USA > Vermont > Windham County > Newfane > Centennial proceedings and other historical facts and incidents relating to Newfane, the county seat of Windham County, Vermont > Part 4
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Judge Hamilton, of the Circuit Court of St. Louis, in his address to the bar, suggests of him that " he was always under the controlling influence of principle, faithful toward his clients, honorable and upright with his professional brethren, and in all his relations, social, political and profes- sional, frank and sincere to a fault. His heart was warm with the sweetest charities of humanity, and his friendships were as enduring as life itself." His proficiency in other walks of learning than the law would have rendered him remarkable if he had been unacquainted with jurisprudence. It was the accuracy, no less than the extent of his knowledge, which distinguished him above those around him. He seemed to have mastered the principles, the foundation of every subject with which he claimed any familiarity, and it was part of his nature to claim nothing to which his title was not perfect. He never used words without appropriate ideas
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annexed to them. Nothing of the kind of knowledge which remembers the rule, but leaves forgotten or never knew the reason of the rule. His scholarship was critical and exact. He made the perusal of the Greek and Latin classics his most delightful pastime. In fact, he resorted to this and scientific research, particularly in the department of pure mathematics. for his chief mental recreation. It is greatly to be regretted that he neglected to combine, with his cessations from profes- sional labor, some employment which would have revived and strengthened his physical frame. Ile was averse to active exercise, and for some years before his death he lived a life of studious seclusion, which would have been philosophical had he not violated, in the little care he took of his health, one of the most important lessons which philosophy teaches. At a comparatively early age he died of physical exhaustion, a deterioration of the bodily organs, and an incapacity, on their part, to discharge the vital functions, a wearing out of the machine before the end of the term for which its duration was designed. The defects of his character were due to a com- plete absence of the incentive to exertion which rivalry causes. It is obvious to all who read this 'slight censure, how unassailable is the man of whom it can be said that his principal defects arise from a want of one of the weaknesses of humanity. He was eminently qualified to serve, as well as to adorn society, and in all likelihood he would have found, in a greater variety of occupation, some relief from the monotonous strain under which his energies prematurely gave way. He possessed in full measure the capacity for rendering this service, but unfortunately he shrank from offering himself for its performance. It is not a paradox to say that if he had been more covetous of gain and of fame, more susceptible to the spur of emulation, and less firmly persuaded of the things ordinarily proposed as the reward of ambition, his life would have been happier and more useful to mankind. If he had possessed more ambition, his reputation would have been national, and he would have ranked among the most dis- tinguished lawyers of the country. At a session of the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, soon after the decease of Mr. Field, Samuel Knox, Esq., a member of the Bar, sug- gested to the Court that it had lost an able and faithful coun-
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selor and its highest ornament in the death of Mr. Field. He was so modest in all his greatness, said Mr. Knox, as never to excite envy, so varied in his gifts, so extended his attainments, so wide his range of thought, that no person in his society could experience anything but pleasure, in his conversation anything but profit and delight. Uniting great industry and acqiurements with the most brilliant wit and genius, well and accurately informed on all subjects, both in science and the arts ; endowed with a memory that retained whatever it received, with quick and clear perceptions, the choicest. most felicitous and forcible language in which to clothe his thoughts. no one could doubt his meaning or withhold the tribute of wonder at his power. His statements were always terse and clear, his arguments cogent and logical, his conclusions diffi- cult to evade. In a long and eventful professional life, no charge of duplicity or unfairness, no cunning trick, no suspi- cion of dishonor ever tarnished his fair fame, or raised the slightest doubt of the highest professional honor and personal integrity. One thus distinguished is no ordinary loss-a loss to the Court, to the profession, to the community in which he lived. Mr. Knox then offered the report of a committee. appointed by the St. Louis Bar, at a meeting called to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of Mr. Field, and moved that the report be entered upon the records of the Court. " an enduring memorial of the love and regard of the members of the St. Louis Bar for their departed brother." Judge Wagner. in behalf of the Court, responded as follows : " The members of this Court have heard with the deepest regret of the death of R. M. Field, and the warm and deserved tribute which has just been paid to his memory receives an assenting response from the hearts of all those who knew him. In the decease of our lamented friend and brother, the Bar of Missouri has lost one of its brightest ornaments. To a naturally keen. vigorous and analytical mind, he added a thorough mastery of legal principles combined with high scholarly attainments. Per- haps no man at the Bar of this State ever brought to the consideration of any question a greater amount of exact legal learning or clothed it with a more impressive and attractive logic. When he gave the great energies and powers of his mind to a cause, he exhausted all the learning to be had on
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the subject. He studied law as a science and delighted to examine its harmonious structure and explore its philosophic principles. So deeply was he imbued with its true spirit, and so great was his reverence for its excellence, that he maintained them with the most jealous regard and would sooner have failed in success than have won a cause by trenching upon a sound legal rule. He made no parade of learning, and in his social intercourse he had a childlike simplicity. With his professional brethren he was full of courtesy and kindness and his whole conduct was marked by entire integrity and perfect truth. He adorned every circle in which he moved, and so beautiful was his life in all its relations that he won and enjoyed the esteem and regard of all who knew him. It is fit and proper that the death of such a man should be marked by all the honors which we can pay to his memory. It is just that we should pay this last tribute as an evidence of our appreciation of his great abilities and exalted virtues. It is therfore ordered that the report of the proceedings of the Bar, which have been presented, be entered of record on the minutes of this Court, and out of respect for his memory it will be further ordered that this Court do now adjourn."
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WILLIAM II. WILLIAMS.
Son of Larkin and Anna Williams, and grandson of Col. Abraham Williams, was born in Chester. Mass., February 24. 1776. His father died in 1778, and soon after he was bound out to a farmer residing in Paxton. Mass., during his minority. He was treated with great severity by his master and deprived of the benefit of a common school edu- cation, and subjected to excessive labor until he was four- teen years of age. after which he returned to Chester to learn the cloth dressing business. at that time the most lu- crative and prominent branch of industry in New England. While learning his trade he enjoyed the privilege of at- tending school six weeks in the year, and learned what he couldl of reading, spelling and grammar from "The Only Sure Guide." the only text book he ever possessed, and which is now in the hands of his widow. After learning his trade he worked two years in Paxton. after which he came to Newfane, in October. 1797. and took charge of the cloth dressing and oil making works of Thomas and Darius Wheeler. In ISor, he bought the mills of the Wheelers and worked them until his decease. He engaged in the mercantile business in IS14, and continued in trade for more than forty years. During the war of ISIz he was extensively engaged in the manufacture of potash and woolen cloth. He erected a large flouring mill, also a carding machine and saw mill. In 1798 he commenced a diary, which was continued by himself and family until his death. In it is jotted down every days' doings and every important event which occurred during his life.
He was a resident of Newfane about seventy years, gave a name to the village where he resided and died; contri- buted largely towards the erection of the village church in 1834, and was at all times liberal and generous in his do- nations for the support of the gospel.
He was a member of the Methodist church, represent- ed the town in the General Assembly, filled many munici-
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pal offices and faithfully discharged the duties incident to the same. He was enterprising, industrious and eminently practical in all his views and efforts. He was munificent in his contributions for the furtherance of all public enter- prises which stimulated the growth and prosperity of the town, and although he suffered severely by fire and flood at different times during his life, yet by his untiring indus- try and perseverance he repaired all his losses and accumu- lated a handsome fortune, which he left to his family. He married Abigail Robinson, October 17, 1802. She was born March 25, 1781, died July 6, 1821. He married Rosanna Miller for his second wife, February 22, 1826. She was born May 19, 1794. He had nine children by his first wife and none by his second wife. Here follow the names, births and deaths of his children, only two of whom survived him :
George Williams, born September 14, 1803, died May 26. 1841.
Anna Williams, born January 24, 1805, died January 26, 1 So5.
Hastings Williams, born March 5, 1So6, died December 26, ISOS.
Mary Williams, born May 26, ISO8, died May 27, 1834. She married Roswell Robertson, January 26, 1831.
Sarah R. Williams, born March 30, ISIo. Married Roswell Robertson, December 10, 1835, and died October 9, IS39.
Louisa Williams, born October 26, 1811, married John A. Merrifield, January 17, 1843.
William L. Williams, born December 9, 1813, died at Dubuque, Iowa, January 11, 1864.
Abigail E. Williams, born March 3, 1816, married Charles Converse, of Ohio, September 25, ISO8.
John W. Williams, born January 9, ISIS, married Ger- trude Brown April 22, 1841, and died May 25, 1851.
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DANIEL FISHER
Was born in Newfane in February. 1776, died August 17, 1862. aged eighty-six. He married. for his first wife. Milli- cent Durren, of Newfane. in 1797. She died in 1813. He married. for his second wife. Miss Priscilla Ritter, of Wal- pole. N. H., in September, 1815. She died June 9, 1862 His children. by his first wife, were Clark Fisher ; Lydia, who married Nathaniel Sampson, of Brattleboro : Orrison Fisher : Caroline. who married Richmond Dunklee, of New- fane ; Millicent, who married Richard P. Pratt, of Newfane : Hannah, who married Isaac Burnett, of Dummerston, and Simon Fisher, the only surviving son. Daniel Fisher, Sr., the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Milford, Mass .. in 1752, and removed to Newfane in 1774. He purchased a large amount of real estate, situate in the eastern portion of the town, supposed to exceed one thousand acres in quantity. and embracing within its limits the fertile and productive meadows on West River. At an early day he was known and called by the name of Corn Fisher. for the reason that he raised upon his meadows great crops of Indian corn, which he sold to the early settlers on the hills and mountains west of Newfane. He was exceedingly thrifty and prudent, and at his decease he left a large estate. Ile died in 1820, aged sixty- eight. Daniel Fisher, the subject of this sketch, inherited a large property from his father, which he judiciously distributed among his children and grand-children before his decease. He was generous and even munificent in his donations and sub- scriptions for various public enterprises. Ile was distinguished for his integrity and benevolence, cordial and kindly in his greetings and generous in his hospitalities : liberal and kind to the poor and suffering, never closing his door or his hand to their applications for relief. He was of a tall. commanding figure, and manly and dignified in his deportment. He early united with the First Congregational Church in Newfane, and died at an advanced age, universally respected and beloved for
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Daniel Fisher
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his integrity and benevolence. The father and son were both distinguished for their practical good sense, and were often elected to the most important municipal offices in the town, and faithfully discharged their official duties.
GEN. PARDON T. KIMBALL.
Born in Newfane, July 2, 1797, died April 5, 1873. He was nearly seventy-six years of age at the time of his decease. His death resulted from injuries received by a fall from his carriage, in the month of November, 1872. He was greatly distinguished for his energy and enterprise. He represented Windham County in the State Senate for two years, and for the last fifty years of his life he had filled the most important municipal offices in his native town. As a citizen he faith- fully discharged all his duties, and greatly distinguished himself by the zeal and energy with which he entered into all the enterprises which were calculated to promote the growth and prosperity of his native town. He was munificent in his contributions for public improvements, and generous and liberal in his gifts for the relief of the suffering poor. It was oftentimes said of him, that he had a great heart and it was in the right place. His friendships were enduring, and his heart was full of the kindest charities for the poor and of sympathy for the suffering and distressed.
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DEACON MOSES KENNEY
Was born in Northboro. Mass .. September 11. 1747. died in Newfane, June 23. 1SOS. aged sixty-one years. He was supposed to have descended from a family by the name of Keayne, as there were many of that name in the vicinity of Boston and Lynn from 1630 to 1670, and none by the name of Kenney until after that period. (See Shurtlift's Records. second volume). He married Azubah Parmenter. about the year 1770. She was born in Sudbury. Mass .. Jan- uary 17, 1751. and died in Newfane, January 3. 1837. aged eighty-six years. They removed to Newfane during the year 1774. They had twelve children, four of whom died in infancy and early childhood. The others all lived to an age past middle life. Sally, who married Zadock Chapin, was born in Massachusetts. September 11, 1771, removed to Penn- sylvania with her husband. and died in 1831. John. born in Massachusetts, April IS, 1773, died in Newfane. September 6, 1849. Lucy, wife of Capt. Chandler Carter, born in Newfane. August 27. 1777, died in Newfane in 1825. Captain Carter was a prominent citizen, a skillful mechanic, a fine military officer, highly respected for his honesty and industry. He died in Michigan about 1864. Holloway Kenney, born Feb- ruary 18. 1781, removed to Lower Canada, and the day and place of his death is unknown. Charlotte, born May 26. 1783, died in Lower Canada, February 22. 1843. She married Luke Knowlton. Jr., of Newfane, March IS. 1799. They had fifteen children, four of whom died in infancy. They removed with their children to Lower Canada in 1821. where he died in 1855. aged eighty years. Silas Kenney was born April 12, 1785, died May 5. 1863. In IS13 and 1814 he commanded a company of cavalry composed of citizens of Newfane and Wardsboro. While he held a subordinate position in the company, and it was under the command of Captain Barnard, of Wardsboro, they assembled at the dwelling-house of Silas Kenney. and ascending a stone wall which he had just com- pleted. they marched and counter-marched upon its top, which
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His Lubach Renney .
WIFE OF DEA. MOSES KENNEY.
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was at least six feet across. The wall was built upon the road- side and twenty rods or more in length. After his discharge from the command of the cavalry company he organized and commanded a company of riflemen, who were the pride and boast of the town, the rank and file numbering not less than one hundred tall and stalwart men, beautifully uniformed with green frocks, and caps ornamented with black plumes. For a few years it was regarded as the best drilled and most attractive military company in the State.
Olive, wife of Jonathan Hall, was born April 25, 1787. She is now living, and the oldest person in Newfane who was a native of the town. Munnis Kenney, born December 10, 1788, died April 5, 1863. He fitted for college at the old academy on Newfane Hill, graduated at Middlebury College, studied law and practised his profession in Townshend, Vt., for a number of years, represented the town of Townshend in the State Legislature many times. In 1830 he removed to Webster, Washtenaw County, Michigan. While living in Michigan he was a prominent and influential citizen of the town and county where he resided. Sewell Kenney, born April 1, 1791, died in Chicago, Illinois, October 14, 1844.
Deacon Kenney possessed a vigorous and robust constitu- tion, and in all his farm labors was exceedingly active and industrious. He owned at his decease more than a thousand acres of land, and at the time of its purchase it was a dense forest. He cleared off the timber and forest trees, found the surface covered with boulders and broken masses of granite, with which, by excessive labor, he constructed long lines of heavy stone wall on the division lines of his several lots. His labors were so arduous and excessive that he seriously impaired his constitution, and sickened and died at the com- paratively early age of sixty-one years. He left a large estate to his children, and of the thousand acres or more of wild forest land which he originally purchased, he had cleared and fenced, with heavy stone wall, more than six hundred and fifty acres, about equally divided between tillage, grass and pasture lands. He built the first grist mill in town, at the outlet of Kenney Pond, so-called, within a hundred rods of his home- stead ; represented the town in the General Assembly, filled many municipal offices in the town, was a deacon in the S
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church at the time of his decease, and in all his relations in life was distinguished for his industry, probity and public spirit.
We have copied the following sketches from a history in manuscript of the Newton family, by Rev. Ephraim Hol- land Newton, late of Cambridge, N. Y.
COL. EPHRAIM HOLLAND.
Son of Ephraim Holland. Senior, was born in Boylston. Mass .. in the year 1755.
He married Eunice Newton, of Shrewsbury, February 17th. 1783. She was born March 13th, 1754. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. He had two sisters whose husbands, Luke Knowlton and Joshua Morse, were loyalists. and to escape the indignation of the Whigs, Hled to Ver- mont, then called an " Outlaw." for it was not a State, neither did it belong to a State, and took refuge in the present township of Newfane, afterwards the county seat of Windham County and there they finally settled.
After the close of the war Ephraim Holland visited his sisters at Newfane, was induced to make a purchase of a lot of wild land of 100 acres and there settled as a farmer, a tavern keeper and a merchant; was respected, being elevated at various times to offices of trust as a town officer ; was an ambitious military man and promoted from post to post until he was placed at the head of the regiment, as their Colonel. at a period when the station was held as a mark of honorable distinction. Being absent from home on a journey he reached South Hero, one of the Islands of the County of Grand Isle, in Lake Champlain. and put up at a public house for the night. After leaving the next morn-
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ing, to pursue his journey, he went to his horse and fell dead by its side in the dooryard, in the presence of wit- nesses, February 28th, 1822. He was buried upon the Island, and grave stones were prepared and sent to be placed at the head of his grave. He went to Newfane in 1784, or 1785, made his purchase and commenced his settle- ment in the woods. He put up a small shed-like framed building with one roof, for a house, about one mile south easterly from the centre of the town, on the northerly side of the road leading from the site of the public buildings in Newfane to Brattleboro. In this shed-like house I was born as told me by my parents and received my name from the owner. To this house additions were afterwards made which made it a dwelling of respectable appearance and afforded good accommodations as a public house. About the year 1840 it was taken down and removed to the village of Fayetteville where it now stands.
Eunice Newton, the widow of Col. Ephraim Holland, was rather tall, straight and slim, of ladylike demeanor, a thorough housekeeper, a good cook, kind-hearted, a woman of great industry and of dignified deportment. She lived many years after the death of her husband, and received an annual pension from the government as the widow of a deceased soldier of the revolution ; and after she had reached the ninety-fourth year of her age, accidentally set her clothes on fire with a bunch of matches, and was so badly burned that after a few days of great suffering she died at the house of Sir Isaac Newton, in Newfane, Vt., October 15th, 1848, and was buried in the cemetery in the northwesterly corner of Newfane. She was the last and oldest survivor in the lineal descent from her grandfather. She has left no child or descendant to represent her. This branch of her father's family is now extinct. The next oldest in descent from her father is Ephraim Holland Newton, the oldest son of Mar- shall and Lydia Newton.
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MARSHALL NEWTON, SENIOR.
BY REV. EPHRAIM H. NEWTON.
Marshall Newton, the third child of Marshall Newton and Eunice Taylor Howe, his wife, was born in Shrewsbury, Mass., January 13th, 1757, and was bred a blacksmith. When at the age of eighteen years, in 1775, he entered into the service of the American army of the Revolution in what he used to say was " the first eight month's service," the same year in which Gen. Washington was elected by Congress as Commander-in-Chief of the American forces, and repaired to Cambridge, Mass., and took his station at the head of the army. As he took the command he arranged the army into three divisions, the left wing was stationed at Prospect Hill, under Gen. Lee. the right wing under Gen. Ward was stationed at Roxbury, while the central point of the division Washington took to himself at Cambridge. At this time Marshall Newton. Junior. belonged to the right wing of the army under Gen. Ward. occupying Roxbury and Dorchester. Here I would remark that Gen. Ward was from Shrewsbury and Marshall Newton, Junior, was born and brought up in the same neighborhood, in sight of each others' residence. He uniformly expressed a strong attachment to Gen. Ward and spoke of him in high terms as a military officer and a good citizen.
After the expiration of the time of his enlistment, Marshall Newton enlisted again ; so also from time to time as the periods of his engagements terminated. He became attached to the service, and during the long and bloody struggle of eight years, he spent seven years of that time in the service of his country. A portion of that time he belonged to the corps of artificers. and was employed as a blacksmith, traveling with the army, with his traveling forge as a portion of the baggage of war equipage.
Although I used to sit upon the dye-tub in the chimney corner, when a child, and after his hard day's work hear
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my father talk with the old soldiers, who always found welcome quarters at his house, and narrate with thrilling interest the war scenes of his military career, yet at this distant period of more than half a century I am unable to give in detail the marches, stations, battles, victories, conquests and defeats in which he participated in a seven year's service.
I have heard him speak of Dorchester Heights, the night scene of fortification which so alarmed Gen. Howe that he evacuated Boston and gave the American army the possession of that city. I have also heard him speak of being in the battle of Long Island, of being at the evacuation of New York city, of being in the battle of White Plains. I have also heard him speak of being in the " Jarseys," as he used to call it, with Gen. Washington, also, of being at Saratoga at the capitulation of Gen. Burgoyne, in 1777. At this time he belonged to Col. Job Cushing's regiment, who also was from Shrewsbury. This regiment was on the left wing of the division of the army, and was not brought into close line of battle before the enemy gave up. He was in the ranks when the American army was drawn up in double columns to witness the surrender of Gen. Burgoyne. He saw his army when they stacked arms, and stood in the ranks when they passed through the American columns, unarmed, mortified and vanquished, while the bosoms of the American soldiers swelled with the joy of a rich triumphant conquest; a conquest, too, which inspired the American Colonies with the assurance of success in a final victory. I have heard him say he was not wounded in the army. In one instance a soldier at his side was shot down, but not killed ; he took him upon his shoulder and carried him from the field. In one instance upon a retreat, near, or in the suburbs of New York city, the enemy were so close upon him that he lost his pack, blanket and clothes, excepting what he had on. In another instance, about the same time, he was taken with cramp in his feet and limbs, in this condition he crawled into some bushes and lay undis- covered by the enemy as they passed, and the next day was successful in joining the ranks where he belonged. At times he was placed on short allowance, on horse beef, from old horses unfit for service ; at times diseased with the distempers of the camp ; at times subject to great fatigue, severe hard-
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