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THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.—THE POST OF DANGER.—THE HAZEN
R0AD.—ITS GENERAL COURSE. - ITS CONSTRUCTION BEGUN BY GENERAL BAYLEY, AND
ABANDONED.—PLANS FOR INVASION OF CANADA.—THE ROAD COMPLETED TO
WESTFIELD.-WHY ABANDONED
—ANOTHER INVASION OF CANADA CONTEMPLATED.—THE STATE OF THE
COUNTRY.—STUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE MILITARY ROAD.
Ryegate colonists had hardly erected
a few log cabins in different parts of the town, and begun to clear the
land about them, when the storm of the revolutionary war burst upon the
country. This was very unfortunate for our people, not only that their
situation on the frontier exposed them to danger, and continued alarms
kept the people in constant anxiety, but the war retarded the growth of
the settlement, and suspended during several years, the emigration from
Scotland, which might have become quite large. The war also made all
communication between the colonists and their friends in Scotland,
infrequent and hazardous, and led, as we have seen, to some
misunderstandings between the managers in Ryegate and the officers of the
company at home.
It had been the intention of the
Company’s leading men in Scotland, as we are informed by the letters of
their officers to Mr. Whitelaw, to expend considerable money on their
lands in Ryegate, clearing farms and erecting buildings, which were to be
sold to persons from that country who were able to pay for such
improvements. If this had come to pass, and these letters show that many
men of means had decided thus to come, and take possession of farms
already cleared for them, much money would have been brought into the
town, and its increase in wealth and population would have been very
rapid. But the war changed all this, and instead of a season of
prosperity, the colonists found themselves in imminent danger of being
swept out of existence by the tide of war.
It was evident that in the event of
a war between Great Britain and her colonies, Canada would be made a base
of military operations, and an invasion of New England from that quarter
would be expected. There were many reasons why such an invasion would take
the Connecticut valley in its course. The industry of its inhabitants had
turned it into fruitful farms, with flocks and herds in great numbers, on
which an invading army might subsist while gathering for an attack on the
rear of New England, and the Indian trails which led to Canada and to Lake
Champlain could be utilized as routes for an army, and made passable for a
military advance.
Should such an invasion be made, the
Ryegate settlers would be in its path, and upon them the blow would first
fall. Yet there seems to have been no talk of abandoning the enterprise,
the work of subduing the wilderness went steadily on, and in spite of
alarms and military service, new families came in, farms were cleared, and
people were born, married and died all through the seven years the war
lasted.
Cut off as they were from aid, which
had not the war come on, they would have had from Scotland, they relied
for protection upon their neighbors at Newbury. There were in that town
and Haverhill at that time, several men whose ability and military
experience were to prove a tower of strength to the whole valley, and by
whose sagacity and energy the northern frontier of New England was
destined to be protected.
The chief of these was Jacob Bayley,
who had served with great reputation in the late war, and had been the
leading spirit in the settlement of Newbury and Haverhill. His name is
justly venerated throughout this valley, and he was alike redistinguished
for his talents, his patriotism, and his piety. He sacrificed a large
estate in behalf of his country; his influence over the Indians preserved
the settlements from danger; and it was mainly by his instrumentality that
the ranger system was established in the wilderness. Of this we shall
speak later. There were others, Col. Thomas Johnson, Col. Jacob Kent, Col.
Frye Bayley, Col. Robert Johnston of Newbury and his brother Charles at
Haverhill, and Col. Bedel of the latter place. These were men of great
fame in their time.
In the winter of 1775-’76 an
American force invaded Canada in two divisions, one by Lake Champlain, and
the other, with great hardship and suffering, by the way of Kennebec
River. This invasion seemed for a time to promise success, but the
American troops were repulsed, and all the advantage gained was soon lost.
It had been expected that upon the appearance of an American army, the
Canadians would throw off the British yoke and join the movement for
independence. But they remained passive; the army in Canada was forced to
retire, and it was necessary to send troops to protect their retreat. The
first regiments were sent by way of Lake Champlain, but another and easier
route was made through the eastern part of this state, whose beginning is
described in a letter written by Col. Thomas Johnson to Major Caleb Stark,
dated April 20, 1804, recommending a route for the contemplated stage line
between Boston and Montreal.
"At the time General Montgomery had
his defeat at Quebec, troops were wanted to send into Canada the easiest
and safest way possible. General Wash inquired which way he could send
them with the greatest possible depatch. General Bayley happening to be in
the way informed him that they might go more safely by way of Coos and the
Missisco Bay at that season of the year. After part of the men had
marched, Gen. Washington sent counter orders for what men had not marched
to march by Missisco. At the same time for one man who could be depended
upon, to go forward with two or three men with him to make a track and
when troops had got into Canada, for that man to return, and make a report
of the time and points of compass. I took that fatiguing duty upon myself.
We went from here the 26th of March, were four days from this place to
Missisco Bay, and one more to St. Johns. The rivers and lakes were
breaking up. The troops got in well, and those that had gone from this
river by Lake Champlain ten days sooner, were only arriving when I got
in." [Original among the Johnson papers owned by T. C. Keyes at Newbury.]
Indian Joe is believed to have been
their guide. Frye Bayley, John McLean, Abial and Silas Chamberlin were of
the party, and the journal of the expedition is as follows:
"Tuesday, March 26. Set out from
Newbury, lodged with the last inhabitant, waited half a day for the rest
of the soldiers to come up, good land for a road. Wed. 27. Marched ten
miles, good country. Thurs. 28. Marched twelve miles, good land for a
road, except three miles. Saturday 30. Marched fifteen miles, good country
for a road except about two miles. Sunday 31. Marched ten miles to Mr.
Metcalf’s, good country, waited half a day for the rear. Monday, April 1.
Marched twenty-five miles to St. Johns. Tuesday 2. Tarried at St. Johns.
Wednesday 3. Returned to Mr. Metcalf’s. Thursday 4. Tarried for the rear.
5th, 6th, 7th and 8th returned home. Distance from Newbury to St. Johns 92
miles."
Along the trail thus located,
several regiments passed to Canada on snow shoes.
The fact being determined that
troops could be sent into Canada some days sooner by this than by any
other route, led the Continental authorities to attempt the construction
of a military road from Newbury to St. Johns, along the general course of
the great Indian trail, which Johnson had followed. Major James Wilkinson
was the engineer appointed to locate the military route, since known as
the Hazen Road, and he carried the survey in a course as nearly straight
as the inequalities of the ground permitted, from Newbury to Canada. Any
one who will take the trouble to look south along this ancient highway
from the top of the hill at the Gray farm, as it stretches with
undeviating precision over hill and valley, will be impressed by its
difference from any other road in this part of the country. The surveys,
now understood to be in the possession of the War Department at
Washington, were, in general, the work of Major Wilkinson, but many of the
details were wrought out by James Whitelaw. The present highway in
Ryegate, from Wells River through the central part of the town to Barnet
line, follows, except for a short distance, the line of the old military
road. It went in a straight course through the farm now owned by Hermon
Miller and the Henderson farm past the buildings. The road from the
Henderson farmhouse north toward the Corner, is along the military road.
The survey of the Boston and
Montreal turnpike, still preserved at Montpelier, made by General Whitelaw
in 1809, is understood to follow, with few deviations, the Hazen Road from
Newbury to Canada line, and affords some details to add to our knowledge
of the route. This survey began in Wells River village, at the corner near
the residence of the late Col. Erastus Baldwin, from which it is five
miles to a point in the road a few feet beyond the store at Ryegate
Corner, four miles more taking it to Barnet line. Just beyond the Walter
Harvey Meeting house the Hazen Road is the one which makes the sharp turn
up the hill to the left, passing behind Harvey’s Mountain to Peacham
Corner, fourteen miles from the starting point.
From Peacham it passed, apparently,
through the extreme southwest part of Danville into Cabot. In this latter
town the road has been altered, and its precise location is somewhat
obscure. It passed over Cabot plain, between Joe’s and Molly’s Ponds into
Walden, where it went through the southwest part of the town, entering
Hardwick, and descending a fearfully steep hill to the Lamoille River, a
distance of twenty-eight and one-half miles from Wells River. Crossing the
river it passed through Hardwick Street, and thence into Greensboro
between Caspian Lake and Ely’s Pond, to Craftsbury Common. It went thence
west of Hosmer Pond, climbing the east side of Lowell Mountain by a rugged
road along the mountain side to its summit, whence it descends to Lowell
Village. It then took the course west of Walker’s Pond, through the
southwest part of Westfield to the summit of a notch in Westfield
Mountain, fifty-four miles from where it began. There has been some
question as to where the Hazen Road properly begins. This point is easily
decided. Gen. Hazen gives the terminus of the road at the Notch as stated
above, while the turnpike survey which began where the Rye-gate road turns
from the river road in Wells River village, to the same point gives the
same distance. Consequently the Hazen Road begins at Wells River. For the
first few miles it probably followed the road which the settlers had made
to their lands. The bridge across Wells River was a few rods above where
it is now, at that time.
There has been, also, some doubt as
to which of several roads in Orleans County follows the line of the old
military road, but Thompson’s Gazetteer, published in 1824, says: "The
present road from Peacham to Kellyvale, (Lowell) occupies the same ground
over which the Hazen Road passed."
When we consider that the road was
built one hundred and thirty years ago, before a town was chartered, or a
settlement made, north of Peacham, and that the whole region was an
unbroken wilderness, it is no wonder that the precise location of a few
short sections should be obscure. The surveyors followed the general
course of the Indian trail, knowing that they invariably chose the best
location for their forest paths.
In June, 1776, General Bayley began
the work, and sent sixty men with teams to cut trees, and construct the
road, which was made wide enough to permit the passage of carts, to a
point just over the Cabot line, where it was discontinued, on report of
the capture of St. Johns and that troops were coming to destroy the
settlement. It is not now believed that any such force was at hand, but
that the alarm was contrived by the tories to frighten people, and stop
the building of the road. It succeeded so well that no further work was
done upon it for two years.
Another very urgent reason may have
hastened the abandonment. In a letter written by General Bayley to the
Provincial Congress, Feb. 26, 1777, he says:
"I had in pay 60 men from the 1st of
July to the 10th of September at ten dollars per month, and supplied them,
which were the only soldiers in this quarter. During this time I was
desired by committees of this and Neighboring states to do this service
(they were men I had hired to make the road to Canada). I must desire you
to consider my Case, and grant me relief by paying me the roll offered you
by my clerk, Mr. William Wallace—as I cannot do justice to the American
cause without. The militia are now on their march from this County. I am
obliged to advance Marching Money, and I am,
Gentlemen, your most obedient humble
servant,
JACOB BAYLEY." [Documentary History of
New York, I., 691.]
It seems probable from this letter,
that this section of the road was constructed at General Bayley’s expense,
and it is very probable, also, that he was never repaid, at least in full.
It would seem that his name should have been given to it, instead of
General Hazen’s. The latter only constructed a part of it, and not,
probably, at his own cost. It has been proposed to call it the
Bayley-Hazen road, and this would be no more than restoring the honor to
him who deserves it most.
But he continued to believe that
there would be no peace along the frontier, as long as the tories were
sustained by the hope of help from Canada, and his scouts brought him
information that if a force was sent thither, sufficient to insure
protection, the inhabitants would throw off the British yoke. In the
summer of 1778, preparations were made for another invasion of Canada.
Great quantities of military stores were collected at Haverhill and
Newbury, and many men were enlisted for the service.
On the 13th of July, 1778, General
Bayley wrote from Newbury to General Gates, as follows:
"Col. Hazen arrived here last
evening, and has communicated to me what his business is respecting a land
road into Canada, together with what provision may be had here. It is my
opinion, by the many observations I have made of the country between this
place and Canada, that it is very practicable. I have once, by Major James
Wilkinson, surveyed a road from this place to St. Johns, which is marked
and good at 95 miles; the same is made about thirty miles, the rest is
well marked. * * * I have not the least doubt hut six or eight, or ten
thousand bushels of wheat can be purchased in this quarter, and beef in
plenty; as for forage, if wanted, I will supply from my farm 100 tons of
hay, etc. Should an expedition into Canada be undertaken (if wanted), I
will assist, and I should think myself happy to serve another successful
campaign, with your Honor, which, I doubt not, but another into Canada
would be.
JACOB BAYLEY." [N. H. State Papers]
It will be seen, by this, that
another invasion of Canada was being planned, and it was decided to
complete the road, which Bayley had begun, and General Moses Hazen was
ordered to move his military stores to Peacham. He accordingly made
requisition upon the selectmen of the river towns to provide teams for the
purpose. A large portion of Bedel’s regiment, which had seen much service,
and Whitcomb’s rangers were ordered to Peacham to begin the construction
of the road. It began in May, 1779, and was continued till the end of
August. A block house was erected at Peacham, as a base of operations, and
as the work progressed, one was erected in Cabot, another in Walden, and a
third in Greensboro. Wells were dug at various points, swamps were bridged
with logs, and the whole made passable for teams. General Hazen encamped
for some time on the present site of Lowell village, and the place was
called by him, "The Camp at the End of the Road," although its actual
terminus is some miles further on.
NOTE. The biography of Major
(afterwards General) James Wilkinson, makes no mention of this survey, but
he was with the army in Canada, and on detached service connected with it
at the time, some of this survey may have been connected with this
enterprise.
Work on the military road was
discontinued about the last of August, 1779, and all the men and teams
employed in its construction were withdrawn. Garrisons were maintained at
the block-houses at intervals while the war lasted. During the summer of
1781, Capt. Nehemiah Lovewell of Newbury was stationed at Peacham with his
company. In September, four men, Constant Bliss of Thetford, Moses Sleeper
of Newbury, Nehemiah Martin of Bradford, and Nahum Powers, were sent by
him to take possession of the block-house in Greensboro. In an unguarded
moment, while at some distance from the building, they were attacked by
Indians. Bliss and Sleeper were killed, and the others carried to Canada.
General Hazen [Moses Hazen was born at Haverhill. Mass., June 1, 1733, and
served with great distinction in the French war, after which he settled
near St. Johns, and was a wealthy man. He espoused the American cause,
rendered efficient service, and was made a Brigadier General in 1777.
After the war he settled near Troy, N. V., where he died in 1803. He was a
brother of Capt. John Hazen of Haverhill, who died before the war.] also
camped a few weeks on Cabot plain and fortified a hill or elevation near
it. One summer, probably 1781, or 1782, two companies of Continental
troops were encamped on the Gray farm in Ryegate. They were short of
provisions, and stole some of Mr. Gray’s potatoes. The good man protested
to the commanding officer, but was only told that "Hunger will break
through a stone wall."
Considerable mystery attends the
building of the Hazen Road, and we are not able to shed much light upon
the disputed points. After all
that has been written about it we are not certain why
it was constructed, or by whose orders, and why, being built nearly to
Canada line, it was so suddenly abandoned. General Hazen, writing from his
camp in what is now Lowell village, under date of August 24, 1779,
announces to Colonel Bedel, his determination to put an end to the work by
the next Saturday night, as if it was his personal affair, and he was at
liberty to discontinue it when he chose. Yet it is certain that its
construction and progress were well known to General Gates, and other high
officers in the American army.
Note.
State of Vermont,
To Nahum Powers, Dr.
To sundry articles taken from him by
the savages in the month of August, 1781, when he was taken prisoner from
Capt. Nehemiah Lovewell Company and Col. Waits regiment as follows :—viz.—
To one Gun 72/- Powder horn 6/-
£3.18.0
Straps and Bullet pouch 6/-
6.0
One Heaver hat 52/- One frock 12/-
3. 4.0
One pair shoes 12/- Buckles 6/-
18.0
Knapsack and belt 6/- Jacknife 3/-
9.0
One Blanket 18/-
18.0
Total
£9. 13.0
To his wages from the 24th of Nov.
unto the 22d day of June, 1782, when he was in captivity, after the term
of his enlistment was out, being 7 months saving ten days at 40/- per
month is near, 14.00.0
True account, Errors Excepted, pr
me, £23.13.0
NAHUM POWERS.
Asserted by me, Nehemiah Lovewell.
Capt’n.
(Original at Montpelier)
It has been thought that an invasion of Canada had been
planned, and that the road was constructed to provide a quick and easy
passage for an army with artillery and supplies. The further conjecture
follows, that the abandonment, at least temporarily, of the plan, led to
the discontinuance of work upon the road. Others have considered the work
as done merely to deceive the Canadian authorities into the belief that
such an invasion was about to be made, and thus prevent them from sending
troops from Canada to reinforce the army around New York. As far as we can
perceive, it was abandoned for the reason that Hazen’s scouts gave warning
that Indians and small detachments of Canadian militia were lurking in the
woods, and that he feared being captured. On his retreat he sent out
flanking parties to scour the woods on each side, but was not molested.
We are not informed as to the number of men employed in
its construction, but the force of workmen must have been large, to have
accomplished such a work in so short a time. During its progress supplies
were daily sent from Newbury and Haverhill under convoy of a strong guard,
and that part of it which lay in Ryegate, must have been a very busy
thoroughfare for some time.
A number of letters, too long to give here, are
preserved in what are known as the "Bedel Papers," and the "Hibbard
Collection," owned by the New Hampshire Historical Society, and published
in Vols. XIV., XV., XVI., and XVII., of the N. H. State Papers.
In 1780, another invasion of Canada was contemplated,
as appears from the following letters, which are preserved among the
Little papers at Newburyport, and which, it is believed, have never before
been published:
"Col. Moses Hazen, by Command of General Washington to
Brigadier Gen’l.
Bayley at Coos, (Public Service)
Dear Sir :— The Commander-in-chief approves of your sending parties
into Canada, for
intelligence, and I have it in Command from him to
desire you will continue your inquiries in such manner as you may judge
necessary to obtain the certain and authentic information of the enemy’s
strength and position in Canada, the Gen’l. officers in that country, the
different corps and by whom commanded, the general disposition of the
people, and the laws by which they are governed, the situation of the
country in respect to provisions, and the present crops of grain and hay.
If any, what re-inforcements have arrived in the country, (Canada), since
last year, and any and all matters which you may think necessary.
This will be to you a sufficient authority.
I am yours, &c.,
MOSES HAZEN.
N. B. Also what ships of war, transports and Merchant
ships are in the River St. Lawrence.
Brig-Gen. Bayley.
The following letter is without address, but is
believed to have been written to Colonel Moses Little, who was then at
Newbury, or to General Bayley.
CAMP NEAR MORRISTOWN, 15 June, 1780.
Dr. Sir :—Together with this you have a public letter
which will enable you to charge any and all expenses which you have or may
be at, in obtaining intelligence from Canada. I thought it best to bring
James (?) to this place in order to have it in my power the sooner to
advise you of the reception our matters met with in this place.
The General (Washington), appears pleased with the
measures taken and the probability of securing the grain and has ordered
that the magazine of beef at Charlestown be not removed, but remain for
the present in that place.
The French fleet is not expected before the end of the
month. The Marquis (Lafayette), is warm for what we wish, measures are
being taken to accomplish this. But such is our feeble situation in this
quarter, that time and circumstances must determine our future operations.
I hope you will secure the grain, as that will be a
great point gained. There is a late resolution of Congress respecting, as
I am informed, the protection of your country; what it is I do not know;
it shall be forwarded as soon as I lay hands on it. Upon the whole, I have
the strongest hopes of success in our wishes, yet they are not without
some well grounded fears that the enterprise will not be undertaken. If it
should be, by what I can learn, it will be a most formidable plan.
The commander-in-chief is steady to the point. Schuyler
is deely interested in
it. Much depends upon the information you obtain from
Canada. Pray let this supply your whole time and attention. You must
settle a constant patrol. so as to have news from Canada every ten days,
at least, which transmit to headquarters, writing me a line at the same
time.
I have ordered Boileau-Lagrande to transport themselves
from Albany to Coos, and put themselves under your command. It is possible
that Gaseline may be sent off to you by some other route in a few days.
The enemy hath hitherto had such a force in the Jerseys
as has made it imprudent for the Gen’l. to act on the offensive, a
disagreeable circumstance for him to be under, more especially as
Charleston is lost, our southern army prisoners of war. Cornwallis is
advancing toward N. Carolina, and Gen. Clinton, with a great part of the
army, on the way to return to New York. But "what-ever is, is right;" we
shall be free, and I hope end the campaign successfully.
All these matters keep to yourself, as they ought not,
nay, must not, go abroad.
In conjunction with Col. Bedel, I beg you will plant a
few potatoes, sow a little turnip seed and grass seed and a few handfulls
of oats on the cleared land at the Blockhouses. You know what I mean by
it. A word to the wise, etc., &c. Please to communicate the contents to
Col. Bedel, and believe me,
Dear Sir, yours most sincerely,
MOSES HAZEN.
[These letters were procured for the editor by the late Hon. Benjamin Hale
of Newburyport. ]
It certainly appears by these letters, that an
expedition was seriously considered at headquarters, for which
preparations were about to begin, and this invasion was to be made by way
of the Connecticut valley and the Hazen Road.
Some allusions in these letters need explanation, in
regard to securing the grain, etc.: By 1780 the Coos Country had become so
productive as to export great quantities of wheat and other grain. In case
of an invasion of Canada by an army, passing through the valley, all the
grain, which could be gathered, would he needed for its support, and
active measures were taken in the river towns to prevent its being carried
away. At a town meeting duly warned in Newbury, Feb. 4, 1780, "To see what
measures should be taken to prevent the grain being sent out of the
place," a committee was chosen to act with a committee of Haverhill, to
take "effectual measures" to that end. The Haverhill records show
corresponding action.
But whatever may have been contemplated, the march of
events was not in the direction of the Canadian frontier. In September the
treason of Arnold came to light, and the future events of the war were in
the south.
Another sentence in the second letter, in which Hazen
suggests planting and sowing around the blockhouses, relates to a claim
which these men intended to make to some of the ungranted lands in the
north part of the state. Peacham was chartered in 1763, but Walden, Cabot,
Hard-wick, Greensboro and the other towns along the road were not granted
till after the war. Col. Moses Little was a large land holder, and
portions of his lands in Newbury are still owned by his descendants in
that town. A space around each blockhouse was cleared of trees and by
raising a crop, however small, a claim might be set up to a section of
land.
It is not quite true, as has been sometimes stated,
that the Hazen Road was never of any use from a military point of view. It
had a strategetic value during the last years of the war, as it lay, an
open route for the American forces, which could be utilized to strike a
blow upon the enemy in Canada. It gave also to the ranger service along
the frontier, a direct route to the danger points in the wilderness upon
which a constant watch was kept during the war. The safety of New England
demanded the protection of its northern frontier, and a system of patrols
kept the authorities informed of the enemy’s movements. Companies of
soldiers were stationed in the Coos Country and along the Hazen road to
guard the frontier, and these measures were fairly successful.
But in spite of all precautions, from the beginning of
the war to its close, the Coos country, and the Ryegate settlers as well,
were kept in constant alarm, and with good reason. In 1780, houses were
burned in Peacham along the Hazen Road, and their occupants carried to
Canada. In August a party of Indians came into Barnard, and carried off
three men. In October, Capt. Nehemiah Lovewell of Newbury, who was sta
tioned with part of his company at Peacham to guard the
Hazen Road, was with a small scout near the Lamoille River, when they
discovered a force of three hundred British and Indians making their way
south through the woods. He sent men to warn the country, all the militia
north of Charlestown turned out, and the invaders, who had intended to
destroy Newbury, turned aside and burned Royalton. This was called the
"Great Alarm."
In March, 1781, Col. Thomas Johnson of Newbury, who had
contracted with James Bailey of Peacham, to build a grist mill in that
place, went there with Josiah and Jacob Page, and two ox teams with the
mill stones. They stayed over night with John Orr in Ryegate, and the next
night put up with Dea. Jonathan Elkins in Peacham, where Ellery McLaughlin
now lives. In the night the house was surrounded by British and tories.
Johnson, Jacob Page and Jonathan Elkins Jr., were taken prisoners, and
carried to. Canada. The capture of such a prominent man as Col. Johnson
indicated the ever-present danger of the inhabitants, and it had a great
influence upon local history till the end of the war, and long after.
Several attempts were made to capture General Jacob
Bayley of Newbury. On the 15th of June, 1782, a force of eighteen men
surprised his house, but he had been warned, and escaped to Haverhill. One
man, Ezra Gates, was wounded in the affray. We mention these events to
show the dangerous position in which Ryegate people found themselves
placed.
The Hazen Road was an important factor in the
settlement of the north part of the state, as it was the first road, and
for many years the only one, in what are now Lamoille and Orleans
counties. The first clearings were made along its course, and from it as a
trunk line roads extended east and west. Settlers found by it a ready
ingress to their new homes, and by its use, the settlement of that part of
the state was hastened by several years. Among the first to seek homes
there, were some of the men who had been employed upon it, and had learned
the value of the land. The block-houses which had been erected for defense
and protection in war, were turned to useful purposes in days of peace. In
the block-house in Walden was held the first preaching service and the
first school; it was temporarily occupied by several families, and in it
was born the first white child in that town.
It became the first stage road between Boston and
Montreal, and for nearly its entire length it is still in constant use,
and one of the landmarks of the state. It was built by the sacrifices of
patriots who gave their property and pledged their credit to build this
road for the defense of the country.
On the 21st of August, 1903, a granite tablet, suitably
inscribed, was erected to mark the terminus of the road at Hazen’s Notch,
in Westfield, and a large audience listened to a carefully prepared
address by Hon. F. W. Baldwin, who has kindly allowed its use in preparing
this chapter. This monument, erected under the auspices of the Orleans
County Historical Society, should be followed by the placing of others
marking the entire course of this historic road, the location of its
block-houses, and other sites.
The survey and outline maps of the towns north of
Barnet, preserved in the office of the Secretary of State, at Montpelier,
give the correct location of the Hazen Road. |
