The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1870-07-05

AuulSOl, ibdSt W Wy VI H5' ""N VII"
'all, South By Shogcham, and West by
AXE Champlain, which separates it from
)rown Point, n. Y. 1t is about forty
niles from Montpelier, in II Southwest
Erection. 1t. was chartered October 10,
.761, to 81 proprietors, most of whom
esided in Massachusetts.
The most active Of the original pro-
,rietors, in efiectng the settlement OF
his township, were Ephraim Doolittle
md Benjamin Raymond and through
their influence and exertions an attempt
was made to settle in l76S. But those
who then attempted to held and improve
the land under the New Hampshire grant
were subjected to so much annoyance
from the Workers, during the earlier part
of the unhappy controversy which arose
between New Hampshire and New York,
that they were compelled to abandon
their attempt and in some instances sui
lered considerable loss
But it was not the intention of the
proprietors OF Bridport to yield their
claim, and their efforts to settle their land
did not cease.
In the Fall of l76S, after several fam
lilies had thought best to relinquish their
attempts to settle in that town, Philip
Stone, young man about twenty-one
years of age, came from Groton, Mass,
and purchased lot of land, built him
camp, and commenced clearing away.
with determination not to be frightened
away. He maintained his hold upon the
land, and in after years became man of
some note. He was the first Colonel in
the county.
+ About the time that Stone made his
beginning, two families by name Rich
ardson aud Smith, settled near him-un-
der New York title, and three others I'M
der New Hampshire titles, Towner, Chip
man and Pumer. From time to time
others were added, some on the New
Hampshire side and some on that of New
York and this party difference stood
boldly in the way of that friendly feel
ing which almost always existed among
the early settlers and, although the rec
ords of Bridport present no evidence that
any skirmishes between the two parties
occurred within its limits, yet it is cer'
tain that on some occasions the inhabl'
tants of this town arrested their neigh
bors in towns adjoining, to administer
the teach seal whenever Yorker was
Judged worthy of that distinction.
The Workers were continually on thu
lookout for Ethan Allen in this town
; for either business or pleasure, or both
caused him to pay it frequent visits, an(
the reward which the New York govern
ment had set upon his head rendered i
an object to capture him. In l172 hi
called, in company with Eli Roberts, o
Verreunes, at the house Of Mr.. Richards
who held title to land under the New
York charter. Six soldiers from the for
at Crown Point, becoming aware of thi
fact, crossed the lake in a boat, and mad
friendly call also at the house, hopin!
to be able to take the bold outlaw, ant
secure the reward. But Mrs. Richards
learning the intentions of the soldiers, b,
overhearing them arrange to let the OBJ
iect of their solcitude retire and tax
him in his bed, frustrated their plans
When she went to light Allen and hi
friend to their chamber she revealed t.
, them the plot, and admonshed them t
make their escape through a back wind
ow, which they accordingly did.
This is the fact which Thompson seiz
cs and from which he weavcs that inter
esting scene with Alien and Warrington
; at Capt Ilendee's house, in the tale c
, the Green Mountain Boys.
November %, 1913, Samuel Smit
| moved his family INTO Town, and mad
another addition to the permanent sci
, tiers Mr.. Smith was from New Yorl
, although he had been for two or tire
years looking around in the vicinity {
, Brdport, but had not struck upon lC
cation which he desired to make a pei
! manent abiding place. The same da
: that Smith moved in, Philip Stone WI
> married to Miss Ware, whose parent
recently moved into Addison.
Like all other new towns, the roads
Bridport were for long time poor. III
lake was used as Il medium Of transpo
tation, and perhaps the facilities it offe
IS ed caused greater delay in buildir
8 roads than otherwise would have been
The inhabitants experienced some sea
) cities of provisions, and in this matt
&c they found the lake benefit, for
rs yielded almost an unlimited supply
E. fish.
It The cheapness of the land III Bridpo
lie presented great inducement to settler
Of it being sold by rights of 800 acres f
r. twenty dollars. All the circumstanc
Y. connected with the settlement of t
er township were sufficiently favorable
If lead to slow increase of its inhabitan
ID and at the opening of the revolutiona
if war some twenty or thirty families HI
10 found homes within its borders but W
L. put stop to further operations by W,
N of extending settlements, and many
lie those who had made beginnings wish
h. themselves in position more secure fro
a. the aggressions of the enemy. Yet no
n. acted hastily in retiring from their pc
e. sessions. II was matter of gener
v, opinion that the war would soon clos
10 and the inhabitants of Bridport chung
t. their property with that tenacity which
$. only felt towards such objects as ha
te cost labor and anxiety to procure. b
m when Burgoyne and his army appear
m in the county, and the prospect seemed
D. present nothing better than to be CO
n tinually harrassed by the minions of t
,e crown, either as bodies of disciplined 81
DC dicry or ranging parties of tories and
I'd dians, it was deemed expedidnt by mt
&c of the people to retire to the Southe
er counties, which they accordingly d
of leaving their homes and personal prop
ms ty behind them. Previous to doing
Id however, they had suffered not only
ty suit and wrong, but had encountered r.
"a dancer