USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 22
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The foregoing record is a statement of the succession of town officers of Woodstock from the time of its first town meeting in 1773, down to and inclusive of the year 1780, excepting those elected in 1777, for which year no entry appears upon the town records, if, indeed, any were elected during that year. By this succession there is brought to notice the names of many of the pioneers of the town, but it cannot be presumed that all of them are there mentioned. It was the custom of the several towns of the State during the years 1778 and 1779, and at various later periods, to have administered to those who desired it the freeman's oath, a provision of the first constitution of the State of Ver- mont, and in the record-book of proceedings it was the custom to en- ter the names of all who took and subscribed the oath, but this, it appears, was not done in Woodstock, or if it was, no record of the freemen's names was made.
When, in 1772, the town of Woodstock was chartered or patented to Oliver Willard and his associates, it was provided by the instrument of patent that the officers of the town should be elected in conformity with its terms, and the several offices to be filled were named specifically. This was for the guidance of the people of the town, and the offices were those that were usual to the towns generally of the province of New York. Conforming to the requirements of the patent, the first town meetings were held and officers chosen under it for several years, but when the new State of Vermont was brought into existence by the declaration of independence in 1777 there seemed to be at once a tendency to elect officers in accordance with the laws adopted and laid down under the constitution of the State. But before the independence
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of Vermont was declared, and as early even as 1776, there were town officers elected not according to the strict interpretation of the New York charter, but something after the custom of the towns on the grants, and in accord with the manner of choosing officers under the New Hampshire charters.
In the year 1776 the people of the town elected both listers and as- sessors, the offices being identical in character of duty of their incum- bents, the former an office named under the law and custom of New Hampshire, and perhaps other New England provinces, while the latter, assessors, was the name of the same office under the prevailing law of New York. What motive may have induced the people to choose in - cumbents under both of these named offices is a question that cannot now be satisfactorily explained, but it was a matter of no great importance, for there could be no conflict of authority between the incumbents, as the same persons, Ebenezer Kingsley, Joab Hoisington, and Dr. Ste- phen Powers, filled both positions. At the meetings held prior to 1776 supervisors had been elected annually, but in the meeting of that year that name is dropped, and in its stead appears the more familiar title of selectmen. In 1778 "assessors" was the word used to describe the office of "listers," but in 1779 listers is restored and thereafter used, with some possible exceptions.
But it required no great effort on the part of the townsmen of Wood- stock to change the character of their local government from that pre- scribed by New York to that adopted by the State of Vermont, and this notwithstanding the fact that the town was at that time a part of the county of Cumberland under the New York control, and continued so to be until the admission of Vermont to the Union in 1791. And it is a fact, too, that from 1778 until 1791, the town of Woodstock, and the other then organized towns of this State as well, formed a part of two distinct counties, under the authority of two separate States, each contending for the jurisdiction over the same. Every intelligent reader understands that Woodstock was organized under the immediate con- trol of the New York authority, and that that province and subsequent. State continued to exercise control over it, or at least attempted to do so, until Congress finally admitted Vermont to the Union ; and it is a fact, equally well known, that in 1778 the government of the independ-
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ent State of Vermont was completed, and the territory divided into counties, the part wherein lies this town being embraced by the county of Cumberland. This was continued so until 1781, when, the county being large in area and population, it was found necessary to divide old Cumberland county, and out of its territory form three new sub-divisions, the counties of Windham, Windsor and Orange.
During the period of the controversy between the State of New York and the independent State of Vermont, there was about the same pre- vailing sentiment existing in Woodstock as was found in a majority of the towns east of the mountains. That controversy of course com- menced long years before this town was brought into existence, possibly before it was contemplated ; and it was commenced before Vermont, as a State, was thought of, and while it wasyet a part of the New Hamp- shire Grants, so called. When Woodstock was first chartered, in 1761, the proprietors naturally looked for protection and paid allegiance to the mother province, New Hampshire, but when the king's decree of 1764 fixed the western boundary of that province at the west bank of the Connecticut River, and proclaimed this region a part of the province of New York, the proprietors had no alternative than to accept the de- cree and look for a confirmation of their charter at the hands of the new power. They could, however, have joined hands with the settlers in the towns west of the Green Mountains, and fought the New Yorkers with the same weapons and methods as did the famous Green Mountain Boys, had it not been for the isolated situation of the town, and the further fact that the dominant sentiment in this particular region inclined to the New York jurisdiction and control, although there were but compara- tively few of what were termed violent Yorkers in this locality.
The person who became proprietor and owner of the lands of Wood- stock, Oliver Willard, was as a matter of course bound to favor the New York control, for, when the king's order was promulgated, he was the owner of large tracts of land under the New Hampshire charters, and to lose them would have taken nearly all of his earthly possessions. In 1763 he was a resident and proprietor of Hartland, and owned extensive tracts in other towns; moreover he was the friend of the governor of New York. His acquisition of lands in this town did not commence until after the king's order, but he then prosecuted his purchases here
JOHN D. POWERS.
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with such vigor that he became its leading proprietor when the patent was issued, and still later acquired the interests of his associates, becom- ing at last sole owner of the entire town, except the reserved lands. His influence was exerted in behalf of the New York jurisdiction, and by it others were brought to the same inclination ; and the town, at one period at least, may be considered as being largely in favor of being governed by the authorities of New York. But as other settlers came to the region, purchased their lands of Willard, paid for, occupied and improved them, his interest and influence ceased to prevail, and the town came to occupy a rather neutral position, and, still later, to favor the cause of the new State.
Among the persons who by their presence and influence contributed largely to the latter situation of affairs in the town, none was more prominent than Benjamin Emmons, concerning whom Mr Dana, in the " Governor and Council," says: In April, 1772, Benjamin Emmons left Chesterfield, and settled with his family in the town of Woodstock. He took at once an active part in organizing the new settlement, and at the first town meeting held in May, 1773, he was chosen supervisor. The duties of this office, which he filled for two years, made him familiar with the civil affairs of Cumberland county and with all the political movements of the day, over which his good judgment and his faculty for business must soon have begun to exercise an influence. At the annual town meeting in Woodstock, May, 1775, he was chosen a mem- ber of the Committee of Safety, and he remained on this committee as long as it existed. In August of the same year he was chosen a lieu- tenant under New York, of the upper regiment of Cumberland county, and in June, 1776, a member of the County Committee of Safety.
From the outset Emmons's own political sentiments seem to have been clear and pronounced. He was for independence of the colonies as against the mother country, and when in the New Hampshire Grants the break with New York was fairly begun, he was for the independence of the grants. Though not enrolled among the members of the Dorset Convention, at the adjourned session of this convention, held in West- minster, October 30, 1776, he was placed on a committee to canvass Cumberland and Gloucester counties, for the purpose of making the people acquainted with the objects of the convention, and of stirring up
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
their minds in favor of a separation from New York. At the next two sessions of this convention, held, the first in Westminster, and the second in Windsor, he was present as delegate from Woodstock. All this active service prepared the way for his being returned to the convention which assembled at Windsor on the 2d of July. 1777, and framed a constitu- tion for the new State of Vermont. The people were not unmindful of his services thus far in securing the independence of Vermont, and at the first election held under the constitution elected him one of the twelve councilors. Furthermore, when it seemed good to establish a Court of Confiscation, soon after the General Assembly met in March, 1778, Emmons was appointed one of its members. His sound judg- ment and well known patriotism were sufficient reasons why he might be made a member of this court, but in some minds it may have added to his fitness for the post that he could show in his own town seven thousand acres of land to be confiscated, formerly the property of Charles Ward Apthorp, of New York.
The Revolutionary Period .- During the period of the war of the Rev- olution the people of the town of Woodstock had not the means of per- forming a prominent part in the military affairs of the State. When that war began the available men of the town numbered hardly more than a "corporal's guard," and their every energy was necessarily di- rected toward the improvement of their lands in order that the common comforts of life might be provided for their families. Then, too, the town was practically under the government of the province of New York, and that jurisdiction was quite tardy in its action in joining with the other colonies in throwing off the allegiance to Great Britain. This tardiness was due, in part at least, to the peculiar character of the New York government, it being what was termed a royal government, its chief executive being commissioned by the crown, and its other officers re- ceiving their appointments directly or indirectly at the suggestion of the king or his council, and generally as a reward of fealty. In this respect New York differed from many of the American colonies, and its con- trolling authorities, being so constituted and chosen, were naturally faithful to their creating power. Therefore it was some time before New York could be brought to join the other provinces in making war against the mother country.
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This situation of course had its influence in this region, but, notwith- standing that, the people here were opposed to the policy of Great Brit- ain toward the colonies ; and it must be remembered that the inhabitants of this region were not New Yorkers, but came mainly from the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut and New Hampshire, and the slow action on the part of New York received no sanction from this locality, however much the people here may by force of circumstances have been obliged to acquiesce in it by reason of their connection with the province named.
But when action was taken in the direction of forming military organi- zations on this side of the mountains no town did more according to its capacity to do than Woodstock. There were a number of men in the town who took a prominent part in organizing companies, among them Joab Hoisington, Benjamin Emmons, John Strong, Phineas Williams, and undoubtedly others whose names cannot be recalled. But there appears to be no record from which it can be determined who from the town joined the ranks and entered the service. The military companies which were represented by Woodstock men were attached to the " upper regiments " of militia, and their service was confined mainly to duty on the frontier, a service that in more modern warfare is called "guard and picket duty."
The first mention of any town action toward providing for military operations is that contained in the records of the meeting of May 16, 1775, when Joab Hoisington and James Harwood were made a commit- tee to procure 100 pounds of powder, 200 pounds of lead and some flints, which the treasurer was directed to sell to the inhabitants, as mentioned in preceding pages. Subsequently, however, a committee was chosen " to deal out " the ammunition to men having fire-arms, and to others when they procured their arms. The first mention in the records of town action relative to procuring men for the service is that in the pro- ceedings of a meeting held August 14, 1780, when Elias Thomas, John Strong and Phineas Williams were chosen a committee to provide three men to do duty on the frontier for three months. The proceedings of the Board of War for this year show that the town had five men in the serv- ice during the year.
It has already been stated that the militia organizations of the town
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were formed under the authority of New York, and as a part of the regi- ments of Cumberland and Gloucester counties ; but after the new State had become created and its affairs somewhat settled these commands, or part of them at least, became militia organizations under the Vermont government, and as such were subject to the order of the commander in- chief of the State troops. But the militia of Woodstock had their own homes and town to guard, as the Legislature of October, 1780, in session at Bennington, declared Woodstock to be a frontier town. And the same body, at the same session, levied a provision tax on the several towns of the State for the support of the military forces thereof, the kind and quantity required of Woodstock being as follows: 3,543 pounds of flour ; 1, 181 pounds of beef ; 5902 pounds of salted pork ; 99 bushels of Indian corn ; and 492 bushels of rye.
But during the Revolutionary war the town of Woodstock was not destined to suffer from the invasions of an armed enemy, and the nearest approach to that realization occurred during the months of August and October, 1780, the occasions of the Indian raids upon the northern towns of Barnard and Royalton, and other towns on the northern frontier. But in each of these cases the invaders made their escape with captives and plunder, and although an organized pursuit was made against the party that attacked and burned Royalton, in which pursuit possibly some of the Woodstock militia may have joined, no battle was brought on owing to the fear on the part of Colonel House that the Indians would carry out their threat to murder the prisoners in case the militia attacked them.
Woodstock made the Shire Town .- The one great cause above all others that contributed to making Woodstock a populous town in the county was the acquisition of the county buildings, its designation as the shire town of Windsor county. Still, by the inaction of the townsmen in their special meetings called to discuss this subject, the town very nearly lost the desired designation, and had a person of less energy and influence than Benjamin Emmons had charge of the project it is quite probable that the seat of justice would have been placed elsewhere than in Woodstock.
In 1781 the General Assembly passed an act by which the county of Cumberland was divided, and out of its territory the three counties of
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Windham, Windsor and Orange were erected. It became necessary after this division that some one town in each of these counties should be selected as the seat of justice, and at once each possible favorable locality put forth every effort to obtain recognition and favor with the appointing power. But the legislative body of the State was not dis- posed to act hastily in the matter ; in fact, measures of possibly greater importance were just then engrossing the public attention; the union with the New Hempshire towns, which, had it become permanent, would un- doubtedly have resulted in fixing the county seat in some town other than Woodstock.
On the 5th of April, 1781, the union with the eastern towns was accomplished, and soon thereafter a law was passed by which a portion of them were annexed to Windsor county. But before the Legislature agreed to the union the question of annexation was submitted to the free- men of the several towns of this State, and the result showed a large majority of the towns to favor the project. Woodstock, however, was one of the few towns that voted against the proposition. Very fortu- nately for Woodstock the eastern union was dissolved, and then being near the geographical center of the county, her claims to designation as the county town were worthy of consideration; and, through the efforts of Benjamin Emmons, on the 27th day of October, 1786, the Legislature passed an " act establishing Woodstock the Shire town for the County of Windsor."
This subject needs no further mention in this connection. It will be found fully discussed and commented upon in an earlier chapter of this volume ; and there also will be found a complete description of the court- houses and other county buildings that have from time to time been erected in the town.
War of 1812-15 .- In the history of the State of Vermont this was a somewhat exciting period, but in the local history it was not particularly eventful, except as it may have been a season of political discussion be- tween the Loyalists (Democrats and Republicans, for they were of the same understanding at that time) and the Federalists ; and it is possible that arguments between these contending factions were not entirely con- fined to wordy disputes, although there is no evidence to prove to the contrary. The Loyalists were largely in the ascendancy in point of num- 31
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
bers, and the battles between them and the Federalists were fought at the polls. It was a customary thing, especially during the early years of the war, for the Federalists to call themselves the "Peace Party," while the opposition was characterized as "Screaming War Hawks." This may not have been known in this particular locality, but was so generally through the State.
It was the Loyalist party of the country that prosecuted the war, brought it on, fought it, and succeeded in beating the mother country in a contest at arms for the second time ; and the Federalists occupied the same position in regard to the war as did the Tory element during the Revolution, but were less violent only in action, not in argument. They argued that the country was not prepared for war, therefore they opposed it.
Of the military organizations of the town at that time the leading one was that known as the Washington Patriot Company, or the Silver Grays, but their battles were those of peace, being confined to " muster" and "parade days." Of this company Titus Hutchinson was captain, William Ellis, first lieutenant, Oliver Williams, second lieutenant, and John Anthony, ensign. The company did not enter the service, nor did any other command, as such, from the town. That there were resi- dents of the town who were in the army at some time during the war cannot be doubted, but it would be quite difficult if not impossible to bring all their names to mind.
The War of 1861-65 .- Without commenting at all upon the events of the brief period of agitation just preceding the actual outbreak of the war, or upon the events that followed the news of the attack upon Fort Sumter, the attention of the reader is directed at once to the first com . pany that offered its services under President Lincoln's call for seventy- five thousand men to put down the Rebellion. To the First Regiment of Vermont troops this town had the credit of contributing Company B, the second company of the command, to which was accorded the second position of honor, the "left of the line." This company was the organization known as the Woodstock Light Infantry; and although known as a Woodstock company, a number of its members were from other towns of the county than this. Its officers, however, with a single exception, were men of this town. The roster shows the officers to have
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been as follows : Captain, William W. Pelton; first lieutenants, Andrew J. Dike, Solomon E. Woodward ; second lieutenants, Solomon E. Wood- ward (promoted first lieutenant), William Sweet; sergeants, William Sweet, George E. Dimick, Royal Darby, N. Bruce (Pomfret) ; corporals, Charles O. Thompson, Edwin C. Emmons, Crayton A. Woodbury, Nor- man M. Hoisington ; musician, George H. Murdock. Peter T. Wash- burn, of Woodstock, was lieutenant colonel of the First Regiment.
In an earlier chapter of this volume will be found a brief history of the several regiments of the State in which were volunteers from Wood- stock, or from the county, and as a part of that chapter there is fur- nished a complete roll of all the volunteers from this town, as they are recorded in the reports of the adjutant and inspector-general of the State.
During the course of the war the town of Woodstock was credited with having furnished the aggregate number of three hundred and thirty-three men, or their equivalent, exclusive of three-months' volun- teers, which were classified as follows : Volunteers for three years cred- ited previous to call of October 17, 1863, 97 ; volunteers for three years under and subsequent to call of October 17, 1863, 53 ; volunteers for one year, 42; for nine months, 55 ; re- enlisted, 15; furnished under draft and paid commutation, 10; enrolled men who furnished substi- tutes, 10; procured substitutes, 15; entered United States Navy, 16; entered service, 4 ; miscellaneous credits, not named, 16.
The First Church Society. - The establishment of some sort of a society for holding public services of a religious character was, in early times, a necessary part of town government, and one of the public in- stitutions organized and supported at the general expense; and after this town had become organized, and its affairs somewhat settled and running smoothly, the people began to stir themselves in the matter of engaging a minister of the gospel to preach for them. The first meet- ing of the inhabitants for this purpose was warned by clerk Joab Hois- ington, upon the application of the overseers of the poor of the town, to meet at the clerk's house on the 13th of September, 1774. The meeting being assembled and organized, it was “Voted to hire Mr. Aaron Hutchinson for five years in connection with Hartford and Pom- fret "; and further, " Voted Dr. Stephen Powers, Joab Hoisington and
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John Strong a committee," probably for the purpose of carrying out the first vote.
But Rev. Hutchinson did not begin his labors as "preacher " in the town until 1776, but they were thereafter continued for the five years, and until 1781, when he was succeeded by Rev. George Daman, who appears to have been regularly installed as the first settled minister on the 26th of December of that year. At the annual town meeting held March 30, 1779, it was "Voted to build a meeting-house on the road that goes to Samuel Pratt's to the other road west of Oliver Farns- worth's." This building, had it been erected in accordance with the vote, would have stood near the center of the town, but as the pop- ulation was then distributed, the meeting- house would not have been conveniently situated for the majority of the people who would prob- ably attend the services. This condition of things led to a division of the town into parishes, the vote that brought it about being passed at a meeting held July 24, 1779. But even this proved unsatisfactory, and created a division of sentiment in the town, to such an extent that the dividing line was changed somewhat and then allowed to stand.
The first society was organized in 1781, about or just preceding the time that Rev. Daman became pastor, but, on account of a feeling of dissension in the society, growing out of matters relating to the ad- mission of members and a difference of opinion concerning the most available and suitable location for the meeting-house, the society failed to make any substantial progress during the first ten or twelve years of its existence. The early meetings under the ministrations of Rev Hutchinson were held in convenient places: if the weather was cold in the house of some of the members, but during the warm months in Joab Hoisington's barn. In 1781 the log meeting-house was built, a short distance west of the upper bridge over the Quechee. Mr. Daman continued his pastoral relation with the church and society until May 22, 1792, when he asked for and received his dismissal. From this time until 1809 the society was without a pastor, but, in the year stated, a call was extended to Rev. Walter Chapin, who accepted and was or- dained on the 25th of April, 1810.
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