Akley (Akeley) is a name that has been part of Brattleboro and Guilford since before the Revolutionary War. According to historical records, Francis Akeley Jr. moved to Guilford from the Boston area before the war began. He had been an indentured servant to the Houghton family. The Houghton family moved to Guilford in 1773.
Francis was twenty two years old when the Houghton’s moved to Vermont. It is unclear whether he was still working for the Houghton’s or if he followed them to Guilford to start a life of his own.
This story will focus on Francis’ younger brother, Thomas. A few months ago we came upon Thomas’ grave in West Brattleboro’s Mather Road Cemetery. The stone is faded and hard to read but the gravesite has a Revolutionary War marker beside it. The plaque that has fallen from the stone says, “Thomas Akeley…A Soldier of the Revolutionary War…served 5 months 9 days 1775”.
This fallen plaque became the impetus for our research into the life of Thomas Akeley. It should be noted that we found conflicting stories about Thomas and his family. We have attempted to glean the most accurate representation of his life and will share it here.
Thomas Akeley was born in Boston in 1755. He was one of nine children. His parents were Francis Sr. and Tabitha Akley. Thomas’ father was a wheelwright. He made wheels for wagons and carriages, and also repaired carts and wheelbarrows. In 1760 a tremendous fire roared through much of Boston. More than 1,000 people were made homeless as the fire destroyed 175 homes and another 175 shops and businesses.
The fire was devastating for the Akley family. Their home burned to the ground and Akley’s wheelwright shop and tools were also destroyed. Boston’s Overseer of the Poor stepped in and the children were relocated to other homes as indentured servants. Francis Jr. was placed with the Houghton family. Thomas was placed with a minister’s family in nearby Dedham, Massachusetts.
According to the book, Children Bound to Labor, published in 2009, it was widespread practice in Colonial America to remove poor children from their families and place them into bondage. Bound children were expected to work for a “master” in return for the “master” providing basic living needs. Many contracts remained in effect until the young person reached their 21st birthday.
By the time Thomas was nineteen years old he was a member of the local Dedham militia. When the Battles of Lexington and Concord broke out Thomas found himself marching to Lexington to challenge the British army. Tensions between the British occupiers and Massachusetts colonists were high. The British believed colonists were stockpiling weapons in Concord, Massachusetts for possible military action against the occupiers. As a result the British army began a march to Concord to confiscate the stockpile. Colonists heard of the march and local militias were called to respond.
Thomas was one of the “Minutemen” who marched to Lexington to confront the British. According to his pension application, Thomas would serve in the local militia for eight months and respond to calls for support in Roxbury, Dorchester and Cambridge.
The men of the Akeley family were very involved in the American Revolution. Thomas’ father participated in the Boston Tea Party, served time in prison for opposing the British army, and died from injuries sustained at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Thomas had five brothers and they all served during the war.
When Thomas was discharged from the Dedham militia he was twenty years old. Family lore says he packed a bag and headed to Vermont as soon as he was no longer in the militia. His older brother was already here.
In June, 1776 Thomas enlisted in a local militia here in Guilford. The company was formed and joined the New York contingent of military personnel aligning themselves against the British. New York looked at the settlements here as part of their Cumberland County and recruited soldiers who were willing to go up against the military might of Great Britain.
The Declaration of Independence had not occurred yet, but action had already been taken against the British at Lake Champlain’s Fort Ticonderoga. A year earlier colonial soldiers and Vermont militia had captured the fort and many in New England and New York were preparing for continued and escalating conflict with the British military.
The company of local soldiers was led by Captain Sam Warriner. They were given the task of opening the road between Fort Number Four in Charlestown, NH and Crown Point in New York. The road was originally built about fifteen years earlier during the French and Indian War. It was used to transport British supplies and soldiers over the Green Mountains when the British were battling with the French for control of this region. Since the war ended the road had been used by colonizers who were moving into Vermont from southern New England. I
The new goal was to clear the road so wagons, supplies and volunteers could travel from New England to colonial soldiers on Lake Champlain. These soldiers were posted at Fort Ticonderoga and the newly established Mount Independence. They were preparing to battle the British for control of the Lake. Historians have described the cut trail over the Green Mountains as “a pretense of a road.” It was a wagon track, rutted, rough and spotted with stumps of trees and brush overgrowth on the edges.
This path over the Green Mountains has become known as the Crown Point Military Road. The road allowed the British to transport and supply troops across Vermont during the French and Indian War. The colonists were now trying to use the same road to supply the colonial patriots who were preparing for a British invasion from Canada.
Thomas’s company was assigned axes and muskets. During the summer of 1776 they cleared the old Crown Point Military Road as far as the Rutland area and then cut a new road from Rutland to Fort Ticonderoga. This new road allowed men and supplies from southern New England to travel up the Connecticut River and then cut across Vermont at Fort Number Four to arrive at the major American military post on Lake Champlain.
The next summer British forces traveled south along Lake Champlain and attacked Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. The American forces were quickly chased from the fort and battled the British in Hubbardton. This was a defeat for the Americans and they retreated further along the road that Thomas Akeley and the company of Guilford and Brattleboro soldiers cut out of the woods the year before.
The American forces successfully escaped capture by the British at Fort Ticonderoga and Hubbardton. They would retreat to Rutland and later arrive at the Battle of Bennington just in time to turn the tide in favor of the Americans. In August, 1777, the defeat of the British at the Battle of Bennington became a positive turning point for the Americans in the Revolutionary War.
Thomas Akeley contributed to the American cause at the beginning of the Revolution when he served during the tumult of Lexington and Concord. He continued to support the American effort when he worked with others from the Brattleboro/Guilford area to build the road and bridges that led from Fort Ticonderoga to Rutland.
After the war Akeley settled in Brattleboro in the area that is now known as Akley Road. He bought land from Samuel Wells and married Abigail Wilder. They would go on to have fourteen children and he would live to the age of 94.
In 1819 Thomas received a military pension for his service at Lexington. However, it took until the 1830’s for his service in Vermont to be accepted. For many years the government argued that road building was more like a civilian job than a military one. Eventually, the government changed its interpretation of events and acknowledged the soldiers who ultimately saved the Vermont Regiment when they built a military road that would provide their escape a year later.