CHAPTER II I Proprietary history of the township - continue d Brookfield, June 18, 178 4 The following accounts were exhibite d to the meeting, and were allowed in th e following order, viz : The proprietors of Brookfield, Dr . L . s . d . To John Paine for sundrie s of services done for the pro - prietors, as per acct . on file 17 9 6 To John and Jonas Howard , as per acct. 1 7 6 To Nathaniel Humphrey, fo r highway work 5 days 1 5 0 To Shubael Cross, as pe r acct . 3 14 0 To Caleb Martin, for 15 day s work on the road 3 5 0 To Phineas Tyler, for 7 days highway work 1 15 0 To Amasa Hyde, for 5 days ditto 1 5 0 To Shubael Cross, as pe r acct, on file and accepted 11 5 To Benjamin Howard, as pe r acct . 1 7 6 To Paul Brigham, for 7 days work perambulating town line 2 2 0 To Oliver Hamblin fo r highway work 7 6 To Ichabod Carley, for 2 days work at highways 10 0 To Oliver Hamblin as pe r acct . on file 10 0 To Jonathan Pierce for 2 2 days work at highways 5 10 0 To Philip Ingram-,-for-6-days- -- highway work 1 10 0 To Jonas Howard, for 3 ½ days of highway work 17 6 To Phinehas Lyman, for 25 days surveying 8 15 0 To Phinehas Lyman, for his expense 2 4 1 To Phinehas Lyman, fo r recording the charter of sai d Brookfield 1 8 0 To William Wakefield, fo r 15Y2 days work 3 17 6 To Daniel Tillotson Jr ., a s per acct . on file 10 0 To Daniel Tillotson, a s chain-man 10 days 3 0 0 To Moses Hubbard, as do . 4 days 1 4 0 To Benjamin Colt, for cas h paid Mr . Palmer 12 0 To Hezekiah Gaylord, for 1 4 days work 3 10 0 To Phinehas Lyman, for his expense for advertisement 6 0 To Hezekiah Gaylord, as pe r acct ., omitted in his abov e acct . 7 0 To Nathaniel Humphrey, fo r 3 days work 15 0 To Daniel Tillotson Jr ., fo r services as per acct . on file 2 12 6 To Jonas Howard, as pe r acct . not before entered 5 9 0 Voted, that all the above accounts a s they stand charged be allowed . Voted, that the committee appointed to lay out the road upon the Branch\ b e directed to see that the same is cleare d and mended by the first day of Novembe r next. The form of a warning of an unadjourn - ed proprietors' meeting was as follows , this being a copy of the first warning w e find recorded . Brookfield, Nov . 20th 1784 These are therefore to warn the pro- prietors of said Brookfield in the Count y of Orange and State of Vermont to mee t on the fourth Thursday in February nex t at nine o'clock in the morning at th e house of Lieut . John Lyman in sai d Brookfield, to act on the following ar- ticles, viz : 1st . To choose a moderator to gover n said meeting . 2dly. To see what method the pro- prietors will agree for to complete to each proprietor his second and third divisio n lots. 3dly . To raise a sum of money suffi- cient to pay the expense of cutting and clearing roads and surveying the town . 4thly, To transact any other busines s proper to be done at said meeting . John Lyma n Nathaniel Humphrey Prudentia l Caleb Martin Committe e Shubael Cross The meeting thus warned was held an d adjourned to meet on March 3d followin g at the house of Elisha Burton Esq . in Nor - wich . At the meeting in Norwich, provi- sion was made for alloting the second and 1 2
Transcript
CHAPTER III
Proprietary history of the township -continue d
Brookfield, June 18, 1784The following accounts were exhibited
to the meeting, and were allowed in thefollowing order, viz :
The proprietors of Brookfield, Dr .L. s. d.
To John Paine for sundriesof services done for the pro -prietors, as per acct . on file
17 9 6To John and Jonas Howard ,as per acct.
1 7 6To Nathaniel Humphrey, forhighway work 5 days
1 5 0To Shubael Cross, as pe racct .
3 14 0To Caleb Martin, for 15 dayswork on the road
3 5 0To Phineas Tyler, for 7 dayshighway work
1 15 0To Amasa Hyde, for 5 daysditto
1 5 0To Shubael Cross, as pe racct, on file and accepted
11 5To Benjamin Howard, as pe racct .
1 7 6To Paul Brigham, for 7 dayswork perambulating townline
2 2 0To Oliver Hamblin forhighway work
7 6To Ichabod Carley, for 2days work at highways
10 0To Oliver Hamblin as pe racct. on file
10 0To Jonathan Pierce for 22days work at highways
5 10 0To Philip Ingram-,-for-6-days- --highway work
1 10 0To Jonas Howard, for 3 ½days of highway work
17 6To Phinehas Lyman, for 25days surveying
8 15 0To Phinehas Lyman, for hisexpense
2 4 1To Phinehas Lyman, fo rrecording the charter of sai dBrookfield
1 8 0To William Wakefield, fo r15Y2 days work
3 17 6To Daniel Tillotson Jr ., asper acct . on file
10 0To Daniel Tillotson, a schain-man 10 days
3 0 0To Moses Hubbard, as do . 4days
1 4 0
To Benjamin Colt, for cashpaid Mr. Palmer
12 0To Hezekiah Gaylord, for 14days work
3 10 0To Phinehas Lyman, for hisexpense for advertisement
6 0To Hezekiah Gaylord, as peracct., omitted in his aboveacct .
7 0To Nathaniel Humphrey, for3 days work
15 0To Daniel Tillotson Jr ., fo rservices as per acct . on file
2 12 6To Jonas Howard, as pe racct. not before entered
5 9 0Voted, that all the above accounts as
they stand charged be allowed .Voted, that the committee appointed
to lay out the road upon the Branch\ b edirected to see that the same is clearedand mended by the first day of Novembernext.
The form of a warning of an unadjourn -ed proprietors' meeting was as follows ,this being a copy of the first warning wefind recorded .
Brookfield, Nov . 20th 1784These are therefore to warn the pro-
prietors of said Brookfield in the Countyof Orange and State of Vermont to mee ton the fourth Thursday in February nextat nine o'clock in the morning at thehouse of Lieut. John Lyman in saidBrookfield, to act on the following ar-ticles, viz :
1st . To choose a moderator to governsaid meeting .
2dly. To see what method the pro-prietors will agree for to complete to eachproprietor his second and third divisionlots.
3dly. To raise a sum of money suffi-cient to pay the expense of cutting andclearing roads and surveying the town .
4thly, To transact any other busines sproper to be done at said meeting .
John LymanNathaniel Humphrey
Prudentia lCaleb Martin
CommitteeShubael Cross
The meeting thus warned was held andadjourned to meet on March 3d followin gat the house of Elisha Burton Esq . in Nor -wich . At the meeting in Norwich, provi-sion was made for alloting the second and
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A "reflective" view of Pond Village, from the knoll west of Sunset Lake . The building on the ex-treme left is the Town Hall; the addition toward the pond was built in 1904. Diagonally across the
street is the hotel. At the far end of the floating bridge may be seen the fork shop, with foundry at-tached. Not sure of the year this was taken .
(Courtesy Edson Bigelow)
third hundred acre divisions, and actionwas taken regarding the making andmending of roads .
Brookfield, July 7th, 1785The proprietors' meeting was opened
agreeably to adjournment .1st . Voted, to give any person three
pounds six shillings to finish cutting an dclearing the road that leads fromJonathan Pierce's to the town line .
2dly . Voted, to pay for forty days wor kto be done at highways, twenty-four daysto be done on the Branch road, and six -teen on the hill road .* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
4thly . Voted, that the two ranges call-ed Lyman's two ranges be in future know nand distinguished by the name of the fift hand sixth ranges .
5thly. Voted, that the ranges in what i snow called the four mile square benumbered in the same manner as those t othe westward of them, and to continue i nthat order eastward until the whole tow nis laid out .
6thly . Voted, that the surveyor bedirected in finishing the four mile squar eand all ranges to the north and east t onumber the lots and ranges from south tonorth counting in the same manner a sthose ranges to the west of them are .* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
By this record it will be seen that theoriginal plotting of four mile squarewithout regard to a township of 36 squar emiles, on account of the peculiar cir-
cumstances, attending the `settlementand charter, was a source of continua lperplexity in surveying and laying out lotsand ranges; while the result of these dif-ficulties and perplexities remains to thepresent day in the awkward shape of thetownship, the irregularities of the range sof lots, and the necessity of allowin ggores.
At a meeting in October 1785, whichwas after the town organization, it wa svoted "that this meeting and all pro-prietors' meetings of said Brookfield b edissolved." This was done, doubtless,with the understanding that since the set-tlement had become a regularly organiz-ed town, all the business and interests o fthe proprietors should be merged inTown affairs . But -as- many of—the pro-prietors were non-residents, it was after-wards found necessary to warn and hol dproprietors' meetings distinct from townmeetings .
At a meeting in June 1786, the Pruden-tial Committee was dismissed, and themethod of warning proprietors ' meetingsthereafter was determined to be asfollows, viz : "that when one sixteenth partof the proprietors shall apply to the clerkto have a meeting warned, the clerk shal lnotify the same at least twenty daysbefore the time set for said meeting in theVermont Journal, and also by posting upa warning in some public house in Ol dHadley in the State of Massachusetts ."
Mention is made in the records of th emeetings of 1787 and 1788 of a lawsuit
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pending in the County Court between th etowns of Randolph and Brookfield, an dSeptember 12, 1787 Paul Brigham was"chosen agent to attend the County Cour tto be holden at Newbury in Decembernext, and defend the proprietors of saidBrookfield in the aforesaid suit brough tby the proprietors of Randolph ." Concer-ning this suit nothing further is recorded ,and consequently, its origin, the amoun tinvolved, and the decision are unknown .It is presumed, however, from thequietness and submission manifested i nthe tone of the records, that in those daysintrigue and falsehood were not expectedor allowed to triumph over justice, o nwhichever side justice might be .
The first, second, and third hundre dacre division of lots—the first determine dby pitches, the second and third by draft-ing—belonging to each proprietor wereas follows, the table having been madeout in 1788:
1 3Public Rights :School Right 5 11 3 10 4 1 1for the first
settled minister 10 2 9 2 8 2College Right 7 2 6 2 5 2for the use of the
ministry 9 10 9 11 9 1 2for the County
Grammar School 14 1 12 2 11 2
Brookfield, November 13, 178 8The proprietors' meeting being opened
agreeably to adjournment, 1st . Mr. Hub-bard exhibited a survey of thirty-six acresof land lying and adjoining northerly onthe seventeenth lot in the sixth range ,which thirty-six acres aforesaid is laid outas a fourth division to the original right o fRev. Samuel Hopkins, agreeably to a voteof the proprietors on the 20th of JuneA.D . 1786, and the survey being in th efollowing words, viz : "Began at a beec hstake on the north line of the town 6 0rods westerly from the east line of thefifth, ran south 28 degrees, west 88 rod sto a beech stake which is on the northerlyline of number 17 in the fifth range, the neasterly on the northerly lineof said-Tot,and on the northerly line of lot number 1 7in the sixth range 90 rods to a birch stake ;then north 28 degrees east 40 rods to asmall black ash; from thence to the firs tmentioned bound, containing thirty-sixacres .
Attest, Noah Paine"2dly . Voted, nem. con., to accept of
the foregoing survey, and that theoriginal right of Rev. Samuel Hopkins beleft out of the draft of fourth divisions .
3dly . Voted, that the entries andrecords of the first, second and third hun-dred acre divisions, as they are madeand recorded in the records and pro-ceedings of the propriety, be accepted a sgood and valid in law, and all other lot sheretofore voted and recorded to any per -
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An unusual view of Brookfield Village, probably early 1900's. In the left foreground is seen theroad leading into town from East Brookfield . The first building visible along that road is the Cide rMill. Next are two houses on the left and a barn on the right, with a sawmill barely visible beyond th ebarn. A part of the old store building can be seen opposite the church, on its right.
(Courtesy F. Holden)
son or persons whomsoever .4thly . Voted, to proceed to a divisio n
of the undivided lands in said township .* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This last vote was for some reason an-nulled by a vote passed in June 1789 ,viz : "Voted, that the committee ap-pointed in November last for the purposeof laying out the fourth or last division oflands in Brookfield be directed not to pro-ceed on the business aforesaid, at pre-sent ." There is no record of a meeting ofthe proprietors from June 1789 to Apri l1793, at which time a meeting was held ,but adjourned, and afterwards repeatedl yadjourned, without the transaction of anybusiness relative to the matter regardingwhich the meeting was at first warned :namely, to make provision for the pay-ment of the costs of the law suit betwee nBrookfield and Randolph, which was pro-bably decided previously to this .
At a meeting held December 21, 1795it was voted "that the proprietors wil lcome to a division of the present undivi-ded land in Brookfield . " A meeting washeld in June 1796, when several grants o fland were made to private individualsupon requests from them, of which thefollowing is a specimen .
The motion of David Bigelow wh oowns the fourth division of the right o fMoses Robinson Esq . requests that hemay have thirteen acres of the undivide dland at the west end of lot number 2 in theseventh range, which he accepts as a ful lcompensation for said fourth, said land tobe taken off at the north end of said gore .
Voted, that Mr. David Bigelow havethirteen acres of the undivided land at th ewest end of lot number 2 in the_sevent hrange at the north end of the same to th eright of Moses Robinson aforesaid .
This, it seems, was the metho dadopted by each individual, according t ohis preference, of obtaining his portion o fthe undivided land, in a locality bettersuited to his convenience than would b elikely to result to him in drafting . Strips o fland were thus granted at this meeting toCapt. Josiah Smith, Daniel Kingsbury,John Alvord, David Bigelow, Abe lLyman, and John Marsh .
On the 7th of June 1798 it was voted"Whereas doubts may arise with regard to 'the legality of the severalty of the lands o fsaid Brookfield, by reason of a number o fsettlers having pitched lots and made set-tlements thereon before the charter of th etown was obtained, and by reason of th e
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first proprietors ' meetings being warnednot according to law—therefore Voted ,that Elisha Allis Esq . be appointed as ouragent to apply to the General Assembly i nOctober next, and obtain an act ratifyingand confirming the records and severaltyas they are recorded in the proprietors 'book of records, agreeable to th eschedule inserted in said book of records ,pages 36 and 37 ."
In October following, this act was pass -ed by the Assembly and was as follows :
"An Act to enable the proprietors ofBrookfield in the County of Orange, i nconjunction with the land-owners, t oratify and establish the division of land i nsaid town. Passed, October, 1798. It ishereby enacted by the General Assembl yof the State of Vermont that the pro-prietors and land-owners of the said tow nof Brookfield be, and they are herebyauthorized and empowered to call ameeting of said proprietors and land-owners in the manner prescribed for call-ing proprietors ' meetings in this State ,notifying the particular business to b etransacted at said meeting, and said pro-prietors and land owners when so met,shall have the right of voting according t othe interest they have in the land of saidtown; provided, nevertheless, that thereshall be accounted and recorded but on evote to any one original proprietor's right ,and where there shall be a number of per -sons claiming under the same origina lright, such persons shall be allowed thei rvote according to the interest they soclaim, and a majority of interests soclaimed shall determine the vote for sai dright under which said several personsshall so claim.
And. it is hereby further enacted by theauthority aforesaid that said proprietorsand land-owners proceeding in manne raforesaid, shall have the right to ratifyand confirm all or any part of the formervotes and proceedings of said proprietorsrelative to the division of their lands int oseveralty, and to rectify any errors o rmistakes which have taken place in therecords of their proceedings relative t osaid division, so as to render said vote sand proceedings conformable to the trueinterest and meaning of said proprietorsat their former meetings, and the vote sand proceedings of said proprietors soratified and confirmed, and the votes rec-tifying any errors and mistakes in saidproceedings heretofore had by said pro-prietors relative to the division of saidlands shall be received in any court in thisState as evidence of a legal division i nsaid town, in as full and ample a manne ras though the same proceedings andvotes had been strictly conformable to
the laws of this State at the time the samewere had and passed by said proprietors ;and this act being recorded in the record sof said proprietors may at all times begiven in evidence of the authority andpower of said proprietors and land-owners to legalize the former pro-ceedings of said proprietors a saforesaid ."
Accordingly it was soon after voted toratify the titles of the several proprietor sto the lots before owned by each, and tomake anew the table or plan of the lot sthus assigned to each . This table wassubstantially the same with that made in1788 which has been inserted in thi schapter.
It seems to have been characteristic o fthe doings of this body of men that th emoral obligations growing out of the lawsof meum and tuum were stricly regarded ,and that their dealings with each othe rmanifested nothing like an avaricious orusurious spirit . When new settlers cam ein, they were not crowded out as has beenthe custom somewhat of late, or viewedwith jealous eyes, but were immediatelyprovided for, and thenceforth their right swere respected, and they regarded as apart of the community—for it was thenthat true, not selfish liberty was the rul-ing genius of our land .
No action of any great importance wastaken at proprietors' meetings after th etown organization was effected in 1785 ,and no meeting was held—according tothe records of the proprietors 'book—later than 1799, the land havin gprobably passed about that time almost en -tirely into the possession of resident pro-prietaries, and town interests havingbeen brought to comprise all those in-terests relating to the township .
As a matter of curiosity, rather tha nbecause of any good which will probablyresult to any one from the perusal of it, Iappend to this chapter a copy of theSurveyor General's report of a survey o fthe town lines completed in 1796, whichsurvey was doubtless a correct one, and iseven now acknowledged and referred toas having established the lines per-manently. Other surveys had wholly or i npart been made from time to time, butthis was to establish finally the boun-daries, being officially made by the Stateauthorities .
Survey of the town lines of Brookfield ,Orange County and State of Vermont.
The east line begins at the NW corne rof Tunbridge, being a maple tree marke d"Tunbridge NW corner 1783", standingabout 16 rods N 35° E from a small brookrunning south, and runs from thence N
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4°30' W—at 1 mile a stake 11 links northfrom a leverwood tree on the top of a highridge, marked "M 1, 1784"—at 2 miles astake 11 links NW from a small hemlocktree standing on flat land, marked"M2-1784"—at 3 miles a stake 22 links N17° W from a basswood tree standing onwest lying land, marked "M3, 1784"—at4 miles a stake 18 links N 4° W from abeech tree standing on level land marked"M 4, 1784"—at 5 miles a small hemlocktree standing on ledgy land, marked " M5, 1784"—at 6 miles a stake 17 links S20° E from an elm tree standing on landlying SW, marked "M6, 1784"—at 3 1chains the NE corner at a stake standin gclose by a large white rock and 20 links N15° W from a birch tree marked"Turnersburgh N W corner, 1784," stan-ding in a thicket of small wood.
The north line begins at the lastdescribed corner and runs N 61° W—at 1mile a stake 21 links S 61° E from abeech tree on the west side of a hill, mark -ed "M 1, 1784"—at 48 chains 50 links theSecond Branch of White River—at 2miles a stake 20 links S 15° W from abeech tree on the north side of a hill ,marked "M 2, 1784"—at 34 chains th eeast side of a pond 20 chains long fro mNorth to South—at 46 chains 64 links th ewest side of the pond, the line acrossabout the middle—at 66 chains the roa dfrom Windsor to Onion River—at 3 mile sa stake 16 links N 70° W from a beechtree on the east side of a hill, marked " M3, 1784"—at 4 miles a stake 5 links S 7 °W from a beech tree standing on a ledge ,marked "M 4, 1784"—at 61 chains the NW corner at a birch tree, marked"Brookfield NW corner, 1784," standin gon the west side of a ridge .
The south line begins at the NW cornerof Tunbridge, already described in thebeginning of the east line, and runs N 61 °W—at 1 mile a stake 10 links S 61 0 Efrom a beech tree marked "M 1, 1784" ,standing on the south side of a hill—at 2miles a stake 6 links N 80° E from a smal lbeech tree marked "M2, 1784" standing
on the west side of a hill—at 30 chainsacross the Second Branch of Whit eRiver—at 3 miles a stake 28 links from ahemlock tree standing on flat land, mark-ed "M 3, 1784"—at 4 miles a stake 25links NW from a beech tree marked "M 4,1784", standing on a level hill—at 5miles a stake 20 links SE from a spruc etree marked "M 5, 1784", standing on fla tspruce land—at 6 miles a stake 4 linksSW from a maple tree marked "M 6 ,1784" standing on land descendingNW—at 26 chains a brook 1 rod wid eruns west—at 33 chains the NW corner o fRandolph—at 7 miles a maple tree mark-ed "M 7, 1784," standing at the botto mand south side of a steep hill—at 9 chain s50 links Ayer's Brook, 2 rods wide,course SE—at 8 miles a stake 10 linksS65° E from a beech tree standing o nhigh beech land, marked "M 8, 1784"—at53 chains 87 links the SW corner at astake 37 links S 80° W from a birch tre emarked "Brookfield SW corner—RoxburySE corner, July 29, 1784" standing in ahollow a few rods south from a brook thatruns southerly .
The west line begins at the last men-tioned corner and runs N 33° E—at 1mile a stake 10 links S 65° W from amaple tree standing on the SE side of ahill, marked "M 1, 1784"-at 2 miles astake 17 links N 57° E from a maple onthe east side and at the foot of a hill ,marked "M 2, 1784"—at 3 miles a stak e22 links N 8° E from a beech tree on hig hflat land, marked "M 3, 1784"—at 4miles a stake 14 links N 58° E from ablack ash tree on flat land, marked "M 4,1784"—at 36 chains 45 links a brook 1rod wide runs northwesterly—at 5 miles astake 10 links S 74° W from a beech tre estanding in a thicket of small wood, mark-ed "M 5, 1784"—at 35 chains the NW cor-ner at a birch tree marked "Brookfiel dNW _cor_ner 1784" standing on the west _side of a ridge.
State of Vermont-Surveyor General' sOffice, Ryegate, February 10, 1796 .
