What happened in 1761 – 250 years ago?
In November of 1761 Moses Smith & William Thomas paddled up river with their families to build homes in West Chesterfield. Settlement was finally able to flourish in this area starting after decades of French and Indian hostilities. The large letters indicate sites of nearby Indian raids which limited settlement. The “Events” list gives details. This map was printed in 1761 – the same year that peace finally came to this area.
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Events – 1740-1761
1740’s – Numerous Indian attacks
1750-1752 – Peace in the Connecticut River Valley
1752, February 11 Town of Chesterfield chartered along with 3 other towns.
1754 – More hostilities between the French and English.
======== Nearby Indian Incidents before Settlement =========
A – 1757, April Charlestown, NH Indian raid – many captives taken.
1758, August Asahel Stebbins killed, his wife captured.
B – 1758, March Brattleboro, VT Capt. Fairbanks Moor killed.
C – 1755, June Keene, NH Benjamin Twitchell captured.
D – 1756, June Winchester, NH Josiah Foster and family captured.
E – 1755, June Vernon, VT Bridgemans Fort attacked and Caleb How killed, his two sons captured.
Hinsdale NH Fort Hinsdale attacked, 14 prisoners taken.
F – 1755, July Walpole, NH Daniel Twitchell and John Flint killed.
August Indians besieged the house of John Kilburn.
======= Major Regional Events================
1757, August Fort William Henry surrendered to French (Lake George)
1759, Oct Rogers Rangers attack St. Francis Indian Village in Canada.
1760, September Montreal surrenders to the British.
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The Blanchard & Langdon map of New Hampshire was based on surveying done during the French & Indian war. Indian raiding parties frequently came to this area from Canada. Note “this way captives have been carried by the Indians” along the Black River (now Springfield, Vermont). www.old-maps.com
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The oldest narrative of the first settlement are these words from Larkin Mead
“On the 25th of November, 1761, Moses Smith and William Thomas, with their families, came to Chesterfield and began a settlement on the bank of the Connecticut river. Their descendants now occupy the land they first began upon. At that day the river afforded them an abundance of shad and salmon, and the surrounding woods were well stocked with deer, bears, and wild turkeys; so that they soon made out to live comfortably, experiencing no particular hardships,”
This is the plaque which marks the site where Moses Smith built his first house in West Chesterfield.
It is attached to a large stone at the edge of a field about a mile north of West Chesterfield Village.
