Friday, October 12, 2012

Bottum Farm Once Owned By Justus Sherwood, Now An Historic Place

There is a Squier connection to this story, which originally caught my attention.

The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places form for the Bottum Farm in New Haven, Vermont, included some of the notable characteristics of the property (noted below).

The form noted that the Bottum Farm embodies distinctive characteristics of a traditional Vermont farmstead... .

Although no structures remain from the property's earliest document period, it is also significant for its associations with Justus Sherwood...  First owned and farmed in 1774 by Sherwood -- an individual significant to New Haven's, Vermont's and even Canada's history -- the property remained in his wife's Sarah (Bottum) Sherwood's family for almost two hundred and fifty years.

Like Sherwood before them, the Bottums achieved prominence in New Haven -- collectively as well as individually.  Elias (1791-1865), who had spent his childhood and schoolage years in Shaftsbury, moved to New Haven in 1809.  In 1811 he married Diadama Squier (the granddaughter of Andrew Squier* -- one of the town's original proprietors), with whom he had four children: Mary Ann, Charlotte Emeline, Carolina Eliza, and Simon Elias.  Elias reportedly salvaged material from Sherwood's original cabin...

The Bottum Farm ceased dairy operations in 1958.

1871 Beers Map Found in the NPS Document

*My grandkids' ancestor

An Ottawa, Canada, newspaper article about Justus Sherwood here.

2 comments:

Dorene from Ohio said...

That is terrific that you found a connection to your grandchildrens' ancestor!

PalmsRV said...

Thanks, Dorene. Finding connections keeps me motivated!