History of Hartland, the 69th town in the Colony of Connecticut, Part 13

Author: Ransom, Stanley Austin, 1897-
Publication date: 1961
Publisher: Hartland] Hartland Bi-centennial Committee
Number of Pages: 212


USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartland > History of Hartland, the 69th town in the Colony of Connecticut > Part 13


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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E.H. 82a-186a


Stephens, Preeda


Perkins, Phineas, Jr.


Strong, Eli


W.H. 217


Perkins, Phineas, Sr.


E.H. 84-180a


Taylor, Childs


E.H. 68-W.H. 60


Phelps, Charles


E.H. 66


Taylor, Prince


W.H. 60


Porter, Justus


E.H. 174


Tiffany, Timothy


W.H. 20


Porter, Thomas


E.H. 174


Treat, George


W.H. 40


Post, Ebenezer


E.H. 182


Treat, John


W.H.


43


Pratt, Nathaniel


E.H.


82


Warner, Aaron


E.H. 110


Reed, Benjamin


E.H. 93


Waters, Abner, Jr.


E.H.


84a


Reed, Elijah


E.H. 93


Waters, John


Rexford, William


W.H. 12-45


Weir, Samuel


Rice, Jonathan


W.H.


16


W.H. 12-45


Roberts, Seth


E.H. 134


Wilder, Gamaliel


W.H. 21-139


Pratt, Phineas


Wilder, John


W.H. 13


Robinson, John


W.H.


82


Wilder, Jonathan


W.H. 12-13-21


Rood, David


Wilder, Moses


Ruby, Thomas


W.H.


22


Wilder, Thomas


W.H. 14-21


Sanders, David


E.H.


92


Wilson, John


W.H. 108


Sawyer, Asa


E.H. 165


Woodbridge, David


W.H. 48


Sawyer, Jacob


E.H. 165


Woodbridge, Rev. Samuel


Sawyer, Samuel


H.H. 165


Woodruff, Joseph


E.H. 121


Scovel, Michael


E.H. 97


Wooster, Moses


Seward, Daniel


W.H.


91


Wright, Ephriam


E.H. 145a


Sheldon, Remembrance


E.H. 177


Wright, William


E.H. 145a


Shephard, George


W.H.


72


Wright, Beriah


E.H. 145a


Shephard, Daniel


W.H.


72


Wright, Ezekiel


E.H. 11


Shipman, Samuel


E.H. 91


Zenas, Bruce


Selvee, William


Since the above list was compiled, three Hartland men have been added. Probably more will be found later. Their names are as follows:


Baxter, William E.H. 31A


Griswold, Caleb


Ruick, Owen


E.H. 92-186A


The total of Hartland men known to have served in the Revolution- War has now reached the figure of 359.


THE FOLLOWING HARTLAND MEN FOUGHT IN THE WAR OF 1812


Adams, George


E.H. 182


Burnham, Isaac


E.H. 80


Andrews, Nehemiah


E.H. 24


Burnham, Thomas E.H. 157


Banning, Benjamin


Bushnell, Abner


E.H. 21


*Banning, Calvin


E.H. 134


Bushnell, Jedediah


W.H. 169


Bates, John, Jr.


E.H. 176


Bushnell, Martin


W.H. 65


Beach, Calvin


W.H. 134


Bushnell, Stephen


E.H. 165


Beach, Charles


W.H. 134


Clark, Chauncey


E.H. 96


Beach, Elias


W.H. 134


Clark, Nathaniel


E.H. 103


Beach, Elihu


W.H. 134


Church, David


E.H. 122


Belden, Ebenezer


W.H. 130


Church, Jonathan


E.H. 122


Wilder, Ephriam


133


Church, Robert


E.H. 122


*Hayes, Gaylord


E.H. 40a


Church, Uriah


E.H. 85 Hoadley, Ebenezer


E.H. 28


*Cowles, Elisha


E.H. 132


*Hosmer, Collins


E.H. 90


Daniels, David


E.H. 108


Jones, Daniel


E.H. 106


Ensign, Moses, Jr.


Jones, Elam


Fox, Samuel, Jr.


Jones, Sylvester


E.H. 108-126


*Fuller, Henry


E.H.


48


King, Stephen


E.H.


94


Fuller, William


E.H.


13


Latham, Chester


E.H. 12


Gates, John


E.H.


3


Latham, David


E.H.G. 5


Gates, Braziliel


W.H.


21


Loomis, Chauncy


Over B. Line


*Gates, Samuel


E.H. 5


*Loomis, Luke


E.H. 86


Giddings, Orris


E.H.


52


*Moses, Martin


E.H. 57


Giddings, Erastus


E.H.


27


* Olmstead, Timothy


W.H. 21


Giddings, Loraine


E.H. 185


Perkins, Elisha


E.H. 84-18


H.H.


69


Perkins, Phineas


E.H.


84


Gilbert, Jonathan


W.H.


28


Wright, Bildad


W.H. 152


Hayden, Nathaniel


W.H. 66


Wright, Henry


W.H. 152


*Hayes, Ezekiel


B. 222


*Names marked with a star fought in both the War of 1812 and the War of the American Revolution.


CIVIL WAR


In 1860 the population of Hartland had dropped to 846 - a loss of 472 from the high of 1318 in 1800. The Civil War did not find as great a response as that of earlier days. Some inducement had to be offered, and at a Special Town Meeting held on July 23rd, 1862, it was voted: "That the Town pay $100.00 to each volunteer from this Town immedi- ately after he shall have been accepted and sworn into the United States service to fill the quota from the town, of the 300,000 men called by the President."


Eventually, 49 men answered the call.


THE FOLLOWING HARTLAND MEN FOUGHT IN THE CIVIL WAR


Alford, Samuel


E.H. 33


Coe, Leverett H.


W.H. 83


Banning, Alman C.


E.H. 135


Coe, Nathan


W.H. 83


Banning, Elbert J.


E.H. 67


Cook, Sylvester T.


E.H. 63


Banning, John F.


E.H. 140


Couch, George


E.H. 144


Banning, Richmond H.


E.H. 134


Cowdrey, Junis H.


E.H. 117


Barnes, Ham A.


E.H. 137


Cowdrey, Theron L.


E.H. 19


Braman, Leonard


Emmons, Casseus


E.H. 103


Bunnell, Solomon J.


E.H.G.


1


Emmons, Henry N.


E.H. 221


Carrier, Miletus


E.H. 219


Emmons, James C.


E.H. 63


Carrier, Samuel


E.H. 218


Emmons. Leverett


E.H. 103


Clark, Chauncey


Farley, Patrick


W.H.


201


Clark, Franklin


E.H. 64


Gates, Henry J.


E.H.


1


Clark, George H.


E.H. 114


*Gibbs, Samuel


W.H.


83


Clark. Marcellus


E.H. 152


Gower, Edwin J.


E.H.


48


Clark, Miles C.


E.H. 156


Gower, James E.


E.H.


48


Clark, William W.


E.H. 64


Hyer, Elizer


E.H. 57


Coe, DeWitt C.


E.H 137


Jones, Alazno S.


E.H. 123


*


Meacham. Dennis


W.H. 168


Perkins, Eliphat


E.H. 84-18


Gates, Uriah


E.H.


6


Military History


134


History of Hartland


Lawton, Samuel


E.H. 26 Simmons, John F.


W.H. 201


Loomis, George M.


E.H. 234


Squire, Hiram


W.H. 35


Loomis, Henry M. E.H. 234 Thompson, Francis


E.H. 160


Moore, Andrew N. E.H. 32 Tillotson, LaFayette


E.H. 181


Moore. Richard


E.H. 55 Twining, Charles E.


E.H. 164


O'Neal, John


E.H. 93


Viets, Charles W.


E.H. 2


Roberts, John O.


E.H. 93


Warner, Hiram L.


E.H. 113


Rowe, Rodolphus D. E.H. 29


*"Killed at Cold Harbor, Va. June 1. 1864 and there buried." (From monu- ment in West Hartland Cemetery.)


THE FOLLOWING HARTLAND MEN SERVED IN WORLD WAR I (List compiled from names listed in Vol. 2 Service Records of Connecticut, Page 1217)


Gorse, Harry J. Jr. E.H. 139 Ransom, Stanley A. W.H.


McLean, Roderick, Jr. H.H. 168 Schwaller, Fred A. E.H. 33


Nelson, Carl O., Jr. W.H. 30 Wallace, William James


Ransom, Charles M. E.H. 81 Wright, F. Cossitte E.H. 7


The following additional names appear on list compiled by David N. Gaines, as printed in program of Bunker Hill Day Celebration of June 17, 1930:


Frazier, Everett


H.H. 183 Hopkins, Charles E. W.H.


Hayes, Lewis


E.H.G. 12 Stratton, Irving H.H. 171


THE FOLLOWING HARTLAND MEN SERVED IN WORLD WAR II - 1941 to 1945


(List compiled from names appearing on Honor Roll located in Hartland's Town Halls.)


Anstett, Richard P.


Barber, John R.


Bayard, Lloyd


Berg, Arthur C.


Gundersen, Jacob, Jr.


Bettinger, Fred A.


Hayes, Russell E.


Brady, Bernard


Kelley, Harold M.


Brunies, Robert


Kittlesen. Christian


Cole, Herbert L.


Cole, Walter E.


Crain, Maurice


Parmelee, Elliot L.


Dalene, Henry A.


Pedersen, Peder T.


Delton, John, Jr.


Pedersen, Robert N.


Delton, Walter


Ransom, Donald


Derose, Frank


Ransom, Ernest H.


Derose, Louis, Jr.


Ransom, Gordon D.


*Derose, William


Ransom, Lawrence E.


Ransom, Leonard B.


Ransom, Stanley A., Jr.


*Elson. Albert G. Emerick, Charles L.


*Emerick. Kenneth J. Goetz, George, Jr. Gower, George W.


Larsen, Olaf Law, Robert R.


Crunden, Clayton E.


Pasquariello, Anthony


135


Military History


Rosati, Maurice


Thomas, Russell


Skaret, Oscar


Tuffy, John W.


Skaret, Stanley L.


Williams, Milton C.


Stipek, Rev. Charles W.


Wright, Frederick C.


Sturman, Martin E.


Wright, Gordon C.


*Deceased while in the service of their country.


During World War II both men and women played an active and important part in the Civil Defense program. A system of Air Raid Warning Signals was established and functioned throughout the con- flict.


In addition, an Observation Post for spotting aeroplanes was set up in West Hartland. The building was located on the site of the old "Town Pound" and was manned on a 24-hour schedule by local men and wom- en. The material and work used in construction was obtained from "scrap drives" and volunteer labor.


Later, a similar Post was set up in East Hartland, being located on the roof of the Town Garage. This was maintained on the same basis with both men and women of East Hartland contributing their volun- tary services over a long period.


The introduction of Radar Systems made the work of the Posts obsolete and they were discontinued.


A Civil Defense program has been inaugurated and still functions under the direction of the Selectmen, with Warren Pinter as Co-ordina- tor and Stanley A. Ransom as assistant.


MEMORIALS


Memorials for Hartland's Soldiers and War dead are not too numer- ous. A tree for every Hartland soldier serving in the Revolutionary War was planted in a field adjacent to the East Hartland Cemetery, and is now a young forest.


A flag-pole with field-stone base was erected in West Hartland on the grounds of the Second Congregational Church, with bronze plaque:


"In memory of Sgt. Albert Elson who was killed on Okinawa."


The money was obtained from subscriptions of West Hartland residents, and from friends and associates at the Wm. L. Gilbert Clock Company in Winsted.


Bronze plaques in the form of an "Honor Roll" containing the names of those from Hartland who served in World War II have been placed in the Town Hall Auditoriums of both East and West Hartland. These were erected by vote and authorization of the entire Town of Hartland as an expression to honor those who served their country during this period.


There are many more, however, who still lic-


"Under the sod and the dew, Waiting the Judgment Day," who await their turn to be signally honored.


CHAPTER XI


Reservoirs, Fields and Forests


A HISTORY OF THE WATER BUREAU OF THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT OF HARTFORD, CONN. AND ITS ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE TOWN OF HARTLAND


(By Stanley A. Ransom)


After a period of over two hundred years much of the land con- tained in the Town of Hartland originally given to the tax-payers of Hartford, whose names appeared on Hartford's tax list of 1720, was to return indirectly to them in a form and manner undreamed of through the two centuries which had elapsed since their first ownership.


That section of Hartland comprising a deep valley lying between the East and the West Mountains had over the years become generally known as "Hartland Hollow". Because of the alluvial soil deposits which had accumulated for centuries along the East Branch of the Farming- ton, it had become an area of fertile farms whose occupants, for the most part, had lived in their ancestral homes and tilled the land for generations.


On the northern boundary of this section next to the Massachusetts line were located the earliest saw and grist mills because of the natural water power sites. Two centuries of incessant toil had brought the land in this valley to a high state of fertility, and tobacco, potatoes and corn were raised in abundance. Herds of the dairy farmers grazed in the peaceful pastures. Never thickly populated and having no church or social center, the inhabitants joined in the community life of the East or West village according to personal choice. Nevertheless, two district schools were maintained for many years, known as the North Hollow and the South Hollow Districts. Also, a post office was located in the North Hollow section. Hartland Hollow was also the site of the local government, as the Town Hall was located in this area because of its being in the geographical center of the town.


The need for an additional water supply by Hartford and the towns which later joined in the formation of the Metropolitan District was first voiced in the mid 1920's. Even before the necessary legislation was introduced, land purchases were made in the neighboring town of Bark- hamsted on a limited scale, and it was not until 1929 that a bill for con-


Reservoirs, Fields and Forests


-Courtesy Metropolitan District Commission


The Hogback Pool on the West Branch of the Farmington. Bridge erected in 1955 by Metropolitan District Commission. No bridge before that date.


137


138


History of Hartland


struction of a dam and reservoir in Barkhamsted was introduced in the 1929 General Assembly. The legislation was opposed by both Barkham- sted and Hartland and became the subject of much publie controversy. The bill failed of passage at that time. The "handwriting on the wall" however had become clear to the citizens of Hartland and Barkhamsted.


In the meantime some of the more anxious land owners continued to sell substantial acreage in both towns so that by 1931 the Metropoli- tan District was in a much better position, both in Barkhamsted and Hartland, to gain support for the proposed dam and reservoir. New leg- islation containing inany compromises and revisions from the original plan was introduced in the 1931 session of the General Assembly, and after much public controversy as well as heated debates among the residents and representatives of the towns affected, Bill No. 505 of the Special Acts of 1931, known as the East Branch Water Supply Act was passed and made a law on May 14, 1931.


The passage of this legislation gave the Metropolitan District the authority to proceed with the construction of the Barkhamsted Reser- voir and the Saville Dam, and acquisition of additional land in Hart- land by the Metropolitan District began in earnest. It was by this act that the doom of Hartland Hollow was forever sealed so far as the fore- seeable future is concerned. The ultimate result was the town being split into two separate communities having a reservoir occupying the entire breadth of the town and lying between the two sections called the East and the West Mountains.


Courtesy Byron C. Stratton


Home of Azariah Stebbins in Hartland Hollow. Later the home of Byron and Dorothy Stratton


139


Reservoirs, Fields and Forests


The effect of removing such a large area from habitation was a blow from which the town of Hartland has never fully recovered and has served in some measure to promote the traditional rivalry between the two remaining communities.


When it became known for a certainty that Hartland Hollow and much of the area comprising the West Mountain was to be eventually acquired by the Metropolitan District for reservoir and water shed pur- poses, there were feelings of mixed emotions on the part of those in- habitants directly affected. Some congratulated themselves on their good fortune in having their land acquired at above the average market price, while others, whose roots ran deep in Hartland soil, were re- luctant to relinquish their ancestral acreage. It was only a matter of a few years, however, before most of them had become reconciled to their fate, had disposed of their property and migrated to nearby towns.


The following is a list of some of the larger land purchases made by the Metropolitan District in the Hartland Hollow and West Mount- ain sections for Reservoir and Water Shed purposes:


Acres


Acres


1. Isabel C. Emerick


53


15.


Clifford Cable


140


2. Joanna D. Carrier


60


16. Byron C. Stratton


344


3. Amos R. Holcomb


55


17. Arthur H. Miller


137


4. Waldo Miller


220


18. Talcott T. Banning


160


5. Wilbur S. Miller


256


19. Augustus Feley


345


6. J. Alfred Cables


205


20. Ford Bros.


167


7.


G. H. Elton


187


21. Elnora Snow


238


8. Achille Fornatoro


242


22.


John Foster, et ux


251


9. Amy and Edith Miller


128


23.


Newgate Coon Club


89


10. Anna Schramm


80


24. Theodore N. Irwin


68


11. F. D. Stevens, et ux


95


25. Est. Mary Talcott


87


12. Florence N. Irwin


226


26. John Nelson


69


13. E. A. Gaylord


139


27.


Mary French


50


14. L. M. Dickinson


208


28.


Anna Henderson


55


The decade 1930-1940 marked the end of Hartland Hollow as a place of habitation for the living and the dead. The Town Hall, the two school-houses, and the roads and bridges were sold to the Metropolitan District by the Town of Hartland, and one by one the farms were ac- quired, the houses razed, and the occupants departed, "nor failed to cast one longing, lingering look behind." The Hartland Hollow Cemetery was moved to a new location adjoining the one in West Hartland, and by special request some of the graves to East Hartland and other places.


Popular sentiment rose to the occasion and became the subject of the muse in high and low places. Odell Shepard in his book, Connecticut Past and Present, has the following lines entitled "Lament for Hart- land:"


"Nine miles there were of still and breathing beauty,


Of wedded wood and meadow stretching down


From Massachusetts into Satan's Kingdom.


Two hundred years of toil had made them human; A thousand toilsome lives had made them fair;


140


History of Hartland


"The fields were cleared, the granite walls were builded, And underneath the soil their hands had labored The little helpless groups of toilers slept . Still may they slumber, and never know till Doomsday That we have sunk their homes ten fathom deep; But if the dead arise, grant, Lord, I may be present When those who made that vale meet those who slew!"*


-Courtesy Alice Cables Calabrese


View from Lookout on West Mountain Road showing flooded section of North Hartland Hollow


While under date of August 28, 1932 there appeared in the Hartford Courant the following poem written by an unknown who used the nom- de-plume "Full Fathom Five":


"No more will Hartland farms be spread By many a dusty, winding road, Or know the eager homing tread Of sons they reared to serve abroad.


"Tho' Nature's floods were always kind To homes along the Farmington The meddler, Man, now bends his mind To drown the valley, waste the town.


"So close the church, dismiss the school And seek us distant homes and strange;


No more we'll meet to vote and rule The town or go to monthly Grange.


"For deep across the Hollow soon Will rise the prisoned water's gleam,


That Hartford's streets may claim the boon Of Hartland's one-time crystal stream.


141


Reservoirs, Fields and Forests


"And few will know, or few will care That Hartland homes are stricken down,


For this is but a small affair,


The drowning of a little town."


Hartland gradually became adjusted to the new situation and to derive some indirect benefits from it. The 191/2 miles of highway aban- doned on the East Branch was replaced by 111/2 miles of new highway at a cost of nearly one-half million dollars. The land acquired by the Metropolitan District was subject to higher assessment and a corres- ponding increase in tax revenue. Although the distance from West to East Hartland was increased by some four miles, the scenic drive along the picturesque reservoir and the improved grades of the new road compensated to a great extent for the increased mileage.


The acquisition by the Metropolitan District Commission of so much acreage on the West Mountain for watershed purposes, however, eliminated once and for all any possibility of a potential development of this land for building purposes.


Hartland had hardly become accustomed to its central reservoir and divided communities when once again the Metropolitan District Commission made demands upon the sparkling waters of the West Branch of the Farmington as it pursued its rapid course through the southwest corner of the town.


The necessity for this additional request and its subsequent approv- al is explained by the Metropolitan District as follows:


"In the World War II years and those that followed, the District's water demands were even more greatly accelerated under the impetus of a tremendous industrial boom. The District sought approval for its plans to impound the floodwaters of the West Branch of the Farmington River and carry the water through a tunnel to Barkhamsted Reservoir.


"History repeated itself. Again there were sharp public debates about the necessity or wisdom of tapping new sources of water supply. A bill authorizing the creation of 'Hogback' Dam and Reservoir found its way before the 1945 General Assembly. The name 'Hogback'-at one time called 'Hogsback'-arose from the peculiar terrain of the coun- tryside where the projected damnsite and reservoir in the towns of Hart- land and Colebrook were to be located. The 1945 General Assembly turned down the bill.


"The Hogback proposal came up again before the 1947 General Assembly and again the bill was defeated. During the next several months the District and the bill's opponents reached a compromise over certain controversial points. As a result the 1949 Assembly passed a bill authorizing construction of the Hogback project."


Based on the original proposal the "Hogback" project would have necessitated the acquisition of the entire western part of the town in- cluding control of Hartland Pond and its drainage area. The contempla- tion of such an additional catastrophe brought dismay and despair to an already unhappy citizenry. The adjoining town of Colebrook, how- ever, was the one to eventually suffer the severest blow from this new development.


142


History of Hartland


One of the compromises agreed upon was that the Dean (sometimes called the Thorne) Brook which carries the overflow of Hartland Pond was to be diverted so that it would enter the river below the site of the proposed dam, thus eliminating any possibility of contamination, should the water in the proposed reservoir eventually be used for drinking pur- poses. This provision made it no longer necessary for the Metropolitan District to acquire this water shed area, and the entire project became more palatable to the residents of Hartland. Also, in view of this change it was necessary for the Metropolitan District to purchase only 600 acres within the Town of Hartland instead of the entire Hartland Pond sec- tion, and this included the land necessary for the proposed tunnel from the Hogback Reservoir under the mountain to the Barkhamsted Reser- voir on the East Branch.


Of the 104 square miles of water shed area in the Hogback Reser- voir Development there are only approximately 600 acres within the Town of Hartland but the Charles A. Goodwin Dam and the tunnel from one Reservoir to the other are both located in Hartland. The Goodwin Dam has now been completed but construction of the tunnel is still in progress.


Taking into consideration the land purchased by the Metropolitan District within the Town of Hartland for both the Hartland Hollow and Hogsback developments, the total acreage acquired amounts to more than 5,000 acres for which they have expended slightly more than $400,000, or a rough average of $80. per acre. At the present time the Metropolitan District owns more than 20% of the acreage contained in the entire town, and since 1930 they have paid in property taxes to the Town of Hartland more than $250,000.


The name "Hogsback" which later became shortened to "Hogback" and the section immediately surrounding this area is worthy of a more detailed description. The name originated because of a steep hill in the road leading from Colebrook River to Riverton, as it wound along the East Bank of the West Branch of the Farmington River. A ledge of rock in the river extended eastward some 150 feet, and the road passed over the top of a hill with a steep ascent on one side and an equally steep descent on the other, the sides and the top forming an arc similar to a half-circle. This section of the road became known as the "Hogback" from the time this section was first settled.


This was one of the most picturesque and scenic spots along the West Branch. In the early days the old road was a much traveled thor- oughfare, it being one of the Stagecoach routes from Hartford to Pitts- field and Albany. Immediately north of the Hogback was a stretch of comparatively level land which was early developed into one of the few farms along this road between Hitchcockville and Colebrook River. No bridge ever spanned the stream at this point but there was a ford across the river used, except at flood stage, to connect the road from Hartland to the one emerging at the top of Eno Hill in Robertsville.


Jonathan Bates built his homestead on the West Side of the river in 1780, and his sons, John and David, continued to occupy the place until around 1860 when it became the property of Harlow Dean. On the


143


Reservoirs, Fields and Forests


East Side of the River directly opposite the Bates homestead, Isaac Bushnell built a substantial farm-house and outbuildings shortly after 1800. He also operated a saw-mill at this location. The records show that he lived at this location from 1815 to 1852. In 1852 Peletiah Ran- som ran a hotel here for some years, or Country Inn along the stage- coach road, and later sold to Loren De Wolfe. Both of these places were acquired shortly after by Harlow Dean and his wife, Mary (Church) Dean. From then on it became generally known and commonly called "the Dean place", while the brook originating from the overflow of Hartland Pond and entering the river at this location became com- monly known as the "Dean Brook".


Harlow Dean died in 1885 and his widow in 1903. It then became the property of his sons and daughters, but the buildings were not occu- pied and soon fell to decay. By 1925 there was hardly a trace of the once prosperous farm, mill or other activities in operation for so many years at this location.


There is, however, an interesting side-light in connection with the Dean heirs and their Hogback holdings - one that is almost forgotten by the present generation.


Harlow and Mary Dean had two sons and four daughters. Their daughter, Mary, married Uriah Nickerson, and had a son named Edwin.


After the death of their parents in 1885 and 1903, they became the heirs and sole owners of the Hogback properties which included the site of the present Goodwin Dan.


Nature had provided the necessary qualifications to make this spot an ideal location for the construction of a dam on either a large or small scale. Rock ledges extended into the stream on either bank, and the channel between them culminated in a large deep pool-a favorite spot for trout fishing or swimming in mid-summer. The heavily wooded areas on each bank contributed to making this a scene of sylvan beauty.




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