USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 27
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Caleb Benjamin, Jeremiah Bishop, Samuel Patrick, Joseph Woodruff, Benjamin Bishop, Levi Stevens, Samuel Seers, Peter Levens, Isaiah Burk, Ebenezer Curtis, Solomon Burk, Samuel Root, Watts Hubbard, George Sto(w)e, Andrew Blant, Lazarus Bannister, John Benjamin, Samuel Chase, Rev. James Wellman, Dudley Chase, Phineas Dean, Benjamin Wait, Ebenezer Hoisington, Captain William Dean, Elnathan Storey, Hezekiah Thompson, Benjamin Spaldwin (or Spaulding), Elisha Haw- ley, jr., Timothy Stanley, Thomas Wilson, Elisha Hawley, sr., Asa Smeed, Ebenezer Davis, Elihu Burk, Nehemiah Lincoln, William Smeed, sr., William Smeed, jr., Joseph Barrett, Jacob Hastings, Asaph Butler, Nathan Atkins, Joseph Patterson, Thomas Cooper, John Chandler, Andrew Norton, Alexander Parmley, Steele Smith, Mary Hubbard, Elisha Hubbard, David Cook, Samuel Cook, Samuel Stone, Dr. David Hale,, Elizabeth Curtis, Solomon Emmons, Ebenezer Hayward, Fisher Gay, Joseph Bull, Thomas Pearsall, Goldsboro Banyar (of New York), Henry Crieger (of New York), Dr. David Taylor, Colonel Nathan Stone, Willard Dean, Isabel Patrick, Zedekiah Stone, esq., and Barnabas Dunham.
As has already been stated, the deed from the proprietors and set- tlers of the town of Windsor to Nathan Stone bore the date of October 9, 1766, and by that conveyance the grantee became vested with all and singular of the right, title and interest therein of the grantors ; but not- withstanding that, the proprietors seemed to have moved right along in clearing, developing and improving the lands of the town, in the same
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manner as if the title still remained in their respective selves. There appears to be no record of the proceedings of the proprietors for the years 1765 and 1766, and for that loss there can be no comment in this chapter upon what was done during those years, although it is quite probable that the first meeting within the town was held in one or the other of them. Certainly would the settlers have been entitled to have the meetings held here if the statement in proprietors' petition to New York's governor was correct, for it was there stated that under the New Hampshire charter there were settled in the town "about sixteen families," while had there been the representatives of the sixteenth part of the original shares of the town, that would have been sufficient to warrant the holding of meetings in the territory.
The first record evidence of a meeting in the town (which can be found) is that contained in the proprietors' minutes for 1767, when, on the 3d day of November, a meeting was held at the house of Thomas Cooper, at which time Mr. Cooper was chosen clerk. The business of the occasion was not of special importance, relating to the laying out of lots in the town. Another meeting during the same year was held, also at Thomas Cooper's, on the 17th of December, when Benjamin Wait was chosen moderator ; Captain Samuel Stone, Israel Curtis, and Ser- geant Andrew North, assessors; Thomas Cooper, treasurer; and Colonel Nathan Stone, collector. At this time it was voted to give Joseph King twenty pounds, to be paid in day's labor, to build a bridge across " Mill Stream," between the dam of the grist- mill and saw-mill. The building of this bridge was not done, apparently, by Mr. King, for the proceedings of a meeting held October 3, 1768, show that Andrew Nor- ton and Joab Hoisington were appointed a committee to build the bridge over Mill Brook :. One fact is established by the above "vote," and that, that a saw-mill and a grist mill were built in the town as early at least as the year 1768; and earlier extracts from the proprietors' pro- proceedings show that in August, 1763, Israel Curtis was appointed to build the saw and grist-mills, and was obliged to give a bond for the faithful performance of the work.
In 1769, at a meeting held April 6, the proprietors voted "to buy a book " in which to record the proceedings of their meetings ; and they charged Israel Curtis with the duty of procuring the book, he to take
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pay in a lot of land, the price of the book to apply on his contract of purchase, and he to pay the difference, which the minutes recorded as " boot money." Whether or not the worthy settler, Israel Curtis, ever procured the book is not known; neither is it known whether the pro- prietors ever obtained one from any source. The records, such as now exist, of the transactions of the proprietors, even down to and including the year 1771, are written upon separate sheets of paper, and are tied in a single small package; and they are so old and worn as to make their ready handling almost impossible. They stop with the year 1771; and subsequent to that time, and until 1786, there appears to be no records of the proprietors' or inhabitants' meetings of any kind that throw any light on the proceedings had during the interval. . The record of conveyances, however, of the town are exceedingly well kept and pre- served.
The most interesting period in the history of the town of Windsor was that in which occurred the Revolutionary war, and the struggle, during the same time, on the part of the people living on the so-called New Hampshire Grants to establish for themselves an independent gov- ernment or State, that eventually became known by the name of Ver- mont. But it was not that the citizens of this particular locality took a more active part in the occurring events of that period than did any other towns of the State, for such is not understood to have been the case ; but, at the same time, the town of Windsor was destined to be- come prominent in the affairs of the State, and to occupy a position of singular notoriety, the result of circumstances alone, and not that the town possessed political leaders and statesmen of distinguished ability, although she was not wholly destitute of men of that mark.
The town of Windsor first began to attract attention from the other regions of the grants when the petition was made and presented that re- sulted in the New York charter; and that action was presumed to be prima facie evidence, in some minds, at least, that the people of the town considered themselves allied to the interests of New York. It was so looked upon in certain quarters, but it was an altogether mistaken belief, for there was no town east of the mountains whose people were more in- terested in the cause for which the Green Mountain Boys were contend- ing than those of Windsor, but from this remote locality it was not ex-
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pected that the people of the town would become active participants in the struggles then enacting, and what was more to the point, the peti- tioners did not receive their charter until after many of the more impor- tant events had occurred. But when it became an understood fact that the people on the grants were organizing with the intention of forming a new and independent State, the residents of Windsor joined with the move and actively participated in all that occurred tending to the end sought to be accomplished.
At the convention held at Dorset on the 26th of July, 1775, and on the 16th of January and the 24th of July, 1776, the town of Windsor does not appear to have been represented, but at the adjourned session held at Dorset on the 25th of September, 1776, Ebenezer Hoisington appeared as a delegate from the town ; and as such he is found to be upon the com- mittee appointed to prepare the covenant or compact by which the dele- gates pledged themselves and their constituents for the " security of their common liberties and properties in conjunction with the free and inde- pendent States of America." Besides this Ebenezer Hoisington was on other important committees, among them one chosen for the purpose of preparing a "citation to send to the State of New York to know if they have any objection against our being a separate State from them." And at the Westminster conventions of October 30, 1776, and January 15, 1777, Mr. Hoisington was present representing his town ; and on the latter occasion was chairman of the committee appointed to examine and report the feeling in the towns east of the mountains relative to the for- mation of the new State, which report was that " We find by examina- tion that more than three-fourths of the people in Cumberland and Gloucester counties, that have acted, are for a new State ; the rest we view as neuters." More than this, the town was honored by having its rep- resentative on the committee chosen " to prepare a draught for a decla- ration for a new and separate State." When the business of this con- vention was finished, it was adjourned to meet at the meeting-house in Windsor on the 4th day of June, 1777.
That the reader may have a clear understanding of the sentiment that prevailed in the town relative to the subject of forming a new and inde- pendent State, it is quite proper that a slight digression be made from the general narrative in order to sufficiently explain the situation at that
37
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time. It is well known that this town, in 1777, and even prior thereto, formed a part of Cumberland county under the jurisdiction of New York ; that there was not an entire unanimity of sentiment in this region gen- erally, in favor of the new State; and that New York was using her every art to induce the people of the region to oppose the measures then being taken looking to the new formation, and, as a part of the New York pro- ceeding, the inhabitants of all the towns had been warned against the participation in the conventions of the people on the grants. The duty of keeping the people "straight " toward New York was incumbent upon the Cumberland County Committee. How well this committee suc- ceeded in inducing the people of Windsor to be faithful to New York will be observed from the following :
" At an Annual Town Meeting held at the Town house in Windsor on the twentieth Day of May past, (1777) after the Choice of a Moderator it was put to Vote whether the Town would proceed to Act according to the Orders from the State of New York; Voted in the Negative by a great Majority.
" Ebenezer Curtis, Town Clark. " To the Chearman of the County Committee."
And further : "Whereas I the Subscriber are the member of the County Committee of Cumberland to represent the town of Windsor in Conven- tion this third day of instant, June, Do now in behalf of sd town Enter my protest against any proceeding under the State of New York either directly or indirectly as to any Jurisdiction over sd town.
" Ebenezer Hoisington."
At the meeting-house in Windsor on the 4th of June, 1777, the ad- journed convention assembled, as provided by the resolution previously adopted. From the records that exist, it appears that Ebenezer Hois- ington represented the town in the capacity of delegate, but it is entirely probable that the greater part of the townspeople were also present as interested spectators on this most auspicious occasion. The principal business of this convention was to revise the declaration of State inde- pendence, adopted at Westminster, setting forth " the reasons which im- pelled the inhabitants to such separation," (omitted from the former declaration,) and changing the name of the new State from NEW CON- NECTICUT to VERMONT. Further than this it is said, on the authority
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of the Vermont Historical Society's collection, that a committee was appointed to make a draft of a constitution.
At this convention the new State, by its representatives assembled, as- sumed exclusive jurisdiction over the entire territory of the New Hamp- shire Grants, and, as a part of that proceeding, resolved that the Com- mittees of Safety of the counties of Cumberland and Gloucester desist from the further exercise of their authority under the direction of the State of New York. The chairman of this convention was Joseph Bow- ker of Rutland, and the secretary was Dr. Jonas Fay of Bennington. Lieutenant Martin Powel of Manchester was the assistant clerk.
This convention of June 4th, according to the resolution adopted at Westminster, was appointed to reconvene at the "meeting-house " in Windsor, the published account in the Connecticut Courant of April 14, 1777, stating to that effect ; but the proceedings of the convention itself, as published in the " Governor and Council," referred to the meeting as "being all convened at the town house in Windsor." This may be ex- plained by the fact that it was usual to refer to the meeting- house as the town house, as the first meeting-house in nearly all the towns was erected at the public expense, and instead of being the property of any church or other society, it was the property of the town; and therefore its designation as town house was entirely natural and proper, it being a town house as well as meeting-house. But the resolution of the June convention that provided for the next assembling of a similar body, said : "That it is hereby recommended to the freeholders and inhabit- ants of each town in this State to meet at some convenient place in each town on the 23d day of this instant June and choose delegates to attend a general convention at the meeting-house in Windsor, within the said State, on the 2d day of July next, to choose delegates to attend the gen- eral Congress, a Committee of Safety, and to form a Constitution for the State."
In accordance with the resolution the delegates assembled at Windsor on the 2d of July, 1777, and upon that occasion the first constitution of the State was adopted ; but not without some interruption, for while the convention was considering the provisions of that important subject, news was received of the evacuation of Ticonderoga and the threaten- ing invasion of the British army under General Burgoyne. This intel-
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ligence threw the convention into complete disorder, and many of the delegates, especially those from the western towns, were for instantly set- ting out for their homes before completing the business in hand. But the intervention of a severe thunder-storm prevented their departure, thus giving them time to reflect upon their hasty determination. They then resumed consideration of the constitution, discussed it, " paragraph by paragraph," says Ira Allen, "for the last time." Then, after the ap- pointment of a Council of Safety to administer the affairs of the State for the time being, the convention adjourned. In this memorable as- sembly Ebenezer Hoisington is understood as having represented the town of Windsor.
Thus was the town of Windsor prominently associated with some of the most interesting and important events connected with the early his- tory of the State of Vermont. But it was not that the town or its rep- resentatives were more forward in this business than other towns, but rather that those events happened to be enacted in the town. This con- stitutional convention was appointed to be held in the meeting-house at Windsor, but it is conceded to have been assembled in the building that stood at the corner of what is now Main and Depot streets. And the old building still stands, though moved a few rods eastward of its origi- nal location, and to this day is known as the "Constitution House." Some of the older residents of the present day are of the opinion that it was built for a hotel, and was completed in time to receive the conven- tion, or at least the delegates; that the convention was held within its walls, from which fact it was christened the "Constitution House." But there appears to be a lack of positive understanding concerning the true origin and purpose of the building. Can it be that this was the "meeting-house," or the " town house," referred to in the resolutions quoted heretofore ? Can it be a fact that its lumber was sawed at the old mill built by Israel Curtis in pursuance of the contract made with the proprietors in 1763 ? Who knows ?
While the subject of the old Constitution House is one of no great im- portance, and one that needs no extended comment in this chapter, it is proper to say that it was a hotel building, and was for a number of years, and during this particular period, under the management of Elijah West. The early legislative sessions were held here, and as late as 1786
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A.LITTLE.
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there appears on record an order for payment for its use by the State, viz .: " Resolved that the Treasurer be and he is hereby directed to pay Mr. Elijah West of Windsor for the use of his room, firewood, etc., for the use of Council this Session, the sum of one pound out of the hard Money Taxes." Perhaps an impertinent inquiry, but what can the above " etc." refer to ?
After Elijah West, the next landlord was worthy Samuel Patrick, and the latter was succeeded by his son, also Samuel by name, but better known as the "Captain." Then, about 1840, Captain Patrick retired and Thomas Boynton became host. Subsequent to his turn other land . lords succeeded to its management, but the old building as a hotel be- came unprofitable ; was put to use for various mercantile and mechani- cal purposes ; and, finally, was moved to the rear of the lot, now being occupied for tenements.
It can hardly be considered essentially within the province of this chapter to discuss at length the proceedings of the various executive and legislative bodies of the State that held their sessions at Windsor. Those were affairs of general rather than local history. The reader must therefore be content with a mere mention of the dates upon which those assemblages were called together at the town. Prior to 1808 the execu - tive and legislative bodies of the State had no fixed habitation, and it was customary for thein to meet at such places as best suited the gen - eral convenience, most frequently, however, at Windsor and Bennington. In 1808 Montpelier became the State capital, since which the seat of government has been at that place. Other than upon the occasions al - ready mentioned, the sessions of the Governor and Council with the General Assembly of Vermont have been held in Windsor as follows : In 1778, on March 12th and October 8th; 1779, June 2d ; 1781, Feb- ruary 8th and April 4th ; 1782, June 13th ; 1783, February 13th ; 1785, October 13th ; 1786, March 25th; 1791, October 13th ; 1793, Octo - ber Ioth ; 1795, October 8th; 1797, October 12th; 1799, Octo- ber 10th ; 1804, January 26th.
During the Revolution .- The part taken by the people of Windsor during that period of its history that was known as the Revolutionary war, was an important one, but the records are so meager that nothing of value can be found by which the names of the soldiers of the town
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can be accurately ascertained. That there were men of the town, and a good number of them, too, who were actively identified with the mili- tary history of the period cannot be questioned, but nothing appears of record by which they can be singled out and mentioned. For the pur- pose of bringing the names of some at least of them to mind, the writer makes free to copy from the historical address of Rev. Dr. Cutting, de- livered upon the occasion of the Windsor centennial celebration of the 4th of July, 1876, as follows :
"The military history of Windsor belongs among the essential themes of this day. The fame of Seth Warner's regiment was shared by men of this town. After the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, after the capture of Ticonderoga by Allen, Captain John Grant of that regiment came in the summer of 1775 to Windsor for recruits. Among those who enlisted under him were Asahel Smith, John Heath, Zenas Lull, Joshua Slayton, and William Hunter, the last named enlisting as a ser- geant, and becoming the orderly of the company. Laying down their sickles,-for an old narrative says it was 'reaping time,'-they proceeded to join their regiment at Crown Point, and descending the Lake to Can - ada, took part in the brilliant operations which resulted in the capture of St. John's and Montreal, and in the flight of Carlton to Quebec. Young Hunter, then twenty-one years of age, was attached to the per- son of General Montgomery, and for his good conduct at the siege of St. John's received a commission as first lieutenant. The time for which the men had enlisted having expired, Hunter came back to Wind- sor in December of that year for more recruits. There were already militia companies in the town, and there is a record of the drill of one of them by Lieutenant Hunter after his return at that time. His mission was successful. Early in January, 1776, on the broad eastern slope of 'the Hill,' of the West Parish, then at the house of Samuel Root, Hunter mustered his recruits, of whom are preserved the names of Ebenezer Hoisington, Phineas Killam, John Heath, Joel Butler, Asa Smead, Jona- than Hodgman, and 'an elderly man named Emmons.' These, with perhaps as many more, he marched away on snow-shoes to Skenes- borough, now Whitehall, whence descending the lake on the ice, they reached the army destined to Quebec, and finally encamped on the Plains of Abraham. In the disastrous retreat of the ensuing spring, Warner's
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regiment was the last on the field, and kept the rear. It was on this re- treat that Lieutenant Hunter, discovering a sick Cornish soldier who had laid down to die, inspired with hope the despairing man's heart, and lift- ing him on his back, carried him three miles to the bateaux and saved his life. During the remainder of the war the militia of Windsor were perpetually on the alert, and were frequently called into service. Under Captain Benjamin Wait and Major Joab Hoisington they were of the troops who kept back the English and Indians from the northern towns, and when Royalton was attacked and burned, marched in such numbers as to repel and punish the invasion, that most of the women of Windsor, left unprotected, fled with their children to Cornish until the return of the men. Declining a captaincy in the Continental service, Hunter be- came lieutenant of the Windsor company, under Captain Samuel Stow Savage, and succeeded him as captain in the year 1789."
Windsor as a County Seat .- In this connection it will not be consid- ered necessary to refer more than incidentally to the erection into coun - ties of the territory of the new State, which erection was made one of the first duties of the General Assembly at its early meeting at Windsor, as such proceeding had no special relation to the town's history. But in February, 1781, at a session of the Governor and Council with the General Assembly at Windsor, the counties which were created in 1778 were divided, and out of old Cumberland were erected Windham, Wind - sor, and Orange counties. Each of these was soon thereafter organized by the election of county officers ; and by virtue of an act passed at the same session, Windsor was designated as the shire town of Windsor county. But this designation was intended to be more for temporary purposes than otherwise. At that particular time there was considerable agitation and discussion concerning the formation of a union with certain towns of New Hampshire, which, should it be consummated, would place the town of Windsor in a nearly central position in case the towns east were annexed to the county. This was done subsequently. As the lines of the county then stood, Windsor could justly lay claim to the county buildings. But this union was soon dissolved, and then this was a border town; and so being, the chances of its being designated as the permanent shire town were decidedly lessened. All this time Woodstock, through its leading men, and it had not a few of them, was claiming the
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county buildings, and upon good grounds, too, for it was near the geo- graphical center of the county, and a town of considerable population and importance. The result of this was the division of the county into half shires, and Windsor and Woodstock the half shire towns. But in 1786 the latter town was designated as the county seat; and in 1787 the Legislature enacted " that the court should sit alternately at Wind- sor and Woodstock." In 1791 the Legislature passed another act by which the half-shire character of Windsor should be continued in force for three years from that time.
The court- house in Windsor was built during the year 1784, although the town as a shire was then three years old. And it was built at the expense of the townspeople and not a charge against the county. The old building still stands on State street, having been moved from its original location near where the high school building now is; and it does duty to- day as a place of residence.
Town Organisation .- It is a lamentable fact, but nevertheless a truth, that the first record book of the town, that which should contain the proceedings of the town and freemen's meetings, is missing from the clerk's office, and no person appears to be able to account for its where- abouts. And it is no more than probable that this record has been out of the office for many years. This loss renders it quite impossible to determine the date of town organization. The town must, however, have been organized about the time of the granting the letters patent from New York, which was in 1772. It is a fact, too, that the old records and documents of the town were loosely and carelessly kept, without any system. This is shown by the fact that in the oldest record now in existence, that commencing with the year 1786, there are proceedings on the part of the inhabitants by which committees were chosen to wait on certain persons and treat with them relative to the return to the clerk's office of books and papers that properly belonged there.
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