DAVID BURT 1629-1690

[Ancestral Link: Marguerite Anderson (Miller), daughter of Hannah Anderson (Anderson), daughter of Mary Margaret Edmiston (Anderson), daughter of Martha Jane Snow (Edmiston), daughter of Sarah Sawyer Hastings (Snow), daughter of Salome Burt (Hastings), daughter of Enos Burt, son of Asahel Burt, son of Joseph Burt, son of David Burt.]



Mape of Northampton, Hampshire, MA 1831, from book, "Early Days in New England, Life and Times of Henry Burt of Springfield and Some of His Descendants, Henry M. Burt, Springfield, MA, and Silas W. Burt of New York, Springfield, MA, Clark W. Bryan Co, Printers, 1893

Map of Homelots of First Settlers of Longmeadow, Massachusettes, insert from "Early Days of New England, Life and Times of Henry Burt of Springfield and Descendants", 1893, Clark W. Bryan Co, Springfield, MA
Transcription of text in document
Map of First Settlers of Longmeadow, MA

Map-First Settlers of Northhampton, Massachusettes, 1893, from "Early Days of New England, Life and Times of Henry Burt of Springfield and Descendants", 1893, Clark W. Bryan Co, Springfield, Massachusetts

Signatures of Henry and David Burt

Children of David Burt and Mary Holton Burt
David (1656-1660) was killed at age four when he was ran over by his father's oxen cart.
David (born 1669) died in a house fire.
John Burt's information is separate. See "John Burt (1682-1709)".
found on ancestry.com

David Burt
David Burt was one of the founders of Northampton, MA. There he wed Mary Holton on 18 November 1654. They were the first couple to be married there.
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David Burt Info
David received a grant of land in Springfield, MA in 1652 but he relinquished it to the town and went to Northampton, MA in 1654 where he was one of the first settlers and his and Mary' s wedding was the first in the town. They resided on King Street. David was "Town Measurer of land for many years, and when the division line between Northampton and Springfield was established, he served as one of the commissioners on the part of Northampton. Northampton, Hadley and Deerfield suffered from Indian depredations and David Burt had two sons captured at Deerfield by Indians, when the town was burned, and taken to Canada. Both were finally liberated, but the youngest of the two brothers was subsequently killed near Burlington by Indians when on a scouting expedition. A third was captured when the Indians burned Schnectady and was never heard from."After David's death, Mary married Joseph Root.
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THE WALPOLE BURT’S
Early Days in New England, Life and Times of Henry Burt of Springfield and Some of his Descendants; Henry M. Burt of Springfield, Silas W. Burt of New York, Clark W. Bryan Co, Printers, Springfield, MA, 1893, pps: 417-421
　
(Descendents of Aaron4, Joseph3, David2, Henry1)
The following concerning the branch of the family that settled at Walpole (New Hampshire) was contributed by Alonzo Burt and the late Dr. B. W. Porter. The former has been zealous in the work of gathering facts relative to the family and in increasing an interest in the publication of this book. The latter gave him hearty cooperation, and the last letter he wrote was to the editor of this volume, only a few hours previous to his death.
AARON BURT (fourth generation), son of Joseph, was born in Hatfield, September 17, 1717; died in 1792. He settled in Northfield and married Miriam Elmer, daughter of Hezekiah Elmer, one of the first settlers of Northfield. The records of the town show that Aaron Burt at one time held a large estate in Northfield. In 1765, he built the first gristmill in Northfield, at Lower’s Falls, now Glens Falls. Alex Norton and Aaron Burt owned a house there. The house built by Joseph Burt, father of Aaron, was painted red. The Burt’s had a store just north of this house, which was a noted place of business; people went down the Connecticut River in boats and canoes from as far north as Charlestown, NH, to Aaron Burt’s store and mill to trade. The Burt family living in Walpole, NH, have in their possession some of Aaron’s account books used by him in the store. We have one in our house at this time, in which we find accounts against the first settlers of Walpole – Major Bellows, Colonel Benjamin Bellows and others. The books are more than 130 years old and clearly prove that Aaron Burt was an excellent penman and knew how to keep his books in a perfect manner.
Aaron Burt was on the committee to build the first meeting house in Northfield. He furnished four gallons of West India rum, at eight shillings per gallon, and sold the lock for the meeting house, May 30, 1764, the year it was completed.
The fort was begun in the winter of 1743-4 and completed about the 24th of May following. Aaron Burt furnished 430 pounds of nails at fifteen pence per pound. Joseph Burt gave a mortgage on his red house to Johonnet of Boston in 1757, about the time of his death, and it was redeemed in 1765 by Aaron, who lived there the rest of his days.
FIFTH GENERATION
Children of Aaron Burt
David, b. April 1, 1741;
Jonathan, b. September 3, 1742; m. Thankful Dean, He moved to Walpole, NH;
Sarah, b. February 26, 1744; died August 9, 1745;
Mary, b. November 11, 1746; d. July 13, 1747;
Mary, b. June 21, 1748;
Hannah, b. November 9, 1750; m. Samuel Wier; d. March 31, 1795 at Westmoreland, NH;
Ruth, b. June 21, 1753; m. Nathaniel Fisk, April 21, 1772;
Asahel, b. April 21, 1755; settled early in Kirby, VT;
Twins: Moses, b. February 14, 1759
Aaron, b. February 14, 1759; Aaron lived in Westmoreland, NH, m. Naomi Temple 1782; d. February 23, 1702. He was the father of six children, the youngest of whom was Aaron6.
Miriam, b. November 15, 1761;
John, b. February 12, 1764; m. Susan Fairbank February 16, 1782; d. May 15, 1789, aged 28 years.
Aaron Burt is said to have had fifteen children; five died young, ten grew to maturity and married.
Moses Burt (6th generation), son of Aaron Burt, was born in Northfield, MA, February 14, 1759. He married in 1783, Submittey Ross, who was born in 1766, and died September 12, 1828. Moses Burt died October 29, 1843.
Moses was a twin, brother of Aaron. He was born ten hours before his brother, and they were marked with very different physical characteristics, while Moses had light hair and blue eyes, Aaron had red hair and black eyes. Moses lived with his father and worked for him in the several departments of business in which his father was engaged, until he was about twenty years of age. Having a little disagreement with him in religious sentiments – his father was a Shaker, a disciple of Ann Lee – he left his employ, went up the Connecticut River, and settled in Walpole, NH, in 1775. He purchased what was known as the Chandler meadow, in company with Samuel Wier, who married Moses’ sister Hannah, who was born November 9, 1750, died March 31, 1795, and is buried in Westmoreland, NH. It is current that his parents were not willing that Wier should marry Hannah, and forbade his presence in their family, but Wier persisted in carrying out his plans, and stole her out of the chamber window, and went up the river and settled in Walpole, NH. Wier and Moses Burt bought jointly a very large tract of meadow land (which today constitutes several of the best farms in Walpole), from the State of New Hampshire, I suppose as confiscated lands of a Tory, who left the country during the war of the Revolution. When peace was proclaimed, the heirs of the Tory came to Walpole and set up a claim to the lands. But Burt and Wier went into litigation to see who should hold the estate. The case was in the courts for twenty years and was at last decided against them. This lawsuit was a great task imposed upon Moses’ mental powers, and a heavy tax upon his purse. After this perplexing case was ended, he confined his farming skill to his other lands, not included in the confiscated purchase, and made an elegant farm, now known as the Burt Homestead.
Moses Burt was one of the old Revolutionary patriots. On August 16, 1777, was fought the Battle of Bennington, which decided the fate of Burgoyne. During the day the booming of cannons was distinctly on the hills and in the valleys of Walpole. He with other men was harvesting wheat in his fields, when they heard the reports of cannon reverberating from mountain to mountain and echoing among the valleys. This kindled a flame of patriotism in their natures, and he and his men started immediately for the seat of war. He enlisted in the army for three months, and then to Ticonderoga, expecting to have a battle on the next day after their arrival; but owing to Stark’s victory at Bennington, the fighting ceased and he returned home. He was soon drafted to serve nine months more, but he tired of the soldier’s life and hired a man to take his place, paying him by letting him have a fine brindle cow.
Moses was a pioneer farmer, of sterling habits of industry, and integrity, and commanded the respect and commendation of the entire community of which he lived. He nevertheless possessed some very marked traits of character. In his last declining years, when the weakening hand of age had touched both body and mind, he used to tell daily the little incidents of his early life, to those who visited him.
The grandchildren who were born and reared under the same roof can, in memory, see the old gentleman in his second childhood, seated in his armchair before a blazing wood fire, his fair, happy face lighted with smiles, as he sat with smoking pipe in hand recounting incidents in his early life and sang the songs of long ago.
He often told of how he was engaged to be married to a girl whose father was in good circumstances; but it happened that there was to be a dancing party to which she wanted to go, but feeling "tired" and feeling no desire to dance, he refused to go, so that it broke the engagement. As he left he told her there was as good fish in the sea as ever were caught. He soon gained the favor of a fair young woman who proved a congenial companion. When the first lady love knew that her discarded lover was to wed a poor girl, she said she should like to see how the bride would be dressed. Moses, hearing of this, bought for the wedding dress six yards of chintz at one dollar per yard. He said he was proud of his tall, fair bride when dressed in this gown, and after the marriage ceremony, he took pains to walk past the first girl’s father’s house, that she might see how finely his bride was dressed. Wasn’t that true Burt grit?
He often told how he went up to old "Ti" to whip Burgoyne and that he heard the guns at Bennington, when he was getting in his last load of what. He always said the first bloodshed in the Revolution was just over the river in Westminster, VT, a little above his farm. About the year 1830, he with his two unmarried daughters, went in an old fashioned wagon – one of the first ever used in town – to Stockholm, NY, to visit a daughter and her family living there; they were a week performing the journey – very different from the transportation of today. Then the slow-moving coach carried the tardy letters to the friend, who had to pay twenty-five cents postage when received.
While stopping at his daughter’s, he attended the funeral of a neighbor’s child, and he became disgusted with what the officiating clergyman said. He often told it in this way:
"The minister born down pretty hard on the father of the child, telling him the child’s death was caused by his getting in hay on Sunday. After he got through with his discourse, I being a stranger there, he came to see me and asked where I came from. I told him from Walpole, NH. The next question was, ‘What church do you belong to?’ I told him, in the beginning of the Revolution I set out to be a free man, and of course I never joined a church, for if I had, and had not lived up to all their superstitious notions, they would have called me up and given me what is called a ‘church mauling.’ He left me without anymore questions.
In his religious sentiments he was liberal, an extensive reader, a close, deep investigator, and firm and strong in his conclusions. He was in those times a confirmed Restorationist. In his politics, he was always a staunch Democrat of the Jeffersonian and Jacksonian type.
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Occupation
1893 , Clark W. Bryan Co., Springfield MA
David's occupation was that of farmer and land surveyor. In 1657 he was chosen to the office of town measurer of lands and would appear to have held it until his death, thirty-tinee years later. The town measurers laid out all lands, using a chain, and keeping record of the length of lines and definition of the corners. At these latter were planted stakes on which were inscribed the initials of the owner's name. The corners of the larger tracts were marked by some stable natural object, as a blazed tree, stump or rock. These surveys, though made with such simple instruments, were measurably accurate. The first surveyor's compass used at Northampton was owned by Timothy Dwight, born in 1694, and who was grandfather of the first President Dwight of Yale College. In 1657 it was voted by the Northampton townsmen that town measurers should receive as "their wages 12d a house lot. & other lotts t7jd. pr. acre in Munhan & in ye divisions 26 per acre." As the lots were always of moderate size there was a large number of lines to be run and boundaries to be marked in each square mile of territory. It was a distinguishing characteristic of the New England settlement that only so much land was occupied by each owner as he wanted for actual use and that none was taken for rental or to enjoy a future "unearned increment."
The great plantations in Virginia and the vast patents of land in New York had no counterpart in Massachusetts. At a later day there were a few speculative purchases of land, but nothing comparable with the grand estates in New York, some of which became the cause of great political disturbance and even of insurrection. This indicates the more democratic spirit that inspired the immigrants to New England, among whom there were many wealthy men, yet none were inclined to introduce in the new country the English system of tenancy by lease derived from feudal origin. The primary principle was that every man should be the owner in fee simple of enough land for the subsistence of his family and thus moderate holdings were for a long period the universal rule.
bevpeterson306added this on 18 Feb 2010
from "Early days in New England: Life and times of Henry Burt of Springfield and Some of His Descendants" - By Henry Martyn Burt, Silas Wright Burt,
found on ancestry.com

Move to Northampton
1893 , Clark W. Bryan Co., Springfield MA
Among those who earliest repaired to this new plantation was David, the second son of Henry and Eulalia Burt of Springfield. Born in England, David came to Massachusetts with his parents, residing with them at Roxbury and Springfield, until the founding of this new town. In the Springfield records, under date of January 10, 1652, is found this entry: "By the Selectmen, There is granted unto David Burt two acres of meddow lying next adjoining to his father Henry Burt's meddow, provided he abide in the town five years, but if he remove before five years be expired he shall yield it up unto the Towne again, provided the Town pay him for what costs he shall be at about the said lot as two indifferent men shall judge." Across the face of this record is written, '• This grant fell into the town hand again," and below is recorded, " This two acres of meddow was given to Henry Burt at a Town meeting 8 February, 1654." It is therefore certain that David moved to Nonotuck, very early in 1654.
bevpeterson306added this on 18 Feb 2010
from "Early days in New England: Life and times of Henry Burt of Springfield and Some of His Descendants" - By Henry Martyn Burt, Silas Wright Burt,
found on ancestry.com

David Burt (1632-1690)
From Burnham, Roderick H. "Genealogical Records of Henry and Ulalia Burt". Warwick, NY, Elizabeth Burt, 1892:Mr. [David] Burt was one of the first settlers of Northampton, in 1654. His homestead was on King Street. The ceremony of his marriage to Mary Holton was the first ever performed in Northampton. In 1656 he was chosen one of the measurers of land. His widow married for second husband, 1692 or 3, Joseph Root, and died in Northfield, Mass. She was daughter of Dea. Wm. Holton. David, the oldest son, was run over by a cart and killed. ('The jury apprehendinge that the child being busy about the carte which carted his father's corne he was trodden down by the carte or cattell noe person knowinge: this sad accident fell on ye 30th of 6th mo., 1660. [1660-09-30])' David, the seventh child, was a soldier at Schenectady, taken by the French and Indians, Feb. 9, 1690, and carried to Canada, whence he never returned. Mary, the daughter, had three children; she married for second husband May 7, 1713, Samuel Belden, the younger of Hatfield, Mass.; her first husband also was of Hatfield; she was his second wife. John, the youngest child, was one of a war party that started up the river against the Indians. He was killed on Onion River, near Lake Champlain."Burnham gives both 1630 and 1632 as his birth year.(Notes compiled by P. E. Schilling)
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