History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 13

Author: Lovejoy, Mary Evelyn Wood, 1847-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Burlington, Vt., Free press printing company
Number of Pages: 1280

USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Royalton > History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911 > Part 13

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In 1775 two regiments were formed in Cumberland county, the Upper one organized Aug. 14, at Springfield, and the Lower organized considerably later, owing to controversies over the offi- cers. Provision was also made for raising a regiment of Minute men.

By a reference to the tabulated list of men serving in the War of the Revolution, who subsequently became residents of Royalton, it will be seen that several had part in the struggle during the year 1775. There were others also who served this year, that were more or less connected with the history of this town. The Assembly of New Hampshire was petitioned on Sept. 10, 1776, by John House, 1st Lieut., and Daniel Clapp, 2nd Lieut., both of Hanover, N. H., for bounty as other soldiers had received for volunteer service under Capt. Israel Curtis. They state that they with thirty-four other men equipped at their own expense, marched to St. Johns in Canada, and were ordered by Gen. Montgomery to join Col. Bedel's regiment. They did duty until Nov. 18, 1775, when they engaged to serve through the win- ter. Their prayer was not granted. This company had volun- tarily been formed in response to Gen. Schuyler's call for help in September, 1775. No list has been preserved of the men. Under date of Nov. 3, Curtis wrote that the General would not allow them to leave until Montreal had been taken. This com- pany was on the Plains of Abraham in December. In April of the next year, after defeat, on account of small pox it was sent home, but Capt. Curtis got his promotion of Major and Lieut. House that of Captain. This action of Captain House goes to show that he was a man of courage, and a loyal citizen, despite what has been said of him because of his failure to attack and capture the Indians at the time of the raid upon Royalton.

The year 1776 was to prove even more eventful than the one which had passed. The Declaration of Independence added new and stronger motives for exertion on the part of the colonists. The die was cast, and every man was expected to do his full duty as a loyal American citizen, determined to win freedom from British oppression. The frontiers now required the most watchful guarding, and the Grants were fully alive to the im- portance of checking any threatened advance from the Canada side. The frontier, starting with Haverhill, stretched on a radius of about thirty miles, with Hanover as a center, extending

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through Newbury, Corinth, Royalton, and Barnard. The local militia looked after the frontiers. In the year 1776 Gen. Gates called it out to protect Ticonderoga. Scouts were sent out, some- times of one man only, again of several under a leader. Hart- ford in a town meeting of July 13, 1776, voted that Capt. Abel Marsh should deal out one pound of powder to each soldier be- longing to the town that had gone or was going to Royalton, and lead and flints proportionable to the stock. They also voted to raise by a tax £20 to defray charges of the supervisors and county committee going to Westminster, and the charge of the Royalton department, which was the town's quota to pay.

Royalton was on the frontier, and it must have been stirring times for the few settlers that were here at that time, increas- ing in number, of course, but doubtless not numbering twenty families. This was the year when small forts were built, and Royalton had hers, an account of which is given in another place. The action of Hartford just mentioned probably was taken with reference to this fort. We may be sure that the families which took so active a part in succeeding years in the struggle that was waging for freedom, were no less alert and serviceable this year, though the records, which are very incomplete, do not make much mention of them. Doubtless they did their share in guard- ing the frontier, and in preparing ammunition. Saltpetre was in great demand. An anonymous letter in the New Hampshire Gazette of January 9, 1776, by a writer not in favor of independ- ence, says that the making of saltpetre had made such rapid progress, especially at Portsmouth, where both clergy and laity were employed six days in the week, and the seventh was seasoned with it, that he begged leave to withdraw his assertion that Am- erica could be conquered without ammunition.

The Provincial Congress of New York on July 23, 1776, re- solved that 252 men be employed as scouting parties to be raised in the counties of Cumberland and Gloucester, for the defence of those counties, to be divided into four companies, each com- pany to have one captain, two lieutenants, three sergeants, three corporals, and fifty-four privates. The commissioned officers were to be nominated by mutual consent of committees from both counties. Each non-commissioned officer and private was to have a bounty upon his passing muster. The officers and privates were to furnish themselves each with a good musket or firelock, powder horn, bullet-pouch, tomahawk, blanket, and knapsack. The next day the Congress on recommendation from members of Cumberland county, Messrs. Sessions, Marsh, and Stevens, nomi- nated Joab Hoisington to be Major of these troops, who were called Rangers. The Congress advanced to deputies from Cum-

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berland county £1200 for the Rangers in Cumberland and Glou- cester counties, one half of the bounty resolved upon.

The year 1776 saw also the beginning of the Board of War for Western Vermont, which was given jurisdiction over the whole of the Grants. This Board appointed twelve men to at- tend as a committee upon the next convention, which body of men is said to be the beginning of the Council. The Board ap- pears to have been appointed from time to time by the Assembly, and to have held office until a new one was named. For a short time the Governor and Council constituted it, and later it was made up chiefly of councilors. Its duties and powers were prac- tically the same as those of the governor today in case of war.

Whatever may be thought regarding the dealings of New York with the settlers on the Grants, it is certain that these settlers had to depend on New York more than once for financial assistance, during the period when the controversy over the ownership of Vermont was waging. On January 14, 1777, the New York Convention agreed to loan Cumberland county a sum not exceeding £300, and it furnished the representatives of the county £70 as wages in advance. Major Hoisington went to Fishkill, N. Y., to settle with the Committee of Safety, and had to apply to them for funds to get home. It would appear that his Rangers had not been called upon for any very arduous labor as yet, for as late as Feb. 24, Col. Bedel in a letter to Gen. Schuy- ler declared that the Rangers had not done three days' duty. The Provincial Congress of New York decided May 28, 1777, that they needed some exercise, and it ordered that Gen. Bayley be requested to order one of the companies of troops raised in Cumberland and Gloucester counties, called Rangers, to march to Kingston in Ulster county, without delay, to follow the further directions of the Council of Safety or executive power of the state. Gen. Bayley was in sore straits. On the 14th of June he wrote from Newbury to the Committee of Safety at Kingston, "The calling for the Rangers is stripping the frontier of Men & Arms, which order I received from Major Wheelock with a Verbal Account, that the others would soon follow. I gave the orders for the march of the first Company, but had no Money to March them, which they Insist upon. They Insist that if the Conditions they were raised upon, is altered in one part, it must be in all before they March they say their Subsistence Money will not half Support them on their March nor at Kingston when they arrive." From this will be seen the spirit of independence manifested by the Rangers, a spirit to be commended usually, but which often interfered with military discipline in the early days of the war. It illustrates also the difficulties under which

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the officers frequently labored, through lack of funds to pay their men.

An attempt had been made in April to raise three companies in the northeastern part of the Grants, under the direction of Major John Wheelock. Commissions were not to be issued until 150 men should be enlisted. Major Wheelock obtained only eighty men, even after an extension of time, owing to open defec- tion against the authority of New York in that part of the state. Provision was made for accepting what he had, if six super- numerary officers would discharge themselves when he should arrive with the men at Kingston. There seems to have been plenty of men who were willing to serve as officers, but appar- ently they were not sufficiently self-sacrificing to "discharge themselves," for on Aug. 30, Wheelock's corps was declared dis- banded, and he was ordered to settle his accounts. When he went to Fishkill to get what was left of his men, he found that "many had dispersed contrary to order." Capt. Payne was in command of them, and among the loyal ones were Comfort Sever of Hanover, later of Royalton, Jeremiah Trescott of Royalton, and Lieut. Aaron Storrs and Abel Curtis of Norwich. Wheelock's men had been intended for Col. Warner's regiment. From the Henry Stevens Papers the following is taken :

"Majr John Wheelock Sir where as we the subscribers did inlist in the Corps Commanded By you as we understand Said Corps is dis- banded by order of Council of Safety of this State we therefore require of you a Sartificate as we cannot Ingage in any other Service til we are Regularly Discharged By you we also are willing the value of our Cloathing be Reduckted out of our Back pay so no more

We remain your Humble Servants"

Signed by Charles Tilden, Sergt., and nine others, including Jeremiah Trescott, and dated Kingston, Sept. 4, 1777.

This unique request goes to show that these men were not only loyal, but honest, and ready for further service.

If the Rangers were not busy in the field, they and the in- dependent companies were employed in other ways. A Roll of Zebulon Lyon's company is recorded, which did duty in August, 1777, by order of the Committee of Safety of Windsor and ad- jacent towns. They were called upon to guard the Committee at Windsor, and to guard Col. Stone and others to Springfield, etc. Zebulon Lyon was lieutenant of the company, James Smal- ley, sergeant, Moses Evans, sergeant, all of whom were allowed pay for fifteen days' service ; James Sterrod or Herrod, sergeant, for seven days; privates, Elijah Smalley, Jesse Williams, David Hunter, Zebina Curtis, for fifteen days; James Sanders, Eben- ezer Call, James Call, Jr., Joseph Call, John Billings or Belknap, Abijah Lamphere, Luke Lamphere, Sylvanus Owen, Elijah

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Brown, Nathan Chaffey, Bliss Hosenton (Hoisington), Phineas Powers, Timothy Knox, James Call, John Kelliam, for seven days each.

The first half of the year 1777 was a gloomy one for the colonists, and an especially strenuous one for the Grants, which, under the name of Vermont, had declared its independence. It was natural that there should be differences of political opinion. Some were supporters of New Hampshire in her claim, others of New York, and a considerable number were still loyal to Great Britain, so that efforts to raise men for service were not always successful. The loss of Ticonderoga in July made the people of the Coos region panic stricken. It looked as if the British would win. Some of those nearest the British posts chose to be on the winning side, whichever it was. Strafford and Thetford had had squads of men doing garrison duty. Col. Bayley de- clared that thirty of them deserted in this critical time, leaving the towns unguarded. No doubt Royalton with the adjoining towns participated in the general alarm, but as our records were destroyed in 1780, there is no evidence of her action or of the anxiety which she felt. She still had her fort, and even without a garrison it would furnish some protection. Wild beasts in the forests, wild men on the borders, and a bitter foe at the door ready to take advantage of every weak position was the situation at this time.

The Canadians were seeking new and shorter routes to the settlements south of them. John Williams, secretary of the New York Convention, stated on June 23 that they had found a road across the mountains to Otter Creek, and could come in twelve days. To be aware of danger was to take steps to avert it. Capt. Jesse Safford was in command of forty-two men. Part of them were ordered to Pittsfield, and went in July. A part were or- dered to Royalton, and probably came at the same time, and occupied the fort built the preceding year, and served as a pro- tection to the inhabitants and neighboring towns.

The victory over Burgoyne heartened the colonists. On Mar. 23, 1778, the Assembly voted to fill up Col. Warner's regi- ment. On June 12th they voted that 100 men out of Col. Bedel's regiment be sent to guard the frontier west of the mountains. On June 18th it was decided to raise twenty men to guard the frontiers from White river to Strafford and Corinth, to the lakes, etc., and that Capt. Hodges have the command of said guard as a subaltern. Some time previous to Aug. 29, 1777, the Council of Safety had "Resolved that 375 men of the militia of this State should be Raised for the defence of this and the United States of America." As cost of living was high, they voted fifty shillings per month to each person so serving in addition to his continental

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pay. The General Assembly voted Mar. 25, 1778, to add to sol- diers' wages that were to be raised by a vote of that House enough to make their wages four pounds per month. In June they added forty shillings bounty to this stipend.

The proposed expedition to Canada was the military event of 1778 in which Vermont would have had the largest part and interest, but after making provision for 300 volunteers, the Council of Safety two weeks later declared the expedition like to fall through, and ordered the enrollment of men to cease. There is no evidence from the scanty town records of 1779 left to us, that Royalton took any action in raising men or provisions, but the record of service in another part of this chapter shows, that some who must have been residents of this town at that time were in active service. The Vermont militia in 1779 were en- gaged in scouting and protecting the frontier.

At a special meeting in Royalton held Jan. 22, 1780, we get the first record of the active participation of the town in the events of the Revolution. At that time it was voted to raise five men for immediate service, who were to be under pay at two pounds per month, equal to wheat at five shillings a bushel. Esq. Morgan, Lieut. Durkee, and Daniel Rix were chosen a committee to see the five men equipped, and Lieut. Morse, Capt. Joseph Parkhurst and Benjamin Parkhurst were chosen another com- mittee to give Lieut. Parkhurst his (illegible). At their March meeting they voted to discharge the five men raised in January. There is no record showing who these men were, but it may be inferred that Lieut. Parkhurst (Calvin ?) was one. From the Vermont Revolutionary War Rolls the following is taken :

"A Pay Roll of Lieut. Calvin Parkhurst and eight privates who have been in the service of the United States one month and a half in guard- ing the frontiers of this state, the winter past, viz:

One subn 45 days 149 s/ per day .. .£324.0.0

Eight privates 45 days each 53 s/4 per day each £960.0.0

£1284.0.0

Calvin Parkhurst, Capt.

Westminster, March 16, 1780, In Council The above pay roll ex- amined and approved by order of the Governor and Council.

Jos. Fay, Sec'y.

Pay Table Office, 23d Feby. 1781. The Treasurer is directed to allow on the above order thirty-two pounds two shillings, lawful money. Thomas Chittenden, Timo. Brownson, Comee.

Received of the Treasurer the contents of the above order.

Aaron Storrs."

This pay roll probably includes the five men raised by Roy- alton, and refers to the same men as the following petition in the office of the Secretary of State at Montpelier. It will be

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observed that the amount allowed on the bill was only a small part of it, due, doubtless, to the depreciation of continental money.

"To his Excellency the Govr. his honbl. Council and General As- sembly of the State of Vermont now sitting at Westminster-

The Petition of the Subscribers Humbly Sheweth, that whereas the present Winter has been such and the repeated Intelegence from Canada that great apprehension arose in the minds of the frontier Inhabitants that the Enemy would Attempt an invasion upon some Quarter, and as your petitioners and the Inhabitants of the Towns of Royalton & Sharon whom we have the honor to represent was frontiers and Exposed to Such Invasion-did by the advice of one of the Mem- bers of the Board of War and others, Raise one subaltern and Eight privates to reconnoiter the Woods and keep guard for this Country. and Engaged to pay them (viz) the Subaltern Equal Wages allowed by this State & Each private forty shillings pr Month and Money made Good as in this year 1774 on condition this State would not pay them

And whereas your Petitioners are of opinion that said Scout so Raised was of public Service to this State; do therefore pray your honors to take the Matter under Consideration and if Consistent Grant that said Subaltern & Eight men be paid out of the public Treasury of this State or such other relief as your honors in your Wisdom shall judge requisite and for the best Good of this State, and as your peti- tioners in duty bound shall ever pray-

Westminster 12th March 1780

Elias Stevens - Representatives Daniel Gilbert for sd Towns"

The statement was made that this guard was in service one and one-half months.

The line of frontier on the west side of the mountains was set by the Board of War on Mar. 12, 1779, at Arlington. "Re- solved that the north line of Castleton the west and north lines of Pittsford to the foot of the Green Mountains be and is hereby Established a line between the Inhabitants of this State and the Enemy, and all the Inhabitants of the State living to the north of said line are directed and ordered to immediately move with their families and Effects within said lines." These quotations will give a good idea of the state of feeling of those living on or near the frontiers.

The Indian raid at Royalton was the event of 1780 which sent a thrill of terror throughout all the towns of eastern Ver- mont and adjoining sections of New Hampshire. To Zadock Steele, Historian, we are indebted chiefly for a connected and full account of that awful tragedy. The debt of gratitude we owe him, and the honor due his memory for his laudable effort to preserve the trials and sufferings of the early inhabitants of Ver- mont should not grow less, because as time has gone on, new evi- dence and new information have been secured, which, in some instances, shows that his account is not wholly correct. That is

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true of all histories. Mr. Steele was not a resident of the town, and it was nearly forty years after the raid occurred, when he sought from residents of Royalton information regarding the events of that momentous day. It is almost strange that not more errors are found. His narrative is first given just as it stands in the original edition of 1818, and it is followed with another account based on the narratives of others who were pres- ent at that time of devastation, and on such records as have been furnished from reliable sources. It is in no spirit of criticism that the second account is given, but with a sincere desire to supplement, and render more valuable, if possible, the record of what seemed to those present on Oct. 16, 1780, as the death knell of the infant settlement. The correspondence of the leader of the Indian band and of Capt. Matthews, which is now given to the public for the first time, it is believed, will be found of con- siderable value and interest.

A reference to the letter of Capt. Matthews, secretary of Gen. Haldimand, will show that an exchange of prisoners had been asked of Gen. Haldimand before the raid of Oct. 16, 1780. It does not state that the request came from Gov. Chittenden, but it is probable that it did. According to the "Haldimand Correspondence" in Vol. II of "Governor and Council," the Governor wrote regarding an exchange of prisoners in Septem- ber. It is not at all unlikely that friends of the men taken pris- oners in Royalton asked the Governor to take steps to secure their release, but it seems probable, also, as measures had already been taken for an exchange, that no new request was made. Prison- ers taken from the British by the Vermont soldiery were turned over to the United States authorities, and so the state did not hold any considerable number of prisoners available for exchange independent of action on the part of Washington, Commander-in- chief, to whom Gov. Chittenden applied.

The negotiations, however, dealt with the proposal to make Vermont a loyal supporter of England, and with this object in view the British general readily agreed to a truce, which freed the state from a constant dread of invasion, and which finally resulted in the exchange of nearly all those who had been taken as prisoners to Canada after the raid of Oct. 16, 1780.

It is not pertinent to the purpose of this book to decide whether the Vermont leaders were patriots or traitors in carrying on these negotiations, neither is it the place to defend or condemn the course they adopted. It is enough to say, that by these nego- tiations the British were led to believe that they could gain Ver- mont, and that Vermont, which had pluckily and successfully held her own against the claims of neighboring states, did, by the representations of her leaders, steer the ship of state safely

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through a most perilous time in her history, and not only fur- thered her own cause, but that of the united colonies as well.

The provisioning of troops was a serious matter, a source of anxiety to boards of war, commanders in the army, and to town officials. The removal of the hardiest and best men to serve in the army depleted the ranks of the laboring class in Vermont. Royalton in 1780 had been stripped of the larger part of her supplies by the ruthless red man. Soon after the raid, November 9th, at a town meeting held in Lebanon, N. H., Huckens Storrs was appointed to remove the public provisions from Strafford to Royalton in case soldiers were ordered to that town. In Royalton, Zebulon Lyon's house was a storage place for supplies, and in Sharon, Samuel Benedict's.

Col. Bedel in his attack on St. Johns in 1775 wrote to the Committee of Safety in New Hampshire, "This moment I have possession of St. Johns and the Post - to-morrow shall march

for Montreal. In about 4 days we shall have either a wooden leg or golden chain at Montreal. For God's sake let me know how I am to supply my men." Some of the sufferings of the men in Warner's Regiment in the attack on St. Johns have been recounted in the diary of Lieut. John Fassett, who was in Capt. Hawkins' Company. Col. Warner was both doctor and officer. Lieut. Fassett under date of Oct. 27th wrote, "David Brewster is very sick. Sent for Col. Warner and he gave him a portion of jallap. Jacob Safford not very well, nor has not been for several days." Two days later he entered in his diary, "Col. Warner blooded Jacob Safford. David Brewster is some better." In their attack on St. Johns they suffered from both cold and hunger. He wrote on Nov. 12, "12 o'clock. E. Smith, Jacob Safford and I have been buying an apple pie and a sort of floured short cake and apples. Have eaten so much as we can, which makes us feel well." Gov. Chittenden wrote, May 22, 1778, that he was informed Col. Bedel's regiment was not in actual service for want of provisions. On June 12, Col. Bedel was empowered to buy grain and other provisions.

On Oct. 20, 1780, Calvin Parkhurst was put on a committee by the General Assembly for the purpose of getting provisions from the towns. That year acts were passed by the legislature prohibiting sending provisions out of the state. In 1781 it ap- peared that the supplies set for the soldiers were not enough, and a provision tax was levied. In 1780 the quota of provisions for troops was, for Royalton, 1392 pounds of flour, 464 pounds of beef, 232 pounds of salted pork, 99 bushels of Indian corn, and 191/2 bushels of rye. The provision tax of 1781 levied on ratable polls and estates was 20 ounces of wheat flour, 6 ounces of rye flour, 10 ounces of beef, and 6 ounces of pork, on a pound.

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At a town meeting held Dec. 27, 1781, Royalton voted to raise five bushels of wheat in lieu of the beef for the state troops, and to raise wheat in lieu of rye flour. It chose Lieut. Durkee to receive the wheat, and also the pork that was to be raised, which was to be well salted, and he was to find the salt for five bushels of wheat. They also voted to raise three bushels of wheat in lieu of a hundred of flour, and voted to raise and bring in the whole of the provisions in January next following. The Board of War had proposed, April 8, 1780, that each town by taxation pay its own men, each man to provision himself, the state in final settlement repaying what had been expended since the rising of the last Assembly, which had authorized such action.

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History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 13

Author: Lovejoy, Mary Evelyn Wood, 1847- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Burlington, Vt., Free press printing company Number of Pages: 1280

Author: Lovejoy, Mary Evelyn Wood, 1847-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Burlington, Vt., Free press printing company
Number of Pages: 1280