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GROTON SETTLERSBefore the 1800 census

‘Pioneer settler’ seems likean oxymoron. Pioneers are thoseleading the way for others to followand that is what many earlypioneers did. When their followersbecame es t ab l i shed , t he i rpioneering spirit urged some tomove on. The Vermont HistoricalSociety estimated that 42% ofVermonters had left the rockyhillsides and moved westward by1860, and that would include agood number of Groton citizens.Those enumerated in the U. S.Census each decade beginning in1790 are recorded for posterity, butthose who came and left betweencensuses may not be known unlessthey are identified in Churchrecords, Court records, TownReports, Newspaper articles,

(Continued on page 2)

GROTON HISTORICAL SOCIETYNewsletter

Volume 20 Issue 4 Fall 2007Groton, Vermont 05046

GROTON PIONEERS

OFFICERS

President Richard BrooksVice President Deane PageSecretary Diane KreisTreasurer Joan HaskellWeb Site Editor VacantNewsletter Editor J. Willard Benzie

MEETING SCHEDULE(second Tuesday)

April through October10 AM at the Peter Paul House,

1203 Scott Hwy.

CONTENTS

PageGroton Pioneers 1The Plymouth Colony 4Pictures from the past 6GHS UPDATE 9

Rhoney Dunn b. 1866, Great-Great Grandson of ArchibaldMcLachlin, moved to St. Johns-bury with his parents before 1880.

Page 2 GHS Newsletter

School records, family records, etc.[Or information about them issubmitted to the Groton HistoricalSociety to be included with theirfamily history records].

Early visitors to the areabefore the town was granted in 1780would include Lydia (Bradley)Burnham’s great grandmother, Mary(Williams) Bradley (1641-1714) whowas among the captives of the Indiansat Coos in the summer of 1704 and isbelieved to have been in the area thatlater became Groton during part ofher captivity (Mr. Glover’s Groton p.17). One hundred and twenty oneyears later, in 1825, Lydia came toGroton with her son, Moses Burnham,and lived to be 104 years 9 months ofage, a record that has not beensurpassed in 150 years. Moses deededland to the Trustees of the MethodistChurch on January 18, 1836 “inconsideration of one cent thereof” andthe church was built that same year.

Thomas Butterfield and 74associates signed the petition for thetown of Groton which was granted tothem on November 7, 1780. But only13 of them were on the town Charterwhen it was signed by GovernorChittenden on October 29, 1789. The13 land speculators who were on boththe grant and charter were: ThomasButterfield, Jonathan Child, ThomasChittenden, John Fassett Jr., BenjaminFay, Robert Johnson, NehemiahLovewell, Nehemiah Lovewell Jr.,John Page Jr., Joshua Stanton,

(Continued from page 1)

Eliakim Stoddard, John Strong,and John Taplin (Mr. Glover’sGroton p. 24). There was anextensive transfer of land titlesduring the nine years between theissuance of the Grant and signingof the Charter. The new names onthe Charter that were not on theGrant included Ethan Allen, MosesRobinson, James Whitelaw, andJames Abbott, who purchased theright of proprietor, James Warton,in 1782 and he became the onlyproprietor to “settle” in Groton.But in 1807 James Abbott movedhis family to Ohio. Although theother proprietors owned land inGroton and may have spent timehere, they are more correctlyclassified as land speculators thansettlers.

At the May 6, 1788meeting of the proprietors a taxwas voted to defray expenses ofsurveying the lots in Division one.Failure to pay their assessmentspromptly, resu l ted in 73delinquents being notified theirlots would be sold at public vendueto satisfy their tax. Twenty sixproprietors apparently paid up asonly 47 lots were actually sold and33 of them were purchased byJames Whitelaw of Ryegate,making him the largest land holderin Groton at that time (Mr.Glover’s Groton p. 26).

T h e P r o p r i e t o r speriodically held meetings and the

(Continued on page 3)

Fall 2007 Page 11GHS Newsletter Fall 2007

London. These prisoners were not to beconsidered “freeman” when they establishedtheir colony in Virginia. King James, whogave the Puritans their charter to found acolony in Virginia, made it contingent upontheir accepting the London Contingent.

The prisoners were considered bythe Puritans as “sinners and corruptables.”The Puritans noted in their book “PuritanFamily” that they were very concernedabout these “sinners” and their influence onthe children. But, they realized that withoutthe prisoner’s help they would be unable tocreate a colony in the new world.

The “London Contingent” in-cluded: John Billington, Richard Brit-teridege, Peter Browne, William Butten,Robert Carter, Edward Doty, FrancisEaton, John Hooke, Steven Hopkins,John Howland, John Langmore, WilliamLatham, Edward Leister, ChristopherMartin, Richard More and his three sib-lings Ellen, Mary and Jasper, WilliamMullins, Solomon Prower, John Rigdale,Henry Samson, George Soule, Elias Story,John Tilley, Edward Tilley and RichardWarren.

The “Leyden Contingent”, as bestcan be reconstructed, included the followingPuritans: Isaac Allerton, William Brad-ford, William Brewster, John Carver,James Chilton, Francis Cooke, HumilityCooper, John Crackstone, MosesFletcher, Edward Fuller, Samuel Fuller,John Goodman, William Holbeck, [JohnHooke], Desire Minter, Degory Priest,Thomas Rogers, [Edward Tilley], ThomasTinker, John Turner, Thomas Williams,Edward Winslow and Gilbert Winslow.

Unknown as to which contingentthey belonged were: John Allerton, Rich-ard Clarke, Edmund Margesson, Edward

(Continued from page 10)Thompson, William White andRoger Wilder.

Unfortunately once the col-ony was begun the logs note that oneJohn Billington, was hung for mur-der. Edward Doty and Edward Leis-ter got into a duel and were caughtand punished. Stephen Hopkins waspunished for selling arms to the Indi-ans and providing them with liquor.

Somewhere during this timethe original Puritans and the newf r e e m e n h e l d t h e i r f i r s t“Thanksgiving” for having survivedtheir first brutal winter in the Ply-mouth Colony. With the aid of theindigenous people who providedthem with food and aid, the Puritansand their “freemen” survived and hadlived to praise the Lord for their de-liverance.

(Note: In the list of names only the‘heads’ of household were listed.Wives and children were assumed tobelong to the same contingent.)

(Bibliography: Edward Banks[Mayflower scholar]; “The EnglishAncestry and Homes of the PilgrimFathers. National Genealogical Soci-ety Quarterly, 62:88-90, Mourt’sRelation, published in London 1622.Mayflower Quarterly 51:59, May-flower Home Page AOL and E-mailCalebj@aol.com)

[Editor's Note: Everyone has a bias;conspicuously missing are earliertrips to North America by Leif Erick-son and other Viking voyagers 500years before Columbus.]

Page 10 GHS NewsletterFall 2007

The Mayflower had ChristopherJones, as its captain who owned 25 per-cent of the Mayflower. Capt. Jones wasborn in Essex, England and became themaster of the Mayflower in 1609 andsailed transporting goods. In 1620, hetransported the Pilgrims to New England.Capt. Christopher Jones returned from theNew World to England. He died on the5th of March 1621 to sickness broughtabout by the first winter with the Pilgrimsin New England.

His crew consisted of the following:John Clarke, Masters Mate. He had pre-viously made several trips to Jamestown,Virginia beginning in 1575. In 1611 hewas captured by the Spanish and impris-oned for a year in Havana. He was thentaken to Spain where he was held for fiveyears. He was given his freedom in 1617.He died three years later after leavingNew England.Robert Coppin, Pilot. He was hired forhis knowledge of the East Coast coastline.Andrew Williamson, function not listed.John Parker, function unknown.“Master” Leaver, function unknown.Mr. Ely, seaman. He was also hired towork in the colony for a year.William Trevore, seaman, hired to stayfor a year in the colony.Giles Heale, the Mayflowers surgeon.He returned to England with the ship.John Alden, hired as cooper (barrel-maker). He decided to stay in Plymouthrather than return to England.Myles Standish, hired as military com-mander.Thomas English, hired as a seaman.John Allerton, seaman.Richard Gardiner, seaman.

Unfortunately, the Mayflowerwas blown northward away from the Vir-

(Continued from page 4)

ginia coast. Once the ship failed tomake landfall in Virginia, the pris-oners rebelled and declared them-selves “freemen.” They declaredthey were no longer under the ruleof the Puritans as King James hadplaced them under ‘The reasoningof the majority of the passengersand crew.” The King’s contractwas for Virginia and not anywhereelse.

Eventually, the May-flower made landfall in Cape CodHarbor (now Providencetown Har-bor), Mass. According to records,the Puritans realized they couldn’tsurvive on the unfriendly shores ofMass. without cooperation of theformer prisoners. Thus on Novem-ber 11, 1620 on board the May-flower, the Puritans and the passen-gers joined in forming a Compact.Nathaniel Morton, who printed theCompact in 1660 in his “New Eng-land’s Memorial” was the first towrite down the names of the sign-ers of the compact. The originalMayflower Compact has neverbeen found and is assumed de-stroyed.

According to the historianSamuel Elliot Morrison, the firstvoyage of the Mayflower carried102 passengers. Of these, only 42of them were ‘dissident Puritans’who were fleeing religious perse-cution in Leyden, Holland. Theywere identified as the “LeydenContingent.” The “London Con-tingent” consisted of 24 prisonersrounded up from various prisons inEngland by King James I and desti-tute families or individuals from

GHS Newsletter Page 3

first one of record was on August 13,1787 at the home of ThaddeusMunson in Manchester. Ira Allenwas elected moderator, JonathanHoit clerk, and John Knickerbockertreasurer and collector. Ira Allenwas chosen to survey 100-acre lotsin Division one for each proprietorwhich was completed and the first 86lots were drawn at a meeting on May6, 1788 held at Thomas Johnson’s inNewbury. In addition to the lots forindividual proprietors, land wasreserved for roads, schools andministers. The meeting wasofficially called by Jacob KentJustice of the Peace in Newbury andJacob Bayley was elected moderator,James Whitelaw clerk and treasurer,and Col. Robert Johnson collector.William Wallace was selected as anindifferent person to draw lots. Thefive families already living in Grotonwere exempt from the draught. Thefirst lot to be drawn was No. 21awarded to Thomas Butterfield andwas apparently acquired later byTimothy Townshend, son-in-law ofJohn Darling, who settled there in1789. At a meeting on March 6,1789 held at David Dunbar’s inRyegate with John Wallacemoderator, a committee of JamesWhitelaw, Archibald McLachlin andWilloughby Goodwin was elected tolay out 200-acre lots for eachproprietor in a Second Division. Forone reason or another, the surveywas delayed and lots 87 to 191 were

not recorded until the meeting onDecember 10. 1802. At thismeeting new officers were elected -Jesse Heath moderator, EdmundMorse clerk, James Whitelawtreasurer and Robert Whitelawcollector. The lots were drawn atthe next meeting on April 14, 1803at Gray’s tavern. The 3rd and finalDivision was laid out in 1820 andwith the sale of these lots theproprietors meetings ended andtheir records were turned over onSeptember 4, 1821 to the GrotonTown Clerk, Peter McLachlin, sonof Archibald and Christian(McKinley) McLachlin.

In the meantime Grotonhad been organized at its first TownMeeting on March 21, 1797 held atthe home of John Darling. TownOfficers elected were: moderatorSamuel Bacon; town clerkNathaniel Knight; selectmenSamuel Bacon, Nathaniel Knightand James Abbott; treasurerJonathan James; constable andcollector William Frost; grand jurorDominicus Gray; tithing man IsraelBailey; surveyors of highwaysAaron Hosmer, Jr. and Silas Lund;surveyor of lumber RobardsDarling; sealer of weights andmeasures William Frost; hog reifsJeremiah Bachelier (Batchelder)and Samuel Darling; and fenceviewer James Hupper (Hooper).The meeting was convened by

(Continued on page 5)

Fall 2007

Page 4 GHS Newsletter

lantic up to present day Georgia.The Spaniard Esteban Gomez sailedfrom Florida up the North Carolinacoast to Virginia plotting the routethat would later be followed by theMayflower.

The Pilgrims were to setsail 5,000 kilometers across the At-lantic before they would reach theshores of Virginia where the Kinghad charted the Pilgrims to settle.They had to take with them neededutensils, clothing, seed, tools, build-ing materials, livestock, arms andammunition. The new continentwas endowed by nature, with largerivers, such as the Hudson, Dela-ware, Susquehanna.

The Mayflower was char-tered by the Plymouth Companywhich had over 70 investors bandedtogether as the “Merchant Adven-tures” headed originally by ThomasWeston. Their intent was to exploitthe American continent for profit.Many soon realized that their invest-ment was not immediately payingoff and sold out. Isaac Allertonsuccessfully negotiated an agree-ment with the remaining investors tobuy off the stock. Forty-two inves-tors remained. The remainder of thecosts of sailing to America would beborne by the Pilgrims and the pris-oners whose passage was financedby King James I.

(Continued on page 10)

Thanksgiving, aside from being aday of feasting, is also a day in whichAmericans join in the communal celebrat-ing of the arrival of the Anglo-Puritans tothe American continent.

The common mythology paintsthe arrival of the first Anglophiles as up-standing Puritans seeking freedom to prac-tice their religion. Many claim the Pilgrimsas being their direct ancestors to this coun-try and derive a sense of pride from it.Mythology would establish the Pilgrims asbeing the first to arrive and colonize a hos-tile North America. In the process themyths fail to note the historical fact thatthey were preceded by the Spaniards andMestizos who had settled colonies andPueblos nearly 200 years before the Puri-tans ever set foot on Plymouth Rock. ThePilgrims were also preceded by the Settlersof Jamestown in the late 1500’s.

The Mayflower was not breakingnew ground when it set sail from Englandto the American continent. In fact it wasfollowing the well established sea routesplotted on existing sea charts. Beginningin 1492, Cristobal Colon first set sail fromEspana to find a route to India and insteadencountered the Caribbean islands. Poncede Leon soon followed in his Galleons andmade landfall in what is today Florida.Together they first charted the unknownSouth Atlantic from Spain to the AmericanContinent. They were soon followed bythe Latino Mariners Gordillo and Quexoswho sailed up the Eastern Seaboard of theUnited States in 1521 and charted the At-

Fall 2007

The Plymouth Colony : [A Spanish Perspective]

[By Daniel L. Munoz in the San Diego newspaper La Prensa, 29 Nov. 1996]

two, John and Peter, were born inScotland; John in 1771 and Peter in1774. John married Mary, daughterof James and Mary (Mitchell)Whitehill, in 1801 and they had 11children. Peter married IsabelleNelson, daughter of William andJean (Stewart) Nielsen in 1808, andthey had 7 children. Peter servedGroton as Town Clerk, Selectman,Justice of the Peace, Schoolsuperintending committee, and asthe Town Representative in 1813-17. The other children were bornin Vermont, Archibald in 1776,James in 1779, Mary in 1781 andLachlen in 1784. Archibald wentwest in 1837 and according to A. H.Hill’s account of Groton reported in

(Continued from page 8) the Ryegate History, he invented aloom on which his wife wove a coatin one piece without a seam,including sleeves, collar, lapel andall. James married Mary, daughterof John and Elizabeth (Finley)Stainbrook in 1818, and they had 9children. Mary married William, sonof John and Mary (Dirien) Bachopand they had 7 children. Lachlenwas unmarried and went to Texasaccording to one report, but he islisted in the 1810 census of Grotonas head of a household with 3 males16 to 26 and one female 16 to 26years of age.

Groton families listed in the1800 census are planned for futureissues of the newsletter.

Page 9GHS Newsletter Fall 2007

Interest in family histories is gaining momentum, ChristieMurray Hersey sent info on Murray, Page and Heath families.Stephen Perry requested info about the Welch and Morrison families.Timothy Heath asked for a copy of the Newsletter with his ancestor,Jesse Heath. Elizabeth Westerwelle asked for info on Dana andDaniel families. Thanks to all the readers who wrote about family his-tory and sent information and pictures for the GHS family records.

The summer newsletter had pages 3 & 10 missing in somecopies. If your copy had pages 5 & 8 printed where pages 3 & 10should be, let me know and I’ll send you a corrected copy.

Membership dues are $10 per person or $15 per couple. Tenmembers are paid up for 2008, 47 for 2007, and 15 for 2006. Anotherthree last paid in 2005 and will be dropped from the mailing list nextyear if dues are not paid. The last year of dues payment is shown onyour mailing label. Please notify us of any errors.

Come sit in a comfortable padded chair at the next meeting.

GHS UPDATE

are: Samuel Fellows, Joshua Merrill,Moses Noyes and Benjamin Smith.Samuel Fellows was electedModerator at the May 5, 1797 TownMeeting, Moses Noyes wasModerator of the Oct 9, 1797 TownMeeting when Benjamin Smith waselected lister, and Joshua Merrillserved as a Town Official in 1798 or1799. Other Town Officials before1800 are listed in the 1800 Grotoncensus and they included EphraimGary, Timothy Emery, JonathanMacomber, Enoch Manchester, andEdward Pollard.

Jacob Jenness born in 1766 atRochester, Stafford Co., NH and diedin 1807 may be the Jacob Jennesswho was in Groton in 1788. Mr.Glover’s Groton refers to him asJacob Jenness on p. 25 and JonathanJenness on p. 33. Perhaps he is theJonathan Jenness who lived inTopsham later and was referred to as‘Job’ Jenness in the discussion ofmail service to Groton on p. 237? AJacob Jenness born about 1794, livingin Craftsbury, Orleans Co., VT andmarried Mary Way about 1813 couldpossibly be a son of the JacobJenness who was in Groton in 1788.In the 1880 census of Craftsbury, VTa Jacob Jenness age 72 was livingwith his wife Eliza age 62 born inVT, and possibly he is a son orrela t ive of the Jacob whomysteriously disappeared fromGroton before the 1790 census wastaken. Mr. Glover stated that the

(Continued from page 5)

Page 8 GHS Newsletter

whereabouts of Jacob Jenness areunknown.

Archibald McLachlin (alsospelled McLaughlin) was born inSterling, Scotland in 1743 andcame to America in the spring of1775 with his wife Christian(McKinley) McLachlin and theirtwo boys, John and Peter. Theycame with Alexander Harvey’scompany of farmers to settle inBarnet; however, in the early springof 1776 they were living inPeacham when the threat of aninvasion from Canada caused thefew people living there to flee.They returned in the fall along withDeacon Elkins and John Skeele andwere the first settlers to over-winterin Peacham.

In 1788 the McLachlinfamily was living in Groton on lot26. At the proprietors meeting onMay 6, 1788 Archibald was chosento be an assessor along with JamesAbbott and Edmund Morse. And atthe meeting on March 6, 1789 hewas elected to lay out the seconddivision in Groton along withsurveyor James Whitelaw andWilloughby Goodwin. Before thefirst U. S. Census was completed in1791, however , Archiba ldMcLachlin moved his family backto Peacham, but many of their 176descendants listed in the GHSfamily records lived in Groton.

Archibald and Christianhad 5 boys and one girl. The oldest

(Continued on page 9)

Fall 2007

General William Chamberlin Justiceof the Peace from Peacham inaccordance with the requirements ofthe State of Vermont for holdingtown meetings in unorganizedtownships.

Mr. Glover describes the firsttown meeting with the following 20heads of families attending: JamesAbbott, Samuel Bacon, Israel Bailey,Jeremiah Batchelder, John Darling,Robards Darling, Samuel Darling,Charles Emery, John Emery,Timothy Emery, William Frost,Dominicus Gray, James Hooper,Aaron Hosmer, Jonathan James,Nathaniel Knight , BradburyMorrison, Edmund Morse, EdmundWelch and Jonathan Welch. SilasLund, elected surveyor of highways,must have been in attendance also.

Seven of the eight familieslisted in the 1790 census (those initalics) were in attendance, onlyTimothy Townshend was missing.Perhaps he died before the 1797Town Meeting as he is not listed inthe 1800 census and his widow, Sally(Darling) Townshend, married JosiahJennison about 1804 in Peacham.

Samuel Bacon was born atMiddletown, CT in 1758 and came totown after the 1790 census. Hemarried Rhoda Miner about 1787 andthey had one daughter, Clarissa, whomarried Simeon Walker in 1816 atPeacham. Samuel was electedModerator and Selectman at the firstTown Meeting in 1797. Before the1800 census he moved his family to

(Continued from page 3)

Peacham where he died in 1805.All the others attending the firstTown Meeting were enumerated inthe 1800 census of Groton.

Information about the 8pioneer families, living in townwhen the first census wascompleted in 1791, was in recentnewsletters: James Abbott, IsraelBailey, John Darling (including thefamilies of his son, Robards, andson-in-law Timothy Townshend),Aaron Hosmer, Jonathan James,and Edmund Morse.

J e s s e H e a t h , aRevolutionary War veteran, wasthe first pioneer family in theseries, coming to Groton with hiswife, Phebe Straw, in 1781, but hewas not listed in the Grotoncensuses until 1800. He and hisfamily were enumerated in theRyegate census of 1790.

Other pioneer settlersliving in Groton in 1788, wereArchibald McLachlin and JacobJenness, but they also had leftbefore the 1790 census was taken.Peter Wesson, brother-in-law ofEdmund Morse and son of Ephriamand Lydia (Proctor) Wesson wasreportedly living in Groton at anearly date, but died shortly aftersettling on lot number 5, and is notlisted in the proprietors minutes of1788 nor in the 1790 Grotoncensus.

Other Town Officialsbefore 1800 not listed in the census

(Continued on page 8)

Page 5GHS Newsletter Fall 2007

Page 6 GHS Newsletter

GROTON PICTURES FROM THE PAST

Fall 2007

1905

1900

1920

1924 1932

1910

Page 7GHS Newsletter Fall 2007

1930

1940

1939

1935

1937

1943

Page 6 GHS Newsletter

GROTON PICTURES FROM THE PAST

Fall 2007

1905

1900

1920

1924 1932

1910

Page 7GHS Newsletter Fall 2007

1930

1940

1939

1935

1937

1943

are: Samuel Fellows, Joshua Merrill,Moses Noyes and Benjamin Smith.Samuel Fellows was electedModerator at the May 5, 1797 TownMeeting, Moses Noyes wasModerator of the Oct 9, 1797 TownMeeting when Benjamin Smith waselected lister, and Joshua Merrillserved as a Town Official in 1798 or1799. Other Town Officials before1800 are listed in the 1800 Grotoncensus and they included EphraimGary, Timothy Emery, JonathanMacomber, Enoch Manchester, andEdward Pollard.

Jacob Jenness born in 1766 atRochester, Stafford Co., NH and diedin 1807 may be the Jacob Jennesswho was in Groton in 1788. Mr.Glover’s Groton refers to him asJacob Jenness on p. 25 and JonathanJenness on p. 33. Perhaps he is theJonathan Jenness who lived inTopsham later and was referred to as‘Job’ Jenness in the discussion ofmail service to Groton on p. 237? AJacob Jenness born about 1794, livingin Craftsbury, Orleans Co., VT andmarried Mary Way about 1813 couldpossibly be a son of the JacobJenness who was in Groton in 1788.In the 1880 census of Craftsbury, VTa Jacob Jenness age 72 was livingwith his wife Eliza age 62 born inVT, and possibly he is a son orrela t ive of the Jacob whomysteriously disappeared fromGroton before the 1790 census wastaken. Mr. Glover stated that the

(Continued from page 5)

Page 8 GHS Newsletter

whereabouts of Jacob Jenness areunknown.

Archibald McLachlin (alsospelled McLaughlin) was born inSterling, Scotland in 1743 andcame to America in the spring of1775 with his wife Christian(McKinley) McLachlin and theirtwo boys, John and Peter. Theycame with Alexander Harvey’scompany of farmers to settle inBarnet; however, in the early springof 1776 they were living inPeacham when the threat of aninvasion from Canada caused thefew people living there to flee.They returned in the fall along withDeacon Elkins and John Skeele andwere the first settlers to over-winterin Peacham.

In 1788 the McLachlinfamily was living in Groton on lot26. At the proprietors meeting onMay 6, 1788 Archibald was chosento be an assessor along with JamesAbbott and Edmund Morse. And atthe meeting on March 6, 1789 hewas elected to lay out the seconddivision in Groton along withsurveyor James Whitelaw andWilloughby Goodwin. Before thefirst U. S. Census was completed in1791, however , Archiba ldMcLachlin moved his family backto Peacham, but many of their 176descendants listed in the GHSfamily records lived in Groton.

Archibald and Christianhad 5 boys and one girl. The oldest

(Continued on page 9)

Fall 2007

General William Chamberlin Justiceof the Peace from Peacham inaccordance with the requirements ofthe State of Vermont for holdingtown meetings in unorganizedtownships.

Mr. Glover describes the firsttown meeting with the following 20heads of families attending: JamesAbbott, Samuel Bacon, Israel Bailey,Jeremiah Batchelder, John Darling,Robards Darling, Samuel Darling,Charles Emery, John Emery,Timothy Emery, William Frost,Dominicus Gray, James Hooper,Aaron Hosmer, Jonathan James,Nathaniel Knight , BradburyMorrison, Edmund Morse, EdmundWelch and Jonathan Welch. SilasLund, elected surveyor of highways,must have been in attendance also.

Seven of the eight familieslisted in the 1790 census (those initalics) were in attendance, onlyTimothy Townshend was missing.Perhaps he died before the 1797Town Meeting as he is not listed inthe 1800 census and his widow, Sally(Darling) Townshend, married JosiahJennison about 1804 in Peacham.

Samuel Bacon was born atMiddletown, CT in 1758 and came totown after the 1790 census. Hemarried Rhoda Miner about 1787 andthey had one daughter, Clarissa, whomarried Simeon Walker in 1816 atPeacham. Samuel was electedModerator and Selectman at the firstTown Meeting in 1797. Before the1800 census he moved his family to

(Continued from page 3)

Peacham where he died in 1805.All the others attending the firstTown Meeting were enumerated inthe 1800 census of Groton.

Information about the 8pioneer families, living in townwhen the first census wascompleted in 1791, was in recentnewsletters: James Abbott, IsraelBailey, John Darling (including thefamilies of his son, Robards, andson-in-law Timothy Townshend),Aaron Hosmer, Jonathan James,and Edmund Morse.

J e s s e H e a t h , aRevolutionary War veteran, wasthe first pioneer family in theseries, coming to Groton with hiswife, Phebe Straw, in 1781, but hewas not listed in the Grotoncensuses until 1800. He and hisfamily were enumerated in theRyegate census of 1790.

Other pioneer settlersliving in Groton in 1788, wereArchibald McLachlin and JacobJenness, but they also had leftbefore the 1790 census was taken.Peter Wesson, brother-in-law ofEdmund Morse and son of Ephriamand Lydia (Proctor) Wesson wasreportedly living in Groton at anearly date, but died shortly aftersettling on lot number 5, and is notlisted in the proprietors minutes of1788 nor in the 1790 Grotoncensus.

Other Town Officialsbefore 1800 not listed in the census

(Continued on page 8)

Page 5GHS Newsletter Fall 2007

Page 4 GHS Newsletter

lantic up to present day Georgia.The Spaniard Esteban Gomez sailedfrom Florida up the North Carolinacoast to Virginia plotting the routethat would later be followed by theMayflower.

The Pilgrims were to setsail 5,000 kilometers across the At-lantic before they would reach theshores of Virginia where the Kinghad charted the Pilgrims to settle.They had to take with them neededutensils, clothing, seed, tools, build-ing materials, livestock, arms andammunition. The new continentwas endowed by nature, with largerivers, such as the Hudson, Dela-ware, Susquehanna.

The Mayflower was char-tered by the Plymouth Companywhich had over 70 investors bandedtogether as the “Merchant Adven-tures” headed originally by ThomasWeston. Their intent was to exploitthe American continent for profit.Many soon realized that their invest-ment was not immediately payingoff and sold out. Isaac Allertonsuccessfully negotiated an agree-ment with the remaining investors tobuy off the stock. Forty-two inves-tors remained. The remainder of thecosts of sailing to America would beborne by the Pilgrims and the pris-oners whose passage was financedby King James I.

(Continued on page 10)

Thanksgiving, aside from being aday of feasting, is also a day in whichAmericans join in the communal celebrat-ing of the arrival of the Anglo-Puritans tothe American continent.

The common mythology paintsthe arrival of the first Anglophiles as up-standing Puritans seeking freedom to prac-tice their religion. Many claim the Pilgrimsas being their direct ancestors to this coun-try and derive a sense of pride from it.Mythology would establish the Pilgrims asbeing the first to arrive and colonize a hos-tile North America. In the process themyths fail to note the historical fact thatthey were preceded by the Spaniards andMestizos who had settled colonies andPueblos nearly 200 years before the Puri-tans ever set foot on Plymouth Rock. ThePilgrims were also preceded by the Settlersof Jamestown in the late 1500’s.

The Mayflower was not breakingnew ground when it set sail from Englandto the American continent. In fact it wasfollowing the well established sea routesplotted on existing sea charts. Beginningin 1492, Cristobal Colon first set sail fromEspana to find a route to India and insteadencountered the Caribbean islands. Poncede Leon soon followed in his Galleons andmade landfall in what is today Florida.Together they first charted the unknownSouth Atlantic from Spain to the AmericanContinent. They were soon followed bythe Latino Mariners Gordillo and Quexoswho sailed up the Eastern Seaboard of theUnited States in 1521 and charted the At-

Fall 2007

The Plymouth Colony : [A Spanish Perspective]

[By Daniel L. Munoz in the San Diego newspaper La Prensa, 29 Nov. 1996]

two, John and Peter, were born inScotland; John in 1771 and Peter in1774. John married Mary, daughterof James and Mary (Mitchell)Whitehill, in 1801 and they had 11children. Peter married IsabelleNelson, daughter of William andJean (Stewart) Nielsen in 1808, andthey had 7 children. Peter servedGroton as Town Clerk, Selectman,Justice of the Peace, Schoolsuperintending committee, and asthe Town Representative in 1813-17. The other children were bornin Vermont, Archibald in 1776,James in 1779, Mary in 1781 andLachlen in 1784. Archibald wentwest in 1837 and according to A. H.Hill’s account of Groton reported in

(Continued from page 8) the Ryegate History, he invented aloom on which his wife wove a coatin one piece without a seam,including sleeves, collar, lapel andall. James married Mary, daughterof John and Elizabeth (Finley)Stainbrook in 1818, and they had 9children. Mary married William, sonof John and Mary (Dirien) Bachopand they had 7 children. Lachlenwas unmarried and went to Texasaccording to one report, but he islisted in the 1810 census of Grotonas head of a household with 3 males16 to 26 and one female 16 to 26years of age.

Groton families listed in the1800 census are planned for futureissues of the newsletter.

Page 9GHS Newsletter Fall 2007

Interest in family histories is gaining momentum, ChristieMurray Hersey sent info on Murray, Page and Heath families.Stephen Perry requested info about the Welch and Morrison families.Timothy Heath asked for a copy of the Newsletter with his ancestor,Jesse Heath. Elizabeth Westerwelle asked for info on Dana andDaniel families. Thanks to all the readers who wrote about family his-tory and sent information and pictures for the GHS family records.

The summer newsletter had pages 3 & 10 missing in somecopies. If your copy had pages 5 & 8 printed where pages 3 & 10should be, let me know and I’ll send you a corrected copy.

Membership dues are $10 per person or $15 per couple. Tenmembers are paid up for 2008, 47 for 2007, and 15 for 2006. Anotherthree last paid in 2005 and will be dropped from the mailing list nextyear if dues are not paid. The last year of dues payment is shown onyour mailing label. Please notify us of any errors.

Come sit in a comfortable padded chair at the next meeting.

GHS UPDATE

Page 10 GHS NewsletterFall 2007

The Mayflower had ChristopherJones, as its captain who owned 25 per-cent of the Mayflower. Capt. Jones wasborn in Essex, England and became themaster of the Mayflower in 1609 andsailed transporting goods. In 1620, hetransported the Pilgrims to New England.Capt. Christopher Jones returned from theNew World to England. He died on the5th of March 1621 to sickness broughtabout by the first winter with the Pilgrimsin New England.

His crew consisted of the following:John Clarke, Masters Mate. He had pre-viously made several trips to Jamestown,Virginia beginning in 1575. In 1611 hewas captured by the Spanish and impris-oned for a year in Havana. He was thentaken to Spain where he was held for fiveyears. He was given his freedom in 1617.He died three years later after leavingNew England.Robert Coppin, Pilot. He was hired forhis knowledge of the East Coast coastline.Andrew Williamson, function not listed.John Parker, function unknown.“Master” Leaver, function unknown.Mr. Ely, seaman. He was also hired towork in the colony for a year.William Trevore, seaman, hired to stayfor a year in the colony.Giles Heale, the Mayflowers surgeon.He returned to England with the ship.John Alden, hired as cooper (barrel-maker). He decided to stay in Plymouthrather than return to England.Myles Standish, hired as military com-mander.Thomas English, hired as a seaman.John Allerton, seaman.Richard Gardiner, seaman.

Unfortunately, the Mayflowerwas blown northward away from the Vir-

(Continued from page 4)

ginia coast. Once the ship failed tomake landfall in Virginia, the pris-oners rebelled and declared them-selves “freemen.” They declaredthey were no longer under the ruleof the Puritans as King James hadplaced them under ‘The reasoningof the majority of the passengersand crew.” The King’s contractwas for Virginia and not anywhereelse.

Eventually, the May-flower made landfall in Cape CodHarbor (now Providencetown Har-bor), Mass. According to records,the Puritans realized they couldn’tsurvive on the unfriendly shores ofMass. without cooperation of theformer prisoners. Thus on Novem-ber 11, 1620 on board the May-flower, the Puritans and the passen-gers joined in forming a Compact.Nathaniel Morton, who printed theCompact in 1660 in his “New Eng-land’s Memorial” was the first towrite down the names of the sign-ers of the compact. The originalMayflower Compact has neverbeen found and is assumed de-stroyed.

According to the historianSamuel Elliot Morrison, the firstvoyage of the Mayflower carried102 passengers. Of these, only 42of them were ‘dissident Puritans’who were fleeing religious perse-cution in Leyden, Holland. Theywere identified as the “LeydenContingent.” The “London Con-tingent” consisted of 24 prisonersrounded up from various prisons inEngland by King James I and desti-tute families or individuals from

GHS Newsletter Page 3

first one of record was on August 13,1787 at the home of ThaddeusMunson in Manchester. Ira Allenwas elected moderator, JonathanHoit clerk, and John Knickerbockertreasurer and collector. Ira Allenwas chosen to survey 100-acre lotsin Division one for each proprietorwhich was completed and the first 86lots were drawn at a meeting on May6, 1788 held at Thomas Johnson’s inNewbury. In addition to the lots forindividual proprietors, land wasreserved for roads, schools andministers. The meeting wasofficially called by Jacob KentJustice of the Peace in Newbury andJacob Bayley was elected moderator,James Whitelaw clerk and treasurer,and Col. Robert Johnson collector.William Wallace was selected as anindifferent person to draw lots. Thefive families already living in Grotonwere exempt from the draught. Thefirst lot to be drawn was No. 21awarded to Thomas Butterfield andwas apparently acquired later byTimothy Townshend, son-in-law ofJohn Darling, who settled there in1789. At a meeting on March 6,1789 held at David Dunbar’s inRyegate with John Wallacemoderator, a committee of JamesWhitelaw, Archibald McLachlin andWilloughby Goodwin was elected tolay out 200-acre lots for eachproprietor in a Second Division. Forone reason or another, the surveywas delayed and lots 87 to 191 were

not recorded until the meeting onDecember 10. 1802. At thismeeting new officers were elected -Jesse Heath moderator, EdmundMorse clerk, James Whitelawtreasurer and Robert Whitelawcollector. The lots were drawn atthe next meeting on April 14, 1803at Gray’s tavern. The 3rd and finalDivision was laid out in 1820 andwith the sale of these lots theproprietors meetings ended andtheir records were turned over onSeptember 4, 1821 to the GrotonTown Clerk, Peter McLachlin, sonof Archibald and Christian(McKinley) McLachlin.

In the meantime Grotonhad been organized at its first TownMeeting on March 21, 1797 held atthe home of John Darling. TownOfficers elected were: moderatorSamuel Bacon; town clerkNathaniel Knight; selectmenSamuel Bacon, Nathaniel Knightand James Abbott; treasurerJonathan James; constable andcollector William Frost; grand jurorDominicus Gray; tithing man IsraelBailey; surveyors of highwaysAaron Hosmer, Jr. and Silas Lund;surveyor of lumber RobardsDarling; sealer of weights andmeasures William Frost; hog reifsJeremiah Bachelier (Batchelder)and Samuel Darling; and fenceviewer James Hupper (Hooper).The meeting was convened by

(Continued on page 5)

Fall 2007

Page 2 GHS Newsletter

School records, family records, etc.[Or information about them issubmitted to the Groton HistoricalSociety to be included with theirfamily history records].

Early visitors to the areabefore the town was granted in 1780would include Lydia (Bradley)Burnham’s great grandmother, Mary(Williams) Bradley (1641-1714) whowas among the captives of the Indiansat Coos in the summer of 1704 and isbelieved to have been in the area thatlater became Groton during part ofher captivity (Mr. Glover’s Groton p.17). One hundred and twenty oneyears later, in 1825, Lydia came toGroton with her son, Moses Burnham,and lived to be 104 years 9 months ofage, a record that has not beensurpassed in 150 years. Moses deededland to the Trustees of the MethodistChurch on January 18, 1836 “inconsideration of one cent thereof” andthe church was built that same year.

Thomas Butterfield and 74associates signed the petition for thetown of Groton which was granted tothem on November 7, 1780. But only13 of them were on the town Charterwhen it was signed by GovernorChittenden on October 29, 1789. The13 land speculators who were on boththe grant and charter were: ThomasButterfield, Jonathan Child, ThomasChittenden, John Fassett Jr., BenjaminFay, Robert Johnson, NehemiahLovewell, Nehemiah Lovewell Jr.,John Page Jr., Joshua Stanton,

(Continued from page 1)

Eliakim Stoddard, John Strong,and John Taplin (Mr. Glover’sGroton p. 24). There was anextensive transfer of land titlesduring the nine years between theissuance of the Grant and signingof the Charter. The new names onthe Charter that were not on theGrant included Ethan Allen, MosesRobinson, James Whitelaw, andJames Abbott, who purchased theright of proprietor, James Warton,in 1782 and he became the onlyproprietor to “settle” in Groton.But in 1807 James Abbott movedhis family to Ohio. Although theother proprietors owned land inGroton and may have spent timehere, they are more correctlyclassified as land speculators thansettlers.

At the May 6, 1788meeting of the proprietors a taxwas voted to defray expenses ofsurveying the lots in Division one.Failure to pay their assessmentspromptly, resu l ted in 73delinquents being notified theirlots would be sold at public vendueto satisfy their tax. Twenty sixproprietors apparently paid up asonly 47 lots were actually sold and33 of them were purchased byJames Whitelaw of Ryegate,making him the largest land holderin Groton at that time (Mr.Glover’s Groton p. 26).

T h e P r o p r i e t o r speriodically held meetings and the

(Continued on page 3)

Fall 2007 Page 11GHS Newsletter Fall 2007

London. These prisoners were not to beconsidered “freeman” when they establishedtheir colony in Virginia. King James, whogave the Puritans their charter to found acolony in Virginia, made it contingent upontheir accepting the London Contingent.

The prisoners were considered bythe Puritans as “sinners and corruptables.”The Puritans noted in their book “PuritanFamily” that they were very concernedabout these “sinners” and their influence onthe children. But, they realized that withoutthe prisoner’s help they would be unable tocreate a colony in the new world.

The “London Contingent” in-cluded: John Billington, Richard Brit-teridege, Peter Browne, William Butten,Robert Carter, Edward Doty, FrancisEaton, John Hooke, Steven Hopkins,John Howland, John Langmore, WilliamLatham, Edward Leister, ChristopherMartin, Richard More and his three sib-lings Ellen, Mary and Jasper, WilliamMullins, Solomon Prower, John Rigdale,Henry Samson, George Soule, Elias Story,John Tilley, Edward Tilley and RichardWarren.

The “Leyden Contingent”, as bestcan be reconstructed, included the followingPuritans: Isaac Allerton, William Brad-ford, William Brewster, John Carver,James Chilton, Francis Cooke, HumilityCooper, John Crackstone, MosesFletcher, Edward Fuller, Samuel Fuller,John Goodman, William Holbeck, [JohnHooke], Desire Minter, Degory Priest,Thomas Rogers, [Edward Tilley], ThomasTinker, John Turner, Thomas Williams,Edward Winslow and Gilbert Winslow.

Unknown as to which contingentthey belonged were: John Allerton, Rich-ard Clarke, Edmund Margesson, Edward

(Continued from page 10)Thompson, William White andRoger Wilder.

Unfortunately once the col-ony was begun the logs note that oneJohn Billington, was hung for mur-der. Edward Doty and Edward Leis-ter got into a duel and were caughtand punished. Stephen Hopkins waspunished for selling arms to the Indi-ans and providing them with liquor.

Somewhere during this timethe original Puritans and the newf r e e m e n h e l d t h e i r f i r s t“Thanksgiving” for having survivedtheir first brutal winter in the Ply-mouth Colony. With the aid of theindigenous people who providedthem with food and aid, the Puritansand their “freemen” survived and hadlived to praise the Lord for their de-liverance.

(Note: In the list of names only the‘heads’ of household were listed.Wives and children were assumed tobelong to the same contingent.)

(Bibliography: Edward Banks[Mayflower scholar]; “The EnglishAncestry and Homes of the PilgrimFathers. National Genealogical Soci-ety Quarterly, 62:88-90, Mourt’sRelation, published in London 1622.Mayflower Quarterly 51:59, May-flower Home Page AOL and E-mailCalebj@aol.com)

[Editor's Note: Everyone has a bias;conspicuously missing are earliertrips to North America by Leif Erick-son and other Viking voyagers 500years before Columbus.]

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GROTON SETTLERSBefore the 1800 census

‘Pioneer settler’ seems likean oxymoron. Pioneers are thoseleading the way for others to followand that is what many earlypioneers did. When their followersbecame es t ab l i shed , t he i rpioneering spirit urged some tomove on. The Vermont HistoricalSociety estimated that 42% ofVermonters had left the rockyhillsides and moved westward by1860, and that would include agood number of Groton citizens.Those enumerated in the U. S.Census each decade beginning in1790 are recorded for posterity, butthose who came and left betweencensuses may not be known unlessthey are identified in Churchrecords, Court records, TownReports, Newspaper articles,

(Continued on page 2)

GROTON HISTORICAL SOCIETYNewsletter

Volume 20 Issue 4 Fall 2007Groton, Vermont 05046

GROTON PIONEERS

OFFICERS

President Richard BrooksVice President Deane PageSecretary Diane KreisTreasurer Joan HaskellWeb Site Editor VacantNewsletter Editor J. Willard Benzie

MEETING SCHEDULE(second Tuesday)

April through October10 AM at the Peter Paul House,

1203 Scott Hwy.

CONTENTS

PageGroton Pioneers 1The Plymouth Colony 4Pictures from the past 6GHS UPDATE 9

Rhoney Dunn b. 1866, Great-Great Grandson of ArchibaldMcLachlin, moved to St. Johns-bury with his parents before 1880.