USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Gazetteer and business directory of Windsor County, Vt., for 1883-84 > Part 3
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 (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75
It is very uncertain who were the first to visit America. Various authors of note have written on the subject, but their testimony is conflicting and uncertain. For instance, Calmet, a distinguished author, brings forward the writings of Hornius, son of Theodosius the Great, who affirms that " at or about the time of the commencement of the Christian era, voyages from Africa and Spain into the Atlantic ocean were both frequent and celebrated ;"
2
18
WINDSOR COUNTY.
and holds that " there is strong probability that the Romans and Carthagen- ians, even 300 B. C., were well acquainted with the existence of this country," adding that there are "tokens of the presence of the Greeks, Romans, Persians and Carthagenians in many parts of the continent." These reports, however, only resolve themselves into mere conjecture. The first authentic record we have of voyages of discovery to America are in the Icelandic accounts. From these we learn that in the year 1000, A. D., Lief, son of Eric the Red. embarked from Greenland on a voyage of discovery and explored the eastern coast of North America as far south as Narragansett bay, in Rhode Island. Other discoverers and navigators followed this expedition, attempts at colonization were made and the country explored, in some localities, quite a distance back from the coast ; but dissensions among the colonists and wars with the natives at length put an end to these rude attempts at civilization. Except a few vague records and a "rune stone" found here and there throughout the territory, marking a point of discovery, or perhaps the grave of some unhappy Norseman, the history of these explorations are wrapt in oblivion. Even the colonies in Greenland, established by Eric the Red, in 986, and from which the explorers came, were at length abandoned and the site upon which they flourished became, for many years, forgotten. Finally, however, the fifteenth century was ushered in, marking an era of great changes in Europe. It put an end to the darkness of the middle ages ; it witnessed the revival of learning and science and the birth of many useful arts, among which not the least was printing, while the invention of the mariner's compass in the preceding century having enabled sailors to go out of sight of land with impunity, a thirst for exploring unknown seas was awakened. Long voyages were undertaken and important discoveries made.
It was during this age of mental activity and growing knowledge that Chris- topher Columbus undertook the most memorable enterprise that human genius ever planned, and which renders his name undying. On the third of August, 1492, a little before sunrise, he set sail from Spain for the discovery of the western world. A little before midnight, on the thirteenth of October, he descried a light on the island of San Salvador. From this moment properly dates the complete history of America. From this time forward its progress bears date from a definite period, and is not shrouded in darkness nor the mists of tradition.
Two years after the discoveries of Columbus became known in England, Henry VII. engaged John Cabot, a Venetian merchant, to sail in quest of discoveries in the West, and this navigator, in 1497, reached the coast of Labrador, which he named Prima-vista, thus making, probably, the first visit of Europeans to this coast since the days of the Norseman. This voyage was succeeded by others under Sebastian Cabot, son of John, in 1498 ; and by Gasper Cortereal, from Portugal, to whom the discovery of the St. Lawrence some authorities claim is due. This adventurer returned to Lisbon in the month of October of that year, laden with timber and slaves, seized from among the
19
WINDSOR COUNTY.
natives of the coasts he had visited. On a second voyage he perished at sea. In 1504 the French first attempted a voyage to the New World ; and in that year some Basque and Breton fishermen began to ply their calling on the banks of Newfoundland and along its adjacent coasts. From these the island of Cape Breton derived its name. In 1525 Stefano Gomez sailed from Spain and is supposed to have entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence and to have traded upon its shores. A Castilian tradition relates that, finding neither gold nor silver upon the coasts nor anything which conveyed to these sordid ad- venturers an idea of mines of wealth of any kind, they frequently exclaimed " aca-nada," signifying "here is nothing," and that the natives caught up the sound, which was repeated by them when other Europeans arrived, and thus gave origin to the designation of Canada.
In 1534, Francis I., king of France, listening to the urgent advice of Philip Chabot, admiral of France, who portrayed to him in glowing colors the riches and growing power of Spain, derived from her Trans-Atlantic colonies, des- patched Jacques Cartier, an able navigator of St. Malo, who sailed April 20, 1534, with two ships of only sixty tons each, and a hundred and twenty men, reaching Newfoundland in May. After coasting along for some time, without knowing it was an island, he at length passed the straits of Belleisle and trav- ersed the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Having spent part of the summer on these coasts, he sailed on the 25th of July, highly pleased with the hospitable recep- tion he had received from the natives, with whom he traded for furs and provisions. His report induced the French king to attempt a colony in the newly discovered regions ; and in May, 1535, Cartier sailed with three small ships, with a numerous company of adventurers, and arrived on the coasts of Newfoundland, much scattered and weakened by a disastrous storm of July 26th. Here they took in wood and water, and proceeded to explore the gulf, but were overtaken, August Ist, by a storm which obliged them to seek a port, difficult of access, but with a safe anchorage, near the mouth of the " Great river." They left this harbor on the 7th, and on the 10th came to a " gulf filled with numerous islands." Cartier gave to this " gulf" the name of St. Lawrence, having discovered it on that Saint's festival day. Proceed- ing on this voyage, he explored both shores of the St. Lawrence. Pleased with the friendly disposition of the natives and the comfortable prospects of of a winter's sojourn, Cartier moored his vessels where a little river flowed into a "goodly and pleasant sound," which stream he named St. Croix, near the Indian village of Stacona, the site of the present city of Quebec. Subsequently, Oc- tober 2d, he ascended the river to a populous Indian village called Hochelaga, upon the site of which the city of Montreal now stands. Here Donnacona, an Algonquin chief, conducted Cartier to the summit of a mountain about two miles from the village, and to which he gave the name of Mount Royal, or Montreal, and showed him, "in that bright October sun," the country for many miles south and east, and told him of great rivers and inland seas, and of smaller rivers and lakes penetrating a beautiful country belonging
1
20
WINDSOR COUNTY.
to the warlike Iroquois. This beautiful country, which the chief called Iro- quoisia, included the present state of Vermont. Thus, to Jacques Cartier, a French navigator and explorer, is due the honor of having been the first Euro- pean to gaze upon the Green Mountains of Vermont.
In May, Cartier returned to France, taking with him the Indian chief, Donnacona, and two other prominent natives of the village, as prisoners ; and they, who had treated the Frenchmen with uniform kindness, died in a strange land, exiled from their homes and friends.
During each succeeding year, for some time after, expeditions were sent out to the newly discovered river ; but misfortune attended them all, and no efficient attempt at colonizing the country was made until 1608, when De- Monts, a Calvinist, who had obtained from the King the freedom of religious faith for himself and followers in America, though under the engagement that the Catholic worship should be established among the natives, after several perilous voyages and much opposition, despatched Champlain and Pontgrave, two experienced adventurers, to establish the fur trade and begin a settle- ment. Samuel Champlain reached Quebec, where Cartier had spent the winter nearly three quarters of a century before, on the 3d of July. On the 18th of the following April, 1609, in company with two other Frenchmen and a number of the natives, he started up the St. Lawrence, and, after a time, " turned southward up a tributary" and soon entered upon the lake which perpetuates his name.
Thus came the first European upon the territory now included within the limits of Vermont, unless, perhaps, we accept the testimony of a curious document found a few years since on the banks of the Missisquoi river, in Swanton, as follows: In December, 1853, as Messrs. Orlando Green and P. R. Ripley were engaged in excavating sand on the left bank of the Missis- quoi, near the village of Swanton, they discovered embedied in the earth a lead tube about five inches long, and an inch and a half in diameter. En- closed within this tube was found an ancient manuscript bearing the follow- ing :-
" Nov. 29 A D 1564.
" This is the solme day I must now die this is the goth day since we lef the Ship, all have parished and on the Banks of this River I die to farewelle may future Posteritye know our end.
JOHNE GRAYE."
This document bore every appearance of being genuine, and nothing has been developed since to point in an opposite direction. It certainly does not seem improbable that a party of sailors should wander away from their ship, or for some cause be left behind, and that they should then become lost and finally die in the forest ; and it is also very natural that a sailor should leave some record to tell of his fate ; but be this as it may, there is, of course, no positive evidence that the manuscript is genuine.
The early explorations and discoveries we have mentioned led to much litigation and controversy on the part of the several European countries un-
2I
WINDSOR COUNTY.
der whose auspices they had been conducted. The English, on the grounds of the discoveries of the Cabots, claimed all the territory from Labrador to Florida, to which they gave the name Virginia ; but their explorations were confined principally to the coast between Maine and Albermarle Sound. The French confined their explorations principally to the country bordering on the St. Lawrence and its tributaries, which they named New France, while the Dutch, by the discoveries of Henry Hudson, afterwards laid claim to the country between Cape Cod and the Delaware river, which they called New Netherlands.
Attempts at colonization were made by England during the reign of Eliza- beth, but they proved abortive, and it was not until the Tudor dynasty had passed away, and several years of the reign of James I., the first of the Stuarts, had elapsed, before the Anglo-Saxon gained any permanent foothold. Stimulated by the spirit of rivalry with France, England pushed her explora- tions and discoveries, while France, from her first colony on the St. Lawrence, explored the vast region from the great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and estab- lished among the savages missions and trading posts, spreading from Canada through the west, and finally through New York and Vermont.
The rivalries and jealousies that had made France and England so long enemies in the Old World were transplanted to the New Continent. The French made allies of the savages and waged war against the English, and years of bloodshed followed. The first of these hostilities, which are now known as the old French and Indian wars, began with William's accession to the throne of England, in 1690, and was terminated in the peace of Ryswick, in 1697. Queen Anne's war, so called, came next, commencing in 1702, and terminating in the peace of Utrecht in 1713. The third controversy was declared by George II., in 1744, and continued until the preliminaries of peace were signed at Aux-la-Chapelle, in 1748. The final great conflict was declared by Great Britain, in 1756, and terminated in the capture of Mon- treal, in September, 1760, when the whole of New France, or Canada, was surrendered to Great Britain.
During the progress of these wars the territory of Vermont was often crossed and re-crossed by portions of both armies, and a few military settle- ments sprang up. The first of these was in 1665, on Isle La Motte, where a fort was erected by Captain De La Motte, under command of M. De Tracy, governor of New France. In 1690 Captain Jacobus DeNarm, with a party from Albany, N. Y., established an outpost in the present town of Addison, at Chimney Point, where he erected a small stone fort. The first permanent settlement, however, was made at Brattleboro, in 1724, when Fort Dummer was built. For six or seven years the garrison of this fort were the only white inhabitants. In 1730, the French built a fort at Chimney Point, and a con- siderable population settled in the vicinity. In 1739 a few persons settled in Westminster, and about the same time a small French settlement was begun at Alburgh, on what is now called Windmill Point, but was soon abandoned.
22
WINDSOR COUNTY.
The colony at Westminster increased but slowly, and in 1754 the whole popu- lation, alarmed by the Indian attack upon Charlestown, N. H., deserted their homes. Forts were erected and small settlements were commenced in sev- eral other places, but fear of the Indians prevented any large emigration till after the last French war, when, the Province of Canada being then ceded to Great Britain, the fear of hostile incursions subsided, and the population rap- idly increased.
During these wars, also, grants of land lying within the present limits of the State had been made by the Dutch at Albany, by the French, and by the colonies of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York, and each claimed jurisdiction over them. All of these claims, except that of New York, however, were relinquished without much controversy, of which more will be spoken on another page. But at the close of hostilities the lands were sought so eagerly by adventurers, speculators and settlers, that in a single year subsequent to 1760, Governor Wentworth, of New Hampshire, granted in the name of King George III., not less than sixty townships of six miles square, and two years later the number of such grants amounted to 138. The territory now began to be known by the name of the New Hamp- shire Grants, and the number of actual settlers soon became quite large. The affairs of these settlers were managed by committees in the several towns, who met in general convention, when occasion required, to provide for their common defence and welfare. The decrees of these conventions were regarded as law, and violations of them were punished with extreme severity. While the Revolutionary war was in progress the land title con troversy was in a degree suspended ; but soon after the war broke out it became apparent that the settlers of the Grants needed some better organization than was possible by means of committees and conventions. Accordingly, in 1776, a convention was held at Dorset, and an address to Congress pre- pared, declaring the unwillingness of the settlers to be regarded as subjects of New York. This was not favorably received by Congress, whereupon the more resolute of the people determined to assume the powers of an inde- pendent State " and risk the consequences." Another convention was held at Dorset, in June, and met again by adjournment in September, when such measures were taken that, at a convention held in Westminster, it was decided, on the 16th of January, 1777, that the following declaration should be adopted :-
" This convention, whose members are duly chosen by the free voice of their constituents, in the several towns on the New Hampshire Grants, in public meeting assembled, in our names, and in behalf of our constituents, do hereby proclaim and publicly declare, that the district of territory compre- hending and usually known by the name and description of the New Hampshire Grants, of right ought to be, and is hereby declared forever hereafter to be con- sidered as a free and independent jurisdiction or State, by the name and forever hereafter to be called, known and distinguished by the name of New Connecticut, alias Vermont ; and that the inhabitants that at present are or may hereafter become resident, by procreation or emigration, within
23
WINDSOR COUNTY.
said territory, shall be entitled to the same privileges, immunities and enfran- chisements as are allowed ; and on such condition, and in the same manner, as the present inhabitants, in future, shall or may enjoy ; which are, and for- ever shall be, such privileges and immunities to the free citizens and denizens, as are, or, at any time hereafter, may be allowed, to any such inhabitants, or any of the free and independent States of America ; and that such privileges and immunities shall be regulated in a bill of rights and by a form of govern- ment, to be established at the next adjurned session of this convention."
On the 4th of June the committee met at Windsor, there being present seventy-two members, representing fifty towns. A committee was appointed to prepare a draft of a constitution for the new State, and recommended to the towns to choose delegates on the 23d of June, to meet at Windsor. July 2d, to discuss and adopt said constitution. The newly elected convention met July 2d and continued in session six days. It received from the committee appointed for that purpose a copy of a constitution very similar to that of Pennsylvania, which was read and discussed. Before it was wholly adopted, however, alarming news of the British army in the western part of the State was received. It was proposed at first to adjourn and leave the work in hand unfinished ; but this was providentially prevented by the occurrence of a thun- der storm. Some who were less agitated by the news from the west side of the State suggested the great importance of finishing the work in hand. This advice was followed, the constitution adopted, an election ordered, and a Council of Safety appointed to manage the affairs of the State until the government should go into operation under the constitution.
This independence Vermont pursued, asking no favors, enjoying no bene- fits of the Union and sharing none of its burdens, until March 4, 1791, when she was admitted as one of the Federal States, with the full rights and immuni- ties belonging thereto. Thus Vermont exists to-day-so may she always exist.
The constitution has remained without very material alterations, the chief being the substitution of a senate of thirty members, appointed to the several counties according to population, and chosen by a plurality of the freemen of the several counties, in lieu of a council of twelve members chosen by a plurality of the votes of the State at large; and in 1870 a change from annual to biennial State elections and meetings of the legislature. The frame of government now provides for : Ist. The executive, the chief officers of which are governor, lieutenant-governor and treasurer, all of whom are elected biennially, by the freemen of the State. 2d. A senate of thirty members, elected as before mentioned. 3d. A house of representatives, consisting of one member from each organized town, elected by the freemen thereof. 4th. A judiciary, the officers of which are elective, the judges of the supreme court (who are also chancellors), by the senate and the house of representatives, in joint assembly ; the assistant judges of county courts (a judge of the supreme court presides in each county court), judges of the probate courts, sheriffs, State's attorneys and high baliffs, by the freemen of the repective counties ; and justices of the peace by the freemen of the
24
WINDSOR COUNTY.
several towns. The State election is held in September, biennially, and a majority of all the votes cast is required to elect every officer, except sena- tors and other county officers, including in the latter justices of the peace elected by the several towns; but in March, the freemen of each town meet for the transaction of public business of the town and the election of town officers. Every term of town offices is limited to one year, or until others are elected, and all town elections are therefore annual. The governor's power of appointment is very limited, embracing, ordinarily, his secretary and military staff only ; but he has power to fill any office created by law, where the appointment is not fixed by the constitution or statute, a case which has rarely occurred; and also to fill any vacancy occurring by death or otherwise, until the office can be filled in the manner required by the constitution or laws. By recent statutes, the governor may nominate, subject to approval by the senate, various offices. The heads of the various State bureaus (except treasurer), and generals of divisions and brigades, are elected by the senate and house in joint assembly,- the former officers bien- nially and generals when vacancies occur. The general assembly meets in the even years, on the first Wednesday in October. The first officers elected in 1778, were as follows: Thomas Chittenden, governor ; Joseph Marsh, lieutenant-governor ; Ira Allen, treasurer ; T. Chandler. secretary of state ; Nathan Clark, speaker ; and Benjamin Baldwin, clerk.
Cumberland county, the first established in the grants, was erected by the legislature of the Province of New York, July 3, 1766, and comprised about the district of territory now occupied by Windsor and Windham counties. It probably received its name from Prince William, the Duke of Cumberland, who, in 1746, met with distinguished success in opposing the rebels in Scotland. The county as thus established, however, was changed in its erea several times. At the first session of the legislature of Vermont, in 1778, the State was, on the 17th of March, divided into two counties, the division line being fixed February 11, 1779, the territory on the western side of the mountains being called Bennington county, and that on the eastern, Unity county, though the latter name was changed back to Cumberland on the 21st of the same month. In 1780 Cumberland county was divided into two shires, Cumberland and Glouster, the division line being nearly identi- cal with the present northern bound of Windsor county. By an act passed in February, 1781, "for the division of counties within the State," Cumber- land county, as established in 1778, was subdivided into the counties of Windham, Windsor and Orange, and on March 2, 1797, an act was passed dividing the State into eleven counties, when the bounds of Windsor county were permanently fixed, as follows :-
" Beginning at the northeasterly corner of Windham county, thence north- erlyon the east line of the State to the southeast corner of Thetford ; thence westerly on the southerly lines of the towns of Thetford, Strafford, Tun- bridge, Randolph and Braintree ; thence southerly on the west lines of the towns of Rochester, Bridgewater, Saltash [Plymouth], Ludlow, Andover and
25
WINDSOR COUNTY.
Benton's Gore, so called [now Weston], so as to include those towns, to the north line of Windham county; and thence easterly on the north line of Windham county, to the place of beginning."
Thus the county is bounded to-day, lying between 43° 13' and 43° 56' north latitude, and between 4° 7' and 4° 45' east longitude, being forty-eight miles long from north to south and thirty wide from east to west, containing about 900 square miles of territory and 35,196 inhabitants, and is divided into twenty-four towns, as follows: Andover, Baltimore, Barnard, Bethel, Bridgewater, Cavendish, Chester, Hartford, Ludlow, Norwich, Plymouth, Pomfret, Reading, Rochester, Royalton, Sharon, Springfield, Stockbridge, Weathersfield, Weston, West Windsor, Windsor and Woodstock.
The surface of this territory is broken by high mountains, gentle hill slopes and picturesque valleys, the western portion extending high up upon the Green Mountains, while in the eastern part lies the smiling valley of Connec- ticut river. Manufactures are carried on to some extent, though agricul- tural pursuits form the principal occupation of the inhabitants; still, the unsurpassed facilities for water-power and railroad transportation renders it a desirable home for both the manufacturer and the husbandman. Numer- ous streams lend their utility and beauty to the territory, the principal ones of which are Connecticut, White, Black, Quechee and Williams rivers.
The Connecticut, whose early navigation facilities, etc., are mentioned on another page, lies between Vermont and NewHampshire, belonging entirely to the latter State, its western bank forming the eastern boundary of this county. Its name is derived from the Indian words Quonnec or Unnec, signifying long, and Tucque or Tuck, signifying river. When the Indians spoke of anything hap- pening along the stream, they used the expression Quonnec tucquok, or Unnec- tuckok meaning "at the long river ;" and hence comes Connecticut. It originates among the mountains in the northern part of New Hampshire, and, for some distance, forms the boundary between that State and Canada. After running between New Hampshire and Vermont, it passes through Massachu- setts and Connecticut, falling into Long Island Sound. The flats bordering it are, in some places, low and extensive ; in others the banks are high and rocky. The intervales are not surpassed in fertility and beauty by any in the country, while their annual submersion by overflow has led to the river being called the " Nile of New England."
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.