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 18
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We will now resume the main thread of our narration. When John McDuffee was between nineteen and twenty- one years of age he taught school for several terms in different towns in the then province of Maine, particular- ly in Falmouth, Saco, and Brunswick. On his first jour- ney into that part of the country, which was probably in his nineteenth year, he very narrowly escaped being kill- ed by wolves, in Saco woods. He was making his jour- ney on foot, and towards evening one day inquired at a house how far it was to Saco Falls, and on being told five miles pushed on, thinking there would be houses by the way, as there had been, where he could in case of neces-
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sity stop during the night. He had not proceeded far before he found himself in a wilderness, and in the dark- ness of night. While pursueing his solitary way he heard at a distance behind him a noise which he recognized as the bark of a wolf, which he was convinced must have scented his track. He quickened his steps, and, being. . young and spry, passed rapidly along. Soon the howl of the first wolf was answered by that of another. There seemed to be a pack of them in pursuit of him ! He com- menced running, but, while exerting his powers to the utmost to escape, the wolves were evidently coming near- er and yet nearer. His courage and strength were be- ginning to fail, when he discovered a light ahead of him, and pressed on, closely pursued by the monsters, deter- mined still to seize and devour him. He reached the house ; dashed open the door; and, completely exhausted, fell headlong and senseless upon the floor. A party of young people, the giris having had what they called a "wool breaking" in the afternoon, were there that eve- ning engaged in dancing, and were greatly surprised to receive so dashing a visitant, from they knew not what quarter. But on going to the door they at once learned what was the trouble, for the wolves were still within a few rods of the house. On recovering, McDuffee was told that but a few days before a man had gone with his team into the same woods, and not returning when looked for, search was made for him, when he was found dead, with several dead wolves lying around him, in one of which his axe was sticking. The appearance was that while at his work getting wood, a pack of wolves had rushed upon him, when, turning his back to a tree with axe in hand, he bravely fought them, and had killed several. Then strik- ing his axe between the shoulders of a stout and. strong one, the helve had been jerked from his hands, leaving him defenceless, when the infuriated survivors of the pack quickly overpowered him; killed him; and drank
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· his blood. Having thus had a taste of human blood, they were the more eager and determined to have another feast of the same sort. It was of the Lord's mercies that the young man so narrowly escaped.
Mr. McDuftee having finished his teaching in Maine, returned home, and came the ensuing summer to Ver- mont, bringing his instruments of surveying and engin- eering with him, not without use by the way. In June, 1788, he made his first visit to Mooretown, which by act of Legislature the following autumn received its present name of Bradford. The direct object of his visit was to assist, as he had been requested, in the settlement of the estate of his uncle, Samuel McDuffee, who had been drowned in Connecticut River, 1781. The widow, Eliza- beth (Rogers), was still living on the desirable farm to which her deceased husband had become entitled as one of the first settlers. He was pleased with the farm, and purchased the same for himself. It was that which his father, Daniel McDuffee, and family, subsequently occu- pied. He then returned to Londonderry, and there spent the winter. In the spring of 1789 he came back, and took up his residence on the place he had purchased, and thence forward, to the distant day of his death, became a distinguished citizen of Bradford.
March 24, 1791, Mr. McDuffee purchased of Uriah Stone, of Piermont, N. H., the ferry subsequently known as McDuffee's ferry, a noted crossing place over "the great river," till superseded by bridges, both above and below, many years afterwards. Soon after his coming to Bradford he built a small house near the ferry, a little north of the one his uncle had occupied, and for some time kept a small store of various articles wanted by the early settlers. For a few years his sister Ruth kept his house, after which he married Martha Dake, a native of London- derry, but then a resident of Bradford ; left his farm near the river to his father, and moved to a new one, on the
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eastern slope of Wright's mountain, near the line between Bradford and Newbury, where he raised up a large fami- ly, and spent the remnant of his days. Of his family some further information will presently be given.
The Legislature of Vermont, at its session in 1792, passed an act, as in another part of this history has been stated, constituting Israel Smith, Alexander Harvey, and James Whitelaw, a committee to make a survey of the Hazen tract, in the Western part of Bradford, dividing it into lots convenient for settlement, and, on certain easy conditions, securing to each man the due possession of the lot on which he had been making improvement, and the like advantage to others who might wish to purchase lots still unappropriated. The work of making this survey was, by the said Whitelaw, Surveyor General of Ver- mont, committed to John McDuffee, who no doubt per- formed it faithfully. He was for many years, in all this region accounted a distinguished master of his art, and was as such extensively employed ..
When the project of building a railroad from Concord, N. H., through Plymouth, Wentworth and Haverhill, to Wells River, Vt., began to be seriously discussed, and it was remembered that Mr. McDuffee had long before sur- veyed through at least the most formidable part of that route, with a view to a canal, and found it quite feasible, his counsel and influence were earnestly sought for, and, proving highly beneficial, were, it is said, very handsome- ly rewarded. He was quite a zealous politician, as well as a celebrated surveyor ; and when attending a railroad meeting at Concord, and called upon for a sentiment, or toast, as it was called, brought out the applause of the gathering, by the following impromptu : "The political compass of the United States, with the representative needle, equally balanced on the pivot of the Union, freely playing over the four cardinal points-Freedom of speech,
,
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freedom of the press, freedom in elections, and freedom in religion."
The writer of this, when about sixteen years of age, enjoyed for a short time the instruction of Mr. McDuffee in his favorite department, not so much with a view to practice as to mental improvement and satisfaction, and from that and subsequent acquaintance became quite im- pressed by a conviction of his mathematical genius and attainments. It is encouraging and delightful to see how some, indeed many, young men of decision and energy have, almost unassisted by relatives or pecuniary resour- ces, pressed their way through manifold difficulties to honorable distinction in the various departments of scien- tific and useful knowledge. John McDuffee, Esq., after a laborious and protracted life, died at his mountain home in Bradford, May 4, 1851, in the eighty-fifth year of his age.
John McDuffee, Esq., as has been said, was a native of Londonderry, N. H., born June 16, 1766. He married Martha Dake, of that town, some time in 1795. They had six sons and five daughters, all natives of Bradford, Vt.
Of these five, namely, Jennet, Patty, Martha, James, and Andrew J., died in their childhood. Of the others, we have the following notices.
1. Margaret McDuffee, born December 26, 1796, mar- ried Mosely Blake, of Bedford, Mass. She, at this date, (1874) is living in widowhood, with her sister, Mrs. Bronsden, at Milton, in that State.
2. John McDuffee, Jr., born July 31, 1798, lived for some time at Sing Sing, N. Y., taught schools for several years in New Jersey, and was last heard from at Akron, Ohio.
3. James McDuffee, born October 17, 1806, married and had three children ; settled at Eel River, Ind.
4. Samuel, born May 7, 1808, married Emily Way, of Lempster, N. H., and settled in Ackworth. They have
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six children ; namely, Samuel V., a worthy minister of the Congregational order; George W., Charles O., Louisa E., and Lucy, wife of Horace Everett McDuffee, of Brad -. ford, Vt. Also Martha.
5: William McDuffee, born September 25, 1809, mar- ried Laura J. Carter, of Newbury, January 14, 1836. They have had six children. Of these, two sons and two daughters died in their infancy. Their daughter Louisa married Clement Worthen, of Enfield, N. H. She, with her brother, George W., and sister, Etta L., at this, date is still living.
6. Louisa McDuffee, born' April 11, 1817, married Lewis Bronsdon, of Massachusetts, February 6, 1844. They have three children, Louisa, Lewis and Peleg.
Mrs. Martha Dake, the first wife of John McDuffee, Esq., died at Bradford, May 14, 1822, at the age of forty- nine years and two days; a worthy woman of the Scotch Irish race.
Esquire McDuffee married for his second wife, Novem- ber 10, 1833, Miss Dolly Greenleaf, of Bradford, who was born there, March 10, 1790. They had six children, all sons. Of these Daniel, the first, died in the eleventh year of his age, July 29, 1835; and Mansfield, the second, and Henry, the fourth, in early childhood.
Charles McDuffee, the third son, born November 19, 1827, was an estimable young man, of ability and good scholarship; a professional land surveyor, and trustworthy agent in the settlement of estates ; and died at the family home in Bradford, July 31, 1863, in the thirty-sixth year of his age.
Henry Clay McDuffee, born October 3, 1831, married Miss Laura Waterman, of Lebanon, N. H., March 12, 1863, who died on the 15th of the subsequent September. He married for his second wife, June 8, 1869, Miss Rosie M. Bill, a daughter of Major R. M. Bill, of West Topsham, Vt. Their son Ernest B. was born November 23, 1870. Mr.
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H. C. McDuffee represented the town of Bradford in the State Legislature of 1870 and 1872, and has held several other offices of honor and trust. Was High Bailiff of Orange County in 1872 and 1873; one of the Selectmen of Bradford, etc., and has been much engaged in buying and selling lands in the Western and Southern States, as agent for parties in Boston and New York; also in con- nection with his brothers, Charles and Horace, in settling several large estates in New Hampshire and Massachu- setts.
Horace G. McDuffee, the youngest member of this large family, born December 22, 1833, studied surveying and civil engineering in the scientific department of Dart- mouth College, and graduated there, in the class of 1861. He has made his permanent home in Bradford, and been dilligently occupied in land surveying, the manufacture and sale of lumber, and as a real estate agent. In 1867 he married Mrs. Ellen P. Smith, widow of James C. Smith, of Cairo, Illinois. They have one child, a daughter, named Mabel; and a pleasant home of their own in Bradford vil- lage.
I here very gratefully acknowledge the courtesy of Mr. H. G. McDuffee for scientifically ascertaining, at my request, the height of .Wright's Mountain, as stated in another chapter of this History.
John McDuffee, Esq., the father of this large family, died in Bradford, at his mountain home, May 4, 1851, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. His venerable widow, who had been spending her last years with her son, Hen- ry C., and wife, at the village, having gone out to her old .
home on the mountain, where her sister, the Widow Cor- liss, was still residing, was shortly after stricken down by apoplexy, and died there May 7, 1874, at the age of eighty-four years and two months, lacking three days. Her remains repose beside those of her husband, in the cemetery near the village.
248 JAMES WILSON, THE GLOBE MAKER, AND FAMILY.
James Wilson, who has the honor of being the maker of the first pair of Terrestrial and Celestial Globes ever made in America, was a native of Londonderry, N. H. He was born 1763. He early felt a strong love of knowl- edge, and gave proof of talents of the right stamp for ac- quiring it; but felt constrained by circumstances to de- vote himself to the laborious occupation of a farmer. Up to the age of thirty-three he pursued that employment in the place of his nativity .; not, however, without reading, observation and reflection. His inclination and genius turned his thoughts and studies especially to Geography and Astronomy, with the means of their illustration. In the year 1796 he removed with his family to Bradford, in Vermont, and took up his permanent abode on a farm which he purchased there, on the Connecticut River, about one mile North of the village.
When about thirty-six years of age Mr. Wilson had the pleasure of seeing and examining a pair of English globes, and resolved to imitate them. . He commenced with balls turned from blocks of wood, which he nicely covered with paper, and scientifically finished off with all the lines and representations which belong to such apparatus, drawn upon them.
This rude beginning was followed by a much better method. The solid balls were thickly covered with layers of paper firmly pasted together. This shell was then di- vided into hemispheres, which being removed were again united, and finished with due regard to lightness, strength and smoothness. But how were these spheres to be cov- ered with maps equal to those of the European artists ? Mr. Wilson procured copper plates of sufficient size for his thirteen inch globes, protracted his maps on them in sections, tapering as the degrees of longitude do from the equator to the poles, and engraved them with such ad-
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mirable accuracy of design, that when cut apart and duly pasted on his spheres, the edges with their lines, and even the different parts of the finest letters, would perfectly coincide and make one surface, truly representing the earth, or celestial constellations. Though in the use of the graver he was self-taught, and this species of design and engraving was incomparably more difficult than plain work, yet by his ingenuity and incredible perseverance he succeeded admirably, and brought forth globes, duly mounted, and in all respects fitted to rival in the market any imported from foreign countries. In the prosecution of his work and general studies, Mr. Wilson doubtless de- rived important assistance from the Edinburgh Encyclo- pedia, which constituted the principal part of his library.
He published the first edition of his globes in 1814 ; and personally presented to the people of Boston the first American globes which were seen there. Quite a sensa- tion was produced among the literati by such a novelty, and when earnest inquiry was made, " Who is this James Wilson ?- where is he ?" he has been heard to say that he felt exceedingly mortified in consideration of his rus- tic garb and manners, when obliged to come out and con- fess himself. But the gentlemen in question knew how to prize his talents, and were proud of the honor which he had done to his country. They encouraged him to prose- cute his undertaking, by the assurance that he should find there a ready market for all the globes he could fur- nish. For a time he pursued his vocation on a small scale at Bradford, Vt., and also at Londonderry, N. H., but finally, in company with his sons, who inherited a good share of their father's taste and ingenuity, he es- tablished, about the year 1815, a large manufactory in Albany, N. Y., and in 1826 brought out from fresh en- graving a still more perfect and splendid edition. These globes, consisting of three different sizes, so elegantly and scientifically constructed, are an honor not only to their 17
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makers, but to the American people. That manufactory at Albany was sustained for several years, though the young artists who commenced it went down to early graves, and their aged father not long after wholly with- drew himself from the business.
Mr. Wilson, with a remnant of his once flourishing fam- ily still with him, lived to old age, retaining his faculties remarkably. His love for geography; astronomy, and the mechanical arts connected with them, remaining unabat- ed. When past eighty years of age he contrived, and with his own hands constructed, a machine which finely illustrates the daily and yearly revolutions of the earth ; the cause of the successive seasons ; and the sun's place, for every day of the year, in the ecliptic. These move- ments are produced by turning a crank, which causes the earth to revolve about the sun in the plane of the ecliptic, always retaining its true relative position. The machine is also furnished with the means of causing the student to see and understand precisely what is meant by the Precession of the Equinoxes ; a difficult thing, without some such means of illustration.
The large copper plate, on which are printed the months of the year, with their days, and the correspond- ing signs of the zodiac with their degrees, was engraved by Mr. Wilson after he was eighty-three years of age ! Can a similar instance anywhere be found? A specimen of this curious apparatus may be seen at Thetford Acade- my, at Bradford Academy, or at Mr. Wilson's late resi- dence, which last is an improvement on the others. Every academy ought to have something of the sort, and the aged and very ingenious maker deserved to realize some profit from so scientific and useful a contrivance. The machine, for the want of a more definite name, is called Wilson's Planetarium, the latter term being used in a re- stricted sense. If this Planetarium should be thought clumsy, still it finely illustrates what it was intended to,
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and it may yet be reduced to any degree of elegance. It would in any family be an appropriate accompaniment to Wilson's globes.
Mr. Wilson died at his home on the Upper Plain, in Bradford, March 26, 1855, at the age of ninety-two years and twelve days.
THE FAMILY OF JAMES WILSON, EsQ.
James Wilson, when about twenty-one years of age, married Molly Highland, of his native place, Londonderry, N. H.
They had one son, James Wilson, Jr., who became Cap- . tain of a merchant ship plying between this country and Europe. On his third voyage, in 1812, which was for France, having run the British blockade at Norfolk, Va., his vessel, with himself and crew, was lost at sea. He left a widow and one child.
The first wife of James Wilson, the globe maker, died young, when he, in due season, married Sarah Donalson, by whom he had ten children, of whom three died young. The rest lived to be men and women. Of these, though much more might be said, the following brief notices must suffice :
Sally, the eldest daughter, married Stephen Tabor, of Bradford. She left at her decease a son, Dr. S. J. W. Tabor, now auditor in some department at Washington.
Samuel married Jane McBride, and died in Albany, N. Y., where he had for years been engaged in the manu- facture of globes. They had four children. Their son James W. was educated at West Point, and has for years been employed in the United States service as a Civil Engineer.
John, who was considered by the family as particularly talented, married Rebecca Mandel; was occupied with two of his brothers in the globe business; and died at Albany, leaving his widow with six children. Cyrus
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Lancaster, formerly Principal of Bradford Academy, but then in business with the Wilsons, married this widow, and took due care of her and her children.
David married Eliza Taylor. He was also at Albany in the globe business, and died, leaving one son, Lavalette W., a promising young man.
Boyd Hopkins Wilson was a graduate of the Universi- ty of Vermont; taught the Academy in this place for a while; studied law with Heman Allen, of Burlington ; married Henrietta, eldest daughter of Moses Chase, at- torney-at-law in this place, and, in delicate health, went South and established himself in the business of his pro- fession at Gainesville, Alabama, where, in a little over two years, he died, March 17, 1840, aged 39 years. The editor of the Republican Pilot, a paper then published in that place, said in a brief notice directly. after Mr. Wilson's decease : " We take pleasure in recording a tribute of re- spect to the memory of an individual, the labors of whose virtuous and enlightened mind contributed so much good to the community in which they were bestowed. He was beloved by all who knew him, and respected by all who appreciated talent and a cultivated mind. As a neighbor, he was kind and charitable. As a companion, he was mild, affable and unostentatious. As a professor of the Christian religion, he was an honor to the cause. As a scholar he was ripe, and we trust we shall be ex- cused in saying that as a Democrat he was sincere and zealous." He left no children. His widow, an excellent Christian lady, married a Mr. Mobley, of that place, and after years of usefulness died there, in 1873 or 1874.
Eliza, the next in this family, married a Mr. Wilson, of New York, and died in Albany.
Mary married a Mr. Van York, of New York city, and died, leaving one son and one daughter. '
Mr. Wilson, as has been said, removed to this town in
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1796 ; and his wife,-the mother of these children, died here.
After which he married for his third wife Agnes Mc Duffee, of Bradford, a sister of John and Samuel Mc Duffee, and by her had three daughters more.
Agnes, born January 11, 1811, died unmarried, August 8, 1855, in her forty-fifth year.
Mary Anne, born September 26, 1813, married Willard Waterman, of Norwich, Vt., June 8, 1843, and has ever since resided at her parental home, in Bradford ; a lady of intelligence, ability and energy of character, she is at this date, August, 1874, the last survivor of her father's large family of fourteen children.
· Willard Waterman and wife have three sons, namely : . James Aden, born May 14, 1845 ; William Willard, born February 16, 1848; and Mansfield, born November 19, 1873. A daughter died in her childhood.
Jane Wilson, the last of this family, born May 4, 1818, married William Waterman, of Norwich, December 30, 1845. He was a brother of Willard, above named, and subsequently bought and resided on the fine farm on the Lower Plain, in Bradford, still called the Waterman place. Both parents have deceased. They left one son, William Fred, and two daughters, Jennie Eliza and Emma, all in- teresting and worthy young people. Jennie E. married George E. Gaffield, of Claremont, N. H., a worthy young man, engaged in mercantile pursuits. Her brother mar- ried and removed into the Western Country.
Mrs. Agnes Wilson, widow of James Wilson, now, 1874, in her ninety-second year, is still living, with her daugh- ter Mary Anne and husband, though in great feebleness both of body and mind. And here we must close our brief reminiscence of this somewhat remarkable family.
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DAVID WILSON, EsQ., AND FAMILY.
David Wilson was of the Scotch-Irish stock, born in Londonderry, N. H., December 11, 1768. He was a broth- er of James Wilson, the first American globe maker, who also lived to be over ninety years of age, and died in this town. In youth he enjoyed but very limited advantages for education ; but during his long life so well improved his fragments of time that he accumulated a good store of useful knowledge. On leaving the place of his nativ- ity, he resided for a while in Rockingham, and then in Londonderry, Vt., from whence he removed to Bradford. He and his wife, Margaret Doak, with a child in her arms, came up the Connecticut River in company with a gang of lumbermen returning from market, whom they found . to be rough and unpleasant associates. Their voyage, in an open boat, propelled by oars and pike-poles, was te- dious and uncomfortable. When they came opposite to the South end of Fairlee Mountain they were overtaken by a tremendous shower. The boatmen pushed their craft to the shore, and, without fastening it properly, sprang off, and ran away. Before Mr. Wilson could get his wife and child out, the boat drifted back into the channel, and was carried down the river some distance, to the peril of their lives. They arrived in Bradford some time in June, 1795, and settled down on a lot in the wilderness, near Wright's Mountain, a little to the North-west of the sum- mit, where he resided for nearly sixty-eight years, till the time of his death. The first sheep he had he brought from Newbury, and it had become nearly dark before he got over the mountain with them. The wolves howled around him, and threatened to seize on his little flock. On reach- ing home he rejoiced that his sheep were safe. Not so safe, however, as he supposed. Before morning he heard an uproar which convinced him that the wolves were among his flock. They had leaped into the enclosure, and
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