USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Norwich > A history of Norwich, Vermont > Part 19
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In his profession-though he was in active practice but seven years - - he attained unusual success. He acquired a wide celebrity in the treatment of spotted fever, which prevailed epidemically during his early practice, and took high rank as a surgeon, often being called in consultation.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH
GEN. WILLIAM E. LEWIS, [By the Editor]
Son of Dr. Enos Lewis, was born here May 25, 1815. He married, March 26, 1846, Ruby W., daughter of Hezekiah Hazen, to whom were born six children, two of whom died in early life; the remaining ones, two sons and two daughters, are established in homes of their own.
General Lewis was in public office as early as 1838, and thereafter was continuously in town office until the time of his decease, January 5, 1892, during that period serving in nearly every elective office within the gift of his people. He was town clerk for forty-nine consecutive terms. In the years 1856, 1857, 1863, 1872-3, 1878-9, he represented his town in the state legislature; from 1863 to 1871 was assessor of internal revenue for the collection district in which he resided.
The General was much interested in military matters; at different times serving as Adjutant, Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel, and Brigadier-General in the State Militia.
It was not alone as the faithful, competent and long serving public officer that General Lewis best served his people, but with equal fidelity he gave wise and safe counsel to those who appealed to him.
His passing away called forth the following resolutions by the voters of Norwich at the annual town meeting next after his decease :
"Whereas, in the course of Providential dispensation our esteemed fellow townsman, General William E. Lewis. has lately been taken from our midst, and
"Whereas, we, the voters of Norwich in town meeting assembled, desire to give formal expression of our esteem for the deceased, it is hereby
"Resolved, that in the private walks of life General Lewis was a living example of a worthy and upright citizen, and in official life a true and tried public servant of unblemished integrity, and further
"Resolved, that these resolutions be placed upon the public records of the town."
THE LORD FAMILY
Jonathan, Jr., and David Lord, the first of the name to locate in Norwich, came from Colchester, Conn., (in what year is not definitely
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COL. WM. E. LEWIS
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known, probably about 1773). They were two of several children born to Jonathan and Ruth Lord of that place.
Jonathan, Jr., was born February 17, 1752; was a voter in Norwich in 1784. He married, in October, 1782, Mary Smith, and their chil- dren were: Porter, Russell, John, Polly, Lydia, John Proctor and Rachel.
Mr. Lord died at Norwich February 27, 1821.
David Lord was born at Colchester August 4, 1756, and died at Norwich January 25, 1803. He married Hannah Hanks, by whom he had eight children : Asa, horn in Norwich, October 14, 1783, married (first) Ruth Howe, and their children were, Ira, who died in Thetford, Vt .; Lyman (deceased) ; Abigail (deceased), married William Cum- mings; Laura (deceased), married Tarbell Senter; Gideon, born in Norwich, Sept. 8, 1814, and died here Apr. 9, 1898, married Belisant Clough; Amasa C., removed to Illinois, after graduating from Dart- south College in 1843, and died at Somonauk, that state; Laura ( de- ceased), married Jonathan S. Lord; Mills A., married Livia Seaver of Norwich, daughter of Captain Calvin Seaver. Asa Lord married (second) Amelia Root of Norwich, and their children were, Frances Amelia, Abel, Emma A., M. Ellen, William, Henry and Persis.
John (son of Jonathan, Jr.) was born in Norwich, August 1, 1782, and died in town June 19, 1882. He married Lucy Bliss, to whom were born David Bliss (died in Norwich) : Jonathan Smith (deceased ), Lucius Stebbins; John Mills, a Congregational clergyman at Wey- mouth, Mass .; Harriet A., who married John Dutton; Lucy Isabella, widow of Augustus Chandler ; and Horatio and Albinus.
LOVELAND FAMILY
Miss Mary A. Loveland
One of the farms in Norwich still (1904) owned and occupied by descendants bearing the name of the original settlers, belongs in the Loveland family.
Joseph Loveland was born in 1747, in Connecticut; moving from that state to Dartmouth College, Hanover township, N. H., where he
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HISTORY OF NORWICH
enlisted to reinforce the Continental Army at Ticonderoga. İn 1779 he settled on a now fertile farm, about a mile and a half from Nor- wich village, building a home a little off the river road. Ten of his thirteen children were born in town, and six of them made, during most of their lives, their native place their home; dying, with one ex- ception, in the town, at an average age of seventy-two years.
Aaron, one of Joseph's older sons, familiarly known as "The Judge," graduated at Dartmouth in the same class as Daniel Web- ster, with whom he roomed during part of his college course. Being the best Greek scholar of his class, he had an oration in that language at Commencement. Though a lawyer he lived the life of a recluse; he was ever a conservator of the peace rather than an instigator of litigation. He represented Norwich several times in the legislature, and was Chief Judge of Windsor County court in 1823. He died in 1870, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years.
David Loveland, the next younger brother of Aaron, made farming his chief business, at which he worked early and late, with good suc- cess. A few years before his death, in 1828, he built a new house on his river farm, about three miles from the village. As his father- less sons grew up the land was divided, George (1816-1889) building another house, where his son Edward still lives. In that home five children were brought up to be useful members of society, and there he and his wife (Ruby Hatch) celebrated their golden wedding. Be- sides careful attention to farming, he found time to do work, both in and out of office, in the interests of the community.
John Wheatley Loveland, David's youngest son, for nearly seventy- seven years lived in the house where he was born, and there he died in 1901. He began to farm for himself at the age of seventeen, sup- plementing a limited education by study and reading at home. He did much business for others and was regarded a safe counselor. For forty years or more he served the town in some capacity as an officer, being twice elected to the legislature, and was of especial service as selectman and recruiting officer during the Civil War.
William Loveland, the fifth son of Joseph, succeeded his father on the original homestead, and was called "the model farmer." He was interested in natural history and was considered an authority on ani- mals, birds and flowers. He, too, labored in behalf of the town both
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LOVELAND HOMESTEAD BUILT BY JOSEPH LOVELAND IN 1792
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at home and in the legislature. His oldest son, Joseph Talcott, kept up the old home until his death in 1889, at the age of seventy-one. Some one said of him: "He exemplified in his career and life the best type of that class of American citizens following agricultural pur- suits." Of strict integrity, he was honored with trusts, both public and private, including four elections to the legislature. His brother Aaron had been, for some years before Joseph's death, associated with him on the home farm, and he now lives in the big, old house, while his son, Joseph H., occupies another house on half the original farm.
David A. Loveland (1839-1898), eldest son of George, though hav- ing for some years business elsewhere, always made Norwich his home and was elected to various town offices. He represented the town in the legislature and was later a senator from Windsor county.
The Lovelands were by inheritance Federalists-then Whigs, then Republicans. They have been attendants and supporters of the Con- gregational churches, and more than twenty bearing the name have been at some time members of the village church. While being in this region, in the main, true to their name, and lovers of country life and its labors, there have not been wanting members of the learned pro- fessions in the family, particularly among those who have gone away to seek their fortunes elsewhere. Four lawyers of the name were born here, and several have been teachers for a longer or shorter time.
Some of Joseph the First's descendants may be found in many states, and following various lines of business, and different professions.
At this writing, there are only eight who bear the name of Loveland, in town, though five homes are kept up by members of the family, and a considerable number reside here, who from their ancestry are entitled to a place in the genealogy.
THE MESSENGER FAMILY
Nathan and Nathaniel Messenger were in Norwich at an early day, the former as early as 1765, at which date he built his cabin in the meadow a little south and west of the Norwich terminus of the bridge leading to Hanover, N. H.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH
It was from this primitive home that Mrs. Messenger heard the wel- come cry of the baby member of the Hutchinson family as they were about to cross the river to enter the land of promise on the Norwich side of the stream.
Soon after 1766 (in which year he was a voter in town) Mr. Mes- senger disappeared-having been drowned in the river, it is thought.
Nathaniel Messenger was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, serv- ing in a New Hampshire organization, and thereafter resided in Nor- which until about 1805, when he deserted his family and went to the State of New York, where he again married. His home in Norwich was in the Pompanoosuc section of the town, where, so we are in- formed by one of his great-grandsons, he was in trade, and built a large frame house on the road to Thetford.
What the relationship was, if any existed, between Nathan and Nathaniel Messenger, is not known to us.
Oliver Messenger, a son of Nathaniel, married, in 1803, Charlotte Smith, and they had two sons, Erastus and Nelson. Erastus lived for many years in the Hatch house, built in 1773, and there raised a large family of children, of whom are Norwich's present town clerk and treasurer, George Messenger, and Charles and Nelson, residing in New Hampshire.
THE THOMAS MURDOCK FAMILY.
Hon. Thomas Murdock removed to Norwich from Preston, Conn., as early as 1767 (in which year he was recorded a voter in town), and located on the farm a little north of Norwich Plain and subsequently occupied by Jared Goodell, George Blanchard, Harvey Knights, and now by Judd Leonard. He married Elizabeth Hatch (sister of John and Joseph Hatch, early settlers in Norwich), to whom were born : Asahel, Constant, Jasper, Thomas, Jr., Anna, who became the wife of Ebenezer Brown, Esq., the first lawyer to locate in Norwich, and Margaret, who married Elisha Partridge, November 14, 1765.
Mr. Murdock was prominent in both state and local matters, the offices held by him being noticed in other chapters of this book. He died Dec. 5, 1803, followed by his wife in 1814.
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Asahel, the eldest son, was a voter in Norwich as early as 1782. He married Elizabeth Starkweather in 1779, and they became the parents of six children. He returned to Connecticut in 1800.
Constant was a voter in Norwich as early as 1784. By his first wife, Sarah Jewett, he had one child, and by his second wife, Lucy Riley, he had eight children. His home was in the fine resi- dence now occupied by Albert Davis-on the hill a little north of Norwich village. He died in Norwich in 1828, aged 67 years. His first wife died in 1790, aged 22 years, and his second wife in 1825, aged 48 years.
Jasper was born October 5, 1759. It is likely that he came to Norwich with his father. He erected at Norwich Plain an elegant private residence (said to have been one of the finest, at that time, in the state), with large and attractive grounds, in which were a fish pond, where Charles E. Ensworth's barn stands, and a flower garden that occupied a large part of Mr. Ensworth's dooryard. (Mr. Ens- worth's mother, who lived in those days, told her son the tale of the fish pond and the flower garden, and it is from him we get the story.) The water to supply the pond was conveyed in bored logs from a spring a little east of the creamery at the north part of the village. Several years since, while Mr. J. S. Currier was digging a ditch on his prem- ises, he came across some of the logs, which were then in a fair state of preservation.
Mr. Murdock's enclosure included the present premises of Mr. Ens- worth and Dr. Bowles, and extended westerly far enough to take in the premises where Mrs. Burton and Mrs. Norton reside, and, perhaps, the Armstrong meadow.
Attached to the main body of the house were two wings, the south one, (after its removal to its present site, where it is the residence of Charles E. Ensworth) became the abiding place of Judge Aaron Love- land, and in the north one Charles Hutchins kept store. At a later period the north wing was the family home of James S. Currier until its destruction, by fire, Dec. 29, 1889, which conflagration consumed the adjoining main part of the Murdock mansion (then owned by Dr. W. S. Bowles) and the abutting brick building on the south, erected by John Wright, Esq., in 1828.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH
At one time Dr. Ira Davis kept the post office in the south room of the Currier house, and in the room on the floor over the post office, Captain Alden Partridge was robbed, about 1824, of about $1,700 by one Crowningshield, a cadet at the military school.
Mr. Murdock married (first) Sarah Olcott, in 1786, by whom he had one child, and (second), Margaret Olcott, daughters of Hon. Peter Ol- cott. For his third wife he married Martha, daughter of Rev. Lyman Potter. Himself and family, with Mr. Potter and his family, removed to Ohio in 1801, and there he died in 1803.
The house where Joseph Simoneau lives was Mr. Murdock's barn, and was sold to Col. James Dana, who moved it to its present lo- cation and converted it into a dwelling.
DEACON ISRAEL NEWTON
The inventor of the well known medical preparations widely known as "Newton's Bitters," "Newton's Pills," &c., and sold extensively for many years throughout New England and New York, died here in Norwich in January, 1856, seventy-three years of age.
Doctor Newton was a thoroughly educated physician, though not in general practice of his profession, and was much respected as a man and a citizen. Besides his medicines, which were valuable, he invented and built a church organ, which was placed in the old first church and was there used for many years .* He was gifted with rare me- chanical skill, which he exhibited in many ways to the benefit of man- kind. His name and memory deserve this passing word.
Doctor Newton held many town offices, and in 1814 represented the town in the general assembly.
He was a prominent member of the Congregational church, of which he was one of the deacons for about twenty-five years, beginning in 1812. He was a soldier of the Revolution, and the last of those soldiers to die in Norwich.
*At a town meeting held at Norwich, March 25, 1814, it was " Voted that the town .s willing to have an organ put into the meeting house."
REV. N. R. NICHOLS
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BIOGRAPHICAL
REV. N. R. NICHOLS
Whose likeness faces this page, was pastor of the Congregational church at Norwich village from February, 1880, to May, 1904, after completing a seven years' pastorate at Barnet, Vt., which was pre- ceded by brief pastorates at Westfield, Mass., and Acworth, N. H. During his term of nearly a quarter of a century here in Norwich, Mr. Nichols faithfully cared for the interests committed to his charge, as the one hundred and ninety-five accessions to his church during his pastorate amply indicate.
Not alone to matters connected with his church did he give his at- tention, but, as well, to those of a temporal character ; elevated pleas- ures, as he viewed them from his conscientious standpoint, were re- cipients of his countenance and active aid.
For many years Mr. Nichols was one of the trustees of the Norwich public library, in which institution he had a deep interest, and at the front entrance to the library building he caused a pretty door to be placed in memory of his deceased wife.
It may be appropriate to place at the conclusion of this short sketch of the late pastor a few words from the presentation address ac- companying a gift of silver coin to Mr. Nichols on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his marriage :
"We love and honor you for the life you have lived among us and for the good you have accomplished."
HON. PETER OLCOTT
Mr. Olcott was born at Bolton, Conn., April 25, 1733; married Sarah, daughter of Peletiah Mills, Esq., of Windsor, Conn., October 11, 1759, and removed to that place in 1772. That year or the fol- lowing one he came to Norwich, Vt.
He was the oldest of his parents' four children (two sons and two daughters), and the only one of them to come to Norwich to reside.
Mr. Olcott's name first appears in the town records of Norwich in 1773, when he was chosen one of the overseers of the poor, at the annual March meeting. He early took a leading part in public affairs
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HISTORY OF NORWICH
in his new home. He was elected to the most important town offices, and soon came to be regarded as one of the leading men of the place.
It is probable that he was a man of considerable means when he came to Norwich, which, united with his superior talents, gave him a commanding influence in the community. The next year (1774) the annual town meeting was held at his house, and such meetings con- tinued to be so held until 1779, after which they were held at the meeting house, except in severe winter weather.
Probably his influence was potent in fixing the location of the first meeting house very near to his residence and upon land which he gave for a site. He also gave the land for the old burying ground adjoining.
Mr. Olcott was the first justice of the peace in town, being chosen to that office at a special town meeting called for that purpose April 7, 1778. In 1777 he was colonel of the militia, and was summoned to Bennington with half of his regiment by the Vermont Council of Safety sitting at that place, a few days previous to the battle there August 16, 1777, but not soon enough to participate in it. He was engaged with the American Army in the operations that resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne.
The following offices were held by Mr. Olcott: Judge of County Court, 1781; Lieutenant Governor of the state, 1790-91-92 and 1793; Councillor, 1778-81 to 1791; Representative in the General Assembly, 1778 and 1801; Commissioner of Sequestration of Tory property, 1777 ; Colonel of the Fourth Regiment of Vermont Militia, 1776 to 1781; Brigadier General, Third Brigade in the same service, 1781 to 1788; and Trustee of Dartmouth College, 1788 to 1808.
He died at the home of his son, Mills Olcott, at Hanover, N. H., September 12, 1808, aged seventy-five years.
His children were Pelatiah Mills, born October 19, 1762, and died March 30, 1773.
Peter, Jr., born April 16, 1764, and died March 9, 1773.
Timothy, born June 29, 1766, and died in 1799, at Charleston, S. C., buried at Norwich.
Roswell O., April 11, 1768, and died in Broome, Canada, June 24, 1841.
Sarah, born December 9, 1769, married Colonel Jasper Murdock, January 18, 1786, and died July 13, 1788, leaving an infant child.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
Sarah Jane, born June 5, of the same year, who became the wife of Honorable George Blake of Boston, Mass., June 25, 1810. Mrs. Blake died in 1825 or 1826.
Margaret, baptized May 17, 1772, became Jasper Murdock's second wife. She died without issue April 25, 1796.
Mills, born at Norwich May 21, 1774, married Sarah, daughter of Colonel Asa Porter of Haverhill, N. H., December 15, 1800; settled at Hanover, N. H., as a lawyer in 1800, and died there July 11, 1845.
Martha, born at Norwich September 25, 1779, married Benjamin Porter, a son of Colonel Asa Porter of Newbury, Vt., October 26, 1800, and had eight children. She died at Hanover, N. H., May 4, 1825.
Governor Olcott was of direct descent from Thomas Olcott, the pro- genitor of the family in this country, who was among the earliest settlers in Hartford, Conn., to which place he removed about 1635, from near Cambridge, Mass., and there engaged in mercantile pur- suits. His wife's maiden name was Porter. Thomas Olcott died in 1654, aged forty-five years.
Deacon Timothy Olcott (born in 1677), a great-grandson of Thomas Olcott, lived in Bolton, Conn., and his son Titus was born there in 1705. The latter married Damaris Marshall (widow) October 5, 1731, and died October 9, 1774. He was the father of Peter Olcott, the sub- ject of this sketch.
THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY
Samuel Partridge, Sr., was born in Preston, Conn., in 1721. He married Ruth Woodward, and with her and seven of their children (one son remaining in Connecticut to care for the "old folks") came to Norwich for a permanent settlement about 1765, and settled on a hill farm about one mile west from Norwich village, which farm re- mained in the possession of the Partridge family for three generations, until sold by the representatives of the estate of Abel Partridge, of the third generation, to the late Deacon John Dutton, who demolished the old mansion. The farm is now owned by the widow of the late Am- brose Currier,
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HISTORY OF NORWICH
By a commission issued by his "Excellency, Henry Moore, Baronet, Captain General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the Province of New York," etc., bearing date, the 30th September, 1776, Mr. Par- tridge was made a lieutenant in the "Regiment of Militia Foot, to con- sist of the Inhabitants of Norwich in the County of Cumberland, in the Province of New York."
Mr. Partridge died in Norwich Aug. 24, 1826, aged eighty-five years, and his wife passed away April 29, 1786, in the sixty-seventh year of her age. To them were born :
Elisha, who married Margaret, a daughter of Mr. Thomas Mur- dock, Nov. 14, 1765.
Samuel, Jr., married Elizabeth Wright, daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth (Bliss) Wright, Dec. 6, 1770.
Isaac, who married Lois Newton, Nov. 3, 1785.
Elias, who married Sarah Brown, Dec. 31, 1788.
Reuben, who remained in Connecticut to care for the "old folks."
Ephraim, who never married; was made a prisoner by the enemy during the Revolutionary war and died in captivity in Canada.
Olive, who married John Wright, son of Aaron and Elizabeth (Bliss) Wright, Sept. 27, 1768.
Ruth, who married Peter Branch.
Elisha, Isaac, Samuel, Jr., and Ephraim were soldiers in the Revo- lutionary war.
CAPT. ALDEN PARTRIDGE
The subject of this sketch was the second son of Samuel, Jr., and Elizabeth (Wright) Partridge, and was born at Norwich, Feb. 12, 1785, on the farm where his father and grandfather located when they came to this town.
He remained at home, doing the work that fell to the lot of the sons of New England farmers in those days, until he entered Dartmouth College in 1802. He continued his course in college until 1805, when he entered the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, being the first person from his native town to enter that institution. After his grad-
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CAPTAIN ALDEN PARTRIDGE ABOUT 54 YEARS OF AGE
CAPTAIN ALDEN PARTRIDGE WHEN AT U. S. MIL. ACAD., WEST POINT
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BIOGRAPHICAL
uation at the academy he filled many positions on the academic staff there, besides being superintendent of the academy at different times. In 1817 he resigned his commission of captain in the corps of engi- neers.
Captain Partridge was chief of the American party in running a northeastern boundary, in 1819, between this country and Canada, under the Fifth Article of the Treaty of Ghent; Surveyor General of Vermont, 1823: represented his native town in the legislature in 1833, 1834, 1837, and 1839 ; three times his party's candidate for Con- gress, but unsuccessful, as the district was largely of a different po- litical coloring. In 1812, Dartmouth College conferred upon him the honorary degree of A. M., and the University of Vermont did likewise in 1821, it being the only honorary degree conferred by that corpo- ration that year. In the same year the Presidency of that insti- tution was offered him, only to be declined by him.
Captain Partridge was a noted pedestrian, on several occasions walking sixty miles' a day, and once pacing off seventy miles within that limit. Once when returning to his home front an excursion to Fort Ticonderoga, and other points of historic interest in that vicinity, he averaged fifty-four miles daily for three consecutive days, crossing the Green Mountains and carrying his knapsack and barometer (his inseparable companions on all his pedestrian excursions).
It has been said of him by one who knew him well in his youth, that he was never known to utter a vulgar or profane word, or a by-word, or to use tobacco in any form. Such he was through life, and a most constant attendant upon Sabbath services.
In 1837, Capt. Partridge married Ann Elizabeth Swasey, daughter of John Swasey, a merchant of Claremont, N. H., and to them were born two sons, George M. C. and Henry V., the former passing away May 12, 1855.
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