FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE, LAMOILLE AND ORLEANS, WINDSOR, WINDHAM, CALEDONIA AND ESSEX, AND ORANGE COUNTIES IN VERMONT, BERKSHIRE COUNTY, MASS., AND CHESHIRE AND GRAFTON COUN- TIES, 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. April, 1889.
Almanac or Calendar for 20 Years.
D
C
BA
G
F
E
1
B
A
G
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
FE
D
C
B
A G
F
E
D
CB
A
1884
1885
1886
1887
I888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
I
8 15 22 29
Sun.
Sat.
Frid'y.
Thurs.
Wed.
Tues.
Mon.
2
9
16 2330
Mon.
Sun.
Sat.
Frid'y.
Thurs.
Wed.
Tues.
3 IO|17 243I
Tues.
Mon.
Sun.
Sat.
Frid'y.
Thurs.
Wed.
4II
18 25 ..
Wed.
Tues.
Mon.
Sun.
Sat.
Frid'y.
Thurs.
5
I2
19 26
Thurs.
Wed.
Tues.
Mon.
Sun.
Sat.
Frid'y.
613
20 27 .
Frid'y.
Thurs.
Wed.
Tues.
Mon.
Sun.
Sat.
7 14 21 28 .
Sat.
Frid'y.
Thurs.
Wed.
Tues.
Mon.
Sun.
Jan. and Oct.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
May.
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
August.
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
Feb., March, Nov.
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
June.
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
Sept. and Dec.
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
April and July.
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
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.
DC I880
188 1
1882
1883
1238729
INTRODUCTION.
In presenting to the public the "Gazetteer and Business Directory of Washington 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 Vermont "; the "Documentary History of New York"; in the reports of the Adjutant-General and State School Superintendent ; F. W. Beers & Co's "Atias of Washington County "; and also the geological reports of Hitchcock & Hagar. Our thanks are also due to the clergy throughout the county, and to Hon. E. P. Walton, Charles H. Heath, Esq., C. De T. Bancroft, and Hon. William A. Huse, of Montpelier ; Mr. J. K. Egerton, of Northfield ; Hon. William Chapin, of Middlesex, 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 statements, is probable, and that names have been omitted which should have been inserted, is quite certain. We can only say that we have exer- cised 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.
1
4
INTRODUCTION.
It was designed to give a brief account of all the churches and other societies in the county, but owing in some cases to the negligence of those who were able to give the necessary information, and in others to the ina- bility 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.
As the whole county is in north latitude, and longitude is reckoned east from Washington, the words north and east are omitted when giving the lat- itude and longitude of the various towns.
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
OF
WASHINGTON COUNTY, VT.
T HE beginning of the fifteenth century was an era of great changes in all Europe. It was the end of the darkness of the middle ages, the re- vival of learning and science, and the birth of many useful arts, pre- eminent among which was that of printing. The invention of the mariner's compass in the preceding century had enabled sailors to go out of sight of land with impunity, and a thirst for exploring unknown seas was awakened ; long voyages were undertaken and important discoveries made.
It was during this age of mental activity and growing knowledge that Christopher Columbus undertook the most memorable enterprise that human genius ever planned, and which renders his name immortal. On the third of August, 1492, a little before sunrise, he set sail from Spain for the dis- covery of the western world. A little before midnight, on the thirteenth of October, he descried a light on the island of San Salvador. From this mo- ment properly dates the history of America. From this time forward its progress bears date from a definite period, and is not shrouded in darkness nor the mists of tradition.
Two years after the discoveries of Columbus became known in England, Henry VII. engaged John Cabot, a Venetian merchant, to sail in quest of discoveries in the West, and this navigator, in 1497, reached the coast of Lab- rador, which he named Prima- Vista, thus making, probably, the first visit to the coast by Europeans since the day of the Norsemen. This voyage was succeeded by others under Sebastian Cabot, son of John, in 1498, and by Gaspar Cortreal, from Portugal, to whom the discovery of the St. Lawrence some authorities claim is due. This adventurer returned to Lisbon in Oc- tober of that year, laden with timber and slaves, seized from among the na- tives of the coasts he had visited. On a second voyage he perished at sea.
6
WASHINGTON COUNTY.
In 1504 the French first attempted a voyage to the New World ; and in that year some Basque and Breton fishermen began to ply their calling on the banks of Newfoundland and along its adjacent coasts. From these the island of Cape Breton derived its name. In 1525 Stefano Gomez sailed from Spain and is supposed to have entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence and to have traded upon its shores. A Castilian tradition relates that, finding neither gold nor silver upon the coasts, nor anything that conveyed to these sordid adventurers an idea of wealth of any kind, they frequently exclaimed " aca- nada," signifying "here is nothing," and that the natives caught up the sound, which was repeated by them when other Europeans arrived, and thus gave origin to the designation of Canada.
In 1534 Francis I., king of France, listening to the urgent advice of Philip Chabot, admiral of France, who portrayed to him in glowing colors the riches and growing power of Spain, derived from ber trans-Atlantic colo- nies, dispatched Jacques Cartier, an able navigator of St. Malo, who sailed April 20, 1534, with two ships of only sixty tons each and one hundred and twenty men, reaching Newfoundland in May. After coasting along for some- time, without knowing it was an island, he at length passed the straits of Bell- isle and traversed the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Having spent part of the sum- mer on these coasts, he sailed on the 25th of July, highly pleased with the hospitable reception he had received from the natives, with whom he traded for furs and provisions. His report induced the French king to attempt a colony in the newly-discovered regions ; and in May, 1535, Cartier sailed with three small ships, with a numerous company of adventurers, and arrived on the coast of Newfoundland much scattered and weakened by a disastrous storm of July 26th. Here they took in wood and water, and proceeded to ex- plore the gulf, but were overtaken, August Ist, by a storm which obliged them to seek a port, difficult of access, but with a safe anchorage, near the mouth of the " Great River." They left this harbor on the 7th, and on the Ioth came to a "gulf filled with numerous islands." Cartier gave to this gulf the name of St. Lawrence, having discovered it on that saint's festival day. Proceeding on this voyage he explored both shores of the St. Lawrence. Pleased with the friendly disposition of the natives, and the comfortable prospects of a winter's sojourn, Cartier moved his vessels where a little river flowed into a "goodly and pleasant sound," which stream he named St. Croix, near the Indian village of Stacona, the site of the present city of Quebec. Subse- quently, October 2d, he ascended the river to a populous Indian village called Hochelaga, on the site of which the city of Montreal now stands. Here Donnacona, an Algonquin chief, conducted Cartier to the summit of a mount- ain about two miles from the village, and to which he gave the name of Mount Royal, or Montreal, and showed him, " in that bright October sun," the country for many miles south and east, and told him of great rivers and inland seas, and of smaller rivers and lakes penetrating a beautiful country belonging to the war-like Iroquois. This beautiful country, which the chief
7
EARLY EXPLORATIONS.
called Iroquoisia, included the present state of Vermont. Thus, to Jacques Cartier, a French navigator and explorer, is due the honor of having been the first European to gaze upon the Green Mountains of Vermont. In May Cartier returned to France, taking with him the Indian chief Donnacona, and two other prominent natives of the village, as prisoners ; and they, who had treated the Frenchmen with such uniform kindness, died in a strange land, exiled from their homes and friends.
During each succeeding year, for sometime after, expeditions were sent out to the newly-discovered river ; but misfortunes attended them all, and no efficient attempt at colonizing the country was made until 1608, when De Monts, a Calvinist, who had obtained from the king the freedom of religious faith for himself and followers in America, though under the engagement that the Catholic worship should be established among the natives, after several perilous voyages and much opposition, dispatched Champlain and Pontgrave, two experienced adventurers, to establish the fur trade and begin a settlement. Samuel Champlain reached Quebec, where Cartier had spent the winter nearly three-quarters of a century before, on the third of July. On the 18th of the following April, 1609, in company with two other Frenchmen and a number of the natives, he started up the St. Lawrence, and, after a time, "turned southward up a tributary " and soon entered upon the lake which perpetuates his name. Thus came the first European upon the territory now included within the limits of Vermont.
The early explorations and discoveries we have mentioned led to much litigation and controversy on the part of the several European countries under whose auspices they had been conducted. The English, on the grounds of the discoveries of the Cabots, claimed all the country from Labrador to Florida, to which they gave the name Virginia ; but their explorations were confined principally to the coast between Maine and Albemarle Sound. The French confined their explorations principally to the country bordering on the St. Lawrence and its tributaries, which they named New France ; while the Dutch, by the discoveries of Henry Hudson, afterwards laid claim to the country between Cape Cod and the Delaware river, which they called New Netherlands.
Attempts at colonization were made by England during the reign of Eliza- beth, but they proved abortive, and it was not until the Tudor dynasty had passed away and several years of the reign of James I., the first of the Stuarts, had elapsed, before the Anglo-Saxon gained any permanent foothold. Stimulated by the spirit of rivalry with France, England pushed her explora- tions and discoveries, while France, from her first colony on the St. Lawrence, explored the vast region from the great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and established among the savages missions and trading posts, spreading from Canada through the West, and finally through New York and Vermont.
The rivalries and jealousies that had made France and England so long enemies in the Old World were transplanted to the New Continent. The
8
WASHINGTON COUNTY.
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 controversy was declared by George II., in 1744, and continued until the preliminaries of peace were signed at Aux-la-Chapelle, in 1748. The final great conflict 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 sur- rendered to Great Britain.
During the progress of these wars the territory of Vermont was often crossed and recrossed 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 at Westminster increased but slowly, and in 1754 the whole population, alarmed 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, how- ever, 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, sub- sequent 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
9
INDEPENDENCE OF VERMONT.
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 convention was held at Dorset, and an address to Congress prepared, declaring the un- willingness 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- ยท chisements as are allowed ; and on such conditions, and in the same manner, 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
IO
WASHINGTON COUNTY.
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 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
II
TOPOGRAPHY.
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.
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