USA > Vermont > Orange County > Braintree > The history of Braintree, Vermont, including a memorial of families that have resided in town > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
-
داستـ
Gc 974.302 B73b v.1 1136833
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00055 6347
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyofbraintr1883bass
THE
HISTORY OF BRAINTREE,
VERMONT,
- INCLUDING -
A Memorial of Families that have resided in Town.
BY H. ROYCE BASS.
" Ot a people, whose heroic aims Soared far above the little selfish sphere Of doubting modern life." -THOMPSON.
RUTLAND, VT .: TUTTLE & Co., STATE PRINTERS, 1883.
annexed to Rochester
80 100
60
59
58
57
53
54
55
56
116
85
86
87
88
89
49
50
5)
52
N.
52
51
50
4.9
115
8.4
83
82
81
80%
79
48
47
46
45
106.
45
4.6
47
48
114
73
74
75
76
78
41
4.2
15
44
43
4.2
41
113
72
71
70
69
68
67
Depot
40
39
38
37
37
38
39
40
112
61
62
63
64
65
66
36
35
34
33
111
60
59
58
57
56
55
54
32
31
29
Oak Hill.
Syenitic Ledge.
109
48
47
46
45
44
43
25
26
27/
28
108
37
38
39
4.0
41
42
24
23
22
21
107
36
35
34
33
32
31° ft
116
20
19
18
17
106
2.9
26
27
28
29
30
118
13
14
15
16
105 Ist Mill. JY83-5
24
23
22
21
20 1º Store.
19
120
/2
10
.9
104/
13
14
15
16 Cong Ch. 17 1347
18
122
5
6
7
8
105
12
11
Drift.
1
J23
4
3
2
1
02
1
2
3
4
5
6
2
3
S. Bass. 2ªSet. . 1785
Snowsville.
130 Rods.
101.
100
99
98
96 Petlv. 95
94. S.Flint.
93
92
Ist Clearing. ! 1778.
Old Town Line.
Randolph
Drawn by H. Royce. Bass.
148 Rods.
Rochester.
29
30
31
32
113
28
27
26
25
/
/
114
21
22
23
24
· Bap. Ch 1815
D
Rocking Rock, IT
18
19
20
811 411
Quaker Hill.
16
15
14
13
£11 ,811
Brookfield.
Bethel.
Third Division. 160 Rods.
First 160 Rods.
Division.
Granville.
Second Division. 125 Rods.
1
128
Roxbury.
107 109 110 112
110
49
50
51
52
53
33
34
35
36
781 3181 9081
811 6,011 601
5
10
9
8
7
8
6
12
9
10
Ist Get
Nov 10 1824.
102 104
PREFACE. 1136833
The celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of Braintree, in 1881, excited a degree of interest in its history which gave the thought of securing the same in permanent form. The town voted March 7, 1882, "That a com- mittee of three be appointed to edit and secure the publication of a history of the town."
Victor I. Spear, H. Royce Bass, and William C. Holman were appointed such committee.
This volume is the result.
Its limits exceed somewhat the plan first proposed. But research multi- plied facts, volunteers contributed thereto, and friends of the enterprise urged that time and space be taken to make a work creditable alike to the town and to those having it in charge.
Serious difficulties have been met. Few now living can recall events in the earlier history of the town; records are more or less incomplete; statements concerning the same thing by different persons do not always coincide. Getting at the facts has been no small task. Especially is this true of the Memorial, which is in part fragmentary. In "Personal Sketches" will be missed names that deserve a place there.
Accuracy and fullness have been the aim. Any incompleteness is due to the fact that the necessary data have not been, or could not be, obtained.
Hon. Jefferson P. Kidder, Vermillion, Dak .; the late Dr. Samuel W. Thayer, Burlington; Luther S. Goodno, Canton, N. Y .; Rev. Edward P. Wild, Newport; Rev. Andrew J. Copeland, Chelsea; Mrs. Frederick Billings, Wood- stock; George W. Pratt, River Falls, Wis., and others have rendered material assistance in the preparation of this volume.
Kindly criticism of it is invited, and the committee would esteem it a favor to be notified of any error.
Braintree, May 22, 1883.
THE TOWN OF BRAINTREE.
PART FIRST.
I. GEOGRAPHY.
POSITION AND EXTENT .- The town of Braintree is situated in the west- ern extreme of Orange County, forming a projection bounded in part by the counties of Windsor, Addison, and Washington. It is more particularly bounded, north by Roxbury and Brookfield, east by Randolph, south by Rochester, and west by Granville. The center of Braintree is about fifteen miles nearly due south from the geographical center of Vermont, about twenty-five miles from Montpelier, the capital, and about twenty miles east of the ridge, or principal range, of the Green Mountains.
By the terms of its charter, Braintree is about six and one-half miles long by about five and one-half miles wide. But according to measurements indicated on the plan of the town, its length is seven miles and its width, 5.36 miles, making its area originally 37.52 square miles. By act of the legis- lature, Nov. 10, 1824, ten lots and four gores in the southwest corner of the town, about two square miles in area, were annexed to Rochester, leaving the present area of Braintree about 33.5 square miles.
SURFACE AND STREAMS .- The valley of the third branch of White River, known as the "Branch," through which runs the Central Vermont railroad, divides Braintree into two principal divisions. That part south and west of the branch is rough, rocky, with many bold and precipitous peaks, much of it being incapable of tillage. All settlements are confined to the eastern half. Riford's brook, named for Joseph Riford who first settled near it, and Thayer's brook, similarly named for Joel B. and Zeba Thayer, both tributaries of the branch, are its largest streams. The branch flows southeasterly through the whole width of the town. The part north and east of the branch is nearly equally divided by the high ridge, commonly called Braintree hill, extending north and south through the town, just east of its center. Spurs jut out east- ward and southward from it, diversifying the surface. The chief points in this ridge are Nevens' hill, named for Alfred Nevens who early settled at its foot; Belcher hill, similarly named for Samuel Belcher; Oak hill, so called from the oaks growing upon it; Quaker hill, named by Ebenezer Waters while surveying the town, who with his assistants dined one day at the corner near Braintree hill meeting house. Waters, it is said, jocosely remarked: "We will sit down here and eat dinner with our hats on and call it 'Quaker' hill." Its highest point is also called Alban's hill, for William Alban who lived there
6
GEOGRAPHY-GEOLOGY.
many years. The largest streams are Ayer's brook, through Snowsville, and Spear's brook, its tributary. According to tradition, Ayer's brook received its name from one Ayer who deserted the English and became a guide to their enemies during the French and Indian war. He was caught and hanged on this stream about 1755. The method of hanging is said to have been by ad- justing the "halter" to the top of a sapling bent to the ground and swinging the victim with a sudden jerk into the air. Spear's brook was first called Bass's brook, for Dea. Samuel Bass who first settled on it; then Mill brook from the numerous mills for which it has furnished water-power; and Spear's brook, for Nathaniel Spear who settled and for many years resided and owned mills on it. It is the outlet of Mud pond, which is some five or six acres in area, and the only natural pond in Braintree. It is peculiar in having great depth and in being filled with a light mud, which, when water is abundant, is overflowed and in a dry time can be walked on in some places.
VILLAGES .- The position of Braintree is not favorable to the growth of large villages within it, though the railroad might contribute thereto but for two or three large, thriving business places near by or not far away, like West Randolph and Northfield. West Braintree is a railroad station on the. branch, has a postoffice, a hotel, two groceries, and a lumber mill doing quite an extensive business. The station and postoffice at West Randolph is nearer or more convenient to many inhabitants of Braintree, who therefore patron- ize that place. Hutchinson's village, named for John Hutchinson, its first resident, now known as "Peth," is situated on Spear's brook. Here were formerly the Braintree postoffice, a church, a dry goods store, and oil, clover, and saw mills. In 1840 all business except that of the mills was transferred to East Braintree, or Snow's village, now Snowsville, named for Jeremiah Snow, an old settler. It seemed quite probable that the road up Ayer's brook through Snowsville would be one of the main thoroughfares between Boston and Burlington; that Snowsville, aided by its favorable site and abundant waterpower, would thereby get a large business [and population. The promise of this met with no disappointment till that business magnet, tlie railroad, pushed its way up the branch, and drew all business into its line. But for this Snowsville might possibly have been in point of importance what West Randolphı now is. It has a postoffice, which accommodates the nortli- east part of Braintree and a considerable part of Brookfield, a church, a hotel, a store, a carriage and one or two harness shops.
VIEWS .- Few localities afford a view of so many points of interest as the hill tops of Braintree. From the top of Quaker hill can be seen, to the east Mt. Washington and other principal peaks of the White and Monadnock Mountains in New Hampshire, fifty to sixty miles distant; to the south, Mt. Ascutney in Windsor, forty miles away; to the southwest, Killington and Shrewsbury peaks of the Green Mountain range; to the west, a section of that range; and in various directions, numerous less elevated prominences within a radius of twenty or thirty miles. Here the feathery tops of green hills seem to meet the sky the whole circumference around, the nearer being outlined against the more remote, the whole forming a picture which far exceeds many that have engaged the artist's pencil. Oak hill commands a.
VILLAGES, VIEWS, POPULATION, CURIOSITIES, ROCKS.
view no less extensive and interesting. Nearly half of the town of Randolph, including the Center village, and parts of the towns of Brookfield, Tunbridge and Bethel, embracing a broad, beautiful landscape view ten miles in extent, checkered with forest and field and dotted with farm-houses, are seen from the belfry of the Braintree hill meeting house. Mt. Cushman, a higher point in the south east corner of the town, lying partly in Rochester, and upon which a conservatory has been erected, affords a wide view, taking in with a glass several villages and Lake Champlain.
POPULATION .- The population of Braintree in 1791 was 221; in 1800, 531; in 1810, 850; in 1820, 1033; in 1830, 1209; in 1840, 1232; in 1850, 1228; in 1860, 1225; in 1870, 1066; in 1880, 1051.
CURIOSITIES .- A little north of Quaker hill is a rocking rock, "having & circumference of forty-nine feet, being 14} feet in length, ten feet wide and 7 feet highı." It will weigh perhaps fifty tons or more. Its poise was once so perfect that one could rock it with his hand, but it now requires a lever.
On Quaker hill, also, beside the road near the school house, stand two beech trees about a foot in diameter and four feet apart. About ten feet from the ground they are joined by a limb, some three inches in diameter, growing from the one to the other.
In 1858, John S. Nichols, while plowing on his farm, upturned four teeth, two double and two front, being more than four inches in length and one in width. They belonged of course to some mammoth animal, but whether to an extinct or living species is not known.
II. GEOLOGY.
ROCKS .- Three different rock strata out-crop within the limits of Brain- tree, but one of them underlies only a very small portion of it. They are all schistose, or cleavable. East of Ayer's brook, in the north-east corner of the town, the underlying, or parent, rock is calciferous mica-schist. The con- stituents of this rock are clay, mica (often in abundant scales), and calcite, or carbonate of lime, and rapid disintegration is characteristic of it. This stratum underlies a large portion of eastern Vermont. In this section is also a sprinkling of mispickel, or arsenical iron, whose composition is arsenic, sulphur, and iron; its color, that of silver or tin. Between Ayer's brook and Braintree hill is clay-slate, or shale, which consists of clay, iron, and lime. Talcose-schist is the prevailing rock in the remaining portion of the town. Real talcose-schist contains from 32 per cent. to 3; per cent. of magnesia, whereas this rock generally has only 2 per cent. or less. Talcose-schist differs from clay-slate in having magnesia instead of iron and lime; but the so-called talcose rock in Braintree contains in place of the required per cent. of magne- sia to make it talcose, about seventy per cent. of silica, the principal, some- times the only, ingredient of quartz. There are, however, beds of impure steatite, or talc, commonly known as soapstone, on the farms of Edwin F. Thresher and William C. Holman, which substance in its pure state is almost pure magnesia. Notwithstanding the non-talcose character of this rock, geologists prefer to retain its old name, talcose-schist, since the rock resem-
S
GEOLOGY-HISTORY.
bles talcose-schist in all points except that named above. It strongly resists disintegration, more so than clay-slate, for which reason the surface of Brain- tree, the western half especially, is more rocky and rough than is generally the case with towns to the east of it, where calciferous mica-schist prevails. Numerous white quartz rocks, and boulders showing, many of them, a high degree of metamorphism, are spread over this section and not a few are dark and solid, or trappean, in character. About a mile north of Mud pond, at the foot of Oak hill, is a ledge of syenitic rock. Syenite, like granite, contains quartz and feldspar, but has hornblende, a black mineral, instead of mica. It is therefore granitic in character, though darker than true granite. Some quarrying was done in this ledge many years ago and the yield was a fair quality of building stone. Not being easily accessible it is of little value. The foundation of the Braintree hill meeting house was obtained there Syenitic boulders, many of five to ten tons weight, are thickly spread south- ward from this ledge over Quaker hill to Randolph line.
DRIFT .- The fact that these syenitic boulders are totally unlike the parent rocks (clay-slate and talcose-schist) over which they lie and that they are wholly confined to a width of about half a mile, makes almost necessary the inference that they were carried from some place to their present position. They must have been drifted thither by glaciers, for which reason they are called "Drift." Striæ found on rocks within the drift area support this hypothesis. The boulders have the same composition as the syenitic ledge and are spread only southward from it, which is evidence that they had their birthplace there. The rocking-rock also owes its position, probably, to the drift and came from the same place. It is a mica-schist and belongs to the syenitic family, from which it differs in having an abundance of mica. "It is highly metamorphosed, with sprinklings of garnet and numerous veins of quartz passing through it."-Geol. of Vt.
MINERALS .- Gold has been found in the sand, gravel, and other flood- wash of the branch and its tributaries, but in quantities too minute to pay investment. Iron ore, from a slaty ledge with quartz veins on Quaker hill, has been analyzed and found to contain a paying per cent. of excellent iron. How large the deposit is, has never been ascertained. It certainly has con- siderable extent for it completely outwits the compass needle in several places.
SOIL ..- The soil in different parts of Braintree does not differ radically, yet it changes with the change of rock strata. Since calciferous mica-schist and clay-slate contain considerable quantities of lime and decompose more readily than talcose schist, which is nearly destitute of lime, that part of the town east of Braintree hill naturally has a deeper, richer soil than the part west. Both soils are well supplied with iron. That in the western part con- tains a large per cent. of silica which is the principal stalk producing element in the growth of cereals. Such soil only requires lime and potash, or soda, to be capable of yielding a profitable return in that branch of husbandry. Braintree is not likely to excel in grain products, for its rockiness adds to the cost of cultivation and much of its soil is moist and favorable for grass, ren-
9
DRIFT, MINERALS, SCIL, BEFORE THE CHARTER.
dering capital in stock-raising the surer investment. Land now tilled to some extent, was in the early history of the town too moist for anything but past- urage. Long tillage has greatly reduced the resources of virgin soil in some places; yet there are many good farms-farms that will be productive when the much-boasted soil of the prairies has been exhausted.
III. HISTORY.
BEFORE THE CHARTER .- One of the first steps toward securing a charter was to present to the legislature a petition specifying the grant desired and signed by a certain number (probably) of responsible persons. We cannot recount, for we do not know, all the influences and circumstances which combined in the formation and settlement of Braintree, especially prior to its charter existence. The chief motive to the enterprise was money-getting; the fever of speculation prevailed then as now. This is shown by the fact that the proprietors of Roxbury and Northfield petitioned also for the grant of Braintree, but were denied. They even engaged Reuben Spaulding of Roxbury, in 1788, to fell a few acres of forest, thereby to establish a prior right or claim to such grant, and Spaulding did make a small clearing on what has since been known as the "Josiah Tilson" farm, which Edward Maun now occupies. It is also shown by the fact that only a few of the Braintree proprietors ever resided in the town and nearly all of these specu- lated more or less largely in land. There were, then, two sets of petitioners, for the grant of Braintree. It is not difficult to conjecture the influences brought to bear by both parties upon the legislature of Vermont in behalf of their respective interests; though on the other hand it is possible that neither party knew anything of what the other had done. The principle of "fair play" is quite visible in the action of the legislature in favoring the petition- ers for only one grant and denying those who petitioned for three. It is quite likely that both parties petitioned about the same time, 1779, for the three towns were granted during the October session of the following year, Brain- tree on the 2d of November, 1780, and Roxbury and Northfield four days later. The grant of Braintree did not receive the executive sanction and seal till August 1, 1781, when Gov. Chittenden issued the charter. The original document sent to the proprietors has long since been lost or destroyed, only a copy of it being in the proprietors' records at the town clerk's office. A duplicate of the original charter is on file in the office of the Secretary of State at Montpelier. (For Charter see account of centennial celebration.)
FROM 1781 TO 1783 .- The charter constituted the petitioners the sole owners or proprietors of the town of Braintree, to be invested, when legally organized, with all the rights, privileges, and immunities which belong to corporate bodies. On receiving the charter, it would naturally be supposed that immigration and settlement would soon follow, and the terms of that instrument made these necessary on penalty of forfeiture. It is not known that any person even entered the town for three or four years ending in 1783. There were no Indian residents. The war of the Revolution, in progress at this time, probably retarded settlement. Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown Oct.
10
HISTORY.
19, 1782, and a preliminary treaty of peace was signed at Paris Nov. 30, of the same year; but it was not till April 19, 1783, that hostilities were declared at an end, and peace was not guaranteed ti'l the 3d of September following. Till after these events had transpired. not one of the proprietors, it appears, ventured to inspect the new acquisition, nor did they formally deliberate respecting it. It was doubtless the part of wisdom to defer action, as the history of some other towns will show, Randolph, for instance, settled in 1777, suffered repeatedly from Indian depredations, and in October, 1780, several persons were taken captive by a band of Indians that had taken part- in the burning of Royalton. At last, however, came the time for action.
THE PROPRIETORSHIP.
The proprietors, acting as a body, were a proprietary, and "proprietor- ship" denotes the time in which that body exercised control over town affairs or matters pertaining especially to itself. It practically ceased in 1788, when the town was organized. The number of original proprietors was 65, Thomas Chittenden, the first governor of Vermont, being one. Nearly all resided in Braintree, Suffolk Co., Mass. (including Quincy and Randolph),. and Sutton, Worcester Co., Mass. (including Millbury).
FIRST PROPRIETORS' MEETING .- The proprietors first met at Brookline, Mass., and here is a literal copy of the record of their doings:
"August 6 1783
"Then met at Mr. Ebenr Bakers Inholder in Brookline according to an Advertisement In the Publick Prints, in order to Forniinto a Body For the Purpose of Sittleing ye Township of Braintree in the State of Vermont Granted by the General Assembly of Sd State in October 1780
"Voted Mr. James Brackett Chairman, then Voted to AdJorn the meet- ing To Mr. Jonathan Danas at One Oclock the Same Day in Sd Town of Brookline
"Voted Mr David Holbrook to be our Proprietors Clerk
"Voted to Chose a Committee to Lay out the Rights in Said Town
"Voted this Committee Consist of Two
"Voted Mr. Jacob Spear be one of this Committee
"Voted Colo. Jonathan Holman be one of this Committee
"Voted this Committee Should proceed to the Laying out Said Rights
"Voted this Committee Should be allowed Four Shillings and Six pence. pr Day for Each of them, they Finding their own horses
"Voted to Raise Eighteen Shillings on Each Singal Right to Defray the Charges that Shall arise on Laying out Sd Town
"Voted Mr. James Brackett Should be Treasurer for the County of Suffolk
"Voted Mr. Jonathan Woodbery be Treasurer for the County of Worcester
"Voted the Treasurers Should be the Collectors
"Voted to AdJorn this meeting to the Last Tuesday in October To meet at Capt. Isaac Joneses Inholder in Westown [Mass.] at One Oclock"
11
THE PROPRIETORSHIP, LAYING OUT THE TOWN.
LAYING OUT THE TOWN .- The town was laid out in three divisions; the first division was three and a half miles wide through the center of the town east and west, and a row of lots north of this, on Randolph line, to Brook- field; the second division was the part of the town north, and the third division the part south, of the first division. Each division was subdivided into lots of 100 acres each. A right consisted of an equal share of all the land in town, each proprietor being entitled to a right. This division is according to the last plan of the town as drawn probably by Ebenezer Waters, surveyor. The plan drawn by Jacob Spear and Jonathan Holman, com- mittee for laying out the town, differed from this, probably in several respects; but the points of difference cannot be specified because the old plan was lost quite early. It could not have been more than a mere outline, roughly mapping and locating the different sections or lots, for in a little less than three months after their election, at the adjourned meeting Oct. 29, 1783, Spear and Holman, reported to the proprietors and presented the plan, which was accepted. At the same meeting it was "Voted to Proceed to Drawing of Said Rights as they are prict [pricked] on the plan." During that time they had journeyed by horse-back from Braintree, Mass., to this town and returned. They could not therefore have accomplished a perfect and detailed survey, but probably had made one sufficient in detail to form a plan that might serve as a basis for drawing "said rights." This also appears from the fact that Ebenezer Waters, Barnabas Strong, and Samson Nichols were subsequently employed in the survey, and it was voted, Sept. 16, 1788, "that the lines run and corners made" by them "shall forever remain without any alteration,"
It is more than probable that only the allotments of the first division and a part of the second, or probably only a part of both, were "prict," on the first plan, and that the "Drawing of Said Rights" mentioned above was only the drawing of the first of the three lots belonging to each right. For the proprietors voted Nov. 29, 1785, to choose a committee of three "to see to the Laying out said rights," David Holbrook, Andrew Elliott and Jacob Spear being such committee; also"to Lay out to Each proprietor Two Lots of land in Sd town, to include one Hundred acres Each." It will be noticed that all the lots by the first draught belong to the first or to the second division except two, in which case the right, or lot, drawn might have been changed for another by a vote taken Oct. 29, 1783, viz .: if any "right that shall be Drawn Should not answer for a house Lot in his or their opinion, Shall be allowed to pick on some other Right his Conforming to the plan as it stands Prict out on said Plan."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.