Jonas Joslin :: Warning Out 1814

On September 29, 2009 I visited the Town Clerk's Office in Charlotte which lies on the east side of Lake Champlain in central Vermont.

According to the book “Vermont Warnings Out” by Alden M. Rollins (Picton Press, Camden, Maine, no date) there was a record of a “Warning Out” for Jonas Joslin in the Charlotte Town Records dated March 1, 1814. Apparently, occasionally, some town records for Warnings Out include additional information, including names of other family members. So I was hoping that the record for Jonas would contain more than just his name, but it was not to be. As a result, although I think it is, I don't know for sure if this is “our” Jonas Joslin or not.

By 1814, warnings out were generally issued by the town selectmen to poor people - those who, for whatever reason, could not take care of themselves or their families. They apparently had a year to prove otherwise. Mr. Rollins states that in Vermont, many were warned but few were expelled.

According to family tradition passed down by descendants of Jonas Joslin Jr., he and his older brother James (my ancestor) left Vermont in 1816 by canoe, via Lake Champlain, and went to Delaware County, Ohio. Charlotte is located on Lake Champlain. Could they have left from Charlotte?

Is the Jonas Joslin mentioned in the warnings out record the same one who purchased land in Delaware County, Ohio in October 1818? It is doubtful that we'll ever know for sure.

Town Records. Volume 2. Charlotte.

56.) Chittenden County. To either Constable of Charlotte in Said County Greeting

You are hereby commanded to Summon Jonas Joslin now residing in Charlotte to depart said town hereof fail not but of this precept and your doings thereon due return make according to law. Given under our hands Charlotte March 1st 1814

Sheldon Wheeler, Nehemiah Lowrey } Selectmen

Chittenden fs. I served this precept on the within Jonas Joslin by putting into his hands a true copy of this Summon. Charlotte March 1st 1814 ~ Ezra Halt Constable

Received March 3d 1814 and recorded from the original.
Attest Zadock Wheeler Town Clerk

Joslin-Dyer Marriage 1794

On September 25, 2009 I visited the Town Clerk's Office in Franklin which lies about a mile or so south of the Canadian Border in the north-central portion of Vermont. I knew that the marriage record for Jonas Joslin and Ruth Dyer, my 5th great-grandparents, was recorded in the Franklin town records. I was also hoping (but not very optimistic) that there would be a mention of them in the land or other records for the town. I did find the marriage record, but no other mention of them in the Franklin town records for the time period in which they would have been there.

Their marriage record is the second entry on the first page of the Town Records for Franklin, Vermont (the spine is labeled “Vital Records – Cattle Marks 1794-1854”).

Of course, their entry had to be the faintest one on that page! And the right side of that page is missing. Nearly illegible, just their names and the date can be deciphered. The Town Clerk wrote down September, crossed it out, and wrote February above it.

A certified copy of a transcription of the record was found in the Delaware County, Ohio Pioneer Families files the week before. It was dated August 9, 1988 and states that Jonas Joslin and Ruth Dyer were married on Feb. 6, 1794 and the marriage was recorded in the Franklin Town records by Samuel Peckham, Town Clerk.

Greetings from... Vermont!

Just a quick note to let my family and friends know that I am okay. It's been five days since my last post and I know I said I'd start posting more frequently, however, I've been off the grid since the morning of the 24th. No cell phone signal and no internet access! I've spent the past three hours or so at a public library in southern Vermont and will be leaving in a few minutes.

After departing Apple's place in Snowville and after looking at the map, I headed north through Adirondack state park. Yes, Apple, I know I said I was going to New Paltz, and I will, just not when I said I was...

I traveled all the way through the park, stopping frequently, taking my time. A very nice drive, which I highly recommend if you are ever in the area. At Malone, New York and just a few miles from Canada, it was east to Vermont. A quick stop at a Welcome Center for a map and I was on my way to the very small town of Franklin, a few miles east and just a mile south of the Canadian border. Franklin, Vermont is where my 5th great grandparents, Jonas Joslin and Ruth Dyer, were married in February 1794. After getting a copy of the record and looking through the journal for the time period, I headed south. Have stayed in several of Vermont's lovely state parks and am on my way to another. Going north again. Vermont is beautiful. Photographs don't do it justice.

Till later...