History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 43

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 988

USA > Vermont > Addison County > History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 43

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).

The town of Addison was chartered on the 14th day of October, 1761, by Benning Wentworth, then governor of New Hampshire, to the original pro- prietors, by the same form of charter under which other towns in Vermont were granted. For purposes of reference we insert here a copy of those char- ters, in blank, and will omit them in subsequent town histories :

[L. s.] By the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, KING, Defender of the Faith, &c.

To all persons to whom these presents shall come, Greeting :- Know ye, that We, of Our special Grace, certain knowledge, Mear Motion, for the due encouragement of settling a New Plantation within our said Province, by and with the advice of our trusty and well-beloved

358

HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.

BENNING WENTWORTH, EsQ., our Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Our Province of NEW HAMPSHIRE, in New England, and of our COUNCIL in the said PROVINCE, HAVE, upon the Conditions and Reservations, hereinafter made, given and granted, and by these presents for Us, Our Heirs and Successors, do give and grant in equal shares unto our loving Subjects, Inhabitants of Our said Province of New Hampshire and Our other Governments, and to their Heirs and Assigns forever whose names are entered on this Grant, to be divided to and amongst them into sixty-eight equal shares, all that tract or parcel of Land situate, lying and being within our said Province of New Hampshire, containing by Admeasurement, Twenty- Eight Thousand Eight Hundred Acres, which Tract is to contain something more than Six Miles square, and no more, Out of which an allowance is to be made for highways and unim- provable Lands, by Rocks, Ponds, Mountains and Rivers, One Thousand and Forty acres free, according to a plan and survey thereof, made by our said Governor's order, and returned into the Secretary's Office and hereunto annexed, butted and bounded as follows, viz .: - * *

* * And the Inhabitants that do or hereby shall Inhabit the said Township are hereby to be enfranchised with and entitled to all and every the privileges and Immunities that other towns within Our Province 'by Law Exercise and Enjoy: And further, that the said Town as soon as there shall be fifty families resident and settled thereon shall have the liberty of Hold- ing Two Fairs, one which shall be held on the - and the other on the - annually, which fairs are not to continue longer than the respective - following the said - --- and that as soon as the said Town shall consist of fifty families a Market may be opened and kept, one or more days in each Week, as may be thought most advantageous to the inhabitants. Also, that the first meeting for the choice of Town Officers agreeable to the laws of our said Province shall be held on the first Tuesday in January next which said Meeting shall be noti- fied by , who is hereby also appointed the Moderator of the said first Meeting which he is to notify and govern agreeable to the laws and Customs of our said Province and that the Annual Meeting forever hereafter, for the choice of such Officers of said Town, shall be on the second Tuesday in March Annually.

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the said Tract of Land as above expressed, together with all the privileges and Appurtenances, to them and their respective Heirs and Assigns, forever, upon the following conditions, viz :

I. That every Grantee, his Heirs and Assigns, shall plant and cultivate five acres of Land within the term of five years, for every fifty acres contained in his or their share or proportion of Land in said Township, and continue to improve and settle the same by additional Cultiva- tions on penalty of the Forfeiture of his Grant or share in said Township, and of its reverting to Us Our Heirs and Successors, to be by Us Regranted to such of our subjects as shall effect- ually settle and Cultivate the same.

II. That all White and other Pine Trees within the said Township fit for Masting Our Royal Navy, be carefully preserved for that Use, and none to be cut or felled, without Our Special License for so doing, first had and obtained upon the penalty of the forfeiture of the Right of Such Grantee, his Heirs and Assigns to Us, Our Heirs and Successors, as well as being subject to the penalty of any act or Acts of Parliament that now are or shall hereafter be enacted.

III. That before any Division of the land be made to and among the Grantees, a tract of Land as near the Center of said Township as the Land will admit of, shall be reserved and marked out for Town Lots, one of which shall be alloted to each Grantee, of the contents of one Acre.

IV. Yielding and paying therefore to Us Our Heirs and Successors for the space of ten years, to be computed from the date hereof, the rent of one Ear of Indian Corn only, on the Twenty-fifth day of December annually, if Lawfully demanded, the first payment to be made on the Twenty-fifth day of December 1761.

V. Every proprietor Settler or Inhabitant shall yield and pay unto Us Our Heirs or Suc-

359

TOWN OF ADDISON.

cessors, yearly and every year forever, from and after the expiration of ten years from the above said Twenty-fifth of December, namely, on the Twenty-fifth day of December, which will be in the year of Our Lord 1771, One Shilling Proclamation Money, for every hundred Acres he owns settles or possesses, and so in proportion for a greater or less Tract of said Land, which Money shall be paid by the respective persons abovesaid, their Heirs or Assigns in our Council Chamber in Portsmouth, or to such Officer or, Officers as shall be appointed to re- ceive the same, and this to be in Lieu of all other Rents and services whatsoever.

In testimony whereof we have caused the Seal of our said Province to be hereunto affixed. Witness,

BENNING WENTWORTH, ESQ.,

Our Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Our said Province, this 14th day of October in the year of our Lord CHRIST, One Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-one, And in the Second Year of Our Reign. B. Wentworth.

By his EXCELLENCY'S Command

with Advice of Council.

Theodore Atkinson, Sect'y.

The charter has also this endorsement, together with a list of the grantees : His Excellency, Benning Wentworth, Esq.

A Tract of Land to contain Five Hundred Acres, marked B. W. on the Plan, which is to be accounted two of the within shares.

One whole share for the incorporated Society, for the propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts.

One share of the Glebe for the Church of England, as by law established. One share for the first settled Minister of the Gospel, and one share for the benefit of Schools in said Town. Province of Newhampshire,

November 3d, 1761. Theodore Atkinson, Sect'y.

The history of the town of Addison extends farther into the past than that of any other town in the county. In the winter of 1690 a party of French and Indians came up the lake on the ice, crossed over and burned Schenectady, an incident of fire and suffering that has passed into general history. The English pursued the marauders as far as Crown Point, where the French and Indians took to their skates. A portion of the pursuers overtook some of the French and killed twenty-five. On the 26th of March of that year the au- thorities of Albany county gave to Captain Jacobus D'Narm 1 orders to take seventeen men and pass by way of " Schuytook," and take from thence twenty savages and Dick Albatrose and proceed to Crown Point. A little later, and in April, Captain Abraham Schuyler was ordered to the mouth of Otter Creek with nine men, " to watch day and night for one month, and daily communi- cate with Captain D'Narm." At the same time D'Narm's orders were so changed that he had to seek a new post, which led him to what became known as Chimney Point, near the southwestern point of the town of Addison. Here he began his watch and erected a small stone fort ; this was the first possession or civilized occupation of territory within the State of Vermont, if we except the fort built on Isle la Motte by the French in 1664. In August of the year last mentioned Captain John Schuyler, on his retreat from La Prairie (opposite

1 The documentary history of New York gives this name as " De Warm," but it is probably an error.

360

HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.

Montreal), noted that he stopped in this vicinity "at the little stone fort," which was undoubtedly that of D'Narm.

At a little later period a large tract of land in Addison county, and includ- ing the present town of the same name, was claimed by the Mohawk Indians and by them granted to Godfrey Dellius, the Dutch minister at Albany in 1694. Two years later his title was confirmed by Charles II, who afterwards revoked the title; but this revocation was not recognized by the thrifty Dutch- man, who sold his alleged right to his successor, Lydius. In the year 1730 the French built a small fort on Chimney Point (Point a la Chevelure, as they termed it), and probably repaired the work of D'Narm. In 1743 the king of France granted to Hocquart (intendant of New France) a seigniory of four leagues front on the lake by five leagues deep; the south line of this tract was about half a mile south of the present south line of Addison, and the north line near the site of Adams Ferry in Panton.

The next record we find of Chimney Point is that of Kalm, the Swedish naturalist, who visited the locality in 1749. He says of it: "I found quite a. settlement, a stone wind-mill and fort in one, with five or six small cannon mounted; the whole inclosed in embankments." According to the writings of the late Hon. John Strong (from which we must draw liberally), there was "within the enclosure a neat church, and throughout the settlement well culti- vated gardens, with some good fruit, as apples, plums, currants, etc. During the next ten years these settlements were extended north on the lake some four miles ; the remains of old cellars and gardens still to be seen (about 1860). show a more thickly settled street than occupies it now."

The stirring events that occurred between 1750 and the granting of the charter of Addison county as before noted, are emblazoned on the living pages of history. Crown Point, Ticonderoga and their immediate vicinity consti- tuted battle-fields the history of which was to be overshadowed only by that of the more heroic and bloody struggle of the succeeding Revolution. In 1759, after the taking of Ticonderoga by General Amherst, the French burned their fort at Crown Point and Chimney Point, and the settlers abandoned their farms and fled with the troops to Canada. The habitations went to ruin ; weeds and trees grew up in the gardens and cellars, and the lands that had seen the thriving homesteads of the French returned to nearly their primitive wildness.

In the year 1763 (April) Hocquart deeded to M. Michel Chartier de Lot- binière all of his seigniory north of Hospital Creek ; the latter petitioned the British government from time to time to be reinstated in his lands. Finally a similar seigniory in Canada was granted him as a substitute. In October of the same year a grant of land was made by the then governor of New York to Colonel David Wooster, beginning near the south line of Addison, running east to Dead Creek and north to D. V. Chambers's land ; another tract to Col-

361

TOWN OF ADDISON.

onel Charles Forbes, extending from Wooster's to Potash Bay; another to Lieutenant Ramsay, lying north of the bounds of Addison. Directly east of Forbes's and Ramsay's tracts was a grant made to J. W. Hogarty, and east of Wooster's one to Sir John Sinclair. These grants will be further alluded to on another page.

At about the time Addison was chartered, Panton also was granted to the first proprietors. But the grant as defined extended over the northern bound- ary of the town of Addison about four miles along the lake; hence some of the first settlers of this town supposed they were locating in Panton. This state of affairs led to protracted trouble and litigation between the two towns, which was not finally settled until May 17, 1774; Addison held her territory according to her charter, by right of priority of grant; but she gave up to Panton 8,000 acres of the disputed territory, "for a reward for duties done in settling said tract." (See history of Panton.) On the 22d of October, 1804, 2,000 acres were taken from the southern corner of the town and annexed to Weybridge, and three days later a tract was annexed to Waltham.

Early Settlements .- One of the soldiers of Amherst was named Benjamin Kellogg, from Connecticut. It is said that while stationed at Crown Point he frequently visited the Salt Licks, near where the mansion of General John Strong was subsequently built, to procure venison for the officers of the army. It is believed that the clearings made by the French, and the promising char- acter of the locality, made an impression upon his mind, and that when he returned he told his acquaintances of the advantages of the place for settle- ment. He returned to his old hunting grounds in the fall of 1762, and like- wise in the two succeeding years; in the latter year some of the Panton pro- prietors came with him. In the spring of 1765 Zadock Everest, David Val- lance and one other settler came on and began a clearing about three miles north of Chimney Point. In September Benjamin Kellogg came back for his fall hunt, and with him came John Strong in quest of a home in the wilderness. The two last-named men visited the place where Everest and Vallance were at work, remained a few days and helped get in their fallow of wheat, and then traveled as far east as the site of Middlebury; they were probably the first white men to reach that locality. On their return to the lake Strong decided to build a house there, which he did with the help of the other men; he selected the site and cellar of one of the ruined French houses as the founda- tion. It was the first house built by an English settler north of Massachusetts. The party returned to Connecticut, and in February, 1766, Strong returned with his family, consisting of his wife and three children, Asa, Samuel and Polly, and in May Zadock Everest, David Vallance, John Chipman and six others, with their families, came on by way of Otter Creek; all of these but Chipman located in Addison and Panton.

It is not known just how many families settled in this town during the suc-

362

HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.

ceeding ten years and down to the breaking out of the Revolution; but in 1768, when Colonel Wooster came on to look for the land to which he sup- posed he had a title, he found five families on it -John Strong, Benjamin Kel- logg, Phineas Spalding, David Vallance and one of the Pangborns. Some of these, according to General Strong, agreed to leave their lands, and others were sued by Wooster in the Albany courts. Then followed the historical con- troversy between the settlers and the New York authorities. Strong, Kellogg, Everest, and ten other Addison men were in Allen's party who dispossessed Reid at the falls (Vergennes), for an account of which see Judge Smith's history of Vergennes herein. When the men returned from the affair with Reid they found Wooster with the sheriff serving writs of ejectment on those living on his land ; they were highly incensed that while they had been engaged in driv- ing the hated Yorkers' from the lands of their neighbors, their own homes were invaded. They finally took Wooster and his sheriff, tied them to a tree, and under threats of the "beech seal," forced them to promise to depart and not trouble the settlers further. The colonel left that locality on the following morning.

Of the part enacted in the Revolution by Addison men, but little can be said. At the time of the retreat of the Americans from their Canadian expe- dition in 1776, when the small-pox broke out among the soldiers, a hospital was built on the north side of the mouth of Hospital Creek, which incident gave the stream its name. The number of deaths here was so great that pits were dug into which the bodies were thrown without coffins. In the same year the Addison settlers aided General Gates in getting out timbers for his fleet, which was placed under the command of Arnold. This fleet was defeated by the British in October, when Arnold ran his vessels ashore in Panton, burn- ing some and blowing up others. When Burgoyne made his memorable in- vasion in 1777 most of the settlers departed, those from Addison county going into Pawlet, Dorset and other towns then in Bennington county. In 1778 Major Carleton made his descent from Canada ; he took thirty-nine men and boys as prisoners. Among them were Nathan and Marshall Smith, of Brid- port ; Benjamin Kellogg, and Ward and Joseph Everest, of Addison ; Hol- comb Spalding, two Ferrises and Mr. Grandey, of Panton, and Hinckly, of Shoreham. Says General Strong : " Grandey and Hinckly were liberated to take care of the women and children, these and other families having come back to their farms on the defeat of Burgoyne ; all now abandoned the settle- ment except three families, and did not return until after the war. The pris- oners were taken to Quebec, where they arrived December 6. Kellogg and a number of others died in prison during the winter. They all suffered unac- countable hardships. In the spring they were taken down the river some ninety miles. May 13, about midnight, eight of them made their escape. On reaching the south shore they divided into two parties, four in each. On getting

363

TOWN OF ADDISON.

opposite Quebec one party was betrayed by a Frenchman, and again taken prisoners. Three of them again made their escape that night-Ward and the two Smiths-and after being again taken by the Indians, and again escaping, pursued by the Indians fourteen days and nights, all their knowledge of the Indian craft and devices being put to the utmost trial, they finally succeeded in throwing off their pursuers and arrived in Panton, where they met three Americans, on a scout, from whom they got provisions; which was the first food they had tasted since their last escape, except such as they procured in the woods-in all, twenty days. The next day they stopped at Hemenway's, in Bridport. (Hemenway never left his farm through all the war.) After one day's rest, they pushed on to Pittsford."

With the close of the great struggle for freedom settlers felt that they might confidently hope for security in their wilderness homes, and they accord- ingly began to return. New immigrants, also, attracted by the reports of the beauty of the country, came in rapidly, and Addison soon took the lead in the county. It is our purpose now to trace most of the early settlements of the town, with such other historical records as we have been able to secure.1

1 The town records show that the following settlers took the freeman's oath between 1790 and 1801 : In 1790 James Bates, Jonah Case, Z. Everest, Joseph Everest, Benjamin Everest, Ebenezer Merrill, Joseph Murray, John Newton, Ebenezer Picket, Seth Storrs, John Strong, esq., Samuel Strong, David Whitney, Timothy Woodford, Ebenezer Wright, Walter Bates, Azariah Bill, Jeremiah Day, Joseph D. Farnsworth, Levi Hanks, Lyman Hurd, Carrel Merrill, Simon Smith, Luke Strong, Bissel Case, Samuel Low, John Willmarth, John Strong, jr.

1791 .- Jonathan Bills, Loudon Case, Timothy Pangborn, Theo. Andrus, Daniel Squier, Josiah Waterous, Isaac Buck, Isaiah Clark, Thomas Dexter, William Kimball, Samuel Pangborn, Joseph Pangborn, Otis Pond, Eli Squier, Aaron Warner, Daniel Champlin, Caleb Olin, Stephen Pangborn, Benjamin Payne, Gideon Seeger, David Vallance, John Vallance, Joseph Spencer, Henry Smith, Jesse Smith, Joseph Smith, Clayborn Robinson, Jabez Pond, Kilborn Morley, John Noble, Elizer Hanks.

1793 .-- Joseph Caldwell, William Everest, John Harris, William Meacham, Andrew Murry, Ben- jamin Reynolds, Enoch Sacket, Thomas Sanford, jr., Benjamin Southward, Jeremiah Adams, Philo Pickett, William Ellis.

1794 .- Seth Abbott, Jeremiah Meacham.

1795 .- Elisha Clark, William Merrihugh, Nathaniel Warner, Jacob McClan, Geo. Wright, Timothy Harris, James McClan, Ashur Ashborn, John N. Murry.

1797 .- Stephen Day, Reuben Randal, Abel Wilmarth, John Cory, jr., David White, Ashbel Squier, Ebenezer Squier.

1798 .- Robert Chambers, Israel Morley, Friend Adams, Peter Stickel, Ashbel Picket, Jacob Post, Asel Wilmarth, jr., Daniel Smith, John Post, Ebenezer Daniels, Wm. Mills, Asel Wright, Alvin White, David Pond, Reuben Randal, Simon Smith, Reuben Sacket, jr., Cyrus Strong, William Picket, James Stiles, Solomon Green, Peter Luis, Curtis Butler, John Harris, James Hoten, Ephraim Mills.

1799 .- Luce Litchfield, Daniel Hasbrooks, Caleb Pratt, Benjamin Norton, Daniel Dewey.

1800 .- William Dusenbury, Sterling Adams, Solomon Doud, Wm. C. Dusenbury, Alexander Fer- guson, Francis More, Ebenezer Wright, jr., Zachariah Curtice, jr., John Herrimon, Roe Miner, Thomas D. Allen, Amos Smith, Jacob Travers, Daniel Wright, Aaron Merrill, Henry Cannada, Reu- ben Spalding, Brattle Butler, James Bushnel, John Fisher, Abraham Burrell, Timothy Burrell.

1801 .- Stephen Armstrong, Bela Norton, Josiah Norton, Mitchell Kingman, Gilead Picket, Martin L. Crandal, Nathaniel Pangborn, Jacob Head, Nicholas R. Grinnells, Weaker Bartlett, Reuben Knick- erbocker, Ephraim Jackson, John Doran and William Jones.

The names in the above list are spelled according to the record.

364

HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.

The Strong family has been a prominent one in this town. The Hon. John Strong was born in Salisbury, Conn., in 1738 and came to Addison in Febru- ary, 1766, as before noted. After he was driven away from his settlement by the British he went to Dorset, which town he represented in the Legislature from 1779 to 1782, and in 1781 he was elected assistant judge of Bennington county, and re-elected in 1782. In 1783 he returned to his former home in this town. His first dwelling here was built near the lake and destroyed by the British. In 1796 he built his brick residence, the brick for which were made on the farm. He represented Addison in the Legislature three years, from 1784, and in 1785 was elected first judge of the Addison County Court. In 1786 he was elected judge of probate and a member of the Council ; these offices he held until 1801. In 1791 he was a member of the convention which ratified the constitution of the United States. He died in June, 1816, and many of his descendants are still residents of this town and vicinity. His son, the Hon. John W. Strong, was a prominent man in the town; the son of the latter, Charles W., still lives in the town.

For their historical value we quote from Mr. Strong's sketch of the town of Addison the following incidents connected with early life in the wilderness : " Wild animals," he wrote, "were very troublesome, especially bears, with which he had many encounters. In September Mrs. Strong, whilst her hus- band and a few neighbors had joined together and gone up the lake in a bateau and thence to Albany to procure necessaries for the settlement, one evening was sitting by the fire with her children about her. The kettle of samp had just been taken from the fire when, hearing a noise, she looked towards the door and saw the blanket that served the purpose of one raised up and an old bear protruding her head into the room. The sight of the fire caused her to dodge back. Mrs. Strong caught the baby, and sending the older children to the loft, she followed and drew the ladder after her. The floor of this loft was made by laying small poles together, which gave ample opportunity to see all

that was going on below. The bear, after reconnoitering the place several times, came in with two cubs. They first upset the milk that had been placed on the table for supper. The old bear then made a dash at the pudding pot, and thrusting in her head, swallowed a large mouthful and filled her mouth with another before she found it was boiling hot. Giving a furious growl she struck the pot with her paw, upsetting and breaking it. She then sat herself up on end, endeavoring to poke the pudding out of her mouth, whining and growling all the time. This was so ludicrous, the cubs sitting up on end one on each side, and wondering what ailed their mother, that it drew a loud laugh from the children above. This seemed to excite the anger of the beast more than ever, and with a roar she rushed for the place where they had escaped up aloft. This they had covered up when they drew up the ladder, and now com- menced a struggle; the bear to get up, the mother and children to keep her

365

TOWN OF ADDISON.

down. After many fruitless attempts the bear gave it up, and towards morn- ing moved off. After Strong's return, a door made from the slabs split from a basswood and hung on wooden hinges gave them some security from like in- roads in the future.

" At another time Strong and Smalley were crossing the lake from Chim- ney Point to Mckenzie's in Moriah, in a canoe, and when near Sandy Point they saw something swimming in the water which they at once supposed to be a deer and gave chase. As they drew near they found, instead of a deer, it was an enormous black bear they were pursuing. This was a different affair, and a consultation was held. They had nothing but an axe, but were too plucky to back out; so it was planned that Smalley was to get into the wake of the bear and run the canoe bows on, whilst Strong, standing in the bow with the axe, was to knock Bruin on the head. Smalley brought the boat up in good style and Strong, with all the force of a man used to felling the giants of the forest, struck the bear full on the head. The bear minded it no more than if it had been a walking-stick instead of an axe, but instantly turning, placed both fore paws on the side of the boat and upset it, turning both men into the lake. The bear, instead of following them, crawled up on to the bottom of the boat and took possession, quietly seating himself and looking with great gravity whilst the men were floundering in the water. Smalley, who was not a very good swimmer, seeing the bear so quiet, thought he might hold on by one end of the boat until it should float ashore ; but no Bruin would have none of their company ; and they were obliged, each with an oar under his arm to sustain him, to make the best of their way to Sandy Point, the nearest shore. From here they had to go around the head of Bull- wagga Bay, and north as far as Port Henry, where they found their boat, minus their axe and other baggage, and were very glad to come off so well."

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.

History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 43

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co. Number of Pages: 988

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 988