USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 28
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The first town meeting of which there is any record was held on the 17th of February, 1786, and was warned by Briant Brown, then the town clerk. The officers chosen at that meeting were as follows : Moderator, Stephen Jacobs ; town cleck, Briant Brown ; selectmen, Briant Brown, Colonel Benjamin Wait, Stephen Jacobs, esq., Lieutenant Charles Leav-
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ens, and Thomas Cooper, esq .; treasurer, Briant Brown; constables, Benjamin Cady, Oliver Barrett; collectors, Benjamin Cady, Oliver Bar- rett ; listers, Briant Brown, Benjamin Wait, Stephen Jacobs, Charles Leavens, Thomas Cooper ; grand jurors, Joel Ely and Alden Spooner ; tithingmen, Stephen Cady, Josiah Hawley, George Hough and Asahel Smith; leather sealer, Colonel Nathan Stone; sealer of weights and measures, Deacon Joseph Farnsworth ; brander of horses, Captain Jeralil Cumings; haywards, David Lombard, Samuel Bayley, Abijah Capron, Jonathan Hall, Captain Steele Smith, Isaiah Burke, and Captain Asahel Smith ; surveyors of highways, Nathan Stone, Caleb Stone, Thomas Wilson, Captain Matthew Patrick, Solomon Emmons, Daniel Thurston, Deacon Richard Wait, Colonel Benjamin Wait, Charles Leavens, Will- iam White, William Slack, William Lazell, John Capron, and Israel Aiken ; fence viewers, Solomon Emmons, Isaiah Burke, Richard Wait, Lazarus Banister; deer reefs, Ebenezer Hoisington, jr., and Samuel Fletcher; key keepers, Benjamin Cady and Captain Asahel Smith.
It will be seen from the above record that the officers of the town for this time were chosen in accordance with the laws of the State of Ver- mont; and it is probably a fact that they were so chosen from and after the formation of the State and the adoption of the constitution. But it is also probably a fact that the officers elected at the organization nieet- ing of the town were chosen as provided by the laws and customs of New York, as the last named was the organizing and then controlling jurisdiction, and it would be only natural that the customs of that prov- ince should prevail, at least for the time being. In that case, instead of selectmen, the town would have elected a supervisor ; in place of listers were assessors, a difference only in name, but there would have been but one supervisor and three assessors elected.
Now, for the purpose of bringing to the attention of the reader the names of as many as possible of the ancient inhabitants of the town for the purpose of making the names of the pioneers of Windsor as conspic- uous as possible, it has been deemed appropriate in this connection to place on these pages a record-a list-showing who were the taxable inhabitants of the jurisdiction during its pioneer period. And, in ex- planation of the list here given, it may be said that from the very earliest settlement of the town there was a practical division of the town, or at
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
least of its people (a subject that will be discussed hereafter), into what was known as the East and West Parishes, meaning the east and west portions of the town, which were separated by a considerable mountain elevation ; and it was the practice of the authorities to divide the people. in making lists, at that early day, although the entire town was one juris- diction and elected a single set of officers. The list here copied is headed as follows: " A Tax of three pence half penny on the pound, made on the list for the year 1785, for the purpose of schools in the several school districts in said town, agreeable to a vote of said town, passed March 7, 1786." (The names of taxable inhabitants only, and not the list and rate, are copied.)
East Parish .- David Atkins, Perez Antizzle, Israel Aiken, Ebenezer Burnham, Joseph Barrett, jr., Solomon Burke, Isaiah Burke, Benjamin Bishop, Briant Brown, Moses Barrett, Stephen Conant, John Cady, Zebe- diah Coburn, Peter Currier, Benjamin Cady, Zebina Curtis, Ebenezer Curtis, Manassah Cady, Thomas H. Cady, John Curtis, Willard Dean, John Drew, Solomon Emmons, Clark Eastman, John Gill, David Hilton, Daniel Hastings, Jacob Hastings, Ebenezer Hoisington, Ebenezer Hois- ington, jr., Elias Hoisington, Matthias Hammond, Jonathan Hammond, David Hammond, William Hilton, Jonathan Hall, Jonathan Hodgman, Elisha Hubbard, Eldad Hubbard, Darius Houghton, George Hough, Josiah Hawley, Elisha Hawley, William Harlow, David Hall, William Jewett, Stephen Jacob, Daniel King, James Langworthy, Isaac Mason, John Marcy, John Marcy, jr., Samuel Messer, Alexander Parmalee, Sam- uel Patrick, Clothier Prior, Elijah Payne, John Packard, Matthew Patrick, Elisha Perkins, Samuel Ruggles, Eleaser Spaulding, Leonard Spaulding, Zedekiah Stone, Caleb Stone, Elnathan Storey, Jacob Stowell, Jonathan Shepard, Seth Sabin, Ephraim Stone, Simeon Stoddard, Zephaniah Spicer, Joel Smead, Alden Spooner, Steele Smith, Reuben Smith, Nathan Stone, Nathan Stone, jr., Samuel Stone, Nichenor Temple, Hezekiahı Thompson, Joseph Thompson, Hezekiah Thompson, jr., Seth Tinkham, Daniel Thurston, Elisha Turner, Nahum Trask, Joseph Willis, Thomas Wilson, Joshua Wilson, Jacob Wilson, Silvanus Watriss, Elijah West, Paul Wood, William Wood, Robert Grandy, David Orvis, Jonathan Russell, James Wilson, Nathaniel Weeks, Tyler Spafford, Joseph Grandy, Robert Whitcomb.
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TOWN OF WINDSOR.
West Parish .- Thomas Adams, Abel Adams, William Abbott, Joseph Barrett, Oliver Barrett, Silas Banister, Lazarus Banister, Caleb Blood, John Blood. John Bishop, Jeremiah Bishop, Levi Bishop, Jeremiah Bishop, jr., Frederick Burnham, Elihu Beach, Stephen Beach, Jonathan Burt, John Brown, Andrew Blunt, Joshua Bayley, William Bean, Ed- mund Capron, John Capron, Abijah Capron, Jerahmeel Cummings, Silva- nus Chapin, Zebulon Chandler, Thomas Cooper, Stephen Cooper, John Dake, Joseph Dake, Benjamin Dake, Samuel Danforth, Joel Ely, Joel Ely, jr., James Fletcher, Samuel Fletcher, Joseph Fuller, Nathan Fish, Elnathan Hubbard, Ephraim Hubbard, Jesse Hawley, Silas Hale, Benja- min Hale, David Hale, Israel Hale, Thomas Hunter, William Hunter, David Hunter, Abijah Hurd, Ezekiel Hawley, Phineas Hemenway, John Hulett, Ichabod Hatch, John Lumbard, John Lumbard, jr., Stephen Lumbard, Solomon Lumbard, David Lumbard, Charles Leavens, Will- iam Lazell, Zenas Lazell, Nehemiah Lincoln, Joseph Moulton, Aaron Miner, Israel Meacham, Obediah Noble, John Neil, Joseph Powers, Jo- seph Powers, jr., William Porter, William Parson, William Parson, jr., Samuel Parson, Samuel Parson, jr., Joseph Parmeter, Benoni Patrick, Samuel Root, Rufus Root, Henry Rumrill, Simeon Rumrill, Bela Rogers, Abiah Rice, Jesse Slack, William Slack, George Stow, John Smead, Asa Smead, Samuel Savage, Nathan Savage, Benjamin Stone, Samuel Sawin, Ashel Smith, Roswell Smith, Thomas Sherman, Andrew Spaulding, Elihu Smead, George Stow, jr., Joseph Sawyer, Jonas Taylor, Simeon Taylor, Leonard Taylor, Abraham Taylor, Josiah Fooley, Archibald White, jr., William White, Asa Worcester, Joseph Woodruff, Benjamin Wait, Joseph Wakefield, Scottaway Whitcomb, Oliver Willard, Daniel Woods.
The above list appears in the books of record of the town during the clerkship of Briant Brown, and in the clear and distinct handwriting of that most worthy citizen. But clerk Brown did more ; he prepared and entered on the record a statement of the condition of the town, by parishes, showing the number of taxable inhabitants, extent of lands cultivated, and the aggregate of stock, for the year 1786, as follows : East Parish, polls, 112; horses, 72; oxen, 79; cows, 153 ; three year olds, 5 ; two year olds, 59; one year olds, 80 ; swine, 59; acres in land, 1,70472 ; faculty, 240. West Parish, polls, 132; horses, 58 ; oxen, 64;
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
cows, 175 ; three year olds, 17 ; two year olds, 86; swine, 34; acres in land, 1,303 ; faculty, 20.
Division of the Town .- The town of Windsor as described in its sev- eral charters possessed decidedly singular topographical characteristics. Through the central portion of the town, running nearly north and south, was and is a considerable range of mountains, and by it the east and west portions of the territory to all practical intents and purposes were separated and divided. During the pioneer period of course incom- ing settlers preferred to purchase lands in the more level or bottom re- gions, and naturally avoided the more elevated or mountain districts. The legitimate result was that the eastern and western sections of the town were occupied and settled, while the central part was a comparatively un- broken forest ; but, as a matter of course, with the rapid increase of popu- lation there came a time when even the less desirable lands were settled and cleared for agricultural purposes so far as they were susceptible of settlement and cultivation.
But this singular formation had the effect of dividing and separating the people of the east and west parts of the town, and occasioned much inconvenience, especially in regard to some of the early public and town institutions. As is well known, it was the custom in early days for the town to erect and maintain a meeting-house for public worship on Sun- day and other occasions; and it was also the custom to make this erec- tion, as nearly as practicable, in the center of the town, that the people in all parts might equally enjoy the benefits offered by such meeting- house. In Windsor, however, the people in the east part of the town were desirous of having the meeting- house in their locality, while those on the west side naturally desired the same erection in their locality. Neither party, it appears, favored its erection on the ridge lands, for by that action both sides would have been placed at inconvenience. The result was an appeal to the Legislature, at the June session of 1785, at Norwich, and that body passed an act, which was concurred in by the Governor and Council, entitled, "An Act for the establishing Two Eccle- siastical societies in the Town of Windsor."
This was a division of the town only for the purpose of establishing and maintaining two meeting-houses in the town, and not such a divis- ion of the territory as would contemplate the election of the two sets of
ALITILE.
DR. DYER STORY.
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TOWN OF WINDSOR.
town officers. The division of the latter character was a subsequent creation, brought about in part by the remote location of the west from the east district or parish, and in part by the fact of there having been bred a sentiment of discord and jealousy growing out of the selection of town officers, the one parish claiming they were not re- ceiving their share of local offices. The subject of dividing the lands of the district into two towns was one of frequent discussion, but it was not formally brought before the people until the year 1814, at which time, in a "warning" dated September 14th, the following ap- peared as one of the articles: "To see if the town will agree to divide the same into two separate towns."
In accordance with the warning a meeting was held in the West Par- ish on the Ioth day of October, 1814, at which time the subject of di. vision was made paramount, and what the result was will be best told by the following :
" In Town meeting, October 10, 1814.
"Resolved, that the town of Windsor is satisfied with its present boundaries, and that the inhabitants of said town in meeting assembled consider every attempt to divide it as derogating from the best good and interest of the same.
"Resolved, that the Representative from this town (Oliver Farns - worth) be presented with a copy of the proceedings of this meeting, with instructions to lay them before the Legislature, together with the accompanying remonstrance, if the petition which produced it should be presented and acted upon by the Legislature."
But, despite "the will of the majority in meeting assembled," the proposition to divide the town seems to have found favor in the legisla- tive mind, and the result was an act passed at the session of that year, by which the old historic town of Windsor, the home of the very name Vermont, and the birthplace of the constitution, was divided in twain, and of its territory on the west there was erected the new town of West Windsor. The opponents to the division, while they by no means were satisfied with the determination of the question, they were nevertheless resigned and reconciled to the inevitable, and, at a meeting at the court- house in Windsor, on the 25th of January, 1815, expressed themselves after this manner: " Resolved by the freemen of the East and West
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
Parishes of the town of Windsor, legally assembled in town meeting at the court-house in said town this 25th day of January, 1815 : That not- withstanding we still continue to regard the act of the Legislature en- titled, An Act to divide the East and West Parishes in two separate and distinct towns, with concern and deep regret, we hereby recommend to the individuals of each parish respectively to organize as towns in the month of March ensuing, agreeably to what appears to have been the intention of the Legislature as implied by said act."
The act of 1814 that divided the town took from its lands about the same territory that is included by the bounds of the present town of West Windsor. But this separation from the mother town proved to be of but temporary duration, for no sooner had the new district become organized than a movement was formed looking to a union. By the latter part of the summer, or the early part of the fall of 1815, the dif- ferences that led to the separation were adjusted, and there were circu- lated petitions asking for legislative action and a consolidation of the dis- tricts into a single town. But this proposition had many opponents, and the result was another meeting at the court-house on the 25th day of October, 1815, at which a number of resolutions were offered, to the effect that, whereas petitions from Windsor and West Windsor were cir- culating in the interest of consolidation ; that the town of Windsor was satisfied with its present limits and extent; that hills intervening be- tween the towns rendered union impracticable; that the distance be - tween the places at which elections were alternately held was an objec- tion to the union; that said union was taking from the people of Windsor their just rights and privileges; that the petition was contrary to the voice and will of the town, and was calculated to injure the peace and happiness of said town; therefore, "Resolved, that the town of Windsor would deem an act of incorporating the towns of Windsor and West Windsor into one town a violation of the rights and privileges of the inhabitants of the town of Windsor, and a subversion of the laws and constitution of the State."
These resolutions were adopted by the meeting, and in addition thereto there was chosen a committee, consisting of William Hunter, Jabez Delano and Joel Lull, to represent the meeting and the opponents to union at the succeeding session of the Legislature. But, notwithstand-
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ing the "sense " of the meeting, so clearly expressed, and the presence of the chosen committee, the Legislature in 1815 passed an act re- uniting the parishes into one town.
Following this the next annual town meeting was held at Hubbard's Hall, in " West Parish." on the 19th of March, 1816, at which time officers were chosen for the whole district, the town was united in fact, and the differences and animosities of the period were buried, and passed into history. With the reunion there came a renewal of all the incon- veniences that had formerly attended the holding of elections. It was the custom of the time to hold the meetings alternately, first at Windsor and next over in the West Parish. The journey from Windsor village and the river region to Sheddsville was one of nine miles, and when an election was held at the latter place but comparatively few of the people of the East Parish generally attended. And the same may be said of the occasions on which the meetings were held in the East Parish, that the people from the west side seldom attended in considerable numbers. This led to another division of the town, by an act of the Legislature passed and approved October 26, 1848, by which the town or Windsor was reduced to its present limits. The act of division, should the reader desire to peruse its provisions, will be found in the chapter that relates to the history of the town of West Windsor.
War of 1812-15 .- This was not an eventful period in the history of the town ; neither did the town occupy a different position at the time from other similar districts. The events of the war, so far as the town is concerned, are briefly stated, and most aptly, too, in Dr. Cutting's ad- dress, thus : "In the War of 1812 this town contributed its share of officers and men to the armies who fought our battles. Churchill, already referred to, and Matthew Patrick remained in the public service to the
end of their lives. . The Jefferson Artillery, significant, politi- cally, by its name, came into being in 1810, amid the omens of the com- ing war. Its organization was not, however, complete till the ensuing year. William Tileston was its first captain. My father's commission as lieutenant bears the date of 1811. About 1820 there were four com- panies in the town, one of artillery, one of light infantry, and two un- uniformed, reproachfully termed 'floodwood.' Harry White was one of the village captains, the brilliant and popular merchant whom Windsor
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
lost by a sudden calamity. Captain Black commanded the light in- fantry of the West Parish. Training days were holidays, and general musters were great events. The boys caught the military infection of the time, and under the command of John A. Spooner, now (1876) a venerable and honored clergyman, marched beneath a banner which bore a patriotic and impressive legend."
The War of 1861-65 .- The part taken by the town of Windsor dur- ing the war of the Rebellion was certainly a prominent and important one ; but one which requires no. mention in this connection, having been discussed and presented at length in an earlier chapter of the volume. The volunteers of Windsor formed a part of the great body of soldiers sent out from this section during the war, and there was scarcely a regi- ment raised in the State but had at least a few of Windsor's recruits among its numbers. In the chapter referred to will be found a com- plete roster of the officers of the town, in connection with those of the county ; a record of the services of each command that had any con- siderable complement of troops from the town, together with a com- plete roll of the volunteers enlisted or recruited here.
Schools of the Town .- Of the schools and other like institutions of the town of Windsor there cannot be much said. Their beginning was quite as humble as that of any other of the institutions of the district, but gradually have they advanced from their primitive condition to a degree of excellence that places them on an equal level with those of any other town in the county, and far in advance of many. The sub- ject of organizing the town of Windsor into school districts appears to have been first presented and discussed at the annual town meeting held on the 7th of March, 1786, although the same question may have been agitated and acted upon at an earlier date, the loss of the town records of years prior to that named making the subject of what pre- viously occurred one wholly of speculation. But, from the general character of the proceedings had at that time, it is fair to assume that the occasion referred to was the first on which the matter of schools throughout was the subject of general discussion and town action.
At the March meeting of 1786 it was voted by the inhabitants to raise the sum of eighty pounds for the benefit of schools in the town, to be paid, the record says, " in money, or good wheat at five shillings per
A LITTLE
Horace Meston,
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TOWN OF WINDSOR.
bushel "; the fund thus created to be divided in as many equal parts as there were districts in the town. About the same time the town was divided into school districts, eleven in all, by a committee appointed for that purpose. And at the meeting above, the inhabitants elected trustees for the several districts respectively, as follows: First district, Amasa Paine ; second district, Benjamin Bishop ; third district, Stephen Jacob ; fourth district, Samuel Patrick ; fifth district, Jacob Stowell ; sixth district, Deacon Joseph Thomson; seventh district, Stephen Cady ; eighth district, George Stowe; ninth district, Simon Rumrill; tenth district, Cal- vin Chapin ; eleventh district, Oliver Barrett.
This was practically an organization of the schools of the districts on what was known as the town plan; that is, the schools receiving their support at the general expense of the town, and not each district main- taining its separate school at its own cost, as is now the custom. Nor was it an unusual proceeding at that period for the schools in many towns in the State to be established, as were those of Windsor, from the gen- eral fund raised by tax upon the whole territory of the town. The dif- ferent custom, that by which each district provided for its own school and maintained it at the district expense, was a later creation, and one that soon became popular ; and it is a fact, too, that a great majority of the towns of this State have accepted and are working under the provisions of the district system.
But it would be a thing next to impossible to furnish a complete and reliable record of the several changes made in the school districts of the town from the first creation of them until the present day. Changes in boundaries, and changes in the number of districts, have occasionally been made, though these have not been frequent. The final division of the town, that by which West Windsor was set off, in 1848, necessitated something of a change in the district government of Windsor as it then remained ; and other than this such alteration in district boundaries, and such increase and decrease in number of districts, has been made as was best calculated to suit the convenience of the people, or as circumstances required.
The present operating school districts, or schools, of the town of Wind- sor are seven in number, although in number four no school has been kept regularly for several years ; and one district of the town proper is annexed
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
to the town of West Windsor for the convenience of the few families resid . ing in the same. The report of the superintendent of schools of the town for the last fiscal year show that in District No. I school was kept for twenty-eight weeks; number of pupils, 15; expense for the year, $143.30. In District No. 2 school was kept for thirty-two weeks; number of pupils, 24; expense, $200. District No. 3, village of Wind- sor, weeks of school, 36; total expense, $3,754.42. District No. 4, no school. District No. 5, number of pupils, 2 ; weeks of school, 24 ; ex- pense, $116. District No. 6, number of pupils, 21; weeks of school, 32 ; expense, $240; District No. 7, number of pupils, 21 ; weeks of school, 26; expense, $190 78.
Record of Old and Prominent Families .- It was one of the require- ments of the early as well as of a later period that there be kept in each town a record of the births, marriages and deaths of the members of the various families of each town. Such a record is found in the office of the clerk of the town of Windsor ; and in that record is to be found the names of many of the pioneers and their families, showing a compliance with the requirements referred to. From that record is taken whatever mention is made concerning the families hereafter named. But it cannot be stated that records are in each case complete, or altogether reliable, for some families were negligent in the matter, and possibly some clerks were re- miss in the performance of their duties. But, as disclosed by the record, and occasionally substantiated by other authority, so the following pur- ports to be. And it is designed to be a genealogical statement rather than biographical, and furnished for the purpose of bringing to the at- tention of the reader the names of some of the more prominent pioneer families of the town, and their immediate descendants as well.
Dr. Joseph Whiting and Azubah Stow, both of Windsor, were married March 31, 1789, by Asaph Flitcher, esq. Children : Clary, born De- cember 29, 1790 ; Mirandy, born May 26, 1792 ; Abial, born May 26, 1794; Salomy, born July 2, 1797.
Briant Brown and Molly Dunbar married November 13, 1766, at Had- dam, Conn. Children : James, born August 9, 1767; Rebekah, born February 24, 1769; Lot, born April 8, 1771, died February 16, 1774; Prosper, born May 1, 1773; Deliverance, born June 17, 1775 ; Return Briant, born September 23, 1777 ; Remember Molly, born July 11, 1780;
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