Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-08-20


wilmington Mis-. Bratten the wife Of Robert
was brave ana resoutc woman. On their way
to Whltngham from Coletaine Mrs. Bratten
climbed tall tree I'm Wilmington and there DIS
covered the valley Of the Deefheld river. They
pursued their course in that direction and marked
trees as they went Their first house was some
distance up the liver from where Cyrus Wheeler
now resides. They returned to COleraine In the
fall and came back in the spring three times be-
fore they mad; permanent residence In whiting
ham, Here they commenced farming In small
way. imall iron eitle served as water pail,
mix pail, and was also used for cooking, The
milk Of one COW was divided among seyeral fanli-
les. ON the 1th Of May 11SO, known as the Ozark
Day." Mrs. Brattcn set out an apple tree on thls
apple tree" Those who held grants were obliged
10 pay Charter fees as well as taxes, and beng
compelled TO pay either In money, became great
terror to the Inhabitants. ! have In my posses
sion the following receipt:
"Received Of Robert Btatten thirteen pounds
thirteen shllliDrs and eight pence on the Charter
fees cf the 2 thousand acres granted him In
Tnos CRi1TESDEN."
In lisG the town made provision for paying tax
cs IN the follt wing manner; "Noted that the town
tax be Iaid IN wheat at As. per bnshcl, Rey at e..
Corn al and G, oats at and G, Flax at d. per
pound, sugar nt d. Itr tuEd.' On NE lblh daY
Of october Isl, tiX hundred acres OF lard were
granted hy Vermont TO jonathan Hunt and Afad
Hunt dts ibod as follows, VIZ Three lots IN the
town OF NhitluphGm being a part OF three thuus-
and acres Of land granted to capt. John Walker,
said lots containing one hundred and nineiy-siX
acres IN each lot ard are numbertd2 sand 8, as CT
The said Jchnathan Hunt and Aiad Hunt, by Sam
ucl Wells. 1he enforcement Of law was not as
easily obtained a century ago as at the present
time, hut On certain occasions the selectme 4
would assert their authority to the disgust Of
some wayward mortal. he following is a spcci-
men Of genuine philanthropy:
"Whtre as the mismanagCment and lRd CON
duct OF A. Is. - OF NhitiIgham In times Patt
has apparently Brought himself into such Difficul-
~ that his Family may fcel the faia effects Of it in
many Instances, Particularly ufcr their Daly sup
port, which 10 Prevent We, the subscribers Do
agreeable TO Law hereby take Inspection OF Sd A.
Il is futer affairs under cur Emedate care, and
hereby Notify the Publck that we act as Oyerseers
on so a. BIS futer affairs, and warn all that Is or
may be concerned with Sd a. b. TO govern them
selves coIdingy.
Whningham, June so, 1851"
This document was signed by the selCctmen and
entered on record by the town clerk.
During these early years II great many things
were done IN town meeting. ON the 2lst OF July,
l7ss, the town "voted TO meet on the sccond mon
day Of September next to clear on place to build
meeting house" II is said that the 1rst church
formed ~ this town was organic IN l7ss and that
Rev. Ar. NlGms was pastor. IL Is also stated In
print that It was seventh Day Baptist church. 1t
will require more than tradition 10 convince me
that any such regularly organized chulch ever cx-
listed IN his town; Is possible MAT scmc person
Of that belief might have preached here, but as late
as ls0s that debou nation had only eight churches
and 100 members In this country.
Up to this time there had been but little attention
paid TO education. ON he 2d Of March, 1889, the
Town "yOttd that Capt. Daniel WILCOX, Lieut.. Isaac
Lyman, Lout. Btnl. hloGget, AIdTew CarnaRee,
SUBWAY, james heclett ard solomon Bishop be u
committee 10 divide The TOW Il into sChOU districts "
This was the commencement Of the school system
IN Mhitlsham. The eiort of MS committee las
favorable TO sUth diNlsion. HLd ihuk the bunudH-
mes were dclcru'd therein. ON the first day Of
March, 1890, the tOwn ''yuttu 10 Except the land
for nuryiig + lace Of Gavin MUM, aId fence the
same with Posts and boards spIArd On"
The collector al mis- time WIS Andrew Cafnagee.
his capacity for cunning Wa IlUhubly Inferior to
hat OF full grown CUleCioroi the present day. as
1t appears that be was charged win beng delin-
queLt IN sLmCthiug pertaining his Cfiice; but the
TACT lhai he was repeatedly elected TO once subse-
quent to this time NCuid seem TO Indicate that his IT.
tgularit! was uOt cf Il criminal nature. on the first
day ut March, 1890 the ttwn yuttd that the select
men cen mtLCc a suIt against the Delinquent Col
l,ctOr 81 the town lmiEt ulately' IL appears that
the burial pace the Town had toted 10 fence was
not satisfactory, uLd the town chose committee
March :, 1871, 40 seIch Tor a more CONVEX lent
place" A ptr'Cu TO be entirely satisfied WIN IA
graveyard must be well oCkCd with the Christian
graccs. In taiy times The people were strict IN
their department. aud ttNeIe IN the punishment OF
crime; VI ihe Performance Il certain acts which
would now subject ycu or me tOa heavy penalty was
consider I'd The coILcT-stOIe ut an tngRto pub
lie policy, the same Icing protected law. HWas
lawful century ago 10 iGise money by lutt,Iy for
by IRE ana paying the state debt.
Vermont has parsed tweLty-iour acts granting lot
teries for various purposes the mat being dated Feb
81, 1888, and the aFt cne NOV. T. 1904 Nuy 4, 1872
act passed granting lottery 10 raise 1l5O for
building bridge over Dttrheld Iiyef at Kcadfboro.
! am gEd TO know that no church was ever built OF
repaired in MhiinELIm with money raised by lot
tery aud every coed citizen lad reason to rejoice
when that method Of doing evil that good might
come was abandoned.
In 1888 the inhabitants q iListo were erta atty
afflicted by the prevalence Of the scarlet fever one
fourth q all the children in town died Of this dst
On the 4th Cf Mar h, 1888, the town VOTED to raise
tax Of one Penny the Pound On the lst Of 1892,
10 be Paid to the treasurer by the hrst Day Of June
Next to Be laid in town orders Coed Maple sugar
at six pence Pr Pound" There is 10 record to show
how many town orders u would take 10 weigh a
pound.
M frst rsc,rdcd uarraut f,r tcvu rr..,f,, ,,,
for the meeting held the sd day Of March, li4. The
principle matter before that mtetIbg in relation
ber Iva, at town meeting, jonathan Hunt received
Is votes for mtmlcr Of Congrofs. On the OH Of
March, 1898, the town voted that Mr.. HaIeton's
Barn be Found for the Town for the present year.
Voted that the selecimen he directed to iui.d a
Pound 30 feet square of saw d or htvn timl,r."
At almcst every town meeting zone ITopGets was
made towards building church ana a the 9Th Of
July, 1895, the town "Notod that they viii luild
house for public worship 40 feet wide and 90 feet
long, by majority OF - seainst g. Not'd to raise
the tmCunt u two hundred POUNDS in Timber,
boards, shingles and money, III the following man
uer: said timber, toaIds and shiurlts tunlqtut to
erect and cover said frame to be appCriouCd out in
rated for the purpose of building I'd house shall have
his proportion Of timler boards and tEnglcs appor
toned out to him by the committee to lie aIIOlnted
to superintend the building of I'd house, each Of i'd
articles to be sppuItiouCd to tachn an according to
his list in I'd. Town, and Of that sort and dimeIton
and that whoever fails Of delivering his proportion OF
tim Der set to him aforesaid at the place where the
said house ths be built by the first day Of ne 1896
and his proportion Of boards and hir giles the same
place by the rs day cf July 1886 shg he considered
having forfeited his privilege Of providing such
article artcls as he thal be deficient in at either
Of the times appointed as Above for the liyIy here
Of and shall lie liable to lay the money in lieu there
Of"
'Yottd to appoint a committee Of thI,e Itr1ors to
Guperintend the building Of said HOure.'
An able committee was chUhtn, consisting Of Sam.
uel Day, James Roberts ana Jtbtz Foster.
The town then 'NCted that persons Of every rtlig-
htUf m In md in said
house on every day Of the week without obstruction
or moletiaton." This arrangement would seem to
be equitable except in two ministers Of different
determinations should Try to peach at the same time
Sept. ~, 1895, voted that the meeting house be
set the height Of land few ruds tast the school
house in the center school district
1t seems that ample provision had been made for
building meeting house, the location selected, the
committee chosen, and various other preliminary
matters disposed Of lut the opposition had gained
some strength and on the hTst OF February, 1886 at
special meeting the town "Voted on the question
whether the town will reconsider the votes passed
tue 9th day OF July, 1885, relative TO building meet
inghouse not to reconsider fAd YCtes % against the
reconsideration, IS Tor it; on the question whether
the town will vote TO postpone the build tingl Of the
meeting-hOuse one year from the time appointed by
vote Of the town the 9Th day Of July, 1895 voted
in the negative IA against s. II appears that there
were eight voters who we've opposed to building a
church on any conditions, and it would be exceeding
ly interesting 10 know why they objected but no rec
ord kept, and shal have to presume that they
voted against the church because they didn't want it,
ON the 10Th and 2Uth of August, 1897, this region
visited by of the most severe storms Of rain
and wind ever experienced in this town. Anunusua
amount Of rain fen, carrying OF dams and bridges
and doing immense injury TO crops.
On the 9th Of March, 1875, after the committee on
dividing the town into school districts had reported
the town "Toted that there be committee Of one per
in each school district in said town to ascertain
the limits Of each school district in the town, aud
number the same" This committee consisted of the
following persons: John b. Angel, Samuel Parker
James Wilcox Benz. BlodRett, Joseph Brown, Walter
EameS, James Glass ana Andrew Carnigec.
On the 2lst Of March another meeting was held
which seemed to show a radical change in the minds
Of the voters concerning the meeting One OF
the painest propositions submitted to an Assem-.
bly, Of intelligent men was brought before that meet
ing follows: "Will you build Getting g-house p
The town voted in the negative, and from what fol
lowed during the next year II would seem that this
vote treated annulling all former votes, not
wthstanding there was no vote passed to reconsider
rescnd the votes of July G, 1895, which had been
persistently affirmed. At this meeting the com.
mittee ascertaining the limits Of the several schoo
districts made their report, and the districts were
thereupon established by vote.
On the 3Oth day Of May, 1898, the town collector
Amasa Shumway, held great sale Of lapd in Whit.
ingham, TO satisfy demands for taxes The exact