Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1882-07-14
PUTNEY WEST HILL.
A Brief sketch Of II. EARLY scttlen

A Brief sketch Of Its Early Settlem ent.
We accepted an invitation to spend the 4th
of July with picnic party on Putnoy west
hill, and view the country as seen from that
elevated situation. The particular spot on
which we picnicked, and from which we pros
pected was the height of land just north Of
the Simeon Reed place. The first settlements
in that vicinity were made soon after 1850, by
persons from the southeastern part of Massa-
chusetts. Mr.. Reeds father, John Reed,
came from Dighton. Near Mr.. Reed were To-
Gated Samuel Bennett, tho Wilson's, Turner'S,
Joys and Cudworths. South Of whore Mr..
Cudworth lived was the Allyn family. Aswe
passed the site OF the old homestead we espied
two slate gravestones lying on the ground in
the pasture across the road, on which were
inscribed the names Of 'Joseph Allyn, died
Dec. 1G, 1897 aged n, >" and ''Mary, wife of
Joseph Allyn, died May IS, 1905, aged 49,"
Others are buried there but no stone marks
their lowly bed. Joseph Allyn was the father
of Rev. Lewis Allyn, known as Elder Allyn,
who preached for many years in the Baptist
church on Putney hill, and several years in
Hinesburg Joseph Allyn came with his fam
lily from Rehoboth, Mass, west Of Dighton,
in which place the Allyn family were the first
settlers, a list of the settlers in that town in
1644 containing the name of John Allyn. Lu-
ther Allyn, who was postmaster in Dummer-
ston many years ago, was son Of Lewis and
grandson Of Joseph. The graves Of the
grandparents have been sadly neglected, and
we suggest that the gravestones be removed
to the cemetery where the grandchildren are
buried before they are entirely tramplcd into
the ground out of sight by the cattle.
South of the Allyn place, just over the town
line, is Spaulding's hill, in Dummerston. Here
lived, in IVA, Lieut. Leonard Spaulding, who
in October of that year was imprisoned in the
common jail at Westminster "for high trea-
son against the British tyrant, George the
Third, by the directions of the Infamous
Cream Brush his attorney" He was released,
after q confinement of eleven days, "by
large concourse Of freeborn neighbors and
bretherin, consisting of the inhabitants of
Dummerston, Putney, Guilford, Halifax and
Dover" Lieut.. Spaulding was the first rep
resentatiye to the Vermont legislature from
Dummerston, in l77s.
Just east Of the Reed place stood the old
brick school-house that was pulled down some
years ago; its foundation is overgrown with
briers About 1928 or 80, eighty scholars at
tended this school, and from it went out sew
eral who became professional men.
The soil in this locality, though rocky, is
very good, and such ns those farmers prefer
red to cultivate. 1t produced abundant crops
of hay and grain, which enabled them to keep
a large stock of cattle. They supported large
families, and managed to accumulate proper
ty. They were hard-working people heavy
stono walls enclose the fields and pastures on
each farm, which must have cost them much
labor. As we looked down from our place of
observation on these once cultivated farms
we we're reminded OF the following lines, SO
illustrative Of the labors performed by those
early settlers
| "Ot did the harvest TO their seke yield;
Their furrow Oft the stubborn glebe has broko
| How jocund did they drive their team aheldl
How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke y
good estimate Of the height of this hill
may be made by comparing 1t with Black
mountain in Dummerston, which is 1850 feet
high; and this eminence rises several hundred
feet above it. From West hill may be seen
| hot ioSS IMAM MY tOHHeulpst lgluB III Nef-
mont New Hampshire and Massachusetts,,
and the view in midsummer is unsurpassed by
any in New England. On the west you can
trace the line of the Green Mountains from
Florida, Mass, on the south to Mount Holly
on the north. Saddleback, Haystack in Will
mington, Municknung in Stratton, and Shat
terack, tower up above the Green Mountain
ridge on the western boundary. The eye
takes in the entire space Of the Connection
valley from Ascutney mountain in Windsor OIL
the north to Mount Holyoke in Hadley, Mass,
on the south. Farthest to the east is the ma
jestic Monadnock. The highlands of New
Hampshire are distinctly visible from Sunapet
to Mount Holyoke, a distance of more thar
eighty miles. Wachrset, in Princeton, Mass.
with its cloud-capped summit, may bo seer
far to the southeast, and mountain-tops ant
fertile valleys are visible all along the south
ern horizon. Connecticut river is plainly seer
for ten miles below Brattleboro, and Yves
river is in sight winding its course past Blacl
mountain. Our pen fails to describe tn
beauty Of the landscape visible in every direc
tion, and we bring this article to an end will
the feeling that we have given the reader bu
a vague idea, after all, of the view from tn
summit of Putney West Hill.
d. L. MANSFIELD.
Dummerston, July Z, 1882