Subject: Fort Dummer, Vermont
Source: History of Lancaster, Massachusetts by Rev. Abijah P. Marvin, 1879
p.224
During a long series of years there was an intimate connection betweet
Lancaster, Massachusetts and Fort Dummer. The connection began prior to the
old French War and
continued till after its close; but it will be convenient to give a connected
narrative
of this episode in our town's history in this place.
Fort Dummer was located in what is now Brattleborough, Vermont. It was in
the southeast
corner of the present town, about a mile and a half from the village. The
fort was on the
river bank, just above the reach of the high floods which often overflow the
broad intervale
between the river and the plateau which rises on the west. The house of Mr.
Wells S. Brooks
(1877) stands on the site of the fort.
p.225
The situation was admirably chosen for commanding the river both above and
below. The
modern visitor is not attracted to the spot by its historic interest, merely,
but charmed
by the beauty of the scenery, mingling intervale and river, plateau and
mountain, adorned
with every variety of foliage.
The fort was built in the year 1723/4, by the Province of Massachusetts, and
named after
the acting Governor, William Dummer. The work was done by Lieutenant Timothy
Dwight of
Northampton, under the command of Colonel Stoddard. The enclosure was one
hundred and
eighty feet square.
The eastern side of the fort was close upon the river bank, which descends
steeply to the
water side. Remains of the foundation can still be found in piles of stone.
The fort was
built of large yellow pine logs, squared on two sides, and locked or framed
together at the
angles. It had mounts, or square towers, from fourteen to twenty feet high,
made of heavy
timbers framed and boarded up; and the upper story was planked. These were
for sentries or
watchmen.
There was a row of houses built on the inside, against the wall, with a
single roof sloping
outward. There are wells now within the space enclosed, and probably were
when the fort was
first occupied. Water could be easily obtained from the river, subject
however to the
danger of Indian shots from the eastern bank. This old fort was doubtless
known to the
scouts of Lancaster, as we know that Captain John White and others who went
scouting to the
north of New Hampshire, used to return by the Connecticut River, and
Northfield, as the
region was then called, before the town was reduced to its present limits.
In the time of the Spanish War, 1740 to 1741, the fort was repaired - in a
sense, rebuilt.
Two bastions were added, on which two swivels and two other guns were
mounted. At this time
four houses, each two stories high were erected, besides several smaller
houses containing
a single room.
p.226
Four depressions in the ground, within the circuit of the fort, still show
where the four
larger houses stood. At this time a line of pickets or palisades was
extended round eight
acres of land, enclosing the fort on three sides, and connecting with the
fort on the east,
or river side. These pickets were twenty feet high, and enclosed land enough
to supply the
garrison with a large quantity of the necessaries of life.
During the long interval of peace preceding the Spanish war, the fort seems
to have been
neglected; but the exigencies of this war, and of the French and Indian War,
1745-1748,
caused it to be strengthened. Another fort was built at Williamstown, called
Fort Massa-
chusets, or No. 2. These two forts, with a chain of block-houses, several
miles apart,
from Fort Dummer to Dunstable, formed a barrier below which the enemy seldom
came after
the middle of the century. Charlestown, New Hampshire, was styled No. 4, and
the region
from Keene to Hinsdale was called the Ashuelots, because it bordered the
Ashuelot River.
Northfield was on both sides of the river, and included Gill and the Vernons,
as far north
as Fort Dummer and perhaps Brattleboro.
From the year 1740, Fort Dummer appears to have been a Lancaster
"institution." Kept in
repair, armed and nammed by Massachusetts, it was under the special charge of
men born and
bred in Lancaster, and the adjoining towns. In 1740, between May 21 and
November 20th, we
find Colonel Josiah Willard and his son, Captain Josiah Willard, Jr. with a
small comple-
ment of nem at the fort. Another bit of record proves that they were there
till the follow-
March. This Josiah Willard was a son of Henry Willard and the grandson of
Major Simon
Willard and a brother of Colonel Samuel Willard, the hero of Louisburg. The
famous "Good
Secretary," Josiah Willard, was his cousin. Colonel Josiah Willard was born
in Lancaster
in 1693 and about 1723 he married Hannah, daughter of John and grandaughter
of the first
Thomas Wilder. He removed to Lunenburg, but continued for many years to
attend meetings in
his native town, where several if not all of his children were baptised.
p.227
He was a captain and led expeditions against the Indians, while yet a young
man. When a
commander was needed at Fort Dummer, he was sent to that post, and his name,
or that of his
children appears in connection with the fort during fifteen years. For
example, Capt Josiah
Willard, Jr., and his brother Nathan, afterwards captain, were at the fort in
1742.
Repeated entries show that Josiah Willard, father or son, or both, was at
Fort Dummer be-
tween 1745 and 1748. Letters, bills, receipts and orders, preserved in the
State Archives
are the evidence. During these years there was need of constant vigilance as
the Indians
were on the watch to break in at any unguarded hour. Scouts were sent out
frequently to
scour the woods in search of the enemy. In May 1746 the French and Indians
attacked No. 4
in considerable force and "were driven off by the spirited behavior of Major
Willard at the
head of a small party of soldiers."
Major Josiah Willard was at the fort from February 1 to July 12, 1748, with
the following
men under his command:
Lieut. John Sergent
Sergeant Nathan Willard
Sergeant William Willard
Joseph Willard
Wilder Willard
Andrew Gardner, Chaplain
Simon Willard
Oliver Willard, Clerk.
Four of these Willards were brothers of the Major, and sons of the Colonel.
In these days
the colonel would be liable to the charge of nepotism.
On the fourteenth of July, 1748, Sergeant Taylor was marching up the east
side of the river
when his party of sixteen men were attacked by a company of ambushed Indians
and four men
were killed. One escaped, and by running along the east bank of the river,
reached a point
opposite the fort. He was saved, the rest were missing.
At another time the Indians came near capturing the fort by an ingenious
ruse. The side of
Chesterfield mountain, opposite the fort was covered with dense woods, with
opening intervals. One day an Indian, disguised as a bear, was seen on the
hillside, and the
occupants of the fort were tempted to cross the river and pursue him.
"Bruin" seeing them
approach, withdrew gradually up the mountain while his comrades were watching
to make a rush
for the fort; and it is said that the trick was discovered only just in time
to foil the
enemy.
p.228
The same hillside was fruitful in strawberries and when the families residing
in the fort
ventured over the river to pick them, they were liable to attack from Indians
who came
down from the inaccessible wilds that extend far to the east and north. At
times it was
unsafe to get water from the river, the Indians sending dangerous shots from
bow or gun, from the bushes on the eastern bank. In 1748, January 5th,
Colonel Samuel Willard, having
been informed by Captain Stevens of Fort No. 4, (who also was of Lancaster
stock, being a
grandson of Major Simon Willard), that Indians were coming between the rivers
(probably the
Connecticut and Merrimac,) sent out a detachment to meet the enemy.
Seargeant James Houghton was the leader of the party, and he was followed by
John Wilder, Asa Whitcomb,
(afterwards colonel in the French War, and the Revolution), Hezekiah
Whitcomb, John Hidley,
Joseph Kilborn, Nathan Burpee and Jonathan Powers.
From July 7 to 12, 1748, the following men were in some public service
but
whether scouting
between Lancaster and Fort Dummer, or in some other direction, it is
impossible to determine. The names are given because most of the men
belonged to Lancaster:
Captain Ephraim Wilder Jr.
Lieut. John Whitcomb of Bolton
Cornet Hezekiah Gates
Quarter Master Hezekiah Whitcomb
Corp. Nathan Wilder
Corp. Samuel Burpee
Corp. Aaron Dresser
Corp. Thomas Fairbanks
Sentinels or Soldiers
Thomas Sawyer
Aaron Dresser
Ebenezer Buss
William Richardson
Elijah Sawyer
Ephraim Osgood
Stephen Johnson
James House
Joseph Rugg
Hezekiah Ballard
John Dupee
John Farrar
Hezekiah Hunt
Phineas Willard
Abijah Houghton
John Prentice.
John Whitcomb became distinquished in the next French War and in the
Revolution.
p.229
Several other names in the above list, reappear in later years, in honorable
service.
This Captain Epharim Wilder scouted in 1746 in the western towns as far as
Athol, and
perhaps to the river. Capt. Samuel Willard, son of Colonel Samuel Willard,
was in the
public service from March to October 1748.
In 1749 Colonel Josiah Willard was at the fort and his son now a major was in
the Ashuelot
country. In December of this year he petitioned for pay as sub-commissary
for all the forts
and garrisons and marching forces on the line of the Province since the
commencement of the
war. The next year the colonel died when on a journey from home, in his
fifty-eighth year.
He was a man of high character and in his private and public capacity,
sustained a good
reputation. Willard quotes from a public journal as follows: "He was
grandson to the
renowned Major Simon Willard and was a gentleman of superior natural powers,
of a pleasant,
happy and agreeable temper of mind; a faithful friend; one that paid singular
regard to ministers of the gospel; a kind husband and tender parent. His
death is a great loss to
the public, considering his usefulness in many respects, particularly on the
western frontiers, where in the late wars, in his be-trustments, he has shown
himself faithful,
vigilent and careful. Of late years he has had the command of Fort Dummer
and always
used his best endeavors for the protection of our exposed infant towns; and
his loss will
be greatly regretted by them." He was succeeded in the command of the fort
by his son,
Lieut. Colonel, now become Colonel Willard, to whom the secretary wrote, "I
heartily join with you and your family in mourning for the death of your
father, esteeming it a great
public loss." In 1750 Colonel Josiah Willard, Jr. had under his command at
the fort the
following men:
Lieut. Nathan Willard
Lieut. William Willard
Oliver Willard
Simon Willard
Moses Wheeler
John Alexander
Ebenezer Alexander
Daniel Sergeant
Simeon Knight
Wilder Willard
Valentine Butler
Fairbanks Moor
John Sergeant
Elias Alexander
John Moor
Nathan Fairbanks.
The same force was continued in 1751 with slight changes of men.
p.230
The fort appears to have been in the hands of the Willard family during the
interval between
the old and the last French and Indian Wars. The latter began in 1755 when
we find Capt.
Nathan Willard in command with the following men:
William, Oliver, Wilder and Joseph Willard
Jacob Ball
John Sergeant
Uriah Morse.
The fort became a kind of thoroughfare, soldiers constantly going and coming
between the
Province and the frontiers of Lakes George and Champlain. During the last
French war,
troops passed up through the routes by Fort No. 4, Fort Dummer and Fort
Massachusetts, to
meet the enemy on and near the lakes and this Fort Dummer was often crowded
with passing
soldiers while the war was removed to a greater distance. By degrees, as the
country was
settled, and the seat of conflict was changed, and the Indians were driven
far to the north
and to the west, the need of Fort Dummer became less pressing. Soon all
interest in it
became historical. But whatever interest attached to the locality, as
connected with Indian
wars, or with the sad fortunes of Mrs. Rowlandson, its history has a peculair
connection with the town of Lancaster. Fort Dummer closed the path by which
the French and Indians came down from the north in the year 1704 and
assaulted Lancaster; and it was fitly manned
by her soldiers.
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Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth