USA > Vermont > Washington County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury, Vermont, 1763-1915 > Part 2
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PERIOD 1763-1800
under the original grants in resisting regrants continued to vex the people, even during the Revolution, until over forty years had elapsed from the date of the Bennington charter to a final settlement.
Still remote from the stirring scenes that were being enacted along the shores of Lake Champlain and in the southern, southwestern and more populous parts of Vermont, the valley of the Winooski remained sparsely settled, and the valley was peaceful until October, 1780, when a band of three hundred Indians, bent upon the capture of one Whitcomb at Newbury, ascended the Winooski River from Lake Champlain. Passing through the valley and probably over the site of Waterbury, . the band of marauders came at length to the spot where Mont- pelier now stands; through the representations of certain white captives the Indians were diverted from their original purpose and made a descent upon the town of Royalton, then a thriving settlement, though it had received its charter only the year before. After killing two men and capturing over a score of prisoners, they put women and children to flight, burned the village, seized and drove off many cattle and horses and returned on their way to Canada through the Winooski Valley.
The first survey of the town is ascribed to Colonel Partridge Thatcher in 1782, by Reverend C. C. Parker in his discourse of February 10, 1867. Mr. Thatcher was prominent among the original proprietors and presided at their meeting in New Mil- ford, Connecticut, and afterwards at Arlington. The beauti- ful tributary of the Winooski River, known as Thatcher's Branch, takes its name from the pioneer from Connecticut who built his surveyor's camp at a spot in the rear of the double tenement building now owned by Thomas O'Neill, between the branch and the railway line, a few rods northwest of the twin bridges. A later survey on record in the Town Clerk's office in Waterbury, dated in 1774, is there attributed to Jabez Pritchard, Isaac Hitchcock, William Daviss, Partridge Thacher and Paul Averill, in which the last four men, including Mr. Thacher, are described as "Chain Bearers, Markers, etc." A copy of the record is given herewith: 2
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY, VERMONT
A SURVEY OF THE TOWNSHIP OF WATERBURY
Lying on Onion River, A Township Lately Granted by his Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq" Governor of The Province of New Hampshire Bounded as followeth: Beginning at the south East Corner of Bolton on the North east Bank of sd River from thence Run North 36 Degrs and 33 East six Miles by said Town Numbring each Mile as was run then Beginning at the aforesaid Corner at the River and runing by said River untill it makes six Miles on a Right angle from the aforesaid Bolton Line to the South East Corner of said Waterbury which is a Pine Tree standing on the Bank of said River Marked Jabez Pritchard Partridge Thacher Dale &c from thense Running six Miles on a Paralel Line with the first described Line Between Bolton and Waterbury Marking Each Number of Miles as run then Proceeding to Lay out a division of Land of one Hundred acres. Each original Right Said Division Lying in the Teer of Lots being Twenty four Lots in Each Teer being 20 Chains Wide and 51 Chains and 50 Links of said Length Being Allowed For highways the First Teer of Lots Butting on a Running Back of the Entervail said Line Beginning at the Town Line Between Waterbury & Bolton 20 Chains From the River runing a Right Angle from said Town Line Beginning to Nº the First Teer of Lots at the West side of the Intervail Numbering on to Nº 24 Each Lot being Numbred at the S. E. Corner of said Lot the Second Tear of Lots being Numbred at the North East Corner of said Lots beginning with No. 25 East Side of said Town and so on in succession
48 The Third Teer being Numbered at the South Corner of Each Lot begining with Nº 49 so on through said Town ending with Nº 72 Said Work was done in the year 1774.
By JABEZ PRITCHARD
& Partridge Thacher Isaac Hitchcock William Daviss Paul Averill - Surveyor
Chain Bearers Markers &c.
Recorded by Samuel Averill Jun" Register.
At this point it is deemed appropriate to advert to the early geographical divisions of the town. The original intention was to have the Waterbury tract six miles square and to con- tain about 23,040 acres. We have already described the annexations from Middlesex on the east and Bolton on the west, which, of course, enlarged that first tract. A survey was made in three divisions; this soon gave rise to confusion and uncertainty regarding true boundaries. One hundred acres were included in the first division lots; thirty-one in the second and one hundred and twenty-four in the third, leaving
BOLTON (WINOOSKI) FALLS UNHARNESSED Camel's Hump in Distance
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PERIOD 1763-1800
an undivided parcel of forty-seven acres to each right. Recog- nizing the value of river land, the proprietors evidently had it in mind to set off to each right an interval area of thirty-one acres on the Winooski. With this in view they started with a point or place of beginning on what was erroneously taken to be the east line of Bolton for the first division. The river land was found to be insufficient when the second division was lined out and the other small lots were located in the center part of the town. The third division lay north of the first and ran nearly to the Stowe line; the Governor's plot (marked B. W.) of five hundred acres is described by Mr. H. F. Janes in his supplementary paper to the Parker historical sketch as having been surveyed in the southeast corner of the town; adjacent to this was one portion of undivided lands and the other part lay between the third division and the south Stowe line. The mistake of the surveyor of the first division consisted in taking in the width of two Middlesex lots when he sought a place of beginning. This error with others was subsequently rectified but the falls which are located in the territory of Waterbury properly and should be known as Winooski Falls were always known as Bolton Falls.
The town is bounded on the south by the Winooski River .. This beautiful stream is broken by the falls three miles below the village and is described in Thompson's Gazetteer of Ver- mont as having worn "a channel through the rocks, which, in times past, undoubtedly formed a cataract of no ordinary height below, and a considerable lake above. The chasm is at present about one hundred feet wide and nearly as deep. On one side the rocks are nearly perpendicular, some of which have fallen across the bed of the stream in such a manner as to form a bridge, passable, however, only at low water. On the same side the rocks, which appear to have been loosened and moved by the water, have again rested and become fixed in such a position as to form several caverns or caves, some of which have the appearance of rooms fitted for the convenience of man."
The water power was first utilized for saw mill purposes by Benjamin Palmer who built a dam and erected a mill. This was afterwards carried away by a flood.
I2
HISTORY OF WATERBURY, VERMONT
A lesser stream is the Waterbury River, flowing from its source in Morristown in a southerly direction through Stowe and the westerly part of Waterbury until it debouches into the Winooski one mile below town.
Thatcher's Brook, or Branch, has its source in Stowe and nearly divides Waterbury in two parts emptying into the Winooski at the northwesterly end of the village, flowing through lands owned by Doctor Henry Janes, at his death. This stream has been mentioned as having taken its name from one of the surveying party. The name was indifferently spelled "Thacher" and "Thatcher" in the early records. In Stowe is also the source of Alder Brook which empties into the Water- bury River near where the Free Will Baptist Meeting House stands. Saw mills and factories of various kinds were located on this brook. The stream has a precipitous descent at the picturesque falls. Other streams on which mills have been erected at different times are Cotton Brook and Ricker's Brook.
The general contour of the township is suggestive of an oblong amphitheater, situated, as it is, in the beautiful vale or depression between the Green Mountain Range on the west and the mountainous spur on the east called the Hogbacks. The soil is all tillable in the valleys and peculiarly adapted to grazing purposes on the uplands. Roughly speaking, as has been indicated, the town is bounded on the north by Stowe, east by Middlesex, south by the Winooski River and west by Bolton and lies in longitude 4° 17' and latitude 44° 23'.
In nearly every instance the immediate grantees from Benning Wentworth were not bona fide settlers on the tracts covered by the grants; for the most part they were land specu- lators who parted with their rights to those who assumed the burdens of pioneering with the titles they purchased. Of course there were many instances of the chain of title passing through several grantees before it reached one willing to face the perils and hardships of an unbroken wilderness. Such a person was the first settler of Waterbury, James Marsh, a native of New Canaan, Connecticut, whose early struggles and almost superhuman endurance in his battle with the
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PERIOD 1763-1800
wilderness have already been made the subject of a thrilling and pathetic narrative by the gifted clergyman, Reverend C. C. Parker, in his discourse on the early history of Water- bury. Indeed, this mention of James Marsh's share in the settlement of Waterbury is made with great hesitation in the light of the simple but soul-stirring account of Mr. Parker.
That James Marsh was of the best quality of pioneer timber is attested by his early experiences as a trooper in the French wars. Ever alert for seasoned veterans who knew how to fight and endure, the drafting officers for the Colonists marked him as their prey in the early days of the Revolution. Having removed with his family from Canaan to Cornwall, Connecti- cut, he found that his wife's enfeebled condition and his large family of children of tender years required his personal care and attention; doubtless thinking that his previous military service had gained for him the right to turn his attention to the needs of his family, he sold his home in Canaan and hired as a substitute, for $100, a man to respond in his place and stead to a call for minute men. Then to put himself beyond the reach of the draft, he sold his Cornwall place and purchased, rather too hurriedly it would seem, a right of land in Bath, New Hampshire, and one in Waterbury, Vermont, in 1780, this latter from a Mr. Steele whose name does not appear in the list of original proprietors but whose title was derived from some one in that list. Leaving Corn- wall with his family, Mr. Marsh proceeded to Bath, New Hampshire, where he remained long enough to discover that his title to his land purchase there was defective. Upon the assurances of others who professed to be willing to begin a settlement in Waterbury, Marsh again braved the uncer- tainties of a new move and came to the site of Waterbury in the spring of 1783 and selected his holding, cleared a plot of ground on the northerly slope of what is now the cemetery, extending toward the river, and planted it to corn. He returned and awaited the ripening of his crop, which he gathered on a second visit in the fall, storing it in a roughly built corn crib against his needs for the following year. Mind- ful of his family's dependence he brought his wife and eight
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY, VERMONT
children with him, in the early part of 1784, as far as the fort at Corinth, where he left Mrs. Marsh and five children for the time, while he with two young sons and a daughter proceeded to his holding in Waterbury. This journey was made on snowshoes under extraordinary difficulties; what with the care of the three children and the labor of hauling sufficient provisions for the journey on a hand sled, the sturdy pioneer's task might easily have daunted the spirit of a stronger and younger man.
Upon his arrival he took his children and what was left of his provisions to the Thatcher cabin, which the surveying party had erected for temporary use two years before. After a life of hardships, laboring under a burden of poverty inci- dental to his wanderings, ever mindful of his duty as a father and husband, the prospect of a fixed place of abode, however humble, must have cheered the heart of the lonely settler, when suddenly he was confronted by the paralyzing fact that his small store of corn, so carefully harvested and hoarded on his last visit, had nearly all disappeared. Having relied upon this store to eke out temporarily a scanty sustenance for himself and his family, he had provided for little more than was sufficient for his needs on his journey. His immediate necessities he managed to relieve precariously by hunting and fishing; no grain was to be had nearer than Corinth, about thirty miles away over a rough and dangerous trail.
In his dilemma Marsh set about laying in a week's store of provisions from hunting and fishing; after working on his clearing and replanting his crop from his scanty supply of seed, he set out to return to Corinth for the other members of the family, leaving alone his son, Elias, aged fifteen, his daughter Irene, of twelve, and James, a small boy. Incredible as it now seems, such absences of their elders were not un- usual in the days when self-reliance was the heritage of all children of the wilderness. The story runs that the week's supply of provisions had been too nicely calculated and the week end brought with it an end of available food for the three growing youngsters. As if to vindicate their father's judgment in their self-reliance, the children started for the
15
PERIOD 1763-1800
falls to catch fish for food; in attempting to cross Waterbury River on a pole of buttonwood, little Irene lost her balance and fell into the river, whence she was rescued by her two brothers. For a week the brave youngsters subsisted on what wild vegetables they could find and finally started for the home of Mr. Jesse McFairlane, near Richmond, thirteen miles north- west of the Marsh holding. The wonderful courage and en- durance of the children of the wilds has been made the subject of many a household talk with the youngsters of Waterbury and the grown-ups, as well. The tale of how they met a bear on this memorable journey, how their faithful hunting dog that had shared their hardships put the huge beast to flight and how, after a long weary tramp without food, they came at last to a haven of rest, safety and plenty, in the home of Mr. Mc- Fairlane has been told and retold and still remains ever new.
Meanwhile the elder Marsh had arrived at Corinth and attempted an immediate removal of his wife and the remain- ing members of the family to Waterbury, but was obstructed by delays of various kinds so that three weeks elapsed before the family was able to make a start. Meanwhile the father was desperately frantic with anxiety for the safety of those he had left alone-an anxiety that gave way to despair when, upon arriving at the surveyor's cabin in Waterbury, he found it empty and deserted and no signs of recent occupancy visible. A prey to the most poignant distress, the unhappy father dis- patched a youth, who had returned with his party from Corinth, to the McFairlane farm on the bare chance of learning some- thing about the children; the finding of the children in a place of safety tenderly cared for, the joyous return and the affecting family reunion in the rude cabin near Thatcher's Branch, all combine to round out the rough epic of the early attempts at settlement in Waterbury.
But James Marsh was not destined long to be favored of Fortune; the problem of subsistence for those dependent upon him was ever uppermost; obliged to wait for the harvest of his corn crop before Indian meal could be ground, the family lived on what wild onions could be found growing in the vicinity, while Marsh was beating the woods and fishing the
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY, VERMONT
streams for food; now and then a chance moose, buck or bear would be added to the larder. What time could be spared from the providing of food was devoted to the building of a log house on the site already cleared, which is described by Mr. Parker as "a little to the west of the grave yard hill"; after the permanent home had been erected, the family moved in and began preparations for the coming winter. One can imagine the glow of hope that warmed the breast of James Marsh when he observed that his corn crop raised on the river bottom land promised to be bountiful; nor need the imagina- tion be strained at the luckless man's discouragement when a sudden flood rendered useless all but twenty bushels of the corn that promised so well.
.
By dint of taking such spoils of the hunt as moose, deer and bear, and fish from the streams, the Marsh family kept starvation at bay, though the problem of getting grain for bread was ever present. At times it was possible to exchange bear, deer and beaver skins for grain in the distant settlements of Jericho, Williston and Richmond. With the arrival of the spring of 1785 the loneliness and isolation of the Marsh family was greatly lessened by the coming of another hardy settler who was the second in order of arrival. The name of this second settler was Ezra Butler, a man destined to stamp him- self indelibly on the history of Waterbury and Vermont. Mr. Butler, however, did not remain very long on the occasion of his first visit before returning whence he came to remain until the following spring of 1786, at which time he again returned to Waterbury. An interval of one year and a half elapsed before another and third settler, Mr. Caleb Munson, joined the infant colony.
With the arrival of Mr. Munson and his family ends the sombre chronicle of the ill-starred James Marsh. Overjoyed as he was at the prospect of Mr. Munson's coming, Marsh went to the settlement of Richmond to meet and escort his new neighbor to his home site, March 29, 1788; he crossed the river to the home of a Mr. Brownson for the purpose of re- molding some pewter spoons; waiting until nightfall, he attempted to recross the river then filled with floating ice-
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PERIOD 1763-1800
cakes, only to fall into an open space and drown. Upon the recovery of his body several days later, the funeral and burial was held at Richmond. It was as if James Marsh had been marked out as the sport and plaything of a malign influence, diabolical in ingenuity and remorseless in purpose. No sooner had the possibilities of a permanent settlement in his wilder- ness began to assume actual form than he was removed from the scene of his hardly won, puny success. The part James Marsh played in the history of the town is valuable, not only because he happened to be the first settler but also for the evi- dence it furnishes of the unconquerable spirit which, left un- dismayed in the face of almost insuperable obstacles, still animated the pioneers of those days and remains to us as an example of self-reliance, persistence, industry and courage.
The building of a new community involves something more than mere physical endurance and capacity for gruelling toil; it brings out whatever latent powers of leadership may be possessed by the builders. It is no small task to reduce to something like an orderly system the government of the smallest hamlet, and yet this task must be undertaken from the sheer necessity conditions impose. The town of Waterbury was fortunate in having in the person of its second settler, Ezra Butler, a veritable tower of strength; indeed, the first fifty- three years' record of the town's life has to do largely with the sayings and doings of this remarkable man, directly or indi- rectly.
Mr. Butler, though a native of Worcester County, Massachu- setts, spent his early life in West Windsor, Vermont, and Claremont, New Hampshire. He was born in the town of Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts, the fifth of seven children, to Asaph and Jane (McAllister) Butler, Sep- tember 24, 1763, just three months and seventeen days after the date of the charter of Waterbury. Before Ezra Butler had completed his seventh year, his father brought his family to West Windsor, Vermont; shortly afterwards his mother died and he went to live with the family of his eldest brother, Joel, with whom he spent about seven years. At the age of fourteen young Butler's business in life began in earnest;
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY, VERMONT
according to the custom then widely prevalent he " bound him- self out," or became an apprentice under a formal indenture of apprenticeship to Doctor Thomas Sterne of Claremont, New Hampshire, "to learn the art, trade and mystery of a hus- bandman." An indenture in those days was a legal instru- ment written in duplicate, the line of division of whose parts was literally "indented"; both parts were signed by the parties to the agreement and duly exchanged. The text of the instru- ment under which Ezra Butler served as an apprentice is given here as throwing a vivid side light on the obligations of a person so bound to his master, who, on his side, undertook to stand in loco parentis in many respects to the other party to the agreement:
This Indenture Witnesseth that Ezra Butler a minor aged fourteen years years* the twenty forth day of September last, son of Asaph Butler of Wethersfield in the county of Cumberland in the State of New York other- wise called the State of Vermont hath put himself and by these presents doth voluntarily and of his own free will and accord and with the Consent of his said Father the said Asaph Butler put and bind himself as apprentice to Thomas Sterne of Claremont in the County of Cheshire in the State of New Hampshire Physician to learn the art, trade and mystery of a husbandman & with him the said Thomas Sterne his executors or administrators after the manner of an apprentice to serve from the said twenty forth day of September last for and During the Term of seven years from thence next insuing to be compleat and Ended: During all which Term the said Apprentice his sd master faithfully shall serve, his secrets keep and lawfull commands everywhere Gladly Obey. He shall do no Damage to his said Master nor suffer it to be done by Others, without letting, or giving notice thereof to him the sd Thomas Sterne, he shall not waste the Goods of his said master nor lend them unlawfully to any. He shall not Commit fornication, nor Matrimony contract within the said term. At cards, dice or any other unlawfull Game he shall not play: He shall not absent himself by Day or by Night from the service of his said master without his Leave; nor haunt Ale Houses, Taverns or play Houses but in all things behave himself as a faithfull Apprentice ought to do towards his said master and all his, during said Term. And the said Thomas Sterne, for himself, his executors and administrators doth hereby covenant and Promise to Teach & instruct, or cause the said Apprentice to be taught & instructed in the trade, art & Business of Husbandry by the best way or means he may or can (if said Apprentice be capable to learn) and to find & provide unto said apprentice good and sufficient meat, Drink, Washing and lodging & apparril (and in sickness medicine & attendance) and Teach him to read, write & Cypher so as to transact Common business among men
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PERIOD 1763-1800
during sd Term: And at the Expiration thereof to give unto the said Ap- prentice Two suites of apparrel for all parts of his Body, One of them to be suitable for Lord's Day: and also to pay unto the said apprentice so much lawfull money (then passing) as shall be equal in value to sixty ounces Troy weight of Silver; or otherways as shall be Equivalent to Eighty Bushels, of good Merchantable Wheat at the price it shall then be Comonly sold at. In Testimony whereof the Parties, to these presents have interchangeably set their hands and seals the Ninth day of July Anno Domini 1778
(sgd.) T. STERNE { Seal {
Signª Sealed & Delvd in presence of
*allowing that he began his service from s'd
twenty forth Day of September. this wrote before signing & sealing.
Seth Lewis
James Goodwin
Indorsed: "December 31st 1784. this may certify that we the Subscrib- ers have settled all matters relative to the Indenture and all accounts to this Day."
(sgd) T. STERNE. EZRA BUTLER.
It appears from the indenture and the indorsement thereon that his formal term of service was about seven years and three months; Mr. Parker's sketch refers to a period of six months during this term when the young apprentice served in the Revolutionary army and says that, but for this interval, he continued with Doctor Sterne until he came of age. Leaving the service of Doctor Sterne, young Mr. Butler, after a few months spent in Weathersfield, started with his brother Asaph for Waterbury in March, 1785. The first part of the journey was made with a team of oxen as far as the home of Judge Paine of Williamstown, the remainder on snowshoes with a handsled to carry their necessary outfit. Arriving at Water- bury on the 20th of March, they were warmly greeted by the Marsh family whose nearest neighbor for two years had been Thomas Mead in Middlesex, seven miles away. Allowing no precious time to elapse the young brothers set about the business of home-making. They selected a plot of ground, suitable to their purpose, probably without much thought as to the validity of its title.
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