History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 19

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 19

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

155

HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

ter. When I had got to know myself I was amasiated to a Skilleton When I got cloaths to put on my overalls looked like tongs in them my ear to see through my nose and face peaked and dirty and lowsy as if one ded all as they lay in the Bunk-I used to bake the rags of my shirt on the stove when I had got so much strength, better to kill lice off. Through the mercy of God I recovered from this distress; and when better of it I was amasiated to a scalaton-and in recovering in this weak condition I had to take hard fare.

I write now that was done about 65 years ago in the year 1781 feb; Now July 20, 1846 And now what shall I render to the Lord for His astonishing goodness I will take the cup &c what stupid hardness must it be not to notice the Divine hand The Doctor still showing his kindness to me (he did not need me as a water to himself) but he sought for places for my abode where I was needed, (to my relief from confinement) He had two places in view for me, One was to live with a Jewess in Montreal, the other, to live with a Jew at Barkey (as I might choose) This Jew was a merchant 45 mild distant; I put it to the Doctor to choose for me. He thought it best to go to Barkey in the country away from the city- The refugees aften quarraled and complined of the prisoners at liberty in the city and got them into prison again. I went by his choice. The Jew was a country trader with but very little learning but of strong memory and head to cast up accounts without the use of figures or writing. He had and did employ frenchmen to make up his accounts. Very shortly after I went there I kept his accounts. (When the Doctor chose this place for me to live I told him I should loose of being exchanged being so far from other prisoners or of writing to my parents; he answered that could be accomedated by writing to Mr Jones the Provost-master at Montreal) When I went to live with the Jew my clothing was but poor an old blanket loose coat, the rag of a shirt that I burned the lice from and overalls that I can describe I drew also a shirt with my overalls; and a prisoner died and I had his old shoes when I went with the Jew to live A shirt was the first I most needed, and the first thing I was supplied with from him, and that was made from ozinbrigs (coarse wrapping cloth) washed in cold water and dried for me to put on by an old matroon the Jews housekeeper; when I put this shirt on the meanest I ever wore except the old dirty lousy ragged one, it daunted my Spirits; otherwise I had better fare, and when better acquainted he needed my assistance to keep his accounts and in his store.

He married a wife soon after I went there to live; She was a Jew- ess. His family before was the old french woman & twin children he had by a squaw when a trader with the Indians which he was obliged to leave in Upper Cannada. But after he married I fared better for cloathing by her means I was dressed descent I tarried with them until the next August. The Jew left home for Quebeck while gone I wrote to Mr Jones informing him where I was, and to know if there was any exchange of prisoners, or that I could write to my parents. I wanted the benefit of it. Mr Jones wrote immediately to the Jew to send me to Montreal, and then I was exchanged and to be sent home. This letter came when Mr Lions the Jew returned from Quebeck, and I was absent from home, on an errand. When I returned in the even- ing The Jew enquired of me what I had been about while he was gone to Quebeck Why I answered. He responded I have received a Letter from Mr Jones at Montreall and I dont know what they are going to do with you it may to put to Jaile (He could not read the letter at all, neither his wife so as to understand it) He wanted me to read it to them. I took it and looked it through, and then read to them, gladly,

156

HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

that I was exchanged to go home and that he must send me directly to Montreall Then says he what shall we do, for you have kept my books while here You and Mrs Lyons must sett up all night and she must write over the head of each mans account his name in Hebrew characters, for she did not know how to write english or french well enough, and we spent the night in this way.

The next morning I sett out for Montreall arrived there the next day, when I came to Mr Jones; I was told I might have been at home by this time, That I was exchanged by name and 17 others, and that they had gone in a carteele home and that I had to wait there untill another carteele of prisoners might go. He told me I could draw pro- visions (and have my liberty) and be bileted with prisoners that were on parole untill I could go. So I lived with others drew my provisions weakly and worke out as I pleased. I thus employed myself to gain something to cloathe and to spare to the poor sick prisoners in the hospitial that I before suffered in. The next June a carteele of pris- oners came into the state and I with the rest and was landed at the head of Lake Shamplane, at what is now Whitehall N York. From thence I traveled on foot to Windsor Connecticut to my Sisters and was gladly and surprisingly welcomed for they knew nothing but that I was dead and scalped untill they saw me. (for by mistake my name had been returned, and published as dead) I tarried at Windsor through that summer, and wrote to my parents in Truro Mass. I worked and bought me hors to go Home; on the first of Sept following I sett out for Truro and arrived in the neighborhood of my fathers; and Sent a neighbor to notify my parents that I was come, that theire lost had arrived, not to shock them too suddenly. My mother and sister had gathered themselves in a roome to meete me. Soon I met them in that roome, at the sight of me my mother left the roome. Judge Reader If you can of her emotions off mind and ours I feele the emotions now when writing My father was absent from home at this time, but had heard of my arrival before he came home that even- ing with his mind more composed."

The sufferings in captivity which Mr. Avery in his old age recounted cannot but awaken sympathy in the minds of all who read them, yet they were not so great as the trials of some others which Mr. Steele has narrated in his account of the raid. Let us return to the events of that day.

Phineas Parkhurst, son of Tilly, had staid at the home of an acquaintance on the east side of the river the Sunday night before the raid. The name of this family is not known to his descendants, but according to their tradition the family was at breakfast when they saw the Indians, and Phineas at once took the wife and daughter of his host on horseback, crossed the First Branch and rode down the east side of the river to a place of safety. He then returned and had reached the fordway oppo- site his father's house just as the Indians made their appearance at the house. He was about to cross when he discovered the In- dians, and he turned his horse to flee. A shot from an Indian pierced his body and seriously wounded him, but the ball re- mained in a cul de sac beneath the skin. The mother saw her boy, saw the blood burst from the wound as he galloped away

157

HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

down stream, one hand clutching the ball. In after days in recounting the experiences of the day she was wont to exclaim, "Phinnie wounded ! blood a running! Oh, dear! I on a strad- dle without any saddle, and a pocket handkerchief for a bridle, Oh, dear!" Her brave boy pursued his course down the river through Sharon, giving the alarm as he went, on to Stephen Tilden's tavern in Hartford, where a minute later his signal was answered by the alarm gun to call the militia together. A mile or so farther on he crossed White river, then the Connecticut by Robinson's ferry, and at last his long exhausting ride was over, and the skillful surgeon, Dr. Gates of Lebanon, was working over the wounded, fainting youth. Brave heart! So long as the name of Royalton shall live, so long as she has a son or daughter to feel a thrill of pride in her history, so long will the heroic deed of Phineas Parkhurst be recalled with loving gratitude and admiration.

The party that went down on the east side of the river may have come first, after Joseph Haven's place, to the house of Nathaniel Morse, near what has been known as Onionville. (As this term is objectionable alike to the people living in that vicin- ity and the town in general, the place hereafter will be spoken of in this History as Havensville, an appropriate name, as the Havens families lived there or near there many years, and the Havens cemetery is located there.) The Morse family had been warned, probably by Phineas Parkhurst, and Mrs. Morse was fleeing on horseback with her daughter Abigail in her arms, when the Indians captured them, seated them on a log, and swung their tomahawks over them, but left them to destroy their house and barn and seven fat oxen among their stock. Three silver but- tons that Mrs. Morse had on when she was overtaken are now in the possession of her great-granddaughter, Mrs. Adelia M. Car- penter Taplin of Middlesex. Mr. Morse did duty in Capt. Jo- seph Parkhurst's company.

Below the Morses on the John F. Shepard farm lived the Revolutionary war-horse, Jeremiah Trescott. His family went into the woods back of the house and secreted themselves. Jere- miah followed the brook near by until he, too, was safely hid. Here in his hiding place he saw the Indians enter, pillage, and burn his house and destroy his property. He saw them, also, on their return, and as an Indian heavily laden with plunder lagged behind, the old martial impulse drew his gun to his shoulder for a shot, but the hitherto trusty weapon failed him, and did not go off. In lowering it to see what was the matter, it was acci- dentally fired. The Indian looked up, grunted, "Ugh!" and ran swiftly on. That is said to be the only gun fired by the inhab- itants that day. Another tradition varying somewhat from this,

158

HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

which John F. Shepard took from the lips of Mary (Trescott) Baker, a grand-daughter of Jeremiah Trescott, is that the Indians went down on the west side of the river, crossed to the east side near the mouth of Broad Brook, and burned and pillaged as they went back. The granite boulders beside which the Trescott women lay were on the Simon Shepard farm. They staid there until the evening. Mr. Shepard writes, "They found the Shep- ard family had gone, so they went to the house and got in and lighted a light and built a fire, and got something to eat, and staid there in the house that night. Trescott hid in the alder and willow bushes, in what is now the mill pond, and saw them burn his house and destroy his stock, but did not dare to make a move until they were all gone, as he supposed, when one Indian alone came along loaded with plunder. Trescott fired at him, and he dropped his load and ran. The house which they burned stood some ten or twelve rods southeast of the present house, and the road came up east of the house, not between the house and river as it does now. The location of the house and some of the road can still be seen." According to Dr. Alden C. Latham, Sarah, the daughter of Jeremiah, was an unfortunate, who could talk very little. Her defect was attributed to fright and ex- posure at the time of the raid.

Daniel Gilbert, who first settled in Sharon, and resided part of the time in Royalton and part of the time in Sharon, was living in Royalton on the Dana-West farm when the Indians came to town. He built there a comfortable log house and outbuild- ings, had a yoke of oxen and a large stock of other animals. In the morning, while the family were at breakfast, townsmen came into the yard to notify him that the Indians were coming, and he was called to take command of the Company of which he was captain, and to aid in repelling the savages. Mrs. Gilbert brushed the dishes and the provisions from the table into her apron, and with the hired girl started to find a place of safety in the woods. The girl had a new bonnet of which she was quite proud. She was naturally anxious about it. She said to Mrs. Gilbert, "What shall I do with my bonnet-put it on the tees- ter?" by which she meant the covered part of a high posted cur- tained bedstead. Mrs. Gilbert replied, "No, child, put it on your head. The Indians will burn the house." They found a place in the woods commanding a view of the house, where they re- mained unmolested, and watched the proceedings of the enemy. Mrs. Gilbert saw them take out her feather beds, rip them open, and throw the feathers in the air, dancing and hooting. They butchered the cattle, and when there was no more mischief they could do, they set fire to the house, and Mrs. Gilbert from her hiding place watched her home go up in smoke.

159

HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

At Capt. Gilbert's his nephew, Nathaniel, was taken pris- oner. The story of his capture and release was related in 1910 by Mr. Henry C. Gilbert of Randolph, grandson of Nathaniel. Nathaniel's father was dead, and he had come from Connecticut with his uncle. According to this account the family were warned by a man on horseback, perhaps Phineas Parkhurst. Capt. Gilbert sent Nathaniel to warn a neighbor over the hill beyond them. While he was away the Captain saddled two horses ready for flight to the fort at No. 4, Charlestown, N. H., but it would seem that the family were not able to avail them- selves of this means of escape, before the Captain had to leave, and the Indians were upon them. When Nathaniel returned, he saw the horses at the door, but nothing suspicious. He went into the house, and first noticed feathers on the floor. While look- ing at them an Indian came out from another room and gave the usual grunt, "Ugh!" but did not take much notice of the boy. Nathaniel, terrified, turned about and started to go back over the hill. He went through a hollow, and when he looked again toward the house, he saw at one corner of it the same red-skin that showed himself inside. The Indian beckoned to him, and called out, "Come back!" This only added to his fear, and he was about to increase his speed, when he saw another savage at another corner of the house, who stood with his gun pointed at him. The gun was persuasive, and he went back. They tied him with a string to a nail under the looking glass.

In their camp that night they tied his hands behind him, and secured him to a small tree near where Joseph Kneeland was tied. He saw an Indian advance upon Kneeland, swinging his tomahawk, and could avoid seeing the brute scalp his quivering victim only by closing his eyes. He was in a state of terror, when the Indian came toward him. The savage examined his fastenings and went off. Later Nathaniel asked him why he killed Kneeland, and he answered, "Broad shoulders, straight leg, and keen eye, and me know never could get him to Canada."

In Canada Nathaniel was adopted by a squaw, and when he had the choice of staying with the Indians or enlisting in the British army, he chose the latter. Mr. H. C. Gilbert has Nathan- iel's original discharge, a copy of which will be found in the gene- alogy of the family. After his discharge he went on foot to Connecticut. His mother had married a man who had two grown daughters. When he went to his mother's house, he asked her if she could keep a traveller. The girls heard him, and called their mother to them and said, "Don't keep him. He wears the British uniform, and will kill us all before morning." Not car- ing to make himself known that night, he went to a neighbor's

160

HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

and staid, and told them who he was. The next morning, when he appeared at his home, his mother recognized him.

He could not in all his after years free his mind from the bloody scenes which he had witnessed. Even after he had chil- dren of his own, he sometimes sprang from his bed in his sleep, crying out, "The Indians are coming!" Once he sprang into a tub of water, which chanced to be on the floor, in which the clothes had been put to soak for the next day's washing. When he died he left an injunction to his family, which is still observed by this generation, never to send a man hungry away from the door.

Simon Shepard lived just across the Royalton line in the edge of Sharon. When warned the family left everything and went two or three miles below Sharon village to Mr. Marsh's, and staid there that night. Mr. Shepard went back in the even- ing to see if the Indians had burned his house, and seeing the light of the Trescott women concluded the Indians were there, and did not dare go to the house. He went back to Mr. Marsh's and reported that the Indians were still there, but had not burned his house.

The family of Josiah Wheeler participated in the panic of this day. Mr. Wheeler was a resident of Sharon in 1778. He does not appear in Royalton town meeting records until 1782. In that year he bought land in town. From Sharon town records it would seem that he lived on the river. If so, he was so far down stream that the Indians did not reach his dwelling. If in Royalton, a possible location would be lot 25 or 26 Dutch, far enough back from the river to escape destruction. The Indians did not go back on the hills. When Mr. Wheeler heard of the attack of the savages, he placed his wife and four-days-old baby on one horse, his sister and eldest son on another, and followed on foot. With a narrow escape they reached the settlements on the Connecticut river. Their property was not destroyed. The Indians did not go down on the east side of the river much, if any, below Capt. Gilbert's, and that was the last house which they burned.

Another family whose exact residence has not been ascer- tained, is the Downer family. Mrs. J. B. Bacon of Chelsea, a great-granddaughter of Ephraim Downer, has furnished some facts connected with this family, as has also Mrs. A. Olsen of Tucson, Arizona, another descendant, being the granddaughter of Sally Downer. Mrs. Bacon states, "My great-grandfather, Ephraim Downer, was a widower with three small children, Eph- raim, Daniel, and Sally. The two boys were at home, but Sally, who was a wee tot, was cared for in the family of Tilly Park- hurst, a fellow-townsman. Early on the morning of the burning

161

HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

of Royalton, my (great)-grandfather, who was a carpenter, was in a loft over the shed looking over some lumber, when the Indians suddenly sprang upon him. They dragged the two boys from their beds, frightening the youngest so that he never recovered from the shock, and died not long afterward. All three were taken captive and started for Canada. The youngest boy was one of the children whom the heroine, Mrs. Hendee, recovered, but the others were taken to Canada and there spent their lives." Mrs. Bacon is of the opinion that Ephraim Downer lived in the vicin- ity of South Royalton. If so, he may possibly have lived near the mills, and so have been one of the first to suffer from the savages.

The party of Indians that went up the river on the east side came first to the house of Elias Stevens. Mrs. Stevens is said to have had a struggle with an Indian in a vain attempt to save her feather bed. Many of the women displayed great courage and presence of mind when they were so suddenly attacked by the savages. David Waller, the son of Israel Waller, who was then living in the western part of the town, was working for Lieut. Stevens. He was captured by the Indians, taken to Can- ada, sold to a Frenchman, and dressed in livery. He returned to Royalton, when there was an exchange of prisoners. Mrs. Stevens had two small children at this time, the elder not three years old. Her condition must have been sad indeed. She was surrounded by Indians, who made the Stevens meadow their ren- dezvous. The people above her would flee north, and those below had probably fled south before she could reach any of them. The Indians allowed her to seek safety in the woods. Lieut. Stevens' name is found in Capt. Parkhurst's Company, which is thought to have done duty at home, as they drew no mileage. The Wal- ler boy, who might have given her some aid, was taken prisoner, but no doubt she was kindly cared for as soon as the scattered settlers dared to return to their desolate homes.

Ebenezer Brewster of Dresden, a non-resident, owned the land along the river from the land of Lieut. Stevens to what is now the upper part of Royalton village. This strip was prob- ably unsettled. A Mr. Evans, whether John or Cotton cannot be positively affirmed, is said to have lived in 1780 not far from Royalton village. It is known that John Evans lived in Royal- ton before 1780. Mrs. Coit Parkhurst, in recounting the events of the day twenty-five or more years ago stated that Nathaniel Evans was taken prisoner in Royalton, but was supposed to have lived in Randolph. There is no proof so far as known, that Cot- ton lived here so early as 1780. It is believed by the descendants of Nathaniel that he was the son of Cotton. There is a tradition that he put his face in a log fence and thought he was safe. He 11

162

HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

was but seven years old. He lived to marry and have children, and his only son Charles was one of the victims in an Indian massacre in Texas. The Evans family must have been warned. Mrs. Evans is said to have taken her silver, tied it in an apron, and hid it in a well, and then to have hidden herself and her children in the woods. John Evans was in Capt. Joseph Park- hurst's company.

Timothy Durkee had been in town about a year, located on the lot later known as the Rix place, not far from the North Royalton cemetery. They destroyed everything here except a small barn, which was too green to burn. This served as a house for the family for the winter, and it is in part still standing on the same place, but on the other side of the road. A cut of it is shown in this History. Two sons of Mr. Durkee were taken pris- oners, Andrew and Adan. Andrew was released, but Adan was taken to Canada and died there in prison.

Benjamin Parkhurst lived a short distance above Lieut. Durkee, about one hundred rods up the river from the Gifford house, which was burned a few years ago. The house was sur- rounded by trees, and the Indians did not see it. The family were warned, and Mrs. Parkhurst tied up a sheet full of articles, and her husband carried them into a swamp opposite their house, then he took his two little girls over and his wife, and came back for a Mrs. Leazer, a neighbor weighing 200 pounds. He waded the river at each load, and carried over provisions and his gun. They staid there through the night, but the Indians came no farther than the Second Branch bridge, which was only a tree felled across the stream. The next spring Mr. Parkhurst found a blanket and a tomahawk near the spot where the Gifford barn once stood. The next day Mr. Parkhurst took his family back home, and the morning after the father of Mrs. Parkhurst came to visit her from Connecticut. From Mr. Parkhurst's obituary printed in 1843, the following is taken: "The savages were every moment expected at Mr. P's. He told his family to remain where they were, and he would defend them as long as he had a breath of life; but the enemy not appearing, he removed his family across the river and concealed them in a thick swamp, where they remained till the next day. It has been thought, and with much probability, that his house was spared through the influence of a man, known to have been with the Indians, who not long before had staid a fortnight at Mr. P's, and shared freely in the kindness and hospitality of the family. Mr. Park- hurst was very active and very generous in relieving the suffer- ers on that distressing occasion. He had just harvested a fine crop of grain, amounting to 300 bushels of wheat and corn, which was liberally distributed among his neighbors; to some it was

163

HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

lent; from others almost anything was received in pay. None were asked over a moderate price, and only ten dollars in cash were received for the whole, and that from a man who was abund- antly able to pay money. The day on which the soldiers returned who had been in pursuit of the Indians, they called at Mr. Parkhurst's for refreshment, and were bountifully sup- plied. The next morning the family found that they had given away all their flour and meal, without any forethought, and the mill was burnt, and they were obliged to subsist for a little time without bread. About that time the inhabitants were in constant fear of the Indians. Mr. Parkhurst labored in his field armed, ready for an attack at any moment. His wife could not go out for water without carrying one child in her arms, and the other clinging to her clothes, and not knowing but the enemy would be upon her before she returned. The children would even rise in their sleep and hide under their parents' bed, and find themselves there on awakening. Mr. P. with others watched on patrol. He and another man, on one occasion, gave a false alarm, which spread through the settlement; but the supposed enemy proved to be hunters, accoutred so as to give them the appearance of Indians."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 19

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