USA > Vermont > Rutland County > Poultney > A history of the town of Poultney, Vermont, from its settlement to the year 1875, with family and biographical sketches and incidents > Part 2
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The locating of the "one whole share for the incorporated society for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts," no information can now be given, except that the share is now in two parts, one in the farm now owned by Hiel Angevine, about three miles north of the west village, the other on the Deacon Hindman farm, so-called, east of the east village, and a mile or so up the Hampshire Hollow road. This farm is now owned by Michael Igo. The occupants of those two farms pay an annual rent to the Episcopal Church.
The share "for the glebe of the Church. of England" has been diverted to the use of schools in the town. This share, which would consist of 329 acres, or thereabouts, seems to have been located in parcels at different points; and so of the share "for the benefit of a school in said town." Previous to the year 1868, there had come to be a good deal of confusion in re- gard to amount of rents, as well as to the localities of the school lands. In pursuance of a vote of the town, that year, Merritt Clark and Joseph Joslin, by an examination of the few
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
remaining records of the town, old deeds found here and there, and by surveys, succeeded in locating all, or nearly all, the school lands in town, which, as will now be understood, in- cluded both the glebe and school lots; also in ascertaining the annual rents or dues arising from each. Mr. Clark kept a record of the same, which is here copied:
The owner of the Kinney farm, so-called, located between the east and west villages, now owned and occupied by Marcus W. Bliss and wife, pays an annual rent of -
The Joslin farm, located some two miles north of West Poultney, now owned and occupied by Michael Caraway, an annual rent of - -
58 50
The Town Farm, an annual rent of - -
5 19
Alanson Adams, on land located a mile, or there- abouts, east of East Village, annually, - 7 00
Julius Spalding, Guernsey and Jones lot, east of East Village, annually, 7 00
Archibald Dewey lot, annually, - -
7 00
S. J. Dewey lot, annually,- - - -
7 00
Horace M. Ruggles, an annual rent of - -
68
A timber lot, lately owned by Walter Ward, now owned by D. Ballard and others, a rent of 5 00
A timber lot, owned by Edwin S. Dewey, rent - 5 00
There is also an annual rent derived from the Ashley
farm, located near East Poultney, which arises
from the original town plot; it is - 1 80
The town of Wells pays annually to the town of Poultney - -
- 18 26
How these lands came to be so scattered, we are now unable to explain, or give satisfactory account thereof; but they are located as above given, and the annual rents paid in sums as given, and all parties acquiesce therein.
There seems, from all the information we can get, to have been some doubts in regard to the "share for the first settled minister." Ithamar Hibbard was the first settled minister, and
$29 00
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
the share was located a little north of the east village, and Mr. Hibbard built a barn upon it on the west side of the highway, which, at the present writing, is still standing. A question arose in regard to the formality of his ordination, and it was supposed for a time that his right to the land so appropriated would be dis- puted. It is not now known whether he was ever disturbed in his claim to the first settled minister's right; he actually took possession of it, for a time occupied it, and finally sold and con- veyed it.
Mr. Clark informs us, in his address, that " the earliest recorded meeting of the proprietors was held in Sheffield, Mass., October 7, 1763," and at that meeting, "Samuel Brown, agreeably to the provisions of the Charter, was elected Moderator, and Solomon Whitney, Proprietors' Clerk; " and that "there was a full or- ganization, by the choice of officers," and the transaction of other " business proper to be done in the way of organization." Meetings were held, from time to time, in Massachusetts and Connecticut, as occasion required, until a meeting was held in Canaan, Conn., February 28, 1772, when Ethan Allen was chosen Proprietors' Clerk, Elisha Baker, Justice of the Peace, and Thomas Ashley, Treasurer. At that meeting, it was "voted that future meetings be held at the house of Heber Allen, in Poultney; " and, accordingly, it adjourned to meet there on the first Tuesday in April, 1772. The proprietors' meetings, after the adjournment at Canaan, were held in Poultney, the action of which we shall hereafter notice. Ethan Allen and his brothers had by this time come to be largely interested in Poultney lands, as will hereafter appear.
The principal stream of water in this town is Poultney River. It rises in the town of Timnouth, runs a westerly course, through Middletown-receives several small streams from the north and south-enters Poultney near the south-east corner of the town; thence, runs north-westerly about two miles, to the north line of the Adams farm; thence westerly, about four miles through the central part of the town, until it strikes the western boundary of the State, about half a mile south of west from
21
HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
the west village. It there turns northwardly, and makes the State line as it winds and turns, until it enters Lake Champlain near Whitehall, N. Y.
Its principal tributaries in Poultney enter it upon the north side. The first rises in the mountain, near Spruce Knob, runs a south-westerly course through " Morse Hollow," and enters the river on the Stephen Morse farm, so-called. This was formerly known as the "Tilden Brook."
The second rises in "Clark Hollow," receives a small stream from " Hampshire Hollow," near where Joseph Clark now lives, and enters the river on Alanson Adams' farm, opposite the red school house. The third rises in the town of Ira, north of Spruce Knob, runs a westerly course across the farm now owned by Andrew Perry, at the upper part of "Hampshire Hollow," and from thence south-westerly, through "Finnel Hollow," and enters the river at the Todd place, now owned by William H. Hall. The fourth is called the " Whitney Brook;" it rises on Town Hill, near Noah Fenton's, and runs a south-westerly course; crosses the Castleton road about a mile north of the east village, runs near Merritt Clark's house, passes under the Poultney House, and then into the river near the railroad bridge, south of the west village. The fifth is called the "Howe Brook." It rises on the David Ransom farm, runs a southerly, then a west- erly course, and enters the river near A. M. Knapp's. The last, and most considerable, tributary is the "Lewis Brook." It rises on Pond Hill, in the north-east part of the town, has a south- westerly course, crossing the Castleton road near Mark Lewis' house, the railroad and the old turnpike near Philo Hosfords, and the Fairhaven road near L. C. Spalding's, and enters the river on the Dodge farm, now owned by R. Jones, in the town of Fairhaven. Poultney river is a rapid stream, at least, it so appears in high water. It rises suddenly, after a thaw or heavy rain, and sometimes it has occasioned much damage, accounts of which, to some extent, will be given hereafter. In an early day, before the lands were so generally cleared and the low lands drained, the river furnished a reliable water-power. The stream is not as large as formerly, yet might now be made available as
22
HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
a water power, perhaps, the entire year, by the construction of stone dams and reservoirs.
The geological formation of the town of Poultney is, as we understand, mainly slate. This is clearly so in the western portion of the town-the eastern parts being, to some extent, limestone and some other substances. The soils may be given as a fair average with other Vermont towns in productiveness. In the central portion of the town, or that portion where the two villages are located, and between them, the soil is filled with small stones and gravel, brought on, without doubt, by the Poultney River at some time prior to the settlement of the town. . The western portion of the town is comparatively level; the eastern portions more hilly and mountainous. Before the town was settled, like other portions of Vermont, it was covered with a forest. Large pine trees, and many of them, were found in the lower lands of the western part of the town, with some hemlock, and, on the higher lands, beech and maple predomi- nated. On the grounds now belonging to the Troy Conference Academy are still standing a goodly number of maples, which were left standing of the original forest. In and about the locality where the west village now is, there were many elm trees-a few of them are still standing, though we cannot say that all of them were started in their growth prior to the set- tlement. A large elm tree was left standing about where the south end of the depot building in Poultney now is, which was cut down by Ephraim Herrick about the year 1800, when he built his house in that locality. The tree was ent near the ground, and the house built over the stump. In 1856, or near that time, the house (it had then become the depot building) was repaired. In taking up the floor of the south-east corner room, the stump of the old ehn was discovered, measured, and found to be nine feet and four inches in diameter. The stump was then in a condition of what is called " dry rot," but was apparently as perfect in size and form as ever. The timber where the east village now is was mainly hemlock, and east of there, beech and maple, interspersed now and then with hen- lock and pine.
23
HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT, AND THE FIRST SETTLERS.
N the year 1854, Elisha Ashley, then an old man of seventy-eight years, wrote an article which was pub- lished in the Rutland Herald in March, 1854, and was headed, "The Early Settlement of the Town of Poultney." Mr. Ashley was born in Poultney, in the year 1776, was a son of one of the earliest settlers, and, at the time he wrote, probably knew more of the history of the town than any man then living. He says:
"The first settlement of Poultney was commenced April 15th, 1771, by Ebenezer Allen and Thomas Ashley. They were men of bold, fearless spirit-athletic and firm constitutions. They commenced some twenty rods south of where the turnpike bridge now is in West Poultney-Allen a little west, and Ashley a little east-the river then running some twenty rods north of where it now does .*
"They erected a shanty for Allen, who brought his family with him. Ashley remained one month, erected a shanty for his family, which was done by setting four crutches in the ground, placing poles on the top, and covering the roof and body with bark. He cleared some land, and raised corn suffi- cient to bread his family, consisting of seven. He then returned, and brought on his family. Allen had a son born the same year, the first white child born in Poultney. Allen remained a few
*Mr. Ashley once pointed out to a gentleman now living in Poultney the precise spot where Allen and Ashley first located, which was about twenty rods south of where the covered bridge now is, and on land now owned by Pomeroy Wells, and on the east and west sides of the road as it now runs from Grove street to Mr. Wells. Poultney River formerly ran through Grove street, near where Jesse Howe now resides.
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
years, sold out, and removed to Grand Isle. Ashley remained in town, and on the same farm, until his death, which occurred in 1810.
*
" There were several families followed the same season. Elijah and John Owen, Isaac Ashley and Nehemiah Howe, and soon by the following persons, and somewhat in the following order: Ichabod and Joseph Marshall, Silas Howe, Heber Allen (brother to Ethan), John Grant, Thomas Goodwin, Robert Green, Zebediah Dewey, Cotton Fletcher, John, Elkana, Elisha, Enoch and William Ashley (all brothers of Thomas and Isaac Ashley), John Tilden, Zebediah, Dan and John Richards, William Ward, Timothy, Ebenezer, James and Lemuel Hyde, Samuel Church, Joel Grannis, Isaac Craw, Nathaniel and James Smith, Morde- cai and Gilbert Soper, James and Nathaniel Brookins, Josiah Lewis, and, perhaps, a few others were here in July, 1777, when the inhabitants were all driven off by Burgoyne's army and the Indians." *
From Mr. Ashley we get the names of the carly settlers, or the names of nearly all who settled here from the date of the first settlement by Ebenezer Allen and Thomas Ashley, in April, 1771, to June, 1777. During this time, which was a little over six years, Mr. Ashley says: "the town was settled slowly, owing, in a great measure, to the troubles with New York about the titles to the lands, so that none located themselves here but the most bold and fearless spirits, and they were all, without exception, extremely poor." The progress of the settlement during these years was not as rapid as it was subsequent to 1778; yet, from facts that have come to our knowledge, we may reason- ably infer that the work went bravely on, and much was accom- plished in those six years.
We have before seen that the last proprietors' meeting, be- fore adjourning to Poultney, was held at Canaan, Conn., on the 23d day of February, 1772, and that that meeting was adjourned
* So far as is known, only two of the charter grantees, Thos. Ashley and Solomon Whitney, settled in Poultney.
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
to meet at the house of Heber Allen, in Poultney, on the third Tuesday of April, 1772.
Now, again, we copy from Mr. Clark. He says: "At the meeting in April, 1772, which was the first one held in this town, Samuel Howe was chosen Moderator. It was voted to lay out a highway from Wells to Castleton, and 'said highway to be six rods wide;' also to lay out a highway from the west line of Poultney to the easterly part of said town, and John Grant was appointed a committee to lay out said roads. Also, ' Voted to lay out a road from the Governor's farm, between Thomas Ashley's farm and Ebenezer Allen's, north, as far as needful; said road to be four rods wide, and to pay three shil- lings a day for clearing roads.'
"On the 29th of April, 1773, 'Voted that Thomas Ashley and Ebenezer Allen may lay out 100 acres of land in their own right on any of the undivided lands in said Poultney. This liberty is on account of these men first coming to town.' On the 24th day of May, 1775, Nehemiah Howe, John Grant and Isaac Ashley were appointed 'a committee to look out a burying place.' At the meeting, 'Voted, Ethan Allen may pitch 100 acres for Capt. Warner, of Bennington, anywhere on the un- divided land in said town, for the vallor in cutting Esquire Mon- roe, the Yorkite, out of his own land in the second division.'"
There is a tradition that this land was located by Allen in what is now Middletown, and the same land is now owned in part by Edwin Copeland, and in part by Ashael Spalding. Of this, however, we cannot be positive; and, perhaps, it is not material. Col. Seth Warner deeded a lot of land of a hundred acres, which was the first deed recorded in the Middletown land records after the organization of that town, in 1784, and it is quite probable that this was the land he obtained for the " vallor."
In June, 1773, the settlers executed a document, which may be of value as a relic of the times. It is copied verbatim et literatim :
" POULTNEY, June the 14-Y. 1773.
"WE, the Subscribers that have hereunto set our hands, have Covennanted as follows: for To Bare our Equelle Part in giving
4
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
one fifty acres of Land out of our undevided Land or Cays, To Be Payd in some sort of Murchantabell Speesheys our Equaletey, for the Settlement of a Midwife. If those that Dont Bare their Part in Land, they are To Pay thare Part to those that Let the Land gow, and the Speeshay for To Be Paid In three Months from the Time the Land Is given. As Witness our hands,
Ebenezer Allen, Elkanah Ashley, Elijah Owen,
Ebenezer Hyde, Jr., Enoch Ashley,
Joseph Hyde,
Seth Allen,
Robert Green,
Zebulon Tubbs,
Henry Adams,
Ichabald Marshall,
John Owen,
John Tilden,
Heber Allen,
Isaac Ashley,
John Richards,
James Brookins,
Azel Holms,
John Ashley,
John Grant, Isaac Craw,
Thomas Goodwin,
Thomas Ashley, :
Cotton Fletcher,
James Hyde,
James Smith, Jr.,
Jacob How.
Zebadiah Dewey,
On the first day of June, 1775, the committee on selection of a burial place " reported that Nehemiah Howe and John Grant shall have four acres apiece for allowing the proprietors a bury- ing place on their home lots, Nos. 34 and 30." The survey of the burial ground is as follows:
"Taking one acre of ye East Side of lot N 34, and one acre out of ye W Side of Lot No. 30, on the W. Side No. of sd river, Beginning on the Line of 34, and on the W. Line of 30, above mentioned, 24 rods North of ye river. Running E. 8 Rods to a Stake; then S. 20 Rod; then west, 16 Rod; thence north 20 Rods; thence East 8 Rods, to the first bounds-Laid and 'Se- quested' for the use of buriing the Ded. Laid by order of the proprietors of ye town of poultney.
" Test,
" Recorded pr me, JOHN GRANT, " Proprietors' Clerk."
This burial ground is the one so laid, and since devoted to that purpose on the south side of the highway leading from the east village of Poultney to Middletown, and on a gentle eleva- tion, a few rods east of the east village. Thus early the settlers
27
HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
took care to secure a place for the burial of the dead, and a beautiful spot was selected. There are now several other burial places within the limits of the town; but here, on the banks of Poultney River, was the first one " sequestered," and here are the earliest graves. Joel Grannis, who, it is supposed, came here in 1771, was, not long after this burial ground was laid out, lost in the woods, and frozen to death, and was the first buried in this ground, which now contains the remains of so many of the sons and daughters of Poultney. This ground has become a hallowed place, and those whose friends have found here their last resting place, need no words of the writer to fully appreci- ate it.
But little of incident has come to us from the period of which we are now writing, viz .: from the first settlement, in 1771, to July, 1777. Nearly all we have been able to obtain has been taken from Mr. Ashley' paper, and from what was gathered by Mr. Clark from the records before they were burned, and from old people we conversed with, who have since gone to their graves.
In common with all the early settlers in Vermont, those in Poultney endured severe privations and hardships. As Mr. Clark well says: "None but those who saw, suffered and en- dured, can form an adequate idea of the same. They all, at first, built log houses. In some instances, families moved into these houses before the roof was on, even in winter. Many furnished themselves with bedsteads, tables and chairs made from poles and slabs, and put together with no other implements but the axe and augur. For a fireplace, a stone buck was built up, and a hearth laid at one end, or one side, of the house, with such stones as they could get from the lands. After the first year, with a little corn, they raised wheat, and some kept a cow, which ran in the woods. For the first few years they had to go to Manchester to mill, some thirty miles distant. Soon a mill was built in Pawlet, by Mr. Fitch; this shortened the distance to mill about one half, 'which was considered a great conveni- ence.' Nehemiah Howe built the first grist-mill in Poultney,
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HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
which was erected at the falls, where the east village now is, some little time before 1777."
It will now seem incredible when we say that many of the settlers went to the Manchester and Pawlet mills on foot, and carried their grain, meal and flour to and from on their shoulders; but such were facts, and we have one instance in which a man took a hundred pounds of iron upon his shoulders, carried the same to Manchester, and exchanged for its equivalent in meal, and brought that to his home in Poultney on his shoulders. The man's name is forgotten, but there is no doubt of the fact. It was not regarded as a remarkable feat then; now it would be.
The first town meeting on record was held March 8, 1775. Over this meeting Zubulon Richards presided as Moderator; Heber Allen was elected Town Clerk; Nehemiah Howe, Zebu- lon Richards and Cotton Fletcher, Selectmen; Isaac Ashley, Constable, and John Ashley, Tithing Man. "Voted, Six days work for each man on the highways." Josiah Lewis, Thomas
Ashley, John Owen and Nehemiah Howe were appointed Sur- veyors of Highways, and the Selectmen, Thomas Ashley and Ebenezer Hyde were appointed a committee for laying out high- ways. The proceedings of this first meeting were closed by, " Voted, that hogs shall not run in the road." The proprietors' meetings, which were commenced in Massachusetts and Con- necticut, were kept up until 1792.
An old man, a life-long resident of Poultney, once said to the writer, "the first settlers of the town were the Ethan Allen stamp of men." This can be appreciated, as we come to know their characters and history. One brother of Ethan Allen (Heber) settled in Poultney, and, as we have seen, was made the first town clerk; Ebenezer Allen was a relative-it has been said a consin-of Ethan; Thomas Ashley (as tradition has it) was connected by marriage; and, indeed, most of those who settled here prior to 1777, were so many Allens in resolution, bravery and physical endurance. It was during this time (be- tween 1771 and 1777) that the Green Mountain Boys acquired such an enviable fame by their successful resistance to the New
29
HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
York claimants, and in the taking of Ticonderoga, May 10, 1775. Ethan Allen, as all the world knows, was the leader in those marvelous exploits, of which the history of this country furnishes no parallel; and it is only when we come to know the character of the settlers generally, that we can regard the history of those eventful years as anything but fiction. Every man was a hero- strong, bold, resolute and determined. Every man had a pur- pose-and that was to defend his home-and all his energies were directed to that end.
Several of the settlers were present at the taking of Ticon- deroga, but we cannot now give the names of all. Elisha Ashley, in his Rutland Herald article, says that Thomas Ashley " was the next man to Allen that entered in taking the fort at old "Ti.," and stood at the head of the stairs as sentinel while Allen entered the room of the commander," and demanded the surrender of the fort "in the name of the Great Jehovah, and the Continental Congress." Of the other settlers, it is probable that most of them were there who could be. Such men as the Ashley brothers, Richards, Marshall, Ebenezer Allen, Heber Allen, Zeb. Dewey, John Grant and Josiah Lewis, were ever ready for an emergency, and it is not likely they avoided any responsibility at this time. We have reliable information which shows that several of those named were there, and never heard or read any complaint that either neglected his duty, or was a coward. In our biographical sketches, we shall give something more of the parts taken by individuals in the memorable strug- gles of these early days in the history of our town.
At this day we should irresistibly come to the conclusion that a settlement, under the circumstances in which the settlement of Poultney was commenced, would be a fool-hardy project, and not to be attempted. But the settlers were successful, and the philosopher will look for the reasons. "They were all," says Mr. Ashley, " extremely poor." With their poverty, they came into a wilderness hitherto uninhabited by the white man, and undertook the clearing up of the forest, making for themselves homes, and establishing civilized society. In addition to this Herculean task, they soon found themselves at war with the
30
HISTORY OF POULTNEY.
New York claimants, who persisted in their rights to the land; and soon, too, they were involved in the Revolutionary struggle. But, incredible as it would now appear to one not knowing the facts from well-authenticated history, the settlers, during those trying years, pushed forward the work of clearing their lands, and preparing the way for civilization, and at the same time they held themselves ready to meet the invader at a moment's warning. But, with all this great work, those obstacles and privations, in due time they made for themselves comfortable and happy homes, and laid the foundations of the institutions which we now enjoy. What enabled them to do this under those trying circumstances ? This is an important inquiry for one who would be benefitted by the reading of history. Those men were doubtless superior to the men of our time in physical strength and endurance, and we may well inquire for the rea- sons of their superiority in these respects. It was before the days of effeminacy; men were then enured to toil. They were made strong and vigorous by constant labor and exertion. But their success was not due to their physical powers alone. It was their stability of purpose; their economy in living; their undivided application of all their energies to the best possible effect-thus were the good results brought out.
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