USA > Vermont > Windham County > Whitingham > Green leaves from Whitingham, Vermont: a history of the town > Part 2
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
23
Whitingham, Vermont.
and Successors, To Have and to hold one full and equal Seventh Part (the whole into seven equal parts to be divided) of the said Tract or Parcel of Land Tenements Hereditaments and Premises by these Presents granted ratified and confirmed and every Part and Parcel thereof with their and every of their appurtenances (except as is herein before excepted) unto each of them our Grantees obove mentioned their heirs and assigns respectively to their only proper and separate use and Behoof respectively forever as Tenants in Common and not as joint Ten- ants, To be holden of us our heirs and Successors in fee and in Common, Socage as of our Manor of East Greenwich in our County of Kent within our King- dom of Great Britain, yielding rendering and paying therefor yearly and every year for ever unto us our heirs and Successors at our Custom House in our City of New York unto our or their Collector or Re- ciever General therefor the Time being on the Feast of the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary com- monly called Lady Day, the yearly Rent of two shillings and six Pence Sterling for each and every hundred acres of the above granted Lands and so in Proportion for any lesser Quantity thereof; saving and except for such Part of the said Lands allowed for Highways as above mentioned, in Lieu and stead of all other Rents, Services, Dues, Duties and De- mands whatsoever for the hereby granted Lands and Premises or any Part thereof; and we being willing
24
Green Leaves from
according to the Prayer of the said Petitioners to create and make the said Tract of Land hereby granted a Township with such other of the adjacent Lands as are included and comprehended within the Bounds and Limits following, that is to say, Begin- ning at a Hemlock Tree and a Beach Tree growing close together, having two large stones laid between them, standing in the Line run for the Bounds of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, and which Beach Tree is marked with these words, The Corner of Cumberland, and runs thence North ten degrees East six miles; Then North eighty degrees West six miles; then South ten degrees West six miles to the aforesaid Line run for the Bounds of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, and then along the said Line South ten degrees East six miles to the said Place of Beginning, and to grant to the Inhabitants of the same such Powers and Privileges as the Inhabi- tants of other Townships in our said Province of New York have and do enjoy: Know Ye Therefore that of our especial Grace certain Knowledge and meer mo- tion, We do by these Presents create erect and con- stitute the said Tract of Land hereby granted, and all other the Lands included within the Bounds and Limits last mentioned and every Part and Parcel thereof one Township for ever hereafter to be con- tinue and remain, and by the Name of Whitingham for ever hereafter to be called and Known, and for the better and more easily carrying on and managing
25
Whitingham, Vermont.
the publick Affairs and Business of the said Township our Royal Will and Pleasure, and we do hereby for us our heirs and Successors give and grant to the Inhabitants of the said Township all the Powers, Authorities, Privileges and Advantages heretofore given and granted to or legally enjoyed by all any or either our other Townships within our said Province. And we also ordain and establish that there shall be forever hereafter in the said Township two Assessors, one Treasurer, two Overseers of the Highways, two Overseers of the Poor, one Collector and four Con- stables, elected and chosen out of the Inhabitants of the said Township yearly and every year on the first Tuesday in May at the most publick Place in the said Township, by the Majority of the Freeholders thereof then and there met and assembled for that Purpose ; hereby declaring that wheresoever the first election in the said Township shall be held, the future Elections shall forever hereafter be held in the same Place as near as may be, and giving and granting to the said Officers, so chosen, Power and Authority to exercise their said several and respective Offices during the whole year from such Election, and until others are legally chosen and elected in their Room and Stead as fully and amply as any the like Officers have or le- gally may use or exercise their Offices in our said Province; and in Case any or either of the said Offi- cers of the said Township should die or remove from the said Township before the Time of their annual
4
26
Green Leaves from
service shall be expired, or refuse to act in the Offices for which they shall respectively be chosen, then our Royal Will and Pleasure further is, and we do hereby direct ordain and require the Freeholders of the said Township, to meet at the Place where the annual Election shall be held for the said Township, and chuse other or others of the said Inhabitants of the said Township in the Place and Stead of him or them so dying removing or refusing to Act, within forty days next after such contingency and to prevent any undue Election in this Case, We do hereby ordain and require that upon every Vacancy in the Office of Assessors, the Treasurer, and in either of the other Offices the Assessors of the said Township, shall within ten days next after any such Vacancy first happens, appoint the day for such Election, and give publick Notice thereof in writing under his or their hands by affixing such notice on the Church Door or other most publick Place in the said Township at least ten days before the day appointed for such Election, and in default thereof We do hereby require the Officer or Officers of the said Township or the Sur- vivor of them, who in the order they are hereinbefore mentioned shall next succeed him or them so ma- king default, within ten days next after such Default, to appoint the day for such Election, and give notice thereof as aforesaid, hereby giving and granting that such Person or Persons as shall be so chosen by the ·Majority of such of the Freeholders of the said Town-
27
Whitingham, Vermont.
ship as shall meet in manner hereby directed shall have hold exercise and enjoy the Office or Offices to which he or they shall be so elected and chosen from the time of such Election until the first Tuesday in May then next following, and until other or others be legally chosen in his or their Place and Stead, as fully as the Person or Persons in whose Place he or they shall be chosen might or could have done by virtue of these Presents, and we do hereby will and direct that this Method shall forever hereafter be used for the filling up all Vacancies that shall happen in any or either of the said Offices between the annual Elections above directed 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 cultivate at the least three acres for every fifty acres of such of the hereby granted Lands as are capable of Cultivation, or if they our said Gran- tees or any of them, they 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
28
Green Leaves from
Trees by these Presents reserved to us our heirs and Successors, 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 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 not withstanding; Provided further and upon Condition also nevertheless, 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 months from the date thereof 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 Docquet thereof shall be also 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 Effect, any thing before in these Presents contained to the con- trary thereof in any wise notwithstanding, and we do moreover of our especial Grace certain Knowledge and meer motion Consent and agree that this our present Grant being registered recorded and a Doc- quet thereof made as before directed and appointed shall be good and effectual in the Law to all Intents Constructions and Purposes whatsoever against us our
1
29
Whitingham, Vermont,
heirs and Successors notwithstanding any misreciting misbounding misnaming or other Imperfection or Omission of in or in any wise concerning the above granted or hereby mentioned or intended to be gran- ted Lands Tenements Hereditaments and Premises or any part thereof.
In Testimony whereof we have caused these our Letters to be made Patent and the Great Seal of our said Province of New York to be hereunto affixed.
Witness our said trusty and well beloved Cadwal- lader Colden Esquire our said Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of our said Province of New York and the Territories depending thereon in America, at our Fort in our City of New York the twelfth day of March in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy and of our Reign the Tenth.
Second Skin, the word "any" in the twenty fourth Line being first interlined-Clarke ..
In the preceding Certificate and Letters recorded for Nathan Whiting and others, Page 52 Line 15 the word "thereof" is inter- lined. Examined and compared this 15th March 1770 By me. Geo. Banyar, D. Sec'ry. STATE OF NEW YORK,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE,
ss :
I have compared the preceding copy of Certificate & Letters Patent with the record thereof in this office, in Book Number 15 of Patent at page 51 &c., and I do hereby certify the same to be a correct transcript therefrom and of the whole thereof.
WITNESS my hand and the seal of office of the Secretary of State, at the city of Albany, the 19th day of July one thousand eight hundred and eighty.
L. S.
Anson S. Wood,
DEP. SECRETARY OF STATE.
30
Green Leaves from
On the morning of August 18, 1880, no citizen of Whitingham had ever seen the Charter of the town; and no one of the great assembly gathered on that morning to celebrate its hundredth anniversary, ex- cept the orator of the day, knew that such a document existed. The discovery of this remarkable Instru- ment after it was a century old, by a native of the town who had never claimed to be a historian, was not accepted as deserving favorable mention by those who had before considered themselves in possession of all that was worth knowing about Whitingham, but they were now compelled to admit that
"Knowledge to their eyes her ample page, Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll."
This Charter not only gave Whitingham its name, the only one it ever had as an incorporated town, and minutely defined its limits for all time, but it disclosed the history of its territory as far back as 1766, four years before it had any legal existence as a town.
Previous to 1770 this tract of land, comprising 36 square miles, had not been chartered by any legal or illegal authority as a township. It was part of Cum- berland county and retained the county name while it remained vacant and unchartered as a town, though its limits had been encroached upon by several indi- vidual grants previous to 1770. James Eddington, John Nordbergh, Thomas Etherington, John Walker, Thomas Gamble, and Dennis Carleton, were the grantees, they being at some time officers in the colo-
3I
Whitingham, Vermont.
nial service. There is an old map in the archives of New York, showing the territory now Whitingham, previous to 1770. On this map Halifax is designated by its present name, Wilmington is called Draper, under its second charter, and Whitingham is called "Cumberland Officers," clearly indicating that it then had no name, and was identified by reference to the officers who had some granted title to the soil.
In 1767 Colonel Nathan Whiting and nine others, supposing that the vacant and unchartered lands in Cumberland County were sufficient for a township, petitioned Sir Henry Moore, Governor of New York, for a grant of these lands whereon they proposed to make a permanent settlement. Upon this petition a Patent covering 10,000 acres was ordered to issue, but upon actual survey it was found that there were only about 7,000 acres then vacant, and the Patent was not issued. On the 26th day of January, 1770, Colonel Whiting, in behalf of himself and six others, renewed the above petition, praying that the Letters Patent before ordered to issue might be issued to them, covering not only the 6,900 acres found to be vacant, but 15,000 acres granted to individuals at sundry times before, making in all a total of 21,900 acres, with a liberal allowance for highways.
It was stated in the revived petition that the seven petitioners were then all the persons who were inter- ested in these lands, four of the original petitioners having withdrawn from participation in this enterprise
32
Green Leaves from
and one other had been added to the list. To these seven persons, Nathan Whiting, Samuel Fitch, Elea- zer Fitch, James Smedley, Andrew Myers, Robert Aiton and, Samuel Boyer, the grant prayed for was made, and the said lands were then erected into a town, the name of which has never been changed.
In describing the boundary of Whitingham no mention was made of Draper (now Wilmington) or Halifax, and in the Charter of those towns no refer- ence whatever is had to Whitingham or Cumberland. There was no reason why Whitingham should have been cited as it was not in existence, Halifax having been incorporated in 1750 and Wilmington in 1751.
But in describing the boundary of Readesborough which was chartered after Whitingham, but during the same year, Cumberland is referred to as "a tract (not a town) known by the name of Cumberland."
The original boundary description of the towns adjoining Whitingham will be of interest especially to civil engineers, who will be puzzled to establish a reconciliation between the several surveys. By the survey of Halifax it appears that its west line runs at right angles with the north line of Massachusetts, and at the same time due north. The east line of Whi- tingham runs north, ten degrees east. These lines are evidently not parallel, as the Whitingham line does not run "due north" from the southwest corner of Halifax, but ten degrees east of north, and also at right angles with the Massachusetts line.
Whitingham, Vermont. 33
The southeast corner of Halifax was seemingly well established, it being on the Massachusetts line and half a mile west of Green River; but whether the hemlock and beech trees mentioned in the Whiting- ham boundary were six miles from said corner does not appear from the record. But the fact that the east and west lines of both towns are at right angles with the Massachusetts line, together with the well defined way in which Whitingham is described, very clearly shows that "due north" in the Halifax bound- ary is controlled by the right angle which applies to both towns, and is so minutely defined by the concise description of Whitingham.
The following boundary descriptions, Halifax and Wilmington chartered by New Hampshire and Whi- tingham and Readesborough by New York, will tend to show how towns were made a century ago; and those minute methods are not altogether unworthy of careful comparison with the more artistic work of recent date and origin. The Charter of Whitingham is one of the most elaborate, carefully prepared and clearly expressed public documents of that time, and will bear study by the critics of this wise generation.
Boundary of Halifax.
"Beginning at a marked tree standing half a mile West of Green River in the boundary line between the Government of the Massa- chusetts Bay and New Hampshire, and from thence due West on said boundary line six miles and at the end of said six miles to turn off at a right angle and run due North six miles, and at the end of
5
34
Green Leaves from
said six miles to turn off at a right angle and run due East six miles and at the end of said six miles to turn a right angle and run due South six miles to the tree first mentioned."-Chartered in 1750.
Boundary of Wilmington.
"Beginning at the North West Corner of a Township Called Halifax lately granted to Oliver Partridge Esq. and others his asso- ciates thence running West ten degrees North by the Needle six miles thence running North 10° East six miles Thence running East 10° South six miles thence running South 10 degrees West six miles to the corner first mentioned."-Chartered in 1751.
Boundary of Whitingham.
"Beginning at a Hemlock Tree and a Beach tree growing close together, having two large stones laid between them, standing in the Line run for the Bounds of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, and which Beach Tree is marked with these words, The Cor- ner of Cumberland, and runs thence North ten degrees East six miles ; then North eighty degrees West six miles ; then South ten degrees West six miles to the aforesaid Line run for the Bounds of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, and then along the said Line South ten degrees East six miles to the said Place of Begin- ning."-Chartered in 1770.
Boundary of Readesborough.
"Beginning at a Black Spruce-pine tree, marked by Phineas Mun with the letters S F, for the S. E. Corner of a tract called Stamford, standing in the line run for the bounds of the Province of Massa- chusetts Bay, & running along Sd line S. 80° E. 320 Chains, to the west bounds of a tract known by the name of Cumberland- then along the west. bounds thereof & the west bounds of a tract called Draper, N. 10° E. 960 Chs : to a tract called Somerset- then along the south bounds of Somerset, N. 80° W. 320 Chains, to the East bounds of a tract called Woodford- then along Sª East bounds of Woodford & the East bounds of Sª Stamford S. 10º W. 960 Chains to the beginning .- Chartered in 1770.
35
Whitingham, Vermont.
It has been claimed that the original charters of the towns in Vermont, issued by New York and New Hampshire, if not void at first soon became so, and that the change of government, brought about by the Revolution, obliterated all that had been done under the authority of Great Britain. At first sight this proposition presents a show of probability, but a mo- ment's reflection will dispel all troublesome doubts.
Stamford in Bennington county was chartered by New Hampshire in 1753. It was chartered again by the same authority in 1764 and called New Stamford, but in 1783 the town voted to continue under the name of Stamford alias New Stamford. But a short time elapsed before the original name was adopted, and unless some freak in Nature has jostled it out of place, it may now be found where the original char- ter fixed its location, ready to answer to its original name. Wilmington was chartered by New Hamp- shire in 1751, and by the name of Draper in 1763. This last name was repudiated and the former name assumed, so that the Wilmington of 1751 is the Wil- mington of to-day, bounded, described and named by its first charter, the same being adopted by Vermont.
It must be remembered that all this happened be- fore the Revolution and under the jurisdiction and authority of the king of England. The absolute right to grant townships by charter under authority of the crown within the territory of Vermont, previous to 1775, was never disputed. The local question raised
1135576
36
Green Leaves from
was between two governors as to the scope of their jurisdiction and not that of the British government. The animosity engendered between the New Hamp- shire Grants and the province of New York, though of long standing and exceedingly bitter, was not so malignant but what Vermont paid New York $30,000 to terminate the dispute; besides, Whitingham was represented in the General Assembly at its first ses- sion in 1778, without being invited to change its name or location, both of which had been established eight years by the province of New York.
The Charter of Whitingham was legally issued by ample authority, from which the town derived its ex- istence. Its name, established by this Charter, its position upon the face of the earth, so clearly set forth by the terms of the survey, both essential, and with- out which no American town legally exists, are now recognized by the laws of Vermont, and to that ex- tent at least this grand old Charter is now in force.
1
CHAPTER II.
LOCATION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
hitingham, thus elaborately de- scribed, so carefully bounded and chartered under the great seal of the Province of New York, with such display of Royalty and legal precision, was then a wilderness, six miles square, upon which the foot of civilized man had but infrequently trod. It was situated in the southwesterly part of Cumberland county, and its place on the face of the earth was in lat. 42 deg. 47 min. north; long. 4 deg. 9 min. east. The county lines were subsequently changed and Whitingham, though not disturbed in location, now occupies the southwest corner of Windham county and is bound- ed on the north by Wilmington, east by Halifax, south by Heath and Rowe in Massachusetts, and west by Readesborough in Bennington county.
1
38
Green Leaves from
It is 21 miles southwest from Newfane, the county seat, 20 miles southwest from Brattleboro, 18 miles southeast from Bennington, 20 miles easterly from No. Adams, 22 miles northwest from Greenfield, and 125 miles south of Montpelier, the capitol of Vermont.
There are but few level acres, fit for cultivation, in the whole town. Ravines, ridges, rocks and hills, are abundant, and present such a variety of attractive scenery as to make it one of the loveliest places of resort for the student of Nature, to be found in New England. It is not so intensely wild as to absorb its beauty in an incomprehensible grandeur, but its nat- ural charms are so blended with each other as to produce the most complete harmony between man and Nature, and inspire a solemn reverence for divi- ner things.
HILLS.
The center of the town, where was built the first church, and where the postoffice, the stores and the tavern were established and remained for more than half a century, is located upon an eminence belonging to a range of hills which run in a southerly direction from Wilmington to Rowe. From several of these high points may be clearly seen an extensive tract of picturesque country, in Vermont and Massachusetts.
Among these elevations is Burrington Hill, noted for its bleakness during the winter months and its refreshing breezes in the heat of summer.
39
1
Whitingham, Vermont.
Streeter Hill, in the southerly part of the town, is a sightly spot upon the very summit of which William Streeter and his family resided for many years. The ground descends in every direction from where the house stood, and from this spot can be seen Haystack . mountain in Searsburg, Monadnock in Jaffrey, N. H., Wachusett and Greylock in Massachusetts.
Tenney Hill, near the Massachusetts line, is one of the highest in town, and the view from this point in all directions is magnificent, covering a wide field of surrounding country in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Greylock, the highest land in the Bay State, is 3505 feet above tide water, Monad- nock 3186, Wachusett 2118, Tenny Hill 2 109.
In the easterly part of the town, near the village of Jacksonville and east of North River is a rocky elevation known as Hosley Hill, and on the other side of the river are the Coleman and Tippet Hills. The hills in the westerly part of the town near Lime Hollow and along the easterly banks of Deerfield River, for several miles, are extremely rugged and the land about them unsuited to cultivation. The best crop raised here consists of the grandest natural scenery to be found in New England.
Whoever stands upon the summit of any of the lofty hills of Whitingham and thoughtfully gazes down upon the checkered landscape, dotted here and there with unpretentious dwellings, variegated with the re- sults of rustic civilization, tinted with the crimson
40
Green Leaves from
flush of autumn and overspread with the mellow glory of a September sunset, will plead to linger un- der the enchantment of Nature's charms till the gray twilight drops her sable curtain at the golden feet of retiring day.
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.