Full text of "A monograph on the origin and early life of Brattleboro"

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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL
GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRAR^

3 1833 01096 2709

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

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http://www.archive.org/details/monographonorigiOOgrou

A MONOGRAPH

The Origin and Early Life of

Brattleboro

THE REV. LEWIS GROUT .

Brattleboro :

Press of E. L. Hildrkth & Co.

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PREFACE.

It has been well said that, "In gathering up the memorials of the fathers
we best manifest our regard for posterity." The motto is full of force,
truth and beauty; not unlike to which is another, that "He who is not
proud of his ance.stors, either has no ancestors to be proud of, or else he is
a degenerate son." But that this generation of ours is not wholly indiffer-
ent to the memory of its ancestors, the early settlers of Col. Brattle's Bor-
ough, might be shown in several ways, especially in the steadily increasing
interest which so many are now taking in the earthly resting places which
these early fathers set apart for themselves, their families, and for those
who should come after them. During the past few years, much has been
done — indeed, much is still being done to-day, to improve and beautify the
sacred grounds in which the material parts of our kindred of the olden
times, were lovingly laid, long ago, to rest.

But to adorn and beautify the graves of those whose blood now tlows in
our veins, is not the whole of our duty, or rather privilege, toward them.
It is but a becoming, helpful, inspiring pleasure for us to know something
of their worthy deeds, their toils, trials, struggles, the difficulties they
encountered and conquered, the unique heroism with which not a few of
their lives were crowned. To gather up, put on record and remember the
various valuable facts that have regard to our old-time brave, self-denying
fathers, and mothers too, is due alike to them, to the God they served and
to ourselves, their children and children's children, for whom they lived,
toiled and prayed.

Indeed, it is not only a duty and a privilege, but natural as well, even a
pure spontaneous delight in all the better minded, to have a desire, a taste,
for looking into such things. For us of Brattleboro. and of this day, to be
interested in the origin and early life of this Borough is but yielding to a
general law of the race to which we belong. We are so made that both
pleasure and profit invite to a study of the beginnings and early histor\- of
things. Builders, authors, inventors, battlefields, birthplaces and wedding
days have ever been regarded as objects of notable interest. Those who
make great discoveries in physical science, or m other secular and material
directions, are generally counted benefactors and held in honor. Yet in no
way second to anything of this kind is the ground which we here and now
have for a deep and abiding interest in the early families, the infant set-
tlements, and the incipient stages of the civil, political and other institu-
tions our fathers planted for us here in the Borough to which we belong or
in which we have our home.

In the efforts which the writer made, some thirty years ago, to gather up
needed material for preparing a history of the first church in Brattleboro.
he went through all the "records" to be found at that time in Brattleboro.
whether of the town, the covenanters, the church and society, or of other
organizations, some in town and some out, and learned also what he could
from books, pamphlets, papers, correspondence, diaries, and from the oral
testimony of the then oldest inhabitants of the town :— in all which he found
more or less about the origin and primary development of the civil, politi-
cal, industrial and social life of the town itself and as a whole, in its earlier
days.

Since that time, much valuable information has come to light and been
made available through other researches and sources, especially in the
acquisition of certain historical facts, as gathered and made public, from
time to time, in the "Vermont Phoenix," by a certain member of the legal
profession— facts which the writer has found very helpful in preparing the
following Monograph, and for which he is happy to take this wav of
expressing his great obligation and sincere thanks to the distinguished
author of those instructive articles.

LEWIS GROUT.

West Brattleboro, April 5, 1899.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

I. Indians and Equivalent Lands 7

II. Fort Dummer 8

III. New Hampshire Charter 9

IV. Boundaries, and New York Charter 10.

V. Governor Wentworth's Farm, and the Greenleafs 11

VI. Early Settlement s 13

VII. Roads and Residences 15

VIII. Meeting House Hill, and Census of Population i3

IX. Land Controversy, and Dispute About Jurisdiction 21

X. Industrial, Domestic, and Social Life 25

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A MONOGRAPH ON THE ORIGIN AND
EARLY LIFE OF BRATTLEBORO.

I. Indians and Equivalent Lands.

Previous to the year of our Lord 1687, all the region in which
this goodly township of Brattleboro is situated, was the camp-
ing, tramping and hunting ground of the Indians. Up to that
date a tribe of that people, called the Squakheags, ha\-ing
numerous wigwams and headquarters of their chief on the
southeast of us, regarded all the country, from Massachusetts
line to the Ascutney, as theirs. But at the above date the pro-
prietors of Northfield, whose township was divided by the Con-
necticut, bought of them all the land between that place and
Wantastiquet or West river, on both sides of the Connecticut.
and took a deed of it; within the limits of which were included
about three-fifths of what afterward became the township of
Brattleboro.

Then again, at a later date, the Province of Massachusetts
Bay, having found that, by mistake, it had made grants of land
belonging to the Colony of Connecticut, soon made compensa-
tion by turning over to that Colony an equivalent of land on the
west side of the Connecticut; the north line of part of which was
near the north line of Putney, and the south line of the same part
about the same as the present south line of Brattleboro. These
"Equivalent Lands," as they were called, being put on sale in
17 111, found sixteen associated purchasers, who, being now o^^'n-
ers in common, in June, 1718, agreed on a division and allotment,
when the tract above described fell to four men, one of whom
was Col. William Brattle of Cambridge, Mass., and another
William Dummer, who soon became lieutenant-governor of
Massachusetts, and from whom the entire above-named tract
took, for a time, the name of "Dummerston." Here it was, in

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I that part of this tract, which was eventually chartered as Brat-
] tleboro, that the first permanent Anglo-Saxon settlement was

! made in what afterward became the State of Vermont.
j

II. Fort Dummer.

For so it was, that, on the 27th of December, 1T23, hardly
• more than five years from the above date, in order to secure the
safety of all these regions against Indian depredations, the gen-
eral court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, "Voted to build
a block house above Xorthfield, in the most convenient place on
the lands called the 'Equivalent Lands,' and to post in it forty able
men, English and Western Indians, to be employed in scouting
at a good distance up Connecticut river. West river. Otter creek
and sometimes eastward, above great Monadnuck, for the dis-
covery of the enemy coming toward any of the frontier towns;
and that so much of the said 'Equivalent Lands* as shall be nec-
essary for a block house be taken up, with the consent of the
owners of said land, together with five or six acres of their
interval land, to be broken up or plowed for the present use of
the Western Indians, in case any of them shall think fit to bring
their families hither." To fulfill the conditions of this vote, "a
site was chosen in the southeastern part of the present town of
Brattleboro, just south of the now Brattleboro village, upon
what is now known as the Brooks farm. Col. John Stoddard of
Northampton was ordered by Governor Dummer to superin-
tend the building of the block house, the immediate oversight
of the work being committed to Lieut. Timothy Dwight, who
with a competent force, consisting of four carpenters, twelve
soldiers, with narrow axes and two teams, commenced opera-
tions on the 3d of February, 1T24. Before summer had begun
the Fort was so far completed as to be habitable, and was named
Fort Dummer, in honor of Sir William Dummer, then Lieuten-
ant-Governor of Massachusetts."

The fort was built of large, squared pine timbers, somewhat
i after the fashion of a log house, an oblong, twenty feet high,
with a watch box at one end. A committee of clergymen, being
asked to procure a person of gravity, ability, and prudence for
chaplain, made choice of Daniel Dwight of Northampton, who
was not only to serve the fort as chaplain, but also do mission

work among the Indians round about. In 1730, Rev. Ebenezer
Hinsdell became chaplain. At times the danger from Indian
attacks was so great that entire families repaired to the fort for
safety; indeed, some of the settlers were killed, and some were
carried away captives to Canada. When Benning Wentworth,
Governor of New Hampshire, gave Brattleboro her charter in
the name of George II., his Majesty's Fort Dummer and fifty
rods around it were reserved. The rest of the meadow, cleared
and fenced, became private property. Nathaniel French and
his son, William, who was eventually killed at Westminster
Court House, were living here in the Fort in 1769, but moved
to the French place near the Dummerston line the following
year. Nor was it long after this before the fort was given up,
coming, apparently, into the possession of Captain Willard, its
ast commander, as private property.

III. New Hampshire Charter.

The town of Brattleboro was chartered by the Governor of
New Hampshire, in 1753, to Col. Wm. Brattle, Cambridge,
Mass. , and to his associates, and hence the name, Brattleboroiigh,
in honor of the Colonel, whose name stood tirst among the
grantees. The following is a brief outline and the substance of
the charter, partly in the language of the charter, and partly in
a much abridged and condensed form :

"Province of New Hampshire — George II.. by the grace of
God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of
the Faith, etc. To all persons to whom these Presents shall
come, — Greeting : —

" Know ye that we, of our special grace and certain knowl-
edge and mere motion, for the due encouragement of settling a
new plantation within our said Province, By and with the advice
of our trusty and well-beloved Benning Wentworth, Esq. , our
Governor and Commander-in-chief of our said Province of New
Hampshire in America, and of our council of said Province,
have, upon the conditions and reservations hereafter made,
given and granted, and by these Presents for us, our heirs and
successors, do give and grant in equal shares, unto our loving
subjects, Inhabitants of our said Province of New Hampshire
and His Majesty's other governments, and to their heirs and

nnailmlirlnifrTi 111 i i\i Mtm immtmi' fahMJiMMMi

assigns forever, whose names are entered on this grant," a
township, o}4 miles square, containing about •^0,000 acres, out
of which are to be reserved SCO for Governor Wentworth, and
200 for Oliver Willard in the southeast part of the township.
The boundaries of the township and of the two reservations
were here given in the charter, and all on certain conditions,
such as having two fairs a year, and a market opened once or
more a week, when the families should come to number fifty;
the first meeting to be called by Josiah Willard, Esq. , for the
choice of officers, etc. ; every grantee to plant or cultivate five
acres of land within five years for every fifty contained in his
share, on penalty of forfeiting his grant; all white and other
pine trees fit for masting the Royal Navy to be carefully pre-
served for that use, and none to be cut or felled without his
Majesty's special license; and before any division of land be
made among the grantees, a tract, as near the centre of the
township as possible, to be reserved and marked out for town
lots of one acre each, one of which shall be allotted to each
grantee, he yielding or paying therefor to them, for ten years, one
ear of Indian corn, annually; and others to pay each, annually
and forever, one shilling Proclamation money for every 100
acres he owns, in their Council Chamber in Porf^mouth, or to
some other appointed officers. Witness, Benning Wentworth,
Esq., our Governor, etc., the 26th day of December, 1753.

The names of the grantees were William Brattle, Jacob Wen-
dell, and about fifty others. In addition to the reserve of Fort
Dummer and fifty rods around it. and SOO acres for Governor
Wentworth, was a reserve of one share for the Society for Pro-
pagating the Gospel, one share for the first settled minister of
the town, and one for a glebe for the minister of the church of
England.

IV. Boundaries .\nd Nf.w York Chartkr.

The boundary of Brattlcboro, as given in the charter, was
essentially the same as now — on the north by Dummerston,
on the east by the Connecticut river, on the south by Guilford
and a small part of \'ernon, and on the west by Marlboro.
This gives an area of about 21, TOO acres. The boundary of the
800 acres, reserved for the Governor, which was •:'enerallv called

"the Governor's farm," began at the rocks in the river at the
lower end of the railroad yard, thence went up the river 2 10 rods,
or near to Walnut street and the High School house, and was
carried, that width westward, till it took in the Carroll farm and
most of the Miner place — a tract which now includes a great
part of the East village and Esteyville, all of Western avenue
and Centerville.

The first building erected on this tract of 800 acres seems to
have been a grist mill, built by Governor Wentworth, in 1702,
on Whetstone brook, near the bridge at the foot of Main street;
nor does there seem to have been any other building on that
tract till a saw mill was built at the same place in 1TG8. After
all this region came under the rule of the New York Province,
as it did July 20, 1764, Samuel Wells and nineteen others pro-
cured from Governor Moore, of that Province, a grant of the
township of Brattleboro; whereupon the nineteen others deeded
their share and right to Mr. Wells, and he became the sole
owner of the New York title, which included all of Governor
Wentworth's reservation except that on which he had made
improvements, which Judge Wells soon bought, tradition says,
for five oxen; and then, in 1771, the Judge sold the whole tract
of 800 acres to Stephen Greenleaf.

V. Governor Wentworth's Farm and the Greenleafs.

Mr. Greenleaf had been an enterprising merchant in Boston,
but for some reason had become involved in business, and in the
early part of 1771, had come to Brattleboro, and lived, for a
time, a little south of the now so-called "Fair grounds." To
him it was that Judge Wells sold his 800 acres for ^"1,200, about
$5,000. In 1772, Mr. Greenleaf built a sawmill, the second in
town, about where the factory now stands in Centerville, and in
1776 built a dwelling house not far from Centerville, on the
fifty-acre lot, now the Herrick place at "Elm Corners," a little
south of the Miner place. When that house was burned in
June, 1808, it was one of the oldest in town, having been built
only some three years after that by Judge Wells, now the "Sum-
mer Retreat" for women. Both the senior Stephen Greenleaf,
who became Esquire in 1772, when the New York Governor
made him justice of the peace, and his son. Major Stephen

TV1-;'// -. 1 'V»ii> V

Greenleaf, who lived at the top of the hill on what is now Green-
leaf street, in West Brattleboro, were active and prominent in
all good enterprises in their day. The father. Esquire Green-
leaf, held a license from the government as Inn-keeper, was
town clerk from 177G to 1783, and so the last clerk of the town
under the jurisdiction of New York and the first under that of
Vermont; and was both a member and the clerk of the first
church.

Out of the 800 acres which he bought of Judge Wells, Mr.
Greenleaf, in 1772, sold a little more than twenty-six, in the
northeast corner, to Samuel Knight, on which, about 1773. Mr.
Knight, who held a commission as an attorney-at-law in "his
Majesty's courts of record" in Cumberland county, built a com-
paratively commodious dwelling house, just north of where the
Free Library now stands, apparently the first dwelling of much
size built in what is now Brattleboro village. The rest of the
800 acres was soon mortgaged, August and September, 1773, 600
acres of it, in the western part, to Judge Wells; and what
remained, in the eastern part, to other parties; all which evi-
dently soon passed out of Esquire Greenleaf's hands into the
hands of others. He, however, owned the fifty-acre lot of the
now Herrick's farm, near "Elm Corners," and went there,
apparently in 1770, to live. At a later date, 1783, he bought
twenty acres more, on his southern border, where he afterward
had his home till he died in 1803.

Esquire Greenleaf has often been spoken of as being the first
merchant in Brattleboro, if not the first in Vermont, and is said
to have opened a store in 1771, the same year he came to Brat-
tleboro, at or near where Union block now stands on Main street.
Some speak of it as having been at or near the mills at the foot
of Main street; "The Tory's Daugliter" speaks of it, in lT7.i. as
"resting on the Connecticut river," at the mouth of the Whet-
stone. In 177t;, Mr. Greenleaf went to live on his little farm
south of the Miner place; and in 1778 mention is made of cer-
tain notes payable in wheat "at Esquire Greenleaf's house, or at
the grist mill," by which is probably meant the grist mill owned
by Seth Smith, which stood near what is now the south end of
the red bridge near the Brattleboro creamery; all which would
seem to indicate that he had no store at that time.

With his son, Major Greenleaf, the writer was somewhat well
acquainted in the later years of the Major's life, living, as he
did, next neighbor to him for a time, some sixty-five years ago.
And then, at a later date, out of regard for his memory, and as
a proper thing to be done, the writer suggested, and put up a
board to that effect, that the road in West Brattleboro. which
leaves Main street at the Rockwell place and goes up west, past
the house at the top of the hill where Mr. Greenleaf used to
live, be called in honor of his memory, "Greenleaf street."*

For 44 years, subsequent to 1799, Mr. Greenleaf was town clerk,
and ' 'his penmanship, in the old town books, for its uniformity and
perfection, is the admiration of everyone who has ever examined
it." He was what might be called a "self-made man."' By a
diligent use of such means as came within his reach, in his
earlier days, " he laid the foundation of such a character tor
ability and virtue as won the well-deserved respect, love and
confidence of three generations, then calmly and peacefully died
in 1850, aged 92 years."!

VI. E.^RLY Settlements.

Though Brattleboro was chartered in 1753, yet almost no
attempts at settlements within its borders were made, except
under the protection of here and there a block house, as at Fort
Dummer, till the French war was ended in 1760 by the capture
of Montreal. Much less had any great highway been laid out
and kept in repair, even here in Brattleboro, till after that
event. And yet many of the enterprising, public-spirited men
of New England had passed up and down the state from Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut to the scenes of hostilities on Lakes
George and Champlain, and had thus got some good idea of its
fertile soil and abundant water power; so that the promise of a
safe occupation being given by the conquest of Canada served

•When the writer took up his abode, some twenty years ago, where he now reside*,
he thou^jht the road which winds aloni? up the brook, which comes dancing and s::c-
ing down from the beautiful valley south of the Mathers, Kinii^'s and town farm. o-<it
to have a becoming name, and so had a board painted, and put up on the corner, near
Main street, describing it as "Bonnyvale Road."

tMajor Greenleaf, in marrying Mrs. Ryan for his second wife, became the m'ao^.-
loved stepfather of two very youn;; and beautiful step-daughters; one of whom. Love
C, became the wife of the late James l"ii.k, and by him, the mother of Mrs. George
W. Hooker; while the other, Mary, became the wife of the late John W. Frost.

I ■
I

to kindle in many a desire to emigrate to the attractive territory

which they found in this region. Hence the rapidity with which

settlements were made here, for some years subsequent to 1T*)0;

. though Brattleboro, by reason of its fort, had had a sprinkling

i of emigrants previous to that date. But as yet, and for several

1 years, all, except a small clearing at and around the fort, was a

! dense forest of majestic trees.

i It would seem that one of the first settlements made in town.

I aside from what wa^ done at Fort Dummer, was that of Benia-
i min Moor, in 1757, near where the "Retreat" farmhouse n-jw
stands. Mr. Moor was killed by the Indians in 175S, and his
wife and children carried captive to Canada, where they were
redeemed by Col. Peter Schuyler in 1700, To Mrs, Moor
Col. Josiah Willard gave a lot of fifty acres, in 17G;>, southeast
of Meeting House Hill, where the late Gilbert Smith lived.
Here she was married to Moses Johnson in 1764, soon after
i which they sold their farm to Abner Scovil. Col. John Sar-
j gent, son of Lieut. John Sargent, began a settlement in Brat-
■_ tleboro in 17G'-i on the now road to Dummerston, north of West
I river, where some of his descendants now live. It was during
; the same year, 17<i2, that John Arms, who became Major, set-
tled where the Retreat farmhouse now stands. The famous
tavern, which he established and kept there till his death from
the kick of a horse in 1770, stil] continued to be kept for many
years by his widow, Susanna, and his son, Josiah, Samuel
Wells, who became both Colonel and Judge, came to Brattle-
boro, as did John Arms, from Deerfield, in 17»J'.J, and began a
settlement in a log house west of where the Summer Retreat
for women now stands; some ten years after which, about 1773,
he built what is now the main part of that, Retreat, which is
now thought to be the oldest house in town. Among other
first settlers in this town was Ebenezer Fisher, the great-grand-
father of P^zra and his brothers. He came here when there
were as yet but fourteen others, and settled east of the ceme-
tery, near where Mr. Brown now lives. Henry Wells, Brattle-
boro's first physician and the first clerk of the town, came here
from New York in I7G7, and settled on a farm of about a thou-
sand acres, of which the late Gilbert Smith's was a part, south-
east of the cemetery on Meeting House Hill. Here he built a

arge house, which stood almost unaltered till taken down by
.VIr. Smith in 1875.

VII. Roads and Residences.

At first all the roads were hardly more than foot and bridle
paths, till these were widened enough, by cutting away the
trees on each side, for an ox-sled or cart to make its way;
though it was long before all the stumps, roots, and big stones
were removed. Previous to 1768 few, if any, well-defined
roads were laid out and kept in proper repair; the paths and
roads being extended from one settlement to another, here and
there, as new emigrants came in and began new homes. The
passing of people on foot or horseback up and down the Con-
necticut, previous to 17'^, and before wagons had come into
use in this region, made a track about where the road now runs
from Hinsdale, now Vernon, via Prospect Hill Cemetery to a
bridge near the mouth of the Whetstone. From this point tlie
track was continued northward through the woods, near the line
of the present Main and Linden streets, till it came to the great
"Retreat meadows." When Governor Wentworth built his
grist mill by Whetstone bridge, and Major Arms his Inn where
the Retreat farmhouse now stands, as they did in 17<'»'2, this
track began to put on the semblance of a highway, and to have
a rapid extension toward the north, northeast, and northwest.
Passing the Arms place, the road led on north and west to the
Wells place (Summer Retreat), where it opened into two, one
of which turned to the right and went down to West river,
which it crossed by a ford and led on past the several Sargents
and Frenches toward Dummerston, the only road from Brattle-
boro in that direction till 17'.Mj; while theother branch contmued
straight on westward, passing the Dunklee homestead. Oliver
Carpenter's, Wicopy ("Wickopee") Hill, and eventually the old
meeting house on Dummerston Hill, to Williamsville and New-
fane Hill, thence to Chester, the shire town of Cumberland
County, which embraced both Windham and Windsor when the
state was under the rule of New York Province. Still
another road struck out from near the Wells place, going, first
south of west, then west, passing near Samuel Knight's place,
then Pastor Reeve's, and Ebenezer Fisher's, and came, ni ITriS.

upon Meeting House Hill from the north, past the now Doolittli
place; whence, ev^entually, it went on westward, down across
the northern part of the late Harry Miller farm to the S. S.
Sargent place on Whetstone brook; thence across the country
west to Abel Stockwell's on Ames Hill, now Bama Clark's,
thence through Halifax to Albany.

One and the same as the beginning of this road on the Hill
was another which came west from the meeting house down
through the now Miller, once the Reeve, pasture to the Pet-
tee, once Reeve place.* From this, a road led across the
Whetstone brook to the now Rockwell and Hayes comer; Wil-
liam Harris having settled at the Rockwell place in 1T68; Israel
Smith at the Stockwell place, by the Davenport store, two yeojs
later; Rutherford Hayes at the Hayes place in 1TT>; and Wil-
liam Ellas, where the old Academy stood, in ITT'2. From this
Harris-Hayes centre one road went northwest, passing the hone
of Capt. Nathaniel Blakeslee, who married Deborah Reeve and
lived at the now Miller place; then to the home of Capt. James
Blakeslee, who married another of Pastor Reeve's daughters
and lived where Samuel Sargent now lives. Another road
went up the hill, west, passing Major Greenleaf's, now ThtiT-
ber's, soon after which it parted and went, one southward to the
Warriner's, another westward to Marlboro.

There was no village where West Brattleboro now is till after
1784, though, some twelve or fifteen years previous to that date, a
bridle path and then an ox-sled road led from the Harris- Hayes
center, southeastward to the Hayes tavern, afterward known as
Bixby's, Barrett's, Root's, Stewart's, Goodenough's and a dozen
others, the last of whom was J. P. Sargent, who was in charge of

♦When the provincial government of New Hampshire chartered this towTi :; made
several reservations, one of which was a glebe of land for the first settled s::" s:er.
This came, of course, to the Rev. .Vbner Reeve anj embraced what caaie. eve=t-i'."..r.
to be known as the Shep.ird Rice place, near .Mr. Brown's, and now the propertv c: -.te
Retreat, about a mile east fn^n the meetin< house. Here it was that Mr. Reeve ..virJ
till after the new mcetinvj house was built in West Brattleboro vii'.agre. Here here-rid
the younger portion of his large family, doing pulpit and parish work, and w:;h -.;«
help of his sons, especially Silas, the youni^est, carrying on the farm to eke c-,;: bis
small salary. Eventually, however, he made an exchange with a .Mr. Patters-,"":: a=!l
obtained what used to be known as the " Reeve farm," which extenced from :L-e
cemetery on the Hill down westward to Whetstone brook, and embraced the pre=.5*s
since known as the Ranney, the Porter, the Bi>Umder, and now the Pette* place. 1=
the summer vac.ition I'f the .\c.ideiny, in ivi;. the writer worked at "...lying cs tie
Reeve farm for .Mrs. Rhoda Blakeslee Reeve, the widow of Silas, who died Jose IX
IWJ, and for her son, John.

t when, a few years ago, it was burned. From this the path went
jouth to Ellas' by the old Academy, then east to a ford or bridge
)n the Whetstone, near the now iron bridge, then to Lieut, Root's,
ate Dea. Wilder's, now Thurber's. Here, about to turn to the
left and go up the hill north, it met and took on another which
came from Guilford via Benjamin Baker's, now Stafford's, on "Fair
View Hill," then passed Greenleaf's, now Herrick's, then passed
John Dickerman's, now Miner's, then crossed the Whetstone by
Smith's grist mill, near the now red bridge, then turned to the
left and went west to Lieut. Root's, where it joined the other,
as above named, and with it went up the hill north past Lemuel
Kendrick's and thus reached the common, meeting house, and
cemetery on the Hill, about 1T74. It is thought that this road
from Guilford and the brook to the Hill was that which Col.
Ethan Allen took when he went with his soldiers and prisoners
from Guilford to Brattleboro, September 10, 1782, and that his
troops and the prisoners stopped for the night on the Hill,
perhaps in the church, while he and his officers went on and
stopped at the famous Major Arms Inn. From Lieut. Root's
to w^hat is now the east village there was no direct road till 1785,
the same year in which the meeting house on the Hill began to
^ive place to the building of a new one in West Brattleboro.

After 1774:, anyone going from the Harris-Hayes region to
the east village region might go northeast to the Hill via the
Toad up through the now Miller pasture; or, doubtless better,
via Lieut. Root's to the Hill, and thence by a road going south-
east past Abner Scovil's (the late Gilbert Smith's), to the
^eat river road, which went up where Main and Linden streets
now run, past the Retreat and crossed West river at the upper
■end of the Retreat meadows.

It is interesting to notice how, at the time of which we speak,
and for ten or fifteen years later, nearly all the roads in town,
"whether long or short, led to and from the Meeting Flouse Hill,
that place being, at that time, not only well nigh geographically,
but, for business, and in all other respects, the great center of
the town.* Aside from the roads already named, there were

•A chart of the original roads, as they came centering m from the four quarters,
north, south, e.i->t und west, up >n the Hiil, with the several ilatestif their coming in and
going out, also, of the site of the meeting house and of several graves, may be found
In the writer's "Second Discourse" on the first church in Brattleboro. page 26.

two Others leading from the Hill northward to the now Usca
Ware and West Dummerston region.

VIII. Meeting House Hill and Census of Population.

When the proprietors of the New Hampshire charter of Brat-
tleboro had the town surveyed and divided into lots, they made
a plan of it, and on this plan five acres were reserved on the
Hill for a cemetery and other purposes; and then, when this
charter was annulled by the town's coming under the jurisdic-
tion of New York, Judge Wells obtained a grant of it from thar
Province; after which, July 30, 1TT4:, he conveyed essentially
the same five acres to the trustees of the town for essentially
the same purposes. The following is a description of the land
and the uses to be made of it, as given in the deed: "Com-
monly called and known by the name of fleeting House Hill, a
part of which is used for a burying ground, bounded northerly
by land belonging to David Church, westerly by a road or high-
way, until the same enters into another road, which last men-
tioned road runs through the hereby granted tract of land, and
partly by lands now belonging to said Samuel Wells, southerly
by lands now belonging to Abner Scovil, and easterly partly by
part of the aforesaid road, which, turning its course, runs
through the said hereby granted tract, and partly by lands
belonging to Henry Wells; containing about si.K acres of land,
be the same more or less: In trust, that in some convenient
part or parts thereof on the north side of said road which p.isses
through the said hereby granted tract, a building or buildings
for the public worship of Almighty God be erected, and a con-
venient part or parts around said building or buildings be applied
for the purpose of a burying place or burying places, the
profits of the said burying place or burying places, and all
that part of the hereby granted premises, which lies on the
north side of the aforesaid road, is hereby declared to be given
and granted to the use of such minister or ministers respectively
for the time being, as shall officiate there, and the other part of
the said hereby granted premises, lying on the south side of the
aforesaid road, which runs through the said hereby granted
tract, to be applied for the use of building thereon any other
public buildings, which shall at any time hereafter be found nee-

;sary for the service of said township of Brattleboro, and for
aining- and exercising the inhabitants in the use of arms or in
her useful or entertaining- exercise, and for any and every
;her public use or service of the said township, and for no other
ads, intentions, meanings or purposes whatsoever."
It was here that, nine years previous, a portion of this land
lad begun to be used for one of the purposes specified in the
lead, when Elizabeth, a beloved daughter of the Judge and
VIrs. Hannah Wells, was buried there in 17G5. When that
ittle grave was made — probably the first in all that region — it
was in the lone woods, amid primeval trees, the entire hill
being then covered with one dense, unbroken forest. Here,
too, in 17G8, was built the first meeting house, the site of
which, after much search and study, has been but recently
fixed upon and suitably marked by a gi-anite block,* eight rods
nearly south from Elizabeth's little grave. The house was
built by private enterprise, which at that time was a matter
of no small account, the entire population of the town being as
yet small — all the "grown men" numbering but seventy-five,
and almost every one of these at his wits' end to know how
and where to get the means to build his own house, extend his
clearing, feed his pig, keep his cow and horse, and support his
family. In those early days " the laws of Vermont required
every town to have ' a good pair of stocks, with a lock and key,
sufficient to hold and secure such offenders as shall be sen-
tenced to sit therein,' to be set in the most public place; and
in the same place, a sign-post, on which all notifications, war-
rants, &-C., for meetings, &c., shall be set up. At a meeting,
held September 14, 1781, the town, m compliance with this
law of \'ermont —

" Voted to build a pair of stocks and a sign post.
"Voted to sett the sign post near the meeting house.
"Voted to fitt the stocks into the sign post."

♦This monument, the base of which consists of native RT.anite and the die of mill-
stone granite from Connecticut, is about four feet hiffh by two and a half wide. " rock
finish," beurinjs' this inscription : -'The First .Meetini; House in Brattleboro was built
here, A. D, ITtls." On the riijht hand corner, near the base, are the initials. " E. E. F.,
18;i8," the letters beini,: understood to .stand for E.ra E. I'lsher, to whom uU are gieatly
indebted for this work and for other expensive and important additions and improve-
ments in these now memorable and sacred grounds.

, ' The house was used for town meetings as well as for publ
worship, being, as it was, the only public building in town f(
some years. The land around it, save the cemetery on tl
north of it, was used as a public common and a field for trail
ing till 1785, when a move was made to build a meeting hoiii
in what is now the West Brattleboro village. Having built
j meeting house on the Hill, as they did in ITOS, the people ver
I soon began a search and effort to obtain a suitable minister fc:
! the pulpit and for other parish work; and to this end, in IT TO
'; they formed themselves into a society called "the Covenanters.'
I no less than seventy out of the seventy-five men of the town a*.
j that time giving in their names as severally agreeing, cov-
i enanting and promising to abide and stand by certain measures
and articles for settling and maintaining a true gospel minister
I in town. But, as a very full account of the first fifty years of
the first church in Brattleboro and of its first three pastors, the
Rev. Abner Reeve, the Rev. William Wells and the Rev. Caleb
Burge, was given in the writer's two historical discourses per-
taining to that subject, and published, the first, of thirty-two
pages, Svo., in 18TG, the second, of thirty-one pages, in 1894, this
phase of the early life of the town is omitted from the present
historical sketch.

At the time of which we speak, when the meeting house was
built and a church formed, a census of the town put the number
of "grown men" at seventy-five, and the entire population at
403. The following are the names of the men and the localises
in which they lived at that time: —

"Josiah White, John White, Abijah White. Tilly Wilder. Tilly
Wilder, Jr., Wildar Willard, Benjamin Nourse, Samuel Brown,
and Willard King, who lived south of where the village is;
William King, who lived up the hill above the cider mill at
Mr. Thayer's, was furthest west; John Sargeant, Thomas Sar-
geant, Benjamin Butterfield, Benjamin Buttcrfield, Jr.. Jesse
Frost, Jacob Spaldin, Joshua Wilder, Lemuel Kendrick, Benja-
min Gold, Nathan Gold, and Levi Baldwin above West hver;
Samuel Wells, Elias Wilder, Elias Wilder, Jr., Isaac Earheart.
Joel Atcherson, John Arms, Josiah Arms, Joseph Herrick. Jon-
athan Herrick, William Nichols. Oliver Harris, Oliver Harris.
Jr., Ephraim Knapp, Jonathan Church, William Ellis. Thoir.as

hilis, Samuel Knight, John Baldwin, Jonathan Hobs, and
Fmiel Baldwin northwest of where the Retreat is; Timothy
haurch, Nathaniel Church, David Church, William Cranny,
yrael Field, Richard Prouty, Samuel Kent, William Goss,

Jbenezer Knapp, John Pike, and Jacob Pike in the neighborhood
)out Oscar Ware's; Dr. Henry Wells, Joshua Partridge,
benezer Fisher, Alexander Youngs, John Campton, Jacob
' 5all, Shadrach Ball, William McCune, Isaac McCune, and Elijah
! i'j,-*routy in the neighborhood east and north of the common where
j I the meeting house was built; and a Mr. Burnap, Reuben Bump,
f Nathaniel Church, Eber Church, Jabez Davis, Edward King,
Samuel Bennet, Thomas Cooke, Oliver Cooke, John Alexander,
James Knapp, Jonas Knapp, and Sawyer Wright northwest of
there toward Wicopee Hill."*

IX, Land Controversy and Dispute about Jurisdiction.

But during the years of which we have been speaking, espe-
cially during the first decade of these years, by reason of the
indefinite, ambiguous, and even conflicting boundaries of terri-
tories claimed variously by New Hampshire, Massachusetts
and New York, the seeds of much bitter controversy had been
sown by an indiscriminate granting of lands to various parties
in all this region — some by the Dutch at Albany, some by the
French, and some by the several Colonies of Massachusetts,
New Hampshire and New York. As early as 17G3 Benning
Wentworth, acting under a royal commission as Governor of
New Hampshire, and told by the king that the Province of
New Hampshire extended westward till it met his other gov-
ernments (that is, to a line extending from Lake Champlain
south to the western line of Massachusetts), in the king's
name had granted 138 townships west of the Connecticut river,
which were now generally known as the " New Hampshire
Grants." This being more than New York could brook, Lieu-
tenant-Governor Tryon, of that Province, referred the settle-
ment of the boundary ([uestion to George III., who, in Council
of July *20, 1701, decided that the western bank of the Con-
necticut river should thereafter be regarded as the boundary

♦In looking at these names it will be seen that in no case is there a double or more
than one given name; and that, out of the whole number of seventy- live, all but eigh-
teen of tho Kiven names were, ori>;inally, taken from the Bible.

■•'^"^^^— ^'- ^.■■U-!....^.^,..UJ,,^U.i.^i.^

line between the Province of New Hampshire and that of Xeal
York. At this decision the colonists were much surprised ane
displeased ; but, supposing- it meant nothing more than d
change of jurisdiction, yielded at first a peaceful submissioid
But soon finding themselves much mistaken, in that the Go\|-
ernor of New York was ignoring their rights and claim^
making grants of their lands to others, or demanding enormou:
patent fees for confirming the grants they held, they stouth
demurred. Indeed, many of the towns soon entered upon «. V
state of open rebellion. Attempts to eject farmers from lands
they had paid for and from improvements they had made led
to many a scene of personal violence. Some were kidnapped
and carried to jail for attempting to protect and defend the
farms the}- had paid for and the homes they had made.

For a time, however, not a few, especially of the later set-
tlers, who had their grants from New York, or had paid the fees
required for a confirmation of grants already acquired, took
sides with that state. When the boundary line was fixed at the
Connecticut river, in 17G4, what is now Vermont became a part
of Albany County. Then, in 1768, what are now Windham and
Windsor Counties, were made into one and called Cumberland;
and at a meeting of the Brattleboro freeholders, which was
called for the first Tuesday of March, in accord with the time
specified in the patent of the town, Brattleboro was organized;
John Arms, Esq., being chosen moderator. Dr. Henn,- Wells,
clerk, and other citizens appointed to other offices, such as were
required by the Province of New York. As yet the proclivities
of Brattleboro were toward New York. When Lieut. Leonard
Spaulding, who had been confined in Westminster jail, on the
charge of having uttered treasonable words against the king,
was released, in November, IT 74, by a committee assisted by a
concourse of frecborn neighbors and friends from Dunimerston,
Putney andother towns, "without key or lock-picker," Brattleboro
was not in it. But when those who regarded the demands of
the new government as unjust and oppressive were to present
their grievances to the court at Westminster, in March, ITTo, the
high sheriff of the county, coming to Brattleboro for men to
"assist him in keeping the peace and suppressing the rioters,"
easily found no less than thirty-five men ready to go back with

m to the court house. Nor was it long before one William
rench, a freeborn citizen of Brattleboro, who, with the others,
id come there to tell their grievances, was shot dead. And
et again we see what were the proclivities of Brattleboro on
his question in those days, in* that she had no delegate in either
)f the two meetings of the general convention of the delegates
)f the state, one, of fifty-one delegates, on July 24, ITT'J, at
Dorset, and another, an adjourned meeting, on January 15,
1777, at Westminster, where it was "voted, unanimously, that
the district of land, commonly called 'New Hampshire Grants, ' be
a new and separate state, and for the future conduct themselves
as such." Nor yet again, when this meeting adjourned to meet
in Windsor, the first Wednesday in June, and when met, re-
commended to the people of the new state to assemble in their
respective towns and choose representatives to meet at Windsor
on July 2, to form a constitution and elect delegates to con-
gress, did Brattleboro take any part, but rather on June 16, in
full town meeting, voted not to accept or approve the proceed-
ings of the late convention, July 2, at Windsor. And in
August, when an attempt was made to take the sense of the
voters as to the new state, the report from Brattleboro was. that
out of a vote of lfi(5, all but one expressed a dissent from the
pretended state of Vermont.

So great was the opposition of Brattleboro and two or three
other towns, that Brigadier General Ethan Allen came from the
west side of the mountain with a goodly number of Green Moun-
tain Boys, all armed and equipped to aid the civil officers of this
region in their efforts to enforce the authority of the state of
Vermont. Prosecuting this work, they arrested, among others,
all but one of the military officers of Brattleboro, together with
some in Putney and some in Westminster, took them as pris-
oners to the court, then in session at Westminster, where they
were tried, found guilty, and fined each from two to forty pounds
sterling and costs, for their opposition to the state of Vermont.
The general sentiment of the town now began to turn from
New York and to set in favor of Vermont, though it was not till
1781 that she sent delegates or representatives to the Vermont
Assembly. The last town meeting under New York auspices,
held the first Tuesday in March, 1781. simply chose a moderator

and a clerk, and then adjourned for a year; whereupon the loy
local citizens of the new state called another meeting of tl:
town, to be held March 27, 1781, at which time the town vote
to accept the union that had been agreed upon and adoptei
between the legislature of Vermont and the Committee of Con
vention, and chose Samuel Warriner moderator, Esquire Stepher
Greenleaf clerk, and all the other officers which the constitution
of the state required. And so it was that Brattleboro became
organized as a town under the jurisdiction of Vermont, and has
so remained to this day.

But, though jurisdiction had now passed from New York to
[ 'Vermont, some of the people still adhered so stoutly to the
; former state as to make it necessary to give the Governor power
to raise men to assist the sheritis in their efforts, at times, to
enforce the authority of the state. By his direction it was that
General Ethan Allen came from the other side of the mountain
with 250 men to ]\Iarlboro, September 9, 1782, where he was
reinforced by nearly as many more from several of the neigh-
boring towns. The next morning detachments of men were
sent to Brattleboro, Halifax, and Guilford to arrest such York-
ites as were leading the rebellion, and take them to headquar-
ters. Allen himself, with the larger part of his force, went to
Guilford, the stronghold of the offenders, where, towards the
close of the day, the detachments came in with their prisoners.
In the evening Allen, with his troops and prisoners, started for
Brattleboro, hoping to arrive there that night, but had gone not
far ere he was fired upon by a company of forty-six Guilford-
• ites, who had stationed themselves in a hiding place by the side
. of the road, over which the Vermonters would have to pass.
Upon this, Allen forthwith returned to Guilford and made
proclamation to the people that he would give no quarter to any
man, woman or child who should oppose him; and unless the
inhabitants of Guilford should peacefully submit to the authority
of Vermont, he would lay their town as desolate as Sodom and
Gomorrah; after which he was sutTered to go on his way to
Brattleboro without further molestation. Starting the next
day, with some twenty or more prisoners, from Brattleboro for
Westminster, he gave orders to kill without quarter anyone
who should fire on his men. Arriving at the court in Westmin-

1771803

ster, several of the prisoners, being tried by jury for treason,
were condemned and sentenced to be imprisoned until the fourth
of the next October in the county jail and then banished from
the state, not to return on penalty of death; and that all their
goods, chattels and estates be seized and sold as forfeited to the
use of the state.

After a little more of this kind of opposition, and a little more
of this kind of punishment, by the first of March, 1784, about
the last of the people were cured of their affinity for New York.
The opposition and disturbances in Brattleboro had already
come to an end. Nor was it long before peaceful submission
prevailed in other places, and the authority of Vermont was
generally acknowledged.

X. Industrial, Domestic and Social Life.

With this brief sketch of the early civil and political life of
Col. Brattle's Borough, a few words concerning its industrial,
domestic and social life must bring our Monograph to a close.
Probably very few of this generation have much idea of the
marvelous changes through which this town has passed since it
came to be the habitation of civilized men, or much idea even
of the changes that have come over it since the first half cen-
tury of its life. Since those early occupants began to "lift up
their axes upon the thick trees" that covered every acre when
they began to come here, most of these acres have been
"cleared" and become open fields, though some of them are
now beginning to show signs of returning to their primitive
condition. Instead of the general silence and slumber that
reigned here when the white man came, save where it was
broken by the whoop of an Indian, the hoot of an owl, or the
song or the cry of other animal, we now have the music and
the marchings, the grand achievements and great enterprises,
of a high order of civilin;ation and Christianity. Often the emi-
grant who was the pioneer of this change had to come here
picking his way through the woods, with nothing save his ax, gun,
ammunition, blanket and a basket or bag o( food. Reaching the
section he was to occupy, his first move was to make for him-
self a temporary shelter by setting up a few posts and poles for
a frame, and using the boughs and bark of trees for a covering.

The next step was to cut. away the trees and clear a place lar^e
enough for a log house of two rooms, with a big stone chimney
in the center.* This done, he would go back for his wife and
child, who would return with him on horseback — possibly on a
pillion — or in an ox-sled. if\nd now his great work for a year
— indeed, for several years — is to extend his clearing by felling
the trees, cutting and piling them up, burning them, and gath-
ering up the ashes for the potash factory! — if perchance there
may be one in reach — meantime devoting his cleared fields to
the growing of grain, vegetables and grass; and all the while
working towards the building of a barn and the stocking of
his farm.

At first the house furnishings and farming tools of the emi-
grant farmer and his wife are alike plain, simple and scant;
but their mutual helpfulness, courage, energy and inventive
genius, together with those magical sweeteners of toils and
trials in every life, a strong faith and a high hope, all com-
bine to make their new home a very happy one, and give them
an inspiring expectation of ease and abundance in the not very
distant future. Nor does the farmer's intelligent and cheerful
housewife fail to be wonderfully successful in finding out and
suggesting ways and means of increasing the capital, the com-
forts and the pleasures of their unique home.

The Rev. Dr. Dwight, president of Yale college, who made
repeated tours of observation in different parts of Vermont and
in adjoining states during the latter part of the last century and
the earlier part of the present, came several times to this town;
after which he published a series of valuable letters, among
which are three especially devoted to the "character of the new
settlers" in this and the other towns through which he passed.
As a fitting continuance of thoughts and facts such as the fore-

•The fireplaces in some of those chimneys were huvie affairs— suiTicient to take in a
bivr back loj; four feet lonir, on which wouM be laid a smaller Ior, with a third on the
andirons in front, over which would be laid two or three other sticks, with a plenty of
kindlings between and underneath to start with in the morning. Fortunately, there
was an abundance of wood near at hand in those days.

tin the summer of ITVtl Dr. Green, of Windsor, Vt., sent 400 tons of potash to N'ew
York. Potash refined into pearlaNh was worth ab.nit ftuO per ton, to make which
would take about 70<» bushels of ashes ; and the quantity of ashes that might be gath-
ered from an acre would vary from fifty to 100 bushels.

I !

I
\ I

going, a few extracts are here made from the letters above
named: "Among the enjoyments of these people, health and
haidihood ought never to be forgotten. The toils, which they
undergo; the difficulties, which they surmount; and the hazards,
which they escape ; all increase their spirits and their firmness.
A New England forest, formed of hills and valleys, down which
the waters, always pure and sweet, flow with unceasing rapidity ;
or of plains, dry and destitute of marshes, is healthy almost of
course. The minds of these setttefs, therefore, possess the
energy which results from health, as well as that which results
from activity; and few persons taste the pleasures which fall to
their lot with keener relish. The common troubles of Hfe, often
deeply felt by persons in easy circumstances, scarcely awaken
in them the slightest emotion. Cold and heat, snow and rain,
labor and fatigue, are regarded by them as trifles, deserving no
attention. The coarsest food is pleasant to them; and the hard-
est bed refreshing. Over roads, encumbered with rocks, mire,
and the stumps and roots of trees, they ride upon a full trot,
and are apprehensive of no danger. Even their horses gain, by
habit, the same resolution; and pass rapidly and safely over the
worst roads, where both horses and men, accustomed to smoother
ways, merely tremble and creep. Even the women of these set-
tlements, and those of every age, share largely in this spirit.
The longest journeys, in very difficult roads, they undertake
with cheerfulness, and perform without anxiety. I have often
met them on horseback, and been surprised to see them pass
fearlessly over those dangers of the way, which my com-
panions and myself watched with caution and solicitude.
Frequently I have seen them performing these journeys
alone.

"Another prime enjoyment of these settlers is found in the
kindness, which reigns among them universally. A general
spirit of good neighborhood is prevalent thoughout NewEngland ;
but here it prevails in a special degree. Among these people,
a man rarely tells the story of his distresses to deaf ears, or asks
any reasonable assistance in vain. The relief given is a matter,
not of kindness merely, but of course. To do kind oflices is the
custom, a part of the established manners. This is seen every-
where; and is regularly experienced by the traveler; whom they

receive as a friend, rather than as a stranger; as an object of
good will, and not as a source of gain." 1

Speaking of this town at a later date, 1803, he says: " Brat-
tleboro, the next township, was settled not long after Vernon,
and, like it, borders on the river. It has a softer and handsomer
aspect than Guilford; yet it is uneven, and some of the hills are
high and steep. A little collection of houses, often styled the
village and sometimes the city, built on the southern limit of a
plain immediately below the mouth of West river, is one
of the prettiest objects of the kind and size within my
recollection. If we did not mistake in counting them, they
were now but ten in number; but with their appendages
were remarkably neat. The town has a warm, rather than
a rich soil. The inhabitants are all included within a single
congregation, and amounted in 1790 to 1,589; in 1800 to
1,867."

And yet, at that time, the early settlers of Colonel Brattle's
Borough were far from having come in sight of many things
which the men and women of this day regard as essential,
indispensable. Dr. Dwight's letter, from which the writer made
his first extract, was written in 170S, just one hundred years
ago, some thirty or forty years after Brattleboro had begun to
be largely settled; and yet he and his companions all traveled
on horseback, nor does he ever make mention of a carriage of
any kind. Indeed, the writer of these lines can well remember
when carts and wagons began to come into use in the region
where he spent his early years. The men and women of those
early generations were generally clad in fabrics of their own
manufacture. All the woolen garments the writer ever wore
before he went to college, sixty-one years ago, were made of
wool grown on his father's farm, spun and wove, cut and made
in his father's house. Neither the spinning wheels, one for
flax, one for wool, nor the looms of a hundred years ago had,
as yet, given place to the piano or the organ; nor had it, as yet,
ceased to be one of the difficult, yet most valuable and worthy
of the accomplishments of the young ladies, the daughter:, of
those homes, to know how to draw a smooth and even thread
from the distati of hatcheled flax, or from the roll of tow or
wool, work the treadles, shoot the shuttle, or swing the lathe of

iiiMirttirt-

mriiiiiii i

the loom.* Nor, yet again, could any instrumental music ever
afford mothers the pleasure which the playing and the prattling
of their many dear little ones gave them.

The people of the days and years of which we speak never
saw a sewing or a knitting machine, a steam engine or an elec-
tric car, a bicycle or a baby carriage, mowing machine or horse
rake, a lucifer match, gas or kerosene light, an India-rubber
garment or a photograph; never used a steel or a gold pen. nor
an envelope or a stamp for their letters; nor did every family
have a plate for each at the table, much less a silver fork for
anybody; never played croquet, lawn tennis or court tennis:
never went to a meeting house warmed by artificial means, and
never had communication with their friends at home or abroad
by means of a telephone or a telegraph. Their newspapers
were next to none; their books were few. When you have
named the Bible, the Westminster Catechism, Perry's Diction-
ary (1805), Webster's Spelling Book (1783), Murray's Grammar
(1795), Pike's Arithmetic, an almanac, and the Bay Psalm Book,
the first book ever published in New England, you have
exhausted the more common list. And yet that list, meagre as
it was, was not to be despised. To say nothing of the Bible
and the Catochism, that Noah Webster Spelling Book, though
small and apparently simple, was a work of wonderful interest.
wisdom and worth. As the author of "Building the Nation,"
C. C. Cofifin, has said: —

' On the week days girls were spinning;
There were wheels for wool and linen,
And they talked of 'chain and filling'

And so many 'runs' a day;
Till the yarn was ripe for weaving.
Which, the busy loom receivin;:.
Children watched the rtying shuttle

Darting on its mazy way.

But with all this bur.z and hurry,
And with all this work and worry.
Matrons found more time to visit.

Long before the setting sun.
Than in these, our days, so pressing.
When more lime is spent in dressing.
And the day is just beginning

When the olden day w.is done."

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"It began with words of one syllable.* Its reading lessons
were easy. They were about the great moral truths which
are the foundation of character, inculcating thrift, indu5t:r>-,
morality, yirtue, and happiness. It contained fables of his
own making — delightful reading, illustrated with pictures. The
first fable was about a boy who stole apples:

' ' ' An old man found a rude boy upon one of his trees stealir:g
apples, and desired him to come down; but the young sauce-
box told him plainly he would not. "Won't you?" said the
old man, " then I will fetch you down." So he pulled up some
tufts of grass and threw at him; but this only made the young-
ster laugh, to think the old man should pretend to beat him
down from the tree with grass only. " Well, well," said the
old man, "if neither words nor grass will do, I must try what
virtue there is in stones." So the old man pelted him heartily
with stones, which soon made the young chap hasten do\^-a
from the tree and beg the old man's pardon.

" ' MoRAi. — If good words and gentle uieans will not reclaitn
the wicked, they must be dealt with in a more severe manner.'

" In a short time it was the only speUing-book in use. Mil-
lions of them were sold. The historian who would write a true
history of the United States must not leave out Xoah Webster's
spelling-book. It has been a great uplifting power. Many of
the boys and girls fourscore years ago had time to master
little more than the fables and the reading lessons of that book;
but they never forgot the stories of the boy who stole apples.
of the milkmaid who counted her chickens before they were
hatched, and of the cat in the meal. The moral lessons which
they learned laid the foundation of character — made them noble
men and women, pioneers of a new civilization and founders of
states "

The early settlers of this town, like most of the other men
and women of New England in their day, were a pet^ple of
enterprise, enthusiasm, energy. They were the children and
children's children of those who had left home, kindred, com-
forts; crossed the sea, faced danger, endured hardship, for prin-
ciples and privileges which, in the last analysis, they deemed

••' N'o man may put oiT the law of God" was the first line of the first re.idinsj ^sson
in words of one syllable, as the writer (L. G.), who was taught to study it out eighty
years ago, well remembers.

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dearer than life. And as the children of such parents, the
heirs of such an ancestry, they naturally felt the same spirit
a- burning in their own bones. So it was that with them life
was real, earnest — meaning much for both the present and the
future. They believed in three things — freedom, education,
religion — and regarded the first and second as the handmaids
of the third. To care for all these things, and all which these
involved, support their families, maintain their liberties, and
plant the needed institutions of church and state, made them
thoughtful, industrious, energetic; and yet, in adjusting them-
selves to their convictions and circumstances, they were withal
a social, cheerful, happy people — their critics to the contrary
notwithstanding.

Though their advantages were limited and their habits sim-
ple, yet their enjoyments were many, their pleasures pure and
sweet. When the Sabbath came they put on their best clothes
and went to meeting, some on horseback — husband, wife, and
sometimes a child riding one and the same animal, for as to car-
riages they had none. Reaching the meeting house, they
dismounted upon the horseblock in front of it. Many, espe-
cially of the younger and more vigorous classes, went on foot,
some of them sometimes carrying their shoes and stockings in
their hands, only stopping to put them on as they neared the
end of their way. When the minister entered the house the
congregation would rise, and stand while their much-loved
pastor walked slowly up the aisle, graciously bowing his com-
pliments this way and that till he reached the stairs which led
up to the pulpit. At the morning service on communion Sab-
baths the deacons occupied seats of honor, either by the side
or beneath the pulpit, in face of the congregation. In those
days they always had two services and a long sermon at each.

During the hour's nooning, in summer, the people ate their
luncheon of doughnuts and cheese, cucumbers or apples and
gingerbread, standing or sitting and talking together in the
house, or under the trees outside. In winter, they went into
the neighbors' houses and warmed themselves, and sometimes
had a prayer meeting. And when it came time to return to the
meeting house, the women were always expected to replenish
their foot-stoves with fresh coals from their kind neighbors'

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good wood fire, which contributed much to their comfort during-
the afternoon service. If the fire at their own homes chanced
to go out while they were absent, they quickly rekindled it wiih
a flint, a piece of steel and tinder, or by a flash of powder from
the old gun.

And so it was, that, with their religious meetings, secular pur-
suits, family cares and social enjoyments, their lives were lives
of commingled romance and reality, of toil, trial and triumph,
profit and pleasure, usefulness and honor. Few as were their
books; destitute of machinery as was the civilization of their
day; clumsy, plain, simple, scant, as were their farming tools,
their furniture, their wardrobe; humble as were their dwellings.
and small their means; "they were rich in good habits, healih,
industry and noble purposes. The first settlers were clear-
headed, Bible-instructed, Sabbath-keeping, God-fearing, and if
not pious, they were religious. Hence, it was natural that these
who had been church members in the older states, and others :f
like spirit, should want a church of their own in their new fron-
tier home. This they sought and secured. " As has been already
said, having built a meeting house as early as IT'iS, they
formed a church in 1770, and then covenanted together, no less
than seventy out of seventy-five of the men, to secure and sup-
port a true gospel minister.

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