USA > Vermont > Windham County > Rockingham > History of the town of Rockingham, Vermont, including the villages of Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, Rockingham, Cambridgeport and Bartonsville, 1753-1907, with family genealogies > Part 19
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204
History of Rockingham
The establishment of courts in this county, and through- out what is now Vermont, was under authority of New York. Cumberland county was the first county erected in the Grants, July 3, 1766, and comprised all that portion of the present state east of the Green mountains. In 1780, the Vermont legislature divided this into two counties, "Gloucester" being the name of the northern portion, and Cumberland com- prising only what is now the territory included in the counties of Windham and Windsor. Other county divisions of the territory east of the Green mountains have occurred since. The only change made which affects the town of Rocking- ham, was the later sub-division of Cumberland county into the present counties of Windham and Windsor by the Ver- mont legislature in February, 1781. At first, the seat of Cumberland county was at Chester. In 1772, the county seat was removed to Westminster, and the historic court- house and jail were erected on "Court House Hill," in that village. In the year 1787, the county seat was changed to Newfane where it has since remained.
In 1772, when the county seat of government was removed from Chester to Westminster, an organized effort was made by the inhabitants of Rockingham to have this town chosen as the county seat. On the second of December the town offered to pay £70 towards the erection of the county build- ing, provided the shire town was located here. Similar offers were made by other towns and Westminster was chosen.
The first important act in the drama of Revolution in which the citizens of Rockingham took a leading part was the " Westminster Massacre " as it has been known in history. This occurred during the night of March 13, 1775, in the old Westminster court-house. During an organized insur- rection of the settlers, who had borne the oppression of the king's courts as long as human endurance would allow, the first blood of an organized body of men resisting Great Britain in the Revolutionary War was shed.
Citizens of Rockingham were present in much larger numbers than from all other towns put together. They had
By His EXCELLENCY
WILLIAM TRYON, Efq;
Captain General and Governor in Chief, in and over the Province of new Port, and the Territories depending thercon in America, Chancellor and Vice Admiral of the fame.
min Burt of the Country of Cumberland Esquire Greeting
M. Snym
EPOSING cfpecial Truff and Confidence, as well in the Care, Diligence, and Circumfpection, as in the Loyalty, Courage and Readinefs of You, to do his Majefty good and faithful Service ;
R HIVE nominated, conftituted, and appointed : And I Do, by Virtue of the Powers and Autho-
DIEU-FIT
MONDA
ritics to Me given by his Majefty, hereby nominate, conflitute and appoint You the faid
Jong amin Don't Captain of a Company of Theonion the Southity of lastminister and The Regiment of Militia where of Samuel Hely Cesque in Colonel
You are therefore to take the faid Company - into your Charge and Care, as Captain - thereof, and duly to exercife both the Officers and Soldiers of that Company in Arms. And as they are hereby commanded to obcy You as their Captain ~ fo are you likewife to obferve and follow fuch Orders and Directions, from Time to Time, as you fhall receive from Me, or any other your fuperior Officer, according to the Rules and Difcipline of War, in Purfuance of the Truft repofed in You ; and for fo doing, this fhall be your Commiffion.
GIVEN under my Hand and Seal at Arms, at fort George, in the City of new York, the Afteenth Day 2%. in the fourteenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord GEORGE the Third, by the Grace of GOD, of Staat Britani, france, and Ireland, KING, Defender of the Faith, &c. Annoq; Domini, 1774
25g mis ærcetteney's Command, Gam Thanking play
Edmond Fanning
Private Seentary
34 years.
COMMISSION OF CAPTAIN BENJAMIN BURT.
205
Oppression of the King's Courts
been chiefly instrumental in creating the public sentiment which had led up to this resistance.
It can readily be seen that the establishment of courts in this territory by New York, officered by New York appointees prejudiced in favor of New York as against the settlers who had secured their hard-earned acres under the New Hamp- shire charter, with judges who in all their rulings and judgments were opposed to the New Hampshire titles and ready to place the usurping New Yorkers in possession, must soon cause a conflict, and it came. Land titles, and indebt- edness of citizens which made the debtor liable to imprison- ment, were the two most prolific subjects of litigation.
The session of the court of Common Pleas was to begin Tuesday, March 14, 1775. The oppressed people had deter- mined by general consent, rather than by means of con- ventions, that the court should not be held. In every town of the large county the matter had been discussed between little knots of men and a determined sentiment of resistance had spread over every locality. In Rockingham at that time the most populous district was that extending from the mouth of Williams river to the site of the present village of Rocking- ham, with the principal settlement where that village stands at this time. The meetings of the citizens for the discussion of the important public matters of those days were mostly held in the little town meeting-house, in that village, which stood nearly on the site of the present old colonial church and antedated it about fourteen years. Bellows Falls as a village did not exist.
The sentiment of Rockingham had been so strong that on Sunday, March 12, "about forty good, true men," of her best citizens, by arrangement went to Chester, where Judge Chandler lived, to dissuade him from holding court as advertised. They argued well their case, assuring him the feeling was so intense that a conflict between the citizens and authorities was probable. Judge Chandler replied that he thought, with them, it would not be best to hold the court, as things were, but that there was one case of murder to dispose
206
History of Rockingham
of, after which he gave his promise that, if not agreeable to the people, they would not hear any further cases.
The Rockingham delegation were not content with this assurance. They had no confidence in the judge's purpose. He assured them, however, that no arms should be brought to Westminster in any event.
The party returned to their homes in Rockingham, and on Monday, the 13th, in larger numbers, they marched to Westminster. Some authorities say one hundred Rocking- ham men went, but this is probably too large an estimate, possibly they numbered sixty or sixty-five. Certain it is that in the affray the men from this town exceeded in number all the other Whigs there. Much discussion has always been held upon the question whether any of this party were armed or not, but we will show later positive local evidence that they were not.
Reaching the " upper street " of the "King's highway " in Westminster the party met Capt. Azariah Wright and other Liberty men who informed them of news received there that Judge Chandler was coming with an armed force determined to hold the regular session of the court the next day in spite of his promise given. The party went into the old log school- house of the village, located on the east side of the street about eighty rods north of the present residence of Daniel C. Wright, the spot being now marked by a medium-sized maple tree. Capt. Azariah Wright's home was on the west side of the highway only a few rods north of where D. C. Wright lives.
A long discussion was held in the school-house as to the best method to be pursued. When the party broke up each man armed himself with a convenient stick of wood from Captain Wright's wood-pile, as they passed it on their way to the court-house that stood on the east side of the present road on the brow of the hill overlooking the upper street. History records that there were about one hundred of these men at this time, including the Westminster contingent. They marched up to the court-house and took possession
207
The Westminster Massacre
between five and six o'clock, determined to hold it during the night, and so forestall the coming of the armed court party the following day. They had learned that the officers were to post armed guards at the doors to keep them out while court was being held. Soon after they had taken possession of the building and barricaded the doors, Sheriff William Paterson approached, accompanied by a number of men whom he had summoned from Brattleboro and other places. Some were armed with guns, swords or pistols and others with clubs. He demanded admission which was refused. He ordered the King's proclamation to be read, and commanded them to " disperse within fifteen minutes or he would blow a lane through them." The Whigs replied offering to let them in if they would come unarmed, which the sheriff refused to do. Discussions were held at intervals for some hours, loud boasts and threats being made by the King's officials, and, possibly by the Whigs who were thoroughly in earnest.
Judge Chandler came into the court-house about seven o'clock and was reminded by the Whigs that he had promised no arms should be brought. He replied that they were brought without his knowledge and he would go and take them away, promising the Whigs should be undisturbed until morning when he would come in without arms and listen to anything they might wish to say. Upon these assurances of Judge Chandler the Whigs depended. They drew up an agreed statement of grievances to present to the court in the morning and the larger part then withdrew from the build- ing, going to the homes of friends for the night. They left a strong guard and all was quiet about the court-house.
Meanwhile the sheriff sent word to all the Tories in the neighborhood to come to his assistance, and they met at Norton's tavern, known later as the "Tory tavern." It stood the next place south of the D. C. Wright homestead, on what has been known in later years as the Brigham place. The old building remained a noted curiosity until only a few years ago. At this place, after a liberal patronage of the bar by
208
History of Rockingham
the whole party, the sheriff organized his forces and at eleven o'clock at night made the attack for control of the court-house. The main approach was discovered by the Liberty men on guard, who at once manned the doors and refused admittance. After some time spent in parleying, of similar import to that earlier in the evening, the sheriff and his party came up the steps, but were twice forced back. At last the sheriff ordered his men to fire into the building. Twice they fired over the heads of those within, and then a volley aimed directly at the men inside resulted in a terrible slaughter. Ten of the liberty men were wounded, two mortally. The sheriff's men rushed in and, seizing the wounded and dying patriots, with the rest of the Liberty men, seventeen in all, threw them into the small jail pen which occupied a part of the lower floor of the court-house, there to endure the taunts and abuse of their exicited and drunken captors during the remainder of the night.
Five bullets penetrated the body, and one the brain, of William French, a young man of Brattleboro, twenty-one years old, who was there in company with his father, who had been a leader among the Liberty men. Before morning he died in the prison pen surrounded by his companions in misery.
Daniel Houghton of Dummerston, also received a mortal wound in this volley and died nine days after. The bodies of both these heroes, the first martyrs of the Revolutionary struggle which so soon opened at Lexington, were interred in the cemetery opposite, and a monument common to both, erected by the state, now commemorates the noted event. In 1902, the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a suitable marker upon the site of the old court-house.
History makes record of two Rockingham men who were in the court-house when the shooting occurred, although probably more than that number were there. Philip Safford, of whom Hall's History of Eastern Vermont, says : "Philip Safford, a lieutenant of the Rockingham militia, was in the court-house at the time the attack was made. Most of the
Local Men at the Massacre 209
Whigs who were in his situation fled by a side entrance after a short conflict with their opponents. But he, determined to depart by more honorable passage, sallied out at the main door, bludgeon in hand, knocked down eight or ten who endeavored to arrest him, and received in return several severe cuts on the head from a sabre wielded by Sheriff Paterson."
Another man named White of Rockingham, was severely wounded in the knee by a musket ball, and was incapacitated for labor many months thereby. He remained three months at Captain Wright's hospitable home, at the end of which time he was taken on a litter to the river, placed in a boat by which he could be more easily transported, and carried to some place where he could have the advantage of more skillful surgeons than were available in this vicinity.
Upon the important question of whether the Liberty men were armed that night, as was claimed to be the case by the court party in their account known to history as the " State of Facts," the testimony of Calvin Webb of Rockingham, is most convincing. Mr. Webb was born in 1757 and died upon the Carlton Webb farm just north of Bellows Falls in 1853. In 1852 he told the historian, Benjamin H. Hall, as follows :
" At the time of the court-house affray I lived in Westminster, but was not present at the scene. Heard of it the next day from a little man, familiarly known as Hussian Walker, a mighty flax dresser, who was in the engagement. Soon after I started off in company with several youngsters, whose names I have forgotten. Many people were going in the same direction. It was about the middle of the day when I reached the court- house, and soon after my arrival I saw the body of French, who had been shot the night before. A sentry was stationed to guard the corpse, as it lay on the jail room floor. The clothes were still upon it as in life. The wounds seemed to be mostly about the head; the mouth was bloody, and the lips were swollen and blubbered. The Liberty men had no guns when they first came, but after French was killed they went home and got them."
Salmon Wright, a grandson of Capt. Azariah Wright, a boy of thirteen at the time of the massacre, said also, in 1852, to the same historian :
15
210
History of Rockingham
" There were no arms carried by the Liberty party, except clubs which were obtained by the Rockingham company at my grandfather's wood-pile. There were no Tories wounded, save those knocked down by the club of Philip Safford. In regard to the statements in the Tory depositions, they are all fudge! There were no weapons carried or used by the Liberty men, except the aforementioned clubs. This is a fixed fact."
The next morning, the 14th, messengers rode in every direction from Westminster carrying news of the tragedy, and among them "Dr. Reuben Jones of Rockingham rode hatless and coatless as far as Dummerston, arousing the people." By night the streets of Westminster swarmed with at least five hundred stern and determined settlers, ready to avenge the outrage. These were partly organized militia from the different towns, including Colonel Bellows' com- pany from Walpole. Deep mutterings were heard, and many counseled shooting or hanging the Tory court party. It is said the wise counsel of Colonel Bellows had much to do with allaying the excitement. For many days the streets were filled with military men and civilians, more determined than ever upon asserting their rights and never again sub- mitting to the king's court.
That morning the court assembled at the appointed time, but instead of proceeding with the regular business, spent a brief time in preparing a "State of Facts," an account of the conflict from their side. This was replied to a few days later by a document written by Dr. Reuben Jones, entitled, "A Relation of the Proceedings of the people of the County of Cumberland and Province of New York."
Both of these documents are preserved among the state archives and throw light upon the two sides of one of the most important occurrences in the history of the struggle for freedom. The court met again in the afternoon of the same day and adjourned "to the next term," which never came. That day's session was the last ever held in this county under authority of England's king.
Sixteen of the court party who were engaged in the massacre were arrested that evening after adjournment of court. Seven of them were as follows : Thomas Chandler,
2II
First Military Company
the chief judge; Bildad Easton ; a deputy sheriff ; Capt. Benjamin Burt; Thomas Sargent; Oliver Wells; Joseph Willard and John Morse. Each was released on the 17th, having given bail for appearance for trial when wanted : while nine others, including Sheriff Paterson and Clerk Benjamin Gorton, were marched to Northampton, reaching there the 23rd, and confined in jail three weeks, when they also were admitted to bail. The opening of the war diverted the attention of all classes, and the participants in this affray were never brought to trial. Some became staunch support- ers of the Whig cause and did loyal service against the Tories in later years. Among the latter was Capt. Benjamin Burt, who became a judge in this county and an influential citizen, dying in Bellows Falls, June 9, 1835, at the age of ninety-five years.
An examination of the records of the Vermont adjutant general's office, and other available sources of information, shows that during the Revolution the troops from the different sections of Vermont did not remain in the service continuously throughout the time of the war. They were organized, usually by towns, for special service, and when that service was completed they were disbanded and paid for the length of time during which their enlistment continued. These companies were at first under the general direction of the different committees of safety described above, sometimes under the immediate direction of those committees, and at other times, particularly during the last years of the war, Brig. Gen. Ethan Allen and Col. Seth Warner were the military heads of the Vermont troops.
The first military organization of the town of Rockingham of which there is any record was that of a company of "Liberty Men" which had as officers : Captain, Stephen Sargent ; lieutenant, Philip Safford; and surgeon, Dr. Reuben Jones. No list of the privates in this company has been found. The company was organized sometime between 1768 and 1774, and was purely a town organization. They do not appear in the records of the adjutant general upon the
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History of Rockingham
Revolutionary rolls, as the organization existed only previous to the formation of the state. They probably served without pay, and, like the "rangers " of previous years, were for the protection of the town and neighborhood.
A month after the Westminster massacre came the battle of Lexington, and the struggle for freedom became a com- mon cause in all the provinces. News of the battle and general uprising of Massachusetts citizens, sent by swift messengers to all this neighborhood found the Liberty men in this vicinity fully awakened to the issues, having already struck the first blow for freedom. Parties of volunteers at once hurried down to Lexington and Cambridge, some on horseback and others on foot, all with one great purpose, that of release from the burdensome yoke of the British gov- ernment.
Vermont sent no organized body of troops out of the state during the war, having all she could attend to within her own borders, in her complicated situation as between New Hampshire, New York and the English government. In every battle of the war, however, were found the yeomen of Vermont standing in the ranks with troops from other states.
There were large parties of men who went from towns east of the Connecticut, and those who went from Rocking- ham joined them, some at Walpole, and others at Charles- town. General Benjamin Bellows, Colonel John Bellows, Thomas Sparhawk and a party of thirty-five volunteers started from Walpole on the morning of April 21, 1775. A portion of the Rockingham contingent were in this party. Similar companies of men went forward as rapidly as possible from other towns in Cheshire county, which then included Sullivan county. These parties were independent of each other, but, after they had been together a short time, the New Hampshire Provincial Congress organized them into regi- ments. The men from this part of New Hampshire and Vermont were formed into a regiment under the command of Col. James Reed of Fitzwilliam. The men from Walpole
213
Rockingham Men at Bunker Hill
and near-by towns were formed into a company in this regi- ment under Capt. John Marcy of Walpole.
The first record of this company is its "Pay Roll," found in the New Hampshire State Papers, Vol. XIV, pp. 104, 105, 106. The dates of enlistment are mostly early in May but it is uncertain whether they dated from the time of leaving home or from the time of joining the company. The men enlisted for eight months. Colonel Reed's regiment was stationed at Medford and was one of those that held the rail fence at the battle of Bunker Hill, and brought up the rear during the retreat. Captain Marcy's company took part in this battle in the ranks of this regiment, and a large pro- portion of its members were later paid for clothing and accoutrements lost in the battle.
The names of the men from Rockingham who are known to have taken part in this battle, as above, are as follows :
Time of entry. Time of service. No. miles travelled.
William Sternes, (Stearns ) Serg't.
May 8, 1775 3 months, I day 130
David Pulsifer, Corp'l.,
May 8, 1775 3 months, 1 day 130
Timothy Clark, Drummer,
May 7, 1775 3 months, 1 day 132
John Pulsifer, Private,
May 8, 1775 3 months, I day 130
There was also another man who may be identical with Samuel Burt of Rockingham although his name is printed " Burl," a natural error. His record is, "Samuel Burl, May 8, 3 m, I d, 132." The time and distance being identical with the other Rockingham men makes the theory of his being a Rockingham man a very probable one. To this list of Rockingham men at Bunker Hill should be added the name of Samuel Hall, a private in Stark's regiment as shown by Vermont Revolutionary Rolls, p 661.
In the New Hampshire Manual for the general court for 1899 there is a list of men serving in New Hampshire regiments at Bunker hill who were paid for loss of clothing and equipments in that battle, and the important fact is stated that Timothy Clark, John Pulsipher and William Stearns were among that number, which proves conclusively that these three at least from Rockingham, were actually engaged in the conflict.
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History of Rockingham
David Pulsipher, who was the first innkeeper of this town, was never heard from by his family after he left for the war, although he was shown by a muster roll of his company, made out August 1, 1775, as living upon that date.
The others named above returned to Rockingham after their discharge and became important and influential citizens.
Upon pages 81 and 82 of this history are given interesting copies of town records which show various lists of citizens who proved themselves loyal in all the events of these stirring years.
In Volume I, on page 52, is the following list :
" of those that had Recd powder that Marcht for Ticonderogue
LEAD
Capt Joseph Wood one pound of powder
2
Lieut Richard-Dito-one pound
2
Lient Preston-Dito-one pound 2
Insign Ebenezer fuller-one pound from Capt Wood
2
John fuller Dito-one pound
2
Nathan wright Dito-one pound
Wm Sterns Dito one pound-one flint Two pounds Lead 2
2
John titus-one pound
2
John Whitney ye 2d-one pound-Dito
2
Isaac Stoel-one pound-Dito
2
Nathan Arll-one pound-Dito
2
John Whitney Senior one pound Dito
Jonathan Burr-one pound Dito
2
fairbanks Moor Junr one pound Dito
I-2
Gardner Simonds-one pound. Dito
1-2
Wm Tagert-one pound-Dito I-2
Elish Knights-one pound LEAD 2
Abijah White-one pound Dito
1-2
Doctr Reuben Jones-one pound-Dito
Dito 2
Timo. Clark-one pound Dito
Dito 2
total 21 p ; 30 Lead "
This little band of patriots took part in an expedition which was intended to relieve Gen. St. Clair and his little garrison at Ticonderoga, who were beset by the British army and gun-boats under Gen. Burgoyne. Fort Ticonderoga had a garrison of twenty-five hundred Continental troops com- manded by Gen. Arthur St. Clair, while Gen. Burgoyne had four thousand regular troops, the flower of the English army,
2
John pulsipher-one pound
215
A Company Sent to Ticonderoga
and in addition three thousand Hessian troops, Tories and Indians.
Gen. St. Clair and his officers, learning of the approach of this formidable army, decided that it would be useless to attempt to hold the fort against Burgoyne's forces and at 2 o'clock on the morning of the 6th of July, 1777, the Green Mountain Boys sorrowfully relinquished what two years before they had gained under Gen. Ethan Allen, the fortress that guarded the frontier of their country. During their retreat, there occurred at Hubbardton, July 7, 1777, the only battle fought upon Vermont soil during the Revolution. It resulted disastrously to the forces of the patriots and here Col. Seth Warner, who was in command of the rear guard with · his own regiment, a Massachusetts and a New Hampshire regiment, finding himself heavily outnumbered and outflanked gave that celebrated order, not found in any work of tactics, "take to the woods and meet me at Manchester." Warner's regiment did reassemble after that bloody and unequal encounter and when the time came did valiant work at the battle of Bennington.
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