History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 7

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 7

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After this most unequal conflict, in which the British, Tories and Indians outnumbered nearly ten to one, the victorious party returned to Hubbardton, rifling houses and gathering plunder on their way. It was on this same day that General St. Clair evacuated Ticonderoga, and marched his forces to Cas- tleton. His route was by the old military road to Hubbardton, thence south by the Hubbardton road. The van of St. Clair's army encamped that night near the place where Williams and Hall had just fallen. One division of the army under Colonol Bellows encamped about two miles south of Hubbardton. The foraging party engaged in the skirmish at Castleton came near falling into the hands of St. Clair's army on their return ; but meeting some of his soldiers who were straying in advance, they learned of the approach of the army, and, taking these prisoners, they turned into the woods, and so escaped. They en- camped that night within a short distance of Colonel Warner's command - so near, says Mr. Hall, one of the prisoners, that the noise of the battle was dis- tinctly heard, and great anxiety was felt as to who were the combatants and what the result. The same party commanded by Captain Sherwood took several more [prisoners in Hubbardton, all of whom they carried to Ticon- deroga.

THE BATTLE OF HUBBARDTON.

There is a question who was the commander of this foraging party. Lieu- tenant Hall, a prisoner with the party, says it was commanded by Captain Fraser. Thompson's history says the same. Other authorities say that Cap- tain Fraser was certainly on the west side of the lake, a few days before, lead- ing the attack on the American lines.

Besides, Captain Sherwood is said to have been the commander of the foraging party in Hubbardton which was probably the same as that at Cas- tleton.

A single incident may here be stated. Sometime in 1828 Rev. Joseph Steele, pastor of of the Congregational Church at Castleton, met an aged man in Kingsboro, N. Y., a worthy deacon in the Congregational Church, who was in the battle, and who gave him the following particulars. He stated that his mess were just making their breakfast, when they were saluted by a volley of musketry. That the nemy came up over a rise of ground on the west, and rushed down upon their encampment. The Americans were soon formed, and the battle raged fiercely. Compelled to retreat, they fled eastward down through the valley and then up a steep hill; halting occasionally and firing upon their pursuers - and that passing over the hill or mountain, they made their way to Rutland. "When climbing the hill," he added, "my coat col- lar was cut away by a musket ball." He had not visited the place since, but his description of the ground was perfect. After this battle, St. Clair proceded to Fort Edward and joined General Schuyler. The British forces advanced to Castleton, where they remained for several weeks - one regiment, under General Fraser, encamping in the west side of the town, the other, under Gen- eral Riedsel, a little to the east of the village, where the skirmish had been. During the events above described there were times of great excitement, and some families fled in alarm ; but the greater part remained. The year follow- ing the battle of Hubbardton a fort was built near the spot where the first blood had been spilled in Castleton, furnished with two cannon, and garri- soned under different commanders till the close of the war. All able-bodied men in the settlement were enrolled as minute-men, ready to repair to the fort at the call of the signal gun. "Many soldiers' graves, whose names have long since been forgotten, a few years ago were visible near the site of the fort."

The following incident will illustrate the trials of those trying days: Very early one morning the alarm gun is heard and Mr. Lake, living a mile and a half from the fort, shoulders his gun and obeys the summons, leaving his wife and two children unprotected in their log cabin, remote from any neighbor. Soon a Mrs. Eaton who lived one-fourth of a mile distant, came flying in with her two children hurried from their bed, greatly alarmed. In her haste she had left her bread in the oven and her children without anything to eat. What can these mothers do? Terrified and alarmed they resolved to flee for safety, although it was still dark and raining fast. With all possiblle haste they make

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

their way over hills through the woods, quite to the southern border of the township to the house of a Mr. Richmond. It was a difficult and fatiguing tramp, wet and weary, the children crying from hunger and cold; they rejoice at the sight of a habitation, and hope for shelter and warmth. As they ap- proach the door, the voice of prayer from within fills them with joy. They listen - but what is their dismay when they hear loud and earnest petitions for the triumph of the British arms, and the overthrow and destruction of all who oppose. It is the prayer of a Tory. Wet and weary as they are - and the children crying for bread, they turn away with indignation to look for some more kindly shelter. Many other incidents equally touching there were, no doubt, which have not been preserved, but from this we get a glimpse of those trying times.

It should be remembered the battle of Hubbardton occurred at a dark period of the Revolution. When General Burgoyne commenced his campaign Washington had been driven from New York and the American forces from Canada.

Colonel Warner ordered his men to meet him at Manchester, when the remnant of the regiment, mustering about one hundred and fifty effective men, assembled a few days afterward. General St. Clair, with the main body of his army, took a circuitous route to the Hudson River by way of Rutland, Dorset and Arlington, and joined General Schuyler at Fort Edward on the 12th.

Colonel Seth Warner was a prominent figure in this battle; he was a Connecticut man whose life is so interwoven with the early history of this sec- tion, that history almost accords him a residence here. As a military leader he was honored and confided in by the people above all others, and his bravery and military capacity appear to have always been appreciated by intelligent officers of both armies.

In the evacuation of Ticonderoga he was in command of the rear guard, by which he was involved in the action at Hubbardton. This description of him has been given : " Colonel Warner was of noble personal appearance, very tall, not less than six feet two inches; large frame but thin in flesh and apparently of great bodily strength. His features were regular, strongly marked and indic- , ative of mental strength, a fixedness of purpose, and yet of much benevolent good nature." Colonel Moses Robinson, Bennington, who, with his regiment, participated in the battle, was one of the famons Council of Safety that carried Vermont successfully through the bloody campaign of 1777. He was chief justice of the Supreme Court and governor.

After the battle the bones of those who fell were all buried in one grave, which remained until the last half of the century unmarked. Money was sub- scribed in 1858 for the erection of a monument, which was unveiled July 7, 1859, with appropriate ceremonies. On the base is the following inscription :

COUNTY ORGANIZATION-WAR OF 1812.

" Hubbardton battle fought on this ground July 7, 1777." On the north side, " Colonel Warner commanded, Colonel Francis killed, Colonel Hale captured. The Green Mountain boys fought bravely." On the south side, " This monu- ment was erected by the citizens of Hubbardton and vicinity." On the west side, "The only battle fought in Vermont during the Revolution." The cen- tennial was observed with commemorative services July 7, 1877.

CHAPTER VII.

COUNTY ORGANIZATION - WAR OF 1812.

Vermont's Record in the Revolution - Bennington County and its Extent - Formation of Rutland County - First County Officers - Addison County Taken From Rutland - Courts - War of 1812 - Vermont's Active Measures - Minority Oppositon - The War Productive of Internal Dissensions in Rutland County - Hearty Response to Call for Men at the Battle of Plattsburg - Peace and Pros- perity.

T HE great events with which the closing years of the Revolutionary strug- gle were filled did not so nearly approach the locality of which this work treats, although the settlers of Vermont continued to perform their share of the work which was to secure freedom to the nation. Their valorous deeds and those of the colonies at large, are recorded on many a historic page of general history and need not be traced in detail here.

It was while the people of the county were still oppressed by the war which had overwhelmed the country for six years, that the organization of Rutland county was effected. On the 13th of February, 1781, Bennington county, then comprising the entire territory west of the Green Mountains, was given its present boundaries, while all the region northward and west of the mountains was given the name of Rutland county. The first officers of this county were as follows : Increase Moseley, of Clarendon, chief judge ; Thomas Porter, of Tinmouth, Joseph Bowker and Benjamin Whipple, of Rutland, side judges ; Obadiah Noble, of Tinmouth, clerk ; Abraham Ives, of Wallingford, sheriff ; Nathaniel Chipman, of Tinmouth, State's attorney ; Joseph Bowker, of Rutland, judge of probate.

Rutland county retained its original boundaries until 1787, when Addison · county was formed, reducing it to its present limits, with the exception of the transfer of the town of Orwell to Addison county in 1847. The county is about fifty-five miles centrally distant from Montpelier, the State capital ; is forty- two miles long from north to south and thirty-four wide from east to west and contains 958 square miles of territory.

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

After the organization of the county its courts were held in Tinmouth un- til 1784, that town having been selected as the county seat; that town was then about the center of population in the county and the home of many of the prominent men. The early courts were held and public business trans- acted in the public house of Solomon Bingham, on the "Tinmouth Flats," where the family lived in one part of the log building and the other part suf- ficed for the court-room. Here the first jail was also located and built of logs. In 1784 Rutland was made the shire town and the courts were transferred thither. Details of these matters will appear in subsequent chapters.

As the reader will learn from a perusal of the various town histories herein and the chapters treating upon other topics, the people of the county pursued their vocations in peace and in a fair degree of prosperity until the mutterings that presaged another war with England were heard in unmistakable tones. Of this prominent event in the history of the country, a short account must be given.

War of 1812-14 .- The causes which led to the second war with Great Britain are well understood, and a brief reference to them and to the events which transpired in this immediate vicinity, will serve the purpose of these pages. Causes of complaint against the mother country had existed for sev - eral years, and as early as 1809 led to the passage by Congress of a law inter- dicting all commercial intercourse with Great Britain. On the 3d of April, 1812, Congress laid an embargo on all shipping within the jurisdiction of the United States for ninety days, and on the 18th of June following an act was passed declaring war with Great Britain. The principal causes which led to the adoption of this measure were declared to be the impressment of American seamen by the British, and the plundering of American commerce.

On the assembling of the Vermont Legislature in October, the governor, Jonas Galusha, in his message urged the members to second the measure of the general government, and provide means for defending the borders and for sustaining the national rights and honor. The Assembly majority concurred in the sentiments thus expressed, while a minority entered a protest. A law was passed prohibiting all intercouse between the people of Vermont and Canada, without a permit from the governor, under a penalty of $1,000 fine and seven years' confinement at hard labor in the State prison. A tax of one cent per acre was laid on the lands of the State, in addition to the usual assessments, and other acts were passed relating to the payment of the militia.

These regulations proving oppressive to the people, many of the supporters of the war went over to the opposition. As the election of 1813 approached, both parties exerted their utmost endeavor to preserve their ascendency. No governor was elected by the people. The Legislature elected a governor whose opinions were in direct opposition to the war. The laws relating to the support of, and providing ways and means for, the war were repealed. The

COUNTY ORGANIZATION-WAR OF 1812.

party spirit ran so high that opponents branded each other with opprobious epithets. The impartial administration of justice was endangered. Opposi- tion to the measures of the government became so strong that the laws of Con- gress, especially the act relating to customs duties, were treated as a nullity, and so general became the practice of smuggling cattle and other supplies into Canada and bringing out goods of English manufacture in return, that it was regarded less as a crime than as a justifiable act.

The people of Rutland county were in no degree behind those of other sections of the State, nearer to the scenes of actual hostility, in the virulence and bitterness of their political animosities. So far was the question of peace or war with England carried into the political contests between the rival par- ties, that it became the chief topic of contention and the source of the bitterest enmity. Families and friends were separated and stood in hostile array against each other ; a man's politics constituted his passport or his mark of rejection at his neighbor's door, and matters reached such a pitch that the dread of civil commotion hung heavily on the minds of the more considerate portion of the community.

On this question, which seemed to both parties to involve the greater ques- tion of our independence, we find on one hand in Rutland county such men as Nathaniel Chipman, Chauncey Langdon, Charles K. Williams and their polit- ical friends. On the other, Moses Strong, Robert Temple, Jonas Clark and Rollin C. Mallary, and their associates ; these men arrayed against each other, and with leaders of such marked ability and influence, it is no matter of sur- prise that the feelings of the people of the county should have been worked up with increasing intensity, as the decision in Congress on the question of peace or war culminated ; and when war was actually declared, on the 18th of June, 1812, the excitement was intense. Rumors of every nature were abroad. The news was disseminated with almost telegraphic rapidity, flying from town to town by express riders and speeding from one scattered settle- ment to another throughout Western Vermont.

Notwithstanding this hostility, even up to the brink of civil war, the spirit of patriotism and devotion to the Union burned in every soul with its accus- tomed fervor. All were ready, when the hour of trial came, to defend the country with their lives, if necessary, from external foes; and when the British army and fleet moved out of Canada to Plattsburg, to crush our defenses there and invade the soil of a sister State, that moment the bitterness and clamor of party were hushed and, so far as the grounds of contention were concerned, hushed forever.

On that occasion the people of Rutland county, without distinction of party, and in common with the people of adjacent counties, volunteered their services to repel the common enemy. With such weapons as they had at command, they hurried from their homes and within a few days after the first alarm were

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

on their way to join their New York friends on the banks of the Saranac. But few of the volunteers from this county reached Plattsburg, as the news of the battle and the decisive American victory met them on their way, and they quietly returned to their homes and disbanded. Companies of volunteers were formed in Benson, Brandon, Castleton, Danby, Fairhaven, Hubbardton, Mid- dletown, Orwell, Pawlet, Pittsford, Poultney, Rutland, Tinmouth, Wallingford, Wells, and portions of companies in other towns. They were on the march in two days after the first call, and a few of them reached Middlebury ; but the majority received intelligence that their services were not needed on reaching Sudbury, Whiting and Salisbury.

After the battle of Plattsburg nothing further occurred in this vicinity worthy of particular mention during the war. In October the Legislature assembled. No governor had been elected by the people; Martin Chittenden was accordingly again elected by a small majority. Many accusations were made against the governor, a number of which were presented from Rutland county, because the militia was not ordered out for the defense of Plattsburg, instead of being called out as volunteers. He replied that a call upon our pat- riotic citizens for their voluntary services was, in this case, considered to be the only method by which timely and efficient aid could be afforded.

The war had ceased ; the gloom which had hung over the people disap- peared, and a general congratulation prevailed, as the soldiery returned to their hones as citizens, and again turned the implements of war into the instruments of husbandry. The violence of party spirit declined ; the sentiment of the people became united and the peaceful pursuits of business were renewed.

Peace and Prosperity. - Peace again spread her beneficent wings over the country and every hamlet in the land felt its benign influence. The inhabitants of Rutland county again gave their undivided attention to the cultivation of their farms and building up the early industries. This reign of peace and gen- eral prosperity has not been interrupted since in any manner worthy of par- ticular mention here (except as will appear in the details given in subsequent pages), until the breaking out of the great Rebellion, which plunged the coun- try into a monstrous civil war. The inhabitants have wisely administered their public affairs, and by their energy have made the most of their private indus- tries. Schools, churches and benevolent institutions have not been neglected in the often more absorbing pursuit of wealth; and the result is a community which, for general intelligence and morality, will favorably compare with any in the country.

SOCIAL HISTORY.

CHAPTER VIII.

SOCIAL HISTORY.1

Philosophy of Social History - Natural Desire of Humanity for Association - Social Intercourse in its Early Development - Real Social Character of " the Good Old Times," as Compared with Present Customs - The Old Fire-Place-Corn Huskings - Amusements Therewith Connected - " Kitchen Digs " -Other Amusements.

N TATHANIEL CHIPMAN, long the eminent jurist of Vermont in our early history, published a work on The Principles of Government. In that work first principles are elaborately and philosophically investigated. In his second chapter he says : "The first thing which strikes the mind in the course of our inquiry, is an appetite for society. Man desires to associate with man, and feels a pleasure at the approach of his kind. The appetite is so universally prevalent it cannot be denied that it originates in his nature." The next step of Judge Chipman seems to be to show that " mutual wants " and " mutual defense" create a necessity for organization. Hence come our civil institutions -government and the varied associations of civilized life, all showing that man in his nature was fitted for society.

The first settlers of our county and State had this social nature. We have a tradition that Ethan Allen and his compatriots, prior to the Revolutionary War, as they traveled on foot from Bennington to Burlington through the for- est, had places on their route for social intercourse with the settlers. One of those places was at the log-house of Heber Allen (a brother of Ethan, then liv- ing in Poultney), where the patriots who had settled in the vicinity assembled and held social interviews, intense in their character, noisy, demonstrative and determined, and, in effect, fired the hearts and nerves of those old patriots to their strongest tension.

The early settlers of Vermont were very friendly with each other ; they had no "poor-house "; they raised no tax to support the poor, but the few unfortunate persons of that class were cared for by neighborhood comity.

Horace Greeley, in his opening chapter on the American conflict, says rela- tive to the early history of our country: "Social intercourse was more general, less formal, more hearty, more valued than at present. Friendships were warmer and deeper. Relationship by blood or marriage was more profoundly regarded. Men were not ashamed to own that they loved their cousins better than their other neighbors and their neighbors better than the rest of mankind."

The old folks almost universally say: "When I was young, people were more friendly than now ; neighbors were more intimate, more ready to help each other ; visited each other more from house to house," and they all end

1 Prepared and contributed to this work by Hon. Barnes Frisbie, of Poultney.

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

with a sigh for " the good old times." But the modern philosopher has it that there has been social progress, as well as progress in the material world, pro- gress in everything which pertains to civilization. Is not this so ? I think it is and that history conclusively proves it. Now can we reconcile this with the language quoted from Greeley and the theory of the old folks? Greeley, in the same chapter, gives us the key: "Our fathers moved in a narrower round than we do." One readily ought to see that two, three, or a half dozen families in log-houses in the forest, and comprising the entire population of a newly-settled town, would naturally have more intimate and friendly relations with the few neighbors they had, than families who live in an older and more densely popu- lated town would have with their neighbors. Secluded as the former would be, the social propensity must be gratified by intercourse with a few. Not so with the latter, as perhaps an hundred avenues would be open to them for the exercise of their social natures, where there would be one with the former.

Our space will not permit us to elaborate upon this thought and, while we concede that social intercourse was more general, less formal, more hearty, more valued than at present in olden times, we shall assume that we have at least in- dicated the reason for this and that it does not necessarily follow that the people have degenerated in their social virtues. "Now the means of communication are such and the business of modern life so changed that our thoughts, affec- tions and aspirations take a wider range." Of course, when the social affections of our fathers and mothers were centered upon a few objects, so far they would be more intense than could ordinarily be now entertained in the best of society.

It is the purpose of the writer to bring out in this chapter some portion of our history bearing upon the social element, so that the reader may peruse the same with a view to cause and effect, in other words, to the philosophy of his- tory, the foregoing has been written as preliminary.

The writer has already in another historical work, expressed himself as follows : " Many now living have not forgotten the 'old-fashioned fire-place ; ' this was the fire-side, indeed, with all that the term implies in prose, poetry or song. At the bottom of the flue which led up through a large chimney to the open air, was this fire-plaee. The bottom was on a level with the kitchen floor, and spacious enough to take in a back log of four feet in length and two feet in diameter, with another stick top of that half or two-thirds its size; and in front of these a fore-stick eight inches, or a foot, in diameter resting upon a pair of andirons made when iron was plenty and cheap, with space enough between the forestick and backlog for the kindling and small wood. At the bottom and in front of the fire-place, reaching out from two to four feet into the room, was a hearth made of flat stones as smooth and regular in form as could be obtained from the fields. With all the wood, large sticks and small, well on, the fire so lighting up the room that the tallow candle could be dispensed with, a mug of cider at one corner of the fire-place, and a large dish of apples

SOCIAL HISTORY.

at the other corner, with the family and perhaps a few neighbors or visitors, all animated and cheerful under the influence of the blazing fire and social chat and forming a semicircle in front of and facing the bright and glowing fire, and we have a view of the farmers' kitchen sixty years ago." Here they spent their evenings, instead of going to the lecture-room, the concert, or to some place of amusement so common in these days. Then there were no such pub- lic entertainments.

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History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 7

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co. Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 1170