By 1810 the pioneers andearly settlers in Groton had thetown organized and functioningwith regular town-meetings todecide what the most urgent needswere and how they could be metwith the knowledge, skills andabilities of its citizens. One third ofthe 37 families living here in 1800had left and an additional unknownnumber came and went between the1800 and 1810 censuses. But 48new families were listed in the1810 census making a total of 73families living in Groton. Overhalf of the new families werechildren or relatives of those whocame earlier: Jacob Abbott,nephew of James; Smith Bailey,son of Benjamin; Moses and

(Continued on page 2)

GROTON HISTORICAL SOCIETYNewsletter

Volume 21 Issue 2 Spromg 2008Groton, Vermont 05046

GROTON FAMILIESIN 1810

2008 OFFICERSPresident 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.April meeting may be cancelled

due to snow conditions

CONTENTSPage

Families in 1810…..…….1

GHS Web page ..………..3

General History………….5

GHS News….………….15

Medad Darling 1794-1878 mar-ried the widow Hidden in 1814

Spring 2008

Page 2

Stephen Darling, sons of John;Caleb Emery, son of John; AbramFrost, son of William; Daniel andJohn Heath, sons of Jesse; Lachlenand Peter McLachlin, sons ofArchibald; Hosea Welch, son ofJonathan; Stephen Welch, son ofEdmund; Bethuel Fuller, son-in-lawof John Darling; William Hodgdenand David Jenkins, sons-in-law ofRobards Darling; Obadiah Low,uncle of Ephraim Gary; Henry Lowe,cousin of Ephraim; Isobel (Straw)Page sister-in-law of Jesse Heath, andher sons Enoch Page Jr. and MosesPage; Josiah Paul, brother-in-law ofEphriam Gary; Stephen Roberts,stepson-in-law of Dominicus Gray;William Stanley, son-in-law of JesseHeath; Ephraim Weston (Wesson),brother-in-law of Edmund Morse;Reuben Whitcher, son-in-law ofDominicus Gray; Betsey Morrison,widow of Bradbury; and DollyRemick, widow of John.

The other new families in1810 were: Asa Annis, RachelBennett (widow of Tilton who diedbefore the census) and her sonTimothy Bennett, Arthur Bragden,Andrew Carter, Moses Emerson,Ebenezer Fisk, Edmund Fisk,Daniel Floyd, Michael Floyd,Jeremiah Hidden, John R. Hogin,Ithama Littlefield, Simeon Mallory,James Nelson, Oliver Parker,James Renfrew, and son JamesRenfrew 2nd, Oliver Rhodes,Stephen Rowlins, and David Vance.

(Continued from page 1)

The population of Grotonhad almost doubled from 248 in1800 to 449 in the 1810 census.Apparently it was getting toocrowded for some folks as 41 % ofthe families in the 1810 census werenot listed in the 1820 census (30 of73), but three of them reappeared in1830: Timothy Bennett, MosesEmerson and Caleb Emery. AsaAnnis moved to Bath, NH and thenLittleton; Benjamin Bailey returnedto Peacham about 1815; SmithBailey went to Monroe, OH wherehe died in 1837; Rachel Bennettwent to Oxford, ME where she diedin 1825; John Darling was probablyliving with one of his children as hedied at Groton in 1830; StephenDarling died in 1819 and his widow,Nancy (Fisk) Darling, was head ofthe household in 1820; AbramFrost apparently went back to MEwhere he died in 1836; BethuelFuller moved his family to Albany,VT about 1814; Jesse Heath wasliving in Ryegate in 1820 when heapplied for a military pension;Jeremiah Hidden died in 1813;Jonathan James moved his familyto Troy, VT before 1820; ObadiahLow went to serve in the War of1812 and never came back; LachlenMcLachlin went to TX; JamesNelson went to Canada; Isabel Pagewas apparently living with one ofher children as she died at Groton in1838; James Renfrew died in 1819;Stephen Roberts drowned in the

Spring 2008 GHS Newsletter

GHS Newsletter Page 3

Connecticut River August 11, 1813;and William Taisey died in 1813.What ever happened to JeremiahBatchelder, Andrew Carter,Edmund Fisk, Michael Floyd,John R. Hogin, Ithama Littlefield,Oliver Parker, Dolly Remick, andStephen Rowlins could not be foundin the GHS family records; they didnot appear in later censuses or in thecemetery listings of Groton.

Even though families wereleaving Groton, more were comingand the population continued toincrease in each successive census ofthe nineteenth century reaching1,059 in 1900. In 1810 there were46 new families living in Grotonplus those of the widows BetseyMorrison and Dolly Remick.

Jacob Abbott was born in1781 and married Nancy Weston,daughter of Ephraim Weston andthey raised a family of 9 children inGroton.

Asa Annis born in 1786 wasliving with another male about thesame age in the 1810 census ofGroton, possibly a brother? Asamarried Philena Bidwell in 1811 andmoved to Bath, NH and then toLittleton about 1820.

Smith Bailey was born in

Peacham May 1, 1786 and marriedElizabeth Horton in 1808 at WestHaven, VT. The family moved toMonroe, OH and raised a family of11 children: Elizabeth; Nelson;Benjamin; Samuel; Lucetha; John;Charlotte; James; Harriet; Sarah;and Henrietha.

Rachel Bennett, bornbefore 1765 and the widow ofTilton, had 4 children: Dolly m.Moses Page; Sally m. Josiah Heatha first cousin of Jesse Heath; Betseym. Joseph Heath, a brother ofJosiah; and Timothy.

Timothy Bennett, son ofRachel and Tilton, was born in MEabout 1783. His wife’s name wasBetsey and there were 9 membersof the family in 1830 including:Cutting, who married Sarah JaneWhitehill; Mary; and probablyBenjamin; Caroline; James; andtwo others, or perhaps a hired manand a hired girl. The family latermoved to WI.

Arthur Bragden [not inGHS family records] [b. 1754 inME, d. 23 Sep 1833 in ME; marriedfirst Jane Marr and had a boy andgirl then married second EleanorPreble and had 6 children. Thefamily left Groton before the 1830

(Continued on page 4)

GROTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY WEB PAGE

Easy access from http://www.grotonvt.com

Spring 2008

Page 4 GHS Newsletter

1830 census – 5 boys and 2 girls.Caleb Emery was born in

1788 at Shapleigh, ME and died inWI. He married Margaret Powersand had 2 children: John P. m.Hulda Darling; and Margrete(Sarah) m. Chester Darling.

Ebenezer Fisk was bornin Newbury, VT about 1783 anddied in Groton in 1858. Hemarried Susan (Swannie) Scales in1806 and they had one boy in the1810 census. Their daughter,Margaret born in 1814 marriedJeremiah Chase in Groton.

Edmund Fisk [not inGHS family records] [he and hiswife were 26-45 years old and had2 boys and one girl less than 10years old in the 1810 census] nfi

Daniel Floyd was born in1775 in NH. He was married andhad one boy and 2 girls in the 1810census.

Michael Floyd [not inGHS family records] [both he andhis wife were 45+ years old andhad no children in 1810 census] nfi

Abram Frost was born in1753 at Berwick, ME and died in1836 at Lisbon, ME.

Bethuel Fuller marriedMeribah Darling and had 4children: Samuel; Mary; James andIra. The family moved to Albany,VT and may have had morechildren.

Daniel Heath was born in1793 in Ryegate and died in 1863

(Continued on page 6)

census.] no further information (nfi)Andrew Carter [not in

GHS family records] [he was under45 and his wife was 45+ with 4boys and 4 girls in 1810 census] nfi

Moses Darling was born in1777 at Hampstead, NH and died in1866 at Groton. He married firstBetsy Thompson in 1802 and theyhad 7 children: Betsey m. JosiahPaul; Harriet died young; Williamm. Dorcas Richardson; Moses m.Lucinda Morse; Ebenezer m. LucyEleves and moved to CA; Olive m.Benjamin Emerson; and Charity m.Silas Lund. Moses m. 2nd in 1823Abigail Prey and they had 6children: Harriet m. Hosea WelchJr.; Peter m. 3 times; Daniel went toFL; John went to WI; Thomas; andStephen.

Stephen Darling was bornin 1786 at Plaistow, NH and died in1819 at Groton. He married NancyFisk in 1807 and they had 6children: John; Atlanta m. WilliamLyle; Joanna m. Benjamin FranklinHeath; Samuel m. Narcissa Heath;Rufus; and Nancy who married firstWilliam Dodd and second CharlesCollins.

Moses Emerson was bornbetween 1765 and 1770 and thefamily had 3 children in the 1810census - one boy, Moses born in1803 in ME, and 2 girls. They werenot in the 1820 census but he waslisted as head of a family of 9 in

(Continued from page 3)

Spring 2008

In beginning the general his-tory of the town, I wish to call atten-tion to an article in the VermontQuarterly Gazetteer No. 111, page261, written by the Rev. ThomasGoodwillie of Barnet in 1862 inwhich he says: In a large map of theBritish Province of New Hampshiremade by Blanchard and Langdon,and inscribed to the British Secretaryof War and one of his MajestiesPrivy Council Oct. 21, 1761, thewhole of Vermont is laid down as apart of that province. At that timenone of the towns in this Countywere chartered, but many of thetowns which were surveyed and char-tered in 1762 and 1763 were laiddown on this map with pen and ink.(Only three towns in this County areso laid down, Barnet, Ryegate andPeacham; the latter town being lo-cated west of Ryegate, which showsthat Groton, which was chartered byVermont, was surveyed long beforeVermont became a State) In a largemap of New York constructed byorder of Gen. Tryon, Governor ofthat province Jan. 1, 1779, from sur-veys previously made, the whole ofVermont is laid down as a part ofNew York. Within the present limitsof Caledonia County, the towns ofBarnet, Ryegate, Peacham andGroton are laid down nearly accord-ing to New Hampshire survey. Most

of the other parts of the county aresurveyed into townships, which innumber, form and location are alto-gether different from the othertowns now in this county. It ap-pears by this that Peacham was firstlaid off west of Ryegate by theNew Hampshire survey and then itwas laid off North of Groton by theNew York survey and it almostappears that Groton was surveyedand perhaps chartered by the NewYork Governor.

If it was so, the Revolu-tionary War interfered with it andthe parties who owned it nevermade the matter public. Quotingagain from the same book, page266: In 1760 Samuel Stevens wasemployed by a land company toexplore this part of the county. He,with a few others began at themouth of White River and pro-ceeded up the Connecticut Rivertill they came to the head branchesof the Onion River – thence downthe Onion River to Lake Cham-plain, then up the Lamoille River tothe western part of the county,through which they passed to theConnecticut River. The lands inthis location, first called the NewHampshire Grants, were organizedMarch 16, 1770 into GloucesterCounty with Newbury the shiretown by the New York authorities.

(Continued on page 12)

Page 5GHS Newsletter Spring 2008

Excerpts from

GROTON GENERAL HISTORYby Hosea N. Welch (1860-1941)

Page 6 GHS NewsletterSpring 2008

in Groton. He married first Mary P.Hodgdon and had 14 children:Narcissa; Benjamin; William; Emily;Chester; Orange; Mary; Daniel Jr.;Elizabeth; Silas; Stephen; Phebe;Anna; and Emily. He married secondCaroline Hosmer .

John Heath was born in 1782at Groton and died in 1869 at EastLiberty, OH. He married HannahDarling in 1804 and had 9 children:Belinda m. Neddy Welch; Jesse III m.Hannah Allen (a niece of Ethan) thenRachel Skelton and third Ellen Austin;Olive; John m. Hester Davis thenMargaret Marshall; Jonathan was m. 3times—Mary Randall, Shady Rea andPricilla James; Phebe m. Ira Greene;Albert m. Elizabeth Bryant; Daniel m.Catherine Austin; and Jason marriedLucinda (?).

Jeremiah Hidden was theGroton Town Clerk at the time of hisdeath in 1813. He also served in thetown militia and owned and operated acarding mill in town. He marriedElizabeth Hamblet in 1808 and theyhad one daughter (perhaps Julia AnnHidden who was buried in the Groton/Peacham cemetery) His widow marriedMedad Darling in 1814.

William Hodgden was born in1771 and died in 1856 at Groton. Hemarried Olive and had five children:Stephen; Mary P. m. Daniel Heath;Olive; Chastina; and Mary A. Hemarried second Ruth Darling widow ofJames Taisey.

John R. Hogin [not in GHSfamily records] [he and his wife were

(Continued from page 4)45+ years old in 1810 with onemale 26-45, one less than 10, andone female 16-26 in the family] nfi

David Jenkins marriedDeliverance Darling and they had4 children: David m. Mary Jones;Judith m. Aaron Darling thenLyman Page; Drucilla m. NathanDarling; and Almira m. PercivalBailey.

Lachlen McLachlin wasborn in 1784 and listed in the 1810census as head of a household with3 males and one female allbetween 16 and 26 years old. Helater went to TX.

Peter McLachlin wasborn in Scotland in 1774 and diedin 1852 at Groton. He marriedIsabelle Nelson in 1808 and had 7children: Christian m. JamesHeath; Jane m. Moses Plummer;Mary m. James McLure; Nancy m.John Stewart; William m. JanetWhitehill then Elizabeth Smith;and Isabel. He was very active intown affairs and served asRepresentative in 1813-17.

Ithama Littlefield [not inGHS family records] [he and hiswife were 26-45 in 1810 and hadone son and 3 daughters less than10 and one female 45+ in thefamily] nfi

O b a d i a h L o w aRevolutionary War soldier born in1760 came to Groton fromSanford, ME and settled where thevillage cemetery is located. He wasa soldier in the War of 1812 and

Page 7GHS Newsletter Spring 2008

never came back. He married SallyHobbs and had a family of 8children: Henry, m. Sally James in1807 (possibly the daughter ofJonathan James); Ivory, settled inME; Hosea, m. first Mary AbbieJames daughter of Jonathan Jamesand second Sally Darling widow ofJoseph Morrison; Asa, settled inBradford; Ira, twin to Asa; Ephraimm. first Emily Hall and secondSusanna Darling; Mary m. Dr. Kelly;and Abigail, m. Dr. Faustus.

Henry Lowe, son ofObadiah and Sally, was born atSanford, ME in 1783 and came toGroton with his parents. He marriedSally James in 1807 at Groton andlived in the north part of town forabout 20 years. He went west in1826 with a horse and wagon takinghis wife and two of their 10 children.In the 1820 census he was head of afamily of twelve.

Simeon Mallory [not inGHS family records] [b. 1788 inMA, d. 26 Apr 1861, m. but hiswife’s name is unknown. The familyleft Groton after the 1820 census.]nfi

James Nelson was bornAugust 20, 1786 in Ryegate and diedin 1864 in Canada where he and hiswife raised their family. In the 1810Groton census they had one boy andone girl less than 10 years of age.

Isobel Page, widow ofEnoch Sr., was born in 1757 anddied May 9, 1838 in Groton. Shecame to Groton with her husband

and their 10 children in 1801 andsettled on the west half of lotnumber 17 in the first division.Enoch Sr. died in 1805. John,Benjamin, Leverett and Samuelwere living with their mother in the1810 census. Alice m. Abel Wright,Mary m. William Flanders, Isabelm. Chandler Hoyt, and Sarah m.Joseph Wormwood in 1803 andthey came to Groton after the 1810census.

Moses Page, son of Enochand Isobel, was born July 20, 1776in Haverhill, MA and married DollyBennett in 1798 at New Chester,NH. They settled in West Grotonwhere they purchased the northernhalf of lot number 37 in the 1st

division and raised a family ofeleven children: Mary m. NoahEmery; Moses died age one; Enochmoved to ME; Tilton unmarried;Dolly m. Nehemiah Welch; Alicem. Daniel Welch; Moses m.Hannah Seavey; Rachel, m. firstReuben Goodwin, second BenjaminRandall and third George Corruth;Isabel m. Stephen Welch; Ethelindam. Ira Darling; and Celinda m.Lebbeus Welch.

Enoch Page Jr., son ofEnoch and Isobel, was born May10, 1781 in Haverhill, MA andmarried Betsey Welch in 1806 atGroton. They settled in WestGroton on the south half of lotnumber 37 in the 1st division andraised a family of 15 children:Lyman m. Ruby Welch then Judith

(Continued on page 10)

Page 8 GHS NewsletterSpring 2008

PLOT OF LUMBER LOTS in GROTONdonated to GHS by the Raymond Ricker family

(image reduced from original plot)

Page 9GHS Newsletter Spring 2008

The first sawmill in Groton wasbuilt on this site in 1791 by Ed-mund Morse. He sold the milland property to Moses Noyesbefore 1797 and Moses’ widow,Susanna, deeded it to Silas Lundin 1804. It remained in theLund family, except for shortperiods of time, until 1839, withSilas and his sons, Jonathan,Moses and Ephraim holding thetitle successively. Then severaldifferent owners, including Wal-ter Buchanan, Ira Darling, andAndrew Whitehill, operated themill for a few years each until1856 when the Ricker familybegan its tenure of operation formore than 100 years throughfour generations: Joseph,Amaziah, Harry and RaymondRicker.

Mister Glover’s Groton

Page 10 GHS NewsletterSpring 2008

Jenkins; Lewis m. MargaretWhitehill then Abigail Nelson;Irene died as an infant; Irene m.Samuel Darling; Jonathan m. firstPolly Cunningham, second OliveRandall and third Celia Sanborn;Enoch III, m. Judith Lathrop;Martha m. Israel Slye; Betsey m.Samuel Darling; Solomon; Mary m.John Whitehill then EbenezerPlummer; Abel died as an infant;Ruth m. Lincoln Lewis; Dolly m.John Baldwin; John m. RachelGoodwin; and Parris.

Oliver Parker [not in GHSfamily records] [the family had 2boys over 10 and 3 girls under 10 inthe 1810 census and parents were45+ years old. The family was notlisted in later censuses.] nfi

Josiah Paul was born inEngland in 1767 and died in Grotonin 1842 and is buried in the Groton/Peacham cemetery. He marriedHulda Gary and they raised 10children: Hulda m. Forrest Welch;Betsey m. Moses Plummer; Jamesdied age 18; Josiah m. BetseyDarling; Mehitable m. Jesse Heath;Joanna m. Hugh Dunn; Ebenezer m.Asenath Hooper; Maria m. WilliamTaisey; Olive m. TimothyMorrison; and Peter m. SallyMeader. In 1840 Peter built thehouse that is now home of theHistorical Society.

James Renfrew was bornin 1758 at Paisley, Scotland andcame to Groton in 1804 where hepurchased the eastern half of lot no.

(Continued from page 7) 22 in the 1st division and also someadjoining land in Ryegate fromJohn Orr. He married MargaretSmith in 1788 and they raised afamily of 7 children: James m. JeanNelson; John m. Anna Bailey thenJean Craig; Margaret m. ArchibaldPark; William m. Jean Esden;Andrew m. Elizabeth Nelson;Robert m. Lois Roberts; andMatthew m. Sally Roberts.

James Renfrew 2nd wasborn in 1784 at Paisley, Scotland.He married Jean Nelson and theyraised 9 children: James m. SarahWaldron; Eliza m. GeorgeWhitcher; George m. Eliza Noyes;Margaret unmarried; William diedas infant; William unmarried; Janem. John Hazeltine then JeremiahBoynton; Robert m. Vilinda Collier;and Alexander m. Sarah Gove.Alexander was born in Newburywhere the family had moved in1825.

Oliver Rhodes was born in1765 in NH and died in 1852 atGroton where he is buried in thewest Groton cemetery. He marriedMartha Pratt and they raised 7children: Sally m. CharlesMorrison; Mary m. William Taiseyand then Jonathan Darling; John m.Betsey Baldwin; Lucy; Josiah m.Mary Brown; Martha m. SamuelClark and then Calvin Clark; andCharlotte m. John Roberts.

Stephen Roberts was bornin 1775 in ME where he marriedLydia Ricker in 1800 and raised afamily of six children: Daniel m.

Page 11GHS Newsletter Spring 2008

Lucy Frost; John m. CharlotteRhodes; Lois m. Robert Renfrew;Thomas; Sally m. Matthew Renfrew;and Lydia m. David Boynton.Stephen was referred to as captainand he drowned in the ConnecticutRiver on August 11, 1813.

Stephen Rowlins [not inGHS family records] [b. 28 Mar1750 in MA, d. 1842 in ME; hemarried Hannah Stanley.] nfi

William Stanley marriedSusanna Heath in 1806 in Grotonand they had 2 boys and 2 girls in the1810 census. Their daughter,Betsey, born in 1815 married JamesHeath in 1840.

David Vance was born in1788 in MA and came to Groton in1803 with his mother. He marriedAlice Perkins and they raised 12children: David m. Louisa Tabor;William m. Sabra Welch and thenMary Ricker; Aaron m. LucindaTucker; Betsey m. Marvin Whitcher;Abigail m. McLane Marshall; Danielm. Angeline Clark; Jane m. JosephCrosby; Stephen m. Susan Hall;Hannah m. George Hatch; Nathan m.Maria Benjamin; George m. JanetJenkins; and Olive m. Sayer Leet andthen Jothan Holland.

Hosea Welch was born in1787 and died in 1880. He marriedPolly Gray and had 10 children: Aram. Mary Whitehill; Mary m. PhilTaylor; Sarah never married; Elizam. Lewis French; Lydia m. PeterWhitehill; Laura m. HarveyHitchcock; Hosea Jr. m. HarrietDarling; Andrew m. Margarette (?);

John m. Abby Dunn then ElizabethSmith; and Ira m. Mary Taylor.Hosea married second Ms. Graham.

Stephen Welch was bornin 1780 and died in 1853. Hemarried Sarah Young and had 6children: Daniel m. Alice Page;Ruby m. Lyman Page; Ed; Stephenm. Isobel Page then CarolineBennett; Hannah; and Lebbeus m.Celinda Page then MargaretCorruth.

Ephraim Weston was bornabout 1765 and married JudithMorse, sister of Edmund Morse,and they had 4 children: Stephen;Nancy m. Jacob Abbott; Thomasm. Martha Hill; and Sally who m.William Ritchie.

Reuben Whitcher wasborn about 1783 at Berwick, MEand died in 1873 at Groton. Hemarried Patience Gray and they had13 children: George m. ElizaRenfrew; Clarissa m. SamuelBoothby; Orange; Marvin m.Betsey Vance; Elizabeth m. JamesRenfrew; Nelson m. HarrietEastman; Andrew m. ElizabethRenfrew; Dominicus; Chester m.Mary Perkins; Ruth; Jane m.Abraham Whitehill; John m. FinetteRoberts; and Emeline m. JosephNoyes.

NOTEPlease send corrections andadditions to the GHS or e-mail tojwbenzie@uslink.net - Thank you.

Page 12 Spring 2008 GHS Newsletter

In 1779 it was organized into Cum-berland County in the shire of New-bury by the Vermont authorities. In1781 it was organized as OrangeCounty with Newbury the shire town.November 5, 1792 Caledonia Countywas incorporated from OrangeCounty but was not fully organizedtill November 8, 1796 when Danvillewas made the county seat. In 1856St. Johnsbury was made the countyseat and still holds that distinction.

The word Groton is of Eng-lish origin and the name was trans-planted in New England by some ofits early settlers that came fromGroton, England. Just how it came tobe applied to this locality is uncer-tain. Some reasons have been givenby some writers but their proof islacking. The most possible reason isthat Gov. Chittenden gave it thatname in honor of Thomas Butterfield,the first grantee of the town whosegrandfather was taken prisoner by theIndians at Groton, Mass. and held acaptive by them for some time, per-haps at Coos or perhaps taken acrossthis township to Canada.

The township in its primitivestate was covered with a heavygrowth of hard and soft wood lum-ber. Bordering along the river andsome of the brooks and around theponds was a heavy growth of pine,three, four and five feet in diameter,judging from the stumps that are stillvisible. This forest was inhabited

(Continued from page 5) with wild animals, such as bears,panther, wolf, wildcat, porcupine,sable, beaver, mink, otter, skunk,muskrat, woodchuck, weasel, squir-rel, rabbit, raccoon, fox, deer andmoose. The undergrowth, cliffsand tree tops was the home of wildfowl, such as blue jay, blackbird,bluebird, bobolink, chickadee,crossbill, crow, cuckoo, eagle, hangnest hawk, humming bird, kingbird,Phebe, pigeon, robins, partridge,snipe, snowbird, sparrow, swallow,oriole, owl, woodpecker, whippoor-will, martin, yellow hammer, crane,loon and ducks. The brooks, riversand ponds were well filled withpickerel, trout and suckers.

This locality was formerlya part of the hunting grounds of thePequot Indians and later of the St.Francis Indians. At one time theFrench considered it a part of Can-ada.

The surface of this town-ship is generally uneven, some sec-tions of it are well adapted to agri-cultural pursuits, having compara-tively smooth fertile fields to culti-vate, with hill pastures, sugargroves and woodlots; while othersections are very rough and is onlyused for lumbering purposes andsome of these sections have yieldedtwo or three crops of lumber sincethe first settlement of the town.There are some ledges of limestonemixed with magnetic iron but mostof the ledges are granite and located

Spring 2008GHS Newsletter Page 13

in the lumber sections.Knox mountain is the highest

point of land and is located in thewest part of town…it was used by theIndians for a land mark in one oftheir routes from the ConnecticutRiver to Lake Champlain. In theearly settlement of Vermont it wasused by the settlers for the same pur-pose. This mountain is a goodweather prophet and when it iscapped it is a pretty sure sign of rain.A government storm signal, a bigbrass ball, was in use on the moun-tain summit for a long time. A loghouse with a big stone chimney oncestood on the north side of the moun-tain, by whom or when it was built, isunknown. It was used by people whowere repairing the Gove road andwas near where Mr. Perkins waskilled while digging out an unex-ploded charge of powder. It was re-paired and used by Steven Welch andMoses Page when they were campedon the mountain making shingles, buthas since gone to decay.

There are four natural pondsin town with an area of 1,297 acres.Lake Groton is the largest. (WellsRiver Pond name was changed toLake Groton by the legislature in1908) It lays in the North part oftown near the Peacham line, and issurrounded by wild timber land andrough mountainous scenery. Thehighest point on the east side is JerryLund hill and on the north, Big Deerhead. The lake is fed by five brooks,

cold brook, head brook, kettlepond or meadow brook, beaverdam brook, and spruce hill brook.It is the headwaters of WellsRiver which drains it and runssouth through Lunds Pond, turnssouth east at the upper end of theDivol Flats, receives the southbranch at the lower end of theflats and the north branch at theupper end of the village. It passesthrough the southwest corner ofRyegate and empties into the Con-necticut River in the northeastcorner of Newbury. The currentof the river is swift and furnishesseveral mill privileges on its waythrough town.

Lunds Pond derived itsname from their early settlementat the foot of the pond, but it isoften referred to by differentnames. Sometimes it is calledLittle Pond, sometimes a distinc-tion is made by referring to theLower Pond and sometimes it iscalled Ricker Pond.

Rickers Pond is a beauti-ful sheet of water circular in formand half a mile in diameter, with apeninsular on the east side calledToomalek point. It is on thispoint according to tradition thatM o l l y M u x a -W u x a l a n dToomalek were laid to rest amidthe beautiful scenes of their happyhunting days.

The Pequot Indian trail

(Continued on page 14)

passed within a few rods of the footof the Pond, and this was one of theircamping places in their passageacross the state. It was pleasant torest in the shade of the big pines withplenty of cool spring water flowingfrom the foot of the hill to quenchtheir thirst, and the gradual slope ofthe ground made a natural landing onthe pond.

In 1860 McLane Marshallerected a two story building on thislocation which was called the LakeHouse. In 1862 a sail boat built byJohn Carrick on Harvey’s Lake inwest Barnet was brought here andoperated by him for a pleasure boat.It was 30 feet long and 10 feet wideand capable of carrying 60 persons.It was called the Lady of the Lake.The Hotel is now owned by Hon.Alexander Dunnett which he hasgreatly improved and occupies as asummer residence.

The first sawmill and grist-mill in town was built by EdmondMorse in 1791 on the river a few rodsbeyond the pond. For a number ofyears they were the only mills intown. Settlers patronizing the millshad to come here over the old Indiantrail which was now called the OldCounty road, having been laid out byGloucester County in 1774. Theywere also patronized by some of theearly settlers of Peacham and Top-sham, who came here over the Chel-sea-Danville County Road, whichwas laid out in 1797. This mill privi-

(Continued from page 13) lege has been developed into a largelumbering plant, now owned andoperated by Harry M. Ricker.

Levis Pond is located in thehollow of the hill east of LundsPond, and received its name fromLevi Wilson who once lived in thatlocality.

Kettle Pond lays in thenorthwest corner of the town andreceived its name in this way:Aaron Hosmer while out on a hunt-ing trip was crossing the pond on alog, losing his balance, he droppedhis camp kettle in an effort to savehimself. Afterwards it was calledKettle Pond. Campers and fisher-men at the present time often referto it as long pond, a name often ap-plied to Lake Groton.

An artificial trout pond islocated on the south branch in thewest part of the town, near the sum-mit of the ridges, on the north sideof Knox Mountain. The dam ismade of cement and split granitewall, with paths and bridges andcozy nooks around the east end. AUnited States Fish Hatchery is lo-cated on the upper end and smalltrout hatched here are shipped to allparts of the world. It is often calledDarlings pond in reference of Jona-than R. Darling who made the pondfor lumbering purposes. The pre-sent owner is Theodore N. Vail ofLyndonville, who added the stoneand cement dam and other improve-ments to the property.

[to be continued]

Page 14 Spring 2008 GHS Newsletter

Page 15Spring 2008GHS Newsletter

The family records collectedby Waldo Glover and added to overthe years by family members andmembers of the historical societynow include 40,634 names. Correc-tions and additions continue to helpimprove the accuracy and complete-ness of the records.

Recently Gayle Strom in-quired about her ancestors SilasLund and Charity Darling. Closerexamination of our records showedSilas 59 years older than Charitywho was listed as his second wife.Perhaps Charity married SilasLund’s son, Silas, or the dates oftheir births may be wrong. Gayle ischecking our record of Silas Lund’sdescendants with her family recordsand hopefully any errors can be cor-rected and maybe some additionalfamily members can be added.

George Haberson attendedfourth grade at Groton in 1956-57when his father was teaching andcoaching at Groton High School. Heis writing a book about his familyhomesteading in Alaska and wants toinclude the time they spent inGroton. Our records show GeorgeHaberson and Katherine Bartholo-may had a baby daughter, Rebecca,born October 17, 1956, but no addi-tional information is in our recordsabout this family. We are hoping tohear more about the family fromGeorge.

Charles Pollard read the lastnewsletter on the GHS web page andsent information from CA about hisancestor Edward Pollard who was thefirst cordwainer (shoemaker and har-ness maker) in Groton. Charles alsobecame a member of GHS.

Christie Murray Hersey senta more complete record of theMurray family with a number oftombstone inscriptions from graves inCanada and a listing of the descen-dants from the immigrant family ofJohn “Gobha” Murray and MaryMacKenzie.

Little by little the missingfamily members are being added andmore and more families are beingconnected through the new foundfamily members.

GROTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWS

Groton village Dam in 1965now

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