A genealogist must have the patience of Job; the curiosity of a cat; the stubbornness of a mule; the eyesight of an eagle; be blessed with the luck of the Irish and have the ability and stamina of a camel to go long hours without food or drink." (The Herald, Vol. 18, No. 3 & 4; 1995)

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Samuel & Amos Chipman of Panton, Vermont

by Rod Badger

CHIPMAN, Samuel (4), (Thomas (3); Samuel (2); John (1) b. 22 Mar 1721 in Groton Ct.  Removed with family to Salisbury, Ct where he engaged in farming and blacksmithry. 

 

In the spring or summer of 1765, Samuel Chipmen, 43 years old  and his younger brother Amos 37 years old, joined the growing number of settlers to Vermont.  Arriving in Panton, Vt. they accepted a bounty of 70 pounds to clear the land so as to meet the terms under the Charter.  The Charter was actually a New Hampshire land grant that required the clearing of the land, establishing residences within five years.  In exchange, the settlers expected free trade and an enforceable title to the land.  A sawmill had been under construction but was not completed until the fall of 1765.  (Vermont Historical Gazetteer:  A History of Each Town, Ed. Hemenway, A.M. Vol I, Pub 1867., p. 78)

 

But, there were difficulties.  The original survey was found to be faulty as the boundaries of the town extended well into Lake Champlain and thus, there was less land available for development.  The “Common” was too small to accommodate the grazing needs of the community’s animal herds. 

 

Apparently unknown to the Chipmans upon their arrival was the growing dispute over the New Hampshire and New York land grants. 

 

Both Great Britain and France had claimed Vermont and each built forts to exert their administrative control.  Between 1689 and 1763, the frontier region of Vermont was a battleground between France and Britain.  The last of these conflicts ended in British favor in 1763.  France had lost all of her North American colonies.

 

New Hampshire relied on a 1741 declaration by the British king that New Hampshire’s western boundary was where it met other colonies.  Thus, New Hampshire claimed the boundary was Lake Champlain on a line 32 miles east of the Hudson River.  New Hampshire distributed 138 grants from 1749 until 1763.  As an additional complication, in 1764, King George III ruled that New York had jurisdiction over Vermont and New York issued new patents in Vermont.  The New Yorkers enforced their property rights by intimidation and force of arms.  Land speculators complicated the issue by purchasing disputed claims. 

 

During the fall and winter of 1765-66, Panton settlers were intimidated and harassed by a Col. Wooster.  Wooster held a grant from New York and ruthlessly extracted leases or promises to leave the area from the settlers. 

 

It is apparent that Samuel Chipman and his brother Samuel abandoned their holdings.  No further mention of them appears in Panton.  Samuel returned to Salisbury, Ct. and operated a blacksmithery.  Amos removed to Sunderland, Vt and received an allotment there in 1766.  (Vermont Historical Gazetteer:  A History of Each Town, Ed Hemenway, A.M. Vol I, Pub 1867. p. 236 to 239)

 

Removed to Tinmouth, Vt. about about 1771.  Married 1 Hannah(1) daughter of Dr. Nathaniel Austin of Suffield, Ct.  He died 1812 in Tinmouth, Vt.

 

Children:

i. Samuel, b. 8 Oct 1750, died young.

ii. Nathanliel, b. 27 Nov 1752

iii. Lemuel, b. 25 Jul 1754

iv. Darius, b. 17 Aug 1756

v. Hannah, b. 28 Oct 1758, d. 26 Dec 1859, m. Job Spofford of Tinmouth, Vt.

vi.  Cyrus,(MD)   b. 3 Dec 1761, removed to Richmond, Ontario Co, NY.

vii. Samuel, b. 10 Dec 1763

viii. Daniel, b. 10 Dec 1763 22 Oct 1765 

 

ii.  CHIPMAN, Nathaniel, (Thomas (3); Samuel (2); John (1)) Brother of Lemuel Chipman and Daniel Chipman; grandfather of John Logan Chipman. Born in Salisbury, Litchfield County, Conn., November 15, 1752. Served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War; member of Vermont state house of representatives, 1784-85, 1806-09, 1811; justice of Vermont state supreme court, 1786-87, 1789-91, 1796-97, 1813-15; chief justice of Vermont Supreme Court, 1790-91, 1796-97, 1813-15; Judge of U.S. District Court for Vermont, 1791; U.S. Senator from Vermont, 1797-1803. Died February 13, 1843. Interment at Tinmouth Cemetery, Tinmouth, Vt. See also: congressional biography.

Children: 

i. Laura, b. 30 Jul 1782

ii. Henry, B. 25 Jul 1784

iii. Clara, b. 25 Jun 1787

iv. Jeffrey, b. 8 Aug 1789

v. Edwin Cullin, b. 27 Jul 1792

vi. Cassius, b. 12 Apr 1797

vii. Evelina, b. 3 Jul 1799

viii. Oscar, b. Aug 1802

ix. Oscar, b. 23 Dec 1804

 

United States Congressional Biography: CHIPMAN, Nathaniel, 1752-1843 Years of Service: 1797-1803 Party: Federalist

 

CHIPMAN, Nathaniel, a Senator from Vermont; born in Salisbury, Conn., November 15, 1752; privately tutored; received his degree from Yale College in 1777 while in the Army; served as a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1779 and commenced practice in Tinmouth, Vt.; member, State house of representatives 1784-1785; elected as judge of the State supreme court in 1786 and chosen chief justice in 1789; judge of the United States District Court 1791-1794; again elected chief justice of the State supreme court in 1796; elected as a Federalist to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Isaac Tichenor and served from October 17, 1797, until March 3, 1803; unsuccessful candidate for reelection; member, State house of representatives 1806-1811; chief justice of Vermont 1813-1815; died in Tinmouth, Vt., February 13, 1843; interment in the Tinmouth Cemetery.

 

iii.  CHIPMAN, Lemuel,  (Thomas (3); Samuel (2); John (1)) was born July 25, 1754; d. Apr. 28, 1831. Graduated from Middlebury College after studieing medicine and surgery.  In the Revolutionary War, he served as assistant surgeon in the Continental Army, seeing action at the Battle of Bennington.  After the end of the war, he settled in Pawlet,  and began his practice there.  In 1795, he and his brother Cyrus moved to Pittstown, N.Y. and in 1803, he, in company with his brother Cyrus, purchasod a tract of land the Holland Land Company, donating land which later be­coming the town of Sheldon. N.Y.  In Vermont, he had been a member of the Vt. Legislature, 1788-93: an Assistant Judge of Rutland County Court; Member of the Constitu­tional Convention which in 1793 was promulgated and adopted. Whilei a resident of New Xork. he was a Member of the House of IRepreseritatives. Member of the Senate, Judge of the Ontario County Court and Presidential Elec­tor.  He was elected the first President of the Vermont Medical Society, organized in 1796. About 1780, he married Jesena “Sena” Fitch, daughter of William and Alethia Fitch of Pawlet, Vt.   She was born 13 Feb 1767 and survived his demise appearing in his will which was proved  11 July 1831 in Genesee County, New York Volume 2, Page 154.

 

  Children:

i  Lemuel, 1782

ii. Unknown Daughter.

iii. Fitch, b. 1785

iv. Samuel, b. May 5, 1786

v. Miranda, b. June 26, 1789

vi. Reeve, b. Apr. 9, 1791

vii. Alpheus, b. Sept. 5, 1793

viii. Asenath Fitch, b. Sept. 1, 1795; m. 1817, Dr. Cyrus Wells

ix. David, b. June 20, 1793

x. Alethia Wheeler, b. 1800; nt. 1817, m. Dr. Ephraim Warren Cheriey

 

iv.  CHIPMAN, Darius (Thomas (3); Samuel (2); John (1))  was born Aug. 17, 1756 in Salisbury, Conn.; d. Mar. 22, 1832. He was a foot soldier in the Revolutionary War and was with Eathan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys when he demanded the surrender of  Fort Ticonderoga “In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!”, the Battle of Bennington (with most of his brothers and cousins) where Buergoyn’s troops under command of Baum were severely repulsed and other subsequent and lesser skirniishes.  After hos­tilities, he studied law and practiced in Rutland and Tinmouth, Vt.  One of his contemporaries evaluated him as follows: “He seldom counselled litigation but those he brought to trial were usually won.  At his suggestion, many law suits were settled by compromise.

 

Children:

i. Lydia, b.

ii. Gustavous Dickinson  1786 Rutland, Vt.

iii. Fanny Austin, b. 1788

iv. Harriett Lambson, b. 7 Nov 1790

v. Horace Darius, b. 21 Jul 1793, Rutland, Vt.

vi. Betsy, b. 1796. 

 

viii.  CHIPMAN, Daniel, (Samuel⁴, Thomas³, Samuel², John¹), was born 22 Oct 1765 in Salisbury, Ct., d. 23 Apr 1850 and is buried West Cemetery, Middlebury, VT?  Said to Be a Vet?  Professor of Law at Middlebury College and member of Congress.  See following Congressional Biography. 

CHIPMAN, Daniel, (brother of Nathaniel Chipman), a Representative from Vermont; born in Salisbury, Conn., on October 22, 1765; was graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., in 1788; studied law; was admitted to the bar and practiced in Rutland, Vt., 1790-1794; was a member of the State constitutional conventions in 1793, 1814, 1836, 1843, and 1850; moved to Middlebury, Vt., in 1794; member of the State house of representatives 1798-1808, 1812-1814, 1818, and 1821, and served as speaker during the sessions of 1813 and 1814; professor of law at Middlebury College 1806-1818; member of the Governor’s council in 1808; elected as a Federalist to the Fourteenth Congress and served from March 4, 1815, to May 5, 1816, when he resigned; appointed reporter of the superior court in 1824; moved to Ripton, Vt., in 1828 and continued the practice of law; engaged in literary pursuits; died in Ripton, Addison County, Vt., April 23, 1850; interment in West Cemetery, Middlebury, Vt. 

Bibliography:

 

Chipman, Bert Lee,  Chipman Family, A Genealogy of the Chipmans In America, 1631 – 1920, Bert L. Chipman Publishers, Winston-Salem, NC.

 

Chipman,  John, Hale, A Chipman Genealogy, c1585 – 1969, compiled by Chipman Historics, Norwell, MA 1970. 

 

Historical Collections Relating to the Town of Salisbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut, Volume I., Arranged and published by The Salisbury Association, Inc. 1913.

 

United States Congressional Biography.

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Badger, Rodney H., Family Historian, “Badger Genealogy”, a single family genealogy, 1964-2002, documentary evidence in possession of R. H. Badger and P.R. Badger, 20631 82^nd Ave. W., Edmonds, WA 98026,   rhbadger@msn.com , non-profit permission granted.