from The Guilford History Book, published by Broad Brook Grange 1961
Amy Martin
Among the earliest settlers of Guilford was Abijah Prince, colored, who was commonly known only as ‘Bijah. He was born in Connecticut, in the year 1706, and was a servant in the family of Rev. Doolittle, the first settled minister in Northfield, Mass., after whose death he was for some time in the service of Captain Ebenezer Wells of Deerfield.
In 1764 with his wife, Lucy, he settled on Lot No. 187, next northerly from the lot of John Noyes, on the hill northerly from the old Culver place, later known as the Daniels place, more recently owned by Charles Jacob, and then later owned by Charles Scholtz, in Dist. No. 10.
This lot was given to ‘Bijah by Col. David Field of Deerfield , who was one of the originalproprietors of Guilford. After the settlement on Lot 187 ‘Bijah and his family soon returned to Deerfield,where they remained for several years, but after a time they returned to Guilford, where he died on January 19, 1794.
There was much trouble between the Prince and Noyes families, for some reason which we are unable to discover, and ‘Bijah was harassed and annoyed in many ways, his fence torn down, hay ricks burned and otherwise troubled and injured to such an extent that recourse was finally had to the highest Tribunal within the state, the Governors council.
Miller Road in Guilford near Bijah’s homestead, has been renamed because of Vermont’s 911 program. Guilford’s Select Board has named it Prince Road after ‘Bijah.