USA > Vermont > Addison County > History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 71
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The first among the early settlers were Joshua Graves and his son Jesse, who came into town early in the spring of 1774. They pitched a hundred
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TOWN OF SALISBURY.
acres near the present depot, intending to locate in the northwest corner of the town. Here they built a small log house, cleared up a few acres of land and sowed it to wheat, and early in September returned to their home in Arlington, where they spent the remaining part of the season. This was the first clearing made for the purpose of agriculture in Salisbury. The following year Mr. Graves again visited his newly-made home, to which he finally moved his family in the latter part of the winter of 1775. Joshua, son of Chauncy, and grandson of the first settler, was the first child born in the town.
Amos Story, a native of Norwich, Conn., and his son Solomon in Septem- ber, 1774, a few months after Mr. Graves's commencement, pitched a hundred acres adjoining that of Mr. Graves on the south. Here he also put up a small log house and commenced clearing his land, with the expectation of raising wheat sufficient to supply bread for his family, which he intended to move to his new home the following year.
Soon after the death of Amos Story, Solomon returned to his friends in Rutland, and carried the sad news of his father's death to his bereaved mother and other relatives. Mrs. Story was a woman of large stature and masculine ap- pearance, and possessed the physical strength and hardihood indicated thereby. With such qualifications she and her three sons, Solomon, Ephraim, and Sam- uel, and her daughters, Hannah and Susannah, moved to their farm in Salis- bury in the latter part of the year 1775, and took possession of the log house her husband had erected. Here she labored with her boys on the farm, taking the lead in the labors of clearing the land, raising grain and other products necessary to sustain her growing family, until the early part of the year 1777. Soon after it was known by the settlers in this region that war existed between England and her colonies here, it was thought best that the inhabitants, so few in number in this vicinity, should either remove to the southern part of the State, where the population was more dense and where they could better protect themselves from the hostility of the Indians, or return to their former homes, which were mostly in Connecticut, and there await the issue of the war. But Mrs. Story, being able to use the musket to good advantage on necessary occasions, concluded to remain with her children and undertake the risks of completing her settlement. In the latter part of December, 1776, or early in 1777, Mrs. Story and her family returned to Rutland, and lived in the north part of that town, spending most of her summers at work on her Salisbury farm. In 1792, her sons having reached maturity and her daughters having married, she was united in marriage to Benjamin Smalley. He died in 1808, and she again married, in 1812, Captain Stephen Goodrich, one of the first settlers in Middlebury, and lived comfortably and happily with him on a farm in the northern part of this town until her decease, which occurred April 5, 1817. She was seventy-five years of age, and was buried in the graveyard of District No. I, in Middlebury.
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
After the commencement of the Revolutionary War Joshua Graves moved back as far as Rutland, but remained there but a short time before he and his boys returned to their farm in Salisbury in the summer of 1776, and built an- other house in the place of the one destroyed by the Indians, and in September returned again to their family in Rutland. Mr. Graves, not approving of this hazardous experiment of settling a new country in time of war, moved his family again to his farm early in the spring of 1777, with the intention of mak- ing a permanent settlement. In June of that year they were captured by In- dians and taken to Ticonderoga by way of Brandon ; they were soon released, however, and returned home. They then buried their treasures in the ground, and returned to Rutland until the close of the war.
The controversy between Salisbury and Leicester, and to some extent that between the settlers under the New Hampshire grants and those settling under the grants from New York, considerably retarded the settlement of lands within this town. The former cause was especially a source of delay, by rendering the title to land more insecure than even the most foolhardy adventurer was willing to abide. The settlement of both these difficulties opened the flood- gates of immigration, and crowded this and adjoining towns so thick that actual inconvenience was felt in providing for the new-comers before they were able to raise their own crops.
Salathiel Bump came to Salisbury before 1790, from Wallingford, Vt., and located about one-half mile north of the village site, on the place now occupied by his son, Franklin Bump. Cyrus Bump is also his son. He was a soldier of the Revolution, and was many years a justice of the peace in this town. He was many times sent to the Legislature as representative. Cyrus is and for many years has been a prominent man in town; has held nearly all the offices in the gift of the town, and has been sent to one Constitutional Conven- tion. His sons are Dr. Orlow M. Bump, who lives with his father on the home- stead, and Arthur V., deceased. Cyrus A. is son of Arthur. Other descend- ants of Salathiel Bump are found in the families of Beach, Allen, Smith, Capron, Jefferson, Rounds, Elmore, Crook, Ranno, Moses, Paine, Ward, Gibson, Harris, Boardman, Briggs, and Hamilton.
Ephraim Crook came here from Westminster, Vt., in 1793, and settled on a tract of land three miles north of the village, which has since been divided into several farms. Most of the property is now owned by Miss Ranney. He became a very wealthy man. His wife, Fanny, became an efficient midwife, and practiced until her death in 1846. His descendants are Crook, Dike, Weeks, Barker, Wooster, Hyde, and Merrill. One of his sons, Samuel S., was born at Westminster on the 11th of January, 1789, and came here with his father. He lived about one and a half miles north of his father. About the beginning of the War of 1812, having had two or three years' experience as clerk, he determined to engage in the mercantile business, and with that object
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bought out the store of Jacob Linsley in the village. He returned to agricul- tural pursuits in about a year, being depressed by the evil influence of the war upon trade. He married Elizabeth Sheldon in 1816, but had no children. In 1845 and '46 he represented the town in the State Legislature. In 1848 he re- moved to Middlebury.
Abe Waterous, another settler of 1784, was a Revolutionary soldier who took part in several battles, among which was the battle of Bennington. He died about the year 1800, and has descendants yet living in town.
Elias Kelsey, a native of Guilford, Conn., came to Salisbury in 1785 and located about one and a half miles from the south line of Middlebury. He was elected the first constable, was on the first committee to lay out roads, and among the first selectmen. Among his several sons, Elias, jr., lived in town one month more than sixty-seven years, and died on the 28th of April, 1852, aged seventy-seven years. Two of his sons, John W. and Loyal, are now liv- ing in town.
Samuel Pierce, born in Canaan, Conn., settled in the northwestern part of the town. He was a soldier of the Revolution, and was distinguished for his muscular strength and agility. He held the office of constable for fourteen years in succession. His grandson, Samuel Pierce, is a resident of Salisbury.
Thomas Savery and Henry Kelar, both Revolutionary soldiers, the former from Sutton, Mass., and the latter from Orange county, N. Y., came here in 1788. The former lived in a number of places while here. He served at the battles of Lexington, Monmouth, and White Plains, and has numerous descend- ants now in town.
Holland Weeks, from Litchfield, Conn., purchased of Benning Wentworth the governor's right in this town, and settled on it in 1789. He received the title in 1785 and made his survey in 1787. In 1788 he built a log house and made all necessary preparations for bringing on his family. He died of lung fever on the 22d of November, 1812. His son, John M., succeeded to the home- stead and passed his days thereon. John M. Weeks was the author of the val- uable History of Salisbury, published in 1860, from which we have made lib- eral extracts in the preparation of this work. He was born in Litchfield, Conn., on the 22d of May, 1788. He married Harriet Prindle, of Charlotte, Vt., on the 19th of February, 1818, by whom he had five children. He invented the Vermont beehive, the first improvement on the old-fashioned hive, and lived to see his invention in general use throughout the United States. His first wife died October 24, 1853, and on the 6th of January, 1856, he married Mrs. Em- ily Davenport, of Middlebury. He died on the morning of September 1, 1858.
Solomon Story, brother of Amos Story, was from Norwich, Conn., and later from Dalton, Mass., and settled here in 1789, in the west part of the town. He died on May 22, 1816, aged ninety years. Captain Rufus Story was his son. Jonas Story, another son of Solomon, came to town with his father, and by
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
chopping, and working at other kinds of manual labor, paid his own expenses. while pursuing legal studies. He was finally admitted to the bar, and prac- ticed the whole of his long life in Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
Gilbert Everts, jr., a native of Salisbury, Conn., came here with his father in 1786, and settled in the northeast part of the town. At his death he be- queathed about one hundred and fifty dollars to the Congregational Church, of which he was a member. His daughter married Lothrop, brother of Cyrus Bump.
Simeon Strong, also a Revolutionary soldier, came from Salisbury, Conn., in 1790, and located on the place next north of Cyrus Bump. He was father to Cyrus Bump's mother.
Samuel Taylor, from Eastham, N. H., settled in 1795 in the southwestern part of the town, on the place now owned by Mr. Leland. He had a family of ten children. One of his sons is a prominent farmer of Cornwall, and another, Edgar, resides in Addison.
Samuel Daniels, from Upton, Mass., settled here in 1775, on the land which, by the compromise of 1796, was ceded to Leicester. He was a soldier of the Revolution and was killed by the Indians and Tories in 1778. He had two sons, Dan and Samuel, the former of whom remained on the homestead until his death. Augustus Daniels, here now, is son to Dan Daniels.
Solomon Thomas came here about the year 1800 from Chittenden, Vt., and settled in the east part of the town, near the center, and passed his life on the farm. George Thomas, of the village, and William are his sons.
Jabez Spencer came into Salisbury from New Haven, Conn., in the year 1807 and settled on Otter Creek. He was also a Revolutionary soldier. He had twelve children, of whom only one is alive in Leicester.
Moses Sheldon, from Salisbury, Conn., moved to this town in 1810. He married a daughter of Samuel Keep. His grandson, Moses Sheldon, now oc- cupies the homestead.
Samuel Keep, also from Salisbury, Conn., was one of the original grantees of the town. He settled at Crown Point, N. Y., about 1773, and was one of Ethan Allen's advisers in taking the fort at Ticonderoga in 1775. After he came to this town he immediately engaged in the business of iron making, and superintended the erection of forges. He died in Brandon in the year 1802, aged seventy-one.
Seymour Waterhouse came early to the west part of Salisbury with his grandfather. He had eight sons. W. A. and L. N. Waterhouse are now living here. One son lives in New York and four have taken up their residence in California.
Levi Briggs, from Middleborough, Mass., settled in Salisbury village in 1819. His second son, Levi, was constable and deputy sheriff many years ; and the third, Sumner, filled many town offices with credit, among which was
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that of town representative and trustee of the public money. Henry died at Forestdale.
Among other early settlers was James Bradley, who first held the office of town treasurer, in which he continued as long as he remained in town, and Eliphaz Perkins, a man of great worth both as a physician and citizen. There were also families of whom no mention has been made, bearing the name of Chipman, Reynolds, Johnson, Huntley, Buel, Sutherland, Richardson, Sher- man, Phelps, Rossiter, Horsley, Church, Case, Chamberlain, Wells, Baker, Hil- dreth, Ellsworth, Sterling, Fuller, Merifield, Lyon, Hawes, Stephens, Bailey, Taylor, Alden, Race, Beebe, Golden, Palmatier, Codman, Larkin, Lakin, Skeele, Chafee, Kilburn, Sprague, McDonald, McCombie, Austin, Goode- nough, Porter, French, Pattison, Langley, Cheney, Fitch, Linsly, Toby, and many others.
In the grand list for the town in 1788 we find the names of the following settlers additional to those given, and have given therewith the locality where each lived, as far as we have been able to ascertain it. Eleazer Claghorn lived in the west part of the town; Francis Strong where Augustus Daniels now owns; Joseph Dolph in the south part; Bazadiel Richardson in the west part ; Abram Hard where Benjamin Eastwood owns; Eber Everts where the widow of Alonzo Boardman owns; Alfred Smauley (Smalley) where the widow of Andrew Wainwright owns; Barnabas L. Chipman in the northern part ; Josiah Farnham in the vicinity of the depot site; Asa and Jesse Graves on lands owned by Columbus Smith ; James Bradley where D. E. Gibson owns; James Baker where Edward Nash lives; Asa Huntly where Myron Page owns; Jo- seph Graves where James and Willard Whitney live; Aaron Adams near the center of the town; Ami Chipman where Albro Ranney lives; Stephen Hard in the central part; Isaiah Golden near where John E. Dyer lives; John Hodson where Sidney Branch lives; Samuel Pierce in the west part, where Royal Hedden lives; Elijah Skeel where Cyrus Bump lives; James Waterous in the west part; Wm. Cobb where Lucius Leland lives ; Ephraim Story where Norman Story afterward lived, on the place now occupied by Lyman Morgan ; Curtis Smith where the stone school-house stood. Others in the list whom we cannot locate were Chauncey Graves, Diah Waterous, John Ensign, Obadiah Wheeler, Samuel Abbott, David Seymour, Justus and James Sutherlin, Joel Newton, Jehiel Smith, and Griffith Plaice. These families and their descend- ants constitute the principal portion of those who have been instrumental in building up the town and making it what it is. They cleared their lands and turned their attention in early years chiefly to agricultural pursuits. Wheat was formerly grown in considerable quantities, while the cutting of the hard wood which abounded in the forests, and selling it at Middlebury, occupied the inhabitants in winter seasons for many years and brought a considerable reve- nue to the town. Cyrus Bump states that his father and others drew wheat to
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Troy, N. Y., for many seasons, returning with salt and other commodities. Hogs were taken to Boston and sold, and groceries bought for the return trip. Finally manufacturing operations began on a limited scale and continued to prosper for years, as hereafter noted.
It will not be out of place to here trace a few more of the settlers of the town, some of whom came here in later years. Henry R. Schoolcraft was born in Albany county, N. Y., in 1793, and settled in Salisbury in 1812 or '13, and assisted in the erection and management of the glass-works of the Ver- mont Company both here and in Middlebury. While living at Lake Dunmore he erected a chemical furnace and experimental laboratory, and at the same time studied chemistry and mineralogy under Professor F. Hall, of Middlebury College. In 1815 he went West. Thomas Sawyer was born in Bolton, Mass., in 1742, and was bred a millwright. He took a prominent part in the Revo- lutionary movements of the age in which he lived. He was placed in many important offices in Massachusetts during the preliminary battles of the Revo- lution. In the latter part of 1776 he was stationed for a short time at Ticon- deroga, and when his time of service had expired at that place he returned to his family in Massachusetts. In making this journey he passed through a part of Vermont, and was impressed with the opportunities here presented for en- terprise and usefulness. In 1777 he moved his family to Clarendon, where he built a bullet-proof block-house of solid oak timber. Even the windows were provided with such heavy shutters that a bullet could not be made to pass through them. He remained in Clarendon until 1783, when he began opera- tions in Salisbury, at the falls where the village now is, and near Lake Dun- more. Here he erected the first saw-mill, and on the Ist day of June, 1783, sawed the first log, having in two months erected a dam and a building suffi- ciently large for a saw-mill and a grist-mill, the latter of which was put in operation in the following winter. As this part of Salisbury was claimed by Leicester at that time, he was the first representative from that town in the State Legislature, and was also one of its first magistrates. He left the State in 1795, and settled with his family in what is now called Manchester, On- tario county, N. Y., where he died three years afterward. Jonathan Gibson was born in Fitchburg, Mass., in the year 1775. He came into Salisbury as early as 1798, but did not make a permanent settlement until some years later. At the time of his settlement he had no property, but purchased a farm on such liberal terms of payment that, with his great industry and economy, in a few years he was not only free from debt, but was considered one of the most prosperous farmers in the town. He served the town in the capacity of one of the selectmen seven or eight years, and was its representative in the General Assembly in 1815, '16, and '17. He died of a cancer November 22, 1851. John M. Dyer, of West Salisbury, came here from Clarendon in 1832. He is one of the foremost citizens of the town and a large owner of real estate. He
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has represented the town in both branches of the Legislature several terms; owns the Dyer block in Middlebury and one in Vergennes, with large tracts of land. Horace Thomas, one of the old citizens of the town, was born on the farm he now occupies. Asahel Martin located in 1822 on the farm now occu- pied by his son Henry. The settlement of Joshua Graves has been alluded to. The farm on which he located is now owned by his grandson, Columbus Smith, who has erected near the railroad depot one of the finest private residences in the State, which is known as Shard Villa. Mr. Smith's father, Joseph, settled early in that part of the town. Columbus Smith was born on the farm where he lives in 1819, and studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1847. He has given much of his life to the collection of claims and estates in Europe, and has passed many years in the Old World. William Wainwright, father of Andrew D., was born in New Haven, Conn., October 24, 1779, and removed to Salisbury in 1801, and about two years after his arrival here he located upon the farm now occupied by Andrew D., where he died in 1858, aged seventy- nine years. Mr. Wainwright was an enterprising man and took a prominent part in public affairs. Andrew D. was born on the old homestead in 1828.
The names of others prominent in the town must be left for our notice of the manufacturing, mercantile, and other interests of the community.
Proprietors' Acts .- The first meeting of the proprietors of Salisbury was held at Salisbury, Conn., in January, 1762, and there the following officers were elected: Josiah Stodard, proprietors' clerk; Elias Reed, Alexander Gaston, Nathaniel Buel, selectmen; John Evarts, treasurer; S. Moore, jr., col- lector. . At a subsequent meeting Nathaniel Buel was made a committee for lotting out the town into first and second divisions, and a tax of nine shillings was laid upon each proprietor to defray the expense of the same. Mr. Buel entered immediately upon the duties of his office, and soon thereafter returned to the proprietors' clerk a plan and survey, determining the north and south lines, together with a survey of what was called the home lots. It appears that Mr. Buel employed Samuel Moore to do this surveying, and his name alone appears on the plan which was placed on file in the town clerk's office. Mr. Moore seems to have commenced his survey at the southwest corner of Middlebury, on the bank of Otter Creek, and from that point to have run east to the foot of the mountain, and probably no farther at that time, but com- menced laying off lots southerly, and on a line running south ten degrees west, six miles and sixty-four rods. As the lots were headed on this line near the base of the mountain, they were laid fifty-two rods wide, running west three hundred and twenty rods. Every sixth lot was laid fifty-six rods wide, allow- ance being made for roads. But as the surveyor approached Lake Dunmore in his work he found that some of his lots were shortened by the water of that lake, and to make up this deficiency in these lots, he made them of greater width. Lots No. 13, 14, 15, and 16 are of this class. In this manner thirty-
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seven lots were laid in the first tier, and all numbered. The lots of the second tier were headed on the foot of those of the first.
One of the last votes of the proprietors found on record, previous to the Revolution, was taken at a proprietors' meeting held at Salisbury, Conn., De- cember 19, 1774, to wit: " Voted, Joseph Waterous, Samuel Moore, jr., Amos Storey, be a committee to run the line of the town and ascertain its true boundaries." Another vote was taken at this meeting, which allowed any of the grantees who would become settlers within one year from that time to pitch two hundred acres in addition to their shares.
The grantees had, previous to this, offered a hundred acres of land to any one who would pitch and settle in this town, which finally led to the first set- tlements, as before described.
There are no records of this town to be found between the years 1774 and 1785, and the proprietors' records are much mutilated, so that much of the early progress of the community can only be conjectured ; but it is believed that in 1785, 1786, and 1787 settlement and developement were rapid.
At the town meeting for the year 1788, the first of which we have com- plete records, the following officers were elected : Town clerk, Eleazer Clag- horn; selectmen, Eleazer Claghorn, Stephen Hard, James Waterous ; treas- urer, James Bradley ; representative, Stephen Hard ; constable, Stephen Hard.
Eleazer Claghorn continued in the office of clerk until 1795, when he was succeeded by Stephen Hard, who held the office until 1799. Reuben Saxon was then elected, and filled the office to 1828, a period of twenty-eight years.
The present officers of the town are as follows: Clerk, L. N. Waterhouse ; treasurer, Horace Thomas; selectmen, W. H. Thomas, M. M. Dowd, E. A. Hamilton ; constable and overseer, James W. Thomas; superintendent, O. M. Bump; listers, L. N. Waterhouse, J. E. Weeks, W. W. Dowd; agent, J. M. Dyer.
The later gradual progress of the town cannot be traced in detail. The in- habitants have performed their share of labor for the general good of the com- monwealth, and from the close of the War of 1812 to the breaking out of the great rebellion peace and a fair degree of prosperity reigned.
In the great war for the preservation of the Union this town sustained an honorable part. The following list gives the names of the volunteers from the town in Vermont organizations, as far as known :
Volunteers for three years credited previous to call for 300,000 volunteers of October 17, 1863 :
J. Ashley, G. W. Baird, J. Baker, J. T. Beach, W. O. Beach, W. Birchard, J. Bovia, H. H. Bushey, A. Carriveaux, L. Carvo, S. Chapman, O. Clark, G. H. Cloyes, J. Comstock, J. Comstock, C. Constantinople, H. Currier, H. S. Daggett, Q. Doty, J. Edwards, W. R. Ellis, E. Forrest, S. J. Gambell, W. Garland, R. A. Graves, C. F. Greenleaf, L. G. Hack, E. A. Hamilton, G. W.
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TOWN OF SALISBURY.
Henderson, R. T. Howard, R. Hudson, H. Huntley, L. D. Huntley, W. F. Hunt- ley, J. Lamorder, C. Laquee, J. Laquee, N. Larnerd, R. R. Lawrence, J. Leno, F. W. Noyes, N. Page, H. L. Perry, A. J. Piper, H. Pratt, H. M. Race, S. Rich- ards, J. Savery, J. E. Savery, W. J. Savery, O. L. Spencer, P. St. George, H. Taylor, H. M. Taylor, T. Thomas, W. J. Thomas, C. A. Walker.
Credits under call of October 17, 1863, for 300,000 volunteers, and subse- quent calls :
Volunteers for three years .- E. Baker, L. C. Bell, J. C. Comaford, J. M. Comaford, N. Forrest, H. Little, C. A. Walker, T. Wilcox.
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