After his discharge at West Point in October of 1780 Asa Pratt (Sr) returned to his parents' home in Dublin, New Hampshire. Two years later he was in what is now Plymouth, Vermont, married to Betty Stanford, the first of his three wives. Plymouth was known as Saltash when he arrived. It was about ten years later that the name Plymouth was adopted.
Plymouth is about 70 miles northwest of Dublin, less than a two hour drive today. When Asa made the trip, probably in 1781, he was traveling without the burden of a family. I am guessing he probably walked carrying only a pack, but a heavy one.. Certainly he was used to it, given all the walking and marching he had done during the war. He probably could have walked it in two days, but I'll give him three. His trail was hilly, the scenery all new, and he didn't have a seargent yelling at him. Perhaps he was leading a pack-bearing ox. If so, he would have had to stick with the pace of the ox and give it time to forage. It could have taken longer if he was delayed in getting across the Connecticut River. He would have had to find a ferry, a ford, or build a raft. I am sure that in addition to his musket, his kit contained a reliable axe.
To follow his route on today's roads go west out of Dublin on Route 101 to the vicinity of Keene, then follow Route 12 into the Connecticut River valley. Follow the river north to Walpole and take the bridge across to US 5. Follow US 5 along the west bank of the river to Vermont Route 103 (Rockingham Road), then go northwest on 103 to Vermont Route 100, follow 100 north to Plymouth Union. There Route 100A forks to the northeast. Shortly you will arrive at Plymouth Notch and the Coolidge Homestead. Continuing down hill you are in Pinney Hollow. The Pratt homstead was somewhere in this valley.
In 1787 Betty died, leaving Asa with three children, the youngest but 6 months old. Two years later he went back to Dublin, married our ancestor Sarah Bond and brought her back to Plymouth. Whether he had help with those kids and who took care of them while he went back to New Hampshire to marry Sarah I of course can't know, but I speculate that a relative named Timothy had moved to Plymouth and perhaps married and settled in the same Pinney Hollow neighborhood. My only basis for this is that there is a Timothy Pratt and his wife Judith, a generation younger, buried in the same Five Corners Cemetery as Betty, Asa and Sarah.
I speculate that he walked back to Dublin but that he would have had to provide his new bride with a means to ride back to Plymouth.
Our ancestor Asa Jr was born about 1798 in Plymouth but he didn't travel far. He died at age 41 just a few miles down the valley in Bridgewater. He and his wife Alpha Bartlett must have moved to Rutland, Vermont, at some time since William Bond Pratt claimed that town as his birth place. Or maybe Alpha went to Rutland to have the baby? Rutland is about 27 miles west of Bridgewater.
NEXT: William Bond Pratt leaves New England.
Emailed Oct. 30
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