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 4
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Dr. Trumbull computes the whole number of savages in New England to have been at one time one hundred and twenty-three thousand, but in the winter of 1616-17 a virulent disease swept away, as was believed, more than one-half the whole number ; so that soon after the landing of the Pilgrims it was estimated that not more than twelve thousand warriors could be mustered in all New England. This indicates a population of about fifty thousand Indians at that time. The evidences of very early Indian occupancy in this part of the Connecticut valley indicate a much greater Indian population here at some earlier date than was found by the first white men.
During the period covered by the white man's occupancy before the Indians disappeared, only small roving bands came into this vicinity, except the large parties that at times passed to and fro on the Connecticut on their errands of rapine and bloodshed between the French settlements on the north and the English settlements at the south.
The entire locality contiguous to the "Great Falls" in the Connecticut has always abounded in signs showing either
29
Indian Burial Grounds
permanent or transitory occupation by various Indian tribes. At different points in earlier years were often found rude articles fashioned either for war or peace, and arrow-heads, hatchets and rude implements of husbandry have been dug up. The place most rich in these is on the meadow across the Connecticut where is now the village of North Walpole. The heirs of the late Levi Chapin, who early owned the meadow, have a large collection of them. This was evi- dently once the location of quite an extensive Indian village. Also just south of Cold River station on the meadows, numerous mementoes have been turned up by the plow. In various places on both sides of the Connecticut have been found graves containing skeletons which from their racial characteristics are known to be those of the red man, the first dweller in this territory.
There is a tradition that the section of Bellows Falls extending from the north side of School street, near the head of the stairs leading up from the Square to Henry street and west including the lot on which the Congregational church stands was originally an Indian burying-ground. About ten years ago one of these skeletons was exhumed near the north- east corner of the Congregational church, under the sidewalk.
The late Dr. S. M. Blake, an old citizen of Bellows Falls, well remembered the incidents attending the excavation for grading the road across the island, in front of where the Island House now stands. It was found that the whole distance across the island had, in a much earlier period, been used for an Indian burial-ground. The bodies were uncovered sitting upright, having been buried in a sitting posture with the knees drawn up to the chin, in a circular hole dug deep enough so that the top of the heads came within a foot or two of the surface of the ground. The ploughs and scrapers would take off a skull, and the workmen would dig down and find the remainder of the bones. In this way, he said, dozens of skeletons were found, and some of them were preserved for many years about the town. One of an Indian chief, known to be such by the trophies buried with him, was stored,
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History of Rockingham
until about fifteen years ago, in the block at the head of the Square, now occupied by Frank Massucco. When Granger block on the east side of Westminster street was erected in 1855 a number of Indian skeletons were exhumed there also.
The most pronounced and interesting memento of the savages, and one looked upon by thousands of curiosity seekers, has been the Indian faces cut by some unknown hands and tools on the surface of two or three large rocks just south of the west end of the toll bridge. At the present time they are almost entirely oblit- erated and curious vis- itors are obliged to use sharp eyes and some imagination to see them. Within the memory of the older citizens of the present day they stood out with great distinctness. The Indian Sculptures at Bellows Falls. Early in the 19th Century. building of the branch railroad to the paper mills from the railroad yard, fifteen or twenty years ago, covered a portion of them ; others have been concealed by the dumping of cinders from the boilers, and still others destroyed by the frequent blasting of river men in improving the channel for logs.
An interesting account of these Indian faces is given in Hall's " History of Eastern Vermont," dated in 1857. This was accompanied by illustrations reproduced in this work show- ing how these faces looked before the action of the elements and men had combined to render them less distinct. This account says :
31
Indian Faces on the Rocks
"The picture writing of the Indians, which is to be seen in two localities in eastern Vermont affords satisfactory evidence of the fact that certain tribes were accustomed to frequent the Connecticut and the streams connected with it, even though they were not actual residents of the pleasant banks within which those waters are confined. At the foot of Bellows Falls, and on the west side of the channel of the Connecticut are two rocks, on which are inscribed figures, the meaning of which it is difficult to determine. The larger rock presents a group of variously ornamented heads. The surface which these heads occupy is about six feet in height and fifteen feet in breadth. Prominent among the rest is the figure occupying nearly a central
Sculptures at Bellows Falls. As they looked about 1860.
position in the group. From its head, which is supported by a neck and shoulders, six rays or feathers extend, which may be regarded as emblems of excellence or power. Four of the other heads are adorned, each with a pair of similar projections. On a separate rock situated a short distance from the main group, a single head is sculptured, which is finished with rays or feathers and was probably intended to designate an Indian chief. The length of the head, exclusive of the rays, is fourteen inches and its breadth across the forehead in its widest part is ten inches. These sculpturings seem to have been intended to commemorate some event in which a chief and a num- ber of his tribe performed some noted exploit or met with some disaster.
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History of Rockingham
The former supposition is undoubtedly the more correct. It is well known that the Indians were usually careful to conceal the traces of their misfortunes and eager to publish the evidence of their succeses.
The rocks are situated about eight rods south of the bridge for common travel across the Falls. That on which the group is pictured is during much of the time under water. The other, which is further from the river, is not so much affected by the wash of the stream. Whenever a freshet occurs both are covered."
The illustrations showing the images on the rocks are accompanied by a cut showing a general view of the falls and toll bridge. The picture was made evidently between the time of the building of the Cheshire railroad to the east side of the river and the erection of the railroad bridge in 1851. Only the toll bridge is shown and "a train on the Sullivan railroad is seen passing up on the other side of the river."
In his travels through the northern part of the United States, in the years 1807 and 1808, Edward Augustus Kendall, Esq., referred to the sculptures at Bellows Falls and endeavored to prove by them that the characters on the rock at Dighton, Mass. (or the "Writing Rock on Taunton River," as he designated it), were inscribed by the Indians. He gave an interesting description of the hieroglyphics comparing the similar characteristics of the two. Among other things he says,
" In more than one of the heads sculptured at the Great Falls we see an exact similitude to the heads sculptured on the Writing Rock and particularly in the circumstances that a single dot or hollow is made to serve both for nose and mouth ; that no ears are given to the human heads, and that the crowns of the heads are bare. Thus we ascertain that in the sculptures observed upon the Writing Rock there is the strictest similitude, in work- manship and drawing, to those observed upon the rocks at the Great Falls. Thus all questions are answered, except those that regard the nature of the tool by the edge of which the rocks have been wrought upon and the occasions upon which the figures have been wrought. With respect to the nature of the tool every difficulty would be dismissed by supposing that the sculptures were not wrought till after the introduction of iron by the Europeans ; but there appears to be good reason for thinking them more ancient, and we shall, therefore, in all probability be compelled to believe that the tool was of no better material than stone."
The only other locality in eastern Vermont where similar pictures have been found is on the south bank of West river
33
Bounty Paid for Scalps
in the town of Brattleboro, but the pictures there are fewer in number, and upon one stone only. We reproduce an engrav- ing of this sculpture taken from Hall's "Eastern Vermont."
The barbarous nature of the warfare carried on through- out all this territory during the period of early settlement when the savages were employed by both the French and English, is shown by the fact that for a period of thirteen years previous to the termination of war between England and France in 1763, the French in Canada by offering bounties for captives and white men's scalps, incited the natural cupidity of the Indians living in that vicinity (the St. Francis tribe which included the Abenaquis who were most common in
Indian Rock, Brattleboro.
this neighborhood) to more than their usual activity in harass- ing the English settlers in this territory. On the other hand, the records of the province of Massachusetts Bay show that in 1745 the governor, with authority from King George II., offered and paid a bounty of £30 for every Indian scalp. This bounty was in 1748 increased to £100. to be divided in equal parts among the officers and soldiers of any scouting party that might capture an Indian, or produce the scalp of one they had killed. The price was paid only upon the delivery of the captives or scalps in Boston. The effect of these bounties upon both sides was to stimulate the opposing forces to deeds of the greatest cruelty and barbarity. Scout- ing parties were organized and sent out by both sides to lay 4
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History of Rockingham
in ambush for the others and secure as many scalps as pos- sible. Authentic records are not available from the French side to show the results, but those of the English side, which were nearer to our vicinity and so of the greater interest to us, are on file in the State House in Boston. They show that all parties hunting through this territory for the scalps of the red men were required to keep daily record of their marches and observations and many of these records are unique and thrill- ing. The official records show many references to the "Great Falls" and to the "Great Mountain by ye Great Falls," as having been important points at which watches were kept and all movements of the enemy noted. The main path by the falls here was upon the New Hampshire side along the base of Mount Kilburn. The trails up the Williams river and the Black river, which were principal highways to and from Lake Champlain, were described frequently and many stories of deadly encounters recorded.
From Fort Dummer at Brattleboro, Fort Hill on Putney Meadows, "Number Four" at Charlestown and six or eight other forts and blockhouses in the Connecticut valley, scout- ing parties frequently went out to watch for the enemy, some- times as far as Wells river or up the main branches of the Connecticut to pounce upon the unwary enemy before they were themselves pounced upon. Sometimes they were sent to the higher mountains at Great Falls opposite Bellows Falls and Wantastiquet opposite Brattleboro or Ascutney further north, "to lodge on ye top," and from these lofty watch towers the keen eyes of the rangers scanned the mapped expanse of the forest, in summer clothed with its beautiful green leafage, later with its innumerable autumnal hues veiled in the soft haze of Indian summer, or gray with the snows of winter and the naked branches, "viewing for smoaks" of hostile camp fires. The wages allowed are thus stated :
"One Captain to have 25s. per month ; one Lieutenant to have 138. 6d. per month ; one Sergent to have 13s. 6d. per month ; one Corporal to have 12s. per month ; and sixteen Centinels to have each 10s. per month ; and each of the said twenty men be allowed Ss. per month for providing themselves with provisions."
BELLOWS FALLS FROM TABLE ROCK. From a Lithograph Made in 1855.
35
Journals of Scouting Parties
Among the voluminous records we find many such as 1137007
these :
" Thursday. We travailed upon ye great River within two miles of ye Great Falls in said River, then we went upon Land to the Black River above ye Great Falls, went up in that River and lodged about a mile and a half from the mouth of Black River, which days travail we judged was about ten miles. Fryday. We cross Black River at ye Falls (now Springfield village), afterwards travail through ye woods N. N. W. then cross Black River again. Sabbath Day. Soon after we began our days work, an old pregnant squaw that travailed with us, stopt alone and was delivered of a child, and by Mon- day noon overtook us with a living child upon her back."
Among the scouting parties, was that of Captain Kellogg, who had command of a company making its headquarters at Northfield, Mass. November 30, 1724, Captain Kellogg commenced sending out scouting parties to the northward, provided with snow shoes and moccasins. An examination of his journal, which is on file in the Massachusetts Archives XXXVIII, A, 70, shows the following interesting notations :
" The first scout on November 30, 1724, went up on ye west side of Con. river, and crossing ye West river went up to ye Great Falls (Bellows Falls) and returned, making no discovery of any enemy.
The second scout went up to West river and followed up sd river six miles, and then crossed the woods to ye Great Falls and returned, seeing no signs of ye enemy.
The third scout went west from Northfield about twelve miles, then northward, crossing West river and steering east came to the canoe place about sixteen or seventeen miles above Northfield.
The fourth struck out northwest about six miles, then north across West river and to the Great Meadow (Westminster), below ye Great Falls, then crossed ye Conn. river and came down on ye east side. This meadow is about 32 miles from Northfield.
Ye fifth, the men were sent up West river mountain, there to lodge on ye top and view morning and evening for smoaks and from there up to ye moun- tain at ye Great Falls and there also to lodge on ye top, and view morning and evening for smoaks.
The sixth went up to West river which they followed five miles, then north until they came upon Sexton's river, six miles from the mouth of it, which emptied itself at ye foot of ye Great Falls, and then came down to the mouth of it and so returned.
In addition we watch and ward three forts at Northfield continually beside what those ten men do at Deerfield, and ye people are uneasy that we have no more men to keep ye forts than we have."
An historian of Northfield, says :
" This journal, kept with a soldier-like precision, reads like the most
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History of Rockingham
ordinary matter-of-fact affair, deserving no special attention and no com- mendation except as evidence of a faithful discharge of duty. But the labors it recorded, and the daring and endurance of this handful of men, thus strik -. ing off into the wild forest in the winter, fording bridgeless streams and climbing mountains slippery with ice, and blocked up with snow, watching for the curling smokes from the red inan's camp fire and listening for the report of his gun, were a most exciting romance, if they had not been a terrible reality.
By such vigilance and fidelity and wear of soul and body, was the village of our ancestors kept clean of blood."
Among those forty men who performed this service were Benoni Wright, father of Moses Wright, who was one of the first three settlers of the town of Rockingham, and Eldad Wright, a brother of Captain Azariah Wright, one of the Revolutionary heroes of Westminster.
In the winter of 1704 occurred one of the most terrible of the Indian raids, which has a local importance, from the naming of Williams river. In February of that year Maj. Rouville of the French army with a force of two hundred French and one hundred and forty-two Maqua Indians from Caghnawaga, set out from Canada for the purpose of attacking Deerfield, then one of the most flourish- ing English towns in northern Massachusetts. Proceeding up Lake Champlain and the Winooski river, crossing over to the White river and thence to the Connecticut, down which they went on the ice, they passed the "Great Falls" on the 27th, reaching Deerfield on the evening of the 29th. At midnight the attack was made, and by sunrise they had killed forty-seven of the inhabitants, taken one hundred and twelve captive and burned all the buildings in town with the exception of the meeting-house and one dwelling. In the long silent and secret march down the rivers, in the suddenness and the fierceness of that attack, in the cruel vindictiveness and bloody deeds of the savages, and in their forced march to Canada with the remnant of the colonists, the Deerfield raid was precisely like a score of others witnessed in those bad, dark days. The captives were taken to Canada and there held for ransom. During their march to Canada, they suffered most cruel privations. The close of the first
37
Williams River Named
day's journey found them in what is now the town of Green- field and the second in Bernardston. Fifteen or twenty captives were killed during the first three days of the march. Every precaution was taken to prevent the escape of the captives. The fourth day brought them to a spot near the north line of Brattleboro, where light sledges were con- structed for the conveyance of the children, the sick and wounded. On March 5, the first Sunday of their journey, they were allowed to rest the whole day at the mouth of what is now called Williams river in this town, and from this circumstance the river obtained its name. Rev. John Williams, pastor of the Deerfield church, being one of the captives, obtained permission to hold service, preaching to both the prisoners and their captors. Mr. Williams' family had consisted of a wife, seven children and two servants. The maid servant and two children had been slain at the door of their late dwelling during the massacre. The rest started on the journey distributed among different groups of Indians. On the morning of the second day while fording Green river near the Leyden, Mass., line, Mrs. Williams fell in the water from weakness. This so enraged the Indian who called himself her master that he cleft her head with a toma- hawk in sight of other members of the family. The exact spot has in late years been marked by a monument.
On Sunday the prisoners were gathered together upon the snow in a glade of the forest, a dusky fringe of red men encompassed them about and the woodland echoes gave back the unfamiliar sound of the first Christian hymn and sermon ever heard in Vermont. Probably not a soul was present among the prisoners who had not lost friends and relatives by the tomahawk and knife, and all had seen their homes in flames. It must have been a solemn and affecting sermon which the good preacher gave that day. His text was Lamentations 1, 18: "The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against his commandments ; hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow; my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity." At the mouth of White river
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History of Rockingham
Rouville divided his company into several parties and thence took different routes to the St. Lawrence. That party which Mr. Williams accompanied followed valleys of the White and Winooski rivers. Mr. Williams was conveyed by Lake Champlain down the St. Lawrence and Sorel rivers to the Indian village of St. François, and was subsequently sent to Quebec. One of his daughters, Eunice, became so much attached to Indian life that she married an Indian and became the ancestor of the Indian branch of the Williams family. Mr. Williams was the grandfather of Rev. Samuel Williams, LL.D., the first historian of Vermont, and great grand- father of Hon. Charles K. Williams, at one time chief judge of the supreme court and later governor of this state. Rev. John Williams was born in Roxbury, Mass., in 1664, gradu- ated at Harvard in 1683 and settled at Deerfield. He was exchanged and returned to Deerfield in 1706, where he died in 1728. He left a personal account of his captivity, which con- tained a graphic story of the Sunday spent in this town. The title of his book is "The Redeemed Captive returned to Zion."
Named by Governor Wentworth as one of the grantees, of the township of Rockingham, and frequently mentioned later in the town records as an official of the town, was John Kilburn, one of the strongest characters among the intrepid pioneer settlers of all this vicinity. To him we are indebted for the origin of the name Kilburn as applied to " Mount Kil- burn," the bold mass of rock rising over eight hundred feet above the village of Bellows Falls, and to various local organizations and business enterprises. From Table Rock, upon the top of this mountain, is obtained one of the most beautiful views in the entire Connecticut valley. In early years it was called "Fall Mountain," and is still often so called, particularly by old Walpole residents. The first topo- graphical survey of the village denominates it "Falls Moun- tain." September 23, 1856, a party of students from Amherst college, accompanied by President Stearns and Dr. Hitchcock christened it " Mount Kilburn" in honor of this hero of one of the most noted Indian battles of the Connecticut valley.
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John Kilburn
John Kilburn was of English stock, his ancestors having emigrated from England as early as 1635. He was born in Glastonbury, Conn., in 1704 ; was residing in Springfield, Mass., in 1725 ; first married in Middletown, Conn., in 1732 ; his second wife, Hannah Fox, was of Glastonbury and died in 1807 at the age of 84. Kilburn was the first settler in the town of Walpole in 1749. From 1749 till after his fight with the Indians, August 17, 1755, he lived with his wife, his daughter Mehitable, and John, his son, in a small log hut about a quarter of a mile south of Cold River station on the New Hampshire side of the river, one and one-half miles south of Bellows Falls on the road to Walpole. The exact site of the cabin is now marked by a wooden tablet bearing an inscrip- tion giving the dates and circumstances. The spot is on the farm owned and occupied by Mrs. Joseph Wells, the tablet being on the east side of the road opposite her house.
The records show that Mr. Kilburn often held various offices of trust in the towns of Walpole and Rockingham in later years.
When he first moved into his log cabin he built a palisade around it and made what further provision he could for the protection of his family.
He sought to live on friendly terms with the Indians, who rejected all overtures for peace and studiously avoided him. Kilburn had lived in this place two or three years before Colonel Bellows came to settle, and during this time he was not only exposed to the inclemency of severe storms in his rude hut, and to all the hardships and trials incidental to frontier life, but was living in constant fear of attack. It is said that during the day he never dared to go further than a few rods from his cabin without his gun. At night the ground was his bed, with a bearskin for covering and a powder box for his pillow. Many times during his absence the Indians are said to have visited his home and to have stolen all that could be carried away.
Between 1751 and 1755 a company of Indians came down the river and landed above the falls. They invited Kilburn
.
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History of Rockingham
to trade with them, and for a time peace and apparently good will reigned supreme. They continued to hunt and fish in the neighborhood for some time, and as no acts of violence or vandalism were committed the settlers began to feel a little more secure.
On August 17, 1755, was fought the famous Kilburn fight. The fighting began about noon and lasted for six hours, during which time a large number of Indians were killed, and only one white man wounded, who subsequently died. According to the records, John Kilburn and his son, then eighteen years of age, and two other men were returning from work about noon, when a number of Indians were seen in the thickets. The men at once made for the cabin, which they quickly made secure against an attack. In a few minutes one hundred and ninety-seven Indians were seen crawling up the bank west of the house, while an equal number remained in hiding near the mouth of Cold river.
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