USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 65
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The town of Rochester was brought into existence by virtue of an act of the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, passed on the 6th day of November, 1780, at the session held in Bennington; and the grant then made was subsequently confirmed by a charter to Dudley Chase and others, his associates, which bore the date of July 30, 1781. In this respect, that is, the granting and chartering of Rochester, this town forms an exception to the rule or custom or means by which the great majority of the towns of this county were created ; for they were generally erected by a charter either from New Hampshire or New York. But the towns so created were those formed prior to 1780, and generally prior to the time when Vermont declared her independence, in 1777.
But the granting and subsequent chartering of Rochester was unlike the grants made by New Hampshire in that it was for a substantial con- sideration, while the purchase price expressed in the provincial charters was generally nominal, the customary ear of Indian corn, or one pepper- corn, if demanded, and the annual payment of one shilling proclamation money, and the like; none of which considerations had lasting force by reason of the decree of the king in 1764, that ended the New Hamp-
Summer M. Webber
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shire jurisdiction and passed the same over to the authority of New York. But it has been said that the grant of Rochester to its proprietors from the government of Vermont was upon an express and substantial consideration, and such was the case, for the General Assembly on the 9th of November, 1780, passed a resolution of which the following is a true copy :
" Resolved, That the proprietors of the Township of Rochester, Granted to Asa Whitcomb, Esq. & Company, sixty-four in Number, as described on the plan No. 3, pay for each Right in said Town Nine pounds L. Money on the 15th day of March next, and settle the Same within three years after the present war will admit of Settlement with Safety. The reservations to be specified in the Charter of Incorporation."
From the foregoing resolution it will be seen that the sixty-four pro- prietors of Rochester were required to pay into the treasury of the State the sum of nine pounds for each right, or for the sixty-four rights the aggregate sum of £576 for the purchase price of the town, however un- desirable may have been the lands for the purpose of settlement. This would usually appear to be an extraordinary consideration to be paid for lands so remote from settled and desirable towns which had been previously granted for more nominal prices, but it was not a condition exacted exclusively from the proprietors of Rochester, for the Legisla- ture at the same session granted many other towns, and from each was required like payment, although the amount differed in various cases. On the 7th of November, 1780, only two days before the above quoted resolution was passed, a similar one was adopted by which the proprie- tors of Pittsfield, sixty-five in number, were in the same manner required to pay nine pounds for each of their rights. And the sixty-one propri- etors of Braintree, the town just north of this, were likewise directed to pay nine pounds for each right.
But it did not necessarily follow that the consideration money was to be paid by the proprietors in cash ; and although the above resolution gives no alternative or option, it was nevertheless the case that but little of the specified sum was paid in actual money, but rather in such con- modities as the State authorities then most needed, as will be seen by the resolution passed at the session of the Governor and Council and the General Assembly held at Windsor, on the 19th of February, 1781, as
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follows : " Resolved, That the Committee for receiving the Granting fees for the Lands Granted Last October are directed to receive from the Proprietors of the Township of Rochester Two Hundred Bushels Wheat into Some proper Stores at Norwich, Hartford and Windsor, at 6 shill- ings pr. Bushel Towards said Granting fees." This was a payment on the part of the proprietors of ninety pounds, or nearly one-eighth part of their consideration money.
The first resolution, that specifying the amount of payment, also pre- scribes, as will be seen, that the settlement of the town shall be made " within three years after the present war will admit of settlement with safety "; but it appears that notwithstanding the fact that the war was then in progress, and at its height, that settlement and improvement in the town had already commenced, and in fact was in progress when the grant was issued. The pioneers in this direction were John Sanger, Joel Cooper, Timothy Clements, James Guggin, and John Emerson, who came to the town, or what became the town, built cabins, cleared forests, and made improvements at various points along the valley of the White River, during the summer of 1780. This being done, the party " broke camp," intending to visit their homes and return again to the town dur- ing the fall, and therefore left all their camp equipage, together with a horse and a borrowed " two-year old heifer," at the place of their labors.
But their intentions to return were defeated, or at least the return was delayed, on account of the Indian depredations in the vicinity dur- ing the fall of that year. The reader will remember that it was during the month of August, 1780, that a party of Indians made a sudden attack upon the settlement at Barnard and carried three men of the town into captivity. And on the 16th of October of the same year a still more serious attack was made upon Royalton, which resulted in the almost total destruction of the town, and the capture of a large number of the inhabitants. Reports of these depredations coming to the knowledge of the pioneers of Rochester, had the effect of delaying their return to the place, lest they, too, should be subjected to a similar attack, their improvements destroyed, and themselves killed or led away captives by the merciless and blood-thirsty savages. And it was well that these sturdy men delayed their return, for when they finally arrived in the town they found that the place had been visited by the Indians,
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and there were unmistakable evidences of white rascals in company with them. The cabins were not destroyed, but some of the cooking utensils had been broken, and the borrowed heifer had been killed. The horse was said to have made his way back to his owner at Barnard.
In 1781 the pioneers vigorously prosecuted their work of clearing the land and putting it in condition for cultivation ; sowed seed and planted crops, and built the first log house in the town, to which they gave the name " House Commons." During the next year, 1782, a number of families came to the town for the purpose of permanent residence ; among them were those of James Guggin, David Currier, John Sanger, Timothy Clements, Daniel Emerson, and Mr. Haskell. Currier and his family occupied the House Commons. The wives of these first heads of families, Mrs. Ruth Guggin, Mrs. Rebecca Currier, Eunice Sanger, Jemima Clements, and Mrs. Eunice Haskell, for their courage in making so unpromising a wilderness the homes of themselves and their children, and for bearing so patiently the hardships of life in such a region, were remembered substantially by the proprietors at a meeting held in July, 1784, for each of them was voted a hundred-acre lot in the second division of such lots. And to the first-born children, Frederick and William Currier, twin sons of Lieutenant David Currier, the proprietors generously voted a hundred-acre lot. Also to Dorcas Currier, who seems to have been of great service to the handful of pioneer families in the care of their sick, was voted a fifty acre lot.
In 1783 the town of Rochester seems to have experienced a change of jurisdiction, but not a change of such character as would in any man- ner affect the rights or interests of any of the proprietors of or dwellers in the town. The change was simply one of jurisdiction, by which Rochester was annexed to the county of Windsor, and became one of its towns. The act by which this was effected is not readily to be obtained, but was presented to the Legislature at the session held at Windsor on the 25th day of February, in the year named, the pub- lished record of the proceeding as that time being as follows: "An Act annexing the Town of Rochester to the County of Windsor, for the Time being, having passed the House, was received and read ; and the Question being put whether the same be concurred, it passed in the Affirmative." Thus it was by virtue of the act referred to in the fore-
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going extract that the town of Rochester became one of the civil divi- sions of Windsor county ; and whether or not this act was ever made permanent is not known, nor is it of any particular importance. Cer- tain it is, however, that by it Rochester was annexed to the county, and there it has ever remained, although the extract itself says the annexa- tion is for the " time being."
The town of Rochester did not attract much attention from the authorities of the State prior to its organization as a town, which occurred during the year 1788. The settlement in this locality did not commence as early as in towns further to the east, along the valley of the Connecticut, nor as early as in some of the towns in the White River val- ley; and it of course had no representation in the General Assembly of the State until it had a local organization. Therefore, not being in a proper position to ask from the State authorities, nothing was received. But it did so happen that in 1786, or rather 1785, the surveyor-general of the State cut certain highways and ran town lines in several towns of the State, and the expenses of this proceeding were charged against the towns in which the work was done, or which were supposed to be bene- fited by the work. Rochester was one of the towns so assessed, the particular record of the proceeding being as follows : " Having Liqui- dated the counts Exhibited by the Surveyor- General for running Town lines, Cutting roads, etc., Resolved, That the following sums annexed to each respective Town be assessed equally on the Several proprietors for defraying said expenses," etc. The amount charged against the proprie- tors of Rochester on account of this work was twenty-four pounds, seven shillings, and nine pence.
But it cannot be said nor inferred that the early settlers of Rochester were not informed as to what was transpiring in the affairs of the State at large with reference to Vermont's obtaining admission to the Union of States. In 1788 the town elected its first representative to the General Assembly,-Enoch Emerson,-and from all that can now be learned con- cerning him he must have been the leading and most influential man of the town in his time. Besides being the first town representative he is found to have served the town in that capacity in twenty-two sessions of the General Assembly, his last term being in 1822. He also represented the town in the convention of the delegates of the people of the State of
Gro. S. Guernsey
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TOWN OF ROCHESTER.
Vermont, held at Bennington on the 10th of January, 1791, at which time it was formally announced that New York had fully and freely con- sented that Vermont be admitted to the Federal Union, and withdrew all opposition to that admission ; and the convention of assembled dele- gates ratified the constitution of the United States, and signed their in- dividual names to the resolutions then adopted, which were transmitted to the General Assembly of this State and to the President of the United States. But to the resolutions there adopted and signed by 105 dele- gates the name of Enoch Emerson does not appear, as he was one of the four dissentients, the others being Daniel Heald of Chester, Moses War- ner of Andover, and Benjamin Perkins of Bridgewater, all of them from towns of Windsor county.
And Enoch Emerson, besides being a leader of the town in its politi- cal and governmental affairs, was one of the progressive spirits that con -. tributed largely to building up the industries of the locality. He built the first saw-mill and grist mill in the towns, in the year 1786 and 1787 ; and to him, in 1788, the proprietors voted to give a " sufficient title to all the land voted to be laid out for the encouragement of building mills aforesaid in the name and behalf of the proprietors." This entitled Mr. Emerson to two hundred and ten acres of land, and the mill privileges. And that Mr. Emerson was a conspicuous person in town affairs is fur- ther attested by the fact that there was hardly an office in the gift of the town that he did not at some time or another hold.
For all time in the history of Rochester previous to 1788 its affairs were in the hands of the proprietors, but in the year named the town was possessed of a sufficient number of inhabitants to entitle it to organiza- tion. The warning for the first town meeting was signed by Asa Whit- comb, at Stockbridge, on the 30th of April, 1788, and the meeting in pursuance of it was holden at the dwelling of Ebenezer Burnham, on the 15th day of May thereafter. The principal town officers then chosen were as follows: Moderator, Lieutenant David Currier ; town clerk, Captain Timothy Clements ; selectmen, Timothy Clements, Enoch Emer- son and Aaron Wilbur, who were also chosen surveyors, called "layers out " of highways; constable, Moses Currier; collector, Joseph Boice.
In 1791 the first Federal census was taken, and by that enumeration the actual number of inhabitants was two hundred and fifteen, or about
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thirty or forty families. Nine years later, or in 1800, the growth of the town is evidenced by the fact that the population had more than doubled, there then being five hundred and twenty-four inhabitants. In 1810 the total had increased to nine hundred and eleven, but during the decade then past the town was enlarged by the acquisition of over a thousand acres from Pittsfield, with its resident population. In 1820, including whatever of population was acquired by the small annexation from Goshen in 1814, Rochester's inhabitants numbered eleven hundred and forty-eight. In 1830 the total had increased to thirteen hundred and ninety-two, and that inclusive of the population acquired by the annex- ation of parts of Pittsfield and Braintree in 1824. In 1840 the census reports showed no material increase, the enumeration then made giving the town thirteen hundred and ninety-six inhabitants, and that notwith - standing the fact that one hundred and sixty acres of land, with its popu - lation, probably not over half a dozen, was annexed in 1834. In 1850 a total population of fourteen hundred and ninety-three was reached, but even this was not a natural increase, for, in 1847, eleven thousand three hundred acres were set off from Goshen and added to Rochester. Had it not been so this year's census would have shown a material decrease. In 1860 the maximum number of inhabitants was attained, fifteen hun - dred and seven ; but in 1870 it had fallen to fourteen hundred and forty- four, and in 1880 to thirteen hundred and sixty-two. At the present the most careful estimates by well informed residents of the town place its total population at from twelve hundred and fifty to twelve hundred and seventy-five.
The town, as has already been stated, was settled, or at least its set - tlement was commenced, during the year 1780, and such commodities as the pioneers then most required were either brought with them or some one of their number was delegated to go to the more advanced settlements on the east and purchase whatever was required by the people. The comforts of life were indeed few, and luxuries they had none. The first public improvement was made during the years 1786 and 1787, when Enoch Emerson built the saw and grist-mill ; and dur- ing the year first named pioneer Ebenezer Burnham donated to the pub- lic four acres of land for the purposes of a meeting-house, church-yard and common. The land was accepted, and the meeting-house was built
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during 1793, or about that time. Another of the first events was the coming of the first blacksmith to the town, this honor being accorded to Ebenezer Morse. The first physician was Dr. Retire Trask, who came with his wife to the town in 1790. His wife was something of a doctress, and between them the health of the people was assured. The doctor built what was known as the " old Webber house," in the south part of the village of Rochester. The worthy doctor and his wife held undisputed sway in their special calling in the town for nearly twenty- five years. In 1791 the first provision was made for schools in the town, which was divided into four districts, known respectively as the " Lower District," the "Branch District," the " Middle District," and the " Upper" or " Northern District." The first school was taught in the lower part of the town at the dwelling of Enos Morgan. The first teacher of " the young idea " was Rev. Howe, and, if record and tradi- tion are correct, the reverend pedagogue had an exceedingly persuasive way of instilling knowledge into the young minds under his care-beat- ing it into them, so to speak. In 1801 the town was re-divided and six school districts formed ; and again, in 1810, into eight districts. In 1814 the first school census of the town was made, showing a total of four hundred and forty-one scholars in the several districts.
The Rev. Mr. Howe, in addition to his employment as teacher, here- tofore mentioned, was engaged at the town's expense to preach, and in 1793 the town "voted to give the Rev. Mr. Howe three bushels of wheat per day for his labor among us in the ministry of the Word so long as he shall preach among us. Also, keep, or pay for keeping, of said Mr. Howe's horse during the time he shall preach among, or with us." But prior to Mr. Howe's ministry in the community Rev. Mr. Washburn had labored in the same field. In 1794 the town meeting- house, built on the common donated by Ebenezer Burnham, was first used. It was generally described as the Potash Meeting-House, from the fact of there being near it an old potash factory. Rev. Mr. Ran- som was another of the early preachers in the town
The first church society in the town was the Congregational, organ- ized September 1 1, 1801, and of which Enoch Emerson and Daniel Shaw were the first chosen deacons. From this primitive organization has grown what there is of Congregationalism in the town at the present
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time; and the original society itself may truthfully be said to have had its origin in the early meetings and preaching supported at the town's expense, although they were not intended to be, nor were they at all, de - nominational. The majority of the early residents of the town had been brought up and instructed in that church belief, and it was only natural that they should adhere to it and build up that society as the first of the town. In 1808 the town voted that the meeting- house be opened to the use of any denomination when there was no preaching of the Con- gregational "order." In 1812 the church of this society was com- menced, and was finished and occupied the next year. Rev. Salmon Hurlbut was settled over this church as pastor in 1822. Two years pre- vious to this, or in 1820, the society had one hundred and eight mem- bers.
The Methodist church and society of the town was organized in 1803, and Rev. Thomas Skeels was its first minister. The first meeting was held in the Congregational church, the town meeting-house, and the text on that occasion was "They that have turned the world upside down have come hither also." The growth of this society was not rapid, and in 1820 it numbered but thirty-one members. The church edifice, a union meeting- house, was built in 1827, at the joint expense of the Methodist and Universalist societies, the latter having been organized in 1822. It seems that the latter society was the stronger in the town at that time, or at least that its members paid more toward the erection of the building, and was therefore entitled to its use two Sabbaths more each year than the Methodists. In 1840 the number of Methodists had . increased to 80, and at the same time the Universalists numbered 85. In 1849 the Methodist Society purchased the interest held by the Uni- versalists in the meeting-house, and the latter society at once built for themselves. In 1850 the Methodists numbered 50, and the Universa- lists 113. By this time the Congregationalists had decreased to 92.
In 1817 the Baptist Society was organized, Elder Perkins being its first minister. The society grew slowly, numbering but 16 in 1820, and it finally passed out of existence. There have also been other relig- ious societies organized in the town, among them more prominently called Protestant Methodists and Episcopal (both during 1845), and the Second Adventists in 1851, but neither acquired much numerical strength, and continued but a short time.
Your Very truly Cha Morgan
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TOWN OF ROCHESTER.
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During the three war periods, the Revolution, the War of 1812-15, and that of 1861-65, the town of Rochester had an existence, but dur- ing the first of these there could not have been any contribution of men on the part of the town, nor of means for the conduct of the war on the part of the State, except as the emergency of the occasion required that the State authorities should demand of the proprietors the sum of nine pounds for each right of land in the town, payable in money or provi- sions, but not so expressed for the maintenance of the State troops in act- ual service or in duty on the northern frontiers. By this means and the sale of confiscated lands the government of the State was enabled to keep troops in the field, and it was seldom that towns were called upon to raise anything other than provisions for the military operations then in progress. But there appears no evidence to show that Rochester was called upon to furnish men or any provisions other than as mentioned ; the struggling pioneers found in the work of clearing their lands and im- proving them a sufficient burden for them to bear, but, notwithstanding that, it was necessary to make preparations for possible emergencies, and the town had its quasi-military organization, ready to repel the in- vasions of the Indians in case any should be made. But, fortunately, they were exempted from any depredations, and none in fact were made after the burning of Royalton in October, 1780.
During the period of the War of 1812-15 the records of the town dis- close no information by which it can be learned what measures were taken to supply men for the service, nor what contribution was made by the town for the support of the troops of the State. That men from Rochester were in the army there can be no doubt, but who they were, or the extent of their service, is not readily ascertained.
One of the earlier chapters of this volume is devoted to the record and history of the men of Windsor county in the war of the Rebellion, showing the services of each regiment that contained any considerable contingent of volunteers from any section of the county. And in the same connection will also be found a roll of the soldiers from each of the towns of the county, as contained in the reports of the adjutant and inspector-general of Vermont. Therefore it will be unnecessary in this place to pursue that subject at greater length, or to give any other par- ticular account of the performance on the part of the town relative to
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the furnishing of men, or the money with which bounties were paid. But there is one thing-one event-that demands at least a brief notice on these pages; and that, the erection of a beautiful and appropriate monument, during the year 1868, commemorative of the lives and deeds of Rochester's heroic sons, who participated in the conflicts of the war. This magnificent tribute stands in the pretty village park, twenty-three feet in height, and is surmounted by an eagle, carved in granite, of which material the whole structure is made.
Town Representatives in the General Assembly .- 1788-90, Enoch Emerson; 1791, Benjamin Eastman; 1792-1804, Enoch Emerson ; 1795, Benjamin Eastman ; 1796-1806, Enoch Emerson ; 1807, Oliver Mason ; 1808, Enoch Emerson; 1809-11, Leonard Richard- son ; 1812, Enoch Emerson ; 1813-15, Oliver Mason; 1816, Enoch Emerson ; 1817, Daniel Huntington ; 1818, Enoch Emerson ; 1819-21, William Powers ; 1822, Enoch Emerson ; 1823-4, Ephraim D. Briggs ; 1825-6, Lyman Emerson ; 1827, Daniel Huntington ; 1828-9, Lyman Emerson ; 1830, Ephraim D. Briggs ; 1831-2, Stillman Emerson ; 1833, Lyman Emerson; 1834-5, John Trask; 1836-7, Joseph F. Tilden ; 1838, John Trask ; 1839-40, Thomas Barnes; 1841-2, Barney Cooper ; 1843-4, Thomas B. Martin , 1845, Thomas B. Harvey ; 1846, William B. Henry ; 1847, none; 1848, James Wing, 2d; 1849-50, John W. Chaffee ; 1851-2, David Eaton ; 1853-4, William B. Henry ; 1855-6, James Wing ; 1857-8, Sumner A. Webber; 1859-60, Joseph L. Morse ; 1861-2, Artemas Cushman ; 1863-4, William M. Huntington ; 1865-6, Chester Pierce ; 1867-8, Christopher A. Webber; 1869-71, Charles Morgan ; 1872-3, Silas B. Morse ; 1874-5, Philander Baker; 1876-7, Julius A. Eaton ; 1878-9, none reported ; 1880-1, Albert Richmond ; 1882-83, J. O. Sherburne ; 1884-85, C. D. Hubbard; 1886-87, J. W. Campbell; 1888-89, G. L. Chaffee; 1890, Fayette A. Kezer.
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