USA > Vermont > Grand Isle County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 53
USA > Vermont > Franklin County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 53
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Town Clerks .- Samuel Barnard, 1802 to May 26, 1804; Henry Mar- ble, May 26, 1804, to 1814, 1816-18; Rufus Smith, 1815, 1819-28; Luther Martin, 1829-30; B. W. Fuller, 1831-49 ; Joshua Clapp, 1850- 78 ; O. N. Kelton, 1879 .to present time.
Town Treasurers .- Joshua Clapp, 1802-10; Reuben Clapp, 18II- 14; Richard Smith, 1816-17; Robert Martin, 1818-25; Luther Mar- tin, 1826-48 ; L. W. Martin, 1849; Jonathan Gates, 1850 ; James Mar- tin, 1851-52 ; D. H. Bailey, 1853-54; O. L. Kelton, 1855-67 ; O. N. Kelton, 1867, and continuously since.
Constables .- Trajan Richmond, 1802; James Upham, 1803 ; Eben- ezer Cross, 1804-05; Rufus Smith, 1806-07 and '14; Ira Leavens, 1808; Jonathan Kingsley, 1809; William Parks, 1810; Richard Smith, 1811-12; Francis Barnard, 1813 ; Daniel Barrows, 1815; Henry N. Janes, 1816-
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
17; Luther Martin, 1818; S. B. Upham, 1819-27 ; Russell S. Marcy, 1828-32 ; James Martin, 1833 ; Henry H. Upham, 1834-36; Jonathan Gates, 1837-46 ; A. S. Samson, 1847-56 ; William H. Stiles, 1857-59 ; Charles C. Martin, 1860-67 ; George L. Clapp, 1867-74 ; Heman Hop- kins, jr., 1875-77 ; B. H. Haile, 1878-80; H. O. Rowley, 1881-85 ; A. R. Gates, 1886-87 ; H. W. Coburn, 1888-89; H. O. Rowley, 1890, present incumbent.
Selectmen .- 1802-03, Joshua Clapp, James Upham, Stephen Gates. 1 804, Henry Marble, Joshua Clapp, James Upham. 1805, Joshua Clapp, Henry Marble, Rufus Smith. 1806, Joshua Clapp, Henry Marble, James Upham. 1807, James Upham, Stephen Gates, Seth Goodspeed. 1808, James Upham, Seth Goodspeed, Henry Marble. 1809, James Upham, Seth Goodspeed, Ira Leavens. 1810, James Upham, Stephen Gates, William Parks. 1811, Rufus Smith, Samuel Lusk, Jockton Goodspeed. 1812, James Upham, Seth Goodspeed, Richard Smith. 1813, Samuel Barnard, Seth Goodspeed, Stephen Gates. 1814, Seth Goodspeed, Ste- phen Gates, Rufus Smith. 1815, Seth Goodspeed, Stephen Gates, Ru- fus Smith. 1816, Rufus Smith, Jockton Goodspeed, Samuel Lusk. 1817, Samuel Lusk, Richard Smith, jr., Zebulon Thomas. 1818, Rich- ard Smith, Barnard Upham, Zebulon Thomas. 1819, Seth Goodspeed,
Eli W. Bush, John L. Clapp. 1820, Eli W. Bush, Seth Goodspeed, John L. Clapp. 1821, Eli W. Bush, Richard Smith, Luther Martin. 1822, Richard Smith, Luther Martin, Daniel Barrows. 1823, Seth Goodspeed, Alvin House, Daniel Barrows. 1824, Seth Goodspeed, Al- vin House, Samuel Lusk. 1825, Seth Goodspeed, Samuel Lusk, Lem- uel Robbins. 1826, Seth Goodspeed, Samuel Lusk, Lemuel Robbins. 1827, Lemuel Robbins, Levi Johnson, Rufus Hamilton. 1828, Levi Johnson, Seth Goodspeed, Alvin House. 1829, Rufus Hamilton, Daniel Barrows, John Johnson. 1830, Rufus Hamilton, Daniel Barrows, John Johnson. 1831, Rufus Hamilton, Richard Smith, jr., Samuel Lusk. 1832, Richard Smith, Samuel Lusk, Rufus Hamilton. 1833, Richard Smith, Samuel Lusk, Rufus Hamilton. 1834, Richard Smith, J. L. Clapp, William Parks. 1835, J. L. Clapp, Henry King, Lemuel Rob- bins. 1836, J. L. Clapp, Henry King, William Parks. 1837, William Parks, Asa Wheeler, Lemuel Robbins. 1838, William Parks, Asa Wheeler, James Martin. 1839, James Martin, Joshua Clapp, Rufus
563
TOWN OF MONTGOMERY
Hamilton. 1840-41, Joshua Clapp, Rufus Hamilton, John Johnson. 1842, Daniel H. Bailey, Salva Goodspeed, Heman Hopkins. 1843, Dan- iel H. Bailey, O. L. Kelton, William Dwyer. 1844, Daniel H. Bailey, O. L. Kelton, Asa Wheeler. 1845, Asa Wheeler, Hiram Rawson, J. L. Clapp. 1846, D. H. Bailey, Hiram Rawson, Lewis Goodspeed. 1847, H. H. Rawson, Rufus Hamilton, Moses Scott. 1848, D. H. Bailey, H. H. Rawson, Moses Scott. 1849, H. H. Rawson, Henry King, O. L. Kelton. 1850, D. H. Bailey, Jefferson Martin, G. W. Marcy. 1851-52,
1853, H. H. Rawson, H. H. Rawson, D. H. Bailey, Jefferson Martin.
J. L. Clapp, L. W. Martin. 1854, D. H. Bailey, Jefferson Martin, Rufus Goodspeed. 1855, Rufus Hamilton, Rufus Goodspeed, Lewis Good- speed. 1856, D. H. Bailey, Jefferson Martin, George C. C. Gates. 1857,
D. H. Bailey, George C. C. Gates, Samuel Head. 1858, D. H. Bailey, George C. C. Gates, Salva Goodspeed. 1859, D. H. Bailey, O. L. Kel- ton, Salva Goodspeed. 1860-62, William H. Stiles, Samuel Head, Jeff- erson Martin. 1863, William H. Stiles, Jefferson Martin, George C. C. Gates. 1864, William H. Stiles, George C. C. Gates, Jefferson Martin. 1865, D. H. Bailey, Nelson Goodspeed, George L. Clapp. 1866-67,
Nelson Goodspeed, George L. Clapp, John Head. 1868, Nelson Good- speed, George L. Clapp, Heman Hopkins, jr. 1869-71, Charles P. Clapp, William H. Stiles, D. H. Bailey. 1872, William H. Stiles, John Goodspeed, Rufus Rawson. 1873, William H. Stiles, Samuel Head, W. A. Rawson. 1874, John Goodspeed, D. H. Bailey, H. M. Martin. 1875, H. H. Rawson, John Goodspeed, Henry M. Martin. 1876, H. H.
Rawson, John Goodspeed, Edgar Crossett.
1877, H. H. Rawson, John Goodspeed, H. M. Martin. 1878, John Goodspeed, H. M. Martin, C. P. Clapp. 1879, C. P. Clapp, John Goodspeed, H. M. Martin. 1880, C. C. Martin, W. O. Parker, H. M. Martin. 1881, H. M. Martin, C. C. Martin, George L. Clapp. 1882, S. M. Dix, George Porter, C. V. Bogue. 1883, B. J. Wade, George Porter, Samuel Head.
1884, George Porter, G. H. Fuller, B. H. Haile. 1885, G. H. Fuller, B. H. Haile, J. D. Head. 1886, B. H. Haile, Horace Marcy, J. D. Head. 1887, Horace Marcy, S. B. Jewett, J. B. Samson. 1888, S. B. Jewett, H. H. Clapp, L. R. Camp- bell. 1889, L. R. Campbell, H. E. Kingsley, W. G. Mansfield. 1890, B. H. Haile, H. E. Kingsley, C. L. Martin.
Town Representatives .- Joshua Clapp, 1802-06, 1808-10; Henry Marble, 1807-II ; no choice, 1809; Seth Goodspeed, 1812-15 ; James
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
Upham, 1816; Jonah Johnson, 1817; Jockton Goodspeed, 1818; Henry N. Janes, 1819; Jonathan Janes, 1820; no choice, 1821 ; Sam- uel Lusk, 1822-25, 1828-29, 1834; nine ballots, no choice, 1826; Henry N. Janes, 1827; Selah B. Upham, 1830; Daniel Barrows, 1831- 32 ; Rufus Hamilton, 1833-36 ; Richard Smith, 1835; B. W. Fuller, 1837-39, 1848-49; Asa Wheeler, 1840-41 ; Joshua Clapp, 1842-43, 1854-55; John L. Clapp, 1844-45, 1850-51; Daniel H. Bailey, 1846- 47 ; E. W. Sherman, 1852 ; no choice, 1853; Salva Goodspeed, 1856- 57 ; William H. Stiles, 1858-59; no choice, 1860; George C. C. Gates, 1861-62, 1872; Columbus Greene, 1863-64; R. Hamilton, 1865; L. W. Martin, 1866-68 ; Heman Hopkins, jr., 1869-70; O. N. Kelton, 1874- 76; A. T. Kingsley, 1878 ; S. N. Dix, 1880-82; W. A. Rawson, 1884- 86; B. H. Haile, 1888'; J. W. Goodspeed, 1890.
CHAPTER XXX.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF GEORGIA.
G EORGIA is the southwestern town in Franklin county. It is bounded on the north by St. Albans, about two and a half miles; on the east by Fairfax, about nine miles; on the south by Milton, a little more than eight miles; and on the west by Lake Champlain, six miles in a straight line from corner to corner. The chartered area is 23,040 acres, but on account of the protrusion of the coast beyond the straight line fixed by the charter on the lake shore it is found by survey to be 25,048 acres. Its coast line is for the most part abrupt, but in no place considerably elevated. A fine bay a little to the north of the middle of the coast and the small marsh at the mouth of Mill River afford most of the low coast. The surface is broken, a little ledgy in places, but with the exception of the hill called Mount Pisgah in the southeast corner there are no hills not conveniently tillable ; and with the exception of its western face even that is for the most part valuable agricultural land.
565
TOWN OF GEORGIA.
When Ira Allen first explored the town in the summer of 1772 he was much struck with what he regarded as the very superior excellen- cies of the town, as compared with all the many others he had explored in the surrounding region. The growth of timber was simply immense, with a more general intermingling of valuable varieties than he had else- where met, indicating a most exuberant soil. While the greater part of the timber consisted of the more common varieties of hard woods there was a very considerable quantity of fine pine and other useful timbers quite generally distributed over the town; and yet not over two per cent. of the land was of the thin sandy kind quite common in some of the other towns, and there was not more than one per cent. of swamp and marsh land. He also found distributed well over the town, on strong, clear brooks, not less than fifteen mill sites, having an abundant supply of water for running saw-mills and in close proximity to the timber, and several other sites where there was water for larger mills. The supply of building stone, and especially of limestone, was ample for all pur- poses. Georgia Bay was well situated for a shipping port, and all the surplus lumber and ashes could always find easy access to a ready mar- ket by way of the lake. This was the glowing account of the town he gave to his associates in business on his return from his season of ex- plorations. That his description of the town was not overdrawn was the experience of the settlers who came at a later day.
The civil history of the tract of country now constituting the town of Georgia dates back to the period when the French, the discoverers of Lake Champlain and the adjacent territory, were sole claimants and occupants of all the surrounding territory by virtue of the discovery. While occupying these points, but when is not definitely known, a few "Royal grants" of lands were made along the eastern side of the lake, one of which covered the present town of Georgia and included a small portion of St. Albans, Fairfield, Fairfax, and Milton. The northwest corner of the seigniory granted to a M. Douville was very near the northwest corner of the present town. The north line ran more nearly due east than that of the town, thus taking in a part of St. Albans, and extended about eight or nine miles from the lake, or a little way over into Fairfield. The south line was of about the same length as the north, and parallel with it, thus running from near the southeast corner of the town to a point in the lake shore near the mouth of Stone Bridge
566
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
Brook in Milton. A survey of Lake Champlain and the French occu - pancies along its shores from Chambly to Crown Point was made by "M. Anger, King's Surveyor," in 1732, and a map was made from that survey in 1748 from which this information is principally derived. Whether the seigniory was ever settled is unknown, and must ever re- main so.
The town of Georgia, as at present organized, was chartered and the town granted in equal shares to sixty-four persons (whose names were written on the back of the charter, but who never otherwise became identified with the history of the town), by Benning Wentworth, then governor and commander-in-chief of the province of New Hampshire under the English crown, on the 17th day of August, 1763, with all the rights, privileges, immunities, conditions, and reservations common to the "New Hampshire Grants." But no attempt was ever made to settle it or procure its settlement by the original grantees or anybody acting under them until after the exploration of the town by Ira Allen in 1772, hereinbefore alluded to. Immediately on the return of Allen to his home in Connecticut he and his brothers inaugurated a movement to buy up the rights of the original grantees. These were dispersed through Southern New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, and one was found at Bennington in Vermont. Heman and Levi Allen were merchants, doing business in copartnership at Salis- bury, Conn., and Levi, an active and shrewd business man, was dele- gated to make the purchases, and in the course of the year 1773 he suc- ceeded in buying fifty shares, while Heman and Ethan Allen and their cousin, Remember Baker, bought three or four more.
Meantime Ira Allen and Baker, with several men in their employ, were at the falls on Onion or Winooski River in Colchester, making preparations for a grand immigration scheme which they hoped to put in operation the next year. They had already acquired much land in several different towns in that region, which they proceeded to survey. On learning the result of the effort to get possession of Georgia Allen called a meeting of the proprietors, of which the following record of the meeting is sufficiently explanatory :
"SALISBURY, March 23d, 1774.
"Then the proprietors of the township of Georgia, a township lately granted under the great seal of the Province of New Hampshire, now in
567
TOWN OF GEORGIA.
the Province of New York, met according to a legal warning in the Con- necticut Currant [Courant] at the dwelling house of Captain Sam'l Moor, Innholder, in Salisbury, in Litchfield County, and Colony of Connecti- cut, in New England.
" I. Voted, That Heman Allen shall be moderator for this meeting.
" 2. Voted, That Ira Allen shall be proprietors' clerk for said town.
" 3. Voted, That we will lay out said town, and that every proprietor or proprietors may, on his own cost and charges, lay out all his right or rights as soon as he or they shall think proper.
"4. Voted, That the proprietors' clerk shall record all deeds of sales and survey bills in this town in this book, when brought to hand, if paid a reasonable reward for the same, and all survey bills shall stand good that are first recorded or received to record without regard to the date of said survey bills.
"5. Voted, That this meeting be adjourned to Fort fraderick, in Col- chester, on Onion River, to be held on the third of October next.
"Test, I. ALLEN, Propr. Clerk."
The adjourned meeting on the 3d of October following was held at Fort Frederick and adjourned to a future day, as was one other, with- out the transaction of business. Whether the succession of adjourned meetings was kept up does not appear on record, but at an adjourned meeting held on the Ist of May, 1775, it was voted to "adjourn to the first Monday of September next," of which meeting there is no record, and the succession seems to have been lost then if not previously, and the first proprietors' meeting to have at last died a natural death.
In accordance with the vote to lay out the town a complete survey was made and probably concluded previous to the adjourned proprie- tors' meeting at Fort Frederick in October. Who made the survey is not known, and there has been some controversy over the question with a view to fixing the responsibility for some alleged irregularities upon James Evarts, who afterwards became largely interested in the lands of the town. Allen was a surveyor himself, and if he did not make the survey he at least directed it, and was responsible for it, and there are a great many references to it in deeds as " Allen's Plan." In making the survey the allowance made in accordance with the provisions of the charter for "highways and unimprovable lands by rocks, ponds, moun-
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
tains, and rivers" was excessive, but not sufficiently so to justify the accusation of fraudulent intent or unfaithfulness on the part of either sur- veyor or director, and the survey has always withstood the most for- midable attacks upon its integrity. There is no existing record of the survey bill or plan, but the lines were all so thoroughly marked that they were easily traced thirty years later, when a new survey was made, and new bills made after that survey are of record. The only recorded evidence that the original survey was made in 1774 is a deed from " Remember Baker, of Colchester, in the county of Charlotte and Prov- ince of New York," to James Evarts, of Guilford, in the county of New Haven and colony of Connecticut, which deed is dated November 7, 1774, and conveys "two hundred acres in two different hundred-acre lots, and numbered forty-six and forty-seven."
Allen had fully expected to make a considerable number of sales of Georgia lands during the season of 1774, but the above named sale of two lots to Mr. Evarts was the only one consummated. Before com- mencing the survey of the town he cut out a road from Fort Frederick across the east part of Colchester and Milton to Georgia, by way of what is now known as the Hyde place, on the north bend of Lamoille River, and up the east bank of the river on to the plain above, where the highway ran until the river and the wind cut the bank away, compell- ing its abandonment in favor of the present route farther east. But at the very time he was leaving Connecticut for his summer's work in the woods the controversy over the lands covered by the New Hampshire Grants had broken out afresh, and assumed its most serious and menac- ing aspect, and the settlement of the lands was necessarily delayed until after the close of the war of the Revolution.
It was almost twelve full years after Allen began to boom the town of Georgia that the first settler, William Farrand, from Bennington, erected his little cabin on the "governor's right," near the lake in the extreme northwest corner of the town. Only a few days later Andrew Gilder 1 came from Egremont, Mass., and following Allen's road from the
' This name is given in both Thompson's and Hemenway's Gazetteers of Vermont as " Van Gilder," but it is a misnomer. Gilder was a Stockbridge Indian who had married a Dutch woman, in allusion to which somebody prefixed the " Van" to his name, and it seemed to stick among people not acquainted with the facts, although it was always an annoyance to Gilder, and'never in any manner acknowledged by him.
569
TOWN OF GEORGIA.
high falls in Colchester across that town and Milton to the west bank of Lamoille River, a little way above the North bow in Georgia, pitched his tent near where the Hyde barns now stand. On the opposite side of the river above the brook, which there empties into the river from the east, Andrew Gilder, jr., built a cabin. These three families remained in town through the winter of 1785-86, the first persons known to have ever wintered in the town. But neither of these had yet purchased land.
Frederic Bliss is believed to have been the first purchaser of land for actual settlement and personal occupancy. The condition of the rec- ords of early titles is such that much uncertainty about them exists, and little is actually known of many important transactions beyond what can be gleaned from private sources, which are not always full and explicit. Bliss was a quiet, unassuming, but well informed and genial, young man who, while in the employ of Captain Stephen Davis, of Williamstown, Mass., had several times visited Sunderland, where Captain Davis had lands and other property, and he was personally acquainted with the Allens, Governor Chittenden, and the other prominent men of the state, located permanently or temporarily, in and near that town, and had taken much interest in Ira Allen's representations of his much praised town of Georgia. He accordingly came in the autumn of 1784 to see for him- self, and, accompanied by Allen from Fort Frederick, devoted several days to exploring this and other towns, and he contracted for the pur- - chase of ten lots of land, one for himself, one for his brother Abner, and eight for his uncle, Captain Davis. Allen suggested that lot No. 50 would eventually become the center of a flourishing village, and ad- vised that he select that for himself, but he modestly chose the one cor- nering upon that at the southwest, remarking that he had no ambition to plant himself in the center, but would rather locate a little at one side, which as it proved was most unfortunate for the young town. But the lot which he chose finally, by force of circumstances which he depre- cated, became the " center" on which every business building in the village stands. The lot selected for his brother joined his on the south. Lot No. 50, the one adjoining that on the west, and others farther north were selected for his uncle. In 1785 he came again, accompanied by his brother, and they remained long enough to make an opening upon
72
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
each of their lots, but they returned to Massachusetts for the hay har- vest about August Ist. In 1786 they came for permanent settlement, and Captain Davis made them a visit later in the season. When they arrived here in the early spring the three families already alluded to were the only persons living in town. Frederic built his house opposite the place where the old meeting-house now stands, and Abner built his opposite the foot of the road running southeast toward Milton and Fair- fax, about half a mile south of Frederic's.
Allen now began to see the fruition of his long deferred hope, and during the year received many visits from explorers, not a few of whom became purchasers, and several began improvements, though few of them remained through the winter. Young Blair and Shiverick Weeks, who subsequently married sisters of the Bliss brothers, were among the early settlers, but whether here in 1786 is not certain. Blair was a cousin of the Bliss brothers and the first of a long list of relatives which followed them from Williamstown and Weston, Mass. In 1787 James, Reuben, and John Evarts came. James had bought two lots of land of Remember Baker as early as 1774, when the original survey of the town was made. He was a surveyor and speculator in lands, and had from time to time bought lands in this and other towns. Reuben was a son-in-law of Heber Allen, and became resident representative of the Allens. He was first town clerk on the organization of the town, and otherwise prominent in town affairs. Colonel Benjamin Holmes, his brother Ste- phen, and several others came in 1787 from Clarendon and neighboring towns, and were among the most public spirited and enterprising of the settlers. Among these were the Loomis brothers, Elijah, Noah, Jonah, and Enos. They brought their families and effects, and were eight days on the road. Judge John White from Arlington came this year, and with him his father-in-law, Stephen Fairchild, and his four sons, Ste- phen, jr., Daniel, Joel, and Truman Fairchild. Judge White was a prom- inent and influential citizen, holding many important public offices not only in the town but in the county and state, and exerted a most benef- icent influence in the settlement. Daniel and Samuel Stannard, jr., came from Fair Haven. Daniel was the second town representative and prom- inent in all town affairs during the few years prior to his early death. Samuel, jr., was the first trader in town, but subsequently removed to a
57I
TOWN OF GEORGIA.
farm near the north end of the town, where he resided to a good old age. He was the father of the gallant General George J. Stannard of Gettys- burg fame. The lists of men who came during this and succeeding years and became more or less prominent in public affairs might be much extended, but it is sufficient to say that when the census of 1791 was taken Georgia had become the most populous and flourishing town in all Northern Vermont, with a population of 340, and continued to be the most populous town in Franklin county till about 1825.
The town of Georgia was organized in accordance with the laws of the state of Vermont on the 3Ist day of March, 1788. John White, as assistant judge of Chittenden county, of which the town was then a part, warned the meeting and called it to order. James Evarts was chosen moderator; Reuben Evarts, clerk; Stephen Davis, Stephen Holmes, and Richard Sylvester, selectmen ; Frederic Bliss, constable ; Solomon Goodrich and Abel Pierce, haywards; William Farrand, Noah Loomis, and Stephen Fairfield, surveyors of highways. This seems to have been but little more than a form of organization, as none of the officers elected were sworn at the time in accordance with the law. Two months later the town clerk took the oath of office, and the selectmen were sworn three months after. At the second town meeting held March 19, 1779, John White was chosen moderator ; Reuben Evarts, town clerk; John White, Stephen Holmes, and Francis Davis, selectmen; John White, treasurer ; Titus Bushnell, constable; Abraham Hathaway, Nathaniel Naramore, and John W. Southmayd, listers; Titus Bushnell, collector of town rates; Noah Loomis, grand juror; Stephen Holmes, pound- keeper; Solomon Goodrich, tythingman ; and Daniel Stannard, hay- ward.
"The officers chosen are each sworn to their respective office as the law directs.
"Voted, that Stephen Holmes's yard be a pound for the town of Georgia the ensuing year.
"Voted, that the town raise forty shillings on this year's list for to purchase books for said town's use."
On the 23d of February, previous to this town meeting, a considera- ble number of the citizens of the town took the oath of allegiance to the state of Vermont, William Farrand, the first settler, heading the list.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
It has been surmised that the reason why the officers chosen in 1788 did not perform any duties was that none of the voters had previously taken that oath in town. The name of Judge White appears upon this list, although he had been several years a judge, and had held many minor offices in the town of Arlington previous to his removal here.
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