USA > Vermont > Washington County > Plainfield > The history of the towns of Plainfield, Roxbury and Fayston, Vermont : with Marshfield or Middlesex papers in fifty copies > Part 2
USA > Vermont > Washington County > Roxbury > The history of the towns of Plainfield, Roxbury and Fayston, Vermont : with Marshfield or Middlesex papers in fifty copies > Part 2
USA > Vermont > Washington County > Fayston > The history of the towns of Plainfield, Roxbury and Fayston, Vermont : with Marshfield or Middlesex papers in fifty copies > 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).
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Lot 4 clearing was begun by ASA Co- BURN, who sold to JOHN and THOMAS VINCENT, and removed to Cabot, but had to pay Allen for it in 1808. John was a less active business man than his brother, but was much respected, and was 3 years representative. His children were : John, Dennis, Stephen, of Chelsea, and Desire (Mrs. Coolidge Taylor.)
Lot 5. The south-western part was first owned by Chester House, then by Benja- . min P. Lampson, who built what is now S. B. Gale's farm-house. Charles McCloud settled upon what was recently Allen Martin's farm. His house was in the pasture north of Martin's house. This is the north-western part of lots 5 and 6.
ROBERT MELLEN was a brother of the first John Mellen. He owned the eastern part of lot 6 ; also lot 6 in the 3d range, and in fact nearly all of what is now Plainfield village. In Sept. 1805, as he was riding home from North Montpelier, he fell from his horse, near the present residence of Alvin Cate, badly injuring his ankle. As they were carrying him home on a litter made of a straw bed, he said, "You will have to bring me back in a few days," and [ by his son Dan. Page.
they did so, burying him in the graveyard there. The Mellens were from the old town of Derry, N. H., and they were one of the Scotch Irish families who came from Londonderry, in Ireland. Robert Mellen's house was where the Methodist parsonage now is, and his log-house was the first house built in the village.
Range 3-lot I was first owned by Lieut. JOSEPH BATCHELDER, but was first settled upon by JONATHAN WHITE, of Montpelier, who afterwards lived in various parts of the town. It is now owned by Nathan Skinner.
Lot 2 was first settled by CORNELIUS YOUNG, near where Willard Harris now lives. His father, Ebenezer Young, broke into a store at North . Montpelier, and was sent to the state prison at Windsor.
At the time of the Plattsburg invasion, Cornelius borrowed a famous fleet horse of Willard Shepard, Esq., and passing every- thing on the road, was present at the battle. When the British retreated, be followed after, and seeing three of them leave their horses, he dashed in among them, pistols in hand, and compelled the whole three to surrender to him alone. At least one of them was an officer, and his sword, brought home by Young, is now in the possession of Dudley Perkins.
His last days were less glorious. He was appointed a custom house officer, and had various encounters with smugglers, in one of which at Cabot, vitriol was thrown upon him, spoiling his clothes, but not injuring his person. His ignorance of the law caused him to commit some illegal acts in the discharge of his duties, and the resulting lawsuits ruined him pecun- iarily and morally. He removed to the State of New York, and for some felony was sent to Clinton prison.
Lot 3. The south part was first pur- chased by JOSIAH FREEMAN, and is now owned by Elijah A. Batchelder. The north part was first leased by James Perry ; now by Daniel Batchelder.
Lot 4 was settled by Dea. NEHEMIAH MACK, whose house was in Ira F. Page's pasture, east of his house now occupied Russell Young,
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brother of Cornelius, owned 45 acres next to Lampoon's. He Went to New York, and was drowned in North river when trying to escape from the police.
Lot 5. The western part was settled by JOSEPH LeurSON, who was for many years constable of the town. He was a weaver, a large part of the cotton cloth used in town being woven by him. Dan- iel and Benjamin P. were his sons ; Mrs. James Batchelder and Mrs. Jeremiah Batch- elder his daughters. His farm is now owned by Charles Bancroft.
Lot 6 is in the village, and was pur- chased of Robert Mellen Us CHARLES McCLOUD, 2d, and mills erected in 1798. which were burned the same year, and re- built by McCloud The first framed house in the village was built by him, where the Methodist church now stands, and is the old house back of it now owned by Wim. Bartlett.
The first store was a small one, opened | had a yoke of oxen and was out of hay. by JosErn KILBURN, in 1803 or '4. on the Stlas Willis place, near the Great Brook. The building was owned by ELIAS KINGS- LEY, the miller, and when soll to lia Day. of Barre, in 1807, there was a kiln for making carthen ware between that and the brook The next store was opened by Philip Sparrow about 1804. upon the place where Andrew Wheatley built the large brick store on the north side of the Meth- odist church common.
SILAS WILLIAMS built and opened the first tavern in the village, which is now the southern part of SUB Gale's house
Skunst WALES, from Randolph, fath- er of George C, Wales, built the first cloth. ing works, below the mills, in 190; or'6.
ASIANA BANCROFT, in 10), built the first trip hammer, with of the Great Brook and just above the present tannery was a son of Licit John Hangolt. an of ficer in the Revolution
There have been three distilleries in the village one on School street. in Mis Chantbe lain's garden, one on High street. In Win l'aik's garden, and one case of S I Cuil's halles,
those buried there was l'arnel. daughter of Joseph Lampson. She was the betrothed of Geo. Rich, who disliked the place, and gave the land for the present cemetery. and those interred in the old one were re- moved in 1814.
Range 4-lot 1, was settled by the Free- mans, as mentioned.
Lot 2. Clearing began by John Nyc, of Falmouth, but first settled upon by Rich- ard Kendrick The eastern part is now owned by H. Q. Perry; the western by Hartwell Skinner and Enos P. Colby's estate.
Lot 3. The southern part was settled by David Kinney, and is now owned by Edward Bartlett. The northern part at a later date was settled by Jonathan White. and is now occupied by Solomon Bartlett.
Lot 4. now owned by Curtis Bartlett. was settled by WILLARD SHEPARD, of Sharon, about 1796. The first spring he He took his oven and sled, went to the Four Corners near Freeman's, thence to Montpelier, and up Worcester Branch 2 miles, where he got a load of Col. Davis. By the time he got home nearly one-hall of it had been shaken and pulled off by the bushes, which so disgusted him with that business that during his long life he never . atter bought a load of hay.
He had a small flock of sheep which he kept near the house for safety. One night he heard the wolves howling, and in the morning found they had killed every sheep He took a prominent part in town af fairs, and did a large part of the business of justice of the peace. He removed to the farm partly in Fast Montpelier, now owned by his son Prentice, where he died Lots is divided by the Great Brook The eastern portion was settled by Nathan Jones The lot is now partly owned by N' C Page and George Huntoon
1.ot 6. now owned by Drrin Cree, was cleared by John Chase, who, unable to pas for it the second time, went West, but returned and died in Calais
Range & lots I and :, were settled by Jullige BRADFORD KISSE, about 1995
The ceniciery in the village was at are! jon! S W' of the radroad station Among The northern part be deeded to Philoman
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and Stephen Perkins in 1803. but they oc- cupied it in 1801. This part is now owned by A. Gunnison : the southern by J. Batch- elder. Judge Kinne was born in Preston, Conn., but moved here from Royalton, Vt. He was the most prominent man in town, and with good advantages might have become a distinguished lawyer. The story is well known of his defending Fisher in the suit of Cairnes v. Fisher, for assault, at the Caledonia County Court, where he directed his client to cry, when he himself did. Kinne made a pathetic appeal to the jury in favor of his client, who was a poor man, assuring them that "every dollar they took from him, they took from the mouths of babes and sucklings," at which dismal prospect Kinne burst into tears, and was followed by such a tremendous boo-hoo fromn Fisher, that the damages were assessed at a trifling sum, although the assault was a severe one. He re- moved on to the Washburn pitch in 1812, where he died in 1828, aged 64. Brad- ford Kinne Pierce, the distinguished Meth- odist clergyman, is his grandson.
Lot 3 was settled by James Perry. He was one of the first deacons of the Con- gregational church, but became a Metho- dist preacher. His farm is now owned by his grandson, Daniel A. Perry. The northern part of this lot was settled by Ja- cob Perkins, about 1799. It is now owned by Emmons Taft, who married his daugh- ter.
Capt. JONATHAN KINNE was born in Preston, Conn., where he married, and mov- ed to Bethel, Vt. He lived there 10 years. In 1793, he commenced clearing lot No. 4, living in a shanty through the week and going to Seth Freeman's on Sundays. He lived thus for two summers, and built a framed house in 1794, the first in town, which stood nearly opposite to H. Q. Perry's present residence. He moved his family here in Feb., 1795. The death of their little boy, Justus, Mar. 6, 1796, was the first death in town. He was the first minister in town, and preached for the Congregational church many years. He died at Berlin, in 1838. His son, Dea. Justus Kinney, lives upon this farm.
No. 5, is lease land. The southern 50 acres was leased by Dea. GEORGE AYERS, who was the progenitor of all of that fami- ly in this town. This place is now occu- pied by Ira Stone. The middle 50 acres of this lot was first leased by Elder James Perry's son, Elijah. The northern 50 acres was leased by Aaron Whittlesey. The last two portions are now leased by Levi Bartlett's estate.
Lot 6 is lease land. The eastern por- tion was first leased by John Moore, now by Hiram G. Moore. The western portion was first leased by Levi Bartlett, now in part by Lee Batchelder.
The southern 100 acres of lot 7 was settled by ASA BANCROFT, of Warmouth, Mass., about 1797. About the year 1801, as he and his wife were coming home, one evening, from Jeremy Stone's the wolves began to assemble in their rear. His wife was on a horse carrying their infant son, Tyler. They hurried on as fast as possi- ble, but the wolves came so near, that they abandoned to them a piece of fresh meat that Mrs. Stone had given them, and reached home safely, the wolves howling about the house as soon as they entered it. Mr. Bancroft was frequently elected to town offices, and died in 1856, aged 87. His children were. Tyler, William, John, Eunice (Mrs. Ira F. Page) and Mrs. Reu- ben Huntoon. When it began to be ru- mored that the settlers' titles were not good, he went to Jacob Davis', who gave him security on other property, and sent word by him to the other settlers, that if they were frightened he would secure them. This quieted their fears, and only one or two went.
No. 8 was settled by JOHN MOORE. His son, Heman Allen Moore, born here, was elected a representative to congress from Ohio, in 1844, but died the next year. Wm. Huntoon now owns this farm.
Range 6, lots 1, 2 and 3, were settled by JOSEPH NYE, of Falmouth, Mass. Several members of this family settled in Plainfield, or owned land in it. They were of Welch descent, and when they first came to Falmouth wrote their name Noye. Joseph Nye was representative 5 years,
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justice of the peace a long time. &c. His Aaron, of Boston It is now occupied by son, Vinal, died many years since, leaving Duron Norcross.
Langs ;. lots t. I.) and 4. were pur. and Mary, wife of Edward Bartlett. Jo- chased of Dawn by Enos Colby, of Hawk. seph's daughter, Sally, married Nathaniel
.V. Il. He made a clearing and built a Townshend, Cynthia. Daniel Gunnison, house in 1800, some fourth of a mile west Augusta, Elyah A Bianchelder, Lots 1 and ? are mostly owned by Dudley B. Smith. Seth F. Page lives upon No. 3.
No. 4 was settled by Elder James l'erry's son Stephen, in ISIS, who built the plas- tered house standing upon it. now owned by Alba F. Martyn.
No. 5. the southern part now owned by A F. Martin, was settled by Joseph F. Ayers, who moved to Thetford, and thence and z are now mostly owned by his grand. 10 Manchester. N. H The northern part. son. Moses Colly. No. 1 is only zo rods wide: 3 and & are parth owned by Henry Camp, whose wife is Colby's grand- daughter now owned by Nathaniel Townsend, was settled by Guleon Huntington, father of Amasa, and of Mrs Leonard Moore, and - uncle to David and Samuel Huntington. of Marshfield.
No. 6 was settled by Frank Crane and Joseph Deering It is now mostly owned by N. Townsend
HARVEY BANCROFT, from Ware. now Auburn. Mass., settled upon lot 7. in the 6th range, part of lot 7 in the 7th range. and a part of lot 6 in the Sth range, nevt to the Bancroft pond. He was clerk under the attempted organization of St_ An- drews Gore as a town, His house was opposite to the burying ground near Newcomb Kinney's While clearing some land, about 20 rods easterly of Henjurin F Moor's present residence, he fell a true upon a small one, which fell across another. The small one flew up striking him on the chesi. He died July S. 1777. a few days after the injust. april 27 He left a while and two all children One die young. the other was Dr Nathaniel Bancroft His willws. Poty Carret. married Sanford Kinne, a brother of Junethin all of lavl. for! Kiner. Sanfield portal nearly all the land Brillerpowel by Harves In- croft, but gen the death of his site, in 1813. he wen: West, and his this is the
No & was sentlet Us Lira l'an rolt. father of Horade Museme, now of Barre. bis! it was Fra; ommel by holm biro:lier.
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of the Great Brook, on land now owned b. C. H. Heath. He stayed in it one night, and then went back 10 .V. H., leav- ing it in care of Moulton Batchelder. Once Currier without leave moved into the house, and was sued off by Heman Allen. who found when too late that Currier was not holding under Colby, who thereby got it by possession against Allen. Lots 1
Lot ; is mostly lease land, and portions of it were rented to Eli Boyd, Isaac Perry. James Perry, Jr., and the N. E corner next to Moses Bancroft's was sold to Patrick Reed. It is now leased to Nathan Ilill. Seneca S Bemis and Lyman Moore. No. 6 was probably first owned b! Harvey Bancroft It was on the north. cast corner of this lot that he was at work when fatally injured. It is now owned by Joel Sherburn, Buster Bancroft and Henry Moorc.
No 7 was first owned by fancy Ban. croft and Charles Bancroft. Lee Martin's farm is a part of it.
No. S was settled by ZOPHER STURTE . IIst. of Worcester, Mass. He was per. sulded by his friend Harvey Bancroft to come up and buy a farm next to lum He returned to Mass to earn money to pay tor it, and while there heard of l'an croft's death Sewell Sturtevant was his sin It is now occupied by Newcomb Kinney
Range S-lois ! and 2. were purchased and settled by STEPHEN PERKINS, who bulit & saw mill in 1812-13. He also had one set of millestones, in the summer of 15;7, the banks by the side of the dam fare was, and the pond of about ; acres was discharged in a short time, causing off every liridge on the Great Brook It way repaired, hat gave way again before
several children, Irving. George, Alanson.
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the pond was quite filled. It was again repaired more thoroughly, and held until a heavy rain in the spring of 1869 carried off the new dam and all the bridges below. It was repaired, and when the pond was about half filled it burst through the quick- sands under the dam, and no more efforts to repair it.were made. . R. L. Martin then put in a steam-mill, which was burned in IS71, and he removed the remains of it to Harris Gore. Dudley Perkins and Silas Worthen occupy portions of these lots.
No. 3 was settled by Ralph Chamber- lain, of Hanover, N. H., and is now owned by his grandson, Jeremy Stone Chamber- lain. Plainfield Sulphur Springs are on this lot.
No. 4 was settled by David Benedict, of Randolph, who sold the southern part, now owned by Scott and Smith, to Amasa Bancroft, and the northern part, now owned by Goodrich, to Robert Carson. Feb. 29, IS16, an old house on this lot, occupied by Moses Reed, and used for a school-house, caught fire, and a little son of Reed was burned to death. David, Patrick and Woodman Reed were his sons ; Joanna (Mrs. William Parks) his daughter.
No. 5 was settled by Charles R. Wool- son, who sold the northern part to his wife's father, Moses Bancroft, of Ward, Mass., in Nov. 1796. Woolson was not able or willing to pay for his land the sec- ond time, and removed to New York, where he became rich. His son Ephraim getting homesick, returned, and bought back the old farm, on which he died. It is now owned by Erastus Batchelder. Mary, wife of S. O. Goodrich, and Sarah, wife of Joseph Lane, are Ephraim's daugh- ters.
Moses Bancroft had 4 sons: John, Charles, Chester and Baxter. John had 2 sons : Lewis, of Calais, and Preston, of Marshfield. Charles had a son Charles, and Mrs. Wm. Skinner and Mrs. Lewis Wood are his daughters. Baxter had but one child, Moses.
Baxter has resided in Plainfield longer than any other person-84 years. He says that as late as Oct. 1804, neither his father
nor any of the neighbors had chimneys to their houses. Stones were laid up into some forin of a chimney for a few feet, and the smoke allowed to go out, if it would, through a hole in the roof. The roof for years was made of large pieces of elm bark, tied on with strings of the same. Sometimes a storm in the night would blow off these pieces, and his father would get up and tie them on again. It would often get on fire, and once the house burned down.
One summer they had nothing to eat but milk for a long time, until Willard Shep- hard gave them a bushel of rye very badly sprouted, but some of this ground and cooked tasted the best of anything he ever ate.
The senior Moses had a brother, Lieut. John Bancroft, a Revolutionary soldier, who began a clearing on Prentice Shep- hard's farm (lot 5, range I), but soon re- moved to the village. Amasa Bancroft was his son. C. Watrous and Carlos Ban- croft, of Montpelier, were his sons.
No. 6 contains the Bancroft Pond, and was purchased by Harvey Bancroft.
No. 7 was settled by Charles Bancroft, and is now owned by Gardner Heath.
No. 8 is mostly a swamp.
Range 9. Lot I is 110 rods long, and 7 rods wide at one end, and a point at the other. It was never sold by the original proprietors.
No. 2 was a part of Stephen Perkins purchase, and is now owned by his grand- son, Emory F. Perkins.
No. 3 was settled by David Reed, of Hanover, N. H., in 1809, and is now own- ed by David Perkins.
David Reed and Ralph Chamberlain married sisters of Israel Goodwin, who lived many years in this town, but remov- ed to East Montpelier. T. Goodwin Reed is David's son.
No. 4, now owned by Erastus Batchel- der, was settled in 1796, by James Bout- well, of Barre, a relative of Col. Levi Boutwell, of Montpelier.
Oct. 9, 1804, snow fell to a great depth, some 3 or 4 feet. One Richardson, of Orange, started a bear out of his corn-
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field, and followed it :o Capt. Boutwell's when the dog. probably thinking that it was not Sunday after all, followed. Bout- well was justly punished for his duplicity ward followed a deer into the woods, and was never seen again. and returned. Boutwell. Robert Carson. and Jere:ny Stone, pursued it to the round mountain, north or cas: of l'igcon pond. by not getting the bear. The dog after- where they treed her. Boutwell fired. wounding it in the neck, it ran by Carson who fired and missed. Stone followed Lot 5 was first purchased of Heman Allen by Eathan Powers, who hired men to cut and burn wood for the ashes. Syl- vester Grinnel, a quaker, first resided up- on it. after with an ax, having no gun, setting on the dogs. Stone soon saw the bear re- turning, perhaps to defend her cubs, and got upon a rock, and when the bear at- tempted to get on, tried to split its head Lot 6 was settled by Moses Bancroft's son. John. Chiarles Morse owns a portion of it. open with the ax, but the bear instantly knocked it from his hand, mounted the rock, pushed Stone off front it into the snow, and then over on to his back. getting top of hitt Stone put up his hand to push its he.ud away from his, when his little finger went into the bear's mouth. which began to chew it. At this moment. Boutwell, who had reloaded and come up. fred, the bear's head being only a few inches from Stone's, and bruin fell dead.
Another time Boutwell went up on to the high, round topped hill north-east of his house, after partridges. He found a bear up a tree His gun was loaded with shot and he had no ball He drawed the shot and whittled a beach plug, with the end pointed, and loaded with this The first shot had no effect, but the second killed the hear
No. 7 was settled by JEREMY STONE, of Ward. Mass .. in 1796. He chose this place because he expected it would be near a good road. The legislature, in 1797. appointed a committee to work a road from Chelsea court house to Danville court house. This committee reported to the county court at Chelsea, in 1799, that they had built the road through Washington and Orange- A little work was done on it in Goshen gore, near Plainfield line, and the work abandoned. Ira Stone. Rev. Jesse Stone of Maine, and Jeremy Stone are his sons ; Mrs. Hial P. Chamberlain and Min, Marian Stone Tarbell, his daugh- ters. llis farm is now owned by Ira Rob. inson.
Lo: S was settled by Daniel Rice. of Barre, in 182; Dudley Marshall now re- sides upon it.
He was captain of the hirs: militia com. pany in town; was one of the selectmen from 1799. until his death, in 1813, of According to Thompson's Gazetteer, the town was organized Apr. 4. 1796. under the name of St. Andrew's gore, and Har- vey Bancroft elected town clerk This is probably true, but it was illegal, a gore not having the power to form a town or- ganization Nov. 6. 1797. the gore was incorporated into a town by the name of Planerkl, and the town meeting held at James Perry's, in Mar , 1798, is the first of which there is now any record, but was not typhoid fever, at that time very prevalent and fatal He was a man who e character was almost above reproach but his dog was even more seitct in his faith and prac time than his master The dog had learn ed to observe the Sal bath, as intelligent das in Christian families offen do, and never attempted to follow Ins master on that that Once when Houtwell was on his way to church, he nie: a party in poir. suite of a bear, and they miolied for the the Best, because called by Joshua Las. dog, which was a famous hunter Hour rence. James Perry. Moulton Bachelder. well went back with them in the house, as clecimen of Plainheld At this mert. auf ordered the due to tiline there, lister ine. That's l'incent was elected town refuse! He called Is the fall of Man, wie clerk Townmeetings after this were held It would not If these cond de ble Sin at Casi Jonathan Kinne's until 18:3. das cloches all pit a git on his shoulder. | when they were Feld in the village
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In 1798, '99 and ISoo, the road tax vo- croft, from Ward, Mass., when an infant. ted was 4 days work for each poll. In |When 12 years old he went to Montpelier. where he attended school, and at last stud- ied medicine with Dr. Lamb. About 1822, he came to Plainfield to practice, where he remained' until I851, when he went to Ohio, where he stayed 2 years, thence to Belvidere, Ill. His pungent and witty sayings are still often quoted by his old friends in Plainfield.
1798, the General Assembly, at the request of the town, voted a tax of one cent per acre, which was to be used to build roads. In IS07. another of three cents per acre was laid upon Plainfield. At that tinie, improved lands were listed at $1.75 per acre, unimproved not at all. Polls at $20, a yoke of oxen $10, houses worth less than $1000, 2 per cent, over $1000, 3 per cent. Interest money 6 per cent.
The first road in town was worked from Seth Freeman's north westerly to Hezekiah Davis' in Montpelier, as early as 1794, but no highways were laid out until June, 1799, when this and several others were laid.
In 1798 and 99, the town sent no repre- sentative, probably because a town with a grand list of less than $3,200 was not " doomed" to pay a state tax, if it sent no representative.
Thomas Vincent was a federalist. All the other representatives were republicans, until the reorganization of the parties under Jackson and Adams. After that they were all democrats except John Vin- cent, antimason, until the formation of the antislavery party, which elected D. A. Perry. Frank Hall was the only whig.
In Sept. 1801, Isaac Tichenor received 10 votes for governor-all that were cast. In 1802, Isaac Tichenor had 25, Jonas Galusha 23, which was the largest vote cast for several years.
PHYSICIANS.
The first physician in town was AM- HERST SIMONS, from Windham, Ct. He studied with Dr. Glysson, of Williams- town, and came to Plainfield in ISO1. For many of the last years of his life he was blind.
Dr. EBENEZER CONANT studied with Dr. Robert Paddock, of Barre, and came to Plainfield in ISog. In 1832 he remov- ed into Marshfield, about 2 miles from Plainfield village, near Perkins' mill, but returned to Plainfield after a few years, where he died.
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