Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1906-10-05
OLD VERMONT HOMESTEAD
FORMER RESIDENT WRITES INTEREST
INGLY OF TowNsHEND FARM,

A Little History in Connection with the
Towns Early Residents-Extraet from
York tNeb) Paper-othOr News from
Townshcnd,
The following account Of an old vermont
homestead was written by Rev, u, I, Cross OF
Denver. Col, who visited relatives in town
last summer. and was printed In the sept. 10
issue Of the York Daily Times Of YORK, Men
The article will be Of interest 10 many IN the
West River valley The farm of which ar,
Gross writes lies in the southeastern part oil
Townshond and is now owned by T. T. US
good Of Brookline, ,-,.,
nuripr a recent vacation in New England
NV wife took one side trip ana l aholh'f,
each of us to visit our mothers ancestral
home. She found the old farm turned into .
mark for the city Of Pawtucket and the olu
farm house, built in 1888 owned by lhe ~
A. X. daughters OF the American heNo'u'
toni, An that | found OF my mother ;
birthplace was an abandoned farm, reaeheu
with difficulty, up on one OF tue loi'! sf'vn
Mills of Vermont, and the cellar where the old
bonss once stood Trees foot in diameter
and about 40 feet high were growing IN that
cellar In its centre is huge stone iounda'
,ion some 10 or IL feet square, built for the
groat chimney and the three or four hre'
placcs / found the old well and drank OF ITS
lev water, and the old spring IN the pasture
| pieked apples from trees that were set out
perhaps 100 years ago, and stood on tue
great glacial boulder on which my mother
barefoot girl climbed TO pick apples wheh
last century and she were in their childhood.
From the high and rocky pasture looked
up and down the beautiful West RIVER Vale!'
of east to Putney mountain and west 10 une
loftier Green mountains 1t was one ol the
most beautiful views that ] ever saw, ana
have seen many. | looked at It with eager
interest. partly because Of its intrinsic beauty
and partly because ! could trace back TO II,
through my mothers eyes and brain, goou
sbnre Of the love that have always had Tor
the mountains. >.
The old farm is now only a pasture lot, II
was a long, hard pull for my cousin horse
TO get TO it up over the old road, in the very
centre Of which, on the mountain TOP we
found some farm boys making hay. We hau
In tear down a brush fence in one place ~
reach the old homestead. My son asked me
why nv grandfather selected farm so high
mn. replied that it was probably 50 as 70
give his posterity a good start. Then alI
his pos,erity has to do, was his reply rs
to keep going down hill.
we iooNeu az" up" ,n"o Gov, -. g., la.
lever farms On "tN' ,,I1i,,,g aud ,yrr,
low US, win 'he'f nne pu'''s' I' ,r,
told that our srahula,"y' "' ,L.r" n, he
brothers could nave n'u '", s;I 81 ,r,st in
same price Dd' 'heF VIZ a. law, ,,,, - ,,,,
the valley FerhaPS III '"g WI H. ob,sc
just as wen Tor ms P"S''''' '''''
the mountain Iana' -, m H.. ,,,or III,
1t was July - l'io, ~ u'' ,,3 ,h,,
Declaration OF in9ep'hoSn'' ""G pas or,,
Benjamin MURDOCH Oh the 90" III
died Of smallpox at CroWn u II;. an, samnnr
itary eNpedilloh 10 ''"au'' ii ~: -. aid
my grandfather was '"'" Tis iva
When ne became VI age Nv CIV, na,
brothers TOOK up '"i'"S w "''s d. a.,
called Murdoch mountain "',, ~, - oi,b,
must nave huu III Ta'S'nE ~ '1,",'i a. T..
children on that f"cN! Iar'"' "I w. a,,I.
He and ms boys got the S''ne1 a." n5 ,h"f
by building many st""' ""'''' az" -,
cleared lahd' much Oh N",'" u .'" ,,,iss
with dense second grown lol's' i' ,,3 ",,,,
and daughters lthere were iou, sun "'u w.
daughters! uI''u "pp''o ~ 49,. mn,