USA > Vermont > Addison County > Gazetteer and business directory of Addison County, Vt., for 1881- 82 > Part 17
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Of the first settlers, Gamaliel Painter, Benjamin Smalley, and John Chip- man stood at the head. Judge Painter was acquainted with Ethan Allen in Salisbury, Conn., where they both resided before either came into Vermont.
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Here he was associated with Allen, Seth Warner and Remember Baker in their movements during the Revolution. He was a member of the Conven- tion on the 2nd of July, 1777, which founded the constitution of the State. In the War of the Revolution he held a captain's commission and served in the Quartermaster's department. He was town representative fourteen years, and also one of the first county judges, continuing in office eight years. He was, and is, by common consent, designated as "father of the town," and especially of the village, to which he removed from his farm in 1787, and at once set about making it the county seat. His education was simply that obtained in a common school of those days, and consequently more or less deficient ; yet he possessed a fund of sound, common sense, which made up for many deficiencies in other respects. Through his agency, the county buildings were located in Middlebury, and he was also deeply interest- ed in the erection of the Congregational church, being appointed superin- tendent of the work. He was also a liberal contributor towards the erection of Middlebury College, being one of the original trustees, and at his death left the institution an amount by will from which was realized about $13,000.00. Mr. Painter died in May, 1819, aged seventy-six years. Mr. Henry L. Sheldon, of Middlebury, has in his possession a large, old-fashioned oil portrait of Mr. Painter, another of his wife, and one of his daughter, all in a good state of preservation.
Col. John Chipman was a man of sterling qualities. At the commence- ment of the war he volunteered with Allen, in the spring of 1775, to take Ticonderoga and Crown Point. He was at-the battles of Hubbardton and Bennington, and also at Saratoga at the taking of Burgoyne, in October. He was taken prisoner at Fort George in 1780, and remained in that situation until exchanged in the summer of 1781. Mr. Chipman was a prompt execu- tive officer, of commanding presence and address, rendering him exceedingly popular in the town and county. From 1789 to 1801, he served as county sheriff, and was also honored with the important town trusts until his death, in 1829, aged eighty-four years.
While these two men, Painter and Chipman, were the leading spirits in the early settlement of the town, others associated with them were men of sterling character, and the subsequent growth of the town proved them worthy of the name. Men that possessed rare virtue, indomitable courage, and heroism that quailed not at any and all difficulties, but surmounted them with patience and hard labor, that they might lay broad and deep the foundations of a com- munity that should grow in wealth, virtue and happiness, influence and power,-a power that should be recognized as the leading one of the county. In 1783, as previously mentioned, Daniel Foot came with his six sons, fol- lowed soon after by Joshua Hyde, who subsequently became recognized as one of the most prominent and useful citizens in Middlebury. He was a man possessed of excellent judgment and great public spirit, and was honored for many years, even to advanced age, with important trusts, and no man
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better understood the prudential and financial interests of the town, or more . faithfully and economically managed them, having been returned to the Legislature several years by his townsmen. He died in 1828, aged seventy- eight years.
The Foot family were all noted for their energy of character. Daniel, the father, even at the age of eighty years left his property in Middlebury to be distributed among his sons and daughter, and departed for Canton, N. Y. He owned more than one thousand acres of land in the town before the war. On his way west to Canton, he passed through Montreal, where he took the smallpox, and at last died in the forest, where, for lack of boards with which to make a coffin, he was buried in the hollow trunk of an elm tree. Stillman Foot went to Canton, starting with his father, and Appleton, a few years after, went to Malone, N. Y., where he died at the age of sixty-four years. Philip remained in Middlebury, dying here in 1827, aged seventy-five years. Martin died in 1854, aged ninety-two, and Freeman in 1842, aged eighty-three years. John died in East Middlebury in 1844, aged eighty-four years. Allen Foot, son of Freeman, born in Middlebury, near where the Methodist church now stands, resides on road 26, owning a portion of the land which was in the possession of his grandfather previous to the Revolu- tion.
Among others, prominent in the early history of the town, did space per- mit, mention might be made of Stephen Goodrich, Robert Huston, Elijah Buttolph, Abram Kirby, Benjamin Sumner, Jonathan Preston, Dudley Mun- ger and his brother, Abel Case, Daniel Sellick, Martin Evarts, Ebenezer Sev- erance with his sons Samuel, Enos and Moses, John Tillotson, Deacon Eben- ezer Sumner, James Crane, Nathan Case, and Elnathan Hammond, all of whom came previous to the year 1800.
In 1790, the settlers were overtaken by a great scarcity of provisions, amounting almost to a famine. Families were almost in a state of entire des- titution for want of food. Women went often into the wheat fields and cut the green heads of wheat from the standing grain and boiled them for food. Fish were caught in the streams and cooked at fires on the banks, and the flesh stripped off without disturbing their entrails, and eaten. Many took the bark from trees, and dug bulbous roots, which were boiled for food, and thus subsisted for months without bread. Such were some of the privations the early settlers of Middlebury experienced.
In 1785, the first grist-mill was erected by Daniel Foot, which, in 1789, went into possession of his sons, Stillman and John. After that a stone grist- mill was built by Appleton Foot, just below the old paper-mill. Saw-mills were erected by the same Foots at about this time. Manufacturing was early commenced, at Middlebury village. In 1797, James Jewett commenced his apprenticeship with John Warren, and finally, in 1806, went into partnership with him in the cloth dressing business. Capt. Josiah Fuller commenced the business of tanning in 1795, on the bank of the creek. Ephraim Miller also
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Edin Hamman and
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commenced tanning hides here in 1796. In 1811, David Page, Jr., com- menced the erection of a cotton factory and fitted it with such machinery as he could obtain. Subsequently, John Warren commenced the business of manufacturing cotton goods in a building which in the summer of 1825 was consumed by fire. Marble of a good quality was discovered in the village by Dr. Eben Judd, in 1802, and in 1806, he erected a large and commodious building which was enlarged in 1808, in which were some sixty saws for saw- ing marble, the same alluded to as an invention of Markham's, operated by water-power. In 1820, Lebbeus Harris, son-in-law to Dr. Judd, became as- sociated with him in the marble business. Dr. Judd was a man possessed of a strong mind, methodical in business, and very upright in character and life. Rufus and Jonathan Wainwright erected a furnace here not long after the close of the war of 1812, which was destroyed by fire in 1826. They then purchased the water-power at the lower paper-mill falls, and erected a new furnace and machine shop on an extensive scale. They manufactured and shipped stoves into all parts of the State, and into Canada and Northern New York. Being men of great energy they became highly successful in their business, and honorable in their dealings they secured and enjoyed till their death the highest regard and confidence of all. Jonathan died in September, 1845, aged fifty-nine years, and Rufus in March, 1853, aged sixty-seven years.
The first printing office was established in 1801, by J. D. Huntington and John Fitch, young men from Windham, Conn. The first merchant was Jabez Rogers, as early as 1793, who came from Colchester, Conn. He was a man possessed of peculiar traits of character, and a great admirer of law suits. Nathan Wood came to town from Keene, N. H., about 1816, and for many years prosecuted an extensive trade. Hon. Ira Stewart, father of Hon. John W. Stewart, ex-governor of Vermont, was one of the early merchants of the village, having commenced business here in 1810, coming from New Haven with his brother, Noble, who died suddenly of fever, in 1814. Ira continued as surviving partner for many years, dying in February, 1855, thus leaving his estate to his aged sister, Miss Synthia, who died in March, 1857, and his two sons, Dugald and John W. The latter, a popular man throughout the State, has held many positions of trust, and is now a practicing attorney located on Merchants row, and has also, for a number of years, been president of the National Bank of Middlebury. Gov. Stewart's grandfather, John Stewart, who died here at the residence of Ira, in 1829, was a soldier in the French and Revolutionary wars. Springing from a noble ancestry, they were noble men, honored by all.
Paris Fletcher, for nearly half a century connected with the banking in- terest of Middlebury, was born in Woodstock, Vt., March 21, 1794. He removed to Bridport in 1810, and in 1816, commenced in mercantile business, which he followed successfully until 1842, when he retired to his farm, retaining, however, considerable banking interests. He married, Nov. 30,
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1817, Anna Miner, daughter of Hon. Benjamin Miner, of Bridport. Married second time, Dec. 31, 1857, Mrs. Sarah M. Bucklin, daughter of Hon. Thomas White, of New York city. He died in Bridport, February 27, 1880. Mr. Fletcher, always held in the highest esteem by his townsmen, held many town offices of trust and responsibility, and was several times elected to rep- resent them in the general assembly of the State. In money circles, his wealth and unlimited ability as a financier, made him conspicuous. He was one of the original directors of the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, and held the position of director and president of the bank at Middlebury, for nearly fifty years, and only resigned when the feebleness of old age compelled him to exchange the active business life with which he had so long been identified, for the quietude of a country home. He entered zealously into every project to benefit his town, and made many liberal gifts. Instances are few of an equally remarkable career. He was blessed by nature with a grand head, and strong physique, neither of which were ever abused by any rashness.
The first physician who settled in Middlebury was Dr. John Willard, in 1787, and who became a distinguished man. In 1789, Darius Matthews settled here as a physician, and subsequently became quite eminent. Dr. William Bass settled here as a physician in 1797. He was an earnest, christian gentleman, and died at the age of seventy-five years. Dr. Edward Tudor settled here in 1804, and ranked high in his profession. He died in 1858, aged eighty-seven years. Dr. Jonathan A. Allen began his residence here in 1822, a splendid specimen of an upright physician, and a conscien- tious christian. Among others, all earnest and honored men in their profes- sion, were Drs. Gowdey, Norton, Lathrop, and Russell.
Samuel Miller was the first lawyer who settled in Middlebury, and was among the most distinguished citizens who have had a residence here. He was born in 1764, and came into this State in 1785, residing for a short time in Wallingford. Although not a college graduate, he possessed a splendid mind which he improved by assiduous study. He commenced the study of law in Wallingford, and was admitted to the bar in Rutland County. Im- mediately after, he located in Middlebury village, when it was yet almost a wilderness. His mind being unusually active and vigorous, and his percep- tions quick and discriminating, he soon attained an extensive practice, not only in the county, but throughout the State. He and Daniel Chipman stood at the head of their profession in the several counties where they prac- ticed. His style of argument was systematic, clear and forcible. He was elected town representative in 1797, and was a prominent and influential member. It is said that while the prominent men of Middlebury were urgently pressing before the Legislature and elsewhere the claims of their town, it was remarked by a prominent politician of that day that the influence of Painter with his cunning, Chipman with his argument, and Miller with his courteous address, if it were possible, would deceive the very elect. Mr. Miller was devoted to the prosperity of the village which he had adopted as
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his home, and contributed liberally to its success. When the college was established he donated $1,000.00 to establish its first professorship. He died from a cancerous affection, April 17, 1810.
Contemporaneous with Miller was Horatio Seymour, who came to Middle- bury in 1799. A successful lawyer, a sound statesman, an upwright counsel- lor, public spirited and devoted to the interests of his adopted town and State, his memory is still fragrant with the perfume of an honest and useful life. He died November 21, 1857, aged eighty years. His son, Ozias, was a graduate of Middlebury College, studied law in Connecticut, and subse- quently was engaged in practice with his father continuing an honorable member of the professson until his death, in 1861. His widow, Mrs. S. M. Seymour, is still a resident of the village. Horatio's nephew, Gov. Horatio Sey- mour, of New York, has had much to do with the political fortunes of that State. Col. Seth Storrs, who had been in the practice of law in Addison, removed to Middlebury in 1794, after the courts were established here. He became a large land owner on the west side of the creek, and sold off lots from time to time to new comers. Mr. Storrs having received his education at Yale Col- lege, where he was graduated, he was forward in promoting the establishment of the college here. He conveyed to the Addison County Grammar School a large share of the land on which the Graded School House now stands, and the extensive common connected with it, and also contributed the whole tract of land which forms the present handsome grounds around, and upon which the college buildings stand. His long and useful life was ended October 5, 1842, aged seventy-one years.
Hon. William Slade, son of William Slade of Cornwall, who was sheriff of the county for ten successive years, from 1801 to 1810, was born at Corn- wall, May 9, 1786. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1807, having maintained a prominent standing in his class, and immediately entered upon the study of law in the office of Judge Doolittle. He was admitted to practice at the August term of the county court in 1810, and immediately opened an office in Middlebury village, where he continued to practice with increasing reputation until 1814. He was married February 5, 1810, to Abigail, daughter of Appleton Foot, and had a family of three sons, James M., William, and Henry M. Mr. Slade was elected secretary of State, suc- cessively, from 1815 to 1822; assistant judge of Addison County from 1816 to 1821 ; clerk of the supreme court from 1819 to 1823; State's attorney for the county in 1830; representative to Congress in 1831, continuing in that office till 1843 ; and in 1844 was elected Governor of Vermont, contin- uing in that office two years. He died January 16, 1859, aged seventy-three years. His son, William, removed to Cleveland, Ohio, and became a senator in the Legislature of that State. Henry M. became a prominent citizen of St. Paul, Minn. James M., born here September 8, 1812, lived and died in Middlebury. James received such an education as could be obtained in the common and grammar schools of Vermont, and of the kind to fit him for the
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business he had selected to pursue. He prepared himself for the life of a merchant, and entered that business some time previous to 1843. In 1853, he first entered public life as clerk of the House of Representatives. In 1855, he became a member of the council of censors, and was chosen its secretary. In 1856, he was elected Lieutenant-Governor, and was re-elected in 1857. As such he became president of the senate, and took high rank as a presid- ing officer. In 1870, he was a delegate from Middlebury to the constitu. tional convention, which established biennial terms of office and biennial sessions of the Legislature, and was the same year a representative in the general assembly. Previous to this time, and between 1861 and 1864, he had been a clerk in one of the departments in Washington, D. C., and also in the provost marshall's office, in Rutland. In 1867 and 1868, he was one of the judges of the Addison court, and in 1870, was elected one of the trus- tees of the Vermont Reform School, which last named position he held until 1874. In all positions, both public and private, Mr. Slade's course was one of sterling integrity, and until his death was universally looked up to as an honor to his town and county. His death occurred at his residence in Mid- dlebury, Saturday evening, April 10,1875. He had a family of seven children, four of whom arrived at maturity, and two daughters and a son are now living. The son, James M., is a graduate of Middlebury College, a prominent lawyer of Middlebury, and present State's attorney for the county.
Capt. Ebenezer Markham was born at Enfield, Conn., in 1749. At the age of ten years he was placed with a maternal uncle near Boston, Mass., but not liking the place he ran away and became a cabin-boy to Capt. Burn- ham, a well known sea captain of that city, who educated him for the sea. At the age of twenty he had command of a vessel sailing to the West Indies, remaining in that capacity until 1774, when he left the sea and engaged in mercantile pursuits in Montreal. In 1775, he married Catharine Lydius, · daughter of John Lydius, a Dutch missionary of Schenectady, N. Y. Im- mediately after his marriage he returned to Montreal, continuing his busi- ness there with considerable success until 1781. But at this time, in conse- quence of his having aided the American cause in the defeat of Arnold, he was imprisoned by the British authorities, and his property, valued at some £3,000, confiscated. Three different times he was imprisoned, the last time at Quebec, where he remained in close confinement until after the cessation of hostilities, in 1783. After his final release, in a strange country, without friends or money, he applied to the authorities for a pass to the United States, and was refused. So, with a pocket compass, a tinder-box, and a small stock of provisions, he started off through the trackless wilderness for his native home, and arrived at Ticonderoga after many hardships and privations, and soon after reached Fort George, where he was joined by his family. Here he took charge of the boats of a transportation company plying on Lake George and Lake Champlain, remaining in that capacity until the death of his wife and all, except one, of his children In 1784, he returned to Ticonderoga
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where he soon after married Sarah Gold Kellogg, youngest daughter of Ben- jamin Kellogg, who was one of the earliest pioneers in Addison. Soon after his late marriage, Capt. Markham established himself as a merchant in Brid- port, Vt., and subsequently removed to Hacklebury, now Richville, in the town of Shoreham, where he took charge of a trip-hammer shop and forge, and began the manufacture of cut nails, the first manufactured in the State. Here he remained until 1796, when he removed to Middlebury and com- menced the manufacture of nails here. In the year 1800, in anticipation of the session of the Legislature to be held here the following fall, he opened a public house, which he continued until his death, in February, 1813, aged sixty-four years. His widow survived him until January, 1850, aged eighty- four years. His daughter, Catharine Lydius Markham, born September 21, 1790, married William H. McLeod, and now resides with her son, Thomas H., of Middlebury village, at the age of ninety-one years. Thomas H. was born in Elizabethtown, N. Y., March 3, 1823, and located in Middlebury in 1835. He is a graduate of Middlebury College, studied law with Horatio and Ozius Seymour, and for many years has retained the respect and confi- dence of the people of Middlebury and vicinity.
Charles Linsley, born in Cornwall, Vt., August 29, 1795, commenced the study of law in Middlebury, and subsequently studied with Chief Justice Royce, of St. Albans, and was admitted to the bar of Franklin County in 1823. Soon after, he returned to Middlebury and commenced the practice of his profession here, where he remained until 1856. He then removed to Rutland, where he practiced until 1862, when his health having failed, he returned to Middlebury, where he died, November 3, 1863.
Dea. Elisha Brewster, a native of Norwich, Conn., born in 1790, came to Middlebury in 1810, where he subsequently engaged in the drug business, retaining the same for many years, and until his death, in 1838. Mr. Brewster was much esteemed for his integrity, and honored by his townsmen with the office of town clerk, which position he held many years, and also represented them in the Legislature two terms. His widow still survives him, a resident of the village.
James McDonald, born in Watertown, Conn., June 5, 1792, came to Middlebury in 1815, and engaged in mercantile pursuits, which he followed for a period of thirty years, a great portion of which time he was town clerk and treasurer. He died December 13, 1879.
David Piper, from Weston, Vt., came to this county with his father, in 1812, locating in the town of Hancock, where they remained about four years, then removed to Weybridge, residing tliere seven or eight years, and finally located in Middlebury, near the three-mile bridge on Otter Creek. David, upon arriving at maturity, learned the trade of carpenter and mill- wright, following that business in the Western States several years. He then returned and located in Middlebury village, where he still resides.
Mrs. Ellen Carney, widow of Patrick, who died here October 23, 1871, came to Middlebury in 1848, and has since resided here.
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Heman Langworthy, from Charlotte, Vt., came to Vergennes in 1814, and removed to Middlebury in 1822, commencing the mercantile business here in 1843, and continued the same until his retirement in April, 1880.
Emerson R. Wright, born in Weybridge, Vt., graduated from Middlebury College in 1838, and is still a resident of the village. The class from which he graduated consisted of forty-three members, among whom was John G. Wellington, at present cashier of the National Bank of Middlebury, who graduated at the same time.
Daniel Twitchell, from Waltham, Mass., removed to Middlebury with his father previous to the year 1800, and subsequently settled in New Haven, where he died in 1854, aged sixty-seven years. His son, U. D., now resides in Middlebury village, on Green street.
Samuel Sheldon, from Salisbury, Conn., came to Salisbury, Vt., in 1810. From here his three sons, Homer, Harmon and Henry L., removed to Mid- dlebury village about the year 1835, establishing themselves in the mercan- tile business, becoming active business men and prominent citizens. They were all members of the Episcopal church and entered heartily into the labor of building up that society in this place. Harmon died in 1870. Homer is still engaged in the business established by them. Henry L., the present clerk of the village, and an honored citizen, is an antiquarian of con- siderable local celebrity.
Jonathan Hagar, born in Waltham, Mass., settled in Montreal at an early date, married there and made it his home until 1812. But at that time, during the troubles between this country and Great Britain, he found that Canada was an agreeable place of residence for him no longer, as his sym- pathies were entirely with and for America. So he removed to Vermont, locating in Middlebury village, where he engaged in the dry goods business, continuing the same several years, and then sold out and opened a book store, which he owned until his death, in 1854.
Eber Hier, born in Middlebury, resided in this town and Ripton until his death in 1879, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. His daughter, Mrs. Mial Hier, now resides on the farm her father occupied at the time of his death.
William Chapman, Sr., born in New Hartford, Conn., came to Middlebury in 1796 or '97, and died here in 1850. William Chapman, Jr., born here, still resides on road forty-eight.
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