Annals of Brattleboro, 1681-1895

Front matter

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Preface

Grateful acknowledgment is due authors and publishers for data concerning the early history of Brattleboro:

On Certain Aspects of Local Geology, Doctor William Bullock Clark.

The Indians and Fort Dummer: a paper written by Judge Hoyt H. Wheeler, to which is added an account of the Indian attack on the family of Benjamin Moor, the contents of a diary describing a journey from Fort Dummer to Lake Champlain in 1730, the Indian alarm from Putney West Hill, from Hall's "History of Eastern Vermont"; and further information derived from Doctor George Leon Walker's address before the Pocumtuck Association in 1896, by permission of Professor Williston Walker.

The Early Settlement ; Settlement on the Hill ; Roads ; The First Church, Reverend Lewis Grout.

Reverend William Wells, by permission of Miss Julia Chester Wells of New York.

The Militia, Brattleborough under the Jurisdiction of New York, Opposition to the Authority of New York, and Resistance to the State of Vermont, from papers by. Judge Hoyt H. Wheeler and Hall's History.

Leaders in the Opposition to the Sovereignty of New York has been taken wholly from Hall's History, by permission of Appleton & Company.

The Second Church, Reverend Charles H. Merrill.

Facts relating to the Post Office, Militia, River Navigation, Chase's Stage-House, Water Supply, Insurance, Newspapers and Lottery, from Burnham's "History of Brattleboro," by permission of Mrs. Albert H. Moore (Mary H. Burnham).

The Baptist Church, from Burnham's History and an historical address by Fred S. Knight on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the church.

The Universalist Church, Reverend James Eastwood.

Church on the Common, Reverend Charles Orrin Day.

Centre Congregational Church, Reverend Harry R. Miles.

The Unitarian Church, Reverend Edmund Q. S. Osgood.

The Masons, Honorable Kittredge Haskins.

The Brattleboro Retreat, from a pamphlet by Joseph Draper, M.D.

vi PREFACE

Doctor Charles Grau and The tawrence Water-Cure, Burt's "Guide to the Attractions of Brattleboro."

St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Reverend William J. Hamilton. Skilled Mechanics, Ex-Governor Levi K. Fuller. "

Brief Biographies of Richard Whitney, Samuel Elliot, the Fessenden Brothers, Deacon John Holbrook, Joseph Steen, Francis Goodhue, John R. Blake, George Baty Blake, Lafayette Clark, Major Henry Smith, Colonel Arnold J. Hines, George Newman, Reverend John C. Holbrook, Gardner C. Hall, Jonathan Dorr Bradley, Judge Daniel Kellogg, Larkin G. Mead, Junior, from Burnham's History.

Thomas Green Fessenden, Doctor Samuel Stearns : James R. Conland, M.D.

Chief Justice Royall Tyler, from a Memoir by Reverend Thomas P. Tyler, by permission of Miss Helen Tyler Brown.

Samuel Clark, Epaphroditus Seymour and Samuel Root: Charles K. Field.

Honorable Asa Keyes, Kittredge Haskins.

Honorable William C. Bradley, Reverend Pliny H. White. George Chandler Hall and George Jones Brooks : Honorable Broughton D. Harris.

To Mr. H. R. Lawrence for information which, without his generous assistance, would have been inaccessible to the editor.

To Mr. W. H. Simonds for time given to examination of records in the town clerk's office.

It has been impossible to verify in every instance the genealogies, incomplete because subservient to the general purpose of the book, but which in the main have been derived from the families to whonj they refer.

To avoid frequent repetition, Brattleboro is to be understood as the birthplace wherever the date of birth has been given with no mention of the place.

^ Important consummations taking place after 1895 in the lives of individuals who were citizens of Brattleboro before 1895, have been included, and the same course has been pursued with regard to the progress of affairs.

Contents

PAGE

Introduction .......... xxi

On Certain Aspects of Local Geology ..... xxiii

FIRST PERIOD

THE INDIANS— FORT DUMMER

Chapter I. The Indians and Fort Dummer .... 3

The Indians — Vermont, a hunting-ground of the Iroquois — Pocumtucks — Squakheags — Their territory — Relics — Sculptured rocks — Capitol — Cultivated crops — Shad and salmon — Earliest conveyance of land, 1681.

Fort Dummer 1724 — Equivalent Lands — Location and description of Fort — Lieutenant Timothy Dwight — Colonel John Stoddard — Indian soldiers — Scouting parties — Scout paths — Roads — Skirmishes — Joseph Kellogg, earliest interpreter — Peltry trade — Chaplains : Reverend Daniel Dwight, Reverend Ebenezer Hinsdell — Diary Account of Journey from Fort Dummer to Lake Champlain along the Indian trail — Scaticooks and Caughnanagas — Indian Treaty— Sartwell's Fort — Fort Bridgman — Hinsdell's Fort — Colonel Josiah Willard — Lieutenant Dudley Bradstreet — Captain Willard's Company— Lieutenant John Sargent — Other Sargents — Four men killed at Jamaica — Stevens' Rocks — Willards — Nathaniel French — The Ferry — Barrett's Ferry.

SECOND PERIOD

THE CHARTER— EARLY SETTLEMENT

1753-1811

Chapter II. Brattleborough ...... 27

Brattleborough, Origin of Name— William Brattle— The Charter 17S3— Names of grantees — Amendment of 1761.

Chapter III. Early Settlers ...... 33

Early Settlement — The Moors — Capture of Mrs. Moor — Colonel John Sargent— Deed of Sargent land — Thomas Sargent — ^John Arms — Arms Tavern — Samuel Wells — Roads — Division of lots — Gristmill at falls of Whetstone — Brattleboro in the Province of New York — Petition for holding lands viii CONTENTS

PAGE under New York — Stephen Greenleaf, first store — Samuel Knight, first house in village — Matthew Martin — Samuel Elliot, Junior — Lieutenant Oliver Waters — Joshua Wilder — Benjamin Butterfield — William Harris of West Brattleboro — Jacob Spaulding — Jesse Frost — Daniel Whipple — First town meeting — Plan of town.

Chapter IV. The Settlement on Meeting-House Hill . . 46

Settlement on the Hill — General location — Meeting-House — Graveyard — Common—The Covenanters — Census — Customs of early settlers — Jonathan Dunklee, shoemaker — Ebenezer Fisher arrested for felling white pines- Mrs. Dunklee's adventure with wolves — Rutherford Hayes and wife Chloe — Hayes Tavern — Locations of settlers — Character of settlers.

Chapter V. Brattleboro under the Jurisdiction of New York 58

Brattleboro under the Jurisdiction of New York — West bank of Connecticut River proclaimed the boundary between New Hampshire and New York — Albany County — Cumberland County — Warrant for Charter of Brattleboro as part of Cumberland County in Province of New York — Brattleboro organized first town in county — Samuel Wells appointed Judge of Court of Common Pleas — Committees of remonstrance against maladministration of Courts.

Chapter VI. The Militia 63

Militia — Six hundred men capable of bearing arms in 1766, between Connecticut River and Green Mountains — Commission of John Arms — Militia Companies, Brattleboro: The Floodwood, Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery — June Training— Indian alarm at Putney West Hill— Officers Brattleboro companies.

Chapter VII. First Church in Brattleboro .... 69 First Church, 1768-1770— Reverend Abner Reeve, first pastor— The Covenant —Glebe— Pastorates of Reverend William Wells and Reverend Caleb Burge —Biographical sketch of Reverend William Wells— Poem by Chief Justice Royall Tyler— Captain Ebenezer Wells— Other children and descendants.

Chapter VIII. Town Records — 1768-1775 . . . .101 Town Records, 1768-1775— Town officers— Brattleboro backward in opposing claims of New York— Westminster Massacre— William French, protomartyr of the Revolution — John Arms, poet.

Chapter IX. Further Development of the Village . . 109 Further Development of the Village— Changes in Esquire Greenleaf's farm- Location of Aaron Whitney— Gardner Chandler— Matthew Martin— Oliver Evans— Joseph Clark— Benjamin Gorton— Elnathan Allen— Asa Putnam— Elisha Pierce— Nathan Willard— Nathaniel Church— Captain Nathaniel Bliss— John Thomas— Jonathan Church— Samuel Dickinson— John W. Blake— Hiram Houghton— Edward and James Houghton.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Chapter X. Brattleboeo Opposed to the Formation of a State

Brattleboro's Resistance to State of Vermont — No delegates sent to convention at Dorset or Windsor — Declarations of broken condition of country— Support of Great Britain in Revolutionary War — Protests against "pretended state" — Further protest against unjustifiable proceedings of Vermont — Estates of Yorkers confiscated by Vermonters — Arrest of forty-four persons charged with "enemical conduct" in opposing authority of Vermont, among them Micah Townsend of Brattleboro — Governor Clinton of New York appeals to Congress — Ethan Allen enforced authority — Organization of town under state — Name Vermont, at first "New Connecticut alias Vermont"— Execution against body of Timothy Church — Seizure of Oliver Waters — Troops assembled at Arms Tavern on way to Guilford — ^AUotment of lands to Timothy Church and associates — Abduction of Luke Knowlton of Newfane by Francis Prouty, Thomas Whipple and Jonathan Dunklee of Brattleboro with others from Newfane.

Chapter XL Leaders in Brattleboro's Opposition to the

Sovereignty of Vermont ....... 130

Samuel Wells — Samuel Knight — Samuel Gale — Timothy Church — Micah Townsend, leaders in Brattleboro's opposition to the sovereignty of Vermont.

Chapter XII. Soldiers of the Revolution .... 150

Chapter XIII. Schools ....... 161

Schools — Division of town into districts — Names of heads of families in districts— Location of schoolhouses.

Chapter XIV. West Brattleboro ...... 166

West Brattleboro — Harris-Hayes center — Hayes Tavern — Roads — John Noyes's store — General Jonas Mann — Samuel Clark — Chester Miller— Admatha Dunklee — Other owners — Glen House — Proprietors : Rutherford Hayes, Russell Hayes, Amasa Bixby, Henry Barrett, Timothy Root — Stewart's Hotel, Phineas Stewart.

Chapter XV. The Post Office 170

Post Office — ^John Arms, first postmaster at Arms Tavern — John W. Blake — Aaron Horsford — John Holbrook— Samuel Elliot — Asa Green — Removal to Main Street.

Chapter XVI. Second Meeting-House ..... 173 Second Meeting-House — Plan of house — Original purchasers of pews — • Moved in 1818 — Revival of 1832-1833 — Reverend Caleb Burge — Reverend Jedediah L. Stark — Reverend Corbin Kidder — Reverend Joseph Chandler- Reverend Charles H. Merrill — Reverend James H. Babbitt.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Chapter XVII. Polls and Ratable Estates in 1789 — Census,

1790 179

Chapter XVIII. The Stage-House — Bridges — "The Burying

The Stage-House. Samuel Dickinson, John R. Blake, Major Henry Smith, Colonel Paul Chase, Liberty Rice, Lemuel Whitney & Company, William C. Perry, Charles G. Lawrence, proprietors. Stage notices — Bridges — ^West River bridge — "Burying Ground," Prospect Hill Cemetery — First bridge across the Connecticut, Oliver Chapin leader in the enterprise — Bridge over "Little Creek" — Later bridges — Toll-keepers: Pettis, Reuben Metcalf, Richard Gill, Asa Sherwin, John L. Putnam.

Chapter XIX. Brattleborough Academy .... 188

Brattleborough Academy — Built by joint stock company — Roswell Harris — Reverend William J. Harris — Reverend Charles C. Harris.

Chapter XX. Federal Galaxy. Benjamin Smead, 1797 . . 194

Chapter XXI. Notable Early Settlers .... 196

Notable Early Settlers — Henry Wells, M.D. — Stephen Greenleaf — Stephen , Greenleaf, Junior (Jeremiah Greenleaf) — Rutherford Hayes and wife Chloe — Deacon Russell Hayes — Rutherford Hayes, Junior — Hayes's Store, Dummerston — William R. Hayes — President Rutherford B. Hayes — George

■ Holmes Hall, M.D. — ^John Welland Blake — Lemuel Dickerman, M.D. — Judge Lemuel Whitney — Honorable Richard Whitney — Honorable James Elliot — Samuel Elliot — Doctor Samuel Stearns — Joseph Clark.

Chapter XXII. An Industrial Era ..... 232

John Holbrook — William Fessenden (The Reporter) — Joseph Fessenden — Thomas Green Fessenden — Joseph Steen — Honorable John Noyes — General Jonas Mann.

Chapter XXIII. Notable Early Settlers (continued) . . 251

Chief Justice Royall Tyler ("The Contrast," Description of Earliest Village from autobiography of Madame Royall Tyler, Literary Society)— Honorable Oliver Chapin— Captain Samuel Root— Ezra Clark— Nathan B. Williston— Honorable Jonathan Hunt— Asa Green— Grindall R. Ellis— Reverend Alonzo Church, D.D.— Eccentric persons: Jimmie Barnes and Sukie, his wife.

CONTENTS xi

THIRD PERIOD FURTHER INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT- INSTITUTIONS ESTABLISHED 1811-1844

PAGE

Chapter XXIV. The General Merchandise Store . . 299

The General Merchandise Store — Cargo of river boat— River navigation — Francis Goodhue — John R. Blake.

Chapter XXV. The Paper Mill 313

The Paper Mill, 1811. Proprietors: Joseph Clark, Samuel Dickinson, Francis Goodhue, William Fessenden, Joseph Fessenden, Caleb Leland. Location — Capacity of mill. Holbrook & Fessenden : Paper mill, printing office and book binding; succeeded by Elihu Thomas and William G. Cutting, Nathan Woodcock and Timothy Vinton. Wool carding and cloth dressing by Joseph Clark — Built house kept as tavern by Rufus Clark, 1815-1837, sold to Captain Adolphus Stebbins — John H. Stebbins.

Chapter XXVI. The Medical Professiojst .... 315

The Medical Profession: Doctor Willard Arms — Doctor Russell Fitch — Doctor Jonathan A. Allen — Doctor Artemas Robbins — Doctor Daniel Gilbert.

Chapter XXVII. Social Life ...... 318

Social Life — Style of John W. Blake's hospitality — Honorable and Mrs. Oliver Chapin — Mrs. Patty Fessenden — George Baty Blake's Reminiscences of Mrs. Francis Goodhue — John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Daniel Webster, guests of Honorable Jonathan Hunt — Mrs. Hunt — Mrs. Freme's "Mansion,'' destruction by fire — Remarkable Cookbook — Flower gardens — Mrs. Boott — Mrs. Joseph Fessenden.

Chapter XXVIII. The Militia (continued) .... 324

Militia — Officers of companies — General muster — Regimental commanders — Reorganization of militia — Roll and return of Brattleboro company — Chapin's muster. War of 1812, recruiting rendezvous Brattleboro — Anti- War Society — Soldiers of 1812.

Chapter XXIX. The Masons — Columbian Lodge, Number 36 . 333

Chapter XXX. The Church on the Common . . . 337

The Church on the Common — Association Covenant — Subscribers — Parish record — Meeting-House regulations — ^Location — Plan of church — Reverend Jonathan McGee — Letter from Mrs. Sally Holbrook — Reverend Charles Walker — Plan of pews — Deacon John Holbrook — First Sunday School — xii CONTENTS

PAGE Deacons — Clerks of the Society — Superintendents of the Sunday School — Female Friendly Association- — Members — Social meetings — Governor Holbrook's address at the Congregationalists' Jubilee — Reminiscences continued — Temperance — Antislavery in 1837 — Church unity — Ladies' meeting in behalf of the Greeks.

Chapter XXXI. Business Prosperity between 1819 and 1838 . 366

Business Prosperity between 1819 and 1828 — Vermont National Bank — Epaphroditus Seymour, first cashier. Stoves and tin — Ashbel Dickinson — Linus Dickinson. Water supply. Vermont Mutual Life Insurance — 1828, Hall & Fessenden — Doctor Charles Chapin — Benjamin R. Jenne — Sherman & Jenne. Lottery — Colonel Paul Chase and Major Henry Smith, managers — Methods. Vermont House : Willard Pomroy, Chester W. Pomroy, Hiram and Alonzo Joy, George W. Emerson, J. S. Robinson, Captain Thomas C. Lord, proprietors.

Chapter XXXII. Bridges 377

Bridge across West River — Petition for public highway — Case argued by Judge Samuel Phelps and Daniel Webster — Little bridge over "Creek"— Bridges over Connecticut River.

Chapter XXXIII. Newspapers 379

Newspapers — American Yeoman — Simon Ide, 1817 — Brattleboro Messenger, 1822 — Windham County Democrat — George W. and Clarissa L H. Nichols, 1836.

Chapter XXXIV. Private Schools 382

Private Schools— Miss Rebecca Peck— Mr. Edward Sanborn— Miss Melendy —Mrs. Carpenter— Miss Kimball— Miss Amelia S. Tyler.

Chapter XXXV. The Universalist Church .... 385

Universalist Church— Names and record of pioneer preachers— Settled pastors — Ladies' Circle.

Chapter XXXVI. The Unitarian Church . . . .389

Unitarian Church— Names of those dismissed from Congregational Church, October 9, 183S— Reverend Addison Bro\vn— Mrs. Brown— Pastors— Freme Circle— Women's Alliance. The Village Lyceum.

Chapter XXXVII. The Brattleborough High School Association . . . . . . ■ .

The Brattleborough High School Association— Character of school— Names of teachers — Scholars of 1846.

CONTENTS xiii

PAGE

Chapter XXXVIII. American House . . . . . 405

Phoenix House, American House — ^"Sikes Tavern," Uriel Sikes — (Daniel Webster a guest in 1840) — Ralph Herrick — Burnett — Edward Woodman- — George A. Bugbee — Charles G. Lawrence— Liberty Rice — J. H. Matthews — Shaw — H. C. Nash — R. W. Rawson — J. S. Gates — C. Stearns — Henry Starkey — F. E. Reed — George Albert Boyden.

Chapter XXXIX. Men Foremost in Manufacture . . 401'

Machine Shops — Elihu H. Thomas — Thomas & Woodcock — Hines & Newman— Hines, Newman & Company — Newman & Son — Colonel Arnold J. Hines — George A. Hines — George Newman — Ferdinand Tyler. Stanley Rule Company — S. Morton Clark— Edward A. Stearns — F. E. Edwards — D. C. Stratton — Horatio S. Noyes — Madison Ranney — Azor Marshall — Theodore Cole. Manufacture of carriages — Captain Adolphus Stebbins — Asa Miller — Sidney A. Miller — Howard A. Pratt.

Chapter XL. Methodist Episcopal Church .... 417

Methodist Episcopal Church — First house of worship, 1835-1837 — New house, 1880 — Fields of service of former members.

Chapter XLI. The Vermont Phcenix ..... 419

Vermont Phcenix (The Statesman, The Republican) — William E. Ryther— Obadiah H. Piatt — Doctor Charles Cummings — Charles S. Prouty — Reverend Addison Brown — D. B. Stedman — O. L. French — Walter E. Hubbard. The Brattleboro Publishing Company incorporated. Windham County Reformer changed to Brattleboro Daily Reformer in 1913, Howard C. Rice and Ephraim H. Crane, editors and owners. Samuel Knight, correspondent of Vermont Phoenix.

Chapter XLII. The Brattleboro Retreat .... 434

Brattleboro Retreat, formerly Vermont Asylum for the Insane — Bequest of Mrs. Anna Marsh — Location — Buildings — Trustees — William H. Rockwell, M.D. — Madame Rockwell — Edward R. Chapin, M.D. — Doctor Joseph Draper — Doctor Shailer E. Lawton. Statistics of Asylum Estate. Notable assistant physicians.

Chapter XLIII. Business Methods in the Forties . . . 437

Business Methods in the Forties — Hall & Townsley. Stage lines — Asher Spencer — Daniel P. Kingsley — Bridge & Weeks. Birge & Dickinson — John R. Blake & Company — John H. Wheeler — G. & C. Lawrence — Calvin Townsley & Son — Ranger & Thompson — Williston & Tyler, Merchants — Salisbury & Company— A. Barber — Goodhue, Chapin & Company — Hines, Newman & Company, Manufacturers. Political Campaign of 1840 — Daniel Webster, orator. Speech in Goodhue Grove — Mass-meeting Stratton Mountain. Stage-Drivers — Charles D. Gale — ^Asher Spencer — Daniel P. Kingsley — Charles Wood — Bridge & Weeks.

xiv CONTENTS

PAGE

Chapter XLIV. Brattleboro Violins : William A. Conant . 445

Chapter XLV. The Baptist Church 448

The Baptist Church— Origin— Development — Numbers in 1840— Pastors and their record — Deacons — ^Woman's Missionary and Aid Society — Sunday School — Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor — L. W. tiawley — J. Edward Hall's class.

Chapter XLVI. Centre Congregational Church . . . 457

Centre Congregational Church — Church building — Pastors — Ladies' Association— Invested funds^Temperance — "The Cold Water Army"— Reverend George P. Tyler — Society of Christian Endeavor — Reminiscences of Charles F. Thompson.

Chapter XLVII. The Third Meeting-House in West Brattleboro, 1845 ......... 469

Chapter XLVIII. The Odd Fellows ..... 471

Chapter XLIX. Biographical Sketches .... 473

In Trade — ^James Esterbrook — Major William H. Esterbrook. James Frost — Willard Frost — Charles C. Frost — John W. Frost. Uriel Sikes — Samuel Clark — Lafayette Clark — Anthony Van Doom — Joseph Goodhue — Wells Goodhue — Henry F. Houghton — Houghton & Kuech — William Pitt Cune — Major Henry Smitli — John H. Wheeler — Franklin H. Wheeler — John C. Holbrook — Gardner C. Hall — Aaron E. Dwinell — Colonel Paul Chase — Doctor Charles A. Chapin — John Hyde — Zelotes Dickinson — Asahel Clapp — Samuel Dutton — Calvin Townsley — Seth Herrick.

George Baty Blake — Selah Chamberlain — Doctor John Wilson, "Thunderbolt"— John Humphrey Noyes. Lawyers — William H. Cary — Elisha H. Allen, 1827 — Honorable Asa Keyes — Honorable William C. Bradley — Jonathan Dorr Bradley — ^Judge Royall Tyler — Honorable Larkin G. Mead- Honorable Edward Kirklqnd.

Captain William S. Brooks— Francis J. Higginson, M.D.— Miss Anna Higginson, tribute by Doctor George Leon Walker— Mrs. Nathan Lawrence — George C. Lawrence— Charles G. Lawrence— James Fisk— James Fisk, Junior.

Map : New Hampshire and New York Grants Location of "Indian Rock," near mouth of West River Indian Hieroglyphics on Rock ....

Site of Fort Dummer .....

Submerged by river after erection of dam at Vernon, 1909 Dummer Farm in background. Simon Brooks farm in foreground. Wilder Willard settled here in 1766. House built by Sylvanus Sartwell. Last owner Colonel John Hunt.

Venters Brook ......

Chase Cascade, named for Edwin D. Chase

Early Roads .......

Plan of Fort Dummer .....

Facsimile of Document by Colonel Timothy Dwight

Map : Equivalent Lands .....

Green Dragon Inn, Boston, where Equivalent Lands were Sold at Auction .....

Falls of Whetstone Brook . . . .

A gristmill was built by Governor Benning Wentworth at the falls of Whetstone Brook in 1762; a sawmill in 1768. Barrett's Ferry was north of the falls and near the mouth was a landing place for the flatboats.

Arms Tavern ........

Major John Arms "kept tavern" here from 1762 to his death in 1770, from which time it was carried on by his widow Susannah and son Josiah until sold to Peleg Kingsley. From 1815 to 1834 Joseph Goodhue resided here. Later owners were Nelson Crosby and Newman Allen. The remains of the original buildings were torn down in 1870.

Location of Old Ferry ......

The crossing was here in 1723 ; the ferry from east side of river to landing opposite Fort Dummer in 1786.

Gravestone of Colonel John Sargent ....

Frontispiece

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ERRATA

In title under illustration facing page 472, read residence of James H. Esterbrook instead of William H. Esterbrooks.

In title under illustration facing page 5, read Venters Brook instead of Ventners Brook.

XVI

Facsimile of Marriage License and Signature of Cover

nor Banning Wentworth Map: Land Deeded by New York to Judge Samuel

Wells and Associates ....

Drawing: Settlement on Meeting-House Hill Map: First Political Divisions .

Portrait: Reverend William Wells .

Woodlands ......

Mansion famous for hospitality as the home of Mrs. Boott,

Joseph Fessenden next owner.

Freme Mansion

Residence of Reverend William Wells, remodeled by his daughter, Mrs. Freme.

Cemetery, Meeting-House Hill .

Court House, Westminster

Grave of William French .

Residence of Judge Samuel Wells, 1773

Gravestone of Judge Wells

Hayes Tavern ....

Rutherford Hayes kept tavern here from 1789.

Centerville Bridge (Red Bridge)

Cemetery, West Brattleboro

Residence of General Jonas Mann

Chase's Stage-House

Built in 1795 by Samuel Dickinson. Known as Chase's Stage-House, 1827-1828 and 18S0-18S3, when kept by Colonel Paul Chase.

Blake Mansion

Built in 1808 by Jonathan Townsend. Residence of John W Blake.

Plan of Pews, Second Church, West Brattleboro

Plan of Gallery Pews, Second Church

Judge Lemuel Whitney .

Doctor Samuel Stearns

Stephen Greenleaf , Junior

Samuel Root .

Joseph Steen .

Epaphro Seymour .

on n facing it it on facing

104 104 104 105 105 166

166 166 166 167

Deacon John Holbrook

Mrs. Holbrook

Francis Goodhue

Joseph Goodhue

Wells Goodhue

Chief Justice Royall Tyler's House in Guilford

Facsimile of Document Signed by Royall Tyler

Mrs. Jonathan Hunt and Her Children

William Morris Hunt

Colonel Paul Chase ....

Gardfter C. Hall . . ■ .

Chase Street School

On northwest corner of the Common until 1807, when land was donated by John and Willard Arms for present school site. Chase Street named for Colonel Paul Chase. House at left built by, and residence of, Captain Nathaniel Bliss.

Steen House ........

Built with his own hands by James Steen, whose son Joseph spent his long life in this house.

Residence of Captain Samuel Root

Afterwards residence of his son-in-law, George C. Lawrence,

Second West River Bridge, 1821

Hunt House .......

Residence of Deacon John Holbrook, The Common

Residence of Joseph Goodhue, Main Street .

Built by Francis Goodhue, taken down to give place to the Brooks Library in 1885.

Holbrook House, Main Street .....

Built about 1833 by Deacon John Holbrook for his son. Reverend John C. Holbrook. Wells Goodhue owner and resident from 1857 to 1873, when it was purchased by Honorable B. D. Harris, who added portico.

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Honorable John R. Blake .

George Baty Blake ....

George Newman ....

Colonel Arnold J. Hines .

Samuel Clark

Lafayette Clark ....

Connecticut River Bridge .....

First tollbridge, built in 1804. Date of bridge in background over "Little Creek" is not known.

Looking North from Island ....

Road across Island ......

View South from Residence of Judge C. Royall Tyler

River above West River Bridge

River above and below Village ....

Plan of Pews, Church on Common .

Plan of Pews, Gallery, Church on Common

American House ......

Building occupied as store before 1811. Francis Goodhue first proprietor, Phillips & Sikes from 1820 to 182S, when it was known as Sikes House. In May, 1903, taken down to make way for the American Building.

Rufus Clark's Hotel, Canal Street ....

Built in 1812 by Joseph Clark, whose son kept it as "Rufus Clark's Hotel" from 181S ; sold in 1832 to Captain Adolphus Stebbins and occupied by his son, John Stebbins, 1880.

Vermont House .......

On the site of St. Michael's Episcopal Church and the Town Hall. Doctor Jonathan A. Allen lived here in 1816 ; fitted for a hotel in 1828 by Willard Pomroy. Removed in 1849- 1850, when a part of the building was left standing and a hotel of three stories was erected. In February, 1852, "Lord's Vermont House," Townsley's store and Asahel Clapp's house were destroyed by fire.

Brattleboro House .......

Doctor William H. Rockwell .....

Asylum Meadow .......

The Vermont Asylum in 1856, 1844, 1854 .

Residence of Doctor Perley Marsh, on Road to Hinsdale .........

Built by Captain Ebenezer Hinsdale in 1759. Judge Daniel Jones lived here. Sold about 1804 to Doctor Perley Marsh, whose widow was Mrs. Anna Marsh.

Marsh Building .......

In 1834 "Woodlands" was sold to the trustees of Vermont Asylum by Nathan Woodcock, "six acres and the dwelling house thereon." Since called the "Marsh Building'' in honor of Mrs. Anna Marsh, founder of the institution.

Vermont Asylum, 1874 ......

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405 424 434 425

433 433 a it

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437 472

Retreat Tower

Retreat Garden

Brattleboro in 1836 .

River from Cemetery

Wood Farm .

"The Great River Road" came past this place. Elisha Pierce lived here in 1782. Philip Wood brought his family here in 1814.

Residence of Elihu H. Thomas, Thomasville, now Birge Street

"Reed's Castle"

Built about 1854 by James Reed, taken down in 190S

Residence of James H. Esterbrooks

Frost Mansion

Residence of Anthony Van Doom

House built by Doctor Wilson, "Thunderbolt," in 1836

Canal Made in Connection with Manufacture of Paper, Beguii in 1811

Chapel of Perfectionists, Putney

Tree on Wood Farm

On the Brook Road .

Anthony Van Doom

Timothy Vinton

Doctor John Wilson, "Thunderbolt'

Grave of Doctor Wilson .

Brick Church, West Brattleboro, 1835

Residence of Lafayette Qark .

Four Grandmothers of Those Days : Mrs. Joseph Goodhue, Mrs. Royall Tyler, Mrs. Franklin Fessenden, Mrs. Nathan Lawrence

Brattleboro from Mountain, 1856

Judge Asa Keyes

Judge Royall Tyler .

Reverend George P. Tyler

Miss Amelia Tyler — The Tyler School

Honorable William C. Bradley .

473 473

473 473 473 473

473 473

XX

Jonathan Dorr Bradley .

Richards Bradley .

Arthur C. Bradley .

William C. Bradley, II

Larkin G. Mead

Philip Wells .

Honorable Edward R. Kirkland

Reverend Addison Brown

Captain William S. Brooks

Doctor Francis J. Higginson

Higginson Cottage, Asylum Street

Mrs. Rowland's "Boarding and Day School for Young Ladies"

In house built by A. E. Dwinell.

Residence of N. B. Williston

Built by Doctor Willard Arms, sold in 1818 to Doctor Artemas Robbins, next owned by Nathan B. Williston.

Residence of Edward Kirkland .....

Oak Street, Corner of High .....

At left, house of Joseph Clark. At right, large house of Oscar Esterbrook. Next, one owned by David Goodell and sold to Lewis Higgins. Dutton house.

Residence of Henry Burnham .....

Residence of Riley Burdett .....

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Introduction

These volumes are not to be mistaken for an attempt to write a formal history of Brattleboro ; in the general acceptance of the term it may be said to be a town without a history.

No permanent settlement was made here during the Colonial period, in which, therefore, its people had no part. During the time of dispute that preceded the Revolutionary War the vital issue in the minds of the settlers was the question of right to the land which had been granted to his Excellency, Governor Benning ' Wentworth of New Hampshire, in 1753, and contested in 1764-1765 by New York's claim that the west bank of the Connecticut River was the boundary between the provinces of New Hampshire and New York.

The leading men in this part of the New Hampshire Grants were Tories, their legal status derived from New York under the Crown ; when the royal authority was proclaimed in favor of New York, they speedily took measures to have titles to the land confirmed by that province, thereby gaining more favorable conditions than they had previously known; and in the feeling of personal security that followed years of uncertainty and discord, indifference to the larger interests of the country and blindness to the trend of the times appear to have prevailed.

Brattleboro became a Tory town, and as such had no share in the formation of the state of Vermont.

Being outside the direct action of the British forces, the full significance of the Revolutionary War also passed it by.

The growth of Brattleboro advanced in the order of many other towns, — the first settlements where Nature offered the least resistance, succeeded by a formal town on an elevation as vantage ground against danger from the Indians, a final return to the waterways for industrial privilege, and the road, bridge, inn, store, church, school, — signs of a progressive civilization. Little that is distinctive may be related of the general course of action by which these benefits were effected.