Loveland Munson's History of Manchester (1875) 

INTRODUCTORY.
In response to an invitation of many citizens of Manchester, the following address was delivered before the inhabitants of the town. After its delivery, a resolution was adopted requesting its publication. That request is now complied with; in the hope that the address may, in a published form, more fully subserve its immediate purpose, and perhaps aid some future laborer in the rich field of our local history. This review of early times, compressed within the limits of an evening's entertainment, and published substantially as delivered, is of course but an incomplete account of the period to which it relates, and can in no sense supply the want of a town history. But, although the scope of the work is very limited, every effort has been made to secure historical accuracy — with what success future examination and criticism can best determine. None but those who have tried the task can fully understand the difficulty of a work of this kind, undertaken at so late a day, and after so long a period of general apathy on the subject. I had fortunately preserved some memoranda of conversations had with the late Judge Pettibone not long before his death; and a few manuscript pages concerning the early history of the town, evidently prepared in the later years of his life, were kindly furnished me by his family. The account of Manchester written by Henry E. Miner, Esq., fifteen years ago, and published in the Vermont Quarterly Gazetteer, has preserved some traditions which might otherwise have been lost. I am under obligations to the Hon. E. P. Walton, of Montpelier, for many valuable suggestions. I am also indebted for assistance to Ex-Grov. Hall, Hon. R. S. Taft, H. A. Huse, Esq., State Librarian, James S. Peck, Adjutant and Inspector General, and Chauncey Smith, Esq., of the Post Office Department at Washington.
The inhabitants of Manchester have suffered the hundredth anniversary of its organization to pass without notice. Its second centennial, no one now present can hope to see. The last survivor of those whose memory reached back to the early days of the township, has already passed away. A few decades more, and there will be no one living who ever heard a tale of the olden times from the lips of actor or witness. If the matters of local interest, now resting in tradition, are to be given a permanent and reliable form, the work must be done by this generation. Should these traditions be left to pass into uncertainty and oblivion, those who come after us will know little of the early history of their town, beyond what can be gathered from the public records and the general history of the state. Of that more interesting portion of a local history which is seldom written by contemporary pen, we have already lost too much; and unless something is done to gather and preserve the fragments that remain, it will soon be impossible to present anything like a vivid picture of the Manchester of our fathers. That task I do not undertake to-night. I shall be content if, in the use of such material as is convenient to my reach, I can perform the humbler service of awakening new interest in the history of our town, to the end that some other and better historian may be encouraged by your sympathy to do full justice to the theme.
In August, 1761, two months after the settlement of Bennington, Governor Wentworth, of New Hampshire, granted a tract of land six miles square, within the supposed limits of that province, and incorporated it into a township by the name of Manchester. The original proprietors, residents of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, obtained their grant for purposes of speculation, and awaited the application of any who might desire to settle in the township. Their acquisition remained in their hands without improvement, and probably without inspection, until some two years after the date of their charter, when an incident occurred which led to the purchase of their rights and the speedy settlement of the town.
A party of explorers from Amenia, in Dutchess county, New York, while visiting the present locality of Salem in that state, were attracted by the highland to the east, and turned their steps in that direction to obtain a better view of the surrounding country. They pursued their course from summit to summit until they stood upon the top of a lofty mountain between whose base and the range beyond was a broad and apparently level valley. Descending the mountain side, they gave the valley a closer examination to ascertain its advantages as a place of settlement. They returned home with impressions sufficiently favorable to lead to an inquiry after the owners of the land; and a few months later we find nearly all the rights of the original proprietors of Manchester held by residents of Amenia and vicinity.
The first recorded meeting of the proprietors of the township was held at Amenia in February, 1764. Samuel Rose, the pioneer of our settlement, was chosen moderator, and Jonathan Ormsby, proprietors' clerk. Other meetings were held soon after, at which there seems to have been considerable difficulty in securing the prompt attendance of the proprietors. On one occasion, it was voted that any proprietor not present at the hour named for the next meeting should pay a bowl of punch. It may perhaps be conjectured that many of the proprietors were behind the hour, and that too much punch was paid for the good of the proprietors' clerk; for he has given us no account whatever of the proceedings of that meeting. The space which was left to receive the record is a blank to this day.
Early in May, 1764, a committee of the proprietors visited Manchester to lay out the first division of lots. There was at that time no settlement on the west side of the mountain north of Arlington. Having ascertained the boundaries of their township, the committee proceeded to lay out sixty-eight lots of one hundred acres each, which were afterwards assigned by lot to the different rights. The section thus divided extended nearly from the northern to the southern line, and embraced more than onethird the width of the town. The present villages of Manchester and Factory Point are located on that division.
The first settlement in Manchester was made in the summer or fall of 1764, in that part of the town now known as the Purdy district. The first house was built by Samuel Rose, on the premises long occupied by John S. Pettibone. It is believed the houses built in 1764, were permanently occupied the same year; but possibly the settlers, after completing their buildings^ returned to Amenia for the winter, and first brought their families to the township in the spring of 17^5. Of the precise time of their arrival, of the number of families that came together, of the circumstances which attended their journey and settlement, there is no record or tradition.
In December, 1764, the proprietors voted to have a highway laid out through the town, and Jeremiah French and Gideon Ormsby were appointed a committee for that purpose. This road was undoubtedly surveyed in the spring of 1765, and some labor was probably expended upon it the same year. Its general location was that of the present road from the Judge Pettibon'e place to the village, and thence past the Wheaton house to South Dorset. It was the first road made in the settlement, and was known on the records for several years as "the main road through the town."
And now, as the settlement is approaching its second winter, let us briefly consider its appearance and condition. Winding around the base of the west mountain, far above the low lands of the river valley, is the newly established road. It is as yet nothing but a rude path, running among the stumps and trees. At intervals along this road, and in its vicinity, are the little clearings of the settlers, scarcely perceptible in the unbounded forest. In the south-west part of the town are the log-houses built by the settlers of the previous year. These are now doubtless furnishing temporary shelter to the families of settlers recently arrived, whose own houses are not yet completed. Those whose buildings are already finished and occupied are hard at work clearing land for the crops of the coming year. Perhaps as many as fifteen stalwart men have brought their families and effects to Manchester, and commenced their chosen task of converting a section of the wilderness into a cultivated farm. We shall find the names of some of them in the record of the first town meeting held the following spring.
The town was organized on the second Tuesday of March, 1766. Benjamin Johns was the first moderator, and Stephen Mead the first town clerk. Eliakim Weller, Benjamin Purdy, James Mead, Ezra Mead and Samuel Soper, were among the residents at that time. Benjamin Purdy, Jr., Gideon Ormsby, William Emes, Charles Bullis and Thomas Soper, had already settled in town, or did so soon after. Benjamin Johns removed to Clarendon in 1768, but resumed his residence here after an absence of several years. Stephen Mead located on the premises now owned by William A. Purdy, but a few years later he conveyed to Thomas Barney, a son-in-law of Gov. Chittenden, and removed to Pittsford. Benjamin Purdy settled on land which has always remained in the possession of his descendants, and is now occupied by Daniel Purdy. Gideon Ormsby located on the premises afterwards owned by Gov. Skinner, and still known by his name. Eliakim Weller built where the house of Joseph I. Sheldon now stands, and was probably the first inn-holder in town. James Mead invested largely in Manchester lands, but soon removed to Rutland, where he became a prominent man in the affairs of the Grants.
The settlers of Manchester had scarcely commenced to clear their lands when they learned that the New Hampshire titles were likely to be seriously called in question. They had purchased their rights in ignorance of any adverse claim on the part of New York, and were contemplating an early removal to the town, when the pretensions of that province were formally announced by a proclamation of its executive. The fears and doubts excited by that document were, however, soon dispelled by a counter proclamation of Gov. "Wentworth, and the settlement of the town was undertaken without delay. The king's order placing the territory now known as Vermont under the jurisdiction of New York, was promulgated a few months later; but the settlers did not at first suppose that that order could receive any construction which would affect existing rights. Deriving title from a royal charter, issued by the governor of a province whose jurisdiction of the territory had long been recognized, they could not readily believe that the subsequent recognition of the conflicting claim of another province would ever be suffered to imperil their homesteads. But it soon became apparent that the authorities of New York proposed, not only to assume jurisdiction of the territory, but to regrant the lands previously disposed of by New Hampshire, and drive out the settlers already in possession.
In May, 1765, Lieut. Gov. Colden issued the patent of Princeton, which was the first grant made by New York in conflict with the previous charters of New Hampshire. It extended along the valley of the Battenkill from Arlington to Dorset, embracing all the land of any value in the township of Manchester. Under this patent, AttorneyGeneral Kempe of New York, James Duane, a distinguished lawyer of New York city, and Walter Rutherford, a merchant of the same place, claimed to own the lands which the settlers of Manchester had bought, paid for and improved.
Other settlers were placed in the same unfortunate situation by this and similar patents, and the towns united in various efforts to avert the impending danger. In December, 1765, the settlers sent a committee to New York to present their case to the governor and seek relief. One of the committee was Jeremiah French, a large owner of rights in Manchester, and then or soon after a settler in the town. In November, 1766, the inhabitants of Manchester, together with their brethren of other towns, petitioned the king for a confirmation of their titles. Three years later, a committee of the settlers, of which Benjamin Purdy was a member, petitioned the governor of New Hampshire to interpose with the crown in their behalf.
These various appeals of the New Hampshire grantees produced no decisive results. The New York parties continued to assert their claims, and in some instances made actual attempts to dispossess the settlers. Certain lands in Manchester having been awarded the New York claimants by the courts of that state, an effort was made in the winter of 1770-71, to put the successful litigants in possession. Ten Eyck, sheriff of Albany county, accompanied by Munro, the noted Yorker of Shaftesbury, and a small party of men, visited the premises of Samuel Rose in his absence, and got possession of the house. Seeing the neighbors approach in force, the sheriff thought best to retire, having first directed Mrs. Rose to hold possession for the plaintiffs. This was followed by a more warlike attempt in Bennington, in which the defeat of the New York sheriff and his posse was not less complete.
Meanwhile the settlers, confident of ultimate success, have continued to clear and improve the lands in question. Emigration and settlement under the New Hampshire title have steadily gone on, in spite of the hostile attitude of New York. Our own town has received its share in the general increase of population, and there are now scattered clearings in almost every part of the valley. The northern forest has been penetrated by hardy emigrants, and the old highway through Manchester has become a part of the road which leads from Bennington to the new settlements on the Otter creek and the shore of the lake.
We shall better understand the growth of Manchester during these years if we describe, by names of our own time, the location of two roads which date from this period. In 1768, a road was laid, extending in a northerly direction from the south-east part of the valley, passing west of the hills which rise from the west bank of the Battenkill, to the bridge at Factory Point, and thence to the premises of E. B. Smith. The central portion of this road has long been discontinued. In 1769, a road was laid by a line of marked trees from the bridge at Factory Point to the Deacon Ames place, and thence over the hill towards Barnumville. Portions of that road are now embraced in the main street of Factory Point.
Among those who arrived in Manchester during this period were some who afterwards became prominently connected with our local affairs. In March, 1769, the name of Martin Powel appears for the first time in the record of town proceedings. While yet a resident of Amenia he purchased the lots which are now the farm of Noble J. Purdy, and there was doubtless his place of settlement. There are indications, however, that a few years later he kept a tavern stand where the village is now located, on premises owned by William Marsh. Marsh has been considered one of the earlier settlers, but his name does not appear in the records of the town until 1770.
As early as 1771 a few framed houses were to be seen — low buildings, with huge timbers and immense chimneys, which in our day would be considered anything but elegant, but which, to those who moved into them from the hastily constructed log-house, seemed quite palatial. The first framed house in town was built by Samuel Rose in 1769. Its location was on the side of the hill, a few rods north of the present school-house in the Purdy district. It remained standing until a comparatively recent period, and a rough inscription on a stone in the chimney preserved the date of its construction.
Nearly all who had settled in Manchester up to this time came from Amenia in New York, while the settlers of neighboring towns were mainly from Massachusetts and Connecticut. In view of this circumstance, some have expressed surprise at the perfect accord which always existed between the early settlers of Manchester and the inhabitants of the towns around. It must be remembered, however, that Amenia was largely settled from New England, and it is quite probable that the early settlers of Manchester were mostly of New England stock. Although emigrants from New York, they held their lands under a New Hampshire title, and common interest, as well as a common origin, bound them closely to the residents of adjoining towns. They were doubtless people in humble circumstances, who had settled in a new country in the hope of improving their condition. They probably were not overburdened with household goods on their journey hither, and they were not sufficiently supplied with ready money to be inclined to pay twice for their lands. They were more at home with the axe than the quill, and were not dismayed at the idea of defending their rights with powder and ball. Of their promptness in patriotic action and their strict fidelity to the common cause, the history of the early struggles of the New Hampshire Grants furnishes ample evidence.
In the winter of 1771-2, the people of the New Hampshire Grants residing on the west side of the mountain, established a regular military organization for the defense of the settlements. Several companies of militia were enrolled, and were formed into a regiment, of which Ethan Allen was colonel. This organization soon became known as "the Green Mountain Boys." Its members were thoroughly armed, frequently met in small detachments for drill and practice, and were ready to respond to the call of their leaders at a moment's notice. Manchester undoubtedly had its quota in this organization, but the names of the men who filled it are lost beyond recovery. Gideon Warren, of Sunderland, was a captain in the regiment, and it is probable the Manchester men were in his company.
This military organization received its instructions from the committees of safety, which, by the common consent of the settlers, were charged with the protection of the Grants. The committees of the several towns were often called together in convention for the determination of important matters. The town of Manchester, central in location and ardent in defense of the common rights of the settlers, was frequently chosen as the place of their meeting. The lists of membership in those earlier conventions have not been preserved, but the names of the more prominent members could readily be supplied. Allen, Warner, and their associates, were often in attendance, and must have become well known to the residents of our town.
Early in 1772, certain New York claimants, established at the lower falls of Otter creek, who had driven out the New Hampshire grantees to get possession, were in turn summarily ejected by a band of Green Mountain Boys. When the news reached Gov. Tryon, he addressed a letter to the settlers, requiring them to reinstate the New York claimants without delay. On the 27th of August, the committees of eleven townships assembled at Manchester and replied to the governor's letter. Their answer was signed by "Ethan Allen, clerk for said committees," and was evidently prepared by him in advance, and adopted by the convention. It approved the action of the settlers without equivocation, and declined a compliance with the governor's requisition. The New York council considered the document "highly insolent," and expressed an opinion that the opposition had become too formidable to be overcome without the aid of regular troops.
But while the settlers were prepared to defend their possessions, they still hoped for a peaceable solution of the difficulty. In October, 1772, a convention of the several towns on the west side of the mountain was held at Manchester, and agents were appointed to repair to London with a petition to the king. The agents found matters at court in a favorable condition, and returned to their people with encouraging reports. They were soon followed by a communication from the king's council to the governor of New York, proposing that the titles of the New Hampshire grantees be confirmed, and that the New York grantees receive compensation out of other lands.
The New York authorities protested against this action of the king's council, and encouraged their friends to continue their opposition to the New Hampshire party. Their principal strength on the Grants was in the town of Clarendon, where there were many settlers who held under a New York title. These settlers were active in their efforts to support and increase the New York interest in their immediate locality, and were only kept from more extended operations by their dread of the people of the southern towns. One of them wrote his patron in New York that the condition of things from Bennington to Manchester was such that he could not travel there with safety, and assured him that unless those and the intermediate towns were subdued, there was an end of all government.
The settlers from Bennington to Manchester knew that one party or the other must be subdued, and preferred it should be their opponents. Early in the fall of 1773, a large number of them visited Clarendon, and demanded a complete submission to the authority of the conventions. Those who held New York commissions were directed to abstain from any further exercise of official power; and all New York grantees were ordered to acknowledge the New Hampshire title by repurchasing their lands. Compliance was required within a certain time, on pain of the severest penalties. The warning was unheeded, and at the expiration of the specified time the Green Mountain Boys returned in force to carry their threats into execution. One unoccupied house was burned, and one or two others unroofed. This intimidated the New York party, and the New Hampshire settlers in the vicinity were afterwards left in comparative quiet.
These transactions were brought to the attention of the New York authorities, and in February, 1774, the assembly requested the governor to offer a reward for the apprehension of the leaders of the " Bennington mob," and directed the drafting of a bill for the suppression of riotous proceedings. When the news of these preliminaries reached the settlers, a general meeting of the committees of the several towns was called to consider the situation. This convention met at the house of Eliakim Weller in Manchester, and an adjourned meeting was afterwards held in Arlington. A committee was appointed to prepare a defense of the conduct of the settlers, and their report was adopted by the convention. It was resolved to protect the proscribed leaders at the expense of life and fortune, and to be in readiness to hasten to their defense at a moment's notice.
This was in anticipation of the expected action of New York. The governor soon issued a proclamation offering rewards for the apprehension of Allen and his comrades, and the assembly passed an act which provided that such persons as might be indicted for certain riotous proceedings, and failed to surrender themselves on the published order of the governor, should be sentenced to imprisonment or death, as the case might be, without trial or conviction. As soon as these documents found their way to the settlements, another meeting was held at Manchester, which reaffirmed the action of the previous convention in the strongest terms, and declared that any person in the New Hampshire Grants who should accept a commission of the peace under the authority of New York, should be deemed an enemy to the country until his majesty's pleasure was further known.
An appeal to arms seemed the only course left open to New York, and some may be inclined to consider the cause of the New Hampshire grantees at this period quite desperate. They were but a handful of men in weak and scattered settlements, while their opponents were the authorities of an opulent province. But the match was not as unequal as it seemed. The settlers were among the strongholds of the mountains, and under the cover of pathless forests. A common and unavoidable peril made them earnest, vigilant and united. On the other hand, the people of New York had no sympathy with the schemes of the land ring, and were not disposed to follow their authorities up the Walloomsac or the Battenkill to be shot at by men who scarcely went out of doors without a gun, and who considered themselves disgraced if they missed their aim. The former experience of the sheriff of Albany county seems to have satisfied the governor that no reliance could be placed on the citizens of New York for this service, and he applied to Gen. Gage, the king's commander-in-chief in America, for a force of British regulars with which to subdue the Grants. A compliance with his request was respectfully declined, and the New Hampshire grantees remained comparatively undisturbed.
Most of the friends of the New York interest residing on the Grants, now abandoned all active opposition to the New Hampshire party. One prominent exception was Benjamin Hough, who held lands under a New York title in Clarendon. The recent proceedings of the governor and assembly had been inaugurated on his petition, and he had passed the winter in New York urging the adoption of the most vigorous measures. In the spring he returned to the Grants with a New York commission as justice of the peace. Having acted under this commission, he was served with a copy of the resolution in relation to justices adopted at Manchester, and was warned that any further exercise of his authority would be followed by certain punishment. He neglected the timely caution, and paid the severest penalty ever exacted by the Green Mountain Boys. Late in January, 1775, his neighbors seized him, put him on a sled, and took him through Manchester to some point in Sunderland, where he was kept under guard until the leaders were assembled. He was tried by Allen and his associates, found guilty of violating the decrees of the people, and sentenced to receive two hundred lashes on the back. His judges saw their sentence faithfully executed, furnished him with a certificate that he had received punishment in full for his offenses against the Grants, and sent him on his way to New York.
This was on the 30th day of January, 1775; and the leaders who participated in the affair doubtless at once repaired to Manchester to attend a convention called to meet there the following day, which proved to be one of the most important ever held by the people of the Grants.
At a special meeting of the inhabitants of Manchester on the 23d of January, 1775, it was voted to choose a committee of three to act with the convention "appointed to meet at the house of Martin Powel" on the 31st. William Marsh, Ebenezer Bristol and Martin Powel, were chosen such committee, and were given discretionary power. On the day named, a convention of the towns on the west side of the mountain, twenty-five in number, convened at Manchester, and remained in session several days. The committees thus assembled entered into a solemn covenant for mutual defense, and published a series of rules for the guidance of the people. They declared that the laws, judgments and decrees of New York growing out of the land title controversy were not binding upon them, and would be resisted at the hazard of blood and treasure.


Those who had been proscribed for defending the possessions of the settlers were taken under the protection of the people, and New York officials were warned that any attempt to apprehend them would be at their peril. It was ordered that if certain prominent New York claimants or their agents should come within the district, they should be at once apprehended and taken before the "elders of the people and the principal officers of the Green Mountain Boys" to be dealt with as justice required. The company officers of the regiment of Green Mountain Boys were directed to forthwith muster their respective companies, and see that each soldier was provided with firelock, ammunition and tomahawk; and to hold themselves in readiness at a minute's warning to maintain the compact and resolutions of the convention. The committees might reasonably hope that these solemn declarations, enforced by the experience of Justice Hough, then on his way to New York with the marks of the "beech seal" upon his back, would be sufficient to satisfy their opponents of the earnestness of their intentions.
Thus determined was the attitude of the settlers towards New York when a greater contest came on, in the progress of which this local controversy was almost lost sight of. The military preparations and warlike spirit of the Green Mountain Boys were soon turned against another enemy, and those who had been proclaimed rioters and outlaws gained a speedy recognition as patriots andheroes. Before we enter upon the story of this new conflict, let us take a single glance at Manchester one hundred years ago.
The town has only just completed the tenth year of its history. The forest still exceeds the cleared lands, even in the most desirable parts of the valley. The summer roads are simply foot and bridle paths — wheeled vehicles are as yet unknown. The population of the town is probably between five and six hundred. On the north line of the glebe, west of where the road to Noble J. Purdy's now leaves the road between the two villages, stands a school-house — the first appearance of a public building in the annals of the town. The place is without meetinghouse or minister. There is no lawyer, or court of justice, or general government. The usual officers of a New England township manage its local affairs, and committees of safety and correspondence have charge of its relations with the outside world. The inhabitants are very poor, and are sometimes in want of the necessaries of life. They have no luxuries except what they can raise among the stumps, or catch in the streams, or bring down with the rifle. There is a saw-mill and a grist-mill, but no village and no store. The art of feminine ornamentation is in a very low state. The necessities of their situation have inured the women to work, hardship and danger. The men, clad in buckskin or in coarsest homespun, are farmers, hunters, soldiers, as occasion may require.
Such was Manchester in May, 1775, when Allen's messengers hurried northward through the valley, summoning the Green Mountain Boys to join an expedition for the capture of Ticonderoga. I think we would like to follow the men who bore that message through our town, and see at what houses they stopped, and who came forth armed and equipped in response to the call. But it is now too late to gratify our curiosity, and we must be content with the single fact that remains. We know that Christopher Roberts of Manchester took part in the expedition, and was one of the first to enter the fort.
The continental congress voted to pay the men who had taken and garrisoned Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and recommended the further employment of the Green Mountain Boys under their own officers. In consequence of this recommendation, measures were taken for raising a regiment. At a convention in Dorset, in July, 1775, Warner was appointed its commander and company officers were elected. Nathan Smith, of Manchester, was chosen second lieutenant of the fourth company, and a part of that company was undoubtedly recruited in this town. This regiment went to Canada with Montgomery, repulsed Carleton at Longueil, and returned home in November, honorably discharged.
In the following January, tidings of a great disaster in Canada reached the Grants, accompanied by an urgent appeal for help. Warner at once gathered a regiment, and marched to Quebec. This hastily collected force was doubtless largely composed of the officers and men who had served in his previous regiment. They formed the rear guard of the army in its retreat to Ticonderoga, where they arrived in June and were discharged. This prompt and patriotic action of the Green Mountain Boys again attracted the attention of congress; and the day after independence was declared that body resolved to raise a regular regiment on the New Hampshire Grants, of which Warner was appointed colonel. This was the organization afterwards known as Warner's continental regiment.
Although the Green Mountain Boys were among the first to engage in active hostilities, their unfortunate relations with New York delayed somewhat a formal expression of their sentiments. But on the 24th of July, 1776, a convention was held at Dorset, the members of which signed an association pledging their all in defense of the American states. William Marsh, Gideon Ormsby and Martin Powel, were the delegates from Manchester, and affixed their names to the document. The pledge thus given in behalf of our town met the hearty approval of the great body of its citizens. Some, however, who had been among the trusted leaders of the settlers in other emergencies, were already estranged from their old associates, and saw themselves shunned in the town which they had helped to found.
As the contest went on, ominous preparations were made for the disposal of inimical persons. In September, 1776, a convention at Dorset resolved to build a jail at some point on the west side of the mountain for securing tories. The matter was referred to a committee, who reported in favor of building the jail in Manchester, a few rods east of the dwelling-house of Martin Powel; and recommended that it be made of logs and earth, with an inside dimension of twenty by thirty feet. Their report was accepted, and Martin Powel was chosen jail-keeper. There are indications on the records that before the county jail was built in Manchester there was a log jail very near its site, which was probably the building thus provided for. If so, Martin Powel must have then kept the inn owned by William Marsh, which stood on the spot now covered by the south wing of the Taconic (late Vanderlip) House. This jail cannot have been extensively used for its original purpose; for when there was the most need of securing tories, Manchester was in too exposed a situation to render its use advisable.
Meanwhile the British troops were following up their successes with unabated vigor. In October, 1776, Gates expected an attack on Ticonderoga, and called for reinforcements of militia. Col. Brownson's regiment, in which were the Manchester men, marched the day after the dispatches were received. But the enemy retired to Canada without venturing an attack, and the militia were discharged with the thanks of the American general for their zeal and promptness.
During the succeeding winter and spring, troops and material were collected in Canada for a much more formidable invasion. In June, a magnificent army of eight thousand men under Gen. Burgoyne moved slowly up the lake, threatening Ticonderoga, then garrisoned by St. Clair. The safety of the people of this vicinity depended upon the successful defense of that fortress, and they awaited the British advance with no inconsiderable anxiety. As Burgoyne approached, St. Clair called for reinforcements, and the entire militia of the Grants hastened to his assistance.
The militiamen of Manchester had been gone but a short time when tidings of disaster and impending danger reached the anxious people at home. Ticonderoga had fallen. "Warner's continental regiment, the pride of the New Hampshire Grants, had been cut to pieces at Hubbardton. The dreaded Burgoyne had commenced his march to the Hudson — the Indians were already let loose upon the settlements. The American troops followed close upon the news of their disaster. St. Clair arrived in Manchester, making desperate efforts to collect provisions for his retreating army. The garrison of Ticonderoga passed through the valley on its circuitous retreat to the Hudson. The remnant of Warner's regiment entered the town, and took post for the defense of the inhabitants.
Meanwhile, the settlers of all the region north of Manchester were passing southward through the town, carrying their household goods, and driving their flocks and herds before them.
In the midst of this confusion and terror there convened in Manchester a small body of men whose proceedings constitute the most important chapter in the history of our town. A convention of delegates had declared the territory known as the New Hampshire Grants a separate and independent state by the name of Vermont, and a more recent convention had established a constitution for its government. This constitution was adopted in convention just after the disastrous news from Ticonderoga reached that body. It was evident that no oflicers under the constitution could be elected in such a crisis, and it was equally evident that some organization must continue in session to exercise the powers of government. The convention, therefore, before adjourning, appointed a council of safety, consisting of twelve members, which during the nine succeeding months wielded unlimited power in Vermont.
A majority of the council at once repaired to Manchester, and remained in session here several days before proceeding to Bennington. The journal of the council during this period has never been found, and a full list of the members who.attended cannot be given. It is known that Thomas Chittenden, Nathan Clark and Ira Allen, were among the number. Moses Robinson, Heman Allen and Jonas Fay, were doubtless present. Jeremiah Clark of Shaftesbury, grandfather of the late Myron Clark, was a member of the council, and we may infer from the vicinity of his residence that he was in attendance. These men had borne a prominent part in the trying history of the New Hampshire Grants; but, accustomed as they were to situations of difficulty and peril, they must have assembled here in a condition bordering on despair. In the track of a victorious army and in the midst of a fleeing community, they were expected to oppose the one and protect the other, without troops, without money and without credit.
The council held their sessions in the inn before referred to, owned by William Marsh, and probably kept by Martin Powel. It was a plain wooden building, less than two full stories, standing with the side to the road, in size not far from fifty by forty-five feet. The ground floor consisted of two front rooms of about the same size, a kitchen in the rear of these rooms, extending from the south end of the building, and a pantry north of the kitchen. The main entrance was nearly in the center of the building, and opened into the south front room. From this room a door opened into the kitchen, and in the south end of the kitchen was the stairway leading to the upper story. On this floor were two small rooms in the rear, a large front chamber in the south end of the building, and a smaller one in the north end. These were the scanty accommodations of an inn which often numbered among its guests the leading men of Vermont, and in which were enacted some of the most interesting scenes of her early history.
Warner established his camp on the hill south-west of the village, on the premises now generally known as the Swift farm. There his regiment was rejoined by the stragglers who had been separated from it in the confusion of retreat, and was supplied with ammunition and clothing from the depots of the northern department. A body of the enemy had been left in the vicinity of Castleton, and an advance from that quarter was daily expected. The force under "Warner's command was too weak for opposition, and in case of an immediate movement his retreat was inevitable. The inhabitants were well aware of this, and it was feared that unless reinforcements were speedily obtained, the people of Manchester would follow the example of the settlers of more northerly towns, and take refuge in the lower country. Citizens of tory proclivities were jubilant and defiant, and despondency and doubt were making dangerous progress in the whig ranks.
Having sent urgent requests for the support of neighboring states, the council of safety deliberated long and earnestly as to what Vermont could do for herself. To a community so weak and impoverished, the maintenance of a single company would have seemed a heavy burden. The council were disposed to tax the ability of the people to the utmost, and arm and equip two companies. Then Ira Allen, the youngest member of the council, proposed the enlistment of a full regiment. The older members explained the utter impossibility of raising the funds necessary for such a force. Allen insisted that some method could be devised to provide the means, and his brethren gave him till the rising of the morrow's sun to perfect a plan. During the intervening hours the sanguine statesman, then only twenty-six years of age, considered his difficult problem. At the appointed time he met with the council, and was ready to submit his views. He proposed nothing less than the seizure and confiscation of all the tory estates. The measure he recommended proved acceptable to the council, and was at once sanctioned by its decree. This decree of confiscation, resolved upon within a stone'sthrow of where we are met to-night, was the first instance of the confiscation of tory property during the revolution, and the estates of the tory residents of Manchester were the first property seized for the public defense.
The weak and wavering who trembled at the progress of Burgoyne, and were disposed to take the benefit of his i proclamations, now found that there were other dangers to be considered. The council of safety carried their decree into execution with a vigor which confounded their enemies. Commissioners of sequestration were appointed and given the amplest powers. Suspected persons were arrested and held for trial. The property of those who had fled to the British camp was seized without delay. Their goods and chattels were sold at public vendue, and their farms rented for the benefit of the state. Money flowed into the treasury; soldiers were raised, equipped and paid; and within thirty days after the confiscation was decreed the council of safety sent out an organized battalion to meet the enemy.
This new organization was called " The Rangers," and was commanded by Herrick. Recruits for the regiment were collected at Manchester as fast as enlisted. Warner's encampment was further strengthened by the arrival of a small body of militia from the east side of the mountain. On the 20th of July there were about five hundred troops in Manchester. On the 2d of August, Maj. Gen. Lincoln of the continental army arrived in town to take command of the New England militia, and operate upon Burgoyne's communications. Cushing's Worcester county regiment arrived two days later. Others were on their way, and Lincoln hoped in a few days to be in command of two thousand men.
While these reinforcements were being hurried to Manchester, Burgoyne was preparing for an expedition to the same point. Baume received written instructions to proceed to Arlington, secure the pass to Manchester, and await the arrival of Sherwood's provincials from the south. He was then to proceed to Manchester, and secure the pass of the mountains on the road to Rockingham. From this place he was to send the Indians and light troops on an expedition northward, and on their return was to cross the mountains to the Connecticut. Burgoyne mentioned the fact that " Mr. Warner" was supposed to be at Manchester, but considered it highly probable that he would retreat without resistance. These instructions were subsequently countermanded, and Baume was ordered direct to Bennington.
In response to the urgent appeals of the council of safety, the government of New Hampshire raised a brigade of militia for service in Vermont, and placed it under command of Gen. Stark. It may be interesting to notice that Mesheck Weare, president of the New Hampshire council, who now ordered Stark to march to the assistance of the Veriiionters, was one of the original proprietors of Manchester, and was once the owner of lot number forty in the first division, on the west end of which Music Hall now stands.
On the 6th of August, Stark was at Bromley (now Peru), and on the 7th he arrived in Manchester, where most of his troops were already encamped. Schuyler's orders awaited him here, but Stark claimed an independent command by virtue of his instructions, and declined obedience. On the 8th he left Manchester for Bennington, where he arrived the following day. He was accompanied or followed by most of the Vermont militia. Warner's regiment was left behind, but was soon summoned by an express. The scouts were called in from the north, and in the heavy rains of the 15th of August, the regiment marched to Bennington, and arrived on the field in time to take part in the closing engagement of the following day.
Soon after the battle of Bennington Stark joined the forces in front of Burgoyne, while most of the Vermont troops returned to Manchester. Early in September Lincoln advanced towards Ticonderoga, through Dorset and Pawlet, with Herrick's Rangers and a body of militia. After various successes in that quarter he was recalled by Gates, and returned to Manchester with most of his troops. Leaving a small force here under Gen. Bayley, he joined the main army at Saratoga. On the 17th of October, Burgoyne surrendered his forces, and the New England militia returned to their homes.
Now that the great campaign of 1777 is over, let us trace its connection with the individual fortunes of some of our citizens.
Josiah Burton, who came to Manchester about 1773, enlisted in Warner's continental regiment January 1, 1777, for three years. He was in the engagement at Hubbardton, and left the field beside hie commander when the day was lost. After the battle of Bennington, he asked and obtained leave to go home and send a son to serve in his stead. His son Elijah, then sixteen years of age, took his place, and was with the regiment at Burgoyne's surrender.
John Roberts, a veteran of the French and Indian war, who came to Manchester soon after its settlement, and located where Mrs. E. L. Way now lives, enlisted in Warner's regiment February 19,1777, to serve during the war. He was in the battle of Bennington, and four of his five sons, Peter, John, William and Benjamin, also took part in that engagement. The remaining son, Christopher, was taking the women and children to a place of safety, and had got into Massachusetts when he heard of the victory and returned.
George Sexton, who lived near the bridge in the Barnumville district, enlisted in Warner's regiment March 25, 1777. He was an ensign during the campaign of that year, and was afterwards promoted to a lieutenancy. Nathan Beaman, an uncle of the late Rev. Dr. Beaman of Troy, enlisted in the regiment on the first of June. He had formerly lived in the vicinity of Ticonderoga, and had acted as Allen's guide at the time of its capture. Truman Mead enlisted the same day, and served as fifer. Penuel Stevens, Amos Allen, Prince Soper and Edward Soper, joined the regiment before the campaign commenced.
Nathan Smith was a captain of militia during the year 1777. Some time in August he was " sent by the council after tories," in which service he was employed three days with twenty-one men. He was in the battle of Bennington, in connection with which his name has come down to us with especial honor. You will remember that after two hours' incessant firing at musketry distance the enemys' entrenchments were carried by assault, with a gallantry which won the admiration of the veteran Stark, and excited the astonishment of officers trained in the wars of Europe. The raw militia rushed up the ascent in the face of a deadly volley, sprang upon the well defended parapet, and threw themselves upon the pikes and sabres of the German troops. It will do for us to cherish a little local pride in this matter, for Captain Nathan Smith and Benjamin Vaughan were in the front of that famous charge, and were the first men who mounted the enemy's works.
Gideon Ormsby was one of the military men of the town, and was evidently in active service during the campaign, [but in what capacity or organization cannot be stated. 'His prominence and activity in the American cause had gained him the hearty hatred of some of his neighbors, and when the advance of Burgoyne raised the hopes and courage of the tories, his property and family were in no small danger. His young orchard was girdled, and one or two attempts were made to burn his buildings. Notwithstanding the threats of the tories and the departure of many of her whig neighbors, Mrs. Ormsby remained at home with her small children until the campaign was over.
Martin Powel was appointed a commissioner of sequestration immediately after the decree of confiscation, and was one of the most trusted and active oflicers of the council. In the preserved records of that body we catch glimpses of him here and there; calling together the committee of safety for action in the case of a suspected person ; journeying to a neighboring town to take charge of a yoke of oxen belonging to the state; disposing of sequestered property on appraisal; or furnishing a cow from the confiscated drove for the needy wife of some absent tory. The duties of his difficult and responsible position were evidently performed with excellent judgment and perfect integrity. He must at times have found those duties anything but pleasant; for he was more than once called upon to seize and dispose of the property of men with whom he had long been associated in town affairs,! and at whose houses he had been a welcome guest.
Samuel Rose, a son of the first settler in town, accepted a captain's commission in the British army, and undertook to recruit a company of tories. He was furnished hard money with which to stimulate the loyalty of his neighbors, and succeeded in luring a few young men to his standard. He and Ins handful of recruits were ignominiously captured one dark night, just as they were leaving Manchester for the British army, somewhat in the manner described in The Rangers. Early in September, 1777, the council of safety sent him to Gen. Gates with a statement of his offenses, and a recommendation that he be sent on board the guard-ships in the North river. His farm was confiscated, and soon after became the property of Samuel Pettibone.
JSTehemiah French and Henry Bullis joined the tory' company of Capt. Adams of Arlington, and went to the British army. On the 12th of September they voluntarily appeared before the council of safety, and submitted themselves to its pleasure. The council considered what Bullis had already lost a sufficient punishment for his conduct, but French was compelled to pay a fine of twenty pounds. They were then permitted to take the oath of allegiance, and were given passes to their farms in Manchester.
The experience of Bennet Beardslec will illustrate the unfortunate condition of a suspected person in those times. On the 6th of September, 1777, he was adjudged an enemy of the United States and a dangerous person to go at large, and ordered to be confined in the common jail at Westminster. On the 17th the council reconsidered its action, and sentenced him to pay a fine of fifteen pounds. On the 19th lie was permitted to pass to Manchester, to return at the expiration of five days unless his fine was paid within that time. He succeeded in raising the money and secured his discharge. A convention of committees afterwards took his case in hand, and sent him again to the council. On the 3d of January, 1778, he was permitted to go home to return on the 8th, probably to enable him to obtain evidence. On the 9th the council decided that he had been guilty of no crime since his satisfaction of their former judgment, and ordered his discharge; and Lieut. Peter Roberts, commissioner of sequestration, was directed to deliver him his horse and other effects recently taken.
In May, 1778, the governor and council had their attention called to the fact that Mrs. Jeremiah French of,' Manchester was "very turbulent and troublesome," andj refused to obey orders. It is not difficult to account for considerable asperity on the part of Mrs. French. Her husband, who had joined the British army to march into Albany, had considered himself fortunate in securing his retreat to Canada. His cattle and horses had been seized and driven away and sold. His farm was now being cultivated for the benefit of the state under the supervision of Martin Powel, commissioner of sequestration. We can easily believe that Mrs. French carried a bitter tongue in those days, and perhaps refused to yield a peaceable possession to the men who tilled her husband's lands for the new state. The council were not disposed to tolerate her opposition, and concluded to send her to her husband. Necessary clothing, bedding, and kitchen utensils for herself and family were set aside, and the rest of her movables were sold to pay the expenses of transportation. Then he, and her children, and the remainder of her goods,were taken to the frontier, and sent under guard to the British lines.
Jeremiah French lived on the Benjamin Munson place, and owned all the land on which is located that part of the village lying east of the center of the street from H. P. Way's to M. H. Wooster's, except the strip of land, then known as the public common, on which stands the row of buildings between the Benjamin Munson place and the house lately occupied by L. C. Orvis. This property was all condemned by the court of confiscation. In the fall of 1778, that part of it lying north of the old road leading east from the Benjamin Munson place, was sold by the state to Jared Munson, of Lanesborough. The lot lying south was soon after deeded to Gideon Ormsby, and most of it was subsequently conveyed to Gov. Chittenden.
William Marsh, who was a son-in-law of Jeremiah French, seems to have moved into Dorset in the spring of 1777. He had been very prominent among the friends of the American cause, and had pledged himself by " all the ties held sacred among mankind" to oppose the British forces at the risk of life and fortune. In June, he was chairman of a committee to wait on the commander of, Ticonderoga in relation to the defense of the frontier — inj July, he rode to the British army. He was sincere in his: early support of our cause, but was not strong enough to withstand family influences and the successes of Burgoyne, and concluded to save himself by a timely submission. Tradition says he was with Burgoyne's army when the surrender became inevitable, and started to return home. He soon fell in with Truman Mead and asked him if he thought it would be safe for him to return. Mead told him that if he did he would certainly be shot, whereupon Marsh burst into tears and turned his horse's head northward. He was proscribed with other prominent tories, but was afterwards permitted to return to the state, and lived and died in Dorset.
In the spring of 1777, Marsh was the owner of all the land on which stands that part of Manchester village west of the main street; but a few weeks before he went to the British army he sold that part of it lying south of the north line of the Iloyt place. All the rest was confiscated to the use of the state. The portion lying north of the north line of Mr. Shattuck's place was bought by Jared Munson, and that lying south by Thaddeus Munson.
Various pieces of land in other parts of the valley, belonging to Marsh and tories of less note, were also confiscated. Eight citizens of Manchester who took the British pide of the controversy were proscribed by an act of the legislature, and their return to the state prohibited. A British commission afterwards visited the town to appraise their former possessions, and they were given lands of equal value in Canada. Some of them became prosperous and valuable citizens of the provinces.
After the campaign of 1777, the military service of the citizens of Manchester was mainly in defense of the frontier. Forts were erected in Pittsford, Rutland and Castleton, and were garrisoned by detachments of militia. These detachments were composed of quotas selected by draft or otherwise from the various militia organizations. In times of especial alarm the companies at home hastened to the frontier, and remained until the danger was over.
In April, 1778, Warner's regiment was ordered to Albany, and detachments of militia were sent to strengthen the frontier. A company of fifty-six men, mostly residents of Manchester, under Capt. Nathan Smith, was in service a few days. In May, 1778, we find Nathan Smith major of the fifth regiment, and Jonathan Saxton, adjutant. The first company was located at Manchester. Its officers were Gideon Ormsby, captain, Solomon Soper, lieutenant, and William Saxton, ensign. In November of that year, Capt. Ormsby and thirty-one of his company were sent to the frontier, and were on duty eight days.
In 1780 there were three companies of militia in Manchester, all in the regiment of Col. Ira Allen, who then lived in the north part of Sunderland. In the month of March, Capt. Ormsby with fifty-six men, and Capt. Thomas Bull with twenty-three men, visited the frontier. Soon after this Ormsby was succeeded in the captaincy by Thomas Barney, and subsequently became major of a regiment raised for continuous service. In October, 1780, a large British force sailed up the lake, and the whole militia of the state was ordered to the frontier. The three Manchester companies under Capts. Thomas Barney, Jacob Odel and Thomas Bull, were out with full ranks. At this time the town had about one hundred and fifty men in service, probably her entire military population.
In October, 1781, there was another alarm on the frontier, and the three Manchester companies were again called into service. But the news of Cornwallis's surrender soon reached the British forces; whereupon they retired into Canada, and active hostilities in the northern department ceased.
The defense of the frontier was not the only duty which demanded the attention of the militia during this period. There was still a strong New York party in the southeastern part of the state, which at times proved quite troublesome to the authorities of Vermont. In May, 1779, a body of volunteers from this side of the mountain went over to assist the sheriff of Cumberland county in the execution of the laws. This service seems to have been quite popular, and officers came to the front in surprising numbers. The volunteers from Manchester were Major Nathan Smith, Capt. Gideon Ormsby, Capt. Jesse Sawyer, Capt. Zadock Everist, Capt. Stephen Pearl, Adjutant Jonathan Saxton, Lieut. Thaddeus Munson, Lieut. Solomon Soper, and the same number of men without titles.
It will be remembered that Vermont once formed a union with several towns in New York lying on her western border, with a view to strengthen herself against the claims of that state. In December, 1781, the friends of the Vermont union in those towns were threatened by the New York militia, and troops from this section were ordered to their support. A detachment under Major Ormsby, and a few members of Capt. Barney's company were engaged in this expedition. The New York forces retired before superior numbers, and the affair ended without bloodshed.
One or two incidents will further illustrate the character of the times. In the spring of 1782, a band of tories which had been recruited in Albany county undertook to make their way through Vermont to the British posts. They arrived at Arlington in the night, where they were furnished supplies. Just as they were leaving, an officer of militia happened that way, and was taken prisoner. While on their march they fell in with Jonathan Ormsby of Manchester, a son of Major Ormsby, and seized him. They then abandoned the road for the shelter of Equinox mountain, and hurried north. The alarm was soon given, and the militiamen in the west part of the town seized their guns and followed in pursuit. Major Ormsby sent word to Col. Ira Allen, who hastened to Manchester and dispatched an express to Capt. Eastman, of Rupert, with directions to raise his men and waylay the tories at a pass in the mountain. Eastman got out his force in time, and the tories, finding themselves beset both in front and rear, surrendered without resistance.
About this time "some brave and spirited people in Manchester," as Ira Allen calls them, set out to pull down the house of a tory resident of Arlington, perhaps in revenge for the assistance given the party which captured Ormsby. In Sunderland they were met by Ira Allen, Gideon Brownson and Eli Brownson, who with difficulty persuaded them to return. Allen was at that time engaged in a secret negotiation with the British general in Canada, undertaken from patriotic motives, but a discovery of which just then would have been decidedly awkward. He mentions, to illustrate the dangers attending the negotiation, that on that very night he crossed the ground where lie had turned back the Manchester party, and met a number of British soldiers, and received dispatches from the enemy. In 1781 and 1782, a British officer and soldiers under arms passed several times back and forth along the west mountain between the British posts and Sunderland, without discovery.
It was during these years of conflict and excitement that our earliest religious societies struggled into existence. The first ministerial labor in Manchester was performed by Rev. Seth Swift in the year 1776. The necessity of building a house of worship was soon generally acknowledged, but the place for its location was not so easily agreed upon. It was evidently thought that the location of the meeting-house would be likely to determine the site of the future village, and prominent citizens on the line of the old road took part in the controversy with a zeal not altogether spiritual. The record indicates that the town was pretty evenly divided between two localities, and that the matter was long in suspense. In December, 1778, the town voted to build a meeting-house thirty feet square, on such site as might be selected by a committee of indifferent persons. In June, 1779, it was voted that the meeting-house be forty feet by thirty-six, and two stories high, and that it be located near the dwelling of Christopher Roberts, on the lot now owned by Mrs. E. L. Way. Timbers for the frame were prepared at that place, but they were surreptitiously taken one night by the party opposed to that location, and deposited on the public common. In November of the same year, the town again voted to build the meeting-house on such spot as the committee might select, and it was soon after erected on the ground occupied by the present Congregational edifice. In October, 1780, the society instructed their committee to "procure some agreeable person to preach the gospel." The church was organized with seven members in 1784, but it was many years before it was blessed with the services of a settled minister.
The Baptist society was organized in 1781. Their earliest pastor was the Rev. Joseph Cornall, who became entitled to the land set apart for the first settled minister. Before the erection of their meeting-house, they sometimes held services in a building near the falls on Glebe brook, a place now quite remote from any road or dwelling. An organization of the Protestant Episcopal church was effected in 1782, under the charge of Rev. Gideon Bostwick; but it was nearly forty years before the people of that denomination erected a house of worship.
In this early period of our state organization there was no permanent seat of government, and sessions of the legislature wore held in several of the larger towns. In October, 1779, the representatives assembled in Manchester at the Weller tavern stand, and remained in session two weeks. Congress had recently taken action indicative of a disposition to sustain the claim of New York to the territory of Vermont; had proposed to undertake the settlement of all differences on a basis which entirely ignored the claims of Vermont to an independent existence; and had resolved that no unappropriated or confiscated lands ought to be disposed of until its decision had been made. These proceedings received the careful attention of the legislature, and met with a spirited response. Governor, council, and assembly, unanimously resolved to proceed with the disposal of their lands, and to "support their right to independence at congress and to the world."
In 1782, the disorders in Windham county culminated in armed resistance to the authority of Vermont, and a special session of the governor and council was held to consider the crisis. They met on the 29th of August at the house of Elias Gilbert, who lived on the hill southwest of the village. The council advised his excellency to raise troops for the enforcement of the laws, and to commission Ethan Allen as their commander. Allen crossed the mountain with two hundred and fifty volunteers, threatened Guilford with the desolation of Sodom and Gomorrah, and put an end to the disturbances without loss of life. Capt. Barney and seven of his company were amons the volunteers on this occasion.
In October, 1782, the legislature again assembled in Manchester. The larger body is said to have held its sessions in the meeting-house, and the council doubtless occupied an upper room in one of the inns. The most important action of the session was the appointment of a committee to visit the American congress, and negotiate for the admission of Vermont into the union, or agree upon terms of confederation. \
A few professional gentlemen were now located in Manchester, but concerning their residence here comparatively little is known. The first practitioner of medicine in town of whom there is any mention was John Page. He appears as a resident of Manchester in 1777, and was evidently here four or five years. In 1781, he was connected with Ira Allen's regiment as surgeon's mate.
Dr. Lewis Beebc was a resident of Manchester in 1780, and was at that time surgeon of Allen's regiment. He was greatly interested in the progress of medical science, and was one of the corporators of "The First Medical Society in Vermont," and its first secretary. He was also quite active in public affairs, and was a member of the council of censors in 1785. He probably left Manchester about the year 1787.
In 1782, Jonathan Brace, who had graduated from Yale College three years before, settled in town and engaged in the practice of law. He lived where Mr. Shattuck docs, and built a house on the premises occupied by Mrs. F. W. Hoyt. After a residence here of three or four years he returned to Connecticut, and was afterwards mayor ol Hartford and member of congress.
About 1784, Samuel Hitchcock, a native of Massachusetts and a graduate of Harvard College, became a resident of Manchester and commenced practice as an attorney. He was a warden of the Episcopal church in 1785, and the records indicate his residence here until March, 1787. Soon after this he removed to Burlington, where he married a daughter of Ethan Allen, held various local offices, and was finally appointed United States district judge.
These gentlemen were but temporary residents; others came who made Manchester their abode for life, and whose descendants are numerous in town to-day. Nathaniel Collins was prominent in local affairs in 1779. Nathaniel Boorn was then living in the east part of the town, and the stream in that section was known as Boorn brook as early as 1787. Jabez Hawley was then located near the south-west corner. James Jameson was already living on Jameson flats, and before 1790 we find the names of Richardson, Anderson and Benedict in the north part of the town.
Not long after 1780 a tavern was erected where Mr. Fowler's house now stands. In 1788, it was kept by Stephen Keys, formerly of Connecticut, who had served in the revolution as an officer in Sheldon's regiment of dragoons. Keys occupied the house several years, but it was then owned, and was afterwards kept, by Abel Allis, and has generally been spoken of as the old Allis tavern. Mrs. Allis, once the landlady of this inn, was a daughter of Remember Baker, the Arlington mill-wright who had shared with Allen and Warner the military leadcrship of the settlers, and fallen by an Indian bullet while scouting for Montgomery's advance.
In 1788, we must consider the resident of Manchester village reasonably supplied with the comforts and conveniences of life. If he requires the attendance of a physician, a little south of Keys' tavern, on the opposite side of the street, is the residence of Dr. William Gould, a graduate of Yale, and a prominent member of the Vermont medical society. If any former experience has shaken his confidence in Dr. Gould, he can request the attendance of Dr. Azel Washburn, a physician and surgeon of several years' experience, who will doubtless give him the best of attention. If he has a difficulty with his neighbor, legal assistance of the best kind can easily be obtained. A short distance south of Dr. Gould's, lives Enoch Woodbridge, who will soon become chief justice of the supreme court. If Squire Woodbridge has been so unfortunate as to lose a case for him, he can still secure the services of Mr. Samuel Hitchcock, who, notwithstanding his change of residence, keeps up his practice here. If the ladies of his family wish to do some shopping, Ja'mes Caldwell & Co., at their stand a few rods south of Mr. Woodbridge's, have recently added to their former assortment a quantity of English goods just imported from London, and payment will be taken in wheat or ashes. In case the services of a prescription druggist are required, next door north of Keys' inn is the drug store of Dr. Abel Allis, who receives his goods immediately from Europe by the way of Canada, and will make up his prescription with the greatest accuracy. If our resident is a mason, he will doubtless visit the rooms of the North Star Lodge in the upper part of Keys' inn. If it is time to dispose of the contents of the Fag-bag, he can carry along the bundle and leave it at Keys' to be taken to the paper-mill in Bennington. If he wishes to keep up with current events, the post-rider will leave with him weekly the Vermont Gazette, the subscription price of which is three bushels of wheat, to be lodged with Major Stephen Keys. Should the wheat crop fail he need not be alarmed; flax seed or rags will be thankfully received in payment.
In October, 1788, the subscribers of the Gazette had the pleasure of reading a full account of the proceedings in Manchester on the assembling of the legislature for its annual session. The arrival of the governor was announced by the discharge of five cannon by the artillery company of Capt. Harmon. His excellency was escorted into town by three companies of cavalry, commanded by Capts. Robinson, Hitchcock and Clark. Two companies of light infantry, under Capts. Todd and Gray, were on parade, and saluted the governor as he passed. Lt. Col. Keys, of Manchester, the ofricer of the day, then took command of the troops and performed various military maneuvres; after which a sermon, suitable to the occasion, was delivered by Rev. Elijah Sill of Dorset. Declaration was then made that his excellency, Thomas Chittenden, was elected governor for the ensuing year, and his honor, Joseph Marsh, lieutenant-governor. The troops were again formed and fourteen cannon tired. The proceedings closed with a general discharge of tire-arms by the cavalry and light infantry, and the people dispersed with every expression of satisfaction. The gentlemen of the legislature then commenced their labors; the assembly occupying the meeting-house, and the council sitting in the chamber of Thaddeus Munson's inn.
Among the citizens of Manchester who gathered to witness this military display, there was doubtless a sturdy veteran whose name is somewhat prominent in the early history of the state, and whose few years' residence in our town entitles him to mention here. This was Peleg Sunderland, a man whose adventurous life might serve for the foundation of a romance. In his younger days he had been a famous hunter and trapper, and had almost made the wilderness his home. He had thus become familiar with the great forest of northern Vermont before the axe of the earliest settler had disturbed it. He had nearly perished of starvation in its desolate wilds, and had been rescued by Indian hunters, lie had shared with them the life of the camp and the pleasures of the chase, and had acquired a knowledge of their language and customs. In the land title controversy which soon came on, his restless energy found employment not less congenial to his tastes. He soon became known in New York as a bold and active defender of the New Hampshire Grants, and was one of the eight against whom were aimed the terrors of the riot act and executive proclamation. He was a member of the extemporized tribunal which ordered a liberal application of the beech seal in the case of Justice Hough, and secured thereby the honor of an additional reward for his apprehension. His knowledge of the northern country and its inhabitants was of service to the leading patriots in their earliest preparations for the war of independence. When John Brown of Pittsfield undertook a secret expedition to Canada in behalf of the Boston committee of correspondence, Sunderland went with him as interpreter and guide. He was sent among the Indians to ascertain their feelings with regard to the coming conflict, and brought back assurances of their friendly disposition. After his return he took part in the expedition against the fortresses on the lake, and signed with Warner the dispatch to the authorities of Connecticut announcing the capture of Crown Point.
In 1791, Peleg Sunderland, Gideon Ormsby, Martin Powel, Nathan Smith and George Sexton, were all living in Manchester. They had served the state with fidelity and zeal through many troublous years, and been honored with the friendship and confidence of its leading men. They were now enjoying the reward of their faithful service, no longer threatened with the loss of lands or disturbed by alarm of war. They may have sometimes met together in those quiet days, and indulged in reminiscences of the trials and dangers through which they had passed. The conversation of those five men in such an hour must have been no mean review of the early history of our state. Their several experiences embraced the early conventions of the settlers; the various expeditions of the Green Mountain Boys; the first success of the revolution at the gates of Ticonderoga; the perilous campaigns in Canada; the triumphant advance of Burgoyne; the rule of the council of safety; the conflicts of Hubbardton, Bennington and Saratoga. Some who had shared with them the labors of that eventful period had not been permitted to see the full realization of their hopes. The bold leaders whom they had sat with in council and followed in battle were no longer living. Warner had worn out his stalwart frame in the service of Vermont, and returned to his native state to die. Allen had recently been followed to the grave by a large concourse of his old associates. But the work they had commenced more than twenty years before had been brought to a successful issue after their departure, and Vermont was now a member of the Federal Union — the peer of New York.
The leaders of the Green Mountain Boys have received the honor which is their due. Their bones repose beneath columns of granite, on which are inscribed the tributes of a grateful people. Their statues have been set up in public places, and eloquent voices have pronounced their eulogies. As we have joined in the general homage it seems never to have occurred to us that there were citizens of our own town who served as faithfully and bravely as those of higher rank, and who were at least entitled to remembrance in the place where they lived and among their own descendants. The meagre record you have heard to-night is nearly all that can now be told of the most prominent; of many others who served the town with equal merit there is no vestige remaining.
Nearlyall who died in Manchester during the first twentyfive years of its history sleep in unmarked graves. The first burial ground in town embraced within its limits the space until recently occupied by the school-house, the spot on which the court house stands, and the street between the court house and drug store. Most of the interments, previous to 1791, were made in this ground. At the commencement of the present century, it was entirely uncared for, and run over without regard to its nature. In 1812, many of the small rough headstones were still standing, and the ground was uneven with the graves. When the war fever was at its height the recruiting officers removed the stones, and leveled the ground and converted it into a parade. Women shed tears and old men shook their heads, but the work of desecration went on, and under the heavy tread of the volunteers the last indications of the old burying-ground soon disappeared. In digging for the foundations of the various buildings which have since occupied the spot, the bones of more than one sleeper have been disturbed by the spade of the workman. So many years have elapsed since this burial ground became the business centre of the village that a knowledge of what the place once was has almost passed from the minds of men. But if the fathers and mothers of the town were to rise from their graves to-night, they would meet you as you turn from the door of this hall, and look out upon you from the court house windows, and stand upon the little green where many of their descendants have raced and shouted in childish sports, unconscious of the mouldering forms beneath. It is impossible for us to rectify this error of a former generation, but we can at least do something to preserve the memory of those whose graves have been so rudely treated.
In 1781, the present county of Bennington was established, and Manchester made a half-shire town. The courts were held for several years in the meeting-house, or in one of the village inns. The erection of the necessary county buildings was delayed by various difficulties concerning their location. The desire of the locating committee to place them within the present limits of Factory Point was defeated by their inability to purchase a lot on which to build them. Then the efforts of Martin Powel, the owner of the Noble J. Purdy farm, nearly secured their erection on the hill just east of that place. Finally, the exertions of the citizens of the village, aided by the influence of Gideon Ormsby, secured their location on the public common, where they were erected in 1794-5. The building is now that part of the Manchester hotel block occupied by Nelson Perkins, including the press room of the Journal office. The walls of the jail have been relaid, but its foundation remains unchanged. Its bad reputation as a place of security for criminals commenced at an early date. A few months after its completion three noted counterfeiters, branded in the forehead with the letter C, and with the right ear cropped, made their escape through its walls.
In 1784, the general assembly of Vermont passed an act establishing regular posts and post-offices for the conveyance and distribution of letters and packets. Under this arrangement there were only five offices in the state, and Manchester was not among the favored communities. The post-offices nearest the town were at Bennington and Rutland. After the admission of Vermont into the union the postal facilities of the state were somewhat improved. On the first of June, 1792, a post-office was established at Manchester, but this remained for some time the only one between Bennington and Rutland. Abel Allis was our first postmaster, and held the office until 1803, when he was succeeded by Joel Pratt.
In the last decade of the eighteenth century, the population of Manchester was about fourteen hundred. Some of the back districts of the town were more thickly settled than now, but the village was still quite small. It was, however, sufficiently advanced in the ways of civilization to number among its institutions a tailoring establishment and a hatter's shop. The best house in the village was the Allis tavern. The dwellings generally were not distinguished for elegance or size. The little house which stands opposite the residence of J. A. Munson was then occupied by Truman Squires, a young lawyer of ability and position, secretary to the governor and council, who not only considered it large enough for a residence, but found room in one corner for his law office. The waters of the Battenkill were still filled with salmon trout; the deer were not yet entirely driven from the neighboring forests; and packs of hungry wolves frequently entered the settlement and made havoc among the farmer's stock. In hours of leisure, the inhabitants amused themselves by racing horses through the street, scouring the woods in hunting parties, or playing at wicket on the village green. The management of town affairs was still in the hands of the earlier settlers. Young gentlemen of college education and professional attainments had made their appearance in town; but no learning of the schools or polish of the outer man could draw away the affections or the votes of the people from the sturdy men who had borne the brunt of the battle with the Yorkers and the tories. Gideon Ormsby and Martin Powel were still the leaders of the town, and held their influence unbroken to the last. Ormsby represented Manchester in the general assembly seventeen years. Powel was town clerk twenty-one years, representative seven years, and judge of probate twelve years.
There was already numbered among the active citizens of Manchester a man who lived to see the hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town. Nearly the youngest of my auditors have seen the bent form and silvered head of Serenus Swift. Their recollection of that aged man may serve to connect them more closely with the men and events of the past century. He was born before Ticonderoga was taken, and remembered the closing incidents of the revolution. His feet were familiar with our. street before the foundations of a single building, now standing, were laid. He held office under the second administration of George Washington, and was often associated in local affairs with Ormsby and Powel. He was doubtless among the inhabitants of Manchester who, on the last Saturday of May, 1793, gazed upon the handsome wagon which the mail carriers had put on the route between Bennington and Rutland — the first public conveyance for the transportation of passengers which passed through our valley. When he was entering upon manhood, town meetings were called at the meeting-house; the first interments in the new burying-ground south of the village, had just been made; George Sexton and Robert Anderson were advertising a lottery in aid of the road across the Green Mountains; merchantable grain was the common currency of the community; the inhabitants were satisfied with a weekly mail each way; the columns of the local paper were crowded with the dispatches of Bonaparte, general-in-chief of the army of Italy.
The young federal office-holder was probably not over popular in town, for Manchester was largely republican, and party strife ran high. Political celebrations were frequently indulged in, and were sometimes occasions of considerable local interest. In 1795, the inhabitants of Manchester, Sunderland and Dorset united in celebrating the anniversary of the battle of Bennington. A battalion of Col. Roberts's regiment of militia, consisting of the companies from those towns, under command of Major Martindale, Capt. Bradley's company of cavalry, and two companies of light infantry under Capt. Tousley and Lieut. Graves, took part in the celebration. After a time spent in military movements, the militia and spectators formed a hollow square on the green near the court house, and listened to orations by Dr. Todd, of Arlington, and the Rev. Chauncey Lee, of Sunderland. The report of a committee before appointed to take into consideration the treaty of amity, commerce and navagation, was then read. The committee expressed their abhorrence of the treaty in the language of their fellow-citizens of South Carolina, censured Senator Paine of Vermont for his favorable vote in the severest terms, and expressed a hope that the father of his country would prove his right to the appellation by withholding his signature! The report was signed in behalf of the committee by John Shumway, chairman. Fifteen toasts were then given out. "Renovated France" and "Desolate Poland" received due attention. The eighth toast, "Citizen Moses Robinson, senator of the United States," will indicate how badly our ancestors were afflicted with the prevailing political disease. "We can perhaps imagine what the members of the militia who were so unfortunate as to be federalists thought of this method of celebrating the battle of Bennington.
On the 16th of August, 1798, the citizens of Manchester and vicinity gathered for a similar celebration. At four o'clock they walked in procession from Pierce's tavern (where Mrs. Hoyt now lives), to the Court House, and listened to a spirited oration. The procession then formed again and returned to the tavern, where the usual number of toasts were drunk. The contemporary account of the celebration would lead one to suppose that the closing proceedings were distinguished only for quiet and dignified enjoyment; but the late Judge Pettibone was a youthful and curious observer of the ways and manners of his elders on that occasion, and from some reminiscences which he once gave me, I am inclined to think it was what would be considered in these days rather a lively and boisterous time.
Several familiar and honored names now appear in the history of our town. As early as 1796, Robert Pierpont, an uncle of the present chief justice of our supreme court, became a resident of Manchester. He kept an inn where the Rev. Dr. Wickham now lives, and was a prominent and influential citizen. Dr. Ezra Isham came here from Litchfield, Connecticut, about 1798, and soon became the leading physician of this vicinity. Previous to 1812 he lived a short distance south of the residence of Malcolm Canfield, in a building recently demolished. The later discoveries in medical science have not entirely done away with his practice, for some of his prescriptions and maxims are still current among the elderly people of the town. In 1795, Joseph Burr, the founder of our seminary, was trading in a building which stood about where William B. Burton now lives. Before 1800 he removed to the lot now occupied by the residence of E. J. DZawley, where he passed the remainder of his business life and accumulated the greater part of his property. In 1800, Richard Skinner moved into town, and soon became prominent as a lawyer and citizen. His successful and honorable public career belongs to a later period than that of which I speak.
The fourth of March, 1801, the day of the first inauguration of Thomas Jefferson, was celebrated in Manchester by the raising of Thaddeus Munson's new inn, the building which is now the north part of the Taconic House. Those acquainted with the custom of the times can imagine what a crowd of people and what a quantity of rum it took to raise it. It was then considered the largest and finest hotel in Vermont, and the day on which its massive timbers were uplifted long held its place among the great days of the town.
This building, comparatively modern as it is, has witnessed scenes which we are accustomed to associate with our earlier New England history. At the time of its erection, the old Puritan methods of punishment were still in vogue, although thoughtful men had long questioned their good effect upon the public morals. The whipping-post stood on the west side of the street, nearly in front of the north side of the Equinox House. About 1803, occurred an instance of punishment there, of which some of the particulars have been preserved. The sentence was thirty-nine lashes, and was partly executed by Gen. Robinson, the high sheriff, and partly by Ephriam Munson, deputy sheriff. Sheriff Robinson struck his blows with surprising regularity, and it was remarked among the spectators .that he must have had considerable practice. His less experienced deputy was quite excited and made bungling work of it. Three or four years later another person was tied to that post for punishment — probably the last occurrence of the kind ever witnessed in Manchester. There is at least one lady now living in the village who, on that occasion, went out with childish eagerness to see the whipping, and fled with cries of horror when the lash first descended on the quivering flesh. The pillory was located on the east side of the street, a little south of the present court house. It was standing there during the first decade of our century, and was still in use as an instrument of punishment. On one occasion, a woman stood for hours in this pillory, in the presence of a great crowd. "Within the memory of the late Judge Pettibone, the sheriff cropped and branded a convict in front of the Allis tavern. The victim was placed standing on the horse-block, and his head tied to the sign-post. Then the sheriff cut off the lower portion of his ears, and threw the pieces under his feet. Meanwhile an assistant had been leaning over a kettle of coals, blowing its contents into life, and heating the iron brand. This the sheriff now took, and branded the culprit on the forehead. That winter it was a favorite amusement of the school boys to try some of their number for imaginary offenses, and brand them on the forehead with wooden letters, the imprint of which would remain some time.
Before concluding this sketch, it will be necessary to trace the early progress of a section of the town which after the close of this period became the site of a large and prosperous village. Soon after the settlement of Manchester, Timothy Mead became the owner of nearly all the land on which Factory Point is situated. His house was located where the Colburn House now stands. He built a saw-mill on the water-power near by, and afterwards a grist-mill; and the locality became known as "Mead's mills." His grist-mill was the first in town, and was located a little below where the present grist-mill stands. The saw-mill was a short distance above it, on the same side of the stream. Sometime after this, Mr. Mead erected a fulling-mill on the ground now occupied by the factory buildings. He also built a store about where Howe's block stands, and Joel Pratt traded there before 1800. Mr. Mead's son Jacob, a blacksmith by trade, lived near where Mrs. Cloney's house is situated.
Mr. Mead was decidedly averse to selling any ol his land, and his policy in that particular greatly retarded the development of the place. The committee for the location of county buildings proposed to place the court house and jail about where the present Baptist meeting-house stands; but Mr. Mead met their application for a building lot with an absolute refusal, and is said to have given the committee his opinion of courts and lawyers in terms more vigorous than polite. Soon after this, however, he made his first and only exception, in favor of the Baptist society — the religious organization with which he was most in sympathy. "With his permission and assistance that society erected its first house of worship on his premises, close to his east line. In 1791, he conveyed to the society the land on which it stood, and Isaac and Jeremiah Whelpley, who owned the J. B. Hollister farm, and Timothy Soper, the owner of the lot just north, conveyed land adjoining the meeting-house lot for a burial place. The site of the old meeting-house can readily be located on the westerly side of the present cemetery grounds. The road on which it stood was then the main highway; the street past the Episcopal church not being in existence until long after.
Mr. Mead died in 1802. His real estate was divided among his children, and soon passed into other hands. But the early growth of the place was slow, and in 1812 it could scarcely be called a village. The old grist-mill, and the fulling-mill, were still in operation. The original sawmill had done its work, and been succeeded by another on the opposite side of the stream, about where the west end ol the tannery .stands. The store building was no longer occupied as such, and had been used as a school room while the first school-house of the district was being erected. Where J. T. Beach's wagon shop is located stood a distillery, which was visited altogether too frequently by many of our citizens. Adjoining it was the carding-mill of Chester Clark. Benjamin Mattison, the owner of the saw-mill and fulling-mill, lived in the Timothy Mead house. James Borland, who run the grist-mill and leased the distillery to other parties, lived in a house which stood just east of the old store building. The dwelling-house nearest the mills, on the road leading to the village, stood on the top of the hill, south of the present residence of Deacon Burritt. On the road towards Dorset, the first dwelling was that of William Smith, where the Lester house now stands. On the south-east corner of Andrus Bowen's lot stood a blacksmith shop. A few rods east of the residence of A. G. Clark, was a good sized house, usually occupied by two families; and a little further on was a house of smaller size. The Jacob Mead house was then occupied hy David Brooks, who was about building a tavern on the lot now owned by Mr. Adams. The next building was the Baptist meeting-house — an edifice of moderate size, divided in great square pews, and embellished with a sounding-board. The society was then in charge of Elder Calvin Chamberlain, a revolutionary pensioner, and a man of great influence among the Baptist churches of the state. Just beyond the meeting-house, at the north-cast corner of the burying-ground, stood the district school-house. About on the spot where Joseph Lugene, Jr., has recently erected a house, lived Peletiah Soper, one of the old settlers. Near the site of the Dea
con Ames house stood a small store, in which James "Whelpley traded, and just north of it was a dwelling. Imagine these few scattered buildings, partially surrounded by a dense forest at no great distance, and you have the Factory Point of 1812.
But in 1812 a great public improvement was in progress which indicated the growing importance of this locality to the inhabitants of other sections of the town. This was the construction of a road direct to Manchester village from the point where the old road turned west to the Noble J. Purdy place. It had long been considered impracticable to build a road across the swampy lands of the glebe, and its construction marks a new era in the improvement and prosperity of the town.
In 1812, Manchester village had about one-third as many buildings as now. The most northerly house was the Munson homestead, then occupied by the widow and children of Eufus Munson. Where the Congregational church lifts its tall spire, stood the first meeting-house, unpainted, and without steeple or ornament. Its pulpit was then occupied by Rev. Abel Farley, who lived just south of the present residence of Chauncey Green. At the south-west corner of the old burying-ground, was the district school-house, and nearly in its rear stood a blacksmith shop. Anson Munson kept tavern in the lower part of the court house building; and in the court room in the upper story Rev. Mr. Brownson, an Episcopal clergyman of Arlington, held services every other Sabbath. Nathan Brownson, who had formerly been a merchant in the place, lived a little south of the court house building. Anson J. Sperry lived on the premises recently occupied by L. C. Orvis, and had a law office just south of his residence. Joshua Raymond kept tavern at the Allis stand; and the old lodge room was occupied by the select school of Miss Harris — an institution extensively patronized by the young ladies of Manchester and vicinity. Samuel Raymond traded in a store which stood where Mrs. Lawrence now lives, and Joel Rose lived on the premises occupied by the residence of Deacon Black. Mrs. Woods' place was then occupied by Elijah Hollister and his son Marinus, who drove the stages between Bennington and Rutland. The S. A. Millett place was owned by Archibald Pritchard, and about where E. D. Cook lives was a small house, occupied by Phineas Peabody. Capt. Samuel Walker lived in the little house which is still standing opposite J. A. Munson's; and Dr. Elijah Littlefield had recently built, and taken possession of, the house now occupied by George Stone. Deacon Asa Loveland lived where Noah P. Perkins now does, and the Hoyt place was then the tavern stand of Israel Roach. Serenus Swift lived and had an ofiice at the Elm House place, and just north of it was the law office of Cyrus A. Lockwood. Joseph Wells was then trading at the Burr stand, but Mr. Burr retained an ofiice in the building for his general business. John C. Walker, a young lawyer, occupied the E. B. Burton place, and had an office on the north side of his lot. Calvin Sheldon lived in the house now owned by Rev. James Anderson, and his law ofiice is still standing south of that building. Capt. Peter Black kept an inn where Rev. Dr. Wickham resides, and also traded in a store which stood on the south side of his lot. Where Major Hawley now lives, was the residence and law ofiice of Richard Skinner, among whose students at that time were Leonard Sargeant and Robert Pierpont. Nathan
Burton, who had been appointed postmaster in 1808, lived where Mr. Miner does, and kept the post-office in a little building on the north side of the lot. Joel Pratt, the county clerk, lived on the premises now occupied by Mr. Cone, and had an office adjoining his house on the north. The old Marsh tavern was still standing, tenantless, and soon to be demolished. Thaddeus Munson lived in the new tavern by its side, but kept it open only in court time. Ephraim Munson lived on the premises now occupied by Mr. Shattuck. This was the extent of Manchester village in 1812.
In the year 1812, war was declared against England; the northern frontier was again threatened; and another generation of our citizens rallied for its defense. For two years the drum of the recruiting officer sounded in our street, and successive squads of volunteers and militia went through their maneuvres on the green. Abram C. Fowler, the village school-master, exchanged the ferule for the musket, and won a commission in the regular army by his bravery at the battle of Plattsburg. John C. Walker left his law office, and James "Whelpley his store. John S. Pettibone, Joseph Burton, Leonard Sargeant, and Benjamin Munson, were among the younger recruits. Of the thirty-four citizens of Manchester who served in that war, the two last named are still with us. Two of their associates have mouldered under the sod of the battle-field now sixty years and over. Daniel Olds, a grandson of Gideon Ormsby, was killed in a skirmish at Chateaugay. John Harris, a private in the regulars, fell in the desperate night-battle at Lundy's Lane.
I have now sketched the history of Manchester down to a time when the names of men still living appear upon her roll of honor. I doubt not there are some of my hearers to whom the later delineations of this evening have seemed but the feeblest hint of familiar things. There are doubtless those present who can see the little village of 1812 with clearer vision than they can the statelier village of to-day. It is not impossible for them to people the town again with the men and women who then filled its borders with bustling life. From this time on, their memory will supply a fuller history than I have been able to give of the earlier days.
I have spoken of the first half-century of our history — a period worthy a more extended and minute recital. But, incomplete as my presentation of the subject has necessarily been, I trust it has proved sufficient to satisfy you that, in proper hands and with suitable preparation, it would be a theme of uncommon interest. In tracing the early progress of the town, I have dwelt with some particularity upon its relation to revolutionary history — as seemed meet in these centennial times. While listening to the fragmentary accounts of that period, it must have occurred to you that the citizens of Manchester have been exceedingly remiss in preserving the names and exploits of those whom every sentiment of justice, patriotism and local pride, should have led them to hold in perpetual honor. Let us, to whom has fallen the hundredth anniversary of their valiant deeds, do what we can to supply the deficiency before it is quite too late. Perhaps, in doing tardy justice to the heroes of our first war, we may establish a local sentiment which will renewr its strength with each succeeding generation, and long suffice to secure the grateful remembrance in after times of those who do good service for the town.
Already the landmarks of that era are fading in the distance. The voices of the fathers come faintly to our listening ears. Time has carried us almost beyond sight and sound of the primitive days. And yet, this period which to most of us seems so remote, is scarcely beyond the infancy of some who still hold their places in the ranks of the living. But the life of the most favored individual is brief when compared with the probable duration of the community of which he is a part. "We who now compose the corporate body will soon pass away, but the municipality may fulfill her thousand years. In that distant future, the space which separates us from the days of settlement will seem as nothing, and we who now commemorate the early history of the town will ourselves be reckoned among its early inhabitants. Our individual names may fail to reach our successors of that day; but let us hope that our united efforts may secure for the time in which we live the reputation of an age of public spirit and gentle manners as long as the town shall endure.