USA > Vermont > Bennington County > Peru > Reunion celebration : together with an historical sketch of Peru, Bennington County, Vermont, and its inhabitants from the first settlement of the town > Part 3
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Captain William Utley came from Connecticut with his family in 1769. He settled on the spot where Menzie Thompson's house stands. Undoubtedly he expected and knew that he was in the Township of Bromley; as evidence that he thought so he attended three of the early conventions of the State as delegate from the town of Bromley, viz .: He was a delegate at Dorset in 1776; on October 30th, 1776, was delegate at a session held at Westminster; also delegate at a session held at Windsor, November 9, 1777. It was said the line of the town was east of the Utley house called the Mun line. Bromley being surveyed, more than six miles allowance was made for the high mountain; its being measured from the west line six miles without allowance for the mountain brought the line a half mile or more west of Utley's house, leaving Utley on the gore of land between Weston and Bromley. This was a bone of contention for years. The difficulty was referred to commissioners at different times, but no settlement was concluded until 1835. The citizens agreed on a line which was established by the legislature as jurisdictional line and each town acquiesced.
William Barlow in 1773 came from Connecticut, built a house near where the old house stood below the road on M. B. Lyon's farm. It is not known what became of him; some say he left during the war, but returned and died in Peru. He was buried on the place in the corner of the Holton lot, where others were buried.
In 1777, Ira Allen, secretary of a convention held at Manchester, wrote in pressing terms to Meshech Weare, president of the provinciai council assembled at Exeter, N. H., to send troops or soldiers to Vermont. On the 9th day of July, 1777, President Weare sent a letter to Ira Allen, stating that "They have now determined that a quarter part of the militia of twelve regiments shall be immediately drafted, formed into three battalions under the
EDMUND BATCHELDER.
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command of Brigadier General John Stark, and forthwith sent into your State to oppose the ravages and coming forward of the enemy." It was furthermore stated that the troops would depend for provisions upon Vermont. It was also requested that proper persons be sent to No. 4 (Charlestown), to meet General Stark, and advise with him relative to the route and disposition of his troops. It is supposed that General Warner met Stark at No. A, perhaps others with him. In a history recently published by C. C. Coffin, it is said General Stark found a cannon at No 4, which he mounted on cart wheels and took along with him. It is pictured in Coffin's history, the horses tugging to take the cannon along, the men lending a hand to get it over hard places. The route they traveled was through Springfield, Chester, Andover, Landgrove, Bromley (Peru), corner of Winhall into Manchester. The troops found a road cut through the wilderness to Captain Utley's in Landgrove, but here the road ended. They dined with Captain Utley, and for a part of their rations he prepared a potash kettle of mush, or in Yankee terms, hasty pudding. From this place they followed the scarred trees, removing the impediments in the way or going around them. For six or eight miles there was no road, and but one opening in the wilderness, that was on the farm where M. B. Lyon lives, where it is said a part of the troops camped, the rest going further on and camping near where Gen. Dudley built his house. He found two bayonets near the spring, and other indications of a camping place. Judge Munson, in his History of Manchester, says General Stark was on the mountain the 6th of August, 1777, and on the 7th came down to Manchester. This was the largest company of men that ever traveled through Peru. After this it is probable the delegates attending the early conventions of the State passed over the mountain on this route.
EARLY PHYSICAL CONDITION.
Bromley, now Peru, was chartered to be six miles square. It is bounded on the north by Mount Tabor, on the east by Landgrove, on the south by Winhall, and on the west by Dorset. It is a mountain town. The west half of the town is a high mountain range running north and south through the town, with only one notch where a road could be made, nearly midway between the north and south lines of the town. This mountain is the backbone of the Green Mountains, the water-shed where the water divides.
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The Mad Tom rises on the mountain, runs west to East Dorset, where it unites to form the Battenkill river. South of this the Little Mad Tom runs west into the Kill. These waters flow south and west, and empty into the Hudson a little above the monument that marks the spot of Burgoyne's surrender. North of Mad Tom are the head-waters of the Otter Creek, which run west and north to Lake Champlain at Vergennes, thence into the St. Lawrence. The waters on the east side of the mountain flow into the West River, thence southeasterly into the Connecticut and Long Island Sound. The waters of Peru run to the ocean in three different directions. The streams are small but afford good mill privileges for the use of man, and there is not any country on earth that affords cleaner or purer water than flows from the sides of these mountains. Buffom Pond is high on the mountain, containing several acres; it lies in Peru and Mount Tabor, is noted for its good trout fishing. Mud Pond is in the southeasterly part of the town, is a small pond, but is noted for its blood-suckers. The west part of the town is not susceptible of cultivation on account of the steepness and ruggedness of the mountains. The east half was accessible to the early adventurers; it lies pitching to the east and southeast. It was originally covered with a heavy growth of timber, consisting of spruce, hemlock, balsam, pine, white and sugar or rock maple, white and yellow birch, white and black ash, beech, basswood, and some elm. A few lots in the town still have the primitive growth of timber, and are more valuable than much of the cultivated land. The soil is various; in some sections it is a wet, loamy mixture of clay, while other parts are dry and gravely. The land that was covered with hard wood produced bountifully when first cleared, but the more it is cultivated the poorer it becomes. That part covered with dark timber is not as good when first cleared, but cultivation improves it, and is the most desirable for farming purposes, being warmer, more free from stones, and more easily worked than the hard-wood land is.
The first settlers had much to contend with in the early time of the town. . With plenty of timber of the best kind, there were no mills to cut it into boards, and it could be used only in its primitive state, hence log houses and barns were the primitive buildings of the first settlers. The first thing for immigrants to do was to select a spot near some spring or rivulet on which they could erect their mansion, then dig a hole in the ground to substitute for a cellar,
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where through a trap door a ladder was put for stairs, with which to go down for such vegetables as they might have; they were always sure to have a pork barrel well filled, also such fruit as grew natural on the trees. As for a barrel of cider there was no place to get it into the cellar, but that was not the worst of it, there was no cider to put in. Then clear the spot of brush and trees, and cut logs for the dimensions of the house, which was usually one room with a large stone chimney in one end, with a fireplace large enough to hold half a cord of wood. The foundation was laid with logs on the ground, on which the superstructure was erected with logs rolled one upon another, notched at the corners so that the logs would be held in place and lie near together. Cross timbers would be put on for the chamber floor, then the timber for rafters, on which cross ribs were pinned covered with spruce bark or long shingles riven and shaved, which made a roof. The floor was made of split timber, and hewn with an axe, but it was not long before boards could be obtained. The fireplace was large, with a wide stone hearth, the chimney built to the chamber floor with stones, topped out with split sticks laid cob house fashion, well daubed over with clay mortar to make it proof against fire. The cracks between the logs were filled with mortar to keep the cold out and the heat in. A window of six lights on each side gave light in winter and let in air in summer. A doorway was cut out in which was hung a door made of rough boards, nailed together with cleats, and hung on wooden hinges, which, when the door would swing, made music instead of the piano. The door was fastened with a wooden latch with a string on the outside for opening. Pins were driven into the logs on the side and rough boards laid on for the cupboard, which held the china, pewter, tin ware and knives and forks. A large iron crane hung in the fireplace so as to swing backward and forward, furnished with hooks made like the letter S, on which utensils for cooking and washing hung, and made so that they could be swung over the fire or out into the room. The house was then ready to receive the furniture, which was of the simplest kind. For a bedstead, poles were placed on crotches, tables were made with boards or bark laid on poles, while for chairs they used shingle blocks. The real wants or necessities were few and easily supplied. No doubt there was joy and happiness among the early settlers, and the mother never happier than she was when she drew the trundle bed from beneath her own on which to place the little ones, and the little ones happy for such a
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bed to sleep on under a mother's care. As new emigrants arrived roads were made, the forest melted away, the land was covered with various crops for the sustenance of man and beast, the wild and ferocious animals of the forest were supplanted by domestic ones useful to emigrant settlers. Soon saw mills were erected and trees were made into useful lumber, framed houses and barns began to appear. With all this the wants and necessities of the inhabitants increased, and has continued to do so until the present time.
The first settlers of Peru were limited in means to furnish homes and utensils for necessary use, and their farming tools were of very primitive kind. They had no carts or wagons, and at first sleds of the rudest kind, with stone boats, were in use summer and winter. Hay and grain were taken to barns and stacks on sleds that had no iron about them. The first ploughs were made with one handle, beam framed into it, with a pin in the upper end by which to hold it, wooden mould board covered with strips of iron nailed on, with a point of steel which could be taken off and sharpened. Soon ploughs had two handles. About 1825 cast iron ploughs came into use. There has been a constant improvement in ploughs. The first carts were without iron, except bands around the hubs and boxes in the hub for axletree to roll in. The felloes were six inches wide, doweled at the ends with pins to hold the blocks together, and were called block wheels. With these clumsy wheels, and a cart body equally as clumsy, the work was done. Soon straps of iron were nailed on the felloes for tires. Great improvements have been made in carts. Harrows at first were crotches cut from trees, with about seven iron teeth to scratch among the stumps. Time has improved all these tools. The best are now used, with the mower added. About 1815 the first one-horse wagon was brought into town by Esquire Bigelow, and by 1825 one-horse wagons were in general use. The only spring that they had was in the axletree, the body being bolted to the axletree. Ninety years have made a great change.
The farmers in those days calculated to raise half an acre of flax, selecting the most feasible land. Well prepared by enriching it with the finest of fertilizers, they had well cultivated a good seed bed for flax seed. It grew from two to three feet high, and no crop looked handsomer or more beautiful than the flax patch when in full bloom. It is usually ready for harvest in August. Pulling flax, oh, what a job. AAll the help indoors and out was called into requisition to pull the flax. When dry it was bound in small bundles and the
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seed pounded off, which was carefully saved. It was a cash article and found ready sale. The flax was carried to the smooth field, thinly and evenly spread to rot; when properly rotted it was bound in large bundles and stowed away in the roof of some shed or other out place. In February or March, on bright sunny days, the farmer would have his bundles of flax on the fences or wood piles to dry. He and the boys in the barn breaking and swingling. The fibre would be cleaned of shives, becoming soft and pliable and ready for the good matron of the house to take in hand, with all the girls she had to help (it was no disgrace for young ladies to spin and weave in those days). The house was furnished with all the implements for making cloth, such as the hatchel, tow cards, linen wheel, tow wheel and quill wheel. Warping bars and loom were the machinery of this factory. The power to run it was the feet, hands and brain of the old and young women who had skill and the will to manufacture with their own fingers the material for their finest and best garments, and they were their own mantua makers. In the spring you would hear the buzzing of the wheels and the strike of the loom, and see the large bunches of the yarn hung around to grace the kitchen. They would make their own white diaper tablecloths and towels, white underlinen, striped gowns, checked handkerchiefs, aprons, etc .. in which clothes they were fitted out for any company in any place. They would manufacture their husbands', fathers' and brothers' white summer shirts, trousers and frocks. It was common to see webs of tow and linen cloth spread on the grass to whiten out by sprinkling water on it, let the sun dry it, and so continue to do until it was white. Tow cloth had a ready market, and quantities were made to sell. Farmers kept sheep for domestic purposes. In June the wool was sorted into bundles according to its quality, sent to the carding machine and made into rolls. The whole paraphernalia of cloth-making machinery was called into requisition for converting the wool into cloth. Beech, hemlock and butternut bark, with sumach berries were in demand for dyeing, and withal the blue dye stood in the corner of the fireplace. The plain woolen cloth was made for bed blankets, and some was sent to the clothier to be colored, fulled and dressed for the best suits, some was colored in the yarn to be woven into striped cloth for frocks; most of the men wore them. Some of the yarn was knit into stockings for family use and to sell, and some knit into leggings shaped to the foot to wear instead of boots in the deep snow.
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WILD ANIMALS.
In the first settlement of the town the wild animals were numerous and troublesome. The wolf, bear, deer, moose, lynx and catamount roamed in the forest unmolested. The carly settlers invaded their rights, and they showed resentment by taking a pig, a lamb, a sheep or a calf, and would enter the corn field after the green corn. The farmers used means to catch and destroy them, shooting and trapping them. Tame men and wild animals did not live on good terms together. In 1832 the wolves were troublesome, taking animals from the barnyard or anywhere near it. A pack of wolves was heard one night, and in the morning two men concluded to follow them. The snow was deep, with a crust. Isaac G. Long and Seth Lyon put on snowshoes and took all the rations they could carry with their guns. They started in chase after the wolves on the mountain, pursued a northeasterly course into the woods, then north from the Benjamin Barnard's inn, where they made good progress, but night came on before they found the wolves. They camped under a tree without fire or covering. The chase was continued by daylight the next morning, but no wolves were seen, and during the day the snowshoes gave out. Being on the mountain they did not know how far they were from any habitation. The second night came without seeing any wolves, and they camped the same as before. The third morning they concluded that the wolves were safer than they were, for it had turned very cold. They came to a branch of the Otter Creek, which they followed on the bank in the day and by the water at night until they came to Woodman's road, where Mr. Long's strength failed him and he could go no further. Mr. Lyon sat him on a log and followed down the road, which led to Danby Borough, where he obtained help to go back for Mr. Long. They found him helpless, his hands frozen to his gun. His boots had to be cut from his feet, and his limbs were badly frozen. He lost all his toes on one foot, and the big toe on the other, and suffered the most excruciating pain for weeks after he got home. It affected his health for life. Mr. Lyon was a younger man, with great muscular strength, and said that if Mr. Long had been able to keep going it would have been all right with them. It was an experience they did not care to have again. One of the wolves that they followed appeared to have a defective foot, and afterwards a wolf was caught in an adjacent town with a foot demoralized. Mr. Long went a journey to get the pelt of the wolf which he followed
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to his sorrow, and used it to wrap around his feet, as much as to say, I have got the animal and will make use of it for my comfort.
It was said that one moose was captured in the town a little south of Charles Batchelder's house. Moose would live on the bark of moosewood trees. Occasionally a bear makes his appearance, but he is either captured by the shrewd hunter or thinks it is wisdom to part company with mankind. Other wild animals are not very plentiful The hedgehog and porcupine still linger on the mountain range, and will as long as the bark of the birch and beech will furnish food for living.
EARLY SETTLERS.
Many of the carly settlers of Peru came from the northeast part of Massachusetts, from the towns of Princeton, Westminster and Gardner, and from the south part of New Hampshire. David Stratton came to town in 1795, and settled on the top of Stratton hilt at the fork of the road in the south corner of J. P. Long's pasture. His brother, Richard Stratton, had a house east of David's, in the pasture now owned by Dexter Batchelder. They built a frame barn on the west side of the road in the field owned by Dexter Batchelder. David and Richard Stratton deeded the north cemetery to the town A. D. 1803. Very little is known of them. Their sister was the wife of Aaron Killam. The farm was afterwards owned by Jacob Odel, of Mount Vernon, N. H., who erected the house in which Dexter Batchelder now lives.
Jonathan Butterfield built a house about 1775 on the top of the mountain, north from the house occupied by Dickinson. It was occupied as a public house until the turnpike was built. This was the first tavern in town, and did a good business, cutting large quantities of hay. The buildings were large and commodious. This farm was a pitched lot, settled before the allotment of the town, and the first road that was built over the mountain ran past the house. Aaron Killam was the third settler in town in 1797, owning the farm now occupied by Charles Farnum. His wife was the sister of David Stratton. He had a good farm with good buildings, and a family of boys and girls. He left town with his family in 1823, settling in Oswego County, N. Y.
Reuben Bigelow came to town in 1797, and began on the farm now owned by Merrill G. Walker, building his house and barn on the hill southwest of the present buildings. His barn was the first
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framed building in town. He came from Princeton, Mass., and moved his family into town the first day of March, iSoo, having two children.
CHILDREN OF REUBEN BIGELOW.
Abigail M. Dr. L. G. Whiting, of Chester, died 1888, aged 92 years.
Susan M. Aaron Burton, lived in Chester and Peru, died in Manchester, 1868.
Lucinda M. Cephas Tuthill, lived in Landgrove, moved to Illinois in 1839, now living.
Deborah M. Baker, lived in Brattleboro, he died and she Ml. Mr. Shearer, moved to Michigan, now living.
Demietta M. Russell Tuthill, lived in Peru until 1837, moved to Illinois, now living.
Miles M. in the West, died there about 1836.
Laura M. Rev. Mr. Fairchilds, living in Wisconsin.
Orrilla M. Mr. Nichols in Virginia, living now.
Caroline M. Mr. Nichols in Virginia, living now.
Orlando M. in the West, died on the way to California.
Dr. Asa M. in Indiana, practiced medicine there, moved to Toledo, Ohio, practiced medicine and was professor in the Medical School at Toledo, died 1889.
The Esquire Bigelow farm, after his decease in 1834, went into the hands of his son-in-law, Aaron Burton. At that time the buildings were the same as they had been for a long time. A large house, on the ground, one story high, with a large and long L on the west end ending towards the road, stairs with several steps to get into the bar room, which was in the south- east corner of the house; it was a long room with a par in the northwest corner. This house stood southwest of the present house, with two barns north from the house. A long open shed a little north from the present house used to accommodate the traveling public, with cribs and room for grain in the end. Over the brook, south of the house, was a row of shops for shoe shops, chair shop, paint shop, and on the corner next to Adams's road was a blacksmith shop; these were where the wall now stands. A large barn stood over the brook just above the road which was used for storage. Aaron Burton moved or took all these buildings away, and built a cheap house on the same spot as the old one. F. P. Batchelder bought the place of Burton in 1841, and lived on it for
STOWELL BARNARD.
THEWFW JUSK PIRINE LIBRARY
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three or four years, then sold it to Nathaniel and S. B. Russell, who lived on the place fifteen years or more, then selling it to Leonard Howard, who sold the place to M. G. Walker about 1869 or '70. Walker built the present house and lived in it several years, then sold it to the present owners and moved to Manchester. Until 1827 this place was the city of the town, being the business centre. All the public meetings were held in the school house. The mechanics' shops, the hotel, the postoffice was here, and the tannery was here run by Frederick Holton.
Benjamin Barnard, senior, came to town from Westminster, Mass., in 1800, and his was the fifth family in town. He began on the farm where Mr. Crossman now lives, building a log house in the orchard east of the present house. He had a family of four boys and four girls, was a soldier of the revolution, and received a wound in his leg which made him a cripple for life, for which he drew a pension. It was with difficulty that he could get around to work on his farm, so the latter part of his life he spent at shoemaking. He and his wife (whose maiden name was Lucy Wood) were persons of great energy and perseverance, being two of the eight who organized the Congregational church, always making themselves useful in its interests. They also made themselves very useful to the sick and afflicted, Mrs. Barnard being frequently called instead of a doctor to prescribe for and nurse the sick. They trained their children in the way they should walk to be useful citizens and to sustain the insitutions of the gospel, which extended down to their grand- children. They remained on the old homestead until death removed them. Benjamin Barnard, senior, died 1837, aged 87 years; Lucy, his wife, died 1849, aged 97 years.
CHILDREN OF BENJAMIN BARNARD.
Louisa M. Leonard Weed, moved to Oswego County, N. Y.
Josiah M. Hannah Byam, lived in Peru until 1834, then moved to Oberlin, Ohio, where he lived and died, aged 93 years.
Lucy M. Gen. Peter Dudley, always lived in Peru, died in 1840.
Hannah M. Jonathan Dudley of Andover, lived there until 1837, when they moved to Pittsfield, Ohio, and lived to a ripe old age. Their children are prominent citizens of Lorain County.
Benjamin M. Hepsibeth Phillrick, lived in Peru.
Stowell M. Mary Burton of Chester, lived in Peru.
Joseph M. Lucinda Bennett of Peru, where he lived a few years and then emigrated to Virginia, where, by second marriage,
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he became a slave-holder, and during the rebellion he was unjustly imprisoned over a difficulty about slavery; he died in 1864.
Nancy M. Deacon John Batchelder of Peru, died in Peru 1882, aged 92 years.
Deacon Thomas Wyman came into town in February, 1801, with his wife and five children, being the sixth family in town. He settled on the Deacon Wyman farm, building his log house west of the orchard and north of the brickyard, on the first road that ran through the town. His house was built previous to moving his family. For a place to shelter his oxen, which had drawn him and his family from Princeton, Mass., he shoveled four feet of snow from a spot large enough for them and a cow to stand on, set in posts with crotches, on which he laid poles covered with hemlock boughs, this being a substitute for a barn. He had to draw hay from Landgrove to feed his cattle. Deacon Wyman cut the first tree on his farm for clearing, and he soon had a productive farm, keeping a large stock. He built a good set of buildings on the road west of the present buildings on the farm. He. manufactured brick for twenty years or more, commencing in 1808.
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