USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 39
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The first meeting of the proprietors was held on October 13, 1761, at the dwelling house of Gideon Lyman in Northampton, and Josiah Pierce was elected clerk. The usual formality of appointing a committee to divide the grant into lots was pursued, and Elias I.yman, Simeon Par- sons and Aaron Wright were chosen for this duty. On their recom- mendation the territory between the Black River and Weathersfield was divided into one-hundred-acre lots, and each proprietor was awarded one lot ; there was to be a further division of timber land and meadow,. and liberty was given any proprietor to mow, plow, and cut timber in any part of the grant not allotted. A tax of one dollar was levied on each right and an extra assessment of two dollars to each right, to pay the expense of the allotment Subsequently the town was divided into sixty-six equal parts, 104 acres being retained for first incorporated relig- ious society; 141 acres for the Church of England; 105 acres for the first settled minister of the gospel; and eighty-four acres for school purposes.
From this time, though the proprietors held several meetings, there seems to have been little done on their part towards making any settle- ment in the grant. Legal measures were taken and executions issued against settlers who had taken possession of some of the lands in the town before the patent was granted, thus giving the title to the patentees.
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
About this time arose the celebrated land controversy between the prov- inces of New Hampshire and New York, and on May 25, 1772, a pat- ent was granted by Governor William Tryon, of the latter province, to the following named men : Charles Shaw, William Sidney, Gabriel L. Ludlow, John McKesson, Lewis Graham, Miles Sherbrook, Richard Hatfield, Richard Morris, William Witham, Thomas White, Stephen Steck, Samuel Jones, Benjamin Kissam, John Barrett, Jasper Drake, Cor- nelius Van Olen, James Armitage, Jacob Parris, Anthony Green, Gilbert Taylor, Thomas Ludlow, jr., Casey Ludlow, Patrick Dennis, Thomas Smith, Peter Goelet, Thomas Duncan, Rudolph Ritzeman.
This grant called for 28,200 acres. A comparison of the lists will show that none of the men who were named in the grant from Governor Wentworth were included in the New York grant. The final conclusion of this famous controversy is described in an early chapter of this work.
At a meeting of the proprietors held at the block- house in Spring- field, August 27, 1771, Simon Stevens was elected moderator, and John Barrett, clerk. At this meeting a further allotment of land was made to the proprietors. Other meetings were held, but the organization of the town being perfected, there was little of importance done.
In 1788 a committee consisting of Simon Stevens, Captain Abner Bisbee, Hon. Richard Morris and John Barrett was appointed to devise ways and means to raise £1,228, 15s. 2d., which was due to New York for patent fees, and a tax of £19, Is. and 2d. was levied on each propri- etor's right. Hon. Richard Morris was appointed collector, and John Barrett, treasurer.
The final meeting of the proprietors took place September 21, 1789, and on account of the failure of the following men to pay their tax under the above mentioned levy, their rights were sold at public auction: Elijah Lyman, Samuel Wentworth, Benning Wentworth, esq., John Wentworth, Joseph Newmarch, James Ashthorp, John Gould, jr., and Richard Cutts. Some of these were afterwards redeemed.
Early Settlement .- Springfield was the first settled town in Windsor county, a small number of pioneers having located here as early as 1753. Before the beginning of the French war, and eight years previous to the date of the charter of the town, Daniel Sawtelle, Jacob Sawtelle, Oliver Sawtelle, Combs House, Samuel Douglass, Oliver Farnsworth, Joseph
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD).
Douglass, Noah Porter, Nathaniel Powers, Simeon Powers and Simeon Powers, jr., " being poor and indigent (as it is recorded), and unable to purchase lands in any of the inhabited towns of His Majesty's provinces, while the lands in said Springfield lay in the open wilderness, waste and untilled, without yielding any revenue to His Majesty or profits to his subjects, did for His Majesty's profit as well as for the support of them- selves, their wives and their children, enter upon, till and improve part of the lands in said Springfield." These possessions were, during the French and Indian war, defended with bravery and loss of life against the common enemy, and stood as an outpost of the settlements farther down the river. At the close of the war these hardy settlers, who it would seem were entitled to some consideration, petitioned Governor Wentworth for a patent for the land which they had improved and de- fended ; but their petition was in vain, and the patent was granted in 1761 to sixty-two associates, friends and members of the family of the worthy governor, as noted on a previous page.
At a meeting held July 5, 1762, the proprietors took action empow- ering Gideon Lyman and others to begin legal proceedings against per- sons inhabiting and improving the town of Springfield. This resulted in their obtaining judgment against John Nott and others in the spring of 1764, and Simon Stevens, Abner Bisbee, and Jehoial Simmons were au- thorized to take possession of all lands on behalf of the proprietors. These difficulties were afterwards amicably settled, and most of the orig- inal squatters became legal owners of the land improved by them.
For a few years after the patent was granted there seems to be no evi- dence of any settlement, though John Kilburn purchased a right under the patent in 1761 ; but he did not enter into possession until the fol- lowing year. About this time Simon Stevens located in the town. He was a remarkable man for the times, and his influence was soon felt in the little colony. He was made justice of the peace and held the office more than fifty years. . He was a native of Canterbury, Conn., where he was born December 5, 1736, and during the French and Indian war in 1758 was captured by the Indians and held captive more than a year. He served as brigade major in the war of the Revolution and held other offices of trust. He died in Springfield, February 18, 1817.
Settlers came in slowly, but an attempt was made to organize the town
52
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
in the spring of 1764, concerning which the only authentic documents known are those called the Stevens papers, of which the following are copies :
" PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
" To Simon Stevens, constable of Springfield and province aforesaid- greeting.
" In his Majesties name you are hereby required forthwith to notifie and warn ye Freeholders and other Inhabitants of sd town that are Duly qualified by Law to Vote in Town Meeting that they assemble and meet at ye House of Joseph Littles in Springfield aforesd on Tuesday ye 13th of this Instant at 10 of ye clock in ye forenoon then and there when met to Vote and act on ye following articles-viz-
" First to choose a Moderator to govern sd Meeting-2dy To choose Town Offices agreeable to Charter.
" Hereof Fail not make Due return of this warrant and your Doings therein to some one of us yesubscribers at or before ye Time of sd Meeting.
" Given under our hands and seals this first Day of March and in ye fourth year of his Majesties reign 1764."
Signed, Robert Parker, Samuel Scott, Simon Stevens, George Hall, Timothy Spencer, Taylor Spencer, Abner Bisbee, inhabitants of Spring- field.
By the above warrant it seems that these inhabitants of Springfield ar- rogated to themselves the rights given by the royal charter to the pro- prietors. None of the original patentees, excepting Joseph Little, ever became actual settlers, and no meetings of the proprietors of any im- portance were held after this time, until 1771, when one was called at the block-house in Springfield (as before noted), instead of in Northamp- ton, Mass., where the earlier meetings were held.
The meeting for which the warrant of March 13, 1764, was issued was held, and George Hall was chosen moderator. It was adjourned to March 26, but there was no record of its proceedings. The town must, how- ever, have been fully organized.
The other warrant found among the Stevens papers is as follows :
" PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
" To Jehoial Simmons Constable of the Town of Springfield in said prov- ince-greeting.
" In his Majesties name you are required to notify and warn all the
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the Town of Springfield in said province to assemble and meet at the dwelling House of Joseph Little in said Town on Monday ye 22d Day of July at one of the clock in the afternoon. There and then when met to act on the Following Articles -viz-
" Ist To choose a Moderator to govern said meeting.
" 2dly To see whether the Town will accept of the Road known by ye name of Crown point Roade which leads through sd Town.
"3dly to see whether the Town will repair said Roade.
" Hereof Fail and not make Due return of this warrant to some one of us the selectmen of Springfield at or before the time of said meeting. Given under our hands and seal this 13th Day of July, Ann Dom 1764."
Signed, Simon Stevens, Abner Bisbee.
These two documents prove conclusively that the town was thoroughly organized. After this there are no records in existence until April 4, 1769, when a town meeting was held at which the proceedings were of so trivial a character as to indicate a very scanty population. The con- clusion is that in the interval noted there was no business transacted of sufficient importance to need preservation of records.
At the meeting of 1769 Simon Stevens was elected to the office of town clerk and supervisor. Simeon Bradford was chosen town treasurer. Abner Bisbee, Simon Spencer and Noah Porter were made commission- ers. Joseph Little, Samuel Nott and Nathaniel Powers were elected as- sessors. Timothy Spencer was chosen highway surveyor, George Hall, constable, and Page Harriman, collector.
A census taken of Cumberland county, by the province of New York, January 16, 1771, gave Springfield a population of twenty-seven fami- lies, comprising one hundred and forty-one persons, seventy-five of whom were males and sixty-six females. Soon after the patent for the land was issued by New Hampshire, Gideon Lyman and others pur- chased from a large part of their associates their rights under the charter. The uncertainty regarding the land titles rendered the original grantees anxious and for small amounts the orignal settlers purchased some of the rights, but a large number fell into the hands of Richard Morris, then chief justice of New York, and Stephen Ward, also of that province, and
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
in 1778 they claimed to own one-sixteenth of the town. At one pur- chase under date of June 24, 1766, Richard Morris bought of Phineas Lyman 2,650 acres, being the original rights of Naomi Lyman, Oliver Thomas, Daniel Graves, Ebenezer Sheldon, Gad Lyman and Nathaniel Phelps.
The first settlers of Springfield located in the eastern part of the town near the river and the Crown Point road. This road began at a point on the river about a mile above the Cheshire bridge, running diagonally across the town northwest, crossing the Weathersfield line about one mile north of the school-house in district number three. The first set- tlements were made between the Black and Connecticut Rivers. Ac- cording to the records we find the following who were settled previous to 1769: Simon Stevens, Joseph Little, George Hall, Jehial Simmons, Joseph Douglass, Abner Bisbee, Simeon Bradford, Noah Porter, Simeon Spencer, Timothy Spencer, Nathaniel Powers, Samuel Douglass, Oliver Sawtelle, Robert Parker, Samuel Scott, Jacob Sawtelle, Combs House, Daniel Sawtelle. Page Harriman was among the early settlers, but re- turned to Albany county, N. Y. John Kilburn came from Walpole, Mass., but remained only a few years. John Nott settled in the town, but removed to Clarendon, Vt. In 1771 John Barrett, from Walling- ford, New Haven county, Conn., came to Springfield. He had owned real estate in the town previous to his settlement and he at once took an active part in town affairs. In a document dated February 12, 1772, in which he was appointed to represent their interests to the authorities of New York, in addition to those already mentioned, we find the follow- ing: Nathaniel Harriman, Obadiah Wells, John Hastings, Jacob Bonney, Lemuel Hastings and Nathaniel Weston. The last gentleman was a house joiner by trade and took an active part in the affairs of the town. Abraham and William Lockwood came from Providence, R. I., about 1770, the former locating northwest of the present village of Springfield, the other on the site of the village. About a year after this John Bisbee, Ichabod Waddam, Thomas Lee and John Griswold moved into the town.
For the next few years, owing to the Revolutionary war, there were only a few new comers. Daniel Gill, a carpenter, became a resident in 1770, as did also Davis Goodwin and James Martin, jr. The latter was
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
made town clerk and filled the position a number of years. His writing on the records is to this day clear and distinct.
In 1774 John and Emanuel Case, Nicholas Bragg and Elisha Brown became residents of the town, the latter coming from Winchendon, Mass. During 1777-78 William McClellan, Hezekiah Holmes, Thomas Dumphy (from Northampton, Mass.), Roger Bates (who kept a tavern), and Orsamus Holmes are names that appear on the records.
Jacob Lockwood came from Cranston, R. I., and settled in the town in 1779. Lemuel Whitney located in the northern part of the town in 1789. He was a native of Leicester, Mass., but emigrated from the town of Tolland, in Hartford county, Conn. From the same place came Dr. Samuel Cobb .. He in the same year became prominently identified with the affairs of the town, and was selectman and town treasurer for a number of years. George Hubbard, who had lived across the river in Claremont, N. H., moved into town during 1780. He was for many years one of the justices of the peace and held other offices.
In 1781 William Downer and Eliphalet Chapman, of Tolland, also settled in town. John Williams came from Providence, R. I., the year previous to this and located in the northwestern part of the town near North Springfield.
Daniel and Luther Field became residents of the town about 1783, as did also Abraham and Benjamin Olney, Jesse Sanders, Lemuel Hub- bard, Perez and Jacob Whitcomb, the last two being from Massachu- setts. Nathan Ward became a resident of the town in 1783, coming from Ashford, Conn.
This brings the settlement down to the close of the Revolutionary war and settlers soon became attracted to the hills of Vermont. The country began to fill up rapidly, and at the first census taken by the United States we find that Springfield had a population of 1,097. The town has ever since had a healthy growth.
It is the only town in the county, with two exceptions, that does not show a decrease in population as each census was taken. The follow- ing figures give the population of each census, besides those already given : 1800, 2,032 ; 1816, 2,556; 1820, 2,702; 1830, 2,749; 1840, 2,625 ; 1850, 2,762; 1860, 2,958 ; 1870, 2,937; 1880, 3, 144.
Springfield in the Revolution .- The first evidence of the formation of
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
a militia company in this town is under date of 1766. On the 27th of February of that year Simon Stevens was commissioned captain of the Eighth Company of Foot, by Sir Henry Moore, governor of the prov- ince of New York, which was to consist of the inhabitants of Spring- field.
It was not until the third convention, which was held to endorse the resolves of the Continental Congress by the different towns of Vermont, that we find any evidence that Springfield was represented. At this convention, held February 7, 1775, at Westminster, Vt., Simon Stevens was made one of the standing committee of correspondence which was created that the county might be kept well informed of the doings of the friends of liberty in the different colonies. After several attempts, in August, 1775, the militia of Cumberland and adjoining counties was formed into a brigade. The company from Springfield was officered as follows: Captain, Abner Bisbee ; lieutenant, Timothy Spencer ; ensign, Nathaniel Weston. In the following year John Barrett was commis- sioned lieutenant colonel of one of the regiments. In September, 1775, fifty-one of the inhabitants of the town signed an agreement binding themselves to maintain and disseminate the principles of American lib- erty and pledged themselves to support the Continental Congress.
At a meeting of the Committee of Safety held at Westminster, Vt., from the 11th to the 21st of June, 1776, Springfield was represented by Simon Stevens and Jerathmiel Powers. The militia was re-organized in 1778, and on October 20, 1779, the following were commissioned as officers of the Springfield company : Captain, Abner Bisbee ; first lieu- tenant, John Bisbee ; ensign, Taylor Spencer. The constant demands on the people to recruit the regiments of the independent State of Ver- mont caused much dissatisfaction among the southern towns, and by a vote of the town of Springfield taken in August, 1778, twenty-one were for New York, nineteen for Vermont, and four neutral.
In July, 1779, the town was represented at a convention held at Brat- tleboro, at which time a petition was addressed to Congress asking for its protection, and denying the authority of the pretended State of Ver- mont. The feeling against the new State gradually died out, and in 1780 there was scarcely an inhabitant of the town who was not a loyal supporter of Vermont. In that year also five points in the town were
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
provisioned against a possible invasion of the enemy. Men were raised to guard the frontier, but nevertheless the town was fined in 1784, by Vermont, for not filling her quota, in response to the call for troops in 1780.
Reminiscences .- In 1778 delegates were chosen by the town to go to Charlestown, N. H., to attend a convention for the purpose of inviting grants east of the Connecticut River to become a part of Vermont. The delegates were instructed, however, to do nothing that would lead to any quarrel with New Hampshire.
In 1790 it was voted by the town to petition the State Legislature to erect Rockingham, Tomlinson (now Grafton), Londonderry, Andover, Weathersfield, Springfield, Chester, Cavendish and Ludlow into a sepa- rate county.
The first frame building erected in the village of Springfield stood just below the site of Kimball's blacksmith shop ; it was occupied by Will- iam Griffith as a dwelling. He was the first to use the water-power for a fulling-mill, doing custom work. He carried on the business for a number of years and then removed it to Spencer Hollow.
In 1836 the question of annexing a part of the northwestern part of the town to Baltimore was agitated, but met with bitter opposition and was abandoned.
A notable freshet occurred in 1869. On the 4th of October the Black River rose fifteen to twenty feet and its powerful current swept every- thing before it. Every bridge over the river in the town was swept away. The Vermont Novelty Works, the saw and grist -mill at the vil - lage and a number of dwellings were ruined, and a man named Morey was swept away in the waters and drowned. The loss to the town and individuals was over $100,000.
The anecdotes that are current as to how that part of the town called " Eureka " received its name are worthy of note. One is to the effect that it was so named by an old settler because of its resemblance to a place in England where he formerly lived. Another is, that a school- master named Searles, after a long journey on which he had sought in vain for employment, was hired to teach the school and exclaimed, " Eureka " (I have found it).
On the farm now occupied by Hiram Ellis lived the pioneer Joseph
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
Little, and at his house the town meetings were held, and a tavern was also kept there, and 'a store by Lieutenant Roger Bates. There were about forty dwellings here, two stores, a blacksmith, saddlery and other shops. Colonel John Barrett built the first grist-mill in the town at this point, and Dr. Samuel Cobb was the first to practice medicine, living on the late Dr. Hubbard farm. School was opened as early as 1773, and was taught by Sarah Stevens, who was a sister of Simon Stevens. The one hundredth anniversary of the opening of this school was celebrated on the 24th of October, 1885, at the school-house.
Parker Hill is situated in the southern part of the town, and was one of the early settled parts. It was named after Leonard Parker, com- monly known as " King Parker," who kept a tavern at an early day. The hill was on the direct road to Bellows Falls and the highest eleva- tion between the Black River in Springfield, and the Williams River in Rockingham, Vt. There was quite a village here, with a store, black- smith and capenter shops, school-house, and near by a tannery. Among those living there fifty years ago were Charles Holt, William Thayer, Frink Fletcher, George Cutler, Simeon Harlow, Jehiel Weston, Jesse McIntyre, and Lewis Albee.
Slave Trade in Springfield .- Slavery and the buying and selling of human beings, which for so many years cursed a large portion of this country, once existed in the State of Vermont and the town of Spring- field felt its influence, as will be seen by the following ancient document :
" Know all men by these presents, that I Jotham White, of Spring- field, county of Windsor, State of Vermont, and in consideration of the sum of thirty five pounds in silver money to me in hand, paid by Oliver Hastings of Charlestown, in the county of Cheshire, and State of New Hampshire, physician, do sell and deliver to the said Oliver Hastings, my negro boy slave Anthony about 8 1-2 years of age, until said negro boy shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years." Here follows the usual form of such documents, with the date of March 2, 1790, and signed : Jotham White, Amanda Stone, Joel Reed, witnesses.
This old bill of sale is still in a good state of preservation. Jotham White was one of the most prominent men of the town and occupied many positions of trust.
Also, Colonel John Barrett purchased on the 5th of July, 1770, of
GED. M WALKER & CO. LITH. BOSTON
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
Caleb Bull, of Wallingford, Conn., one negro girl named Rose, aged about nine years, and brought her to Springfield, and there are persons now living who remember " Old Rose."
Roads and Bridges .- Springfield, located, as it is, on the Connecticut River, which was the favorite pathway of Indian travel, and also the great highway of the eastern part of the State by the whites, may have been traversed by the white man long before the time of which we have any record. A trading station was established at Charlestown called "Number Four " in 1727 ; but the first evidence of a white man is from a diary of John Coss, which states that on April 28, 1730, with a party of Indians, he camped about a mile and a half from the mouth of the Black River, and on May Ist crossed the river at the falls near the site of Springfield village. During the French and Indian war the province of New Hampshire, early in 1760, sent troops to build the Crown Point road to connect with General Amherst's army, then stationed at Crown Point. A block-house was built at a point on the Connecticut River about a mile north of where the Cheshire bridge is now located, the road running north by west, just skirting the southern point of Skitchawaug Mountain. It crossed the Weathersfield line in about the center of the town. The road was built in forty-four days to the Green Mountains, and Simon Stevens marked the first tree. The block-house, also the land adjoining, and two of the king's boats used on a ferry were given by General Amherst to Luxford Goodwin as early as 1760, in payment for his carrying a packet from him to General Murray, at Quebec. All but a small part of this road was discontinued by the town in 1826.
Mainly through the exertions of Isaac Fisher the road running from the central village was completed as early as 1806. It is, of course, im- possible in the compass of this work to trace every highway in the town.
There are at present five bridges across the Black River within the town. As early as 1774 the question of building a bridge at Lockwood Falls was agitated, but it was not until 1783 that it was accomplished. This bridge was rebuilt in 1825-26, and in 1868 an iron bridge was erected. This was destroyed by the flood of the following year, and the present one substituted.
Staging .- The first stage route established in this town ran from Charlestown, N. H., to Manchester, Vt., a distance of about fifty miles.
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