USA > Vermont > Lamoille County > Gazetteer and business directory of Lamoille and Orleans counties, Vt., for 1883-84, pt 1 > Part 29
USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Gazetteer and business directory of Lamoille and Orleans counties, Vt., for 1883-84, pt 1 > Part 29
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Horace Andrus, born at Newbury, Vt., in 1829, came to this town and located on road 40, where he kept a hotel three years, and also kept a hotel at Craftsbury village two years. He has been a Methodist layman for a number of years, and pastor of the church in Eden two years.
Henry Douglass, from Waterbury, Vt., came to Craftsbury in 1855, and now occupies the house where Gov. Crafts died. He has served as assistant judge, and has been elected justice of the peace nearly every year since he came to the town, and has been engaged in the insurance business forty years.
Daniel Mason, born at Sturbridge. Mass., came to Craftsbury in 1790. He became a successful farmer and accumulated a fair property ; but when about fifty years of age he left his farm and entered the ministry of the Calvinist Baptist church, remaining in that vocation until old age warned him to re- tire. He also held most of the town offices, being a justice of the peace thirty years. His death occurred at the age of seventy-five years, he having been the father of ten children. His son Tyler commenced life as a farmer, but at the age of twenty-four years commenced the study of medicine with Dr. F. W. Adams, of Boston, and subsequently with Dr. Allen Smith, of Hardwick, and finally graduated from Burlinton medical college. He has had a successful practice of sixty years, being now eighty-five years of age.
The soldiers who went from the town during the war of 1812, so far as known, were William Hidden, Moses Mason, Captain Hiram Mason, James Coburn, Amory Nelson, John Towle, John Hadley, and Elias Mason. In the war for the Union, the town furnished 128 enlisted men, five of whom were killed in action, six died of wounds, fifteen died of disease, five in rebel prisons, and one by accident. The expenses of the town for the support of the war were as follows: bounties paid to volunteers, $13,268.00 ; expenses in enlisting recruits, $69.40 ; subsistance of recruits, $19.67 ; transportation of recruits, $17.20; for further expenses of same nature, $90. 15, aggregating $13,464.42. In addition, the selectmen incurred additional expenses in transporting recruits amounting to $14.25, which the adjutant-general allowed and paid. There was also raised by subscription in 1862, the sum of $ 161.50 and paid as bounties to eight volunteers, for nine months service, and the further sum of $875.00 was subscribed to aid in procuring recruits, of which sum about $650.00 was collected and paid out, which, added to town bounties and other expenses, makes an aggregate of $14,275.92.
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TOWN OF CRAFTSBURY.
The Congregational church, located at North Craftsbury, was organized July 4, 1797, with twenty-four members. Rev. Samuel Collins was the first pastor. The church building was erected in 1820, though it has been re- modeled since, so that it will accommodate 250 persons, and is valued, in- cluding grounds, at $5,000.00. The society has 112 members, with Rev. Francis Parker, pastor. The flourishing Sabbath school connected with this church is one of the oldest in Vermont, its existence dating back to the summer or autumn of 1814. Its founders and first teachers were Lucy Corey and Clarissa Clark, both of whom were members of this society over fifty-six years. One result of these and other faithful workers is seen in the continuous existence and hearty support of the school down to the present time.
The First M. E. church of Craftsbury, located at North Craftsbury, was organized by its first pastor, Wilbur Fisk, in 1818. The first church edifice was erected in 1829, and gave place to the present building in 1852, which will comfortably seat 400 persons and is valued including grounds, at $3,700.00. The society now has 150 members, under the charge of Rev. W. H. Worthen.
The Reformed Presbyterian church of Craftsbury, located at East Crafts- bury, was organized about 1830, with sixty members. Rev. Samuel M. Wil- son was the first pastor. The building was erected in 1830, rebuilt in 1858, and is now valued at $15,000.00. The society has sixty-five members, with Rev. J. C. Taylor, pastor.
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TOWN OF DERBY.
DERBY.
ERBY lies in the northern part of the county, in lat. 44° 58', and long. 4° 50', bounded north by Canada, east by Holland, southeast by Mor- gan and Charleston, southwest by Coventry and Brownington, and west by Lake Memphremagog, which divides it from Newport. It was chartered by Vermont, October 29, 1779, to Timothy Andrus and fifty-nine associates, with an area of 23,040 acres. This area, however, has been increased and the original bounds greatly changed, as given above, by the late annexation of the township of Salem, which was effected by an act of the legislature of 1880, and took effect March 1, 1881. This wedding has made the "two one," though each has its separate history. So we will here briefly outline the history of Salem, up to the time it was annexed to Derby, then speak of the surface, settlement, etc., as simply the one town of Derby.
Salem was an irregular, five-sided town, lying in lat. 44° 54', and long. 4° 46', with an area of 17,330 acres, bounded north by Derby and a small part of Morgan, southeast by Charleston, and southwest by Brownington and Coventry. It was originally granted to Josiah Gates and others, November 7, 1780, upon condition that unless the granting fees, £540, were paid before February 1, 1781, the grant would be void.' 'The fees were not paid, there- fore Gov. Thomas Chittenden authorized Noah Chittenden and Thomas Tolman to sell the township to any persons who would pay the granting fees. Col. Jacob Davis, of Montpelier, and sixty-four others became the purchasers, and a charter was issued to them August 18, 1781, the charter bounds being fixed as follows :-
" Beginning at the southwest corner of Navy [now Charleston], then northeast in the northwest line of Navy to an angle thereof, supposed to be about six miles, and carrying back that breadth northwest so far that a parallel line with the northwest line aforesaid will encompass the contents of six miles square."
A survey of the land thus bounded, however, disclosed the fact that 5,710 acres of the territory were within the bounds of Derby. This caused an un- certainty to rest upon the title to these lands, and discouraged settlements in both towns, and also led to long controversies between the respective proprie- tors. But in 1791, the legislature confirmed the grant to Derby, thus leaving Salem nearly a fourth part smaller than a full township. The proprietors of Salem made repeated applications to the legislature for the return of a por- tion of the purchase money, and in 1799, the sum of $1, 116.26 was refunded to them. A large part of the lands also proved unavailable on account of
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TOWN OF DERBY.
being covered by the lake, and an application was made to the legislature for compensation, but with what success no records show. In 1816, the town was made still smaller by the annexation to Newport of all that part of Salem lying west of the lake.
Notwithstanding so large a part of its granted lands were under water, Salem, had it been allowed to retain its original boundaries, would have become sec- ond to no other town in the county in population and wealth ; but all its best water privileges, its best village sites, and its most valuable lands, were outside of the limits within which it was at last circumscribed. The thrifty village of Newport, the village of West Derby, and a considerable part of Derby Center, are on territory once granted to the proprietors of Salem. The first settlement was made by Ephraim Blake, March 15, 1798. The population increased very slowly, amounting in 1820 to only eighty, and the town re- mained unorganized until April 30, 1822, when an organization was effected by the choice of the following named officers : Noyes Hopkinson, moderator and treasurer ; Samuel Blake, town clerk ; Ephraim Blake, J. Lyon, and Na- thaniel Cobb, selectmen ; John Houghton, constable ; Noyes Hopkinson and Orrin Lathe, grand jurors ; Abel Parlin, Samuel Blake, and Asa Lathe, listers ; and Nathaniel Cobb, Ephraim Blake, and Abel Parlin, highway surveyors. At the time of its annexation to Derby, however, it had no village, store, mechanic shop, postoffice, house of worship, nor office of a professional man within its limits. A telegraph line passed through the eastern part of the town and the Passumpsic railroad extended through the western part, but neither of these had a place of business except a wood station on the railroad. Its change of name and jurisdiction must have been considered rather in the light of an improvement than a misfortune. Here we leave Salem and from this time forward speak of both as Derby.
The surface of Derby is quite level, there being no elevations worthy of note except in the southern part, where are found Sugar, Elm, and Salem hills. Clyde river forms the principal water-course, flowing through the town from east to west, affording many excellent mill-seats. The soil is fertile and abundantly productive. The timber is principally rock-maple, and other hard woods, except in the vicinity of the lake, where white and Norway pine abounds, interspersed with red oak, hemlock, fir, cedar, etc. Cedar swamps from one to ten acres in extent are found in various parts. Calciferous mica schist is the principal rock of the geological formation, though there is some clay slate along the lake shore. In the central part of the town there is a large bed of granite. A valuable quarry is worked on road 26, owned by Curtis Willey. It was first opened by Nathan Wheeler, about 1832, the farm upon which it is located being then owned by Asel Hyde. It was never worked to any extent, however, until 1869, when it came into the present owner's possession. The stone is susceptible of a high polish, and as it con- tains no iron nor other minerals, is valuable for monumental and decorative purposes.
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TOWN OF DERBY.
In 1880, Derby had a population of 2,549, and in 1882 was divided into twenty school districts and had nineteen common schools, employing one male and twenty-six female teachers, to whom was paid an aggregate salary of $1,994.64. There were 553 pupils attending common schools, while the entire cost of the schools for the year, ending October 31st, was $2, 133.12, with C. A. Smith, superintendent.
DERBY, a post village located near the center of the town on Clyde river, contains three churches (Methodist, Congregational and Baptist), one hotel, academy building, one general store, a drug store, two furniture and under- taking stores, a grist-mill, saw-mill, wagon shop, marble shop, and about 250 inhabitants.
DERBY LINE, a post village located on the line between this town and Canada, contains one church (Universalist), a bank, hotel, four stores, pho- tograph gallery, livery stable, millinery store, wagon shop, and about 250 in- habitants. It is reached by a branch of the Massawippi railroad.
WEST DERBY, a post village located on the Clyde river about a mile east of Newport, contains one church (Baptist), one store, one grocery, a paper-mill, veneer-mill, grist-mill, and about 300 inhabitants.
BEEBE PLAIN, a post village located on the Canada line about two miles west from Derby Line, contains one store, an hotel, and about a dozen dwell- ings.
NORTH DERBY (p. o.) is a hamlet and station on the Passumpsic railroad, located in the northwestern part of the town.
The National Bank of Derby Line was originally incorporated by the State in 1850, as the People's Bank of Derby Line, with a capital of $50,000.00. In 1857, this capital was increased to $75,000.00, and again in 1865, it was increased to $150,000.00, and changed to a National bank. It now has a surplus fund of $38,000.00. The presidents of the institution have been Harry Baxter, from 1850 to 1852 ; Portus Baxter, 1852-'63; Levi Spalding, 1863-'71 ; Austin T. Foster, from 1871 to the present time. The cashiers have been N. T. Sheafe, 1851-'53 ; D. B. B. Cobb, 1853-'55 ; Stephen Fos- ter, from 1855 to the present time.
The International Company, manufacturers and dealers in lumber, located in this town, with an office at Newport, was chartered by the State in 1882, and organized with a paid up capital of $100,000.00, January 22, 1883, with John L. Edwards president; H. E. Folsom, treasurer ; and L. C. Grandy, manager. The company was formed by the consolidation of several interests, the principal of which was the Lyndonville Dressing-Mill. The new mill is a building 120 by 36 feet, two stories in height, while their large lumber yard is admirably situated for both lake and railroad transportation. The company deals largely in all kinds of lumber, especially in Quebec and hardwood floor- ing, and manufactures boxes and chair-stock extensively.
M. A. Adams's grist and flouring-mill located at Derby village, has four runs of stones and grinds 15,000 bushels of grain annually.
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TOWN OF DERBY.
J. H. Searle's vencer-mills, located on road 64, are operated by steam-power and are supplied with one lumber-saw, four bench-saws, one swing-saw, one veneer cutter, a drag-saw, and two machines for making baskets. Mr. Searles employs thirty men and manufactures fifty car-loads of chair-stock, 500,000 feet of veneer per month, and 1,000,000 baskets of different kinds per annum.
Ira A. Adams's woolen-mill, located on road 46, was built in 1845, and came into the present proprietor's hands in 1865. It is operated by water- power and has the capacity for manufacturing seventy-five yards of cloth per day.
A. J. Allbee's sash, door, and blind factory, located at Derby village, gives employment to six hands, and turns out about $5,000.00 worth of stock per year.
The Memphremagog Machine Shop and Boat-yard, located on the eastern shore of the lake manufactures steam yachts, row-boats, and steam engines.
The Clyde River Paper-Mill, located at West Derby, P. S. Robinson, proprietor, employs eight hands and manufactures about $15,000.00 worth of paper per year.
The West Derby Flouring Mill, Lane & Davis, proprietors, was built in 1835. The mill has four runs of stones and does several thousand dollars worth of business per year.
The first permanent settlement was made in 1795, by Judge Timothy Hinman, who came on from Southbury, Conn., with his family, and located upon the farm now owned by Charles Johnson and others. He was one of the original proprietors, and the only one of them who ever settled here. In the autumn of 1790, he came to the town and located his farm, though he did nothing towards improving it until 1795. From Greensboro, a distance of thirty miles, he made the journey on horseback, leaving his nearest neigh- bors at that point. In the autumn of that year, however, he was joined by Henry Buzzell, from Danville, who located upon the farm now owned by Mr. Blake, and John, Joseph and Henry Merritt made a settlement upon the farm now owned by Carlos Daggett, and Rufus Stewart, from Brattleboro, came in 1797, and settled upon the farm now owned by George Eaton. Mr. Hinman was one of the most prominent men of the town for many years, being the first town clerk, first justice of the peace, and first representative. He married Phœbe Stoddard and reared a family of eleven children, two of whom, Mrs. Horace Stewart and Mrs. Clarissa Forbes, are living. His death occurred in 1850.
In 1794, a Mr. Strong came on from Connecticut and built a saw-mill where West Derby now is, to which was added a grist-mill not long after. Benjamin Hinman, from Southbury, Conn., who was so long prominently identified with the interests of the town, came on with men who built the mill, in the capacity of cook. He returned to Connecticut with them in the autumn, stayed through the winter, and then came on and made the first settlement upon the farm now owned by Mr. Watson. The settlement of
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TOWN OF DERBY.
the town rapidly increased, so that in 1800, it had a population of 178. The first town meeting was held at the house of Timothy Hinman, March 20. 1798, when the following officers were elected: Timothy Hinman, moder- ator and clerk ; Isaac Hinman, Elisha Lyman, and Henry Buzzel, selectmen : Rufus Stewart, constable ; Samuel Hill, grand juror ; James Greenleaf, Isaac Hinman, and Elisha Lyman, listers; Aaron Vilas, Henry Buzzell, Eliphale: Bangs, and Elisha Lyman, surveyors of highways; Jehiel Broadman, sealer of weights and measures ; and Samuel Hill and Aaron Vilas, fence viewers. The first freemen's meeting was held September 4, 1798, when nine votes were cast for Paul Bingham for governor, and Timothy Hinman elected re- presentative. The first hotel was kept by Timothy Hinman, where Charles Johnson now resides. Ezra Hinman, son of Judge Hinman, was the first male child born, and Rachel Buzzell, daughter of Henry Buzzell, was the first female born. Levi Bigelow kept the first store. The first deaths were two children of Solomon Ashley, in 1800. The first school was kept by David Bebee, on the farm of Timothy Hinman. The first physician was Luther Newcomb, who came from Massachusetts in 1798. The first deed recorded in the town was given to Ebenezer Strong, of Southbury, Conn., by Moses Robinson, of Bennington, bearing date of January 12, 1790, and acknowledged January 18, 1791. The first settled Congregational minister was Luther Leland, about 1808, and the first Baptist clergyman was Samuel Smith. Both came about the same time and the right of land set aside for the first settled minister was divided between them.
Major Rufus Stewart, born in 1776, came to Derby in 1797, and made the first settlement upon the farm now owned by George S. Eaton, where he resided until 1812, when he removed his family to Morgan and joined the American army, ranking as captain. He served three years, was at the battle of Plattsburgh, and, in 1816, returned to Derby and purchased the farm now owned by his son, Emery Stewart, where he died in June, 1846, aged seventy-one years. His wife died in 1842. Two of their six children are living-Emery, on the old homestead, and Nancy, widow of Aaron Hin- man, at Derby village.
Horace Stewart, son of Major Rufus, who died at Beebe Plain, May 25, 1883, was born here September 25, 1804. About 1826, after alternating between the farm and an indifferent experience in trade, he went to Beebe Plain and erected the plain, yet comfortable and substantial build- ings which still stands unimpaired by time. He soon rose in the esteem of those around him and came to be regarded as one of the first business men in the county. It is a little remarkable that notwithstanding his large business, extending from the Connecticut river far into Canada, and involving dealings with all kinds of men, he never was charged with violating an agree- ment or indulging in a trick. February 3, 1830, he married Catharine Hin- man, a woman of remarkable kindness and benevolence, who survives him. There were four children born to them, only one of whom, a daughter, is
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TOWN OF DERBY.
living. With the death of Mr. Stewart, Derby lost not only one of its most enterprising business men, but one of the most kindly, courteous, and hos- pitable gentlemen of the town, while his family has to mourn the departure of a most considerate husband, father and brother. Mr. Stewart was a man of commanding figure and gentlemanly deportment, of very even temper, ever having a kind word for all, yet strict and rigid in rules of business.
Phineas Stewart, brother of Rufus, went from Brattleboro, Vt., to Plain- ville, Ohio, where he died in 1871. His daughter, Sophia D., married R. S. Brown, of Brattleboro, who is now living in Malone, N. Y., she having died in October, 1871. Their daughter Annie married Rufus P. Stewart, son of Horace Stewart, in May, 1871. One son, Harry B., now resides at Beebe Plain.
Charles Kingsbery was an early settler in Derby. His lineal ancestors came from England about 1650, settled at Ipswich, Mass., and had seven sons. Henry Kingsbery, the seventh, with his wife, Susannah, settled at Haverhill, Mass., where, in 1656, their son Joseph was born. In 1679, Joseph married Love Ayres, also of Haverhill, and had two sons, Joseph and Nathaniel, and several daughters. The sons married Ruth and Hannah Dennison, sisters, of Ipswich, Mass. Nathaniel settled in Andover, Conn. Joseph and Ruth, soon after their marriage, in 1705, removed to Norwich, Conn. Their son Joseph was the father of Sanford Kingsbery, and grand- father of Charles, the subject of our sketch. Sanford was educated at Yale college, married Elizabeth Fitch, and died at Claremont, N. H., in 1834, aged ninety-six years. Charles, his eldest son, came to Derby in 1790, mar- ried Persis Stewart, and reared a family of nine children, viz. : Mary Ann, born in 1801; George, in 1804; Sanford, in 1805; Lucius, in 1807 ; Eliza, in 1809; Charles, in 1812; Persis, in 1813; Emera, in 1815 ; and Henry, born in 1816. Of these. George, Sanford, Charles, Eliza, and Henry, settled in the western part of the State of Georgia, while the others remained in Der- by, and married as follows : Mary Ann became the wife of Levi Child and had seven children,-Charles B., Susan, Ann, William, John, Katharine, and Ruth. Lucius married Jane E. Drakely, and had two children,-Helen A. and George D. Persis became the wife of Lewis Patch, M. D., and had no issue. Emera married Mary Forbes, and reared three children,-Persis, Charles, and William. Charles, or Esq. Kingsbery as he was familiarly known, suffered all the vicissitudes and privations of a pioneer. The first three years he worked on his clearing, living in a bark shanty and sleeping upon a bed of hemlock boughs. His winters, however, he spent in Clare- mont, N. H. In 1800, the clearing having become sufficiently large to yield crops of value, he built a house and barn, and on the 17th of September married Persis Stewart, daughter of Gen. Stewart, of Brattleboro, Vt., and brought his wife to their new home. His first deed is dated in 1797, being for a piece of land located nearly half way between the center of the town and the Canada line, and about eighty rods east of the present traveled road.
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TOWN OF DERBY.
Upon this piece of land he planted the first apple trees in the town, and made the first cider, which orchard still bears fruit. In 1812, he removed to a farm about half a mile east of Derby Center, and, in 1820, he located opposite the present site of the Congregational church, known as the Kingsbery place, where he died, in 1843. Mr. Kingsbery was an early town representative, holding the office three successive years, and was also elected to that office in 1828, '29, '38, and'39. He also held the office of town treasurer from 1812 to 1833, was a justice of the peace from the organization of the town to 1829, lister from 1806 to 1826, and overseer of the poor three years. Esq. Kings- bery lived a life that reflected no discredit upon his ancestors, and handed an unsullied name down to his posterity.
Samuel Colby, from Thornton, N. H., came to Derby in 1797, and made the first settlement on the farm now owned by Ralph Kelsea, where he reared a family of five children. Nehemiah, the oldest son, kept a store nearly all his life, and was postmaster nearly thirty years, where his son, George Colby, now resides.
Dr. Luther Newcomb, the first physician in the town, came here in 1797. He married Milley Conant, of Glover, and died in 1831. His son Orem was a merchant here for many years, and a leading man of the town. He died in 1854. His widow, and son Orem survive him.
David Dustin, son of Timothy, a descendant of Hannah Dustin, of Haver- hill, Mass., was born in Claremont, N. H., May 29, 1777, came to Derby in 1799, and purchased the farm now owned by his son, Joel R., and re- turned to Claremont. In 1800, he came back and felled the first tree cut on the farm, and lived here alone in a camp five years. He then built a house and married Amelia Broadman, by whom he had a family of five children. During the war of 1812, he served as captain of cavalry. His wife died in February, 1824, and he subsequently married Fanny E. Robinson, of Brattle- boro, by whom he had three children. Joel R., the youngest, occupies the homestead.
Charles Sias, from Danville, Vt., came here a short time previous to 1800, and located on road 40. About the same time his son, John Sias, came on and located near him. John had a family of nine children, four of whom are living, and died in 1860. His wife died one year previous. Of the chil- dren Roxana, widow of Freeman Miller, and Louisa, wife of Solomon Fields, reside in Newport. Cyrus S. and Marshall reside in Derby. Marshall mar- ried Susan Cummings and reared two children, of whom Martha, wife of Jackson G. Kendall, resides in Newport.
Joseph Benham, born at Middlebury, Conn., in 1769, came to Derby in 1800, and made the first settlement upon the farm now owned by A. D. Bates, where he resided until his death, in 1856, aged eighty-seven years. Deacon Nathan S. Benham, son of Japeth, born in 1802, is now the oldest native born citizen of the town.
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