USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 81
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The present officers are H. H. Tilley, town clerk; R. O. Castle, M. W. Hinsdill and R. R. Forbes, selectmen, who are ex officio overseers of the poor ; Edward Isham, treasurer; Orson W. Isham, constable; H. H. Tilley, Rollin E. Forbes and Henry Lawrence, listers; Henry Lawrence, F. C. Hinsdill, and R. E. Forbes, auditors; Russell Tilley, town agent ; and R. O. Castle, super- intendent of schools.
Post-office .- The first mention found anywhere of a post-office in St. George
43
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
is in the year 1838, when George B. Isham was appointed to the office of post- master. He has been succeeded as follows: 1842, by Reuben Lockwood ; 1846, Joel C. Higbee; 1852, Ira O. Lockwood; 1871, William V. Mobbs ; 1876, Norman Isham ; and in 1882, the present incumbent, H. H. Tilley.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SHELBURNE.
S HELBURNE lies in the southwestern part of the county, and is bounded north by South Burlington and a part of Williston, east by St. George, south by Charlotte and a part of Hinesburg, and west by Lake Champlain. It was chartered by New Hampshire on the 18th of August, 1763, the following named being grantees :
Jesse Hallock, Steward Southgate, John Southgate, Richard Gleason, Rich- Gleason, jr., Nathaniel Potter, John Bond, jr., John Potter, Antipas Earl, Sam- uel Seabury, Thomas Darling, Samuel Hight, Gilbert Tolton, Simon Dakin, Joshua Dakin, Patridge Thatcher, James Bradshaw, Ebenezer Sealy, Samuel Waters, David Ferris, Joshua Franklin, Thomas Franklin, jr., Silas Mead, Nathan- iel Potter, jr., Robert Southgate, William Cornal, John Thomas, jr., John Huch- ing, Stephen Field, Nathaniel Howland, Haddock Bowne, Peter Tatten, Ben- jamin Clapp, Tideman Hull, Jos. Hull, Lewis Cammell, Sidmon Hull, jr., Thomas Hull, John Carnal, Edward Burling, John Cromwell, Thos. Chield, John Burling, Ebenezer Preston, Uriah Field, Isaac Underhill, Joseph Parsall John Akin, John Cannon, Jacob Underhill, Zebulon Ferris, Daniel Merit, Jon- athan Akin, Jeremiah Griffin, Read Ferris, Elijah Soty, John Hallock, Ben- jamin Ferris, Benjamin Ferris, jr., Samuel Hills, David Akin, Hon. Holcom Temple, Theodore Atchison, Mark H. J. Wentworth, John Fisher, esq.
It derived its name from that of a celebrated nobleman of the British Par- liament, the Earl of Shelburne, who opposed the claims of the government of New York to the territory now comprised within the boundaries of Vermont. The original area of the town, according to its charter, was to consist of 23,- 500 acres, a little more than six miles square ; but a mistake of the surveyors stripped it of much of its expected possessions. Two surveying parties, em- ployed to run the lines of the lake towns, approached each other gradually from opposite directions, meeting-the party from the south in surveying Shel- burne ; the party from the north in surveying Burlington. It was then discov- ered that there was not land sufficient in both towns to satisfy the demands of each, and the lines of the surveyors overlapped. The town of Burlington having been granted about a month previous to Shelburne, held her claim by priority
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of charter. A portion of Potter's Point formerly belonged to Burlington, but in 1794, among numerous alterations in town boundaries made by the Legis- lature, this point was declared to be a part of Shelburne. On the 9th of No- vember, 1848, a portion of this town was set off to St. George, which reduced the alleged 23,500 to the actual area of 14,272 acres. Vexatious and expen- sive litigation has resulted from the conflicting lines of these early surveyors, some of the early landowners asserting their claim to title under one survey, and others under another. The first of the surveys was made in 1775 by Silas Hathaway, in the employment of Ira Allen, who assumed the ownership of large tracts in the town. This survey was made by chain, with but little ref- erence to the points of the compass. Twenty-three years later Ebenezer Cobb surveyed the town under the direction of the selectmen, fixing the boundaries by compass and including in his measurements the allowances necessary by reason of the variations in the surface of the earth. After years of contro- versy and bitterness of feeling, the conflicting claims were adjusted, and peace restored.
The surface of the town is irregular, but with only gentle waves which add to the beauty of the view, without detracting from the value of the land for cultivation. The crenelated outline of the lake here breaks in upon the land with such a deep indenture as to form a veritable cul-de-sac, called Shelburne Bay, which is bounded by the mainland and a point formerly known by the name of the first settler of the town, Pottier. Another point was named in honor of another early settler, Logan. Not alone in beauty of scenery does Shelburne excel, though that in some respects is past description, but in rich- ness and fertility of soil, which varies from a stiff clay to a fine sandy loam, producing in abundance the grains and grasses natural to this latitude, and in the western part of the town, the various fruits in plenty. The principal streams are La Plotte River and Cogman's Brook, with their several tribute rills and rivulets. La Plotte River enters the town from Charlotte on the south, and flows north into Shelburne Bay, affording water power at the falls from the beginning of settlement to the present. Its peculiar name is said to have been derived froma peculiar event. During the Revolutionary War a band of Indians numbering several hundreds concealed their canoes under a line of willows that extended along the mouth of the river, and went into the interior on an expedition for prisoners and plunder. During their absence the white men discovered their canoes riddled them with holes and replaced them in their former positions. From their ambush in the immediate vicinity, the patriots then watched for the return of the savages, upon which they poured into their gathering a volley of bullets which drove them precipitately to their canoes. No sooner were they in the middle of the stream than they learned too late that they could do naught but choose between death from drowning or from the deadly bullets of the white men. This successful coup de main bestowed upon the
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stream its significant title of La Plotte. Several arrow-heads and bullets have been found in this vicinity. Shelburne Pond, in the eastern part of the town, covers a little more than six hundred acres of ground, and because of its pis- catorial and scenic virtues is a favorite resort of pleasure seekers during the summer season.
Early Settlements and Events .- Shelburne seems to have been occupied as a place of residence earlier than any other part of the county, if we except, of course, the settlements by the French in Colchester. Two Germans by the name of John Potter and Thomas Logan came here in 1768. Potter was named in the charter as one of the original proprietors, and may have been re- lated to Nathaniel Potter, sr. and jr., named in the same instrument. These two daring adventurers settled on the points on the shore of the lake, which are even now known by their names, and became associated in taking oak tim- ber in rafts to the Quebec market. On their return from one of these expedi- tions the commanding officer at Montreal sent with them a sergeant and two privates to guard them in passing through the Indian settlements. At their first encampment, a short distance south from the Canada line, the guard ma- tured a conspiracy to murder the unsuspecting Germans for their money, two of them agreeeing to commit the murder and the other taking an oath never to reveal the crime. The deed was done and the victims buried on a small island near the point, which are now, from this circumstance, known as Bloody Island and Bloody Point respectively. The inactive accessory to the crime was unable, however, to keep the secret, and soon after made a clean confes- sion, which resulted in the conviction and execution of his two friends and a severe whipping for himself. Whether the Germans ever had families is not known.
About ten families had begun settlements near the lake before the Revolu- tion, though there is no information as to who they were, just where they lived, or what became of them, except these two Germans and Moses Pierson. Mr. Pierson purchased in 1769, one thousand acres of land in the southwestern part of the town, which was afterward known as the Meech farm, and now owned in part by Colonel Frederick Fletcher, of St. Johnsbury. Here he built a block-house.
The battle of Shelburne block-house as it is sometimes called, has been related in several ways, each story having its advocates, and of course its crit- ics. We have chosen to relate the one which we think bears on its face the stamp of credibility : When the Pierson family left Shelburne in 1777 they had harvested a large crop of wheat, and returned during the winter to thresh and secure it. Meanwhile they were menaced by Tories and Indians. Colonel Thomas Sawyer, of Clarendon, being apprised of it, with Lieutenant Bar- nabas Barnum, Corporal Williams, and fourteen soldiers, hastened to the ex- posed frontier. It was the month of January, and the weather was very cold.
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They marched through the trackless wilderness about ninety miles, all on foot except Colonel Sawyer, who rode a fine stallion. Through the energy and art of Colonel Sawyer, they were animated to surmount the extremes of cold and hunger, until they arrived safely at the house of the Piersons. There they re- mained strengthening the place, seven or eight weeks, when suddenly the foe, who had been lurking about, disappeared. Colonel Sawyer suspected this to be a stratagem, and learned that one Philo, a Tory, who had gone to Canada on skates, had returned with a considerable force, fifty-seven in all. Accord- ingly all were immediately set at work barricading their house, and when night came on had made all parts secure except one window. The attack was made that night, and through that window two men who had stopped and put up for the night were killed at the first fire of the enemy. Their names were Wood- ard and Daniels. They were met by an incessant fire from the besieged for three-fourths of an hour through port-holes made for that purpose. During that time the Indians twice fired the house; and Colonel Sawyer offered his watch as a reward to any one who would extinguish the flames. There was no water in the house, but Mrs. Pierson had been brewing beer that day, and Joseph Williams, entering the chamber, broke a hole through the roof, and ex- tinguished the flames with the contents of the beer barrel, under a deadly fire from the savages without. Colonel Sawyer kept his word, and gave Williams his watch. The enemy were finally repulsed, and two prisoners taken; the enemy also lost one officer and one Indian chief, who were found dead in the field, besides several who were thrown through a hole cut in the ice. This battle occurred on the 12th of March, 1778.
Of the brave little band who defended the house, Lieutenant Barnum, ac- cording to Thompson and Downing, was killed, though his name is not men- tioned anywhere in connection with the narrative of the battle I have given. Colonel Sawyer cut from the nose of the Indian chief who was killed his jew- els, and secured his powder-horn and bullet-pouch as trophies of his victory.
Ziba and Uzal, sons of Moses Pierson, aged respectively seventeen and fif- teen years, were actively engaged in this affray. An infant daughter, who afterwards became the wife of Nehemiah Pray, was lying in a bed at the time and escaped unharmed, though bullets passed through the headboard of the bedstead, and were found in the bed at the close of the battle. After the party had secured the wheat they left town, and Mr. Pierson settled in Orwell. His sons, Ziba and Uzal, were afterward captured in Shoreham by a scouting party and taken to Canada, whence, several months later, they made their es- cape, and reached home after suffering incredible hardships and passing un- touched through appalling dangers. After the close of the war, in the spring of 1783, Moses Pierson returned to Shelburne with his family and occupied his former residence until his death, on the 28th of July, 1805. His son Ziba set- tled on a farm on the main road in the south part of the town, accumulated a
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good property, and held many offices of trust in the town. He died of apo- plexy on the Ist of November, 1820, aged sixty years. Uzal Pierson also be- came well to do, and owned a farm near the lake, afterward owned by Ezra Meech, jr., but was unfortunate toward the close of his life and lost most of his property. He came to his death by falling from a wagon on the IIth of June, 1836, aged seventy-two years. Descendants of Moses Pierson still dwell in Shelburne.
The following is a partial list of the more prominent early settlers, in addi- tion to those already mentioned : William Smith, Caleb Smith, Rufus Cole, Thomas Hall, Hubell and Bush, associated on Potter's Point, Richard Spears and Gershom Lyon. In 1784 and 1785 Daniel Barber, Daniel Comstock, Aaron Rowley, Captain Samuel Clark, Benjamin Harrington, Israel Burritt, Joshua Reed, Timothy Holabird, Sturgess Morehouse, Remington Bitgood, and Jirah Isham located here and became residents. In the three following years Dr. Frederick Maeck, Phineas Hill, Keeler Trowbridge, Samuel Mills, and probably others came, and soon after Bethuel Chittenden, Benjamin Sutton, Rosel Miner, Nathaniel Gage, Ebenezer Barstow, Robert Lyon, James Hawley, Frederick Saxton, Asahel Nash, Hezekiah Tracy, Asa Lyon, John Tabor, Robert Averill, Joseph Hamilton and several others became residents.
William Smith, familiarly known as Quaker Smith, settled on what is still called Smith's Point, in 1783. The farm has ever since remained in the hands of his descendants. Caleb Smith, the first town clerk of Shelburne, came here very early, was justice of the peace, and held several other offices. He was a prominent man in town, but removed to Williston, where he died about 1810. His grandson, Frederick Smith, is now a prominent citizen of Burlington.
Captain Daniel Comstock settled in 1783 in the western part of the town. After filling many positions of trust, well-deserved, Captain Comstock died on the IIth of January, 1816. Of his six children, Levi settled near the lake in 1784, served many years as town clerk, justice of the peace, etc., and died on the Ioth of May, 1847, aged eighty-one years. His only son, Levi, kept the tavern at the village for a number of years, and then returned to the old homestead, now occupied by N. R. Miller and in part by William McNeil.
Colonel Frederick Saxton was one of the earliest inhabitants of Burling- ton, his residence from 1785 to 1792 being at the head of Pearl street. He then sold out to Colonel Pearl and removed to Shelburne, settling on a farm near Comstock's Point, now owned by his great-grandsons, Horace and Ed- ward Saxton. He met his death by accidental drowning on the 28th of April, 1796. Horace, his second son, represented this town in the Legislature in 1835-36.
Richard Spear, from Braintree, Mass., came to Shelburne July 21, 1783, and settled on the farm now owned by his grandchildren, O. A. and Mary M., the latter the widow of E. A. Spear. A part of his farm was in Burlington.
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TOWN OF SHELBURNE.
When he first came to Shelburne that part of the town was an unbroken wil- derness, the nearest grist-mill being at Vergennes; for a long time he took his grain to Whitehall or St. Johns with his market produce, afterwards to Wills- borough Falls, then to Winooski Falls, before a mill was operated at Shel- burne Falls. He died March 19, 1788, aged fifty-two years. His descend- ants are very numerous.
William Blin was an early settler from Connecticut, and lived on a part of the governor's right south of the Spear farm. He died not long after coming to Shelburne, leaving several sons, of whom Simon, who died April 5, 1819, and Samuel, who died November 27, 1844, were the most prominent, both keeping a public house, and being frequently called upon to serve the town in some public capacity.
Benjamin Harrington, long a sea-faring man, came to Shelburne from Con- necticut soon after the Revolutionary War, in company with his father and his brother, William C. Harrington, who soon after became a leading lawyer in Burlington. Benjamin and William C. purchased the lot at the end of Pot- ter's Point previously occupied by Hubbell & Bush, and traded for a time in a log building used previously for the same purpose by Hubbell & Bush. In 1788 Benjamin purchased a farm in the center of the town, now crossed by the railroad. In the following year, it is said, he caused to be laid out and opened the main road from Middlebury to Burlington ; in 1796 erected the large building afterward kept as a public house by his descendant, Cornelius H. Harrington ; in 1807 took the contract for building the White Church edi- fice, as it was called, and performed the work well. He accumulated a hand- some property. He died on the 17th of January, 1810.
Joshua Isham, one of the most prominent among the pioneers of the town, was from Williamstown, Conn. He came to Shelburne in the winter of 1793, after a nine years' residence in St. George, and purchased the lot east of the falls in this town. He then bought the " old red store," goods, land and pot- ash, at the falls, of Thaddeus Tuttle, who afterward became one of the most prominent merchants in Burlington, and removed thither in January, 1796. Soon after this he purchased of Ira Allen the grist-mill and saw-mill erected by his grantor, and operated them through life. He was a good business man and became wealthy. He held many town offices, especially that of town clerk, and was long a member of the Episcopal Church. He died on the 9th of April, 1840, aged eighty-two years. William R. Lawrence now occupies his dwelling house.
Nathaniel Gage was an early settler in the northeast part of the town, who became well to do, held several town offices, and acted as justice of the peace for a number of years. He was a leading member of the Methodist Church for many years, but finally dissented from the views of the most of his associ- ates, and in 1844 caused to be erected what was ever after known as the
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"Gage Church," in which he procured services of the Reformed or Protestant Methodist denomination. He died November 27, 1854.
Joshua Reed settled at an early date near the geographical center of the town, and by virtue of enterprise and industry accumulated a valuable real estate. He died April 30, 1843, aged eighty-four years. One of his sons, Almon, received a liberal education, and became a noted lawyer in Pennsyl- vania, being sent a number of years to the Legislature of that State, and serv- ing the State several terms in the House of Representatives.
James Hawley was a native of Connecticut, who went from Arlington, Vt., in the fall of 1786 to Winooski Falls, in the service of Ira Allen. He was a mechanic, and built the mills for Allen, residing in the latter's house during the progress of his work. He then built the mills at Swanton for Allen, and removed to Shelburne in 1792, at once constructing the mills at the falls for his old employer. He lived for a time on what is known as the Powers farm, embracing "Lovers' Lane," and afterward on the place now occupied by Myron Reed. In accordance with a peculiar custom of those times he was appointed by Ethan Allen to act as tapster at that hero's funeral, whenever it should take place. He was accordingly steward on that occasion. He him- self died in 1813, leaving a numerous family. One of his daughters was the mother, in after years, of Mrs. Elizabeth Root, now living on the point.
Ebenezer Barstow, who is mentioned at some length in the sketch of ex- Governor John L. Barstow, his grandson, in later pages of this work, came to this town from Connecticut soon after the Revolution, in which he had served an active and highly honorable part, and settled on the farm now in the hands of his grandson, John L. Ebenezer Barstow is frequently mentioned in the early town records as holding some position of trust and honor. He died on the 30th of March, 1834, aged seventy-eight years.
Asa R. Slocum, born at Hubbardton, Mass., in 1767, settled at an early day in the northeast corner of the town, where his grandson, Lane Slocum, now lives, and pursued the vocation of farming until his death at the age of sixty-three years, in 1830. He had a large family of children.
Hon. Ezra Meech was born in Connecticut in 1773, and emigrated with his father and family to Hinesburg, Vt., in 1785. During all his early life, wherever he was, he actively engaged in hunting and trapping, and made fre- quent journeys to Canada to dispose of his furs. In 1795 he opened a store at Charlotte Four Corners, and in 1800 married Mary McNeil. In 1806 he purchased the old farm of Moses Pierson, near the lake in Shelburne, and re- moved to that place, where he kept a small store for years, and engaged in the trading of furs and manufacture of potash. About 1810 he began lumbering extensively, and dealt chiefly in oak timber, which he took to the Quebee market. He was interrupted during the War of 1812, being then engaged in supplying the American army with provisions. He filled many offices of trust
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in the town, representing it in the Legislature, and was for several years county judge. He was also elected to the national House of Representatives in 1819 and again in 1825. In 1830, 1831 and 1832 he was the unsuccessful Demo- cratic candidate for governor. In 1833 he became a member of the Metho- dist church. He was at the time of his death, September 23, 1856, about the largest landholder in the State, his land numbering about 3,500 acres.
Eli Thayer was born in Thompson, Conn., in 1773, and came to Shelburne in 1788 ; seven years later he married Ruth, daughter of Roderick Messenger, of Jericho, Vt., and died of consumption on the 26th of October, 1838. He settled and lived at the mouth of the La Plotte River. He was a carpenter and joiner, and by reason of his probity and attention to duty served his town in several public capacities, being constable and collector for twenty-two years, and in 1815 and 1816 collector of the direct tax in Chittenden and Addison counties. His son Lyman afterward lived in Burlington.
Jonathan Lyon, with two sons and four daughters, came from Reading, Conn., to this town in 1788, in company with Dan Fairchild and three sons. Jonathan Lyon and his son Robert purchased a part of the governor's right and passed their lives there. Jonathan died in the spring of 1791. The Fair- childs all left for Ohio in 1813. These Lyons were not related to Timothy Lyon, father of Captain Dan Lyon, now a venerable citizen of Burlington.
Aaron Rowley came to Shelburne in 1784, and here, on the 28th of Octo- ber, 1786, his son Aaron R. was born, residing in town until his death, Octo- ber 4, 1866. Of his six children Erwin S. is still a resident of the town.
Israel Burritt, a captain in the War of the Revolution, settled at Shelburne Falls in 1784. By his first marriage he had five sons and five daughters. Gar- rad, the seventh child, born October 19, 1789, participated in the battle of Plattsburgh. Garrad lived on the Rowley farm, now owned by Bartlett & Smith. Captain Burritt lived many years into the present century, and be- came the father of two other children by a second wife.
Asahel, son of Phineas Nash, of Wyoming, Pa., was born on the 29th of December, 1750, and was present during the Wyoming massacre, July 3, 1778. Soon after he left Wyoming and after several removals settled in Shelburne. John, his seventh child, born here June 13, 1796, is still living.
Hezekiah Tracy, born in 1745, settled in 1790 on the place and built the house now occupied by his great-granddaughter, Carrie Tracy. His descend- ants are numerous.
Benjamin Sutton came to Shelburne about 1792, and had a family of twelve sons and two daughters. He died not far from 1835, and his eleventh child, Byron, passed his days on the old homestead, which is now occupied by James B. Sutton, son of Byron. James B. was born September 10, 1832.
Francis Blair came from Williamstown in 1796 and settled on the place now owned by his descendant, George E. Blair. Rosel Miner settled in 1794 on the farm now in the hands of his descendants.
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
Nathan White, born at Middleborough, Plymouth county, Mass., February 15, 1763, died at Burlington, Vt., January 26, 1826. He was a descendant of Peregrine White, the first child born of English parents in America, and was five years in the army with Washington ; was at West Point when it was surrendered by General Arnold, and was present at the execution of Major André. He came to Burlington in 1791, and during that and the following year manufactured brick near where Henry P. Hickok now lives. In the win- ter of 1793 he moved his family to Burlington, using an ox team, and was eighteen days performing a journey of 253 miles. In 1797 he bought a farm in this town, on Potter's Point, of Thaddeus Tuttle, and moved his family here in the fall of 1799, where he spent the remainder of his days as a farmer. He had three sons, Robert, Andrew and Lavater. Robert, the eldest, born Sep- tember 5, 1787, died December 20, 1872, leaving three daughters, Elizabeth P., Mary H. and Laura C. Elizabeth married Elijah Root in 1831 and had one daughter, Maria L., who married Charles L. Hart in 1856. Maria L. has but one son, Fred R.
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