USA > Vermont > Addison County > Shoreham > History of the town of Shoreham, Vermont, from the date of its charter, October 8th, 1761, to the present time > Part 2
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Col. Joel Doolittle, his son, came and lived with his father in 1783, and in 1784 became joint owner with him of the mills and all his real estate in this town. He also died in this town, in the year 1828.
Paul Moore, from Worcester, Mass., was one of the most prom- inent characters engaged in the carly settlement of the town, a more particular notice of whom may be found in the biographical sketches. He came with the first company in 1766, and lived in the first log house that was built, until it was burnt by the Indians.
John Crigo, who was also one of the first company, with itis fam- ily, lived in the same house with Mr. Moore, who was then a bach- elor, and carried on his farm several years, before and after the Rev- olution. Moore afterwards built a log house some distance north of the first one, which stood on his own farm, several rods west of the brook, in which he and John Crigo's family lived several years. Some time after the revolution, Moore built a large two story frame house near the same spot, which was, after his death, moved by
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
John Doolittle to the west side of the turnpike road, and is now oc- cupied by B. F. Powers.
Before the Revolutionary War commenced, Col. Doolittle built a saw-mill, situated near the site of the lower mill now owned by Alonzo Birchard, Esq. At this place there is a fall in the stream, by which the mill was run, of about eighty feet, in the distance of about ten rods. In this work Doolittle was assisted by Marshal Newton from Shrewsbury, Mass., one of the original proprietors of the town. Ho did not move his family to this town, but for several years spent much t.me here ; labored one summer on the mill and furnished the mill irons. As he was a large owner of lands in the town, he was very active in promoting the interests of the settle- ment, both before and after the war. The first saw-mill that was built was burnt by the Indians during the Revolution.
In the fall of the year 1773, Samuel Wolcott, from Goshen, Ct., settled with his family on the farm on which Deacon Almon Wol- cott now lives, and had one hundred acres of land given him by one of the proprietors as an inducement to settlement. He and his son Samuel belonged to Allen's party and went with him into the fort. Becoming alarmed by a party of Indians that appeared in the vicin- ity, he and his family fled for safety to Berkshire County, Mass., and remained there during the war. He returned in 1783, with his family, to the farm he had left in 1777, where he resided until near the time of his death, which occurred while he was on a visit to his friends in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Amos Callender came with his family from Sheffield, Mass., in the winter of 1774. He came by the way of Albany, from thence to Fort Ann, from which place there was then no traveled road fur- ther north. From Fort Ann he traveled on the ice upon Wood Creek to Whitehall; from that place on the Lake to Bridport, and thence he beat his own path through the snow, which was three or four feet deep, to Shorcham, where he settled on the farm now own- ed by Col. Bela Howe. In June, 1777, the family, becoming alarmed by the appearance of a party of Indians, buried their brass kettle, and some other household utensils in the ground, which they found on their return after the close of the war. They fled at
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
once to the south for safety. Mrs. Callender rode on horseback, carrying a child in her arms, her husband leading the horse. They made no stop, until they arrived at Poultney, a distance of about thirty miles. The most part of their way was through an unbroken forest. From that place they went to Sheffield, where they re- mained until the close of the war, when they returned by way of Bennington, Whitehall and the Lake, and arrived in Shoreham, Feb. 14th, 1783. In 1793 he built the brick house in which Col. Howe now lives, and kept a tavern many years. In that early day it was the most elegant house in this part of the country, and par- ties of pleasure were often attracted to it from this and other towns.
Elijah Kellogg, some say, was one of the company that came in 1766. He was from Sheffield, Mass., and was one of Allen's par- ty in the capture of Ticonderoga in 1775, and is said to have been the first man who entered the fort after Allen and Arnold. He and Paul Moore spent the winter of 1778 in the same cabin, while there were no other persons in this town. After Moore was captured by the Indians, he spent another winter entirely alone. Not long af- ter Ticonderoga was evacuted by St. Clair, he was taken prisoner by the enemy at Castleton, and detained awhile at Ticonderoga, from which place, he and two men of the name of Hall made their escape across the lake. The detail of the circumstances in an au- thentic form, will be found in a future chapter. Mr. Kellogg, who had previously lived with Paul Moore, not long after his escape oc- cupied a log house on the farm which Amos Callender had left in June 1777, and took care of his cattle. He was afterward allowed to remain unmolested, under British protection, till the close of the war, when he settled on a farm where his son Daniel Kellogg now lives.
Thomas Rowley, Esq., and Samuel Beman, and Nathaniel Be- man settled before the Revolution in the vicinity of Larabee's Point, and returned to their several places after the war in 1783.
John Reynolds, from New Concord, N. Y., settled on Five Mile Point, not far from Horace Lapham's, on land now owned by him, in 1774. He left in 1777, and returned in 1783, to the place he had left, where he died at an advanced age as early as 1800.
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HISLORY OF SHOREHAM.
William Reynolds, son of John, settled on the same place, before the Revolution, was a tory, the only one who ever lived in this town. Some time after the war, he went to Canada, and settled on land given him by the British government.
Daniel Newton,' from Shrewsbury, Mass., was here some time be- fore the Revolution, and was employed in surveying lands allotted to proprietors before and after the Revolution. He took up several lots in town, commeneed an improvement on Cream Hill, east of the road, nearly opposite to the house of the late Hiram Rich ; sold that place and began to make another improvement on the farm now owned by Benjamin Hurlburt ; joined Allen's party ; was a servant to Gen. Artemas Ward, while a portion of the American army was stationed in Philadelphia ; returned to this town in 1783, and final- ly settled on the farm where Edson D. Bush now lives, where he died in 1834, aged 80.
Only six families are known to have lived in this town previous to 1775 A few persons were here looking for land, or employed as laborers by Col. Ephraim Doolittle in elearing land and erecting his saw-mill. Before the commencement of the war, no settlement had been made east of the old turnpike road, except that commenced by the first company in 1766, and no family lived east of that except John Crigo's, who occupied the first improvement. In nine years the whole number of inhabitants did not probably exceed thirty.
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IHISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
CHAPTER III.
THE CAPTURE OF TICONDEROGA IN 1775.
As Shorcham was the final point of rendezvous for the men Allen had collected, and several men belonging to his party were either then or were afterward inhabitants of this town, and as some errors have crept into history in relation to that enterprise, it may not be out of place here to give a brief account of that bold adventure, which secured to the colonies one of the most important fortresses held by the British Crown on this continent.
Nine men, either then or afterward, inhabitants of this town, are known to have been with Allen when he entered the fort," viz : Nathan Beman, Thomas Rowley, Jr., John Crigo, Elijah Kellogg, Amos Callender, Samuel Wolcott, Samuel Wolcott, Jr., Stephen Smith, then of Manchester, and Hopkins Rowley, then of Pittsford. Rev. Hosea Beckley in his History of Vermont, has shown that the expedition for the purpose of capturing the forts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, was not, as several historians say, set on foot by the Legislature of Connecticut, but by several gentlemen in that State, the expenses for which were furnished by public spirited individuals, on their own responsibility, and were afterwards paid by the gov- ernment of that State. " A number of men were raised and came on to Berkshire County, Mass., where they were joined by many others in the expedition, and arriving in Vermont they chose Ethan Allen as their commander. He conducted them as far as Castleton, at which place he halted and sent Captain Noah Phelps, of Simsbury, Conn., to Ticonderoga, to examine into its situation and condition, and make report to his associates." }. He passed over the Lake in a boat, in the rustic garb of a farmer, and put up at a house near the fort for the night, where several of the officers were collected for a supper party. He listened to their conversation respecting the com-
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
motions in the colonies, and the defenceless condition of the post, without taking any apparent interest in what they said. In the morn- ing he gained admission into the fort for the purpose of being shaved, and having made what observations he could, he engaged the boat- man to take him across the lake. Having learned the number of men in the garrison, and that their ammunition was in a damaged condition, he returned to Castleton and reported what he had seen and heard. Allen immediately despatched Maj. Beach as a messen- ger to collect men, to meet his party at a place since known as Hand's Point, in the town of Shoreham. Beach went on foot to Rutland, Pittsford, Brandon, Middlebury, Whiting and Shoreham, making a circuit of sixty miles in twenty-four hours. While in Castleton, Allen was joined by Arnold, who claimed the command of the party by a commission, as he said, from Massachusetts ; but as this claim was resisted by the men, he finally consented to join them as a volunteer. They took the the old Crown Point road in Sudbury, and came to Lake Champlain-not in Orwell, as is stated in Williams' Ilistory of Vermont, nor at Larabee's Point, as has been said by others, but at a place called since Hand's Cove, where the men lay concealed from the view of the enemy ina ravine. "Find- ing here no sufficient means of conveying his men across the lake, messengers were sent to Bridport and Addison to procure boats. They came to a Mr. Stone's in Bridport in the night, and making their object known, they awakened two young men, who were sleep- ing in the chamber above them. They at once arose, and proceeded to the fort at Crown Point, and persuaded a negro man, who had the charge of the boats belonging to the garrison, to row them as far as Shoreham, where they pretended there was to be a squirrel hunt the next day, promising him as a compensation a jug of rum." The boats did not arrive until towards morning of the next day. There were 270 men in all, 230 of whom were Green Mountain Boys, all eager to embark and share in the perils and honors of that daring enterprise. The boats, however, were insufficient to carry all. On- ly 83 of the 270 passed over, leaving 187 behind. Those remaining expected to be sent for immediately after the landing of the first party ; but as they had to row nearly two miles before they reached the shore on the west side of the lake, a little north of Willow Point,
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HISTORY OF SHOREIIAM.
it began to be light; Allen therefore determined not to await the ar- rival of the rest of the men, from the other side, but to push on im- mediately to the attack. When Allen gave the word of command to march forward, Arnold, contrary to the arrangement made at Cas- tleton, interposed and claimed his right to take command and lead the men, and swore he would go into the fort first. Allen swore he should not, but that he himself would first enter. The dispute running high, Allen, turning to Amos Callender, of Shoreham, said, " What shall I do with the damned rascal ? Shall I put him under guard ?" Callender, regretting such an occurrence, at such a criti- cal time, and feeling the importance of setting forward immediately, and of acting in perfect harmony, advised them to settle the diffi- culty, by agreeing to enter the fort together. They both assented, and set forward under the guidance of a young man named Beman, about eighteen years old, who had spent much of his time at the fort, and was well acquainted with all the passages and buildings, and the quarters of the officers and soldiers. Allen and Arnold, followed by their men, proceeded on through a covered passage into the fort, under the direction of Beman. The sentinel unaware of their approach. had not given the alarm, but upon the impulse of the moment, caused by the sudden appearance of an enemy, he snapped his fusee at Allen, who parried the weapon with his sword, and struck a blow at the soldier's head, and inflicted a wound there- on, which would probably have killed him, if the force of the blow had not been obstructed by a comb with which the soldier's hair was done up. The above statements I had from Major Noah Cal- lender, son of Amos Callender, who was with his father at the time, and saw the wound. Allen pushed on to the apartment occupied by Captain De LaPlace, who was yet in bed, and demanded the im- mediate surrender of the fort. The Captain asked, " by what au- thority he demanded it ?" To whom Allen replied, "By the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." With such celerity had the men, under Allen, entered and paraded themselves in the open area within the fort, while the soldiers were yet sleeping in their barracks, that aroused thus suddenly from their slumbers, no oppor- tunity was afforded them to organize; and resistance in such cir-
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
cumstances, being impracticable, was not for a moment to be thought of. In few minutes the officers and men were paraded on the square embraced within the walls, and surrendered themselves, forty-four in number, to the Hero of the Green Mountains.
In a short time the men, who had been left on the opposite shore of the Lake, under command of the brave Col. Warner, come over and joined their comrades in celebrating a triumph achieved without the cost of a single life or drop of blood on their part, and with no essential injury or suffering on the part of the enemy. On the same day, Warner was sent with a detachment of men to take Crown Point, which, with a sergeant and 12 men in it, was surrendered without resistance. Amos Callender was also despatched immedi- ately in command of a small party, to take the fort at the head of Lake George, which was easily accomplished, as there were then on- ly one man and one woman in it. By these bold enterprises, pushed on with such celerity and secrecy, as not to awaken suspicion or alarm in the ranks of the enemy, were three important posts secured to the cause of America, on the 10th day of May, 1775, only twenty days after the shedding of the first blood in the war of the Revolution at the battle of Lexington. Amos Callender, with a party of men, was sent to conduct the prisoners, 52 in number, to Hartford, Con- necticut. In a few days, all the vessels, boats and warlike stores, belonging to the enemy, were taken, and the command of the lake secured, and the inhabitants of Shoreham permitted to remain un- molested, on their farms, for more than two years. Some of them engaged in the regular service, but most of them continued to im- prove their lands, until the approach of Burgoyne, in July, 1777, when all, excepting Paul Moore and Elijalı Kellogg, fled to the south.
Thompson, in his History of Vermont, states that "it was with difficulty that boats could be obtained to carry over the troops. A. Mr. Douglass was sent to Bridport to procure aid in men and a scow belonging to Mr. Smith. Douglass stopped by the way to enlist a Mr. Chapman in the enterprise, when James Wilcox and Joseph Tyler, two young men, who were in bed in the chamber, hearing the story, conceived the design of decoying on shore a large oar boat belong-
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
ing to Maj. Skene, and which then lay off against Willow Point. They dressed, scized their guns and a jug of rum, of which they knew the black commander to be extremely fond; they hailed the boat, and offered to help him row to Shoreham, if he would carry them there immediately to join a hunting party, that would be wait- ing for them. The stratagem succeeded, and poor Jack and his two men suspected nothing, till they arrived at Allen's head-quar- ters where they were made prisoners of war."
It has been stated in history, and the common opinion has been that the boat belonging to Major Skene, was decoyed from Willow Point, near Fort Ticonderoga. But this is a mistake. The oar- boat, of which the black man was commander, lay near Crown Point and was decoyed over to Willow Point, which is on the farm of Hi- ram Smith, in the extreme north-west corner of the town of Brid- port. The confounding of two points on the Lake bearing the same name has led to this error. Major Noah Callender, who was with Allen's party at the time, said to the author, some time before his death, that the boat with the negro in it, was decoyed from the vi- cinity of Crown Point, and all historians agree in stating that both the boats arrived at Allen's head-quarters, nearly the same time in the latter part of the night. The idea that those two young men, with the four men who joined them on the way, should come from Bridport in the night on the east side of the lake, and pass Allen's party, which lay concealed about two miles north of Fort Ticonder- oga, is incredible. Willow Point, a little north of that fort, was not the usual place of landing. The testimony of several persons who settled near the place where Allen's party lay, soon after the Revo- lution, was that both of the boats came from the north, to Hand's Cove in Shoreham.
Williams and Thompson, in their Histories of Vermont, and Cook, in his history of Ticonderoga, state that Allen with his party reached Orwell, opposite to Ticonderoga, in the evening of the 9th of May, and crossed the lake there. This is an error. Allen's party did not come through Orwell. On leaving Castleton, they directed their way to the old Crown Point road, which they reached in Sud- bnry, and pursued through Whiting into Shoreham. They came
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
near the Lake on the farm formerly owned by Abel Randall, on which Benjamin Hurlbut now lives, where they found Daniel New- ton chopping, who set his axe by the side of a tree, and joined the party, which went on directly to Hand's Cove, and lay concealed during a part of the day and night in a ravine, more than two miles north of the fort. That was the point from which Allen and his men embarked in the boats and not any place in Orwell. 3
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
CHAPTER IV.
SETTLEMENT SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLUTION-ADDITIONAL SET- ILERS PREVIOUS TO 1786.
IN the winter of 1783, and in the succeeding year, most of the families returned to the lands on which they had lived before the Revolution, and many others from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York soon joined them. In enumerating these, I shall pass over the names of those who remained here only for a few years, and did not become permanent residents of the town, and have left here no members of their families to perpetuate the memory of their an- cestors, and perhaps others who were not in any way distinguished for the interest which they took or the part which they acted in building up the town. In fixing the year in which the several fam- ilies came, no small difficulty has been found. The recollection of different individuals, who have been consulted for information, often varies from that of others. In determining dates, I have extensive- ly consulted the records of deeds and conveyances found on the rec- ords of the original proprietors, and of the town ; also lists of town officers, and proceedings of the proprietors and town meetings, in or- der to determine as nearly as possible, the year in which cach indi- vidual and family came into town, leaning, in all instances, in which the recollections of persons differ, to the written record. But after all the inquiries I have been able to make, I dare not flatter myself that I have not fallen into some mistakes. In some instances the best I could do was, by a careful examination of conflicting recol- lections, and weight of circumstances, to make as near an approxi- mation to truth as was in my power.
As it has already been stated, Samuel Wolcott with his family, returned in 1783 to the place they occupied before the war,
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
His son, Jesse Wolcott had fifty acres of land given him by one of the proprietors in 1783, and settled on the farm where his son Calvin Wolcott now lives, and continued there until his death.
Samuel Wolcott, who, with his father, was one of Allen's party, settled on land adjoining Col. Howe's, on the south, soon after the Revolution, and died there, a devoted and consistent christian.
William Wolcott, son of Samuel, Senr., settled at an early day in the village, at the center of the town. He subsequently sold his place to Levi Wolcott and went to live with his son, Dr. William G. Wolcott, at Whitehall, N. Y.
Alvin Wolcott, a son of Samuel, settled on the farm now owned by his son Samuel, where he died.
Deacon Philemon Wolcott, took the place on which his father set- tled, after his death. He was a deacon and active member of the Congregational Church. He died on that place of the cholera, Sep- tember 1st, 1832, aged 63.
Thomas Rowley, Esqr., returned in 1783 to the farm he had left at Larabee's Point, where he lived with his son, Nathan, some time ; sold that place in 1787 to John S. Larabee, and went with his son Nathan, in the same year, and lived on the place where Lot Sanford now resides, until about the year 1795. when he went to the place called Cold Spring, in the town of Benson, where he died about the year 1803, being then over 80 years old.
Thomas Rowley, Jr., settled on the place now owned by Edwin Douglass, built the large house there and kept a tavern in it many years. He left that place in 1814, and moved near to Buffalo, N. Y., where he died many years since at an advanced age.
Samuel Beman, grand-father of Rev. N. S. S. Beman, D. D., of Troy, N. Y., returned in 1783 to the place he had left ; stayed there a few years, and went to the River St. Lawrence, where he died at an advanced age.
Daniel Newton, who first began an improvement on the place where the late Hiram Rich lived, and another on the place now owned by Benjamin Hurlbert, before the war, went soon after on to the place now owned by E. D. Bush, where he died in 1834, agod 80. He was one of Allen's party ; a soldier in the Revolution,
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
and for many years was a practical surveyor in this town. During his life he kept a diary, but that part of it which comprised the his- tory of events which occurred in the early history of this town, is supposed to have been lost. That part of it which he kept while he was a soldier, and acted as a servant to Major General Ward, I have seen, in which he notices the unusual season of atten- tion to the subject of religion then prevalent in that portion of the army stationed in the city of Philadelphia, and among the inhabi- tants of that place. In that diary, he records the texts of all the sermons he had heard ; some of which were delivered by the most eminent preachers in the country in that day, and relates the sub- stance of conversations which he had with Gen. Ward and Samuel Adams, then a member of Congress, on the subject of religion, while his own mind appears to have been deeply impressed concern- ing his own state. These conversations show the deep interest which those two eminent men felt in the work of grace then prevalent in that place. The frequent counsels which they gave him, evince their sincere and ardent piety and devotedness to the cause of Christ.
Nathan Herrick, son of Col. Samuel Herrick, an officer in the army of the Revolution, settled on Larabee's Point, in 1783; sold out to John S. Larabee, and left town in 1787.
Rufus Herrick, from Duchess County, N. H., settled near Hand's Point in 1783, on the farm afterwards owned by Deacon Nathan Hand and Capt. Samuel Hand. He died on that place about 1787.
John Larabee, from New London County, Conn., settled on the tarm now owned by Benjamin Hurlbert, in 1783. He was a sur- veyor, and is said to have been a man of more than common educa- tion in his day.
John S. Larabee came from Pownal, in 1783, at the age of 19. He spent most of the summer of that year, in assisting his father in surveying lands in the northern part of the State, but in the au- tumn came and lived with the family. In 1787 he settled on Larabee's Point, then called Rowley's Point, where, with the excep- tion of six years which he spent in Middlebury, while he held the office of Clerk of the County Court, he resided during the remain- der of his life. He established the first regular ferry at Larabee's
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