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Gc 974.302 L84c 1128701
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 2612
The History of Londonderry
JUDGE ADDISON E. CUDWORTH
THE HISTORY
with
GENEALOGICAL
Sketches
OF
LONDONDERRY, Ve.
BY
Addison E. Cudworth
Published by THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY at Montpelier, Vermont, MCMXXXVI.
-
COPYRIGHT, 1935, by THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1128701
Contents
FOREWORD
· 6
INTRODUCTORY AND DESCRIPTIVE ·
7
ANTECEDENTS OF THE FOUNDER AND THE PIONEERS IO
ROGERS' PETITIONS AND TITLE; CHANGE OF NAME AND DIVISIONS OF THE TOWNSHIP 15
FIRST COMING OF WHITE MEN; SLOW DEVELOPMENT OF SETTLEMENT 2I ·
PUBLIC LANDS; AND LAND TITLES
· 34
SOME EARLY HOMESTEADS AND TAVERNS 38 .
CHURCH HISTORY · 45
SCHOOLS
· 58
MILLS AND MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS 61 .
POST OFFICES, POST ROADS, &C.
· 7I
CEMETERIES
. 75
MILITARY RECORD
. 79
ANCIENT TOWN RECORDS
.
90
GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES
.
III
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS OF LONDONDERRY
.
.
201
Foreword
THE following pages contain the result of research and investigations first begun some forty years ago and continued from time to time, in a desul- tory way, thenceforward; written out, little by little, as facts were estab- lished or came to light, and ever more as a species of recreation and personal gratification than purposed task.
No publication of the same was then, nor for long thereafter, contem- plated, and the manuscript grew in form of topics rather than chapters or effort to construct what might be called a chronological narrative; which may serve to explain the general form and frame-work in which they now appear.
The writer disclaims all ambition or desire to be termed historian and is content to pose as a mere gleaner among the records and traditions of by- gone days and in the field of former local activities.
They are now submitted in more permanent form with the hope that so they may escape total oblivion; "Lest we forget."
Londonderry, Vermont, March, 1928
THE AUTHOR
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
This story of a Vermont town and its people is published by the Vermont His- torical Society in accordance with its policy of helping to perpetuate such records. Fudge Cudworth had devoted much labor to the preparation of a historical sketch of Londonderry, his labor extending over many years. It is probable that he would never have completed his task but for the promise, given to him by me on the Society's behalf, that we would assume financial responsibility for the pub- lication. That promise, I am glad to think, led Fudge Cudworth to complete his work. Unfortunately, he did not live to supervise its publication. Indeed, a final revision of the manuscript which he had planned was never made. It has seemed best to publish the manuscript just as he left it, rather than to attempt to give it the revision he had planned to give it.
JOHN SPARGO
President Vermont Historical Society
December, 1935
Introductory and Descriptive
T HE town of Londonderry, Vermont, occupies the extreme north- westerly corner of Windham County and, as now constituted, con- tains a little more than half of ancient Londonderry which was originally chartered as Kent and included nearly all the area of the present towns of Londonderry and Windham.
It is bounded northerly by Weston and Andover; in Windsor County; easterly by Windham; southerly by Jamaica; and westerly by Winhall and Landgrove, in Bennington County.
Its area is approximately 17, 450 acres and consists of hill slopes and nar- row valleys having a fertile soil and affording sites for excellent farms, as well as some steep and rocky mountain slopes unfitted for cultivation but producing good timber growths of both hard and soft woods.
The greatest elevation is upon the extreme eastern border where the boundary line passes over the summit of Glebe Mountain, which has an elevation of 2944 feet above the sea level and 1923 feet above the village of South Londonderry, at its base on the west.
The territory is well watered by West River and its tributary streams of greater or less size within her borders.
This river enters the town from Weston on the north and, in a southerly course, passes through its entire length. Its tributaries from the east are Beaver Brook, which joins the river where it first crosses into the town, and Pond Brook, which is the outlet of Lowell Lake (formerly known as Derry Pond or Warner's Pond), a body of water of about 250 to 300 acres extent, lying in the northeasterly part of the township; while on the west it receives the waters of Utley Branch, from Landgrove, of Flood Brook and of Win- hall River, the latter coming down from the main Green Mountain range and joining West River a short distance above where the latter crosses the line into Jamaica. Winhall River, a little above its mouth, receives the waters of Cook Brook which, having its rise near the summit of the moun- tain range, passes across the north-easterly corner of Winhall and through the south-westerly part of Londonderry to its junction with the larger stream.
There are two villages within the town limits, Londonderry and South Londonderry, both on West River and separated by a distance of about three miles. Two post-offices are located in town, one at each of the two
8
Introductory and Descriptive
villages; one known as "North Windham," but located in the north-easterly part of Londonderry, having been discontinued upon the establishment of the Rural Routes from South Londonderry.
The West River Railroad (operated by the Central Vermont Railway Co. until the "Flood of 1927") had its northern terminus at South London- derry village and connected with the main lines at Brattleboro, thirty-six miles to the south-east. Three miles below the northern terminus, and within this town, was located a station on this railroad, known as Winhall Station; but the destruction wrought by the flood stopped all operation of the line and needed repairs and replacements are yet unmade and uncertain as to construction.
The first telephone line reaching into town was constructed from Ludlow to South Londonderry, local donations of poles and labor having been made to insure its building. This provided service only at the two public stations, one in each village, and was maintained but a short time, never proving re- munerative or very satisfactory.
Later, there was erected by the Melendy Telephone Co., a local institu- tion in this town, a series of lines running into many of the adjoining and nearby towns and connecting with the "Marsh Line" at Chester and with the New England Tel. & Tel. Co. at Newfane, thus affording means of com- munication with the outside world. In addition to its several public stations, this line, or series of lines, gave service quite generally to patrons at their homes all along the course covered by its poles and wires. After many years of service the parent company sold out to the "Gleason Telephone Co.", which, in turn, disposed of it to the Windham County Telephone Co., the present owner and operator.
Mail service is rendered by two long established daily stage lines; one crossing the mountain from Londonderry to Manchester Depot, about fourteen miles to the west, and the other connecting South Londonderry with Chester Depot, via Londonderry, about seventeen miles to the north- east. And, since the flood of 1927, the mail from Brattleboro, which was brought on the railroad until that disaster occurred, has been brought to both the postoffices by truck daily. There is, also, a daily stage and mail service between the two villages, and three "Rural Delivery Routes" from the South Londonderry office have been established and in operation for several years past.
Measured by present standards, there is but small development of water power, but in years past, when small establishments and local manufactur- ing were the rule through the country towns, most of the sites were utilized and, considering the size of the town, quite a large amount of manufacturing was done.
9
Introductory and Descriptive
The shrinking volume of flowage and the combination of capital that has developed power on larger streams, with the growing centralization of manufacturing industry in mills where the population was denser, have re- sulted in the abandonment of many former busy little mills and factories and the disappearance of the buildings and dams.
Londonderry is primarily an agricultural town and compares most favor- ably as such with any of the "mountain towns" in the state.
Its soil is strong and fertile and, for the most part, the portion suitable for tillage is well farmed and productive, yielding abundant returns of all crops suited to its latitude and altitude.
Few, if any, towns can offer more desirable sites for summer homes, at- tractive, sightly, with scenic beauty, health-giving air and the purest of spring water; and these are being taken up more and more by those who seek and find rest and comfort in close touch with nature.
The population of the town as shown by the last census (1920) is 911 and shows a decrease of 51 from the last preceding census.
The highest record thus shown was reached in 1860, when the town con- tained 1367 residents.
As now constituted territorially the township differs considerably from its original form and extent, having lost on the east most of the present town of Windham and gained a small gore of little more than nine hundred acres on the south-west.
It is believed that no history of the town has ever been seriously at- tempted, though in various Gazetteers have appeared brief, and evidently hastily written, sketches of its establishment and early settlement.
Much that has been written in these various articles and many of the traditions that have been current in town fail of support from authentic records, and many statements of alleged facts are by such records clearly shown to be unfounded and untrue.
Local histories and the annals of these little communities, in so far as they contain records and descriptions of actual occurrences and conditions, are of much interest and no inconsiderable value.
Indeed, if they be not the very threads from which are, or may be, woven the texture of more general history, they may well be termed the filaments from which such threads are spun.
The following pages are designed to preserve, so far as they may, from utter obscurity some facts and items relative to the formation of this town and its life for a century and a half; and no other excuse is offered for their existence.
Antecedents of the Founder and the Pioneers
IN a broad sense, History started "In the Beginning" and has, does and . will run on like an endless serial.
Confined even to the smallest and most unimportant regions and com- munities, the study of causes and effects presents such an endless chain each effect when produced proving in turn the cause for further effect, that it is difficult to determine at what point one may best make the beginning of effort.
The very early New England towns have a history colored, in their be- ginnings, by the causes which led to the removal of the founders from their old homes to the wilderness where new ones were established, and note of these often helps the understanding of later occurrences.
While political and financial considerations were potent in some cases, they were, in the main, secondary to the greater moving cause which was religious in its nature, whether found in the English Puritan, the Scotch- Irish Protestants or the Quakers; all of whom, with some others, contri- buted to the beginnings of New England.
These earlier communities almost invariably proved fruitful hives whence went forth later swarms or groups to the forming of newer towns and push- ing the frontiers still further back in the wilderness.
Ancient KENT (now Londonderry and Windham, Vt.) was one of the results of this condition and the offspring, in a certain sense, of the older town of Londonderry, N. H.
In reviewing the history of the younger town it may, therefore, be useful, even if not necessary, to refer to the circumstances attending the settlement and foundation of the older, and the antecedents of the first colonists therein.
New England is wont to claim, sometimes boastfully, a Puritan origin, but neither Kent nor the parent town in New Hampshire sprang from English Puritanism. They came from Scotch-Irish stock whose presence was distasteful, in large degree, to the Puritans and their immediate des- cendants, though as strict and rigid in religious beliefs and conduct as any and led to their migration by a like desire for religious freedom.
Long years before the accession of Elizabeth to the English throne, re- ligious controversies had vexed the kingdom and raged with violence
II
Antecedents of the Founder and the Pioneers
throughout its extent; and for years the strife between Papist and Prot- estant, between the adherent of the established church and the noncon- formist went bitterly on, developing a heat that kindled the fires of Smith- field. When Elizabeth ascended the throne those fires were indeed quenched, but the day of religious toleration had not yet dawned.
To us, of this day and in this land of religious as well as political freedom, the effort to fully conceive the rancor and bitterness of feeling between the warring creeds and their adherents in those days were vain. When Prot- estantism gained the ascendency and the statutes of the realm assumed to fix the articles of faith and forms of worship the heavy hand of the estab- lished church was felt not only by its Romish adversaries but as well by those protestants who refused compliance with the prescribed forms and denied the right of Parliament to control their faith and religious life.
Upon the suppression of an Irish uprising early in the seventeenth century a large area in the north of Ireland fell to the crown by the attainder of rebels, and the English King encouraged his protestant subjects to settle there. Among others, a colony from Argyleshire, Scotland, passed over the Channel in 1612 and settled in the city of Londonderry, Ireland, and its vicinity.
When William of Orange overthrew James the Second and the latter, with his queen, fled to France, the north of Ireland contained in and about Londonderry a hardy protestant people, earnest and sincere in their beliefs.
Out of all the trials and persecutions to which these non-conforming sects had been subjected there grew in them a more earnest and steadfast purpose to follow the dictates of conscience in religious faith and practice, and a race or class was developed who were of courage, of deep convictions and true to those convictions to their utmost extent.
Quite equally with the Puritans, they were reverent, earnest and brave, of stern, unswerving purpose; and neither the force of persecution from opposing sects nor the arm of civil power could deter them from following what they deemed the true faith and pure worship.
Such were the Scotch-Irish Protestants in the north of Ireland when James the Second sought to regain his crown and kingdom.
In the spring of 1689, James came over from France, landed in Ireland and, gathering his supporters about him, marched toward the north of that island with the purpose of crossing over to Scotland where friendly bands awaited his coming. Had those well laid plans been successfully carried out, the progress of religious liberty and, probably, the history of England would have been wholly changed.
Only one town opposed James in his course until he reached the walls of the ancient city of Londonderry where his hopes were destined to be rudely shattered. Before the arrival of James on the scene there had been an at- tempt to place within the city a body of the Irish troops, most of whom,
I2
Antecedents of the Founder and the Pioneers
with the Lord Lieutenant Tyrconnel, remained steadfastly loyal to him. The gates, however, were bravely closed by the citizens who firmly main- tained their position, excluding the partizans of James.
On April 17th the place was fully invested and one of the most notable sieges in history continued for the space of one hundred and five days there- after. They were ill prepared in everything but courage to withstand a siege or defend the walls, but of every resource they made the most possible. Resolutely they held out though famine, disease and death reduced their force; even, when absolute starvation seemed certain, decreeing that no man, on pain of death, should speak of surrendering the city. This stubborn resistance held James in check until ships bearing relief forced their way to the city, when the siege was raised and James, baffled and thwarted in his plans, withdrew with his forces toward the south where, later, he met signal defeat at the Boyne, when his hope of regaining his crown and kingdom was utterly overthrown.
Thus did these sturdy few prevent the junction of the Irish and Scottish forces of James, keep him in Ireland and save England and the western Lowlands of Scotland from witnessing and suffering the strife and bloodshed that must have followed his landing on that side of the channel.
William was not slow to recognize the service thus done him and his realm, and all who bore arms in defence of the city were by his order thence- forward exempt from taxation anywhere in his dominions.
Such as these, and of these, were the first settlers in Londonderry, N. H., and this exemption was enjoyed by some of their number until the American Revolution. Though thus gratefully remembered by their sovereign, they were still surrounded by people, some of whose fathers had been deprived of their lands by force, opposers of their religion and hostile to their every interest. They were without ownership of the soil, holding their lands by lease from the crown, and conscientiously unable to conform to the faith and forms of the established church of the realm.
Seeking a home where they might enjoy their religion without contention and where they might become proprietors of the lands whereon their homes were established, they sent an agent to the new world to secure and locate a tract for their occupation.
Reverend William Boyd, a Presbyterian clergyman, early in year 1718 crossed the ocean in their interest bearing an address, signed by two hundred and seventeen prospective emigrants who expressed a desire to re- move to New England if afforded encouragement. Suitable encouragement was given and Mr. Boyd communicated the fact to his friends in Ireland. They then converted their property into money and set sail for their new homes, arriving at Boston in August, 1718.
There the party was broken up into smaller parties or colonies, the one in which our special interest centers being composed chiefly of the former con-
13
Antecedents of the Founder and the Pioneers
gregation of Reverend James MacGregor, who was himself of this body of emigrants. These people determined to continue their relations with each other and with their pastor when the precise location of their settlement was determined.
After a winter of great privation they learned of a tract called Nutfield which, on investigation, seemed well suited to their purposes and they there founded their settlement, which dates from April 11, 1719 (old style). They applied to the General Court of New Hampshire for a grant of this land and at length secured a charter from that Province covering a tract then named Londonderry, from the city of their former home and scene of their suffering and victory in the memorable siege.
This charter to the settlers of the New Hampshire town bore date June 21, 1722, and the town prospered and increased in population, wealth and importance with rapid strides.
These settlers very soon obtained for the products of the looms in town a most enviable reputation, and the linens of Londonderry manufacture found ready sale at higher prices than those from other sources.
They were also credited with having first introduced the cultivation of the potato into New England, and the facts seem to fully warrant such credit. Constant accessions to their numbers were received, by removals from other parts of New England to this town and also by the arrival of others from the north of Ireland; and after a few years we find them sending out settlers to other localities and aiding in establishing new towns in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts, even sending some as far west as to Cherry Valley, N. Y. and as far east as Truro, Nova Scotia.
One small party from this body comprised the first settlers of Kent, now known as Londonderry and Windham, in Vermont. While the founding of the parent town resulted from a desire for religious freedom, the establish- ment of the latter seems rather to have been based on expectation of pecuniary profit, coupled with some degree of love of adventure in new enterprises.
The nature of these people, as evidenced in their history for more than two generations, marked them as peculiarly fitted to be pioneers in develop- ing and building up a new country, well calculated by their constancy and energy to succeed and to impress their own characteristics upon the new- formed communities.
Among the grantees, and earliest settlers, of Londonderry, N. H. was one James Rogers, who, according to Caleb Stark in his HISTORY OF DUNBAR- TON, N. H., published in 1860, removed and established his home, some years prior to 1746, upon the border of "The Great Meadow," so-called, on territory later known as Starkstown and chartered in 1765 as Dunbarton, N. H .; but Hon. Josiah Drummond, in a pamphlet published in 1902, con- tends that the James Rogers who was one of the grantees of Londonderry,
14
Antecedents of the Founder and the Pioneers
N. H. and this early settler of Dunbarton were distinct individuals and that the latter removed in 1739 from Methuen, Mass. to the place later chartered as Dunbarton. This Drummond account is said to be the one credited by the members of the Rogers family who have investigated the matter in recent years and seems to be well supported by ancient records of deeds, and other records preserved in New Hampshire. Whether Stark or Drummond are cor- rect, it is established that one James Rogers and Joseph Putney (sometimes written Pudney) were the earliest settlers of Starkstown (Dunbarton) and their coming must have been some years prior to 1746 as appletrees by them planted there were then in fruit. That year their houses were burned, their orchards destroyed and their cattle slain by a band of hostile Indians, of whose approach they were warned barely in time to escape with their fam- ilies, in the night, to Rumford (now Concord).
Neither Rogers nor Putney had any sort of title to the land they then occupied but, living at Rumford until 1749, they returned and again set up their homes at "The Great Meadow." Neither of them was named in the list of grantees of Starkstown (1751) but the proprietors not only confirmed their possession and title but assigned shares to the eldest sons of each. This was done in March, 1752, shortly before James Rogers died.
His death occurred prior to September, 1753, for in that month a meeting was warned to be held at the house of Mary Rogers, his widow, in the fol- lowing month. He is said to have had six sons when he lived in Starkstown, three of whom, at least, were members of the famous "Rogers' Rangers" in the old "French and Indian War," Robert being the leader and com- mander while the other two were officers under him. One of these three was the James who later secured the grant of the township of Kent, now Lon- donderry and Windham, Vt., and became at one time its sole proprietor.
In 1760, this last named James was a resident of Starkstown and in May of that year purchased land in Londonderry, N. H. and soon moved to that place. It is not improbable that, during his military service, he became ac- quainted with the territory he later sought and obtained through the grant of Kent, and which lay between his home and the scene of much of his ser- vice with "The Rangers" in the vicinity of Lake George and Fort William Henry. Like his father, he seemed desirous of setting up his abode in some new and hitherto unsettled locality, though he took care to first secure title to the land he occupied. His purpose or attempt to build for himself a landed estate in the new territory was, as we shall later note, frustrated by subsequent developments.
Rogers' Petitions and Title; Change of Name and Divisions of the Township
THOUGH lying among New Hampshire Grants which nearly surrounded its territory, Kent was not of them, and the settlers had not occasion to fear that the New York authorities would attempt to disturb or contest their titles. In other respects their interests must have been like those in neigh- boring towns, and this community of interests resulted in their acting in unison with the other settlers at a later date.
The lands of Kent were as fertile, as accessible, as desirable and as well adapted for clearing and converting into productive farms as any in the ad- joining towns, and why this tract was left ungranted all the while Governor Wentworth was disposing of townships west of the Connecticut River none can tell. Thomlinson (Grafton), Andover (then including Weston), Bromley (Peru) and Winhall were all granted prior to the date of the petition of Rogers and his associates for the grant of Kent.
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