History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 67

Author: Rann, W. S. (William S.)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1054

USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 67

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552

HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

In 1819 Charlotte became the residence of the presiding elder of Cham- plain district. John B. Stratton, Buel Goodsell, Lewis Pease and Tobias Spi- cer, D. D., resided here in succession as presiding elders until the district par- sonage was burnt, in 1830.

Until 1801 the circuit probably embraced all of Western Vermont. In 1801 Brandon circuit was set off from it. It was at first called Vergennes cir- cuit, but in 1808 it was called Charlotte, a name which has ever since main- tained its place in the lists of the circuits and stations of the church.

The first church edifice was of wood, commenced in 1819 and completed in 1823. In 1837 it was burnt down with the parsonage, which stood on the same ground where the district parsonage was burnt seven years before. The present brick church was built in 1840.

The present pastor, Rev. M. A. Wicker, came to Charlotte from Vergennes in 1883. For several years before his coming the church was without a pastor, the last one before Mr. Wicker being Rev. George Hughes. The church prop- erty is now valued at about $3,000. The church has a membership of about thirty, while Mr. Wicker has organized a class of sixteen in the east part of the town.

The Baptist Church .- Elder Ephraim Sawyer was doubtless the first Bap- tist minister who ever preached in the town. The church was organized May 6, 1807, under the supervision of a council, called by the Baptist Church of Monkton, by the request of certain members of said church living in Char- lotte, who were dismissed by mutual consent to form said church. It con- sisted of nineteen members, who adopted articles of faith and covenant, as fel- lowshiped by the Baptists in those days. During the same season nineteen more were added by baptism and by letter. The ensuing October this church united with the Vermont Baptists, which convened at Bridport, Messrs. Gibbs and Hosford being delegates, A. Gibbs its first deacon, and U. Palmer clerk. Elder Nathan Dana was settled as pastor in 1808; membership this year 47. The first church edifice was erected in 1808, the second and present one in 1840. Repairs and improvements were made in 1856 to the amount of $700. The church is of brick.

Rev. R. Nott, the present pastor, came three years ago, succeeding Rev. Charles A. Votey. The present officers of the church are Byron R. Eno, clerk ; J. H. Sherman, A. C. Palmer, George D. Jackman and J. R. Taggart, deacons ; George D. Jackman, treasurer ; Byron R. Eno, Sabbath-school su- perintendent. The membership of the church is about fifty, and the average attendance at Sabbath-school is about thirty-five.

553

TOWN OF COLCHESTER.

CHAPTER XX.

HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF COLCHESTER.

T HE township of Colchester is bounded on the north by Milton, on the east by Essex, on the south by the city of Burlington and town of South Burlington, and on the west by Lake Champlain. The surface of the town is generally rolling without any great elevations, although along the banks of Winooski River there are long tracts of intervale land. On the lake shore there are numbers of sharp bluffs. Along Winooski River the landscape in places is grand, especially at the "High Bridge," about one-half of a mile above the village of Winooski, where the swift current of the river has cut through the solid rock ninety feet in depth and seventy in breadth, leaving the rugged walls upon either side.

Mallet's Bay indents the township between the mouth of Winooski River and Milton, covering some 3,040 acres. Here the shore, rising abruptly on the one side, and the forest coming down to meet the water on the other, are fair to see. Colchester Pond in the eastern part of the township is three- fourths of a mile in length and one-half of a mile in width. Around its outlet the nooks of the beaver are still to be seen. The Lamoille River flows through the northwest corner of the town to Lake Champlain. Mallet's Creek rises in Milton and flows southwesterly through the town to Mallet's Bay Indian Brook rises in Essex and flows westerly through the town to Mallet's Bay. Sunderland Brook rises in Essex and flows southwesterly through the town to Winooski River. These streams once furnished excellent water-power to the saw-mills along their sides, while Colchester was yet covered with a growth of immense pine timber.

Colchester produces in good quantities the grains and fruits, and the flats of Winooski River are celebrated for the production of hay.

Colchester was one of the New Hampshire grants, and was chartered June 7, 1763, to Edward Burling and sixty-six associates. Following are the names of the grantees : Edward Burling, John Burling, Edward Burling, jr., John Lawrence, Effingham Lawrence, sr., Caleb Lawrence, Richard Lawrence, William Hauxhurst, Peter Townsend, Joseph Hauxhurst, Sampson Hauxhurst, Daniel Hauxhurst, William Field, Peter Dobson, Thomas Dobson, jr., Daniel Latham, John Latham, Thomas Latham, Daniel Latham, jr., David Latham, Lancaster Burling, Benjamin Hildreth, Benjamin Hildreth, jr., Theopolus An- thony, Wm. Van Wyck, Wm. Keese, John Butler, Alexander Litch Miller, Ed- ward Agar, Phillip Doughty, Francis Panton, John Burling, jr., Hugh Rider, Richard Burling, Samuel Burling, Geo. Richey, John Godsands Miller, Theo- polus Burling, Effingham Lawrence, Samuel Burling, jr., Thomas Dobson, John Bogert, jr., James Bogert, jr., John I. Bogert, Nicholus I. Bogart, Cor-

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

nelius I. Bogert, Peter J. Bogart, Henry J. Bogart, Edward Burling, New York. Joseph Latham, Joseph Latham, jr., John Latham, Peter Byvanck, John Cor- nell, Samuel Miller, Wm. Mott, Samuel Averill, Charles McCreedy, John Mc- Creedy, Captain Nehemiah Lovewell, Captain Timothy Beedle, Hon. John Tem- ple, esq., Theodore Atkinson, esq., M. H. Wentworth, esq., Henry Sherburne, esq., Charles Marsh, esq. At the first proprietors' meeting of which there is any record, held at the house of Joshua Stanton, jr., the following officers were elected : Zacheus Peaslee, moderator ; Benjamin Boardman, proprietors' clerk; David Hine, treasurer; Dennison Downing, collector. The clerk took the oath of office before Elnathan Keyes, "J. P." The object of this meeting was to organize and devise measures to drive away other parties called pitchers, who laid claim to the lands, and had held meetings in 1775. The fourth article in the warning of this meeting reads as follows : "To see if the proprietors can and will remedy the injuries and complaints which have arisen from the interfer- ence of pitches heretofore made, and take measures to investigate the validity of said pitches, and appoint an agent or agents to carry into effect, and like- wise to ascertain the quantity of acres that now appears to continue in joint interest in said town, and to order a new and general survey of said town if thought proper." The following persons were elected a committee for the purposes set forth in the article : Simeon Hines, William Munson, Elnathan

Keyes, Eli Baker. Who these pitchers were, and to what trouble the double claim to proprietorship led, will be best understood by giving extracts from records which both parties kept. At an adjourned meeting the committee reported : "That in the execution of their duties as a committee for the pro- prietors they have demanded of Ira Allen, who pretends to be the former clerk of the proprietors, all records and papers relative to the propriety - and that said Allen refused to give any satisfaction or deliver any papers relative to said interest, if any he had." The meetings of the pitchers were held in Salis- bury, Conn., and the action they took will be seen from the records of these meetings. " Salisbury, March, 23, 1775. Then the proprietors of the town- ship of Colchester (a township lately granted under the great seal of the province of New Hampshire now in the province of New York) met, according to a legal warning in the Connecticut Currant, at the dwelling house of Captain Samuel Moore, inholder in Salisbury, in Litchfield county, and colony of Con- necticut in New England. Ist. Voted that Col. Thomas Chittenden be mod- erator of this meeting. 2nd. Voted that Ira Allen shall be proprietors' clerk for this town. 3rd. Voted that this meeting be adjourned to the twenty-fourth day of instant March at nine o'clock, to be held at this place. Test-Ira Allen, pro. clerk." " March 24th, 1775. Then this meeting was opened according to adjournment. Voted whereas Ethan Allen, Remember Baker, Heman Allen, Zimri Allen and Ira Allen known by the name of the Onion River Company who are proprietors in this township of Colchester on said river (a

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TOWN OF COLCHESTER.

township lately granted under the great seal of the province of Newhamp- shire now in the province of Newyork) have expended large sums of money in cutting a road from Castleton to said river, seventy miles through the woods and clearing of encumberments from said lands, settling some part of those lands, and keeping possession, which by us is viewed as a great advantage towards the settlement of those lands, in general, especially the said township of Colchester, and whereas the said Ethan Allen, Remember Baker, Heman Allen, Zimri Allen and Ira Allen have laid out some lot on said Onion River in Colchester, therefore in consideration of this service done by them and in consideration of their settlement of six families on said lots, therefore-voted that said company have liberty to pitch and lay out fifteen hundred acres in hundred acres lot."

In this contest between the two parties, both claiming to be proprietors, the Onion River Company appears to have gained the day, numbers of the other party and of the new settlers uniting with them, and to have prosecuted the settlement of the town.

Ira Allen and his cousin, Remember Baker, both members of the Onion River Company, were the first persons to take possession of Colchester, being on an exploring expedition up the Onion River. This was in the fall of 1772. After exploring the country somewhat (Baker bringing along his family, which consisted of a wife and three children), for protection against "Injins " and " Yorkers," the first thing they did was to build a fort. This stood some six or eight rods east of the new bridge at Winooski village, on the left bank of the river, close to the water. It was two stories high, had thirty-two port-holes in the upper story, was built of hewn logs, and called Fort Frederick. The same season they cut a road through to Castleton, a distance of seventy miles. In 1774 the work of clearing the land began in good earnest. Two clearings were made between Winooski village and the present railroad bridge below, by Joseph Fuller and Henry Colvin, and one at Mallet's Bay by a man named Monte. In 1775 farms were purchased in the vicinity by Abel Hulburt, Abel Benedict and Captain Thomas Darwin. From 1776 to 1783, the Revolution being in progress, Colchester was abandoned, but in the latter year Ira Allen and most of the settlers returned. Allen upon his return built the "upper dam," two saw-mills, a grist-mill, two forges and a furnace. Bar iron, mill irons, forge-hammers and anchors were manufactured and the place began to grow rapidly. A little later John M. Lane, John Law and Benjamin Board- man bought farms and built houses on Colchester Point, and a good part of the town was settled.

Ira Allen, who did more for Colchester than any other man, was born at Cornwall, Conn., May 1, 1751, and received a good English education, including surveying. Though he had but just turned twenty-one when he came to Vermont, he was soon recognized as a leader of men. He managed

556

HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

the affairs of Vermont in her darkest days, standing between the people of the State and the Continental Congress ; wrote a history of the State which was printed in London in 1798 ; projected a canal from Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence River ; resisted at all times the New York patentees ; and effected the establishment of the University of Vermont. He married Jerusha Enos, daughter of General Roger Enos, and had three children, Zimri Enos, Ira H. and Maria Juliet. He resided during the later years of his life at Philadelphia, Pa., and there he died January 7, 1814. Allen was the second representative of Colchester, receiving the honor for six consecutive sessions of the Legisla- ture ; from 1786 to 1792. After his death his widow resided for a number of years at the old " Allen house" in Winooski village, in which house the first county court of Chittenden county was held in 1785.

Remember Baker was born at Woodbury, Conn., about 1740, came to Vermont in 1764, and was killed by Indians near St. Johns, P. Q., in 1775. Like Allen he did much for the town and more for the State. He was cousin to the Allen brothers and was with Ethan at the capture of Ticonderoga. His life was a series of ups and downs. Upon coming to Vermont he built and ran a grist-mill at Arlington, then was " off to the wars, " where he saw much hard fighting. Baker proved in these times such a successful opponent of New York that a reward of fifty pounds was offered for him, and one John Monroe with a company of twelve or fifteen Yorkers'attempted to take him prisoner in 1772. Going to his house they broke down the door and acted in an inhuman man- ner. One of Mrs. Baker's arms was so injured that she never recovered the use of it, and Baker's right hand was nearly severed at the wrist. He was put into a sleigh by his captors and started for Albany, but was rescued by a band of Green Mountain Boys near the Hudson. Baker never forgot his treatment and was ever possessed of a kingly wrath towards the Yorkers. His widow married Thomas Butterfield, the first representative of Colchester.

William Munson came to Colchester about 1790 from Dover, N. H., and at first was employed by Ira Allen in his saw-mill. He soon engaged in the lum- ber business for himself, building several saw-mills. He became one of the most wealthy and prominent men in the town. At one time he owned more than half of the lots in Colchester ; and was representative and town clerk in 1806. He had a family of fourteen children, Lucy, Artemissa, Eliza, William B., Sid- ney, George, Adeliza, Emeline, Francis, Caroline, Clarrissa, John, Frances and Wallace. He died in 1830. William B. Munson now lives at the Center, aged eighty-six years.

John Law came to Colchester at an early day from New London, Conn., and settled on the Point. In 1793 he was a delegate to the State Convention at Windsor, called to consider amendments to the constitution, and in 1802, town representative. Law was liberally educated, but eccentric and poor.

Joshua Stanton was one of the first settlers of Colchester and one of the

afsterven

557

TOWN OF COLCHESTER.

original organizers. He was three years chief judge of Chittenden County Court, town representative from 1795 to 1800, and did much for the University of Vermont by his counsel and means. He lived in the Penniman district.

Jabez Penniman came to Colchester not far from 1800, and lived in town more than thirty years. He was town clerk from 1817 to 1822, and town rep- resentative in 1819 and 1820. He was also collector of customs for the dis- trict of Vermont under President Jefferson. Besides these offices he was for many years probate judge for Chittenden county. Judge Penniman, as he was called, married the widow of Ethan Allen, the ceremony taking place at West- minster, Vt., October 28, 1793.

Heman Allen, son of Heber Allen, and nephew to Ethan and Ira, came to Colchester from Poultney very early, being adopted by his uncle Ira after the death of his father. He died in Highgate, Vt., in 1852, and is buried in Green Mount Cemetery, Burlington. He was a public man, being town clerk of Colchester from 1807 to 1817, town representative from 1812 to 1816, sheriff of Chittenden county in 1808-9, chief judge of Chittenden County Court from 1811 to 1815, and United States minister to Chili under John Quincy Adams.

Nathaniel Collins came from Connecticut to Burlington about. one hundred years ago ; he lived there till 1824, when he removed to Colchester Center, where he carried on the business of blacksmithing. He had thirteen children, one of whom, Charles, now resides near the Center. Charles says he remem- bers hearing his father say that when he first came to Vermont the settlement of Winooski contained only two houses and one saw-mill.

Nathan Bryant was an early settler in Colchester, where he died at an ad- vanced age. He was engaged in the lumber business most of his life. He was a soldier in 1812. When Miller preached in Vermont in 1843 Bryant be- came a convert, and people used to say "had got religion," because he used his team better. His son Martin Bryant now lives near the Center.

Benjamin Boardman was one of the first to buy a farm at Colchester Point. He came from Connecticut. At the first proprietors' meeting he was chosen clerk. He married a Miss Weeks from Winooski village. Mrs. B. B. Hines, of Colchester Center, his daughter, is now ninety years of age, but quite well preserved. He lived in the house that is now the Colchester poor-house.

George Bates early settled in town. He married Mary Hine and died in 1876, aged ninety-one years.

Paul Clapp came in 1797 to Colchester from Orange, Vt. He lived near Colchester Center. He was a soldier in 1812.

Seth Cary, another Connecticut man, settled in Colchester in 1800. He was a farmer, and a soldier in 1812.

Ichabod Brownell kept for many years a tavern at Winooski village.

David Ferrin came to Colchester early, and resided about one mile north 36

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

of the Center, where B. B. Hines now lives. He died seventy years ago. His son Cyrus always resided in town, and died some four years ago. Both father and son were prominent Congregationalists.

Samuel Austin, a Quaker, came from New Hampshire in 1790. He mar- ried Rachel Hawkins and had a family of six children, Abigail, Paul, Solomon, Anna, Stephen, and William.

Ebenezer Lyon was born at Canterbury, Conn., and came to Colchester in 1798. He was twice married and had eleven children. He lived on the farm now owned by W. D. Farnsworth.

Ebenezer Johnson settled early in Colchester, coming from New Hamp- shire ; he purchased one hundred acres of land for three dollars per acre. He had one child, Ambrose, now deceased.

Isaac Thompson came here from Dover, N. H., when Colchester was mostly a forest. He served in the War of 1812, and was present at the battle of Plattsburgh. He had fourteen children, ten boys and four girls; Noah, one of the sons, aged seventy-six years, now resides near Mallet's Bay. He was all his life engaged in lumbering and farming.

Thomas Greenough, a native of Boston, came at an early day to Milton, where he resided for a short time, and then settled in Colchester. He died about forty years ago. Three of his children are now living, Mrs. Noah Thompson, of Colchester, Mrs. E. Hodge, of Burlington, and Stephen A. Greenough, of Michigan. Mr. Greenough was a farrier.

Artemas Cushman came early from Massachusetts to Colchester. He had a family of twelve children, held many town offices, and lived to an advanced age.

Captain Mallett, as he was called by every one, was one of the first settlers in town. No one knows where he came from, but he had built a log cabin on the shore of the bay which bears his name, long before the Revolution. Here he lived a strange sort of life, hermit or host as it happened, and died a very old man in 1789 or 1790.

William Hine was another early settler in the town. He had three chil- dren, Hesekiah, Simeon and Israel. Simeon became a prominent man in town, and was representative in 1809 and 1810.

Ebenezer Woolcott came to Colchester from Pownal about 1795. He was engaged in making lime at the Center for a good many years. He had eleven children, and died in 1839.

Ebenezer Severance settled in Colchester early, coming from Connecticut with his father. They lived upon the farm now owned by George N. Rhodes. He had eight children, two of whom, John and George, are citizens of Col- chester, aged respectively seventy-six and seventy-one years.

Town Organization .- The town of Colchester was organized in 1791, though the first town meeting on record was held March 18, 1793. At this

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TOWN OF COLCHESTER.

meeting Joshua Stanton was elected moderator and treasurer ; Joshua Stanton, jr., town clerk ; William Munson, constable ; John Law and Thomas Hill, selectmen. Thomas Butterfield was the first representative, elected in 1785 ; and the first justice of the peace, appointed in 1787. The population of Col- chester at its organization was 137.

The present town officers of Colchester are : Town clerk, H. V. Horton ; selectmen, J. B. Small, A. M. Wheeler, Samuel Bigwood ; treasurer, Ormond Cole ; overseers of the poor, the selectmen ; collector, H. V. Horton ; listers, A. H. Merrill, William Kidder, George L. McBride ; auditors, A. J. Stevens, William Kidder, Samuel Bigwood ; trustee surplus fund, H. V. Horton ; town agent, J. B. Small ; superintendent of schools, Samuel H. Amsden.

The first settlers found the sandy lands of the township covered with a heavy growth of pitch pine, the cutting of which formed the chief industry for many years. Many of the trees when felled would measure ten rods in length, and it was not uncommon to see two thousand feet of lumber in one saw-log. Before there were any mills for dressing lumber in the county the pioneers of Colchester took millions of feet to Quebec by raft. A great many of these rafts were built and loaded just back of the factory of the Burlington Woolen Company at Winooski village, where the river is quite broad. Old settlers re- member of only one tannery in town. "Uncle " Eber Coon, who lived in the north part of the town, his farm of three hundred acres reaching to the town line, had a small tannery upon his place, which he managed for a good many years. He stopped tanning about 1821, having lost his property.

Dunbar's Hotel, one mile east of Winooski village, was built by Arad Mer- rill in 1830. He kept the house some twelve years, when his son Andrew suc- ceeded him. In 1878 Frank J. Dunbar purchased the property, and has since that time been proprietor. The building is two and one-half stories, and will accommodate about eighty guests. Numbers of summer boarders stop with Mr. Dunbar every season.

The Mallet's Bay House, located near the head of the bay, is a two-storied building with accommodations for seventy-five persons. It is a popular resort for summer guests. Mr. J. A. McKenna is proprietor, and has recently re- fitted the entire house. The Mallet's Bay post-office was established here in 1881. Reuben W. Thayer is postmaster. S. A. Weston's lime-kilns, located near the High Bridge, have a capacity for 350 bushels of lime per day. Mr. Weston has manufactured lime for over twenty years, shipping it extensively. He at present owns two kilns and employs in the business ten men.

Thompson's Mills, one-half mile east of Colchester Center, were erected in 1871 by R. P. Thompson. Mr. Thompson here runs a saw-mill, a grist-mill, and a cider-mill.

The War of 1812 .- During the period of this war the following company, under the command of Lieutenant Moses Bates, was organized in Colchester,

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

and went out from the town to the front : Jeremiah Browne, William Hyde, jr., Joseph Chandler, Wyman Hill, William Ellis, Jacob Bates, Heman Rowley, Jon- athan Boardman, Walter Ames, Joseph Henry, Timothy Gale, Reuben Jones, Gilbert Churchill, George Downing, William Knight, Andrew Packard, Eli Gilbert, Amos Gale, Benjamin L. Hinman, William Brown, Jed Butler, Roger Lomis, David Binne, Jacob Ralph, Heman Washburn, Andrew Davis, Abner Mack, jr., Zacheus Allen, Ebenezer Smalley, John Webster, Isaac Harris, James Humphrey, Daniel Woodard, John Plain, jr., James Webster, Beman Johnson, James Nichols, William Calf, Ebenezer Johnson, Elijah Woolcot, jr., Chauncey Hurlbut, Moses Johnson, Paul Keezer, William Ames, Jeremiah Bryan, Jacob Coffran, John Coffran, John Chase, James Blair, jr., Simon Brown, William Sutton, Samuel Baker, Alphonzo Bates.

MUNICIPAL HISTORY.

There are two villages in town, Colchester Center and Winooski, besides a number of houses at Colchester Station. Upon the " north bend " of Mal- let's Bay there are about forty farm houses, and about seventy upon the " south bend."

Colchester Center is a quiet little hamlet containing a town-house, tliree blacksmith shops, a cider-mill, one store, post-office, and three churches - in all about twenty-five houses. R. J. White does a general business here in dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, country produce, feed and land plaster ; amounting to $7,000 per year. He began business in 1884, and is the only merchant in town out of Winooski.

Winooski, one of the busiest villages in the State, and the largest in Chit- tenden county, lies in the southern part of the township, upon Winooski River. The water-power here afforded by the fall in the river is extensive, and was early utilized. It was here that Ira Allen built his first saw-mills after the Revo- lution. The settlement that began with Fort Frederick has been gradually growing for over one hundred years, till now an iron bridge has taken the place of the ferry-boat, and the horse-cars run past the sites of the early log cabins. The "falls village " did not grow very fast till the erection of the Bur- lington Woolen Factory ; from that time there has been a steady progress. Sixty years ago Winooski was little more than a crossing of two roads, now Main and Allen streets. At the foot of Main street an old covered bridge spanned the river ; when it was built no one knows. Perhaps there were in all forty houses in the village, most of them low and unpainted; only two of these remain to-day, the old " Mansion House," and the stone house now owned by Mr. Herrick, which was then an hotel kept by one Butler. Several of these houses stood near the head of Main street, and the collection was termed French Village. There was not a store, saw-mill, or shop of any kind upon the Colchester side of the river ; on the Burlington side there was a saw

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History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 67

Author: Rann, W. S. (William S.) Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 1054

Author: Rann, W. S. (William S.)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1054