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AN ACCOUNT OF THE

CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH 01+? JULY, 1881,

AT

MASON’S POINT, LAKE BOMOSEEN,

Under the .flzosptce& of the Citizens of Rtottctnd
County, and the Rtottdnd County Hts» '
toriedl Society, eonjozlntly; indLod—--
ing the Report of the Ceremony
of Oltristentrzg the Island of

 

4 COMPILEDBY «
JOHN M. CURRIER, M. DE,

057 CASTLETON, VERMONT,

Secretary of the Rutlend County Historical Society; Mexnbcw
of the Vermont Historical Society; Life Member of the
New Hampshire Antiquarian Society 3 Member of the.
New England Histo1'ic-Geiiealogical Society; also
a Mexnber of the Axnericzan A$SO(3iati0IJ for
the Adva.ncement’of Science ; and others.

A PUBLISHED UNDER 'r1:—1n:«3 AUE.~‘»I?ICES ow 'm~1r«::
RUTLAND COUNTY I~i[ISTORiCAI.. SOCIETY

PREFACE.

The report of the proceedings of the celebration at Mason’s
Point, Lake Bomoseen, July 4th, 1881, was prepared for publi-«
cation in pamphlet form at the earnest request of many who
participated in the exercises and festivities of that occasion.
Some memorial of that historic day seemed desirable, especially of
so important an event as christening the enchanted Island of
Nee-hobe. a

Long will this name cling to that beautiful spot, after those
who celebrated that eventful day shall be forgotten. It is due,
then, to posterity that we record that day’s proceedings. At the
same time let us record, irrespective of political party feeling,
the gloom that overshadowed that day’s proceedings, in conse-
quence of the assassination of the President of the United
Statesm-«James A. Garfield. J . M. C.

Oastleton, V5,, Aug. 25th, 1881.

Celebration of the pFom-th of July, 1881.

The celebration of the Fourth of July 1881, on Mason’s Point,
at Lake Bomoseen, was a grand affair. It was estimated by
competent judges that over fifteen thousand people were present
during all parts of the day to witness the exercises and partici*"
pate in the festivities of the occasion.

The weather was fair and comfortable in the forenoon, with
just clouds enough to obscure the sun and allow the exercises to
be conducted in the open air, on that beautiful rocky eminence,
ywithout artificial protection from the scorching rays, usual at
that season of the year. About noon the clouds broke away,
and there was bright sunshine the remainder of the afternoon;
the cooling breezes from the lake were exliileratingg and the

reins of the previous day had cleared the atxnosphere from all
oi1:upurities,»and armors genial days was never experienced.

‘ Great preparations had been made by the several committees; d
‘to provide‘ for the comforts of the crowds of people who we1'e
expected tobe present, and to make everything as pleasant as g

possible for them, throughout the day. Too muclicredit cannot
be bestowed upon the Executive Committee for the admirable
arrangements by whipchthe exercises of the day were carried
out, and for the good order that was observed everywhere along

“the shores oflthe lake. ' Special police hadrbeen provided and

stationed at various points, who discharged their duties with
fidelity.‘ r r l " e

‘The Lake Bomoseen ’I‘ransportation Company had a barge

built especially for the occasion, sufl‘icient1y_1arge~to carry

three = hundred passengers at a<1oad,r which was lltowed bywthe
steamer Naomi, from Hydeville to Mason’s Point height ltimes
during the 1<ay,r to: accommodate those  who arrived . on the rail-
lroaldf rtrlains. p r l

7

The celebration was under the combined auspices, of the Rut»-
Iand County Historical Society, and the citizens of those towns

lying in the immediate vicinity of Lake Bomosee-n._ One ,promi--- ‘

nent feature of the celebration, was the christening of the beau-—
tiful Island lying to the westward of Mason’s Point, and was es-
pecially under the charge of the Historical Society. Several
xneetin,.<_;>;s of the citizens had been held in the towns of Castleton
and Fair Haven, to perfect plans for the celebration, and make
arrangements for the same. The following organization was
perfected:

i0]7‘éce7~.s' of the Citizens.

D P-resident of the Day-——Hon. J. B. BROMLE‘§l' of Castleton.

_ T/‘ice-P7a'c.sz'derzts—--Moseley King and L. Howard Kellogg of
Benson ; Dr. A. T. Woodward and E. J. Ormsbee‘ of Brandon;
 D. Cole and Hon. C. S. Rnmsey of Castleton _; Bradley Fish
of Ira; Ira C. Allen and Z. 0. Ellis of Fair Haven; H. L.
Lathrop and R. R. Drake of Pittsfcrd _; H. E. Armstrong and C_
A. Rann of Poultney ; Hon. L. DW. Reddington and A. H. Tuttle
of Rutland ; Rev. J. K. Williams and J. E. Manley of West Rut-
land; M. M. Dikemanl and Cyrus Jennings of Hubbarclton ; R.

V C. Abell and R. C‘-. Hitchcock of West Haven; , and Hon. Ralph

Richards of Hampton, N. Y.

;S’ecrezfary--- John M. Currier of Castleton.

Treasurer-M. D. Cole of Castleton. J

Executilzye Oovnmvlttee-—L. Howard Billings of Hydeville ; T.
Sherman and C. S. Proctor of Castleton 3 and Frank W. Redfield
and Walter E. Howard of Fair Haven. V

Jlfarshal of the Day---A-Hon. John G. Pi tkin of Fair Haven.

Assistawzt Marshals--H. o. Rann of Poultney; A. L. H111 of
Hubbardton ; and E. H. Armstrong of Castleton.

.R€(.'ld67‘Qf the Declaration of Inclependence--L, B. Clogston, Esq.,

of Fair Haven. A

Commander of the Battery---L. Glogston of Fair Haven.

Music-—-The Cornet Band of West Rutland and the Castleton
Cornet Band. r

8

Special Organhization of the Rwtlrmcl‘ County a
Historicctli Society. a A

sSevera.ll special meetings of the Rutland County Historicalill
Society were held at the Bomoseen House in Castleton in the“
month of J fine, for the purpose of perfecting arrangements with 

i the citizens’ organization for celebrating Independence Day at .

Lake Bomoseen. The following special“ organization was made:

Chairman of the ‘Historical Exercises-—--Hon. Henry Clark" of"

Rutland;

Emeczttirue Committee»--—Jol1n'iM. Currier of Castleton; A. al‘T~.+

Adams of Fair Haven, and Hon]. I-Ienry Hall of Rutland.

Forcnoion.

g0]:)em}ng .E’a:ercise.s'e——At eleven ho’c1ock Hon. J. B. Bromleyl an»:
nonnced that the hour had harrivefd for the pcommencernent of the
exercises of the day. [He spoke feelingly of the sadness an d’
gloom spread over the nation by the attempted assassination of‘

the President of the United States, and stated that the latest dis»
patches contained theoheering news of his improved condition

and prospective recovery; which was followed by a manifest;

and unanimous expression of thanlzfulness from the spectators;4
Music was rendered by the combined bands; prayer was offered

h by the Rey. Edward '1‘. Hooker of Castleton.

_ The president then introduced the Hon. Henry Clark of Rut-
landp who took charge of the historical .gexei1'ciees, and made the
following address: h

_ One‘ hundred and five years ago this morning there rang out upon the

ail:-—-V-the glad chorus of patriotic hearts--that a nation bad been_establ'1_sh-
ed, and from that day to this the voice of the morning has proclaimed the

glad anthem of freedom and liberty. But there comes to us this morning-

a moan of sorrow. We meet therefore to commemorate in the ‘spin-it of a
,_somewhat~more V somber joy than rings in the noisy jubilee of the street;
pbutyyinotwithstanding it remains a day especially ‘consecrated to American
liberty and American independence. The true character of that liberty is

u tofibe sought in the events of oui~‘cdIo'nial history, in themannera and laws

of our colonial forefathers, and ahhve all in the stern, brief epitome o1’*cn7‘r

whole colonial _ life contained in that memorable declaration, the ~maxims~of

whose stiirdy wisdomstill 'sonnd”in our, ‘ears, and linger in our ~~hea_.rts“; a.

9

-declaration, peculiar among all others ofits kind,not only for the fearless free

- spirit which beats and burns beneath every decisivesentence, but from its

combination of clearness in statement of particular grievances, but with
audacity in the announcement of general principles; a declaration indeed,
one abounding in sentiments of liberty so sinewy and bold, and ideas, of
liberty so exact and practical, that it bears on every immortal feature the
signs of representing a people to Whom liberty had been long familiar as a
living law, as an organized institution as ‘a homely household fact. The
peculiarities which distinguish the whole substance and tone of this solemn
instrument, are peculiarities of the American revolution itself. giving dig-
nity to its events and import to its principles, as they gave success to its
arms. " . _ . »

As the osalutations of the morning never weary us by their daily recur-
rence amid theties» of, domestic life, so the annual return of this day, while
we are true in more extended relations, can never fail to waken associaw
tions that move the heart to national sympathy. *

But to-day, there comes a ipause-.-~the hand of an assassin has again

A struck. at the nation and the voice ofrelvelry is hushed, yet patriotic hearts,-

while mourningis in the land. Mingled "vv_i-t.h_,,al1 this there is the fearful im-
pression in each heat-t--that allis not Well, that the black‘ syren of all,
has lodgment in the hearts of vaunting American citizens, that headstx-ong
ambition has created a foul under-current"that has led to the assassination
of the President, and that American citizens are responsible for -this—-—-—most

A wicked of all political deeds. ‘ '

' Vermont expected to make a glad welcome to the President, this week----
but now mourning covers the pathway he would have trod. Our Govern

nor instead of greeting sends on the wings of the wind the regrets of the

commonwealth at the sad event.

M11-._Clark proceeded‘ to state the purposes of the celebration and the ob-
jects of the I-Iistorical Society, commending them to the favorable patron»
age and aid by the people of Rutland County. -

We stand on historic ground within A car shot of one of the battlefields of
the Revolution-—--and let that echo to us from the past-——"—be impressed upon
us at this hour, and let us proceed diligently to gather up the materials of
our local history. I '

The address of welcome was delivered by the Hon. L. W.

Reddington of Rutland, as follows: V

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :—--This is the anniversary of our na-
tion’s birth. A little over a century ag-o,,Thomas J efferson promulgated the
Declaration of Independence and this nation was crystallized into being.
And it is fitting the American people should ever maintain uncliminished

and unrestricted the ceremonies pertaining to the celebration of this day i

from which evolved the everlasting cx eed of liberty, and the prerogative
of good government for manlzind. , ‘ ‘ %
“Through this annual celebration, patriotism is preserved-——our race eleg-

10

vated, and a love and respect for our laws engendered, by the periodic
universal, commemoration of this historic day, the fundamental principles
of our constitution are kept ever before us, impressing us with the necessi-
ty of a constant guardianship over the privileges thus bequeathed us by
our ancestors; for so long as humanity has aspirations, vaulting ambition,
and the thirst for power, liberty will only be preserved by unceasing vigils,
and untiring zeal.

And although the heart of the American people is at this present mo»-
ment, immersed in sorrow over the dreadful tragedy of last Saturday,
(referring to the shooting of President Garfield July 2nd,) which has a1»-
most deprived a loving domestic circle of a father, a host of admiring
friends of an associate, and a great Nation of our Executive; still the
hand which has wielded the destines of this country hitherto, will preserve
us in the future ; and while individualities must cease to exist, and man-
kind fade away as the leaves of the forest, still our duties to the Church,
Family and State, survive.

A few weeks since, the Rutland County Historical Society, decided to
make this occasion more interesting by the addition of two most appropriate
and commendable ceremonies, to-—wit :---l‘;y providing a feast for the society
and its guests, and by conferring a more euphonious name, on what has

A heretofore, in tradition, borne the somewhat alluring sobriquet of “Chow-

der Island.” Hence, here we are, assembled in execution of the program
as thus provided by the society. And unto me has been assigned the
pleasant duty of extending in behalf of the proprietor of this soil, a:..d of
those interested in the Island, a cordial welcome to the Rutland County
Historical Society, and to the futherance of the designs as heretofore enur
merated. ~

And gentlemen of the Society, the privileges thus tendered may you ac-
cept and enjoy; and your ministrations here to--day, may we as citie-
zens of Rutland County, ever hold in appreciative remernbrance.

Dr. James Sanford of Castleton, was next introduced and
made the following response to the address of welcome:

Mr. President :->--«With a due sense of the honor conferred upon me, I
make reply to the gentleman last up.

SIR :---We, the members of the Rutland County Historical Society, thank
you and those whom you so ably represent for this kindly welcome to these
pleasant grounds, and for all the privileges this day granted us. i
As a Society we are ever in search of the ancient, the beautilul and the
true. i

When we come in contact with an object so ancient, an object having
an origin so far back inthe dim distance that all the truth pertaining to it
cannot be obtained by exact science, then, sir, we sometimes give the
imagination slight play, as I shall do at this time. '

The object I now refer to is the Island near us, which we are this day
permitted to christeu. ‘ i l

11

.As_Venns was born of the see, so likewise hereehogxte, in deyepprimevnl, .

the cry:-*~tz=tl waves were parted endnp rose this oval piece of earth, in time
ontriveling in beauty that very. goddess herself. ”

From its birth it was greeted with the smile of the gods. For ages and
ages this bwas their ihtrorite resort. Even J npiter was accustomed to lay
Aside his thnnderholts upon Mount Olympus, Vulcan would leave his forge,‘
Apollo his harp, More hie spear and shield, and Nepture his trident, that
toget.he1' they rxiight recline upon the velvet-moss-lined books of this Island’
and watch delighted the Nymphs, the N aiagds and the G1-noes as they
sported in the en:-rm.1nding waters.

Ageizi, century after century" While the e0—-ca.lled nloo1*ig'inee raved in
these wilds, (luring; the bright day of Sl'lI1‘11‘I1€-31‘, mztny a. fair Indian maiden

might be seen silently gliding over these waters to meet her lover upon thie-
Island. e For, if legends tell aright, love here plighted never faded :

And vows here spoken
Were never broken.

And now, gatluered here upon the ehore of this enchanting Lelia, with
this sztme Islztnrl in view, we feel that the human heart is; not yet deed to
the poetry and 1‘o1ne.nce of life. V Of late, this Island has been mainly deeul
ignnted. by the very lengthy oognomen of “The Island upon Lake Borne-
seen.” ' p L ‘

To find for it a. fitting: and at lo.sting~ name, more individual effort never
has and never will succeed. N othing short of a. combination of talent such’
as we bring to hear at this time can ever "accomplish this g1‘o.nC1 object. V

So, if to-.da.y in our united endeztvo1' We can fix upon. a. manta that will ham-
monize with the tmnecenclont lieonty of this gem that has eo long rooted
upon the bosom of this Fairy Lake»-—a name that will please the gods of
the olden toix‘x1ee--—e. name that will fall like the music of for off waters
onlthe ears of thn.t~.injn1-edit red race now fading; out in the distance»-a.
name that shall he pleasing to the whole of Ve:rmont‘a.nd at part of Yozvlt
State, and above all, a. name. that will please the zveol rne.l{er of all things--
thén we ehelllheve accomplieheci one of the greatest achievements oi: the
age.‘ . . , Y . V L .  I A V ‘ V7 .p i

I close, air, by again thanking you. for this heamtyh welcome and the high
trust eccordetl us. i

  The history of the Island was given by Dr. John Cnrrier of  V
Cestlet-on,o as follows: i Y t . ; ~

The section of country around Lake Bomoeeen vireo an unhroken wilder»-
nees up to 1767, when Cole Amos Bird and N ooh Lee amended bye. color-l
ed man, made their fix:-st trip to Castleton with a. view of eettlingthe town.

V This region was constantly exposed to the dept-eda,tio‘ns of l3‘r~en—ch and «

Indians up to the conquest of Canada. by the English ini14'760, making perks
moment settlement unsafe. , . * » l l '

On Sept. 22nd, 1761, the town of Ceetleton was chartered  ' Banning‘ V’
Wentworth, Esq” Governor of the Province of New I-Ia.n1pshi.-re, to .. 70 L

V grantees ; most. of ‘whom lived in Salisbury, Conn. _;.— xétndfew “of wheat t

12

ever settled in Castleton. The following is a copy of the charter as fur-4
nished from the New Hampshire Records at Concord, by the Secretary of
State, Hon. Isaac W. Hammond, June 11. 1881 :

-it-%'l%'lE-}€'>l¢

as: N :1: Pnovnvcs on N nw HAMPSHIRE.
,, P. s. ,, y A
:1: at: N GEORGE THE THIRD.

alt-téét--K‘-3!-‘.4

By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Iiefender of
the Faith, &c.

To all Persons to whom. these Presents shall come Greeting.

KNOW YE, That we of our special ‘grace. certain knowledge, and
mere motion, for the due encouragement of settling a new plantation with»
in our said Province, by and with the advice of our trusty and well be-
loved Benning Wentworth, Esq., our Governor and Commander—in-Chief
of our said Province of New Hampshire. in New England, and of our
Council of the said Province,-,‘ have upon the conditions and reservations
h_le-reinafter made, given and granted, and by these Presents, for us, our
heirs and successors, do give and grant in equal shares, unto our loving
subjects, inhabitants of our said Province of New Hampshire, and our other
governments, andto their heirs and assigns forever, whose names are en‘-
teredl on thisvgrant, to be divided to and amongst them into seventy equal
shares,alI that tract or parcel of land situate, lying: and being within“
our said Province of New I-Iaznpshire, containing‘ by adxneasurernent
twenty-—three thousand and forty acres, which tract is to contain six miles
square, and nomore ; out of which an allowance is to be znaczle for high»
ways and uniniprovable lands by rocks, ponds, mountains and rivers,
one thousand‘ and” forty acres free according to a plan and survey
thereof, made by our said Grover-nor’s order, and returned into the Score-—
tary’s ofiice, and hereunto annexed, butted and bounded as follows, viz:
Beginning atthe northwest corner of Poultney and from thence runningt
due north six miles, then turning off atright angles and rnnningdnle east
six, miles then turning offat right angles again and running due south six
miles to the northeast corner of Poultney aforesaid, thence running due
west by Poultney six miles to the northwest corner thereof being the
Bounds begun at. And that the same be, and hereby is incorporated in»
to a township bycthe name of Castleton, and the inhabitants that do or
shall hereafter inhabit the said township, are hereby declared to be en-
franchised with and entitled to all and every the privileges and sini-
mnnities that other towns within our Province by law exercise and enjoy :
And further, that the said town bassoon as there shall be fifty families resin
dent and settled thereon. shall have the libertyfof.holding- two Fairs, one
of which shall be held on the and the other on the annually,
which Fairs are not to continue longer than the respective following;
the said and that as soon as the said town shall consist of fifty fami-
1ies,a market may be opened and kept one or more days in each week,

   

 

 

y as-may be thought mostlladvantageous to the inhabitants, Also, that the 

13

first meeting for the choice of town ofiicers, agreeable to the laws of our
said Province, shall beheld on the third Tuesday in October next, which
said meeting shall be notified by Mr. Samuel Brown who is hereby also
appointed the Modertor of the said first meeting, which he is ‘to notify and
govern agreeable to the laws and customs of our said Province 3 and that

‘ the annual meeting lforelver hereafter for the choice of such ofiioers for the

said town, shall be on the Second Tuesday of March, annually, to have and
to hold the said tract of land as above expressed, together with all privi-

leges and appurtenances, to them and their respective heirs and assigns pg

forever upon the following conditions, viz:

I. That every grantee, his heirs and assigns shall plant and cultivate
five acres of land Within the terrnof five years for every fifty acres con»
tained in his or their share proportion of land , in said township, and con-
tinue to improve and settle the same by additional cultivations, on pen-
alty of the forfeiture of his grant or share in the said township, and of its
reverting to us, our heirs and successors, to be by us or them regranted
to such of our subjects as shall effectually settle and cultivate the same.

II. That all white and other. pine trees within the said township, fit for
Masting our Royal Navy, be carefully preserved for that use, and none to
be cut or felled without our special license for so doing first had and ‘ob—
tained, upon the penalty and forfeiture of the right of such grantee, his
heirs and assigns, to us, our heirs and successors, as well as being subject
to the penalty of any act or acts of Parliament that now are, or hereafter
shall be enacted. 1

III. That before any division of the land he made to and among the

grantees, a tract of land as near the centre of the said township as the

land‘ will admit of shall be reserved and marked out for the town lots, one
of which shallbe allotted to each grantee of the contents of one acre.

IV. Yielding and paying therefor to us. our heirs and successors for
the space of ten years, to be computed from the date hereof, the rent of
one ear of Indian corn only, on the twenty»-fifth day of December annuv
ally. if lawfully demanded, the first payment to be made on the twenty-
fifth day of December, 1762.‘

V, Every proprietor, settler’ or inhabitant, shall yield and pay unto us,
our heirsand successors yearly, and every year forever, from and after the
expiration of ten years from the above said twenty-fifth day of Decemibpi-,
namely, on the twenty—fifth day of December, which will be in the year of

our Lord,1772, one shilling proclamation money for every hundred acres he

so owns, settles or posesses. and so in proportion for a greater or lesser tract
of the said land; which money shall be paid by the respective per-
sons aforesai l, their heirs or assigns, in our Council Chamber in Ports-

i mouth, or to such ofiicer or officers as shall be appointed to receive the

same ; and this to be in lieu of all other rents and services whatsoever.

In testimony whereof we have caused the seal of our said Province to

be hereunto affixed. l Witness Bsnntnae WaNrwonra,iEsq.. our Grovernori,

14 ~

and Commander-in-Chief of our said Province, the 22nd day of Septem-
her. In the year of our Lord CHRIST one thousand seven hundred and six»
‘ty-one and in the First year of our Reign. By his Exce11enc.y’s command,
with advice of Council. . . B. Wnmwonmn.

( THEODORE ATKINsoN,’Secreta.1*y.

Province of New Hampshire, September 22nd, 1761.
Recorded according to the original Charter of; under the Prov.ince Seal.

¥ Pr. THEODORE ATKINSON, Secfy.

Due North 6 Miles.

‘B.W. 

PLAN or Cnswnnmon.

‘Due West 6 Miles
jsaf;p§f‘9?j,§*e{_:[ eng 

Dne South 6 Miles.

‘ Province or New Hampshire, Sept. 22nd, 1761. «Reooz~ded" from the

back ofthe original Charter of Cestleton under’ the Province Seed, per
Tnznozoonn Axrnmson, Secretary

The names of ’ the granteee of" Oemleton, viz: Samuel Brown, Timothy
Woodbridge, Stephen Nash, John Willard, John ’1"n;y1o1-, Elihu Persons,

Josiah Jones, J oneph Woodbridge, David Pixley, Elijah Williams, Jemesvt

Willson, Stephen West, Ja.cob‘Cooper. Isaac‘Ga.1*fie1d, Isaac Davy; Isaac

. Brown, Elijah Willson, Gaffe Venoamk‘, > Isaac Ve.ncIereon, Benj. Wil1a2'dZé
Joseph Willard, Time Woodbridg-e, Jr... Mathew Cadwell, Aaron Shel-4-I

don, ..Isra.e1t Dewey, - Willm. Kennedy, Jonathan Pixly, Samuel" Brown,

J1‘-,, Hendrick‘Bnrga.t,A John Ohamberlin, Daniel Raymond», ‘Abel Rowe;
» Abner Glapp, Samuel Lee, J onathnn Nash, Danielhllen, Isaac Len:-ence,

Jr., Joseph ‘Allen, Solomon Gfleson, Elijah Bx*own,f Azamiah Williams;

V ,oMosea.Rige1ey, Joseph Pa.ttnrson, Stephen N-ash, Jam, John Oha.dhwickh,h_ Isa-no’ M

Davie, Joshua. ‘Wiwren, Jr., Sa.m1.*7Ja.ckeon, Benja. Warren, John Burgnt; ”

Semue1‘Robinson, Zack Forse, Thomas White, Benja.‘ A1vor—d, Caleb Bled‘-I

get; Joseph‘Nowmm-Ach, E»sq.“,‘ .M1<‘. I-IA. Wentworth, Eeq., Willrn. Thornton, o A
Jnmees Fnrgtuson,-,~ Wiler "Da‘.vidoon’,; Johnt‘Da.vi<ieon,j Jan1estThornton,_

‘ Mathew Thorn-ton, Josiah J ones,‘ Jr; ‘ One‘ tract fox-o*Hie“E::ee11ency Banning;

Wentworth;-Esq.,% to contain five hand’:-ed “eoresh as mamkied B..~W.; in this”

15

i"

Plan, which is to be accounted two of the within shares, one whole share
for the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts, one share for a Glebe for the Church of England as by law estab-
lished, one share for the first settled minister of the ‘Gospel, and one share
for the benefit of a school in said Town .

Province of New Hampshire, September 22nd, 1761, recorded from the
book of the original Charter of Castleton, under the Prov. Seal.

Tmsooone Arxmson, Secretary.

The original proprietors of the township of Castleton were mostly from
Salisbury, Ct.. where the meetings were held up to Feb. 27, 1770, when
that meeting was ‘adjourned to be held at the house of Col. Amos Bird of
Castleton, the 27th day of May next. at 2 o’clock p. In.” At the same
meeting it was voted : “That every proprietor of the township of Castleton
‘shall have the privilege of pitching one hundred acres to each right in the
said township ; provided he lays it in a square form and not less than
fifty rods wide, which shall be the 4th division.”

‘"Voted--That there be a draft for the above mentioned pitch, and one
pitch made every day-—Sundays excepted-—~—and the let pitch to be made on
the first day of May next, and every proprietor shall pitch according to his
draft, except he shall neglect to make his pitch on the day which he draws,
which if he does, he shall forfeit his chance to the next draft, so that every
proprietor shall have a chance of making his pitch on the day he draws.”

Accordingly 44 pitches were made in the 4th Division. Other pitches were
made subsequently, but some of the early records have been lost and other-

wise dilapidated so that the titles of some pieces of land in town cannot be ‘

traced back clearly to the grantees.

The first recordwe have of this Island, found in the town clerk’s office of
Castleton. is in a deed from Samuel Brown to Jesse Bostwick, and reads as
follows :

Know all men by these Presents I Samuel Brown of Stockbridge in the
County of Berkshire in the PPOVIIICE: of the Massachusetts Bay in New
England Gentle: for and in Consideration of the Sum of Eighty Pounds
Lawfull money of Said Province paid me by Jesse Bostwick of the Same

Town County and Province aforesaid Yeoman the Receipt whereof I Do

hereby acknowledge have Given Granted Sold and Confirmed unto him the
Said Jesse Bostwick his heirs and assigns forever all the Right Title and
Interest I have of in and unto Twenty full Rights or Shairs, of a Township
Called and Known by the Name of Castleton Lying in the western part of
the Province of Newhampshire Lately Granted to me the Said Samuel
Brown and others which Said Twenty Rights or Shairs I now hold by Vir-

tue of Purchas of the Orignal Grantees of Said Township (Viz) Timothy Wood— 

bridge Esqr. Stephen Nash John Willard Josiah Jones Joseph Woodbridge
David Pixley James Willson Stephen West Jacob Cooper Isaac Garfield

16

Isaac Davice Two Rights Cufi'e Vanschaick Isaac Vandeuser Joseph Willard
MaDthewjD4‘Cadwell Aaron Sheldon Israel Dewey William. Kenedy Jonathan
Piigiely yEach.,a_nd Every. of the above named Persons being Original G1-an—
tees as bythe ‘Charter Given of Said Township may fully appear Reference
thereto b.ein_gphad.j T W

l- To Have andlto Hold the Said Granted and Bargained Premises with
all the Pirevilegesand apurtinancesthereof to him the Said Jesse Bostwick
toil .h-is Heirs and assigns forever.._to his and their only use Benefit
andp;-Behoof forever So that Neither I myself Heirs ortiassigzis nor
any of the above named Original Grantees or their heirs or assigns
nor any Person or Persons Claiming,2f1'om by or under me or them Shall
not ever have any Right Title 01 aim or Interest or Demand therein by
Yirtue of any act or acts already had or Suffered whatever In Witness
whereof_ I have he:-eunto Set my hand and Seal this Twenty Second Day
of august in the Third year of his Majesties Reign Anno Domini 1763.

» Samuel Brown and Seal-

" Signed Sealed &: Delivered In Presents of us John Bostwick Abraham

Brown. , I

"A Burkshire ss Novbr 1 ; 1763 Personally appeard the within Named Sam-
uel Brown Sealer of the within Instrument and acknowledged the Same to
be his free act and Deed for me Timothy Woodbridge Justice Peace

I Received April 12 A: D 1783 and here recorded Test Brewster Higley
Register. -

The foregoing deed covered a large tract of land east of Lake Bomoseen
and included the large island therein. On Sept. 2nd 1763, Jesse Bostwick
conveyed the sameto “A.mos Bird. of Salisbury, Merchant in the County
of Litchfield and Colony of Connecticut.” '

On the “5th day of November in the Ninth Year of his Majesties Reign,‘

Anno Domino 1768,” Amos Bi:-d,jhad this large tract of land containing‘
one thousand and five hundred acres accuratelyi surveyed, anddeeded to
Benj. Hopkins, of Armenia Precinct in Dutchess County and Province of
New York... _ I _ ' V S, D 
,4 On the “First day of November in the fourteenth year of his Majesties
Reign,yA. D., 1773,?’ Benjamin Hopkins ideededya parcel of land (including;
the island but not inentionieng it.) No.6, containing five hundred acres, to
Jedediah Dewey, of Bennington, in the Province of New York. d

On the 23d day of Angust17’74. Jedediah Dewey deeded the same '

piece of land to Benjamin Hulburd, oi; Bennington, in the Province of New
 On the 6th day of September 1782,. Benjamin I-Iulburd deeded the same
to Robert Mason, of Simsbury, in the Statyepof Connecticut. D S M.‘  
it On the 11th — day of January .1794, Robert Mason. deeded the Island to
George Reab, of Pownal, in the Countywof. Benninygton and State of V,ex:-.
mont“. Consideration, eight pounds, lawful money. , .‘.‘One:certain island
situated lying and ‘being in Castleton Pond, bounded by said pond ___shaped

-4

_*;“:..’i

17

as follows : Beginning at a white oak stump on the southeast point of said
island, thence north ~ 19 degrees east on the east side thereof. twenty-six
rods to a hemlock tree, thence on the said east side north 2 degrees east
twenty—eigl1t rods to the north—east point thereof, thence north '74 degrees
west eighteen rods to the northwest point thereof, thence south 21 degrees
west twenty-nine rode on the west side thereof, thence-south 3 degrees west

‘ sixteen rods to the southwestzpoint thereof, thence south 60 deg1'ees least

twenty‘ rods to the first bounds begun at, containing seven acres and thirty
rods of land he the same more or less.”

This is the first separate conveyance of the island unconnected with the
land on the eastern shore.

Certain other pieces of land on the eastern shore having come into the
possession of George Real), by separate deeds, he deeded them together
with the island, on the 27th day of May, 1797, to Marshall Jones. of Adams,

in the County of Berkshire and comrnonwealth of Massachusetts.

On the 28th day of March, 1801, Marshall Jones" deeded the western por-
tion of the "Mason or Reab farm” to “Samuel Shaw of Castleton, County
of Rntland and State of Vermont, Physician.” The island probably was
intended to be included in this deed but no mention was made of it.

Dr. Samuel Shaw having died, a portion, if not all, of his property
fell to his son, Henry Shaw, of Lanesborough in the County of Berkshire
anclState of Massachusetts. J A

On the 28th day of May, 1832, Henry Shaw, of Lanesborougli, in the
County of Berkshire, and State of Massachusetts, deeded to John Meach-
ELIII, of Castleton, Rutland County, Vermont, a certain tract of land de-
scribed as follows: “Bounded on the west by the pond, called Castleton

"Pond, on‘the north by land owned by ‘the Granite, on the east. by land

owned by John Mason 2d ; on the south by land owned by
Noah Hoit, Joseph Smith and James Smith, being the land. deeded by
Marshall Jones to my father by two seireral deeds the one dated March
28th, 1802, the other dated May 21st,‘ 1814, except one hundred acres since
sold by him to John Mason, 2d, and also the lot bought of David Shepard
and A. M. Shaw, and also a lot bought of‘ Thomas Gault, of twenty-three
acres, and also the island in said pond, intending; hereby to convey all the
land lately owned bymy father Samuel Shaw deceased, On Which Willi”-In

V Smith now lives in said Castleton, containing five hundred acres he the

a

same more or less.” . ~‘
On the fifth day of September," 1836, John Meacham deeded the island

to S. H. Langdon, of Castleton, Rntland County, Verniont. Consideration , _

fifty dollars. Description, as follows: “ Acertain piece or parcel of lland
lying‘ and being in Castleton Pond, so called, in the: town of Castleton
aforesaid and denorninated the Island lying south of Cedar Mountain, east
from Grains Briggs, north from the Indian Fields and west from the Shaw
farm, containing six acres, more or less.”

, On the 22d day of February, 1860, by virtue of an execution issued by J
the Rntland County Court, the Island under the name of “Chowder Is-

18

land,” together with several other parcels of land passed into the hands of
Thomas J. Ormsbee, administ1ia,to1- ofthe estate of Julius O. Drake, late‘ of
Custleton. ‘The decision having been rendered ntthe September term 'pre-
vious. H O A i .

_ On the 7th day of,Septemb_er, 1860, Thoinas J . Crznsbee a.e,administ1'eto1-
of the estate of J u1iusAO Drake, deeded “Chowder Island situated in Lake
Bomoseen,” to Robert R. Drake, of Pittsford, Rutland County, Vermont, for

the consideration of oneihundred dollars.

On the 18th day of Jnnuztry, 1869, Robert R. Drake deeded “EL certain O

piece orpercel of land situated in Lake Boznbazine and commonly celled
and known as “Chowder Island,” containing about five acres” to Henry
Lengdon; of Cestletou, for the consideration of one hundred dollars.

Onthe 26th day of Jenualry, 1869, Henry Leng_,rdon deeded the Ielunfd
to Selnh  Lengdon, of Castle-ton, a. former owner,‘ for the consideration
of one hundred dollars. O i A

‘_ On the 26th day of December, 1877, S. H. Lztngcion deeded “at certain
piece of land in Cestleton ; heiuj-,;- an Island or parcel of land in Cnstleton
Pond or Lake Bomoseen. end cilenominztted or called the “Island,” for the
consideration of seven hundred end fifty dollars, to John A. Legget.t, of
Dorset, County of Benning-ton and State of Vermont. Reserving a.m;l ex-
cepting, however, during the life of sa.i<.:l S. H. Lzitngcicin, the use of twenty-
four rods of ground, at the north end of said islzmd, lying south of the buy
or inlet, being four rods wide on said hey nnd extenc itig south eix rods.

John A. Leggetti, having become it ba.nkrupt, the island toigetl1e1- with _

his other property, went into the huuxls of John W. Cr-e.-tmptorx, of Rutlend,
Vt. , as essignee, on the 18th day of Septernber, 1878.

On the 12th day of October, 1878, John W. Crnmpton, essignee of John
A. Leggett, deeded the isl2;un<“1 to George W. Chaplin, Jr., of Rutln.nd, Vt.,
for the consideration of seven hundred dollars. '

On the 4th day of November, 1878, George W. Chaplin, J r., deeded one
undivided half of the island to John W. Cmmptorz, for the consider:.~1.tion of
three hundred and fifty dollars, mentioning; the reservation to S. H. Laugw
don.

On the 11th day of September, 1880, John W. Crannpton and Greorge W;
Chaplin, Jr., gave a. quit claim deed of their interest in the island to Jane
Barker, of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York," mentioning the reservation
of 24 rods of the north end to S. H. La.ng'don. ' -

Robert R. Drake, of Pittsford, ,Vt., for the coneidemtion of one hundred
dollars, deeded the the island to Robert 131. Dreke, of Pittsford, Vt., on the
11th day of January, 1878. The deed was received zit the town clerk’:-I
office at 4 o’clock and 40 minutes of the same dny. The deed given by
Robert R. Drake to Henry Lengdon was given J enuexvy 18th, 1869, but was
not received at the town clerk’e office [for record until J enuery 12th, 1878,
at 3:30 o’clock, p. rn. ' O O ‘O * l J J J .

19

INDIAN HISTORY;

Almost nothing is known of the Indian history of this locality beyond the
fact that they were known to wander about here when the whites first
came to explore this region.

Stone implements have been, and are still found not only upon the shore
of the lake but upon the shore of the island and neighboring hills. Some stone
hoes show that they once cultivated the island and meadows around the
lake ; morters and pestles indicate that they had corn to grind and roots
to pound. Net sinkers, spear points and arrow heads, show that they must
have lived by fishing and hunting, with ingenuity to spin fibrous barks and
weeds into thread and tie them into nets. The large quantity of heating
stones found in clusters along the shores and in the meadows, would in-
dicate that they cooked their food by heating stones and plunging them
into water, and it is very probable that they made maple sugar by the
same method. T ‘ ‘

Stone celts, gouges, knives and cleavers are found in abundance. Also
hammer-stones or stones for cl:-essirrg other hard stones for utensils. The
plain south of the island, known as the Indian Fields, was a great
resort for some tribe for a long period, both in summer and winter. In
the former season, when the water was low in the lake, they came down
fr om the higher plains and built fires and cooked their food upon the peb-
biy beach. Specimens of the fire burnt stones can now be found along
the shores. Even the stones with which they used in striking fire, I have
picked up recently. The communication between the island and shore of
the lake must have been quite frequent and afforded them much pleas-

’ nre. I dare say that some of their old canoes will be fished up from the

sandy bottoms of the lake. But these tribes have all passed away without
leaving tiny legends, or names to any hills, streams, ponds or islands.

HOUSES ON THE ISLAND.

The first house that was built on Lake Bomoseen for the accommodation
of the public, was built by S. H. Langdon, Esq., of Castleton, in 1835, a
few rods north of the southern extremity of the island.

It was a one-story building of a rough boards 13 feet square. The lurn-
ber was taken over in a fioatfropm Mason's Point and the building erected
in one day. It was built to accommodate pleasure and fishing parties
free. Mr. Langdon being in the foundry business had some iron cooking
utensils cast to furnish the house with. which were also free, provided the
party who used them should wash them before using.

The same year, an ice house was built near by,‘ and filled every winter
for several winters by the same gentlemen. The ice was free to all visitors
during the summer. Mr. Langdon usually made a bee in filling this ice
house; he furnishing dinner and two gallons of rum, and had plenty of
volunteer help from Castleton to fill the house in one day. And like the great
conquerer. ‘ ‘Who wept that there were no more worlds to conquer,” they
mourned that Mr. Langdon had no more ice houses to fill. Several years

subsequently, these houses were burned down, it is supposed, by an

incendary.

20

In 1878, John A. Leggett built the two-story house, now standing upon
the island, and has been since further improved by Mr. A. W. Barker,
who erected another neat little cottage on the southwest promontory in
1880. He also has beeutified the grounds by cutting out the l.'lI1dBI‘-
brush, and building a. road wide enough for two to Walk abreast complete-—
ly encircling the island. ‘

i   wees arse ISLAHD WAS onelmeo.

lWhen Mr. Mason cleared the island in,e.bout.1790, it was covered with a.
heavy growth of Hemlock and Oak. I-Ie out down the trees, set fire to the
brush and burnt everything- that would burn, but the logs remained to de-
c»a.;y upon the ground. He planted it to Indian corn and in the succeed-
iogeutumn took his hogs over to do the harvesting, as Well he to feed up»-
on the acorns ; they become homesick and etteoopted to swim eorose to
their home on Meson’s Point. On their way over they cut their own
throats with their she:-p hoofs and bled to death before reaching the shore.

Mr; Meson was at very, picfius men and enytertained many superstitious
notions. He eeid he would never again eegt the fleeh of any e.nima.l guilty
of committing euicide, and adhered to his resolution. He afterward kept
Sa,t*o:rda.y instead of Sunday as a. day of rest. "

The island was again allowed to grow up to bushee and no use was
made of it, until 1810. when it was again ioleezrexl by ' the Shows. The
trees were mostly white oak and white bit-oh, mixed with efew others com-
mon to the main land, and many had grown to at great size. 1111811. the
island was sowed to wheat ; in 1812 to rye ; in 1813 it was’ planted to
Indian corn, with the exception of the east x~idg;e which was sowed to }.“)62tS.
In 1814, another crop of rye was raised on it. After that it was put into

gross and used for posturing eheep. At length weeds’ and bushes oseert- _

ed dominion over  and has never since been cleared. ‘ These footed I ob-
tained from Archibald C. Show; now a. resident of Costleton above eiglity
years of age, and who helped clear the Island. ‘
Attempts have been made at Vzwious times. to use this Island for p3.8l)u1‘-
ego, but when hogs, cows. oxen and ‘horses were left alone upon it would

plunge into the water and swim to the main land. Even the present ocou’- .

pent’s cow has repeatedly left those enchanted groves for the freedom of
the neighboring shores. ”‘ . d
When Mr. Show owned the Island and lived upon Masorfe Point, he
made 991‘!-’~fl3 Of 1035!: .COVe1‘ed it with plank a_Iid used. it for ferrying acme
his teams and produce for several yeere. He a.fterwa.rds built a..feri*y boot
for the same purpose, The loot crop of corn raised on the Island was not
gathered until the lake had frozen over the succeeding; winter; *
it me 3:-1o’s MONUMENT. i

Oh the eoutheaet'Cztpe*y of the Island, at small mmiblehmooyutnent was .

*'.lZ*his Cape is called oops TAGIICANNAC’ or otvAe~e.oANNAo POINT. It is it

oorruptionot‘ the word TACONIC. Prof._(3. B. Adams, of Middlebury College in the —

“ Seoond'.A.nnua.1 Report on the Geology of V"ex-moot,»18-t6."«g*ivesthe following defini-e

» tion : “ Taoonolo is-an Indian name ot at range of mountains next W'est of the Green’

’ Mountains in Southwestern Vermont and lVIttSSal0l1I1Seifl2S, now applied to the rooko

next west of the G»reen'Mo’untaine.” " Thislbeeutifol rocky point belongs to that goo»

_ .1ogioa.l formation and the term seems to be wonclefull a . ~ " t . A‘ th» Pl: Ci
of NESHOBEES a. preached from the South ’,l'.‘.9:GH .A§‘}i’\%.gI{i}11i**é)31NCP§eteentl:,~3oIi1t

/1. pi-ominently to the esttsr.ard._ V 

  21'

erected in 1876, to the memory of a. re1nstrh:a.ble pig, the property of Chas.
Gr. Child, Eeq., of Shefiield, Mess. It has since been deeeomted by some

‘ mthlees hand who has defaced the inscription. The following extracts

from Mr. Child’s letter will give the historyof the circur.osta.nces :

> SHEFFIELD, Mess, June 19, 1881.
D12. JOHN M. CURRIER—-—--

Deco" Sir :-~—-«You:-s_ of the 16th instant came duly to hand, and in reply
would say tl’lé‘t'(;(lL1l'l1‘1g'tl"1e Centennial there was a. Legion formed called
the Centermiel Legion, composed of one military company from each of
the original "1“hi1*teen States, to make a pamtde on the Fourth of July, at
Pliilaclelphie. The Old Goamrl, of which I was a. member, represented
New ‘£01-lsz, and I went with them. We, the old gua.rde, entet'ta.inod the
southern oompmiies in New Yorht, and Mr. William Eoziereon B£Ll{8I', of
Boston, had e.rro.ng~ed for our Southern brethren an encexnpment at his
czotmtry placer1ea1'tl’1a.t city (Welesley), end hie «committee come to New
York to receive them, insisted that a. delegetiori of our committee should
go with them to Boston. About six of the Old Guards went. It was a.
:roya.l ofi‘air and 1:1»:-stezi one week, after which we all returned home. At
the last dinner, at each. plate “on the table lay 2-2. glass bottle, eliztped
like it pig, filled with bmmiy; there was none at mine, but during‘ speooh-
lllftlilllg a.fte1' dinner, I twee piesented with at hemztifol basket boquet, zip»
pamently, but upon opening it, was found to oontein two. live pigs. Pigs
were a. greet hohl">y with Mr. Baker ; his pi,5.;g~ery alone cooling some five
thousztnd clollm's; who:-e he kept all laincle, and this ' breed of which he
presented me 8. pair. was given to him by the Queen of En_:'1e.nd ti. few

year's pvevious, anal was of the famous. Berltehire breed. I had these

pigs sent by express to Ceetleton ; one was srnothered and the other was
kept at friend La.ngdon’e. ‘ One day W. F: Bixhy photographed it ‘for me,
e.f’te:° which it died ; what was the cameo none of us know. I hetd it buried
up on the Ieleod in the lake ; on the tombstone‘ was put : FRATERNAL
WELCOME A Pro DIED Boxxsume, The meme “~Fr2tte1'nal Wel-
come” was from Mr. Ba.l<er"e fete, which wee called that. It wee my in»
teotioo to have raised here and sent during the fell following a. young‘ pig

   

to each of the cooipehies who were present at the fete, so have a. sort of a.‘

bztrbztcue or reunion, but like many other plane, it tailed.

I wooldosey here that tliis fete of.Mr.. ,Ba.1-kerhs who a. ‘‘big thing.” It ‘

cost him’ some $25,000, and Wes l'1eI‘a.ld<:.‘<.‘l. all over the south, (the affair,
not the cost), and was, Ihelieve," the means of doing 3. greet clettl of géood
towards “heztliog- the breach,” ate this was the first instance of southern
noilitai-y visiting‘ the north sinoethe woo.-.0 , . p _

The Weel1ix1gton' Light Infantry, . of Cherleototo, represented South

0 Carolina; Fayettsvillo Independent Light Iofa.n'try, of Feyettsvillo, North

Oerolirza. ; Norfoll: Blues, Virginia, and others I‘ cannot think of just now.
_ i =4: as: an * 2:: pa: _ as . as as an as b :1:

‘Haetily Yours Respectfully, .
'0 V l Ox-us. Gr. CHILD.

The remeios of the pig‘ were put intoe. casket and taken to the Ielaaid

’ fo1*hu‘ria.l. John Dooleo,” John P; Ryan,’ Jarxiesl J. Sweeney. and William 0

H. Burke, acted as bear-ere. Their, services were paid for in cigars and
. p whiskey. Thema.::-ble mvonoment was ‘engraved by T. Smith Sherman.‘
Mr. Langdon,, referred ‘to by Mr. Child, was at the .Centent1ia.l in ’ Philge-‘

delphia. when gthe pig died, when he lreturried, as his old ’o1~onilee“,f1-amed

, the story, he took his pmyer book and a. bottle? of 'Ia.gfer., went ovexj toxthel 10
Alsland and read the Episcopal, bx:u~ia.l servioe over the pig~’s gra.ve.. , t "

22

‘anions Alto Boariasir.

Every surnmer resort in rural dish-”i'cts, whether of inountain, river, lake
or mineral springs, has its guides peculiar to thein‘se1'v'es, and are noted
characters. ’l‘ravelers and strangers accost them by their Christian
names ; thelr stories are learned before they themselves are known. "They
are always genial and obliging; ever ready to do you a favor without ‘ex-
orbitant charges. Strangers treat them with respect and familiarity.
Everybody wants to hear their stories, not to learn anything, but to hear
them fresh from the lips of the original narrator. "They always have some
pet stories to relate when aslted. These stories have all been trimmed,
spliced, straightened and polished to suit the ears of summer travel.

No sooner isaparty seated around the camp fire, or lunching upon

some half way rock than they begin to demand a rehersal of their stock of T

stories.

As the cooling waters ‘of Lake Bornoseen, its shady groves and rocky
shores are becoming more noted, its '-boatmen andvfilshermen are ripening
off their stock of stories for the market of city boarders, equal to any
watering place in New England. “Jack” Parsons is a neat and handy
man with the oars ; he has resided all his days on the shores of the Lake;
knew when it was called Castleton Pond ; he knows every “sucker h‘ole,’i'
and the “best place to dig bait.” He once testified in court about the
depth of mud near the Johnston bridge that he “run a ten foot pole, twenty
feet into the mud.”

But the best story he tells  his fish story, and runs about as follows:

i “Many years ago he went over to the Island fishing; among the necessary

 

 

artic’es for the expedition, he took a gallon of whiskey along with him.
After fishing a while, he thought he would take a drinl: ; he took up the
jug and it slipped into the water down deep out of sight. The rest of‘ the
day was spent in trying to fish up his dear companion, but was un-

successful. Others. subsequently, on learning of the prize beneath the

waves, tried their luck at fishing, but were equally unsuccessful.

The cork. being lighter than water floated to the surface; a small fish
descended into the jug and began to feed on its contents; it rapidly grewin
size, and. at length was imprisoned for life in earthen walls. “Jack” often
fished over this spot because he fancied he could smell the breath of his
departed friend upon the surface of the Lake. Ten years afterwards he
was at this spot fishing, and happened to let his hook drop. directly into
the mouth of the ju-g. The fish that had been so long without anything
but liquid food, seized the bait immediately. "Jack" pulled hard at the
line ; at first he thought he was hold of a root. but another pull brought it to
the surface, and he had the exquisite pleasure of again be-holding his favor-
ite jug. He tipped it up to pour out the water and discovered therfish which
exactly filled the jug, excepting one glass of whisky that had not been
used up by the fish as food. This he poured out and drank to the health

of N epture, who so miraculously rrestoredtohim his jug-iaud had given.

him a fish, bulk for built, equal to his whisky.

How should he get the fish out and not break the jug, was the next
question. He drew his boat upon the beach, set his jug upon the sand,
kindled a fire around it, steamed his fish in the few remaining drops of
wh Isky. When it was cooked he sat upon a rock and ate his dinner with
a cork-screW. , '

Dr. A. T. Woodward of Brandon, delivered the following
reminisences of Lake Bomoseen: _ V

When I was told that it was your purpose to celebrate this day at Lake

’ Bomoseen, on whose placid waters and lovely shores I had dreamed away’

so many idle hours of youth. I was so much elated by the anticipated
pleasure it would give me to be with you, that I impulsively promised
some remarks on the occasion, in the line of reminisences. ‘If the time
allotted did not caution me, I should, notwithstanding, have observed the
the poet’s sage advice.
' A “Ay. free, on“ han’, your story "tell, ‘
When wi’ a bosom crony; f I I
But still keep something to yoursel’
Ye’l1 sacarcelyl tell to any." . V

For fear of betraying myself into telling all I do know upon this point.
Many years have gone by since the people of Castleton adopted this child
of beauty, claiming it as one of the most charming features in the physical
organization of their town, and I am glad to know that they have finally
decided to christen it at this time. And I wish the idea of christening-
had been carried still further that a new name, and anappropriate one
could have been given to the lake as well. I

The inhabitants. residing upon the borders of this lake Whose opportu-

nities for observation cannot be impeached, aflir-In that this island has oc-
cupied its present site for centuriesw-and that its existence, during this
long" period, as an island, is due wholly to the presence. of neighboring
waters»--—and it was discovered at an early period, that there was vastly
more water to the acre, in some places than in others. Notably so on the
west side of the island, where, as I was ‘informed and believed “in youth, it

was bottomless. ‘Very likely this Sabbath school story is puzzling the

wits of some of the boys of the present.

I remember very well how I puzzled over this story, and I now say, that.
if it is really true what a misfortune had this island been posted only a
few rods westward of its present position. A submerged island, however
unique and picturesque, would furnish very moist standing ac-.ccomrn'oda~—
tions for a 4th of July picnic party. . Occupying its present position for so
long a period it may be safely conjectured thatit was once the favorite
haunt of the native American, who sometimes came here on the sly, surely
if he had any of the sentimentality that marks the pale-faced youth, to I
woo his forest maiden. There is no positive proof that this place was
ever ‘decorated with a Wigwam. I shall not say that it ever was. I What I
do maintain, is, that if there ever was a wigwam on this islandit would
be in the usual order to assume that curling smokecould have beenseen
issuing therefrom, A Wigwam without the conventional curling smoke,‘

24

would not be tolerated by the student of Cooper for one minute, and any
historian who shall ever attempt to palm of such a fraud upon a reading

public-, will run great risk of departing early, by the assistance of a justly .

indignant people.- .

The island and opposite shores, and especially that region known as the
“Indian fields,” have yielded a fair return in stone arrow-heads, spear-
heads, pestles, «etc., etc., to the explorer after Indian relics. For centuries
the savage held quiet and sole possession of this whole region. Peaceable
and contented to eat the game he had captured---without giving athought
to con_.g~ression-al.matters or state rights. This was before Bourbon was
discovered.‘ . fl . h

The first white man who set his white ash A sails upon these waters, or
grounded his Cl1lg'~O1.1l‘ upon the island beach. (if I am correctly informed,)
was Hart Langdon. After diligent search in gazeteer and cyclopaedia, and
many inquiries of old settlers, Iam forced to credit I-Iart with the honor
of discoverer and first settler of this charming spot. If hereafter it should

. be shown that this statement is not wholly true, I shall be sorry for the

truth, as this version is in perfect harmony with my early impressions, and
I am sure it will be satisfactory to every person in Castleton, unless he be
some incredulous nobody. '

We find that H art was not the lone occupant, but that others came from
time to time, until a goodly colony grew up, composed of men whose
‘names may be familiar to some of you who are present to-day. Conspicu-
ous among whom were Jim and Jule Drake, Dave Wilkinson, Bill Col-
lourn, Jule and Staver Buel, Bill Bansier, Tin Tously, Jack Goodwin and
many others, equally renowned for numerous and uncertain exploits. For
years this colony claimed all the rights and privileges of the squatter, and
if I mistake not, bagged all the? game and absorbed all the fun of the day.
They never cultivated the soil to any great extent. Almost the only crop
raised was cane. genera11v- No very great battles were waged during
this period, still it istrumored that a great many bi-oils were gotten up,

' "which, however, the participants inanaged to put downuin a satisfactory

way. ‘The first building erected to provide in any way for the visitor’s
comfort, was an ice»-housed which furnished cool comfort indeed.

It has been intimated with surprise and astonishrnent that evil spirits
have been seen tohover about the island. Some friends once tried to .nake
me believe this story, by telling me Where some of the horns appertaining-,
could be found. T _ - T ‘

At this stage my memory dulls. We have from youth been a frequent
“visitor of this lovely island, and have spent our happiest hours upon it.
The day and night have both found us the same constant admirer. Here
“we have watched with unceasing-pleasure the purple twilight deepen into
the dark shadows of niidnight, ‘and have, with increasing emotion seen the

h gray of dawn mingle its light with the black depths below. The emotions

«inspired by early associations and the presence ofthis charming spot can-
not be better expressed than by the lines of the lamented Ludlow, in an
apostrophe to the Hudson. T

25

“Oh, most noble river, what hast thou not been to me? In childhoodthy
ripples were the playmates of my perpetual leisure. dancing up the sandy

stretches of thy brink and telling laughing tales of lif'e’s beaming spray
and sunshine In after years the grand prophet of a wider life, thine ebb

sang chants to the imperial ocean. into whose pearly palaces thou was --

hastening, and thy ‘flood brot’ up the resounding history of the infinate sur-
ges whence thou hads’t returned. It is not thine to come stealing from
runnamed-fountains of mystery, nor to crown thy sublime mountains with
the ruined battlements of a departed age ; but more than Nile hath God
glorified thee, and nature hath hallowed thy walls with her own armorial
bearings till thou are more reverend than Rhine. On thy guarding peaks ~

Antiquity sits enthroned, asking no register in the crumbling monuments,

of man, but bearing her original scepter from Him who first founded her
domain beside thy immortal flow.” ’

A. N. Adams of Fair Haven delivered the following historw

ical address:
M". President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Rullcmd County Historical Society : N

Convening as we do here to-day on, the shores of this beautiful lake,
surrounded by these green hills, to celebrate the declaration of our na-
tional independence, of July 4th, 1776, an hundred and five years ago ;,
is it not well for ‘us to take into account also and to consider that other
declaration, not so noted in history perhaps, but memorable to us and no
less interesting, made a little later in form but conceived equally as early
in the spirit; that of the convention of Green Mountain Boys at West-
minster on the Connecticut river, Jan. 17, 1777.(?) That declaration reads
as follows: i
' “This convention, whose members are duly chosen by the free voice of
their constitnentsin the several towns on the New Hampshire Grants, in
public meeting assembled, in our own names and in behalf of our constit-

uents, do hereby proclaim and publicly declare that the district of te1"I’i'f',

tory comprehending and usually known by the name and description of
the New Hampshire Grants, of right ought to be, and is hereby declared
fc:revex- hereafter to be, considered as a free and independent jurisdiction
or state ;' to be forever hereafter called, known and distinguished by the
name of N ew Connecticut, alias Vermont. The inhabitants are declared
entitled to all the rights, privileges, and immunities of the inhabitants of an
of the free and independent states of Ame:-ica,the same to be __regulated
by a bill of rights.” t 1 i . I ' 4 
It is not easy, I am aware, for us at this distance, in the midst of the
wonderful and changing scenes of our modern life, to realize the condition
of things which existed in this territory, up and down these bills and val?-
Ieys of this western slope of the Green Mountains, at the time this declare
ation was made. = , g V . l .. V N
Bennington had been chartered by the governor of New Hampshire as
early as 1749, but no attempts at settlement of anynote appeartoyhave

‘been made, either there or other-where. on the west side of the mountains,

 

25

untilaftexjthe close of the French war in 1760. -- Cl.‘-t',he_ s‘ett1e_1nent. of Ben-

ningtonhbegan in the spring of 11761, and from‘ that tinge ‘(>nvea1~_=rl,the1'e was.

Ia, coneideia-ahleluiniznigration into various looalbitieelIwithin our go'odlIy‘_landh..
_0VeI’ thirf-Y towns were chartered by N evv Hampshire west of the niounb”-’

taine, in,_th_e yea:-1.761.. In tthe noxjthezfn pa-i’-ts,’ toward Canada, uspncne.
twenty h_OWfl_SWB1_"e cha_rtez‘erl in 1762%and. '63. The towns. chartered in this_

vicinity were : Pawlet and Danby Aug.  ; Mt. Tabor, (the_n_'Ha;jWick.)
Aug.‘ 28th; Sh1jeW_sbu_ry, Sept.” 4th ; Clax-endon,_ Sept. 5th ; Rutland, Sept.
7th l;d ’1‘in’xnouth and Wells, Sept. 15th; Poultney,lSept. .‘3.Istl;_h1 Cas_tle.to‘n,
Sept. 22nd; 7B1‘-andon, ‘(then Neshobee,) Oct. 20th; and Wallingford Nov.

27th, all in1761 ; Sudbux-ya was chat-teretl Aug. 6th, and Orwell'Aug. 8th,;

1763; Hubhax-'dton, June_15th., and Pittsihrd. June 16th. 1764.‘ tB%eneon
and Fair Hayen.h (then including-“West Haven,)_ not until Oct. 27th, 1779;. l

1 Few of the towns besides Bennington and .d_.1‘lingt0n were much settled-

immediately following the gran‘te.—_—the‘g:1'anteee ‘we:-he pr-inciepally prop:-i~
et_ore_, not settlers. Pawlet was the lfiret town chartex-ed in what is now
Rutlandtcounty ; but Mr. I~Iolliete1~ states in his hiatoi-y, that there were
but"m'ne familieshl‘ in that town in 1770,-h-nine years after the date of the
charter ;-—afnd'eettlemente were slow untillafter the eurx-encler of Burgoyne
in ‘Ont. 1777. ' There were five families inthe town of Addison on the ‘Lake
in 1768. Fifteen persons‘ settled in Panton in the eumrner of 17,64;-s—-A rewi
pet-heone came into Shoreham in 1766. It is stated that there were less t.1ian
fifteen families in Whitingl before the“wa1~ of the Revolution, (1775.) Mxj.
"Samuel Smith moved‘ his family into B1-idport in 1773, and was the
second permanent ‘settler in th at town. A nutnber of families came into
Middlebury just before thetwar. in 1774. Ira Allen and Remember Baker
made their pitch on the Winooeki river in the spring of 1773. and there
we1'e-about forty lfamiliesvvin that region, near the lake, at the commence-
rnentof the Revolution. Besides these there does 1 not ttppw to have
‘been any other settlements or settlers worthy Wot’ me_nti'on, north‘ of the

_%p1-eeent bounds of Rulland» county, NuntiIt1774,l or just before the breaking

but of the War of the Revolution. 1 1 . 7 V M
1 Within our county the.n:1o.s,t,eonei‘derabIe early settlement was in Clareng

don andltutland, altholugh Caetleton may Vclhaimll to have ha-ll a sett1,emenft'

._the Heamelylear as Iftutland, 11770, and Col.<B7i1-d andjhloah Lee hlvieieted the
country ,two.yea1'e,befo1'e,-the.eaxn%e yea1'that'ClaI'end(Jn was settled. ’ V

.‘ 1-Clarenudon was ehartered‘ ewhlllampehire Sept. ‘ii, .1761, hutvthe set‘-
tlere of 1768 had a lease from one Capt.’ John Henry Leydinsz, an Indian

};tra.der of AIDMIY. who elaimedlto have purchased a ‘tract of land of the

..Mohawk .Ind_iansiin 1732, _and_who had had it hconfir,-‘med to him .by Gov.

Shirley of Massachusetts. in ;17,44. A; petentlwae issued by Gov. Dun»-

more of New York,‘ dated Api-il 3rd, 1771," w.hic:_h included Rutl_and, Pitts-
fordhand ,\abou,t,4fequa1'e hhilee of Cla1*end,on,'ax1d' this grantwas‘ named
“Soeialboro.” Anothezapatent issued by Gov. 'l‘ryon of New York, Jan. 7,
.‘.l'7,’7;-2. c_ove1'e7Clarendon and Walllingfortd, ;and calls ‘ tlhealplace -‘ ‘DL1rham , ” ‘ha
hfnanie “by which it was _f1fe{11_iér1_,t‘157 designated lbyhthe early in_habitante.
-,.The’ ‘,fi,1Fet settlers .llunde19,,the~L;lydi%n%e ‘title, .who,‘h.ad .-cleapeid.andiniproved

27
the lands. joined hands with one ames Duane, a New York city land-joh~
her, and p1*ocur'eyd thispatent from Gov. Tryon of New York in June 1772

1 as an ofl"se.t orldefence against the clai nants under the New Hampshire

title. This led to a violent.contest. ' ‘Duane sent a Scotchman, Will Cock-

‘ . ‘blow-n,_ to survey lthetlands i‘n"t'h,e‘ summer of 1771. He surveyed thettrnain

street running through Clarendon and Rutland ; ‘but the N ew Hampshire

, ‘men drove him off,‘ and would not allow him to finish. 1

N Rutland, too, is said to-have been granted by Lydius in 1761,'and' called

\ Fa-z‘rfieZd.l The New York claims to Socialboro on Rutland territory, do not

. A appear to have amounted to anything. When" Cockbourn attempted to
- -“survey, men dressed as In.dians threatened him, and he left. The Rntland
“settlers appear to have been frielndsof the New Hampshire title. ‘(Che first

settlement of Rntland,” says Mr. Hen:-ykl-Iall, "occurred in March 1770.”
Three children were bornfin, Rntland this year 1770,’ the first of the Anglo-

_ ”Sax.on_ race bornin ’onr_»now(._. t,1_'n-iving county seat. ' “In I770;"‘.s:tys*t Mr.

Hall; “the hesgthlanyrdt sold for a few fcents an acre, there‘ was not ‘a.twa‘gon
or bridge‘ in the towne-no g'1'lSt'_*I1'li11 nig-herthan Skeensboro"or-Ben‘ning-

1 ton. %' In ,l773,"three years later, Rutland had thirty-five families.” ‘
j _ Pittsford had+two settlers 1‘ on the’banL:s*of Otter Creek in 1769. At the
. breaking outiof the Revolution six years afterward there were “thirty fami-

‘lies in ~Pittsford. Col. Amos Bird a.nd’Noah ‘Lee had found th_eir way from

Salisbury, Conn. via Manchester; ' Clarendon} Rutland, tC1*ownl-loint and
‘Skeen‘sbnro', into Oastleton, in the spring of 1767. It is said theyjfoinndta log

' hut in Danby on their way up, inhabited by one solitary man where they

lodged over night. Col. Bu-d camped for at night oniBircl_Mo‘i1'ntain,t which
derives its name from «him. * Having built a log-cabin on the place after-

nflward known as the “_Clark farm” now Seneca Field’s, he went back to Con-

necticut for the winter.‘ Corning again the following season, 1768,t"he left Col.
Lee and a colored. man to keep the cabin and place“. Ephraim Bird,Eleazer

7 _yBa1-tholomew and Zadock Remington came with their families in_ May 1770

and were the" first and only settlers in Castle-ton, after Bird and Lee, of

- that year. “ Col. Bird built a saw-‘mill at Hydeyille, (1ong'_ca1led," as some of
usrememloer, “Castleton Mills ;”‘) In '1773"he built a grist-mill, and con-

tracting a fever, died that year, having twice sent“ to C'onn'ecticut fora

physician who visited him. 1 He wasayonntg man in his 30thly‘eatr, and

died greatly lamented‘. Between. 1770 and 1775 settlers came ‘in so fast

' lthat in 1775 there were thirty yfamilzes and 8 or 10 unmarried men in the
-town of Castleton. -

The settlement of ".Poultney did not begin till 1771. V A large number of
families came into the town in the fall of that year, but had to go to Man-

. "ch ester, thirty miles away, to procure cornwand get it ground ; a mill was

bniltat the mac village in 1776. A 7 y A 1
 Mr‘. Samuel Chm-chills settled with his family in I-Iubbardton in the
‘spring of 1775. ‘ Fair Haven, Westhaven and Benson had no settlements.

-.

_ "Thereiwereafewlfamilies in Brandon as early as 1773. 1 y Three settlers
 ,_t; onlyt were in Wells ‘in 17719; ' scarcely more than that in Ttinmonthy and
‘Wallingford ;' none that ive hear ‘of in Shrewsbury. ' B We do not learn that

W

_28

.-tfsudbury or Chittenden was settled or had sny corporate existence, prior

.‘y 1 to" the Revolution," ,

; V At. the beginning of the Revolution y there was rea,1ly1 no governnientin
this state-— The country was claimed by both New Hampshire and New
York, but the settlers acknowledged the £Lt.'tthO1‘iiy'Of neither. By the
New .York_ authorities the country on the east side of the mountains as
for as the Connecticut river, was divided into two counties, Cumberland
covering what is now Windham and Windsor, and Gloucester to the north
extending from Cumberland to the Canada line. On the west side of the
mountains they first included everything in Albany county——-Later, March
12, _177§2,' they formed at new county, north of what is "now Benniugton
county, extending‘ to Canada and including several towns now ibelongting‘

W to_New York, to wit, Skeensboro’ (or Whitehall.) Greenfie1d—-—( now Hornp-

ton)~I{iiig;csht11‘y, Fort Ann, Fort Edward, and Argyle. This new county
they named C'hCt7‘lOit6, and $l—:eenslooro’wss the county seztt, Col. Philip
Skeene being; commissioned the first j udge of the court, but Skeenslooro

twee found to be an unsafe place for the court and it was removed to Fort 1

Edws.rd——--The first session held there was in 1773, at the house of one
Put:-ick Smith. ' _

Upon the org*unizsti<)n of our state government in 1778 the whole terri-
tory west of the mountains become and constituted the county of.Benning~
ton (Feb. 11, 1779.) By not of the Grenersl Assembly in 1781. all north of
the present limits of Bennington county was made into at county by the
name of Rutlund. The petitioners who made the spplicntlizin to the Octo-
ber session of the previous year, 1780, had proposed that the new county
be named Washington; '1"he bill for its incorp(;n'ution was passed Nov. 8,

the Generrtl Assexnbly being’ at Bennington, but it was laid over by the

udvice of the Council until the next session. , At the next session, held at
Windsor, s. new bill wns passed Feb. 13, 1781, and the nmne was ntmde
Rutlomd, instead of Washington. , _ 1 ' , ,
Addison county was next tukeii oif from Rutlojnd by set of the legisla-
ture Oct. 18, 1785. Tinmouth was the county seat of Ruytlond territory
and the courts were held in also-ge log house of two rooms, one room.
being the tavern of 1 frioloinon Binghmn. The jail was roads, of logs and
stood a. mile swny. 1 l

The settlers lied purchased their lands and titles of the government of
New I-Iurnpshire, New I-Ismpshire having grztntezi u charter to Bennington
in 1749, and it was supposed that New Hampshire owned as farwestwsrd
as Massachusetts. But New York setup z~L.COLlni.t:!l*(3l£ti!nt01.bWne1‘Ship
and jurisdiction, "based on a vague grant of. Charles II to his hrother,the

1 Duke of York, snyyhundred year's before--’.l‘here was legally and justly no

title but that of settlement and possession--~Beingresistedintheir usurped
exercise oftpower over the ‘country the authorities of New York, who were
largely under the influence of speculators, an1d,ls._n-d jolohers, appealed to
the crown, and obtained, a. decision, 1 July 201, 11764, which they construed
/in their fu.vor--—E1‘nbold1ened and 1 encouraged by“ this decision Lieut. Gov-
ernor Golden , ybegsn selling. 1patents of lands which had been -p.revi"ously

* 1 ' y y w

29

g1~unted~by New I-Iempshire.‘ Bythe 1st of Nov..~1765 he had g'ra.nted
n1ilitnry.petents 1200 acres within the present limits of the county of Rut.-
la.nd,.principa,lly in Benson, Fair Haven and Pawlet. Gov} Colden was
succeeded in 1766 by Sir’ Henry Moore who continued to issue patents of
lands; in this district. The settlers sent Mr Samuel Robinson to London

with a. petition to the kingfor relief-—-l':Ie succeeding in obtaining an order

da.ted’July 24, 17 67, forbidding, in peremptory words, any further grants”

by the governor of New York of patents in the disputed territory. Gov,
l_V1ooreobeyed the order so for as to leave the people in compamtive quiet
for a time, but upon Gov. Moore’s death, which ‘occurred in Sept. 1769,
Gov. Colden again came into power, and on the pretense that the king’s
order had been misunderstood by Gov; Moore. he proceeded to issue both
civil and military grants of the disputed territory. ’ . ‘
[ Agents were sentlfx-om Bennington and Manchester to consult with the
governor of New York, but they found him fully in the interest of the city
land‘-‘-jobbers, and that he lied yalrenciy sold 26,000 acres of their best lands
in Manchester. Sunderlnnd a.nd Arlington to lawyer Kempe and others of
New York city. These speculators knew that theglnnds had been taken
up under New Hampshire charters, and that the King had forbidden any
further molestation of thepeople. Can we blame these hardy and long"
suffering inhabitants of our Green Mountains that they reeisted such outu
rage? Would we not ourselves be doing‘ as they did under like provocua
tion 2 The New York authorities assumed and undertook not only to resell
the lands nnclto enforce writs of ejectment, but to appoint civil officers,
justices of the peace and sheriffs in the noidst of the disaffected people.

From 1770 till the breaking out of the’ Revolution the territory of the
New I-'Ia.1npshire Grunts is 8» scene of perpetual conflicts with the New York.
authorities. The air is full of turmoil.. The great body of the settlers are
united in resisting the enforcement of the New York churns, but it few
aruongthern support the New’Yorl:.: ‘parties and accept oflices from the
New York government; ‘ A’ ' "V

. " Ethan Allen comes to Beunington in 1770, from Salisbury, Conn., and

takes hold with the settlers to defend‘ their clsiine. Judgments of eject»
meut having been found in the courts at Alb“a.ny,i the inhabitants in Ben-

nington unite ‘for resistance. A number of them are proclaimed as “rid”

tors." One is apprehended and carried off‘ to«Alba.ny where he'is tixnpa-is»
oned for several months. one John Munroe; at resident of Bennington but a.
justice of the peace under New.Yo2-k a.utho:rity, acting as deputy-sheriff
and assisting in the capture. The inhabitants now organize and arm them-

selves, choosing Seth Warner for captain. l l Other companies are orgranized \

in other towns. Allen becomes colonel; andthey same now andihenceforth
known as “the Green. Mountain Boys.” .Themx*e business is to enforce low
and justice.in the na.tne‘of the people and for the public good. They are 
hold, fearless setvof men, not ignorant of forms of low and methods of new

ministration. They know their rights, and stand up like men to maintain‘
\ them- By'.th_ei1'energy. pluck andflpersevel-unce after a. long tirneljithey V
win7their_ long sought prize, they conquer peace, but itieonly to leave jit,f_

8‘

30

for the most part, to their children and to us who follow them in these
green fields and pastures grand and beautiful of our goodly heritage. We
"are debtors to those noble, heroic men for the freedom of the state of Ver-
mont. ’ ” ' -

But how long and persistently they wrought? They sent agents to
the king ; They petitioned ; they waited. Committees from the
several towns met at Manchester, Aug. ‘.37, 1772, and 1 made
answer ' in a mild and conciliatory manner to a reproachful let-
ter from Gov. Tryon, dated Aug.,11th. They met again in October
when they decreed “That no person on the Grants should accept or hold
any office under the authority of New York,” and “all civil and military
oflicers who had accepted under the authority of New York were required
to suspend their functions onthe pain of being ‘m'ewecl;”’ also “that no
person should take grants or confirmation of grants under the government
of New York.” A

A number of persons in Durham and Socialboro (alias Clarendon) who
were interested in the New York claims and titles, had accepted offices
and presumed to act as the officers of New York. One Benjamin Spencer,
of Durham, whom Ira Allen, in his history, c aracterizcs as “an artful, de-
signing man” was active as a York justice and assistant judge. I-Ie com-
plained in letters to Mr. Duane of New York. in April. 177:2, that the New
Hampshire men made it unsafe for him. He was warned by a visit of
Ethan Allen and an hundred Green Mountain Boys, to desist from his ac-
tions, but as he did not but continued to issue writs against the "New
I-Iampshire men, Allen and his boys made Durham a second visit, going
to Spence1"8 house at 11 o’clock Saturday night, Nov. 20, 17 73 and taking
him into custody. They then put him under guard at the house of one
“Green” until Monday morning, when he was allowed a trial in front of
hisown house, the place being chosen by himself‘, A large number,

amounting to 130 of the Green Mountain Boys, had assembled, many, of

them with arms, to witness the proceedings. Allen made an address, say-
ing that. “the proprietors of the New Hampshire Grants had appointed

himself, Seth Warner, Remember Baker and Robert Cochran to inspect

and set things in order; and see that there should be no intruders on the
grants," declaring, among other things; that “Durham -had became a nest
of hornets, which must be broken up.”, They then held their “judgment
seat,” and, finding him guiltyof offenses charged, declared his honsea

nuisance and gave sentence that it should be destroyed. At the sugges- »
tion of Warner the roof only was taken off, upon Spencer promising not to

act further under New York.

In Nov. 1773, Jacob Marsh, a York justice of the peace of Socialboro
while passing through Arlington on his way home 1 from New York, was

also arrested and tried fox his offenses at the house of Abel Hawley. He

alleges that there were thirty persons present, that Seth Warner and Re-
member Baker were the captains and leaders of the ‘mob,’ and they ap--
pointed three men, Samuel Tubbs, Nathaniel "Spencer and Philip Peliry to
be judges. FBaker insisted that -he should be“ sentenced to receive the

31

‘flaeach-seal?”-;—b.e whipped—but the sentence of the judges was read by
Warnerand was to the effect that he should not act any further as justice
of the peace under a New York commission, “upon pain of having his
house burned and reduced to ashes,_ and his person punished at their
pleasure.” They gave him awritten certificate signed by the judges not to
meddle with him further “as long as he behaves ” On arriving at Claren—
don he found some forty or fifty men led by John Smith, Peleg Sunder-
land, Benj.Cohley and Sylvanus Brown had unroofed his house. The
New York Assembly upon petition of Benj.‘ Hough o1‘i'ered a reward of
£100 for the apprehension of Allen and Baker and £50 for either Warner,
Cochran, Sundei-land, Smith or Brown.

On March 9, 1774 the Assembly passed the noted , “most minatory and
despotic act” against the Green Mountain Boys, adjudging them “if they
do not surrender within seventy days, to be guilty of’, convicted and at--
tainted of felony, and punished with death without trial 01‘ benefit of
clergy.” . . _ A . I Y

At a general meeting of committees from the towns in April it was 1'3".
solved to arouse with united resolutions adequate to the emergency. The
proscribed persons issued an address, answering‘, that though any person
“may have a license by the law aforesaid to kill us and an indemnification

for such murder from the same authority, yet they have no ideinnification.
for so doing from the Green Mountain Boys ;” and, furthermore, we ‘will

kill and destrovany person or persons whomsoever that shall presume to
be accessory, aiding or assisting in'tal<ing any of usgy” it -  A "

Only Benj. Hough, a Baptist minister of Durham, who was a York
justice of the peace, atteinpted any further opposition or trouble to the
Green Mountain Boysm-His acts became so annoying that it was determin-
ed to silence him. On the night of the 26th of Dec. 1774 he was arrested
by a party of his neighbors and carried to Sundei-land. where, on Monday
Jan. 30, 1775, he was formally tried for his oi'l'ences, Ethan Allen, Seth

Warner, "Robert Cochran, yPe1eg Sande:-land, James Mead, Gideon Warren '

and Jesse Sawyer acting-was judges. They sentenced him “to be tied to a
tree and receive 200 lashes on the naked back‘ and to depart the New
Hampshire Grants and not ireturnoagain.’.” The sentence being read to
him by Allen, he was tied to a tree in front of Allen’s houseand whipped.
Allen and Warner gave him. at his request, a certilicate of the punish-

ment and “a free and unrnolested passport toward the ‘city of New York -
or to the westward of our Grants,” and he left to become a beggar on the ‘
streets of New York. The N ew York Assembly offered additional re" 7‘
wards for the apprehension of the judges in this trial, but we are not in— i

formed that any of them were ever caught.

on the breaking out of the Revolution in 1775_.a1l other issues were

largely overshadovyvedr and absorbed in it ; yet the .Green Mountain Boys

. did not wholly forget and neglect their civil iatfaii-s. A As Dr, Williams

says, in his history, of their conflicts with the Ne-WiYork parties, “they
had no other way of transacting their affairs than to collect together and

follow the advice of the most iactive andyambitious of their le.aders,’3 so _

32

when the British forces were approaching and they werecalled on for sup-
plies and ‘men, their only course was to meet together and agree on what
should be Clone. Of the 270 men who had ,e;athered at Castleton in May
of this year, 17 75, for the expedition against Ticonderoga, 230 of them’
were Green Mountain Boys, who had volunteered to go, and wanted Allen
for their colonel and leader. They owed no allegiance to Massachusetts
or Connecticut, and Benedict A1-nold’s "commission, under which he assay-
ed to take the command, was of no force or authority with them. except-
ing so far as they chose to" accept and acknowledge it. So, also, in regard
to civil government, they were on their own cars. By meetings of towns,
committees, and general consent and co-operation, they had got along for
several years, and having a taste of freedom and self-government,
the air of the mountains became the congenial breathing place of freedom.

The question was, what should be done? Some of the leading men went
to Philadelphia in the fall of 1775 to get the advice of Congress. On Jan.
16, 1776 a convention met at Dorset, whichpdrew up a petition to Congress
“from that part of America, being south of Canada line, west of Connecti-
cut river, commonly called and known by the name of the New Harnpshir
G‘rrants.” l_ They declare their Willingness to bear their proportion in the
war, but are not willing‘ to submit to the authority of New York, and ask. to
be called upon not as inhabitants of New York, but of the New Hampshire
Grants. Congfress did not favor them and the petition was withdra wn;

After the declaration of the 4th of July i776, New York, undertaking to
enforce the collection of rents, the old conflict was reviving. To. ascertain
what the prevailing opinion was, and what should be done in the case
a, general convention was called bycircular letters. This convention met

at. Dorset J‘u1y\24, 1776, and consisted of 51 menibers, representing 35

towns. , p

..The convention agreed to enter into an independent association for the
defence of the liberties of the country, but would not associate with either
of the counties or the Provincial COng1'eSS of New York. The convention
met again in September (25) and resolved, without a dissenting vote, to

take suitable measlut-es, as soon as may be, to declare the New Hampshire-

Grants a free and separate district.” r

on Accordingly, in January 1777, a generalyconvention of representatives
from the towns on both sides. of the niountaicsl met at Westminster on the
Connecticut river. It convened in the court house on Wednesday the 15th,
Capt. JamesBowker of Rutland, in the chair. ‘ Capt. Bowlzer and Capt.
Heman Alleniof Rutland. -and Capt. John Hall of Castleton,‘appe’ar to have
been the only delegates from the present Rutland countyterritory. The
convention adjourned till next day, (Thursday 16th,) when a committee
made report “that more than three fourths of the people in Cumberland and
Gloucester counties» that have acted, are for anew state; the rest we
view as neuters.” It was then voted, “that the district of land called and
known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants be a new and separate
state, " and for the future conduct themselves as such.” Nathan Clark,

33 -

Esq., Mr. Ebenezer Hosington. Capt. John Burnham, Mr. Jacob Burton
and Col. Thomas Chittenden were chosen a comrnitete “‘to prepare a draft
for a declaration.” ‘ V

The convention was adjourned to Friday the 17, and on that day, the
declaration. giving birth to our proud little commonwealth, was formally
reported and adopted. We are not informed who drew it ;i but it prem-
ises, as a reason and right for the inhabitants thus to act, “that whenever
protection is withheld no allegance is due, or can of right be demanded ;
that whenever the lives and properties of a part of a community, have
been manifestly aimed at by either the legislature or executive authority
of such community, necessity requires a separation.” “Your committee
are of the opinion that such has, for many years, been the conduct of the
Inonopolizing land—claimers of the colony of New Yor .” ‘

The committee refer to the resolution of Congress of the previous May
recommending to the several colonies to form governments, where none

such exist, suitable to the exigencies of their affairs; and it was agreed '

by the convention to send a statement of their ‘action to Congress and ask
for representation therein-——Cornmittees‘ of war and police were appointed
on each side of the mountains, and the convention was adjourned to meet
at Windsor on the 5th Wednesday in June following. The committee to
make the statement to Congress, were Jonas Fay, Thos. Chittenden, He-

man Allen, and Reuben Jones. ' This statement and petition was drawn

up at once, and dated at Westminister Jan. 15, 1777, the the day conven-
tion opened. It is an able and well—written, statesman-1ike document.

Thus our state became an independent republic. a commonwealth by it-
self. owning no allegiance to any other power. The contest with New
-York, however, was not yet over.’ For 14. years longer, until Feb. 18,
1791---—did these noble men struggle. and contend for the acknowledgement
of their rights and their admission into the union on an equal footing with
others.

It would be interesting to trace the history of this long.‘ patient, heroic
and statesman-like struggle. Only in Motley’s pages of the Dntch Republ
lie do We tlnd anything like it. But the limits of ‘my’ time will not admit
of even an outline. y

I rejoice with you, today,_ that we are what we are, a commonwealth
of freeman born to know our rights and to maintain them.

Mr. Rowland Walters, of C Poultney, delivered a poem in the
Welsh Language on Lake Bomoseen, written expressly for the
celebration. ‘This is the poem: ‘ i

O frynian Meirion eetron wyf,
.Yn y wlad,estronol ydvvf,-4
Yn aros mewn dwfn hiraeth pi
Ar col y Trosgol a’r Traeth.

34

7 Toi y Manod dymunol,--am ei men,

Y mac  niwl caddugol ; ‘
Anaele fyd! niwl a.’1 fol ' %
Tgw ar ysgwyddy Trosgol.

Y Moelwyn mam‘ yn mlaen Meirion--wga. AA
Ar wanegog Weigion; ' %
Hir yw ei dwf——--her ifr don
Lithro "1 sail afi throsolion.

Ni vyelaf, gar: y niw1oedd,——y Wyddfa, I
Grorseddfainc tymhest1oedd,——
Na brig yr Enig 11e’r oedd
Aruthr antur rhuthrwyntoedd.

Llawer 11yn,—--—11a.wer11anerch %
Y sydd yn de’nu‘fy serch % V
Ar orora.u’r Eryri—-

Bron hat’ yw ei hwybren hi.

% Cilio o gan y clogwynimydoedd ‘

Newidiad chwith imi 5
% Mae’r awen yn ymrewi
Ar y 11a.wr sy’n do i’r 111.

 ‘I Bomoseen bu mamas ia.

1 PW wynfwng yn ymdaen%fa,% ;
A’i wyneb :1 adwaenir K ’
Yn un cryg tebyg i’r tir.

% Ffordd ddaw a gosgordd yn gynt,---o’iwyneb,

Gwnaetlm anadl y rhewynt ;
. Cerbydap. yn gwau ’n y g-wynt,
Air don yn cysgu danynt, J

Yn ei wgni wa.nega.,---y rhew
% Dan ei droed a.’i gwasga ;
Gwisgwyd cf 2» Agwasgod ia,
A’i gwsg oer a. gwisg eira. ‘

Er hyn, daw gwanwyn yn gyhar--ga.11an ’
I’w ollwng o’1 garchar A '  " % 4
Daw hefyd 3; bywyd bar
Ddeol rhwymani y aaaear.

!

35

Grwisgir y gwiail a;dai1_ a. di.1iau   A
O fewn ei lwynydd, hyd fin ei 1ana,u; _ ‘W
A llwyni blydd gwinwydd ugeiniau, A
Acw a hongiant wrthdewf1*i,q' gangau : A %
A ch uddir ei lechweddatxgm-a"i gfmoedd,
A 1-hyw filoedd o goed per~afa.1au.' "

Y Bryniau Grwyrddion iAMeirio'i:1 wg“ydm2.raf% A A

Amhoen eu hiechyd, a.’u% tegwch mwynwychafz A

Paentix" tlysineb ax Wyneb Vtirionaf ‘ %
Tlysion lanerchi 1*-hwxjg llwyni dillynafg A

Aml wig ynllaywn tém1a.11 haf._¢1«-wyr, parthafi |

O gaerog aeliau  gra,i_g a Welaf.

I Bomoseen bu mwy sail
Yr edfyr ddyn ax‘ Aadfail 
Na llynau rhai parthau pur,‘%
I:-Iynotaf mynwes xiatur.

Ymwelwyr wrth y mi1oedd—a; dynant
I anadl ei ddyfroedd ; ‘
Grwna’n iach aml un a.'fiach%oedd
F31 yn dwro %flir1deroedd.
 Meib hael 57 Sir ymbleserant
I chwai hwy11o’2:- cwch lawer -cant ;
A’r lwvryliau i’r a._we1o11,
Oria.11’r dydd,A a. c:hwery’r%don. A

A dygir, 2irAadeg‘au,—;—a1‘eithwy1*
I f1'*ith'o Aei lana.u,—- "
A gwych gerddorion yn gwau % '
Rhif )7 ser 04 fesurau.

I’r awyr pan ddaw’r huan
I Wneyd dydd 9:1 amrant Adan,
Y digoll wych redegwr, A ‘ ‘
Ei Iun dyn am len y dwr;
A A- A rhwydd )7 tyn, ar '_ei hynt, %
Werni a.’u hafdar ayrnyvnt, % t
Y gwawl hoyW,_g1oyw, glam,

Yu ei bur Wyneb'e‘iriAa.n,

36

A chwery, yn ddrych araul A "
Ei drem, 0 lyg-ad yr haul A
Y pysg yn gymysg emau;

O’i fewn Age-ir heb rif_yr_1 gvvau;
Gwisg ‘der fel‘ gwasgod arian
Ar ei lif welir o’i Ian. 

Uwch ei ben yn wyrog,_ crog y creigiau, 1

Yn en‘fa.wr linell, yn fur i’W1a.nau ;
Ar ‘loyw adenydd ei grwydrol donau
Eu llun Welir dan Aeu hyllion aeliau
Yna. dolydd 1Ia.wn di1lau——-porfawog,

A llwyni cuweddog, llawn cywyddau.

Ei donau ar fanciau ’i fin
Gurasant y gro iesin

Oesau na. cheir hanesydd,
Yr oes hou f”W cyfri sydd.
Ba hanes tybiau henoed
I-Ieddyw wyr flwyddi ei oed?
Cawn hwn yn mhell Acyn heme: .
Yn llyn a’i awél 5711 1195

I ymwelwyr y miloedd,

A sex‘ yr hen. amser 0,8-d_d.

Ei wendon bjorthai Indiaid
A physg, ac: eto ni phaid A A
A phortlii rhyw ri o’r oes,

I’w Ian :r'o’nt ran o’r einioes. ,

Yn ei for hynt mae’n dyfrhau;
Rhywiog wlydd y gweirgloddiau ;
Ireiddio )7 fro yn fras V .
A lliw gvvymp 0110 gwmpas ;_
II-eiddio’r coed Derwyddol,-—

_ Gwylwyr 0 dwf ar glawr dol ; V
Ac 0 honynt gan henoed. A A
Oni ‘ddaeth 1-hai’n ganoedd bed? A %

 mlszen, gan droi’n melinaumgorenwog‘ A

A ranant ei flrydiau; % j
A Ac at alwad gwlad yn glam A
Y rhedanttra ceirydau. A

been on these shores and neighboring isle.

r ‘37

Dew mynor, yn dornegnydd,-4-a. llechi
Llochespddofn y creigydd,
I’r man y oeir ymenydd,.—-H-—'
Arf, eysaer, i’W ffurfio sydd.‘

i El haf olaf a Welir,—--a.’i auef
Mwyech -ni ddycbwelir ;
Yna’i feirwon a. fwrir
l Ar gael hyvnt i’W amgel hir. l

Eigion daear gen dywydd V

Ffrwydriad gwefr den rhwygafn rhydd ; M

Y graig 2. naid o’i gwregys, ‘  

A chwal ei ddyfroedi yin chwys

Iwwyneb  clogwyni ;”  i ‘ p

A gwnafr Wybr yn llwybr i’r lli’. '

O’i Wylwydd, heb 1e_ iddaw, i '

Y bryn a ddiancymewn brew ;

Ycoedgor, lle ceid cydgen,

A mewr dwrf agymer den _;

Ei le, a’i wesgewd, losgir, ,

Wedi iihaf a.’i anaf hir.

Diwedd pob peth a. neseodd,

A Duw y mab yn dweydy modd,l
l l - IONORON GLAN -DWYRYD.

Hon.iiHenry.tHall,’ of Rutla-.nd, it delivered the following ad-
dress: » i '

Some sixty years ago, at a. political dinner in’ Messy, a‘. venerable dar- \
key gave thisitoast: “G'1bhernu1' Strong: may his mantle-piece fall on the _

head of his suczcessor." Audiencei and ' speakers alike ‘perhaps to-day
need the thick armor of 3. derkie’s skull, to shield them from the mantles
and“ mantle-pieces of our predecessors, :recent and remote‘; if half the
stories of modern and ancient tradition ‘present truthful views of what has

Nearly a. quarter ofla. century has passed awayt, since the Legislature of
the state enacted a. law authorising tovivne to provide each for a. town his-
tory at the itownie expense. The town of Ca.stIet0n,‘has as yet, made no
effort, toward properly pi-esexiving: and publishing its own history ;.and
yet no town “in the state has a Revolutionary hist.ory; surpassing, or even

‘ equaling, that of this town.

38

Castleton, was the home of Col. Amos l3ird,v Col. Noah Lee and Lieut.
Elias Hall. j v i

-In Castleton, inrMay 1775, met that little, band, at Whose summons first .

Went down the British flag, before the coming "Republic. In Castleton
was planned the captures -of Skeenslooro’, Ticoixderoga and Crown Point ;
in Castleton, ‘met Ethan Allen, Seth Warner and Benedict Arnold ; in Cas--
tleton. it was, that Benedict Arnold, by virtn.e"of a"Ma'ssachusetts commis-
sion claimed to command those Green Mountain"Boys, who had enlisted
for the capture of Ti., on the express condition that Ethan Allen was to be
their leader ; it was in Castleton, that St. Clair with hisarmy and staff of
distinguished young ofiicers, camped over one night, July 1777 ; it was in
Castleton, that a British army tarried briefly; it was in Castleton, that
Burgroyne summoned Tory and Whig to meet Grov. Skeene andaccept Bx-it~
ish protection and swear allegiance ; it was in Castleton, that the Head?
quarters of the Vermont troops were located, the latter part of the Revolu-
tionary war; it was in Castleton, that the next tothe last of Vermont’s

y National legislatures met; Castleton once rejoiced in the teachings of some

of the ablest medical talent in the country. 1
The proposed naming, of V the most noted island in all thisregion, calls
attention to other local names. The origin of the name‘ of Castleton, is
found in the first paragraph of Scott’s novel, “'Pev.eril of the Peak)’
William revel-11, a son of William the 0.» q neror. fon'gl1tlat the Battle of

Hastings, was given large real estate in Derhyshire, 120 or 130 miles north '

of London, built a strong Castle over the ‘‘Devil’s C.-Ive ;” thence the
neighboring village was called, Castleton. The name was applied to this
town by George Wentworth of N. H... the collegian, ‘merch ant and politi-
cian of ancient and aristocratic Portsmouth , to whom our state is indebted
for such a choice collection of g'ood'olcl English town—names ; so far remov-
ed from the tawdry norn'enc1ature, _borrowed from the shores of the Med-
iterranean, by our louder brethren West and South.

It was your Col. Bird, that furnished a name, for that Ira mountain,‘

which is such a notable feature in the landscape, miles away.“

Your Glen Lake?-a lake rarely equaled in beauty--once rejoiced in the ‘

sonbriqnet of "Screw-Driver Pond” a name now without meaning----but

among the old hunters, a screw-driver, was a triangular shaped utensil of
' the g-unner—-—one branch was a harnrner, used to pick the flint, one hranch

was an awl for cleaning out the ‘passage fromthe lock to the inside of the
barrelgy and one a screw driver proper, for screwlng down the flint firmly‘
into its place. Such a hunter-’s screw—driver aptly designated the tr-ian~gu:a”
lar shape of Glen Lake; resembling the eqni—distant three legsi of the
rounded emblem in the coat-of—-arms of the 'Is1e of man. ‘ ‘

1 Your _r_:3rin-cipal lake has always sufi'e1-ed from an unhfappiy;namer., In
Wm_.~Blodtgett’s rnapioi1t789, it is ‘called,.- “Lakje_»Bombazon ;” iformany‘
years it was “Lake Bomrhazine” andrecentlyt:?*La.ke9Bomoseen; ;i’ all three

_ a-“bomv’*.—ins.b_lre.p nAsrCrastleton invites city vi'sito_rs7; by its othei-rattrac_-.

tions,tmay it soon rejoice in attractive names;

39

 Castleton was a favorite resort of Ethan Allen both before and after his
-captivity, both ‘before and during the Revolutionary war. I At one time,’
he was returning in the winter from ‘fTi.,” whither he had been on an

“alarm,” he .wore a new pair of snow—shoes and. they hurt his feet. I As

they reached the head of Castleton Lake, the soldiers cut down a small

evergreen tree andtinduiced him to ride thereon while they drew it on the_

ice. For some miles Ethan amused the “Boys” with stories and then
leapt off the H boughs, declaring-——or if the revised edition had I been out
then, would have declared-—~he was not goingto ride to Hades or Gehenna
on that condemned hurdle. ‘ ' I I

  NAMING THE ISLAND.

The chairman announced that the time had now arrived for
naming the Island and inquired if there were any names pro»
posed. I I a

rock and spoke as follows:

“Mr. President .- V -. ‘ , V ,

During the troublesome times between the Green Mountain Boys and
the Yorkers ‘there resided on the eastern bank of Lake Champlain with
the family of Capt. Hendee an Indian by the name of N eshobe who._es-
pousing the cause of the Green Mountain Boys became one of the most

Geo. M. Fuller Esq. of Fair Havenstepped forward upon the?

noted of scouts and spies. His knowledge of the country gave him a decided I

advantage over theNew Yorkers; still later when Burgoyne was attempt-
ing to pass from Quebec to Albany we find him lirking about the enemy
and giving the Federals timely notice of the movements of the enemy.
Indeed it was he who first gave them notice that General Frazier with a

«large number of troops had crossed the lake, and was upon Vermont soil;

having received this notice the Federals now proposed to meet the enemy

on ‘Old Hubbardton battlefield : Side by side with Allen, Baker, Warring-

ton and old Pete Jones, this noble savage "fought for your liberties and
mine. And now Mr. President that the ‘name of this noble savage may
not be forgotten, but handed down to future generations and ages, with
that of Allen, Baker, Pete Jones and others, I move that this beautiful
Island whose shores are washed by the waters of this lake. whereon in
days past he has paddled his birch canoe, be, named in honor of the noble
Indian scout Nssnonn, and may it hereafter ever be known by that
name,‘ 3 '  I it it  _ I
Prof. Abel«E. Leavenworth, principal of y the State Normal
school at Castleton, then gave the following address :

F_nLLow C11-Izn1srs.—JWhy meet we there to-day2 Do you reply, “ Our
fathers thus kept the day, and soido we 2” May we not seek for a better

, reason, one having a deeper meaning, "and onemore easily justified before

the world, and especially, at the bar of our own consciences?

404

One of the best tests of any custom is to pass it through the crucible of .

repetition. ’ If it responds ever to the wants of the body, thewrnind, or the
heart, we tire not of it. That diet which conduces most strongly to de-

velop’, in ahealthyl way,“ the’ bodily powers,’ and .th_r-ough them car-'ry't

energy to the brain and courage to the heart; never cloysa healthy:ap'—-'
petite. l ' i i "  l l " 

The Creator of the heavens andthe l earth works by constant rnethodsf”
Our hearts are today moved‘ to pleasant emotions and to exclamatious of «

delight, as we glance up and down this lovely valel’ These wooded hills
_and grassy Ineads, so beautiful in their vestments of metal," speak to us of
the wonderful changes that have come over this enhhanting prospect since
the bursting of the icy bands or winter. And yet all this is but the repe-4
tition of six thousand successive years. Why tire we not of’ it‘! It meets
our necessities. The unceasing revolutions of the-’ earth and the unvvearied

round of the seasons, bring to us, with all of their sarneness, constant oc- i

cupation and the means of providing for the Wants of life. i . _- r 4.

it "We need to be reminded of the cost of the liberty of which werso proudly
‘boast to~day.l And where can seeds of patriotism and undying loyalty be
better sown and their principles more surely inculcatecl than on this com-
memorative occasion 2 Here We lay aside all partisan feeling and ' all
political differences, and 1neet,with one h~=art and mind. upon this ground.
hallowed by heroic sacrifices, to renew our fealty to the principles. sealed
to us by the blood and sufi’e1~in.t.?’l: of our fathers. ' “ Did not our hearts
burn within us” as the speakers who have preceded me, unfolded, the
‘records of the past? ‘As At'rica’s proud chieftain led his little son to the
altar, that helrnight bind his soul with the vow of eternal enmityto Rom. e,

i solmayi these lessons from the past 1ead'us,jat Freedom's altar, to take

upon ourselves and requn-eyof our sons and daughters a vow. not less
binding becauseuntinctured by the spirit bf revenge. of eternal fealtyl to
theipi-incipleslfo1'. which our martyredheroes gave .11pithei1*1iiVes...' Be this
our solemn vow ': It shall never be said they died in min. i l V. y .

 Aredeemeci race.“ lifted by theinsaorifices from thraldom ‘to’ freedom,
shall ever chant their praise andlhonor their 7% service}; thousands ryet uné

’ bornishallpdevoutly thank heaven" that the "flag ouryifathers defended still

floats over the “land of the free; and the home’ of the l brave.” vIts em-
blematic colors ‘shall e‘verbrighten with the lessons they teach,---thered
'gro_wing toya scarlet ‘dye, as it, reminds them of the blood that -flowed so

i freely a country to save; the bluecausing them to turn theireyee ever to the

azure vault above, as the source frorn whence cometh theirrlhelp ; the
white ever teaching that he only can be free whose hearts is pure and
whose life is unstained by a 'oorrupt’thoug-ht; or word, or deed. ‘A

i I And lest we should come thoughtlessly to the service of this day. forgeite

i ftiil*'thati“ eternal-*viigilan‘ce is the price ‘'of lirbérty§”'ra‘ voice fro_m'yGrlod sppokeyo.

to this great nation of fifty million ‘people, two days since.  -

* i r

Shades ‘ofliltihan r Allen and Seth ‘winner anal He1'I'iGk anc’l:,iF1*ancis 3 rise
andtell us whether we live  ‘fx'ee’y'yAniericayQiffiI1 éiutocraticiy Russia ll Shall f
the ‘head of this great people no t y1ongei~w‘a1;k among us as a corn‘mo'n man;

S41

undistinguished by other insignia of rank thanthat given him by his a
c Creator ? ' God forbid. A T w

"v But I am reminded that we are not alone to-day. The spirits
of the heroic dead are with us. We tread hallewed ground. Men
of giant frames and lion hearts» have trodit before. Shall I call the roll '2

The fiI’Sl3 to respond is a very Hercules, in_ form and stature. The pierc-
ing glance of his eagle eye reveals the chafings of the untamed spirit with»
in, which could brook tyranny in no form and under no ‘guise. - You
recognize the hero who on May 8th, 1775, mustered at Castleton that band

two hundred and seventy strong, whose l_inea1 descendants many of you“

before rneare. and whose names some of you bear. “In the name of
the Great Jehovah,” and of the supreme power of the land, he bids you
heed the lessons of the hour. .
~ Close beside him, as then, you discern the manly form of Seth Warner,

on whose streaming pennant» are emblazoned “Crown Point,” “Hubbard-l

ton,” and “Bennington.” By the blood shed on the plains eastof us,-he

chides us for our waning patriotism and forthe truckling sycophancy of v

the times.

Next rises the brave Col. Francis who fell at Hubbardton ‘covered with
wounds, while rallying his regiment in the vain endeavor to wrest victory
from defeat, as he contended with a fresh force of the enemy. double his
own in number. ’ « w

W We detect, crouching behind you green hillock the dim outline of’, the.

dusky form of their faithful and vigilant Indian scout-Neshobe.

» Under the names North Hero and South Hero. the deeds of Allen and M

Herrick are commemorated by theylovely islands that are «cradled on the
waters of Lake Champlain. It is eminently fitting, we claim, that services
so valuable and timely should be recognized, not by the granite monolith,
but by yon isle nestled upon the bosom of this peaceful inland lake, to which
henceforth shall bear the baptismal name this day given it~—-Neshobe, a
fitting, though tardy act of justice to the red man who never forgot a
friend, though he was slow to learn the Christian lesson of forgiveness for
his enemy who had driven him from his ancient fishing grounds.

In the presence of these spirits of the dead, let. us recognize anew the " ‘
obligations that rest upon us, to guard as a sacred trust the free institu- _

tions bequeathed to us as a priceless heritage, by then‘. valor.

We live in momentous times. The heart of the nation is appalled at the

corruption that has lifted its hydra head, notonly in the councils of the

nation, but in almost every walk of civil life.

i ‘ Menofthe Green Mountains! A as we have ever been ready to meet the

foe of our liberties upon the battle field, let it never be said. to our shame, i

that We have failed in the moral courage that will enable us to meet and
repel the -more insidious and less chivalrous foe rwhichis covertly under-

mining public morals and sapping the very life-blood ofthep, nation—--even S A

a pnreyexlhalted, unselfish patriotism.._

42

Let us ever be found at the post of duty. “ stern daughter of Grod,” in

this warfare not with carnal weapons, as the champions of everyl public I

virtue. ' l . I , . ‘ I
At the primary meeting, at the ballot box. in all our business inter-
course, be our voice ever heard for the right, the good and the true. ,

The Chairman spoke as follows: The small flag that lies pros» ’

trate at our feet was brought home by Capt. Abel E. Leavenworth
of Company K. 9th. Vermont Volunteers, on his return from
the war in 1865. The socket on the staff was found on I-Inb-
bardton battle field near the monument by F. C. Gault, in 1871,
and loaned to the Historical Society for this occasion. If you will
cast your eyes over to that beautiful Island you will see a young

man upon the rocky shore; his name is Herbert 0. Allen, of

Fair Haven, a great, great grandson of Col.Noah Lee, one of the
earliest settlers of the town of C-ast1eton,and one of the men refered
to in the.“Grreen Mountain Boys.” Young Allen has with him a
bottle of milk and a small flag. The bottle was furnished by Prof.

Judah Dana, of ‘West Rutland, a great grandson ofGreneral_,
Israel Putnam, of Revolutionary fame ; the milk is from a noted

Durham Cow, GVVYNNLE or Rivsnsinn, whose pedigree is traced

“back thirty»-five generations to 17'81,and is the 1;)rope1-ty of Al» I ‘

freil E. I~Iigley,‘ ofCas'tleton ; the flag is the one thatwas waved
at the head of acolumn of men, wonnen, children and N egroes
who came out to welcome the Union Army into Richmond, April
3;, 1865. This flag was secured by Capt. Abel E._ 'Lt3Et,i7B1‘1WO1’tll,
who led the advanceaslzirrnisli line into that city and by him

loaned to thevflistorical Society for this occasion. The flag 

the speal2<er’s feet was then waved ; young Allen smashed the bot- -

tale of mill: against the rocks of the Island, the fragments of
which gla.ncedoff and proczlucecl a spray on the “waters” of the
Bomoseen ; he “then waved the little flag as a signal, and the

Uhairrnanihen pronounced that the Island shall henceforth be r
known as NESHOBE. Three hearty cheers went up from the "

crovyd; the bands struck up a lively and patriotic air; and fifty
guns from the battery on Birch Point thundered away as an in-
termission was taken for the .DINNI3n of the WHisto1-ical Society,

CELEBRATION ROCK; 

Atthe dinner table Dr.JamesSanford made a motion that the

Rock on which the exercises hadbeen held in the forenoon be

called ‘3 Celebration Roofs.” The motion Wasput and carried with

43
loud applausefiwhen the "venerable vice-president said: Let this
Rock forever arm belcalleld OELEBRA TION BOOK.

A ‘ AAFATERNOON EXEEoIsEs.

I At3 o’clock“ P. M., Hon; J’. Bromley called to order the
large andience that had assembled to listen to the afternoon

I EXERCISES.

The ‘Declaration of Independence was read by L. B. Clogston,
of Fair Haven. it I a   I I 4 I‘

I-Ion. C. H. ,I’oyce,l of Rutland was gracefully 'in‘troduced,"‘an'd
his speech, which we clip from the columns of the Rutlavzd Her-#
alcl and Globe, was substantially as follows : ' I it '

FELLOW CrrIzENs:-—-’l‘his is thefirst time I have ever asked to be ex-

cnsed" by a Vermont audience, and I have not appeared here for that pur-
pose ; but when I state a‘ few facts you will acknowledge there“ is I no ex-

. ‘ cuss needed. I am not here to say anything to you in the strain of mel-- ‘

ancholy, but I have felt, ever since we learned the President had. been
stricken down by the hand ot'“an assassin, that it would be impossible for
me to deliver an address to you as I had intended. What the result of
this crime will be I do not know. I am acquainted with the attending
physicians, who are men of high talentin their profession, and I have
watched what theyhave to say; and, while I yeti‘ hope _for the best. it
seems to me it would not be surprising to hear of the. President’s death at

. any moment. I told you last fall ‘how highlyl I esteemed the ‘President.

and I yet believe that if he is the victim of this assassin we shall not see

his like again for many a day. This is a glorious day, and ours a glorious I

nation, and itwis horrible to think that among us is a; man“ base enough to
attempt the life of our much esteemed chief magistrate. .What may be
the outcome of this crime we ‘do not know, but we do know that our na-
tion has passed through terrible crisis, and we may be sure no great ca-
lamity will befall us now and‘dep:riv'e us ofa‘ man who has done "credit to
himself and to Repulbliicanl institutions by showin g that ‘he is President as

well in fact as by election, and that he will not be 1"-nled -by a clique or the

head of onewing‘ of. his party. Letlus receive through this crime a. new

fbaptism into the principles of freedom, and if we do our duty we will ful-
fill thelcareer Providence has;m.ark_ed.«out for us‘ and carry the nation on

toa.gloriousfut,nre.__ . _ p p  A   I , 
I ‘Col. J oyce’s reference to the Conklilng ~diflicultv; was loudly
applauded and his speechlwas vwellreceived. or ‘

44,

Rev. E. '1‘. Hooker of Castleton, was then called upon, and afte r

V placing his little child, that had fallen asleep, an-,0 Col. Joyce’s

arms paid to him the following complimentiwhich we copy from

. the Fair Haven Em :

“I lay down rnv sleeping; child in the armed of our ‘distinguished friend»
and one day when Col. Joyce shall have become even more honored and
beloved than he now is,vwill tell the boy for his pride and pleasure that
on this day hewas held in his arms. I pray God that the child’s more
mature intelligence may then know that outof the shadow and grief of
this awful calamity, we came into the sunshine and joy of a great delivex-~
ance.” Mr. Hooker wenton in strong and earnest words, such as he al-
ways speaks when his soul is moved, and gave hope for thirsty hearts, that
when all other hope had failed the hand of (}}o<'l could heal. As his faith
is so may it be unto him and us. V A _

A Poem on “The Valley of Lake Bomoseen,” composed es-
pecially for this occasion, by Captain James I~Iope, of Watkins
Glen, N. Y., formerly of Castleton, was read by Prof, D. Arnold,
of Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., which welinsert inlfull :

THE VALLEY or LAKE BoMosEEN.

You ask tor a song, from a sexa-genar-ian,
A Poem, in praise of this beautiful vale»--—
Can a heart like dead leaves in last year’s her-barium, »
  Respond to the summons in aught but a wail’? W

When wild roses bloom ’mid the frosts of December,

W‘ And summer flowers gladden the snow-covered plain-—-—
Then may I, with my feeble hand strike the glad numbers
W Ancl hid silent harp-—string's rcvibrate again.

Can scenes that awakened my soul’s deep devotion,
Theifountain from whence,inspiration I drew,
Cause the heart that,iswitl1er’d to beat with emotion,
I “ When fond recollection, recalls them to View '17”

I have seen thee! Fair Vale. in thine autumnal splendor,
Thyiglories of Summer, thy beauties, of shade ;

" When the Storm—King of Winter rode fiercely in grandeur ;

‘ .When thesweet breath of Spring—time wooed forest and glade.

I know thee ! Sweet Valley, every ‘flower in thy wild.-«wood, .,
Every leaf on thy trees, every song of thy rills ,;i

( ‘.“ And they’re dear to my heart as thescenes of my childhood,”

As I gaze on the picture that imemoryfille. it

.45

Your green, mossy grottoes, by streamlet and fountain ; '
Your lichen-clad rocks that embattle the hills ;

_ Your-gray morning mist-Wreaths that mantle the mountains,

. And daisy decked meadow-s, are dear tome still.

I have loved thee?! Sweet Vale, Silvery Lake and Green Mountain

With affection that’s~de‘atl1less, deep, «tender and true ;,
With the ardor of youth, and the strength of full manhood,
As the years lengthened on ward the stronger it grew.

How oft! »‘:‘ilvery Lake, o-’er thy crystalline waters,
I sped the light .shallo‘p,with bi-ightlflasliiyng oar ; ,
Keeping time to the songs of Vermont’s fairest daughters
V While we drank in the beauties of sky, lake and shore. ‘

lOn thygreen, fairy isle that so peacefully sluxnbers, .

Likela silver-set gem on thy, fair throbbing breast _; ‘
pWhere the ‘forest-thrush warbles in Wild Woodland numbers, W
When weary at noon-tide, I've laid me to rest.

Ah I Well I remember the first kindly greeting,
When an exile,‘l met, Where these bright waters flow ;
The heart-warm friendship, so true and unfleeting,
You gs ve the lone boy, in the clear long-ago.

Butstilled are the hearts that gave welcome so kindly,
And hushed the dear voices, so musical then, ,

And sold are the hands now,‘ Whose grasp was so friendly
And soundly they slumber by hillside and glen;

A I grew with the growth of your sons and your daughters 3,

I’ve tasted their love, and I’Ve. led them in war ;---= 
And not in this wide world are fairer or braver,
Than the Daughters and Sons of these valleys so fair.

I thank: the All—Father, of earth’s teeming legions,
The Guide of my youth, who still guides me as then ;
Whoa directed my steps tothis fair mountain region, 1
oWhose godlislthle Lord, and,whose' products aremen.

46

The following poem on Neshobe was composed by E. H.
Phelps, of Fair Haven, and read before the annual meeting of
the Rutland County Historical Society, held at Adams’ Hall, in
Fair Haven, Aug, 10, 1881 : l W W

NESHOBE.    

l\Tesh-0-be I Pray tell me who was he ?_
(Or perhaps you call him Nash-0-be.)
What was his farnily pedigree?

An Indian brave, I am simply told,

A painted savage, saucy and bold,

Who roamed the forest in days of old,
And hunted for soalps and glory ;
Whose name to us has been handed down A
As an Indian scout of great renown,
The hero of songand story.

But though he was known as an Indian scout,
He lived like other braves no doubt,
Whom all the children have read about,
A sort of a savage wonder ;
A free and easy child of the woods, ,
V ’ Who had but little of this world’s goods,
But lived to scalp and plunder.

His cares were light and his wants were few ;,

He had no bank notes falling due,

-And his wife and daughters never knew
About the styles and fashions ;

He loved to hunt as he loved to eat,

And ’tWas simply fun to get the meat,
That furnished his daily rations.

His house or wigwam was rude indeed,
But perfectly answered every need ; '
, When the glad earth smiled and the sky was fair,
He livedand slept  the open air, ' l
And cared not a cent for a cover; A,
But when‘ the weather grew cold landlblealr,
He bnilta house that was quite unique,
A dozen lpoles run up to apeak;
W iWith dear-skin covered over. , u

47

His dress was arranged with simple taste ;
A wampum belt encircled his waist,
And his feet and ankles were well encased
In moccasins made of leather,
And trimmed with beads in the n-eatest style,
While on his head he were no tile,
H But simply a turkey’s feather. H

His frock and leggins were deer-skin, tanned,

. And trimmed in a style that was simply grand ;

And his manly cheek, by the breezes fanned,
Was painted red and yellow;
And when he walked outto meet the foe,

With his knife and tomahawk, arrows and bow, H

He was really a killing fellow.

Long years ago, ere the palefaee came,
He roamed these hills and valleys for same ;
He hunted the fox, the deer, and the bear, ,
Or anything else that was covered with hair ;
And when these grew searcehe didn’t care,

But turned to hunting; his brother ; H
Natural hunters these Indians were,
“And thisis the reason,‘ I infer,
Why, next to hunting for food and fur, T

' They loved to hunt one another. V

H And when returned from war or chase,

As the shadows of night came down apaee,

These noble sons of the Indian race,
Encamped by brook or river,

Joined in the dance, and the songs they sang

Down through the shadowy valleys rang,

And the hills re-echoed their savage sllangi;
The thought of it makes one shiver.

But though trained to the arts of war and strife,

 His heart could respond to a gentler life ;

And oft as the day began to fade,

He was wont to emerge from the forest shade,
With the choice of his heart, at dusky maid,

, l The fairest of Indian daughters,

48

To seek the lake and the birchen boat,
And bathed in the moonlightp silently float
O’er Bomoseen’s silvery waters.

Long years have flown since maiden and brave
Floated and wooed on the spailtling We ve 3 A
Their dust lies under the earth’s green face,
And no man knoweth their resting place 3

But Neshobe dieth never ;
His name still lives in the island green,
That rests on the bosom of Bomoseen,

And thus it shall live forever.

THE BOAT RACE.

On account of the poor condition of’ the water the boat race was post-
poned from four, till‘ eight o’cIock. The participants. were Grant, Mans-
field and Ryan. The judges, Will P. I-Iyde. Smith Sher-man, Wood-
ward, James H. Spencer and Ira R‘. Allen. Ryan had the rnisfortune to
injure his boat, which was repaired however, in time for the race. The
positions as drawn were Mansfield, Ryan and Grrant. The course was
from Maeon’s Point to Coffee’s I..andin,e; and return, instkingv one and one-
half miles§_ The boatmen took the water at the word “__u,-o ;” but Grant
started withha spurt and continued it till he held the lead when they all
settled into a steady pull. The race was very even till the turn with the
odds in favor of Grant. At the turn Mansfield failed to find his buoy,

 

which through some unknown cause had disappeared. and made the turn ‘

about one hundred and fifty feet beyond. This accldentrg-ave Mansfield
the last place on the return; but by frequent spurts he shortened ‘the dis-
tance. At the finish Grrant pulled in one and one—half lengths ahead of
Ryan, and Mansfield followed by two lengr-t.hs. But for Mansfield’s mis-
fortune at the turning stake, the race would undoubtedly have been closer
and moreexciting. . Winner's time 12.57.---Fair Haven Era.

FIRE VVORKS.

The fire worksin the evening were let off from a raft in the
bay east of lV[ason’s Point and were witnessed by thousands who
stopped over, along the shores of the Lake. a This closed one of
the most successful celebrations ever held intlmis section of Ver-

mont and the largest collection of people ever assembled in the T

town of Castleton. . h V o to
PROMINENT CITIZENS PRESENT.
Hon. Hiel Hollister, author of the I-Iiistory of Pawlet, and

Marshall Brown, of Pavqlet ; Dr. John E. Hitt, of Granville, N.
Y.; Dea. Joseph J oslin, Drgy L.  Ross, Hon. Merritt Clark,

49

author of several historical papers and poems, of Poultney ; Dr.
T. E. Wakefield, I-Ion. Simeon. Allen, Potter Wesoott, Esq. ; R.
T. Ellis and Richard E. Lloyd, ESq., of Fair Haven ; E. L. Bax»-
bour, author of historical and poetical productions, and Dr. H.
R. Jones, of Benson; Simeon Young,’ Benoni Griffin and W. P.
J. Hyde, of Suclbury ; E. J. Ganson and M. M. Dikeman, of
I-Iubbardton ; Newman Weeks and William Gilmore, of Rutlancl.

.Ru2§Zamd County Historical Society.
OFFICERS.

P7°eSid6nt.--HON." BARNES FRISBIE,.POL11tney.
Vz'oe-Presidents.——--First, DR. J AMES SANFORD, Castleton ;

Second, HON. JOSEPH J OSLIN, Poultney.
Secreta¢'y.——DR. J OHN M. CURRIER, Oastleton“.
Tr_easurer.-——HdN. R. C. ABEL, “West Haven.