USA > Vermont > Orange County > Braintree > The history of Braintree, Vermont, including a memorial of families that have resided in town > Part 10
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The first settlers endured all the privations incident to life in new settle- ments. The earlier ones came provided with provisions to supply them, though in some instances scantily, till they could grow the necessaries of life in their new homes. Those coming later were not so prudent, but depended to some extent upon the means which others had acquired, and in conse- quence suffered more severely: for the acreage to each family was for years necessarily small, and what with frost and blight, and other causes, the crops were often short, and the pioneers could barely subsist from year to year on the products of their own industry, with little or none to spare. It is said that the family of Nathan Kenney must have died from starvation during their first winter's residence but for the fish which Ayer's brook afforded and some chance game. The family of Samuel Fitts suffered severely and for quite a long time were compelled to live on clover tea and leeks. Samuel Harwood, another early settler, could provide only bean porridge for a number of days. Moses, his son, bolted at last and refused to dip his portion. But the father's stern command, "Dip! dip! dip! Moses, or I'll dip your head!" brought him to his appetite. The late Rev. Ammi Nichols has left a written account of the sufferings in the family of his father, Isaac Nichols, which I give in a condensed form: He was about nine years old. His brothers were at work out to earn provisions for the family, and only his father, mother and himself were at home. They had food for only a few days, and his father went in quest of some. He was gone two days before he found any. Jonah Washburn of Randolph, out of his own scanty store, let him have three pecks of wheat. On the morning of the day of his return, Ammi and his mother had eaten the last morsel in the house. At noon he said he was lningry, and feared they would all starve. His mother replied, "I guess not," and bade him to go down cellar; perhaps he might find a potato. He found half of a large one and roasted it in the coals. His mother refused to share it with him, which occasioned a gush of tears, for he thought it would not add to his comfort to live longer than she did. To save all the nourishment in the wheat, it was boiled and eaten in milk, and this was the chief food of the family till the barley harvest. "Untold privations," he writes, "fell to our lot for a number of years after, but nothing so extremely trying as above narrated."
In 1784 the proprietors voted James Brackett the 133d right, known as the "mill right," provided he would build within one year a saw and grist mill on the same. The grist mill he never built; he located the saw mill near Ira Ford's, where Maj. Ford afterwards built his mills. James Brackett
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never was a resident of Braintree. His son Charles controlled his business interests here. The saw mill was carried off by high water many years after. Major Ford rebuilt it, but it was destroyed with his other mills by the July freshet of 1830, and not one of those business concerns was ever revived in that place.
Henry Brackett built the first frame house in town in 1787-the one in which Col. Rufus Hutchinson lives. This was the first tavern and public house in the town, and the first town meeting was held in it.
The first grist mill was built where George Tarbell lives, and prior to its erection there was none nearer than Royalton, whither the early settlers were obliged to carry their grain on their backs, guided by marked trees in the almost unbroken forest.
Major Ford put up the first potato whiskey distillery on Jarvis Tilson's farm, and Capt. Riford, it is said, made the first blacksmith shop near Mrs. Samuel Riford's house.
Samuel Spear and Samson Nichols were the first highway surveyors-each man working on the road to receive 4s. per day,
The first wheat was raised by Silas Flint and Samuel Bass in 1785.
In 1788 Samson Nichols taught the first school in a log house built by John King on the "Kidder lot," owned by Henry W. Fitts. The seats were made of rough slabs, and the house had no other conveniences than a rough board placed in a suitable position on which the older pupils practiced the rudiments of penmanship.
The first school house was built in 1793 or '94, on the corner near the Con- gregational church. Town meetings were held in it for a number of years. There were only three districts in town at first.
Elijah French was chosen first Justice of the Peace, March 10, 1789. His residence was on Mrs. David P. Mudgett's farm, nearly south of the barns. He was killed March 9, 1798, by falling from the high beams of Wm. H. Nichols's barn, then owned by Ebenezer White.
At the March meeting in 1798 it was voted to built the first bridge across the 3d branch near the residence of the late Levi Spear, and Jacob Spear, Stephen Fuller and Ebenezer White were appointed a committee to superin- tend the building of it. Voted also to raise £20 to build said bridge, to be paid in wheat at 5s., rye at 4s., and Indian corn at 3s. per bu .; or to be worked out at 4s. per day, the laborers boarding themselves.
In September following the town voted that notifications for town meet- ings be put up at Henry Brackett's house and on a beech tree at the southeast corner of lot No. 16, 1st division-near Frederick Whitney's residence.
Elijah French, Justice of the Peace, solemnized the first marriage January 7, 1790, the bridegroom and bride being Asahel Flint and Betsey King.
On February 4th following, the first death occurred-Nathan Kenney, aged 39.
It was voted in town meeting in 1791 to give a bounty of six pence for each apple tree transplanted in an orchard-no bounty to be given for less than 25, nor more than 100 trees.
Dr. Ithamar Tilden, the first practicing physician, moved into town about
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1794, and lived in the east part of the old parsonage building on Quaker Hill .. He came from Connecticut. Dr. Tilden had a strange habit, when abstracted or engaged in thought, as he frequently was, of pulling hair from his head and biting off the roots. Eventually he became bald. He was a very lazy man. His wife, a most estimable lady, used to be up and about her work in the morning, and would light his pipe for him to lie abed and smoke. He had a number of very interesting children.
In 1795 Samuel Bass and Col. John French built the first store. It also included a hotel, was furnished with all the "modern improvements," and was elegant in style and architecture. Henry Bass now lives in it. While they were building it, a log house, standing west of it near the thiorn apple- tree on the side-hill, was used for retailing whiskey, rum, boots, shoes, groceries, etc .; but when it was completed the southwest corner room was the store, the southeast corner room the hotel bar, and the dancing hall was. on the second floor, east side. The latter was not largely patronized. The first market, not only for Braintree but for a large region of country, was at this place. Here were yards surrounded by stone walls, some of which are still to be seen, into which marketable stock of all kinds was gathered before being driven to Boston. Altogether, it is said that at one time more trading was done at this old market and store than in the towns of Brookfield, Ran- dolph and Bethel combined.
The first church constituted was the Congregational, December 25, 1794, and consisted of eight members: Isaac and Dorcas Nichols, Silas and Esther Coburn, Samuel and Elizabeth Bass, and Reuben and Mary Partridge. The Congregational society was organized August 26, 1799; Isaac Nichols and Samuel Bass were its first deacons, and Rev. Aaron Cleveland its first pastor, ordained in March, 1801. The Rev. Elijah Brainard of Randolph, preached the first sermon in town at the house of Samson Nichols in 1788. At first. meetings were held at different houses. It was voted in town meeting, August 12, 1793, to build a meeting house on a knoll at the cornor of four lots on the line between the farms of Geo. F. Smith and Daniel Flint. Col. John French, through his influence overruled this decision, however, and the meeting house was built where the edifice of the Congregational church now stands. March 3, 1794, a vote was taken to "higher Preaching" for six months, and to raise for that purpose £18, to be paid in wheat at 4s. per bushel. The Baptist church was constituted March 5, 1799, with about twenty members. It had the first settled pastor in town, the Rev. Elijah Huntington, ordained June 24, 1803. The Baptist society was formed May 15, 1800.
Our sturdy ancestors occasionally used to indulge in something facetious in their town meetings. They voted December 13, 1801, "to build a pound of good hemlock posts and sawed rales, 5 inches by 23, and make the fence Eight feet high; the rales are to be so thick that a Cat cannot get out of said pound." In 1834 William Vesey, who for several years had been the first constable of Braintree, absconded with quite a sum of money belonging to the town. At the March meeting the next year it was voted to put up the office of first con-
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stable to the highest bidder, the price to be paid to Daniel Waite, Jr., who was Vesey's bondsman. Jonathan S. Fitts bid it off for $22.
Care was constantly exercised to prevent any from becoming paupers and consequently a town charge. March 2, 1795, it was voted "that the Selectmen take the Legal Steps of the Law with Silas Flint as to his conduct, past, pres- ent, and to come, and to do all in their Power that no charge accrue to the town on said Flint's account." As near as has been ascertained this was a son of Silas Flint, the first settler, and he is said to have been rather shiftless and improvident. Voted March 7, 1803, "that all persons who have not gained a residence, and all that shall move into town in future, shall be warned out." In 1810 the selectmen issued summons to thirteen persons to leave the town in accordance with this vote, whichi was intended to prevent poor peo- ple from gaining a residence. Voted also in 1807 that the selectmen be directed to take proper care of John Burke and his property, so that he be not allowed to squander it away. Burke was addicted to hard drinking. He was the one who brought from Ireland and introduced into this town the celebrated Burke potato.
The first notice in regard to the care of the poor is in the minutes of the town meeting March 4, 1805, when the selectmen were directed to deal out to the poor as they thought best. The next year the keeping of several paupers was put up to the lowest bidders, and William Ford, Jr., Zion Copeland and Seth Mann were chosen first Overseers of the Poor.
The first record of any post offce in town was made as early as 1833; one was established at Peth about this time, in the opinion of some several years before that date. It was called Braintree P. O., and Noah B. Cady was the first postmaster. The office is now located at Snowsville. About the same time, if not sooner, a post office was located on the west branch, and Levi Spear was its first postmaster.
In 1835 or '36 Robbins Densmore and B. F. Chamberlain were the first law- yers to hang out their " shingles" in town. Evidence seems to show that Densmore came first. Both located at Snowsville. Densmore was a great scholar but very indolent. Chamberlain was killed in consequence of falling from a tree and breaking his back.
In 1812 John Hutchinson and Moses Bass built the first cloth dressing or clothier's shop, where Samuel Spear's shop stands, and a Mr. Shattuck of Brookfield was hired to run it. Samuel Stewart bought it in 1816, the year remarkable for the cold summer, which was the cause of much hardship and suffering. Stewart tried without success to find a boarding place in the vil- lage, and he named it Peth; because, as he said, one lived and two starved to death-probably an allusion to some other place of the same name that had suffered from similar adversities.
Quaker Hill was named by Ebenezer Waters and his assistant surveyors, who dined here with their hats on. Ayer's brook was so called because, it is said, a man named Ayer, who deserted the American cause and became a guide to the French and Indians, was caught in this town and executed near that stream in 1755.
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The history of Braintree is by no means devoid of incidents and adven- ture, and it only requires the time and patience of some one to glean the facts from the memories of the oldest inhabitants to make a volume rich with anec- dote and reminiscence.
It is related of Solomon Holman that while walking out one evening his dog started up a deer, which turned at bay. It become so engaged with the dog that Mr. Holman conceived the idea of creeping up cautiously and catch- ing it. He was successful in getting his arms around its neck and giving it a quick hug, but the next moment he lay sprawled on his back and the deer was at a safe distance.
Caleb Nichols is said to have been the first in this region to load hay round and round on the cart, and he became quite an adept at pitching off. He once wagered with Dr. Tilden that if the Dr. would not move from his place on the mow he would cover him up, and he did. But Caleb found his match with Nathaniel Spear, for Uncle Nat. did not let a forkful drop till it landed at the back part of the mow.
George Washington Nichols, who once lived on the "Wash" place, so called, on the Mudgett farm owned by Allen H. Flint, was the inventor of the traverse sled. Until his time only the long runner sled was used. He was on the way to Boston with a load of produce, and in plunging through a pitcli- hole in the road, one runner of his sled was broken near the middle. He drove to the next house and set to work. The runner could not be repaired, so he cut it off at the broken point, and cut the opposite one to match. These ends were set back under the rear of the sled body; but they lacked the crook necessary to prevent them from ploughing into the snow. To obviate this difficulty he cut natural crooks in the woods, from which he made a short runner sled and joined it by a chain to the front sled. The journey was thus resumed. That contrivance, while a source of much amusement, was also a new idea to every teamster on the route to Boston. In less than a year a long sled rarely found its way into that city, and before long the traverse sled came into general use throughout the country .*
And so this record might go on. But it is sufficient to give you a glance at the stern realities that were the birthright of your fathers and mothers, and a hint of the historic interest which attaches to this town. To others with older memories is left the task and the pleasure, if you please, of more com- pletely reviewing its history, and marking its progress in the march of a hun- dred years.
One hundred years ! one hundred years ! With all their weight of hopes and fears, Of hardship, toil, and meagre gain, The blight of frost and hunger's pain ;-
*Since the centennial pamphlet was published, Mr. Nichols has given his own account about the invention of the traverse sled. Some have doubted whether he did invent it, but he positively claims the honor. It came about in this way: A man had a large log to haul, and instead of letting the rear end drag-the usual way-he put another sled under it: Mr. Nich- ols noticed how much lighter the draught was and believed that a sled made on that principle would be practicable. So he made one and went to Boston with it. On the way he met a stage driver, who stopped him to examine his contrivance. The next time he went to Boston he saw the same driver with a traverse sled.
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Of fortune's smile, of bounteous yield,
The forest giving way to field,
Where log hut to the cottage grows,
And desert blossoms like the rose - One hundred years ! the tale they tell
Of those who struggled long and well
'Gainst bitter odds, with faith hard tried, Should make each bosom swell with pride, And raise each voice in glad acclaim
To celebrate their honest fame,
And fire each heart with zeal to pay The honor due CENTENNIAL DAY.
This paper was listened to with close attention from beginning to end. It was the most important of anything presented on the occasion. After music by the band Col. F. V. Randall took the stand and addressed the audience for nearly half an hour without notes.
COL. RANDALL'S ADDRESS.
He called up some of the events of his own early life when a resident of the town, and noted some of the changes that had taken place during the last fifty years. He related some anecdotes of the earlier citizens, showing that there was a humorous side in the experiences of our forefathers. He remem- bered when Snowsville was a prosperous village with stores, mills and a hotel, in the days before West Randolph became a railroad station. He spoke kindly of Mr. and Mrs. Snow, whom he remembered as old people, and who gave their names to the little village. He remembered the whiskey distillery, a common feature of the early villages. He spoke particularly of some of the men who developed the agricultural resources of the town, particularly of Daniel Waite and John Hutchinson, father of Col. Rufus Hutchinson, one of the oldest citi-
zens of the town. Daniel Waite was an indefatigable worker, his special forte being laying stone wall. The farm he left to his son was the best walled farm in town. The Bass's and Fitts's were good agriculturists and their children and their grand-children have entered into their labors. He related some anecdotes of Daniel Waite and others, and called to mind some pleasing things in connection with Col. Ellery Pettis, an eccentric char- acter who flourished in town between thirty and forty years ago. On one occasion Col. Pettis appeared as a party in a suit at law. His opponent's law- yer undertook to win the suit by representing Pettis as a man of weak intellect. He endured it as long as he could and then announced to the court, "I would rather lose my cause than have my character scandalized." Col. Randall spoke of the motives that influenced the early settlers of the town. It was not gold or conquest but the founding of homes and the establishment of the principles of liberty, and this end was gained. Col. Randall was listened to attentively, and it is to be regretted that his remarks could not have been written and put upon permanent record.
Col. Randall's address was followed by music by the band. After this came an exercise not on the programme. Moses Cheney of Barnard was intro- duced, who, after some preliminary remarks, sang an old time song, entitled the
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"Hunters of Kentucky." Mr. Cheney entered into the spirit of the occasion as much as any one present.
Dr. Samuel W. Thayer of Burlington, one of the honored sons of Braintree, was then called upon and read a very interesting paper which we give below :
DR. THAYER'S PAPER.
Ladies and Gentlemen :- I did not come here to make a speech; I never make speeches, but I sometimes talk. Nor do I come among you to read an essay or an oration, for I never write such. Sometimes I write what I see, what I hear and what memory brings to my mind. Not long since I received a postal card from the committee of invitation, asking me to be present on this occasion which suggested to me the idea of noting down some recollections. of my boyhood so pleasantly passed on this hill, which, if agreeable, I will read to you. There are very few present who will realize to the fullest extent the. reminiscences of the period of which I write.
It is a little more than half a century since I severed my connection with my early associates, in this, my native place; yet, during that time I have not- forgotten all the scenes of my childhood, nor those who lived here at that time. Notwithstanding the changes that are taking place in every part of the known world, these steep hills of the Green Mountain chain with the green capped summits and slopes, their miniature valleys and verdant fields between, are still around us, decked in their best attire.
Braintree is Braintree now as it was a century ago, and has no more aristo- cratic' names to its different sections than when in boyhood I believed it to be the only place where the enjoyment of life, peace and happiness could be found. It has now, as it has had as long as I can remember, its Quaker Hill, Connecticut Corner, Scadden and Peth, the Branch, Ayer's Brook, and the Lake, as it was termed. Upon the same old site stands the meeting house, modernized but not improved. Near it the burying ground, where lie the. remains of the pioneers in the settlement of the town, those who converted the wilderness into fruitful fields, who built God's house on this hill and worshipped within its walls; who built the school house, and inaugurated a system of education, which has descended with all its benefits to this gencra- tion. This is not the old meeting house with its broad isles, square pews, high pulpit and surrounding galleries, without fire place or stove to ward off the chills or keep the boys' feet still in their cow hide boots on cold winter Sun- days; the same common which used to be made lively on Junc and Autumn training days by the wrestlers and base ball players, while here and there were groups of men and boys to witness collisions between two or three revolu- tionery soldiers who had been too often to the meeting house pew for grog that day, shown first by angry words, then by blows, next by reconciliation upon finding that they were both contending for the same side of the question, then, to seal the renewal of their friendship, by going to the meeting house and taking a nipper together. Let us imagine ourselves in the old meeting house sixty years ago on a Sunday morning and see the people as they enter with stately and solemn tread: first the aged grand-father with his gray locks gathered and braided into a queue hanging down his neck, tied with a black
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ribbon; in breeches buckled at the knee; shoes ornamented with a bright silver buckle over the instep; then comes his son and wife with a long line of grand-children in the order of their ages. We also see the tithing-man in the corner pew, all ready to put his variations into the sermon, with whip in hand to clear the house of dogs or to pound upon the side of the pew and point to the rude boys in the galleries, all of whom dressed in garments made from the wool of the sheep that roamed through the pastures and unclaimed lands, washed in the streams flowing down the mountain sides, and clipped from the submissive animal which yields to the shearers its annual fleece to be carded, spun and woven by the faithful hands of mothers and sisters. We see the chorister, supported on his right by a long line of bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked young women; on the left a platoon of stalwart young men waiting for the sound of the note from the tuning fork to raise their voices in psalms and hymns. No duet, quartet or ballad singing in those days.
Many of you will remember the old hipped-roof school house, where, after wading in deep snows, facing the piercing winds and needle crystals of snow; how with cold hands and feet we huddled around the open fire-place. Now let us make a call at a model farm house of that time. We will go in the early winter morning, even before the fire is kindled. We see the half clad yeoman hasten to the fire-place, when, finding that during the night the fire has gone out, he tries his tinder box, flint and steel, and the old Queen Ann his sire brought from the wars; but these failing him he calls his son to go to the nearest neighbor and borrow some coals. No friction matches were made in those days; the only matches made were of oxen and horses, except now and then those between buxom girls and hearty boys, and these did not prove friction matches as often then as in modern times. But to return to our fire. That built, the tea-kettle and pot full of potatoes are hung to a hook on the crane over the fire, while the Johnnie cake board and the spider with slices of pork are before it. While the mother sees to the breakfast, father and the big boys do the chores at the barn. The older girls set the table and get them- selves and the other children ready for school. Leaving them to their daily duties, let us look in upon them during the long winter evenings, when the winds howl without and the snow is piling up against the windows, and we find the fire-place filled with burning logs piled one above another, illuminat- ing the kitchen throughout, in which all the members of the family are gathered; so well liglited is it by the blazing wood in the fire-place that every object in the room can be distinctly seen without the aid of any other light. "Pa" sits reading the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress or Baxter's Saint's Rest by this light, with his book resting on a little round table which his grandmother often told him was brought by her grandfather from the old country in the Mayflower or some other big ship, which indeed must have been a big one to have room for half of the furniture which it is said to have brought. "Ma" sits opposite at her light stand sewing up seams or putting little round patches on the knees of her boys' pants, or knitting some stockings or mittens to protect her darlings from the cold. The older children are getting their lessons for the next day at school, solving problems in Pike's Arithmetic, learning rules from Murray's
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