USA > Vermont > Windham County > Guilford > Official history of Guilford, Vermont, 1678-1961. With genealogies and biographical sketches > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
New Hampshire at this time was an entirely separate province and not in any way affected by this settlement of boundaries, but Governor Wentworth seizing the golden opportunity and professing to believe that the boundaries of New Hampshire extended as far westerly as
10
Official History of Guilford
those of Massachusetts and Connecticut, on January 3, 1749 granted the first town chartered by him within the present limits of the state of Vermont, which in allusion to his own Christian name was called Bennington.
This act of encroachment did not pass unnoticed by New York. The matter was brought to the attention of its assembly and early in the following year action was taken as appears by the following record:
In Council, New York, 3 April, 1750.
Ordered that His Excellency do acquaint Governor Wentworth that this Province is bounded Eastward by Connecticut River, the Letters Patent from King Charles the 2d to the Duke of York Ex- pressly Granting all the lands from the West side of the Connecticut River to the East side of Delaware Bay.
A copy of this resolution was sent by special messenger to Governor Wentworth, who nevertheless, continued granting towns on the west side of the Connecticut River until a total of no less than one hundred and thirty eight such had been established. In each town so granted the governor reserved five hundred acres of land and fees of one shil- ling per hundred acres of the town area, amounting to about one hundred dollars, were also collected in each case. The reserved lands were soon sold and a princely fortune was fast being accumulated by the thrifty governor.
Speculators swarmed and the "land fever" prevailed to an alarming extent. As fast as companies of men could be associated who could raise the money necessary for the governor's fees and the cost of a sur- vey, they would secure the grant of a township, have it surveyed and divided into sections or lots, usually 100 acres in each apportion. These were divided by lot among the proprietors or members of the company who would sell them to settlers at the best price obtainable and then move on and repeat the process as rapidly as possible.
The long period of Indian Wars had closed and the menace of savage attack no longer discouraged the settlement of lands here. The population of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts had greatly increased and the price of land there had made ownership by the average family difficult. Young men chafed to till the fertile valleys and hillsides to the north and to subdue the wilderness and establish homes to their own liking by their own labor. Money was scarce, but potent when obtainable. Those who could convert their holdings into "Spanish Mill Dollars" could take their silver to the north and in a very few days journey double, treble or even quadruple their holdings in land and be practically "monarchs of all they surveyed".
Such was the condition of affairs at the time when Guilford was chartered in 1754. Grants of the surrounding towns had previously
11
Official History of Guilford
been issued. Halifax, the second town chartered by Governor Went- worth, was established in 1750. The charter of Hinsdale, which ex- tended on both sides of the river and included what is now Vernon, was dated September 5, 1753 and that of Brattleboro was dated De- cember 26, 1753.
The original charter or grant of the town of Guilford is still in existence and is in the office of the town clerk of Guilford. Although it is much worn with two hundred years of handling and stained with many spots resulting supposedly from its interment in the earth of the town pound during the rigorous vicissitudes of the period immedi- ately prior to the admission of Vermont into the federal union, it is for the most part still legible. The text of the charter is as follows:
CHARTER OF 1754
Province of New Hampshire.
GEORGE the Second by the Grace of GOD of Great Brittain, France & Ireland King Defender of the faith &c.
Great Seal of Province.
TO ALL PERSONS to whom these presents shall come, GREETING,-
KNOW YE that We of our Especial Grace Cer- tain Knowledge & mere motion for the Due Encouragement of Set- tleing a New Plantation within our Said Province by & with our Trusty & well beloved BENNING WENTWORTH ESQR. our Governour and Commander in Chieff of our Said Province of New Hampshire in AMERICA and of our Council of the sd. Province HAVE upon the Conditions & Reservations hereafter made; Given and Granted and by these Presents for Us our Heirs & Successors Do Give & Grant in Equal Shares unto our Loving Subjects Inhabitants of our sd. Province of New Hampshire & His Majestys other Governments, and to their Heirs & Assigns for Ever whose Names are entered on this Grant to be di- vided to & amongst them into SIXTY FOUR Equal shares All that Tract or Parcel of Land Situate lying & being within our Province of New Hampshire Containing by Admeasurement Twenty three thou- sand & forty Acres, which tract is to Contain Six Miles Square and no more; Out of which an Allowance is to be made for Highways & Un- improveable Lands, by Rocks Mountains Ponds & Rivers One thou- sand & forty Acres free, according to a Plan thereof made & Presented by our Governours orders, and hereunto Annexed, Butted & Bounded as follows (viz).
Beginning at the South East Corner of Hallifax at a Stake in the Province Line, thence running Six Miles due East, to the South West corner of Hinsdell thence due North Six Miles to the North West Corner of Hinsdell thence due West by Brattleborough Six Miles to the North East Corner of Hallifax aforesaid, thence due South Six
12
Official History of Guilford
Miles by Hallifax to the Bound first mentioned, and that the same be, and hereby is incorporated into a Township by the Name of Guilford and that the inhabitants that Do, or shall hereafter Inhabit Said Town- ship are hereby declared to be Enfranchized with and Intituled to all & every the Priviledges & Immunities that other Towns within our sd. Province by Law Exercise & Enjoy and that the first Meeting for the Choice of Town Officers, agreeble to the Laws of our sd. Province shall be held on the Second Tuesday in May next which Meeting shall be Notified by John Chandler Jun. Esq. who is hereby also appointed Moderator of the sd. first Meeting which he is to Notify & Govern agreeable to The Laws & Customs of our sd. Province: And also that the Annual Meeting for Ever hereafter for the choice of such Officers of sd. Town Shall be held on the first Tuesday in March Annually.
TO HAVE & TO HOLD the said Tract of Land as above Ex- pressed together with all the Priviledges & Appurtenances to them & their Respective Heirs & Assigns for Ever upon the following Condi- tions (viz)
That every Grantee his Heirs or Assigns shall Plant or Cultivate five Acres of Land within the Term of five Years for every fifty Acres Contained in his or their Share or Proportion of Land in sd. Township and Continue to improve & Settle the same by Additional Cultivations on penalty of the forfeiture of his Grant or Share in the sd. Township and its reverting to his Majesty his Heirs & Successors, to be by him or them regranted to such of his Subjects as shall effectually Settle & Cul- tivate the same .- That all White & other Pine Trees within the sd. Township fit for Masting our Royal Navy, be carefully preserved for that Use, and none to be cut or fel'd without his Majesty's Especial Licence for So doing first had & Obtained, upon the Penalty of the Forfeiture of the right of Such Grantee his Heirs or Assigns to Us our Heirs & Successors: As well as being Subject to the Penalty of any Act or Acts of Parliment that now or hereafter shall be Enacted. That be- fore any Division of the sd. Lands be made to & amongst the Grantees, a Tract of Land as near the Center of the Township as the Land will Admit of shall be reserved & Marked out for Town Lotts, one of which shall be allotted to Each Grantee of the Contents of One Acre.
YIELDING & PAYING therefor, to Us our Heirs & Successors for the Space of ten Years to be computed from the Date hereof the Rent of one Ear of Indian corn only on the first Day of January annually if lawfully Demanded; the first Payment to be made on the First January next Ensueing, the date hereof,
and every Proprietor, Settler or Inhabitant shall yield & pay unto Us our Heirs & Successors, Yearly & every Year for Ever from & after the Expiration of the ten Years from the Date hereof namely on the First day of January which will be in the year of our LORD CHRIST one Thousand Seven hundred & sixty four one Shilling Proclamation
13
Official History of Guilford
money, for every hundred Acres he so owns settles or possesses; and so in proportion for a Greater or a Lesser Tract of the sd. Land: which Money shall be paid by the respective Persons above sd. their Heirs or Assigns, in our Council Chamber in Portsmouth, or to such Officer or Officers as shall be Appointed to receive the same, and this to be in Lieu of all other Rents & Services whatsoever .-
IN TESTIMONY hereof We have caused the Seal of our sd. Prov- ince to be hereunto Affixed; Witness BENNING WENTWORTH, Esq, our Governour & Commander in Chieff of sd. Province the Sec- ond Day of April in the Year of our LORD CHRIST 1754, And in the 27th Year of his Majesty's Reign.
By his Excellency's Command, with Advice of Council.
B.Wentworth
Theodore Atkinson Secry
Province of New Hampshire April 2nd 1754 Entred & recorded in the Book of Charters for the Province aforesaid Pages 197-198-199 Theodore Atkinson Secty
Upon the back of the charter is found the following:
THE NAMES OF THE GRANTEES OF THE TOWN OF GUILFORD.
Elijah Williams
Seth Dwight
Richard Wibird David Field
Samuel Field
William Morris
Eleazer Hawkes
Ebenezer Barnard
Matthew Clesson
Obediah Dickinson
Samuel Barnard Junr.
Joseph Barnard Charles Coates
James Morris John Armes
David Wells
John Allen, Junr.
Richard Crouch
Gardiner Chandler
John Chaddick
John Chaddick, Junr.
James Boyd
John Curtis Benjamin Green
Nathaniel Green
Nahum Willard
Benjamin Eager
Peter Green
Timothy Pain Samuel Williams
Asa Flagg
John Chandler, Junr.
Samuel Wentworth, Boston
George Bruce John Boyden Elisha Higgins
John Billings
Jonathan Martin, Junr.
Phillip Wheeler
Ezra Carpenter
Thomas Warren
Leonard Jarvis
Theodore Atkinson
Samuel Chandler
Daniel Warner
John Curtis, Junr.
Ebenezer Cuttler
Samuel Mower
Benjamin Pollard
Selah Barnard
Samuel Partridge Aaron Scot John Chandler
His Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq., a tract of land to contain five hundred Acres which is to be laid out in one body,-
14
Official History of Guilford
One whole Share for the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in foreign Parts,
One whole share for the first settled Minister of the Gospel in said town, One whole Share for a Glebe for the ministry of the Church of England as by Law Established-Caleb How, John Wentworth, Joseph Blanchard, Eleazer Williams, William Rawson Junr. & William Johnson-
According to the charter, the lands of Guilford were to be divided into sixty-four equal shares. The names of fifty-nine grantees are to be found upon the back of the charter, with the statement that three whole shares were to be reserved for certain public uses, and five hundred acres to the use of the royal governor.
By the terms of the charter the town was to contain "six miles square and no more". Notwithstanding this, the town was bounded South on the Province Line, (Massachusetts) and North on Brattle- borough, being a distance of six miles and one hundred and twenty rods. This discrepancy was probably not discovered until the town was surveyed and laid out into lots by Nathan Dwight in 1765.
This is the first survey of the town of which we find any record and at this time the town was regularly divided into lots of one hundred acres each, and the lots numbered consecutively, beginning with No. 1 in the southeastern corner, adjoining Massachusetts line, with Hins- dale, now Vernon, on the east. The lots were one hundred rods wide and one hundred and sixty rods, or one half mile, north and south. The numbering extended north to lot No. 12; the next westerly was numbered 13, thence south to the province line, again returning north. After six full courses of lots had been numbered in this way a rec- tangular tract in the central part of the town, covering a space equal to thirty-two hundred-acre lots was divided into lots of fifty acres each, being of the same length and but half as wide as the hundred acre lots. These house-lots, so-called, were designated by a separate system of numbering, beginning with number 1 at the southeasterly corner of this tract, the numbers extending to No. 16 at its southwest corner, the next northerly being numbered 17, thence extending back easterly to No. 32, the next northerly being No. 33, thence westerly to No. 48 and back to No. 64, the highest number of the house lots, at their northeast corner.
After 129 of the one hundred acre lots had been numbered as previously indicated, the strip of 120 rods in width between the six mile limit and the Brattleborough line appears to have been noticed, and a row of one hundred acres lots was laid in this tract, beginning with No. 130 at the eastern end, or northeast corner of the town, ex-
15
Official History of Guilford
tending nearly across the north end of the town, until an irregular shaped tract was reached, adjacent to the five hundred acre lot which had been reserved by Governor Wentworth, and located upon the highest mountain in Guilford, which has ever since been known by the name of Governor's Mountain, it being in the northwestern cor- ner of the town.
Inasmuch as three full shares, or one thousand and fifty acres of land in the town had been set aside in furtherance of the cause of religion, the proprietors, although under no obligation so to do, allotted one share, or three hundred and fifty acres, for the support of schools. These lands were rented for a time, and afterward sold under authority of an act of state legislature.
The action of the proprietors in appropriating the 120 rod tract on the northern border of the town has been criticized by former historians, but they were wholly within their legal rights, as it is a long established principle of law that where a deed or grant is made convey- ing land within certain specified boundaries (as in this case), that all within those boundaries passes to the grantee, notwithstanding the fact that the area or acreage stated in the grant varies from the actual surface comprised within the stated limits.
The first clearing was made in 1758 by Jonathan Hunt and Elisha Hunt, of Northfield, on Lot 28 near the eastern border of the town on the farm settled in 1778 by Vine Haynes, later owned by Asa Haynes, Russell L. Roberts and L. M. & A. W. Bingham in school district No. 13.
The development of the town at first was slow, so much so that the Charter was liable to forfeiture for non-compliance with its terms. It provided that five acres of each fifty or ten percent of the whole should be cleared and cultivated within five years of the date of the Charter and to the end that their present investment of money and labor might be preserved to them, the proprietors in the early part of the year 1761 presented their petition to Governor Wentworth praying for an extension of time for the fulfillment of the conditions prescribed in the Charter. They alleged in their petition that the intervention of an Indian war had made it impracticable for them to perform the stipulated conditions. By virtue of these representations the charter was renewed on July 6 1761 for the term of one year. This term was to be renewed annually if the same impediment remained. Three years more having elapsed, and the charter still liable to forfeiture, on March 20, 1764 the grantees chose a special committee for that purpose and again petitioned Governor Wentworth for a confirmation of their grant and a further extension of time, alleging the same reasons for noncompliance as set forth in the previous petition. The charter was thereupon for the second time renewed on March 20, 1764.
16
Official History of Guilford
CHARTER OF 1764
The renewal charter of 1764 is still preserved, and in the office of the town clerk of Guilford, the text being as follows:
Province of New Hampshire.
GEORGE the THIRD by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France & Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, Etc.,
Great Seal of Province.
TO ALL whom these Presents shall come GREETING Whereas our late Royal Grand- father King George the Second of Glorious Memory did of His special Grace & mere motion for the Encourage- ment of settling a new Plantation in our said Province of New Hamp- shire by his Letters Patient or Charter, under the Seal of our said Province, dated the 2nd day of Aprill 1754 & in the twenty Sixth year of His Majesty's Reign, grant a tract of land, equal to Six Miles square, bounded as therein expressed, to a number of our Loyal Subjects, whose Names are Entered on the same, to hold to them, their Heirs or Assigns, on the conditions therein declared, to be a Town Corporate by the name of Guilford, as by reference to the said Charter may more fully appeare,
AND WHEREAS the said Grantees have Represented that by the Intervention of an Indian War since making the said Grant it has been impracticable to comply with & fulfill the conditions, & humbly supplicated us not to take advantage of the Breach of said Conditions, but to lengthen out & grant them some reasonable time for Per- formance thereof, after the said Impediment shall cease,
NOW KNOW YE that we being Willing to Promote the end Pro- posed, have of our further Grace & Favour suspended our claim of the Forfeiture which the said Grantees may have Incurred, and by these Presents do grant unto the said Grantees, their Heirs & Assigns the term of one Year from the 1st January, 1765 for performing & fulfilling the Conditions, matters & things by them to be done, which term is to be renewed annually if the same Impediment remains, untill our Plenary Instructions shall be received relating to the Incident that has Prevented a Complyance with the said Charter, According to the Intent and meaning of the same.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF we have caused the Seal of our said Province to be hereunto Affixed, Witness Benning Wentworth, our
17
Official History of Guilford
Governor & Commander in Chief of our Province aforesaid, the 20th day of March, in the Year of our Lord Christ, 1764 & in the fourth year of His Majesty's Reign.
By his Excellency's Command, with Advice of Council.
B. WENTWORTH
T. Atkinson, Jun. Secty.
Province of New Hampshire, June 8th, 1764, recorded in the first book of Charters Page 463. At. T. Atkinson, Jun. Secty.
In 1764, or ten years after Guilford was chartered by the govern- ment of New Hampshire, an order of the Royal Council made a final determination of the long disputed boundary between New Hamp- shire and New York, fixing this boundary at the western bank of the Connecticut River where it had been established by King Charles II one hundred years before. Soon after the final order was made and promulgated the proprietors of Guilford made application to Lieu- tenant Governor Colden of New York for a regrant of the township, which he promised to give them as soon as the petitions for lands in the new territory should come under consideration. Another petition on the same topic was presented to Governor Moore in 1766, but like the former it received no particular attention. A third representation to the same effect was made in 1767 and with a similar result. The subject was now allowed to rest. The proprietors hoping they should, in the end, receive what was due them.
In 1767, further grants of land were forbidden by the king, but Colonel Thomas Howard, a reduced officer in His Majesty's service in 1771 secured a royal mandamus for the grant of ten thousand acres to him. He was advised by William Smith, chief justice of New York, who held title under the New York government to a large part of the southwest quarter of Brattleboro, to locate it on the Connecticut River below Brattleboro. In the opinion of Governor Tryon the man- damus superseded the prohibition of 1767 and he issued a warrant for the survey of Howard's tract, which is hereby given:
Pursuant to a warrant from His Excellency William Tryon, Esquire, Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over the Province of New York and the Territories depending thereon in America, Chancellor and Vice Admiral of the same, bearing date this nineteenth day of November. I have laid out for Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Howard in one Contiguous Tract, All that Certain Tract or Parcel of Land, Situate lying and being on the West side of the Connecticut River in the County of Cumberland within the Province of New
18
Official History of Guilford
York, Beginning on the west bank of the said river at the southeast corner of the township of Brattleborough and thence along the South bounds of the said Township of Brattleborough North Eighty degrees West, one hundred and Twenty chains (480 rods), then South ten degrees West four hundred and eighty chains to the line run for the North bounds of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, then along the last mentioned line South Eighty degrees East to Connecticut River and then along the West bank of the said river as it winds and turns to the Southeast corner of the township of Brattleborough where this tract first began, containing Ten Thousand Acres of Land and the usual allowance for highways.
Given under my hand this nineteenth day of November, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy one. Alexr Colden Surveyr Genl.
While the tract as granted would not have taken quite the full area of the present town of Vernon, yet as laid out it not only covered all Vernon but a tract 240 rods wide across the entire easterly side of Guilford, including practically all of the tillable lands of recent school districts Nos. 3, 4, and 13 or over 2880 acres actual measurements.
Col. Howard came immediately with two liveried servants to take possession of the tract. A few of the Guilford settlers took leases from him but most of them refused to recognize his title which would result in the deprivation of many settlers of their entire possessions, including nearly 3000 acres of land with improvements achieved by several years of the hardest labor and the discomforts necessarily attendant on the reclamation of the primeval wilderness and the establishment of homes therein.
Redress was earnestly sought in a petition to the Governor of New York, dated May 11, 1772, the petitioners asking for a charter of the Guilford lands not included in Howard's tract and for lands in some other locality sufficient to repay them for the losses sustained by reason of the grant to Colonel Howard. No reparation, however, was received until the war of the revolution placed the possession of the property of the royalist Howard in the hands of the victorious rebels. The text of the petition of the Guilford people to Governor Tryon is here given:
Petition of the Inhabitants of Guilford:
To His Excellency William Tryon, Esquire, Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over the Province of New York and the
19
Official History of Guilford
Territories depending thereon in America Chancellor and Vice Admiral of the same:
The Petition of David Field, Silah Barnard, Thomas Cutler, Asa Rice, Francis Rice, Peter Rice, Silas Cutlar, Jotham Biglo, Shubeld Bullock and Joel Biglo in behalf of themselves and their associates Inhabitants of the Township of Guilford, in the County of Cumber- land and Province of New York.
Most Humbly Sheweth.
That your Petitioners and their associates on the second day of April in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and fifty four obtained a grant from the Government of New Hampshire for the said Guilford containing twenty three thousand and forty acres of land.
That in pursuance thereof your petitioners and their associates settled upon, cultivated and improved the same at a very great expence, conceiving their title to be good until after the arrival of his Majesty's Royal Order in his Privy Council of the Twentieth day of July, 1764, declaring "the West Banks of the River Connecticut from where it enters the Province of the Massachusetts Bay as far North as the forty fifth degree of Northern Latitude to be the boundary Line between the Provinces of New York and New Hampshire".
That in the year 1765 your Petitioners applied to Lieutenant Governor Colden for a Grant of the said Township of Guilford, which his Honor promised they should have as soon as the sundry Petitions then presented for Lands in that part of the Country came under consideration.
That your Petitioners in the year 1766 presented another Petition to His Excellency, the late Sir Henry Moore, Baronet, Praying a Grant and confirmation under the Great Seal of this Province. This Petition, as well as the former being either neglected or mislaid, your petitioners presented a second in the year following, but with the like ill success.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.