80 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part III. 



GUILFORD. 



by Brattleborough, east by Vernon, south 

 by Leyden, Massachusftts, and west by 

 Halifax. It lies 50 miles south from 

 Windsor, 31 east from Bennington. It 

 was chartered April "2, 1754, to fifty-four 

 proprietors, principally of Massachusetts, 

 and contained 23,040 acres. When gran- 

 ted the town was a perfect wilderness, 

 yet by the charter, the grantees were to 

 bold their first meeting for the choice of 

 officers, &c. on the first of Ma)^, 1754, 

 and on the first Tuesday of March ever 

 afterwards. It seerns the town was first 

 organized by and under the very grant 

 itself. Power was given to the grant- 

 ees to transact tlie business of the town 

 as a majority should see fit, subject only 

 to the control of the parliament of Eng- 

 land. This little enterprising band, com- 

 posed of Samuel Hunt, John Chandler, 

 David Field, Elijah Williams, Micah 

 Rice, Ira Carpenter and others, having 

 little to fear from the nominal power of 

 parliament, in the wilderness of Vermont, 

 assumed the title, which was virtually 

 created by their charter, of a little indepen- 

 dent republic. By the records of their 

 first meetings, they appear to have been 

 governed by certain committees, chosen 

 for the ])urpose of surveying the lands, 

 laying roads, drawing the shares or lots, 

 taxing the rights, <fcc. ; but their greatest 

 object was to procure and encourage set- 

 tlers. Their meetings were held at Green- 

 field, Northfield, Hinsdale or Bratlleboro', 

 until 1765, when their first meeting was 

 held at Guilford. There was a condition 

 which, if not performed, went to defeat 

 the grant. The grantees were to settle, 

 clear and cultivate, in five years, five 

 acres for every 50 in said township. Al- 

 though much time and money were spent 

 in making roads and clearing lands, yet 

 on the 20th of March, 1764, the grantees 

 by a special committee chosen, petitioned 

 the governor of N. H. for a confirmation 

 of their grant, and an extention of the 

 time, stating that the intervention of an 

 Indian war had made it impracticable for 

 them to fulfil the conditions of the char- 

 ter. Their prayer was granted and the 

 time for settling tJie town, extended to 

 the first of January, 1766. From the time 

 the charter was confirmed in 1764, the 

 town began to be rapidly settled by emi- 

 grants from Massachusetts and other 

 New-England states. Through the poli- 

 cy of the original proprietors, the first 

 settlers began upon lots of 50 acres, in or- 

 der to fulfil the condition of the grant. 

 So rapid was the increase of population, 

 that the town soon became the larcest in 

 the state as to numbers. Yet there was not 

 a single village in the township, or rath- 



er the whole township was a village — all 

 the hills and vallies were smoking with 

 huts. By the charter 350 acres were 

 called a share, and all the proprietors 

 shared alike. The reservations in the 

 charter consisted of "one whole share to 

 the society in England for propagating 

 the gospel in foreign parts — one to the 

 first settled minister of the gospel — and 

 one whole share for a glebe, for the min- 

 istry of the church of England, as by law 

 established." The governor was not un- 

 mindful of his own interest. He reserved 

 500 acres to be located by itself, for his 

 own. The town was laid out into .50 and 

 100 acre lots. The public rights were 

 fairly located, but that of the royal gover- 

 nor fell upon the only mountain in town, 

 which still bears the name of authority 

 upon the map — "Gov. Mountain."' Al- 

 though no reservation was made in the 

 grant for the use of schools, yet one 

 whole share was located for that purpose. 

 That was a just and generous act of the 

 proprietors, but it was not the same liber- 

 ality that governed them, when they lo- 

 cated, sold and settled one whole tier of 

 hundred acre lots north beyond the ex- 

 tent of their charter. That was the case 

 and the same is held by the town to this 

 day. " All the pine trees suitable for 

 masting the royal Navy" were reserved 

 to his Majesty. This shews the attention 

 the English nation paid to the Navy. One 

 hundred miles from the ocean, where no 

 such timber grew, was that reservation 

 made. What has been related, with a 

 little "proclamation money," was the 

 price of the charter. 



The first land was cleared in 1758 by 

 the Hon. Jona. Hunt and Elisha Hunt, 

 on the farm now occupied by the Rev. 

 Asa Haynes. The first settlement was 

 made by Micah Rice and family, in Sep- 

 tember, 1761, on the place now occupied 

 by Jeremiah Greenleaf, 'Esq. Mr. R.'s 

 widow died in ld32, aged U5 years, and 

 his oldest son is now living here, aged 80. 

 Soon after followed Jonathan Bigelow, 

 John Barney, Daniel Lynds, Wm. Bige- 

 low, Ebenezer Goodenough, Paul Chase, 

 Thomas Cutler, John Shepardson, and 

 others. They came into town by the way 

 of Broad brook. Beginning at the mouth 

 of that stream on Connecticut river in 

 Vernon, and passing up on its banks, 

 they found their way into Guilford. — 

 That was then the only road, and even 

 that was impassable with teams. The 

 first settlers had either to boil or pound 

 their corn, or go 15 miles to mill with a 

 grist upon their backs. It appears, by 

 what records can be found, that the town 

 was whollv governed bj- a set of officers 



