Grout, John 1704
Col. John GROUT (1704 - 1771) and Joanna BOYNTON (1712 - 1806)
my 6g-grandparents
John GROUT was born 14 Oct 1704 in Sudbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and died in Jun 1771, Jaffrey, Cheshire, NH. His parents were Capt. Jonathan GROUT and Abigail DIX, of Sudbury.
Joanna BOYNTON was born 17 Aug 1712 in Rowley, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and died about 1806 in Lunenburg, Worcester, MA. Her parents were Hilkiah BOYNTON and Priscilla JEWETT, of Rowley. The BOYNTON family moved from Rowley to Lunenburg about 1726, when Joanna was about 14.
John GROUT and Joanna BOYNTON were married 23 Nov 1727 in Lunenburg. He was 23 and she was 15. They lived in Lunenburg, and had 13 children, starting with Hilkiah GROUT, born 23 Jul 1728, when Joanna was almost 16.
Patience (GROUT) JUDEVINE, daughter of John and Joanna, was my 5g-grandmother. See the William JUDEVINE page.
The ancestry of Joanna BOYNTON goes back 4 more generations, in Rowley, MA. The ancestry of John GROUT goes back 2 more generations in Sudbury and Watertown, Middlesex County, MA, and before that in England.
1833 map of east central Massachusetts, showing Lunenburg (upper left), Rowley (upper right), Sudbury (center).
John GROUT real estate transactions: [GF, pp. 167-8]
18 Mar 1727/28 - purchased from John GOODRICH a house and 45 acres, in Turkey Hills (later named Lunenburg), for £40. It was in the south part of town, west of Groton.
(date unknown) - purchased from Richard WHEELER, for £58, home lot and meadow and a town right in Poquiog (now Athol), on Miller’s River.
12 Oct 1736 - sold to his brother Jonathan GROUT 35 acres in Sudbury.
15 Oct 1740 - purchased from Zach GOULD for £70 a tract of 45 acres in Lunenburg.
10 Nov 1740 - purchased from Hilkiah BOYNTON of Lunenburg for £300 a lot of 40 acres in Lunenburg.
After 1753 the family removed to Rindge, Cheshire, NH and then to Jaffrey, Cheshire, NH in 1758, where John GROUT died in Jun 1771. His widow Joanna lived another 35 years, and died in 1806, back in Lunenburg.
John GROUT in Jaffrey
The first permanent settlement was made about 1758 by John Grout and John Davidson. Grout settled on lot 20, range 10, and Davidson on lot 21, range 3. Grout was a prominent man. He made, with Gilmore, an early report of the settlement of the town to the proprietors. He died in 1771. There is a tradition that he was buried where the meeting-house was afterwards built. [CS, p. 221, Jaffrey]
1 Col. John GROUT b: 14 Oct 1704 in Sudbury, Middlesex, MA, d: Jun 1771 in Jaffrey, Cheshire, NH, age 66
+ Joanna BOYNTON b: 17 Aug 1712 in Rowley, Essex, MA, m: 23 Nov 1727 in Lunenburg, d: 1806 in Lunenburg, age 93
......2 Maj. Hilkiah GROUT b: 23 Jul 1728 in Lunenburg
...... + Submit HAWKES m: 1750
......2 Johannah GROUT b: 08 Jan 1729/30 in Lunenburg
...... + PARKER
......2 John GROUT Esq. b: 13 Jun 1731 in Lunenburg, d: bef. Apr 1786 in Montreal, Canada
...... + Phebe SPAFFORD b: 23 Jul 1733 in Rowley, Essex, MA, m: 22 Oct 1750 in Lunenburg
......2 Elijah GROUT b: 29 Oct 1732 in Lunenburg, d: Mar 1807, age 74
...... + Mary or Molly WILLARD b: 13 Feb 1734/35, m: 17 Jul 1757, d: 1786 in Charlestown, Cheshire, NH, age 51
......2 Joel GROUT b: 06 Mar 1734/35 in Lunenburg, d: 1797, age 62
...... + Sarah HUDSON
......2 Jonathan GROUT b: 23 Jul 1737 in Lunenburg, d: 08 Sep 1807, age 70
...... + Sarah PAGE
......2 Sarah GROUT b: 28 Nov 1738 in Lunenburg, d: 27 Oct 1817, age 78
...... + Ephraim STOCKWELL
......2 Patience GROUT b: 23 Aug 1740 in Lunenburg, d: 07 May 1810 in Charlestown, Cheshire, NH, age 69
...... + William JUDEVINE b: 12 Mar 1738 in Boston, MA, m: 26 Jun 1759 in Lunenburg, d: 19 May 1814 in Charlestown, Cheshire, NH, age 76
......2 Peter GROUT b: 09 Oct 1744 in Lunenburg; went west and was never heard from
......2 Abigail GROUT b: 23 Mar 1745 in Lunenburg, d: 14 Sep 1838, age 93
...... + Col. Nathan HALE b: 23 Sep 1743 in Hampstead, Rockingham, NH, m: 28 Jan 1766 in Rindge, Cheshire, NH
......2 Josiah GROUT b: 18 Nov 1748 in Lunenburg, d: bef. 08 Jan 1777 (estate inventoried), age 28; unmarried
......2 Solomon GROUT b: 27 Jun 1751 in Lunenburg
...... + Ruth PUTNAM b: 13 Jan 1749/50
......2 Jehoshaphat GROUT Esq. b: 02 Aug 1753 in Lunenburg, d: 06 Sep 1806 in Keene, Cheshire, NH, age 53
...... + Anna PARKER b: 04 Nov 1753, m: 16 Oct 1788
1. Maj. Hilkiah GROUT was born 23 Jul 1728 in Lunenburg, and died 19 Dec 1795 in Weathersfield, Windsor, VT. He married Submit HAWKES in 1750.
Submit HAWKES/HAWKS was born 10 Feb 1727 in Deerfield, Franklin, MA, to parents Nathaniel HAWKES and Hannah BELDING/BELDEN, and died at Weathersfield, Windsor, VT on 7 May 1813.
Deerfield, on the west bank of the Connecticut River, in what is now northwest MA, was the scene of the horrific Deerfield Massacre of 29 Feb 1704, in which 3 of Submit HAWKES' great-grandparents, and several other family members, were killed by Indians, and many others were taken captive and forced to march to Canada.
Like many other Puritan families, the GROUT, HAWKES and BELDING extended families were among the first to venture into the frontier of European civilization. One reason for the westward expansion was the desire to live under no law that was not based on the Bible. Disagreements about interpretation of scripture, especially regarding baptism and communion, might seem trivial, for people enduring immense hardships, and yet they often caused communities to split up, and dissenters to move even further into the wilderness. Their fear of hazards, known and imagined, was tempered by their faith. They put their lives in God's hands, and accepted hardship, and even death, as God's will. Whether you agree with this philosophy or not, it did put the Puritans and other religious groups in the vanguard of westward expansion in colonial America.
Indian attacks were common, often aided by French soldiers stationed in Canada. From a modern viewpoint, the Indians also endured great hardships, and colonial troops raided Indian villages, so there were atrocities on both sides. My pioneering ancestors didn't usually see it that way, and regarded the Indians as savages and animals. The atrocities committed by the Indians and French, like the Deerfield Massacre, are well-documented, although many attacks on Indians by colonial forces are forgotten.
Many Indians owned guns and metal tools, for which they traded grain and furs. Their weapons were prized possessions, useful for hunting and defense, and treated with great care.
Torture was commonly practiced by the Indians in New England. When two tribes fought, any brave who was captured would expect to be tortured to death. In the Indian attacks on colonists, many who survived the initial attack were tortured to death, including children, as family members were forced to watch. The literature has many graphic and gruesome descriptions of this. Any captives thought to be of value were then forced to march to the French outposts in Canada. Anyone who couldn't keep up would be killed. Once in Canada, the boys were often given to the Indian tribes, to be raised as warriors. The women and girls were sold to the French, to work as domestic servants. A system of ransom was developed, and many captives were successfully freed, which only gave the French and Indians more incentive to take prisoners.
Again, atrocities were committed on both sides. We just know more details about the Indian attacks on pioneering communities.
Perhaps the cruelest stroke is that captive children, after many years with the Indians, adopted their way of life, and when grown, and presented with the opportunity to rejoin their families, often chose to remain.
Hilkiah GROUT and Submit HAWKES married about 1750, when they were about 22 and 23. They first settled in Conway, on the west side of Deerfield, but soon removed to Winchester, Cheshire, NH, where their first 3 children were born. Just west of Winchester was Hinsdale, which included land on both sides of the Connecticut River, just 15 miles upriver from Deerfield.
1843 map showing Vernon, CT and Hinsdale, NH upper right, and Deerfield, MA at bottom.
New Hampshire was detached from Massachusetts in 1741. Eventually, the Connecticut River became the boundary between New Hampshire and Vermont, and the part of Hinsdale in Vermont became known as Vernon. In 1763, the non-Indian population of what is now Vermont was only 300.
The Connecticut River was a major thoroughfare, making the Connecticut River Valley, including much of VT, NH, western MA and CT. In some ways, western MA was more closely aligned with CT, VT and NH than it was with eastern MA. The river was also a barrier to expansion. Settlements on the east side of the river grew earlier and faster, and those on the west side were more isolated, and vulnerable to Indian attack.
Orlando BRIDGMAN had built a fort at Vernon in 1754. Hilkiah and Submit (HAWKES) GROUT moved there to live, with their 3 small children, together with the families of Caleb HOWE and Benjamin GAFFIELD. On 27 Jul 1755, a group of Indians attacked the fort. It was just 4 days after Hilkiah's 27th birthday. Submit was 28. Their children were Hilkiah Jr (4), Asa (2 ½) and Martha (10 months).
The men and older boys were working in the corn fields on that day, leaving the 3 women: Mrs. Submit GROUT, Mrs. Jemima HOWE and Mrs. Eunice GAFFIELD, with 8 children, alone in the fort.
When the men started to return to the fort, they were fired upon by about 12 Indians, from ambush. Hilkiah GROUT escaped by swimming across the river. Benjamin GAFFIELD also tried, but drowned. Caleb HOWE was shot in the thigh, scalped, speared, and left with a hatchet in his head. He was found alive and conscious the following morning, but died soon after. Two older HOWE boys were captured.
The Indians may have learned the signal that the men would make when they returned to the fort. At any rate, the women opened the gates, and instead of their menfolk, a war party of Indians rushed in, plundered to fort, set it on fire, and brutally kidnapped the inhabitants. They marched northward, reaching the vicinity of Lake Champlain in 9 days. There they obtained canoes, in which they proceeded up to the French settlement at Crown Point. After a week, they went on into Canada, finally stopping in St. Francis.
Hilkiah GROUT gave chase for 3 days, according to some accounts, and got close enough to see that his wife and children were alive. He was not able to free them, but from a vantage point in the Black River meadows, where he later settled and built a home, he saw them disappear into the forest. He then returned and enlisted for Indian warfare. [HG]
The St. Francis Tribe
The Indians who had given the settlers so much trouble and had caused them such anxieties was the St. Francis tribe, that live just over the Canadian border, near the headwaters of the Connecticut River, living with whom was the remnant of the Squakheags, the tribe that had formerly occupied the valley of the Ashuelot. Their territory extended to the south, to the headwaters of the Miller's River; eastward to the Monadnock Mountain, where they met the Nashua Indians; northward to the headwaters of the Ashuelot, and westward about nine miles west of the Connecticut. [CS, p. 557, Winchester]
Submit and Martha, her baby,were sold together to a Frenchman, LeRoy DEMILLE, who apparently treated them well. Her sons Asa and Hilkiah Jr. were sold or given to the Indians in the St. Francis region. Submit was ransomed after 3 years, after money was raised and a petition was presented to the General Court of Massachusetts by Col. Zadoc HAWKES, brother of Submit (HAWKES) GROUT, on 9 Oct 1758. However, the ransom didn't include her children, who she was forced to leave behind. Three years later, Asa and Martha were recovered. They would have been about 10 and 7. However, Hilkiah Jr was given up for dead, and in 1763, Hilkiah Sr and Submit used the name for another son. There is some possibility that the first Hilkiah Jr did survive, and took the name Peter WESTFALL, and lived with the Cattaraugus Indians in western NY, eventually becoming their Chief. This Peter became the progenitor of the WESTFALL families of NY.
One of the captives, Jemima (SARTWELL) HOWE, was the subject of a 1941 novel Not Without Peril, by Marguerite ALLIS [NWP]. Submit and her family also appear in the book.
The reconstructed family soon settled again in Winchester, and about 1772 they removed to Weathersfield, CT, about 40 miles upriver, on the west bank of the Connecticut River. They had 8 more children, in Winchester and/or Weathersfield. Hilkiah GROUT Sr and his son, Corp. Asa GROUT, signed the New York Association Test on 21 December 1775. Hilkiah was a leading citizen, and acquired substantial property, south of the village of Perkinsville, in Weathersfield. The GROUT Cemetery [GC] is on this property.
Hilkiah GROUT died on 19 Dec 1795, and Submit (HAWKES) GROUT died 7 May 1813, both in Weathersfield.
Hilkiah and Submit named 2 of their sons Orlando and Bridgman, after their friend Orlando BRIDGMAN, and 2 more sons Le Roy and De Mell, after Leroy DEMILLE, the Frenchman who had purchased Submit and Martha, and had apparently treated them well. (I have not found any vital records for Orlando GROUT or Bridgman GROUT.)
De Mell GROUT was a Private in the 25th Infantry battery, War of 1812. He was killed in battle on 6 Jul 1813. He might have been involved in the Attack on Fort Schlosser, which took place on 5 Jul 1813. Hilkiah GROUT Jr was also a Private in the War of 1812, enlisting on 8 May 1813 in the 30th or 31st Regiment, Vermont Militia, under Capt. AIKENS. He enlisted for a 1 year term, but on 31 Aug 1813 he "mustered for discharge on account of disability."
1 Maj. Hilkiah GROUT b: 23 Jul 1728 in Lunenburg, Worcester, MA, d: 19 Dec 1795 in Weathersfield
+ Submit HAWKES b: 10 Feb 1727 in Deerfield, Franklin, MA, m: 1750 in Deerfield, Essex, MA, d: 07 May 1813 in Weathersfield
......2 Hikiah (later known as Peter WESTFALL) b: 1751 in Winchester, Cheshire, NH
......2 Asa GROUT b: 03 Feb 1753 in Winchester, Cheshire, NH, d: 21 Aug 1833 in Weathersfield
...... + Sally SPAFFORD
......2 Martha GROUT b: 25 Sep 1754 in Winchester, Cheshire, NH, d: 22 Oct 1813 in Weathersfield
......2 Oliver GROUT b: 30 Jun 1769 in Weathersfield, d: 1831 in Weathersfield
...... + Polly MORSE b: 1769, m: 1792, d: 19 Aug 1806
......2 Patty GROUT ?
...... + John MARSH
......2 Elihu GROUT b: 17 Feb 1760 in Northfield, Franklin, MA, d: 13 Jul 1843
...... + Judith SPAFFORD
......2 Hilkiah GROUT Jr b: 30 Oct 1761 in Winchester, Cheshire, NH, d: 13 Apr 1853
...... + Abigail PARKER b: 10 Feb 1765
......2 Seth GROUT b: 28 Jul 1765 in Winchester, Cheshire, NH, d: 18 Aug 1850 in VT
...... + Eleanor "Nelly" CLARK m: 22 May 1788 in Weathersfield
......2 De Melle GROUT b: Weathersfield, d: 06 Jul 1813 ; died in War of 1812
...... + Patty CLARK d: Aft. 06 Jul 1813
......2 Le Roy GROUT b: 22 Dec 1773 in Weathersfield, d: 07 Feb 1815 in Weathersfield
...... + Anna PERRY
......2 Orlando or Leander GROUT ?
...... + Lucy BROWN
......2 Bridgman GROUT ?
2. Johannah GROUT was born 08 Jan 1729/30 in Lunenburg. She published an intention of marriage on 21 May 1748 in Lunenburg, to Timothy PARKER, born 05 Jun 1726 in Groton, Middlesex, MA to Joseph and Abigail PARKER.
3. John GROUT Esq. was born 13 Jun 1731 in Lunenburg, and died in Apr 1786, in Chester, Windsor, VT. He was a lawyer, and led a troubled life. He married on 22 Oct 1750 in Lunenburg to Phebe SPAFFORD, who was born 23 Jul 1733 in Rowley, Essex, MA. They had at least 11 children, the and removed from Lunenburg to Charlestown, Cheshire, NH, at some point. I don't have death dates for John or Phebe, but John went to Montreal after 1777.
The article below seems to indicate that John died before Apr 1786, and still owed money in Chester.
The Vermont Journal (Windsor, VT) Monday, 11 Sep 1786, p. 3
John GROUT, Esq., became a lawyer, and when N. York attempted to extend jurisdiction over the territory which is now Vermont, and erected the Co. of Westmoreland, he was appointed Dist. Attorney by the Gov. of N. Y., not improbably through the agency of a De Groot relative, and took up his residence at Chester. When the revolt of the Colonies took place, he was a loyalist, and retired to Canada and settled as a lawyer at Montreal, where he d. He m. and had two daughters, who were ladies of great talents and literary accomplishments. One of them, Frederica, m. a Capt. Ferguson of the Royal Army, who cruelly betrayed her affection and confidence, and she ever after refused to see him, suppliant as he became. For her wounded heart she seems to have found a solace in literature. Of the other daughter nothing is reported but her devotion to books, rendering her insensible to common domestic duties. [GF, p. 169]
To say that John was a loyalist is an oversimplification. He was highly opinionated, and his writing exhibits acerbic and opprobrious accusations against his enemies, of which there were many.
In the few decades before the revolution, the area we now call Vermont was claimed by the Colony of New York and the newly formed Province of New Hampshire. Both claimed jurisdiction, and established charters for counties and towns, like Windsor. It seems that most inhabitants, especially in Windsor, considered themselves under the jurisdiction of New Hampshire. John Jr, and his brother Hilkiah, favored the New York side.
The GROUT family played a role in the early history of Vermont. This is described in detail in [HEV]. In Chapter VI we find a detailed account of John GROUT's attempts to help the DEAN family, who were accused of cutting down some trees belonging to the King. In Chapter VII is an extended account of the ordeals of John GROUT, abducted by a mob, for his affiliation with the New York authorities. The following biography of John GROUT comes near the end of the book. I include it here because it contains some of the colorful language that made him such an interesting and controversial character.
JOHN GROUT
The second son and third child of John GROUT, who was the father of fourteen children, was born at Lunenburgh, Massachusetts, on the 13th of June, 1731. There he probably resided until he was thirty-five or thirty-six years old. The first intimation relative to any intention on the part of GROUT to remove from Lunenburgh, is found in a letter signed by one James PUTNAM, dated at Worcester, Mass., September 3d, 1766, and written, as would appear from its contents, to some person resident on the New Hampshire Grants. In this letter PUTNAM says: "GROUT is desirous of settling in that part of the world where you live," and, in reference to his qualifications, adds, "he seems to have a peculiar natural talent for doing business at law and in courts." GROUT did not change his abode immediately, for by a receipt dated April 22d, 1768, it appears that he was at that time, at Lunenburgh. It is probable that he soon after removed to the "Grants," and this opinion is strengthened by the fact, that he was at Charlestown, New Hampshire, in the following August. Before leaving the home of his nativity, he had married, and in the rapid increase of his family, had already shown a laudable desire to emulate his father. His advent was not hailed at Windsor, the place he had chosen for his new abode, with that enthusiasm which is so grateful to the voluntary exile. On the contrary, the inhabitants of the little town regarded his coming as an unfortunate occurrence. Scarcely was he settled, when Nathan STONE, the justice of the peace, received a notice from Zedekiah STONE and Joseph WAIT, the overseers of the poor, in which they stated that complaint had been made to them "by the principal inhabitants" of Windsor, that "John GROUT and his wife, and family of five or six children" who had lately arrived, were "likely to become chargeable to the town." On this account, and to gratify the pauper hating people of Windsor, the overseers prayed that a warrant might be issued for the removal of said GROUT and his family.
Their prayer was granted, and Benjamin WAIT and Ezra GILBERT were authorized to command the immediate exodus of the penniless lawyer and his dependents. Information of the course which the town authorities intended to pursue having been given to GROUT, he, on the 22d of April, 1769, endeavored to obtain a stay of proceedings from the officers who had been sent to remove him. To this end, he gave a written promise, that if permitted to remain a few days longer, he would, at the end of the specified time, be ready with his family, "at nine of the clock in the forenoon" at his "dwelling-house in Windsor," " to be carried out of town." In case this request should be granted, he declared "on honor, and as a lawyer," that no harm should come of it, either to the town or its officers. It is probable that the days of grace were given, and it would also appear that when these had passed, he had made some arrangements for remaining in Windsor. He was there on the 27th of May following, and from a deposition made on the 31st of the same month, by Simeon OLCOTT, an officer of that town, it seemed that there was at that time, "not any copy of a warrant of any kind" in his hands against GROUT, issued at the instance of Windsor people. On the 5th of June following, Elijah GROUT, a younger brother, testified to a similar statement. GROUT next appeared at Chester, of which place he was a resident in February, 1770. The events previously recorded, in which he had acted so prominent a part, happened during the summer of that year, and probably afforded sufficient exercise for the restless disposition of the unfortunate GROUT. About this period his son, "a lad of thirteen years of age," ran away from the paternal roof, and the notice of this event which GROUT published in the papers, and requested "all printers on the continent" to copy, was headed in staring capitals "Stop Thief! Stop Thief!" Notwithstanding the disrepute in which he was held by many, he obtained some business, and it appears on the 8th of March, 1771, he supplanted Thomas CHANDLER, one of the most influential men in Chester, as the attorney and land agent of Cornelius VANDENBERGH, of the city of New York.
GROUT endeavored to obtain an impartial execution of the laws relative to the cutting of ship-timber, and was diligent in informing John WENTWORTH, the surveyor-general, of the short comings of his deputies. His zeal does not appear to have met with the reward it deserved. In a bond dated the 17th of April, 1773, given to Daniel WHIPPLE, the sheriff of Cumberland county, GROUT, in answer to a citation, agreed to appear in the city of New York on the third Tuesday of that month, to "answer to Richard MORRIS in a plea of trespass." From accompanying circumstances, it would seem that the trespass with which he was charged was the destruction of his Majesty's masting trees. He was not unfrequently sent with dispatches to distant places, and was always careful to execute his commissions with fidelity. On the occasion of a riot in Putney, early in the year 1772, he bore the intelligence of the disturbance to the city of New York. In the letter which he carried on this occasion to Governor TRYON, dated the 29th of January, Judge LORD, the writer, after detailing a narrative of the tumult, referred to GROUT in these words :—"I have yet to crave your Excellency's patience and leave to recommend to your Excellency's favour Mr. John GROUT, attorney-at-law, who hath suffered much by persons enemical to this government, and to him, on account of his firm attachment to it, and endeavours to maintain good order and justice therein. Truth itself obliges me to say, that his practice as an attorney in this county, has always entitled him to the good opinion of the court and the best gentlemen in the county, as I apprehend, although riotous persons and parties, friends to New Hampshire and enemies to good order, have given him much trouble, which he has borne with great magnanimity, and strove in a legal and dispassionate way to overcome. Your Excellency, being perfectly humane, will delight in protecting him." This extract represents GROUT in a different aspect from that in which he has previously appeared. He was, it would seem, a warm supporter of the claims of New York to the "Grants," and on this account was shabbily treated by those who adhered to the New Hampshire faction. An unhappy disposition, and a turn for pettifogging, were not the best equipments with which to meet this opposition, and yet these were the weapons which GROUT appears to have brought to the combat.
Previous to the commencement of the Revolution, GROUT expressed sentiments in opposition to the acts of the British ministry, and at a meeting held in Chester on the 10th of October, 1774, was chosen by the patriotic citizens of that town a member of a committee, who were directed to join with the general committee of Cumberland county, in preparing a report condemnatory of the late acts of Parliament, to be sent to the New York committee of correspondence. His patriotism appears, however, to have been of short duration. A letter attributed to him, written from the "South-east part of Cheshire county, March 10th, 1775," contains the most violent and obscene expressions relative to the "damned Whigs." Still, his views cannot be determined by this production, for, although the first impression which one would derive from its perusal, is that the writer, whoever he might have been, was a vile blackguard, destiTUTE of principle, and unscrupulous in the expression of his opinions, yet a more careful examination suggests the idea that the communication might have been intended as an allegorical declaration of sentiments in favor of a revolutionary movement. This notion is supported by the closing paragraphs of the letter, which are in these words:
"Be assured. Sir, that our Honored Master Beelzebub waited upon me yesterday, and Commanded me to write to you and Inform you, that it is his Royal will and pleasure, that you play Hell with the Court that shall set at Westminster next week.
"From your Friend and Brother,
"Apollyon.
"To the Faithful and Dearly beloved
"Dr. JONES ----
"P.S. Please to read this Epistle to all the Faithful Brethren and salute them, Charles PHELPS and Doctor HARVEY in particular, with a kiss of love.”
Three days after the date of this letter, the courts were broken up at Westminster, and on that occasion. Dr. Reuben JONES, of Rockingham, and Dr. Solomon HARVEY, of Dummerston, were prominent leaders among the Whigs.
On the 12th of April, 1775, GROUT, who had been imprisoned for debt, received "his liberty" from Benjamin ARCHER, under keeper of the jail at Westminster. Previous to this, he had satisfied certain judgments which had been obtained against him. His escape from this Scylla of confinement did not enable him to avoid the Charybdis of the people's hate. Having been denounced by John CHANDLER, and Thomas CHANDLER Jr., of Chester, as an enemy to his country, he, according to his own statements, was threatened by some with death, and by others with tortures "at the hands of the Green Mountain Boys." In this emergency, he declared his innocence of the crime charged against him, and wrote to Col. John HAZELTINE, the chairman of the Cumberland county committee of correspondence, and to the chairman of the Walpole committee of inspection, for protection. He also made known his situation to the Rev. Samuel WHITING, of Chester, and begged him to use his influence "with these mad people," and thus save the county from becoming "an Aceldama or field of blood." In the latter part of the month of May, while confined to his bed by a fever, a party of men entered his dwelling, headed by Thomas CHANDLER Jr., and endeavored to drag him out of doors, but were prevented by the efforts and entreaties of his wife and his "good neighbours." On the following morning they renewed the attempt, and, having taken him about half a mile from his house, threatened to strangle him, but were induced to desist from executing this design. Having, through the efforts of his friends, regained his liberty, he claimed protection from the county committee. The chairman of that body thereupon ordered CHANDLER to desist from all attempts to injure GROUT, which order CHANDLER promised to obey.
Though freed in this manner, from the annoyances to which his suspicious conduct had subjected him, he could not resist the temptation of disturbing the peace of the county. To effect this end, he commenced an epistolary attack upon the chairman of the committee of correspondence. Col. John HAZELTINE. In a letter to this gentleman written from the "County of Hampshire, Province of Masstts. July 10th, 1775," GROUT accused him of presiding over the deliberations of a body of men whose acts were tyrannical, and whose conduct was contrary to every principle of right. He further declared, that it was for this cause "that a great many of the best people in the county of Cumberland who are substantial friends to the Liberties of the people and the Sacred Rights of Mankind, and who are even willing to seal their Love of their Country with their Blood in Defence of it, Groan under the weight of the Oppressions of that Lawless Banditti of men, who having first put a stop to the Course of Civil Justice under the assumed name of sons of Liberty, are destroying not only the Semblance, but even the substance and shadow of Liberty itself." In this style he continued through a long communication, to abuse the officers of Cumberland county, who in this time of emergency were directing their best efforts to secure to the people their rights, and to defend them from the machinations of Loyalists and Tories.
Later in the year, he addressed a "Memorial and Petition" to the "men that are assembled at Westminster in the County of Cumberland, who call themselves a County Congress." In this remarkable production he accused the representatives of the people of usurpation and oppression; pictured their temporary government as a despotism; and branded their chairman as a tyrant. After detailing a few instances, in which they had been obliged for the good of the community, to exercise dictatorial powers, he continued in this strain:—" You proceeded on other business equally Infamous and Rascally, and then, like the Rump Parliament, adjourned yourselves. But your Sovereign, Col. HAZELTINE, thinking good to call you together before the time you was adjourned to, did do it, and you met on the 15th of August Last, and Proceeded to business. And why should you not? The King, by the Constitution, has a Right to call, adjourn, prorogue and dissolve parliaments. King HAZELTINE did Right in calling you together before the Time you had adjourned yourself to. This was to Let you Know he was your King, and it was no more than duty to Obey your Prince. Indeed, it must be confessed it was a rascally Trick in you ever to adjourn yourselves, for that was an Infringement of your King HAZELTINE's Prerogative, for the King by his Prerogative has the sole Right of adjourning Parliaments." The closing paragraphs of this memorial, although abounding in bombast and fustian, are sufficiently curious to warrant their presentation in this connection. "As for myself," wrote this conceited but witty poltroon, " I belong to another order of men, who will neither Joyn with you, nor Oppose you. For why should I run with the Wind? Surely, if I should, it will outrun me. Or why should I fight with the wind? Surely, there is not so much substance in the Skull of it, as that I could beat its Brains out with a Beetle. Surely, I "will content myself with bearing your Blow, and will Say, Whoo-Raugh, Whoo-Raugh to your mighty Rushing. After a mighty wind comes a calm.
"Your petitioner most humbly prays, that you would be graciously pleased to annihilate yourselves, and Return into your Primitive Nothingness, unless the Good People of the County shall please to employ you about something.
"But, oh, mighty Chaos, if you will not condescend to grant this petition, I have another to make, which I beg of you not to deny me, which is this, that your almighty Nothingships would be pleased to Honour your Petitioner, who heartily Despises you, by making him first General and Commander-in-Chief of all your despisers, that so he may be at the head of nine-tenths of the good people of this county. And your Petitioner as in Duty bound shall ever pray."
In the fall of the same year, he was brought before the committee of Chester, on a charge which had been preferred against him of speaking disrespectfully of the Continental Congress and the county committee. A quarrel having arisen among the members in respect to the manner in which the trial should be conducted. GROUT refused to make any defence, and remained wholly inactive during the proceedings. By a portion of the committee, he was adjudged to be an enemy to his country. From this decision he appealed to the county committee. The subject came before them on the 29th of November, but they refused to sustain the appeal, and ordered him to withdraw it. At another meeting held on the 24th of July, 1776, a complaint was exhibited by John CHANDLER against GROUT. The members being unwilling to act upon it, referred it, at first, to the Chester committee, but by a subsequent vote recalled the reference and resolved to receive GROUT's answer at their session in the following November. On the 8th of that month, a complaint against Thomas CHANDLER, Jr., was presented by GROUT, to the county committee, accusing him of maltreatment. "After maturely deliberating upon the case," the committee ordered CHANDLER to pay to GROUT ''the sum of Six Pence, York Currency." The costs of the investigation were divided equally between them, and both were "Reprimanded by the Chairman in presence of the whole Board." GROUT suffered on other occasions from the patriotism or maliciousness of the CHANDLERs, and through their influence and that of others connected with them, he was taken prisoner at Charlestown, New Hampshire, on the 27th of December, 1776. On the 2d of June, 1777, he was a resident of Chester, but soon after removed to Montreal, where he assumed his true character, that of a British subject, and is said to have become "a distinguished lawyer."*
He resided in Canada during the remainder of the war, and probably for several years after its close. His end was as tragic as his life had been turbulent and unhappy. With a large sum of money in his possession, which he had collected for some person residing in one of the states, he left Canada for the purpose of conveying it to the owner, and was never afterwards heard of. For a long time it was supposed that he had been drowned in crossing Lake Champlain. Many years after his sudden disappearance, a man was convicted of some crime punishable by death. Previous to his execution he acknowledged his guilt, and, in detailing the dark transactions of his life, confessed that he had murdered John GROUT for the purpose of obtaining the money which he carried. He also described the place where he had buried the body. A search having been instituted, human bones were found at the spot he had designated.
Hilkiah GROUT, whose name has occurred in these pages, was a brother of John, and was born at Lunenburgh, Massachusetts, on the 23d of July, 1728. He lived for many years on the banks of Black river in the town of "Weathersfield, in Windsor county, Vermont, and there died, leaving a large family of children. Some of these were born previous to the time when his wife and some of her family were carried captive to Canada. Others were born after her return from bondage.
Elijah GROUT, another brother, born at Lunenburgh, Massachusetts, passed the greater part of his life, and died, at Charlestown, New Hampshire.
Jonathan GROUT, born also at Lunenburgh, a third brother of John, resided at Petersham, Massachusetts. He obtained the charter of Lunenburgh, a town in Essex county, Vermont, and owned nearly all the territory comprised within its limits.*
* By an act of the General Assembly of Vermont, passed in February, 1779, those persons who had voluntarily left that state, or any one of the United States, and "joined the enemies thereof," were forbidden to return to Vermont. Accompanying this act were the names of one hundred and eight persons to whom its provisions particularly referred. In the list appeared the name of John GROUT of Chester.—Acts and Laws Gen. Ass. Vt., Feb., 1779, p. 72. Slade's Vt. State Papers, pp. 355, 356.
* MS. Records, Cumberland Co. Com. Safety. GROUT's MS. Letters. Letters from Harry Hale, Esq., of Chelsea, Vt, December 1st and 17th, 1852. Doe. Hist N. Y., iv. 758, 759, 766.
[HEV, pp. 650-8]
The names and birthdates of John and Phebe's 11 children appear in [JS, p. 59], along with the claim that the first 7 were born in Charlestown. This implies that the family was in Charlestown from 21 Mar 1751 to 28 Apr 1763.
However, the biography says that John "probably resided" in Lunenburg until 1768, when he removed to Charlestown. He was in Lunenburg on 22 Apr 1768, as a receipt bears his name and that date. However, he had a yearning to move from MA to the "Grants" in NH. In about 1769 he attempted to settle his family in the village of Windsor, about 70 miles northwest of Lunenburg, in what would be called Vermont.
Although John GROUT was a lawyer, he frequently had trouble providing for his quickly growing family. In the mid 18th Century, many towns in New England, including Windsor, issued "warnings" to the poor, considered to be a burden to society. An Overseer of the Poor, usually elected, would "warn out of town" any undesirables. Such a warning was given to the unfortunate family of John and Phebe GROUT.
In 1770 John GROUT and family were in Chester, still in Windsor County, VT, where they had similar troubles. Not being one to run from an argument, John fought city hall.
1 John GROUT Esq. b: 13 Jun 1731 in Lunenburg, Worcester, MA, d: bef. Apr 1786 in Montreal, Canada
+ Phebe SPAFFORD b: 23 Jul 1733 in Rowley, Essex, MA, m: 22 Oct 1750 in Lunenburg, Worcester, MA
......2 Phebe GROUT b: 21 Mar 1751
......2 Elijah GROUT b: 26 Jun 1753
......2 Susannah GROUT b: 12 Dec 1754
......2 Endymia GROUT b: 23 Dec 1756, d: 24 Oct 1759
......2 Theodore GROUT b: 23 Aug 1759; died young
......2 Endymia GROUT b: 05 Aug 1761
......2 John Butler GROUT b: 28 Apr 1763
......2 Ferdinand GROUT bapt: 05 May 1765
......2 Theodore GROUT bapt: 01 Feb 1767
......2 Frederica GROUT b: 01 Dec 1768
......2 Margaret Bradstreet GROUT b: 10 Apr 1771
4. Elijah GROUT was born 29 Oct 1732 in Lunenburg, and died Mar 1807, age 74. He married on 17 Jul 1757 to Mary or Molly WILLARD, born 13 Feb 1734/35, and died 1786 in Charlestown, Cheshire, NH, age 51.
Elijah was Justice of the Peace in Charlestown, and in the revolution, he was Commissary to the army. (I'm not sure what that means. Maybe someone will enlighten me.) He married again, after his first wife died in 1786, to a widow named HUTCHINS, maiden name READ. She had 10 children from a previous marriage, so along with his 10 living children, they had a houseful!
1 Elijah GROUT b: 29 Oct 1732 in Lunenburg, Worcester, MA, d: Mar 1807 in Charlestown, Cheshire, NH
+ Mary or Molly WILLARD b: 13 Feb 1734/35, m: 17 Jul 1757, d: 1786 in Charlestown, Cheshire, NH, age 51
......2 Amasa GROUT b: 26 Mar 1759, d: Mar 1837 in Charlestown, Cheshire, NH, age 78
...... + Amelia HOWARD
......2 Maj. Jonathan GROUT Esq. b: 24 Apr 1760, d: 1854, age 94
...... + Perthena PAGE
......2 Mary GROUT b: 23 Oct 1761, d: 19 May 1839, age 77
...... + Nathaniel HOLDEN Esq.
......2 Lettuce GROUT b: 03 May 1763, d: 1812, age 49
...... + Enos LOVELL Esq.
......2 Sophia GROUT b: 06 Feb 1765, d: Sep 1815, age 50
...... + Enos STEVENS Esq.
......2 Eusebia GROUT b: 02 Mar 1767, d: 11 Aug 1825, age 58
...... + Oliver FARWELL
......2 Theophilus GROUT Esq. b: 29 Aug 1768, d: 05 Apr 1852 in West Concord, VT, age 83
......2 Dolly GROUT b: 12 Oct 1770, d: 1801 in Charlestown, Cheshire, NH, age 31; unmarried
......2 Gen. Josiah GROUT b: 09 Jun 1772, d: 09 Jan 1853, age 80
...... + Sally WHITE b: 22 Mar 1774, m: 09 Jan 1797
......2 Caty GROUT b: 1774, d: 10 Mar 1837, age 63
...... + Clark CUSHMAN Esq.
......2 Patty GROUT b: 19 Jun 1776; died young
+ READ, m: aft. 1786; widow of HUTCHINS
Josiah GROUT (1772 - 1853) settled on a farm bounded by Lamoille River in Fairfax, Franklin, VT. He was Brigadier General of the militia of Vermont, 1818-22. In the war of 1812, with the rank of Major, he was in command of a regiment to guard the lines in 1813. [GF, p. 170]
The 1790 US Census has Elijah in Charlestown as the head of a household with 4 people, all males 16 or over. This must be Elijah and 3 of his grown sons. His daughters must all be married, including Caty, age 16. His 2nd wife is not present, so either the marriage lasted less than 4 years, or it was after 1790.
5. Joel GROUT was born 06 Mar 1734/35 in Lunenburg, and died in 1797, in Richmond, Cheshire, NH, age 62. He married on 9 Oct 1756 to Sarah HUDSON, from Petersham, Worcester, MA, born 15 May 1739 and died about 1820 in Stratton, Windham, VT, age 80 or 81. The lived in Templeton, Worcester, MA, and Gerry (now Phillipston), Worcester, MA, and later Richmond, Cheshire, NH, and had 12 children. Joel Jr or Sr must have lived or owned property in Shrewsbury, Rutland, VT as a Joel GROUT was listed as delinquent in taxes there, on 19 Sep 1788.
Joel was an officer in the revolution, and took part in the Battle of Bennington. In 1779 he was a member of the convention that framed the constitution of Massachusetts, and subsequently of the General Courts. He removed to Richmond, NH, where he died 1797. [GF, p. 171]
1 Hon. Joel GROUT b: 06 Mar 1734/35 in Lunenburg, Worcester, MA, d: 1797 in Richmond, Cheshire, NH
+ Sarah HUDSON b: 15 May 1739, m: 09 Oct 1756, d: 1820 in Stratton, Windham, VT
......2 Sarah GROUT
...... + Richard SAWTELL
......2 Abel GROUT b: 19 Feb 1758, d: Stratton, Windham, VT
...... + Dorcas CHASE
......2 Unity GROUT b: 14 Aug 1760, d: 13 Dec 1843 in Belleville, Jefferson, NY
...... + Samuel MIXER
......2 Annis GROUT b: 25 Oct 1763
...... + Jesse STOCKWELL b: 05 Jan 1759, d: 1850
......2 Joel GROUT b: 22 Feb 1765
...... + Asenath WILDER
......2 Elijah GROUT b: 26 May 1767
...... + Betsey LOOMIS
......2 Nahum GROUT b: 12 Feb 1769 in Petersham, Worcester, MA
...... + Sybil BARRUS
......2 Eli GROUT b: 16 Oct 1772, d: 06 Jun 1804 ; unmarried
......2 Stephen GROUT b: 15 Apr 1774, d: 28 May 1774
......2 Rhoda GROUT b: 01 Jan 1778
...... + William GOULD
......2 Sabra GROUT b: 01 Jun 1779, d: 20 Jul 1804
...... + S. DWIGHT
......2 Polly GROUT b: 02 Nov 1780
...... + Moses GANSY or GURNSEY
More information about the descendants of Joel and Sarah can be found in [EF].
6. Jonathan GROUT was born 23 Jul 1737 in Lunenburg, and died 8 Sep 1807 in Dover, Strafford, NH, at age 70. He married Sarah PAGE, born 8 Aug 1743 in Lunenburg, and died 22 Mar 1814 in Petersham, Worcester, MA, at age 71. Jonathan and Sarah were 1st cousins, since their mothers, Joanna and Priscilla BOYNTON, were sisters.
Jonathan GROUT was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. He also built the first optical telegraph in the United States, connecting Martha's Vineyard and Boston. He owned 40,000 acres (62.5 square miles) in VT and NH.
They were married in 1760, and their first child, Jonathan Jr, was born on 23 Jan 1761, when Jonathan was 23 and Sarah was 17. They lived in Petersham, Worcester, MA and had at least 13 children, of whom 2 died in early childhood, and [GF, p. 173] says there were 2 or 3 more who died young.
The following biography says that Sarah's father was the Governor of New Hampshire, but I don't believe that is correct.
Jonathan GROUT (1737 - 1807) biography
Of the early history of this eminent man almost nothing reliable has been reported, or gathered from public records, while that of his mature life is so extensive, requiring so many explanations of public measures and of the private transactions of others, as to fall, for the most part, without the compass to which this article must be confined. He was engaged in the French war, doubtless, as an officer, left Crown Point Sep. 22, 1760, and seems to have acted as bearer of despatches. He m. the same year his cousin, the daughter of Gov. Page ? of N. H., with whom he is said to have previously resided, but in what capacity is not known. He settled in Petersham, on a farm owned by Gov. P., became a lawyer and the master spirit of the community, and, with his copatriot Gen. Ward, of the entire County of Worcester, moulding for successive generations the political character of his neighborhood, and receiving from them every office in their gift which he would accept. He was a good whig, and early present with his regiment at the siege of Boston, and had he continued in the service, such were his peculiar talents, his name might have descended with those of Sullivan, Stark, Greene, and other heroes of the revolution. But as a friend to the cause, he rendered service equally important in the inspiring influence which he exerted. His natural talents were of a high order, and he wrote with rare ability. He was a man of the world, considered ambitious and artful, but of his patriotism none could doubt. He was, with Caleb Strong, Elbridge Gerry, Fisher Ames, &c., elected, 1789, a member of the first Congress under the Federal Constitution, and in this capacity befriended the administration of Washington; but afterwards, when the original parties were completely formed, he was included in the democratic ranks, then a minoriy in Massachusetts. At this time of life he is described as “very fleshy, of medium height, fair complexion, and a very handsome man.”
Col. G. engaged largely in land speculations, owning at one time 40,000 acres in Vermont and N. Hampshire, including a township in Vermont, to which he secured the name of Lunenburg, in honor of his natal place, and where for years he passed much of his time. He accumulated and left a very large estate, of which his heirs are said to have been fraudulently deprived. But he seems to have been involved in many lawsuits, and to have experienced the ordinary course of Providence, that sends adversity after prosperity. He d. Sep. 8, 1807, while attending a suit at Dover, N. H., where his monument may be found. On the announcement of his death, the Court, in token of respect, immediately adjourned. His amiable consort, leaving her Son John sick at P., did not arrive until after his interment, and on her return found her son also dead, and her house changed into the abode of two lonely widows. She d. at P., March 22, 1814, aged 71.
[GF, pp. 172-3]
1 Jonathan GROUT b: 23 Jul 1737 in Lunenburg, Worcester, MA, d: 08 Sep 1807 in Dover, Strafford, NH, age 70
+ Sarah PAGE b: 8 Aug 1743 in Lunenburg, d: 22 Mar 1814 in Petersham, Worcester, MA, age 71
......2 Jonathan GROUT Jr b: 23 Jan 1761 in Worcester, MA, d: 12 Mar 1820 in Philadelphia, PA, age 59
......2 Sarah GROUT b: 21 Dec 1762, d: abt. 1810
...... + Maj. Aaron BROOKS
......2 Elizabeth GROUT b: 26 Apr 1764, d: 11 Jan 1835, age 70
...... + Hon. Hutchins HAPGOOD Esq. b: 4 Apr 1763, m: 20 Oct 1789, d: 4 Sep 1837, age 74
......2 Thomas GROUT b: 20 Apr 1766, d: 29 Apr 1786, age 20; unmarried
......2 Lydia GROUT b: 13 Jul 1767, d: 25 Mar 1827, age 59
...... + SHAW
...... + Israel HOUGHTON
......2 Paul GROUT b: 03 Apr 1769, d: Oct 1802 in Portsmouth, Norfolk, VA, age 33; unmarried
......2 Dolly GROUT b: 22 Sep 1770, d: 01 Jan 1771, age 3 months
......2 Dolly GROUT b: 01 May 1772, d: 16 Jul 1822, age 50
...... + Eber HAPGOOD b: 5 Aug 1770, m: 13 Jul 1803, d: 6 Jul 1851, age 70
......2 John GROUT b: 05 May 1774, d: 12 Sep 1775, age 16 months
......2 George GROUT b: 05 May 1774, d: 07 Apr 1804 in NC, age 29; unmarried
......2 Polly GROUT b: 16 Jun 1776
......2 John GROUT b: 23 Apr 1779, d: 12 Sep 1807 in Petersham, Worcester, MA, age 28
...... + Prudence WILDER b: 22 Aug 1782, m: 1802, d: 29 Jun 1835, age 56
......2 Sukey GROUT b: 02 Mar 1783, d: 28 Apr 1824, age 40; unmarried
Three of the sons of Jonathan and Sarah were graduates of Dartmouth College in Hanover, Grafton, NH, established in 1769.
i. Jonathan GROUT Jr was born 23 Jan 1761, died 12 Mar 1820, and graduated from Dartmouth in 1787. He never married. He practiced law in Belchertown, Hampshire, MA, and was a teacher of grammar in Philadelphia, PA. He embraced the doctrines of the Christian reformer, Emanuel Swedenborg.
ii. Sarah GROUT was born 21 Dec 1762, and died about 1810. She married Maj. Aaron BROOKS, of Petersham, and they had 8 children. The eldest, Aaron BROOKS Jr, became a wealthy lawyer and legislator, in Petersham.
iii. Elizabeth GROUT was born 26 Apr 1764, and died 11 Jan 1835. She married on 20 Oct 1789 to Hon. Hutchins HAPGOOD Esq. He was born on 4 Apr 1763, and died Sep. 4, 1837. He represented Petersham in the Massachusetts Legislature, and was in 1820 a member of the Convention for revising the Constitution. Elizabeth and Hutchins had 7 children, probably all in Petersham.
iv. Thomas GROUT was born 20 Apr 1766, and died 29 Apr 1786, age 20. He was unmarried.
v. Lydia GROUT was born 13 Jul 1767, and died 25 Mar 1827, age 59. She married twice. Her 1st husband was named SHAW, and her 2nd was Capt. Israel HOUGHTON of Petersham, who died in 1856. Lydia had at least 1 son.
vi. Paul GROUT was born on 3 Apr 1769, and died Oct 1802 in Portsmouth, Norfolk, VA, age 33. He never married. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1793, and was a merchant in Portsmouth, VA.
vii. Dolly GROUT was born 22 Sep 1770, and died 1 Jan 1771, age 3 months. They tried again, with the name Dolly.
viii. Dolly GROUT was born 1 May 1772, and died 16 Jul 1822, age 50. She married on 13 Jul 1803 to Eber HAPGOOD, brother of Hutchins HAPGOOD, who married Dolly's sister, Elizabeth (above). Eber was born 5 Aug 1770, and died 6 Jul 1851, age 70. They had 7 children, in Petersham. The eldest, George Grout HAPGOOD, became a noted academician.
Rev. George Grout HAPGOOD, D. D.
Rev. George Grout HAPGOOD biography
George Grout Hapgood, D. D., b. Feb. 11, 1804, who, like most superior men, had a superior mother, distinguished in her time for education and refinement, ingenuity and enterprise; and, in her latter days, for the consecration of herself to God in a profession of religion and of her children in the ordinance of baptism. Of his childhood nothing remarkable is ascertained except such a rare activity as betokened shortness of life, and which, in the confinement of a city or workshop, had proved fatal. But fortunately it was allowed full scope upon a farm, on one of the highest tables in New England, with her loftiest mountains in full view, in the very field where the human body attains its finest form and greatest vigor, and the angel of genius communicates most freely with mortals. Here he grew up and attained his majority, with no other opportunities than were afforded by district schools and a single term at Hadley Academy, working “from a sense of duty” on the farm in summers, and teaching school winters. At the age of 18 he was supposed to be in a consumption, and his attention was then first directed to the subject of religion. At the age of 21 he resolved to gratify his “insatiable longing for an education,” and returned to the Academy in Hadley, where and at Amherst Academy, under able teachers, he laid the foundation of that accurate scholarship for which he is distinguished. While pursuing his studies in these institutions he taught the same school two winters in Hadley. In 1827 he taught six months in the village of Cazenovia, N. Y., where he became united with the Methodist Epis Church, then under the care of Rev. Dr. Dempster, now Pres, of the Gar. Bib. Ins., near Chicago; and in the autumn entered the Oneida Con. Sem. in that town. With this Institution for two years he continued his relation as pupil, and finally as teacher of languages, spending winter vacations in keeping schools at McGrawville and Schodack. In 1830 he entered the senior class of Union Col. and graduated. He afterwards taught a select school three yrs. in Truxton, in the mean time reading medicine and devoting some time to the study of law. In 1834 he entered the ministry of the M. E. Church as junior preacher on Bainbridge Cir. for one year, at the end of which he was elected Principal of the Academy at Mexico, where he taught 5 years. For the next 4 years he presided, with much honor to himself and satisfaction to the public, as Principal of the Sem. at Caz. From this station he was taken to act for one year as agent for the Wesleyan Univ.; after which he again, for 2 years, had charge of the Academy at Mexico. After this he was stationed at Jordan as a preacher; next at Oswego, next at Belleville. He was presiding Elder of Syracuse District 1850-4, and of Oswego Dis. 1855-6, when sickness in his family compelled him to resign and take a station at Fairfield, Herkimer Co., where he now resides. As an efficient instructor and minister his standing is thus fully endorsed. In 1852 he received D. D. from Union Col. As a writer, he is in a fair way to make his mark. His only production yet published is a sermon in “the M. E. Pulpit,” on the Resurrection; but he has nearly ready for the press a most comprehensive and prospectively useful work, to be entitled “The Weather Predicted;” also others, in different stages of forwardness, on “The Apocalypse;” on “Baptism;” on “The Antediluvian World;” on “The Sinaitic Inscriptions,” and on “Cuneiform Inscriptions,” found on slabs from Babylon and Nineveh. He is evidently of an antiquarian turn, and merits our gratitude for much aid in making this compilation. His industry and ardor, so characteristic generally of the descendants of his great grandfather, John Grout, Esq., almost insure him success in these works, as he keeps his imagination in abeyance. He m. Oct. 28, 1830, Miss Marcia, dg. of Samuel McGraw, Esq., of McGrawville, whose father was from the city of Dublin. She was b. Jan. 3, 1811, became a lady every way superior, and d. April 2, ’55, triumphantly exclaiming, “Saved, saved, saved!”
[GF, p. 194]
ix. John GROUT was born 5 May 1774, and died 12 Sep 1775, age 16 months. They tried again with the name John.
x. George GROUT was born 5 May 1774, and died 7 Apr 1804 in NC, age 29. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1795, and became a lawyer in NC. George was a renowned athlete. He never married, and died young. In 1795, George opened a dancing school in Hanover, Grafton, NH.
Spooner's Vermont Journal (Windsor, VT) Monday, 9 Nov 1795, page 3
xi. Polly GROUT was born 16 Jun 1776. Nothing more seems to be known.
xii. John GROUT was born 23 Apr 1779, and died 12 Sep 1807 in Petersham, Worcester, MA, age 28. He married in 1802 to Prudence WILDER, born 22 Aug 1782 and died 29 Jun 1835, age 56. They had 4 children, in Petersham. John died in 1807, just 4 days after his father Jonathan. John left a wife and 3 small children, plus one more on the way. To make matters worse, John had been co-administrator of his father's will, which duty passed fully to the other co-administrator, who promptly left John's widow and children penniless!
xiii. Sukey GROUT was born 2 Mar 1783, and died 28 Apr 1824, at age 40, unmarried.
7. Sarah GROUT was born 28 Nov 1738 in Lunenburg, and died 27 Oct 1817, age 78. She married on 8 Nov 1757 in Petersham, Worcester, MA to Capt. Ephraim STOCKWELL, born 16 Oct 1733 in Sutton, Worcester, MA and died 10 Jul 1802 in Gerry (now Phillipston), Worcester, MA.
Capt. STOCKWELL was in the army at Bennington, VT, from 28 Jul to 1 Sep 1777.
1 Sarah GROUT b: 28 Nov 1738 in Lunenburg, Worcester, MA, d: 27 Oct 1817
+ Ephraim Capt. STOCKWELL b: 16 Oct 1733 in Sutton, Worcester, MA, m: 08 Nov 1757 in Petersham, Worcester, MA, d: 10 Jul 1802 in Gerry (now Phillipston), Worcester, MA
......2 Jesse STOCKWELL b: 05 Jan 1759, d: 1850
...... + Annis GROUT
......2 Phebe STOCKWELL b: 03 Aug 1760 in Athol, Worcester, MA, d: 07 Apr 1769
......2 Ziba STOCKWELL b: 01 Aug 1762, d: 07 Jan 1749 in Phillipston, Worcester, MA
...... + Hannah TOWN m: 21 Apr 1785
...... + Sarah P. WILLARD m: 10 Aug 1831
......2 Ephraim STOCKWELL b: 29 Apr 1764, d: 01 Oct 1764
......2 Sarah STOCKWELL b: 23 Aug 1765, d: 29 Dec 1765
......2 Lois STOCKWELL b: 19 Aug 1767, d: 14 Jan 1857 in Athol, Worcester, MA
...... + Joshua SPRAGUE b: 02 Sep 1767 in Hingham, Plymouth, MA, m: 26 May 1791, d: 25 Mar 1853
......2 Phebe STOCKWELL b: 08 Feb 1772, d: 03 Jun 1834 in Barnard, Windsor, VT
...... + William HOW
......2 Lydia STOCKWELL b: 08 Feb 1772, d: 17 Jan 1776
......2 Elijah STOCKWELL b: 17 Feb 1774, d: 07 Feb 1776
......2 Josiah STOCKWELL b: 14 Oct 1775, d: 18 Aug 1853 in Athol, Worcester, MA
...... + Polly MOORE
...... + Isabella DOTY
8. Patience GROUT was born 23 Aug 1740 in Lunenburg, and died 07 May 1810 in Charlestown, Cheshire, NH, age 69. She married on 26 Jun 1759 in Lunenburg, to William JUDEVINE, born 12 Mar 1738 in Boston, MA, and died 19 May 1814 in Charlestown, Cheshire, NH, age 76.
Patience and William were my 5g-granparents. See the William JUDEVINE page.
9. Peter GROUT was born 09 Oct 1744 in Lunenburg. He went west and was never heard from.
10. Abigail GROUT was born 23 Mar 1745 in Lunenburg, and died 14 Sep 1838, age 93. She married in 28 Jan 1766 in Rindge, Cheshire, NH, to Col. Nathan HALE, born 23 Sep 1743 in Hampstead, Rockingham, NH, and died 23 Sep 1780, in a British prison camp on Long Island, on his 37th birthday (although the text shown below says he was 38).
Col. Nathan HALE was a hero in the American Revolution, but he was NOT the famous Nathan HALE, and in fact the two appear to be unrelated.
Col. Nathan HALE
Col. Hale was a merchant and resided at Rindge. On the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, he was Capt. of a company of minute men, with whom he marched the morning after the battle of Lexington; was appointed by the Province of N. H. Major in one of the three regiments of the Continental line raised by her, and subsequently promoted Lt. Col.—then Col.—was stationed for a year or more at Ticonderoga, under Gen. St. Clair. On the retreat of St. Clair before Burgoyne, in 1777, he was taken prisoner by the British, at or just after the battle of Hubbardton; was unjustly accused of cowardice in that battle, which charge he indignantly denied and demanded a court martial; went home on parole; was recalled within the enemy’s lines; left home June 14, 1779, and died a prisoner in the hands of the British at New Utrecht, Long Island, Sept. 23, 1780, aged just 38 years. [GF, p. 175]
Abigail and Women's Rights
Abigail was a woman of strong character and intellect. Decided in her opinions and of great executive ability, she may be considered the original Woman’s Suffrage advocate in America. Acting on the principle so ardently maintained in her day, that taxation without representation was tyranny, she refused to pay taxes which she considered unjustly assessed, was arrested and spent a month in jail. [FA, p. 33]
The family lived in Rindge, Cheshire, NH and had 7 children. The youngest, Harry HALE, was born 8 months after his father left home for the last time, and 8 months before his father's death. He wrote a biography of his mother, that appears below.
Biography of Abigail (GROUT) HALE by her son, Harry HALE
“My mother was a person, as I think, of very ardent disposition, discriminating mind, and just sense of right and wrong; ready to befriend any one in circumstances of need; liberal to the poor, and ready to resist the wrong doer with all the force of her mind. I will give one or two instances. She administered on my father’s estate. A person professing to be a friend, possessed himself of about $3,000 belonging to the estate, in her absence and against her will. He said he did it for her benefit. She did not thank him, and told him she felt competent to take care of it without his interference. He refused to restore it. She commenced a suit against him in the N. H. courts, and, after going from the lower to the highest court, obtained a verdict for the whole amount. He professed to be aggrieved, said the decision was unjust, and, being a man of great influence in the State, petitioned the legislature to grant him a new trial. His request was granted. Anew it commenced, and at the last court of dernier resort he produced witnesses which she said were false, and she could prove them so. At the end of this trial the verdict was in his favor. No way discouraged by this result, she thought what was ‘sauce for a gander might be sauce for a goose,’ and she applied to the legislature for another trial, which was granted, and she came out triumphant, and recovered the full amount of debt, damages and cost, which was paid. Each of these three trials must have been in court from two to four years. How many females of the present age would have the courage to go through such a scene, having a very artful and influential enemy to contend against?
“Some time between 1790 and 1800, my mother received from the U. S. about $3,600 for my father’s services during the war of the revolution. A person of much influence and wealth and a professed friend applied to her for the loan of that money, proposing to give her a note, signed by himself and a son, for the payment. An agreement was made that they might have what she had to spare, by giving 5 or 6 notes for $500 each. Such notes were executed, payable to her or her order on demand, with annual interest, with the understanding that if the interest was punctually paid and any one of said notes paid when she needed it, the remainder might remain while she considered it safe. A year expired but no interest came. A plea was urged that money was very hard to be got—that she was not in immediate need-—that she should not eventually lose anything by them, &c. &c. Another year passed by, and still no interest was paid, and the same plea was urged as before. Patience was now exhausted, and a suit was commenced on one or more of the notes, and property attached. The 'signers of the notes were both lawyers—the one old and artful, the other young and vigorous-—and every artifice that ingenuity could devise was used to delay a final judgment, and some incidents were peculiarly favorable to the defendants; but after several suits, which were in progress from five to ten years, the notes were all collected in full, with legal costs.
“You may possibly think, from the above, that all her powers were exerted for the acquisition and retention of dollars and cents, regardless of every other object. This was far from being the case, and to convince you 1 will give another incident. After my father’s decease a claim was presented against the estate of about $2000, which my mother said she knew to be unjust, and which, if in her power to prevent it, should never be allowed; and, if allowed, should not be paid. It was allowed, and an execution issued for the amount against her as adm’x, and, for want of property, against her body! She did go to jail and was delivered to the keeper of the jail, ‘within said prison,’ there to remain until said execution should be fully paid in full of all damages, costs, jailor’s fees, &c. Her determination was to spend the remainder of her life in the jail yard, and to have her body buried in the limits, by doing which the execution would be fully satisfied. You will probably say, ‘My dear sir, you have not only failed to prove otherwise with regard to her money-getting propensities, but have added testimony in confirmation of my opinion.’ But please hear me through. There were many circumstances which very much ameliorated her condition as a prisoner. Her own brother Jehoshaphat was the jailor; her brother Elijah of Charlestown was on hand to give bonds for the liberty of the jail yard. She had horse and saddle to ride whenever she chose, and although the distance she could ride was limited, yet it was an indulgence of which she was extremely fond. She would always have the best horse within her knowledge, if money would buy it. She boarded in her brother’s family, and had every attention paid her which a person in her situation could desire.
“There she remained, I should think, not less than six months, when an event occurred which called her suddenly, home. When she left for Keene, she left me and my sister, then in her 18th year, to manage our domestic affairs, in which we succeeded very comfortably—a female friend, living, very, near and several years older than my sister, calling on us almost daily, and most of the time spending the night with my sister. In Sep. 1795 my sister was taken sick with a fever, and in a few days the physicians said there was no prospect of her recovery. My mother was immediately informed. Her mind was at once made up. I cannot remain here, said she, under these circumstances; I must go, and do what I can for her, and, if she dies, be by her to perform the last acts of kindness, and follow her to the grave as chief mourner. Thus deciding, in an hour’s time, regardless of jail limits and bondsman, she was on her horse, and in three hours more by the bedside of her darling daughter, and only two days before her death. Soon after the funeral ceremonies, my uncle Elijah Grout appeared, and, after salutations of usual occurrence, spake rather reproachfully to my mother for leaving the jail limits and subjecting him to the liability of having so great a debt to pay. Her reply was worthy of the dignity of a matron and a parent. My dear brother, said she, would you wish me to have acted the part of a miser, and, knowing that my daughter was in the most extreme danger and that my presence might possibly save her life, would you, I say, for the paltry sum for which I was holden, have had me so unfeeling, as to remain there, and suffer her to die without the consolation of her only earthly parent? No; had every cent I was worth on earth, even the bed on which I slept, been necessary to pay the bond, everything should have been sacrificed that I might enjoy the luxury of doing what I could for my child. But, says my uncle, I am liable to be sued any moment, and to have all my property attached and taken from me. My dear brother, said she, cheer up, and only continue your journey a little farther and you shall have the money to carry back with you to pay the debt; so saying she went to her locker and brought him some notes and said, 1 take these, and call on John Cushing, a wholesale merchant of Boston, who is the signer, and he will pay you as much as you wish.’ Her proposal was acceded to, and he soon returned with the sum needed.
“My mother was a person of almost boundless charity to the poor and needy. 1 never knew her to send away a worthy poor person with an empty hand, but almost uniformly loaded them with her bounties; but for idle loafers she had no sympathy. She was a great reader, and always took more or less of the local and religious publications of the day. She was by no means an ordinary letter writer. I have seen writings of hers, on local and religious subjects, which, for strength of argument and depth of reasoning, would not suffer, in my opinion, by the side of the writings of many females of finished education of the present day.
“I would not contend that she was without faults, in common with all others but, taking her all in all, I do not think that in all my protracted life 1 ever knew a person, male or female, possessed of more originality of thought, more power to distinguish between right and wrong, more untiring perseverance in pursuing the right and repressing the wrong, or one more charitable to the poor, according to her ability, than this same mother of mine.”
[GF, pp. 175-7]
1 Abigail GROUT b: 23 Mar 1745 in Lunenburg, Worcester, MA, d: 14 Sep 1838 in Chelsea, Orange, VT, age 93; at residence of her son, Harry
+ Col. Nathan HALE b: 23 Sep 1743 in Hampstead, Rockingham, NH, m: 28 Jan 1766 in Rindge, d: 23 Sep 1780, age 38
......2 Charlotte HALE b: 30 Dec 1766 in Rindge, d: 05 May 1841 in Ashburnham, Worcester, MA
...... + Dr. Abraham LOWE m: 30 Oct 1788, d: 23 Oct 1834 in Ashburnham, Worcester, MA
......2 Thomas HALE b: 06 Sep 1769 in Rindge, d: 01 Dec 1797
...... + Hannah GOLDSMITH
......2 Nathan HALE b: 01 Jul 1771 in Rindge, d: 09 Jan 1849 in Chelsea, Orange, VT
...... + Eunice RAYMOND m: Jan 1793, d: Dec 1794
...... + Ruth TYLER b: 1779, m: 1799, d: 04 Apr 1804
...... + Sarah C. BLACK b: 28 Aug 1778, m: 02 Feb 1806, d: 29 Mar 1839
......2 (son) HALE b: Jul 1773 in Rindge, d: Jul 1773 in Rindge
......2 Eliphalet HALE b: 16 May 1775 in Rindge, d: 26 Sep 1842
...... + Abigail WATERS d: 1830 in Boston, MA
......2 Polly HALE b: 26 Apr 1778 in Rindge, d: 26 Sep 1795
......2 Harry HALE Esq. b: 10 Feb 1780 in Rindge
...... + Phebe ADAMS b: 21 Feb 1777, d: 13 Jan 1815
...... + Lucinda EDDY b: 28 May 1785, m: 14 Nov 1815
Harry HALE biography
Harry Hale, Esq., b. Feb. 10, 1780, was the same as a posthumous child, his father having bid a final adieu to his family 8 mos. Before he was born, and d. when he was 8 mos. old. The moulding of his character devolved, therefore, entirely upon his mother. His early opportunities for education were restricted to district schools and a term of 4 mos. at the Academy in Westford, Ms. He commenced life for himself in 1798, as a farmer, and labored 4 years, when, his health failing, he sold his farm at Rindge, and May, 1803, embarked in mercantile business at Windsor, Vt. Here he was chosen to town offices, and to the command of a company of militia. In 1807, he removed to Chelsea, his present residence, and there continued in trade until he retired many years ago. Esq. H. has been no office seeker, but has been much sought for office. In 1807, he was urged by members of the Legislature of Vt. from Orange Co. to accept the office of sheriff, but he utterly refused in deference to older residents of the Co. In 1814 he accepted the appointment. By the town of C. he was chosen very many times Lister, Selectman, Treasurer, Justice of the Peace, Overseer of the Poor, Grand Juror, Trustee of U. S. surplus fund, and, in 1828, ’32 and ’36, Representative to the Leg. of Vt. In 1832 and subsequently he was appointed Clerk of the Supreme and County Courts for Orange Co., and the same year chosen by the Leg. a Bank Commissioner, and by annual elections continued in this responsible office for 5 yrs. At the organization of the Mutual Fire Ins. Co. of Orange Co. in 1840, he was chosen a Director, and held the office 10 years, serving as President the last 5. He has long been a Life Director of the American Bible Society, actively engaged with other benevolent institutions, and held a high place in the regards of good men and the public at large. He m. Phebe Adams, dg. of David Adams of Rindge, (pr. from Rowley), and b. Feb. 21, 1777, d. Jan. 13, 1815; and 2d, Lucinda Eddy, b. May 28, 1785, m. Nov. 14, 1815, dg. of Ephraim E. of Woodstock, Vt., a Capt. in the Revolutionary army, (b. at Middleboro’, Mass., d. Sep. 3, 1799), by wf. Mary Safford, from Hardwick, Mass., (d. Feb. 13, 1841), and grd. dg. of Nathan Eddy, who r. at W., and d. at Pittsfield, Vt. 1804, and his wf. 1802. Her grandfather Col. Jos. Safford was Lt. in the Revolutionary army, and her father, Capt. Ephraim Eddy, was of Washington’s body-guard, and afterwards Commissary to the army. [GF, p. 179]
11. Josiah GROUT was born 18 Nov 1748 in Lunenburg, and died before 08 Jan 1777, as his estate was inventoried on that date. Hence he died at age 28, unmarried.
12. Solomon GROUT was born 27 Jun 1751 in Lunenburg. He married Ruth PUTNAM, born 13 Jan 1749/50. Ruth was the daughter of Ebenezer and Mary PUTNAM, of Charlestown, NH. Solomon and Ruth had 10 children. They settled in Jaffrey, Cheshire, NH.
Solomon GROUT in Jaffrey
Solomon Grout settled on lot 13, range 9,—the Isaac Bailey farm,—and was road surveyor in 1774 and selectman in 1776. [CS, p. 222, Jaffrey]
Solomon seems to be absent from the census.
In fact, Solomon seems to have left his family before 1790, and his wife filed for divorce in 1793.
Spooner's Vermont Journal (Windsor, VT) Monday, 31 Mar 1794, page 3
1 Solomon GROUT b: 27 Jun 1751 in Lunenburg, Worcester, MA
+ Ruth PUTNAM b: 13 Jan 1749/50
......2 Solomon GROUT b: 21 Jan 1774
...... + Sebra ALLEN
......2 Jesse GROUT b: 15 May 1775, d: 16 Sep 1776
......2 Charlotty GROUT b: 29 Nov 1777, d: 07 Mar 1829
...... + William MCCLINTOCK
......2 Ebenezer GROUT b: 09 Apr 1779, d: 12 Mar 1853
...... + Abigail CLARK
......2 Ebenezer GROUT b: 12 Apr 1772, d: 04 Jul 1775
......2 Ruth GROUT b: 24 Nov 1780
...... + Josiah HART m: 1812, d: 1837
...... + Judah CENTER
......2 Polly GROUT b: 01 Sep 1782
...... + Phillip WHEELER
......2 Levi GROUT b: 14 Jul 1784, d: 28 Oct 1820 ; died from a fall in his barn
...... + Polly NICHOLS
......2 Dan GROUT b: 12 Mar 1786, d: 22 Jan 1841
...... + Beulah ELMORE m: 04 Apr 1811
......2 Phila GROUT b: 20 Aug 1788, d: 08 Oct 1811
13. Jehoshaphat GROUT Esq. was born 2 Aug 1753 in Lunenburg, and died 6 Sep 1806 in Keene, Cheshire, NH, age 53. He married on 16 Oct 1788 to Anna PARKER, born 04 Nov 1753, daughter of Salem SUMNER and Mary FRENCH, of Keene, NH. They had 2 children.
1 Jehoshaphat GROUT Esq. b: 02 Aug 1753 in Lunenburg, Worcester, MA, d: 06 Sep 1806 in Keene, Cheshire, NH
+ Anna PARKER b: 04 Nov 1753, m: 16 Oct 1788, d: 09 Aug 1810
......2 Sophia GROUT b: 10 May 1789
...... + Rev. Phineas COOK m: 21 Apr 1808
......2 Maj. Harry GROUT b: 08 Dec 1793, d: 1849
...... + Milatiah Jones SUMNER b: 02 Mar 1796, d: Mar 1845
Maj. Harry GROUT biography
Maj. G. at the age of 13 years lost his father, and at 17 yrs. his mother. Thus bereft he went to Boston, and was for several years clerk in the wholesale store of Jerry Fitch. He then returned to K., where he went into business with Wm. Lampson, and was subsequently, connected with Phineas Fisk of K. In 1816 he rem. to Lima, N.Y., where and in Mendon he entered into partnership with G. W. Atwell in carrying on two stores, two flouring-mills, and several asheries; and subsequently had for his partner E. Atwood, and in 1838 Franklin Carter. In 1836 one of their stores was burnt, which they rebuilt. In 1848 he retired, and on closing up his business transactions with merchants in Boston, which had been of above 30 years, he was presented with many valuable presents in attestation of their high regard for his strict honesty and other excellencies of character. “His heart,” says an obituary published of him, “was ever open to sympathy, and his purse ever ready to relieve the needy. Having an ardent, persevering and indomitable spirit, which was never depressed by adversity, he combatted and overcame difficulties frequently attendant upon the settlement of a new country, which would have borne down an ordinary man. No man ever inspired a more perfect confidence in his business acquaintances generally, than Maj. G., and for more than 80 yrs. his name was synonymous with integrity and punctuality; and he d. as he had lived an honest man. [GF, pp. 183-4]
Maj. Harry GROUT (1793 - 1849)
Sources
[CS] History of Cheshire and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire (1886) edited by D. Hamilton Hurd
[DFT] John Grout (1704 - 1771) on the Dennis Family Tree (requires Ancestry.com license)
[EF] Echoes in the Forest (genealogy of the Stratton, Windham, VT families)
[FN4] The Fort at No. 4 (museum)
[GC] Grout Cemetery, in Perkinsville, Windsor, VT (Find A Grave)
[GF] The Grout Family (1857) by Rev. Abner Morse
[GFHS] Grout Family History Website
[HG] Major Hilkiah Grout of Weathersfield, Vermont, by Helen B. Osgood
[JG] Jonathan Grout (1737 - 1807) on Wikipedia
[NH] Col. Nathan Hale (not the famous one)
[NWP] Not Without Peril (1941) by Marguerite Allis
[PPB] Patriots Day and Ancestor William Grout, on Passage to the Past's Blog
[SSC] A Brief History of the Town of Sudbury, Massachusetts by the Sudbury Senior Center
Updated 10 Jun 2021 by William Haloupek. Contact haloupek at gmail dot com.