History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 23

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 23

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Bennington, 22 June 1781

G Banyar"

In 1788 Solomon Cushman, tax collector, sold parts of fifty or more lots to satisfy the two penny tax which was delinquent. On Nov. 28 he stated that he had received from Goldsbrow Ban- yar the sum needed for freeing a considerable number of these

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lots. The following record made by the town clerk relates to this sale :

"Royalton 29th November 1788 Sir.

On examining of Solomon Cushman's Records I find that Lot No. four was sold the Twenty second Day of the Month I desire you will mark that Number on your Records so that it may be known that the Redemtion money is not paid on that Lot I have mark (four) in this way in the receipt let it be done on your records the same way then they will both be alike

Abel Stevens Town Clerk

In Royalton J V Benthey ( ?)

Attorney To

Goldsbrow Banyar

Town Clerk's office Royalton Jan 9th 1789 Recorded and Examined

Attest Abel Stevens Clerk"

Whitehead Hicks was mayor of New York City in 1778. He owned many lots in Hertford, now Hartland. On Mar. 24, 1778, the Assembly of Vermont declared the land forfeit, and gave William Gallup liberty to dispose of it. They claimed to be act- ing according to the advice of Congress in making immediate sale of the enemies' land, so we must conclude that Hicks was a tory, less discreet and cautious than Banyar. In 1778 William Gallup as Commissioner of Sales reported more than 1000 acres of land sold which belonged to Whitehead Hicks.

John Kelly was an attorney. He appears to have been very energetic in pushing his claims, and seems to have kept the good will of Vermonters. It is quite probable that he visited the region, Sharon and Royalton, soon after the grant of Royalton. In a deposition of his made Mar. 6, 1771, he stated that Robert Havens of Sharon showed him a petition received from Benjamin Bellows, Jr., son of a N. H. magistrate at Walpole, and which had been circulated in favor of annexation to N. H., and only, eight or nine names were on it, and Havens said they were the only ones in Sharon that would sign it. If he had a personal interview with Havens, that may account for the fact that Rob- ert Havens was the first one to settle in Royalton. In a petition for land, 1787, Kelly said he owned 111 rights. In March Ver- mont granted him 69,000 acres. He succeeded in getting his rights under N. Y. confirmed in some instances, and permission to locate on unchartered land as an equivalent for losses in others, a good indication of the high esteem in which he was held by the ruling powers. The following year he interested himself in the welfare of Vermont, and wrote to Gov. Chittenden to know on what terms the Grants would come into the Union, saying there were friends of Vermont who would gladly serve the inter- ests of the state. He suggested that Congress exonerate Ver- mont from paying taxes of the War, and if claimants to land which had not been chartered would accept of wild land to the

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west, that Vermont might be satisfied, and that Col. Hamilton to whom he had proposed this, thought such a settlement could be effected. He certainly was either a good friend to Vermont, or led her leaders to think so, for Nov. 5, 1792, he obtained another grant, this time one of 12,000 acres joining land granted him in 1791 near Jay and Newport. He was an attorney for Ambas- sador Jay, and successfully conducted cases in which Jay had claims to land.

William Livingston, LL. D., was born in Albany, 1723. He graduated at Yale in 1741. He was Governor of N. J. from 1776 to 1790. He was a patriot, and was elected to the Con- tinental Congress of 1774, and was a delegate to the Constitu- tional Convention of 1787. He was a jurist, legislator, magis- trate, and an author of several legal and political treatises. He died in 1790. He apparently was the leader in first petitioning for the grant of Royalton, which in 1766 was named Loyalton. In 1769 he and Hicks petitioned for leave to insert names in the schedule annexed in the letters patent for this tract. He had a manor, in which Abel Curtis, the agent of Bethel, found William Smith a prisoner, and Mr. Banyar visiting him, and where he negotiated for the two tiers of lots belonging to the western part of Royalton.

William Smith was a member of the New York Council for a considerable time. On Oct. 20, 1769, the Council had advised the practical violation of the King's order forbidding further grants, and it was the next month that Royalton was granted. He became a tory, and the Council of Safety ordered him to the Manor of Livingston, June, 1777. He escaped being included under an attainder act through the powerful influence of the Livingston family, with which he was connected by marriage, so he received a share of the $30,000 indemnity paid by Vermont, about one sixth what Banyar received. He was a distinguished judge of New York, and his legal advice was sought in the dis- cussion of the Haldimand correspondence. He afterwards be- came Chief Justice of Canada, and died there in 1793.

It will be seen from these sketches that political discord . probably reigned in the meetings of the New York proprietors, and that some of them must have been too busy in looking after their own personal safety to give much time to their infant child here in the Vermont wilderness. Royalton may well feel proud of the high social and intellectual standing of these first owners of the soil, though, possibly, no one of them ever set foot on the grant of Nov. 13, 1769. They employed Thomas Valentine to survey the town.

CHAPTER XIV.

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

THE FIRST CHURCH.

It is noteworthy that one of the first things the pioneers of New England considered in establishing settlements, was the provision for supplying their spiritual needs. The settlers of Royalton could hardly have numbered one hundred, all told, when they gave their attention to the matter of stated preaching.

In its earliest days Royalton was closely associated with Sharon in religious, as well as in civic matters. It is in Sharon records that we find the first steps taken to secure a minister for the two towns. The inhabitants of Sharon and Royalton met in Sharon Feb. 11, 1777. Joel Marsh was chosen moderator, and Benjamin Spalding clerk. They vote,

"that the Towns of Sharon and Royalton will unite to have a gospel minister Setled amongst them and to be in conjunction or union in order to Support the gospel amongst them for and Dureing the term of Ten years from and after this meeting.

Voted that they will hold Publick worship in two Places in the following manner Namely for Sharon on the Roade Between Mr. Rosel Morgans grist mill and the Dwelling House of Mr. Joseph Parkhurst Near the Second Bridge on Quallion Brook about 20 Rods below sd Bridge and at Royalton in the Crotch of the Roads Near the foart, and that the Preaching Shall be held in Each Town and in Each Place as stated in Proportion to what each Town Pays.

Voted that the Towns of Sharon and Royalton will Support the gospel Ministry amongst them by a Rate made on the Poles and Reat- able Estates of the inhabitants in Each Town.

Voted that Joel Marsh Esgr Lieunt Medad Benton and Benjn Spald- ing Ensign Isaac Morgan Shall be a Comtee to treat with the Reverend Mr. Judson to Preach in sd Towns on Probation.

Voted that the aforesd comtee Shall Set up warnings for meetings for the future.

test Benjn Spalding for sd meeting." A few days later this other record was entered :

"At a meeting of the Inhabitants of the Towns of Sharon and Roy- alton Leagueally Warned and held in sd Sharon February the 20th A D 1777.

Then Lieutenant Medad Benton was chosen moderator for sd meet- ing

then Benjn Spalding Chosen Clark

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then Voted to Chuse a Comtee to ask the advice of the neighboring ministers to git a Candidate to preach on Probation and voted that Mr Benjn Spalding Lieutnt Medad Benton and Mr Daniel Gilbert Shall be a Comtee for the Purpos aforesd and for sd Comtee to make a Return to sd meeting."

The meeting adjourned to Mar. 18. At this meeting a com- mittee was appointed to take a list of the polls and ratable estates of the two towns. The rate was to amount to £50 legal money. Benj. Spalding, Daniel Gilbert from Sharon, Elias Curtis and Benjamin Parkhurst from Royalton were the committee to make a rate.

This action probably proved unsatisfactory, for on May 20, 1777, it was voted to raise money by subscription, and Benjamin Spalding, Joel Marsh, and Tilly Parkhurst were chosen to re- ceive the money, and hire a minister on probation. It has not been ascertained whether the two towns did really employ the same minister or not. The Rev. Mr. Judson mentioned was, doubtless, Andrew Judson, a graduate of Dartmouth in 1775. He was born in Stratford, Conn., 1748, and was a missionary. He may have preached in one or both towns while engaged in this work. It is not probable that he was secured "on probation," since he was pastor in Eastford, Conn., 1778-1804, dying in the latter year.

The arrangement made was likely to prove unsatisfactory, as the amount of service in each town would vary according to the sum each town paid, and as Sharon had been settled several years before Royalton, her population would have been greater at this time. The compact must have been dissolved before Aug. 26, 1778, the earliest record of the Royalton church which has been preserved. That record comprises only the following: "At a Church meeting in Royalton, August the 26, 1778, at the house of Lieut Joseph Parkhurst

I Chose Rufus Rude Moderator and Clerk"

On the 19th of October of the same year the Royalton church voted to give Rev. Asa Burton a call, and in case he declined, to "apply to the Presbetry for their advice and assistance to get a minister." No record is found of the organization of the Roy- alton church. Dr. Drake states that some old residents affirmed that it was organized in the fall of 1777. If so, it would leave scant time between the last union meeting of the two towns, the canvass provided for, and the organization of the Royalton church. Is it possible that the meeting in Sharon, Feb. 11, 1777, was really the time the old residents had in mind ?

Sharon seems to have had a resident missionary in 1778. Under date of Aug. 20, 1781, they gave a deed of 100 acres to Mr. Thomas Kendall, preacher and missionary, as he had resided in Sharon three years. That may partly account for the separa-

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tion of the two towns in church matters. It is not unlikely that Mr. Kendall may have occasionally preached in Royalton, before the town secured a supply. This missionary may have been the Thomas Kendall who graduated from Dartmouth in 1774, was pastor in Foxboro, Mass., from 1786 to 1800, chaplain in the War of 1812, and who died in Lebanon, N. Y., in 1836.

Mrs. Lorenza Havens Lovejoy is authority for the statement that the first sermon preached in town was in the house of her father, Robert Havens, who was then living on the George Cow- dery place, the Irving Barrows place at present. The date is not known. The preacher was Rev. Elisha Kent, whose son Elisha, it is said, came to Royalton in 1772. Rev. Elisha Kent died July, 1776. His visit to his son, who lived where his grandson Archi- bald lived later, and where Lester Corwin resides today, was between 1773 and 1776. Probably it was not earlier than 1774. He was born in 1704, so that he was about seventy at this time. To Mrs. Lovejoy's youthful eyes he was "an old man."

He was very fleshy and somewhat infirm, and preached sit- ting in "the great chair." It is told of him that in the midst of his sermon he stopped and said to Mrs. Havens, "Madam, your pot is getting dry." He was not so lost in his discourse, that he did not have an eye on the savory meat that the good wife was "potting down" for his dinner, when the long sermon should be ended. We can imagine the company gathered in the little log house in the forest, the kindly Benjamin Parkhurst and wife, who had found their way on horseback along a trail that could have been only partially cleared at this time; Isaac Mor- gan and wife, who had waded the river, if it were summer, or crossed on the ice if in winter; Elisha Kent, Jr., and his whole family, for John and Elisha third, then striplings, would wish to hear "grandfather" preach, and perhaps Joseph Moss, a babe in arms, helped in the music too. From Sharon Ebenezer Park- hurst and family would be sure to be on hand. The people of Sharon had had no settled minister as yet. If the sermon of this graduate of Yale, preached in the wilderness to the heroic souls gathered in that rude home had been preserved, how it would be prized by present and coming generations of Royalton !

A careful examination of Sharon records reveals that no pastor was called by the town till ten years from the time of the compact. On July 9, 1788, they voted to give Lathrop Thomp- son, candidate, a call to settle as a minister in their town. Mr. Thompson, who had graduated from Dartmouth in 1786, ac- cepted and remained with them five years. He then went to South Britain, Conn., in 1799 to Chelsea, Vt., in 1810 to Southold, Long Island, where he remained sixteen years. He returned to Chelsea and died there July 19, 1843.

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HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

From Hartland records of May 10, 1779, it is gleaned that the town voted not to call Mr. Tullar to the work of the ministry "at present," but they agreed to hire "Rev. Martin Tullar" ten Sabbaths more. They voted to meet the first three Sabbaths at Dr. Spooner's barn, the next two at Col. Lyman's barn, and so on. He was to have twenty shillings a Sunday. How long he staid there is not made clear, but in December, 1780, they called another minister, without first paying for service already re- ceived, it would seem. As late as March 14, 1786, they appointed a committee to settle with Mr. Tullar, and any arrearages were to be made up from the town treasury. It is more than prob- able that this was the same man who was called by Royalton in December, 1779, who was present and accepted the call, and who, Dr. Drake says, went back to Connecticut and was prevented from returning to Royalton by the disaster of 1780.

Sunday services must have been more or less regularly held before a pastor was settled. At the March meeting in 1779, Mr. Kent and Comfort Sever were chosen "thythingmen," Mr. Kent and Mr. "Wallow" were appointed to read the Psalm, and Mr. Hebard and Mr. Day to serve as "coresters." A ministerial committee was chosen, made up of Comfort Sever, Rufus Rude, Lieut. Benton, Tilly Parkhurst, and Esquire Morgan. In July Comfort Sever, Medad Benton, and Esquire Morgan were chosen a committee to procure 100 acres for the first settled minister. In the New York charter no provision was made for the first set- tled minister, and it would be necessary for the town to offer as good inducements as were offered by towns chartered by New Hampshire. Such provision was made in the Vermont charter. No large salary could be offered to any candidate. The salary of Mr. Tullar when first called was to be £50 the first year, in- creased with the list until it reached a maximum of £85.

Less than a year after the Indian raid, Sep. 4, 1781, they voted to apply to the President of Dartmouth for a ministerial supply, and to ask him to ascertain if Dr. "Witecor" was dis- charged. This was perhaps Dr. Nathaniel Whittaker, who had received the honorary degree of D. D. from Dartmouth in 1780, and who had preached in Norwich. He was a graduate of Prince- ton. Whether President Wheelock sent them a supply or not is not recorded. It may be that Mr. Ripley was sent, and so the church had an opportunity to become acquainted with him be- fore it voted to give him a call.

Both the town and the church voted on Aug. 8, 1782, to call Mr. Ripley, and a committee was chosen to make proposals of salary. At the same time the town voted to raise fifty bushels of wheat to defray expenses of preaching. Nothing more is told us of Mr. Ripley, and we can only conjecture that he may have

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HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

been Sylvanus Ripley, who was connected with Dartmouth as tutor and pastor of the college church, and who died in Hanover in 1787. Mr. Azel Washburn studied theology with him while in Dartmouth. Mr. Ripley was not secured.

Every call thus far had been unsuccessful. The induce- ments which they could offer were not tempting, but there were many devoted men in those early days who counted salary of lit- tle account, if they were sure of a livelihood, esteeming it a privi- lege to carry the Gospel into the frontier towns.

The next call extended to Rev. John Searle on Aug. 12, 1783, by both church and town, was accepted. They agreed to build him a house twenty-eight feet square, one story high, finished outside, to furnish two rooms, build a chimney, dig and finish a cellar. They also agreed to give him thirty acres of land south of Mr. Rix's lot, abutting on White river, and 100 acres belong- ing to the first minister's right. They agreed to give him £55 the first year, and to rise with the list to £80. For his present support they were to furnish twelve score of pork, fifty-two bush- els of wheat, and 400 pounds of beef. At a subsequent meeting they provided for wagons and teamster to transport Mr. Searle's goods to Royalton. Mr. Searle was to give a deed of the remain- der of the land that belonged to the first minister's right. It is understood that he came from Stoneham, Mass. Quoting from Dr. Drake: "Mr. Searl was a poor boy, sought out by Jonathan Edwards, and encouraged to seek an education, and after gradu- ating he studied theology with Mr. Edwards. He was a chaplain for a considerable time in the army of the Revolution. Oct. 21, 1783, the town 'voted to raise a tax on the list of 1783, of eighty bushels of wheat for the use of Mr. Searl.' The church and town both voted to have the installation Nov. 19, and the church se- lected and called six ministers on the council, viz .: Mr. Bur- roughs of Dresden, (now Hanover), Mr. Hutchinson of Pomfret, Mr. Ripley, Mr. Potter of Lebanon, Mr. Fuller of Vershire, and Mr. Potter of Norwich. Tradition says that Mr. Potter, of Leb- anon, preached the sermon. Pastorates in those days were long, and installations were great events, and drew large assemblies. Councils at such times were honored by being duly escorted in procession, with bands of music, to and from church, and sumptu- ously dined at a hotel. This being the first event of the kind in town, it was of absorbing interest." There was no meeting- house at this time and no hotel, as such. The ordinary program must have been somewhat changed. At a later installation it is stated that the council was to meet at Zebulon Lyon's, and as town business had already gravitated there, it is reasonable to suppose that this first council held its meeting in his house. If not there, possibly at Mr. Durkee's, whose barn might furnish

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accommodations, in case the weather should prove too cold for outdoor exercises. The day selected for the "re-installing" of Mr. Searle was Nov. 19, 1783.

The day before this event, the proposals made to Mr. Searle were recorded as follows:

"Royalton 18th Nov 1783

Relation to ye Proposals made by ye town to ye Revd Mr. Searle for his Support among them It being Expressed in the Vote of the Town that they give Such a particular Sum to ye Revd Mr John Searle During the continuance of his Pastoral Relation to them The town Signified to the Counsel to which also ye Revd Mr Searle con- sented that ye vote be considered and understood with this Limitation (viz) that the Sum voted be paid in full to the sd Mr Searle During ye time of his Executing ye office and Duties of a Pastor among them- after which time, should he live and have Pastoral Relation continue ye town are Not held to continue the same Support in full but ingage to do that which is Right and Christian like in the matter in the opinion of disinterested and Proper Judges - John Searle

Signed in presence of the council

Isaiah Potter - - Scribe"

It will be noted here, that it was the town and not the church that entered into an agreement with Mr. Searle. He appears to have expressed a wish to build his own house, and at a later meeting it was agreed to furnish the material for it, and whatever it cost above the estimated cost of a house twenty- eight feet square was to be deducted from his salary. On Jan. 6, 1784, they proceeded to divide the town into five districts from which to collect materials for Mr. Searle's house. The first dis- trict was "east" of the river from Sharon to the First Branch and to Tunbridge, Joseph Havens, collector; the second, all be- tween the First Branch and Second Branch, Timothy Durkee, collector; the third, all between the Second Branch and Bethel and Tunbridge lines, Comfort Sever, collector; the fourth was south of the river from Bethel line to the center of the town and to Barnard line, Samuel Clapp, collector; the fifth was south of the river from the center of the town to Sharon and Barnard lines, including Mr. Joiner, Lieut. Stevens, collector. On the 26th instant they voted to raise £100 to build Mr. Searle's house.

Mr. Searle was about sixty-three when he assumed the pas- torate of the Royalton church. He graduated from Yale in 1745. In Yale's biographical sketches it is said that he preached the funeral sermon of Rev. Jonathan Parsons of Newburyport, Mass., who was a firm friend of Whitefield. It was in Mr. Par- sons' house that Whitefield died suddenly, and at his own request was buried under Mr. Parsons' pulpit. Rev. Searle had before that preached the funeral discourse of Mrs. Parsons, which was thought worthy of publication. He seems to have been a most estimable man, of more than ordinary ability, but his health failed, and some of his parishioners were not over-considerate

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of his physical disability. The agreement of 1783 showed a truly Christian spirit, which was not so apparent at the close of his ministrations. He was dismissed June 21, 1787, and died July 5th following, after a pastorate of less than four years. He is buried in the South Royalton Cemetery, and his tombstone bears this stanza :

"Here lonely sleeps the clay, the spirit fled; And from this monument man's doom is read; All nature bows at the Almighty rod.

Prepare ye living then to meet your God."

Mr. Searle's death had probably been expected. The town had neglected to give him a deed of the thirty acres agreed upon, or to take from him a release of the 200 acres of the first minis- ter's right. On March 14, 1787, they instructed the selectmen to attend to this matter. They did so, giving Mr. Searle a deed April 8, and taking his release May 8.

Five days after his death a town meeting was held, at which they voted to "hier preaching constantly if to be obtained." The committee chosen were to hire a candidate that there was a probability of settling, and if "Non Such can be had without Trobel that they hier one that is Not Likely will be Settled with us : Not exceding six Sabbaths and that they Ingage Not more than one pound four shillings per Sabbath to be paid in Prod- uce."

The committee appear to have secured Mr. Benjamin Chap- man, probably the one who graduated at Dartmouth with an A. M. degree in 1784, was pastor at Granby, Mass., 1790-97, and died in 1804. A vote on Aug. 27, 1787, instructed the minis- terial committee to hire Mr. Chapman for eight or nine Sab- baths more on probation. They were rather slow in judging of Mr. Chapman's acceptability, but by the 6th of November the church had decided to call "Mr. Benjamin Chapman, Jr." Seven days later the town took similar action, and sent a committee of solid men, Comfort Sever, Calvin Parkhurst, John Kimball, and Zebulon Lyon, to propose that they pay a debt of £30, and £100 to be paid in wheat at five shillings a bushel or neat stock equal thereto to be paid in one year after ordination, his salary to begin at £55, and rise with the list to £80 a year. If he chose he could have the town land of 200 acres and one after division, instead of the £100. Perhaps he was not attracted by the pros- pect of a winter's preaching in Mr. Lyon's summer house, or he may have had a better call elsewhere; at any rate, he did not accept.

At the town meeting, Mar. 18, 1788, Dea. Daniel Rix, Eben- ezer Dewey, and Dea. David Fish were chosen a committee to supply the pulpit. This committee secured Azel Washburn on probation, and on the 16th of the following April the inhab-

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itants met to see if he should be employed longer, and chose a committee to make proposals to him. At the same time it was voted to exchange the town's land of 200 acres for a lot suitable for a minister to live on, and the ministerial committee would not proceed until the committee that was to effect the exchange had reported. At the end of eight days the exchange of the town's land with Zebulon Lyon for forty acres below the meeting house was consummated. Part of this forty acres was in the Brewster lot, 46 Dutch, and part in the Lyon lot, 54 T. P., on which lot Mr. Lyon had his house.

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History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 23

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