USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Norfolk > History of Norfolk, Litchfield County, Connecticut, 1744-1900 > Part 48
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Daniel Jun., the eldest son, settled in Otsego County, N. Y. Ebenezer, a farmer, spent his life in this town. His son Erastus and his descendants, one son and three grandsons, are the only Burrs remaining in town. Silas spent his life on the old home, where he died in 1866, aged 72. Daniel, son of Silas Burr, died unmarried in 1867, aged 31. Charles M. settled and still lives in Gove County, Kansas. Harriet, Mrs. James Kilburn, lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Martha, Mrs. Charles Stocking, near there. Charles M. Burr's service in the civil war is mentioned. Eunice, the youngest of the ten, married Benjamin Crissey, already men- tioned. Their eldest son, Warren, lives in Great Barrington, Mass. Another son, Deacon Ralph Israel, lives in this town. Their only daughter, Olive, married Plumb Brown, and four of their children are settled here. Plumb Jr., a physician, is settled in Springfield, Mass.
'Mr. Nathaniel Lee sold his place to Mr. Joshua Moses, and went to Vermont.' This place is a short distance east of Esq. Edmund Brown's farm, where William Eggleston now lives.
'Mr. Ammi Cadey lived on this road, a short distance west from where it joined the Goshen road. The old house is still standing; was the home of Samuel Johnson the last years of his life, and has had many occupants.
A Mr. Canfield at one time carried on a blacksmith's shop that - stood near where the bank building now stands.
"Mr. John Dowd lived in a house that stood down the hill where the hotel, the Norfolk House, now stands. (1857.) One of Mr. Dowd's sons, Elizur, was for many years a merchant here and has spent his life here." Another son, William, died here in 1846, at the age of 37, leaving several children. His son, David Lewis Dowd, owned, lived and died on the old Akins farm, west from the meeting-house.
"On the west side of the street, nearly opposite the Dowd house, Mr. John Rice lived. He and his family left town." A little later Mr. Munson Gaylord owned this place, and sold it to Messrs. Samuel and Warren Cone, and in 1818 Mr. Samuel Cone sold his interest in the place to his brother, Warren, who lived in
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
this house, and later built the house a little farther north, on the corner, as is mentioned elsewhere.
"The house just north of Dr. Welch's, "the old gambrel-roofed house," as it is called, was built for a store. Mr. Ezekiel Foster traded there." Auren Roys for a time had his 'apothecary shop' in this building, next door to the doctor, before he located on the green back of the church.
"On the west side of the road as we go to Canaan, at the forks of the road, Mr. Earl P. Pease lived. He had a woolen factory that stood near where the factory stood that was burnt. He was a son of Mr. Nathaniel Pease."
"On the road north, the Major Shepard house, where Mr. Samuel Canfield now lives, was built by Josiah Pettibone, son of Col. Giles Pettibone. This house is north of the bridge on wood- creek, or Haystack brook. A house stood near where Mr. Can- field's barn or wood-house is. Mr. Austin, the miller that tended the mill, lived here. Just north was the shop where Mr. Nathaniel Stevens made hats."
This old hat-shop was later used as a wagon-shop by David and Samuel Vail. There was a dam a little above to furnish power, the water being brought down to this shop in a flume. About fifty years ago this shop was made into a two-tenement dwelling house, and is still used as such, being in pretty good condition apparently yet.
"On the other side of the road where Mr. Samuel Vail lived, just north of the Methodist church, was a small house where Mr. Stephen Paine lived. He was a cloth dresser."
Sidney Root carried on this wagon shop for a time; lived in the house just mentioned, and died there of brain fever, when but a young man.
THE PETTIBONE FAMILY.
Colonel Giles Pettibone was one of the earliest settlers of this town, having come here before the incorporation of the town in 1758. He was a descendant of John Pettibone, who came from Wales to America in 1650, was admitted a citizen of Windsor, Conn., in 1658, and shortly after settled in Simsbury, and was the ancestor of all the Pettibone family in the United States.
The first town meeting was held at the house of Joshua Whit- ney, December 12, 1758; the second, December 20, 1758, and many subsequent meetings were held at Giles Pettibone's house. He was a very prominent and active man in all town affairs during almost half a century of the town's earliest history. He held repeatedly almost every important office in the town, and represented the
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COL. GILES PETTIBONE'S HOUSE.
MR. LEVI PETTIBONE.
THE OLD ROBBINS HOUSE.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
town in the General Assembly of the Colony and State in twenty- six sessions, being with William Walter, the representative, at the session in October, 1777, when the town was first represented. He was a justice of the peace for thirty years, judge of probate twenty-eight years, town-treasurer for nearly forty years.
Col. Pettibone died in 1810, and his son, Giles, Jun., who built, in 1794, and kept the hotel on the green, since known as the Shepard Hotel, died in 1811, aged 51.
Giles Pettibone, Jun., had but one son, Jonathan Humphrey, who kept the hotel after his father's death, was postmaster for many years, and died, unmarried, in 1832, at the age of 39.
The daughters of Giles Pettibone, Jr., were:
Sarah, who married Michael F. Mills.
Mary (Polly) married Giles Thompson.
Louisa, died unmarried, aged 21.
Julia married Deacon Amos Pettibone.
Eunice, died unmarried, 1871, aged 81.
Charlotte married Hiram Mills.
Susan died unmarried.
Dasiah Humphrey married Halsey Stevens.
Sereno, son of Col. Pettibone, graduated at Williams College in the class of 1800, taught school for some years, studied law, settled here in his native town; at a celebration July 4, 1801, was the orator of the occasion; was eminent as a civil engineer and sur- veyor. He died in this town when just in the prime of life, a man of fine ability and promise.
Rufus, son of Col. Pettibone, graduated at Williams College in 1805; studied law, and, for a time, practiced in Vernon, N. Y. He was a man of brilliant talents; went to Missouri; was a member of the constitutional convention of that state at its formation; was chief justice of the state, having been appointed by McNair, the first governor, and held that office until his early death in 1825. Mention is made of him in connection with his brother Levi.
Levi Pettibone, son of Col. Giles Pettibone, was born in this town December 17, 1780, and lived to the remarkable age of one hundred years, six months and seven days, his death occurring June 24, 1881. Mr. Pettibone was about three years old at the time of the close of the war of the Revolution. He remembered about Shay's rebellion in 1786 and '87, a few men here in his native town having had some little part in it, it is said. In the war of 1812 he was living in Pittsfield, Mass., and was drafted, but Governor Strong of that state denied the authority of the federal govern- ment to compel citizens of Massachusetts to fight outside the state, and Mr. Pettibone never fell into line, nor drew a pension. In 1817, in common with many others, he was attracted to the
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
Mississippi valley as a new world opened to energy and enterprise. Leaving Pittsfield he went to Vernon, N. Y., where his brother, Rufus Pettibone, was engaged in the practice of law, and urged him to "pull up stakes and go west." It was agreed that Levi should go on to Missouri on a prospecting tour, and return to Vernon to report, and, if favorable, the two brothers then should migrate to Missouri and make that state their home. Accordingly he made the long trip, taking the usual river and land route, reached Shawneetown, Illinois, and made the balance of the trip on horseback, via Kaskaskia to St. Louis. He returned to his brother and it was then decided to leave for St. Louis in the spring. Among the friends of Rufus Pettibone then residing in Vernon was Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, who determined to accompany the Pettibones, and share in the exploration of the geography, geology and mineralogy of the new west.
The usual route was to descend the Allegheny River from Olean, N. Y., to Pittsburg. At Olean Mr. Levi Pettibone made ready an 'ark,' as it was called, in which the party were to descend the river. The ark was built of stout planks, having a flat bottom; upon this posts were raised and a room for cooking and one for sleeping constructed; the whole covered with a flat roof.
Near the front were two long sweeps or oars, used to guide the unwieldy craft as it floated down the stream. At night they tied up, built a fire on shore, and cooked their food. They reached Pittsburg, after a descent of 300 miles, March 28th, 1818. Here they separated, the Pettibones pursuing the journey to St. Louis by the customary routes. Mr. Schoolcraft reached St. Louis the last of July; called on his friends the Pettibones, and spent three months in examining the mines in southwest Missouri, and in the fall of 1818 and the winter of 1819, in company with Levi Pettibone, made the celebrated exploration in Missouri beyond the line of settlements, to the Ozark mountains. The journey had about it much daring and adventure, and in the narrative which School- craft afterwards published, he thus refers to his companion, Pettibone: "He stood stoutly by me; was a reliable man, who could be counted upon in all weathers to do his part willingly." In some reminiscences, Mr. Pettibone said his father, Col. Giles Pettibone, took part in the Revolutionary war; was present at the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, and afterwards led scouting parties on the neutral grounds and among the Highlands on the Hudson.
To show how plentiful wild game was in Missouri at the time of his exploring expedition, he said that not very far from Potosi, at the Ashley cave, or Saltpeter caves, one day they saw four
JUDGE AUGUSTUS PETTIBONE.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
bears on an oak tree, eating sweet acorns. They saw a flock of wild turkeys marching towards the cave, and shot one so large and fat that the carcass furnished food for three days. One day they shot two bears, cutting down a hollow tree in which the bear had crawled for shelter; and saw large elk bounding away. In this expedition they descended the White River to Batesville, in Arkansas; from whence Mr. Pettibone returned to St. Louis, then a small outpost, containing a population of 2,500. His brother, Rufus Pettibone, established himself in business there upon his arrival, and was appointed circuit judge, and afterward chief justice of the state, which position he held until his early death in 1825. During the time that Judge Rufus Pettibone continued in office, his brother Levi was circuit clerk of the court. He resided for nearly sixty years in Pike County; was for many years county treasurer, and held various other offices there. The last five years of his life were spent in St. Louis, at the residence of his son-in- law, Captain Frank Burnett. His remains were buried at Louis- iana, in Pike County, Mo., his old home.
He retained his powers of mind and body remarkably. He was an unusualy fine penman and bookkeeper, and at the age of nearly 90 was employed to open a set of books for a bank, and at 94 years of age kept the books of a shoe store, the time required being some four hours daily. His work was a model of neatness and care. "He has always been temperate-never having been addicted to the use of tobacco or stimulating drinks, except as medicine."
AUGUSTUS PETTIBONE.
Augustus Pettibone, third son of Colonel Giles Pettibone and Desiah Humphrey, his wife, was born in Norfolk, February 19, 1766. He entered Yale College in 1784, where he studied about two years, but did not graduate. In September, 1787, he commenced reading law with Dudley Humphrey, Esq., of Norfolk, a practicing attorney, and continued with him until the following April, when he went to Litchfield and attended Judge Reeve's lectures until March, 1790, when he was admitted to the Bar of Litchfield County. He settled in his native town of Norfolk in the practice of law, and continued in the practice until 1812, when, being in poor health, he relinquished the practice, and in that year he was appointed an associate judge of the County Court of Litchfield County, and held that office until 1816, when he was appointed chief judge of the county court, and continued to hold that office until 1831, when from impaired health and advancing years he declined holding longer any public office. He was a justice of the peace more than thirty years. He was Judge of Probate for the District of Nor- folk from May, 1807 until 1822.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
He represented his town in the General Assembly in twenty- eight semi-annual sessions, between 1800 and 1825.
In 1818 he represented the town in the State Convention at Hartford, to form a constitution for the State, and was appointed one of the committee to draft a constitution for the consideration of the convention. He was Senator from the 17th Senatorial Dis- trict in 1830 and 1831.
Such is the record of his public life. Soon after his death a townsman wrote of him: "This distinguished legislator and jurist died at his residence in Norfolk on the 4th of October, 1847. Judge Pettibone was a fine specimen of a class of politicians, states- men and gentlemen of an age gone by. There was nothing super- ficial in his knowledge, no trickery or deception in his political career, not a shadow of dishonesty in his dealings with men. He was a model of uprightness, benevolence, discretion and un- studied eloquence. His loss will long be felt in the community in which he lived.
One of the duties which the living owe the dead is to record their virtues, and in very few instances is this duty more meri- toriously called for than in this case. Judge Pettibone, for by this name he was best known in Litchfield County, was at the time of his death the oldest inhabitant of Norfolk who was born in the town. His father, Col. Giles Pettibone, was one of the early settlers of the town to which he emigrated from Simsbury in Hart- ford County, where his ancestors were early settlers. The high estimation in which the Pettibone family were held by their fellow- citizens, is established by the fact that the father and the son were sent to represent the town in the State Legislature nearly fifty times; the deceased thirty, including two sessions in the State Senate, and the father nearly twenty.
It has often been a subject of remark that he possessed in a pre-eminent degree many of those qualities of which New Eng- land is proud. Though a man of wealth and vast acquirements, he was the most unostentatious man we have ever known. He was approachable to the most humble member of society. In the honorable and delicate trust of dispensing justice he gave universal satisfaction. When he left the bench it was with the regret of all who knew him, and he carried with him the character of a just and upright judge. What nobler character can be given to man!
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It has often been regretted by many in this part of the state that the deceased was not placed in our national councils in early life. If he had been he would have reflected honor on the state. He was well constituted to make a fine senatorial speaker-calm, grave, dignified. We shall never forget the first time we heard the judge speak in public. It was at one of our town meetings. His
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
delivery was peculiarly solemn and dignified, and his sentences delivered with as much precision as if they were delivered by a professor of rhetoric from some approved author, and this when the deceased was well past seventy years. But the judge wanted in one very important trait-ambition. If he had only possessed this he might have taken his place beside the first men in the country. To do so he was qualified by nature and by education, for he was one of the best read men to be found in this part of New England. So late as the last year or two of his life he could be found reading to a late hour every evening. In his library were many rare and valuable works, including most of the English classics, with which he was well conversant. But the judge had other qualities besides learning and talents to recommend him to consideration in the com- munity. He was a man of great public spirit, and this he mani- fested in the most noble and disinterested manner. Much of the prosperity which is so apparent in the north part of Litchfield County is owing to his instrumentality, and it is right that the public should know it. Most rich men at his age become very distrustful of others, but it was not so with him. Where he had confidence he was noble and generous, and those fine qualities were only surpassed by his deep and close penetration, which enabled him not to misplace his liberality. Few rich men have given the use of their names to such an extent to help industrious neighbors as Judge Pettibone; and what higher character could be given of the community in which he lived than to say that he scarcely ever met with a loss by his liberality. Previous to his death he was the oldest of the Pettibone stock living, and his departure from among them must sever many tender ties. He appeared like the last con- necting link between the past and the present generations. Honor to the memory of a good and just man. May he rest in peace! R."
Deacon Mars says: "The next house north from Col. Pettibone's was Dr. Ephraim Guiteau, who lived where Captain Augustus Phelps, and later his son, Levi Phelps, lived. Dr. Guiteau had one son, Philo, who was also a doctor, and one daughter who was the wife of Dr. Benjamin Welch." Other mention of Dr. Guiteau is made.
"Mr. Joseph Gaylord, Jun., lived near Dr. Guiteau, on the opposite side of the road, where Jedediah Phelps lived, and where Col. Horace B. Knapp lived later." This is the place recently pur- chased for a summer home by Dr. Thompson of New York.
"A little farther north, where Capt. Henry Porter spent most of his life, and where Mr. Egbert Butler has lived for some years, two brothers, Jedediah and Jeremiah Phelps lived. Their father came from Simsbury to Norfolk in 1756; settled and lived on the corner north of where his sons, just mentioned, built their house.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
Capt. John Phelps was the father also of Capt. Darius Phelps, who is mentioned elsewhere, and so was the ancestor of all the families of Phelps who have lived in the town."
Sarah, daughter of Capt. John Phelps, married Ozias Bingham, and after his death she married Nicholas Holt. The sons Jeremiah and Jedediah in about 1790 built the house already mentioned, which is still the home of Mr. Egbert T. Butler, beautifully located, in fine condition, and the summer resting place of a large number of city people.
The brothers together built this house in which they spent their lives; their wives cooking at the same great fireplace, which had three 'andirons,' spread their separate tables in the same great kitchen; each family having a separate work and cheese room, and, of course, other rooms. The brothers owned and worked the large productive farm in common, there being no division until their children were grown, married, and had interests of their own. Two of the sons of Jedediah, viz., Capt. Augustus and Esq. Jedediah, in a division of the original farm, had their farms a short distance south from the old homestead, those places having been already mentioned. Rosanna, a daughter of Jedediah Sen., married Mr. Calvin Butler, a lawyer, of Plymouth, Conn., and became the mother of fourteen children, of whom Mr. Egbert T. Butler already mentioned is the sole survivor. He married Jennette Porter, May 1, 1839, in this same house. Their children were Egbert J. and Har- riet R. Mrs. Butler was a most excellent, queenly, Christian woman, of rare natural endowments, culture and grace; fitted to shine in any position, even that of "the first lady of the land." She died universally mourned, November 23, 1862, at the age of 47, her father, Capt. Henry Porter, having died in September pre- vious, and her son having come home from the army to be cared for through a severe sickness a few weeks previous to his mother's death.
"Mr. Joseph Gaylord Sen., father of Joseph Jun., Philemon and David Gaylord, lived up the hill north from the old Phelps homestead." Mr. David Gaylord had a son, Henry J., who spent his life, unmarried, upon the old homestead. Another son, Levi P., went west, and now lives in Los Angeles, California. One daughter, Celestia, married Sullivan Butler; Julia married Monsieur Victor Alvergnat.
"Mr. Samuel Gaylord lived still farther north, near where his son Anson lived for most of his life. His other sons were Samuel Jr., Timothy and Chauncey.
John Heady lived north from Mr. Gaylord's, and still farther north Mr. Samuel Knapp, the father of Major Bushnell Knapp, and grandfather of Col. Horace B. Knapp."
; CAPT. JOHN A. SHEPARD
HARMON H RIGGS
HIRAM
MILLS
FRANKLIN ENGCO
SAMUEL SEYMOUR
CHARLES H. MILLS
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
"On a road that started near Capt. John Phelps's corner and ran northwest towards the College land, Mr. John Smith lived." His descendants are numerous and respectable. Chauncey and Timothy Gaylord lived in this neighborhood.
"East from Phelps corner, on the road toward Sandisfield, there were three or four families of Holts," mentioned in another place.
"Captain Michael Mills lived in Loon-meadow, on the place where Deacon David Frisbie and his son David lived later, and still later Mr. John Nettleton and Frank Jackman."
Miss Susan L. Mills, early in 1897, in reply to a letter of inquiry regarding the Mills family, wrote as follows: "Joseph, son of John and Sarah Pettibone Mills, was born in 1694; married Hannah Adams. They settled in Simsbury; had fourteen children; ten sons and four daughters, all remarkable for their Christian char- acter and example. Six of the sons were deacons of churches. Four of the sons settled in Norfolk. Of these Deacon Joseph settled in the south end district on the place where his son Benoni, and his grandson, Daniel, lived later. Deacon Joseph died in 1792. His brother, Deacon Samuel, died in this town in 1804.
Michael, second son of Deacon Joseph and Hannah Adams Mills, born in Simsbury, 1728; married Mercy Lawrence; settled in the eastern part of Norfolk called Loon-meadow. They had nine children. He served in the Revolutionary war; was representative to the General Assembly of Connecticut for twelve sessions, from 1779 to 1791. Capt. Michael Mills died in 1820, aged 90. Three of his sons settled in Norfolk, viz., Eden, Lawrence and Michael Frederick.
Simeon Mills, a brother of Capt. Michael, settled in Norfolk. He suffered great hardship during the Revolutionary war.
Eden, son of Capt. Michael Mills, married Rosanna Wilcox. They had ten children; five sons and five daughters. Their chil- dren who settled in Norfolk were Rosanna, who married Luther Butler, lived many years and died in the Col. Giles Pettibone house in 1888, aged 89 years. Irad, who lived on Beech-flats, in the old Guiteau house, which is still standing, the home of Mrs. John Nettleton. Irad died Nov. 1864, aged 72. John Milton Mills, died April 1860, aged 71, and Susan L. Mills, who was the last person of the name in town." (She died May 18, 1897, at the age of 86.)
"Lawrence Mills, son of Captain Michael, settled in Norfolk, married Olive Benedict; their children were Laura, Myron h .. for a time a merchant here, as mentioned elsewhere; Persia, mar- ried Timothy C. Gaylord; Matilda, married George Nettleton, Francis B., and Hiram, who was a farmer and a man of some prominence in the town; was one of the selectmen of the town for several years, and represented the town in the legislature in the year 1839, and died in 1881, aged 86.
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HISTORY OF NORFOLK.
His eldest son, Charles H., also a farmer, died of hydrophobia, December, 1878, aged 52. His younger son, John Lawrence Mills, graduated at Yale College, was a tutor in Yale for some years, studied for the ministry, preached for several years and was ap- pointed to a professorship in Marietta College, Ohio, where he has since resided.
Michael Frederick, youngest son of Capt. Michael Mills, was born in Norfolk March 22, 1776. He studied law and practiced his profession in his native town until by age and failing health com- pelled to retire. He held nearly every office and position of trust within the gift of his fellow townsmen. He represented the town in the State Legislature in 1830, 1831 and 1833. He was appointed Judge of Probate in 1822 and held that office twenty years, the dis- trict then comprising the towns of Norfolk, Colebrook and Win- chester. (During Esq. Mills' term of office Winchester and Cole- brook were made by the Legislature the district of Winchester, in 1838.) In 1812 he was appointed justice of the peace, and officiated in that capacity until he was seventy years of age. In 1813 he was appointed sole agent for the church and society to build the meet- ing-house, which business he transacted to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, as mentioned in another place. In 1804, under President Jefferson's administration, a post-office was established in Norfolk, and Esq. Mills was appointed the first postmaster. At that time the mail was received only twice a week in Norfolk, and the only papers taken here were the Connecticut Courant and Litchfield Monitor."
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