USA > Vermont > Orange County > Bradford > A history of Bradford, Vermont : containing some account of the place of its first settlement in 1765, and the principal improvements made, and events which have occurred down to 1874--a period of one hundred and nine years. With various genealogical records, and biographical sketches of families and individuals, some deceased, and others still living > Part 17
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The maiden name of Mrs. Bliss was Mary Worthen; a daughter of Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Susanna Worthen. She was born April 11th, 1790. Her parents were worthy members of the Congregational Church, in her native place, Bradford, Vt., who sought to train up their children in the way they should go.
Mary, when about eighteen years of age, became the wife of Mr. Ellis Bliss, of the same neighborhood; then · some three years older than herself. Surrounded by kin- dred and friends, they directly commenced housekeeping, and remained in the same habitation during their subse-
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quent lives. Captain Bliss died May 8th, 1851, in the fifty-fourth year of his age; but she continued nearly twenty-two years longer, thus occupying the same com- fortable farm house, on the bank of Waits River, near its confluence with the Connecticut, for the long period of sixty-five years.
Mr. and Mrs. Bliss had thirteen children, two of whom died in their infancy ; all the rest lived to marry and re- move, one after another, to their several new homes, with the exception of one of the sons, who permanently re- mained with his mother, and at her decease was left still at the old homestead, the last there belonging of all its former numerous and happy occupants.
Mrs. Bliss left at her decease four sons and five daugh- ters ; somewhat widely dispersed through this country ; among others, Neziah, a graduate of Vermont University, an attorney at law, in Missouri, and George, a practicing physician, in Ohio. He, after an absence of thirty-six years, being informed of his mother's illness, directly tele- graphed that he had set out for home; but the news, which but a few days before would have thrilled his mother's heart with joy, came a few hours too late! and when the Doctor, with his two daughters, arrived, her re- mains had been for two days resting in the silent tomb .. A sad disappointment it was to the visitors; but there were kind brothers and sisters, with other relatives and friends, to receive them most cordially, and mingle their tears of grief and gladness with theirs.
It may not be amiss to say here that Mr. Amos Worth- en, State Geologist of Illinois, well and favorably known for his voluminous publications in that interesting depart- ment of natural science, was a brother of the deceased, and a native of Bradford.
Mrs. Bliss left thirty-two grandchildren and eight great- grandchildren, a posterity of forty-nine persons, to rise up and call her blessed. Her own children, at least, know
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with what patience, loving kindness, and perseverance she labored through all their lives for their comfort ; but the intense desire and consuming anxiety which she felt for their spiritual and everlasting good, they can never fully appreciate. She willingly wore out her life in minister- ing to others ; in doing good to all, as she had opportuni- ty. Solomon's description of the virtuous women, in the 31st chapter of Proverbs, must have been penned with some such specimen as she was distinctly in view.
But she did not depend on any of these things for sal- vation. During a season of special refreshing from the presence of the. Lord, in the Summer of 1831, she was moved to consecrate herself heartily to the blessed Sav- iour, and to trust in Him alone for pardon, sanctification and life everlasting. With more than thirty others, she that year made a public profession of her faith and de- termination thenceforth to be the Lord's, and serve Him, united with the same church to which her parents belonged, and so continued to the last. She, while able to attend and hear, delighted in the public services of the Sabbath, and when deprived of these privileges found great satis- faction in her Bible and hymn book. In her last sickness she was sweetly resigned to the Divine will, beautifully sustained by the promises and consolations of the Gospel ; and at the close of her last Sabbath on earth, March 2, 1873, at the age of eighty-three years, lacking forty days, passed peacefully away to her final rest and blessedness in Heaven. On the subsequent Wednesday her funeral services were attended at the church where she had long been accustomed to worship, and her precious remains laid down to repose with their kindred dead until "all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth." God grant that all those for whose sal- vation she so long prayed and labored, may with her arise to glory, honor, and a blessed immortality. S. McK.
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THE WRIGHTS.
Mr. Hubbard Wright, though a native of Lyman, N. H., was a distinguished citizen of Bradford, Vt., and will long be retained in kind and respectful remembrance by at least the present 'generation of its people. His father, Dr. Lockhart Wright, when a young man came, near the close of the last century, from Northfield, Mass., and stud- ied medicine with Dr. Arad Stebbins, who was then the principal practicing physician in this place.
Dr. Wright, when prepared to engage in the business of his profession, married Abigail, the daughter of Ellis Bliss and Abigail Taylor, his wife. She was a sister of Captain Ellis Bliss, and also of Miss Lydia Bliss, who married Captain Absalom Baldwin. She was married in the seventeenth year of her age, the Doctor being about ten years her senior. They directly removed to Lyman, N. H., where he practiced medicine for more than twenty years; when the parents returned, with their son Hub- bard and only daughter, to this place, in the year 1824, and spent the remainder of their days. They lived for a short while a little out of the village. Mr. Wright after- wards purchased the Dr. Stebbins place, at the north end of the village, and the family resided there, first in the old Stebbins mansion, which Mr. Wright rendered more spacious and commodious, to be used, as indeed it had before been, as a hotel. It was styled the Vermont House, and so continued till accidentally consumed by fire, in the summer of 1871. It had passed through the hands of several proprietors, and was then owned by R. W. Cham- berlin.
In the year 1849, Mr. Hubbard Wright built a fine brick house, a little north of the hotel, and soon after took his parents there, where in the course of a few years they both died. Dr. Lockhart Wright died January 31, 1851, in the eightieth year of his age ; his wife died July 3, 1855,
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at the age of seventy-four years and twenty-six days. Mr. Hubbard Wright had the supervision of his good farm, but was not much accustomed to hard work. He was for years one of the directors of the first Bradford bank, and there he used to spend a great deal of time. At the call of his fellow townsmen, he represented them in the State Legislature during its sessions of the years 1848, '49, '50, '55, '62, '63, '64, '65 and '68. He was also, from Bradford, a member of the State Convention for the amendment of the Constitution of Vermont in the year 1870. In the prosperity of the town generally he manifested an inter- est. Though he had not been a regular attendant on public worship, when the subject of building a new meet- ing house, a year or two previous to his decease, for the use of the Congregational church and society, was under discussion, he subscribed liberally in furtherance of the design, though he did not live to see anything effectual accomplished.
Mr. Wright never married. He had in care, as friends and helpers, a young girl, Sarah, who remained until she married; and a young man who had been brought up in his brother's family in New York, by the name of Philip Tully, who gradually became in fact, though not nominal- ly, steward of his household, attending faithfully to its domestic affairs, and to the management of the farm. Mr. Wright was an honest and kind neighbor. A very quiet man, he was ; and, having a competency, he did not wish to be much disturbed by either the affairs of other people or his own.
Feeling, probably, rather lonely when about home, and being able to do so, he had long been accustomed to walk, both forenoon and afternoon, six days in the week, to the central part of the village, and sit for a while, not in any saloon or bar-room, but in the bank or some store, to see and hear what was going on, and to have a little conver- sation with any friends whom he should chance to meet.
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The time at length came when he could go no more. He then remained quietly in his own pleasant dwelling. Appetite and strength, and all his physical energies were failing. He had become prematurely old. Doctors did the best they could for him, but his infirmities steadily progressed. His friend and helper, Philip, attended to his wants faithfully and tenderly, both day and night; his sister from New York, and Mrs. Gaffield, (the same who formerly lived in his family,) of Northampton, Mass., with hearts full of loving kindness, came to sympathize with and minister unto him. On the 22d day of July, 1873, at the time appointed by infinite wisdom, he quietly passed away, at the age of sixty-four years, ten months and seven- teen days.
Mr. Wright is understood to have possessed a consid- erable estate, and to have just left it to the disposal of his surviving brother and sister, without expressing any wish in regard to it.
His funeral was attended at his late residence, on Thursday, July 24th, by a large company of his relatives and neighbors, and the fellow townsmen whom he had so often represented in a legislative capacity, and otherwise served. The religious services were conducted by Rev. Dr. McKeen, who had long before attended the funerals of the parents of the deceased; in this case assisted by Rev. Mr. Elliot, acting pastor of the Congregational church in the place; when the remains, enclosed in a beautiful casket, were conveyed to the cemetery, and laid down with those of his parents, close by the well proportioned and substantial granite obelisk which he had, years be- fore, caused to be erected, with his name and the date of his birth engraved upon it.
Mr. Wright left one brother, about four years older than himself, in the city of New York, the celebrated en- graver, and a prominent member of the American Bank Note Company, Neziah Wright; a man well-known and
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highly esteemed in financial and commercial circles; who is said to possess a sufficiency of wealth, acquired by fair and honorable means. The amiable and excellent wife of Mr. N. Wright, deceased some years since, leaving no child but a virtually adopted daughter, Jane; a worthy young lady, who married Mr. Phineas Lowndesbury, of Ridgefield, Ct., a gentleman worthy of such a wife.
There was another brother, next to Neziah, Ellis by name, who went many years ago into the Western coun- try, and was lost sight of.
The only sister of these brothers, Miss Abigail Wright, born at Lyman, N. H., Sept. 6, 1813, a lady possessing a liberal share of good nature, cheerfulness, and energy, has remained single; devoting her kindly attentions to her parents while living ; and subsequently to her broth- ers, in their respective homes ; especially when so great- ly needing her sisterly assiduities.
Some years since she visited London, and other places of note in Europe; but her home since the death of her parents has been with her brother in New York. She was present at the funeral of her brother at Bradford, and followed his remains to their final resting place.
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CHAPTER XI.
The McDuffees-James Wilson, the Globe Maker-David Wilson, Esq .- and Their Families.
THE McDUFFEES.
An interesting document giving the genealogy of the McDuffees has been kindly put into my hands, and duly examined. It is understood to have been prepared by John McDuffee, Esq., assisted by his son Charles, in whose "elegant handwriting it appears. Both the father and the son deceased several years since. It does not consist with my present object to follow this genealogical account into all its various and remote ramifications; but what I propose is to trace, very concisely, the direct lineage of the family who settled in Bradford, and then to speak somewhat more fully of some of its members or descend- ants, as may seem expedient ; but especially of John Mc- Duffee, above named.
In regard to the origin and name of this respectable class of our citizens, I will quote a few paragraphs from the old manuscript which I have mentioned.
" The McDuffee family are undoubtedly of Scotch de- scent, and the first that we find of this name is in a book styled 'Memoirs of Scotland.'
" It appears that a man by the name of Duff was a king or chief in Scotland a short time previous to the Chris- tian Era. This was before christian names were used, and from the fact that in Scotland the prefix Mac, abbre- viated Mc, was used to indicate son, or descendant, we infer that the children of Duff were called McDuff. In Irish names the prefix "O," and in English the termination. · "son," are of the same import.
" We have but little further notice of the name till we come to the tragedy of McDuff and McBeth, which oc-
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curred about A. D. 1050, and is particularly described in the Memoirs of Scotland, and which by Shakespeare is made the theme of his thrilling ' Macbeth.'
" McDuff was 'Thane of Fife,' one of the noblemen of Scotland during the reign of King Duncan, who was assassinated, and for a short time superceded, by the treacherous McBeth. Under the leadership of the bold and loyal McDuff, the usurper was dethroned and slain, and Malcolm, son of Duncan, established on the throne ; who, in consideration of McDuff's great services, gave him a tract of land in the County of Fife, and added fee to his name, including a gift from the crown; and thus McDuff became McDuffee. A further honor bestowed was a coat of arms, known in Scotch heraldry by the com- bined representation of a lion, rampant with a sword in his paw, guarding the crown and kingdom of Scotland ; three hawks under the lion's feet, representing the three witches whose sorceries had incited McBeth to assassinate his sovereign; and a thorn bush, in memory of Birnam Woods, through which, and bearing green bunches from the same, McDuff and Malcolm, with their English allies, marched against the rebel in his stronghold at Dunsinane, who, in personal encounter with McDuff, was slain.
" A picture of this coat of arms was brought to this country before the old French war, by William McDuffee, and subsequently painted on the back of the sleigh in which Daniel McDuffee came from Londonderry to this town in February, 1796, and when the sleigh was worn out, the back, on which was the coat of arms, was for sev- eral years preserved by his daughter Agnes, Mrs. James Wilson, but finally disappeared, leaving no vestige be- hind." Sic transit gloria mundi! So passes away the glory of the world.
" The McDuffees were among the emigrants from Scot- land who settled in the North of Ireland about the year 1612. John McDuffee and Martha, his wife, were in the
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terrible seige of the city of Londonderry in 1869, where she acquired the name of the Matchless Martha, for hav- ing carefully kept a quantity of meal, against a time of great distress for food, and then freely distributing it among the starving people. This unexpected relief was received with gratitude and rejoicing long remembered. This John and Martha had several children, and among them a son Daniel.
Daniel McDuffee, son of the above named, having served an apprenticeship at the business of a lockmaker, married Ruth Britton, of Colerain, and in 1720, with his wife and daughter Martha, then about two years old, em- igrated to America ; his pastor, Rev. James McGregore, of whose church he was a member, with some sixteen fami- lies of his parishioners, having gone a year or two before, to establish themselves there. Daniel, with his little family, arrived safely in Boston, and after a few months residence at Andover, in the Spring of 1721 settled down among their Scotch-Irish friends in Nutfield, subse- quently Londonderry, N. H. These parents had six sons and three daughters. Five of the sons were in the army of their country in the war with France; three of them in the decisive battle of Quebec, when that city with the French provinces in North America passed into the hands of the British. This early inhabitant of Londonderry died there in 1768, and his wife died there about two years after.
Daniel McDuffee, Jr., a son of the above named, was born in Londonderry, in March, 1739. He was by occu- pation a blacksmith, but owned and cultivated the farm in that town on which his parents had lived and died. He married Margaret, daughter of James Wilson, the first of the name in that place. She had a brother James, who was father of James, the globe maker. This Daniel Mc- Duffee emigrated to Bradford, Vt, in the month of Feb- ruary,. 1796, and settled on a farm at the north end of
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what is now called the Upper Plain, where several of his posterity are still living. His house was on the east side of the highway, near what was long known as McDuffee's Ferry, across the Connecticut River. The writer of this article remembers him well; remembers once, at his re- quest, preaching in his quiet cottage a discourse designed for his special benefit, when, by reason of the infirmities of age, he was unable to attend public worship. He died in Bradford, in the eighty-sixth year of his age, December 15, 1824, and his remains were laid in the cemetery close by. His wife had died several years before-April 1, 1805.
Mary McDuffee, a sister of Daniel, last named, was born in Londonderry, N. H., married Thomas Highlands, a farmer of that town, and lived there till his death, then came to Bradford and lived some fourteen years longer. She had an interesting family of eight or nine children, and died May 26, 1821, aged eighty-nine years. From her have descended our worthy citizens, the Highlands.
Daniel and Margaret W. McDuffee, of whom we have been speaking, had a family of fifteen children, all natives of Londonderry. Some of these died in their infancy. Of those who lived to be men and women, and who were for some part of their lives inhabitants of Bradford, the following notices may be given :
1. John McDuffee was born June 16, 1766. Of him and his family more hereafter.
2. Jennet, born February 1, 1768, married David Bliss, went with her husband into the Western country, and died somewhere there.
3. Ruth, born November 5, 1769, married Samuel Drew, remained here a few years longer, then removed to Stanstead, Canada East, where she died. They had eight children.
4. Samuel, born September 7, 1773, married Jane Wilson. He owned and cultivated a good farm in Brad-
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ford, at the north end of the Upper Plain, and died there July 20, 1850, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. He left one daughter, Annis, at this writing still possess- ing the old homestead ; and one son, James, whose resi- dence was quite near his sister's ; an industrious farmer and good man he was, who died, strong in Christian faith, March 22, 1873, in the seventy-third year of his age, leav- ing the beloved wife, Mary P. Sawyer, with whom he had happily lived for over forty-four years, with one daughter and four sons, with their wives and children, all in close proximity, to love and sympathize with their mother and each other, while passing through the various trials and comforts of life. Their daughter Alice married Alexan- der Young, who had died, leaving her in widowhood be- fore her father's decease. The eldest son, Ellis, married Elizabeth Sawyer. Olivia, Louisa Annis, Edward Ever- ett, and Sarah Sawyer, are the names of their four sur- viving children. The second son of James McDuffee, Horace Everett, married Lucy McDuffee, a remote rela- tive. Their children are Frank and Alice. The third son, Homer S., married Adelaide Robinson. The names of their children, Frank and Alice. The fourth son, James Lewis R., married Carrie Woodward, and they were living in the house with their father McDuffee at the time of his decease.
5. James McDuffee, son of Daniel, was born August 21, 1775. He married Susan Sweet, moved to Syracuse, N. Y., and died there, leaving five children.
6. Mary, born August 27, 1777, by occupation a tailor- ess, when about fifty years of age married Peter Frye, of Windsor, Canada East; lived there several years, and after his decease returned to this town, and spent the rem- nant of her days. She died in July, 1870, in the ninety- third year of her age.
7. Margaret, born March 20, 1779, married a Mr. Lee,
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of Windsor, Canada East, and died there, leaving one daughter.
8. Daniel, born March 7, 1781, married Martha Bish- op; after a while went off, forsaking his wife, and died, it is not known when nor where. She was familiarly styled, by not only relatives but neighbors generally, " Aunt Patty ;" and died at Bradford, in April, 1852. She requested her pastor to preach at her funeral from the text, " Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law."
9. Agnes, born February 28, 1783, married her cousin, James Wilson, the globe maker. In her ninety-second year, March, 1874, she was still living in Bradford. Of her family see further notice under the title Wilson.
10. Sarah, born March 7, 1786, married Manasseh Wil- lard, a brother of Captain Israel Willard, of Bradford. They had six children. She died in Massachusetts.
11. Annis, born April 22, 1790, married Samuel Chap- man, of Newbury, Vt., April 19, 1821, and took up her residence there.
Three sons and one daughter are now living.
A more particular account of John McDuffee, a distin- guished member of this family, will now be given.
JOHN McDUFFEE, EsQ. .
He was a son of Daniel and Margaret (Wilson) McDuf- fee, above named; their second child, the first, who was also a son, having died in infancy. He was born at Lon- donderry, N. H., June 16th, 1766. When old enough to assist his father, till about fourteen years of age, he worked with him, alternately on the farm and in his blacksmith shop, as the season of the year and state of the weather guided them ; in his father's double occupation. For some weeks, or months, during each season of winter, he was allowed to attend such schools as they had. The teach-
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ers were paid by the scholars attending, or their parents; and the books were few, and of a rather low order. Dil- lingsworth's Spelling Book was more used than any other book. Books of Arithmetic and Grammar were uncom- mon. Young McDuffee, however, was so fortunate as to have a teacher who had a "Cyphering Book," containing various arithmetical rules and problems, and who was able to give lessons of instruction from the same. This was quite to the boy's taste ; for he had, as his subsequent life proved, a real genius and talent for the mathematics. His health, a great part of the time between fourteen and. seventeen years of age, was poor ; he was too feeble to work much ; and so, as he would find opportunity, he studied the more. In his seventeenth year he had ac- quired a thorough knowledge of Fisher's Arithmetic ; and had commenced the study of surveying, under the instruction of Master Clark, who had the reputation of being a good surveyor; and was then teaching in Lon- donderry. In the Spring of 1784 he taught school for a few weeks, then attended the academy in Andover for a while, and so worked along as best he could; keeping the art of surveying continually in view, with the use of the instruments of which he had by this time become quite well acquainted. 1
Before tracing his progress any further, I will go back, and for the amusement, especially of my youthful read- ers, relate an incident or two of a singular character, of which his manuscript makes mention, as occurring in his boyhood. One of them is this: "When I was a boy I was not at all timid, but one day, while passing through the lot, I thought I distinctly saw a lad, with whom I was well acquainted and had been very intimate, jump behind a log ahead of me, by which I was about to pass, for the purpose, as I supposed, of frightening me. I therefore quickened my steps, designing to get the start of the other boy, and running up to the log leaned over, crying
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out, Boo ! but to my surprise there was no one there." For this he was never able to account, for he was sure if there had been a boy there he could not possibly have got away. This, we too may as well throw into our heap of unaccountables.
Another anecdote is that when he was quite young an Irishmen, directly from the old country, came to his fath- er's house, and, being taken into employment on the farm, made himself very useful. He seemed for a while con- tented and happy. But one day he was very sad, and said he must leave. On being asked what was the trouble, he could not be induced to tell. At last when John, for whom he had taken a special liking, was trying to get the secret out of him, the Irishman, after much hesitation, said : "Oh ! ye live so near the chimney of hell I dare not stay !" On further inquiry it was found that this son of Erin, having been out on a low piece of ground near the house the evening before, had, for the first time in his life, seen lightning-bugs flying about, which he thought must be sparks from the infernal pit, and it was not with- out much difficulty that he could be convinced to the con- trary, even when John had caught one of the little flash- ers, and given him occular demonstration of its appear- ance and manner of operation.
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