Facts & Fables
Cabot is in northeast Washington County, Vermont, Latitude 40⁰.23’; Longitude 4⁰.42’. It is six miles square, bounded on the north by Walden, on the east by West Danville and Peacham, on the south by Peacham and Marshfield, and on the west by Woodbury. Cabot is 21 miles northeast of Vermont’s capital, Montpelier, and 18 miles southwest of St. Johnsbury, the Caledonia County shire town.
Cabot was granted November 6, 1780, and chartered August 17, 1781, to Jesse Leavenworth and 65 associates. Cabot was surveyed and lotted in 1786. One surveyor was "Mr. Cabot, a surveyor from Connecticut." This was Marston Cabot, Jr., older brother of Sophia Cabot, (lot 2). Cabot is named for Sophia.( How Cabot Got Its Name, A Love Story).
Eighteen-year-old Thomas Lyford, Jr., (his father drew lot 21) helped with the survey. James Whitelaw, (lot 7), then the Vermont Republic's Deputy Surveyor General, led the survey.
'The township was lotted by James WHITELAW, and a field-book written out by him September, 1786, contains the number of each lot and full description of the same, measurement, etc., closing each with a statement of what in his judgment the land is adapted to, whether pasture or general farming. There were 12 lots in each division, and 6 divisions, making 72 lots in town." Lot owners.
Cabot was laid out in a 6 by 6 miles (9.7 by 9.7 km) square. It had 36 sections; each section was 1 mile (1.6 km) square (640 acres or 260 ha). One section is 2 lots. Original lot records show some discrepancies: lots 31 and 37 were not listed by James M. Fisher in the Vermont Historical Gazetteer, 1867-1891. Fisher wrote, "There being but 71 proprietors and 72 lots, it was Voted that lot No. 24 be disposed of, as the settlers now in town should see fit." However, Fisher listed lot No. 24 for Barnabas Morse. Fisher wrote lots 71 and 72 were for "town school," but lot 72 was listed as drawn for Timothy Newel. Discrepancies may be errors in reading old records, transcribing or printing.
Early New England towns. In other New England states, towns were not incorporated until there were enough settlers to form a town government. Vermont was different, from roughly 1740 to 1800. Cabot was granted in 1780, chartered in 1781, and surveyed and lotted in 1786. Benjamin Webster (lot 40), the first settler, came in 1783. The first election of town officers was on Cabot Plains, February 4, 1788. Jonathan Heath, Thomas Lyford, and David Blanchard were elected the first selectmen. Most likely, a dozen or fewer voters participated. The 1790 U. S. Census suggests some bought lots in Cabot in 1786 and stayed, at least until 1790. However, most original lot owners were speculators who subdivided and resold lots.
"The first meeting of the proprietors was warned by Alexander HARVEY, justice of the peace.
To meet at the house of Jonathan ELKINS, in Peacham, County of Orange, on the 2nd Monday in June, 1786, to transact the following business, viz.: 1st, to choose a moderator to govern said meeting; 2nd, to choose a clerk; 3rd, to agree what they will do respecting the settlers in said town, and to see what encouragement they will give to settlers; 4th, to lay a tax to defray the expense of surveying and lotting said town.
At this meeting, Jonathan ELKINS was chosen moderator, and Jesse LEVENWORTH, clerk.
Meetings were adjourned from time to time. November 3, 1786, they met at the house of Thomas CHITTENDEN, in Arlington, and the survey being completed and presented to the meeting, it was voted that Giles CHITTENDEN and Truman CHITTENDEN, being indifferent persons, be a committee to draw the lots, which being done by them in the presence of the meeting as the law directs."
Mr. Fisher mentions that Jesse Leavenworth, an original grantee, never lived in Cabot. Leavenworth held land at the southeastern end of Joe's Pond, in what was then called Hillsborough. He built mills there and believed it to be part of Cabot. However, in October 1786, the Vermont Legislature, in Rutland, decided Hillsborough was part of the Town of Danville.
It was not until 1793 that Cabot elected its first full slate of town officers: Capt. James Moss, moderator (this was a misspelling of James Morse); Lyman Hitchcock, town clerk; Samuel Danforth, James Moss, David Blanchard, selectmen; Thomas Lyford, treasurer; Thomas Batchelder, constable and collector; Ephraim Marsh, grand juryman; James Chapman, Martin Durgin, Thomas Osgood, surveyors of highways; Ezekiel Gilman, hog-ward; Edward Chapman, fence-viewer; Jonathan Heath, pound-keeper; Fifield Lyford, sealer of weights and measures; Thomas Lyford, leather sealer; listers and selectmen were also appointed. Deacon James Marsh (Congregational Church) arrived from Plymouth N. H. and settled near the Center of Town. Population was 122; second school district formed. (District 1 was on Cabot Plains; District 2 was at the Center.) This district had a log schoolhouse. It was later burned and a better one built.
Facts:
These writings are based on research of historical accounts, old documents, and records. Authors may have added comments. There may be mistakes, but they are largely accurate.
Thomas Osgood, by Mary Carpenter, 1975
see subpage "Vague Village Limits" below.
Fables:.
These stories were handed down over years, retold and taught to children. They probably are based on facts, but cannot be proven. They are worth retelling.