Governors Academy - Milestone Yearbook (Byfield, MA)

Page 16 text:

1771 .E JY fl 5 uv rj? T' f77u1hmNu'lI X Q 7' TAL drdifvausc , h U? ' .7'l7 V n5' ' ff Bu-llbyvf Fulztazlz to P run' -lhauilulgnl R frcvl'ncc.1 5141! bv lfcjlrnvvncl all' I 77'Loun?l.J!'ll Clnnnn w.H4IJ'v 1 P' U fflounfc.-1 us: E: nun? In - 1773, T 4 .5 -C nf Z, 6 .R ra fir. f T U1 2 an C-1 BN E Zljgc-121150 710771 0 .Z-57-2 .Du7f1g'r ljxl 5 V l EI: l S S S l S Q- .. afvfff-'lb S ' E XY h x SZ, 3 0. x 3 'S -1 '39 4'S S --- S R 194 S -' S f Q -- X I l S -Q f' X 'x ' SLS ' f sv MQ Q ,Q Gvllnvmllarls . f ll fx I I I' hu' se BUJN by Gm lmuuas Ai:-l?:l19l!'6,5m'rJJ f ' fff :I ihehrovihci Muse hdulcf haunt! I! lf . J XSQZS 'fix' 'V I f' ! kg:N X' f 'H Q Q ,I If , if wzrmu qah 34 'WRNXXZZ ,. I fl ff X 32 I' 53- n ,U ph, lb, 1 Lv! lfff' 'ffl' X ,,'JA!Q: 'f ,X . 0, 0 ' t Dummur, mulls in If4,fl when its garrison under Colonel Josiah YYill:ml numbered twenty-eight the sides ure the dimensions in fuer. A plan of For nun. The Hgurus :lt uflicura zunlr

Page 15 text:

Fort Dummer By arrangement between Massachusetts and Connecticut various parcels of land were given to Connecticut in exchange for lands of which she had been deprived by a boundary rectification between the two colonies. One of these sections of' Equivalent Lands, as they were called, was an area of about 44,000 acres on the west bank of the Connecticut River within the now existing towns of Vernon, Brattleboro, Dummerston and Putney. The lands were sold at Hartford in 1716 and this section came into the ownership of four men, William Dummer, acting Governor ofthe Province of Massachusetts Bay, YYilliam,Brattle of Cambridge, and Anthony Stoddard and John White of Boston. Scarcely had the acting Governor and his associates come into possession of this valuable land when occurred Dummer's iYar, 1722-1726. This was really but a fresh outbreak of' hostilities which had never been quelled. Though there was peace between England and France,the Northern Indians began anewtheir raids threaten- ing the plantations and towns of the Connecticut valley. Colonel John Stoddard of Northampton wrote to the Lieut. Governor urging protection for this area. On December 27, 1723, the General Court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay resolved: That it will be ofgreat service to all the western frontiers. both in this and the neighboring government of' Connecticut, to build a Block House above Northfield in the most convenient place on the land called Equivalent Land, and to post in it forty able men. English and Western Indians, to be employed in scouting at a good distance up the Connecticut River, VN'est River, Otter Creek and sometimes eastwardly above Monadnock for the discovery of the enemy coming towards any ofthe frontier towns. U The dutv of carrying this order into effect was intrusted to Colonel Stoddard - - :- because of his acquaintance with the needs of the northwestern frontier. He issued the following commission to Lieut. Timothy Dwight, then of Captain Kellogg's company of Northfield: In His Majesty's Name you are hereby Authorized, employed, oz required to Impress Horses, Utensils, K any other thing necessary to enable you to prosecute the building of the Blocl-1 House above Xfhfield. Dated at Nm Hampton, this thirty-first day ofjanl' in the tenth year of' His Mauiestfs Reign, .-Xnnoq' Domm, 1723-4. Joi-ix Sroooaao Puri :7Il5!w Colonel Stoddard on February 3, 172.t,wrote to Lieut. Governor Dummer: I have Committed the oversight of the Work about the Block House to Lieutm Dwight, ZX given him Instructions about the building according to the Projection I sent your Honor. On March 16, 1724, Lieut. Governor Dummer wrote to Timothy Dwight, now made Captain: I was well informed of your Capacitye for the Service you are in or I should not have placed you there, 6: I doubt not your Industry N fidelity. In a Short time you shall have the necessary instructions for your Government therein, 9

Page 17 text:

The construction of the fort was carried forward rapidly by Captain Dwight with a working force of four carpenters and twelve soldiers. It was built of pine timbers hewed square, laid up I2 to 14 feet high, and cross locked at the corners. In shape it was an oblong with a corner cut off forming a short side toward the river. Its dimensions were about I.4O by I6O feet. About the interior houses were built facing inwardly, and with their roofs running up to near the top of the walls. The inner walls of the houses were built like the walls of the fort, and the doors and windows could be barricaded in case the enemy came within the fort. There was an underground passage from the short side to the river. The fort was first furnished with four small swivel guns to which was afterwards added the great cannon used as a signal ofdanger to the neighborhood. It was apparently Colonel Stoddard's design, although correspondence refers to a plan sent by the Lieutenant Governor which was not followed. In a letter to Yvilliam Dummer by Colonel Stoddard is this postscript: I forgat to take notice of your thought of setting Stockadoes round the fort to keep the Enemy at a distance. I don't well apprehend the benefit of it, for we Intend the fort shall be so built that the Souldiers shall be as safe if the Enemy were in the Parade, as if they were without the fort. The fort was completed by spring 1724 and named Fort Dummer in honor of the Lieutenant Governor. The first garrison consisted of Capt. Timothy Dwight, Lieut. Elisha Searl, Sergt. John lNIcRanney, Sergt. John Burke, Sergt. Robert Cooper, and 36 privates together with I4 Maqua and Hudson River Indians under Sachems Hendrick and Ampaumet. It was hoped to utilize the Indians as scouts and warriors against the Northern Indians. On June 24, 1724, Lieut. Governor Dummer wrote to Captain Dwight: This to lett you know that I very well approve ofyour bringing your Family to the Block- house :X you may depend on my Friendship to you as long as you Serve the Government faith- fully as I have not the least doubt but you allways will. In June of 1724 Rev. Daniel Dwight was made chaplain. He was a younger brother of Timothy, and besides his duties as chaplain, he was to instruct the Indian natives residing thereabouts in the true Christian religion. On October II, 1724, the fort was attacked byan estimated force of 70 Indians. They succeeded in killing four or five of the defenders, but were repulsed with some loss. Gther killings occurred in the neighborhood during the following year, but the fort was not attacked again during this war. On December 23,1725 Lieut. Governor Dummer wrote to Captain Dwight: Having Concluded a Peace with the Indian Delegates in behalfof the Vvesrern as well as the Eastern Tribes that have been engaged in ye late W'ar, ':You are hereby Order'd forthwith to Reduce the Garrison at Fort Dummer to a Corporal fifteen Centinels besides yourself lwno are to have Sergeanrs Pay henceforwardlf' This peace treaty was not actually ratified by the Western Indians until 1727. Timothy Dwight, the father of one of the early presidents of Yale University, was born at Fort Dummer on May 27, 1726. I1