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 22
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lived for a while in Newbury, Vt., but died in Concord, N. H., September 2, 1775, leaving three sons, Jonathan, Jesse, and Haynes, the last named being but twenty days old at the time of his father's death. He was born in Newbury, August 13, 1775.
In the summer of 1776, the young widow, then at Con- cord, took her three little sons on the same horse with herself, and traveled, mainly through a wilderness, about thirty miles, to Hempstead, N. H., to be more out of the . way of the Indians and tories. She returned again to Newbury, Vt., and there married Mr. Remembrance Chamberlin, by whom she had several sons and daugh- ters, who became people of honorable distinction in New- bury and Bradford.
Her son Haynes, afterwards generally styled Captain Haynes Johnson, came to Bradford to live in 1798, when about twenty-three years of age, and for two or three years cultivated the farm in Goshen district which Mr. John Hardy at this date owns and occupies. In 1801 he bought the fine river farm, in the north-east part of the town, on which he remained an honest, industrious and hard-working farmer, during the remainder of his life. He married Miss Jane Sawyer, April 8, 1802, a daughter of Captain Ezekiel Sawyer, then of Bradford, but former- ly of Rowley, Mass. Captain Johnson and wife became members of the Congregational church in Bradford. He built the large house on his farm which still stands there, now forsaken of all its former inmates.
Captain Haynes Johnson died November 1, 1863, aged eighty-eight years; Mrs. Jane S. Johnson, his widow, died May 21, 1869, at the age of eighty-seven.
They had a family of ten children. One of the daugh- ters died in childhood. Of the four sons and five daugh- ters who lived to maturity, the following notices are deemed worthy of insertion here. Their children were all natives of Bradford.
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1. Ezekiel Johnson, the eldest son, born September : 26, 1803, married, February 27, 1827, Miss Nancy Rod- gers, daughter of Samuel Rodgers, of Newbury. She was born there, December 12, 1807. His children by this marriage were seven; all, with exception of the youngest, natives of Bath, N. H., where Mr. Johnson set- tled soon after his marriage, and remained for about twelve years ; namely :
Mary Elizabeth, born January 19, 1828, was married, at St. Albans, Vt., to Roswell Farnham, of Bradford, De- cember 25, 1849. Of Colonel Farnham and family see further notice elsewhere in this history.
Ruth Ann Johnson, born January 26, 1830, married · Benjamin B. Chadwick, of Bradford, April 11, 1850. He at this date is engaged in the lumber business in North- ern Michigan.
Jane, born January 14, 1832, died in her third year.
Nancy Jenny, born April 19, 1835, married John H. Ruckel, Esq., of Buffalo, N. Y., March 27, 1856. They have five children, Mary E., Adelaide M., John B., and Louise B. Mr. Ruckel is engaged in the manufacture of copper work for vessels and steamers on the Lakes.
Harriet B., born December 19, 1837, married Mortimer Bradley, Esq., of Buffalo, N. Y., June 6, 1867. Their children are two, Jennie Louisa and Henry H.
Ezekiel Thomas Johnson, born May 19, 1839, before he became of age entered the office of the Windsor Journal (Vt.), where he became an accomplished printer, and worked at that business till the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, when he enlisted as a private, August 6, 1862; in Company H of the Tenth Vermont Regiment, at the age of twenty-three years. While in command of a portion of the skirmish line, in the battle of Monocacy, Maryland, July 9, 1864, he was severely wounded by a minnie ball, which struck the top of his head, cutting through the flesh to the bone as it passed on. He was
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sent to a hospital, where he remained for several months ; and as soon as able returned to his regiment, was com- missioned Second Lieutenant of Company E, and the next year, March 22, 1865, was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant of Company G. Amid many perils and hardships, he served his country bravely, and persevered till the war was successfully terminated. Was honorably mustered out of the service, June 22, 1865. He then went to Buffalo and acquired a knowledge of book-keep- ing, at the Commercial College there, and is at this date book-keeper for a firm of ship-builders. He married Sophia Louise Bailey, of Newbury, Vt., who died at Buf- falo, May 17, 1870, at the age of twenty-six years.
William Henry, youngest son of Mr. Ezekiel Johnson and his first wife, born March 7, 1840, at Bradford, Vt., married, first Virginia Hartly, daughter of Dr. W. H. Hartly, of New York City, by whom he had one daugh- ter, Ann Eva Dene. His second wife was Mary Adelia Lord, of Western New York, who died at Buffalo, July 27, 1874, aged eighteen years, leaving an infant șon, named Harrison Foster.
Mr. Ezekiel Johnson, while living in- Bath, was called to the command of a military company, and generally styled Captain, as was his father before him. He re- turned to this, his native town, in 1839, where he has since continued, an industrious, hard-working and devot- edly Christian man. His pious and excellent wife, Nancy Rodgers, died here, September 11, 1850, at the age of forty-two years.
The-children of these parents have all become hopeful- ly pious, and members of different churches : Mrs. Farn- ham of the Congregational church; Mrs. Ruckel of the Episcopal; and all the rest, with their father, are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal ; but all united in love.
Mr. Johnson married for his second wife, March 15, 1857, the widow Lucy A. Southworth, daughter of Benja-
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min Underwood, with whom he lived happily for sever- al years. After her decease, he married Miss Ann Bar- net, of Newbury, April 4, 1867, with whom he is spend- ing the evening of his life. The marriage rite in all these three instances was performed by the same minis- ter, Rev. S. McKeen, Mr. Johnson's almost life-long friend. We now return to the original family.
2. Mary, twin sister of Ezekiel, born September 26, 1803, married William Peters. See the Peters family.
3. Eliza, born February 18, 1808, married Earle Paine, of Washington, Vt., April 26, 1835. She had a son, Haynes J., and a daughter, Helen E., who married Dan- iel Grant, of Washington, June 6, 1868. He was a widow- er, having at that time three children, all of whom, with their father, died of diptheria, in the course of one week, in August, 1874. Mr. Grant left by his second marriage two young daughters, Anna Evaline and Eliza Emma.
4. Haynes C. Johnson, born April 4, 1811, married Harriet Willard, daughter of Captain Israel Willard, of Bradford. She was born December 26, 1816, and mar- ried February 9, 1843. Mr. H. C. Johnson owns the northern half of the large farm formerly possessed by his father, and has there on the river road built a nice brick cottage, with good outbuildings, and has a pleasant home. He has two sons. Walter Haynes, born July 15, 1847, remained at home, working, when of suitable age, on the farm summers, and attending the district school .winters,. until 1866, when he entered the Commercial College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and there finished the regular course ; after which he returned home, taught two win- ters, and in the spring of 1868 accepted the office of Su- perintendent of the motive power business at St. Albans, Vt., where he has since remained connected with rail- road affairs. He married, June 29, 1870, Miss Lizzie S. Whitcomb, of Bradford. They have one child, Mabel Lizzie, born September 7, 1872.
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Arthur Franklin, second son of Mr. H. C. Johnson, born December 16, 1849, at home schools and Montpelier Academy obtained a good business education, taught school for three winters, and then went into business in connection with his brother at St. Albans. Mrs. Johnson, with her two. sons and the eldest son's wife, were all mem- ber's of the Congregational church in Bradford.
5. Hannah, born-October 10, 1813, married William Peters, widower of her deceased sister Mary. See Peters family.
6. Thomas Johnson, born December 13, 1816, married Miss Hattie Avery, of Corinth. They have three sons, Frank, Charles and Herbert T. Mr. Thomas Johnson owns the valuable river farm long known as the Rowell place, overlooked by the celebrated Rowell's Ledge, which gives also a fine view of the surrounding moun- tains of this section of the Connecticut river, with its fer- tile meadows and thriving villages.
7. Jane Ann, born February 22, 1819, married Mr. Dan W. Shaw, of North Cambridge, Mass. See the Shaw family.
8. Clarissa P., born July 18, 1825, married Mr. John Richardson, of Orford, N. H., November 10, 1858. They have a pleasant homestead on the river road in that town, and a family of five interesting children, namely: Clara Alice, John Fred, Arthur Johnson, Willie Martin, and Emma Louisa.
9. Edmund Elliot, born November 27, 1827, owns and resides on the southern half of the old farm formerly pos- sessed by his father, on which he has built a nice cottage, and is pleasantly situated. He married Miss Mary Smith, of Newbury, and has one daughter, Lizzie. He is leader of the choir in the Methodist Church, and at this date one of the Selectmen of Bradford to whose care the pub- lication of this History is by vote of the town entrusted. Thus end our reminiscences of this family.
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FAMILY OF JESSE JOHNSON.
Jesse Johnson, the next elder brother of Capt. Haynes Johnson, of `whom some account has just been given, was a son of Haynes Johnson and wife, born at Newbury, Vt., March 27, 1773. He married Elizabeth Sawyer, a daughter of Capt. Ezekiel Sawyer, of Bradford. They were united in marriage by Rev. Gardner Kellogg, March 19, 1807. She was a native of Rowley, Mass., born Jan- uary 13, 1775. Mr. Johnson owned and occupied a good river farm in Bradford, bordering on the south side of Newbury, and there kept a house for the entertainment of travelers for several years, and died there, July 18, 1830, in the 54th year of his age. Mrs. Johnson, his widow, died at the house of Moses Chamberlin, her son-in-law, May 23, 1855, in the 81st year of her age.
These parents left four sons and two daughters. The first four of their children were born in Newbury, and the last two in this town. Of these children we are able to give only the following brief account.
1. Jesse Johnson, Jr., born May 6, 1808, married Mary A., daughter of Captain Ellis Bliss, of Bradford. He pur- chased a valuable farm in Fairlee, and there lived till his decease, which occurred March 2, 1866, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. Mr and Mrs. Johnson had four daugh- ters and two sons, namely :
Martha Elizabeth, born September 22, 1845, died April 10, 1869, in her twenty-fourth year.
Mary Ellen, born April 16, 1847.
Sarah French, born May 11, 1849, died April 4, 1868, in her nineteenth year.
Jesse R., born March 20, 1852, died in infancy. .
Abby Wright, born June 3, 1854.
Penniman, the youngest child, born June 6, 1856, died_ June 10, 1860, at the age of four years.
After the decease of her husband, Mrs. Johnson re-
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turned, with the remnant of her family, to Bradford, where at this date she is still living; her daughters Mary E. and Abby W. having their home with her. 1
2. Elliot P. Johnson, born December 19, 1809, married Sarah, daughter of Alva Taylor, of Bradford, May 6, 1841, and removed to Orford, N. H., where he possesses, at this date, a good farm on the river, below the village. They have at this writing three sons and one daughter.
Jesse, the eldest son, graduated at Dartmouth College, studied law, and is settled in the practice of it in the city of New York.
Alva T. and Edmund, his brother, reside in the same city, engaged in the market business.
Orpha, the daughter, remains with her parents at Or- ford.
3. Elizabeth A., born August 27, 1811. Since the death of her parents has had her home with her sister, Mrs. Chamberlin, of Bradford.
4. Jonathan Johnson, born August 22, 1813, married Abigail Willard, daughter of Captain Israel Willard, of Bradford, February, 1845. She died in the fifty-third year of her age, March 13, 1872, leaving two sons and three daughters, namely :
Willard C., born April 4, 1846. He married Mary Smith, of Corinth, resides in Bradford, engaged in agri- cultural pursuits with his father.
Julia A., born April 3, 1848, still at her parental home.
Moody, born July 22, 1851, a clerk at mercantile busi- ness.
Laura L., born October 24, 1853, married E. S. Peaslee, who is engaged in livery business here.
Eva E., the youngest member of this family, born Jan- uary 25, 1858, at home with her father.
5. Remembrance C. Johnson, born in Bradford, No- vember 28, 1814, was for several years proprietor and
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keeper of the Vermont House in this village, and is still resident here.
6. Ruby S. Johnson, born here January 29, 1819, married Moses R. Chamberlin, September 24, 1840, who owns and occupies the valuable homestead formerly pos- sessed by his father, on the Upper Plain in Bradford. They have at this date one son, Benjamin Franklin, who married Abby, daughter of George Monson, of this place. He is engaged in farming business with his father. The daughters, Martha, Elizabeth, and Ruby, are still with their parents. John Westly, a promising boy, came to his death by accidental drowning.
It seems proper to add here that Jonathan Johnson, brother of Jesse and Haynes, early settlers in Bradford, married Hannah Sawyer, a sister of the wives of his two brothers, and settled in the same neighborhood with them, though within the limits of Newbury, where they lived and died, leaving one son, Haynes Johnson, who gradu- ated at Dartmouth College in 1822, became a worthy min- ister of the Methodist order, married a Miss Stevens, of Newbury, and died in 1856, at the age of fifty-five, leav- ing two sons, Jonathan and Simeon Stevens, the latter of whom became an attorney-at-law, married Miss Ellen Bailey, formerly of Fairlee, and is settled at Jefferson, Indiana.
CAPT. ISRAEL WILLARD, AND FAMILY.
Israel Willard was a native of Sterling, Mass., born March 2d, 1777. He remained with his father, engaged in agriculture, till very nearly twenty-one years of age, when he learned the business of chair-making, and com- menced operations here in 1804 or 5. His shop was on Roaring Brook, near its confluence with the Connecticut. Being very devoted to his occupation, and having no com- petitor, he did quite a large and profitable business for
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many years. He was a man decidedly honest, very kind- hearted, strictly temperate, and very exemplary in con- versation and conduct. He married Miss Abigail Cum- mings, of Leicester, Mass., March 2, 1806, with whom he lived happily nearly twenty-four years, when she died May 13, 1830, in the fifty-second year of her age. They had seven children, namely :
1. Laura, born February 5, 1807; married John E. Chamberiin, of Newbury, where she resided during the remainder of her life, and had four sons and two daugh- ters.
2. Israel Cummings Willard, born July 2, 1809 ; mar- ried Miss Ruth Jane Colby, of Bradford, September 1, 1852. She died April 11, 1855.
Mr. Willard married for his second wife Mrs. Apphia Durgan, widow lady, a sister of Capt. B. Celley, of Fair- lee, June 27, 1861. They own and occupy the pleasant homestead formerly possessed by his father. That brick dwelling house was built by Capt. Willard in the year 1822. Mr. I. C. Willard, a worthy man, was by occupa- tion a farmer.
3 and 4. Two daughters, who died in their infancy.
5. Harriet Willard, born December 26, 1816; married Haynes C. Johnson, of Bradford. See the Johnson fam- ily.
6. Abigail, born October 15, 1819; married Jonathan Johnson of this town. See Johnson family.
7. Lydia Willard, born October 15, 1823; died Janua- ry 4, 1850 in the twenty-seventh year of her age. She was a fine singer, had remembered her Creator in the days of her youth, and was much beloved by those who knew her.
Capt. Israel Willard, the father of this family, married for his second wife, October 6, 1831, the widow Mehitable Sanders, of Newbury, a sister of Capt. Moses Chamber- lin, of this town, and an estimable lady. She died March
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13, 1849, aged sixty-five years. Capt. Willard spent the , remainder of his days with his son and wife, kindly cared for, and died August 16, 1865, in the 89th year of his age. His mental as well as bodily powers had considera- bly failed, but he still felt that his Saviour was most prec- ious, and peacefully died, trusting in Him. This good man, and both of his wives, and his daughter Harriet, and his son Israel C., were all members of the same church, Congregational. The son's wife is a worthy member of the Methodist church in this place, but of the same spirit with her husband.
THE WORTHLEYS.
. Jesse Worthley, of Weare, N. H., married Judith Calif, of Kingston, in that State, and removed to Bradford, Vt., about the year 1798. He bought and settled on a farm some four or five miles back from the village, in the South- west part of the town, and there raised up a family of three sons and as many daughters, namely :
1. Mary, who married Samuel Graves.
2. Jesse, Jr., married Lavina Ainsworth, and had two sons and three daughters.
3. Benjamin Lewis, who married Eliza Ann Dearborn, and by her had two daughters. The elder of whom, Su- san Green, married George S. Howe, of Concord, Vt., and the younger, Lucy Ann, married Ira A. Merrill, of Cor- inth.
After the decease of their mother, Mr. Worthley mar- ried for his second wife the widow Osmore, whose maiden name was Emily Coburn, and had a daughter Emily, mar- ried, and a son, John Lewis. After the decease of his second wife, Mr. Worthley married the widow Susan Tap- · lin, of Corinth, with whom (August, 1874) he is still hap- pily living on the old homestead in Bradford, occupied in agricultural pursuits.
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4. Joseph Worthley, the next son, married Eliza San- born, of Bradford.
5. Hannah, his sister, married John Sanborn.
6. Roxalana Amanda, married John Capper, of Bos- ton. Further notices of these worthy families have not been received.
JAMES ARMSTRONG AND FAMILY.
James Armstrong, by occupation a farmer, and in life an honest man and worthy citizen, was born at Westport, Ireland, in 1799. He emigrated to America in 1824; married Elizabeth Liscomb, of Ackworth, N. H., in 1829; resided for a few years in Fairlee, Vt .. and removed thence to Bradford in 1836. They have one daughter, Ann, and an only son, James H. Armstrong, who, October 11th, 1864, married Mary Jane Snow, of Bradford, and is set- tled on the farm with his father, engaged in agricultural occupations, and has recently been elected by his fellow- townsmen a Justice of the Peace. The family have a pleasant homestead and farm, on the south road, two or three miles west of the village. Mr. James Armstrong and wife, with their daughter and son, are all members of the Congregational church in this place.
WILLIAM S. NELSON AND FAMILY.
W. S. Nelson was a native of Reading, Mass., as was also his father, William Nelson; a devoted and faithful minister of the gospel, of the Methodist Episcopal de- nomination, who died at Hebron, N. H., January 2, 1859, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. He had officiated as pastor in many places, and for an undetermined period in Bradford. By his industry and good economy, he had acquired a considerable property, and at his decease left a family consisting of his widow, seven sons and three
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daughters. His first wife and two children had passed away before him.
Of his surviving children William S. was the oldest. He was born at Reading, August 17th, 1815, and in the year 1832 became a resident of this town, where he has since continued, for over forty years, industriously occu- pied in the business of a painter and glazier. Mr. Nelson, January 17, 1837, married Miss Persis S. Brewster, of Topsham, Vt., who was born there May 22, 1817. They have one son, William H. Nelson, born October 21, 1840. He settled in St. Johnsbury, and was for years in the .employment of the Messrs. Fairbanks, and has been there, as he was here, called to officiate as church organist. He married Lydia Spooner, of St. Johnsbury, February 21, 1867. He at this writing is a dealer in musical merchan- dise of all kinds.
Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, of Bradford, have also two daugh- ters, namely, Charlotte Isabella, a teacher of painting and drawing, born September 18, 1849 ; and Lucy Elizabeth, born September 15, 1853. These daughters reside with their parents, and are, with their mother, members of the Congregational church here.
Mr. William S. Nelson has two surviving brothers, namely, B. Nelson, M. D., at Laconia, N. H., and Simeon B. Nelson, of Peshtigo, Wis., who lost almost everything that fire could consume in the great fire of 1871, when eight hundred persons perished in one night.
Mrs. Persis B., wife of William S. Nelson, a very decid- edly pious woman, died at Bradford, October 25, 1874, in the fifty-seventh year of her age.
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CHAPTER XV.
The Aldrich, Hardy, and Shaw Families.
THE ALDRICH FAMILY.
Tradition, which in this case is believed to be reliable, says that three brothers by the name of Aldrich emigrated from England and settled in Oxford, Mass., but in what year we have no information. The first of the name who settled in Bradford, Vt., was Silas Aldrich. The under- standing is that he belonged to the company of Major Rogers, who was sent, in the autumn of 1759, with a force of two hundred men, to chastise the Indians at St. Francis, in Canada East, who had committed many dep- redations and cruelties upon our border inhabitants. That work being accomplished, while the Rangers, as they were styled, or a division of them, were returning through what is now the northern part of Vermont, and had reached the locality now called Hardwick, they were early one morning attacked by a party of Indians, and overwhelmed by disaster, numbers being killed or taken captive, and the rest put to flight. Aldrich, who could not then have been more than sixteen or seventeen years of age, was one of those who escaped. He made his way to the Connecticut River, and, following down through the lower Coos region, was so impressed by the natural beauty of the scenery that he resolved, when the war should be over, he would return and settle in that locali- ty. He accordingly, in due season, came back to what was then called Moretown, now Bradford, and settled on a place which still bears the family name, in the north- ern part of the township, about two miles back from the river. The precise date of his coming is not known, but in 1774 he was here, united in marriage with Miss Alice Collins, then, like himself, residing in this place, who is
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said to have been a woman distinguished for decision and energy of character. Mr. Aldrich was a man of an even, peaceable disposition, and of strictly temperatė habits, even in those days, when the use of intoxicating liquors was well-nigh universal. He built for his residence a humble log cottage, and there with his wife raised up a family of four sons and four daughters, all of whom lived to marry and have families of their own.
Silas Aldrich died, November 28, 1811, aged sixty- eight years, having made his will and appointed his son Richard sole executor. His widow married a Mr. Hunt, and lived on the same farm till her death, in 1823, at the age of seventy-three.
Children of Silas Aldrich and wife :
1. Phebe, married James Martin, and lived and died in Bradford.
2. Betsey, married John Muzzey, and settled in Cor- inth.
3. Richard ; of him more hereafter.
4. Abigail, married John Chase, and remained in this her native town.
5. Elsy, married Joshua Barron, and went West, and was lost sight of.
6. Silas Aldrich, Jr., married a Miss Carter, of Brad- ford, and moved to Compton, in Canada East, where both died, and some of their descendants still remain.
7. Asa Aldrich married Lucy Maynard, a sister of his brother Richard's wife, a native of Marlborough, N. H., who had come to visit her sister and seek her fortune. They lived on the West side of Wright's Mountain, and had three daughters, namely : Emmeline, who married a Mr. Caswell, and went with him into the Western country ; Sally, who married Charles Johnston, of South Newbury, and died at the age of about twenty-two, leaving two sons ; and Mary, who became the second wife of Adams
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Wilson, of Bradford, and died, as her sister died, of con- sumption.
Mr. Asa Aldrich retired to his rest one night in, as was supposed, perfect health, and when his wife awoke she was horror-stricken to find that his spirit, in silence, had forever departed. He, like his father, was a man of mild and pleasant disposition, without great force of char- acter.
His widow married Calvin Cowdry, of Newbury, where she lived several years, and finally died, of consumption.
8. Ephraim Aldrich, the youngest son was physically perhaps, as powerful a man as was ever reared in Brad- ford. In early youth he grew not only fast, but strong; taking great delight and pride in athletic exercises. He, indeed, through life gloried in his great strength. At the age of eighteen he was married with Sarah Hilliard, of New Hampshire. But in moral strength and stability he was so deficient as to cause those who loved him most not a little concern and grief. At the age of twenty-one he enlisted into the United States Army, expecting to be stationed at Portsmouth, but was ordered to New Orleans, and became so utterly dissatisfied with his position and employments there that, at the peril of his life, he de- serted, and, through hardships and dangers the most form- idable, returned to his family and friends at the North ; but not daring to stay, went on to the disputed territory of Indian Stream, where he resided for a while ; but finally, at the age of seventy-five, died at Pittsburg, N. H., a new settlement north of the White Mountains, where some of his descendants are understood to be still resid- ing. His wife died several years before him.
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