The town of Brattleboro was chartered as part of the New Hampshire Grants in 1753. European settlement took hold in the region after French Indian War hostilities ceased around 1760. Then, in 1764, the King of England fixed the boundary between NH and NY at the Connecticut River and the grants of land established by the New Hampshire colony came into question.
As a result, twenty settlers in the area petitioned the New York colony for township recognition. New York Governor Moore granted the township of Brattleboro and this area began to function as part of the British colony of New York. To complicate matters, in 1767 the King of England ruled that New York authorities could not harass people who produced a valid land deed from the NH government. This meant that deeds granted by both NY and NH were considered valid, even if they were in conflict with one another. People on the west side of the Green Mountains who had valid NH land deed grants were harassed by the Albany, NY government, which led to violence and the establishment of the Green Mountain Boys.
Leaders on this side of the Green Mountains petitioned the New York government to establish a new county that would basically govern itself under NY jurisdiction. The thought was that the animosity between NY land speculators and residents of western NH Grant towns could be avoided here if the local government was controlled by local men. In 1768 Cumberland County of NY was established by royal decree. This county included Brattleboro and much of what became southeastern Vermont. Local man Samuel Wells was appointed judge and local man John Arms was appointed sheriff for the NY County.
Understandably there was confusion about which governmental body should be followed. By 1768 a meeting house for the fledgling settlement was built on what is now Orchard Street. There were a few local meetings held at the Arms house, (where the Retreat Farm is now), in 1768 and 1769 but the minutes of those meetings are limited and it is unclear how many of the town’s people participated in the decision making process.
In early July, 1770 the settlers of the town met in the meeting house and voted to hire a minister who would split his time between Brattleboro and Guilford. This event, occurring 250 years ago, was the beginning of the Congregational Church in Brattleboro. It was also one of the early examples of taxation for the “good” of the community.
According to various accounts, in 1770 there were 75 “grown men” in Brattleboro. 69 of them signed on to the agreement between the first minister and the town. The entire population of the town was around 400. It is worthy to note that one woman also signed the agreement, Susanna Arms. She was the wife of the county sheriff, who had recently been killed by a horse in his barn. Mrs. Arms was a prominent land owner, operator of the local tavern, and supervised the post office. Upon reaching adulthood, her son took over these responsibilities.
The agreement to permanently hire the first minister of Brattleboro was the first governmental action which seemed to include the majority of the population. Remember, in 1770, only land-owning, adult men were expected to participate in government decisions. The first Reverend was paid a salary of 50 pounds. One third of his salary was paid in New York colony currency; the other two thirds were paid in goods and services by community members. Establishing and maintaining roads and religion were the beginnings of town government.
Cords of wood, pigs and other “merchantable produce” were used to pay two thirds of the minister’s salary. The town also granted the minister more than 200 acres of land in the middle of Brattleboro.
Reverend Abner Reeve began preaching on Meeting House hill in 1770. A covenant between landowners had been formed and all who subscribed to the covenant agreed to pay the salary of Reverend Reeve. Abner Reeve preached in Brattleboro until 1794. The salary of the minister was paid by the town government through the collection of taxes until 1803. It was then that the local separation of church and state began.
Much of the information for this story comes from the Mary Cabot book, Annals of Brattleboro and a 1970 Reformer article written by Barbara Worden.