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 20
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2. Daniel Kimball Pearsons was born April 14, 1820. He taught school for five Winters, studied medicine, graduated as M. D. in 1843, practiced for ten years in Chicopee, Mass., married Miss Marietta Chapin, August 17, 1847, and traveled in Europe. On his return he went to Chicago and pursued the business of his profession for some while, and then engaged in real estate business, dealing largely in farming lands, selling for private indi- viduals and railroad companies, investing money to a great amount yearly for Eastern capitalists, on real estate security ; and having secured a high reputation for strict integrity and successful management, has in the course of a few years accumulated, and that, it is believed, by honest means, an ample fortune, which he seems disposed to use with discretion and commendable liberality, assist- ing the needy, and promoting good objects generally ; in all well doing being heartily encouraged and aided by his benevolent and magnanimous wife.
3. William Barron Chapin Pearsons was born Decem-
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ber 19, 1824. He taught school for. a number of Winters, studied law, graduated at Cambridge, Mass., Law School, and opened an office at Holyoke, in that State, where he has remained in successful practice for twenty-five years. He married, February 25, 1857, Sarah Elizabeth Taylor, of Westfield, Mass. They have three children. He has been a member, both of the House and Senate, of the General Court of Massachusetts, and served in the late war as Paymaster. He has been very successful in busi- ness, and is one of the leading men of Holyoke.
4. George Reed Pearsons was born August 7, 1830. He lived for several years in Hartford, making it his busi- ness to teach in the Winter seasons; but was by occupa- tion a farmer. In 1856, October the 8th, he married Miss Welthea Porter, of Hartford, Vt., and finally moved to Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he still resides, successfully en- gaged in the real estate and loan business. He is at this date Mayor of the city, and highly esteemed for his moral integrity and decided ability as a man of business. He has three sons and one daughter.
5. Hannah Elizabeth Pearsons, born April 25, 1836, resided in Bradford till eight years of age, when she went with her parents to live in Hartford, In the twenty-first year of her age, February 14, 1860, she was married to Alvin Matthew Cushing, M. D., a practicing physician in Bradford, of whom more full account may be seen in the chapter of doctors who have resided and practiced here. The worthy doctor and his not less worthy wife now re- side in Lynn, Mass., where he is doing a large business in the line of his profession.
Mr. John Pearsons, the father of this family, an indus- trious, kind-hearted, and strictly honest man, died at Hart- ford, Vt., October 30, 1857, at the age of sixty-five years, and a marble obelisk erected to his memory in the princi- pal cemetery of Bradford shows the place of his burial. To Mrs. Pearsons, his widow, now resident with her child-
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ren, Dr. Cushing and wife, at Lynn, Mass., I have been indebted for the dates, names, and principal facts given in the above account. It would not be at all strange if the good mother should feel somewhat proud of such a family as the God of all grace and consolation has given her.
THE SAWYERS.
Captain Ezekiel Sawyer, born May 9, 1743, came to . this town from Rowley, Mass., about the year 1795, and purchased the farm on Connecticut River next south of Rowell's ledge, the same which is now owned and occu- pied by his grandson, Deacon John H. Sawyer, to whom we are indebted for this and the following information. Captain Sawyer there remained, an industrious farmer and worthy citizen, the rest of his days. He died Jan- uary 13, 1817, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. Mrs. Mary (Payson) Sawyer, his wife, died July 6, 1819. The venerable old two-story house which they occupied was succeeded some years since by a nice cottage in modern style.
Captain Sawyer and wife on their coming into this town for settlement brought with them a family of four sons and seven daughters, who lived to be men and women, and all, with the exception of one daughter, to marry and have children of their own.
1. Elliott Sawyer, born about 1766, married Lucy Young, and settled in Stanstead, Canada East. They had but one son, Elliott, Jr., who lived to manhood. He married Lydia Abbott, who died in Bradford village. They had several sons and daughters, namely : Samuel, who was drowned at the age of fourteen, while the fami- ly were living in Canada. Homer died in New Orleans. Emily married Ormand Jenney; they live in Methuen, Mass. Elzina married George Peters, of Bradford; they have one son, Harry Malcom, and one daughter, Anna
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Gertrude. Silas Sawyer lives in New Orleans. Maria married John Bicknell, and settled in Methuen. John lives in Boston, engaged in livery business. James mar- ried Ellen Cummings, of Bradford. She died in this place in 1874, leaving one daughter, Carrie. Several of the members of this family were distinguished singers of sacred music. Mr. Sawyer, the father, is at this date liv- ing in Methuen. His parents had several daughters, of whom one gave these brief notices. Narcissa married a Mr. Bangs, and died here. Mary married James McDuf- fee. See account of the McDuffee family. Betsey mar- ried Albert Woodworth, had several children and died. - Mr. W., her husband, was subsequently killed or died in the service of his country, during the late war. Lucy died here in maidenhood, having long been unable to walk. Maria married Ogden Fox, had five children, and died.
2. Ezekiel Sawyer, the second son of the first of that name in Bradford, born January 13, 1768, married Ruby Tabor, of this town; had two sons, who died in childhood, and six daughters, who lived to womanhood, namely : Ru- by, Almira, Mary Ann, Hannah, Jane and Harriet. Han- nah became the wife of a Mr. Carr. Captain Benjamin Celley, a prosperous farmer and highly esteemed citizen of Fairlee, married Jane Sawyer, and they had a son Wil- liam, and a daughter Mary. William married Jane Moore, daughter of Jasper Moore, of West Fairlee, and had a daughter Emma Jane, and Georgi E. The daughter Mary married Marshall Rugg, and they have one son. Captain Celley with his children and their companions live in close and happy proximity, being all partakers of the same precious faith. After the death of his first wife he married her sister Mary Ann; and after her decease, so happy had been his connection with these two good wives that he married for his third wife their no less worthy sister Harriet, with whom at this date he is still
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living in prosperity and happiness. He attends worship with the Methodist church in Bradford, as his son and wife also do. Mr. and Mrs. Rugg worship at Fairlee.
3. Mary Sawyer, of the original family here, born No- vember 30, 1770, married John Gage, of Hopkinton, N. H., and had two sons and one daughter. The parents both died there.
4. Mehitable Sawyer, born March 31, 1773, died in maidenhood, January 22, 1862, in the eighty-ninth year of her age. She and her sisters, Elizabeth, Jane, Mercy and Anne, were all members of the Congregational church in Bradford.
5. Elizabeth Sawyer, born February 13, 1775, married Jesse Johnson, of this town, and had four sons and two daughters. She died May 23, 1855, at the age of eighty years.
6. Joseph Sawyer, born March 28, 1777, married Azu- bah Chamberlin, and had four sons and four daughters. He settled in Newbury, but died here in 1818.
7. Hannah Sawyer, born March 26, 1779, married Jonathan Johnson, and lived and died in South Newbury. They had an only son, Haynes Johnson, who was gradu- ated at Dartmouth College in the class of 1822, became a worthy minister of the gospel of the Methodist order, and died in 1856, at the age of fifty-five years, leaving two sons.
8. Jane Sawyer, born December 29, 1781; married Haynes Johnson, of this town, where they remained and died. They had a family of ten children. And here we see that three Sawyer sisters, Elizabeth, Hannah and Jane, married three Johnson brothers, Jesse, Jonathan, and Haynes, and all spent the remainder of their days in the same neighborhood. For further notices of the families of Elizabeth and Jane, see the Johnsons.
9. Mercy Sawyer, born August 1, 1784 ; married Isaiah Stone and had a family of ten children. They lived for some
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time on the farm in Bradford now owned by Thomas Johnson, but finally removed to the State of Ohio, and died there.
11. Anne Sawyer, born April 8, 1784 ; married Har- vey Smith, of Bradford, where they subsequently lived and died. They had four sons and one daughter. Their eldest son, Charles P., was graduated at Dartmouth, in the class of . 1854 ; went South, and became a professional teacher; now residing in Nebraska.
10. John Sawyer, a brother between the two sisters last named ; born October 27 1786 ; married Lydia W. Dike, of Bradford, March 19, 1816. They spent the remainder of their days on the old homestead, in the house next South of his father's. They had a family of four sons and four daughters.
1. Mary Dike Sawyer, born February 27, 1817; mar- ried George Burroughs, of Newbury, now a worthy dea- con in the Congregational church there. Have three sons and three daughters.
' 2. John Hiram Sawyer, born November 22, 1818; mar- ried Sarah Hibbard, of Piermont, N. H. Both members of the Congrgational church in Bradford. November 10, 1871, Mr. Sawyer was elected a Deacon in the same, and in that capacity has since officiated, to the entire satisfac- tion of the church.
3. Emily Payson Sawyer, born January, 1822; mar- ried Charles P. Blanchard, of Concord, N. H., September 3, 1862, and went there to live.
4. Henry Ezekiel Sawyer, born February 2, 1824; married Amanda Chamberlin. They live in Chicago, and have one son.
5. Lydia Sawyer, born June 13, 1826, has lived for several years in the vicinity of Boston.
6. · Joseph Sawyer, born April 24, 1829 ; married Su- san Sawyer, of Newbury, February 14, 1865; went into the livery business at Chicago, where Mrs. Sawyer died,
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leaving one daughter and a son. The little daughter died at the house of her uncle, Deacon Burroughs, of New- bury, January 9, 1874. The son, Frank E., remains with his father.
7. Elizabeth Sawyer, born September 14, 1831 ; mar- ried Ellis McDuffee of this town. They had one son and three daughters. See McDuffee family.
8. Edward Sawyer, born February 20, 1837, lives in Chicago, engaged in Express business.
9. Jane Sawyer, born February 20, 1837; married Edward Robie, of Bradford. They have had three child- ren, one son and a daughter still living.
Deacon Sawyer having communicated the above intel- ligence, I said I should like to add some appropriate inci- dent or anecdote of interest, if he had anything of that sort to give me. He thought a moment, and then replied substantially as follows : "Well, I shall never forget that when I was a young man I was, on a certain occasion, driving- a team of nine horses attached to a large wagon with a tre- mendously heavy load of merchant's goods on it, around Ingall's Hill, in Newbury, on my way to Wells River. The road was narrow, and lay on the very brink of a precipice, steeply descending into the Connecticut river. To my amazement, I had perceived my wheels next to the river to be sinking deeper, and yet deeper, into the ground, and my wagon, with its load, in utmost danger of going over and dragging the horses with it into the river ! The load had indeed swayed heavily over, and was resting against a tree, which was every moment in danger of being up- rooted. There I was in deep trouble, with no one to help me, when I saw you coming around the hill on horseback, on your way towards home. You instantly sprang from your horse, threw off your coat, and promptly afforded me all the assistance in your power. We got the horses free, then mounted the load, and persevered in throwing off ar- ticle after article, till all were cleared away, with the ex-
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ception of two heavy looking barrels at one end of the wagon, which had been placed at the bottom of the load. When you said 'John, what have you in these barrels ?' I replied 'something exhilarating, I suppose.' 'Then let them go into the river !' said you, thinking, no doubt, it was better the drunkard's drink should go there rather than downmen's throats. I was, however, as a teamster, anxious to save my whole load, and having again hitched on my strong team of horses they drew out the wagon, and so, through your assistance, all was saved, much to my gratification, and that of the owner of the goods."
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CHAPTER XIII.
The Kimball, Simpson, Colby, Greenleaf and Corliss families.
DANIEL KIMBALL, EsQ., AND FAMILY.
Daniel Kimball, Esq., was a native of Bradford, Mass., born A. D., 1766. He removed to Pembroke, N. H., while young, and there lived for several years. He mar- ried Miss Huldah Prescott, November 15, 1792, and in 1796 bought a farm in Bradford, Vt., about two miles back from the river and near the line of Newbury, and there, with his wife and two eldest children, settled about that time. The farm was the same which is now (1874) own- ed by Mr. John Holmes. In 1814 Esq. Kimball purchased and moved on to the farm next South of that, the one now owned by his son, H. W. Kimball, where he spent the re- mainder of his days. He was a man highly esteemed by his fellow townsmen, and by them often called to fill va- rious offices. For how many years he officiated as one of the Selectmen, or as a Justice of the Peace, we have no exact account, but he represented this town in the State Legislature in the year 1802, and again in 1806, and thence onward, without intermission, for some years more, and fi- nally in 1815, making nine years in the whole.
Esquire Kimball and his first wife had a family of nine children, who lived to be men and women, namely :
1. Eliza C., born November 13, 1794 ; married Doctor Thomas Colby, of this town, October 29, 1815; the first- couple thus united by the writer, but not the last, by sev- eral hundreds. They had two sons and two daughters, of whom no one is now living, unless it should be one of the sons, who is supposed to be dead, not having been heard of for about forty years. Dr. Colby died here in 1829, at the age of forty-one years .. His widow married John
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L. Corliss, of Corinth, and died January 10, 1837, in her forty-third year.
2. James Kimball, born March 26, 1796; went into the State of New York; married Sophia Maltby, March 14, 1819 ; had four sons and seven daughters; resided in Western New York for many years, when he removed to Florida, and died there in 1871.
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3. John W. Kimball, born August 16, 1796; married Mercy Tabor, of this town, April 8, 1822. He kept the principal hotel in the village for a while; exercised the office of a sheriff; was a stirring, energetic sort of a man ; moved to Adrian, Mich., some time prior to 1840, and died there in the winter of 1873 or 4. He had a family of four children, all natives of Bradford. Charles died in Wiscon- sin. Caroline married Stephen Tabor, of this town, and at this date was living in widowhood in Wisconsin. Anne Eliza married in Maine, and died there. Emily married, and lives in Washington, D. C.
4. Sally Kimball, born August 14, 1801, married Dr. David Huntoon, of Washington, Vt., October 16, 1820; has six sons and four daughters, and was at this writing living with her children in Lowell, Mass., being a widow.
5. Hannah Kimball, born February 19, 1804, married Asa Kimball, of Gilead, Maine, January 19, 1824, and had two sons and two daughters. She died in 1838.
6. Phebe Kimball, born March 12, 1806, married Dea. Samuel Dearborn, of Corinth, Vt., March 22, 1837, where she still resides, a widow ; no children.
7. Waity W. Kimball, born April 13, 1808. At the age of twenty, on profession of her faith, she became a beloved member of the Congregational church in this place. In 1839, April 13, she married T. J. Chapman, of Bethel, Maine, and died there in 1862. No children.
8. Adeline Kimball, born February 22, 1811, died in 1855, unmarried.
9. Julia A. Kimball, born March 28, 1814.
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Mrs. Huldah Prescott Kimball, the mother of this inter- esting family of nine children, died at Bradford, Novem- ber 7, 1815, nine days after the marriage of her eldest daughter, and at the age of forty-five years.
Daniel Kimball, Esq., married for his second wife, March 3, 1816, Miss Susan Huntoon, of Corinth, who was born April 8, 1790. They had one daughter, Huldah M., who died in her infancy, and four sons, namely :
1. Daniel C. Kimball, born February 23, 1819, married Mary J. Smith, of Northumberland, N. H. They settled in Maidston, Vt., and had three sons and two daughters. Mr. Kimball was called while there to fill various offices of trust and importance, as Constable, Town Clerk, and Representative of the town for two years in the State Legislature. He resided in that town some ten or twelve years, and in 1854 removed to Haverhill, Mass., where he died in April, 1873, in the fifty-fifth year of his age.
2. Hyram W. Kimball, born July 12, 1822, married, April 21, 1845, Lydia S. Burnham, of Chelsea, Vt. They had one daughter and one son, at this date still living, namely, Abbie L., a member of the Congregational church in Bradford, and wife of D. S. Johnson, of Fairlee; and Frank H., still with his father in Bradford. Mrs. Kimball died in March, 1864. Mr. Kimball married, June 1, 1867, Mrs. Mary J. Brock, of Burlington, Wisconsin, whose maiden name was Mary J. Chamberlin, formerly of New- bury, Vt. They have one daughter, Alice E., and still occupy the paternal homestead. Mr. Kimball has had occasion to be efficient in town affairs, as his father was before him.
3. Edward L. Kimball, born October 21, 1824, married a lady in Maine, and resides in Portland.
4. Denison S. Kimball, born July 3, 1834, married Eu- nice Kendall, of West Townsend, Mass. He went to re- side in that State. They had one son and two daughters. He enlisted in a Massachusetts regiment during the late
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war, and was killed in the battle of Port Hudson, Louisi- ana, June 13, 1863.
Daniel Kimball, Esq., the honored father of these four- teen children died at Bradford, November 6, 1851, at the age of eighty-five years.
His widow has since been passing the peaceful after- noon of her useful and somewhat protracted life at her old home in Bradford, with her beloved son, Hiram W. Kimball, and his kind family.
THE SIMPSONS.
Alexander Simpson and wife, whose maiden name was Mary Bryant, were both natives of Windham, N. H., and moved to this town, with their family of four children, in the month of March, 1797. They started from Windham with a yoke of oxen and sled, the only team to convey the family and goods to Vermont. They also had with them a cow and heifer. One of the oxen met with a sad accident, and died by the way. What was then to be done ? Mr. Simpson yoked his cow and heifer together, hitched them to the sled, with the surviving ox forward, to strongly guide them, and so proceeded on his journey. They crossed Connecticut River at about nine o'clock in the evening, on the ice, and stopped with Samuel Mc- Duffee, on the Upper Plain, during the night. The next morning they took up their abode in a log house near by, until arrangements could be made to move to a lot which he had secured on the west side of Wright's Mountain, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their days.
THEIR CHILDREN.
1. Henry married Abigail Page, and settled in New- bury. They had three sons and three daughters. Matil- da married Isaiah Woodward, of Haverhill, N. H., and af- ter his decease, George Whipple. Daniel married Louisa Baldwin, of Newbury, and settled in Corinth. They had
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six children, Abbie, Charles, Francena, George, Hylas and Lula. Mr. Simpson, their father, died May 17, 1874. Jemima, daughter of Henry, married Newall Tabor, set- tled in Haverhill, and had one daughter and four sons. Orrin, her brother, married Martha Caswell, of Fairlee, settled in Haverhill, and had a family of thirteen children. Of Henry F., his brother, we have no account.
2. William Simpson, second son of Alexander, mar- ried Polly Page, a sister of his brother Henry's wife, and settled in Bradford, near his father, and had twelve chil- dren, namely : Thaddeus, Cornelius, Cordelia, Albert, Avarissa, Samantha, Adaline, William, Reuben, Alonzo, and George. Of these it may be remarked that the eld- est son has remained unmarried, with his parents, who at this date (June, 1874) are still living. Harriet married John Platt, and settled in Haverhill. Cornelius married his cousin, Susan Simpson, of Topsham, and has one child. Cordelia married Amos Flanders, and settled in Manches- · ter, N. H. Reuben married Etta Prince, settled in Brad- ford, and has three children. George married Lucia Hutchins, settled in Newbury, and has one child. Wil- liam Simpson represented this town in the State Legisla- ture of 1800.
3 and 4. Nancy and Jane were twin daughters of Alexander Simpson and wife. Jane died in maidenhood. Her sister Nancy married Daniel Page, settled in Haver- hill, and had two sons and four daughters.
5. John Simpson, the next in this original family, mar- ried Lydia Crook, settled in Topsham, and had two sons and two daughters.
6. Betsey Simpson married Samuel Page, settled in Corinth, and had a large family.
7. Mary Simpson, the youngest daughter of Alexander and wife, died unmarried.
A singular incident, related to the writer by Mr. Thad- deus Simpson, seems worth repeating here. He said it 19
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once occurred that a horse belonging to his father, having been turned out to graze, was missing. Diligent search was made for it, not only on the premises and through the neighborhood, but more extensively, without success. After more than a week of search, not the slightest intel- ligence could be obtained of its whereabouts, or of its having been seen. It was, therefore, but natural to sup- pose that it must have been stolen in the night, and taken to some remote place. But one day when he, Thaddeus, was out on the farm, he heard a sound which seemed like the faint neighing of a horse, under the ground. He listened, and with anxiety approached the spot from which the sound seemed to come. To his astonishment, he per- ceived the head of a living horse, raised just a little above the surface of the earth ! And there, in a deep potato- hole, he found the lost horse, still alive, though for some twelve days it had been without any nourishment what- ever, beyond the merest pittance of grass which it had been able to reach without changing its position. The earth was speedily dug away, so as to give a path of es- cape, the horse was brought safely out, and lived to do still good service, and, wiser than some released prison- ers, was cautious ever after not to be so venturesome as to fall again into the same or any similar pit. He said there could be no doubt in regard to the time when the horse fell into the hole, as they had been using it the very day before it disappeared.
DEACON JACOB COLBY AND FAMILY.
Jacob Colby was a native of Newtown, Rockingham County, N. H., born February 15, 1772. He was married to Polly Huntington, of Lebanon, N. H., in February, 1796. They lived in Hanover till March, 1802, when they removed to this town, and took up their abode on a pecul- iarily retired, uncultivated lot on the South bank of Wait's
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River, in the western part of Bradford. Their first habi- tation was constructed of logs, the roof covered with elm bark, and the floor laid with planks which had been washed from a bridge in the east part of Corinth, and swept as drift-wood down the stream. In this humble tenement they lived for about six years, when they en- tered their new and more commodious house, now (in 1874), still standing, in which they spent the remainder of their days. In the course of time a well traveled high- way from Bradford village to Corinth, leading on to Chel- sea, was opened along Wait's River and its Southern Branch, which, passing through the .Colby homestead, made it quite a noted place. Mr. Colby was by occupa- tion a mason, as well as a farmer, and in that capacity very helpful to the new settlers engaged in building for themselves better houses. He had invariably sustained the reputation of a sensible, honest man, and on becoming hopefully pious, and a member of the Christian church, so called, in the north-western. section of Bradford, was con- stituted a Deacon in the same, and thenceforth bore that honorable title. Mrs. Colby, his good wife, died in this town, December, 1850, at the age of eighty years. The Deacon died in 1858, at the age of eighty-six. They were the parents of three sons and three daughters, viz :
1. Jacob Curtis, born November 27 1796,
2. Enoch, born December 5, 1798.
3. Lucia, born September 18, 1801.
4. Lorena, born January 4, 1804.
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