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 23
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY,
CHAPTER VIII.
INCIDENTS OF THE WAS IN THE COUNTY OF ADDISON.
THE revolutionary war, which had been ended, some years before Vermont was admitted to the Union, furnished but few incidents, which can properly constitute a part of the history of Addison County. Very few permanent settlements had been made in the county before its commencement. It is said that JAMES MCINTOSHI, a Scotchman, commenced a settlement in territory now in the city of Vergennes, in the year 1766; and other settlements were. made on the creek above the falls in New Haven, now Waltham, as early as 1769. Col. JOHN CHIPMAN, in 1766 made a small clear- ing on his farm in Middlebury, but did not return to it, with his family, until 1773; and in the latter year several other families were settled in that town. And it is said that in the charter limits of Middlebury, there were thirteen families, and in that part of Cornwall, afterwards annexed to Middlebury, eight families, before the war. Col. PHILIP STONE commenced preparation for a settle- ment on the border of the lake in Bridport in 1768, and several other families were settled in that town before the war. JOHN CHARTIER also commenced some improvements, on the south end of Mount Independence in Orwell some years before the war, but no permanent settlements, we believe, were made in that town until after the war. 'As stated on a previous page, JOHN STRONG, ZADOC EVEREST, DAVID VALLANCE, BENJAMIN KELLOGG, and probably a few others, had made preparations for a settlement, on the borders of the lake in Addison, in 1765, and took posses- sion with their families in 1766. The late SQUIRE FERRIS, of Vergennes, in a statement made to PHILIP C. TUCKER, Esq., to which we have referred elsewhere, says that his father, PETER
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
FERRIS, came to and settled on the shore of the lake in Panton, in 1765. Mr. FERRIS, and his wife came through the woods from Bennington County, on horse back, he carrying his son SQUIRE then two years old in his arms; and that there were then no settle- ments on the lake, and that the nearest, and only neighbors were the British garrison at Crown Point. A few other families were settled there before the war. The first settlements, by families, in Whiting and Leicester, were in 1773, in Cornwall and Monkton in 1774; in Weybridge, and in that part of New Haven, since annexed to Weybridge, in 1775. In no other towns in the County had perma- nent settlements been made at that time; and in the towns men- tioned, the number of families was small. .
After the retreat of the American troops from the disastrous ex- pedition into Canada, in 1776, and especially after General BUR- GOYNE, in 1777, with his formidable army, came up the lake, sweeping away every resistance before him, a large proportion of the settlers deserted their farms, and removed to places of greater safety at the south. The lake and its forts being in possession of the British, the whole country lying opposite was exposed to ma- rauding and foraging parties of British, Indians and tories, who plundered and carried off all such moveable property as was left behind and desired by them. And in 1777, while the British were in quiet possession of the forts, before the surrender of BUR- GOYNE in October of that year, several of the men were taken captive ; and such as remained in captivity until the occurrence of that event were then released. The family of Col. STONE, living on the lake shore, in Bridport, was, among others in that region, frequently annoyed by bodies of Indians, who visited them for plunder. But as they did not generally, molest the women and children, except for plunder, he kept out of the way and remained safe for some time. But in October 1777, having been falsely charged by a tory, as being concerned in burning his house, a British vessel in the lake sent a boat on shore, captured him and carried him a prisoner to Ticonderoga, where he was confined about three weeks, and until the fort was evacuated after the surrender of BURGOYNE.
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
SAMUEL BLODGETT, a son of ASA BLODGETT, an early settler in Cornwall, now Middlebury, had built him a log house, just over the present line between Middlebury and Cornwall, where he resided many years afterwards. About the same time, in 1777, a scouting party came upon him and took him prisoner, tied him to a tree, and threatened to burn him. But being a freemason, he made himself known to the British officer commanding the party, who was also a mason, and he was released and taken to Ticonderoga, where he was set to work with a team.
At the same time JAMES BENTLEY senior, who had settled in Middlebury, and his daughter were at the house of BLODGETT, and to escape from the Indians, he erawled into a hollow log, and the women threw brush over the entrance and so effectually concealed him, that he escaped.
The following account of the capture of ELDAD ANDREWS, taken in 1777, at the same time as SAMUEL BLODGETT, was furnished by Mr. RUFUS MEAD, who obtained it from those who received it di- rectly from Mr. ANDREWS :
ELDAD ANDREWS, one of the first three settlers in Cornwall, was taken by Indians, and carried across the lake. The savages came to his house, while he was in the field at work ; finding Mrs. A. en- gaged in making cheese they devoured the curd and everything eat- able in the house, without committing any personal violence. Leav- ing the house, they captured Mr. A. and took him to Ticonderoga. He was at length released and an Indian deputed to row him across the lake. Mr. A. had not gone far before he discovered the Indian on his trail, and the conclusion was that the Indian coveted his scalp. He made no sign however, but armed himself with a heavy club. As twilight came on, he passed a deep ravine, in going into which he passed over a large fallen tree, and laid down behind it concealed. His pursuer was soon standing over him on the log. ANDREWS was a man of great physical strength, and did not give the savage a long time to ascertain his whereabouts, when with a heavy blow with his club on the side of his head, he leveled the Indian, and marched home without further molestation, and without inquiring the fate of his pursuer.
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
JOSHUA GRAVES and his son JESSE GRAVES, while hoeing corn on the bank of the creek in Salisbury, on the farm since owned by the late JOSEPH SMITH, on which they were among the carliest set- tlers in that town, were captured at the same time by about two hundred Indians. The widow of JOSEPH SMITH was a daughter of the younger, and grand-daughter of the elder, GRAVES; and the farm has ever remained in the family. The captives were taken to the settlement of JEREMIAH PARKER in Leicester, where he and his son, JEREMIAH PARKER, Jun. were also captured, and all the pris- oners were taken to Ticonderoga. The two elder captives were soon released; but the two younger were detained prisoners, on board a vessel, for three weeks, until there was time to send to Canada and get a return.
ASA BLODGETT, father of SAMUEL BLODGETT, above mentioned, who had settled on the creek in the south part of Cornwall, and re- mained after the general retreat of the inhabitants, was taken pris- oner also by the Indians. His captors placed him on a stump, with a rope around his neck, the end of which was thrown over the limb of a tree. He remained in this position for some time, expecting instant death, with which the Indians threatened him; but he was afterwards released. The facts we have stated relating to the cap- ture of ASA and SAMUEL BLODGETT, and the escape of BENTLEY, were received from the late ABRAHAM WILLIAMSON of Cornwall, and his wife, who was a daughter of SAMUEL BLODGETT.
But the most serious and extensive depredations, on the inhabit- ants of the County were committed in the fall of 1778. In the early part of November in that year, a large British force came up the lake in several vessels. and thoroughly scoured the country on both sides. Such of the men as had the temerity to remain on their farms until that time they took prisoners, plundered, burnt, and de- stroyed their property of every description, leaving the women and children to take care of themselves as they could, in their houseless and destitute condition. Not a town in the County, where any set- tlements had been made, escaped their ravages. The only building in Middlebury, not wholly destroyed, except two or three in the southeast part of the town, which they seem not to have found. was
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
a barn of Col. JOHN CHIPMAN, which had been lately built of green timber, whicly they could not set on fire and which they tried in vain with their imperfect tools to cut down. The marks of their hatchets, on the timbers, are still to be seen.
As there are no public documents or history, within our know- ledge which give any general account of these proceedings, in other towns, and all the persons concerned in the transactions are supposed to be dead, we have collected information from such sources as were in our power ; and instead of condensing it into a continuous narra- tive, we choose to give it as we have received it from the several sources.
The following statement was made by PHILIP C. TUCKER, Esq., of Vergennes, principally from information obtained by him, at our request, from NATHAN GRISWOLD and ASAPH GRISWOLD, sons of NATHAN GRISWOLD, one of the captives :
" In the month of November 1778, the following persons of the north and west portions of Addison County were taken prisoners by the British forces, and transported on board British vessels to Can- ada : NATHAN GRISWOLD. taken in that part of New Haven which is now Vergennes, JOHN GRISWOLD and ADONIJAE GRISWOLD, in that part of New Haven which is now Waltham, and DAVID GRIS- WOLD, of New Haven. These four men were brothers ; ELI ROB- ERTS and DURAND ROBERTS, father and son, were taken at Ver- gennes; PrTER FERRIS and SQUIRE FERRIS, father and son, of Panton, were taken on the west side of Lake Champlain, while hunting ; JOSEPH HOLCOMB, ELIJAH GRANDY and - SPALDING at Panton, JOHN BISHOP at Monkton and - HOPKINS at New Haven. These were part of the captives taken during the fall of 1778, consisting in all of two hundred and forty-four. They were all taken to Quebec and imprisoned. Tradition says, that but forty- eight were brought back in June 1782, and exchanged as prisoners of war at Whitehall."
" Of the thirteen persons above named, all returned but one. JOHN GRISWOLD Jun. enlisted on board a British vessel at Quebec, upon a promise, that he should be restored to his liberty, on the ar- rival of the vessel in Treland. He was never heard of afterward.
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
All these men are believed to be now dead. The deaths of those known are as follows : NATHAN GRISWOLD, died at Waltham, July 17, 1811, aged 85 years ; DAVID GRISWOLD, at New Haven, August 11, 1820, in his 60th year; ADONIJAH GRISWOLD, at Green County, Illinois, in 1847, aged 88 years ; ELI ROBERTS, at Vergennes, in 1806, age unknown; DURAND ROBERTS, at Ferris- burgh, in 1817, aged 57 years ; PETER FERRIS, at Panton, in 1811, aged 92 years ; SQUIRE FERRIS, at Vergennes, March 12, 1849, aged 87 years."
The following information was communicated by MILO STOw, Esq, of Weybridge, son of CLARK STOW, one of the captives men- tioned below, and published in the Middlebury Register, August 30, 1854. A short memorandum, which we have seen in their family records, of their capture, imprisonment, and the death of DAVID STOW, in the hand-writing of CLARK STOW, authenticates the principal facts.
" November 8, 1778, a marauding party of British, Indians and tories, invaded the quiet homes of four families in this vicinity, being the only inhabitants in Weybridge, burned their houses and effects, killed their cattle and hogs, and took THOMAS SANFORD, and his son ROBERT, DAVID STOW and his son CLARK, CLAUDIUS BRITTEL and his son CLAUDIUS, and JUSTUS STURDEVANT, and car- ried them prisoners to Quebec. The four wives and their young children, for eight or ten days, occupied an out-door cellar of Mr. SANFORD, at this place, till our troops from Pittsford came to their rescue. DAVID STOW died in prison, December 31st, 1778. THOMAS SANFORD, and two others from Vermont, GIFFORD and SMITH, escaped from prison, and after wandering through Maine and New Hampshire, reached their families. The rest of the prisoners, after extreme suffering were discharged in 1782." *
* A handsome marble monument has recently been erected on the site of the out-door cellar, in which the women and children found shelter, in memory of the captivity of these men. The pedestal. base, die and cap, make the height about eight feet. The above is the inscription on one side.
Not far from this monument, is a remarkable slide, on the bank of Otter Creek. It occurred in the fore part of July, 1819. CHARLES WALES, with his family and mother resided in a house on the ground, and in the course of the day, the house 12
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
The following, in addition to the above, we have received directly from Mr. STOw. The prisoners, on their arrival at Quebec, were for a time kept on board a prison ship; but were afterwards re- moved to a prison on land. While there they dug through the walls of the prison and escaped, but were retaken and recommitted, except THOMAS SANFORD and one or two others from Vermont, who, after wandering a long time through the wilderness of New Hamp- shire and Maine reached their families .* Those who were recom- mitted dug nearly through the wall a second time, and a large pro- portion of them, in the spring of 1780, were sent ninety miles down the St. Lawrence, and were there set to work. But CLARK STOW, being then young, was selected by a French lady, and em- ployed by her as a house servant, until he, with the rest, was ex- changed and released in 1782. After his release in October he went to Great Barrington, Mass., to which the family had removed, and in March, 1783, they returned to Weybridge.
The following account of the capture of some of the inhabitants of Bridport, their imprisonment and escape, we have abridged from the account of Bridport, given by Mr. THOMPSON, in the first edi-
seemed to tremble and crack, for which the inmates could not account. But in the evening they became alarmed, and left the house, but Mr. WALES stood still on the ground. Between nine and ten o'clock in the evening, the land, to the extent of nearly two acres, suddenly sank about eighteen feet perpendicularly, the man going down with it was not hurt, but escaped to the bank. The house went down and was shattered to pieces, and the cellar and chimney were never found. The bank of the creek rested on a body of blue clay, which was crushed out by the incumbent soil and cjected into and across the river, forming a solid and impene- trable dam, which stayed the whole current of the creek, until nine or ten o'clock the next morning. A similar slide of less extent took place since, near by, on the farm of BENJAMIN WALES, and near his house.
* We have the following story from undoubted authority. When Mr. SANFORD was captured he had two horses and a colt which were left behind without any one to take care of them. Hereturned, as related alove. after thice years absence, expecting to find his horses dead. But he found them alive, except the colt, which the Indians shot. They had lived on the Beaver Meadows, in the neighborhood, and were found some distance from where SANFORD left them. They had become very wild; but SANFORD had given each of them a name, and when he called them by their names they came to him and were easily taken, they recognizing either their names or their master's voice.
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
tion of his Gazetteer. The facts, it is presumed, were obtained from some of the party, as all but one were then alive.
NATHAN SMITH, MARSHALL SMITH and JOHN WARD, who had just been married, who had ventured to remain on their farms. in Bridport, while most of the inhabitants had removed, being together on the 4th day of November, 1778. were taken by a party of British, under Major CARLETON. He collected in that vicinity thirty-nine prisoners, men and boys. They were put on board a vessel in the lake and carried prisoners to Canada. They reached Quebec December 6, and were kept in prison sixteen months and nineteen days. In the spring of 1780, after two dreary winters, in which several of the party died, the prisoners had liberty to remove thirty leagues down the River St. Lawrence, to work. About forty went, among whom were the two SMITHS and WARD. They landed the first of May, on the south side, where the river was twenty-seven miles wide. In the night of the 13th, eight of the prisoners took a batteau and crossed the river and landed in a perfect wilderness. They here separated into two parties, JusTus STURDEVANT, of Weybridge joining the three Bridport men. They traveled by night, and when in the neighborhood of settlements, secreted themselves in the woods by day. They occasionally met Frenchmen, who appeared friendly ; but on the 20th, when nearly opposite Quebec, they called on two Frenchmen for aid in crossing a swollen river. One of them stated that he was an officer, and dared not let them pass. Hle seized liis gun and declared them prisoners. The other took up an axe, and both stood against the door to prevent their escape. NATHAN SMITH said to his comrades, "we must go," and seized the man with the gun, and the other prisoners laid hold of the other Frenchman, and they thrust them aside, and all escaped except STURDEVANT, who remained a prisoner until the close of the war. Some days after, four Indians, armed with guns and knives, came upon them, but they sprang into the woods and escaped, and traveled all night until noon the next day, when being not far from Three Rivers, they lay down and slept. Bat soon each was awakened by an Indim having fast hold of him. They were committed to prison at Three Rivers. Three sides of
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
the prison were of stone, the other of wood. After being in prison three weeks, they began to cut into the wooden wall with a jack-knife, and in a week had cut through it sufficiently to escape into an adjoining room. Having drawn a week's provisions, they cut up their bed clothes, and let themselves down, so near the window of the room below, that they saw the officers there assembled, and were not more than a rod from the sentinel in his box. Thence they continued to travel by night, and lay by in the day time. To supply themselves with food, they took a lamb in one place and a turkey and other fowls in others. They kept off from the river to avoid the Indians, who they learned were in pursuit of them, and had been offered a bounty for their apprehension. They at length crossed the St. Lawrence and traveled to the River Sorel, and thence through the wilderness, with incredible hardships and suffering, having killed an ox on the way for their sustenance, and at length arrived at the house of ASA HEMENWAY, in Bridport, which alone had survived the desolations of the war. The next day they reached the picket fort at Pittsford. From the time of their escape, ninety miles below Quebec, including their imprison- ment, they had not changed their clothes, and had few left to be changed.
The following graphic account of the capture and imprisonment of PETER FERRIS, and his son SQUIRE FERRIS, with some antece- dent and accompanying events, is an extract from an article pub- lished in the " Vergennes Vermonter," February 26, 1845, which was written by PHILIP C. TUCKER, Esq. The facts contained in it were communicated to him by SQUIRE FERRIS in his lifetime.
" In October, 1776, upon the retreat of General ARNOLD up the lake with the American fleet, after the battles fought near Val- cour Island, he run the remaining part of his vessels, four gun boats and the galley, " Congress," which ARNOLD himself com- manded, into a small bay, which still bears the name of " Arnold's Bay," and the shores of which were upon Mr. FERRIS's farm. Some of the remains of those vessels are yet visible, though they were all partly blown to pieces and sunk when ARNOLD abandoned them. An incident of their destruction, not known to history, is
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
related by SQU.RE FERRIS, a son of Mr. FERRIS, then in his four- teenth year. Lieutenant GOLDSMITHI of ARNOLD'S galley had been severely wounded in the thigh by a grape shot in the battle near Valcour Island, and lay wholly helpless on the deck, when the or- ders were given to blow up the vessels. ARNOLD had ordered him to be removed on shore, but by some oversight he was neglected, and was on the the deck of the galley when the gunner set fire to the match. He then begged to be thrown overboard, and the gunner, on returning from the galley, told him he would be dead before she blew up. He remained on deck at the explosion, and his body was seen when blown into the air. His remains were taken up and buried on the shore of the lake. To the credit of ARNOLD, he showed the greatest feeling upon the subject, and threatened to run the gun- ner through on the spot. The British fleet arrived at the mouth of the bay before the explosion of ARNOLD's vessels, and fired upon his men on the shore, and upon the house of Mr. FERRIS, which stood near the shore. Some grape shot and several cannon shot struck Mr. FERRIS's house. Mr. FERRIS and his family returned with ARNOLD to Ticonderoga ; from whence they afierwards went, for a short time for safety, to Schaghticooke in the State of New York. All Mr. FERRIS'S moveable property at Panton was either taken or destroyed by the British. His cattle, horses and hogs were shot, and his other property carried off. His orchard trees were cut down, his fences burnt, and nothing left undestroyed, but his house and barn."'
" After some weeks had elapsed Mr. FERRIS returned to the re- mains of his property, and endeavored to repair his injuries, so far as possible. He had restored his fences to preserve a crop of winter grain sowed the previous autumn, and had got in his spring crops, when in the month of June following, the army of General BURGOYNE came up the lake. A. considerable portion of the army, commanded by General FRASER, landed at Mr. FERRIS's farm, en- camped there for the night, and utterly destroyed them all. Two hundred horses were turned into his meadows and grain fields, and they were wholly ruined. Gen. FRASER had the civility to promise indemnity, but that promise yet waits for its fulfilment.
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
' In the autumn of 1776, Mr. Ferris and his son, Squire Ferris, assisted in the escape of Joseph Everest and Phineas Spalding from the British schooner Maria of sixteen guns, then lying at anchor off Arnold's Bay. These two men were Americans, who had been seized in Panton and Addison, and made prisoners for favoring the American cause. Both were taken from the schooner in a dark night and conveyed on shore in a small canoc. Squire Ferris, the son, was also of a small party in the winter of 1776-77, who seized upon two Englishmen, supposed to be spies, near the mouth of Otter Creek, and delivered them into the hands of Gen. St. Clair at Ti- conderoga."
" In the year 1773, the British made a general capture of all the Americans they could reach on the shores of Lake Champlain, who were known to be friendly to the revolutionary cause. In Novem- ber of that year, Mr. Ferris and his son started upon a deer hunt, on the west side of the lake. When near the mouth of Putnam's Creek, about six miles south of Crown Point, they were seized by a body of British soldiers and tories, commanded by Colonel Carle- ton, and carried on board the schooner Maria, then lying at Crown Point, near the mouth of Bulwaggy Bay. They were the first prisoners taken in the great attempt of the British to sweep the shores of the lake of those inhabitants, who were friendly to the re- publican cause. On the same night, detachments from this vessel burnt nearly all the houses along the lake from Bridport to Ferris- burgh, making prisoners of the male inhabitants, and leaving the , women and children to suffering and starvation. Mr. Ferris's house and all his other buildings were burnt. Forty persons were brought on board the next day ; and within a few days, the number reckoned two hundred and forty-four; part of which were put on board the schooner Carleton of sixteen guns, which then lay at the mouth of Great Otter Creek. The forces, which came out in the Maria and Carleton, were originally destined for an attack upon Rutland, but their object having become known by the escape of an American prisoner, Lieut. Benjamin Everest, that project was abandoned, and they were employed in desolating the country, and stripping it of its inhabitants. The vessels proceeded with their prisoners to St.
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