USA > Vermont > Windham County > Newfane > Centennial proceedings and other historical facts and incidents relating to Newfane, the county seat of Windham County, Vermont > Part 3
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Calvin, born in 1761, died January 20, IS00 ; a graduate of Dartmouth College, class of 1783; married Sophia Willard, of Petersham, Mass., in 1793 ; studied law and practised his profession in Newfane until he died. Patty, born in 1762. died in Ohio in IS14. She married Daniel Warner, and was the grandmother of Hon. Willard Warner, late United States Senator from Alabama, and during the civil war was a mem- ber of General Sherman's staff in his celebrated . March to the Sea." Silas, born 1764, married Lucinda Holbrook at Newfane, November 30, 1786, died in Canada aged eighty. Sarah, born May 2, 1767, married John Holbrook at Newfane,
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November 30, 1786. She died March 22. 1851. aged eighty- four. Alice married Nathan Stone, April 24, 1788. She died November 14, 1865. aged ninety-six. Lucinda. born August 8, 1771. married Samuel Willard. They lived awhile in Sheldon, Vt. ; from thence they removed to Canada where she died. May 4. 1800.
The foregoing children were all born in Shrewsbury. Mass. Luke Knowlton. Tr .. was born in Newfane, March 24. 1775 : died at Broome township. Canada East. September 17. 1855. aged eighty. Of the children two. Calvin and Lucinda, died before their father ; all the others survived him. His grand- sons are men of marked ability, among whom are Paul IIol- land Knowlton, Broome township, Lower Canada, son of Silas Knowlton, who has occupied distinguished political positions in the province, and was for many years a member of the Can- adian Parliament : Rev. John C. Holbrook, of Syracuse, N. Y .. an eloquent divine, highly esteemed for his piety and learning : Hon. Willard Warner. of Alabama : Hon. George W. Knowlton. of Watertown. N. Y .. a courteous old gentle- man of more than four-score years of age. who exemplifies. in his virtue. simplicity and happiness, the powerful influence of the intelligence, industry and self-denial of his puritan an- cestry : Hon. Frederick Holbrook. of Brattleboro. who for two years during the War of the Rebellion, was Governor of the State of Vermont, and in the discharge of his officia : duties he exercised the prudence and discretion. united with the energy and ability which characterized his worthy an- cestor. the subject of this notice.
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REV. HEZEKIAH TAYLOR.
The first pastor of the Congregational Church in Newfane was born in Grafton, Mass., in 1748; graduated at Harvard College in 1770, and was settled as pastor of the Congre- gational Church in Newfane the 30th day of June, 1774. The church was organized the same day of his settlement, and at that time there were but fourteen families in the town, and the church consisted of only nine members. He died August 23, 1814. He was possessed of a firm and vigorous constitution, of great endurance, an indomitable will, and a resolution unshaken by the care of his flock and the labor and hardship incident to the early settlement of the town. Possessing habits of great industry, with a liberal education, and a disposition of great kindness and benevolence toward all with whom he was connected, he faithfully ministered to the spiritual and temporal wants of his people. Of an exceedingly genial temperament, overflowing with wit and humor, he was the delight and ornament of the social circle. His efforts and example contributed eminently to the happiness and prosperity of the early inhabitants of the town.
Parson Taylor was a very social, genial man, and fond of a joke when the occasion offered, like Parson Byles of Boston, and Bunker Gay of Hinsdale. It is related of him that at one time he met the Rev. Aaron Crosby at the grist-mill. Each had brought his grain in a wheel-barrow, and while waiting to have it ground, they amused themselves by wheeling each other about. Mr. Crosby was seated upon the wheel-barrow, when Mr. Taylor wheeled him to the mill-pond and tipped him in, then said to him, "Now run home and change your clothes, and I will wheel your grist home for you."
Mr. Taylor was sometimes pretty sharp in his replies. as the following anecdote will show. A certain member of his church removed from Newfane to the neighboring town of Jamaica. While there, under the influence of the Baptists, he changed his views, and applied to Mr. Taylor for a letter of
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dismission to the Baptist church. Parson Taylor, upon re- ceiving the application. drew him out at some length in defense of his new views. Among other things, and as a perfectly satisfactory reason for his course, the man said. "I do not think there is any true church in the world, but the Baptist church." "Well, well," said Mr. Taylor, "what about that letter, how shall I write it? Shall I say from the devil's church in Newfane to the church of Christ in Jamaica ?"
The jolly parson was accustomed on his way to Brattleboro to call at the old tavern of Luke Taylor, in West Dummerston. Joseph Gleason occupied a blacksmith shop near by. The parson called one day at the tavern on his return from Brattle- boro, and while sipping his toddy Gleason entered the bar- room. The parson enquired of him what success in his business? Gleason answered he had but little work, the times were hard and he was discouraged. The parson told him to be of good cheer, to exercise his wits as well as his hands. and jocosely said to him "whenever he saw a traveller ride up to the shed whom he supposed was going to Brattleboro, to slip over with his pincers and strip off a shoe from the horse. The traveller would find his horse limped. and would stop on his return and have the lost shoe replaced." A few weeks after, Uncle Joe saw the parson ride under the shed and hitch his horse. He slipped out of his shop on the sly, and pulled off a . shoe. On his return, the parson rode up to the shop and told Gleason to put on a shoe. for his horse had lost one in going to Brattleboro. Uncle Joe set the shoe. led the horse to the shed, and walked into the bar-room where he saw the parson sipping his glass of toddy. The parson enquired of him how much to pay. Nothing, Uncle Joe said. for he had been exer- cising his wits as well as his hands ; he had been trying the experiment that was suggested to him a few weeks before. and had reset the same old shoe he had pulled off. Where- upon the parson laughed heartily at the joke, treated Uncle Joe with a glass of toddy, and acknowledged himself the victim of his own joke.
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HON. EBENEZER ALLEN
Was born in Medway, Mass., in 1758; removed to New- fane in 1785. He represented the town in the General Assembly for ten consecutive years, from 1794 to 1804. He was for a time a Judge of the County Court, also, a Judge of Probate for the District of Marlboro, and was actively engaged in public business until his death, Decem- ber 16, 1805. He was an enterprising, active and eminently practical man, and highly esteemed for his patriotism and public spirit.
REV. AARON CROSBY.
Born in Shrewsbury, Mass., November 27, 1744 ; graduated at Harvard in 1770, married Mary Taylor, sister of Rev. Hezekiah Taylor, August 22, 1774. His family resided in Newfane from 1774 until his death, in 1824, with the exception of the term of his pastorate over the church in Dummerston, Vt., from 1784 to 1804. He died January 13, 1824. He was for many years a missionary among the Indians on the head waters of the Susquehanna. He acted under the patronage of a society in Scotland. The war of the Revolution interrupted his labors and compelled him to return to New England.
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WARD EAGER.
BY JIIS GRANDDAUGHTER.
MRS. FANNY A. BAKER, OF PUTNEY, VERMONT.
The subject of our sketch, son of Bezaleel and Persis Eager, was born in Northboro, Mass .. April. 1750. His mother's maiden name was Ward, and she was related to the Wards of Worcester County. Mass .. who distinguished themselves in the war of the Revolution by their patriotism and loyalty. He came to Newfane about the time of the commencement of the war. in which he served awhile as a soldier. He was engaged in the battle of Bennington and Saratoga, but the perils he encountered and the hardships he endured he never communicated to his family in after years, for he was excessively modest and taciturn. and never talked of himself. The musket and cartridge box he bore at the battle of Bennington and the taking of Burgoyne at Saratoga, he retained with scrupulous care until his decease. He came to Newfane when it was little more than a wilder- ness, and when the land he purchased was a dense forest. He married a Mrs. Abigail Pike, a widow lady, whose maiden name was Holland. During the early years in which his forest home was in course of clearing he toiled assiduously. but when, in later years, he found himself in comparatively affluent circumstances, and his sons could relieve him from the care and labor of the farm, he gave himself up almost exclusively to literary pursuits.
Hle cherished a passionate fondness for mathematical studies : particularly geometry, and for many years was the only practical surveyor in the town and vicinity. He took a lively interest in the study of astronomy, and prepared the astronomical calculations for two or three almanacs. He was excessively modest and unobtrusive in his deport- ment. and declined public office although he was repeatedly urged to accept of municipal appointments. The only office he was ever known to accept was that of Town Treasurer, which he held for many years. He was reticent, taciturn
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and generally regarded as unsocial, for he loved seclusion and quiet, and much preferred his books to a free social intercourse with his neighbors, or the society of the many cultivated men for which the town was distinguished at an early day. He was a member of the Congregational Church, although he differed with his brethren upon the subject of baptism. It is said of him that without consulting his family or friends he quietly rode away one Sabbath morning into a neighboring town and received the ordinance of baptism by immersion, and the fact was studiously concealed from his family for a long time. No notice was ever taken of this departure from the peculiar faith of the church of his adoption, and he lived and died in full communion with the Congregational Church, although during the last years of his life he was suspected by his brethren of a strong leaning to Unitarianism. Quietly and serenely, in the retirement he so much loved and coveted, his days passed away until his life had reached almost four score years, when he died, March 24, IS24. He left at his death three sons and three daughters.
His sons, Benjamin, Nahum, and Walter, were prominent men in town, distinguished for their enterprise, probity and practical good sense. Nahum and Walter Eager represented the town two years, respectively, in the General Assembly of this State, and for more than thirty years they filled many of the most responsible offices in town.
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GEN. MARTIN FIELD.
Born in Leverett, Mass .. February 12. 1773; graduated at Williams College in 1798, and received the honorary degree of A. M. from Dartmouth College in 1So5. He studied law with his uncle. Lucius Hubbard, Esq., of Chester, Vt., and upon the deccase of Calvin Knowlton, in ISoo, and at the special instance and request of Hon. Luke Knowlton, he came to Newfane in January, ISoo, and entered upon the practice of the law. He married Esther Smith Kellogg, daughter of Daniel Kellogg, of Amherst. Mass., February 21. ISo2, an accomplished lady of fine personal appearance. of great goodness and exemplary piety. He was indebted. in a great measure. for his success in life to her great industry, prudence and discretion. She died June 6. 1867. aged SS years. surviving her husband thirty-four years. He was full of anecdotes, and could tell a story with inimitable grace. His forensic efforts abounded with flashes of wit and occa- sional bursts of caustic sarcasm and biting ridicule, which he could use with great skill and effect. These peculiar powers rendered him a popular and distinguished jury advocate. His varied accomplishments and genial temper, with a heart over- flowing with an irrepressible spirit of humor and mirthful- ness, joined to a strong passion for music, of which he was extravagantly fond, rendered him an ornament to the social circle. A skilful player upon the violin, he never abandoned its use until he became so deaf that he could not distinctly hear its tones. He was eminently successful in his pro- fession, and for nearly thirty years enjoyed a large and lucrative practice. which he was compelled to abandon by reason of his excessive deafness. On relinquishing his prac- tice he commenced the study of Geology and Mineralogy, and by great perseverance and industry he collected what, at that time, was regarded as the rarest and most extensive cabinet of minerals in the State. A few years since it was generously given to Middlebury College by his widow, Mrs. E. S. Field. Ile was, for ten years, State's Attorney for Windham County,
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Martin Füla.
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and repeatedly represented the town of Newfane in the General Assembly and Constitutional Conventions. In IS19 he was elected Major General of the first division of the Vermont Militia.
We have copied from the 26th volume of the American Journal of Arts and Sciences, the following extract from an obituary notice of the subject of this sketch, written by a distinguished lady of Baltimore, Md., who was formerly a resident of this county :
" On account of his incurable deafness several years before his death, he declined the active duties of his profession, and, as a resource to an energetic mind, and as a solace in hours that might have been tedious for want of some interesting object of pursuit, he turned his attention to scientific investi- gation. When he was educated the natural sciences were scarcely studied in the schools and colleges of this country. He began with the elements, commencing with Mineralogy, and for a time was zealously engaged in collecting a beautiful cabinet ; but he found that, in order to become a skilful Mineralogist, there was a kindred science to be grasped, and one without which he could not penetrate beyond the surface. He saw that it was beautiful and curious, and felt a desire to know those mysterious laws of combination by which, from a few elements, the wonderful variety of material things is pro- duced. This desire led him to the study of Chemistry. He purchased books and an apparatus, and for a time he directed his inquiries to the elements of matter and the laws by which they are governed."
" He was not satisfied with studying nature in his cabinet, and with reading the observations of others. He became an outdoor worker in science. Few points of interest were there among the romantic scenery around him that were not familiar to him ; and many a precipice, glen and lofty summit of the Green Mountains can bear witness to his persevering research into the nature and arrangement of the rocky strata of which they are formed. His minute observations of philosophical and scientific facts were in various ways manifested in the pages of the scientific journals of this country, and particularly in the American Journal of Science, a work in which he ever delighted, and to which he felt himself indebted for much of
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that love of science and those acquirements which enabled him to endure with cheerfulness a misfortune by which he was, in a measure, cut off from the social enjoyments of life. It is a great thing for a man who has been active in business to withdraw from those scenes in which his mind was stimu- lated to constant effort. to see the place he has filled occupied by others, and to feel that the world can move on without him : but this condition is incident to human nature. Fortunate are those who, at such a period, can, like him who is the subject of this sketch. find. in the contemplation of the works and operations of nature, a resource against ennui, and a security against bitter and unavailing regrets."
He died at his residence in Fayetteville. October 3d. 1. D. 1833, aged 60 years.
ESTHER S. FIELD,
[WIFE OF MARTIN FIELD, ]
Whose maiden name was Esther Smith Kellogg. was a grand-daughter of Daniel Kellogg, Sr .. of Amherst, Mass .. who married Esther Smith. daughter of John Smith. of Had- ley. Mass., a lineal descendant of that grim old Puritan, Lieut. Samuel Smith. who came from Ipswich. England, to Boston in 1634, and removed from thence in 1638, with a large company, and settled on the banks of the Connecticut in the vicinity of Hartford, the " new Hesperia of Puritanism." In 1659, with sixty " Withdrawers or Separatists" as they were then called, who were opposed to the liberal and latitudinarian doctrines and practices of Drs. Hooker and Stone in relation to "baptism, church membership, and the rights of the brotherhood," he removed to Hadley, Mass., whose rich and fertile meadows were regarded as a paradise by the carly Puritan settlers of the valley of the Connecticut. While re- siding in Hadley he occupied important positions both in
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church and state. This stern old Puritan possessed great energy, an indomitable will, and was by profession and prac- tice a strict Congregationalist, persistently adhering to all the formulas, austerities, and self-denying ordinances of the Cal- vanistic faith. He impressed upon his descendants to the latest generation his peculiar and marked characteristics.
The subject of this sketch was thoroughly trained in her childhood in the discipline and religious faith of her Puritan ancestors. She early made a profession of her faith, and at the age of fifteen she was admitted a member of the First Con- gregational Church in Amherst, Mass. Thrift, industry and economy were among the peculiar and prominent character- istics of her ancestors, and for their constant exercise she was proverbial. Possessing a vigorous constitution, she was untiring in her labors and faithful in the discharge of her domestic duties. Distinguished for her prudence and discre- tion, she carefully avoided all allusions or suggestions which would tend to excite suspicion or grieve an erring or wayward neighbor. Her strong sense and excellent judgment gave her great prominence and influence in the church of which she was a member, and the social circle in which she moved. She was a keen and close observer of the human face, and an accu- rate judge of human character, and when she fixed her dark penetrating eyes upon the face of a stranger she rarely failed to stamp his character at once, and that, too, with marked pre_ cision. She exercised the most perfect self-control, was familiar yet dignified in her bearing, positive in her opinions, grave and serious in her deportment, yet was never regarded as imperious or arrogant.
Her husband enjoyed an extensive professional practice and possessed a large landed estate, a great portion of which he cultivated. Her superior executive ability, united with great energy, enabled her, during his absence, successfully to con- trol and direct the labors upon the homestead, and at the same time to fully discharge the onerous duties incident to the care of a numerous household. Her husband was genial and social, full of humor and mirth, oftentimes filling the house with his "jocund laugh." The wife. however, truc to her refined womanly instincts, her sense of propriety, rarely dis- turbed by his merry and harmless jests, with great discretion
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pursued " the even tenor of her way." Patiently and with unfaltering devotion to the higher and nobler purposes of life, she always maintained her self-possession. studiously avoided all levity and frivolity, rarely relaxed the gravity of her de- portment, and never failed in the end of controlling both hus- band and household. She always remembered, with a kind and grateful spirit, the favors conferred upon her by her friends and generously repaid them. She was withal so affable, gentle and benevolent that she won the admiration and good will of all with whom she was associated. She was a faithful and affectionate wife and mother, who exemplified, in her pure and spotless life, the influence of the severe discipline and stern religious teachings of her puritan ancestors. It affords her children great pleasure to be able to offer this slight tribute of filial affection and respect to the memory of a kind and loving mother.
ROSWELL MARTIN FIELD.
Son of Gen. Martin Field, was born in Newfane, February 22, 1So7. died at St. Louis, Mo., July 12. 1869, aged 62 years. He fitted for college with Rev. Luke Whitcomb. of Towns- hend, Vt., and entered Middlebury College in the autumn of ISIS, at eleven years of age. Graduating in 1822, he studied law with Hon. Daniel Kellogg, of Rockingham, Vt .. and was admitted to practice in September, 1825. at eighteen years of age. He practiced law in Windham County from IS25 to IS39, when he removed to St. Louis, where he remained until his death. He represented the town of Newfane in the General Assembly of this State during the years IS35 and IS36. He was elected State's Attorney for Windham County in 1832, IS33. 1834 and 1835. While a member of the Legis- lature in 1835, he wrote an able report in favor of abrogating the rule of the common law excluding atheists from giving
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testimony in courts of justice. The proposition failed of adoption, but in IS51 it was renewed by Hon. Loyal C. Kel- logg, of Benson, then a member of the House of Representa- tives, and passed into a law. Since that period, " no person is deemed incompetent as a witness in any court matter or proceeding on account of his opinions on matters of religious belief." The special pleas which he drew and filed in the libel suit of Torrey vs. Field, reported in the tenth volume of Vermont Reports, were declared by Judge Story to be master- pieces of special pleading. These contributions, with the exception of a multitude of briefs in cases reported in the Ver- mont and Missouri Reports, are all the memorials of his learning that are left. He was a finished scholar, and read Greek, Latin, French, German and Spanish, besides having an extensive acquaintance with English literature and general science. He could speak with great facility, not only French but German. He was frequently employed in suits by reason of his great familiarity with foreign languages, for the mere purpose of correcting any errors of interpreters in their trans- lations of the testimony of foreigners who could not speak English, and whose evidence was necessarily communicated to a court and jury by an interpreter. It was as a lawyer that he won his greatest distinction. When he went to St. Louis, in 1839, he had to contend with such men as Benton, Gamble and Bates. To none of these was he second in legal attain- ments, sound judgment and keen foresight. As an advocate he was eloquent, and as a lawyer, learned. His attainments were of that solid character that they served him upon every professional emergency. His first distinction at the bar was obtained in cases involving the intricate old Spanish claims, which he mastered at an early day. His opinions always had great weight in the Superior Courts of the State, and at the time of his decease, he was esteemed as the ablest lawyer at the Missouri bar. By the junior members of the profession he was regarded as an oracle, and freely gave advice to all young lawyers who sought his counsel. He cheerfully and readily aided young men of talent and worth whom he found struggling for success and position against poverty and adver- sity. He gained a national reputation in the famous Dred Scott case, which he started and carried on until the appeal
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was entered in the United States Supreme Court, when he turned it over to Montgomery Blair, then residing at Wash- ington. In the dark days of the rebellion, during the years 1861 and 1862. when the friends of the Union in St. Louis and Missouri felt that they were in imminent danger of being driven from their homes and their estates confiscated by rebels and traitors, Gen. Lyon, Gen. Blair, and R. M. Field were among the calm, loyal and patriotic men who influenced public action and saved the city and State. In his social rela- tions he was a genial and entertaining companion, unsurpassed in conversational powers, delighting in witty and sarcastic observations and epigrammatic sentences. He was elegant in his manners, and bland and refined in his deportment. He was a skilful musician, and passionately fond of children, and it was his wont in early life to gather them in groups about him and beguile them by the hour with the music of the flute or violin. He was confiding and generous to a fault. but for a few years before his decease he became reserved and dis- trustful, had but few intimate associates, and mingled but little in general society, for his confidence had been violated, his generosity abused. and his charities wasted. He was utterly devoid of all ambition for power and place, and he uniformly declined all offers of advancement to the highest judicial honors of the State.
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