92 



GAZETTEER OF VERMO>fT. 



Part III. 



HUBBARDTON. 



HUBBARDTON. 



Col. Bellow's regiment, which was en- 

 camped there. The Colonel had but just 

 commenced his march in the morning, 

 v;hen, hearing firing at Hubbardton, he 

 marched back to the assistance of his 

 companions, leaving these unfortunate 

 families, to pursue their flight, unprotect- 

 ed and alone, but not arriving till after 

 the battle had been decided, he retreated 

 back to Castleton. On the morning of 

 the 7th of .July, Warner sent a detachment 

 of about 300 men, a distance of two miles, 

 to assist Mr. S. Churchill in getting away 

 his family. They had just began their 

 marcli, on their return, when the battle 

 connneneed.* Hearing the firing, they 

 pushed forward as fast as possible to the 

 assistance of their companions. Two of 

 Mr. Churchill's sons, John and Silas, ac- 

 companied the detachment, and were in 

 tin; engagement. Silas was taken pris- 

 oner, and John made liis escape, and fled 

 back to his former residence, as did also 

 the rest of the family, after having two 

 of the horses wounded on which the wo- 

 men rodo.t Here they were surprised, 

 and all taken prisoners by Sherwood and 

 his party, who had been lurking on 

 the hills east of the town during the 

 action The men and boys were taken 

 away, the house plundered, and the wo- 

 men ordered by Sherwood to leave it 

 that it miglit be set on fire. Upon this 

 one of the young women exclaimed, 

 " You have taken away our men and pro- 

 visions, and can you be so cruel as to burn 

 our house !" and so saying slie fainted 

 and fell. In cf«isequcnce of this and tiie 

 tears and entreaties of others the liouse 

 was spared ; but that was of little use 

 without food or clothing. Sherwood sus- 

 pecting that Mr. Churchill had flour con- 

 cealed, ordered the Indians to take him 

 into tlie woods and burn him unless he 

 informed them where it was. They bound 

 him to a tree, piled wood around liim, 

 questioning and threatening him, but as 

 he steadfastly denied having concealed 

 any, Sherwoort at length ordered them to 

 desist and unbind him. Mr. Cliurcliill 

 and his sons, John, Silas and Ezekiel, to- 

 g-ether witli Messrs. Hickok, Keelcr, and 

 Kellogg were carried to Ticonderoga, 

 while William Cliuvchill, who was lame, 

 and the females and younger parts oi'tlie 

 families were left to take care of them- 

 selves. A part of these made their way 

 to Castleton ; but Mr. Cliiirchiirs family 

 consisting of four women, two boys, one 

 of whom was lame, and tvv'o small chil- 



* For :in account of ihn Baltlp. soe part 9, pn2;e4-'2. 



■j- It 19 sairt that as Mrs. ChurchiUs liorse stag- 

 gered from t lie effect of the woiinil, slie jumpoil from 

 his back, exclaiming, '' I wish I had a gun, I'd give 

 them what they want." 



dren, made their way, some on foot and 

 some on horseback, over the Green Moun- 

 tains to No. 4, thence to Springfield, Mass. 

 and thence over the mountain to Shef- 

 field, Con. the place from which they em- 

 igrated. The men, who were detained as 

 prisoners at Ticonderoga, were confined 

 during the night and required to labor 

 during the day. Messrs. Churchill and 

 Hickok, who were employed in boating 

 wood, watched their opportunity, landed 

 on the eastern shore and made their es- 

 cape. They proceeded to Hubbardton but 

 found the town deserted and desolate. In 

 Mr. Hickok's house was the putrid car- 

 case of a dead man, and numerous others, 

 with fragments of fire arms and clothing, 

 were scattered in profusion in the vicini- 

 ty of the battle ground.* Tliey left this 

 heart-sickening scene, and went in pur- 

 suit of their families. Mr Hickok found 

 his family at Castleton. But Mr. Church- 

 ill hearing nothing of his, proceeded to 

 the south, and was at length so happy as 

 to find tliem arrived safely in Connecti- 

 cut. Tlie other prisoners, mentioned, re- 

 mained at Ticonderoga till October, 

 when they were retaken by Col. Brown. 

 In 1780, most of the families which had 

 been driven oft' had returned, but few ad- 

 ditions were made to the settlement till 

 1783. In 1784, the people turned out and 

 collected the bones which had been 

 bleaching for seven years upon the battle 

 ground, and buried them. The first fram- 

 ed barn was built in Hubbardton by S. 

 Churchill, in 178.'), the boards for it being 

 brought 124 miles on an ox-sled. Tiie 

 first framed house was built by Nathan 

 Rumsey, in 1737, and the first saw mill, 

 the same year, b}' Josiah Churchill. The 

 first grist and second saw mill were built 

 by Nathan Rumsey, in 1789. The town 

 was organized in March, 1785, and David 

 Hickok was the first town clerk, and Jan- 

 na Churchill the first representative, and 

 the first justice of the peace. The reli- 

 gious denominations are Baptists, Con- 

 gregationalists, Methodists and Univer- 

 salists. The Baptist church was formed 

 Sept. 24, 1787. Elder Nathaniel Culver 

 was their minister from 17."^7, to ]7(»2. El- 

 der Nathan Dana was settled in J 708, and 

 was regarded as their first settled minis- 

 ter. He continued the pastor till 1808. 

 Elder Joseph W. Sawyer commenced 

 preaching here in November, 1815, was 

 settled Nov. 6, 1816, and continued till 

 March, 1822. Since that time this church 

 has been supplied by temporary engage- 



* Mr.=;. [ioardman willi two childreiij was in the 

 house which was surrounded by the contending ar- 

 mies, during the battle, and, as there was no cellar, 

 she took shelter under the bed where she remained 

 till the battle was over. 



