The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 22

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press
Number of Pages: 1064

USA > Vermont > Washington County > Montpelier > The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier. > Part 22

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The General Assembly of the State, in session at Arlington, October 21st, 1780,

Resolved, that there be, and we Do hereby, grant unto Colonel Jacob Davis, Mr. Stephen Fay and Company, to the Number of Sixty, a Township of Land by the Name of Calais, Situated in this State, Bounded as follows, and lying East of, and adjoining to, Worcester, and north of Montpelier, Containing Twenty-three Thousand and forty acres, and the Gov- ernor and Council are hereby Requested o State the fees for Granting Said tract, und Issue a Grant under such Restrictions und Regulations as they shall Judge Proper. -Extract from the Journals. R. Hopkins, lerk

The same day in Council it was

Resolved, that the fees for granting the aid tract be, and they are hereby, set at our hundred and Eighty Pounds Lawfull Ioney in silver, or an Equivalent in Con- nental Currency, to be Paid by the said acob Davis, Stephen Fay, or their Attor- ey, on the Execution of the Charter of

incorporation on or before the first Day of January Next .- Extract from the minutes. JOSEPH FAY, Sec'y.

One month after the grant was made, the first recorded meeting of the propri- etors was held, and the following record made :

At Public Meeting of the Proprietors of the Township of Calais, at the house of Mr. Elisha Thomson, Inholder in Charlton, Mass., November 20th, 1780, came to the following votes. [viz.] [58 Present] :

Istly. Voted and Chose Colo. Jacob Davis, Moderator.

2dly. Voted and Chose Stephen Fay, Proprietor's Clerk.

3dly. Voted that Mr. Stephen Fay to apply to the Authority of the State of Ver- mont for the Charter of incorporation of s'd Township, and for Each Proprietor to pay their Money to him, the s'd Fay, the sum of Eight Pounds silver money, or Cont'l. Currency equivalent thereto, it. being in full for Granting fees for each Right in said Township. By the thirtieth day of December Next (or be excluded from any further Right or Property in Said Township.)

4thly. for the Clerk to give Notice of the above article by Posting.

5thly. Voted for each Proprietor to Pay their Equal Proportion of their Agents time and expenses to obtain the grant of said Township by the IIth Day of De- cember next, and for the Clerk to enter their names, or cause their names to be entered, in the Charter of said Township.

6thly. Voted to adjourn this Meeting to the first Wednesday in April next, at one o'clock afternoon, to this place. Errors Excepted. Attest, STE'N. FAY,

Pro. Clerk.

There is no record of the adjourned meeting, and probably none was held, and the proprietors do not seem to have met the requirements of the grant in regard to payment of the granting fee, as shown :

ARLINGTON, 29th of Jan'y. 1781.

Rec'd of Mr. Stephen Fay, Two Hun- dred and Thirty-three Pounds, fourteen Shillings and three Pence, Lawfull money, Towards Granting fees of the Town of Calais. Rec'd.

Pr. Me, THOMAS CHITTENDEN, Committee.

The time of paying the balance was ex- tended to March following :

ARLINGTON, 10th of September, 1781.

Rec'd of Stephen Fay, By the hand of Noah Chittenden, three Pounds, thirteen

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Shillings, as Part of the Granting fees of the Town of Calais. Rec'd by me, THOMAS CHITTENDEN.

BOSTON, 28th of September, 1781.

Rec'd of Col. Jacob Davis, Two Hun- dred and forty-two Pounds, Twelve Shil- lings and Ninepence in full of the Grant- ing fees of the Town of Calais, in the State of Vermont, within mentioned.

Pr. NOAH CHITTENDEN.

Previous to the payment of the two last mentioned sums, the charter was issued :

Unto the said Jacob Davis, Stephen Fay, and to the several persons hereafter named, their associates [viz] : Ephraim Starkweather, Lemuel Kollock,Noah Good- man, Seth Washburn, Joseph Dorr, Justin Ely, Abel Goodell, Shubal Peck, Nathan Tyler, David Wheelock, Nehemiah Stone, Nehemiah Stone, Jun'r., Phinehas Slay- ton, Phinehas Slayton, Jun'r., Daniel Bacon, Jun'r., Henry Fisk, Jun'r., Peter Wheelock, Sarah Davis, Ezra Davis, Dan- iel Steeter, Eli Jones, Josiah Town, Peter Sleeman, Salem Town, Samuel Robinson, of Charlton, Ebenezer White, Jun'r., Eli Wheelock, John Mower, David Hammond, Elisha Thomson, Caleb Ammidown, Na- thaniel Wellington, Peter Taft, William Ware, David Fisk, David Fay, of Charl- ton, Thomas Foskett, Marvin Mower, Jer- emiah Davis, Job Rutter, Jonathan Tucker, Richard Coburn, Jonathan Rich, Ebenezer Allen [Clerk], Abijah Lamb, Ebenezer Lamb, Edward Woolcott, Lemuel Ed- wards, Abner Mellen, Job Merrit, William Comins, Isaiah Rider, Samuel Fay, Elisha Town, Oliver Starkweather, John Stark- weather, Bezaleel Mann and John Morey.

The usual reservation of five rights for public uses follows in the charter, and then the boundaries. And that the same be, and hereby is, incorporated into a town- ship by the name of Calais.

The charter closes with the following :

Conditions and Reservations, viz. : that each Proprietor in the Township of Calais, aforesaid, his Heirs or Assigns, shall Plant and Cultivate five acres of land, and build an house at least eighteen feet square on the floor, or have one family settled on each respective Right within the term of three years next after the circumstances of the War will admit of a settlement with safety, on Penalty of the forfeiture of each respective Right of land in said Township not so improved or settled, and the same to revert to the Freemen of this State, to be by their Representatives regranted to such Persons as shall appear to settle and

cultivate the same. That all Pine Timber suitable for a Navy be reserved for the use and Benefit of the Freemen of this State. In Testimony whereof we have caused the seal of this State to be affixed, In Council this Fifteenth Day of August, Anno Domini, one Thousand seven Hun- dred and Eighty-one, In the 5th year of the Independence of this, and Sixth of the United States. THOS. CHITTENDEN. Joseph Fay. Sec'y.

As to the name given this town, we have no positive knowledge, and even tradition is silent, but it seems reasonable to sup- pose that Colonel Jacob Davis suggested the name of Calais, as he is known to have done of Montpelier. He was largely in- terested in these two proposed towns, the petitions for both grants were probably made at the same time, as they came be- fore the General Assembly together, and as the leading, active spirit in the enter- prise, it was but natural that he should suggest the names. He had become prej- udiced against the custom, so common among the settlers, of giving the name of the old home to the new, and wishing to avoid this in his selection of names, his at- tention was naturally drawn to France, rather than England, by her attitude toward this country at that time, and per- haps, also by thought of a prior claim upon Verd Mont through her daring and gallant son Champlain. And so it came about that two of the beautiful old cities of France had namesakes in the Greer Mountain wilderness.

The second proprietors' meeting or record was held at the house of Maj. Salen Town, in-holder in Charlton, May 18, 1783 when the following officers were elected :

Col. Jacob Davis, moderator ; Stepher Fay, Pr. clerk; Dea. Nehemiah Stone treasurer ; Maj. Salem Town, Capt. Sam Robinson, Mr. Peter Taft, assessors ; Capt Peter Sleeman, collector ; Col. Jacob Davis Capt. Peter Sleeman, Capt. Sam'l Robir son, a committee to lot out s'd lands. Ad journed, to meet at the same place, Augus 20, 1783, (when there was) " granted Tax of three silver dollars on each Right ( Land (exclusive of the Public Rights) t Defray the back charges that have ariser

grie

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and also to enable the Committee to Lott out said Township."

This was the first tax laid upon the town of Calais, and it was probably immediately following this meeting the first attempt to survey the town was made.

The following is from Hon. Shubael Wheeler's account of Calais, published in Thompson's Gazetteer :

In the summer of 1783, the proprietors sent a committee, consisting of Col. Jacob Davis, Capt. Samuel Robinson and others, to survey a division of this town of 160 acres to the right. " A Mr. Brush, from Bennington, was the surveyor. The com- mittee and surveyor found their way to Calais with their necessary stores, and after running four lines on the north side of the first division, they abandoned the survey. Of their stores, then left, was a much-valued keg, containing about 10 gallons of good W. I. rum, which in coun- cil, they determined should be buried, which ceremony was said to have been performed with much solemnity, and a sturdy maple, towering above the sur- rounding trees on the westerly side of Long (Curtis) pond, with its ancient and honorable scars, still marks the conse- crated spot."

At the next meeting of the proprietors, held Dec. 25, 1783, " the Committee Re- ported by Presenting a Plan of said Town- ship, Part of the first Division Lotts sur- veyed as said Committe saith."

Sixty-four of these first division lots, each one-haif mile square, are included in a square of 4 miles on each side. It is supposed that these lots were intended to have been in the center of the town, leav- ng an undivided space one mile wide on either side of them, but by some mistake, heir north-easterly boundary is only 37 ods from the town line.

At the s'd meeting, Dec. 1783, this first ivision was drawn by lot to the several roprietors, and they also voted and ranted a tax of 54 £, 8s. 8d. silver money, ssessed on the rights of land, exclusive of ublic rights.

Apr. 26, 1784, a meeting was held, and le following officers elected to fill vacan- es occasioned by resignations :

Major Salem Town, treasurer; Caleb mmidown, Esq. and Lieut. Jonathan

Tucker, assessors; after, nothing for 2 years seems to have been done toward completing the survey or settling the town- ship.

May 29, 1786, a meeting held; Capt. Samuel Robinson chosen to make applica- tion to a justice in Vermont, for a warrant to call a proprietors' meeting agreeably to the laws of that State, at the house of Maj. Calvin Parkhurst, in Royalton, August 15, following, Aug. 1, 1786, a meeting held ; instructions given to proprietors who should attend the meeting at Royalton. The de- sign seems to have been at this time to bring the transactions of the proprietors within the jurisdiction of Vermont, by authorizing the surveying party about to leave for this State, to hold meetings here.

Warrant granted by the Hon. Moses Robinson, published in the Vermont Ga- zette, June 26, 1786; this being the first meeting held in Vermont, we will give the record in full :

At a Proprietors' Meeting, held at Maj'r Calvin Parkhurst's, in Royalton, in the State of Vermont, on Tuesday, the fifteenth Day of August, 1786, Proceeded as follow- eth [viz.] :

Istly. Voted and chose Capt. Samuel Robinson, Moderator.

2dly. Voted and chose Mr. Stephen Fay, Pro. Clerk.

3dly. Voted and chose Mr. Eben'r Waters, Clerk pro tem ; Voted and chose Maj'r Calvin Parkhurst, Collector.

4thly. Voted and chose Dea'n Nehe- miah Stone, Treasurer.

5thly. Voted to establish the former Votes of said Proprietors (except such as refer to the sale of Lands and a former vote to Raise Twelve Shillings on each Propri- etor's Right, to Defray Charges.)

6thly. Voted that the Proprietors com- plete the Survey of the first Division Lotts already begun in said Township; also to lay out a second Division of Lotts in said Town to each Proprietor.

7thly. Voted and chose a Committee of five for the above Purpose.

8thly. Voted and chose Mr. Eben'r Waters their Surveyor and one of the Com- mittee, and Capt. Sam'l Robinson, Lieut. Jonathan Tucker, Mr. Eben'r Stone and Mr. Parla Davis for their Committee.

9thly. Voted that the above Committee be Empowered to Draw the Second Di- vision Lots when the survey of the same is completed.

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Iothly. Voted for those Proprietors that have advanced Money more than their Pro- portion of Taxes, Interest until paid.

IIthly. Voted to adjourn this Meeting to Thursday, Seventh Day of September Next, one o'clock P. M., to the Grand Camp in Calais, in the County of Addison, in the State of Vermont.

After the above meeting, the committee started for " Grand Camp." I again copy from Judge Wheeler's account :

In August, 1786, Capt. Samuel Robin- son, E. Waters, J. Tucker, E. Stone and Gen. Parley Davis came from Charlton to complete the survey of the first division and survey another. This party, after ar- riving at the settlement nearest this place, which was at Middlesex, laden with pro- vision, cooking utensils, blankets, axes, surveying instruments, etc., passed a dis- tance of 13 or 14 miles to the camp erected by the party, who commenced the survey three years previous ; often on the way ex- pressing their anxiety to arrive, that they might regale themselves with the pure spirit which had been permitted to slumber three years, and which they imagined must be much improved in quality by its long rest ; but judge of their surprise, astonish- . ment and chagrin when in raising the earth they discovered the hoops had be- come rotten, the staves parted, and the long-anticipated beverage had escaped. Whatever tears were shed, or groans ut- tered, at the burial of the keg, they were not to be compared with the bitter agonies of its disinterment.

The party must have soon recovered from their disappointment, and proceeded to their work with a will, for in less than a month from the meeting at Royalton, they were on their way homeward, with the survey of the first and second divisions completed.

The following record was made of the first meeting held in town :

Sept. 7th, 1786, Grand Camp in Calais, the Proprietors met according to adjourn- ment.

istly. Voted to and Drawed the Second Division Lots in said Calais.

2dly. Voted to adjourn this Meeting to Wednesday, the thirteenth Day of Sep- tember, this Instant Month, at eight o'clock P. M., to the house of Mr. Seth Putnam, in Middlesex. EBEN'R WATERS, Clerk, Pro tem.

The two next meetings were held by the party while on their homeward journey. From the record of the first of these :

Istly. Voted to give to any Person that will erect a Good Grist-Mill and a good Saw-Mill within Two years from this date, as near the Middle of said Township of Calais as he conveniently can, shall have one hundred Spanish Milled Dollars and one hundred acres of Land in said Town- ship.

2dly. to give to Mrs. Dolley Putnam, wife of Mr. Seth Putnam, one hundred acres of Land in said Calais, Provided she shall Move into said Town before the last Day of June next, and continue to Live in said Town of Calais Two years at least.

Adjourned, to meet two days afterward at the house of Calvin Parkhurst, in Roy- alton.

The following record shows the party to have been early risers ; given for an ex- ample :

September 15th, 1786, the Proprietors met, according to the adjournment.

Istly. Voted and chose Lieut. Jonathan Tucker, Clerk, Pro tem.

2dly. Voted to adjourn this meeting until to-morrow Morning, at six o'clock, to this Place.

The following day (Saturday) was spent in adjusting and allowing accounts for ser- vices and money advanced, and providing for their payment, and in arranging various other matters mostly pertaining to the fi nances of the proprietary.

The Record closes :

15thly. voted to adjourn this meeting to the second Tuesday in June next, a Nine o'clock A M., to this Place.

Attest, JONA. TUCKER, Clerk Pro tem.

Previous to the time to which the meet ings in Vermont were adjourned, as above three meetings were held in Charlton, Jar 1, 1787, at the house of Capt. Samuel Rol inson, the accounts of the surveying con mittee under consideration.

Voted to leave it with the Committee generosity whether to abate any of the Charges or not.

Mar. 1, 1787, Daniel Streeter, Cake Ammidown, Phinehas Slayton, Sam'l Ro inson and Peter Wheelock chosen a cor mittee to agree with Esquire Kollock (wl had drawn the lot on which the first m was built some 6 years afterwards) to bui mills on his right, or dispose of it to sor one who would agree to build.

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The last recorded meeting of the pro- prietors in Massachusetts was May 21, 1787, at the house of Salem Town, in Charlton, where all previous meetings not otherwise noted had been held. Dea. Daniel Streeter was chosen agent to act for the proprietors, under instructions at this time given him, at the meeting to be held in Middlesex the next month.

In accordance with a warrant published in the Vermont Gazette of May 21, 1787, a meeting was held the 15th of June follow- ing, at the house of Seth Putnam, in Mid- dlesex, when Jacob Davis, Daniel Streeter and Peter Wheelock were chosen to. lay out and make roads, and a tax of I2s. per right voted for that purpose.

At a meeting held at the house of Col. Davis, in Montpelier, in September follow- ing, $1 per right was added to the road tax, and each proprietor was to have the privilege of working out his portion of the tax at 5s. per day, " they finding their own boarding."

The following account of settlements begun this year is given by Judge Wheeler :

The settlement was commenced in the spring of 1787, by Francis West, from Plymouth Co. Mass., who begun felling. timber in a lot adjoining Montpelier.

The first permanent settlers, however, were Abijah, Asa and Peter Wheelock, who started from Charlton, June 5, 1787, with a wagon, two yoke of oxen, provisions, tools, etc., and arrived at Williamstown, within 21 miles of Calais, the 19th.

They had hitherto found the roads al- most impassable. Here they were obliged to leave their wagon. Taking a few nec- essary articles upon a sled, they proceeded towards this town, cutting their way and building causeways as they passed along. After a journey of two days, and encamp- ing two nights in the woods, they arrived at Col. Jacob Davis' log hut, in Mont- pelier, where they left their oxen to graze upon the wild grass. leeks and shrubbery with which the woods abounded, and pro- ceeded to Calais, and opened a resolute attack upon the forest.

They returned to Charlton in October. Francis West also left town, and returned the following spring, as did also Abijah and Peter Wheelock, accompanied by Moses Stone. This year they built log houses, the Wheelocks and Stone return- ing to Massachusetts to spend the follow- ing winter, and West to Middlesex.

In this year, also, Gen. Parley Davis, afterward a resident of Montpelier Center, cut and put up two or three stacks of hay upon a beaver meadow in Montpelier, upon a lot adjoining Calais, (now known as the Nahum Templeton farm) a part of which hay was drawn to Col. Davis', in Montpelier, in the following winter, which served partially to break a road from Mont- pelier to Calais line.

In 1788, two proprietors' meetings were held, one June 3, at the house of Col. Davis, and Sept. 30, at Peter Wheelock's new house, in Calais. At the last meeting Peter Wheelock was chosen proprietor's clerk, and the meeting adjourned to June 2, 1787, at the same place, but as Wheelock had not returned from Charlton, the record simply shows an adjournment to the 16th of June, at the house of Col. Davis, in Montpelier, when Moses Stone was chosen collector, and the meeting adjourned to meet Nov. 10, at his house in Calais.

In 1790, four proprietors' meetings were held at the house of Peter Wheelock. At the one June 8, 1791, Dea. Daniel Streeter, Samuel Fay, Peter Wheelock, Godard Wheelock, Daniel Bacon, Moses Stone, James Jennings, Abijah Wheelock, Shubel Short, Jesse Slayton, Capt. Samuel Rob- inson, Ebenezer Stone, Parley Davis, Col. Jacob Davis, Moses Harskell, Francis West, presented accounts for work done on the highways in town. The whole amount allowed was 72 £.

There were recorded present at this meeting :

James Jennings, Samuel Twiss, Shubel Short, Asa Wheelock, Francis West, Ed- ward Tucker, Abijah Wheelock, Moses Harskell, Peter Wheelock.

June 6, 1792, Col. Jacob Davis, Abijah Wheelock and Peter Wheelock were chosen a committee to survey the undivided lands, and make a 3d division, and Col. Davis and Samuel Twiss were given the privilege of " pitching" 400 acres of the undivided land, provided they should build and com- plete a good saw-mill and a good corn-mill within a year.

From record of a meeting, Oct. 2, 1793 :

Istly. Voted to accept of the Corn-Mill & Saw-mill built in Calais, by Col. Jacob

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Davis and Mr. Sam'l Twiss, they being done according to agreement.

Jan 21, 1794, Joshua Bliss was chosen pro treasurer ; at a meeting held Feb. 6, 1794, 40 rights were represented as fol- lows :

Jacob Davis, 26; James Jennings, I ; Sam'l Twiss, 5; Sam'l Fay, 3; Jedediah Fay, 1 ; Peter Wheelock, 4.

Voted to accept the survey of the Third Division, and establish the Corners as the Committee have made them.

The proprietors' record closes with a meeting held June 5, 1794, when the third division lots were drawn to the several proprietors, by Kelso Gray and Spaulding Pearce, appointed for that purpose, and in March following the town was organized.

The first families settling in town came in the spring of 1789. Judge Wheeler tells the story of their journey as follows :

In February or March, 1789, Francis West moved his family on to his farm, where he lived several years. Also, in March of this year, Abijah Wheelock, with his family, Moses Stone, Samuel Twiss. with his new married lady, accompanied by Gen. Davis, from Charlton, arrived at Col. Davis' house, in Montpelier, with sev- eral teams. His house was a mere rude hut, constructed of logs 20 feet in length, with but one apartment, a back built at one end for a fire-place, and covered with bark. with a hole left in the roof for the smoke to escape ; and this on their arrival they found to be preoccupied by several families, emigrants from Peterboro, N. H., and in that mansion of felicity there dwelt for about a fortnight, three families with children in each, one man and his wife re- cently married, three gentlemen then en- joying a state of single blessedness, and a young lady ; and among the happy group were some of the first settlers of Calais.

On the 13th of April, racket-paths having been previously broken, Messrs Wheelock, Twiss and Stone prepared hand-sleds, loaded thereon their beds, and some light articles of furniture, and accompanied by Mrs. Wheelock and Mrs. Twiss, and Gen. Davis, proceeded to this town over snow 3 feet in depth, Mrs. Wheelock traveling the whole distance on foot, and carrying in her arms an infant 4 months old, while their son, about 2 years of age, was drawn upon the hand-sled. Mrs. Twiss, the re- cently married lady, also performed the same journey on foot, making use of her broom for a walking-cane.

During the day, the snow became soft,

and in crossing a marshy piece of ground, Mrs. Twiss slumped with one foot, and sank to considerable depth, and was unable to arise. Gen. Davis, with all the gallantry of a young woodsman, pawed away the snow with his hands, seized her below the knee, and extricated her. This incident was a source of no small merriment to the party generally, of mortification to the amiable sufferer, and gratification to Mrs. Wheelock, who felt herself secretly piqued that Mrs. Twiss did not offer to bear her precious burden some part of the distance.

They arrived in safety the same day, and commenced the permanent settlement of the town. A large rock, now in the orchard on the farm owned by J. W. E. Bliss, once formed the end and fire-place to the log cabin of the first settlers of Calais.

In 1790, James Jennings arrived with a family. In the winter of 1794, Mr. Jen- nings, being upwards of 60 years of age, lost his life by fatigue and frost, while on his return through the woods from Mont- pelier to this place. There was not at this time a sufficient number of men to constitute a jury of inquest.

The first settlers lived at some distance from each other, and it was not uncommon for a woman to travel several miles to visit a neighbor, and return home after dark through the woods, brandishing a fire- brand to enable her to discover the marked trees. For one or two years the settlers brought the grain for their families and for seed from Williamstown, Brookfield and Royalton, a distance of 30 miles or more. After they began to raise grain in town, they had to carry it 15 miles to mill. This they did in winter, by placing several bags of grain upon the neck of an ox, and driving his mate before him to beat the path.

Dates, as near as can be determined, when some of the first settlers moved their families into town : Francis West, Abijah Wheelock and Samuel Twiss in the spring of 1789 ; Peter Wheelock and Moses Has- kell in the fall of that year ; James Jennings in 1790 ; Asa Wheelock and David Good- ale in 1791 ; Edward Tucker and others in 1792, and in 1799, considerable additions were made to the settlement.

On Mar. 2, 1795, David Wing, Jr., of Montpelier, issued a warrant notifying the inhabitants of Calais to meet at the house of Peter Wheelock, on the 23d of that month, to choose all necessary town officers and transact any other necessary business.

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The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 22

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press Number of Pages: 1064

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press
Number of Pages: 1064