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 21
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5. Moody, born May 6, 1806.
6. Lavina, born May 26, 1807.
Of the various fortunes of this family we are able to give only the following brief notices. Enoch Colby be- came a mariner, and died at sea, in the year 1823.
The sisters Lorena and Lavina Colby lived to be young ladies, but died unmarried.
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Moody Colby married Elizabeth Taylor, of Jaffrey, N. H. He was for some years Post Master at Bradford, and owned a house near the north end of the village, where his widow still resides. Mr. Colby died there July, 1862, at the age of fifty-six years. They had three children, two of whom died in infancy. The surviving son, Henry B., left this place years since, for the life of a mariner ; but at this date, 1874, is understood to be settled ou a desirable plantation in California.
Lucia married Allen W. Colby, of Plainfield, N. H. They had three children. The husband and children have all deceased. She has a grandson, Edward H. Doten, re- siding at St. Johnsbury. The widow is still living in this village, near the residence of her eldest brother.
Jacob Curtis Colby, the eldest son of Deacon Colby, has for several years resided in this village, and has spent not the whole, but fifty-two years, of his life in this town. His first wife was Sarah D. Johnson, of Meriden, N. H., who died in 1850. By her he had four daughters. The eldest, Mary H., married Rufus F. Ormsby, of this town. For further notice see the Ormsby family. Sarah J. mar- ried Charles Page, of East Corinth. Lorena and Helen L., both married, are living in the State of New York.
Mr. J. C. Colby was again married January, 1853, to Mrs. A. H. Corliss, of Lyme, N. H. They have one daughter, Zoe E., who as a teacher has rendered impor- tant service to the public.
Mr. J. C. Colby, her father, was also a well known teacher of common schools. He taught for thirty consec- utive Winter terms ; seven of them in the same school at Bradford Center He also worked there for fifteen Sum- mer seasons at the business of carding and cloth dressing, thus ministering to the physical as well as intellectual wants of the families around him, and has served the town in the capacity of a Selectman for the years 1848,
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1849, and 1850, and as a Lister for two or three years. Honor to whom honor is due.
THE GREENLEAF FAMILY.
Samuel Greenleaf came from Nottingham, N. H., about the year 1791, and bought a farm here, which is still well known as the Greenleaf place, about a half-mile south of what is now called " Goshen meeting house." He built there a substantial farm house, which was long occupied by himself and family. His wife's maiden name was Hannah Rowe. She was a sister of Captain Elijah Rowe, of the same neighborhood. They had a healthy, enter- prising family of three sons and six daughters, of whom we are able to give only the following brief notices :
1. Dolly Greenleaf married, as second wife, John Mc- Duffee, Esq., and had two sons, well and honorably known in Bradford. See the McDuffees.
2. Polly Greenleaf died at the age of fifteen years.
3. Lowell Greenleaf married Betsey Davis, of this town, by whom he had two daughters. Julia married, and settled in the State of Maine. Her sister Melissa married Sargeant T. George, a merchant in this village, whose daughter Orissa J. married John B. W. Prichard, a merchant here, and her sister Orinda A. married John E. Shaw, of Summerville, Mass. Mr. Lowell Greenleaf's second wife was Anne Wyman. They had two daugh- ters, Betsey Anne and Emilyette, and a son, Lowell Green- leaf, Jr. Mr. G. married a third wife, whose name is not given.
4. Hannah Greenleaf married Jacob Corliss, of Brad- ford, a son of Captain Emerson Corliss. They had one son and one daughter.
5. Phillips Greenleaf married Sally Stevens, of the same neighborhood, and had a son and daughter. He married for his second wife Eliza Burnet, of Newbury.
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They had two children, both, with their father, now de- ceased.
6. Silver Greenleaf was by occupation a tanner and currier. He migrated to the State of Maine, and estab- lished himself in business in the town of Freedom, Waldo County. He married Miss Rhoda Freeman. They had three children. Of these, Mary H. died at the age of fourteen years, and Charles Henry, aged ten years-hoth died of diptheria, the same day. Mr. Greenleaf returned to Bradford in September, 1868, where his only surviv- ing daughter, an interesting and good girl, Olive, died in June, 1871, at the age of twenty-three years. Mr. Green- leaf's eyesight, which had for years been growing dim, entirely failed in the summer of 1865, since which he has remained in physical, but not in intellectual or moral, darkness, habitually manifesting that meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. To him it has been a great blessing that he has had so good a wife, to lead him to the houses of his friends, and es- pecially to the places of religious worship, where he has loved to go, and to take in every way such tender and faithful care of him, under this dark and trying dispensa- tion.
7. Sally Greenleaf married Reuben Kent, of Piermont, N. H. Mr. Kent subsequently bought the farm formerly owned by Captain Russell Andross, on the Lower Plain, in this town, where they now live.
8. Lavina Greenleaf married John Celley, of Corinth, a worthy man and prosperous farmer there. They have one daughter, the wife of Nelson Worthley, of that town.
9. Melissa Greenleaf married Amos White, a pious man and industrious farmer, in Topsham, where he lived and died. They had two daughters and two sons. Miss Lydia E. White has been a successful assistant teacher in Bradford Academy, for several years. Her sister Han- nah married James- Woodward, a merchant in Chicago,
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formerly of this place. They have two children. Carlos White, a graduate of Dartmouth College, author of a val- uable book on the rights of women, lives in California, is married, and has two children. His brother, Byron N. White, entered Dartmouth College, but on the death of his father found it necessary to leave before graduation. He has for some time been engaged in teaching, in Iowa. Mrs. White, the mother, is expected to take up her per- manent residence in this village.
Mr. Samuel Greenleaf, the father of this somewhat large family bearing his name, died in Washington, Vt., and his wife in Bradford, both in honored old age. Their son Silver Greenleaf, and five daughters, namely : Mrs. McDuffee, Corliss, Kent, Celley and White, have survived them, and all at this date, March, 1874, remain estimable citizens of Bradford.
THE CORLISS FAMILIES.
The remotest ancestor bearing this name, of whom the present generation of his posterity have any knowledge, was George Corliss, of England, born in the year 1617. He emigrated to Massachusetts in 1639, and married, in 1645, Joanna Davis, who was also from England. He was by occupation a farmer, and commenced operations on a lot which he purchased of the Indians, within the sub- sequent limits of Haverhill, a year before the first settlers secured their corporate right to a tract sufficient for a township. That town was incorporated in 1645. On that same farm George Corliss and wife continued to live, during the remainder of their days ; and by successive heirs, bearing the same family name, it has since been owned and occupied for six or seven generations. That original couple had one son, and seven daughters. This son, whose name was Jolin ; born in 1647, married Mary Milford in 1684 ; and had four sons ; John, Thomas, Timo-
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thy and Jonathan, whose posterity became so numerous that so long ago as in the year 1819 it was ascertained that the number of males of this descent then living in the United States and Canada, was about five hundred.
The genealogy of the three Corliss brothers who emi- grated to this town, and settled on farms in the western part of the same, is reckoned as follows, in a direct line of descent from father to son: 1. George Corliss, the emigrant from England; 2. John Corliss, above men- tioned; 3. Timothy Corliss, son of John, born at Haver- hill, Mass., in 1793; married Sarah Hutchins, and removed to Weare, N. H. -
4. Jeremiah Corliss, his son, born in 1734, at Weare, probably.
5. Jeremiah, Peletiah, and David, three sons of Jere- miah above named, emigrated to Bradford in the year 1800, and of each of them, with his family, such informa- tion will now be given as we have been able to obtain.
The eldest of these three brothers, Jeremiah, born at Weare, N. H., July 2d, 1763, married Polly Philbrick. They had seven children, who lived to marry and have families of their own, as follows :
1. Hannah, married Edward Austin, of Bradford, and died, leaving a large family, in Illinois.
2. Isaac, married Abigail Newell, of Bradford, and died in Wisconsin. They had one son, who was drowned.
3. David, married Dolly Blake, of Andover, N. H. They live in Wisconsin. Have several children.
4. Evan, married Polly Blake, of Andover. One son.
5. Jeremiah, Jr., married and died in Wisconsin.
6. Lydia, married David McKillips, of this town. They removed to Indiana.
7. Rebecca went to Indiana; married there, and re- moved to Kansas. They have a large family.
After the death of the mother of the above named chil- dren, Mr. Jeremiah Corliss married Hannah Martin, a
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daughter of Deacon Reuben Martin, of this town, and had two daughters and one son, namely :
8. Mary, married George W. Welton, of Bradford Center, and had a family.
9. Anna M., married William Aldrich, of this town, May 28, 1862; and her good mother spent the evening of her days at their pleasant home, near the village, and died there, November, 1867.
10. Edwin F., married Ellen M. Stone, of Cabot, Vt., and migrated to Wisconsin.
Jeremiah Corliss, the father of this large family, died at his home in Bradford, December, 1841, in his seventy- ninth year.
Peletiah Corliss, the next younger brother of Jeremiah, was born at Weare, N. H., in 1770, January the 29th. He married Sarah Sanborn, and removed to this town in 1800. He purchased and for many years occupied a farm on the South road, the same now owned by Jesse Wor- then ; but afterwards bought the Severance place, in the north-western corner of the town, where he kept a hotel, as there was then, as well as now, a good deal of travel on the stage road between Bradford and Montpelier. Mr. Corliss died there, March 26, 1828, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. Mrs. Corliss, his wife, died August 18, 1844, at the age of seventy-three. They had a family of six sons and five daughters, namely :
1. Susan, born December 10, 1790, married Winthrop Green, of Corinth, and died in July, 1862.
2. . Hannah, born June 30, 1792, married Flavel Bliss, of this town, and died December 3, 1859.
3. Mary, born February 22, 1794, married Michael Stevens, of Corinth ; died, January, 1827; left two chil- dren.
5. Mehitabel, born January 7, 1798, married Goulds- bourne Taplin, of Corinth. They have several children.
6. John B., born September 24, 1799, married, first,
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Hepzibah Taplin, of Corinth ; and for his second wife, Annaritta Underwood, of this town. His homestead was at the South side of Wright's Mountain, near Wait's River. He died October 5, 1850. His widow, at this date (1874), was still living.
7. Daniel, born December 16, 1802. He married a Miss Caroline Taplin, of Corinth, a sister of Gouldsbourne T., above mentioned; became a practicing physician. in Montpelier, and died there, October 17, 1850.
8. William P., born August 24, 1804, died March 27, 1827.
9. George W., born September 10, 1806, died Sep- tember 21, 1825.
10. David Sanborn, born September 25, 1809, married Emily, daughter of Rufus F. Ormsby, of this town. They removed to Missouri, where he died April 21, 1863.
11. Sarah Ann, born August 25, 1814, married Jonas Clark, and died April 5, 1858.
4. Of Peletiah, Jr., the eldest son in this family, let the following notice, which appeared in our village paper, soon after his decease, suffice. He was born February 14, 1796.
DIED.
In Bradford, Vt., April 9, 1874, Mr. Peletiah Corliss, in the 79th year of his age.
He was a native of Andover, N. H., and, at the age of four years, came here with his father, Peletiah Corliss, and family, and thence remained till his decease, a period of seventy-four years. He was in active life a farmer and inn-keeper, in the north-western corner of the town, on the stage road leading to Montpelier ; but for several years has lived in the village, in delicate health, taking life, with its infirmities and cares, as quietly as possible. He was, for the mildness of his disposition, his pleasant conversation, strict honesty, and exemplary morality, justly esteemed as a good neighbor and worthy citizen.
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His last sickness, which was severe and somewhat pro- tracted, was borne with signal patience and resignation to the divine will, and its end was peace.
The wife of Mr. Corliss, whose maiden name was Mary Jackman, of Corinth, died in February, 1853. He left at his decease one son, Charles P. Corliss, a watchmaker and jeweller, at Memphis, Tenn., and three daughters, namely: Sabra T., wife of Rodney Richardson, of Corinth ; Susan J., wife of Samuel H. Grow, of Bradford; and Miss Mary Ann, the eldest, who had long taken the most kind and faithful care of her father, and in his last sickness, day and night, ministered to him with admirable assiduity and tenderness.
His funeral was attended at the house of Dr. Doty, where he died; and his remains laid to their long repose, by those of his wife, in Bradford cemetery-kept in re- membrance there by the handsome marble obelisk which he had seasonably erected. S. M. K.
David Corliss, the youngest of the three brothers who emigrated from New Hampshire to this town, in 1800, was born in 1774. He married Abigail Taplin, of Cor- inth, had by her five children, removed to Topsham, and died there.
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CHAPTER XIV.
John B. Peckett and family-the Johnsons, Willards, Worthleys, Armstrongs, and Nelsons.
JOHN B. PECKETT, EsQ., AND FAMILY.
Mr. Peckett was of English descent. His grandfather, Giles Peckett, in the year 1774, with his wife and four children, emigrated from the county of Yorkshire, Eng- land, to Portsmouth, N. H. Having remained there a few months, he removed to North Haverhill, N. H., and in 1779 or '80 came to Bradford, Vt., then called Moretown, to find a home for himself and family.
Edward Peckett, a son of these worthy parents, was fif- teen years of age when he came with them to this coun- try. In course of time he married Deborah Barron, of Haverhill, N. H., and settled in Newbury, Vt., where he died, leaving a widow, with six small children, with slen- der means of support. One of these children was John B., the subject of this notice. He was born at Newbury, November 29, 1789.
John B. Peckett, after his father's death, at the early age of two years, was taken into the family of his grand- parents, the Barrons, where he remained until he was nine years of age, when he came to Bradford, to live with Mr. Cheney, on the farm now (1874) occupied by Mr. Cy- . rus Stearns, and while but a little boy was taught the les- son of earning his bread by the sweat of his brow. It might be an advantage to many idle boys of these later days to be subjected to the same Spartan discipline, per- haps somewhat modified. Mrs. Cheney, a daughter of Col. John Barron, of Bradford, was his mother's cousin, and with them John B. no doubt found a pleasant home.
During his minority the means of education were' ex- tremely limited, but he, having a strong mind, retentive
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memory, and a liberal share of resolution and persever- ance, obtained an amount of learning which enabled him to teach a common school with success, and proved high- ly beneficial in after life.
When about twenty-one years of age, Mr. Peckett com- menced the business of rafting on Connecticut river, and followed it as his principal occupation during the appro- priate seasons of the twenty-seven years next ensuing. The rafts were chiefly of pine timber, to be sawed or hewn, and used for house and ship building, the same be- ing not unfrequently piled with boards and shingles, and dignified with a hut for the accommodation of the rafts- men. Having sold his lumber, generally at Hartford, Ct., it was no uncommon thing for him to return on foot, and, still full of energy, engage directly in preparing for an- other voyage. It is said that when getting his raft to- gether at Haverhill, he would often board at home, on the lower plain in Bradford, going and returning on foot, a distance of some half a dozen miles, at least, and be on hand in the morning before the men on the spot were ready to begin their labors for the day. Though not of a large and apparently strong body, he was exceedingly muscular, tough and energetic. Hard work was his habit and pleasure. When at an age when most men feel used up, he would take his axe, in cold winter weather, and be off early in the morning into the forest, to take the lead in the business of logging, and to show the young men how to work. He also took great satisfaction in the va- rious operations of farming. When almost seventy-nine years of age, only a few weeks before his decease, he one day held his plow, drawn by horses, till he had turned over three acres of soil.
While through life mainly devoted to such laborious pursuits, he found time to do a great many other things. At the call of his townsmen he filled various offices of honor and trust, to their satisfaction. He was overseer of
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the poor for thirty years, and represented his town in the State Legislature for the year 1831; was elected Select- man and town agent for several years ; was appointed several times special agent to construct bridges, and for the building of new highways ; and commissioner on sev- eral occasions, by the County Court, to lay out roads in this and other towns.
He was also a firm friend and supporter of the cause of temperance, and held not only to moral but to legal sua- sion. He believed in the necessity of law to restrain in- temperance, as well as other crimes against society, and was for having such enactments put into execution upon reckless transgressors, whether drunkards or retailers. Industrious, economical, and faithful to fulfill all his en- gagements, he wished to see others so, and the prosperi- ty of not only those about him, but that of our entire country promoted. He was a firm advocate of freedom and human rights, a friend and supporter of the govern- ment of his country, and rejoiced in its triumphant sup- pression of the slaveholders' gigantic rebellion, and the universal emancipation and enfranchisement of their slaves. In the Presidential election of 1868 he took a deep interest, and wished once more to cast his vote in favor of the cause with which he had so long been iden- tified, but was not able. He lived, however, to hear of, and rejoice in, the result. He was then confined to his house by a prostration which was destined soon to termin- ate his long and active life. Though he had never been in the habit of talking much about death or eternity, he had evidently, for some. years been sensible that he was liable at any time to be called hence, and had arranged all his secular affairs accordingly. The disease which final- ly broke down his strong constitution, and brought him to the grave, seized upon his heart, paralyzed his nervous and muscular powers, and toward the last sadly affected his once sound and strong intellectual capacities. But
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without murmuring he seemed resigned to his destiny, and quietly passed away on the evening of the 16th of November, 1868, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, having been a resident of the town of Bradford for sev- enty years. On the 19th his funeral was numerously at- tended, especially by those who for more than half a century had been associated with him in the various cares and comforts of life and love. But few of his age, in this
community, are now remaining. May the evening of their lives be serene, and their eternity blessed. "As for man, his days are as grass ; as a flower of the field so he flourisheth, for the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more."
As to the family of Mr. Peckett, it may be remarked that he was married to Miss Martha Tilton, January 8, 1817, an excellent Christian lady, who died suddenly, De- cember 23, 1858, at the age of sixty-six years. They were blessed with three sons and two daughters. One daughter died in infancy ; their son Derrick died in March, 1851; Edward M. in June, 1858, leaving a family. John B. Peckett, Esq., and family, and his sister, Martha F., the wife of Col. J. C. Stearns, still reside in Bradford, and were able to be with their honored father in his declining years, and to do whatever could be done for his comfort when finally passing away.
John B. Peckett, Esq., left at his decease a son bearing the same name, of whom, and his family, some account. will now be given.
John B. Peckett, Jr., was born in Bradford, Decem- ber 19, 1822. After his school days were over he spent several years in mercantile business, first as a clerk in the store of Mr. Asa Low, and subsequently as partner with Adams Preston, Esq., three years.
Mr. Peckett was united in marriage with Miss Caroline H., daughter of Mr. Asa Low, of this village, September 9, 1847, and in the year 1853 built the nice brick cottage
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nearly opposite to the Congregational parsonage, and there resided for several years. In 1854 he became part- ner with Dea. George W. Prichard and George and E. Prichard in the ownership of the valuable brick grist-mill, and of the saw-mill therewith connected, in this village, and has since had the principal agency in the manage- ment of the same. Those mills are not only very benefi- cial to the public, but have the reputation of being very profitable to their proprietors. Mr. Peckett, in principle and practice has been decidedly in favor of temperance in this community, and by diligence in business, econo- my in his expenses, and uprightness in his pecuniary transactions, has been prospered in his secular affairs.
In March, 1865, he bought the beautiful homestead which he has since occupied and still further improved, on the Lower Plain, about three-quarters of a mile South of the principal hotel in this village. That nice brick house was built by Mr. John H. Richards, for his own family oc- cupancy, in the summer of 1858.
Mr. Peckett has not only had business enough of his own to occupy his time, but has been repeatedly called to take an active part in public affairs. He has officiated as Town Treasurer for five years, and as a Justice of the Peace for about twelve years.
Mr. and Mrs. Peckett have had two sons and two daugh- ters. Their son, Asa Low Peckett, born September 1, 1848, a worthy young man, married Miss Helen M. Clement, of this town; and is at this date station agent on the Concord railroad, at Nashua, N. H. They have one child, a daughter.
2. Caroline Frances, born September 7th, 1853, grew up a comely, amiable, well educated, and hopefully pious young lady ; fond of vocal music, and a competent teach- er of the same; and on the 8th of April, 1874, became the wife of Horace Berry, M. D., of Cambridge, Mass. He took her directly, with fair prospects, to her new
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home at Cambridge, where he was established in medical practice. But in less than one month, on the fourth day of May, 1874, she was, by the stroke of death, suddenly called away from all the joys and from all the sorrows which might otherwise have been her lot in life ; called, it is confidently hoped, into the approving presence and happy kingdom of that blessed Saviour to whom she had years before consecrated herself. She died at the age of twenty years and eight months, lacking three days. Her remains were brought to her native place for sepul- ture, and her funeral was numerously attended by deeply sympathizing relatives and friends.
3. John Barron Peckett, born December 21, 1856, has been pursuing a course of education at Bradford Acade- my, and to this date has remained at home with his parents.
4. Martha Lucinda, youngest member of the family of J. B. Peckett, Esq., born January 27, 1859, died in her childhood.
Colonel John C. Stearns and wife occupy the pleasant homestead, now much improved, which was owned by her father, and are deserving of a more satisfactory notice here than the writer has been furnished with the means of correctly giving.
CAPTAIN HAYNES JOHNSON AND FAMILY.
This Johnson family were of English origin. Their earliest ancestor who emigrated to this country was Wil- liam Johnson, born at Kent, England, in the reign of James the I. He was one of the early settlers and mu- nicipal officers of Charlestown, Mass., which was incorpo- rated in 1629. His wife, Sarah Haynes, is said to have been of Danish descent. This William died in Charles- town, December 9, 1677, at the age of seventy years. He left a son Thomas, who had a son John, whose son Haynes 20
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