He chose the little settlement of Manchester, which was situated in a broad valley in southwestern Vermont between the Green and Taconic Mountains.  It is today the quintessential picture book Vermont village of neatly painted houses and white church with a towering steeple.

       Mary and John set about grazing livestock, gathering maple sap for making syrup and raising a family of eight children.  They probably lived in the unique house/barn type of homestead prevalent in Vermont known as continuous construction.  The structure combines the house and barn through a connecting section into one long building, making winter chores more convenient during the region's heavy snows and average midwinter temperatures that often do not rise above freezing.

       But trouble between the colonies and the mother country was soon to engulf the couple. The British passed the Townshend Act that imposed a tax on imports from England.  It was reviled as taxation without representation in the colonies and was repealed three years later.  However, the tax on tea was retained, an irritant leading in 1773 to the Boston Tea Party when citizens disguised as Indians dumped tea from a ship into Boston Harbor. Within two years the war of American Independence was on.

       A Vermont man, Ethan Allen, led a group known as the Green Mountains Boys in the first victory for the colonials -- the taking of Fort Ticonderoga from the British in 1775.  One of the major conflicts of the war was the Battle of Bennington, about 22 miles south of the Smith home at Manchester.  It is known that several Smiths from Manchester served in these battles but their specific identity is unclear.  John Smith knew Ethan Allen, so he probably was among them.  A family memoir penned by an aged descendant noted, among other things, that Smith witnessed Allen capturing and hanging a horse thief.  There is a reference to a John Smith that ran with the "Boys" in "The History of Danby" by J.C. Williams.

       About that time the conservative and taciturn Vermont settlers declared themselves an independent republic, which lasted until 1791 when they finally joined the union and became the 14th state.  They may have been influenced by the first political cartoon, published earlier by Benjamin Franklin in his PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE.  It depicted a snake cut into several parts representing the colonies and bore the caption "Join or die."

       The new country was solidly joined and expanding west when John Smith died at the ripe old age of 90. 

 (Taken from: A Family History, by Donovan Faust, 1997)
 
 

       MANCHESTER, VERMONT LAND RECORDS 1766 - town meetings, marriages, births and pig ear markings (film 028548). T he formal beginning of town government began inauspiciously, with meetings held in townsfolk "dwellings."  This was government in it's best and simplest form - like minded people gathering together to organize the settlement and structure an agreeable means of commerce.  Week long Annual Town meetings took care of more formal discussions, while one day meetings were called to resolve specific concerns. Some of the results of these early meetings from The Record:
 

March 2nd, 1777 - Cap.t*Nathan Smith was Moderator for the Manchester Annual Meeting.

March 6th, 1777 - Voted that John Smith, Cap.t Nathan Smith and Tho.s Banney be a  Committee to Lay out Roads that Ensuing year.

March 8th, 1777 - Voted that John Smith be Path Master for the North end of Town. (Selectman)

November 8th, 1778 - John Smith Path Master for the North End of the Town on the main road.

April 11th, 1779 - Voted that Doc.t John Page, Gideon Barber and Cap.t Thomas Bull be grand Jurymen the Ensuing year.

April 20th, 1779 - M.r George Smith Chosen Grand Juryman for the present year. Voted to build a Meeting House 40 by 36 feet and two Story high as near Christopher Roberts as the Ground and Circumstances will Admit. Mr.s Nathaniel Boorm, Liu.t Thaddeus Munfor, Cap.t Zadoc Everest, Cap.t Stephen Purl & Cap.t Thomas Bull Chosen as Committee to build Said House as soon as may be."

October 9th, 1780 - Nathan Smith part of committee to raise troops and provisions for same.

February 19th, 1781 - Approval was given to pay the Militia 3 shillings a day for each soldier who, "Turned out in the three last alarms."

January 12th, 1782 - Walterman Eillis sold George Smith 50 acres for 50 pounds.

November 19th, 1784 - Nathan Smith sold 55 acres for 60 pounds legal tender, witnessed by George Smith and S(eth) Harris. 
 

*Note: The author (J. P. Smith), has attempted to indicate the old English writing custom of a "hanging letter" that was used as a way to shorten up repetitive titles like, Captain. The "t" in Cap.t would be small and higher, or hanging, above the Cap.