August Rewind

Another school year has begun! Good wishes to all the students, teachers, and parents of the Upper Valley.  I hope everyone has a safe, productive, enjoyable school year without too many SNOW DAYS! I know the students love snow days, but they really make the school year drag on, and who really wants to go to school into July, almost?

It seemed like the summer flew by.  Work and college courses meant that there wasn't a lot of time for vacation, but still, the Old Redneck and I did manage to hunt for Mascommah on the Connecticut River, and visit the ocean twice.  We are headed to Laconia, New Hampshire this weekend to spend some time with friends.

It was disappointing that more people didn't show up for the Fairlee Drive In fundraiser.  I thought there would be a huge crowd there.  I have always wanted to see the River City Rebels, and I finally did - and they lived up to their reputation - they were a great band. 

I hope the Hartford PD catches whoever it was that set the Butler Buses on fire. 

To end the month of Hartford, here is an image of an August calendar picture from a 1962 calendar put out by the National Safety Council, posted with the permission of the National Safety Council

Windsor County Court Cases August 24

Shanna Bethel, DOB 10/29/85 was charged with disorderly conduct/fighting on June 27 in Springfield

Kathy Chandler DOB 5/26/77 was charged with simple assault, disorderly conduct/obstruct and disorderly conduct/fighting on June 11

Heather Lewis, DOB 5/2/86 pled not guilty to charges of robbery in Barnard

Ruzzo, Cheryl DOB 9/4/74 pled not guilty to charges of fraud/prescription medicine

David Barbarow, DOB 10/03/84 was charged with his first , on July 29^th in Ludlow

Rachel Quirion, DOB 9/2/84 was charged with retail theft of $900 or less on July 9 in Springfield

Jillian Milius DOB 1/16/92 was charged with giving false information to a police officer to implicate another on July 11 in Hartford.

Joseph Gokey, DOB 7/7/95 was charged with simple assault in Sharon, Vermont

Stephen Messier, DOB 12/26/92 pled not guilty to a charge of simple assault in Sharon Vermont, on June 23.

Ryan Pero, DOB 7/24/93 was charged with giving false information with purpose to deflect an investigation from another person - (Sean Lyman) during an investigation of an automobile accident in Hartford on June 15

　

Linda Marie MacKenzie, DOB 2/24/65 pled not guilty to a charge of her first DUI in South Royalton on July 17

　

Kyle Pearsons pled not guilty to operating a vehicle under the influence of a drug other than alcohol in Hartford on July 11.

　

Sarah Oshea, DOB 8/12/88 was charged with her first DUI, in Springfield on August 7

　

Erin Risso DOB 9/12/82 pled not guilty to her first DUI, in Windsor on August 12

Amanda Adams DOB 2/25/90 was charged with her second DUI in Cavendish on August 13

John Champion DOB 10/16/90 was charged with operating a vehicle in a careless or negligent manner in Hartford on July 27

　

　

Hunter Truell DOB 8/31/93 was charged with disorderly conduct/noise. He was allegedly screaming and cursing at police officers who were trying to evaluate him for a possible DUI

　

　

Luke Hafford, DOB 6/17/94 was also charged with disorderly conduct/noise in Hartford for allegedly screaming and cursing at officers during the incident with Truell.

　

　

Ryan Dechaux, DOB 5/9/84, pled not guilty to buying, receiving, or concealing stolen property, and possessing a depressant, stimulant or narcotic

　

　

John Gaboury, DOB 8/28/87, pled not guilty to the sale of a depressant, stimulant, or narcotic on April 11th　

　

Melinda Petit, DOB 12/21/87 was charged with aiding in the commission of a felony (sale of narcotic drugs)

Ira Sargent DOB 2/26/85 pled not guilty to a first DUI on August 6 in Hartford

Timothy Kealy DOB 8/1/73 pled not guilty to his second DUI and a test refusal in Hartford on August 7

Eunice Farnsworth - Unsung Heroine of Fort No. 4

Stephen Farnsworth was born in 1715 in Groton, Massachusetts. He married Eunice Hastings who was born in Watertown Massachusetts in 1722. Eunice's sister, Hannah, married Stephen's brother David and her other sister, Susannah, married Stephen and David' stepbrother, Lieutenant Moses Willard. David and Moses were also settlers at No 4. Stephen and Eunice were married on December 22, 1741. This means that they came to No 4 as newlyweds. Stephen was 27 when they moved to No. 4, and Eunice was 20. Their first child was Oliver, who was born in 1742, the first child born at No.
4.

Stephen and Eunice had been married for four and a half years when Stephen was taken captive by the Indians. Oliver was four years old at the time. After Stephen was captured, Eunice went back to Lunenburg with Oliver. It must have been a horrifying trip.
,
After Stephen was captured, Indian attacks occurred every month that Spring and Summer.  In April, Seth Putnam was killed when he went to his barn in the morning.   In May, twenty men went out from the fort to see where Seth was killed, and they were ambushed by Indians in the same spot.  Stephen's brother Samuel was killed during that attack. Five men were killed, four were wounded and one was taken prisoner. At the end of August, the attacks stopped, but the settlers had not been able to leave the fort.  They hadn't been able to grow crops, they couldn't hunt, and they were bereft in the face of their losses of family and friends.  The fort was abandoned.  Most families returned to Groton, Lunenburg, or Deerfield, their original homes. They took what they could carry and buried everything else in hopes of coming back and starting again in the spring. (Bruce, Nona "The
Fort at No 4" Old Fort No 4 Associates 1990 page 5)
       Eunice traveled with her sisters and brother-in-law.  They had lost Samuel and Stephen was in captivity.  It isn't clear if they knew whether or not Stephen was still alive. How did they travel? By canoe? Probably not, with the little guy with them. Did they walk? That would have been an awfully long way with a four year old. The best bet is probably an oxcart, even though it is certain the roads were rudimentary at best. Stephen was driving an oxcart when he was captured, so we know there were roads leading at least out of the settlement to the lumber mill.

Even with an oxcart, it must have been supremely difficult. They were traveling through what amounted to a war zone, through thick, dark, forests. I can imagine Eunice jumping at every sound, imagining Indians jumping out of the thickets along the way. Normally an oxcart can make about 5 miles an hour, but that is on a good pathway. As an estimate, they probably averaged about 3 miles an hour. Even as they made their way south, they probably did not encounter many English settlers. Lunenburg, Massachusetts is right across the New Hampshire border, near Rindge, NH. Rindge was settled in 1738, but abandoned in 1744. It seems bad enough to drive through the dense forests thinking an Indian might kill you at any moment, but it would have been even scarier to drive through empty settlements that had been deserted by English settlers afraid of being killed by Indians.

Amazingly enough, Eunice and little Oliver made it to Lunenburg alive. She was there when Stephen was released. The Farnsworth family history says “she very reluctant, after his return, to take up her abode again at No. 4.” Wow, I can imagine that after making all the way to Lunenburg in one piece, the last thing she would have wanted to do was make that trip again,  even less to return to the place where her husband was kidnapped and she lived in daily fear for her life.  Regardless, the history goes on to say, “But she at length yielded to his importunity” In other words, he begged her to go back to No. 4.

You have to wonder how this all played out. Did Stephen go home to No 4, find out Eunice and Oliver weren't there, and continue on to Lunenburg? Or did he already know they had left, and so he just went straight to Lunenburg? Why in the world did he want to go back to No. 4 so badly? 

It's interesting the Stephen begged Eunice to go back to Fort No. 4. He didn't just order her to go. She had some say in the matter. We always think that in these colonial marriages, the husband was the master and gave the orders and the wives just meekly followed, but it seems that, at least in this case, things were different. If Eunice had stayed in Lunenburg, would Stephen have stayed with her? Would he have said, “Tough, we're going,” if she hadn't eventually given in?
,
If Stephen was captured in April of 1746, and exchanged 17 months later, then he was released in September of 1747. We don't know how long it would have taken to travel from Canada to New England, but we assume that Eunice and Oliver were reunited with Stephen by January of 1748, at least. Eunice and Stephen did go back to No. 4, and they had 8 more children. The first was a girl, named Sarah, born in 1748. The last was Stephen, Jr, born in 1764. Eunice was 42 years old when Stephen, Jr was born, Stephen was 49, and Oliver was 22. Stephen died when Stephen, Jr was 5 years old and Oliver was 27. Oliver married Elizabeth Wheeler in 1768, when Stephen, Jr was 4 years old. We know that they moved to Woodstock, Vermont soon after they were married and Eunice joined them when Stephen, Sr. died. Several of the younger Farnsworth siblings also moved to Woodstock.

Windsor County Court Cases August 21

Kurtis Dostal DOB 7/23/92 pled not guilty to a charge ofoperation of vehicle at excessive speed6/8/12

Casey Chase DOB 5/14/85 pled not guilty to careless or negligent vehicle operation, giving an officer false information, and possesion of a depressant, stimulant or narcotic

Peer, Martin/868-7-12 Wrcr 12/8/57 judged guilty to disorderly conduct - fight on June 18 in springfield

                            
Brett Dezaine, DOB 2/21/87 pled not guilty to charges of simple asaault, disorderly conduct and disorderly conduct/fight stemming from an alleged altercation in Springfield on June 11

Justin Fiske pled not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct/ disorderly conduct/obstruct, disorderly conduct/fight and simple asault mutual affray stemming from an alleged altercation on June 11 in Springfield.   

James Miller, DOB 7/27/54 pled not guilty to a charge of operating vehcle with license suspended on  July 13 in Hartford

 Tara Krauss  DOB 12/26/88 pled not guilty to a charge of operating a vehicle with license suspended in Reading on June 21

Rodney Johnson, DOB 3/16/76 pled not guilty to his first charge of DUI on August 5 in Ludlow

Steven Hasselbacher pled not guilty to charges of operating a vehicle with license suspended and violating conditions on July 11 in Windsor.

 

Walter Foley, DOB  1/16/58 pled not guilty to his first DUI charge and a charge of operating a vehicle with gross negligence. On August 4, ppolice were called to Barnard to the scene of a crash.  When they arrived, they found an accident scene, a passenger, but no driver. After searching, they found Foley hiding in some bushes. Read an article here

http://woodstockearlyworm.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/late-night-call-for-barnard-firefighters-and-first-responders/

 

Daniel Shine DOB 6/17/86 pled not guilty to his first DUI charge on August 6th in Pomfret.

Jenna Kendall DOB 12/5/92 plednot guilty to a charge of her first DUI on August 5th in Windsor.

Jonathan Miller, DOB 5/25/83 pled guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct on July 21 in Windsor

Leighton Alexander DOB 9/14/71 pled not guilty to a charge of vehicle operation with license supsended

Jonathan Lombardi, DOB  12/19/88 pled not guilty to one count of unlawful mischief of greater than $1000 and two counts of unlawful misechief less than $250 in Ludlow

Ethan Gilmour, DOB 9/16/89 pled not guilty to unlawful mischief greater than $1000 and two counts of unlawful mischief  $250 or less in Ludlow

Christine Lewis-Richardson DOB 1/31/74 pled not guilty to a charge of giving false information to an officer to implicate another in Hartford on December 13, 2011.
                              

Morgan Purcell DOB 7/22/93 pled not guilty to marijuana possessison in Hartford on June 25

Hannah Potter L DOB 8/8/94  pled not guilty to posession of depressant, stimulant/or narcotic in Bethel on June 25

 

 

 

An Indian Attack at Fort No. 4

Stephen Farnsworth was captured by the Indians and French on the 19th of April 1746. Capt. John Spafford the miller and Lieut. Isaac Parker were also taken at the same time. He had been to the sawmill with an ox team for a load of boards. After getting the boards he started back toward home, but he hadn't gotten far when he saw someone coming toward him. The person had an Indian blanket on his head. He thought it was an old Indian hunter named Wil Johnson who was a hanger-on at the settlement. When the person got closer he raised his gun and pointed it, and Stephen knew that this was not a friend, but an enemy.

Stephen knew that it was pointless to try to run, because if he did he would be shot. Instead of running away, he ran directly toward the Indian in a zig zag pattern, probably thinking that if the Indian fired at him, zigzagging would make it less likely that he would be hit. When Stephen got right up close to the Indian, the Indian threw his gun down and tried to capture him and take him prisoner. Stephen was very athletic and bigger than the Indian. He threw the Indian to the ground, and as they wrestled violently on the ground, it occurred to Stephen that he was going to have to kill this Indian.

At that very moment a Frenchman came up behind Stephen and knocked him over the head with the butt of his musket. The Frenchman hit Stephen so hard it knocked him to the ground and stunned him. When he regained his senses he gave himself up to the Frenchman. Afterwards he wished he had surrendered to the Indian because the Frenchman was mean and the Indian seemed much nicer.

There were about forty French and Indian attackers. They didn't shoot their guns so that they wouldn't alarm the fort. They slaughtered the oxen and took what meat they could carry, but made sure they took all the tongues, which were the preferred part of the beef in those days. Then they set the mill on fire and set off with their prisoners. They started at a fairly steady pace, but hadn't gotten more than a mile before they heard the alarm guns at the fort. At the sound of the guns, they started moving much faster and kept up a fast pace for many miles.

After they had traveled about twelve miles, the group built a fire,cooked some of the meat they had taken, and camped for the night. The captors tied the prisoners up and placed each of them between two Indians to make sure they didn't escape. They did this every night until they reached Canada.

While they traveled, the Indians kept eight or ten guards in the back of the pack and the rest of the group traveled in front. Some of the streams they had to cross were difficult to go through because they were deeper and faster than usual because it was springtime. Stephen had a hard time crossing one of these streams but the Indian who had first tried to capture him helped him. The journey through the wilderness was long and hard. During the last part, after they had eaten all the meat they had gotten that first day, they were very hungry. The only food they had was the wild game they could kill in the forest. To cope with their hunger, the Indians had a strap that they buckled really tight around their stomachs, to make them feel less hungry.

Stephen was taken to Montreal and kept in a room about sixteen feet square, in the second story, with fifteen other people. During the winter, four of the prisoners were selected to carry wood up the stairs, which were rickety and seemed like they were about to fall apart. Each prisoner was allowed to carry up one armload of wood apiece, and this armload was to last all day and all night. Stephen was one of the men chosen for the wood detail. If they tried to carry too big of a load of wood, and dropped some, they weren't allowed to pick it back up. When he got home, Stephen would say that the job of doing wood helped him get excersize and make it a little more possible to endure a captivity that lasted seventeen months before he was exchanged.

Stephen Farnsworth returned from his captivity in broken health. He was never really well after that. The last office to which he was elected was in March 1770. He died Sept. 6, 1771 aged 57.

This is a retelling of the story of Stephen Farnsworth's Indian Captivity.  You can find it yourself in "History of Charlestown, NH, the Old Fort No. 4" by Henry Saunderson, written in 1876.  There is an easily accessed copy of it online through the University of New Hampshire at http://archive.org/stream/historyofcharles00saun#page/n9/mode/2up

A Fort is Built at Number 4

It wasn’t an easy proposition to hack a settlement out of the wilderness, but the first families of Number 4 gave it their best shot. Adding to the difficulty of their great task were the Indians, who attacked off and on from the very outset. By 1744 there were nine or ten families living at No. 4. Indian attacks were on the increase, and the settlers in the Northern Connecticut River Valley heard rumors about an impending war between England and France.

The proprietors warned a meeting “to consider the present circumstances of affairs and the dangers we are in of being assaulted by an enemy in case their should be a war between the kingdoms of England and France, and to consider what is proper to be
done in respect of building and furnishing a fortification in the township for the defense and security thereof.” At the meeting, they decided to build a fort and since they were now within the boundaries of New Hampshire, they petitioned the New Hampshire Assembly for help, for funds, and for military protection.

The New Hampshire Assembly decided that there would be no help forthcoming from Portsmouth to the struggling outpost at No. 4. No. 4 was too far away, and the members of the assembly felt that it was ridiculous to think about sending aid when there was no hope of profit in a venture so far into the wilderness. Governor Wentworth was so displeased at this lack of sympathy to their struggling countrymen, dissolved that Assembly and called another one, which met with the same result. The Assembly believed that the settlers of the Upper Connecticut River had “no right to their lands in the first place, they were of no account, and it was unjust to burden their New Hampshire constituents with an expense that would yield them no profit and offer them no protection.” (History of Charlestown, New Hampshire, The Old No. 4 Reverend Henry Saunderson 1876 pg 21) Let them go to Massachusetts for help.

It was up to the settlers themselves to build the fort, and they finished it just in time. In June of 1744 Governor Shirley of Massachusetts announced from Boston that England had declared war on France. Massachusetts built many new forts at her borders, and repaired defenses in Greenfield, Northfield, and Deerfield. Governor Shirley and Governor Wentworth negotiated back and forth regarding Fort Dummer, just north of Northfield, then under New Hampshire’s domain. Governor Wentworth was all for taking possession of Fort Dummer, but again, his hands were tied by the New Hampshire Assembly, who didn’t want anything to do with it. Massachusetts did take responsibility for Fort Dummer, because it was situated so close to their border, but there was no way they were going to take over No. 4, too.

The settlers of No 4 had their fort, and they allotted space inside it to the families residing there at the time. You can see a layout of the inside of the fort and the spaces assigned to each family at http://www.fortat4.org/insidefort.php .

For two years, there was peace along the river at No. 4. People there became used to having a fort in their midst. Some families lived outside the fort, knowing that they could seek refuge there if they needed to. They heard stories about Indian attacks at other places, but they were mostly successfully repulsed. In 1745, English colonial forces captured Louisbourg, a French fort in Canada.

Although this was a victory for the English, it got the French all fired up. The St Francis, Missisquoi and Schagticoke Indians had always played both sides when it came to the English and the French, but they were angry at the new expansion of English settlements further up the Connecticut. When the French went looking for allies for a new offensive against the English, they found willing participants in the Indian settlements on the Canadian border. It was the end of peaceful times for the settlers of the Upper Connecticut River Valley, who now had their Fort at Number 4.

Exposing the Negative Windsor County Court August 7

The following arraignments took place at Windsor County Court on August 7:

Kevin Hardy, DOB 10/21/57, pled not guilty to charges of unlawful mischief - fight, in Windsor0/31/57

Lucien Innocent, DOB 7/17/68 pled not guilty to a charge of careless or negligent vehicle operation in Royalton.
　

Jeffrey Matteson II, DOB 3/23/95  was arraigned and pled not guilty to a charge of aiding in the commission of a felony in Andover.  This charge was the result of an  alleged altercation that occurred when a landowner went to investigate some young men driving a jeep on his property.  The landowner left his house and started chasing the young men down.  They started to leave the property when they got stuck in a ditch.  The landowner continued to pursue them and they got out of the jeep and allegedly assaulted the landowner to a degree that required hospitalization.

Kyle Ritchie DOB 9/12/89 also pled not guilty to a charge of aiding in the commission of a felony in Andover.
　
Antoine Lutz, DOB 6/28/76 pled not guilty to a charge of DUI test refusal in Ludlow

Dennis Place DOB 8/22/51 pled not guilty to a charge of DUI #1 in Bridgewater.

Richard Hurd DOB 1/09/92 pled not guilty to a charge of possession of stolen property in the Barnard area. 

　
Gregory Smith , DOB 2/23/85 pled not guilty to a charge of being in violation of an abuse prevention order in Springfield

　
Brian Mitchell, DOB 11/27/79 pled guilty to careless or negligent vehicle operation in Ludlow

　
Scott Wallace, DOB 12/05/78 pled not guilty to DUI #1 in Windsor

Peter Conrad, DOB 11/06/84, pled not guilty to leaving the scene of a crash in Windsor