Main Sections

Around And About Addison County—Orwell

Tuesday October 14, 2008

By M. Stuart Parks

    Although Orwell was chartered in 1763 it remained unsettled for the better part of ten years.  In the meantime that part of Orwell that jutted into Lake Champlain became of strategic importance in the War of the Revolution.  Champlain is very narrow here and just across that strait a small peninsula of New York land noses into the water that is the home of Fort Ticonderoga.  In June of 1776 General Philip Schuyler and the American Troops built a huge fortress and called it Mount Independence in honor of the Declaration of Independence.  This fortification was three hundred feet above the Lake and was a complex of batteries, parapets and blockhouses built to safeguard the southern route from the British armies who saw Lake Champlain as the gateway to America from the North. Fort Ticonderoga was in poor condition while the massive new fort on Mount Independence with its twelve hundred troops was ready for action.  In October of 1776, the British fleet, commanded by Sir Guy Carleton, sailed in sight and was so intimidated by what he saw on both sides of the Lake that he turned around and sailed back to Canada.  The rebel army now had time to prepare for future invasion.  That winter, 1776-1777, the number of troops had been reduced to twenty-five hundred and hundreds of those died of small pox or froze to death.  In the spring of 1777 more troops were sent but not enough to adequately defend the fort.  In July of that year General John Burgoyne put his army ashore just north of the fort; British regulars on the New York side and German-Hessians under the command of Baron Riedesel on the Vermont side.  American Commander Arthur St. Clair did the only reasonable thing; he retreated, hoping to save as many men as possible to fight another day.  Some British and Hessian troops remained at the fort until November when, hearing of Burgoyne’s surrender at Bennington, they burned everything they could.

    Although sixty-four men were named in the original Orwell charter only are known to have actually come to town.  Benjamin Underhill, Reed Ferris and Benjamin Ferris came from Duchess County, New York to collect their rents in cattle.  The town was named in honor of Francis Vernon, the first Baron of Orwell, a minister of the Board of Trade and Plantations.  Originally belonging to Rutland County the town was annexed to Addison County in 1847.  Mount Independence was the first major habitation in Orwell    and some of the men who served at the fort returned after the war to settle in the town among whom were John Pepper, Lieutenant Jonas Rice, Colonel Azel Abell and Ephraim Blood.

    The first settler, however, was John Carter.  He was a Scotsman who, with his family, left Canada in a boat to find a place to settle.  He had his pick of all the land on both sides of the lake from St. Johns, Quebec to Whitehall, New York.  Some years previous to the Revolution he settled in Orwell near what would become Mount Independence.  Except for a small group of soldiers at Fort Ticonderoga there was not another soul in the unbroken wilderness.  Carter raised a large family and worked his one hundred acre farm until about 1808 when he sold out and moved west with his sons.

    With the exception of a small tract in the south of town the early settlers considered Orwell ideal agricultural land.  It is called “rolling” or “undulating” land and it is very fertile.  As usual in Vermont it was heavily timbered and the settlers began by clearing the land to grow wheat and Orwell was noted in the early days for producing more and better wheat per acre than anywhere else.  Eventually, as more land was cleared, the emphasis shifted to cattle as that was more profitable.  Again Orwell excelled; becoming known for sending the finest cattle to the Boston market.  About 1825 the demand for wool had increased the price so much that Orwellians shifted their staple crop once again.  For several years they grew so much wool that they did not grow enough grain to supply themselves with flour for bread, but had to import grain.  However, they produced over one hundred thousand pounds of wool and more per year.  On January 10, 1854 the “Orwell Farmers Club” was formed.  The second article of its Constitution reads:  “The object of this club shall be the discussion of agricultural subjects, the cultivation of our minds and the improvement of the agriculture of this town”.  J.H. Chittenden was president, W.R. Sanford was vice-president, Seth Benson was secretary and Ira Young was treasurer.  This certainly seems to speak to how seriously Orwell pursued its business of agriculture.

    While settlement in Orwell was slow to start, it advanced rapidly after 1784.  When the town was finally organized on December 12, 1787 there were seventy to eighty families in residence.  The US Census of 1791 reports a population of 778 and by 1800 that number had increased to 1,376.  In 2000 there were 1,185 inhabitants.

    For anyone who has not yet done so, a trip to Mount Independence should be on the list.  It’s a great way to teach children history, the museum is fascinating and there are concerts in the summer featuring various artists.  It also gives a better perspective for those of us who don’t happen to live on the lake of how close we really are to our neighbors in New York.

Printer Friendly

Top

Advertisements

Search our Archives