Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-03-21
NO. u.

the ancestor Of the present Senator Butter
held OF Whtingham. Samuel knight lived
northwest Of Judge Wells's He was the
grandfather of Thomas knight. and he he
came lawyer, aud was a Judge of the
county court and the supreme court. and
for some years chief Justice of the supreme
court. lie was commissioned as an attor-
ney at law by Gov. Tryon on the 23rd of
January, ll12, and admitted to the bar of
the Inferior Court of Common Pleas Sep.
tember 8, l112 and was the first lawyer of
Brattleboro He lived for many wears
where Stewart Pratt does, and died there
IN 1904. He was buried in the old Gene
terry on the hill, probably; but the place Of
his grave is not known. The whole of
Fort Dummer meadow had then been
cleared; besides that these families had
small clearings about their residences and
the rest Of the town was wilderness
Judge Samuel Wells came to Brattleboro
and settled at the place mentioned in july.
lI62. After the jurisdiction of New York
was established, he with 10 others. pro.
cured grant of the township from the
province of New York to them in 1866; a
lew days afterwards the others all conveyed
their rights to him, and he became the
owner of the New York title in the town
He bought Gov. Wentworth's right TO the
conveyed that tract to Stephen Greenleaf.
Esq, father Of the major, August l3, M,
Tor the consideration of El200 sterling .-
about $4,000. Soon afterwards Squire
dreenleaf built another saw mill on the
brook above, near where there is now a
mill owned by Deacon Estey.
In l1I3 Squire Greenleaf mortgaged the
eastern 200 acres Of this tract to Peter Jo.
honnot, distiller, and Joseph Green. mer-
chant, of Boston. At that time there was
situated on that part of the premises a saw
mill and grist mill, with ''sundry small
dwelling houses" Afterward, and before
lff1, he had a store there which was the
hrst one in Vermont. The upper mill was
left on the other 800 acres that was mort
gagged to Judge Wells to secure "fve hun
dred pounds lawful money of Massachusetts,
Bay" and -four hundred pounds lawful
money of New York The centre of the
public business was supposed to be likely to
remain where the meeting house was. and
on July 30, INA, Judge Wells conveyed
parcel of land about the meeting house to
trustees for the use of the town This is
the description of the land and declaration
OF the use in the deed Commonly called
and known by the name of Meeting House
Hill a part of which is used for burying
ground, bounded northerly by land belong
ing TO David Church, westerly by a road or
highway, until the same enters into anoth-
er road, which last mentioned road runs
through the hereby granted tract of land,
and partly by lands now belonging to said
Samuel Wells, southerly by lands now be-
longing TO Abner Scovil and easterly part
ly by part of the aforesaid road, which.
turning its course, runs through the said
hereby granted tract, and partly by lands
hal nuin t, Ill
six acres of land. be the same more or less:
In trust that in some convenient part or
parts thereof on the north side of said
road which passes through the said here
by granted tract, building or build
ings for the public worship of Almighty
God be erected, and a convenient part or
parts around said building or buildings be
applied for the purpose of burying place
or burying places, the profits of the said
burying place or burying places, and all
that part of the hereby granted premises,
which lies on the north side of the afore-
said road, is hereby declared to be given
and granted to the use of such minister or
ministers respectively for the time being
as shall officiate there, and the other part
of the said hereby granted premises, lying
on the south side of the aforesaid road
which runs through the said hereby grant
ing thereon any other public buildings,
which shall at any time hereafter be found
necessary for the service of said township
of Brattleboro, and for training and exer-
cising the inhabitants in the use of arms or
in other useful or entertaining exercise and
for any and every other public use or ser
vice of the SAID township, and for no other
ends, intentions, meanings or purposes
whatsoever.
The road did not run on the east side of
the cemetery as it now does, but ran south
of it going west, and then turned each
way, south, and then west down the hill
and north towards Newfane No road was
built from where West Brattleboro is to
where the East village is until 1885. In
that year road was built there and new
meeting house was built at West Brattlebo-
ro. The meeting house on the hill was
built by private subscription. Under the
laws of the province of New York towns
had no part in the building of meeting
houses. This town did not recognize the
jurisdiction of Vermont until 1882 The
inhabitants adhered to the jurisdiction of
New York so far that all the town bust
ness was transacted according to the laws
of New York till that time The jurisdic-
tion of Vermont was enforced by militia
stationed at the inn of Josiah Arms. When
that was established the support of the gos-
pei rested upon the town as upon other
New England towns and proceedings in
relation to it began to appear in the town
records.
The officers of the town for 117l were
Captain enjamin Butterfield, moderator
Henry Wells town clerk Samuel Wells,
supervisor; Henry Wells, John Houghton,
Benjamin Butterfeld, trustees: Henry
Wells, Thomas Sergeant, Oliver Cooke, as.
SCISSORS; Henry Wells, treasurer; Henry
Wells, Benjamin Butteriield, overseers of
the poor John Alexander, Reuben Field,
Benjamin Gorton Jacob Spaulding, con
stables; Jacob Spaulding, collector John
Houghton, Oliver Cooke, John Sergeant,
commissioners for laying out highways.
Henry Wells, Samuel Wells and Benjamin
Butterfield were assessors for his Majesty's
interest; John Sergeant, collector of his
Majesty's quit rents. The quit rents for
his Majesty were two shillings and six pence
per hundred acres of land The town vot-
ed that year that the sum of five pounds,
ten shillings and three pence be raised to
pay the debts contracted by the town.