USA > Vermont > Orange County > Bradford > A history of Bradford, Vermont : containing some account of the place of its first settlement in 1765, and the principal improvements made, and events which have occurred down to 1874--a period of one hundred and nine years. With various genealogical records, and biographical sketches of families and individuals, some deceased, and others still living > Part 2
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PROVIDED `ALWAYS, and upon condition, nevertheless, That if our said grantees, their heirs or assigns, or some, or one of them, shall not within three years next after the date of this our present Grant, settle on the said tract of land hereby granted, so many families as shall amount to one family.for every thousand acres of the same tract, or if they our said grantees, or one of them, their, or one of their, heirs or assigns, shall not also within three years, to be computed as aforesaid, plant and effectually culti- vate, at least three acres for every fifty acres of such of the hereby granted lands as are capable of cultivation: or if they our said grantees, or any of them, or any of their heirs or assigns, or any other person or persons by their, or any of their privity, consent, or procurement shall fell, cut down, or otherwise destroy any of the Pine Trees by these presents reserved to us, our heirs and suc- cessors, or hereby intended so to be, without the Royal License of us, our heirs, or successors, for so doing first had and obtained, that then, and in any of these cases,
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this our present Grant and everything therein contained shall cease, and be absolutely void; and the lands and premises hereby granted shall revert to, and vest in us, our heirs and successors, as if this our present Grant had not been made ; any thing herein before contained to the contrary in any-wise, notwithstanding.
Provided further, and upon condition, also, neverthe- less, and we do hereby for us, our heirs and successors, direct and appoint that this our present Grant shall be registered and entered on record within six month there- of, in our Secretary's office in our city of New York, in our said province, in one of the books of Patents there remaining, and that a Doquet thereof shall also be entered in our Auditor's Office there, for our said Province ; and that in default thereof, this our present Grant shall be void, and of none offect ; any thing before in these pres- ents contained to the contrary thereof, in any-wise, not- withstanding. And we do, moreover, of our special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, consent and agree that, this our present Grant, being registered, recorded, and a Doquet thereof made, as before directed and ap- pointed, shall be good and effectual in the law, to all in- tents, constructions and purposes whatever, against us, our heirs and successors, notwithstanding any misreciting, misbounding, misnaming or other imperfection or omis- sion of, in, or in any-wise concerning, the above granted, or hereby mentioned or intended to be granted, lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises, or any part thereof.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, We have caused our Letters to be made Patent, and the Great Seal of our said pro- vince to be thereunto affixed.
WITNESS our said trusty and well beloved Cadwallder Colden Esquire, our said Lieutenant Governor and Com- mander in Chief of our said province of New York and the territories depending thereon, in America, at our Fort in the city of New York the Third day of May, in the
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year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sev enty ; and of our reign the Tenth.
State of New York ) Secretaries Office 1
I hereby Certify the preceeding to be a true copy of Letters Patent, as of record in this Office .- July 8th, 1807.
Ben. Ford
Dep. Sec."
By a deed from the aforesaid William Smith, of New York, to Samuel Sleeper, of Mooretown, dated August 14, 1770, and recorded in the office of the Clerk of the county of Gloucester, subsequently Orange, December 31, 1770, it appears that the twenty-four grantees who were asso- ciated with the said William Smith, whose names are given in the above recited Royal Grant, or Charter, did, on the 30th and 31st day of May in the same year, by a certain Indenture of Lease and Release, convey and con- firm to him, the said Smith, all their rights and titles to the lands, and everything pertaining thereto in the said Mooretown-and that, in accordance with a request from, and agreement with, the settlers on the said tract, or par- cel of land, made in writing, before the Royal Charter was obtained, and with a view to secure to them their respec- tive rights, the said Smith did, August 14, 1770, by an " Indenture of Lease and Release," convey and confirm to Samuel Sleeper all his right and title to certain tracts or sections of land, which are particularly described, ly- ing along on Connecticut River, eight in number, not ad- joining each other, but in alternate sections, and reaching back from said river about one mile and a half, on an av- erage, the same to contain, in the whole, three thousand acres, more or less. The settlers were then sparsely located, along near the river, most of them ; and this deed, in ac- cordance with their agreement with Sleeper, one of their number, was given to secure to them their claims to the
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lands on which they had, without any authority, made settlements. It is obvious that in the transaction Smith kept a sharp look-out to his personal interest, in the way of lands, and especially water privileges. By the way, this is the tract of three thousand acres lying in Moore- town, on Connecticut River, which Thompson's Vermont Gazzetteer-erroneously-tells us was granted by the State of New York to Sir Harry Moore, and by him con- veyed to thirty settlers. It does not appear that Sir Harry Moore ever had any interest in the matter.
The following is a certified copy of the Deed, or as. it was called, " Indenture of Lease and Release," from Wil- liam Smith to Samuel Sleeper, with a view to quiet the thirty first settlers in their possessions. As it was at the time a very important document, and somewhat curious in its specifications, we give it entire.
" DEED FROM WILLIAM SMITH, ESQ., TO SAMUEL SLEEPER, ESQ .- 3,000 ACRES.
" This Indenture, made the Fourteenth day of August, in the year of our. Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and and Seventy, Between the Honorable William Smith, Esq., of the city of New York, Party of the first part, and Samuel Sleeper, Esq., of Mooretown, County of Glou- cester, Party of the second part ; Whereas our Sovereign Lord, King George the Third, by his Letters Patent, dated at Fort George, in the city of New York, on the Third day of May, in the said year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy, did grant unto the said William Smith and Twenty-four other persons, therein' named, all that certain tract or parcel of land, in the Provincee of New York, situate, lying and being on the west side of Connecticut River in the said county of Gloucester, Beginning on the west side of the river at a White Pine Tree, blazed and marked for the Northeast
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corner of a Tract of land known by the name of Fairlec, and runs thence, North sixty-one degrees West, Five Hundred and ninety chains ; then North, Thirty-two de- grees East, Five Hundred and Twenty Chains; then South, Fifty-nine degrees East, Five Hundred Chains, to the river, then down the river, as it winds and turns, to the place where the Tract first began ; containing Twen- tv-five thousand acres of land, and the usual allowances for highways-To Have and to Hold one equal Twenty- fifth part thereof: the whole, in Twenty-five parts to be divided unto each of the said Grantees, their heirs and assigns, as Tennants in common ; and to hold the same of our said Lord, the King, his heirs and successors, in free and common Socage, and upon the terms mentioned in the said Letters Patent, as by the same, reference thereto be- ing had, may more fully appear; and whereas by Indent- ures of Lease and Release, dated repectively the Thirtieth and Thirty-first day of May, in the same year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy, the several Twenty-four other Grantees, in the same Patent named, did convey their several parts, shares, and proprieties, to the said William Smith, to hold the same, to his heirs and assigns forever, in fee, as by the said Indenture of Lease and Release, reference thereto being had, may more fully appear, by virtue of which Letters Patent and Indenture, he the said party of the first part is now seized in fee of all that Tract of Land by the same Letters Patent granted, and hereinbefore described, Now, Therefore, This Indent- ure Witnesseth, That, the said William Smith, for diverse good causes and considerations, him thereunto moving, and in full completion of an agreement made previous to the issuing of the same Letters Patent, for the benefit of the settlers on the said Tract, and at their request, signi- fied in writing, under their hands, and for the sum of Ten Shillings, lawful money, to him in hand paid by the said Samuel Sleeper, as is hereby acknowledged, hath granted,
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bargained and sold, aliened, released and confirmed, and hereby doth clearly and absolutely grant, bargain and sell, alien, release and confirm unto him, the said Samuel (in his actual possession, by virtue of a bargain and sale for one year, to him thereof, made by Indenture, dated yes- terday, according to the terms of the statute, for the trans- ferring of uses into possession,). his heirs and assigns for- ever, all those several lots, pieces or parcels of land here- inafter more fully described, being part of the land above mentioned, and said lots in one certain map thereof made and hereunto affixed, and known and distinguished by Lots, number One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Eight, and respectively butted and bounded as fol- lows, To-wit :
Lot 1st, 510 acres, " The first of the said lots, or Num- ber One, begins at a marked White Pine Tree standing on the West bank of Connecticut River, about forty-nine chains and an half distant, on a straight line from the mouth of Hall's Brook, which empties into the said River; thence North, fifty-nine degrees West, one hundred and forty-eight chains; thence, South, thirty-one degrees West, thirty chains; thence South, fifty-nine degrees East, one hundred and sixty-three chains, to the West bank of the said River, as it winds and turns, to the place of beginning ; and contains five hundred and ten acres."
Lot 2d, 299 acres, "The second of the said lots, or Number Two, begins, ten chains distant from the South- west corner of lot number one, on a course South, thirty- one degrees West, and runs thence South, thirty-one de- grees West, twenty-five chains and fifty links; thence South fifty-nine degrees East, one hundred and seventeen chains, to the said West bank of Connecticut River ; thence along the same as it winds and turns, to the in- tersection of a line South fifty-nine degrees East, from the place of beginning on the south side of Hall's Brook, thence North fifty-nine degrees West, one hundred and
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twenty chains, to the place of beginning; and contains two hundred and ninety-nine acres."
Lot 3d, 389 acres, " The third of said lots, or Number Three, begins twelve chains distant from the Southwest corner of lot number two, on a course South, thirty-one degrees West, and runs thence, in the same course, twen- ty-nine chains, thence South fifty-nine degrees East, one hundred and seven chains, to the said bank of Connecti- cut River ; then along the same as it winds and turns, to the intersection of a line South, fifty-nine degrees East, from the place of beginning; thence North fifty-nine de- grees West, to the place of beginning; and containing three hundred and eighty-nine acres of land."
Lot 4th, 842 acres, " The fourth of the said lots, or Number Four, begins twenty-four chains distant from the Southwest corner of lot number three, on a course South, thirty-one degrees West; and runs thence on the same course seventy-four chains ; thence South fifty-nine de- grees East, one hundred chains, to the said bank of the Connecticut River ; thence along the same as it winds and turns, to the intersection of a line South, fifty-nine degrees East, from the place of beginning; thence North fifty-nine degrees West, one hundred and nine chains, to the place of beginning; and contains eight hundred and forty-two acres."
Lot 5th, 73 acres, "The fifth lot, or Number Five, be- gins twenty-three chains distant from the Southwest cor- ner of lot number four, on a course South thirty-one de- grees West, and runs thence on the same course fourteen chains and fifty links; thence South fifty-nine degrees East, sixty chains to the West bank of Wait's River; thence down along the northerly side of the same, as it winds and turns, to the intersection of a line South, and fifty-nine degrees East, from the place of beginning; con- taining seventy-three acres."
Lot 6th, 329 acres, " The sixth of said lots, or Number 3
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Six, begins eleven chains and fifty links from the South- west corner of lot number five, on a course South, thirty- one degrees West, and runs thence on the same course twenty-six chains ; thence South fifty-nine degrees East, one hundred and thirty chains, to the said west bank of Connecticut River; thence along the said river, as it winds and turns, to the intersection of a line South fifty- nine degrees West, one hundred and twenty-five chains from the place of beginning; thence North fifty-nine de- grees West, one hundred and twenty-five chains to the place of beginning and contains three hundred and twenty-nine acres."
Lot 7th, 280 acres, " The seventh of said lots, or Num- ber Seven, begins fifteen chains and fifty links distant from the Southwest corner of lot number six, on a course South, thirty-one degrees West, and runs thence on the same course twenty chains ; thence South, fifty-nine de- grees East, one hundred and forty-two chains, to the said West bank of Connecticut River; thence along the same as it winds and turns, to the intersection of a line South, fifty-nine degrees East, from the place of beginning ; thence North, fifty-nine degrees West, one hundred and thirty-seven chains and fifty links, to the place of begin- ning ; and contains two hundred and eighty acres."
Lot 8th, 303 acres, "The eighth of the said lots, or Number Eight, begins twenty-seven chains distant from the Southwest corner of lot number seven, on a course South, thirty-one degrees West, and runs thence on the same course fifteen chains; thence South fifty-nine de- grees East, four hundred and six chains and fifty links, to the said West bank of the said Connecticut River ; thence along the same, as it winds and turns; to the intersection of a line South fifty-nine degrees East, from the place of beginning; thence North fifty-nine degrees West, two hundred and forty-eight chains to the place of beginning; and contains three hundred and three acres.
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And also, All that one equal and individual moiety, or half part of land to be laid out in a square on both sides of the said Wait's River, the middle Easterly side where- of is to be eight rods below that fall in the said river which is nearest to the mouth thereof; and also all those spots of ground upon which a Grist-mill and Saw-mill now are, or may be, or are intended to be erected, nearest to the foot of the said fall; And also, all that spot of ground in the said Wait's River necessarily used, or to be used in the construction of one dam, across the said river for the use of the said mills, and all houses, buildings, orch- ards, gardens, land-meadows, commons, pasture-feedings, trees, woods, underwoods, ways, paths, waters, water courses, enjoyments, profits, accommodations, advantages, emoluments and hereditaments whatsoever, to the several lots and parcels of land above granted, belonging, or any wise appertaining, or which now are, or formerly have been, accepted, reputed, taken, known, used, occupied, or enjoyed, to, or with, the same, or as part or parcel or num- ber thereof, or of any part thereof; and the reversions and remissions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues, and services thereof, and of every part- thereof, with the appurtenances-saving and accepting to the said William Smith, his heirs and assigns forever, out of this grant and conveyance, such part of the fall on Wait's River afore- said [ as is or shall be ] " fit for one Grist-mill and one Saw- mill, to be erected by the said William Smith, his heirs and assigns, other than the spot above granted to the said Samuel Sleeper for one Grist-mill and one Saw-mill, situ- ate, or to be situated, as aforesaid; and saving and ex- cepting also, so much of the ground on the said Wait's River necessarily to be used in the construction of a dam across the said river, for the use of the said Grist- mill, as to be located at the election of the said William Smith, his heirs and assigns, with free liberty of passing and re-passing to the same, by the said William Smith,
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his heirs and assigns, and all other persons whatsoever ; To have and to hold all and singular the premises hereby granted, or intended to be granted, with the appurtenan- ces, excepting as before is excepted, unto the said Samuel Sleeper, his heirs and assigns forever ; provided always, and these presents are upon this express condition, that the said Grist-mill and Saw-mill and dam, hereby granted, are erected and situated, or shall when erected be situa- ted as aforesaid; nearest to the foot of the said fall; and provided also, if there be not room and convenience on the said fall for the erection of one or more other Grist- mills and Saw-mills and dams, than the said Grist-mill and Saw-mill and dam, hereby granted, then so much of this present indenture as grants and conveys to the said Sam- uel Sleeper, his heirs and assigns, places and spots for one Grist-mill and Saw-mill and one dam, shall be absolutely null and void, any thing in the presents contained, to the contrary notwithstanding."
" In witness whereof the parties to these presents have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals, on the day and year first above written.
WM. SMITH,
SEAL.
Witness, Gov. MORRIS, STEPHEN LUSK, SAMUEL WELLS.
" Province of { New York, SS. S Be it remembered that, on the Fif- teenth day of August, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy, personally came and appeared before me, John Watts, Esquire, one of His Majesty's council for the Pro- vince of New York, Samuel Wells, one of the subscribing witnesses to the written deed, who being by me duly sworn, did depose and say that he saw the written Grant- or, the Honorable William Smith, Esquire, seal and deliver
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the written indenture of release, as his voluntary act and deed; `for the use therein mentioned; and that this de- ponent and the other witnesses, Governor Morris and Ste- phen Lusk, signed their names thereunto; and I have in- spected the same, and finding no material erasures or in- terlineations save those that are noted to have been made before the signing and sealing thereof, I do allow the same · to be recorded.
JOHN WATTS,
. Gloucester County,
Province of New York. S · SS.
December 31, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy, the above was ordered, by me, · JOHN PETERS, Clerk."
The early settlers, twenty-two in number, being thus virtually made safe in their possessions, entered, March 18, 1771, into a covenant with Ebenezer Martin, Jesse McFarland, and Hezekiah Silloway, all of the said town, in the County of Gloucester and Province of New York, that the said committee should make to the said settlers such distribution of the three thousand acres of land which they in common drained, as, in the opinion of the committee, should be just and equitable ; and the settlers, on their part, jointly and severally bound themselves, their heirs, executors, administrators, attorney or attor- neys, to the said Martin and his associates, under a pen- alty of ten thousand pounds, lawful currency, to abide by the decision in each case. This bond was signed by the names following: David Thompson, John Martin, James Aikin, Benjamin Jenkins, William Thompson, Samuel Mc- Duffee, Samuel Gault, Ephraim Collins, Matthew Miller, Nathaniel Martin, Amos Davis, Obadiah Saunders, Jona- than Martin, William Bell, Ephriam Martin, Samuel Thomp- son, David Kennedy, David Davis, Samuel Miller, John Sawyer, Hannah Sleeper, and Hugh Miller.
Such was the Royal Charter of, and some of the earli- est official transactions in regard to Mooretown; or, as
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both its inhabitants and the General Assembly of Ver- mont subsequently, but erroneously insisted on calling it, Moretown. The original name was, beyond doubt, given it in honor of Sir Henry Moore, Baronet, and from 1765 to 1769, Captain General and Governor in Chief, in and over the Province of New York. But in accordance with the request of its inhabitants to the General Assembly of Vermont, then in session at Manchester, its name was . changed, October 23, 1788, as follows :
" It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, That the name of the township of Moretown, in the County of Orange, be forever hereafter known by the name of Bradford: And that it is hereby provided that, whenever an advertisement respecting said Township shall be published, within three years from the passing of this act, it shall be called ‘ Bradford, heretofore known by the name of Mooretown, in Orange County.' "_ See M. S. Laws of Vermont, 1787, to 1792; Vol. ii, p 260.
Probably the name Bradford was suggested by the fact that in the near vicinity of Newbury and Haverhill, Mass., there was, and still is, a highly respectable town, named Bradford. For. apparently a similar reason this township was, for a while, called Salem, as appears from a deed given, and a road survey made and recorded in 1786. The first name of all was " Wait's River Town," or "Waitstown ;" at which place a petition, signed by Samuel Hale, John Peters, and others, was dated May 21, 1770.
A grant of the Township of Bradford to Israel Smith and others, by the Legislature of Vermont.
An act making a grant of the Township of Bradford, alias Moretown, to Israel Smith, Alexander Harvey, and James Whitelaw, Esquires, as a committee in trust, for the purposes in said act specified, passed Jan. 25, 1791, at Bennington, is as follows :
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" It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont,
" That there be, and hereby is, granted to Israel Smith, Esq., of Thetford, Alexander Harvey, Esq., of Barnet, and James Whitelaw, Esq., of Ryegate, all in the County of Orange and State of Vermont, all that tract or parcel of land known and distinguished by the name of Bradford, bounded, South on Fairlee, West on Corinth, North on Newbury, and East on Connecticut River ; to be held by the said Israel, Alexander and James, in trust, for the pur- pose hereafter mentioned. And
It is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid that, the said Israel Smith, Alexander Harvey, and James Whitelaw be, and they are hereby made, a Committee of Trust, and also constituted a Board to hear, and according to equity and good conscience to try and determine the several claims of the settlers, inhabitants, and claimants in and to said township, and that it be the duty of said committee, in their discretion, to appoint a time or times, and place or places, for the hearing of the said several claims to said land ; and to give public notice thereof to the said claimants to, and settlers on, said land; and, on any person or persons, claimants to and settlers on said land, making it appear to said committee that he or they have an equitable claim to said lands, or any part there- of, in exclusion of all others, it shall be the duty of said committee, on such person or persons making out his or their claim, as aforesaid, and paying into the hands of said committee, for the use of the State, Nine Pence, lawful money, in silver or gold, per acre, for each acre he shall vindicate his claim to, as aforesaid, thereupon to eke unto such person or persons, a Quitclaim Deed of conveyance to such lands: always giving preference to the actual settlers on such lands. Provided, nevertheless, that said committee shall reserve Four Thousand Acres of said land. on the westerly side of said Town, as laid out by
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General Moses Hazen ; three hundred acres of which, be- ing part of said four thousand acres, shall be reserved for the use and benefit of a school, in said town: and three hundred acres more, being part of the said four thousand acres, for the benefit of a minister, or ministers, to be set- tled in said town ; which shall be laid out by said commit- tee or their order, in such part of said four thousand as they shall judge most equitable and just ; and shall be by the said committee deeded to said Town for the afore- said purposes, free of expense or pay for said land. And three thousand, four hundred acres, being the remaining part of said four thousand acres, shall be reserved for the said General Moses Hazen ; and on his paying, or causing to be paid, into the hands of the said committee, for the use of this State, the sum of Two shillings, lawful money, in silver or gold, for each of the said three thousand four hundred acres, remaining as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the said committee to deed the same to the said Hazen by quit-claim, as aforesaid; and to no other person or per- sons, or on any other terms whatsoever.
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