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April 2,
2000
Dear
Friends and Family, When
we set out to dedicate a portion of our living history farm to the
American colonial era, we naturally thought of our
great-great-great-great grandfather Zerubabel Snow, who, according
to his gravestone was known as "Captain." Zerubabel
helped settle a town called Chesterfield, New Hampshire in
1762. His
father, John, moved his family from Marlboro Massachusetts sometime
before 1762 to what would have been a very new township on the
Connecticut River. Chesterfield
was in the extreme southwest corner of New Hampshire, some fifteen
or twenty miles above the Massachusetts border, and at the time, it
would have been considered, oddly enough, a part of the frontier. By
1759, most potential Indian trouble had been put to an end when
Roger's Rangers massacred St. Francis Village outside of
Quebec. Before that time, New England settlers were
sometimes captured along the Connecticut and sold up-river to the
French to be held for ransom.
According to one source, the scalps of over 600 settlers were
found in the village of St. Francis. This was the
territory to which John Snow and his son, Zerubabel were bringing
their families. In
1762, John Snow and Moses Smith built a saw-mill on Catsbane Creek,
which flowed into the Connecticut River. According to
tradition, when the first boards were cut, they were laid down in a
crude floor and a dance was held to celebrate the event.
In the same year, John and his son Zerubabel had built a
house, which was called by later generations, "the old Snow
Tavern," since John
kept rooms and served food and refreshment to weary travelers.
(Logs were transported down the Connecticut in rafts,
and undoubtedly many of the "raftsmen" frequented the
tavern.) This
home is still standing in Chesterfield and was once used (in the
early 1800s) as the town "poor farm."
What
I find intriguing about the John Snow Family exodus to New
Hampshire, is that it appears to have occurred when most of John's
children were grown adults.
John himself was fifty-six years old.
Warren, his fourth son, was twenty-eight when the house and
saw mill were built; Zerubabel,
the youngest son was twenty-one.
Mehitable was an unmarried girl of twenty-four, who promptly
married a townsman, Eseek Earl,
on September 4, 1762.
Phebe, the youngest, was fourteen, and she later married the
son of her father's sawmill partner, Moses Smith. In
1776, another of our relatives, thirty-two year old Amos Streeter,
emigrated from Cumberland, Rhode Island to the new township.
At the time, he and his wife, Deliverance, had seven
children, the youngest of which was
a mere infant. We
don't know exactly why Amos Streeter came to Chesterfield, except
to say that there were so many of his cousins already living there,
that one of the many hills in the township was called "Streeter
Hill." In
1776, the New Hampshire Committee of Safety asked all males above
twenty-one years of age to sign the following pledge: We,
the subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will
to the utmost of our power, at the risque of our lives and fortunes,
with arms, oppose the hostile proceedings of the British Fleets and
Armies against the United American Colonies. Below this declaration, Warren Snow and John Snow placed their signatures, as did Amos Streeter. Eseek Earl--Mehitable Snow's husband, and Zerubabel's brother-in-law--refused to sign. Zerubabel Snow is not listed as one who either signed or refused to sign. There is some indication that the pledge signatures were gathered in haste and that not all of the townsmen could be notified, so this may explain the absence. We also know that New Hampshire men were employed driving cattle to supply the army. (The Marquis de Chastellux, upon encountering New Hampshire drovers in a New York tavern called them "...the strongest and most robust men I had yet seen in America.") Perhaps Zerubabel was riding herd! In
May of 1777, Lieutenant Cobleigh of Chesterfield gathered up a
company of men to help relieve Ft. Ticonderoga, which was believed
to be under siege. Amos
Streeter was among the men who followed Cobleigh on this mission.
Years after the war, Amos Streeter packed it up and moved back to
his childhood home of Cumberland, Rhode Island, proving that not all
American migrations are westward in direction. Although
Zerubabel's gravestone indicates the rank of Captain, we have no
muster lists which include either his or Warren's name during any
Revolutionary War action, although there is one "Hosea Snow" who
participated with other Chesterfield men in the battle of
Bennington. I
don't know who this "Hosea" was, since he wasn't one of
Zerubabel's children, nor one of Warren's.
Perhaps some of John's older sons (John, Edmund, or Seth)
lived in the town of Chesterfield as well, and perhaps one of them
was "Hosea's" father? Some
120 miles away, in Poughkeepsie New York, on August 1778, a John
Snow was taken prisoner while wearing "a full suit of paint,"
indicating his status as a Tory fighting with the Indians.
He had a horse in his possession which was the property of a
widow who lost her home to fire in one of his raids.
Another "John Snow," claiming to live near a wharf in
Philadelphia, advertised a lost boat in 1770.
Yet another John Snow, in 1762, resident of Providence, was
stranded on the Spanish main, (Venezuela?), pursued by savages near
"Cora," imprisoned for seven months and allowed to leave after
refusing to convert to Catholicism.
Whether any of these "John Snows" were related to the
John Snow family of Chesterfield is anyone's guess. The
gentleman depicted above is the Reverend Abraham Wood, who served as
Chesterfield's Congregationalist Pastor for literally half a
century from 1772 to 1823.
He appears to have been an ardent patriot and was the first
to sign the associators' pledge, followed by two members of the
Davis family, followed by John Snow, and then more than 130 others.
In later years, he was very active in the temperance
movement. Quoting from the History of Chesterfield, after fifty
years of giving sermons every Sunday, the old warrior was beginning
to weaken and "... a few days before his death, while alone in his
study, he was overheard to cry out, as if calling to some one.
Mrs. Wood, his ever watchful consort, hastened to his side,
asking 'Did you call me?' He
answered, 'No; I had
such a vision of the Heavenly glory awaiting me, that I could not
help crying out for joy and wonder..." Don't Forget... This year, over 6,000 school children will take part in our Living History Field Trips. Click here to make it 6,001! There are almost no dates left in May, but there are a few in April, so call us, now, to make your reservation (909-797-7534). The price is $12.00 per participant, with one free adult for every 15 students. This includes lunch and four hours of participatory living history, covering either the American Revolution, Civil War, or Early California. After an early March visit this year, a fifth grade teacher from San Diego wrote us to say, "Thank you for the most wonderful field trip I have ever hosted for children. Your knowledge of history, the authenticity of your facilities, the beauty of the surroundings, and the love of history that you shared with the students are very much appreciated." Thanks! Mark your calendars! We look forward to visiting with you soon. Your Humble Servant,
James Riley |
P.S.
For the sake of those "web portals" constantly browsing the
internet to update their search engines, we include the following
boiler-plate. (Feel free to read this, if you're new to our site.)
Riley's Farm is a working apple orchard and living history farm in the Oak
Glen area of Southern California. In addition to farming, we love
history and we have provided a venue for re-enactment units comprising
many different eras. The farm regularly hosts banquets, birthday parties,
weddings, and office parties. Every year, literally thousands of students
participate in one of our school tours, where they experience everything
from weaving, candle-dipping, and cider pressing to the drill and muster
of a Revolutionary War or Civil War battle. Our farm has appeared on the
History Channel and in the recently released feature film, Amistad,
as well as many other film and television productions. (We even try to get
the producers to include us as on screen talent, but that's another
story.) On selected weekends throughout the year, we offer
"farm-stay" weekends, where families can experience--clothing,
wood stoves, muskets, and all--the life of an 18th or 19th century
American farmer. We grow sweet corn, apples, raspberries, pears, and
sunflowers, just to mention a few of our crops. Our nephew, Devon, keeps
some beautiful Belgian draft horses for country hay-rides. We love
America--its traditions, its people, its history, and its cherished
heritage of liberty in Christ. Have we said enough? Well, one more thing:
In the fall, thousands of families make an annual pilgrimage to the farms
of Oak Glen to experience the closest thing to a New England fall
California has to offer. Why don't you stop by and say hello?
