USA > Vermont > Addison County > Middlebury > History of the town of Middlebury, in the county of Addison, Vermont > Part 15
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In December 1776, and before the family were driven off by the war, Zerah Smalley, a son of Benjamin Smalley, died at the age of eighteen, and in February following, his daughter Anah, of the age of twenty years, having become insane, wandered into the woods, where she remained through the night, exposed to the severe cold of the winter, and perished before she was found in the: morning.
TERRITORY ANNEXED FROM CORNWALL.
The territory annexed from Cornwall being separate in its early settlement, we here place together the history of the agricultural part of that territory, as well after as before the war.
The partition of lands in Cornwall is in greater confusion than that of Middlebury; and no land owner can make out a title to his farm except by the statute of limitations, or by a prior possession, which no man can dispute with a better title. There was never any regular division of the lands. The whole seems to have been accomplished by an irregular system of pitches. The right of pitching was often granted on condition of performing certain services, such as clearing out and opening roads. Besides, all the records of the proceedings of the proprietors and of the surveys were burnt previous to the tenth of February 1778. A large portion of this part of Cornwall had been previously surveyed, the records of which were destroyed. The lands near the creek were generally settled earlier than other parts of the town; and nearly as many occupants were in possession of the agricultural parts as at the present time. A few of the surveys previously made, were
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recorded after the war, and others are ascertained from subsequent deeds. Such are the following. The proprietors granted to Judge Painter the right of pitching two hundred acres, for service done in surveying the " great road," through Cornwall. which is described as lying "across the north and south road, not far from the mid- dle of the town." One deed, dated May 1, 1784, conveys "one hundred acres, being a part of a certain grant of land, made and granted by the proprietors of said township of Cornwall, to Col. Seth Warner, and Major Robert Cochran and company, for building a block house at New Haven, and other services done for the pro- prietors of said town."
A meeting of the proprietors was held on the 10th day of Feb- ruary 1778, by adjournment ; previous to which all their records were burnt. This meeting was again adjourned from time to time, and on the 15th of April was further adjourned until October fol- lowing. But no meeting was then held or subsequently until after the war. The next meeting was held in September 1783, the notice of which was signed by "Timothy Bronson Assistant," and dated " Sunderland June 30, 1783," where he resided.
Daniel Foot, previous to his return to Middlebury, after the war, being desirous of obtaining a water power for the erection of mills on the west side of the falls, on the 6th day of February 1784, took a decd from Israel Dewey, of Westfield, Mass., conveying land of the following description,-" One certain right or share of land in the township of Weybridge, in the State of Vermont, and County of Rutland," ", said right is laid out and bounded on Otter Creek, on the falls called and known by the name of Middlebury Falls, and is lot No. 53, which fell to me the subscriber, original propri- etor, by.draft." There are also on record several deeds referring to Weybridge " Old corner." It is obvious that a different line was originally recognized, as dividing the towns of Cornwall and Wey- bridge, and far enough south to include the falls in the latter town ; and by persevering examination, we find that it forms the division line between Foot's mill lot, and the home farm of the late C'ol. Storrs. There is no record of the time and manner of altering this line, nor have we found any living man, who had any knowledge of 6
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such a line. But it is probable that the change was made by the surveyor general in 1784, when the town lines of Middlebury were re-sur veyed and corrected. Among the records of Cornwall town meeting in November 1787, is the following : "A petition from Weybridge for setting off from Cornwall to the former old line was read and rejected."
The town of Cornwall was organized on the second day of March 1784, two years before Middlebury. The following is the action of the town of Cornwall, in relation to the first bridge built by Daniel Foot across the creek at the falls, at a meeting in September 1788 : "The report of the committee to confer with Mr. Foot about the bridge was read : Voted to join with Daniel Foot of Middlebury, ยท to petition the assembly for a lottery to pay Mr. Foot for his bridge over the creek, and, if not granted, to petition for a land tax for the aforesaid purpose." A land tax was granted on the town of Cornwall, as well as on the town of Middlebury, and of which one half the expense was paid by Cornwall.
Asa Blodget from Salisbury, Conn., was probably the first set- tler in that part of Cornwall annexed to Middlebury. Previous to the 27th of October 1774, he seems to have been the owner of the right of Zuriel Jacobs. On that day he pitched, on that right, "one hundred acres and seven acres for allowance for highways, according to the vote passed at the proprietors' meeting the 3rd of May last," embracing the large bow in the creek, near the south line of the town, owned by the late Ira Stewart, Esq., and now in possession of his sons. In the summer of 1773, and previous to his survey, Blodget had settled on this lot, near the creek. The principal travel at that time was on the creek, by boats and rafts in the summer, and on the ice in the winter. His object in locating him- seif in this place, was to provide refreshment and rest for travellers. He built his cabin on the rising ground a little west of the creek, near where the present house stands. He had also a shanty near the creek to accommodate temporary travellers, when it was not over- flowed, as was common in high freshets. His house was the point, to which all travellers to and from Cornwall and the vicinity aimed.
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He continued in this place until the war and until most of the inhab- itants had left.
Dr. Merrill says, " Before the revolutionary war, Penuel Stevens settled on a strip of land near Otter Creek, south of Blodget, and north of Flat Brook." We have no further information of this man. He could not have owned land there, and he did not return after the war. Mr. Russell Vallett, who recently owned this land, says there is evidence of a former settlement there, about fifty rods above Blodget's pitch, and one hudred rods north of Flat Brook, on a small piece of land on the bank of the creek, which is not overflowed by freshets. Some remains of the foundation of a house and cornhills are found there, and the trees growing round it, when he purchased, were smaller than those of the surrounding forests .. The small timber on about thirty acres, somewhat higher than the surrounding swamp, and about fifty rods from the creek, he thinks evidence of a former clearing.
Theophilus Allen, before the war-probably in 1773, settled on an eighty acre lot next north of Blodget's farm. We find no record of the lands on which he settled until after the war. He subsequently pitched the lot on which he lived; and the hundred acre lot, on which his brother David Allen afterwards settled, and both on the right of Nathan Benton.
James Bentley, Jr., previous to the war, settled on a hundred and fifty acre lot, a part of which is now owned by Mr. Warren Moore, and built a small house, near the house in which Mr. Moore lives.
Thomas Bentley settled on a lot lying south and east of the above, and running to the creek, which is the farm since owned successively by Asa Harris and Hon. S. S. Phelps, and now by Marshal T. Shacket. His house was near the present dwelling house. What title he had at that time we are not able to ascertain. But after the war in 1786, he made a pitch of two hundred and twenty-two acres, extending from the Creek west to William Douglass's land, including this farm. Bentley returned after the war and continued in possession of his farm until 1793, when he sold it to Hezekiah Wadsworth, and removed from the country.
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Next south of Thomas Bentley, William Douglass settled near the house in which his son James Douglass, and his grand son of the same name have since resided, and which was owned by the late Dr. Ford of Cornwall, and now by his son, Charles R. Ford.
Joseph Throop, from Whiting, in 1774 settled on a lot next south and east of Douglass and running to the creek, on the ground where Dan Throop, his son, afterwards lived, and which has since been owned by Johathan Hagar, Esq., and occupied by Joseph Stearns. The same lot was recently owned and occupied by Abijah Hurd, and has lately been purchased by Gardner and Isaac Eells. Joseph Throop also owned the lot south of the above, on which his son Samuel resided, and which now belongs to the farm purchased by Eells of Hurd. In the spring of 1843, Alvah English resided on this farm, which he had owned and occupied for several years. He owned also a lot on the creek. In a great freshet which occurred at that time, the low lands were overflowed, his fences were swept away and the rails were floating on the water. In order to collect and save these he built a raft of rails, at the bend of the creek, near the foundation of the house, where James Bentley, and afterwards Samuel Benton resided before the war, took on his son, ten or twelve years old, and attempted to go in pursuit of his floating rails. Not being able to guide his raft it was drawn into the current and parted in the eddy, and he and his son fell into the creek and were drowned, on the 20th day of April of that year. He was in his forty-fifth year. The body of his son was never recovered.
In 1774 James Bentley, senior, had settled and resided on the bank of the creek, about five rods south of Throop's line at the bend of the creek, about two miles south of the village. In the year following he lived in a house on the north part of the Bentley pitch in Middlebury.
Col. Samuel Benton, who owned considerable land in other parts of Cornwall, in 1775, established his residence on the bank of the creek at the same place and probably in the same house which had been occupied by James Bentley, and which, for want of a title or otherwise, he had left. The foundation of this house, some
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currant bushes, and other signs of a residence were to be seen, until they were removed by the construction of the rail-road.
These were all the settlers on this tract before the war.
In 1783 Asa Blodget returned to his former possession, and continued it until 1795, when he sold it to Anthony Rhodes, from whom it has passed through several hands to its present owners.
Theophilus Allen, at the close of the war also returned and went into possession of his former lot, and resided on it until 1797, when he deeded it to Joshua Henshaw, from New Hartford, Conn. Mr. Henshaw's first settlement in this town was at this place, where he resided until he removed to the village in 1800. It is now as it has been for many years, occupied by Silas Piper and his son Silas Piper, Jr.
William Douglass, in the fall of 1783, returned to his farm with two young sons, for the purpose of making preparation for the return of his family. On the 19th of December of that year he went into the forest to cut wood and was instantly killed by the fall of a tree. On a monument erected at his grave on the rising ground southerly from his house is the following inscription :
" Mr., William Douglass, born June 22, 1735, was killed instantly by the fall of a tree, December 19, 1783.
Here life and all its pleasures end,
Here mourners wander, read and weep ;
Soon each succeeds his fallen friend,
And in the same cold earth must sleep.
Mr. Douglass, his widow and children owned several tracts adjoining his home farm, occupied at different times by different members of his family, including Orange Throop, his son-in-law. James Douglass was the last of his sons, who occupied the home- stead after the death of the widow. He went to the south in 1822, where his daughter was teaching, and died there. His widow and father-in-law James Bentley continued to reside there with his son, until their several deaths, and his son afterwards sold the farm and moved to the west.
Joseph Throop, when he returned after the war, went into possession of his farm, but died twelve or fourteen years after, and
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his widow married Eleazar Davis. Davis and his wife continued in possession for a time, and in 1796 gave a deed of the two lots above mentioned to her sons Dan and Samuel Throop, who occupied the premises as before stated.
Col. Samuel Benton did not occupy his house on the bank of the creek after the war, but resided elsewhere in Cornwall.
James Bentley senior, after the war, built him a house on the bank of the creek near the house of Hop. Johnson, mentioned elsewhere, and after Johnson deserted his family in 1789 Bentley lived with his daughter Mrs. Johnson. She was soon after married to James Douglass, and Bentley lived with them for some years on the ridge south of Davenport's new house, until they removed together to the Douglass farm, as mentioned above. James Bentley, senior, died in 1829, at the age of ninety-three years.
James Bentley Jr., returned to his farm after the war, and remained on it for some years. In 1788, he deeded fifty acres to William Donaghy, who built a house southerly from Bentley's, on a road then open, leading from James Bentley's to Thomas Bentley's. On this lot Donaghy resided until 1795, when he sold it to Thomas and Ep. Spencer, who were in possession for twelve or fifteen years, and sold it to Dr. Willard and Ethan Andrus. The Spencers were succeeded in the possession of the house by Julius Wilcox. A part of the land deeded to Willard on which the house stood, is annexed to the farm of Warren Moore. Harvey Wilcox, son of Julius Wilcox, now residing in the village on the Cornwall road, purchased a piece of land and moved to it the old house in which his father lived, and resided there until 1830. In 1831, Harvey Pritchard purchased this and other adjoining lands- has repaired the house and still lives there.
In the year 1788, Capt. Samuel Wright, then of Weybridge, purchased several pieces of land south of the Douglass farm and west of the Throop lot, and among others a small piece of Thomas Bentley, on which he erected a house, now occupied by Julius Douglass, who owns the farm. In this place he resided until his death in December 1818, at the age of eighty-two years. By his will he provided for the support of his widow, and her daughter
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by a former husband, during their lives, and gave the remainder to the Congregational Society. The amount remaining to the Society is about seven hundred dollars. His widow, Esther Wright died in 1840, aged eighty-eight years.
In the year 1791 Thomas Bentley deeded to Andrew Nichols a tract of eighty-nine acres on the north side of his two hundred and twenty-two acre pitch, extending west from the creek, on which he resided for some time, and it was called his "home lot." Not many years since there were on this lot an old log house and & plank house, probably built by him, a short distance north of the former residence of Thomas Bentley, now owned by Shacket.
In 1793 Bentley deeded to Luther Wright, of Swanzy, N. H., a tract on the south side of his pitch, extending west from the creek to the land of Capt. Samuel Wright. Wright occupied this as his home farm for some time; but while carrying it on it is understood that he lived with his uncle, Samuel Wrigh, and built no house on his land. No person, as owner of either of these lots has since resided on them. Both lots are now owned by James McDonald, Esq.
David Allen, a brother of Theophilus Allen, after the war settled on the farm next north of his brother, now owned by . Alfred Stowell. He continued his residence here until the year 1805, when he died at the age of forty-three years. His widow, after his death, was married to Elijah Keeler, and they remained in possession of the farm during their lives.
Previous to the year 1796, Francis Garrett settled on a lot of ninety-two acres, next north of the home farm of David Allen, built a log house and resided on it until 1803, when he deeded it to Daniel and William Campbell. The title has since passed through several hands. . The tract between the creek and the road was for- merly owned by Asa Harris, and during that time his son built a house and resided in it for some time. The house has since been removed, and the land is now owned by Marshall T. Shackett. On the west of the road, John Stearns, son of Joseph Stearns, built a house and resided a few rods south of the barn belonging to Shack- ett. This tract is now owned by Jacob W. Conroe, Esq., and the house is occupied by a tenant.
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HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY:
CHAPTER IV.
RETREAT OF THE SETTLERS-EMPLOYMENT IN THEIR ABSENCE- OTHER EVENTS DURING THE WAR-MISS TORRANCE'S STORY- JUDGE PAINTER-COL. CHIPMAN.
AFTER the retreat of the American army in June 1776, from the disastrous expedition into Canada, the inhabitants of this and the neighboring towns were somewhat exposed to depredation from scouting parties of British, tories and Indians, and especially after the defeat of the American fleet under Arnold, in October following. And it is not improbable, that some of the more timid families re- treated from the country during that season. But they were vastly more exposed, the following year, when Burgoyne, with his formid- able army sailed up the lake, dispersing every form of opposition. For this reason we have been forced into no little incredulity as to the exact correctness of the following statement of Dr. Merrill. He says-" Agreeably to advice from head quarters of our army at Ticonderoga, all the inhabitants of Middlebury and Cornwall, except Daniel Foot and Benjamin Smalley, removed in June 1776. Some of them on the Cornwall side of the river did not leave one extreme of their farms, till the Indians in search of booty were lurking in the other. Foot and Smalley after being pillaged of most of their moveable property, abandoned their homes in Septem- ber of the same year. These two individuals however, with their families, returned in the following winter and remained until the spring of 1778." . This is a representation of events which might be supposed to have existed in June of the year following. But the histories of that period do not furnish any adequate reason for such general alarm and sudden retreat in June 1776. The last of
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the American troops did not leave St. Johns until the 18th of June. From the reduced and enfeebled state of the army, it was decided to relinquish Crown Point and concentrate the whole army at Ticonderoga; but they did not leave the former place until after the 12th of July, and retained possession of Ticonderoga until driven from it by Burgoyne's army on the 6th of July of the fol- lowing year. The American Navy had the control of the lake until the British had constructed their, fleet and defeated the former in October. Until this time the British had no organized force south of Canada, and their fleet, which then came out, remained only about a month, and returned to Canada with their whole force, without attacking the American fortifications at Ticonderoga. There were, at the time of the invasion of Burgoyne in 1777, American families at Crown Point and on the opposite shore in Addison, Bridport and Panton, who for the first time fied on the approach of the Indians so near, that they hardly escaped with the utmost haste. At the time of the evacuation of Ticonderoga, on the 6th of July of that year, the Convention engaged in forming the first constitution of the State were thrown into a state of excitement and disorder because the families of some of the western members were exposed by the invasion. After this, and perhaps before, foraging and scouting parties, composed of British, Tories and Indians, were often roaming through the country to obtain supplies, who stole and carried away every moveable thing they could lay their hands on, but there was no general destruction of property or capture of prisoners until the fall of 1778. Even at this time, there were residents in several of the neighboring towns who were taken prisoners and sent into Canada.
By the records of Cornwall, it appears that Judge Painter surveyed a lot of land in that town on the 11th of April, 1777, which was entered of record the same day, but was recorded afterwards. The records of that town previous to February 1778 being burnt furnish no further evidence previous to that time. At the meeting of the proprietors held in that town on the 14th and 15th of April 1778, much important business was transacted relating to their lands. But we are not able to call to our aid any 7
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living witnesses or records in Middlebury to offset against the better testimony which Dr. Merrill had an opportunity to obtain.
Whatever the correct date of the retreat may be, it is true that on a sudden alarm most of the settlers fled from the country in great haste. The privations and hardships of their recent settle- ment in the wilderness were sufficiently appalling, but were fearfully aggravated by their being so suddenly banished from their homes into exile by the ravages of war. It is to be regretted that some one did not, before it was too late, collect from the sufferers the stories of their trials. Philip Battell, Esq., more thoughtful than others, several years ago collected some facts from a few individuals since dead. These, with such others as we have been able to obtain from other sources, we intersperse with our narrative.
Miss Olive Torrance, daughter of Robert Torrance, whom we have mentioned as a settler, is the only witness who had any knowledge of the events before the war, or during the retreat. The following is a part of her story as reported by Mr. Battell :
Her father, she says, came to this country from Ireland in 1754, when he was eighteen years old. He became a resident of Wood- bury, Conn., and married Sally Peck, of that place. Ile removed to Middlebury with his family, with the first parties in 1774. They descended Otter Creek on a boat or raft, and made their beginning in a log house, which he had built on the spot where the family still live. She was then five years old.
The retreat from the country occurred three years after, upon the invasion of Burgoyne. She thinks the removal was in August; it might have been in June or early in July. Her mother went out, before they left, among the garden vines, which were numerous and promising, regretting to leave them. The state of apprehen- sion had been previously such that one Evarts, belonging to that neighborhood, and then in a company at Ticonderoga, arriving and visiting at their house early in the morning, produced great agitation among them. As a further alarm was to be given, the men, before hoeing was finished, turned out and dug out six bass- wood canoes near the river, and decided not to go until further notice, when all were to be in readiness. When the final message
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came their goods were taken to the river, the raft constructed, on which the women and children were placed, and the journey com- menced, Otter Creek being again their common highway. The party landed at Pittsford, where there was a military post, and Mrs. Torrance followed the train of women and children towards the settle- ment. She was carrying a child two years old in a sort of double- gown, brought over her shoulders, and in this plight saw a regiment of soldiers drawn up in front of her. She sat down by the way on a log and wept. A neighbor, Mr. Boardman, coming up on a horse, carrying an ox yoke behind him, insisted on laying off his yoke and taking her instead, bidding her not be down-hearted, but expect that things would turn out better than she feared. As they passed the regiment, the Colonel recognized her and called out, "My God, there's Sally Peck. It makes a man's eyes run to see you brought to this." The soldiers, at his instance gave up their quarters to the women and children, brought them water for their washing and cooking, and made them as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. Many of them knew Mrs. Torrance as their towns-woman, and sympathized with her and felt for the distresses of the people. Miss Torrance's father joined his family the next day, bringing with him his stock of cattle. From this place the family went to Rutland, and from that place communicated with a brother-in-law in Richmond, Mass., who came on with horses for their party. The family was under the protection of an uncle in Litchfield for a time, and then joined her father, who was then employed, during the war, in one of the furnaces in Salisbury, casting ordnance for the army. He was absent eight years. He was employed seven years in the furnace, the eighth he took a farm. His cow he had sold on his flight at Rutland, his oxen in Connecticut. These were replaced by the produce of a cow bought in Salisbury, which, by letting, had multiplied with her issue to twenty-one, having but a single male in the number.
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